Apr 18, 2008   | COMMENTS     

Lizard Lounge to reopen at venue with smoking area

Lizard Lounge, the weekly Sunday night gay dance party that ended its eight-year run in April 2006, will reopen on May 4 in a new location at 14th and K Streets, N.W., according to its owner, D.C. gay nightlife advocate and event promoter Mark Lee.

Lee said Lizard Lounge will operate out of Lima Restaurant and Lounge at 1401 K Street, N.W., in he heart of the city’s newly emerging district for upscale lounges and nightclubs. Lee created a stir two years ago when he announced he was closing Lizard Lounge at its former location on Connecticut Avenue near Dupont Circle because the city’s new smoking ban would drive away too many customers and make it financially unfeasible to stay in business.

He said his new location at Lima includes a “covered outdoor lounge” where smoking is permitted.
“What distinguishes this operation is we will have an opportunity to accommodate our clients who smoke,” Lee said.

Owners and managers of the city’s existing gay bars and nightclubs said the smoking ban resulted in some loss of business but not enough to prevent them from continuing to operate. New gay bars, including Be Bar and Town, have opened since the smoking ban took effect.

LOU CHIBBARO JR.

Former aide to Mayor Dixon lands new role after scandal

A gay man who resigned from Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon’s administration last month has landed a new role.

Anthony McCarthy, who resigned from the mayor’s office in March after a complaint alleging “inappropriate behavior” was filed against him, now serves as the chief development officer for the Health Education Resource Organization in Baltimore.

“In that role, I’m responsible for fundraising and working with the philanthropic grants community to make sure we have the dollars to meet our mission,” he said, “which is to serve people who are living with HIV and AIDS.”

McCarthy said he started with HERO on March 17, shortly after resigning from Dixon’s
administration.

“I continue to be a strong admirer and supporter of Mayor Dixon,” he said, “but it was apparent to her and me after our initial conversations that it was time to move on.”

McCarthy was suspended from Dixon’s administration in November after the complaint was filed against him.

According to a police report obtained by the Baltimore Sun, an unidentified 16-year-old boy who belonged to the Unity Fellowship church where McCarthy preached told a social worker that McCarthy had engaged in improper sexual contact with him when he was 15.

The investigation, which did not go before a grand jury, was dropped after a prosecutorial review. McCarthy was not charged with a crime.

“It’s probably best that I not saying anything, but I guess for me, in regard to the allegations that were made against me, I am fortunate enough to have and know friends and supporters from all over the country who called, e-mailed, sent word through friends, through my church, that they supported me and stood with me,” he said. “And people who knew me know how absolutely impossible the allegations against me were. That is as much as I should say.”

McCarthy, who left Unity in November, said he misses the congregation.

“I resigned and left the Unity Fellowship movement for two reasons really,” he said. “I felt extraordinarily betrayed by these allegations, and wanted to protect the church and its reputation. The mission of Unity is so important in this world that I knew it was best that I fight this on my own.”

Once a contender for state office, McCarthy said he now is only peripherally involved in politics.

“I can’t imagine ever seeking public office again,” he said. “You never say never, but the events of the latter part of last year and earlier this year have emotionally scarred me in ways that I cannot even put into words. And so I really try to live each day as it comes, and I haven’t allowed myself to look too far into the future. I just really appreciate every day.”

JOSHUA LYNSEN

Somerset becomes third Md. town with an out gay mayor

A former National Gay & Lesbian Task Force board member has become Maryland’s third openly gay mayor.

Jeffrey Slavin was sworn in earlier this month as the new mayor of Somerset, a small municipality in Chevy Chase with about 1,100 residents.

Slavin, who’s spent decades participating in gay civil rights advocacy, joined the Task Force board in 2000. He stepped down in 2003 after completing his term, then served on the board’s development ...