Taking Aim: Sam Jay - August 6, 2020 by Metro Weekly

Contents

August 6, 2020

Volume 27 Issue 13

LADYKILLER

Local theatre sensation Jade Jones is preparing to unleash her pandemic-born nonbinary persona, Litty Official. By Doug Rule

TAKING AIM

Whether it’s her new Netflix special or writing for SNL, Sam Jay is building a comedy career that is as bold as it is masterful. Interview by André Hereford

ROYAL TREATMENT

Beyoncé’s visual album Black is King is a majestic love letter to Black communities past and present. By Sean Maunier

OUT ON THE TOWN p.5 SPOTLIGHT: SPEED RACER p.11 THE FEED: EQUALITY PLEDGE p.13 SALTY SENIOR p.14 CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR p.15 FEDERAL FUMBLE p.16 SELLING HATE p.18 EXECUTIVE ACTION p.20 BEZOS BACKPEDALS p.22 DANGEROUS DEPORTATION p.24 GALLERY: ART & ACTIVISM p.32 TELEVISION: STREAMING THROUGH TIME p.35 RETROSCENE p.38 LAST WORD p.41 Washington, D.C.’s Best LGBTQ Magazine for 26 Years Editorial Editor-in-Chief Randy Shulman Art Director Todd Franson Online Editor at metroweekly.com Rhuaridh Marr Senior Editor John Riley Contributing Editors André Hereford, Doug Rule Senior Photographers Ward Morrison, Julian Vankim Contributing Illustrators David Amoroso, Scott G. Brooks Contributing Writers Sean Maunier, Kate Wingfield Webmaster David Uy Production Assistant Julian Vankim Sales & Marketing Publisher Randy Shulman National Advertising Representative Rivendell Media Co. 212-242-6863 Distribution Manager Dennis Havrilla Patron Saint Danitra Vance Cover Photography Courtesy of Netflix During the pandemic please send all mail to: Metro Weekly PO Box 11559 - Washington, D.C. 20008 • 202-638-6830 All material appearing in Metro Weekly is protected by federal copyright law and may not be reproduced in whole or part without the permission of the publishers. Metro Weekly assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials submitted for publication. All such submissions are subject to editing and will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Metro Weekly is supported by many fine advertisers, but we cannot accept responsibility for claims made by advertisers, nor can we accept responsibility for materials provided by advertisers or their agents. Publication of the name or photograph of any person or organization in articles or advertising in Metro Weekly is not to be construed as any indication of the sexual orientation of such person or organization.

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Out On The Town

Platonic

Compiled by Doug Rule PLATONIC

Gay Olive and her straight best friend Billy are busy New Yorkers in hot pursuit of love — who share what they see and do along the way in recorded voicemail messages to each other. Created by budding writer-director Erin C. Buckley, PLATONIC is a new 10-episode web series set in what is described as “a memory of New York City just before the pandemic.” A YouTube exclusive starring Summer Spiro as Olive and Ryan King as Billy, the series is notable for the way “[it] juxtaposes the radical intimacy and hazy boundaries of non-romantic relationships with the sexual fluidity and emotional ambiguity of modern dating.” PLATONIC launches with “Episode 1: Phone Tag” on Wednesday, Aug. 12. Visit www.platonicseries.com. #STILLWELAUGH

In partnership with the DC Center, the Capital Pride Alliance has been overseeing a multi-episode web series created as an alternative to the organization’s usual June festivities. It’s showcasing some of the key people and places that make the local LGBTQ community so rich and rewarding. Available for streaming from @CapitalPrideDC on Facebook and YouTube, Pride In The City launched in late June with #StillWeEntertain, featuring performances by Shi-Queeta Lee, Willie J Garner, Manuex Pop, MzzAmirraO, the Canales Brothers, Destiny B. Childs, Billy Winn, and KC B. Yoncé. The series continues with #StillWeLaugh, a showcase of area comedians and their standup routines. Violet Gray, Jake Leizear, Dana Lollar aka D-Lo, Franqi French, Valerie Paschall, Kevin McLain, and Jake Jacob are featured in the episode, which debuts Friday, Aug. 7, at 7 p.m. Visit www.capitalpride.org.

KLECKSOGRAPHY 2020

A total of 17 theater companies and more than 50 artists will team up in creative collaborations led by Rorschach Theatre Company, joined this year by representatives from 1st Stage, Arena Stage, Mosaic Theater, Pointless Theatre, Round House Theatre, Spooky Action Theatre, and The Welders. Named after a childhood game that later inspired Hermann Rorschach’s famous Inkblot Test, Klecksography embraces the metaphor of that test by instructing all participating artists to create new works inspired by the same artistic source: the 51st State Murals project, those D.C.-centric murals that went up in various parts of town in late June in honor of the vote for D.C. statehood by the U.S. House of Representatives. #Klex2020 will result in 10 new short plays and six short films showcasing the talents of some of D.C.’s best emerging artists, working together in assorted teams. Premieres Sunday, Aug. 9, at 7 p.m. The video will remain available on YouTube through Aug. 16. Pay-What-YouCan donations are encouraged. Visit www.rorschachtheatre. com or www.bit.ly/klex2020. PANTHEON

Last spring, Happenstance Theater premiered Pantheon, a new work of devised theater from the Helen Hayes Award-winning ensemble that incorporates themes and characters from ancient Greek mythology. Sharon Crissinger captured a performance of the stage production that the company is now offering as a video rental. Set in the 1940s, Pantheon revolves around a chorus of factory workers brought to life by Happenstance’s married co-founders Mark Jaster and Sabrina Mandell along with Gwen Grastorf, Sarah Olmsted Thomas, and Alex Vernon. “With an ample smattering of amusement,” reads the official description, AUGUST 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

Pantheon

“the performers invoke the Muses, offer Sacrifice, suffer Hubris, consult Oracles, and meet Fate as they portray an array of mortals and Gods whose flaws reflect their own.” Through Aug. 30. Rentals are $10 for a 30-day streaming period. Visit www.vimeo. com/ondemand/pantheon. THE SIGNATURE SHOW

Last week ushered in the launch of a biweekly digital series focused on artists touted as “the past, present, and future of Signature Theatre.” The region’s preeminent musical theater purveyor kicked off its newest production with a half-hour episode starring several of its most popular showstoppers, including Nova Y. Payton (Ain’t Misbehavin’, Hairspray), Natascia Diaz (Passion), and Heidi Blickenstaff (Disney’s Freaky Friday), while also featuring one of Broadway’s leading contemporary composers, Tony winner Tom Kitt (Next to Normal). Offering a mix of performances and interviews, the inaugural edition of The Signature Show had talent to spare, a packed lineup also including Emily Skinner, Inés Nassara, Christiane Noll, DeWitt Fleming Jr., Jacquelyn Piro Donovan, and Jennie HarneyFleming, plus a tribute to music director and composer Darius Smith. Episode 1, released July 30, is currently available at www.bit.ly/sigshow1. FACTION OF FOOLS: FOOLISH FRIDAYS

Faction of Fools, D.C.’s Helen Hayes Award-winning commedia dell’arte theater troupe, has shifted its energies during the pandemic to work on screen, developing a series of 12 short video comedies, each touted as “a little amuse-bouche of commedia dell’arte.” A three-month exercise in frivolity designed with the usual spirit of summer in mind, Foolish Fridays is lighthearted fun to help send off summer and ease into fall. The series officially launches on Friday, Aug. 7 at 7 p.m. on Facebook with the cocktail party “Toast to Foolish Fridays.” Greg Benson of the Bar None podcast will lead this toast to “sweet comedy” with a “bitter cocktail” — specifically focused on a Negroni, the classic composed of equal parts gin, vermouth, and Campari that is as quintessentially Italian as commedia dell’arte. The videos will be available on both Facebook and YouTube. Visit www.facebook.com/factionoffools. 6

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Commissary

VOTE READY

A slew of indie-rock musicians have signed up with the nonprofit organization HeadCount to motivate their fans to update their voter registration. Confirming registration before the cutoff for fall elections is an important way to ensure one’s vote will be counted on election day, especially if there have been recent changes in local voter rolls. All those who check their status over the next week through HeadCount’s website will receive a free ticket to a special livestream of original self-recorded performances. Part of the “Live From Out There” series, the concert, set for Friday, Aug. 14, at 7 p.m., includes performances by The War on Drugs, Kyp Malone and Jaleel Bunton of TV On The Radio, Daniel Rossen and Christopher Bear of Grizzly Bear, Robin Pecknold, Waxahatchee, Kevin Morby, Tarriona Tank Ball, Hand Habits, Ciggy, Kam Franklin of The Suffers, Allison Russell and Leyla McCalla of Our Native Daughters, and The Building. Visit www.headcount.org/voteready. COMMISSARY’S BOTTOMLESS BRUNCH

Over the years Commissary, the casual neighborhood restaurant in Logan Circle, has become known for its brunches, including those themed to coincide with special events, from the Oscars to Beyonce and Jay-Z at FedEx Field. Fortunately, you don’t have to wait for a special occasion or even the weekend anymore, as Commissary has now started offering brunch every day — and yes, you can even go bottomless with your mimosas or Bloody Mary’s if you dare. The menu ranges from Ricotta Blintzes with strawberry and fresh mint ($11), to a Southern fried chicken sandwich with a sunny side up egg ($12.50), to an Avocado Bowl with poached eggs ($11). Brunch and breakfast is available every day from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Commissary is located at 1443 P St. NW. Call 202-299-0018 or visit www.CommissaryDC.com. To mix it up a bit, on weekends you could drop in to the original EatWellDC eatery on the block, Logan Tavern. The 17-year-old restaurant has added new items to its weekend brunch menu, including a Tomato Caprese Omelet featuring fresh mozzarella and heirloom tomatoes from EatWellDC’s farm in Maryland ($14.50) and the Brunch Platter of French toast and eggs accom-

Rasika

panied by bacon, turkey sausage, and home fries ($16). Brunch is served Saturdays and Sundays between 10:30 a.m. and 3:15 p.m. Logan Tavern is located at 1423 P St. NW. Call 202-332-3710 or visit www.LoganTavern.com. RASIKA SIMMER SAUCES

Noted local restaurateur Ashok Bajaj has bottled up three premade simmer sauces based on the recipes from Sunderam, the James Beard Award-winning chef. There’s Makhani, the mild, creamy tomato sauce that is ideal for chicken tikka, paneer, or Indian cheese, or over vegetables; Korma, the mild nutty aromatic sauce that pairs well with lamb and other braised meat dishes as well as paneer; and Vindaloo Curry, a spicy tangy chili sauce for chicken, lamb, pork, and shrimp. “The from-scratch sauces are labor intensive to create,” Sunderam says, “so we are making it easy for our clientele to design their own fabulous dishes in a fraction of the time by utilizing these time-tested recipes.” The sauces are available for purchase at Rasika Penn Quarter and Rasika West End as well as at their casual sister venue Bindaas Cleveland Park, plus carryout via Caviar and Doordash. Each 16-ounce container is priced at $10, or $25 for three. Call 202-466-2500 or visit www.rasikarestaurant.com. LEBANON THEN AND NOW: PHOTOGRAPHY FROM 2006 TO 2020

Originally planned as a physical show to be displayed at the Middle East Institute’s art gallery in Dupont Circle, Lebanon Then and Now captures the dizzying social, political, and economic developments that have marked Lebanon over the past 15 years through the work of 17 photographers and one filmmaker. Organizers of the MEI Art Gallery, which launched last year with the aim of presenting socially engaged art from the Middle East and helping foster cross-cultural dialogue, thoroughly reimagined this temporary exhibition to become an immersive, 360-degree virtual experience. As selected by Beirut-based curator Chantale Fahmi, the featured artists in Lebanon Then and Now include, among others, Lamia Maria Abillama, Pierre Aboujaoude, Hussein Beydoun, Blanche Eid, Jana Khoury, Elias Moubarak, Badr Safadi, and Jack Seikaly. Now to Sept. 25. Visit www.mei.edu/exhibition/lebanon-then-and-now.

Luca Buvoli

STEVEN WALKER: THIS ROUND’S ON ME

The vulnerability Steven Walker faced in dealing with depression and anxiety is reflected in the fragile glass works the artist has created in This Round’s On Me. Known for illuminating landscapes and nocturnal paintings, Walker switches things up with this personal series of still lifes. Bold brushstrokes and emotive color palettes express the artist’s deepest feelings, while objects placed within the glass evoke positive memories from his life, offering viewers a sense of hope amidst darkness, as well as the play between light and dark that Walker experiences. Presented by Georgetown’s Calloway Fine Arts, the show is intended to signal to those suffering from depression that they are not alone. On virtual display to Aug. 22, with in-person visits by appointment only. Calloway Fine Art & Consulting, 1643 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Call 202-965-4601 or visit www. callowayart.com. LUCA BUVOLI: PICTURE: PRESENT

Through his ongoing Astrodoubt and The Quarantine Chronicles series, multimedia artist Luca Buvoli has been reflecting on our present-day realities through the guise of a fictitious astronaut. Named Astrodoubt, the character doesn’t let an earth-shattering deadly pandemic get in the way of his escapist fantasies about life in outer space or a post-pandemic future on this planet. Buvoli, an Italian-born, New York-based artist also on the faculty at the prestigious Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, was invited by the Phillips Collection to produce new work that engages in some way with the museum’s permanent collection as part of its Intersections series — and becoming the first-ever digital Intersections edition in the process. The result is an extension of Buvoli’s Astrodoubt series — with the astronaut exploring 12 paintings from the collection, inserting text to reflect on each scene depicted from an often tragicomic perspective of COVID-19. Featured on the Phillips’ website as well as on its Instagram, Picture: Present is a 12-day exercise, with a new scene released each day through Friday, Aug. 7. A Zoom Artist Talk with Buvoli is set for Thursday, Aug. 13, at 5:30 p.m. Visit www.phillipscollection.org or www.instagram.com/phillipscollection. AUGUST 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

Spotlight

Ladykiller

Local theatre sensation Jade Jones is preparing to unleash her pandemic-born nonbinary persona, Litty Official

ADE JONES WAS BARELY A TEENAGER WHEN SHE Theatre] and then I was going to have a week off [before] Much first heard the axiom “there’s no business like show busi- Ado About Nothing. Then COVID hit, and I lost all my jobs. I was ness.” Then a seventh-grader, Jones was attending a per- like, ‘What am I going to do?’ I felt that maybe this was the time formance of Annie Get Your Gun, the musical the familiar phrase to explore other aspects of myself and my creativity.” is drawn from. “That production really stuck with me,” she says. Enter Litty Official, the Dr. Jekyll to Jones’ Mr. Hyde. “It definitely was a catalyst for me wanting to do theater.” “There's a side of myself, of Jade, that's sweet and compassionIt was a delayed catalyst. Jones didn’t pursue work on the ate and joyful and generous. And I've definitely portrayed and stage until after college. “I had a serious self-confidence issue expressed that part of me on stage,” she says. “Litty Official is growing up,” says the 30-year-old. “And as much as I wanted to the flip side of that.” perform, I didn't think that people believed in me. I was told I Named after a penchant for getting lit using the nomenclawas too black, too fat, too queer. There was definitely something ture of social media, Litty Official is a rappin’, rhymin’ nonbinary different about me that I was told the market was not interested ladykiller. “Litty Official is an unapologetically Black, queer alien in. So I redirected my focus from performing to teaching.” who hails from Planet #TooMuch. They are thick and proud, While working as a drama instructor in D.C., Jones decided with a heart as cold as a frozen daiquiri,” Jones says. Litty’s fiveto try her hand at acting, and auditioned for Hair at The Keegan song debut mixtape, He Could Never, drops this weekend. Theatre. Just like that, she was all in. “It was the first professionUltimately, Litty Official grew out of Jones’ childhood experial production I ever did,” she says, adding, ences — right down to her fascination with “I got naked on stage.” In the six years since Annie Get Your Gun: The persona’s motto Watch Litty Offical Jones has proceeded to steal scenes and stems from that show’s signature song, perform “Say Nuthin” hearts everywhere from Creative Cauldron “Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better).” to Mosaic Theater. Recently, she picked up “As a queer youth, there was always a part two Helen Hayes nominations, including one for her memorable of me that felt in competition with the boys — whether it was turn as Little Red Ridinghood in Into The Woods at Ford’s. sports, whether it was sexual orientation,” she says. “In my older “My 2020 was looking amazing,” says Jones. “I was booked and wiser age, I've discovered that there is no competition. Litty up all year. I was doing The Amen Corner [at the Shakespeare is the creative expression of that revelation.” —Doug Rule Litty Official performs Saturday, Aug. 8, at 8 p.m., at Songbyrd Music House, 2477 18th St. NW. The concert will be livestreamed as well as projected into the venue’s outdoor dining area. Tickets are $20 for a livestream link. Call 202-450-2917 or visit www.songbyrddc.com. He Could Never, Litty Official’s debut mixtape, will be available on Spotify and Apple Music on Saturday, Aug. 8. For details follow @littyofficial on Instagram. AUGUST 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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Spotlight

Speedo Racer

Coree Woltering and Team Onyx blaze trails and scale mountains on World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji.

ILLED AS THE WORLD’S TOUGHEST RACE, THE While the Ice Age Trail was the longest expedition 11-day, multi-terrain Eco-Challenge Fiji, by all Woltering has completed — “three weeks of running and just accounts, lives up to its daunting title. Viewers can being out there every day” — he still calls Eco-Challenge Fiji judge for themselves with the August 14 release of Amazon “the toughest race I've done.” And he hopes that his and Team Prime’s World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji, a ten-epi- Onyx’s performance inspires others on their own boundsode event hosted by Bear Grylls. Sixty-six teams from thirty ary-pushing adventures. “You don't see a lot of people of color different countries run, climb, bike, sail, paddle, spelunk, and in the adventure racing world,” he says. “You don't even necswim through jungles and rivers, over mountains and the essarily see a ton in the outdoor [sporting] world, and especialPacific, racing to claim victory. ly not at a high level. So I just think it's really important to be a "They definitely designed the course to make it just unfor- role model and show that people of color do love the outdoors. giving,” says elite ultra-runner Coree Woltering, who compet- We love adventure. We can do these things.” ed in the Eco-Challenge as a member of Team Onyx — the first Woltering recognizes a similar importance in representall-Black, predominantly LGBTQ team in expedition racing. ing the LGBTQ community on the course. Yet, racing with “It takes an all-around athlete to be able to do something like a purpose, he still makes a point of keeping the competition that, and just an extremely mentally strong person.” fun. Known for racing in a pair of Speedos, the runner, who Woltering would know. As a pro runner specializing in found a fellow adventurer in his professional skydiver huscompeting at distances longer than a marathon, he just set a band, assures, “You'll definitely see a few Speedos in Ecoformidable new record in June, running the Challenge.” The Lycra briefs might even be 1,200-mile Ice Age Trail in under 22 days. The Woltering’s secret weapon. Click Here to Illinois native had been thinking of taking on “It's really funny. I was racing a 50K in Watch the Trailer the Trail for a while, but, surprisingly, it was Florida in 2015, and I was going to the beach, so, life under the pandemic shutdown that made the enormous of course, I packed a couple Speedos. But I also packed my runundertaking possible. “Normally an effort that big would just ning shorts, or at least I thought I did. On race morning, I found take too much out of me,” he says. “So I wouldn't be able to do out that I forgot to pack my racing shorts. And so people are like, that in the middle of a racing season. But with COVID and no ‘It's Florida. No one cares. Just wear a Speedo.’ And I was like, races coming up, this was just kind of the perfect time to do it.” ‘Okay.' So I wore a Speedo and I won the race.” —André Hereford

World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji is available for streaming starting August 14 on Prime Video. Visit www.amazon.com. AUGUST 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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IDA MAE ASTUTE FOR ABS

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Democratic National Convention 2016

Equality Pledge

Democrats’ 2020 platform pledges to advance LGBTQ equality, undo Trump’s attacks. By John Riley

DRAFT OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY’S 2020 PLATform solidifies the party’s stalwart commitment to advancing equality, and offers one of the most proLGBTQ party platforms ever. Shared by the Democratic National Convention, which is set to take place virtually from August 17-20, the platform draft checks off several key policies that LGBTQ people have either been trying to push through Congress for years, or that reverse harmful policies enacted by the Trump administration. In the platform’s preamble, the party vows that it will “give hate no safe harbor,” whether in the form of “bigotry, racism, misogyny, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, or white supremacy.” “Democrats will protect and promote the equal rights of all our citizens — women, LGBTQ+ people, religious minorities, people with disabilities, Native Americans, and all who have been discriminated against in too many ways and for too many generations,” the preamble reads. “We commit ourselves to the vision articulated by Frederick Douglass of ‘a Government founded upon justice, and recognizing the equal rights of all.'”

Among the specific promises made in the platform are that the party will enact protections for LGBTQ+ youth who find themselves homeless, reverse the Trump administration’s transgender military ban and its attempts to discharge service members living with HIV, and provide coverage for HIV/AIDS treatment and HIV-prevention medications, including pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis. With respect to health care, Democrats have vowed to reverse a Trump administration rule that allows medical providers to refuse to provide certain types of care or treatment to LGBTQ people or others based on the provider’s personal religious beliefs. The party has promised to reinstate a provision of the Affordable Care Act prohibiting discrimination based on sex — including gender identity — by insurance companies and medical providers, and ensure that transgender people receive any care, including hormone therapy or gender confirmation surgery, that their doctors have classified as medically necessary to treat gender dysphoria. In keeping with positions embraced by its presumptive nomAUGUST 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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FACEBOOK

inee, former Vice President Joe Biden, the platform also praises a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision finding that employment discrimination against LGBTQ people is unlawful, and promises to pass the Equality Act, which would prohibit discrimination in several other areas of life in addition to employment, such as housing, credit, jury service, public accommodations, and in accessing federal programs. Other planks of the platform include making sufficient mental health, substance abuse, and suicide prevention services available to LGBTQ individuals, ensuring all transgender and nonbinary people can obtain official documents reflecting their gender identity, combating the epidemic of anti-trans violence, investigating alleged hate crimes, and reinstating Obama-era guidance protecting transgender students from discrimination under Title IX of the Education Amendments Act. The party also promises to advocate for LGBTQ human rights abroad and call out instances of anti-LGBTQ violence and discrimination in other countries. “Democrats will advance the ability of all persons to live with dignity, security, and respect, regardless of who they are or who they love. We will restore the United States’ position of leadership on LGBTQ+ issues by passing the GLOBE Act and appointing senior leaders directly responsible for driving and coordinating LGBTQ+ issues at the State Department, USAID, and the National Security Council,” the draft platform reads “We will ensure that our immigration policies account for the needs of LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers, and that we use the full slate of human rights promotion and accountability

tools to defend the universal rights of LGBTQ+ people. We will amplify the voices of LGBTQ+ persons around the world and counter violence and discrimination against LGBTQ+ persons wherever it appears.” The party’s platform stands in contrast to that of the Republican Party, which repurposed its full 2016 platform for this year’s upcoming November election, meaning it still contains opposition to to same-sex marriage, support for religious-based refusals of service, opposition to same-sex adoption, and endorses the right of parents to determine whether to pursue conversion therapy for their LGBTQ-identifying children. Shortly after adopting its 2016 platform for the 2020 election, the Republican National Committee released a memo seeking to shore up their support among right-leaning LGBTQ people and social libertarians by claiming that President Donald Trump has taken “unprecedented steps to protect the LGBTQ community,” citing his policies around increased funding for HIV/AIDS and his administration’s efforts, led most recently by former Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell, to encourage countries with laws criminalizing homosexuality to repeal them. While Trump made history as the first Republican candidate to support same-sex marriage, his administration has repeatedly pursued policies — ranging from restrictions preventing transgender individuals from serving in the military, to religious-based exemptions for health care workers, to its efforts to define “sex” as based only in biology — that critics say harm LGBTQ people.

Highland High School’s 2020 drive-through graduation ceremony

Salty Senior

Salt Lake City high school publishes anti-transgender quote in yearbook. By John Riley

HE SALT LAKE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT IS APOLOGIZing and condemning an anti-transgender quote from a graduating student that has sparked controversy after it was published in this year’s edition of the Highland High School yearbook. The quote, from senior Daniel Totzke, claims: “There are 14

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only two genders and a lot of mental illness.” It was published underneath his photo in the space generally reserved for inspirational or heartfelt messages from graduating seniors. The person who first called attention to the quote was another student, who identifies as part of the LGBTQ community.

theFeed way reflective of the Salt Lake City School District, the value we place on every student, and the standards we strive to uphold,” Interim Superintendent Larry Madden said in his own statement. “Let me make it clear that the Salt Lake City School District condemns hate speech in any form. “To have something like this included in one of our high school yearbooks is abhorrent. We are committed to providing a safe and equitable learning environment for all students, including our LGBTQIA+ community. To our LGBTQIA+ and other marginalized students I say, please know how deeply your teachers, school administrators and district leaders care about you and your well-being,” Madden added. An investigation is ongoing into how the quote managed to evade scrutiny. The district will also be working with Highland’s new principal to review the editing process to ensure a similar incident doesn’t happen in the future. “The inclusion of this quote in the yearbook is more than just an administrative oversight; it is an affront, an attack on our Highland community and our LGBTQIA+ community in particular,” Jeremy Chatterton, who started as the new principal in July, said in a statement. “As principal, I will not allow hate speech like this in my school community. While the student in question has graduated, I want to reassure community members that I will take the steps necessary to make sure something like this is never allowed to happen again.”

UNICEF ETHIOPIA-2013-SEWUNET

“I’m not usually one to post,” the student wrote in a Facebook post that has been shared more than 7,500 times. “But I can’t help but post about this. I am a student at Highland High School going into my senior year. Due to the coronavirus our school did not receive its yearbook until today. Shockingly, one of the senior quotes was not as funny as the rest…. ‘There are only two genders and a lot of mental illness.’ This is a clear attack towards the trans community at Highland. “As a member of the the LQBTQ+, this was extremely offensive to me and many of the students at my school,” the post continues. “I demand action to be taken against the student and the administrator that made it so hate speech could go into our 2020 yearbook. The quotes were submitted before COVID started and the yearbook came out late. There is no excuse for this. Please help me make this public so [the student] can face the consequences of his actions.” It is unclear exactly how the controversial quote managed to make its way into the final yearbook without vetting from student editors, faculty yearbook advisors, or other administrators. The district confirmed that the quote was genuine and had been published in the yearbook in a statement to the Deseret News. “Unfortunately, one of the senior quotes in the yearbook included hate speech. Even more unfortunately, this quote was published in spite of the editing protocol in place for the yearbook,” the statement reads. “This yearbook quote is absolutely unacceptable and in no

Criminal Behavior

Laws criminalizing homosexuality increase risk of gay men getting HIV. By Rhuaridh Marr

AY AND BISEXUAL MEN IN COUNTRIES WITH harsh laws criminalizing their sexual activity are almost five times more likely to have HIV than in countries where homosexuality is legal. That’s according to a new study by Johns Hopkins University, which examined men who have sex

with men (MSM) in ten sub-Saharan countries, aidsmap reports. In countries with laws harshly penalizing homosexuality, MSM are 4.6 times more likely to be living with HIV than those in countries where same-sex sexual activity is legal, researchers found. For countries where criminalization exists, but punishAUGUST 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

theFeed ments are less severe, MSM are more than twice as likely to be living with HIV. Researchers analyzed 8,113 MSM in 10 sub-Saharan countries with varying degrees of criminalization: Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, and Rwanda, where homosexuality is legal; Cameroon, Senegal, Togo, and eSwatini, where homosexuality is punished with less than eight years in prison; and Gambia and Nigeria, where MSM face more than ten years in prison for having sex. In the four countries without criminalization, 8% of the men were living with HIV. In countries with some criminalization, that figure rose to 20%. In the two countries with the harshest punishments for same-sex sexual activity, more than half of the men sampled (52%), were living with HIV. Researchers also examined HIV rates relative to whether countries ban pro-LGBTQ organizations. In countries that

restrict organizations serving MSM, men were more than twice as likely to be living with HIV. “Decriminalization of consensual same-sex sexual practices is necessary to optimize HIV prevention efforts and ultimately address the HIV epidemic,” Carrie Lyons, senior researcher, concluded. Matthew Hodson, executive director of NAM aidsmap, told PinkNews that countries sometimes argue that “[preventing] the transmission of HIV and other STIs is sometimes used to as cover to introduce or retain homophobic laws.” “This report quantifies the increased risk of HIV acquisition in countries that criminalize homosexuality and demonstrates the relationship between severe penalties for same-sex sexual behavior and higher prevalence of HIV,” Hodson said. He added: “We will not end HIV without ensuring the rights and dignity of LGBT people are respected.”

Federal Fumble

Trump appointee who called US a ‘homo-empire’ departs USAID. By John Riley

TRUMP APPOINTEE WITH A HISTORY OF ANTILGBTQ comments has left her position with the U.S. Agency for International Development, after members of Congress demanded her resignation due to her public remarks. According to NBC News, Merritt Corrigan, the deputy White House liaison at USAID, was fired on Monday following months of attacks from LGBTQ advocates and congressional Democrats who found some of her past tweets and public statements offensive and contrary to USAID’s mission. Shortly after, Corrigan unlocked her previously private Twitter account and issued six tweets, blasting USAID, congressional Democrats, and the media, and issuing a series of anti-LGBTQ attacks. “Let me clear: Gay marriage isn’t marriage. Men aren’t women. US-funded Tunisian LGBT soap operas aren’t America First,” Corrigan tweeted. She also claimed that she is a victim of anti-Christian discrimination who has been unfairly targeted for holding conservative beliefs. It remains unclear whether Corrigan’s termination was specifically because of her tweets, or whether the tweets were issued in response to the loss of her position, which could have been due to other factors. In 2019, Corrigan, a former employee of the Republican National Committee, took a new job as a political liaison at the Hungarian embassy in Washington, D.C. After news of her employment broke, Politico staffers Daniel Lippman and Lili Bayer reported on Corrigan’s past tweets, noting that she had routinely praised Hungary’s authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a vocal opponent of LGBTQ equality, for his conservative views, calling him the “shining champion of Western civilization.” On her Twitter profile, which was made private shortly after Corrigan’s comments came to light, Corrigan had said that “Liberal democracy is little more than a front for the war being waged against us by those who fundamentally despise not only our way of life, but life itself.” In another tweet, she criticized the LGBTQ rights movement for allegedly bullying opponents into submission, writing: “our 16

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homo-empire couldn’t tolerate even one commercial enterprise not in full submission to the tyrannical LGBT agenda.” She later canceled a planned meeting with a Politico reporter and refused to respond to press inquiries about her comments. Shortly after her appointment to USAID a few months ago, her previous tweets — which had since been made private — were once again trumpeted in the media, prompting a coalition of congressional members to write a letter to John Barsa, the acting administrator of USAID, to demand Corrigan’s resignation. In the letter, the members said that Corrigan’s comments on LGBTQ people and those who support them, as well as additional comments she made on women in leadership, gender roles, and immigration were “in direct opposition to the work USAID supports.” They also said Corrigan “has no place in a federal agency” and expressed concerns about USAID’s commitment to fostering a work environment free from discrimination or harassment. “The statements made by Ms. Corrigan create a hostile work environment and are antithetical to the principles the agency, and indeed America, espouses. To date, there has been no public retraction of these comments from Ms. Corrigan, or demand by USAID, or the White House that she retract them, but rather a statement defending Ms. Corrigan as ‘committed to enacting the policies of President Donald J. Trump,'” the letter read. “For the sake of USAID’s employees, the beneficiaries it supports around the world, and the core values of the agency, we urge you to immediately condemn this speech, and demand Ms. Corrigan’s resignation.” But on Monday, Corrigan appeared unapologetic, promising to hold a press conference on Thursday to “discuss the rampant anti-Christian sentiment at USAID” with Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman, political operatives who have, in the past, made scandalous, but unproven, claims about opponents of the Trump administration, accusing former Special Counsel Robert Mueller of sexual misconduct, claiming that Kamala Harris is not a natural-born U.S. citizen, and that Pete Buttigieg had sexually assaulted a Michigan college student, among others. In a Twitter thread, Corrigan claimed she “watched with hor-

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Corrigan

ror this week as USAID distributed taxpayer funded documents claiming ‘we cannot tell someone’s sex or gender by looking at them’ and that not calling oneself ‘cis-gendered’ (sic) is a microagression.” She added: “I’m not cis-anything. I’m a woman.” She accused several Democratic politicians, including House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel, New Jersey Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker, and Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine of pushing for her ouster and slandering her. She also challenged Engel to a debate and called Daniel Lippman, the Politico reporter who first reported on her more controversial tweets, a “stalker.” “For too long, I’ve remained silent as the media has attacked me for my Christian beliefs, which are shared by the majority of Americans,” she tweeted. “Let me clear: Gay marriage isn’t marriage. Men aren’t women. US-funded Tunisian LGBT soap operas aren’t America First.” “The United States is losing ground in the battle to garner influence through humanitarian aid because we now refuse to help countries who don’t celebrate sexual deviancy,” Corrigan added, referring to LGBTQ rights and efforts to encourage other countries to repeal laws criminalizing homosexuality. “Meanwhile, Russia and China are happy to step in and eat our lunch.”

USAID released a statement to NBC News confirming that Corrigan is no longer employed at the agency. “USAID takes any claim of discrimination seriously, and we will investigate any complaints of anti-Christian bias Ms. Corrigan has raised during her tenure at the Agency,” Pooja Jhunjhunwala, acting USAID spokesperson, said in a statement. “USAID does not comment on the specific basis on which employees leave the Agency. All political appointees serve at the pleasure of the Administrator.” The Human Rights Campaign celebrated Corrigan’s departure, but noted that the Trump administration has many appointees who have expressed identical sentiments in positions throughout government. “Sadly, Merritt Corrigan is not unique in the Trump Administration. She is the exact type of anti-LGBTQ zealot that Trump recruits and places in positions of power,” HRC Government Affairs Director David Stacy said in a statement. “Corrigan’s biased and harmful beliefs are not shared by the vast majority of Americans. Corrigan is a symptom of a larger problem. It’s time to hold the Trump-Pence administration accountable at the ballot box and elect a leader this November who supports the fundamental humanity of LGBTQ people and appoints people who share that basic decency.” AUGUST 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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Selling Hate

Pennsylvania store protested for sign saying LGBTQ people ‘spread deadly diseases.’ By Rhuaridh Marr

GROCERY STORE IN PENNSYLVANIA WAS SUBjected to protests after displaying a sign accusing LGBTQ people of spreading “deadly diseases and sickness.” Wenger’s Grocery Outlet, in Mifflinburg, Penn., caused outrage last month after creating a sign asking customers to be respectful of those choosing not to wear face masks to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. It featured misinformation about the coronavirus, in addition to anti-LGBTQ language accusing LGBTQ people of living a sinful lifestyle. The sign questioned the severity of the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to more than 114,000 people becoming infected and more than 7,200 deaths in the state, and suggested that the virus was a “political agenda.” It also featured a fake quote from U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) claiming that the New York congresswoman had urged for businesses to remain closed until after November to harm Donald Trump’s re-election chances. But it was a section at the bottom about LGBTQ people that drew particular ire from locals, the Daily Item reports. It accused LGBTQ people of living a “lifestyle” of “sin,” and accused them of spreading “deadly diseases and sickness.” “There are people who got covid19 and not all the others living in the same house got it,” the sign said. “This proves that covid19 IS NOT AS CONTAGIOUS AS THE NEWS MEDIA AND MANY OTHERS HAVE BLOWN IT UP TO BE. A lot of these same people support LGBTQ. This lifestyle is sin in God’s eyes and spreads deadly diseases and sicknesses.” 18

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After heavy criticism, the sign was removed and employees in the store began to wear face masks, according to Daily Item. “I hope they did it for the right reasons,” one resident said. “I’m glad they took down the horrible sign and I’m hoping they apologize for the comment about the LGBTQ community.” Patricia Arduini, president of the Susquehanna Valley Ethical Society (SVES), told Daily Item that she hoped Mark Wenger, owner of the grocery store, had removed the sign and implemented masks after further researching the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I’m also still not hearing a meaningful acknowledgement or apology to the LGBTQ community,” Arduini said. “It was a very divisive statement and not appropriate in uniting a community.” After the removal of the sign, a Pride rally was held in the street outside the store. Dozens of activists and allies lined the town’s main street, wearing coordinated t-shirts in small groups to form the colors of the Pride flag. Speaking to FOX56, I Am Alliance founder Victoria Mathews — who helped organize the rally — said those who attended were “here to love…not for hate,” and hoped the show of support for LGBTQ people would “bring unity and a greater understanding.” “I am a gay man in central PA who grew up here, around here,” Trevor Leon, who attended the rally, told FOX56. “It’s hard.” Leon added: “Some little gay kid growing up here in Central PA is going to see this and see all the support and hopefully it helps.” Counter-protesters in cars featuring Confederate and U.S.

theFeed “Doesn’t mean we don’t love them,” Carl Schreck, a counter-protester, said. “It just means it’s sin. My sin’s no different than her sin, but God says you should not be a homosexual.” Wenger has yet to publicly comment on the sign, or the subsequent criticism of his store.

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flags circled the location of the rally, revving their engines and blasting horns. One van featured a sign saying, “Obey sodom = takeover + annihilation,” while many of those attending the counter-protest expressed their support for Donald Trump.

Executive Action

Canadian mayor offers to help anti-gay resident leave town. By Rhuaridh Marr

CANADIAN MAYOR HAS OFFERED TO HELP A local homophobe find a realtor and move out of town after backlash over an anti-gay letter. Tyler Gandam, mayor of Wetaskiwin, Canada, said that he was “happy to help” the anonymous author of the letter leave the city after they complained about a pro-LGBTQ yard display last month. It came after Wetaskiwin resident Jessica Hanks won the Grand Prize in the city’s Canada Day yard decorating contest, after winning the most votes from the public. Hanks, whose 15-year-old daughter is gay, had included a Pride flag in her display in a show of inclusivity. She received an anonymous letter after winning the competition, but rather than a note of congratulations, its author told Hanks that she was supporting a “‘sick’ portion of society.” “You apparently have no pride in being a true Canadian in that I do believe that was a multi-coloured ‘flag’ hanging on your 20

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fence indicating the ‘sick’ portion of society,” the anonymous letter said. “Junk like the ‘Pride’ followers have no place in society and certainly not in Wetaskiwin.” The author also criticized the painting of rainbow crosswalks in the city in June to celebrate Pride month, writing, “I sincerely hope and pray you were not one of those who painted the avenue-way by Norquest college. If you were, SHAME ON YOU!” Hanks said the attack felt particularly personal as the mother of an LGBTQ child. “I started crying,” Hanks told the Pipestone Flyer. “My daughter was standing beside me as I read it and my daughter is gay.” Hanks shared the letter on Facebook, saying she was “proud as hell to support the LGBTQ community. As the mother of a gay child.” “She is not sick. She is not disgusting. She is perfect in EVERY SINGLE WAY,” Hanks wrote, adding that the letter “shook me

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theFeed took to Facebook to support the city’s LGBTQ community and offer to help the letter’s author find a realtor and move out of town. “If the person who wrote this, sees this post, please know that I was one of the people who proudly helped paint the Pride crosswalks on Main Street this year and last year,” Gandam wrote. “I’m proud of the City I live in and get to be the Mayor for. I hope that we continue to build inclusivity in our community,” he continued. “If you’re unhappy with how things are and need help finding a realtor, please let me know, I’ll be happy to help!”

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to my core.” The post was quickly filled with supportive comments, condemning the letter and its author and offering encouragement to Hanks and her daughter. “It was nice to see Wetaskiwin have my back,” she told the Pipestone Flyer, adding that she would be retaliating to the letter with “even more love.” “When you drive by my house next time the rainbow will be even bigger,” she said. The letter also drew the attention of Mayor Gandam, who

Bezos Backpedals

Bezos

Jeff Bezos opens door to allowing donations to anti-LGBTQ groups through AmazonSmile. By John Riley

MAZON CEO JEFF BEZOS POTENTIALLY OPENED the door to allowing customers to donate to anti-LGBTQ groups during an antitrust hearing on Capitol Hill earlier this week. Bezos caved under fierce questioning from U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) about Amazon’s Smile program, which donates 0.5% of eligible purchases to the charitable organization of a customer’s choice. Under the current guidelines, however, some groups are ineligible to receive donations because they allegedly “engage in, support, encourage, or promote intolerance, hate, terrorism, violence, money laundering, or other illegal activities.” Gaetz asked why certain organizations, such as Catholic Family News, the Federation for Federal Immigration Reform, the American Family Association, the Family Research Council, and Jewish Defense League are not eligi22

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ble to receive donations. Bezos responded that Amazon currently uses information from the U.S. Foreign Asset Office and the Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of known “hate groups” to determine whether an organization is ineligible, according to Business Insider. “I’m just wondering why you would place your confidence in a group that seems to be so out of step and seems to take mainstream Christian doctrine and label it as hate?” Gaetz said of the SPLC. “…Since they’re calling Catholics and these Jewish groups hateful groups, why would you trust them?” Bezos acknowledged that Amazon was using an “imperfect system,” and was open to suggestions on how to determine eligibility, to which Gaetz suggested “a divorce from the SPLC.” Later in the hearing, Bezos was again asked about the SPLC and implied that Amazon would explore other options when

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theFeed for calling for boycotts of companies who express support for LGBTQ rights or representation, with the Hallmark Channel serving as its most recent target due to the channel’s statements that it may be considering introducing LGBTQ characters or an LGBTQ storyline for one of its famed Christmas movies. The Family Research Council, meanwhile, regularly lobbies lawmakers to oppose legislation that promotes LGBTQ rights or same-sex marriage, including nondiscrimination bills, anti-bullying laws, hate crime laws, and allowing LGBTQ individuals to serve openly in the U.S. military. FRC even opposed a Trump administration initiative calling on countries to repeal laws criminalizing homosexuality, even in places where homosexuality or same-sex activity is punishable by prison or death. The group’s president, Tony Pekins, said that pushing countries to repeal their anti-LGBTQ laws would be a form of “cultural imperialism.”

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determining appropriate organizations to which customers may choose to donate. “While I accept what you’re saying that the SPLC and US Foreign Asset Office are not perfect, and I would like a better source if I can get it, that is what we use today,” Bezos said. If Amazon were to follow Gaetz’s lead and allow the groups he mentioned to receive donations through the Amazon Smile program, the company would effectively be funneling money towards a number of groups that vehemently oppose LGBTQ rights, including the American Family Association and the Family Research Council, which was removed from Amazon Smile’s list of eligible organizations last month. According to the SPLC, the American Family Association regularly engages in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric towards any expansion of LGBTQ rights, based on the belief that homosexuality, same-sex marriage, and transgenderism are sinful and harmful to society. AFA’s “One Million Moms” offshoot has become infamous

Dangerous Deportation A

Saudi Arabian court sentences Yemeni blogger to prison and deportation for supporting LGBTQ rights. By John Riley

COURT IN SAUDI ARABIA HAS SENTENCED A Yemeni national prison and deportation for an online video expressing support for LGBTQ rights. The New York-based Human Rights Watch reported that on July 20, Yemeni blogger Mahomaed al-Bokari was sentenced to 10 months in prison and eventual deportation back to Yemen for 24

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“violating public morality by promoting homosexuality online.” He has also been charged with “imitating women,” with prosecutors claiming he had undergone gender confirmation surgery to become a woman — which al-Bokari has denied. He will be fined 10,000 Saudi riyals, or the equivalent of $2,700, for his alleged crimes.

“These charges show that the court decision is based on discriminatory accusations against al-Bokari based on his perceived sexual orientation and gender expression,” Human Rights Watch said in a news release. Al-Bokari, 29, has 30 days to appeal the verdict. Saudi Arabia often brings charges against people who advocate for LGBTQ rights by using cybercrime laws to prosecute content that authorities find objectionable. Same-sex relations are illegal and punishable by death in the country. Last year, CNN reported that five men were executed in Saudi Arabia for allegedly admitting to having se with other men, but human rights watchers believe they were beaten into giving false confessions. Al-Bokari was arrested in April after posting videos to Snapchat in which he urged others to respect the personal freedom of gay people, according to Middle East Eye. “Everyone has their own rights,” he said. “Homosexuals have their rights. I hope you will leave homosexual people alone and not intervene in their personal affairs. Everyone is free.” He previously fled Yemen in June 2019 after being threatened by local militia groups, and has since been living in Saudi Arabia as an undocumented migrant. His eventual deportation back to Yemen is all but certain to endanger his life. “Saudi Arabia’s public relations campaigns tout the kingdom’s ‘progress,’ but the court’s jail sentence for peaceful speech and then deportation to Yemen where the defendant’s life is at risk shows how hollow these claims are,” Rasha Younes, an LGBT rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “Saudi Arabia should match rhetoric with reality and drop the case and the deportation against al-Bokari immediately.”

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Taking Aim Whether it’s her new Netflix special or writing for SNL, Sam Jay is building a comedy career that is as bold as it is masterful. Interview by André Hereford

N HER FIRST NETFLIX ORIGINAL COMEDY SPECIAL, 3 in the Morning, Sam Jay comes out swinging. Aiming punchlines at ripe targets from Elon Musk and Donald Trump to the last man she slept with before coming out as a lesbian (“I just hope I’m not the reason you’re like this”), she slays without breaking a sweat. Filmed in Atlanta, where the comic was born, the hour-long special captures the Boston-raised Jay’s distinct humor and worldview in a tight burst of raw energy and rapid-fire edits that match her swaggering delivery. Before filming the special, Jay, also an Emmy-nominated writer on Saturday Night Live, and 3 in the Morning director Kristian Mercado Figueroa brainstormed its flow over blunts. “We talked for an hour and a half just about ideas,” she says. “This is what I wanted and how I wanted it to feel, and what he was thinking.” She played Mercado her 2018 live stand-up album, Donna’s Daughter, and showed him some of her appearances on shows like Netflix’s The Comedy Lineup, and her half-hour Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents special. “We just vibed,” she recalls. “I also really liked the way he lit people of color, and I just thought he knew what to do with melanin,” she says of the filmmaker, who also directed Hannibal Buress’ latest special, Miami Nights. “That was exciting to me because I was like, ‘I want to look good up there. I don't want to be washed out and shit.’ You know what I'm saying? So then we just kept building the vision and it came out. I couldn't be happier. I'm so glad that I went with him.” The product of a happy collaboration, 3 in the Morning reflects a solo performer ready to flex her confidence on the global stage. Jay surely earned some of that nerve by struggling through her 20s, moving between Boston and Atlanta, ultimately surviving a period during which she felt truly lost. “All

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the endeavors that I had been pursuing were falling apart, and I just really didn't know what I wanted to do,” she says. “I felt completely unfulfilled and was just moving through life, but not feeling like I was impacting life or even controlling my own.” By then, Jay had tried her hand at comedy, without finding her direction. Yet, at her lowest, “the stand-up bug just started to come again,” she says. “I was being funny in group settings and I was happiest when I was doing that. And I was just like, ‘Man, you kind of ran away from this thing in a way and it may be the thing, because you're scared of it, that you need to be walking head-on towards.’” So she hit her stand-up head-on, honed her unfiltered comic voice, and toured and hustled her way onto some major lineups. “I did Just For Laughs, which is a big comedy festival that happens in Montreal every year. I was there for New Faces, which is one of the highest honors of the festival. I had a really good set and there were some SNL producers in the audience, and they just reached out to my management, ‘Will she audition in L.A.?’ Because that's where I lived at the time.” Jay’s L.A. audition went well enough for Saturday Night Live to fly her to New York to audition in front of the show’s legendary executive producer Lorne Michaels. “That went well, and then they just offered me a writing job.” Nearly four seasons and two Emmy nominations later, Jay, the show’s sole Black lesbian staff writer, has found her direction, writing installments of recurring parody Black Jeopardy and other viral sketches, like Cha-Cha Slide, which featured John Mulaney as a White guy at a Black wedding who’s casually hip to the culture. “That's one of my favorite sketches,” she says. “It was, for me, one of the first sketches where I got all my Black love into it. And I was like, ‘Yay, look at it, look at it happening. This is cool!’”

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METRO WEEKLY: You said you talked with 3

was in and out of the hospital for a while, and then when I finally was healthy, I moved to Atlanta to go to school around 22, 23. I went down to Atlanta, but did not really go to school — I just used that as an excuse to get the hell out of Boston. Partied a bunch, drank a bunch, and then started messing around with music and stuff, and just forgot about it. [I] just was just doing other things and moving through life and these other directions. And then when I hit about 27, 28, I was just really lost a bit. I got sick again in Atlanta, it had come full-circle in a trash-ass way. It was terrible. I had ended up sleeping on my friend's floor, and this dude comes in and he's her roommate and he's like, “Sam?” He knew me because he used to sleep on my floor. So it was just like, “I got to go. This is all the way bad.” And I've tapped this out, my Atlanta run is over. So I took my ass back home, and when I got home, everyone's still doing the same shit. Boston's a small town. My family, still everybody's working at a hospital or working on a public bus and all that kind of shit. And I'm just watching everyone be in a rut and I'm like, "This can't be life." And the stand-up thing is still nagging at me. And I'm like, "You just need to go ahead and put your head down and try this shit." So I called up Chris, my cousin's husband. And I was like, "Hey, man I want to get back on the [open] mike.” And he was like, “Oh, you’re serious?" I'm like, "I'm serious." And he was like, "All right, well, there's a mike on Sunday." And I went, I got booed, but there was this kid there and he told me about all the other mikes in the city and I just kept going. MW: That night were they booing your jokes? JAY: They just didn't want comedy. It was at this VFW type situation that they had a party, and then they were doing comedy after the party, but the people who were at the party hadn't cleared out and they wanted to watch basketball and [organizers] were like, "No, we’re going to start this comedy show." And seriously, as soon as I said a word, this dude from the back was like, “Boo, shut the fuck up!” So I didn't even get to do it for real. But it was also like, I felt like that was God being like, "Bitch, this is what it’s going to be. Either you going to keep pushing with this shit or you're going to let this stuff knock you off your square. We going to check you right here, right now." And so, I felt like it was a test. I just kept getting up and, really, three minutes turned into five minutes, turned into 10, turned into 15. MW: I mean, would you have wanted to start out with killing from the very first set?

“My girl is a little vain. I wasn't talking about her at first and she was like, ‘You don't ever talk about me.’ I just didn’t have anything to say. And then WHEN I STARTED HAVING STUFF TO SAY, SHE WAS LIKE, ‘DON'T BE TALKING ABOUT ME!’”

in the Morning director Kristian Mercado about how you wanted the special to feel. What was that? SAM JAY: I wanted it to feel intimate and I wanted it to feel important, without saying it was important. I wanted you to know it was a moment, because it was a moment for me, but I didn't want it to be like, "Ladies and gentlemen! Coming to the stage...!” You know what I mean? Because that's not how my actual life is in stand-up right now. I'm still meeting audiences, I'm still building a fan base, I don't go to any show and they just lose their fucking minds for me. So I didn't want to portray that in the special, when it's not real. But I also was like, this is special. So how do we do both of those things? And I feel like we executed it, or at least we did to a degree that makes me happy. MW: I didn't really think about that whole “crowd goes wild,” Robin Williams entering the Met kind of thing. Do you foresee that for yourself? JAY: I don't know if I'll ever be that style of a person. I don't know. I don't think so. MW: Now let's take it back. How did you get started in comedy? JAY: I tried comedy when I was 20, 21, and my cousin, she was married to this dude named Chris, he was a local comedian and I had always wanted to try comedy. I remember when I was like 12, he had put on this show for kids — funny kids — and he asked my two cousins to do it and he didn't ask me. I was so hurt. I never said anything but inside I was like, "I want to see if I can maybe do that." MW: Because you thought you were funny? JAY: I thought I could maybe do it. I've always been interested, I've always been a super comedy fan, watched since I was very young, probably too young to be watching some of the things I was watching, but I was just always super into comedy. Loved the Wayans family, would watch anything they made, love Eddie Murphy, would watch anything he made, then eventually that grew into watching Comic View, sneaking to watch Def Jam, trying to retell Def Jam jokes at school, falling in love with Niecy Nash and just always following funny people. That went all the way through high school, and when I started watching The State and Strangers with Candy, and all these different sketch shows. I just always had an affinity for that kind of stuff. Finally, around 20, I was like, "I want to try this thing." And I tried it. It wasn't good. MW: Stand-up or sketch? JAY: Stand-up. I never tried sketch. I was always in a stand-up space mentally. But I just didn't connect to it. It just didn't feel like how I thought it was supposed to feel. And then I got sick, I AUGUST 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

JAY: I don't think so. You want to get in the trenches with it and

build it, for sure. MW: Now, shooting this special in Atlanta, why there? JAY: I just have a connection to the city. I lived there for eight years. I was born there, but I moved when I was a baby, very young, so I don't remember it. So I'm Boston raised, basically, but I was born there and I have family there. And that's where I found myself, that's where I came out, that's where I met my girlfriend, it's where I met my first group of queer gay friends. You know what I mean? Really just when I feel like I came to be who I am. MW: How are gay and lesbian comics received there, and in terms of booking, throughout the south? JAY: I don't feel like I've had issues. I've done shows in Asheville, North Carolina and at the Dead Crow, which is near Wilmington. I've done Florida.... So I don’t think I’ve had issues. But sometimes you get to those rooms and yeah, you'll get a bunch of white people, for lack of a better word, that just ain't gonna go with the shit. And they might walk out in the middle of a Trump joke, because they don't want to hear what you got to say. I think they sit down ready to not want to hear what you got to say because of what you look like. They’re already like, "We're not going to like this." You know what I'm saying? Sometimes you get that, and it just is what it is. MW: Since you brought up Trump. In 3 in The Morning you make a case that Trump is “the first nigga in the White House.” I think I caught your meaning. Although I can see how it could be misconstrued. Do you ever worry, with that joke or any joke, about the humor being taken the wrong way? JAY: Well, I'm curious what part of it do you think could be misconstrued? MW: You seem to make a dichotomy between what a president would do and what a “nigga” would do. That’s what you set up, and I guess some people could construe what a “nigga” would do as not necessarily somebody who is... JAY: Black? MW: Black. I guess the thing is you're not using that word just to mean Black, and a lot of people could think you are, and it could go down a whole other rabbit hole. JAY: I just feel like if you listen, then you know that's not the case. And if you want to be triggered, then you're going to be triggered. But then you want to be triggered, and I can't do nothing about the people that want to be triggered. MW: But it feels like a lot of people want to be triggered these days. JAY: Yeah, they do. But that has nothing to do with me. I think if you listen for what

it is, you get the joke in it. I tell it that way specifically, because the white people will hear it, and I definitely want the ones that support Trump to face a reality of what they're supporting and stop pretending that it's something else that it isn't. And so it's also that level of, let's take the veil off of this and stop playing these games. You all being nigga’d. That's what's going on. He's nigging in there and just doing whatever the hell he wants to do and let's not pretend it's something else. MW: It's a strong opinion. JAY: You’re making me nervous. I felt good about the joke, now you making me nervous. MW: Oh, no. No. I want strong opinions in my comedy. Another strong opinion, and something that I support in general, you make a statement that trans women are real women. And I'm wondering if you've had any trans women or men in your audience who have reacted or responded to any of your trans humor. JAY: I've definitely had trans women and men in the audience. And they've never specifically come up to me and been like this or that about the joke as much they'd just be like, "That's funny. And I appreciate the angle you're coming at." But it also lives in that same space as the Trump joke, right? Where you can listen for one thing and then you can run with that, and you can take it and go left, and say that I'm being anti-trans if you want to, if you want to be triggered. Or you can listen to the joke, and hear all the different levels and things that I'm playing on and trying to speak about, and see that I'm genuinely trying to push the dialogue and open the conversation up. But I can't write thinking about the triggered people, because then I'll be writing in a box, you know what I'm saying? Because I am queer, I'm gay. I definitely don't want to be saying anything that's anti-my community. So I do think about things like that. Even when I wanted to do the trans joke it was like, I had to think about, “What are you saying? What are you trying to say? Why do you want to say this? Why do you think it needs to be said?” And I do those types of checks in my head before I move forward with any joke: Me Too, trans, Trump. It's like, "Why are you saying this? Why do you want to say it? Why do you feel like you need to say it? Okay. All your chakras are aligned and in a good place, go forward." MW: Sticking with people not necessarily being triggered, how has your wife responded to seeing herself and your life presented in your stand-up? Or is that something that you prepare somebody for when you start dating? JAY: I mean, so this is a real funny question because my girl is a little vain. So I

“You'll get a bunch of white people...and they might walk out in the middle of a Trump joke, because they don't want to hear what you got to say. And I think THEY SIT DOWN READY TO NOT WANT TO HEAR WHAT YOU GOT TO SAY BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE.”

AUGUST 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

NETFLIX

“I do checks in my head before I move forward with any joke: Me Too, trans, Trump. It's like, ‘Why are you saying this? Why do you want to say it? Why do you feel like you need to say it? Okay. ALL YOUR CHAKRAS ARE ALIGNED AND IN A GOOD PLACE, GO FORWARD.’”

AUGUST 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

wasn't talking about her at first and she was like, "You don't ever talk about me." And I was like, I don't know, I just didn’t have anything to say. And then when I started having stuff to say, it was like, "Don't be talking about me!" But in the realness of it, I run everything by her. She's such a big supporter. I don't know if I would even be here without my girl in my corner. She literally goes on the road with me and I hate going on the road, especially I hate going alone, and going with her always just enriches the experience. Even all those jokes I got out of Europe, I have to attribute that to my girl. If I would've went on that European tour alone, I wouldn't have much of nothing to say about the trip. So in that regard, I run everything by her. Like, "Babe, I'm thinking about doing this or talking about this thing, and are you cool with that?" Or, "Are you uncomfortable?" if I do just get on stage and happen to riff something, and it just comes out — when I get off, I'm like, "Was that too much? Do you not want me to say this part?" Or, "Are you cool with all of it?" Because I do respect her, and I don't want to be out there disrespecting her. Even though people are going to watch it and be like, "Oh shit, she be talking crazy about her girl." I want home to be good. I want us to be like, we good and we know what we on. MW: I've never dated a comic, so it’s never come up, but I feel like if it takes a lot of nerve to be a comic, it must take a lot of nerve to be with on. Is that the case? JAY: Yeah, my girl, she's no pushover. If she don't want something, it's not going to happen. I always tell people, "I'm really the bullied one." If only people knew. A lot of this stuff I have to run by her because I'm just afraid of her. And I'm like, I don't want to deal with no static later on. MW: So I want to talk about SNL, because I am a lifelong fan of that show. Was it a show that meant something to you as a kid? JAY: Well, yeah. I definitely watched it. I was younger and I feel like the show is one of those shows where it comes in phases. So I remember being like nine, 10, and my parents would watch it. And so by default, I knew about it and knew the players and stuff. And then I used to watch Eddie Murphy's Best of SNL tape that my mom had all the time. So I was aware of the world and what the world was. Then, when I was in my early teens, it was all Molly Shannon, and I loved all that. And I would go to every SNL movie.

Night at the Roxbury. Superstar. I would go see all that stuff and self up writing? I knew all the characters. And then you had the Maya Rudolph JAY: It was a little bit of both. When I first got the news that I years, with Gemini's Twin. So it's just like different points in the was going to do it, it was just getting up a lot in New York. It was show, that I just had these different things that I fell in love with. just really pounding the material out in New York and getting it So I was aware of it, but I never thought of myself in that space. to a place where I was feeling good about it, because I feel like As I was doing stand-up and, as you see how my special is, I'm New York's the best place to do stand-up. I think the audiences like, "I don't live in NBC world." I'm over here doing some whole are just savvy, they know comedy, they love comedy. New York other shit. So I never even saw myself in that space. you can really fuck with them, that's how a lot of these bits got MW: Well, do you have a favorite Black Jeopardy sketch? made, because I was doing this shit in New York and they're JAY: I like the Tom Hanks one. a place that'll let you fuck around and say some crazy shit and MW: Honestly, I think they're all good. I liked the Chadwick push them and really figure out the nuance of it. Boseman one. Then I was like, "Okay, once I get it there, now let me take it JAY: I wrote on the Chadwick one. So it's by default that's my on the road and figure out how to make this palatable to more favorite, but that's not fair, I feel. If I take myself out of it, the than grimy New Yorkers." And just grow it out like that. That's Tom Hanks one. why it was so important for me to go to Europe, because I just MW: What is the process of getting something from the kernel of an wanted to also have gotten that more global and international idea or a joke to script, then to something that's getting rehearsed test to know, “All right, I'm not just talking out my ass.” And that and on air? gave me the confidence to say the stuff I said, because I took it JAY: I mean, the process is brutal and really not up to me. All I all around. do is, I write it, then it goes to the table. And maybe it'll go, and MW: What is next now that 3 In The Morning is out of the bag? maybe it won’t. And even through that process, even if you can JAY: I mean, I got some projects in development, some things get past that and you're like, "All right, we're going to make the that I'm working on that I'm excited about that I can't talk about, sketch,” you still have to make it from dress [rehearsal] to air, so but hopefully they all work out. I'm going to keep writing, doing you can get chopped somewhere between there. And then some- stand-up and just let that take me wherever it takes me. And I'm times, if the air's running over or it's crazy, and there's no time, also just chilling and going to let it just wash over me and think because it's live, you might be bottom of the show, you might get about what I want to do next, to be honest, and just assess where chopped. So you never really feel safe, or feel things are going to I am after all of this and then see where my voice is bringing me. go till it goes and you see it, and you're like, "It happened, cool." MW: Are you going to do SNL this season? MW: Are writers at the table for those first reads? JAY: I am, because there is no touring and I need a job. JAY: Yeah, everybody is. MW: When reading up on you, other names come up like SNL cast MW: I just have to ask, did you have anything to do with Cha Cha members Danitra Vance and Ellen Cleghorne, Maya Rudolph, Slide? Because that's like — Leslie Jones. What is it like to be part of that legacy of Black JAY: I sure did, boo. women at SNL when, frankly, not that many Black women have MW: I wouldn’t say somebody could be triggered by that because walked through that door and created a sustained impact? it's so good-natured, but I could see how, again, people could miss JAY: I mean, it's huge. And I think also it's a big deal because, the meaning despite the fact that there's so much love in that like you said, it's not a lot of Black women that walk through that sketch. door. And I think the more that do, the more that will, and the JAY: That's just my comedic voice, I guess. It's just like, you more that will even attempt to. I feel like they can. I definitely could catch it or you could take it another route if you want to know I was one, I didn't even think that was a door that could take it another route. open for me until it opened. And so I definitely feel like just MW: I wonder this every summer, when the show is on hiatus, is there being in those spaces and also creating in your true voice and stuff happening right now in the world that you might be dying to your authenticity, and not letting that be decided by the space, write about? Jokes that you would want to make because there's all but you bringing something to the space, only helps up the visikinds of shit going on. How are you getting your comedy out? bility for people that look like us. JAY: Well, I've just been doing a lot of writing. I have some proj- MW: Speaking of, how are you keeping your fade together? ects that I've been working on, so I've just been trying to throw JAY: You know what? I was really messed up for a while, because my energy into the things I can do. You know I was taking [lockdown] seriously, so I was what I mean? I can write these shorts and I not getting a haircut. I was like, nope, nope, Click Here to can play around in this world through writing nope. So I was really Sherman Klump-ing out Watch the Trailer and having Zoom sessions with my homies here. Shit was looking super crazy. But then I for Sam Jay’s and jamming on stuff in that kind of way. And had to do something for TV, and I was like, "I Special then there's been a few little popup shows that cannot." So my barber's been coming over, and are outside of New York that I've been able to he'll be like full hazmat. But I'm doing the DJ bop to, here and there, just to take the edge off. And at least, if I Khaled thing. really got fucking pressed and I'm like, "I need to talk about this,” MW: I was going to say, because your special starts out with you there’s somewhere to kind of do it now, but it is tough, because getting your hair cut, that a barber’s a good person to have out on it's not every night, it's not how it used to be. the road with you when the time comes. That's what makes New York magical for comics. It's like, JAY: Yeah. I feel like that's when I’ll know I’ve made it, when you can get up every night, do three, four shows every night and I'm like Diddy and the barber’s just with me everywhere. That’s really build something. Honestly, if the world wasn't shut down, when I’ve arrived. I'd probably be 20 minutes into another hour by this point. MW: How did you build the hour for 3 In The Morning? Was that Sam Jay: 3 in the Morning is currently available for streaming on over the course of a bunch of road dates, or did you just hole your- Netflix. Visit www.netflix.com. AUGUST 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

Gallery

Outrage I - Will we have to march again? by Andrea Rowe Kraus

Art & Activism

N 2020, WE CAN NO LONGER STAY SILENT ON THE issues that matter.” And with that as an opening statement, Dupont Circle’s Studio Gallery is off and running with the artist cooperative’s latest all-members exhibition. Art & Activism showcases artworks that have been inspired by one or more of the social movements of our time: from Black Lives Matter to immigration reform, women’s rights to LGBTQ equality, climate change to the coronavirus pandemic. Available for viewing either as a traditional exhibition in the reopened gallery space or as a virtual display, Art & Activism features works by member artists, among them

AUGUST 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

Gordon Binder, Gary Anthes, Kimberley Bursic, William Bowser, Deborah Addison Coburn, Suzanne Goldberg, Lois Kampinsky, Thierry Guillemin, Yuno Baswir, and Lisa Allen. Some participants have also elected to donate a percentage of their sales to a charity of their choosing. On display to Aug. 22. Studio Gallery is open by appointment on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and to the general public on Fridays and Saturdays from 1 to 6 p.m., with a maximum of five guests in the space at any one time. Face masks required. The gallery is at 2108 R St. NW. Call 202-232-8734 or visit studiogallerydc.com.

Day 2 by Sally Kauffman

Honor Guard (First Time Ever, Pride Parade) by Gordon Binder

Scale Model for Border Protection Facility, Trump Era, 2019 by William Bowser

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Television

Umbrella Academy

Streaming Through Time Umbrella Academy and Dark use time as a narrative device, while Mrs. America returns us to a critical time in our history. By Randy Shulman

ITH THEATRICAL RELEASES HAVING COME TO A SUDDEN, screeching halt, our collective eyes have turned to our TVs and devices, where streaming services now reign supreme. There is so much exceptional content out there — both new and classic — that it’s helping make quarantine a bit more bearable. With that in mind, here are three binge-worthy shows that you should immediately put at the top of your must-watch list.

a stunningly well-written and produced series, and features perhaps the most clever opening credits sequences you’ll ever see. Cate Blanchett makes a steely yet surprisingly vulnerable Schlafly without ever attempting to make her sympathetic. She’s essentially a demon in apron strings. The ensemble is sensational — there’s not a bad performance, from Rose Byrne as Steinem and Margo Martindale as Abzug to Uzo Aduba as Chisholm and Sarah Paulson, as an amalgam of several conservative women who, as the series progresses, evolves ideologically. It’s Tracey Ullman, however, who walks away with the series as a brash, perpetually inflamed Betty Frieden. It’s a masterful performance in a series filled with them. Exclusively on FX on Hulu. (HHHHH) DARK. If you’re looking for the granddaddy

of mind-bending time-travel shows, this comic book series written by Gerard Way and lavishly illustrated by Gabriel Bá. The German Netflix-produced series, which toning-down of the book’s extravagant violence is for the better, though the storyline recently concluded a satisfying three-searemains as offbeat and wild. The adventures of a profoundly dysfunctional family son run, can’t be beat. It’s a mind-scrambler of a show that gets of adopted siblings, each with his or her own special superpowmore and more addicer, retains all of its bizarreness, and season two, which dropped Click Here to tive as it moves forward last weekend, is as good as, if not better than, the first. Both deal Watch the Trailer for (and backward and with the siblings attempting to halt a predetermined apocalyptic “Umbrella Academy” sideways). A mix of scievent, and both delve into some fairly resonant emotional terrain. ence fiction and dense, Season two, which takes place in Dallas leading up to Kennedy’s assassination, elevates the show’s LGBTQ quotient in a beautifully organic way. The brooding drama, Dark keeps pushing its cast is fantastic, with standouts including a quietly simmering Ellen Page, Kate Walsh own envelope on what a series is capable (doing her very best Wendie Malick), David Castañeda as the brash, impetuous Diego, of. For example, by the time you get to the a scene-stealing Robert Sheehan as the flamboyant clairvoyant of the clan, and the middle of season three, you are witness to remarkable Aidan Gallagher, whose portrayal of the time-traveling Five, a fifty-some- a murder that is at its very core impossithing assassin trapped in the body of a 14-year-old, brings essential gravity and urgency ble. And yet, there it is. It leaves you gobto both seasons. Bonus: Mary J. Blige shines in season one as a brutal assassin from the smacked. Dark is one of those meticulousfuture. I heard a rumor you’ll drop everything and watch it now on Netflix. (HHHHH) ly considered shows that you can either obsess over or go with the flow and enjoy MRS. AMERICA. This FX on Hulu miniseries does a little time-hopping itself, back the ride. Either way, by the time you get to to the ’70s and the incipient struggle for the Equal Rights Amendment, notably the the series finale, the landing is so perfect, war of words (and baked goods) between conservative nightmare Phyllis Schlafly so beautiful, so emotionally resonant, that and her minions and the queens of women’s rights Gloria Steinem, Bella Abzug, you’re instantly ready to return to season and Shirley Chisholm, who slowly, tortuously attempt to get the ERA ratified. It’s one, and give it another go. (HHHHH) THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY. The Netflix series bears only a modest resemblance to the

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PARKWOOD ENTERTAINMENT

Music

mother. She may be at the center of the story, larger than life as she so often is, but this time she is more its storyteller than its subject. As she puts it in the opening track, “I’ll be the roots, you be the tree.” The project acts as a corrective to the sweeping Beyoncé’s visual album, Black is King, is a majestic love letter narratives of human history and culture to Black communities past and present. By Sean Maunier that have been handed down to us and have all too often actively marginalized, FEW YEARS AGO IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN FAIR TO CALL BEYONCÉ THE forgotten and scrubbed out the stories queen of pop, but with her unmatched ability to push boundaries and set the and contributions of Black individuals and tone of conversations, she likely deserves a bigger crown than that. Even so, her communities. Images from classical westlatest project is an ambitious one, even for her. She noted on her Instagram that the ern art are reimagined accordingly, with making of Black is King (HHHHH) was a “labor of love,” an undertaking that aimed to Beyoncé appearing in the likeness of the do no less than tell the story of millennia of Black history and to discover “what it truly Madonna and child. means to find your self-identity and build a legacy.” More than a year in the making and As much as she deserves praise as the filmed on three continents, it is a massive, sprawling effort, one that Beyoncé and her driving force behind it, Black is King is long list of collaborators have clearly poured their hearts and souls into. bigger than Beyoncé, a fact which is not Beyoncé is of course all but synonymous with the visual album, having established lost on her. Driving the point home, the herself as a master of the genre with Lemonade. Each scene is markedly distinct from film ends with a dedication to her son the one preceding it, both visually and in tone, but together they Sir, right before the credtell a cohesive story of a young African king cast out from his family its play over an extended Click Here to who must find his way back, guided by his childhood love and his Watch the Trailer version of “Black Parade,” ancestors. Conceived as a companion piece to The Lion King: The the song she released a few Gift, it reimagines and reinterprets the story for a 2020 audience. The weeks ago to coincide with project incorporates audio from the live-action remake of The Lion King, as in the first Juneteenth. Setting the already powerfully interlude, when a voiceover of James Earl Jones as Mufasa plays over images of African resonant songs over the gorgeous, inspired families as well as celestial bodies. visuals elevates them and their storytellBlack is King is awash with immediately recognizable symbolism. Beyoncé and her ing power, elements that weave together co-director Kwasi Fordjour incorporate pan-African as well as biblical and Christian beautifully to tell a complex, timely and imagery, with Beyoncé herself cast as guide, narrator, and both literal and figurative necessary story.

Royal Treatment

Black is King is available to stream exclusively on Disney+. AUGUST 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

RetroScene

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Remingtons, Feb. 15, 1997 - Photography by Randy Shulman To see more photos from this event online, click on the photos below.

RetroScene

Liquid Ladies at Phase One, Oct. 15, 2002 - Photography by Michael Wichita To see more photos from this event online, click on the photos below.

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LastWord. People say the queerest things

“Do you know what WE are sick and tired of? our racist, homophobic, tyrannical, golfing idiot of a president.” —CLAUDIA CONWAY, daughter of presidential advisor Kellyanne Conway, in a tweet responding to President Donald Trump complaining about people being “sick and tired” of apparent congressional inaction with regards to “Big Tech.”

“We are thrilled to continue our legacy of creating a holiday destination that is welcoming to all at Lifetime. ” —Lifetime and Lifetime Movie Network programming Executive Vice President AMY WINTER, in a statement announcing that the channel is producing its first-ever holiday movie featuring LGBTQ leads, The Christmas Set-Up.

“Our treaties ensure that every person in Europe is free to be who they are, live where they like, love who they want and aim as high as they want. I will continue to push for a #UnionOfEquality. ” —E.U. Commission President URSULA VON DER LEYEN, in a tweet supporting the Commission’s decision to cut funding and other opportunities to six cities in Poland that have declared themselves to be “LGBT-free” zones, as part of increasing intolerance towards LGBTQ people in the Eastern European nation.

“I might be the first person they’ve ever seen who stands up and just says, like it’s a normal thing that you should not be ashamed of, that I’m transgender. ” —OWEN BONDONO, Michigan’s recently crowned Teacher of the Year, speaking to NPR-affiliate Michigan Radio about the importance of being an out, visible trans person in school. Bondono, a ninth-grade English teacher, is the first known trans winner of the award.

“Took me a while, but I am proud to be gay.” —Swedish singer-songwriter DARIN, in an Instagram post coming out as gay. One of the Scandinavian country’s best-selling artists with seven number one albums, the 33-year-old wrote, “Everyone in the world should be able to be proud and accepted for who they are. I know how difficult it can be.”

AUGUST 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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