Ex-deputy who beat innocent man heads to court Jan. 17, PAGE 04
Letter from the editor: Embracing change in 2025
It’s critical to support LGBTQ journalism as we face growing attacks
By GISSELLE PALOMERA
Dear Reader,
It should go without saying that 2024 proved to be a challenging year in many ways, but we made it through, so I’m here to congratulate and thank you for sticking by us amid the challenges, tragic passings, and other developments.
On Dec. 11, Troy Masters, a deeply respected, widely known and incredibly accomplished member of the Los Angeles LGBTQ+ community, passed away at age 63. I received the news the following morning and found myself at a complete loss for words. Masters hired me only 3 months prior to that moment, launching my career as an editor in the city and at the forefront of the communities I have existed in all of my life.
Masters was the founding publisher of the Los Angeles Blade, which launched in 2017 as the the sister publication of the Washington Blade, the nation’s oldest LGBTQ newspaper. Masters, as the name suggests, was a master of public service and a champion of LGBTQ+ rights. Throughout his career, he spearheaded many projects that focused on immigration, marriage equality, and other issues important to our community.
Though I only worked with him for a short amount of time, it was exceedingly clear to me from the very beginning that one of his greatest passions was to actively work toward including more voices and perspectives into our coverage. He gave me the freedom to report on issues and write stories that bring BIPOC people and issues to the forefront of my coverage and truly represent the people of the City of Los Angeles, a powerful amalgam of cultures and identities.
In short, not only am I eternally grateful to Masters for giving me the opportunity to spread my wings and become a leader, but I’m also thankful for his humble attitude that respected my perspective as a Latin American, nonbinary, journalist.
Though Masters will be deeply missed in Los Angeles and beyond, we will continue to honor him by keeping his legacy alive and continuing to cover LGBTQ+ issues across all other demographics. The Los Angeles Blade will continue under a new publisher and with my help.
My goal as the Los Angeles Blade Local News Editor, is to continue to give our community a voice by covering issues that affect us, especially considering the record-breaking amount of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation we are facing and for the legislation that is likely sitting on a desk now, waiting to be filed. This year, we will see the beginning of yet another Trump administration, the dawn of many new laws, and a decision in the U.S. v Skrmetti case that will determine not only rights for trans youth, but also set the precedent for future decisions regarding freedoms, rights, and protections for trans adults.
As we step into the next four years, we will continue to experience the onslaught of hateful rhetoric against
LGBTQ+ people and we will continue to be used as pawns in the political chess game that has pushed us into the margins. We will have to double-down on our efforts to not only exist, but to thrive. In that effort, my hope is that we continue to build community and support each other as we navigate this challenging landscape.
Nonprofits, activists, students, professors, political leaders, and community leaders alike, should see this as an opportunity to set a better precedent and fight for our rights, freedoms and protections on a level that we may not have yet seen, experienced, or been a part of yet.
This may seem exhausting, but for some of us, it’s the only way and there will always be more power in numbers.
Though we will face many obstacles along the way, I look forward to this year because I plan to extend our coverage on social media channels with interviews,
videos, and other multimedia content that bring more energy, speed, and personality into our reporting. The Editorial Board is aware of the overly saturated media landscape in which we exist and realize that we need to not only include new voices, but we also need to embrace new mediums for providing information and news to our audiences.
We hope that you stay with us this year as we continue to provide accurate, relevant, impactful, and newsworthy information, while focusing on our LGBTQ+ community.
Support LGBTQ+ journalism in our communities by visiting our website (which has no paywall), signing up for our free newsletter, or by making donations to the Blade Foundation.
Thank you,
Gisselle Palomera (they/them)
Local News Editor, Los Angeles Blade
GISSELLE PALOMERA (left), TROY MASTERS , and his lifelong companion Cody, pose during a Prop 3 Marriage Equality community event on Oct. 28, 2024 at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in WeHo. (Photo by Jannette Flores)
WeHo receives top score in Municipal Equality Index
The City of West Hollywood received the highest score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s 2024 Municipal Equality Index. The MEI is an evaluation by the HRC of over 500 cities across the United States, measuring a city’s laws, policies and available resources for LGBTQ+ people.
This rating is done using a scorecard that factors in non-discrimination laws, employment opportunities and protections, municipal services, law enforcement and leadership on LGBTQ+ equality.
“Even when anti-LGBTQ+ extremists in state capitals are working to undermine their progress, mayors and city council members keep fighting to make sure that LGBTQ+ people in their communities – especially trans people – are supported and lifted up to the fullest extent possible,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the HRC. “This year’s Municipal Equality Index shows the results of their dedication, while acknowledging the increasingly hostile environment in which they must govern.”
In addition to the score of 100, the city received flex score points in recognition of specific services such as those for LGBTQ+ youth, seniors and people lacking basic needs. Available services for people living with HIV/AIDS jumped to 134 cities nationwide, 83 cities for LGBTQ+ people experiencing homelessness, 78 cities with services for LGBTQ+ older adults, 163 cities with services for LGBTQ+ youth and 97 cities with services for transgender and transsexual people.
“This year, a record-breaking 130 cities — over 25 percent of all MEI-rated cities — earned the highest score of 100. What is even more remarkable is that in 20 states across the country, 76 cities earned over 85 points despite hailing from a state without a nondiscrimination statute that explicitly protects LGBTQ+ people,” said Fran Hutchins, executive director at the Equality Federation Institute.
A city’s MEI score is based on non-discrimination laws, protections, its recognition of relationships, fairness and inclusiveness in employment opportunities and resources catered to LGBTQ+ people.
The MEI is done in partnership with the Equality Federation Institute, which partners up with LGBTQ+ organizations nationally.
Rep.
During 2024, a record-breaking amount of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation was proposed and approved at all levels of government. LGBTQ+ Americans across the country have felt the effects of the legislation, which has affected and impacted schools, families and the municipalities that are essential building blocks of the U.S.
Despite the continued anti-LGBTQ+ legislation attacks against the municipalities that have taken proactive steps to protect LGBTQ+ rights, freedoms and establish protections, many cities such as West Hollywood continue to lead and pave the way for equality.
In its 13-year history, 2024’s index recorded the highest all-around city average and a record number of cities to receive a 100-point score.
Some key findings do point to the loss of points in some cities in 2023, due to the anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in some cities across the country.
According to the MEI report, more cities than ever have taken steps to protect the most vulnerable populations, with over 10 percent of MEI-rated cities taking action against these harmful laws, nearly doubling over the last five years.
Other figures include a new all-time high national average of 72 points.
For more information on the report, its findings and scoring criteria, visit the HRC’s website or find the full report at HRC.org.
GISSELLE PALOMERA
to lead Congressional Equality Caucus
Gay U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) will chair the LGBTQ Congressional Equality Caucus in the newly seated 119th Congress, he told Axios on Friday.
“Over the next several years, we will see a constant barrage of attacks on the rights and dignity of the queer community — especially against our transgender siblings,” Takano said. “I will lead our coalition of openly-LGBTQI+ members and our allies in the fi ght to both defend the queer community and push equality forward, including by reintroducing the Equality Act.”
The caucus was founded in 2008 by then-U.S. Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), the latter going on to represent the Badger State in the U.S. Senate since 2013, when she became the fi rst LGBTQ+ member to serve in the upper chamber.
Led in the last Congress by U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), the caucus’s chair and eight co-chairs are out and LGBTQ+. There are a couple dozen vice chairs and more than 160 other members, all Democrats.
In recent battles over must-pass appropriations bills,
the caucus opposed House Republicans’ insistence on including anti-LGBTQ+ “poison pill” policy riders, metic-
ulously chronicling their eff orts to politicize government funding.
The caucus has also fought against and documented legislation proposed by House GOP members that takes aim at LGBTQ+ and especially transgender rights.
Takano’s tenure as chair will begin just as Republicans plan to push forward a bill that would prohibit trans women and girls from competing on women and girls’ sports teams, and just after House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) enacted a new policy that would ban transgender people from bathrooms in the U.S. Capitol building.
“Our community will have a strong defender against Republicans’ incoming attacks with Representative Takano as our chair,” Pocan said.
First elected in 2013, the California congressman is the fi rst gay Asian member to serve in either chamber. He is also the top Democrat on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
CHRISTOPHER KANE
Takano
U.S. Rep. MARK TAKANO (D-Calif.) (Blade photo by Michael Key)
(Image courtesy of HRC)
Emmett Brock, innocent man beaten by LASD, is on path toward justice
Ex-deputy Joseph Benza III due back in court on Jan. 17
By GISSELLE PALOMERA
( Editor’s note: Some details about this case might be triggering for some readers.)
In early 2023, a young trans man was driving home from his job as a high school teacher, when he was pulled over by a Los Angeles Sheriff ’s deputy in the City of Whittier. Though at fi rst, it seemed like a routine traffi c stop, the confrontation escalated quickly and ended in the violent arrest of Emmett Brock, who was then charged with two misdemeanors that included resisting arrest and battery aga inst an offi cer.
Now, the ex-deputy who admitted to using excessive force on Brock, will make an appearance in court on Jan 17, following the decision last month to charge him with one felony count of deprivation of rights under color of law.
According to court documents and video footage, Brock suff ered a concussion, contusions, and abrasions as a result of the excessive force.
The story later unfolded to include details about the incidents leading up to the traffi c stop. Brock told the LA Times that he had driven past Joseph Benza III, 36, now an ex-LAPD Sheriff ’s deputy, and fl ipped him off , thinking he wouldn’t notice.
Benza then followed Brock to a 7-Eleven, where he pulled up behind him and lunged at Brock as he was stepping out of his vehicle. It was later revealed that Benza weighed twice as much as Brock and had made contact for back-up prior to the encounter with Brock, alerting other deputies that he was planning on using fo rce.
In last month’s court fi lings, prosecutors said Benza abandoned a domestic disturbance call to pursue action against Brock.
The ex-deputy was recorded by nearby cameras wrangling Brock to the ground while Brock called out for his life. Around July of that year, the video from the 7-Eleven where the incident took place, surfaced. The footage captured the moment when Benza arrested Brock, infl icting blows to the face and head, and wrangling him to the ground before cuffi ng him. The LGBTQ+ community stood by Brock, as it was seen and heard in the video when he yelled for his life, fearing the excessive force infl icted on him and fi ghting to breathe.
“You’re going to f–ing kill me,” he shouted in the audio, while also calling out for help.
After being arrested, Brock was taken to the Norwalk sheriff ’s department where the staff allegedly asked him to show them his genitals before making a decision on what cell to hold him in. Brock was later released on $100,000 bail after being charged with three felonies – mayhem, resisting arrest and obstruction – as well as a misdemeanor charge of failure to obey a police offi cer.
“Mr. Benza abused his position of authority to assault an innocent citizen, then dissembled to cover his actions during the subsequent investigation,” said Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Offi ce. “The FBI prioritizes the protection of civil rights and will pursue prosecution when warranted.”
Last summer, more than a year after the life-changing incident, Brock was declared factually innocent by a judge and then went on to pursue a legal case against L.A. County and the members of the LASD involved in the incident, seeking $10,000 in damages.
Regardless of being declared factually innocent, Brock still lo st his teaching job.
Ex-deputy Benza was fi red over the case and has pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights violation for using excessive force against Brock after a year’s-long investigation. Pleading guilty to the felony civil rights off ense carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.
After making his initial appearance in federal court in December, he was let go along with seven other deputies who assisted Benza in allegedly lying to the FBI regarding details of the incident.
“The video speaks for itself. He was pounding at the kid’s head,” Brock’s attorney Thomas Beck told the Los Angeles Blade last year. “He was diagnosed with a concussion later after he was released. This guy committed multiple felonies against my client, and he’s gotten away with it so far.”
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Offi ce, Benza admitted to preparing a false incident report to cover up his civil rights violations. The false report omitted any reference to Brock fl ipping Benza off and instead reported that Benza pulled him over because of an air freshener hanging off of his rear-view mirror — a low-level off ense that has led to other violent and deadly arrests by police forces in the United States, such as Daunte Wright’s case in 2021.
The false report also stated that Brock tried to bite Benza, citing him with criminal mayhem.
Benza also allegedly engaged in additional obstructionist conduct, which included speaking to, and instructing the other deputies to delete the text messages about the incidents from their personal phones and discussing the false statements they would tell federal authorities regarding the details of the incident.
“It is deeply troubling that a member of our department, who has since been relieved of duty, violated the trust placed in them to uphold the law by abusing their authority,” said L.A. County Sheriff Robert G. Luna in a statement.
This is an ongoing case the Los Angeles Blade will continue to cover.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department bodycam footage from the Feb. 10, 2023 beating of 23-year-old EMMETT BROCK (Photo: Courtesy Emmett Brock)
Pentagon settles with LGBTQ veterans unfairly discharged
The Defense Department has reached a settlement with veterans who were discharged under discriminatory policies like “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” potentially allowing more than 30,000 to receive benefits.
Pending approval by a federal judge, the settlement agreement will update discharge papers for LGBTQ veterans who were separated from the military, removing references to their sexual orientation, while allowing those who were denied honorable discharges the right to seek an immediate review.
The agreement stems from federal civil rights litigation, Farrell v. Department of Defense, filed in August 2023 by a group of LGBTQ veterans.
“Coming from a family with a long history of military service, I was beyond proud to enlist in 1985 to contribute to my country,” said Sherrill Farrell, a U.S. Navy veteran who was the lead plaintiff in the case.
“When I was discharged because of my sexual orientation, I felt that my country was telling me that my service was not valuable —
that I was ‘less than’ because of who I loved,” she said. “Today, I am once again proud to have served my country by standing up for veterans like myself, and ensuring our honor is recognized.”
The lawsuit came as the Pentagon under
the Biden-Harris administration worked to streamline the process by which veterans harmed by “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” — and anti-LGBTQ discriminatory policies that came before — can seek redress.
This summer, President Joe Biden issued pardons to thousands of service members convicted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice’s former Article 125, which criminalized sodomy, and was rewritten in 2013 to proscribe only forcible acts.
CHRISTOPHER KANE
As Jimmy Carter is eulogized, his daughter wears a Pride pin
Amy Carter, the youngest child of former President Jimmy Carter, wore a pin with the rainbow LGBTQ Pride flag during the lyingin-state ceremony for her father at the U.S. Capitol building on Tuesday.
Vice President Kamala Harris, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) each delivered remarks and laid wreaths during the service.
Distinguished guests also included U.S. Supreme Court justices, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, dozens of other members of the Car-
ter family, and members of the Biden Cabinet and former Carter administration.
President Joe Biden will eulogize the 39th president during the funeral on Thursday at the Washington National Cathedral with President-elect Donald Trump and former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama also in attendance.
Carter, who died on Dec. 29 at the age of 100, supported LGBTQ rights at a time when the community’s struggle for social, political, and legal equality was in its infancy, promising during his 1976 presidential
campaign to support a gay civil rights bill because “I don’t think it’s right to single out homosexuals for abuse or special harassment.”
Two months after his inauguration the following year, the White House hosted a first-of-its- kind meeting at the White House with 14 gay rights leaders.
CHRISTOPHER KANE
McDonald’s is latest major company to roll back DEI
McDonald’s on Monday became the latest company to roll back certain diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, announcing plans to sunset “aspirational representation goals” and DEI requirements for suppliers while “pausing” participation in external surveys like the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index.
In an email, leadership said the changes come amid “the shifting legal landscape” following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the 2023 affirmative action case Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and after benchmarking with “other companies who are also re-evaluating their own programs.”
Among these are Ford Motor Company, Harley-Davidson, Molson Coors, Lowe’s, and Tractor Supply, each announcing plans within the last year to curb investments in DEI programs, including those focused on LGBTQ employees and communities.
Conservative activist Robby Starbuck has claimed credit for these decisions, though the nature and extent of the influence exerted by his campaigns targeting individual corporations’ DEI activities is not clear.
HRC’s Corporate Equality Index is a national benchmarking tool used to assess
“corporate policies, practices, and benefits pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer employees,” according to six major metrics: “Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in U.S. Nondiscrimination Policy,”
“Spousal and Domestic Partner Benefits,”
“Transgender-Inclusive Benefits,” “Transgender Workplace Best Practices,” “Outreach and Engagement to the LGBTQ Community,” and “Corporate Social Responsibility.”
Releasing the 2025 CEI report on Tuesday, HRC said that “Despite anti-LGBTQ+ attacks on businesses, 72 companies joined the CEI for the first time – up almost five percent over
last year,” totaling 1,449 businesses.
The organization notes that 765 earned a perfect score of 100 this year, with businesses demonstrating “substantial increases in inclusive practices and access to equitable benefits for all LGTBQ+ employees.”
“At its core, the work of the CEI is about making businesses stronger. Since the start of this work 22 years ago, we’ve seen drastic shifts in corporate America toward more equitable and inclusive working conditions, family formation and healthcare benefits, and non-discrimination protections,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in a press release.
“At times, progress meets backlash, but companies continue to dedicate the time and resources to reinforcing workplace inclusion,” she said. “As a result, they are more competitive and more creative while attracting and retaining top talent and widening their consumer base. Our door is open for companies looking to learn more about supporting every single employee so they can bring their best to work.”
As Republicans take control of both chambers of Congress along with the White House, right-wing opposition to corporate DEI, in-
cluding LGBTQ inclusive policies and programs, is expected to accelerate well beyond the calls for boycotts and online pressure campaigns seen in recent years.
Last month, Reuters reported that after he takes office, President-elect Donald Trump plans to use the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to challenge DEI programs at companies and universities.
The news agency noted that the division’s mandate in Trump’s second term would mean enforcers will be tasked with investigating policies that are designed to benefit the very same groups, like Black and other marginalized communities, that the division was established to protect with Congress’s passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
Per OCR’s website, the division “works to uphold the civil and constitutional rights of all persons in the United States, particularly some of the most vulnerable members of our society” enforcing “federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), disability, religion, familial status, national origin, and citizenship status.”
CHRISTOPHER KANE
AMY CARTER, youngest child of the late former President Jimmy Carter, at the lying in state ceremony at the U.S. Capitol. (Screen capture via PBS News/YouTube)
Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN (Public domain photo)
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KATHI WOLFE
a writer and poet, was a regular contributor to the Blade. She wrote this tribute just before she passed away in June 2024.
Reflecting on interactions with President Jimmy Carter
An LGBTQ ally and devout Christian who adored his wife of 77 years
It’s September 1998, and I’m at lunch with several other journalists and a grandmother. As I sip my Coke, I hear a friendly male voice. You can tell he’s smiling. “Time to shake hands now,” he says.
We’re at the Carter Center in Atlanta for a few days. The other reporters and I have received Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism. The grandma sitting with us is former first lady Rosalynn Carter, and the man with the warm smile is former President Jimmy Carter. “As soon as we get on a plane,” Mrs. Carter says, “Jimmy walks down the aisles and shakes hands with everybody. He knows they want to say hi to him.”
Jimmy Carter died Dec. 29 in hospice care in Georgia. President Biden declared Thursday a National Day of Mourning and Carter’s funeral will take place at Washington National Cathedral that day. After the funeral, Carter and his family will return to Plains, Ga. to Maranatha Baptist Church for a private funeral and then to Carter’s private residence for interment.
Twenty-five years ago, we journos were at the Carter Center to meet with experts in mental health so we could report accurately on the issue.
The fellowship program was founded in 1996 by Rosalynn Carter. Mrs. Carter, who died in 2023 at age 96, was no mere figurehead. She knew every detail about our fellowship projects. Heaven help us, if she’d caught us asleep at the switch.
It takes nothing away from Mrs. Carter to note how essential her personal and professional partnership with her husband Jimmy Carter was to her and her work.
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter were married in 1946. The first thing that hit you when you saw them together was how deeply they loved each other. There was nothing sappy about how they were with each other.
One morning, President Carter ambled into the conference room before our session on stigma and mental health was about to begin. Kenneth W. Starr had just delivered his report on (then) President Bill Clinton’s alleged abuses and affair
with Monica Lewinsky. Naturally, we, the reporters in the room, asked Jimmy Carter how he felt about Bill Clinton. We were committed to mental health journalism. But, a former president was there – standing by the wall.
President Carter didn’t seem to want to hold back. He said he didn’t think that highly of Bill Clinton. But, before he could go on to say more, Mrs. Carter gave him a look. The look you give your spouse after decades of loving togetherness. Especially, if you’re a political couple and your mate’s being grilled by scribes eager to make news. “I know,” Jimmy Carter said, smiling, to Rosalynn Carter, his most ardent supporter and astute critic, “I’m talking too much, darlin’. I’m leaving now.”
You could tell how proud President Carter was of Mrs. Carter. At lunch or dinner, you’d see him nodding approvingly at her when she spoke of her work. You could see it in how he teased her. “Rosalynn talks about mental health all the time,” Jimmy Carter said, with a laugh, one night, as he saw Mrs. Carter chatting with us about how the media reported on mental health.
What I most recall about Jimmy Carter is his generosity of spirit. “I beat Jerry Ford,” President Carter said, “but Rosalyn and I are good friends with the Fords now.”
He wasn’t using the word “friends” in the way politicos often do. The Carters and the Fords were friends who worked together on mental health and other issues.
I hadn’t yet come out as a lesbian when I was at the Carter Center. But I didn’t feel I had to remain closeted or silent about my (then) partner. Carter was, what today likely would be an oxymoron: a born-again Christian, who welcomed everyone.
The Carter Center, which the Carters founded after his presidency, is like a theme park, where, instead of standing in line for attractions, people work to resolve conflicts and eradicate diseases.
Thank you, President Carter for your work, humanity and being an LGBTQ ally. R.I.P., Jimmy Carter.
Former president JIMMY CARTER passed away December 29, 2024. (Photo via Bigstock)
PETER ROSENSTEIN
is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly for the Blade.
Will any GOP senators oppose Trump’s unqualified nominees?
Serious questions loom as confirmation hearings set to begin
As we move toward Jan. 20, when Donald Trump and his acolytes complete their takeover of the government, we really have no idea what will happen. Trump and his co-president, Elon Musk, lie with impunity. It’s hard to tell if they believe their own lies.
For Trump, a decision is often based on who whispered in his ear last. He is easily riled, and when it comes to Musk, it was fun to see him feel he had to respond when Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) called Musk, President Musk. In a Phoenix rally Trump felt obliged to explain Musk couldn’t be president as he wasn’t born here. We know Trump is losing it, often mixing up where he is, names, and dates. Will the media report on that the way they did with Biden? It is getting more apparent the media is being cowed by Trump. Recently the New York Times reported, “Ann Telnaes, a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist for The Washington Post, said on Friday evening that she was resigning after the
newspaper’s opinions section rejected a cartoon depicting The Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos, (and other media moguls) genuflecting toward a statue of President-elect Donald J. Trump.”
The first test of how the Republican Senate will respond to Trump will begin shortly as they start the hearings on his Cabinet nominees. We will soon know if even the few rational Republican senators left keep their lips firmly glued to Trump’s ass, or will at least four of them find their balls? While most of Trump’s nominees will sail through, no matter how bad they are, there are a few we need to watch closely. Those are Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary; Kash Patel for FBI Director; RFK Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services; and Tulsi Gabbard, for Director of National Intelligence. These nominations are an abomination and dangerous.
Hegseth’s hearings will be conducted by the Armed Ser-
vices Committee with Chairman Roger Wicker, (R-Miss), and Jack Reed (D-R.I.), ranking member. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will first need to get through the Senate Finance Committee; Michael Crapo (R-Idaho) chair, and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), ranking member. Patel will go to the Senate Judiciary Committee with Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) as chair, and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), as ranking member. Tulsi Gabbard will go to the Senate Intelligence Committee with Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) as chair, and Mark Warner (D-Va.), as ranking member.
I am not holding my breath that any Republicans will ask the tough questions. But we can hope Democrats will. It will be interesting to see what they focus on. Will they ask RFK Jr. the important questions on children’s vaccines? We know he opposes them but will he take away the mandate for insurance to pay for them? Will he try to get school systems to abandon their requirement that children be vaccinated before coming to school? Will he oppose continuing to have NIH do the research to develop a vaccine to prevent HIV/AIDS? What will he do about the polio vaccine and ensuring it is paid for all children? Will he recommend we withdraw from the World Health Organization?
Then will they ask Gabbard about her meeting with deposed Syrian dictator Assad, her relations with Vladimir Putin, and the war in Ukraine? How she would handle classified documents and what did she think about how Trump handled them? What are the changes she wants to make in the agencies reporting to the Director of National Intelligence? Does she even know what each of them does? How does her background qualify her for this important and sensitive job?
Then there is Hegseth. What will they ask him? What does he see as his qualifications for the job? Does he understand what the job is, and his relationship to the Joint Chiefs of Staff? What are Patel’s qualifications to lead the FBI? Will he go after an enemies list based on all his previous statements?
I would assume Democrats on the committees will be prepped with a long list of questions to ask each nominee, and will work together to try to make the American people understand how each is totally unqualified to head the agency they are being nominated to lead. Then we will have to look at how the media report on all these hearings. One of the things the American people need to understand is whether or not they believe in Trump’s version of ‘America First,’ each of these nominees will impact how we deal with the world, and whether we are ever trusted again.
Big night for ‘Emilia Perez,’ Jodie Foster at Golden Globes
Trans star Karla Sofia Gascón talks meaning of orange dress
By SUSAN HORNIK
One thing you can count on with “Emilia Perez” star Karla Sofia Gascón is she is going to speak her mind. Such was the case last night at the Golden Globes when the fantastic Spanish-language musical, which is directed by Jacques Audiard, won for Best Picture.
Speaking about her orange dress, Gascón said, “I chose these colors tonight — the Buddhist colors — because I have a message for you. The light always wins over darkness. You can put us in jail, you can beat us up, but you can never take away our soul or our resistance or our identity. I want to say to you, raise your voice and say that I won, I am who I am, not who you want [me to be].”
“Emilia Pérez” was the most-nominated film of the evening and was honored with four Golden Globe awards for Best Film – Musical or Comedy, Supporting Female Actor (Zoe Saldaña), Original Song, and Film not in the English Language.
Jodie Foster, who won a Golden Globe for HBO‘s “True Detective: Night Country,” was equally free spirited in her comments onstage and to journalists backstage in the pressroom.
“The great thing about being this age and being in this time, is having a community of all these people… our ‘True Detective’ team, we love you so much. We’re really here for only one reason, and that is the wonderful, beautiful Issa Lopez, our showrunner, writer, director, I’m so grateful to you and your talents and your friendship,” Foster said.
When asked what excited her more, film or television projects, she said: “Honestly, I think the most exciting narrative filmmaking right now is being done on streaming. That’s where I really go to see performances and to see characters build over time,” she said.
“Although I have to say the features this year are amazing, for me as a feature person, it’s great to see that both can coexist, and there are different ways of telling stories.”
Foster also won an Emmy for the show last year and calls this a “golden age” for older women in Hollywood, who are increasingly being honored for their performances after spending decades being ignored.
“I think something happens, there’s like an organism that gets released in your bloodstream — I’m not a doctor, so don’t follow me on that one — but it just feels like there’s a hormone that happens where suddenly you go, ‘Oh, I don’t really care about all the stupid things anymore, and I’m not going to compete with myself.’”
She continued: “I’m excited about what’s left of my life and who I become, and the wisdom that I can bring to the table. So for me, this is the most contented moment of my career, and I never would have known that. I just never would have known that. But something happened the day I turned 60, and it all just came to pass.”
Netflix’s “Baby Reindeer” star, Jessica Gunning received the award for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role On Television.
Delighted to win for her first nomination, she said, “I realized this moment has been a kind of soundtrack for my life for this last year. I cannot believe any of this has happened to me … this has changed my life in ways that I can’t even explain.”
‘Emilia Perez’ star KARLA SOFIA GASCÓN (Screen capture via Golden Globes YouTube)
Awards favorite ‘The Brutalist’ worthy of the acclaim
Brody’s performance a master class in understated emotional expression
By JOHN PAUL KING
If there’s anything Hollywood loves – during “Awards Season” at least – it’s a good old-fashioned epic.
From “Gone With the Wind” to “Ben-Hur” to “The Godfather” and beyond, the film industry has always favored “big” movies when it comes to doling out its annual accolades, in part because awards equate to more public interest (and therefore more revenue) for films that might not otherwise grab enough attention to earn back their massive budgets. Yet, profit motive aside, such movies exude the kind of monumental grandeur that has come to be seen as the pinnacle of filmmaking craft, a perfect blend of art and entertainment that represents Hollywood at its finest and most iconic. It only makes sense that the people whose life is devoted to making movies would want to celebrate something that lives up to that ideal, especially when it also seems to reflect the cultural climate of its time.
That’s good news for “The Brutalist,” which has been buzzed – for months now – as the front-runner for all the Best Picture awards and seems to have proven its inevitability with its win of the Best Motion Picture Drama prize at this week’s Golden Globes. It meets all the requirements for an epic prestige picture: a sweeping plot, containing a nebula of currently relevant thematic ideas, but with an iconic historical period as its backdrop; monumental settings, spectacular locations, and impeccably designed costumes; an acclaimed actor giving a tour-de-force performance at the head of a proverbial “cast of thousands” and a runtime long enough to necessitate an intermission. Add the fact that it comes with an array of already-bestowed prizes from some of the most prestigious film festivals in the world, not to mention high placement on most of the year’s prominent “10 best” lists, and its predicted victory charge through the rest of the awards gauntlet looks likely to be a sure bet.
That assessment might seem glib, even cynical, but it’s no reflection on the movie. On the contrary, “The Brutalist” stands out above the rest of the crop not because of the hype, but because of its cinematic excellence, and that is precisely what has made it such an attractive awards candidate.
Spanning several decades across the mid-20th century, it’s the saga of László Tóth (Adrien Brody), a Hungarian Jewish refugee – once a young rising star on the European architecture scene – who seeks a new life in America after being liberated from a Nazi concentration camp. Reuniting with his already-Americanized cousin (Alessandro Nivola), who now owns a furniture business in New York, he offers his Bauhaus-educated expertise in exchange for a place to stay, leading to a fortuitous connection with a wealthy industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce) who becomes enamored with his work. The resulting commission not only allows him to design and begin construction on a spectacular new masterpiece, but to facilitate the emigration of his beloved wife Erzsébet (Felicity Jones) – from whom he had been separated during the war – and his orphaned niece Zsófia (Raffey Cassidy).
Things are never easy for an immigrant, however, and unanticipated setbacks on an ambitious project for his mercurial new patron – possibly connected to a “functional” heroin habit that has grown increasingly difficult to balance with his professional life – soon lead to one reversal of fortune after another. It will take years before László is finally given the chance to complete his dream project, but even then the volatile affections of Van Buren threaten to thwart his ambitions before they can reach fruition.
It’s difficult to offer a synopsis that effectively sums up the powers of this film’s singular combination of pseudo-historical gravitas (the “pseudo” in this case means “fictionalized,” not “untruthful”) and coldly aloof observational commentary about the truth behind the so-called “American Dream”; director Brady Corbet unfolds his boldly countercultural narrative, in which the wealth and power of a privileged class that holds sway over the destiny of immigrants and outsiders is allegorically portrayed through the relationship between a visionary artist and the oligarch who ultimately wants nothing more than to exploit him. It’s an unmistakably political perspective that shines through that lens, and one that feels eerily apt in a time when even the greatest expressions of our humanity are granted value only so far as they serve the interests – and feed the egos – of the ruling power elite, and marginalized outsiders are “tolerated” only as long as they are useful.
In the intricately woven screenplay by Corbet and writing partner Mona Fastvold, these ideas run throughout the story of László’s American experience like the streaks of color in a slab of fine marble, turning “The Brutalist” into an anti-fascist parable through the personal stories of its characters. The portrait it paints of American classism, racism, anti-Semitism and sexism – all perhaps most boldly personified by Van Buren’s arrogantly boorish son (Joe Alwyn) – is not an attractive one; and though it grants us historical distance to make its observations, it is impossible not to see both the ominous connections that can be made to our current era and the true character of an American history in which “greatness” only existed for those with the money to buy it. The result is an eloquent piece of filmmaking that manages to “speak truth to power” through the details of its narrative without lofty speeches (mostly) or other contrivances to highlight its arguments – though admittedly, the broad strokes with which it crafts some of its more unpleasant characters occasionally feel like not-so-subtle Hollywood-style manipulation.
Ultimately, of course, what gives Corbet’s movie its real power is its size. Like the architectural style embraced by its title character, “The Brutalist” is monumental, a construction of high ceilings and ornate furnishings that is somehow streamlined into a minimalist, functional whole. Superbly shot by cinematographer Lol Crawley in a nostalgic VistaVision screen ratio that demands viewing on the big screen, it boasts a bold visual aesthetic rarely attempted by modern films, further suiting the scale of the statement it makes.
Finally, though, it’s Brody’s outstanding performance that drives the film, a master class in understated emotional expression that reveals a complex landscape of pain and passion through nuance rather than bombast. Jones is also superb as his wife, every bit his intellectual equal and exuding strength despite being wheelchair bound, and Pearce delivers a career-highlight turn as Van Buren, capturing both his confident charisma and terrifying rage while still giving glimpses of the hidden passions that lurk below them – though to say more about that might constitute a spoiler.
There’s no denying that “The Brutalist” is a superb movie, and one that feels as capable of standing the test of time as one of its protagonist’s structures. Make no mistake, though, it’s no crowd-pleaser; non-cinema buffs may be daunted by its combination of extreme length and leisurely pace, and while it has its moments of uplift, it can also be grim and melancholy. For those with the stamina for it, however, it’s a movie that enfolds you completely, and holds your interest for each of its 200 minutes.
ADRIEN BRODY and FELICITY JONES in ‘The Brutalist.’ (Image courtesy of A24)
‘Hello Stranger’ unpacks the possibilities of flirting
Manuel Betancourt’s new book contains musings on modern intimacy
Two strangers lock eyes across a bar. Or maybe they reach for the same book on a shelf in a bookstore. Or maybe they’re a model and artist, exchanging nervous smiles as the artist tries to capture a piece of the model’s soul on canvas or film.
In a Hollywood film, we’d be led to believe that these moments are laden with momentous importance – a flicker of sexual charge and desire, a chemical reaction that leads inexorably to life-altering romance and happily ever after.
But in his new book of essays “Hello Stranger: Musings on Modern Intimacies,” queer Colombian film and culture critic Manuel Betancourt unpacks the notion that flirting needs to be anything more, suggesting that flirtation can be a worthwhile endeavor in itself.
“One of the things that if you read any kind of love story or watch any kind of rom-com, you’re constantly encouraged to think that flirtation is sort of like preamble to something else,” Betancourt tells me over cookies outside of Levain bakery in Larchmont.
“Actually, flirtation doesn’t need to do that. You can flirt just for the act of flirting, and that can be fun, and that can be great. What is it that you find instead in that moment of possibility, at that moment when anything can happen? Just what happens when you’re trying to be the best person you could be? It’s almost more exciting when you know, there’s nothing else on the horizon.”
But “Hello Stranger”isn’t a how-to guide to flirting. It’s more like a cross between cultural criticism and memoir.
Over a series of essays that alternate between examinations of flirting scenes in movies, books, and art, and anecdotes from his own personal life, Betancourt traces the ways that we use flirting to create different kinds of intimacies.
“This is not a how-to, because I don’t think gay men need help with that,” Betancourt says. “But I also know that I’m a gay man in Los Angeles whereas I know there are young folks in Ohio that may not think of it this way because they’ve been conditioned, and actually we now have such a breadth of gay literature and a culture that’s continually teaching us we need to find the one.”
The book is a deeply personal one for Betancourt, who recently got divorced from his husband and joined a polyamorous relationship as he began writing it.
By ROB SALERNO
‘Hello
Stranger: Musings on Modern Intimacies’ Published by Catapult Available Jan. 14 | Hardcover $27
“I’ve been thinking a lot about different intimacies with strangers, with friends, with lovers, things that fell outside of what we understand as traditional. And so it felt like an easy way to turn all of these things that I was dealing with on a personal level into a more cohesive and coherent project,” he says.
“I wanted to think through where the joy in flirtation lies. Like, why are we so drawn
to it? Why was I so drawn to it? Why do I enjoy it so much? And of course, being the kind of literary academic that I was, I was willing to find other people must have thought about this, other people must have depicted it on screen and books,” he says. “Other people can teach me about this.”
The book starts with examinations of the fleeting, flirtatious intimacies seen in films like “Closer” and “Before Sunrise,” before diving into more complicated (and queer) relationships in the books “The Sexual Outlaw” and “A Little Life” and the portraiture of photographer Peter Hujar, using them as springboards to examine Betancourt’s own relationships to cruising, dating, nudity, and relationships both monogamous and otherwise.
“I wanted to begin with those straight, very common, understandable ways of thinking about these things, and then the book slowly gets clearer and we end in polyamory and conceptual monogamy, and these very different ways of thinking.
“What else I wanted to do for those gay readers that are maybe looking to find something here, is show that none of this is new. I think a lot of us try to think, like, ‘This is modern and polyamory is so 2024,’ but what I wanted to do is give a cultural history of that.”
Though it’s not an instruction manual, Betancourt says he did improve his own flirtation skills while researching the book, as evidenced in a spicy anecdote he recounts in the book about cruising a man in a hotel bar, where he was actually working on writing “Hello Stranger.”
“You just have to pay attention, open yourself up, which is also what Hollinghurst, writes in ‘The Swimming-Pool Library.’ His protagonist is able to like cruise and hook up anywhere he wants to in London, because he’s always looking, like literally looking. He’s constantly out seeing the world as if it’s a cruising playground and that is all apparently you need to do.
“If you’re crossing paths and you see someone who you’re attracted to and you lock eyes, that is the moment to make something happen and it’s about being open to the possibility and then also letting the other person know that you are.”
Nurturing that openness was difficult at first for Betancourt, due to his upbringing in Bogota, Colombia.
“For me it was a very different cultural thing because of the kind of culture of violence, the culture of unsafety in Colombia. You’re sort of encouraged to not really trust anyone,” he says. “It takes almost locking that away because you can’t approach any of those situations with fear.”
“This is about, like, teaching myself because I’m not great at it either. So, it’s about reminding myself, oh yeah, be open and more attentive.”
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