Losangelesblade.com, Volume 3, Issue 20, May 17, 2019

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LOCAL

02 • MAY 17, 2019 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

California Education Dept. overhauls sex education guidance But board pulls some books after complaints

By STAFF REPORTS The California State Board of Education approved a massive overhaul of its sex education guidance for public school teachers on May 8. The 700-page document is designed as a curriculum guideline for teachers to meet state standards on health education.

The new standards encourage open discussions and instruction on subjects such as nutrition, physical activity and combating alcohol and drug abuse. Educators are also encouraged to discuss gender identity with primary school students starting in grades K-6 and give advice to LGBTQ teenagers for navigating relationships, stressing the importance of safer sex and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.

The guidelines offer tips for how to talk

California State Board of Education Screenshot from KCRA NBC3 Sacramento

about gender identity, saying “the goal is not to cause confusion about the gender of the child but to develop an awareness that other expressions exist,” NBC Out reported. There is advice for discussing puberty with trans teens that creates “an environment that is inclusive and challenges binary concepts about gender.”

The guidance also gives tips for discussing masturbation with middle-school students, including telling them it is not physically harmful, Conservative “family” groups characterized

the document as an assault on parental rights, arguing that the guidelines expose children to ideas about sexuality and gender that should be taught at home. Much of the pushback focused on some books the guidance recommended. An earlier draft of the document, for instance, suggested “S.E.X.: The All-You-Need-to-Know Sexuality Guide to Get You Through Your Teens and Twenties.”

It includes descriptions of anal sex, bondage and other sexual activity. The board removed several books after a strong protest at a public

hearing prior to final approval.

“It’s important to know the board is not trying to ban books. We’re not saying that the books are bad,” board member Feliza I. Ortiz-Licon said. “But the removal will help avoid the misunderstanding that California is mandating the use of these books.”

One of the speakers at the public hearing was Phoenix Ali Rajah, a trans 16-year-old from Los Angeles, who told the Board he is rarely taught information for people like him during sex education classes at his high school.

“A lot of these materials that are being presented are based on feedback from students in different age levels, from kindergarten through 12th grade,” Planned Parenthood’s Cheri Greven told KCRA-TV3.

“These are conversations these students are having,” Greven said. “So do we meet them with no information at all — or do we meet them where they are at and give them medically accurate information that they can make the healthy decisions for their own lives?”

Assault on Roe v. Wade could impact marriage equality Where’s the outrage?

By KAREN OCAMB kocamb@losangelesblade.com The Republican rollback of human rights is happening in plain sight. On May 2, the Department of Health and Human Services implemented its “refusal of care” rule, a policy that enables individuals and organizations the right to refuse healthcare to anyone with whom they religiously or morally object, such as LGBT people or women exercising their reproductive rights.

President Trump and Vice Present Pence’s alignment with political evangelicals on the federal level has also emboldened ultra conservative anti-LGBT and anti-women

state legislators to help pursue two primary goals: overturning Roe v Wade (1973) that grants women autonomy over their own bodies and Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) that struck down state bans on same-sex marriage.

With 30 state legislatures controlled by Republicans, several states are passing extremist bills that they know are a legal challenge to Roe, hoping for a showdown at the conservative-majority Supreme Court.

On May 7, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a “heartbeat bill,” banning abortion at six weeks of pregnancy—a time when women might not even know they are pregnant. Georgia joins Ohio, Kentucky and Mississippi in passing such a ban in 2019.

Alabama’s bill goes further, disallowing exceptions for rape and incest and making

abortion a felony punishable by up to 99 years in prison for doctors who perform the procedure.

The reaction was swifter but less intense than in 2016 when businesses and Hollywood threatened economic boycotts of Georgia and North Carolina after they passed anti-trans bathroom bills. On May 9, five production companies announced a boycott.

Out Killer Films CEO Christine Vachon said the company would “no longer consider Georgia as a viable shooting location until this ridiculous law is overturned,” Yahoo News reported.

However—as if political correctness and business acumen apply more to LGBT than reproductive rights— directors Jordan Peele and J.J. Abrams, while denouncing the new ban as unconstitutional, said they

will nonetheless shoot the HBO horror film “Lovecraft Country” in Georgia.

But the biggest issue is the Supreme Court. As expertly laid out by the Daily Beast’s Jay Michaelson, Justice Clarence Thomas’ majority opinion in Franchise Tax Board of California v. Hyatt suggests that stare decisis, or “let the decision stand,” may no longer strongly inform decisions. In his lengthy dissent, Justice Stephen Breyer concluded, “today’s decision can only cause one to wonder which cases the Court will overrule next.”

“It’s not hard to guess which cases Justice Breyer was wondering about,” Michaelson wrote. “Because the same logic applied in Hyatt would overturn not only Roe v.

Wade but also the court’s precedent on same-sex marriage, Obergefell v. Hodges.”

LOCAL

04 • MAY 17, 2019 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

Study: political negativity adversely impacts LGBTQ youth New bills, increased awareness, new action on bullying

By SEAN SHEALY & KAREN OCAMB This may prove a conundrum for the Trumps. If the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act, reintroduced May 15, the Protecting LGBTQ Youth Act, also introduced May 15, and the Safe Schools Improvement Act, introduced May 9, pass Congress and reach President Donald Trump’s desk, will he side with the Religious Right and veto the anti-bullying bills, or will he sign them as a nod to First Lady Melania Trump’s anti-cyber bulling campaign?

But, even if the laws are passed, will they be enforced? This is a question raised by Equality California’s Safe and Supportive Schools Report Card, released May 13.

The 90-question survey sought to analyze LGBT policy, program and curriculum implementation in all 343 K-12 California unified school districts. In a conference call with reporters, Equality California Executive Director Rick Zbur said 130 school districts replied, saying they have antibullying policies in place—with 113 saying students are allowed to use bathrooms that match their gender identity. However, only 22 were designated as “top tier” in compliance; 213 districts failed to respond, which Zbur called “deeply disappointing.”

Additionally, most of the districts do not have LGBT-inclusive history textbooks, as required by a 2011 California law.

“We have worked tirelessly over the last two decades to enact laws and policies that create safer, more supportive learning environments for our LGBTQ students,” Zbur said. “But our work cannot — and does not — stop in the Capitol. For these laws to be effective, they must be implemented. This Report Card is a critical step toward providing every California student — regardless of background, zip code, sexual orientation or gender identity — a safe and supportive school and a shot at success.”

The need for implementation was underscored by college freshman Anna Zeng who said she was bullied after coming out as “queer” in her freshman year at University

High School in Orange County’s Irvine Unified School District. “School was rough for everyone but for me and my LGBTQ+identifying friends, we were treated as the lesser, the other,” she said, adding that words such as “gay” were “weaponized” and used as harassing insulting slurs “every single day” as their few allies remained quiet.

“I had a great support system but the people at school bullying me drove me to attempt suicide more than a few times,” Zeng said. “I implore you all to listen to youth and reach out. It matters. We matter.”

A new comprehensive study by the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Texas suggests the need for urgency as the 2020 political election season heats up. The

study, published in the American Academy of Pediatrics journal Pediatrics, finds new evidence that divisive political discourse about the rights of LGBTQ people can contribute to an increase in bullying linked to students’ sexual orientation or gender identity in schools.

“We think that young people don’t hear what adults and lawmakers are talking about, but they do,” the study’s senior author Stephen Russell told the Los Angeles Blade in a phone interview.

Russell, who self-described himself as a “data geek,” said he has been studying this data since 1999 when California first enacted The California Healthy Kids Survey.

He found empirical evidence that public debates about policies and laws involving

marginalized groups can lead bullies to target young people identified as being part of those groups. But, he added, the presence of a Gay-Straight Alliance in schools made a significant difference.

Russell noted a spike that occurred right after the public debates and passage of California’s Proposition 8, which eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry in 2008. “It wasn’t only LGBTQ kids getting bullied. The rate of homophobic bullying that year was higher even than the estimated population of LGBTQ students. The data are telling us that straight kids are getting bullied for this, too,” he said. “It’s all about what the bullies perceive.”

“Public votes and voter referendums on the rights of minority groups occur in approximately half of U.S. states,” study co-author Mark Hatzenbuehler, Associate professor of Sociomedical Sciences and Sociology at New York’s Columbia University, told the Los Angeles Blade in an email. “Our findings suggest that the public discourse surrounding these votes may increase risk for bias-based bullying.”

High rates of LGBTQ youth suicide also persist.

“This study confirms what we at PFLAG know about bias-based bullying. The best ways to mitigate that kind of harassment is family acceptance and support, positive portrayals in the media and elsewhere, creating safe school environments, and other guidelines and legislation that protect LGBTQ+ people from harassment and discrimination, like the Equality Act. PFLAG families across the country are working fiercely on all of these fronts.” Said, Diego Miguel Sanchez, PFLAG National’s trans Director of Advocacy, Policy & Partnerships.

The negative impacts of bullying on mental health are well documented, but what is not well known is what factors in the culture and society contribute to bullying.

Russell noted that his study shows public discourse can play a significant role, with implications for other marginalized or minority groups.

“Policies and campaigns related to Black Lives Matter, bathroom bills, immigration — these can be concerning in how they affect the health and well-being of youth,” Russell said.

“The public health consequences of these very contentious and media-driven discussions are more important than we knew.”

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06 • MAY 17, 2019 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

LOCAL

Pete Buttigieg primer Where out Democratic presidential candidate Mayor Pete stands on the issues

By KAREN OCAMB kocamb@losangelesblade.com A funny thing happened on the way to the Democratic National Committee’s presidential debate stages this June. The young gay guy with a last name no one could pronounce, Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, population 101,166, whose penchant for blindingly white shirts with Kennedy-esque rolled up sleeves started showing up in third place behind Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders in polls ranking the long list of better known contenders vying for the opportunity to oust Donald Trump in 2020.

But why is Buttigieg the popular “it” guy of early presidential politics?

Late night host Trevor Noah and branding/ politico Donny Deutsch call Buttigieg the “anti-Trump,” for his decency, war service, intellect and even- keel sensibility.

Deutsch tried to goad Buttigieg into taking an angry swipe at Trump, asserting that is necessary for any Democrat to win the nomination. Buttigieg balked. He knows Trump’s a bully.

“I’m not too worried about it. I’m from Indiana. I’m gay. I can handle bullies. And I’m literally used to incoming rocket fire [in Afghanistan] so I think I’ll be all right,” Buttigieg said, thrilling the applauding West Hollywood crowd in March.

But Buttigieg’s response to Deutsch speaks volumes about his nibble intellect, his tone of storytelling tinged with shade that plant seeds of moral comparisons while explaining why he won’t play Trump’s game, though he can be just as tough.

“My emotions about this president are not what’s going to matter most, Buttigieg tells Deutsch. “I’m not as interested in expressing my anger about him as I am in defeating and ending his presidency. If we want to have a fight over any number of things – from the way I approach service and the way he did. The fact that I was packing my bags for Afghanistan while he was working on Season 7 of Celebrity Apprentice— we can have that fight. If someone wants to raise

Pete Buttigieg at The Abbey May 9 Photo by KABC

the question of which one of us has a more traditional attitude on marriage—we can have that fight.

“But at the end of the day, it’s not about him. It’s not about me. It’s about you, the American voter,” Buttigieg continues.

“Here’s the thing about this president: he has the ability to take any attention that comes his way – including attacks and criticism – and just kind of devour and grow bigger from it. So we could unintentionally be feeding the beast by competing to see who’s going to be the one to land the biggest punch, the best zinger. And the reality is—if you just step back and think of the mentality that represents, that’s an environment where he’s the one we’re trying to impress.”

Here’s the thing about Buttigieg:

he’s a millennial philosopher and economist who’s been thinking about the mission of politics since Harvard. And he’s a devout Christian who wants to reclaim his faith and values from the Republican moneychangers and false prophets. In some ways, he’s the next iteration of the old feminist adage “the personal is political.”

“No one has more at stake [in the 2020 elections] than the younger generation coming up,” Buttigieg says, explaining why seeking the presidency at this moment is a personal calling.

Buttigieg is also keenly aware of the burden of hope and high expectations he shoulders as he campaigns during this incredible moment in LGBT history. But the 37- year old Harvard and Oxford graduate,

Rhodes scholar, Naval Reserve Intelligence Officer (deployed to Afghanistan who was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal for his work in counterterrorism) also practices humility in exercising his public service.

Buttigieg’s calm, smart, palpable authenticity and his charm gushing over husband Chasten Glezman have made him a breath of fresh air on the political landscape.

“I do believe I’m not like the others [Democratic presidential contenders],” Buttiegieg told Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday March 17. “I belong to a different generation than most of the others. Mine was the generation that was in high school when mass shootings started being the norm. We’re the generation that’s going to be on the business end of the consequences of climate change. We’re also the generation that’s on track to be the first in American history to make less than our parents if nothing is done to change the trajectory of our economy.”

Buttigieg has given considerable thought to how “America needs a narrative” with which people can identify.

“Presidencies like the one we’re living in don’t just happen. People like the person in the White House don’t come within cheating distance of the Oval Office under ordinary circumstances. And that’s why we’ve got to recognize the seriousness of this moment,” Buttigieg said during his recent appearance at The Abbey in West Hollywood.

“What’s happening right now is a symptom, not a cause,” he continued. “It’s a symptom of a deep disorientation in our economy and our democracy. But we also have the great benefit of living in one of those rare moments in American history when the decisions we make will ripple out throughout time….So, let’s get it right.”

Buttigieg, who is still hiring campaign staff and working on his campaign website— PeteforAmerica.com—has been criticized for not laying out specific policy positions for voters to compare with other candidates.

In fact, Buttigieg talks about issues all the time, couched within or providing context for a story that illustrates his message about freedom, security and democracy. Here are just some of those issues.

Continues on page 8

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08 • MAY 17, 2019 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

LOCAL

Pete Buttigieg on the issues Continued from page 6

Hope: “If anybody tells you whether they’re not sure if America is capable in these twisted and dark times of delivering or vindicating our hopes, tell them you saw at The Abbey in West Hollywood the top tier presidential candidate on his way to the White House, moments after his husband introduced him.”

Green New Deal is more of a “goal” than a plan. But climate change is real. “We have got to do this. This timetable isn’t being set in Congress. It’s being set by reality.

It’s being set by science. And it’s going to hit— those deadlines are going to hit in our climate with or without us so we have to act…. Retro-fitting buildings means a huge amount of jobs for the building trades in this country. I view that as a good thing.” On Fox News Sunday.

Climate change: “I see a family in South Bend right before school started trying to figure out what they’re going to do after they’ve been run out of their house by a catastrophic flood. The time has ended for us to debate whether climate change is happening, but we need to start talking about it happening in our communities, in the heart of America today.”

Experience: Buttigieg was elected South Bend mayor in 2011, the youngest American mayor at 29. “I have more years of government experience under my belt than the president. That’s a low bar, I know that. I’ve also got more years of executive government experience under my belt than the vice president and more military experience than anybody to walk into that office on day one since George H.W. Bush. So I get that I’m the young guy in the conversation, but I would say experience is what qualifies me to have a seat at this table.” CNN Town Hall, March 10.

Military service/War: Buttigieg served about nine months of active-duty service, with six of those months in Afghanistan as a Reserve Navy Intelligence Officer serving in the Afghanistan Threat Finance Cell (ATFC) in Kabul, placing him in “an imminent danger pay area” from late March to mid-

Pete Buttigieg and husband Chasten Glezman kiss Photo courtesy HRC

September 2014. “We learned what it is to trust one another with our lives,” Buttigieg said in his presidential launch. In his 2019 memoir, “Shortest Way Home,” Buttigieg writes about soldiers killed President Obama announced the drawdown of the war. “I did not believe the Afghanistan War was a mistake,” Buttigieg wrote. “But as I weighed my place in a war most people at home seemed to think was already ending, I couldn’t stop wondering, how do you ask a person to be the last to die for anything?”

Abolish Electoral College: “The Electoral College needs to go, because it’s made our society less and less democratic,” Buttigieg says in the Nation, April 22, as part of a larger democracy agenda that also ends gerrymandering, extends voting rights and amends the Constitution to correct the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision.

He also wants to structurally reform the Supreme Court to make it less political.

Single payer slides into Medicare for all:

“A single-payer environment is probably the right answer in the long term, but I think any politician who throws around phrases like Medicare for all has to explain how we would get there. What you want to do is you take something like Medicare, you put it on the exchanges as a public option, and if people like me are right that that is both good coverage and more cost efficient, then more and more people will buy in and it will be a very natural glide path towards the single-payer environment.” Fox News Sunday March 19 Economy: “The president’s promise is to turn back the clock, that we can somehow just go back to the 1950s. It’s just not true.

The economy is changing, the pace of change is accelerating, and what we’ve got to do is master those changes in order to make them work for us.” To Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday.

Christianity: “When I read Scripture, when I go to church, I read about protecting

the immigrant, welcoming the stranger, looking out for those who are on the margins of society….When God comes among us – frankly, priests and politicians don’t look too good in that story. He’s spending his time with sex workers. Right? He’s spending his time with those on the margins of society.

And the Scripture I read is about lifting people up, not about beating them down.

So let’s talk about it. I’m sick of the religious right having a monopoly on political religion in this country. Let’s have a religious left.”

At Bar Lubitsch in West Hollywood March 14.

Reaching out to Black voters: “Part of it is by laying out an agenda of the issues that black voters are asking me about most often: democracy in the way that a lot of voters of color have been excluded or found their voices diminished. Or the issues that are going to be tackled by that democracy— home ownership, entrepreneurship, heath, education, criminal justice reform. But a lot of it is also about a relationship. The black

LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • MAY 17, 2019 • 09

Pete Buttigieg in West Hollywood, March 14 Photo by Karen Ocamb

voters who know me best, voters in South Bend, which is a racially diverse city, helped return me to office with an overwhelming majority in the primary and in the general election….I’m hoping to appeal to anyone who is focused on the future—that includes anybody from a blue collar workers in the industrial Midwest to a transgender woman of color, which, by the way, could be the same person.” NBC Today Show.

Demoting the black police chief: Buttigieg says he doesn’t know what’s on the five tapes allegedly of phone conversations inside the South Bend police department that may contain racist comments about former Police Chief Darryl Boykins, who is black. “[T]he reason I don’t know is these tape recordings were made in a way that violated the federal wire tap act. That is a federal law that controls when you can and can’t record people….That’s a law punishable by a term in prison and so I’m not going to violate it, even though I want to know what’s on those tapes like everybody else does.” Buttigieg

demoted the chief because he found Boykins “was the subject of a criminal investigation, not from him but the FBI, and it made it very hard for me to trust him as one of my own appointees.” CNN Town Hall, April 22 Buttigieg’s 1,000 home policy: Buttigieg used expedited code enforcement to demolish 1,000 deteriorating houses in 1,000 days, which critics said adversely impacted communities of color. However, Buttigieg says “the number one can complaint we heard, especially from minority and low income home owners in the neighborhood, was what took you so long?” He added: “No policy is perfect and we learned things the hard way on this one.”

Immigration/asylum: Buttigieg supports DACA and a pathway to citizenship, as well as fixing the legal immigration system. On trans women seeking asylum, he says the US should accommodate them “because we are responsible for their safety. And they are coming here because they believe in us, because they believe they are safer here….

They are fleeing what we’re fighting. And that means we need to look at them not as a problem to be handled, but as an asset to this nation and part of the fabric of this country.

And we should be lucky to be the place that turn to when they’re in that kind of need.” At Bar Lubitsch in West Hollywood March 14

LOCAL

great deal.” Los Angeles Blade, March 14, in West Hollywood Why should women vote for him? “Let’s pause and talk about the war on women that is underway. And it’s one of many reasons we’ve got to talk more about freedom on our side of the aisle. They talk about freedom like the only thing that could make you un-free is like a tax or a regulation. Like government’s the only thing that can make you un-free.

Well, you know what makes you un-free?

If you cannot make your own reproductive health decisions because of the intervention of some male boss or politician. Let’s talk about freedom that way.”

Late term abortion: “We’re talking about situations where the life and health of the mother is at risk and/or the child can’t survive….You only get to that late moment if you have been planning to bring a pregnancy to term. These are women facing some of the most unbelievably excruciating decisions and if they don’t think it’s easy, it’s certainly not going to be any easier for government officials like me to come in and tell them what to do….In wrangling with those issues, does anyone really think an extra layer on top of the conscience of the woman facing the choice….that somebody else that comes in with their interpretation and their religion is going to make that decision any better? I just don’t think that’s how we handle these things in America.”

Morning Joe, April 18.

Supports gun control and universal background checks: Buttigieg is a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns; supports universal background checks, opposes guns for teachers in schools, and opposes “Stand Your Ground” laws. PBS Newshour, Feb 15.

No free college tuition: “I think we need an expansion of Pell grants. I think we need the ability to re-finance student debt. I think we need to act on the way when your debt is forgiven with income-based repayment, the way that that’s taxed – I think we need to press states to step up and cover more college costs so it isn’t falling on the students in the form of tuition. And I think there are a number of other steps that are going to expand access to college.”

Equality Act: “I know what it means to question whether your job will be viewed differently because of who you are. And it motivates me all the more to make sure that all of us are equal. And I want to fight for anybody who is on the wrong end of discrimination. But as part of a community that’s experienced that directly, it’s something that obviously matters to me a

Trump’s nicknames: In an interview with Politico, President Trump compared Buttigieg to the goofy-looking, gap-toothed cartoon character in Mad magazine. “Alfred E. Neuman cannot become president of the United States,” Trump said. Buttigieg used the presumed insult to make his own point. “I had to Google that. I guess it’s a generational thing.”

QUOTES

10 • MAY 17, 2019 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

Cary Davidson, Richard M. Wortman, Peter Mackler, Rabbi Denise L. Eger, Deborah Futrowksy, Rabbi Max Chaiken, Richard Bernard and Marilyn Ader Photo courtesy Congregation Kol Ami

Congregation Kol Ami celebrated its 27th annual gala at the Temple in West Hollywood on May 6. More than 150 members and guests attended, enjoying a “Havana Nights” theme as Rabbi Denise L. Eger acted as M.C. for the evening.

Kol Ami honored longtime member Richard M. Wortman, managing partner of the law office of GDLSK, who received the Shomer Tzedek/Guardian of Justice Award for his 18 years of philanthropy and service to the Temple. Deborah Ann Futrowsky received the Spirit of Kol Ami Award for her enthusiastic volunteerism as

chair of the Women of Kol Ami. “Congregation Kol Ami has been a voice of the people here in West Hollywood for 27 years,” Rabbi Eger tells the Los Angeles Blade. “Our annual gala and celebration is more important than ever with the rising tide of anti-Semitism, as evidenced by the attacks on synagogues in Pittsburgh and Poway in recent months. Our community and friends came together to affirm the values of inclusion and welcome for LGBTQ people and our allies and our Jewish tradition. It was a beautiful evening and inspiring to honor those who exemplify these values. I am proud to serve this community and to celebrate the pursuit of justice, love and peace.”

“I’ll probably never put my hand over my heart. I’ll probably never sing the national anthem again.”

- Out World Cup-winning soccer player Megan Rapinoe to Yahoo Sports May 13, regarding the inequality and injustice by the government and the soccer federation.

“I suppose she was so clean-cut, with perfect uncapped teeth, freckles and turned-up nose, that people just thought she fitted the concept of a virgin. But when we began ‘Pillow Talk’ we thought we’d ruin our careers because the script was pretty daring stuff.”

– Then-closeted movie star Rock Hudson on his 1959 on-screen seduction of close friend Doris Day, the LGBT icon who died May 13.

“Now we know that high drug prices have been driven in part by an illegal conspiracy among generic drug companies to inflate their prices.”

- New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal to the New York Times regarding a lawsuit against leading drug companies filed May 10 by 44 states.

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LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • MAY 17, 2019 • 11

NATIONAL

House vote on the Equality Act is the easy part. What’s next?

An uphill climb to 60 in the Senate, then a hostile president

By CHRIS JOHNSON The vote this week on the Equality Act will be a historic moment marking the first-time a chamber of Congress has approved the comprehensive LGBT legislation, but that will be the easy part in getting it to become law.

With 230 co-sponsors, the Democraticcontrolled House is set to approve the Equality Act with no problem, but with Republicans enjoying a majority in the Senate, supporters will need to pick up 17 GOP votes to reach the 60-vote threshold to overcome a filibuster (assuming the entire Democratic caucus is united, which is not the case with West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin against the bill).

Then there’s President Trump, who came out in opposition to the Equality Act via comments from a senior administration official to the Blade on the basis of unspecified “poison pill” amendments in the bill, nor opposition from religious groups like the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Church of Latter-day Saints.

Overcoming all these odds would require a Herculean effort and be an unprecedented achievement of legislative strategy, to say the least.

LGBT rights advocates familiar with the strategy for the Equality Act, however, told the Blade they weren’t willing to say die after the vote and are seeking paths to enshrine the Equality Act’s prohibition on anti-LGBT discrimination into law this Congress.

The Blade solicited comments from LGBT advocates working on the legislation on condition of anonymity so they could speak more candidly about the strategy.

One LGBT advocate said the campaign for the Equality Act is “not just an effort to win a resounding as possible House vote, although that certainly is…one the biggest hurdles.”

The advocate said “there’s a fair amount of energy” in working with the Senate on the Equality Act among its business supporters, which includes 200 businesses, the U.S. Chamber of Congress and the National Association of Manufacturers.

“I don’t have a conversation with these

The House is poised to approve the Equality Act on Friday.

Blade photo by Michael Key

companies that stops at ‘What are we doing for the House vote?’” the advocate said.

“They all say, ‘This is really exciting. We want to also work on X, Y, Z senators when we get to the point after the House vote.’”

Following passage of the Equality Act in the House, one advocate said “we’re going to see if we can have a test vote in the Senate,” which will be mostly be an amendment introduced by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the sponsor of the bill, to another legislative vehicle pending before the Senate floor.

“If they do bring bills to the floor and allow amendments, we will very much be looking for an opportunity to get a test vote on the Equality Act,” the advocate said.

But being in a position to offer the Equality Act as an amendment is no small task. With Republicans in the majority, it would require consent from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who isn’t exactly known as a supporter of LGBT rights.

Moreover, the Senate at this time is almost exclusively focused on confirming Trump’s judicial nominees and rarely takes up legislation, let alone a bill approved by the Democratic-controlled House.

A McConnell spokesperson told the Blade Wednesday via email Senate Republican leadership had “no scheduling announcement regarding Senate action” at

this time on the Equality Act. Once an agreement is reached for a vote, the next part is the extraordinary heavy lift of finding 14 senators who aren’t cosponsors of the Equality Act to vote for the bill. As of right now, the only Republican cosponsor is Sen. Susan Collins (Maine).

The first tier of likely Republicans votes, one LGBT advocate said, would be Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), who has a reputation for bucking the Republican caucus and said last year she voted against the Anchorage anti-transgender measure at the ballot, and Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio), who has a gay son. Both Republicans support same-sex marriage and voted for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in 2013.

The next tier is Republicans, the advocate said, from traditionally “blue” states, which includes Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), as well as Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), who represents an increasingly “blue” state and is behind in the polls as he faces a re-election bid this year.

Although Manchin — the lone Democrat in the Senate not to co-sponsor the Equality Act — has stated opposition to the legislation, citing concerns with having “sufficient guidance to the local [education] officials who will be responsible for implementing,” the West Virginian would likely also vote for

the Equality Act if enough Republicans came on board, one LGBT advocate said.

The next tranche of senators is harder.

Top of the list is Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who said in 1994 while seeking to defeat the late Sen. Ted Kennedy in Massachusetts he’d co-sponsor ENDA and “if possible broaden [it] to include housing and credit.” (He remained silent on LGBT nondiscrimination during his 2012 presidential campaign and his latest run for the Senate.)

Others would be the Republicans from Florida — Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio — although one advocate snidely said Rubio would have to “decide he wasn’t running for president” as a Republican for him to be in play. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) were also mentioned, but one advocate acknowledged that was “stretching” things a bit.

One LGBT advocate expressed an openness to “changes that could be made to attract additional balance” to the Equality Act, such as an amendment to make clear religious liberty under the First Amendment is upheld under the legislation.

“We weren’t particularly interested in doing that to satisfy people who were still going to vote against the bill, but we could provide clarity…for people who are actually planning to vote for the bill and want to be able to point to clarity on certain areas,” the advocate said. “That would not be problematic because we think the bill strikes the right balance in a whole host of ways.”

But even the number of senators listed there doesn’t get to 60. One LGBT advocate said he “could count to 60, eventually,” but a vote in the Senate would probably fall short of that number.

“We probably would not hit 60, but I feel pretty confident we could get a vote that shows we have a majority in the U.S. Senate, and potentially even a sizable majority of the U.S. Senate,” the advocate said.

A shakeup in the Senate after the 2020 election, the advocate said, would be the more likely route to victory in the chamber for the Equality Act. “It’s awfully hard to do it in this Congress, with the current composition of the Senate,” the advocate said. “I do think we have to pick up a few more Democratic seats, or pick up a few more pro-equality Republicans.”

Continues at losangelesblade.com

NATIONAL Zeta Phi Beta denies ban on trans women A historically black sorority founded at Howard University nearly a century ago on Sunday said there is no “ban” on transgender women who may want to join.

The Blade last month obtained a copy of a “diversity statement” adopted by the Zeta Phi Beta International Executive Board on Jan. 12 that states “an individual must be a cisgender woman” to join the organization.

The statement at the same time says the sorority “values all people, regardless of race, age, gender, gender expression, ability, disability, creed, religion, or walk of life.”

“Since our founding on January 16, 1920, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., has sought to create a sorority that embraces and values all of our members,” said Zeta Phi Beta in a statement to Essence magazine. “Sadly, a previous diversity statement made by our organization fell short of that goal and for that, we offer our deepest apologies.”

Zeta Phi Beta told Essence that transgender women are currently members,

12 • MAY 17, 2019 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

and they “have always been entitled to the same rights, privileges and responsibilities as any other member and shall retain the rights, privileges and responsibilities they were endowed with once they took the oath and became a member.”

“There is no ban,” reads the statement.

The statement also notes Zeta Phi Beta will update its membership guidelines to “provide additional guidance” to the organization.

Zeta Phi Beta has more than 100,000 members and more than 800 chapters in the U.S., Africa, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean.

The sorority did not respond to the Blade’s repeated requests for comment on the “diversity statement” it obtained.

MICHAEL K. LAVERS & JAMES WELLEMEYER

LGBT groups merge to form Modern Military Association In the aftermath of the U.S. military implementing a new ban on transgender

service members, two groups that have worked to advance rights for LGBT people in the armed forces have merged to form the Modern Military Association of America.

The organizations — the American Military Partner Association and OutServeSLDN — announced Saturday night the decision to combine into one at the 2019 AMPA National Gala in D.C. The new organization is formed in the aftermath of the Defense Department implementing President Trump’s transgender military ban, which went into effect last month.

The head of the organization will be Navy veteran Andy Blevins, who formerly headed up OutServe-SLDN as executive director.

“I’m both humbled and honored to lead the Modern Military Association of America at this challenging moment in the fight for LGBTQ military equality,” Blevins said in a statement. “While we’ve made tremendous progress over the years as a community, much of that progress is now being threatened and rolled back — especially for our transgender service members who now face an unconscionable transgender

military ban. We’re committed to doing everything within our power to stand up for all of our modern military and veteran families and ensure they have a powerful voice in Washington and beyond.”

OutServe-SLDN was itself the product of merged LGBT military organizations. In 2012, OutServe, a network of organizations for LGBT military personnel and the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a legal and advocacy organization merged to form OutServe-SLDN after their combined efforts to defeat “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Ashley Broadway-Mack, president of the American Military Partner Association, said in a statement the newly formed Modern Military Association of America will similarly take on challenges facing LGBT service members.

“We’re truly excited that both of these incredible organizations are merging to create a formidable force in the battles ahead,” Broadway-Mack said. “By combining forces with OutServe-SLDN, we’re embarking on a new journey fighting for open and authentic service and education, advocacy and support for modern military families.”

CHRIS JOHNSON

LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • MAY 17, 2019 • 13

INTERNATIONAL

Cuba arrests LGBT protesters, prompting criticism Cleve Jones ‘dismayed’ by developments

By MICHAEL K. LAVERS Cuban police on Saturday arrested several people during an unsanctioned LGBT march in Havana.

The march began in Havana’s Central Park near the Cuban Capitol shortly after 4 p.m.

Videos that independent Cuban journalists and activists posted online showed dozens of people — some with Pride flags — marching down Havana’s Prado Avenue toward the oceanfront. Videos posted to social media show police officers arresting march participants.

Maykel González Vivero, publisher of Tremenda Nota, the Washington Blade’s media partner in Cuba who was covering the march, said police arrested five people.

Independent LGBTI activists organized the march less that a week after the National Center for Sexual Education, a group directed by Mariela Castro, the daughter of former President Raúl Castro, announced it had cancelled its annual International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia march in Havana that was to have taken place on Saturday.

Mariela Castro earlier this week said the “opposition in Miami” was organizing the unsanctioned march. Mariela Castro on Sunday in a Facebook post described it as a “show organized from Miami and (the Cuban city of) Matanzas, backed by officials at the U.S. embassy and covered by the foreign press.”

Independent activists in the days leading up to the march received text messages from state security officials that told them not to attend it. Police on Saturday also prevented some of them from leaving their homes in order to attend the march in Havana and

other unsanctioned IDAHOBiT marches that were scheduled to take place elsewhere in the country.

The Blade later confirmed authorities detained Juana Mora Cedeño, an independent LGBTI activist who met with then-President Obama in Havana in 2016, and others to prevent them from attending the Havana march.

Sources who attended CENESEX’s annual IDAHOBiT gala in Havana on Friday — where San Francisco-based activist Cleve Jones was honored — said the organization encouraged attendees to attend a party that was to have begun on Saturday at 4 p.m., the same time the unsanctioned march was to have begun. Francisco Rodríguez Cruz, a pro-government gay Cuban blogger who writes under the pen name Paquito el de Cuba, posted onto his Facebook page a picture of him and his family with Jones at the event.

“With Cleve Jones, one of the historic

leaders of the LGBTI movement in the United States and CENESEX honoree this year, after speaking to the crowd about the rights of all human rights and committing to fight against the U.S. embargo against Cuba,” wrote Rodríguez.

This year’s IDAHOBiT commemorations in Cuba are taking place against the backdrop of increased tensions between Havana and Washington over the government’s continued support of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The country’s worsening economic situation has also prompted food rationing, a shortage of fuel and blackouts.

Authorities arrested Luz Escobar, a reporter for 14ymedio, an independent website founded by Yoani Sánchez, a prominent critic of the Cuban government, as she tried to interview victims of a freak tornado that tore through parts of Havana in January.

Continues at losangelesblade.com

14 • MAY 17, 2019 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

VOLUME 03 ISSUE 20

Rest now in our hearts forever, Doris Day Iconic actress was inspiration and friend to queer audiences

Kathi Wolfe, a writer and a poet, is a regular contributor to the Blade.

Recently, I was glued to the TV. And, I wasn’t watching “Game of Thrones.” I was streaming the 1956 Alfred Hitchcock thriller “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” starring James Stewart and Doris Day. In the movie, an American doctor (Stewart) and his wife, a former singer, (Day) and their little boy are on vacation in North Africa. Their child has been kidnapped. I barely breathed as Day, reaching out to her son, sings “Que Sera, Sera,” one of her signature songs.

Day, a singer known for such tunes as the 1945 hit “Sentimental Journey” and one of the most popular movie stars of the 1950s and 1960s, died at age 97 on May 13 at her Carmel Valley, Calif. home. She was iconic to many in the queer community.

The Doris Day Animal Foundation said that Day, an animal welfare advocate, had contracted pneumonia.

Day was beloved by many: Servicemen in World War II found comfort when they listened to “Sentimental Journey.”

Everyone from married couples to people dating enjoyed her as she portrayed sunny, wholesome, yet sexy and smart (but never know-it-all) women in romantic comedies.

People tuned into Day’s TV sitcom “The Doris Day Show.”

She is most known for her work with Rock Hudson in the comedies “Pillow Talk” (for

which she received her only Academy Award nomination), “Lover Came Back” and “Send Me No Flowers.” In these frothy farces, Day refuses to be seduced by Hudson.

“Give me space to get over the idea of you/the thrilling silver voice,/,” John Updike wrote in a poem to Doris Day called “Her Coy Lover Sings Out,” “the gigantic silver screen/Go easy on me.”

It’s easy to dismiss Day’s work as being too frivolous or sexually repressed. “I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin,” quipped composer and showbiz personality Oscar Levant.

Growing up, I didn’t think much of Day’s movies. Being way too earnest then, I thought her films were mere fluff. Day

seemed like a nice woman, but outdated. To me, she was a throwback to the 1950s and a more sexist time.

Now, when I watch “Pillow Talk” or “Lover Come Back” I wonder what I was thinking. True, Day was jumping into bed with Hudson. But their repartee is fun and, for the time, sexy. People thought she was squeaky clean, but “when we began ‘Pillow Talk’ we thought we’d ruin our careers because the script was pretty daring stuff,” Hudson said of Day. In the 39 movies that she made, Day often played women who worked. She was a decorator in “Pillow Talk” and an advertising executive in “Lover Come Back.”

Many queer women have relished watching Day play a sharpshooter in the musical “Calamity Jane.”

Day was “challenging the limited destiny of women to marry, live happily ever after and never be heard from again,” wrote Molly Haskell in “Holding My Own in No Man’s Land.”

She gave us hope in the 1950s, Grace Cavalieri, Maryland’s poet laureate, said to me over the phone. “We saw her working. We wanted to be like her,” she said.

Day was loyal to her friends. The queer community will never forget how Day supported Hudson. In 1985, shortly before his AIDS diagnosis was made public, he was a guest on Day’s TV show “Doris Day’s Best Friends.” At a time when President Ronald Reagan refused to say the word “AIDS” publicly, Day stood by Hudson. “He was very sick,” Day told interviewers, “But I just brushed that off and I came out and put my arms around him and said, ‘Am I glad to see you.’”

“Rest now in our hearts forever, Ms. Day,” Tweeted George Takei.

“One of my all time favorite stars has joined the heavenly choir,” Elaine Page Tweeted.

“You were a beacon of talent, beauty, grace, and love,” Tweeted Michael Feinstein.

Thank you, Doris! R.I.P.

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15 • MAY 17, 2019 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

There is no such thing as ‘authentic Christianity’ Does your faith inspire empathy or hate?

Gabriel S. Hudson, Ph.D., teaches at George Mason University’s Graduate School of Education and The Schar School of Policy and Government.

He is the author of ‘Christodemocracy and the Alternative Democratic Theory of America’s Christian Right.’ (Photo by Oliver Lawrence)

In the nonstop coverage of surprisingly top-notch Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, a familiar refrain has begun: “He’s not a real Christian.”

Mayor Pete, as the gay mayor of South Bend, Ind. is often called, has made his faith a centerpiece of his candidacy. He’s a loving, married, devout Christian. But he cannot really be Christian, conservative commentators insist, because he embraces an identity that some Christians hate. Pete Buttigieg’s Episcopalian denomination is insufficiently Christian.

These blatant religious bigots don’t just delegitimize Mayor Pete’s faith, they negate the faith of millions of Christians who differ on doctrine, as if they alone determine who is or is not authentically Christian. Meanwhile, their White House hero flagrantly flaunts decades of sexual exploits, marital infidelity, craven greed, pathological dishonesty,

unapologetic pride, vapid superficiality, materialism, and general meanness.

And there is moral corruption within their own ranks. Reuters recently revealed that Jerry Falwell Jr. coincidentally timed his endorsement of Republican candidate Donald Trump just after the President’s personal attorney reportedly promised to bury sexually compromising photos.

The question of who gets to be a real Christian is an old political trope. It was used against the Kennedys, Dr. King, and the abolitionists. It predates American democracy; it has been used to delegitimize millions of Christians across the centuries for political purposes.

But it’s a silly argument. Everyone’s faith is a social and personal construct with some element of flawed human perception.

Religions either flourish, die out or change to reflect the societies they are in while individuals mold their faith to their own perceptions and prejudices. That’s as universal as religion itself.

But why is religion so universal within human societies across time? Like music, it seems to constantly appear in some form in all groups of people, so it must serve a vital social purpose. The names, mandates, and narratives vary, but every society constructs or embraces religion.

If it seems sacreligious to think about your own faith in this way, think of a faith you don’t practice. Think of a faith no one practices anymore. Why did the Mayans invent the gods they invented? Why did the Ancient Greeks or Egyptians bestow their deities with particular attributes?

Religion universally serves valuable functions. It bonds a society by providing a tribe with a common identity and set of principles. It encourages moral behavior

in the absence of authority. It helps us deal with difficult things like natural disasters, disease, and death: things beyond our control that we hope are within someone’s realm. And perhaps most importantly, religion cultivates empathy.

The ability to assume the perspective of another appears to be uniquely human.

Empathy is the universal root of morality.

That’s why stories, and rules, and rituals of religions that endure include direct appeals to empathy.

It is “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” in Christianity. It is “the freeing of a slave, or a needy person in misery” in Islam. It is “I am because we are” in Malawan parlance. It is “the acute ability to feel as another” in Buddhism, and it is an essential component of secular psychotherapy.

To the extent that any faith inspires stronger social bonds, it is serving its most abstract and basic purpose. To the degree that it undermines social cohesion or encourages the denial of empathy, it fails in its fundamental purpose. One does not have to be a theologian or even a practitioner of any particular religion to evaluate its contribution to human flourishing. The exact authentic adherents are probably indeterminable—but the benefit of the belief itself can be evaluated.

If your religion fosters deeper connections with your fellow humans, you’re probably doing it right. If your religion inspires division and the need to make legal distinctions based on group identities; if your religion weakens rather than strengthens familial bonds, or narrows rather than widens your capacity for empathy, well, you need to examine why religion plays that role in your life.

If your faith practice inspires you to fight to make life easier on people by better meeting their basic needs and treating them fairly so they suffer less, you’ve got a great faith practice going there. If, however, your faith practice seeks political outcomes that make life harder on people, make it harder for kids to find loving, permanent homes or make it harder to visit a loved one in the hospital, your faith practice is probably garbage.

If your understanding of God includes a being that knows more than you, understands the universe better than you, and just asks you to be kind and show as much love to your fellow humans as you can while you’re alive—that God sounds like a healthy influence in your life. If your understanding of God includes a being that is malicious, seeks retribution via politics, owns your enemies, shames your love, or deepens your embitterment, it’s healthy to reexamine that relationship.

Religion is in the species for a reason.

Christianity has endured because it has served a social function. That purpose cannot be demonstrated by the hypocrites of any age. It can only be evidenced by adherents that comport with the personal, social, and evolutionary purpose of faith.

Martin Luther, Dr. Kings, the abolitionists and the suffragettes fulfill that description.

Televangelists do not. Maya Angelou and Harvey Milk championed better lives for fellow humans. Pete Buttigieg is trying to do that, too. Neither Jerry Falwell senior or junior ever has.

I don’t know who is and is not a real Christian. I’m not a theologian. I don’t care.

If your religion is not inspiring greater empathy, you’re missing the goddamn point.

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POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF BIKTARVY BIKTARVY may cause serious side effects, including: } Those in the “Most Important Information About BIKTARVY” section. } Changes in your immune system. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fight infections. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any new symptoms after you start taking BIKTARVY. } Kidney problems, including kidney failure. Your healthcare provider should do blood and urine tests to check your kidneys. If you develop new or worse kidney problems, they may tell you to stop taking BIKTARVY. } Too much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious but rare medical emergency that can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: weakness or being more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, stomach pain with nausea and vomiting, cold or blue hands and feet, feel dizzy or lightheaded, or a fast or abnormal heartbeat. } Severe liver problems, which in rare cases can lead to death.

Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, or stomach-area pain. } The most common side effects of BIKTARVY in clinical studies were diarrhea (6%), nausea (6%), and headache (5%).

These are not all the possible side effects of BIKTARVY. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any new symptoms while taking BIKTARVY. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.FDA.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Your healthcare provider will need to do tests to monitor your health before and during treatment with BIKTARVY. HOW TO TAKE BIKTARVY Take BIKTARVY 1 time each day with or without food.

GET MORE INFORMATION } This is only a brief summary of important information about BIKTARVY. Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist to learn more. } Go to BIKTARVY.com or call 1-800-GILEAD-5. } If you need help paying for your medicine, visit BIKTARVY.com for program information.

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KEEP CREATING.

Because HIV doesn’t change who you are.

BIKTARVY® is a complete, 1-pill, once-a-day prescription medicine used to treat HIV-1 in certain adults. BIKTARVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS.

Ask your healthcare provider if BIKTARVY is right for you. To learn more, visit BIKTARVY.com.

Please see Important Facts about BIKTARVY, including important warnings, on the previous page and visit BIKTARVY.com.

5/2/19 1:07 PM

Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey, spreading the drag gospel Producers of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ talk wigs, heels, heart and humanity

By SCOTT STIFFLER

What a world of wonder we live in, and what a difference a decade of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” makes.

Long the domain of gritty gay clubs, indie filmmakers, and occasional mainstream appearances, drag artistry has been dragged — death-dropping, tea-spilling, and shadethrowing — into the global consciousness, in no small part due to the team of Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, whose predilection for fostering LGBTQ+ visibility has become a potent form of de facto activism.

Bailey and Barbato are the minds behind World of Wonder (WOW), the 1991-founded production company responsible for unleashing “RuPaul’s Drag Race” (RPDR), “RuPaul’s DragCon” conventions, and other queer-centric entities upon an unsuspecting, and increasingly welcoming, public. As storytellers and paradigm-shifters, they’re just getting started.

So much of what we now know of drag started with a chance meeting, which would become a pivotal event in herstory.

“Randy and I,” Bailey recalls, had “this shared moment of recognition” years ago, in Atlanta, when they came across a drag queen “wheat pasting posters around town, and they said ‘RuPaul is Everything.’ And we were like, oh, my god, he is a mother-fucking star…

I think RuPaul’s always been a star. He’s one of those people who’s been fully formed, and it’s been about, really, the world catching up with him.”

WOW’s seeds of spreading the drag gospel, Bailey notes, sprung “from the days when Randy and I went to see drag shows at the Pyramid. We’d see these amazing queens on this tiny stage,” he said, referencing the iconic ’80s NYC East Village club where Lady Bunny, Lypsinka, and, yes, RuPaul, cut their teeth and sharpened their claws.

“We always felt,” Bailey says, of the art form and aesthetic, “drag deserved as big a platform as possible.”

With UK, Thailand, and Chile editions of “Drag Race” up and running, that platform

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handily extends beyond America, making RuPaul and World of Wonder globally recognized brands. But back in the Pyramid Club days, Bailey says, “I don’t know that we necessarily had an agenda. That would suggest we were very clever and knew what we were doing. I think it was just, we thought this is really great art. This is great creativity.

This is great work, and people should see it.”

And see it they shall. Bailey assures there are “definitely plans to extend the franchise, yes,” and that WOW is “exploring some other local [international] versions.” He deferred when asked for specifics, insisting, “I can’t! I can’t… I could, but I’d have to kill you.”

Rather than end our interview via the strategic murder of this reporter, the conversation pivoted to the question of whether contestants from abroad might be invited to compete on future domestic seasons of RPDR. “There are no plans currently,” Bailey says, “but I think that would be a wonderful thing.”

Every country, Bailey notes, “has its own rich drag culture.” British drag, for example, is “a bit more gritty,” drawing on pantomime as well as “something called ‘end-of-the-pier’ humor,” which Bailey describes as referring to “seaside towns in Britain that have piers that go out into the water, and people would walk on the piers, and they became ‘Fun Fairs.’ I suppose it’s like the circus in America, I guess, but maybe it’s a little more ‘Little Britain,’ ” he notes, invoking the 2002-2007 BBC sketch comedy show whose title references the insular nature of cultural observation.

While the expressive quirks may differ, Bailey maintains drag is “something that is universally relatable. You don’t have to be a drag queen,” he says. “You don’t have to be gay.”

Recalling RuPaul’s iconic articulation of what constitutes the form (“We’re all born naked and the rest is drag.”), Bailey asserts, “Anything we put on ourselves is about building an identity, making a statement, assuming a pose, creating an image. So I

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think, in this Instagram world that we live in, everybody can get that, and enjoy that, and play with that.”

With its rich pageant of panels, meet and greets, product exhibitors, and appearances by a dozens-strong stable of “Drag Race” stars from seasons past and present, DragCon conventions, Bailey notes, came out of a “group discussion with Ru,” about ways in which the trio could “extend the experience of ‘Drag Race.’ Wouldn’t it be great for this tribe to actually meet up, in person? Increasingly today, we live in our virtual worlds and we’re communicating digitally, with less and less face-to-face time. Let’s do this. If we build it, will they come?”

With a combined 100,000+ attendees at 2018’s DragCon LA and NY, and greater numbers expected this year, the participatory phenomenon, Bailey says, “kind of defies everything you might expect. It’s absolutely a huge LGBTQ+ core,” he notes, but also draws “tremendous numbers of girls and women, and also, lots of families; teenagers bringing their parents, or younger kids dragging their mums and dads along… It defies demographics.”

The celebratory nature of DragCon is, Bailey says, “important to put in the context of the fact that when the Stonewall Riot happened, it was illegal to be gay. It was against the law to dress up in gender-inappropriate clothing…

And here we are, 50 years later, it’s kids’ response to the show that is most inspiring to us. You know, drag has a long history, and has been the victim of much cultural prejudice and judgment during that history, but kids today, they don’t care about that. They just love it. It’s like Big Bird or UglyDolls or Lego movies, and they respond to that.”

Ten years ago, when “Drag Race” first hit the airwaves, Bailey notes, “Trump wasn’t in the White House. ‘Drag Race’ fans are the exact opposite of this — I was going to say, administration, but it’s actually a regime. Drag is not about fear. Drag is not about building walls, or exclusiveness… It’s a big tent for

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Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey Photo courtesy World of Wonder

everybody. So I feel that given the cultural climate, it’s become more pointed.

Asked to name an emotionally pointed moment from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” (currently airing Season 11), Bailey cites Season 5 contestant Roxxxy Andrews, who, after lip synching for her life, “starts to tear up, and Ru says, ‘What’s the matter?,’ and then Roxxxy reveals, at three years old, that her mother abandoned her at a bus stop. I mean, you realize, being a drag queen, you don’t just walk out the door like this. It takes incredible courage, and often, incredible suffering and persecution, to get to that point. Yes, it’s about wigs and heels and glitter and stuff, but it’s also about heart and humanity, and perseverance, and a sort of refusal to be defeated by bigotry, callousness, cruelty, hatred.”

Perseverance against all odds is a theme also running through the chilling, cautionary documentary series “Ministry of Evil: The Twisted Cult of Tony Alamo,” a recently ran Bailey/Barbato-created work for SundanceTV,

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that chronicles those who did, and did not, escape the cultish thrall of a sociopath in evangelist’s clothing.

“Years and years ago,” Bailey recalled, WOW “made ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye,’ [a documentary about the ministry of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker], so we’ve always been fascinated by the phenomena of televangelism.”

Tammy Faye, Bailey notes, was “not a typical televangelist… She was, in many ways, and I think she’d agree with this, she was a drag queen. She had wigs, her makeup was tattooed on. She was very loving and openhearted…

But to tell you the truth, we had not heard of the story of Alamo Ministries. When Peacock Productions came along to us, we were shocked and stunned, and it’s always fascinating to us: Why is it that people will put their faith in such self-evident con men and frauds?”

That is, he says, “a rhetorical question, because look who we have as president…

It seems that in America, we are especially

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susceptible to cults and cult-like personalities…

This man may be the president, but as we’ve known for many years, he’s a liar, he’s a cheat.

How does this work [our susceptibility]? I think everybody needs to be aware of it.”

But with a multitude of projects that encourage participation and foster fierce loyalty, how close to a cult is “Drag Race” becoming?

Bailey draws a notable line between the drag ministry and, well, “Ministry.”

“As far as I know,” Bailey says, in defense of the art form, “there are not drag queens holding kids in a basement, making them work. But the distinction to make, and this is THE distinction, is that drag doesn’t take itself too seriously… Drag parodies everything. Yes, it celebrates pop culture, but it celebrates it by making fun of it. And that is the difference, because you’re just not going to enslave yourself. It always, by definition, prevents the cult from becoming some crazy, Jonestowntype experience, right? One hopes.”

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THEATER

‘Shooting Star’ is a revealing gay porn musical Semi-autobiographical tale based on adult performer Hans Berlin’s life

By JOHN PAUL KING

‘Shooting Star – A Revealing Musical,’ opens its world premiere run at the Hudson Theatre in Hollywood.

Screen grab via YouTube

Odds are good you’ve never given much thought to the idea of a musical set in the world of gay porn, but Florian Klein is betting you’ll be open to it.

That’s because he’s written one. “Shooting Star – A Revealing Musical,” which opens its world premiere run at the Hudson Theatre in Hollywood, banks on the notion that a show about an industry that is currently raking in $97 billion dollars a year — more than the music business — is something that will have a built-in audience.

Klein may not be familiar to you under his real name, but some readers will likely recognize his “professional” moniker, Hans Berlin. That’s the name under which he built a successful career as a gay porn actor since 2012.

Unsurprisingly, that’s not what he originally set out to do when he moved to the U.S. from his native Germany, in pursuit of a “legit” acting career, but he says that making the decision to go into the adult film industry was “one of the best choices I’ve ever made.”

“When I stepped into the porn world I was so fascinated,” he explains, “because I thought everybody was a drug addict and everybody had sex with each other and it would just be a terrible world. But then I got into it and I realized it’s not that different from Hollywood — it’s like ‘Hollywood’s dirty little sister,’ that’s a line I use in the show. These people that I met, they had ‘real’ jobs.

They were architects, they were writing music, they were in real estate and at some point they decided to do porn.

Of course, you also had those young kids in there who wanted to become famous, and porn was their vehicle to do that, but it was definitely a different world than I expected. I felt the need to write about it.”

Seven years later, “Shooting Star” is the culmination of that impulse, a musical love story that is, according to Klein, only semi-autobiographical.

“A lot of it is based on my own experiences, but my lead character is 20 years younger, because I wanted to make this a coming of age story, as well. He comes to Hollywood because he wants to be a movie star, but because he gets into the porn industry — by accident, almost — he becomes a star in a different universe,” Klein says.

But why a musical?

“I’m gay, I love musical theatre,” he says. “When they are blasting out into song — I mean, what’s nicer than that? It felt like the perfect way of showing this world and not making it into ‘Boogie Nights.’ That’s an amazing movie, but I felt by adding music to it I could make it more on the lighter side — I didn’t want it to be as heavy as that.’”

“I always wanted to act, I never wanted to write a musical,” he continues. “The idea was born when I first got into the industry, and one of my first scene partners was a singer. He used his porn money to have his songs produced. I sang a little, so one of the producers said, ‘Oh, we could do a whole porn scene with you guys singing.’ We didn’t do that, but the idea to write a musical was born at that moment.”

Does he think it’s risky to tackle a subject matter like porn in a musical — a genre that’s typically seen as wholesome, family-friendly entertainment?

“Musical theater has not always been just Disney,” he says. “My costume designer, she’s a friend of mine, I’ve known her for many years, she was the original costume designer of ‘Rent,’ and she said when she started working on it they called it the show about drugs, AIDS and homeless people. Which doesn’t sound much like musical material. But look what happened with that show.”

“I think America is not ready for a show where the lead couple is gay,” he continues.

“And not just gay but gay in the porn world —we’re not ready for that yet.

But it took ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’ 20 years to get to Broadway, and it was actually super successful there.”

Besides, he says, the secret of the show is that it may take place in the world of porn, but it’s really about more than that.

“The show is about people,” he explains. “For me, it’s a human story. Sex is part of being human, and in our world full of Grindr, Scruff, maybe Bumble for the straight population, sex is now just so easily available.

That’s what the porn world stands for, and my lead character wants more, he wants the human connection, he wants to find love. Everyone can relate to that — they want to find themselves, they want to find a family of friends, they want to find a purpose in life, they want to find love.”

Is promoting a sex-positive attitude part of his mission with the show?

“It definitely has a sex-positive vibe to it,” he says.

“That comes because we’re not demonizing sex. Yes, the performers we portray are getting paid to have sex, and in our society, it doesn’t matter in which country you live, being a sex worker is frowned upon. But they are still wholesome human beings, even though they exchange sex for money.”

“I feel like there’s kind of an educational factor in the show,” he adds. “Just because people are doing porn it doesn’t mean they are bad people. You get a glimpse of that world and you see that porn is just a vehicle to tell a human story.”

As for the presentation itself, Klein couldn’t be more excited.

“We’re definitely going to be the biggest little show in Los Angeles,” he gushes. “We can’t compete in size, or budget, with someplace like the Ahmanson or the Pantages, but we’re bringing you a Broadway-style show.

We have a five-piece live band; we have ten actors; we have amazing costumes and a great set. And the music [music by Thomas Zaufke, lyrics by Erik Ransom] is amazing.”

Of course, what most audiences will want to know going into a porn musical is just how graphic it will be.

“We have a little bit of nudity in the show,” says Klein, “but it’s part of being on the porn set. It’s just to show the everyday life of a porn performer. If you want to watch porn, you’re not going to see it in my show. You’ll have to walk a few blocks more and go to the Studs Theatre.”

“Shooting Star – A Revealing Musical” runs May 25 – June 30th at Hudson Mainstage Theatre (6539 Santa Monica Blvd.). Tickets are available at Onstage411.com/ Star.

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22 • MAY 17, 2019 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

FILM

‘Booksmart’ teen comedy leaves you laughing Nerdy high school girls get raunchy in Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut

By JOHN PAUL KING

Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever in ‘Booksmart.’

Courtesy of Annapurna Pictures

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If you’re among the many who were charmed by Beanie Feldstein when she appeared as Saoirse Ronan’s faithful BFF in the indie breakthrough “Lady Bird” in 2017, you’ll probably want to take notice of “Booksmart,” a new film comedy which hits theaters on May 24.

In this contemporary twist on the classic “zany high school farce” formula, Feldstein stars alongside Kaitlyn Dever as two over-achieving seniors, Molly and Amy, who have spent the last four years of their lives sacrificing fun in favor of hard work and study. Molly may be running the student government singlehandedly, but she’s not exactly popular; and although Amy has been out as a lesbian for the last two years, she’s still never even flirted with another girl.

Realizing they’ve been missing out, the girls decide to join their classmates at the year’s final, blowout shindig for one last chance to party, give in to their hormones and experience the wild side of teenage life.

As shepherded to the screen by actress Olivia Wilde, who makes an impressive directorial debut, the odyssey undertaken by this pair of unlikely young heroines leans heavily into the kind of over-the-top satirical excess that crept in around the fringes of the teen-comedy genre during its heyday in the mid-‘80s. Thanks to a smart, refreshing script (by Susanna Fogel, Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins and Katie Silberman), it’s able to wind its way through frequent moments of laugh-out-loud absurdity while retaining the sincerity that becomes vital when the “one crazy night” adventure gives way to the coming-of-age story that lies underneath its adolescent hijinks.

That it successfully takes us to a more grounded level is part of what makes “Booksmart” satisfying, but there’s an additional delight that comes from the way it takes the standard elements of the teen comedy format and subverts them for today’s world. This is not some romantic fantasy about finding the perfect prom date, nor is it a sex-obsessed quest to “go all the way.” While it may play with some of the same tropes as the testosterone-fueled, gender-normative teen movies of a bygone age, it redefines them in terms that free them from the tone-deaf assumptions of the past and makes them feel just as fresh as they are familiar.

One particularly modern stroke is the choice to make one of its two main characters LGBTQ. In Amy, the film offers a lesbian character whose sexuality is never treated as anything less than valid or equal; that she is gay is a matter of circumstance in the plot, not a twist that creates conflict or confrontation. It gives us a portrayal of first experience – something captured so often in films depicting hetero-couples — from a same-sex perspective, but without exploiting, fetishizing or sentimentalizing it. Perhaps best of all, even though some comedic mileage is gotten from the fact that Amy’s parents think Molly is her girlfriend, there is no effort to turn the two girls’ friendship into a romance — no doubt a result of the movie’s all-female writing team understanding that, despite the misconceptions of so many straight men, lesbians can actually just be friends with other girls without wanting to sleep with them.

There are other queer characters, too. Not counting the cute tomboy skater (Victoria Ruesga) that Amy watches from afar, who may or may not be gay, there’s at least one other out lesbian among the other students we meet, and there’s the fabulously gay George (Noah Galvin from “The Real O’Neals”) and Alan (Austin Crute), who appear to run the drama club like an ongoing theme party. While these latter characters verge toward stereotype, it’s done with a good-natured sense of tonguein-cheek fun; in any case, like all the other exaggerated personalities that populate the movie, they seem to be as much in on the joke as everybody else.

The film’s stars are an ideal fit with its edgy, sophisticated tone. Feldstein’s quirky positivity comes bubbling up through Molly’s intensity; she’s an endearing bulldozer, an alpha female whose stubborn determination to be the smartest person in the room is somehow the saving grace that keeps her likable even in her most overbearing moments. As Amy, Dever is a perfect complement, the yin to Molly’s yang; she has the laid back, easy-going demeanor of a cool chick, but there’s an underlying vulnerability which deepens the character and gives her dimension. Together, they have an authentic rapport that makes us believe they’ve known each other all their lives, and there’s a joyous quality in their friendship that gives the movie its heart and soul.

Continues at losangelesblade.com

Cutting Edge Gay/Bi Men’s Health Research Shares New Findings

By Morgan Wright Last week, initial findings were published from the first study of its kind, researching gay and bisexual men (GBM) who’ve had prostate cancer. The study, referred to as Restore #1, was the culmination of half a decade of careful design, research, and execution. Published in Archives of Sexual Behavior, this study describes the effects of prostate cancer treatment on GBM’s sexual behavior and urinary functioning.

Make no mistake, this is a huge advancement for our community. Never before has there been a study about the specific experience of GBM undergoing prostate cancer treatment. It was the first study of this kind to receive federal funding and found examples of how disparities in health research negatively impact GBM. The findings of this study were a call to action. Two-thirds of guys described their sexual functioning as “fair” to “poor” after treatment. This is part of a bigger issue because good sexual functioning is predictive of long-term mental and physical health.

The fact that many men reported erectile difficulties and that multiple men cited this as a reason for not using condoms should also be of concern to those working in the field of HIV and STI prevention.

Restore #1 also found that over half of guys reported problems with urine during sex.

This is a huge problem that hasn’t been explicitly addressed in research until now. In fact, compared to the previously published findings for straight prostate cancer survivors, GBM were found to have worse urinary function and worse hormonal function than their straight counterparts.

This study also was the first ever to describe common problems with bottoming for guys who’ve had prostate cancer treatment. A surprising result of the Restore #1 study was discovering that for many guys, a loss of role-in-sex identity occurs after prostate cancer treatment. The study suggests that rather than tops becoming bottoms or vice versa, the more common outcome is that they have less anal sex altogether.

There were also encouraging results as the team looked at their data. Maybe most interestingly, the study shatters the stereotype of older men no longer being sexual since almost all participants in the Restore #1 study reported some recent sexual activity, either alone or with a partner.

Are you a gay or bisexual man who has been diagnosed with prostate cancer?

Join the first study on prostate cancer rehabilitation designed for and by our community.

The overall picture is that sexual recovery is a major problem for GBM post-treatment for prostate cancer. Only 11% of participants described their sexual functioning as “good” or “excellent” which means conventional treatment is failing almost nine out of every ten men.

To pick up where this research left off, the study team has already begun collecting data for Restore #2. The new work is taking lessons learned from #1 and building a sexual and urinary functioning rehabilitation program. They hope to evaluate this new sexual recovery program by conducting a randomly controlled trial. The goal is a new standard of recovery for GBM who have had prostate cancer treatment.

The Restore #2 study is entirely online and is enrolling 400 guys from across the nation.

If you would like to participate or know someone who might, you can contact the Restore #2 team at the University of Minnesota by calling 612-568-8860 or sending an email to restorestudy@umn.edu.

You can contact us by calling 612-568-8860 or send an email to restorestudy@umn.edu.

Visit restorestudy.umn.edu to learn more and take the eligibility survey Email: restorestudy@umn.edu Phone: 612-568-8860 NIH grant #1RO1CA218657-01

The Restore Study is a National Institutes of Health- funded study through the University of Minnesota. Reach out through email (restorestudy@umn.edu) or phone number (612-568-8860)

24 • MAY 17, 2019 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

EVENTS

36 Hours in Long Beach A guide to LB Pride

By JOHN PAUL KING

Big Freedia will perform at Long Beach Pride.

Photo courtesy Long Beach Pride

Since it began in 1984, Long Beach Pride has always been big. It’s an opportunity for LGBTQ folk to converge for a weekend by the sea, to enjoy drinks, food, more drinks, and a diverse variety of fabulous entertainment. Who could resist that?

Held every year during the next to last weekend in May, the Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride Festival and Parade now attracts more than 80,000 participants over the two-day celebration. If you’re planning on being one of them during this year’s event, which takes place May 18-19 at 450 Shoreline Drive, you’ll want to make sure you experience the best the festival – and the city – have to offer.

Whether you like to plot out a detailed itinerary or you just want to go with the flow, here’s a list of highlights that might come in handy while charting your course.

1. The Parade. Since 1995, more than 200 marching groups and floats have participated in the Parade, representing various religious, human service, governmental and social organizations, and now attracts over 42,000 people along scenic Ocean Boulevard to view the array of performers and entries that support LGBT+ Equality. It takes place on Sunday morning, stepping off at 10:30am to begin a march that begins at Lindero Street, passing by a review stand across from Bixby Park on its way to parade’s end at Alamitos Avenue. This year’s Grand Marshalls are Kate Linder, Delta Work, Megan Kerr, Karina Samala, Mario Ernesto Gonzalez, Oliver Nieto, and Equality California. Announcers include Cory Allen, LaDawn Best and Missy Vee. “Orange is the New Black” actor Brad William Henke will be riding in the parade in support of the Long Beach Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. A pre-parade show will take place at the Parade Grandstand located on Ocean Blvd between Cherry Avenue and Junipero Avenue.

2. The Block Party. Sabrina La Blanc’s Block Party “Stonewall Edition” is a collaboration of multiple artists coming together to celebrate the LBGTQ community as a whole, but especially highlighting the transgender community and their contributions toward LGBTQ rights. Through uplifting and impactful performances, speakers and honorable mentions, Sabrina La Blanc’s Block Party “Stonewall Edition” will be a celebration you won’t want to miss. Taking place 4 p.m. on Sunday at the Nissan Stage, and featuring Ada Vox, Sean Vaughn Carter and DJ Spark, among a host of other performers and participants.

3. The Fun Zones. If you are coming to Pride with your family, you might want to know about the festival’s Fun Zones. The Family Fun Zone is open 11-5 both days, a special place inside the festival where families can come together to enjoy a fun-filled weekend with their children. Each year a diverse group of community partners and volunteers bring creative ideas that capture the imagination of the children in a safe and self-affirming environment, with activities ranging from face painting to arts and crafts, from photo ops to games. An adult must

accompany children. This year, for the second time, there will also be a Senior Fun Zone, a dedicated space where seniors will be welcomed, honored, respected and loved – and also dance, sing karaoke, play games or just relax and explore the opportunities to make new friends. Senior guests are encouraged to park in the convention center parking area; seniors with mobility challenges will be picked up at the gate and escorted to the Senior Fun Zone area.

4. The Entertainment. If music and dancing are your thing, there’s no shortage to choose from.

With performers scheduled across multiple stages throughout the course of the festival’s two days, you’re sure to find something that fits into your own personal groove. Ada Vox and Big Freedia are slated to headline on the Nissan Stage; Brandon Stansell and DJ Rick will appear on the country stage; DJ Lez Lee and the Alien Dance Band are on deck at the Dance Stage; and the Estrella Jalisco Stage will feature Pablo Montero and Diana Reyes. There’s also a continuing lineup of acts gracing the stages all day, each day, so be sure and check www.longbeachpride.com for a complete list and schedule of performance times.

5. Queer Long Beach. Locals are well aware, but many first-time visitors to the area might be surprised to find a thriving and visible LGBTQ presence in the city, even outside the festival grounds. From LGBTQ-focused shops and restaurants, to a diverse selection of local entertainment options, to historic queer spaces to visit and enjoy, there’s plenty to experience either before or after your daily visit to Pride. For instance, there’s Ripples, the iconic seaside dance bar once known for its “cruisy” parking lot (we can’t say if it still lives up to the legends), along with other longtime queer nightspots, like Mine Shaft, the Falcon, the Silver Fox, and the Executive Suite (now known as “The Suite”) on PCH; or you can take a walk down 4th Street’s funky “retro row,” where, among other things, you’ll find the Art Theatre, a beautifully restored Streamline Moderne movie house that sits next door to The Center, adjacent to a wine bar and a coffee bar that are both popular with LGBTQ patrons.

6. The Queen Mary. If you’ve never been to Long Beach before – or even if you’ve lived there all your life and never been – you owe it to yourself to take the time for a visit to the city’s best-known landmark.

A retired British ocean liner that cruised the high seas from 1936 to 1967, the RMS Queen Mary is now a luxury hotel permanently moored in Long Beach.

To set foot upon this magnificently maintained icon of Art Deco style is like stepping into another era, and you’ll feel sure you’re about to bump into a handsome young Cary Grant or strapping young Kate Hepburn as you walk around every corner.

The dive into old-school glamour is only part of the attraction though – the Queen Mary plays host to an active schedule of attractions and events year-round, many of which are LGBTQ-themed or -friendly, so paying a visit there is also supporting a business that supports the queer community – a win-win situation, if there ever was one.

26 • MAY 17, 2019 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

AUTOS

Affordable crossovers Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross features quiet, perky engine

By JOE PHILLIPS

MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE CROSS

TOYOTA HIGHLANDER

Like rainbow flags at a pride parade, crossovers are everywhere. There are more than 125 different models, but add in all the various trim levels (such as Limited, Platinum, Premium, Sport, Ultimate and so on) and suddenly there are too many choices to count. To keep things simple, here are three solid contenders.

MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE CROSS $25,000 MPG: 26 city/29 highway Zero-60 mph: 8.6 seconds

This all-new compact crossover from Mitsubishi is a twist on the typical Eclipse, a sporty coupe and convertible produced from 1989-2011. Today’s Eclipse Cross is just as cocky on the outside, with an angled grille that borrows heavily from Lexus and a raised rear similar to the brash BMW X4.

The cabin is pleasant, with soft-touch materials, optional faux leather and nicely configured controls. Plenty of room for passengers and cargo, with rear seats that fold easily. Yet while the front seats are fairly comfortable, there’s no adjustable lumbar support to ease the ride on long trips.

The 7.0-inch touchscreen infotainment is standard, but opt for the raised display atop the dash with its center-console touchpad. Being one of those people who stubbornly refuses to ask for directions or read instructions to assemble IKEA furniture, I had to surrender and read the owner’s manual to use the less-than-intuitive voice-command system.

As for the engine, it’s quiet and perky enough; just give yourself enough time to merge onto the freeway or pass another vehicle on two-lane backroads. The overall handling is smooth over most surfaces, but beware tackling pesky parkinggarage speed bumps except at the slowest speeds. Blind-spot monitoring is standard on all models, which helps offset some of the impaired rear visibility from the dramatically sloped roof.

Other safety features can be added, including lane-departure warning, adaptive cruise control and automated emergency braking with pedestrian detection. A big plus: Mitsubishi now joins Hyundai and Kia in offering the best long-term warranties and roadside assistance available.

TOYOTA HIGHLANDER $32,000 MPG: 20 city/27 highway Zero-60 mph: 7.8 seconds

MAZDA CX-9

Stepping up to a midsize ride, the Toyota Highlander is the classic crossover: comfortable, quiet and reliable. Available in six trim levels, the base model comes with a rather anemic four-

cylinder engine. Luckily there’s an optional V6, which is standard on all the other models.

Sure, zipping around sharp corners can bring some land-yacht body roll, but overall this crossover is responsive and stable. With three rows of seating, there’s room for eight (or seven, if you choose the cushy second-row captain’s chairs instead of a bench seat).

Unfortunately, the third row is tight for adults and cargo room isn’t as roomy as other rides. But the long list of standard features would impress even the Fab Five: heated mirrors, windshield wiper de-icer, rearview camera, five USB ports, Bluetooth, automatic high beams, adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist and forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking.

The higher trim levels offer even more goodies, of course, including a height-adjustable power liftgate, tri-zone climate control, secondrow sunshades, heated/ventilated seats, heated steering wheel, panoramic sunroof, surroundview parking camera and 12-speaker JBL stereo.

But hurry: A redesigned Highlander goes on sale in December, which means there likely will be good deals on the current 2019 models while they last.

MAZDA CX-9 $34,000 MPG: 22 city/28 highway Zero-60 mph: 7.1 seconds

Slightly larger than the Toyota Highlander, the Mazda CX-9 midsize crossover mixes Japanese reliability with Euro handling and style. The stout snout and slanted liftgate are as sleek as any Volvo XC60.

There’s also a classy, frameless rearview mirror (another nod to the Volvo XC60). Overall, the Mazda’s high-quality cabin — especially on the primo Signature trim, with its aluminum trim and genuine rosewood — is on par with Audi and BMW. Ditto the sporty handling and braking.

Acceleration is smooth and peppy with a robust four-cylinder turbo used across all four trim levels. For its infotainment system, Mazda even adopted a large dial interface similar to the BMW iDrive format. With three seats, there’s enough room in the CX-9 for treks to Rehoboth or Lost River. But as with the Toyota Highlander, the third row and cargo area offer less space than some competitors.

Unlike the Highlander, there’s no option for second-row captain’s chairs. Still, the CX-9 is quieter, feels lighter and comes with almost all the same features as the Highlander. Choosing between the two may come down to how tethered you are to your smartphone: The CX-9 comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which won’t arrive on the Highlander until the 2020 model.

CLOSING CEREMONY JUNE 30, 2019

MNEK

JAKE SHEARS

MELISSA ETHERIDGE

TIMES SQUARE 7PM–10PM

GET TICKETS WORLDPRIDE.ORG PRODUCED BY

WORLDPRIDE LICENSOR

HOST PARTNER

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28 • MAY 17, 2019 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

MAY 18

LB PRIDE Festival 2019 is today and tomorrow at Marina Green Park and Rainbow Lagoon along Shoreline Drive (Long Beach). This year’s Long Beach Pride Festival & Parade theme is “Celebrating 50th Anniversary of Stonewall – A Million Moments of Pride” Ranked one of the top five cities for pride, Long Beach Pride attracts more than 80,000 participants over the two-day event and is not only one of the biggest events in Long Beach, but in Southern California! This year Long Beach Pride is May 18th & 19th. Don’t miss Big Freedia. The bounce music queen diva will perform May 19 at the new Nissan Stage, which, Q Voices says, “Long Beach Pride created when it combined the urban soul and main stages into one music space and rebranded it.” $20 regular admission or $125 VIP experience. Visit LongBeachPride.com for details.

FourthAnnual World Dog Day is today from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM at West Hollywood Park (647 North San Vicente). Join Lisa Vanderpump, Ken Todd & The Vanderpump Dog Foundation’s Annual World Dog Day Presented by Petplan Pet Insurance - North America.

More than 35 pet-friendly vendors, live entertainment, food trucks and a day full of memories with your furry friend is the best reason to attend this FREE event at West Hollywood Park. You can also hang with Lisa and meet her fantastic staff and groomers from the famed 3rd Street Vanderpump Dog Boutique. Free.

MAY 19

LGBTQ Parent & Ally Panel is today from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM at West Hollywood City Council Chambers (625 North San Vicente). JQ International, which promotes greater inclusion of LGBTQ+ Jews and Allies iinvites you to the group’s community building event in partnership with the City of West Hollywood and the office of LA County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl. This open panel discussion offers parents and allies an opportunity to share diverse perspectives on the vital importance of LGBTQ+ inclusion in an often conservative religious community. A light brunch will be served before the panel discussion. The event is open to the public and is free.

MAY 20

WE RISE 2019 is today from 5:00 PM, the final day of this three day event at We Rise Los Angeles (1262 Palmetto Street). This 10-day pop-up immersive experience brings together LA’s diverse community to explore the collective power of living with purpose and engagement. Through powerful programming, performances, immersive workshops, and a world-class art exhibition, We Rise seeks to embolden individuals and families to find help, reach out to help others and demand systemic change in order to address the critical need for early intervention, treatment and care for mental wellbeing. Enjoy world-class art exhibition from Shepard Fairey, Geoff McFetridge, Andrea Bowers, Swoon, Michael Murphy, Faith 47, Dzine, Kate Deciccio, Ashley Lukashevky, Jessi Jumanji and many others.FREE

year’s One City One Pride theme, “Love is Love.” Free but seating is limited.

MAY 23

8th Annual Taste of Boyle Heights is this evening from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM at Casa Del Mexicano (2900 Calle Pedro Infante). Experience the culture, power, and flavors of the Eastside at the 8th Annual Taste of Boyle Heights, and enjoy an unrivaled selection of local food AND support community empowerment. At Taste of Boyle Heights, you can enjoy a variety of iconic and delicious foods from members of the Los Angeles Street Vendor Campaign and brick and mortar businesses you can’t get anywhere else. From tacos, to elote, to ice cream and churros, you can taste some of Boyle Heights’ and LA’s best. This year features a multimedia museum exhibit highlighting the rich history of Casa Del Mexicano. Free entry. Vendors charge separately.

MAY 24

The best coast does it better at Ru Paul’s Drag Con. See listing for May 24.

and open to the public. Please RSVP at https://werise.la.

MAY 21

7th Annual Safe Zones Awards Ceremony & Social is today from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM at Pasadena City College (1570 East Colorado Boulevard). Safe Zone Coalition will honor an Undocumented and LGBTQ+ Ally of the year in recognition of their support. Dr. Robert H. Bell, Rebecca L. Cobb, Dr. Tony S. Juge, Dr. Chris West, Kathy Kottaras, and Kris Pilon will recognized for their significant service to LGBTQ youth at Passadena Community College and beyond.

MAY 22

One City One Pride kick-off/Harvey Milk Day event: “Dear Harvey,” Reading is today from 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM at West Hollywood City Council Chambers (625 North San Vicente).Join the City of West Hollywood’s Arts Division and kick-off One City One Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival and official City celebration of Harvey Milk Day featuring a free staged reading of Patricia Loughrey’s Dear Harvey. The reading is produced and directed by Michael Shepperd of Celebration Theatre, LA’s oldest LGBTQ theatre. The reading will start at 7:30pm, and be preceded by a reception (6:30-7:30pm) with light food and refreshments. During the reception, there will be two poetry pop-ups themed around this

RuPaul’s DragCon Los Angeles 2019 is happening today through May 26 from 6 PM to whenever the high-heels snap at Los Angeles Convention Center (1201 South Figueroa). Is your wig ready for this? Three days of art, pop culture, and all things drag. Join your squirrel friends in discussions that range from political resistance to fabulous makeovers. RuPaul’s DragCon offers something for everyone with panels, photo ops, meet and greets, merch, shopping, and much more. At a time when America is in a political tailspin, RuPaul’s DragCon offers a haven for those of us burning to make a change. “Everybody Say Love” and Ru will magically appear. It’s the West Coast’s drag event of the year. Tickets, up to $300, can be purchased at rupaulsdragcon.com.

MAY 25

Let’s Talk About Puerto Rico is today from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM at Latino Equality Alliance and Mi Centro (553 South Clarence Street). Puerto Ricans in Action, the ONE Archives Foundation, and Latino Equality Alliance proudly present an event featuring live music, food, and a variety of speakers focusing on the Puerto Rican LGBTQIA+ community and history. “Let’s Talk About Puerto Rico” began in September 2018 as a traveling lecture series that covers Puerto Rican art, music, history and current affairs and an opportunity to build community with Puerto Ricans in the greater Los Angeles area. Enjoy live music from ZÜM DJ, food from The Triple Threat Truck, complimentary Puerto Rican desserts and coffee from Sweedith Bakes, and a host of community resources. To learn more visit www.onearchives.org

E-mail calendar items to tmasters@losangelesblade.com two weeks prior to your event. Space is limited so priority is given to LGBT-specific events or those with LGBT participants. Recurring events must be re-submitted each time.

LA PRIDE FESTIVAL SATURDAY, JUNE 8 — SUNDAY, JUNE 9

Get tickets at lapride.org

CANNABIS CULTURE

30 • MAY 17, 2019 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

Schumer, Jeffries to introduce marijuana reform legislation Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries announced their intentions to introduce legislation known as the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act, to remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), thus ending the nearly century-long federal policy of criminalization and prohibition.

NORML Political Director Justin Strekal said, “The Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act is comprehensive legislation that would end our nation’s failed 80-year prohibition of marijuana and allow states to implement reforms free from the threat of federal interference.

“This bill is part of the continued shift of Democratic Party leadership. At a time when 68 percent of Americans support marijuana legalization, including outright majorities of Democrats (77 percent), Independents (62 percent), and Republicans (57 percent), it is time for ending federal prohibition to become a truly bipartisan issue in the eyes of voters.”

According to the most recent FBI Uniform Crime Report, police made 659,700 arrests for marijuanarelated violations in 2017. That total is more than 21 percent higher than the total number of persons arrests for the commission of violent crimes (518,617) in 2017. Of those arrested for marijuana crimes, just under 91 percent (599,000) were arrested for marijuana possession offenses, a slight increase over the previous year’s annual totals. Total marijuana arrests in 2017 increased for the second straight year, after having fallen for nearly a decade.

Thirty-three states, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. territories of Guam and Puerto Rico have enacted legislation specific to the physician-authorized use of cannabis. Moreover, an estimated 73 million Americans now reside in the 10 states where anyone over the age of 21 may possess cannabis legally. An additional 13 states have passed laws specific to the possession of cannabidiol (CBD) oil for therapeutic purposes.

Sixty-eight percent of registered voters “support the legalization of marijuana,” according to 2018 national polling data compiled by the Center for American Progress. The percentage is the highest level of support for legalization ever reported in a nationwide, scientific poll.

A 2019 report estimates that more than 211,000 Americans are now working full-time in the cannabis industry. Tax revenues from states like Colorado, Oregon, and Washington now exceed initial projections.

Australian health professionals support medical cannabis: study Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer backs the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act.

BRISBANE, Australia — The majority of health professionals, including doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, express support the use of medical cannabis in clinical practice, according to a systematic review of the relevant literature published in the journal PLOS One. An international team of investigators reviewed over 100 studies assessing health professionals’ opinions with regard to medical cannabis.

Authors identified growing support for marijuana therapy in the more recently published literature. They concluded: “[H]ealth professionals [are] relatively supportive of the use of medicinal cannabis in clinical practice. This notion was consistent across the three predominant professional populations of medicine, pharmacy, and nursing.”

Under federal law the cannabis plant is defined as a schedule I controlled substance with “no currently accepted use in treatment in the United States.”

N. Dakota guv signs penalty reduction law BISMARCK, N.D — Republican Gov. Doug Burgum signed legislation into law reducing marijuana possession penalties.

House Bill 1050 reclassifies the possession of up to one-half ounce (14.175 grams) of cannabis and/ or the personal possession of marijuana-related paraphernalia for a first-time offender from a criminal misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in jail, to a criminal infraction punishable by a fine but no possibility of jail time. Those charged with subsequent infractions over the course of a calendar year may face the possibility of misdemeanor charges.

In 2016, North Dakota ranked sixth in the nation in per capita marijuana possession arrests.

Separate provisions in the measure reduce penalties for the possession of up to 500 grams of cannabis from a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison, to a class B misdemeanor. Penalties for the possession of greater amounts are amended from a felony to a Class A misdemeanor.

The new penalties will take effect on Aug. 1, 2019.

Cannabis Culture news in the Blade is provided in partnership with NORML. For more information, visit norml.org.

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HUXTON CELEBRATES PRIDE IN LONG BEACH

TAKE PRIDE IN WHERE YOU LIVE Huxton is proud of the city it lives in. Join Huxton in celebrating Long Beach’s pride at the Pride Festival and Parade on May 18th and 19th along Ocean Boulevard. Situated within the East Village Arts District and a short walk from the ocean, Huxton will give your life a wonderful burst of excitement. With only a few homes left, now is the time to make your move!

FINAL HOMES SELLING FROM THE MID $600,000s Solar, All-Electric Townhomes Up to 1,876 Sq. Ft. & 2 Bedrooms Private Roof Decks HuxtonTownhomes.com | (949) 469-9407

ALL RENDERINGS, FLOOR PLANS, AND MAPS ARE CONCEPTS AND ARE NOT INTENDED TO BE AN ACTUAL DEPICTION OF THE BUILDINGS, FENCING, WALKWAYS, DRIVEWAYS OR LANDSCAPING. WALLS, WINDOWS, PORCHES AND DECKS VARY PER ELEVATION AND LOT LOCATION. IN A CONTINUING EFFORT TO MEET CONSUMER EXPECTATIONS, CITY VENTURES RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY PRICES, FLOOR PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS, OPTIONS AND AMENITIES WITHOUT NOTICE OR OBLIGATION. SQUARE FOOTAGES SHOWN ARE APPROXIMATE. BROKER/AGENT MUST ACCOMPANY AND REGISTER THEIR CLIENT(S) WITH THE ONSITE SALES TEAM ON THEIR FIRST VISIT TO THE COMMUNITY IN ORDER TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR ANY BROKER REFERRAL FEE. PLEASE SEE YOUR SALES MANAGER FOR DETAILS. ©2019 CITY VENTURES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. BRE LIC # 01979736.