LOU’S LEGACY: A Reporter’s Life at the Washington Blade

FINAL TRANSCRIPT – May 24, 2025

Lou Chibbaro: (00:08):

Well, I'm going to Arlington, Virginia today to interview Donnell Robinson, who is very well known as a drag performer named Ella Fitzgerald, to get his thoughts on where things stand about the drag scene, this, today, and what's going on, some of the opposition that's surfacing to drag performances.

(00:39):

Donnell Robinson: Mr. Lou, welcome, sir.

Lou: Hey. How you doing?

Donnell: How are you?

Lou: Good to see you. Yes.

Donnell: Nice to see you as well.  Come on in, sir.

Lou: So nice to see you. Thank you

Donnell: Come on in. Haven't seen you since the bar closed.

Lou: That's right.

Donnell: And that's been over three years now.

Lou: It sure has.

Donnell: Oh, is that right? Okay, okay.

OPENING CREDITS

Narration: (01:23):

Since 1976, Lou Chibbaro, Jr. has been covering the LGBTQ community in the nation’s capital – the changes, the setbacks, and the progress.

As a reporter for the Washington Blade, the country’s oldest and most respected gay newspaper, Lou has been writing what might be called a first draft of history -  one story at a time - thousands of articles and millions of words. Connecting and empowering a community.  

Lou Chibbaro: (01:54):

The way things were back in the earlier days…so many of the people I interviewed had to request that they be identified only as an unnamed source because they were fearful of losing their jobs. Many of them were not out to their parents or their families.

Well, in the early years with the Blade I was freelancing for them. I felt the need to use a pseudonym of Lou Romano. I was working elsewhere at the time. I wasn't sure how they would react, not only that I was gay, but was working for a gay publication. And so I did use that name for a while and then eventually used my full real name, Lou Chibbaro, Jr.

NATURAL SOUND OF LYNNE TALKING IN BLADE OFFICE (02:35): Democracy and freedom of the press….

Lynne Brown:

Lou and the Blade are intertwined. They're an integrated entity almost. They're not one, but they are inseparable.

And the Blade is made better and stronger by the stories Lou has written and his professionalism and perseverance.

Kevin Naff: (02:54):

I'm sure that when he started in the 70s at the Blade, he could never have foreseen… the local legend that he would become and the progress that he would not only bear witness to but help to facilitate.

Lou Chibbaro: (03:08):

I always try anyway, to make sure that you provide a viewpoint of all sides of a controversy, that all people are given a chance, even those who might tend to be hostile to the gay community. Often they will not respond and then you'll have to report they decline comment. We do try to bend over backwards to give everyone a chance to be heard.

Kevin Naff: (03:31):

NATURAL SOUND OF KEVIN TALKING TO LOU IN BLADE OFFICE: And I'm going to reach out to the First Lady's office again and see if we can get

Kevin Naff:

Lou's approach to journalism is very traditional, which I think is refreshing in this modern era of bloviating, opinionated people masquerading as journalists. He's a traditional old school journalist, and in fact, I don't think in 22 years of knowing Lou that I've ever heard him express a political opinion. I could not tell you where his politics lie. So that's how traditional he is.

Lou Chibbaro: (04:03):

I was born and raised in New York, born in Queens, and raised on Long Island. I come from a fairly large Italian American family. Both grandparents came from Italy on both sides from Sicily. Of course, we all know what it's known for, and like many other people, as an Italian American, growing up, you often heard people mutter about the Mafia. Do you know anybody connected to them? And of course, I would say “I did not.” Oh, my family had nothing to do with that, but that is a stigma that many people from Italy and Sicily had to face.

My maternal grandfather was a rebel and a activist, and he had to leave Italy because Mussolini was going to go out to get him, Mussolini's henchmen. So he had to leave immediately. He was a fighter for freedom and justice as he saw it.

I came out to my family after I had moved to Washington in the mid-seventies, and my mother was upset. My father was worried about future employment and career-wise. Will it be a stigma and so forth? But within the next year or two, they were accepting.

The gay press, as it was first known, was essential for the growth of the gay rights movement. And the number of gay publications began to proliferate mostly after the Stonewall riots in 1969, which were known as the start of the modern gay rights movement.

Kevin Naff: (05:42):

After Stonewall, the queer press really took off. And it became a place where the community could come together, could tell our stories, could share resources and information.

Lou Chibbaro: (05:52):

Well, in the early days of the movement, the role of the gay newspapers was to help inform the communities about what was going on in gay rights; efforts to organize, to lobby their local governments. 

Kevin Naff: (06:07):

The queer press was critical to the growth of the equality movement.

Lynne Brown: (06:11):

The Blade's been an important part of the LGBT community for the last 50 years on every possible level you can think of. People would say, “I am paying DC taxes, I am a resident, I vote, and I read the Blade.”

It's important to the LGBTQ community. It's the tale of the history of 1969 to 2024 and ongoing. It's a vibrant, living testament to the strength of the LGBT community here in Washington.

Lou Chibbaro: (06:48):

We do our best to get the facts straight and the Blade had a slogan that said, "Gay news, straight facts." People have told us that it really was the glue, so to speak, that often held the community together.

Kevin Naff: (07:03):

The Blade has told the story of queer Washington from the beginning, long before the mainstream media cared or paid any attention.

We started in 1969 as a mimeographed one sheeter that was distributed in local bars, and we are now the only print publication that still publishes weekly in Washington.

Lou Chibbaro: (07:26):

After I was volunteering for the Blade, I decided to focus and become a journalist. I initially started part-time and was doing freelance writing and other stuff. Working for the Blade has evolved drastically because of the changes in the community.

I enjoyed the work. Occasionally thought of maybe going elsewhere, where a few people said, "You're a great writer. You should try The Washington Post or something.” I decided to stay at the Blade because that was what I liked, and the subject matter focused on the issues I was most interested in.

Well, the beats that I've covered in most of my time as a reporter have been government, politics, and the crime beat, the so-called police beat. Covering the police beat, it was a situation of having to cover unpleasant stories because somebody usually is getting hurt. And often the mainline press did not report that the victim was gay. We were fortunate because we were known in the community. Members of the community thought to contact us about some of the details that were not initially reported publicly.

NATURAL SOUND OF LOU TALKING TO KEVIN IN BLADE OFFICE: How they could get test strips because the city is asking…

Kevin Naff: (08:37):

Lou and I have been working together since 2002. I'm the editor of the Washington Blade. My role as his editor is to work with him on story assignments first, and then we'll talk about you know the sources, the angles, deadlines, and then I'll actually edit the copy.

Lou's the hardest-working person I know. He works seven days a week if he could. If something breaks on a weekend, on a holiday, you know Lou is the first one to raise his hand and jump in and cover it.

Lynne Brown: (09:05):

He seems to work in a very old school kind of journalist way. He has a trench coat; he carries a flip notebook, and he writes in a unique shorthand way that I don't think other people can even read. 

Kevin Naff: (09:20):

I think Lou ultimately is fair, and I think that's the best you can ask from any journalist, is to approach every story with an open mind, with a focus on the facts and with an interest in fairness in, in storytelling. 

I think the community has immense respect for Lou, his longevity, his honesty, and his willingness to be out in the community.  And if you want to tell a full story, you have to get out from behind your desk, and Lou does that.

And after so many years of doing this, he knows everyone in town and beyond. Lou has a literal Rolodex. He knows the government sources, and not just local government, but also, he's covered Congress. He was the first Blade reporter to be in the White House briefing room, And now today, the Blade has a dedicated seat in the briefing room, the only LGBTQ outlet to have that. So, it's a testament to Lou's pioneering work in, in, in queer journalism.

Narrator: (10:15):

Covering the politics beat in the nation’s capital meant that Lou wrote a lot of stories about the legendary Marion Barry.  A fighter for civil rights in the deep South during the 1960s, he served on city council and then four non-consecutive terms as mayor between the late 70's and late 90's - eventually becoming known as “Mayor for Life.”

Natural sound of Marion Barry: (10:35):

So Help me God…..

CBS News Reporter: (10:38):

Marion Barry was one of the most charismatic politicians in Washington, DC history.

Marion Barry:  (10:43):

I want to thank all of you for reaffirming your faith in me.

Lou Chibbaro: (10:48):

Clearly one of a kind and someone that everyone, once they knew him, wouldn’t forget him. And he was one of the first strong, vocal supporters of the gay rights community. He advocated gay rights laws and helped push through the city council one of the first non-discrimination laws, even ahead of New York and San Francisco in the very early ‘70s.

Narrator:  (11:12):

During his first run for mayor in 1978, Barry and his wife even campaigned in a gay bar – something unheard of at that time.

Audio interview with Tom Sherwood: (11:20):

He got the LGBT community involved, which had never been involved before in local politics to any degree that was noticeable. And he was looking for every vote he could possibly get.

Lou Chibbaro: (11:31):

He was a larger than life figure. He was very outspoken. He had a good sense of humor, was able to give rousing speeches, was highly liked throughout the city and he had a strong, strong following.

Chanting Crowd:

Barry, Barry, Barry!

Marion Barry: (11:46):

God gave me a gift of courage, tenacity, and vision.

Narrator: (11:51):

Late in his political career, Barry opposed the freedom to marry, instead pushing for civil unions.

Lou Chibbaro: (11:58):

I think the community still feels that he is one of the strongest allies the local LGBT community has ever had despite his position on marriage.

Narrator: (12:10):

Over the decades, Lou has witnessed a transformation among local politicians. Now all the city’s political leaders are strong supporters of the LGBTQ community. It’s a different story in other parts of the country and with national Republican leaders in Washington. 

Lou Chibbaro: (12:26):

There's been a nationwide attack that's surfacing in legislation proposed in many, many states targeting the LGBTQ community and the anti-transgender focus has expanded to some degree, now to the drag community that suddenly some legislation and verbal attacks by politicians are targeting people who are simply putting on drag shows.

Lou:  Well, Donnell, thank you very much for this interview, and-

Donnell: (12:56):

Well, thank you for coming, sir. Thank you.

Lou:  Sure. I'm happy to do it. I'm happy to do it. Why don't we just start by me asking you to tell a little bit about your own background? Let's start with that.

Donnell Robinson: (13:06):

Oh, wow. So I was born in Warrenton, Virginia. I grew up in the country on a farm.

Oh, here's a photo of my grandparents. I was very blessed that they took me under their wings and raised me as if I was their own child.

I started doing drag in eighth grade talent show. Girl said, "Donnell, you're so funny." And of course, at that era, Flip Wilson had just started his TV show. At the end of his show, he would come out as Geraldine and talk in a falsetto voice. And I practiced and I'm like, I can do that.

Nat sound of Flip Wilson: This is too much.

Host: Yeah, well, come on up.

Flip Wilson: Don't touch me. Don't you touch me, Rob. You don't know me that well.

Donnell Robinson:

So, the school librarian was white, and she had the same wig that Flip Wilson wore with the bangs, but she wore it in a ponytail. She let me borrow the wig. (13:56) I brought it home. I rolled it up in pink rollers. I bought a red dress from one of the big girls that was one of my classmates, you know, whatever. I got a pocketbook from someone, and then me and my best friend, we learned the skit and we lip-synced the skit. I won the contest. Eighth grade, I won $50. Then I didn't do drag again until my senior year in dramatic arts.

Natural Sound of the Emcee:

Tonight we have in our cast, queen of the follies, Ella Fitzgerald.

Donnell Robinson:

And back in that day, you had to have a celebrity's name to be a drag queen.

I have enjoyed being a drag queen performer because I know that I can make people laugh, make people feel good. (singing).

This is a collection of my drag career over the years, pictures and articles, photos since 1975, pictures, articles from the seventies, eighties, nineties, 2000s and current. It's like, "Wow, I've done a lot of drag, man." I've done a lot of drag, and I'm blessed that I can still stand here and talk about it.

Isn't she cute? Look at the little Black angel.

Natural Sound of drag performance:

Ella Fitzgerald:

Put your hands together. How are you all doing? 

Narrator: (15:20):

Ella Fitzgerald – Donnell Robinson – spent 40 years as the show director and emcee at Ziegfeld’s in Washington, DC.

Donnell Robinson: (15:27):

I'm normally nervous for the first 30 seconds. Once I hear my music and once I hear the audience, the sound of applause kind of gets me going. And I'm like, "Okay, let's go. Let's do this. Let's see who's out here tonight."

NATURAL SOUND OF SONG

When you make 600 to 1000 people laugh, then you know you've done your job. That make me feel good. And I quote that from Joan Rivers, "If I can make one person smile and be happy, I've done my job." And that's how I felt over the years about drag.

I know I'm funny, sometimes I'm not, sometimes I'm whatever. But I'm still funny, I think. Am I funny, y'all? Am I funny, Mr. Lou?

Lou:  (16:10):

I think so. But that, no, but that could lead us into, Donnell, where things may be going on today. And that is, I'd love to get your thoughts on what seems to be happening with this backlash against drag that's happening on two fronts. One, as you know, state and local governments, not in DC, but-

Donnell:  Right. Not yet.

Lou: ... in many states, right, are passing laws to restrict drag in certain ways.

Donnell Robinson:  (16:43):

My fellow drag performers, we're scared. I know I am, to a degree. I just don't understand why people think that drag is going to go away. It's not. And it's a shame that we have to fear that we can't present our art, our art form drag, that we're, “Oh, I'm scared. I hope nothing's going to happen to me today.”

But at the same time, we have our community here in DC, I feel we have enough support from the mayor to the police department that will protect us. But these other states that I've read about, like West Virginia and Oklahoma, I feel for them. They can't come out and live and be happy and enjoy themselves. I feel sad. That makes me sad.

Lou: Yeah, yeah.

Donnell:  (17:27):

Sometimes I’m just like, like I think I'm going to get emotional now because it's just not fair and it's not right that they have to suffer and go through that because it was hard for me starting drag being gay and Black and being a drag queen, but I got through it. I was determined to get through it, so.

Lou: (17:49):

Since Ziegfeld's closed, obviously you've been continuing your job as a hairdresser.

Donnell: Yes, sir.

Lou: Have you been doing any drag at all since then?

Donnell: No, I have not. Since the pandemic, I've been just working, focusing on work, and I enjoy being home now.

Lou: (18:05):

Tell me just a little bit about how the Capital Pride performance that you'll be doing came about and what you think you'll be doing there.

Donnell: Oh, okay. 

Lou:  Somebody approach you from Capital Pride?

Donnell: (18:16):

So, this year I told them, as long as my sciatic will allow me, I could do a little something, but I'm not going to be doing a dance production or anything. So, I have not put on any makeup, no drag since March 20th, 2020. So, I'm a little nervous, excited, and yeah, more excited.

Narrator: (18:39):

Weeks after this interview, Lou’s article about Donnell Robinson appeared in the Washington Blade – just before the Capital Pride celebration of 2023.

Donnell Robinson: (18:49):

For Pride, I am planning to do “Thank You”. There's a song came out about two or three years ago by Diana Ross, “Thank You”. And it is a very heartfelt song, great lyrics about love and missing people, and thanking people for their generosity and love and dedication, and support. It's one of those kind of songs that means a lot to me. And I've been rehearsing it in my car on the way to work, on the way home for the last month. And now I've got it down to, just about to perfection, the way I want to present it.

I've missed you.

NATURAL SOUND OF SONG:

Every choice and step I make. Every word and breath I take. You're the reason my world keeps turning. Like the blood running through my veins. Sunshine when there's only rain. You're the reason my heart keeps learning...

Narrator: (19:45):

As Ella Fitzgerald, Donnell Robinson is part of the fabric of DC's LGBTQ history — and so is Lou Chibbaro, Junior.

Now, his life's work has been transformed into an invaluable resource at George Washington University's Archives Center. Nearly 300 boxes of Chibbaro's research materials will be here forever. All this arranged by the Mattachine Society of Washington, DC – a non-profit organization working to preserve lost or deleted LGBTQ history.

Lou Chibbaro: (20:17):

I am proud to have that happen. I was honored that the library wanted to do that.

Narrator: (20:24):

Thousands of pages of notes and hundreds of hours of recorded interviews he conducted. Each box reveals part of the past.

Lou Chibbaro: (20:32):

Many of them are just interviews I see of various people that I’ve covered stories on. It was a protest, I believe, outside the White House over the AIDS Drug Assistance Program.

Natural Sound from NBC News: (20:44):

There are new warnings tonight that the AIDS virus may already have infected one million Americans.

Narrator: (20:50):

Lou has been covering the HIV/AIDS epidemic for than more 40 years.

Lou Chibbaro: (20:54):

At its onset in the very early 1980s, it was heartbreaking. Like so many others in the community, my own personal experience was knowing gay people that died of AIDS. It was very common to have to go to memorial services one after the other and console the friends and relatives.

The AIDS epidemic, at its onset in the very early 1980s, posed a challenge. And we often would be writing about what the experts said.

As much as the majority clearly of the gay community wanted all the information to come out, a few of the businesses, including some of the baths and adult theaters, they said that all of this terrible news was hurting their business. They were in the clear minority, but we did get some negative reactions saying all the Blade is doing is writing about AIDS. You’re killing our business.

As the ‘80s moved on, the death and dying was so pronounced, so many good people were lost that the Blade was turning into sort of a site for obituaries. We sadly had obituaries every week of gay men dying of AIDS.

One of the aspects of covering the AIDS epidemic, of course, was the effort to get the federal government to allocate more funds for AIDS research. I did cover the Act Up protests.

Narrator: (22:22):

Protests and pressure and more government funding eventually led to breakthroughs – by government and academic researchers – along with pharmaceutical companies – turning HIV/AIDS from a death sentence into a treatable disease – provided that people can get access to life-saving medication.

Kevin Naff: (22:39):

There's a very famous photo in the Blade archive of a chalkboard sign at the firehouse, and it was the addresses of AIDS patients. If there's a fire or an emergency at these addresses, someone with AIDS lives there.

Having Lou on the ground telling those kinds of stories was really, really important in terms of raising awareness about the discrimination that the community faced all those years ago and still does.

Lou's been a pioneer in covering crime. Obviously, hate crimes, targeting the LGBTQ community are something we still cover regularly, and Lou is still on that beat. But, you know, go back 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, and the mainstream media didn't cover when a gay person got mugged or shot or killed.

Lou Chibbaro: (23:28):

So this is a box that has files of mostly murders, gay-related murders. I see one here that was typical of many of them, sadly. It was a young man named John Toland, who was shot to death in his own car in 1988, somewhere near where he lived. But friends of his told the police that they thought he might have hung out at some of these, so-called gay cruising places, in this case along the GW Parkway in Virginia.

And one story I see here from in this file is a story about his two sisters who were concerned that the police may not have been doing all they should be doing. There's no record in the file if a killer was found. And sadly, it may be one of the many, many, I could think of at least a dozen or two, where they remain unsolved after all these years. 

Narrator: (24:23):

Lou says one news story stands out from all the rest during his long career. It's one that attracted national media attention.

Natural Sound – ABC News Anchor: (24:31):

Matt Shepard, the gay college student, savagely beaten last week in Wyoming, died this morning. He had been tied to a fence, pistol whipped, and left to die. Two suspects will be charged with the murder.

Lou Chibbaro: (24:43):

One of the most notable cases I've really ever covered was the Matthew Shepard murder.

And these files go through that and have many of the details of that case.

Narrator: (24:54):

Russell Henderson pleaded guilty in the middle of his murder trial - receiving two consecutive life sentences. 

Aaron McKinney chose to stand trial - setting up the possibility of a death sentence.

Lou Chibbaro: (25:06):

The Washington Blade did send me out to Laramie, Wyoming to cover that trial. They brought out photos of the crime scene, which were not pleasant to see, and all of the issues came out in testimony on both sides.

Ultimately, Aaron McKinney was convicted. And the prosecutor conferred with Matthew Shepard's parents, Dennis and Judy Shepard, and they agreed to spare him the death sentence.

And it's still emotional for me right now because Dennis Shepard spoke at the trial and announced that the family agreed to spare the life of this person who took the life of their son. He said, "Mr. McKinney, we're going to spare you your life. You took our son's life."

I was dripping tears in my notebook.

Lou Chibbaro:

300 of these individual boxes, wow! It's amazing just to see the number of them prepared and put in the proper boxes so people could access them. Hopefully, they will be of some use for researchers and others. Could it be other journalists working on stories.

Lynne Brown: (26:38):

And this is a reinforcing, just how valuable and important his contributions to the narrative, the history, capturing the life of the gay world of Washington DC for 50 years.

So. I hope that Lou is proud of his contributions to the world, to the gay community. And it's personified in the interest of a university library in preserving his work.

Donnell Robinson: (27:08):

I have read and watched Mr. Lou. I think he is a great example of what we need to learn about our history. He has been a person that has put this information out here, and I'm praying that the younger generation will read that and learn from all the history that he has presented to the Washington Blade.

Kevin Naff: (27:28):

I think you could look at Lou's legacy a couple of ways. Locally his legacy is that of a determined reporter who really told the story of a community and making sure that people knew us.

I also think he has a journalistic legacy that's bigger. We could use more like him.

Lou Chibbaro: (27:48):

My legacy, that's hard to say. I really might have to leave that to others. I would hope it would be somewhat favorable that somebody tried to work hard to make a little bit of a difference.