Frontiers Vol. 34, Issue 02

MAY 14 ¬ 27, 2015 | VOL. 34, NO. 02

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The Dominance of

DRAG

RuPaul’s Convention, Comedy Queens & Why San Francisco Will Always Rule

Trevor Donovan Saddles Up

PRIDE PARTY, PARADE, REPEAT The globe’s gayest celebrations

Is Civil War Coming to the LGBT Movement?

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Contents

MAY 14 - 27, 2015

FEATURES

44 San Francisco: A Drag Tradition

47

Drag Queens of Comedy

48

A 2015 Pride Season Preview

64

Gaydar: Rainbow Connection

ON THE COVER Heklina, Sasha Soprano and Peaches Christ, photographed exclusively for Frontiers

by Jose A. Guzman Colon, joseaguzmancolon.com MAY 27, 2015

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Contents

MAY 14 - 27, 2015

DEPARTMENTS NEWSBOX 09 10 12 14 14 16

Eviscerating LGBT Leaders Flashbulb Watercooler Elton John Pleads with Congress How Bad is the LGBT/Immigration Movement Fractured?

DateBook

09 29

THE GAY AGENDA 19 20 22

Peaches Continues to Teach Us Our 5 Favorite Moments from Orange is the New Black Season 2 Comme des Garçons Partners with Converse

TRAVEL 23 24 26

19 39

Destination: Drinking Matinee Las Vegas Festival 3 Gay Ways to Cruise the Open Sea

CALENDAR 29 30 31 36 36

RuPaul's DragCon Snapshots An Evening with Women West Hollywood Turns 30 Eating Out: Birch

ENTERTAINMENT 39 40 41 42 42

23 56

The Return of Trevor Donovan Film Reviews Music Reviews Coming to TV Theater Reviews

COLUMNS 54 55 56

Frontiers magazine is published by New Frontiers Media Holdings, LLC, 5657 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 470, Los Angeles, CA. 90036, and distributed throughout Southern California. Up to the first three copies of any single issue are free; additional copies are $10 each. Violators caught stealing or destroying issues will be prosecuted under California Penal Code 484. For magazine subscriptions, please call (323) 930- 3220. The contents of Frontiers may not be reproduced in any manner, either in whole or in part, without permission from the publisher. All rights reserved. Letters to the editor, artwork, photography, manuscripts and other correspondence may be submitted to Frontiers at the above address. We cannot acknowledge or return material unless accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Allow at least three months for processing. Publication of the name or photograph of any person or organization in articles or advertising in Frontiers is not to be construed as any indication of the sexual orientation or the HIV/AIDS status of such person or organization. Copyright Š 2015, New Frontiers Media Holdings, LLC.

Billy Masters Gossip Gay Palm Springs

PEOPLE INDEX Khandi Alexander Big Freedia Zac Efron Brandon Flowers 4

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42 30 54 41

Bruce Jenner Lady Bunny Harvey Milk Michelangelo Signorile

54 34 36 10

Sarah Silverman Kiefer Sutherland Jody Watley Rebel Wilson

31 55 29 40

MAY 27, 2015

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F RO NT I E R S M E DI A .C OM

PUBLISHER

Michael A. Turner Owen Phillips CREATIVE DIRECTOR Ed Baker

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR MANAGING DIRECTOR OF INTEGRATED MEDIA

Dustin Tyner Stephan Horbelt NEWS EDITOR Karen Ocamb ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR George Skinner GRAPHIC DESIGNER Michelle Aguirre EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

ADVERTISING DIRECTORS

Mat Jongsma, Cristian Valencia, Jacci Ybarra ACCOUNT DIRECTORS Colleen Butler, Shana Wong

PALM SPRINGS ACCOUNT DIRECTOR Brad Fuhr

NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES

CLASSIFIEDS MANAGER

ACCOUNTING

Rivendell Media (212) 242-6863 Frank Perez Merrill Franks, Frank Perez

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firstinitial.lastname@frontiersmedia.com sales@frontiersmedia.com editorial@frontiersmedia.com distribution@frontiersmedia.com

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Drew Droege

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Michael Anthony, Aaron Batts, Christopher Cappiello, Mike Ciriaco, Peter DelVecchio, Michael Fairman, Gossip Gay, Nathaniel Grey, Tom Paul Jones, Gary Kramer, Dan Loughry, Billy Masters, James Mills, Eric Rosen, Patrick Rosenquist, Dominik Rothbard, Les Spindle, Kevin Taft CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS AND ILLUSTRATORS

Gabe Ayala, Ed Krieger, Michael Prince, Rolling-Blackouts, Craig Schwartz, Jonathan Sirand

©2015 Thanks to the dawn of the information age, we believe distribution/circulation not only encompasses hard copies printed and the pass-on rate of those hard copies, but web browsing and electronic copies being downloaded by our growing online readership. This has become a substantial boost to the number of readers of our magazine. Currently, an average of 30,000 hard copies are printed biweekly. Studies have shown each hard copy has a probable “pass-on rate” of two to three, meaning each hard copy taken will be seen by two to three additional readers. With the pass-on rate alone, estimated readership can conservatively average 55,000 to 90,000, not encompassing visitors who visit us online at FrontiersMedia.com.

New Frontiers Media Holdings, LLC 5657 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 470, Los Angeles, CA 90036 p: (323) 930-3220 | f: (323) 857-0560 PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

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Eating Our Own

How will we win an LGBT civil rights bill if we can’t even talk to Ted Cruz? By Karen Ocamb he latest shaming and shunning LGBT morality play involves Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass —two rich gay hotel owners known mostly to the LGBT donor class—who co-hosted a dinner at their swanky Central Park penthouse last month for Tea Party darling Ted Cruz, the anti-gay senator from Texas and Republican presidential candidate. It was not a fundraiser, nor an endorsement, Weiderpass later insisted, but an opportunity to have a “dialogue” with one of the nation’s most powerful politicians about a range of issues, including Israel, Iran and, yes, LGBT issues.

The result: Cruz announced that he was now a “big tent Republican”—a phrase created by one of the most beloved and vicious Republicans of his time, Lee Atwater. But the two rich gays got smeared, boycotted and so torn apart that they issued apologies on Facebook for their “poor judgment,” making a mistake and hurting their gay friends.

Then Weiderpass reconsidered.

“Boycotting me for a discussion? Since when have we grown so small and intolerant?” he asked in a May 10 op-ed in The New York Observer.

Weiderpass raises a good and fair point, which should be mulled over as the LGBT community moves beyond marriage equality and tries to secure a full federal civil rights bill that provides job and housing protections, as well as swats down other forms of anti-LGBT discrimination.

Indeed, sometimes it seems bashing and bullying people for venturing an inch or two beyond the accepted cool-guys groupthink of the day is an acceptable blood sport, with the most clever and vicious turn of phrase collecting the most likes and retweets. Of course, the critics see themselves

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SPEAK OUT

The number of GOP presidential candidates who oppose same-sex marriage. Only six candidates have filed thus far.

HRC President Chad Griffin tangles with Michelangelo Signorile outside the Supreme Court following marriage equality oral arguments

as merely holding the offender accountable.

Viciousness in the gay community is nothing new. When Mart Crowley’s Boys in the Band came out in 1970, the straight world wondered how gay men could actually form a community. Gays, meanwhile, were stunned by the drunken viciousness of some of the lead characters.

The late San Francisco-based gay journalist Randy Shilts—now considered an icon—was heartily eviscerated for his position on closing gay bathhouses, opposition to outing prominent gays and naming gay organizations who refused to recognize the beginning of the AIDS crisis.

“If I criticize the gay community,” Shilts told late gay New York Times reporter Jeffrey Schmaltz in 1993, “then I’m part of the establishment. I sold out, rather than just having a different opinion. There’s no room in the gay community for people of good intention having different opinions. Either you have the opinion or you’re nothing. Yeah, it bothers me. People tell me, ‘Oh, you must love being controversial because you’ve done so many things that are.’ I hate it. My feelings get hurt.”

Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign,

“Gay rights is not something that dominates my attentions— or my passions.”

Conservative Fox News contributor Guy Benson in an interview with BuzzFeed regarding his new book, End of Discussion, in which he comes out as gay

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FLASHBULB continued

GMCLA VOICE AWARDS, Globe Theatre at Universal Studios Hollywood, May 3— The Gay Men’s Chorus of L.A. celebrated its fourth annual awards with a star-studded celebration.

Top: Transparent’s Amy Landecker, Our Lady J, Rhys Ernst, Zackary Drucker, Lance Bass, Michael Turchin, Michelle Clunie. Bottom: Frontiers’ Steve Siler with GMCLA Executive Director Chris Verdugo, George Takei, The Fosters’ Hayden Byerly and Gavin MacIntosh

GLAAD MEDIA AWARDS, Waldorf Astoria, NYC, May 9—At its 26th annual East Coast gala, GLAAD honored Kelly Ripa, Thomas Roberts and various film and TV projects for their representation of LGBTs in media. Top: Janet Mock, Laverne Cox, Judith Light, Roberts, Ripa with husband Mark Consuelos, Anderson Cooper. Bottom: Jonathan Groff, Lynda Carter, Andreja Pejic, Ross Mathews, Carmen Carrera

SPEAK OUT “Being a girl isn’t what I hate; it’s the box that I get put into.”

Singer Miley Cyrus, who recently founded the nonprofit Happy Hippie Foundation for homeless LGBT youth, speaks with Out about traditional gender expectations

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GRACE AND FRANKIE PREMIERE, Regal Cinemas L.A. Live, April 29—The latest Netflix series—an original, non-adapted series featuring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin—premiered Downtown in advance of the show’s online release. From left: Ethan Embry, Tomlin and Fonda, Sam Waterston, Paul Scheer with wife June Diane Raphael, Brooklyn Decker

PHOTO CREDIT GMCLA: CONNIE KURTEW; GLAAD: MIKE COPPOLA AND STEPHEN LOVEKIN/GETTY IMAGES FOR GLAAD

hasn’t said publicly if his feelings have been hurt by the criticism of his tenure. Though some praised HRC’s choice of Griffin to replace the stained Joe Solmonese as head of the nation’s largest LGBT political organization, others have held a grudge against Griffin since he co-founded the Los Angelesbased American Foundation for Equal Rights and launched the federal challenge to Prop. 8 with Republican conservative Ted Olson. Though Griffin’s PR campaign to use the political odd couple to change American hearts and minds—especially those of Republican conservatives—helped move the polls significantly during the long Prop. 8 battle, Griffin was never forgiven for snubbing the legal groups that were plodding their way to marriage victory.

As a result, it seems, Griffin has chosen to speak directly and often with mainstream media while ignoring the LGBT media. Two months into his tenure, in August 2012, radio host and Huffington Post Gay Voices Editor-at-Large Michelangelo Signorile asked him about that. Griffin said, “I’m only two months on the job. I will be more available. I’m thrilled to be here [with Signorile] today and talking to you today, and I intend to do this a lot more.”

He hasn’t, which prompted Signorile to yell at Griffin outside the Supreme Court following oral arguments last month, pictured on the previous page. And while Griffin was invited to the cool marriage equality guys’ parties, he was spotted standing by himself in a corner with his communication strategist Fred Sainz.

The fear of a vicious bloody humiliation has prompted some thoughtful LGBT thinkers to self-censor rather than express an opinion that appears to go against whatever is the politically correct position of the most powerful. Requests for an on-the-record version of an off-the-record conversation challenging the status quo, for instance, is often met with qualms of being ostracized.

But without honest, respectful dialogue and divergent opinions, how can any movement progress? And how can the LGBT community achieve full equality without talking to and persuading anti-LGBT legislators to vote for the freedom side of history?

If the Supreme Court rules in favor of marriage equality—and gay Republican Fred Karger is convinced Justice Alito will make the vote 7-3—what LGBT leaders are standing by to move the fight forward in Congress? Who is crafting a coherent, unified national message? Or will the LGBT community assume a federal LGBT civil rights bill is automatically dead on arrival?

Who will the LGBT community listen to and accept as national leaders when the fight is over? Who will the community permit to talk to Ted Cruz?

MAY 27, 2015

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WATERCOOLER

Your cheat sheet for intelligent conversation — By Peter DelVecchio

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The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear two LGBT-related cases, letting stand underlying appellate decisions that could have national ramifications.

In one case, the high court refused to challenge a New Jersey law banning so-called “gay conversion” therapy for minors, leaving in place a 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upholding the ban.

In a less favorable move, the court also declined to hear an appeal brought by the Boston-based Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders in a case in which the 1st Circuit upheld the Massachusetts Department of Corrections’ refusal to provide a prisoner with gender reassignment surgery.

A similar case will soon be heard by the 9th Circuit. California Attorney General Kamala Harris has filed an appeal that would require California to provide an inmate with reassignment surgery.

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Health Insurer’s Truvada Policy Sparks Controversy

HIV/AIDS prevention advocates were shocked on May 7 when POZ.com reported that Assurant Health Insurance had stopped covering Truvada for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent the spread of HIV. In a notice to several Assurant customers, the company wrote, “Prophylactic treatment is not a covered benefit as listed in the Exclusion Section of your member contract.”

Jim Pickett of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago called the decision by Assurant Health “unprecedented, unacceptable and dangerous” and threatened to mobilize HIV advocates around the country to “take a strong stand against this action.”

The company reacted swiftly. “We are reversing our decision and will be reaching out to policyholders who received the letter,” Mary Hinderliter, Assurant Health’s Vice President of Communications, wrote to The Windy City Times.

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Dodgers Fans Cheer Gay ‘Kiss Cam’ Smooch

A video recently went viral of a gay couple kissing on the Dodgers Stadium Kiss Cam on May 2, the best part being the audience’s enthusiastic cheering.

Largely unknown is that this was not a random, spontaneous event; it took some courage. A cameraman approached the married couple, Steven and Rick Simone-Friedland, before the kiss and asked if they wanted to participate.

“I turned to my husband,” Steven told The Advocate, “ and said, ‘You know, this could go badly. This could not go well.’ But then we did it, because we thought it would be just so fun to do, and then we heard the crowd—and that was really unexpected, and beautiful, and affirming.”

In 2000, a lesbian couple was thrown out of Dodgers Stadium for kissing in the stands, the very act sparking applause 15 years later.

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SCOTUS Refuses to Hear 2 New LGBT Cases

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Move over, Mr., Mrs., Miss and Ms., and make way for Mx.! Pronounced “mix,” the new honorific, applicable to transgender individuals or anyone who does not wish to be identified by gender, will now appear in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Relatively unknown in mainstream U.S. circles, Mx. is becoming routine in the U.K., with the Royal Bank of Scotland, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Royal Mail Group and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency already offering customers the Mx. option, according to an Mx Activist release.

The trajectory of Mx. might be compared to that of Ms., which actually debuted as early as 1901 but did not attain widespread acceptance until decades later. Activists, however, do not expect so long an arc for Mx. in our age of social media, instant global communication and greater respect for diversity.

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Sen. Ted Cruz

Man Gets 6 Months for Lying About HIV Status

Lying about your HIV status can apparently land you jail time, as one San Diego man recently found out. Thomas Miguel Guerra, 30, has been sentenced to the maximum six months in prison for lying to his boyfriend about his HIV status, in violation of a California health code provision requiring positive people to disclose their status to sex partners.

Guerra’s ex-boyfriend, whom Guerra allegedly convinced to have unprotected sex, tested positive in 2013. Another of Guerra’s exes told NBC that Guerra might have risked infecting at least 24 others.

At sentencing, Judge Katherine Lewis lamented not being able to slap Guerra with more jail time, saying “I think there’s a tremendous oversight in the law if this is just a misdemeanor.”

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Thomas Miguel Guerra

New Honorific for Trans People Advances

Texas Drags LGBT Rights Backwards

Heard of Jade Helm 15, the U.S. military operation that’s really a secret plan by the federal government to take over Texas? Prominent Republicans Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. Greg Abbott apparently believe the conspiracy theories, prompting MSNBC host Rachel Maddow to ask, “If you have a choice between seeming insane to normal people and seeming righteous to the base, which are you going to pick?”

But that’s not all. The Texas House is determined to defy the Supreme Court if it rules in favor of marriage equality this June. House Bill 4105 would forbid any official from granting, enforcing or recognizing marriage licenses for same-sex couples, miring the state in litigation. It’s one of 20 proposed bills designed to enshrine LGBT discrimination into Texas state law. —K.O.

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Yordy Cancino blocks cars on Santa Monica Boulevard, marching with the Trans Queer Contingent on May 1

Elton John Urges Congress to Save PEPFAR op icon Sir Elton John appeared before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on May 6 and made an impassioned plea urging the Republicancontrolled Congress not to cut funding for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). He appeared at the invitation of Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. PEPFAR, a bipartisan program enacted in 2003 and strongly supported by former President George W. Bush, provided massive aid to sub-Saharan African nations to fight what was then a raging AIDS epidemic. The program, widely regarded as a huge success, was renewed in 2008.

John, who heads his own Elton John AIDS Foundation, praised Congress’s past funding of PEPFAR and thanked the American people for their support. “Because of the actions of this Congress, the course of the AIDS epidemic was altered for all of humanity,” he testified. “Because the American people had the optimism, the ingenuity, and the will to make a difference, the lives of millions of people halfway around the world have been saved.”

John warned, however, “The AIDS epidemic is not over, and America’s continued leadership is critical.” John credited Ryan White both with turning him into an HIV/AIDS activist and with turning his life around generally.

White, a hemophiliac infected by a tainted blood tranfusion, was 13 when diagnosed with AIDS in Indianapolis in 1984. His plight, including ostracization and expulsion from school, and the grace with which he met his difficulties, became national news. White died at 18 in 1990, mere months before Congress enacted the Ryan White Care Act, which funds U.S. HIV/AIDS organizations.

True to his history of appearing with controversial characters, John was accompanied to Congress by anti-LGBT pastor Rick Warren of California’s Saddleback Church.

A topic not broached at the hearing was whether America should be funding HIV/AIDS relief with taxpayer dollars in homophobic countries with draconian anti-LGBT laws, such as Uganda and Nigeria.

While the fate of PEPFAR funding remains uncertain, John seems to have convinced at least one Republican. “After this, how would you like to vo te a g a i n s t t h i s account?” Graham asked. “What would you say? The terrorists want you to vote no, I guess that’s the only thing I could think about.” —P.D.

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A MOVEMENT FRACTURED People who support LGBT rights and immigration reform want the same things, right? By Karen Ocamb

PHOTO COURTESY FREDDY LEE

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ormer Secretary of State Hillary Clinton surprised political observers during a presidential campaign stop in Nevada when she suddenly veered into clearly liberal territory. Meeting with students in Las Vegas on May 5, Cinco de Mayo, the Democratic frontrunner aggressively pushed comprehensive immigration reform and promised to go further than President Obama in issuing executive orders to block the deportation of up to 5 million undocumented immigrants.

Clinton also used language that suggests she understands the intersectionality between LGBT and immigrant issues, something LGBT immigration advocates in Los Angeles find lacking in their traditional leaders, as exposed

PHOTO COURTESY FREDDY LEE

by the separate May Day marches and rallies on May 1 in L.A. and West Hollywood.

Much of the leadership of the DREAMers movement— young people brought to the U.S. illegally as children—is LGBT, and that leadership is driving the movement for comprehensive immigration reform. But Obama’s executive orders, which gave some administrative relief to the young undocumented immigrants, has been stalled by a court challenge brought

by Texas and 25 other states.

Additionally, Obama’s orders do not protect the parents of DREAMers, which Clinton promised to do. “If Congress refuses to act,” Clinton vowed, “as president I will do everything possible under the law to go even further. There are more people—like many parents of DREAMers and others with deep ties and contributions to our communities—who deserve a chance to stay. I’ll fight for them, too.”

Clinton also put that fight into the larger struggle for full equality. “We can’t wait any longer for a path to full and equal citizenship,” Clinton said. “Not a single Republican candidate, announced or potential, is clearly and consistently supporting a path to citizenship. Not one. When they talk about ‘legal status,’ that is code for second-class status.”

She also promised to make conditions for and treatment of immigrant detainees “more humane.”

This is welcome language to LGBT advocates who cite the marginalization experienced by being both LGBT and undocumented that makes them so vulnerable—facing the prospect of punishment, stigma and even death if deported

637K The number of LGBT-identified adult documented immigrants in the United States

267K The number of undocumented LGBT adults

back to a homophobic and/or transphobic country because of U.S. immigration policies.

In March 2013, Williams Institute Distinguished Scholar Gary Gates reported that there are an estimated 637,000 LGBT-identified individuals among the adult documented immigrant population and 267,000 undocumented LGBT adults, 71% of whom are Hispanic, with 15% Asian or Pacific Islander. But among documented LGBT adults, 35% are Asian or Pacific Islander, while 30% are Hispanic. These are selfidentified individuals over the age of 18.

The numbers are only one reason why the Trans Queer Contingent—a diverse coalition of 37 LGBT and allied groups—felt disrespected last May during the annual May Day Rally, led by the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) in Downtown Los Angeles. The Contingent held its own event in West Hollywood, with up to 200 people participating.

“We wanted to separate ourselves from the main contingency, because we want to be included in immigration policies and we want to make sure we do what we need to do for our communities,” Bamby Salcedo, director of TransLatin@ Coaliton, told Frontiers. “Since the immigration movement started, LGBTQ issues have not really been included or taken into account.”

Community activist Freddy Lee was more conciliatory.

“We stand in solidarity with the May Day rallies’ message calling for a $15 wage and with the Black Lives Matter movement and the protest in Baltimore,” Lee told Frontiers. “But we want to bring visibility to LGBTQ immigrant workers and youth issues. We want to bring light to the painful and unjust experience that we face in coming to this country seeking asylum and protection.”

Support for a $15 wage and #BlackLivesMatter is not just rhetoric. “At least nine trans women of color have been murdered in the United States in 2015, four in Southern California,” says Salcedo.“The immigrant trans community also faces high rates of unemployment and low paying jobs.

Many immigrants working in restaurants make less than $10 per hour, work long hours and are afraid to ask for more because they are undocumented.”

LGBT undocumented immigrants are also treated inhumanely in detention. Last year, Yordy Cancino, a GSA Network Youth Leader, sought asylum and was held in a private detention center for three months, where he endured solitary confinement and harassment by officers for being gay.

“I’m still trying to mentally recover from all this criminalization while fighting my asylum case,” Cancino told the crowd gathered at Triangle Square in West Hollywood. “No LGBTQ youth should go through what I am going through.”

Even in West Hollywood, famous for LGBT demonstrators taking to the streets to protest injustice, the Trans Queer Contingent was met with hostility when they stopped traffic on Santa Monica Boulevard.

“Many motorists were really pissed. The guy behind Yordy was honking the horn of his car to drown out our chants as he held out his middle finger,” says Lee. “But if you think about it, their lives were disrupted for 10-15 minutes, but when a transgender person is held in solitary confinement or people are deported, it affects their lives forever.”

Ridge Gonzales, a trans housing inspector for the city of Los Angeles, served as security for the marchers and was spat upon by an older white gay man who threatened to stop contributing big bucks to the L.A. LGBT Center if “you people” didn’t get out of his way.

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Gonzales says the spitting “was not intentional. He was just in my face so deeply that he couldn’t help but spit in my mouth.” And while concerned about the spittle, Gonzales was more upset that the attack came from a gay man in the progressive city of West Hollywood.

“Nobody recalls the struggle we went through to become our own city,” Gonzales says.

“Everyone has to struggle to be seen and heard and have a place at the table.” He says he didn’t take the attack personally, but “it still hurt.”

At the end of their march, the Contingent asked the city of West Hollywood to be a sanctuary for LGBTQ immigrants, and West Hollywood City Councilmember John Duran agreed to present their resolution. “A sanctuary city for LGBT immigrants is consistent with our values and traditions,” Duran told Frontiers.

“We will keep working to center LGBTQ immigrant and youth issues in both the immigrant reform movement and LGBT movement,” says Contingent leader Eileen Ma, Executive Director of API-Equality L.A. For their part, CHIRLA executive director Angelica Salas issued a statement after their May Day Rally that didn’t include the LGBT community. “There’s harmony in the land when we fight together against injustice. Whether African-American, Latino, immigrant, worker or student, woman or child, old or young, on May Day we stand together to call for mending what has for too long been broken,” she said.

Asked why LGBT people were left out, Jorge-Mario Cabrera said, “CHIRLA remains one of the strongest immigrant rights supporters of LGBT issues at the local, state and national level. Our history of advocacy on behalf of all immigrants, including LGBTs, is self-evident.”

The Trans Queer Contingent—and even Hillary Clinton herself—might disagree.

“Many motorists were really pissed. Their lives were disrupted for 10-15 minutes, but when a transgender person is held in solitary confinement or people are deported, it affects their lives forever.”

SPEAK OUT

— Community activist Freddy Lee

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“Living ‘out’ as a family is something I never imagined. The unconditional love and acceptance I have experienced and received proves it’s possible.”

Alexander Schmider, trans Communications Assistant at the L.A. LGBT Center, on the response received from a Hallmark ad for Mother’s Day, made with his mom

SAT. | MAY 16

SLAVERY & UNFREE LABOR

This seminar at The Autry explores the wide range of unfree labor found in the American West and considers a society through the treatment of its labor force. In addition to the enslavement of African-Americans, speakers will focus on Afro-Cherokee freedmen, Indians in California and the indenture of Chinese laborers. theautry.org

SAT. | MAY 23

A SPECIAL EVENING WITH JAY LENO AND FRIENDS

Jay Leno will be joined at the Geffen Playhouse by Kathy Buckley, America’s first hearing-impaired comedienne, and comic Fritz Coleman for a night of fundraising for the organization No Limits for Deaf Children. geffenplayhouse.com

TUE. | MAY 26

CALIFORNIA ROAST OF TONI ATKINS

California Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins will be the guest of honor at the 31st annual California Roast in Sacramento. The event will be emceed by Assembly Member Susan Talamantes Eggman, and roasters will include Congressman Scott Peters, former Speaker John A. Pérez and others. californiacenter.org

SAT. | JUNE 6

ART PROJECT L.A.

APLA’s annual silent and live art auction and reception is back for a fifth year to raise funds for much-needed HIV/AIDS services at the Bonhams auction house on Sunset Boulevard. This year’s featured artist is Plastic Jesus, whose work you’d recognize in the “Stop Making Stupid People Famous” graffiti around town. apla.org

THU. | JUNE 11

OH, HELL NO!

LGBT activist, political firebrand and natural storyteller David Mixner has coupled with Point Foundation for a 10-city tour that will stop at L.A.’s El Rey Theatre. Expect a few humorous stories and the occasional shocking remembrance. pointfoundation.org

IMMIGRATION: FREDDY LEE

continued

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Eileen Ma and Jorge Gutierrez of Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement

DATEBOOK

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GAY AGENDA

Expressing a Universe

HOLGER TALINSKI FOR AKASHIC BOOKS

A candid conversation with cult music hero Peaches, whose new book bares a side of her few have been privy to until now By Stephan Horbelt

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t’s been 15 years since Merrill Nisker exploded into the public consciousness using the nom de plume Peaches. Imploring us to “fuck the pain away,” music— electroclash or otherwise—hasn’t quite been the same since.

Peaches’ signature blend of electronic beats and suggestive lyrics has since propelled her from the rank of mere mortal into a transgressive symbol of shattering gender roles and promoting sex-positivity, while her forays into worldtouring stage shows like Peaches Christ Superstar—a one-woman show in which she performed every role of the Andrew Lloyd Webber rock opera—have proven she’s a beast in the realm of highbrow performance art as well.

The outrageous and provocative new book What Else is In the Teaches of Peaches (160 pp., $28, Akashic Books), available June 2, presents her as more than the onstage provocateur most know her to be; instead we see her at home

with family, rehearsing, sprawled out backstage, exhausted from giving her fans the musical lunacy they crave.

I recently spoke with Peaches from her hotel room in Sydney, after which I understood fully what Yoko Ono meant in the essay she’d written for the book: “She sat quietly but her body was expressing a universe.”

FRONTIERS: Tell me about the new book.

PEACHES: What I like about the book is that it shows both a private part of me and the public part of me and bridges the two. My shows are so fantastical and also reality-based, but you never see me just hanging out with my parents or looking really tired or doing normal shit. So I like that it’s got both of those together.

F: Was there anything specific that brought on the idea to do the book?

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Previous page: M16 Eagle Nebula; Clockwise from top left: M83 Southern Pinwheel Galaxy; M16 Eagle Nebula; Hubble Repairmen, STS-103, Dec. 27, 1999

BACK TO THE BIG HOUSE

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GAY

AGENDA

PEACHES BOOK RELEASE PARTY Soap Plant & Wacko May 16 soapplant.com

hetero-normative, patriarchal world where actually it’s not?

F: What do you have in store for the L.A. book release party?

P: I mean, if you find out, let me know. [Laughs] I love Wacko— they’re a really cool store, and I’m happy they’re having me.

Also Holger will be showing some of the photographs blown up and stuff, and he’ll be there, too. I think we’re just gonna have fun and drink and laugh a lot.

F: I know you have a home here in L.A., but how often do you find yourself here?

P: My relationship to L.A. is the opposite of Berlin, which is where I’ve lived for 15 years, and that’s why I like [L.A.]. If I had my way with the world, I would spend my days in L.A. and my nights in Berlin. I would spend all day long in L.A.—do all my work, meet people, have great food—and then turn 10 o’clock at night, take me to Berlin. It’s just that there’s a freedom, but I think L.A. is really good right now. But to be honest, we really have to fucking watch out for our water consumption, and we have to be very careful, and it’s very, very serious—a very real problem. And everybody should be thinking about it, and should be shamed if they’re not. I would appreciate it if you would mention I said that.

F: What’s next for you, and when are we going to get to hear this fifth album?

P: The album is coming out in September.

F: Do we have a title yet?

P: Yes, it’s called Rub. Like rub a dub dub. Rub. Find the extended conversation with Peaches at FrontiersMedia.com.

COMME YOUR HEART RATE AT LONG LAST, THE PERFECT SUMMER SHOE has arrived, and we’ll admit that we’re kinda obsessed. Comme des Garçons and Converse have added a brand-spanking-new collection to the PLAY line of Chuck Taylor All Star ‘70—the ubiquitous shoe brand’s fourth collaboration with with the Tokyo-based fashion house. Your options are clean and classic—black or natural white, oxford or high tops, all sporting New York-based graphic artist Filip Pagowski’s red heart logo bleeding over the outsole as the main design element. The collection, priced around $125, will be shipped in two runs, the first dropping May 14 in London, New York and online at doverstreet market.com, with the second release through Converse First String retailers closely following. —George Skinner 20

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PEACHES: HOLGER TALINSKI FOR AKASHIC BOOKS

P: Actually, there was like this skateboard kid in Berlin who is also a photographer [Holger Talinski] who just asked to take photos of a show and document it, and I was like, yeah, come along, let’s see. He was just a really good human being and very kind, and he took great pictures but also got out of the way and helped. Eventually I asked him to come on tour and it just started to grow from there.

F: Were you at all reticent to open up this much?

P: No, I wasn’t. Holger wanted pictures of me sleeping or in a corner, crying or whatever—all this shit. It took us a year of laying photos out, and me saying we have to have onstage shots and off-stage shots. I think the book succeeds because we worked so closely together. We learned a lot about what he sees in a photograph, and he learned a lot about how I see myself. Then at the end he came to L.A. for shots with my brother, shots with certain people who I really wanted, like Annie Sprinkle—she is probably the only person in the book that I actually actively sought out to be in the book, because she is such a huge influence on me that we actually went to San Francisco.

F:You have a reputation of being super sex-positive and breaking the barriers of gender and sexuality. How much of that was a conscious decision in the beginning versus now?

P: The thing is, I just was talking very directly about what I think the world should look like, and I will continue to do that. That’s all I’ve ever done. I actually didn’t try to be controversial; I just was like, why is this not here and why is this not part of...? This is my world, like, why isn’t this part of it? Why is that missing? Why do we call mainstream this

THE RECENT UNVEILING of a Season 3 trailer for the gayfavorite Netflix series Orange is the New Black has left many of us ready to return to women’s prison come June 12.

But before you sit down to binge watch the entire new season in one sitting like it’s a 13-hour-long movie (our recommendation is to just keep those delivery pizzas coming), we thought you could use a cursory reminder of where things currently stand inside Litchfield.

Basically, Alex is back in prison, Nicky has her eye on contraband heroin and Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” has fessed up for Vee’s crime (while Taystee and Poussey have finally told Vee where to shove it). And let’s not forgot the finale’s final scene, in which Rosa fled in a prison van to “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” making sure to take out Vee when the opportunity presented itself.

Of course, if you feel the need to really relive Season 2 before settling down for the third, your best bet is to purchase it on Blu-ray, which just so happens to be available for $40 on May 19. Or better yet, head to FrontiersMedia.com and Frontiers’ Facebook page, where we’ve got copies to give away to three lucky readers. Now, in the wise words of Pennsatucky, “A real friend just tells it like it is.

You smell like a fucking turtle tank. Go take a shower.” —S.H.

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TRAVEL The Bellini of Harry’s Bar in Venice, Italy

Mai Tai at the Royal Hawaiian

The Singapore Sling, which turns 100 this year, originated at Raffles Hotel

Destination: Drinking SUIT

UP!

Get your passport stamped while indulging in five of the world’s most legendary cocktails as they are meant to be enjoyed—in the bars of their origin By Eric Rosen

I

n a day and age where every bar seems to have a hot young mixologist concocting new cocktails at a moment’s notice, sometimes all you want is a classic. Here are five of the world’s most famous concoctions, meant to be had in the bars and hotels that originated them.

For seamless transition from surfing Ecuador’s Montanita Beach to a black-tie benefit in Monaco, opt for the True Wetsuit, made by Quiksilver in Japan—the only surfing attire that doubles as high-end eveningwear. The brand has plans to release three styles—office smart, casual Friday and party tuxedo, each of which consist of a jacket, pants, shirt and choice of tie in 2mm waterproof jersey neoprene for a cool $2,500. truewetsuits.jp

SINGAPORE SLING Created at Raffles Hotel, Singapore When it comes to pink cocktails—in both the gay-friendly and literal sense—you can’t beat the Singapore Sling for pedigree, as the potent potable celebrates its centennial this year. First created at the hotel’s fabled Long Bar by barman Ngiam Tong Boon in 1915, this mixed drink is still as strong as ever thanks to a heady mixture of gin, Dom Benedictine, Cointreau, pineapple and lime juice, grenadine, angostura and cherry brandy.

To celebrate, the hotel is offering a Singapore Sling 100th Anniversary Suite package starting

at $1,040 that includes nightly accommodation, breakfast for two and a private 30-minute lesson at the bar with one of the establishment’s esteemed mixologists. raffles.com/singapore

BELLINI Created at Harry’s Bar, Venice As bright as a ray of Venetian sunlight streaking across the canals, the Bellini was created in 1948 by legendary barman and hotel impresario Giuseppe Cipriani. He named it after the famous Venetian painter because the drink’s signature rosy hue— from crushed Verona peaches and Prosecco— reminded him of the color Bellini used to paint saints’ togas in his masterpieces.

Though no brunch menu seems complete without it, savor this sweet sip in its original setting right on the Grand Canal, where small glasses of the drink are served (along with green olives) by white-jacketed waiters. harrysbarvenezia.com MAY 27, 2015

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TRAVEL

Clockwise from above: Hemingway’s tips for tippling in Havana; New York’s King Cole Bar inside the St. Regis; El Floridita, the self-proclaimed “Cradle of the Daiquiri”; La Bodeguita del Medio

WORLD’S ASS-KICKING PACK LIKE AN

BEST DIVA

MAI TAI Perfected at the Royal Hawaiian, Waikiki Though rivals claim to have invented the Mai Tai, it was Victor J. Bergeron of Trader Vic’s who first mixed it up in San Francisco in 1944 during the first California tiki bar craze. As the story goes, he made a special cocktail for friends visiting from Tahiti that combined rum, Curaçao, lime juice and a few other special ingredients. When his friend took a sip, he exclaimed “Mai Tai roa ae,” which means “out of this world, the best!”

But the drink took another leap forward in 1953 when Bergeron created a new version for The Royal Hawaiian in Waikiki.

It was then that he added pineapple juice, creating the drink most of us now know and love. Today, you can sample several iterations at the hotel’s Mai Tai Bar with panoramic views of Diamondhead in the distance. royal-hawaiian.com

BLOODY MARY Created at the King Cole Bar, St. Regis New York Although its origins are as murky as the morning-after hangover this cocktail purports to cure, most experts now agree that the Bloody Mary as we know it originated at the venerable King Cole Bar at New York City’s St. Regis Hotel, also famous for its Maxfield Parrish painting, the world’s most highbrow fart joke.

According to bar lore, Fernand Petiot first mixed the drink at Harry’s New York

I Bar in Paris in the 1920s and dubbed it the Bucket of Blood (not exactly appetizing).

He brought the drink to the St. Regis in 1933 and popularized it there as the Red Snapper, while other bars around town began to dub it the Bloody Mary. Whatever you call it today, it’s still an intoxicating intermingling of vodka, tomato juice, Worcestershire Sauce, lime juice and any number of spices added to taste. kingcolebar.com

MOJITOS AND DAIQUIRIS Created at La Bodeguita del Medio and El Floridita, Havana Writer, adventurer and consummate alcohol enthusiast Ernest Hemingway probably said it best when sharing his tips for tippling in Havana—“My mojito in La Bodeguita, my daiquiri in El Floridita.”

Whether each drink actually originated in these particular bars is disputed, but now that Cuba is open to U.S. visitors again (take charters from Miami and Atlanta), this might just be the reason you need to head to the Caribbean.

La Bodequita del Medio popularized the mojito recipe with fine rum, lime juice, mint and sugar that lives on in watering holes the world over today. El Floridita, which dates to 1817, claims the frozen daiquiri was invented there by a Catalan barman named Constantino Ribalaigua Vert, who made the leap of adding maraschino liqueur to the usual mixture of ice, lime, sugar and white rum.

MATINEE MAKES A SPLASH CALIFORNIA MAY BE SUFFERING from one of the worst droughts on record, but that shouldn’t keep Cali’s hard-bodied dancing queens from tearing it up at America’s newest waterpark come Memorial Day. Barcelona’s biggest party returns to the desert for the fifth annual Matinee Las Vegas Festival, May 22-25. Saturday’s main event festivities will take place at Cowabunga Bay, opened just this past March. You’ll celebrate this ‘15 event with the same number of state-of-the-art waterslides, a wave pool and a lazy river, all filled to the brim with shirtless gay men. Seven other parties at various Vegas venues are also guaranteed to keep your feet moving and your heart rate up.

Find more info on Matinee Las Vegas Festival, special hotel rates at the Tropicana and Hard Rock Hotels and ticket packages at MatineeVegas.com. —Stephan Horbelt 24

FRONTIERSMEDIA.COM

f there is any iconic star of the 1980s worth emulating while airport-hopping and traversing the globe, it would be catfight originator and star of Dynasty Joan Collins.

The actress recently spoke to TheGuardian.com about her own travel habits, specifically how the diva— who divides her time between London and the United States and turns a sprightly 83 on May 23—packs her suitcase before embarking on a luxurious (we can’t help but assume) trip abroad.

“My luggage is hardsided, which holds up well against the rough and tumble of the carousel and baggage handlers,” she says, but “it isn’t immune to going astray.

It was once lost on the way to Acapulco. I have no idea where it went, but we were reunited three days later.”

Collins is quite the organized packer. “I like to plan and set out all my outfits for any events or parties on a portable rack ready to be packed,” she says.

H e r sig nature trick , though? White tissue paper. “ I t helps to prote c t clothes from creasing, button impressions and possible snagging on embellishments,” she says. “I lay each item front down in the case, place tissue over the back and then fold in the sides, often scrunching tissue into sleeves.”

It’s also important, she says, to put heavier items in first, with the more delicate pieces on top. “Underwear, small or soft items go in last so I’m not rummaging to find them if I haven’t had time to completely unpack,” she says.

Just don’t ask Collins how best to handle that pair of white linen pants you to plan to bring for dinner on the beach. “I never wear linen,” she says, we can only assume with a disgusted eyeroll. “I hate creased clothes.”

Now we do, too. —S.H.

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TRAVEL GAY

GOOD TO GO

Koh Samui

THE

AGENDA

Located in the hip and central Plaka neighborhood in Athens, NEW Hotel (above) offers 79 design and artcentric, gay-friendly rooms.

For a one-of-a-kind experience, purchase the “Acropolis Slumber” Penthouse, where you’ll sleep under the stars in the suite’s 360-degree terrace. yeshotels.gr

A City Illuminated

May 15 sees the opening of Canada’s first urban zipline in Montréal. Those who partake will fly over Bonsecours Island in Old Port for a bird’s eye view of the cityscape. mtlzipline.com

San Francisco has become the nation’s go-to destination for light art, and its local installations are currently shining brighter than ever

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A temporary light art installation currently drawing crowds is Soma, which today sits at Pier 14 on the Embarcadero, illuminated 10 minutes after sunset until 2 a.m. every night through July. The sculpture, which “translates the anatomy of neurons into metal, fire and light, magnifying the microscopic world to an epic scale,” debuted at Burning Man in 2009 and has since traveled the southwest United States.

Another temporary installation that originated at Burning Man, this one in 2011, Bliss Dance by Marco Cochrane sits on Treasure Island’s Great Lawn. The 40-foot steel female figure is illuminated from 8:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. nightly—“until further notice,” so experience it while you can.

Later this year, in December, the third annual IlluminateSF festival (illuminatesf.com) will celebrate the city’s eclectic light installations. Last year’s two-month-long celebration focused on 16 brilliant artworks and hosted several events throughout the city, setting San Francisco aglow with creative innovation.

This year’s will no doubt continue to shine a light on one of many reasons San Francisco has become a dynamic destination for the lover of fine art. —Stephan Horbelt

Where Union Square and SoMa mingle sits the 36-story Park Central Hotel San Francisco, the city’s newest hotel, formerly a Starwood property. Modeled after its sister property, New York’s Park Central Hotel, it features spacious suites, stunning and expansive views of the city and on-site restaurant Maso, offering locally sourced cuisine by Chef John Hart. Currently the hotel is offering 15% off advance reservations. A City View Premier Suite will set you back around $300 per night. parkcentralsf.com

Clockwise from top left: The Bay Lights exhibit, which will return early in 2016; Soma, sitting on Pier 14 at the Embarcadero; Bliss Dance, currently on Treasure Island

Destination Kohler—the fivestar resort located in Kohler, Wisconsin, renowned for its golf, fine dining and spa services—hosts the seventh annual Kohler Festival of Beer, May 29-31, with a bevy of beer-centric events like a homebrew competition and the Kohler Beer Run, sponsored by Shock Top. americanclubresort.com —S.H.

LET’S CRUISE

RSVP’S 30TH ANNIVERSARY ALASKA CRUISE

ATLANTIS: ROME TO INSTANBUL

DRAG STARS AT SEA: NORTH AMERICA

Experience the majesty of America’s 49th state by ship, where you’re sure to travel alongside orcas and bald eagles and will no doubt watch glaciers crumble before your eyes. It’s a great way to take in Alaska’s beauty. rsvp vacations.com

Explore Italian art, Greek history and Turkish wonders alongside 2, 800 gay guys as the great ship Equinox t r a ve l s t h r o u g h Naples, Santorini, Mykonos and more.

It’s Europe’s largest and most spectacular gay cruise. atlantisevents.com

Cruise the open water aboard Royal Caribbean’s Adventure of the Seas, with stops in St. Thomas, St. John, Antigua and more. Guests are immersed in RuPaul’s Drag Race, with tons ofqueensentertaining those on board. aland chuck.travel —S.H.

Aug. 1-8, 2015

Aug. 14-24, 2015

Jan. 23-30, 2016

BAY BRIDGE: JAMES EWING

Iconic rocker Steve Perry, in the 1978 Journey song “Lights,” mused about the lights going down in his city by the bay—a fitting tribute to San Francisco that foreshadowed its current reputation as a national leader in light art. From world-renowned large-scale sculptures to otherworldly electric installations housed in the city’s museums and airport, the city’s innovative reputation for turning light into art draws crowds from near and far.

Bay Area visitors since March 5, 2013, have marveled at The Bay Lights—the world’s largest LED light sculpture, installed on the vertical cables of the Willie L. Brown Jr. Bridge’s western span—which became a calling card of San Francisco’s nighttime cityscape. Leo Villareal’s two-year installation of 25,000 dancing LED lights may have ended on March 6, but it was recently announced that nonprofit organization Illuminate the Arts has raised $4 million in private funds to purchase new equipment and reinstall the light sculpture in time to shine for Super Bowl 50 in February 2016. Once the sculpture is back at home on the bridge, The Bay Lights will be gifted to the State of California for the enjoyment of visitors and locals alike.

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events

■ Thu. | May 14 DON’T TELL MY MOTHER! Busby’s East

This L.A. comedy event continues to celebrate Mother’s Day with top actors telling true stories they’d never want their moms to know. Cybill Shepherd’s daughter Clementine Ford will speak, as will Jen Kober, Aida Rodriguez and Nikki Levy. donttellmymother.com ■ Through June 7 PETER AND THE STARCATCHER Segerstrom Stage

He’s Boy, the orphan without a name, whisked onto the good ship Neverland and recruited by a young girl to save the “starstuff” from Black Stache and his pirate crew. See how he becomes Peter Pan in a swashbuckling tale infused with pop culture imagery. scr.org

nightlife

■ Fri. | May 15 GO FIGURE! THE RANDY GARDNER STORY NoHo Arts Center

Olympian Randy Gardner breaks the ice in his first-ever one-man show, revealing the rough-and-tumble world behind the beauty and elegance of ice skating, the sport watched by more viewers than any other event at the Winter Olympics.

Through June 14. nohoace.com ■ Fri. | May 15 BEARRACUDA LONG BEACH Executive Suite Nightclub

■ Sat. | May 16 MULHOLLAND DRIVE Hollywood Forever Cemetery

RUPAUL: COURTESY OF WORLD OF WONDER

Winner of “Favorite Documentary” at the Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival, the film—featuring Mario Diaz, the bicoastal nightlife promoter behind the parties Big Fat Dick and Full Frontal Disco—returns to L.A. with this screening. facebook.com/clubkingmovie ■ Fri. | May 15 THE MODEL’S ARTIST Advocate & Gochis Galleries

Over the last decade, internationally renowned figurative artist Zhenya

exhibits

Gershman and distinguished artist model Mark Snyder have been collaborating on a unique project—a living portrait that changes over time. Together they work to break the dominating artistmodel stereotype and shift to one of equal partnership. lalgbtcenter.org

The world-famous bear party returns to SoCal for Long Beach Pride with three floors of fun and two rooms of music. DJs Leonardo Glovibes, Ryan Jones and Mateo Segade will provide the night’s soundtrack. bearracuda.com

■ Fri. | May 15 CLUB KING Cavern Club Theater

theater

Cinespia has returned for its 14th summer of outdoor movie, picnics on the lawn and world-famous DJs, all among one of the city’s historic jewels. Check out the David Lynch classic Mulholland Drive, featuring Naomi Watts. cinespia.org

MAKING HERSTORY RuPaul brings the art of gender play further into the mainstream with the world’s first-ever drag convention

By Stephan Horbelt

T

he Queen of Dragdom has done it again. Already responsible for bringing the gender-bending art form into the mainstream via Billboard-charting pop music, staunch activism and a hit reality TV competition series, the grand dame of drag, RuPaul, seems unable to rest until queens everywhere achieve their rightful place atop thrones the world over. Next stop: Los Angeles.

For the first time ever, a convention celebrating drag, queer culture and the right of self-expression has been created for mass consumption. Dubbed RuPaul’s DragCon and put on by L.A.-based production company World of Wonder, the two-day event invades the Los Angeles Convention Center just in time to kick-off Pride season with a palpable sense of community and a healthy dose of outrageousness. “The fans of RuPaul’s Drag Race are very diverse, but they share one thing in common—they all think out of the box and dance to the beat of a different drummer,” says RuPaul. “DragCon will give all of these

like-minded people a chance to meet their tribe live and in person.”

With a full slate of programming that includes moderated panel discussions, tutorials, film screenings and autograph sessions with some of your favorite Drag Race queens, musicians and film/TV stars, DragCon is entering the public consciousness with a bang.

“I’m excited about the ripple effect DragCon will have on pop culture,” RuPaul says. “The idea that all of these people may recognize one another from social media and get the chance to meet in person is phenomenal. It will create a dialogue that no other convention could even come close to.” Indeed, DragCon seems poised to become a regular SoCal draw similar to Comic-Con, the world-famous entertainment and comic convention that is itself considering a move to Los Angeles from its 45-year San Diego digs.

In addition to nearly every Drag Race queen in fans’ collective memory, DragCon will feature a diverse roster that includes Jody Watley, MAY 27, 2015

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■ Sat. | May 16 THE MUPPET MOVIE SING-A-LONG Arcadia Performing Arts Center

beer bust begins at 2 p.m., with performances at 6. akbarsilverlake.com

Join the fun as the IBEX Puppetry Sing-A-Long crew, including Heather Henson, brings elements of the film to life for the audience via puppetry, kiting and shadow acting. You’re encouraged to yell out famous lines, blow bubbles, dance in the aisles and sing along with the movie. arcadiapaf.org

■ Tue. | May 19 AN EVENING WITH ‘THE COMEBACK’ The Paley Center

■ Sun. |May 17 BEARS IN SPACE Akbar

After a nearly decade-long hiatus, audiences were thrilled to welcome back Valerie Cherish, one of TV’s most fascinating characters.

Lisa Kudrow, Michael Patrick King, Dan Bucatinsky, Laura Silverman and more will appear for a stimulating Q&A after the screening. paleycenter.org

The East Side’s most popular daytime drinking event returns for its sixth year with an extended DJ set by Eric Duncan. Once again Chloë Sevigny (as portrayed by Frontiers’ own Drew Droege) will emcee the lot party. The

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the game after so many years.”

Big Freedia, Terri Nunn, Martha With all the symposia Wash, Jenifer Lewis, Jonny and appearances that comMcGovern, Sheryl Lee Ralph prise DragCon, we asked and Frank Decaro as well, RuPaul if there was any making it clear this is a definitive not-to-miss convention not simply for event of the weekend. those interested in the As it turns out, nothaccoutrements of gening could possibly der play. “DragCon is top the communal Will Gia Gunn be not only for drag queens serving it at DragCon? aspect of the conand the people who love “Absolutely!” vention. “Really, just them,” says RuPaul. “Drag being there with your embodies a philosophy that tribe is what this is all says, I know this is a world of about. Yes, [there are] lots illusion, and I’ve chosen to have fun of panel discussions, merchandise within that realm. I remember my high and superstars, but the people who are school teacher saying, ‘RuPaul, don’t take flying in from around the world to connect life too seriously.’ It was the greatest leswith one another is the real attraction.” son I was ever taught, and that is what The positive response to a first-ofall of the participants of DragCon have its-kind event like DragCon is evidence of in common. We all use every color in the something quite extraordinary—namely crayon box.” that drag and its trappings are a phenomThose hoping for a glimpse of the enon stretching far and wide, from gay queen mother herself are in luck, as teens to their soccer moms, jocks and RuPaul plans to give the event’s keynote cheerleaders to their chemistry teachaddress on Sunday. Asked for a preview ers, in large part thanks to the Logo netof the wise words he’ll no doubt have in work’s most successful property. It’s an store, RuPaul says, “The overall mesachievement not lost on RuPaul. “The sage is the same message I have given television show RuPaul’s Drag Race has throughout my career, which is know changed the entire landscape of drag in thyself and learn how to love yourself. the 21st century,” he says. “The show is It’s the message I give to all of the girls broadcast in over 100 countries around who have come through our television the world. It’s safe to say that this is the show, in fact—all roads lead to selfgolden age of drag.” awareness. It’s the reason I am still in

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SINFUL FRIDAYS | THE ABBEY | Photos by Rolling-Blackouts

Find more photo albums at FrontiersMedia.com

From top: Linda Perry with Sara Gilbert, Sarah Silverman, Kathy Griffin with Sia

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LOT BEACH PARTY | FAULTLINE | Photos by Dusti Cunningham

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GIRL POWER MEETS GAY POWER An Evening With Women harnesses star power to benefit the L.A. LGBT Center

S

helped reinvent the show in ince 2002, The Los 2009 to what it has become Angeles LGBT Centoday,” he says. ter has embraced the In addition to its stelbeauty and power of the lar cast of performers and fairer sex at An Evening with presenters, the venue is a Women, a star-studded night star in its own right. This of food, music and entertainyear’s event will be hosted ment benefiting the organiin the historic Hollywood zation’s programs geared Palladium, which is approtowards women and girls. priate since the stunning This year’s event once again Art Deco-style theater has boasts the talents of longshowcased talented women time Center allies, as well like Betty Grable and Josie as a prominent femalePowell since the 1940s. fronted band making its “The Palladium is such Evening debut. an iconic venue, and it fits “No Doubt has been this year’s music lineup. friends of mine for quite some Michael Rapino and time ,” says event our friends at Live producer Brent Nation donated Bolthouse, AN EVENING the venue to us “and the stars WITH WOMEN and have been aligned with Hollywood Palladium very supportive their schedMay 16 in making this ule this year. aneveningwithwomen.org event bigger and We are so very better than ever,” excited to have says Bolthouse. them on - board While the event and supporting the exemplifies the tight-knit event.” The Anaheim regbonds between the LGBT gae-pop foursome fronted by community and our allies, Gwen Stefani will be joined Bolthouse (himself a straight at this year’s event by a pair man) is quick to point out of returning allies, including that this event in particular pop vocalist Sia and comeditranscends societal boundenne Sarah Silverman. aries. “We all support each Similar to how Bolthouse other as humans,” he says, brought Stefani into the fold “and I think you can see of An Evening with Women, that with this year’s performhe himself was recruited by a ers and people like myself who prominent, creative woman. care about the Los Angeles “The first time I heard about LGBT Center and communithe event was when my ties, regardless of sexual orifriend Linda Perry asked entation.” —Mike Ciriaco me to get involved after she MAY 27, 2015

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■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Tue. | May 19 MADONNALOGUES LIVE Cavern Club Theater

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BIG FAT GRUNT | EAGLE L.A. | Photos by Rolling-Blackouts

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Famed local comedienne Nadya Ginsburg brings her skill of adeptly portraying Madonna to the stage in this show containing comedy, dance, partial nudity and song! Special guests include Selene Luna, John Cantwell (aka Love Connie) and Diamondback Annie. cavernclubtheater.com

artists including Eric Paslay and Jukebox Mafia. In addition to 10 hours of live music, ShipKicker will have food vendors, a beer garden, cocktails, games and a wild bucking bull ride. queenmary.com ■ Sat. May 23 REVUE Graton Resort & Casino

It’s two big shows on two big nights as award-winning music, comedy and theater stars perform at this LivingWells Lifestyle event.

Amond the Memorial Day Weekend headliners are Lady Bunny, Jackie Beat, Candis Cayne, Joey Arias, Levi Kreis, Jimmy James and more! gratonresortcasino. com/revue ■ Through May 24 THE PIED PIPERS OF THE LOWER EAST SIDE The Matrix Theater

■ Through May 20 AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON El Capitan Theatre

Hollywood’s legendary theater features a special screening that includes an exclusive display of concept art and costumes from the film.

Purchase a VIP ticket to see the movie with reserved seats, popcorn, drink and a special VIP limited-edition comic book. elcapitantheatre.com ■ Thu. | May 21 SPRING AWAKENING Deaf West Theatre

Based on Frank Wedekind’s controversial 1891 play and featuring an electrifying score, Spring Awakening follows the lives of a group of adolescents as they navigate from adolescence to adulthood in a fusion of morality, sexuality and rock ‘n’ roll. Through June 7. thewallis.org ■ Thu. | May 21 ERICH BERGEN LIVE Catalina Bar & Grill

Best known for his performance in Clint Eastwood’s Jersey Boys and a co-starring role on CBS’ Madam Secretary, he brings his dry wit and smooth vocals to the stage with musical director Michael Orland and a 10-piece band. Through May 22. catalinajazzclub.com ■ Sat. | May 23 SHIPKICKER COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL The Queen Mary

Country music star Dustin Lynch headlines the all-day festival with top country 34

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Billy, Dawn, Dear and Wyatt live in an extended sexual family where they battle their fears and addictions in order to live out their dream. This work is a satirical look at the search for utopia and what happens when that bohemian paradise begins to fall apart. piedpipersla.com ■ Sun. | May 24 RHONDESIA Skybar at Mondrian

It’s daytime dancing and debauchery as A Club Called Rhonda teams up with the Sunset Strip for a Memorial Day reminiscent of paradise on Earth. Stay overnight at the hotel by purchasing a discounted room, which includes tickets to the all-day dance party. Noon-10 p.m. rhondainternational.com ■ Tue. | May 26 SATCHMO AT THE WALDORF Long Wharf Theatre

It’s March 1971 at the Waldorf Astoria, and Louis Armstrong has just played one of his final performances.

Unwinding backstage, he recounts events that transformed him into the world-famous “Satchmo.”

Through June 7. thewallis.org

MAY 27, 2015

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THE BIG 3-0 The city of West Hollywood celebrates its 30th birthday with an eclectic series of events

I

t’s not easy turning 30. Hangovers last longer, your metabolism slows and sexy older guys stop buying you drinks.

As our beloved gay mecca of West Hollywood crosses the threshold into its third decade, the One City One Pride Arts Festival hopes to ease the city’s transition into full adulthood with WeHo@30, Life @30, a series of artistic and cultural events.

Kicking off on Harvey Milk Day, May 22, and running through the end of June, the festival serves as an extended birthday party for the homo haven. And as any gay men who have turned 30 can attest, it’s surely a reason to blow off some steam.

The official launching of WeHo@30 is commemorated with a screening of Nelly Queen: The Life and Times of Jose Sarria.

Apropos for the holiday, this screening at the West Hollywood Park Public Meeting Room focuses on Joe Sarria, Harvey Milk’s friend and ally. The drag performer and LGBT activist is notable as the first openly gay person to run for political office in the U.S. when he campaigned for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1961, over a decade before Milk won his city supervisor seat in 1977.

As the festivities cross into LGBT Pride Month, June 6 gifts the community with several installations and events honoring the gayborhood. WeHo@30: Art, AIDS,WeHo—a series of exhibits opening at the West Hollywood Library, ONE Archives and MOCA—examines the impact AIDS has had on contemporary art a little over three decades into the epidemic. Similarly, Dancers We Lost, another multi-venue exhibition featured in various business and public buildings across West Hollywood unveiling that same day, explores how AIDS affected the art form of dance. The eventful day is rounded out by a historical walking tour of the city written by Stuart Timmons, author of Gay L.A. WeHo@30 gets classy on June 30 when Pacific Serenades, L.A.’s cutting-edge chamber music organization, hosts a concert featuring LGBT composers. The performance acts as an erudite amuse-bouche before the great bacchanal that is L.A. Pride, taking place June 12-14. Hey, if you’ve made it to 30, you deserve a chance to get sloppy.

For a more complete calendar of the events affiliated with WeHo@30, go to weho.org/pride. —M.C. 36

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EATINGOUT

Putting the ‘Wood’ Back in Hollywood

H

an extensive and eclectic list of beers ollywood is on the verge of becomand wines. ing the city’s next great dining If you were a Waterloo fan, you’ll satneighborhood thanks to upstarts isfy your cravings with Collins’ signature like Littlefork, Butchers & Barbers and the chicken liver toast, but you also have some newest venture from erstwhile Waterloo new choices—like a lusciously light hamachi & City chef Brendan Collins, Birch, which crudo with ruby grapefruit, horseradish and recently opened in the former Fuku Burger olive oil dusted with rock salt. A huge scoop space on Cahuenga. The name is a subtle of burrata anchors a slab of crostini slathreference to the landscape of Collins’ native ered with fresh fava bean hummus and a Nottingham, though the chef has come a small garden of multi-colored pickled beets long way since then, with stints in Michelinand fresh spring asparagus. starred European kitchens as well as a few One of the more interprevious L.A. ventures. esting dishes, the rabbit bakThis latest is signature lava, hints at Middle Eastern Collins , with a menu of influences with dates, white small plates and some larger beans, pistachios and carshare items that counterrots. It’s at once delicate but balance heavy international gamy. The baby octopus ragu influences and regional cuiwith rigatoni, bone marrow sines with the freshness and and ricotta salata is reminislightness of California’s seacent of a famous Venetian sonal bounty. dish, while the pork shank The small space is spare Birch cooked with palm sugar and but welcoming. By 7 p.m.

Cahuenga Blvd., Hlywd served with fermented colethere’s not an empty seat at 1634 N.(323) 960-3369 slaw and za’atar flatbread is the low wooden tables, the birchlosangeles.com a great share option that communal high tables or at $$$$$ could feed an entire comthe bustling marble bar. That’s munal table. For something where you’ll find the barmen on the smaller side, try the mixing up signature cockAtmosphere New-school Hollywood dressed Jonah crab (similar tails like the Smashin’, which hangout to a light crab salad) with features a thirst-quenching short rib cannelloni, basil shot of Aperol, lemon and Standout Dishes mint added to Rittenhouse Burrata Crostini, Rabbit Baklava salad and cucumber.

While there are only rye. The Black Manhattan is Drinks Black Manhattan three desserts on the Birch another delicious twist on a menu at the moment, one is classic, while the barrel-aged Hours Negroni—with Campari, clove Noon-3 Mon–Fri, 11–3 Sat, 11–4 a rich, crispy peanut-butter Sun, 6–10:30 Tue–Sat spring roll with caramelized and orange Antica Carpano banana and butterscotch that vermouth—will be a sumReservations cannot be ignored. —Eric Rosen mer favorite. There’s also Recommended

★★★★★

BIRCH: MICHAEL PRINCE

■ ■ ■ ■

MAY 27, 2015

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*********

Trevor Donovan Saddles Up

The sexy star whose breakout role had him playing gay on 90210 now goes back in time for A&E’s Texas Rising

By Michael Fairman

The best in TV, film, music and more

W

hen the History Channel miniseries television event Texas Rising premieres on Memorial Day, there will be no shortage of testosterone with a cast that includes Bill Paxton, Brendan Fraser, Oliver Martinez and LGBT favorite Trevor Donovan. The 10-hour series details the Texas Revolution and the rise of the legendary Texas Rangers, directed by the two-time Oscar-nominated Roland Jaffe (The Killing Fields, The Mission).

The series has Donovan playing the role of Kit Acklin, the best horseman of the Ranger clan, whose love story with Rebecca Pit (Molly McMichael), offers some emotional heart to the ‘guns blazing’ Western saga. As TV audiences fondly remember Donovan’s performance as the closeted Teddy on 90210 and that character’s struggle to come out, taking on a role in an Americana history saga was quite a challenge for the actor, who speaks candidly with Frontiers about the role, keeping up his buff body, his appreciation and support for the LGBT community and his humble beginnings on the soap opera Days of our Lives.

As for the casting process that landed him in Texas Rising, Donovan relates that it wasn’t as easy as one-two-three. “Coming from the projects I worked MAY 27, 2015

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film I AM BIG BIRD Opens May 15

*****

Opens May 15

*****

Embroiled in a wardrobe malfunction scandal the news outlets christen “Muffgate,” the now-famous national a cappella champions the Barden Bellas set off on a road to redemption in this sprightly sequel. A modest surprise hit in 2012, Pitch Perfect was “Glee Goes to College,” counterprogramming that got the job done with a surfeit of heart. Its sequel, sturdily directed by Elizabeth Banks (who’s back as commentator Gail along with the irreplaceable, inappropriate John Michael Higgins), doesn’t have the freshness of novelty, though it deploys its game cast well while giving wide berth to not-so-secret weapon Rebel Wilson as everybody’s favorite zaftig sex symbol Fat Amy. It’s high-grade popcorn entertainment proving once again there’s a little pitch in all of us. —Dan Loughry

SLOW WEST Opens May 15

*****

This film is so gripping and gorgeously filmed (in New Zealand) that it will satisfy viewers wary of westerns.

Young Jay (Kodi SmitMcPhee) loves Rose Ross (Caren Pistorius) so much that he travels from Scotland to Colorado to be with her. His journey, however, is fraught with peril. Silas Selleck (Michael Fassbender)—a bounty hunter who also wants to find Rose—offers to guide him. Slow West is bloody, but the action is sharply edited and executed. There’s a fantastic moment when salt literally drops into a character’s wounds, magnifying his despair. From the flinty performances to exquisite cinematography, everything in this superb film is stylized yet authentic. —G.M.K. 40

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ALSO IN Out Now

>> theatres May 15

5 Flights Up

Good Kill

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Mad Max: Fury Road

The D Train

May 22

Hot Pursuit

Polergeist

Saint Laurent

Tomorrowland

PHOTO CREDIT TK

PITCH PERFECT 2

on, I knew it was going to take a lot of work to show them I could do it, because it’s so far removed from anything I’ve done or anyone has seen me do,” he says.

“The audition process was long for me. I went in four different times. I was taking horseback riding lessons throughout the whole audition process, just in case I did get it so I would be ready to rock. I just knew that it was going to take a lot of work on my part, looking at Westerns and how these guys presented themselves, and doing historical research. But it was all a lot of fun.”

For those who hope Donovan’s character will be a knight in shining armor and sweep one lucky lady off her feet, the actor admits, “Kit has definitely got a strong moral compass. He’s a guy who grew up with family values. The Texas Rangers were kind of vigilante misfits. Some of them were criminals and excriminals, but they were fighting for the greater good alongside the military. Kit is definitely the more level-headed and more educated, and I have a beautiful little side love story as well.” It’s that love story that Donovan teases might just pull at your heartstrings. “Keep your Kleenex nearby,” he laughs.

If you were hoping Donovan might have a shirtless scene or two during the run of Texas Rising, rest assured that your wish will be granted. “I wouldn’t have been a part of it if there wasn’t. That was in the contract, and actually in my lifetime contract,” he reveals with a laugh. “It’s also a nice motivation to keep myself in shape. But, seriously, we shot an impromptu scene. I don’t want to describe it too much, because it will give it all away, but while they were out scouting locations, they happened to come across this river, and we shot something there.

So what I will say is, there’s me, a river and a horse involved, and it’s beautiful!”

Donovan admits he has no problem taking compliments on his good looks, as you might expect that he’s rather comfortable in his own skin. “You should be grateful for people’s compliments, and be nice about it. It’s coming from a great place, and it is flattering. Every time someone says something, I say thank you.”

PHOTO CREDIT TK

This likable documentary profiles Caroll Spinney, who became the puppeteer for Sesame Street’s Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. After Jim Henson offered him a job—which he almost quit—he won over viewers with Big Bird’s childlike wonder and awe. There is a nifty sequence showing how Spinney operates within the Big Bird costume, as well as fabulous archival footage and interviews, especially regarding Big Bird in China. There are also painful moments—Spinney’s abusive father, his divorce, difficulties with a Sesame Street director and the death of Henson. Ultimately, I Am Big Bird is best when it gets at the heart of Spinney and not just the man’s benign career highlights. —Gary M. Kramer

Donovan as Texas Ranger Kit Acklin (left), and looking sultry for a recent photo shoot (below)

music HOT CHIP

Why Make Sense?

(Domino)

*****

Soon after 2008’s Made in the Dark, this sexy electronic combo from the U.K. lost the plot. Tons of solo records, side projPRIME CUTS: ects and loss of focus infected the next “Started Right” few years, most noticeably on One Life “Huarache Stand wherein their fetching, danceable Lights” relationship songs grew routine. Album “Easy to Get” six doesn’t advance their deeply functional grooves or subject pool. They favor mid-tempo disco that sets the pace for—lubricates, you might say—their fucktunes on all save the two slow ones and the crunchier-than-usual title track.

And so what if they aren’t dub-stepping and griming and trapping to the latest EDM tropes? The songs are tight, Alexis Taylor’s vulnerable falsetto pines away, with the band in lockstep throughout. —D.L.

TEXAS RISING Premieres May 25 on A&E at 9 p.m.

With his kick-ass physique, Donovan does tend to get asked for workout pointers, too. “I just left the gym an hour ago, and I found myself coaching somebody over a workout, and I loved it,” he says. “They say that I am an inspiration for them, which I couldn’t be happier about. My younger brother is a firefighter, and he owns a CrossFit gym. He has elite athletes in his gym, but for the most part he focuses on people who are excessively overweight, or who are maybe older clients, or who are scared of this kind of work. He changes people’s lives on a daily basis, and that has been an inspiration for me. When I find people coming up to me and asking for tips, I may call my brother Jake and go, ‘Hey, Jake! What should I tell them?’”

Donovan truly appreciates the LGBT community’s support of his projects, which kicked into high-gear when he portrayed Teddy on 90210. “We focused on the difficulties of coming out and coming to terms with it,” he says. “I feel that had a lot to do with this support that I now have. I think it was respectfully done. I am just very happy to have been a part of that. I am so fortunate that people are still following me and seeing what I am up to!”

From his first acting experience on the daytime soap Days of our Lives, where he played the mischievous Jeremy Horton, Donovan feels he has come a long way. “To be honest, I wasn’t really ready to be in front of the camera, and every day was stressful to me, but it was bootcamp. I came out of there more solid, and knowing how to be in front of the camera and about memorization of dialogue.

It was a huge learning experience.”

Now ready to take his career to another level with this dramatic turn in Texas Rising, Donovan shares what he hopes viewers will take away from the production. “You’ll see the most visually appealing epic ever presented on television, hands down! It’s very cinematic. I couldn’t be more excited, and I can’t wait for everyone to see it.”

PHOTO CREDIT TK

PHOTO CREDIT TK

music

>> NEW RELEASES

Out Now

May 19

May 26

A$AP Rocky At.Long.Last.A$AP

Faith No More Sol Invictus

Anti-Flag American Spring

Best Coast California Nights

Brandon Flowers The Desired Effect

The Vaccines English Graffiti

Snoop Dogg BUSH

Jamie Foxx Hollywood

MUMFORD & SONS Wilder Mind (Island/Glassnote)

*****

As if it even needs to be said, Mumford & Sons have banjoed themselves into a corner. After two identical and wildly successful albums, the British quartet have decided to drop the faux-Tennessee patina and actually sound like a UK band. That UK band is Coldplay, though PRIME CUTS: more often they are striving for Coldplay and ending “The Wolf” up with Idlewild. No matter, because the takeaway is “Believe” that the Mumford & Sons you once knew and loved “Ditmas” (or hated) are now dead. What remains is an album of anonymously treacly and inspirational songs that, in keeping with Mumford tradition, go from small to bigger to explosive in the span of four minutes. It’s not terrible; it’s just terrible that they so obviously eschewed their identity for commercial success.

Wilder Mind is completely devoid of original ideas, and the only asset the band has retained is Marcus Mumford’s familiar rasp. —Dominik Rothbard

RÓISÍN MURPHY Hairless Toys (Pias America)

*****

This widely admired Irish singer fronted the much-missed electronica act Moloko through the ‘90s and early aughts. I not only don’t miss them, I never cared for them much. Murphy’s solo work left me nearly as cold, though PRIME CUTS: “Exploitation” her return with Hairless Toys after an “Unputdownable” eight-year absence hits just the right balance of elec“Evil Eyes” tro beats and bizarre synthetics. You could say that she’s getting her Björk on, but the Icelandic firebrand of Post and Homogenic and not the soul-searching sonic explorer of Vulnicura. Murphy’s not the wailing warbler Ms. Guðmundsdóttir is, instead letting the music carry the eccentricities. Songs are long-ish—the best being the lengthiest and most unhinged—though it’s all anchored by squelchy hooks and recognizable choruses. —D.L. MAY 27, 2015

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tv

Reviving the Empress of Blues

By Nathaniel Grey

T

he Emmy-destined performance of Queen Latifah as Bessie Smith will finally be unveiled via HBO Films on May 16. The biopic Bessie—which marks the culmination of Latifah’s 22-year struggle in bringing Smith’s story to the big screen—looks across more than 80 years in the life of the bisexual chanteuse, who is largely credited for bringing the blues to American audiences. The project reportedly was put through the gears of many studios and was stuck in development until HBO eventually came on board.

At the film’s premiere, Bessie director Dee Rees told Variety, “This has been such a passionate project of [Latifah’s] because Bessie was an artist who everyone can relate to. So many things she experienced in her life resonate today. Bessie’s story is about self-discovery, it’s about love and also about how to love, and it’s about not letting any negative circumstance limit you.”

The story of Bessie will take Latifah from the early days of her career with Ma Rainey (played

by Oscar-winner Mo’Nique) to become the highest-earning black performer of the Roaring ‘20s. Also on board are Gossip Girl’s Tika Sumpter, True Detective’s Tory Kittles, Friends with Benefits’ Bryan Greenberg and Scandal vet Khandi Alexander.

Regarding Smith’s bisexuality, Huffington Post quotes Latifah as saying, “It’s not like it’s a secret with her story. She was just free,” which is interesting because Latifah herself has always refused to discuss her private life and has never formally ‘come out’ despite extensive coverage through the years of her life with partner Jeanette Jenkins.

BESSIE Airs May 16 on HBO at 8 p.m.

HOUSE OF YES

IMMEDIATE FAMILY

*****

*****

Wendy MacLeod’s 1995 dark comedy, which was a dapte d into a 19 97 Sundance-winning cult f ilm favo rite s taring Parker Posey and Josh Hamilton, retains its relevance and satiric punch in director Leo Sankowich’s scintillating revival. This provocative glimpse at a decidedly demented Virginia family crackles with sly wit in its clever spin on a historic national tragedy, best kept a surprise. A virtuoso cast (Kate Maher, Nicholas McDonald, Colin McGurk, Jeanne Syquia and Eileen T’Kaye) navigates the script’s hilarity and horrors with equal finesse. The plot revolves around flirtation, madness, sin and betrayal. During a family Thanksgiving gathering, the announced betrothal of the eldest son (McGurk) to a perky donut shop attendant (Syquia) unleashes a series of familial fireworks among his younger brother (McDonald), high-strung sister (Maher) and acid-tongued mommie dearest (T’Kaye). Sankowich and company brilliantly serve this fascinating play, which imparts timeless relevance and food for thought amid the crowd-pleasing hilarity. —Les Spindle 42

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Mark Taper Forum Through June 7

Under the sure and unobtrusive direction of Phylicia Rashad, young playwright Paul Oakley Stovall’s winning comedy flies with the speed of a luge sled on a 90-minute journey filled with a cascade of broad laughs and just enough touching emotional moments. Set in the Obama family’s Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago, Immediate Family finds the adult siblings of the uppermiddle-class, African-American Bryant family gathering for the wedding of youngest brother Tony (Kamal Angelo Bolden). When golden boy Jesse Jr. (the charismatic Bryan Terrell Clark) shows up with his Swedish boyfriend (Mark Jude Sullivan), the family’s worst-kept secret explodes into the open. Stovall artfully combines riotous comedy with challenging explorations of faith, homophobia and family connections, and Rashad and the gifted cast have created a genuine sense of family onstage. Even when we are sometimes too aware of the play’s engineering, Stovall’s provocative and refreshing take on the coming-out story makes for an uncommonly entertaining evening. —Christopher Cappiello

PHOTO CREDIT TKMARCUS MOTOWN: JOAN

Zephyr Theatre Through June 14

PHOTO CREDIT TK HOUSE OF YES: ED KRIEGER; IMMEDIATE FAMILY: CRAIG SCHWARTZ

stage

Grace of Monaco May 25, Lifetime

THE ISLAND May 25, NBC Adventurer and survivalist Bear Grylls hosts this American version of his own UK series.

In six episodes, 14 men compete to see who can survive on a deserted island without the luxuries of living in the 21st century. Unlike the CBS series Survivor, these men will have to hunt for their own food, find their own water and build shelters with minimal tools, and there are no prizes, eliminations or winners at the finish line. There will be at least one gay cast member on the show, 31-year-old Trey Williams of Kansas City.

TELEVISION LONG DIVISION

Survivor

Jeff Probst

bow and arrow

Pantages Theatre Through June 7

PHOTO CREDIT TKMARCUS MOTOWN: JOAN

PHOTO CREDIT TK HOUSE OF YES: ED KRIEGER; IMMEDIATE FAMILY: CRAIG SCHWARTZ

Sunday, May 17 The I Love Lucy Superstar Special features two newly colorized episodes of the classic series—fan favorites “L.A. at Last” featuring William Holden and “Lucy and Superman” with George Reeves.

(8 p.m. on CBS)

SET YOUR

Wednesday, May 20 David Letterman takes a final bow with his very last episode. Among the guests scheduled to appear leading up to the finale will be Oprah Winfrey, Jerry Seinfeld, George Clooney, Michael Keaton, Scarlett Johansson, Don Rickles, Bruce Willis and Julia Roberts.

(11:30 p.m. on CBS)

Thursday, May 21 Reminiscent of Lord of the Flies, new series Between is set in a town under quarantine after everyone over 21 dies from an unknown virus. The cast includes iCarly’s Jennette McCurdy and Copper vets Jim Watson and Ryan Allen.

(12:01 a.m. on Netflix)

The Island

MOTOWN

*****

After getting booed at last year’s Cannes Film Festival— and after plenty bad reviews— the film starring Nicole Kidman as the late Grace Kelly will finally reach an American audience via cable television.

Interestingly, its premiere date is the day after Cannes closes its 2015 edition, and by making its stateside premiere on TV, it will be eligible for an Emmy Award. Joining Kidman are Lie to Me’s Tim Roth as Prince Ranier, who co-stars with Parker Posey, Heroes vet Milo Ventimiglia, Frank Langella and Derek Jacobi of Vicious.

What it lacks in complexity, Motown: The Musical makes up for with infectious energy and phenomenal talent. The story of Motown Records founder and producer Berry Gordy is told with flash and panache, while the history lesson it provides is a fairly interesting one. The show’s biggest issue is that there’s so much ground to cover and so many songs to highlight that it feels more like a ‘greatest hits’ version of his life than an indepth look at his success. While the show is packed with terrific recreations of the greatest musical acts ever staged, the best parts are when the focus falls on just two people—Gordy (Julius Thomas III) and Diana Ross (Allison Semmes).

Their relationship and rise to fame give the show its gravity. It is here that the concert recreations are especially engaging, with Semmes nailing the legendary Ross without making her a caricature. Similarly, Thomas III gives Gordy an earnestness and sometimes naïve desire to create an empire based on sheer talent, not on how to make a quick buck. He is the artist in all of us who just wants to share talent with the world, and it’s his dream and fight for it that makes Motown: The Musical come to spectacular life. —Kevin Taft

Wednesday, May 27 Twilight hunk Kellan Lutz hosts new gameshow Bullseye, which has four men and four women whose bodies are used as human darts in three different challenges on sea, land and in the air for a $50,000 prize. (8 p.m. on FOX)

MAY 27, 2015

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Photography by Jose A. Guzman Colon

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Fit for a

Queen

One of the world’s most vibrant cities may be going through some changes, but as the ‘mob wives’ of San Francisco’s drag scene relay, there’s still no better place to experience the art form’s history and heart By Patrick Rosenquist oshua landed in San Francisco with little money and no job.

Unsure of what the city had in store, he had been urged

by John Waters—another Maryland native, and the area’s best-known advocate for the weird and queer—to skip New York and Los Angeles for the City by the Bay. Waters told Joshua, known today as Peaches Christ, the free-wheeling nature of San Francisco suited his love of drag and queerness better than those two coastal behemoths.

Peaches landed during a renaissance of drag, when the city was celebrating the end of the worst period of the AIDS crisis and was looking for something—anything—to celebrate.

Trannyshack, now considered a staple of San Francisco’s nightlife scene, had just begun, and rent was still relatively cheap.

Now, nearly two decades later, after the immense success of her Midnight Mass screenings and stage productions—which have deep ties to the city but have conquered the world, from Belfast to New York—Peaches looks back at that venture to San Francisco in a very different light.

“Coming here with no money and no job was stupid. If some kid said they were planning on doing that today, I’d talk them out of it,” Peaches says. “In the San Francisco of today, you’d end up homeless.”

Yet despite the city’s well-known housing crisis, rapidly rising living expenses and the influx of Silicon Valley cash changing the city, San Francisco remains a drag Mecca, setting the scene for bigger cities and incubating talent that, elsewhere, would not find an audience. In the current landscape, drag is a huge part of LGBT nightlife—with queens promoting, hosting, performing at and literally owning a city’s after-dark options—but while New York may have the sassiest queens and Los Angeles is awash in slick production value, San Francisco just keeps it real.

“When I head to Seattle or Austin, people tell me San Francisco has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to drag,” says Heklina, founder of Trannyshack and more recently the owner of San Francisco’s newest gay bar, Oasis, in the South of Market neighborhood.

The history of drag in San Francisco is storied and long.

Its queer roots can be traced to the city’s post-war history as a landing spot for disembarking sailors and soldiers. As Peaches put it, “Relationships and realizations were made, and a lot of men decided to stay west instead of heading back to the East Coast or the Midwest.”

One of the biggest moments in San Francisco drag was the formation of The Cockettes, a loosely aligned group of men and women who performed in what would now be considered drag. Their performances were loose, mostly improvised and based on satirizing cultural touchstones such as Broadway and Hollywood. Formed in the late ‘60s in Haight-Ashbury, they embodied the city’s celebration of misfits and the culturally maligned—and were out of step with the culture of even the most cosmopolitan parts of America. Their 1971 trip to New York was much-anticipated but a disaster, as their improvbased, go-with-the-flow approach bombed in Manhattan. As Peaches puts it, “The East Coast was looking for something polished. You don’t find that in the bay.”

While drag in San Francisco enjoyed a renaissance in the ‘70s, the AIDS crisis obliterated performers and audiences

alike. The ‘80s were a time of mourning in San Francisco, much like they were for the rest of the gay community nationwide.

Heklina remembers coming to the city at the tail end of the crisis.

“A lot of my mentors had died,” says Heklina. “By the mid’90s, with [AIDS medication cocktail] HAART, the community was eager to celebrate. People were living.” It was in this resurgence that Heklina founded Trannyshack, and the focus of drag in San Francisco changed forever.

“It was very grunge, very punk-rock,” says Peaches, adding that the shows—which no one figured would last longer than a year—were a DIY affair. “I would find stuff literally on the street,” says Peaches, “and think, ‘I gotta use this dress; it’s awful!’”

"There’s an idea of art for art’s sake in San Francisco.

You don’t find that in New York or L.A. We just want to perform."

—Peaches Christ

MAY 27, 2015

45

"A lot of new performers can't afford the city. I kind of want an earthquake to hit. Maybe that'll scare away all the new money!"

—Heklina

The loose and experimental aspect of drag in the Bay Area continues to inform drag around the world. Considered the center of the global drag scene, San Francisco outperforms other cities its size, and even those with larger audiences.

This is, after all, home of The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the drag-inflected charity group with chapters wrapping the country. The Imperial Court—an international circuit of drag performers—is also based out of San Francisco.

Recently, of course, the biggest influence on the art form of drag has been the Logo network’s wildly popular reality TV competition series RuPaul’s Drag Race. Honey Mahogany,

a contestant from the show’s fifth season, credits a new and wider interest in drag to the show.

“It’s done a lot to popularize drag, and the audience is different these days,” says Honey, a San Francisco native who started out in Los Angeles.

Heklina, too, has seen a change, saying, “You have more of an alternative crowd,” which expands upon the expected queer audience drag has appealed to in the past. Honey, who hosts Mahogany Mondays at Midnight Sun in the Castro, has seen a boost in attention as well as a resurgent interest in drag since the show started airing.

But even with the renewed interest garnered from Drag Race, the San Francisco drag scene has dealt with a new complication—a rapidly changing cityscape.

“A lot of new performers can’t afford the city,” says Heklina, stating that while established acts can reap the benefits of private and corporate performances—a new perk that Honey also mentions—none of those opportunities are available to alternative or upstart acts.

To be certain, money has also flowed into drag, with Peaches comparing her early days picking clothes off the street to her use of a makeup artist today. Much like San Francisco as a whole, drag is being stratified, with big performers working gigs and lesser-known queens scraping to get by.

“I kind of want an earthquake to hit the city.Maybe that’ll scare away all the new money,” jokes Heklina. Peaches believes the trend is nationwide—cities everywhere are becoming richer and more exclusive—but that San Francisco is certainly the country’s most extreme example.

“Silicon Valley wants to live here. It’s got art, nightlife, and it’s interesting. Unfortunately, as they move in, everything that makes San Francisco unique gets pushed out,” says Peaches.

Honey notes that as rents rise, more performers are heading east, to Oakland, which is still relatively affordable. “It seems like every week someone on Facebook says they’re moving to the East Bay. I’m just holding out,” says Honey.

Still, the drag scene in San Francisco continues to thrive.

Because the city is known for its accepting attitude, and drag in general is no longer shocking, there is an itch to push limits and raise the bar—to keep patrons, whether they be LGBT fans or Silicon Valley money—on edge.

“This isn’t a city town,” says Peaches. “There’s an idea of art for art’s sake. You don’t find that in New York or L.A. We just want to perform.”

San Francisco’s 5 Best Venues for Drag

The city's newest and curently most popular gay bar, owned by Heklina, is home to Mother (formerly Trannyshack), the Boulet Brothers' Dragula and several other drag-based shows by local queens. sfoasis.com

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FRONTIERSMEDIA.COM

2. Castro Theatre

Home of Peaches Christ's notorious and oft-occurring Midnight Mass screenings and live stage shows, San Francisco's historic movie palace seats nearly 1,500 drag enthusiasts per event. castrotheatre.com

3. The Stud

This SoMa dive bar, open since 1966, hosts the popular art and drag dance party Some Thing every Friday night at 10 p.m.

Each week brings a new outlandish theme for performers to play along with. studsf.com

4. Starlight Room

A signature San Francisco experience high atop the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, "Sunday's a Drag" pairs high-energy performances by talented local queens with a delicious brunch buffet service. starlightroomsf.com

5. The Café

Located in the heart of the Castro, this large dance club is popular among the city's younger set and regularly features performances by touring veterans of RuPaul's Drag Race and local talents. cafesf.com

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1. Oasis

The Drag Queens of Comedy, clockwise from far left: Willam, Coco Peru, Bianca Del Rio, Shangela, Lady Bunny, Jackie Beat, Sasha Soprano, Alaska 5000

Punchlines & Pantyhose

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S

The Drag Queens of Comedy return to San Francisco’s famed Castro Theater, so prepare for a night of high-heeled hilarity By Mike Ciriaco

top me if you’ve heard this one. Ten queens walk into the Castro Theater.

To find out the punchline, you’ll have to attend The Drag Queens of Comedy up in San Francisco on May 23. Created by famed Bay Area queen Sasha Soprano and hosted by Michelle Visage of RuPaul’s Drag Race and Seduction fame, it’s a show that assembles a decade of dragdom’s funniest faux females and has them flex their stand-up skills inside the iconic Castro Theater. To Sasha, the ambitious nature of the event—from the large number of performers to the legendary stature of the venue—was a major factor in forging the comedic production.

“The whole thing came about because I worked with Peaches Christ, Lady Bunny and Heklina, and they all had these huge shows,” says Sasha, phoning from her Beverly Hills home where she resides when not performing in San Francisco.

“I didn’t see much of a point in doing these little bar gigs. I wanted to do something on the level of Wigstock, Trannyshack and Peaches Christ’s Midnight Mass. Everyone else already had their gimmick, but no one had comedy, so I took it.”

Drag Queens of Comedy boasts a multigenerational bevy of the drag community’s most outrageous comediennes, many sharing the stage with each other for the very first time. It’s a jambalaya of gender-bending comedy, including old-school East Village trailblazers like CoCo

Peru, Jackie Beat and Lady Bunny, San Francisco staples Heklina and Peaches Christ and Drag Race alums Alaska 5000, Bianca Del Rio, Shangela and Willam. The diversity of the lineup was a conscious attempt to expose the audience to a wide variety of drag talent.

“There’s three different genres. We have local girls, legends, and Drag Race girls. There’s no boring moment. The great thing about it is, you may be a huge fan of Drag Race girls and not even know Lady Bunny or Jackie Beat. You come and you get to see these ladies all perform who you didn’t come to see, and you fall in love with a whole new demographic of drag.”

Fans of the hit Logo competition series will notice that one featured comedy queen is sporting a new nom de guerre. The artist formerly known as Alaska Thunderfuck has recently rechristened herself Alaska 5000 to make her persona more palatable for mainstream audiences. Of the event’s myriad performers, it’s Alaska’s act that Sasha Soprano is most excited to see.

“I went on the most disgusting cruise ship— Drag Stars at Sea, the domestic one leaving from Florida. It was terrible. I’ve known Alaska for three years now, and I got to sit and see her show and she took me away. I was in love with her show. I didn’t even think she was a comedy queen before, but after seeing her cabaret-style show, I was blown away.”

And Sasha has the comedic experience to support her critique. The self-described heiress and fourth-generation San Franciscan has garnered a strong following with her own scathing brand of humor, both online and onstage. In addition to Drag Queens of Comedy, she treads the boards of the Castro as both her female and male identities in productions like “Comedy in the Castro” and “Rolodex of Hate.” But long time fans of her punchlines should expect something a little different for this new show.

“I usually do a lot of off-color humor or snobby humor. I will always have this undertone of a snobby socialite who’s better than them, but at the same time I make fun of myself. But this time we’re going into political humor. We’ll be touching on a lot of hot topics and current events.”

Audiences eager to see her new material but hesitant to schlep up to the Bay Area will need to be patient. Sasha has plans to eventually mount Drag Queens of Comedy a little closer to home in SoCal. “It’s totally going to come to L.A. We’re working on it right now. I think I’ve been spoiled by the Castro Theater. We’re searching for the perfect venue for it, hoping to step down here for it in the fall.”

The Drag Queens of Comedy Castro Theater, San Francisco May 23 thedragqueensofcomedy.com MAY 27, 2015

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AROUND THE WORLD IN 80

GAYS

A preview of the globe’s gayest celebrations

T

he beauty of homosexuality is that it defies all borders. The privilege of same-sex love isn’t limited by nationality, ethnicity or language, and despite the varying levels of adversity facing us, gays thrive on all seven continents. (Yes, we’re including Antarctica, because why not?) And just as the international LGBT community has experienced a more-than-fair share of struggles, we have also enjoyed plenty of recent victories.

As of this year, 18 countries—from South Africa to New Zealand, Uruguay to Iceland—fully recognize same-sex marriage, and that’s not including the United States’ and Mexico’s regional or courtdirected provisions. This atmosphere of increasing LGBT tolerance is worth celebrating, and rest assured, no matter where you find yourself on the planet, there’s a Pride festival for you to revel in your own fabulousness.

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EUROPE AMSTERDAM

July 30 - August 2 The European hot spot’s annual Canal Parade is unique from any other Pride proce ssion in the world because it’s the only one that actually takes place on the water, barreling down the Prinsengracht.

Amsterdam Pride kicks of f Frid ay with th e hilarious Drag Queen Olympics, and the several days leading up to Sunday’s parade are full of street parties, but the real fun is in the city’s nightlife scene, which

attracts international DJs to spin at circuit parties rivaling any you’ll find the world over. Amsterdam Pride is also a prime destination for more fetishminded gays, with men in full latex bodysuits unapologetically walking the straat as if they were donning head-totoe Gucci, not unlike a Dutch Folsom Street Fair. amsterdamgaypride.nl Pride Pro Tip: Hit up the underwater-themed downstairs of Dolphins coffee shop and chow down one on of its signature edibles.

BERLIN

June 21-27 Referred to locally as CSD Berlin (Christopher Street Day—a nod to the Stonewall Riots that famously kicked off our LGBT revolution), this German Pride fest is one of the most prominent and eclectic in Europe.

With over 200 events planned annually, the weeklong festival offers culturally relevant fare including films, lectures, concerts and exhibitions, all in addition to plenty of partying.

Berlin is infamous for a

raunchy bar scene that makes our local watering holes look like a T.G.I.Friday’s, plus an influx of New York DJs over the past decade has created one of the most cutting-edge club scenes on the planet. csd-berlin.de Pride Pro Tip: H ey, sex-positive kinksters, don’t pass up a night at the fetish-themed KitKatClub, where Kirsten enforces the music-and-sex club’s strict dress code policy— fetish, latex, leather or high fashion glamour.

PAVEL KAVALENKAU | DREAMSTIME.COM

BY M I KE CI R IACO

Opposite page: Hundreds of thousands of revelers gather along Amsterdam’s Prinsengracht Canal for Pride This page, clockwise from top left: The city of Riga, Latvia; a topless partier in Bogotá; an insane number of people gather for Stockholm Pride; the 5-0 is out in full force at CSD Berlin

SOUTH AMERICA

PAVEL KAVALENKAU | DREAMSTIME.COM

EURO PRIDE

June 15-21 This year’s pan-European Pride event will be hosted in Riga, Latvia, which is a big deal since it’s the time the international affair will be held in a former Soviet republic. The celebration will feature the Baltic’s longest ever Pride Parade, an LGBT film festival dubbed Black Carnation, and an exhibition dedicated to Tom of Finland.

The best part is that this proud gay event takes place on the doorstep of Russia, figuratively

giving the middle finger to Latvia’s homophobic former occupiers. This year’s Euro Pride hopes to use the attention generated from its weeklong festivities to shine a light on the atrocities occurring just across the border. europride2015.eu Pride Pro Tip: Cut corners and stay at the Tom of Finland-decorated XXL, which is not only a hotel and sauna, but also is one of the city’s few gay clubs, boasting the hottest strippers from Lithuania, Estonia and Russia.

STOCKHOLM

July 27 - August 1 This LGBT Swedish fest boasts the largest Pride Parade in Scandinavia, bringing in 60,000 participants and more than one-half million spectators. All of Stockholm takes part in what is called Pride City, with theatres, opera houses, churches and more all waving the rainbow flag and joining the celebration. Much like our own West Hollywood analog, Stockholm Pride hosts a Pride Park at Ostermalms IP that serves not only as

a venue for visual art and music performances, but as a melting pot for the city’s various gay citizens and tourists. At one end of the spectrum, the Park features a Pride Young area geared towards LGBT youths, while at the opposite end, the Kinky Quarters offers an adults-only oasis for the BDSM community. stockholmpride.org Pride Pro Tip: While in town, head to the ABBA Museum for a chance to get onstage with holograms of the Swedish pop foursome.

BOGOTÁ

June 28 The gradual advent of this Colombian capital‘s strong, united and fully integrated gay community has led some to dub Bogotá “The new gay capital of the world.”

Although the country springs from conservative roots, Bogotá has blossomed into an open and tolerant metropolis where children are exposed to every type of sexuality on the Kinsey Scale. The city’s vibrant Orgullo Gay is centered in the city’s Chapinero

district—with its multitude of cafes, bars and clubs catering to gays— while the parade, comprised of local organizations and hard-bodied dancers above floats, marches some 40 blocks from Parque Nacional to Plaza Bolivar.

Pride Pro Tip: Among the neighborhoods you’ll want to visit on your trip are La Macarena, an upand-coming bohemian neighborhood of galleries and great restaurants, and Zona Rosa, an upscale part of town great for shopping.

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BUENOS AIRES

November 7 The first Latin American nation to legalize samesex marriage, Argentina is without doubt sociopolitically progressive.

Buenos Aires Pride is celebrated late in the year, commemorating the formation of the city’s first LGBT rights organization, Nuestro Mundo, in 1969. The downtown celebration starts in the afternoon with a Pride Fair, and by 6 p.m. the parade (Marcha del Orgullo Gay) starts a festive three-hour march 50

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toward the mainstage at Plaza Congreso, followed by performances by local pop acts, exhibitions and speeches. The party goes all week long with art shows, film fests and other events throughout the city’s gay clubs. marchadelorgullo.org.ar Pride Pro Tip: For a night where anything could happen, head to the Monday night stripper party at KM Zero, dubbed “The hottest night in Buenos Aires,” but be prepared to shell out some serious cash for your cocktails.

LONG BEACH

May 16-17 For SoCal residents, this is the festival that kicks off our entire Pride season. This year’s festival—held Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.—flaunts the talents of a few iconic divas, with Salt-N-Pepa taking the mainstage Saturday night, while Patti LaBelle headlines Sunday. The festival also offers stages for those seeking Country, urban soul and Latin music styles. Sunday begins with the FrontRunners

of Long Beach hosting their annual Rainbow Run awards at 9:30 a . m . , followed by a pre-parade show starring the Brunchettes of Hamburger Mary’s, then the 10:30 a.m. march down Ocean Boulevard. longbeachpride.com Pride Pro Tip: Don’t miss either of our sponsored Pride events, both on May 16—pool party PLAY@Maya at Hotel Maya from noon to 6 p.m., and Overboard, the weekend’s big dance party, held on the Queen Mary from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.

LOS ANGELES

June 12-14 In 1970, while New York and San Francisco were commemorating the Stonewall Riots with protest-like marches and rallies, L.A. went one step further and hosted the first Pride Parade down Hollywood Boulevard, a more jubilant affair with floats and speedo-clad men, thus creating the template for every gay parade that followed.

This legacy of flamboyant festivity lives on in L.A. Pride today, though the locale was changed

to (what would become) the more gay-friendly West Hollywood back in 1979. This year’s headliners include Ke$ha, F i f t h H a r m o ny a n d Tamar Braxton, and the two-day festival will also feature the return of ThunderGround, an above -ground roller disco, for those who invest in $50 VIP tickets. lapride.org Pride Pro Tip: David Cooley, owner of WeHo’s world-famous The Abbey, plans to see the opening of his new venture, Cooley’s, around the time of Pride.

LONG BEACH: JUAN CAMILO BERNAL | DREAMSTIME.COM

NORTH AMERICA

Opposite page, clockwise from left: Richard Simmons greets the crowd at L.A. Pride; being green in Long Beach; Buenos Aires Pridegoers This page: A sexy Montréal strong man; Pride on the streets of New York; carrying the rainbow flag along San Francisco’s Market Street

LONG BEACH: JUAN CAMILO BERNAL | DREAMSTIME.COM

MONTRÉAL

August 10-16 The largest LGBT gathering in the French-speaking world, this Canadian Pride festival has, over the past three years, based its parade color theme on the rainbow’s hues. This time it’s yellow, so expect plenty of floats featuring images of sunshine and electrical sparks. On Tuesday, Montréal Pride will present its firstever free Peace Concert in the Quar tier des Spectacles. On Saturday, Sainte-Catherine Street E ast—the cit y ’s fun

gay enclave—will host Community Day, a street fair for LGBT businesses and organizations to present their services to the public, with Sunday’s events including the Parade, Mega T-Dance and Pride’s closing show. fiertemontrealpride.com Pride Pro Tip: Stay at W Montréal in the city’s Downtown District, featuring some of the hotel chain’s most spacious rooms and an underground tunnel straight to the subway, perfect for traversing Montréal with ease.

NEW YORK CITY

June 26-28 As expected from the city that birthed Stonewall, New York Pride will yet again be one of the world’s biggest. The ceremonies begin Friday with the annual rally commemorating the gay power demonstration and candlelight vigil held one month after the 1969 riots. Saturday features a series of shindigs, like a VIP Rooftop Pride Party, the sapphic Teaze and Masterbeat’s frat-themed WE Party: University.

The week culminates on

Sunday with PrideFest, the Pride Parade (featuring grand marshal Sir Ian McKellan), and the grand finale—Dance on the Pier, featuring the world’s longest fireworks display. nycpride.org Pride Pro Tip: If you book fast, you may find a room at the super cheap (we’re talking around $100 per night) Jane Hotel, a West Village landmark that RuPaul once called home.

You’ll deal with shared bathrooms and sleeper car rooms, but you were only gonna sleep there anyway, right?

SAN FRANCISCO

June 27-28 Forty-six years since Stonewall, San Francisco continues to promote LGBT visibility and revel in o ur co m munit y ’s political triumphs with its weekend-long Pride celebration, in which the entire city takes part.

Talent for past festivals has consistently showc a s e d p owe r h o u s e s such as Lady Gaga, the Backstreet Boys and Sandra Bernhard, so it’s safe to assume this year’s (still unannounce d) lineup will be nothing

short of impressive. The two-day festival leads up to Sunday’s parade, this year promoting the theme “Equality Without Exception,” as well as the Official SF Pride VIP Party, held inside the City Hall rotunda. sfpride.org Pride Pro Tip: Those unfamiliar with the Bay Area’s bustling nightlife scene can rest easy knowing it’s actually much like L.A.’s, with the Castro being the city’s WeHo equivalent and SoMa housing bars for bears and hipsters, much like Silver Lake.

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Clockwise from left: Tel Aviv’s parade ends at the beach; families walk the parade route of Western Australia Pride; Shanghai Pride is young but inspiring

ASIA SHANGHAI

June 12-21 S h a ng h ai PR I D E wa s founded six years ago to raise awareness of China’s LGBT population, and is a great resource for all kinds of gay events throughout the city. The mere existence of Pride is significant here, in light of the fact that only a narrow sliver of its country’s massive population is out of the closet, a reflection of China’s innate intolerance toward the gay community. Adversity from the mainstream is reflected 52

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AUSTRALIA in the celebration’s lack of a parade, making it an anomaly on the international Pride calendar.

ShanghaiPRIDE compensates for the lack of a march by filling the week with artistic exhibits, panels, discussions and athletic options like theRainbow Run cycling event. shpride.com Pride Pro Tip: You’ll want to venture off the tourist trails and explore the M 50 contemporary art district. This collection of public art studios is Shanghai’s ersion of New York’s SoHo.

TEL AVIV

June 7-14 Housing the Middle East’s only active LGBT community, Tel Aviv offers over 50 different events throughout the week to celebrate Pride.

Similar to most cities’ celebrations, the centerpiece is the parade— which begins at Gan Meir Park, the city’s new center for gay life, and drops off at the beach— although it’s scheduled for Friday, not the traditional Sunday afternoon.

Cinephiles can look forward to celebrating the

10th anniversary of TLV Fest, the city’s prominent LGBT film festival hosted hosted by the Tel Aviv Cinemateque June 5-15, but if you’re hankering for a more hedonistic Pride throwdown, you’ll want to hit up the city’s premier circuit party, Top Gun, on Friday night following the parade. visit-tel-aviv.com Pride Pro Tip: Locals and tourists alike converage at Evita, Tel Aviv’s oldest gay nightclub, open every day of the year from noon to the wee hours of the morning.

W. AUSTRALIA

November 6-22 Motivated by anti-gay discrimination, Western Australia’s LGBT community founded Pride WA to champion for increased civil rights. For this silver anniversary of 25 years, the “down under” Pride is the world’s longest, clocking in at 16 straight days. Myriad art exhibits, film screenings, comedy showcases and live performances will be staged throughout Northbridge and around the state during the celebration under the banner of PrideFest.

Make plans to attend the parade on Saturday, Nov. 21, and the popular Fairday—featuring stage entertainment and a dog show—on Sunday in Hyde Park. pridewa.com.au Pride Pro Tip: If you’re looking for some sun and some boys, take a day trip 20 minutes outside Perth to North Swanbourne Beach, one of Australia’s most popular nude beaches. (This despite baring your bum technically being illegal, but if you get in trouble, you’ll have plenty of company!)

MAY 27, 2015

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THE WORLD OF BILLY MASTERS

From left: Zac Efron, Jayne Mansfield, Bruce Jenner, yesterday’s Abercrombie & Fitch ideal

ZAC EFRON STRIPS DOWN, TROUBLES WITH BUTT DEMONS & PUTTING JENNER BACK ON THE BOX

A Pair of Juicy Blind Items Could it be that a certain pop stud has been exploring his less-than-angelic side? While he couldn’t indulge in same-sex crushes during his previous incarnation, he’s far less miserable now that he can show up at gay clubs and call it “research” (we hear he likes his research rough). It’s one thing to cavort with male strippers overseas, but it’s pretty foolish to do so stateside—even at a private home.

Happily, his galpal ain’t the “jealous” type. In fact, her only complaint is she’d really like to be able to wear high heels again.

Could it be that a god-like guy more known 54

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for being seen and not heard is trading in tepid big-screen success for small-screen obscurity?

That’s the word from the set of his latest venture, which is far from hitting the target. He doesn’t seem concerned that the experiment could be a bust—and what a bust it is. He was too busy partying at Coachella, clearly feeling no pain while inappropriately grabbing bouncing balls (both high and low). When he made the moves on his former co-star, enough was enough and his beau/manager got him home fast.

WTF A&F?!

Abercrombie & Fitch has just announced that you no longer need to be hot to work there. Stop the insanity! Back when former CEO Mike Jeffries ran the company, he insisted that all store employees had to be hot. “Because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don’t market to anyone other than that.” Since cool, good-looking people are getting their clothes elsewhere, A&F has decided to broaden their appeal by marketing to everyday folk. They call it being “more inclusive and diverse.” If I wanted to see everyday folk selling clothes, I’d go to Target!

The Devil Made Me Do It Joseph Sciambra was a gay porn star, although I’ve never heard of him. He’s now an ex-gay Christian preaching against homosexuality. He claims that during his gay days he was hospitalized after some extremely rough anal sex and (I quote) “had to have my sphincters almost stitched shut.” In a video, he says, “I’m going to talk about the devil and why he loves anal sex. Anal sex releases into the world rare demonic entities that even in the body could

be conceived as the devil and that would be given birth to anally.” Maybe he just wasn’t doing it right.

Ask Billy: Zac Efron’s Brief Nudity Our question comes from Jason in Chicago. “I heard the paparazzi took photos of Zac Efron walking around the set of his new movie nude. Do you have the pics?”

This is a strange situation, because Zac isn’t nude, but he isn’t exactly clothed either. I’ve previously told you all about the “cock sock”—a flesh-colored garment that is placed over a man’s genitalia while filming a nude scene. There is also a variation of this garment that is basically a nude brief. This is what Zac was wearing during the filming of Dirty Grandpa ... with a twist. His brief has some sort of a bumblebee plush toy attached to the front. He’s walking around the set in this ridiculous outfit, talking on the phone, sometimes leaning on trashcans, all the while holding his bumblebee in place. But crazy as it sounds, he actually looks really hot. At some point, a small boy approaches him to ask him a question or take a photo or pat his bee. The cameramen captured Zac bending over in this flesh-colored brief, showing off his impressive assets whilst simultaneously evoking the essence of the late Jayne Mansfield. It goes without saying that you’ll find a variety of these photos on my site.

I ask you, where else would you get an Efron/ Mansfield comparison? Only at BillyMasters.com, the site that’s always cutting edge. If you have something for me to investigate, drop a note to Billy@BillyMasters.com, and I promise to get back to you. Until next time, remember, one man’s filth is another man’s bible.

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The Million-Dollar Question The question on everyone’s lips lately is what would General Mills (maker of Wheaties) think of Bruce Jenner coming out as transgender? We didn’t have to wait long for an answer. “Bruce Jenner continues to be a respected member of Team Wheaties,” they said. Jenner could again make history should Wheaties put her on the cover as a trans athlete, but first she’s gotta master walking in those pumps!

By the way, Bruce Jenner (or Heather Jenner, as we believe he will soon be called) is being sued for negligence and wrongful death by the stepchildren of the woman who was killed when her car was pushed into oncoming traffic. The suit doesn’t specify an amount, but states that the death of 69-year-old Kim Howe is a great loss, which is intriguing because Howe’s friends say that she had “virtually no relationship” with her stepkids.

Even more intriguing is that these stepkids are not included in her will! Howe’s entire estate is being left to various charities, primarily animal-related.

Although the case is still being investigated, Jenner has not been charged with any crime.

QUEERSAY

BY GOSSIP GAY

CONDO CRAZINESS

M

ore than fortune or fame, there’s one thing that every celebrity strives for in this town, and that is power! Whether it be going viral on TMZ’s front page or having a sold-out shoe line at Target, the ability to make headlines by doing little to nothing is something all A-list wannabes crave in starry-eyed droves.

Such a statement is perhaps nowhere better personified than in the current war being waged in one West Hollywood condo complex. Yes, folks, mere blocks away from The Abbey stands a posh, exclusive multi-storied home that has been thrown into utter chaos and turmoil, thanks to an upcoming condo board election.

So tells us one of the building’s flaming mad flamers, “The board works really hard. Whenever there’s a problem, they’re on it ... and they keep the building looking great. However, there’s [name-withheld star of a new, horrible primetime comedy] who fucks everything up constantly.

Every year she’s on the board, and she never goes to any of the meetings.

She does it so her agent can say that she “gives back,” but she gives us nothing, aside from her goddamn dog defecating in the hallway and the boxes from her late-night Pizza Hut binges clogging up the garbage chute.

She’s nasty-ass ratchet!”

Apparently this year’s election has been elevated to a whole new level of “nasty-ass ratchet.” You see, I’m told this supposed comedienne has stolen the building’s mailing list—a board by-laws no-no—and sent out mailers to all residents in the complex, smearing the other candidates.

Explains our resident flamer, “At one point she even accuses them of having no taste and being unable to make bold color palette choices in the lobby’s remodel! I mean, can you even?!”

Never before have I heard such hateful things spewed during an election—at least outside of a presidential campaign. Attack one’s credentials, that’s fine with me. But attack one’s courage to pair lavender walls with popping pink accents? That’s truly the definition of downright, nasty-ass ratchet!

KIEFER KEEPS IT COOL

I

spied with my queer little eye one Kiefer Sutherland at the Burbank Vons. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love this store—the staff is amazing, and the produce is killer.

However, the lines are often long, and this particular day was boasting an extra-hefty wait time. But I’m happy to report that Sutherland, standing behind me in checkout line number seven, kept his cool and didn’t once pop off. (Though I readily admit I was hoping he’d bust out a little “Do you know who I am?!” craziness.)

All the while, I continually shot him one of those Can you believe this long wait?”looks as he perpetually returned one of those Please do not acknowledge me and say that you love my work! glances. Yes, folks, it was just another day in Tinseltown as I shop for vodka, kitty litter and sugar-free Jelly Belly.makeover. When I hear more, I’ll keep you updated.

For more Gossip Gay, go to FrontiersMedia.com. Drop me your dirty little secrets at QueerSay@hotmail.com, and don’t worry, I never give up my deep throat!

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PALM SPRINGS

BACK IN BLACK Black-and-white film, that is, as the latest installment of a film noir festival is set to take over the desert’s big screens By Lydia Siriprakorn

B

efore the days of CGI, massive explosions and superheroes battling it out between demolished New York City skyscrapers, a good movie was nothing without a good story. “People like good stories,” says Alan Rode, producer and host of the upcoming 2015 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Palm Springs. Founded in 2000 by the late mystery author Arthur Lyons, the festival showcases the best of film noir with a full schedule of screenings, special guests, book signings and more, all intended to take us back to a time when a good story was critical to making a good movie.

“Movies made during the classic film noir era—the mid-‘40s to early ‘60s—people favor the craftsmanship and the stories,” he says.

“There’s something to be said about seeing a movie that lasts an hour and a half and doesn’t become an endurance test like sitting through a movie that lasts three hours.”

We’ll take his word for it, as Rode is more than just a film noir connoisseur. He’s also Charter Director of the Film Noir Foundation, and travels the country putting on film noir festivals like this one.

“Our festival has endured because of the movies. Many of them are based on novels, pulp fiction, detective novels. One of the kind of tree roots of film noir are the immigrés directors that came over in the 1930s and ‘40s and brought over an impressionistic styling from Europe into a lot of these films, in terms of camera angle, lighting, acting and so on.” While Rode cherishes the artistic value of these films, he believes that their heart is their stories. “The themes, the craftsmanship and the dialogue possess a universal appeal,” he says.

But you don’t have to have grey hair to appreciate the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival. “The audience is a somewhat older audience, but one of the most gratifying things is seeing an increasing number of young people attend these films,” he says. Now in its 16th year, the

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festival attracts more young people than it ever has. “We’re seeing a younger demographic of people who are just turned on to these movies because they are just well-crafted and well-written. They still reflect a lot about our culture, and the audience responds to that. In the film noir movies that we show—even though most of them were made way, way before many of the patrons were born—the themes of lust, larceny and pursuit of bad things are universal.”

For the ultimate throwback, the festival offers a rare moviewatching experience—film. “Many of these movies are shown in 35mm print, the way movies used to be shown,” says Rode. “There aren’t too many theaters anymore that can show these.” Camelot Theatres is one of the few left that has held onto its 35mm equipment, a treat anyone can appreciate, not just film buffs and Old Hollywood fans.

The 2015 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival runs May 14-17 at the Camelot Theatre and will include rare appearances by living legends like Jon Polito and Norman Lloyd. Seasoned actor Polito will help kick things off on opening night after a screening of the 1990 film Miller’s Crossing, marking the 25th anniversary of the film that put the Coen Brothers on the map. On Saturday, producer, director and actor Lloyd—who worked with the likes of Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin and Orson Welles, will be there following a screening of 1931 German thriller M. Much like the festival itself, Rode calls Lloyd “living history, with stories of a Hollywood long gone.” And through a series of curated movie screenings, Q&As and meet-and-greets, the festival revives the heart and soul of a Hollywood past.

Purchase tickets to the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival and view a full schedule of events at arthurlyonsfilmnoir.ning.com.

Sun. | May 17 THE JUDY SHOW Purple Room

Glamour and high camp rule as drag artiste Michael Holmes parodies Judy Garland every Sunday, starting at 7 p.m. purpleroompalmsprings.com Tue. | May 19 SHOW TUNES TUESDAYS Street Bar

Sing your favorite show tunes with fellow theatre lovers as VJ Rob Roberts plays video clips of Broadway shows and Hollywood musicals ever y Tuesday from 6 -10 p.m. psstreetbar.com Wed. | May 20 SABRINA Camelot Theater

Audrey Hepburn has both William H olden and H umphrey B ogar t romancing her in Billy Wilder’s 1954 comedy, playing at 8 p.m. camelottheatres.com Sat. | May 23 LYNDA CARTER Agua Caliente Casino Resort

TV’s Wonder Woman wows audiences with her stunning singing voice, starting at 8 p.m. hotwatercasino.com

Mon. | May 25 MEMORIAL DAY FLOWER DROP AND AIR FAIR Palm Springs Air Museum

3,000 red and white carnations will be dropped during a fly-by display, plus flight exhibitions, World War II reenactments, musical performances and more. palmspringsairmuseum.org Thu. | May 28 LIPSTICK THURSDAYS Copa Nightclub

Bella da Ball headlines the weekly show that also features some of the valley’s best drag performers. coparoomps.com

PRESENTS

L.A. Pride 2015 ADVERTISING DEADLINE: MAY 22, 2015

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BOTH SIDES NOW: ROBERT HEINECKEN PHOTOGRAMS Palm Springs Art Museum May 23 psmuseum.org

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GAYDAR

RAINBOW CONNECTION Did you think rainbows were just for Pride flags and heavenly promises following a flood?

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It’s a rainbow trout, get it?

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With her trusty companion Twink (seriously), Rainbow Brite banished khaki & beige from young homo wardrobes everywhere!

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