Lou Chibbaro Jr. is an American journalist best known for his efforts as senior news writer for the Washington Blade to chronicle the gay rights movement in the Washington metropolitan area and nationwide in the United States.
Raised on Long Island, Chibbaro moved to Washington, D.C., in the early 1970s after completing an undergraduate degree. Chibbaro first came to Washington, D.C. in 1971 while a student a SUNY Brockport; he returned in 1975 to work and to earn a graduate degree in broadcast journalism. [1]
In 1975, he came out to his parents about his sexuality. [2] After telling them in person, he followed up his announcement with a "Dear Mom and Dad" letter that he hoped would help them understand. As he wrote them, "There are many who have advised me never to tell my parents I'm gay. I think it's to your credit that I can't do this. I just can't and won't live a lie!" While his mother was initially upset and his father worried about the prospects for his career if anyone found out that he was gay, his parents ultimately accepted his sexual orientation. [2]
Lou Chibbaro Jr. wrote his earliest articles in the Washington Blade as a volunteer and under the pseudonym "Lou Romano", as at the time that he first began writing for the Blade, journalism careers could be ruined for being associated with a gay newspaper. [2] To earn a living, Chibbaro worked first at Trends Publishing and then at American Public Power Association. [1] In 1978, two years after he started volunteering at the Blade, he became self-employed as the publisher of a public utility newsletter; it was at that time that he dropped the use of the pseudonym in favor of using his real name. [1] His decision to use his real name was spurred by a particularly gruesome event that he reported on in which 9 men died in a fire in a rundown adult theater that drove home to him the dangers of living a secret life. [2]
As of 1984, he became a paid staff member. [2] Even then, the income was not enough to live on and Chibbaro had to supplement his income from the newspaper by working as a cab driver for Red Top Cabs. [1] During his time at the Blade, he covered such wide-ranging stories as the AIDS epidemic; political protests; murders, including the 1976 murder of one of the congressional staff members of Rep. Morris Udall at a gay cruising area; congressional members who were hiring male prostitutes; federal efforts targeting gay men for dismissal from their government jobs; to a gay ex-Marine who foiled an assassination attempt on the life of President Gerald Ford by grabbing the would-be assassins gun and deflecting the shot. [2]
In 2008, Chibbaro received the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association's Sarah Pettit Memorial Award for Excellence in LGBT Media Second Place Award. [3]
He was inducted into the Society of Professional Journalists' Washington Pro Chapter's Hall of Fame in 2011, the first member of the LGBT community to do so, joining acclaimed journalists such as Helen Thomas and Bob Woodward. [4] [5]
In 2009, Chibbaro received the Rainbow History Project's Community Pioneers Award. [1]
In 2010, Chibbaro received the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance's Distinguished Service Award. [6]
D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams and a majority of the members of the D.C. Council have said they oppose DOMA laws and favor, in principle, the legalization of same-sex marriage.
The Washington Blade is an LGBT newspaper in the Washington metropolitan area. The Blade is the oldest LGBT newspaper in the United States and third largest by circulation, behind the Philadelphia Gay News and the Gay City News of New York City. The Blade is often referred to as America's gay newspaper of record because it chronicled LGBT news locally, nationally, and internationally. The New York Times said the Blade is considered "one of the most influential publications written for a gay audience."
Carol Schwartz is an American politician and Perennial candidate from Washington, D.C., who served as a Republican at-large member on the Council of the District of Columbia from 1985 to 1989 and again from 1997 to 2009. A five-time perennial candidate for mayor, she is the only Republican nominee since the restoration of home rule to garner more than 30 percent of the vote. She announced her fifth campaign for mayor on June 9, 2014 finishing behind Muriel Bowser and David Catania. In 2015, she was appointed to the D.C. Board of Ethics and Government Accountability by Mayor Muriel Bowser.
James McMillan Nielson Graham was a Scottish-born American politician and a member of the Council of the District of Columbia. As a Democrat he represented Ward 1 in Washington, D.C. from 1999 until 2015.
Franklin Edward Kameny was an American gay rights activist. He has been referred to as "one of the most significant figures" in the American gay rights movement.
Capital Pride is an annual LGBT pride festival held in early June each year in Washington, D.C. It was founded as Gay Pride Day, a one-day block party and street festival, in 1975. In 1980 the P Street Festival Committee formed to take over planning. It changed its name to Gay and Lesbian Pride Day in 1981. In 1991, the event moved to the week prior to Father's Day. Financial difficulties led a new organization, One In Ten, to take over planning of the festival. Whitman-Walker Clinic (WWC) joined One In Ten as co-sponsor of the event in 1997, at which time the event's name was changed to Capital Pride. Whitman-Walker became the sole sponsor in 2000. But the healthcare organization came under significant financial pressures, and in 2008 turned over producing duties to a new organization, Capital Pride Alliance.
Cheryl Ann Spector was a well-known gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender activist who lived in Arlington, Virginia.
Whitman-Walker Health (WWH), formerly Whitman-Walker Clinic, is a non-profit community health center in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area with a special expertise in HIV/AIDS healthcare and LGBT healthcare. Chartered as an affirming health center for the gay and lesbian community in 1978, Whitman-Walker was one of the first responders to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in D.C. and became a leader in HIV/AIDS education, prevention, diagnosis and treatment. In recent years, Whitman-Walker has expanded its services to include primary healthcare services, a stronger focus on queer women's care and youth services.
One In Ten (OIT) is a non-profit, all-volunteer LGBTQ arts organization in Washington, D.C. Its largest program is Reel Affirmations, the third largest LGBT film festival in the United States and the largest all-volunteer film festival in the world.
Phase 1, also known as The Phase, was a lesbian bar and nightclub at 525 8th Street, Southeast in Washington, D.C. Located one block south of Pennsylvania Avenue, SE near Eastern Market in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, Phase 1 was the oldest continually operating lesbian bar in the United States and the oldest operating LGBTQ bar in Washington, D.C. until its closure in February, 2016.
Robert Eric Wone was an American lawyer who was murdered in the Washington, D.C. home of a college friend, Joseph Price, in August 2006. Wone was living in suburban Oakton, Virginia, but had been working as general counsel at Radio Free Asia in downtown Washington. He had stayed the night at the home of friends located about one mile from his office. According to police affidavits, Wone was believed to have been "restrained, incapacitated, and sexually assaulted" before his death. The residents of the home – Price, Victor Zaborsky and Dylan Ward – contended that the murder was committed by an intruder unknown to them; the trial judge found this unbelievable. Wone's official cause of death was attributed to knife wounds.
Melvin Boozer was an American university professor and activist for African American, LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS issues. He was active in both the Democratic Party and Socialist Party USA.
In the District of Columbia, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) people enjoy the same rights as non-LGBTQ people. Along with the rest of the country, the District of Columbia recognizes and allows same-sex marriages. The percentage of same-sex households in the District of Columbia in 2008 was at 1.8%, the highest in the nation. This number had grown to 4.2% by early 2015.
Paulette Goodman was the President of Parents, Friends and Family of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) from 1988 to 1992. She led the campaign to get PFLAG ads displayed on DC Metro buses.
Gerald N. "Jay" Fisette Jr. is an American politician in Arlington County, Virginia. He became the state's first openly gay elected official when he was elected to the five-person Arlington County Board in 1997. Fisette won four reelections and served as the County Board Chair in 2001, 2005, 2010, 2014 and 2017, his last year in office. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Fisette previously worked for the federal government and at a local nonprofit health center.
Pillar of Fire is an illuminated glass sculpture in Washington, D.C. honoring Whitman-Walker Health and the healthcare workers who assisted people living with HIV/AIDS during the height of the AIDS epidemic. Designed by artist William Cochran, the sculpture is composed of 370 layers of float glass that changes colors throughout the day. It was installed in 2013 in front of the old Whitman-Walker Clinic site at 14th and S Streets NW. The design was inspired by the ancient tale of a pillar of fire that led Israelites in their crossing of the Red Sea and through the desert after they fled Egypt.
Calvin H. Gurley is an accountant and perennial candidate living in Washington, D.C.
Malcom Gregory Scott also known as Greg Scott, is an American writer, activist, and AIDS survivor. In 1987, the United States Navy (USN) discharged him for homosexuality, after which Scott worked to overturn the Department of Defense (DoD) directive prohibiting the military service of lesbian and gay Americans. Upon his discharge, Scott also learned he had tested positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). He was active in the Washington, D.C., chapters of ACT UP and Queer Nation. Scott was an advocate for legal access to medical marijuana, a critic of early HIV prevention education strategies, and a proponent for expanded academic research to support the public policy goals of queer communities. American journalist Michelangelo Signorile once called Scott "the proudest queer in America." Scott worked as a writer for Fox Television's America's Most Wanted, and his writing has appeared in several newspapers and magazines. Scott nearly died of Stage IV AIDS in 1995 and credited marijuana with his survival until effective anti-retroviral therapies became available.
In Washington, D.C., LGBT culture is heavily influenced by the U.S. federal government and the many nonprofit organizations headquartered in the city.
Annie's Paramount Steakhouse, also known as Annie's, is a restaurant in Washington, D.C., known for its role in the city's LGBT culture.
ABilly S. Jones-Hennin was an American LGBT rights activist based in Washington, D.C.