THE FIGHT MAGAZINE. JULY 2011

ISSUE 006 JULY 2011

LA PRIDE ISSUE

WEST HOLLYWOOD MAYOR

JOHN DURAN

ON 30 YEARS OF AIDS

I AM NOT A SYMPTOM

ZINNIA JONES ON “FAILED HETEROSEXUALS”

AGE APARTHEID IN LA

MARK ARIEL ON THE GAY ELDER PROJECT

BIN LADEN’S GAY SECRET ANN ROSTOW ON THE CIA FILES

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JULY/CONTENTS

16

coVER StoRIES anD fEatURES

14

Bankruptcy Breakthough

Hidden Toxins

12 maRRIagE EQUaLItY VIctoRY L.A. Gay Center Cheers NY

14 I am not a SYmPtom

Zinnia Jones On “Failed Heterosexuals”

16 BanKRUPtcY BREaKtHRoUgH Married Gays In LA Can File

18 aBoLISHIng agE aPaRtHEID Gay Elder Project in West Hollywood

18

20 tHE BoDY PoLItIc

WeHo Mayor John Duran On AIDS

gay Elder Project

20 the Body Politic

28 maLE SURgERY PRocEDURES Cosmetic Options For Men

30 tEacHIng gaY

Equality Groups School Struggle

36 oUtfESt 2011

Gay & Lesbian Film Festival

coLUmnS 8 12 26 28 39 35 42

36 outfest 2011

Letters to the Editor Headlines Suicide Triggers CA School Changes HIV/aIDS Healing & Wellness: Naturally Rostow Report Bin Laden’s Secret Gay Love Pet care Full Moon Pet Injury Link Books Outsider Tart community Groups, Workshops, Resources

ISSUE 005 JULY 2011

LA PRIDE ISSUE

MASTHEAD

Editor-in-chief Stanford Altamirano managing Editor Mark Ariel art Director Michelle Nati

4 The Fight

marketing consultants Lisa Radamaker Sash Carl Larry Wood Lora Mae Jaslow

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contributing writers Ann Rostow Rick Wilkinson Nathan Neuman, M.D. Brodie Hubbard Foster

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WEST HOLLYWOOD MAYOR

JOHN DURAN

ON 30 YEARS OF AIDS

I AM NOT A SYMPTOM

ZINNIA JONES ON “FAILED HETEROSEXUALS”

AGE APARTHEID IN LA

MARK ARIEL ON THE GAY ELDER PROJEC T

BIN LADEN’S GAY SECRET ANN ROSTOW ON THE CIA FILES

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THE FIGHT

letter from the editor

A GAY REVOLUTION 30 YEARS OF AIDS

If you would like to offer The Fight at your location, please call 323-297-4001 PUBLISHER Third Step, Inc. Distribution Pride in Media The Fight Magazine is published monthly by Third Step, Inc. 611 South Catalina Street, Suite 307 Los Angeles CA 90005 Telephone 323-297-4001 Fax: 213-281-9648 E-mail info@thefightmag.com The Fight Magazine LEGAL CAVEATS By listing in The Fight Magazine, advertisers acknowledge that they do business in a spirit of cooperation, fairness and service, maintaining a high level of integrity and responsibility. Providers of products or services are fully and solely responsible for providing same as advertised. The Fight Magazine assumes no liability for improper or negligent business practices by advertisers.

Advertisers and their agencies assume responsibility and liability for the content of their advertisements in The Fight Magazine.

Publisher assumes no liability for safekeeping or return of unsolicited art, manuscripts or other materials. The Fight Magazine reserves the right to edit all material for clarity, length and content.

All contents Š 2011 Third Step, Inc., all rights reserved. Content may be reproduced with permission.

The Fight Magazine assumes no liability for any claims or representations contained anywhere in this magazine, and reserves the right to cancel or refuse advertising at publishers’ discretion. www.thefightmag.com

6 The Fight

Last month marked 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were reported in the U.S. In the three decades since its first recognition, AIDS has killed nearly 30 million worldwide.

While a vaccine that would block transmission has not materialized, there is some progress in other areas.

A myriad of drugs are now commercially available to combat HIV, and cocktails of those drugs - including the particularly effective class of drugs known as protease inhibitors - have transformed HIV from a death sentence into a chronic, manageable disease.

That said, here are a few sobering statistics.

Men who have sex with men (MSM) are the only risk group in the U.S. in which new HIV infections are increasing. While new infections have declined among both heterosexuals and injection drug users, the annual number of new HIV infections among MSM has been steadily increasing since the early 1990s.

Men who have sex with men account for nearly half of the more than one million people living with HIV in the U.S. (48%, or an estimated 532,000 total persons).

42% of a sample of gay and bisexual chronic methamphetamine users reported HIV infection, 61% of a sample of gay and bisexual men meeting criteria for methamphetamine dependence reported HIV infection, and 86% of a sample or gay and bisexual men seeking residential treatment for their methamphetamine dependence or addiction reported HIV infection.

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ZINNIA NAILED IT Dear Editor, Great commentary by Zinnia Jones on “Straight Pride” (“Taking Pride In Pride,” THE FIGHT, Issue 005). Let’s face it: every day of the year is Straight Pride Day. Straight people are not faced with any kind of adversity simply due to the fact that they’re straight.

Zinnia nailed it when she wrote: “Straight teenagers never have to hide it, because they’re universally accepted for who they are, without being told it’s just a “phase” or getting sent to “reparative therapy” to cure them of their sexuality.” Right on!

Roger Reyes, Via the Internet

OTHER SOCIAL OUTLETS Dear Editor, I enjoyed reading the item on the West Hollywood Aquatics Team.

You should feature more local groups like that, so folks will know there is more to gay life in L.A. than bars and clubs. (I don’t have anything against bars and clubs, but it’s good to know about other social outlets.)

Name Withheld, Via the Internet

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NY MARRIAGE IMPACT Gay workers and their employers in New York State are getting ready to deal with the impact of marriage equality on taxes, benefits, and myriad other issues. The state “often sets the corporate tone for businesses everywhere,” notes an Associated Press report. It is also home to more than 42,000 same-sex couples, who will have the right to marry beginning July 24, when the marriage equality law goes into effect. The New York Senate legalized same-sex marriage last month.

SUICIDE TRIGGERS CA SCHOOL CHANGES In the wake of a 13-year-old student’s suicide, the federal government has ordered the Tehachapi, Calif., school district to institute programs to combat sexual and gender-based harassment.

The order came in the settlement, announced last month, of a complaint that the district failed to adequately address the antigay bullying suffered by Jacobsen Middle School student Seth Walsh, who took his own life last September, reports The Advocate at www.advocate.com.

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MARRIAGE REPEAL BILL DOUBTFUL

The author of one of two bills to repeal marriage equality in New Hampshire has doubts that it will succeed in the next legislative session, the Associated Press reports. State representative David Bates told the AP he believes that while there may be enough votes to pass his bill, it’s unclear if there will be enough support to override a promised veto from Gov. John Lynch.

ACTIVIST JEAN HARRIS DIES Jean Harris, a longtime lesbian activist who helped elect gay candidates as well as establish domestic partnerships in California and defeat an antigay ballot measure in Oregon, has died at age 66, the Los Angeles Times reports. Harris had several serious health problems, but an autopsy has been ordered to determine the cause of death. A native of Orange County, Harris worked with state Assembly member Carole Migden to pass legislation establishing domestic partnerships for gay couples.

10 The Fight

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freedom to marry here in california” “It’s not just the Empire State where we’ve defeated the forces of bigotry; we’re winning across the land. Despite the lies and scare tactics employed by anti-LGBT activists, recent public opinion polls show that a majority of Americans support the right for same-sex couples to marry. So, while the joy of this victory lightens our hearts, let the weight of this moment strengthen our resolve to win the freedom to marry here in California and in all 50 states!”

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The Fight 13

Taking Pride In Pride I Am

Not A Symptom

Zinnia Jones on why there isn’t a “straight pride” parade

We’re not some kind of “failed heterosexuals.” We’re not a developmental anomaly. We’re as genuine as anyone else

BY ZINNIA JONES

T

he first person I ever came out to asked me if I had been raped as a child. Like that was just the most natural question to ask. I quickly learned that when you’re not straight, you simply can’t let people find out if you’ve ever had any difficulties growing up.

Because you know what they’ll do with that? They’ll pick through everything until they find something, anything at all, to confirm in their minds that we’re only gay because of what happened to us.

And what happened to us? It’s not even that important: If you were shy, if you weren’t very athletic, if you had trouble making friends, if you didn’t get along with a step-parent, if you were abused; practically anything is fair game, and they’ll insist that must be why you’re gay. And if there’s nothing they can dig up? Well, maybe you just don’t remember.

Where does this come from? What drives this fixation on gay sexuality as something rooted in trauma? Do we see anyone doing this to straight people? Do we assume they’re only straight because their parents didn’t love them enough, or they had bad experiences with men, or perhaps somebody raped them? No. Nobody even goes looking for that kind of thing. And, if they do find something like that, they certainly don’t say, “Aha! That must be why you’re straight!” But when you’re gay, they’ll pathologize you first, and then look for reasons to justify it. The conclusion has been settled on ahead of time, and now they just have to hunt for evidence in favor of it. And when that’s your approach, of course you’ll find confirmation of it sooner or later.

What’s wrong with this picture? Why is it that straight people are taken at their word, with no need for halfassed psychoanalysis, but gay people are assumed to be damaged in some way? Just think

14 The Fight

of everything this implies about us. It delegitimizes our orientation by treating it as some kind of harm that’s been inflicted upon us.

It suggests that our feelings are a dysfunction, one that could conceivably be addressed with psychiatric care in the hopes of “restoring” us to heterosexuality. It depicts us as pitiable, and in doing so, it paints our relationships as a manifestation of illness. It gives straight people the benefit of the doubt, as if their orientation simply is, yet we require an explanation for ourselves. All of this, with no good cause - drawn from nothing more than idle conjecture, anecdotes, and outdated pseudoscience.

Why do they think that something had to “make” us gay, as if we weren’t before? Why is it that being straight is just how they are, but being gay couldn’t possibly be? Do they like to think of themselves as more authentic than us? None of this is supported by fact. Most gay people weren’t abused as children, and most people who were abused as children aren’t gay. If you’re trying to find causes, this isn’t it. Our relationships are no less real than those of straight people. Our love is not something that can be dismissed as a consequence of trauma. We’re not some kind of “failed heterosexuals.” We’re not a developmental anomaly. We’re as genuine as anyone else.

I’m not a symptom to be investigated. The only disorder here is ignorance.

Read more commentary by Zinnia Jones at: www.zinniajones.com/blog/

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Bankruptcy Breakthrough MARRIED GAY COUPLES IN LOS ANGELES CAN FILE FOR BANKRUPTCY

BY ANN ROSTOW

16 The Fight

Let’s have some fun this month! Our topic is bankruptcy law!

No wait. I’m serious.

Last month, in a ruling joined by 19 out of 23 other federal bankruptcy judges in central California (a virtually unprecedented development) LA-based Judge Thomas B. Donovan issued an opinion calling the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. Bankruptcy judges don’t normally issue constitutional decisions, and their district colleagues don’t usually sign on to their opinions en masse. But that’s not the only remarkable thing about this case, which concerns two California men who are trying to hit the financial reset button after a stretch of bad luck, medical bills and unemployment.

You know of course that the House Republicans, led by their hired gun, appellate lawyer Paul Clement, are trying to support the Defense of Marriage Act in courts around the country. In this case, they asked the court for a delay in order to consider their options. The court agreed, but heard nothing for weeks, and the case continued without their input.

Is it possible that Paul Clement and company are juggling so many DOMA cases that the balls are dropping? I think they have a dozen or so, but I can’t keep track. For example, I have no idea how many joint bankruptcy cases are flowing through the system, but I can tell you that this is the third case in recent months in which a federal bankruptcy judge has ruled in favor of same-sex couples and Paul Clement has been nowhere in sight.

Unlike Judge Donovan, the previous two bankruptcy judges did not reach a conclusion on the constitutional status of DOMA. Judge Donovan’s ruling by contrast, not only slammed DOMA, but also agreed with the Obama administration that antigay discrimination should trigger heightened legal scrutiny.

Donovan took guidance from an under-reported Ninth Circuit decision, the 2008 ruling in favor of discharged nurse Margaret Witt, which essentially required the U.S. government to show some cause when dismissing a gay or lesbian service member under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Few people noticed at the time that the brand new Obama administration declined to appeal the Witt ruling, allowing the deadline for review to expire in early 2009. That was extremely helpful!

In theory, Paul Clement’s only choice would be to appeal Judge Donovan’s ruling to, you guessed it, the aforementioned U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. But not surprisingly, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner told the New York Times that Clement and the House would let the ruling stand.

“Bankruptcy cases are unlikely to provide the path to the Supreme Court, where we imagine the question of constitutionality will ultimately be decided, “Brendan Buck told the Times. “Obviously, we believe the statute is constitutional in all its applications, including bankruptcy, but effectively defending it does not require the House to intervene in every case, especially when doing so would be prohibitively expensive.”

In truth, a bankruptcy case would be the perfect vehicle to bring a DOMA case to the Supreme Court, for our side that is.

When you think about marriage cases, you think of the broad Theoretical constitutional arguments on equal protection and due process that pit lovely hard working same-sex couples against the stern moralists on the Christian right. You don’t think about individual

bankruptcy cases, where the impact of a judge’s decision usually extends to two people and a few banks or credit card companies.

I mean, really. We’re in a generational fight for civil rights and equality here!

Yet arguably, these bankruptcy cases pinpoint the profound flaws of anti-marriage laws with a precision that eludes our grander areas of litigation.

You have a married couple, with two incomes, joint assets, a mortgage, some loans, whatever. Some in one person’s name, some in another. Both individuals want to restructure their debt. All creditors want to work out a deal. Bankruptcy after all, whatever your views on the subject, is an important lifeline for any family that falls into financial rapids, and I don’t believe anyone has argued that “bankruptcy is a God given relief for one man and one woman.”

I don’t believe anybody has argued that “bankruptcy is a God given relief for one man and one woman”

It is virtually impossible to untangle the knotted finances of a longterm couple, require both of them to pay separate filing fees and to calculate exactly how to split their debts and assets for the purposes of bankruptcy. On the other hand, a joint filing is a routine procedure. That’s why we’ve seen three courts toss the Defense of Marriage Act in the circular file when it comes to gay bankruptcy.

And it’s worth noting that they’ve been given the courage to ignore federal law by the Obama administration’s legal rejection of DOMA last February.

Hey, I’ve been ignoring bankruptcy cases personally, because, well, they seem boring compared to the Prop 8 case or the Massachusetts DOMA challenge. But I think I’ve been wrong. DOMA has been given a black eye from not just one, but 20 federal bankruptcy judges all punching back at this despicable law. And by not appealing Judge Donovan’s ruling, the House Republicans have effectively thrown in the towel on enforcing the Defense of Marriage Act in at least one legal arena. One down, 1,038 to go. Or whatever that number might be. I always forget.

Lastly, here’s an interesting question. What does the Speaker’s spokesman mean when he says the House will not “intervene in every case?” Taking him at his word, it seems to mean that a number of DOMA challenges will go undefended. Bankruptcy cases for sure. But what else? You can’t defend DOMA in one or two instances, while federal courts around the country rack up anti-DOMA precedents. So perhaps the House plans to “let” a few federal judges rule in our favor without appeal, effectively stranding pro-gay decisions in federal court districts.

Legally it’s a dangerous game for their side, because eventually DOMA must exist or not exist as a federal policy. You can’t have gay bankruptcy legal in central California, but not central Texas.

You can’t have federal marriage benefits authorized for gay couples in Oakland, but not in Chicago. Or at least common sense says that such situations are not sustainable. And if numerous cracks are allowed to develop in the wall against marriage recognition, it bodes ill for the wall rather than the cracks.

The Fight 17

Abolishing Age Apartheid in the Gay Community Pioneering Gay Elder Project in West Hollywood on July 31

BY MARK ARIEL

T

his month marks the commencement of an innovative project aimed at bringing conscious eldering work into the Los Angeles gay community. On Snday afternoon, July 31, 2011, a special kick-off event will be held at Fiesta Hall in West Hollywood’s Plummer Park, located at 7377 Santa Monica Blvd. (at Gardner) in West Hollywood, from 1-4 p.m., titled “The Gay Elder: Archetype of the Spiritual Father.” The event is sponsored by the Gay Elder Circle.

Highlights of the inaugural event include: • Welcome by West Hollywood Mayor John Duran.

• A talk by Don Kilhefner titled “Growing Up and Growing ` Down: Abolishing Age Apartheid in the Gay Community.”

• A panel discussion titled “Why Gay Elders Are Important.”

The event is chaired by Allen Page and Ray Hogenson. Page stated that “the Gay Elder Circle is bringing the traditional role of elder into consciousness in the gay community. This role includes eldering of adults in the community, mentoring the young when adults are not available to fulfill their traditional role, transmitting history and spiritual tradition, and creating healthy community for seven generations yet to come.” Hogenson added: “The gay community as a visible, interdependent community is only forty years old. We are largely the first generation who can assume the role of awake elder.”

“The defining characteristic of intergenerational communication and cooperation in the gay community today is age apartheid,” Dr. Don Kilhefner, president of the Gay Elder Circle, tells THE FIGHT. “It is the responsibility of gay men over 55 or so to claim the traditional role of elder in their community in a conscious and visible way.

Likewise, gay men between 30 and 55 need to embody in an accessible way their role as adults and mentors... We need to take that responsibility to grow up solely off the shoulders of our young and apply it to every generation. Otherwise, it is impossible to have a healthy and thriving gay community. Botox, weekends in Palms Springs and White Party consciousness contribute little to our community. Nothing less than a revolution in gay consciousness is knocking at our door.”

More about the Gay Elder Circle and how the Circle can be reached can be found at www.gayeldercircle.org.

18 The Fight

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“People do a lot more than sleep in their beds now,” said Dave Alter, manager of Sapapa by Aminach in Studio City. “Beds have changed to accommodate modern life.”

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“Sapapa has given adjustable beds a modern makeover as a functional and beautiful piece of furniture. The bed is the centerpiece of a bedroom, so we believe it should look fantastic as well as be the most comfortable place to rest and sleep,” said Alter.

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The Fight 19

THE BODY POLITIC

3O YEARS OF AIDS AS SEEN THROUGH THE EYES OF WEST HOLLYWOOD MAYOR JOHN DURAN

.

John Duran, a California native who grew up in Santa Fe Springs and practices law in Los Angeles, has been a member of the West Hollywood City Council since 2001. In his decade on the council, he has served as mayor on two occasions, and began his third term this past April.

Interview by Brodie Foster Hubbard Photos by TOMOKO, tphotpgraphy.com Shirt and pants, Parke & Ronen, www.parkeandronen.com, production assisant: Sash Carl

20 The Fight

The Fight 21

Before all that, before his involvement in politics, before he was a lawyer, and even before he was an activist, he was a young man on the club scene. In the early eighties, Duran says, “I was just a gay boy dancing on the bass speaker at the local gay bar... it was all about partying and sex.” Back in those carefree days, Duran had no inkling of the despair to come, how it would impact him personally, or his future role in combating “this horrible evil (that) came into all of our lives.”

The Center for Disease Control had been trying to put a name to a newly discovered phenomenon which was then being called GRID - Gay-Related Immune Deficiency. It would later become the pandemic known as AIDS - Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, affecting people of all backgrounds all over the world, regardless of race, biological sex, or sexual orientation. But at the time, it was the LGBT community in Los Angeles where the disease was first being investigated.

“Nobody responded...our government was not responding...our religious

institutions were condemning us people

were just letting us fall and drop and die

in our neighborhoods”

According to the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published by the CDC on June 15, 1981, “Five young men, all active homosexuals, were treated for biopsy-confirmed Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia at three different hospitals in Los Angeles” between October 1980 and May 1981. In just a short couple of years, a French team of scientists would isolate and identify the retrovirus that would later come to be known as HIV - human immunodeficiency virus.

Duran recognized that the world had some knowledge of HIV and AIDS, but nowhere near the extent to which it was known and being felt in the big cities and gay neighborhoods. “It was plague in our midst,” says Duran. “We all thought someone was going to take care of this. The President of the United States or the Center for Disease Control, ‘Somebody’s going to fix this.’ And nobody responded... our government was not responding... our religious institutions were condemning us... corporate America was nowhere to be seen... people were just letting us fall and drop and die in our neighborhoods.”

It was not until 1987, late into his second presidential term, that Ronald Reagan really even started to acknowledge the crisis in speeches. Reagan had only previously fielded one question on the matter at a press conference in 1985, where despite the better understanding of the scientific community even in those early days of knowledge about the disease, he expressed concerns over the danger of letting children with AIDS remain in public schools (it was 22 The Fight

no later than January 1986 that such a notion had already been debunked in popular culture by, of all things, the ABC sitcom “Mr. Belvedere”).

The stigma of the disease, the misinformation about its causes and means of transmission, and the blame being aimed at gays and lesbians, meant the fight for AIDS awareness would be as involved as the fight against AIDS itself, both for benefit within the LGBT community and to seek help from outside it. The community reacted to the general inaction and ignorance over the issue with a newly assertive agenda, in part from which the LGBT activism of the eighties was born. “All of these ordinary women and men,” Duran recalls, “ended up angry. Anger became the fuel that motivated most of us.” This movement included organizations that Duran either helped create, served for as a board member, or represented in legal matters, including AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) and Access Now for Gay and Lesbian Equality (ANGLE).

Duran’s work has also extended into advocating for alternative treatments for the suffering of HIV and AIDS patients, including medical marijuana, for which he has defended the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center. Duran also represented the Los Angeles Needle Exchange, one of many clean syringe programs globally.

As recently as 2007, the CDC reported, “injection drug use has directly and indirectly accounted for more than one-third (36%) of AIDS cases in the United States.” California, the state with the most needle exchange programs, has often been an epicenter of the debate over such harm reduction strategies. For example, in July 1998, the late punk rock musician Matty Luv and his partner Ro Giuliano were arrested for organizing a San Francisco exchange.

For Duran, his clients, and their allies like Luv and Giuliano across the nation, the goal was always prevention, and “whether or not we broke the law was irrelevant.”

Despite these efforts, there continue to be newly infected, from the young to the middle-aged. “One of the most difficult parts of HIV prevention has been constantly having to reinvent how we approach (the topic of) HIV transmission,” says Duran. “I think that’s the constant struggle from day one... in 2011, everybody knows how HIV is spread, it’s not a mystery. (But) the issue has always been that human sexuality is such a strong motivating force that it often trumps reason... add politics and religion and shame and guilt and desire, and then you top it off with alcohol or drugs. It is such a volatile mix that it becomes difficult to contain the spread.”

Duran found himself falling victim to the virus when he collapsed one unforgettable morning in December 1994. “I woke up and I wasn’t able to breathe. My lungs were filling with fluids... I developed thrush... along my gums and my tongue. It came without warning, it came from nowhere. The day before, I was feeling perfectly fine.”

This began a personal descent for Duran, during which he “ended up at the bottom of a bottle” dealing with depression, suicidal thoughts, and the loss of over 100 friends and 1,000 clients to the disease. “My boyfriend was HIV positive. Two of my law partners were HIV positive. All of my best friends had died or were in the

process of dying. It seemed pretty hopeless... everybody I knew and loved was just going to get sick and die. The world just seemed very dark.”

However, the election of Bill Clinton to the presidency helped usher in a more enlightened era, and organizations like ACT UP disbanded. New treatments, like protease inhibitors, emerged in the mid-nineties. For the first time in a long time, Duran felt hopeful.

“Maybe I wasn’t going to die.” He decided he had to “channel the energy away from just anger and heartbreak” into continuing his activism, campaigning for prevention and access for care, including a lawsuit against Los Angeles County for not providing

“we’re a stronger community, but we paid a heavy price. we paid in blood

...We were forged in fire and we’ve come

out stronger because of it. aIDS did not

defeat us.”

treatment to HIV positive prisoners. Duran was not only fighting for the rights and well-being of those neglected by society, but rectifying his self-neglect. It was not enough to get by surviving, but Duran had to “intend to live... I had to confront myself. ‘Look, I can live, I don’t have to die.’” For Duran, part of his dealing with his own HIV positive status has been taking on substance abuse,

though not limiting his efforts towards only his own recovery. Duran arranged the establishment of the West Hollywood Alcohol and Drug Recovery Center and has spoken out against the popularity of methamphetamine.

The week that THE FIGHT MAGAZINE spoke with Mayor Duran, there were rumblings in the media about yet another supposed cure that had come along. Duran wants to believe, but points out, “There have been many drugs that have come along that everybody thought was the cure... Compound 2... strange mushrooms that people found in the rainforests of South America... the idea of boiling blood in blood transfusions... those of us that have been around a while have a healthy skepticism about it.” That doesn’t stop Duran from his dream of opening the newspaper one day and seeing a headline, “in big three inch letters, ‘AIDS OVER.’ That’s, I think, what keeps me involved and keeps so many of us involved... we do have a belief and a hope that it will end at some point.”

As the country’s only HIV positive mayor, Duran has continued advocating for those in need, including the LGBT community for whom the epidemic necessitated funding and infrastructure. “AIDS shaped our politics, our institutions, and our culture in a very dramatic way.

We’ve gone through a plague in our country and it did reshape our culture. We’re a stronger community... but we paid a heavy price.

We paid in blood.” Duran finds it difficult to see any silver lining, but if there is one, it’s that “we were forged in fire and we’ve come out stronger on the other side because of it. AIDS did not defeat us.”

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The Fight 23

hiv/aids Healing & Wellness: The Natural Way VARIOUS FORMS OF ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE MAY COUNTERACT THE SIDE EFFECTS OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS PRESCRIBED FOR HIV/AIDS

BY JoAnna LaForce, R.Ph., CGP, Clinical Director of The Farmacy and Becky LaPlante, L.Ac. Staff Herbalist For thousands of years and in all areas of the world, plant medicines have been used for healing and wellness. They are powerful options or adjuncts to synthetic drugs.

The goal of The Farmacy (www.the-farmacy.com) is to take the mystery out of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), especially Traditional Chinese herbs.

We have also found that Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) does not just treat symptoms. Along with looking at the presenting symptoms of patients, CAM practitioners such as Chinese medicine Herbalists and Licensed Acupuncturists take into account the whole body system. They prepare a combination of fairly safe herbs that have worked for thousands of years and include other

techniques such as acupuncture or qi gong.

In an HIV patent for example, if recommended by a licensed physician, Cannabis would be used as an immediate herb to relieve symptoms such as pain, fatigue, appetite loss, depression or anxiety. Then herbs and other forms of alternative therapy (ie., proper nutrition, body work, biofeedback, massage, etc.) are recommended for the long term.

Herbal medicine is highly effective in strengthening the immune system and digestive organs, and in clearing excess inflammation and toxins from the body. It can also calm anxiety and treat depression; which in turn strengthens the immune system as well.

Chinese medicine, cannabis and other forms of alternative medicine are also safe and effective treatments to both complement and counteract the side effects of the multitude of prescription drugs prescribed for HIV/AIDS. We have found that it is important to take a holistic approach to patents with HIV/AIDS and treat the patient’s whole body, mind and spirit rather than just the symptoms presenting.

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The Fight 25

rostow report

OUR BELOVED MAINSTREAM MEDIA New York has become the sixth state to pass marriage equality. And you already have all the details from our beloved mainstream media. So there you are. Yay! While we’re on the subject of things in New York, I have been bothered by my liberal friends at MSNBC, who have lately been obsessed by the idea that Anthony Weiner was forced to resign by media and political pressure, while Louisiana Senator David Vitter and others have been allowed to wallow in scandal while keeping their seats.

I’m a loyal Democrat and love to expound on hypocrisy, but Weiner’s activities transcended your run of the mill sexcapade. The man sent photos of his junk to women he’d never met. That’s one small step removed from dropping his pants on the subway. Vitter’s prostitutes and Ensign’s affair are standard issue bad boy behavior, but Weiner’s been chugging crazy juice.

There’s something very disturbing about the man; the narcissism, the suicidal risk taking, the sexual dysfunction, the easy betrayal of his wife and the sicko nature of his offenses. Who cares if he never actually “had sex”? Would a peeping Tom be allowed to keep a seat in Congress? Answer, no. And Weiner’s closer to that category than his philandering colleagues.

ann Rostow

WHAT’S YOUR PORN NAME? MINE IS “NIKO LOWELL” So, what other blockbuster headlines have roiled our colorful GLBT news world in the last month?

We had a gay prom king somewhere and, elsewhere, a trans prom queen (Yay). The President issued a gay pride proclamation (Thanks). A court in Texas said a transwoman cannot receive her late firefighter husband’s $600,000 death payment.

That money will go to the man’s ex-wife or his kids thanks to my home state’s policy of simply ignoring gender reassignments (Bastards!).

26 The Fight

Oh, and speaking of gender, how about the Canadian parents who decided to keep the sex of their third child, Storm, a secret? When I first heard about the story, I thought they were going to try to raise Storm as an androgynous entity, liberated from stereotypes, which I thought was quite insane. We all condemn stereotyping, transphobia, and rigid roles. But is there something wrong with the simple fact of having a sex? I don’t think so!

From what I read, however, I think that the parents are just going to let Storm grow out of infancy without any particular pressure.

They seem fairly sane, so I assume that if little Storm turns out to be a typical boy or girl, then that will be that. But you know what really bugs me? The name “Storm.” It sounds like a porn name. I hope he or she is given the chance to pick another moniker around the age of 12.

BIN LADEN’S SECRET GAY LOVE! I have blog activist Michael Petrelis to thank for sharing his copy of the May 30 Globe, with its salacious cover headline: “Government Insider Reveals: Bin Laden’s Secret Gay Life!”

According to the snippets on Michael’s blog, Petrelis Files, Bin Laden fell in love

might as well pass along the unsubstantiated rumor that Texas Governor Rick Perry was caught in bed with another man by his wife sometime in the winter of 2003? 2004? I forget.

We were all working for the Texas Triangle at the time, and the gossip train was roaring down the track for about two weeks until the story sadly died.

‘TIL WYOMING DO US PART In legal news this month, there was a cool ruling out of the Wyoming Supreme Court, where justices unanimously reversed a lower court and gave the green light to a same-sex divorce.

According to the snippets on Michael’s blog, Petrelis files, Bin Laden fell in love with that courier guy back when they were hiding out from

American forces in caves

And in Wisconsin, a lower state court ruled

• The CIA & Bin Laden’s Salacious Gay Secrets • Loyal Democrats, Peeping Toms & Sexual Dysfunction • Kissing Lesbians, Security Guards & The 11th Commandment

with that courier guy back when they were hiding out from American forces in caves.

The two lovers stayed together for the next ten years (unnamed CIA sources suspected) and of course we know that the courier died defending the scruffy terrorist against Navy Seals.

that a domestic partner law that allows us to, I don’t know, get joint discount cards at the grocery store and sign duets, does not constitute an identical or similar status to marriage. The law will stand until the next court gets its hands on it. But hopefully it will survive that showdown as well.

It’s unclear how Bin Laden also managed to have five wives and at least twenty children, but other Globe sources speculated that the mass murderer might have been attempting to cover up his shameful secret.

Well, enough of legal news. That was exhausting. Instead, let’s discuss the grotesque cicada ice cream produced at a Columbia Missouri Dairy last month.

Hey. I’m convinced! And while we’re at it, I

the wings off the iconic insects, boiled the bodies and covered them in brown sugar and milk chocolate to make a base for the confection.

Sorry, that’s just gross. And yes, there are people who will eat insects. But indeed, there are people who will eat anything, now aren’t there? Does that make it right? Shave your cat and throw the fur into a stew pot with half a chicken and some carrots and people will eat it. Toss the old sponge from under the sink into the blender with some rum and orange juice and it’s party time somewhere. Just sayin’.

PEOPLE WHO HATE US Finally, we’ve had an unusually high number of people being mean to gays and lesbians in public places of late.

We have the two disabled gay men who were kicked out of a pool in Kentucky because they were too close to each other in the water, at one point standing stomach to stomach and splashing each other.

We have the lesbians who exchanged a brief kiss at a Minnesota Twins game and were told by a security guard that the stadium enforces the Ten Commandments.

By the way, which commandment bans kissing your partner when one of you is hitting the ladies room and the other is running to your seat to catch the start of the game? Must be number eleven.

Then there was the cashier at a DC Safeway who called her customers “faggots.”

The nice thing about these stories is that these days, the perpetrators of such nastiness are either fired, suspended or disciplined in some way, and their corporate employers rush to apologize and insist that their business is indeed the friendliest of gay friendly enterprises. So that’s all good.

Still, in the words of Rodney King, can’t we all get along?

Ann Rostow writes news analysis columns for THE FIGHT and other gay publications across the country. Rostow can be reached at: arostow@aol.com

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aesthetics

Male Cosmetic Surgery Procedures Everything you need to know about cosmetic options for men

BY DAVID KANETI

T

he number of men having plastic surgery to rejuvenate their face or improve their shape is growing by leaps and bounds.

Men want cosmetic surgery for the same reasons that women do. They want to look as young as they feel.

The most common plastic surgery procedures for men include liposuction, eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty), rhinoplasty, and breast reduction to treat enlarged male breasts (gynecomastia).

The following is a list of male cosmetic surgery procedures you may want to discuss with your doctor.

1. Rhinoplasty An operation aimed at correcting problems with the nose; the proverbial nose job as it is so commonly known!

Whether you may wish to have the size of your nose reduced or increased, or perhaps reshaped, the Rhinoplasty is the cosmetic procedure you will require.

2. Breast Reduction Surgery A procedure to tackle a condition called Gynaecomastia. This is when there is an abnormal increase in glandular tissue in the male breast area and is a fairly common health problem that can cause men embarrassment and discomfort.

3. Blepharoplasty For drooping eyelids and the removal of bags under the eyes; this is a very popular procedure.

4. Brow Lift To correct drooping eyebrows, pronounced facial lines and loose facial skin.

5. Cheek Implants The procedure to tackle weak (facial) cheek structure due to aging, trauma or congenital condition.

6. Chin Augmentation / Reduction Chin surgery is either performed to augment a weak chin, balance other facial features, such as a prominent nose or to reduce a prominent chin.

7. Facelift Essentially focused on eliminating the more visible facial signs of aging.

8. Fat Injections Effective in reducing wrinkles, hiding acne scarring and correcting facial defects.

9. Liposuction Extremely popular and effective, Liposuction is the removal of fatty tissue from any area of the body.

10 Mini Facelift A popular alternative to the full facelift, aimed at restoration of loose facial skin with minimal scarring.

28 The Fight

11 Otoplasty (Ear Pinning) A procedure to bring greater balance to facial features through the correction of prominent ears.

12 Tummy Tuck A procedure for the removal of excessive fatty tissue and skin from the abdomen and around the waist.

The Fight 29

Teaching Gay

Marriage equality groups struggle with the homophobic dog whistle that plays on the fear of children coming into contact with anything gay

BY ZINNIA JONES

30 The Fight

N

owadays, whenever a state is about to vote on gay marriage, anti-gay political groups will always use one very special tactic: They tell people that if gay marriage is legal, then their children will be taught about gay marriage in school. They do this because it works for them. It’s a homophobic dog whistle that plays on the fear of children coming into contact with anything gay. It relies on the perception of gay people as a threat to children, and encourages the idea that kids will be “recruited” into being gay.

When they talk about “teaching gay marriage in schools”, what they want you to hear is “teaching your kids how to be homosexuals.”

These smears and misconceptions have been floating around for decades. There’s hardly anything new about this, aside from the use of coded language now that it’s no longer feasible to say outright that gay people are going to molest your children. But what’s really disconcerting here is the response to these scare tactics by marriage equality groups. Every time it’s claimed that gay marriage will be taught in schools, they either let this pass unaddressed, or they fervently insist that this would never happen. But why is this something that should be refuted? If anti-marriage groups make a certain claim, are we obligated to contradict it, simply because they said it? In the rush to discredit these allegations, it seems like they’ve forgotten to question what’s so bad about this. Why shouldn’t it be taught in schools?

Let’s take a look at what’s at stake here. First, what does it mean to “teach” gay marriage? Well, what is there to teach about it? It’s not a complicated thing. If two people love each other and have a committed relationship, they can get married, just like straight people. Whatever a school might be teaching about marriage already - and there’s not very much to teach - this isn’t really anything new.

Of course, according to anti-marriage groups, this is practically the end of the world. They’ll offer up plenty of examples of the terrible things that can happen when gay marriage is legal.

For instance, teachers might read their class a tasteful and age-appropriate book about a prince marrying another prince, much like all those other books where princes marry princesses. Or a class of first-graders might be invited to their teacher’s wedding - hardly a rare occurrence, but somehow completely awful because their teacher is gay. Students might learn that there are all kinds of different families, including families with gay parents, which apparently isn’t something they should even know about. Or they might be taught that bullying people for their race, gender, disabilities, or sexual orientation is unacceptable - and telling them not to harass people for being gay is obviously just beyond the pale.

Have you noticed what all this outrage has in common? It’s based on the assumption that

there’s something substantially different about gay relationships, something threatening and inappropriate for children. Heterosexuality is always given a free pass, but the mere existence of gay people is seen as something that children either cannot comprehend, or are mentally unprepared for. It signifies that we’re not the same, and it blatantly suggests that we’re somehow dangerous.

Heterosexuality is always given a free pass, but the mere existence of gay people is seen as something that children either cannot comprehend or

are mentally unprepared for

It’s easy to understand the tactical reasons why marriage equality groups would deny that this will be taught in schools. They want to assure people that this is just about equal rights, and it has nothing to do with their children. But when they repeatedly claim that students won’t be learning about this, it raises an obvious question: If our marriages are nothing to be afraid of, then why do children have to be protected from them? If we just want to be recognized as equal, then why is this something to treat differently? Why do classrooms have to be purged of any mention of gay people, while straight people are accepted and celebrated without question? Why should we buy into the premise that this is something to be kept out of schools? Do we agree that children shouldn’t be at gay weddings, or that they shouldn’t learn that gay people can get married, or even know that gay people exist? Of course not. So why are we legitimizing the argument that this is something to fear?

Banning gay marriage wouldn’t stop schools from teaching about it anyway. They can do that whether it’s legally recognized or not, and they should. Gay people still exist, no matter what the law says about their relationships. Some of these students will grow up to be gay. Some of them have gay parents and gay relatives. And all of them will eventually know someone who’s gay. Pretending that everyone is straight is not education. It’s ignorance. This is the last thing we should be agreeing to. If we’re looking for affirmation of our equality, then it’s time to stop acting like we’re something less than equal.

Gay marriage does belong in schools, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Zinnia Jones, the self-proclaimed “Queen of Atheism,” addresses social, cultural and political issues on her blog at http://zinniajones.com/ blog/ The Fight 31

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COMMITTING TO YOUR CAT A cat will require care, attention and a commitment to look after it during its life which could be 10-15 years or longer. The commitment required includes not only routine feeding, care and time spent with the cat but also the provision of veterinary treatment if the cat becomes ill. This can be costly and there are a variety of insurance companies that offer insurance cover for cats to cover veterinary fees in the case of accident or illness. The most important factor in caring for a cat is routine. This will help the cat to settle and prevent undesirable habits. The cat’s daily routine will revolve around feeding, exercise and play - the three things that cats enjoy most. A cat will also need to be vaccinated annually. In addition cats need worming every 6 months and so there are regular medical costs associated with owning a cat.

FULL MOON PET INJURY LINK Injuries and illness among dogs and cats seems to be higher during full moon than at other times of the month, a study finds. But researchers don’t know why. The study finds emergency room visits for these pets increases during or near the full moon. In studying 11,940 cases at the Colorado State University Veterinary Medical Center, the researchers found the risk of emergency room visits to be 23 percent higher for cats and 28 percent higher for dogs on days surrounding full moons.

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32 The Fight

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books

outsider tart LONDONERS GOING GAGA OVER AMERICAN GAY COUPLE’S UNIqUE BAkE SHOP Business and life partners David Lesniak and David Muniz have taken London by storm with their award-winning American bake shop, Outsider Tart.

Now the two Davids are divulging the art of the tarts for the very first time in their new cook book, Baked In America (published by Ebury Press on August 4).

Packed with more than 120 original, innovative recipes, this irresistible collection ranges from classic favorites such as chunky banana muffins and chocolate peanut butter brownies to oatmeal maple cookies, white chocolate and raspberry cupcakes, red velvet cheesecake and an overwhelming range of Whoopie Pies.

Since opening the boutique bake shop in London’s leafy Chiswick neighborhood two years ago, Outsider Tart has become a local,

ex-pat and tourist cultural hot spot and all time favorite hang-out.

Designed by Lesniak, a renowned New York architect, Outsider Tart was named Cafe/Fast Food Outlet of the Year at the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards 2010.

With full color photography and stunning design throughout, Baked In America is every home baker’s dream. Resistance is futile. Copies are available for pre-order via Amazon.

For more info visit: www.outsidertart.com

t

The Fight 35

OUTFEST 2011 163 films from 25 countries: Expanding the possibilities of LGBT themes

O

Documentary Centerpiece “Hit So Hard”, Alan Brown’s “Private Romeo” about an all-boy staging of Romeo & Juliet in a high school military school, as well as the Closing Night Gala “The Perfect Family.”

In addition to the 163 films (67 features and 96 shorts) from 25 countries, Outfest hosts over a dozen panels and special events at seven venues across Los Angeles, including Hollywood, West Hollywood, Santa Monica and downtown Los Angeles.

Outfest will premiere a new programming section Docs @ 5 - a must-see selection of documentaries highlighting unique subjects from around the world. The selection includes “Paul Goodman Changed My Life,” “Orchids: My Intersex Adventure,” “Angel,” “Habana Muda,” and “I Am.” This series is co-presented by the International Documentary Association (IDA).

utfest, the Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization dedicated to nurturing, showcasing and protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media, has launched Outfest 2011: The 29th Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.

The nation’s leading LGBT festival and the oldest film festival in the city of Los Angeles, will be held July 7th to 17th, 2011.

The notable line-up of actors starring in this year’s movies include Kathleen Turner, Jason Ritter, Emily Deschanel and Richard Chamberlain (“The Perfect Family”), Dolly Parton (“The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” and “Hollywood to Dollywood”), Margaret Cho (“Cho Dependent” and “Drop Dead Dive”), Julia Ormond, Cheyenne Jackson and Illeana Douglas (“The Green”), John Waters, Jennifer Coolidge, Heather Matarazzo and Leslie Jordan (“Mangus!”), Esai Morales and Judy Reyes (“Gun Hill Road”), Lance Bass and Clay Aiken (“Drop Dead Diva”), Chloe Sevigny (“All Flowers in Time”); and documentary subjects Carol Channing (“Carol Channing: Larger Than Life”), Chely Wright (“Wish Me Away”), Patty Schemel and Courtney Love (“Hit So Hard”), Chaz Bono (“Becoming Chaz”), and Bruce LaBruce (“The Advocate for Fagdom”).

“This year’s line-up is one of the strongest in Outfest history and we’re excited to be showcasing work that is both exploring and expanding the possibilities of LGBT themes and challenging our audiences through their storytelling,” said Director of Programming Kim Yutani.

The John Anson Ford Amphitheatre will once again host the Under the Stars series, kicking off with the classic Dolly Parton musical “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” Other screenings include Margaret Cho’s new concert film “Cho Dependent,” the

36 The Fight

Margaret Cho, Lance Bass, Clay Aiken, series creator Josh Berman and director Jamie Babbit will take part in a panel of Lifetime’s “Drop Dead Diva.” The discussion follows a sneak preview of an upcoming episode inspired by the headline-making true story of Mississippi teen Constance McMillan who was denied access to her high school prom because she wanted to attend with her girlfriend. This special episode will air during the upcoming third season of “Drop Dead Diva.”

In its Four in Focus series, Outfest celebrates a quartet of first-time feature film directors who have boldly established their careers with accomplished, independently-produced debut features. The 2011 selections include: Lisa Aschan’s “She Monkeys,” Maryam Keshavarz’s “Circumstance,” Madeleine Olnek’s “Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same” and Eldar Rapaport’s “August.”

The Outfest Legacy Project will be screening a re-mastered version of Gregg Araki’s 1987 feature debut “Three Bewildered People in the Night,” as well as a compilation of shorts that have been selected from the world’s largest queer history collection at the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives.

For more information and for a complete listing of films in the Festival, log on to www.Outfest.org or call 213-480-7065.

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community GROUPS Asian/Pacific Gays and Friends www.apgf.org Gay Asian Pacific Support Network www.gapsn.org

Transgender Perceptions Ccall 323-860-7302 Get Centered Meditation Class.

Call 323-860-7300 Seniors Services Call 323-860-7359.

Los Angeles Gay Aviation Club www.unusualattitudes.info

Domestic Violence Support Call 323-860-5806

Club Nur Gay Middle Eastern clubnur.com

12-STEP GROUPS

Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles www.gmcla.org Los Angeles Prime Timers Social group for older mature gay men and admirers www.laprimetimers.org Los Angeles Gay Bridge Club www.communityvisions.org/ IAGLBC Los Angeles Gay/Lesbian Scientists www.lagls.org Los Angeles Gay for Good www.gayforgood.org Los Angeles Gay Naturism www.cmen.info Los Angeles Prime Timers www.laprimetimers.org Bi-Osphere P.O.V. Call 323-860-7302.

All groups meet at The Village at Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N McCadden Place, Los Angeles.

Call 323-860-7302 M-F between 6-9pm.

- Alcoholics Anonymous Mondays, 6:10-7:10 p.m.

- Crystal Meth Anonymous Saturdays, 9:10-10:10 a.m.

- Debtors Anonymous Tuesdays, 8-9 p.m.

- Marijuana Anonymous Wednesdays, 8:15-9:45 p.m.

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- Overeaters Anonymous Wednesdays, 7-8 p.m.

- Sexual Compulsives Anonymous Mondays, 8-9 p.m.

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Saturdays, 12:15-1:45 p.m.

- Women’s Narcotics Anonymous Saturdays, Noon-1 p.m.

Los Angeles Lesbian Rugby www.eaglerockrugby.com Women’s Southern California Golf www.womensgolf.org/wscga Los Angeles Lesbian Poker www.lalpg.com Los Angeles Women on a Roll Luncheons, Comedy Nights, and Conversation Groups. www.womenonaroll.com Los Angeles Gay Rodeo Club www.gsgra.org Los Angeles Gay Flag Football http://www.laflagfootball.com There’s also lesbian tackle football.

West Hollywood Gay Rugby www.larebellion.org Los Angeles Pool League Friendly Billiard teams www.lapl8ball.com Gay & Lesbian Bowling League www.tavernguildleague.com

SPORTS

Saga LA Ski & Snowboard Club www.sagala.org V.O.I.L.A. Volleyball www.lagayvolleyball.com

Los Angeles Lesbian Softball www.lagaysoftball.com

Great Outdoors www.greatoutdoorsla.org

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Los Angeles Lesbian Tackle Football www.californiaquakefootball.com

Gay And Lesbian Sierrans Camping, Outdoors, Hiking http://angeles.sierraclub.org/gls/ and family.

Cheer LA Cheerleading www.cheerla.org LA Rowing www.larowing.org Different Spokes Cycling www.differentspokes.com Southern California Blades Ice Hockey www.bladeshockey.com Los Angeles Frontrunners www.lafrontrunners.com West Hollywood Soccer Club www.gaysoccer.com Los Angeles Gay Scuba Club www.barnaclebusters.org Los Angeles Gay Rock Climbing www.lalgbtclimbing.com West Hollywood Aquatics Swim and Water Polo Teams www.wh2o.org

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Send Details to: editor@thefightmag.com

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