Los Angeles Blade, Volume 07, Issue 27, July 07, 2023

SCOTUS marks ‘gays and lesbians for second-class status’

303 Creative ruling decried by advocates as legalizing discrimination

By CHRISTOPHER KANE | ckane@washblade.com

The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority last week ruled in favor of Lori Smith, the graphic artist who did not want to make wedding websites for same-sex couples despite Colorado’s nondiscrimination law barring discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

“The First Amendment envisions the United States as a rich and complex place where all persons are free to think and speak as they wish, not as the government demands,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the majority 6-3 decision along ideological lines in 303 Creative v. Elenis.

The liberal justices, however, called the majority’s finding of a free speech exemption to nondiscrimination rules “unprecedented,” warning it would blow a hole through these laws and pave the way for anti-LGBTQ discrimination by businesses.

– including people of color, people with disabilities, people of faith, and women.

“… When one group’s dignity and equality are threatened, the promise of our democracy is threatened and we all suffer. Our work to advance equal rights for everyone will continue. That is why we must pass the Equality Act, which will enshrine civil rights protections for LGBTQI+ Americans in federal law and strengthen public accommodations protections for all Americans. I urge Congress to swiftly send this legislation to my desk.”

Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, shared an emailed statement with the Blade: “As the dissenting justices rightly stress, this is a deeply disappointing decision that, for the first time in our nation’s history, holds that the Constitution permits discrimination in the commercial sphere,” adding, “There is no principled basis for this egregious departure from more than a hundred years of precedent.”

On the other hand, Minter said, “the scope of the ruling is incredibly narrow and will not apply to the overwhelming majority of businesses,” but “Unfortunately, the State of Colorado stipulated to a number of ‘facts’ about the designer’s hypothetical service of designing websites for weddings,” which “provided a basis, however flimsy, for the majority to rule as it did, including Colorado’s stipulation that the designer picks and chooses which clients she will serve based on whether she agrees with their viewpoints, that each site she designs is customized and original, and that the sites are ‘art’ and express her own personal views, not those of the clients.”

doesn’t even exist for the plaintiff, undermining the principles of justice, equality, and nondiscrimination that are the bedrock of our nation,” he said.

ADF, which represented the plaintiff Lori Smith, is described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-LGBTQ hate group.

Minutes later, America’s largest LGBTQ organization, the Human Rights Campaign, issued a press release: “Make no mistake, this case was manufactured by the Alliance for Defending Freedom to create a new license to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people,” said HRC President Kelley Robinson.

“Despite our opponents claiming this is a major victory, this ruling does not give unfettered power to discriminate,” Robinson wrote. “This decision does not mean that any LGBTQ+ person can be discriminated against in housing, employment or banking—those protections remain enshrined with federal law.”

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), America’s first openly gay senator, was among the first members of Congress to address the ruling, writing in a statement:

“Today the Court, for the first time in its history, grants a business open to the public a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her dissent, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

The liberal justices argued the Colorado law targets conduct, not speech.

“Today is a sad day in American constitutional law and in the lives of LGBT people,” Sotomayor wrote. “The immediate, symbolic effect of the decision is to mark gays and lesbians for second-class status.”

President Biden reacted saying in a statement released by the White House:

“In America, no person should face discrimination simply because of who they are or who they love. The Supreme Court’s disappointing decision in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis undermines that basic truth, and painfully it comes during Pride month when millions of Americans across the country join together to celebrate the contributions, resilience, and strength of the LGBTQI+ community. While the Court’s decision only addresses expressive original designs, I’m deeply concerned that the decision could invite more discrimination against LGBTQI+ Americans. More broadly, today’s decision weakens long-standing laws that protect all Americans against discrimination in public accommodations

Minter said “Very few other businesses meet these criteria, so this ruling will have little if any application to ordinary businesses, including those that involve some element of creativity or expression. Under the majority ruling, it is not enough that a service is creative or expressive, the business must selectively choose clients, not open its doors to all, must create a highly customized product, and it must be clear that the product is expressing the views of the business owner, not the customer.  There are very few such businesses.”

“Nonetheless, this is a sad day for our country and our Constitution. The majority has gone out of its way to gerrymander an exception to nondiscrimination laws that sends a terrible message—especially to LGBTQ people—at a terrible time, when there is a resurgence of anti-LGBTQ bias and a backlash against equality for women, people of color, and LGBTQ people. I am confident our county will rise above this moment, as we have done in the past, but this is a painful day,” Minter said.

Among the first advocacy groups to condemn the decision was the National Black Justice Coalition, a leading Black LGBTQ+ civil rights organization.

“The anti-democratic, segregationist, white nationalistic Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which is party to this case, has a well-documented history of using legal strategies to erode LGBTQ+ rights, perpetuating discrimination and stigmatization,” said the Coalition’s Executive Director David Johns.

“A perilous precedent is set when the ADF is allowed to manufacture a case in search of a solution to a problem that

“This is about fairness and freedom – about whether LGBTQ+ Americans deserve fairness and freedom to be treated just like everyone else. It is simply wrong to discriminate against any American based on who they are or who they love, and Americans agree. This decision is a step backward in our fight to live up to our nation’s ideal of equality, but we cannot let this activist Supreme Court have the last word. I am more committed than ever to fighting to ensure every American can live freely and without discrimination.”

The U.S. Congressional Equality Caucus, through its chair, U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), issued a statement arguing that Friday’s “abhorrent” decision “provides a constitutional basis for businesses that provide customized expressive services to discriminate against all marginalized people currently protected by public accommodations nondiscrimination laws.”

U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), a co-chair of the Equality Caucus, called Friday’s ruling “horrifying and stunning” in a statement, writing, “Today’s harmful decision opens the door for unimaginable legal discrimination against marginalized people.”

Takano added, “We must expand the Supreme Court immediately.”

“Millions of Americans,” wrote the Democratic Attorneys General Association, “have been rightly concerned that the floodgates would open to a raft of legal challenges to vital LGBTQ+ protections.”

The group added, “Between rulings like this, waves of extreme and hateful legislation, and an increase in anti-LGBTQ+ threats and violence, the fact is that this is indeed a frightening time for the LGBTQ+ community.”

GLAAD’s statement noted that “Not one LGBTQ couple sought the business’ services so this case is a massive abuse of the judicial system and part of a coordinated effort from groups like the Alliance Defending Freedom to leverage corrupt extremist justices to roll back rights of marginalized Americans.”

(Photo Credit: Fred Schilling, The Supreme Court of the U.S.)

California GOP honors Grenell, Democrats walk off Senate floor

SACRAMENTO - California State Senate Republicans, who have previously sat out a vote declaring June LGBTQ Pride Month, and also vigorously opposed recognition of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence drag charity group, honored former U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell in the name of Pride Month on Monday in the Senate chamber.

That recognition of Grenell caused members of the Senate Democratic caucus, Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego) along with Sen. Caroline Menjivar (D-Panorama City), and Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton) to walk off the Senate floor.

former U.S. ambassador to Germany, Grenell has a history of making false and inflammatory statements. A loyal acolyte of former President Trump, Grenell has made numerous appearances on Fox News and other right-wing media outlets repeating Trump’s lies about the 0 0 election being stolen. During his appearance on Fox News Channel’s Hannity in anuary 0 , Grenell implied that the mob who stormed and trashed the U.S. Capitol might have been left-wing activists in disguise. “We need to figure out who these people are and get to the bottom of it,” he said.

GLAAD has listed some of Grenell’s more notable transgressions:

—Criticized the Equality Act, falsely claiming it would grant “special rights” to LGBTQ people and is an attack on religion. The Equality Act bans all forms of discrimination against LGBTQ people. It doesn’t give “special rights.” The Equality Act also expands protections for religious belief, providing protections for people who are discriminated against because of their religion.

Touted the launch of an initiative that claimed to push for the decriminalization of homosexuality “around the globe.” Advocates for global equality called the effort “nothing more than self-promoting Twitter photos” and  “smoke and mirrors” and noted that LGBTQ discrimination actually increased around the world during the Trump administration.

tions for transgender Americans   eliminate protections for trans students and  ban transgender people from serving the military.  The Washington Post’s fact check determined Grenell’s claims were “absurd” and awarded “four Pinocchios”—the highest rating for lies or “whoppers.” “Trump is pro-Grenell, but that doesn’t mean his administration is pro-gay, the Post reported.”

—Became a special adviser for national security and foreign policy at the anti-LGBTQ American Center for Law and Justice, which was founded by anti-LGBTQ televangelist Pat Robertson.

Sen. Wiener after walking out told reporters:

“This is their way of celebrating Pride, by bringing in a guy who is truly a self-hating gay man, who takes tons of anti-LGBTQ positions,” Wiener said in an interview in the Capitol on Monday. “There are plenty of gay Republicans who don’t do the unhinged things that [Grenell] does. I’m not lumping all gay Republicans together he is a particularly vile person.”

In a tweet the Senator added: “He’s a scam artist pink-washer for Trump spreads anti-LGBTQ, anti-vax, election-denier conspiracy theories.”

Grenell who currently resides in Palm Springs, was welcomed by Senate Minority Leader Sen. Brian ones (R-Santee) and Republican Assemblymembers Bill Essayli of Corona, Tom Lackey of Palmdale and Greg Wallis of Bermuda Dunes.

A former member of the Trump administration and a

As the Republican National Committee’s senior adviser tasked with LGBTQ outreach for Trump s re-election bid, repeated the egregious lie that the Trump administration was “the most pro-gay president ever” while that same administration was, at the same time seeking to: reject recognition of sexual orientation and gender identity protections under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act fight to the Supreme Court to allow discrimination against LGBTQ workers,  parents and  customers   ban trans girls and women from participating in sports   remove health care protec-

Imelda Padilla declares victory in LA City Council District 6 race

LOS ANGELES - Imelda Padilla declared victory Friday in the race for the vacant Los Angeles City Council seat representing the central and northeast San Fernando Valley. The seat has been vacant since former City Council President Nury Martinez, who previously represented Council District 6, resigned in disgrace last year.

Padilla, a community advocate, said she is “ready to serve as the next councilwoman for the communities of CD 6.” According to the o ce of the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder County Clerk she leads her rival Marisa Alcaraz by more than 1,580 votes, and is the anticipated winner of Tuesday’s special election to fill the vacancy left by Martinez in the seat.

During her campaign to win the seat, Padilla won numerous endorsements including the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Daily News, Outgoing Assembly Speaker Anthony Ren-

don, Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath, The Chambers of Commerce of Hollywood and Greater LA, along with the SEIU Union, United Auto Workers, Local of the Plumbers & Fitters Union, the Los Angeles County Business Federation, and one of the largest Latino democratic clubs in the region Avance, among other groups and individuals.

An LGBTQ+ ally and advocate for equality, she was also endorsed by the Stonewall Democrats, and other LGBTQ+ political leaders. On Harvey Milk Day, May , Padilla issued a statement that read: “For all my friends, family, neighbors and constituents of the  lgbtq community know Im here to be your friend and ally. Your rights, are human rights! I’m excited to work together on improving health, safety, and economic outcomes for  lgbtq individuals and all of  LosAngeles.”

BRODY LEVESQUE

Assemblymember Essayli, one of those who welcomed Grenell, was the author of an anti-trans youth bill that would have required California public schools to Out trans kids to their parents or guardians. The bill was killed in committee.

Responding to Wiener, Grenell told Wiener: “ ou are an apologist for pedophilia & child abuse - and you undermine American values.”

The Los Angeles Times reported that Grenell’s visit to the state Capitol came on the same day that the California Assembly approved ACA , which, if approved by voters, would repeal a section of the state constitution that states that marriage is between a man and woman.

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Megyn Kelly is joined by RIC GRENELL on April 4, 2023.

(Screenshot/YouTube Megyn Kelly Show)

Los Angeles Mayor KAREN BASS, (Centre) with IMELDA PADILLA (Mayor’s Left) at San Fernando Pride, June 24, 2023

(Photo Credit: Imelda Padilla for Los Angeles City Council District 6/Facebook)

2023 greater Los Angeles homeless count shows a 10% increase

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) released the results of the point-in-time count which reported “a rise in homelessness on any given night in Los Angeles County to an estimated , people and a 0 rise in the City of Los Angeles to an estimated , 0 people.”

The count is the most recent conducted between anuary - , which LAHSA noted in its report: “While this year’s increases are slightly lower than previous yearover-year increases in the homeless count, they continue a steady growth trend of people experiencing homelessness in the annual Point-in-Time Count.”

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Traci Park reacted saying in a release:

“These numbers underscore the alarming reality that homelessness continues to be at a crisis point, requiring immediate, focused, and empathetic action. As a Venice resident, I experience the impact of this crisis first hand every day. This issue is why my district called for new leadership and what drove me to public o ce.”

“Since taking o ce, my team and I, in collaboration with the Mayor, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), and other service providers, have successfully transitioned over 00 unhoused individuals into interim housing, but we acknowledge there is much more to be done.”

“We need to face the fact that homelessness is a multifaceted issue and often intertwined with other crises such as addiction and mental health.

Today’s numbers show that 30 of the unhoused population self-reported substance use disorder, and self-reported serious mental illness. And yet, we are not adequately investing in recovery housing or addiction treatment. We need our State and County partners to step up with the right kind of interventions and services to get at these very serious problems that contribute to the homelessness crisis.”

Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath in an emailed statement also weighed in the LAHSA report:

“Today’s announcement confirms why we are in a state of emergency: more Angelenos continue falling into homelessness than we are able to house. Over the last six months, we have proven that our unified approach is connecting more people to housing and services. Now we must address the root causes of homelessness by investing in families working to make housing more affordable and, most importantly, keep people in the places they already call home.”

The count found some regions in Los Angeles County see significant increases in homelessness, including the Westside, Eastside and Harbor area. At the same time, homelessness in the South L.A. region declined, the re-

port noted.

Los Angeles Mayor aren Bass noted in her statement that “the challenge before us is vast, but we will continue to work with urgency to bring Angelenos inside.”

“We must sustain our momentum by locking arms with leaders at every level of government as we confront this crisis as the emergency that it is. Lives depend on it,” the mayor stressed.

“These results are disappointing,” Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair anice Hahn said in a statement. “It is frustrating to have more people fall into homelessness even as we are investing hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars and resources into efforts to bring people inside. I appreciate the cities that have stepped up and supported solutions, but these numbers prove that solutions-oriented cities are too few and far between.

“I hold out hope that the new partnership between the county and city of Los Angeles will make a difference and help us more effectively address this crisis. 0 3 needs to be a watershed year for us where we turn these trends around,” Hahn added.

The annual count began in 0 to provide the county with analysis and trends of people experiencing homelessness, and to provide a blueprint for distributing homelessness program funds.

LA BLADE STAFF

Thousands of LA hotel workers strike as July 4 holiday begins

LOS ANGELES - Thousands of workers at hotels across Los Angeles County o cially walked off the job on Sunday, launching a labor strike demanding they receive higher wages and better benefits.

Maria Hernandez, a IBEW Local union organizer and spokesperson told reporters: “Thousands of cooks, servers, housekeepers, bellmen, front desk agents walked off the job in the

largest hotel strike in our Local’s history.”

Nearly of the Unite Here Local membership had voted to walk-off the job as the current contract expired at :0 a.m. Saturday without progress in talks over the union’s demands for wage increases to offset the accelerated housing costs in Southern California.

The union also was asking for

family healthcare and resta ng to bring up the workforce to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels.

The Westin Bonaventure Hotel  Suites in downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) had reached a negotiated agreement with Unite Here Local this past Wednesday. The hotels impacted by the walk-out include The Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica, and in DTLA the Intercontinental, The Ritz Carlton and Millennium Biltmore.

Hotel o cials previously told reporters their facilities will remain open with management and other nonunion staff filling in the event that the union strike materialized.

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Arizona Governor issues order banning conversion therapy

PHOENI - Arizona Governor atie Hobbs signing an executive order Tuesday banning the dangerous and discredited practice of conversion therapy. With the signing of this executive order, Arizona is now the th state in the country to enact protections against the practice of conversion therapy.

Hobbs also signed an executive order to ensure the state employee health care plan covers medically-necessary gender-a rming surgery.

“Our LGBTQ+ community should never have to face hate and discrimination, and I will do everything in my power to fight for full equality,” said Governor Hobbs. “The State is leading by example on this issue, and we will continue working until Arizona is a place where every individual can participate equally in our economy and our workforce without fear of discrimination or exclusion.”

As outlined in the Executive Order restricting conversion

therapy, State Agencies will implement policies to actively protect LGBTQ+ minors from the harmful effects of conversion therapy and ensure public funds are not spent on these dangerous practices.

The American Psychological Association found that conversion therapy contributes to increased risk of suicide, depression, and substance use throughout an individual’s life. Additionally, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has determined that conversion therapy should not be a part of any behavioral health treatment.

“Equality Arizona is excited to see Governor Hobbs take bold executive action to protect the LGBTQ+ community,” said eanne Woodbury, Interim Executive Director for Equality Arizona. “Protecting Arizonans from fraudulent and harmful treatment is exactly what we elect our statewide leaders to accomplish, and taking action against con-

therapy is long overdue.”

version

One of the thousands of union hotel workers now on strike in Los Angeles County.

Arizona Governor KATIE HOBBS is shown signing legislation in this le hoto Photo Cre it O ce of the ri ona Go ernor atie o s

Pickle on activism, art of drag, & being the 1st WeHo Drag Laureate

By PAULO

WEST HOLLYWOOD - Pickle  is the City of West Hollywood’s inaugural Drag Laureate.She is a powerhouse host, performer, and community activist who can sing and make people laugh. She has been performing in drag professionally for eight years and has collaborated with many people and organizations to bring drag into people’s lives.

In this exclusive WEHO TIMES interview, she spills the tea on the genesis of Pickle, her work for the city of West Hollywood’s Drag Story Hour, the current criminalization of Drag, and what we can expect from her as the City s very first Drag Laureate.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Los Angeles! Tinseltown! Right in the Miracle Mile, and then in a small neighborhood called Country Club Park right over in Koreatown. I saw the Lord of the Rings AND the Harry Potter movies at the Grove, and I remember when there was an FAO Schwarz there. My first date was to see Tristan Und Isolde at the Music Center, and I fell asleep (it was 5 1/2 hours long).

What’s your connection to the City of West Hollywood?

I have partnered with the City on Drag Story Hour for a few years now, so I had that working relationship directly with the city. But I also got my professional start at Flaming Saddles, where I performed at first as a guest in their drag show, and then gradually over the course of about three years, worked my way up to being the mainstay host of all their drag shows every weekend! I was very sad to see Saddles close, as it had such an enormous part in my growth as a performer and as an Emcee. It was at Saddles that I started to sing in drag, and the consistency of that audience gave me the opportunity to really build my signature style as a host and entertainer. I owe them a large debt and hope they’re having fun in NYC.

What is the genesis of Pickle?

I had dabbled in drag in high school and college but hadn’t really settled on a name or like, a point of view. Then once I got back to Los Angeles (I went to school in New York), I decided drag was actually the artwork I wanted to pursue; it was the art form I saw the most creative potential in, and it interested me the most. I am and always have been an advocate for interdisciplinary study and creating, and because drag is so new to the public discourse, it has the fewest rules and lends itself to that kind of flexibility.

How did you come up with the name?

Growing up in LA, my stepmom and I had the same In-N-Out order, which was a number 2 with no onions and extra pickles. So I kind of pulled from that. Also, Hedda Lettuce was a big inspiration for me when I started doing drag, so I also wanted to pay homage to her in a subtle way.

How has Pickle evolved since the early years?

Nope! I haven’t grown or changed at all. I’ve learned nothing and am not interested in getting better, thank you—Yes!

A thousand times yes! Every year I look back on the work I did the previous year and think, WOW, I’ve come a really long way. And although that can be challenging (I can be very self-critical, believe it or not), it also encourages me because I think it’s so important to be constantly evolving. I have always kept the same point of view and am always building on the same foundation, so the evolution of Pickle I like to think has always felt natural and organic. But definitely, I’ve learned how to make my own costumes, I’ve learned how to sing, I’ve learned how to ACTUALLY sing, I’ve started working with live music, and now I work with multiple instruments. Most importantly, I ve discovered the heart of what’s important to me, which is connecting to the people in the audience, interacting with them, and making them laugh.

What do you enjoy most about Pickle?

I’ll say that I think Pickle has unlocked many doors in my life. I never thought I was a good singer, I never thought that I would be any kind of children’s entertainer, and I never thought I would be a community leader. I just knew that I wanted to perform or create, and Pickle gave shape to that desire. Pickle has sort of given me permission to be my best self and given me an outlet that just keeps challenging me and satiating my creative appetite.

Thinking back to those early years, did you ever imagine drag would one day be criminalized?

I’ve never felt that drag is controversial. I think people make it controversial because it’s an easy way to rile up conservatives and certain voter bases. I think it would be pretty naive, given the gerrymandered and incredibly fluid nature of our political system, to believe that this kind of criminalization was not possible. The government in this country has time and time again found a way to criminalize marginalized communities—from the “war on drugs” resulting in an utterly tragic number of innocent Black people behind bars, to the public, untried executions of innocent Black citizens by police, to the criminalization of sex work, to abuses of innocent migrants. These are all evidence of a political structure that makes it possible to leverage institutions against groups of people on the whims of not even the people in power but the voters they are trying to rally. So I’ve always imagined that these kinds of scenarios are possible.

With today’s political climate attacking drag, are you ever concerned for your safety?

I probably should be more concerned, but I think that’s what makes me well-positioned for my work with Story Hour. I’ll have moments where I get nervous or where I have a very real thought of “wow, I could be killed RIGHT NOW,” but mostly I’ve accepted that there’s going to be a level of danger in the work that I do, and that it’s just too important to back down from. It’s bigger than me.

What prompted you to apply for the Laureate title?

I was so excited by the idea of being able to expand my work

not only as an individual artist but as an advocate for the art form as a whole. I knew that the title and the resources would give me the opportunity to more formally connect myself and my fellows to bigger and better opportunities.

What was your reaction when you learned you won the title?

I was incredibly relieved. I was almost a little embarrassed to admit to myself how badly I wanted it, and so I had done a lot of mental and spiritual work around accepting the outcome either way. I think the downside of that is that my reaction, win or lose, was kind of neutral at first I genuinely had a vested interest in the position itself more than me having it, but now I’m getting back to that excitement I had initially when I filled out the application and thought, “wow, this could be me!”

What does the title mean to you?

The title represents the dignity and attention that I feel drag deserves. On a personal level, it represents the work that I’ve put into my drag and my performances over the last nine or so years and the path that I’ve been carving out for my unique brand and style. I have never been someone who fit neatly into a box in entertainment and art, and so this is a really fun new challenge that has actually made me feel so much better about that. Today, I am proud that I’ve worked outside the norms to make a career that I can be proud of.

What do you say to your detractors both in and out of the LGBTQ community?

I say get a hobby! It’s impossible to be a public figure without detractors, so it really doesn t bother me. Just part of the job.

What’s up on the agenda as West Hollywood’s first Drag Laureate?

Well, first, I want to work on making the installation event on July 16th at 3pm in West Hollywood Park memorable and fun for the community and for me! Luckily, with Pride season coming to a close, I have lots of time over the next two weeks leading up to the event, both to work on it, and to focus on putting together an action plan for my work, including the fun part, which is going to be deciding what my style journey is going to be. I haven’t had time in the last two months to sew and create much in the way of fashion, and I want my style to reflect the joy and power of the title.

How do we find you on social media?

@pickledragqueen andwww.pickledragqueen.com

“I’ve never felt that drag is controversial. I think people make it controversial because it’s an easy way to rile up conservatives”

MURILLO

PICKLE Distributing Narcan kits in West Hollywood.

(Photo Credit: WEHO TIMES)

Protesters check-out all LGBTQ+ books in Pride library display

SAN DIEGO COUNTY - Two women have mounted a protest against the Pride Month display at the Rancho Peñasquitos Library in Inland San Diego County by checking out every book in the display, many only single copies held by the library.

The San Diego Union-Tribune  reported that Rancho Peñasquitos residents Amy Vance and Martha Martin, told head librarian Misty Jones that libraries are open, public spaces for children that should be free of references to gender identity and how adults experience sexual attraction.

“Minor children have the right to belong to a community that respects their innocence and allows families to have conversations about sex and sexual attraction privately, and only when parents deem it appropriate,” Vance and Martin wrote in a June 15 email to Jones after checking out the books in the Pride display.

“Displays such as the one at Rancho Peñasquitos send a powerful message that LGBTQ+ patrons and their allies are respected members of our community,” Jones wrote back to the pair. “They also serve to encourage conversations and dispel misconceptions and stereotypes that often surround the LGBTQ+ community.”

Jones added the display should not be viewed as the library endorsing one group over another.

“Pride displays are much like other displays that recognize other cultures, holidays or causes so that we can recognize the experiences of others and have a more inclusive and equitable society,” she said. “We are proud of our position in encouraging members of our community to learn, grow and celebrate our differences.”

Book bans have increasing become a source of contention across the nation as so-called family conservative groups, including Florida-based Moms for Liberty, which has been designated an extremist anti-LGBTQ+ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, battle to get books they deem offensive and inappropriate for minors removed from school libraries and placed in restricted areas of public libraries inaccessible to minors.

The two women responded to Jones writing: “It’s time for the American public libraries to once again be a respectful space for young children to freely explore great ideas that unite and inspire us all, rather than places where controversial and divisive new ideological movements are given free rein to promote their theories and policy positions about sexuality to children without the consent or notification of parents.”

The Union Tribune also reported that San Diego Councilmember Marni von Wilpert, whose district includes Rancho Peñasquitos, said she is working with nonprofit and civic

groups to raise enough money to quickly replace the 14 books the protesters checked out.

They include The New Queer Conscience by Adam Eli, Rainbow Parade by Emily Neilson, Gay Rights by Tina Kafka, Goldenboy by Michael Nava, Wild Things by Karin Kallmaker and Pride: An Inspirational History of the LGBTQ+ Movement by Stella Caldwell.

The total replacement costs would be just over $235, according to head librarian Jones.

“I’m frankly shocked by this because eliminating LGBTQ content from libraries is what you might expect in Mississippi, but never here in San Diego,” von Wilpert said. “Denying others the right to read LGBTQ-a rming books is just another way of telling LGBTQ people they don’t belong — and that’s dead wrong. Everyone has the right to read what they want, but absolutely no one has the right to keep others from reading books that reflect their experiences and backgrounds.”

In a phone call with the Blade, a spokesperson for the Rancho Peñasquitos Library confirmed that the maximum number of books a patron can check out at a single time is 50. The Union-Tribune reported the city library system also gives patrons five automatic renewals, unless someone else has requested the book they have out.

If the protesters don’t return the books after five renewals, the matter will be forwarded to the collections division.

Hermosa Beach Pride event disrupted, police search for suspect

HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. - During a LGBTQ+ Pride Silent Disco Ball event on June 17th, 2023, at the Vista bar and grill at 11 Pier Avenue at approximately 9:45 PM, units from the Hermosa Beach Police Department responded to a call about an unknown subject throwing a firework into a crowd of people. In social media posts HBPD wrote that o cers spoke with the caller who told o cers the firework exploded in the middle of the crowd and frag-

ments of the firework hit multiple people. At this time, the injuries sustained are non-life threatening.

HBPD have asked for the public’s help in identifying the suspect. Anyone with information about the suspect or case is encouraged to contact detectives at the Hermosa Beach Police Department at 310-318-0360.

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Drag Queen Pickle is named inaugural Drag Laureate of WeHo

WEST HOLLYWOOD - The City Council of the City of West Hollywood, at its regular meeting on Monday, June 26, 2023, unanimously approved Pickle Drag Queen as the City’s inaugural Drag Laureate.

Pickle was selected through an application process with a selection committee comprised of members of the  City’s Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission. The public event for the Drag Laureate installation will take place on International Drag Day, Sunday, July 16, 2023 at 3 p.m. at West Hollywood Park, located at 647 N. San Vicente Boulevard.

“West Hollywood has been one of the centers of drag culture for decades,” said Councilmember Lauren Meister. “Drag performers are often a thrilling attraction at many of our restaurants and bars and West Hollywood’s drag performers take center stage in a wide range of our City’s arts and culture events. This year, we’ve witnessed conservative attacks on drag performers by those who seek to ban culture and expression. Plain and simple, this is a proxy for homophobia and such ‘drag bans’ attack LGBTQ people. I’m thrilled that West Hollywood’s Drag Laureate program will raise awareness about drag culture and I’m overjoyed to welcome Pickle as our inaugural Drag Laureate.”

Pickle is a powerhouse host, performer, and community ac-

tivist. She is a singing drag queen and comedienne who values education, community, and humor. She has been performing in drag professionally for eight years and has collaborated with many people and organizations to bring drag into people’s lives.

A Los Angeles native, she received her BA in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence College. Pickle has focused on blending education initiatives into her drag work and runs the LA chapter of Drag Story Hour. She has partnered with many organizations to present unique and dynamic drag programming. Pickle is dedicated to expanding drag as a medium both for herself and for the community.

She has appeared on television on NBC’s The Weakest Link, the Discovery Channel’s Dodgeball Thunderdome, and Tyler Perry’s Sistas. She collaborates regularly with live musicians to incorporate big-band sound into her performances and is committed to exploring new technologies for the art of drag, including artificial intelligence and virtual reality.

As West Hollywood Drag Laureate, Pickle will serve a term of two years from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2025. During the term, the Drag Laureate is expected to enhance the presence and appreciation of drag culture and arts in West Hollywood; promote partnerships with West Hollywood business and commu-

nity organizations; celebrate the spirit and special qualities of the City of West Hollywood and its residents; and inspire an emerging generation of drag artists by celebrating and promoting drag history.

The Drag Laureate will work with City staff to serve as an ambassador for West Hollywood. Pickle will attend approximately 15 events throughout the year, including WeHo Pride and West Hollywood Day. The City will also organize a yearly event to celebrate drag history, promote West Hollywood drag culture, and invite the West Hollywood community to attend.

Recently, the City of San Francisco announced its inaugural San Francisco Drag Laureate, D’Arcy Drollinger, and it is anticipated that West Hollywood and San Francisco will work together to share best practices and ideas to enhance Drag Laureate programs.

The West Hollywood Drag Laureate program provides a $12,500 honorarium each year, and a $2,500 stipend for the annual City drag event, totaling $15,000 per year.

Editor’s Note: For more information about Pickle, visit www. pickledragqueen.com

The preceding article  was previously published by WeHo Times and is republished with permission.

BRODY LEVESQUE

Rancho Peñasquitos Library, San Diego

(Photo Credit: Rancho Peñasquitos Library/Facebook)

e eral e locks ennessee trans o th healthcare an

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A federal judge has blocked enforcement of a Tennessee law banning gender-a rming healthcare care for trans youth up to age while several families’ legal challenge against the law proceeds in court.

United States District Court udge Eli Richardson in his sixty-nine page ruling granted the request for a preliminary injunction against the law, SB , in a lawsuit brought by Samantha and Brian Williams of Nashville and their -yearold daughter, as well as two other anonymous families and Dr. Susan N. Lacy.

The law would prohibit medical providers from providing gender-a rming health care to transgender youth and would require trans youth currently receiving gender-affirming care to end that care within nine months of the law’s effective date of uly , 0 3, or by March 3 , 0 .

Richardson wrote in his conclusion:

“The Court realizes that today’s decision will likely stoke the already controversial fire regarding the rights of transgender individuals in American society on the one hand, and the countervailing power of states to control certain activities within their borders and to use that power to protect minors.

The Court, however, does not stand alone in its decision. As repeatedly emphasized above, several federal courts across the country have been confronted with laws that mirror SB in material respects. To the Court’s knowledge, every court to consider preliminarily enjoining a ban on

gender-a rming care for minors has found that such a ban is likely unconstitutional. And at least one federal court has found such a ban to be unconstitutional at final judgment.”

The lawsuit was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Tennessee, Lambda Legal, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer Feld LLP.

“This is a critical victory for transgender youth, their families, and their medical providers across the state,” said  oshua Block, Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ HIV Project. “Across the country, we’re seeing a clear and unanimous rejection of these laws as unconstitutional, openly discriminatory, and a danger to the very youth they claim to protect.”

“Today’s ruling acknowledges the dangerous implications of this law and protects the freedom to access vital, life-saving healthcare for trans youth and their families while our challenge proceeds,” said Lucas Cameron-Vaughn, ACLU of Tennessee staff attorney. “This law is an intrusion upon the rights and lives of Tennessee families and threatens the futures of trans youth across the state. We are determined to continue fighting this unconstitutional law until it is struck down for good. And to trans youth and their families: we see you, and we will not stop until all trans Tennesseans have the care and support they need to thrive.”

Tennessee’s is the sixth ban on gender-a rming care blocked by a federal court following similar rulings in Arkansas, Alabama, and Florida, and entucky. The ACLU and

the ACLU of Oklahoma  secured a binding non-enforcement agreement with the Attorney General of Oklahoma preventing enforcement of that state’s ban in May 0 3. On une , 0 3, the ACLU and the ACLU of Indiana were granted a preliminary injunction in a legal challenge against Indiana’s ban on gender-a rming care.

BRODY LEVESQUE

e eral e locks ent ck trans o th healthcare an

LOUISVILLE, KY - A federal judge on Wednesday issued preliminary injunction against Kentucky’s ban on gender-a rming care for minors, Senate Bill 0.

In his fifteen page ruling, United States District Court udge David . Hale wrote: “After careful consideration, the Court finds that Plaintiffs have shown a strong likelihood of success on the merits of their constitutional challenges to SB 0 and otherwise meet the requirements for preliminary injunctive relief.”

In late March, both chambers of the Kentucky Legislature voted to override Governor Andy Beshear’s veto on Senate Bill 0, a sweeping bill that would severely restrict the lives of trans youth in the state.

The law as enacted:

• ans en er a rmin me ical care, incl in treatments that ela ert , other forms of hor mone thera an s r er , for trans an non ina r eo le n er ears ol

• e ires re okin the licenses of octors who ro i e s ch ser ices

• ells lic schools to lock trans st ents from sin athrooms an locker rooms that match their en er i entit

• llows lic school teachers to mis en er trans st ents

• Pre ents lic schools from allowin e cational resentations that st en er i entit or se al

orientation

The minor plaintiffs are three transgender boys and four transgender girls who live in entucky. Six are “currently receiving” treatments that would be banned under SB 0 while the seventh “anticipates needing to receive” those

treatments when she begins puberty.

There had been considerable public outcry as after the entucky Legislature overrode Beshear’s veto.

In an emailed statement to the Blade last March, Fairness Campaign Executive Director Chris Hartman reflected on the Assembly’s actions:

“While we lost the battle in the legislature, our defeat is temporary. We will not lose in court. And we are winning in so many other ways. Thousands of entucky kids came to the Capitol today to make their voices heard against the worst anti-trans bill in the nation. They are our hope for a Kentucky future that is more fair, more just, and more beautifully diverse and accepting than ever before.

I applaud the brave protesters who stood their ground in the entucky House gallery today before being removed by entucky State Troopers. Their chants and pain were heard by all in the chamber and were a necessary show of the grief and harm Senate Bill 0 will cause. Transgender children and their families in entucky are scared, rightfully so. We will do all we can to ensure they can continue to access the life-saving medical care they deserve.”

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, the group wrote: “ udge issues preliminary injunction against Senate Bill 0’s gender-a rming care ban hours before the law is set to take effect Thank you, ACLU of entucky, for suing on behalf of Trans kids families ”

BRODY LEVESQUE

Protestors rall in front of ent ck State Ca itol il in rior to otes on S last arch , Photo Cre it airness Cam ai n

Secretar tti ie on air tra c SCO S anti G r lin

TRAVERSE CITY, MI. - U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told “Face the Nation” moderator and CBS News senior foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan Sunday that the nation has the “most complex national airspace in the world,” but acknowledges “there are things we can do to manage it more e ciently.”

Brennan had pressed the Transportation Secretary on ongoing delay issues and the need for more air tra c controllers.

Pivoting to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Friday that granted Lorie Smith, a Colorado web site designer, the ability to discriminate against LGBTQ+ couples over her religious objections and free speech issues for artistic expression based on her being Christian, Brennan asked for Buttigieg’s take. The Secretary said “there’s no evidence” the web designer in the Supreme Court case on LGBTQ rights “was ever even approached by a same-sex couple looking for services.”

“We’re seeing more and more...circumstances that are designed to...chip away at rights,” he added.

Buttigieg was referring to The New Republic report published earlier this past week, that part of the evidence submitted in the lawsuit of  303 Creative v. Elenis, references a

purportedly gay customer who sought the services of plaintiff Lorie Smith, but who may not exist.

been happily married (to a woman) for the last 15 years. I have never contacted Lorie Smith about making a website,” he said on Thursday. “The first I have heard about my name and contact details being referenced in this case was yesterday when Melissa reached out.”

Chris Wolpert, the clerk for the United States 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is located in Denver, told Colorado Politics the appellate court’s rules state that lawyers, by signing and submitting legal briefs, are certifying to the best of their knowledge that their “factual contentions or denials are supported in the record.»

“In general, the court has the discretion to initiate disciplinary action and or impose sanctions sua sponte,” meaning on its own, Wolpert said.

The circuit’s rules also allow for discipline if a lawyer’s conduct violates the code of professional conduct adopted by the state Supreme Court. One such requirement is that lawyers not offer evidence known to be false.

On une 30, Colorado Politics magazine, in confirming the New Republic’s reporting, published a story that detailed that the purportedly gay customer was also contacted by Colorado Politics and said, verifying the account said: “I have

The Southern Poverty Law Center listed hate and extremist legal group, The Alliance Defending Freedom, represented Lorie Smith in the case.

Bill banning LGBTQ panic defense introduced in Congress

WASHINGTONU.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) introduced legislation on Monday that would prohibit all U.S. federal courts from allowing use of the LGBTQ panic defense, a legal tactic that has been banned in 16 states and D.C.

In criminal trials involving violent crimes against LGBTQ people, the so-called “gay panic,” “trans-panic,” or more broadly, “LGBTQ panic” defense is raised to argue for more lenient sentencing or otherwise in an attempt to lessen the defendant’s culpability in the eyes of a judge or jury.

These types of arguments, which are widely considered outdated and offensive, both exploit and work to perpetuate homophobia and transphobia in the criminal justice system, the lawmakers said in a press release Monday announcing their bill.

Markey and Pappas noted LGBTQ panic defenses have been used in criminal law for decades, perhaps most famously after the 1998 murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard. During trial, counsel for the defense argued their client was triggered by an unwanted sexual advance by Shepard.

The case would galvanize calls to take action against bias-motivated violence, eventually leading to Congress’s passage in 2009 of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd

Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

Nevertheless, use of LGBTQ panic defenses has persisted. The lawmakers noted a prominent recent example with the 2019 prosecution of the man who murdered 17-year-old Washington teen Nikki Kuhnhausenthe. Law enforcement noted during trial that the defendant was “shocked,” “uncomfortable” and “disturbed” upon learning Kuhnhausenthe was transgender.

The LGBTQ panic defense “is not only antiquated, but actively legitimizes violence against the LGBTQ+ community and encourages homophobic and transphobic bigotry within our legal system,” Markey said.

“No one’s sexual orientation or gender identity is a defense for assault or murder,” Pappas said, “and it is time Congress follows the lead of states that have already banned this defense in their courts.”

The lawmakers also highlighted the pervasive problem of violent crimes targeting LGBTQ people, highlighting statistics compiled by the country’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization, the Human Rights Campaign.

HRC has recorded more than 256 cases of fatal violence against trans Americans, more than 80 percent of whom were people of color. Last year, according to the organization, at least 38 trans people were killed in the U.S., the majority of whom were trans women of color.

Markey also introduces gender a rming care ill

Also on Monday, Markey introduced the Gender A rming Care Access Research for Equity (CARE) Act, a bill that would authorize federal health authorities to research barriers to gender a rming health treatments and study the consequences of gaps and disparities to access.

The legislation would provide for the annual allocation

of million over five years for the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It comes in response to efforts by lawmakers in conservative states to restrict their trans residents’ access to medically necessary care, Markey noted, with 20 states passing bans targeting youth so far this year.

“Trans health is health, and health care is a human right,” he said. “We have a moral obligation to protect, defend, and expand the fundamental right for transgender and nonbinary people to get the care they need despite the tremendous legal, financial, and social barriers they too often face when accessing their health care.”

According to a press release from Markey’s o ce, cosponsors for the bill include Democratic Sens. Alex Padilla (Calif.), Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Peter Welch (Vt.) and eff Merkley (Ore.)

At the end of March, Markey introduced the Trans Bill of Rights with U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), whose provisions include ensuring the community’s access to necessary medical care. The same day, Markey and other Democratic senators sent a letter urging President Joe Biden to shore up federal protections for trans Americans’ access to gender a rming care and health providers administering this care who are “facing threats of violence and limits on their ability to provide care.”

Additionally, last year the Massachusetts senator issued a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, urging them to “lift barriers to testosterone and expand access to gender-affirming hormone therapy for transgender people, including transgender men and transmasculine nonbinary people.”

CHRISTOPHER KANE

BRODY LEVESQUE

Secretary PETE BUTTIGIEG isc sses air tra c an the anti G r lin from SCO S ri a Screenshot o e C S ews ace he ation

arke , Pa as seek to an G anic efense

U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) introduced legislation on Monday that would prohibit all U.S. federal courts from allowing use of the LGBTQ panic defense, a legal tactic that has been banned in states and D.C.

In criminal trials involving violent crimes against LGBTQ people, the so-called “gay panic,” “trans-panic,” or more broadly, “LGBTQ panic” defense is raised to argue for more lenient sentencing or otherwise in an attempt to lessen the defendant’s culpability in the eyes of a judge or jury.

These types of arguments, which are widely considered outdated and offensive, both exploit and work to perpetuate homophobia and transphobia in the criminal justice system, the lawmakers said in a press release Monday announcing their bill.

Markey and Pappas noted LGBTQ panic defenses have been used in criminal law for decades, perhaps most famously after the murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard. During trial, counsel for the defense argued their client was triggered by an unwanted sexual advance by Shepard.

The case would galvanize calls to take action against

bias-motivated violence, eventually leading to Congress’s passage in 00 of the Matthew Shepard and ames Byrd r. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

Nevertheless, use of LGBTQ panic defenses has persisted. The lawmakers noted a prominent recent example with the 0 prosecution of the man who murdered -yearold Washington teen Nikki uhnhausenthe. Law enforcement noted during trial that the defendant was “shocked,” “uncomfortable” and “disturbed” upon learning uhnhausenthe was transgender.

The LGBTQ panic defense “is not only antiquated, but actively legitimizes violence against the LGBTQ+ community and encourages homophobic and transphobic bigotry within our legal system,” Markey said.

“No one’s sexual orientation or gender identity is a defense for assault or murder,” Pappas said, “and it is time Congress follows the lead of states that have already banned this defense in their courts.”

The lawmakers also highlighted the pervasive problem of violent crimes targeting LGBTQ people, highlighting statistics compiled by the country’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization, the Human Rights Campaign.

HRC has recorded more than cases of fatal violence against trans Americans, more than 0 percent of whom were people of color. Last year, according to the organization, at least 3 trans people were killed in the U.S., the majority of whom were trans women of color.

CHRISTOPHER KANE

S reme Co rt r les a ainst rmati e ction

In a historic decision, the Supreme Court severely limited, if not effectively ended, the use of a rmative action in college admissions on Thursday.

By a vote of -3, the justices ruled that the admissions programs used by the University of North Carolina and Harvard College violate the Constitution’s equal protection clause, which bars racial discrimination by government entities.

Writing for the majority, Chief ustice ohn Roberts explained that college admissions programs can consider race merely to allow an applicant to explain how their race influenced their character in a way that would have a concrete effect on the university. But a student “must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual not on the basis of race,” Roberts wrote. The majority effectively, though not explicitly, overruled its 003 decision in Grutter v. Bollinger, in which the court upheld the University of Michigan Law School’s consideration of race “as one factor among many, in an effort to assemble a student body that is diverse in ways broader than race.”

ustice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, in an opinion that was joined by ustices Elena agan and etanji Brown ackson. Sotomayor emphasized that the majority’s decision had rolled “back decades of precedent and momentous progress” and “cement ed a superficial rule of colorblindness as a constitutional principle in an endemically segregated society.”

Thursday’s ruling was the latest in a series of challenges to the role of race in university admissions. In both the North Carolina and Harvard cases, the plaintiffs had asked the justices to overrule Grutter. In her opinion for the majority in that case, ustice Sandra Day O’Connor rea rmed that “student body diversity is a compelling state interest that can justify the use of race in university admissions,” but she warned that race-conscious admissions policies should not last forever. In years, she suggested, “the use of racial

preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest” in diversity.

Eleven years after the court’s decision in Grutter, a group called Students for Fair Admissions filed the North Carolina and Harvard cases in federal court. The group was founded by Edward Blum, a conservative activist who had also spearheaded a challenge to the admissions policy at the University of Texas at Austin as well as to Shelby County v. Holder, the 0 3 case that narrowed the Voting Rights Act.

After the lower courts upheld both North Carolina’s and Harvard’s admissions policies, Blum’s group came to the Supreme Court, where it asked the justices to overrule their decision in Grutter and bar the consideration of race in university admissions altogether. The court that agreed to take up both cases last year was a very different, and much more conservative, court than the one that had upheld the UT-Austin policy seven years before. ustice Anthony ennedy, the author of the UT-Austin decision, retired in 0 and was replaced by ustice Brett avanaugh, while ustice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was succeeded by ustice Amy Coney Barrett.

In a 0-page opinion that addressed both the Harvard and UNC cases, Roberts emphasized that the Supreme Court had only allowed universities to use race-based admissions programs “within the confines of narrow restrictions.” But the Harvard and UNC programs, “however well intentioned and implemented in good faith,” Roberts explained, do not comply with those restrictions.

Both programs, Roberts began, consider race as part of their admissions program for commendable goals, such as “training future leaders in the public and private sector” and “promoting the robust exchange of ideas.” But those goals are too vague for courts to measure, Roberts reasoned.

The programs also use race in a “negative” manner, Roberts next explained, despite the Supreme Court’s admonition

that “an individual’s race may never be used against him in the admissions process.”

Finally, Roberts observed, the Harvard and UNC programs lacked the “logical end point” suggested by Grutter: Both Harvard and UNC acknowledged that their programs do not have a “sunset” date. Indeed, Roberts noted, “UNC suggests that it might soon use race to a greater extent than it currently does.”

Roberts stressed that the court’s decision did not bar universities from ever considering race on a case-by-case basis. Schools, he indicated, can consider “an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.” But programs like the ones used by Harvard and UNC, he complained, have “concluded, wrongly, that the touchstone of an individual’s identity is not challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned but the color of their skin. Our constitutional history does not tolerate that choice.”

The majority’s decision left the door open for service academies like the U.S. Naval Academy and West Point to continue to use, at least for now, race-conscious admissions programs.

Sotomayor’s -page dissent emphasized that the “limited use of race” by colleges and universities “has helped equalize educational opportunities for all students of every race and background and has improved racial diversity on college campuses.” “Although progress has been slow and imperfect,” she wrote, “race-conscious college admissions have advanced the Constitution’s guarantee of equality and have promoted” Brown v. Board of Education’s “vision of a Nation with more inclusive schools.” “The devastating impact of” Thursday’s decision, she concluded, “cannot be overstated.”

(The preceding article by AMY HOWE  a p bli hed by T log and i rep bli hed ith per i ion

U.S. Sen. EDWARD MARKEY ashin ton la e le hoto ichael a ers

Happy Pride from Equality California!

We're invoking the spirit of change and community inspired by some of the very earliest LGBTQ+ civil rights protests, including those at Compton's Cafeteria in San Francisco in 1966 and at The Black Cat in Los Angeles in 1967, both key moments in LGBTQ+ civil rights history that pre-date the watershed uprising at the Stonewall Inn in 1969.

With an onslaught of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation sweeping the country — bills seeking to ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender people, prevent trans youth from playing school sports, and ban drag performances among others — it's more important than ever that we come together to both celebrate our identities and speak out against attempts to discriminate.

See you at Pride!

MAKE SURE YOU ORDER OUR 2023 PRIDE TEE–USE CODE ROL23 AT CHECKOUT FOR $5 OFF! shop.eqca.org

Hate motivated stabbing attack left 3 injured at Ontario university

WATERLOO, Ontario, Canada - A -year-old man has been arrested and charged after he allegedly stabbed three people in a philosophy class at the University of Waterloo on Wednesday afternoon, in what police are calling a hate-motivated attack based on gender expression and identity in the college town approximately 70 miles west of Toronto, Canada.

Geovanny Villalba-Aleman allegedly entered a 0-person Philosophy class, asked the professor about the subject of the class, and then attacked her with two large knives. Two students, a 19-year old man and a 20-year old woman, were also injured when they tried to intervene. All were taken to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

The class, “Philosophy 202: Gender Issues” is described in the University of Waterloo course calendar as a “Philosophical analysis of issues relating to sex/gender.” It says students will explore questions like: “What, if anything, is the difference between sex and gender? How much of a role do facts about biology play in our ideas about sex and gender? How many sexes are there? What ethical issues arise for us in vir-

tue of our gender?”

Villalba-Aleman, an international student from Ecuador who recently graduate from the university, has been charged with three counts of aggravated assault, four counts of assault with a weapon, two counts of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and mischief under $5,000. He remains in police custody.

Friends of Villalba-Aleman say he struggled to make friends and rarely spoke up except to talk about how much he disliked LGBTQ people and Pride events

of the attack.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denounced the attack on Twitter, calling it “horrifying and unacceptable.”

“The fact that the stabbings at the University of Waterloo were hate-motivated is absolutely despicable. I strongly condemn this vile act. It is another reminder that we can never let misogynistic, anti-2SLGBTQI+ rhetoric escalate – because these words have real-life consequences,” Trudeau says.

The attack comes amid an alarming rise in threatening and intimidating protests against the queer and trans communities in Canada, but police believe the attacker was working alone.

Waterloo

Regional Police Chief Mark Crowell told a press conference that investigators are treating the attack as a “planned and targeted attack motivated by hate related to gender and expression gender identity.”

“It is both sad and disturbing that this attack has occured during pride month,” he says. “We hope that this attack does not diminish from these celebrations, but instead encourages us all to come together to continue to celebrate and continue to inspire love over hate.”

Hundreds attended a rally against hate Thursday afternoon on the university quad to attempt to heal the trauma

Statistics Canada has reported a spike in hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation, with 3 hate crimes recorded in 0 , up from a previous peak of in 0 .

Canada added protections for “gender identity or expression” to its hate crime laws in 0 .

While attacks on schools are relatively rare in Canada, one of the deadliest mass murders in Canadian history took place at the École Polytechnique in Montreal in 1989, when women were murdered in an engineering class, claiming that he was “fighting feminism.” The attack is commemorated annually in Canada as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

ROB SALERNO

Nepal legalizes same-sex marriage, as prospects advance globally

KATHMANDU, Nepal - The Supreme Court of Nepal ordered the government to begin registering same-sex marriages on Wednesday, June 28, making the Himalayan nation of 30 million people the second country in Asia where same-sex marriage is legal.

The order is the culmination of a fifteen-year-long battle for equal marriage that began shortly after the country’s transition to democracy in 2007. That year, laws criminalizing sodomy were repealed, and the Supreme Court ordered the new government to change all laws that discriminate against LGBTI people.

Nevertheless, while the new government passed a new constitution in 2015 that explicitly forbade discrimination against gender and sexual minorities, it never passed laws to allow same-sex marriage.

The courts in recent years have gradually opened up rights for same-sex couples since then, and in March, the Supreme Court ordered the government to pass legislation for same-sex marriage.

With the government not moving to pass same-sex marriage legislation, seven individuals, including a representative of the country’s main LGBTI advocacy group, the Blue Diamond Society, filed a suit seeking an order to allow same-sex marriage.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court granted the order, instructing the government that it must register same-sex marriages immediately and until it passes legislation to recognize same-sex marriage.

“This order today from the Supreme Court is just and right because the Parliament can’t take forever to ensures citizens’ rights, equality and non-discrimination,” the Blue Diamond Society said in a press release announcing the

decision.

“This is very significant development as same-sex as well as third-genders and their partners can register their marriages. They will be entitled rights equal as heterosexual married couples. Parliament may take a while to pass the marriage equality law, but this order gives a very practical solution to members of sexual and gender minority communities who wish to register their marriage legally,” the press release said.

Marriage equality prospects also on the rise in Czechia and Thailand

Nepal isn’t the only country where same-sex marriage is advancing.

On Thursday, June 29, the Czech Parliament’s Chamber of Deputies narrowly voted to advance an equal mar-

riage bill to second reading. The bill will undergo a 120day hearing process in committee before returning to the Chamber for a final vote in the fall. The vote was - , but the final vote will likely be decided by the deputies who did not vote on the bill Thursday.

The deputies also voted to advance a bill that would amend the constitution to ban same-sex marriage, and that bill is now also before committees. Although it earned more support in the Chamber on Thursday, it may struggle to reach the three-fifths supermajority required to become part of the constitution.

Thailand may be the next country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage if Pita Limjaroenrat, whose Move Forward coalition won the largest number of seats in last month’s parliamentary election, can win the support of enough of the military-appointed Senators to secure his selection as Prime Minister when Parliament opens July 3. Limjaroenrat’s eight-party coalition has vowed to pass an equal marriage bill if it forms the government, as part of a suite of reforms for the Southeast Asian country.

India’s Supreme Court is also expected to rule in the coming months on several cases seeking the right to same-sex marriage that it heard in May.

And in the United States, a Navajo Nation legislator has introduced a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in the largest tribal jurisdiction in the country. Same-sex marriage has been explicitly illegal in the Navajo Nation since 2005. Bills to repeal the ban failed to pass at the Tribal Council last year, but legislators are hopeful that growing tolerance of LGBT people will improve the bill’s chances this year.

ROB SALERNO

Chief MARK CROWELL of the Waterloo Regional Police Service addresses reporters.

(Screenshot/YouTube CTV)

Entrance to the Supreme Court of Nepal (Photo Credit: Government of Nepal)

Transgender woman running to become Venezuela’s next president

CARACAS, Venezuela - Tamara Adrián less than two weeks ago registered as a presidential candidate in the Venezuelan primary, becoming the first openly transgender person in the world to make such a move.

The 69-year-old lawyer, university professor and LGBTQ and intersex rights defender is running to represent the Unidos por la Dignidad political movement and will have to compete with at least 10 other candidates in the country’s Oct. 22 primary.

“I am the first transgender in history to o cially run in a presidential election,” Adrián told the Blade.

Whoever wins the primary will have to compete against President Nicolás Maduro in 2024.

Adrián wants to be the person to confront Chavismo in her country.

“We have united all the parties and political forces in Venezuela, from the left to the right, with a common goal, which is to end the regime of Nicol s Maduro,” she explained to the Blade.  For her, it is very important to oust Maduro and help Venezuela get out of the humanitarian and economic crisis that is affecting millions of people in the South American country.

Many Venezuelans do not have any food in their homes. A lack of work, low salaries and poor access to health care has caused millions of them to migrate to other countries in search of a better life.

Discrimination and violence against LGBTQ and intersex Venezuelans remains commonplace, so Adrián’s candidacy affords visibility.

“I am proud to be who I am,” she said. “I want any LGBTQ person living in this hostile country to know that you can get ahead and even become a presidential candidate.”

“I say the things that no one says,” added Adrián, who noted this attribute sets her apart from her competitors and other Venezuelan politicians.

One of her main campaign promises will be to work for the inclusion of “people with disabilities, women, senior citizens, civil servants, LGBTIQ+ people, people of African descent, indigenous people, any group that, for whatever reason, has been or may be left behind.”

Venezuela’s last presidential election took place in 2018, and Venezuelans and the international community deemed them

illegal. This determination provoked the rise of interim President Juan Guaidó who the U.S. and dozens of other countries recognized as the country’s president.

Opposition leaders were imprisoned, exiled or disqualified from participating in the election and international observers were not in the country. The National Electoral Council said 46 percent of eligible voters participated in the election, which means more than half of the electorate did not vote.

“Effectively there are less and less voters in the elections and this has to do with the fact that people are losing confidence in the processes,” said Adrián. “There is a feeling that the results will be manipulated and not respected.”

She nevertheless stressed Venezuelans must keep trying and demanding transparency in their country’s political process in order for a united opposition can win elections democratically and focus on building a better future for the country.

“We know that the scenario is di cult but we are not going to lower our arms because we have to put an end to this crisis,” said Adrián. “We are going with everyone and for everyone.”

More than 180,000 people participate Pride march in Chilean capital

SANTIAGO, Chile — The Chilean capital’s annual Pride march took place on June 25 after organizers postponed them because of heavy rains that authorities have described as the worst in 30 years.

The weather front affected central and southern areas of Chile and caused floods that have affected a large part of the population. The march, however, was unexpectedly well-attended.

More than 180,000 people participated in the march the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation organized.

“We are very happy with this unexpected reception,” said Movilh spokesperson Javiera Zúñiga. “While it is true that Pride marches have always been massive, we expected a smaller turnout than in previous years because this time we had to postpone the parade for weather reasons. However, the opposite happened, since Pride 2023 became the most massive (one) that has been convened so far.”

Eleanor Berkenblit, a 21-year-old American woman from Sharon, Mass., who is studying in Chile, participated in a Pride parade for the first time in her life.

“I really enjoyed the march,” she told the Washington Blade. “I felt proud to be surrounded by people who looked like me, all dressed in colors with their flags and shouts of happiness. I was very excited to march, to be in community and to read the handwritten signs.”

March participants demanded Congress reform the country’s anti-discrimination law, known as the Zamudio law, and asked President Gabriel Boric’s government to support the creation of an institution that promotes and defends queer rights. They also demanded an end to violence against LGBTQ+ and intersex people in Chile, which has been on the rise over the last year.

An American tourist was recently the victim of a hate-moti-

vated attack in Puerto Varas, a city in southern Chile that is roughly 630 miles south of Santiago.

“I was attacked in Puerto Varas at gunpoint between 8 and 9 a.m. on June 18 on the train tracks near the Bellavista crossing, in the vicinity of Phillipi Park, by a guy I met on a dating app,” said the man on TikTok after saying the person who attacked him identified himself as Benjamin.

“I took the gun away from him, but he took it back and hit me in the face (…) definitely (the aggressor) has some wounds on the back of the head, as I was able to inflict some of that during my struggle. I have reported all this to  carabineros (the Chilean police),” he added.

Movilh, after speaking with the tourist and expressing its solidarity with him, sent his details to the U.S. Embassy in Santiago in order for them to provide further guidance and follow up with the investigations.

“Many people believe that after the approval of equal marriage and homoparental adoption, homo/transphobia ceased. However, they are wrong. In the last year, hate crimes have doubled,” said Ram n G mez, Movilh’s human rights o cer, in a speech during the Santiago Pride march.

The organizers said the large turnout “surprised” them, and said that it surpassed last year’s march, despite the cold and gray day in Santiago.

Several ambassadors participated in the march. Among them was Australian Ambassador to Chile Todd Mercer, who expressed his country’s commitment to the LGBTQ+ and intersex community. Ambassadors from Argentina, Denmark, the U.S., Finland, Ireland and Norway, among others, also attended.

Some parties within the governing coalition did not participate.

Fundación Iguales Executive Director María José Cumplido noted her disagreements with Boric’s government.

“We see with real concern that in more than a year of the current government we have not seen concrete advances in the rights of sexual and gender diversity in Chile,” said Cumplido. “Although we have had a good relationship with the Ministers of ustice and Foreign Affairs, there is a lack of an o cial interlocutor in these matters that we believe should be the Minister of Women and Gender Equality, who has been somewhat distant in the matter.”

Cumplido indicated her organization feels that “in addition to the reform of the Anti-Discrimination Law, we believe that the creation of an institutional framework that is housed in the Undersecretary of Human Rights is urgent, since the country needs to have an entity that is capable of preventing all types of discrimination in a transversal manner, not only that directed at LGBTI+ people, generating public policies that move towards the eradication of all types of violence.”

“Another of our focuses is to give immediate urgency to the José Matías Law, which addresses bullying and discrimination against students based on their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. We see with concern the rising figures of violence in schools, but if we zoom in on that, the attacks against trans students are becoming more frequent and that hurts us deeply and drives us to continue advocating for solutions,” added Cumplido.

Chileans on May 4 returned to the polls to vote for their representatives to the Constitutional Council, the new institutional body in charge of writing a new constitution. The Republican Party swept to victory in most of the country, winning a majority within the deliberative body.

“Today we are concerned about the position that the Republican Party may have regarding nondiscrimination in the drafting of the final text of the constitution,” Cumplido told the Blade.

Fundación Iguales and Movilh support amendments that would guarantee nondiscrimination in the proposed constitution that voters will consider at the end of the year.

ESTEBAN RIOSECO

ESTEBAN GUZMÁN

The Santiago Pride march began in Plaza Italia, an iconic place for social movements in Chile.

(Photo by Kathe Silva/@Samba_canuta)

PETROS LEVOUNIS, MD, MA

is president of the American Psychiatric Association.

Warmth, Respect, Curiosity, Humanity: Keys to understanding LGBTQ communities

Over the years, I have seen Pride month evolve from tolerance, to acceptance, to a celebration of the accomplishments of the LGBTQ+ people and our place in history. What an empowering and joyous a rmation of our community This year is no different, and yet I cannot help but have mixed feelings in light of what I view as a palpable regression into the hate, bigotry, and ignorance of the past. This regression in our national discourse has been a driving force in a recent crop of discriminatory laws that are being passed across the country.

Discrimination is harmful to the health and mental health of our nation and people of all communities, whether they are members of the LGBTQ+ community and our allies, or not. As we continue to march down the long and winding road to true equality and understanding, let’s remember that despite our differences, we are all human beings deserving of respect, love, and belonging. Connection and understanding between groups does not come easily these days. As we strive to connect with and educate those who do not necessarily share our views, we are mindful that concepts we take for granted, such as sharing one’s preferred pronouns, may be confusing and even scary for some. Just making the effort to learn someone’s pronouns or list your own, even if you may think they are obvious, can make a transgender, non-binary, or intersex person feel validated and be a big boost to their mental health. As a cisgender person, the least I can do is use my pronouns (he, him, his) in solidarity with friends and colleagues

who may use their pronouns as a declaration and a rmation of their identity to the world.

All of us have a responsibility to educate ourselves the best we can about gender and sexuality and about how to address people around us in a respectful way. We must do all we can to learn and grow in this area. At the same time, we cannot allow ourselves to become paralyzed by a fear of making a mistake. I have seen some of my medical students only minimally engaging with transgender patients to avoid the risk of addressing someone with a wrong pronoun. This in itself is isolating and the very worst way to treat someone who may be struggling. Making mistakes is okay if you come from a place of warmth, respect, curiosity, and humanity.

This can be a di cult concept to master even for psychiatrists, who interact with patients from many different genders and sexual identities daily. We constantly learn, we make mistakes, we learn some more, and, I hope, we make fewer mistakes next time. We cannot expect everyone we meet to immediately jump into a full-fledged allyship with our community. Anyone who is willing to learn about the LGBTQ+ community in good faith is a potential ally, and we should welcome them with all the warmth and respect we expect from others. As we come to the end of Pride Month this year, let’s make a commitment to emphasize compassion and education as we strive to celebrate and grow our community and our allies throughout the year.

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Anyone who is willing to learn is a potential ally

CHRISTINA GAGNIER

is the founder, Our Schools USA, and currently serves as the chair of the board of directors of the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce.

The Kids aren’t all right…Because of the school board

How did we get to the point that school boards are actively targeting and attacking these vulnerable students?

CHINO, Calif. - A banner was intentionally placed on a freeway overpass this past week that read, “THE RAINBOW BELONGS TO GOD, NOT THE LGBTQ.” It was placed by a hate group that is becoming an unfortunate fixture in the Chino Valley, the Proud Boys. They are not alone.

Imagine being a LGBTQIA student and driving by this sign one week after four members of your school board voted to ban pride flags in your schools and are set to pass a policy on July 20 that would out LGBTQIA students. The message that you are receiving from the people who are elected to care about your education and success in school? You are not safe. You are not protected. Even further, you are a target. How did we get here? How did we get to the point in my community that our school board is actively targeting and attacking these vulnerable students? It was not always this way.

I have lived in Chino nearly all of my life, and I had never seen signs (literal or otherwise) for hate groups in this community, even when I served as a member of the Chino Valley Unified School District Board and, most recently, as its Board President, until the 0 election. I have first-hand knowledge and a front row seat to how manufactured lies and hate bring corrosion to a community, and it starts in the public schools.

If the Proud Boys sign was a one-off, it would certainly be alarming. What is egregious is that it is part of a targeted campaign against LGBTQIA students led by far-right evangelical churches meddling in politics (a tax-status conversation for another time) and astroturf political groups who dug up school board candidates they could easily puppet to do their bidding.

What brought hate groups to the Chino Valley? The 2022 election for two school board seats. Many people do not pay attention to who is elected to school boards or what they actually do. Chino Valley Unified was known for its good schools, so most people were satisfied with them. That is, most people. Ours is a cautionary tale.

My co-founder of Our Schools USA, Kristi Hirst (a former CVUSD teacher and parent of three children in our schools), and I, knocked on thousands of doors and talked to voters. For most people, the quality of the schools and the prospects for their children post-graduation were the top priority, but they had no idea who was on the Board or what was happening. The manufactured chaos and crisis that was routine in our Board meetings for two years was not common knowledge, something that is hard to realize when you experience it every other week.

Yet, we started hearing accusations bubbling up on doorsteps. “Christina wants boys in girls’ bathrooms” was a common refrain. We realized that my Moms for Liberty opponent, who eventually became the new school Board President who is the primary facilitator of hate against LGBTQIA students,

and her volunteers, were telling this lie and others door-todoor.

I want to be clear: hate is highly motivating. The voters who had been misled by what they believed to be the “takeover” of our schools by LGBTQIA issues went out and voted. On a rainy day and a very low turnout election, 317 votes decided the election in our trustee area. Over 1,400 voters who cast a ballot for higher o ce did not even bother to go down the ballot to vote for school board in our trustee area. The Board majority flipped.

The effects Direct discrimination, harassment, and intimidation of CVUSD students and staff. Today’s CVUSD Board actions and policies are a far cry from the District’s motto, which includes phrases such as “Safe Schools” and “Positive School Climate.”

The Board President placed a resolution for a vote on the agenda to support AB 1314, the controversial parental notification bill introduced by a Republican Assemblymember (who, by the way, is not our Assemblymember). The bill had not even been heard by the California State Legislature’s Assembly Education Committee, and the Board passed a resolution supporting it. Three days later, the Chair of the Assembly Education Committee denied it a hearing. It was a contentious Board meeting all for nothing, but a meeting created out of a manufactured crisis: the myth that public schools are making children identify as LGBTQIA.

Two members of the Board have a history of comments and actions targeting LGBTQIA students. In November 2021, a Board Member brought a resolution to deny transgender students access to school activities and facilities. Let’s not pretend that he did not know it was illegal: the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Attorney General advised the District of such. The purpose was to place the Board majority at the time, two of us who were up for re-election the next fall, in the position of voting against the resolution because it would break California law. I am not sure why anyone would expect a former police o cer, a lawyer, and a former teacher to do otherwise, but this opened the floodgates to the manufactured crisis around LGBTQIA youth in our schools.

You may be asking yourself a logical question: why would school board members find it acceptable that hate groups are coming into our community, attending our board meetings, and threatening our LGBTQIA students and staff

The outrageous answer? They have invited them in (and posed in photos with them), inviting local leadership in the hate group Gays Against Groomers to lead the Pledge of Allegiance at a Board meeting.

It’s not just the Chino Valley. Within a 60-mile radius of my community, school boards and districts in Glendale, North Hollywood, Orange Unified, Placentia- orba Linda, Temecula

Valley, and Redlands have been overcome with hate groups and increasing hostility and violence towards LGBTQIA youth. They are fed misinformation and myths about what is happening in public schools. This list continues to grow as these hate groups, enabled by newly elected far-right wing extremists, go from district to district in California. Word to the wise: your district could be next, regardless of where you live. ou are not immune to this.

Even if these crises from these hateful people and groups are manufactured, they have real impacts on students. It really does make a difference when students know their school board has their best interest and well-being in mind.

At my last meeting, I saw the fear in students’ eyes about what was going to happen when their Board no longer enforced the law and protected them. I can only imagine what that must be like for these kids. We adults are supposed to be protecting kids, not making them feel unsafe when they go to school every day.

In districts with flipped extreme boards, we are not going to stop their hateful actions, but we should be focused on stalling their implementation, using whatever legal tools are available to make this happen. In districts on the precipice, we need to take action now to prevent another community, and another LGBTQIA student, from becoming a target. The 2024 election is sooner than you think, which is a chance to take back these boards in the best interest of all students.

I can sound the alarm bells, but, really, it is time to start listening to our students, including this local high school student who sent our organization this anonymously:

As a gay student, especially when I initially transferred to [school removed], it was very difficult to adapt to that campus and accept my identity at that time. When I came out to my peers, I faced discrimination and homophobia as a result, creating rifts in friendships and feelings that I may never be seen in the same way again. Compounded with this and being reintegrated into a totally new school [identifying detail omitted] absolutely no support system, it was a truly lonely and isolating experience that I wouldn’t want my worst enemies to feel because of how awful it was. Despite this, when I first walked onto campus and saw a small little pride flag in my English 9 Honors class, it made me feel seen and safe, at least in that classroom. Although it may seem superficial or small to someone who wouldn’t understand or feel this perspective, seeing that small piece of allyship was truly helpful in making me feel safe and welcome.

The kids aren’t all right, but we have the power to help them be. We need to attend school board meetings and speak out. We need to donate to and support candidates who actually care about quality public education. We need to go down the ballot and vote for these school positions. We need to be vocal that we will not tolerate this hate.

LGBTQ critics announce winners of Dorian TV Awards

Wanda Sykes, ennifer Coolidge among honorees

By JOHN PAUL KING

They don’t get as much fanfare as the Emmys, but the Dorian TV Awards – presented annually by GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics – have been offering an important queer perspective on the best in the year’s television for a decade and a half, and they’ve just picked their latest round of champions.

On June 26, GALECA announced a slate of winners for the 15th Annual Dorian TV Awards that represented an even mix of high-profile hits and under-the-radar gems. HBO’s final season of “Succession” was a winner, taking the prize for Best Drama while series star Sarah Snook won Best Drama Performance. ABC’s “Abbott Elementary,” star Quinta Brunson’s widely praised mockumentary following a clique of idealistic Philadelphia school teachers, took Best Comedy Series.

Less in line with mainstream Hollywood priorities, perhaps, many other awards went to an assortment of under-seen standouts. Amazon Freevee’s audacious prank show “ ury Duty” was named Best Reality Show, with Max’s absurdly snarky showbiz satire (and sadly, now-cancelled) “The Other Two” winning as Best LGBTQ TV Show and HBO comedies “Somebody, Somewhere” and “Los Espookys” taking Best Unsung TV Show and Best Non-English Language Show, respectively. Director Andrew Ahn’s cinematic “Fire Island,” Hulu’s smart queer spin on ane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” penned by star oel im Booster, scored as Best TV Movie or Miniseries.

GALECA voters seemed to favor dry-but-witty women in most of the performance categories; Bridget Everett of “Somebody, Somewhere” was awarded Best Comedy Lead, Jennifer Coolidge for Best Supporting Drama performance for her instantly iconic return trip “The White Lotus,” and Ayo Edebiri of F on Hulu’s restaurant comedy “The Bear.” The trend extended to the award for Best TV Musical Performance, which went to Ariana DeBose for her well-intentioned but controversial rap tribute to Angela Bassett and other nominees at the BAFTA Film Awards last March.

Other noteworthy wins: Satirist Ziwe Fumudoh’s (also

recently cancelled) Showtime series “ IWE,” a mix of commentary, sketch and topical interviews, received the Dorian for Best Current Affairs Show its third win in the category HBO Max’s female superhero series “Harley Quinn” was named Best Animated Program.

Horror was also a running theme, with Shudder’s documentary “Queer for Fear: The History of Queer Horror” (from TV mastermind Bryan Fuller) taking the Dorians for both Best TV Documentary and Best LGBTQ Documentary, and HBO’s apocalyptic limited series “The Last of Us” impressing GALECA voters as the year’s Most Visually Striking TV Show.

Season Two of Apple TV+’s musical spoof “Schmigadoon ” was named as Campiest TV Show, an award unique to the Dorians, though that might go without saying.

In other honors, the GALECA membership gave Coolidge another win by naming her as TV Icon of the ear, an award whose past recipients include Christine Baranski and Cassandra Peterson (a.k.a Elvira). Elliot Page, whose superhero character Viktor Hargreeves came out as trans in the most recent installment of Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy,” was named as the year’s LGBTQIA+ TV Trailblazer, an award given to entertainment figures who create “art that inspires empathy, truth and equity.” He joins

the ranks of former winners Michaela a Rodriguez and Jerrod Carmichael.

The Wilde Wit Award, designated by GALECA for “a performer, writer or commentator whose observations both challenge and amuse,” went to Wanda Sykes, the venerable comedian whose year has included memorable roles in “The Other Two,” Hulu’s “History of the World: Part II,” and Netflix’s “The Upshaws,” as well as voicing a charater in HBO Max’s “Velma.” After all those, she triumphed with a Netflix stand-up special “Wanda Sykes: I’m an Entertainer,” featuring her takedowns of everyone from yrsten Sinema to MAGA conservatives afraid of Critical Race Theory.

It’s worth noting that out of the programming categories, HBO (and Max) won nine, with Hulu (including F on Hulu) and Shudder each grabbing two – a clear victory for streaming platforms over traditional network TV.

For those unfamiliar with the Dorians, in addition to its TV awards GALECA (originally founded in 2009) also honor the best in film and starting this year Broadway and Off-Broadway Theatre. They bring recognition to excellence in these three fields at separate times of the year, chosen from mainstream and queer + content alike by a voting body of over 0 active critics and journalists. Via the Dorians, the group endeavors “to remind bullies, bigots and society’s currently beleaguered LGBTQ communities that the world has long appreciated the Q+ eye on everything entertainment not only on hair and clothes.” The organization also advocates for better pay, access and respect for its members, especially those in its most underrepresented segments, and sponsors the Crimson Honors, a public college criticism contest for women or nonbinary students in the QTBIPOC rainbow that awards scholarship funds provided by film and TV review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes.

Entertainment and media fans can find out more and support the members and causes of GALECA by following dorianawards on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram – and of course, by visiting GALECA.org.

JENNIFER COOLIDGE in ‘The White Lotus.’

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True crime fans will love new book ‘What

the Dead Know’

Dead men do tell tales you just have to listen

By TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER

Dead men don’t tell tales.

Their voices are forever silenced, their fingers will never point to what happened to them or why. Their eyes will never widen in fear or anticipation, or glance in the direction of the guilty. Dead men don’t tell tales but, as in the new book “What the Dead now” by Barbara Butcher, they leave clues that can speak volumes.

Throughout most of her teen years, Barbara Butcher says she was miserable.

She suffered from depression and anxiety, the fact that she was a lesbian was dawning, and she felt awkward. When a high school friend introduced her to the “fun” of drugs, sex, and alcohol, though, everything changed. Butcher’s life was suddenly all about getting high.

After a work supervisor saw potential and urged her to attend college, Butcher landed a great job as a hospital administrator. Still, love eluded her, addictions nagged at her, depression hit, she thought about suicide, and everything fell apart. Once she hit bottom, she started attending AA, which led to a vocational and rehab course and an aptitude test that gave her two options: veterinarian or coroner. She chose the latter.

‘What the Dead Know’

By Barbara Butcher

c. 0 3, Simon Schuster $28.99 | pages

Working as an MLI (medicolegal investigator) at New ork City’s OCME (O ce of the Chief Medical Examiner) was an exciting and interesting job. Butcher was, at first, the OCME’s only female MLI in a pool of several male MLIs who immediately tried to test her by showing her detailed, gruesome photographs of real accidents and murders. Scaring her off didn’t happen and soon, she was working with people she admired, running her own shifts, going out to investigate the worst that New orkers did to one another.

There were bodies in picnic coolers. There was a suicide that wanted to take someone with him in death. There were car accidents, shootings, people dead on sidewalks and abandoned hovels, and jumpers. Every one of them taught But cher one thing.

“Dead men do tell tales. ou just have to listen.”

Weak-stomached readers, you can stop right here. ou’re going to want to steer clear of this book because it’s not for you. True crime fans, though look, why are you waiting

“What the Dead now” starts out with an edge-of-your-seat investigation that ends in up-the-spine chills. Even the setting is uber-creepy, described in minute, water-dripping, rats-on-the-floor detail. The opening pages give you a glimpse of what you’re in for.

And yet, author Barbara Butcher knows when to let her readers take a gasping breath, and her story quickly and immediately flips after the opening to become a biography with its own dark feel. Don’t get too comfortable, though: you’ll have a chance to relax your shoulders but the elevator with your adrenaline inside will continue to glide to the top floor before dropping back down again and again

This book can be somewhat grisly in places, but certainly nothing worse than any other true-crime story or Hollywood movie. If you love that genre, then you’ll want this. “What the Dead now” is a very good tale.