QUEERY

Queery
20 gay questions for Craig Howell

Friday, December 21, 2007

CRAIG HOWELL is a city native. He was born in the District at Old Sibley Hospital and hasn’t really left the area since. He attended school in D.C., including his college years at Georgetown University where he got a degree in economics. Shortly after graduation, he started working at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but was drafted in 1969, serving his time in Germany instead of Vietnam. Once back in the United States, Howell returned to his job at the bureau where he remained until retirement in 1994. Throughout his adult life, he’s devoted significant time to gay organizations: Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance, Chrysalis Arts & Culture Group and Adventuring. Add the occasional tour of Civil War battlefields (a longstanding passion of his), and his schedule is pretty hectic. Howell is single and lives in the Dupont Circle condo he moved into in 1986.

How long have you been out and who was the hardest person to tell?

I came out with a vengeance in the spring of 1971 immediately after getting out of the Army. My mother, a devout Catholic, was the hardest to tell, especially since I had already come out to her as an atheist several years before. Luckily, we both survived all that drama.
 

Who’s your gay hero?

Frank Kameny.

 
What is Washington’s best nightspot, past or present?

The Lost and Found.
 

If gay marriage were legal, would you tie the knot?

No.

 
What non-gay issue are you most passionate about?

Probably a tie between separation of church and state and preservation of Civil War battlefields.

 
What historical outcome would you change?

The conversion of Saul into Paul on that road to Damascus. 

 
What has been the most memorable pop culture moment of your lifetime?

Release of the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper” album in 1967.

 
On what reality TV show would you fare best?

“The Apprentice.”

 
What item of clothing has been in your closet since high school?

Probably some ties.

 
If your life were a book, what would the title be?

“Gods, Guns and Gays.”

If science discovered a way to change sexual orientation, what would you do?

Send the formula to Matt Damon and Brad Pitt.

 
What do you believe in beyond the physical world?

Nothing. We secular humanists like to say: “This life is all, and enough.”

 
What would you order for your last meal?

Something from the Inn at Little Washington, catered by waiters from Sean Cody.

 
What would you walk across hot coals for?

Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” so gays can finally serve openly in the military.

 
What gay stereotype annoys you most?

The notion that gay guys aren’t interested in sports.

 
What is the best gay film ever made?

“Another Country.”
 

What is the most overrated social custom?

Opening sporting events by playing “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

 
What trophy or prize do you most covet?

Being named chair of the Military History Department at West Point.

 
What’s your advice for gay teens? 

“You’re moral; your tormenters are immoral. Hang in there.”

 
Why Washington?

Born here. Most family and friends here. Gay-friendly environment. Civil War battlefields, art galleries, museums, historic homes, mountains, C&O Canal, fine dining, Megalopolis: all here or nearby. Never a dull moment. Now if we could just fix the D.C. government and get rid of some of these Republicans from out of town.

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