COMSOLE Magazine: The Transgender Issue

September 2018

Issue 4

www.comsole.org

Magazine

COMSOLE

Unwinding

Unwinding Tantas cosas que pasan en un mes en esta islita tan hermosa pero pequeña. El mes de julio nos trajo un cambio grande e impresionante cuya abarcadura quizás se les escape a muchos.

España ha elegido por segunda vez (la primera fue en el 2015) a una mujer transgénero para competir como su representante en el concurso de Miss Universe 2018. Claro, sabemos ya que el primer ministro recién electo hace unos meses, ha seleccionado un alto grupo de personas homosexuales a su gabinete. Un verdadero destape incalculablemente más grande que el que hubo luego de la muerte del Generalísimo.

Como si esto no fuera suficiente para celebrar, el tribunal supremo de los Estados Unidos decretó que toda persona trans en la nación, tiene derecho a cambiar la designación de sexo en su certificado de nacimiento. Y así, en Puerto rico y en medio de pleitos legales, de repente el primer hombre trans en nuestra historia hizo lo permitido: cambió la designación en su certificado de nacimiento de femenino a masculino. ¿Que significa todo esto? Que, aun siendo una isla muy conservadora, el cambio es inevitable. Futuras generaciones de puertorriqueños verán mas puertas abiertas y aquellos que hoy lo dan todo por la lucha a favor de los derechos de igualdad, pueden sentirse orgullosos porque sus voces no han sido calladas. Por elcontrario, se escuchan cada vez más alto.

Contents

CONTENTS Angle 4 The Fix 11 Word 17 Look & Form

20

Drafts 23 In Tune 24 Adroit 28 At the Loggia

29

Cookery 32 In Print

33

Toon 36 Mad About 37 Last Word 39 Fresh 40 From the Editor

41

Beat 42 Ad Lib 43

COVER PHOTO: Ivana Fred from Mala Mala poses for the Tribeca Film Festival Getty Images Studio on April 21 2014 in New York City

Angle

Photo credit: Instagram

Angle

Mas Allá de lo Que Se Ve: Cuando se es TRANSPARENTE Este mes, el tema de nuestra revista tenía que ser las personas trans. Angela Ponce, de España, ganó las rondas de clasificación de su país frente a otras 22 concursantes. Ella representará a España en Miss Universo 2018. En todas las noticias y redes sociales se ha dicho mucho en todos los aspectos de la discusión. Mientras tanto, en Puerto Rico, el primer hombre transgénero logró que su identificación en el certificado de nacimiento fuera cambiada de hombre a mujer.

En una época en que la homosexualidad se ha vuelto demasiado clínica, este recordatorio de que el queerness tiene que ver más con belleza y no con las pruebas de laboratorio, las píldoras contra las ETS y las pancartas tristes, es como un soplo de aire fresco. Sin importar lo que los enemigos escupirán en las redes sociales. #TRANSManFeminist Una cosa es levantar una voz participando en marchas y protestas. Pero es muy diferente cuando se le pone una cara a esa voz. Y este mes, la lucha por igualdad de derechos trans ganó una cara en Kery Santiago, la primera persona trans de Puerto Rico en conseguir que su certificado de nacimiento sea corregido de mujer a hombre.

En los años 70, Santiago informó a sus padres que, de hecho, él era un hombre atrapado en el cuerpo de mujer. Lo tomaron bien porque lo amaban profundamente, pero decidieron obtener ayuda psiquiátrica para tratar el problema. Por respeto a ellos y porque él sabía que no estaban listos para enfrentar una transformación completa en ese momento, Santiago no se realizó ninguna cirugía hasta que sus padres hubieran fallecido.

Angle

A continuación, hay una breve lista de comentarios publicados por los usuarios de las redes sociales el día en que los periódicos anunciaron que la Corte Suprema había tomado una decisión y que era posible cambiar la identificación sexual.

Angel: Muchos comentarios aquí son una broma, pero esta decisión es muy triste porque legaliza e institucionaliza una mentira. Una sociedad que acepta una mentira no puede ser honrada en ningún campo. Aquí mismo se quejan de cuán mala es la corrupción, que es otro tipo de mentira y engaño. Cualquier certificado debe indicar la verdad: el sexo con el que nacieron y el sexo que quieren fingir que es. No sé por qué estas personas que marchan y protestan dicen que son tan valientes, tienen miedo de aceptar la realidad.

Ecualizador: Estoy de acuerdo Certificado de NACIMIENTO no es certificado de otra cosa ... Ahora tendremos que caminar con pruebas genéticas de género para las personas antes de conectarnos con algunas “chicas”.

Temacancobien: Angel, dicen que estás enamorado de la que está en amarillo jejejeje The Punisher: Ahora corrigen si nacieron con pipi y ahora tienen wiwis.

Cerberus: El infeliz retrasado habla, quiere un cambio de sexo mientras Panchito se lo da duro en los baños de Home Depot.

El Castigador: Kuahahahaha Retired Happy: Dile dónde fuiste operado y te dieron tetas y te ajustaste el culo, porque lo rompiste, jajaja The Punisher: Mira, no digas lo que te han hecho, cerdo, es verdad lo que dicen que los patos son el diablo “.

Estas fueron las reacciones en la sección de comentarios de un artículo que salió hace cuatro meses. Tristemente, reflejan la opinión de la mayoría de las personas en Puerto Rico.

Angle

Foto credito: Brandon Cruz Gonzalez / El Vocero

“luson1 A la hora de entrar a un baño estos hombres que dicen ser mujeres o las mujeres que dicen que son hombres es un peligro para los niños y niñas. Esto es la educacion escolar del govierno. No tienen celebro. No saben identificar la diferencia entre un hombre y una mujer. Si les gusta cojer por el otro lado es la decision de la persona, eso no lo hace del sexo opuesto. No descalifiquen si pronto habran los que se crean animales y donde quiera se mean o se cagan.”

Opinion de lector de El Vocero, Jul 18, 2018 7:38am

Angle

Para Santiago, todo esto se traduce en dejar un legado para las generaciones futuras. “El estado tiene el deber de validar nuestros derechos de la misma manera que valida los derechos de todos los demás”, le dijo Santiago a El Vocero el 18 de julio. “No buscamos más derechos que las personas binarias”, continuó, “al igual que ellos tienen. Y hemos tenido que luchar por ellos precisamente porque el gobierno no ha validado esos derechos “.

Una ruptura en la discriminación El cambio que afecta el territorio de los Estados Unidos entró en vigencia el 16 de julio, tres meses después de que Lambda Legal presentara una demanda federal, Arroyo v. Roselló, en nombre de tres puertorriqueños transgénero. La autoridad local ahora requiere un pasaporte o licencia de conducir con la identidad de género verdadera de la persona (ambas formas de identificación ya pueden obtenerse para reflejar la identidad de género de una persona) o un certificado de un profesional de la salud, para hacer el cambio en el certificado de nacimiento.

La jueza Carmen Consuelo Cerezo, quien firmó la orden local, dijo: “El derecho a identificar nuestra propia existencia yace en el corazón de nuestra humanidad. Y entonces, debemos prestar atención a sus voces ‘la mujer que soy’, ‘el hombre que soy’ “. Ella dijo que el cambio histórico daría voz a una comunidad muy perjudicada por la discriminación, y agregó: “No pueden esperar a otra generación, esperando que algún legislador actúe”.

La lucha por los derechos trans es una batalla constante. Uno que bien puede enfrentar un fuerte desafío cuando y si el presidente Trump designa un nuevo juez de derecha para el Tribunal Supremo. Todos los ojos están puestos en el presidente, su administración y el Congreso preguntándose dónde van a ir a continuación y qué significa eso para los derechos no solo de las personas trans, sino también de toda la comunidad LGBT.

Angle

Photo Credit: Facebook

Angle

True Self es “una fundación que reconoce la necesidad urgente de lograr cambios de política, visión y trato de la comunidad transgénero y de trabajar para garantizar la equidad, seguridad, y el bienestar físico y emocional de las personas de las comunidades de diversidad de orientación sexual e identidad de género en Puerto Rico.

Igualmente, es nuestra misión ser voz de la comunidad transgénero y de sus aliados proveyendo las herramientas necesarias para lograr cambios de política y visión social y de esa manera empoderar a esta comunidad.”

COMSOLE siempre se ha solidarizado con los derechos de la comunidad trans de Puerto Rico y respalda todos los esfuerzos de True Self.

www.trueselffoundation.org

The Fix

Ivana Fred photo credit El Nuevo Dia

VIVR SIN VOZ La lucha trans en Puerto Rico El otorgamiento de un certificado de nacimiento modificado por el género de la persona es un paso hacia el reconocimiento y el respeto que se debe a las personas transgénero. Hace que se valide a las personas por quienes son, no como una cosa rara. O como nenes que quieren ser nenas o viceversa.

La juez de Distrito Federal, Carmen Consuelo Cerezo declaró como un acto inconstitucional la política del gobierno de Puerto Rico de no permitir que personas transgénero o transexuales sean capaces de corregir sus actas de nacimiento.

“Mala Mala”, una película puertorriqueña de 2014 dirigida por Antonio Santini y Dan Sickles, protagonizada por Jason “April” Carrión, Samantha Close e Ivana Fred, presentó varias historias de la comunidad transgénero en Puerto Rico. En una isla donde el público es principalmente católico y conservador, la película chocó con los estándares e hizo que la gente notara la subcultura marginada a la que estos ciudadanos fueron echados.

The Fix Esta es la vida real de las personas transgénero, la viven no solo en películas o en marchas y protestas, sino en todos los días de sus vidas. Rechazados por la mayoría llamados freaks. Vistos por muchos como un chiste. La mayoría de las personas todavía se niega a entender que la identidad de género simplemente no es algo que una persona elige. ¿Por qué alguien elegiría ser “diferente”? ¿Por qué alguien elegiría ser ridiculizado, reído y considerado raro?

Brincamos al 2018. Un grupo de voluntarios y miembros de la comunidad se reúnen en la Fundación Sila María Calderón. Se han creado mesas con folletos informativos y pancartas. El evento anual se llama “Trans Formando la Comunidad” y está organizado por varias organizaciones de voluntarios locales que trabajan arduamente para la comunidad trans. Después de todo, debería ser el derecho de cada puertorriqueño a vivir, estudiar y trabajar libremente en una sociedad de iguales. Durante el evento educativo, que dura todo un día, se presentan charlas por profesionales y testimonios por personas trans.

El problema es más que querer tener tetas o una polla. Se trata de establecer paz al alma, hacer las paces con quien es una persona y poder vivir sus vidas de forma segura.

Queen Bee Ho from Mala Mala poses for the Tribeca Film Festival Getty Images Studio on April 21 2014 in New York City

The Fix TRANSICIÓN Una palabra tan simple difícilmente explica los problemas que enfrentan las personas trans a medida que viajan desde su persona de nacimiento hasta la exposición de su ser interior. Un viaje aterrador que muchos tienen miedo de tomar y simplemente se esconden durante toda su vida.

Para evitar tener que obtener hormonas del mercado negro, que son extremadamente peligrosas, algunas de las personas trans han tenido que trabajar en las calles como prostitutas. Los clientes los buscan. Ganan dinero para pagar sus tratamientos hormonales, pero luego viene la pregunta: “¿Transiciono y me convierto en el género en el que debí nacer, o sigo trabajando en las calles en mi género actual para mantener contentos y pagando a los clientes?” Se trata de supervivencia.

Debido a que se convirtió en ilegal en 2014 discriminar por razón de la identidad de género para el empleo, muchas de estas personas han salido de las calles y se han unido a la fuerza de trabajo de la isla que de por si es muy débil. Algunos han vuelto a estudiar. Pero para las mujeres trans es una doble trampa: dejas atrás ser discriminado por ser trans y ahora enfrentas la discriminación por ser mujer.

Puerto Rico es una rara mezcla de influencia católica desde los tiempos del gobierno español mezclado con los cambios constantes traídos por la inyección de la sociedad basada en los medios de comunicación de los Estados Unidos. Aquí, un hombre que está casado y tiene hijos encuentra más difícil salir como gay y más aún como transgénero para su esposa e hijos simplemente porque las expectativas y los estándares son muy estrictos.

Podemos ver en la televisión un programa como “Ru Paul’s Drag Race” y disfrutarlo. Pero eso no se traduce necesariamente a el hecho de que toleraríamos que nuestro hermano, primo, padre o hijo sea un drag. Imagina cuánto más difícil es explicar “Cariño, necesito decirte que siempre me he visto a mí misma como una mujer”.

EL PRESENTE Las visitas a hospitales y cuidadores de la salud pueden ser muy difíciles para las personas transgénero. Esto se debe a que el personal de enfermería generalmente no está capacitado para tratar con ellos. Una vez que descubren que la persona es transgénero, comienzan a aparecer preguntas, que pueden hacerse inocentemente, pero que hacen al paciente

The Fix extremadamente incómodo. “¿Cómo lo manejó tu familia? ¿Cuántas cirugías has tenido? ¿Por qué no te hicieron esta o aquella cirugía?

Muchos ginecólogos no entienden por qué una persona transexual no-binaria necesitaría controles de salud de rutina, como las pruebas de Papanicolau. Luego está la objetivación. Una vez que los doctores descubren que una persona ha pasado por diferentes cirugías, comienzan a tocar y criticar o admirar. “Esto resultó muy bien”, pueden decir mientras acarician los senos del paciente de forma muy inapropiada.

Los pacientes no pueden encontrar buenos proveedores de atención médica o los rechazan otros. Cuando reciben tratamiento, es muy común que el paciente tenga que educar al cuidador de la salud y pasar tiempo explicando por qué son las cosas. Aun así, es muy difícil para los pacientes lograr cambios en los hospitales y en las grandes farmacéuticas.

LO QUE HAY ADELANTE Con organizaciones como True Self en la isla, las ruedas se están moviendo positivamente. Los millennials también han sido responsables de muchos de los cambios que se han producido. Esta es una nueva generación de pensadores libres que eligen no acatar las generaciones anteriores en sus vidas. La razón es que Puerto Rico está en una gran agitación económica. Esta es la primera generación que gana mucho menos que sus padres. Muchos se ven obligados a vivir con sus padres hasta que tienen 30 años o más. Esto los ha llevado a cuestionar valores y tradiciones.

Muchos se han separado de los estándares católicos y se han abierto al cuestionamiento.

Todo esto equivale a una gran esperanza de cambio incluso a mayor escala y más rápido. Los puertorriqueños se vuelven más tolerantes. Tendrán que hacerlo. Si la isla va a sobrevivir, debe abrirse a los cambios en todos los aspectos. Y la aceptación de las diferencias debe estar entre esos cambios. En una reciente carrera de 5K celebrada por True Self a nombre de la comunidad trans de la isla, se hizo evidente que los números siguen creciendo, más personas quieren participar y están presionando por la igualdad de derechos para la comunidad transgénero.

The Fix

Meet Vermont’s Next Governor: Christine Hallquist The first ever public official to transition while in office

Christine Hallquist moved to Vermont in 1976. In 1998, she joined Vermont Electric Coop as an engineering and technology consultant, bringing a background in process engineering from her work with leading information technology companies and consulting for top manufacturers.

In 2000, Christine became Engineering and Operations Manager, and then its Chief Executive Officer in 2005, after the Coop acquired the assets of a larger investor-owned utility. At the beginning of Christine’s tenure as CEO, the Coop was in severe financial distress, and the state was considering pulling its certificate of public good.

Christine worked with VEC’s 107 employees to not only rebuild the Coop’s finances, but also to transform it into a national leader on using renewable sources of electricity production to combat climate change.

Today, VEC’s bond ratings are solid, and the Coop has not had a rate increase in more than four years. VEC meets 96 percent of its energy needs from carbon-free sources, compliance with the state’s goals to achieve the 100 percent renewable mandate for 2050.

The Fix Christine’s experience as head of VEC and her national prominence as an expert on the electric grid and climate change inspired her cinematographer son Derek to direct the biographical documentary about her entitled Denial. While in the process of filming Denial in 2015, Christine made the decision, after years of holding it inside, to come out as her true self, a transgender woman, becoming the first business leader in the country to transition while in office.

Christine has three wonderful children and two grandchildren. Working to ensure that Vermont remains the special, inclusive and progressive place that it has always been, not only for her children and grandchildren, but also for future generations of Vermonters, is what motivates Christine to seek the honor and opportunity to serve the people of Vermont as its next governor.

Christine Hallquist talks to reporters after winning the primary during her victory speech during the Primary party for democratic candidate for governor Christine Hallquist at the Skinny Pancake on Tuesday night August 14, 2018 in Burlington. (BRIAN JENKINS/for the FRESS PRESS).

Word

12 of the Best Gay Films You Missed in 2017 Gay filmmaking no longer has to “go mainstream” because, for the past few years, the best new movies have been gay movies. It’s a privilege to chronicle this advance of queer cinema that now dominates movie culture for the first time in film history.

But these twelve pioneering films are not the ones that got the most media attention. Anyone interested in gay experience or gay films already knows to distrust mainstream media’s efforts to exploit and categorize queerness by promoting gay movies as different, and each so-called advance as a breakthrough simply because it finally breaks into the media’s usual indifference.

As the Hollywood film industry goes through its biggest sexual panic since the 1920s, reflecting a breakdown in heterosexual relations, gay filmmakers who previously were swept to the margins by cowardly homophobic critics and gatekeepers, have steadily made the only movies concerned with what it means to be human among humans.

Each of these twelve superb films transcend Hollywood’s condescending approach to gay self-pity disguised as romance. Instead, they share a common idea that goes beyond social-climbing and narcissistic self-flattery: Know Thyself To Know Each Other.

A QUIET PASSION is sexually discreet but also stylistically bold.

PARIS: 05:59: THEO & HUGO is the love story of the year for its PREPera consciousness and focus on emotional intimacy.

FOUR DAYS IN FRANCE turns a romantic break-up into a rediscovery of personal, national, cultural unity — between two men.

Word STAYING VERTICAL is a challenge to the hypocrisy of a society unprepared for a gay man who’s sought-after sexual identity includes the desire to be a parent.

MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI is childlike purity applied to gay innocence and self-awareness — what you’ll never get from Pixar.

FRANTZ turns a World War I memorial into powerful fraternal passion.

THE ASSIGNMENT is a transgender crime movie in which gender controversy becomes an existential enigma.

BPM is an epic parade of AIDS activism in ‘80s Paris, with its array of emotions, personalities and politics is tragic and euphoric.

TOM OF FINLAND is a bio-pic about the icon of gay erotica who made graphic reality of his sexual desire and permanently imprinted the imagination of gay men everywhere.

The Ornithologist is an erotic exploration of gay spirituality GOD’S OWN COUNTRY is a starcrossed romance between a Yorkshire shepherd and a Romanian immigrant DREAM BOAT is an abstract, stylized and surprisingly sensitive meditation on gay male desire and its discontents.

Word

Disney Casts Straight Actor in First Major Openly Gay Role

BY GLENN GARNER Disney has recently announced casting of The Jungle Cruise, a new feature film based on the Disneyland ride. In addition to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Emily Blunt, the movie also features British actor and comedian, Jack Whitehall as the brother of Blunt’s character.

New information about Whitehall’s character reveals that he’s in fact gay, the first major openly gay character in a Disney movie. A source told The Sun that his character is described as “hugely effete, very camp and very funny.” But seeing as Whitehall is a straight actor, this has raised an eyebrow or two for obvious reasons.

When will Disney learn? First, they give us a breadcrumb of a gay moment between the villainous LeFou and Gaston in Beauty and the Beast, as if it doesn’t perpetuate the idea that queer people are secondary, if not plain evil. Then they went as far to cut a scene in Thor: Ragnarok that confirmed Valkyrie’s bisexuality.

Now they’re offering up a straight man’s portrayal of gay character, being described as “effete” and “camp” as if it’s some big win for gay inclusion. A bigger win might be casting an actual gay actor, or at least avoiding awful gay tropes. When will they learn?

Daniel Franzese @WhatsupDanny “I know we are supposed to be happy about this but the second outreach to the LGBTQ community is another camp character played by a straight guy. Why must we always take our spoonful of sugar with a lemon?”

Look & Form

Pintrest

Opposite page:Antonio Lopez in Jardin du Luxembourg Paris, in 1971 Photograph Juan Ramos Copyright The Estate of Antonio Lopez and Juan Ramos 2012

Look & Form

ANTONIO LOPEZ: ONE-MAN REVOLUTION Antonio started his career as an illustrator in the mid-60s working for Women’s Wear Daily. The Puerto Rican artist (he was born in Utuado) lived his life in the fast track, working until dawn and partying until dusk. Antonio was open about his sexuality, dating both men and women. His work would appear in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Interview and the New York Times.

Because his lifestyle and talent seemed too advanced for America, Antonio moved with his lifetime collaborator, Juan Eugenio Ramos, in 1969 to Paris to live in Karl Lagerfeld’s apartment. Paris was more open to his ideas. Lopez explored themes of queer desire and race in his art through cultural references.

Lopez died in 1987, aged 44, from complications resulting from Aids. Ramos died in 1995. If there is a theme to their lifestyle, it would have to be that if they hadn’t lived it, it didn’t exist.

Pintrest

Look & Form

Pintrest

Billy Idol by Antonio Lopez

Antonio Lopez for Hint Fashion Magazine

Drafts

In Tune

In Tune

Cher Announces ‘Dancing Queen’ Album Release Date

by Sam Tornow/BILLBOARD

Amidst the success of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Cher has announced that Dancing Queen, a full album of ABBA hit covers, is due for release on Sept. 28.

Cher, who appears in the Mamma Mia! sequel, detailed her love for the Swedish pop group in a press release.

“I’ve always liked Abba and saw the original Mamma Mia musical on Broadway three times,” the singer said.

Cher attends the ‘Free The Wild’ Charity Launch and Screening of ‘Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again’ in London on July 17, 2018.

Cher Posts Snippet of ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!’ From ABBA Covers Album “After filming Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, I was reminded again of what great and timeless songs they wrote and started thinking, ‘Why not do an album of their music?’” she continued. “The songs were harder to sing than I imagined but I’m so happy with how the music came out. I’m really excited for people to hear it. It’s a perfect time.”

Fans who pre-order the album will instantly receive Cher’s version of “Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight).” Check out a teaser here, and see the tracklist after the jump.

In Tune

2 Legit the Beat In 1999, Travis O’Guin, a former furniture salesman that Forbes magazine recently called “Hip Hop’s most mysterious mogul”, joined with Tech N9ne, a rising independent rapper, to create what is today the number-one independent hip hop label in the world.

Today, their empire brings in nearly $20 million a year in revenue from 10 different artists, almost completely removed from major critical acclaim or mainstream attention.

At the center of this mega-talented engine is superstar Tech N9ne, born Aaron Dontez Yates in Kansas City, Missouri in 1971. Tech has earned three gold records, sold over two million albums, and made multiple appearances on Forbes’s “Hip-Hop Cash Kings” list. Tech has collaborated with The Doors, Slipknot’s Corey Taylor, Eminem, and Boyz II Men, among others. And recently Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson replied that he was loyal to Tech’s music when asked by a television-show host about his choice of go-to music.

In Tune

Tech is known for his dynamic rhyme schemes and speed referred to as “chopper-style” rapping. He has stated that he is influenced by old school hip hop, and has cited specifically N.W.A, Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions, Eric B. & Rakim, Schoolly D, and Just-Ice. He is al so reported to be interested in other genres of music, and lists the Doors, Jim Morrison, Led Zeppelin, Elton John, AC/DC, Metallica, Floetry, Outkast, Cee-Lo and Gnarls Barkley as influences. David Jeffries describes Tech’s present style as “hardcore and confessional.”

Once O’Guin and Tech joined forces and cleared the mess that had plagued Tech for years – at one point he wasn’t sure which record label owned which of his records – they took their talent on the road and locked in fans as they welcomed Strange Music’s message. O’Guin runs the creative end of the business as Tech covers the creative, keeping everything inhouse. Sales of merchandise alone are said to go well beyond $6 million a year.

Tech chose to name their label Strange Music as a tribute to his hero Jim Morrison of The Doors and their songs “People Are Strange” and “Strange Days.” O’Guin and Tech chose a snake and a bat for their SM logo, symbolizing their round-the-clock, nocturnal approach to music. “This is how we started this business,” said Travis. “Up all night, every night.” “Our first paid show was in 2000 in Blue Springs, Missouri [The small town where SM headquarters stand today]. We got five hundred bucks for that show.”

(O’Guin) (http://www.greenroommagazine.com/blog/2015/6/8/feature-travis-oguin-ceo-of-strange-musicJune) (8, 2015, ISSUE 002, words by Jake Heinitz as told to Eamon Whalen) If you are looking for excellent work-out sounds, Tech offers some of the best. His chopper-style rap makes for your blood to pump and your adrenaline pop. Once you listen to any of his tunes, like “Fresh Out”, you will not want to stop listening nor will you consider quitting your cardio workout soon. https://www.strangemusicinc.com/artists/tech-n9ne

Adroit GRIS, EXPOSICIÓN DE CALIN DOVER TARRATS EN EL CUADRADO GRIS

By Puerto Rico Art News En este proceso creativo …gris se convierte en un enlace entre el principio de la imaginación (blanco) y las conductas evasivas, lo absurdo de los sucesos actuales (negro). Se convierte en un comentario crítico y desafíos, además, recurre a la eliminatoria de compromisos emocionales, pero conserva los rasgos del embotamiento social que permea actualmente. Este gris se aleja de lo neutral y se asoma a la sociedad con una pregunta retórica.

Las narrativas de las piezas pueden no cohesionarse políticamente entre sí, pero sí estéticamente. Así arman una afirmación de un fetiche natural y agravante dentro de la sociedad. Y es que el gris es el color del pensamiento abstracto, la presencia de lo evasivo y al mismo tiempo la represión de ideas.

La noche de apertura también se (ha presentado)(sic) la agrupación Matotumba. El cuadrado gris / The Gray Square está localizado en la Calle Tito Rodríguez 455 en el sector de Monte Flores. Detrás de la Universidad del Sagrado Corazón en Santurce.

At the Loggia

The Masterful Work of Mark Leighton Mark Leighton Photography www.markleightonphotos.com

At the Loggia

At the Loggia

Cookery Prenda la estufa a fuego medio-alto. Añada el aceite canola. Vierta la cebolla y el pimiento. Añada orégano, sal y pimienta Añada el sofrito y cocine hasta que oscurezca un poco y combine los ingredientes.

Añada cualquier vegetal que desee. Añada sazón. Los vegetales deben estar calientes antes de añadir el arroz. Vierta el arroz y menee asegurándose de que el arroz se pinte completamente. Mantenga en medio-alto el fuego.

Añada agua para cubrir el arroz. Verifique si necesita sal. Menee bien y deje que hierva hasta que la mayoría del agua sea absorbida. Menee nuevamente y coloque a medio-bajo. Tape por 20 minutos.

Destape y añada los Petits Pois; menee nuevamente. Sirva el arroz con sus acompañantes favoritos.

Ingredientes: 2 tazas de arroz de grano largo 2-3 cucharadas de aceite de canola 2 cubos o 2 cucharadas de sofrito 1/2 pimiento verde pequeño, finamente cortado en cubos 1/2 cebolla, finamente picada 1 cucharadita de orégano 1 cucharadita de sal, o más al gusto 1/2 cucharadita de pimienta negra 1 paquete Sazon Goya o Knorr Vegetales si desea: zanahoria, habichuelas tiernas, etc.

ARROZ GUISADO SABROSO

In Print

GQ Loses Stock Among Readers In their lways-failing attempt to be accomodating to men who could never be allowed into an Andrew Christian ad, GQ tweeted a photo presenting swim trunks designed for “stockier builds” men. Alas, there were no stocky men in the photo (see below).

Thankfully, the public was quick to react and tweeted back remarks on the lack of stocky men present.

Not being one to enjoy being spoken of negatively, GQ acted upon this faux pas by substituting the photo for a different one. Problem is ... the new photo has no models at all.

“You’d rather run an image of empty shorts than a model without a sixpack?” asked one tweet among the many. “The image has been swapped... for shorts without people. Heaven forbid we see an actual stocky model!” said another.

In Print

Perhaps GQ could earn from SURGE, they put out a commercial for their underwear for men of all sizes. The video went viral.

Good for them!

In Print

G Puerto Rico

Llega a la isla la revista , un proyecto que ya esta en su noveno ano, llevando a la comunidad LGBT entretenimiento y conocimiento. En el caso de nuestra isla, la revista espera traer a colaciรณn temas interesantes y modernos incluyendo moda, deportes, turismo, bodas, entre otros.

Toon

Mad About The fight for the right to define oneself despite nature is a struggle that transgender people must endure daily,

GETTY Madonna 081618 Gilbert Carrasquillo GC Images

Mad About

BACK AND FORTH: BETWEEN KRASH KLUB AND GRINDR Regner Ramos 14.03.18 Visit: http://elsite.xyz/notes/back-forth-between-krash-klub-grindr

“The Prioject My research project discusses architectural and urban space through a particular group of users: queer and gay citizens. I would like to state that by ‘queer’, I’m referring to people who participate in practices and activities that lie outside of what we know as heterosexuality. They’re practices that do not necessarily adhere to homosexuality and may not even include sexual interaction. Gay and queers are a marginalized group of citizens which have not been catered to properly in society.

Furthermore, they, we, have been forgotten, hidden or disregarded from serious urban and architectural research in the island. My aim is to study, foreground and analyze queer narratives and spatial practices in Puerto Rican culture today, to think about the ways that Internet technologies have changed the way we use the city’s spaces. And tonight, I’ll do this by looking at one GPS mobile application called Grindr.”

Last Word Facebook screenshots reveal parents at absolute worst, threatening 12-year-old with castration A school district has been temporarily shut down after parents posted horrific messages about a transgender student who used the girls’ bathroom.

The messages were posted to a Facebook group for parents of students in Achille, Oklahoma, and called for 12-year-old Maddie to be castrated and beaten.

If that sounds extreme, it is.

Screenshots of the parents’ comments are gaining international attention; their open hostility and violent rhetoric towards a child is incredibly upsetting.

This was all sparked when Maddie, who had been using the staff restroom, used the girls’ restroom just once, on the first day of seventh grade.

That was enough to cause messages like those on the left.

Fresh

14 Ways to Stimulate Personal Growth

By Kristina Súarez-Zarracina Sánchez For Psych2go.net Every single person in this world searches for a purpose in their lives, to make a difference in this world. That’s what you want as well, right?

But of course, it’s easier said than done.

Humanity has always faced that ambition, and with it, the fear of not being able to accomplish it. Whatever you call it — personal growth, personal development, self-actualization or finding yourself — it is a journey we want to make, but sometimes we don’t even know where to start from Who I am supposed to be? What are my dreams, my ambitions, what would make my life full?

The journey is about finding the answer to those questions, about exploring your identity and in the end, find yourself. Because that’s the universal answer! Your true self, the best you, the person that is everything you have always wanted to be.

But again it’s easier said than done. Yes, being honest it might be the hardest and most difficult thing any of us will confront but it’s worth it. It really is.

So let’s see the 14 ways to make this quest a little more reachable!

Fresh 1. Know yourself Self-knowledge is not just about knowing your likes and dislikes, it’s about knowing who you truly are as a person. Everything that makes you be you!

2. Surround yourself with beautiful people I’m talking about inner beauty, of course. People that have a story to tell, gifts to share and lessons to teach.

3. Rid yourself of people who bring you down 4. ‘Three good things’ practice Each day, you write down three good things that happened throughout your day, or three things you are thankful for 5. Avoid comparing yourself to what you see on social media 6. Write Whether it’s a public blog or a private journal, writing is a therapeutic outlet for your thoughts.

7. Meet new people.

8. De-clutter We get emotionally attached to ‘stuff’. When you finally purge and rid yourself of all the clutter you’ve hoarded over a lifetime, you feel empowered. It’s freeing.

9. Turn off the TV 10. Get in touch with nature Take time out each day to get some fresh air, walk through a beautiful park or garden, visit the beach or just watch the clouds 11. Read 12. Develop a childlike sense of humor 13. Get a hobby 14. Make someone’s day

Beat

Dapper In a Dress by SmolBean I am a man Placed in a body As soft and delicate As the dress hanging on him Blue dress on a blue guy Whose head is heavy Under headband and guilt Choking on a necklace Too dainty for him Bound in his bracelets Silently pleading guilty To his life sentence

www.allpoetry.com

Ad-Lib

Don’t let Summer Kick you in the Ars Sunshine is fun time, and there’s no other time to enjoy it more than during the summer.

It’s the season is when you let your guard down, and open the door to romance. There’s celebration, vacation, and freedom. We are more open to experimentation. Once the weather gets good, we get out of bed, forget swiping left and right on Grindr, and head to the beach to meet hotties face-to-face.

Fireworks are practically guaranteed.

Not to dump a bucket of water on your campfire, if you are among the many men who enjoy rimmng your partner as part of your sexual routine during those long hot summer nights, you should know that the weeks between the end of summer and the beginning of fall are typically when shigella flourishes. Speaking bluntly, shigella is a group of bacteria found in poo that can be transferred to your mouth while performing oral/anal sex. It causes an intestinal infection which leads to diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps starting a day or two after intaking the bacteria. Shigella can be caught from rimming, oral sex, or putting your fingers in your mouth after handling used condoms, douches or sex toys.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): “most people will recover from shigellosis without treatment in 5 to 7 days. People who have shigellosis should drink plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration.

Contact your healthcare provider if you, or one of your family members, have a fever, bloody diarrhea, severe stomach cramping or tenderness, are dehydrated, or feel very sick.”

Shigella germs spread easily from one person to another; just a small amount of shigella germs can make someone sick. Understanding how to prevent the spread of shigella germs can help you protect yourself and your loved ones from getting sick.

Ad-Lib

Lowering the Risk You can lower your risk of infection by washing your hands, anus and genitals after sex.

You could also use dental dams, condoms, and fisting gloves to protect you when having oral sex, fisting, and fingering. It is also recommended that you change condoms between partners, and between anal and oral sex, whether they’re on a penis, hands, or sex toys. Also, once you get over the infection, use protection or avoid having sex for at least two weeks.

Treatment Shigella is treated most times with a course of antibiotics. If you think you have shigella, go to a sexual health (GUM) clinic or your GP and explain your symptoms. You may also want to say that you think you may have picked up an infection from sex.

COMSOLE

We see you we hear you

we are you

From the Editor

Dear readers, The fourth edition of the magazine, we have wanted to dedicate it to the transgender community of Puerto Rico. We offer information and opinions about the issues that affect this community. And we try to present a realistic picture of the present situation that they face.

Previous editions have been focused on the topics of: suicide and mental health, men victims of abuse, and sexual health. It is our intention to present educational and informative topics without abandoning the idea that there are other things that interest us in society.

We would like others to contribute to the magazine to hear other ideas and opinions. And we urge everyone to send writings that they want to see published.

For now, and as long as we can, we will keep bringing topics that are of interest to the LGBTQ community and to everyone in general. COMSOLE, which is the foundation that owns the magazine, is a non-profit foundation whose bank account is kept at zero on purpose. Because all the funds that are received go directly to help, we do not retain anything and those who have helped us have always done so voluntarily.

We appreciate your interest in helping us, in supporting us in whatever way they do, and we only ask you to spread our message. May they help educate all Puerto Ricans. Maybe one day we can dedicate ourselves to putting pictures of cute outfits in bikini and become the $ 20 bill that everyone likes. But until then, we will touch on the strong issues and we will do it responsibly for the good of society.

Thank you.

De Parte del Editor

Queridos lectores, La cuarta edición de el magacín, se la hemos querido dedicar a la comunidad transgénero de Puerto Rico. Ofrecemos información y opiniones acerca de los temas que afectan a esta comunidad. Y tratamos de presentar un cuadro realista de la situación presente que enfrentan.

Las ediciones anteriores han sido enfocadas en los temas de: suicidio y salud mental, los hombres victimas de abuso, y la salud sexual. Es nuestra intención presentar temas educativos e informativos sin abandonar la idea que hay otras cosas que nos interesan en la sociedad.

Nos gustaría que otros aportaran a la revista para así escuchar otras ideas y opiniones. Y exhortamos a todos a que envíen escritos que quieran ver publicados.

Por ahora, y mientras se nos sea posible, nos mantendremos llevando temas que sean de interés a la comunidad LGBTQ y a todos en general.

COMSOLE, que es la fundación dueña del magacín, es una fundación sin fines de lucro cuya cuenta de banco se mantiene en cero a propósito.

Porque todos los fondos que se reciben van directamente a ayudar, no retenemos nada y los que nos han ayudado siempre lo han hecho voluntariamente.

Les agradecemos su interés en ayudarnos, en apoyarnos de la manera que sea que lo hagan, y solo les pedimos que divulguen nuestro mensaje.

Que ayuden a educar a todos los puertorriqueños. Quizás algún día nos podamos dedicar a poner fotos de modelitos lindos en bikini y convertirnos en el billete de $20 que guste a todos. Pero hasta entonces, tocaremos los temas fuertes y lo haremos responsablemente por el bien de la sociedad.

Gracias.

Off the Cuff

The Latino AIDS crisis you don’t see: We need to do more; lives are at risk The U.S. Latino community faces an HIV/AIDS crisis, but chances are, you didn’t know.

Over the past years, the estimated rate of new HIV infections overall in the U.S. have fallen steadily - together with public concern. Highly effective prevention and treatment for HIV-positive individuals have led the way.

But while much progress has been achieved, the same can’t be said for Latinos.

Estimated HIV infections and diagnoses reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have increased among the approximately 60 million U.S. Latinos - the country’s youngest and largest minority group. Between 2011 and 2015, the rate of increase of new HIV diagnoses ranged from 4 percent among all Latinos, to 22 percent among younger Latino gay and bisexual men ages 1329. In contrast, diagnoses fell by a significant 5 percent overall in the U.S. Today, Latinos account for approximately a quarter of all new HIV diagnoses in the country. Yet the Latino epidemic has remained largely invisible, eclipsed by biomedical advances in powerful prevention and treatment tools known as PrEP and U=U. But data show that HIV-positive Latinos and other minorities achieve viral suppression at lower rates than their non-minority counterparts do. An estimated 73 percent of PrEP users are white, while three-quarters of new HIV infections occur among people of color.

Amid increasing HIV diagnoses among Latinos, key population segments at greatest risk for infection are being hit the hardest, among them young Latino gay and bisexual men and transgender Latinx, particularly trans women. These segments are faced with elevated risk to acquire HIV in combination with access barriers to HIV prevention and treatment services - the perfect conditions for HIV to spread.

This Article first appeared at www.nydailynews.com. Copyright © 2018 Daily News, L.P.

Off the Cuff The Bronx is not only the poorest county in the city, it also is predominantly made up of Latinos (56 percent), and it has a large percentage of people under 30. There, the Adolescent AIDS Program (AAP), founded in 1987 at Children’s Hospital of Montefiore Medical Center, is the nation’s first HIV/AIDS program specifically focused on treatment and prevention services for HIV-positive and at-risk youth. The program serves several hundred youth ages 13 to 28. Many are Latino.

As a medical provider at AAP, I know first-hand that the HIV/AIDS crisis is far from over, the Latino HIV crisis has yet to receive a strong public health response.

While the clock ticks, the federal budget request for fiscal year 2019 contains cuts to CDC’s HIV prevention and research funding by 35 million compared to 2018 levels.

Latinos exponentially grow in number, largely due to Latino children born in the U.S. Let’s put it this way: the young and growing Latino communities represent the future of the health and wellbeing in the United States. Ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S. means prioritizing national efforts to address the crisis among Latinos.

Vincent Guilamo-Ramos is a professor at NYU’s Silver School of Social Work, director of its Center for Latino Adolescent and Family Health (CLAFH), vicechair of the board of directors at the Latino Commission on AIDS (LCOA), and a nurse practitioner at the Adolescent AIDS Program at Children’s Hospital of Montefiore Medical Center. Marco Thimm-Kaiser is an assistant research scientist at CLAFH.

HIV infections and diagnoses are up in the Latino community. (Wavebreak /Getty Images/

Check This Out

Finding their authentic selves: Transgender and over 50

By Abbey Goodman, CNN

Updated 1315 GMT (2115 HKT) July 20, 2015

(CNN) From Laverne Cox and Chaz Bono to Caitlyn Jenner and the acclaimed Amazon series “Transparent,” it’s arguably the best time in history for transgender rights and representation in popular culture.

Still, we’ve only just begun to explore the pluralism and diversity in the transgender and gender-variant community. And older people, like elders of any sexual orientation or identification, have largely been left out of our cultural conversation.

Enter “To survive on this shore,” a collaboration between photographer Jess T. Dugan and social worker Vanessa Fabbre that began more than two years ago. It includes stunning portraits of transgender and gender-variant people between the ages of 50 and 86, combi-

Check This Out https://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/19/living/cnnphotos-transgender-gender-variant-over-50/index.html

ning them with moving personal interviews about the intersection of gender, identity and the universal human experience of aging.

The title of the project comes from folk singer Ani DiFranco’s “Talk to Me Now,” whose lyrics state “Self-preservation is a full-time occupation / I’m determined to survive on this shore / You know I don’t avert my eyes anymore.”

“Our culture at large is so youth-focused,” Dugan said, “and this certainly extends into LGBTQ communities. There is so much to be learned from older adults, and I am truly honored to hear their stories. We also feel that there is a lot of history that needs to be recorded and preserved for future generations because there is much to be learned from

Check This Out older adults, and I am truly honored to hear their stories. We also feel that there is a lot of history that needs to be recorded and preserved for future generations because there is much to be learned from those who came out as transgender many decades ago, as well as those who have come out recently in their 70s or 80s.

so that people could understand how limited her identity was before coming out and transitioning in later life. I call this “time served” in my research, to capture the feeling one has when they’ve done everything they’re supposed to do, followed all the rules and still feel as though society is limiting their freedom.

“After each interview and photograph that we make, I leave feeling incredibly inspired by the stories I have heard and humbled that each person is willing to share so much of themselves with us, and by extension, with others.”

In addition, when this internal sense of time is linked to external constraints, it often leads to an experience that I call “the dam bursting” later in life. Many people I’ve interviewed talk about a point in which years of pent-up frustration and shame build up and overflow. When people “break through” and confront forces they’ve allowed to build up inside themselves, they demonstrate how external forces can actually be internalized over time. The “dam bursting” is a process through which people confront both society and themselves, in order to move toward a more authentic life in their later years.

CNN: What has this project and your other work taught you about gender identity and people who transition later in life? Is that a function of more visibility these days, a sense of their mortality or something else? What are some of the different struggles and triumphs associated with this path?

Vanessa Fabbre: I have found that transitioning in later life reflects both internal and external factors. Awareness of time left to live is central to many people’s decision-making ... but simply being aware of one’s mortality does not fully explain this decision, because we know that many older people are aware of their mortality and don’t make changes like this.

My research shows that it’s often about being aware of time left to live in relation to time past. One person I interviewed said she wanted to write her memoir and call it “Forty to Life”

It’s important to recognize that for some people aging well means recognizing and coming to terms with the constraints that society puts on people who are different.

SOCIAL WORKER VANESSA FABBRE I think these stories show us that sometimes being happy and healthy means recognizing that one has actually “failed” at fulfilling society’s expectations. This concept of failure

Check This Out

Photographer Jess T. Dugan

is relevant for older adults who, instead of following society’s script, start writing their own script to follow.

Many of the people we photographed and interviewed for “To survive on this shore” are examples of this kind of happiness in later life. It’s important to recognize that for some people, aging well means recognizing and coming to terms with the constraints that society puts on people who are different. It’s about recognizing that environment and social forces have as much to do with how we age as our individual decision-making. In my research I call this “success on new terms,” because older adults are the ones constructing their own expectations about happiness and healthiness.

CNN: “To survive on this shore” coincides with Caitlyn Jenner’s coming out and the Vanity Fair cover portraying a transgender woman over 50. How does your work fit into -- or disrupt -that conversation?

Jess T. Dugan: After the Vanity Fair cover of Caitlyn Jenner came out, I had several people write to me and tell me they thought my project was

the antithesis of the cover in many ways. This certainly wasn’t my intention directly, and our project has been underway for more than two years.

It has always been my intention as a photographer to find the profound in the everyday; many of my photographs are made within my own community or about my own experience. I hope to create a moment of connection between the viewer and the subject, allowing an exchange to take place that might not happen otherwise.

Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography.

Jess T. Dugan is a photographer based in St. Louis. You can follow her on Facebook.

“To survive on this shore” is a collaboration between photographer Jess T. Dugan and social worker Vanessa Fabbre. The project focuses on transgender and gender-variant people who are over 50 years old.

www.comsole.org