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free, but timed-entry passes are required this year. Call 202-633-2614 or visit https://nationalzoo.si.edu/.

skeive, or queer, community, and other representatives of the LGBTQ movement, Støre and Annette Trettebergstuen, a lesbian who serves as the country’s minister of culture and equality, apologized for the treatment of LGBTQ people, both those convicted under the law and those who suffered discrimination or harassment outside of the judicial system until recent decades, when the LGBTQ community began to become more accepted, reports Reuters.Since the law’s repeal, Norway has generally been at the forefront of expanding LGBTQ rights, becoming only the second country, after Denmark, to permit civil partnerships for same-sex couples in 1993, and legalizing marriage equality in 2009.The Norwegian Police have already apologized for the arrests and prosecution of gay men under the law in 2019, as well as for how officers used to harass suspected homosexuals, leaving them in fear of being prosecuted, even during the years when the law was rarely enforced, until its repeal.Noting that the law had “destroyed many lives,” Trettebergstuen highlighted the significance of the apology and what it means for the government’s commitment to ensuring equality in the future. The government’s goal, she said, “is to improve skeives‘ standard of living and mental health.

vetoed by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, that barred transgender students from competing in female-designated sports.

www.tedsbulletin.com.Local stage artists will read from a collection of short, contemporary plays from the besieged Ukraine, some of them written and translated in just the past month, as part of a benefit for two Ukrainian charities and jointly organized by Theater J and Mosaic Theater Company.“Plays from the Front Lines: A Fundraiser for Ukraine,” a program of staged readings directed by Mosaic’s Playwright-In-Residence Psalmayene 24, will share the war-time insights and experiences from some of the country’s leading playwrights, followed by a post-show discussion.“It is a humbling honor to amplify the voices and visions of Ukrainian playwrights capturing this moment in world history with both honesty and hope and to support ongoing relief efforts through this partnership and event,” says Mosaic’s artistic director Reginald L. Douglas in a statement.The beneficiaries are Voices of Children, and its work in providing psychological support to Ukrainian children, and the Beit Graham Jewish Community Center and its work in providing essential services and basic supplies for its members.

Giselle.The classical ballet features a coven of vampire-like maiden spirits called the wilis, who work collectively to haunt and exact revenge against the male lovers who spurned them in acts of betrayal that turned them into supernatural spinsters in the first place.After the weak-hearted Giselle dies upon learning the truth about her beloved Albrecht, the wilis summon her from her grave and target Albrecht as the next betrayer they’ll entrance and dance to death.Next weekend, The Washington Ballet will restage the production of Giselle that five years ago served to introduce Julie Kent as artistic director of the organization working alongside her husband Victor Barbee as associate artistic director.Kent and Barbee worked to enhance the original choreography by Jules Perrot and Jean Coralli in their take on the classic, which they brought to life with Charles Barker conducting the Washington Ballet Orchestra performing Adolphe Adam’s haunting score.“When Victor and I first came to Washington, we knew Giselle would present an important challenge for us, as leaders, and for the Company dancers,” Kent said in a press release. “To revisit this seminal production, exactly five years later, is poignant and energizing.

White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch, he was just the visionary micromanager to heat up the retailer’s image and sales.Jeffries sought to encapsulate the brand’s lusty, youthful mystique in their stores — dimly-lit, permeated by cologne and thumping club beats, guarded by statuesque, shirtless “brand representatives.” Abercrombie became a pop culture phenomenon.“That smell. That music.

Instagram, which includes snaps of him, as well as another musical superstar, one fans aren’t used to seeing with the rapper.The final image is a throwback photo of the Canadian hip-hop talent with Swift, and he captioned it, “They too soft to understand the meaning of hard work.” While it is easy to make out that it’s not a newly-taken picture, it still has fans of both acts in a frenzy.Swifties parse out every lyric, photo, tweet, like of anything on social media, and even any prop in a music video, to see if they can come up with theories regarding what their favorite singer will do next.This practice is encouraged by the “All Too Well” songwriter, and she’s made it clear that this is how she communicates with them. Many believe that Drake posting not just a photo of the two, but a throwback picture, means quite a bit.They are collectively predicting that the two chart-toppers have a song together, but that it’s not exactly “new,” even though nobody has heard it.Swift is in the middle of re-recording her first six albums in an effort to regain control over the masters of the music that made her a star.

Peter and the Wolf featuring a narrator and visual effects. (4/30, from 10 a.m.

1. “Drivers License” Made History When It First Arrived Rodrigo kicked off 2021 right by releasing her debut single “Drivers License,” and while many artists just launching their careers need years to build their profile and score a real hit (even with the backing of major labels), that didn’t turn out to be the case for the teen singer-songwriter.“Drivers License” debuted at No.

full of excellent talent just waiting to be discovered. Joining her in this adventure are quite a few exciting up-and-coming acts, all of which are worth getting to know.Here are the seven artists opening for Eilish throughout 2022 at various dates on her Happier Than Ever, The World Tour.Arlo Parks Arlo Parks was in the running for two Grammys at the most recent ceremony, but sadly, she lost Best New Artist to Olivia Rodrigo, while Best Alternative Music Album went to the spectacular St.

www.aib.si.edu.

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, one of her earliest cookbooks, from the colonial-style house in a tucked-away strip of Georgetown that she purchased with her husband in the late 1940s.What Child called a “little jewel” of a house, a clapboard built in 1870 by notable African-American carpenter Edgar Murphy and recently sold after a five-year renovation, is one of eight privately held properties that will be on rare public view as part of the 89th Georgetown House Tour.Heralded as “the oldest, most prestigious house tour in the country,” this year’s self-guided tour, presented by St. John’s Episcopal Church, Georgetown Parish, highlights the history and evolution of the neighborhood, a showcase of charming 19th-century architecture updated with 21st-century modern design enhancements.The historic church, dating to 1796 and counting Thomas Jefferson and Francis Scott Key as founding members, will serve as the starting point for the tour, set for Saturday, April 23, while also welcoming attendees for an afternoon Parish Tea serving light beverages and refreshments.The tour serves as a benefit for the church’s ministry and outreach, including support for a range of charities including the DC Volunteer Lawyers Project, Manna DC, Jubilee Jobs, Georgetown Ministry Center, Seafarers & International House, American Near East Refugee Aid, and Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem.Child’s home is one of eight properties on view as part of this year’s “Georgetown Old & New” tour.

Air Play in Frederick, Md.Characterized as “part-comedy, part-sculpture, part-circus, and part-theater,” the hour-long wordless adventure sees the performers carrying out precisely devised, gravity-defying physical and aerial stunts by setting in motion common objects and materials, from variously sized latex balloons to large swatches of colorful silk to repurposed packing peanuts.Developed in collaboration with kinetic sculptor and stage designer Daniel Wurtzel (Broadway’s Finding Neverland, Cirque du Soleil’s Amaluna), and realized with fellow Cirque du Soleil alum West Hyler as director, Air Play is touted as a playful, evocative work of sculpture and visual comedy “transforming ordinary objects into uncommon beauty” and “a breathtaking homage to the power of air.”Friday, April 22, at 6 p.m. Weinberg Center for the Arts, 20 W.

Poppy Field finally has made its way to virtual cinemas everywhere, available on VOD and digital.The Romanian drama, directed by Eugen Jebeleanu, earned, among other accolades, a Torino Film Festival Best Actor prize for star Conrad Mericoffer for his dynamic performance as closeted gay gendarmerie officer Christi, who lashes out with homophobic violence in order to protect his secret life.Christi’s angry outburst places him at the center of the storm inside a film theater where he and his fellow officers are trying to keep the peace after the screening of a lesbian film is loudly interrupted by a group of anti-LGBTQ protesters.The events of the film were inspired by a real-life 2013 incident in the capital, Bucharest, where anti-LGBTQ protesters shut down a showing of The Kids Are All Right.“I was not in Bucharest at the time. I was in Paris and was working there,” Jebeleanu recalls.

It’s Okay to Be a Unicorn! after a parent accused the book of trying to “recruit kids to become gay.”Jason Tharp, 45, says he wrote the book to promote inclusion among children, and was planning to read the book aloud to a group of students at an elementary school north of Columbus, Ohio, on April 6.But the day before the reading, Tharp said he received a call from the principal saying that officials with the Buckeye Valley Local School District did not approve of the book and believed it could have a “gay agenda.”“I just said, did somebody think I made a gay book? And [the principal is] like, ‘Yeah,’ and I’m like, ‘Because why? Rainbows and unicorns?'” Tharp told USA TODAY, noting hat the principal confirmed that as the reasoning behind the censorship.Tharp says he remains confused about the cancellation, since the school had booked him more than two years ago, and administrators had previously ordered over 500 of his books to be distributed to students six weeks prior to his visit.Tharp later told USA Today that a parent had complained about the book after going through his social media accounts and seeing LGBTQ-supportive posts.“What it turns out was that it was one parent that came in and said that apparently, I was coming in with an agenda to recruit kids to be gay,” he said. “…It’s the craziest thing, and never in a million years would have thought that I’d be defending a unicorn because people thought I was trying to recruit kids.”He noted that he offered to read another of his books, It’s Okay to Smell Good!, which tells the story of a skunk who enjoys good-smelling things, unlike other skunks.

“I’m having the best time of my life,” Janelle Monáe says. “I’m in the most carefree, ‘I don’t have shit to prove’-phase that I’ve ever been in.” As a result, the queer pop star conceded during a recent Zoom interview with Metro Weekly she’s not sure when she will next release new music.Aside from the occasional single written for film — including “Turntables” from the 2020 documentary All In: The Fight for Democracy and “That’s Enough” from the 2019 remake of Disney’s The Lady and the Tramp — Monáe hasn’t put out new music since 2018.With each album, she “wanted to prove that I could be successful at being myself, being honest with myself as a human.

tweet earlier this week that the legislation would not prevent mental health counseling for those struggling with gender dysphoria.“If an adult wants to self-mutilate in pursuit of the fiction they can defy G-d and science, more power to them — as they don’t expect me to pay for it. But no child should be put in the position of making life-altering decisions before they are of the age of majority,” Fine tweeted.“I can say I’m a porcupine, but that doesn’t make it so,” he continued.

Self Contained: Pandemic Era Works are focused solely on lone figures — from the confident young hunk “Isaac,” who strikes a thoroughly relaxed pose to the startled bug-eyed boy clearly not ready for his zoomed-in closeup in the aptly titled “Shockwave.”Other paintings depict figures from the fringes of mainstream society, including one who is quite literally self-contained. Yet “The Marriage of Bubble Boy” is even more striking and intriguing given the larger context, specifically the world-building narrative scene of a royal proceeding in which no one looks even the slightest bit happy about all the pomp and circumstance, least of all the purple-hued, ennui-riddled titular figurehead.The opening reception is Saturday, April 16, from 4 to 6 p.m.

Lebanese Taverna is offering a customizable Easter spread for the whole family to-go.The Easter Family Menu includes a choice among the following, all served on a bed of fragrant spiced rice with toasted nuts: American Leg of Lamb with three-herb sauce, feeding up to 10 ($180), Riz Bel Djaje, or braised chicken with yogurt salad for up to 8 ($145), Ouzi, or braised lamb loin with yogurt salad for up to 8 ($165), or Organic Whole Chicken, served with garlic, lemon, and gravy ($40).Easter Sides, all served in portions for up to 10 and priced at ($45), include Arnabeet, or fried cauliflower bites with tahini and pomegranate reduction, Roasted Za’atar Potatoes, Bulghur Pilaffor, Mujardara with lentil, rice pilaf, and friend onions, or Arugula, Beet & Orange Salad with pine nuts, feta, and lemon vinaigrette.Easter Desserts include a Middle Eastern Pastry Pack of Baklava, Maamoul, and Barazek ($29), 12 pieces of Baklava ($18), or 6 pieces of the traditional Lebanese Easter pastries called Mammoul, with semolina short crust and assorted fillings of dates ($18).Orders must be placed before 6 p.m. on Friday, April 15, and picked up at specific times on Sunday, April 17.

www.AdMoDC.org/ArtWalk.

www.whitepartyglobal.com.

Metro Weekly, Biffy Clyro’s Simon Neil gave voice to the sentiments of progressive-minded people the world over still reeling from Trump’s hate- and fear-fueled rise to power.“It’s really scary to see people that don’t share our values [about] love, togetherness, people being what they want to be, doing what they want to do,” the Scottish rocker said. “As long as you’re not hurting anyone else, who gives a fuck? And that’s what’s really scary: there are lots and lots of people in this world who feel the exact opposite.”As lead vocalist and guitarist, Neil founded the Scottish rock trio more than 25 years ago with twin brothers James and Ben Johnston, who play bass and drums, respectively.Although the origin of the band’s name remains a mystery — the members notoriously give a different answer each time they’re asked — there’s nothing mysterious about their appeal, given their output of addictive pop riffs powered by raw, forward momentum and elaborate, skillful songwriting, and — secret sauce — Neil’s Scottish accent, which provide his vocals an alluring and distinctive hard edge.During the 2017 Metro Weekly interview, Neil also shared that, during his university days in Glasgow in the late ’90s, he worked at a gay bar.“It wasn’t a full-on leather and chains kind of place,” the straight Scot laughed.

Private (★★★★☆), would insist on at least that level of privacy in their own home.Others, like Corbin (Eric Berryman), Georgia’s “promising, up-and-coming engineer” husband, might more easily be persuaded to drop the fragile veil of privacy if it meant finally earning real money.Offered a dream job and fat salary at a Fortune 500 tech company, Corbin is ready to sign away “access to anything” to seal the deal.

METRO WEEKLY: You’re returning to Cherry this year to help celebrate the 25th anniversary. You were an original DJ at the very first Cherry. That’s really something special.SUSAN MORABITO: It is! I am extremely honored to be a part of the 25th anniversary of Cherry.

Scorch, 17-year-old Kes, a female at birth, has a developing identification with male characters in videogames and movies, and while online, starts a relationship with Jules, who believes Kes to be a boy.A whirlwind of confusion results after Jules discovers the truth about Kes, inspired by real-life events occurring in the U.K. at the time.As Gregg explained it to The Guardian in 2016: “These were [court] cases taken by women who had been deceived into thinking they were having a sexual relationship with a man, but discovered that their partner was a woman or, in one case, a trans man.

NBC News.“I’m going to ask you to read the legislation and to see that the legislation that we passed was in the spirit of fairness to protect girls sports in competitive situations,” Ducey said, referring to the transgender sports ban. “That’s what the legislation is intended to do, and that’s what it does.”Reporters then asked the governor if he believed there are “actual transgender people,” to which he responded: “I…am going to respect everyone, and I’m going to respect everyone’s rights.

Metro Weekly, “We mandate that the prices be shown on every work of art so there’s never that ambiguous space where you don’t know how much something costs and you have to enter one of those weird negotiations.”Given that nearly all of the represented art is priced between $50 and $3,000, the result, Mitow said, is “a more fun, more approachable, more accessible space to interact with and hopefully collect art in.”Also aiding in that cause is a dedicated team helping to organize the event with solid representation of female, minority, and LGBTQ artists that goes well beyond the art show norm.Furthermore, 20 percent of ticket sales go to the cause of supporting LGBTQ youth.More than 70 independent artists will offer more than 800 artworks at this weekend’s Superfine DC — and first since a COVID-induced hiatus.The event has been organized with local input from entities including the DMV League of Artists, which helped curate the exhibition, and Oxford Properties, which is hosting the event at its Gallery Place venue at 713 7th St. NW.The Superfine Art Fair is at 713 7th St.

Grace (★★★★☆), the audience was on their feet, ready to bathe the performer in a juicy, well-earned moment of gratitude.Had Payton launched into an immediate reprise, nobody would have minded. “Again?” is a really good song, among several composed by Nolan Williams, Jr., who also directs the fine eight-piece orchestra, and has got this ensemble cast’s vocals all the way together — save for a straggler or two.Director-choreographer Robert Barry Fleming has likewise fit the cast together firmly in their excellent portrayal of a large extended Black family in Philadelphia gathered for the memorial of their dear, deceased matriarch, Gran’Me.Preparing a picnic in the garden behind the family’s restaurant, Minton’s Place, a one-hundred-year tradition in the community and in their family, the Minton cousins and siblings and aunties comprise a lot of moving parts.Backgrounded by a recently dedicated mural that rises stories above the garden, family members are in and out of the kitchen, up and down steep staircases, carrying food, serving food, eating, singing about, dancing with, and arguing about food.All the movement and prop business looks effortless, as the cast weaves around Jason Ardizzone-West’s spare but expressive set.

The Associated Press.Twenty-one U.S. states and the District of Columbia currently offer gender-neutral options on official identification, including driver’s licenses.

Hillbilly Elegy, and Josh Mandel, the former Ohio state treasurer and two-time U.S. Senate candidate who is back for his third run,  blames Democrats and President Biden for NCAA rules that allow transgender females to compete on women’s sports teams in her most recent campaign commercial, reports The Hill..Given Vance and Mandel’s previous appeals to social conservatives by attacking the transgender and two-spirit communities, Timken, the third of three frontrunners in the GOP field — who heretofore was viewed as the more “establishment” figure — is hoping the ad gains traction and allows her to consolidate Republican primary voters behind her campaign.Thomas, who previously competed for UPenn’s men’s swimming team during her first three years in college, has particularly become a favorite target of conservatives, who balk at the idea that she was allowed to compete in women’s swimming after having received hormone therapy for two-and-a-half years (under NCAA rules, trans women are able to compete after finishing a year of hormone therapy).

Courier-Journal. The Kentucky High School Athletic Association already requires high school athletes to undergo gender confirmation surgery if they wish to compete on sports teams that don’t match their assigned sex at birth. Chris Hartman, the executive director of the Fairness Campaign in Kentucky, said that requirement would make most, if not all, transgender youth under the age of 18, ineligible to compete, as gender confirmation surgeries are rarely performed on minors, and only then after extensive therapy.The NCAA, the governing body in collegiate athletics, recently adopted new guidelines regarding transgender athletes’ eligibility. Under that policy, each individual sport’s governing body will determine eligibility criteria for competing.

Always…Patsy Cline, which has gone on to help launch the career of well-regarded country artist Mandy Barnett, among others.Another Southern-raised musical artist who has channeled her lifelong Cline interest and inspiration to shape the contours of her own career is Katie Deal.The Georgia native, crowned the 2016 Georgia Country Artist of the Year, has toured around the country performing her one-woman show Today, Tomorrow, and Forever: A Tribute to Patsy Cline, in addition to leading a slew of Cline tribute shows with her own band.Deal shares the impact Cline has had on her work in her new cabaret Crazy for Patsy Cline.Backed by a Nashville-based band, the show loosely tracks Cline’s career arc, beginning with her salad days in the early 1950s performing in clubs in and around her hometown of Winchester, Va.Naturally, it also offers a trip down Cline repertoire lane, from “Walking After Midnight,” to “I Fall To Pieces,” to the hit from which the show derives its name.Friday, April 1, at 8 p.m. at the Weinberg Center for the Arts, 20 W.

Don Quixote.In honor of the center’s 50th anniversary season, the acclaimed New York-based company once again revives the signature duet of bravura dancing between the spirited maiden Kitri and her charming amour Basilio — this time performed in its proper place as the stirring climax to the full-length Don Quixote.A sweeping and romantic tale, the rollicking, high-spirited ballet was developed by legendary Russian choreographer Marius Petipa, with further refinement by Petipa’s former student and regular assistant Alexander Gorsky.Set to music by Ludwig Minkus in a staging by ABT’s Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie and longtime Regisseur Susan Jones, Don Quixote offers what the company calls “a feast of choreographic fireworks.”A different coupling of dancers from the company’s starry roster will be featured at each of five performances in the Opera House, kicking off with Isabella Boylston as Kitri and Daniil Simkin as Basilio on Thursday, March 31.The premiere dance organization, decreed “America’s National Ballet Company” by an act of Congress in 2006, will mark its return to the Kennedy Center earlier this week with two evening performances of the mixed-repertory program “ABT Forward.”Billed as a showcase of “the company’s artistry in three dazzling works by today’s modern masters of choreography,” the program includes Bernstein in a Bubble, a work by Alexei Ratmansky developed in pandemic quarantine and inspired by the variety, charm, and quintessentially American spirit of Leonard Bernstein’s Divertimento; ZigZag, a joyous piece, set to songs by iconic crooner Tony Bennett, from Jessica Lang, hailed as a “master of visual composition” by Dance Magazine; and Single Eye, a new, innovative work by Alonzo King and set

The Oklahoman.Proponents of the bill claim the measure is needed to ensure fairness for female athletes, who otherwise may face a competitive disadvantage — at least biologically — if forced to compete against transgender females. However, since the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association adopted a policy in 2015 regarding the eligibility of trans athletes, no school has requested enforcement of the policy. Sen.

WCCB about Fezco, the dog who was abandoned by his owners for humping another male dog. “It was one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard,” Nichols said of the reason given for leaving Fezco with Stanly County Animal Protective Services. “That’s just pack behavior.” He said he and Winn looked at each other after hearing the news story and decided to adopt the abandoned dog.Nichols told TMZ that he felt a connection to the dog, who was being unfairly discriminated against, just as he and Winn have been in their own lives. According to the The Charlotte Observer, Nichols then drove about an hour from their home to Albemarle, located about 40 miles northeast of Charlotte, to adopt the dog, who he and Winn have renamed Oscar, after Oscar Wilde, a gay Irish poet and playwright in the early 1890s.Nichols said the application wanted to make sure that whoever adopted Oscar would be committed to nursing him back to health.

WCCB.Those looking to help rescue Fezco can call the Stanly County Animal Shelter at (704) 986-3881. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, mounting, thrusting (humping), and masturbation are normal behaviors exhibited by most dogs.