RECL AIMING L ANGUAGE TR ANS PEOPLE ON T V GROWING UP INTERSE X
SPRING 2013
CONTENTS 3
Letter From the Editor
4
The Golden Year s
6 Inside the Pascual Family r ais ing an int e r s e x ch il d
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8
o pinio n :
Marriage in the Margins
9
Homeless Youth
10
AWAY WITH WORDS
12
o pinio n :
13
Hot or Not?
14
Trans on TV
15
Animal-Style
16
Ask Dr. Q
17
Your Perfect Summer Job
18
Spring Style
20
You're Queer? Live Here!
r e cl aiming l ang uag e
Postmosexual
OutWrite is UCLA’s queer and ally newsmagazine. OutWrite, formerly called TenPercent, was established in 1979 and was the first LGBT collegiate newsmagazine in the nation. OutWrite is an alternative multi-platform media outlet that deals with the issues that matter to young, engaged Queer or LGBTidentified individuals, both at UCLA and beyond. By illuminating topics that are not covered by the mainstream media, and by doing so with a distinctive, frank, passionate and progressive voice, we strive to engage our community and ser ve their needs through dialogue and active expression. The UCLA Communications Board has a media grievance procedure for resolving grievances against any of its media. For a copy of the complete procedure, contact UCLA Student Media at 310. 825. 2787. Copyright 2011 ASUCLA Communications Board
Letter from the Editor One of the most distinguishing factors of the queer community is our need for language. Indeed, the only way any of us can identify ourselves as members of the queer community is through language — of course, clothing, hairstyles, and our actions can demonstrate our queerness, but language seems to be the one distinct way to pronounce and claim over and over again that yes, we are here, and we are queer. My respect for language has taken many forms in my life. I studied literature throughout my time at UCLA, and I even analyze text messages for their underlying themes. It is this same type of reverence for language that drew me to journalism, and to Outwrite in par ticular, as an avenue for queer people wishing to express themselves through language in a more formal way. The queer community’s relationship with language is what makes the controversial subject of reclaiming slurs such an important topic. When someone shouts “Faggot!” from a speeding car at late-night barhoppers, the word bears a very different connotation than when I call myself a dyke as I discuss my personal relationship with my queerness. Nuances within language are what make the spoken and written word interesting and informative, and I am excited to open up the conversation about which words can be reclaimed, and in which contexts or settings. Language has the power to make us feel heard, to make us feel understood and recognized as complete human beings, and it has been my privilege and joy to showcase some of the voices of the queer community as the Editor-in-Chief of Outwrite this year. I pass the torch to Bryan Platz, and I know that he will continue to give a platform to these important conversations, both within Outwrite and beyond. Thank you for reading, thinking, commenting, and most of all, speaking. It is through our shared and individual languages that we make progress not merely a possibility, but inevitable. Sincerely,
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www.outwritenewsmag.org facebook.com/outwritenewsmag @outwritenewsmag EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Katie Schowengerdt MANAGING EDITOR Br yan Platz MARKETING MANAGER Austin Rose WRITERS Kayla Vernon Clark Stephanie Gilber t Will Herder Gabe Hongsdusit Lee Jasperse Stanley Lin Br yan Platz Gabrielle Juarez Zachar y Robinson Alejandra Rodriguez Kenny Saleh Sam Wang DESIGNER April Lee PHOTOGRAPHER Ar thur Pham ILLUSTRATOR Will Herder COPY EDITOR Stephanie Gilber t COVER PHOTO Ar thur Pham PRINTED BY International Daily News This magazine was made possible with the suppor t of Campus Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress, online at CampusProgress.org
The Golden Years
GABRIELLE JUAREZ Staff Writer | gabbyjuarez@ucla.edu
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Alma & Alicia Lopez Gaspar de Alba
Overlooking the beautiful waters of Newport Beach, both Alma and Alicia began to get ready for the biggest day of their lives: their wedding day. With Mexican traditional décor at the forefront and close relatives and family by their side, Alma and Alicia began to exchange their vows. “We intentionally kept our wedding small, inviting only family and close friends because we wanted it to feel like a family event. We only had 50 guests. We decided on each part of the wedding, the cake, the flowers, the music, including co-writing the ceremony the captain officiated. We feel that as a result of the wedding ceremony, our families took our relationship more seriously. We were no longer ‘girlfriends,’ we were married.” In today’s society, being married often solidifies the seriousness of any relationship, whether it is a heterosexual or queer relationship. But for older queer couples, this system can be stifling and limiting. Although many couples like Alma and Alicia believe that getting married is the only true way to legitimize a relationship, only 12 states across the United States give same-sex couples the right to marry. This leads to an obvious discord between the traditional values that many older queer people believe in and the laws of individual states. Some couples choose to dismiss traditional values in favor of a broader definition of family tradition. For James Schultz and his partner of 25 years, they find marriage unappealing. “I have a lot of issues with marriage and as a personal choice, [I] don’t feel like it’s necessary.” Of course, there are many people that feel this way, and Schultz describes some of the reasons queer people in long-term committed relationships opt out of the marriage plan, citing reasons such as “I don’t think the state has any more business declaring certain relationships ‘good,’ as it does when it calls them “marriages,” than it had when it declared all same-sex relationships ‘bad,’ by making same-sexual relations criminal”. This is a perfectly valid reason to decide against marriage. However, for older LGBT people in committed relationships, this decision to marry or not marry can have major consequences due to unfair treatment of older LGBT people related to both age and queerness — whether these challenges are due to one of these factors or a combination of both. Indeed, there are horror stories about couples being torn apart when they needed one another most. A particularly striking court case emerged in 2010 that revealed the story of 77-year-old Clay and his
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Alma & Alicia Lopez Gaspar de Alba p hoto
partner of 20 years, 88-year-old Harold, who tried to do everything right. They made arrangements to protect their legal rights and acquired all the legal paperwork for their wills. Harold, as he was living in weak medical condition, was still living at home with Clay who was taking care of him. One day, Harold fell down the steps of their home and he was rushed to the hospital. Based on their medical accommodations, Clay should have been told of the accident, but Sonoma County health care workers did not allow Clay to see Harold. Even worse, the hospital identified Clay simply as Harold's “roommate.” The court then, without ever obtaining permission from the couple, auctioned off all of Harold and Clay’s belongings. Continuing this injustice, Sonoma County removed Clay from his home and forced him into a nursing center against his will. The county workers terminated Clay and Harold's lease and surrendered their home. Harold eventually died apart from Clay, and the only memento Clay was left with was a photo album that they painstakingly put together during the last three months of their lives together. This heartbreaking case exhibits the numerous social stigmas and prejudices that are put upon LGBT elders. More specifically, there is unequal treatment under laws, programs and services that this community goes through, especially when it comes to medical visitation rights and property rights, as Clay and Harold exhibited firsthand. In addition to this, same-sex partners do not receive Social Security benefits due to their lack of a federally-recognized partnership, meaning any LGBT elder can pay as much as $14,076 a year. Similarly, tax-qualified retirement plans have specific rules for ummarried elderly LGBT couples that are not as inclusive or all-encompassing as the regulations for heterosexual couples. This same disparity applies to employment pensions, retiree health insurance benefits, estate taxes, inheritance laws and even veteran’s benefits; all of these laws and benefits are not available to same-sex partners. When asked about the hardships of being an LGBT couple, Alicia and Alma Gaspar De Alba explained their struggle with taxes. “Our biggest challenge every year is tax time. The federal government does not recognize same-gender marriage so we each have to file ‘single’ and yet combine our incomes because we live in a community property state. Every year, it's very complicated.” Even though many older LGBT people experienced Stonewall firsthand, they still have to face the discrimination of 2013 with antiquated and covertly homophobic laws. While laws, beliefs,
and attitudes have changed over the past 40-plus years, a recent study done by the LGBT Aging Center found that only 22% of LGBT respondents would feel comfortable revealing their sexual orientation or gender identity in a long-term care setting. When asked about coming out, James Schultz, the department chair of Germanic Languages, replied, “I graduated two weeks before Stonewall. I never thought of coming out, it just wasn’t what we did.” By the 1950s, and the end of World War II, the United States began to treat gay, lesbian, bisexual, and/or transgender communities as a threat to US progress. Americans abided by this heteronormative ideal by fulfilling the government’s aim to “restore the prewar social order.” Thus the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community would be isolated and ridiculed by these discriminatory ambitions. In light of these U.S. desires, between 1947 and 1950, 1,700 federal job applications were denied, 4,380 people were discharged from the military, and 420 people were fired from their government jobs for being suspected homosexuals. All of these factors culminated in the uprising of 1970s LGBT movements, with notable achievements being Evelyn Hooker’s 1973 decree to remove homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-II), Kathy Kozachenko's 1974 election to public office in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Harvey Milk’s 1977 induction into the San Francisco city government. All of these LGBT
innovators paved the way to the now-controversial topic of gay marriage. Many couples like James Schultz and his boyfriend, who have been together for more than a decade, still have no plans to legalize their partnership, while other couples like Alma Lopez Gaspar de Alba and Alicia Gaspar de Alba choose to solidify their domestic partnership in a legally bound way. Alma says, “There is a difference between a relationship and a marriage. A marriage is a legal agreement, and maybe not necessarily be for everyone. I would recommend young couples (LGBT or not) to seriously consider their reasons for marriage in order to decide if it is the best option for them at that moment.” Many people only see the queer community as full of young partygoers that are interested in getting their rights as soon as possible. However, couples like Alma and Alicia and Shultz and his partner demonstrate that queer people have meaningful lives and experiences at all ages, and the experiences of older LGBT people are crucial to the overall fight for equality. Shultz remarks on the improved tolerance within society as “astounding… 10 years ago I could never call my phone company and say ‘me and my partner;’ now it’s becoming more commonplace.”
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The San Juan-Pascuals
Inside the San Juan-
The San Juan-Pascuals requested that their child's face not be shown. On the day of their child’s birth, the first thing that Wendell Pascual exclaimed was “It’s a boy!” He and his spouse, Carolina San Juan, were exhausted and running on pure adrenaline and excitement. They watched as the doctors inspected their newborn infant. But when the doctors examined what appeared to be a penis, they couldn’t find any testicles. Upon further testing and examination, the doctors discovered that the child has two X chromosomes, a pair of ovaries and a uterus. The child’s genetalia was due to a form of intersex known as Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH). Carolina and Wendell were then asked “what to do with” the external appearance of their daughter’s genitalia, assuming that something needed to be done with it. They resisted the
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expectation that surgery was necessary or wanted, instead preferring to give their daughter autonomy over her own body. Doctors proposed performing a vaginoplasty that involved removing phallic tissue and reconstructing her vagina to make its appearance less atypical, but Wendell and Carolina decided against vaginoplasty. One of the reasons for their decision was to ensure that their daughter was going to have a healthy sex life. Wendell explains, “Her whole vaginal appearance has no bearing on her medical disposition at all. I knew that that her vagina was going to be her pleasure principle and we really had a big issue with the possibility that surgery might affect that.” According to the Intersex Society of North America (INSA), CAH occurs
in 1 in 13,000 births. However, types of intersex genitalia can vary; there are no clear boundaries that define male or female. The INSA has reported that the number of people whose bodies actually “differ from standard male or female” is 1 in 100. During prenatal development, androgens are the hormones responsible for the development of a penis. For XX individuals with CAH, their adrenal glands produce an excess in androgens that significantly masculinizes their sexual anatomy; the clitoris may become larger and more phallus-like, while the labial skin folds may resemble a scrotum. The result is ambiguous genitalia that have both male and female characteristics. Even biological sex, much like gender or sexual orientation, exists on a spectrum.
GABE HONGSDUSIT Staff Writer | gabehong@gmail.com
intersex child Controversy surrounds the issue of plastic surgery for children with ambiguous genitalia. Parents that choose to have doctors perform a vaginoplasty believe that normalizing their children’s appearance will save them from humiliation and shame about their body. On the other hand, there are parents like Wendell and Carolina that believe that in order to respect their child’s autonomy, they cannot make decisions about her body for her. “With our situation, there’s more to it than our own self-satisfaction of what our daughter should be and how she should look. Our decision not to do surgery has nothing to do with us, really. It’s what we feel is best for her. We’re not only thinking about the nerve damage that can happen [with surgery] but also her agency as a person. It was important for her to have a say in it.” Both parents had consulted with several doctors, including one that performed male-to-female sex reassignment surgery, to ensure that their daughter would have the option to pursue surgery in her adult life if that is what she wanted to do. Carolina and Wendell realized that not many parents of intersex children make the same decision. According to Johns Hopkins Hospital, 90% of the XX infants with CAH had corrective surgery during their childhood. “In our support group, we’re the only ones that haven’t gone with surgery. And the nuance that we feel is that because we are in the minority, we must be doing something wrong. And we know from the bottom of our hearts that we’re not. People ask us, ‘Why don’t you have her “corrected” because she’s going to have all of these psychological problems with feeling different?’ But how about the
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psychological problems of her not being consulted [about] her own body? She’s five years old now, and every day we look at her and think, ‘Wow, we’re so glad that we did not go through that.’” Both parents recognize that their decision to respect Siyam’s body will have significant implications when she starts exploring her sex life. Wendell explains, “My biggest fear is if she has a boyfriend and the boyfriend has an adverse reaction to finding out that she isn’t ‘normal.’ The worst fear for me as a father is Siyam getting hurt because of that. I cringe when I think about it. She could have a bad interaction with one person [that would negatively impact her] and it only takes one person. But we hope that we can infuse her with self-worth so that she’ll be able to cope with things like this.” Despite their fears, Carolina and Wendell are optimistic about the acceptance of the intersex community within mainstream society and see strength in being advocates for the queer community. Carolina explains, “We are recognizing that the world is changing for the better when it comes to LGBTI issues. What we understand now about gender and sex is so different from what we had understood twenty years ago, and thank goodness she was born in this time. We can hope that by living openly as part of the intersex community, we can have greater understanding of what’s right. We already see that happening. Many families that know about her difference don’t care.” Whether or not their child chooses to undergo surgery is ultimately up to her, and Carolina and Wendell are adamant in supporting whatever choice she makes. “For all we know, she could say, ‘Oh I don’t like the way I look. I’m going to have
a vaginoplasty and have it corrected’ and that’s fine. It’s better that she makes the decision on her own behalf rather than having had the surgery without her consent. So when she’s at that age where she can determine [what is right for her], we’ll be happy for her. We would have been satisfied knowing that we at least got to that point where we know that she could make her own decision.” Wendell and Carolina ultimately hope that raising Siyam with a strong sense of self-worth will empower her when she is growing up as an intersex woman in a patriarchal, heteronormative society. Both parents have queer politics that significantly influence the way they want their daughter to grow up in this world. “Why should you go through that pain [of reconstructive surgery] just to look the same? As working-class Filipinos, we are also the cultural and racial minority, so we feel especially sensitive to ideas of normativity. This sort of awareness is something that we want to instill in our daughter. We want her to take cues that we should really question the societal and patriarchal ways that tell us how we should be or how we should interact. We focus on empowering her as a person and raising her to be empathetic to everyone’s differences.” After five years of seeing their daughter grow, Carolina and Wendell are still figuring out the best way to raise her. They know that the one thing they must do is act a source of support. “This isn’t about control. This isn’t about me telling you what to do or how to live. It’s me supporting you as my child to be able to navigate your own way in this world and how to live it.”
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illu st r at i on
I’m here, I’m queer, and I don’t give a damn about marriage. When the Federal District Court ruled that Proposition 8 was indeed unconstitutional, it only reinforced what people have been already doing for centuries. Society has constantly been redefining marriage, and it’s about time the law catches up. Yes, the official endorsement of my relationship's equality is an important and lovely engagement in the event that I ever opt for state recognition of my romantic life. However, for millions of Americans — both straight and queer — the little box of traditional marriage is just too constricting for our evolving notions of love and partnership. Modern heterosexual couples are indeed pushing the traditional boundaries of marriage. But perhaps the next step isn't to expand the otherwise narrow definition of marriage once again, but to completely abolish the false distinction between married families and other equally valid but unrecognized partnerships. The Proposition 8 ruling was a wonderful victory for equality for same-sex couples in California and nationwide. Judge Vaughn Walker wrote that "Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that oppositesex couples are superior to same-sex couples." This, like much of the ruling, brought tears to my eyes — a long-awaited herald of justice in a nation too often haunted by narrow intolerance. However, the idea that traditional marriage is between one traditional man and one traditional woman, each playing traditional gender roles, was extinct in most American households long before talk of gay marriage. In an era of working moms and metrosexual men, the idea of marriage as a onesize-fits-all straitjacket is simply outdated. Married straight men everywhere who have cooked breakfast or changed a diaper, married women nationwide who have worn pants or been able to maintain their own finances should applaud Justice Walker's ruling, too. Accordingly, you're now officially as central to the American marital landscape as Newt Gingrich, his current wife, and his two ex-wives. Beyond the Prop 8 ruling, I think I should be able to decide what constitutes my family — whether it's me and my same-sex partner and our toddler, or me and my elderly mother and father, or me and my best friend who want to care for and love each other but not necessarily be sexually intimate. The job of the state is to protect my prospective family and our rights — not decide that two parents plus kids makes a family and everything else is an exception to the rule at best.
Will Herder
Marriage in the Margins
KENNY SALEH Staff Writer | saleh.kenny@gmail.com
So when the government of Canada was charged with expanding the country's conventional definition of marriage to include recognition of gay and lesbian couples, a commission was appointed to study the best path to equality. The commission came back with a startling but sensible option: get rid of marriage. I would think anti-government conservatives would certainly agree that the government has no business telling me how or with whom to form a family. For the rest of us who otherwise value the role of government in our lives, benefits and rights can as easily be based on family functions, not forms. If I am my best friend's primary caregiver, then I should be able to sign up to have hospital visitation rights. If I want my closest aunt to be my Social Security beneficiary, why should the government stop me from signing her up? Anthropologist Gayle Rubin has written on how society divides us all into privileged and marginalized groups. We have a certain image ingrained in our collective unconscious of what the "good" family means in America. In the Proposition 8 ruling, Judge Walker quietly argued that the boundaries between
our traditional notions of the "good family" are already being blurred, not by ballot measures or court rulings but by the natural evolution of gender roles and family norms in America. Grandparents raising their grandkids; unmarried people on disability living together; single moms; cohabitating but unmarried couples — they are all still, formally and culturally, in the outer circle. All movements for equality struggle with one essential philosophical dilemma: are we fighting for the right to be the same or the right to be different? Equal treatment and government benefits for gay and lesbian couples should not be based on whether couples conform to limited notions of marriage and family, whether antiquated or updated. While certainly worth celebrating, the Proposition 8 ruling says that gay people are equal to straight people as long as they act like straight people. But the fundamental right to be treated equally, even if you are and act different, remains beyond reach. In the meantime, don't hold your breath for an invitation to my wedding.
The Down Low on Homeless Youth Statistics compiled by ZACHARY ROBINSON, Staff Writer | zach.m.robinson@gmail.com
Top reasons for homelessness or risk 46% ran away because of family rejection of sexual orientation or gender identity 43% forced out by parents because of sexual orientation or gender identity 32% physical, emotional, or sexual abuse at home History of LGBT homeless youth 68% family rejection 65% mental health issues (anxiety, depression, etc.) 54% family abuse (sexual, physical, emotional) 53% alcohol and substance abuse
Homeless youth
U.S. population
40% LGBT
4% LGBT so u rc e
A study of homeless youth in Canada found that those who identify as LGBT were three times more likely to participate in survival sex than their heterosexual peers. 50 percent of homeless youth in another study considered it likely or very likely that they will someday test positive for HIV. so u rc e
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Durso, L.E., & Gates, G. J. (2012), Williams Institute
Ray, N, (2006). Nat'l Gay and Lesbian Task Force
The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's Youth Center on Highland offers the following services:
SOAP
Meal services
Daily support groups
Hot meals are offered three times a day ever y day of the week.
A variety of diverse suppor t groups, such as group counseling and one-on-one therapy, are offered each day at the center.
Emergency clothing
Other services
The Youth Center has its own closet of donated and purchased clothing for homeless LGBT youth which is opened twice daily.
In addition to the essential ser vices listed above, the Youth Center provides a computer room with free internet access, a lending librar y, a dance room, and ar ts and crafts.
Personal hygiene All youth at the center have access to free laundr y ser vices and showers. so u rc e
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Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center - Youth Center on Highland
AWAY W I T H
p hoto s
Jacqueline Harns
F EAT U RE /
Dyke. Faggot. Tranny. These words evoke a multitude of emotions, ranging from anger to discomfort to shame to fear. Interestingly enough, these words can also evoke a feeling of pride, joy, and power for people who choose to reclaim them. “I use the word dyke sometimes, but only with people I know that would not be offended by the word. I feel like they’re hard to reclaim in a general or public setting because of their […] offensive nature,” said Sarah Haugh, a 2nd-year bisexual UCLA undergraduate. Indeed, these words evoke a dark past that can be hard to reclaim in a public setting where the context or intention of the speaker can be more difficult to fully understand. “Faggot” has an obscure history. Its first documented English usage is in 1300,
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referring to a bundle of twigs bound together. In the 1500s, “to fry a faggot” emerged from the use of such bundles in the burning of heretics. Around the same time, the term came to denote an old, usually slovenly woman. In the 17th century, ‘fagging’ could referred to the phenomenon in British public schools of younger males performing favors for older schoolmates. While it’s unclear how this final permutation arose, it smacks of effeminacy, queeny-ness, and dangerous perversity. “Dyke” comes from similarly ambiguous origins, but is almost certainly rooted in the word “bulldyke,” which associates the word dyke (slang for “vagina”) with a bullish potency and cockiness. “Dyke” thus carries its implications of masculinity — in terms of sex drive and the target of that sex drive.
Despite these words being in the English vocabulary for over a century, they remain taboo, treated by many, even within progressive circles, as words that strictly stigmatize, that can only wound. When these words do enter the mind, many queer people quickly reject them. When they are uttered, they are often scorned as hate speech. “I am making an effort to no longer use [slurs]. While I understand the idea of reclaiming a slur, I don’t think there is truly a way to diminish the pain and abuse such slurs have caused,” said Noah Natoli, a 21-year-old trans man. Critically, slurs can genuinely hurt, recalling painful memories — for some, real trauma. Noah and many others cite this as a primary reason the queer community
reclaiming language L E E J A S PE R S E , St a f f Wr i ter | ljasper se @ u c la .e d u is generally averse to taboo language. However, these words are also rich sites for examining and challenging cultural assumptions as they are tightly wrapped up with society’s construals of sexuality and gender. Using or reclaiming historical slurs “if anything[…] allow[s] us the opportunity to ref lect upon what beliefs society, including the queer one, [force] upon us versus what [are] truly our own,” said J.H. Johnson, a gay third-year undergraduate at UCLA. This is not to suggest that those hurt by such words should necessarily face these words and reclaim them as if they are some inescapable hurdle to self-empowerment. Many people choose to appraise their own and others’ circumstances before uttering a slur, aiming for conscientiousness rather than pure shock value. “I don’t use [dyke and faggot] unless I know the people around me are comfortable with it,” said a 22-year-old lesbian and Los Angeles resident, while maintaining that “we should reclaim the shit out of those words” — meaning in settings where we know those around us won’t be devastated by them. Still, concern for others is only one component of why more queers don’t reclaim slurs. What does it means when a queer rejects words like “dyke” or “fudge-packer,” or chastises other queers for using such words, because they are “demeaning” to the group, because they perpetuate widespread stigmas, or because they impede political progress for queers? In these moments, a complex set of heteronormative assumptions arises, the first of which being that a word’s meaning and effect is static across contexts: a gay man proudly referring to himself as a faggot as he sits at a piano bar listening to Bette Midler covers and sipping a cosmo is (although less morally reprehensible) using the word to the same belittling ends as the homophobe using it as a means of harassment. Words are nuanced, and their meaning derives in part
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from different contexts, such as the identity of the speaker. Reclaiming language forces one to examine how speaker and setting interact complexly to give a word its meaning and effect. But queer culture is all about seeing context and deploying the subversive. As two scholars on the subject have observed, “Queer commentary has tried hard to sustain awareness of diverse context boundaries… at a time when United States culture increasingly fetishizes the normal.” A drag king with perfect male “realness” isn’t using gender the same way as, say, a fraternity does, with its enforcement of male dress codes (e.g. formal suit and tie). Both acknowledge gender difference as socially meaningful. The former, however, works to underscore sex and gender’s performed nature, displaying it as a set of cultural conventions. Meanwhile, the fraternity, which fixes gender to longstanding and unchanging codes — like being chivalrous, having access to certain elite networks, and participating in sports (to demonstrate one’s physical, biological masculinity). This, of course, unfairly homogenizes Greek life, but nonetheless, studies show such conventions are institutionalized and fundamental in many houses. One of the prime fears underlying the rhetoric of ‘internalized homophobia’ and the need for ‘positive representations’ that critique a reclamation of traditionally homophobic words seems to be connected to the terror that queers will be seen as perverts. That is, such words resist presenting homosexuality as normal — normal enough for marriage, normal enough for upper-middle class jobs, normal enough to raise kids and blend into suburban America. This is the agency of the queer as pervert: understanding the way in which meaning changes across contexts — the way in which it is culturally determined — and exploiting this instability to subversive ends. The word
‘pervert’ has as its Latin root vertere, meaning ‘to turn‘ — that is, to resist a ‘straightness’ or constancy of meaning. Refusing to articulate the emotionally charged words that express the ‘otherness’ or perverse potential (socially, a danger to the heteronormative status-quo) of sexual minorities keeps hidden the fact that society still doesn’t accept many facets of bald-faced, unapologetic queerness. Critic Eve Sedgwick noted in a review of gay-positive texts that the supposedly “healthy homosexual is one who (a) is already grown up, and (b) acts masculine.” For being ‘faggoty’ is still, by social norms, something to be ashamed of. Thus, to label oneself proudly a faggot is to reject the shame of being associated with the effeminate, the sinful (as determined by dominant culture), the campy (an artistic taste that finds value in the excessive, the excessive, ridiculous, and kitschy — that which is not subdued and ‘refined’). To call oneself a fudge-packer is to call attention to the very act of anal sex, to emphasize the abnormal, ‘filthy,’ and nonprocreative elements of gay life (or, at least, gay life for many). This is the value of reclaiming slurs — they act out a queerness and refocus our ‘pride’ to places that are still a source of shame and taboo for many. “Dyke” and “faggot” call attention to the fact that much of the progress queers have experienced in recent times comes from a normalization of ‘queer’ into a more seemly package, rather than a reshaping of society to be more inclusive or anti-hierarchical. Johnson, who describes such words as important to communicating himself as “a feminine gay man,” said, “I regularly use words that have been known as offensive… I am a major proponent of the repurposing and embrace of these words, and I view them as a small part of how I express my queerness.”
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Big Kids and Cheeky Monkeys
Postmosexual
“How could you not like Pitch Perfect!?” As a gay man without a stereotypically gay persona of chatty flamboyance or stereotypically gay interests like musicals, I'm used to fielding questions like this. I don't follow — and perhaps don't understand — mainstream gay culture. Almost all of my close friends are straight. I’m not alone: like myself, many people within the queer community, and gay men specifically, don’t identify with queer culture. Enough gay men feel this cultural disconnect that they’ve created their own community, calling themselves postmodern gay men, or “postmo” for short. Postmos characterize themselves as men who have sex with men, neither hyperfeminine nor
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hypermasculine. These postmo individuals do not identify with the hard-bodied gay clones, the fabulous drag stars, or the leathered-up bears and daddies. Yet, the postmo disconnect with gay culture goes beyond taste in music, movies, and men. They’re also disconnected from the issues facing their community as a whole. In June 2011, Canadian writer Paul AguirreLivingston wrote an article for The Grid, describing his view of his generation of gay men. This generation is urban, white, and identifies as postmo. The article contains photographs of a small group of AguirreLivingston’s postmos, none with enough melanin to stay in the sun for an hour before burning. The privilege of this demographic is only enhanced by its intersection with class: Aguirre-Livingston brags about his postmo community’s university degrees and family-owned, charming rustic countryside vacation homes. While his pretentiousness is merely annoying, the ignorance and self-entitlement he demonstrates is outright sickening. Like Aguirre-Livingston, I do not identify with all aspects of the queer community; however, this cultural disconnect has no bearing on my view of the queer community as a whole. Aguirre-Livingston, a gay man privileged with social acceptability that others in the queer community lack, expresses a misguided view that the fight for equality is over. Unlike him, I am aware that my privileges do not permeate the majority of the queer community, and that the fight for equality and recognized humanity is far from over. Rather than rest on my laurels and accept internalized shame and assimilation as the status quo, I aim for a more inclusive form of progress. “A new generation of twentysomething urban gays — my — generation has the freedom to live exactly the way we want,” writes Aguirre-Livingston. Yes, gay men, especially those blessed with European skin tones, have come to gain this social liberty — but this liberty does not transfer to other groups within the queer community. Queer people of color often lack the social freedom to be out or express themselves as they choose. In addition, trans people often don’t have the legal basis to identify as their true gender to employers or the government — never mind the specific social pressures and antagonism they undergo. Aguirre-Livingston’s ignorance seems to originate both from his white male privilege and from a conceit that prevents him from looking past it. He concludes his article, “We are the lucky ones.” Yes, gay white men of this generation are lucky: lucky they were born post-Stonewall, lucky to be born white, wealthy, and male. When Aguirre-Livingston recognizes and celebrates his social freedom, he obnoxiously fails to recognize the oppression of other queer folks and even other gay men, ignoring the privileges of having
BRYAN PLATZ Managing Editor | bplatz7@gmail.com
pearly-white skin or living in liberal urban Canada. Aguirre-Livingston’s ignorance of social injustice against the queer community goes beyond simply believing that everyone else possesses his privilege. It questions the very existence of those injustices. “Is there even a gay struggle to be had anymore?” he asks arrogantly. Trans folks, queer people of color, queer women, queer people with AIDS, and even gay men still protesting for gay marriage, would beg to differ. “We simply arrived at the end of the fight to reap the fruits of another generation’s labour,” writes Aguirre-Livingston. The statement sums up the vapid privilege and ungrateful attitude which permeates his article. Despite his acknowledgement of the past gay struggle, he cannot look past the celebration of his own rights to see the ongoing fight of those afflicted by similar social stigmas of the former generation. “[His] words are downplaying issues [that] people not as fortunate deal with on the day-to-day, people who did not get their share of the fruits they are supposedly and so conveniently reaping,” says secondyear queer-identified student Bianca Rosas. Furthermore, Aguirre-Livingston seems to prioritize petty social pressures over actual social injustices experienced by the rest of the queer community that is not white, male, and wealthy. “While there will always be a balance between culture and counterculture among the LGBT community, the article focuses on ‘what kind of gay’ someone is, rather than what it means to be LGBT. LGBT represents an internal identification... not a compartmentalized social label which we use to create boundaries between ourselves and those who are different from us,” says fourth-year gay-identified student Philip Lantz. At one point in his article, Aguirre-Livingston describes the decline of Church Wellesley Village, Toronto’s version of WeHo, due to the queer community leaving the neighborhood for other parts of the city. “We just let it die,” he writes. Should this unfortunate apathy continue, especially after the eventuality of marriage equality, this sentiment will be used to describe our fight for social freedom and civil rights. I cannot stand Aguirre-Livingston’s apathy towards social justice for the queer community. Like Aguirre-Livingston, I don’t always connect with gay culture, nor have I needed the support of my fellow queer peers for social acceptance. However, I am fully aware that many queer individuals possess a background of harsher social injustice than my own. My privilege and my awareness of others’ lack of privilege motivates me and obliges me to fight both to maintain my own freedom and to expand that freedom for all individuals, rather than simply relaxing in my fabulous rustic country home.
He’s the f ir s t Amer ican male basketball player
HOWARD SCHULTZ
to come out as gay while ac tive in the NBA , and
The Chairman and CEO of Starbucks was applauded
he’s damn f ine too. Not only that, but his jer sey
for telling a shareholder to get lost when criticized
number, 98, is a tr ibute to the death of Mat thew
for his endorsement for same-sex marriage,
Shepard, the vic tim of a gay hate cr ime in 1998.
claiming a drop in sales and prof its in 2012 af ter
A lit tle social ac tivism with your professional
the resulting boycott of Starbucks. Now you can
athletes? Yes, please. Raising awareness and
have less guilt about your caffeine addiction!
queer ing athletics at once? Def initely hot!
JACK'D A new mobile social net wor k for gay men has given Gr indr a big, limp-wr is ted slap in the face. The application has been pr aised for its pr ac tical features, smooth and user-fr iendly tr ansitions, and infor mative layout. Here’s hoping the men you meet on here are jus t as pr ac tical, smooth, and user-fr iendly.
HOT? or
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NOT?
rocking heels shor ter than my but t plug. walking barefoot would be less shameful than
might be the one you're looking for.
Wear ing heels ain’t easy, but tr us t me — even
and loads of prejudice, then Grindr just "the one," you might want to tr y Jack'd. If If you're a hopeless romantic looking to f ind
GRINDR
have fallen into the pool of " fashion fuck-ups." No of fense to Audrey Hepbur n, but these heels
a little less predictability in your Thursday night!
KITTEN HEELS
with their gay BFFs. Aim for a little more queerness and perfect for the straight girls that attend this famous bar bros that want to be seen as progressive and therefore Abbey is overrun with straight bachelorettes and straight among the LGBT community, except that these days, The One of the most notable venues in West Hollywood
THE ABBEY
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you're into horny creeps, glitchy features,
STANLEY LIN Staff Writer | stanleylin@ucla.edu
Clockwise from top left: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images, Starbucks, Pedro Moreno, Grindr, La Patilla, Little Bird Blue
JASON COLLINS
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“Gender is between your ears and not between your legs,” declared Chaz Bono, who, throughout his stint on Dancing with the Stars, became a spokesperson for the trans identity. The obsession with this identity spoke to ignorance surrounding the nature of being trans. Indeed, over the last ten years, disgust and deception have been at the heart of nearly all trans representation on television, with trans characters typically associated with trickery or exploited for a cheap laugh. Older films like Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, set a negative precedent for trans representation. After one character learns he made out with a trans woman, he burns his clothes, vomits and cries in a display meant to provoke laughter. The “humor” is necessarily borne of disgust: the idea of having sex with this person becomes horrifying, rendering trans-identified people not only sexually unappealing, but also gruesome. The humor in these comedies is based on deeply unsettling ideas about what it means to be trans. Storylines for the few meaningful trans characters in the media typically focused primarily on the transition process. Though many would consider this a deeply integral experience, this focus on physical transition allows for a reading that centers on a literal shift, as if from “man” to “woman.” This is not an accurate depiction of someone’s trans identity; a surgery or dose of hormones is simply a physical manifestation of gender identity, not a change in gender. Someone who identifies as female is female before and after her transition, if that is the path she chooses. Dangerously, the obsession with the physicality of it makes the body the overwhelming site of trans identification, as if the body is a kind of “proof” of gender. Back in 2006, in what seemed a promising step forward, The L Word introduced a character who came to identify as transgender. The episodes prior to this identification cement his relationship with one of the central characters, who then readily agrees to help him throughout his transition. For a show created to give space to minorities often kept from center stage, the introduction of a trans character with agency and dimensionality seemed promising. But rather than gaining insight into Max’s consciousness, he becomes a caricature of a man: angry, even violent. His story earns little sympathy from other central characters, and, in turn, very little from the show’s audience. For a show that ought to have provided a safer space for LGBT individuals, its portrayal of Max was grounded largely in ignorance. The divide in understanding that too often separates the trans community from its LGB counterparts was only emphasized, leaving Max another casualty in a tradition of ignorant portrayals of trans characters.
Glee
Trans On TV
KAYLA VERNON CLARK Staff Writer | kaylavc@gmail.com
In 2007, Dirty Sexy Money became the first primetime TV show to cast a trans actor, Candis Cayne, for the role of a recurring trans character, a progressive choice that has since been echoed in film and television. Though Candis’ storyline ended in her death, the central focus of this character was never on the development or physical transition of a trans identity. It became one of the first times a trans character was given an identity beyond the nature of her gender. Furthermore, in 2010, Adam Torres became the only trans teenager on scripted television, featured on Degrassi. While certainly rife with teen drama, Degrassi has featured several queer characters whereas many other shows (particularly teen shows) would not, and Adam’s storyline offers the emotional complexity of a person with real emotions. The show features a scene in which he comes out to two other characters and receives responses that boil down to “oh, okay, cool,” a stark and much-needed juxtaposition to the horrifying epiphany of discovery featured in comedy. Characters like these are relatable to trans viewers and also offer moments of sympathetic connection for those who may lack a more complete understanding of what it means to be trans. One of the most recent additions is Glee’s Unique, who became a recurring character in 2012. For a show hell-bent on answering each of society’s ills with a forty-two minute easy-bake solution, Unique’s arc was given a surprisingly lengthy time to unfold, sewn together by moments of genuine empathy. Just as crucially, she is one of very few trans women of color represented in either TV or film, so although
it may be disheartening that her personality and fate are putty in the hands of Glee’s inconsistent writers, her character is nonetheless impressive. A number of crime shows like CSI have featured appearances by trans-identified characters, but these shows were mainly concerned with sex reassignment surgery or the surprising revelation that the woman “used to be a man,” and thus might be the killer! Other TV shows, like Nip/Tuck, featured deeply exploitative representations of trans identity; as GLAAD describes, a whole season was devoted to a “psychopathic trans woman depicted as a babystealing sexual predator who sleeps with her own son.” In fact, GLAAD found that transgender characters were the “victim” 41% of the time and villains/killers 21% of the time—which, together, leaves little room for much else. Trans characters of this sort become less than human, without a voice of their own. To rob them of sympathy, of human-ness, perpetuates the deeply flawed perception of that being trans means being less than a complete human. The most overwhelming disappointment of trans representation on TV is that there isn’t enough of it. That says nothing, of course, for the trans* umbrella, a multitude of identities unlikely to be mentioned. Even worse, according to a GLAAD survey, 54% of all transgender representation is considered problematic, meaning the majority of existing representation is often founded upon ignorance, misinformation, and deeply troubling assumptions. It’s no wonder that in a world where violence and punch lines dominate the already miniscule representation of trans characters, people are still getting the pronouns wrong.
Animal-St yle
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Image Broker / Rex Features
ALEJANDRA RODRIGUEZ Staff Writer | alira0115@yahoo.com
Presidential wannabe Mitt Romney told an audience of Mormon Church members that homosexuality was “perverse” and “reprehensible.” This homophobic belief is not just bigoted, it is factually incorrect. Homosexuality is present in many species, demonstrating that homosexuality is not just for social or religious deviants in the human species, but a natural part of life for many species within the animal kingdom. Hundreds of animals display homosexual tendencies, whether in the forms of one-night stands, full-fledged relationships, or polyamorous encounters. LIONS
Contrary to popular belief, lions may truly be the queen of the jungle. According to Bruce Bagemihl’s book titled Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity, lions bond and show their commitment to one another by having sex with one another, specifically by mounting and thrusting. In addition to sexual intercourse, lions also prove their loyalty by rubbing their heads together, as well as rolling around with one another as a form of playing. This play-wrestling often takes place before the two male lions have sex. PRIMATES
As primates are the closest species to humans, their sexual and intimate relationships often resemble human interaction. In Bagamihl’s book, he describes how primates such as squirrel monkeys and chimpanzees “engage in full mouth-to-mouth contact, while male bonobos are known to kiss each other with passionate open-mouthed kisses with considerable mutual tongue stimulation”. Bonobos also engage in similar pleasurable activities, with their being considerable queer activities between bonobos. Most bonobos are bisexual, and most of these
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bisexual bonobos are female. Bonobos are known to practice oral sex, and male bonobos interact by “penis fencing”, which involves males hanging from trees while bumping their erect penises against one another. Bagamihl also examines the macaque, a species of monkey which is usually monogamous, meaning that they have one sexual partner at a time. However, according to Beagemihl, “macaques have several of these relationships during breeding season”; in face, male macaques are known to leave their partner soon after mating, demonstrating what might be called a one-night stand in the human species. Female macaques are known to make loud moaning and laughing sounds when they are receiving pleasure, and when having sex with another female, one will penetrate the other female’s vulva with her erect clitoris. Similarly, male macaques practice full penetration in anal intercourse much in the same way that humans do. DOLPHINS
Marine animals engage in homosexual sex with the same frequency as they engage in heterosexual sex, says the LiveScience staff, which wrote the article “Gay Animals: Alternate Lifestyles in the Wild”. Bottlenose dolphins are a great example of this, as they are usually bisexual, and many go through periods of homosexuality in both their sexual and intimate relationships. Dolphins will engage in oral sex, meaning that one dolphin will pleasure the other with its snout, and male dolphins are known to rub their erect penises against one another. WALRUSES
Walruses are also frequently bisexual; in fact, according to LiveScience, many walruses have heterosexual sex purely for breeding purposes, but
then have purely homosexual sex for the remainder of the year. Male walruses will rub their bodies against one another as well as embrace and sleep together in the water. Even animals can appreciate a good spooning session! BIRDS
Baghemil discusses same-sex partnerships in his book as well, discussing the partnerships of different bird species such as gulls and geese. A common partnership within the gull species is a female-female partnership, and in these types of relationships, one or both female gull will fertilize their eggs with a male gull. Neither female gull creates a long-term relationship with the male gull, thus treating that male gull as strictly a sperm donor. Once the eggs hatch, these two female gulls will raise their babies together without any male parent. Furthermore, a female gull may raise her young without any partner at all, or conversely, a female will lay eggs in a male same-sex couple’s nest so that they can raise their own young together. This is so prominent within the gull species that some researchers claim that same-sex couples are better at raising young than heterosexual couples. Perhaps homophobic politicians should be advised to watch a little more Animal Planet. Queerness is not limited to strictly humans, and the many same-sex-loving animals within the wild prove that. Whether in terms of sex or intimate relationships, animal species are often just as homoerotic as we are, and the numerous studies of lions, birds, marine animals, and primates demonstrate that. While conservative politicians may never have enough evidence to give up their bigoted ideologies, at least the animal kingdom conveys that there is nothing unnatural or morally deviant about so-called “alternative” sexualities or lifestyles.
Ask Dr. O ? There’s a guy that I’m really interested in, but I don’t want to have sex on the first date. How do I say this to him without sounding like a prude or having him look down on me? — Slow Down There is definitely a stereotype that queer people (especially queer men) get intimate very quickly, so I can understand why you might be perceived as a “prude” if you keep your clothes on. However, it is completely acceptable that you want to get to know someone without knowing his penis size right away. My best advice for being clear with your intentions is to communicate in an honest but friendly way, showing that you like him and want to get to know him better, but also that you are firm in your convictions and want to wait to become sexual until you ready for it. A good way to open this conversation might be to bring it up at a time before he is expecting to get laid, such as while you two are driving back from a date or even in the midst of conversation, if the time feels right. A good opening line might be “I love having sex, but I really prefer to do it with someone who I know a bit better than one date. I hope that doesn’t put you off — I’m totally into you — I just want to make sure we’re both comfortable before we get intimate.” Then, see how he responds! If he is respectful and considerate, then it sounds like you might have a keeper.
I am out to some members of my family but don’t see some other family members as often—should I still come out to them? — One Foot In, One Foot Out Coming out is such a complex process — even though we may directly come out to close friends and family, most of us don’t have one-on-one conversations with everyone we know. So in your case, even though you’ve come out to your closest family members, you understandably haven’t had the chance to come out to the ones you aren’t
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around as much, a common problem for members of the queer community. I don’t think it’s realistic to tell you to pick up the phone and proclaim your queerness to extended family you haven’t had a conversation with in years. If you are eager for everyone in your family to know, I would recommend asking family members who are closer to these extended family members that your queerness is okay to bring up casually in conversation. However, if this would not work in your family, either because they are less accepting of queer identities in general or because your parents or siblings aren’t as willing to bring up your identity for you, then you might want to try a more straightforward approach. You could bring a significant other to a family function, and quite simply introduce them as your boyfriend/girlfriend/ partner/etc. If you are confident and direct in your approach, most people will be respectful in return. This is a process that takes time, of course, and if certain settings or people don’t feel right for coming out, that is okay too. You are not obligated to come out to anyone, and your willingness to share your life with your family is admirable. I hope your family is able to see your openness as the loving gesture that it is!
I’m a lesbian and still a virgin. I don’t want my first time to be awkward…what should I do? — Inexqueerienced The truth is, having sex with someone for the first time is a little awkward — and that’s OK. Awkwardness is shamed for the same reason that being a ‘prude’ is — our society’s label of sexual behaviors like asking questions, going slow, and checking in frequently as awkward serves only to reinforce the stigma that inexperienced people are inferior and ridicule the crucial process of obtaining consent! If you are concerned that your inexperience will make your partner judge you, maybe your partner should check themselves and realize that honesty about your sexual experience
is a sign of maturity and responsibility. Plus, figuring out how to have sex as a couple can be a validating and fun bonding experience. However, if you are concerned that your inexperience will limit the pleasure or meaning you gain from your first time, I would recommend asking queer female friends you feel comfortable with about their sexual experiences. This will give you an outlet to ask questions, get another person’s opinion, and calm any nerves before the big day arrives. The most important piece of advice I can give you is to do what feels right. If you want to go down on her and she says she’s down, go for it! If you want to lay back and put your arms above your head, do it! The more you relax and do what feels natural in the moment, the more comfortable you will be, and the more positive the experience will be for both you and your partner. And the most important rule of becoming a master of sexy times is to practice, practice, practice—practice expressing your needs, practice saying yes or no, and practice knowing what you like both with your partner and by yourself!
I’m a gay male and my boyfriend cheated on me with a girl! What do I do? He says it’s not a big deal because it’s just a girl, but I’m not sure how to feel. — Conflicted These situations can be tough. People love to play the “it doesn’t count if it was a girl!” card, and while for some couples this may feel right, for others, this can feel like a violation of trust. If you are hurt by your boyfriend’s actions, then that is a valid response and you deserve to be listened to and respected. However, it looks like this situation arose due to a lack of communication before the actual hookup occurred, and in order to avoid a similarly heartbreaking experience in the future, I would recommend having a serious heart-to-heart with your BF. Discuss what each of you defines as fidelity so that you’re on the same page if something like this happens again.
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Hollister
q u iz
/
Your Perfect Summer Job SAM WANG, Staff Writer | thesamwang@gmail.com
1
On a typical summer day, where would we find you? a. Lounging by the pool or the beach. b. At the club doing a little bump and grind.
2
a. Boardshor ts/bikini. I’ll be in the water a lot. b. Skin. Lots of it.
c . Wherever the booze is.
c. Something sleek, sexy, and classy.
d. Cur led up on my sofa with a book or Netflix.
d. Sweatpants and an oversized T-shir t. Comfor t first.
5
Where is your “spot” at UCLA? a. Sunset Rec b. The Wooden Center
3
4
What’s your signature look for this summer?
What do you want to be when you grow up? a. Doctor b. Movie star
c . The par ties!
c. Talk show host
d. Powell
d. Teacher
What’s your go-to pick-up line? a. “Don’t be afraid to drown in my eyes. I’m cer tified in mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.”
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What does an ideal first date look like for you? a. Hopefully they don’t mind if I don’t talk much. I’m much better at listening.
b. I don’t need pick-up lines. My body does all the talking.
b. Less talking, more grinding.
c. “Can I buy you a drink?”
c. Good food, good drink, great conversation.
d. “I wish I were your derivative, so I could lie tangent to
d. Something cute and simple. I can’t be bothered with
your cur ves.”
elaborate plans.
If you chose mostly
, you should be a:
A
B
C
D
LIFEGUARD
GO-GO DANCER
BARTENDER
TUTOR
You’ve probably been looking forward to summer break since school star ted. You want to be where the sun and the water are. Your obser vant nature and desire to help others make you the perfect candidate for a lifeguarding job. And plus, you’re basically being paid to work on your tan. Who could turn that down?
You are the queen of the dance floor. Confidence and sex appeal are your strong suits. You pride yourself in your looks, and you’re not afraid to show it. After all, it takes hard work to get a body like that! You keep shakin’ that thang, girl.
You know your alcohol, because you drink so much of it. Summer is time for letting loose and having fun. Also, you have no problem striking up small talk with complete strangers. Your superb social skills have gotten you far in life. Why not make some money for being the social butterfly and borderline alcoholic you already are?
You might be a bit of an introver t, but you are a cer tified brainiac. You’re the person who always sets the cur ve for the midterm, but no one recognizes. Oh well, you’re going to be a doctor/lawyer/CEO someday, so who cares? In the meantime, why not make some money helping high school kids ace the SATs? After all, you got a near-perfect score!
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SPRING
c lo c kwi se
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Alyx Yankaskas, Lucy Williams, anonymous, Elena Guevara, Sarah Yarkin, Elizabeth Ahn
STYLE
ARTHUR PHAM Staff Photographer | ar thurpham@sbcglobal.net
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You're Queer? Live Here! WILL HERDER, Staff Writer | willartherd@gmail.com
With lower rent and ample parking, the San Fernando Valley is home to many gay accountants and thrifty lesbians. Soaring temperatures in the summer mean you can lounge by the pool and soak up the smog year round. Some have even dubbed the Valley a “post-industrial Palm Springs.” Queer gathering places are rare (sodomy still being illegal in par ts of Reseda) but the Oxwood Inn in Van Nuys has been serving lesbians for years and the Roman Holiday spa on Victory Blvd. offers 24/7 relief. The Valley may lack the panache of the other side of the hill, but this area is not just homely. The Valley is homey, the perfect place to raise your adopted Chinese children into slack-jawed mallrats.
North Valley South Valley
Pasadena
The Valley
Silverlake
Topanga
West Hollywood Santa Monica
Los Angeles
Many houseboy oppor tunities available, because you’d do any thing to live by the beach.
N
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Finally you can live in a place where people actually notice that you and your chihuahua have matching nail polish. The seedy bath houses have closed and steamy Bikram yoga studios have opened in this per fect neighborhood for a New Age acoly tle looking to align the chakras or get tantric in the club. WeHo boasts the highest per capita percentage of alkaline water dispensaries and there’s a policeman on every corner, along with a cowboy and construction worker. When you’re not going ham at one of WeHo’s salacious nightclubs, you can sit outside starbucks with your shir t off. Westside adjacent, so the beach is always a recumbent bicycle ride away and Eastside adjacent so you can buy meth. The boys come out to play in this queer paradise.
Silverlake isn’t up and coming, it’s up and come! And you'll be too when you see this charming heaven in the hills. Live out the queer American dream by restoring a Craftsman house with your par tner, complete with breakfast nook and love swing in the living room. Put on your chaps and leave the cologne at home, because Silverlake offers an impressive array of leather bars and ar tisanal dildo shops. If rough trade isn’t your thing, you’ll still love this thriving ar ts community with its experimental residents.
Orange County, excluding the fabulous Laguna Beach, is the per fect place for the closeted and self-loathing queer. With its monotonous strip malls, bland dining, and conser vative over tones the OC offers just the repressive environment needed to keep those sinful feelings deep down within oneself, and the four-hour commute gives you time to listen to all those audiobooks! No need to use your “girly” design sense here, because everyone’s house looks the same. Move to the OC and experience the deprivation your life has been missing.
Yorba Linda
Anaheim
Huntington Beach
Orange County