Mark Gonzalez triumphs: A new era begins for Assembly District 54
Gonzalez will now represent neighborhoods in Montebello, Commerce, East L.A., Boyle Heights, Chinatown and Koreatown
By GISSELLE PALOMERA
LGBTQ+ Democratic candidate Mark Gonzalez wins Assembly District 54 seat against John Yi and succeeding Assemblymember Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles), who did not seek reelection for the position.
Both first-time candidates ran to represent one of the poorest districts in the state, with Gonzalez securing over 12,000 votes over Democrat John Yi, who ran against Gonzalez.
“Running to represent AD54 and earning the votes of those in our community, has been the honor of a lifetime,” said Gonzalez in an X post following the announcement of his win. “I remain committed to serving its people and our state as its next Assemblymember.
His opponent Yi, is the Executive Director of Los Angeles Walks, a pedestrian advocacy group and self-titled Local Nonprofit Leader. Yi is also a Democrat who championed a single-payer healthcare system that would insure all residents of California and previously advocated for the expansion of Medi-Cal benefits for all Californians, regardless of immigration status.
Gonzalez raised nearly ten times more than his opponent,
who has had a history in nonprofit leadership and multiracial coalitions to promote health and justice-centered policies.
While running for Assembly, Gonzalez championed raising wages for working families, tackling LA’s homelessness and affordability crisis, and a guarantee for healthcare to all.
Gonzalez is an Assembly staffer who has served the area for over a decade, former Chair of the Los Angeles Democratic Party and Equality California Institute Board member. He worked for former Assembly Speaker John Pérez and served most recently as District Director for the current Assembly member, Miguel Santiago.
“This win is a testament to his dedication to the community and his vision for a more inclusive and equitable Los Angeles,” said Equality California’s executive director, Tony Houang. “We look forward to seeing the positive change he will bring to the Assembly and our state. On behalf of Equality California, we are excited to partner with him to continue the fight for equality and justice for all.”
As a former Chair of the L.A. County Democratic Party, Gonzalez championed change to make community college free, protect air and water quality, make housing affordable
and safeguard abortion rights.
He grew up as the son of a single mother who relied on Section 8 to provide housing for them. He is a renter, organizer and activist who knows that the system as it is now, is not working towards the progress, safety or well-being of the marginalized and low-income communities of this district. “I look forward to working with my colleagues in Sacramento to advance bold, common-sense policies that will make a meaningful impact on individuals and families across the state.”
Gonzalez will now represent District 54, will be responsible for neighborhoods in Montebello, Commerce, East L.A., Boyle Heights, Chinatown and Koreatown.
Ysabel Jurado claims victory: A new era for Los Angeles City Council District 14
The LGBTQ+ candidate maintained steady lead over incumbent Kevin De León, eventually declaring victory
By GISSELLE PALOMERA
Ysabel Jurado, the Highland Park resident and tenants rights’ attorney, is now Councilmember of Council District 14 after a battle for the hot seat against incumbent Kevin De León.
“Today, I am humbled to officially declare victory in the race for Los Angeles City Council District 14. This win is not mine—it belongs to our community,” said Jurado shortly after the win was announced.
Jurado makes history as the first Filipino American to serve on the Council and has expanded LGBTQ+ and women’s representation too.
In her celebratory statement after Thursday’s win, she stated that De León used Trump-like tactics and she is glad the city did not play into it.
“Trumpism has no place in CD-14– and we proved that by
resoundingly rejecting the divisive tactics deployed by our opponent–tactics adopted directly from the Trump playbook,” said Jurado. “Like Trump, our opponent thumbed his nose at the law—from his racist gerrymandering scandal that likely violated the Voting Rights Act– to the current open investigation into his campaign for money laundering.”
Jurado is the new hope for a city that has been marred by racial and phobic remarks by those previously and still in positions of power.
Other news outlets are reporting that this marks another fallen Latino leader after the leaked L.A. City Council audio recording went viral in 2021 and led to the resignation of Los Angeles City Council president Nury Martínez.
De León’s goal during his term was to retain and expand Latin American political power.
With De León out, that leaves Latin Americans taking up only four out of the Council’s 15 seats, in a city that has a majority Latin American population. The city’s biggest Mexican American communities like Boyle Heights and El Sereno will not have a Latin American leader for the first time in nearly 40 years.
During De León’s campaign, he urged voters that if Jurado were to be elected, it would come at the expense of Latin
American voices.
Last month, Eastside voters received a text message from De León’s campaign saying: ‘Forty years of Latino political power is under threat.’
Jurado secured her victory after placing first in the March primary, with support from Latin American politicians like Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, L.A. Unified School District trustee Rocio Rivas, L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis and Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who replaced incumbent Gil Cedillo after he was also caught on audio making racist and defamatory remarks.
“These are heavy times, but Ysabel Jurado’s win is an incredible cause for hope,” said Hernandez in a congratulatory post on Instagram. “She has proven again and again that our city has not just the capacity to dream of a better future for ourselves, but that we demand it.”
De León tapped into the pathos of Eastside residents during his campaign, resorting to political tactics that attacked Jurado directly, rather than tackling the key issues at hand.
“Like Trump, he relied upon fear mongering, red-baiting, misogyny, and racial dog-whistling in an effort to divide us. But unlike Trump, his tactics failed.”
(Photo Courtesy of Courtney Lindberg for Mark Gonzalez’s campaign)
LGBTQ+ political maverick, YSABEL JURADO is L.A. City Council’s newest Councilmember to represent CD-14. (Photo Credit Ysabel Jurado)
Over 35 trans, genderqueer politicians running for seats across U.S.
‘I’ve always said that trans people make the best natural politicians’
By HENRY CARNELL
When Jennifer Williams was collecting signatures for her first political campaign in 2022, people told her, a transgender woman, “I think you would do an awesome job, but you got no chance to win.”
Their hesitancy was not unfounded. Williams won her seat on Trenton, N.J.’s City Council by a single vote.
This round she is running unopposed with broad community support. She attributes this to the fact that she got her job done. “Things have gone so well,” she says, “I think I delivered on everything I wanted to do.”
Williams is not the only trans candidate who has already secured a place in political office for the upcoming cycle. Kim Coco Iwamoto made history in Hawaii as the first person in U.S. history to defeat an incumbent House speaker in a Democratic primary—in addition to being the first out transgender elected official in Hawaii’s history. (Since there is no other challenger, Iwamoto is the representative-elect).
Vered Meltzer, the first openly transgender individual to hold elected office in Wisconsin, elected originally in 2014, continues his tenure as a City Council Member in the City of Appleton, after winning in April. Helen Grant, a genderqueer/non-binary candidate in Oklahoma, won their race for Norman City Council in February.
Sarah McBride won Delaware’s at-large congressional district,
THE CANDIDATES
Abigail Salisbury, non-binary/Genderqueer candidate running for Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Race Status: Won (Uncontested)
Aime Wichtendahl, trans woman running for Iowa House of Representatives Race Status: Won
Alfred Twu, genderqueer/non-binary candidate running for Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board in California Race Status: Unknown
Alicia “Liish” Kozlowski, non-binary candidate running for Minnesota House of Representatives
Race Status: Won
Amber Fellows, genderqueer/non-binary candidate running for Ypsilanti City Council in Michigan
Race Status: Won
Ambureen Rana, genderqueer/non-binary candidate running for Maine House of Representatives
Race Status: Unknown
Ashley Brundage, trans woman running for Florida House of Representatives
Race Status: Lost to incumbent Karen Gonzalez Pittman (R). In a social media post following the results, Brundage wrote “Together, we’ve laid a
becoming the nation’s first out trans congressional lawmaker. Across the nation, 35 other transgender, non-binary, and genderqueer candidates are running for office in their local communities. The Blade will be tracking all races as results come in, in addition to providing insight from interviews conducted with many of the candidates in the weeks leading up to Election Day.
Identity information—transgender man, transgender woman, non-binary, and genderqueer—comes from the LGBTQ Victory Fund and FUTR (Families United for Trans Rights).
Candidates emphasize that their identities do not always fit within simple labels. Minita Sanghvi, a candidate for the New York Senate, says, “I present as a butch lesbian and I often don’t feel like I am cisgender.” She explains that she sees gender as a continuum. “I see myself as gender diverse or genderqueer because I am not transgender either.”
When asked about top issues, the candidates repeatedly cited topics other than anti-LGBTQ bills. The focus of the campaigns varies race to race depending on local needs, such as poverty alleviation, improving emergency services, reproductive freedom, gun safety, and infrastructure.
Many did cite their unique perspective as a trans person making them a better politician. It is not simply about the importance of having diverse voices in the legislature; rather it is
foundation, and I look forward to seeing it grow.”
Brian Cina, non-binary/genderqueer candidate running for Vermont House of Representatives
Race Status: Won (Uncontested)
Brianna Titone, trans woman running for Colorado House of Representatives
Race Status: Won (Incumbent)
Brion Curran, genderqueer/non-binary candidate running for Minnesota House of Representatives
Race Status: Won
DeShanna Neal, genderqueer/Non-Binary candidate running for Delaware House of Representatives
Race Status: Won (Incumbent)
Eleanor Moreno, genderqueer/non-binary candidate running for Grand Rapids School Board in Michigan
Race Status: Won
Emma Curtis, trans woman running for Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council in Kentucky
Race Status: Won
Evelyn Rios Stafford, trans woman running for Washington County Justice of the Peace in Arkansas
Race Status: Won
Jo Miller, transgender non-binary candidate run-
ning for Woodbury City Council New Jersey
Race Status: Won (Incumbent)
Joshua Query, genderqueer/non-binary candidate running for New Hampshire House of Representatives
Race Status: Lost
Leigh Finke, trans woman running for Minnesota House of Representatives
Race Status: Unknown
Leslie Blackburn, genderqueer candidate running for Lodi Township Trustee in Michigan
Race Status: Won
Lisa Middleton, trans woman running for California State Senate
Race Status: Too close to call at Blade press time with Middleton leading 50.1-49.9
Lorena Austin, genderqueer/non-binary candidate running for Arizona House of Representatives
Race Status: Leading at Blade press time
Mari Cordes, genderqueer candidate running for Vermont House of Representatives
Race Status: Won (Incumbent)
Marielle De Leon, trans woman running for San Juan Municipal Legislature in Puerto Rico
Race Status: Unknown
Mel Manuel, transgender non-binary candidate
about resiliency and creativity.
“I’ve always said that trans people make the best natural politicians,” says Alfred Twu, a candidate running for the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board. “We’re already used to getting personal attacks, nothing really phases us, and we’re even used to explaining our life story to random people.”
“We have a lot to contribute because we have to follow a journey of self-discovery,” says Williams. “Along the way, we really look at how people are affected by the government, negatively and positively, what the role of government should be, and how precious our liberties and freedoms are.”
It doesn’t hurt that being an openly trans public servant leads to greater acceptance and understanding of the LGBTQ community.
“I am very proud to have the opportunity to give people a visual example as to what a transgender person actually looks like, and what we do day in and day out when we have responsibility serving the people that elected us,” says Lisa Middleton, a trans woman running a competitive race for the California State Senate in a slightly red-leaning district.
“The more that we show that we can lead and we can deliver as representatives of our fellow citizens, I think that’s going to change hearts and minds faster than anything else,” says Williams.
running for US House of Representatives in Louisiana
Race Status: Lost to incumbent Steve Scalise (R). In response, Manuel told the Blade “We’re going to unseat Jeff Landry in 2027 but we need to start working now. Remember, Louisiana is not a red state. We have more registered Democrats than Republicans. So don’t give up hope. If we work together we can absolutely take our state back. We’re not going back, Louisiana. Not now. Not ever.”
Minita Sanghvi, genderqueer/non-binary candidate running for New York State Senate
Race Status: Lost
Nathan Bruemmer, trans man running for Florida House of Representatives
Race Status: Lost to incumbent Linda Chaney (R).
Paul Bixler, trans woman running for Liberty Elementary School District #25, Governing Board in Arizona
Race Status: Unknown
Precious Brady-Davis, trans woman running for Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board of Commissioners
Race Status: Won
Remy Drabkin, genderqueer/non-binary candidate running for Mayor of McMinnville, Oregon
Race Status: Unknown
Serenity Johnson, trans woman running for
Radcliff City Council in Kentucky Race Status: Lost
Terra Lawson-Remer, genderqueer/non-binary candidate running for San Diego County Board of Supervisors in California
Race Status: Leading at Blade press time but too close to call as of Wednesday morning
Veronica Pejril, trans woman running for Indiana State Senate Race Status: Unknown
Vivian Smotherman, trans woman running for Colorado State Senate
Race Status: Lost to incumbent Cleave Simpson (R), who Smotherman thanked for “keeping this campaign focused on the people and issues rather than hate and fear.” In a statement Smotherman also noted: “America was built on hard work, and I’m confident we did everything we could, with the resources we had, to win this race. Even though we have come up short, I’m proud of what we have achieved.”
Xavier Johnson, genderqueer/non-binary candidate running for Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Commission in California
Race Status: Leading at Blade press time but too close to call as of Wednesday morning
Zooey Zephyr, trans woman running for Montana House of Representatives Race Status: Won
Kamala Harris addresses country after Trump victory
Vice President Kamala Harris addressed a large crowd of supporters Wednesday afternoon, following her loss to former President Donald Trump.
She began her remarks by reaffirming her commitment to honoring the outcome of the election and the peaceful transfer of power.
“I do not concede the fight that fuels this campaign,” she said. “The fight for freedom, for opportunity, for fairness and the dignity of all people, a fight for the ideals at the heart of our nation, the ideals that reflect America at all best.”
Harris urged her supporters, many of them emotional, not to despair — echoing remarks she has made in the past about
the need to keep up the fight for justice.
“Sometimes the fight takes a while. That doesn’t mean we won’t win. That doesn’t mean we won’t win. The important thing is, don’t ever give up. Don’t ever give up. Don’t ever stop trying to make the world a better place.”
More specifically, she said, “This is a time to roll up our sleeves. This is a time to organize, to mobilize and stay engaged for the sake of freedom.”
“I know many people feel like we are
entering a dark time,” Harris said, “but for the benefit of us all, I hope that is not the case.”
“But here’s the thing, America, if it is, let us fill the sky with the light of a brilliant, brilliant billion of stars. The light, the light of optimism, of faith, of truth and service. And may that work guide us, even in the face of setbacks, toward the extraordinary promise of the United States of America.”
CHRISTOPHER
KANE
House races could decide Dept. of Education’s future
The Associated Press reports that more than a dozen races for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, including 10 for congressional districts in California, remain too close to call as of Tuesday — a full week after voters cast their ballots on Nov. 5.
Democrats hope that if they can flip the lower chamber, which is now governed by a narrow Republican majority, it might function as a bulwark against President-elect Donald Trump, his incoming administration, and the 53-47 majority in the U.S. Senate that his party secured last week.
If, on the other hand, the GOP retains control of the House, the Republican victory would clear a major roadblock that could otherwise have stymied a major plank of Trump’s education agenda: Plans to permanently shutter the U.S. Department of Education.
Congress ultimately scuttled the former president’s effort to do so during his first administration — though, technically, the proposal then was to merge the agency with the U.S. Department of Labor.
The Wall Street Journal notes that some Republicans, at the time and in the years since, have come out against plans to abolish the 44-year-old agency, in some cases even objecting to major funding cuts proposed by Trump that they understood were likely be unpopular.
However, if the second term plans for DOE as delineated in the Trump campaign’s Agenda47 and the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 governing blueprint become a major policy priority once the incoming administration takes over in January, reluctant Republican lawmakers will face tremendous pressure to get out of Trump’s way.
Among other responsibilities, DOE disburses and manages student loans, enforces the civil rights laws in public schools, and provides funding for students with disabilities. The agency’s programs, such as Title I, offer assistance for low-achieving or high-poverty K-12 schools, while Pell Grants help undergraduates who otherwise would not be able to pay for college. It is unclear whether or how those functions will continue if the DOE is disbanded.
Trump’s aim, at least in large part, is to give states — rather than the federal government — the ultimate say over how their schools are run. At the same time, perhaps paradoxically, the other cornerstone of his education policy agenda is to issue proscriptive rules governing the content, curricula, and classroom discussion that will be permitted in the country’s public schools.
Specifically, this means “critical race theory, gender ideology or other inappropriate racial, sexual or political” topics or materials are forbidden. Reasonable people are likely to disagree about what is and is not “inappropriate,” and they may well have different, even disparate, definitions for terms like “gender ideology.”
When Florida and other states enacted similar anti-LGBTQ content and curricular restrictions in their public schools, critics warned the ambiguous language in the statute and the resulting confusion would lead to censorship, or perhaps self-censorship, especially for students and staff who, by virtue of their skin color or sexual orientation or gender identity, are more likely to be targeted with targeted or overzealous enforcement in the first place.
According to the National Education Association, “federal civil rights laws prohibit school boards and other employers from discriminating against or harassing staff or students based on their sexual orientation or gender identity,” which “means, for example, that a school district may not prohibit only LGBTQ+ educators from answering students’ questions about their families, may not prohibit recognition and discussion in class only of LGBTQ+ families, and may not require that only LGBTQ+ students hide their sexual orientation or gender identity at school.”
However, the NEA warns, “some school districts, administrators, and the Florida Department of Education may nonetheless choose to do so until a court orders otherwise.”
If officials at a public high school allow heterosexual teachers to display family photos in their classrooms but warn the openly gay teacher that he must put his away or be terminated for violating restrictions on in-school discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity, the manner in which the policy was enforced against him would presumably run afoul of the federal civil rights laws, which prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
The teacher could assume the expense of hiring an attorney to pursue legal remedies, shouldering the burden and the risk that litigation that could drag on for months and conclude with a judgment in favor of his employer. Alternatively, until or unless Trump dissolves the agency, he could file a complaint with DOE’s Office of Civil Rights.
Alternatively, until or unless Trump dissolves the agency, the teacher could file a complaint with DOE. The agency’s Office of Civil Rights would evaluate the information he shared to determine whether there were sufficient grounds to open
an investigation and, if so, would deploy “a variety of fact-finding techniques” that can include a review of documentary evidence submitted by both parties, interviews with key witnesses, and site visits.
After the investigation is complete, if a “preponderance of the evidence supports a conclusion that the recipient failed to comply with the law,” OCR will attempt to negotiate a resolution agreement. If the recipient refuses to resolve the matter in this manner, OCR can “suspend, terminate, or refuse to grant or continue federal financial assistance to the recipient, or may refer the case to the Department of Justice.”
According to the DOE’s website, the agency has 11,782 investigations that were open as of Tuesday, with complaints against institutions of all kinds operating in all 50 states, from rural elementary schools in the Deep South to prestigious medical schools, community colleges, and charter schools for students with developmental disabilities. Likewise, the six civil rights laws over which OCR has jurisdiction cover a wide range of conduct, from sexual harassment to discrimination, retaliation, and single-sex athletics scholarships.
Should Trump succeed in abolishing the department, it is not yet clear how those active investigations would be handled, nor how complaints about violations of civil rights law by educational institutions would be reported and investigated moving forward in the agency’s absence.
During his first administration, Trump passed proposed changes to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which retooled the process for reporting sexual assault on college campuses in ways that were widely seen as imbalanced in favor of the accused.
President Joe Biden in April issued new guidelines that featured “significant shifts in how institutions address sexual harassment, and assault allegations while expanding protections for LGBTQ+ and pregnant students,” the American Council on Education wrote. Specifically, the administration provided a “new definition of sexual harassment, extending jurisdiction to off-campus, and international incidents,” while “clarifying protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, and parenting status.”
The regulations sidestepped thornier questions, however, about how schools should approach issues at the intersection of gender identity and competitive sports, specifying only that they should avoid bans that would categorically prohibit transgender athletes from participating.
CHRISTOPHER KANE
Vice President KAMALA HARRIS speaks at Howard University on Wednesday, Nov. 6. (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Dems must not abandon trans people after Trump’s win: Kierra Johnson
LGBTQ advocates prepared for all outcomes ahead of election
By CHRISTOPHER KANE | ckane@washblade.com
As Democrats look inward following Vice President Kamala Harris’s electoral defeat, the party must not abandon transgender people or cede the fight to expand rights and protections for the community, National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund President Kierra Johnson told the Washington Blade.
President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign, and those run by other Republican candidates, spent tens of millions on anti-trans ads leading up to the election, a messaging strategy that has been credited with energizing the conservative base and ultimately defeating Democrats like U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas), who ran for Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) U.S. Senate seat.
Others doubt whether the issue had much, if any, impact on the elections, especially the presidential race — arguing that the results are better explained by headwinds like the post-pandemic disadvantage faced by incumbent leaders around the world, or by the realignment of the American electorate that decisively sent Trump back to the White House.
When she was at Howard University on Wednesday to watch Harris deliver her concession speech, Johnson said she was asked twice whether “the alignment around trans rights was a part of the problem” or whether Harris was doomed by her campaign’s failure to distance the vice president from President Joe Biden. Her response: “God, no.”
Broadly, she said, “it’s pointless to be in this space of, ‘what could the Harris campaign have done differently’ when we’re operating in this context” where authoritarianism and fascism have taken hold while sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, anti-immigrant bigotry, and other forms of prejudice are now expressed so openly.
Plus, Johnson added, the vice president “had, what, 107 days of a campaign? And she got that close — that’s pretty damn amazing.”
Challenging the theory that the anti-trans advertising was effective, she said, is (1) the success of so many LGBTQ candidates like Delaware State Sen. Sarah McBride, who made history with her election to become the first transgender member of Congress, and (2) the fact that Trump and his allies did not just leverage anti-trans messaging in their campaigns, but also leaned into other forms of bigotry, from fear mongering about immigrant communities to racist attacks focused on Harris’s biracial identity.
NBC News reported on Friday that hundreds of LGBTQ candidates were elected to public office across the U.S., and many races have not yet been called. According to the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, the number of known LGBTQ people who ran this year, 1,017, marks a 1.1 percent increase from 2020, with more non-cisgender candidates running than ever before.
About 80 percent have been successful. Several, like McBride, have made history. For instance, Hawaii, Iowa, and Missouri will welcome the first transgender representatives to their state legislatures, Kim Coco Iwamoto, Aime Wichtendahl, and Wick Thomas.
“When I see this many trans people who were voted by the people into elected office, some who were reelected into office, I’m hard pressed to believe that that was the winning
strategy,” Johnson said, pointing to wins by other trans candidates in Minnesota, Kentucky, New Jersey, and Illinois.
“The Trump campaign had a lot of bigotry, throughout the first campaign, continuing on till now, that was anti-Black, anti-immigrant, anti-woman, anti-queer, anti-trans,” she said, adding, “There’s an appetite for that kind of racist, bigoted way of doing and being. They did a whole lot of that. And, yeah, I think it spoke to a particular part of their base — and I don’t think that that was about us, what we did or didn’t do right.”
“It’s really easy for us to point our fingers at conservatives, right-of-center [folks] or Trumpers or Tea Partiers,” she said. “But it’s harder for us to admit and talk about racism” and other forms of discrimination and prejudice “that is existent and perpetuated in left, leftist parties and left communities and organizations that are doing social justice work.”
“When I hear people who identify as Democrats saying we need to distance ourselves from trans people and perpetuating this notion that that’s why we lost,” Johnson said, “that is transphobia among leftist political people” and evidence of the need to root out and combat it.
“We’ve got to start building our strategies with our whole community intact,” she said. “Not how we’re going to do this without trans people. Not how we’re going to do this without, you know, evangelical Black people. Not how we’re going to do this without people in the Midwest and the Rust Belt or the Bible Belt. Not how we’re going to do this without immigrants.”
Each of those approaches would alienate critical parts of the Democratic base, Johnson said.
Beyond the work of electing pro-equality candidates, she said the movement and the Democratic Party must “affirm the humanity of all of us and build strategies that put the most vulnerable at the center,” which “means we have to question how things have always been done” along with the systems that were not originally designed to accommodate the full diversity of people they serve.
“Part of it is about representation,” Johnson said, “the presence of non-binary, trans, queer people in the work, in ads, in media. But it’s also a power analysis” that involves, or requires, talking “about trans people not as a separate community of people, but part of the different communities we are in.”
For example, trans people are experiencing the struggle for affordable housing as much as anyone else, she said. “Regardless of the work that we’re doing — prison reform, voting rights, housing access — put our people at the center, trans people at the center, as yet another voice that is a part of that whole.”
The success of LGB and queer and trans candidates last week, and the protections for LGBTQ people and women’s reproductive freedoms in ballot measures that passed in states like New York, were important, Johnson said. At the same time, “what I want people to understand,” she said, “is we’ve got to move beyond identity politics and representation and really think about how we are building power. So with these wins, how are we leveraging them for gained power in our communities? We’ve got to be working overtime
to come up with the pathways and strategies to leverage that power toward progress for our whole community.”
When asked to share a message for the LGBTQ community in the wake of the election, Johnson said “we’ve got to create space and time to feel and heal,” but “we also have to find our organizations, our community partners, our friend groups that we can actually dig in with to get the work done.”
“You have every reason to be mad, sad, confused, frustrated,” she said, “but do not be helpless.”
Johnson added, “Our communities have been resilient through decades, centuries. And that perspective is important. While we are in hard times, our ancestors and foreparents created a lot of progress, and now we’re called to do the same. We have a responsibility to do the same.”
“A lot of our peers didn’t make it to be freedom fighters,” she said, but “we have. Let’s step into that power.”
While LGBTQ advocacy groups, including the Task Force, are expected to lose their seats at the table once the TrumpVance administration takes over in January, Johnson told the Blade, “That’s all good, because the power is actually in the people anyway.”
“Access to the White House, influence in the White House, is important,” she said, but “that’s never been the end-all-be-all. We know that power is built from the grassroots up, and so that just gives us more time to organize and strategize with our people on the ground.”
“Bring it,” Johnson added. “We’ve got powerful, powerful voices. Folks who are in Texas and in Michigan and Ohio, that that are ready. They’re ready to dig in, to keep this fight going — and to fight smarter, and in a broader, bigger coalition.”
“While we couldn’t have predicted exactly where we were going to be today, the Task Force and other organizations in the LGBTQ movement have been doing scenario planning for months,” she said, “so we’re not caught with our pants down. We’ve run scenarios, and we are already moving to implement different strategies in the communities that we’re working in.”
Johnson highlighted the Task Force’s flagship “Creating Change” conference in Las Vegas from Jan. 22 to 26, where the organization will be “bringing together legal minds to actually do, basically, office hours on-site,” allowing attendees the opportunity to consult attorneys with questions about their rights and protections under the next administration.
“It’s not about advocacy,” she said. “It’s about taking care of our people. I think you’re going to see more of that — in addition to the policy and advocacy work, more is going to be done to actually hold and support and protect our people.”
National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund President KIERRA JOHNSON speaks at the group’s D.C. Board cocktail reception in September. (Blade photo by Michael Key)
HRC’s Brandon Wolf reflects on Trump’s victory, path ahead
He joined the Blade for a conversation on Rated LGBT Radio FROM STAFF REPORTS
Human Rights Campaign National Press Secretary Brandon Wolf and Washington Blade White House reporter Christopher Kane spoke with Rated LGBT Radio on Thursday, following Donald Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.
They covered subjects ranging from the impact of anti-trans advertising by the former president’s campaign and other Republican candidates in down-ballot races to the future of the Democratic Party and what lies ahead for organizations in the LGBTQ movement.
Prior to joining HRC, Wolf served as press secretary for Equality Florida. A survivor of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, he is recognized for his work in LGBTQ advocacy, public speaking and media appearances, and his critically acclaimed 2023 memoir “A Place for Us.” The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
MODERATOR: What is the mood at HRC and what are leaders and staff saying?
BRANDON WOLF: Like millions of people, the folks at HRC are heartbroken. I know I can speak for myself in saying that I am most heartbroken for those who have had their humanity questioned for years by Donald Trump and the MAGA movement. I’m most heartbroken for those who have been in the crosshairs, who have seen their freedoms and rights stripped away in state after state, in places like Texas and Tennessee and Florida. I’m heartbroken for the families who have been terrorized by their political leaders for years because of the kind of environment that people like Donald Trump have created, and I’m heartbroken for all the people who aren’t sure what happens next, the people who’ve listened to Donald Trump’s words, who’ve seen the ads that he’s run, who’ve read through
Project 2025 and are deeply concerned about what happens next for themselves and their families.
This is a really challenging time, and the obstacles we’re facing are incredibly difficult, but we’ve also been here before as a community. I think about our ancestors a lot. I think about when we were being beaten and brutally assaulted by police officers, we fought back at Stonewall, and birthed a movement when people were dying by the 1,000s of AIDS and leaders refused to acknowledge that pain and suffering. We fought back, we formed Act Up, and we brought ourselves to this moment in time where we have the opportunity to potentially end that epidemic in our lifetime. We have been in incredibly challenging circumstances before, and at every one of those moments, we’ve locked arms with each other. We’ve chosen to get through it together. We dared ourselves to imagine what’s possible when we finally overcome those hurdles, and at every one of those moments, we have been successful. We’ve made progress happen. So, I’m heartbroken by the results of the election, but I’m certainly not feeling broken today.
MODERATOR: What are you hearing from LGBTQ groups you’ve spoken with in terms of their reaction to the election?
CHRISTOPHER KANE: The remarks that we just heard from Brandon actually echo what I heard earlier from Kierra Johnson, who’s the president of the LGBTQ Task Force and Task Force Action Fund. She was saying how we have this rich history as a community of activism, and how brave our forebears have been and how many of our brothers and sisters lost their lives defending our rights.
Something that I think these advocacy groups will be thinking about is what the next administration might cost [them], in terms of their access to levers of power. To what extent is the Trump administration going to work with these groups? And that means kind of a change in strategy, because the focus becomes, you know, political organizing and a lot of the other work that’s so important that these groups are engaged in, right? You know, whether it’s going out into the field and helping people get, in our community, get exactly what they need, Whether it’s providing legal resources for folks, in light of what we’re going to see in terms of regulatory and legal changes over the next administration. So there’s just so much work to be done.
MODERATOR: It seems the Trump campaign sought to divide the community between LGB people on one side and trans and nonbinary communities on the other. VPelect J.D. Vance saying, for example, that the ‘normal gay guy’ vote would break in their favor.
WOLF: First, I’m loath to let J.D. Vance tell anybody what normal is supposed to be. But the truth is, the data
does not bear out that they won any significant part of the LGBTQ+ community. Exit polls show that people in the community backed Harris over Donald Trump by a 70 point margin, 84 to 14. That margin is second only to Black women in support of Vice President Harris. So, the LGBTQ+ community continues to be a very reliable part of the Democratic coalition, and I think that is because of a couple of things: Number one, we understand what’s at stake. We understand what we have to lose in these elections. We understand what we’re up against in Donald Trump. And number two, in Kamala Harris and [her VP pick, Minnesota Gov.] Tim Walz, we had real champions for our community — career-long champions who were doing the work of equality even before that was, maybe, politically advantageous or easy for them to do. It was Kamala Harris who was performing some of the first samesex marriages in California when the country was having a debate over whether or not we should be able to get married at all. It was Tim Walz who, in the late ’90s, as a football coach, was the sponsor of the Gay-Straight Alliance club at his high school.
So, I think you saw that drive turnout in the LGBTQ+ community. That number expands when you get into some of these highly competitive battleground states. In Arizona, equality voters, who are people who prioritize LGBTQ+ equality when deciding who to vote for, equality voters backed Democratic candidates by a 92 to seven margin. So, again, we’re talking about a community that understands what’s at stake, and really showed up in this election cycle.
The other thing I want to address is, you’re talking about the MAGA agenda of driving people apart from each other. This is the old playbook. This is the right-wing playbook that they use every single time. And it’s because the MAGA agenda is not one that is designed to bring people together. MAGA candidates and campaigns don’t have a vision for our country. They don’t fundamentally believe in a multi-racial, multi-generational democracy, and so the only thing they have to offer the American people is division, chaos and hate. They pit neighbors against each other. They turn one community against another. They dare us to build higher walls and taller fences, because so long as we’re fighting with each other, we won’t find the time or the resources to organize against them collectively. And so that is what they have to offer us, this agenda of chaos, division, and hate, and that is what they’ve been trying throughout the election cycle, instead of offering policy proposals to help people address the cost of housing or groceries, instead of offering offering real comprehensive conversations on immigration reform, for instance, they serve up hate and xenophobia and transphobia and general bigotry. So, I think we have to be wary of falling into that same trap.
Continues at washingtonblade.com.
HRC National Press Secretary BRANDON WOLF (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Trans Chicanas and Latinas experience exclusion from umbrella term
It feels like being a guest in your own home
By ATHENA VASQUEZ
The trans umbrella represents inclusivity. But who is actually being accounted for under this term? Nonbinary, gender nonconforming, queer, genderqueer and genderfluid people– everyone but trans Chicanas and Latinas.
In a time where LGBTQ+ lives are constantly being scrutinized and contested, it is crucial to protect trans Chicana and Latina identity, by not using language that diminishes our visibility or erases our existence. There is a need for an intersectional and more inclusive definition of transgender.
Besides, we must ask ourselves: for a movement so keen on diversity, why the need to squeeze an ever-expansive number of gender identities into a singular category?
Trans scholar T. Benjamin Singer warns us of the trouble of the trans umbrella in an article published by Transgender Studies Quarterly at Duke University.
“Umbrellas should arrive with a disclaimer,” Singer cautions. “One size does not fit all.”
And it is true. Boxing me into the trans umbrella eradicates the multifacetedness and complexity of my trans Chicana and Latina identity, which is why I agree with Singer’s one size does not fit all’ argument.
Equally concerned about the trans umbrella argument is Dr. Natalia P. Zhikhareva, a clinical psychologist and trans specialist, who wrote the letter that expressed my readiness for sex reassignment surgery in 2020.
“Transgender is a huge, huge umbrella term right,” said Dr. Zhikhareva in a video posted to her YouTube channel. “And that’s another problem with the language that we have today. We’re using the word trans and transgender … to cluster everybody underneath, and I personally think that’s quite problematic.”
I mean—when has that ever been true?
Trans Chicanas and Latinas do not fit neatly into mainstream definitions of transgender that render trans identity as a limitless umbrella term capable of holding any and all gender identities, mainly because trans Chicanas and Latinas embody a unidirectional gender identity.
To force such a loose definition on trans Chicanas and Latinas, would be to erase the intersectional identity of the brown trans female subject, and therefore, erase trans Chicanas and Latinas altogether.
Singer is one of many voices cautioning against the umbrella metaphor. Trans Chicana and Latina Eden Estrada–famously known as Eden the Doll–touched on the topic of the trans umbrella in an interview with YouTuber Matt Cullen. “There’s also a lot of negative stigma now because of how big the umbrella term is,” Estrada admits.
I have experienced the stigmatization Estrada mentions, which usually manifests itself in being branded as someone who is unstable, perverse, and confused. This form of trans de-legitimacy is doubly harmful to trans Chicanas and Latinas because we contend with racism on top of transphobia.
Many trans Chicanas and Latinas fit into the gender binary system, however, not without posing challenges to cis-heteronormative spaces. Trans Chicanas and Latinas embody a form of transness with a specific landing locale–meaning that for many trans Chicanas and Latinas transition looks like undergoing social and medical transition from male to female, and while there might be stops along the way, the end point is typically womanhood.
A video posted by the Trans Latin@ Coalition website titled “Dying to be a Woman, Morir Por Ser Mujer,” Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, and even the CEO and Founder of Trans Latin@ Coalition, Bamby Salcedo, spoke on the urgency for many trans Latinas to medically transition and embody a form of cis-femininity and womanhood.
The problem with a definition of transgender that deems it an umbrella term is that it lacks nuance. Transgender is a gender category contingent upon time, geography, and racial or ethnic backgrounds.
As a self-identified trans Chicana and Latina, who lived as a hyper-femme, gay man for over five years, I have often felt misplaced when gender variant people, genderfluid, or those who do not subscribe to the gender binary are placed within the transgender category.
It feels like being a guest in your own home.
Make no mistake. This critique of the trans umbrella metaphor is not a call to exclude gender identities that don’t meet a laundry list of requirements to be transgender nor an attempt to start a conversation surrounding the construction of qualifications for being transgender.
My critique simply highlights the fact that a universal definition of transgender that deems it an all-inclusive gender category is not representative of the intersectional identity of trans Chicanas and Latinas, and, in fact, erases Chicana and Latina trans-ness.
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What’s next for the LGBTQ movement?
Trump’s
win requires us to organize, focus on
protecting trans community
These are frightening times for those of us on the target list of Project 2025, the blueprint for Donald Trump’s second term that he secured in landslide fashion on Tuesday.
who who
Many of us are wondering how this could happen again. Kamala Harris is one of the most qualified presidential candidates to run in our lifetime. She ran against a 34-times convicted felon who staged an insurrection against the government and who faces a sentencing hearing in just three weeks for his crimes. A man who was twice impeached, who courts Vladimir Putin’s attention and approval, and who was found liable for sexual assault. Despite that last fact — and Trump’s bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade — 44 percent of women voters supported him, far more than the polls and pundits predicted. Those polls turned out to be pretty accurate and Harris was brought down by lingering concerns over the economy and the toll inflation has taken on lower and middle class Americans. Sure, sexism and racism played a role in this, but too many of us live in a bubble, insulated from the everyday concerns of disaffected blue collar Americans. While many of us crowed about last week’s Wall Street Journal lead story on the booming U.S. economy being the envy of the world, voters in the former “Blue Wall” states were struggling to put food on the table. When you can’t feed your family, you’re not going to vote for the incumbent vice president.
So what’s next?
ble, insulated from the everyday concerns of disaffected the pliant GOP-majority Senate to rubberstamp
We’ve seen this movie before. Trump will appoint a series of sycophants to run the government; he will undermine the federal workforce and try to fire as many longtime civil servants as he can. He will have a compliant GOP-majority Senate to rubberstamp his Cabinet and judicial appointees. He will probably ban transgender service members from the military on day one. The list goes on.
“The next conservative President must make the institutions of American civil society hard targets for woke culture warriors,” Project 2025 begins. “This starts with deleting the terms sexual orientation and gender identity, diversity, equity and inclusion, gender, gender equality, gender awareness, gender-sensitive … out of every federal rule, agency regulation, contracts, grant regulation and piece of legislation that exists.”
Indeed, Project 2025 seeks to send us all back to the closet. But, as Harris rightly in-
toned throughout her short campaign: We are not going back. The good news — and there is some — is that voters for the first time elected two Black women to the U.S. Senate to serve at the same time, Angela Alsobrooks in Maryland and Lisa Blunt Rochester in Delaware. Sarah McBride becomes our nation’s first out transgender member of Congress. She’s a formidable figure and will be an important voice for trans equality in the face of Trump’s inevitable attacks. At this writing, control of the House hasn’t been decided. If the Democrats can manage to flip it, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, a capable strategist, becomes the face of our resistance.
Senate to serve at the same time, Angela AlsoDelaware. Sarah McBride becomes our nation’s She’s a formidable figure and will be an important to flip it, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, a capable strategist, more sources, donate to Lambda Legal and
We need our LGBTQ allies and advocacy groups more than ever. If you have the resources, donate to Lambda Legal and other legal groups gearing up for the many battles ahead, including over marriage equality. (Some more good news on that front, as California voters overwhelmingly approved Prop 3, which will enshrine marriage rights in the constitution of our largest state.) Volunteer your time with your local equality group, especially if you live in a state like Florida with draconian anti-LGBTQ laws on the books.
good news on that front, as Calenshrine marriage rights in ti-LGBTQ laws on the books.
No one said being part of a sojustice
to see the end of the road. Now’s the time to double down on hard work, determination, and compassion, es-
er need to reassure younger voters and activists that their
No one said being part of a social justice movement would be easy. Sometimes pioneers in these fights don’t live to see the end of the road. Now’s the time to double down on hard work, determination, and compassion, especially for the trans community, which sadly will take the brunt of the incoming attacks. Those of us who are a bit older need to reassure younger voters and activists that their efforts this time are not in vain. Harris’s meteoric ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket and the incredible campaign she ran will make it easier for the next woman to run. That final, ultimate glass ceiling will fall in our lifetime.
So for now, take a breath. Hug the dog. Take a walk in the woods, whatever you need to refocus. Four years is a blip and will fly by. The Democratic bench is deep. And the march toward full equality for our community is unstoppable. Setbacks are inevitable but we learned a long time ago that love wins. So fight on.
Page shines in trans family drama ‘Close to You’
Authenticity reinforced by collection of superb performances
By JOHN PAUL KING
As we approach Thanksgiving 2024, it seems safe to say that holiday dinners with the family back home are going to be even more stressful than usual.
Those conversations with cousins and in-laws around the table have always been a minefield to navigate for queer people from traditional families. This year, knowing that the uncle seated across from you voted for somebody who might take away your hard-won rights is sure to make that turkey pretty hard to swallow. With scenarios like that looming large in our minds, there’s a particular twinge of poignance to be felt in watching “Close to You,” a Canadian film from writer/director Dominic Savage in which Elliot Page plays a trans man returning to his small-town family home for his father’s birthday after being away for nearly five years.
Sam (Page) has been living in Toronto, renting a room from a friend-and-surrogate-mother (Sook-Yin Lee) while exploring and adjusting to big-city life as a trans man; now, he’s ready to return home for the holiday, but nervous about the reception he might receive. On the train ride home, he runs into Katherine (Hillary Baack), his “bestie” from school, and the warm – if somewhat awkward – acceptance he feels from her buoys him as he goes on to face his father (Peter Outerbridge), mother (Wendy Crewson), and the siblings and significant others who make up his immediate family circle.
alike, when we return to the scenes of a youth that we longed to escape.
For some viewers, in fact, the film’s constant feeling of low-frequency anxiety will likely be too much. For many, of course, it will hit close to home, and trigger traumatic memories; for those who can’t relate, it may all seem a bit too “doom and gloom,” and others might see its respectful treatment of a trans narrative as being agenda-driven or even dismiss it as “woke” – though truthfully, those who might do that are not likely to be watching it in the first place.
Things go reasonably well, at first, with a warm welcome from Mum, a newfound acceptance from Dad, and a tentative rekindling of connection with his sisters (Janet Porter, Alex Paxton-Beesley), but increasingly aggressive provocations from a transphobic extended family member (David Reale) become difficult to ignore. He finds an escape and some solace with Katherine, who overcomes an initial reticence to reconnect further after their chance reunion reawakens the emotional bond they once shared; but the old feelings and resentments stirred within his family dynamic threaten to derail any chance of true reconciliation at home, reminding him of why he left in the first place.
Moody, raw, and tinged with a melancholy that asserts itself even in its happier moments, Savage’s movie conveys a tone as chilly as the slushy Canadian November of its setting. It takes the audience in close – literally, in the sense that much of it is shot in close-up, tight on its players’ faces as if we were part of the conversation – to provide a tangible feeling of intimacy and connect us to the emotional perspective of everyone involved. Much of it has an improvisatory feel, with dialogue that sometimes feels tentative or choked with uncertainty, yet allows for the eruption of frequent outbursts and the resonance of eloquently expressed thoughts. And its authenticity is reinforced by a collection of superb performances, with Page (who co-authored the film’s story with Savage) giving a deeply felt star turn as Sam and a gifted ensemble of actors in support. All together, it creates an atmosphere that effectively evokes the feelings of helpless vulnerability that are familiar to so many of us, queer or straight
Which is not to say that “Close to You” is a complete downer; there are plenty of uplifting moments, too, when connections shine through and we are reminded that, underneath all the confusion and misunderstandings that have strained Sam’s relations with his family, there is love – even if the characters themselves may not feel it in that moment. Nor does it put all the focus of his emotional wariness on his transness; on the contrary, much of the conflict is focused on feelings of isolation, of being judged for having a different focus to his life than the rest of his very traditional family, and other things which make him “different” that have nothing to do with his gender. It celebrates the value of “found” family in the glimpses it gives us of Sam’s other relationships, and even gives us a spark of unexpected romance. In many ways, it might even be seen as a “feel-good” movie, were it not for the sense of unanswered sadness that underpins it all.
That, perhaps, is what makes it resonate not just as a trans story (though it is certainly first and foremost that) but one about queer experience overall: the knowledge that, no matter what positive changes are made or how fully one embraces one’s truth and identity, there will always be people who will judge you for who you are. The problem isn’t within you – it’s within them, so it’s something you can’t fix, and there’s a sense of powerlessness that comes from that.
In the cultural climate that has been suddenly thrust upon us in America, that’s undoubtedly a realization that has been haunting many of our thoughts about who we can trust in a society that has repeatedly shown its willingness to cast us out. It’s for this reason that “Close to You” carries an additional impact for queer audiences that might have been intended at the time of its making; after all, that uncle across the Thanksgiving table may have treated you perfectly well your whole life, but when you know that his love for you was less than his concern over the price of groceries, it’s hard to trust him again – and we’ve just been given a sobering reminder that there is a chillingly large percentage of our friends and neighbors for whom the same can now be said.
“Close to You” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2023, and was released in Canada and the UK earlier this year, along with limited screenings in the U.S. It’s now available for home viewing via multiple VOD platforms.
ELLIOT PAGE plays a trans man returning to his small-town family home. (Image courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment)
I cheated and my boyfriend won’t forgive me
How do we rebuild trust after an affair?
Dear Michael, I cheated on my boyfriend and I can’t get him to forgive me.
A few months ago I slept with another guy. I can’t really explain why I did it. Sam and I have had an agreement to be monogamous and I believe in monogamy.
Rick, the “other man” and I, have been friends for a long time and it just happened. Rick is very attractive, I think he has a great personality, we were having dinner together and I’d had a bit too much to drink. We started making out and then left together and went to his place.
Unfortunately, a friend of Sam’s saw us kissing at the restaurant and reported me to Sam. He confronted me and I confessed to everything (not just the kissing).
I am very disappointed in myself and I’ve communicated that, over and over, to Sam.
But he continues to be angry with me. Every time I go out, he tells me to “behave.” He told me I can’t see Rick anymore and he has my “find my phone” feature activated so that he can always check my whereabouts. He also has all my passwords and periodically checks everything. It’s like being randomly drug-tested by my boyfriend.
On one hand, I understand. I’ve destroyed his trust in me and I need to rebuild it.
On the other hand, it’s hard to live with his obvious contempt for me and his skepticism when I am trying to live up to a higher standard, going forward.
The truth is, I am starting to resent the constant scrutiny and contempt. I actually told him that and he blew up at me, telling me that I have no right to feel this way after hurting him as I have done.
Is one episode of infidelity really that bad?
According to Sam, yes — because I did it and didn’t tell
By MICHAEL RADKOWSKY
him. He says he never would have known if his friend hadn’t told him about it, and this makes him wonder what else I’ve done, or might do.
All I can say is, I am contrite and told him everything I’d done when all he knew was that I had made out with someone. So I am wanting to be honest.
I don’t know how it’s possible to recover from this.
Michael replies:
You can’t have a loving relationship when one partner is the probation officer and the other partner is on probation. As you are finding, you wind up in a cesspool of resentment and suspicion.
Here’s an alternate approach: First, focus on giving Sam reason to trust you, every hour and every day. This means behaving in a way that is trustworthy.
The big question: What constitutes trustworthy behavior?
Of course, you must consider Sam’s feelings and comfort level in deciding on how you should conduct yourself as his partner. But you can’t base your standard only on what Sam demands; and you can’t do everything he demands.
That’s what you’re doing now, with all the password-checking and location-tracking, and it’s leaving you angry, scared, demeaned, and second-guessing yourself. It’s also unbalancing your relationship, because rather than being two equal partners, one of you is subservient to the other.
One more problem: it’s a fact of life that when people are being watched, they are often tempted to find some way to “cheat.” I’m not saying that Sam’s surveillance should or will drive you to hook up again; but ongoing scrutiny can
certainly lead people to want to hide things. That is not a good dynamic for an intimate relationship.
Here’s an alternate way to rebuild trust: Decide for yourself how you want to behave, what standards and limits have integrity for you (again, taking into great consideration what is important to Sam). Strive to live up to these standards. Continue to follow through, day after day. You will feel proud of yourself and solid in your belief that you are a person who is trustworthy.
This may take some time. I understand well that you broke Sam’s trust, and perhaps his heart. You have to build a track record for him to see that you are holding yourself accountable.
You may be facing a dilemma, as frequently happens in intimate relationships. They have a way of forcing us to make tough choices. If you do what you think is best to be a trustworthy partner, and if some of your choices violate Sam’s demands, Sam may end the relationship. On the other hand, ongoing scrutiny and cross-examination may be intolerable for you in a close relationship.
Explaining to Sam why it is important for you to have a boundary at times, in the interest of strengthening and developing a more loving relationship, may be helpful.
While you, the partner who strayed, wrote this letter, there are important points for Sam (or anyone in his position) to consider in the interest of repairing a relationship following infidelity. I will address these in my next column.
(Michael Radkowsky, Psy.D. is a licensed psychologist who works with couples and individuals in D.C. He can be found online at michaelradkowsky.com. All identifying information has been changed for reasons of confidentiality. Have a question? Send it to michael@michaelradkowsky.com.)
How do you rebuild trust after an affair?
Free Music & Health Community Festival, Celebrating 20 years of The Wall Las Memorias AIDS Monument and Noche de Las Memorias with special guest preformance.
Sunday, December 1st, 2024
2:00PM - 4:30PM - Music & Health Festival 4:30PM - 7:00PM - Noche de Las Memorias
The Wall Las Memorias AIDS Monument Lincoln Park, Los Angeles
RSVP Today: bit.ly/ndlm2024
Special Guest Emcees
Laura Diaz Anabel Muñoz KTTV Fox11 Newcaster ABC7 Assignment Reporter
Fun holiday gifts for car fans
A
trunkful of ideas for the gay gearheads in your life
By JOE PHILLIPS
Dodge Igloo Kool Tunes Cooler
Mixing beats with brews, Dodge offers a combined cooler and boombox ($296), with two built-in speakers, LED status indicator, charging port and Bluetooth pairing. You can rock your tunes for up to 10 hours on a single charge. Capacity: 26 (12-ounce) cans.
Lexus Flask and Tumblers
Add some spirit—or spirits—to the holidays with a Lexus High Camp Parkside Flask ($140). The stainless steel, vacuum-insulated container has a chic cypress-green finish and can hold the temperature of a full bottle of wine for up to 24 hours. Two tasteful tumblers—inspired by classic stemless wine glasses—fit on the top and bottom of the flask.
Ferrari Baby Romper Outfit
Rolls-Royce Cufflinks
Cadillac Crew Socks
How to up your sartorial game even more? Spirit of Ecstasy cufflinks ($900) from RollsRoyce are crafted in 925 sterling silver, with choice of either a rhodium-plated or dark-ruthenium finish. And pricing is a bargain, considering the average MSRP of a brand-new Rolls today is $500,000.
Kia Flashlight and Electric Lighter
socks ($59). Bonus: the classy cardboard
Cadillac also has a pair of sporty, fully knitted black-and-white crew socks ($59). Bonus: the classy cardboard presentation box.
Ford Warriors in Pink Mug
Ford Warriors in Pink Mug
The Warriors in Pink Mug receive purchase price of the mug, as
The Warriors in Pink Mug ($20) from Ford is part of the automaker’s longtime initiative to help fight breast cancer. Both the Susan G. Komen and Pink Fund each receive 5% of the purchase price of the mug, as well as any other Warriors in Pink merchandise.
For swaddling any newborns in the family, there’s a festive Ferrari romper ($150). This outré outfit—made of 100% cotton— has the automaker’s famous Prancing Horse emblem on the front and comes with matching baby bib. Expect plenty of pitstops ahead!
For outdoor adventures, Kia has a waterproof, rechargeable LED flashlight with built-in electric lighter ($38). The compact flashlight is less than four inches long and come in three modes: full power, half power or—for all of us disco queens—pulsing strobe. And the tail of the flashlight opens up into a windproof lighter. Lanyard and micro-USB cord included.
Cadillac Cabana Towel
outfit—made of 100% cotton— automaker’s Prancing Horse emblem on the
Some automakers see everything in black and white — literally. The Cadillac cabana towel ($37), with retro-groovy yarn-dyed stripes, is made of 100% microfiber polyester and measures 60x72 inches.
Maserati Aero Pen
Need some motivation to start writing holiday cards? Maserati has the Pininfarina Aero pen ($140), with a futuristic design that evokes the infinity symbol. Made of aerospace aluminum, this super cool pen comes with an attractive base in unrefined concrete, along with a customized box.
Dodge Dodgeball
Dodge Dodgeball tomaker’s logo emblazoned in
Let off some steam and release your inner Ben Stiller or Vince Vaughn with this aptly named Dodge ball ($17). Made of performance rubber and measuring 8.5-inches wide, this red dodgeball comes with the automaker’s logo emblazoned in white.
Ferrari Plush Pump Shoes
For more prancing, though this time as an adult, Ferrari has a pair of patent-leather pump shoes ($1,291). Available in black, red, or cream, these preening pumps are designed with a square toe, red lining and natty-looking red pull at the heel. Made in Italy, natural-
Bentley Napkin Rings
Ringing in the New Year just got a lot more la-di-da with a pair of Bentley napkin rings ($97). The diamond-shaped knurling pattern echoes the elegant design on the grillwork, console and upholstery of glam Bentleys. The automaker’s emblem is laser-engraved on the underside of the napkin rings.
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Infinity Festival kicks off celebration of creativity, innovation, AI
The founders are a gay couple who met in the tech industry
By GISSELLE PALOMERA
Infinity Festival brings together art, innovative technology and creative thinking, to the intersection of the Hollywood entertainment industry. This year, the event is taking place at The Avalon Hollywood, Nov 6 through Nov 9.
The event founders, Mark Lieber and Adam Newman, created this space to bring together Hollywood ’ s creative visionaries, with Silicon Valley ’ s cutting-edge technology.
Mark and Adam are not only business partners, but life partners too.
“ We met at a party in the Paramount lot and that was 28 years ago,” said Adam. “ We worked separately for many, many years and when our careers started to change a bit, we came together to develop projects in television through a company that we formed.”
The two decided to marry in 2014, soon after it became legal to do so in California after Prop 8 was successfully ruled unconstitutional and same-sex couples were allowed to marry.
ed, Machine Learning, Ethics, Natural Language Processing, Computer Vision (AR, Spatial Computing), Deep Learning and Expert Systems.
Earlier this year, Gov. Newsom singed AB 896, the Generative Artificial Intelligence Accountability Act, into law.
“ We are talking to people who are using it in a way that won t eliminate creative jobs, but maximize efficiency,” said Adam.
There is a lot of fear and anxiety surrounding job loss to AI, but Adam reassures festival attendees that learning about how to work in tandem with AI, will be beneficial to productivity and that this is a good thing for many of these industries and their many job functions.
“ I look forward to seeing everybody, I mean really, it ’ s just a great group of people and bring these two groups of tech and production together,” said Mark.
“ We live together, so work is 24/7 and we often get into situations where I have to ask Mark not to talk about work after one o ’ clock in the morning because I need to go to sleep,” said Adam.
The two set out on a mission to unite their complementary strengths and creative visions, to bring together this innovative festival that spotlights the foremost cutting-edge technologies in the entertainment industry.
This year s festival will feature prominent voices from the technology, gaming and entertainment industries. The festival will also feature Julien s Auction, presenting over 200 collectibles from Star Trek on exhibition throughout the festival and then culminating in a live auction on Saturday at 10AM.
The festival ’ s purpose is to display and discuss the future of technology and its intersection with the gaming and entertainment industries using Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality.
The festival features keynote speeches, collaborative demonstrations with partners like Sony, HP, Verizon and Intel.
The panels will feature discussions on the evolution of animation, cross-media development, virtual effects, gaming production and many other topics.
“ We ’ re not there to talk about how scary AI is, but to talk about how it ’ s going to be a wonderful tool to push the entertainment business into a broader scope of technology,” said Adam in an interview with Los Angeles Blade.
Mark addressed the concerns that many people have regarding AI taking jobs in the entertainment industry, specifically Hollywood.
The major points of discussion and demonstration at Infinity Festival include: Generative AI, Utility AI, Procedural AI, Mini Labs- Scripted & Unscript -
Mark and Adam created the festival in 2018, but they have been married for 10 years. They got married shortly after it became legal in California in 2013. They both came from a background in entertainment, Mark has experience in executive roles and Adam had experience in Hollywood production. They came together, married and in 2017, when both of their careers were taking a different path, they decided to start Infinity Festival.
Since then, they have worked together to bring forth the best and latest technology to their events and bridge the gap between industries that will continue to incorporate AI into their systems.
The Monolith Awards this year will happen on Friday, Nov 8 at 7:30PM at The Aster. There are various categories for the Monolith Awards; Gaming Tech: Audio-Driven Narrative, Excellence in User Experience, Visionary Innovation, Live Engagement, Jurors Choice: New Media Fine Art, Audience Award for Best of Fest Popular Vote, Next Gen: Student + Teacher, and the Nexus Award: Excellence in Applied Technology.
ADAM (L) and MARK (R), have been married for over 10 years and together they dedicate their careers toward making Infinity Festival a success for the entertainment, gaming and tech industries. (Photo Courtesy of Mark and Adam)
Infinity Festival Monolith Awards celebrate cutting edge technology in entertainment
(Photo Courtesy of Mark and Adam)
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