Fab Las Vegas Magazine - Volume 22 - #7

VOL 22, #7

25 YEARS

LAS VEGAS MAGAZINE

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He’s here, he’s queer, and now the ‘SNL’ juggernaut is the lead in his very first (very gay) film

BOWEN YANG

Fire Island - Roe - Pride Pics - GAYC/DC - Riot Arrest - Kids Books - Carl Nassib

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CELEBRITY INTERVIEW -----------------------------------------------------------------------By: Chris Azzopardi

Photo Credit: Hulu

BOWEN YANG

Auli’i Cravalho on her new bisexualqueer, role, her first Pride and coming out onthe TikTok ‘SNL’ star He’s here, he’s and now is the lead in his very first (very gay) film Maybe Bowen Yang will just forever live the Fire Island fantasy wherever he is. Is that what happens when you make a movie in what many consider gay paradise? Who knows, but based on Yang’s attire on Zoom — a beaded, rainbow-colored flower necklace and a casual white4 Fab Vegas

and-blue checkered shirt, his white undershirt exposed — the Australian-born Chinese American actor looks ready to challenge the rich, white gays known for essentially claiming the queer party town, just off the southern shore of Long Island, New York, as their own.

But not in Hulu’s “Fire Island,” a movie that can make us believe it isn’t exclusive to any group as a boatload of intersectional queers — the main friend group is refreshingly Asian American and Black — sail away to the island for more than just wild nights and romantic seashore

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------walks. They know what they’re getting into — drugs, drinking, and all those white gays — and they’re the kind of besties who know exactly what’s on everyone’s Fire Island agenda.

For some, obviously, that’s a little more than a snuggle.

For Howie, though, that is a snuggle. Yang plays Howie, and his very good friend Noah (Joel Kim Booster, who wrote the script as a modern retelling of “Pride and Prejudice”) knows that Howie won’t ever be the slut he wants him to be. That, of course, doesn’t stop him from trying to whore out Howie. After all, that’s just what good friends do! “You’re cute, you’re funny, you’re consistently the least repellent of men out of all of us,” he tells Howie, earnestly.

The same could be said of

Photo Credit: Hulu

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Yang, who’s gained an avid following since he started writing for “Saturday Night Live” in 2018. Just a year later, when he was promoted to featured cast member, he made history as the firstever Chinese American cast member (and third openly gay male cast member after Terry Sweeney and John Milhiser).

In a recent conversation, Yang chatted about being a leading man for the first time, not being recognized in a West Hollywood gay bar recently, and infusing his own signature queer flavor into “Saturday Night Live.”

Every time I watch a queer movie, I just wish it existed sooner.

Is that like our lot in audience life? I think we’re just gonna think that for everything.

For me, and I don’t mean to undermine this thought, but even if it’s a perfectly fine-tobad queer movie — not saying that our movie is those things — but add it to the pile!

So the whole time I was watching “Fire Island,” I wanted to know how you got cast as Howie, the non-slutty character? Specifically the non-slutty part.

I think Joel was doing this great thing, which is to map it onto our friendship a bit while also mapping it onto the source material of “Pride and Prejudice” and having it be like Jane and Liz. But then also just outlining the ways that a lot of queer people, and maybe specifically gay men, might not share an organizing principle in that way. Like, there are some people who

Facebook.com/FreeZoneLV

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------really go for it and just catch as many Pokémon as they can, so to speak, and there are some who choose not to.

I mean, in my 20s I was definitely a Howie.

Oh, and then that shifted?

It did shift. And it feels good.

Great. I think maybe that’s in store for me.

In 105 minutes, this film takes on body positivity, prejudiced gays, horny gays, non-horny gays, infighting... . Was there a lot of conversation about what this movie would cover?

I mean, if you create a liberated space for people, then their thoughts might kind of reach just a bit beyond the pale in a setting outside of that. And so I think Joel’s whole thesis for the movie

Photo Credit: Hulu

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is “what happens when gay people go to an all-gay space, and then gay people start to bring all their societal baggage onto each other and turn it inward.”

I think he did a great job of balancing all those things. I think he just recognized that Fire Island is this wonderful stew pot full of different kinds of people, and that you get all these different elements to that when everyone co-mingles in that way.

I love that there’s a group of queer people of color who are just like, “Gonna sail over, and you know? This is also our place.”

Yeah. And in my experience going there — and I go at least once a year, every summer — it is weirdly still a given that you’re gonna see that it’s a bit dominated by one kind of

person.

I’m always really delighted by the people I see there who are there driven by the same sort of mission of just spending time with their queer friends.

Going to the beach, just getting away from all the things that sort of bog them down on the mainland.

Did you see “Wine Country”?

I did, yes.

So was this your “Wine Country”?

Oh my god, I guess so. All “Fire Island” was missing was a Brené Brown cameo.

I think the nice thing about this is that it’s like a vacation comedy, obviously, and a romcom, but I think the way that Joel wanted to map it onto “Pride and Prejudice” is such an ingenious thing. It’s about

Photo Credit: HBO

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------the way people relate to each other. It’s about the ways that we stratify each other, or relate to each other based on class, wealth or, in this case, race.

With “Wine Country,” Amy Poehler had said the film was basically a trip those same girls had taken many times before. Had any of you already experienced “Fire Island” together?

Yes, yes. We have. Me, Joel and Matt Rogers had gone in the past. And the idea came out of Joel and I going the first time together. This was 2015, where he brought a copy of “Pride and Prejudice” to the island. And then he and I were reading by the pool one day, and he just turns to me and goes, “This would make a good movie. The way that people judge each other is similar. The way that there are all these social gatherings that people sort of get worked up about, it’s all there.”

In some ways, the idea predates the established dynamic that Joel, Matt and I have had there. But I feel like it’s [in] a similar vein in that it’s loosely based on these trips that we’ve taken together. It’s similar to our experiences going there in terms of like, we would go there when we could barely afford it. We [were] 18 people to a three-bedroom house, those kind of “roughing it” early experiences.

Did you, Joel and Matt also meet at a brunch like your characters in the movie did?

We did not meet at a brunch.

It was at a much more boring place, honestly. And it’s hard 10 Fab Vegas

to get more boring than brunch.

I’ve never been to Fire Island, but I think I may be more of a P-town gay.

Listen, I am about to go there for the first time this summer.

And part of me is a little scared that I’m gonna be a turncoat and just fully, like, be a P-town gay for the rest of my life.

What can you say about your part in the upcoming majorstudio gay summer rom-com “Bros”?

I have a really fun part in that.

My character, ironically, lives in Provincetown, so not Fire Island. That might be all I can say. But I think they’ve been showing clips of it at different events, and it’s getting a really good reception. I really hope people — I’m sure people will see it. There’s such a great team behind it, and Billy [Eichner, co-writer and star] is just so wonderful. He was so great to work with. I was sort of a day player. I just popped in for a day in between shows at “SNL.” So I was a little disoriented. But it was just such a lovely experience, and I felt very lucky that I got to do that in addition to “Fire Island,” to be a little witness to all these great [LGBTQ+] movies that are being made.

Was “Fire Island” a loose shoot? You are all so naturally funny, so were there moments of improvisation, and did any of those make the final cut?

Plenty of moments of improv made it into the final cut.

From, like, Matt specifically.

From me, from everybody.

I think everybody [added] a little sprinkling in there.

Overall, what’s remarkable about that set was that there wasn’t too much breaking. We weren’t out to make each other laugh or crack up. I think we were all there to hit our marks and do the job well. Because it was a very intense situation. A lot of us, you know, [this was] one of our early jobs doing a feature. And I think we all just were kind of focused on delivering. So maybe in the future, if we all work together again, it’ll be a little bit looser.

But it was pretty regimented.

We were all very good students, I would say.

Your film career is really taking off, which is exciting.

And you got to really create a character for this.

I know. This is one of my first experiences doing that.

What was that like for you?

Really nice. I learned so much.

And I think this is one of those jobs that I think will carry into future projects, if I’m so lucky to have them. I mean, James Scully, who plays Charlie, and I… this is my first time having a love interest in something. And he’s someone who is experienced enough as an actor to know how to make that believable onscreen. So we just had a lot of discussions about how to portray that and what these characters would be like after they left the island and what that journey is.

James had the idea to make a playlist. He was like, “Let’s make the playlist the

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------character would make for the other character.” And that was perfect tone-setting.

Like, these are two very sweet people who are sweet despite everything around them telling them there’s no place for sweetness. That this is about debauchery only.

And even at the end of the movie, there’s an open-ended question about whether or not these people will even end up together after they leave the island. And what happens then? But these are two characters who aren’t concerned with that, who aren’t really worried about what’s gonna happen afterwards. Whether it ends badly or well, they just are very present in their connection to each other.

I’m glad you say that because those trips to me often feel like they’re suited for that

Photo Credit: Hulu

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sort of experience — for a little weekend romance.

I think the movie does that very well in the end where, again, it’s that openended thing. And I don’t think a lot of rom-coms in general do that. It’s a very realistic, authentic sort of representation of that concept.

Like, “Maybe this is just a vacation boyfriend. But it’s OK. I’ll still enjoy it.” It’s still a love story, you know? There’s something really powerful about acknowledging that reality for a lot of people. I think there’s a subtextual thing there in the movie where it’s like, “This is how gay people live, and this is why they come to the island, to experience that, to have the possibility of experiencing that.” And then if they do, then what happens?

Whose idea was it to sneak in the reference to the “Gays

in Space” sketch, which aired on “Saturday Night Live” in 2015?

That was Joel. I promise it wasn’t me. I just never pushed back. It was in every draft of the script, and I never pushed back on it. And I was like, it’s so on the nose of me as Bowen saying to a character that he loves “SNL.” But that was a Joel line. And we just kept it in there. But then it got me thinking, like, OK, if Howie and I are similar, in what ways are we similar?

Howie doesn’t work at “SNL,” but if I didn’t work at “SNL,” I would probably bring that up, too, at a party, if I was getting to know someone. And there was something somewhat authentic about that. I think Joel was going for that sort of authenticity. It was just, What would Bowen say through the lens of this character?

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------While we’re on the topic of “SNL,” I have you to thank, in part, at least, for making a show I grew up with and loved a much queerer experience for me.

Oh, that’s very nice. But yes, there are so many other people to thank. It’s people like James Anderson who wrote “Gays in Space,” who left somewhat recently. Kate McKinnon, obviously, Chris Kelly, who made “The Other Two.” Paula Pell of “Wine Country.” There’s been this pretty rich lineage of queer people at “SNL.” I think now there are more things to index and reference, and I’m just very happy to be a small part of it.

Historically, yes, there are other skits that were queer.

But it definitely feels like it’s become much queerer in more recent years.

I think we talk about how “SNL” has always been this variety show in the truest sense. There’s something for everyone, or at least there’s something different in every sketch. And certainly, with Kate being there, it’s given people a model for how you infuse queerness into a sketch.

Julio Torres working there around the same time I did was just such a fortuitous thing for me because I was able to understand, “Oh, I can write something.” When I first started writing there, I was trying to fit into the mold of an “SNL” sketch. I was trying to write a game show sketch or a commercial parody. And then, when Julio and I started working together, he was like, “No, you can do whatever 14 Fab Vegas

you want. You can make something that’s from your point of view. That makes the show better.”

Do you have an example of something you wrote from your own POV because of Julio’s influence on you?

One of the first sketches I wrote for the show was called “Cheques.” It was a commercial for checks, like these dramatic, soap operatic women just signing checks for misdeeds. That was something Julio and I cowrote together. We co-wrote this sketch called “Sara Lee” with Harry Styles, who’s this social media manager who writes all these thirsty gay captions for Instagram. That was Julio’s idea, and it wouldn’t have happened without Julio’s assuredness in his own point of view. And it kind of gave me this example to follow, so that by the time he left, I was like, “I guess I can do that on my own, right?”

So yeah, you think all the way back to Terry Sweeney in the ’80s who was doing stuff at a time when gay men were completely stigmatized at every level [in] society. I think there’s been a queer sort of helix in the show for as long as it’s been on.

What about the “Pride Month Song” sketch from last year? What’s the story behind that?

I co-wrote that with Sudi Green and Celeste Yim. Just really funny writers. Queer writers. And we just were talking about how there is this pretty widely acknowledged

reality now that I just don’t think we’ve seen on TV of how Pride is kind of exhausting.

And it’s kind of not what you expect it to be: You think it’s gonna be this amazing thing and it actually ends up being really stressful and logistically a nightmare and someone has a meltdown at some point.

You know, those are the realities of Pride. And there’s still something joyful about that, even so. And maybe that’s the thing that we kind of look forward to every year. So yeah, that’s where it came out of. And I was, like, listening to Charli XCX’s “Girls Night Out,” and I was like, “Let’s just map it onto this beat.”

Well, that’s your POV, right?

My POV! Yeah. She counts.

It seems you’ve become a big name in such a short amount of time. How have you processed what I think is a relatively meteoric rise to notoriety these last few years?

I got really lucky in terms of an incremental, segmented ramp-up, maybe? For me, so far, it’s been manageable at every level. Starting out doing stuff in New York, you kind of are putting yourself out there more and more with every show and every year that you do it. And then Matt and I started this podcast [“Las Culturistas”] together. That kind of got people who didn’t live in New York knowing who we were and connecting with what we were doing.

And then going on “SNL,” obviously, kind of broke that open. But I think I’ve gotten

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------some sort of training wheel taken off and there’s multiple sets of training wheels, I guess, in this metaphor. But I think I’ve gotten really nicely acculturated to that. And I’m very grateful.

Can you step into a gay bar in West Hollywood without being conscious of, “I know that there will be eyes on me because I’m Bowen Yang”?

It occurs to me that that might be the case, but I went to Hi Tops recently in LA, in West Hollywood, and was ignored at the bar. And I was like, “This is great.” Not that this was great but I was like, “See, there’s something very democratizing about going to a queer space like that where you’re like, ‘That’s why I go: to

feel like a part of something.’”

There hasn’t been anything fundamentally different about my reality, which I think is really nice, actually.

What do you want the future of your film career to look like?

I hope I get to just do a nice variety of things, across different genres probably. I feel like we’re about to get hit with a bunch of rom-coms, and I wouldn’t mind just staying in that lane for as long as possible.

I’m keeping an open mind because people have been asking me if I expected to be leading a rom-com ever. I was like, “No, no way.” And so I think me sort of keeping my expectations pretty sparse is Photo Credit: Hulu

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kind of setting myself up for some delightful stuff in the future. I don’t really have a vision for what that is yet. And I think that’s OK.

📸 QUEER OUT > GAYC/DC > June 25 > Pride Month 🍎🍎

Photo: Lenny Emson, KyivPride executive director, via Zoom

🍆

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😂

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📸 QUEER OUT > GAYC/DC > June 25 > Pride Month Photo: Lenny Emson, KyivPride executive director, via Zoom

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🍑

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It's never too late to PRIDE: Loud-andProud Pride Products Rate E for Everyone

Roma Sheer Jogging Pant If Peacock can reboot Queer as Folk this month, there’s no reason why we can’t reboot the sheer tops and bottoms (the kind you wear, not f**k) of the same era – like Roma’s “LOVE”-striped fishnet jogging pant with matching briefs and tank. One more night at Nation and peak nancy nostalgia would be complete. $27-$50, Amazon.com

Let ’em know that you’re here and you’re queer with these product picks designed to strike fear in the hearts of all the Ron DeSantises.

Happy Pride! Cake Mention cake in the queer community and two things come to mind: the Colorado bakery that courted controversy when it refused to bake the ofttiered confection for a same-sex wedding in 2012, and, according to modern colloquialisms, dat ass. Those citations notwithstanding, you can perfect your MarieAntoinette impression when you slice up Bake Me A Wish’s “Happy Pride!” message cake (with rainbow sprinkles, of course) that sends $10 of every purchase to the Ali Forney Center. $65, BakeMeAWish.com 22 Fab Vegas

#LubeLife Party Flavor Buttercream-topped birthday cake banned from your summer diet? Get your Funfetti fix with #LubeLife’s water-based celebrationflavored lubricant guaranteed to get the no-pants party started. Fifteen percent of June sales will benefit the It Gets Better Project, with a minimum donation of $10,000. $8.99, Amazon.com Bi Pride Beach Towel All the sun-seekin’ bennies will discover your lust don’t discriminate when you unfurl the quick-dry Bi Pride beach towel (the Jersey Shore’s Asbury Park is a queer mecca this time of year) that weighs and packs 10 times smaller than conventional versions. $19, Amazon.com

Nina West X Dearfoams Your Sunday-best outta-thehouse slippers get a ROYGBIV upgrade via the Nina West X Dearfoams collection available in seven solid-tone colorways and one pink-trimmed glitter pair that screams “I might be in Walmart right now, but I got Target money, honey.” $26$40, Amazon.com Tom of Finland Playing Cards You and the boys planned a tame game of five-card stud on a night in at your P-Town share, but these erotic Tom of Finland playing cards had other plans. Hard to bluff in the buff. $17, Amazon.com

Every Man Jack Pride Set Musky-fresh scents like sandalwood, cedarwood, aged bourbon, and sea salt comprise Every Man Jack’s Pride Body Wash Set, which are really just olfactory invitations for your trick to stick his face in your pits.

Twenty-five percent of EMJ Pride collection proceeds benefit Rainbow Railroad. $35, Amazon.com

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------Adidas Harden Vol. 4 Pride Shoe

Nautica Pride Swim Short No self-respecting homo would be caught dead in Nautica’s sustainably crafted knee-length Pride swim shorts – because sky’s out, thighs out, baby! – but 10 bucks says your straight-when-sober roommate is eager to show his LGBTQ+ support this month (even though he’ll still vote Republican this November). $23-$45, Amazon.com

Stomp the yard – and LGBTQ+ bullies (they could use a swift kick in the ass) – in Adidas’s sporty (and surprisingly attractive) Harden Vol. 4 indoor court sneaks, featuring a rainbow rubber sole and gold metallic embellishing for that little extra tink. $96-$142, Amazon.com

“Protect Trans Kids” Graphic Tee If you’re the type that can’t resist an inexpensive statement tee, at least choose a message with meaning. In today’s “Don’t Say Gay” society, this one is especially necessary. $16, Amazon.com

™

To secure equal rights and protections for LGBTQ Nevadans and their families.

info@EQNV.org www.EqualityNevada.org 24 Fab Vegas

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LGBTQIA+ BOOK CLUB

By: Terri Schlichenmeyer

-----------------------------------------------------------------------“Fire Island: A Century in the Life of an American Paradise”

$27.99 / 272 pages c.2022, Hanover Square Press

And later on, it was a place to mourn...

Ugh, it's been a week.

Two hours into Monday and your brain was already screaming for something fun, something far removed from work, a get-away that lets you play. You need to dance this weekend. You need to feel the sun on your face and sand between your toes. And you may need to bring "Fire Island" by Jack Parlett with you, too.

Geographically speaking, Manhattan and Fire Island are a mere sixty miles apart.

Sixty miles – and half a world. Stretched out and very narrow but walkable, the island is home to several vacation communities. Two of them, Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines, both located in about the middle of the island, feature prominently in LGBTQ history.

Parlett says that Native Americans sold Fire Island to White Europeans for a pittance, after which activities there were shifty and possibly illegal. By the 1820s, conversely, it was a hot vacation spot for the elite; in certain places, it was the place for finding romance, 26 Fab Vegas

H. Auden. It was a source of controversy for locals who objected to nude bathing. It was a source of embarrassment for Noel Coward. It allowed everyday gay men and women to dance, drink, and party freely.

too, which Parlett says was a sign of the future. Famous men like poet Walt Whitman were big fans of Fire Island and over the next century, a then-quiet queer subculture began to grow.

Sometimes, it grew with families and children in the picture, the latter raised by nonconformists and theater people.

Even so, despite these many changes, Parlett says that Fire Island wouldn't be what it is today, were it not for a hurricane that hit the island on the afternoon of September 21, 1938. It devastated Fire Island and resulted in a realestate bust. Cottage prices fell significantly, and vacationing there suddenly became affordable for gay New Yorkers.

Throughout the twentieth century, Fire Island became a playground for performers, thinkers, and writers such as James Baldwin and W.

Considering that this is a book about a getaway destination, "Fire Island" isn't much of a vacation-y read. It's actually pretty dry, in fact, and filled with people that were once very famous but aren't exactly household names anymore.

Their drama and the love triangles they struggled with are mildly interesting, in the way that you might perceive great-grandma's old Confidential magazines in the attic.

And yet – the history. Author Jack Parlett offers a lot of solid information beyond those tired scandals to further show how Fire Island came to be a gay hot-spot and why that was important. These tales envelope the rest of the island, as well as current events in America, as a whole, and the impact those outside influences had on LGBTQ life, even today.

More scholarly than not, this book also includes a fair bit of memoir for readers who are looking for something less frivolous. If you want a book for fun, though, "Fire Island" is weak.

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LGBTQIA+ NATIONAL NEWS

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31 suspected white nationalists arrested for conspiracy to riot at 'Pride in the Park' event 31 individuals from 11 different states, one from Ohio, were arrested for conspiracy to riot, a misdemeanor.

to them and reported it to us,” Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White said during a news conference.

The arrested were all wearing similar clothing associated with Patriot Front, including identical insignia, and had at least one smoke grenade in their possession, according to a police report.

White also said it was “clear,” based on the gear in the truck, as well as paperwork seized from the group that was “similar to an operations plan that a police or military group would put together for an event.”

“I don’t think this would have been as successful had we not had one extremely astute citizen who saw something that looked very concerning

He said the group planned to riot in downtown Coeur d’Alene, where a six-hour-long “Pride in the Park” event, featuring booths, food, live

music, a drag show, and a small march of about 50 participants, was being held at City Park.

Police released mugshots of those arrested, all of whom have posted bail and have since been released from custody, according to the Kootenai County Sheriff ’s Office.

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Visit www.HawksGym.com

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LGBTQIA+ BOOK CLUB

By: Terri Schlichenmeyer

-----------------------------------------------------------------------“LBGTQ Books for Kids”

$14.99 - 17.99 / various page counts c.2022, various publishers

Like every kid in the world, the one you love has a zillion questions.

“Why” begins with ants and runs through zebras. “When” goes from astronauts to zoos.

“Who” from Aunties to, well, you. So why not keep a few books around for the kiddoes, books that entertain and gently inform...

Life is better when you have a friend, and in “Strong”

by Rob Kearney & Eric Rosswood, illustrated by Nidhi Chanani (Little, Brown, $17.99) a guy named Rob has always been one of the strongest guys around.

When he decides he wants to compete, he finds someone to work out with him and they fall in love – but when Rob goes to the competition, everybody whispers about him. Why does he look so strange? Four-to-six-year-olds will be glad to see that when the right kind of cheerleader arrives, looks don’t matter at all.

Kids who got to see a Pride Parade for the first time this year will want to own “The Rainbow Parade” by Emily Neilson (Penguin Dial, $17.99). It’s the story of Emily, who celebrates Pride with Mommy and Mama and a 30 Fab Vegas

whole lot of people who are having a really good time. But BE in the parade...? Not Emily, or maybe. Four-to-seven-yearolds who are new to Pride will want you to read this book aloud at least once a week.

Slightly older kids may appreciate having “Pink, Blue, and You!” by Elise Gravel with Kykaell Blais (Random House Kids, $17.99) around to check with now and then. This book touches on some of the things that kids hear but don’t understand. Are there “boy things” and “girl things” and if there are, who decides who can play with them? You can be a boy or a girl, but what if someone thinks they’re both?

Who made all these rules, anyhow?

year-old allies, “Pride: An Inspirational History of the LGBTQ+ Movement” by Stella Caldwell, foreword by Layton Williams (Penguin Workshop, $14.99) is a great book to give or have around.

It’s a book filled with quick-toread, different-length entries on a variety of people, places, and things your teen will want to know about – things like what it was like to be gay in the 1950s, the early days of legalized same-sex marriage, early Pride celebrations, and pioneers who came out strong when it was illegal to do so.

Teens and young adults who are trans, gay, lesbian, and queer also get a chance to weigh in on why they “have Pride.”

For seven-to-ten-year-olds who need the blanks filled in on their gender education, this is a good choice to give.

Bonus: you might learn a thing or two, as well.

For teens who are trying to figure things out for themselves, or for 12-to-17-

Varied, interesting, and informative, this is one of those books that an adult can absolutely be caught reading.

If these great books don’t quite fit what you’re looking for, for the kid you love, be sure to ask your favorite librarian or bookseller for help. They know books. They’ve got answers.

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LGBTQIA+ VEGAS NEWS

-----------------------------------------------------------------------instagram.com/carlnassib

Despite a recent release from the Las Vegas Raiders, Carl Nassib, first out active NFL player pledges $100,000 to LGBTQIA+ youth Carl Nassib made history in June of 2021 when he announced that he is gay, making him the first active NFL player to come out publicly.

The Las Vegas Raiders announced they were releasing Carl Nassib in March of 2022.

The official website for the NFL reported that the decision to cut Nassib was a financial one and reportedly had nothing to do with Nassib’s sexual orientation.

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Despite becoming a free agent, Carl continues to show support for the LGBTQIA+ community.

“Out there right now there’s a kid saying that I’d rather be dead than be gay,” he continued.

In an Instagram post Carl is pledges to match up to $100,000 in donations made to The Trevor Project.

“That’s why I’m partnering again with The Trevor Project, and matching all donations up to 100,000 dollars.”

In the video the trailblazing football player says, “I want to wish everybody a happy Pride month and I also want to remind people why Pride is important to me,” he said in an Instagram video.

“I really hope you guys join me in supporting this awesome organisation and supporting these young kids.”

To participate by donating visit www.TRVR.org/CarlMatch

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------Clark County

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LGBTQIA+ VEGAS NEWS

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Local LGBTQ+ community members fear for their rights and react to overturning of Roe Bette Midler couldn’t have echoed the fears of the queer community better than in her tweet on June 24, 2022 “Get ready, gays. You’re next.”

Pete stated, “Our work continues: to ensure that in our lifetimes, American rights & freedoms will be protected, not withdrawn.”

The freedom to make our own choices is one of the many things that makes the United States of America the country it is today.

The LGBTQ+ community has been outraged by the devastating attack on women’s abortion rights.

At a local protest, many women and LGBTQ+ activists gathered while demanding that their voices be heard.

Many LGBTQ+ community members fear that this as a sign of things to come.

Protest attendee Rebecca DeLeon said, “This isn’t just an attack on women. This is an attack on everyone! We need to come together as a community and stand up and fight back!”

It is an alarming wakeup call to all communities and / or minorities that your rights, our rights, are unequivocally under attack.

Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in s statement, “For 50 years, this nation respected a woman’s constitutional right to make her own decisions. Today the Court held that government officials will decide instead.”

John Bacon, Executive Director for Equality Nevada said in a statement, “Women’s rights are under attack in our country.

The LGBTQIA+ community must stand in unity with our sisters, mothers and daughters and prepare for the upcoming battle against us all.

Equality Nevada will oppose any attempts - whether at the federal or state level - to attack one’s right to an abortion.”

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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

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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

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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

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STD TESTING RESOURCE SOUTHERN NEVADA HEALTH DISTRICT ADDRESS 1: 280 S. Decatur Blvd. Las Vegas, NV 89107 HOURS: Monday – Friday 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (closed 12 – 1 p.m.)

ADDRESS 2: 4201 W. Washington Ave. Las Vegas, NV 89107 HOURS: Monday – Wednesday 9 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

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.

Hepatitis screening, diagnosis and treatment

5.

High-risk behavior counseling

6.

HIV Nursing Case Management

7.

Injection series for syphilis medication

8.

Partner notification

9.

Referrals by private physicians

10. Sexual assault follow-up 11. 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.

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PRIDE FLAGS

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COMMUNITY RESOURCES 44 Fab Vegas

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WWW.IRSCDEI.ORG

WWW.IRSCDEI.ORG

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.