Los Angeles Blade, Volume 08, Issue 03, January 26, 2024

JANUARY 26, 2024 • VOLUME 08 • ISSUE 03 • AMERICA’S LGBTQ NEWS SOURCE • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

CALIFORNIA

Director of Modesto LGBTQ+ Center arrested in sting operation MODESTO, Calif. - The Modesto Bee reported that Gerad Slayton, 42, the executive director of the Rainbow Resource Center in Modesto was confirmed to be one of 17 men arrested earlier this month in a sting operation to arrest suspected online predators seeking to have sex with minors.

AGERAD SLAYTON, the executive director of the Stanislaus County Rainbow Resource Center located in Modesto, California.

(Los Angeles Blade montage/graphic)

Modesto Bee journalist Trevor Morgan reported that Slayton recently was appointed executive director of the Rainbow Center, a local nonprofit organization that provides resources to LGBTQ+ members of all ages. It par-

ticularly offers resources related to mental and physical health.

CBS Sacramento reported that Turlock Police Detective Gina Giovacchini told reporters that all 17 suspects face charges related to contacting a minor online with intent to have sex with them.

Turlock Police Chief Jason Hedden in a press conference Tuesday, January 9, announced the arrests by a joint task force of law enforcement personnel from the Sacramento Valley Internet Crimes Against Children task force, the Sacramento County and Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Offices, and his department.

“This operation was the culmination of months of planning by the Turlock Police Department and cooperating agencies. I am proud of Detective Gina Giovacchini and our team for their efforts to intercept those looking to harm children in our community,” Chief Hedden said.

“This problem isn’t going away,” said Sgt. Amar Gandhi with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office. “While 17 arrests are very significant, it’s a drop in the bucket.”

The Rainbow Center released a statement on Facebook saying Slayton’s alleged actions happened outside working hours and did not happen on its premises. Slayton has never previously been charged with a felony in Stanislaus County, according to court records.

In an interview with the Modesto Bee, Alex Gutierrez, The Rainbow Resource Center’s interim executive director,

said the center “didn’t do anything wrong” and maintained the stance that Slayton’s alleged actions were “personal decisions” that happened “off the clock.”

“We’re obviously ready for for whatever happens, but, you know, this was a personal decision made by one of our employees and it’s unfortunate... So, it is, you know, very impactful for us. We are trying to get through it,” Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez said that Slayton had been executive director for six weeks before his arrest and was part of the Rainbow Resource Center since July 2022. There had been no complaints of any kind toward Slayton, according to Gutierrez “He was new in that position and was working mostly with kind of staff roles,” said Gutierrez. “So I can’t say that he didn’t have, you know, any contact with people, with peers in general, you know, not to say zero contact, but we have definitely other layers of [contact] when you first come in, you don’t obviously meet the executive director.”

The majority of those whom the center helps are between the ages 25 and 35, but do include minors, according to Gutierrez.

The Modesto Bee also reported that Slayton pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of meeting with a minor for the purpose of engaging in lewd and lascivious behavior. His next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 29 at the Stanislaus County Superior Courthouse.

LA BLADE STAFF

California’s Project Homekey hits milestone: 15,000 homes created COSTA MESA, Calif. — Today, at a Homekey property in Costa Mesa, Governor Gavin Newsom announced the state has created 15,000 housing units as part of Homekey, an effort launched in 2019 to rapidly house individuals experiencing homelessness. Approximately 163,260 individuals will be assisted with housing throughout the course of this program.

“Homekey is a national model for rapidly creating affordable housing for Californians in need. In a few short years, this initiative has created more than 15,000 homes, to help over 163,000 people. Homekey demonstrates what is possible when people think outside the box and refuse to accept the status quo,” said Governor Newsom Governor Newsom toured a former Motel 6 that has been converted into 40 permanent Homekey units, primarily for veterans at risk of homelessness with an additional 10 units for individuals that meet the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) eligibility criteria. Each unit includes kitchenettes, appliances, and furniture among other features.

At this stop, the Governor also announced the latest awardees to receive grant funding from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).

These communities include Oakland, San Bernardino, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo and the counties of Lassen and Marin. This funding will support six projects in total at a cost of nearly $95.6 million and will create 396 affordable

HCD Director GUSTAVO VELASQUEZ & Gov. GAVIN NEWSON toured a former Motel 6 that has been converted into 40 permanent Homekey units. (Photo Credit: Office of the Governor)

homes.

“Over a three-year period, Homekey has funded projects that will provide housing security to more than 163,000 Californians over the decades to come,” said HCD Director

02 • JANUARY 26, 2024 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

Gustavo Velasquez. “The current set of awards includes housing dedicated to veterans, and the conversion of a shuttered hospital to shelter those experiencing homelessness. This program has allowed jurisdictions to get creative with adaptive reuse of existing spaces, and with providing a full array of services that help make homelessness rare, one time, and non-recurrent.”

Originally launched months into the COVID-19 pandemic as an extension of Project Roomkey – to curb the spread of disease among Californians in congregate shelters – Homekey funds additional building types and supports a broader population of people experiencing or at risk for homelessness. This includes young people transitioning to adulthood from foster care or an unsafe environment.

Homekey Round 3 grant funding – administered by HCD – is available to local public entities including cities, counties, tribes, and housing authorities to develop a broad range of housing types including hotels, motels, hostels, single-family homes, multifamily apartments, adult residential facilities, and modular housing, and to convert commercial properties and other existing buildings to permanent or interim housing.

HCD continues to review Homekey applications, and grants will be announced on a rolling basis until all funds are exhausted.

LA BLADE STAFF

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CALIFORNIA

Out state Sen. Toni Atkins announces run for Calif. governor SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Speaking to an enthusiastic crowd inside San Diego’s Air & Space Museum in Balboa Park Friday, Democratic state Senator Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), the outgoing president pro tempore of the state Senate, announced that she is running in the race to succeed Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom who is term limited.

The Out lesbian lawmaker is entering a crowded race running against fellow Democrats, Tony Thurmond, the current State Superintendent of Public Instruction, former state controller Betty Yee and the state’s Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, who was the first to declare her candidacy last April.

CalMatters noted that California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta, who acknowledged last year that he is “seriously considering” seeking the governorship, is still expected to make a bid. Then there’s the question of who might carry the banner for the Republican Party, which has lost the last three gubernatorial elections by nearly 20 percentage points or more and has not won a statewide office in California since 2006.

“In 2026, we have the opportunity to elect a governor who understands, and has lived, the challenges facing

Democratic state Senator TONI ATKINS, the outgoing president pro tempore of the state Senate, announced that she is running in the race to replace Governor Gavin Newsom who is term limited. (Screenshot/YouTube CBS 8 San Diego)

Californians struggling to get by and trying to get ahead,” Atkins said then told the crowd, “I am ready to be governor.”

“I have a little over two years to reach almost 27 million eligible voters in California. Based on my speech at our

wedding reception, I know Jennifer [LeSar] thinks I am going to try to speak to each one of them individually,” she jokingly said calling out her spouse.

“Of course, I can’t do that,” she added. “But, in asking people for their vote, I do have the obligation to tell folks who I am — and what I’m not. And before I go any further, I want to say to Jennifer, no announcement I ever make, no words I will ever say, can match getting to lawfully say ‘I do’ standing by your side.”

Atkins was introduced at Friday’s event by California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, who previously served in the State Assembly.

“We need someone who will fight for us,” said Weber.

“We need someone who understands what it means to be poor and proud at the same time.” The Secretary of State also referenced the current political landscape noting: “I’m almost in tears because of what is happening in the world. I’m here because of the times in which we live.

California is more that just a state, it’s a country in itself.”

If she is elected, Atkins would be California’s first openly gay and first woman chief executive.

BRODY LEVESQUE

Mayor Karen Bass: LAPD Chief Michel Moore will retire in February LOS ANGELES - In a press conference Friday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced that Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore will retire at the end of February. An emotional at times Chief Moore told reporters he was proud of his career at the department.

“It’s been my distinct honor and privilege to have served for more than four decades on the finest police department in the world, and for the last five and a half years as chief, some six years ago, when the opportunity to seek the position of chief of police occurred,” said Moore.

Moore thanked his wife Cindy for her support throughout his career in law enforcement and then told reporters the opportunity to spend time with family factored into his decision to retire.

Moore has been LA’s top cop since June 4, 2018 after then Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti appointed him to the post which was ratified by the Los Angeles City Council on June 27, 2018.

Moore is a veteran law enforcement official having joined the LAPD in 1981. Rising through the ranks he was promoted to Captain and then took over command of the LAPD’s troubled Rampart Division after its former commanding officer Rafael Pérez, was arrested in a scandal in numerous crimes and corruption, notably the shooting and framing of notorious street gang leader Javier Ovando, in addition to the theft and resale of at least $800,000 of cocaine from LAPD evidence lockers.

After years of supervisorial assignments, Moore was promoted to First Assistant Chief and transferred to be the Director – Office of Operations, responsible for overseeing the department’s geographic bureaus and patrol divisions which provide uniformed and investigative services to the city.

The Chief during his career in the LAPD, has received numerous commendations and awards for his police service including the department’s Medal of Valor, the Police

04 • JANUARY 26, 2024 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

In a press conference Friday, Los Angeles Mayor KAREN BASS announced that LAPD Chief Michel Moore will retire in February.

(Screenshot/YouTube FOX 11)

Medal, the Police Star, and the Police Meritorious Service Medal.

Mayor Bass did not name a successor but indicated there will be a nationwide search for the next LAPD chief, which Moore will play a continuing role as a consultant.

BRODY LEVESQUE

CALIFORNIA

Medi-Cal set to expand & cover undocumented immigrants SACRAMENTO - California is set to provide free healthcare coverage to over 700,000 undocumented immigrants living in the state, marking one of the most ambitious healthcare expansions in a decade.

Starting January 1, 2024, all low-income adults between ages 26-49, regardless of immigration status, will gain access to Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program. This initiative, led by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, represents a significant step towards achieving universal healthcare for California’s approximately 39 million residents.

Newsom, alongside lawmakers, allocated an estimated $3.1 billion annually to support the initiative. The move comes as part of California Democrats’ larger goal of ensuring comprehensive healthcare for all residents.

The expansion is not without its critics. With California facing a record $68 billion budget deficit, concerns have been raised about the economic impact of the initiative.

Republican Sen. Roger Niello expressed skepticism about adding to the deficit, emphasizing the need for fiscal responsibility.

Immigration and healthcare advocates, however, view this expansion as a crucial step in closing the healthcare access gap. Dr. Efrain Talamantes, COO at AltaMed in Los Angeles, stated that the comprehensive care provided would keep communities healthier, emphasizing the longterm benefits of preventive care.

The move is hailed as California’s largest healthcare expansion since the implementation of the Affordable Care

Act in 2014. The expansion targets a previously excluded group: adults aged 26 to 49 living in the U.S. without legal permission. This demographic, ineligible for most public benefit programs, can now enroll in the state’s Medicaid program, potentially benefiting more than 700,000 individuals.

(Los Angeles Blade graphic)

Despite the positive aspects, challenges loom. Republicans and conservative groups worry about the strain on an already overloaded healthcare system and criticize the high cost of the expansion. State officials estimate an initial cost of $1.2 billion for the first six months, with an annual cost of $3.1 billion thereafter.

Furthermore, fear and distrust present barriers to enrollment. Many immigrants fear participating in public programs due to concerns about the “public charge” rule.

Sarah Dar, policy director for the California Immigrant Policy Center, stressed the need for additional resources to reach this population and dispel fears around legal consequences.

The state acknowledges the challenges and emphasizes privacy protection for all applicants, assuring that applying for Medi-Cal will not impact residential status, with limited exceptions.

A recent Zoom meeting hosted by Sandy Close, founder of Ethnic Media Services featuring frontline healthcare providers and patients discussed the transition and addressed concerns. Louise McCarthy, President & CEO of the Community Clinics Association of LA County, shared a personal story highlighting the significant impact of medical coverage on her life. The meeting also stressed the availability of helpers to guide individuals through the enrollment process.

Despite the challenges, California is making strides toward universal healthcare coverage, with advocates emphasizing the importance of supporting communities in times of economic downturn. The expansion is set to create new jobs and bring transformative changes to the state’s healthcare system, solidifying California’s commitment to accessible and comprehensive healthcare for all.

SIMHA HADDAD

Triple A: Gas prices continue dropping rapidly LOS ANGELES - Southern California drivers are getting more price breaks at the gas pump for a second straight week, according to the Auto Club’s Weekend Gas Watch. The average price for self-serve regular gasoline in California is $4.53, which is nine cents lower than a week ago. The average national price is $3.09, which is one cent higher than a week ago.

The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $4.58 per gallon, which is nine cents lower than last week, 15 cents lower than last month, and seven cents higher than last year. In San Diego, the average price is $4.61, which is nine cents less than last week, 15 cents lower than last month, and six cents more than this time last year.

On the Central Coast, the average price is $4.62, which is six cents lower than last week, ten cents lower than last month, and 14 cents more than last year. In

Riverside, the average per-gallon price is $4.41, which is ten cents lower than last week, 16 cents lower than last month, and three cents higher than a year ago.

In Bakersfield, the $4.63 average price is eight cents lower than last week, 16 cents lower than last month, and 16 cents higher than a year ago today.

“In most areas, Southern California drivers should be able to find gas stations charging near or even below $4 a gallon today,” said Auto Club Spokesperson Doug Shupe. “Oil Price Information Service reports that the Kinder Morgan pipeline servicing Southern California will begin transitioning to supplying the more expensive ‘summer blend’ gasoline on Feb. 1, but pump prices could continue declining at least until that point.”

The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline. As of 9 a.m. on Jan. 18, averages are:

06 • JANUARY 26, 2024 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

(Triple A Auto Club/Los Angeles Blade)

LA BLADE STAFF

NATIONAL

Dozens protest Moms for Liberty Manhattan townhall event preferred narrative.”

NEW YORK - Dozens of protestors gathered in below Media outlets reported that the anti-Moms for Liberty freezing temperatures last night in mid-town behind crowd chanted and held up signs, including ones that read, NYPD-erected barricades in front of the Bohemian Nation“Moms for Bigotry,” “Moms for Intolerance,” “Moms for al Hall demonstrating against extremist group Moms for White Supremacy,” and “Moms for Hypocrisy” — with the Liberty’s townhall event being held inside. word “Liberty” crossed out in red.

When the event was announced earlier this month it Ukrainian-American journalist drew an angered response in opOliya Scootercaster reported that position from the Czech Foreign disgraced former New York MayMinister Jan Lipavský, U.S. Repor Rudy Giuliani’s son Andrew resentative Jerry Nadler, a Demoattended the event with shouts crat whose congressional district of “Fuck you Andrew!” when he includes the Upper West Side, arrived as protesters heckled him openly gay New York state Senaentering Bohemian National Hall. tor Brad Hoylman-Sigal as well as “God bless Moms for Liberty!” Gicountless hundreds of others. uliani shouted back at them and Foreign Minister Lipavský, said: as he departed he was met with “I do not agree with the event, the the crowd chanting - “Fuck You activities of this organization do Fascist.” not correspond to the interests of George Santos, who was exCzech foreign policy, and if it were pelled from the U.S. House after up to me, it would never have takbeing accused by Federal prosen place on the grounds of the Defense of Democracy, a Moms for Liberty opposiecutors of a number of financial Czech national building.” tion group, and state and city lawmakers gathered outside in protest of the Moms for Liberty event misdeeds, including reimbursing In a statement Rep. Nadler at The Bohemian National Hall at 321 East 73rd himself for loans to his congressaid: “Despite their catchy name, Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan Janusional campaign that he appears Moms for Liberty is nothing more ary 18, 2024. (Photo by Joe Jervis) to have never actually made — in than an alt-right hate group vilifyessence, stealing money from campaign donors, was also ing the LGBTQ+ community. There is no place for hatred in attendance at last night’s Moms for Liberty event. or bigotry in New York, which is why I’m deeply troubled Scootercaster reported that protesters shouted by their planned event on the Upper East Side. We cannot “Booooo!” as Santos left the townhall event. allow this fringe group to dictate what books are in our liThe Daily Beast reported: braries or the version of our nation’s history that fits their

Jamie Bauer, a Manhattan retiree who held a “Moms for Hypocrisy” sign, told The Daily Beast, “What they did in Florida they are not going to do here. We’re going to protect our teachers, administrators, and librarians from these bigots.”

The Moms for Liberty movement is also personal for Bauer, 65, who identifies as nonbinary. They grew up a queer kid in school without the support many NYC students enjoy today.

“I suffered because I didn’t have it growing up,” Bauer said. “I want to protect kids so they don’t have to go through what I went through.”

They were referring to students’ access to books, therapy, medical care, and the ability to ask questions.

Moms for Liberty got its start pushing back against COVID-era school policies in Florida in 2021 later expanding to over 400 chapters across the U.S. pushing anti-LGBTQ and racial book bans, trans outing policies, and other far right extremist policies.

In recent months the group has been plagued by scandals including a sex scandal in Florida by one of its co-founders and her husband, a chapter affiliated member in Tennessee being arrested for retail theft, and its chapter in Indiana which used Adolf Hitler’s quote “He who has the young generation wins the future” in one of its newsletters, as reported by the Associated Press.

Then, as first reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Moms for Liberty Philadelphia chapter’s former faith-based outreach coordinator and a local pastor is also a convicted sex offender stemming from a 2012 felony conviction for aggravated sexual abuse of a 14-year-old boy in Illinois.

BRODY LEVESQUE

Florida bans all DEI programs at state colleges & universities TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – On Wednesday the Florida State Board of Education implemented strict regulations to limit the use of public funds for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs, activities, and policies in the Florida College System (FCS).

Florida Commissioner of Education MANNY DIAZ, JR. (Screenshot/YouTube WFLA NBC News 8)

The rule adopted by the Board defined, for the first time, DEI and affirmatively prohibits FCS institutions from using state or federal funds to administer programs that categorize individuals based on race or sex for the purpose of differential or preferential treatment.

In a statement the Board noted that its decision “will ensure that taxpayer funds can no longer be used to promote DEI on Florida’s 28 state college campuses.”

“The State Board of Education also replaced the course “Principles of Sociology” with a comprehensive general education core course in American History. The aim is to provide students with an accurate and factual account of the nation’s past, rather than exposing them to radical woke ideologies, which had become commonplace in the now replaced course,” the statement continued.

“Higher education must return to its essential foundations of academic integrity and the pursuit of knowledge instead of being corrupted by destructive ideologies,” said Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, Jr. “These actions today ensure that we will not spend taxpayers’ money supporting DEI and radical indoctrination that promotes division in our society.”

Joe Saunders, Senior Political Director for Equality Florida responded: “There’s no surprise today that the State Board of Education, a board that has been a rubber stamp for Governor Ron DeSantis’s agenda of censorship and surveillance, moved forward with another sweepingly broad rule that abolishes diversity and inclusion programs in the Florida College System,” Saunders said.

“The Board’s rules go well beyond what’s required by

Governor DeSantis’s already extreme SB 266, handcuffing state colleges from using any state-funded resources on diversity programs that help recruit talented faculty, support students with unique needs, and help Florida’s colleges compete for national research and funding. This is a brazenly political attack on Florida’s colleges, and all minorities in Florida, and is one more way state agencies have been weaponized to support Governor DeSantis’s failing political ambitions. Shame on the State Board of Education for passing rules that weaken and threaten Florida’s colleges in service to one more manufactured culture war,” Saunders added.

The Human Rights Campaign reacted to the news noting: “The State Board of Education’s rule is the latest in right wing attacks on programs that make college campuses inclusive, welcoming, and ensure all students and faculty have the chance to thrive. In his quest for power, Governor DeSantis has weaponized state agencies, wielding them against the people they are there to serve, and used education as his political punching bag. This is a shameful assault on Florida’s college students and staff of all backgrounds,” Brandon Wolf, National Press Secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, said in an emailed statement.

BRODY LEVESQUE

LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • JANUARY 26, 2024 • 07

NATIONAL

Moms for Liberty co-founder told to step down- for nearly 3 hours SARASOTA, Fla. - The public comment period of Tuesday’s Sarasota County School Board meeting focused on Moms for Liberty co-founder and Sarasota School Board member Bridget Ziegler to step down as public outrage over the disgraced conservative politico’s sex scandal grows.

For nearly three hours dozens of speakers eviscerated Ziegler’s refusal to step down. The Daily Beast reported John Smeallie, a retired deputy superintendent of Maryland schools, told Ziegler: “If this is your approach to education, then you are unfit to serve on any board.” Smeallie then called Ziegler “a hypocrite of the worst order.” “Despite your attacks on the LGTBQ-plus community, it would appear that you are a part of it. Certainly a B, maybe a plus,” Smeallie said to laughter from the audience.

The Ziegler sex scandal continues to draw headlines even after Bridget Ziegler’s husband Christian Ziegler was forcibly ousted by the Florida Republican Party as its Chairman over the allegations of rape, and video voyeurism currently being investigated by the Sarasota County Sheriff’s

Dozens call for disgraced Sarasota School Board member BRIDGET ZIEGLER to step down in a tense 3 hour long public comment session. (Screenshot/YouTube WFLA NBC 8)

Office.

The Daily Beast noted that in late November, nonprof-

it journalism outlet the Florida Trident revealed Sarasota cops were investigating Ziegler for allegedly raping a female friend who’d previously had a threesome with him and his wife, Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler.

Since then, the Zieglers have defied vociferous calls to step down from their positions. Bridget Ziegler sits on the Sarasota County school board and on Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis’ Disney oversight board, created to punish the company for opposing his “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.

Last month the Sarasota Schools Board passed a formal resolution asking Bridget Ziegler to step down which she has refused to do so. Under Florida law, only Governor DeSantis has the power to suspend her for alleged violations such as malfeasance or neglect of duty. If he did, the state Senate would then vote on ousting Ziegler, whose replacement would be appointed by the governor, the Daily Beast also reported.

BRODY LEVESQUE

Massachusetts Senate measure repeals sodomy & anti-trans laws BOSTON, Mass. – The Massachusetts state senate unanimously passed a bill Thursday to repeal several archaic criminal laws that were still on the books, including the state’s sodomy law and a law critics have dubbed the “walking while trans” law. The bill now heads to the state House, where it is expected to pass.

A snowy day at the Massachusetts State House, January 16, 2024. (Photo Credit: Massachusetts State Senate)

“I’m just really happy that it passed. And I hope that it will pass seamlessly in the house. There’s absolutely no reason for it not to pass,” says Tanya Neslusan, executive director of Mass Equality, a leading statewide LGBTQ advocacy group.

Despite long being considered a leader in passing progressive legislation for LGBTQ rights, Massachusetts is one of 12 states that still have laws banning gay sex in its criminal statutes. Massachusetts General Law Chapter 272, Sections 34-35 criminalize “the abominable and detestable crime against nature” and “unnatural and lascivious acts with another person.”

Both laws have been limited by a series of Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rulings between 1974 and 2002 that held that they could not be used against people committing consensual acts in private, but the laws have never been repealed or amended to reflect that change.

Bill S.2551 passed by the Senate repeals the “crime against nature” statute entirely and limits the “unnatural and lascivious acts” statute to acts done “in public with the intent of public exposure.”

It also amends Section 53, which criminalizes certain types of behaviors in public, by removing a reference to “common night walkers, common street walkers, both male and female,” which some activists have said has been used to harass trans people committing no actual offence other than being out in public.

“That’s something that hits the queer community. It’s something easy to target when somebody is not creating a disturbance, but they are visibly queer or trans, and you can label them a ‘common night walker,’” Neslusan says.

“It’s also really stigmatizing language when you refer to somebody as a ‘common night walker.’”

During debate, Senators also added a provision to the bill that repeals Section 36, which makes “blasphemy” a crime punishable by up to a year in jail or a fine of $300.

Versions of the bill have been proposed several times over the years, but none has made it this far in the legis-

08 • JANUARY 26, 2024 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

lative process. The bill was introduced during last year’s session, where it was studied and passed by the Joint Committee on the Judiciary and the Joint Committee on Rules. Earlier this week it was reported out of the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

In 2003, the US Supreme Court struck down all remaining state sodomy laws as unconstitutional, but they also remain on the books in Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas. Maryland and Minnesota repealed their sodomy laws last year. A bill to partially repeal Michigan’s sodomy law has been proposed by state Democrats.

There has been a push to repeal sodomy laws and enshrine LGBT rights in legislation since the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision, which overturned the right to seek an abortion. In a concurring opinion, Justice Thomas argued the Court should also overturn previous decisions decriminalizing sodomy and legalizing samesex marriage.

“With the Dobbs decision, all of those privacy decisions came into question,” Neslusan says.

Although Democrats hold a commanding 135-24 majority in the state House, Mass Equality says it cannot take for granted that the bill will pass, especially since the state has failed to pass previous iterations of the bill in the past.

“I would hope that it will go through without any challenge. I would like to think that’s the world in which we live. But I’m not going to take it for granted that we’re going to have a unanimous vote to move forward for that,” Neslusan says.

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NATIONAL

National LGBTQ Task Force backs ceasefire in the Gaza Strip NEW ORLEANS — The National LGBTQ Task Force on Tuesday called for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

“The genocide in Gaza and violent attacks in Israel and Palestine must end,” said the group in a series of posts to its Instagram page ahead of its annual Creating Change Conference that is taking place this week in New Orleans.

“As we start Creating Change Conference 2024, we pause to join in solidarity in calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Israel/Palestine,” added the Task Force. “Collectively, #WeAreCreatingChange is a community of folks with shared values and a continued thirst for liberation.”

The Task Force stated its “mission is to build power, take action and create change to achieve freedom, justice and equity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, Transgender and queer people by organizing people and money in pursuit of liberation for all.”

“The roots of this conflict are based in fascism, white supremacy and colonialism,” it added. “The collective trauma experienced by these oppressive measures keeps us from moving toward liberation for all.”

Hamas, which the U.S. has designated a terrorist organization, launched a surprise attack against communities in southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023.

The Israeli government has said roughly 1,200 people have been killed, including at least 260 people who Hamas militants murdered at an all-night music festival in a kibbutz near the border between Israel and Gaza. The Israeli government also says more than 5,000 people have been injured in the country since the war began and Hamas militants kidnapped more than 200 others.

The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says more than 24,000 people have died in the enclave since the war began. Israel after Oct. 7 cut electricity and water to Gaza and stopped most food and fuel shipments.

The International Court of Justice last week heard legal arguments in South Africa’s case that accuses Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel has strongly denied the accusations.

“Witnessing reports of Israel and Palestine are weighing on my soul,” said Task Force Executive Director Kierra Johnson on Oct. 14 during a speech at her organization’s 50th anniversary gala that took place in Miami Beach, Fla. “My heart is with communities in the region who have suffered the pain of terrorism and violence and may continue to do so.”

Johnson said the Task Force “condemns terrorism, violence and harm against civilians.”

She also led a moment of silence for the “lives shattered and lost in the terror attack by Hamas in Israel and for all those impacted who continue to suffer.”

A Wider Bridge — a U.S.-based organization that seeks to build “a movement of LGBTQ people and allies with a strong interest in and commitment to supporting Israel and its LGBTQ communities” — in 2016 organized a reception at the Creating Change conference in Chicago with two Israeli activists who worked for Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance. Hundreds of protesters with signs that expressed opposition to “pinkwashing,” which they described as the promotion of Israel’s LGBTQ+ rights record in an attempt to deflect attention away from its policies toward the Palestinians, and “no pride in apartheid” disrupted the event and forced its cancellation.

“I want to make this crystal clear: The National LGBTQ Task Force wholeheartedly condemns anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic statements made at any Task Force event, including our Creating Change conference,” said then-Executive Director Rea Carey in a statement after the protest. “It is unacceptable.”

A Wider Bridge on Wednesday sharply criticized the Task Force over its ceasefire statement.

“Reducing the complex Israeli-Palestinian conflict to caricatures of right and wrong advances neither justice nor peace, and yet that is precisely what the National LGBTQ Task Force has done in an outrageous statement issued before the curtain opens on their annual Creating Change conference,” said A Wider Bridge in a statement to the Washington Blade.

10 • JANUARY 26, 2024 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

Thousands march for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip in Freedom Plaza in D.C. on Jan. 13, 2024.

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

“The Task Force should know better,” it adds.

A Wider Bridge in its statement said there is “an unfortunate history of allowing the Creating Change conference to become an unsafe space for some members of the LGBTQ+ community who are Jewish or who feel a connection to Israel.”

“The same is true today,” it added. “By using the harshest language to describe Israeli actions, such as genocide, the Task Force essentially disallows this segment to participate in constructive conversations about what is happening in Gaza today. A more helpful statement might have also noted that the Hamas charter calls for genocide of the Jewish people, and even mentioned the massacre of civilians and rape of Israeli women and men that Hamas militants committed just a few months ago.”

“The Task Force inappropriately applies a Western intersectional lens and declares that this Middle Eastern conflict is grounded in white supremacy,” the statement continues. “This demonstrates a distorted understanding of Israelis, a majority of whom are non-white, or the reality that both parties have long-standing indigenous roots in the land.”

A Wider Bridge in its statement acknowledged Johnson “made a positive statement three months ago, leading a moment of silence at their national gala (in Miami Beach) for the ‘lives shattered and lost in the terror attack by Hamas in Israel and for all those impacted who continue to suffer’” and “said her heart is with the communities in the region who have suffered the pain of terrorism and violence and may continue to do so.”

“We hope this recent misstep can be corrected, and that the Task Force will take measures to make Creating Change a safe space for diverse viewpoints on a contentious and complex issue — and not reduce it to simplistic binaries that incite rather than inform,” said A Wider Bridge.

Johnson on Wednesday during her speech at the conference’s opening plenary said “white supremacy will have us believe that we cannot simultaneously grieve the loss of Israeli lives and call for the end of genocide and demand for Palestinian liberation.”

Some of those in the room applauded her comment.

“It is perfectly human to hold complexity,” said Johnson.

Johnson also said to applause that “Jews, Muslims, Palestinians, Arabs and Israelis are welcome (at the conference) and encouraged to fully be proud of who you are.” Johnson further noted the Task Force has an anti-bullying policy.

“Any forms of violence, intimidation and discrimination violates that policy and will not be tolerated,” she said. “All of you deserved to be protected, respected and celebrated throughout this conference.”

The Task Force’s Instagram posts also contained links to organizations with which it is working and information designed to “create spaces for ongoing conversations about principled struggle and the dismantling of the systems that oppress us.”

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

SPORTS

Out gay World Champion pole vaulter Shawn Barber dead at 29 KINGWOOD, Texas — Olympian, World Champion and three-time NCAA Champion Shawn Barber died Wednesday from medical complications. He was 29.

Barber came out as gay in a post on Facebook in April 2017, one year after a sexual encounter with a woman nearly cost him his chance to compete in the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Although no cause of death has been released, his alma mater, the University of Akron, announced Thursday that he had fallen ill and had been struggling with poor health “for some time.”

“More than just an incredible athlete, Shawn was such a good-hearted person that always put others ahead of himself,” Barber’s agent, Paul Doyle, told the Associated Press.

“It’s tragic to lose such a good person at such a young age.”

Doyle shared photos of Barber on his Instagram page, captioning them “A friend that will never be forgotten” and “He will be greatly missed.”

Other tributes shared on social media include those from Athletics Canada and World Athletics.

Former Akron men’s and women’s track and field and cross country coach Dennis Mitchell described Barber to the Akron Beacon Journal as “extremely smart” and “the nicest guy ever.”

Barber’s best vault was 19-8¼ or 6.0 meters on Jan. 15, 2016, in Reno, Nevada. That remains the record in Canada, the country which Barber represented in competitions all around the world.

His untimely death is being mourned across the globe.

Barber was born in 1994 in Las Cruces, N.M. He held dual Canadian-American citizenship as his father, George, a former pole vaulter himself and also Shawn’s former coach, was born in Kincardine, Ontario. The Barbers split time be-

tween Texas and Toronto, Canada.

At the 2015 world championships in Beijing, China, Barber took home a gold medal with a mark of 5.9 meters, earning Canada its first athletics world title in 12 years and its first-ever world’s pole vault medal.

Just a month earlier, Barber won his third of five Canadian titles and Pan American Games gold medals in Toronto.

SHAWN BARBER (Photo Credit University of Akron Athletics, Track & Field)

Also that year, he won the NCAA outdoor title for his university’s team, the Zips, adding to the second of back-toback indoor titles that season.

Barber was also awarded bronze and silver medals at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games, and he last competed in 2020.

His athletic career was nearly ended when Barber tested positive for traces of cocaine in a drug test before the 2016 Rio Olympics. Barber called the positive test “a complete shock.”

The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport wanted to ban him from competition for four years, including the Olympics.

But according to a report by the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada, Barber ingested the cocaine during a sexual encounter with a woman, the night before he won a Canadian national title in Edmonton.

The woman testified she secretly consumed cocaine before she met Barber, and then again in the bathroom of his hotel room. At his hearing, she said he could not have known she’d used the drug.

The court ruled that Barber had unknowingly ingested the drug through kissing. After it was determined he inadvertently ingested the banned substance, Barber was allowed to compete in Rio and instead stripped him of his 2016 national title.

“This has been a learning experience for Shawn, he is a young athlete learning how to compete on the field of play, and prepare away from it,” Athletics Canada said in a statement at the time.

Barber finished 10th at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

The following year, Barber posted on Facebook: “Gay and proud! Thank you to my parents for being such a great support. I continue to grow as a person and have a great support group. My parents are my greatest support and have helped me through a lot recently. To my friends, you are always my friends and I love you too!”

Barber is survived by his mother, father and brother.

DAWN ENNIS

UFC star launches anti-LGBTQ+ tirade during press conference TORONTO, Canada - During the UFC 297 pre-fight media day Wednesday in Toronto, ahead of the championship fight on Saturday, American mixed martial artist and UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland tangled with a reporter over the fighter’s past public homophobic comments.

Canadian sports journalist Alexander K Lee asked Strick-

land about previous comments he made about gay and trans people. The 32-year-old fighter, who has been open about his past embracing neo-Nazi ideology, launched into a vulgar tirade: “The world’s not buying your fucking bullshit you’re fucking peddling. The world is not saying, ‘You know what? You’re

right. Fucking chicks have dicks.’ The world’s not saying that.

The world’s saying, ‘No, there are two genders. I don’t want my kids being taught about who they could fuck in school. I don’t want my kids being taught about their sexual preference.’”

LA BLADE STAFF

Sports Illustrated terminates most of staff in mass layoff

Openly gay American Olympic figure skater ADAM RIPPON being interviewed by Sports Illustrated in 2019.

(Screenshot/YouTube Sports Illustrated)

NEW YORK - In an abrupt move Friday, Sports Illustrated employees were notified by publisher The Arena Group that they were terminated. It is unknown if the venerable 70-year-old sports magazine will cease publi-

cation.

The union representing the editorial employees posted

in part to X formerly Twitter: “This is another difficult day in what has been a difficult four years for Sports Illustrated under Arena Group (previously The Maven) stewardship,” the staff union said in a statement. “We are calling on ABG to ensure the continued publication of SI and allow it to serve our audience in the way it has for nearly 70 years.”

Fort Myers, Florida-based political journalist Brian Krassenstein noted that The Arena Group, which is the publisher for Sports Illustrated, has missed a $2.8 million payment to SI’s license holder, Authentic Brands Group, and will be forced to lay off the majority of their staff.

Deadline reported: Following through on a warning earlier this month, Authentic Brands Group has revoked Sports Illustrated‘s license to publish due to a missed payment.

As a result of the move, the entire staff of the 70-yearold print and online publication was notified on Friday that their jobs were being eliminated.

“We appreciate the work and efforts of everyone who has contributed to the SI brand and business,” SI operator The Arena Group wrote in a memo to employees that set off outrage on social media.

Deadline also noted that The Arena Group, which has operated the venerable brand under a license agreement since 2019, said in an SEC filing earlier this month that it did not make a quarterly payment of about $3.75 million.

Authentic “issued the company a notice of breach with the intent to exercise its right of termination,” Arena said in the filing, adding that they are “in discussion” with the licensor.

BRODY LEVESQUE

LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • JANUARY 26, 2024 • 11

INTERNATIONAL

Out in the World: LGBTQ+ news from Europe & Asia GERMANY

In Hamburg in northern Germany on Saturday, several thousand people gathered to protest against right-wing extremism and the far-right German political party AfD. (Photo Credit: Screenshot/YouTube AFP News Agency)

BERLIN, Germany - Rallies attended by hundreds of thousands have taken place in cities around Germany in recent days, after revelations by German investigative media outlet Correctiv that extremist far-right Alternative für Deutschland party, or AfD, has plans for the mass-expulsion of foreign nationals and including German citizens born from migrant parents.

The AfD, co-chaired by lesbian German politician Alice Elisabeth Weidel along with Tino Chrupalla held an event at headlined by Austrian neo-Nazi activist and author Martin Sellner, where plans regarding the deportation of millions of immigrants of “foreigners,” including citizens deemed not to have adequately “assimilated” into German culture, were discussed.

The AfD has sought to distance itself from the event although Roland Hartwig, a high-ranking member of the party and personal aide to co-party leader Weidel was in attendance at the far-right gathering this past in November. Hartwig has since stepped down from his position after the disclosures by Correctiv.

In the Correctiv piece, their undercover journalist exhaustively recounts the chilling details of the secret meeting. The problem according to observers and German political strategists is the fact that AfD has steadily gaining influence and popularity. The Associated Press and German Media outlet Deutsche Welle (DW) both report that the recent protests also build on growing anxiety over the last year about the AfD’s rising support among the Germans.

The Associated Press noted that the AfD was founded as a euroskeptic party in 2013 and first entered the German Bundestag in 2017. Polling now puts it in second place nationally with around 23%, far above the 10.3% it won during the last federal election in 2021.

Last summer, candidates from the AfD won the party’s first-ever mayoral election and district council election, the first far-right party to

do so since the Nazi era. And in state elections in Bavaria and Hesse, the party made significant gains.

The party leads in several states in eastern Germany, the region where its support is strongest — including three, Brandenburg, Saxony and Thuringia, that are slated to hold elections this fall.

Last April Germany’s domestic spy agency has classified the youth wing of the country’s far-right AfD party as an extremist entity and a threat to democracy. The decision could deal a blow to the party, which has so far failed in its legal bids to block security agencies from observing it and its affiliates, Deutsche Welle reported.

Although the AfD party co-chair is a lesbian in a state recognized “registered life partnership” as they are termed in Germany, she has stated her opposition to discussion of sexuality prior to puberty saying that “I don’t want anyone with their gender idiocy or their early sexualization classes coming near my children.”

She has also expressed her opposition to legalization of same-sex marriage, stating that she supports protection of the “traditional family” while also supporting “other lifestyles” The AfD itself is not progressive in terms of overall recognition of LGBTQ rights. Last year, the party even proposed a new sexual education curriculum that would significantly reduce the amount of information students receive on homosexuality, DW reported.

HUNGARY

GULYÁS GERGELY, chief of staff to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, being interviewed by a reporter for Hungarian Duna Média outlet M1 after a press conference January 18, 2024.

(Photo Credit: Office of the Prime Minister/Hungarian government)

BUDAPEST, Hungary - The Hungarian government is not going to change its draconian anti-LGBTQ+ policies and laws, and its treatment of asylum seekers and refugees despite the European Union freezing billions of Euros and funding because of the unwillingness of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to make changes.

12 • JANUARY 26, 2024 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

In a press conference on January 18, Gergely Gulyas, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s chief of staff, told reporters there were “limits” to reaching an agreement with the EU Commission, its governing executive, since “modifying policies on LGBTQ+ and asylum rights would contradict the will of Hungarian voters,” Gulyas said.

“The Hungarian government is willing to reach an agreement with the Commission, but in cases where people have expressed a clear opinion, it would be undemocratic and unacceptable,” Gulyas said, adding that there are “red lines” when it comes to reforms Hungary is willing to make.

“For Hungary, even despite the will of the European Commission, it is unacceptable to spread LGBTQ propaganda among children, and we also cannot abandon our position on migration issues,” he said.

Prime Minister Orbán in his speech at the 32nd Bálványos Summer Free University and Student Camp on July 22, 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.

On the issue over asylum seekers, the AP reported that Hungary’s government has also implemented a policy of turning away asylum seekers at its borders and requiring them to begin their asylum process at Hungarian embassies in Serbia and Ukraine — a practice that was declared unlawful last year by the EU’s top court.

On Wednesday von der Leyen said in a statement that EU funds “will remain blocked until Hungary fulfills all the necessary conditions.”

UNITED KINGDOM LONDON, UK - The privately run Gender Plus Hormone Clinic has been approved by the Care Quality Commission, the UK’S inde-

Hormones and Gender Transition (Screenshot/YouTube)

pendent regulator of health and social care, to prescribe hormones to patients aged over 16.

The clinic announced that hormone prescriptions will be available to transgender and non-binary patients aged 16 and older in line with current NHS gender service specifications for adolescents and adults.

“We are thrilled to announce that we are now Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered. We are the first independent child gender care service to achieve this and our hormone clinics are officially open. Regulation by the CQC ensures health and social care services in England are safe, effective and wellled, providing compassionate, high quality care,” the clinic said in an Instagram Post.

Dr Aidan Kelly, a clinical psychologist specializing in the area of gender identity, and the director of Gender Plus told GCN [Gay Community News- Ireland] in a November essay, “First and foremost transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people need care and compassion, to be respected and to feel heard. There are sadly a higher number of psychological and social difficulties faced by these individuals and these need to be supported, but this should not be at the expense of being able to access appropriate gender healthcare.”

PinkNewsUK reported a statement on the clinic’s website reads: “Regulation by the CQC ensures health and social care services in England are safe, effective and well-led, providing compassionate, high-quality care.

“The Hormone Clinic is the only English independent gender child care prescribing service to be regulated by the CQC.” The announcement comes just a few weeks before the NHS’s only gender-identity service for trans minors in England and Wales is scheduled to shut down.

BBC News reports that young people seeking gender-affirming care currently face a five-year wait time for their first appointment through the NHS.

TAIWAN KAOHSIUNG CITY, Taiwan - A 30-yearold political independent representing the

INTERNATIONAL

Support.

This is what it takes to take on Alzheimer’s.

Kaohsiung City Councilor HUANG JIE (黃捷) [center] has become Taiwan’s first openly gay national legislator after being elected earlier this month. (Photo courtesy of Huang Jie (黃捷))

Fongshan District on the Kaohsiung City Council won election this past week to the island nation’s unicameral legislature, the Legislative Yuan, making history as Taiwan’s first openly gay legislator.

Kaohsiung City Councilor Huang Jie was elected to the Legislative Yuan as a candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party to represent the sixth constituency [Legislative District] of Kaohsiung City.

Huang obtained 113,670 votes, or 51.01 percent of the vote, while her main rival, the Kuomintang’s (KMT) Chen Mei-ya (陳美雅), a five-term city councilor, received 93,750 votes, or 42.07 percent, according to the final vote count released by the Central Election Commission (CEC).

English Language Media Outlet Focus Taiwan reported: Thanking voters for their support and her campaign team for their hard work, the young politician said the “Kaohsiung spirit” -- the willingness to give young, hardworking people opportunities to serve -- had prevailed.

Winning the election is not the end, but the beginning of responsibility, she said.

“I will continue to safeguard [the wellbeing of] Kaohsiung and work to make it a place that shines internationally,” she added.

Focus Taiwan reported that in April 2023, Huang shared her coming out experience with the public. She said that she had not come out publicly when first starting her political career, but after she did, some voters had told her that she had given them courage.

Huang added that people campaigning for her recall had attacked her for being gay, which made her realize that there still needed to be advancements in Taiwan’s society in terms of ensuring equality for all and that she hoped to promote that through her involvement in politics.

NEPAL KATHMANDU, Nepal - Sunil Babu Pant, Ne-

SUNIL BABU PANT in Kathmandu, Nepal, March 2023. (Courtesy of Sunil Babu Pant)

pali human rights activist, monk, and former politician who served as a member of the Nepalese Constituent Assembly was appointed the first-ever cultural emissary for inclusive LGBTQ+ tourism in Nepal by Nepal Tourism Board at an event held at its office in the capital city on January 19.

In a statement issued by the Nepal Tourism Board announcing his appointment, the board said, “This title has been conferred on Pant for his continued dedication and passion for initiating inclusivity and diversity within the tourism industry in Nepal.”

The board also noted in its certificate of appointment: “Pant’s role as Cultural Emissary holds significance in advocating for LGBTIQA+ tourism. By taking on this position, you have the opportunity to create a positive impact on both local and international levels, inspiring others to embrace the principle of equality and acceptance.”

“As a cultural emissary, we believe you will raise more awareness about the LGBTIQA+ issues, encourage LGBTIQA+ friendly policies, and promote LGBTIQA+ friendly destinations and experiences,” the board stated.

“Your expertise and influence will undoubtedly contribute to the growth of pink tourism and help create a more inclusive and diverse travel industry,” the board added.

“I am grateful to the NTB for this opportunity,” Pant told the Himalayan News Service. “I will promote Pink Tourism along with justice and equality for the LGBTIQA+ communities in Nepal, in Asia, and around the world.”

Pant is the executive director of Mayako Pahichan Nepal and the former executive director, CEO, and founder of Blue Diamond Society (BDS), the first LGBTIQA+ rights organization in Nepal.

Additional reporting by Correctiv, The Associated Press, Deutsche Welle, Duna Média outlet M1, GCN Ireland, Agence France-Presse, The BBC, PinkNewsUK, Focus Taiwan and the Himalayan News Service.

BRODY LEVESQUE

It’s not easy to accept that nearly two-thirds of people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s are women. Or that some cases may be diagnosed as early as age 55.

But we can learn about signs and reduce our risk by staying active and lowering blood pressure.

Because we have what it takes to take on Alzheimer’s.

Learn about signs and screening at TakeOnALZ.com

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LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • JANUARY 26, 2024 • 13

NICKOLAUS HAYES

is a healthcare professional in the field of substance use and addiction recovery and is part of the editorial team at DRS. His primary focus is spreading awareness by educating individuals on the topics surrounding substance use.

Start the New Year alcohol-free A chance to reset mentally and physically

The holiday season is a complex time for many, especially within the LGBTQ community. Excessive drinking is widely accepted as a means of managing holiday stressors. People who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning do face stigma, discrimination, and other challenges, which can often occur during the holidays amid family gatherings.

Even casual and social drinkers may find themselves drinking more alcohol than usual, which makes Dry January or taking a month abstaining from alcohol beneficial. It gives you a chance to reset mentally and physically. There are health and social benefits, and it gives you an opportunity to re-evaluate your drinking habits.

Fortunately, there are practical approaches you can use to achieve this goal, succeed, and reap the benefits.

Members of the LGBTQ community are at a higher risk of developing alcoholism, and the festive season can further this along for many. The health benefits associated with abstaining from alcohol are significant.

You will find yourself sleeping better, having more energy, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and more money. You’ll notice you may lose weight, have clearer skin, and feel less depressed, anxious, and stressed. Overall, your mental and physical well-being will significantly improve.

Moreover, it helps you re-evaluate your drinking habits if you feel it got out of hand over the holidays. Consider asking yourself if alcohol is used as a tool to cope with stressful situations. Do you find yourself

feeling stressed without alcohol, or have your drinking habits impacted your relationships or your professional life? If the answer is yes, consider a month of not drinking alcohol.

Finally, and most importantly, you remove any chance of driving while impaired. Abstaining from alcohol is the backbone of effective drunk driving prevention. Impairment by drugs and alcohol is involved in more than half of fatal crashes.

It can be challenging to know how to approach a month of abstinence from alcohol, but there are practical tips you can use to help.

Create a supporting environment where you know you will succeed.

Thoroughly purge all the booze around you; either dump it, hide it, or give it away. Moreover, find a suitable non-alcoholic drink for social situations.

Recruit a friend or family member to participate and help avoid temptations. Not only will you support one another, but you can also plan activities that do not involve alcohol, and you can speak about the successes and challenges of abstaining from alcohol.

Stay busy and active and take this time to focus on your mental and physical well-being; take advantage of having more energy and sleeping better. Utilize Dry January or sobriety apps that will help you track your progress and find practical ways to hold yourself accountable.

If the benefits make you feel great physically and mentally, consider continuing for another 30 days. Embrace your new attitude to alcohol use.

V O L U ME 08 I S S U E 03

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2023 GLAAD Media Awards

14 • JANUARY 26, 2024 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

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ANDREA ‘ANDY’ HONG MARRA

(she/her) is executive director of Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund.

RODRIGO HENG-LEHTINEN

(he/him) is executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality.

Rising voices, unifying forces

Two trans-led organizations merge to confront a new era of attacks trans-led national organization with double the resources, double the brilliance and In human rights movements, there are moments when the world seems to turn experience, and double the fierce commitment to justice for all trans people. upside down, and advocates find themselves staring at a reality far harsher and more With this merger, we will have the power to take bigger, bolder steps to secure trans threatening than they seem equipped to combat. equality, which is what this is all about. It is not about saving money or eliminating For us, leaders of two organizations focused on protecting and advancing the rights redundancies. Everyone is keeping their job, and we will continue providing — and of transgender people, one of those moments occurred on Feb. 21, 2022, when Texas strengthening — the life-saving work that NCTE and TLDEF have led these past two Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a non-binding legal opinion that allowing transdecades. We will build upon each other’s gender children to receive medically necstrengths to advance human rights for all essary care was tantamount to child abuse trans people. under state law. Governor Greg Abbott We are the first generation to wrestle piled on, urging citizens to report their with trans rights as part of the public dissuspicions of minors receiving this essencourse. This was simply not happening 20 tial healthcare. years ago, even while gay rights were movAttacks on the rights of trans people — ing ahead. But here we are, and we have a and especially trans children — were, of window of perhaps five to 10 years, while course, not new. Since 2016, we have seen public opinion is still flexible, to win the a steadily increasing wave of anti-trans hearts and minds of the American people. bills in state legislatures around the counAnd that’s where A4TE comes in. Togethtry, fueling a barrage of anti-trans rhetoric er, we will be twice as loud. This merger and misinformation, as well as rising viois about galvanizing our advocacy power lence against trans people. on behalf of trans people, marshaling our But this was next level: An undemocratdiverse strengths, and ensuring trans peoic and draconian assault on trans families. ple have a real opportunity to participate Our families. and succeed in American life. Right now It was also, we realized, a moment of we have a unique opportunity to turn the deep reckoning for the trans rights movetide of anti-trans propaganda and legislament. Our opponents were outgunning tion. us, outspending us, and essentially doing It’s also about solidifying leadership by everything in their power to dehumanize From left: Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund Executive Director ANDREA HONG MARtrans people for trans people. The need trans people — along with all LGBTQ+ RA and National Center for Transgender Equality Executive Director RODRIGO HENG-LEHTINEN for trans leadership has never been greatpeople — in the eyes of the American (Photo courtesy of TLDEF, National Center for Transgender Equality) er. The two of us will work together with public. each other and a senior leadership team to oversee this new organization. Notably, It was a moment that demanded a bold response. we are both trans leaders of color, which matters because trans people of color expeWithin days, the two of us met in person to articulate that response. Our organizarience greater discrimination and violence. We stand ready to pick up the mantles of tions have a long history of working together and informing and strengthening each our founding mothers, Sylvia Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson, Miss Major, Monica Roberts other’s work. The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) is the leading voice and so many more and build on the efforts of the many LGBTQ+ and trans advocacy for trans rights in Washington, D.C. The Transgender Legal Defense and Education organizations working across the country. We will show up for the trans community by Fund (TLDEF) is the preeminent legal advocacy group for trans people facing discrimleading a modern-day movement to protect and advance the rights of all trans people. ination.

Paxton’s legal opinion turned out to be a political ploy to help him win re-election Both our organizations had grown tremendously over the years. Both, in fact, were amid allegations of bribery and corruption. But that’s not to say we won’t see a repeat the strongest they’d ever been and were doing great work. of what happened in Texas, there or somewhere else, with potentially greater reperYet we did not have an immediate answer to the level of escalation in Texas. cussions.

We realized we could do much, much more together than we could separately. With The difference is that now we are prepared. We are Advocates for Trans Equality. unanimous consent from both of our boards, we decided to merge our two organizaWe are ready to lead the fight against trans oppression. We believe in a future where tions into a single powerful force on behalf of trans people in America. The merger, trans people are no less than equal and we won’t stop fighting until that future is here. which becomes official this summer, will create Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE), a

LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • JANUARY 26, 2024 • 15

Best of LGBTQ+ LA 2024 LOS ANGELES - Welcome to the seventh annual special issue of the Best of LGBTQ+ LA! The Los Angeles Blade continues its proud tradition to celebrate the best of our community. The year for LGBTQ+ people and families has been a flood, both in weather and in the news that ruled us.

At home, we had to deal with physical floods, while cultural flooding came down on us as well from the death of ‘Friend’ Matthew Perry, to the local reality tsunami of Vanderpump Rules and “Scandoval.”

Nationally, and in some local school board meetings, anti-LGBTQ+ forces got more aggressive and violent with LGBTQ+ families and our gender non-conforming population came under direct political and physical attacks. We saw dubious history being made with a former president being legally defined as a rapist, and subsequently being indicted on 91 criminal counts, all the while being the Republican’s frontrunner in this year’s election.

The Los Angeles LGBTQ+ scene continues to thrill. Enjoy these highlights of Los Angeles living that demonstrate the best LGBTQ+ people experienced in 2023.

The Blade readers nominated finalists; the top five vote getters in each category were then added to the final ballot.

Twenty thousand readers then voted and the winners are presented here. The Blade congratulates each of this year’s winners and finalists.

Local Heroes Presented by The Ariadne Getty Foundation

Reverend Troy Perry There were numerous foreparents of the LGBTQ+ movement. Individuals who stepped up and created part of the foundation on which today’s LGBTQ+ citizenry benefit. Reverend Troy Perry was one of those parents. Without him both the LGBTQ+ spiritual TROY PERRY, right, and his spouse, PHILLIP RAY DE and pride communities would BLIECK (Photo by Karen Ocamb) be without a significant legacy, if they existed at all.

Before 1968 there was virtually no Christian denomination of any kind that was not hostile, let alone tolerant or welcoming, to out LGBTQ+ parishioners. At that time, Troy Perry felt a calling after a dark suicide attempt. He says, “The Lord was dealing with me. My previous church taught that you couldn’t be both Christian and gay. After a suicide attempt while I was arguing with God that he couldn’t love me God spoke to me in a still small voice in the minds ear, ‘don’t tell me what I can do. I love you, Troy, and I don’t have any stepsons or stepdaughters. Reread my Word.’ And reread God’s word I did.” Shortly after that revelation, a close friend was arrested.

Perry’s answer was to start the Metropolitan

Community Church movement which extended loving principles of Christianity (Yes, there are some) specifically to LGBTQ+ people hungry for a spiritual community. He started with 12 people in his living room. Today there are several hundred congregations in 37 countries. He performed the first public same sex wedding in the United States in 1968, and filed the first ever lawsuit seeking legal recognition for same-gender marriages in 1970, many decades before even LGBTQ+ Americans recognized the heterosexist discrimination, and the understanding that we had the ability, and responsibility, to fight back.

Perry was one of the masterminds behind the very first Pride parades in the world, LA Pride in 1970, and throughout his life has garnered the attention of presidents. Jimmy Carter called him to Washington to discuss gay and lesbian civil rights, Bill Clinton sought him out about hate crimes and AIDS and Barack Obama called him to come and celebrate the 40th anniversary of Stonewall.

In 2023, Perry and his husband celebrated the 55th anniversary of their church at the Founders Metropolitan Community Church Los Angeles where he reports they had “great music, great sharing and great times seeing longtime friends again.”

Many voices around the world have paid tribute. Iglesia Casa de Luz thanked him “for having been the instrument that divinity inspired in your heart to begin this mission, this inclusive ministry where all people, without distinction, can have a sense of belonging to the family of God and of being in the place correct in a place of spiritual refuge where no one is condemned.”

Stephen Schmidt was more to the point and said, “You have reshaped the world and made the Church a safe place for our people.”

The Los Angeles Blade is proud to identify him as one of our two Heroes of 2024.

Jewel Tais Williams Perry shares the foreparent dais with Jewel Tais-Williams.

If Perry laid the foundational planks for LGBTQ+ spirituality, Tais-Williams laid the foundation for POC, intersectionality and civil rights for healthcare for the most marginalized.

JEWEL THAIS-WILLIAMS, Shortly after Perry launched right, and spouse into creating MCC Church in RUE THAIS-WILLIAMS. a space no other denomina(Photo by Karen Ocamb) tions wanted him, Tais-Williams bravely stepped into an arena where no others in the space wanted her either: she became probably the first black lesbian to own a bar in Central (or any other part) Los Angeles.

She evolved the bar, Jewel’s Catch One, into a safe haven for the queer Black community. She was visible when she really was not “supposed to be.” She told the LGBTQ+ History project, “If you were one of the browner people then, there were things that you couldn’t do. They were jobs that you didn’t even think about applying for. The darker-skinned, for instance, couldn’t work out where the public would see them.” Well. Screw that. She was and would be

seen. More importantly, she would be felt.

She had intended for the club to be “a nice place where we could go and be comfortable.” A fight between two gay lovers changed the bar’s brand and reputation. In the early 70s, West Hollywood clubs wielded their own level of discrimination and would not allow people of color or women.

Undeterred, Jewel’s Catch One expanded as a dance club in 1975.

In the early 80s, the AIDS crisis hit Los Angeles. As the LGBTQ+ community realized that no one was coming to save us, AIDS Project LA took hold with its growing support from the Hollywood community. Tais-Williams quickly realized that the total community was not getting their needs addressed and sought to rectify it by co-founding the Minority AIDS Project. APLA asked her to be on their board, and she only agreed if they would make their “face more friendly” so black community members would feel welcome to come get food and health services. In 1989, she also co-founded Rue’s House with her partner Rue. Rue’s House was the first housing facility for women with AIDS and their children in the United States.

2023 marked the 50th anniversary of Jewell’s Catch One, and Tais Williams has been featured in several documentaries including Jewell’s Catch One and Commitment to Life.

She has lent her voice and wisdom to The Lavender Effect.

For those who follow after her, she advocates for “loving yourselves.” She tells us “Look in the mirror every day, and say I love you just as you are. There’s a universal plan for everybody’s presence here on this planet. How did I happen to go to this place? Why did that idea come into mind? … I just think that everything goes according to plan. The important part is you just being willing to carry out whatever you wish in the end.”

The LA Blade’s wish is to honor her as one of our two Heroes of 2024.

Game Changer Award The LA Blade is pleased to award pharmaceutical company Gilead with the 2024 Game Changer Award.

This year, Gilead Sciences provided a total of $3 million in grant funding to eight organizations to provide services to communities disproportionately impacted by HIV in rural areas in the United States. (While HIV is prevalent in both urban and rural communities in the United States, resources are heavily concentrated in urban centers, and lack of public health infrastructure and heightened stigma in rural communities create barriers of access to necessary care.) These grants are part of Gilead’s ongoing Zeroing In™ program to help end the HIV epidemic by supporting organizations working to improve the overall health and wellness of communities most impacted by the HIV epidemic. Gilead selected the grantees due to their strategic, community-driven approaches toward dismantling the systemic barriers that prevent people in rural communities from accessing quality HIV testing and treatment. As Jane Stafford, Gilead’s executive director of public affairs, states, “Gilead is proud to go where the need is greatest.” From our perspective, that is the key to being a game changer.

CONTINUES ON PAGE 18

LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • JANUARY 26, 2024 • 17

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Best of LGBTQ+ LA 2024 continued

Best Drag Performer Sasha Colby

In 2023, Sasha Colby was crowned winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race – Season 15. As an acclaimed drag performer, actress dancer, Trans advocate and activist living in West Hollywood, LA Blade readers claimed her as their own, and their favorite. Colby started her transitional journey at age SASHA COLBY/Facebook 17, became a drag daughter (Photo Credit: Preston Make-up) of the legendary Cassandra Colby, and won the pageantry circuit’s Miss Continental 2012.

Angelenos will have their chance to show her even more love in March when her tour lands at our own Palace Theater.

Editor’s Choice: Rhea Litre

Best Drag Show Showgirls at Micky’s, West Hollywood Hostess Morgan McMichaels seals the deal on the popular Showgirls at Micky’s.

Great food, friendly service and convenient parking were called out as factors making this the best, but the talent of McMichaels is the coup de grace in the eyes of LA Blade readers.

“Morgan McMi(Promo poster/Morgan McMichaels chaels is an amazing host that Sept. 2023) will take you into the wonderful world of drag with magnificent characters,” says Julie H. “Morgan McMichaels went out of her way to make me feel special,” reports a birthday celebrant.

Editor’s choice: Brunch with the Brunchettes at Hamburger Mary’s

Favorite Influencer George Takei As we enter a vitally important election year, LA Blade readers have shown that they revere the guidance of one of the great LGBTQ+ voices, George Takei. It feels reductive to even remind people GEORGE TAKEI appearing of his portrayal of Mr. Sulu on The Shuttlepod Show, Dec. 2023. (Screenshot/YouTube) in the original Star Trek. For queer people, he is so much more. He’s an actor, social justice activist, social media mega-power, New York Times bestselling author, and subject of To Be Takei, a documentary on his life and career.

Takei serves as chair of the council of governors of East West Players, the nation’s foremost Asian Pacific American theater. He is also a member of the Human Rights Campaign, chairman emeritus of the Japanese American National Museum’s Board of Trustees and a member of the US-Japan Bridging Foundation Board of Directors. In recognition of his contribution to the Japan-United States relationship, Takei was conferred with the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, by His Majesty, the Emperor of Japan.

In 2023, Takei urged participation in our democracy, he wrote, “A Democrat was in the White House when my family was sent to the internment camps in 1941. It was an egregious violation of our human and civil rights. It would have been understandable if people like me said they’d never vote for a Democrat again, given what had been done to us.

But being a liberal, being a progressive, means being able to look past my own grievances and concerns and think of the greater good. It means working from within the Democratic party to make it better ... There is no leader who will make the decision you want her or him to make 100 percent of the time. Your vote is a tool of hope for a better world. Use it wisely, for it is precious. Use it for others, for they are in need of your support, too.” Clearly, his LA Blade fans know how to vote. They voted him the best.

Editor’s Choice: Gigi Gorgeous

Best Queer Artist Guadalupe Rosales Last year’s runner up takes the top spot in 2023. Rosales’ work has been featured by Vogue, i-D Magazine, The New Yorker, Los Angeles Times, GUADALUPE ROSALES New York Times, ArtNews, in the KCET-PBS Special: Artsy and Artforum, Univision Archiving L.A.’s 90s Latinx and NPR. Rosales is a multidisRave Scene (Screenshot KCET) ciplinary artist and educator best known for her community generated archival projects, Veteranas and Rucas and Map Pointz, found on social media. Recent solo exhibitions have been held at Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles, Dallas Museum of Art and Museo Universitario del Chopo in Mexico City. LA Blade readers are anxious for her forthcoming book East of the River coming out this year.

Editor’s Choice: Farrell

Best LGBTQ+ Bar Heart WeHo Winning for the second year in a row, Heart WeHo is known as “where the night comes alive.” Key events in 2023 included Betsey Johnson Heart WeHo (Blade file photo by Troy Masters) and Miley Cyrus’ Pride Party.

LA Blade readers called out its viewing parties and “phenomenal” music.

Editor’s Choice: The Abbey

18 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • JANUARY 26, 2024

Best Neighborhood Bar Beaches

You will find Beaches in the heart of West Hollywood.

Proud of its design and fashion, the hybrid restaurant and lounge is described as reflecting “nostalgia of 80’s Miami disco culture.” The two-story space offers two full bars and Beaches in WeHo. VIP seating and specializes in (Photo Credit: Beaches/Facebook) “California Cuban Cuisine.” LA Blade readers “love this bar!” Great music, good dancers and powerful drinks top some of the reasons why.

Editor’s Choice: Hi Tops

Best LGBTQ+ Party Fuego Fridays at Heart WeHO Fuego’s Friday events have people talking, and LA readers voting! Featuring Latin music, hot Latin gogos, drink specials and lasting until 4 a.m., pa(Photo Credit: Heart WeHo) trons partied til morning light.

Editor’s Choice: Makeout Mondays at Rocco’s

Best GoGo Dancer Dante Martin

DANTE MARTIN (Courtesy of Hamburger Mary’s Long Beach)

Regularly featured at Long Beach’s Falcon North, Dante Martin gets pulses racing and LA readers voting. He can be found online on Instagram, X and OnlyFans.

Editor’s Choice: Ernest Guillermo Borilla Espinose

Best Brunch The Abbey 2022’s winner does it again. This year, LA readers called the “world famous” Abbey’s brunch “amazing.”

Launched 32 years ago as a small coffee house by David Cooley as a safe space for the gay community. “Come Diners at The as you are,” was their mantra. The Abbey. (Blade photo

by Noah Christiansen) stain glass window décor inspired the religious themed name and atmosphere. A 2023 review read, “Came here for brunch last Sunday, and it was everything I was hoping for and more. The food was great, the drinks were flowing, and the queens were perfection.” LA Blade readers love perfection and brunch toasted The Abbey as the best.

Editor’s choice: Beaches CONTINUES ON PAGE 20

AIDS Memorial Quilt & Gilead

Together, we can help end the HIV epidemic.

At Gilead, we understand that it’s going to take a combination of both science and social change to help end the HIV epidemic for everyone, everywhere. It’s only by collaborating with advocates and organizations across the country that we can reach this collective goal. Together, we’re working tirelessly to improve health equity and bring awareness to the HIV epidemic.

Explore our collaborations at GileadHIV.com.

GILEAD and the GILEAD logo are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc. © 2023 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. US-UNBI-0076 03/23

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Best of LGBTQ+ LA 2024 continued

Best Restaurant Bottega Louie

Winning Editor’s Choice for 2022, Bottega Louie served it up for LA Blade readers in 2023 and earned the Bestof spot! Opening its doors in 2020, Bottega Louie is known for its open kitchen and menu (Photo Credit: Bottega Louie Instagram) of pastas, salads, small plates, pizza and pastries. In addition, Bottega Louie runs a gourmet market where patrons can purchase packaged foods including confections, chocolates, pasta sauces, dry pastas and preserves. Our readers said “yum!”

Editor’s choice: Cecconi’s

try where LGBTQ+ and BIPOC representation have been lacking.” Donating a portion of proceeds to the DTLA Proud Community Center, Green Qween sees itself as an incubator for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC (Photo Credit: Green Qween/Facebook) cannabis brands and growers.

Green Qween has declared, “We will reclaim, honor and sustain queer history in cannabis legalization by incubating LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, women-owned and marginalized brands.” LA Blade readers just see them as the best.

Editor’s choice: The Woods

Best LGBTQ+ Owned Business Urban Pet

Best Radio or TV Station 104.3 Pride on iHeart Radio Named the Editor’s Choice of 2022, 104.3 Pride elevates to the top spot, swapping with last year’s winner. The station considers itself the “pulse of LGBTQ+ America and plays (Photo Credit: iHeartMEDIA LA) upbeat Top 40 music (including remixes) and dance music targeted to the LGBTQ+ community. The service is also carried on the HD Radio sub-channels. The channel and accompanying online portal provide the LGBTQ+ audience with programming that aims to be entertaining, informative and uniting.

Editor’s choice: KTLA

Best Coverage of LGBTQ+ Issues by a Mainstream News Outlet KTLA

(Photo Credit: Urban Pet)

Winning Editor’s Choice in 2022, Urban Pet chose 2023 to shine as the LA Blade readers’ number one. Boasting celeb clients including Amanda Seyfried, Jenna Dewan, Channing Tatum, Ellen DeGeneres, Portia DeRossi, Mila Jovavich, Pink, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Linda Resnick, Urban Pet is very much a reflection of its owner Zack Grey. After segueing from a 14 year career as a professional dancer, he worked as a personal assistant to a well-known dog trainer and transitioned into launching his own dog training company. He was quickly lauded for his innovative personal training and technique. Pet Product News has called him “one of the top 25 people to follow,” and Super Zoo, the largest pet industry trade show, awarded him the Retailer of the Year Award. LA Blade readers just call him “the best.”

Editor’s choice: My 12 Step Store

strategies. Founded in 2013 by Latinos determined to make a difference in their communities, LOUD works to fight the fight against HIV/ AIDS in underserved communities and supports critical Latino issues. Their marketing initiatives are culturally relevant and effective at encouraging positive behavioral change in Latino communities with direct action strategies throughout the United States.

Editor’s choice: Impulse Group LA

Best House of Worship Tie: Congregation Kol Ami and InVision Church LA Congregation Kol Ami 2022’s winner and Editor’s Choice tied this year for the top spot. Kol Ami is an important leader in the Jewish, LGBTQ+ and West Hollywood communities since its founding in 1992.

Rabbi Denise L. (Photo Credit: Congregation Kol Ami/Facebook) Egers, who plans to retire in 2024, broke barriers that resulted in more LGBTQ+ inclusion at synagogues worldwide. Kol Ami describes itself as “a progressive, Reform congregation rooted in a rich Jewish tradition, with commitment to social justice, diversity and a world in which all individuals are honored and connected. Our congregation celebrates an LGBTQ+ core at the center of a profoundly diverse community.” (1200 N La Brea Ave, West Hollywood)

Best LGBTQ+ Social Group Somos Latino Outreach and Understanding Division

Winning for a second year in a row, KTLA featured SoCal LGBTQ+ pertinent stories that included the Dodgers uninviting the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to Pride Night (they were subsequently re-invited, thanks to the backlash), hate crimes targeting the LGBTQ+ community and numerous stories of California schools fighting proposed anti-trans policies.

Editor’s choice: Variety

Best Cannabis Retailer/Lounge Green Qween 2022s winner of this category showed that they were not done with the top spot, taking it again in 2023. Business partners Andres Rigal and Taylor Bazley launched Green Qween as “a queer-driven cannabis dispensary in an indus-

(Photo Credit: Latino Outreach and Understanding Division/Facebook)

20 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • JANUARY 26, 2024

The Latino Outreach and Understanding Division (LOUD) is a division of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) that addresses the social and health disparities that threaten the Latino community through innovative programmatic, marketing and direct-action

(InVision LA graphic)

InVision LA “The worship was amazing and the pastor delivered an amazing message,” says one visitor. “I can’t tell you how priceless that message is to the LGBTQ+ community especially,” says another. InVision believes in “the demonstration of spiritual gifts given by God.” They seek to promote excellence in all things in the “pursuit of a relationship with Jesus” and proclaim a steadfast, bold decree of acceptance, affirmation and inclusion for every child of God in their midst and “every person that is to come, regardless of race, gender, class, background or sexual orientation.”

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Best of LGBTQ+ LA 2024 continued

Most Committed Activist Chelsea Beyers

The new vice mayor of West Hollywood, Chelsea Beyers, has impressed LA Blade readers with her 17 years of social impact strategies and community organization initiatives. She Vice-Mayor CHELSEA LEE BYERS has worked tirelessbeing sworn in on January 16, 2024. ly with nonprofits, (Photo courtesy of the City of West Hollywood) grassroots and activist groups. Installed in her new role on Jan. 16, Beyers said, “I’m looking forward to the year ahead, full of meaningful opportunities to advance issues most important to the West Hollywood community.” LA Blade readers look forward to her growing impact as well.

Editor’s choice: Michael Weinstein

Favorite Public Official

celebrity-owned bars and restaurants, unparalleled nightlife and shopping. It hosts world impacting events like the HBO Emmy Party, Elton John’s Annual Border sign, City of West Hollywood, Oscar Party, WEST California in1985.

(Photo Credit: City of West Hollywood) HOLLYWOOD PRIDE and the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval, the largest Halloween street party in the world. With approximately 39,000 residents, it has been called “Los Angeles’ hottest destination for the entertainment industry.” Many feel that West Hollywood sets a standard for super creative individuals representing the state-of-the-art on trends and new ideas.

The Human Rights Campaign has scored West Hollywood as earning 100 out of 100 possible in terms of LGBTQ+ friendliness. LA Blade readers already knew that as they name West Hollywood the friendliest city for the fifth year in a row.

Editor’s choice: Palm Springs

Lindsey Horvath

Best Local Pro Sports Team

Our 2022 Editor’s Choice, Horvath was named the favorite for 2023. As chair of the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors, she credits Supervisor Sheila Kuehl for supporting her to become the youngest elected woman to serve on the board.

LINDSEY P. HORVATH became Under her leadership, the the youngest-ever Chair of Los Angeles County Board the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors as she took the of Supervisors voted on gavel Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023.

June 6 to expand health(Photo provided by the Office of Los Angeles care services for TransgenCounty Supervisor Lindsey Horvath) der people and to establish for the first time a LGBTQ+ commission to advise the board on related policies and programs. Horvath has laid out her additional ongoing objectives for her tenure. She states, “Voters chose a new path forward — a path where we humanely and effectively solve our homelessness crisis, a path where we invest in meaningful public safety solutions, a path where we fight unequivocally for full reproductive freedom, and a path where we urgently protect our environment and create a sustainable future for generations to come.” LA Blade readers are on board and chose her as their hope for the future.

Runner-Up: Adam Schiiff

LA Dodgers

Most LGBTQ+ Friendly City West Hollywood The city of West Hollywood was born out of a determined campaign by LGBTQ+ activists, seniors and renters on Nov. 29, 1984. The city has a rich history and can be credited for launching iconic rock and punk musical acts. It boasts

Earning the top spot was not an easy feat for the Dodgers this year. Sure, they had a lock on it going into their 10th annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night. For that event, they announced their intention to honor the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence activist organization. Then the (LA Dodgers graphic) fires of hell, as some evangelicals might have predicted, broke out. Right wing homophobes clutched their pearls in protest. Shamefully, for five days, the Dodgers caved, and dis-invited the Sisters. Then, as the LA Times describes it, the Dodgers “Did the right thing by bringing them back.” As the Sisters were honored inside the stadium, thousands protested outside. The LA Times commented, “They didn’t listen. They didn’t run. They didn’t cave. The Dodgers, who caved once, didn’t cave again.” For that, LA Blade readers thank them, and have declared the Dodgers the best local team for the fourth year in a row.

Editor’s choice: LA Lakers

for homes or lists them on the MLS. They have created a company that is education driven through webinars and events, both for their own agents, and their clients. LA Blade readers were impressed.

Editor’s choice: Rodeo Realty

Best Ally Hilda Solis

Los Angeles County First District Supervisor HILDA SOLIS speaking at a Jan. 3, 2024, press briefing as Los Angeles Mayor KAREN BASS and California Gov. GAVIN NEWSOM look on.

(Photo Credit: Office of the Governor)

Hilda Solis, the daughter of immigrants, was raised in her San Gabriel Valley working-class family. As a county supervisor, United States Secretary of Labor and lawmaker, Solis has always been an effective champion for expanded quality health care, new solutions to the homelessness and housing crises, reimagining public safety, cleaner air and water, immigrant rights and better jobs and economic opportunities for all. Solis became the first woman to receive the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 2000 for her pioneering work on environmental justice issues. This year she advocated for the move to expand Transgender healthcare services and establish a LGBTQ+ commission.

Soils stated that the actions were to counter anti-LGBTQ+ bills being promoted and passed around the nation. For that, LA Blade readers stated, “Thank you!”

Editor’s choice: Laura Morales Garcia

Best Salon/Spa FLEX Spa

Best Realtor The Collective The Collective bills itself as the “hippest Boutique Real Estate Agency with some of L.A.’s most expe(Photo Credit: Bryan Danna - The Collective Realty) rienced real estate agents.” At the heart of the Collective is the vision to be guides to building wealth through real estate. The team says it is not your average set of agents who simply search

22 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • JANUARY 26, 2024

(Photo Credit: Flex SPAS)

sonal trainers and massage therapists.

Editor’s choice: Burke Williams

FLEX Spas Los Angeles is a premier all male private club. Their facilities are an exclusive/private all male membership facility providing accommodations for full gym facilities, suites, cabanas, lockers, per-

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Best of LGBTQ+ LA 2024 continued

Best Car Dealership Honda of Hollywood

Honda of Hollywood is family. “Great staff, friendly service, feels like a small family-like environment” promises one customer.

“At Honda of Hollywood, we strive for excellence during every visit.

Our team of experts is here to help you with all of your automotive (Honda of Hollywood graphic) needs ... Whether you’re from Hollywood, Los Angeles, or another city, get in touch with our team to experience superior customer service,” they state.

“Amazing dealership. Recommend 100 percent,” is their usual customer mantra. LA Blade readers have test driven them into being the Best Car Dealership for the third year in a row.

Editor’s choice: BMW of Beverly Hills

Best Doctor/Medical Provider AIDS Healthcare Foundation The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is the largest provider of HIV/AIDS healthcare in the world. It currently has 1,725,070 patients in care across 45 countries. As a global non-profit, it provides cutting-edge medicine and (AIDS Healthcare Foundation graphic) advocacy. In recent years, AHF has expanded its focus on global public health to include housing, food security, pandemic response and preparedness, and more. Their local fans, and LA Blade readers, agreed naming them the year’s best for the fourth year in a row.

Editor’s choice: One Medical

Best Fitness LA Fitness, Hollywood

(LA Fitness graphic)

Founded in 1984, LA Fitness now has over 550 clubs across the U.S. and Canada.

LA Fitness highlights their offerings this way: “LA Fitness offers many amenities at an outstanding value.

Gym amenities may feature functional training, state-of-

the-art equipment, basketball, group fitness classes, pool, saunas, personal training and more!” Its clients call out its wide range of equipment, friendly staff, great classes and convenient parking. For the third year in a row, LA Blade readers have named LA Fitness the best.

Editor’s choice: Equinox on Sunset

Best Actor Bradley Cooper

Most LGBTQ-Friendly Workplace City of West Hollywood The city of West Hollywood strives to maintain a high-quality work environment with competitive compensation and benefits. They have publicly committed to engage, attract, develop, support and retain (Photo Credit: City of West Hollywood/Jon Viscott) the best workforce to provide exceptional customer service to the West Hollywood community. The city government states, “Since incorporation in 1984, the city of West Hollywood has become one of the most influential cities in the nation for its outspoken advocacy on LGBTQ+ issues. No other city of its size has had a greater impact on the national public policy discourse on fairness and inclusiveness for LGBTQ+ people. More than 40 percent of residents in West Hollywood identify as LGBTQ+.

The city has advocated for more than three decades for measures to support LGBTQ+ individuals and has been in the vanguard on efforts to gain and protect equality for all people on a state, national, and international level.” This resonates with LA Blade readers who think they are the most LGBTQ+-Friendly around.

Editor’s choice: Getty Museum

Best Non-Profit Equality California Fighting for full, lived LGBTQ+ equality, Equality California has numerous initiatives. These incorporate passing pro-equality legislation, electing pro-equality leaders, fighting for civil rights in the Equality California 2023 Palm Springs courtroom, reAwards. (Photo Credit: Equality California) ducing disparities in LGBTQ+ health and well-being, developing a pipeline of LGBTQ+ leaders and increasing civic participation within the LGBTQ+ community. LA Blade readers appreciate their leadership and have voted them the best non-profit.

Editor’s choice: AIDS Healthcare Foundation

24 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • JANUARY 26, 2024

BRADLEY COOPER on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

(Screenshot/YouTube The Tonight Show)

Bradley Cooper is earning huge recognition for his self-directed performance in the film Maestro. The film portrays the life of the legendary Leonard Bernstein and his bisexuality. His performance has earned him nominations for Golden Globes, Bafta, Critics Choice and SAG awards. So far, he has not won any of those but, hey Bradley, with LA Blade readers, you’re a winner, Baby.

Editor’s choice: Jodie Foster

Best Museum/Art Gallery The Getty The Getty embarks on numerous philanthropic projects including several supporting the LGBTQ+ community. As this year’s winner, The Getty confirms that it is a Los Angeles treasure.

In its two locations, it represents over 6,000 years of art. Besides a library collection of books, archives and services, the museum holds over 100,000 artwork images as well as special collections. The (Photo Credit: The Getty) Getty Center, with its bird’s eye view of Los Angeles, is located in Brentwood and showcases European art amid modern architecture. Its second location is the Getty Villa Museum which lies along the coast and displays ancient Greek and Roman art in a recreated Roman house.

LA Blade readers have shown their appreciation for the second year in a row by naming the Getty as the Best Museum of the year.

Editor’s choice: LACMA CONTINUES ON PAGE 26

Love Lov Lo ove ve Your Y Yoou ouurr Way W Waay ay Whether you are coupled, single or complicated, we have something for the romantic in everyone.

An Evening out Salsa Dancing Dreamy Fairmont Spa Experiences Delightful Brunch at Lumiere with Surprise Guest Artists Performance by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles February 13 - February 17

To book and learn more about our Valentine’s Day offerings

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24

Best Theater

Best of LGBTQ+ LA 2024 continued

LA Opera With six mainstage productions, the LA Opera kicked off its 38th season “offering illuminating interpretations of classic works through the extraordinary artistry of the world’s leading musicians.” The season’s roster included Alexander Zemlinsky’s The Dwarf, the LA Opera premiere of William Grant Still’s Highway 1, USA, the company premiere of El último (Photo Credit: LA Opera) sueño de Frida y Diego, Don Giovanni, La Traviata and Turandot. LA Blade readers were humming along and belted out a sincere “you’re the best.”

Editor’s choice: LACMA

Best Music Venue The Hollywood Bowl

(Photo Credit: County of Los Angeles)

Three years ago, the Hollywood Bowl won for Best Virtual A&E Events. Two years ago, they were named the Best A&E Venue. This year, marks their second win — for Best Music Venue. This can only lead you to conclude that live or virtual, artistically or musically, in the eyes of LA Blade readers, they are still perennially the best. Since its opening in 1922, the Hollywood Bowl has been the premier destination for live music, hosting everyone from Billie Holiday to The Beatles to Yo-Yo Ma under the iconic silhouette of its concentric-arched band shell. Janet Jackson opened the 2023 season and LA Blade readers were impressed.

Editor’s choice: Disney Concert Hall

Best Hotel Fairmont Century Plaza Fans cite the hotel’s great location, excellent staff and overall beauty as the secret formula the Fairmont commands over other hotels in the area. A recent reviewer said,

(Fairmont Century Plaza Pride graphic)

“This is one of the nicest and most luxurious hotels my family and I have stayed at. The room was huge … The staff were exceptional and very attentive. This hotel is in a great location next to Century City Westfield in a very clean and safe part of Los Angeles.”

Editor’s Choice: Sunset Tower

Favorite Musical Artist Dolly Parton Last year, Dolly was our Editor’s Choice. Since she kicked off New Years 2023 with goddaughter Miley Cyrus, her popularity shifted into high gear.

In defense of her Transgender audience she was quoted this year as saying , “How we are is who DOLLY PARTON with we are.” She ended the god-daughter MILEY CYRUS year releasing her rock Dec. 31, 2022. (Screenshot/YouTube) album Rockstar at the end of 2023 and it shot immediately to #1 on the charts. LA Blade readers agreed and put her #1 in their hearts.

Editor’s choice: Bad Bunny

Best Regional Pride WeHo Pride WeHo wins for the second year in a row. Last year, the City of West Hollywood presented its second WeHo Pride in early June, kicking-off celebrations across the nation during Pride Month.

WeHo Pride Weekend celebrations in and around West Hollywood Park included an all-week(LA Blade graphic) end music fest dubbed OUTLOUD with performances from Grace Jones, Carly Rae Jepsen, Orville Peck, Passion Pit, Santigold and Princess Nokia. LA Blade readers named it the best around again.

Editor’s choice: LA Pride

Best Streaming Service

Best LGBTQ+ Event

Revry

GLAAD Awards

Revry is the world’s first global queer TV streaming network. It offers free 24/7 live TV channels and on demand movies, and shows. The network launched in 2016 and only focuses on queer content and creators. It was founded by Damian Pelliccione, Alia J. Daniels, Chris(Revry graphic) topher Rodriguez, Wadooah Wali and LaShawn McGhee. Revry releases original content, including the series Gayborhood, Before I Got Famous and Drag Roast.

Editor’s Choice: Amazon Prime

Winning the top spot for the second year in a row, the GLAAD Awards has special meaning for the LA Blade. It, and sister publication, the Washington Blade won the Barbara Gittings Award for Excellence in LGBTQ+ Media.

The award honors a pioneering individual, group, or community media outlet that has made a significant contribution to the development of LGBTQ+ media.

The award is named after Barbara Gittings in recognition of her groundbreaking GLAAD Media Award.

(Photo Credit: GLAAD) work as editor of The Ladder, and for her appearances as an out lesbian on national news media throughout the 1970s and 1980s. The award program featured appear-

26 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • JANUARY 26, 2024

ances by Christina Aguilera who was introduced by Club Q Survivor, Michael Anderson. Bad Bunny was honored with GLAAD’s Vanguard Award and was introduced by Ricky Martin; Jeremy Pope received GLAAD’s Stephen F. Kolzak Award and was introduced by Gabrielle Union. As for best LGBTQ event, LA Blade readers honored GLAAD. Editor’s choice: OutFest

CONTINUES ON PAGE 28

V I S I T W E S T H O L LY W O O D . C O M

“FOR THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY, WEST HOLLYWOOD MEANS SAFETY.

It means love it means home.

...

”

JEFF CONSOLETTI

C O R N E R O F S A N V I C E N T E & S A N T A M O N I C A B LV D , W E S T H O L LY W O O D , C A

Executive Producer, West Hollywood Pride

West Hollywood is the heart of Creativity – and celebrates diversity and inclusivity and promoting voices that might not otherwise be heard.

For details and links to all the fun, go to VisitWestHollywood.com.

Inclusivity is our middle name, and you are our honored guest.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26

Best of LGBTQ+ LA 2024 continued

Most LGBTQ+ Friendly Entertainment Company

Best LGBTQ+ Friendly Employer of 100+ Employees

Netflix

Disney

(Courtesy of Netflix)

Featuring top caliber LGBTQ+ content such as Rustin, Nyad and Maestro in 2023, Netflix waved its rainbow flag loud and proud. Other queer content included, Heartstopper, The Young Royals, Stay on Board: The Leo Baker Story and long timers like Orange is the New Black and Grace and Frankie.

Editor’s choice: Paramount Pictures

Disney’s commitment to their employees includes investing in and supporting their people “through our focus on creating a collaborative and inclusive (Courtesy of The Walt Disney Company) workplace culture, investing in their well-being, health and safety, and providing opportunities for their continued growth, development, and career mobility.” The company is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with five business segments: Media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media.

DeSantis may hate them, but LA Blade readers love them.

Editor’s Choice: TikTok

Best LA Region Airport LAX Last year’s Editor’s Choice landed its planes in the Best spot this year. Providing enhanced travel experiences across Terminals 2 and 3 this year, LAX surpassed pre-pandemic passenger numbers on consec(Photograph courtesy of Los Angeles World Airports) utive days. With more domestic travelers beginning or ending their trips at LAX than any other U.S. Airport, it has gotten both busier and better. LA Blade readers named it the best.

Editor’s choice: Hollywood/Burbank ROB WATSON

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

28 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • JANUARY 26, 2024

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DEDICATION IS WHO WE ARE

Miyazaki caps career with masterful ‘Boy and the Heron’ A treatise on the need for harmony between man and nature

By JOHN PAUL KING

Infused with the filmmaker’s signature recurring themes – the need for harmony between If anyone can be said to rival the impact of Walt Disney on the field of animated films, it’s man and nature, the paradoxical absurdities of technology, the value of traditional lifestyles Hayao Miyazaki. Co-founder of Studio Ghibli, his work in Japan’s anime genre is legendary, and the importance of craft and artistry, the conflict between pacifist ideals and violence that with films like “My Neighbor Totoro,” “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” “Howl’s Moving Castle,” and the dominates human affairs – and weaving a mythic tale that postulates a deeper reality where Oscar-winning “Spirited Away” – which held the record as the highest-grossing film in Japalife and death are forever intertwined in a realm of impermanent permanence, “Heron” feels nese history for 19 years – expanding his popularity and helping to build a global entertainas much like a statement of belief as it does a fantasy. One might even sense that there’s an ment empire that, like Disney’s, includes merchandise, licensing, and even a theme park. insistence that it can be both, and that life itself is a sort of fantasy, capable of being shaped by Millions of fans worldwide – many of them queer – have grown up loving his movies not things that exist only within our imaginations, and that, of course, is the source of its power. just for their unique blend of the fanciful, the poignant, and the profound but for the sublime Such cosmic speculations aside, however, Miyazaki’s movie hooks us not with its esoteric visual artistry and masterful storytelling with which they are rendered. metaphysics, but with its meditations Now 83, the revered animator anon loss, grief, and the challenge of nounced his retirement from making finding peace in a world that often feature films in 2013 - only to start seems dominated by chaos and inwork, three years later, on another discriminate destruction. Artfully one. Seven years afterward, that projframed to suggest that the “fantasy” ect reached fruition with “The Boy elements of its plot either might or and the Heron,” released in its native might not exist only within its youthJapan last summer. And if any proof is ful protagonist’s delirious, wounded needed to stand as testament to Mimind, it touches us to the heart with yazaki’s popularity, it can be found in the harsh realities of Mahito’s young the fact that, in spite of a deliberately life; the opening sequence, depicting minimal promotion strategy (the film the fire that kills his mother, is horrifwas released with no teasers, trailic, leaving its shadow on the rest of ers, or fanfare besides a single postthe film even as it does on Mahito’s er image), it had the biggest opening soul, and his grief, compounded and weekend of any Studio Ghibli film to left unreconciled by his loving-butdate, going on to become the first ham-handed father’s seeming refusoriginal anime film (and the first film al to address or even acknowledge it,

by Miyazaki) to achieve number one resonates on a universal wavelength status at the box office in both Canasimply because it is so fundamentally da and the U.S. human. It’s in grappling with these elInitially released in the latter counements of life - the “slings and arrows try on Dec. 8, and still in theaters in of outrageous fortune,” to which the wake of its Golden Globe win as ‘The Boy and the Heron.’

Shakespeare refers in “Hamlet,” a Best Animated Film of 2023, “Heron” play which is, perhaps not coincidentally, echoed in an inverted form within the structure written and directed by Miyazaki and inspired by (though otherwise unrelated to) Genzaburō of Miyazaki’s narrative - that the movie brings a sense of truth to the magical realism it emYoshino’s 1937 novel “How Do You Live?” - is an autobiographically leaning story centered on braces. The comforts it offers do not feel like hollow platitudes; rather, they point us toward young Mahito (Soma Santoki / Luca Padovan in the English dubbed version), a boy growing wisdom, much in the way of a riddle told by a Zen Master, and a way of looking at the world up in Tokyo during World War II. Following the death of his mother in a hospital fire, his inthat is comfort enough in itself. dustrialist father (Takuya Kimura / Christian Bale) soon remarries, with his late wife’s younger Yet “The Boy and the Heron” is not made of the kind of late-career introspection that robs sister (Yoshino Kimura / Gemma Chan) as his new bride, and Mahito finds himself living at her it of its sense of fun. Full of adventure, action, and the blend of gorgeously animated realism family’s estate in the rural countryside. There, a mysterious – and persistent – heron (Masaki with adorable absurdity inspired by Kawaii (Japanese “cute culture”), it offers as much spirited Suda / Robert Pattinson) seems to take interest in him, and he begins to feel taunted by its adventure and comedic flair as expected from a Miyazaki film – and populated with just as attentions - but when his new stepmother disappears into the surrounding forest, the bird many whimsically grotesque creatures and characters, to boot. leads him into an overgrown tower, where a seemingly all-powerful lord (Shōhei Hino / Mark Needless to say, perhaps, it’s also a film that is stunning to behold, evoking a classic JapaHamill) rules over a hidden underworld, and he embarks on an epic quest through its mystical nese woodcut brought to life and infused with a powerful spirit of its own; though enhanced landscape to rescue her, helped along the way by a swashbuckling fisherwoman (Ko Shibaand aided by modern technology, the animation – as with all of Miyazaki’s work – is handsaki / Florence Pugh) and a guardian fire spirit (Aimyon / Karen Fukuhara) – discovering the drawn, making its visual perfection even more breathtaking. Add to all this the beautiful score secrets of a magical family history stretching back across generations as he goes. by longtime friend and collaborator Joe Hisaishi, and the result is irresistible.

Considering its unmistakable parallels to Miyazaki’s real-life childhood (his father, like MahiGiven that “The Boy in the Heron” is likely a top contender for nomination at this year’s to’s, was an industrialist working for a company that manufactured war planes, allowing him Oscars, it’s likely to be accessible on the big screen - in some markets, at least - for a while an affluent and somewhat sheltered upbringing in a devastated Japan), it’s impossible not to before it becomes available for streaming. Whether or not you can see it now, keep it on your see his latest movie as a “swan song.” Indeed, it was widely branded as such by journalists radar - we don’t use the word “masterpiece” lightly, but we suggest this one might qualify, and ahead of its release, and the director himself declared it his “last,” though that has since been you owe it to yourself to watch it so that you can decide for yourself. recanted by Studio Ghibli with the announcement that he is working on another. Still, while it We’re pretty sure you’ll agree. may not be his final manifesto, it would certainly be a worthy one.

32 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • JANUARY 26, 2024

MUSIC & CONCERTS

Raw & resolute, Damez brings the intersectional image we need ATLANTA, Ga. - In ancient times, to refine gold, a craftsman would sit next to a hot fire with molten gold in a crucible, and he would skim out the dross that rose to the top of the molten metal. Like that fine, purified precious substance, hip hop star Damez is ready for the trial by fire to end, and the golden life to begin.

He says as much in his new album Hell Now, Heaven Later.

Over the course of the 17 tracks, in a cavalcade of street poetry, Damez empties his closet of tragedy, racism, homophobia and struggles he has experienced in his young life.

“I am intentional on everything I do,” he tells me on the podcast Rated LGBT Radio. “Life was putting me through things I couldn’t ignore, I needed the record to serve … I needed to address the issues, the pain the trauma head on.”

At times raw, at times resolute, at times angry, the album stuns in its honesty. It is a testament to both being defeated, and also resolving to moving ahead with hope. Thus, the name Hell now, Heaven later.

His family moved to Atlanta when he was 6, born in Mississippi. Life was great, and his childhood was perfect. He was the kid with a thousand questions and wanted to know everything.

He already adored Destiny’s Child even at that age– “I was a music kid,” he says.

His parents were divorced when he was in high school, but as difficult as that was, it was nothing compared to the horror coming. When Damez was a senior in high school, his brother, Ryan, close to him in age, and his best friend, was murdered.

“They were back-to-back traumatic experiences that did a lot of damage to my soul, my happiness and my confidence.”

He describes his brother to me. “He was just the coolest, most down to earth, precious soul. He made you feel like you belonged, he had your back. It is a void I have been trying to fill for 12 years. No one knows you like your big brother does. No one has your back. That kind of loss changes the chemistry in your brain.”

His greatest champion was gone, but music was still there for him, however, as it always had been. He came out sexually to his family, which was not met at first with great acceptance.

Depressed, lonely and defeated, he pulled through by creating songs. He loaded his closet, now that he was out of it, with studio equipment, and the rest, as he says, “was history.”

He is now a rapper, singer, dancer, songwriter, editor, creative director, and a rising star in music. With a focus on rap and R&B, he showcases his talents and versatility through an eclectic catalog of self-penned songs and choreography-heavy visuals and performances.

His world has been exploding with possibilities ever since.

He was named the “New Face of Atlanta’s Music Scene” by Out Magazine’s Pride edition in 2020, as well as Atlanta Magazine.

Out Magazine, in fact, put him on their cover.

In 2022, MTV News said Damez was ready to take the throne. He was featured on Billboard.com twice, as part of

(Courtesy of Damez)

their ‘Billboard Pride’ playlist for his 2019 singles “Pull Up” and “Big Mood.” He’s performed for Atlanta’s Black Pride Festival in 2019, 2021, & 2022, as well as other notable performances such as 2021’s MOBI Fest, Human Rights Campaign’s HBCU Summit in 2019, and opening for original Dreamgirl Jennifer Holliday during NAESM’s 2020 Leadership Conference.

An advocate for equal rights and healthcare, he has participated in numerous campaigns for The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Gilead’s Truvada for PrEP Medication, among others.

More recently, he was featured in a 2022 campaign alongside Tina Knowes-Lawson and others for British multinational pharmaceutical ViiV Healthcare’s HIV campaign, ‘Me in You, You in Me’ to end HIV stigma and raise awareness on preventive medication.

His earliest work, that gained great popularity and play time in clubs, was full of tough talk, attitude and made him untouchable. It was, he now says, an armor that he has become willing to drop. “Today, that is not who I am and what I want my music to reflect.”

The album also does not hide his queerness, he is autobiographically vivid in who he is. “I had to analyze and accept that I was very different from my brothers at a young age. I could not go through life being someone I am not, but I did know it would not be easy.” He depicts the evolvement of his family accepting him from within an African American community that often did not.

He met with a lot of pushback in the Hip Hop world by being open about who he was. “I was told ‘no’, and certain artists would not work with me. Performance opportunities were being withheld even though I had better numbers than those on the bill. It was not something new. I had met these challenges before—in school and dealing with my family, so I knew I would be told ‘no’ a lot. Then there was the flip side. People are writing from all over the world. Kids are being inspired. Kids from different countries in Africa.”

34 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • JANUARY 26, 2024

“In the LGBTQ space, I am bringing Hip Hop—which is a widely multi-dimensional genre, and a lot of people don’t look at it that way, and don’t know it to be that.”

When Out Magazine put him on its cover, he was both thrilled, and scared being so revealed. “It came at an important moment for me, “ he says now. “I was struggling mentally at the time, and that cover was encouraging and gave me drive. My work was not in vain. It was a sign to not give up. I got right back in the studio, and my next EP was called COVER BOY. I suddenly realized that I had more influence than I thought I had. It all became bigger than me.”

“In the LGBTQ space, I am bringing Hip Hop—which is a widely multi-dimensional genre, and a lot of people don’t look at it that way, and don’t know it to be that. They have not heard enough Hip Hop in their lives to know how expansive it can really be. So that is another aspect I wanted to bring, the music I grew up with, introducing , exposing and showcasing the nuanced many different kinds of Hip Hop, the kinds that are embedded in my soul. There are so many different facets.”

As he brings Hip Hop to an audience that may feel the industry behind that genre doesn’t even like them, he is also introducing his R&B talents to the world. One cut, Stay Afloat, on the Hell Now album is Damez delivering sweet soulful melody.

It provides the silver lining to the fights depicted throughout the rest of the album. It is a song of vulnerability, and hope.

There is a point in the purification process where the fire has done its job. The imperfections are removed and the gold stand pure, shiny, glorious and ready to crown a regal head.

With all the power and good will Damez is generating, the bridges he is building, and all the new projects that are coming (“Things I can’t even talk about,” he tells me.), we can only hope that the hell he has experienced is slipping away and over.

Heaven does not have to wait, and if the inspiration from the album is an indication, it is not later.

It has arrived.

ROB WATSON

BOOKS

‘Seek’ shows how one tiny action can open big doors New book could ‘transform your life and change the world’

By TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER Curiosity killed the cat.

That’s what Grandma said when you were a nosy little kid but hey, you needed to learn about your world. Asking questions, that’s what kids do – and so do savvy grown-ups.

Curiosity may have plagued Grandma’s cat but as you’ll see in “Seek” by Scott Shigeoka, a lack of it could do you harm.

His friends worried about him.

When Scott Shigeoka quit his job to travel around America for a year, they figured he’d be the target of all kinds of bad things. As a queer Asian-American man, Shigeoka wasn’t searching for himself, and he surely wasn’t looking for trouble. No, he was looking for strangers, to see what we have in common with one another.

“I wanted to feel less scared and angry all the time,” he says.

Shigeoka’s interpretation of studies is that our general lack of curiosity about one another “is literally killing us.” With that in mind, he left his home and his job and headed out to small towns in the South, a reservation in Minnesota, a Trump ‘Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform rally, and a retreat center with nuns Your Life and Change the World’ and millennials. He squashed his inBy Scott Shigeoka ner negativity, bravely swallowed his c.2023, Balance | $30 | 243 pages reluctance, approached people, and cultivated his curiosity by speaking with religious leaders, zealots, and everyday folks. In doing so, he learned to D.I.V.E. into his outward curiosity.

Detach, he says, and let go of “the ABCs”: assumptions, biases, and certainty. Even if you think you’re against racism, homophobia, or any other intolerance, you “still have unconscious biases that need to be... interrupted and challenged.” Learn to act with Intent.

Know what questions to ask so that you can best learn about others and their thoughts.

Show someone their Value by remembering that their political leaning, for instance, “is only one piece of a person’s life and personality.” And finally, learn to Embrace what’s in front of you. This will “open the doors” to “more fulfillment and happiness to your life.”

Does it sometimes seem as though today’s world is filled with awkward moments? Like you want to communicate with people you meet, but the rules have changed? Or maybe you have and if that’s the case, then author Scott Shigeoka has a fix. In “Seek,” he shows how one tiny action can open great big doors.

It seems kind of fun, actually: you meet someone new, show a gentle bit of interest and pay attention, ask a few open-ended questions, and voila! New friend or client. New, healthy lines of communication. New or enhanced working relationship. Big yay.

And yet – while this book is very useful, easy to grasp, and enthusiastic, Shigeoka has very few cautionary words to offer readers who may be too eager. Some of the ideas here, in the wrong hands, may be perceived as obnoxious or threatening. Understanding when to back off might have been good advice here, too.

Keep that in mind, know your target, open your heart, and have fun. If your curiosity needs fluffing up, “Seek” may be the purrfect book for you.

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