Los Angeles Blade, Volume 07, Issue 19, May 12, 2023

Drag performer Shangela denies rape allegations

The Los Angeles Times reported last week that Darius Jeremy “DJ” Pierce, who performs as the drag queen Shangela on HBO’s acclaimed series “We’re Here,” denies a production assistant’s rape allegations.

People magazine also reported that Pierce, 42, is being sued by former production assistant, Daniel McGarrigle, 39, for sexual assault, sexual harassment, gender violence, false imprisonment, negligence and violation of the Ralph Act.

In a lawsuit McGarrigle filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, the former production assistant claims that Pierce sexually assaulted him after a crew party in February 2020. McGarrigle is alleging that he and Pierce

were in a Louisiana hotel room when Pierce allegedly overpowered him and had sex with him despite McGarrigle screaming “no” and trying to push him away.

McGarrigle is seeking unspecified damages for sexual assault, sexual harassment, gender violence, false imprisonment and negligence.

In a statement to the Times, Pierce denied McGarrigle’s allegations, saying:

“I can’t begin to explain how hurt and disgusted I am by these totally untrue allegations. They are personally offensive and perpetuate damaging stereotypes that are harmful not only to me but also to my entire community.”

BRODY LEVESQUE

UC Santa Cruz students celebrate Hitler’s birthday

According to Akirah Bradley-Armstrong, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at UC Santa Cruz, a group of unidentified students met on campus on April 20, Hitler’s birthday, and reportedly sang “Happy Birthday” to the Nazi leader and served cake “adorned with hateful and horrific symbols.”

“White supremacy has no place at UC Santa Cruz,” Bradley-Armstrong said in a press release statement adding that the university “unequivocally condemns” the incident. “Nor does any action intended to degrade, dehumanize, or intimidate another based on identity.”

The incident has been referred to student conduct officials for “follow-up and adjudication,” she noted.

In another hate incident the following day on April 21, a student “found an antisemitic and anti-LGBTQIA+ flyer on their car’s windshield” downtown, the university said. The flyer included “despicable and degrading claims” about Jews and LGBTQIA+ people.

University officials are following up with Santa Cruz city officials about that incident.

“These disturbing incidents follow a national trend of

increased antisemitic rhetoric and violence,” Bradley-Armstrong said. “Whatever the purpose and wherever they take place, we reject any and all acts of antisemitism.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom weighed in on Twitter angrily calling both incidents sick and disgusting adding that these “kinds of acts” have no place in California.

UC Santa Cruz had an enrollment of 19,478 for fall 2022, according to the university, which is located about 75 miles southwest of San Francisco.

BRODY LEVESQUE

State launches hotline to report acts of hate

In response to a rise in hate crimes and at the start of Asian & Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Governor Gavin Newsom, along with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD), today, announced the official launch of CA vs Hate, a new multilingual statewide hotline and website that provides a safe, anonymous reporting option for victims and witnesses of hate acts.

CA vs Hate is in direct response to the rise in reported hate crimes in California, which in recent years, reached their highest levels since 2001 – jumping almost 33% from 2020 to 2021.

“Here in California, we are sending an unequivocal message that hate will not be tolerated,” said Newsom. “We stand firm for a California for All and it is important that we hold perpetrators accountable for their actions and provide resources for those individuals victimized by hate crimes. Now, Californians have another tool to ensure that not only justice is served, but that individuals have access to additional resources to help deal with the lingering wounds that remain after such a horrendous crime occurs.”

“In California, our diversity is what makes the nation’s most populous state a beautiful and vibrant community,” said First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom at an event in Sacramento launching this new program.

“It’s horrifying that hate crimes are on the rise, and so let it be made clear: we stand with our diverse communities, and we are committed to ensuring they feel safe and heard. There is no room here for bigotry and hate-fueled violence.” Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) started the conversation to create a state hotline to report hate crimes in 2021 – this program will help individuals and communities

targeted for hate including Asian Americans, Latinos, Black Americans, LGBTQ+ individuals, religious minorities, and other communities that make up California’s diversity and strength. Hotline services are confidential and provided for free, regardless of immigration status. These services are offered in a culturally competent manner and will help people identify options and next steps after a hate incident or hate crime has occurred. Hate acts can be reported in 15 different languages through the online portal and in over 200 languages when calling the hotline.“

With the launch of the Ca vs Hate Resource Line and Network, we unequivocally state that there is no home or place for hate in California,” said Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramírez.

“We are doubling down on our commitment to combat

hate by embracing the strength of our diversity and empowering Californians with resources and support to prevent and end hate in all forms.”“

California is strong because of our diversity but hate-fueled violence remains a persistent and growing threat,” said CRD Director Kevin Kish. “With the launch of CA vs Hate, we’re taking action to help put a stop to hate and to provide support for victims, survivors, and their families. In the face of hate across the nation, we stand united in declaring: California is for everyone. I urge all Californians to know their rights and to take advantage of these important resources.”

The hotline will also be complemented by a multilingual outreach campaign, emphasizing community engagement. The campaign aims to support efforts that encourage reporting and access to resources through targeted public service announcements, direct marketing, and other activities. CA vs Hate also seeks to overcome reporting challenges – whether due to fear of retaliation, lack of trust, or other issues – by offering people targeted for hate a community-centered approach that does not require engagement with the criminal legal system.

The CA vs Hate Resource Line and Network is a non-emergency, multilingual hate crime and incident reporting hotline and online portal. Reports can be made anonymously by calling (833) 866-4283, or 833-8-NO-HATE, Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT or online at any time.

For individuals who want to report a hate crime to law enforcement immediately or who are in imminent danger, please call 911. For more information on CA vs Hate, please visit CAvsHate.org

DJ PIERCE, performs as the drag queen Shangela on HBO’s acclaimed series ‘We’re Here.’ (Photo courtesy of HBO)

California Gov. GAVIN NEWSOM (file photo, Office of the Governor)

Online bullying worsens amid empty promises to combat the hate

‘I always tell people online hate is death by a thousand paper cuts’

By SIMHA HADDAD

(This is part two of a special report looking at cyberhate and bullying from a queer perspective. To read part one, visit losangelesblade.com)

Amid empty promises by social media companies to create safer and more inclusive platforms, online hate and harassment rates continue to rise to record levels.

Nearly half of all Americans having experienced some kind of online harassment and hate, many find themselves frustrated by a lack of government anti-hate legislation and enforceable social media guidelines to help eradicate this ever-growing problem.

What’s worse is that online hate speech has now been linked to physical hate crimes, with many physical and illegal acts of violence starting as seeds in the comment section.

According to the Council on Foreign Relations:

• Hate speech online has been linked to a global increase in violence toward minorities, including mass shootings, lynchings, and ethnic cleansing.

• Policies used to curb hate speech risk limiting free speech and are inconsistently enforced.

• Countries such as the United States grant social media companies broad powers in managing their content and enforcing hate speech rules. Others, including Germany, can force companies to remove posts within certain time periods.

Social media platforms need to take firmer action against hate, and laws on inciting violence need to be rewritten to consider online hate as a direct threat to a victim’s safety.

“I think these platforms need to come out very strongly against hate speech,” said Shyne. “It is very simple. Just take a stand for people. If their lawyers are saying this is protected speech, then as a corporation, they can take a stance. They can use their algorithms and all their technology and institute their community standards.”

“We also have to reconsider our laws about what is considered inciting violence because those laws didn’t consider social media at the time. When those laws were created, they were about people saying things in person and then asking whether or not it is probable that violence will ensue from that interaction. But now we have people on social media saying horrible things that do lead to violence.”

One small step in the right direction came in September 2022, when Governor Gavin Newsom announced that he signed a social media transparency bill (AB 578) by Assembly Member Jesse Gabriel, which will require social media companies to publicly post their policies regarding hate speech, disinformation, harassment, and extremism on their platforms, and report data on their enforcement of the policies. However, the bill is still in it’s early stages of implementation so it has not yet made a notable change in online hate regulation.

ERIC NATHANS

Eric Nathans is CEO of Nathans Investigations, a Miami, Florida-based private investigation agency that focuses on cybercrime and cyber harassment.

He has gained his reputation from assisting a lengthy list of high-profile clients, tracking down harassers and stalkers who, at first, are able to hide their identities behind false usernames and email addresses.

People who turn to Nathans are often frustrated with social media platforms.

“You’ll go around in circles with Facebook or Instagram because they don’t really take it seriously just because of how much it is happening. It happens so often,” Nathans said.

A 2019 study by academics from Cardiff University’s HateLab has concluded that there is a direct correlation between social media hate against minorities and physical acts of hate and violence.

These studies and reports are among the many highlighting the real dangers of cyberhate lie beyond the platforms themselves, begging the question, what can be done to stop this?

Sepi Shyne, The first Queer Iranian female mayor of West Hollywood, told The Blade that two things need to happen to make the Internet a safe place again:

When asked about the uptick in cybercrime, keeping PIs busy, Nathans told the Blade, “Between emails and phone calls, I probably get about twenty a week with the same exact issue. This is really a big issue.”

From cyber stalking to harassment to defamation from anonymous emails, Nathans has investigated the gamut of mysterious, aggravating and unpredictable cases around the globe.

“We deal with things on a daily basis that no one would believe,” said Nathans.

As an example, Nathans recounted the case of one particular OnlyFans model who was being harassed online. The male perpetrator would send this model everything from lewd remarks to graphic photos of his body. The model’s boyfriend

ERIC NATHANS (Nathans Investigations)

(Los Angeles Blade graphic)

enlisted Nathans help to find and stop these disturbing messages.

“Do you know how it turned out to be?” said Nathans. “It was the female’s father that was harassing her.”

Shocking stories like this one naturally spark many, many questions. The most obvious being how did the father think he could get away with something like this?

“People think they can be whoever they want,” said Nathans, explaining that the main issue with online harassment nowadays is that people find it easy to assume a new identity under fake usernames and what they think are anonymous email addresses.

However, in spite of these efforts at anonymity, Nathans has built a business on sniffing out these cybercriminals. While he would not disclose his methods for security reasons, he did say that he has found alternative and sometimes nontraditional means of identifying the guilty party.

“Things that people don’t usually think about is how I usually find them,” he noted.

Nathans explained that those who turn to him often know that cyber hate can lead to cybercrime.

“A real stalking will start online. I’m not a psychiatrist or a doctor, but I do believe mental illness is often involved. They want more and more of a response. They want a reaction. If they aren’t getting that online, they might show up in person.”

“I think it’s important to ask why this person has become a stalker. Often it is because they want a reaction because they are so awfully controlling.”

Of course, once a stalker does commit a physical act, different departments of the police get involved.

“My personal feeling is if there were stronger laws against all of this craziness, it would put a stop to some of these people.”

According to a study at the Williams Institute at UCLA, members of the LGBTQ+ community are nine times more likely to experience hate speech than nonLGBTQ+ people.

In a comment on GLAAD’s report on social media’s failure to stop anti-LGBTQ hate speech, Jenni Olson, GLAAD’s director for social media safety and author of the report, said, “The reality is, there’s very little transparency and very little accountability. And people feel helpless.”

With the evident targeting of LGBTQ+ people on social media and the nature of the platforms providing a deep window into the lives of internet celebrities, now is one of the most dangerous times to be an openly queer influencer. But it is also one of the most important times to stand out and stand up against homophobia and transphobia.

In light of the rising dangers for LGBTQ+ people around the world, three queer influencers shared their struggles with cyberhate with the Blade.

AMIR YASS

Amir Yass is a queer Muslim influencer who found his calling on TikTok when he started posting funny videos of himself over COVID. An avid advocate for queer rights, Yass often takes part in well-attended panels at the LGBT center and popular podcasts.

Yass has received a flurry of cyber hate, from messages shaming him for being queer and Muslim to comments telling him he will burn in hell.

“I will never forget one comment I got that said, ‘I can’t wait for you to come to the Middle East so I can throw you off the roof.’ I was in shock. I didn’t even know

that was a thing.”

Sadly, Yass told the Blade that the ignorance and prejudice he experienced as a young Mulsim growing up in the conservative town of Orange County, CA, somewhat prepared him for this onslaught of hate.

“When I was in school, and 9-11 happened, they asked me to talk to the whole school about it. I was like, ‘I’m fifteen. What do I know about this?’”

“I developed a hard shell because that was the only way to deal with this. I’m a Persian, gay, fat Muslim. Growing up, my mom had a Hijab. I grew up fasting and praying. That all ‘othered’ me in so many ways. In a weird, very warped way, all of the prejudice I got growing up prepared me for all the hate I got on TikTok.”

Prepared by childhood though he might be, Yass admitted that the comments do get to him sometimes.

“I always tell people online hate is death by a thousand papercuts. It’s all the little things. You’re old. You’re fat. You’re ugly. You’re gross. Go kill yourself. They start to add up.”

“People assume I’m a celebrity when they see a video of mine get 13 million views and Will Smith duetting it. But I’m not. And regardless, I’m still a human being.”

When asked whether or not he reports the haters, Yass explained why he found appealing to the platforms themselves futile.

“I stopped reporting because nothing ever really happens. I notice that when I do report something, I get shadow banned. I’m not getting the views I should.”

(Shadow banning is a colloquialism for when a social media platform adjusts the algorithm so that any particular account does not appear in the feeds of as many viewers as before the ban. This results in content going unseen and is potentially harmful to those who rely on likes and views to maintain their brand, image, or message.)

“I’ve responded to hate videos, and they (the social media platform) took my video down, saying it was me bullying that person. But the hate video was still up.”

Yass told the Blade that he, like Weho’s Mayor Shyne, wished the platforms would be more proactive about removing hate speech.

“I shouldn’t have to block someone who threatens to slit my throat. This should be taken down.”

But, ultimately, Yass has had to find the strength within himself to overcome the hate.

“In a video of 4,000 comments, there will be 1,000 hateful comments. I just stopped looking for the hateful comments. I used to look for them and actively pursue them. I would get into these battles of thirty-five comments. But now I just respond with, ‘Thank you so much,’ or ‘I love you so much.’ That kind of humor kind of works. Sometimes my other followers will step in to defend me too.”

Yass also said that while he sometimes is negatively affected by cyberhate, he refuses to allow haters to discourage him from being present and visible online.

“I’ve wanted to delete my account so many times. But why do I have to leave? Sometimes I think it’s important to take up space.”

CONTINUES ON PAGE 06

AMIR YASS (Photo by Matt Monath)

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 05

Online hate continues despite efforts to combat it

MARSHA MOLINARI

Marsha Molinari is a transgender activist, actress, prominent restauranteur, and the host of the award-winning podcast Marsha! Marsha! Marsha! She uses her platform to interview prominent public figures and to spread messages of love and inclusivity.

Molinari has also been the victim of cyber hate, doxing (sharing of her address without her consent), and physical stalking.

“I always try to take it with a grain of salt, but it still gets to you,” said Molinari. “Words are energy, and they hurt. When someone is constantly hit with negative comments, that hurts. It just has to.”

“Even this morning, I was looking at a couple of posts, and they were saying things like, ‘Is this a man?’ and ‘You are a man.’ Just being hateful.”

Molinari told The Blade that a lot of this hate also comes from within the LGBTQ+ community. “It’s a form of self-hate,” she said.

“When someone has so much hate towards what you are doing, that might actually be a mirror for themselves and a hatred for themselves.”

Molinari shared a story of one cyberhater who harassed her for years with anti-trans slurs and DMs telling her that her way of life was “wrong.” This person then messaged one day out of the blue, apologizing and saying that they realized that they, too, had been LGBTQ+ all along but had not had the courage to admit it to themselves.

“They said they saw me living authentically, and that scared them. Later, after they had bullied me for so long, the way I live became an inspiration.”

“We see this with anti-LGBTQIA+ government leaders who pose these laws against the community, but meanwhile, they are messaging gay men online and dressing in drag. It’s apparent why these people are coming after the community. Their hate comes from a deep hatred within themselves.”

Molinari shared another story of her friend who identifies as a gay man but drew the line at supporting Molinari’s journey when she came out as transgender.

“He told me the way I was living was unnatural and wrong,” said Molinari. “I told him that is exactly what they used to say about gay men like him. I told him he needed to get on the right side of history.”

Over time though, Molinari learned to let the majority of hateful comments go.

“I used to feel the need to defend myself or explain myself. That caused me to be drained and to be thinking about those comments throughout the day. I don’t do that anymore. People will have their own opinions, and people will be awful.”

“Sometimes though, if it is someone who is consistent in their bullying, then they need to be exposed.”

In these cases, Molinari screenshots and reposts the hateful messages on her story for hundreds of thousands of people to see.

“Whenever I’ve reposted these comments, people have messaged me saying that they, too, have been bullied by this person. Or some people saying they know this person and never thought that they were like this.”

Molinari agreed that while self-love and advocacy are important, social media platforms could be doing more to keep their users safe.

“I think when people are telling you to kill yourself, that needs to be regulated

more by social media platforms. There needs to be a higher authority that stops this from happening.”

GIGI GORGEOUS GETTY

Gigi Gorgeous Getty is a Canadian transgender YouTuber, socialite, actress, and model. On her channel, Gigi shares everything from personal anecdotes about her transition, marriage, and social life to her favorite hair, makeup, and fashion tips. Through her personability, she continues to be a relatable role model for many young transgender people.

Unfortunately, opening portions of her life to the public has also opened Getty up to hate.

“I think it’s inevitable when you put yourself out there and you are living authentically. This is especially true when you are sharing things that are unconventional. You get a lot of hate and ignorance directed at you.”

Getty told the Blade she was swatted at the age of 20 while living at her father’s house in Canada.

(“Swatting” is the act of prank calling the police as if someone were in direct danger either to themselves or others, thereby causing the dispatch of armed officers to the scene. The prank is far from harmless as it wastes valuable police resources and time, leaving the police unable to care for others who are in true distress. Swatting is a crime punishable by heavy fines and/or even jail time.)

“Someone had called the cops and said I had a gun,” said Getty. “The police arrived, and I was handcuffed to the bed while they searched my room. It was horrible.”

After an investigation, they found the perpetrator – a fan of Getty’s who lived in a rural part of America and had no affiliation with Getty whatsoever.

“It’s really important to prioritize what you post,” warned Getty. “If you post where you are while you’re there, people will know where you are. If you can, try to post after the fact.”

“Just always be aware, maybe even hyperaware, that you are being watched. We all post for our friends and families, but at the end of the day, there could always be someone hateful watching.”

When asked how she deals with all the haters, Getty said that she has learned to ignore the bad and focus on the good.

“I used to be a big fan of blocking anyone who posted something negative about me. But now, after being openly trans for almost ten years, I just find that it’s mind over matter. You have to look at the positive. There could be one hundred positive comments and one negative one. It’s better to focus on all the good.”

“People can be so hateful. My husband sometimes takes healthy breaks from social media. I think that’s beautiful because he has the confidence to live his life happily and privately without needing the validation that social media gives to so many of us.”

Getty also shared a final message to anyone thinking of creating a hateful message or post.

“Just remember there are real people on the other side of that hate. Before you hit send, ask yourself if you could turn that hateful message into the opposite message of love. That is the message worth sending.”

GIGI GORGEOUS GETTY (Photo credit: Instagram/Getty)

MARSHA MOLINARI (left) (Photo courtesy of Marsha Molinari)

Dramatic increase in LGBTQ-supportive companies on Nasdaq: report

Out Leadership survey shows 50% have inclusive board policies

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

A gay-owned organization called Out Leadership that advises corporations in the U.S. and abroad on how to adopt LGBTQ-supportive policies has released a report showing that the number of companies trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market that have adopted such policies for their boards of directors increased 1,556 percent from 2022 to 2023.

The actual number of companies trading on the Nasdaq that have adopted LGBTQ-supportive policies for their boards increased from 113 in 2022 to 1,871 in 2023, which the report describes as “astonishing.”

Todd Sears, founder and CEO of Out Leadership, called the report “a clear indicator that executives are responding to the opportunity to expand the diversity of their boards, and fully embracing the power of inclusion to fuel their companies’ success in today’s marketplace.”

In a statement released at the time the report was released on April 19, Sears added, “We’re proud to share today’s global report, which shows that for the first time in history, over half of all Nasdaq companies have adopted board diversity policies – and done so at a record-breaking pace.”

He concluded by saying, “We look forward to working with the other exchanges and companies around the world to continue this exciting momentum.”

An announcement by Out Leadership, which Sears launched in 2010, says the report showing the dramatic increase in LGBTQ supportive corporate board policies was its third annual report on this subject, called “LGBTQ+ Board Diversity: Progress & Possibility.” The announcement says the report was prepared by one of Out Leadership’s projects called OutQUORUM.

The report includes these findings:

• 50% of Nasdaq companies now have LGBTQ-inclusive board policies – a record-shattering 1,556% increase in one year (113 in 2022, compared to 1,871 in 2023).

• 61% of Nasdaq companies now have gender-inclu-

sive board diversity policies, a 206% increase since 2022 (750 in 2022 compared to 2,298 in 2023).

• 59% (2,197) of Nasdaq companies now have inclusive board policies based on race, a 318% increase since 2022 (526).

• The 2023 OutQUORUM report also shares for the first time data on LGBTQ board inclusion across the global stock exchanges of the FTSE, the ASX, and the Hang Seng.

Sears told the Washington Blade that corporate boards are important because the CEO of a company reports to the company’s board.

“They are responsible for the governance of the company itself,” he said. “They cannot do day-to-day hiring decisions,” he told the Blade. “But they are responsible for setting the strategy for the company and holding the CEO and the CEO’s leadership team accountable for the success of the company.”

He said his Out Leadership company is known as a Certified B corporation. The company’s website provides details of what it does, including projects it pursues in other countries as well as in the U.S.

“A global LGBT+ business advocacy membership company advocating LGBT+ equality by creating positive economic and societal impact through the power of business,” the Out Leadership website describes its mission as including.

“Our network of nearly 70 multinational companies and 450+ CEOs entrust us to leverage their platforms for social change while working alongside policymakers to publicly advocate for LGBT+ equality in order to positively impact the economy and their bottom lines, employees, customers, partners, and community,” it says.

Sears said many of Out Leadership’s 98 member companies, including Wal-Mart, Microsoft, IBM, and Coca-Cola, are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, which is the world’s largest stock exchange. He noted that Nasdaq follows closely behind the New York Stock Exchange as the second largest stock exchange.

But Sears said Out Leadership has not yet had any official interactions with the New York Stock Exchange itself.

“As it relates to board diversity requirements, in contrast to the Nasdaq new rules, the NYSE has taken an approach that ‘advocates diversity’ without either suggesting new disclosure requirements or recommending diversity goals,” Sears told the Blade in a statement.

“It is worth noting that nowhere in NYSE’s public discussions about diversity is LGBTQ mentioned or included in any definition,” he said. “They only speak about diversity in vague terms of gender and ‘diversity,’” Sears said.

Sears has been credited with being among the first to emerge from within the corporate world to advocate full-time for LGBTQ supportive policies among businesses large and small.

He describes himself as a “recovering banker” and a “bit of a serial entrepreneur” who started his career in the investment banking industry in 1996 as an analyst in New York with Schroders, the British multinational asset management company.

From there, according to his LinkedIn page, he served from 1999 to 2001 as vice president of business development for DeSilva & Phillips, an investment bank focusing on media, technology, and marketing industries, before joining Merrill Lynch, the internationally known investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America, where he became Head of Strategic Initiatives at the firm’s Office of Diversity during his close to seven years there.

Finally, before launching Out Leadership, Sears served just over two years with Credit Suisse, a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland with offices in major financial centers around the world, including in New York City.

Sears makes no apologies for launching Out Leadership as a for-profit corporation with a business model of advocating for LGBTQ equality in business and beyond. He notes that, among other things, Out Leadership helped arrange for 65 business leaders to speak out against a proposed anti-LGBTQ law in North Carolina five years ago and helped line up 60 Wall Street banks to sign an amicus court brief in support of the Obergefell marriage equality case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

“My philosophy is every place in the world these companies do business, LGBT people should be protected, respected, and legal,” Sears told the Blade. “We are still illegal in 67 countries. But in all of those countries our companies do business,” he said.

“And so, the goal of our leadership is to use that kind of power that these companies have to roll back all 67 sodomy laws around the world as well as all the anti-trans laws obviously that we’re seeing here in the U.S.,” he said. “The idea is that the economic power that these companies have is in my opinion how we will also win equality.”

Justice Department charges George Santos

Federal prosecutors have charged U.S. Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) with criminal violations of federal statutes.

Originally reported by CNN on Tuesday, the exact nature of the charges couldn’t immediately be learned but the FBI and the Justice Department’s public integrity prosecutors in New York and D.C. have been examining allegations of false statements in Santos’s campaign finance filings and other claims. CNN also reported that the congressman’s attorney declined to comment. Spokespeople for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, the Justice Department and the FBI also declined to comment.

Santos was expected to appear as soon as Wednesday at

the Theodore Roosevelt Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, N.Y., where the charges have been filed under seal.

Santos has been under fire for months after a series of exposés revealed the congressman has lied about virtually every aspect of his biography. Additionally, a complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission by the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center alleges a wide scope of campaign finance law violations by the gay freshman lawmaker and his 2022 campaign committee, Devolder-Santos for Congress. Allegations of campaign financial malfeasance are thought to have triggered the federal probe by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and the FBI’s New York Field

Office.

The U.S. House Ethics Committee announced in March that it had voted unanimously to open an investigation of Santos over the allegations of financial and an incident of sexual misconduct.

The subcommittee’s inquiry will evaluate whether the embattled congressman’s required financial disclosures as a candidate contained illegal omissions or conflicts of interest, as well as an allegation by an applicant to his congressional office that Santos made unwanted sexual advances toward him.

BRODY LEVESQUE

TODD SEARS (Photo courtesy of Sears)

Incoming AMA president: ‘We will not stand’ for

anti-trans healthcare restrictions Organization will use ‘every avenue available’ to push back

By CHRISTOPHER KANE | ckane@washblade.com

Doctor Jesse Ehrenfeld sat down with the Washington Blade on Tuesday, weeks ahead of the start of his tenure as the American Medical Association’s first openly gay president and amid an onslaught of legislative attacks targeting trans Americans’ access to healthcare.

“We see the attack on reproductive care, reproductive access, and transgender healthcare as a continuum of government overreach into patient-physician decision making,” Ehrenfeld said.

“We simply will not stand for the government coming in to interfere with the doctor-patient relationship,” such as by passing these laws that “outlaw what we know to be appropriate, evidence-based clinical guidelines-based care,” he said.

An anesthesiologist who serves as the Joseph A. Johnson Jr. Distinguished Leadership Professor of anesthesiology, surgery, biomedical informatics & health policy at Vanderbilt University’s School of Medicine, much of Ehrenfeld’s professional background has been focused on matters of healthcare access, particularly for LGBTQ patients.

Ehrenfeld directs a $560 million philanthropic organization, Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment, while also serving as a consultant for the World Health Organization’s Digital Health Technical Advisory Group. He was special adviser to former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who served during the Trump administration.

For his research on “understanding how can we use technology to work better for LGBTQ people,” in 2018 Ehrenfeld became the inaugural recipient of the NIH’s Sexual and Gender Minority Research Investigator Award. He and his team did much of the work for that project at Vanderbilt’s Program for LGBTQ Health, which he co-founded and led for several years “before I took on my current clinical role in Wisconsin.”

“At the end of the day,” Ehrenfeld said, “we’re really about improving access to health care for LGBTQ people, which is a lot of the work that I have been involved in at the AMA and is a core piece of what we’re trying to do nationally through our policy activities.”

In testimony before the U.S. House Armed Services Committee in 2019, Ehrenfeld told lawmakers: “I would like to state unequivocally that there is no medically valid reason—including a diagnosis of gender dysphoria—to exclude transgender individuals from military service.”

Last year, far-right anti-trans pundit Matt Walsh targeted Vanderbilt’s Transgender Health Clinic on his podcast, leading conservative lawmakers in Tennessee to call for investigations of the institution based on information the university claims was “misrepresented” or taken out of context.

“It’s deeply personal for me,” Ehrenfeld said. “Almost everybody that I helped recruit and hire at Vanderbilt, their personal information was shared online. Their names were on TV. And that has had a chilling effect [both] there and

in many places across the country, as there have been attempts to intimidate and threaten practitioners who are providing what we know is evidence based appropriate care.”

[and] the clinical guidelines that we know lead to better outcomes for patients.”

Even beyond healthcare restrictions that are passed legislatively, “we have a lot of backseat drivers trying to tell doctors what to do,” Ehrenfeld said, like “insurance companies who put up barriers around prior authorization for getting approval for care and services.”

“Those things are real and they cause people to give up trying to get the care they need,” he said.

Six states have passed laws criminalizing certain healthcare interventions for the treatment of gender dysphoria, which carry the specter of felony charges for healthcare providers. These, Ehrenfeld said, are the most “heartbreaking” for him personally.

Survey data says one in five physicians is experiencing signs of burnout, with an increase beginning with the COVID-19 pandemic, Ehrenfeld said. “That burnout is only exacerbated when you find yourself practicing in a place where a law is passed that tells you how to practice or [tells you] that you can’t practice.”

A big moment for Ehrenfeld and the AMA

Ehrenfeld will be inaugurated as AMA president on June 13, midway through Pride month. It will be an exciting time, he said. “The AMA will have our first contingent walking in the Chicago Pride Parade…so, my husband and the family and the kids will all be there with a bunch of AMA colleagues celebrating at the end of June.”

“It’s an exciting moment for the organization, but I think also for the community for a bunch of reasons,” Ehrenfeld said. “One is, you know, to be an out person in a very visible role, I think sends a message to patients in the community as well as LGBTQ physicians and other healthcare workers, that their needs are being heard in a way that hasn’t always happened,” notwithstanding “challenges that are happening in many places on the legislative level.”

On a personal level, he said, “growing up, I didn’t have a lot of LGBTQ role models in college and medical school who I saw as defining a career pathway for me.” This meant “I would often question, ‘would I have a role? Was there a place for me as an out person in medicine, in leadership, doing policy work, trying to make the community healthier and improve access to health care?’”

Ehrenfeld said his leadership of the AMA marks an “important moment” in the organization’s history, demonstrating what is now possible for LGBTQ people who historically were denied these types of opportunities.

“The AMA opposes any policy “that creates a barrier between a patient and their doctor making a decision that’s in the patient’s best interests,” Ehrenfeld said, which includes “efforts to ban care for transgender people” at the state and federal level. “We stand for the science, the evidence,

“That causes moral injury to a physician who finds an untenable choice: provide the care that they know is in the patient’s best interests, or break the law and [potentially] go to jail,” Ehrenfeld said. “And that stress is real. There’s not a week that goes by that I don’t hear from a colleague who says I can’t take it anymore.”

Beyond impacts felt by individual healthcare workers, “we’ve seen a drop in the number of physicians who are applying for training positions in states where care is being restricted,” he said. “When, suddenly, you don’t have specialists and internists and primary care providers working in a state, that impacts care for everybody.”

Anti-trans legislative restrictions on healthcare are increasingly targeting adults, too. Florida’s S.B. 254, which would allow the state to take children away from parents who facilitate their access to best-practices treatments for gender dysphoria, would also bar all Floridians from accessing gender affirming care via telehealth, or that which is administered by nurse practitioners and physicians’ assistants.

“Telehealth is particularly important for a lot of LGBTQ people because of access distance challenges and the need to seek care in places that often is not immediately local,” Ehrenfeld said.

“There’s this cascading effect of, unfortunately reducing access to care that’s very concerning to me and to the AMA,” he said.

When laws proscribe healthcare interventions that “we know to be appropriate,” Ehrenfeld said, “we use every avenue available” – from pressuring the National Governors Association to filing lawsuits and amicus briefs in coordination with other stakeholders as well as “work on the policy side at the federal level and with our state partners.”

Incoming American Medical Association JESSE EHRENFELD at the AMA’s Washington, D.C. office (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Will King Charles III address LGBTQ rights?

In a solemn ceremony dating back to the Dec. 25, 1066, when William the Conqueror was crowned at Westminster Abbey in London, and 70 years after his mother was crowned monarch on June 2, 1953, Charles III was anointed king by the Archbishop of Canterbury last Saturday.

The king’s coronation included investiture of his wife Camilla as queen consort. The ceremony is principally a religious recognition as the Archbishop of Canterbury, surrounded by the high-ranking principals of other religious orders placed St. Edward’s Crown upon Charles’ head after first giving him the other two symbols of the monarchy, the Orb, which represents the world under Christ, and the Sovereign’s Ring, symbolizing the marriage of a monarch to his people. Charles wore the Coronation Glove and held the Scepter with Cross, a symbol of earthly power, in his right hand.

Coronation Day began with the King’s Procession in which the king and Queen Consort Camilla traveled from Buckingham Palace to the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey in the Gold State Coach, which has been used at every coronation since William IV’s in 1831.

Leaving Buckingham Palace, accompanied by the Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry, the route took the royals past a guard of honor, comprising about 160 members of the three armed services. The 1.42 mile route was also flanked by 1,000 members of the military from the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.

Upon return to the palace under cloudy grey rainy skies the king and the royal family gathered on the balcony to greet the thousands of well-wishers gathered along the Mall. Of note, only members of the working royals were on the balcony with Prince Harry and the king’s brother, Prince Andrew, noticeably absent.

Dignitaries from around the world including world leaders had gathered for the coronation. The U.S. delegation was led by first lady Jill Biden, and in a tweet the president noted: “Congratulations to King Charles III and Queen Camilla on their coronation. The enduring friendship between the U.S. and the U.K. is a source of strength for both our peoples. I am proud the first lady is representing the United States for this historic occasion.”

Of interest to the LGBTQ community will be the new king’s

stance on the issues that impact the community. PinkNewsUK reported that Queen Elizabeth’s 70-year reign saw transformative changes in the U.K., including major laws that advanced LGBTQ rights including the partial decriminalization of homosexuality in 1967 and the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act in 2014.

However, the late queen avoided commenting publicly on LGBTQ rights. She kept herself out of social and political issues, and it seems that LGBTQ rights, even in the 21st century, were considered just that.

LGBTQ rights advocates in the U.K. and in the Commonwealth of Nations that the king will now head are waiting to see if the he will more vocal about LGBTQ rights. PinkNewsUK noted that Charles has largely followed in Queen Elizabeth’s footsteps, and there is no record of him speaking on LGBTQ rights. For the U.K.’s transgender community, especially in Scotland, which passed an updated Gender Recognition Law only to have it blocked by the conservative government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, barring it being signed into law by the king in the process known as “royal assent,” the king remaining silent has become problematic according to LGBTQ rights advocates and organizations.

Elton John has previously vouched for Charles, expressing his confidence that the king would use his influence to decriminalize homosexuality in all Commonwealth states.

Same-sex relations remain illegal in many countries once colonized by Britain — many of which now form the Commonwealth.

“Things don’t happen overnight. You can’t change a culture and people’s way of thinking over night. But you can certainly step in the water and have a good go. If you don’t step in the water, nothing’s ever going to get done,” John said in 2018, the Gay Times reported.

“I think Prince Charles, when he is made head of the Commonwealth, will do those kind of things.”

Homophobia is one of the many lingering legacies of the British Empire that carried over into the Commonwealth of Nations headed first by Elizabeth and now by her eldest son.

Emma Eastwood, head of strategic communications for Human Dignity Trust, an organization that works with local activists to overturn laws criminalizing LGBTQ people around

the world told PinkNewsUK in a May 2 interview: “Around the world LGBT people are outlawed by legislation criminalizing same-sex sexual activity and through so-called ‘cross dressing’ laws and public order offences, which disproportionately affect trans people,” said Eastwood.

“Many of these laws remain virtually unchanged since they were first introduced in 19th century. The British Empire first tested modern forms of criminalization in its colonies, in India and Australia for example, before introducing them in the U.K. itself,” she explained.

Throughout Elizabeth’s reign, as the British Empire gradually fell away and was replaced by the Commonwealth, many of those former British colonies — now independent countries, have begun working to recant anti-LGBTQ laws.

While some, such as the example of India where same-sex marriage is now being argued before the country’s high court, and in Uganda where a draconian law was passed to essentially imprison LGBTQ people and in neighboring Kenya expel LGBTQ- refugees, there have also been advances. Recently the premier of Australia’s Victoria state castigated anti-LGBTQ groups and in New Zealand lawmakers recently banned socalled conversion therapy and recognized self-identity for trans New Zealanders.

“LGBTQ+ rights across the Commonwealth are changing rapidly, though unevenly,” Eastwood says.

“While a number of countries have recently de-criminalised homosexuality, others, such as Uganda, have introduced legislation to enhance existing laws,” she noted.

BRODY LEVESQUE AND PinkNewsUK

Former Brazilian congressman, husband of Greenwald, dies

Former Brazilian Congressman David Miranda died in a Rio de Janeiro hospital on Tuesday.

Media reports indicate Miranda, 37, had been in the intensive care unit for nine months with a gastrointestinal infection. His husband, journalist Glenn Greenwald, announced Miranda’s death on his Twitter page.

“His death, early this morning, came after a 9-month battle in ICU,” tweeted Greenwald. “He died in full peace, surrounded by our children and family and friends.”

Miranda, who would have turned 38 on Wednesday, was born in Rio’s Jacarezinho favela.

Greenwald on his Twitter account noted Miranda’s neighbor adopted him after his mother died when he was 5.

“That gave David the chance to live his full potential in a society that often suffocates it,” said Greenwald. “He was key to the (Edward) Snowden story, became the first gay man elected to Rio’s City Council, then federal Congress at 32. He

inspired so many with his biography, passion and force of life.”

Miranda and Greenwald met on a Rio beach in 2005. The two men in 2017 adopted two brothers.

Miranda in 2016 won a seat on the Rio Muncipal Council. His friend, bisexual Rio Municipal Councilwoman Marielle Franco and her driver, Anderson Gomes, were assassinated on March 14, 2018, in the city’s Lapa neighborhood.

Miranda in 2019 succeeded Jean Wyllys, who is openly gay, after death threats prompted him to resign from Congress and flee Brazil. Miranda last year announced he would not seek re-election.

“My condolences to Glenn Greenwald and relatives for the loss of David Miranda,” tweeted Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. “[He was] a young man with an extraordinary trajectory who left too soon.”

Michelle Seixas, the national political coordinator of Artic-

ulação Brasileira de Lésbicas (Brazilian Articulation of Lesbians), a group that advocates on behalf of lesbians in Brazil, told the Washington Blade that Miranda’s death is “still hard to believe.” Other Brazilian activists, advocacy groups and politicians also mourned the late-congressman.

“I just received the sad news of the death of colleague David Miranda, a former federal congressman for the PSOL (Socialism and Liberty Party) and LGBT activist,” said Congresswoman Erika Hilton, a transgender woman who represents São Paulo. “My love and solidarity with your family and friends. Rest in peace, David!”

Gui Mohallem, co-founder and director of VoteLGBT, a group that seeks to increase the number of LGBTQ and intersex people in Brazilian politics, also mourned Miranda.

“It’s a great, great, great loss,” Mohallem told the Blade on Tuesday.

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

KING CHARLES III is crowned as British monarch at Westminster Abbey. (Screenshot/YouTube NBC News)

KEVIN NAFF

is editor of the Washington Blade. Reach him at knaff@washblade.com

Fears for Pride season amid rising attacks against LGBTQ community

A frightening year of mass shootings, legislative assaults

The mass shooting in Colorado Springs last November that killed five people inside an LGBTQ nightclub served as a tragic reminder that the hate directed at our community can have deadly consequences.

In the wake of the killings, anti-LGBTQ right-wing figures celebrated on social media and advocated for copycat attacks, prompting bar owners around the country to step up security.

Instead of inspiring lawmakers to pass pro-LGBTQ measures, the shooting turned out to be a precursor to an unprecedented slew of legislative attacks, with more than 450 bills introduced targeting trans healthcare, drag shows, and affirming library books in state houses around the country.

This legislative assault on our equality has consequences beyond restricting the rights of queer people in those states. I recently heard from a mother in progressive, blue Maryland who said her trans daughter wants to sleep with a gun under her pillow because she fears a physical attack despite living in a supportive home.

As state legislatures finally wind down for the year, the ACLU reports that 15 states introduced more than 10 bills each targeting the community.

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

The Blade has also been on the receiving end of recent attacks and threats. A few weeks back, I wrote an op-ed criticizing Fox News for its homophobic smear of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Immediately after it was published, I began receiving the usual hate mail filled with anti-gay slurs. But then things escalated. The Blade’s website was hacked and taken down for several hours. The next day, the Blade’s phone system was hacked. Later, we received an email that contained a threat against gay people, which we reported to the D.C. police. Hacker attacks on the Washington Blade and Los Angeles Blade websites have since exploded, resulting in down time and resources

spent to restore service and upgrade security.

All of these coordinated, well-funded attacks on LGBTQ equality are culminating just as our community prepares to celebrate Pride month in a few weeks. And it all comes amid the backdrop of a frightening rise in mass shootings, the latest claiming eight lives this weekend at a shopping mall in Texas. As of Monday, we have seen 202 mass shootings in 2023; more than 6,000 Americans have been killed so far this year in homicides, murders, or unintentional shootings, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Those numbers will be higher by week’s end.

As Pride season arrives, community leaders must work with local police and other law enforcement officials to take sensible steps to protect our celebrations. Activists have rightly questioned the presence of uniformed police at some events, but we must explore all avenues to protect ourselves from these growing threats.

In the meantime, elected officials — mostly Republicans — must reconsider their anti-LGBTQ invective. Their legislative attacks and transphobic propaganda endanger lives and frighten queer youth, exposing them to discrimination and violence.

And if you think these attacks on queer youth are only happening in far-flung places in the rural South, think again. I spent Saturday at the Howard County Rainbow Conference in suburban Maryland, where queer youth and their parents attended book readings, enjoyed outdoor activities, and explored an exhibition hall filled with supportive resources from area non-profits. Just beneath the festive atmosphere, many parents I spoke with expressed fear for their children’s futures. One teacher reminded me that in neighboring Carroll County, officials have banned the display of Pride flags on school property. Right-wing figures disguised as “concerned moms” are infiltrating local school boards in counties all over the country, pushing ever more restrictive policies targeting our youth.

So let’s use Pride month to celebrate our progress, but also to commit to another generational fight to preserve and expand on those wins and to counter all the dangerous attacks from our enemies.

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BRODY LEVESQUE

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Another day, another mass shooting, the reality? No stopping it Republicans continue to Make America Grieve Again

“The gun lobby’s interpretation of the Second Amendment is one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word FRAUD, on the American people by special interest groups I have ever seen in my lifetime.” ~ The conservative Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Warren E. Burger, in 1991.

The gunman who murdered eight at a shopping mall in Allen, Texas, was identified as a 33-year-old former security guard Mauricio Garcia whose social media accounts document he was an adherent to neo-Nazi ideology. After being shot by responding police officers, he was found in full tactical gear, armed with an AR-15 style assault rifle, and a patch popular among the Proud Boys and Neo-Nazis that read RWDS (“Right Wing Death Squad”) on his vest.

Reaction was immediate and predictable, particularly on the Twitter platform, where hundreds of photos and videos were posted of the carnage left behind. There were also the tired mantra of 2A gun advocates and the elected politicians supported by them repeating the “thoughts & prayers” coupled with “we need more guns” and then more mental health treatment resources statements.

Addressing the images which included graphic photos of sheet covered bodies outside the H&M store with pools of blood visible, the New York Times noted:

Twitter Criticized for Allowing Texas Shooting Images to Spread– Graphic images of the attack went viral on the platform, which has made cuts to its moderation team. Some users said the images exposed the realities of gun violence.

Considerable critique was leveled at Twitter’s owner Elon Musk; “the unusually graphic nature of the images drew sustained outcry from users. And they threw a harsh spotlight on Twitter’s content moderation practices, which have been curtailed since Mr. Musk acquired the company last year.”

But in a larger sense, almost a quorum if you will in the sphere of public debate, sentiments such as “We need more gory photos. It is the lack of reality which only gory photos can show that has enabled the Republican pro-gun stance which has led directly to all these mass shootings. The media has been complicit in covering up the carnage. Enough already.” were more commonplace in the ongoing Twitter threads related to the shooting.

The question becomes does the shock value of open publishing gory photos that detail the outcome of what assault weapons do to human bodies outweigh decorum? Afterall, death has been well documented for years by media coverage of war zones, natural disasters, and in some cases even political-based violence and death by gunfire such as John Filo’s Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of Mary Ann Vecchio kneeling over the dead body of Jeffrey Miller minutes after the unarmed student was fatally shot by an Ohio National Guardsman.

That photo was literally on the front page of nearly every print media outlet and used in broadcast coverage after

Kent State, and later, many credited that image to changing the narrative of the war in Vietnam and the protest movement against the war.

But the debate over the Second Amendment and the apparent lack of political will to resolve the issue over gun reform, let along a ban on military style assault weapons, is married to the issues over documenting the massacres.

One person noted: “During Vietnam, the nightly body count caught the country’s attention that, combined with pictures of the carnage, helped make a difference to demand an end to the conflict. Today, the body counts get a mere shrug at most.

Republican, of the U.S. House proudly displaying the chosen weapon for a majority of mass shooters in the U.S. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday told reporters during the briefing regarding the shooting in Allen, Texas: “We have spoken out consistently about the concerning rise in hate-fueled violence in this country.”

President Biden issued a statement taking aim at Republicans in Congress:

“Too many families have empty chairs at their dinner tables. Republican Members of Congress cannot continue to meet this epidemic with a shrug. Tweeted thoughts and prayers are not enough.

Once again I ask Congress to send me a bill banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Enacting universal background checks. Requiring safe storage. Ending immunity for gun manufacturers. I will sign it immediately. We need nothing less to keep our streets safe.”

Gun backers with loud adamancy claim that for the Democrats it is always political power … “They know banning assault rifles wont save lives as 78% of mass shootings are done with handguns. That’s fact. The AR-15 is the number one selling rifle and earns the most $$$ so that’s why they are targeted.” Then the second most popular tactic seems to be deflection: “Laws on restricting guns isn’t the solution. The underlying societal problems need to be addressed. People in Italy have AR-15 but rarely mass shootings. So it’s not the guns but the culture and other societal issues.”

As AR-15 style weapons do terrible damage and are meant for killing, the pictures (results of the damage) must be shown and shown with each shooting to make it clear just how horrific this shit is. Otherwise the public slumber will continue.”

Frustration and anger mount.

Journalist Mark Follman pointed out that Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott once again claims there is no gun-policy solution to mass shooters using AR-15s and instead emphasizes that mental illness is the “root cause” of these massacres — despite extensive case evidence showing that is false.

Newsom took aim at Congress tweeting: “This is freedom?? To be shot at a mall? Shot at school? Shot at church? Shot at the movies? We have become a nation that is more focused on the right to kill than the right to live. This is not what the American people want. Do your damn job, Congress.”

Earlier today Abbott told Fox News he will not be passing any common sense gun laws after the Allen mass shooting. The Texas governor has previously bragged that he now allows guns to be carried openly in public with “no training or license needed.”

There just seems to be no resolution and no movement politically or as a society. The following picture is a screen shot of various news broadcasts showing three members,

Yet just a week prior to this mass-shooting, a San Jacinto County, Texas, resident firing an AR-15 in his front yard killed five people in a neighboring home after they asked him to stop shooting because a baby was sleeping. Police said all were shot execution-style; the youngest victim was 8-yearsold.

Besides the mass murders at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and Club Q in Colorado Springs here is a partial list of when an AR-15-style weapon was used in a mass shooting:

• Feb. 14, 2018: Shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida leaves 17 people dead.

• Oct. 1, 2017: The Las Vegas slaughter of 58 people.

• Nov. 5, 2017: The Sutherland Springs, Texas, church shooting that claimed 26 lives.

• June 12, 2016: The Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla., that left 49 dead.

• Dec. 2, 2015: The San Bernardino, Calif., shooting that killed 14 people.

• Dec. 14, 2012: The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut that took 27 lives.

Given the reluctance to make any significant changes in the gun laws, it appears that Republicans, with their unwillingness to protect people from mass shooters, are only going to continue to Make America Grieve Again!

Bodies lie in front of an H&M in Texas after the latest mass shooting.

‘Freedom’ is little more than a hollow DeSantis campaign slogan

Matt Walsh super fans toting firearms they learned how to use on YouTube and conducting vigilante genital inspections in public restrooms.

If that visual doesn’t invoke freedom for you, that’s because it’s not. But it is the Sunshine State’s pending reality under the DeSantis regime, where “freedom” is little more than a hollow campaign slogan and the power of government is routinely weaponized against anyone who might serve as a punching bag for a Governor drunk on presidential ambition.

This year, in his desperation to outflank Donald Trump to the far right and bolster his 2024 resume, Governor DeSantis led an unprecedented legislative assault on freedom, in the most virulently anti-LGBTQ session in Florida’s history. Bills ranged from those that accelerate book bans and revoke a parent’s right to ensure their child’s pronouns are respected in school to others that target drag shows and threaten custody agreements over health care for transgender young people.

Among the policy onslaught is HB 1521, the Anti-Trans Bathroom Bill. On paper, it’s a redux of the ill-fated legislation that decimated the North Carolina economy less than a decade ago and spelled doom for the political career of then-Governor Pat McRory.

In practice, it’s a sinister invasion of privacy that bars transgender people from using the restroom in publicly-owned buildings that aligns with how they live their lives everyday and deputizes people to challenge one another’s presence in those spaces. The bill opens the door to the same abuse, mistreatment, and dehumanization that other efforts to police restroom use have

precipitated.

Just last year, Noah Ruiz, a transgender man in Ohio, was brutally assaulted by a crowd of people and subsequently jailed after using the women’s restroom as instructed by staff at a campground.

Therein lies the danger of policies like these. Filed and fast tracked under the false premise of “protecting” the public, transphobic bathroom bans are fueled by dangerous disinformation about the transgender community. And their enforcement endorses grotesque invasions of privacy and dangerous accusations.

Are we prepared for escalating confrontations at convention center stalls? How will someone “prove” that they’ve selected the appropriate restroom? Will we all be expected to carry a copy of our birth certificate or will the state rely on vigilantes monitoring the external anatomy of those one toilet over?

A question arose as we began spelling out the realities of a draconian bathroom ban: who might get swept up? What about cisgender people who don’t fit someone else’s idea of how a man or woman should look? Could elected officials and appointees suddenly find themselves in handcuffs for making a necessary pitstop near their airport arrival gate?

The answer is yes. It’s conceivable that Admiral Rachel Levine, the nation’s Assistant Secretary for Health, could end up in police custody for using the restroom at Orlando International Airport or the University of Florida campus — the very same restroom she uses back home in Washington D.C..

Transgender Floridians will pay the steepest price for

BRANDON J. WOLF

is press secretary of Equality Florida, the largest statewide LGBTQ rights organization.

the Governor’s craven pandering to the most extreme faction of his base. Policies like this are little more than campaign fodder for someone like DeSantis. He craves a Fox News headline and content for his next fundraising email.

For him, transgender people are merely a rung on the ladder he must climb to reach his political destination, a stepping stone on his way to the GOP convention stage. But transgender people are not pawns or political fodder. They are our neighbors. Our family members. Our friends. They are human beings who deserve the dignity of taking care of basic needs without the prying eyes of government or someone hopped up on the latest Ben Shapiro video peering over the walls of their stall.

Ron DeSantis likes to claim that we are the “freest state in the nation.” But tell me: does a government regime telling you what you can read, what health care you can receive, who you can be, and where you can use the bathroom sound like freedom to you?

Trans Floridians will pay steepest price for governor’s craven pandering

Trans military advocacy organization nominates new

president

Navy Cmdr. Emily Shilling ready for new role at SPARTA

By KAELA ROEDER

SPARTA, a nonprofit advocacy organization representing transgender military service members in the United States, has nominated its new president and board chair — Cmdr. Emily Shilling of the U.S. Navy.

Shilling, who has served in the military since 2005, has had a full and eventful 18 years in the Navy. She’s completed more than 60 combat missions and now serves as an Aerospace Engineering Duty Officer where she oversees acquisitions. She previously worked as the director of membership at SPARTA.

Shilling grew up moving from place to place around the United States and abroad with her father, who was a pilot during the Vietnam War era and then a doctor for the U.S. Navy for two decades. She traveled around the United States and abroad growing up, including in Pensacola, Fla., Virginia Beach, Va. and Iceland. She was infatuated with all things science fiction and, of course, planes.

“Things like Star Trek, Star Wars, anything that was showing futuristic, fast flying — huge inspirations to me,” Shilling said. “That’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to do something with airplanes or spaceships.”

Shilling joined the Navy to give back and give freedom back to women and fight for educational rights for people, she said. But she stayed for the people and the lifelong connections with fellow service members.

“I have to say, ‘Thank the service for letting me serve.’ They have given me so much. They gave me a lifetime of experience,” Shilling said.

When Shilling came out as trans in April 2019 to friends and family, the Trump-era executive order that barred trans people from serving openly in the military and prevented trans people from enlisting had just taken effect.

“Everybody looks at me like, ‘Oh my god, you got horrible timing. Why didn’t you just come out before?’ I wasn’t ready,” she said.

Shilling would put on her uniform and go to work as

her “old self” for several months. It was disenfranchising, awkward, and depressing, she said. In the fall of 2020, she had enough. Shilling came out to the Navy, even though the executive order was still in place. She was willing to “throw out,” everything, including her pension.

And the 2020 election went her way — President Joe Biden was elected, and he repealed the executive order shortly after he was sworn in.

But she’s still uneasy. If the next presidential election doesn’t go blue, she could be forced to leave.

“I’m still beholden to an executive order,” Shilling said. “The 2024 timeframe makes me very nervous.”

Shilling founded SPARTA in 2019 online and immediately reached out to the communications director and now previous president, Bree Fram. The nonprofit has provided connections, friends, and support for Shilling and the more than 2,000 other members of the organization. Outside of Reddit threads and Discord servers, there was not a safe space for trans military members to come together and find peer support. SPARTA changed that, Shilling said.

This type of community is incredibly important, especially if trans military service is outlawed once again.

In stepping into this new role, Shilling wants to foster relationships with non-trans aspects of the military and bring in more allies to the movement. She also wants to increase involvement in the diversity action teams and the LGBTQ initiative teams at the Pentagon to ensure representation when crafting policy.

“The worst thing that happens is when people write policy for trans troops, and there’s not a single trans troop in the meeting,” Shilling said. “So continuing to grow those relationships and make sure that we have a seat in the room when people are making policy.”

But most of all, she’s going to keep pushing laws ensuring trans-inclusive service be on the books — and to demonstrate how equipped trans people are to serve.

“I needed to go live my own life,” she said. Shilling took out her phone and crafted a coming out message, which she copied and pasted to every contact. To her surprise, almost everyone she worked with was incredibly supportive.

“Ultimately, our biggest power as an organization is to continue to thrive as trans individuals in service, proving that we are both mentally and physically fully qualified to do some of the most extreme jobs in the military,” Shilling said.

Navy Cmdr. EMILY SHILLING

Genres blend and genders bend in ‘Broadway’

Another example of VOD as a platform for smart, artfully crafted films

By JOHN PAUL KING

To read Greek writer/director Christos Massalas’s comments in the “official” notes included within the press material for his debut feature film –“Broadway,” which opened a limited theatrical run on April 26 and drops on DVD and VOD platforms May 16 – is to wonder what kind of abstract, experimental, hallucinatory vision he must have been following as he crafted it.

Describing the gestation process for his movie as he experienced it within his own mind, Massalas says that “The colors were saturated, and the feelings were sometimes red, sometimes blue, and sometimes they smelled of gasoline. There were dancers, there were thieves, and Athens was a sunlit stage where monuments of the 20th century stood glorious and rusty.” All that sounds very raw and haphazard, and perhaps more than a little pretentious, like a fledgling author’s ambitious-but-unfocused vision for the “Great American Novel” (or, in this case, the “Great Greek Novel”) they are passionately planning to write.

Yet incredibly, it’s a description that captures to perfection the essence of the film he crafted from that vision, and perhaps even conveys more useful information about it than any plot synopsis might ever be able to do.

Nevertheless, simply as a matter of form, we’ll venture to offer one. “Broadway” is the story of a band of performers, pickpockets, and small-time thieves who form a little family of outcasts living in an abandoned entertainment complex – the “Broadway” of the title – while putting on shows in the streets and stealing unbeknownst from the audiences who gather to watch them. It’s told from the perspective of Nelly (Elsa Lekakou), a strip club dancer on the run from her wealthy and controlling family who is drawn into the group by its charismatic mastermind, Markos (Stathis Apostolou), and finds a heaven from her “pitbull” of a stepfather and the gang of thugs he employs to keep her in check.

Nelly, however, is no naïve victim in need of rescue – though she claims to be accustomed to playing that role – but a resourceful and headstrong young woman more than capable of surviving by her own wits in the mean streets of an economically-ravaged Athens. Her talents as a performer quickly make her invaluable to the ragtag cadre under her new protector’s autocratic reign, and though she assumes and accepts the special status afforded to her as lover and muse to her new protector, she also wins the loyalty and affection of her new cohorts as easily and completely as she gains the trust of Lola, the allegedly vicious and rabid monkey they keep locked in a cage as a sort of unofficial and unappreciated mascot.

Lola is not the only confined member of the Broadway clan, however; a mysterious, badly beaten fugitive named Jonas (Foivos Papadopoulos) is being kept in a storage room, locked away as he recovers from his injuries and hides from the powerful underworld kingpin who wants him dead. As he returns to health, his presence becomes a dangerous liability – until Nelly hits upon an idea to keep him hidden in plain sight by turning him into Barbara, her partner in a two-woman dance act and the newest member of their troupe.

From there, “Broadway” launches into an ambitiously sweeping narrative that feels like equal parts film noir and Charles Dickens as it takes us into a colorful and morally ambiguous underworld, created by economic disparity and filled with shadowy figures and secret alliances, then bursting improbably forth into

a gender-bending musical before finally moving into Hitchcock territory for a thrilling third act “caper” scenario made even more suspenseful by the shifting loyalties between its leading players. We don’t like spoilers, but we’ll just say that the question of whether there is “honor among thieves” is key to the story’s endgame.

Massalas, a London-educated Greek filmmaker with an impressive catalogue of short films, has scored a long list of prizes at international festivals including Cannes, AFI Film Fest, and Locarno, where in 2016 he was selected as one of the most promising new directors in the world. For his feature debut, he received support from the Greek Film Center and the Sundance Institute; with that kind of artistic pedigree behind it, it’s no surprise that “Broadway” is a deeply, almost ecstatically cinematic piece of work.

Richly visual, it evokes filmic echoes not only from the influences cited above, but from directors like Fellini, Jodorowsky, Godard, and Marcel Carné – whose epic theatrical romance “Les Enfants du Paradis” seems almost baked into its core. Yet while it may contain plenty of nods, intentional or otherwise, to past masters of the medium, it never feels stodgy or over-reverent, and audiences coming at Massalas’ movie from a less scholarly perspective will find plenty to appreciate in his own bold, artfully eclectic style – and everyone is sure to approve of his abilities as a storyteller, which enable him to pack an entire epic’s worth of plot, complete with nuanced layers and deeply-drawn character development, into a just-over-90-minute movie without ever making it feel rushed.

Yet even with all that art packed into it, the thing that makes “Broadway” a standout entry in the VOD film market is its queerness. Not only does it hinge on a cis male character donning drag, it also features a gay couple (Rafael Papad and Salim Talbi) in significant roles as members of the gang. More important, perhaps, it never uses its potentially offensive “man-hiding-out-in-drag” premise to get cheap laughs or set him up for humiliation or ridicule. On the contrary, it quickly becomes clear that Barbara is more than a disguise for Jonas; she’s an empowering influence, and he blossoms with the transformation. Is he straight or gay? Trans, gender fluid, or just a drag queen? The movie never really tells us, and in fact seems to disregard it as irrelevant. It’s an ambiguity that feels comfortable rather than challenging, and makes his romance with Nelly – along with the steamy sex scenes that come with it – somehow even more hot.

There are a few quibbles that could be made about Massalas’ film; there’s some heavy-handed foreshadowing that makes a few of its twists more predictable than they might be, and it sometimes wallows a bit too much in its symbolism. Still, in context these elements are part of the cinematic ride he takes us on, and he provides enough unexpected surprises in other areas to make up for any perceived missteps along the way. With a universally excellent cast, grounded by Lekakou’s solid, confident turn at the center of it all, “Broadway” is yet another example of the growing promise of VOD as a platform for the kind of smart, sophisticated, artfully crafted film content that just doesn’t get shown in movie theaters in post-pandemic America.

That said, “Broadway” would undoubtedly look great on the big screen, and if you’re lucky enough to be in a place where it’s on one, it’s worth making the effort. If not, don’t let that stop you – it looks pretty great on the small screen, too.

The stars of the new film ‘Broadway.’

Drag Isn’t Dangerous Telethon overflows with emotion, cash

Into the third hour of Drag Isn’t Dangerous, a brief film makes the point that there have been article after article about children molested by church clergy and counselors, yet not a single bill has been proposed tackling that real issue. Then there are drag queens. Drag queens have never harmed a child, and there are no articles implying that they have. Yet… yet….state after state, bill after bill are going after drag queens.

With this telethon event, drag queens and all that they have inspired, have sent the message: They are not going to take this shit anymore. Clips of rightwing pundits and commentators were presented and the ignorant hatred expressed in each clip is both at once chilling, and pathetic.

The message of hate is juxtaposed with segments like one featuring RuPaul Drag Race alumn Nina West. West told the story about her adventures doing storybook hours at Columbus Ohio libraries for children. It should be pointed out that the Nina West brand is one of classiness and kindness. She moved her popular book readings onto Instagram. The first hour where she did so was wonderful.

The second hour was not.

The audience turned “dark, terrifying and threatening.” Then it all got very personal. People showed up at his house where he was broadcasting and blew eardrum breaking airhorns outside his windows. They then started a campaign of harassment and doxing, targeting him, his parents and his sister. Signs appeared in his yard accusing him of being a groomer.

Last December he embarked on a Drag Christmas tour. The tour encountered protesters, bomb threats and required police escorts.

Hosted by Justin Martindale and Peppermint with a co-location hosted by Alaska and Adam Shankman, the telethon team declared a goal target of $250,000 for the evening. The evening was filled with performances from some of the Drag community’s best. Kicking off the evening were songs by Trixie Mattel and Alaska. The online crowd was gobsmacked with exclamations like “legends!” , “fierce!” “That voice!”.

The telethon was a recreation of the traditional telethon style with a phonebank of drag celebrities womaning the phones. Instead of the phone banks of years gone by the receptionists were not the first point of entry to make donations. In this modern version, donors first register their donation on the gofundme application and then are connected to the celebrity to receive thanks and conversation. Phone bank stars included Candis Cayne, Jinx Monsson, Ginger Minge, Laganja Estranja Trinity the Tuck, Monet Exchange and Queer Eye OG Jai Rodriguez.

As of 4:30 pm, $55,000 had been raised.

Celebrity cameos and interviews were generously sprinkled through the broadcast. Many of them expressed gratitude and awe for the talents and artistic contributions of drag. Still others were downright angry. “I will f*ck anyone who messes with you,” Charlize Theron declared.

“Drag isn’t dangerous, but Leslie Jones IS!” Leslie Jones fumed.

Sarah Silverman also did not mince words. “It is an invented ‘problem’. It creates a REAL problem for the marginalized. I would trust RuPaul before any of you (Republican) hate mongers.” To the drag community, she declared, “If they come for you, they will have to come through me first.”

“Lawmakers are terrified of how bright we are shining,” Adam Lambert stated affirm-

ingly.

As of 4:50 pm $100,000 had been raised.

Donors were interviewed through the phonebank. Jai Rodriguez had an impromptu conversation with a young woman who had come out as queer that day. Even though her experience has been “tough”, she wanted to celebrate her landmark day by donating.

Michele Visage gave RuPaul visibility and spoke from her heart. “I wish I could say that I am glad to be here,” she started. “I am appalled I have to be at something called ‘Drag Isn’t Dangerous’. Imagine a world where dancers are told they can’t dance; imagine a world where artists are told they cannot take paint to canvas…because it is ‘bad for children.’ That is what is happening to drag right now.”

As of 5:40 p.m., $205,000 had been raised. Jinx Monsson whipped out her own checkbook and wrote a check for $10,000.

Other celebrities added perspective to the issue. Ocean Kelly stated, “They want us to stay quiet. Watching a drag queen won’t make a child queer. If a child is queer, it is because they are….queer.”

Billy Eichner discussed the historical use of scapegoats as distractions. “It is not new, but it is urgent and dangerous,” he warned. “We need to be relentless and loud,” he instructed.

Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden demonstrated her queer chops by publicly outing her entire family. “All my children are queer,” she declared. “One is non binary, one is gay. My first boyfriend was gay and my conservative Naval Officer dad loved him. “ Of the drag controversy she said, “Why are we having to advocate for creativity and imagination? It is so fear-based. We know what love is.”

As of 7:38 PM, Half a Million Dollars had been raised.

The movement has started and this first outing is not yet over. Recording of it will stay online for 48 hours after it concludes.

Go here for tickets and then receive you email with the telethon link: https://www.moment.co/dangerous/dragisntdangerous-drag-isnt-dangerous-live

As for the end of the Telethon, Ginger Minge show stopped with the classic I Am What I Am from La Cage.

By ROB WATSON

‘Drag Isn’t Dangerous: Live Telethon’ (Screenshot/YouTube)

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