GED MAGAZINE JUNE 2024

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FROM THE EDITOR

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH AND

HAPPY SUMMER!

Happy PRIDE month and happy summer! This issue is all about pride – pride in being who you are and celebrating our LGBTQ+ community. This month’s cover model is WeHo Pride’s first Lifetime Ally Icon recipient. Her activism includes co-founding True Colors United, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting homelessness amongst LGBTQ+ youth. The new documentary Let the Canary Sing, chronicles Lauper’s rise to fame in the ‘80s along with her activism for LGBTQ+ rights and visibility, reproductive freedom, and more.

I am also pleased to announce that GED Magazine is celebrating 12 years of publishing this month! To celebrate our anniversary and pride month, we are having some fun events – Ethyl’s Place Bingo on June 9th at The Roost Lounge benefitting the LGBTQ Community Center of the Desert (theroostcc.com), and PALM SPRINGS EQUALITY WINE & FOOD FEST WEEKEND (equalitywinefest.com) featuring an intimate Winemaker Dinner with Teneral Cellars on Friday June 28th, the signature event Palm Springs Equality Wine & Food Fest inside the Margaritaville Resort Grand Ballroom on Saturday June 29th, and a Bubbly Bingo Brunch with Equality Vines on Sunday June 30th. Visit equalitywinefest. com or gedmag.com for tickets and join in the fun!

Please visit us on the web at GEDmag.com to read the current digital issue and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok @GEDmagazine. Gay Entertainment Directory… here for your entertainment!

— MICHAEL WESTMAN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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ADVICE FROM AN IDIOT

Hey Idiot,

I hope you can help. So there is this guy that I like, I mean really like, we hooked up regularly for a while, but he “wasn’t ready” to be in a relationship. So, I gave it some space and time, and had healthy boundaries for myself. However, he really wasn’t down for that, and after a few months, was like, “this is awful, I need you in my life,” and we started working as writing partners, but the connection and attraction is still evident and present. It’s a damned if I do, damned if I don’t scenario. He still doesn’t want to try “dating” but doesn’t like me with other guys. UGH. Help. I don’t know what to do.

Thanks My Heart Hurts

Hello My Heart Hurts,

You sweet darlin! This is always a tough situation, I get it, like really I do, but if I have learned one thing from this kind of “relationship”, YOU really need to keep your heart in a good place. For starters, hell no. Second, whether or not he knows it, YOU are dating… I do understand, “not being in a place” to start something, we all get that, but for crying out loud, come ON! The other person doesn’t get the right to put any demands on who you see, or what you do. They made that clear, when they didn’t want to start something. And now the writing partners thing… hellooooo, it’s just another type of way to manipulate the situation. Knowing ourselves and all the places we can and can’t go within our own heart, is a personal journey and differs for everyone. I am guessing your own guts and instincts are telling you, that you are going down a path you don’t want to. Dating isn’t something to be feared or need to be “ready” for. Knowing one’s limitations of what they can and can’t give is healthy. But, putting someone on the back burner till they are ready… NOPE, not cool. That day may never come, and wait for it, hard truth - if this is the way they are handling this now, after you have already expressed what you want, sorry, I don’t go for it. You are entering self-preservation mode, and I am here for it. Please keep your heart safe, and even safe adjacent is a step in the right direction. Hang in there.

Hello My Darling Ducks!

As Summer FINALLY arrives here in LALA Land, or as I call it for the winter months, South Seattle... my Ozempic filled piñata of a body is ready for summer. And just in time for PRIDE SEASON! Embrace YOU! Got some wonderful messages and questions for June, so let’s get in there…

BY BILLY FRANCESCA

Hey Idiot,

I am single and totally down for fun, and exploring my sexuality and sexual areas I haven’t been before. But I have kind of a question, not so much advice, but why are there so many dudes in open relationships, and others that want a third or fourth or whatever to have fun. I am not saying I am sold on monogamy, but it’s like, dudes, do any of you really want to be in a relationship with anyone? It just seems like everyone out there is looking for the next best thing, or two, or three of the next best thing. I just don’t get it, what do you think?

Thanks

Mark

Mark,

All my great loves have been called Mark… Call ME! OK, seriously, and I know I am going to get myself in all kinds of trouble for this… but I don’t get it either. One part is knowing what you can handle and can’t. I don’t know of any open relationship that is totally healthy and works without issue, and/or doesn’t function like a FWB, roommate situation. I think part of it may be age, younger people don’t want to feed into the social and stereotypical gender/relationship roles, and some of the more seasoned people, are maybe, trying to relive a time in their life, when HIV was a death sentence, and things like Prep were not even on the radar. It is a sort of paradox in my mind too. The only thing I can tell you for certain is, a person needs to know what works for them. I couldn’t handle it at all. I don’t want to share an Uber let alone a man… but for some I guess it works? But I am suspect, as for YOU and your sexual walk about, I think this is part of it, realizing aspects of dating, hook ups, whatever is all part of it. Part of knowing what we are looking for, is sometimes defined by what we know we AREN’T looking for. Hope that helps. Just go to Palm Springs for a three day weekend and get all sexee fun crazee. Thats what my Mom does… Wait, What?! XO

Well my Loves, wherever you go, please be safe and let the love out of your hearts! Keep those emails coming! I love it! theadviceidiot@gmail.com See you all soon! XO BF

Hey

You are unique. Your CARE should be, too.

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GED Magazine presents GED Magazine presents

MALACHI MCCASKIL

IS CAUGHT IN A STRANGE LOOP

BY ALEXANDER RODRIGUEZ

This June, the Tony Award and Pulitzerwinning Strange Loop comes to the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. Written by Michael R. Jackson, this hard-hitting and provocative musical centers around Usher, a young, gay, Black writer who writes a musical about a young, gay, Black writer who is writing a musical about a young, gay, Black writer…thus a strange loop. Usher embarks on a journey of self-discovery covering the raw aspects of life, the good and the bad, while dealing with his Thoughts, personified by a unique cast of characters. Having just wrapped up a run at San Francisco’s ACT, this production highlights a fresh face to the scene via North Carolina, queer performer Malachi McCaskil as Usher. Like Usher, Malachi is finding his way through life and professional theatre as a young, queer, Black performer.

Raised in North Carolina, Malachi started singing and studying his voice at church. In high school, he was in the Chamber Ensemble and played football. Junior year, he would experience theatre and his life would never be the same again.

We did Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella and I got cast as Topfer (The Prince), ever since then I said, you know what? This is for me. All the accolades and everybody loving me and using my voice and entertaining the masses was just something that I loved doing at that time. So, I decided then my junior year in high school after that show that this was the thing for me.

What was it like for Malachi to fit in at school in a North Carolinian environment while dealing with the assumptions of what a Black man should be like, and while coming into his queerness?

For lack of a better word – difficult. I struggled with knowing who I was and feeling how I felt, which was just like this big loud, happy person and the queerness in me wanting to come out, but also just having the religious background of being a Christian and them telling me that

boys don’t do this and boys should wear that, and boys shouldn’t play with these certain toys, boys should play with these toys and boys don’t sing, boys don’t dance, they play football and sports. So, I had a hard time struggling on the inside to be who I was and actually trying to express what everybody else wanted me to do. That also carried on into my life, not only as an adolescent in elementary school and high school, but it also carried into college as well.

It was a similar parallel that me and Usher had; I had my inner white girl as well, dying to come out and express who I really was, but also having the judgment of my community, the black community, and just wanting to be myself. The judgment was real. I didn’t know how to express those emotions and, to tell you the truth, this is a life-changing role because it has shown me that I can express myself in any way that I want to and it doesn’t matter how everybody else perceives me, it only matters how I perceive myself.

Malachi is currently a junior at UNC Greensboro getting his degree in Musical Theatre and performs at The North Carolina Theatre. His whole life has been in North Carolina. How did a North Carolinian college student come to star in one of the most anticipated West Coast performances?

I ask myself that every single day. It happened so quickly. First of all, I got introduced to the show in my sophomore year by a friend, and I stayed up one night listening to the whole soundtrack until 4:00 am and I said, you know what? This is the role for me. By the end of the soundtrack, I was bawling, and I said, this is it for me, this is Malachi personified. I’d never seen it before, never seen the story be told before. Shortly after that, in 2023, I saw that The Telsey Office posted a nationwide call for Usher. So, I sent in my videos, they liked it, and I sent in a dance reel for them. They called me and emailed me as well, saying that they would love me to come to New York to do a callback. I went to New York, and I read my sides and

I sang the songs and I got cast as Usher! It’s all about manifestation to me. You hold a lot of power in your tongue. I like to say I have affirmations, I have manifestations, a dream board, and everything else. I always like to put it in the atmosphere and put it in the universe because everything that you put in the universe always comes back to you.

With the show already having been a hit on Broadway and with Malachi being an avid listener to the show’s recording, what was his creative process in making Usher his own?

I started on myself. Some of the things that Usher has been through are parallel to what I’ve experienced in my life. I got the script a month in advance so before coming out, I read the script and I said, okay, how does this experience that Usher goes through parallel in Malachi’s life? So, figuring out my strange loop, per se, helped me figure out how to tell Usher’s Strange Loop a little bit more honestly. Once I figured out that in myself and my experiences, and I brought my experiences into the role of Usher, it became easy to tell it.

Strange Loop does not shy away from real issues and hot topics affecting the queer, Black community. It highlights some blatant societal pressures and the pressures we put on ourselves as queer people. What does Malachi think the message of the show is?

The message of Strange Loop is just how you perceive yourself to be that of what you think the world perceives you. Usher struggles with self-image. He thinks he’s not good enough, he thinks he is ugly, but in all actuality, he is beautiful. He’s beautiful inside and out. If he could just believe that about himself,

it doesn’t even matter what the world will think. If you believe that you are beautiful, the world will think you are beautiful as well. So, if anybody can take anything away from the show, it’s to think that you are beautiful first, not worrying about what everybody else thinks of you. Think that about yourself first, and your light will shine even brighter, and then people will see your light.

Strange Loop deals with the reality of being a Black man in the entertainment industry. From Malachi’s perspective, what is the reality of being a Black man in the industry?

People take Black queerness as kind of a joke sometimes. From the things that I’ve seen, the black queer was always a sidekick instead of the main character. And in the show that we see he’s the center of everything. And it’s different from what we even see on Broadway and on TV, like the sidekick, or we see the leads of Broadway shows and movies as perfect in a certain way, perfect body, perfect mentally. But we see Usher, he’s just a normal, regular big black queer guy, which is different to see. I’m glad that they get to see the differences between what we actually go through in our heads and the internal struggle and the battle that we have dealing with Christianity and struggling with who we’re told to be and who we actually are.

Strange Loop comes to Los Angeles hot off its run, and Malachi’s debut, at ACT in San Francisco. Having never been on the West Coast or being the lead in such a big show, Malachi learned a lot from his first run as Usher.

I learned that you must take really good care of your body, especially doing a role that is so heavy emotionally, you have to take care of your mind, body, and soul. I’m lucky enough to have a beautiful crew and production company and cast that helped me throughout this process. Up until this point, I’ve always had a happy-go-lucky role. I’m just a junior, a rising senior in college, but this role is so heavy, that the line started blurring a little bit. I had to take the time to come home and wash Usher

off my body, de-role a little bit so I could go back to being Malachi instead of Usher. Although we are similar, there are some things that I’ve worked through personally that Usher is still going through that I don’t want to come back into my life at all. I have to sustain ways to take care of my body and my voice. I just started training for musical theater three years ago, so I’m still working out the kinks in my vocal agility and my vocal abilities. Luckily, I have found those ways with the love and support of my company.

Going from iconic theatre to iconic theatre, the ACT to the Ahmanson, all eyes are certainly on this West Coast newbie. Is he nervous about his LA run?

I think if I can just be myself while out there and just let people know that I’m just a genuinely nice person, that they’ll see me and just be like, okay, he’s pretty cool... nervous of course, but this is his first time being out here, so let’s take it a little easy on him. I’m hoping that’s what happens.

How has playing Usher changed Malachi the most?

Identifying all of the thoughts that Usher has, made me identify all the thoughts that I have in my head. I can actually talk to these thoughts and combat the negative ones and pull the positive ones to the forefront. All of this has made my self-image more positive, which was also something that I’ve struggled with. He’s made me realize that I don’t need to change, I just need to regroup. [Laughs] I am beautiful the way that I am, I don’t have to change for anybody. Everybody’s perception of me is their own perception. My grandmother used to say that what somebody else thinks of you is not your business. It is not my business at all. I just need to worry about myself and focus on myself and what makes Malachi happy and what about myself makes me happy and just live in those things.

And Malachi’s message to the community this Pride season? BE WHO YOU ARE for your pride. Just love yourself. If nobody else is going to love you, your church, your family, your friends, or anybody else just walking down the street, love yourself first. All the love in the world does not mean a thing unless you love yourself first. So please do that.

Follow Malachi on IG:@MalachiMcCaskill

CYNDI LAUPER

LIFE INSPIRES ART

BY ALEXANDER RODRIGUEZ

“If we’re all not equal, we’re not equal, pal! ”

This month, Weho Pride will present Tony, Grammy, and Emmy Award winner Cyndi Lauper with the Lifetime Ally Icon Award. Also this month, Paramount+ releases a featurelength documentary about the iconic star titled Let the Canary Sing. Very fitting timing wise celebrating perhaps one of our fiercest allies during Pride month. Ironic as well, in the documentary she states she didn’t like the word icon, and she never wanted to be an icon, she wanted to be considered an artist. Well, she’s accomplished both. Not only did she challenge the norms of women in music, but she has used her voice to rally for the LGBTQ community during the height of the AIDS epidemic and beyond, she has become a veritable force in the fight for women’s rights, and she has gone before Congress to advocate for homeless youth. That, with her signature voice, unique look, and a myriad of hits, she has undeniably become an icon.

The documentary is skillfully crafted and meshes Cyndi’s life story perfectly with the soundtrack of her albums, giving an honest look at how her life inspired her art. Let the Canary Sing does not shy away from anything, it goes deep and personal and shows the obstacles, including mental and physical abuse, fighting the music industry to find her voice, the highs and lows of her career, and loss, that she has overcome. The title refers to the verdict a judge carried out when Cyndi was fighting a record label in order to keep making music. He pounded the gavel and said, “Let the canary sing.” Let her sing, indeed. Produced in part by Sony Music Entertainment, it just shows the resilience Cyndi has had and how her creativity and force continue full force. How did Cyndi know that now was the time to do a documentary?

Paramount and Sony are the producers, with Alison Ellwood directing. I provided as much material as she needed and asked for, but I stayed out of it. Otherwise, it’s not a documentary, it’s a film you make about yourself. What was not true? I said,

oh, that’s not true, this is true. That’s all. And that’s I guess why you would do it while you’re still alive to make sure that it’s true.

I usually would say no to a documentary because honestly, I’m not dead. But everyone was like, you should do a documentary. And during COVID, I started doing what everybody else was doing - I watched every documentary, all kinds of things. But I saw this one film called Laurel Canyon, and Alison Ellwood was the director. I just was so moved by it, and I thought it was done so well that I thought, you know what? If I’m going to have a documentary, I want to have it done by this filmmaker, because she’s wonderful.

The documentary covers it all, going back to Cyndi’s childhood days, a child of immigrants, surrounded by a colorful and diverse Brooklyn and then Queens. There, she and her sister, who would later come out as gay, started their eclectic dive into music that included The Beatles, show tunes, and opera. After leaving home at 17, Cyndi moved in with her sister and befriended Carl and Gregory, her gay neighbors who would become her family. Cyndi and her sister would listen to music like Jim Morrison, Jimmy Hendrix, and Janis Joplin and would write music with their guitar. It was the time of Civil Rights, the activism energy is something Cyndi grew up with. After a few odd jobs, including an office job that didn’t last too long because she could only type 19 words a minute, she decided to pursue her music career. Since she wasn’t making it in the professional world, what would be the difference in not making it in the music world? At least she would still be doing what she was passionate about.

As the documentary put it, it took her 15 years to become an overnight sensation. Those 15 years were fraught with gigs and bands that didn’t quite work, full of people trying to shape her voice into something she was not, to even losing her voice for a year and being told she wasn’t going to be able to sing again. At the urging of a producer, Cyndi went to hear Robert Hazard perform “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” at a club. She leaned over and said she would never

sing that song; it was too misogynistic in its approach. After trying at it with a bunch of failed demos, she changed the keys, added summer sounds from her childhood, changed the arrangement, turned the song into a female empowerment statement, and finally had her first mega-hit. Filming the music video, she insisted that it represented and included a diverse array of women. Perhaps the most important woman of all in the video is her mom… playing her mom. Family and her gay neighbors Carl and Gregory would make appearances in future Cyndi music videos. Her mom would be a constant support throughout her career. Sadly, she passed in 2022. What did Cyndi’s mom teach her most about life?

She wanted us to ask questions and always be curious and not be afraid of life the way she was raised, as an immigrant family. There’s a lot of fear when you’re an immigrant family, and she didn’t want that for us. She played lots of different music - Leonard Bernstein, Tchaikovsky, and Puccini. She played Satchmo (Louis Armstrong) and Broadway musicals, and that’s how I learned to sing. She took us to the Delacorte Theater to see Shakespeare and Greek tragedies. It was important for her to impart culture on us.

Being such a fierce supporter of the LGBTQ community, what was her early exposure to our community?

I gotta say it was my first director Skipper who lived around the corner. He used to put on productions in a cardboard box and I used to have a fit if I wasn’t in one of his shows, because I thought I was the bee’s knees and I should be in his shows. I was chasing after my sister too. My mother always said I was the younger one and I was born to be my sister’s friend. So, when she had another “friend,” oh God, it was awful! I started to tell her, you can’t have them, that’s why I was born! But I got to watch firsthand when somebody in your family is LGBTQ. You just understand because you love them.

A good example of that is when I went to sing after the Marriage Protection Act was signed. I met (Senator) Tammy Baldwin and of course

President Biden. But I also met this Republican senator who was always very conservative. He came up to me and he said, I want to introduce you to my (LGBTQ) child. I said to him, you know, when it’s in your family, it’s clear to understand, right? The injustice, right? As a young teen, most of my friends were gay. I was not, I wished hopefully, but I wasn’t. But as I got older, I worried about my sister because I saw the way the laws were, the way people were, and that it was dangerous.

“True Colors,” a single from Cyndi’s second studio album by the same name, came out in 1986, during the AIDS epidemic. Not only would the song become another hit for Lauper, but it would be embraced by the queer community as our anthem. The song would resonate for Lauper because of the death of her friend and former neighbor Gregory to AIDS. Cyndi would embark on two True Colors tours raising money and awareness for LGBTQ rights. She also established the True Colors Fund, a non-profit with a mission to eradicate LGBTQ youth homelessness. Letters to Cyndi would start to pour in from the queer community, all telling her their stories and how much “True Colors” meant to them.

When “True Colors” first came out, I talked about AIDS. That was not popular; probably cost me a few jobs, but it was the right thing to do. So, when the time came and I started reading those letters, I called my sister (Ellen) and I said, we have to do something. You, me. And she said, all right, I’m in. Ellen’s always said that, God bless her. She’s always there. PFLAG was doing the Stay Close campaign, which was the first thing we did. And I started to do a lot of research about the community. Like what I actually could do, what actually within the community that straight people don’t see is going on?

On her True Colors tours, she included everyone. Gay, trans, straight, celebrities, activists, everyone.

You know how fabulous that is. I love that. To me, that’s my favorite – a rainbow tribe which means all of us. Because if one person’s civil rights are taken away, all of ours could be taken

“Together we can all do amazing things because not one group of people is going to think of everything.”

away. If we’re all not equal, we’re not equal, pal! One week, it’s that guy. Next week might be you. That’s when I remembered the Civil Rights movement of the ‘60s and how it was inclusive of everybody standing up and saying, no, we don’t want this. And then even after all of that, things are rolling back to the dark ages again.

So, what I really want you to tell everybody, is VOTE. Go to vote411. org and find out who is your ally. Who is gonna stick up for you? Vote for that person. I’m not going to tell you who to vote for, but your democracy is at stake this time. So you better step up for yourself. You can’t slack off.

In addition to “True Colors,” her second mega-hit “Time After Time” has become a ballad for all of those lost to AIDS/HIV. The AIDS epidemic affected Cyndi greatly.

The government was not talking about it. They were pretending it wasn’t happening. And then they decided to make it a gay plague. Anyone can get AIDS, anybody. You have to protect yourself. I just think so much is at stake right now. Now, young women have no autonomy over their own bodies paying the same tax as a man but not the same rights. The LGBTQ community, they’re looking to strip rights away from you all. Lemme tell you something, you pay the same taxes, and you want the same civil rights and protections that everybody else as an American is supposed to have. It’s a strange time right now. Very strange. But you can’t give up. You can’t throw in the towel because if you do, you are going to find yourself in a very bad position. You must raise your voice and vote. That’s the biggest thing.

Cyndi was even sticking up for the drag community way before there was Drag Race

I did the Gay Games with a bunch of friends who were drag performers. They were fantastic. Oh my God, the shoes alone, you would’ve died! But they didn’t put them, and this was the Gay Games, they did not put them on the Jumbotron, and I’m dancing in between them. And it pissed me

off. Then I started to think to myself, oh, so you can turn against people in the community? I thought to myself, okay, I know what I could do. I have to do a video for this. We will put out “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” with drag queens. I’ll make them famous, and you’ll see them because I’ll direct it. And that’s what I did. And they were so cool, so great. It was such a great experience because, to me, a drag performer is a very Fellini-esque type of performer. I think sometimes I’m a drag queen because I’ll dress up as anything as you know. I guess it’s just how I grew up. I feel more at home with the community because I’m a friend and family member.

“(Hey Now) Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” was released in 1994…featuring drag queens.

Being given the Weho Pride Lifetime Ally Icon Award, though no less important, follows a long line of accolades and awards that Cyndi has been honored with for her work for women and LGBTQ rights.

In 2003, when I heard the President at that time make a weird remark about gay bashing and hate crimes, it wasn’t okay for me. And that’s what motivated me to get off of my ass and stop fooling around. And when in New York, the Marriage Equality Act was voted down, I knew a lot of people wanted to leave the country and I felt like, you know what, I’m not leaving this country. It’s still our country. It’s everybody’s country. It’s not up to a select few who decide to ignore the Constitution and put their religious beliefs on everybody, that’s not what this country was built on.

Together we can all do amazing things because not one group of people is going to think of everything. And if you start shutting off other communities, you don’t know who you’re shutting off. You don’t know which one of those people is a little genius and they’re going to think about the solution to pollution or the solution to cancer, or the solution to economic whatever. You don’t know! But together, we’re strong. And that’s why you need to share stories with your friends,

with people you know. And if you want people to listen to you, you better listen to them.

And her message to the LGBTQ community?

I love you. Let’s have some fun. Let’s

celebrate our differences and let us not get so trashed that you can’t take care of yourself. And vote! Vote. I love you.

Let the Canary Sing is streaming on Paramount+.

COMPANY: Stephen Sondheim is credited with reinventing American Musical Theatre. After writing lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy, he wrote music and lyrics for the highly commercial A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962). His first “concept musical,” a form that became his trademark, was Company in 1970. It was a nonlinear show about a group of married couples who interact with a bachelor named Bobby. It had Broadway revivals in 1995 and 2006. A third revival opened on Broadway in 2020 and it changed the gender of Bobby to female. Bobby does have some dating experiences in the show, so the partners’ genders have been swapped, but basically it is still a story about a single person interacting with married couples. It is that version of the show which will be touring California this summer (though without Patti LuPone who was featured in both London’s West end and Broadway). Featuring a rich combination of humor, pathos, and enlightenment, I’m looking forward to this production. San Francisco Orpheum 6/5 – 29 and Hollywood Pantages 7/30 – 8/18.

MRS. DOUBTFIRE: Broadway producers love to convert popular movies to stage musicals because they have automatic name recognition. Robin Williams’ 1993 film was a blockbuster and admit it, you saw the name and decided to read this blurb! One production was workshopped in 2013 but was eventually scrapped. Then a new version with the score by Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick and book by John O’Farrell and Karey Kirkpatrick was set for a Broadway opening in March 2020, but halfway through previews it was closed for Covid. It re-opened in late 2021 and played 43 previews and 83 regular performances. A national tour was announced to kick off in the fall of 2023, and that tour is coming our way this summer. Even though it’s short Broadway run doesn’t scream “Mega Hit!,” I know I can’t resist finding out how they converted the movie to a stage musical – and how they do the makeup change! San Diego Civic 6/4 – 9; Hollywood Pantages 6/11 – 30; San Francisco Orpheum 7/2 – 28; and Costa Mesa Segerstrom Center 9/24 – 10/6.

KOOZA: My hat is certainly off to Cirque do Soleil for their marketing program. In addition to a half dozen sit-down productions in Las Vegas and Orlando, they send touring productions to all sizes and locations of cities around the world. This month they are bringing Kooza to Laguna Hills at the former Laguna Hills Mall. The show delivers a signature Cirque du Soleil experience in its most exciting form with high-flying acrobatics, whimsical characters, lavish costuming, colorful sets, hilarious clowning and a powerful live score. Undeniably the most daring Cirque du Soleil touring production, tickets are available exclusively at www.cirquedusoliel.com/kooza. 6/8 – 7/21.

COACHELLA VALLEY REP’S SUMMER CABARET SERIES: Coachella Valley Repertory, located in Cathedral City in the former Imax Theatre, is between seasons but is putting their beautiful theatre to good use this summer with a series of cabaret performances, mostly geared toward Broadway singers and tunes. Performers include Glenn Rosenblum’s “Broadway Showstoppers,” Leslie Tinnaro, Jason Graae, Ken Page, Deven Green & Handsome Ned, Brett Barrett & Bernie Blanks, and if you only see one show this summer, make it David Burnham: Mostly Broadway (July 25). This hunky baritone has headlined Joseph and the Amazing Dreamcoat, Wicked, and The Light in the Piazza. Individual tickets and more information are available at www.cvrep.org All performances are at 7 p.m. and tickets are $50.

BY KAY KUDUKIS DAP HEALTH CEO

“I’m from Iowa, we don’t know what cool is.” ~ Ashton Kutcher

AP Health CEO David Brinkman is a fifthgeneration Iowan who actually is cool, Ashton. His father was an endocrinologist. Mom was not only a nurse but executive director of a women’s health organization. Involved in the women’s rights movement her entire career, she also served on a committee approving FDA medical devices.

D DAVID BRINKMAN SERVES WITH PRIDE

Sundays, she took the three kids to church while Dad visited the forgotten in local nursing homes. That was his church, and he never missed a Sunday. Both parents gave of themselves tirelessly, instilling those values in their brood.

Thirteen-year-old Brinkman didn’t exactly know he was gay, but he was a fashionista — side note: he’s still got it — with a pension for dying his hair colors not found in nature. Dad surmised his son might not survive tiny-town high school. ‘Out’ didn’t exist in Mason City, but surprisingly it did at Shattuck-St. Mary’s Episcopal Boarding School in Faribault, Minnesota, where Brinkman was sent to receive his secondary education. With only eight students to a classroom, you couldn’t hide in the back. Brinkman had

hall, who’d pester him with “You’re gay, Brinkman. Admit it!” Brinkman never did. Maybe that was confusion, but it was definitely influenced by the sounds of the beatings the other boys gave the gay one. That he never did anything to help that kindred spirit agonized Brinkman for years, until he finally tracked his former classmate down. There was grace and understanding on the other end of the line: “I would have done the same thing.”

The Birth of an Activist

The Lewis & Clark College campus in Oregon was a beehive of activism. Brinkman led the student LGBTQ organization for his four years, majoring in sociology and anthropology, minoring in gender studies. He came out to his parents, then promptly had his first panic attack. He felt lost. It was the early nineties. His community was dying. He was afraid for them. And for himself. Sophomore year he fought for his rights in response to a statewide ballot initiative to outlaw homosexuality. “Run to the front line, son,” his parents sug-

So, he did, applying at the Cascade AIDS Project for the only job available: condom fairy. Late nights spent at bathhouses distributing condoms and literature had its moments, but didn’t pay the bills. Two other hourly jobs — running a support group at Harry’s Mother, a homeless youth organization, and running another for LGBT kids at the Urban League of Portland, weren’t much help. And sleep? What was that?

Brinkman wanted to stay on the front line at Cascade AIDS, so he took a 40-hour-a-week salaried position: case manager. Every week, two or three clients died. His psyche couldn’t handle this reality, and when he wasn’t working, he was depressed.

He eventually stopped caring about himself altogether. His friend, an undergrad in psychology, recognized the once tireless activist’s darkness. “You can’t do this anymore, David,” she said. “It’s affecting your health. You have to leave.”

Brinkman informed his boss, Susan Stoltenberg, who gave him not a lifeline but, as it turned out, his life’s work.

“You’re smart, dedicated, and charming AF,” she said. “You’d be great at fundraising.” She taught him the ropes, took him to benefits at wealthy gay men’s homes, and together they watched the donations come pouring in.

The next step was to lead the charge, so Brinkman got his MBA at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School in Los Angeles, with an emphasis in ethical business management. He was

He spent four years as executive director at My Friend’s Place, a nonprofit for homeless kids in L.A., but when the executive director position opened up at what was then known as Desert AIDS Project in Palm Springs, it was as if everything Brinkman had done in his life up until that point had led him to this. Except he almost didn’t get the gig.

It was at his fifth “audition” dinner with the board of directors that a member questioned their responsibility to write personal checks to DAP. Brinkman stated in no uncertain terms that he believed members of the community would only make contributions to the nonprofit if they firmly understood the board was similarly invested — that each of its members had skin in the game. “If you don’t believe in that,” Brinkman told the group, “then I’m not the executive director for you.”

Every board member voted Brinkman in. Except for that skinless square peg, who resigned. That was 17 years ago.

Three Marvelous Humans

Through DAP Health, Brinkman has met many a marvelous human, but three get a shout-out here. The first, Marvin Sholl, proclaimed himself Brinkman’s “West Coast dad,” and 12 years ago, over dinner, said, “David! Ruthie and I love you. But we need to tell you…” Long pause for dramatic effect. “There’s another man in our lives.”

Brinkman waited for a punchline that never came. “This man is your husband,” Sholl continued. “You have yet to meet, but for two years, Ruthie and I have been preparing.”

The next evening, Dr. Will Grimm walked into Barry Manilow’s Gift of Love concert at the McCallum Theatre for his blind date with Brinkman, and fairy dust appeared anywhere the good doctor was. It danced from his fingertips, and when he spoke, it came out of his mouth like cartoon music from a saxophone. The men married in 2019. So, there you have Marvelous Human Shout-Out Number Two.

Number Three is a Ugandan physician working for UNAIDS in Rwanda four years ago, when Brinkman was part of a DAP delegation presenting at an international AIDS conference in Kigali. The man goes by Musah Lumumba because to say his real name would be catastrophic for him and for those he loves.

He and Brinkman spoke this past Ramadan, while Lumumba was in the streets serving the hungry. He said something that skyrocketed across the Atlantic ocean and two continents, piercing

Brinkman’s core existence. “David,” he said, “the reason you and I are alive today is to address the issues our communities are facing today.”

That, Brinkman says, is the why of it all. “It’s why DAP was founded,” he says. “It’s why Borrego Health was acquired. And it’s why I came into work today.”

Your move, Kutcher!

DAP Health, which celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2024, is an internationally renowned humanitarian health care organization and federally qualified health center (FQHC), founded as Desert AIDS Project in 1984, whose goal is to protect and expand health care access for all people — especially the disenfranchised — regardless of who or where they are, their health status, or whether they have health insurance. Its 900 employees serve more than 85,000 patients of all populations, genders, and ages at 26 fixed locations and eight mobile units across 240 urban and rural zip codes in Riverside and San Diego counties.

MATT CULLEN IS

LIVING

OUR QUEER LIFE

BY ALEXANDER RODRIGUEZ

Matt Cullen is a Los Angeles-based content creator who is using his platform to share the diversity that is the LGBTQ community. From a young age, he wanted to be in entertainment and knew he would end up in Hollywood or New York City. After moving to Los Angeles after studying acting in New York, his focus shifted. COVID gave him the silence to reflect on what was bringing him happiness. During that time, he decided to embark on his most ambitious, ongoing project. His series Our Queer Life has been diving into the queer community for a few years now, garnering hundreds of thousands of views and putting the realities of our community – the funny, the heartbreaking, the misunderstood – in the spotlight. In his series, he has interviewed everyone from celebrities, age gap couples, and gay cowboys, to the elderly, and, in an effort to fight the stigma regarding the queer sex community,

has interviewed porn stars, escorts, and former streetwalkers. At the foundation of every one of his videos is his sincerity. Matt is not a flashy influencer, he listens, crafts his episodes with skill, and puts a lot of heart into his work.

One of his first videos that went viral featured Mousie, a trans woman and former street hustler. Gaining her trust in his special way, she opened up her life to Matt, sharing her history of jail time, drug use, and sex work. The episode quickly got 300,000 views as this heartbreaking and heartwarming story started to circle. Mousie would be the subject of four episodes of Our Queer Life. Sadly, in the final episode, Matt shared that Mousie had passed. Matt says these episodes have affected him the most. Being so close to Mousie and having an intimate chat with all of his subjects, is Matt ever afraid of getting too close to his guests, especially in some questionable environments?

I never have felt in danger ever on my show. But I also really have trusted

my gut with how I feel. I’ve also just learned that people operate from a place of respect. And if you go into a situation and you respect the person and you treat them with respect and listen to them and support them emotionally and mentally, they’re going to do that back to you. I felt the safest in some of these episodes and some of these people that maybe are the street hustlers or people that maybe some would think I would be scared around, but I actually have found that I feel the safest around those people because they are just honest and they say what they mean, and they mean what they say. If you treat them with respect, then they’re going to cheat you with respect. That has also really opened my eyes and taught me a lot about the world and our community as well.

As his series has grown over the years, so have his clicks. He is one of the leading influencers on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. He does everything

himself, the editing, the booking, the hosting, the posting, he’s a one-man show. With views going into the hundreds of thousands per episode, does he feel the pressure to one-up himself and have all eyes on him?

It does. Every time that a video gets a lot of views, and it makes me nervous, I also remind myself that that is great. Maybe it’s stirring up conversation in the comments or a little bit of controversy. But I think that that’s what art good art does, it pushes the boundaries, and it causes conversation and it causes people to look at something in a new way. So I just try to remind myself when an episode really gets big or a TikTok goes really big or something, that this is what I want. I want my content to reach new eyes, and I want my content to reach eyes that maybe wouldn’t have clicked this before. Maybe some aren’t interested in watching content about our community, but they’re learning. They click the video and then they learn so much. Sometimes when a video gets big and I start reaching that new demographic and I start seeing the trolls come out I’m like, oh, great, we’re going to this new territory, I remind myself that that’s a good sign because it means that it’s reaching people that would not have normally watched my content before. So that’s pushing the needle forward in terms of acceptance and knowledge for our community.

I remind myself the reason why I’m here is because I’ve created stories and I’ve picked stories that I am genuinely interested in. But of course, as your series grows or you start getting brand deals involved, or you start getting agents involved and they need a certain view count, it can be very dangerous to fall into that category of like, oh, well this is not going to bring enough views so I’m not going to do the story. You feel the pressure as your channel grows on YouTube - I need to top it. I need to top the next episode and the next episode. That’s something I’ve been going through lately, but I just try to remind myself that the reason my channel is doing so well

Matt Cullen interviews TS Madison

Matt Cullen interviews Anthony Rapp

is because it’s authentic to me. If an episode only gets 40,000 views because of that, it’s okay because, at the end of the day, it’s about my catalog of episodes. If I’m passionate about a story, but it only gets 40,000 views, I’m still going to do it because that’s still 40,000 people who are going to watch it.

What are the most important factors Matt subscribes to when he puts an episode together?

It’s grown and morphed as I’ve learned so much about the YouTube space and that every medium is different. If you’re putting content out on YouTube, you have to learn about the YouTube space. If you’re putting content out on TikTok, you have to learn about the TikTok space. But on YouTube specifically, I feel like what I’ve learned works for me is finding a story that is clickable and something that maybe somebody would think is juicy and a little scandalous. But then you click the video, and my main goal is to show the human side of that person. So, let’s say I’m doing an episode on a sex worker that works the streets in Puerto Rico, which I’ve done, and I sat with these three beautiful trans women on the street that they walk. That seems clickable because that’s so enticing, and that’s a world no one’s really seen before. But then we sit down and we talk about their family and them being scared when they leave for work every day, that maybe they’re not going to come home and see their family. They want for more in life and just trying to paint them as human beings so that when someone clicks the episode they think it’s going to be one thing, but when they leave the episode they really feel connected and they feel like, wow, that could be my sister, or that could be me, or they see themselves in that person so that everybody has more respect for everybody else. The goal of my series is to paint the human side of somebody.

With Matt being the heart of the series, does he feel the pressure to be a spokesperson for the LGBTQ community or act in a certain way?

I do feel it and it has been an adjustment, but I love it. I feel so thankful that what I’ve created has resonated

with people in a positive way. When I do go out and have fun, I feel like the people who have watched my show have a positive reaction to me. Especially with YouTube, you can put things out on YouTube and you can get 2 million views but it’s hard to grasp what 2 million views is because I’m just sitting at home on my couch editing these videos by myself, clicking by myself, seeing the numbers but not really realizing the numbers. So I actually really love going out and being able to talk with people because it makes me realize and motivates me to see the impact that my work is having on people.

Not only is Matt intimately involved in the interview process, but he relives that intimacy as he spends hours editing his pieces. Considering how heavy the themes can be sometimes, how does he maintain his mental health during the process?

I honestly feel like part of the reason why I realize this is my destiny is because I don’t carry it with me. But people’s strengths inspire me. Of course, these stories are heavy and people go through a lot and it makes me sad, but I also feel like these people are still living and they pick themselves up after a hard day and they’re trying to make things work and trying to get some money so they can feed themselves or whatever the case may be. And I just find so much inspiration in that. Even though my life, of course, is so much different than theirs, I leave these interviews feeling so inspired and motivated by every single guest I’ve had on, no matter what their difficulties are. I just try to focus on that. I think that’s what really keeps me going. I think that’s really the stance that I take in how I edit the episodes, is just really showing that life is hard for so many people and we are always going to be thrown hurdles.

Matt has featured a number of celebrities on his show, but they aren’t the focus. Even when he does talk to a celeb, the content is always regarding important issues of our community. His library is ever-changing. Why does Matt insist on featuring everyday walks of life?

My show isn’t called Our Hero Queer Life or Our Queer Left-Leaning Life or

whatever some people would want my show to be called. My show’s called Our Queer Life. So, if I don’t show everybody, even people that I maybe don’t agree with politically or don’t agree with in whatever the case may be, I just don’t think that that would be fair, especially with what I’m trying to do. I want to show everybody, and some people stir up people’s feathers, but that’s good too. I made a promise to myself when the show first started that I’m not going to only pick certain people if I agree with their stories or agree with the way they’re living their lives. I want to pick everybody in the queer community so that people can look back on our time and in 30, 40 years from now and look back at the series and it accurately portrays the community to

this day. That’s really the goal.

And what has Our Queer Life taught Matt most about himself?

That’s a hard question. I honestly always say that I think that the show has really changed who I am and made me the person that I am today. I am someone who looks at people now in a completely different way. I know that everyone has a story, and everybody has a life that they lived and things they are going through or things that they’ve gone through. I think that sometimes you can stay so in your bubble of your friends and your life and your routine. This show has made me yearn to go outside of my bubble and try things new and talk to new people. I have learned so much about humanity and about our community

that I would not have learned had I not done this series.

And his message to the community this Pride?

We all need to stand together. A lot of the episodes I’ve done have shown that sometimes there is segregation within the letters of our community, and I think it’s so important that we listen to our trans community and we stand with them, especially in the times we’re at right now. We’re stronger as one. We need all of us to stand together and listen to each other and be there for each other and fight the fight together.

You can watch Our Queer Life on YouTube.

PHOTO BY ASHLEY PURNELL

BY SISTER ROMA

D OVER THE RAIN BOW

ear Reader, may I call you friend? You know what, I’m going to go ahead and do that. Now that we are friends, I have to tell you a secret. Of course, as my friend, I trust you will not betray my confidence. If I hear from one person that you blabbed about what I’m going to share I swear I will lock you in a room with Jackie Beat and ask her to tell you all about how she’s Vegan now. Nobody wants that - trust me.

Anyway… back to my secret. I’ve been keeping this inside for a very long time, but I feel that since it’s Pride, I should come clean: I am not a fan of the rainbow.

There, I said it. I’ll wait while that sinks in. I know it’s a shocking revelation and a lot to digest, especially in a happy-go-lucky column between friends. But girl, let’s be honest. Have you ever seen a rainbow shirt, dress, jacket, costume, or any rainbow fabric that didn’t make your eyes bleed? Now that it’s June, designers and websites will pull out the rainbow gradient and apply it to their logos, signage, site backgrounds, ads, and banners. Retailers will move their rainbow goods into the front window to appeal to the LGBTQ+ consumer to show

their “Pride.” Nothing says “I’m an ally” like rainbow phone cases, water bottles, and butt plugs, right? Worst of all, naive homosexuals, unsuspecting theys and thems, well-meaning allies, and the occasional dog, will prance and parade around wearing the most pathetic and ratchet rainbow product of all time: the rainbow feather boa. I KNOW feather boas and those Party City rainbow chicken feather boas are… not... it! They bleed and worse, they molt so fast that by the end of the night, you’re left with a string and about four or five feathers hanging on for dear life. It’s embarrassing.

Now don’t get it twisted. I like actual rainbows. I’m not a monster. I also like the rainbow flag. I prefer the version with the trans/POC triangle that has been in vogue for a few years now. I love the flag for many reasons. I love the fact that the original rainbow flag was designed by Gilbert Baker in San Francisco in 1978. What some of you may not know is that Gilbert went on to become Sister Chanel 2001 in the early ‘80s with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. She came and went before my time in the Order, but we eventually did get to know each other, and Gilbert was lovely.

I love the flag because it represents our community. Much like the flag we are colorful and bold, and many of you like to hang off the end of a long pole (you know who you are.)

But the main reason I love our rainbow flag is that so many people hate it. I mean these homophobes and conservative Christians are straight-up triggered by our colorful symbol of LGBTQ pride. There are entire countries where the rainbow flag is banned. There are right-wing republican politicians here in America who want to ban the rainbow flag from classrooms. Of course, we all know they don’t hate the flag, they hate us. These are the same people who want to ban drag and cancel pride. They want to ban books and erase all queer and trans people from history. They want to criminalize and eradicate us. I know that sounds dramatic, but they literally would like anyone who is not a cis/hetero to cease to exist.

Of course, we know that is impossible. Trans, Queer, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Intersex, Nonbinary, and Gender Non-con-

forming humans have always been here. Like literally from the beginning of time. And we will always be here, like literally until the end of time. So, when they see our Pride Flag, with its beautiful rainbow colors, they are reminded that we are here, and we are not going anywhere. Our flag reminds people that we are not afraid, we are living out loud and proud.

You know what, I just changed my mind. I LOVE THE RAINBOW. I want to see more rainbow clothing, costumes, and accessories. I encourage graphic designers to break out the rainbow gradient and paint the world with our colors. I applaud brick-and-mortar and online retailers who rainbow-fy their logos and push their rainbow products to the front of their stores and onto their landing pages. Bring on the rainbow onesies, cat toys, notebooks, tennis shoes, umbrellas, socks, gummy bears… I love ALL OF IT! I want to see more rainbows everywhere!

Happy Pride everyone, let your Rainbow Flag fly!

Love, Sister Roma

PS - I still hate those cheap rainbow feather boas. Sorry not sorry, Party City.

Meet new GED columnist Sister Roma

The Most Photographed Nun In the World™️

For more than three decades Sister Roma has been one of the most outspoken and globally recognized members of San Francisco’s Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. From fighting on the front lines in the war against HIV/AIDS to organizing DRAG UP! FIGHT BACK!, a march and rally protesting anti-queer, anti-drag, and anti-trans legislation, Roma has dedicated more than half her life to community service, activism, and fundraising. But don’t get it twisted, this Sister is no Saint! Her colorful wit and sharp tongue have made Roma one of San Francisco’s favorite entertainers and emcees. She’s a frequent guest on television, radio, and podcasts and can be found hosting the main stages of SF Pride, Folsom Street Fair, and Easter in the Park, to name a few. Today Roma is blessed to travel the globe as an LGBTQ ambassador and event host, striving to uphold her Sisterly vows to expiate stigmatic guilt and promulgate universal joy. She is thrilled to join the wonderful staff of GED Magazine and share this space with her longtime friend, the Queen of Palm Springs, Ethylina Canne.

WITH GRATITUDE 12 YEARS OF PUBLISHING

BY MICHAEL WESTMAN

welve years ago, GED Magazine launched at LA Pride, born out of desire to promote inclusivity, diversity, and tell the stories of our community. We have been lucky enough to do this while giving back to many charities, community organizations, and businesses in the regions that we are privileged to distribute to every month. Over the past years, the magazine has morphed in look and style; adapted to include other products such as web, digital, social media, email, and other marketing tools; and delved into event production. However, our blueprint to reaching the LGBTQ+ community remains the same - savvy yet simple. While the general landscape may have changed, the LGBTQ+ community is physical – we go out, socialize, and pick up LGBTQ+ media. It was recently estimated that 90% of all LGBTQ+ digital content comes directly from print… we thank our print advertisers for trusting us with their brands, our sponsors for seeing our vision, our staff for working so tirelessly, and most of all our loyal community of readers, followers, family. While we honor where we have been and embrace where we are, we now look toward a future of a continued commitment to a platform of integrity, equality, inclusion, and celebrating the stories of our community.

TNow let’s take a look back at one issue from each year on the next page.

EDITORS CHOICE

BARS & CLUBS

AKBAR

4356 W. Sunset Blvd

Silverlake, CA 90029

323.665.6810 akbarsilverlake.com

BEACHES WEHO

8928 Santa Monica Blvd

West Hollywood, CA 90069

310.360.0395 beachesweho.com

FIESTA CANTINA

88565 Santa Monica Blvd

West Hollywood, CA 90069

310.652.8865 fiestacantina.net

FUBAR

7994 Santa Monica Blvd

West Hollywood, CA 90046

323.654.0396 fubarla.com

GYM SPORTSBAR

8919 Santa Monica Blvd

West Hollywood, CA 90069

424.313.8202 gymsportsbar.com

HAMBURGER MARY’S

8288 Santa Monica Blvd

West Hollywood, CA 90069

323.654.3800 hamburgermarys.com

HEART WEHO

8911 Santa Monica Blvd

West Hollywood, CA 90069 heartweho.com

HI TOPS

8933 Santa Monica Blvd

West Hollywood, CA 90069 hitopsbar.com

MICKYS

8857 Santa Monica Blvd

West Hollywood, CA 90069

310.657.1176

mickys.com

ROCCO’S

8900 Santa Monica Blvd

West Hollywood, CA 90069

424.343.0123 roccosweho.com

LOS ANGELES DIRECTORY

SAINT FELIX

8945 Santa Monica Blvd

West Hollywood, CA 90069

310.275.4428 saintfelix.net

THE ABBEY

692 N Robertson Blvd

West Hollywood, CA 90069

310.289.8410 theabbeyweho.com

THE CHAPEL

692 N Robertson Blvd

West Hollywood, CA 90069

310.289.8410

theabbeyweho.com

THE EAGLE

4219 Santa Monica Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90029

323.669.9472 eaglela.com

REVOLVER VIDEO BAR

8851 Santa Monica Blvd.

West Hollywood, CA 90069

424.382.1108

Revolverweho.Com

STACHE

8941 Santa Monica Blvd

West Hollywood, CA 90069

310.402.0770 Stacheweho.Com

THE BAYOU

8939 Santa Monica Blvd

West Hollywood, CA 90069

310.273.3303

Thebayouweho.Com

TRUNKS

8809 Santa Monica Blvd West Hollywood, CA 90069 310.652.1015 west.hollywood.trunksbar.com

CLOTHING & LEATHER

665 LEATHER & FETISH

20810 Lassen St Chatsworth, CA 91311 818.678.9193 665leather.com

BLOCK PARTY

8853 Santa Monica Blvd

West Hollywood, CA 90069 blockpartyweho.com

BRICK & MORTAR

8713 Santa Monica Blvd West Hollywood, CA 90069

310.652.6605 shopatbrick.com

CIRCUS OF BOOKS

8861 Santa Monica Blvd and West Hollywood, CA 90069 323.337.9555 circusofbooks.com

LOVE CONNECTION

8244 Santa Monica Blvd West Hollywood, CA 90046

ROUGH TRADE LEATHER

3915 Sunset Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90029 323.660.7956 roughtradegear.com

THE PLEASURE CHEST

7733 Santa Monica Blvd West Hollywood, CA 90046 323.650.1022 thepleasurechest.com

YMLA

8594 Santa Monica Blvd West Hollywood, CA 90069 ymla.com

HAIR SALONS

BLADE

801 N. Larrabee St, Ste #1 West Hollywood 310.659.6693

SHORTY’S BARBER SHOP

755 N Fairfax Ave West Hollywood 323.297.0554 shortysbarbershop.com

COMMUNITY RESOURCES

HEALTH/COUNSELING

AID FOR AIDS AFA

8235 Santa Monica Blvd #200 West Hollywood, CA 90046

323.656.1107 aidforaids.net

AIDS HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION/MENS WELLNESS CENTER

• 6255 W Sunset Blvd, 21st Fl Los Angeles, CA 90028

888 AIDS CARE

• 1300 N Vermont Ave, Ste 407 Los Angeles, CA 90027

866.339.2525

800.367.2437 inspotla.org

AIDS HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION PHARMACY

8212

•

•

323.653.1990 – appts 323.653.8622 – admin lafreeclinic.org

• 6043 Hollywood Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90028

•

PALM SPRINGS DIRECTORY

• 1726 East Colorado Blvd

Pasadena, CA 91106

626.440.1719

• 360 North Fairfax Ave

Los Angeles, CA 90036

323.934.1956

PROJECT ANGEL FOOD

922 Vine St

Los Angeles, CA 90038

323.845.1800 angelfood.org

THE TREVOR PROJECT

9056 Santa Monica Blvd #100 West Hollywood, CA 90069

310.271.8845 thetrevorproject.org

VALLEY COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE

6801 Coldwater Canyon Ave North Hollywood, CA 91605

818.301.6314 - HIV testing

818.301.6390 - Medical Services smarthealthla.com

LEGAL

LAMBDA LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUCATION FUND INC.

Western Regional Office 3325 Wilshire Blvd #1300

Los Angeles, CA 90010

213.382.7600 lambdalegal.org

NATIONAL G & L TASK FORCE

5455 Wilshire Blvd #1505 Los Angeles, CA 90036

323.954.9597 thetaskforce.org

WITH GED MAGAZINE

COMPETITIVE RATES

STATEWIDE PRINT DISTRIBUTION

sales@gedmag.com

ATTRACTIONS

THE LIVING DESERT ZOO AND GARDENS

47900 Portola Ave

Palm Desert, CA 92260

760.346.5694 livingdesert.org

PALM SPRINGS AIR MUSEUM

745 N Gene Autry Trail

Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.778.6262 palmspringsairmuseum.org

PALM SPRINGS ART MUSEUM

101 Museum Drive

Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.322.4800 psmuseum.org

PS AERIAL TRAMWAY

1 Tram Way

Palm Springs, CA 92262

888.515.8726 pstramway.com

BARS & CLUBS

BLACKBOOK

315 E. Arenas Rd

Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.832.8497 blackbookbar.com

CHILL BAR

217 E. Arenas Rd Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.327.1079 chillbarpalmsprings.com

DICK’S ON ARENAS

301 E. Arenas Rd Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.327.0753 eagle501bar.com

HUNTERS

302 E. Arenas Rd Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.323.0700 hunterspalmsprings.com

ONE ELEVEN BAR

67555 E Palm Canyon Dr Cathedral City, CA 92234

760.537.3111 oneelevenbar.com

OSCAR’S

125 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Suite 108 Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.325.1188 oscarspalmsprings.com

QUADZ

200 S. Indian Canyon Dr Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.778.4326 Spurline.com

STREET BAR

224 E. Arenas Rd Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.320.1266 psstreetbar.com

THE BARRACKS

67-625 E. Palm Canyon Dr Cathedral City, CA 92234

760.321.9688

REFORMA

333 S Palm Canyon Dr Unit 2, Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.902.6630 reformaps.com

THE ROOST LOUNGE

68718 E Palm Canyon Dr Cathedral City, CA 92234

760.507.8495 theroostcc.com

TOOL SHED

600 E. Sunny Dunes Rd. Palm Springs, CA 92264

760.320.3299 pstoolshed.com

TOUCANS TIKI LOUNGE

2100 N. Palm Canyon Dr Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.416.7584 toucanstikilounge.com

CLOTHING OPTIONAL RESORTS

BEARFOOT INN

888 N. Indian Canyon Dr Palm Springs, CA. 92262

760.699.7641 bearfootinn.com

DESCANSO

288 E. Camino Monte Vista Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.320.1928 descansoresort.com

DESERT PARADISE

615 S. Warm Sands Dr Palm Springs, CA 92264

760.320.5650 desertparadise.com

EL MIRASOL VILLAS

525 Warm Sands Dr Palm Springs, CA 92264

760.327.5913 elmirasol.com

INNDULGE PALM SPRINGS

601 Grenfall Rd Palm Springs, CA 92264

760.327.1408 inndulge.com

SANTIAGO RESORT

650 San Lorenzo Road Palm Springs, CA 92264

760.322.1300 santiagoresort.com

THE HACIENDA

586 S. Warm Sands Dr Palm Springs, CA 92264

760.327.8111 thehacienda.com

TRIANGLE INN PALM SPRINGS

555 San Lorenzo Rd. Palm Springs, CA 92264

760.322.7993 triangle-inn.com

TWIN PALMS

1930 S. Camino Real Palm Springs, CA

760.841.1455 twinpalmsresort.com

VISTA GRANDE RESORT

574 S. Warm Sands Dr. Palm Springs, CA 92264

760.322.2404 vistagranderesort.com

CLOTHING & LEATHER

EL TUGGLE

388 N Palm Canyon Dr Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.880.4338 eltuggle.com

GAYMART

305 E. Arenas Rd Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.416.6436

GEAR LEATHER & FETISH

650 E Sunny Dunes Rd #1 Palm Springs, CA 92264

760.322.3363 gearleather.com

PALM SPRINGS DIRECTORY

ROUGH TRADE LEATHER

321 E. Arenas Rd

Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.699.7524

roughtradegear.com

GIFTS

DESTINATION PSP

170 North Palm Canyon

Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.354.9154 destinationpsp.com

GREETINGS PALM SPRINGS

301 N Palm Canyon Dr # 102 Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.322.5049 greetingspalmsprings.com

JUST FABULOUS

515 N Palm Canyon Dr

Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.864.1300 bjustfabulous.com

MISCHIEF CARDS & GIFTS

226 N Palm Canyon Dr

Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.322.8555 mischiefcardsandgifts.com

PEEPA’S

120 N Palm Canyon Dr

Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.318.3553

peepasps.com

PS HOMEBOYS

108 S. Indian Canyon Dr Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.318.7388 pshomeboys.com

Q TRADING COMPANY

606 E Sunny Dunes Rd

Palm Springs, CA 92264

760.416.7150

HAIR SALONS

CUT BARBER

1109 N Palm Canyon Dr

Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.322.2999

cutbarber.com

DADDY’S BARBERSHOP

192 S Indian Canyon Dr Palm Springs, CA 92264

760.537.1311 daddysbarbershop.com

MEN’S GROOMING SPOT

68487 E Palm Canyon Dr Suite 43 Cathedral City, CA 92234

760.992.0028 mensgroomingspot.com

PS FINE MEN’S SALON

750 E Tahquitz Canyon Way, Suite 3 Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.904.0434 psfinemenssalon.com

REALTORS

3 BEARS REALTY

2905 E Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.699.6175 3bearsrealty.com

PALM SPRINGS HOME TEAM

Conrad Miller (DRE #01973983)

760.464.9559

Brandon Holland (DRE # 01986968)

760.413.1220 Palmspringshometeam.com

RESTAURANTS

1501 UPTOWN GASTROPUB

1501 Uptown Gastropub 1501 N Palm Canyon Dr Palm Springs, 92262

760.507.1644 1501uptown.com

BLACKBOOK

315 E. Arenas Rd Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.832.8497 blackbookbar.com

BOOZEHOUNDS PS

2080 North Palm Canyon Dr Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.656-0067 boozehoundsps.com

EIGHT4NINE RESTAURANT AND LOUNGE

849 N Palm Canyon Dr. Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.325.8490 eight4nine.com

FARM

6 La Plaza

Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.322.2724 farmspalmsprings.com

JOHANNES

196 S. Indian Canyon Dr Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.778.0017 johannespalmsprings.com

RICK’S DESERT GRILL

1596 North Palm Canyon Dr Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.325.2127 ricksdesertgrill.com

SHERMAN’S DELI

401 E Tahquitz Canyon Way Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.325.1199 shermansdeli.com

TRILUSSA

68-718 E Palm Canyon Dr Cathedral City, CA 92234

760.328.2300 trilussarestaurant.com

TRIO RESTAURANT

707 N. Palm Canyon Drive Palm Springs, CA. 92262

760.854.8746 triopalmsprings.com

WILMA & FRIEDA’S

155 S Palm Canyon Dr Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.992.5080 wilmafrieda.com

COMMUNITY RESOURCES

DAP HEALTH

1695 N. Sunrise Way, Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.323.2118 daphealth.org

DESERT CARE NETWORK

760.561.7373 desertcarenetwork.com

DESERT OASIS HEALTHCARE

275 North El Cielo Road Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.325.DOHC (3642) mydohc.com

EISENHOWER HEALTH

39000 Bob Hope Drive Rancho Mirage, CA 92270

760.340.3911 eisenhowerhealth.org

MICHAEL’S HOUSE

1910 S Camino Real Palm Springs, CA 92262

844.768.0633 michaelshouse.com

PALM SPRINGS

ANIMAL SHELTER

4575 E. Mesquite Ave, Palm Springs, CA 92264

760.416.5718 psanimalshelter.org

PALM SPRINGS FRONT RUNNERS & WALKERS frontrunners.clubexpress.com

STONEWALL GARDENS

2150 N. Palm Canyon Drive Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.548.0970 stonewallgardens.com

LGBTQ COMMUNITY CENTER OF THE DESERT

1301 North Palm Canyon Dr, 3rd Floor Palm Springs, CA 92262

760.416.7790 thecentercv.org

REACH THE PS LGBTQ COMMUNITY AND ADVERTISE WITH GED MAGAZINE

COMPETITIVE RATES

STATEWIDE PRINT DISTRIBUTION

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SAN FRANCISCO DIRECTORY

BARS & CLUBS

440 CASTRO 440 Castro, San Francisco, CA the440.com

BEAUX

2344 Market St., San Franciso, CA beauxsf.com

HI TOPS

2247 Market St, San Francisco, CA

415.551.2500 hitopsbar.com

LOBBY BAR

4230 18th St. Unit A, San Francisco, CA lobbybarsf.com

LOOKOUT

3600 16th St., San Francisco, CA

415.431.0306 lookoutsf.com

MAC’S CLUB

39 Post St., San Jose, CA

408.288.8221

MIDNIGHT SUN

4067 18th St., San Francisco, CA

415.861.4186

midnightsunsf.com

MOBY DICK

4049 18th St., San Francisco, CA

415.294.0731

OASIS

298 11th St., San Francisco, CA

415.795.3180 sfoasis.com

RENEGADES

501 W Taylor St., San Jose, CA

408.275.9902 renegadesbar.carrd.co

SF EAGLE

398 12th St., San Francisco, CA 415.200.2002 sf-eagle.com

SPLASH

65 Post St., San Jose, CA

408.292.2222 splashsj.com

THE CINCH SALOON

1723 Polk St, San Francisco, CA 415.776.4162

THE MIX

4086 18th St., San Francisco, CA 415.431.8616 thesfmix.com

WHITE HORSE BAR

6551 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, CA 510.652.3820

HAIR SALONS

HEALING CUTS

2350 Market St., San Francisco, CA 415.286.2970 healingcutssf.com

SPUNK SALON

4147 19th St., San Francisco, CA 415.701.7865 spunksalon.com

THE CASTRO BARBER LOUNGE

2265 Market St., San Francisco, CA 415.678.5942 thecastrobarberlounge.com

COMMUNITY RESOURCES

HEALTH/COUNSELING/SUPPORT

API WELLNESS CLINIC

726 Polk St. SF LGBT Center 1800 Market Street San Francisco, CA apiwellness.org

BILLY DEFRANK

LGBTQ CENTER

938 The Alameda, San Jose, CA 408.293.3040 defrankcenter.org

LYRIC CENTER FOR LGBTQQ YOUTH

127 Collingwood St (@ 18th St), San Francisco, CA 415.703.6150 lyric.org

OAKLAND LGBTQ COMMUNITY CENTER

3207 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland, CA 510.882.2286 oaklandlgbtqcenter.org

PACIFIC CENTER FOR HUMAN GROWTH

2712 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley, CA 510.548.8283 pacificcenter.org

QUEER LIFESPACE

2275 Market St, San Francisco, CA 415.358.2000 queerlifespace.org

RAINBOW COMMUNITY CENTER

2380 Salvio St., Concord, CA 925.692.0090 rainbowcc.org

SF AIDS FOUNDATION

470 Castro St, San Francisco, CA 415.437.3400 strutsf.org

SF LGBT CENTER

1800 Market St, San Francisco, 415.865.5555 sfcenter.org

STONEWALL PROJECT

1035 Market St, #400, San Francisco, CA 415.487.3000 stonewallsf.org

THE TREVOR PROJECT

866.488.7386 Text: 678.678 thetrevorproject.org

UCSF ALLIANCE HEALTH PROJECT

1930 Market St, San Francisco, CA 415.476.3902 ucsf-ahp.org

LEGAL

AIDS LEGAL REFERRAL PANEL

1663 Mission St, #500, San Francisco, CA 415.701.1100 alrp.org

OASIS LEGAL SERVICES

1900 Addison St, #100, Berkeley, CA 510.666.6687 oasislegalservices.org

TRANSGENDER

LAW CENTER

510.587.9696 transgenderlawcenter.org

HOTLINES

THE GLBT HOTLINE OF SAN FRANCISCO: 415.355.0999

GLBT NATIONAL HOTLINE: 1.888.843.4564

GLBT NATIONAL YOUTH TALKLINE: 1.800.246.7743

TREVOR PROJECT HOTLINE (Queer Youth Suicide Prevention): 866.488.7386

CALIFORNIA AIDS, STD, & HEPATITIS HOTLINE: 1.800.367.2437

SEXUAL ASSAULT - COMMUNITY VIOLENCE SOLUTIONS: 800.670.7273

CONTRA COSTA CRISIS CENTER for Suicide & Crisis Intervention: 800.273.8255