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The Incredible True Gay History Of Christmas
I'll Be Gay for Christmas
Publisher/Executive Editor David Vandygriff Dvandygriff @cityxtramagazine.com
2021 Could See An HIV Vaccine
Editor In Chief Dr. Harvey Carr hcarr@cityxtramagazine.com
By Kevin Childs
By Gabriel Arana
By Michael Johnson
Director of Sales Adam Plante, Esq aplante@cityxtramagazine.com
7 Great Reasons To Be Gay At Christmastime By Mike Joshlin
Christian Group VS ‘A Drag Queen Christmas’
Creative Designer Debbie Johnson Djohnson @cityxtramagazine.com
By Becky Dillard
The Best Christmas Getaways By Jason Bennett
North Florida AIDS Memorial Project By David Vandytgriff
2019 Holiday Gift Guide
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‘The
Incredible True Gay History Of Christmas By Kevin Childs
Midwinter; fires are crackling, the home smells sharp of evergreen, candles flicker, glass glitters, the table sags. Drink flows like rivers and you and your partner snuggle up on a couch to shag and booze the holiday away. But this isn’t Christmas: it’s Saturnalia, the ancient Roman festival dedicated to the fertility god Saturn around the first century BC. And it’s the true origin of Christmas. What a queer festival it was. Sources mention lads running naked about the place, cross-dressing for dinner, tops becoming bottoms, masters waiting on their servants (just for a day, mind), sausages, wine, cunnilingus and fruitcake.
As most good things come in gay packages, most of our traditions, from Christmas trees to Christmas presents, are rip-offs of gay pagan solstice celebrations. 25th December This was the day the Sun was reborn and so was sacred to the deity Sol Invictus, the Unconquerable Sun. He was a beefcake of a god, popularized around 220AD by that great same-sex, selfish, cross-dressing, proto-transgendered Emperor, Elagabalus.
the Queen of Hierocles,’ his lover who was a charioteer. Not surprisingly, his reign lasted less than four years but Sol Invictus became a favorite of the Roman people. Even Saint Augustine (of whom more below) later admitted its importance, saying Christ’s birthday replaced that of the Sun. Christmas Presents Everyone loves presents, and so did the Romans during the The beautiful young Elagabalus Saturnalia. They gave loved a good party. His dancing statuettes of beautiful youths during the midwinter festival and ‘hermaphrodites’, phallic wowed the Roman legions into cakes, books of filthy epigrams, declaring him emperor. He cosmetics and hair extensions shimmied his way to power. for either sex. But his Saturnalian practical Not just statues, either, but real jokes could go too far. One life slave youths and group of banqueting guests hermaphrodites would be were literally suffocated by the given. weight of violets dropped through a false ceiling. Others The Christmas tradition wrongly insists the first gifts might wake from a drunken were brought by the Magi. But debauch to find a pet tiger even this Bible myth may have sniffing their crotch. a real queer history. There’s less solid historical Roll reversal isn’t just for information about lesbians and Saturnalia though: Elagabalus In 63 CE Tiridates of Armenia came to Rome with his trans men, sadly, but of course said he was ‘delighted to be entourage of Magi to end a they would have been there. called the mistress, the wife, drawn-out war and do homage 06 www.cityxtramagazine.com
homage to the Emperor Nero, that great bisexual showman of Roman history. They gave gifts, the wise men made their predictions and Nero sang some early version of Three Coins in a Fountain. He extravagantly kissed handsome Tiridates to seal the bargain. And he closed the doors of the temple of Janus, the two faced god who represents beginnings and endings, including New Year and January, to symbolize peace on earth. Not long after, someone remembered this: and the three Magi and their kingly gifts made their first and only appearance in Matthew’s Gospel doing homage to the ruler of the earth.
ancient Germans. But the best story about the first Christmas tree is surely this: Long ago a young count of Luxembourg called Otto was famous for spurning all the young women of the neighborhood. He preferred the company of his male friends and ‘manly’ pursuits. Like all young men who reject the charms of comely maidens, one Christmas Eve he fell for a fairy who, in return, gave him a wondrous tree all decked out with silver lights and shiny baubles. It was quite the campest thing he’d ever seen, and from then on his heart belonged to those creatures who are neither one thing nor the other.
Mistletoe Kissing under the mistletoe, has even queerer credentials, almost lost in the mists of the ancient lands it came from. In Iron Age Britain, Ireland and Gaul, Druids were the ‘professional classes’ and religious leaders. One of their jobs was to gather mistletoe at the winter Solstice. Christmas Trees Many Druids were also gay, Greenery was used to decorate their otherness singling them the house during midwinter out as special and holy. All festivals from ancient Rome to good until that ‘otherness’ Tudor England’s Yuletide in the meant they were called on to 1500s. sacrifice themselves to save the tribe in times of war or Christmas trees are an invention of the pagan North: a want. symbol of rebirth or, according If that happened, they’d eat to one tradition, a Christian mistletoe berries, the juice of replacement for the pagan oak which was thought to be gods’ in the spiritual lives of the semen.
Do NOT try this at home. Mistletoe is also poisonous.
Christmas Dinner Saturnalia was an enormous feast. Masters would serve their slaves, as all were equal in the golden age of Saturn’s reign. The well-healed were supposed to let their less wealthy neighbours gorge at their tables, but as Lucian, a second century satirist, complains they could be as tight-fisted as Scrooge. His revenge was to pray all their fine clothes be eaten by mice and their pretty boyfriends’ hair fall out. To avoid this, gay Emperor Hadrian preserved his lover’s locks by insisting on sampling all the trimmings from all the tables at dinners he hosted. Saturnalian dinners were just a prelude to something even better than a feast… As the first century Roman poet, Martial says: ‘give me kisses, boy, wet with wine/… if on top you’ll add a fuck, Jove couldn’t be happier with his Ganymede than I am with mine.’
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The Crib
warmth that Christmas There’s nothing ancient about borrowed from gay Roman Saturnalia is with us still. Jesus in his crib. The first Nativity scene was a piece of Jesus is a god of love, even if live theatre organised by Saint some of his followers forget Francis in 1223. that. As he moved ox and sheep and Virgin around to strike the perfect tableau, one of the people watching was Elias, the man Francis had loved since boyhood. Francis spent all his time with Elias, sharing intimate secrets, calling him ‘Mother’. In a sweet slip of the quill, Elias even confessed he knew Francis’ body intimately. As the pagans in the fourth He was present at all the century fought to preserve turning points in Francis’ life their ways and festivals, one and death, but later biogof them made an eloquent raphers wrote him out of the plea to a Christian Emperor. It story. serves just as well for a The Christmas Sermon Christmas message: St Augustine didn’t write the ‘We gaze up at the same first one but he is credited with stars; the sky covers us all; popularizing the festival in the the same universe late fourth century, through encompasses us. Does it sermons reminding Christians matter what practical system that on this day ‘God became we adopt in our search for the man’. Truth? The heart of so great a Augustine wrote some pretty mystery cannot be reached by vile stuff about gay people following one road only.’ too, but then he had the zeal Merry Christmas everybody! of a convert. In his youth he Io Saturnalia! loved a boy his age so violently and passionately and physically, he was devastated when the young man died. He turned to religion. Peace And Goodwill The ghosts of Christmas present owe a lot to those of Christmas past. The great tradition of tolerance and 08 www.cityxtramagazine.com
I'll Be Gay for Christmas By Gabriel Arana I haven't been home for Christmas in ten years. The excuse I always gave was that the holidays stress me out, which isn't untrue. I can't stand to watch once the local news station starts its seasonal coverage. You know the hard-hitting journalism I'm talking about: brave reporters staked out at Wal-Mart before it opens at 6 a.m. on Black Friday; with a frumpy Jane Doe browsing Amazon.com on Cyber Monday; and, around now, live on the scene at the airport giving updates about the bad weather, long lines, and flight delays. Just thinking about standing in a security line for two hours makes me want to punch Santa. There's buying and wrapping gifts, writing and sending cards. If your family is anything like mine, After that come the teary expressions of love and forgiveness. I'm one of five kids, my dad is one of eight, and my mom is one of four. All that pathos can be overwhelming. But that's not the real reason I stayed put on December 25. Like many gay kids who grew up in a small town-in my case, 10 www.cityxtramagazine.com
on the Arizona -Mexico border-I was so desperate to get out I thought it would never happen. When it finally did and I left for college "back East," I felt I had escaped. When I visited-in summer or spring-I'd look out the window in relief as the plane back to my new life took off. Somehow-implausibly-I'd broken free again. I stopped going home for the holidays after I graduated from college and took my first job in New York City as a paralegal. It was the first time I was financially independent. At the time, my parents were so cool with me being gay that we weren't allowed to talk about it. "It's just a small part of who you are-it doesn't matter," one or the other would say. "Why do you have to make such a big deal about it?" Silence can masquerade as acceptance, but there is a big difference between a quiet room and one in which it's forbidden to speak. My parents would only refer to my boyfriend, who I'd met in college and had been dating for two years, as "your friend." Like a mischievous child peeling back the wrapping paper on Christmas Eve, the prohibition made me not just want to talk about being gay; I wanted to lead the San
Francisco Pride Parade through their living room. I made sure to antagonize mom and dad as much as possible, sliding in references to the boyfriend or drag queens wherever possible, which they would dutifully ignore. Instead of going home on Christmas, I went to a gay bar, the first place I found other people like me. On the 25th, the hotspots in Washington, D.C. and New York have an aura I usually associate with smaller-town establishments. They're more sparsely populated, the patrons friendlier, the age range wider. As more and more of us feel comfortable coming out, the increasing number of gay bars in major cities means more self -sorting. In D.C., for instance, young professionals go to Number Nine while thirty-somethings who are too old to wear Abercrombie & Fitch go to Nellie's. But on Christmas, it seems gay bars go through a time warp. Whether it's in New York or D.C. and whichever bar it is, each feels like the only one in town. While the night before they may have played Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" to the wild screams of the dancing
queens, on the actual holiday gay bars don't play Christmas music. Instead, they play the anthems of gay and female empowerment-"Born this Way," "Firework," "Defying Gravity," "Strong Enough." There is an air of loneliness about them I always found comforting on Christmas. Comforting because I recognize it: Here are other people who fled to the cities and, like exiles trapped together in a foreign land, feel they can't return. That's of course why they also play "We Are Family." For a long time, I indeed felt that way. The last time my parents called my boyfriend "your friend," the family was on a five-day cruise to Cabo San Lucas. I had just decided to quit my Ph.D. program and try to become a writer-a risk I'd been too afraid to take at 22 but at 26 felt confident enough to try. I'd be moving in with my boyfriend, who would support me financially while I took an internship at The Nation. The Carnival cruise is designed to be fun-at least for people who like zoos. There's an endless parade of attractions: themed bars (I liked the Cole Porter Club), margaritas on the Lido Deck, a swimming pool packed with children like sardines. My younger brother and his wife had gotten their own suite while the rest of us kids were crammed together in a room not much larger than my studio apartment. It only took me two days to crack. At dinner on the second
night-cruises have seatings, and ours was at 8 o'clock-I was already drunk. When my mother once again referred to my boyfriend as "your friend," I lost it. "You don't fuck your friends, mom," I exclaimed. "No one calls dad your friend." I told them that whether or not they accepted my sexuality, my life was going to move forward. "You have the choice of being a part of it or not," I said. The guests in the surrounding tables sat in stunned silence as I stormed off. I spent the rest of the trip trashed, and of course managed to find every other gay guy on that ship. A parent's love for their child is transformative in a way other types of love-filial, fraternal-simply are not. It changes you. Faced with the choice between me and deeply ingrained beliefs about God, family, and love they had grown up with, my parents chose me. So do most. Demographers ponder the radical shift in public opinion on gay marriage over the last ten years-in 1996, only 27 percent of Americans supported it; now, a majority do. But it's no mystery. Gays and lesbians changed America one cruise-ship confrontation at a time. Those who prefer the law to justice would call it unprincipled, but I'd rather live in a world based on empathy than doctrine. When I was last home in May, it struck me how much my hometown had changed. It had gotten its first movie theater. There was now an IHOP and a Home Depot. The place
seemed foreign. I, too, had changed. My boyfriend had become my husband, and my fanciful dream of becoming a writer had come true-I even get paid for spouting off, which never ceases to amaze me. My parents looked older, and their kids have started having kids. My nephew speaks now-in both English and Spanish-and my brother and his wife just had another baby. My youngest siblings, who were 6 and 8 when I left, are in college. My other brother is starting his own business. My dad tells me he thinks Michael, my husband, is "a wonderful guy." My mom now mentions my "husband" more than I do, and tells him over and over how much she loves him (better him than me). That was the first time I felt I couldn't go back. The place I had fled simply wasn't there anymore. As I write this-I had to get up early to get some quiet-the dogs are running around the house and people have started to get up. Someone just turned on the TV, and it's blaring. I decided to come home for Christmas this year, and think I will from now on. This of course means I'll be abandoning my annual tradition of going to the gay bar. As acceptance for gays and lesbians increases and more of us get married, settle down, and have kids, there will be fewer of us to listen to "We Are Family" together on Christmas. That's sad in one way, but better in more.
2021 Could See An HIV Vaccine By Michael Johnson
Three different trials are bringing new hope that an HIV vaccine could be available as early as 2021.
approach could give a broader coverage than HVTN 702, which focuses on an HIV Dr. Susan Buchbinder, strain typically found in speaking to NBC News, southern Africa. signaled her confidence, saying that this is “perhaps Both Imbokodo and Mosaico one of the most optimistic are nearly identical, with only moments we have been in.” slight differences in their forBuchbinder is the chair of two mulations. of the three trials in question, While the trial for Imbokodo Imbokodo and Mosaico. A has third trial, HVTN 702, is also focused on 2,600 South Afrishowing incredible promise. can women, the “We have three vaccines Mosaico trial will also include currently being tested in some 3,800 gay and efficacy trials, and it takes transgender people in Europe, quite a bit to actually be Latin America, and the U.S. promising enough in the The goal is to prove the earlier stages of trials to move vaccine’s efficiency in a you forward into an efficacy number of different at-risk study,” said Buchbinder. populations. Imbokodo and Mosaico uses Results from the trials for “mosaic” immunogens to Imbokodo are expected in target a wide number of global 2021, and the trial results for HIV strains. The presumption, Mosaico are expected two according to Dr. Anthony years later. Fauci of the National Institute The HVTN 702 trial is older of Allergy and Infectious than Imbokodo and Mosaico Diseases (NIAID), is that this
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and is based on an even older vaccine candidate, RV144. In 2006, RV144 lowered the rate of HIV infections by about 30% – a good result, but not effective enough to be considered a success. Building on the work done with RV144, HVTN 702 launched in 2016 in South Africa. Results are expected as early as the end of 2020. Like Buchbinder, Fauci is optimistic, saying that even a vaccine with partial effectiveness would be a success, given the prevalence of other treatment options, such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). “If one or more of these vaccines look good – have a 50 to 60 percent efficacy – I think that’s going to be the game changer for turning the epidemic around,” said Fauci.
This year, other hits on the list look familiar, too, including Pentatonix’s “Mary, Did 7 Great Reasons To Be You Gay At Christmastime know?” (#5), By Mike Joshlin Wham’s “Last “Christmas is for the kids,” Christmas” (#14) and Earth they cry. But while the holidays Kitt’s immortal “Santa were a hoot for us as children, Baby” (#71). they don’t compare to Nobody rocks ugly celebrating the yuletide as Christmas sweaters like we grownups. (And not just do. Gays invented irony, so because we get to sit on a wearing ugly pullovers for the bearded daddy’s lap.) holidays is second nature to us. Below, we list seven reasons The trend has evolved into a its great to be a gay at multimillion-dollar business for Christmastime. retailers but us gays make sure Television is overflowing our hideous sweaters are onewith queer holiday specials. of-a-kind by getting them at the There’s nothing campier than a thrift store. Then we take them good holiday movie or TV home, pull out the glue gun and special—Rankin/Bass’ The add enough sequins, ribbons Year Without a Santa Claus, and rhinestones to make Tim He-Man & She-Ra: A Gunn cry. Christmas Special, Mommie We get to shop like it’s our Dearest. J-O-B I practice my holiday And who can forget 1963’s shopping all year round— Judy Garland Christmas stacking my coupons, hitting Show? A middle-aged Dorothy the sales and scouring and her kids singing holiday clearance racks from here to standards drunk on TJ Maxx. Come Christmas, I bourbon-laced egg nog. (Judy, get to use my God-given not the kids. Okay, maybe talents for the greater good by Liza.) giving out gifts galore. Christmas music is our jam! All the parties! Play Mariah Carey’s “All I Want Except for maybe Halloween, for Christmas” in a gay club Christmas is the one time of a and watch pandemonium year we get to wear outrageous ensue. Mimi’s peppy 1994 outfits in front of people we jingle has topped Billboard’s work with. Nobody will bat an Holiday 100 chart since its eyelash at your red-and-green inception. slacks and gold-lamé blazer when tinsel is on the tree. (Nobody you care about 14 www.cityxtramagazine.com
anyway.) With all the drinking and inappropriate flirting, an office Christmas party is like Jesus’ gift to the homos. Any gift you buy your boyfriend is automatically a twofer. My list for Santa is categorized, alphabetized, and finalized by Veterans Day. My husband, on the other hand, is notorious for not knowing what he wants for Christmas. So I buy him the things I want—a Michael Kors winter coat, a pair of Ted Baker wingtips, a 3 oz. bottle of Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb—and as soon as he turns his back, those goodies come back to Daddy. We’re the best at decorating Christmas trees! Anyone can throw a bunch of Hallmark ornaments on a Douglass fir and top it with Grandma’s antique star of Bethlehem. But gay men have turned decorating the Christmas tree into a true spectacle—from spruces adorned with Jonathan Adler ornaments to ones that are decked out in rainbow colors. If you have to rent a storage space for your ornaments or spend hours making sure the tinsel is spaced out symmetrically, you know exactly what we’re talking about.
be-
Christian Group VS ‘A Drag Queen Christmas’ By Becky Dillard
A far-right Catholic nonprofit group called the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property (American TFP) is trying to shut down an upcoming performance of A Drag Queen Christmas, a touring holiday-themed show featuring performers from RuPaul’s Drag Race. The group accuses the drag show of “blurring the lines established by God regarding sexuality” and of being “an insult to the birth of Christ… [and] a danger to our children and society.” The group, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has called “a virulently anti-LGBTQ group,” has started a petition to try to shut down a December 17 performance of the show at Kansas City, Missouri’s Folly Theater. At the time of publication, their petition has reached 14,356 signatures of its 30,000 signature goal. American TFP’s petition states, “Such performances feature men dressed in scanty ‘drag’ and often performing immoral
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havior. To make matters worse, while the performance warns of this ‘naughty’ behavior, it also says ‘all ages welcome.'” The theater’s website also warns that the show contains “adult content.”
If you haven’t heard of American TFP, the group has been working since 1973 to stop “the social acceptance of homosexual practice; anti-discrimination laws that give homosexuals a privileged status; the lifting of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ in our military; homosexual adoption; domestic partnerships, civil unions, and same-sex ‘marriage.’” They also oppose contraception, abortion, and much more.
Their protest of A Drag Queen Christmas follows an increasing anti-LGBTQ conservative trend of protesting drag shows, especially as drag becomes more mainstream, more political, and increasingly attracts a younger fanbase of preteens and their parents.
In August 2019, the transphobic group, the Proud Boys, protested an all-ages drag fundraiser in a Denver, Colorado comic book shop. Numerous hate groups and “Christian” loons have also protested against Drag Queen Story Hour events in local libraries, claiming that it is not “morally safe” and is being pushed by “aggressive LGBTQ activist groups.”
The Best Christmas Getaways By Jason Bennett
Christmas is a time for family, food and excessive shopping. It’s also a great time to go on holiday and have some last-minute fun before another year ends. We’ve put together a selection of our favorite Christmas getaways. Whether you’re looking for winter sun or something a little more festive, we’ve got you covered. Arctic Resort: What could be more Christmassy than staying in a glass igloo in Lapland? If you’re lucky you may even see the Northern Lights flashing in the sky. That would be quite a sight to see as you drift off to sleep. Kakslauttanen offers a range of accommodation, including log chalets, luxurious suites and, supposing you’re feeling brave, real igloos! If you head into the forest you can visit Santa in his red chalet. You’ll need to book an appointment, he’s very busy in December – snowed under, you might say. When you’ve visited Santa, you could set out on a reindeer safari with the local reindeer herders. All in all, this will be the perfect Christmas getaway. Germany: Alpine forests, the Brothers Grimm, Black Forest Gateaux and magical 18 www.cityxtramagazine.com
castles – so far, so Christmassy. We have the perfect Seasonalitinerary if you want to explore Germany. Everyone loves a German Christmas market. Berlin hosts a huge one throughout December by the baroque Charlottenburg Palace. If you’re still in town for New Year’s Eve, you’ll see one of the best festive celebrations in Europe. One thing is for sure: people in Berlin know how to party. Prague: Prague is stunning all year round but it’s especially enticing during winter. A layer of snow covers the buildings and Prague becomes a fairy-tale city. It does, however, get cold. Bring some warm clothes – we’re talking thermals, long johns and chunky scarves. It’ll be worth the effort. Walking around this winter wonderland during Christmas is like being in a movie. Especially with the iconic Prague Castle looming over you. It has towered over the city for a thousand years. New York: Christmas in New York is always a happening, to use a New York turn of phrase. It has been the setting of so many seasonal movies it’ll feel like you’ve already been there,
ice skating by the Rockefeller Center. The city will be sparkling with Christmas lights and, if you’re lucky, snow. Supposing you’re in town for New Year’s Eve you may even see Mariah Carey’s ‘New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’. Hopefully, she won’t storm off stage after one song. Sweden: 200km north of the Arctic Circle you’ll find Sweden’s Ice Hotel. The hotel’s rooms are carved out of ice by a range of international artists. You’ll be sleeping on a bed of ice wrapped in a reindeer hide. Thermal sleeping bags are included! This is one of the most Instagram-friendly hotels in the world. The rooms are decorated with dazzling ice carvings. You can even book an ice sculpting class and create your own masterpiece. Out of season, the ice suites melt away. They are newly carved every winter. Orlando: If you’re looking to escape the cold weather on your Christmas getaway, Orlando is a great choice. Florida doesn’t really “do” cold. The temperature in Orlando is unlikely to drop below 20C.
You’ll still get the Christmas holiday vibes here, this is America, after all, and the home of Disney World. You’ll find a carnival of Christmas in Orlando with fake snow and Disney characters wandering around. If they don’t have something in America they just build a synthetic version of it. Sri Lanka: If you’re looking for winter sun Sri Lanka is a good choice. December is not in the monsoon season, so that’s a bonus. Sri Lanka is packed with culture. You can explore the ancient temples of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka’s major city during antiquity: 113 kings ruled over the country from Anuradhapura. Here you can visit Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi, planted in 288 BC, it is the tree where Lord Buddha gained Enlightenment and oldest known tree to be planted by a human. Cancun: A great choice if you’re looking for a sunny Christmas getaway. Cancun is also ideal if you’re looking to relax. Most of the resorts offer all-inclusive deals so you can have all your needs and desires fulfilled – well, within reason. There isn’t much to see in Cancun city, people come here for the affordable luxury resorts. If you’d like to experience some culture you can take a trip to Chichen Itza and see the great ruins of the Mayan empire.
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North Florida AIDS Memorial Project By David Vandygriff
In 1978 Willowbranch Park in Riverside was the site of Jacksonville’s first Gay Pride Festival. That was 41 years ago, a dark time for the city’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The 300 or so people who attended the festival risked their personal and job safety doing so, said Richard Ceriello, president of the AIDS Memorial Project of Northeast Florida. They were also in peril when they had their “discreet” meetings at the city library adjacent to the park, he said.
Jacksonville’s current LGBT community, he said, “stand on the broad shoulders of those who came before.” In February 2019 they returned to Willowbranch to honor those who came before. They planted three magnolia trees and read aloud the names of 100 Riverside-area residents who died from AIDS. They placed 100 resin leaves, each bearing one of those names, on the trees. As they did, Love Grove, a joint venture of the AIDS Memorial Project, Greenscape and the “Public places to gather were city of Jacksonville, was born. few and far between, and That February ceremony was sanctioned brutality was the beginning of an effort to commonplace. Elected officials plant a total of 100 trees in and law enforcement were not Willowbranch to memorialize responsive,” he said. the almost 5,000 JacksonvilleCeriello and other members of area men and women who,
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according to Ceriello, died of AIDS over the last 35 years. There will be many more readings of many more names. Now the drawings of the full North Florida AIDS Memorial Project have been revealed. Local landscape architect Scott Dowman developed the AIDS Memorial Project drawings “We’re giving back to the park. ... for future generations,” he said. “We hope when people visit they will be reminded.” The first cases of AIDS — caused by the HIV virus — were reported in the United States in 1981. Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have died of related illnesses. Nationwide about 1.1 million people live with HIV.
2019 Holiday Gift Guide By David Vandygriff
What's better than donning gay apparel during the holiday season? It's giving fabulous gifts! Our gift guide isn't just for gay men, but for the consummate traveler, who enjoys trendy travel gear, and who understands the need for impeccable fashion sense and comfort, while traveling. So here's a few suggestions to make your significant other's holiday merry and bright. Sustainable wood sunglasses, high-tech suitcases, and stainless steel ice cubes to keep his or her spirits chilled, are just a few items on our list. Swiss Army’s High-End Suitcases
Look stylish with these fashionable, durable Victorinox Spectra series from Swiss Army. These high-end suitcases, with a glossy polycarbonate exterior and 8wheels, comes equipped with a Swiss tracker, a bag tracking program just in case you need 22 www.cityxtramagazine.com
help you located your lost luggage. ROAM Hands-Free Video Camera
naughty, but it’s used to help relieve tension headaches, lower blood pressure and improve circulation -- if used 10-30 minutes each day.
Stainless Steel Ice Cubes
It’s the perfect gift for an adventure traveler. Contour’s waterproof ROAM Hands-Free Video Camera has a multi-directional microphone, wide-angle lens and different mounts to attach it to your helmet, handlebars, surfboard and more. Laser level your HD shots, and the camera does the adjusting for light and action. Halsa Wellness Mat
Is Jack Frost nipping at your nose? Get a nip of your own with a drink filled with these stainless steel ice cubes to keep your spirits chilled. The re -freezable cubes have smooth edges to protect your glass, while you merrily celebrate the holidays or relax after a long business trip. Extreme Portfolio Sleeve
Increase energy and focus with the Halsa Wellness Mat, a padded mat with 8,820 spikes The Extreme Portfolio Sleeve, to stimulate acupressure by G-Form, is a lightweight, points. No it’s not a gift for the water-resistant case that can
be opened and folded into multiple configurations to use your tablet. The case protects your prized possession from clumsy drops, and it has interior pockets to store important documents. Organic Male Skincare
Stay organized during a non-stop business trip. Great Useful Stuff’s Packing Cubes are lightweight, color-coded pouches labeled for your shirts, underwear/socks, workout clothes and the clothes you’ve already worn. When it’s time to pack up again, just pop them into your bag and go! Sustainable Wood Shades
Keep all the right spots looking good with this line of skincare products from Organic Male OM4. All skincare collections -the Dry/Mature Collection, Normal/Combination Collection, Sensitive Collection and Oily Collection -- contain a face wash, mineral splash, repair serum and calming moisturizer. Packing Cubes
Make a fashion statement with these sustainable sunglasses by Proof. These classic shades, made of zebrawood, bamboo and ebony range, have UVA/UVB protective lenses. A portion of the proceeds go to international charities like the Indian Eye Clinic and Replanting Haiti. Road Torq
Eton Corporation’s Road Torq emergency spotlight is perfect the consummate road trip traveler. A hand crank keeps this gadget powered up for 15 minutes. It has a LED light, and a flashing beacon so approaching traffic can see you changing a flat tire. Kyoku Elements for Men
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First Black Elected Transgender Building Bridges By William Burns
In 2017, Minneapolis made history when the city elected Andrea Jenkins and Phillipe Cunningham to the Minneapolis City Council, with both becoming the first openly trans Black elected officials in the country. Now two years into their four year terms, both have brought a much needed trans perspective to city government, while also working towards the priorities of their constituencies. Last month, the city banned conversion therapy on minors, after a statewide effort failed to pass the state legislature. Jenkins in particular, who serves as vice president of the council, sees her role in city government as one of building bridges: between the Black and white residents, and between cis and trans residents of the city. She sat down with cityXtra Magazine just before the conversion therapy ban was passed to talk about her first time and what having not one but two openly trans city council members has meant to the trans community in Minneapolis. 24 www.cityxtramagazine.com
cityXtra Magazine: I remember your election quite well. But we haven’t talked really that much since then, so can you just give me an update on like where you are? Andrea Jenkins: We’re feeling really good. Initially I was elected Vice President, so I’m in the leadership, and that puts me in all of the executive committee conversations and then the nominations of all of our department heads. I’m really proud of that. One of my campaign messages was leadership, access, and equity and not only have I risen to leadership on the council, but also, I chair the race equity subcommittee, which focuses on incorporating equity and inclusion in all of the work that we do as the city. Certainly from a human resources perspective but also from an economic development perspective, [I help] ensure that communities that have been left out of the economic process are included. So analyzing where are we spending our dollars, who are we spending our dollars with? And creating more opportunity and access for marginalized, including the LGBT community.
I’m chair of our internal transgender issues work group, and we hosted two transgender equity summits since I’ve been elected. We’ve been doing it for six years. It’s been really incredible that it continues to grow. We had over 430 attendees this year. We incorporated a job fair that had about 35 employers that were there to specifically talk to and hire trans and gender nonconforming people. We hosted it at the, the world famous Walker Art Center, so it felt really good. The community I think felt really heard and included and we’ve seen a really big increase in inclusion. In fact, my colleague Phillipe Cunningham, who is also trans identified, literally got involved in local politics through attending the first trans equity summit. I’m really proud of that. As a council as a whole, we have passed the most comprehensive zoning policy in the country. We up-zone the entire city to create for more housing production, more ownership opportunities for multifamily housing to address our affordable housing crisis, which I think is an issue throughout the country.
CX: Yeah. AJ: I’ve hosted two community events. The 38th Street Bridge [is] a bridge over the freeways which separated the Black and white community. When the freeway went through, it totally disrupted and decimated, to a very large extent, the African American community. This bridge served as a deterrent to keep the community separated and just recently, last year in fact, as a part of a total reconstruction, the freeway project, the bridge was reconstructed. [It’s now] more inviting, with more lighting, wider sidewalks, and art incorporated into the bridge work. For the past two years, I have hosted a dinner on a bridge called, “Breaking Bread and Building Bridges.” It’s a really unique concept to have 300, 400 neighbors having dinner outdoors on the bridge as the cars are, are going back and forth. The story actually made the front page of the Metro section of the paper. I mean Minneapolis is a pretty large metropolitan city, so, you know, it’s not easy to make the front cover. I mean it’s got to be newsworthy. I’m really proud of that. In fact I would state that as one of my biggest accomplishments. CX: One of the things that makes me really interested in your city council, is the fact that there are two Black trans people on the city council. What does it mean for Minneapolis’ trans community that you are in a position of
leadership on the city council?
it’s still, I mean, the Senate is still, you know, Republican AJ: It really just a thousand percent opens the doors for the controlled. trans community to walk into So we are passing it in the city. city hall and feel comfortable I’m pretty confident we are enough to say this is what we going to do that. I mean we’re demand, and to see us sitting working on it and the support there, it welcomes that level of there. We are encouraging St. engagement. Paul and other cities around the state. And so, you know, Not only that, last year during we’re in it to lead this sort of our budget season we had a statewide effort to put pressure transgender advisory committee at the city to advise on our state legislators to make the mayor and the city council this a statewide ban. on issues related to the So I feel good about what committee. So they came in, we’ve been able to do in our and they testified, and they first two years. Not only have lobbied for a full time we really been able to address transgender equity coordinator. issues and concerns that are relevant to the LGBT They walked away with a part-time coordinator, which in community, and the trans community even more our very competitive budget specifically. But I think our cycles, when, you [have] very limited resources. It’s weird to records both show that, you know, we’re able to lead on say $1.6 billion budget has issues that are important and limited resources. But with all the things that we need to do, it the mandate of the much literally is. But we were able to broader population and so we’re not just transgender get a part-time trans equity elected officials, we are public coordinator hire. And I think that is a testament that Phillipe servants who happen to be trans identifying. and I are there. CX: Right. But there’s no way Right now, we are working on banning conversion therapy in you can take that identity off the city of Minneapolis. Phillipe when you show up to city hall. and I are leading that effort and Right? I’m positive that wouldn’t be AJ: There isn’t, there is no way. happening if we weren’t there. So the council meetings are It was introduced in the House televised. I always wear some this past legislative session, purple identifiers so young kids let’s say at the state levels. can just get that sense that I’m there. We’re visible. We’re CX: I actually knew that. there for them. We’re AJ: Yeah. But it never made it, contributing. Yeah. This month it never got a hearing in the we’ve been able to get the Senate. And, so subsequently bridge lit for Trans Day of it failed. The governor has said Remembrance. So that’s pretty he wants to pass it this year but exciting.
Actor Billy Williams Comes Out Gender Fluid By David Vandygriff
Actor Billy Dee Williams is living proof that gender fluidity isn’t just something invented or embraced by younger generations, as some naysayers like to claim. In an interview with Esquire, the 82-year-old, who is currently promoting his new film Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, said he uses both masculine and feminine pronouns to describe himself. “I say ‘himself’ and ‘herself,’ because I also see myself as feminine as well as masculine,” Williams explained. “I’m a very soft person. I’m not afraid to show that side of myself.”
Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which will be released later this month.
division.” In 2018, Donald Glover He also discussed attending portrayed a young Landon in Disney’s D23 Expo last Solo: A Star Wars Story and summer, where he spent time caused a stir when he talked with the Rock and Jamie Foxx, about the character being both of whom said they owed pansexual. their careers, in part, to the Williams also spoke to Esquire character of Lando. about breaking other sorts of “The Rock calls me the OG,” barriers. Williams said. “What I presented on that screen peoRecalling his performance as ple didn’t expect to see. And I Gale Sayers in the 1971 TV movie Brian’s Song, for which deliberately presented something that nobody had was received an Emmy experienced before: a romantic nomination, he explained, “It brown-skinned boy.” Williams first played Lando was a love story, really. BeCalrissian 1980’s Star Wars: tween two guys. Without sex. It The response to Williams’ The Empire Strikes Back. He is ended up being a kind of coming out as gender fluid has reprising the role in the Star breakthrough in terms of racial been overwhelmingly positive.
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