Brenda Carpenter gazed out the living room window of her white two-family home in Southeast D.C., painfully describing how drugs and HIV/AIDS have inflicted challenges on her family. At 73, Carpenter is raising 13-year-old granddaughter Shanntanee and 10-year-old grandson Lamont. She is also HIV positive.
Sandra Ann Slayton slowly sat down in the doctor’s cold, unsteady chair. A chill shot through her chest. She suspected the doctor had bad news. Slayton’s knees were shaking, her palms were sweaty, and she was beginning to tear up. “Sandra,” the doctor said. Instantly, the 19-year-old looked up. “You have cervical cancer. I am so sorry."
Under a low techno beat, the sounds of Jordin Sparks bumps through the speakers, until Whitney Houston's "Queen of the Night" begins to play. From the corner of the room, steps out drag queen Ms. Shi-Queeta Lee, a host of the drag bingo extravaganza, which draws a diverse crowd of more than 100 people on Tuesday nights at Nellie's Sports Bar on U Street.
