It’s been a year now since Uproar became the cozily intimate home for Charger Stone’s long-running, hirsute happy hour event. And this Friday, Aug. 9, those in the Crüe can opt to get even more intimate if they’d like. Two hours after doors open at 5 p.m., Stone has invited “Adonis” Ryan Lahr, a representative with Athena’s Home Novelties, to present, discuss, and sell the company’s wares. Taking a page from Tupperware, Athena’s enlists and instructs salespeople such as Lahr to host gatherings in a somewhat private, sex-positive “safe environment,” one where attendees can “view, sample, and purchase sensuous products.” At Uproar, interested bears will have to make their way to the relatively secluded second floor to see and buy the sex enhancers and insertables on offer until 9:30 p.m. Everybody else can drink, converse, and cruise as usual, missing out on newfound pleasures, perhaps, but not on the standard special of $5 per rail cocktail or 32 ounce draft pitcher of Bud Light or Shock Top. Free appetizers will also be offered, with additional food available for purchase off the restaurant’s food menu. Uproar is at 639 Florida Ave NW. Call 202-462-4464 or visit www.facebook.com/uproarloungedc.
AVALON SATURDAYS: MADSCIENCE VS. WESS
On Saturday, Aug. 10, Dougie Meyer offers a roundabout but novel way of toasting the legacies of two of D.C.’s best-known and longest-standing LGBTQ dance clubs — Cobalt and Town — both of which closed over the past year. At the popular weekly LGBTQ party he throws at downtown’s trendy Soundcheck, Meyer welcomes two veteran local DJs for what is playfully billed as a “Battle of the DJs.” On one side, you have Jesse “Madscience” Jackson, who was an omnipresent resident at Cobalt, spinning through hip-hop and rock or techno and EDM as much as dance-pop and for both weeknight and weekend parties. On the other side, there’s DJ Wess, who essentially lived at Town every weekend, setting the pace for alt-night events and Friday nights in particular, throughout the Shaw danceboutique’s decade-long run. The party kicks off at 10:30 p.m. with a drag show hosted by Ba’naka and with additional performances from Brooklyn Heights, Bambi Necole Farrah, and Kristina Kelly, as well as the birthday queen du nuit Iyana Deschanel. Doors are at 10 p.m., and the bar offers $4 Absolut cocktails until midnight. Soundcheck is at 1420 K St. NW. Tickets are $14.99 to $19.99, or $24.99 for VIP with express entry and access to a private lounge with a dedicated bartender. Ages 18 and up. Call 202-789-5429 or visit www.dougiemeyerpresents.com.
Meanwhile, Trade is offering a delayed toast to the summer solstice this Saturday, Aug. 10, with a party that’s ultimately inspired by this summer’s hit scary Swedish-set movie Midsommar. Starting at 10 p.m., the party will offer a series of special ceremonies, capped off by a May Pole Dance competition in which the winner takes the title of May Queen. The prize is a flower crown and a gift card to IKEA. (Mid)Summer Camp is mistress of ceremonies, and DJ Ed Bailey is the musical guide. Maja will offer a cocktail with “special properties” for all those in attendance at this seasonal affair, which is Rated 21+. Trade is at 1410 14th St. NW. Call 202-986-1094 or visit www.tradebardc.com.
TART: QUEER DANCE PARTY
Next Friday, Aug. 16, U Street Music Hall presents the debut of a new quarterly series geared to the LGBTQ crowd, with each edition programmed around what could be called poptarts, or select contemporary pop music artists. The first harvest is a puckering blend of divas, pretty girls, and rude boys — as featured in the the music of Britney, Beyoncé, and Rihanna, played by DJs Matt Bailer and Honey. And then there’s the sweettart performances at midnight from some of the tartiest drag queens in town: Riley Knoxx, BABY, Desiree Dik, Brooklyn Heights, Iyana Deschanel, and Sasha Adams Sanchez. Washington Heights hosts. Party starts at 10 p.m., with dancing until 3 a.m. U Street Music Hall is at 1115A U St. NW. Tickets are $10 to $15. Call 202-588-1880 or visit www.ustreetmusichall.com.
“People just really wanna go to their happy place right now,” says Heather Barnes. “And Awesome Con is a happy place for a lot of people. Some people look forward to it all year long. And it's finally here. It's like Christmas.”
As a senior marketing manager at LeftField Media, Barnes is well-acquainted with the inherent joys of Awesome Con. The D.C. comic-con, held annually at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, is a strikingly massive event, boasting panels, showcases, celebrity guests, tons of artists, and more attendee cosplay than you can wield a Poké Ball at.
"I love people," says Becca Balint. "I love getting to know them. I love figuring out what makes them tick. I love laughing with them.... I love people, and I get energy from them."
The U.S. Representative from Vermont is definitely a people person: personable, gregarious, cheerful, and willing to engage in conversation, whether it's about serious, pressing political issues or more informal interactions, like cooing over her communication director's pet dog, who briefly appeared on screen during the first minutes of our Zoom interview.
Born on a U.S. Army base in Heidelberg, West Germany, Balint, the daughter of a service member who was himself an immigrant from post-World War II Hungary, lived briefly abroad before moving stateside to Peekskill, New York.
When I was 13, my father took me on a weekend trip to New York City. I remember sitting with him at the Howard Johnson's in Times Square, nibbling on fried clams, and somehow the question of homosexuals arose.
Now, I was an extremely closeted Cincinnati, Ohio, teen back then and had no inkling of the greater depths of my own sexual identity or of being gay in general. But I saw a few flamboyant men on the streets of New York in that summer of 1972 and asked dad about why they acted the way they did.
"They're homosexuals," he said. "They like men." He didn't offer further details.
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