TODAY'S SCHEDULE

SATURDAY, AUG. 23

Breakfast
9:30AM-10:45AM

Breakout Sessions
9:30AM-10:45AM

Breakout Sessions
11:00AM-12:15AM

Lunch Plenary
12:30PM-2:00PM

Breakout Sessions
2:15PM-3:30PM

Closing Session
3:45PM-5:15PM

Authors' Café
3:45PM-5:45PM

Not-So-Silent Auction
6:45PM-8:45PM

View the full schedule here

TODAY'S WEATHER

WHAT IS NLGJA?

Find out more about NLGJA at the official website.

MENTORS

A big thanks to our mentors:

Brett Zongker
The Associated Press

Caroline K. Hauser
The Washington Post

Mark S. Luckie
Entertainment Weekly

Larry M. Shaw
ABC

Dennis M. Powell
ABC

Doug Mitchell
NPR

Gay history's impact on a city of contrasts

by Jenna Oskowitz

Mind-boggling.

This was the only word that Dr. Franklin E. Kameny could use to describe the progression of gay history here in Washington D.C.

Known as one of the most significant figures in the American gay rights movement, Kameny was discharged from his civil service job as an astronomer for the United States Army Map Service in 1957.

After finding himself unfairly unemployed, Kameny decided he needed to stand up for himself to the leaders who sent him into what felt like an exile. In 1961, he petitioned the government about the biased treatment he received and the fact that this should not be allowed to happen.

After his appeal was thrown out, he decided to start a grass roots activist group to help make their voices heard. He and Jack Nichols began the Mattachine Society of Washington D.C., which believed in a method of direct contact to fight discrimination. Their main focus was to end sexual discrimination for men and women who worked civil service jobs.

"We initiated the first ever picketing for gay rights at the White House," Kameny said. "Shortly after, I received a phone call from a high ranking civil service official who told me that the government decided to change the policy to suit me."

In 1975, the Civil Service Commission finally amended its anti-gay policy. Among his other efforts to equalize the gay community with the rest of society, Kameny coined the term "gay is good" in 1968. He also took part in panels that were held by the American Psychiatric Association in which he urged them to remove homosexuality from the list of psychiatric illnesses.

He succeeded at that as well in 1973. Before his two triumphs, he was the first openly gay civilian to run for congress in 1971.
"Anyone who lives in Washington, D.C. realizes that there are two separate Washington, D.C.'s," Kameny said. "There is the federal capitol and then there is the local municipal government."

He can easily differentiate the two.

"When I first moved here in 1956, there was no local government so everything was run by the Congress," he said. "In 1975, we finally got our local municipality."

And it is this local municipality that Kameny and other gay members of the community have had faith in for the past 16 years. In 1992, domestic partnerships were legalized in D.C.; it is the local government who has protected them ever since.

"We have worked strategically to have the same freedoms that heterosexual marriages have so we are okay with domestic partnerships," said Kameny. "If we were to ever ask for gay marriage to be legalized, the Congress would give us a huge backlash."

Working quietly with the local government, the gay community has thrived in the city, he said. After the 2008 Presidential election, they plan to negotiate same-sex marriage with the ‘hopeful' future Democratic President and other congressional leaders.

"Once we feel safe, City Council will give us gay marriage," Kameny said.

While Kameny has felt the positive effects of his accomplishments in D.C. over the past five decades, others who are younger see a different gay culture.

Craig Seymour, a native born D.C. author, has seen the underground side of the community and has watched it dissemble.

While attending graduate school at the University of Maryland for American Studies, Seymour decided to take up an interesting assignment; he chose to study the ins and outs of gay strip clubs in the metropolitan area.

"My first gay club experience happened to be a strip club," Seymour said. "And there, for the first time in my life, I felt the feeling of freedom."

Being able to express his innermost desires in an atmosphere which endorsed it, he felt welcome.

"I could express myself without fear of getting my ass kicked," he laughed.

During his investigation of the clubs, he found himself talking to one of the dancers about their motivations. After a few minutes of prying, the dancer asked why he wasn't dancing himself since he was so interested. That one question showed Seymour his calling.

Seymour's memoir, "All I Could Bare: My Life in the Strip Clubs of Gay Washington, D.C.," he explains his personal story against the backdrop of gay culture nationwide.

"What I experienced was an odyssey, a personal transformation," Seymour said. "It was ironic because all of this wild stuff was happening a stone's throw away from our nation's capitol."

Strangely enough, Seymour's unexpected dive into the realm of becoming a stripper fueled his courage to become a journalist.
"For the first time, I stepped outside of my comfort zone, which allowed me to feel I could face other fears," he said.

For Seymour, one of his fears was becoming a journalist. Yet, after his quick success at the art, he became fully engulfed.
Seymour now teaches as an associate professor of Journalism in Northern Illinois and has worked for The Washington Post, Spin Magazine, Vibe Magazine and Entertainment Weekly.

Seymour will also be speaking on the memoir panel at the NLGJA Convention on Saturday and a book signing at Lambda Rising Sunday morning.

As a D.C. native, Seymour has seen the crumble of the gay community.

"Sex has been erased from Washington, D.C.," he said. "Once they closed the strip clubs to build the baseball stadium, the city lost a lot."

Seymour is concerned about the opportunity for the gay community to have a welcoming place.

"It's almost like society wants to erase a certain kind of person," Seymour said. "More tolerance is needed and there should be a place for sexually oriented clubs to exist."

Though there may not be as many sexually oriented clubs for the gay community in the city, there is still plenty of night life and places to go.

Du Pont Circle is commonly known as the "gayborhood."

"This is the place to be," said Marcus Horne, manager of Lambda Rising.

Horne loves the atmosphere in the circle and Lambda Rising has just enough spirit to show its true colors.

"If someone came in and recorded everything that went on here, we would have a prime time hit," Horne said. "Our bookstore is a staple in this community, one that people expect to see when they come here."

From tourists to regulars, the walls of Lambda Rising have seen quite a lot.

"One minute someone is asking about lubricants and the next they are asking how to clone their penis," Horne said.

Whether it is bookstores, novelty shops or bars, Du Pont Circle has it all.

A few of the regular hotspots include the Duplex Diner which has a popular gay happy hour, Larry's located on 18th St., Jack's on 17th St. and JR's DC Bar and Grill which hosts a high heel marathon every year.