WASHINGTON BLADE COVER
Washington Blade
30 Under 30
Friday, June 13, 2008
To commemorate this year’s Capital Pride celebration, we decided to look to the future of the gay scene in Washington. From activists to artists, we’ve compiled a list of 30 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender area residents working to make a difference. And there are so many out young people making their mark that we’ve included a list of honorable mentions — people sure to figure prominently in the city’s gay scene for years to come.
Lisa Marie Thalhammer, 26
Washington, D.C.
Visual Artist
How has being gay impacted the work you are doing?
My drawings, installations and videos deal with notions of gender, identity and power. As a visual artist I draw from my everyday experiences when creating art. This makes it impossible for my personal relationships not to influence my work. This is evident in my current series of cut-paper stop motion videos and drawings entitled “Hypnotic Lusting,” currently on view in two different group exhibitions at Meat Market Gallery on 17th Street and at the Arlington Arts Center in Transformer’s flat file exhibition.
What do you hope to contribute to gay D.C.?
There are only a handful of D.C. artists, for example Mary Coble and A. B. Miner, who really challenge conventional notions of gender and identity in their art. Conveying different perspectives and giving small American subcultures visibility is part of my mission as a D.C. based visual artist.
How important is Pride to you?
Pride becomes more important to me every day. Expressing my sexuality is feminism. No matter if it’s in the art I make, the organizations I support or the Phase 1 Jell-O pit I wrestle in, expression is always something I think about.
What do you think is the most important issue facing gay Americans?
Respecting and understanding cultural and sexual differences within our gay community is by far our greatest obstacle. We are not just gay, straight, bi or trans. We are not just black, white or brown. We transcend these boundary lines and make up a complete palette of queer colors. Understanding this is essential to winning the fight for equality, because without respect for these differences, we will never be able to unify and form one strong voice against oppression.
What do you hope to accomplish in the future?
Challenging perspectives through visual art is a lifetime endeavor for me. The power visual images have to impact culture astounds me, and I will continue to use this language as a way to affect hearts and minds.
Ebony Dumas/Natty Boom, 25
Washington, D.C.
Girls Rock! D.C. Organizer
How has being gay impacted the work you are doing?
Being queer has impacted my work no more than being a woman or being black. I tend not to separate my identity into parts that are more or less important to me and/or my work. I identify as a black, queer woman, and all those parts (and many more) have collectively shaped my experiences and outlook.
What do you hope to contribute to gay D.C.?
I hope to facilitate and encourage more community building. My experiences in the past six months have inspired me to create more safe spaces for queer people of color. In doing so, I have realized how many other people were looking for the same thing and had similar experiences. But overall, I most sincerely wish our community would have more dialogue that solicits critical thinking and understanding of each other. I’m working on doing that one person at a time.
How important is Pride to you?
I think Pride can be an invaluable tool in bringing people together, facilitating dialogue and creating awareness amongst the vast LGBTQI community. Only recently has Capital Pride included official events for transgender and bi communities. Who knows, maybe one day, there’ll be a polyamorous awareness rally!
What do you think is the most important issue facing gay Americans?
Remembering history and its impact on current issues and relations. Pride is a great time to learn about and celebrate our frontrunners for equality. But I also think it’s important to remember and learn the history of D.C. (or wherever we live) throughout the year and how that influences relations with people outside of the LGBTQI community. I have a radio show on Radio CPR (Community Powered Radio) 97.5 FM that documents some of the many changes D.C. has gone through and how important this city is to so many movements and historical events.
What do you hope to accomplish in the future?
I’ve been a gender performer since 2004, have recently started deejaying at community events and at Be Bar Wednesdays, and I am currently an organizer for Girls Rock! D.C., a rock camp for D.C. area girls 8-18 years old. Doing all of this has helped me envision a way for me to express my creativity, use my professional skills and work in a supportive and inclusive environment that I’m passionate about. This is Girls Rock! D.C.’s first year, and we are already looking to create year-round programming for girls and even a mini-women’s rock camp!
Michael Dumlao, 28
Adams Morgan
Co-founder and Creative Director of Fashion Fights Poverty
How has being gay impacted the work you are doing?
I believe that the process of self-realization that underscores a person’s identification with being gay provides a heightened sensitivity to political, social and cultural issues that greatly impacts my work as a designer and social entrepreneur. When one is forced to question their identity and challenge social norms surrounding their identity, a person extends that inquiry to other aspects of the world — and in my case, when I see something wrong in society, I work to provide a creative solution for it.
What do you hope to contribute to gay D.C.?
A fresh perspective on how to approach an ever-evolving synergy between gay D.C. and “everyone else.” Having been brought up on three continents across a myriad of distinct cultures, I, along with many in the city, harbor different approaches to this notion of “gay D.C.,” one that doesn’t polarize the city into gay-straight dualities.
How important is Pride to you?
Is Pride the only time in the year when I celebrate gayness? Not if you examine my wardrobe, honey. Pride is something I exude on a daily basis — pride in my heritage, pride in my accomplishments, pride in my relationships. For me, pride isn’t a summertime festival — it’s a way of life.
What do you think is the most important issue facing gay Americans?
Perennially bad “gay-themed” films, and the identity crisis that comes with becoming more mainstream.
What do you hope to accomplish in the future?
I just started a new job as a senior creative director in a big government consulting firm in a field with a nebulous, somewhat reluctant relationship with design. Between this role and my continued co-leadership behind Fashion Fights Poverty, the city’s largest and longest-running ethical fashion show, my “new” goal is to show clients, consumers and citizens that good design is a strategic necessity, not a luxurious after thought. Whether in government or in the world of fighting global poverty, I hope to strengthen the role of creative art and design in changing the world.
Syrena Davis, 28
Washington, D.C.
Peer Education Coordinator for the D.C. Rape Crisis Center
How has being gay impacted the work you are doing?
Sexual abuse and sexual assault happens in the queer community, and I think it should be more visible and spoken about more. So I’m charged as a queer person of color to educate and inform all people, no matter what sexual or gender identity, of how to protect themselves and how to identify what is rape.
What do you hope to contribute to gay D.C.?
My job is with the Crisis Center, but my personal philosophy is being self-aware and progressing your community.
How important is Pride to you?
I think it is historically necessary to have that kind of media attention, to create an element of normalcy to the society at large, for queer people to be seen as who we are.
What do you think is the most important issue facing gay Americans?
I think the most important issue is stereotypes that follow the community. Even within and outside the community, there is still this element of either fostering the stereotypical behavior or even in media, how we’re seen, not just as things as loving individuals, and not creating a normal space for growth.
What do you hope to accomplish in the future?
I hope to continue what I’m doing with performance and creating conscious, non-censored artistic expression, non-censored creative expression.
Angela Lombardi, 27
Washington, D.C.
Phase 1 Bar Manager
How has being gay impacted the work you are doing?
Being gay is kind of what I do professionally. If I was straight I don’t think I would be able to enjoy all the glorious perks of managing a lesbian bar. Having the opportunity to merge my sexuality with my profession is a unique privilege.
What do you hope to contribute to gay D.C.?
I not only want to continue the institution that is Phase 1, but take it to the next level. The Phase is so much more than just a bar. It is a community center. It is a safe place. It is an open forum for queer artists and musicians. I hope to keep the Phase true to these traditions, but expand on them by bringing you events like Phasefest, which in its inaugural year became the biggest queer art and music festival on the East Coast. I also want to continue to use the Phase as a means to give back to the community by teaming up with organizations like DCATS, Whitman-Walker, D.C. Rape Crisis Center, Deaf AIDS Project, etc., and opening up the bar to these organizations to find new and creative ways to raise money.
How important is Pride to you?
Pride is definitely important to me as it is a time for us to celebrate who we are. I mean who doesn’t love dance re-mixes and half-naked dancing cowboys … certainly not this girl.
What do you think is the most important issue facing gay Americans?
I think the one major issue that we ought to be addressing is our terrible reliance on the rainbow flag as a symbol of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. I think we need a new, stronger, more whimsical symbol like the unicorn. A close second would have to be that whole equality thing. I mean the whole idea that we’re not human beings worthy of the same rights and privileges that are available to heterosexuals seems a little outdated. Kinda like wearing parachute pants, only much, much worse of course.
What do you hope to accomplish in the future?
I hope to continue to be an integral part of lesbian nightlife in one way or another. I hope the Phase continues to be “base camp” for the lesbian community. The Phase has become who I am. The Phase has come to define me in the same way it has been an integral part of the lives of so many queer women lucky enough to experience it. With the amazing staff, from door girls to bar backs, there is not a doubt in my mind that anyone could come to the Phase and feel welcomed and have a rockin’ time.
Maegan Wood, 29
Washington, D.C.
Publicist for the Black Cat, Founding Member of First Ladies DJ Collective
How has being gay impacted the work you are doing?
At the Black Cat, there is an expectation and comfort that I don’t have to explain myself. It isn’t a traditional place. We work to make it that way and in turn we have a lot of freedom to be who we are.
What do you hope to contribute to gay D.C.?
To keep creating spaces for people to be involved with music. The Black Cat is just one avenue for that. But through the First Ladies, doing nights at Phase 1 and Be Bar, etc., I’ve learned that you have to make community to have it. You meet amazing people and offer support and get it back.
How important is Pride to you?
Pride is like gay Christmas, people make their own traditions. This year, I’ll be deejaying the Friday night Women’s Party at the 9:30 club. I’ll probably hit up the Dyke March, too.
What do you think is the most important issue facing gay Americans?
I just hope that Samantha will be able to make an honest woman out of Lindsay someday soon.
What do you hope to accomplish in the future?
Paying off my student loans would be nice.
