Los Angeles Blade, Volume 07, Issue 18, May 05, 2023

Calif. Dept. of Public Health slammed over LGBTQ data collection

Issues impeding SOGI data collection had flown under the radar until COVID

By MATTHEW S. BAJKO

The state’s auditor has faulted the California Department of Public Health for being sclerotic with its eff orts to collect LGBTQ demographics and criticized the agency for having inconsistent policies on how local health officials should be gathering such information.

In a report released Thursday, the auditor suggested lawmakers need to take additional legislative steps to address the ongoing issues with the collection of sexual orientation and gender identity data.

“The lack of consistent SOGI data collection procedures, and ultimately the low number of Public Health forms that currently collect SOGI data, indicate that changes to state law may be warranted to compel more consistent and useful SOGI data collection practices,” concluded California State Auditor Grant Parks in an April 27 letter he submitted to state leaders.

export the SOGI data it collects for over 100 of the 128 reportable disease conditions to an electronic database it oversees.

“Public Health has only made SOGI data available to the public from 17 of the forms we reviewed, and it has not reported directly to the Legislature any SOGI data from the forms we reviewed,” noted Parks.

As the Bay Area Reporter has noted in numerous articles over the years, SOGI data collection remains woefully inadequate and plagued with technical problems at every level of government. Even in San Francisco, where the city’s public health department has been on the forefront of LGBTQ health issues, the local agency has been criticized for its inability to collect the SOGI data of the people it treats and provides services to across its multiple health centers and programs.

San Francisco offi cials and state lawmakers nearly a decade ago had mandated that health offi cials begin collecting SOGI data. But almost immediately the eff orts ran into problems, from how to word the questions asked of patients to needing to update the electronic data record systems health agencies use so the SOGI data could be entered.

Outside of LGBTQ circles, the issues impeding SOGI data collection had largely fl own under the radar until the COVID pandemic hit in 2020. The global health crisis brought to the fore just how blind health offi cials remain about the needs of LGBTQ people.

statement he called the audit fi ndings “extremely concerning” and renewed his demands on health offi cials that they do a better job on SOGI data collection.

“The Department of Public Health continues to use an overly narrow approach to SOGI data collection, which prevents us from understanding the full health needs of the LGBTQ community,” stated Wiener. “The Department needs to institute a centralized, comprehensive approach to collecting this data, update its data collection and analysis systems, and require data collection from third parties. I’m seriously considering legislation to implement the Auditor’s recommendations.”

In a response to Parks dated April 7 and released publicly Thursday, state Public Health Offi cer Dr. Tomás J. Aragón pledged that the statewide health department would address the SOGI data issues raised in the auditor’s report.

“We believe in the importance of collecting SOGI data to identify disparities and acting to change inequities in California’s health systems,” wrote Aragón, who is also director of the state public health department and formerly worked for the San Francisco public health department. “Best practices related to SOGI data collection are evolving. Public Health will continue to strive to achieve and improve compliance in our data collection eff orts and overall use of data to advance health equity in California.”

Titled “The California Department of Public Health: It Has Not Collected and Reported Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Data as State Law Intended,” the 45-page report detailed myriad problems with the state agency’s SOGI data eff orts. Out of 129 forms used by CADPH, 105 were exempted from collecting SOGI data because a third party, such as a local health jurisdiction, oversees them, found the audit.

“This exemption severely limits the amount of SOGI data the department is required to collect,” Parks noted in a fact sheet accompanying his report.

Even with the 24 forms that are required to collect SOGI data, the auditor found only 17 “do so in a complete manner.” Parks’ report also noted that “because of resource and technical limitations,” CADPH is unable to

Despite a California law signed by former governor Jerry Brown that had mandated the state’s departments of health care services, public health, social services, and aging begin gathering SOGI data in 2016, state health offi cials did not know how many LGBTQ residents of the Golden State were infected with the deadly coronavirus when it began ravaging the state three years ago. To this day, no such data is available.

Nor is it known how many LGBTQ people died from COVID or have gotten vaccinated for it. The lack of such data persists despite state lawmakers adopting a bill in 2020 requiring health offi cials to collect it.

Fed up with the situation, a number of LGBTQ state lawmakers in 2021 had called for an audit of the SOGI data collection eff orts. Among them was gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who has been a vocal critic about the lackluster LGBTQ demographic data collection in California for the last three years and authored the 2020 bill requiring SOGI data collection pertaining to communicable diseases.

Wiener could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday regarding the auditor’s report. But in a

Aragón noted that the state health agency had “substantially complied” with the original SOGI legislation Assembly Bill 959, known as The LGBT Disparities Reduction Act. He listed, for example, CADPH adding SOGI questions to its Confi dential Morbidity reports and updating the California Reportable Disease Information Exchange known as CalREDIE so it could receive data from local health jurisdictions.

Nonetheless, he acknowledged that the auditor’s report highlighted other issues that need to be addressed “that go beyond the requirements” of AB 959, which had been authored by San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu when he served in the state Assembly. Aragón committed to reviewing the auditor’s recommendations and to reporting on the state health department’s progress within 60 days as well as in six months and next April.

“We acknowledge and appreciate the insights shared in the audit report. Public Health will both work to improve our own eff orts, as well as support local health jurisdictions and health care providers to collect this data,” he wrote.

(This article was previously published by the Bay Area Reporter and is republished with permission.)

California Department of Public Health Director and state Health Officer Dr. TOMÁS J. ARAGÓN (Photo courtesy CADPH)

San Diego to open 45-bed LGBTQ youth homeless shelter

The San Diego Housing Commission has awarded a contract to San Diego’s LGBT Center to operate an LGBTQ+ youth shelter for young people who are experiencing homelessness.

“It’s a first for our city. We’re very, very excited,” Casey Snell, VP of Admin. Homeless Initiatives San Diego Housing Commission told KGTV ABC News 10 reporter Ryan Hill. “We know that LGBTQ+ experience homeless many at a rate almost 40 percent higher than their non-LGBTQ+ plus peer. So, it’s extremely critical we target services for this population.”

According to Snell, $1.5 million for the new shelter was allocated in the city’s 2023 budget. While a search has been launched to find a permanent location for the 45 bed facility, Snell tells ABC 10 that two interim locations in Clairemont and Point Loma will have 21 beds.

Victor Esquivel, the Director of Housing & Youth Homeless Services for the LGBT Center noted “Oftentimes, when it comes to LGTBQ+ youth, they have been rejected by their own families. These types of programs are a real lifeline, right? They instill that hope in them, and we’re going to be excited to see them on that first night when they come to us.”

With homophobia, bullying, harassment, and extremist hate on the rise, both from the government and civilians alike, queer youth of today are facing a torrent of obstacles leading to a devastating increase in mental health crises. Even more devastating is the number of queer youth who are facing these challenges while homeless. Kicked out of their homes and living on park benches and truck stops, these kids face a terrifying reality of discrimination, isolation, and violence.

LGBTQ youth are overrepresented among young people experiencing homelessness and housing instability in the United States. This elevated risk of homelessness and housing instability has detrimental effects on LGBTQ youths’ mental health.

A research report released in February 2022 by the Trevor Project revealed that 28% of LGBTQ+ youth reported

experiencing homelessness or housing instability at some point in their lives — and those who did had two to four times the odds of reporting depression, anxiety, self-harm, considering suicide, and attempting suicide compared to those with stable housing.

In Los Angeles, Lisa Phillips, Director of Youth Services at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, said: “The Los Angeles LGBT Center has always had a high demand for youth-oriented services, including emergency, transitional, and permanent housing—and we have not seen that demand falter. Unfortunately, as political attacks on our community escalate throughout all corners of the United States, we also don’t expect to see that demand go down anytime soon.

We understand that, like any other issue affecting the LGBTQ+ community, a holistic approach that caters to the dignity of the individual is urgent and necessary. That’s why the Center doesn’t just offer a place to sleep but also provides health and mental health care, substance use and recovery efforts, legal services, housing and job navigation, and, most importantly, community. We do not take our responsibility to LGBTQ+ youth lightly, and we are always proud to be leaders in the fight for a more equitable world for queer and trans people.”

True Colors United, a national initiative co-founded over a decade ago by Cyndi Lauper, Lisa Barbaris, Jonny Podell, and Gregory Lewis, reported that according to a recent study from Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago,

LGBTQ young people are 120% more likely to experience homelessness than non-LGBTQ youth.

“Right off the bat, these young people are presented with an uneven playing field. True Colors United is working to level that field so that LGBTQ youth are no more likely to experience homelessness than anyone else. We’ve seen this higher risk reflected in our own research. It’s estimated that about 7% of youth in the United States are LGBTQ, while 40% of youth experiencing homelessness are LGBTQ.”

Snell from the Housing Commission told ABC 10 they hope to have those two interim locations up and running within the next 60 days.

Police seeking suspects in WeHo robbery with assault rifle

A group of robbers described as a male suspect armed with what appeared to be an assault rifle, and two female suspects armed with a handgun by the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department accosted a male and a passerby Tuesday night in the alley behind La Boheme Restaurant in the 8400 block of Santa Monica Blvd.

A statement from the LASD noted that “A man walking on the sidewalk interrupted the robbery and the suspects demanded his property and he complied,” adding that one of the two males was struck in the face with a handgun.

The suspects made off with a wallet, jewelry and an unspecified amount of cash. No gunfire or injuries were reported.

West Hollywood Mayor Sepi Shyne acknowledged to KABC 7 Eyewitness News that the LASD “is actively investigating to make sure that this person is caught,” adding, “typ-

ically, we also ask for increased patrols in the areas where crime happens, to make sure that the person doesn’t come

back and commit that crime.”

Complete statement from LASD: On Tuesday, April 25, 2023, at 9:38 p.m., an armed robbery occurred in the City of West Hollywood near the intersection of Santa Monica Blvd and Orlando Avenue.

A male suspect armed with what appeared to be an assault rifle and two female suspects armed with a handgun approached two men as they were walking in an alley and demanded their property. One of the victims was struck in the face with a handgun by the suspects. A man walking on the sidewalk interrupted the robbery and the suspects demanded his property and he complied.

If you have any information, please contact West Hollywood Station Detective Zeff at 310-358-4033 and refer to case number 923-02295-0977-031.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

BRODY LEVESQUE

The San Diego LGBT Community Center’s Hillcrest Youth Center (Photo courtesy San Diego LGBT Community Center/Facebook)

(Screenshot/KABC 7)

‘Terminating hate,’ Schwarzenegger leads panel on extremism

Former Republican Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger, led a discussion on ending the cycle of extremism Wednesday. The event was hosted by the University of Southern California Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy.

Students, journalists, and reporters filled the auditorium for the panel discussion meeting titled “Terminating Hate” – a nod to the actor’s former role as a cyborg assassin in Director James Cameron’s successful ‘Terminator’ film franchise.

The meeting came on the heels of a viral video posted by the former governor on YouTube, outlining his recent trip to Auschwitz. In the video, Schwarzenegger urged extremists to change hateful ways and offered a message of hope that there can, indeed, be a bright future for those who choose a better path.

Speakers and panelists included CNN Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash, the Dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism Willow Bay, Erroll Southers, USC Associate Senior Vice President of Safety and Risk Assurance, USC Shoah Foundation Finci-Viterbi Executive Director, Dr. Robert Williams, Rabbi Sharon Brous, Founder and Senior Rabbi, IKAR, Chuck Leek, Exit Specialist, Life After Hate, John Turtletaub, renowned film director, and Myrieme Nadri-Churchill, Executive Director, Parents for Peace.

“Hate crimes have increased to record levels,” said Dean Bay, opening the discussion with some startling statistics.

Los Angeles reported a total of 643 hate crimes just last year, marking a 13% increase since the year before. Nationally, hate crimes rose 31%, while antisemitic hate crimes rose to their highest levels since the Anti-Defamation League started keeping track in 1979.

The league was founded in 1910 with the mission to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment for all.

“America is facing a level of extremism arguably unseen since World War II,” said Bay. “The difference between now and

World War II is that this is a threat we are facing from within.”

During the discussion, Schwarzenegger preached collectiveness in the fight against hate, echoing his message of hope for those who wish to change the narrative of the hate they have been exposed to.

“I was born to a father who was a Nazi,” said Schwarzenegger, recounting the emotion he felt during his first visit to Auschwitz, the infamous concentration camp complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland, “and look where we are one generation later. This is how we can change. I don’t have to copy my father. We can change.”

Leek is a proponent of this change. A former white supremacist for twenty years, he now assists ex-members of radical groups re-acclimate as positive members of society.

Leek’s work is mainly through Life After Hate, an organization committed to helping people leave the violent far-right to connect with humanity and lead compassionate lives. Armed with a team of experts and led by a licensed clinical psychologist, Life After Hate’s vision is a world that allows people to change and contribute to a society without violence Leek noted.

In a separate but related manner, Nadri-Churchill works to empower families, friends, and communities to prevent radicalization, violence, and extremism through the non-governmental public health nonprofit Parents for Peace. The nonprofit provided guidance and early intervention; to raise public awareness among parents who suspect their child is being radicalized.

“No one is going to call the cops on their kids,” said Nadri-Churchill. A psychotherapist with 30 years of experience, she works with families to coach them on the best steps to tackle this issue while maintaining safety as a priority for all involved.

Rabbi Brous later praised Schwarzenegger for his opening, saying, “Standing up here and saying, ‘I am the son of a Nazi,’ was incredibly powerful.” She stressed how shame and isolation were key factors that can lead to extremist mindsets and asked, “How can we own the truth and not be ashamed of it?”

Schwarzenegger has historically been very open about his past and origins. In addition to advocating against hate, the former Republican California Governor continues to be an advocate and activist for children’s education, arts, and societal betterment in general.

During the “Terminating Hate” discussion, he shared that as a celebrity, he feels it is his responsibility to use his platform for good: “I am very much into giving back and not just taking. I thought it was important to talk about this issue.”

Schwarzenegger also stressed the importance of movies for their reach and influence, calling on directors like Turtletaub to use his influence to spread messages against hate.

“Communication is the number one issue here,” said Schwarzenegger. “This is why it was so important for me not to attack the other side. Hate, in the end, never pays off. Often, those who were fueled by hate become the losers.”

Schwarzenegger recounted a story from the eighties when he asked his father-in-law, Sargent Shriver, how he was able to go into enemy Soviet Union territory and negotiate for oil, when the Russians considered him an enemy. Shriver replied telling him, “Well, you have to find some common ground.”

Shriver would spend a day eating and talking but never discussing negotiations or the real reason he was there. He would find common ground in everything from family to fishing so that by the second day of his trip, he was able to secure what he needed from people who hated him when he arrived.

This is the philosophy Schwarzenegger hopes more people adopt when trying to solve the problem of hate, striving to “solve this problem without just accusing the other side.”

Schwarzenegger also said he hoped that more scientists and researchers would get involved in studying the human brain and hate throughout history to get to the bottom of what causes hate in the first place.

“We know the human race has always had prejudice,” said Schwarzenegger. “How does the brain really work? Why is the brain functioning this way?”

Finally, Schwarzenegger reiterated his desire for all people to come together to end hate.

“Even though people say this can never be solved, I say, yes we can!”

The Blade attempted to ask the former governor about his stance on anti-LGBTQ+ hate and transgender rights but was turned away by Schwarzenegger’s chief of staff.

SIMHA HADDAD

Trans parole seekers in California face misgendering

A new study of California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) parole hearings by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law and the Social Justice Legal Foundation finds 43% of parole hearings for transgender and nonbinary people included misgendering and/or insensitive comments.

For instance, one nonbinary 44-year-old individual asked to be addressed by name, rather than any pronoun, but the commissioners pushed the parole seeker to choose a pronoun. On another occasion, a commissioner questioned whether a parole seeker would remain sober because the “LGBTQ community has big parties.”

In January 2021, California enacted the Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act (TRADA), which requires, among other

things, that CDCR use proper gender pronouns and honorifics for transgender/nonbinary people in CDCR custody.

For the first time since the enactment of TRADA, researchers reviewed transcripts of 42 parole hearings from January 1, 2021 – February 28, 2022 in which the individual seeking parole identified as transgender or nonbinary. They aimed to understand how transgender and nonbinary individuals fare in parole hearings.

Results also show that about one-third of transgender/nonbinary parole seekers were granted parole, at about the same rate as the general population of parole seekers during that time period.

Having an explicit housing plan was an important factor in

granting parole—56% of transgender/nonbinary people with a housing plan were granted parole as compared to 13% of individuals who did not have an explicit housing plan.

“Finding appropriate transitional housing is extraordinarily challenging for transgender individuals,” said study author Ilan H. Meyer, Distinguished Senior Scholar of Public Policy at the Williams Institute. “Often transitional housing is gender segregated and many facilities simply do not accept transgender individuals despite California law that bars discrimination in housing. Excluding transgender individuals from this already scarce resource only increases the already steep challenges they face to re-entry.” FROM STAFF REPORTS

Former Republican Governor of California, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, led a discussion on ending the cycle of extremism at USC. (Photo by Simha Haddad)

CDC: A quarter-plus of U.S. high school students identify LGBTQ

A new report released last week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows over one out of every four high school students in the United States identifies as LGBTQ.

Using data from the bi-annual Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, a set of surveys that track behaviors that can lead to poor health in students grades 9 through 12, the CDC examined:

• Student demographics: sex, sexual identity, race and ethnicity, and grade

• Youth health behaviors and conditions: sexual, injury and violence, bullying, diet and physical activity, obesity, and mental health, including suicide

• Substance use behaviors: electronic vapor product and tobacco product use, alcohol use, and other drug use

• Student experiences: parental monitoring, school connectedness, unstable housing, and exposure to community violence

The current report was gathered using data collected in 2021 which found that 74.2% of American high school students identified as heterosexual. The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) interviewed 17,508 students from 152 schools across the U.S. also showed that 3.2% of students identified as either gay or lesbian, 5.2% identified as “questioning” and 12.2% identified as bisexual. About 3.9% of students answered the question by saying they were “other” and 1.8% claimed

they didn’t understand the question.

YRBS results help monitor adolescent health behavior changes over time, identify emerging issues, and plan and evaluate programs to support the health of youth. YRBS data are used by health departments, educators, lawmakers, doctors, and community organizations to inform school and community programs, communications campaigns, and other efforts.

The YRBSS was designed to:

• Determine how often unhealthy behaviors occur

• Assess whether unhealthy behaviors increase,

Public health crisis:

decrease, or stay the same over time

• Provide data at the national, state, territorial and freely associated state, tribal, and local levels

• Provide data comparing different groups of adolescents

• Monitor progress toward achieving the Healthy People Objectives and other program goals

Based on the ten year span in studies between 2011 and 2021, the CDC reported that the number of students in the U.S. who identify as LGBTQ has increased from 11% in 2015 to 26% in 2021. That increase “might be a result of changes in question wording to include students identifying as questioning,” the report claims.

About 57% of those high school students in the CDC’s data said that they have not had any sexual contact in their lives, while 34.6% of those students said they had sexual contact with someone of the opposite sex.

Just 2.4% of students reported that they’ve had sexual contact with the same sex, and 6% said that they’ve had sexual contact with both sexes, according to the CDC.

Mirroring the CDC numbers in the YRBSS, the results of recent Gallup polling revealed that 7.2% of U.S. adults now identify as LGBTQ+ broken down by age grouping:

-19.7% of Gen Z (ages 19-26)

-11.2% of millennials, (ages 27-42)

-3.3% of Gen X (ages 43-58)

-2.7% of Baby Boomers (ages 59-77)

-1.7% of the Silent Gen (ages 78+)

of trans, nonbinary kids consider suicide

The nation’s leading suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ+ youth released the results of its latest survey of queer young people ages 13 to 24 Monday, and the findings by The Trevor Project should set off alarm bells.

The survey of 28K youth nationwide, conducted last fall, underscores the negative mental health impact of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and policies. Among the key findings:

• 41% of LGBTQ+ young people seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year — and those who are transgender, nonbinary, and/or people of color reported higher rates than their peers.

• 56% who wanted mental health care in the past year were not able to get it.

• LGBTQ+ young people who had access to affirming homes, schools, community events, and online spaces reported lower rates of attempting suicide compared to those who did not.

• Transgender and nonbinary young people reported lower rates of attempting suicide when all of the people they live with respected their pronouns and/or they had access to a gender-neutral bathroom at school.

• LGBTQ+ young people who experienced victimization because of their orientation or identity — including being physically threatened or harmed, discriminated against, or subjected to conversion

therapy — reported more than twice the rate of attempting suicide in the past year compared to those who did not have any of these anti-LGBTQ+ experiences.

• Nearly 2 in 3 LGBTQ+ young people said that hearing about potential state or local laws banning people from discussing LGBTQ+ people at school — also known as “Don’t Say Trans or Gay” laws — negatively impacted their mental health.

“This is a public health crisis — and it’s preventable,” said Kasey Suffredini, The Trevor Project’s vice president of advocacy & government affairs. “Our government must work from the top down to curb risk factors like violence and discrimination and increase access to essential health care, safe schools, and support systems. Yet, far too many lawmakers at the state level are working overtime to push a dangerous political agenda that will jeopardize young lives. We understand that some of these issues can seem complicated for people who’ve never met a transgender person, but the impact of victimization on our young people is clear and dire.

DAWN ENNIS

LGBTQ youth gather to protest over anti-LGBTQ laws and policies in Orlando, Fla. (Photo courtesy of Will Larkins, featured center)

(Los Angeles Blade/Trevor Project graphic)

Danica Roem condemns Zooey Zephyr censure

Virginia state Del. Danica Roem (D-Manassas) on Monday condemned the censure of Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr after she criticized her fellow lawmakers over their support of an anti-transgender bill.

“Censuring Rep. Zephyr is by all evidence an arbitrary and capricious abuse of power by a Republican supermajority whose ‘Freedom Caucus’ members on April 18 — without condemnation or censure for breaking decorum — also insisted on disrespecting her by ‘deliberately’ (as noted by the AP on April 19) misgendering her because they refuse to acknowledge the identities of their trans constituents, let alone their colleague,” Roem told the Washington Blade in a statement. Roem in 2018 became the first openly transgender person seated in a state legislature in the U.S. Roem the following year became the first out trans state legislator to win re-election in the country.

Montana Republicans last week banned Zephyr, a trans woman who represents House District in the Montana House of Representatives, from the chamber floor after she criticized them over their support of a bill that bans gender-affirming health care for children.

Republican Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte on April 28 signed the measure, even though his nonbinary child had urged him

to veto it. Zephyr on Monday filed a lawsuit that challenges her censure.

“Given the precedent established and repeatedly re-established, there is no justification for depriving the people of District 100 their equal representation in the state House,” Roem told the Blade. “Their representative’s full rights and privileges of the floor should be reinstated immediately.”

Roem last May announced she is running to represent Senate District 30, which includes western Prince William County and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.

Robert Ruffolo, one of the Republicans who hopes to challenge Roem, has made a series of anti-trans comments on his Twitter account. These include asking a Twitter user who said “trans women are natural women” and “trans women are biological women” whether they are saying “God made a mistake by creating you as a male?”

“We know what we’re up against in this race,” Roem told the Blade on April 23 during an interview before the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund’s National Champagne Brunch that took place at the JW Marriott Hotel in D.C. “We know it is absolutely going to get personal, as well as its going to get on policy. We know that there’s going to be a lot at stake.”

Democrats currently have a 22-18 majority in the Virginia Senate, and they blocked the 12 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced during the 2023 legislative session.

“That is the only thing keeping Virginia from being in the same league as West Virginia, as Kentucky, as you’re about to see in North Carolina now that they got their supermajority, as you’re seeing in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma,” said Roem. “It gets worse, right? Arkansas, another one. Missouri, geez their attorney general is now trying to block trans care for adults.”

“The only thing that’s keeping us from that is that four seat majority,” she added.

Lieutenant Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, who presides over the state Senate, and Gov. Glenn Youngkin are both Republicans. Roem told the Blade the governor this cycle is going to try and flip the “state legislature of a Democratic-voting state.”

The Senate Health Subcommittee earlier this year killed state Sen. Amanda Chase (R-Colonial Heights)’s bill that would have banned transition-related health care for trans youth.

Roem in 2020 introduced a bill that bans Virginia health care providers from discriminating against their patients based on their gender identity. Then-Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, signed the measure into law. Roem noted to the Blade that Chase’s measure would have repealed the statute.

“I’m not saying that we were in imminent danger of that bill,” said Roem, referring to Chase’s bill. “If they (Republicans) have majorities in both chambers and they have this governor, that bill passes. That bill might be introduced by a different member, but that bill passes.”

Pennsylvania House passes LGBTQ rights bill

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives on May 2 voted 102 to 98 to approve a bill calling for protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination, marking the first time such legislation has passed in either the state House or Senate in the 47 years since similar bills have been introduced.

Supporters have said the outcome of the bill, called the Fairness Act, is uncertain in the Republican-controlled Pennsylvania Senate, where the legislation is now headed.

“Today is a historic day, as we take a critical step to make Pennsylvania fairer,” a joint statement released by the six Democratic House members who were the bill’s lead sponsors.

“The Fairness Act is as simple as it is substantive,” the statement says. “H.B 300 would protect LGBTQ+ Pennsylvanians from facing discrimination and allow all individuals in the com-

U.S.

monwealth to file complaints with the PA Human Relations Commission,” it says.

“Now, we call on the Senate to quickly consider and pass this legislation and send it to Governor Shapiro’s desk,” the statement concludes.

Only two Republicans joined 100 Democrats in voting for the bill, according to the Philadelphia Gay News. The PGN reports that GOP opponents, among other things, brought up arguments that the legislation would require women’s sports teams to allow transgender women to play on those teams.

The gay newspaper noted that Pennsylvania is the only state in the northeast that doesn’t have a statewide LGBTQ nondiscrimination law. It reports that on the local level, about 73 municipalities in the state have passed LGBTQ nondiscrimination laws, but almost 2,500 municipalities that make up about 65

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

percent of the state’s population do not have such laws.

At least 22 states and the District of Columbia have enacted LGBTQ rights laws. Although LGBTQ rights advocates have called on the other states, including Pennsylvania, to pass such laws, activists have also pointed out the landmark 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision known as Bostock v. Clayton County, Ga., ruled that LGBTQ people are protected under the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964.

That law bans discrimination in employment and other areas based on a person’s sex or gender as well as other factors such as race, religion, and ethnicity. In an action that surprised many legal observers, the Supreme Court ruling said LGBTQ people were protected under the sex or gender provision in the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

LOU CHIBBARO JR.

officials postpone Uganda PEPFAR meeting

American officials have postponed a meeting on the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief’s work in Uganda in order to assess the potential impact the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act will have on it.

Uganda PEPFAR Country Coordinator Mary Borgman on April 25 sent a letter to the PEPFAR Uganda Country Operational Plan 2023 on behalf of Amb. John Nkengasong, the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Special Representative for Health Diplomacy who oversees PEPFAR.

“I want to thank you for your diligent efforts during the past

several weeks for developing the Uganda COP23 plans in a highly complex and shifting landscape,” said Nkengasong in the letter.

“In light of the recent developments with the potential signing of the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) and how that could impact our ability to provide services and assistance, I have made the decision to postpone the Final COP Presentation meeting previously scheduled for April 28,” he wrote. “This postponement will allow us more time to collectively and effectively assess the legal and programmatic implications of the evolving legislation and

broder environment in Uganda, which impacts PEPFAR-supported HIV/AIDS programs, and make relevant adjustments in order to resolve COP23 plans as appropriate.”

Nkengasong stressed he is “grateful for the resilience and grace that the team has shown during this difficult time.”

“With regards to current programming, we will continue to assess the needs of PEPFAR Uganda and adapt programs as required to ensure the safety of our staff and beneficiaries and help ensure access to health services remains intact,” he added.

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

Virginia state Del. DANICA ROEM (D-Manassas) speaks at the LGBTQ Victory Fund National Champagne Brunch last month. (Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

Our Commitment: Protect LGBTQ+ Youth

We continue our fight for a just and equal society for all LGBTQ+ people. Equality California is sponsoring legislation to combat discrimination and protect LGBTQ+ young people.

Safe Haven for Abortion and Gender-Affirming Care

SB 36 will make it illegal for bail agents or bounty hunters to apprehend people who have left another state to avoid criminal prosecution related to abortion or gender-affirming care.

Safe & Supportive Schools Act

AB 5 will specify a timeline for implementation of LGBTQ+ cultural competency training for teachers and certified staff by the California Department of Education.

K-12 All-Gender Restrooms

SB 760 will require all K-12 schools in California to provide at least one accessible all-gender restrooms for students to use safely and comfortably during school hours.

These efforts and more are part of Equality California’s continued work to ensure full lived equality for all. Join our fight by learning more at eqca.org/legislation.

NATIONAL

State legislatures wrap, leaving terror in their wake

CHRISTOPHER KANE | ckane@washblade.com

Conservative state legislatures from Florida to Idaho, have finished or will soon finish their business, leaving transgender Americans and their loved ones reeling from the onslaught of attacks against them.

Between 400 and 600 bills were introduced since January that target LGBTQ folks, disproportionately transgender kids – a figure that has often been cited by LGBTQ groups and elected Democrats.

What is often lost in this accounting, however, is how harmful the legislation is (or will be, in the case of so many bills that have yet to take effect), because for those who are directly targeted by the ceaseless legislative and rhetorical attacks, they are hardly an abstraction.

On Monday, Oklahoma became the 16th state to ban guideline-directed best practices healthcare interventions for the treatment of gender dysphoria in minors and the fourth state to make it a felony for providers to administer that care to their patients.

Then, on Tuesday, Montana became the 17th state, having just evicted duly elected state Rep. Zooey Zephyr from the chamber because, in her words, “I dared to give voice to the values and needs of transgender people like myself.”

In March, Kentucky passed what was then deemed “the worst anti-trans bill in the nation,” a healthcare ban augmented by language pulled from Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, which criminalizes discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in schools.

The following month, just across the border, the torch was passed to Missouri, whose Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued an emergency rule prohibiting gender affirming care for youth as well as adults and then published a form allowing citizens to formally record complaints about “a gender transition” they have “experienced or observed.”

Powerful conservative Christian advocacy groups like the Alliance Defending Freedom have lobbied for anti-LGBTQ bills and defended them from legal challenges. The organization has backed anti-trans measures from restrictions on access to gender affirming care to “Don’t Say Gay” laws.

For trans people, the prospect of having to flee their home

states “doesn’t feel theoretical anymore,” Ari Drennen, LGBTQ program director for Media Matters for America, told the Washington Blade.

“The thing is,” she said, “I feel like we got there a while ago, and I just kind of adjusted, and now it’s like this weird world where I have multiple adult friends who are leaving multiple states for their own safety.”

“It’s hard to keep perspective of just how bad it’s gotten and just how quickly,” Drennen said.

She added the recent polling data, which indicates “most voters do not think that this is a good use of the government’s time and energy” offers cold comfort because “when that doesn’t seem to stop them, it almost makes it scarier.”

Drennen said the reality for so many of these Republican legislators is “they are just so genuinely opposed to the existence of trans people” that they will continue apace with these legislative crusades, political consequences be damned.

Another concern, often overlooked, is the escalation of transphobic rhetoric that abets the work of anti-trans GOP legislatures and to some extent makes their goals more reachable.

“You can look at The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles giving his big speech at CPAC,” Drennen said, in which he argued “that transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely.”

“Those were his exact words,” she said, and “what he’s say-

ing there is that trans people should not be in public, really under any circumstances, and I think that’s where a lot of the right wing media has gotten.”

“This has escalated very quickly in a couple of years from, ‘oh, well, you know, we just have some concerns about the fairness of trans people who are competing in sports,’ to multiple states passing bathroom bills or considering bathroom bills, multiple states expanding what kinds of gender affirming care they’re considering trying to take off the table,” Drennen said.

“And it’s hard to not be alarmed about the direction that this is all heading,” she said.

At this juncture, according to the ACLU:

• Anti-LGBTQ bills can be divided into seven categories: Healthcare (e.g., bans on gender affirming care); public accommodations (e.g., laws prohibiting trans people from using restrooms and facilities consistent with their gender identity); schools and education (e.g., “Don’t Say Gay” laws, bans prohibiting trans student athletes from competing in sports); free speech and expression (e.g., restrictions on drag performances, book bans); accurate IDs (e.g., laws prohibiting trans people from obtaining documents that reflect their gender identity); civil rights (e.g., measures to allow discrimination against LGBTQ people); and other (e.g., Alabama’s proposed bill to define “woman” based on sex characteristics at birth).

• Fifteen states have introduced more than 10 anti-LGBTQ bills: Arizona, North Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, Missouri, Mississippi, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida.

• Four states and the District of Columbia have not introduced any anti-LGBTQ bills: Pennsylvania, Delaware, Illinois, and Wisconsin.

• 318 anti-LGBTQ bills are now advancing through state legislatures. Forty-five have been signed into law; 105 have been defeated.

MTG attacks lesbian teachers’ union president

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) told National Federation of Teachers President Randy Weingarten she is “not a mother” during Wednesday’s hearing by the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.

The congresswoman also repeated unsubstantiated claims that she made during a previous committee hearing with Weingarten on March 28, asserting that virtual learning had caused an increase in the number of youth in the U.S. who identify as transgender.

Greene had sought to blame Weingarten for advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on school closures. “While kids were forced to stay home, and you approved of this, the number of youths with gender dysphoria surged.”

The firebrand congresswoman’s questioning of the teachers’ union president swerved into personal territory Wednes-

day when she asked, “are you a mother?”

“I am a mother by marriage,” Weingarten answered. “And my wife is here with me, so I’m really glad that she’s here.”

Later, Greene said to Weingarten, “The problem is, people like you need to admit that you’re just a political activist. Not a teacher, not a doctor and not a mother.”

Two California Democrats on the committee, U.S. Reps. Robert Garcia and Raul Ruiz, spoke up in defense of Weingarten.

“The decorum of the attacks on the witness were unacceptable, that the gentlelady from Georgia just did, and so it would be nice if we didn’t attack the witnesses, particularly making a decision about whether or not she’s a mother,” Garcia said.

Addressing Weingarten, he added, “you are a mother. Thank you for being a great parent.”

“That was not just cruel personal attacks to Ms. Weingarten who loves her children, it is reflective of the cruel personal attacks any adoptive mother or father who love their children,” Ruiz said. “So I would kindly ask that those remarks be taken out of the record.”

During the March 28 hearing, Greene said, “Since this time, these school closures, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in trans-identifying children, which is not something that was normal nor common many years before this, and I think that’s completely devastating.”

The data suggesting an increase in the number of trans-identifying youth in the U.S. from 2017 to 2022 might instead show the new methods used to analyze the results of last year’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey, multilevel regression and poststratification, collected more accurate information.

CHRISTOPHER KANE

‘It’s hard to not be alarmed about the direction that this is all heading’

By

Florida Gov. RON DESANTIS has become the face of anti-LGBTQ hate. (Screenshot/Florida Channel)

Missouri rabbi says anti-trans policies threaten

his children

By CHRISTOPHER KANE | ckane@washblade.com

Last month, the office of Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey temporarily removed its online form for members of the public to lodge “a complaint or concern about gender transition intervention” they may have “experienced or observed.”

Bailey had just issued an emergency rule proscribing gender affirming care in the state for minors as well as adults in Missouri, the most extreme restrictions on healthcare for transgender people in any state.

Rabbi Daniel Bogard hesitated, at first, when the Washington Blade called for his reaction. “I never know what language to use.”

As a faith leader with multi-generational ties to St. Louis and its tight-knit Jewish community who is living in the home built by his grandfather, Bogard never imagined having to consider fleeing the state.

“My parents are here. My brother is here. We desperately, desperately want to stay here,” he told the Blade.

Bogard said because his trans son is just nine, the only gender affirming care he needs is haircuts and boys’ clothes. Still, he said, “the thing I really wish people understood is that what I’m really scared of is the government coming to my door to take away my child for following the best advice of doctors and therapists and professionals.”

So, it can be hard to find the right language.

“I’m a rabbi. So, I don’t say this lightly: This is what it must have been like to be a Jew in 1930 in Europe. It doesn’t feel real, and you can’t believe that it’s actually going to get worse — that they’re going to do the things that they say they’re going to — and then it gets worse.”

Words that come closest to “accurately describing the totality of what’s being pushed in places like Missouri” — like “fascism,” for instance — are exactly those likeliest to be dismissed as hysterical, over-the-top, hyperbole, Bogard said.

Likewise with comparisons between the realities faced by trans Americans today and the treatment of European Jews leading up to the Holocaust, which can be even more difficult for some people to consider seriously on their merits.

“Look,” Bogard said, “I’m a rabbi. So, I don’t say this lightly: This is what it must have been like to be a Jew in 1930 in Europe. It doesn’t feel real, and you can’t believe that it’s actually going to get worse — that they’re going to do the things that they say they’re going to do — and then it gets worse.”

“People don’t get it until they see it — even talking to queer folks and trans folks living in blue enclaves and blue states, they often don’t quite understand the extent of what is happening.”

A more recent analog, Bogard said, might be “the early days of COVID” when people often tended to behave normally, treating others who stocked up on toilet paper and cleared out their desks as paranoid.

The latest move by Bailey, however, should be concerning for everyone. “He had a form to get neighbors to rat out neighbors who are supporting their kids,” Bogard said. “That should terrify anyone who cares about democracy and cares about freedom and cares about religious liberty or individual liberty.”

Trans people in the state have been scrambling. “None of us none of us know we’re hearing,” Bogard said.

“There have been rumors that lifesaving gender affirming care will be available in Illinois, which at least for St. Louis is right across the river. Then we’re hearing from folks who [are] told by these Illinois organizations that unfortunately they believe they’re not going to be able to serve Missouri residents,” Bogard said. “I want to be very careful because these are secondhand things that I’m being told, right, but that’s where people are at.”

Behind the anti-trans policies in Missouri and elsewhere in the country is “this discourse, the demonization of trans people and trans bodies,” Bogard said. The “rhetoric of otherization and rhetoric that being trans is a social contagion, a mental illness,” he said, is going to be fatal. “People are going to die because of this.”

Bogard estimates he has traveled to Jefferson City (“Jeff City”), the state capital, about a dozen times this year “to lobby and to testify and to beg.” He added, “My mom, who has taken COVID very, very seriously, and hasn’t gone out, her first time really going out in public in an unmasked place was [when] she came down to Jeff City to testify this year, to lobby.”

“My grandma, God love her, all of 87 years old, was asking me the other day about wheelchair access — because she’s worried that she wouldn’t be able to walk in the halls of the Capitol to come down and testify for her great-grandson,” Bogard said.

Asked whether he believes the urgency is understood by elected Democrats, Bogard said, “Our Democrats here in Missouri have no power, I mean none, [but] they fight with every ounce they have for our kids.”

There are “so many incredibly heroic Democratic lawmakers who know this is true public service, people who get paid $29,000” per year to be a state representative even though they have no power, Bogard said. He noted his son has a photo of Missouri’s lone openly LGBTQ state senator, Greg Razer, on his desk.

National Democrats, by contrast, often fail to fully understand that protecting trans rights is “the fight of our generation,” more consequential than a wedge issue exploited by Republicans to distract from meaningful policy debate, Bogard said.

The GOP “has chosen the bodies of trans kids to be the front for their war on democracy,” he said, “And we need national Democrats to stand up and do everything that they can.”

“It’s one of the beautiful parts about being a rabbi,” Bog-

ard told the Blade, “is I can see that there are thousands of years of stories about trans Jews — there have always been trans Jews, because as long as there have been Jews there have been trans Jews because being trans is just another way of being human.”

“We have incredible stories from the 1800s of Jews transitioning and being like, radically accepted in the shtetl in Ukraine,” Bogard said. “In 1977, the largest movement in American Judaism came out and endorsed rabbis officiating marriages that involve a trans person.”

He added that the Reform Movement came out in support of officiated conversions of trans people in 1990, and then published “an incredible position paper on human dignity of trans folks” in 2015 that would be “the best religious statement” on the matter if not for the new one released in 2023 “which goes 10 steps further.”

Bogard said anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ hate is closely linked to anti-Semitism. “When it comes to Jeff City, all of the legislators and all of the people testifying in favor of these bills are coming from deeply white Christian nationalist” enclaves.

He added that most — or close to the majority — of those “who are standing up for trans kids in our state capitol are Jews.” So much so that he said St. Louis Episcopal Priest Mike Angell, struck by how many Jewish people were rallied in support of trans Missourians, called on his fellow Christians to “show up.”

‘We desperately, desperately want to stay here’

Rabbi DANIEL BOGARD with Pastor JENNIFER DAULT HARRIS and Rev. MIKE ANGELL (Photo courtesy Bogard)

Rabbi DANIEL BOGARD (Photo courtesy Daniel Bogard)

Remembering pioneering editor Michael Denneny

Magazine founder paved the way for many queer authors

I love reading — especially LGBTQ writers.

Like many book lovers, I’m remembering Michael Denneny, the openly gay, trailblazing editor, who paved the way for numerous gay authors and queer literature.

Denneny, 80, a co-founder of “Christopher Street,” the queer literary magazine often dubbed the gay “New Yorker,” died on April 15 at his Manhattan home.

If Denneny hadn’t put his heart and soul into fostering queer literature and LGBTQ authors, queer literature might well not be as vibrant as it is now. Without Denneny’s courage and groundbreaking work, LGBTQ creators would find it far more difficult to flourish today.

I don’t want to be a Pollyanna. It’s still difficult for many queer writers to get published – especially for authors who are trans or nonbinary. Often, LGBTQ teens and kids don’t see people like themselves in books. In some countries, and, sometimes, in the United States, queer writers, to protect themselves and/ or their loved ones, have to be closeted. Some LGBTQ authors self-publish their work because they can’t get published. Forty-one percent of the more than 1,600 books banned during the 2021-2022 school year were challenged because of their queer content, according to a Pen America report.

And yet, scrolling on my iPad, I see work by two highly talented openly queer authors in a list from The New York Times of 13 new books out this month: “Quietly Hostile: Essays” by queer writer Samantha Irby” and “The Late Americans,” a novel by queer author Brandon Taylor.

That’s with just two taps on my screen.

In recent years, I’ve had the pleasure of reading and reviewing a variety of books by queer authors for the Blade: from “Fairest: A Memoir” by Meredith Talusan (Viking) to “Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell” by Tim Miller (Harper) to “Afterparties: Stories” by Anthony Veasna So (Ecco). These books, along with much that I read by queer authors today, is released by mainstream publishers. On June 9, the 35th anniversary of the Lammy Awards, this year’s Lam-

mys will be presented. This prestigious prize receives queer and mainstream press coverage.

This is a far cry from what the literary scene was like when Denneny entered publishing. Then, he was one of only a few out queer editors in mainstream publishing.

In 1977, Macmillan fired Denneny because he had acquired “The Homosexual,” a book by Alan Ebert that contained interviews with 17 gay men. He was rehired, The New York Times reported, because no other editor would present “The Homosexual” at a sales meeting.

His reconnection with Macmillian was brief. The publishing house fired him again because they were not happy to learn that Denneny was connected with “Christopher Street.”

In 1976, Denneny and Chuck Orleb founded “Christopher Street,” a monthly magazine. For 19 years, the magazine published Edmund White, Gore Vidal, Felice Picano, Matthew Stadler and other well-known and emerging gay writers.

Starting “Christopher Street” at a moment when most literary queers were closeted took guts. Some high-level gay (closeted) publishing executives, “took me out for lunch and subtly threatened to end my career if my name appeared in the magazine,” Denneny told the Gay City News in 2004.

Denneny was frank about his sexuality when he interviewed for publishing jobs. If his being gay was problematic, he’d say “we should just forget about the job and enjoy lunch,” he told Lambda Literary in 2014.

St. Martin’s Press hired him. There, Denneny started Stonewall Inn Editions, the first-of-its-kind in mainstream publishing, LGBTQ imprint. The memorable books published by Stonewall Editions include: “Reports From the Holocaust: The Story of an AIDS Activist” by Larry Kramer and “The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk” by Randy Shilts.

Michael, we’ll think of you when we’re laughing out loud or moved to tears while reading our fave queer writers. R.I.P., Michael Denneny!

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The future for LGBTQ people in Uganda: Can we get there from here?

Country’s president has returned Anti-Homosexuality Act to Parliament

At present, LGBTIQ people in Uganda live with fear and trepidation, and rightfully so. They are under constant threat of violence being done to them by other Ugandans. Many who have been outed have been forced to leave where they were residing. Lacking the appropriate travel documents, they can’t go to other African countries, which would be far safer for them. So many come to Kampala, lacking food and shelter and any means of sustainable support. For them to survive under these circumstances presents a variety of very serious challenges.

pushed hard by American Evangelical Christians, particularly Scott Lively, as explained in the documentary “God Loves Uganda”.

The current furor is due first, to the anticipation and then second, to the actual passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2023 by the Ugandan Parliament. Many Ugandans don’t realize that a bill is not the same as a law. To make a bill into a law it is necessary for President Museveni to sign it. With the present bill, that has not yet happened, and maybe it never will. Recently, the bill was returned to Parliament for strengthening. The danger to LGBTIQ people in Uganda persists nevertheless because ordinary Ugandans are apt to take matters into their own hands.

mosexuals. Most LGBTIQ people in Uganda already viewed health centers as off limits to them, as those were places where they’d face existential threats. Yet HIV is a severe problem in Uganda and those health centers are the way the Ugandan government intends to address the problem. Apparently, it doesn’t address the problem within the gay community in Uganda.

While homophobia is widespread in Uganda now, its origin is neither Ugandan nor African. It is a consequence of colonialism, a British import if you will. Uganda became an independent country 50 years ago, yet the consequences of colonialism remain, particularly in the spiritual realm. Uganda is a very religious country in that many Ugandans regularly attend church and faith leaders hold important positions of authority in their communities. Some of the churches openly preach homophobia. This is how it spreads. More recently, homophobia in Uganda has been

It is also instructive to consider the recent history of similar legislation in Uganda. In December 2013, Parliament passed a bill quite similar to the current one. In February 2014, President Museveni signed the bill into law. Both in the interim between the bill passage and the President’s signing of it and afterwards as well, there was considerable international pressure applied to undo this law. The politics of this is interesting because, on the one hand, no African country wants to be seen as the puppet of Western powers, while on the other hand, there is considerable economic dependence on these same powers. In August 2014, the Constitutional Court of Uganda annulled the law, ruling that it had been passed without a sufficient quorum. Then in 2019 another effort was made in Parliament to pass the popularly named “Kill The Gays” bill. It was eventually passed by Parliament in May 2021, but then was vetoed by President Museveni in August 2021.

However, it is not just legislative politics that matters regarding the cause of the current situation. Consider the chilling effect generated by Maj. Gen. Francis Takirwa’s public request that health workers in Uganda not treat ho-

Now let me turn to the organization that I represent, Universal Love Alliance. In fulfilling its mission, ULA provides assistance to the marginalized in Ugandan society. We have given a broad sweep to who counts as marginalized. It includes orphaned children whose parents died from HIV. It includes women with HIV who have lost their husbands and then rely on each other to sustain themselves economically. It includes women battered by their husbands, and the husbands too if they show remorse after the fact. And it includes LGBTIQ people. In more recent time, given the turn of events, ULA has had to refocus its energy. Now our attention is fully on the plight of LGBTIQ people in Uganda. Their needs are many and varied. When they arrive in Kampala, they need food and shelter, at least on a temporary basis. They may then need a plan for relocation, within Uganda, and some education on how to not be outed in their new location. A good fraction of them has HIV or are fearful that they have it. They need counseling, education and treatment. Alas, some of the counseling is to encourage their mental stability. Many report being suicidal.

Let me close with the following. What I have learned during the extraordinary times that I have been in charge at ULA is that we need to rely on each other. We can’t do it all alone. The title of this piece is about the future of LGBTIQ people in Uganda. That future depends on you. We can’t get from here to there without you. I hope you understand that and agree to help us.

Writers Guild of America walks, strike against studios is on WGA

West, WGA East start picketing as Hollywood braces for impact

By BRODY LEVESQUE

Members of the Writers Guild of America officially hit the picket lines Tuesday morning after weeks of failed negotiations with some of Hollywood’s biggest studios and streaming companies.

In a statement released late Monday before the midnight deadline when the current contract between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the Writers Guild expired, Ellen Stutzman, Chief Negotiator along with WGA negotiating committee co-chairs David A. Goodman and Chris Keyser announced; “Our negotiation with the studios and streamers has failed to reach an agreement. We are on strike.”

Deadline’s Dominic Patton, who has been covering the WGA – AMPTP talks, reported:

“Writers Guild of America leaders are saying Monday night that the guild was forced to go on strike at midnight PT because their proposals to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on core contract issues “fell on deaf ears.”

Money is a big issue — the guild is seeking a new contract that would increase pay and benefits by $429 million over three years, but says that the studios only offered $86 million. But preserving writing as a profession is an even bigger issue and goes to the core of what the strike is about.

Patton also described that in a phone interview with Deadline shortly after the contract negotiations broke off, WGA West president Meredith Stiehm, and WGA negotiating committee co-chairs David A. Goodman and Chris Keyser told Deadline the AMPTP “stonewalled” the guild from the very beginning of the negotiations on a “constellation” of proposals that guild members are demanding.

In the WGA statement, the Guild leadership laid out union concerns including how the companies’ business practices have slashed our compensation and residuals and undermined our working conditions.

The WGA negotiators also stated that “given the existential crisis writers are facing. The companies’ behavior has created a gig economy inside a union workforce, and their immovable stance in this negotiation has betrayed a commitment to further devaluing the profession of writing. From their refusal to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television, to the creation of a “day rate” in comedy variety, to their stonewalling on free work for screenwriters and on AI for all writers, they have

deal could ever be contemplated by

closed the door on their labor force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession. No such deal could ever be contemplated by this membership.”

The statement noted that the strike by the WGA West and WGA East against the AMPTP would begin on Tuesday, May 2, 2023 at 12:01 am PT/3:01 am ET. Picketing will begin Tuesday afternoon, according to the WGA West.

The AMPTP also issued a statement:

“

The AMPTP presented a comprehensive package proposal to the guild last night which included generous increases in compensation for writers as well as improvements in streaming residuals,” the statement said.

“

The AMPTP also indicated to the WGA that it is prepared to improve that offer, but was unwilling to do so because of the magnitude of other proposals still on the table that the guild continues to insist upon. The primary sticking points are mandatory staffing and duration of employment, guild proposals that would require a company to staff a show with a certain number of writers for a specified period of time, whether needed or not.

The AMPTP member companies remain united in their desire to reach a deal that is mutually beneficial to writers and the health and longevity of the industry, and to avoid hardship to the thousands of employees who depend upon the industry for their livelihoods. The AMPTP is willing to engage in discussions with the WGA in an effort to break this logjam.”

In an interview with KABC 7 Los Angeles, Deadline’s Patton said both sides are dug in.

“The differences between the guild and the studios are significant,” he said. “Hundreds of millions of dollars that we’re looking at and completely different attitudes towards stuff like AI, stuff that’s almost completely insurmountable at this point.”

The last major strike against the studios occurred in 2007, with union members staying off the job for 100 days and grinding production to a standstill. According to

various estimates from different organizations, that the 100-day strike cost the economy in Los Angeles County and Southern California between $2 billion and $3 billion.

Patton also noted: “All the people who provide services and goods to the film industry, vendors, they’re going to have no one to sell to. So this is going to have a blast radius throughout Los Angeles County probably pretty quickly.”

The immediate impact will be the late night television shows followed by scripted television productions and some film sets.

The Writers Guild also said in its statement calling for the walk-out:

“Here is what all writers know: the companies have broken this business. They have taken so much from the very people, the writers, who have made them wealthy. But what they cannot take from us is each other, our solidarity, our mutual commitment to save ourselves and this profession that we love. We had hoped to do this through reasonable conversation. Now we will do it through struggle. For the sake of our present and our future, we have been given no other choice.”

For its part, the AMPTP said its statement: “The primary sticking points are ‘mandatory staffing,’ and ‘duration of employment’ – guild proposals that would require a company to staff a show with a certain number of writers for a specified period of time, whether needed or not.”

(Los Angeles Blade graphic)

Inside Seoul’s hidden lesbian nightclubs

For a few hours, women can gather without fear of discrimination

By ASH POTTER

SEOUL, South Korea — Hongdae, a neighborhood in Seoul, South Korea, is known for its vibrant nightlife and indie music scene. By day, it’s a shopping and café mecca. By night it’s a crazy, alcohol-fueled playground. What’s easy to miss — and not even many Koreans living in Hongdae know about — is that hidden in plain sight, there are also secret lesbian clubs where women can gather and be themselves without fear of judgment or discrimination.

“Hongdae is the lesbian area of Seoul,” my good friend blurted out when I told him over dinner. He’s been a resident of Hongdae for more than seven years but had never noticed. Most Koreans don’t know any LGBTQ people as Korean society is conservative and not accepting of homosexuality. Hongdae’s reputation as a more free-thinking, hipster haven makes it a perfect location for openness — albeit in private.

In South Korea, homosexuality is not illegal, but it is not widely accepted, especially in more conservative areas of the country. Seoul is more open compared to the countryside but not open enough for lesbians to be open. Same-sex couples cannot legally marry or adopt children and discrimination against the LGBTQ community is still prevalent.

Allen, a Korean woman in her 20s says, “There is a very strong homophobic atmosphere [in Korea] regardless of generation.”

Despite these challenges, the LGBTQ community in South Korea has been gradually (very gradually) gaining some visibility and acceptance in recent years such as an LGBTQ dating reality show “Merry Queer” following lesbian, gay and transgender couples. Seoul’s gay Pride parade — which last year drew thousands of participants despite protests from conservative religious groups — shows a shift in thinking too. However, it’s not enough progress as lesbian and bisexual women are still meeting in the dark.

One way in which the community has been able to connect and support each other is through secret lesbian clubs. Goon Young* is a Seoul freelancer in her mid-20s. Growing up she was constantly told that being straight is “natural” which left her feeling confused about her sexuality. “I thought I was bisexual when I was in college. I figured out that I don’t like men only about two years ago.” Goon Young enjoys hanging out at Hongdae’s lesbian club scene regularly.

These clubs are not advertised openly and are often hidden in inconspicuous side-streets, or in basements behind mainstream clubs.

One of these secret clubs is close to an infamous drinking spot for foreigners and when some foreign men were turned away for not being women, they looked visibly confused. It’s a large, luxe club with a strict no photograph rule. There’s table service and the DJ blasts Korean rap such as Jay Park and Zico.

This club and most of the others won’t easily pop up

when you search on your phone’s map so usually lesbians need to get to know another lesbian to ask around for the exact location. This typically involves going to an LGBTQ bar first, or meet-up group and making friends there, as blurting out to your work buddies “Oh, by the way, is anyone else here gay?” wouldn’t go down too well in Korea. Goon Young concurs, “I’m pretty open to people that I love, someone like my mom or friends, but you can’t really tell people who are coworkers or someone [you] just met.”

Discrimination and stigma against the LGBTQ community persist in many areas of South Korean society, including the workplace and school. Many LGBTQ individuals still face rejection from their families and friends, and some even resort to conversion therapy to try and change their sexual orientation.

Luckily Goon Young’s mom is supportive, but not entirely convinced. “I came out to my mom — who loves me — last year. She still loves me and cheers me up when I have heartbreaks with girlfriends. But she says she still can’t take it seriously and gay things are not ‘natural,’ she always tells me to meet some good guys and date them even though I always reply to her that I don’t like men.”

The lesbian nightlife scene’s purpose is truly to create a safe space and respect the privacy of all. There’s so much trust in these clubs that “lonely heart” style personal ads are displayed on the big projector screen behind the DJ in the first club where I partied. After all, queer dating isn’t as straight-forward in a country that prizes straightness.

Inside these clubs, women let their guard down and can be themselves. They can dance, drink, and socialize without fear of being judged or harassed. Legally speaking, South Korea doesn’t have comprehensive LGBTQ anti-discrimination laws so the fear of physical safety for the LGBTQ community really means that a “safe space” carries much more weight than a “safe space” in a country where there’s more acceptance of gay rights.

Another safe space was a tiny club a little walk away from the big, “lonely hearts personals” club. What it lacked in size it made up for in chaotic ENERGY! Nobody was sitting in a corner here and after picking up my free drink included with the entry fee (every club did this), it was hit

after hit from rapper Lil Nas X to K-pop group BLACKPINK.

Although lesbian and bi women were dancing wildly, enjoying the night, even within these safe spaces, many club-goers still feel the need to remain cautious as the fear of being outed can be overwhelming.

The last club I went to carried this caution. Located on an inconspicuous street, women were looking over their shoulders when paying in. That is, right up until the elevator doors shut. Once shut, women let their guards down and asked me how I found out about this place. Once inside — free drink handled (every club did Budweiser as a free drink option) — it was a playground of EDM, large opulent bottle service with half-undressed bartenders. One of them was even passing around free shots from one of the stripper pole podiums.

If there’s a lesbian heaven, I think I caught a glimpse of it here.

The cool air hit me as I left for home but nobody walking past suspected that the women leaving this club were not heterosexual. The fact that these clubs are still a secret highlights the need for greater acceptance and visibility of the LGBTQ community in South Korea. While progress has been made in recent years, there is still a long way to go before LGBTQ individuals can openly express their identities without fear of discrimination or being attacked.

“Young people in Korea are pretty open to LGBTQ, [but] of course, there are [some] who hate LGBTQ people. Most of the old people just can’t take it”, Goon Young says.

The existence of secret lesbian clubs in Hongdae and other parts of Seoul is a testament to the resilience and strength of the LGBTQ community in South Korea, also. Despite facing significant challenges and obstacles, these women have found a way to connect and support each other, creating safe spaces where they can be themselves.

Hongdae’s secret world of lesbian clubs offers a glimpse behind the curtain. Despite many hurdles, on a late, spring night in underground Hongdae clubs, women danced and flirted freely for the few hours they could be themselves.

(Editor’s note: Some names have been changed to protect identities of sources. Ash Potter is a freelance journalist based in Seoul.)

(Image via hwan/Bigstock)

Short-form ‘Smothered’ is long on laughs

Indie sitcom features longtime gay couple who can’t stand each other

We all know at least one couple who can never seem to get along. Whenever we spend time with them, no matter the occasion or setting, they can’t help taking jabs at each other and triangulating everyone who will listen to them into their volatile dynamic. We might sympathize with them, like them, or even love them, but we can only stand to be around them in small doses.

Which is why “Smothered,” an indie-made sitcom about a longtime gay couple who can’t stand each other and spend virtually every minute of screen time saying so in the most hateful ways possible, sounds like a terrible idea.

By JOHN PAUL KING

of easily-accessible home entertainment content), Stuart and Hara’s meagerly-budgeted, DIY-style comedy not only got the green light for a second season, but conducted a successful GoFundMe campaign to deliver it. It drops this month on Amazon Prime, Revry, and all major streaming services, with slicker production values and an expanded cast that includes recognizable guest stars.

So how did this happen? One reason, certainly, is the show’s short-form structure – most episodes are approximately 4 to 10 minutes long – lets audiences consume it in bite-sized chunks and step away in between segments if needed. The second reason, however, is that it’s wickedly funny – and that makes those little breaks not only unnecessary, but unlikely.

It’s a positive move, allowing the show to grow wider and avoid the pitfalls of sticking to a formula with enticing-yet-finite possibilities. It also allows the characters to become more fully drawn; they’re still just as horrible, but somehow, by experiencing things with them instead of only as a barrage of comedic zingers, they become more human to us, more relatable. The things we saw in them that reminded us of ourselves were part of why we laughed at them in season one, but now they are the things that help us start to like them a little, and maybe even – can it be so? – begin to root for them to get over themselves and rekindle the love for each other that obviously still burns inside them.

Created, written, and produced by its two stars, Jason Stuart and Mitch Hara, it’s the story of Ralph and Randy, a Boomer-aged married pair whose decades-old love appears to have fizzled out long ago. Apart from being gay and Jewish, they don’t have much in common, and they seem like total opposites; Ralph (Stuart) is a needy romantic still clinging to his fantasy of a happy-ever-after marriage, while Randy (Hara) is a vain and unapologetically shallow serial cheater who eagerly jumps at any opportunity to spit venom at his nebbish-y spouse. To call their relationship dysfunctional would be putting it lightly – for one thing, fighting with each other also turns them on, which leads to some amusingly uncomfortable moments – but even if it weren’t, they would still be insufferable. Why would anyone want to watch a show that essentially consists of nothing but these two sniping at each other?

That’s not a hypothetical question, because people do want to watch it – enough so, in fact, that after becoming an acclaimed hit on Amazon Prime in 2020 (due in part, undoubtedly, to the pandemic-driven need for a constant flow

In the first season, “Smothered” established a format in which its two anti-romantic leads spent each episode hashing out their differences in front of an ever-changing parade of therapists – none of whom last through more than one session with them. It was a gimmicky-but-clever conceit that allowed the couple’s story to be told through both of their own filters while providing a great platform for Stuart and Hara, whose elaborate verbal sparring flows like a river of shiny-but-jagged jewels. Ralph and Randy are firmly established as hateful from the beginning of episode 1, and proceed to show us just how over-the-top their hatefulness is until we love them for it in spite of ourselves.

With the second season – and an expanded budget – the show breaks free of its self-imposed boundaries to become less of an exercise in “variations on a theme” improvisational comedy and more closely resemble a traditional sitcom. Picking up where the previous season left off, Ralph and Randy are finally resolved to get a divorce, but after a financial catastrophe and a subsequent brush with the law, they can’t afford it; furthermore, to qualify as residents in a new subsidized housing facility for LGBTQ elders, they must be a couple – so they are forced to continue living together. There are still a few therapists (or, in some cases, surrogate therapists) in the mix, but this time around we get to see the couple’s interactions with other characters and experience their life together first hand instead of only through the catty and quippy recaps with which they would regale their couples counselors in season one.

Another benefit of opening up the show’s format is the freedom to add characters who can stick around to become part of the story, like the uber-butch lesbian manager of their housing facility (pioneering queer TV veteran Amanda Bearse in a hilariously tongue-in-cheek performance) or the hunky Latino chef (Bryan Quiros) whose coming between them might just be the thing that pushes them back together again. The biggest boon, however, is the opportunity it gives Stuart and Hara to deepen their characters, to let go of their comic ferocity – just enough of it, at any rate – and simply be real, once in a while. It makes a big difference, because while season one was a solid, funny, and deliciously snarky good time worth bingeing over a night or two, season two has evolved enough to let us see, a little more clearly, that it also has a heart. Considering that short-form narratives are still often disregarded by many audiences over their presumed insubstantiality, it’s no small feat when one proves such prejudices to be unfounded.

We don’t want to scare you away, though. Heart or no, it’s also still a fast-and-furious onslaught of bitchiness and bad behavior that will have you cringing and laughing at the same time. Likewise, while it makes a point of diversity and inclusiveness among its widened cast, it also delights in flagrantly stepping over the line into “politically incorrect” territory, skewering contemporary oversensitivity with the kind of irreverent generational humor (confusion over pronouns, anyone?) and campy stereotype that might raise a few hackles among viewers too young to remember the days when such transgressive comedic flourishes were one of our greatest weapons against the cookie-cutter conformity of hetero-centric mainstream.

In any case, “Smothered” seems unconcerned with offending people – though in some cases, it almost seems to delight in doing so – and never lets any kind of “agenda” take the focus away from the absurdly vicious love/hate dramedy going on in the middle of it all. With Stuart and Hara’s playful chemistry, sharp writing, and finely-tuned acting carrying most of the weight, that’s more than enough reason to cast off any preconceptions you might have and take a dip in the “short form” pool. In this case, the water’s fine.

JASON STUART and MITCH HARA in ‘Smothered’

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