The parties began days before the inauguration itself. First came a night of club crawling on U Street – a neighborhood that’s seen good times, then bad, and now is seeing good times again. The Bohemian Caverns – a basement performance space (yes, it looks like a cave) with links to Duke Ellington, Billy Holiday, Sarah Vaughn and many more was shivering with acid jazz sax and some trepidation about scary guy in the front row. (Sighs, chuckles and smiles all around when he finally disappeared up the stairs.) Then on to a café with Caribbean food and a fine Latin band. Then on to a far hipper night spot – as evidenced by the barmaids who look stylish while utterly refusing to smile. Then on to Ben’s – an icon of a hot dog stand that stood in the same spot all through the good and bad and good times again. O-Ba-Ma had paid his respects there just a few days before. The street was still clogged with people at 4:30 a.m. Note to travelers: The only way to get taxis to stop for you in this situation is to look like you have more money than the rest of the mob.
Another evening found us enjoying the ambiance of Margaret Ann’s bar in the rear of Old Ebbitt Grill. There, we met Damica and her four closest girlfriends out for more drinks after the Wizards game. There was some taunting of a Wizards player unfortunate enough to appear in the next dining room. There was sharing of Georgetown shopping tips. There was – something else, but it’s getting harder to remember…
Then there was the American Scholars Ball – a formal tuxedo and fur coat-clad event sponsored by the Hip Hop Caucus and honoring outstanding black scholars. Held at the Ritz Carlton, the attendees were dressed in fabulous attire and beautiful to see. It was a helpful learning experience to round out the week. It turns out that black people can be boring, too.
Gay people it would appear, cannot. Following the inauguration ceremony, strings were pulled and favors called in to secure a cubbyhole office in the Methodist Building on Capitol Hill – the same building from which Dr. King used a cubbyhole office to plan the March on Washington. Our goals were slightly less noble: We planned to change into a tux and sparkly St. John dress and march over to the Mayflower Hotel for the “Out for Equality” inaugural ball.
Since the history of buildings appears to be relevant to this story, it should be pointed out that the Mayflower Hotel is where J. Edgar Hoover ate lunch for 20 years, where Harry Truman lived for the first 90 days of his presidential term, where in Room 776 Franklin D. Roosevelt dictated the words “We have nothing to fear but fear itself,” and where upstairs in Room 871 Eliot Spitzer conducted an assignation that led to his resignation as Governor of New York. We were there for the Best. Party. Ever.
Stunning décor? Check. Scrumptious food? Check. A packed house filled with beautiful people who also smell good? Check. And the entertainment? Forgive me while I rave. Dave Koz, Rufus Wainwright, Thelma Houston, Melissa Etheridge, Cyndi Lauper – all performing like this was a day that meant something to them.
In between having a wonderful time, two insights surfaced for me – a guy who grew up in the most Republican of states and continues to work in the most Republican of industries. The first occurred when newly elected Congressman Jared Polis took the stage to speak. Congressman Polis is the first openly gay man elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a freshman. I turned to the people next to me and said, “That’s my Congressman. I voted for him.” Instant street cred, yes, but it was much more than that. Suddenly I felt connected to something broader – something about acceptance and love and, dare we go there, change. Hope even.
Then Ms. Lauper sung her old standard. I recalled when it came out in 1986 and how I thought it was a pleasant enough song. But it took until this moment, surrounded by rainbow-themed decorations, surrounded by people different from me in some ways but the same in most, that the parable became clear.
Whatever colors you are: “Don't be afraid to let them show. Your true colors… are beautiful.”
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