ABOUT BW

Bob Lomax, Founder of BW

One of the founders commented, “We provided a lot of outlets for the black gay community. We were about having fun.” The Best of Washington’s success sparked an explosive growth in local black social clubs. The 60s and 70s in Washington, DC were times of segregation, de facto even more than legal. As gay and lesbian bars and dancehalls emerged, they carried with them the baggage of segregation. Commercial clubs, most of them white-owned and white-oriented, restricted admission by demanding multiple IDs and by imposing arbitrary dress codes that they used to exclude blacks, drags, and women. A leader of one of the other social clubs remembers, “We didn’t know where to meet people. We were pretty angry. We couldn’t go to any of the white gay clubs that were open. We addressed our rage with parties.” These were the years when there was also fear about going out at night. The police were harassing commercial clubs and homophobia on the streets made many cautious about going out.

Parties, Balls, Affairs, and Awards

Best of Washington’s first blockbuster events were the All Night Struts, nightlong dance parties fueled by their ‘special punch’. Buddy Sutson remembers an early Strut at the Elks Club that continued all night oblivious to a raging blizzard outside. The Struts were followed by cotillion events, the Watergate Affair, and the annual Labor Day picnic. With a growing list of members and friends and greater funds, the Best of Washington was able to offer major social events, booking ballrooms at local hotels where the best of black gay Washington could live the high life, dressed to the nines and party hearty. One party-goer recalls, “For an evening you were in your fantasy. I don’t think the White House could have done an event that had more elegance, more coordination, and diversity in entertainment and food and fabulous people.” Another person added, “We liked balls, we liked grandness. You came dressed to the nines, in rented limos.” In its leading role in the black gay social community, The Best of Washington initiated the Alice Awards, named for Alice Lomax, Bob Lomax’s mother and godmother to the group. The Alice Awards began in 1976 as a means of recognizing achievement in the community, ‘fabulous people’, and important events among the clubs. Trophies, costing $50 to $75, were awarded for best party of the year, best bartender in the commercial clubs, social achievements, and for being the most fabulous person on the scene. The awards prompted major competition among social clubs and social leaders and were always preceded by speculation in Under Grace’s Hat as to who would win the year’s awards.

Changing Times

Until the mid-80s, the Best of Washington, like its sister social clubs, concentrated on having fun and steered away from political and social issues. With the arrival of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, attitudes began changing and the Best of Washington, with other leading social clubs, involved itself more and more in the issues of the day. Through the rest of the decade and the 90s, the club identified itself more publicly with gay and lesbian issues, with fundraising for AIDS relief and support, and with common issues.

At the end of the 80s, as the city’s premiere dance club, The ClubHouse fell under increasing financial pressure, the Best of Washington and the Associates raised funds to keep The ClubHouse going.

Today – Fun and Responsibility

As a result of the increasing social and political engagement and concern for social engagement, the Best of Washington has become one of the black gay community’s enduring institutions with a strong commitment not just to good times but to responsibly supporting community institutions.

Members

2010 The Best of Washington - All rights reserved.