Schools chief kicked out of board meeting for backing trans youth, PAGE 02
CHINO VALLEY, Calif. - The four hour meeting of the Chino Valley Unified School District school board at Don Lugo High School Thursday resulted in a 4-1 vote to involuntarily Out trans students to parents or guardians in a new parental notification policy.
The policy mandates that faculty and staff notify parents within three days, in writing, if their child identifies as transgender or gender non-conforming, asks to be called by a name that does not match school records or their birth certificate.
Additionally it would also require schools to “notify parents if their child seeks to change their name or pronouns or asks for access to gender-based sports, bathrooms or changing rooms that do not match their assigned gender at birth.”
Among those opposed to the implementation of the policy is the California State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tony Thurmond, who personally attended and addressed the board.
Thurmond’s presence created a stir with school board President Sonja Shaw, who cut the Superintendent’s mic off after he went past the minute speaking time allotted for the public comments section.
Addressing the board, Thurmond cautioned the policy may “not only fall outside of the laws that respect privacy and safety for our students, but may put our students at risk because they may not be in homes where they can be safe.”
His words echoed a warning issued by California Attorney General Rob Bonta in a letter sent to Chino Valley Unified School’s Superintendent Norman Enfield and the Board. Bonta expressed serious concern over the proposed Parental Notification policy, emphasizing the potential infringements on students’ privacy rights and educational opportunities.
“By allowing for the disclosure of a student’s gender identity without their consent, Chino Valley Unified School District s suggested Parental Notification policy would strip them of their freedom, violate their autonomy, and potentially put them in a harmful situation,” Bonta wrote “Our schools should be protecting the rights of all students, especially those who are most vulnerable, and should be safeguarding students’ rights to fully participate in all educational and extracurricular opportunities.”
As Thurmond attempted to finish his remarks, Shaw repeatedly talked over him saying “time.” At this point a number of students and others opposed to the policy began cheering which caused Shaw to reprimand those audience members saying: “Guys, be respectful.”
Then Shaw turned her attention back to the Superintendent.
“I am going to do a point of order, which I learned from a previous board president,” She continued. “Tony Thurman, I appreciate you being here, tremendously. But here’s the problem. We’re here because of people like you.”
“You’re in Sacramento, proposing things that pervert children,” Shaw shouted, as the students continued to cheer Thurmond.
“You had a chance to come and talk to me, Tony. By all means you had a chance to come talk to me. Why was it so important for you to walk with my opponent? You are the very reason why we’re in this.”
Thurmond, who had left the podium at this point, pivoted and returned to answer her accusatory remarks.
“May I have, as a point of order, as the board –” he began before she interrupted him.
“This is not your meeting,” she snapped. “You may have a seat because if I did that to you in Sacramento, you would not accept it,” she angrily shouted.
“Please sit,” she ordered.
“Can I get a point of order?” Thurmond said repeating his request.
“You’re not gonna blackmail us!” said Shaw, shouting again. “You already sent us a blackmailing letter on previous things, you will not bully us here in Chino. Please seat,” Shaw shouted, as Thurmond continued to ask to be recognized.
It was at this point she declared a short recess, but Thurmond, who had not yet left the podium found himself surrounded by Chino police officers and later he was then escorted from the room.
Addressing the situation after he was removed on his Twitter page, Thurmond noted:
“Tonight I went to a school board meeting to stand up for LGBTQ+ students who invited me to join them as they spoke out against a radical new policy that threatens their safety. When done speaking, the board president verbally attacked me an instructed the police to remove me.
“I don’t mind being thrown out of a board meeting by extremists. I can take the heat — it’s part of the job. What I can t accept is the mistreatment of vulnerable students whose privacy is being taken away.
I ask — if I am forcibly removed from a public school board meeting as the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, how are everyday parents and students in Chino Valley Unified supposed to have their voices heard?
“Let me be clear: I will always stand with California students and will use every power of my office to protect them from politicians who seek to divide our communities instead of keeping our kids safe.”
The local newspaper, the Daily Bulletinreport-
ed:
“
If you pass this policy, you are telling trans kids they don’t matter and you are placing a burden on teachers,” recent Chino Hills High School graduate Daniel Mora told trustees.
“Students don’t want your policies, we just want our education back,” Chino Hills High School graduate Esther Kim told the board.
Chino Teachers Association President Brenda Walker said the policy would be “divisive and unnecessary.”
There were some in support the Bulletin noted:
“
It is morally repugnant that they think parents shouldn’t be involved with their children,” Chino Valley school parent Nick Wilson said.
“We are here today because our kids are in danger,” parent Oscar Avila said. “Our kids are in danger from groomers.”
After the meeting, Thurmond told reporters: “The actions of this board are deeply troubling— and I’m not talking about being thrown out of a public meeting—I am talking about the blatant disregard for student privacy and safety. Forced outing policies harm everyone—students, parents and guardians, families, and school staff. What CVUSD has done may be in violation of state law. We will be working closely with the State Attorney General’s office to verify and enforce California law.”
“Choosing when to come out and to whom is a deeply personal decision that every LGBTQ+ young person has the right to make for themselves. This policy is taking away a student s ability to seek comfort, safety, and security in our schools and from trusted adults and peers. As educators and education leaders, we should always be putting students first and doing all we can so they can learn and thrive.”
Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, released the following statement from its Executive Director Tony Hoang:
“
Equality California is appalled and alarmed by the level of blatant homophobia and transphobia leveled against LGBTQ+ youth by the Chino Valley Unified School Board yesterday evening. With LGBTQ+ youth around the country under attack, the school board put their most vulnerable students in harm’s way with their dangerous vote to forcibly out trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming youth without their consent. The policy they passed last night is dangerous and in direct opposition to recommendations made by the California Department of Education.
At yesterday s meeting, the rhetoric and behavior of many of the board members, especially Board President Sonja Shaw, was dangerous and unfit for an elected official. Shaw and fellow
members referred to LGBTQ+ students as being mentally ill, a harmful and wildly false statement to make in front of students attending the meeting. They also forcibly removed meeting attendees who did not agree with their extremist agenda, including State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, Chino Valley USD students, and Equality California staff members. Shame on them.”
Also present in the audience were persons who live outside the Chino Unified District, who are not parents within the schools system according to sources who spoke to the Blade. Many were wearing T-Shirts that have been seen at other anti-LGBTQ+ protests in Southern California including recent protests at Saticoy Elementary School in North Hollywood, two school board meetings of the Glendale Unified School Board and then at the Temecula Valley Unified School District School Board meetings.
Kristi Hirst, an executive with ‘Our Schools USA’ a parent group that is proactively opposing anti-LGBTQ+ groups plus other extremists and a parent of children attending the district’s schools told the Blade in an email Friday:
“
Last night’s Chino Valley Unified School District Board meeting was a disgrace to the Chino Valley and a disservice to every single student who attends its schools.
The meeting was not filled with local concerned parents or community members supporting the “outing policy” – it was filled with agitators and members of hate groups who travel around Southern California harassing community members at Board meetings. Of the actual parents, community members, students, and staff who attended the meeting and spoke, the majority were not in support of this harmful policy. They were not listened to, and, in fact, they were kicked out of the meeting. The Board President even kicked a student out of the meeting.
School Board leadership have openly invited the Proud Boys, Gays Against Groomers, Lexit, and other extremist and hate groups to school board meetings. These are known and dangerous people, and they are being invited onto a school campus. These are same agitators who incited violence in North Hollywood and Glendale.
This meeting is a reflection of the extreme agenda being pushed by national groups like Moms for Liberty. Their endorsed candidate is now the Board President, and they are capitalizing on fear and victimizing our most vulnerable students. This will continue to happen throughout California and the country. This is not about parental rights or parental voice – if it was, the actual parents who attended and whose kids go to Chino Valley schools would not have been ignored.”
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is facing more outrage and rising concerns over its personnel’s use of force, after the video of a Black trans man was released over the weekend showing a violent arrest by a deputy over a minor traffic infraction that escalated.
“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department takes all use of force incidents seriously. The Department is investigating the information and allegations brought forward by Mr. Brock and his attorney. Unfortunately, we cannot comment any further at this time due to the pending litigation in this matter,” the the LASD said in a statement released Monday.
Emmett Brock, 23, a high school teacher, had pulled into the front parking spaces of the 7-Eleven on Mills Avenue in Whittier last February 10 at approximately half past noon, and as he exited his Black Honda Civic he was confronted by an LASD deputy, identified by the Los Angeles Timesas Deputy Joseph Benza.
The confrontation was caught on the deputy’s body cam as well as the convenience store’s video surveillance system. The audio of the arrest, captured by Benza’s body-worn camera, records the deputy telling Brock:
“Come here. I just stopped you,”
“No, you didn’t,” Brock replied.
“Yeah, I did,” Benza said and video shows he grabs Brock and violently slams him onto the parking lot.
“Oh, my god. What the fuck is happening,” Brock is heard saying.
Speaking with KTLA 5’s Carlos Saucedo, Attorney Thomas
Beck, who represents Brock, said that his client continued to struggle on the ground, screaming for help the entire time, yelling that the deputy was going kill him and that he was not resisting arrest. This was documented by the audio from both videos.
In the 7-11 video surveillance system footage, Benza is seen on top of Brock, pressing him into the concrete and punching him multiple times in the head. The altercation lasted around three minutes before Brock was cuffed and put into the patrol vehicle.
Beck told KTLA that the deputy’s official reason for pulling his client over was an air freshener hanging from the vehicle’s rearview mirror but that he believes the deputy became enraged after the 23-year-old flipped him off as he was driving by.
“The video speaks for itself. He was pounding at the kid’s head. He was diagnosed with a concussion later after he was released. This guy committed multiple felonies against my client, and he’s gotten away with it so far,” the attorney stated.
Brock and his attorney say that Benza used excessive force and that the traffic stop was solely because the deputy was enraged after Brock flipped him off.
Beck also told KTLA that the L.A. County Sheriff’s department has so far not launched an investigation into the arrest. “I mean, if there’s an investigation that needs to be con-
ducted, you would talk to the people who would give you the information you need. They didn’t do it,” Beck said.
Brock, who was taken to the Norwalk Sheriff’s Station after his arrest says that when he informed Sheriff’s personnel of his gender identity, he became humiliated when they asked to see his genitals before deciding which holding cell to put him in.
The Times reported:
It wasn’t long before authorities asked Brock for a statement, during which he explained that he is transgender.
“So you’re a girl?” he said one jailer asked.
Brock said he wasn’t.
Then the man asked whether he had a penis — and Brock said he did.He explained what surgeries existed, and said that he’d been on hormones for years.
After one jailer asked for proof, Brock said, he spent a few awkward minutes in a bathroom showing her his genitalia and explaining the effects of testosterone.
Brock, who has since lost his job as a teacher and according to The Times, although he d been booked on three felonies and a misdemeanor, the LA County District Attorney ultimately decided to move forward with two misdemeanor charges: resisting arrest and battery on an officer. A judge reduced his bail from $100,000 to nothing.
TEMECULA, Calif. - In a Friday special session, after oft times contentious, acrimonious and emotional public comments as both sides presented arguments in favor or against California’s new elementary level social studies book and curriculum previously rejected twice, the Temecula Valley Unified School District’s board relented and voted unanimously to adopt it.
At numerous points during public comments, School Board Dr. Joseph Komrosky threatened to clear the room, warning the audience that they were trying his patience.
The new social studies book in question is called, “Social Studies Alive!” and complies with 2011 state laws requiring that students get instruction about “the role and contributions of people with disabilities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans; and other ethnic and cultural groups.”
Curriculum that deals with LGBTQ+ history is mandated under California’s FAIR Education Act, which was signed into law on July 14, 2011, and went into effect on January 1, 2012. It amends the California Education Code to include the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and Respectful reference to contributions by people with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ community in history and social studies curriculum.
The school board had met for more than 5 hours this past Tuesday, hearing from parents, teachers, and even people outside the Temecula area regarding the state’s mandatory curriculum standards for elementary school kids. Three conservative members of the board have publicly denounced the book and the accompanying curriculum.
On Tuesday, the board voted 3-2 to dismiss the state’s mandated textbooks and continue on with instructional ma-
terials that are nearly two decades old.
That prompted a response from Governor Gavin Newsom, following the School Board’s failure to adopt the updated social studies curriculum, to announce the state is entering into a contract to secure textbooks to ensure students in the district begin the school year with access to up-to-date books and materials that comply with state law.
“The three political activists on the school board have yet again proven they are more interested in breaking the law than doing their jobs of educating students — so the state will do their job for them,” the governor said.
“California will ensure students in Temecula begin the school year with access to materials reviewed by parents and recommended by teachers across the district. After we deliver the textbooks into the hands of students and their parents, the state will deliver the bill — along with a $1.5 million fine — to the school board for its decision to willfully violate the law, subvert the will of parents, and force children to use an out-of-print textbook from 17 years ago,” Newsom said.
During the board meeting two months ago, Board Member Jennifer Wiersma, one of the three board members backed by the Inland Empire Family Pac, a far-right group that opposes LGBTQ+ rights, transparent sexual education curriculum, and so-called ‘Critical Race Theory’ although that material is not taught in K-12 schools anywhere in the United States argued:
“I don’t want my 3rd grader studying an LGBTQ issue. I don’t want them going into gender ideology.” Wiersma, supported by the other two conservatives, Danny Gonzalez and
Dr. Joseph Komrosky, signaled that they were also opposed to any curriculum that included lessons or information about former openly gay San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk.
In the May 16 board meeting, School Board Dr. Joseph Komrosky referred to Milk as a pedophile, drawing the ire of California Gov. Gavin Newsom who tweeted: “An offensive statement from an ignorant person. This isn’t Texas or Florida. In the Golden State, our kids have the freedom to learn. Congrats Mr. Komrosky you have our attention. Stay tuned.”
Late Friday night after the board’s vote to adopt the book and curriculum, Governor Newsom reacted in a statement:
“Fortunately, now students will receive the basic materials needed to learn. But this vote lays bare the true motives of those who opposed this curriculum. This has never been about parents’ rights. It’s not even about Harvey Milk – who appears nowhere in the textbook students receive. This is about extremists’ desire to control information and censor the materials used to teach our children.
“Demagogues who whitewash history, censor books, and perpetuate prejudice never succeed. Hate doesn’t belong in our classrooms and because of the board majority’s antics, Temecula has a civil rights investigation to answer for.”
The Temecula Valley Unified School District board majority’s actions are being investigated by the California Department of Education. On June 7, 2023, Attorney General Bonta and Governor Newsom announced an inquiry into the district by the California Department of Justice related to civil rights violations.
BRODY LEVESQUEOAKLAND, Calif. -
A group of research scientists are working on a technology that would eliminate barriers for couples suffering from infertility, and potentially allow malemale couples to have biological children.
The latter part of the company’s dedicated research drew the ire of the National Organization for Marriage’s head, Brian Brown, who has been a leading opponent of equality rights for LGBTQ+ people and leads the fight to end same-sex marriages irrespective of the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which granted samesex couples the ability to get married.
The Bay Area bio-fertility tech start-up Conception, is working in the field of fertility development utilizing human stem cells to turn into human eggs and eventually embryos. Speaking with NPR’s senior science reporter Rob Stein, Matt Krisiloff, a co-founder of the biotech research firm said that Conception is trying to accelerate, and eventually commercialize, a field of biomedical research known as in vitro gametogenesis (IVG). “Basically, we’re trying to turn a type of stem cell called an induced pluripotent stem cell into a human egg,” Krisiloff says. “[This] really opens the door, if you can create eggs, to be able to help people have children that otherwise don’t have options right now.”
He then noted: “My personal biggest interest in it is it could allow same-sex couples to be able to have biological children together as well. Yeah, I’m gay, and it’s something
that got me so personally interested in this in the first place.”
In an emailed fundraising missive, NOM head Brown writes:
”This will stun you, and hopefully serve as a wake-up call for engagement. Scientists from the LGBT community have started a biotech firm with the express purpose of seeking to manufacture human eggs and sperm in a lab so that same-sex couples can produce children containing the DNA of both partners.
The biotech startup, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, is called Conception. The technology they are developing – “in vitro gametogenesis” (IVG) – is designed to harvest human stem cells, manipulate them using a variety of laboratory techniques into what is called an “induced pluripotent stem cell,” and then further manipulate and incubate them in what the company calls “mini ovaries.”
If the experimental technology pans out, the human egg created in a lab with the DNA of a gay man could be fertilized by the sperm of his partner, and then the resulting embryo would be carried by a surrogate through to the birth of a baby that is genetically related to both men.
So much is wrong with this situation. The creation of lab babies to satisfy the desires of the LGBT community is morally and ethically bankrupt.
It not only challenges the natural order created by God, but it raises extremely serious concerns relating to things such as human cloning, designer babies, eugenics, and even cross-species development.
Please help NOM sound the alarm about this dangerous development and urge people to demand that our elected officials step in to stop or severely regulate this nascent technology ”
In his alarmist fundraiser Brown leaves out the mission and ethics statement the bio-firm states on its website:
“We do not take the development of this technology lightly. Our hope is that it will one day be used to bring healthy kids into the world, so we must hold ourselves to very high
safety and ethical standards. Our plan will be to work closely with scientific, regulatory and ethical experts to ensure this technology develops safely and responsibly.”
NPR reported that the rapid development of IVG raises ethical concerns.
“This could take us into a kind of Gattaca world,” says Marcy Darnovsky, who runs the Center for Genetics and Society in Berkeley.
IVG could accelerate the rush toward all kinds of dystopian scenarios, including designer babies, Darnovsky says. “Combining IVG and genome editing and commercialization, you’ve really got kind of a toxic stew to create people who are supposedly biologically superior to others,” she says. “We don’t want to pave the road toward any kind of future that looks anything like that.”
According to NPR, others argue “the potential benefits of technology to create eggs and sperm from stem cells would be substantial for many people.”
“I’m a fan of the IVG idea,” says Hank Greely, a Stanford University bioethicist. “I think it offers the possibility for millions of couples who desperately want to have kids that are genetically half-one, half-the-other who can’t do that now to have those children.”
Greely also worries about commercial pressures pushing IVG so quickly. “I live in Silicon Valley, where the motto is ‘Move fast and break things.’ Of course it worries me,” Greely says. “Happily, the [Food and Drug Administration] does not want you to move fast and break things. And the FDA has a lot of power. I’m confident the FDA will use that power. Because we don’t think babies are like iPhones.”
As new technologies are created, one of the common dominators in terms of the affect on the LGBTQ+ community is a proven track record of opposition from the right-wing anti-LGBTQ+ organizations like NOM. BRODY
LOS ANGELES - A new study from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law finds that 81% of transgender adults in the U.S. have thought about suicide, 42% of transgender adults have attempted it, and 56% have engaged in non-suicidal self-injury over their lifetimes.
Using data from the U.S. Transgender Population Health Survey (TransPop), researchers examined the prevalence of hazardous drinking, problematic drug use, serious psychological distress, suicidality, and non-suicidal self-injury between transgender and cisgender adults. Results from this study, which is the first national probability sample of transgender people in the U.S., support previously reported findings that showed significant disparities in health outcomes for transgender as compared with cisgender Americans.
While transgender and cisgender adults reported similar rates of hazardous drinking and problematic drug use, transgender people were significantly more likely to experience poor mental health during their lifetimes. Compared to cisgender adults, transgender adults were seven times more likely to contemplate suicide, four times more likely to attempt it, and eight times more likely to engage in non-suicidal self-injury.
Notably, transgender nonbinary adults reported higher
rates of harmful substance use and poor mental health than transgender men and women.
“The rates of suicidal ideation and self-injury among transgender people are alarming—particularly for transgender nonbinary adults,” said study author Ilan H. Meyer, Distinguished Senior Scholar of Public Policy at the Williams Institute. “A lack of societal recognition and acceptance of gender identities outside of the binary of cisgender man or woman and increasing politically motivated attacks on transgender individuals, increase stigma and prejudice and related exposure to minority stress, which contributes to the high rates of substance use and suicidality we see among transgender people.”
• Nearly one-third of transgender individuals reported hazardous drinking (28%) and problematic drug use (31%).
• Among transgender adults, 44% reported recent suicidal ideation, 7% reported a recent suicide attempt, and 21% reported recent non-suicidal self-injury.
• The majority (82%) of transgender people have accessed formal mental health care, compared to
47% of cisgender adults. About one-quarter (26%) of transgender people sought support from other sources such as religious and spiritual leaders and alternative medicine practitioners, compared to 20% of cisgender adults.
• Transgender nonbinary people were four times more likely to engage in hazardous drinking compared to transgender women.
• Compared to transgender men, transgender nonbinary people were four times more likely to report problematic drug use, three times more likely to experience serious psychological distress, six times more likely to have recently thought about suicide, and four times more likely to have engaged in non-suicidal self-injury at some point in their lives.
“Evidence-based interventions are needed to mitigate the risk of serious mental health outcomes among transgender people,” said lead author Jeremy D. Kidd, Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University. “This might include increasing access to gender-affirming care, or improving transgender community connectedness, which are related to lower rates of suicidality.”
LA BLADE STAFF40% of transgender adults in the U.S. have attempted suicideBio-fertility tech research scientist. (Photo courtesy of Conception)
AUCKLAND, New Zealand — The United States women’s national team won its first round of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Saturday, shutting out Vietnam 3-0.
With veteran Alex Morgan providing an assist, Sophia Smith, 22, of Colorado, scored a first-half goal, then another. Smith is a forward for the Portland, Ore. Thorns FC and is playing in her first World Cup. Smith received the Player of the Match trophy, which was presented by her father at the stadium in Auckland. Her fellow Colorado native, captain Lindsey Horan, 29, added another goal in the second half. When she’s not playing in the World Cup, Horan is a midfielder for the French club Olympique Lyon.
Unlike in 2019, when the Americans defeated Thailand 13-0, Saturday’s victory followed a series of missteps, missed opportunities, mistakes and miscommunication among players who until now had never played together. The U.S. shot advantage was 28-0, but their conversion rate was dismal, with too many shots sailing high over the crossbar and wide of each post.
None of Vietnam’s players identifies as LGBTQ+, but reports say there are almost 100 out players in this Women’s World Cup, which would be a record. Kristie Mewis, Kelley O’Hara and
two-time champion Megan Rapinoe are out athletes on the USWNT.
Rapinoe, 38, playing in her fourth and final World Cup, entered Saturday’s match in the 63rd minute. After the victory, she told Fox Sports she felt anxious going into the match, but
was glad to get into the game.
“Obviously, great to get a win, a shutout,” said the out gay icon, who is engaged to former WNBA star Sue Bird. This is Rapinoe’s 200th appearance for Team USA. “It was a very special day, and obviously being able to celebrate 200 in a really meaningful game in a World Cup, which will be my last, is the best. What other way would you want to do it?”
As the Los Angeles Blade reported earlier this month, Rapinoe announced her retirement from soccer following this World Cup and her final season with the OL Reign in Seattle, Wash.
The Americans arrived at Eden Park dressed to the nines in matching business suits.
A fun fact: It’s been 16 years and 364 days since Rapinoe’s first appearance for the USWNT on July 23, 2006, marking the longest gap between first and 200th appearance in the team’s history, according to OptaJack.
Next up for Rapinoe and the USWNT is Wednesday’s rematch of their 2019 final with the Netherlands in Wellington, New Zealand.
JACKSONVILLE, FL. - The NFL has an out gay player, has had out gay women coaches come out, and now has its first out male coach: Kevin Maxen, an associate strength coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars team.
His coming out makes Maxen the first publicly out male coach in any major American men’s pro sports league.
The owner of the Jaguars, Shad Khan, told ESPN that he “appreciated reading Kevin’s story,” which first appeared on one of SB Nation s websites.
“Kevin is a Jacksonville Jaguar through and through, and a key member of our football team and community,” Khan told ESPN in a statement Thursday. “I look forward to seeing Kevin next week at training camp, and hope that he comes to work each
day during camp and through the season feeling confident, free and at peace. I know our players and staff feel the same.”
Khan has been a key supporter of a Jacksonville city ordinance that expanded protections for sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.
“I don’t want to feel like I have to think about it anymore,” Maxen said in the interview. “I don’t want to feel like I have to lie about who I am seeing or why I am living with someone else. I want to be vocal in support of people living how they want to live, but I also want to just live and not feel fear about how people will react.”
As the Los Angeles Blade has reported, the NFL has free agent Carl Nassib, who came out in 2020 as the first active gay player.
Former free agent R.K. Russell came out as bisexual in 2019. As far as coaches go, the league has had female assistant coaches who are publicly out, including former San Francisco 49ers assistant coach Katie Sowers.
In the WNBA, the Los Angeles Sparks coach, Curt Miller, is an out gay man in a league with many out gay women on the court and coaching on the sidelines. The same is true for U.S. Women’s Soccer. Although there are several active out gay men playing soccer around the world, as PinkNews has reported, professional soccer in the U.S. has but one gay man playing: Collin Martin but there are currently no other active gay male players or coaches in the league nor in the NBA or MLB.
DAWN ENNISLAS VEGAS — Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas and guard DeWanna Bonner are engaged to get married, the couple and their team announced on social media Friday. Surrounded by about a dozen candles, Thomas, 31, got down on one knee and, with a ring in her hand, popped the question to Bonner, 35. They each shared a black and white photo of their special moment in posts on Instagram Friday. Bonner can be seen clasping her hands to her face as the couple stood amid palm trees. Thomas captioned the image with one word: “FOREVER.”
The team shared a color version of the photo on Twitter with the caption, “Best. News. Ever.”
Thomas and Bonner have been dating since the COVID lockdowns of 2020, when they spent time together in the WNBA “bubble,” according tothe Associated Press.
A spokesperson for the Sun told the AP that the couple got engaged the weekend of July 15 in Las Vegas, where both players appeared in the WNBA All-Star game and walked the orange carpet in traffic-stopping outfits styled by Bonner’s childhood friend Jazmine Motley-Maddox
While not every LGBTQ+ player in the league is out, some of the WNBA’s other publicly-acknowledged off-the-court relationships include New York Liberty guard Courtney Vandersloot and former Chicago Sky teammate Allie Quigley, and Liberty star Breanna Stewart and former player Marta Xargay, who met when they played together in Russia. Bonner and Thomas publicly confirmed their relationship on Valentine’s Day 2021, CBS Sports reported, about a year after the Phoenix Mercury traded Bonner to the Sun. The Fairfield, Ala. native was the Mercury’s No. 5 overall pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft, and spent the first decade of her career with Phoenix, earning three All-Star appearances and three Sixth Woman of the Year awards. This season, Bonner is averaging 18.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. She has added two more All-Star appearances and her second-team All-WNBA honors since being traded to the Sun.
Bonner is raising two daughters with her ex-wife, former WNBA star Candice Dupree: six-year-old twins Cali and Demi. Thomas is a native of Harrisburg, Penn. who has spent her
entire ten-year WNBA career with the Sun, after being drafted No. 4 overall out of Maryland in 2014. She is averaging 14.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 8.0 assists per game this season, and like Bonner is a key to the team’s success. Thomas just earned her fourth All-Star appearance and is the WNBA’s career triple-double leader.
“There’s just no one like her in the world,” Bonner told reporters following Thomas’s fourth triple-double on June 25th. The teammates have been outspoken about their love for the team as well as for each other.
“I just love this organization so much,” Bonner told reporters prior to theSun’s victory over the Las Vegas Aceson June 8. “Literally, like it just changed my life as far as you know, off the court, meeting Alyssa.”
Following a pair of victories at home and on the road against the Atlanta Dream, Bonner, Thomas and the Sun take their 2-game winning streak to Dallas Tuesday to face the Wings before returning home to Uncasville, Conn. next weekend to host the Minnesota Lynx.
DAWN ENNIS
By CHRISTOPHER KANE | ckane@washblade.com
Will Rollins, the gay Democrat vying for a second chance to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert (Calif.), spoke with the Washington Blade by phone last week following the uproar over his opponent’s support for an anti-LGBTQ amendment to a spending bill that was advanced by conservative members of the House Appropriations Committee.
The Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Subcommittee’s package contained a total of 2,680 Community Project Funding earmarks, all previously cleared by members from both parties, but just before its passage on Tuesday Calvert joined his Republican colleagues who removed funding for two LGBTQ centers in Pennsylvania and one in Massachusetts.
The decision to go after three CPF initiatives that provide housing and other support for LGBTQ people in need, none located in his district or state, was “pretty consistent” with Calvert’s “pattern of bigoted behavior towards the LGBTQ community,” Rollins said.
A former federal prosecutor who worked in counterterrorism and counterintelligence and was involved in the Justice Department’s pursuit of charges against participants in the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Rollins is set to square off against two other candidates in his party’s primary ahead of the November 2024 elections. According to Cook Political Report, new data shows Calvert’s seat has moved from red-leaning to a tossup.
Calvert has served in the House since 1993, representing California’s 41st Congressional District for less than a year since it was redrawn in 2022 to include more Democratic and LGBTQ constituents, many residing in the Palm Springs area. Rollins challenged him in last year’s midterm elections, decisively beating primary opponents but ultimately falling short in his gambit for Calvert’s seat by about 11,000 votes.
Reflecting on the 2022 race, Rollins noted that while “the turnout was relatively low, I was the only Democratic challenger in California to win independent voters and had the best performance of any Democratic challenger” in California as measured against the share of votes in the state for President Joe Biden in 2020.
As a first-time candidate with only five months between his Democratic primary and the general election, Rollins added, he had nearly unseated a member of the House who enjoyed the advantages of the name recognition that comes with being California’s longest serving Republican member in that chamber.
In 2024, “we have enough support to flip the seat,” Rollins said — noting that the campaign now has 17 months to build awareness about his candidacy before voters cast their ballots, including by tapping into media markets that were prohibitively expensive in 2022.
Rollins told the Blade Calvert has a “fundamental misunderstanding of LGBTQ Americans” and is uninterested in learning about their lived experiences as sexual and gender minorities, as evidenced by his allyship with the GOP members whose move during last week’s THUD markup provoked accusations by Democrats of rank anti-LGBTQ bigotry, igniting exchanges between lawmakers that became so heated the committee was forced to recess three times.
At one point, out Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (Wisc.), who chairs the Congressional Equality Caucus and serves on the Appropriations Committee, advised Calvert that he would be wise to vote against his party’s anti-LGBTQ amendment lest he be looking for a path to retirement courtesy of the more diverse constituents he now represents.
Last month, Calvert, who chairs the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, was criticized after passing an amendment to a military spending bill that, among other provisions, proscribes “any discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially, on the basis that such person speaks, or acts, in accordance with a sincerely held religious belief, or moral conviction, that marriage is, or should be recognized as, a union of one man and one woman.”
In practice, Democrats on the committee argued, this could provide a pathway for someone who is responsible for the disbursement of survivor benefits to deny them to gay and lesbian beneficiaries.
Showing voters the contrast between Calvert’s extreme positions on matters like LGBTQ rights proved successful in courting more support for his campaign last year, Rollins said, but these issues are galvanizing not just for LGBTQ communities and their straight allies in bluer areas like Palm Springs.
“Study after study has shown that where you discriminate against the LGBTQ community, whether it’s anti-gay laws in Georgia or anti-LGBT rules overseas, economic output decreases,” stunting small business growth and depressing wages, he said.
So, Rollins said, while it is difficult to conceive of an alternative explanation, let alone a benign one, for the actions this week by Calvert and his fellow ultraconservative subcommittee members, “we also have to be making the argument that the attacks on us really are an attack collectively on our economic growth and on opportunity and equality.”
“When you’ve got a party that is prioritizing making sure that gay seniors can’t get food when they need it, versus a party that wants to make our streets safer, or a candidate who wants to raise wages in Riverside County,” Rollins said, regardless of their political affiliation “voters understand that those priorities are misdirected from the far right.”
Additionally, he said, “part of the job, too, has to be chang-
ing the terms of the debate because a lot of the premises that these Republicans are operating from are complete lies.” And while elected Republicans “definitely have some serious problems with the truth,” Rollins said “the good news for me in a purple district is that regular Republican voters,” many of whom are actually moderate, will stand up against extremism.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which works to elect Democrats to the House, echoed some of these arguments in a statement to the Blade: “Ken Calvert is determined to turn back the clock on LGTBQ+ rights.”
“Calvert’s bigoted pattern of anti-LGBTQ+ extremism is disqualifying, disgusting, and wildly out of step with the values and beliefs of everyday southern Californians,” the group said.
Rollins said that contrary to Calvert’s claims last year that his thinking on LGBTQ rights had evolved, the congressman is “willing to take calculated votes to keep himself in power, which he did before the [2022] midterms” by voting for the Respect for Marriage Act — a move Rollins characterized as “a pretty transparent attempt to wash away an anti-LGBTQ career that’s lasted three decades.”
Speaking to the Blade by phone on Thursday, gay U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), who serves as ranking member of the U.S. House Veterans’ Affairs Committee and a co-chair of the Equality Caucus, said Calvert’s tendency to vacillate between whichever positions are most politically expedient has been on display throughout his 30-year tenure in the House.
The two ran against each other in 1992 and 1994, with Calvert winning both races, and they have served together in California’s congressional delegation since Takano first took office in 2013.
Takano said that when Calvert faced off against six opponents in 1992 and ultimately beat him in the general election by fewer than 600 votes, the Republican candidate had “assured key women in the community that he would moderate on social issues like abortion.”
By contrast, Takano said, today “the reality is he cannot survive a Republican primary” without embracing far-right positions, particularly on social issues. Because the GOP has become more extreme since 1992, Takano said, “for [Calvert] to stay in politics, he has to be representative of that extremism.”
The California Democrat contrasted the act of political bravery, and by an elected Republican with unambiguously conservative bona fides, with Calvert — a politician who made a “Faustian bargain” selling his soul to stay in Congress.
“Mark Sanford and I disagreed on a lot of stuff,” Takano said, referring to the Republican former politician who served as governor of South Carolina and represented the state’s 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House from 2013 to 2019.
Takano recalled how Sanford came to the defense of “Hamilton” creator Lin Manuel Miranda when then-President Donald Trump attacked the Broadway star — “punching down at a citizen” — because Miranda had “made this appeal to Mike Pence to remember that he was vice president for all of America.”
“From that moment on, Mark Sanford was on the pathway to lose his primary,” Takano said.
Continues at losangelesblade.com
As sales continue to slump after months of conservative backlash against Bud Light’s social media spot with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced he will explore a potential lawsuit against the beer brand’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev.
“It appears to me that AB InBev may have breached legal duties owed to its shareholders,” DeSantis said in a letter shared on Twitter Friday outlining possible grounds for legal action on behalf of the shareholders of Florida’s pension funds.
Columbia University Law School Professor John Coffee, however, told the Washington Blade a legal doctrine called the business judgment rule “fully protects the board of Anheuser-Busch InBev from any liability for breach of fiduciary duty that might be asserted by Florida’s pension funds in a derivative suit.”
Caselaw directs courts to uphold decisions by company directors provided they are made in good faith, with the care expected of a reasonably prudent person, and with the reasonable belief that they were acting in the corporation’s best interests.
Multinational drink conglomerate AB InBev suffered financially as a result of Bud Light’s promotion with Mulvaney, with sales for the brand down 25 percent from last year according to market research data reported by CNBC.
“No doubt, Anheuser-Busch lost money because of the populist reaction to the use of a transgender ‘influencer,’ but that is not the standard for liability,” said Coffee, who is recognized as one of the country’s leading experts in securities law, corporate governance, white collar crime, complex litigation, and class actions.
Directors “were seeking to promote their product with a new audience, and it backfired, but that is not a breach of duty,” he said, adding, “Management has the legal right to innovate and try new tactics.”
Andrew Isen, founder and president of WinMark Concepts, agreed, telling the Blade, “Bud Light is an entry beer because of the price point,” so it made sense for the beer maker to target the younger demographics who comprise the influencer’s sizable online following.
“No one foresaw this backlash,” he said.
“They’re making business decisions, they’re making mar-
keting decisions, to grow their business, and that’s what their responsibilities to their shareholders are,” said Isen, whose clients are mostly large publicly traded corporations.
Additionally, he said, partnering with an LGBTQ public figure like Mulvaney makes sense from a market research perspective.
For instance, Isen pointed to data from management consulting firm McKinsey & Co., which found that “for five years, our research has shown a positive, statistically significant correlation between company financial outperformance and diversity, on the dimensions of both gender and ethnicity.”
Coffee, who has repeatedly been listed among The 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America and topped rankings of the most-cited scholars in corporate and business law, told the Blade he is not aware of any previous cases in which a firm’s marketing or advertising decision provided grounds for shareholder litigation for breach of fiduciary duty in a derivative suit.
“I do not know if litigation will be brought,” he said, adding, “this sounds more like a political stunt.”
If DeSantis’s probe leads to an actual complaint on behalf of shareholders, Coffee said, “I would not expect it to survive a motion to dismiss in Delaware,” if AB InBev is headquartered in the state, where most commercial disputes are adjudicated.
“But the suit might be brought [improperly] in Florida,” Coffee said, “and anything might happen there.”
Regardless, Coffee said, “Gov. DeSantis will make no friends in the business community with these over broad attacks.”
DeSantis, addressing shareholders of his state’s pension funds, wrote in his letter on Friday that, “We must prudently manage the funds of Florida’s hardworking law enforcement officers, teachers, firefighters, and first responders in a manner that focuses on growing returns, not subsidizing an ideological agenda through woke virtue signaling.”
AB InBev is just the latest target of the governor’s crusade against “wokeism” in corporate America, a battle that his party is increasingly waging against companies’ environmental and social governance policies, their diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, and their criticism of conservative policies or policymakers.
Firms like Blackstone had come to understand concepts like responsible environmental stewardship and diversity in corporate boards of directors as intrinsic values that are good for business and “integral to their shareholders,” Isen said, referring to the investment management juggernaut that boasts more than $991 billion in assets under management.
However, as these moves come under fire from various factions on the right — intimidation by elected leaders, coordinated online attacks, incendiary coverage in partisan media — the business community is taking notice. Isen pointed to “the amount of companies that are getting rid of their diversity officers,” as reported last week in The Wall Street Journal.
This “noise,” Isen said, is “scaring companies to death.”
Other state officials have recently weaponized the power of their governments against companies over their support for the LGBTQ community. On July 5, seven Republican state attorneys general issued a letter to Target Corp. notifying the retailer that certain merchandise in its seasonal Pride collection may violate their obscenity statutes.
The popularity of DeSantis’s attacks on “woke” corporations will soon be tested as the governor heads into Republican primary races in hopes of securing his party’s nomination for the 2024 presidential election.
DeSantis’s office did not respond to written questions or provide comment for this story.
House Republicans’ amendments to recently passed defense spending bills, including controversial anti-LGBTQ provisions, are largely unpopular according to findings from a nationwide survey of 1,254 likely voters conducted by Data for Progress.
The left-leaning think tank published the results of its poll on Tuesday, less than a week before lawmakers will return to their districts for congressional recess in August, setting up a showdown in the U.S. Senate over appropriations bills whose passage by the lower chamber’s Republican majority ignited tensions with Democratic members in recent weeks.
“Motivated by bigotry and the desire to appeal to the GOP extremist base, more than 40 anti-equality provisions across the 12 appropriations bills were passed,” U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) said in a statement on behalf of the Congressional Equality Caucus, which he chairs.
“Last week, they went even further and cut millions of dollars in funding for member’s community projects that would have tackled LGBTQI+ homelessness and housing insecurity,” the congressman, who also serves on the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations.
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the Committee’s top Democrat and a member of the Equality Caucus, noted that appropriations bills “are statements of our priorities and our values as a country.”
“To that end, the majority has shown they have no values, and no priorities, and are solely focused on how to appease their most extreme caucus members, to greenlight discrimination and impose second-class status on LGBTQ+ Americans, and to defund American workers, seniors, families, and veterans,” said the congresswoman.
Democrats’ majority control of the Senate, while narrow, will
create a difficult path for passage of the 40 anti-LGBTQ provisions House Republicans have attached to the 12 separate spending bills, along with other GOP amendments such as those restricting reproductive rights and diversity initiatives.
With respect to riders targeting the LGBTQ community in the National Defense Authorization Act, which passed the House last week, the Data for Progress poll found 60 percent of respondents “agree that anti-LGBTQ+ measures should not be included in bills focused on military spending” while 63 percent said transgender service members should have access to medically necessary healthcare.
A majority of likely voters, 51 percent, objected to language prohibiting military reimbursements for service members to obtain out-of-state abortions, expenses that are currently covered under existing policy at the U.S. Department of Defense.
CHRISTOPHER KANEBAILE TUSNAD, Transylvania, Romania - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Mihály Orbán in his speech at the 32nd Bálványos Summer Free University and Student Camp on Saturday castigated the European Union for what Orbán defined as rejecting ‘Christian heritage.’
The government of the conservative ruling party of the prime minister has been feuding with the EU since passage of Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ education law in June of 2021. Orbán, who has publicly proclaimed that he is a “defender of traditional family Catholic values,” has been criticised by international human rights groups as discriminating against LGBTQ+ people with this law which European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called a “disgrace.”
“This bill clearly discriminates against people on the basis of their sexual orientation and it goes against all the values, the fundamental values of the European Union and this is human dignity, it is equality and is human fundamental rights, so we will not compromise on these principles,” said von der Leyen.
The European Commission, the ruling body of the EU, referred Hungary to the Court of Justice of the EU over the anti-LGBT law in mid-2022. The commission has said it considers that the law violates the EU’s internal market rules, the fundamental rights of individuals and EU values.
Addressing the audience at the gathering outside of Băile Tușnad, Orbán said [that] “at the heart of the conflicts between the EU and our country lies our fundamental law. The EU is rejecting Christian heritage, it is conducting population exchanges, and it is waging an LGBTQ campaign against family-friendly nations.”
The Prime Minister said that Europe has created its own political class, which is no longer accountable, no longer Christian or democratic in its beliefs.
“We do not want everyone to have the same faith, or to live the same family life or to share the same holidays. We insist, however, that we have a common home, a common language, a common culture and a common public sphere, which must be protected at all costs,” he said adding: “We will not compromise and we will not back down, we will insist on our rights. We will not give in to political or economic blackmail.”
Orbán then pivoted warning: “Asia and China stand before us in full superpower garb, with self-respect and a vision. They want to end a century of humiliation. They want to regain dominance over Asia. And the universal values of the US are laughed at by the Chinese.”
“Every day we are moving towards a confrontation- we are in a dangerous situation in world politics because the number one power sees itself sinking to second place.”
Rebuking the EU the prime minister said the EU is plagued by anxiety. “It is a rich and weak Union, which sees around it a world in revolt, millions of people heading
for Europe,” he noted referring the migrant crisis brought on by the war in Ukraine and other factors.
“If we look at the International Monetary Fund’s list of countries by GDP, we see that by 2030 Britain, Italy and France will slip out of the top 10, and Germany, now in fourth place, is slipping back to tenth,” he said adding; “The EU is like an aging boxing champion, showing off his medals but no longer willing to go back into the ring.”
Pressman said one of “its most haunting elements is the depiction of government efforts to turn Hungarians into informants against other Hungarians, neighbors against neighbors, brothers against brothers and parents against their own children — families against themselves — and all in service of oppression … and of empowering the few at the expense of the many.”
“It is impossible not to see echoes of this in your Parliament’s vote earlier this year to encourage neighbors to report to the authorities their gay neighbors raising children,” he added. “Turning neighbor on neighbor conjures a dark past of covert agents and informants, of fear and betrayal, in this country and this region that I do not need to recount. You have a museum for that. While this legislation did not become law, the fact it was ever considered, let alone supported by this government and passed by the legislature is chilling.”
Pressman noted “this proposal is not unique; others became and remain law.”
“Laws prohibiting ‘propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships’ were adopted by Russia in 2013,” he said. “These Russian laws found a new home here in Hungary eight years later — like a virus spreading — when the government adopted laws to forbid ‘educational programs aimed at the promotion of … homosexuality.’ And this law remains in force today. And — in both Russia and in Hungary — the crackdowns on discourse related to gayness were preceded and accompanied by a closing of space for independent institutions and civil society.”
Referring to the greater EU Orbán noted: “If you read the constitutions of European countries, you will see that the “I” is at the center of their constitutions, while the “we” is at the center of the Hungarian constitution.”
Circling back to his theme stressing that “peace, family, law and freedom cannot be achieved alone,” he noted that common things in the life of the individual are expressed as relationships, while “liberal constitutions were not written on the basis of relationships, but on the basis of detachment.” Then without direct reference of autocratic governance and in critique of the EU, Orbán restated his belief the migration crisis and the “LGBTQ campaign” “cannot be fought on liberal foundations.”
U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman on June 16 criticized the crackdown on LGBTQ+ and intersex rights in the European country.
Pressman, who is openly gay, in a speech he gave at a Budapest Pride reception noted he recently visited the Hungarian capital’s House of Terror Museum, which honors those persecuted during Nazi Germany’s occupation of Hungary and the post-World War II Communist governments that ruled the country until 1989.
“History teaches us that when governments start discriminating against one group — whether for who they love or what they believe, their politics or their race, or the color of their skin — others are usually not far behind,” added Pressman. “It teaches us clearly what can happen when we fail to speak out and stand up to these laws and policies as soon as they infect our democracies.”
Budapest Pride President Viktoria Radvanyi told the Washington Blade in February after U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power met with her and other activists in the Hungarian capital that it is “impossible to change your gender legally in Hungary” because of a 2020 law that “banned legal gender recognition of transgender and intersex people.”
Hungarian MPs in 2020effectively banned same-sex couples from adopting children and defined marriage in the country’s constitution as between a man and a woman. Pressman and his partner of 22 years, who was in the room when he gave his speech, have twin sons.
The European Commission last July sued Hungary, which is a member of the European Union, over the country s propaganda law.
Additional reporting by Blade International Editor Michael K. Lavers
is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly for the Blade.
It makes you wonder about the state of things when the blockbuster movie of the summer is about a doll. “Barbie” has beaten out Tom Cruise’s latest “Mission Impossible” movie, and Harrison Ford’s 80-year-old version of Indiana Jones, with the biggest opening of the year. Maybe that can be explained knowing Barbie is only 64. She could sing to the world the Beatles verse, “Will you still love me when I’m 64?” and the answer seems to be a resounding, “YES!”
I never played with dolls as a child so that wasn’t a manifestation at the time of my being gay. I had other indications like doing fl ower arranging. I won a blue ribbon for one arrangement and did window displays for local stores. But I knew about Barbie. Now as I move toward my dotage, I have a good friend who owns two bars called Freddie’s, one in Virginia, and one in Rehoboth Beach, and he is infatuated with Barbie. I also enjoy photographing the ‘Barbie House’ on Q Street in Dupont Circle, which has various entertaining displays of Barbie dolls in the yard, depicting the issues of the day.
When Barbie was introduced by Mattel in 1959, girls loved her, and they all wanted her. She came with beautiful clothes, long blond hair, and a perfect fi gure. You could get all kinds of accessories for her from jewelry, clothing, even a Barbie kitchen. Clearly young girls at the time were expected to learn to cook. It was the end of the 1950s and that was our culture.
But as our society’s norms changed, so did Barbie. She was an astronaut, an architect, and a CEO. In 1961, Mattel introduced the world to Ken, Barbie’s boyfriend. You could get Ken with either blond or dark hair, and he wore a red bathing suit showing off his perfect plastic body, just lacking genitals. Outfi ts for him included a tuxedo. Things went along fi ne for Barbie and Ken for years. Barbie seemed to treat Ken as an accessory, like a new fur, or a bracelet. I always thought of the two of them like the perfect children of a TV couple like Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. Bland and pretty. But then my dreams, as a totally closeted boy at the time, were not about Barbie or Ken, but rather of the Nelson’s real younger son, Ricky. Mattel kept up with the times and the fi ght for civil rights by introducing Christie, a doll of color, as Barbie’s friend in the later ‘60s In 1993, Mattel issued a new version of Ken: Earring Magic Ken. Ken was now wearing a mesh shirt, exposing his abs. He had an earring and necklace. Years later Katie Dupere would write in her column, “The true story of Mattel accidentally releasing a super gay Ken doll,” “After the doll’s 1993 release, activist and writer Dan Savage, who at the time was working for queer-focused newspaper The Stranger, wrote a piece about the doll’s decidedly “ gay” look. In the story, Savage particularly focused on the doll’s necklace, a circular chrome pendant hanging from a silver chain. Savage wrote that the necklace “is what ten out of ten people in-the-know will tell you at a glance is a c*** ring.” Barbie and Ken and their friends changed with the times. Barbie and Ken never married; just stayed boyfriend and girlfriend for 43 years. Then the day before Valentine’s Day 2004, Mattel began a large-scale publicity promotion by issuing a press release telling the world Barbie and Ken were breaking up. This was national news, covered among other places by the “Today” show. Then at Toy Fair 2004, Mattel introduced Blaine, a boogie boarding Australian hottie who they said was now dating Barbie. One thing Barbie has never done is have children. I see her as the precursor to Sarah Jessica Parker’s character in “Sex And the City.”
In interviews about the movie, Margot Robbie, who plays Barbie, tells Ryan Gosling, Ken, she is moving on from him being merely an accessory, which is what Mattel introduced him as. You could buy a Barbie mink stole, a new Barbie dress, a Barbie bracelet, a Barbie oven, or Ken. Totally interchangeable.
With this movie, whether you love or hate Barbie, you can be assured she will outlive you, especially if you are a man. Mattel has sold more than 1 billion Barbies and we can be confi dent that future generations will continue to add to Mattel’s bottom line as we wait to see where Barbie goes next.
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Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA), enacted on May 30 by President Yoweri Museveni, enshrines discrimination in Ugandan law. The AHA includes the death sentence for some consensual same-sex acts, prohibits organizations from “normalizing” sexual diversity through inclusive programming and requires everyone in Uganda, including health workers, to report people who might be lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ) to the police.
Can Ugandan LGBTQ people still access medical care and other basic services?
The Ministry of Health would like donors to think so. In a June 5 circular, posted briefly online, shared with donors in PDF form, and then removed from the internet, the health ministry says its policy is to provide health services “to all people in Uganda in their diversity without any form of discrimination,” “not to discriminate or stigmatize any individual who seeks health care services, for any reason — gender, religion, tribe, economic status, social status or sexual orientation” and to uphold “confidentiality, privacy [and] patient safety as stipulated in the Patient’s Charter.”
Pleasing words, but the law trumps health policies, even if they were enacted in earnest. Uganda’s Patients’ Charter is clear: “Information concerning one’s health, including information regarding treatment, may only be disclosed with informed consent, except when required by law.” Because the law, the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023, states that anyone who has information that a person has committed or intends to commit an offense “shall report the matter to the police for appropriate action,” health providers are still required by law to turn in LGBTQ patients. There is no client-provider privilege enshrined in the AHA for health providers.
The circular from the Ministry of Health is part of a pattern of two-faced communications from the government of Uganda regarding what the law actually states and how it will be implemented. On June 7, during hisState of the Nation address, President Yoweri Museveni reiterated the claims in the health circular: “Therefore, those who say that the homosexuals will be arrested if they go for medical care, etc., are wrong. The law now says that a homosexual will not be criminalized for merely being so if he/she keeps the being to oneself.” What does this really mean in practice? If no one in the world ever finds out you are LGBTQ, including your health provider, you might be able to safely access health care, as long as that health care does not address any specific needs related to your sexual orientation or gender identity.
Meanwhile, during its University Periodic Review (UPR) process at the U.N. Human Rights Council in June, when questioned about the Anti-Homosexuality Act and the human rights violations it prescribes, the Deputy Permanent Repre-
sentative of Uganda to the U.N. Office in Geneva, Arthur Kafeero, claimed that the act was a response to “a widespread campaign to promote homosexuality amongst children in schools was discovered” and that “its methods and content too difficult and graphic to explain.” He added that the government had “simply expanded the coverage of the [current] law to protect children.”
The organization Sexual Minorities Uganda, which has now been forcibly shuttered by the government, wrote, at that time, “the full force of the State, particularly the legislative and executive branches of government, is being used to hunt down, expose, demean and suppress Uganda’s LGBTI people.”
Similarly, the Ugandan non-governmental organization Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum, in the month following the law’s enactment on May 30, has already documented, through its direct engagement with LGBTQ individuals seeking legal aid, 23 cases involving violence or threats of violence affecting 23 individuals; 19 cases of evictions from rented property affecting 20 individuals; and four cases of arrests on sexuality-related cases, affecting seven persons. HRAPF’s report is a litany of suffering inflicted on queer Ugandans as a result of the AHA: Police are actively responding to complaints from members of the public and arresting LGBTQ people, and they are being beaten, threatened with rape and lynching and rendered homeless by their landlords, families and local council members. Health care, housing and employment are all in the balance, as illustrated by these three cases:
These statements make clear that the government of Uganda is not an honest broker in its engagement with the international community around the Anti-Homosexuality Act. Ugandan parliament members’ intentions were clear and are reflected in the letter of the law. The Anti-Homosexuality Act is discriminatory on face value; worse, it seeks to erase the existence of queer Ugandans.
We’ve been through this before. In July 2014, five months after the enactment of the previous Anti-Homosexuality Act, Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a similar statement intended to appease donors. While not specific to health, it asserted that the AHA was “misinterpreted” by development partners, that it only intended to prevent the “open promotion of homosexuality, especially among children and vulnerable groups”; that “no activities of individuals, groups, companies or organizations” would be affected by the AHA; and that the government was committed to the provision of services to all in Uganda, without discrimination.
I was part of a Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International team that investigated violence and discrimination in the wake of the Anti-Homosexuality Act. We foundthat LGBTIQ people were facing arbitrary arrests, police abuse and extortion, loss of employment, evictions, homelessness, forced displacement, violence and denial of health services.
• June 10: Following the arrest of two gay men in his area, the client, who is a [key populations] coordinator at a government health facility, was threatened with violence by their colleagues at work and people in the community, who said he was responsible for the actions of the two who had been arrested because he was always the one supporting them and giving them treatment.
• June 12: The client was outed as a lesbian when a friend of her partner wrote letters threatening to beat her and pinned them at her door as well as delivering a copy to her workplace. She was immediately terminated from employment and forced to move after the neighbors started insulting and threatening her.
• June 14: A lesbian woman was attacked in her home and beaten by two men she did not know. This happened after she was warned to leave the village in May 2023 for her safety and was formally evicted by her landlord, but she had not yet left because she did not have the resources to afford the move. She suffered several cuts and bruises from the assault.
The true impact of the Anti-Homosexuality Act is clear. Development partners are only “misinterpreting” the Anti-Homosexuality Act if they take seriously the government’s assurances that the law will not be a vehicle for discrimination. Accessing health care, renting a room, and holding a job: these basic activities essential to life and livelihoods all carry the risk of being outed and facing imprisonment and death. There is no protection against this. Could anything be more discriminatory?
NEELA GHOSHAL
is Outright International’s Senior Director of Law, Policy and Research, based in Washington, D.C.LGBTQ and intersex activists protest in front of the Ugandan Embassy in D.C. on April 25, 2023. (Washington Blade photos by Michael K. Lavers)
“It’s remarkable,” Edmund White, the acclaimed queer novelist memoirist, playwright, biographer and essayist, told the Blade this summer in a telephone interview, “I’m 83 years old! A lot of people my age would give up.”
“Not me,” he added, “I still feel sharp.” White, born in 1940, is more than as good as his word. At a time of life when many rest on their laurels, he has not only published his latest novel, “The Humble Lover,” (Bloomsbury), but is working on new literary projects.
Don’t be fooled by White’s age. “The Humble Lover” is no sleepy, “octogenarian” novel. Yes, its protagonist, Aldwych West, who’s desperately in love with 20-year-old August Dupond, a principal dancer in the New York City Ballet, sleeps. But that’s all “The Humble Lover” has in common with staid novels for “the elderly.” The novel features lots of sex, unrequited passion, ballet, Champagne, and Ernestine, a dominatrix, who makes Joan Crawford or Bette Davis at their bitchiest seem tame. August doesn’t return Aldwych’s affections. In an effort to spike August’s interest, Aldwych, who’s incredibly wealthy, creates a ballet company so August can have his own ballet troupe to star in. Poor Aldwych! August still doesn’t lust for him. Instead, he hooks up with Padro, a sex worker, and Ernestine, who’s married to his investment banker nephew Bryce. It’s deliciously wicked.
“Why don’t they have more gay villains,” White said, “I liked writing Ernestine. She’s a real bitch!”
“The Humble Lover” is one of the more than 30 novels that White has written. To say that White, who grew up in Evanston, Ill., has had a creative and productive life is an understatement.
White, who lives in New York, was a co-founder of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis and of the 1980s queer writers group The Violet Quill. In addition to his many novels, he has written memoirs, essay collections, book reviews as well as biographies of Rimbaud, Genet, and Proust. White wrote a novel (unpublished) when he was a teen at Cranbrook School, a boarding school in Broomfield Hills, Mich. White has received more honors than you could imagine. His many awards include the PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Career Achievement in American Fiction and Lambda Literary’s Visionary Award.
The National Book Foundation presented White with the 2019 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. “A master of narrative and craft across fiction, journalism, memoir and more,” David Steinberger, chair of the board of directors of the Foundation said of White. “Whether it’s evocative depiction of gay life during the tumultuous 1980s, painstakingly researched biography or elegant memoir, White’s work stands out across decades as its resonance … for a multitude of devoted readers.”
Along with being a legendary queer literary lion, White is professor emeritus of creative writing at Princeton. (He taught at Princeton for 19 years.) White has been called the “godfather of gay American literature,” Princeton Alumni Weekly has reported.
In 2013, White and the writer Michael Carroll, who is 25 years younger than White, were married. White has lived much of his life in New York and Paris.
From early on, White was imaginative. As a child, White, like
many writers thought up stories and had imaginary friends. “One of my imaginary friends was named Cottage Cheese,” White said.
Today, White is one of the most out, unabashedly, joyfully queer people you’d ever want to meet. “I’m working now on a sex memoir about the loves of my life,” White, who in 1977 co-wrote with Charles Silverstein, “The Joy of Gay Sex,” said. “It’s so much more sex positive now,” he added.
But when White grew up in the Midwest in the 1940s and 1950s, there was nothing sex positive about being queer. Being gay was sinful and illegal. At best, it was believed to be a sickness. In that era, “the three most heinous things in America were heroin, communism and homosexuality,” White wrote in an essay.
White knew he was queer early on (even though he secretly perused the dictionary to find words for his feelings).
In his 2018 memoir “Unpunished Vice: A Life of Reading,“ White recounts that, when he was 12, his mother gave him a biography of Nijinsky, the queer Russian ballet dancer. “Was it just that he was an iconic artist...and she wanted to stoke my artistic fires,” he writes, “Or was it innocent compliance with a sissy streak I’d already manifested?”
When he was a teen and underage, men would come by,
cruising, in their cars. He’d have sex with them. But, “I was jailbait,” White said, “they’d never meet me a second time.”
White always wanted to be a writer. “But, I knew writers can’t support themselves,” White said, “so I thought, maybe I’ll be a professor.”
At boarding school, White’s favorite teacher had studied Chinese. White decided to follow in his footsteps. In 1962, he graduated from the University of Michigan, where he studied Chinese. White was accepted into Harvard University’s doctoral program in Chinese. But he decided against entering the program. He opted to follow a lover and move to New York.
For several years, he pursued journalism. Working for Time-Life Books, freelancing for Newsweek, editing the Saturday Review and Horizon as well as freelancing for publications such as The New Republic.
White is best known for his trio of autobiographical novels: “A Boy’s Own Story,” “The Beautiful Room Is Empty” and “The Farewell Symphony.”
But not all of his fiction, especially, his most recent novels (such as “A Previous Life” and “A Saint from Texas”) are about his life.
“I got tired of writing autobiographical fiction,” White said, “I enjoy making people up.”
White talked enthusiastically about creating “The Humble Lover.” “When I was in my 20s, I had an affair with a wellknown ballet dancer,” White said, “and I’ve always been fascinated by the ballet.”
His fascination with ballet and his acquaintanceship with wealthy, WASPy people helped him to imagine the characters in “The Humble Lover.”
“I had an office mate who was the ultimate WASP from a good family in New York City,” White said. “They had their own brownstone. He’d gone to Harvard. He had a way of pronouncing words that was different from anybody else.”
White, like an anthropologist, studied him. “He became the basis for Aldwych,” White said.
Part of writing for White is finding characters equivalent to people in your life. “When I worked for Vogue magazine, I met a lot of society people,” he said. “They interest me in an anthropological way.”
“I had a boyfriend who was on the best-dressed list,” White added, “these jet set people talk all the time about their schedules.”
At the same time, White thinks people spend too much time thinking about celebrities. “They’re not that interesting,” he said.
In addition to working on a memoir about sex, White is writing a new novel. The novel, White said, is based on his nephew who killed himself at age 50. “It was 10 years ago. He was hetero and lived with me for a little bit,” White said. “He was a little bit crazy. He wouldn’t stay on lithium. I was very close to him.”
“I’ve always wondered if I could find a way to do it,” White added.
Before Stonewall, queer writers would try to explain LGBTQ people to readers. “Or they would try to get compassion for gays and present us as sick in sad stories,” White said. “Or, as in Gore Vidal’s case, they’d show us as campy.”
It’s very different, today. “It’s sex positive.” White said.
When you’re a Barbie, every day is perfect. You get to do whatever you want and be anything you want to be, whether it’s fashion model Barbie or President Barbie, and that’s just the way things naturally are.
When you’re not a Barbie, however, it might look more than a little bit like Barbie privilege.
This is, of course, a perspective flip undertaken by filmmaker Greta Gerwig in her latest film, which brings the doll of its eponymous title into the “real world” to look for answers after she experiences an unexpected existential crisis, in an endeavor to turn it into something deeper than a flashy, overhyped toy commercial masquerading as a big screen blockbuster. It’s not the only one, but it’s the most obvious, and it has most of the movie’s inexplicably vehement detractors feigning outrage over what they deem as “woke” propaganda.
It’s certainly true that “Barbie” is loaded with the kind of messaging that conservatives deplore. In the screenplay co-authored by Gerwig with partner Noah Baumbach, Barbieland exists through the imagination of all the children who play with her; every Barbie (and Ken) lives there, but the plot focuses on their “stereotypical” iterations (Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling), who are forced to confront the differences between the idealized utopia in which they live and the still-farfrom-perfect reality inhabited by their human counterparts. Barbie, crestfallen, just wants to go home – but Ken, after seeing a world where the men seem to be in charge, is inspired with a different notion.
That premise, needless to say, gives Gerwig’s movie plenty of fodder for cultural commentary, and it holds nothing back as it goes after all the usual targets with palpable glee, so it’s no surprise a segment of the population would get their feathers ruffled over it.
What’s less predictable, perhaps, is the level of animosity aimed at the film from quarters one might expect to embrace it. This might be a function of Barbie’s “problematic” image, which has been tarnished by decades of criticism from those who (not wrongly) have called out the iconic doll – and the company that sells it – for promoting an idealized, male-defined image of femininity and undermining its purported message of female empowerment by simultaneously creating an unrealistic body image for women; let’s face it, there are people who just don’t like Barbie, for these reasons and more, and never will.
Since the film clearly addresses these controversies, however, and attempts to move past them toward a more evolved manifestation of the character, one might be tempted to suspect there’s more behind the aversion for the very idea of this movie that compels so many people to belittle it, unprompted, on their social media feeds; and since – despite dismissive declarations of shallowness that have been levied against it, sight unseen, from the moment it was announced – “Barbie” goes much deeper than the predictably divisive political constructs of the so-called “culture wars” in its ambitious effort to be more than we expect it to be, we might be able to look further into those depths for more insightful reasons.
For starters, the path the movie takes to resolve its plot leads through many ideas that, for the more jaded among us, can easily seem like lip service. The idea that empathy, that seeing what it’s like to walk in someone else’s shoes, can fix all
the problems of the world is so familiar that it can be reduced to a platitude; it’s a nice sentiment, but only the most romantic of optimists can be convinced of its believability, and perhaps of its sincerity, too. With that in mind, it’s easy to appreciate why so many people might be predisposed to resist its warmand-cozy appeal.
Then there’s the well-publicized barrage of cinematic references – influences to which Gerwig has given a dizzyingly exhaustive array of shameless nods in her treatment of “Barbie” – that pop up as “Easter Eggs” from the movie’s very first sequence and continue without pause for pretty much its entire runtime. From “2001: A Space Odyssey” to “Blade Runner,” from “The Wizard of Oz” to “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg,” she lovingly crafts her visuals to evoke connections to myriad classics that have shaped her self-evidently masterful understanding of cinema – but while those might be fun for movie buffs with a penchant for trivia, they don’t do much for the average viewer who has likely never seen anything directed by Jacques Demy, let alone have knowledge about his use of color in crafting the “look” of a film. In fact, knowing that such elements are there could even feel like exclusionary intellectual snobbery.
Still, after experiencing the film firsthand, such reasons feel like excuses to us, rationalizations to justify a dislike that stems from something more personal – and perhaps, more uncomfortable – than the rhetorical stances that often dominate the analysis and judgment of film or any other art form. Though it makes no apologies for its espousal of feminist ideals or any of the other core “liberal” principles it embraces, it nevertheless dares to suggest that the problems of the world can’t be solved by merely upending the status quo. There may be quite a few amusing jokes about “The Patriarchy” involved,
but by the time it’s over, “Barbie” posits that tearing it down isn’t really the solution so many of us imagine it to be – and that’s a frightening concept for anyone who is invested in the idea that it is.
There are many standout moments in “Barbie” – and yes, you can take that as an unequivocal recommendation of the film, which to us feels like a disruptive “truth bomb” delivered via a candy-colored Trojan Horse into the heart of contemporary culture and features superb and layered performances, not only from its two oft-maligned leading players but from a host of supporting cast members like Kate McKinnon and America Ferrera (who deserves to be a front-runner in next year’s Oscar race on the strength of one show-stopping monologue alone) as well – but two of these capture its essence. The first is a “Forrest Gump”-ish exchange between Barbie and an elderly woman on a park bench, which consists of only four words; the studio, reportedly, wanted it cut, but Gerwig – who insisted on complete creative control before accepting the job – declined to concede. It’s a transcendent touch, and its power lies beyond words, so we’ll just leave it at that.
The second comes later, when Barbie confides to a mysterious woman (Rhea Perlman) she encounters by seeming chance that “The real world isn’t what I thought it was” – to which she receives the reply, “It never is.”
If “Barbie” can be said to have a moral, that’s probably it –and it’s one that has shaken humanity to its core for centuries.
Is it any wonder that so many human beings, believing themselves to be secure in their unquestioned and pre-programmed personal illusions, don’t want to hear that message?
But what do we know? Taste, like life itself, is a subjective experience, and the only opinion that ever matters – at least for you – is your own.
COCONUT GROVE, FL. - An unabashed progressive activist, long time donor to the Democratic party as well as LGBTQ+ causes, Jonathan D. Lewis died at his home earlier this month having battled CNS Lymphoma, a rare form of brain cancer.
In one memorable battle over progressive rights and LGBTQ+ equality a decade ago with the administration of then President Barack Obama, Lewis who provided money to fund LGBT groups such as Freedom to Work and GetEQUAL, and provided the maximum amount of $30,800 to the Democratic National Committee, threatened to pull the plug on any more donations. The Miami-based philanthropist was angered by President Obama’s reluctance to issue an executive order barring LGBT workplace discrimination.
Lewis writing in an op-ed in The Huffington Post, titled “No More Excuses: Mr. President,” called on Obama to issue the executive order barring federal contractors from engaging in LGBT workplace discrimination as a way to make amends for the absence of UAFA in immigration reform.
Lewis, whose fortune came from his family, the founders of Progressive Insurance, was described by his family in their tribute in his online obituary as; “A natural agitator, he challenged the status quo and relished going against the grain, never hesitating to make waves. He will be deeply missed by all who were fortunate enough to have entered his orbit.”
(Edited & excerpted)
Born on November 1, 1958, in Cleveland Ohio, Jonathan, graduated from Shaker Heights High School. He went on to graduate magna cum laude from Boston University College of Communication.
After college, he moved to Miami to work at the Sheraton River House and help open the renowned five-star Grand Bay Hotel, which redefined fine dining in Miami. In 1983, he founded his own independent design and development firm, Jonathan Lewis & Associates, managing projects in Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, New York, Aspen and Atlanta.
Jonathan’s first solo restaurant project in Miami, Toby’s, named in honor of his mother, Toby Devan Lewis, garnered recognition as one of Esquire magazine’s “10 Best New Restaurants” in 1985. Food & Wine magazine honored it with their Best New Chef award, while the Miami Herald gave it five-stars out of four, the extra star for “pure class”.
Next, Jonathan opened Cafe Tu Tu Tango in Coconut Grove, Miami, earning another four-stars from the Miami Herald for its innovative approach to small plate sharing. As Cafe Tu Tu Tango flourished, Jonathan played an integral role in its operations as it grew to multiple locations.
Inspired by his father, Peter B. Lewis, Jonathan began his transition to political activism in the early 2000’s, supporting progressive political efforts focused on the fight for LGBTQ equality and youth empowerment. To truly challenge the status quo and build a sustainable progressive movement, Jonathan believed that young people and their creative energy and idealism were essential.
One of his first major undertakings was funding and incubating the Young Voter Alliance,
under the Young Democrats of America. The Young Voter Alliance used an innovative, collaborative model to capture and cultivate a powerful, measurable progressive youth voting bloc. The result, in 2004, was the highest youth voter turnout since 1972.
Following his initial political investments, Jonathan became disillusioned as he observed what he considered to be “access advocacy.” Progressive national organization leaders and activists seemed deterred from demanding radical accountability of those in power, settling instead for empty promises, excuses and privileged access with nothing to show for it.
He transformed into an agitator, more inclined to challenge those in power to bring about real change. He fearlessly voiced his dissent and, more importantly, utilized his personal resources to exemplify his unwavering commitment to meaningful change.
Out of his deep frustration and perception of limited progress, Jonathan funded a new, radical, direct action group, GetEQUAL. Its mission was to relentlessly push President Obama and the Democratic Party to make significant progress toward full LGBTQ equality and, specifically, legalize same-sex marriage and end the discriminatory Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy that forbade openly gay and lesbian individuals from serving in the military.
GetEQUAL’s nontraditional and aggressive tactics to bring the issues to the forefront included activists chaining themselves to the White House fence, disrupting President Obama at public events and blockading Las Vegas Boulevard. They definitely got the attention of the national press and the president. Despite pushback, Jonathan felt immense pride in 2010 as he stood alongside GetEQUAL activists during President Obama’s official signing of the bill repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
Additionally, Jonathan served on the board of the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), which brought together attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies, representing different ends of the political spectrum, to champion the fundamental right to marry.
This historic effort culminated in a landmark victory at the United States Supreme Court in 2013, establishing a binding precedent affirming the right to marry. Through his involvement with AFER and GetEQUAL, and many other groups, Jonathan played an instrumental role in advancing equality and justice for all.
One of the most ambitious theoretical to real world working models his foundation has undertaken is Farms Work Wonders, an experimental pilot project launched in 2016, that provides employment, teaches essential skills and supports the educational endeavors of local Appalachian youth. Since its inception, the project has created several successful non-profit social enterprise businesses that serve as dynamic living classrooms for youth including an organic farm, market, bakery, glass blowing studio and a restaurant opening in August, that will honor Jonathan’s hospitality roots. These ventures have touched the lives of many people and will continue to do so.
Jonathan is survived by his husband Mark Christopher Lewis and his siblings Ivy Beth Lewis and Adam Joseph Lewis (Melony). Jonathan is predeceased by his parents Peter Benjamin Lewis and Toby Devan Lewis and his nephew Dakota William Powell.
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