Los Angeles Blade, Volume 07, Issue 43, October 27, 2023

Reimagining Eden: ‘Heaven on Earth’,

(Photo courtesy of Christian Rogers)

PAGE 04

OCTOBER 27, 2023 • VOLUME 07 • ISSUE 43 • AMERICA’S LGBTQ NEWS SOURCE • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

CALIFORNIA

Sen. Laphonza Butler says she won’t run to keep U.S. Senate seat WASHINGTON - Democratic U.S. Senator Laphonza Butler, who was appointed 18 days ago by California Governor Gavin Newsom to fill the Senate seat left vacant by Sen. California U.S. SenaDianne Feinstein’s death, antor LAPHONZA BUTLER nounced Thursday that she (Blade Photo by Michael Key) would not run for a full Senate term in 2024.

Butler said in the statement she made the decision after considering “what kind of life I want to have, what kind of service I want to offer and what kind of voice I want to bring forward.”

“Knowing you can win a campaign doesn’t always mean you should run a campaign. I know this will be a surprise to many because traditionally we don’t see those who have

power let it go,” Butler added. “It may not be the decision people expected but it’s the right one for me.”

California’s 2024 senate race already has a crowded field that includes Democratic Reps. Barbara Lee of Oakland, Katie Porter of Irvine and Adam B. Schiff of Burbank. Former Dodgers Major League Baseball star Steve Garvey, a Republican, also recently said he’s running.

The New York Times reported that in an interview with The Times, Butler said that she intended to be “the loudest, proudest champion of California” in the 383 days remaining in her term in office, but that she had realized “this is not the greatest use of my voice.”

The Black openly lesbian former EMILY’s List President and labor leader, Butler has never been elected to office and was appointed by Newsom helping him to fulfill his promise to name a Black woman to complete Senator Feinstein’s term.

Butler is a longtime leader in Democratic politics in California and beyond. She has been involved in campaign strategy, and the labor movement for two decades, and according to her official biography she has dedicated her life to empowering women and supporting them in finding their voice, and using it to make meaningful change.

The Associated Press noted that had she entered the race that has been underway since January, Butler would have faced challenging financial and political hurdles in a tight timeline, all while contending with her new job in Washington at a time of global crises.

Mail ballots for the March 5 primary go out in early February, meaning she would have just months to raise millions of dollars for TV advertising while building a campaign organization capable of competing in the nation’s most populous state, with about 22 million registered voters.

BRODY LEVESQUE

Cindy Montañez, politico, environmentalist, & LGBTQ ally has died SAN FERNANDO, Calif. - San Fernando City Councilmember Cindy Montañez, current CEO of TreePeople, and former California State Assembly Member has died at the age of 49.

The cause of death was not released, but Montañez had recently been diagnosed with aggressive and terminal cancer. The announcement of her passage came Saturday afternoon from the City of San Fernando in a statement: “It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of San Fernando City Councilmember Cindy Montañez, current CEO of TreePeople, and former California State Assembly Member. Councilmember Montañez was surrounded by her family at home in San Fernando when she passed on Saturday, October 21, 2023.

“Cindy will be remembered as a fierce advocate and a champion for environmental justice across California. To her family Cindy will always remain a loving daughter, sister, aunt and great aunt, and will be missed dearly.

“The family requests that their privacy be respected during this difficult time. Additional information regarding opportunities to celebrate Councilmember Cindy Montañez’

put her heart and soul into everything life will be shared as they are made availshe did. Fighting for social justice, to able.” make the world better for all communiCity News Service reported that she ties, and to protect our environment eswas the youngest person ever elected to pecially for those most vulnerable. She the San Fernando City Council in 1999 at was also a steadfast ally of the LGBTQ+ age 25, and the youngest woman elected community. Always standing up when it to the California state Legislature at age mattered and fighting with us to defeat 28 in 2002. Two years later she chaired Prop 8. Everyone loved her.” the powerful Assembly Rules Commit“I’m deeply saddened by the passing tee, becoming the youngest person, first of Assemblywoman Montañez,” said Los Latina and first Democratic woman to San Fernando City Councilmember Angeles Mayor Karen Bass in a statehold that post.

CINDY MONTAÑEZ, current CEO of TreePeople, and former California ment. “The Assemblywoman was a reShe was tapped as CEO of TreePeople State Assembly Member. lentless trailblazer who led with convicin 2016. The educational and environ(Photo Credit: Montañez/Facebook) tion and a vision of a better Los Angeles mental advocacy organization works to for all. I join so many Angelenos in holdsupport sustainable urban ecosystems ing memories of the Assemblywoman close. My thoughts in the greater Los Angeles area. are with her friends and family as we mourn the loss of a In a statement to the Blade Saturday evening, Democratic great Angeleno.”

Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur said: BRODY LEVESQUE “Cindy Montañez was an amazing human. Someone who

Huntington Beach City Council restricts LGBTQ & other books HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - After a contentious round of public comments, on Tuesday, October 17, the Huntington Beach City Council approved Resolution No. 2023-41, an ordinance that restricts minor’s access to books containing sexual content in the city’s library system.

The First Amendment Coalition, ACLU Foundation of Southern California, and the Freedom to Read Foundation sent a letter to the Huntington Beach City Council that urged it to reject Resolution No. 2023-41, which would prohibit any city library from allowing access to “any content of a sexual nature” for anyone under 18 years of age without consent of a parent or guardian, regardless of “whether the books or materials are intended for children or adults.

The groups pointed out beyond the books with LGBTQ+ themes, the ordinance would impose an “unconstitutional censorship regime on the people’s right to access library books and materials protected by the First Amendment,” noting that everything from seminal works of literature

such as “Romeo and Juliet,” “The Great Gatsby,” “1984,” and “Beloved,” to textbooks such as “Introduction to Plant Reproduction,” to the Bible, would be covered by the resolution’s overbroad definition of “content of a sexual nature.”

The resolution would also establish a “community parent/guardian review board” that would have veto power over the city library’s acquisition of new children’s books “containing any sexual writing, sexual references, sexual images and/or other sexual content.” Such a ban on the acquisition of new material would be based solely on undefined “community standards.”

“Parents and children have the right to decide for themselves what library books to read,” said David Loy, Legal Director for the First Amendment Coalition. “The government does not belong in the censorship business.”

KABC 7 reported when Councilwoman Gracey Van Der Mark proposed a change in library policy in June, she read passages from several books for young readers that she

02 • OCTOBER 27, 2023 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

claimed were recommended by the state and were in the city library’s children’s section. One of the books she cited was “Gender Queer.”

“I do believe parents have a right to know” about what books are available to check out at the library, she said.

“What I am asking is we look into different ways to protect kids,” she said. “If you want this for your kids go for it... but a lot of parents don’t know this material is in the books.”

Van Der Mark suggested placing “a sticker on books to let parents know it is especially graphic.”

During the public comments section many of the speakers opposed to the ordinance eviscerated Van Der Mark and the other councilmembers supporting her. They pointed out that actions like this are akin to homophobic book bans, and are comparative to the actions taken in the 1930’s by the Nazi Party.

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Reimagining Eden: What we took away from ‘Heaven on Earth’

LOS ANGELES – The best way to describe Christian Rogers’ most recent artistic adventure is by envisioning him dipping his paintbrush into a Rush bottle and spreading this quintessential party drug across the entirety of a canvas.

Perhaps, it is even more fitting to liken it to a psychedelic trip, complete with the blotter art of a rainbow on a tab of LSD. Rogers’ project Heaven on Earth exudes a vibrant tapestry of queer nostalgia and earthly tones - all while maintaining a balance between the transcendent and the tangible.

In Heaven on Earth, Rogers orchestrates an eruption of colors and emotions, painting a vivid portrait of a world that blurs the lines between reality and imagination. This makes it particularly difficult to define what Rogers’ work actually is - it escapes predictable definitions and styles.

“It’s a little painting, it’s a little sculpture, it’s a collage,” Rogers tells the Blade. His willingness to blend and mold diverse artistic elements creates a fusion that mirrors the complexity of what entails the queer experience.

Roger’s artistic process mirrors the creation of a body, with paper pulp embodying both the physical and sensual aspects. During Rogers’ most recent gallery public showcase within NOON Projects, an art gallery nestled in the vibrant streets of Los Angeles’ historic Chinatown, his artworks exude a bodily presence. From the outside looking in, the frames of the paintings seem to extend from the wall towards the audience, and the paper pulp reaches out to engage its viewers.

But upon closer examination, one discovers an unexpected element - erotic imagery sources from vintage gay pornographic magazines. It’s a classic ‘bait and switch,’ a term Rogers employs to describe the provocative nature of his work, designed to pique curiosity and captivate attention. However, this is not done without purpose; Rogers has a deliberate political strategy underlying his art.

He explains, “Part of my strategy is to make a painting so desirable that even the most conservative of heterosexual neo-cons will be attracted to it.”

For those who may not be deeply entrenched in the contemporary art world, it is important to recognize that radical queer art is not the most prevalent form of art on display in galleries. According to Rogers, “The art market itself is fairly conservative. A rich, conservative class of people support the galleries while the galleries cater to that clientele. Some of the most radical queer art doesn’t make it to the mainstream galleries.”

The profit-driven nature of many galleries plays a significant role in this issue. These galleries often grapple with the perception of how showcasing a multitude of queer artists might be received. As a result, they turn down many queer

(Courtesy of Christian Rogers)

Queer artist CHRISTIAN ROGERS at his most recent gallery exhibition, ‘Heaven on Earth’ in Los Angeles.

(Courtesy of Christian Rogers)

artists while continuing to showcase bodies and sexualities deemed as profitable by broader society. However, Rogers humorously notes, “It’s so funny, the idea that a gallery – an inanimate object – can be perceived as being ‘too gay’.

Even during the early stages of his artistic journey, Rogers faced criticism from fellow graduate students who questioned the inclusion of erotic images in his work. He tells the Blade, “I was told I didn’t need the erotic images because [my work] was queer enough.” However, in Heaven on Earth, Rogers utilizes pornographic imagery in a way that successfully queers the gallery and spaces the artwork occupies. He firmly believes that these erotic images are not just necessary, but integral to his artistry.

Amidst these explicit visuals, his work incorporates symbols of nature and subtle references to religion. This deliberate juxtaposition underscores the crucial role played by the candid and exposed portrayal of bodies in shaping the interpretation of his art. In a way, his art can be described as a reinterpretation of Eden, a queering of the garden in the same manner that he queers the gallery.

Rogers explains the title, “Heaven on Earth,” as rooted in a powerful idea: the possibility that heaven is manifested in our earthly existence. “Could heaven be our existence here?” Rogers asks, “And how wonderful could it be if we let it?” Instead of disavowing discussions of religion, Rogers endeavors to infuse his art with a queer perspective on certain aspects of religion. He elaborates on this concept, saying, “I find a lot of value in spirituality and fellowship; in the queer community, going to a bar is like going to church.”

In fact, Rogers shares a profound spiritual connection with the men depicted in his paintings. Through the deliberate inclusion of these images, he is on a mission to safeguard the rightful place of these men within queer history – a history that has been systematically marginalized by heteronormativity and is constantly at risk of being erased.

These men serve as a powerful symbol of remembrance, a way to honor and embrace those who lived unapologetically queer lives in the past – a particularly poignant endeavor in the face of the devastating losses during the HIV/ AIDS crisis. Rather than viewing these men as antiquated,

04 • OCTOBER 27, 2023 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

(Courtesy of Christian Rogers)

solely existing in the past, Rogers identifies with these men: “I think of these men not as vintage but as contemporaries of myself.”

Fortunately, Rogers is not alone in his feelings towards his artwork. Heaven on Earth served to be Rogers’ most successful showcase in terms of sales; though, he does not solely care about the money - he cares about the message.

“For me, this is the most I’ve been able to sell, but more than anything, the media and accolades feel monumental,” Rogers says with gratitude.

As Heaven and Earth wrapped up its showcase at NOON Projects, there is more to take away than just the vibrant colors and mixed geometric shapes of various sizes. The project invited viewers to immerse themselves in a realm where queer culture intertwines with earthly elements and transcendental feelings, creating a captivating fusion of vibrant memories and timeless landscapes.

His willingness to blend and mold diverse elements creates a fusion that mirrors the complexity of the human experience itself. His artwork exists unapologetically, in the same way that Rogers is able to tell his fans, friends, and strangers: “I’m thankful I’m gay.”

NOAH CHRISTIANSEN

CALIFORNIA

Judge blocks Chino Valley Unified’s forced trans outing policy SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — On Thursday, San Bernardino California Superior Court Judge Michael Sachs issued a preliminary oral injunction against the Chino Valley Unified School District Board of Education’s mandatory gender identity disclosure policy, further halting the enforcement of the policy.

The provisions of the enjoined policy required staff and faculty of Chino Valley Unified schools to inform parents, with minimal exceptions, whenever a student requests to use a name or pronoun different from that on their birth certificate or official records, even without the student’s permission and even when the school district knows a student may be harmed emotionally, psychologically, or physically by the disclosure.

The other provision of the policy including requirements that staff Out students for identifying as transgender or gender non-conforming, as well as that students are to be outed for accessing sex-segregated programs and activities that align with their gender.

Additionally the policies also required notification if a student requests to use facilities or participates in programs that don’t align with their sex on official records.

Kristi Hirst, a former teacher, parent, and co-founder of Our Schools USA, in an emailed statement to the Blade said: «Today’s ruling is a win for students, parents, teachers and community members across California. The judge accurately described the forced outing policy as “discriminatory on its face,” and we agree.

It’s embarrassing that this school board chooses to ignore the harm they are causing in Chino and in communities throughout California in order to pursue a political crusade.

Educating children works best with engaged parents and caring teachers working together to create a safe space for all children to learn – and that’s what school boards ought to be focused on.

This forced outing policy was first passed by CVUSD on July 20, 2023. The lawsuit, The People of the State of California, Ex Rel. et al -v- Chino Valley Unified School District (San Bernardino County Superior Court Case No. CIVSB2317301), was introduced by California Attorney General Rob Bonta on August 28 and was placed under a temporary restraining order on September 6.

“I commend the San Bernardino Superior Court for reaffirming and upholding the constitutional rights and protections of transgender and gender-nonconforming students,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Today’s bench ruling is a significant step forward that will set a precedent in our efforts to ensure every student is guaranteed the right to learn and thrive in a school environment that promotes nondiscrimination, safety, and inclusivity. Let this decision serve as a stern warning to other school districts that have passed or are contemplating similar policies: enforcing discriminatory practices will not be tolerated in our educational institutions.”

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Superior Court of California County of San Bernardino, San Bernardino California Justice Center.

(Photo Credit: State of California)

In his ruling today, Judge Sachs stated that the text of provisions 1a and 1b of Chino Valley’s mandatory gender disclosure policy are facially unconstitutional as they violate the Equal Protection Clause of California’s Constitution and discriminate against transgender and gender nonconforming students.

The bench ruling continues to enjoin enforcement of provision 1a, requiring parental notification when a student requests to use a different name or pronoun, and provision 1b, which requires notification when a student requests to participate in school sports or use gender segregated facilities that do not align with the gender on their birth certificate.

Following the hearing, per the court’s request, the state will provide the court with a proposed order to implement the preliminary injunction.

In September, Bonta issued guidance addressed to all California Superintendents and school board members reminding them that the temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the San Bernardino Superior Court against the Board’s mandatory gender identity disclosure policy remained in full force and effect.

The Superior Court’s ruling came after Attorney General Bonta in August announced a lawsuit challenging the enforcement of the Board’s forced outing policy. Prior to filing a lawsuit, Attorney General Bonta announced opening a civil rights investigation into the legality of the Board’s adoption of the policy.

Prior to opening the investigation, the Attorney General in July sent a letter to Superintendent Norman Enfield and the Board of Education cautioning them of the dangers of adopting the forced outing policy, emphasizing the potential infringements on students’ privacy rights and educational opportunities.

Bonta issued statements following Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District, Rocklin Unified School District, Anderson Union High School District, and Temecula Valley and Murrieta Valley Unified School District Boards’ decision to implement copy-cat mandatory gender identity disclosure policies targeting transgender and gender-nonconforming students.

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CALIFORNIA

Apparent arson attack against San Diego queer women’s bar SAN DIEGO, Calif. - San Diego’s Gossip Grill, one of the last remaining Queer Women’s bars in the U.S. was targeted in an apparent arson attack Friday, October 20, at about 12:30am. Both front patios were set on fire.

San Diego Fire Department (SFFD) and police responded to the bar located at 1220 University Avenue and the flames were quickly extinguished. According to a spokesperson for the SDFD no structural damage was sustained and nobody was hurt.

Later in the day, around 1:45 p.m., the suspect, identified

as 38-year-old Ryan Habrel, was spotted near the scene and taken into custody, SDPD Lt. Adam T. Sharki said in a statement. “Habrel was arrested and booked into jail for arson to a commercial structure and the use of an accelerant,” Sharki said.

Habrel was identified by the San Diego Police Department as a suspect in the arson. The restaurant’s security cameras, which are placed throughout the premises, were operational and captured footage of the arsonist.

Habrel is allegedly a former employee of Gossip Grill sis-

ter restaurant Urban MO’s. Staff and local residents who know Habrel speculate that mental health and homelessness issues might have contributed to the incident. Habrel is a recognized transient who has been living homeless on the streets of Hillcrest for several years.

The bar will continue to operate its normal hours from 2pm-2am. In a message on its Facebook Page the bar noted: “We hope you will stop by for a meal or a round of drinks to show the staff your support.”

BRODY LEVESQUE

LA County Deputy Sheriff hit by car in WeHo during pursuit WEST HOLLYWOOD - A Los Angeles County West Hollywood Sheriff’s Deputy was hit by car during a pursuit of a burglary suspect’s vehicle in the city’s westside area.

Helicopters and (Photo Credit: WeHo Times) sheriff’s vehicles were in search of two suspects who have not been found as of the posting of this piece. The incident unfolded around 4:40 p.m. near the intersection of San Vicente Boulevard and Cynthia Street in West Hollywood. Paramedics drove the injured deputy to a nearby hospital and is reported to be in stable condition.

Deputies eventually located the suspect’s vehicle and a brief pursuit began.

The injured deputy was standing beside his vehicle when

the suspect hit him, slamming into the patrol car’s door in the process, officials said.

According to the sheriff’s department, the suspect’s vehicle was a black Dodge Charger.

The deputy suffered serious injuries and was transported to a hospital. He is currently listed as being in stable condition, according to Sheriff’s Department officials.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is asking for the public’s assistance in apprehending the person or persons responsible.

LASD released the following official statement: Major Crimes Bureau Requests Public’s Assistance to Locate Suspect Vehicle #WestHollywood On Thursday October 19, 2023, at approximately 4:33 P.M., deputies attempted to stop the above pictured suspect vehicle near Hilldale Avenue and Cynthia Street in the city of West Hollywood. However, the vehicle tried to evade the responding deputies.

As the suspect vehicle drove past the deputies, the vehi-

cle hit the open passenger door of a patrol vehicle, striking the deputy with the door, causing serious injury to the deputy. The suspect vehicle then drove away at a high rate of speed and out of view.

The vehicle is described as a 2022 dark grey Dode Challenger, with Nevada license plate #802-W31. The vehicle is missing its front license plate.

Anyone who may have witnessed the incident or may have information as to the suspect’s vehicle are encouraged to contact Major Crimes Bureau, 562-946-7893, or if you would like to remain anonymous, you may call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477, or on-line at www.p3tips.com.

If you see something, say something. Anonymous tips can be called into Crimestoppers at (800) 222-TIPS (8477), or by texting 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone. If you see something, say something. Anyone with information can also drop a tip at https://www. lacrimestoppers.org.

PAUL MURILLO

GLSEN to honor gay country musician Orville Peck at LA gala LOS ANGELES – The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), the nationwide organization that helps educators to create a positive school environment for LGBTQ+ students in K-12 schools, will honor gay country musician Orville Peck with its Champion Award at its annual Rise Up LA fundraising gala Oct 28 at Neuehouse Hollywood in Los Angeles.

Peck has made a splash around the world with his critically acclaimed hit albums Pony and Bronco, as well as his appearances on Trixie Motel, RuPaul’s Drag Race and Reese Witherspoon’s My Kind of Country on Apple TV+.

“Orville Peck’s authentic advocacy and commitment to championing a world where LGBTQ+ youth can feel safe and embraced reflects GLSEN’s mission,” says GLSEN Executive Director Melanie Willingham-Jaggers.

Peck says he’s “honored and humbled” to be recognized

by GLSEN. “GLSEN plays such an important role in providing safety, encouragement, and shaping the future of our youth. In our current political environment, protecting LGBTQIA+ students is more important than ever and GLSEN has long been at the forefront of this fight,” Peck says. “We invite you to join me and GLSEN on October 28th to show your support.”

The star-studded lineup of presenters at Rise Up LA will include Wayne Brady (Who’s Line Is It Anyway?, Kinky Boots),

Fortune Feimster (Last Comic Standing), and Sherry Cola (Joyride), among others, whom Willingham-Jaggers says are being recognized “stage for using their voices, talents, and platforms to create positive change in the world.”

The fundraiser program will also include students who have benefited from the work that GLSEN does.

“It’s an opportunity to meet the students who are impacted by our work,” GLSEN Board co-chair Wilson Cruz says.

In addition to the star-studded main program of live performances, Rise Up LA will feature a rooftop afterparty.

GLSEN raises a significant portion of its operating revenue from its annual fundraising events, and its work has grown more vital as a new wave of moral panic across the United States has had a detrimental impact on queer kids.

“This is a four-alarm fire at the moment,” Cruz says. “We see these book bans happening all across the country, and we responded by creating the Rainbow Library. It happened very quickly during the pandemic when all these book bans started. We delivered almost 5,000,000 books in 20,000 school districts across the country.”

While the backlash against queer students seems to be strongest in states controlled by Republicans, it’s an issue that hits close to home for Cruz, who grew up in southern California.

“One specific school district quite close to where I went to

06 • OCTOBER 27, 2023 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

school in Chino Hills, they outlawed the display of the LGBTQ+ flag,” he says. “To me that just feels like trolling. How is that helping anyone’s education? How is that helping anyone feel appreciated and seen and like a valued part of the community? It was enraging to me.”

Cruz says he believes (Courtesy of Orville Peck) it’s important that GLSEN’s work extends to educating parents and elected officials about the importance of LGBTQ-inclusive school policies and curricula.

“Part of what I think is the problem in these school board meetings is a lack of education on the part of people on those boards and some parents, who are unaware of the history made by people in this community and how dehumanizing it is for us to be left out of the telling of the story of the history of the United States and civil rights,” he says.

“I think of lot of this is solved by educating people, including parents and school boards.

ROB SALERNO

NATIONAL

American Library Association’s Emily Drabinski on book bans

ARLINGTON, VA. - American Library Association President Emily Drabinski was in Washington for the PFLAG National “Learning with Love” Convention, whose timing and theme are particularly apposite this year given the escalating fight this week on Capitol Hill over book bans.

She connected with the Washington Blade Saturday morning to discuss matters including how best to combat efforts to pull books from library shelves and ways to help restore public faith in the these institutions along with the qualified professionals serving in them.

Drabinski on Wednesday was named to the Out 100 2023 list, which celebrates the year’s “most impactful and influential LGBTQ+ people” and has included some of the most famous and celebrated public figures.

The honor comes about 16 months after Drabinski was named ALA president and then immediately earned rightwing backlash for a celebratory tweet in which she reflected on the significance of her election as a lesbian with progressive views.

Among the first to speak out against her over the tweet was a co-founder of Moms for Liberty, the anti-LGBTQ group that promotes book bans, opposes public support and funding for libraries and other institutions, and is considered a far-right extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. It was not long before elected Republican officials followed suit.

These critics often argue for their right to hold and express political opinions as they wish while claiming that others are unsuited for high profile roles because they hold or have shared views they find objectionable, those that are left-of-center, said Drabinski, who acknowledged homophobia also played a role in the outrage directed at her.

At the same time, Drabinski stressed that her focus remains on the responsibilities of leading the ALA, many of whose 49,000+ members have also been personally targeted by school boards, elected officials, and advocacy groups like Moms for Liberty.

The ALA is not alone in raising the alarm over the alignment of these parties and interests in favor of censoring certain ideas and voices, a movement which according to PEN America has led to an unprecedented number and range of titles being pulled from library shelves across the country.

“These efforts are a threat to student’s rights and freedoms,” according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education, whose Office of Civil Rights last month appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary Matt Nosanchuk whose duties include responding to book bans, taking “enforcement action when necessary.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

American Library Association President Emily Drabinski October 21, 2023 Interview with the Washington Blade’s White House correspondent, Christopher Kane.

Washington Blade: Reading about the backlash you encountered, I was reminded of Gigi Sohn’s confirmation process in the Senate and how ugly that got. I’m curious

to hear how your experience with this may have impacted the way that you look at whether and how to share your political views publicly. And more broadly, as the issues that are top of mind and front and center for ALA are becoming really politically fraught, how you look at the intersection of politics with your work?

Emily Drabinski: It’s a question I think about constantly.

You know, I think everybody has a political viewpoint, all of us do, and my political views inform how I think about the world and how I explain the world to myself, but the American Library Association isn’t about me. The status of American libraries is not about me. Attacks on the right to read and and libraries in general, they might have my name on them, but they’re clearly not about me.

What’s been frustrating is to see the whole entire Association -- which is about what libraries are about, which is building community; it’s about collective action and collectives of people coming together. [So], to see the focus on me as an individual has been really distressing.

It’s also not lost on me which ideas you can have, which identities you can have, or which you can write -- like what political viewpoint will get you this kind of blowback.

And it’s not everybody, right? It’s only some of us. You know, they’re all about freedom of thought and they’re all against cancellation of individuals for their viewpoints, and yet they don’t extend that to people from across the political spectrum.

Blade: You mentioned the issue of which identities are allowed. The homophobia seems not to be lingering beneath the surface; this is really tinged with homophobia.

Drabinski: Absolutely. When the Montana Library Commission voted to not renew their membership with the American Library Association, that was about my queer identity as much as it was about anything else.

Regardless of what they said, when you listen back to the hearing, there were that someone on the call quoting Leviticus -- which felt like, you know, so, so regressive, and a kind of conversation about queer identity that I had, that I remember us having in the 90s. And I thought we were in a different kind of world, but it’s like the book bans -there are obvious attacks on black people, people of color, indigenous people, and LGBTQ+ people. And so it’s no surprise that they’ve come from for me also, I suppose.

Blade: Did you meet with lawmakers when you were in Washington, and can you tell me about what your advocacy work has looked like recently?

Drabinski: I did not meet with lawmakers. I was here to be at PFLAG. ALA continues to work with lawmakers, and I think it’s important to say across the political spectrum, you know, we there’s broad bipartisan support for libraries. That’s always been true. And so we work with people from all sides of the aisle around the right to read. So, you know, I don’t want it to seem like the politicization of libraries is coming from the Republican Party in general. I think we all know it’s from a minority of people that don’t represent the broad political spectrum in this country.

Blade: And those voices have become, I think, ampli-

American Library Association (ALA) President EMILY DRABINSKI (Photo credit: ALA)

fied on social media. You’ve certainly had experiences with Moms for Liberty. I’m curious to hear your thoughts about the group and its influence and maybe some of the ways that that that might be countered, you know, from the left.

Drabinski: I don’t follow the group very closely, you know, just because I think that their work -- they want to sort of sow chaos, I think, inside of public institutions, including schools and libraries. They’re very well funded; their funding is difficult to track. They clearly aren’t local, right? You have in many libraries Moms for Liberty groups trying to ban books when they’re not even members of the community.

But I think what we can learn from them is what it means to be loud, right? They have a tiny number of people who are very, very loud and draw a lot of attention and in some cases can drown out the other side at various school and library board meetings. But what I’m seeing on the ground when I travel around the country is that once people understand what is happening in their libraries, they are quick to mobilize against it.

Even in southern Louisiana, right, near the gulf where you had St. Tammany Parish, the story of the attacks on the libraries there which have been definitely driven by these organized groups. [The state’s Attorney General] Jeff Landry [created] a tip line where you can report on your librarians and teachers for distributing, you know, inappropriate materials or whatever. He campaigns on this issue in St. Tammany, but even in St. Tammany, the community is organized to fight back and you see books now making their way back to the shelf.

CONTINUES ON PAGE 08

LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • OCTOBER 27, 2023 • 07

NATIONAL CONTINUED FROM PAGE 07 So, I think that there’s something for us to learn -- that we need to be as loud as they are. We know we’ve got numbers on our side. As long as we can get everybody out to the meeting when the decisions are being made, as long as we can get people who are pro-library, pro-reading and pro-freedom, frankly, in positions of authority in local government and on library boards, I think we’re gonna win because poll after poll shows that that nobody’s against children reading. You just can’t be.

Blade: I’m reminded now of your comments during last night’s panel discussion at the PFLAG conference about the importance of these library board elections. Do you think that there’s more work to be done to build out an infrastructure of grassroots organizing around these issues in the same way that Moms for Liberty has done?

Drabinski: Yeah, I think so. I think that’s the way to win, right, is to have densely organized people on the ground who have a vision of a world that’s about equality and equal access to public resources. We have the desire to have people live on our side. Most people want those things. But the one thing I would push back against is the idea that we don’t have organized entities doing that kind of work already. I think we’ve paid less attention to those movements than we should.

So, for example, in St Tammany Queer North Shore is a social group that has been organized around all the things that LGBTQ+ people do, hanging out with each other, going to potlucks, go to parties, or making a float for the Mardi Gras parade -- but then they also see what’s happening in their local library and they organize quickly and got a lot of the community out to support the library.

There’s a recent story in Convergence Magazine that talks about a library in Danvers, Massachusetts where they had people organized to protest a drag queen makeup hour, where they were gonna teach you how to put on makeup, which is such a great program, right? And 350 people showed up from the organized labor community, the faith community, the other related movements like the environmental movement, in that area. They showed up en masse to protect the library and formed a human chain, a human wall around a library to keep the 11 protesters away.

So I think sometimes the stories we tell overemphasize the power that groups like Moms for Liberty have, when we have lots of examples that I think get a little less airtime, where you see organized people who care about libraries showing up and and winning.

Blade: There’s also this persistent problem of declining faith in expertise and institutional knowledge. How do you

think the media could do a better job of relaying information about these topics?

Drabinski: Every time I see a profile of -- you know that profile in the Post of like the 11 people who are behind the vast majority of book ban attempts? I want every one of those profiles to be matched by a profile of a school or public or academic librarian who is doing critical, community based, community focused work to make life better for people.

We’re very activated around the book banners, but we don’t pay enough attention to the parts and places where we’re winning. And so I think a better understanding of what librarians do every day, and what library workers contribute to their community...I see all of this attention being paid to us around the books and stuff. And I want to use this moment to tell the stories of American libraries that are bigger and better and greater than that.

When I go around to libraries and talk to library workers, and they show what they’re doing -- everything from a library in Ames, Iowa, [where] you can borrow a pair of reading glasses in the library in case you forgot yours. Like, a little example of the library solving a problem for people and every every library will have like in that same library. And in that library in Ames, there were like 15 other things that were evidence that librarians were solving problems for the community. So I think it’s really important to tell those kinds of stories and they’re a little less sexy, I think, than the meanness, but I think they’re also really important.

That expertise piece, you know, I heard this like stat many years ago about Flickr, the old photo site, the most popular tag on on Flickr was “me,” the word “me,” because people wanted to be able to click on the word and find pictures of themselves. People, right? We curate worlds for ourselves, which is [not shameful]; we all do it.

But what library workers do is they think about everybody at once. They think about the public and think about meeting the needs of the public. So even the “parent’s rights” thing, like I’m a parent. I have rights. I have a child that I want to protect and the idea that by giving my child access to a diverse range of reading materials, which is absolutely a priority in my household, that that would somehow be an attack on someone else’s children. It’s like my librarians know and understand and appreciate publics in a way that nobody else does.

If we could talk more about that public and the service that libraries provide, it would be good for all of us to be thinking about other people rather than so much about our individual solitary worldviews.

I find that when I tell stories about what’s happening in

08 • OCTOBER 27, 2023 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

public libraries to people, they’re blown away. Like, there’s a library where you can check out a cotton candy machine in Donnelly Idaho -- rural Donnelly, Idaho, a town of like, I don’t know, 4000 people, the vast majority of whom are living below the poverty line.

The library is a public entity that makes it possible for everybody to have a birthday party. And, once a month, they get queer kids together for like after=hours hangout time and they’ve got three or four kids who show up and it’s the only place in the community where they can use the names that they have for themselves and the pronouns that they use for themselves without fear of reprisal. And that’s the work of the library, making that possible.

I think if we could tell more of those stories, of what libraries really do -- which is absolutely not distribute pornography -- that is not what any library is doing, I absolutely promise you that. It’s not happening.

Blade: For me, the question of who ought to decide things like which materials should be made available to young people and of which ages is settled just with the knowledge that librarians are required to have master’s degrees. But there are many people who refuse to defer to the expertise of medical doctors. Is the kind of storytelling you were describing a way to get around this problem?

Drabinski: Yeah, but you erode trust in public institutions, and you defund them over 40 years of organized disinvestment in the public sector, and then you find that they are weakened. And then you say, this institution is weak and failing, and then you attack it. And we’ve seen this again and again, libraries aren’t the first and we won’t be the last. I think we have a lot to learn from public education, because they came for the teachers at schools first, and now they’ve come for us.

Blade: Absolutely, and in the arts more broadly. I’m thinking of Jesse Helms’s crusade against the National Endowment for the Arts in the 80s.

Drabinski: Totally. we’ve been here before, you know, but I think for a lot of us -- I was talking to a couple of other PFLAGers this morning, and we can’t believe we’re here again.

Blade: The word “unprecedented” is cropping up a lot lately...

Drabinski: Who doesn’t love a library? Everybody loves the library, right? This attack on a much beloved public institution and the people who steward that institution, that feels unprecedented to me. I had no idea that the world would turn against us in this way; it’s been challenging.

CHRISTOPHER KANE

INTERNATIONAL

Prominent LGBTQ activist elected to Argentina’s Congress

ROSARIO, Argentina — A prominent LGBTQ+ activist in Argentina on Sunday won a seat in the country’s Congress.

Esteban Paulón, who lives in Rosario, a city in Santa Fe province, is the former president of the Argentine Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender People.

The Santa Fe Socialist Party member finished first on La Fuerza de Santa Fe ticket.

“I feel an enormous joy and responsibility,” Paulón exclusively told the Washington Blade after officials announced the results. “I get to represent on the one hand the Socialist Party that has a history of more than 127 years in Argentina ... and in turn my province and the LGBT community.”

Paulón noted he was the only openly gay candidate in the election.

“I am going to defend my community, to represent the Socialist Party and to resist the pretensions of the most reactionary and conservative sectors of Argentina that have entered Congress with force in this election, regardless of the fact that the presidency has not yet been defined,” he said.

Massa, Milei to face off in presidential election’s second round

Economy Minister Sergio Massa on Sunday won 36.68 percent of the votes in the first round of the country’s presidential election. Libertarian economist Javier Milei received 29.98 percent of the vote.

The two men will face off in the election’s second round that will take place on Nov. 19 because neither one on Sunday received more than 45 percent of the votes or at least

40 percent and a difference of at least 10 percentage points over the runner-up.

Massa, the ruling Peronism party’s candidate, to the surprise of many election observers won center-left votes.

He will compete for the presidency without being bogged down by the fact that he oversees the economy of a country with an inflation rate of nearly 140 percent.

Milei has proposed dollarizing the economy and abolishing Argentina’s Central Bank, among other radical measures.

The winner of the presidential election will have to tackle the economic crisis and $44 billion in debt to the International Monetary Fund.

Paulón, along with LGBTQ+ activists, expressed concern that so many Argentines voted for Milei, who opposes marriage equality and trans rights. They also note he has pledged to close the country’s Women, Genders and Diversity Ministry.

“Milei’s advance is a concrete risk because he has said it concretely, he has specifically had anti-rights proposals,” said Paulón. “The Socialist Party, for our part, will never support Miley’s candidacy.”

“Milei’s negationist, homophobic, misogynist and anti-rights discourse obviously represents a risk because it has been installed in the public debate,” he added. “We have to work now so that he does not become president.”

Paulón told the Blade that Milei’s rise is due to “the social discontent in Argentina, an economic situation that is not recovering, concrete difficulties for many people and Javi-

ESTEBAN PAULÓN votes in Rosario, Argentina, on Oct. 22, 2023. (Photo courtesy of Esteban Paulón)

er Milei appears as an emergent of something that comes from outside the system and that should come to change everything.”

“That coming from outside and showing himself as someone outside the political system is very much associated with everything that has to do with verbal violence, physical violence, denial of the other,” said Paulón. “His whole campaign is based on violence, but the crisis is indeed so deep that an important part of the population has decided to vote for him.”

LA BLADE STAFF

Second wave of anti-LGBTQ protests sweeps Canada

OTTAWA, Canada - Anti-LGBTQ protests took to the streets across Canada for the second time in five weeks on Oct 21, with demonstrators calling for an end to inclusion of sexual orientation or gender identity topics in classrooms.

Calling themselves the “1 Million March 4 Children” (1MM4C), the protesters were once again generally outnumbered by counter-protesters who support LGBTQ inclusion in schools. Still, the sheer breadth of the protests seem to indicate that the anti-LGBTQ movement is still able to mobilize hate.

The protests come as several Canadian provinces governed by Conservative parties have begun introducing policies requiring schools to notify parents if their children ask to use a different name or pronoun in schools.

On Friday, the Saskatchewan legislature passed a bill that backs up its controversial student outing policy by asserting that it is shielded from court challenges based on Canada’s Charter of Rights. A court had previously issued an injunction against the policy pending a hearing on its constitutionality, but that case is now moot.

A protest against the anti-LGBTQ policy reportedly saw hundreds of people gather in the province’s largest city Saskatoon on Saturday, while protesters calling for even harsher anti-LGBTQ policies in schools hit the streets in the capital Regina and in Estevan.

1MM4C claimed to be holding protests in 62 cities across the country, including big cities like Toronto, Montreal, Ed-

monton and Calgary, as well as provincial capitals Winnipeg and Victoria, and numerous smaller cities, however, many of the planned protests were cancelled at the last minute, including a rally in the national capital Ottawa.

Dueling protests in the Million March 4 Children over the issue of LGBTQ+ policy in schools held in cities across Canada.

(Screenshot/YouTube Global News Canada)

Counter-protests were reported at most of these demonstrations by national media. Pro-LGBT rallies were also held in several cities across Canada where 1MM4C either was not planning protests this weekend or had cancelled rallies at the last minute.

Trans author Gemma M. Hickey turned out to support queer youth in St. John’s, Newfoundland, but found that the 1MM4C protest had been cancelled.

“Dropped by counter protest to support queer & trans youth. Other side cancelled due to weather. My community has weathered out many a storm. We’ll ride this one out, too! No wonder we have a � as our symbol,” they wrote on X. The Canadian Anti-Hate Network noted in a series of tweets that in addition to the smaller crowds of protestors compared to last month’s 1MM4C demonstration, this month’s protests seemed more disorganized and less equipped.

Groups formed to counter the 1MM4C protesters took a victory lap on social media after they outnumbered the anti-LGBTQ crowds in most cities.

“Today, WE WON. Well done to everyone who showed up today at City Hall,” wrote the group Hamilton Queers Against Hate on X. “Let’s continue to show up in support of children’s rights and trans communities.”

The rallies did have at least one effect – a library in suburban Vancouver postponed a Drag Queen Story Hour Saturday amid fears that 1MM4C protests could make it unsafe. In contrast to the 1MM4C rallies that were held in 80 cities across Canada last month, this month’s rallies did not generate reports of violence or arrests.

ROB SALERNO

LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • OCTOBER 27, 2023 • 09

V O L U M E 07 I S S U E 43

DORGHAM ABUSALIM

is a writer and communications professional based in D.C.

Progressive communities have a Palestine problem; supporting Israel is not the answer I have been in tears and terrified for the safety of my blind mother, paralyzed father and two siblings in the Gaza Strip for days now.

I have been watching horrific Israeli violence defying humanity while being fully supported by the U.S. — liberals and conservatives alike — with the stated intent of destroying the lives of more than two million people, including my family and loved ones. This intent and the magnitude of the destruction and loss of life make a textbook example of genocide, defined as: Any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: • Killing members of the group; • Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; • Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; • Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; • Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

On top of the horror of it all, I have watched dehumanizing misinformation about people in the Gaza Strip being spread like wildfire, only to be debunked and proven false. This includes misinformation spread on social media by several LGBTQ individuals in my social circles here in the District — I thought we were friends, until I saw their Instagram posts cheering on Israel’s violence and the threat it poses to my family.

How could they be so quick to judge? How could they be so quick to throw their progressive values out the window and embrace mass murder of women, men and babies — civilians from all walks of life? What goes through their mind when they consciously choose to propagate the wicked and indiscriminate murder of people so casually?

These and a million other questions have been racing through my mind.

Unlike those morally bankrupt people who are using the tragedy unfolding in the region for fleeting validation and personal gain on social media, those of us most impacted by what’s happening are not playing political football and “gotcha” with the lives of our loved ones. We know and recognize that no one in their right mind would relish this violence. In fact, besides the tragic loss of human life, the other tragedy is that this entire situation was preventable, easily and peacefully preventable. Anyone who has been paying atten-

tion to the reality of Israel’s brutal military occupation of Palestine — specifically its years-long siege of the Gaza Strip — knows this.

Yet, here we are, at a bloody juncture because of choices made over the course of decades, including the choices of successive administrations here in the U.S. to support and turn a blind eye to Israel’s violations of Palestinian human rights and the apartheid regime it imposes on Palestine.

Sadly, though perhaps unsurprisingly, this context is absent from the content dehumanizing Palestinians that many LGBTQ individuals are thoughtlessly sharing on social media.

Worse yet, is the knee-jerk reaction of some LGTBQ people to grossly generalize and reduce the tragedy we are witnessing to plainly stupid points such as: Israel has Tel Aviv Pride. Hamas hates gays. I, therefore, stand with Israel. Points like this makes no sense.

Homophobia in the Gaza Strip, and Palestine generally, is a problem, just like it is a problem in many parts of the U.S. and many countries around the world. It is not a Hamas problem. Meanwhile, the cause of how and why we got to this horrific violence is squarely an Israeli problem: The brutal military occupation and apartheid regime. Just because Israel hosts an annual Pride parade, it does not mean Israel is a haven for LGBTQ people — certainly not for LGBTQ Palestinians, and certainly not when the Israeli government’s own laws regarding LGBTQ matters is mixed at best.

LGBTQ posts standing with Israel based on believing in freedom, equality and dignity miss the mark and fail to make any sense when the same freedom, equality, and dignity are not consistently applied and extended to human beings everywhere, including Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Freedom, equality and dignity are indivisible human rights — they cannot be upheld and protected willy-nilly, unless the intent is to discriminate and dehumanize.

So, if you are reading this and have shared content supporting Israel and stripping Palestinians of their humanity, which can very well harm my family, I ask that you stop and remember, at the end of the day, as LGBTQ people, we know what it’s like to feel unsafe in our own skin, to be stripped of our humanity for no other reason than existing as we are. That’s what Palestinians like me and my family are experiencing now and have been enduring for years and years.

If you cannot find it in your heart to simply stop and think before blindly signing up for genocide with an “I stand with Israel” post, your hatred, ignorance and unwillingness are part of the problem that got us to this horrific violence to begin with.

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2023 GLAAD Media Awards

10 • OCTOBER 27, 2023 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

©2023 LOS ANGELES BLADE, LLC.

BYPO PHOENIX

is a D.C. native and organizer and artist.

Visit byporevolution.com to learn more.

A poet’s response to Israel-Palestine conflict Compelled to seek words of peace Rationalizing two wars of conquest Hundreds of thousands of casualties Billions in military spending Justified by our collective pain

It is excruciatingly late And I need to sleep But I also need to write I need to process Dissecting this confluence of emotion Living in a moment of historic proportions Flirting with the precipice of barbarism An apocalyptic age of mass destruction I am torn between worlds Deluged by diametrically opposed positions Out of alignment with much of my recovery family Yet unable to remain passive Compelled to seek words of peace This is Israel’s 9-11 Perhaps worse in guttaral ferocity And I worry that we have learned nothing

Revenge is an age old social instinct Rendered exponentially dangerous and vicious Revenge amplified by our contemporary military arsenals I hold fast to principle Believing all life to be sacred Refusing to see either side as disposable Honoring both the Palestinian and Israeli dead

Demands new alliances Divorcing Antisemitism from Anti-Zionism Envisioning a collective solution A fusion of polyvalent collective aspirations I pray for my friends who stand with Israel I pray that their hearts open Hearing the wails of Palestinian suffering Seeing our common humanity This is a moment of catastrophe Demanding a new humanism Demanding the dismantling of empire

Our movement for liberation is at an impasse Denouncing Zionism is not a strategy Being right is less important than being in relationship

I pray by my fire I pray that the horror is minimized I pray for a spiritual and political awakening

To reach our goal To achieve a secular state

This is a catastrophe in a cradle of civilization I pray that it is not a cradle of our destruction

9-11 was horrifying

12 • OCTOBER 27, 2023 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

Some of 2023’s most hotly anticipated queer films come to AFI Fest LOS ANGELES - L.A.’s most prestigious film festival returns to Hollywood’s TCL Chinese Theatres next week with a potent cinematic slate from across the world that will once again kick the movie industry’s awards season into high gear.

Running for a heady five days from October 25 to 29, AFI Fest will this year present more than 140 titles, including the official Best International Feature Oscar submissions from a whopping 20 countries. In addition to three red carpet premieres on Hollywood Boulevard, the festival will also include special screenings of a number of presumed awards contenders, including The Bikeriders (starring Austin Butler and Tom Hardy as motorcycle club honchos in ‘60s Chicago).

AFI Fest launches this year with the October 25 red carpet world premiere of Leave the World Behind, the apocalyptic thriller from writer and director Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot) starring Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke as a couple who rent a luxury home for a weekend with their kids, only for the bliss to be interrupted by the appearance of a man (Moonlight’s Mahershala Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha’la) who claim to be the home’s owners, bearing news of an impending global cyberattack that will end the world as we know it.

Closing the festival on October 29 will be the red carpet Los Angeles premiere of Maestro, starring Bradley Cooper as composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein and Carey Mulligan as his wife, actress Felicia Montealegre. Cooper also directed the film, his follow-up on that front to 2018’s A Star is Born. Early reviews have praised the film for its complex depiction of Bernstein’s happy marriage to a woman despite his strong and active same-gender attraction, and Oscars oddsmakers have already put Cooper in contention for both Best Actor and Best Director.

The other very buzzy LGBTQ+ title gracing this year’s AFI Fest is Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers, starring Andrew Scott as a Londoner who meets and falls for a mysterious neighbor (last year’s Best Actor Oscar nominee Paul Mescal), spawning vivid memories of his long-deceased parents (played by Claire Foy and Jamie Bell). Haigh is widely revered in the queer cinema world for directing 2011’s Weekend, one of the most highly regarded gay movies of all time. On the Oscar front, Haigh and virtually his entire All of Us Strangers cast seem to be in the running as possible contenders. The film screens on October 28, to be followed by a Q&A with Haigh.

Another queer AFI Fest film that’s already grabbed a lot of praise at festivals around the world this year comes from France: Orlando, My Political Biography. Using Virginia Woolf’s 100-year-old novel Orlando: A Biography as a springboard, director Paul B. Preciado gathers 26 trans and non-binary people aged 8 to 70 to recite, reenact, and challenge Woolf’s celebrated text. Each embodies the character of Orlando while sharing stories about

their lives and relationships to the novel. The innovative film, which took the Teddy Award for Best Documentary at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival, screens on October 27.

Also defying normal structural expectations is the Greek comedy The Summer with Carmen, focusing on a film within a film as conceived by best friends Demos and Nikitas at Athens’ queer nude beach. Mining the exploits of a previous crazy summer for material, the two concoct a romantic comedy script for Nikitas’ feature directing debut. The Summer with Carmen will screen on both October 26 and 29, with a conversation with director Zacharias Mavroeidis following the latter screening.

From Spain comes the sensitive 20,000 Species of Bees, which explores an eight-year-old’s gender identity crisis during an uncertain summer family vacation in a sleepy Basque village. As lead character Coco, newcomer Sofía Otero received the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year. The film screens on October 29.

While not specifically LGBTQ+-themed, two feature-length documentaries include lesbian subjects: Going Varsity in Mariachi, which follows the various members of a high school mariachi team in southern Texas, two of whom happened to be in a girl couple; and Smoke Sauna Sisterhood, which focuses on a group of women, some lesbian, who periodically gather for sauna and sisterhood in a forest in southern Estonia.

This year’s guest artistic director at AFI Fest is Barbie director Greta Gerwig, who’s chosen five film classics to be part of the festival. Two of these are queer favorites: the 1979 Bob Fosse biopic All That Jazz, and Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, which actually had its world premiere at the Chinese Theatre in 1985.

As usual, a good number of the excellent short films screening at AFI Fest also have queer themes. From Belgium comes Beyond the Sea, about the last performance of an aging drag queen, while Skin (winner of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Student Academy Award in the Alternative/Experimental category) follows a woman’s transformation as she sheds her skin to reveal her true identity; both screen on October 26 as part of Shorts Program: Live Action 1.

The next day on October 27, Shorts Program: Documentary 1 will include Merman, which focuses on nurse, leather enthusiast, and civil rights advocate Andre Chambers; and Alpha Kings, which reveals the homoerotic world of a group of young cam guys in suburban Texas. Also on October 27, Conservatory Showcase 5 will include Some Kind of Paradise, which follows a Grindr match in small-town Arkansas between a local and an actor who’s come there to shoot a film.

For more info about AFI Fest 2023 and to book tickets, go to fest.afi.com.

DAN ALLEN

The Bikeriders (Courtesy of AFI)

All of Us Strangers (Courtesy of AFI)

The Summer with Carmen (Courtesy of AFI)

20,000 Species of Bees (Courtesy of AFI)

LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • OCTOBER 27, 2023 • 13

FILM

A master triumphs with career-topping ‘Flower Moon’ Scorsese cements his auteur status with true-crime historical thriller

When an artist stays both relevant and revered for a period of half a century or more, it’s hardly going out on a limb to suggest they know how to work a crowd. After all, as the late Stephen Sondheim once lyrically observed, “art isn’t easy, any way you look at it.”

That might seem like a cynical way of framing things, but in a world where free-or-nearly-free content abounds, it puts an unvarnished sense of reality on the situation. The commercial viability of art, perhaps more than ever, has become entwined with the “mood of the moment”, and only an artist with the necessary savvy to recognize – and play to – that ever-metamorphosizing fancy of the public imagination has any chance of staying in the game.

For reasons that should be obvious, there’s no art form in which this is truer than cinema; expensive, collaborative, and arguably more reliant than any other medium on the favor of the mainstream populace, the immediacy inherent in its very nature demands that it cater to the interests of its day.

This is why, with “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Martin Scorsese has finally cemented the auteur status that seemed to elude him after his heyday as one of the seminal directors of the 1970s “New Hollywood” movement, because – whether by accident or intent – the iconic filmmaker has managed to capture the divided zeitgeist of an entire national identity with a story from a distant chapter of history.

Though early masterpieces like “Mean Streets,” “Taxi Driver,” and “Raging Bull” under his belt established his reputation, later reassertions of his particular genius (“Goodfellas,” “Gangs of New York,” “The Wolf of Wall Street) and the belated affirmation of an Oscar win for “The Departed” – while they may have ensured his position as an icon and elder statesman of his craft – never seemed to thrill with the kind of here-and-now urgency that turned those early works into the “must-see” cornerstones of popular culture they almost instantly became. With his latest film, however, the director has returned, full-strength, with a work that feels thrillingly in sync with the pulse of the American present, even though it takes place close to a century ago.

“Flower Moon,” adapted for the screen by Scorsese and Eric Roth from David Gann’s 2017 non-fiction book of the same name, tells the true-crime story of a series of murders within Oklahoma’s indigenous Osage community in the 1920s, after the discovery of oil on their reservation made the once-impoverished tribe title-holders to an economic boom that gave them the wealth and power to withstand the tide of white incursion fueled by the imperative of “Manifest Destiny.” Our point-of-entry to the saga is Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio), a WWI veteran who comes to the Osage nation to work for his uncle, Bill “King” Hale (Robert DeNiro), a wealthy white businessman who has established himself as a friend to the local tribal community. Encouraged by his uncle to pursue a romance with prominent Osage heiress Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), he finds himself enmeshed within a wide-reaching “good ol’ boy” conspiracy to siphon the tribe’s wealth. Compromising his better instincts, he becomes a willing participant in the scheme, until an agent from the newly formed FBI (Jesse Plemons) shows up to find out why so many Osage people have been turning up dead under mysterious and un-investigated circumstanc-

ROBERT DENIRO and LEONARDO DICAPRIO in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon.’

es. With his own future – and freedom – in the balance, he is forced to confront the conflict between the tenuous loyalty of his blood kinship with “Uncle King” and the genuine love he feels for Mollie and her people even as he has helped to facilitate their extinction.

We won’t tell you how it all plays out, though the true-life events behind the fictionalized narrative were a matter of public record long before the book on which it was based was ever published, but we’re willing to lay our finger on why it strikes such a contemporary nerve. In this story about a little-known historical incident, America’s long-broiling relationship with racism is brought front-and-center in a way that is as impossible to deny as its ostensible protagonist’s culpability in the plot to rob his own wife of her birthright.

Like the tragedy of Tulsa’s “Black Wall Street,” another until-recently-unknown act of historic racial violence (pointedly referenced within Scorsese’s film) designed expressly to erase an entire community in punishment for its own prosperity, the serial murder of perhaps untold numbers of Osage tribespeople by opportunists bent on usurping their good fortune speaks volumes about the collective guilt still bubbling under the denial perpetrated by so many generations of white Americans.

This, no doubt, is why countless conservative commentators might dismiss “Killers of the Flower Moon” as “woke” propaganda, or why aloof critical tastemakers could be tempted to express outrage over its perceived “appropriation” of themes more rightly addressed by a filmmaker who, understandably if not quite fairly, might be branded by some as just another old white liberal elitist trying to “appropriate” a story more deservedly told by someone with a more authentic cultural connection to the victims of the crimes he presumes to document.

Make no mistake about it, though, Scorsese’s movie easily rises above the posturing of such limited responses to

14 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • OCTOBER 27, 2023

cut through all that sentimentalized black-and-whiteness and get past the ideological constructs behind them. More than smart, it’s wise enough to turn the same understanding of the pathology of corruption, the same mechanisms that informed his earlier masterworks about the world of organized crime and those who become twisted by it, to the service of a come-to-Jesus confrontation between proclaimed American “values” and the reality of the heartbreak and carnage hidden behind the ideals they profess to embrace.

As he has done so many times in the past, Scorsese makes his monsters human, lets us empathize, even identify with them, and helps us to see the closely lived reality that allows them to justify the allowances – dare we say the cognitive dissonance? – required to help them believe they are only doing what comes naturally.

In the end, it’s clear that there’s a real and objective truth being presented here about justice, power, and responsibility; thanks to the mastery of a great American filmmaker, with the help of a stellar cast delivering career-highlight performances (as well as long-time collaborators like editor Thelma Schoonmaker and musical supervisor Robbie Robertson, who passed away two months before the film’s release), it’s also clear that what we call “truth” is often dependent on the things we are all-too-easily persuaded to believe, and has more to do with our own appetites than we like to admit. That makes “Killers of the Flower Moon” more than just a timely commentary on systemic racism, strategically configured around Native American history rather than the politically charged subject of Black American experience, but a statement about the lies we all tell ourselves to achieve and maintain the lives we desire – even at the expense of others.

If you can think of a better summation for the moral quandaries of life in 21st century America, we’d love to hear it.

JOHN PAUL KING

BOOKS

Graphic novel ‘Smahtguy’ offers timely bio of Barney Frank Cartoonist Eric Orner makes policy suspenseful

By KATHI WOLFE citizenship.” He has roots in When he was in high two cities – Chicago and Bosschool, gay cartoonist Eric Orton. ner, who makes his graphic He was born and grew up novel debut with “Smahtguy: in Chicago. “My Dad’s family The Life and Times of Barney is in Chicago,” Orner said, “My Frank,” didn’t like the food Mom’s family is in Massachuin the school cafeteria. “The setts.” principal was always talking Orner, who lives now in about how good we had it,” New York and spends time Orner told the Blade in a rewith his partner in upstate cent interview.

New York, is acclaimed for his “But the food was deep groundbreaking comic strip fried – inedible,” Orner added, “The Mostly Unfabulous So“even for us [teens].” cial Life of Ethan Green.”

To protest the food, Orner The strip, first published in called it out with humor in the 1989, ran in 100 papers (gay press and about comic strip he drew for the school newspa25 alternative weeklies). “The Blade was the per. “Having this platform to express yoursecond paper to run it,” Orner said. self subversively and sarcastically to authori“The work of the gay press was so importty,” Orner said, “gave me a buzz.” ant to who we became as a people,” Orner Like a hound born to hunt, Orner has alsaid, “I’m Jewish. The Yiddish press was so ways loved to draw. A proclivity for subvertimportant to Jewish people at the turn of the ing the powers that be with humor has been last century.” etched in his veins from birth.

In 1989, before “Queer as Folk,” “Modern “Drawing is what I love to do,” said Orner, Family,” let alone “Fire Island” or “Bros,” there who is in his 50s, “It’s been that way since I was nothing like it. Except Alison Bechdel’s was a kid.” trailblazing comic strip “Dykes to Watch Out If there’s a problem, Orner will sit for an For,” which ran from 1983 to 2008. hour and draw. “I’ve been most brave – most Back then, you didn’t see drawings and outspoken when I’m drawing.” stories about queer people in comic strips.

Orner’s drawing and respect for outspoEspecially, narratives of LGBTQ people datkenness are in splendid form in his graphic ing, being out, dealing with break-ups, copnovel “Smahtguy,” a biography of queer icon ing with AIDS, working – living ordinary lives.

Barney Frank.

Ethan was a good, but not a fabulous, guy.

As the House (at this writing), repeatedHe wasn’t a hunky athlete or movie star. ly fails to elect a Speaker, nothing could be Break-ups more than picture-perfect romore timely than “Smahtguy.” mances were his lot. You saw yourself when Frank, who came out as gay in the Boston you read “The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life Globe in 1987, was a Democratic member of of Ethan Green,” which was made into a the House of Representatives from Massamovie of the same name in 2005. chusetts from 1981 to 2013.

Orner didn’t come out early in his life. “I When you hear “bio of a queer and politiknew early,” he said, “but the Midwest is a cal icon,” you might well think: boring, musty, little more conservative.” wonky tome. But you needn’t worry. “SmahtThere was the Stonewall Uprising. But that guy” is a page-turner about Frank, a politician wasn’t part of the culture at his high school. who disliked politics, but loved policy. Orner, “My high school was so conformist,” Orner in this bio, does the nearly impossible: he said, “it could have been the 1950s.” makes policy suspenseful. Orner makes you After high school, Orner moved to Boston want to know how Frank used wonkiness in where he went to college and law school. issues from housing to banking to help peo“I’ve lived in Boston, New York, D.C., and Los ple.

Angeles,” he said, “but I’ve never lived as an Equally important, Orner makes you see adult gay person in Chicago.” and care about Frank’s personal life – from Orner’s father, now deceased, was a his background and family, to his coming out straight guy who revered Hugh Hefner and to his periods of loneliness to his marriage to Sean Connery. “One of the most important Jim, his longtime partner. cultural icons,” Orner said, “when my Dad “Publishers Weekly,” in a starred review, was in his prime in the 1960s, was Playboy.” called “Smahtguy,” “an astute, richly detailed profile” of Frank.

Orner jokes that he has “dual CONTINUES AT LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

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