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Republican States Sue Biden Administration In Shameful Bid To Reverse Protections For LGBT+ People This TV Journalist Came Out & Announced Engagement to Weatherman Fashion’s ‘State of Anarchy’ By Making The Cut’s Tim Gunn PrideLife Anniversary Fuels New PSA-Like Campaign JaxGay Monthly Happenings Johnson & Johnson HIV Vaccine Fails Clinical Trials In Devastating Setback Ryan Murphy Shuts Down Complaint He Writes Too Many ‘Gay Perverted Addicts’ P&O Australia To Launch First Ever LGBT+ Pride Cruise RuPaul Blesses The Gays With Not One, Not Two, But Three New Drag Race Seasons Dramarama Gives Closeted, Queer Late Bloomers a Story of Their Own
night life Boot Rack: 4751 Lenox Blvd. (904) 384-7090
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Publisher/Executive Editor David Vandygriff Dvandygriff @cityxtramagazine.com Editor In Chief Dr. Harvey Carr hcarr@cityxtramagazine.com Director of Sales Adam Plante, Esq aplante@cityxtramagazine.com Creative Designer Debbie Johnson Djohnson @cityxtramagazine.com cityXtra Magazine is published by cityXtra Organization Inc . 2941 Plum Street Jacksonville, FL 32205 (904) 300-3320
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students. It issued a Notice of Interpretation stating that Title IX, a civil rights law that Republican States Sue Biden prohibits Administration In Shameful Bid To sex-based Reverse Protections For LGBT+ People discrimination By Ah Lam Zhao in federallyA coalition of 20 Republican funded education, also protects US states have filed a lawsuit LGBT+ students from against Biden’s administration, discrimination on the basis of calling for the reversal of sexual orientation and gender discrimination protections for identity, including allowing LGBT+ students and workers. them to use the bathroom of In June 2020, the US Supreme their choice and compete in the Court ruled in Bostock v correct sports teams for their Clayton County that existing gender. provisions under the 1964 Civil Now, 20 states, all RepublicanRights Act, known as Title VII, led, have joined together to sue which outlaws discrimination the Biden administration, based on sex, also apply to seeking to strike down these cases where “an employer fires protections. an individual merely for being Tennessee AG Herbert Slatery gay or transgender”. led AL, AK, AZ, AR, GA, ID, IN, A year later, in June 2021, the KS, KY, LA, MS, MO, MT, NE, EEOC– a division of the US OH, OK, SC, SD and WV as government to enforce civil plaintiffs in the lawsuit against rights laws against workplace the US Department of discrimination – released Education, the US Department guidance on what constitutes of Justice and the EEOC. discrimination in workplaces. The 20 US States Are Calling The guidance declared that For The Right To Practice Title VII allows trans Anti-LGBT+ Discrimination And employees to use the Misgender Trans Kids bathrooms of their choice, and gives them the right to dress in The states are arguing that the Bostock v Clayton County a way that is consistent with Supreme Court ruling did not their gender. extend to single-sex areas of During the same month, the US workplaces, and that the EEOC Department of Education did not have authority to say announced that following the that it did. Supreme Court ruling, the They also argue that the same concept should be decision in Bostock cannot be applied to queer school applied to Title IX, because
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“the texts of Title VII and Title IX are materially different”. The lawsuit states: “The guidance purports to resolve highly controversial and localized issues such as whether employers and schools may maintain sexseparated showers and locker rooms, whether schools must allow biological males to compete on female athletic teams, and whether individuals may be compelled to use another person’s preferred pronouns. “But the agencies have no authority to resolve those sensitive questions, let alone to do so by executive fiat without providing any opportunity for public participation.” The Biden administration’s education policy allows for federally-funded school to be handed financial sanctions if they fail to protect LGBT+ students from discrimination. According to Reuters, Tennessee AG Slatery said in a statement: “All of this, together with the threat of withholding educational funding in the midst of a pandemic, warrants this lawsuit.”
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This TV Journalist Came Out & Announced Engagement to Weatherman By Donald Anderson
Houston television news journalist Steven Romo delivered a double dose of pride and romance in a recent Instagram post where he came out as gay and revealed he was engaged to former Houston television meteorologist Stephen Morgan. The two TV heartthrobs both posted a pic showing off their engagement rings and the biggest of smiles!
saved me. It made me strong," Romo continued. "Strong enough to eventually stand next to the best human I’ve ever met and ask him to marry me." Romo wrote how he "thought maybe this kind of love just wasn’t in the cards for me. That it was a journey I’d never take. But now I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. In my whole life. "I grew up with secrets," the And I’ll soon be moving to New KTRK news reporter Romo York City with the person I wrote, touching briefly on his want to spend the rest of my childhood growing up in a life with." neglectful family of hoarders Morgan, the former KRIV before teasing he had a much meteorologist, recently bigger secret all his own. announced he was moving to "But what they didn’t know, and New York City for a co-hosting was arguably even more job at Fox Weather. difficult, was that I had a secret On his own Instagram post of to carry all on my own," Romo the same picture, Morgan continued. "I was gay and wrote "I often think about one trying with all my heart not to specific prayer I said as a 10be." year-old, asking God to keep a Telling a familiar tale for many 'secret' between the two of us. LGBTQ+ youth, Romo wrote it Obviously, God knows took a long time for him to everything, so it wasn’t like I realize being gay wasn’t could hide it from Him. But I something shameful, but was could hide it from [most] of my instead liberation and a source friends…from my family." of strength. The happily engaged couple "It took me years to see— have nothing to hide now, despite what people at church although it wasn’t always this might’ve said—being gay way for Romo. His father was a long-haul trucker, and often
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absent from home, leaving Romo’s mother, who was battling with issues of mental health, in charge. The result was a home filled with unsanitary living conditions that were less than ideal to grow up in. "Secrets were my family’s addiction," Romo wrote previously in the Huffington Post. "No one could know the way we lived. No one could know who we really were." The death of his mother at the early age of 43 while he was in college spurred Romo to be an activist for mental health. For now, though, it’s all smiles for Steve and Stephen as they head to the Big Apple! Congrats, Steven and Stephen!
Fashion’s ‘State of Anarchy’ By Making The Cut’s Tim Gunn By Jennifer Reynolds
Tim Gunn has a confession. He wore sweatpants during lockdown. “The rumor is true,” admits the gay style guru, known for his impeccably tailored suits. “It was a slow evolution, but I got there.” “I now have great respect for people who say, ‘I’m dressing for comfort.’ I get it,” he adds. “I used to have disdain for these people and say, ‘That’s ridiculous. Who cares about comfort? If I want comfort, I’ll stay in bed.’ And then sitting at home for months, I thought, ‘Why am I constraining myself and my rib cage and everything else? I want to relax.’” Like many folks, Gunn modified his relationship with clothes — and the rules surrounding them — in order to adjust to a socially distanced, work-from-home world. In addition to sweats, which he historically only wore during fencing practice, Gunn donned T-shirts and baggy jeans around his residence. There were some concessions. When descending to the lobby to retrieve mail, he still eschewed the suit but slipped 10 www.cityxtramagazine.com
on a turtleneck and “a better pair of jeans” for appearances. Zooming from New York during a virtual press junket, Gunn is once again donning a dapper suit and tie. “I love it, I really do,” he admits of his signature look. But the experience of dressing down during the pandemic has left an indelible impression upon one of style’s great influencers. “I’ve definitely changed the rules,” he says, adding, “I admit to being a stuffed shirt, but I don’t have to be as stuffy.” Even on Making the Cut — the Amazon Prime Video reality competition he cocreated and co-hosts with his fellow Project Runway alumnus, Heidi Klum, in which designers vie for a $1 million investment prize and a fashion line with Amazon’s e-commerce platform — Gunn is seen relaxing his guidelines. He wears jeans in an episode of season 2, albeit for a Levi’s challenge. Of course, the production itself, which filmed during the pandemic, was forced to tailor
many adjustments as well. The travel aspect of Making the Cut — the first season flitted from Paris, to Tokyo, to New York City — was traded for largely outdoor locales at a Malibu ranch. Instead of the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop, models strut en plein air past trees dripping in lights, a field with a Ferris wheel, the surface of a pool. And now, the judges — season 2 boasts Moschino’s creative director, Jeremy Scott, and supermodel Winnie Harlow, as well as guest judges Prabal rung and Shiona Turini — Gurung and Shiona Turini — have the daunting task of selecting a designer who will appeal to a global audience in a time when all fashion sense has been thrown out the window. “I really feel that we’re entering a state of anarchy, in a manner of speaking,” Gunn says. “And I do agree, I don’t think there are any rules when it comes to fashion anymore.” “However,” he adds with a pointed emphasis and a laugh, “I do think people should take
responsibility for how they present themselves to the world. I mean, it’s the semiotics of clothes. The clothes we wear send a message about how we’re perceived. Accept responsibility for that. Don’t say, ‘Oh, I don’t care how I dress.’ Really? Well, if you don’t, you should. That’s all that I ask.” In a possible boon, however, the absence of rules has created more space for people, like members of the LGBTQ+ community, who have always broken them. And some of the past year’s biggest sartorial headlines have been related to public figures who defied the gender binary: Lil Nas X wearing a ballgown to the 2021 BET Awards, and in November 2020, Harry Styles sporting a tulle skirt and a dress in the pages of Vogue. These clothes ruffled right-wing feathers. In response to the Styles shoot, conservative commentator Candace Owens slammed “the steady feminization of our men,” calling it “an outright attack” on social mores in a stream of tweets. “Bring back manly men,” she implored. Gunn knows that the outrage over men in dresses is a relatively recent development in fashion history. “Pants are a creation of the middle of the 19th century, relatively new,” confirms Gunn, who points out the previous long-term male trends of skirts, pantaloons, and leggings. The backlash to Styles was “so ridiculous. And I thought he looked fabulous,” Gunn says. He also gives high praise to Lil Nas X, who he
described as “music’s Billy Porter,” referring, of course, to the Pose star who often upends gender expectations on red carpets. “You know what’s wonderful about [Lil Nas X], he feels fresh and original. He doesn’t feel like a copycat,” Gunn lauds. Gunn also believes there is “definitely a correlation” between the visibility of clothing that pushes back against the gender binary and the spike in anti-LGBTQ+ bills sweeping the United States, many of which target transgender and nonbinary people. “I think the more of this [fashion] that we see, the more pushback we’re going to get. And I think it’s fear -based,” Gunn says. But there is necessity in visibility. Gunn sees an act of gender-nonconforming dress as an intent to declare, “There are other options in the world, and we’re here to say that we’re proud of them.” Defying the binary is also a central part of Making the Cut, where, in both seasons, designers have interchanged models of different genders to display their art. “It’s a beautiful demonstration of this new world,” says Gunn, who believes his designers exemplify what it means to succeed in the fashion industry’s post-pandemic
frontier. “They realize how important having a voice is, speaking metaphorically, really. How important it is to have a point of view, and to be able to differentiate yourself from everyone else.” In addition to inspiring the fashion world, Gunn hopes that Making the Cut’s international platform can galvanize greater acceptance toward LGBTQ+ people — in particular, those who push against gender norms. “I hope it plants a seed that grows into something very positive and something that can break down barriers and reduce people’s fears and apprehensions,” he says. And while there was much suffering caused by the pandemic, Gunn sees reason to hope that this planetchanging event might spark positive change in the spheres of fashion, politics, and beyond. “I don’t believe things can be the same… and I don’t think things should be the same,” he says. “This is nothing but an opportunity for fresh points of view and new parameters.” www.cityxtramagazine.com 11
PrideLife Anniversary Fuels New PSA-Like Campaign By William Bryson
The world’s only LGBT-certified business selling domain names calls on others to support LGBT-owned business Bringing LGBT-ownership into the domain registrar industry was long overdue back in 2019 when PrideLife initially launched, and our partnership with over two dozen LGBTQ organizations since has helped benefit an underserved consumer group in just two short years. Today, our mission moves forward with a new PSA -like campaign encouraging everyone to buy LGBTQ.
opportunity for all LGBT-owned business. PrideLife has been disrupting the traditional registrar business and inspiring a more diverse domain name eco-system on the Internet through .LGBT and .GAY registrations. As the world’s first and only LGBTcertified business selling domain names, PrideLife now provides a business option for consumers who wish to support LGBT-owned enterprise and for corporations looking to count their domain registrations as Our deep belief in supporting diverse spend. Both occur with LGBTQ entrepreneurs and small business is what makes every new registration and domain transfer into PrideLife, us proud to launch the new including all names on .COM, campaign “Support LGBTowned Business.” Designed to .ORG and many others. celebrate the diversity within As the campaign rolls out in LGBTQ business ownership collaboration with many of our and remind others to make community partners, everyone choices that help empower our is invited to help grow it community, this campaign goes organically by posting a link to beyond just your choice in a an LGBT-owned business as a domain registrar. Our goal is to comment, tagging LGBTQ help raise awareness and open businesses, and sharing our
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content with friends, colleagues and social networks. Delivered in multiple languages to help meet our global audience, supporting LGBT-owned business remains the universal message. Whether a business is LGBTcertified or simply owned and operated by a member of the LGBTQ community, let’s all considers ways to lift them up and strengthen our community. PrideLife is always open at www.pridelife.lgbt About PrideLife: PrideLife is the world’s first LGBT certified registrar, offering domain name sales & services, marketing for diverse domains and initiatives that connect diverse communities. The mission of PrideLife is to promote a more diverse domain name eco-system and develop solutions for driving visibility and differentiation with diverse segments.
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federal holiday in
Jax Gay Monthly Happening By David Vandygriff
Labor Day 2021 will occur on Monday, September 6. Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers and is traditionally observed on the first Monday in September. It was created by the labor movement in the late 19th century and became a
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1894. Labor Day weekend also symbolizes the end of summer for many Americans, and is celebrated with parties, street parades and athletic events. However, for the GAYS is mostly White Parties. Remember this is the last weekend to wear white until Memorial Day 2022.
Facebook page HamburgerMarysJax. Heads up Hamburger Mary’s has now re-opened for lunch during the week. Yay! The AIDS Memorial Project is well under way in have a new We all celebrated the 28 years mural painted on the basketball court in Willowbranch Park. of Metro Entertainment Complex this past weekend as AMP continues to help improve Willowbranch Park with many they closed their doors for projects and happenings good. Another large gay through-out the year. nightclub has closed in the nation as we continue to evolve cityXtra would also like to as community. Gay nightclubs THANK YOU our largest were a church of sorts for the recorded website traffic EVER LGBTQ community for decades with over 800,000 monthly but we have grown and more visitors. We are grateful and widely accepted at many appreciative of your continued venues. I cannot lie I will miss support for the past 10 years. the days of a good GAY In October we will include a nightclub with amazing music new updated distribution list for and light shows, along with our print issue. Remember we some dancing queens. still PRINT in addition to our online publication. And the As for the GAY happenings magazine is still FREE. there isn’t really much going on We have heard and are glad to around town. InCahoots has report that a new gay bar will their White Party the first be opening this fall in weekend of September 2021. downtown Jacksonville, with a In October Hamburger Mary’s very happy and familiar face. has Hocus Pocus returning on Stay tuned for updates by October 16 & 17, there are a following us on social media few tickets left, so get your CITYXTRA. tickets now by visiting their
on to contract HIV. Those who took part in the study were offered Johnson & Johnson HIV Vaccine Fails pre-exposure Clinical Trials In Devastating Setback By Tina Roberts prophylaxis (PrEP) to help An experimental HIV vaccine prevent them from contracting developed by Johnson & the virus, and those who Johnson has failed at clinical subsequently tested positive trial stage in a devastating for the virus were given setback to HIV research. antiretroviral drugs. A mid-stage study called Researchers will continue Imbokodo found that the analysing the results of the vaccine’s efficacy at preventing Imbokodo study, while Johnson HIV transmission was just 25.2 & Johnson noted that it is per cent, the NIH said in a continuing to study the effects press release. of a separate experimental HIV The Imbokodo study ultimately vaccine on a group of men who found that the experimental have sex with men & trans. vaccine did not provide “The development of a safe adequate protection against and effective vaccine to the transmission of HIV. prevent HIV infection has The Phase 2b proof-of-concept proven to be a formidable study enrolled 2,637 women scientific challenge,” said between the ages of 18 and 35 Anthony Fauci, director of the across five African countries, NIAID. where young women account “Although this is certainly not for 60 per cent of new HIV the study outcome for which cases. we had hoped, we must apply While the vaccine was found to the knowledge learned from be safe with no serious the Imbokodo trial and continue adverse affects, it also our efforts to find a vaccine that produced a low immune will be protective against HIV.” response in study participants. The vaccine’s failure to get Women who took part in the past clinical trial stage is just clinical trial were randomly the latest setback in the global assigned either a placebo or battle to eliminate HIV/AIDS. the real version of the vaccine The virus that causes AIDS when the study began in was first detected in the early November 2017. Researchers 1980s. Since then, an found that 63 women who estimated 35 million people received the placebo and 51 have died from AIDS related who received the vaccine went illnesses. Antiretroviral medication, which 16 www.cityxtramagazine.com
came on stream in the late 1990s, means that people with HIV can now live long, healthy and happy lives. The medication reduces a person’s viral load to undetectable levels, meaning they cannot pass the virus on. However, global inequality and HIV stigma means that not everybody is able to access antiretroviral medication. The result is that huge numbers of people continue to die from AIDS related illnesses each year, with UNAIDS estimating that around 680,000 died in 2020 alone. It is thought that HIV/AIDS can only be eradicated completely if an effective vaccine is made available – but so far, medical research has failed to produce such a thing. Countless HIV vaccines have failed at clinical trial stages in the decades since medical experts first identified the virus. Moderna, the company that developed one of the most effective vaccines at preventing COVID-19, launched a clinical trial into an experimental HIV vaccine in August. The vaccine uses the same mRNA technology used in the company’s COVID-19 vaccine – however, there is no guarantee that the vaccine will be found to prevent HIV transmission.
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Ryan Murphy Shuts Down Complaint He Writes Too Many ‘Gay Perverted Addicts’ With Epic Clapback By Angie Williamson
TV mogul Ryan Murphy has shut down a critic who whined that he writes too many “gay perverted addicts” with an epic clapback. This week, a Lady Gaga fan account caught Murphy’s attention when it tweeted: “Can Ryan Murphy write a season without gay perverted addicts??? I feel like he’s used this trope a million times.” The tweet seemingly referred to the premiere of the tenth season of American Horror Story on Wednesday (25 August), American Horror Story: Double Feature. But Murphy, who has also created Ratched, Halston and Pose, to name just a few, simply responded: “I will always write gay perverted addicts, sorry.” His perfect clapback was applauded by his followers,
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including Drag Race icon Adore Delano, who responded: “Can I be one? I’ll play the evil mermaid who eats her pray [sic] after midnight.” One Twitter user wrote: “Y’all were insane for thinking Ryan would get rid of his crazy twinks, like, that’s his brand.” Joking aside, others thanked Murphy for the wealth of LGBT+ characters and storylines he has brought to mainstream TV and film in recent years. “I appreciate what you have created for our community,” one Twitter user said. “Thank you.” Ryan Murphy Recently Announced Two New Anthology Series This month, Ryan Murphy
announced two new anthology series in a similar vein to American Horror Story and American Crime Story, titled American Love Story and American Sports Story. The two scripted anthology series which will follow high profile love stories within pop culture and high profile figures in sport. The first season of American Love Story will focus on the romance between John F Kennedy Jr and his wife Carolyn Bessette, while American Sports Story will begin by focusing on the late NFL player Aaron Hernandez, and will be based on the Boston Globe’s podcast Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc.
P&O Australia To Launch First Ever LGBT+ Pride Cruise By David Vandygriff
P&O Australia has announced that its first ever LGBT+ Pride cruise will set sail next year, including lectures, educational and spiritual events, same-sex weddings and… sequins. The three-night cruise, which will depart from Sydney on 4 November, 2022, will be a “celebratory weekend” for the LGBT+ community and their friends, families and allies, and will “honour pride in self, the
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diversity of the community and the endless variety of talented artists, entertainers and educators in it”. Australian LGBT+ organizations will be onboard, including the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation, Australia’s longest-running HIV charity, and Queer Screen, which will be putting on its first Queer Screen @ Sea Film Festival. The cruise will also feature a queer entertainment line-up “with plenty of feathers, sequins and flamboyance”, featuring America’s Got Talent star and self-described “international superstar, sex symbol, accordionist and Berlin boy-wonder” Hans the German.
“P&O Cruises has long been a supporter of diversity and inclusivity, championing marriage equality and working with campaigners of inclusivity like Madeline Stuart, the world’s first professional adult supermodel with Down Syndrome. “Our inaugural Pride cruise is yet another reflection of our strong commitment to diversity and inclusivity, and we couldn’t be prouder to include it in our 2022 offerings.” P&O partnerships manager Chris Rich added: “Guests on the Pride cruise will be able to celebrate the themes of love, compassion, respect and unThe cruise will also be welcoming LGBT+ sports stars derstanding through lectures, and “diversity trailblazers” like educational and spiritual events, same-sex marriages Simon Dunn, the world’s first and renewal of vows. openly gay bobsledder, and queer Australian rugby league “There’ll be something for player Meg Ward. everyone – as well as the unique blend of love and laughAs well as enjoying the ter that makes the LGBT+ entertainment and activities, cruisers will even be able to get spectrum so special.” married or renew their vows on Tickets for the Pride Cruise on the ship. sale now. The cruise company‘s president Sture Myrmell said:
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RuPaul Blesses The Gays With Not One, Not Two, But Three New Drag Race Seasons By Drew Brown
Get ready to be pounded by RuPaul’s money stick once more, as RuPaul’s Drag Race season 14, more Untucked, and a second run of the Secret Celebrity spin-off have been confirmed. With RuPaul busying herself launching lucrative Drag Race spin-offs around the world and “leasing mineral rights to oil companies”, it’s good to see she that hasn’t forgotten about her first-born. RuPaul’s Drag Race will return for a 14th season, it was confirmed Monday (23 August). “I am extremely grateful to all the amazing and talented Drag Race queens — past, present, and future — that continue to inspire us to find new ways to tell their stories,” RuPaul said in a statement.
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“Through love, light, and laughter, they remind all of us that the most powerful thing you can do is to become the image of your own imagination.”
please. The final show greenlit for another run was Drag Race Untucked, which will air along season 14. The newly-announced seasons You could argue the most join an already packed slate for powerful thing one could do is the global Drag Race to ensure there aren’t any franchise. climate-devastating activities All Stars 6 is currently airing, going on in one’s own back with rumors that the format will yard. But we digress. be expanded in the near future As well as season 14 of the with an all winners season, as much-loved series, RuPaul will well as an international edition. also return in the muchtolerated Secret Celebrity Drag Season two of Drag Race Holland recently launched, to Race, which sees returning be followed in September by queens makeover alleged Drag Race UK season three. A celebrities including *checks second run of Canada’s Drag notes* Jordan Connor and Race has also been confirmed, Phoebe Robinson. To be fair, as well as a third Drag Race the episode with Vanessa Thailand and brand-new Italian Williams and Loni Love was pretty decent, so more of that, and Filipino entries.
and even quote the Bible with Gene and Oscar. Their dialogue is whip-smart with double Dramarama Gives Closeted, Queer Late entendres and references Bloomers a Story of Their Own that are easy By By Gilbert Turner to miss and Far from the ballrooms of New invite a delightful second York City in the early '90s, viewing. Cinematographer pockets of gay teens existed in Todd Bell’s camera excels at their own subcultures of utilizing the house where the chosen families (even if they party takes place; his camera don’t use that language). The whip pans to meet the new movie Dramarama depicts character’s witty dialogue and one of those groups in 1994, follows their search for clues. and it’s partially based on writer The movie has a secret -director Johnathan Wysocki’s weapon, and director teenage years in Escondido, Johnathan Wysocki deploys his California. The coming-of-age writing and direction with comedy tells the story of Gene, Greetham's Oscar. The young a closeted teen (played by Nick actor’s toolkit is filled with a Pugliese) and his four Christian range of emotions unique to his drama school friends, including character. When Oscar shows Gene’s crush, Oscar (played by up to the party he’s dressed as Nico Greetham of American Sherlock Holmes and speaks in Horror Stories). The quintet of a merry English accent. Later, show tune-singing, he makes a limp attempt at bro movie-quoting nerds spend -ing out with JD. Eventually, their last night together at a Gene reads Oscar for filth Victorian-themed murder during an argument, and mystery party before they leave Greetham gives us a snot-cry for college. It was supposed to at levels seen from Viola Davis be a fun night of dress-up until in Fences. Although the film is Gene’s new friend JD, played about closeted late bloomers, by Zak Henri, crashes the party Wysocki teases the audience with a reality check. with sexual tension between The movie gallops at Oscar and Gene. Their breakneck speed. Resident relationship is flirtatious but prude Claire (played by Megan never crosses the line, and the Suri), worldly Ally (played by tension becomes palpable in a Danielle Kay), and party host scene early in the movie where Rose (played by Anna Grace Oscar undresses and Gene’s Barlow), reenact scenes from mascara-blurred eyes watch in Clue, make literary allusions, the bathroom window. (It’s the first of a few times in the movie 24 www.cityxtramagazine.com
where Greetham shows off his sexy, chiseled frame.)
Dramarama allows its teens to explore their identities through, well, the drama of the stage, movies, and costumes. But unlike recent Christian, teen, coming-of-age films, like Stephen Cone’s Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party, the characters’ revelations don’t lead to tipping points of change. (Warning! Spoilers ahead!) Gene is still closeted at the end of the movie, and Oscar, who (to this author) is clearly queer, is deeper in the closet than Gene. What changes, though, is the group’s dynamic: each is a little safer to be more real with each other. Contrasting again with Henry Gamble, when these teens go swimming in one scene, they turn the pool lights off for an extra layer of security from exposing their post-pubescent bodies. In Henry Gamble the teens swim in the daylight and with a pool light on, under the judging gaze of their parents. Interestingly, it’s Ally, the worldly, proto-Natasha Lyonne type, who turns off the pool lights. Throughout the story, Ally knows everyone’s truth before they can admit it, and like a true friend, she turns the light off to protect friends like Claire, who swims a lap topless when dared to by Oscar. In the end, through fights and tears, JD’s reality check is revealed by Rose for what it actually is: snark from a high school dropout who doesn’t have a tight-knit circle of
friends. That Gene and Ally remain friends with him shows that even he is worthy of redemption and bringing into the fold, even if he’s never going to gel with their nerdy culture. Johnathan Wysocki’s Dramarama finally gives the closeted, gay Christian kids of America a story of their own. Our media landscape is full of schlock like God’s Not Dead and sexy prestige dramas like Euphoria. But Dramarama is for the kids in the middle who are forced to see the former but watch the latter at night with their chosen family after their parents go to bed. They watch in secret because even now, like most queer people throughout history, many of us stay in the closet for our own safety. Wysocki’s film welcomes them to grow at their own pace and acknowledges that we see and love them just as they are. Dramarama is now playing at the IFC Center through September 9! For more information and ticket sales, visit the official IFC Center website www.IFCCenter.com/ films/dramarama www.cityxtramagazine.com 25
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