Metrosource LA - December 2019/January 2020

DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020 METROSOURCE LA

METROSOURCE

NICE PACKAGES HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

GEORGE MICHAEL’S

CHRISTMAS MIRACLE

DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020

ASIA KATE DILLON DANIEL NARDICIO ANGELICA ROSS NINA WEST AND MORE

PEOPLE WE LOVE

JONATHAN VAN NESS A CUT ABOVE

IMPORTANT FACTS FOR BIKTARVY®

This is only a brief summary of important information about BIKTARVY and does not replace talking to your healthcare provider about your condition and your treatment.

(bik-TAR-vee)

MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT BIKTARVY

POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF BIKTARVY

BIKTARVY may cause serious side effects, including:

BIKTARVY may cause serious side effects, including: } Those in the “Most Important Information About BIKTARVY” section. } Changes in your immune system. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fight infections.

Tell your healthcare provider if you have any new symptoms after you start taking BIKTARVY. } Kidney problems, including kidney failure. Your healthcare provider should do blood and urine tests to check your kidneys. If you develop new or worse kidney problems, they may tell you to stop taking BIKTARVY. } Too much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious but rare medical emergency that can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: weakness or being more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, stomach pain with nausea and vomiting, cold or blue hands and feet, feel dizzy or lightheaded, or a fast or abnormal heartbeat. } Severe liver problems, which in rare cases can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, or stomach-area pain. } The most common side effects of BIKTARVY in clinical studies were diarrhea (6%), nausea (6%), and headache (5%).

} Worsening of Hepatitis B (HBV) infection. If you

have both HIV-1 and HBV, your HBV may suddenly get worse if you stop taking BIKTARVY. Do not stop taking BIKTARVY without first talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to check your health regularly for several months.

ABOUT BIKTARVY BIKTARVY is a complete, 1-pill, once-a-day prescription medicine used to treat HIV-1 in adults. It can either be used in people who have never taken HIV-1 medicines before, or people who are replacing their current HIV-1 medicines and whose healthcare provider determines they meet certain requirements.

BIKTARVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS. HIV-1 is the virus that causes AIDS. Do NOT take BIKTARVY if you also take a medicine that contains: } dofetilide } rifampin } any other medicines to treat HIV-1

BEFORE TAKING BIKTARVY Tell your healthcare provider if you: } Have or have had any kidney or liver problems,

These are not all the possible side effects of BIKTARVY. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any new symptoms while taking BIKTARVY.

including hepatitis infection. } Have any other health problems. } Are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if BIKTARVY can harm your unborn baby.

Tell your healthcare provider if you become pregnant while taking BIKTARVY. } Are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed.

Do not breastfeed. HIV-1 can be passed to the baby in breast milk.

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.FDA.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Your healthcare provider will need to do tests to monitor your health before and during treatment with BIKTARVY.

HOW TO TAKE BIKTARVY

Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take:

Take BIKTARVY 1 time each day with or without food.

} Keep a list that includes all prescription and over-the-

counter medicines, antacids, laxatives, vitamins, and herbal supplements, and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist.

} BIKTARVY and other medicines may affect each other.

Ask your healthcare provider and pharmacist about medicines that interact with BIKTARVY, and ask if it is safe to take BIKTARVY with all your other medicines.

Get HIV support by downloading a free app at

MyDailyCharge.com

GET MORE INFORMATION } This is only a brief summary of important information

about BIKTARVY. Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist to learn more.

} Go to BIKTARVY.com or call 1-800-GILEAD-5. } If you need help paying for your medicine,

visit BIKTARVY.com for program information.

BIKTARVY, the BIKTARVY Logo, DAILY CHARGE, the DAILY CHARGE Logo, KEEP CREATING, LOVE WHAT’S INSIDE, GILEAD, and the GILEAD Logo are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies. Version date: December 2018 © 2019 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. BVYC0102 01/19

KEEP CREATING.

Because HIV doesn’t change who you are.

BIKTARVY® is a complete, 1-pill, once-a-day prescription medicine used to treat HIV-1 in certain adults. BIKTARVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS.

Ask your healthcare provider if BIKTARVY is right for you.

To learn more, visit BIKTARVY.com.

Please see Important Facts about BIKTARVY, including important warnings, on the previous page and visit BIKTARVY.com.

“WHY NOT JUST TELL THEM YOU’RE GAY?”

VIEWS

EDITOR’S LETTER

VICTOR WAS BEAUTIFUL: DARK HAIR, SMOOTH SKIN, TALL

2

and with shoulders like a linebacker. Since he was a senior and I was a freshman, I felt like an unformed ball of adolescent pudge next to what I perceived as his towering maturity. During the few conversations I had with him, I was awkward and tongue-tied. But we were both in my high school’s production of Fiddler on the Roof. So there was plenty of time to hide - just far enough outside his general orbit to not really be noticed but close enough to marvel. Guys wanted to impress him. Girls complimented at him adoringly until they were rewarded with one of his easy laughs. Toward the end of the production, we were all gathered on stage.Victor was telling the group how much we had meant to him. I started tearing up. He noticed and made a little joke about it. I was embarrassed but also grateful to have been seen.

He patted me on the back, tousled my hair, and pulled me in for a little hug. I remember trying to memorize the moment in case I never had the opportunity to be that close to him again.

Meanwhile, outside of theater, my school world revolved around Ms. Curry. As a history teacher, she dared to trace our nation’s history from the view of those who’d been disenfranchised by it - the Native Americans displaced by the colonists, the slaves who worked the plantations of the founding fathers. As a Speech & Debate team coach, she channelled my energy into competitive dramatic reading. This combined two of my great loves: being theatrical and receiving a grade.

These two worlds collided one day when I was meeting with Ms. Curry in her classroom.

Ms. Curry was the type of teacher who was constantly visited by upperclassmen and graduates in search of advice. This annoyed me. Those older boys had their time with her. Why should they get to constantly interrupt ours? That said, I didn’t mind Victor for interrupting my one-on-one coaching session. The musical had been over for some time; so I’d had little excuse to see him. And he was clearly upset about something. Ms. Curry graciously gestured for Victor to sit but also indicated that I should not leave. Turns out: Victor’s father had threatened to send him to military school. Quietly, I fumed. How dare he threaten my Victor?

“Why don’t you tell them you’re gay?” Ms. Curry suggested.

I choked. Was he gay? I’d had countless crushes on straight boys, but I had never known anyone in my life to be openly gay. What were the odds that this beautiful man, whom I’d spent so many hours adoring from across an auditorium, could share my shameful secret?

And why would Ms. Curry even hint at such sensitive information about another student?

“Even if it’s not true, it would be against the rules for them to accept you,” she continued.

Victor was not thrilled with this option. Without confirming or denying whether he was gay, he noted how angry it would make his father. Ms. Curry promised that she would give it thought and do everything in her power to keep him from this fate. Victor excused himself the heavy feeling of bearing a burden alone clearly lessened.

Ms. Curry looked back to me.“I assume Victor can count on your discretion,”she said matter-of-factly. Some part of my Catholic schoolboy self felt part of a conspiracy, but I nodded emphatically. I can’t be sure why Ms. Curry made me a part of that conversation. My instinct is that she had sensed my deeply divided feelings about my own sexuality. She knew I would benefit from seeing two people have a conversation that acknowledged the existence of gay people and that there were even ways it might be to one’s advantage.

Ms. Curry gave me a lot of great advice over the years, and I thought I’d be one of those boys who couldn’t stop coming back to her. However, while she remained a bedrock for me throughout high school, I never went back to interrupt a class or meeting as I’d seen so many others do. She had already understood me so completely and prompted me to grow so adeptly, I did not need to. But I do hope she knows how much better my life is because of her. ■ DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020

METROSOURCE.COM

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December2019/January 2020 | VOLUME 30, NO. 6

CONTENTS

production photo courtesy of netflix; nino Munoz/netflix • gents in underwear courtesy of skullandBones • dolls courtesy Mattel

26 38

24 dogs and do-overs our annual holiday pet salute follows a gay couple

whose lives were changed by a pair of pups.

26 Jonathan van ness QUEER EYE’s outspoken hair guru opens up about his

recent series of life-changing revelvations.

30 people we love Bands and Bosses, journalists and actors, influencers

and politicos - plus a chance for you to win!

38 gift guide wrap up soMething sexy for your sexpot and stylish

for your hotshot - from our list of primo presents.

46 travel looking for holiday Magic? Look to Croatia - from

its picturesque towns to its coast with the most.

ON THE COVER photo by production photos courtesy of netflix • nino Munoz/netflix

DEPARTMENTS

20

5

54 CULTURE 5 THE SCOPE Listen up for music from Taylor Mac, Idina Menzel, Harry Connick, Jr. and others. Plus, New Years Eve parties that rock.

14 SCREEN See a period piece about lesbian love and check out a legendary gay choreographer in 3D.

18 MUSIC What will new tunes from Pet Shop Boys sound like?

20 BOOKS Get more from Dior and mix high-end entertaining with Southern Charm.

22 FINANCE Will 2020 be a good year in the housing market?

BODY 12 METRO HIV Why is the military drumming out people with HIV?

44 HEALTH Whether it’s holiday hassle or winter weather, this time can leave you blue.

VIEWS 2 EDITOR’S LETTER A teacher makes a startling suggestion to Paul’s freshman year crush.

13 DIARY Wade and Gary have trouble getting into the holiday spirit in the desert.

64 LAST CALL Paul Feig on the musical magic of George Michael.

EXCLUSIVELY LA 52 LA SCOPE Have a micro-cation.

54 HOT SHOPS Hear sounds of the season.

56 WEDDINGS Choosing a wedding party.

58 RESTAURANT REVIEW Is Birdie G’s everything?

59 RESTAURANT BITES Where to chow down...

60 BAR SOURCE ... and where to drink up.

61 BUSINESS DIRECTORY Our exclusive list of businesses catering to the LGBT community.

63 COMMUNITY RESOURCES Organizations and resources for LA’s LGBTs.

This Page: idina Menzel by eric liebowiTz courTesy nbc • “The arT of The hosT” iMagery courTesy rizzoli/ iain bagwell • PhoTo courTesy MonTage laguna beach

PEOPLE WE LOVE

December 2019/January 2020 | VOLUME 30, NO. 6

THESCOPE

THIS PAGE: © LITTLE FANG PHOTOGRAPH_TM HOLIDAY SAUCE

CULTURE

THESCOPE

CURATED BY PAUL HAGEN AND SEBASTIAN FORTINO

TOUR HOT SAUCE THING WHEN IT COMES TO LIVE ENTERTAINMENT, YOU CAN’T GET MORE cutting edge than Taylor Mac.You may have heard about actor, playwright, performance artist, director, producer and singer/ songwriter receiving the coveted MacArthur “Genius Grant.”

Or perhaps you know someone who’s witnessed one of judy’s (yes, that’s the preferred “pronoun”) marathon performances of A 24-Decade History of Popular Music. And if you watched the Tony Awards, you likely remember judy’s memorable appearance in high drag describing the play Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus, which Mac penned. If so, now you can get into the spirit of the season with this performer who defies categorization. Mac is hitting the road performing Holiday

Sauce, an irreverent work that ruminates on the theme of “Christmas as calamity” across the country this December.

If you’re in the NYC area, you can catch judy in glamorous Newark at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Other cities that can brace for a taste of Mac’s Sauce include Richmond, VA, Washington, D.C., Ann Arbor, MI and Seattle, WA. And while one never knows quite what to expect from the artist, The Los Angeles Times says that the show casts a“cathartic spell to make things a little lighter for all those who find caroling, eggnog and enforced family visits destabilizing.” If nothing else, it’s sure to be fresher than yet another viewing of It’s a Wonderful Life or A Christmas Story marathon. taylormac.org METROSOURCE.COM DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020

5

‘TIS THE SEASON FOR STARS OF STAGE AND SCREEN TO MAKE ROOM IN

their concert setlists for a handful of holiday standards. Typically they’ll roll the dice on an original or two in the hope that they just might discover the next “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” This year’s crop includes Idina Menzel’s Christmas: A Season of Love. Her album will include a duet with Ariana Grande written by songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, who penned the ubiquitous Menzel hit from Frozen, “Let It Go.” She’s also teaming up with Billy Porter on “I Got My Love to Keep Me Warm,” Frozen 2 co-star Josh Gad for “We Wish You

the Merriest” and husband Aaron Lohr with “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” (idinamenzel.com). Meanwhile, Lea Michelle will pair up with her Glee musical producers, the Anders brothers, for Christmas in the City. The album features her with Jonathan Groff on “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” Darren Criss on “White Christmas,” and opposite Cynthia Erivo on “Angels We Have Heard on High” (leamichele.com). Comedienne Ana Gasteyer deserves her own award for the season’s best title: Sugar & Booze. Gasteyer will reunite with sister SNL alum Maya Rudolph on a track called“Secret Santa.”(anagasteyerinconcert.com)

STAGE ADVICE LOVER BOY HARRY CONNICK, JR. HAS DONE PLENTY

to endear himself to gay audiences, including playing Debra Messing’s love interest through several seasons of NBC’s Will & Grace. Now the crooner is taking a page (several, actually) out of the book of one of history’s greatest queer songwriters.

True Love: A Celebration of Cole Porter finds Connick delivering his renditions of beloved piano bar ditties like “You Do Something to Me,” “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To” and “Begin the Beguine.”

That’s in addition to dusting off such seldom-heard tunes as “Mind If I Make Love to You.” To sweeten the deal, he’ll be returning to Broadway for the first time since starring in 2011’s On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. The Great White Way

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DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020

METROSOURCE.COM

seems tailor-made for delivering the songs of Porter, whose music graced blockbuster runs and revivals of such hits as Anything Goes and Kiss Me, Kate. The show promises lush arrangements performed by a 25-piece orchestra, a multi-media presentation and plenty of Connick’s seductive singing and storytelling.

“By the time this show gets to Broadway, audiences should be in for a real treat,”said Jeffrey Kare, who reviewed the show for Broadway World when it premiered in North Carolina. Connick is slated to perform at the Nederlander Theater December 7-29 before embarking on a national tour. Whether you’re wild about Harry or love Porter, this is one lump of Cole you’ll be happy to receive. harryconnickjr.com

this page: idina Menzel by eric liebowitz courtesy nbc • harry connick Jr by randy holMes courtesy abc

CULTURE

THESCOPE

LISTEN BREAKING RECORDS UP

CIRCUIT SHAKERS WHITE PARTY BANGKOK

THIS PAGE: HANG TIME CREDIT - SUSANNA LEWIS, OFF WE GO INTO THE WILD BLUE YONDER, 1977. KNITTED AND APPLIQUÉD WOOL, RAYON, ANGORA, SATIN, AND LAMÉ. PRIVATE COLLECTION.

DECEMBER 27 - JANUARY 1 Ring in 2020 at Asia’s largest Gay New Year’s Festival! This fifth anniversary of White Party Bangkok promises a decadent five days of parties. Last year’s event was named the Circuit Festival of the year, and this year will strive to keep that kudo.

Parties include opening night, military- and jockthemed fetes on the way to The White Party on December 30th the Garden of Eden themed New Year’s Eve Party. whitepartybangkok.com

GAY NEW YEAR’S EVE KEY WEST DECEMBER 31 Longing for a little tropical weather? Instead of watching the ball drop on TV, head to the Southernmost City and see legendary Key West drag performer Sushi ring in the new year by dropping onto Duval Street in a larger-than-life high-heel! gaykeywestfl.com

MIDSUMMA FESTIVAL JANUARY 19 - FEBRUARY 9 Head down under to Melbourne, Australia for 20 days of LGBTQ+ excitement. The event opens with the Midsumma Carnival and culminates in the Midsumma Pride March. But there’s plenty of time in between to enjoy the festival’s celebration of arts from a queer perspective and enjoy all that Melbourne has to offer. midsummer.org.au

ASPEN GAY SKI WEEK JANUARY 11 - 19 Ready for a hot time on the cold slopes? A full week of events awaits at the oldest annual gay ski week celebration in the nation. Special packages are available for ski week virgins and ladies. Over 20 events offer something for everyone’s tastes even if you prefer to skip the slopes and focus on the aprés-ski. gayskiweek.com

WHISTLER PRIDE AND GAY SKI WEEK JANUARY 26 - FEBRUARY 2 The largest gay ski week in Canada has been happening since 1992, and 2020 promises tons of events to welcome you to the party! The January 31 Parade Day - known as the Whistler Pride SkiOUT & March - begins at Mid Station on Whistler Mountain and sees festival attendees slalom down the to Whistler Village with massive Pride. whistlerpride.com

ART BEAT

HANG TIME ARTISTS WORK IN MANY MEDIUMS. OFF THE WALL: AMERICAN ART TO WEAR

celebrates statements that double as wardrobe. You could call these pieces “wearable art,”but they’re much more than that: Each captures the zeitgeist of self-expression that began in the 1960s and has been a part of the fabric of America ever since. The exhibit is ensconced at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through May. Themes include “The Times They Are A Changin’” (a Bob Dylan reference)- to “Everybody’s Talkin’” (the theme from the first X-rated movie, Midnight Cowboy) and features designs from Julie Schafler Dale, whose Madison Avenue collection at Jule Artisans Gallery closed in 2013 after 40 years of celebrating one-of-a-kind wearable art created by American artists. Can’t make it to Philly? Check out the book of the same name copublished by the museum and Yale University Press. philamuseum.org METROSOURCE.COM DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020

7

“I’M SO HAPPY YOU’RE HAPPY.” IT’S ONE OF BETTE DAVIS’

most famous acerbic responses from the 1950 classic All About Eve. If you’ve ever quoted this – or one of her other droll witticisms, you’ll be happy to learn the Criterion Collection has released a gorgeous digital restoration of the backstage bitchfest. If you’re not familiar with the story, Davis plays Margo Channing – an actress who takes an interest in a fan named Eve Harrington who’s been to every performance of Margo’s latest play. Flattery gets Eve everywhere and the resulting story is one of the

NEXT UP

most exciting peeks behind the curtains of Broadway ever brought to film. But the real reason to buy hard media in the streaming age is the special features, and Eve is jam-packed. They include two audio commentaries (one featuring Celeste Holm, who plays Margo’s best friend), documentaries about the film’s director, a Hollywood Backstories about the making of the film, an interview with costume historian Larry McQueen, Bette Davis appearing on The Dick Cavett show and more. Altogether, it should make for one “very bumpy night,” indeed. criterion.com

LOVE AND LOSS ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 1ST, WE TAKE STOCK OF HOW THE

globe has been impacted by HIV/AIDS. Times have changed, with treatments to slow the spread of the virus and medications allowing those living with the diagnosis to enjoy normal healthy lives. However, we have lost nearly 35 million to conditions related to the disease and close to that many people still live with it today. How should one observe the occasion? Why not consider volunteering at an LGBTQ centers in your community offering STI and HIVtesting services? Remember that despite advancements in healthcare, the best way to protect yourself and others is knowing your status. It’s also important we take time to reflect on those who are still impacted by the illness.

The AIDS Memorial on Instagram has some 6,000 - and counting - remembrances of those whose lives were lost to the epidemic. It also features heroes in the war against HIV who have helped in the areas of healthcare or caregiving.

Take a few moments to read through these poignant recollections of love, loss and hope for a world without AIDS. Instagram.com/theaidsmemorial

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METROSOURCE.COM

this page: “all about eve” images courtesy criterion • World aids day photo by robert taylor

THESCOPE CULTURE

SCREEN IT BUMPY NIGHT

this page: Kerber’s cooKbooK image courtesy rizzoli • the l WorD photo creDit: hilary b gayle/shoWtime

INK SPOT

FARM BOY IF YOU OR YOUR PARTNER LONG FOR

country living but prefer a city view, The Kerber’s Farm Cookbook: A Year’s Worth of Seasonal Country Cooking (Rizzoli New York, $37.50) may be the ideal compromise for your kitchen bookshelf. Kerber’s Farm was nearly a casualty of real estate development.

After functioning as a farm and roadside country market for threequarters of a century, buyers wanted to turn the land into condos. Out chef and author Nick Voulgaris III couldn’t let that happen. So in 2013 he purchased the farm - which had

NOW AND THEN

been part of his childhood memories of Long Island. In just three years he’s not only maintained the working farm but also transformed it into a national brand. Neiman Marcus and Williams-Sonoma now carry Kerber’s Farm products, and Oprah Winfree placed their famed Kerberry Pie on her 2017 list of “Favorite Things.” Now this book lets you bring a taste of Kerber’s magic into your cooking with 50 recipes, ranging from their beloved baked goods to seasonal soups to homemade dog treats. kerbersfarm.com

WHAT THE L FOR SIX SEASONS (FROM 2004 THROUGH 2009) THE L WORD BROUGHT THE

lives and loves of a group of LA lesbians to television in a program that became a touchstone for queer people everywhere. That became even more true when new generations discovered the show – first on DVD and then on streaming services. But starting December 8 on Showtime, there will be a whole generation to love. The L Word: Generation Q will welcome back some main characters from the original series. Fans will recognize favorites like art aficionado Bette (Jennifer Beals), lovable chatterbox Alice (Leisha Hailey) and Lady Lothario Shane (Katherine Moening). Showtime has advertised the 8-episode series as “a bold new show for a bold new generation.” As such, we expect to see the series continue to emphasize racial diversity and incorporate a broader range of identities in terms of orientation and gender identity – much like the recently rebooted Tales of the City. And if Generation Q is to carry on the tradition of the original, we’ll expect long, languorous sequences of steamy simulated sex. But as excited as fans of the original will be to see Bette run for Mayor of LA and Alice host her own talk show, the series is likely to stand or fall based on the charms of its bevy of new young characters (pictured). showtime.com METROSOURCE.COM DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020

9

IN VICTOR VOE’S FAMILY, MILITARY SERVICE SKIPPED A GENERATION. BOTH HIS

grandfathers served. And, as an airman himself, he’s been joined now by his brother and brother-in-law in serving the United States.“It was never really something I considered when I was growing up,” he concedes. But confronted with a taxing job market, he says,“I needed to try something different, so I enlisted a year or so after college.”

Eight years later, the active duty serviceman is fighting in federal court to remain in the Air Force. He was discharged not because he is gay — but because he’s HIV positive. Voe and Richard Roe (which are pseudonyms) are challenging the legality of the Pentagon’s “Deploy or Get Out” policy, which prevents service members living with HIV from deploying outside the country without a waiver. They see the policy as discriminatory.

BODY

Scott Schoettes

LIVING THE WITH HIV IN MILITARY

A policy change threatens to drum HIV+ people out of the military. But they’re not leaving without a fight. BY JEFF SIMMONS

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METROSOURCE.COM

The new guidelines were announced by the administration in early 2018.

They direct the Pentagon to identify service members who cannot be deployed to military posts outside of the country for more than 12 consecutive months. Such troops are then recommended to be severed from service. Since the military considers people with HIV as non-deployable - unless they get a waiver - they face immediate discharge.

Lambda Legal, the Modern Military Association of America and the law firm Winston & Strawn LLP filed suit in May 2018. They were initially unsuccessful in seeking a preliminary stay against the practice, citing discrimination. But then the government began discharging HIV positive members, and a subsequent court filing – challenging the discharges - was successful in securing an injunction.

This past September, the US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit weighed the Department of Defense’s appeal, which reasons that the two airmen could no longer perform their duties because their fields required them to deploy frequently and their condition prevented these deployments.

THE ARGUMENTS AGAINST Scott Schoettes, HIV Project Director and Counsel at Lambda Legal, argued the case. He dismissed the government’s contentions that the servicemen presented a heightened risk of transmitting HIV in the battlefield, and that it was unable to provide necessary care to those with HIV. In fact, both airmen adhere to treatment regimens that have left them non-transmittable and with undetectable viral loads.

“There is certainly an atmosphere where these [prejudicial policies] are being more tolerated or encouraged,” Schoettes says. “It does create an atmosphere in which populations vulnerable to these kinds of attacks suffer the consequences.” He adds, “If you are in the Air Force now, you have to worry about being discharged. It would end your military career - as they have attempted to do with our named plaintiffs and five other individuals we know about.”

Both airmen are demanding their impending discharges be ruled unconstitutional and stopped. Their goal is to continue to serve. Voe stresses that the case is not about seeking payouts but policy change.

“I really hope that there are people out there who know we are not doing this for monetary advantage to get something from the Air Force,” Voe says. “We want to be able to serve in the military and do what we promised to. We are not doing this for ourselves.”

■

THIS PAGE: PHOTO BY BOOK COVER PHOTOS / SHUTTERSTOCK

METROHIV

A BIASED POLICY

STOCK PHOTO COPYRIGHT: PHOTO BY VLADORLOV / SHUTTERSTUCK

For the first time in our adult lives, my husband and I had made the monumental decision to spend Christmas together, just the two us. Moreover, Gary and I – two born and bred Midwestern boys – had decided to spend it in our new home in Palm Springs. But we were consumed with guilt. Our families were making us feel off-kilter for not traveling back to see them — although no one ever came to visit us for the holidays. We were also feeling guilty about giving up, quite literally, our holiday roots. These included decorating seven live trees in our Michigan cottage, decking mantels in garland and lighting every snowy, showy pine in our woods. Our beloved boxes of pinecone lights, snowshoeing Santas, and lake-themed ornaments were a world away.

“What do you decorate in the desert?” Gary asked, pretending to touch a needle on the cactus.“Ouch.”

“At least it’s green,”I said.

Gary looked at me. “I’ve got an idea.” I brightened at his hopeful tone.“Why don’t we go to the cactus tree farm and cut down our own cactus and put in on top of our car, just like we did in Michigan?”

“Ouch,”I said this time.

Gary was right, though. How did one recreate a beloved tradition in a new way and place that would honor what we cherished most about the holidays?

“Why don’t we bake and decorate cookies?”I suggested.

Gary looked at me.“It’s eighty degrees. We won’t even need to turn on the oven.” The sun was shimmering through olive trees, and the smell of freshly mowed grass recalled summer. I knew I’d have to set a different mood.

“Alexa,”I called.“Play… ”I stopped, thinking of just the right thing.

“Rat Pack Christmas.”

As Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra began to croon, I was trans-

ported back in time to holidays with my family. My grandparents and great aunts and uncles played this music as they made martinis and decorated silver trees with beautiful, colorful glass ornaments. Those were magical memories that I’d always held dear.

“We’re going to get a tree,”I said to Gary.

“Where’s the tree farm around here?”he asked sarcastically.

I drove Gary to our local hardware store, which I’d heard had the hippest holiday décor. It was like walking into Santa’s workshop circa mod mid-century. There were aluminum and tinsel trees in a rainbow of colors - pink and aqua, silver and white. Their limbs were draped in brightly-hued, geometrically-shaped ornaments and vintage-looking bulbs. Color wheels spun underneath some, creating a retro rainbow effect.

Gary’s eyes got as big as the bulbs. He walked over to a massive silver tree.“This one,”he said.

“Just one?”I asked.

His face lit up more brightly than the trees.

We bought four, in every size and color. Our grandparents’ ornaments, which we’d brought with us but never unearthed, soon adorned them. We set up vintage bottle brush villages, hung felt stockings and tinsel wreaths. Here, decorations that had never worked in our Michigan country Christmases, somehow did.

We even lit up that big cactus. And, yes, Gary got pricked while wrapping it in twinkling lights. But it was worth the effort.

When we were done, Gary poured himself some sparkling water, and I made myself a martini.“Rat Pack Christmas” music played as we admired our trees. We even ended up sharing holiday memories we’d never shared before. We reminisced about our grandparents, and it was like our family was surrounding us again.

That Christmas turned out to be mid-century instead of Midwestern. But most importantly, it was all ours.

■ METROSOURCE.COM DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020

DIARY

“WHAT IF WE LIT A CACTUS?” WITH THAT, GARY NEARLY BEGAN TO CRY.

VIEWS

Wade and Gary decide to spend the holidays in Palm Springs, but struggle to set the mood without frosty forests and family. BY WADE ROUSE

13

LOYALTY AND ROYALTY

JOJO RABBIT KIWI DIRECTOR TAIKA WAITITI IS ON A HOT STREAK. HIS SECOND

film, Boy, was a well-received indie full of heart and laughs.

His third film, What We Do in The Shadows, was a savagely funny vampire mockumentary later turned into a TV series.

His Hunt for The Wilderpeople was a surprising mix of familyfriendly yet terrifically funny fare. And the hilariously fresh Thor: Ragnarok saw Taika take a seat at Marvel’s mighty table. Now, Waititi wakes on the Nazis. Making light of the Nazis in film is nothing new. Charlie Chaplin took a swing (The Great Dictator). Mel Brooks did too (To Be or Not To Be).

Roberto Benigni (Life is Beautiful) and Quentin Tarantino (Inglorious Basterds) dabbled as well. The trick is to include enough truth about how deadly horrible they could be. Jojo Rabbit does that. Doubtless many consider any movie dealing with the Nazi era through a lens of humor to be anathe-

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ma. But if you can handle it, Jojo Rabbit will make you laugh and cry. With the sunny and quirky, storybook air of a Wes Anderson film (I’ve heard Jojo referred to as “Moonriech Kingdom”) Waititi tells the story of bright-eyed little Jojo (played with sparkling appeal by newcomer Roman Griffin Davis) as he aspires to be just like Adolph Hitler. Jojo even makes Hitler his imaginary friend (played hilariously by Taika himself). But little Jojo doesn’t do too well under his instructor (Sam Rockwell). Alfie Allen (Game of Thrones) and Rebel Wilson (Pitch Perfect) play some of Rockwell’s goofy Nazi cohorts and provide some good laughs. But as Jojo’s mom, Scarlett Johansson brings much of the heart to the film, especially when her secret is revealed. THE WORD: A delightful funny film that encourages you to laugh even as it insists that you never look away from the horror of human cruelty. COMING TO: Theaters

THIS PAGE: PHOTO BY LARRY HORRICKS. © 2019 TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

CULTURE

SCREEN

Sapphic love between a painter and her subject, a legendary gay choreographer goes 3D, Timothée Chalamet gets nearly Shakespearian and an all-star cast puzzles through a murder mystery. But first: Do ScarJo and Co. have the Reich stuff? BY JONATHAN ROCHE

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE

This Page: PorTraiT of a Lady on fire PhoTo CourTesy neon • The King PhoTo CourTesy neTfLix

THIS WONDERFUL WINNER OF THE QUEER

Palm at Cannes is an exquisitely nuanced story of lady-love between an artist and the young woman whose portrait she’s commissioned to paint. Marianne (Noémie Merlant, Heaven Will Wait) arrives on a lonely island in a small boat. Her tenacity is palpable, even under her drenched dress. The mistress of this bleak estate is played by Valeria Golino (Rain Man, Hot Shots) - her beauty scarcely diminished since the ‘80s. She mentions her daughter will soon marry a rich stranger, but there’s an intense sense of mystery surrounding the girl. When Héloïse (Adèle Haenel The Unknown Girl) appears, her fiery, beguiling nature does not disappoint. Soon the artist’s probing gaze is filled with the image of a woman caught between her familial duties and her defiant spirit. When the women recognize the intelligence and passion they both possess, their love ignites. Yet passion so potent can only last so long. Director Céline Sciamma (Tomboy, Girlhood) crafts a period love story grounded in beatific moments of womanhood that also soars with high-minded concepts and intricately woven themes.

Poetic yet marvelously accessible, this film shows how only love that is fleeting can truly be eternal. THE WORD: Two absolutely captivating leads and Sciamma’s rapturous truth-telling make this French film a must-see. COMING TO: Theaters

THE KING DIRECTOR DAVID MICHÔD TEAMS UP WITH

fellow Aussie Joel Edgerton (Boy Erased) to take us into Shakespearean territory - but not really. Though The King covers many of the happenings found in Shakespeare’s “Henriad” history plays, it never employs any of the Bard’s own words. We still get the young prince Hal (Timothée Chalamet) rejecting his ailing father, King Henry IV (Ben Mendelsohn - Rogue One, Captain Marvel) in favor of drinking with his buddy and alternativefather-figure, John Falstaff (Edgerton).

When the king dies, Hal inherits the crown and all the attendant problems of 15th-century England. Foremost among these is the Hundred-Year-War with

France. When a French assassin is accused of plotting to kill the new king, Hal takes the fight to the continent. The film zeroes in on the grim realities of war and power. Falstaff becomes a battle-humbled warrior and Hal’s closest confidant – despite competing advice from others.

Their ultimate muddy clash is gritty and well executed. It culminates in an unusual duel between Hal and the French prince (the talented and beautiful Robert Pattinson). The ending is unexpected, though consistent with the film’s strong theme of corruption with a glimmer of romantic hope. THE WORD: A powerhouse, mostly male cast offers strong performances, headed by an undeniably regal Chalamet. COMING TO: Netflix

METROSOURCE.COM DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020

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CULTURE

SCREEN

NOAH BAUMBACH’S NEW FILM HARKENS BACK TO ONE OF HIS FIRST

and best - The Squid and The Whale - with a very realistic and also very personal look at a family falling apart. But while Squid tells the tale of brewing family unrest from the kids’ perspective, Marriage Story focuses on a blood-bath divorce from the parents’ vantage point. The combatants, Charlie (Adam Driver) and Nicole (Scarlett Johansson), seem to represent NYC and LA and the fundamental (perhaps irreconcilable) differences between the two. After living, working, and raising a young boy for years, the seemingly perfect couple have agreed to divorce in a civilized fashion with no need for lawyers. Actress Nicole returns home to LA and begins shooting a TV pilot. Charlie continues di-

CUNNINGHAM AS WIM WENDERS’ 2011 KNOCKOUT FILM PINA SO APTLY DISPLAYED,

dance documentaries are better in 3D. Of course this means if you don’t happen to have such a entertainment system sitting around at home, you’ll have to get yourself to a proper cinema.

But this detailed and intimate look at the life and career of influential and groundbreaking choreographer Merce Cunningham will reward your effort. The film draws from a wealth of archival

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recting the acclaimed NYC theater company where Nicole rose to stardom. When the realities of the ex-couple sharing a small child 3000 miles apart finally descend, so do the lawyers. They are particularly well cast. Laura Dern is Nicole’s graceful but steel-hard representative. Charlie eventually trades Alan Alda for an intimidating Ray Liotta. The attorneys are as heartless as they need to be, but Charlie and Nicole are much more complex and caring, so it is particularly potent to witness them spelunk to surprising depths of acrimony. Julie Hagerty (What about Bob?) and Merritt Wever (Unbelievable) are imminently watchable as Nicole’s mother and sister. THE WORD: An excellently acted and observed tale of love and divorce that takes you all the way to the bottom – and out the other side. COMING TO: Netflix

footage, then adds to those with notes and arrows like an artist’s journal. Director Alla Kovgan provides a remarkable, rich look at Cunningham’s work. While the film leans into a career that stretches from 1944 to 1972, Cunningham continued to be active until his death in 2009 at age 90. Accompanying the archival (often black and white) footage of Cunningham and collaborators are wonderfully colorful modern restagings of famous pieces.

There are some heavy hitters among those aforementioned collaborators. Foremost is legendary experimental composer John Cage, who shared a romantic relationship with Cunningham, in addition to providing music to his movement. We also hear a lot of Cunningham and Cage talking, which adds another level of intimacy to an already impressive film. Robert Rauschenberg also designed the sets for performances; Jasper Johns and Roy Lichtenstein did as well. Andy Warhol contributed, too. Don’t miss the silver-inflated pillows he designed to be kicked by the dancers as they flitted across the stage. More recently Cunningham’s company worked with the bands Radiohead and Sigur Rós. THE WORD: It’s a chronicle of modern dance speaking an ineffable and essential language that no one needs any pervious knowledge or experience to understand. COMING TO: Theaters

This page: CUNNiNghaM © MarTiN Miseré. phoTo CoUrTesy of MagNolia piCTUres • Marriage sTory phoTo CoUrTesy NeTflix

MARRIAGE STORY

SCANDALOUS

This Page: scandalous PhoTo courTesy magnolia PicTures • knives ouT PhoTo crediT claire folger. PhoTos courTesy of lionsgaTe

THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER ONCE SEEMED

like innocent magazine trash meant to entertain Americans in line at the supermarket. However, Scandalous reveals – in fascinating detail – how it can be a powerful and dangerous tool of distraction and misinformation. In the 1930s and ‘40s, it became a voice for isolationism and fascist propaganda. It morphed into its more familiar incarnation after being purchased and reshaped by a man whose father owned and operated New York’s largest Italian language newspaper. Generoso Pope, Jr., who made The Enquirer into a purveyor of headlines you couldn’t look away from, but also didn’t show things you didn’t want to see. One of the magazines biggest successes came when they paid an insider to get a picture of Elvis in his coffin.

And when the OJ Simpson circus was heating up, they invested more money and manpower in the story than any other news outlet - and reaped the profits. (Notably, they uncovered evidence which is said to be why Simpson lost his civil suit against him.) The Enquirer also made deals: Why run stories about a beloved comedian drugging and raping women, when they could trade silence for exclusive access for more positive stories? And why not make a similar arrangement with an actor who’d become governor of California or a tycoon who’d be president?

THE WORD: Despite these grim realities, the film is rather charming, and the staff seem like they’d be absolutely fabulous to drink with. COMING TO: Theaters

KNIVES OUT STILL PRECOCIOUS AT 46, DIRECTOR RIAN JOHN-

son (Looper, Star Wars: The Last Jedi) combines a whimsical murder mystery with an estimable ensemble cast. The formula is tried and true (see: Murder by Death, Clue). And Johnson is no stranger to a mystery mash-up. His breakout 2005 film Brick successfully combined hard-boiled detective noir with high school drama. Now, Knives Out pairs mystery with family.

When legendary mystery author Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) turns up murdered after his 85th birthday party, everyone in his family is a suspect. The action revolves around Harlan’s personal nurse and caregiver Marta (Ana de Armas Bladerunner 2049), who has the peculiar condition of vomiting every time she has to lie. Her malady is exacerbated when a police detective (LaKeith Stanfield - Get Out) arrives accompanied by the last of the great gentleman private investigators, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig, sporting an impressive southern accent). Armas and Craig display solid chemistry, which is nice considering they’ll star together in the next James Bond romp. But it’s a chemistry competition with a phenomenal cast in play. Chris Evans really pops as the family’s irreverent black sheep. Meanwhile, Toni Colette vibrates as a widowed daughter-in-law energetically clutching the family fortune. Jamie Lee Curtis plays the eldest daughter with Don Johnson as her husband. Katherine Langford (13 Reasons Why) plays Toni Colette’s daughter, while Jaeden Martell (It) is the right-wing son of Riki Lindhome and Michael Shannon. Even Frank Oz (The Muppets’ Fozzie Bear himself) makes an appearance. THE WORD: Crisp, clever and fairly original - it doesn’t reinvent the mystery, but does deliver a good time. COMING TO: Theaters METROSOURCE.COM DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020

17

NEW EARS RESOLUTIONS

PET SHOP BOYS EIGHTIES SYNTH-POP VETERANS PET SHOP BOYS WILL DROP THEIR AS-YET-UNTITLED 14TH STUDIO

album in early 2020. Details are few at the moment, but we can confirm they’ll be including the already-released“Dreamland,”a duet with out British vocalist Olly Alexander ofYears & Years. The duo has never veered too far sound that they originated back in the MTV video era; so it’s safe to expect more of the sounds and beats that have made them an institution.

JEFF GOLDBLUM HALSEY OPENLY BISEXUAL POP SIREN HALSEY RETURNS IN JANUARY

with Manic, her third studio release. The record features #1 2018 single, “Without Me” (co-written by Justin Timberlake) and the country-influenced “Graveyard.”

Expect the unexpected on the new collection as she incorporates rock, hip-hop, soul, folk and a kaleidoscope of other influences. The accompanying Manic World Tour begins in February.

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ACTOR JEFF GOLDBLUM IS PUTTING THE FINAL

touches on his second studio album with the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This. The sparkling jazz effort includes a range of guest vocalists, including the varied talents of Fiona Apple, Anna Calvi, Inara George and the swiftly rising indie star Sharon Van Etten. His charisma, lightheartedness and eccentricities work wonders on this piano-driven LP.

this page: halsey - credit Zoey grossman • pet shop Boys - credit laBel • Jeff goldBlum - credit PARI DUKOVIC

An English avant-pop star chronicles a bitter breakup, there’s new Pet Shop Boys on the way, and girl power is trending on the underground scene. BY MATT GROSS

GIRL POWER it happeNed iN 1992 - wheN riot-grrrl Music was

this page: soccer MoMMy - credit Natalia MaNtiNi • Mitksi - credit Bao Ngo • aNgel olseN - credit caMeroN Mccool. • Fka twigs - credit laBel

breaking through thanks to the likes of Le Tigre, L7, Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney (the latter two of which recently reunited). Then lightning struck again in the ‘90s when both alternative and Top 40 stations embraced female artists as never before.

Think Alanis Morissette, Jewel, Lauryn Hill, Joan Osborne and Natalie Merchant — just to name a few. And of course, nothing said Girl Power quite like the moment Sarah McLachlan launched Lilith Fair, which sold out amphitheaters across the US for three consecutive summers. A similar movement is brewing again in the indie/underground scene.

The list is too long to mention, but artists to watch include:

Soccer Mommy a gifted singer-songwriter that brings to mind Exile in Guyville-era Liz Phair. Essential Listening:“Your Dog”

Mitski bridges experimental music and traditional pop in a fashion entirely her own. Essntial Listening:“Your Best American Girl”

Angel Olsen an artist with a flair for drama and a cinematic scope that recalls Kate Bush at her peak.

Essential Listening:“All Mirrors”

FKA TWIGS

Magdalene (Young Turks) ON HER HIGHLY ANTICIPATED SOPHOMORE RELEASE, THE ENGLISH AVANT-POP

act is all exposed nerve and viscera. Nearly every track chronicles a bitter breakup. Over the last few years, FKA Twigs (born Tahliah Barnett) has become a critical darling, drawing comparisons to artists as disparate as Bjork, Sade and Aaliyah. Her debut release - simply titled LP1 - received a range of accolades, including a coveted Mercury Prize nomination.

Twigs’ musical and personal style is unconventional, mysterious and alluring. Of Magdalene, the dancer/singer/artist explains: “I never thought heartbreak could be so all-encompassing. I never thought that my body could stop working to the point that I couldn’t express myself physically in the ways that I have always loved and found so much solace. … The process of making this album has allowed me for the first time, and in the most real way, to find compassion when I have been at my most ungrateful, confused and fractured. I stopped judging myself and at that moment found hope.” Its most delicate and gutwrenching track is the album’s closer,“Cellophane.”With both the song and its accompanying surreal video (featuring Twigs on a stripper’s pole), she turns in a performance of stunning vulnerability. Meanwhile, on “Holy Terrain” - a ‘90s R&B inspired duet with rapper Future, she roars with invigorated confidence - quite nearly the polar-opposite of “Cellophane.” Twigs has been navigating her own path from the very beginning, and this album is no exception.

METROSOURCE.COM DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020

19

A visionary fashionista sets the mood for brooding in a series of intimate photographs.

And ... High Society discovers Southern Hospitality. BY SEBASTIAN FORTINO

THE DIOR SESSIONS TREATS READERS TO OVER 100 PHOTOGRAPHS

THE DIOR SESSIONS Photographs by Nokolai Von Bismarck, tailored by Kim Jones, forward by Alexander fury; Rizzoli New York; $125.00

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METROSOURCE.COM

celebrating the work of Kim Jones, Artistic Director for Dior Men since March 2018. Jones has been a design world fixture since 2003, when he debuted his first collection at London Fashion Week. He’s also been associated with such fashion stalwarts as Topman, Mulberry and McQueen. The book offers a series of haunting photographs captured by Nikolai Von Bismarck.

The text describes them as “intimate and revelatory portraits of figures, public and private.” The Dior Sessions was conceived by Jones and Von Bismarck while strolling through London’s famed Hyde Park. Their goal was to deliver “a diverse cross-section, of people who do amazing things,” said Jones. Ultimately, the book celebrates both Jones’ aesthetic and that of legendary couturier Christian Dior, who surrounded himself with all the beau monde had to offer in terms of creatives and muses. Models, musicians, actors and other luminaries populate his creative journey. An image of Eddie Redmayne seems to ask what the viewer is thinking. Likewise, it’s impossible to gaze at the image of Rupert Everett and not wonder what role he is preparing for. And the peripatetic David Beckham, who seems so perpetually in motion, finds stillness posed as a Dior-clad variation of Rodin’s contemplative “The Thinker” - the darkness of his ensemble against a brooding backdrop punctuated by tattoos peeking out from white cuffs. Overall, the book’s unifying sentiment seems to be riffing on the old adage about how clothes do or don’t make the man. But here, it’s the clothes that make the mood.

THIS PAGE: IMAGES FROM “THE DIOR SESSIONS” COURTESY RIZZOLI / NOKOLAI VON BISMARCK; TAILORED BY KIM JONES

BOOKS CULTURE

APPROACHES TO ART

THE ART OF THE HOST: RECIPES AND RULES FOR FLAWLESS ENTERTAINING

By Alex Hitz, with photography by Iain Bagwell; Rizzoli New York; $45.00

THIS PAGE: “THE ART OF THE HOST” IMAGERY COURTESY RIZZOLI/ IAIN BAGWELL

FOR THE SEASONED HOST – AND THOSE

that long to be, Alex Hitz delivers a beautiful guide that helps define the art of hosting for the novice or takes more tested talents to the next level. Hitz certainly knows how to entertain: He’s an award-winning chef, columnist, speaker and planner of divine parties - from his hometown of Atlanta to the Hollywood Hills of LA and NYC’s Park Avenue. This collection of 100 recipes and tips celebrates the lifestyle of a bon-vivant infused with Southern hospitality that dictates guests should be treated as family. But this knowledge comes across to the reader with the aplomb of a well-penned memoir, as Hitz offers inspiration and anecdotes that are equally memorable. He interprets classics anew – as in Caroline’s Tipsy Ambrosia, Orange Bourbon Poundcake, or a stunning Risotto alla Milanese. And he’ll refresh you on such basics as zesty vinaigrettes, lush homemade mayonnaise and a delightful onion puff inspired by Bel Air. Readers will likely be inspired to incorporate Hitz’ suggestions into their own entertaining. That could easly mean anything from inviting friends over for a Boxing Day buffet to fearlessly tackling the daunting demands of Thanksgiving. But even those who don’t plan to put Hitz’ how-to into action will learn something new from each of his handsomely crafted menus.

METROSOURCE.COM DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020

21

I’VE GOT

REAL ESTATE We compare forecasts for the 2020 real estate market – and how they overlap with places where LGBTQ people are buying property. BY JENNIFER DAY IT SEEMS 2019 WAS A BENEFICIAL YEAR FOR BOTH WOULD-BE HOMEOWNERS

INVENTORY IN LGBTQ PLACES

and real estate investors. The rise in home prices started to slow; mortgage rates dipped to unexpected lows. And many analysts predict a buyer’s market may be on the horizon. All of these trends are good news for anyone looking to buy. So, let’s take look ahead at the 2020 real estate scene.

Forecasters suggest that the overall inventory of available homes for sale should remain stable. And while it’s still a seller’s market in most places, buyers can expect less competition than in previous years. In most cities, homes are now taking longer to sell and price reductions are more common. Combine that with low mortgage rates, and you can conclude it’s a good time to search for a home.

Where should you consider buying? Well, realtor.com based its list of the best places for LGBTQ people to live on areas where same-sex couples are a large portion of the population and local governments have strong anti-discriminatory laws and policies.

(Though neither NYC nor LA cracked its top ten.) And PricewaterhouseCoopers recently issued a report on emerging trends in real estate for 2020. Fortunately, there seems to be significant overlap between the two lists in other cities.

San Francisco is ranked first for LGBTQ people and twelfth for real estate markets nationwide. Meanwhile, Austin has the best current real estate market and is the 10th best area for LGBTQ people nationwide. Other high rankers on both lists include St. Petersburg (which landed at third for LGBTQ, 11th in real estate), Denver (fourth for LGBTQ, 17th for real estate), Seattle (ranked fifth for LGBTQ and 10th for real estate) and Portland (sixth for LGBTQ, and 20th for real estate).

Although no one can predict real estate market trends with complete accuracy, experts can offer an idea of where things are headed. Overall, the US housing market predictions for 2020 aren’t overwhelmingly pro-sellers or pro-buyers. The good news for sellers is that there remains a healthy group of buyers looking for new property. And the good news for buyers is that prices aren’t rising at a rate they won’t be able to keep up with.

■

EXPERTS ANTICIPATE STABILITY It appears that the economy is currently holding. But with an election year upon us, that could quickly change. When it comes to real estate markets, some speculate that there could be another economic recession and housing market crash in 2020. In its quarterly Home Price Expectations Survey, Zillow asked experts and economists to provide their 2020 U.S. housing market predictions. Less than half (48%) said they expect the next recession to occur in 2020. However, while a housing bubble prompted the last recession, experts believe that a slowdown in the U.S. real estate marketing won’t play a major role in the next one. Survey respondents chose three likely triggers for the next recession: Their prognostications suggested that trade policy, stock market corrections or a geopolitical crisis are more likely catalysts for another recession than a housing market crash.

MORTGAGE RATES LOW Mortgage rates in the U.S. real estate market hit their lowest point in late 2016 and are now available at rates below 4%, according to Freddie Mac. Experts forecast this trend will stick around in 2020. In fact, mortgage rates might dip even further. Doug Duncan, chief economist at Fannie Mae, was recently quoted saying, “The Fed has moved to a bias toward easing, as global economic activity has slowed. Interest rates have fallen as a result and could move lower if the Fed acts to lower rates as insurance for economic growth.” Freddie Mac also expects mortgage rates for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage to increase only modestly - to 4.2% - in 2020.

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STOCK PHOTO COPYRIGHT: FEVERPITCHED

CULTURE

FINANCE

IN LGBTQ PLA CES

Gus Kenworthy & Birdie Silver Medalist Freeskier

Nulo’s high-protein, low carb recipes help your dogs and cats fuel their inner athlete.

See Why There’s No Better Pet Food at Nulo.com/Facts ALREADY CONVINCED? Get 20% off your purchase of a trial bag at Nulo.com with coupon code SAVE20. All trial bag orders come with a coupon for $10 off your next purchase of Nulo – valid wherever Nulo is sold.

SCOOBY

WINSTON

ON DOGS & DO-OVERS THE MOMENT I WOKE UP, I REALIZED I’D MADE A TERRIBLE MISTAKE. THE

previous day I’d been looking for a pooch to fill the hole in my life left by the boyfriend I recently broke up with. I wasn’t sure I saw any I was ready to commit to. But after sleeping on it, I realized that the one big brown goofy mutt I’d seen was the dog for me.

I began to panic: What if someone else came along and snatched my dog? I couldn’t abide that, so I spent the whole morning tracking

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him down to a PetSmart in South Philly where he was appearing at an adoption event. Making my way to the back of the store, I filled out the paperwork. I named him Scooby and took him home.

That was 13 years ago. You don’t always get the chance to go back and correct a mistake like the one I made initially overlooking Scooby.

The past dozen-plus years would have been far less fulfilling and joyous if I hadn’t had that first do-over with him. It would be the first of many.

PHOTOS BY TERENCE O’BRIEN

SOMETIMES A FURRY FRIEND CAN HELP MEND A BROKEN HEART — OR EVEN REPAIR A RELATIONSHIP. BUT THEIR BIGGEST GIFT MAY BE THE LESSONS THEY TEACH ABOUT SECOND CHANCES. BY TERENCE O’BRIEN

Life with a Dog Scooby and I learned a lot from each other. I taught him to sit and fetch and not pee in the house. He taught me there is no such thing as a pet-proof trashcan. And – on two separate occasions – he proved that a condom will pass through a canine completely undigested.

Eventually we got used to each other. I got used to his snoring. He got used to me bopping his nose all the time. It didn’t happen the first night, or even the second. It was a series of trial and error and lots of repetition - with lots more do-overs.

That’s what life with a dog is - a series of do-overs until you get it right. Nothing about a new dog goes perfectly at first, but we made it work. We built on what we got right the day before, and did the things that we got wrong better the next. We weren’t weighed down by fear or guilt over mistakes we made. What a joy it would be to experience the rest of reality that way – letting go of mistakes and relishing each new success.

People Training Since Scooby was my first dog – not to mention a rescue with a questionable history, I hired a trainer to help break some of his bad habits. I soon learned that the bad habits to break were mine, not Scooby’s. I hadn’t hired a dog trainer. What I hired was a people trainer. He trained me that dogs don’t think like humans. You have to empathize and adapt to their way thinking in order to communicate.

I learned that anger and punishment never work. But attention and praise get results. A positive attitude, patience, empathy and tolerance for minor mishaps are what you need to raise a happy pet.

I didn’t just become a better dog owner; I became a better man.

All the skills I learned in order to interact with my dog translate completely to interacting with people. Because - whether two legged or four - how you treat living things shows them how to treat you. If I could overlook my dog’s mess on the floor, why couldn’t I just as easily be a little more patient and understanding with people?

The Men In My Life That got me thinking about a do-over with the boyfriend before Scooby. I kept telling people “I got a dog for my boyfriend, and it was a great trade.” But I believed it less and less. We had broken up due to incremental accumulation of stupid little things that bonding with Scooby taught me were unimportant. I wondered: Had I gotten my dog first, would I also still have my boyfriend?

I asked Jason to give it another shot. As with Scooby, it wasn’t perfect at first. They actually didn’t get each other at the beginning.

Every time Scooby barked,“You’re not my real dad”at Jason, there was tension. For Jason, it was like I’d become a single dad with a bratty furry teenager. As flattering as it was to have them competing for my attention, we had to start all over again. Through a similar process of daily repetition and do-overs , we learned to understand and love each other. That was 12 years ago. Jason and I are still together.

Without Him From the day I brought Scooby home, I knew that eventually we

would run out of do-overs. About eight years in, I started looking into his big brown eyes, touching our noses together, rubbing his ears and admitting in a cheerful voice“You’re gonna die someday.”Licking my face and wagging his tail, he’d respond to the tone of my voice blissfully unaware of the meaning. I hoped somehow our little ritual would somehow soften the inevitable blow. But I knew that nothing really could.

You’ve probably deduced that a story about a dog that starts 12 years ago is bound to have a casualty. Jason and I had to say goodbye to Scooby earlier this year, and it was the worst thing we’ve been through as a couple. In the time leading up to and after his passing, I wondered if we could make it work without him. Scooby had brought us back together - and helped keep us that way - for more than a decade. Would the lessons stick with him gone? Or would we go back to our old bad habits and drift apart?

A New Beginning But this is a story about embracing the do-overs. That’s why this it ends with a new beginning. About a month ago, Jason and I decided that we were ready to welcome a wagging tail back into our home.

This time, we looked for a dog together. We wanted to go with a puppy, because we wanted to have the most time possible with our new family member. The only regret we had with Scooby was that – because I adopted him as an adult - we missed out on his puppy years.

We decided we wanted a rescue, and even though it was the second time around for me, it was a totally different experience.

Rescue organizations are much more thorough now - especially if you’re looking for a puppy. They wanted a complete history, multiple references, a home visit. When I adopted Scooby in 2007, the only question they asked me was“do you have $36?”

We looked on Petfinder, which is essentially Grindr for quadrupeds.

Like Grindr, it also displays an endless parade of wagging tails and bitches with their tongues out. The abundance of choice allowed us to get incredibly choosy. Critiques included, “These ears are too big, but those ears are too small,”and“I like his eyes, but his coloring is all wrong,”and the inevitable“Aww, she’s so cute – but I want a boy.”

It’s a Dog’s LIfe I feared this would go on forever. Jason and I are two completely different body and personality types. We each like what the other has, but in the 15 years we’ve been together, we’ve not once been into the same guy. The same seemed to be proving true for dogs.

After looking at hundreds, I began to think that this magical puppy we that both would find perfect simply didn’t exist. But nothing works until it does, and one day, it did. We found our puppy. His name is Winston, and he is more adorable than both of us put together. And just like his daddies 15 years ago, we fell in love immediately.

It’s familiar, but brand new. Winston has no vocabulary, no training and no bladder control. It’s up to us to teach him everything. Since we learned the skills to be better partners and pet parents with Scooby, I like to think we’ve got a great head start – plus some all new mistakes to make. But no matter how well or poorly we did today, I’m glad we do it all over again tomorrow.

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LOVE

N A H T A N JO VAN NESS TOMORROW ?

In a myth-shattering memoir, Queer Eye’s hair care wizard talks sex, drugs and sudden celebrity. Think you know this bubblicious boy in the beard from TV? We’re serving you JVN realness.

BY KEVIN PHINNEY

buoyant, witty and composed. But in a new memoir, “Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love “(HarperOne, $27.99), the Queer Eye grooming guru lets his hair down so fans can see beyond what the Netflix cameras capture.

“That’s such a misperception of me and just life in general,” says the star. “I don’t exist in a perpetually effervescent state. I am not that person all the time. And that’s literally the basis of my book, which is: If you knew everything I’ve been through, if you saw me when I was irritated, if you saw me when I was late, if you saw me when I was frustrated, would you still love me?

Would you still understand me? Would you still want to take the picture with me?”

Labeled ‘the outrageous one’ of Queer Eye’s next gen Fab Five, Van Ness is breathing in the thrill of exploding expectations. He’s put his entire life on display — including bouts with addiction, childhood sexual abuse and his status as HIV-positive. And now he’s doing his level best, with no apparent skeletons left in the closet, to simply enjoy being Jonathan again.

JUST ADD JONATHAN As his memoir makes clear, Van Ness’ path into the limelight has been anything but straight. He writes that from a very early age,“identifying male and female in the same day is something that has always been possible for me.” (Van Ness identifies as non-binary but presently opts for he/him/his pronouns.) But don’t ask him to pretend being anything other than himself.

“I can’t even do a straight accent – it’s not in my repertoire.”* With the book already on the shelves and a special series of Queer Eye: We’re in Japan! currently streaming, Van Ness is in London when we connect. He can be sweet as pie — and that’s just the problem. He wants the world to know there’s more, and that he simply can’t manage the time or the emotional bandwidth to be the Instant Party everyone expects all the time.

“Life is effervescent,” he maintains.“But it’s also tragedy. It is happy, it’s sad, it’s tough, it’s with ease. It is a whole spectrum of emotions that are high highs and low lows. And we all can really inhabit any of those things at any of those places. And none of that means that you aren’t truly a happy person, or that you’re not truly feeling sad right now. I think it’s that life is a constant choice of, no matter what cards we’re given, it’s like, ‘How am I going to handle these?’”

GROWING UP JVN The cards that Van Ness were dealt found him growing up in Quincy, Illinois. There, he obsessed over female Olympians’ routines and demonstrated early brand loyalty towards sugary treats (cinnamon and brown sugar Pop-Tarts; Cinnamon Toast Crunch). He also tried to get used to being bullied by everyone he encountered beyond his front yard.

His family has social standing in the community. (JVN suggests they’re a less-luxe, more-local version of the Kennedys.) They’re part owners of Quincy Media, which

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THIS PAGE: NINO MUNOZ/NETFLIX

WILL YOU S TILL

ON A FLATSCREEN, JONATHAN VAN NESS OFTEN PRESENTS AS

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includes their hometown newspaper, The Herald Whig. His mother Mary Winters is Vice President of Quincy, and according to Wikipedia, the family has had a controlling interest in the conglomerate since the 1890s.

None of that mattered to the schoolmates who taunted little Jack Van Ness as he struggled to make sense of the world around him. “I handled my fear of bullies by becoming even louder and being even more over the top,” he says.“By the time I was three I was already committed to playing with as many Barbies as I could and making as many geode jewelry-like things as possible. I was very, very effeminate. I was always – and obviously, gender expression and sexuality aren’t the same things – but I was, from a very early age, very just boisterously myself.”

It’s a point he makes over and over again, and key to understanding how he views himself. He choreographed elaborate imaginary Olympic events in his basement and insisted his brothers and step-father assume the roles of judges from specific countries to score him (think Russian; Chinese). And, despite his mother’s admonition, he fearlessly decided to dance to a Jewel tune at school. They recently relived that delicate moment together on JVN’s weekly podcast, Getting Curious.

Despite being singled out as “a faggot” and having spray-painted epithets follow him around Quincy like the tail of a comet, Van Ness would neither shut up nor disappear.

On the contrary, he made a place for himself on the school’s cheerleading squad. Keep your eyes on JVN in the Season Four Queer Eye opener as the show takes him back to his roots. He and his cohosts return to makeover the school’s matriarch, Kathi Dooley.

And, when their work is complete, Van Ness breaks down.

“Quincy has had, ever since I left, a very particular, kind of painful place in my heart,” he tells her. “Because as much I loved being a [Quincy High] Blue Devil, my experience here was very hard. But one thing that you did for me and other kids like me: You always treated me the same as if I was like everyone else. And as an LGBT person, I think so badly we just want to feel normal and not treated differently. And you always did that. I just feel like my scars were very much healed this week.”

Even as he longed to feel normal, his sexual abuse at the hands of an older boy and a lack of validation sent him into the cyberverse in search of men. He found them in abundance – along with much more than he bargained for.

EXCESS YOURSELF A cheerleading scholarship to the University of Arizona quickly crumbled after JVN

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tumbled into drug use and sex work. “That was my cue to get like, ‘I’m in over my head; I need help’.” In retrospect, he understands he was one of the lucky ones, “because when I did get in that really scary position, I had a cell phone that my Mom gave me that I could call and be like,‘I need to get out of here.’

A lot of people wouldn’t have the ability to do that.

But because I had that support, I think that I didn’t fully realize how dangerous and precarious a position I was putting myself in.”

The swings between success and excess followed Van Ness from Tucson back to Quincy. They continued well into St. Louis and two residencies in Los Angeles. He learned to color and cut hair, became an Aveda devotee and a workaholic by day — yet he could still steal moments to fuel his addictions to sex and meth. At the same time, he heard something inside telling him that self-care was a real thing - and

production photos courtesy of netflix • nino Munoz/netflix

THE SCARS

that he needed plenty of it.

He devoured the works of Deepak Chopra and Brené Brown and books like“The Four Agreements”and The Power of Now. He came to believe that abuse survivors are often retraumatized by triggering events that send them reeling back into bad habits. “But,” he says, “I didn’t realize that’s what I was doing until I got out of it safely and had time to really get therapy and process what had happened to me.”

A NEW FAMILY

small child. But I realized at some point over the last few years that this is way more than me wearing heels and wanting to wear dresses occasionally. There’s a lot of cisgender people who want to wear clothes from the opposite sex. But that doesn’t necessarily make them non-binary, trans or anything.

For me, it was that I realized: I just don’t feel that ‘man’ thing.

I also don’t feel that woman. I just, I feel like I’m other. That’s when I learned what non-binary is. All those things had to coalesce at one time. It’s something I kind of always knew. I just didn’t know what the name for it was.”

*SELECT QUOTES FROM OVER THE TOP: A RAW JOURNEY TO SELF-LOVE BY JONATHAN VAN NESS, COURTESY HARPERONE PUBLISHERS.

While trying to stay clean and work on his craft as a hairdresser, Van Ness suddenly found that Gay of Thrones - his fanciful video recap of the HBO series - had suddenly given him a toehold in entertainment. That led to getting management, firing said manager in search of better representation, and then getting a call from his original manager with the news that Netflix was rebooting Queer Eye. A rigorous series of interviews and chemistry pairings followed, and through tenacity and talent, JVN got himself a new family. Four seasons down the road, he says,“It’s funny how much our dynamic doesn’t seem to change. It’s like some friends - if you spend three weeks apart - it’s weird like getting back together. We always fall back into a really good groove with each other. I think that for all of us [including Antoni, Kamaro, Tan and Bobby] it’s so great, because all of us have this, like, if we feel something, we say it to each other.”

LAND OF THE RISING FUN Their camaraderie is back on display with new episodes that find the crew in Japan — where they knew neither the culture nor the language.

“I can really only speak for myself,” he’ll say,“but I really went into that trying to be more a student and less an expert.

And really trying to go in and learn a little bit more. Because maybe there are things with their culture and lifestyles that wouldn’t work with how I think about doing hair and makeup. I was trying to listen more and talk less, especially in Japan.

“And I actually think that these are some of our most amazing episodes, because I think all of us were kind of in more of a ‘learn and listen’ place. Just ‘cause you kind of have to be. When you speak the same language, you can sometimes anticipate what people are gonna say. When you don’t, you can’t. So you really have to be present.”

NO BIG DEAL With what seems like several lifetimes of experience under his belt, Van Ness is getting comfortable in a place of grace: learning about himself and others. Being open about living with HIV and facing public reaction to him defying genderstereotypes? It’s no big deal, he says matter-of-factly.

“As far as being non-binary, I thought there was only cisgender and transgender. You know; male or female. That was what I thought what my choices were, especially as a

Comfortable in his skin and loving himself? That’s the role he’s been trying to perfect — not only as a Queer Eye expert, but also in life. And who isn’t?

“I do think I’ve learned to make lemonade out of lemons,” he says.“That’s why I love figure skating and gymnastics and watching TV and making perfect little routines and all the things I would do to create little pockets of joy for myself. I’ve always tried convince myself I am effervescent. But I’m also someone who can be really sad and depressed. And I can struggle with anxiety. But that doesn’t mean that I’m also not someone who can be really happy and joyful and full of life. I think all those things can exist at once.”

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BETTY [ POD GODDESSES ] Technically BETTY is three people we love: Elizabeth Ziff, Alyson Palmer and Amy Ziff. But BETTY also contains multitudes - from adoring fans to collaborators who’ve worked to bring their singular combination of punk energy and girlgroup harmony to the world. One of the reasons we’ve singled them out this year is the debut of BETTY: Girlband, the Podcast, which features the artists reecting on their amazing journey together. Chances are, you’ve experienced BETTY - at a Pride festival, singing the theme of The L Word, creating music for HBO’s Real Sex. The gals glowed, “We’ve shared stages, time and adventures with people like Alan Cumming, Governor Ann Richards, James Brown, Marvin Hamlisch, Cab Calloway and a memorable bottle of Pinch with Maya Angelou in her limo!â€?

Whether you prefer her as psychologist Donna Chambers in the most recent season of American Horror Story or as the sassy ballroom upstart Candy from Pose, Angelica Ross made 2019 her own. And she’s now the ďŹ rst trans actress to secure two major series roles, both via Ryan Murphy vehicles. “For people who don’t know us, don’t know trans people or the trans community, sometimes the stories they get are all doom and gloom,â€? says Ross. “We talk about homelessness.

We talk about unemployment. We talk about the murders of trans people that are not stopping anytime soon. What’s important for people to understand is that the lives of trans people of color and LGBTQ people of color may be ďŹ lled with a lot of challenges. But we have learned how to make something beautiful out of our lives.â€?

Bob + Rob [MEN IN BOXERS] Let’s just say that Boxers is to sports what Hooters is to wings. “It’s really is a place for everybody,â€? says owner Bob Fluet (pictured at right with business partner Rob Hynds and a member of their well-appointed bar staff). “When we opened on 20th street, it was a conscious choice to not be in the Village. Some people questioned our judgment, but I don’t think we should ever have to normalize ourselves, and we’ve never shied away from being out and proud. “Next year will be our 10th anniversary, and when we began, we were simply a bar. But today’s customers look for more; they don’t go to cruise as much as to be entertained,â€? he explains. “So we have the city’s biggest Latin party; we have DJs and karaoke, and we were one of the ďŹ rst to host Drag Race nights.

So what we’ve done is adapt and evolve. But we’ll always be a comfort zone for all people.�

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Angelica Ross [ TRANS ACTOR ]

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Chris Frederick [ PRIDE GUIDE ] LGBTQ people the world over owe NYC Pride and its Executive Director Chris Frederick a debt of gratitude for their unwavering leadership while helming history’s biggest Pride celebration ever: WorldPride NYC 2019 - as well as for their contributions to fundraising efforts in the community. Their Pride Gives Back grant program has given more than $300,000 to LGBTQ+ nonprofits this year alone. NYC Pride has grown as an organization too, with its ranks swelling to 150 members and an annual calendar of more than two dozen events. “Participating in these events has become a pilgrimage of sorts for our community,” says Frederick. “I still feel we have a long way to go before we reach a point where all voices feel represented across the entirety of the experience.”

Daniel Nardicio [ NIGHT LIFER ] Impresario Daniel Nardicio is one of the reasons New York’s gay nightlife burns so brightly. His exploits include co- creating the performance-fueled Lower East Side nightspot Club Cumming.

“I recently said to a friend: ‘Can you imagine telling your scared, unhappy gay teen [self] what life would become?’ It’s so effing marvelous. The creativity, humor and silliness of the gay community continually astonishes me.” Recently, Nardicio parlayed his partnership with actor Alan Cumming into Club Cumming Productions, where they share the goal of bringing more LGBTQ stories to big and small screens alike. “There are so many stories I want to see told, and most are part of our community. I strongly feel that through entertainment you can really reach people and open their minds.”

Jonathan Bennett [ MEAN GUY ] It’s possible that you fell for Jonathan Bennett when he starred as Lindsay Lohan’s love interest in Mean Girls, which turned 15 in 2019. But it was in 2017 that Bennett set our hearts aflutter all over again, when he came out and revealed his relationship with TV host James Vaughn. “ I feel so grateful to be so embraced and supported by my community,” says Bennett. And, yes, he’s still feeling the love as new generations continue to discover Mean Girls - and the fact that he’s gay. “I get thousands of messages from LGBTQ students who are fans of Mean Girls who say that seeing me out and proud with my partner has given them the courage to come out themselves. I really don’t know how to digest it sometimes. To think that I had even the slightest impact on their lives is a true honor.”

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Asia Kate Dillon [ BINARY BUSTER ]

Guy Anthony [ MESSAGE SENDER ]

Activist, community leader and author Guy Anthony has already done more to educate the LGBTQ community than most people could hope to accomplish in an entire lifetime. His conduit: the organization Black, Gifted & Whole. “We believe that black gay men are multifaceted and deserve a multipronged approach when being engaged.

We believe that sexual health + higher education + access to resources can drastically affect the trajectory of their lives.” And what would he most want people to learn from his efforts as an HIV/ AIDS activist? “I need readers to understand that although people living with HIV/AIDS are living longer and more fulfilling lives with the right treatment and care, there are still people dying and suffering in silence....

An estimated 940,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2017.”

It’s a heavy message, but one Anthony carries with grace.

Demetre Daskalakis [ HEALTH WARRIOR ] His official title is Deputy Commissioner for the Division of Disease Control of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. But he’s found success spreading the good news about PrEP and NYC’s lower HIVtransmission rates in the persona of hunky “Doctor Demetre.” And according to Daskalakis, that’s all part of the plan: “Fear is not an effective way to convince people to take care of their sexual health. People have sex for pleasure, and unless we embrace that, we aren’t going to be able to [impart] message strategies that help preserve and improve our population’s sexual health,” he asserts. As for the way his sexy internet persona tends to associate him more often with tattoos and leather gear than stethoscopes and labcoats, he says, “I get a thrill when people refer to me as a Queer Health Warrior. It is what I have always wanted to be.”

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THIS PAGE: AKD PHOTO BY SHIRIN TINATI, COURTESY OF ASIA KATE DILLON. GUY ANTHONY COURTESY GUY ANTHONY. DEMETRE DASKALAKIS PHOTO COURTESY VICTORIA WILL.

You likely recognize Dillon from serving their unmistakable brand of cool in Showtime’s Billions and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. “Hello, I’m Taylor,” their character said when first blowing into the boardrooms of Billions like a breath of fresh air. “My pronouns are ‘they,’ ‘theirs’ and ‘them.’” Dillon has brought a similar kind of directness to their career in the entertainment industry. As a queer trailblazer, Dillon said to The New York Times, “I am drawn into remembrance of those who came before: Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, all the trans women, femmes and people of color who started the queer revolution.” In addition to being proud of their career, Dillon told the LA Times, “It’s also a silver lining that Billions has become sort of a teaching tool en masse about nonbinary gender identity.”

Gio Benitez and Tommy DiDario [ BEST HUBBIES ] When ABC News correspondent Gio Benitez and social media maven Tommy DiDario walked down the aisle, they received the kind of coverage usually reserved for British Royals. “It’s funny, we never expected our relationship to garner so much attention because in our eyes, we are just living our truths like any couple,” says DiDario. “There is nothing more powerful to me than hearing from a mother or father who says the photos and stories Tommy and I share have shifted their views so dramatically that they’ve had to apologize to their children for how they treated them,” adds Benitez. “I hope that through showing glimpses of my relationship with my husband, we continue spreading the narrative that love is love, and everyone deserves to love and be loved. Gio is my family,” adds DiDario. “And that, I will never take for granted.”

Merryn Johns [ CURVE HUGGER ]

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She’s overseen publications from Australia to North America, where the award-winning journalist is Editor-in-Chief of the top lesbian publication Curve. “I was fairly sure I was gay at seven, growing up in a small bush suburb in Australia. When I came out to my mom, it did not go well, so the LGBTQ community is my home as well as a workplace and a sense of reflected self.

The younger generations also feel like my kids,” Johns says with affection. Readers reaffirm her dedication to her craft as well.

“I meet young women who tell me Curve is the mothership and was their Bible growing up and coming out! And not only women.

I was in a hotel lobby recently and a young black cisgender male security guard came up to me and thanked me for putting hiphop artist Young MA on the cover!”

Corey Johnson [ VOICE OF REASON ] The Speaker of the New York City Council since 2018, Johnson has worked diligently for the welfare of all the city’s inhabitants. “I’m proud to lead a body that also believes in equal rights for everyone in this city,” he says.

“I’m proud of what we do, and I’m proud of the progress we’ve made. But we have so much more to do.” He believes that being gay helps to keep him mindful that “we all have different things that define us. Being a member of the LGBTQ+ community reminds me that we have work to do to ensure that regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age, or race, people feel safe and respected in this city. Our identities help to shape how we see and move around in this world. My community has experienced hate and bigotry, and I make sure to fight for any other community that is also subject to hate and bigotry. We’re all in this together.”

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The man behind multi-media extravaganza Oscar at the Crown composed the score, designed the costumes, and then choreographed the musical that left NYC audiences breathless throughout last summer. “I’ve always gravitated to what’s underground,” he says with a shrug.

“Discovering the club kid scene of the ‘90s was huge for me. As far back as I can remember, I was drawn to stories about outsiders and the people who tell them — people like Tim Burton, Quentin Tarantino, even Alan Menken’s Little Shop of Horrors, which I loved as a kid.” Cox’ work has too much mass appeal to stay hidden for long, but he plans to stay true to his vision: “I want to tell stories beyond the cis white heteronormative culture and use art to push the boundaries. I want people to think. “

Nina West [ SCENE QUEEN ] “A drag queen is often the most revered and hated person in the community,” muses Nina West, “because they’re a representation of so many different things.” West, who attended the Republican National Convention at 12, has gone through more than a few changes of her own while the queer scene around her has been swirling in flux. A self-proclaimed “camp queen,” West began raising her voice in drag to raise money at charity fundraisers, and she’s been outspoken ever since. Last summer, she wrote “Treat Yourself Today” to encourage LGBTQ people to monitor their HIV status. The track quickly became a video ad for OraQuick, who make home HIV-testing kits. It was a rare confluence of community and commerce. “I’m not one to shy away from standing in my truth,” the drag activist insists. “There are many ways to own your identity, and it can incorporate many nuances. But it has to be done.”

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Toby Hervey [ BRAVELY FORWARD ] “Being gay gave me more empathy for what it’s like to be underrepresented,” says the founder of Bravely, a company that helps organizations relieve work-related conflicts through coaching.

He created the company after a friend asked for help in coping with a boss who was “working her to the bone.” Bravely, he explains, helps people who “face an extra layer of navigating identity in work environments — and some 12 percent of our clients identify as LGBTQ.” Their lofty ambition is to overcome systemic workplace bias. “Most access to coaching happens for managers and leaders and employees considered to be ‘high potentials’,” he adds. “And most of those are white, male, privileged and heterosexual.”

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Andrew Barret Cox [TRIPLE THREAT]

Cliff Morrison [GAY SAMARITAN]

THIS PAGE: CLIFF MORRISON, RAVI ROTH AND GREG HERNANDEZ PHOTOS COURTESY THEIR RESPECTIVE SUBJECTS

He’s an unlikely movie star, but an unquestioned hero. In the early ‘80s Morrison created a ward at San Francisco General for patients suffering from a disease first known as “gay cancer.” His story is retold in 5B, a film that tracks the lives of those who passed through the ward over the course of the epidemic. At that time, no one could say for certain how AIDS was spread. Morrison, who had been through a Shanti Project training program, was tapped to consult with doctors, patients and families. And when he couldn’t save his patients’ lives, he decided to help them die with dignity and knowing they were loved. He guessed AIDS was blood-borne early on - although others considered his assessment reckless. Ultimately, his ideas became standard. “I wasn’t wearing any of the professional protective equipment, but I was following general infection control protocols,” he recalls.”I thought, ‘If this is killing all my brothers, it’ll probably get me, too. So I’m not going to stand by. I’ll take control of my own destiny.’ And that’s exactly how I approached it.”

Ravi Roth [ GLOBE TROTTER ] Greg in Hollywood [ STAR MAN ] Journalist Greg Hernandez launched Greg In Hollywood in March of 2009, inviting its readers to join him as he mixes with the celebrities who light up our screens. “The feedback I’ve gotten from readers is that they like my positive take on things.

I don’t engage in snark and largely refrain from getting too negative on the blog — there’s enough of that out there.” He seems thrilled to be reporting for a more accepting generation.

“Young people honestly don’t seem to care if their favorite star is gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, non-binary, pansexual,” he says. “What people like Billy Porter, Laverne Cox, Sarah Paulson, Neil Patrick Harris, RuPaul, Jane Lynch, Jim Parsons and others have been able to accomplish while being out publicly is proof that the sky is the limit. Visibility in the media is making such a difference.”

Roth’s explosive energy, sense of fun and love of exploring keeps people coming back to the chronicles of Ravi Round the World. “My goal is to be the gay version of the late Anthony Bourdain —RIP. I want to be the face and the voice of gay travel. I want to entertain, educate, explore the queer culture globally. I want to help eradicate body shaming, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia by bringing visibility to the forefront,” he says. “The queer culture in Istanbul is why I started Ravi Round The World. I Google-searched gay bars and seven came up. I went to all of them. Four didn’t exist! One had the wrong address. There was no site that had accurate information. I had to do some investigative work on Grindr and Scruff to find out where the locals go, but more importantly: was it safe to be out and publicly gay? I learned in Istanbul that it is not accepted and not condoned to be publicly gay and the majority of the queer nightlife was underground. It then became my mission to uncover this worldwide - one city at a time.”

PWL text by Paul Hagen/Kevin Phinney. For much more from our conversations with People We Love, visit us at metrosource.com METROSOURCE.COM DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020

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AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD WHICH LGBTQ ORGANIZATION SHOULD WIN PRIZE MONEY AND A POSITION ON THE PWL LIST? VOTE AT METROSOURCE.COM/PWLVOTE AND YOU MAY WIN TICKETS TO OUR ANNUAL GALA!

Ali Forney Center Ali Forney Center seeks to shelter LGBTQ youth from homelessness and empowers them with the tools to live independently. The organization’s namesake, Ali Forney, was a gendernonconforming teen who fled his home at 13. He entered the foster care system where he was bounced from home to home, beaten and abused. Don’t our kids deserve better?

Callen-Lorde Callen-Lorde provides quality compassionate health care with a variety of services targeted to New York’s LGBTQ communities — regardless of ability to pay.

The Alliance GMCLA & NYCGMC

The Alliance for Positive Change helps New Yorkers living with HIV and other chronic illness access medical care, manage addiction, get back to work and find community. The Alliance also lends a hand in peer support and helping thousands of locals find the housing assistance they need to achieve health, happiness and stability.

The Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles and the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus may each be anchored on opposite ends of the country.

But they share similar goals in staging musical experiences that address queer themes and creating events that bring us together in song. They’re also extraordinary ambassadors of our community’s commitment to excellence in the performing arts.

Bienestar Bienestar was founded in 1989 as a non-profit social service organization with a singular mission: to positively impacting the health and well being of the Latino community and other underserved communities in Southern California.

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PFLAG PFLAG is the first and largest organization for LGBTQ people, their families and straight allies. With more than 400 chapters and 200,000 members and supporters in cities across the U.S., PFLAG seeks to create a world where diversity is celebrated, inclusivity rules, and all people are respected, valued and affirmed.

GLSEN Shouldn’t every schoolkid be valued and treated with respect, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression? GLSN is dedicated to making that goal a reality. They believe that students everywhere deserve a safe and affirming school environment where they can learn and grow.

Point Foundation Point Foundation promotes change through scholarship funding, mentoring, leadership development and community service training for LGBTQ young people. The foundation bills itself as the nation’s largest scholarship-granting organization for deserving students. Point empowers promising LGBTQ schoolkids to achieve their full academic and leadership potential – despite the obstacles often put before them – and hopes to prepare them to make their own positive mark on society.

LGBTQ Victory Fund & LGBTQ Victory Institute

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GLAAD is watching over what we watch. As a media monitor, its leaders address current cultural events as they happen to ensure fair and diverse LGBTQ representation in print, on screens and the internet. As an organization, they seek to safeguard the community’s advances while pushing for a world rooted in mutual respect and equality for all.

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LGBTQ Victory Fund & LGBTQ Victory Institute are the only national organizations dedicated to training, supporting and electing LGBTQ people to public office. Victory Institute’s four-day Candidate & Campaign Trainings have helped thousands learn how to run for office. Among their success stories: Colorado Governor Jared Polis, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia and Virginia Delegate Danica Roem. Victory also provides internships and fellowships on Capitol Hill for young LGBTQ leaders interested in public service, and runs the only national network of LGBTQ elected officials, with more than 750 members.

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Solaris earbuds reproduce sound at a quality once considered impossible. Get every nuance from Bey, the Beatles or Beethoven. They’re just out and available at CampfireAudio.com

So you think you can sing? Share your musical gifts with the world with Phonocut, a home vinyl recorder that makes you a one-person record plant and studio. Now you can croon a tune and preserve it for posterity.

Phonocut.com

Whether you’re anxious, have trouble sleeping, or could just use a good cuddle as you doze off, the Hush Iced Cooling and Sleep-Inducing Blanket is weighted, but miraculously never gets hot. Find dreamland in comfort at Indiegogo.com

It’s the tippler’s dream come true: Everything you’ll need to bring the party everywhere you go is in the Hex X Tillit Bartender Backpack.

Carry bottles, strainers, stirrers and the rest and you’ll be a walking cocktail hour. Hexbrand.com

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❆

THIS SECTION: ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF THE RESPECTIVE MANUFACTURERS

WELCOME TO OUR MOST LUXE GIFT GUIDE YET, WITH A TROVE OF YULETIDE TREASURES

BY KEVIN PHINNEY

Want to look your best even when wearing next to nothing? Skull & Bones matches form and function in a sexy assortment of sublimely comfy union suits, jocks and underwear. Check out their entire collection at SkullandBones.com

Here’s something for the mixologist in us all: The Tre Glass set small (pictured) and large, designed by David Derksen with laboratory borosilicate glass. A one-liter carafe is available, too. Ponder the possibilities at IndustryWest.com

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Put your oven and microwave on permanent vacation for multi-ingredient meals that cook simultaneously in a fraction of the time. It’s all possible now with the Brava. Download recipes into the oven, and save every single favorite. Brava.com

A sleek electronic wallet that’s easy to store and comfortable to carry.

Best feature: the cardholder, which allows a quick look at your cards to select the right one instantly. No more scrambling in TSA lines hunting for your ID — and there’s room for your cash, too. From Ekster.com

Deborah Harry, — or Debbie if you prefer — has one of the most recognized faces in pop. In her new memoir, she looks back at Blondie and a career that skitters from punk to disco and even early rap. Find it at HarperCollins.com

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THIS PAGE: DEBBIE HARRY PORTRAIT BY HARRY ROOF; COURTESY HARPER COLLINS PUBLISHERS

Who said you have to be cold to chill? The Nobis parka puts you at the height of versatile style with 100% white Canadian down. It’s also waterproof, windproof and constructed from ethically sourced materials. From US.Nobis.com

There will never be another Prince.

This multidisc set (which includes previously unseen video-to-disc concerts) was his commercial breakthrough, containing remasters of “Little Red Corvette” and the immortal title track. Let the purple reign! Just out on Rhino.com

Imagine a doll in assorted ethnicities that’s also free from gender norms. With Creatable World, your doll can be whatever your dreams can imagine. Developed in consultations with parents, physicians and kids themselves, say hello to 2.0 playtime. From Mattel.com

Use the Force to create your holiday favorites! This season, Le Creuset is offering a limited edition of Star Wars-inspired cookware. Get a Han Solo roaster, a Darth Vader dutch oven, or a C-3PO Mini Cocotte.

See the complete line available at LeCreuset.com

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Want to give your visage some va-va-voom? Push reset on those pores with a beauty mask featuring pumpkin and other produce. BY JEFFREY JAMES KEYES THERE ARE A FEW GREAT NEW MASKS ON THE MARKET. ONE POPULAR INGREDIENT IN SEVERAL WE RECENTLY INVESTIGATED IS PUMP-

kin. Sure, your favorite coffee shop may have moved on from #PumpkinSpice to #PeppermintMocha. But this nutrient-rich squash can keep delivering omega fatty acids, biotin and Vitamins E, A and K to your face all year long. We’ve also got masks featuring matcha, mushrooms and other ingredients you might usually see on a menu.

EMINENCE PUMPKIN LATTE HYDRATION MASQUE

BODY

HEALTH

is formulated with Vitamin E and Omega 9 nutrients, helping to restore your skin’s natural moisture while fighting environmental stress and the appearance of aging. This mask is rich in beta-carotene and has a wonderful aroma that makes you feel as if you’re diving into a pumpkin pie. Eminence Organic Skin Care has been using sustainable farming and green practices to create natural, organic and biodynamic products since 1958. Free of parabens, animal by-products, propylene glycol, sodium lauryl sulfates and other harsh cosmetic chemicals their products are made with fresh fruit pulp, plants and exotic spices. ($52)

DERMAQUEST MINI PUMPKIN MASK is a subtle, gentle mask that can aid in preventing breakouts while rejuvenating the skin. It’s ideal for those with mild acne and pigmentation concerns. The mask features pumpkin pulp, which has antibacterial properties and enzymes that digest excess skin cells as well as antioxidants with anti-inflammatory benefits and AHA’s to help decongest clogged pores. The mask also works in concert with Dermaquest Essential Daily Cleanser, another gentle-yet-thorough cleanser that provides mild exfoliation. The cleanser contains papaya fruit extract, pineapple fruit extract and grape seed extract. This crueltyfree cleanser is ideal for anyone with skin sensitivities and safe to use on any skin tone.($32)

is great winter option to purify and detoxify stressed skin while evening out your pH balance. In addition to blue machta, its detoxifying ingredients include organic mango butter, organic green tea and soothing organic aloe leaf juice. The combination nourishes skin with rich antioxidants and leave you feeling (and looking) spa-treatment fresh. It’s perfect to pack on a skiing or snowboarding trip. ($58)

Paula’s Choice also has a new SUPER HYDRATE OVERNIGHT MASK enriched with cloudberry, reishi mushroom and specialized peptides. This mask not only soothes, but works overnight to reverse dehydrated damaged skin. If your skin gets dry during the winter months, lather on this mask and let it work overnight. ($34) Nobody does winter quite like the Icelandic. And Blue Lagoon Iceland offers an ALGAE MASK that is chock-full of healing and restorative properties from its famous geothermal spa. The mask is infused with natural bacteria and aquatic plants to significantly increase collagen production, helping the skin look more firm — and more radiant. Apply generously, close your eyes and picture yourself floating in a warm electric-blue pool. ($103)

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THIS PAGE: ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF THE RESPECTIVE MANUFACTURERS

WHISH BLUE MATCHA RESTORING MASK

THE NUMBERS ARE STAGGERING. FOUR YEARS AGO, 1,390 CASES OF

hepatitis A were reported across the United States. But since 2016, 30 states have now reported some 26,276 outbreaks (with 60% of those infected requiring hospitalization) and 268 deaths - mostly among atrisk groups including drug users and men who have sex with men. In some regions, the volume of cases has been so extreme that officials have declared public health emergencies. The outbreak is prompting health officials to ramp up education and outreach efforts. That includes enlisting support from community-based organizations and even smartphone apps to cast as wide an awareness net as possible.

STOCKPHOTO COPYRIGHT: JARUN ONTAKRAI

UNDERSTANDING THE OUTBREAK “From our standpoint, as the outbreaks continue, it’s critical to make sure that populations that are vulnerable to infection – people who use drugs or are transient, gay and bisexual men – are vaccinated,” says Dr. Monique Foster, medical officer at the Center for Disease Control’s Division of Viral Hepatitis. “We’ve all been working together to alert all states, those having cases and not having cases, to both prevent and respond to outbreaks.”

Hepatitis A is an incredibly contagious liver infection that is carried by a virus found in the stools of infected people. It is most commonly spread from person to person, often through close personal contact and sex with a carrier. People who get the virus sometimes feel sick for a few weeks to several months. While most people recover and do not have lasting liver damage, some become so ill that they must be hospitalized until their conditions stabilize.

Foster says people with chronic liver disease are at higher risk for complications. Healthcare experts also recently advised those with HIV or AIDS to get vaccinated as well. “Individuals living with HIV and AIDS can suffer higher morbidity and mortality rates if

they are infected with the virus,” she asserts. The hepatitis A vaccine is the best way to prevent infection. One dose of single-antigen vaccine provides up to 95% seroprotection in healthy individuals for up to 11 years.

BODY

How are health officials addressing a liver disease that has become an astounding 19 times more common in just a few short years? BY JEFF SIMMONS

METROHIV

AN EXPLOSIVE

HOW WE FIGHT IT Outbreaks are spreading across the country, with the steepest numbers in regions also coping with other public health challenges — like opioids. Tennessee, Ohio, and West Virginia and Florida have tallied the most incidents so far – more than 3,000 - with 40 deaths resulting.

In encouraging news, two states – California and Utah – have already declared an end to their outbreaks.

Working with health officials, the mobile app Grindr has been alerting users about the outbreak, echoing earlier warnings about meningitis. In October 2018, the Illinois Department of Health approached Grindr about the increase in hepatitis A cases. So the social app began issuing weekly hepatitis A advisories. The alerts later expanded to reach users in other regions across the country.

“We have reached more than three million unique Grindr users with these alerts in five states, four cities and one country outside of the United States,”said Grindr’s Global Health Projects Manager, Emmett Patterson.“We don’t only want to work with health departments,”he says, “but with community-based organizations, too.”

His colleague,director of Grindr for Equality Jack Harrison adds, “We are always thinking about how we can build new features into the app to help people manage their health.” Similarly, Grindr also regularly notifies users about the importance of HIV testing and introduced features that allow users to set up reminders to be tested.

Patterson concludes,“We do have the opportunity to reach people to help them take control of their bodies and their health.”

■ METROSOURCE.COM DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020

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BODY

HEALTH

There may be no avoiding holiday stresses and weather messes, but there are also ways to help yourself cope.

BY JEFFREY JAMES KEYES

THE YULE LOG IS ON NETFLIX, AND ALEXA’S PLAYING SOMETHING FESTIVE. SO WHY DO YOU FEEL SO AWFUL? THE HOLIDAYS MAY BE THE HAPPIEST

time of the year for some people. But for others, family pressures, financial stress, packed calendars, unusual eating and travel can lead to anxiety and exhaustion. Whether you call it holiday burnout or the winter blues, there are several things you can do to take care of yourself this season.

It’s easier said than done, but try to stay on your regular sleep schedule. Sleep requirements vary from person to person, but most adults need between 7 to 9 hours a day. Aiming for six and calling it a night simply won’t cut it. And though it can be tempting to sleep in, don’t assume that you can “catch up on sleep” over your holiday vacation. Sleeping too much can also put you in a funk. So even when you have free time, set your alarm, lace up those boots and face the day.Your bed will be waiting when you get back – and it’ll be that much easier to drift off when you slip between the covers.

6. LIGHTEN UP Seasonal Affective Disorder is a form of depression known to effect people during the fall or winter. Even going for a short walk or spending a little extra time in the sun can begin to turn your bad day around. If you’re stuck indoors, try opening the blinds to let some sunshine into your home or office. Sunlight boosts the brain’s release of serotonin, which can both elevate your mood and help you feel calm. Light therapy (AKA phototherapy) is another aid in treating seasonal depression. Most participants can benefit from sitting near

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a light therapy box – which imitates natural sunlight – for as little as 10 to 15 minutes.

5. WORK IT OUT Even when the weather outside is frightful, it’s worth working up a sweat indoors. Many streaming services offer exercise videos on demand, and most of us have a jump rope or other exercise equipment gathering dust somewhere. Exercise can prompt fast-acting, beneficial changes in neurotransmitters including noradrenaline, serotonin and dopamine. As your body releases endorphins, your mind shifts into something like a meditative state. Aftereffects can include a sense of relaxation and accomplishment.

4. GET WET Whether you opt for a bath bomb, epsom salts, bubbles, or good old fashioned warm water, there’s nothing like grabbing your rubber ducky and sliding into a warm bath. Bathing is proven to be good for the heart. It can help you take in more oxygen, reduce pain and inflammation, calm the nervous system, relax tired joints and muscles, and even balance your hormones while boosting serotonin.

STOCK PHOTO CREDIT: KATARZYNA BIAŁASIEWICZ

7. SLEEP WELL

sleeping in your in-laws’ attic or roughing it at the family cabin, consider blocking out a few days to do something you really want to do. Book yourself a beach getaway.

Scratch your itch for adventure and jump out of an airplane. Or just plan to spend some time catching up on that bingeworthy series everyone is talking about. If anyone asks, tell them you have plans. It might be the best gift you could possibly give yourself.

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3. EAT RIGHT Whether your weakness is seconds on stuffing or overindulging in dessert, you’re not alone in overeating during the holidays.

But if having eyes bigger than your stomach is leaving you blue, there are strategies for making sure you’re getting a mood-boosting balance of fruits, vegetables and lean proteins into your holiday diet. If there’s no way to assemble a healthy plate at your traditional celebration with friends or family, break out the Tupperware and bring some sensible options for yourself. Sharing a pot-luck with loved ones? Be the person who volunteers to bring salad or Crudités and fill up on those. Or if you find yourself filling up on snacks and drinks before the meal, have a nutritious and filling smoothie before heading to the party so you’ll be less inclined to grab that extra fistful of Aunt Mary’s Famous Chex Mix or another mug of spiked eggnog.

2. TAKE A VACATION OR STAYCATION Sure, sharing time with family (chosen or otherwise) is an important part of the holiday. Before you agree to spend all your time off

1. SEEK SUPPORT If you feel seasonal depression getting the better of you, the National Alliance on Mental Illness has a free, nationwide peersupport service available at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264). Or - to find help in a crisis, text “NAMI” to 741741. Another option is the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. It’s a national network of local crisis centers that can provide free and confidential emotional support to those experiencing suicidal crisis or emotional distress, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender National Hotline is available at 1-888-843-4564. Or if you’re ready to establish a relationship with a professional, visit our roundup of great LGBTQ-friendly therapists and counselors at metrosource.com.

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SAVE UP TO 41% OFF THE COVER PRICE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

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Twilight at Villa Hortensia

AS THE SON OF A PILOT, I LEARNED FROM MY

father that flight is the essence of escape.

That’s especially true when aboard a private plane to an enchanted Croatian isle in the Adriatic. The best getaways are often the most inaccessible: sanctuaries far from the maelstrom of humanity.

HEAVEN ON EARTH For over a century, the emerald isle of Lošinj (pronounced low-SHEEN) has been one of the Adriatic’s most luxurious retreats. It was an oasis of well being for Austro-Hungarian aristocracy whose grand holiday villas now house five-star hotels. Notable for its temperate climate and lush vegetation, Lošinj owes much of its allure to the environmental stewardship of Croatian naturalist Ambroz HaraȔiȎ who studied the indigenous flora of Lošinj and its neighboring isles.

In 1892, the government of Vienna proclaimed the isle of Lošinj the official heath resort of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, enabling Emperor Franz Joseph and his entitled entourage to claim Lošinj as their personal Heaven on Earth.

Fortunately, it’s no longer necessary to bear a title or royal lineage to relish the pleasures of this storied locale. In recent years, Lošinj Hotels & Villas has been welcoming guests to its various luxury

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hotels such as Alhambra and onboard its fleet of yachts and private aircraft.

GETAWAY GLORY From the private airport alongside Zagreb’s Franjo Tuŋman Airport, guests of Lošinj Hotels & Villas board a private air transfer service aboard Beechcraft King or Cessna aircraft. Scheduled flights aboard Silver Air are also available from Zagreb, Venice and Lugano. The 40-minute flight offers a bird’s-eye perspective onto the cerulean brilliance of Kvarner Gulf and the surrounding archipelago of pine-covered isles. Thereafter, a red-carpet disembarkation at Mali Lošinj airport provides an opportunity for a champagne toast to the glory of a getaway.

In a nod to the island’s salubrious heritage, a bronze statue of the renowned botanist HaraȔQȎ greets guests at the tip of ȓikat Bay. It was HaraȔQȎ who verified Lošinj’s beneficial climate and supervised the afforestation of this bucolic cove with 300,000 coniferous plants on more than 125 acres. Thanks to HaraȔQȎ’s stewardship, Lošinj is currently home to more than 900 indigenous aromatic healing herbs. Rarely has air been more intoxicating, redolent of rosemary, lavender, lemon and sage. Flanked by forests of juniper and cypress, the bay’s waterfront

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Dinner along ikat Bay at Villa Hortensia

FROM AIR THAT’S PERFUMED BY PLANTLIFE TO A BRONZE THAT TOOK A SEVERAL THOUSAND YEAR SABBATICAL AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, THE ISLANDS OFFER MORE THAN INITIALLY MEETS THE EYE. BY MARK A. THOMPSON

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Osor with rotating bridge

Franz Joseph and Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Alongside the peony pink confection known as Villa Carolina, which was built for the Emperor’s mistress, the neo-modernist Bellevue Hotel gleams brilliantly white in the midday sun.

As the island’s first five-star hotel, Bellevue features an acclaimed Spa Clinic with a staff of physicians, nutritionists and therapists who integrate Lošinj’s natural resources with thalassotherapy and natural healing practices. Detox and pain management packages are complemented by restorative treatments and a spa garden shaded by towering pines.

HEAVEN ON EARTH promenade flutters with birds and butterflies. Surrounded by such therapeutic natural beauty, it’s difficult to refrain from breaking into song.

VILLAS AND MANSIONS Apart from Lošinj’s olfactory pleasures, the island is notable for its architectural landmarks. The secluded cove of ȓikat is lined with villas and mansions designed by such prominent Austrian architects as Alfred Keller and Rudolf Göbel, whose Belle Époque residences housed Emperor

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Equally therapeutic is a full-day sail aboard one of Jadranka Group’s yachts — especially when accompanied by the island’s resident colony of bottlenose dolphins. On the neighboring Isle of Cres is one of those breathtaking beaches that fuel desert island fantasies.

Its beach is only accessible via a 45-minute descent from an ancient fort city erected more than 1,200 feet above the Adriatic. In other words, paradise found — for those who can make the trek. For those more inclined to Instagram, the panoramic vista from the cliffside village of Lubenice is nothing less than wondrous.

PHOTOS THIS PAGES 46-49 COURTESY LOŠINJ HOTELS & VILLAS / ZAGREB TOURIST BOARD

Veli Losinj harbor

Mali Losinj at twilight

(And always remember: A photograph lasts longer.)

Also on the Isle of Cres, the ancient Roman town of Osor holds its Archaeological Collection in a 15th-century Renaissance building — with a lapidarium — that features stone fragments from the early Roman Empire. In addition, there’s a manuallyoperated rotating bridge spanning the narrow channel separating Cres from Lošinj.

IN SEARCH OF ADONIS For those in search of Adonis (and isn’t everyone while on an island getaway?), the town of Mali Lošinj is home to Apoxyome-

nos, the extraordinary Greek bronze that rested on the floor of the sea for over 2,000 years. Fortuitously discovered by a diver in 1996, this 2nd-century B.C. kouros now resides in Muzej Apoksiomena, a brand new museum every bit as remarkable as the bronze that bears its name.

And yet, in spite of the isle’s cultural and historic bounty, it’s possible that what lingers the longest after a sojourn to Lošinj are the spectacular sunsets and the golden glow that suffuses the pine-scented paradise. Known for generations as the “island of vitality,” Lošinj revitalizes the soul with its natural beauty. It’s a potent reminder to breathe life in deeply.

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THEY CALL IT THE CITY WITH A MILLION HEARTS, AND AT THE HOLIDAYS, IT JUST MIGHT STEAL YOURS. BY MARK A. THOMPSON

Advent in Zagreb

THE CITY WITH A MILLION HEARTS Island-hoppers know Croatia is actually 1,244 little land masses strung like emeralds along the Adriatic coast. It’s familiar terrain to fans of Game of Thrones and Star Wars. Dubrovnik has served as locations for both, securing its reputation as one of the most beautiful destinations in Westeros and the glories of a galaxy far, far away.

Croatia also claims seven UNESCO Heritage Sites and eight national parks. But, at Christmastime, it’s all about Advent in Zagreb.

Some years ago, my Father spent an academic sabbatical in Zagreb. Then, in a move that initially confounded the rest of the family, he returned there for another year-long sabbatical a short time later.

Clearly he had fallen under the city’s spell. That certainly includes the winter holiday season when Zagreb celebrates Christmas in ways that evokes my Father’s own childhood.

Anyone who wanders the Croatian capital during winter will recall Zagreb’s signature Licitar hearts. The omnipresent sweet honey dough confections adorn Christmas trees and provide the sobriquet

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“city with a million hearts.” Situated in the northwest of Croatia, Zagreb is notable for its 18th- and 19th-century architecture from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Its medieval center, known as Upper Town, perches atop a hill overlooking Lower Town. During the height of the Yuletide, Upper Town resembles an enchanted Christmas village, not unlike the one depicted in Dylan Thomas’s A Child’s Christmas in Wales.

MORE THAN A MARKET Every year of the last three, Zagreb has won the title as Europe’s Best Christmas Market. The appellation is something of a misnomer for a citywide celebration that transforms Zagreb into a six-week street party. Consider, for example, what the locals refer to as Fooling Around (Fuliranje), a music and culinary festival held in the heart of the city that attracts international DJs, performers and bands complemented by food from top Croatian chefs and restaurants.

Then consider that this is but one part of the city’s annual Advent festival. Commencing on the last day of November and continuing through the first week of the New Year, Zagreb transforms itself during Advent into a winter wonderland that shimmers in the glow of illuminated trees and twinkling lights — all thrumming with their own distinctive Croatian beat.

LGBTQ CROATIA Each year, nearly a quarter of a million LGBTQ travelers visit Croatia, which has been designated as one of the EU’s more progressive societies in its regard for equality. Homosexuality was removed from the list of medical disorders in 1973 — nearly 20 years

PHOTOS COURTESY ZAGREB TOURIST BOARD

CHRISTMAS CAN UNLEASH

your inner child and all the holiday trappings that go with it. They’re an easy bunch to identify, with their Santa hats, gingerbread houses, peppermint stick cocktails, and decorations designed to outshine Rockefeller Center. If this describes you or someone you know, consider Christmas in Croatia.

before the World Health Organization followed suit. Comprehensive anti-discrimination laws have been on the books in Croatia for more than 15 years and LGBTQ+ people serve openly in the military. As the Croatian Minister of Tourism asserted in 2012, all LGBTQ+ visitors are welcomed in Croatia.

In 2002, Zagreb hosted its first Pride festival in Zrinjevac Park, one of the city’s most romantic retreats - complete with a music pavilion, numerous fountains and monuments, and an allée of more than two hundred plane trees. Throughout the holiday season, the park’s plane trees are illuminated with thousands of white lights, while the 19th-century music pavilion rings with Christmas standards and waltzes. On the nearby An Illuminated Fountain King Tomislav Square, a massive ice park fronts the A Christmas Marke t city’s majestic Art Pavilion that becomes a winter palace in the crystalline night.

FOLLOW YOUR NOSE Regardless of where you roam during the holidays in Zagreb, it’s best to follow your nose. The city’s numerous cafés and coffeehouses serve peppery gingerbread cookies, vanilla crescents, walnut and poppy seed rolls — delicious with coffee, perhaps even better when consumed with mulled wine with ginger, herbal schnapps and hot mulled gin.

Since 1926, Dolac Market has been Zagreb’s major marketplace for farmers from surrounding villages. Adjacent to the city’s bustling Ban JelaȔQȎ Square, the market offers a covered food hall for butchers, fishmongers and florists. According to Zagreb local Nena Komarica, one of the best ways to enjoy a winter’s day in Advent is to “mingle with the locals at the Dolac farmers’ market fragrant with spices and mulled wine and music.” When you’re ready to warm up, duck into Palace Hotel Zagreb for a cappuccino and croissant amidst the Art Nouveau splendor, which dates back to 1891.

A Winter Wonderland

TRAMS, FUNICULARS AND QUEER CAFES Weary after walking? From Zagreb’s central square, take the Merry Christmas Tram for a 25-minute jaunt through the city’s Yuletide pleasures. Or try Zagreb’s funicular, which started service 1890 and is one of the world’s shortest at 220 feet.

Although Zagreb attracts nearly a million visitors annually, Advent in Zagreb maintains civility. Martina Bienenfeld, CEO of Zagreb Tourist Board attests,“While many European capitals are overcrowded and overpriced in the run-up to Christmas, Advent in Zagreb offers room to move as well as value for money.”

The icing on the Christmas cookie? Zagreb is home to a vibrant LGBTQ+ scene that includes cafés, clubs, and bars. Queer Zagreb also sponsors such cultural events as the documentary film festival ZagrebDox in February and a Festival of Lights in March. “In winter, the city of Zagreb becomes a glittering, magical place.”Bienenfeld promises.

■ METROSOURCE.COM DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020

51

OUT FOR THE

x 25-3/8 in. (53.3 x

Holidays

Andy Garcia in the Geffen Play house 19/20 Season productio n of

Key Largo

Touch history, embrace art and open your ears to the sounds of the season, and ring in the new year with Kristen Chenoweth. BY CHRISTOPHER LISOTTA TOUCHING HISTORY: STONEWALL 50 December and January Palm Springs Art Museum commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the landmark uprising against police harassment and social injustice that helped launch the modern global LGBT civil rights movement. Bringing together a culturally diverse, intergenerational group of contemporary artists working in photography and collage, this exhibition explores queer kinship, care and community through the immediacy and intimacy of touch. psmuseum.org

DISNEY’S FROZEN December and January The Disney blockbuster film-turned-Broadway musical launches its North American tour in Los Angeles this winter. Fans have lauded the show for its groundbreaking special effects and its faithfulness to the original score. That song list now includes additional songs from EGOT Robert Lopez created especially for the stage production. Frozen brings the ultimate Scandi-

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1874. Oil on canvas. 21-1/4

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navian sister act to the Pantages Theatre. hollywoodpantages.com

BY DAY & BY NIGHT: PARIS IN THE BELLE ÉPOQUE December and January The belle époque, the French expression meaning “beautiful era,” refers to the interwar years between 1871 and 1914, when Paris was at the forefront of urban development and cultural innovation. The jewel box Norton Simon Museum profiles the period with envelopepushing pieces from Pierre Bonnard, Pablo Picasso and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who each incorporated the changing times and city into their work. nortonsimon.org

JULIE MEHRETU December and January For the first-ever comprehensive retrospective of the celebrated Ethiopian artist and MacArthur“Genius,”LACMA brings together more than 70 pieces of Mehretu’s art. The pieces encompass her examinations of history, colonialism, capitalism, geopolitics, war

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and displacement. From intimate drawings to large canvases, Mehretu’s political and personal work resonates across continents and cultures. lacma.org

WEST COAST SINGERS December 7-8 LA’s premier gay and lesbian chorus has been loud and proud for nearly four decades.

Now they’re back for another holiday spectacular: This time, the singers focus on the joys of the holiday - from carols to cocktails to candy canes. Held at Hollywood’s historic Barnsdall Gallery Theatre, the celebration wouldn’t be complete without their timehonored Handel’s Messiah Hallelujah Chorus sing-a-long. Join them for some joyful noise! westcoastsingers.org

KEY LARGO Through December 10 Andy Garcia stars in and produces this staged adaptation of Maxwell Anderson’s Broadway play, best known in its incarnation as a Warner Bros. Bogart-Bacall film noir classic. In it, a

THIS PAGE: ANDY GARCIA PHOTOGRAPHY BY YANN RABANIER

LA SCOPE LOS ANGELES

). The Seine at Charenton,

laumin (French, 1841–1927 Jean-Baptiste Armand Guil Foundation 63.5 cm). Norton Simon Art

World War II veteran returns to a Florida Keys hotel to pay his respects to a fallen comrade.

But he gets more than he bargained for when he runs afoul of a gangster boss — played by Garcia himself. geffenplayhouse.org

THIS PAGE: KRISTEN CHENOWETH BY GIAN ANDREA DI STEFANO

NEW YEAR’S EVE WITH KRISTEN December 31 Ring in 2020 with Tony and Emmy Award winner Kristen Chenoweth at either an early or late Dec. 31 show. The Broadway songstress will share material drawn from her entire varied career - from show tunes and gospel to pop and country. Chenoweth is sure to command the stage with her stellar voice and incomparable charm. laphil.com

ANDERSON COOPER January 26 The silver-haired correspondent may be the hardest working man in news. CNN’s most notable on-air talent is also known for his 60

Minutes profiles and his new Facebook series – not to mention his traveling roadshow with bestie Andy Cohen. This time the Coop comes to the Saban Theater solo to discuss current events and globally significant stories of today.

And you’ll love his giggle. speakersla.com

PIPER KERMAN IN CONVERSATION WITH RACHEL KUSHNER January 30 Piper Kerman was a college grad in the early ‘90s when she got mixed up in a drug trafficking scam with her then-girlfriend. A decade later Kerman found herself charged with crimes when her ex flipped on her. After serving a 15-month federal sentence Kerman wrote the best seller Orange is the New Black, which went on to make history as a critically acclaimed Netflix series. Now a criminal justice reform and incarcerated women advocate, Kerman discusses prison reform with The Mars Room author Kushner. roycehall.org ■

Kristen Chenoweth

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A ROOM WITH A VIEW

With an eye toward sustainability and a renovation that delivers luxury, the secret weapon of the Montage Laguna Beach is still its sweeping seaside views. BY STEVE GOTTFRIED MICRO-CATIONS ARE INCREASINGLY POPULAR AMONG MILLENIALS WHO ARE

either too stressed, too busy or too financially strapped to book any vacation longer than a holiday weekend. But rest assured, being a millennial is not a requirement.

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MONTAGE LAGUNA BEACH LUXURY SPA AND RESORT 30801 S Coast Hwy Laguna Beach, CA 92651 866-271-6953 montagehotels.com

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DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020 METROSOURCE.COM

Morning

The micro-cation is all about quality over quantity - maximizing your rest and relaxation within a limited time frame. When life gets hectic and stress builds up, sometimes you need to hit reset. Even something as brief as a 24-hour overnight can be enough to calm nerves frazzled by life’s twists and turns. It may seem like an extravagance, but you should consider any little respite an investment in your mental health.

That’s how I ended up booking just such a retreat at the 5-star Montage Laguna Beach. It would only be an overnight stay, but long enough to see if they’d gotten their money’s worth out of their recently completed renovation. As time was of the essence, I requested an early check-in, booked a spa treatment and arranged a dinner at the hotel’s premier restaurant for what turned into a two-and-a-half hour gastronomic marathon. But, more on that later...

Micro-cation Rule Number One: Prioritize and choose wisely. For me, it was all about an ocean view. It’s nature’s elixir: soothing, calming and restorative. But even if a getaway will be short on length, it doesn’t mean you have to scrimp on luxury.

MONTAGE ‘SPLAINING In cinema, montage is a device that tells its story with a collection of images. And the Montage does this from the get-go with a picturesque window framing the Pacific Ocean. Situated on 30 acres of pristine coastline, the Montage Laguna Beach has a layout that gives each room of the 255-room craftsman-style resort an ocean view. Those renovations now include marble bathrooms. There’s a nifty feature that allows you to control the lights from via the mirror. Yes, the trek from lobby

THIS PAGE: PHOTOS COURTESY MONTAGE LAGUNA BEACH

LA HOTSHOPS

dio Interior Evening

to room can take more than a hot minute. But it was worth it when I stepped out onto the patio to take in the view.

eco-conscious luxury sheets and linens to the edible gardens, the management has taken a cue from an increasingly woke clientele.

SPA TIME

EATING UP

I arrived early for my appointment to take a little extra time to enjoy the steam, sauna and Jacuzzi. An absolute favorite: the mini-waterfall in the Jacuzzi. I can still feel the force of the hot water rushing over my back and shoulders. Ten minutes of“waterfall therapy”felt as soothing as an hourlong massage. I also opted for the Hydration Ritual Facial, which combines traditional European facial techniques with their masks and creams from Swiss-based Valmont cosmetics. But there’s also an assortment of options for the more adventurous, including the Sapphire OxyLight Facial - which proffers diamond dermabrasion, Myolight micro-current and LED light therapy. And if price is no object, there’s the spare-no-expense Masterpiece facial which includes six masks and medical grade collagen, priced at $850 for your 90-minute treatment. Spa Montage also offers a range of couples’ packages, so consider the Romantic Couples Journey or the Couples’ Side-by-Side Mani/Pedi.

The Montage boasts three on-site restaurants which also serve up sweeping ocean views. Loft is more casual and family friendly; Mosaic is a chic poolside bistro where creatively named libations include the Painkiller, the Mosaic Mai Tai and the Frosé all Day. The Mosaic dinner menu offers myriad appetizing delights from the Maine Lobster Salad with avocado, sun-dried tomato, asparagus, mango and grapefruit delicately tossed with their house-made citrus vinaigrette.

The Studio Restaurant is the pièce d’résistance. I started with Confit Root Vegetables with Coconut Curry. Next, Artichoke Barigoule Caramelle Pasta with pecorino toscano and 20-year aged balsamico di Modena that highlights a variety of delicately balanced flavors. I followed that with Sumac-Crusted King Salmon served with sunchoke, roasted sunburst squash, crisp zucchini blossoms and green garlic vinaigrette. For dessert, the Grand Cru was a Guanaja chocolate sphere with vanilla ice cream and whiskey chocolate sauce. (I first requested the sauce on the side, then found myself dousing the orb with reckless abandon.)

After that meal - and an exhausting day of pampering, I slept like a baby. I took a morning dip in the Olympic size pool pre-breakfast and was ready to return to reality by noon. But this was a one-night stand I will not soon forget.

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AND IT’S ECO-FRIENDLY The Montage Laguna Beach is all about sustainability. Plastic packaging has been replaced with waxed paper, while the plastic toothbrushes and combs are now bamboo. The chef at Studio printed me a menu made of plant fibers (dill seed to be precise) which can actually be planted. From

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Remember THE HONEYMOON

Advice about honeymooning along the Paseo del Rio and making smart choices about your person of honor and wedding party picks. BY JEFFREY JAMES KEYES

HONEYMOONING JUST AROUND THE RIVERBEND THE SAN ANTONIO RIVER WALK AND MISSIONS

make the Alamo City a romantic and relaxing destination for a honeymoon or mini-moon.

Considered "Texas’ Number One Attraction," The San Antonio River Walk (Paseo del Rio) is a 15-mile stretch of urban waterway that's the ultimate way to explore the historic city.

Stroll hand in hand along the water. Check out Go Rio Cruises for a guided specialty tour on one of their eco-friendly, electric river boats in vibrant colors inspired by Mexican folk art.You might opt for a 35-minute narrated cruise to get your bearings when you first arrive. If you and your new spouse are sporty types, you can opt for San Antonio Bike Share, designed for short trips and quick adventures around town. The service has been around since 2011, and has hundreds of bikes available at some 60 stations around town - perfect for a joyride to the Missions.

A SOUVENIR RALLYING CRY Speaking of Missions, the Alamo Mission originally known as Mission San Antonio de Valero - is the location of the famous siege of the Alamo, which took place in February and March 6 of 1836. The final battle left no adult Anglo

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males Texans living. “Remember the Alamo” became a rallying battle cry, and today, the saying is still everywhere — on keychains, water bottles and t-shirts you can bring home as a souvenir of your San Antonio honeymoon. Battle cries aside, the Alamo is a beautiful building with a charming garden. Try to go early before the bus loads of fanny pack tourists take over the background of your photos.

In the mood for lunch? Ácenar, the brainchild of Lisa Wong and Pete Selig offers a modern take on Mexican cuisine. This easy-to-spot restaurant (one of the largest along the River Walk) offers San Antonio style enchiladas, chile rellenos, parrilladas, asadas, cabrito and delish seafood dishes. Request a seat outside so you can people watch and enjoy the view.

MEN ON A MISSION Now you'll need to burn off some calories. So bike on over to San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. The ride should take a little over a half hour, depending on how many stops you make along the way. Head south along the Mission Reach, the part of the River Walk that extends just beyond downtown. Admission to the National Historical Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is free. Ranger-led programs are offered

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throughout the day at Mission San José, where you can also enjoy the 23-minute park film People of Reason, shown every half hour. San José, also called “Queen of the Missions”, is the largest of the missions in the area. The other three colonial missions in the park include: Concepción, San Juan and Espada. The missions were founded by 18th century Spanish priests to serve centers of the ethnically diverse society. Together with the Alamo, these represent the largest concentration of Spanish colonial missions in North America. If history and architecture are of shared interest for you and your beloved, spend a little extra time at Mission Concepción. Established in 1716, it's the oldest unrestored stone church in America.

DINNER AND DRINKS If you worked up an appetite after all that mission hopping, make a beeline to Battalion, Chef Stefan Bower’s hip Italian restaurant where diners can find libations like Jaws of Life and The Arsonist honoring the spirit of the building’s firehouse history. Have a Lady and the Tramp moment and share a pasta dish before devouring inspired entrees like Grilled Mackerel or Parmesan-Herb Crusted Lamb Chops.

If you’re in the mood for after-dinner entertainment (or drinks with a musical chaser), make

THIS PAGE: LOMA DE VIDA CREDIT LA CANTERA RESORT AND SPA

LOS ANGELES

WEDDINGS

Loma de Vida - Gather Place

your way to the Pearl district and check into Jazz, TX, a romantic cellar jazz bar with evening live sets Tuesdays through Saturdays.

If the music doesn’t keep you there 'till last call, mix and mingle with the locals at Pegasus for a nightcap. The stalwart offers great drinks, drag shows, video DJs and friendly crowds. Or for a late night snack, something sweet, or a little Mariachi, the world-famous 24-hour Mi Tierra Cafe, has been whipping up craveable Tex-Mex plates and pastries since 1941. You won’t be disappointed.You'll want to add snaps of Jorge Cortez’s mural to your IG story.

SWEET DREAMS Wondering where to call it a night? There are plenty of options in Alamo City. Hotel Valencia, featuring 213 elegant rooms right on the River Walk, is definitely one to consider. Blending Spanish Colonial with Modern Mediterranean design, this downtown hotel is right in the middle of everything, yet feels tranquil and out of the way once you step inside. Another River Walk Option, Hotel Havana, is a charming 27-room hotel designed by hotelier Liz Lambert. Bask in the original 1914 Mediterranean Revival design to see why the property is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Want to get out of town? Head to La Cantera Resort & Spa. The oasis - replete with wooden beams, a roaring fireplace and plenty of Texas charm - is bout a half hour drive from the center San Antonio. La Cantera offers 496 rooms, 34 boutique-style Villas (perfect for honeymooners), and an exclusive adults-only floor. Be sure to book a spa treatment at Loma de Vida., where the signature treatments include the Absolute Texas with beeswax, honey and a touch of lavender to remind you that you’re right in the middle of Texas Hill Country.

AISLE ADVICE CHOOSING YOUR WEDDING PARTY

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YOU GOT DOWN ON ONE KNEE (OR SAID YES). And

you told everyone and started brainstorming about the wedding to end all weddings. Then your anxiety sets in. Who will be your person of honor? And who else is going to be in your wedding party? You may have a handful of close friends or an expansive contact list packed with best buds that could stand up with you. Either way, take a moment to consider before you ask.

The first step is for you and your partner to come up with how many people you each want

to have stand up at your big day. This number can be dictated by the size of your wedding. An enormous 300 guest throwdown might call for a big wedding party. Going simpler and inviting a handful of people? You'll probably want to opt for just a few of your nearest and dearest to surround you on what may be the most unforgettable day of your life.

Next you might put together a short list of essential invitees. This could include family, friends, coworkers, classmates, teammates, neighbors. Once you have your list, you can start marking potential wedding party members. It may feel strange rating your friends, but it's all part of the process. Look for overlap. If there's someone on the list who could just as easily stand with either of you, maybe there's another role for them. Perhaps they could perform readings. One might even make the perfect officiant.

BEST MEN AND PEOPLE OF HONOR Your best man or person of honor might jump out at you immediately. They may have been the first person you called after the proposal. However, if more than one person on your list could fit the bill, you may have quite the task ahead. It’s also possible that as soon as word gets out that you’re getting married, close friends in your life might start petitioning for the position.

It's time to get serious. Think about the people on your short list. Who will take this responsibility seriously? Who will help celebrate your joy but also support you through potential anxieties or curveballs? There may be social and familial politics worth considering, too.

Choosing a best man can be tricky. There are numerous social and familial politics to keep in mind. Speaking of which, there’s no obligation to include siblings, but do consider incorporating them in some way. If there is distance between

you and siblings, this might be an opportunity to mend fences. If you know you don't want them to stand up with you, consider asking them to take part as an usher or in another key role.

On the other hand, if you and more than one buddy are close as peas in a pod, a sibling might make a perfect option so neither ends up feeling slighted. And you can even opt to have two best men or people of honor. It's your big day, after all. Don't let convention impose artificial limits.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF PROPOSAL Once you've decided who you want to be in your wedding party, it's time to find the best way to ask them. We suggest start with your best man or person of honor and moving on from there.

Whatever your approach, have fun. You could invite them out to dinner - perhaps to a place that's filled with great memories or has special emotional resonance for both of you. Alternately, choose a special activity you both enjoy.

You might even consider writing a heartfelt letter that expresses why you've asked them to take this role.

Remember: asking someone to stand up at your wedding is similar to proposing - both asking a question and affirming their worth. Lead up to the ask and make it a special moment.

On the business end of things, be clear about what each person's duties entail and articulate them clearly. Do you want help planning your wedding? Will they be responsible for planning a bachelor party, shower or similar event? Do you expect them to offer a toast?

If you suspect any of these duties might be overwhelming, divvy them up: Let the crew's wild child plan your party and the storyteller take the toast. Most importantly - if they say yes - celebrate. They're about to be part of your special day. And the fun is only beginning.

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THE AIM OF BIRDIE G’S, THE NEWEST VENTURE FROM

chef Jeremy Fox and the Rustic Canyon Family of restaurants, may be achieving the near-impossible: being all things to all people.

TRIBUTES TO GRANDMA Fox’s cooking is appealing updated Americana – equal parts comfort food and farm-fresh flavors.

Meanwhile the restaurant, which is adjacent to gallery-filled Bergamot Station, feels like both a cozy alfresco café and a post-industrial art space.

You could just as easily come here for a raucous family outing as a romantic first date. Likewise, the menu contains everything from hearty matzo ball soup to Passmore Ranch steelhead caviar. Yet somehow it all works, and works well.

This contemporary comfort cuisine mash-up is also the leitmotif of the group’s other eateries, including the landmark Rustic Canyon, Huckleberry Bakery and Café, Milo + Olive, and the Southeast Asian hotspot Cassia.Yet somehow, the ethos at Birdie G’s feels more personal.

Perhaps that’s in part because its moniker is combination of the names of Fox’s daughter and grandmother. He fondly recalls cooking with Grandma Gladys in her Pennsylvania home. And he takes much of his inspiration from her.

The interior dining room is high-ceilinged, and activity-filled. An open kitchen along one wall is fronted by a high-topped dining counter along with simple wooden two- and four-tops and cushioned banquettes. Clock the former factory cart from Ohio, Fox’s home state, doubling as a

credenza. A smaller space with the bar anchors another side of the building and is a bit quieter.

If the weather is nice, note in your reservation that you’d like a table out on the 50-seat front patio along the breezeway leading from the street to the central area of Bergamot station.

A GOOD START First up should be an order of the inventive cocktails. Mum’s an Old Fashioned Gal is a smooth mix of Sazerac rye whiskey, citrusy barrel-aged bitters, a dash of cane sugar and essence of chrysanthemum. The tongue-tingling Liberty Bell Libations contains Aviation American Gin, red and orange bell pepper syrup, lemon, honey and cracked pepper for a kick. The Duck, Duck, Goose, is essentially the bartender’s choice based on your preferences. The wine list also proffers a prolific assortment of vintages from the U.S., France, Germany and Italy, among other locales.

Start your food journey with a dish of perfumed lavender almonds and tangy pickled heirloom cucumbers with chili flakes and dill.

Fluffy Texas Toasts come topped with various delicacies, including mouthwatering chicken liver mousse with caramelized onion and Manischewitz jam, or luscious avocado sprinkled with chilies, lemon and fennel pollen.

Though small, the matzo ball soup is enough to share as is and comes in a curative chicken broth fortified with carrots, dill and a touch of miso for an umami note. Two varieties of beets – large red ones and more delicate slices of badger-flame

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yellow – are lightly pickled and served over a bed of creamy whipped chèvre with horseradish shavings and a charoset of pear and pecan.

SPECIALS AND THE GRILL Fox’s menu includes daily blue plate specials. So one night you might find hearty bigoli pasta with an amatriciana sauce and house-cured guanciale.

Another, it might be Gladys’s beef-tongue pot roast with kasha, carrots and horseradish-laced goat cheese.

You might not expect the chef of a cookbook titled On Vegetables to be a meat genius, but the centerpiece of the kitchen is a J&R Grill. Fox uses almond wood to roast various cuts. These including hanger steak and dry aged bone-in ribeye rubbed with Montreal steak seasoning, and a whole or half-chicken with a piquant spice rub served and a tropical relish of pineapple and cilantro (though some nights it might be mango). For something slightly exotic, opt for the bay scallops in a fermented red chili-coconut with fried shallots, curry and yams.

As a side, the king trumpet mushroom fritti battered in rice flour and seasoned with rosemary, lemon and parmigiano are light but juicy. And the kasha sauerkraut cakes - stuffed with briny corned beef and dressed with aioli, chives, lemon zest and chicken-skin crackling - are like a deep-fried bite of heaven.

2421 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90404, 310-310-3616; birdiegsla.com

THIS PAGE: PHOTO CREDIT JIM SULLIVAN

RESTAURANT REVIEW LOS ANGELES

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Updated American cuisine manages to be a tongue-tingling adventure, thanks to a contemporary spin on recipes inspired by Grandma. BY ERIC ROSEN

RESTAURANT BITES Edited by Eric Rosen

WEST HOLLYWOOD ANGLER Joshua Skenes, one of San Francisco’s best-known chefs, offers an LA outpost of his Embarcadero classic. Diners enjoy fresh seafood in the glow of huge aquaria. 8500 Beverly Blvd. Ste. 117, 424-332-4082

ANIMAL Chefs Jon Dotolo and Vinny Shook’s meat-centric restaurant is a mainstay for upscale comfort food prepared with seasonal, local ingredients and a bit of flair. 435 N. Fairfax Ave., 323-782-9225

AUBURN Chef Eric Bost is behind the stoves at one of the city’s best fine-dining establishments. Diners can opt for à la carte seasonal dishes, or order one of the tasting menus. 6703 Melrose Ave., 323-486-6703

CONNIE & TED’S Chef Michael Cimarusti has been dazzling LA palates since he opened fine-dining redoubt, Providence, but he takes a more casual approach with this genial ode to the simple seafood shacks of his Rhode Island childhood. 8171 Santa Monica Blvd., 323-848-2722

FORMOSA CAFÉ This nearly 90-year-old American-Chinese relic has regained its former glory thanks to a top-to-toe renovation. The menu features modern dim sum and Asian dishes along with cocktails both classic and creative. 7156 Santa Monica Blvd., 323-850-1009

GRACIAS MADRE The folks behind vegan-raw mainstay Café Gratitude created this Mexican-inspired eatery; the plant-based cuisine is as delicious but without affirmation-heavy names. 8905 Melrose Ave., 323-978-2170

JON & VINNY’S You love their grilled meat at Animal and the seafood at Son of a Gun. Now it’s time to try Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo’s take on neighborhood Italian at this friendly Fairfax trattoria. Try the handmade pasta and seasonal pizzas along with a Dolcetto from the little wine shop located at the back. 412 N. Fairfax Ave., 323-334-3368

KITCHEN 24

KISMET The ladies behind Madcapra at downtown’s Grand Central Market now have their own brick-and-mortar restaurant in a busy section of Los Feliz, serving up a menu that meshes Mediterranean classics with Californian flavors such as Persian cucumbers with rosewater labneh and parsley-seed zaatar. 4648 Hollywood Blvd., 323-409-0404

MA’AM SIR Rice Bar’s Charles Olalia hits a homerun at his Filipino spot in Silver Lake. The gorgeous, plant-filled space has a retro-homey vibe, as does the menu of updated South Asian sizzlers, including a rich beef oxtail kare kare and finger-licking hangover fried rice with lop cheung sausage. 4330 Sunset Blvd., 323-741-8371

SALAZAR All the best restaurants have a checkered past, and this Frogtown taqueria is no exception. Sitting in the expansive, palm-shaded patio, you can only just tell that this used to be an auto body shop. But what does that matter when the handmade fish tacos and mesquitefired steaks are so tasty? 2490 Fletcher Blvd.

SQIRL Ever wonder why there’s always a line around the corner at this East Hollywood eatery for breakfast and lunch? It’s because of chef Jessica Koslow’s famous sorrel-pesto bowl with feta and poached egg. Though her menu features plenty of other mouthwatering specialties, that’s the dish that put her on the map…and got her into the New York Times and Vogue. 720 N. Virgil Ave., 213-394-6526

VESPERTINE

Chef Jordan Kahn doesn’t do things by half measure, and Vespertine is no exception. Located in Culver City’s eye-catching Waffle Building, the restaurant serves only a $250 per person tasting menu that changes constantly but always surprises in a good way. It may be a power splurge, but makes a perfect special-occasion restaurant. 3599 Hayden Ave., 323-320-4023

On a hidden, gritty little alley at the eastern edge of downtown, Israeli chef Ori Menashe has transformed a former factory building into a congenial gathering spot where hipsters and foodies converge to consume housemade cured meats, pastas and other Mediterranean-inspired fare. 2121 E. 7th Pl., 213-514-5724

GUERRILLA TACOS

MAJORDOMO

Aussie chef Curtis Stone presents this fine-dining spot and butcher shop. Guests can come for cocktails, enjoy a five-course prix-fixe in the dining room, or drop by the gleaming meat counter for cuts of dry-aged beef and charcuterie. 6600 Sunset Blvd., 323-946-7500

Chef David Chang of New York’s Momofuku recently made his West Coast debut with this Chinatown eatery. The menu skews Korean with delicious dishes like smoked bone-in short ribs with shiso rice paper and ssamjang. 1725 Naud St., 323-545-4880

HERE’S LOOKING AT YOU

MANUELA

HIPPO This Highland Park hangout comes courtesy of James Beard Awardwinner chef Matt Molina. Expect appetizing, approachable dishes like Hamachi crudo with Meyer lemon and cedar-smoked ocean trout with sweet corn succotash. 5916 ½ N. Figueroa St., 323-545-3536

TO ADVERTISE CALL 818 762-1955

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EASTSIDE/LOS FELIZ/SILVER LAKE/ ECHO PARK

The former Joe’s space is looking fresh after a makeover, as are the pastas being turned out from the kitchen of chef Evan Funke’s (formerly at Bucato). Try strascinati with ceci, cavolo nero greens, pangrattato and wild fennel but save room for one of the wood-fired pizzas as well. 1023 Abbot Kinney Blvd., 424-387-8622

You might recognize chef Niki Nakayama from her episode of Netflix’s Chef’s Table. But fame hasn’t changed the way she meticulously prepares spectacular tasting plates at her hole-in-the-wall restaurant on Sawtelle’s sushi row. 3455 Overland Ave, 310-836-6252

HOLLYWOOD AND MID-CITY

Chef Michael Cimarusti has long been lauded as one of LA’s best chefs thanks to the fabulous seafood feasts here. Taking sustainability one step further, he formed the West Coast chapter of Dock to Dish, promoting eco-conscious local seafood by directly connecting California fishermen with chefs. 5955 Melrose Ave., 323-460-4170

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The taco truck that the late Jonathan Gold made famous now has a brick-and-mortar location downtown so fans don’t have to wait out in the cold (or hot) for favorites like the octopus quesadillas or fish tacos with tempura Baja cod. 2000 E. 7th St.

PROVIDENCE

The folks behind Rustic Canyon and Spice Table teamed on this Santa Monica spot, which melds Californian seasonality with Vietnamese tradition. Start with crab legs from the raw bar. Ease into bigger dishes like savory scallops with hazelnuts and curry leaf; and a hearty Vietnamese pot au feu with short rib and bird’s-eye chile. 1314 7th St., 310-393-6699

San Francisco chef Daniel Patterson brings his signature restaurant Alta to LA, and there’s probably no more perfect spot in the city than West Adams for his winning fusion of California soul food, such as skillet-fried chicken, collard greens with smoked oil and black eyed pea fritters. 5359 W. Adams Blvd., 323-571-4999

BESTIA

This Koreatown eatery has won raves thanks to former Animal chef Jonathan Whitener’s mélange of flavors from Latin America, Vietnam and the U.S. cooked to perfection over custom-made grills. Make your reservations (way) in advance. 3901 W. 6th St., 213-568-3573

CASSIA

ALTA

RONAN

The folks behind Taste turn to Mexican cuisines with a taqueria that takes favorite Mexican dishes and makes them with farm-fresh ingredients and organic produce. 616 N. Robertson Blvd., 310-657-9888

Chef Jeremy Fox is back in the kitchen at this Santa Monica stunner surrounded by the contemporary art galleries of Bergamot Station.

The menu is an homage to the cooking of Fox’s grandmother including diner classics, but with updated seasonal twists. 2421 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica, 310-310-3616

DOWNTOWN/STUDIO CITY/ SHERMAN OAKS

The latest venture from the husband-wife chef team behind Bestia, Bavel skews Israeli, with pan-Mediterranean accents, like flatbreads topped with savory lamb, duck nduja hummus, and chicken-leg confit with an earthy turmeric sauce. 500 Mateo St., 213-232-4966

TORTILLA REPUBLIC

BIRDIE G’S

Venice’s most sought-after reservation, Gjelina serves a Mediterranean-inspired menu: fresh salads, wood-oven specialty pizzas and fresh seafood. You can plan a party at the private dining room upstairs, but if you’re dining casually, opt for a seat in the back garden. 1429 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, 310-450-1429

Spacecraft Group brings a futuristic all-day-all-night diner concept to this always-bustling eatery. Expect greasy spoon-inspired plates with a bit of attitude thrown in — perfect for a late-night on your way back from Boystown’s bars. 8575 Santa Monica Blvd., 424-777-0959 Melrose’s restaurant row has a hopping new spot for Neopolitan wood-fired pizzas, sizzling seasonal specialties and some of the best cocktails in Weho, courtesy of a chef who’s done time in notable LA kitchens like Sotto and Alimento. 7315 Melrose Ave., 323-917-5100

THE WESTSIDE/SANTA MONICA/ VENICE

What do you get when you combine a former factory, a world-class art gallery and one of Downtown’s Arts District’s best restaurants?

Manuela: its indoor dining room is abuzz with well-to-do downtowners, but the quieter patio with a view of the courtyard’s sculptures is the place for an intimate date. 907 E. 3rd St., 323-849-0480

ROSSOBLU Sotto’s chef Steve Samson staked out a gorgeous space downtown in the Fashion District and serves up rich dishes from Italy’s EmiliaRomagna region. Try the signature tagliatelle with Bolognese ragu.

The industrial interior is fine to dine, but if you’re lucky, you’ll snag a seat on the expansive patio when the weather is nice. 1124 San Julian St., 213-749-1099

THE FACTORY KITCHEN Part of a quickly gentrifying Arts District on the east side of downtown, The Factory Kitchen makes its home in a former fish factory.the specialty is homemade flatbreads, like one heaped with prosciutto, stracciatella and arugula over fried sage dough, and pastas, including a pork-veal casonzei in sage butter. 1300 Factory Pl., 213-996-6000

YOURS TRULY

Formerly at downtown’s 71Above, chef Vartan Abgaryan is making his mark on the Westside with this Venice eatery. The modern Californian menu includes highlights like carbonara with squid ink, uni and trout roe, and heritage pork rib with fleur de sel and sweet garlic. 1616 Abbot Kinney Blvd., 310-396-9333

PALM SPRINGS AZUCAR

Seasonal small plates made with farm-to-table ingredients sourced from local producers are what set this Spanish-Mediterranean eatery apart from the more staid settings in Palm Springs. Also keep an eye out for special menus upstairs in the Sugar High bar. 339 S. Belardo Rd., 760-832-8044

CANTALA

The Riviera Resort brings to mind Palm Springs’ bygone glamour, when Hollywood’s A-list would flounce out for sun-soaked weekends.

Cantala evokes the Italian Riviera with a menu of Mediterranean classics like whole-roasted branzino and rib-eye fiorentina, and an indoor-outdoor dining room that’s equal parts supper club and sumptuous garden party. 1600 N. Indian Canyon Dr., 760-778-6659

DRAUGHTSMAN

It might be housed in a former Pizza Hut, but there’s nothing down-market about this convivial gastropub with a selection of favorites from local brewery Coachella Valley Brewing Company.

Dishes are hearty and delicious, including specialties like sort-rib poutine and a selection of specialty burgers. 1501 N. Palm Canyon Dr., 760-507-1644

WORKSHOP KITCHEN + BAR

Even if you’ve wandered this far afield from LA, you have the right to seek a mouth-watering meal and making that goal a little easier is this stylish, airy restaurant, which specializes in updated chophouse cuisine, including juicy 18-day prime aged rib-eye and house-cured gravlax tartines with horseradish cream. 800 N. Palm Canyon Dr., 760-459-3451

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BAR SOURCE Edited by Eric Rosen

WEST HOLLYWOOD

ST. FELIX

ABBEY

WeHo’s most famous (and crowded) spot, The Abbey draws sexy guys and gals from near and far. Strong cocktails, model-handsome bartenders, and an over-the-top interior all add to the venue’s allure. 692 N. Robertson Blvd., 310-289-8410

BEACHES BAR & GRILL

Despite loud décor and a focus on spiked slushies, this bubbly spot has some serious cred. Its backers were some of the folks behind downtown cocktail den The Edison. Think “Love Boat” meets “Miami Vice.” 8928 Santa Monica Blvd., 310-360-0395

BIBO ERGO SUM

Cozy Art Deco-inspired watering hole off Robertson that’s one of the town’s best-kept secrets and keeper of one of its best most magical cocktail lists. 116 N. Robertson Blvd., 424-323-0066

EMPLOYEES ONLY

One of NYC’s most celebrated speakeasies landed in LA at the former Baby Blues BBQ space, serving handcrafted cocktails and seasonal share plates. 7953 Santa Monica Blvd., 323-536-9045

FIESTA CANTINA

Thanks to 2-for-1 drink specials at two happy hours (4-8pm, 10:30pm-12:30am), this festive Mexican-themed bar swells all evening long, especially the patio on Santa Monica and second floor deck. 8865 Santa Monica Blvd., 310-652-8865

FLAMING SADDLES

Save a horse, ride a cowboy at the West Coast outlet of this kitschy (but still fun) Wild West-themed franchise serving up cocktails and cowboys. Boys come for strong drinks, hijinks and eye candy in tight muscle tees and boots. 8811 Santa Monica Blvd., 310-855-7501

FUBAR

The wild, sexy energy here has an East Village NYC bar feel with a Silverlake twist. Preps, jocks, hipsters and alternative guys have turned Fubar into one of the city’s sultriest and most popular venues, especially late at night. Thursday’s Big Fat Dick is a can’t-miss experience. 7994 Santa Monica Blvd., 323-654-0396

GYM SPORTS BAR

Butch, athletic types and their admirers inhabit this inviting and energetic space. The outdoor patio is fun for people watching, while the flat-screen televisions are tuned to the latest games. Come on Saturday afternoons when the boys from the area’s sports leagues come for drinks to celebrate or drown their sorrows. 8737 Santa Monica Blvd., 310-659-2004

HI TOPS

This relatively recent entrant actually comes by way of San Francisco, though the locker-room concept somehow still feels fresh.

Order classic bar bites and settle in for a strong sports-themed cocktail or on-tap beer. 8933 Santa Monica Blvd., 323-332-6445

MICKY’S

Micky’s sexy interior, multiple dance areas, and party-ready patio are only the icing on the cake at this long-running venue. The barechested bartenders are just the eye-candy you need to get your engines revved, and the tight go-go boys are the flirtiest guys you’ll meet in Weho. 8857 Santa Monica Blvd., 310-657-1176

MOTHER LODE

Even with its new facelift, Mother Lode is still the same delightful, divey Boystown landmark without the attitude. Neighborhood gays come for the pool tables, karaoke nights and a truly fun night out.

This is definitely the place to start the evening before hitting the other nearby bars. 8944 Santa Monica Blvd., 310-659-9700

RAGE

Two stories packed with a dance-loving crowd who can’t get enough of the potent cocktails being served at three bars. Multiple theme nights, go-go dancers, and a party atmosphere 365 days a year. 8911 Santa Monica Blvd., 310-652-7055

REVOLVER

A more gentrified option, Revolver gets packed on weekends, when go-go dancers rule inside and hotties congregate on the front patio.

The drinks aren’t cheap but they’re strong as the well-muscled gym boys you’ll meet. 8851 Santa Monica Blvd., 310-694-0430

ROCCO’S WEHO

Lance Bass is a partner, but if boy bands aren’t your thing, there’s plenty to love at this natty newcomer on the corner of San Vicente.

Despite room for 200 indoors and out, it’s packed most days. 8900 Santa Monica Blvd., 424-343-0123

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DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020

LANEA

A cozy restaurant and lounge enjoyed by flirty singles, romantic couples and groups, St. Felix’s selection of wines, beers, and playful cocktails are a great way to start your evening (and maybe even meet someone). 8945 Santa Monica Blvd., 310-275-4428

Handmade tacos and craft cocktails concocted from ingredients sourced at the area’s famous farmer’s market are just two reasons to stop in at this watering hole in Santa Monica. 217 Broadway, 424-265-7437

TIGERHEAT

STUDIO CITY/SAN FERNANDO VALLEY/INLAND EMPIRE

Relive your “Teenage Dream” at this 18+ event playing pure pop music every Thursday from 9:30pm on. Energetic go-go dancers, world-renowned DJs and celeb nights make this one of the most fun dance parties in town. See clubtigerheat.com for venue info.

EASTSIDE/SILVERLAKE/ DOWNTOWN AKBAR

This hipster venue is frequented by skater punks, East Side studs and indie-loving gays. There are two bars, a packed dance floor, an eclectic jukebox and low-priced drinks: all you need for the perfect East Side night out. 4356 W. Sunset Blvd., 323-665-6810

APOTHEKE

Like its NYC sister, Chinatown’s Apotheke has medicinal-themed cocktails whipped up by bartenders dressed like old-timey pharmacists. Try the Il Tabarro with lapsang souchong-infused gin, Campari, vermouth and orange zest. 1746 N. Spring St., 323-844-0717

EAGLE LA

Notoriously dark den for men who love uniforms, leather, latex and kink. Theme nights dedicated to bears and other fetishes make for some down-and-dirty fun. 4219 Santa Monica Blvd., 323-669-9472

FAULTLINE

The Sunday beer bust is legendary, as is the Thursday underwear party, but the bar is also great for spotting leather daddies, Levi’sclad hotties and bears most days of the week. Drink specials, theme nights and good times await. 4216 Melrose Ave. 323-660-0889

MIKKELLER BAR

Copenhagen comes to Los Angeles with this enormous gastropub with over 50 seasonally rotating microbrews – including many sought-after, hard-to-find beers – on tap at any given time. There’s also Scandinavian mini-bites for those feeling peckish. 330 W. Olympic Blvd., 213-596-9005

PRECINCT DTLA

At over 10,000 square feet, this much-loved bar is one of the largest in LA. It occupies pride of place on the second floor of a historic 1902 brick building. Though the dance floor is a draw, the main attraction is a semi-open patio with plenty of windows for peoplewatching. 357 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, 213-628-3112

REDLINE

The name is a nod to LA’s growing rapid-transit system, but there’s nothing pedestrian about this Downtown hotspot. It’s on the small side, but that just makes this industrial-chic space a tad cozier (and easier to talk to your neighbors). Happy hour runs a good three hours from 5-8pm. 131 E. 6th St., 213-935-8391

SPIRE 73

Located on the top floor of the Intercontinental Hotel in Downtown, it’s the highest open-air bar in the Western Hemisphere. Boasting prime views, slick private cabanas and flickering fire pits, and an extensive menu of cocktails, it’s the perfect place to drink while taking in the skyline. 900 Wilshire Blvd., 213-688-7777

THE BROKEN SHAKER

Like its counterparts in NYC and Miami, this rooftop bar atop Downtown’s Freehand Hotel (alongside an always-packed pool) is anything-goes. Drinks include tiki-inspired sips and regional spirits including tequila and mezcal. 416 W. 8th St., 213-395-9532

THE WOLVES

This Parisian-inspired bar might just be Downtown’s most dapper drinking den thanks to vaulted stained-glass ceilings, deep leather booths, pressed-tin wall panels and a menu of sensational sips like a gin martini spiked with sake, fig vermouth and goji liqueur with hinoki wood fragrance. 519 S. Spring St., 213-265-7952

WESTSIDE/SANTA MONICA/VENICE DEL MONTE SPEAKEASY

Many bars call themselves speakeasies; this was an actual Prohibition-era drinking den. Its Venice vibe is beachy and laidback, but its cocktails are serious and strong. Case in point: the Red Car Rickey with gin, falernum, orgeat, crème de violette and lime.

52 Windward Ave., 310-392-4040

METROSOURCE.COM

OIL CAN HARRY’S Open for over 40 years, this classic Valley gay bar is still going strong. Locals and visitors alike find a home on the range here, with strong but inexpensive drinks, a rotating roster of evening events, and even line dancing. 11502 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, 818-760-9749

MISTER O’S This Studio City spirits spot has a swinging mid-century vibe where Don Draper wouldn’t look out of place. Ask for a Forbidden Garnet with hibiscus-infused vodka, tamarind and Ancho Reyes chili liqueur. If any of the ingredients on the list are new to you, there’s a helpful glossary in the back of the menu. 11838 Ventura Blvd., 818-358-3839

THE BULLET BAR This leather and Levi’s joint stands out for having a no-attitude, cruise-friendly vibe. Karaoke, drink specials and theme nights are part of the fun and make this one of the swinging-est scenes in NoHo. 10522 Burbank Blvd, 818-762-8890

LONG BEACH THE FALCON Pulse-pounding DJ sets and affordable drinks attract an eclectic, good-looking crowd. The space gets packed, but when it’s filled with twinks, bears and everything in between filling it up, there’s someone for everyone. 1435 E Broadway, 562-432-4146

HAMBURGER MARY’S An all-American menu, a no-attitude environment and enormous drinks all make this Long Beach classic perennially popular.

Cute boys pack the lively bar and resto for its hot bartenders, hopping dance floor, and expansive back patio. 330 Pine Ave., 562-436-7900

THE MINESHAFT One of the most popular gay bars in town thanks to friendly service and cheap drinks, with a healthy mix of regulars and newcomers alike. DJs on Friday nights and live bands on Saturdays.

Bring cash because cards aren’t accepted, though you won’t need much thanks to $2 happy-hour specials. 1720 E. Broadway, 562-436-2433

THE SILVER FOX Long Beach’s long-running gay bar is still going strong thanks to fun weekly events like karaoke on Wednesdays and Sundays and 2-for-1 Tuesdays. Though the patio is a popular spot, once the crowd warms up to the music, you’ll find everyone inside on the dance floor. 411 Redondo Ave., 562-439-6343

PALM SPRINGS HUNTERS One of Palm Springs’ most popular clubs, the inclusive vibe, thumping dance floor, packed bars and a game area, as well as prime cruising on the front patio, all keep this bar at the top of everyone’s must-hit list. 302 E. Arenas Rd., 760-323-0700

STREET BAR Right next door to Hunters, the vibe here is more laidback and friendly – just what you’d expect from Palm Springs’ oldest gay bar.

Make new friends among the locals while enjoying sing-alongs or karaoke as well as regular local art exhibits. 224 E. Arenas Rd., 760-320-1266

TOOL SHED This Palm Springs staple still packs in the leather lovers and skintight jeans-clad hotties. Early birds get the drink specials, and a good time for all is practically guaranteed. 600 E. Sunny Dunes Rd., 760-320-3299

TOUCANS TIKI LOUNGE A veritable landmark, this campy joint brings the tropics to the desert. Come for the cabaret or the renowned drag shows, and stay all night for great drinks and dancing at this nostalgic oasis in the heart of Palm Springs. 2100 N. Palm Canyon Dr., 760-416-7584

TO ADVERTISE CALL 818 762-1955

ACCOUNTING Greg Cash TaxPlus

Cash, Gregory D., EA, MST 5150 E Pacific Coast Hwy, Ste 350 Long Beach ...............................562 597-4300 www.gregcash.com

(SEE AD THIS PAGE)

ATTORNEYS Parker | Waichman LLP

6 Harbor Park Dr. Nationwide ................................ 800 JUST-CALL www.yourlawyer.com

BAKERIES Cake and Art

8709 Santa Monica Blvd West Hollywood .........................310 657-8694 www.cakeandart.com

BANKS US Bank

Toll Free ......................................800 720-2265 www.usbank.com/checking

Wells Fargo

Toll Free ......................................800 869-3557 www.wellsfargo.com/lgbt

BOOKS & BOOKSTORES Book Soup Bookstore

8818 W Sunset Blvd West Hollywood .........................310 659-3110

Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD)

700 E Temple St, B-38 LA...............................................866 444-LAPD www.joinlapd.com

755 N Fairfax Ave West Hollywood .........................323 297-0554 www.shortysbarbershop.com

EVENT PLANNING & EVENT SPACE/RENTALS

HOTELS Aqua-Aston Hospitality

Celebrities Nightclub

1022 Davie St Vancouver, BC, Canada www.celebritiesnightclub.com

Hawaii ........................................855 945-4092 www.aqua-aston.com

The Cultch

8435 Beverly Blvd LA...............................................323 658-6663 www.elanhotel.com

Elan Hotel Modern

Vancouver East Cultural Centre 1895 Venables St Vancouver, BC, Canada ...............604 251-1766 www.thecultch.com

FRAMING Framing Gallery

8527 Santa Monica Blvd West Hollywood ........................310 657-6904

FITNESS/GYMS/PERSONAL TRAINERS Body Builders Gym

2516 Hyperion Ave Silverlake ....................................323 668-0802

Fired Up Athletics

8474 W 3rd St, Ste 208, LA ........213 608-9425 www.firedupathletics.com

GIFTS

GUEST HOUSES/B&B’S

CLOTHING

Sandman Suites on Davie

1160 Davie St Vancouver, BC Canada .......................................604 681-7263 www.sandmanhotels.com 1088 Burrard St Vancouver, BC Canada .......................................604 331-1000 www.sheratonvancouver.com

Sunset Marquis

1200 Alta Loma Rd West Hollywood .........................800 858-9758 www.sunsetmarquis.com

Viceroy

415 South Belardo Rd Palm Springs ...............................760 320-4117 www.viceroypalmsprings.com

MisterBandB

www.misterbandb.com

HAIR SALONS Blades

8585 Santa Monica Blvd .............800 845-8585 www.ramadaweho.com

Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre Hotel

Li-Lac Chocolates

Li-Lac Chocolates

West Village: 40 8th Ave, NYC Greenwich Village: 162 Bleecker St, NYC Grand Central: 43rd & Lexington, NYC Chelsea Market: 75 Ninth Ave, NYC Industry City: 68 35th St, Brooklyn NYC............................................212 924-2280 www.li-lacchocolates.com

Preferred Hotels & Resorts

Ramada Plaza West Hollywood Hotel

CATERING

1196 E Walnut St Pasedena ....................................626 795-8772

Opus Hotel Vancouver

322 Davie St Vancouver, BC Canada .......................................604 642-6787 www.opushotel.com www.preferredpride.com/metrosource

West Village: 40 8th Ave, NYC Greenwich Village: 162 Bleecker St, NYC Grand Central: 43rd & Lexington, NYC Chelsea Market: 75 Ninth Ave, NYC Industry City: 68 35th St, Brooklyn NYC............................................212 924-2280 www.li-lacchocolates.com

Crossroads Books

ACCOUNTING – HOTELS Shorty’s Barber Shop

VIVE Hotel Waikiki

801 N. Larrabee St, Ste #1 West Hollywood .........................310 659-6693

2426 Kuhio Ave Honolulu, Hawaii ........................808 687-2000 www.vivehotelwaikiki.com

Lady Sadez

www.ladysadez.com

COUNSELING/PSYCHOTHERAPY Lotus Place Recovery

1111 Baker St Unit A Costa Mesa.................................800 951-0735 www.lotusplacerecovery.com

Providing Professional Tax Services

Gregory D. Cash, EA, MST Enrolled Agent

EMPLOYMENT Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD)

1700 Stadium Way LA...............................................213 847-LAFD www.joinlafd.org TO ADVERTISE CALL 818 762-1955

greg@gregcash.com www.gregcash.com 562-597-4300 Park Tower Executive Offices 5150 E. Pacific Coast Hwy, Suite 350 Long Beach, CA 90804 METROSOURCE.COM

DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020

61

INSURANCE – WEDDING SERVICES

INSURANCE

LEATHER

HealthSherpa

665 Leather & Fetish Co.

99 N La Cienega Blvd, Ste 104 Beverly Hills.................................310 360-9969 www.uniteddrugs.com

Rough Trade

PHYSICIANS & MEDICAL SERVICES

Toll Free ...................................... 844 346-9476 www.metrosource.healthsherpa.com

Marc Berton Insurance

LA .............................................. 323 872-0482 San Fernando Valley ................ 818 365-9449 Toll Free..................................... 800 924-4459 www.marcberton.com

(SEE AD THIS PAGE)

8722 Santa Monica Blvd West Hollywood .........................310 854-7276 3915 W Sunset Blvd, Silverlake ...323 660-7956 www.roughtradegear.com

MARKETING SERVICES Brand2Fly

San Jose......................................408 763-7924 www.brand2fly.com

INTRODUCTION SERVICES

GayVan.com Travel Marketing

Bespoke Matchmaking

LA............................................... 888 422-6464 www.bespokematchmaking.com

www.gayvan.com

NUTRITION & FITNESS Power Zone

8578 Santa Monica Blvd West Hollywood .........................310 289-1125 www.powerzoneonline.com

PET SUPPLIES Nulo Pet Foods

nulo.com/love

(SEE AD PAGE 23)

PHARMACIES/DRUGS AHF Pharmacy

1400 S Grand Ave, Ste 801 Downtown LA ............................213 741-5271 1300 North Vermont Ave Hollywood ..................................323 661-0643 www.ahfpharmacy.com

Cienega Pharmacy

Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic

Family Medicine & Mental Health 3324 W Sunset Blvd, LA..............323 660-2400 www.hsfreeclinic.org

REAL ESTATE/PALM SPRINGS Hammond, Joe & Howell, Gary

Coldwell Banker Hammond: Palm Springs.............760 275-6597 Howell: Palm Springs ..................760 275-4792 www.palmspringsgary.com

ROOFING Reliable Roofing By Todd Gregory Young

Palm Springs/Rancho Mirage.......760 323-2705 Palm Desert/Indian Wells.............760 568-1673 Joshua Tree/Yucca Valley .............760 365-0072 Desert Hot Springs ......................760 251-9495 Cathedral City.............................760 323-2705 www.reliableroofingbytgy.com

TATTOO Body Electric Tattoo and Piercing

7274 1/2 Melrose Ave LA ..............................................323 954-0408 www.bodyelectrictattoo.com

(SEE AD PAGE 53 & THIS PAGE)

TAX SERVICES Greg Cash TaxPlus

Marc Berton, Agent Marc Berton, Agent Insurance Lic. #: 0630665

Insurance Lic. #:0630665 818-365-9449 Toll818-365-9449 Free: 800-924-4459 323-872-0482 Toll Free: 800-924-4459 www.marcberton.com 323-872-0482

Family Family is why wedo doititall. all. is why we

www.marcberton.com

Cash, Gregory D., EA, MST 5150 E Pacific Coast Hwy, Ste 350 Long Beach ...............................562 597-4300 www.gregcash.com

(SEE AD PREVIOUS PAGE)

THRIFT SHOPS Berda Paradise Thrift Store

3506 W Sunset Blvd LA...............................................323 661-8246

We all feel the same commitment to care for our families. Helping you meet your insurance needs is part of my commitment to you.

TRAVEL/GETAWAYS Aqua-Aston Hospitality

Hawaii ........................................855 945-4092 www.aqua-aston.com

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.®

VIVE Hotel Waikiki

2426 Kuhio Ave Honolulu, Hawaii ........................808 687-2000 www.vivehotelwaikiki.com

CALL ME TODAY.

t "VUP t #VTJOFTT t -JGF t )PNFPXOFST

VIDEO Broadway Video

Proudly Serving Our Community Since 1982 Member, Los Serving Angeles GayOur and Lesbian Chamber ofSince Commerce Proudly Community 1982 ‘Sustaining Donor’ LA LGBT Center

3401 E Broadway, Long Beach ....562 433-1920

Video West

805 Larrabee St West Hollywood .........................310 659-5762

WEDDING SERVICES Cake and Art 0907504 0907504

62

DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020

State Farm, State Farm,Bloomington, Bloomington, IL METROSOURCE.COM

8709 Santa Monica Blvd West Hollywood .........................310 657-8694 www.cakeandart.com TO ADVERTISE CALL 818 762-1955

LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY RESOURCES Metrosource is committed to helping non-profit organizations in their ongoing efforts to serve our diverse community.

ATHLETIC ARRIBA SKI & SNOWBOARD CLUB PO Box 69611 West Hollywood, CA 90069 www.arribaski.org BIKE OUT 2811 Pico Boulevard Santa Monica, CA 90405 310 453-5040 CHEER LA 1223 Wilshire Blvd #1580 Santa Monica, CA 90404 www.cheerla.org DIFFERENT SPOKES OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA P.O. Box 2466 Hollywood, CA 90078 www.differentspokes.com GOLDEN STATE GAY RODEO ASSOC - GLAC P.O Box 2407 Long Beach, CA 90801 562 498-1675 www.larodeo.com GREATER LA IGBO LEAGUES www.igbo.org LA BLADES ICE HOCKEY PO Box 4346 Laguna Beach, CA 92652 310 288-3632 www.bladeshockey.com LA POOL LEAGUE PO Box 2227 Los Angeles, CA 90078 818 426-2171 www.lapl8ball.org LA TENNIS ASSOC. (LATA) PO Box 481226 Los Angeles, CA 90048 www.lataweb.com OUTSPORTS www.outsports.com PALM SPRINGS FRONTRUNNERS PO Box 2184 Palm Springs, CA 92263 760 318-8809 www.psfr.org SHORELINE FRONTRUNNERS OF LONG BEACH PO Box 90774 Long Beach, CA 90809 562 252-0218 www.shorelinefrontrunners.org SOCAL GIRL GOLF 714 391-3615 www.socalgirlgolf.com SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WRESTLING CLUB (SCWC) www.geocities.com/scwc2002 SURF & SUN SOFTBALL www.surfandsunsoftball.com TINSELTOWN SQUARES www.iagsdc.org VOLLEYBALL ASSOCIATION IN LOS ANGELES (VOILA) www.gayvolleyball.org WEST HOLLYWOOD AQUATICS www.wh2o.org WEST HOLLYWOOD SOCCER CLUB www.gaysoccer.com

CULTURAL, ETHNIC & SOCIAL ASIAN PACIFIC AIDS INTL TEAM 6501 West Olympic Blvd Ste 610 Los Angeles, CA 90015 213 553-1830 www.apaitonline.org BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY 5001 Angel Canyon Rd Kanab, UT 84741 435 644-2001 www.bestfriends.org BEST FRIENDS PET ADOPTION & SPAY/NEUTER SERVICES 15321 Brand Blvd Mission Hills, CA 91345 818 643-3989 www.bestfriends.org/la CHRISTOPHER STREET WEST/GAY PRIDE 8235 Santa Monica Blvd West Hollywood, CA 90046 323 969-8302 www.lapride.org DIVERSE & INCLUSIVE VISIONARY ARTISTS (DIVA) 8581 Santa Monica Blvd #220 West Hollywood, CA 90069 www.queerdiva.com GAY & LESBIAN ALLIANCE AGAINST DEFAMATION (GLAAD) 5455 Wilshire Blvd, #1500 Los Angeles, CA 90036 323 933-2240 www.glaad.org GAY MENS CHORUS OF LA 9056 Santa Monica Blvd, #300 West Hollywood, CA 90069 800 636-7464 www.gmcla.org I LOVE ME FOUNDATION 6444 Fountain Ave Hollywood, CA 90028 323 467-6444 www.chazdean.com KIDSAVE 11835 W Olympic Blvd #295 Los Angeles, CA 90064 310 479-5437 www.kidsave.org LA GAY & LESBIAN CENTER The Village at Ed Gould Plaza 1125 N McCadden Place Los Angeles, CA 90038 323 860-7302 www.laglc.org LA GAY & LESBIAN CENTER McDonald/Wright Building 1625 North Schrader Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90028 323 993-7400 www.laglc.org LA YOUTH SUPPORTIVE SERVICES 8111 Beverly Blvd #306 Los Angeles, CA 90048 877 465-2977 www.la-youth.org

PACIFIC PRIDE FOUNDATION 126 East Haley, Ste A-11 Santa Barbara, CA 93101 805 963-3636 www.pacificpridefoundation.org THE POINT FOUNDATION 5757 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 370 Los Angeles, CA 90036 866 33-Point www.pointfoundation.org (SEE AD PAGE 55) VALLEY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER 18111 Nordhoff St Northridge, CA 91330 818 677-2488 818 677-3000 valleyperformingartscenter.org WORLD HARVEST FOOD BANK 1014 Venice Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90015 213-746-2228 www.worldharvestfoodbank.org

HEALTH/ COUNSELING AID FOR AIDS AFA 8235 Santa Monica Blvd #200 West Hollywood, CA 90046 323 656-1107 www.aidforaids.net AIDS HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION/MENS WELLNESS CENTER • 6255 W Sunset Blvd, 21st Fl Los Angeles, CA 90028 888 AIDS CARE • 1300 N Vermont Ave, Ste 407 Los Angeles, CA 90027 866 339-2525 800 367-2437 www.inspotla.org AIDS HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION PHARMACY 8212 Santa Monica Blvd The David Geffen Center West Hollywood, CA 90046 323 654-0907 www.ahfpharmacy.org AIDS PROJECT LA (APLA) Client & Community Services The David Geffen Center 611 South Kingsley Drive Los Angeles, CA 90005 866 679-0958 213 201-WALK (9255) www.apla.org www.aidswalk.net AIDS RESEARCH ALLIANCE 1400 S Grand Ave Ste 701 Los Angeles, CA 90015 310 358-2429 www.hopetakesaction.org www.aidsresearch.org AIDS WALK LA 3550 Wilshire Blvd, #800 Los Angeles, CA 90010 213 201-9255 (WALK) www.aidswalk.net AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY 3333 Wilshire Blvd #900 Los Angeles, CA 90010 800 227-2345 www.cancer.org

LONG BEACH LESBIAN & GAY PRIDE PO Box 2050 Long Beach, CA 90802 562 987-9191 www.longbeachpride.com

BEING ALIVE PEOPLE WITH HIV/AIDS ACTION COALITION 621 N San Vincente Blvd West Hollywood, CA 90069 310 289-2551 www.beingalivela.org

OUTFEST THE LA GAY & LESBIAN FILM FESTIVAL 3470 Wilshire Blvd #1022 Los Angeles, CA 90010 213 480-7088 www.outfest.org

DESERT AIDS PROJECT Palm Springs, CA 1695 North Sunrise Way Palm Springs, CA 92262 760 323-2118 www.desertaidsproject.org

TO ADVERTISE CALL 818 762-1955

GAY & LESBIAN ARMENIAN SOCIETY (GALAS) 8721 Santa Monica Blvd Ste 654 West Hollywood, CA 90069 310 203-1587 www.galasla.org GAY & LESBIAN CENTER Orange County 1605 N Spurgeon St Santa Ana, CA 92701 714 953-5428 www.thecenteroc.org HEALTHSHERPA 844 346-9476 www.metrosource. healthsherpa.com HOLY FAMILY SERVICES, ADOPTION & FOSTER CARE 840 Echo Park Ave Los Angeles, CA 90026 213 202-3900 www.holyfamilyservices.org

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INLANDS AIDS PROJECT (AIP) 3756 Elizabeth St Riverside, CA 92504 951 346-1910 www.inlandaidsproject.org

NATIONAL G & L TASK FORCE 5455 Wilshire Blvd #1505 Los Angeles, CA 90036 323 954-9597 www.thetaskforce.org

LA FREE CLINIC • 5205 Melrose Ave Los Angeles, CA 90038 323 653-1990 – appts 323 653-8622 – admin www.lafreeclinic.org • 6043 Hollywood Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90028 • 8405 Beverly Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90048

LESBIANS

LA GAY & LESBIAN CENTER Health Education & Prevention 13210 South Figueroa Los Angeles, CA 90061 310 327-0590 LA PUBLIC HEALTH www.reallycheckyourself.org LA YOUTH SERVICES McDonald/Wright Building 1625 North Schrader Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90028 323 993-7450 LIFEWORKS www.lifeworksmentoring.org 310 724-6300 PENNY LANE CENTERS 15305 Rayen St North Hills, CA 91343 818 892-3423 www.pennylane.org OUT OF THE CLOSET AIDS Healthcare Foundation 6210 West Sunset Los Angeles, CA 90028 323 860-5200

LA GAY & LESBIAN CENTER Jeff Griffith Youth Center 7051 Santa Monica Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90038 TOLL FREE: 800 773-5540 LA GAY & LESBIAN CENTER MacDonald/Wright Bldg 1625 North Schroder Los Angeles, CA 323 933-7400 www.angelfood.org THE TREVOR PROJECT 9056 Santa Monica Blvd #100 West Hollywood, CA 90069 310 271-8845 www.thetrevorproject.org THE VILLAGE AT ED GOULD PLAZA 1125 North McCadden Place Los Angeles, CA 90038 323 860-7328 prevention@laglc.org www.laglc.org

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ALL SAINTS PARISH 504 North Camden Dr West Hollywood, CA 90036 310 275-0123 BETH CHAYIM CHADASHIM 6000 West Pico Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90035 323 931-7023 www.bcc-la.org GLORY TABERNACLE CHRISTIAN CENTER 3215 East Third St Long Beach, CA 90804 562 438-7758 www.glorytabernacle.com OPEN DOOR MINISTRIES 4101 Willow St 562 925.3533 www.open-door-ministries.org ST. JANE FRANCES CATHOLIC CHURCH G & L OUTREACH 12930 Hamlin St North Hollywood, CA 91606 818 985-8600 WEST HOLLYWOOD CHURCH 916 North Formosa Ave West Hollywood, CA 90069 323 656-2400

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METROSOURCE.COM

DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020

63

GEORGE MICHAEL’S Holiday Return PAUL FEIG KEEPS MAKING MOVIES WE CAN’T WAIT TO SEE. HIS LATEST IS LAST

VIEWS

LAST CALL

Christmas, starring former Mother of Dragons Emilia Clarke and Crazy Rich Asians’ groom-with-a-view Henry Golding. The film follows the pair as star-crossed lovers romancing each other in fits and starts through the season. Its soundtrack, however, leans on solo and Wham! classics from the late George Michael. This little yuletide treat was written and produced in part by actress Emma Thompson, who also appears in the film. Last Christmas not only contains a cornucopia of radio-tested hits — it will also feature a never-before-heard track: “This Is How (We Want You To Get High).”

Sony/Legacy is releasing the soundtrack Nov. 8., the day the film opens.

We caught up with Feig just as he was about to hop a plane from Australia.

Metrosource: Was George Michael aware of any plans to turn Last Christmas into a movie? How did the idea come to life?

PAUL FEIG: This project was first presented to Emma about eight years ago. She talked to George and he loved her ideas. He also asked if there could be a homeless element to the story, since that was a pet cause of his.

We are all so sad that he isn’t around to see the final product, but it’s nice to know that he gave his blessing to the film back then.

Does this story actually follow a plotline set by song lyrics, or do the songs more or less embellish the action of the film?

The songs are very intertwined with the main character’s life in a way that defies a clear definition. Kate —played by Emilia Clarke — wants to be a singer, and says that George is her hero. As she says in the film, she feels they are both “misunderstood and underappreciated in their time.” When we first meet her, she’s a 10-year-old singing George’s“Heal the Pain”in her church as a hymn. When we meet her in present day, she’s playing George’s version of“Heal the Pain”on a pub jukebox. Later in the film, she sings the song to her love interest Tom, who’s played by Henry Golding. Throughout the film, George’s songs pop up on the soundtrack of her life. The songs aren’t driving the action, but are swirling around her as she goes through her story. So George is an overriding presence throughout.

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Did you go into the process knowing which songs you’d use?

George’s music is so deep and diverse that it caused me to use way more songs than we had originally planned when we went into production. I knew we’d be using“Heal the Pain”in several spots as well as“Last Christmas,”obviously. I also knew I wanted to use“Praying for Time”for a montage between Kate and Tom. And we had cleared“Freedom ‘90”to be used somewhere. But once we started shooting and when we got into postproduction, the movie seemed to start demanding more of his songs. We ended up putting in fifteen songs, including a never before heard song that he recorded right before he died to go on a new album he was going to put out. The song is so fantastic that I wanted to make sure audiences could hear the entire track, and so I ended up using it over the final scenes in the movie and playing the rest of it through the end credits. It’s amazing how perfectly it works and how it holds you through the end credits. The song is called “This Is How (We Want You To Get High),”and it’s really a masterpiece.

So it’s fair to say that he’s an unseen collaborator in what’s become the finished film...

Yes, absolutely. If you’re a George Michael fan, you will be overwhelmed by nostalgia for his music and reminded of just want a genius he was. And if you’re a new fan, you’ll want to do a total deep dive into everything he ever did.

The music seemed to mature with the musician. Was it difficult deciding what songs went where?

The songs showed us where they wanted to go. We’d have a scene that just felt like it needed George in it and then in going through his catalogue, the right song would just rise to the top. We would plug it into the scene and the whole scene would go to the next level. One of my favorite moments is the first time that Kate and Tom start to fall for each other. We used “Praying for Time” in a place where you expect a much more romantic ballad. But the song adds an extra gravitas to the scene, because it makes it much more about two people who may or may not be on the correct course together and who are both indeed praying for time in their lives to heal. It’s one of my favorite scenes in the movie.

Again, George Michael’s music often ranged from jubilant to melancholy, with numerous stops between. What does that mean for the film, and how does the new track fit in?

George’s music is all those things. There is romance in them, there is sadness in them, there is upbeat positive energy in them — and there is life in them. The complicated love story in this film benefits from George’s musical narration, if you will. As for the new track, George was recording a new album when he died. He had fully completed four new tracks,“This is How” being one of them. To me, this song, as well as the others which are still unreleased but which I was lucky enough to get to hear, puts a perfect coda onto his career, which is sad to say because he shouldn’t have had to have a coda so early in his life. But if there had to be one, I truly feel that this is it.

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THIS PAGE: “LAST CHRISTMAS” IMAGE COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Director extraordinaire and Metrosource mainstay Paul Feig shares the ups and downs of building a film around the music of a lost legend. BY KEVIN PHINNEY

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