APRIL 21 2017 VOLUME 01 ISSUE 03 A M E R I C A S LGBT NEWS SOURCE LOSANGELESBLADE.

COM

Catching up with David Bohnett Big Freedia bouncing to LA A gay tour of Palm Springs

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Democrats counting on Calif. to win back Congress
Can party turn GOP seats a
snazzy shade of blue?
By KAREN OCAMB
kocamb@losangelesblade.com
Georgias Sixth Congressional District
screams RED: Newt Gingrich hatched his
pre-Tea Party Gingrich Revolution there
in the early 1990s and the special election
to replace anti-LGBT Tom Price, now Health
and Human Services secretary, featured 18
Republican candidates. But Donald Trump
only won the district by 1.5 points over
Hillary Clinton in 2016, giving progressive
Democrats goosebumps thinking they
could ip the suburbs just north of Atlanta
from red to blue with well-spoken former
congressional aide Jon Osso.
The 30-year-old Democrat won 48.1
percent of the vote on April 18, sending
him into a run-o with top GOP vote-
getter Karen Handel, around whom
establishment Republicans are expected
to rally in June.
Nonetheless, Democrats claimed victory
for the odds-defying nish while Trump,
who did robocalls and a furious tweet-fest
against Osso, took credit for preventing
an outright win. Glad to be of help!
Trump tweeted on Election Night.
Democrats have been looking at the
four special elections this spring as
bellwethers on Trumps chaotic reign of
power. Historically, mid-term elections
favor the political party not holding the
presidency. But in this new era of divisive
upside-down politics, traditional rules
are no longer applicable and nothing is
predictable. In a stunning announcement
on April 19, for instance, powerful Utah
Republican Rep. Jason Chaetzthe ultra-
conservative advocate for the anti-LGBT
religious freedom bill with fellow Mormon
Rep. Mike Leeannounced he would not
seek reelection in 2018.
The Democratic Congressional
Campaign Committee (DCCC)including
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LGBT Caucus leads Mark Takano and Jared
Polisbelieves that winning 25 Republican
seats in 2018 will enable them to take the
majority in the House and put a check on
Trump. The DCCC is moving senior staers
to Irvine to be on the ground for ghts
in six GOP districts where Clinton beat
Trump: Darrell Issa (49th District); Steve
Knight (25th District); Dana Rohrabacher
(48th District); Je Denham (10th District);
David Valadao (21st District); and Ed Royce
(39th District).
The DCCC is also targeting two-term
Republican Rep. Mimi Walters of Irvine,
with one of three announced Democratic
challengers, Katie Porter, having already
received an endorsement from her former
Harvard Law School professor, Sen.
Elizabeth Warren, according to the Los
Angeles Times.
Two other Republicans, once considered
immoveable in their safe conservative
districts, may also be vulnerable. Fresno
Rep. Devin Nunes (22nd District), chair
of the House Intelligence Committee,
was forced to recuse himself from the
investigation into the Trump campaigns
possible collusion with Russian ocials
to interfere in the 2016 elections after it
appeared he violated ethics rules.
Additionally, San Diego County GOP
xture, Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (50th District),
who took the seat long held by his fervently
anti-LGBT father, is under investigation
by the Federal Elections Commission for
Rep. DARRELL ISSA is among the DCCCs
targets in the midterm elections.
possible campaign spending violations.
In March, the House Committee on Ethics
announced it was holding o on its probe
at the request of the Justice Department.
But with the FEC investigation, Hunter
reimbursed his campaign roughly $62,000
for expenses that included video games,
dance recitals, oral surgery, private school
tuition, a garage door and unspecied items
at a Coronado surf shop, according to The
L.A. Times.
Retired Navy SEAL Josh Butner, a
Democrat, is challenging Hunter in the
reliably GOP district. But Butner may get
help from animal lovers if Navy veteran
Shawn VanDiver has his way. VanDiver
started Bunny PAC after it was revealed
that Hunter also used campaign expenses
to pay for airfare for the familys pet rabbit.
Hunters spokesperson told Roll Call about
the rabbit: If Hunter had his way, it would
have been used for soup long before that.
Meanwhile, the DCCCs targeted six are
dancing as fast as they can. On April 18,
for instance, with three Trump supporters
watching across the street, Issa addressed
more than 100 protesters outside his
district oce and claimed hes not as
conservative as people think.
That may have been believable had
Issa not switched his vote when it was
most needed. On May 18, 2016, when
it still appeared that Clinton might win
the presidential election over a crowded
Republican eld, out gay Rep. Sean Patrick
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Maloney of New York introduced an
amendment to a Veterans Aairs spending
bill that would have provided LGBT
employment protections, nullifying a key
provision in another bill that would have
allowed anti-LGBT discrimination on the
part of businesses that have contracts with
the federal government. As the vote clock
expired, the Maloney amendment appeared
to squeak by with 217 yeas and 206 nays.
But instead of gaveling the vote closed,
Republican Rep. Doug Collins kept the
vote open as Republican Majority Leader
Kevin McCarthy of Bakerseld (23rd
District) started twisting arms. Democrats
yelled Shame! Shame! Shame! as the tally
changed. Maloney later told reporters that
he confronted McCarthy, who told him to
get back on my own side. And I said, What
side am I supposed to stand on to support
equality? Your own members are voting
for this billits not me doing it, its your
members, the Hungton Post reported.
Enough Republicans ipped their votes
to defeat the amendment by one vote
212 yeas and 213 nays. The seven who
switched their votes: Reps. Je Denham,
Greg Walden, Darrell Issa, Mimi Walters,
Bruce Poliquin, David Young, and David
Valadao. Later it was revealed that the
conservative Heritage Foundations
lobbying arm, Heritage Action, said that
members who voted for the Maloney
amendment would suer on their
congressional scorecard.
Every day brings new jaw-dropping
surprises as Trump thrusts a middle nger
at traditional rules of propriety without any
apparent accountability. That may change
if the courts or an FBI investigation into
the Russian interference yield results that
demand an impeachment hearing. But with
conservative Republicans running both
chambers of Congress, LGBT rights continue
to be threatened. California Democrats are
intent on changing that in 2018, by ipping
half a dozen GOP seats in the state and
contributing to the 25 seats needed to bring
Democrats to power in the House.
0 4 A PRI L 2 1 , 2 0 1 7
Philanthropist with a social justice mission
David Bohnett ghting
Trump from the heartland
By KAREN OCAMB
kocamb@losangelesblade.com
American democracy has changed.
Politics is now 24/7, a constant barrage of
opinions, petitions, and email and online
solicitations like relentless fastballs in a
batting cage. Head-spinning happens.
But to gay philanthropist David Bohnett,
the angst-ridden reaction to President
Donald Trumps untethered actions recalls
the days after the anti-gay marriage Prop
8 initiative was passed by California voters
in 2008. Then, like now, people had been
informed about what would happen,
how fundamental rights would be taken
awaybut were genuinely shocked when
that really transpired.
Wake up people! If you didnt think
it could get this badwhere were you?
Bohnett asked rhetorically during a
recent phone interview. We have the
responsibility to get as many people as
possible in our community energized and
activated because this is bad and its going
to get worse.
A major donor to the Democratic Party,
Bohnett has been keeping up with the
Democratic Congressional Campaign
Committees eorts to take back the House
of Representatives. I think theres a lot of
momentum and yes, were participating
and we will wait to see as the time gets
closer how much and where were going
to participate, he says. But theres a great
ground swell and the possibility we would
be able to retake the House.
Bohnett thinks the Senate Intelligence
Committees investigation into the Russian
hacking of the 2016 election is going to
make the real dierence in the 2018 mid-
term elections.
Recently, Bohnett joined other
Democratic donors and activists at the
home of Norman and Lynn Lear to hear
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I think were better served if were champions for social justice for all, said DAVID BOHNETT.
from popular Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Her words were very insightful and very
telling, he says. The most important thing
for us is to unify around a small handful of
messages around womens reproductive
rights, the environment and stick to those
messages and not get distracted and try
and criticize every single thing that [Trump]
does. And shes right. We will prevail if we
remain focused on our key progressive
messages and not get bogged down in the
Twitter storms all the time.
LGBT full equality, a core Democratic
value, comes under the broader civil
rights, immigration umbrella.
But Bohnett believes the critical ght for
LGBT full equality is going to be won and
our ground is going to be held by the social
service organizations, such as the LA LGBT
Center. I really think now, more than ever,
those organizations serve the broadest
constituencies in our community, including
immigration, same-sex marriage, family and
legal issues. So yes, we have to continue to
ght at the political level but I want to keep
reminding people that the organizations
that are delivering the services to our
community are right now the ones on the
front lines and deserve our support.
Bohnett says there is a shift
PHOTO BY SUSAN YOUNG 2016
happening across the board regarding
governmental and private grants.
The whole philanthropic sector is on
tenterhooks wondering whats going to
happen with the tax code alone, Bohnett
says. Grants to social organizations are
health and human services-related grants
that arent necessarily specic for the LGBT
community, although its the constituents
these organizations serve.And yes, those
are under threat as well.
Bohnett started the David Bohnett
Foundation in 1999 after selling GeoCities
to Yahoo for $3.5 billion. He now heads
Baroda Ventures, which invests in tech
startups. In almost 20 years, his foundation
has given more than $100 million in total
grants across specic programs. This year
will be the last for the open grant application
process. Next year, the foundation will
reach out to selected groups and oer
them an opportunity to apply.
Im looking at how to maintain a level
of giving for the long term, he says.
There are certain programs that we
have continued to fund and concentrate
on that have been so eective for our
community, such as the Bohnett Leaders
Fellowship at the Victory Institute, which
has sent 118 outstanding LGBT leaders
LO CA L N E W S
to the Harvard Kennedy Schools Senior
Executives in State and Local Government
program since 2002, and the Cyber Center
program at over 60 LGBT community
services centers around the country.
Bohnett says hes learned a couple
of things over his almost 20 years of
philanthropy, much from his late partner,
Judge Rand Schrader who died of AIDS in
1993. When Randy and I were rst together,
he had been on the board of the [L.A. LGBT]
Center since the Center was founded and
I really saw from his experience that its a
sustained commitment that creates true
change. Thats what I think has made such a
signicant dierence in these dierent areas.
Bohnett says his grant-giving is also very
focused on a collaborative-partnership
model where the foundation partners
with an organization and then brings other
funders and like-minded social service
groups to help with the eort.
Bohnett, who was appointed by President
Obama to serve as a Trustee at the John
F. Kennedy Center for the Performing
Arts in Washington DC, is very concerned
what will happen to the arts if Trump cuts
the National Endowment for the Arts and
similar programs. However, he notes there
is a signicant government commitment
to funding the arts in Los Angeles.
Nonetheless, hes frustrated that no one
is talking about the importance of the arts
in terms of how they dene us as a people
and as a society. For Bohnett, like JFK, the
arts reect civilization.
I am certain that after the dust of
centuries has passed over our cities,
Kennedy once said, we, too, will be
remembered not for our victories or
defeats in battle or in politics, but for our
contribution to the human spirit.
What I strive to do within our
community is to help everyone lift their
head up and see how our struggle ts into
the larger context of the broader human
rights struggles, Bohnett says. I think
were better served if were champions for
social justice for all.
0 6 A PRI L 2 1 , 2 0 1 7
Christopher Street West faces hurdles
LA Pride Festival is still
in ux as #ResistMarch
gathers steam
By ABBY DEES
Despite big changes and challenges,
this years LA Pride festival experience
will be similar to the last several years,
according to Chris Classen, president
of Christopher Street West (CSW), the
organization that has produced LA Pride
Parade and Festival since 1970.
Over June 10 and 11, attendees can again
expect West Hollywood Park to be lled
with food, drinks, dancing and a variety of
musical acts on three distinct stages, from
local performers to popular stars.
But this year is not like years past, and
there is a whi of concern in the air about
CSWs ability to pull it o, at least protably.
Space for the festival is reduced by more
than 50 percent as West Hollywood Park
undergoes a facelift, with CSW settling on
a location just last week.
As organizers of LAs main pride events,
it is inevitable that CSW faces questions
from the diverse LGBTQ community.
West Hollywood Council member John
Duran says that for almost 40 years he
has cautioned each CSW president: You
have a thankless job. You can never make
everybody happy.
But complaints about the festivals
impact became noticeably louder last year
when CSW rebranded the event a music
festival to attract millennials. With the
LGBTQ focus of the festival erased from
CSWs website, so too was the sense of
connection between the event and a city
with a sizeable LGBTQ population.
In response, CSW scrambled to
reemphasize the LGBTQ tradition in its
marketing, but the updated version of the
festival continued as planned.
With its promise of big-name musical
performers in 2017, CSW appears to be
sticking with that model, albeit LGBTQ
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
The entrance to 2016s LA Prides Festival in West Hollywood Park.
branding is front and center.
That choice remains controversial, with
people like former CSW board member,
LGBTQ historian, and founder of the Lavender
Eect, Andy Sacher, viewing the de-emphasis
of Prides history as a loss for everyone.
Were in every strata of society, he
says, and this is the one time of the year
when we have traditionally come together,
regardless of our dierences and celebrated
our freedoms and accomplishments.
But Council member Duran says CSW
was being realistic. People my age, he
told the Blade, weve done 20 or 30 of
these things. Were not necessarily going
do it again unless we have friends from
out of town. Still, history matters.
Both Duran and West Hollywood Mayor
Lauren Meister think the criticism arises
from the belief that CSW is the only source
of local Pride programming, when in fact
the city sponsors its own One City One
Pride Arts Festival, primarily focused on
LGBTQ history and culture, for 40 days
each summer, including Pride weekend.
Last year, the city sponsored events like
Trans Night, the Dyke March, and a West
Hollywood history tour created by late
PHOTO COURTESY OF LA PRIDE
historian Stuart Timmons. There is more to
pride than just those two days, says Duran.
Issues of transparency and
communication have dogged CSW in
recent years, with defenders and critics
agreeing that CSW could improve its
community interface.
Sacher was one of four CSW board
members who resigned last December, in
part because CSW required board members
to sign non-disclosure agreements.
Sacher said, All pride organizations face
challenges to achieve a balance between
taking in what the community desires and
sustainability. But in CSWs case, there
might be a disconnect.
After the 2016 festival, Mayor Meister
arranged two community forums to
debrief with CSW. Were they listening? I
dont know, Meister said about CSW. Its
up to them to provide an event that the
community is supportive of. And if not,
were all going to hear about it again.
For the rst time since 1970, there will be
no Pride Parade. Instead, CSW will host a
three-mile long protest march, modeled on
the Womens Marches, under the motto:
When any Americans rights are under
LO CA L N E W S
threat, all our rights are threatened.
With supporters like CSW co-founder
the Reverend Troy Perry, L.A. mayor Eric
Garcetti, and activist Ivy Bottini (a vocal
critic of CSW), Duran describes this choice
as spot on and in line with the LGBTQ
communitys history of responding to
galvanizing moments, from AIDS to anti-
marriage legislation. Like others, he believes
the march is pitch-perfect for our times.
Even so, CSW has made another sudden,
dramatic change to what people expect from
Pride. First, no one knows how many people
will actually march and what eect this will
have on the already compacted festival. To
Sacher, this decision-making seems reactive,
rather than visionary or proactive.
This week, CSW board member and
#ResistMarch organizer Brian Pendleton,
told FourTwoNine.com that no corporate
dollars that used to go to the parade are
going to the march. Pendleton says he is
committed to raising the money needed to
fund #ResistMarch. Some reports suggest
he must raise more than $400,000.
Pendleton, when asked to join CSWs
board, pointedly refused to sign the non-
disclosure agreement.
With CSW already running at a loss,
the nancial bottom line might bring the
debates about CSWs role as LAs de facto
leader of pride to a head.
Success now rests on robust attendance
to the paid-entry festival and its ability
to attract corporate sponsors. Nissan
announced it will be a sponsor but few
others have stepped forward. West
Hollywood provides free security and
sanitation services, but little cash. It
recently agreed to cover up to $1 million in
such expenses doubling previous year
commitments though not yet satised
with CSWs transparency eorts and aware
the agency began the year unable to even
pay rent. The city reportedly stands to gain
more than $5,000,000 in tax receipts if the
event is successful.
CONTINUES AT LOSANGELESBLADE.COM
LO C A L N E W S
Calif. porn productions on
hold after HIV scare: report
Precautionary move from
industry association
By TROY MASTERS
tmasters@losangelesblade.com
Fears that an adult lm star has tested
positive for HIV have resulted in a kind
of stop work order, according to the
industrys leading trade association, the
Free Speech Coalition (FSC).
In a statement on its website, FSC says it
issued a precautionary production hold
after a possible positive test for HIV by an
adult performer listed in the PASS (Performer
Availability Screening Services) database.
The identity of the actor remains
condential.
FSC wrote that the actor had not
performed on any uid exchange sets
since their last negative test, or performed
on any adult set during the possible
window of transmission.
If it is a false positive, the hold will
be lifted on Wednesday (April 19), the
statement continues. However, FSC is
currently notifying all of the porn stars
past partners and will require new testing
for anyone who may have been exposed.
The porn industry, which helped defeat a
ballot initiative in 2016 that would have required
actors to wear condoms, claims it has worked
to improve health and safety conditions.
Californias Proposition 60 was, in part,
a response to several HIV-related health
scares among actors over the past decade.
In addition to requiring performers to use
condoms in adult lms, Proposition 60 would
have made producers liable for violations and
would have empowered any state resident to
enforce the rule. It would have also required
state-issued health certicates for production
companies and strict STD testing protocols. A
similar measure was passed by Los Angeles
voters in 2012.
FSC claims no HIV transmissions have
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
occurred in the past 10 years on shoots
that are monitored.
In 2016, a gay adult lm actor in California
is said to have unwittingly infected two of his
17 unprotected partners with HIV despite
having tested negative only days before,
according to a report by the Centers for
Disease Control. How it was determined the
actor in question infected the two is not clear.
The CDCs Morbidity and Mortality
Weekly Report warned at the time that
testing alone is not sucient to prevent
HIV transmission.
In 2004, after two actors tested positive
for HIV most major production companies
agreed to shut down for 60 days in an
eort to prevent the virus from spreading.
The industry imposed a biweekly STD
protocol in 2013.
Eric Paul Leue, the Free Speech
Coalitions executive director, said the
biweekly HIV tests have been successful.
Their FSC Performer Availability Scheduling
Service (PASS) provides guidelines and
services for the adult production industry
designed to ensure a safe and healthy
work environment of performers and
adult lm professionals, according to the
groups website.
FSC encourages, but does not require,
the daily use of PrEP, the antiviral drug
that has been shown to be 98 percent
eective in preventing HIV infection.
The Adult Performer Advocacy
Committee (APAC), an advocacy guild
for porn actors, says it supports the
temporary hiatus.
Based on the current genealogy,
there is low-risk to the performer pool,
the APAC said in a statement. APAC and
FSC will release statements within days
regarding whether the production freeze
will be lifted.
The industry has been estimated to
be worth $6 billion in California and $11
billion nationwide and thousands of
production related jobs nationwide.
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SNOWFLAKE and SZENJA
PHOTO COURTESY OF SEAWORLD
Polar bear dies after separation from
same-sex partner of 20 years
The joys and heartbreak of love are not a uniquely human experience. There is
plenty of scientic evidence to support that. And plenty to support that same-sex
love is just as ubiquitous among the species.
Witness the story of Szenja and Snowake, a pair of female Polar bears who
have been close companions for the past 20 years, living in the same enclosure at
San Diegos SeaWorld Wild Arctic exhibit.
Szenja, 21, and Snowake, 22, have been inseparable. Recently the pair was
separated when Snowake was relocated to the Pittsburgh Zoo to be mated with
male Polar bears.
Soon after their separation, Szenja died from a broken heart, claims People for
the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Szenja died of a broken heart, Peta believes. After losing her companion of 20
years when SeaWorld shipped Snowake to the Pittsburgh Zoo in order to breed
more miserable polar bears, Szenja did what anyone would do when they lose all
hope, she gave up, Peta Vice President Tracy Remain told Yahoo News.
Snowake, prior to her death only weeks after separation, reportedly displayed
all the symptoms of separation anxiety and depression, losing her appetite and
energy and exhibiting avoidance behavior.
SeaWorld has been under intense scrutiny in recent years, following the release
of the 2013 documentary Blacksh which cast a spotlight on mistreatment of
so-called Killer Whales, Orcas that were performers in their Shamu Shows, and
whether captivity is good for the animals.
Outrage led to a dramatic decrease in park attendance.
Californians voted last September to ban the captivity, breeding and performing
of orcas, and that ban will take eect in June. Shamu Shows will continue at other
SeaWorld parks, however.
Activists hope to stop the practice that resulted in the separation of Szenja and
Snowake, a question SeaWorld appears intent on avoiding.
In a statement, Al Garver, SeaWorlds vice president of zoological operations
said only that the company was proud to have been a part of her life and to know
that she inspired people from around the world to want to protect polar bears in
the wild.
TROY MASTERS
0 8 A PRI L 2 1 , 2 0 1 7 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM NEWS

Diverse co-chairs named for

LGBT march on Washington
Organizers of a planned LGBT march on Washington
scheduled for June 11, which has been named The Equality
March for Unity and Pride, released on Wednesday the names
of 12 of 13 co-chairs of the event but provided few additional
details such as how it will be nanced or the route of the
march.
The Equality March for Unity and Pride is less than two
months away and we are thrilled to host this historic march in
our nations capital, a statement released by organizers says.
Permits are being worked on, sponsors are being engaged,
the website is forthcoming, and just this week we selected
12 of 13 National Co-Chairs! the statement says. This
national group of diverse leaders in the LGBTQIA+ liberation
movements will help shape the mission and vision of the
march by elevating voices of those most underserved, it says.
The statement adds that the diversity represented by

#ResistMarch founding team busy at work the co-chairs would ensure that in these trying times our
communities can come together, march in solidarity, and
Dozens of prominent Los Angeles LGBT+ activists and allies gathered at the Hollywood Hills home of Brian demand equity, representation, protection of our most
Pendleton and Chad Goldman on April 12 to discuss plans for the #ResistMarch. vulnerable, and safeguarding the many triumphs our
We are gathered because we wanted to make sure that the entire committee got to weigh in on what the communities have gained in the previous years while working
program looks like ... things like outreach, getting endorsements, activation, participation, fundraising and towards championing many more.
event planning, said Pendleton. We have some of the best in the business working on planning. Weve got Among those named as co-chairs are Anika Simpson, Ph.D,
this. founding coordinator of the Womens and Gender Studies
In attendance and pictured: RJ Aguiar, Mike Aguilera, Fred Arens, Jeremy Blacklow, Craig Bowers, Craig Program at Morgan State University, one of the nations
Charles, Peter Cruz, Dominick DeLeone, Jason DuGuay, John Erickson, Joel Fajardo, Jaden Fields, Robert historic black colleges; and Ashley Smith, an ocial with
Gamboa, Chad Goldman, Justin Haasis, Abdullah Hall, Steve Houchin, Jess Jerrick, Paul Katami, Abbe Land, the Capital Pride Alliance and a Human Rights Campaign
Nicole Lynn, Stephen Macias, Lulu Malaya, James Duke Mason, Estevan Montemayor, Brian Pendleton, Je Foundation board member.
Olde, Aithan Peterson, Mark Poncher, Hazel Jade Prejean, Angela Thompson, Gary Turner and Alan Uphold. Also named as one of the co-chairs is David Bruinooge, the
Founding committee members who were not present include Melissa Carbone, Diggz Cherry, Marco New York City LGBT rights advocate who initiated the June
Colantonio, Lindsey Deaton, Marna Deitch, Sue Freitag, Vic Gerami, John Gile, Jenn Gordon, Brian Graden, 11 march through a Facebook posting in January that quickly
Julie Holland, Je Zarillo, Sue LaVaccare, Danny Lockwood, Pedro Martinez, Michaela Mendelsohn, Allison drew thousands of messages of support for the idea of an
Vankuiken, Ronnie Veliz, Alyson Richards, Shayne Thomas, Rex Wilde, Nancy Williams, Jeanie You and Greg LGBT march on the nations capital.
Zabilski. The announcement on Wednesday of the names of the co-
Also in attendance was West Hollywood City Councilman John Heilman, who spoke. chairs and assurances that more details of the march would be
The #ResistMarch replaces LA Prides traditional parade and will expand it from one mile to four miles, disclosed soon came at a time when messages have surfaced
stretching from Hollywood and Highland to Santa Monica Boulevard and Robertson. on social media expressing concern that so few details of the
TROY MASTERS event had been disclosed less than two months before the
march was to take place.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
1 0 A PRI L 2 1 , 2 0 1 7
Preparing for a ght
Baldwin re-election bid a top
priority for LGBT advocates
By CHRIS JOHNSON
As Democrats gear up for the
congressional mid-term elections in 2018,
one race that will be criticalfor the LGBT
community and potentially a challenge
to win is the re-election bid of U.S. Sen.
Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), the only out
lesbian in Congress.
After becoming the rst openly gay
person elected to the U.S. Senate in 2012,
Baldwin will face re-election in a state
Trump won in a surprise last year. Her
race will almost certainly be a priority for
the LGBT community seeking to ensure
visibility in Congress and to strike back
atTrump after his victory there.
Aisha Moodie-Mills, CEO of the Gay &
Lesbian Victory Fund, said Baldwins re-
election is the priority for Victory Fund
through 2018 which is why we made her
a spotlight candidate almost two years
before her election.
Her rise from the Dane County Board of
Supervisors to the United States Senate is
in many ways emblematic of the progress
weve made as a movement over the last
30 years and we need her continued
leadership, Moodie-Mills added.
In D.C. on April 26, gay Democratic
activist Peter Rosenstein is set to host
a fundraising event for Baldwin in
anticipation of the upcoming battle shell
face. Expected guests include Baldwin
herself as well as D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser
and high-dollar Democratic donors.
Baldwin hasnt just aided the LGBT
community through her visibility as the
only out lesbian in Congress. In the ve
years shes been in oce, Baldwin has
taken leadership roles sometimes
quietly, sometime more prominently to
raise attention to LGBT issues.
An original co-sponsor of the Equality
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
U.S. Sen. TAMMY BALDWIN (D-Wis.) faces an
as yet unknown challenger in a state won by
Donald Trump.
BLADE PHOTO BY MICHEAL KEY
Act, Baldwin has been closely associated
with the goal of enshrining into law a
comprehensive bill barring discrimination
against LGBT people in all areas of federal
civil rights law. Baldwin also took a lead
role during 2013 in the more modest
goal of passing the Employment Non-
Discrimination Act, which the U.S. Senate
approved on a bipartisan basis.
Baldwin has also urged the Food &
Drug Administration to end its policy
barring gay men from donating blood,
encouraged the Education Department to
issue (now rescinded by Trump) guidance
assuring transgender kids have access
to school bathrooms consistent with the
gender identity and objected to the Trump
administrations appointment of anti-trans
activist Roger Severino to defend access to
transgender health at the Department of
Health & Human Services.
The timing of her race next year on one
hand is good news for Baldwin. History
shows (if you overlook 1998 and 2002) the
party opposing the sitting U.S. president
gains seats during the mid-term election. If
that holds up in 2018 and many analysts,
citing Trumps ongoing unpopularity,
believe it will Baldwin will have the upper
handin her bid to preserve her seat.
Ironically, the tradition that the
presidents party loses seats in the mid-
term elections would have spelled trouble
for Baldwin if Hillary Clinton had succeeded
in 2016, an outcome Baldwin strongly
desired as an early Clinton supporter.
JR Ross, editor of the Madison-based
WisPolitics, said Trumps victory bolsters
Baldwins re-election chances in a state
where Republicans tend to do well in o-
year elections.
Her prospects are much better now
that we have President Trump rather than
President Clinton, Ross said. If Clinton
had won, shed have two things going
against her. One, Wisconsin tends to be
more Republican in terms of turnout in
o-year election, and two, the party in the
White House ends up having a hard time in
mid-term elections. Because its President
Trump, that alone improves her chances.
Pointing to a March 22 poll from
Marquette Law School that found 41
percent of Wisconsin residents approve
of Trump compared to 47 percent who
disapprove, Ross said Trumps low approval
rating in the state will also help Baldwin.
President Trumps approval rating was
upside down in Wisconsin and upside
down with independents, Ross said. If
that continues, and hes unpopular in
Wisconsin a year-and-a-half from now,
that probably will help her a great deal.
Ross said Republicans have had a better
ground game in Wisconsin than Democrats
in the last couple elections and theres a
question about the impact of Wisconsin
Gov. Scott Walkers presence on the ballot.
Baldwin has done well in fundraising. The
senator posted $2.2 million for fundraising
in the rst quarter of 2017 and has $2.4
million in cash on hand, a Democratic
NATIONAL NEWS
activist familiar with those numbers said.
Baldwin will be running for re-election
in a state Trump won narrowly by 22,750
votes, which is largely attributed to the
states support for populism, a political
view Republicans have come to dominate.
In addition to Trumps win there, Sen. Ron
Johnson (R-Wis.), whom many observers
thought was a dead-man walking against
challenger Russ Feingold, won re-election
last year by nearly 4 points.
Not helping Baldwin is a poll unveiled
last week by Morning Consult, which
found she was paired with Sen. Claire
McCaskill (D-Mo.) as the least popular
Democratic senators up for re-election in
2018. According to the rankings, Baldwin
has an approval rating of 44 percent in
the state compared to 38 percent of state
residents who disapprove of her.
Nathan Gonzales, editor of the D.C.-
based Inside Elections, said Baldwin faces
both advantages and challenges in her re-
election bid, but ultimately concluded the
conditions are favorable to her.
I think 2016 showed Republicans can
be successful in Wisconsin in midterm
and presidential years, and thats bad
news for the senator, Gonzales said. But
history tells us the presidents party often
struggles in midterm elections, and that
could be the saving grace for Baldwin.
If Hillary Clinton was sitting in the Oval
Oce, I think the senator would have a
tougher time. I still expect Baldwin to have
a competitive race, but the rst step is for
Republicans to gure out who is running
and choosing their nominee.
The lack of an obvious Republican
challenger, as Gonzales noted, is another
boon to Baldwin in 2018. The candidate
the GOP had hoped to eld, Rep. Sean
Duy (R-Wis.), a four-term member of
Congress and former cast member of
MTVs Real World, declared in February
he wont challenge Baldwin in 2018.
CONTINUES AT LOSANGELESBLADE.COM
NATIONAL NEWS
DOJ withdraws lawsuit against N.C. bathroom law
Critics see pattern of anti-
trans bias in Trump admin
By CHRIS JOHNSON
Although North Carolina replaced anti-
LGBT House Bill 2 with a law that critics say
still enables anti-LGBT discrimination, the
U.S. Justice Department has withdrawn
the lawsuit against the state led last year
under the Obama administration.
In a ve-page notice, the Justice
Department under U.S. Attorney General
Je Sessions announced it has voluntarily
withdrawn the lawsuit led last year by
former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
In light of the passage of North Carolina
Session Law 2017-4, House Bill 142, and
pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 41, the Parties
in the above-captioned action hereby
stipulate that all claims or causes of action
against Defendants and all counterclaims
against Plainti which were the subject
matter of this lawsuit are hereby dismissed
with prejudice, the notice says.
After North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper
signed into law the replacement measure
for HB2, whether the Justice Department
would continue the lawsuit it led against
the state over the initial law was in question.
As of last month, a Justice Department
spokesman said the U.S. government was
reviewing its litigation posture in the
aftermath of the HB2 replacement.
Lynchs lawsuit alleged HB2, which
barred cities from enacting pro-LGBT
ordinances and transgender people from
using the restroom consistent with their
gender identity, contravenes federal law.
The Justice Department alleged the law
violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments
of 1972 and the Violence Against Women
Reauthorization Act of 2013.
The deal Cooper signed, House Bill 142,
replaces HB2 with a measure that LGBT
advocates say is a bait-and-switch attempt
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
The Justice Department under JEFF SESSIONS
(R-Ala.) has withdrawn its lawsuit over North
Carolinas HB2.
BLADE PHOTO BY MICHEAL KEY
giving the appearance of repeal while
doubling down on discrimination.
HB 142 prohibits state agencies,
municipalities and the University of
North Carolina from the regulation of
access to bathrooms, locker rooms and
showers unless they have the legislatures
permission. It also bans municipalities
until 2020 from enacting LGBT-inclusive
nondiscrimination measures that would
apply to private businesses or public
accommodations.
Ford Porter, a Cooper spokesperson,
said in response to DOJs withdrawal of
the lawsuit against the North Carolina law
the governor still supports statewide non-
discrimination protections for LGBT people.
The compromise to repeal HB2 took
an important step in the right direction,
Porter said. Gov. Cooper will continue to
work to repair our states reputation and
add statewide protections for LGBT North
Carolinians.
The withdrawal of DOJs lawsuit in the
aftermath of the switch is consistent with
Sessions actions against transgender rights
since his conrmation as U.S. attorney
general. In fact, the Justice Department last
month nixed its request for a preliminary
injunction against HB2 in favor of an
existing injunction against the law that was
signicantly more limited and applied only
to plaintis in a separate lawsuit.
Jon W. Davidson, legal director for
Lambda Legal, said in a statement
the Justice Department is using North
Carolinas new law as an excuse to
withdraw the lawsuit even though the new
statute still enables discrimination.
Here is yet another instance of the
Trump administration and Attorney
General Je Sessions withdrawing the
federal governments support from
transgender individuals, and they are
using the fake repeal of HB2 as cover,
Davidson said. Sadly, this was not
unexpected, now that anti-transgender
forces are in charge of the Departments
of Justice and Education. Once again,
the Trump administration continues to
abandon transgender Americans.
Although the Justice Department may
be reviewing its position now that HB2
has been replaced, that isnt stopping
LGBT legal groups thatalso led a lawsuit a court injunction against an Obamacare
against HB2 from continuing with their
challenge.
The trio of groups the American Civil
Liberties Union, ACLU of North Carolina,
and Lambda Legal have declared their
lawsuit, which includes claims for the
damages inicted by HB2, will continue,
and theyll seek to amend the lawsuit to
challenge HB142 as well.
James Esseks, director of the ACLUs
LGBT Project, said in a statement the LGBT
legal groups will press on in North Carolina
even though the Justice Department has
abandoned the ght.
The Trump administration may want
to use the fake repeal of HB 2 as an
excuse to further turn their backs on the
transgender community, but the rest of us
A P RI L 2 1 , 2 0 1 7 1 1
arent going to give up that easily, Esseks
said. Well continue this ght as long as it
takes to truly strike down this disastrous
law for good.
The lawsuit the LGBT legal groups led
against North Carolina, Carcao v. McCrory
(now known as Carcao v. Cooper), is on hold
until April 28, when a status report is due
before the trial court in the aftermath of the
enactment of the replacement law to HB2.
Tara Borelli, counsel for Lambda Legals
southern regional oce and an attorney
representing plaintis in the case, told
the Washington Blade the withdrawal of
the DOJ lawsuit will have no impact on the
litigation led by LGBT legal groups.
This wont hurt the merits of
the lawsuit, Borelli said. HB2 was
unconstitutional the day it was enacted.
HB142 was unconstitutional the day it was
enacted, and nothing about whos sitting
at counsels table makes either of those
laws any more valid.
Other anti-transgender actions the Justice
Department has taken under Sessions
are the withdrawal of school guidance
assuring transgender kids have access to
the restroom consistent with their gender
identity and missing a deadline to appeal
rule barring anti-trans discrimination in
health care. President Trump himself has
been accused of weakening LGBT legal
protections in the workforce by undoing
President Obamas Fair Pay & Safe
Workplaces Executive Order.
Borelli said the withdrawal of the DOJ
lawsuit against North Carolina continues
a pattern of the federal government
continuing to abandon transgender
individuals, citing among other things
the decision by Sessions and Education
Secretary Betsy DeVos to rescind the
transgender guidance.
This is no surprise given the anti-
transgender forces in charge of the
Departments of Justice and Education, but
it is very disappointing, Borelli said.
1 2 A PRI L 2 1 , 2 0 1 7
U.S. condemns gay arrests in Chechnya
Haley disturbed by
reports of kidnapping,
torture and murder
By MICHAEL K. LAVERS
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley
this week said the U.S. remains disturbed
by the arrests of more than 100 gay men
in Chechnya.
We continue to be disturbed by reports
of kidnapping, torture, and murder of
people in Chechnya based on their sexual
orientation and those persecuted by
association, she said in a statement that
her oce released on April 17. If true,
this violation of human rights cannot
be ignored Chechen authorities must
immediately investigate these allegations,
hold anyone involved accountable, and
take steps to prevent future abuses.
We are against all forms of
discrimination, including against people
based on sexual orientation, she added.
When left unchecked, discrimination
and human rights abuses can lead to
destabilization and conict.
Novaya Gazeta, an independent Russian
newspaper, earlier this month reported
authorities in the predominantly Muslim
and semi-autonomous Russian republic
in the Caucuses have arrested more than
100 gay men since the end of February.
Many of these men have reportedly been
beaten and tortured with electric shocks
and glass bottles that have been forced
into their anuses.
Muslim, a Chechen man who spoke
with CNNs Matthew Chance this week,
said authorities who wanted to get the
names of his gay friends punched him
and beat him with their feet. Muslim said
they later electrocuted him.
Novaya Gazeta has also said at least three
of the men who were arrested later died.
The Russian newspaper has reported
Chechen authorities have sent gay men to
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
We continue to be disturbed by reports of
kidnapping, torture, and murder of people in
Chechnya, said U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.
NIKKI HALEY.
PHOTO BY GAGE SKIDMORE; COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA
secret prisons that have been described as
concentration camps. The Russian LGBT
Network, a St. Petersburg-based advocacy
group that has launched an emergency
campaign with All Out, a global LGBT
activist organization, to evacuate gay men
from Chechnya, conrmed these reports
to the Washington Blade.
Olga, an LGBT rights advocate in
Moscow who asked the Blade not to
publish her last name, on Wednesday said
she and her colleagues are working with
gay Chechens who have been able to ee.
We give them medical and psychological
help, said Olga.
Tillerson, Trump silent
Former Vice President Joe Biden on April
14 said he is disgusted and appalled by
the arrests.
When faced with such crimes of hate
and inhumanity, it is the responsibility of
every person of conscience to speak out
to oppose this campaign of violence
before it continues further, he said
in a statement he posted to the Penn
Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global
Engagements Facebook page.
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia
Freeland on April 15 described the arrests
and persecution of gay Chechen men
as reprehensible and urged Russian
authorities to thoroughly investigate
them. British Foreign Minister Boris
Johnson and Vitit Muntarbhorn, who is
the U.N.s rst LGBT and intersex rights
watchdog, are among those who have also
publicly condemned the situation.
The State Department in an April 7
statement said it is increasingly concerned
about the situation in Chechnya and
urged the Russian government to criticize
the arrests and conduct an investigation
into them. Fifty members of Congress on
the same day asked Secretary of State Rex
Tillerson to publicly condemn them.
Tillerson who met with Russian
President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on April
12 has not spoken publicly about the
arrests or the secret prisons in which the
gay men have been held. President Trump
has also not commented about them.
Agence France-Presse reported Putins
spokesperson told reporters late last week
the Kremlin does not have any reliable
information about the arrests.
The Associated Press on April 16
said Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov
categorized the international outcry
over the gay mens arrests as attempts
that are being made to blacken our
society, lifestyle, traditions and customs.
Kadyrovs spokesperson told a Russian
government news agency earlier this
month it is impossible to prosecute those
who are not in the republic.
The existence of concentration camps is
a serious breach of all international human
rights conventions, said the Brazilian
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Association
in a statement it released on April 10.
Laura Weinstein, president of Grupo Accin
y Apoyo a Personas Trans, a trans advocacy
group that is based in the Colombian capital
of Bogot, on April 14 posted to her Twitter
I N T E RN A T I O N A L N E W S
account a satellite picture that reportedly
shows one of the secret prisons in which gay
men are being held.
In this camp in Chechnya people are
being tortured, locked up and exterminated
for being gay and trans, she wrote.
Israeli LGBT rights advocates on April
14 held an emergency meeting at the
oces of the Aguda, the Israeli National
LGBT Task Force, in Tel Aviv to discuss the
arrests of the gay Chechen men and ways
they can help them. The Brazilian Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual and Trans Association and
other LGBT advocacy groups have urged
the U.N. to launch an investigation into the
abuses that are reportedly taking place.
ILGA-Europe urges international
institutions to advocate for the rights of
the LGBTI community in the region, and
for national governments to assist those
eeing persecution to nd safety, said
ILGA-Europe in an April 13 statement.
OutRight Action International on
Monday urged British Petroleum,
ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell three
oil companies that have made signicant
investments with state-owned Russian oil
and gas companies to publicly condemn
the arrests.
Tillerson was ExxonMobils CEO until
Trump nominated him to become
secretary of state.
This is one of the worst homophobic
campaigns the world has ever seen, said
OutRight Action International Executive
Director Jessica Stern. If Russia will not listen
to other governments or even the United
Nations, it is time to see if we can get money
to talk in a language that they will listen to.
Chechen Social Politics Minister
Dzhambulat Umarov on Sundaydemanded
Novaya Gazeta apologize for the disgusting
nonsense that you spread. One of the
newspapers reporters who broke the story
has reportedly gone into hiding because of
death threats she has received.
CONTINUES AT LOSANGELESBLADE.COM
HEALTH NEWS W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
A new study tracks the happiness of same-sex married couples.
Same-sex marriage brings health benets
SEATTLE Same-sex marriage is good for overall health and sense of well being a
new University of Washington study reports.
For years, studies have linked marriage with happiness among heterosexual
couples. But a study from the UW School of Social Work is among the rst to explore
the potential benets of marriage among LGBT couples, News Medical reports. Its
part of a national, groundbreaking longitudinal study with a representative sample
of LGBT older adults, known as Aging with Pride: National Health, Aging, Sexuality/
Gender Study, which focuses on how historical, environmental, psychological,
behavioral, social and biological factors are associated with health, aging, and quality
of life.
UW researchers found that LGBT study participants who were married reported
better physical and mental health, more social support and greater nancial
resources than those who were single. The ndings were published in a February
special supplement of the Gerontologist.
Some 2.7 million adults ages 50 and older identify as LGBT, a number that is
expected to nearly double by 2060.
Among LGBT people, marriage increased noticeably after a 2015 U.S. Supreme
Court ruling legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. A 2016 Gallup Poll found that
49 percent of cohabiting gay couples were married, up from 38 percent before the
ruling.
For the UW study, more than 1,800 LGBT people, ages 50 and older, were surveyed
in 2014 in locations where gay marriage was already legal (32 states and Washington,
A P RI L 2 1 , 2 0 1 7 1 3
D.C.). About one-fourth were married, another fourth were in a committed
relationship and half were single. Married respondents had spent an average of 23
years together, while those in committed, unmarried relationships had spent an
average of 16 years.
Among the study participants, more women were married than men, and of the
respondents who were married, most identied as non-Hispanic white.
Researchers found that, in general, participants in a relationship, whether married
or in a long-term partnership, showed better health outcomes than those who were
single. But those who were married fared even better, both socially and nancially,
than couples in unmarried, long-term partnerships.
Single LGBT adults were more likely to have a disability; to report lower physical,
psychological, social and environmental quality of life; and to have experienced the
death of a partner, especially among men.
Study nds trans kids avoid restroom at school
NEW YORK As yet another bathroom debate began to brew in Michigan last
week, a report released by LGBT rights advocates showed transgender students
often avoid using school restrooms because they feel uncomfortable and unsafe,
Newsweek reports.
Separation and Stigma: Transgender Youth and School Facilities, a document
published last week by the Movement Advancement Project, GLSEN, National Center
for Transgender Equality and the National Education Association, found that 70
percent of transgender students said theyve gone out of their way to not usecampus
bathrooms. Pulling in data from a 2015 survey of youth and a 2016 study of adults,
the report mentioned that transgender people revealed they not only drank less
but alsodeveloped urinary tract infections in their quest to skip the public facilities,
Newsweek reports.
The pro-LGBT rights organizations involved in the report sent the statistics to
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos along with an open letter urging her to reverse
course and establish a national policy protecting students rights to use facilities that
correspond to their gender identities rather than biological sex, Newsweek reports.
On the surface, the argument is about bathrooms, but at a deeper level, it is
about whether or not transgender students will be included in our public education
system, Ineke Mushovic, executive director of the project, said in a news release.
Put simply, if transgender students cannot safely access a bathroom, they cannot
safely attend school.
In February, just weeks after President Donald Trump took oce, the White House
rescinded guidance from his predecessor that instructed schools to let transgender
students choose their bathrooms and implied that they could lose federal funding
should they disobey.Afterward, reports emerged that DeVos had initially opposed
Trumps decision but ultimately caved, Newsweek reports.
On April 11, the American Civil Liberties Union became involved in a new case in
Jenison, Mich., where a student claimed on Facebook that Jenison High School was
not allowing transgender students to choose facilities based on gender,the Grand
Rapids Press reported. However, the school district insists that its not discriminating.
Transgender people can visit bathrooms that align with their sex, a gender-neutral
toilet or unisex sta facilities, Newsweek reports.
1 4 A PRI L 2 1 , 2 0 1 7
Democratic Governors Association planning
conference in anti-LGBT North Carolina
Party cares more about
boosting Roy Cooper
than standing up for
its LGBT backers
By KAREN OCAMB
Has the Democratic Party lost its soul or
just its mind by forfeiting its allegiance to LGBT
equality?
For the past few months, the Democratic
Governors Association (DGA)an organization
operating separate from but under the auspices
of the National Democratic Committeehas
been planning a policy conference in North
Carolina, according to a very reliable source
with knowledge of the action.
Apparently the planning started after a
former staer for newly elected North Carolina
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper joined the DGA.
The source did not know if the conference
was a counter-measure to the backlash from
such prominent LGBT organizations as the
Human Rights Campaign, Equality North
Carolina and Equality California over Coopers
compromise with conservative state
Republicans to repeal the transphobic HB2
law in order to appease business boycotters
such as the NCAA.
The appeasement worked. On April 18, the
NCAA announced that North Carolina is again
free enough from anti-LGBT discrimination
to hold championship games. The NCAA
has fallen hook, line, and sinker for this bait
and switch sham deal doubling down on
discrimination, JoDee Winterhof, HRC Senior
Vice President for Policy and Political Aairs,
said in a press release. [T]he NCAA has
undermined its credibility and is sending a
dangerous message to lawmakers across the
country who are targeting LGBTQ people with
discriminatory state legislation.
HB 142 still prohibits local anti-
discrimination protections for LGBT people
in public accommodations or private
employment practices until Dec. 1, 2020
and leaves regulation of multiple occupancy
restrooms, showers or changing facilities to
the state. I think this will address issues of
who we are, how inclusive we are and whether
everyone is valued, said Senate Democratic
WWW .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
Leader Dan Blue about the reset back to pre-
HB2 days, according to the News & Observer.
But the LGBT community isnt buying what
that Blue man is selling. The governor threw
the LGBT community under the bus, Victory
Fund President & CEO Aisha C. Moodie-Mills
told the Washington Blade last month. It was
the LGBT community that ultimately pushed
Roy Cooper into victory and he would be
wise to remember that. Im disheartened
but Im not surprised. At the end of the day
opportunism is not partisan.
It was an opportunity the Trump Justice
Department couldnt resist, withdrawing its
complaint against HB2 citing the purported
repeal.
Here is yet another instance of the Trump
administration and Attorney General Je
Sessions withdrawing the federal governments
support from transgender individuals, and they
are using the fake repeal of HB2 as cover, said
Lambda Legals Jon W. Davidson, noting that
Lambda Legal and the ACLU are still pursuing
legal challenges to the law.
Already facing erasure in Trumps America,
the LGBT community may now be facing
the slow betrayal of once reliable friends.
Democratic pundits now talk about shucking
o identity politics in favor of economic law was enacted to ensure that, with limited
issues that appeal to overlooked Trump voters.
But economic issues are LGBT issues when
an LGBT person can be legally disqualied
from applying or red for simply being LGBT.
According to a 2015 Center for American
Progress report, Americas 5.1 million LGBT
women face lower pay, frequent harassment,
compromised access to health care, and
heightened violence and are at high risk for
poverty, especially lesbians with children.
Isnt poverty an issue of concern to
Americas Democratic governors?
The Los Angeles Blade source says the
DGA has contacted the oces of the DGA
Executive Committee about the planned
conference in North Carolina. The committee
is made up of: incoming Chair Gov. Jay Inslee of
Washington; New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo;
Virginia Gov. Terry McAulie; Oregon Gov.
Kate Brown; and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock.
The Blade made repeated calls to the oces
of the executive committee members and
made numerous calls and sent several emails
and even Tweeted DGA Communications
VIEWPOINT
Director Jared Leopold, to discuss the planned
conference but received no response.
Gov. Inslees oce did respond, but noted
that the DGA question was political and outside
the scope of the governors oce. However
the staer noted, Inslee signed a renewed
travel ban to North Carolina and therefore it
was unlikely that the governor would violate
state law to travel to the conference.
Browns press oce said the question
should be put to the governors reelection
campaign. An email and two calls to campaign
manager Thomas Wheatley were not
returned. When HB2 rst came out, bisexual
Gov. Kate Brown said she was appalled by
the new law but has not commented on the
new law.
Rich Azzopardi, a spokesperson for Cuomo,
previously told the Washington Blades Chris
Johnson: Our review of the new North
Carolina law is ongoing, and the Governors
Executive Order currently remains in eect.
North Carolina travel bans are being
upheld by Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton and
California Gov. Jerry Brown.
Discrimination is unacceptable and we
intend to protect LGBT rights, Attorney
General Xavier Becerra said. Californias
CHIBBARO JR., MARIAH COOPER, ABBY DEES, REBEKAH
exceptions, our taxpayer resources are not
spent in states that authorize discrimination
on the basis of sexual orientation, gender
identity, or gender expression. North
Carolinas new law does not cure the inrmity
of this type of discrimination.
Cities keeping their travel bans include: New
York City; Washington, D.C.; San Francisco;
Seattle; Portland, Ore.; Atlanta; Baltimore;
Los Angeles; Oakland; Santa Fe; Cincinnati;
Salt Lake City; Palm Springs, Calif.; West Palm
Beach; Portland, Maine; Burlington, Vt; and
Wilton Manors, Floridawhere a series of
egg-throwing attacks in the citys gay corridor
are being considered as hate crimes.
The LGBT community has had problems
with the DNC before and has been expected
to just grin and bear it. That times long gone.
LGBT grassroots have glimpsed full equality
and wont settle for crumbs doled out by DGA
smart-ass sell-outs. If the party wants to regain
power, it needs to reclaim its souland that
means embracing the struggle of Americas
ocial second-class LGBT citizens.
VOLUME 01 ISSUE 03
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CONTRIBUTORS
CHARLES KAISER, ALAN MILLER, TIM MILLER, MAER
ROSHAN, HOLLY HUGHES, KIT WINTER, BRAD LAMM,
DAVID EHRENSTEIN, STEVEN ERICKSON, LILLIAN
FADERMAN, ORIOL GUTTIEREZ, SETH HEMMELGARN,
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V I E W PO I N T
Anti-LGBT forces trying to erode marriage equality
Theyre doing more
than you might think
By CHRISTOPHER F. STOLL
The U.S. Supreme Courts 2015 decision
that brought the freedom to marry to
same-sex couples nationwide was a
milestone in the movement for LGBT
equality. The ruling itself was implemented
with remarkable speed and relative ease.
In most states, couples began marrying
within days of the decision.
Apart from a few isolated cases, such
as that of Kim Davis, the Kentucky county
clerk who refused to issue marriage
licenses to same-sex couples, the decision
met with little resistance, and Americans
quickly accepted their LGBT friends and
neighbors having the same ability as
everyone else to have their relationships
legally recognized and protected.
The decision was a stunning loss for anti-
LGBT activists and politicians. Having lost
the most important LGBT rights case ever at
the Supreme Court, anti-LGBT forces quickly
set to work nding ways to undermine
the decision. Now that they can no longer
prevent same-sex couples from marrying,
the opponents of equality have turned
to a new strategy: looking for new ways,
large and small, to deny married same-sex
couples equal treatment under the law.
Some states have tried to selectively
deny married same-sex couples some of
the benets or legal protections that they
provide to other married couples.
Last month, at the urging of Governor
Greg Abbott and other conservative
state ocials, the Texas Supreme Court
heard arguments in a case challenging a
Houston ordinance providing the same
benets to same-sex spouses that it
provides to dierent-sex spouses. State
ocials continue to press this case even
though withholding equal benets directly
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
Even though the freedom to marry is now rmly
established, hostile attacks on same-sex couples
marriages and relationships are far from over.
violates the Supreme Courts ruling that
same-sex couples are entitled to the full
constellation of benets that the States
have linked to marriage.
Other states have targeted married same-
sex couples by refusing to list same-sex
spouses as parents on birth certicates when
a child is born during the marriage. Most
courts, including courts in Florida, South
Carolina, Wisconsin, and Utah, have quickly
shut down these eorts to resist full equality
for same-sex couples, holding that the denial
of a birth certicate listing both spouses
violates the Supreme Courts marriage
ruling. The Arkansas Supreme Court is the
only court to rule otherwise, and we at the
National Center for Lesbian Rights recently
led a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court
to overturn the Arkansas decision.
In addition to these moves by hostile
state ocials, the past two years have seen
a dizzying array of proposed anti-LGBT
legislation in state legislatures across the
country, much of it targeting married same-
sex couples. Last year, Mississippi became
the rst state to enact a sweeping law that
would allow government employees and
private citizens to discriminate against
married same-sex couples under the guise
of religious freedom. The law, which
protects those who deny services based
on a belief that marriage is or should be
recognized as the union of one man and one
woman, was enjoined by a federal judge
as a violation of the constitutional rights of
same-sex couples and is now on appeal.
South Dakota recently joined Michigan,
Virginia, and North Dakota in passing a
law allowing adoption agencies to refuse
on religious grounds to place children
with same-sex couples. Other states have
considered legislation that would allow
county clerks and state judges to exempt
themselves from issuing marriage licenses
or performing marriage ceremonies
for same-sex couples. Still others have
proposed laws that would allow private
vendors to decline to provide oral
arrangements, catering, and other services
for same-sex couples weddings.
The Mississippi law, and similar laws
under consideration in other states, are
expanded versions of a bill introduced in
Congress following the marriage equality
decision. That bill, the so-called First
Amendment Defense Act, would prohibit
the federal government from denying
federal employment, contracts or other
benets to individuals who discriminate
against LGBT people based on a belief
that marriage should only be available
to dierent-sex couples, or that sexual
relations should only occur within a
heterosexual marriage. In February, news
outlets published a leaked draft of an
executive order on religious freedom that
A P RI L 2 1 , 2 0 1 7 1 5
was under consideration by the Trump
White House. That order would provide
many of same protections to federal
contractors and employees who wish to
discriminate against LGBT people.
So far, neither measure has moved
forward, but if Congress enacts such a law
or President Trump signs such an executive
order, important anti-discrimination
protections for LGBT government workers
and employees of federal contractors
would be greatly diminished. For example,
federal contractors could refuse to employ
people who have a same-sex spouse.
Federal government employees could
deny government services to LGBT people.
This would eectively invalidate President
Obamas executive order prohibiting
federal contractors from discriminating
based on sexual orientation or gender
identity, as long as the contractor claims a
religious reason for wishing to discriminate.
As these examples show, even though the
freedom to marry is now rmly established,
hostile attacks on same-sex couples
marriages and relationships are far from
over. But there is good news, too. Although
anti-LGBT forces have been relentless in
their eorts to chip away at equality, and a
few viciously anti-LGBT laws have passed in
the last two years, dedicated LGBT activists
and fair-minded elected ocials across
the country have successfully defeated
hundreds more such bills. Public support
for the freedom to marry and for anti-
discrimination protections for LGBT people
has never been stronger. By continuing to
make our voices heard in state legislatures
and Congress, by showing up and holding
our elected representatives accountable,
we can defeat the ongoing eort to erode
the freedom to marry and protect, in the
Supreme Courts words, the equal dignity
of same-sex couples marriages.
CHRISTOPHER F. STOLL is senior sta attorney
for the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
1 6 A PRI L 2 1 , 2 0 1 7
Finding justice denied in a hate-lled system
LGB youth prisoners face
enormous challenges
By BIANCA D.M. WILSON, Ph.D.
Scholars at the University of California,
Los Angeles recently released a startling
study that revealed disproportionate
numbers of LGB youth in the American
penal system and highlights some of the
grave dangers they face.
Several U.S. jurisdictions have struggled
to enact juvenile detention reform, close
youth prison facilities and nd alternatives
to incarceration. Incarcerated youth face
poor outcomes, due in part to a systemic
bias against impoverished Black and
Latino youth who are an over-represented
population. LGB detainees fare even
worse.
A look at the population of LGB youth
in the system tells us that the experiences
of sexual minority girls deserves attention
39.4 percent of girls in custody identied
as LGB, compared to only 12 percent
of girls in the general population. This
is startling, but when you add to that
gure the number of girls that described
themselves as Mostly Straight but
attracted to the same sex, we see that
almost 60 percent of incarcerated girls
were sexual minorities.
In the 2012 National Survey of Youth
in Custody-2 (NSYC-2), an anonymous
sampling of youth in juvenile correctional
facilities found that sexual minority youth
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
Our community must press for more
answers about the higher rates of
incarceration of our youth.
LA County Jail has perhaps the nations only wing dedicated to housing gay inmates.
were 2-3 times more likely to be held in
custody far longer than heterosexual
VIEWPOINT
report having experienced sexual violence
by peers.
Queer girls of color account for the
highest rates of overrepresentation,
mirroring a trend seen in the adult queer
female prison population.
How did we get here?
We expect that a complex web
produced by a racist system that targets
black people, favors gender conformity
amplied by the stress of the minority
LGB experience combines as a particular
obstacle among LGB incarcerated youth.
Their experience is repeated among LGB
youth of color (especially girls) in other
state systems, such as child welfare.
Are queer girls entering the system
because of police biases, access to quality
legal defense, etc.? Or is it that more queer
girls get stuck or left behind in the system,
indicating problems with treatment and
behavior once incarcerated?
Recently made recommendations by
the LGBT Subcommittee of the Federal
Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice
suggests a combination of factors.
Our community must press for more
answers about the higher rates of
incarceration of our youth, why they are
given longer sentences, and experience so
much sexual victimization.
Race, sexual orientation, and gender
matter.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WILSON
BIANCA D.M. WILSON, PH.D., an author of
youth. Gay and bisexual boys were nearly the study, is the Rabbi Barbara Zacky Senior
Scholar of Public Policy at the Williams Institute
11 times more likely than straight boys to on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy.
A P R I L 2 1 2 0 1 7 V O L U M E 0 1 I S S U E 0 3 A meri c a s L G B T N e w s S our c e L O S A N G E L E S B L A D E . C O M 1 9

Asia Kate Dillon plays financial genius Taylor Mason on Showtimes Billions and they use
pronouns them or they.
photo USED WITH PERMISSION; courtesy of DILLON

Hollywoods gender normative transition

A ward s sh ow s ret hink u s e of h im and her

By REBEKAH SAGER

The MTV Awards are making a shift that
may hit Hollywood like a quake, but what
does the change signal for those in the
LGBTQ community?
Airing May 7 at the Shrine Auditorium
in Los Angeles, the now MTV Movie &
TV Awards as theyre called, are not only
recognizing the accomplishments in
television and film this year, but will also
pit men and women against each other in
a new non-gender acting category.
The new categories, Best Actor in a
Movie and Best Actor in a Show, has
nominees Hugh Jackman in Logan, Taraji
P. Henson in Hidden Figures, Get Out
star Daniel Kaluuya, Emma Watson in
Beauty and the Beast, Hailee Steinfeld,
for The Edge of Seventeen, and James
McAvoy, in Split, all vying for the same
award.
MTV President Chris McCarthy, at the
helm since fall of 2016, says the category
change aligns with the changing times.
We have to constantly be pushing
ourselves to not only respond to culture
but lead it, McCarthy said in a CNN
ContinueS ON page 30
2 0 A PRI L 2 1 , 2 0 1 7
queeryJORGE-MARIO CABRERA
By TROY MASTERS
tmasters@losangelesblade.com
Jorge-Mario Cabrera is a poet whether
he likes it or not. Hes a communicator by
profession, working in the immigrant rights
movement since 1992 but he was crafting
passionate, political and lyrical verses long
before he made a living sharing stories
about the immigrant community living in
the United States.
I wrote my rst poem in 8th grade when
all I knew about being an undocumented
immigrant in the U.S. was that my parents
and I couldnt go back to El Salvador, not
now, not ever, he says. That rst poem was
an ode to my grandmothers cooking and to
a rooster named Chepe.
When he recalls his days as a young
refugee growing up in Bell Gardens, Calif.,
and later moving to Santa Cruz to attend
college, Cabrera smiles. Those were the
golden years of my life. I was innocent. I
fell in love for the rst time with a boy who
smoked too much grass, he says.
Cabrera worked for many years as
Programs and Development Director for a
number of HIV/AIDS prevention and services
organizations in California. He recalls the
early 90s with nostalgia: Those were years
of change and struggle for the Latino and
gay community, especially for men and
women living and dying of HIV/AIDS. The
ght for resources, even in areas such as
Los Angeles, was erce and Latinas/os
were not a priority for many white leaders
in the LGBT community. Had it not been
for organizations like Clinica del Pueblo in
Watsonville and Bienestar in Los Angeles,
many more of my friends would have lost
their battle with HIV.
As he sips his second cup of coee, this
writer/poet/advocate doesnt mince words
when talking about his next ght: immigrant
rights. Theres tough times ahead for
immigrants and people of conscience he
says. The worst of the worst has yet to
come and we have to stay united.
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
How long have you been out and who
was the hardest person to tell?
I came out in high school when I was
17. The most dicult coming out
conversation was with my father, a
military man.
Whos your LGBT hero?
Mexican Singer Chavela Vargas and
Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca
Whats Los Angeles best nightspot,
past or present?
Club Tempo, one of the oldest gay Latino
bars in the city.
Describe your dream wedding.
Intimate gathering with his family and my
family, under the stars, boleros playing in
the background.
What non-LGBT issue are you most
passionate about?
Immigrant rights
What historical outcome would you
change?
The Holocaust and the moral decay,
and inaction by many, that allowed such
genocide to take place.
2 0 G A Y Q U E ST I O N S F O R: J O R G E - M A R I O C A B R E R A
Whats been the most memorable pop
culture moment of your lifetime?
Attending an Erasure concert in San
Francisco in 1989.
On what do you insist?
Passion.
What was your last Facebook post or
Tweet?
A poem I wrote about not fearing love. I
titled it Somos (We Are).
If your life were a book, what would
the title be?
In Spite of the Commas, the Sentiment
Was Real.
If science discovered a way to change
sexual orientation, what would you do?
I would advise against changing whats
already perfect.
What do you believe in beyond the
physical world?
I believe in the power of a higher being
who cradles us in his/her bosom,
nurtures, protects, teaches, loves us.
Whats your advice for LGBT movement
leaders?
PHOTO COURTESY OF CHIRLA
The rainbow is our symbol for a reason,
we are not all the same.
What would you walk across hot coals
for?
Nothing. I dont like pain.
What LGBT stereotype annoys you most?
That the LGBT community is an all-
welcoming, progressive bunch of goody
two shoes. We are an evolving movement.
Whats your favorite LGBT movie?
Contracorriente, a 2009 Peruvian movie
about the hard work of loving.
Whats the most overrated social
custom?
Handshakes between strangers instead
of hugs.
What trophy or prize do you most
covet?
To grow old without too many regrets.
What do you wish youd known at 18?
Love does have an expiration date.
Why Los Angeles?
Because being alive is to
walk amongst angels.
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22 AP RIL 21, 2017
A rich tapestry of sobriety support
in West Hollywood
A WHOLE NEW WORLD AWAITS, IF YOU WANT IT
I always say that West Hollywood breathed
life back into me. After getting sober, I didnt
know what to do. Honestly, I didnt truly know
how to live life without substances. But it was
the wonderful people of the many recovery
programs who brought me to where I am
today and helped make me the man that I am.
I learned early on in recovery that a blessing
is not a blessing unless it is shared. This concept
has been a driving factor for the last seven and
half years. It means I am so grateful for my life
today and the opportunities that befall me that
I have to keep giving back to others so that they,
in turn, will have opportunities as well.
Part of that means helping others when I
can. I rst learned in the programs that there
are countless ways to enjoy and engage in life
without substances. It was like a whole new
world. There were parties, dances, bowling
events, camping trips, bingo games, drag
shows, dinners, charity events, theme park
outings, and so on and so on. And I made so
many friends in the process. What was even
more exciting was that I got to be of service and
help create and produce some of these events.
It gave me a new sense of purpose. That was a
powerful realization for me. I could help make
peoples lives better.
Part of that also means learning the
treatment-to-care pipeline. One of those
amazing friends I met along the way was Jimmy
Palmieri, founder of the Tweakers Project. The
Tweakers Project is an anti-meth campaign
that focuses on meth education and promotes
every type of method possible to stay clean
from meth. In getting involved, Jimmy helped
me to learn how to navigate the complex
treatment-to-care pipeline that exists in Los
Angeles County. Before long, we were helping
people right o the streets and getting them
into the appropriate treatment program. We
saw men and women with substance abuse
and mental health disorders, full blown HIV/
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S BL A D E . C O M
By ROBERT GAMBOA
Pride celebrations dont have to include alcohol and drugs. There are alternatives in West
Hollywood.
AIDS, Hepatitis C and other infectious diseases,
and knew we had to do something. We learned
about the extensive social services that places
like the City of West Hollywood oers for
people that are homeless or struggling with
these diseases. This was crucial in discovering
that we still needed more work ahead. It wasnt
enough just to help people into treatment. We
needed to do more.
And that meant creating safe spaces or
alternatives for people to enjoy.
In my work at the Institute for Public
Strategies (IPS), we strive to promote improved
public health, public safety and quality of life.
We know that alcohol and drugs are deeply
ingrained in the fabric of our society. We
wanted to create a social norms shift. The social
construct needed to shift towards a realization
that social activities dont have to heavily rely on
alcohol and drugs. This seems like an easy ploy.
But for many people in the LGBT community,
making it through Pride seemed impossible
without a few drinks as social lubricant to ease
some of that anxiety.
So, along with Mike Rizzo from the Los
Angeles LGBT Center, Jimmy Palmieri, and IPS
West Hollywood Project, we began developing
new alternatives- social events where alcohol
F E A T U RE
and drugs arent the focus. We created
#BOOM! - An Alcohol and Drug Free New Years
Eve Extravaganza and #SIZZLE! - A Carnival of
Attraction!. We realized that Pride and New
Years Eve were two critical times when we saw
greater amounts of relapse, suicide, mental
health episodes and overdoses. We knew we
had to continue making safer spaces for people
to show that you can enjoy life and its many
wonderful and scary aspects, without alcohol,
should one choose to do so.
Thanks greatly in part to the City of West
Hollywood, Los Angeles LGBT Center and
Christopher Street West, these events have
been hugely successful. People tell me all the
time how they are alive today, healthy and able
to enjoy life because of these events.
Our community is truly amazing. We
represent all aspects of the social fabric
that make up our great country. We try to
build events and opportunities that are
inviting for all people. And it is increasingly
important that we continue to educate our
community on the vast resource options that
are available to them should they wish to live
a life free from substances. It only takes an
CONTINUES ON PAGE 23
F I LM WWW.LO SANG E LE S B LADE .C OM A PR IL 2 1 , 2 0 1 7 2 3

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 22

idea to start the process. And that rst action
could change the world.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of
cure, as the old Benjamin Franklin axiom goes.
And that is just what we set out to do.
You can enjoy a wonderful life free of drugs
and alcohol and there are many excellent
resources to guide you. Getting involved
helped open my eyes to a bigger world. And I
hope that it can for you too.
Upcoming sober events:
April 21-23: CMALA Convention- a three-
day celebration of sobriety free from crystal
meth at Plummer Park, West Hollywood. www.
cmala.com
April 26: Alcohol-Free Mx-N-Mingle
with the West Hollywood Chamber of
Commerce, My 12 Step Store and the
West Hollywood Project. http://web.
wehochamber.com/events/Mix-n-Mingle-
on-the-Boulevard-1466/details
June 9-11: #SIZZLE!- A Carnival of Attraction!
Inside the LA Pride Festival produced by alcohol-
free volunteers creating an exciting carnival
experience for you. https://www.lapride.org

Mix N Mingle brings alcohol-free networking to WeHo

I love to network and socialize, but I have to admit I sometimes feel like
an outsider when everyone has been drinking, said Jacob N., a transplant
from New York who works in the banking industry. I try to leave before
what my boyfriend calls the alcohol crescendo, when the alcohol at an
event starts to kick everything into high gear. It makes me feel isolated.
For people like Jacob and others theres a new option.
Recovery-themed gift shop, My 12 Step Store, has partnered with
the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce (WHCC), WeHos Institute
for Public Strategies and WeHo Safe Project to host an alcohol-free
networking event.
Mix N Mingle on the Blvd is scheduled to take place April 26, from 6-8
p.m. on the front lot of My 12 Step Store, at 8730 Santa Monica Boulevard.
WeHo is no stranger to networking mixers. The WHCC regularly hosts
such events on the last Wednesday of each month. The mixers attract
networking professionals from all over LA and they almost always take
place at restaurants, clubs, bars or some alcohol-driven form of nightlife.
Exchanging business cards with business owners, community leaders
and local, cocktail in hand, is almost a prerequisite at these mixers. Not
that theres anything wrong with that.
But West Hollywood is home to one of the nations largest and
most active sober communities and many other people just feel more
comfortable in alcohol-free social situations.
RJ Holguin, founder and director of marketing at My 12 Step Store, says
the store has hosted several events in the past that have had successful
turnouts, but he believes theres an even bigger market for alcohol-free
business events.
We normally cater to a sober, 12-step/program-based crowd, said
Holguin. Were branching out for Mix N Mingle and bringing in a more
business-oriented group of people into our tent. By combining the non-
alcoholic audience with our normal recovery following, we anticipate a
larger turnout. We have more partners who are interested in participating
in this unconventional mixer, so we want to go bigger.
We live in a city that has great revenue from businesses that sell
alcohol to celebrate peoples lives, Holguin added. In many instances
people forget how to socialize and mingle without being altered at some
point and taking advantage of the opportunity to showcase their business
in West Hollywood.
According to Holguin, the absence of liquor at Mix N Mingle will not
equate to a buttoned down aair with Bach playing in the background.
The event will be a lively, loud and festive aair. Sexy bartenders will
serve mocktails provided by Mixwell. DJ Adam Excess will spin. KLEAN
Treatment Center will provide hors doeuvres and a coee truck. Cake
Art will provide cupcakes. And WHCC has made sure the event is free
to the public.
West Hollywoods institute for Public Strategies came up with the
idea, said WHCC Manager of Events, Vic Gerami, This is just another
professional mixer that happens to be alcohol-free. You dont have to be
sober or in a 12-step program to enjoy it and you dont necessarily have to
drink alcohol to have a good time.
Gerami, who has been sober for almost 10 years, said the My 12 Step
Store is the ideal location for Mix N Mingle. The store is on the Boulevard
a good walking distance from the bars and the West Hollywood Recovery
Center, so you have the convenience and visibility, and the store is known
for its positive messaging within the community.
Sober West Hollywood resident Dan Mryglot is keen on the idea of an
alcohol-free mixer.
I can understand how a mixer where theres liquor involved can
be distracting for some sober people, he said. A mixer with alcohol
would have bothered me in my early recovery, but now that Im over
six years sober, I have learned to live life on lifes terms. This event
addresses a need for an alternative way to network and mix in an
atmosphere that oers more than just a place to go drink. You get
to meet people. You get to eat, have a beverage, have fun and mingle
without drinking.
Holguin and Gerami agree that Mix N Mingle could be the beginning of
more alcohol-free mixers in West Hollywoods future. We see ourselves
doing this again, said Gerami.
I want this to be the rst of many. This is the rst one weve tried and
the feedback has been great. I want to keep making them fun and edgy.
People really like what we are trying to do here. We have over 100 RSVPs
a week into the event, which is the largest weve ever had for a mixer,
said Gerami.
I feel that addiction - and recovery from addiction - is getting
worldwide attention, Holguin added. The stigma of being sober is
not the same, nor are there separations between drinking and non-
drinking people that we once had. I believe there will be a need for
more alcohol-free events like this.
To RSVP for Mix N Mingle on the Blvd, visit: wehochamber.com/events/
Mix-n-Mingle-on-the-Boulevard-1466/
PAULO MURILLO
2 4 A PRI L 2 1 , 2 0 1 7 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM O U T & A BO U T

Big Freedia bouncing back to LA

EXCESSIVE TWERKING ALERT ISSUED FOR APRIL 28

By DAN ALLEN

Big Freedia will shake it up in downtown LA.

PHOTO BY KORWOSKI; COURTESY OF FLICKR

Whatever you prefer to call her
Queen Diva, the Queen of Bounce, or just
plain Big Freedia her royal bounciness
is heading back to Los Angeles for a
performance like only she can deliver, on
Friday, April 28 at DTLAs Regent Theater.
The show falls neatly on the same
weekend as the third edition of RuPauls
DragCon, where Freedia has been a
featured panelist at every edition thus
far, and will return this year for a session
called Dancing Queens (also featuring
Akira Armstrong, Jojo Guadagno and
Laganja Estranja) on April 30 at 2 p.m.
Having almost singlehandedly
catapulted New Orleans super-energetic
twerk-like bounce music into the
mainstream, since 2013 Big Freedia has
also parlayed her musical success into
reality TV fame, with a Fuse Channel show
called Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce.
During its fth season last year, the show
revealed the tremendously tumultuous
recent highs and lows in the 39-year-
old musicians life, from being featured
on Beyoncs mega-hit Formation, to realized it was a theme so we wanted to
launching both a restaurant and exercise
app, to having a Mississippi concert
cancelled for excessive twerking, to facing
felony charges of HUD fraud.
The shows sixth season returns to Fuse
on Sept. 12, with a new name: Big Freedia
Bounces Back. As she gears up for the
West Coast leg of her latest tour, we asked
Freedia about that and much more.
Los Angeles Blade: You had a lot of
major personal highs and lows in season
5 of Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce.
What can we expect from season 6?
Big Freedia: Fans can expect more
drama, including the highs and the lows
of my life. My show is real, so fans can
always expect reality from me. My show
really represents the daily struggles and
successes of my life.
Blade: Why did you decide to change
the name of the show to Big Freedia
Bounces Back?
Big Freedia: We changed the name
because Ive had so many curve balls and
setbacks thrown my way recently. That
said, they only make me stronger. We
to be called Pressing Onward?
change the name to reect that.
Blade: Do you want to continue the
show for many more seasons?
Big Freedia: Of course! Ill go as long as
my fans and network will have me.
Blade: Have you spent much time in
LA, other than performing?
Big Freedia: Oh yes, I love LA. It has
all the shopping and food anyone could
want. The weather is on eek too.
Blade: How are your LA crowds?
Big Freedia: LA crowds are the best.
When I was a club artist coming up, LA
was one of the rst West Coast cities to
embrace me. I will always love them.
Blade: Youll be doing another panel
at RuPauls DragCon this year. Did you
time your LA show to coincide with
that, and is DragCon an important
event for you?
Big Freedia: Anything RuPaul is involved
with I support 100 percent!
Blade: Is your new album still going
interior design, a restaurant. What new
Big Freedia: I think so, but honestly,
sometimes I have a change of heart last minute.
It seems like an appropriate title, right?
Blade: Your song Make It Jingle
was featured on the Oce Christmas
Party soundtrack. Was it fun being part
of the movies big Hollywood premiere
in December?
Big Freedia: Of course. I love Hollywood
and that movie was a fun project to be
involved in.
Blade: I see youll be playing the
Afrofunk Fest in Paris in July. Does
Europe have a lot of bounce fans?
Big Freedia: Yes, Europe loves Big
Freedia! Im always surprised the fans I
have worldwide.
Blade: Any more superstar
collaborations coming up?
Big Freedia: Well, yes, but you need to
watch the show and buy the new album to
nd out more!
Blade: Youve had so many other
projects a book, a tness app,
things have you been working on?
Big Freedia: Big Freedia emojis for the
iPhone!
O U T & A B O UT
Turning the king into a queen
LEGEND OF GEORGIA MCBRIDE OFFERS MORE THAN CAMPY LAUGHS
Drag and the theater go together like
shnet stockings and stiletto heels. After
all, cross-dressing on stage was standard
practice even before Shakespeare (by
legal necessity) wrote all those great tragic
heroines to be played by boys.
The decades since Stonewall have seen
a proliferation of shows about drag: Torch
Song Trilogy, La Cages and Kinky Boots,
to name just a few, have overcome cultural
homophobia to become substantial hits.
So how does one nd a new way of
exploring the drag experience when so
many have done it before?
Playwright Matthew Lopez, whose New
York hit, The Legend of Georgia McBride
is now at the Geen Playhouse, has found
an excellent answer to that question.
The title refers to the eventual drag
persona of Casey (Andrew Burnap), a
young dreamer who earns his living-
just barely- as an Elvis impersonator at
a Florida bar. Hes damn good at it, but
unfortunately, not many people care
enough about the King to nd that out.
Looking for a bigger draw, his boss decides
its time to change the program and hires
a drag performer named Miss Tracy Mills
(Matt McGrath) to replace him. Suddenly
out of a job, Casey whose pregnant wife
waits for him at home in an apartment
with overdue rent has only one chance
to keep himself aoat: don drag himself
and join her show.
With a set-up like that, its clear that
Georgia McBride is intended to be an
evening of campy laughs. Its also clear
from the very beginning who its target
audience is; during the pre-show, its
attractive young leading man comes
onstage and begins to warm up with some
shirtless pushups. The entire package
with its nave-straight-boy-meets-
jaded-queen premise, Redneck Riviera
setting, and rack full of glitzy and glittering
costumes is designed as a crowd-
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
By JOHN PAUL KING
true, and his charm and vulnerability shine
The Legend of Georgia McBride turns drag
success story trope inside out.
PHOTO COURTESY OF GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE
pleaser for gay (and gay-friendly) theater-
goers of all ages.
It certainly succeeds, but it also rises
above the level of well-done burlesque
by turning the drag success story trope
inside out.
On both stage and screen, weve seen
countless young gay men battle their
internalized homophobia in order to
claim their inner fabulousness (not that it
isnt a story that needs to be retold); but
here, Lopez ips the situation to give us
an honest-to-goodness straight boy faced
with the same conict. Its a refreshing
change of perspective, and combined with
the unexpected depth of all the characters,
it makes for a show which not only touches
us but reminds us that the struggle for
acceptance is a truly universal one.
Dont worry, though. Georgia McBride
may devote some of its 90-plus minutes to
small moments of personal truth, but it still has
plenty of time for the over-the-top production
numbers, acid-tongued one-liners, and epic
shade-throwing expected of any good drag
show; and its small cast of performers
aided by Mike Donahues well-tuned direction
and Paul McGills witty choreography are
more than capable of bringing it.
Burnaps Casey is adorable, yes, but
also much more: his characters evolution
(both in and out of drag) rings completely
yore. American Idol nalist Melinda Doolittle
in every scene - whether hes reveling in
domestic bliss with his bride, learning
to trade barbs with his drag mother, or
attempting Piafs Padam, Padam like a
deer in the headlights.
McGrath, the other half of this star duo,
burns just as brightly as the unsinkable
Tracy: equal parts nurturing mentor
and domineering diva, he balances both
extremes as eortlessly as he dances in
heels and nds all the subtleties in between
as he goes; and when he eventually
appears sans drag, he brings another layer
that reveals the characters even deeper
strength. Both actors are superb; together,
theyre an unstoppable team.
Credit also goes to Nija Okoro, touching
as Caseys sweet-but-practical wife, Jo; and in the L.A. production of Phantom Of the
Searcy masterfully underplays his turn
as bar owner Eddie. But its Larry Powell
who manages to steal some thunder from
the stars; as Tracys hot-mess drag sister,
Rexy, he owns every scene hes in from
the moment he skates onto the stage. He
makes her a force to be reckoned with, and
ultimately ends up with what may be the
plays most memorable (and surprising) has been a cornerstone of the cultural life
moment when he reads Casey over his
lack of respect for the heritage of drag.
CONTINUES AT LOSANGELESBLADE.COM
THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA MCBRIDE receive blank stares.
April 12 May 14
Geen Playhouse, Gil Cates Theater
10886 Le Conte Avenue
Los Angeles,CA 90024
Box Oce Line: (310) 208-5454
www.geenplayhouse.org
A P RI L 2 1 , 2 0 1 7 2 5
Final curtain for
S.T.A.G.E.
The 33rd and nal edition of the
Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event
(S.T.A.G.E.) fundraiser, beneting multiple
AIDS service organizations, among them
AIDS Project Los Angeles, takes place May
13 at the Saban Theatre, in Beverly Hills.
This years theme is Idols & Icons, in which
the stars of today pay tribute to the stars of
will be showing her love for Ray Charles,
Star Search Champion Jake Simpson will
be giving it up for George Michael, and the
legendary Carole Cook will pay homage to
the iconic Ethel Merman.
Other glittering jewels in the diadem
include Vicki Lewis (News Radio,
Broadways Damn Yankees), Christine
Pedi (SIRIUS Radio, Forbidden Broadway),
and the powerhouse Sam Harris, whose
resume extends from the Ed McMahon
version of Star Search to his recent book
and one-man show, Ham: Slices Of a Life.
This years outing will include lm elements,
so there will be both an introduction by a
two-dimensional John Travolta, as well as
Dale Kristien, the original Christine Daae
Opera, singing a duet with the ickering
version of her Phantom, Michael Crawford.
Alas, director and instigator David
Galligan informs us this will be the last
one. Due to the popular misperception
that AIDS has been cured, and the general
aging of the core audience, he will no
longer be mounting this showcase that
in this city. He nds that audiences are
looking for a dierent kind of music and
hes at a loss when, during a rehearsal, he
references George and Ira Gershwin to a
stage of spirited young dancers only to
So get out there and witness something
the likes of which well not see again. Tickets
at sabantheatre.com; info at stagela.com.
WENZEL JONES
2 6 A PRI L 2 1 , 2 0 1 7 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM CA LE N D A R

E-mail calendar items to

tmasters@losangelesblade.com
two weeks prior to your event. Space is
limited so priority is given to LGBT-specic
events or those with LGBT participants.
Recurring events must be
re-submitted each time.

LOS ANGELES

SATURDAY, APRIL 22
Los Angeles Times Festival of Books
2017 - Sat, Apr 22 - Sun Apr 23 @ 10:00
AM - 05:00 PM at Los Angeles Times
Festival of Books - (3351 Trousdale Pkwy).
Its time again for the nations largest
literary festival, the Los Angeles Times
Festival of Books! The 22nd annual event,
taking place Apr 22-23 at the University
of Southern California, will feature more
than 500 authors, celebrities, musicians,
artists and chefs.
Fiction: Writing Gay Literature in Los
Angeles, Conversation 1151 - 03:00 PM
The World Famous White Party takes over Palm Springs (May 5-8).
-04:00 PM at Los Angeles Times Festival PHOTO BY JOE PESSA; COURTESY OF JEFFREYSANKER.COM

of Books - (3351 Trousdale Pkwy). Part

of The Festival of Books. Moderated by
Noel Alumit. Held in USCs Taper Hall 201,
Signing Area 5 For more information, visit
the Festival of Books web site.
Status-Equal Speed Dating - 06:00
PM -09:00 PM at Revolver - (8851 Santa
Monica Blvd). Our last Speed Dating Event
was a huge success! We are excited to host
in partnership with Revolver Video Bar our
second round of speed dating. Come join
us in some fun and meet a special sexy
someone! Liquid courage is available to
those interested. Presented by The Thrive
Tribe.
Bears In Space Palm Springs w/Eric
Duncan & Heidi Lawden - 09:00 AM - 05:00
PM at Ace Hotel & Swim Club - ( 701 E
Palm Canyon Dr). Weve set coordinates
for Coachella Weekend 2 in Palm Springs
with a stellar lineup. Free w/ RSVP to www.
acehotel.com/desertgold ($30 without
RSVP) Click on Weekend 2 and submit
name and email. Capacity is limited and
based on rst come rst serve basis.
TUESDAY, APRIL 25
Joint Mixer with Studio City Chamber of
Commerce - 06:00 PM -08:00 PM at Artisan
Cheese Gallery - (12023 Ventura Blvd). Join
the LAGLCC as well as our friends at Studio
City Chamber of Commerce for a joint
networking event. LAGLCC Networking
Mixers provide the perfect opportunity
for business-to-business networking to
establish new relationships and business
contacts. Networking Mixers are held the
rst Thursday of each month.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26
WeHo Arts: RockNRoll Billboards of
the Sunset Strip Slideshow - 07:30 PM -
08:30 PM at West Hollywood City Council
Chambers - (625 North San Vicente
Boulevard). Revisit a time when hand-
painted temporary billboards on the
Sunset Strip depicted the worlds greatest
Rock Stars, and creative advertising ruled
the Sunset Strip. Photographer Robert
Landau was there, growing up amongst
the billboards, and now has the most
complete collection of historic billboard
images.
THURSDAY, APRIL 27
Los Angeles Valedictorian Society Event
- 06:00 PM - 08:00 PM at The Chapel at
The Abbey - (696 N. Robertson Blvd.).
Join Los Angeles young professionals in
supporting Point Foundation, the largest
LGBTQ scholarship organization. Learn
about the work Point is doing to help
students complete their college education
and develop leadership skills. Hear from
Point Scholars and Alumni while enjoying
cocktails and hors doeurves.
Gay Mens Chorus of Los Angeles Game
Night - 07:00 PM - 09:00 PM at Triangle
Square Apartments - (1602 Ivar Ave).
Friends and family are invited to join
members of the Gay Mens Chorus of
Los Angeles and the residents of Triangle
Square LGBT Senior Housing for an
evening of cards, board games, and rae
prizes. Were having a pizza party! Pizza
(vegetarian and meat options), salad,
snacks, and beverages!
FRIDAY, APRIL 28
Underbear Weekend | Spring Break
17 - 09:00 PM - 02:00 AM at The Bullet
Bar - (10522 Burbank Blvd). Underbear
Weekend | Spring Break Edition 17 We
have a weekend of events in store for the
last weekend of Apr, lots of rsts, fur, and
fun! Join us for a weekend of shenanigans
and liquid courage to get the party started!
All weekend long everyone is invited!
SATURDAY, APRIL 29
LBTQ Womens 360 Health &
Empowerment Fair - 09:00 AM - 05:00 PM
at Village at Ed Gould Plaza - (1125 North
McCadden Place ). Caring for myself is
an act of political warfare. Audre Lorde
Join us for a FREE day with LBTQ women
dedicated to protecting our minds, bodies,
and rights in challenging times. This years
360 will center around self-care and
resistance, with a wide array of workshops.
Malibu Creek State Park Hike - 09:00
am- at Malibu Creek State Park - (1925
Las Virgenes Rd). Malibu Creek State Park
Hike Rock Pool, Century Lake, M*A*S*H
Movie Site, Forest Trail Time: 9:00 am
Distance: 8 miles round trip Elevation: 300
ft Hike Time: 4 1/2 hours Diculty: Easy to
Moderate Trail Type: Well maintained trail.
John Edmonds Higher - Sat, Apr 29 -
Sat, Jun 03 @ 11:00 AM - 06:00 PM at Ltd
Los Angeles - (1119 S La Brea Ave). John
Edmonds, a queer Black photographer,
has made examining identities outside
of constructed social bias the core of his
ongoing practice. Through images that
CONTINUES ON PAGE 27
CA L E N DA R
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26
address each of his subjects as complex
individuals, rather than members of
larger cultural categorizations, Edmonds
photography puts a mirror to the world.
A Love Aair - Dinner and Concert -
06:00 PM -08:30 PM at Triangle Square
Apartments - (1602 Ivar Ave). PLEASE RSVP
by calling: 323-860-5832 Enjoy dinner and
a performance by the One Voice Senior
Chorale. The Chorale will be singing love
songs from the 20s through the present.
Suggested donation of $5 will go to the
Seniors Helping Seniors fund.
California Trails Day - 10:00 AM - 01:00
PM at Charlton Flats Picnic Site - (Forest
Service Rd 3N16). Charlton Flats Picnic
Area, in the pine forest on Angeles Crest
Highway one hour from LA and one mile
above sea level, has a network of trails
damaged in the 2009 Station Fire. Join G4G
on Sat 4/29 for a high-altitude workout
with 360-degree views of the San Gabriel
Mountains ...
RuPauls DragCon 2017 - 10:00 AM -
04:00 PM at L.A. Convention Center - (1201
S Figueroa St). RuPauls DragCon will kick
o the Gay Pride season with a erce
new twist. DragCon creators expect 10s
of thousand of attendees to experience
a glittering weekend with the largest ever
gathering of drag queens and gay icons.
SUNDAY, APRIL 30
Sing Yourself Alive Vocal Workshop -
02:00 PM - 04:00 PM at Inspire Spiritual
Community - (9056 Santa Monica Blvd.).
Sing Yourself Alive - A Bhakti Vocal
Workshop with Spring Groove Springs
passion to facilitate transformation
empowers her students and allows them
to experience the Strength & the Joy of
Bhakti (devotional) Yoga. Spring fuses her
training as a Broadway performer, Singer-
Songwriter, Kirtan Wallah, & a Sivananda
certied yoga teacher, ...
WEDNESDAY, MAY 3
90 Miles | Outfest West Hollywood
Series - 07:30 PM - 10:00 PM at West
Hollywood City Council Chambers - (625
North San Vicente Boulevard). 90 MILES
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
Juan Carlos Zaldivars 90 Miles (2001)
tells the personal tale of the lmmakers
journey at age 13 from a small town in
Cuba to Miami. Through interviews with
family and home videos shot in the United
States and Cuba, Zaldivar explores the
personal and political forces that shape
his Cuban-American identity.
THURSDAY, MAY 4
May Mixer at IHeartMedia - 06:30 PM
- 09:00 PM at iHeartMedia Inc - (3400
W Olive Ave # 550). Join Lisa Foxx and
friends as IHeartMedia welcomes Los
Angeles Gay and Lesbian Chamber and
San Gabriel Pride to their Burbank studios
for a cocktail reception in the brand-new
LA Performance Lounge and Balcony.
Hosted wine, beer and light appetizers to
be served. Bring a business card to enter
to win special door prizes. You must RSVP
on laglcc.org to be admitted!
Postcards From The Edge | Beers &
Queers - 07:30 PM -10:00 PM at Angel
City Brewery - (216 Alameda St). Outfest
Emerging Leaders Council Presents Beers
& Queers: Postcards From The Edge Angel
City Brewery May 4, 2017 7:30pm Join
the Outfest Emerging Leaders Council as
they host the 3rd Annual Beers & Queers.
This year the event will be screening
POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE, in honor of
Carrie Fisher.
MAY 5-7
White Party Palm Springs - 24 hours
at various venues - (main event at Palm
Springs Convention Center, 277 N Avenida
Caballeros). Jerey Sanker heats up the
desert valley bringing revelers innovative
new parties waiting to be experienced,
including totally redesigned Day Club Pool
Parties at the Renaissance Palm Springs
Hotel. GayInLA.com will give away a pair of
tickets on its website.
S.T.A.G.E. LA - Sat May 13 @ 7:30 PM
- at The Saban Theatre (8440 Wilshire
Blvd.). The 33rd edition of the Southland
Theatre Artists Goodwill Event (S.T.A.G.E.)
fundraiser, beneting AIDS Project Los
Angeles and multiple related service
organizations is taking place May 13 at
the Saban Theatre, in Beverly Hills. Alas,
director David Galligan informs us, Idols
& Icons will be the last. Sam Harris (Ham:
Slices Of Life) and the legend Carole Cook
only hint at the dazzling talent. Tickets at
sabantheatre.com; info at stagela.com.
POWERED BY GAYINLA.COM
PALM SPRINGS
FRIDAY, APRIL 21
Country Dance and Fundaiser - 08:00
PM to 12:00 AM at Chill Bar Palm Springs
and Scorpion Room (217 E. Arenas Road,
Palm Springs, CA). The Greater Palm
Springs Chapter of the Golden State Rodeo
Association presents Country Dance and
Fundraiser.Get your Boot Scootin Boogie
going with Two-Step, Waltz and Line
Dances.
SATURDAY, APRIL 22
Palm Springs Gay Mens Chorus
presents Palm Springs Pops - 8:00 PM to
9:30 PM at The Richards Center for the
Arts (2248 E. Ramon Road, Palm Springs,
CA - formerly Palm Springs HIgh School
Auditorium). There is also a matinee
performance on Sunday, April 23rd at
03:00 PM. The PSGMCs Pop concert will
include the incredible, beautiful and
powerful vocal talents of local favorites,
Keisha D. and Charles Herrera joining the
80 plus voices of the Palm Springs Gay
Mens Chorus.
Faux Fur Ball III - 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
at the City of Palm Springs Animal Shelter
(4575 E. Mesquite Avenue, Palm Springs,
CA.). Palm Springs Animal Shelters third
annual fundraising benet, Faux Fur Ball
III celebrates the human/animal bond
through art. Join a cocktail party lled
with entertainment, celebrity, artwork,
and interaction with the animal shelter
All for a good cause! The Friend For
Life award will be given to 2 time Emmy
winnerLoretta Swit.
Kevin James - 08:00 to 09:30 PM at The
Show at Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa
(32250 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage,
CA.). James began his career as a stand-up
on the Long Island comedy scene. After
being discovered at the 1996 Montreal
Comedy Festival, he signed a network
A P RI L 2 1 , 2 0 1 7 2 7
development deal to create his own
sitcom, which continues to this day!
Kristin Chenoweth - 8:00 PM to 10:00
PM at the McCallum Theatre (73000 Fred
Waring Drive, Palm Desert, CA.). Emmy
and Tony Award-winning actress and
singer Kristin Chenoweth takes the lead
in a spectacular career that eortlessly
spans lm, television, voiceover and stage.
In her live show, the acclaimed star brings
iconic songs from her best known shows
like Wicked, Glee and On the Twentieth
Century - as well as popular standards and
classics from Broadway, Hollywood and
beyond!
SUNDAY, APRIL 23
White Party World Tour - 4:00 PM
to 8:00 PM at Oscars Cafe & Bar (125 E
Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs,CA).
Oscars is hosting an Ocial White Party
Kick O Party! There will be White Party
Ticket Giveaways and Ocial White Party
Merchandise Giveaways. Dont miss the
Sexy White Party GoGo Dancers.
THURSDAY, APRIL 27
Dining Out For Life, Coachella Valley
2017 - All Day (at various restaurants in
Palm Springs) The Coachella Valley is
making plans to eat breakfast, lunch or
dinner at one of more than 60 restaurants
participating in this years Dining Out for
Life event. On April 27, each participating
restaurant will donate 33% or more of
whatever is spent at their location that day
supporting Desert AIDS Projects mission
to enhance and promote the health and
well-being of our community.
FRIDAY, APRIL 28
Stagecoach Festival 2017 - 9:00 AM
to 2:00 AM through Sunday, April 30 that
the Empire Polo Club (81-800 Avenue 51,
Indio, CA). The Stagecoach Festival is an
outdoorcountrymusic festivalpresented
by Goldenvoice, Various artists attend,
whether they be mainstream or relatively
unknown, ranging from folk, mainstream
country, bluegrass, roots rock,
andalternative country.
POWERED BY GAY DESERT GUIDE,
WWW.GAYDESERTGUIDE.LGBT/
2 8 A PRI L 2 1 , 2 0 1 7 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM P A LM SP RI N G S

Allure of a Palm Springs mid-century

A GAY TOUR OF CITYS STUNNING HOMES

By MIKE CONNOR

Tourists come from all over the world to
gaze at the distinctive midcentury modern
architecture, historical monuments, and
the former homes of movie stars in Palm
Springs. But what about a driving tour of
places gay celebrities once lived and played?
We thought wed highlight a few.
Though later known as Mr. Palm
Springs he served as the towns mayor
from 1948 to 1953 hunky Charles Farrell
rst made a name for himself as a silent lm
actor. In The River (1928), Farrell became the
rst known American actor to appear nude
on lm. Though married to actress Virginia
Valli from 1931 until her death in 1968,
Farrell (who, with bestie Ralph Bellamy,
opened The Palm Springs Racquet Club in
1934 and has a major Palm Springs street
named for him) was rumored to be gay.
And his Racquet Club hotel (2743 N. Indian
Canyon Drive) was notorious for hosting
gay parties attended by Hollywoods elite.
Farrell himself lived in a nearby compound
comprising two adjacent homes, the rst at
630 E. Tachevah Drive, the second around
the corner at 1120 N. Via Miraleste.
Speaking of gay parties and ground-
breaking nudity, in the mid-1950s openly
gay lm director James Whale (who was
immortalized in the 1998 lm Gods and
Monsters) owned the eight-unit Town &
Desert Hotel in Palm Springs (now The
Hideaway), located at 370 W. Arenas
Road. It was here that Whale who
reportedly had a fear of water and in 1957
committed suicide by drowning himself
in the backyard of his Los Angeles home
allegedly enjoyed lling the pool with
naked young men, making it the areas the most distinctive, with its extant piano-
rst known clothing-optional resort.
In his 2005 biography Tab Hunter
Condential: The Making of a Movie Star,
Hollywoods sexiest blond of the 1950s
not only came out as gay but revealed that
he and actor Anthony Hopkins (of Norman
Bates fame) had a long-time relationship.
The lovers reportedly spent weekends
hiding out at the Desert Inn (123 N. Palm
Canyon Drive), where Hunter would also
pose shirtless poolside for fan magazines
like Photoplay. The site is now a shopping
center. In early 2003, Hunter bought a
small, one-bedroom condo at 130 West
Racquet Club Road #419, but by this
time, in his early 70s, he was apparently
uncomfortable with the desert heat
both the weather and the constant
attention he received from men looking
to hook up with the former American idol.
It seems neither Liberace nor Merv Grin
had similar concerns. According to Darwin
Porters 2009 book Merv Grin: A Life in the
Closet, the famed TV host was a regular at
the all-male parties thrown by his friend and
former lover, Liberace. Over the decades,
the musician and master showman owned
four homes in Palm Springs. Piazza de
Liberace (1441 N. Kaweah Road) is among
shaped mailbox. The home depicted in
the movie Behind the Candelabra is located
at 501 N. Belardo Road and reportedly
featured theme rooms and a master
suite big enough to house a small house.
In addition to partying here, Liberace
reportedly passed away here in 1987.
Another closeted movie star who
enjoyed desert romps with a bevy of
beautiful men was Rock Hudson. His
friend George Nader had a four-bedroom
house in Bermuda Dunes (42520 Stardust
Place). H gates mark the entrance to a
citrus grove and side yard, according to
a recent real estate listing, which lists a
huge party area as one of the homes
benets. Following emergency quintuple
heart bypass surgery in 1981, Hudson
recuperated here. What else the pair did
here is anyones guess, but its assumed
the house saw plenty of action.
The notoriously private Cary Grant was
evidently not-so-private about his aection
for fellow actor Randolph Scott. After
aunting their closeness in a series of
photographs posed in the Santa Monica
beach house they shared sharing a
diving board, working out, enjoying a
candlelit dinner for two (with their butler!)
its believed their relationship eventually
relocated to the desert. Grant purchased a
Palm Springs house known as Las Palomas
(928 N. Avenida Palmas) in the Movie
Colony neighborhood with wife number
three, Betsy Drake. (Frank Sinatra and
wife Ava Gardner lived nearby at 1148 E.
Alejo Road, where visual remnants of the
couples notorious knock-down-drag-outs,
such as chipped countertops, are said to
remain.) But rumor has it that after each of
Grants marriages went south, he and Scott
(who bought a place in nearby Indian Wells)
would rekindle their relationship. Despite
their other romantic partnerships (Scott
was married twice, the latter union lasting
from 1944 until his death in 1987) Grant
and Scotts relationship whatever the
nature of it may have been purportedly
lasted for the rest of their lives.
CONTINUES AT LOSANGELESBLADE.COM
PAUL TAYLOR
DANCE COMPANY
MAY 5 - 7
Paul Taylor
is the world's
greatest living
artist, irrespective
of medium.
- TERRY TEACHOUT

310.746.4000
TheWallis.org/PTDC
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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19
interview. They dont see those lines
in the way that generations in the past
have So we wanted to take those down.
They felt really antiquated.
For many, the change poses the
question about gender identifying in
acting in general, and some are wondering
if the MTV Awards will set the stage for the
other more mainstream award shows,
such as the Academy Awards, to follow. Is
there a need to segregate categories when
not everyone identies as simply male or
female any longer?
The Grammys dropped gender
distinction in 2011, but the impact wasnt
felt as harshly, as the show hands out
84 trophies to performers in 84 dierent
categories. The Oscars, on the other
hand, only has four acting awards and ve
nominees in each category. In an industry
in constant battle against rampant sexism,
would the shows skew in favor of men?
The issue of gender has now emerged
for the Emmy Awards. Showtimes
Billions, star, Asia Kate Dillon confronted
the issue of gender identity recently with
their Emmy nomination.
Dillon plays the non-binary character
Taylor Mason on the show. Dillon identies
as gender-nonconforming and uses the
pronouns they and them. men and women. Its only one step though,
Dillon, was told by Showtime they
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
Rethinking him and her
wanted to nominate their role for an
Emmy, and asked them how they would
prefer to be identied supporting actor
or supporting actress?
Dillon wrote a letter to the Television
Academy to start a conversation.
They explained to the Academy that
within the system as its currently set up,
there is no room for my identity.
They say, in their research they learned
the word actor, in reference to those who
performed in plays, came about in the late
1500s and applied to all people, regardless
of anatomical sex or identity.
The Academy responded, saying that,
anyone can submit under either category
for any reason. Dillon chose the best
supporting actor category.
College student Henry Waletzko, who
identies as a non-binary trans-masculine
person, told the Blade, award shows in
many ways are the example of the way
institutions segregate people.
People were so appalled by the
#OscarSoWhite hashtag, but it presumes
that the Oscars havent always been so
white. Award shows institute gender norms.
Its one big place where these things
play out at on a national level, Waletzko
says. The idea of ditching the categories
is awesome. When we dont separate the
categories, it gets away from comparing
ultimately gender is really important.
and theres still a lot of work to be done in
the award show realm.
Waletzkos mother, Joey Brenneman
lives in New York and teaches theater, with
a focus on gender identity.
When it comes to casting plays, she told
the Blade, it gets complicated. Do we have
an actor who identies as male or female
play a trans person? We decided that a
few years down the line, thats going to
be looked at like black face, Brenneman
says. She adds, Were in the midst of a
gender revolution. In ve years things are
going to look very dierent.
Kathy Ottersen was identied as
intersex at birth, raised a man, and now
calls herself a trans activist. She says her
reaction to Dillons choice feels like its
a kind of gender washing, and makes
every gender normative.
We dont live in a non-binary situation.
Writers write for gender, and those roles
matter, Ottersen says.
If we were in a state in the society where
women getting grabbed, or networks
paying out big money for commentators
who sexually harassed women, wasnt
still allowed, then we could talk about not
having gender in awards, and the subtlety
of that, she says.
Ottersen says the MTV Awards changes
or Emmy Awards may be well intentioned,
or a goal for all of the award shows, but
and where the real change needs to
Considering the power vacuum for
A RT S & E N T E RT A I N ME N T
women, particularly in Hollywood, lets
keep our categories, and focus on the
performance, she says. Ultimately, its a
red herring. In the law theres a saying that
bad cases, make bad law. This is one of
those instances. It wont apply anywhere
else, and could screw up things in other
places, she adds.
Skylar Kergil is a transgender man,
activist, singer, and YouTube star. He says
as a teen it would have been hard for him
to engage in a conversation where it was
implied that gender wasnt important. At
14 or 15 years old, he says, when it came to
establishing himself as a man, he needed
the armation of others.
Non-gendered awards are fantastic,
but we need to leave room for peoples
identity, while still simply focusing on
how well the actor plays the character.
When it comes to a director and a show
saying were going to have this non-binary
character, it should be less focused on
the trans person playing that role, but the
talents of the actor, Kergil says.
The MTV Awards have sparked the
ames of conversation. Dillon has added
to the conversation. For the cis-gender
community and Hollywood, perhaps
gender-neutral acting categories are a
rst step, but conversation is the key to
changing how gender is viewed in society,
take place.
may 13 hollywood palladium

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Co-Chairs: Clea Duvall & Mia Weier l Annie Goto & Kelly Lynch l Brent Bolthouse