2021-6

VOL 21, #6

LAS VEGAS MAGAZINE

Thoughts on a more inclusive ‘Drag Race’ and her new comedy special

VEGAS URBAN

PRIDE

Leyna Bloom

First Black and Asian openly trans woman featured in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

Despite having to start over on social media and missing data, Johanna Perez, founder of Vegas Urban Pride is rebuilding and continues to make history

NEW

INTERSEX INCLUSIVE Ryan O’Connell

‘Special’ actor/creator talks LGBTQ+ people with disabilities

PRIDE PROGRESS FLAG

CELEBRITY INTERVIEW

By: Chris Azzopardi

Ryan O’Connell Wants You — Yes, You! — to Talk More About Queer People with Disabilities

The ‘Special’ actor on why his groundbreaking show has felt like a ‘bad boyfriend’ and gay sex on TV

Photo Credit: Netflix

A gay man with cerebral palsy.

You won’t find that kind of important representation just any time you flick on the TV, which is why Ryan O’Connell’s Netflix show “Special” has been uniquely refreshing and profoundly revolutionary.

It began as a memoir — his memoir, entitled “I’m Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves” — and then evolved into a full-fledged, semi-autobiographical dramedy in 2019 on Netflix.

He created it, he stars in it, he writes it. And he does so once again with the second and final season, which expands episodes from short bits to sitcom-length servings, with openly gay actor Jim Parsons still producing. During this season, which premieres May 20, lead character Ryan (the actor, who is gay and living with cerebral palsy himself, shares his name with the title character) continues his journey to self-fulfillment.

That path is lined with hiccups involving an open relationship, 4 Fab Vegas

topping and his relationship with his mother.

Here, O’Connell talks about his honest approach to gay sex (and why he thinks most gay sex on TV is “dire”), deciding to incorporate a storyline on the, uh, shitty part of butt play and how it’s important for him to still, after “Special,” create stories about people living with disabilities.

I’m gonna miss TV Ryan.

Oh, I know, I know. It’s a bummer. But, uh, at least you get more time with him for Season 2, right?

How’re you feeling now that the show has come to an end?

Honestly, it sounds weird to say, but I feel pretty good about it. I mean, obviously, the decision to end the show was not mine, but here’s the deal: I’m gonna give you a little blurry timeline of the show.

We pitched it in 2015; it took four years to get made. Then it came out April 2019 and took us five months to get renewed

and then COVID shut us down. (It took) us two years for Season 2.

So, as amazing as the show has been, and incredible, it’s also kinda been like a bad boyfriend. This has been a part of my life for six years, so because we knew from the jump that this was going to be the last season, we were able to really craft, I think, a really complete and final season. So from the storyline perspective, it feels totally right. “Special” has been really incredible, but it’s been a really, really difficult show to make and it feels like it’s always hanging on by a thread and, yeah, I think I’m ready (laughs) for a new anxiety moment.

Difficult in the sense of you being so involved in every aspect of the show or…?

Well, no. That I love ‘cause I’m a Type A Virgo from hell, so that’s where I thrive. I refused to do 15 minutes again, so we had to do a whole new deal, blah, blah, blah, blah,

Facebook.com/FreeZoneLV

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CELEBRITY INTERVIEW blah. Everything was really protracted and it’s been a journey with the show, man.

She has not been easy!

Listen, boyfriends are work too.

They (are), and they give you amazing orgasms sometimes.

So what you’re saying is the payoff was worth it in the end?

The payoff was totally worth it.

With this season, where do you end and where does the other Ryan begin?

As the show’s gone on, the character of Ryan has become less and less like me, especially in Season 2. Season 1, honestly, wasn’t really like me either (laughs). I mean, I was never like this character; I was never this arrested development. I moved out of my parents’ house at 18 — right on schedule! Lost my virginity at 17 — right on schedule! What I do relate to with this character of Ryan in Seasons 1 and 2 are the emotional themes, like what he’s struggling with, this feeling of, “Is he enough?”

This struggle with self-worth and independence. That really resonates with me deeply. But in terms of the situations this little goof troop finds himself in, I don’t relate to that.

Like, I would never date someone in an open relash who has all these convoluted rules and be like, “Sure, I can see you Tuesday evening and I’m totally OK with that.”

I mean, maybe I would’ve, honestly. I would have done that in my early 20s. But the situation never presented itself

to me. But emotionally I get it. I’ve been through what he’s been through.

I’m calling this season “Ryan’s journey to being a dom top.”

Oh my. Well, at least emotionally, yeah. And actually, you’re right, he does top! Oh my god, you’re right!

(Laughs.)

How could you have forgotten?

The metaphor is very thinly veiled, I would say. Very thinly veiled.

And I’m just obviously being as literal as possible.

Well, I think it works both ways, baby. I think Ryan has been emotionally and physically bottoming for a lot of people and this season is all about him coming into his own and asserting what he wants and not apologizing for it. He’s not apologizing for taking up space; that’s something I really, really relate to.

A couple years ago, I really experienced a shift in terms of realizing how much I was contorting myself to make everyone else around me comfortable while never asking, “Am I comfortable?

Do I want to do this?” And then I would see straight, white males waltz around the world with such confidence, engaging their female baristas in non-consensual conversations about their band and my blood would boil because I’d just be like, I can’t imagine going into an interaction not fully wondering what the other

person is feeling and taking their feelings into account. I feel like I’m so hyperaware of how I’m being perceived and making sure that everyone else around me is OK with who I am. But I really have learned to let go of that completely and I just try to walk around with the confidence of a New York straight, white male. I cosplay as one every day. Not at the coffee shop, though.

I leave those baristas alone.

They don’t need any of this, they don’t.

They’re getting enough on their own.

Exactly, exactly. They don’t need to hear about my day, I can tell you that right now.

It sounds like you had a past as a barista...

No! As if I could carry anything, are you kidding me?

A barista is a guy with cerebral palsy’s worst nightmare. It’s like all the things he can’t do: hand-eye coordination, like balancing. Oh my god, I would be fired immediately. It would be a lawsuit waiting to happen.

As for the gay sex on “Special”: It’s not the kind of gay sex that’s watered the fuck down to make straight people more comfortable, which is why I love it so much.

Yes, it’s definitely … you can tell it’s written and performed by a gay person. And also, I’ve been very vocal about how I only hire gay actors to play gay roles and people are like, “Um, it’s called acting, ever heard of it? That’s their literal job.” And I’m like, FabLasVegas.com

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FabLasVegas.com

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CELEBRITY INTERVIEW “Honey, sweetie, darling, baby, that’s not what this is about.

I understand, I’m very aware of what acting means, but we don’t live in a world where there’s an equal playing field and that’s why I wanna give people opportunities to get parts, because not a lot of people are giving them those opportunities.” And also, from a selfish point of view,

8 Fab Vegas

it’s much easier to shoot a gay sex scene with a gay actor than it is a straight actor. I don’t wanna fucking explain the mechanics of gay sex to a straight actor. Life is too short, honey.

Somebody had to say it.

Yeah. But we definitely pushed the envelope. And then we cum all over it for Season

2 in terms of sex. Sex is my muse, for better or for worse.

I just don’t understand why the representation of gay sex has been so dire. It’s either hypersexualized and very porny and erotic, or it’s done in a tent, off-camera, and you just hear lots of grunting and moaning.

So it was really nice to not do any of that and also not have

sex that’s cloaked in shame or secrecy. I’m not saying that there’s not value to those stories ‘cause it is a part of our existence, but I think we’ve reached a point where I’m like, “OK, I’m ready for us to level up for gay storytelling.”

I’m interested now in stories that don’t revolve around our trauma and our pain, or that include our trauma and

pain but also include like, you know, anal sex jokes. We contain multitudes.

Season 2 also explores the pleasures of being gay.

Which there are so many. You couldn’t pay me to be straight, it’s horrifying. So I just think it’s really, really important that we tell a different kind of story, ‘cause I think we’ve earned it

and I think we’re ready.

From what I know, this season was shot entirely during the pandemic, which means the sex scenes were also shot during the pandemic. Is that right?

The first four episodes were shot pre-COVID. So what I’m saying is they were real (laughs). And then COVID

Photo Credit: Netflix FabLasVegas.com

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CELEBRITY INTERVIEW came along and we’re like, “Oh no, I guess we have to fake it.” Just kidding! The first four episodes were done preCOVID. It’s so funny watching the first four episodes ‘cause I feel like I have a literal record of the last month of the world before it changed aerobically forever. It’s so eerie. But again, with me and Max Jenkins, Max is a friend of mine and I’ve known him for a long time and there’s just a level of comfort between the two of us that, again, is another benefit of just shooting with gay friends. There’s this ease that I feel I wouldn’t have with some rando straight stranger. So I don’t feel like the pandemic actually made the sex scenes suffer. And I know that some people were cutting sex scenes throughout the pandemic, and I was like, “This is the DNA of the show.”

Like, I can’t. I was like, “I will die on this literal sex hill.”

Truly. Like, literally die. When we talk about dying for your art, I didn’t realize I was going to be really metabolizing that in a literal sense for block two of shooting, but here we were, baby, here we were.

And those sex scenes, even for gay actors, are still pretty choreographed, right?

Yeah, it is. Again, when you’re doing it with another gay guy, it’s pretty intuitive and very easy to construct because we’ve all done it and we’ve all been there. It’s not like “Building a Mystery” by Sarah McLachlan.

On the topic of sex, I want to say that I really appreciate

the storyline involving anal sex and poop.

Oh my god, I know. Why has no one talked about that?

That’s crazy.

Well, this is why we’re gonna talk about it. I want to know everything about that bit in the show, and mostly why you decided to write a storyline involving the part of butt sex so few gay men talk about.

Well, because it happened to me when I was 17, losing my virginity: I shit on my boyfriend-at-the-time’s dick and, again, there was no reference point for anal sex in 2004. There just wasn’t anything; there was no Netflix series tackling it (laughs) with care. So you kind of had to wing it. And, uh, anal sex was really intense!

I remember the first few times we tried fucking, it hurt too bad ‘cause I don’t think we even realized lube was a thing.

I mean, it was all very weird, it was a DIY affair. Then, finally, when I did my emotional exercises and was ready to do it, then that’s when I had the accident and I remember thinking, “Oh my god, is my asshole broken? Is this like a cerebral palsy thing? Like, what the fuck is going on?”

I remember Googling — or I don’t even know if there was Google, but whatever it was in 2004 — “Anal. Shit.

Sex.” Nothing really came up.

So I remember feeling a lot of shame about that, and I didn’t know about douching or anything like that so whenever I have to go through something and suffer, I’m always like, “Wow, this is a nice opportunity for someone

who is a teenager who may be thinking about having anal sex for the first time to know that this does happen.” Shit happens, literally. And you’re not freakish, your asshole is not broken. Honey, it’s a part of the fabric of our gay ass lives.

And in the show, you take the shame out of it, which is great.

Yeah, I actually just thought it was an interesting kind of turn for Tanner (Jenkins) to have the sexual misstep, as it were, and have Ryan not respond in a kind of chic, compassionate way, because Tanner’s been kind of compassionate with him and anytime that Ryan kind of acts in an uninvolved way is very interesting to me. I’m a big advocate that marginalized people exist, but they can also exist as very flawed and not always doing the right thing, ‘cause I think, again, we’re given this tiny space to exist but we better be virtuous and be magical and wonderful.

And so I thought it was an interesting way to make Ryan sort of the asshole, as it were, in the sexual experience with Tanner. I thought it was just an interesting little wrinkle for their doomed relationship.

Something that I have also never seen on TV: the guy who you meet who fetishisizes disability. Were you faced with a situation like that in your own life?

I’ve never been fetishized, but I’ve heard about it and I know that it’s a thing. I think they’re called “devotees,” and I thought it was an interesting FabLasVegas.com

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way to explore Ryan grappling with his self-worth. So it was really important to me that it was very clear that this is a consensual experience. Ryan’s not being sexually assaulted.

The guy says, “Is this OK?” and Ryan says yes because that’s a very real thing that we don’t talk about, which is basically sex that you’re not comfortable having but you don’t necessarily have the selfesteem to MacGyver yourself out of it.

How do you hope “Special” has enlightened people within the LGTBQ+ community, and beyond, who haven’t really considered the experiences of someone who is a queer person with a disability?

I hate the word “normal,” ‘cause what is normal? But so little is discussed in terms of disability. I feel like disabled people often exist on the fringes of our society because they are quite literally shut out, based on this world not being accessible on a very basic level. So I think that the dialogue around disability is happening, but I still think it’s not happening to the level that it should and I think people feel uncomfortable when talking about disability.

I feel like they’re worried about saying the wrong thing.

I think with “Special,” you know, comedy is the best superpower that I have, that I’ve used throughout my life to get through it. And I think that when you give people permission to laugh, it creates this general ease and comfort.

Ryan is disabled, but you don’t have to be disabled to

be feeling the things that he’s feeling. So I think it’s really just important to show a gay character who doesn’t fit the physical ideals. I hope that it normalizes disability and I hope that it adds more texture to the queer experience, because in a lot of ways TV is gayer than ever. I feel like you can’t sell a pilot without including a gay guy in there.

But I still think that gay men are rarely allowed to be the complicated main course of the show. I think they’re often relegated to being the appetizer. So I think it’s really important that we show gay men and (their) rich interior life, not just in the context of them, like, shopping or being comedic relief.

Totally, which is what you do. You accomplish that in Season 2 with Ryan. There’s moments when he’s not particularly likable.

We’re not all likable. I just feel like TV exists in this really binary way where it’s either someone is really virtuous or amazing, or they’re a fucking asshole. People aren’t total assholes, and they’re not totally amazing. They exist in between, and I think that’s always what I try to show with Ryan and other characters: that, yes, they can act deeply flawed, but they can also be incredible.

At Him” that is about a gay guy with cerebral palsy who writes for TV. What?! She didn’t stray too far for this one! That’s being adapted into a movie with Greg Berlanti producing, so I’m gonna be writing that and starring in it, which will be really great.

Then I sold a show to HBO Max called “Accessible,” which is a teen disabled comedy, which I hope gets picked up to series.

Sometimes I feel like, “Should I really kind of dive into disability again?” or “I’ve already done that,” but the fact is that there’s so much that has not been explored and that’s what really gets me excited as a storyteller: when you can say things like, “Wow, I’ve never seen that on TV before.”

It’s crazy that we’re still saying that in 2021. Even though there are approximately 40 million shows on the air, there are things that still have stigma and still have taboo. So I’m only going to be playing in the world of disability for a little bit longer! And we’ll see what happens.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Looking ahead, what kind of stories do you want to tell next or be a part of? And in what form: film or television?

Picasso had his Blue Period, and I’m still in my Gay Disabled Period. So, I wrote a novel called “Just By Looking FabLasVegas.com

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Handwashing

at Home, at Play, and Out and About Germs are everywhere! They can get onto your hands and items you touch throughout the day. Washing hands at key times with soap and water is one of the most important steps you can take to get rid of germs and avoid spreading germs to those around you.

How can washing your hands keep you healthy?

Germs can get into the body through our eyes, nose, and mouth and make us sick. Handwashing with soap removes germs from hands and helps prevent sickness. Studies have shown that handwashing can prevent 1 in 3 diarrhea-related sicknesses and 1 in 5 respiratory infections, such as a cold or the flu.

Handwashing helps prevent infections for these reasons: People often touch their eyes, nose, and mouth without realizing it, introducing germs into their bodies.

Germs from unwashed hands may get into foods and drinks when people prepare or consume them. Germs can grow in some types of foods or drinks and make people sick.

Germs from unwashed hands can be transferred to other objects, such as door knobs, tables, or toys, and then transferred to another person’s hands.

What is the right way to wash your hands?

1. Wet your hands with clean running water (warm or cold) and apply soap.

2. Lather your hands by rubbing them together with the soap.

3. Scrub all surfaces of your hands, including the palms, backs, fingers, between your fingers, and under your nails. Keep scrubbing for at least 20 seconds. Need a timer? Hum the “Happy Birthday” song twice.

4. Rinse your hands under clean, running water.

5. Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry them.

CS 280522A

When should you wash your hands?

Handwashing at any time of the day can help get rid of germs, but there are key times when it’s most important to wash your hands.

• Before, during, and after preparing food • Before eating food • Before and after caring for someone who is sick • Before and after treating a cut or wound • After using the bathroom, changing diapers, or cleaning up a child who has used the bathroom • After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing • After touching an animal, animal food or treats, animal cages, or animal feces (poop) • After touching garbage • If your hands are visibly dirty or greasy

What type of soap should you use?

You can use bar soap or liquid soap to wash your hands. Many public places provide liquid soap because it’s easier and cleaner to share with others. Studies have not found any added health benefit from using soaps containing antibacterial ingredients when compared with plain soap. Both are equally effective in getting rid of germs. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.

How does handwashing help fight antibiotic resistance?

Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria resist the effects of an antibiotic – that is, germs are not killed and they continue to grow.

Sicknesses caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria can be harder to treat. Simply using antibiotics creates resistance, so avoiding infections in the first place reduces the amount of antibiotics that have to be used and reduces the likelihood that resistance will develop during treatment. Handwashing helps prevent many sicknesses, meaning less use of antibiotics.

Studies have shown that handwashing can prevent

1 in 3 diarrhea-related sicknesses and

1 in 5 respiratory infections, such as a cold or the flu.

For more information and a video demonstration of how to wash your hands, visit the CDC handwashing website:

www.cdc.gov/handwashing

SÍNTOMAS DE LA ENFERMEDAD DEL CORONAVIRUS 2019 Los pacientes con COVID-19 han presentado enfermedad respiratoria de leve a grave.

Los síntomas* pueden incluir

TOS

Consulte a un médico si presenta síntomas y ha estado en contacto cercano con una persona que se sepa que tiene el COVID-19, o si usted vive o ha estado recientemente en un área en la que haya propagación en curso del COVID-19.

FIEBRE

*Los síntomas pueden aparecer de 2 a 14 días después de la exposición.

DIFICULTAD *Symptoms may PARA RESPIRAR appear 2-14 days after exposure.

cdc.gov/COVID19-es CS 315252-B March 16, 2020, 1:35PM

FabLasVegas.com

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SYMPTOMS OF CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 Patients with COVID-19 have experienced mild to severe respiratory illness.

Symptoms* can include

COUGH

Seek medical advice if you develop symptoms, and have been in close contact with a person known to have COVID-19 or if you live in or have recently been in an area with ongoing spread of COVID-19.

FEVER

*Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure.

SHORTNESS OF BREATH

cdc.gov/COVID19-symptoms CS 315252-A March 20, 2020, 12:51PM

15 Fab Vegas

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Photo Credit: Momentum Pictures

CELEBRITY INTERVIEW

By: Chris Azzopardi

IN FULL BLOOM This Trans Actress and Sports Illustrated Model Is Changing the Game for Trans Women of Color Leyna Bloom made a splash this year for being the first Black and Asian openly trans woman to be featured in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, out in July.

But even before reaching that historical milestone, the 27-year-old Chicago native was changing the game both on the runway and on the screen.

In 2019, Bloom was the only transgender woman of color to walk Paris Fashion Week in 2019 at the Tommy Hilfiger x Zendaya fashion show as part of an all-Black female runway.

Then there’s her drama “Port Authority,” which features Bloom making her major movie debut in a prominent role, positioning the model, actress and activist as the first trans woman of color to lead a feature film at the Cannes Film Festival in the festival’s 72-year history. After first premiering at Cannes in 2019, “Port Authority” will expand

to VOD on June 1.

In writer-director Danielle Lessovitz’s romantic drama, which was executive produced

by Martin Scorsese, Bloom plays Wye, a trans woman of color and “femme queen” who encounters Paul (Fionn Whitehead) after he’s kicked out of his home in central Pennsylvania. Set against the backdrop of New York’s vogue houses and kiki ballrooms is their blossoming love. Bloom’s next film, “Asking For It,” a film focused on sexism that stars Kiersey Clemons, Ezra Miller, Vanessa Hudgens and Gabourey Sidibe, will premiere this summer at the Tribeca Film Festival. The actress can also be seen as ballroom figure Pretentia Khan in the third and (allegedly) final season of Ryan Murphy’s “Pose.”

During our recent conversation, the rising trans vanguard got emotional reflecting on making Cannes Film Festival history with

“Port Authority.” Bloom also talked about drawing on legendary house mother Carmen Xtravaganza for her role on “Pose,” her dashed dreams of being in the Navy like her father, and being celebrated for her groundbreaking Sports Illustrated shoot.

When were you first interested in acting and modeling?

My great-grandmother was a model. My grandmother and my auntie, her daughters were both models. And my auntie was a dancer; she danced for Sammy Davis Jr. So dance and performing have always been in my blood. I come from two backgrounds, Nigerian and Filipino, which has a very rich background full of dance. So my ancestry and my creativity is all inside my body asking to be released constantly.

Acting has kind of always been kind of part of the FabLasVegas.com

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------------------------------------------------------------------------

CELEBRITY INTERVIEW

-----------------------------------------------------------------------plan, just like, “When am I gonna get there, and what script and what project will be the best project for that opportunity?” When “Port Authority” arrived, it was right on time because it was just a dream opportunity to play that character because it is literally the voice and the story of so many trans bodies. So, I’m glad that that was the first opportunity given to me to show the world the future.

“Port Authority” is the first film in Cannes Film Festival’s 72-year history to feature a trans woman of color in a lead role. How do you feel knowing that?

To be able to do something like this, which is my ancestors’ wildest dreams, is truly monumental. Why has it taken so long? And what can we do with this moment to make sure that it doesn’t take that long for the next person? That’s where my mind is always going to be wrapped up in. Because I may be the first, but I will not be the last. I think it’s just powerful because just 72 years ago, Black and brown bodies and queer bodies were nonexistent in this space. I think it’s just...

I don’t know. I’m getting so emotional thinking about this.

Who are some of the people who paved the way for you to feel comfortable to be who you are?

A lot of beautiful women.

Carmen Xtravaganza. Halle Berry. Tyra Banks. Tracey “Africa” (Norman). You know, Tyra Banks was the first woman of color to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated, so 18 Fab Vegas

I’m standing on her shoulders.

It’s very powerful and I’m so happy that (“Port Authority,” a story about) love was the first reason why we made history. It wasn’t about war, it wasn’t about pain. It was about love. It was a love story that made history about two people, (featuring a) trans woman, that has been missing in society. That is why it is so important, and that is why we need to continue having more moments like this.

around my dad and us living on base, and us traveling to many different bases around the world, and officially being a Marine brat. That was something that we wanted to add to the character. I also wanted to be in the Navy at one point in my life, but because I am trans and because the system is not set up for me to serve my country, I could not do that. So I thought that was a beautiful little piece of nuance.

How much of your own ballroom experience is the experience of your character, Wye, in “Port Authority”?

My experience is very similar.

Wye’s character comes from a ballroom family where she is getting ready for balls and she is helping her family get ready for balls. Paul’s character is actually helping her get ready for balls, so that is very familiar to my lifestyle over the years. I’ve been (doing) ballroom since I was 15 years old, so I’ve gotten ready for many balls and prepared myself for many different competitions through the circuit. It’s very real, it’s very raw, and I love that Danielle wanted to just bring that authenticity to the film.

How did ballroom culture shape who you are today?

Ballroom just allowed me to see myself in my rawest state and understand that if I wanted to change, it’s up to me; it’s not up to anyone else.

Ballroom is a place where you can find harmony in yourself, in your community. Where you can feel the vibrations of the people that are feeling the pain that you’re feeling and can heal together because of that. So ballroom holds lots of raw energy and power that the world has been exploring at a very small rate. But now ballroom is going to homes around the world, and people are redefining the ideas about themselves and what’s around them.

I chuckled at the line, “I mean, you could be a model or something,” which Paul says to Wye after she tells him that she was in the Navy.

Was that based on your own real-life experience?

My dad was actually in the military. He was a Marine. I was raised in that environment, I was raised

As for “Pose,” were you a fan of the series before you starred in it?

I actually auditioned for “Pose,” and a lot of my friends on the show auditioned and got the part. I was a huge fan of any project that was about Black and brown trans women being the centerpiece of the glory of television. So, I’m a

Take your shot.

It’s safe, effective and free!

Schedule your appointment at www.snhd.info/covid-vaccine

-----------------------------------------------------------------------Photo Credit: Mike Ruiz

CELEBRITY INTERVIEW

-----------------------------------------------------------------------huge fan of that show, and I’m so happy I got a chance to be a part of (this) last season.

How would you describe your character, Pretentia, and what was it like embodying her?

I have so many ideas about her character. Pretentia is kind of like Carmen Xtravaganza, this amazing ballroom icon woman that is Spanish and Black African, and she just inspired me growing up. I wanted to just really bring Carmen back to life through Pretentia. She’s just a combination of a lot of different strong women that I just grew up loving. She reminds me a lot of Sharon Stone. She had a lot of really strong alpha characters, and I wanted to bring that to Pretentia.

Tyra Banks has been such a huge supporter of yours.

How important is it to have prominent cis people, like Tyra Banks, lift up the trans community? And what does it mean for you to have people like Tyra in your corner?

Honestly, it’s full circle for me. I was that kid that was watching “America’s Next Top Model” first season, jotting notes to use in my everyday life. Tyra was this woman that was giving us access to free information about her lived experience. And, to one day be aligned in some way, shape or form — aligned to what she has created — is truly powerful. And for her to acknowledge that is even more powerful.

I grew up reading Sports 20 Fab Vegas

Illustrated, and knowing that Tyra was on the cover many times was truly powerful for me as a young trans woman. Seeing a beautiful Black woman that was full bust — big smile, beautiful personality, in tune with her femininity — was really powerful for me to see. When I did Sports Illustrated and it was announced, I immediately hit her up to acknowledge her as like, “I would not be here if it wasn’t for you,” like I did when I did “Pose.” I hit up those women that I told you (about): Carmen, Tracey “Africa.” I hit up these women to acknowledge that, “I’m doing this because you allowed me to see something that changed my life, that now I can be a part of, and I would not be able to do it if it wasn’t for you.” And (Tyra) acknowledged me. We’re texting here and there, and she’s sending me words of affirmation, and I’m moving to Paris soon. She’s like, “Oh, that’s where I was at; my career started in Paris.” So she’s a huge inspiration of mine, but she’s also a mentor, and you know, like a mommy also. I’m one of her babies. (Laughs.)

Who else reached out to you acknowledging how big of a deal your Sports Illustrated shoot was?

So many people hit me up.

People from all different walks of life. A lot of white men reached out to me, and not fetishizing or sexualizing me but acknowledging the fact that the world is changing and the decisions that Sports Illustrated is making allow me to not only just be a part

of Sports Illustrated but to tell my story through them.

(It) was truly monumental for them. They acknowledge that the world needs to change, and why has it taken so long?

A huge, prominent person in sports, (NBA star Dwyane) Wade, who is also from Chicago, reached out to me and congratulated me, sent me some bottles of wine — shout out to D-Wade! He’s raising a young trans daughter, and it was just truly powerful to know that the world is really changing in this moment.

What do you think it will feel like when you get your hands on a physical copy of the magazine?

I just… I honestly, oh my… even seeing a billboard of me anywhere just gives me chills. Because that was part of my vision board, you know?

I would go to these places and see these billboards and just dream that one day that could be me. So the idea that there’s a magazine that’s on the level of Sports Illustrated that is acknowledging my life and what I do in this world with my life, wants me to be something, or sees something inside of me, that’s just truly powerful to me. This new generation of people, you ask them the names, you tell them the stories, and it doesn’t really click with them. But for me, who comes from that era of understanding before social media how powerful these spaces are, it’s just out of this world. I just pinch myself every time.

When it comes to trans women of color leveling the

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CELEBRITY INTERVIEW

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Photo Credit: Johnathan Reis

playing field both in and out of Hollywood, what’s next? What do you want to see leveled up next for trans women of color?

I want to see education level up. I think it’s important for me to pass on information just like information was passed onto me. Since we are in a time when education is always going to be a powerful tool, I definitely want to see how I can work in that environment, whether it’s me opening my own school 22 Fab Vegas

or building a curriculum in a school to develop some type of information and data so people like me can have resources that I didn’t have when I was growing up.

What’s next for you?

One of my mentors, Carmen Xtravaganza, I’m writing her story. That was one thing she wants to leave on this Earth: just information and ideas and wisdom, and I want to put it in a book. After I write her book, I’m going to be writing my

own book.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

23 Fab Vegas

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COMMUNITY VOICES

By: Johnny Fab

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Vegas Urban Pride

Interview with Johanna P. Perez, founder

Despite having to start over on social media and missing data, Johanna Perez, founder of Vegas Urban Pride is rebuilding and continues to make history How did Vegas Urban Pride Start?

It’s a childhood dream honestly. The name just came, but since a kid, I’ve been pondering on what I’ve seen as far as the urban community and what we didn’t have growing up as being gay. I felt like my whole history in the club scene. Coming back and forth to Vegas. Coming back and forth to different places. I felt like we didn’t have a place, meaning every state we went to, yeah, there were gay places to go but I didn’t see people that looked like me.

I didn’t see any entertainment that I liked. I didn’t hear music that I wanted to hear. So when I came to vegas I just felt like where’s the culture? Where is anybody that looks like me 24 Fab Vegas

where I can feel welcome and I didn’t see that, so I just felt this is the perfect place to create something for us, by us, so there went Vegas Urban Pride.

to mind, she was my go-to person.

How long has Vegas Urban Pride been around?

It was definitely a setback because it separated a lot of people. It created distance between ENTs. It stopped me right in my tracks as far as planning and knowing what was going to go on with the club venues that we were already connected with. I tried to stay in contact as far as doing community events, fed the homeless during covid, and we tried to do little things so that we can stay in touch with the community. It kind of was hard as far as seeing people because they’re so used to coming out, being with us, being in large numbers. So it really made

We are definitely going on our fourth year! So I’m excited about that!

Who was the first person that came to mind when you created Vegas Urban Pride?

For Vegas, it had to be Vegas’ best model to me which is Melissa Benz. I mean she’s the most hardworking woman here to me when it comes to modeling. When it comes to hosting and I’ve always wanted to work with her so as soon as the idea of pride came

How has COVID-19 affected Vegas Urban Pride?

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COMMUNITY VOICES

-----------------------------------------------------------------------it difficult. Our number one thing was to make sure that we stayed safe for our community and for the people that normally come. So we definitely was trying to stay in the guidelines of COVID-19 and make sure that we kept the numbers low, we kept everybody safe with the mask on, and still do as much as we could in the community.

We recently saw a post that mentioned Vegas Urban Pride losing its access to its social media pages and information, will this keep people from knowing about the event?

No. Definitely not! Our followers, my followers, have followed me my whole life.

I’ve been in this industry for 20 plus years and everywhere I’ve been, they’ve been. They’re very devoted and they’re right now, I know, they’re waiting for me to just drop, what are we gonna do? Where can we pick up from? I now have what we’re looking for to make it happen this year. That is why I’m confident that Vegas Urban Pride is gonna come bigger, stronger, and better for 2021.

Vegas Urban Pride has come a long way, can you tell us about some of the highlights of the journey?

One main highlight for me is just watching a vision that’s been in my head as a child all the way to adult, finally seeing it come true. On a blacktop of a motorcycle set in Vegas! I think that totally blew me, as well as blowing everybody else

that came out seeing what we had going on! We had Jess Hilarious and April Jones... most of the cast of Love and Hip Hop came out and just was free. Nobody wanted to be with security, nobody wanted to be Hollywood. Everybody was just excited and just happy to be where we were in unity. So coming from that and then turning right back around and meeting Sarah, talking to the Hard Rock and doing something that’s never been done. They said that pride couldn’t come to the strip. They said that the urban community couldn’t be showcased on the strip and being able to go get the money somehow and make it happen and bring everybody that I’ve met, my whole entire life red carpet wise and having them come to stages and perform.

Just looking out to see so many smiles on people’s faces.

It was unbelievable and I think that was the highlight of my life. Not just Vegas Urban Pride. My life. My life dream had finally came true.

How have you been rebuilding your brand for Vegas Urban Pride and what have you learned from having to start over?

I had to do a lot of soul searching, to be honest with you. I definitely wanted to give up. I thought I should give up. When I lost all my emails, my Facebook, access to my Instagram, being able to talk to people, communicate like I used to. I thought that okay, maybe I need to call it quits. How can I do such

a big event without having a starting point? I had to reflect on myself and I had to remind myself that if you can believe it. If you can dream it. If you can think of it. If you could get the courage to do it, then you can make it happen! I had to remind myself that there’s people out there that I can reach out to and make this happen. I definitely just dust myself off. I got in a good place and I started remembering the people that connected with me from the very beginning and that’s where I started. I just started reaching out saying, “Hey I want to do vegas urban pride 2021. Can you help me?”

Voila! Here we are today saving pride! I’m definitely here for it all!

Being the first and only LGBTQIA+ founded and run urban pride event in Vegas, how has acceptance been in our city?

Man! Phenomenal! I actually got a proclamation! I have a day named after me. October 25th. I actually had a parade during pride previously. We had a pride ride, it wasn’t quite a parade but it was just letting them know that we’re here, the day is official. We’re just happy to bring something to Vegas that is urban LGBTQIA you know for everybody, not just the gay community but the straight community as well this is a unity and I’m just happy to have a day that specifies that here in Vegas.

How has Vegas Urban Pride been able to give back to the community?

FabLasVegas.com

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------We’ve given the black, brown, and Asian and really anyone in the LGBT community that needs a place to call home, a home that is protected. Where they feel loved, where they can come and get resources from our community partners.

We’ve been an ear to the streets and became a voice to the needs. I’ve shined a light with the trans community on the deaths that’s been happening and trying to find ways that we can shine a light on them and for them to be able to get help. We created a charity event during pride’s weekend called Drop the Guns, Pick Up a Ball. It is a gun violence awareness event.

We help our community get free resources and testing for HIV. We bring in speakers that can counsel people with

27 Fab Vegas

mental health to help them as far as dealing with COVID and just day-to-day life. One movement we began during COVID is Love Thy Neighbor.

That is where the community comes together with me and we collect toiletry and once a month we go out and we give that to the homeless, we also give them food, we give them words of encouragement and I do that with different leaders here in Vegas.

take my mind off of being alone. Basketball was it for me. Creating this community event is to remind kids that they don’t have to turn to the streets. They don’t have to turn to gangs. They can turn a negative into a positive.

The event for youth called Drop the Guns, Pick up a Ball, How did that get started?

They can email me at OfficialVegasUrbanPride@ gmail.com or they can go directly to the Instagram @VegasUrbanPride. We’re excited to bring the event back and hoping that the whole community can come out and get involved!

Basketball saved my life.

When my mom got killed. You know of course through gun violence. I was lost as a kid and I needed something that was going to

For people who are interested in getting involved and volunteering and being a part of Vegas Urban Pride, how can they reach you?

Photo Credit: Vegas Urban Pride

CELEBRITY INTERVIEW

By: Chris Azzopardi

Too Soon?

NOT IF YOU’RE

ALASKA THUNDERFUCK. The reigning ‘Drag Race’ queen has dirty jokes for days in her first-ever comedy special!

Are Alaska Thunderfuck’s filthy jokes about Jeffrey Epstein, “genderfluids,” labia and poop too much for our world on fire? Alaska, even though she has a song called “Anus,” thought maybe they were. She wasn’t sure if an assault joke in 2021 would fly.

So the winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” Season 2 consulted comedy queens Jackie Beat, Sherry Vine and Margaret Cho, no stranger to bowel jokes herself, to see if she was out of her damn mind.

They didn’t exactly say she wasn’t, but they also did give Alaska just enough confidence to release “The Alaska Thunderfuck Extra Special Comedy Special,” her premiere standup gig. The special is airing now on OUTtv, the first 28 Fab Vegas

LGBTQ+ Apple TV channel now available on the Apple TV app.

In late March, Thunderfuck appeared on Zoom against a palm-leaf-patterned backdrop — “one of the many walls in my giant palatial mansion,” she joked. Just like in her comedy special, nothing was off limits: not how some of her jokes fell flat, not what she thinks of the entry rules on “Drag Race,” and definitely not how she’d “walk the fuck out” of a hypothetical winners edition of “All Stars” if they, God forbid, did it teams-style.

I feel like with this comedy special, you keep just checking boxes. Drag queen, comedy queen. What can’t Alaska do?

I can’t do math really good. So I have an amazing accountant.

And I also don’t know how to use TikTok. I cannot figure it out. My 10-year-old niece is really good at it; she can.

I thought I would try and show my variety and try to do comedy. I know I’ve always been just a look queen and a glamour girl. So this is a huge step for me to try and tell jokes.

Has a career in drag prepared you for a career in comedy?

I mean, I don’t know. It was hard, and I was really trepidatious about doing it because I was like, “Yes, I’m funny, but I’m not a comedian.” Like, I have so much respect for comedians who go out there and pound

the fucking circuit of comedy clubs and (are) having bottles thrown at them and learning their craft. I’m like, “I am a visual artist who does drag, who can tell jokes. Sometimes with an OK success rate.”

Was it harder than you thought it would be then?

The jokes part, that was great.

That was fun. It was learning how to do dance moves.

That was harder. (Laughs.)

I couldn’t just do a comedy special where I tell jokes. I had to be Team Too Much.

I had to, like, put in musical numbers and dance numbers and a drag contest.

You being extra — that’s not a stretch.

Right. Here I sit before you in a zebra hat, zebra dress, in front of a palm leaf on a pink background.

Are we looking at a giant palm leaf sheet in the background? What exactly is that?

Well, why don’t you tell your (readers) that it is just one of the many walls in my giant palatial mansion? It’s expensive wallpaper. It may appear to be a duvet cover barely pinned to the ceiling, barely covering the mess of fucking drag behind it, but don’t let your eyes deceive you.

It is just one of the many huge walls in my mansion.

Going back, were you a funny kid?

I mean, my family has a fucking amazing sense of humor and they’re so funny.

My mom is so hilarious.

My dad was really funny.

My uncles are the stupidest, funniest people ever. Humor was always going around and happening in my family. But I was never a funny kid because I was too shy and too scared of people. I was like, “I’m gay and I’m weird and I just wanna hide in my room.”

Was comedy a defense mechanism for you like it is for a lot of gay kids?

See, for me, it never got to that point. My defense mechanism was not being seen. I just tried to disappear. I tried to be a gecko and change to the color of the wall. That was my defense mechanism. (Laughs.)

How are you feeling now that this special has been released into the world?

I feel great about it now.

(Laughs.) It’s been 87 years since we filmed this. It’s been so long, and it’s not an understatement to say the entire world has changed so much. We filmed this in pre-COVID Hollywood, and a few months went by, (then) COVID happened.

The quarantine happened.

All these things happened. I was like, “Is this appropriate?

Why the fuck do I need to be like, ‘Look at me telling jokes, toots!’ Should I even be doing this? What the fuck is going on?” So luckily, we made it a part of the thing, a part of the movie. We have interviews with my comedy guru mentors and they help assure me that the world needs laughter and comedy now more than, I think, ever.

There is something to be

said about laughter being the best medicine. It’s gotten me through this last year.

Just laughing myself silly watching “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar.” And you could’ve been in that movie based on your Zoom background. I mean, I don’t know why you weren’t.

(Laughs.) I know. I was supposed to be Reba McEntire’s part, but you know, it’s OK. I read for it. Reba McEntire was 12th in line to play Trish. I was 11th. She got it... OK? Going back to the comedy special: What kind of workshopping went into you preparing for the special?

I’m constantly writing jokes and a lot of them are just really horrible, and they’re not funny. But if I hear someone say a word on a thing and then I think of something that rhymes with it, I write it down in a file. It was basically years worth of just bad jokes that I had written and I was like, “We’re clearing out the file with this comedy special, OK? We’re gonna put the puns in there. We’re gonna put the fucking poop jokes in there.

We’re gonna put the drag jokes in there.”

To me, a lot … like Alaska doesn’t talk about dating people or doing drugs. She doesn’t talk about that stuff.

She maybe does them, but she doesn’t talk about it. So I had to make it this other character, which is like this comedian character that Sherry Vine calls something Rivers. Uh...

Phyllis Rivers.

Phyllis Rivers. Yeah. Because FabLasVegas.com

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CELEBRITY INTERVIEW

-----------------------------------------------------------------------it’s a mixture of Phyllis Diller and Joan Rivers. But yeah, I just cleared out my joke file and some of them are good, some of them (laughs) you could hear a pin drop. But you know what? That’s comedy.

I did no workshopping. This was not a finessed comedy set that I had built for years trying out with audiences, trying out different wording. It was literally like, “Here’s the jokes.

I hope you like them.”

When you’re up there and jokes are not hitting like you had hoped they would, what are you feeling?

I was feeling like, “This is gonna be good footage.” It’s like the moment before a nuclear bomb drops. It’s just perfect pin-drop silence.

Aside from Margaret Cho, what other comedians did you look up to growing up?

Well, I always loved TV. I was really obsessed with TV. I was always getting told I watched too much TV as a child. So sitcom jokes, that sort of rhythm of the setup and the knockdown and the punchline is sort of ingrained in me.

“The Golden Girls” is a part of my bloodstream. That sort of hokey jokey, here’s the setup, you see it from a mile away, and there it is — I love that sort of comedy. Which is also why I love Phyllis Diller and I love Joan Rivers and I love — sorry, I’m drinking LaCroix, so I’m burping. I love Rodney Dangerfield so much. Just wacky, goofy — that type of humor is my shit. It’s my jam.

I don’t wanna get too far off the grid here, but since you

brought up “The Golden Girls,” it seems like a good time to ask you what you thought of Elliott’s Blanche for Snatch Game on the latest season of “Drag Race.”

Leave meeting. Um, no.

Well, the thing is: It was stacked against her from the beginning. Even RuPaul said, “Molly, you’re in danger, girl.” (Laughs.) During the walkthrough, RuPaul was like, “Just don’t do it, babe. You’re gonna drown.” Um, and she kind of did.

Would I go in if I got to go do Snatch Game again? I would, probably. That was gonna be one of my characters. If I didn’t do Mae West, it was going to be Rue McClanahan.

So if I ever go back on “Drag Race,” I probably will do it and I will rise up to the challenge.

And I hope that it goes better than Elliott’s.

How did the comedy jacket and the comedy wig and the entire comedy look help you get into the comedy zone for this special?

It comes down to the power of clothing and the power of drag. It’s like different clothes literally make you feel a different way to make you hold yourself a different way. I found it very important to put on the big oversized blazer. I needed it. I needed some nofrills hair, so I wasn’t worrying about whether my fucking Cher hair was flowing. Like, no, I just needed short, crazy, crazy hair.

How has being a drag queen been good training for being a comedian?

Well, to me, they’re not

that different. I think drag inherently is rooted in humor because it’s poking fun at the idea of conventions of gender: what is it that makes a man in this society and makes a woman in this society, and those rules are ultimately so arbitrary and so out of nowhere. So just absurd.

So drag clowns all of those conventions and calls them into question and makes fun of them and “winks, winks” at you while it’s doing it. I think inherently there is humor in the absurdity of just like, What the fuck is gender? What is society? What is clothing?

Being a queen in quarantine this last year — what’s that been like?

It’s been really hard. And it was really hard on the drag community, because overnight all of your places that you do your thing (at) are gone now.

They’re closed. And you’re also last in line for it to come back.

It was really hard on the drag community. But it’s also really inspiring because the next day the queens were all like, “Uh, OK, well, I have a digital show now and I’m doing a show on Twitch and I have a weekly show on Instagram.” And so it’s been really hard, but it’s been inspiring to see that drag can survive the apocalypse.

Are you still into these drivein shows you’ve been doing?

Are they weird? Do you want to ever do them again postpandemic?

It’s a little weird because everyone is so far away and I’m the type of performer…

I like to sweat on you. I want you to spit on me when you’re FabLasVegas.com

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------screaming. I want to share the microphone with you and exchange fluids with you when I’m on stage. I love getting to be on stage and, yes, the audience is really spread out and they’re farther away, but you still get that vibe of having an actual audience. And there’s nothing that can replace that.

I loved seeing that a drag king, Tenderoni, won your very own drag competition, The Drag of the Year Pageant Competition Awards Contest Competition. It’s a mouthful, you know. I know a mouthful, and that’s a mouthful. The competition was all inclusive. What forms of drag would you like to see elevated, and how would you like to see the art form diversify moving forward?

The reason Lola (LeCroix) and I started doing the Drag Queen of the Year Pageant is: drag has always been crazy diverse. It has always been; you’re sharing a dressing room with the drag kings and the AFAB (Assigned Female at Birth) performers and the male performers and the burlesque performers. Anyone who has done drag for more than five minutes knows that to be the reality. So we found it really strange that there wasn’t a competition that was open to all these different avenues of drag; it was always very compartmentalized.

I mean, “Drag Race” is the sort of gold standard of drag competitions in the current landscape of the world. And the good thing that’s hopeful is “Drag Race” is always changing it up and always evolving with the times. So, I 31 Fab Vegas

could see a drag king getting thrown into the mix. I think it’s possible.

I also wonder if it’s taken too long to get to where “Drag Race” has gotten. We’re on season 13, and while it’s great that the first trans contestant is a part of the show, do you think that there are too many rules on the show in general?

Well, OK: I love the fucking show and a lot of people do and it’s changed culture and it’s changed the world. But they do have rules to entry, and if it were up to me, I would blow the walls off and I would say, “Let’s have everyone apply and see what that looks like.”

Do I think that’s going to happen? Probably not anytime soon. But it is hopeful to see the people who put on “Drag Race” are very aware of culture and they are always actively changing the show and keeping it fresh and keeping it current. That makes me hopeful.

Who might you be interested in having a Snatch Game with if there was a winners season of the show?

Oh my god. Jinkx, Bob the Drag Queen, fucking Monét X Change — as long as she does Whitney Houston. Sharon (Needles). Aquaria, oh my god. Yes, all of that. All of those divas.

If they do the dreaded teams format from “All Stars” Season 1, what winner would you want to be paired with?

If they try to pull that shit, I would leave. I would pull a Ginny Lemon and walk the fuck out because we’re not

doing that team shit. No, that’s trash. They absolutely couldn’t do it. And if I had to be on a team, I would want to be on Bob’s team because Bob is so fucking funny. We work really well together. And Bob knows everything about “Drag Race.”

Like, I thought I knew shit about “Drag Race.” Bob knows the most about “Drag Race.”

What’s next for you? Might you record another album at some point?

Um, maybe.

Okay. You’re in the studio.

(Coyly.) I don’t know! Stay tuned.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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Information for Teens: Staying Healthy and Preventing STDs If you choose to have sex, know how to protect yourself against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

What are sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)?

STDs are diseases that are passed from one person to another through sexual contact. These include chlamydia, gonorrhea, genital herpes, human papillomavirus (HPV), syphilis, and HIV. Many of these STDs do not show symptoms for a long time. Even without symptoms, they can still be harmful and passed on during sex.

consider before having sex. It’s okay to say “no” if you don’t want to have sex.

•

If you do decide to have sex, you and your partner should get tested for STDs beforehand. Make sure that you and your partner use a condom from start to finish every time you have oral, anal, or vaginal sex. Know where to get condoms and how to use them correctly. It is not safe to stop using condoms unless you’ve both been tested for STDs, know your results, and are in a mutually monogamous relationship.

•

Mutual monogamy means that you and your partner both agree to only have sexual contact with each other. This can help protect against STDs, as long as you’ve both been tested and know you’re STD-free.

•

Before you have sex, talk with your partner about how you will prevent STDs and pregnancy. If you think you’re ready to have sex, you need to be ready to protect your body. You should also talk to your partner ahead of time about what you will and will not do sexually. Your partner should always respect your right to say no to anything that doesn’t feel right.

•

Make sure you get the health care you need. Ask a doctor or nurse about STD testing and about vaccines against HPV and hepatitis B.

•

Girls and young women may have extra needs to protect their reproductive health.

Talk to your doctor or nurse about regular cervical cancer screening, and chlamydia and gonorrhea testing. You may also want to discuss unintended pregnancy and birth control.

•

Avoid mixing alcohol and/or recreational drugs with sex. If you use alcohol and drugs, you are more likely to take risks, like not using a condom or having sex with someone you normally wouldn’t have sex with.

How are STDs spread?

You can get an STD by having vaginal, anal or oral sex with someone who has an STD. Anyone who is sexually active can get an STD. You don’t even have to “go all the way” (have anal or vaginal sex) to get an STD. This is because some STDs, like herpes and HPV, are spread by skinto-skin contact.

How common are STDs? STDs are common, especially among young people. There are about 20 million new cases of STDs each year in the United States. About half of these infections are in people between the ages of 15 and 24. Young people are at greater risk of getting an STD for several reasons: •

Young women’s bodies are biologically more prone to STDs.

•

Some young people do not get the recommended STD tests.

•

Many young people are hesitant to talk openly and honestly with a doctor or nurse about their sex lives.

•

Not having insurance or transportation can make it more difficult for young people to access STD testing.

•

Some young people have more than one sex partner.

What can I do to protect myself?

•

The surest way to protect yourself against STDs is to not have sex. That means not having any vaginal, anal, or oral sex (“abstinence”). There are many things to

34 Fab Vegas

against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

If Iare getsexually an STD, how will Idiseases know? (STDs)?

What transmitted STDs are diseases that are passed from one person to another Many STDs don’t cause any symptoms that you through sexual contact. These include chlamydia, gonorrhea, would notice. only way(HPV), to know for sure genital herpes, humanThe papillomavirus syphilis, and HIV. if you haveSTDs an STD to get tested.forYou can get an Many of these do notis show symptoms a long time.

Even without they can stillwith be harmful and passed STDsymptoms, from having sex someone whoonhas no during sex. symptoms.

Just like you, that person might not

even he or she has an STD. How are know STDs spread?

You can get an STD by having vaginal, anal or oral sex with Where can I get tested? someone who has an STD. Anyone who is sexually active can get an STD.There You don’t have that to “gooffer all theteen-friendly, way” (have anal or vaginal areeven places sex) to get an STD. This is because some STDs, like herpes and HPV, confidential, and free STD tests. This means that are spread by skin-to-skin contact.

no one has to find out you’ve been tested. Visit

How common to arefind STDs? GetTested an STD testing location near

STDs are common, especially among young people. There are you. about 20 million new cases of STDs each year in the United States.

About halfSTDs of thesebe infections are in people between the ages of Can treated?

15 and 24. Young people are at greater risk of getting an STD for Your doctor can prescribe medicine to cure several reasons:

some STDs, like chlamydia and gonorrhea.

• Young women’s bodies are biologically more prone Other STDs, like herpes, can’t be cured, but you to STDs.

can take medicine to help with the symptoms.

• Some young people do not get the recommended If STD youtests. are ever treated for an STD, be sure to

•finish Manyall young peoplemedicine, are hesitanteven to talkifopenly and better of your you feel honestly with a doctor or nurse about their sex before you finish it all.

Ask the doctor orlives. nurse

testing and treatment for your partner, •about Not having insurance or transportation can make it more difficult young people to access STD avoid testing.having too.

Youfor and your partner should until you’ve both been •sex Some young people have moretreated. than one Otherwise, sex partner you may continue to pass the STD back and forth. It is possible to get an STD again (after

What can I do to protect myself?

• The surest way to protect yourself against STDs is to not you’ve been you have sex with have sex.

Thattreated), means notifhaving any vaginal, anal, or someone who has anThere STD. oral sex (“abstinence”). are many things to consider before having sex. It’s okay to say “no” if you don’t want to What happens if I don’t treat an STD? have sex.

Some curable STDs can be dangerous if they aren’t treated. For example, if left untreated, CS287360A chlamydia and gonorrhea can make it difficult— or even impossible—for a woman to get pregnant. You also increase your chances of getting HIV if you have an untreated STD. Some STDs, like HIV, can be fatal if left untreated.

What if my partner or I have an incurable STD? Some STDs, like herpes and HIV, aren’t curable, but a doctor can prescribe medicine to treat the symptoms.

If you are living with an STD, it’s important to

tell partner before youyouhave sex. partner Although • Ifyour you do decide to have sex, and your should get tested for STDs beforehand.

Make sure that you and it may be uncomfortable to talk about your your partner usehonest a condom from start to finish every STD, open and conversation can help time you have oral, anal, or vaginal sex. Know where to your partner make informed decisions to get condoms and how to use them correctly. It is not protect his or her health. safe to stop using condoms unless you’ve both been STDs, knowwho your results, and are them? in a mutually If Itested havefor questions, can answer monogamous relationship.

If• you have questions, talk to a parent or other Mutual monogamy means that you and your partner both trusted be afraid be each openother. andThis agreeadult. to only Don’t have sexual contactto with honest with themagainst aboutSTDs, yourasconcerns.

If both you’re can help protect long as you’ve been and know evertested confused or you’re need STD-free. advice, they’re the first place to start.

After were young once, • Before you have sex, all, talk they with your partner about how too.you will prevent STDs and pregnancy. If you think you’re ready to have sex, you need to be ready to protect your

Talking about sexalso with parent or another body. You should talkato your partner ahead of time adult doesn’t need bewill a one-time about what you willto and not do sexually. Your partner conversation. bestyour to leave the forthat should alwaysIt’s respect right to saydoor no to open anything doesn’t feel right. conversations in the future.

• Make sure you get the health care you need. Ask a doctor It’s also important to talk honestly with a doctor or nurse about STD testing and about vaccines against or nurse.

Ask which STD tests and vaccines HPV and hepatitis B. they recommend for you.

• Girls and young women may have extra needs to protect

their reproductive health.information?

Talk to your doctor or nurse Where can I get more

about regular cervical cancer screening, and chlamydia

CDC and gonorrhea testing. You may also want to discuss

unintended birth control.

How You Canpregnancy Preventand Sexually Transmitted • Avoid mixing alcohol and/or recreational drugs with sex.

Diseases If you use alcohol and drugs, you are more likely to take www.cdc.gov/std/prevention/

risks, like not using a condom or having sex with someone

Teen youPregnancy normally wouldn’t have sex with. https://www.cdc.gov/ teenpregnancy/teens/ index.htm

CDC-INFO Contact Center 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636) Contact wwwn.cdc.gov/dcs/ ContactUs/Form HealthFinder.gov STD Testing: Conversation Starters https://healthfinder.gov/ HealthTopics/ Category/health-conditions-and-diseases/ hiv-and-other-stds/std-testing-conversationstarters American Sexual Health Association Sexual Health and You http://www.iwannaknow.org/ teens/ sexualhealth.html FabLasVegas.com

35

STD (SEXUALLY TRASMITTED DISEASES) INFO SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES INFO, TESTING & RESOURCES WHAT IS A SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE? Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), are infections that are commonly spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex and oral sex.

WHAT IS HIV? HIV is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system.It is usually spread by anal or vaginal sex or sharing syringes with a person who has HIV. The only way to know you have HIV is to be tested.

Everyone aged 13-64 should be tested at least once, and people at high risk should be tested at least once a year. Ask your doctor, or visit gettested.cdc.gov to find a testing site. Without treatment, HIV can make a person very sick or may even cause death. If you have HIV, start treatment as soon as possible to stay healthy and help protect your partners.

Nevada is the fifth highest state in the United States for rates of new HIV diagnoses and is #1 in Syphillis *According to CDC HIV Surveillance Report, 2017 and the CDC Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance Report, 2017 released in 2018

36 Fab Vegas

STD TESTING RESOURCE SOUTHERN NEVADA HEALTH DISTRICT ADDRESS: 280 S. Decatur Blvd. Las Vegas, NV 89107 HOURS: Monday – Friday 8 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.* *The clinic opens at 9:00 a.m. on the first Thursday of every month.

The following services are offered at the Sexual Health Clinic: 1.

Diagnosis and treatment of active or suspected cases of:

•

Chlamydia

•

Gonorrhea

•

Syphilis

•

HIV

•

Trichomonas (females only)

•

Bacterial Vaginosis (females only)

2.

Free condoms and instruction on how to safely use them (both male and female condom)

3.

Follow-up bloodwork

4.

High-risk behavior counseling

5.

HIV Nursing Case Management

6.

Injection series for syphilis medication

7.

Partner notification

8.

Referrals by private physicians

9.

Sexual assault follow-up

10. Test results and couseling Clients seeking treatment at the Sexual Health Clinic should know that the Health District is required to report cases involving assault or abuse to appropriate agencies.

HIV Testing: HIV antibody testing is a simple blood test performed by a trained professional. This procedure is strictly confidential. Counseling regarding the meaning of the test and its result take place before the actual testing to ensure you understand HIV infection and the testing procedure.

HIV testing procedure: Blood Test – Blood drawn from a vein is tested for HIV antibodies. This test is available at the Sexual Health Clinic (280 S. Decatur Blvd. Las Vegas, NV 89107 ), Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Please call (702) 759-0702 for more information.

If you have questions, contact the clinic by phone at (702) 759-0702 or by email at SexualHealth@snhd.org.

FabLasVegas.com

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PRIDE FLAGS

PRIDE FLAGS

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PRIDE FLAGS

By: Johnny Fab

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NEW INTERSEX INCLUSIVE PRIDE PROGRESS FLAG In an Instagram post by Intersex Equality Rights UK a new Intersex inclusive Pride Progress Flag was revealed.

The flag was designed by Valentino Vecchietti of Intersex Equality Rights UK and was posted on their Instgram along with the following statement: “This Happy Pride 2021!

For our Intersex Inclusion Campaign we’d like to share with you our new intersex inclusive Pride Progress flag.

In 2013 Morgan Carpenter of Intersex Human Rights Australia designed the intersex flag.

In 2017 under the leadership of American civil rights activist Amber Hikes, Philadelphia’s Office of LGBT Affairs developed the rainbow flag to incorporate black and brown stripes to include black, brown, and people of colour.

Building on that in 2018 Daniel Quasar redesigned the

flag to include trans people, creating the Pride Progress flag.

In 2021, Valentino Vecchietti of Intersex Equality Rights UK developed the Pride Progress flag design to incorporate the intersex flag.

Since we posted this flag on our Instagram page intersex. equality.rights.uk and on Twitter WeAreIERUK intersex people and allies from all over the globe have said it is bringing them joy to see intersex inclusion in the Pride Progress flag.

credit people with their work.

We understand that we may have made unintentional omissions simply because we don’t know. We ask for your patience, and please know that we are always grateful if someone wishes to share their knowledge to fill in any gaps. Thank you for your understanding” Since the release of the flag, fashion icon Jean Paul Gaultier posted it on his Instagram page to kick off his week long ‘The Pride’ campaign.

We are sharing the graphic freely with everyone. Please message us on instagram to request a jgep or a high resolution image file which you can get made into a flag Please know that our intention for this flag is create intersex inclusion because we need to see it. Whilst we have done our best to gather Information about other iterations of the rainbow flag, so that we can FabLasVegas.com

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COMMUNITY RESOURCES 44 Fab Vegas

FabLasVegas.com

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www.afanlv.org Aid for AIDS of Nevada (AFAN) provides support and advocacy for adults and children living with and affected by HIV/AIDS in Southern Nevada.

AFAN works to reduce HIV infection through prevention and education to eliminate fear, prejudice and the stigma associated with the disease.