QSaltLake Magazine | Issue 345 | March, 2023

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The top national and world news since last issue you should know

BY CRAIG OGAN

States move against drag shows for kids

Bills in at least 11 states are working their way through legislatures looking to restrict drag show performances in the presence of children. Proponents of the legislation say performances expose children to sexual themes and imagery that are inappropriate. Bill opponents say proposed measures are discriminatory against the LGBTQ community and could violate First Amendment laws. No restrictions have become law yet. Tennessee and Arizona would limit “adult cabaret performances” on public property. Texas restrictions would affect restaurants and bars that host drag performances under the state’s definition of a “sexually oriented business.” West Virginia targets parents or guardians who permit their children to attend a drag performance. They could be “required to complete parenting classes, substance abuse counseling, anger management counseling, or other appropriate services.”

Netflix cancels gay show, renews insipid straight show

The Netflix gay comedy “Uncoupled”, starring Neil Patrick Harris, has been canceled after one season. The comedy, created by “Sex and the City” creators, Darren Star and

Jeffrey Richman, premiered in 2022. Harris played a New York gay man whose life is upset when his partner of almost 20 years decides to leave him. The show had strong reviews but weak viewership. Star’s other Netflix offering, “Emily in Paris,” a really insipid, straight romantic comedy, has been renewed.

Portia and Ellen renew

Portia de Rossi celebrated her 50th birthday by surprising Ellen DeGeneres, her wife of more than 14 years, with a renewal of their vows. The surprise must have been convincing as Ellen was dressed as if she had been working in the garden. The humble, surprise ceremony guest list included Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Meghan Markle, and Prince Harry. With that guest list, how the party was a surprise is a surprise. De Rossi wore the same Zac Posen gown she wore to her 2008 wedding. Brandi Carlisle performed the Roberta Flack hit, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” The wedding was officiated by Kris Jenner. No mention of any other of the ubiquitous Kardashian social media hogs.

Aussie men prefer straight acting males

A study out of the University of Sydney (Australia), showed that both heterosexual and gay men discriminate against men with feminine characteristics. The survey methodology: 256 gay and straight men were invited to watch casting videos and identify an actor who would be viewed as a “leader” and someone to be “admired” by the audience. The University’s School of Psychology found gay and straight men prefer masculine to feminine men

Christian churches have a gay agenda

Three mainstream Christian churches — Roman Catholic, Church of England, and Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) — issued a joint statement that, though they consider it a sin, homosexuality is not a crime. The leaders of the three churches, each in fabulous frocks, were in South Sudan assisting a peace process. They decried the criminalization of homosexuality prevalent in Africa, Islam Dominated Countries, Asia, and some Orthodox Christian countries in Eastern Europe, like Russia. Roman Catholic Pope Francis had made the same unofficial announcement a month ago, telling the media, “God loves everyone,” and told Catholic bishops to be welcoming to all people. The Church of England announced that same-sex marriages will not be celebrated in their Churches. In the same statement, the Church leaders apologized for the past treatment of gays and lesbians.

for a high-status role. The report concluded, “Gay men are potentially blocking each other from positions of power and leadership due to this implicit bias.”

Mayor Pete says “No” to senate seat

Michigan’s Sen. Debbie Stabenow announced her retirement in January. Last year former South Bend, Indiana mayor and current U. S. Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, bought property in Michigan to be closer to his husband’s, Chasten, family. Mayor Pete was asked if he would be a candidate. The well-spoken and usually loquacious Buttigieg said, “No.”

The boyish and media-savvy politician has become one of the most prominent spokespersons for the current administration and was a candidate for president in 2020. He has a high enough profile and is so winsome that he leads the preference polls in the New Hampshire presidential primary election,

even against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. He made a non-denial denial about running for president in 2024, “I don’t have any plans to do any job besides the one I’ve got. It’s taking 110 percent of my attention and energy.”

RIP: ‘Joy of Gay Sex’ author

Dr. Charles Silverstein, 87, the gay man and psychiatrist who convinced the American Psychiatric Association to remove homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 1973, has died. Silverstein was also a co-author of the “The Joy of Gay Sex,” a landmark publication akin to the “Boy Scout Manual” for many gay men in the 1970s and 80s.

Grammy awards

Lost in the tumult of the 2023 Grammy telecast, which included the first transgender woman to ever open the show, there was a notable, counter-intuitive, award. Overshadowed by Beyonce winning everything but the big awards and a Muppet-like appearance by Madonna, Dave Chappell won for his Netflix special, “Closer.” The woke members of the Grammy committee must have forgotten the controversy surrounding the release of the GLAAD-condemned movie. It caused a Twitter firestorm, decrying “phobia” for transgender people. Netflix transgender and allied employees walked out in protest and were invited to quit by Netflix management. Chappell’s comedy was blamed for a subsequent assault on him during a show at the Holly-

wood Bowl. He won a Grammy anyway, and there was some Twitter blowback, like, “The same industry that’s patting itself on the back tonight for making Kim Petras the first trans woman to win pop duo/group performance at the #Grammys also gave Dave Chappelle another Grammy for his transphobic special ‘The Closer,’ so it’s nice to see hypocrisy is alive & well.” This is Chapelle’s fifth Grammy.

Three states ape

“Don’t Say Gay”

Florida legislation, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay law,” that bans classroom instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity in K–6 grades is being copied by three other states, each with something different. Missouri’s bill would only allow licensed mental health care providers to talk

to students about gender identity and LGBTQ issues in K–12 public schools, and only with guardians’ permission. The North Carolina State Senate approved legislation prohibiting instruction about sexuality and gender identity in K–4 public school classes. The law would also require schools to alert parents prior to a change in the name or pronoun used for their child. Kansas legislators are focusing on helping parents remove their children from public schools over what is taught about gender and sexuality

India and marriage equality

In 2008, two men from India met and fell in love at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. Homosexuality was not accepted in their native and deeply conservative India.

Returning to India, they kept their relationship private, waiting for laws and attitudes to change. After 15 years as a couple, they have joined three other gay couples to petition the Indian Supreme Court for marriage equality. Legal rights for LGBTQ people in India have been expanding over the past decade, with most changes coming through Supreme Court intervention. A 2014 court ruling recognized non-binary or transgender persons as a “third gender.” Another ruling granted privacy rights based on sexual orientation. In 2018, the court struck down a colonial-era law that made gay sex a crime. A court ruling in favor of marriage equality would make India the second Asian country, after Taiwan, to provide marriage equality.

Utah lawmakers rush anti-trans bills through beginning of legislative session

Utah bans healthcaretransgender for youth

Ignoring the warnings of medical organizations, civil rights activists, transgender youth, and their families, Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed into law a measure banning gender-affirming health care for transgender people under the age of 18. Similar laws passed in Arkansas and Alabama are currently enjoined by federal courts.

“This is a devastating and dangerous violation of the rights and privacy of transgender Utahns, their families, and their medical providers,” said Chase Strangio, Deputy Director for Transgender Justice at the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project. “Claims of protecting our most vulnerable with these laws ring hollow when lawmakers have trans children’s greatest protectors – their parents, providers, and the youth themselves – pleading in front of them not to cut them off from their care. I want transgender youth in Utah to know this fight is not over, and we won’t stop defending your autonomy and freedom until each and every one of you can access the care you need.”

Legislature unanimously bans ‘conversion therapy’

The Utah State Legislature unanimously approved a bill that enshrines into law a ban on LGBTQ conversion therapy.

HB 228, sponsored by Rep. Mike Petersen, R-Logan, was accused by LGBTQ rights groups as seeking seeking to legalize the discredited practice of trying to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Through negotiations, he agreed to enshrine a ban on conversion therapy while offering some guidelines for therapists

“This is politics at its very best. When stakeholders from all sides can come together, listen to each other, learn from each other and discover common ground,” Equality Utah Executive Director Troy Williams said.

‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill introduced in Utah Legislature

Seven days before the end of the Legislative session, a bill similar to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law was introduced by Rep. Jeffrey D. Stenquist, R-Draper.

The bill bans “classroom instruction or classroom discussion” on “sexuality, including sexual orientation or gender identity” in kindergarten through third grade.

The short bill reads:

“Each LEA and each school shall ensure that classroom instruction or classroom discussion that an educator or other adult leads on sexuality, including sexual orientation or gender identity, as those terms are defined in Section 34A-5-102, does not occur:

(1) in kindergarten through grade 3; or

(2) in a manner that is not age or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”

Florida’s law reads, “Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”

Since Florida passed the law, teachers have expressed confusion and frustration with the ban, and school libraries have been swept of all books for fear of being sued for discrimination be only removing LGBTQ-related books.

U.S. President Joe Biden called Forida’s law “hateful.”

“I want every member of the LGBTQI+ community — especially the kids who will be impacted by this hateful bill — to know that you are loved and accepted just as you are. I have your back, and my Administration will continue to fight for the protections and safety you deserve,” Biden said in a tweet.

Similar bills have been introduced to state legislatures across the country.

Stenquist rejected the characterization of his bill as a “don’t say gay” bill.

“What it really is, is about just saying, let’s have age-appropriate discussions in the classroom. These discussions are sensitive, and really, parents need to be aware and understand what’s being discussed around these topics with their

Rep. Jeffrey D. Stenquist, R-Draper

children,” Stenquist told the Deseret News, saying he drafted the bill for a constituent who complained their child’s teacher “was introducing a few topics of discussion in the classroom that she felt were a little inappropriate.”

“So I looked into it to see, ‘What do we have as far as guidelines for teachers and schools that can put some parameters around that?’ and really found that we don’t have anything around classroom discussions and instruction,” Stenquist told the Deseret News. “And so I was happy to open the bill and say, ‘Let’s have this conversation about what might be appropriate.’”

Though the wording is nearly word-for-word as the Florida law, Stenquist says he wasn’t trying to model it after it.

“Equality Utah is very dismayed to see a ‘Don’t Say

Gay’ bill introduced in Utah, especially when the Utah Legislature enacted legislation repealing similar language from Utah code in 2017,” Equality Utah said in a statement. “This bill is damaging and stigmatizing to LGBTQ children and their families, and we will oppose it vigorously.”

Equality Utah leaders also said this is a bill that is going down the same path as other bills that the legislature has shied from.

Monday, Feb. 27, is the last day a bill can be first heard by a legislative committee, meaning the bill is unlikely to make it to the floor of either chamber unless it is pushed through by leadership or considered under suspension of the rules. Similar controversial bills have done so successfully in other legislative years.

The legislative session will end March 3. Q

QSaltLake Lagoon Day set for Aug. 13

One day each summer, Utah’s queer community floods Lagoon theme park with red. Members of the LGBTQ+ community and their supporters will take over the park for the QSaltLake Day at Lagoon this year on Sunday, Aug. 13.

The event attracts hundreds of people each year, possibly as many as 2,000. Supporters are encouraged to wear red shirts and stop by the QSaltLake pavilion — the Honey Locust Pavilion— for a group photo at 4 p.m. and to mingle with other queers and allies. The pavilion is open the entire day and is a popular place to have lunch, take a break, and mingle with the Matrons

of Mayhem. The event is also sponsored by Club Try-Angles, which will open at 6 p.m. that day so employees can join in the festivities.

QSaltLake Lagoon Day is open to all participants, and there will also be many people who are not aware of the day, but the overall atmosphere is very open and accepting.

This year, Lagoon is scheduled to open its next in-house coaster creation after seven years of construction. It has already been named one of the 10 most anticipated new theme park rides for 2023 by coaster enthusiasts. Q A discount code for online tickets will be available at the end of July

Utah Pride 2023 will be ‘Unapologetic’

Utah Pride Center announced the theme and dates of the Utah Pride Festival for 2023. Leaders went to the community to vote for the theme earlier this year, and the community chose “Unapologetic” for this year’s event.

Britt Martinez, adult programs manager for Utah Pride Center, offered up this theme.

“Unapologetic to me means living in authenticity regardless of how the world views us. We are what we are and we’re not taking no for an answer,” Martinez said in a statement.

“This year, that’s exactly the message our community chose to represent our celebrations in June: being Unapologetic is coming out to celebrate our identities together free from fear and imposed standards, free to express our wholeness and beauty,” event leaders stated.

The event will take place June 1 through 4 at Washington Square in downtown Salt Lake City.

On June 1, there will be an event titled “Utah Pride Live!”

On June 2, the March & Rally will take place, plus an opening concert.

Saturday, June 3, brings Youth

Pride, a Pride Drag Brunch, and the first day of the Utah Pride Festival.

On Sunday, June 4, the annual Utah Pride Parade and Utah Pride Festival will take place.

COMMITTEE

This year’s organizing committee will be Jonathan Foulk, co-CEO of development and operations; Rosa Bandeirinha, communications director; Ted Nicholls, operations director; Zeb Williams, special events manager; and Chad Call, parade director.

The committee is taking applications

for additional committee members and organizers. Committee meetings are about 2 hours per week through March, with two extra hours in April and May. In June, it will be all hands on deck.

VENDORS & FOOD TRUCKS

Those who wish to have a booth at the festival can apply now. Applications close on April 29th and will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis. Acceptance status notifications will be sent weekly. Applications received after April 29th may be placed on a waitlist and will be subject to a non-refund-

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able late application fee.

Vendor fees have increased this year. A 10×10 booth will cost $1,500 for applications received by April 29 and $2,000 for late applications. Nonprofits, schools, churches, and governmental agency fees are $750 and $1,000. Food vendors pay 15 percent of sales after taxes and tips, plus participation in providing meals for volunteers.

Some artists reached out to local media about the increase in this year’s booth fees. Last year, the Festival offered a small group of artists and small businesses a shared space, resulting in a $400 fee. Organizers said that artists or businesses who want to combine on their own this year can make an application to do so.

“We share everyone’s frustrations about the cost increases,” Bandeirinha told the Salt Lake Tribune, adding that the nonprofit’s operation costs have “gone up exponentially.”

“We want to invite these small businesses and small individuals to actually see where your money is going,”

Foulk told Fox 13 News. “It’s not just to put on this festival, it’s actually to provide life-saving programs and services, and that’s why we’re here.”

Financial assistance can be applied for at vendors@ utahpridecenter.org

PARADE APPLICATIONS

Parade applications open March 1 and close April 29. Applications will eventually be live here.

SPONSORS

There are three types of sponsorships available for this year’s Pride — Community (businesses with under $5 million in annual revenue), Local (businesses and organizations with annual revenue between $5 million and $100 million), and Corporate (over $100 million in annual revenue).

A brochure for sponsors is available here

VOLUNTEERS

Hundreds of volunteers are needed to help run the festival, plus to help run peer-to-peer programs at the Center. Applications will open soon here Applications for performers, sponsors, vendors, and volunteers are at the new utahpride.org website.

GREEN

Making customers happy since 1984!

views quotes

“I am 72 with an abiding love for books, current events and history. It’s frightening to see American citizens banning books, eliminating basic U.S. history lessons from curriculum, openly calling for civil war and authorizing discrimination against LGBT citizens. It’s unAmerican.”

—Tom Wharton, Salt Lake Tribune

“Legislators cannot erase us and we will remain visible!”

@realtalkwjosieon Twitter in a photo wrapped in a pride flag at the Utah State Capitol Building

“It makes me so upset that people in the LGBT community are the most Christ-like people I know, but aren’t welcome, and that the people that are hateful and exclusionary are welcomed into the temple and asked to hold important callings.”

—Dustin Liechty

“But if [Utah Legislators] talked about teen suicide, they’d have to admit that their behavior towards LGBT+ youth is contributing to the suicide epidemic and they don’t want to face that kind of accountability.”

@Fibby1123

through or why they feel the way they do. But I want them to live. And all the research shows that even a little acceptance and connection can reduce suicidality significantly.”

BY COLLEEN M. KUHN, PHD

All

parties

want competent care for transgender and gender-diverse youth, but what constitutes competent care has become a source of unnecessary division.

SB16, passed by the Utah Legislature and signed by Gov. Spencer Cox, purports to protect our TGD youth by banning gender-affirming medical care. As a child and adolescent psychologist who specializes in working with TGD youth, I can unequivocally say that this ban will increase depression and suicidal ideation in TGD youth.

Improperly, this law puts non-expert, non-medical entities in charge of recommending best practices rather than following guidelines from all major medical and psychological associations. These guidelines, grounded in evidence-based research, should continue to lead practitioners in providing competent, affirming, and ethical care.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, Endocrine Society, American Medical Association, American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, Pediatric Endocrine Society, American Counseling Association, American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, World Professional Association for Transgender Health, and U.S. Professional Association for Transgender Health, to name a few, provide clinical guidelines of best practices and standards of care when working with TGD youth. Time will be wasted and lives harmed while non-medical entities pause to rewrite the existing rigorously researched, widely accepted standards of care. This redundant certification process is unnecessary and harmful.

Legislators have stated, “the scientific evidence supporting these procedures are weak or very weak.” This is incorrect, there is a robust body of evidence supporting the safety and efficacy of this care.

Providers engage in a meticulous process for assessing TGD youth that is driven by a comprehensive treatment team approach. This systemic process is lengthy, thorough and ensures the youth are seen in all settings in which they are an active participant. Owing to this involved

and comprehensive assessment process, we see a minimal rate of regret (at or less than 1 percent) for transgender patients who had gender-affirming surgery.

In 2022, research found that access to hormone blockers in adolescence was associated with lower past-year suicidal ideation compared to receiving hormone blockers in adulthood. Moreover, research showed that in over 9,000 transgender and nonbinary youth, depression and suicide attempts decreased by almost 40 percent when receiving puberty blockers. Furthermore, lifetime suicidal ideation was less in adults who received puberty blockers in adolescence compared to those who desired but did not receive blockers.

Positive affect and life satisfaction combined with decreases in symptoms of anxiety and depression were the result of a twoyear study on psychosocial functioning. The most significant improvement in youth’s psychosocial functioning over a 12- and 18-month period occurred when they had social support and were also receiving puberty blockers. Access to puberty suppression is categorically a life-saving treatment.

SB16’s definition of competent care fails to take into consideration the lived experiences of our TGD youth and their parents and disregards science. Our legislators are conflating fear with facts in their best efforts to protect our TGD youth. They fail to recognize that healthcare practitioners indubitably base decisions on well-researched standards of care.

Of 22,800 TGNB youth surveyed last year, 93 percent of them worried about state and local laws restricting access to necessary affirming medical care. 53 percent reported seriously considering attempting suicide in the past year, compared to 33 percent of cisgender youth. Furthermore, 19 percent of TGNB youth attempted suicide in the past year compared to 9 percent of cisgender youth.

In the state of Utah in 2020, suicide was the leading cause of death for ages 10–24. Speaking about his decision to veto the transgender sports ban Gov. Cox stated, “I don’t understand what they are going

Everyone agrees that decreasing suicidal ideation is the priority for our youngest and most vulnerable TGD Utahns. Denying life-saving medication unquestionably increases the risk of more TGD youth dying by suicide. Why has Cox’s position changed, when hormone blockers have been used for decades for precocious puberty?

When transgender youth receive the care and support they need they can thrive and are happy and healthy. They have a strong foundation for lifelong health and well-being.

Speaking to Utah lawmakers, Brie Martin identified herself as a “proud transwoman” and stated, “Let me make clear that the medical interventions I am receiving are nothing short of life-saving … I am your example of three years of hormones doing good, I am not a victim, I am not a passing fad, I am not an exception to a rule… I deserve a body to feel proud of!”

How do we unite instead of divide at the intersection of medicine and politics? By recognizing that there are more similarities in the views of doctors and politicians than differences. A path forward includes ongoing comprehensive research. It does not include withholding medical treatments that are well-researched. That is not ethical. Operating on the basis of fact and not fear dictates providing gender-affirming treatment to youth on a case-by-case basis, decided by a treatment team of expert healthcare providers specializing in gender-affirming care. Delays and barriers to access to medically necessary treatments result in preventable procedures in the future.

Our legislative body has the means to directly and positively affect the mental health of our most vulnerable youth. It is unethical and immoral for them to adopt laws that disregard evidenced-based research and deny gender-affirming medical care to this already marginalized population. Not providing gender-affirming care for TGD youth is harmful, damaging, and negligent at best, and opens the door to depression, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and suicide completions at worst. Are we truly protecting transgender youth by banning lifesaving medically necessary care? Q

Colleen M. Kuhn, Ph.D., is a Salt Lake City-based clinical child and adolescent psychologist and the owner and CEO of One Haven, PLLC.

Utah legislators don’t understand transgender treatments for youth are lifesavers

Dissident Homeschool

BY D’ANNE WITKOWSKI

It’s4:00 in the morning and I have to admit, I would much rather be sleeping than writing this column. But sometimes sleep is elusive. Too often, for me, which is not great.

Also not great? The word “great.” Conservatives have made great into a four-letter word. Most noticeably in disgraced former president Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan, though MAGA wasn’t new to Trump. President Ronald Reagan also used this phrase. At the 1980 Republican convention, Reagan called for “a great national crusade to make America great again.”

Spoiler alert: Reagan didn’t make America great, he made it worse. And the intertwining of white Christian conservatism and politics really took a firm hold under Reagan.

Right now the conservatives’ hate de jour is transgender people, a culture war battle Republicans are more than willing to fight. Of course, the fact that transgender people are largely without political power in this country and are a relatively tiny group when compared to the U.S. population as a whole makes them attractive targets.

I read somewhere that Republicans are at war with pronouns, which at first I found humorous because it’s wild to say something like, “We will not use their woke pronouns!” Because there are literally two pronouns in that sentence. But in truth, it’s not funny, it’s very sad. Because when we’re talking about the fight against pronouns, we’re actually talking about the fight against people.

Thankfully, there are at least two places where children won’t be subjected to “woke” education. One of those places is Florida. The other is Dissident Homeschool, a network of parents standing

firm against “woke”

indoctrination by homeschooling their children to … become Nazis?

Yep. The Dissident Homeschool movement uses “Nazi-approved material” to make sure that their kids become “wonderful Nazis.”

According to the Huffington Post, Dissident Homeschool teaches that Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee is a “grand role model for young, white men,” and Martin Luther King Jr. is “the antithesis of our civilization and our people.”

I’d like to think that there was a time in my life when the news of a Nazi homeschool movement would shock me. But that time certainly isn’t now.

And if you’re thinking, “Is this even legal?” The answer is, probably.

“A concerted, decades-long campaign by right-wing Christian groups to deregulate home schooling has afforded parents wide latitude in how they teach their kids — even if that means indoctrinating them with explicit fascism,” according to the Huffington Post.

And do you know when homeschooling surged? After the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision, which banned segregation.

The Post continues, “Meanwhile major right-wing figures are increasingly promoting homeschooling as a way to save children from alleged ‘wokeness’ — or liberal ideas about race and gender — in public and private schools.”

Now, many parents who experienced the “joy” of homeschooling when many schools were closed due to Covid (a virus for which there was no vaccine at the time and people were dying left and right. Something important to

remember when you hear a conservative claim that kids were out of school for no reason). And this made a lot of people big fans of public schools and gave teachers a bump in respect (it was short-lived, alas). But homeschooling is truly the dream if you don’t want your child exposed to Black history or know that LGBTQ+ people exist.

“Without homeschooling our children,” one of the founders of Dissident wrote, “our children are left defenseless to the schools and the Gay Afro Zionist scum that run them.”

Hoo boy. But as the Huffington Post points out, “As extreme as the Dissident Homeschool channel is, the propaganda it shares targeting the American education system is just a more explicit and crass articulation of talking points made by Fox News hosts or by major figures in the Republican Party.”

Both sad and true! We live in a time when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis basically banned books in classrooms across the state in order to keep books about racial justice and LGBTQ+ people away from students so as to not “indoctrinate” them. When extreme right-wing candidates are running for school boards across the country. When teachers are being called “groomers” as if advocating for, or even just not hating, LGBTQ+ students is tantamount to child abuse.

Dissident Homeschool might not be a huge movement, but it is a dangerous one. It’s also an example of what indoctrination actually looks like. Q

D’Anne Witkowski is a writer living in Michigan with her wife and son. She has been writing about LGBTQ+ politics for nearly two decades. Follow her on Twitter @MamaDWitkowski.

who’s your daddy

Trans kids matter

BY CHRISTOPHER KATIS

Everycouple of weeks or so, I undertake the arduous task of dusting my home office. Yeah, I should do it more frequently, but it’s a pain. Mostly because the bookshelves are covered with tchotchkes. A lot of these knickknacks are souvenirs from past vacations — the miniature St. Basil’s Cathedral we brought back from Moscow in 1989, or the incredibly delicate Barro Negro pottery that amazingly has survived for 25 years since we were in Oaxaca.

They also house my diplomas and a couple of awards I’ve been privileged to have received, including my first QSaltLake FABBY Award. And nestled among the other items on a shelf is the award of which I am the most proud. It’s a six-inch plastic gold man on a small pedestal reminiscent of the Oscar statue with a homemade label reading “Worlds Greatest Daddy” — complete with the incorrect punctuation — proudly presented to me by my sons when they were very young.

Now, most days, I personally don’t think I would even be nominated in any great parent category. But I have spent the past nearly 20 years of my life trying to do what is best for my boys.

That’s why I am so angry that the Utah Legislature passed, and Governor Cox signed into law, legislation banning gender-affirming care for minors. Because parents of trans kids across the state are doing exactly what Kelly and I have always tried to do — what’s best for their kids.

This law enrages me for two reasons. First, it puts trans kids’ lives in danger. Secondly, it inserts government into private medical decisions.

According to The Trevor Project’s 2022 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health, more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth 13–24 have seriously considered suicide. More than half! However, those LGBTQ youth who experience “high social support from their

family” attempt suicide at less than half the rate of those who do not enjoy that support. And guess what? Less than one in three transgender and nonbinary kids find their homes to be gender-affirming. The kicker? Those youth that say they live in a community that is accepting of LGBTQ people also have “significantly lower rates of suicide attempts than those who live in communities that these kids view as hostile to them.” How do these kids view the Beehive State now? Then there’s the blatant hypocrisy of the legislators and the governor. These are the same people who pride themselves on defending Utah families, in fighting for parents’ rights to be free from governmental interference. But when it comes to parents and a child’s doctor determining the best medical care for trans kids, suddenly neither father nor mother knows best.

In a statement about his decision to make this terrible legislation the law of the land, Gov. Cox wrote, “While we understand our words will be of little comfort to those who disagree with us, we sincerely hope that we can treat our transgender families with more love and respect as we work to better understand the science and consequences behind these procedures.”

The only problem with that seemingly empathetic comment is that it’s impossible to say you treat families with transgender kids with love and respect when the actions you take prove otherwise. Passing legislation out of fear and ignorance isn’t good governing.

Over the years, I know there were plenty of times that the boys wished they could rescind that World’s Best Daddy award. But I also know they’ve never doubted that as their parent I’ve always done what was best for them. I only wish Utah’s leaders would let the parents of trans kids do the same. Q

Out Utah athletes

Utahhas its share of athletes who have come out as L, G, B, T, Q or plus. Many of them went to BYU and came out after leaving the school. Others were brought into Utah by sports teams. Here, we focus on the stories of five sportsballers and what they are doing today.

and former BYU queer athletes, and has now expanded into queer athletes from many universities and colleges.

She now lives with her partner, Nikki Hiltz, in Flagstaff, Arizona, where she helps run the Pride 5K.

“I got a little closer to becoming the person I needed growing up — someone determined to create a space in running where people can show up as themselves,” she wrote in a blog.

In its three years, the run has grown to 2,000 annual participants and raised over $100,000 for the Trevor Project.

Charlie Siragusa — Beach Volleyball

very thing I feared the most. It has been incredibly empowering to see how good things can come when we simply have the courage to be ourselves,” he wrote.

One of his dreams was to break into the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, which he did, but was defeated in the final round.

Emma Gee Runner

In 2018, track and cross-country runner Emma Gee became the first Division I athlete in Brigham Young University’s then-143-year history to be publicly out when she told her team and administrators she was bisexual. The school’s honor code stated at the time, “one’s stated same-gender attraction is not an issue.” She made national news.

She knew of other LGBTQ athletes at BYU who stayed in the closet to avoid negative attention or, possibly, expulsion. She wondered, though, who student-athletes, especially, could look to as a role model.

“Everyone deserves to look and say someone is like them and feel a sense of normalcy,” she told USA TODAY at the time. “I looked for that, just for one person, for a long time. When I couldn’t find that, I said, ‘Why not me?”

Last year, Gee started the Queer Athlete Podcast, available on Spotify, where she first started interviewing BYU

Rochester, New York beach volleyball player was at Brigham Young University for two years, 2017–19 before transferring to San Diego. While there, he served on BYU’s Student Athlete Diversity and Inclusion Committee, where he says he helped promote “a safe environment for marginalized groups, such as people of color, LGBTQ, and females.”

In 2021, he was named to the 2021 and 2022 U.S. Beach Collegiate National Teams, which consist of 13 of the top male collegiate athletes eligible to train and compete for the USA. He represented Team USA at the World University Championships in Brazil in September, 2022.

He now is a TikTok creator with nearly 100,000 followers and over 3 million likes. He started in October of 2021, wary of putting himself and his sexuality out to the world.

“Surprisingly, it is not even the ‘internet trolls’ that worried me. At the end of the day, those are just strangers,” he wrote in an essay. “What caused me the most anxiety were the real-world consequences of posting on social media. I worried about what the people from my everyday life would think about me being so candid about my sexuality on the internet.”

“I wish I could tell my younger self that one day people would respect me for the

Jack Hessler Snowboarding

When Jack Hessler’s family moved from Boston to Jackson, Wyoming, two things became very real: the ability to snowboard more than he ever had before, and the burgeoning realization that he was gay.

“As I forced myself further and further away from who I really was, snowboarding became my solace. It was my way to quietly express my true identity,” he said in a coming out story for OutSports.

As he got better at snowboarding, he said, he started picking up sponsors, winning contests, and going on film trips with professional teams.

“The deeper I got into the industry, the more snowboarding became my justifi-

cation to stay in the closet. Every time I fell or didn’t execute a trick with style, someone would scream, ‘That was so gay,’” he wrote. “Damn bro, that shit hurts. What’s so bad about being gay?”

After years of ruminating, he said, he decided there wasn’t anything wrong with him, but there was something wrong with the world of snowboarding that he loved. He let his dreams of supporting his life through snowboarding die.

“After I came out and received nothing but support from even my most hardcore snowboarder friends, my life as I knew it changed,”” he wrote. “I could finally have real, deep conversations with people again, I could live without fear and I could understand what I wanted in life.”

He returned to snowboarding and based himself in Salt Lake City to start into a career of filmmaking.

2018, the Utah Royals Football Club drafted Proctor, who was one of the best collegiate goalkeepers in the country, from Duke University. But as the season unfolded, a veteran goalkeeper and the collapse of the Boston Breakers that shuffled players throughout the league, led Proctor to decide to leave.

Proctor had been excited to play in Utah.

“I knew I would be relieved to go anywhere, but when I got picked by Utah, I got really excited to be on the first team for their first season — it’s incredible,” Proctor said at the time. “You always think as a little kid that playing pro is never going to happen, but here it is, and I am so excited. I can’t wait to see what it’s like.”

EJ Proctor Soccer

EJ Proctor had a short run in Utah, but one that came with a lot of hype. In early

While at Duke, Proctor had the chance of winning an NCAA championship in her home state ripped from her hands. In 2016, the NCAA announced pulled sports events out of North Carolina over the state’s anti-LGBTQ law that overturned local laws protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination in the workplace, housing, and public accommodations and banned trans people from using the restroom of their gender identity in schools and government buildings. Proctor said she agreed with the decision to pull the event, saying she was “happy that the NCAA is making a stand.” She actually ended up leaving professional soccer altogether after the Royals and started coaching and personal training.

She is currently a physical therapy doctoral candidate back at Duke University.

HA down-to-Earth law rm that aims for solutions, not ghts. We help you develop the most cost-effective strategy to meet your goals for the case. Our mission is to give a voice to underrepresented people and to empower our clients through a wide variety of legal services.

Jaxon Smith

Lacrosse

Jaxon Smith, a transgender man who competed in BYU’s Women’s Lacrosse team, came

out as transgender before his senior year in 2021 while already in the process of transitioning. He posted a photo with a girl he was dating at the time right after the school removed a section on “homosexual behavior” that had prohibited all forms of same-sex physical intimacy. He was asked to have a meeting with his coach about it. When the coach indicated she needed to speak with administration officials about the situation, he said he made the difficult decision to step down from the team.

“There was a lot of fear and loneliness [before coming out as trangender], and it just puts closeted queer students in a

vacuum,” Smith told Gee on the Queer Athlete Podcast. “When I came out, my teammates were super-awesome. They even asked questions about who I was dating.”

With coaches, however, he said it was more like a don’t ask, don’t tell situation.

Smith is now a product marketing manager in Lehi, Utah, and has volunteered as a Lacrosse coach for 5th- and 6th-grade girls.

BYU still uses Smith’s deadname on their athletic bio site.

West Conference after earning a track scholarship at the Air Force Academy, and then transferred to BYU to continue his sport, graduate in political science, and marry a woman to escape his attraction for men, a part of him he hated because of his LDS upbringing.

He came out of the closet on Thursday, Oct. 7, finally believing he is a good man. He said he has never felt so much peace in his life.

He took a coaching job at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut, a progressive Catholic school that celebrates diversity among LGBTQ students. He says he felt embraced by the community and felt he found a new home.

After a Coming Out Week at the school, he decided to do just that.

How

Wyatt Warnick Javelin

Raised in Delta, Utah, Wyatt Warnick was a star quarterback for his high school’s football team, a star shortstop for the baseball team, a star point guard on the basketball team, and a star track athlete.

“I used sports as a crutch,” he told George Monson of the Salt Lake Tribune. “It gave me a reason not to date girls.”

He became a top javelin thrower in the Mountain

“This is the first time I’ve felt what I’m feeling,” he told Monson. “I don’t have to worry anymore. No more double life for me. I know there are people out there who won’t and don’t support me, but the amount of love and support I’ve had from so many is amazing.”

One of the first responses to a social media announcement, his LDS mission president told him, “I love you.”

“This isn’t a new chapter in my life,” he said. “It’s a whole new book. I’m learning how to grow and love myself, to live and be happy again.” Q

WHY MADONNA STILL MATTERS TO LGBTQ+ PEOPLE

BY MATTHEW RETTENMUND

OnJanuary 17,

Madonna announced her first retrospective hits tour, with the first tickets going on sale a whole three hours later. “Take my money!” gays often say when their divas pull up with fresh product. But nobody is happier to take it than Madonna, our favorite ’80s capitalist turned ’90s kabbalist turned ’20s TikTokateur. For many Madonna fans — we were stans before stans were stans — confirmation of The Celebration Tour represents a long-awaited movement from Madonna toward unapologetically embracing her feel-good musical legacy. It’s a huge change for an artist whose concessions on the dance floor have been many, but whose approach to touring has been to focus on what’s new and to dole out what’s the opposite of new judiciously, even stingily. Sometimes with unexpected bagpipes and guitar riffs. On her Madame X Tour in 2019, she told one audience her manager wanted her to do more hits, saying this as if he’d suggested she take Guy Ritchie back. But while icy in her convictions, Madonna is a sucker for timing, and in the 40th year since the release of her self-titled debut album, a victory lap must have struck her as not just potentially lucrative, but an organically good idea. Is she ready to be a legacy

The livesqueer she has changed

act? The phrase is dismissive, yet their supremacy in arenas means legacy acts are nothing if not relevant, even if they are not driving the culture forward.

While ready to acknowledge her legacy, Madonna is still always in that pop cultural driver’s seat, and no, you can’t take away her license, kids. Her notoriety is evergreen, fueled by her brilliant grasp on how to trigger the world and her disdain for convention. In her tour announcement video — a black-and-white homage to “Truth or Dare” — when participant Eric Andre deems the proceedings “sad and gross,” Madonna cheerfully replies, “Sad and gross is very popular right now.” She couldn’t have come up with a better explanation for how social media works, or a more apt updating of the old adage, “No publicity is bad publicity.”

Unlike with other artists, Madonna singing her back catalog is not selling out. Her songs, with very few exceptions, are not guilty pleasures; they’re classics that defined (and defied) multiple eras and genres.

Madonna’s diehards know what we were doing when she behaved un-“Like a Virgin” on MTV; when she warbled about being great with child on “Papa Don’t Preach,” giving Tipper Gore hysterical morning sickness; when “Like a Prayer” first blessed the radio; when she rapped (it is a rap) all our favorite movie stars on “Vogue”; when she stepped out onto that balcony to command “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina”; when she let loose with that primal scream in “Ray of Light”; when she stalked her catwalk, a Leo in a leotard, to “Hung Up”; and even when she went upside down during “Human Nature” on her Madame X Tour, making it harder to hang your shit on her.

There are examples of divas before Madonna who seemed aware of their LGBTQ+ audience, but Madonna was the first in the trenches with us. Contrary to popular belief, queering her work did not usurp anything. Had she winked at us at arm’s length, as many gay-household-name divas have since, her already incredible career would have been all the more monumental.

PHOTO: ALBERTO TOLOT

She lost countless fans when she began openly inviting speculation about her sexual orientation over 30 years ago, culminating with her book “Sex.” She not only ate with that, she ate ass with that.

Last year, Madonna took part in a silly TikTok video in which she tossed her panties at a wastebasket. The “if I miss, I’m gay” challenge ended with Madonna missing and shrugging — and with everyone missing the point. She wasn’t coming out as gay — she was saying, “Think what you want.”

If Madonna’s gay antics feel tired, instead of dragging her, thank her for that — her goal from the beginning has been to inform the world, often by tweaking its inhabitants with cheeky scandals, that being gay should be a non-issue.

“I don’t think it’s relevant,” she said in a 1992 interview of gay rumors about herself. “If people say, ‘Oh, she sleeps with women,’ I don’t bother to deny it because I don’t think it matters. Who cares?”

Now, unfortunately, some in the LGBTQ+ community are saying, “Who cares?” to Madonna, taking her for granted and even at times trying to erase or demonize her past efforts. This is largely because the culture has become so permissive that concerns about appropriation have taken over, a fight that could distract us from keeping an eye on why drag is suddenly casually being likened to grooming children for sex. And it’s a shame Madonna is so frequently rejected, because the path she forged in the very middle of the mainstream helped allow us to be in a place where she could be seen as old hat.

Probably “old” is the operative word there. Madonna, always the kind of girl unembarrassed to say she deserved that “Evita” Oscar (she did) and to call herself a revolutionary (she is) and to sing “You’re just jealous ’cause you can’t be me” (you are), got away with being aggressively user-unfriendly for over 30 years because she was young, and then looked young.

Now that she is older, her sass is less tolerable to a society conditioned to value youth over most things and convention overall. Especially from women. And especially from women past 60.

Maybe that is why Madonna still matters so much to so many. Yes, she is a legacy artist — and what a legacy! What she has accomplished cannot be taken away, cannot be diminished by others or herself, and will never be eclipsed by new artists thanks to her talent and timing.

But legacy artist or not, she continues to be more of a touchstone than ever by forcing us to confront the fact that aging gracefully is probably a bullshit, paternal, corporate construct, and really isn’t very fun. And while it is OK for some artists to go all gray and demure, it should be equally OK, even encouraged, when Madonna vamps like Mae West (another maligned sex bomb with a killer body of work) or swears like a sailor, French

kisses Jack Black (as she did in her tour announcement video) or forgets to wear anything but a gap-toothed grin.

I would never argue that Madonna is above criticism. She has said and done dumb things — nobody scrutinized for 40 years, let alone an artist committed to chaos agency, fails to fuck up.

Still, I think queer people who aren’t under Madonna’s spell should always remember two equally important things: You absolutely don’t have to be a fan, and you absolutely don’t have to be a hater.

God help me for writing it, but Madonna is a metaphorical load-bearing wall for more people than you know. When you tear her down, we feel it. We know she is not perfect, but she gives us strength, and if we react viscerally to your demolition efforts, it’s because we know there are cracks in the wall, but we’re so very tired of waking up to the wrecking ball every day.

In response to Madonna’s The Celebration Tour confirmation, @heyjaeee wrote on Twitter, “I might actually cry seeing Madonna live and sharing the space with older gay men who grew up with her and who also lived through the AIDS crisis and are still here.”

This tweet touched me, even if the “older gay men” part had me contemplating a lower blepharoplasty. Because Madonna was there, and because she made the most of her time there, and because she shows every sign of trying to keep doing so until someone is rolling around on her grave like she did on her mom’s in “Truth or Dare,” the truth is that Madonna, like all icons, means a lot to so many of us, sometimes for reasons beyond her own doing, sometimes for reasons even she dares not guess.

And when someone gives you joy and strength and inspiration, let alone for 40 years, that is always worth celebrating. Q Matthew Rettenmund blogs at BoyCulture.com and is the author

of the new edition of “Encyclopedia Madonnica.” He grew up in Flushing, Michigan, and now lives in NYC.

TOP PHOTO: RICARDO GOMES. BOTTOM PHOTO: JEAN-BAPTISTE MONDINO

‘80 For Brady’ star BILLY PORTER is the change

BY CHRIS AZZOPARDI

You could say Billy Porter was born to play just about all of his roles. This, of course, is true of his portrayal of Pray Tell, the actor’s Emmy Award-winning part on “Pose,” and his star-making, Tony Award-winning role in Broadway’s “Kinky Boots.” And you definitely can’t argue with the fact that he was put on this earth to bring racial and gender diversity to his Fairy Godmother part in 2021’s modern retelling of “Cinderella.”

The trend continues with Gugu, the iconic choreography he plays in “80 For Brady,” a role he slips into with such natural ease that you might be asking yourself, “Billy Porter who?”

When I tell him that having seen him as Gugu, he may now always just be Gugu to me, he embraces it: “You can call me Gugu,” he says, laughing.

In “80 For Brady,” Gugu is where Lady Gaga got her name from, so that makes Gugu immediately important to the whole gay world. He, with his smooth moves and flashy tracksuit, is also instrumental in the lives of four other ladies whose dream he helps to fulfill: Lily Tomlin, Sally Field, Rita Moreno and Jane Fonda, or rather their characters (Lou, Betty, Maura and Trish, respectively).

In addition to “80 for Brady,” the

53-year-old stage and screen actor stepped behind the camera to direct an episode of “Accused,” an anthology series on Fox. The Porter-directed episode, called “Robyn’s Story,” features J. Harrison Ghee as a drag queen tangled in complicated legal drama after an escalating fling with a closeted man. In our recent interview, Porter spoke about how his own life experiences inspired the episode, returning to his R&B roots for his upcoming album and why he thinks “80 For Brady” is the gayest sports movie ever made.

I want to know who Gugu is at night when he’s not helping older women sneak into the Super Bowl. Gugu is fabulous. Gugu is a brilliant choreographer, director of superstar shows, and he sprinkles magical creativity all over the world. Who else has Gugu worked with, aside from Lady Gaga? Gugu’s old enough to have worked with Michael Jackson. Well, I have to say I am not a football fan, but this movie made me think that perhaps I could be, if football always involved Sally, Jane, Lily, Rita, you and Tom Brady. “Gayest sports film ever made.” That’s what somebody said earlier.

I think that might be true, honestly. I haven’t seen a lot of sportsball movies, but… I’ve seen a few. It’s the gayest. Thinking about the toxic masculinity in sports that I experienced as a gay person, this movie is turning sports on its head. I feel like I know that art has the power to transform hearts and minds, and what I loved about this when I read the script is it creates a space for us to have really complex and complicated conversations subversively without even knowing we’re having them, and I think that’s what art does so beautifully at its best, at its core. So it was very exciting for me to be a part of it for that reason. It’s very queer and it’s very positively queer in spaces that aren’t so positive, historically, with queer subject matter or anything that’s queer. So it’s really lovely to see that collective humanity modeled through this piece. It really is lovely. Did you play sports as a kid? Honey, they tried to have me play something, tried a couple of things. I tried softball. I tried tag football, I think they called it. I got sacked one day and the wind got knocked out of me. I had an asthma attack and I never went back. This movie has four national treasures in it. What was your reaction when you knew you’d be in a movie with Jane, Sally, Lily and Rita?

Well, when I lifted my chin up from the ground… these ladies have been an inspiration to me for decades. I am a student of life. I’m a student of the arts. I’ve studied, I’ve trained and I’ve watched these women in their careers and have been inspired not only by their work, but also how they move through life. The humanity, the philanthropy, the activism, all of those things. The 360-holistic approach that they’ve all had to their lives has just been inspiring and a blueprint for me in how I have tried to make choices and set up my own path. So it’s been magical. Was there a particular moment that you shared together that was just something that you’ll never forget? My favorite part of doing this was being able to sit in holding with all the ladies while they were setting up the camera shots, because that was the fun part. That was the really fun part. We got to

know each other, we got to talk, we got to kiki. They’re fun and naughty. Had you hung out with any of them before? No. I mean, I knew Sally. Sally actually gave me my Tony Award [for “Kinky Boots”] on stage with Matthew Broderick back in 2013. She’s really good friends with Tony Kushner and she has a place in P-town. I just happened to be there one summer, a few summers ago, so we had tea together and watched a lunar eclipse. What do you think is the affinity or the connection between gay men and older women? I think queer people relate to anybody and anything that feels like an outcast. An underdog or an outcast, we always relate to because that’s what we have to navigate from the moment we can comprehend thought. And so I think that alignment, it brings us together and makes us feel hopeful, helps in helping us continue to just breathe and put one foot in front of the other when we can see examples of, “Oh, it can be joyful.” There are no time limits to your dreams. There is no time limit to anything. Ride your life until the wheels fall off with joy and hope and loving kindness and compassion and all of that. Do you have any Super Bowl traditions? I don’t really have any traditions — other than when the Steelers are in it. Because I’m from Pittsburgh, I watch it. I usually tape it so that I can see the concert. I call it “the concert.”

I watched the episode of “Accused” that you directed. As somebody who has seen where a story like this can go, it did not go where I expected it to. Well, that’s [series creator] Howard Gordon who saw the script and did the thing that allies are supposed to do and picked up the phone and called me because he knew that I was one of the people on this planet that could deliver that story in the way that it should be. And I’m grateful for that. Your stamp is certainly on it. What was it like to put your big queer stamp on an episode of a show that is otherwise not particularly queer-focused at all? It’s one of those moments where you just… I stand in awe of what has happened to me once I chose my own authenticity. I got a second chance. I failed as somebody else very early in my career, and I’ve decided

to choose myself. And so when you watch that episode, it’s a manifestation of that. It’s a manifestation of living a true and authentic life, and I get to then be able to tell the story of what that feels like in a really real way. I love that they’ve taken the risk with this particular episode. We need to have tough conversations. As artists, we get to get right in the middle and have conversations and create safe spaces to have conversations that otherwise are rejected. This is a Middle America show that’s going to come on in Middle America on a Middle America network at a Middle America time. Folks will be changed after watching this, and I am so grateful to be able to be at the helm of something like that. What do you hope those viewers walk away with after they see this episode? I think the biggest thing that I’m hoping for, and in all of my work, is to be reminded of our collective humanity. There’s a dehumanization that’s prevalent in this world right now, and I’m hoping that my work can remind people of our collective humanity, because that’s what heals. You’ve been in front of the camera and behind. What is different about both for you? Are you more comfortable doing one over the other? It’s not about more comfortable or less comfortable. It’s just about exercising another creative muscle. My mind never stops, so directing uses every single piece of my being. It activates all of it, and I love that. Acting has its own thing, and I love it when I get to be in front of the camera. It’s another way of communicating humanity. I love them both.

What can you say about your new music?

The single, “Baby Was a Dancer,” has been pushed to March. “Children” came out last year. “Stranger Things” came out around the election. The album is called “Black Mona Lisa.” I’m really excited to return to my original roots as a singer. My first R&B album came out back in ’97. A lot of people don’t know that. I’m just really excited about this work. I got a chance to work with Justin Tranter, one of the greatest music writers of our time. I’m really excited about the work. I’m really excited about the message. I’m really excited to be able to put myself out in that way again. With February being Black History Month, could you draw on your long career as a Black person in this industry and tell me what changes you are noticing, for better or worse? I think that’s a great question because I want to start with the change that has already happened. We, as human beings, are sort of hardwired to only speak of the negative, always take in the negative more than the positive, always push out the negative more than the positive. If you watch the news, it bleeds; if it bleeds, it leads.

There’s not a lot of focus on the positive things that have happened in this journey. Me sitting here talking to you is the positive in the moment and in the space that we’re in. The fact that I can exist in my own authenticity in this world and show up the way that I do is the change. That’s the change.

I encourage all of us to lean into what’s positive about what’s happening right now on this planet. I think about this Biden administration. Just do a deep dive on what has really been going on. There’s a lot of good stuff. We’ve made a lot of good strides. A lot of stuff is great, and we have a long way to go. And so the hope for me is that we can take the time to regenerate ourselves through acknowledging the positive. We can revive ourselves. We can take a moment of self-care so that we can recharge and come back out swinging. Q

Chris Azzopardi is the editorial director of Pride Source Media Group and Q Syndicate. He has interviewed a multitude of superstars, including Cher, Meryl Streep, Mariah Carey and Beyoncé. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, GQ and Billboard. Reach him via Twitter @chrisazzopardi. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

BY CHRIS AZZOPARDI

Thesame music industry that initially embraced D. Smith when she was presenting as a man turned against her when she transitioned. She lost her house, her car, and her music studio. This was 2014, the year Smith, who has produced songs for Lil Wayne, Keri Hilson, and Ciara, says she was “forced out of the music industry.”

Just seven years after exiting that industry, Smith is making a splash with her directorial film debut at one of the world’s preeminent film festivals. This achievement is even more remarkable considering the director who discovered a passion for filmmaking during the pandemic decided to go DIY for her first film, “Kokomo City.”

The film is an uninhibited, fearlessly sexual documentary that explores what life is like for four Black transgender

sex workers — a true watershed moment in trans-centric filmmaking.

And this is where Smith’s story gets especially emancipatory: “Kokomo City” just premiered as an official selection of the NEXT section at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival to early critical acclaim.

“One of the most exciting non-fiction entries to this year’s Sundance is a radical, on-the-ground pulpit from which four Black trans sex workers talk their shit,” wrote Jacob Oller for Paste Magazine. The site BlackGirlNerds. com called it “transcendent genius.”

And to the music industry folks who turned against her — Smith recently completed work on a new song, “Man’s World,” for an album Katy Perry is currently recording. As for her directorial debut, Smith described the experience of being at Sundance with the film as “literally a comeback.”

What happened to you during the era in which you were shut out of the music industry for being transgender? I was pretty busy as a producer. I was working with a lot of people, and it’s so crazy. I’ve done a lot of hip-hop, and people see me dressed [as a man] one day, and then the

next day I’m wearing eyeshadow. And guys, people just didn’t know how to handle it, or they didn’t want to handle it. They were embarrassed. And I was pushed to the side. Phone calls weren’t returned, emails weren’t returned, and I just stopped working. And in less than two years, I completely went broke.

Do you feel there’s an undercurrent of internalized homophobia in the hip-hop world? Even outside that world, there’s a lot of homophobia and transphobia, period. And it sounds like you experienced that. Oh yeah. Firsthand. But what’s so crazy is that your music has nothing to do with how you present yourself. So the fact that people stopped working with me musically because of the way I started to look as if it affected my music … it actually enhanced my music, because I started to feel more like myself. And it backfired. People literally just stopped calling me for work and caused me to be homeless. So [I’m] kind of getting on my feet now.

And now you’re here at Sundance with your directorial debut. What’re you feeling right now? Oh, I feel… and this sounds cliché, but I feel tremendously empowered. I also am very aware of my position and I

From Homeless to premiering a film at Sundance. ‘Literally a comeback’ for D. Smith

D. Smith

respect it, but I’ve also worked very hard for it. But I just want to use this energy, this moment where I am, to just keep telling great stories and creating music.

When you say position, what do you mean? Because to me, it seems like even with this movie, you being at Sundance, this was not an easy film to get made. No, no. I mean, I made it by myself. By position, I mean, I’m being acknowledged for my work. How can I say this without sounding arrogant? I did it by myself, most of it. And that took a lot of my life, my time. And nothing’s guaranteed, right?

So to be acknowledged for something that I’ve done with my talent, my God-given talent… that’s what I mean by my position. I don’t take it for granted, and I understand where I am right now in my life. So I just want to maximize the opportunity and inspire people.

This being your directorial debut, I was curious about the first time that you picked up a camera and what that experience was like for you? Someone purchased the camera for me and that, in and of itself, was very moving for me because this wasn’t a rich person. This is someone that really made a sacrifice to make that happen. And when I got the camera in my hand, I knew something good was going to come out of it.

During the pandemic, I was walking around the city with my phone just taking pictures of different elements or angles in the city, shooting in black and white. And I was inspired to shoot with this technique and movement. And the documentary came to me. I’m thinking, here I am shooting photographs, but I’m broke. It’s like, how can I make this work for me? And also, how can this be something impactful?

How did the idea of spotlighting Black trans sex workers come to you? Well, I’ve never had to do sex work, but what inspired me was when I was homeless, sleeping on people’s couches for two years. I’m thinking, “Gosh, I have a lot to show for myself. And it’s still not good enough. I have great music to show for myself and a great reputation in the music industry. And it still wasn’t enough.”

People judged me and disconnected from me because of my identity. And I started to think about trans women and how difficult is it for them that don’t even have the amount of talent that I have? And I’m still in a worse position than they are. At least they have their own house, they have their own vehicles. But it inspired me to tell their story. How did you decide to make some of the artistic decisions that you did for the film? For instance, shooting it in black and white, the music, and the overall edgy tone. There’s nothing shy about this work. It’s like, if we’re going to talk about sex, we’re going to talk about sex. That’s right. But that’s what we do in real life in person. We do that, even if it’s in the privacy of our own homes. So when we go into documentary form, why is it watered down when we’re all doing it in private? It just seems really reductive and it doesn’t feel fulfilling. And the black and white, I shot it because it represents truth. It’s just simple, but it’s also classy, classic, and timeless, and it looks really elevated. And I thought that dichotomy with the girls, with their street personas and their lingo, that it’d be great to have these girls in a raw form shot in black and white. What do you think is something that has been historically left out of the conversation regarding sex workers that made it even more important to include in this film? Well, the fact that they’re doing it. And there’s a lot of trans girls that are public figures or celebrities that are still having to do sex work because it’s hard for them to get jobs. I don’t think most people would assume or know that. Oh yeah, it’s the truth. So these girls are really breaking that old

narrative that we are OK, or we are fine because we dress in gowns, or we have a great wig. But the truth is, a lot of girls, a lot of trans women, have to subject themselves to sex work, and that’s the reality. I mentioned the rich storytelling in “Kokomo City,” and there are some really great moments but also some devastatingly real-talk moments. What’s something that is said during the doc that has stuck with you? The fact that during some of their calls, some of the sex workers tried to blackmail the clients, or rob them, and that was a shocker. But I’m not surprised because sometimes girls feel like they’re not getting paid enough, or maybe they feel like the guy is going to gyp them from pay. So it’s all these details and possibilities that can happen when a trans woman puts herself in these situations or in the hands of these men. It’s unsettling. What do you hope this doc conveys about the way Black trans women sex workers are perceived? This film is about Black trans women, but it’s also about Black people. How we treat each other and the lack of love for each other. So I hope that it’s a wakening for Black people as a community. And I hope there’s a level of shame that comes with this film for some Black people that feel like they could have done or should do more to get to know trans people or be kind to trans people. Are you finding that these women are being accepted more than you expected them to be? Yeah. Because a lot of times people, especially in the media, they like to create this narrative that trans women are against Black women, and Black women don’t like trans women. And it’s been more Black women who are championing this film than anything. I’m so shocked, to be honest with you. They’re so supportive and like, “Oh my god, I love this film. This has to go.” And so, yeah, this is thrilling. Q

Chris Azzopardi is the editorial director of Pride Source Media Group and Q Syndicate. He has interviewed a multitude of superstars, including Cher, Meryl Streep, Mariah Carey, and Beyoncé. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, GQ and Billboard. Reach him via Twitter @chrisazzopardi. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

•

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Petunia’s Perils are Now in Paperback, Hardcover, Kindle

Petunia Pap Smear has been writing and publishing her perils in QSaltLake Magazine for 15 years. That’s over 175 columns of her best and worst times. Now, you can get all of them in one place — a 355-page book available in pa perback, hardcover, and Kindle through Amazon.

setting Utah State University on fire, losing his keys in a cruisy park restroom … you get the picture.

book is hilarious, with the right level of risque. Yes, it is not for the faint of heart. There’s a reason they tore down the LDS ward church building the day after he was baptized in it.

But it is absolutely the best toilet-side book you could ever buy.

Petunia Pap Smear is the camp drag persona of Courtney Moser. Born and raised on a potato and sheep farm in Dayton, Idaho, he now lives with his husband of 33 years in Salt Lake City. He is the Queen Mother of the Matrons of Mayhem, which raises tens of thousands of dollars for charities each year. His activism began in Logan, Utah, in the 1980s and continues. He was awarded the Kristen Ries Community Service Award at Utah Pride in 2015.

The book has stories of his life as a budding queen schlepping sheep shit, almost

Ruby Ridge, aka Donald Steward, even looked up from his new Aussie home to celebrate. meltdowns. Now a collection of Petunia Pap Smear’s wrote. “Face it Utah — God’s listening!” Close friend, Dennis

McCracken, artistic director of the Salt Lake Men’s Choir waxes poetic about Petunia.

“Petunia’s main goal in life is to make sure those around her laugh and enjoy the moment. Nothing beats a trip to Savers or a buffet with her,” he said.

And since many of her stories begin or end at Club Try-Angles, owner Gene Gieber had to chime in.

“Petunia’s favorite pastime is attending buffets. Treat this book like a buffet. Even when you’ve had enough, you will still read for more,” he said.

The book is currently available only through Amazon at amazon.com/ author/petuniapapsmear

Watch for events and potential in-store purchasing opportunities soon. Q

The Golden Age of Sports

ACROSS

1 Israeli author Oz

5 Cameron and Mitchell, to Lily

9 Yankovic video with Cho

14 Thank a lover without words

15 Frasier’s response to a client

16 Name on jetliners, once

17 Blanchett of “Carol”

18 Come and go

19 Director Condon and others

20 Start of a quote by Martina Navratilova

23 Go lickety-split

24 Pub offering

25 Family of Mary, Queen of Scots

28 Gets loud in bed

32 Relief of 34-Across

33 Two queens, and others

34 Prez linked with Joshua Speed

35 Poodle’s bark

36 More of the quote

38 Opponent of Wade

39 Piece-loving org.

40 Quit, with “out”

41 Govt. guy

42 Like a dandy suit

44 Pines Party and others

46 Uncommon, to Caligula

47 Fast one

48 End of the quote

53 Screen siren Garbo

54 Skater Mattis

55 Fiddler on the reef

57 Carrie portrayer

58 Ancient European language

59 Jodie Foster’s role with the King

60 Boobs or butts

61 Bambi, e.g.

62 “Gay Priest” author Malcolm DOWN

1 Where to see “Killing Eve”

2 Ditch in some Flynn flicks

3 What a boy scout recites

4 Give a cocky look to

5 Emulate Gus van Sant

6 In harmony

7 Cain of “Lois and Clark”

8 Top Four matchup

9 Most like some TV tele-characters

10 Mishima and Ang Lee

11 “Lesbians ignite!”

e.g.

12 “To a Mockingbird”

13 ‘69 and others

21 It gets laid in the streets

22 Dick’s running mate 25 Hard to find 26 Earth, in sci-fi

27 Orientation discrimination, e.g.

28 Checked out the joint

29 Fruit cover

30 Sub, to Rohm

31 Andrew Van de Camp’s peers

33 Buttigieg of transportation

47 Philip

48 “Charlie’s Angels” role

51

Johnson built a glass one

49 Pigged out (on) 50 Tested, to Marc Jacobs

River of da Vinci’s land

52 Lots of 53 Brownies’ org.

56 Tatum O’Neal’s “The News Bears”

Qmmunity Groups

BUSINESS

LGBTQ-Affirmative Psycho-therapists Guild of Utah

 lgbtqtherapists.com

* jim@lgbtqtherapists.com

Utah LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce

 utahlgbtqchamber.com

* info@utahgaychamber.com

LGBT & Allied Lawyers of Utah

 lgbtutahlawyers.com

* lgbtutahlawyers@gmail.com

Utah Independent Business Coalition

 utahindependentbusiness.org

801-879-4928

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

National Domestic Violence Hotline

1-800-799-7233

YWCA of Salt Lake

 ywca.org/saltlakecity

322 E 300 S 801-537-8600

HEALTH & HIV

Peer Support for Mental Illness — PSMI

Thurs 7pm, Utah Pride Ctr

Planned Parenthood

 bit.ly/ppauslchiv

654 S 900 E 801-322-5571

Salt Lake County Health

Dept HIV/STD Clinic

610 S 200 E, 2nd Floor

Walk-ins M–F 8a–5p Appts 385-468-4242

Utah AIDS Foundation

 utahaids.org

* mail@utahaids.org

150 S 1000 E 801-487-2323

Weber-Morgan Health

Mon., Weds 1-4:30p

477 23rd St, Ogden Appt 801-399-7250

HOMELESS SVCS

VOA Homeless Youth Resource Ctr, ages 15–21

880 S 400 W 801-364-0744

LEGAL

Rainbow Law Free Clinic

2nd Weds 6–7:30pm probono@law.utah.edu

POLITICAL

Equality Utah

 equalityutah.org

* info@equalityutah.org

376 E 400 S 801-355-3479

Utah Libertarian Party Mail address: 129 E

13800 S #B2-364

Draper, * chair@ libertarianutah.org

866-511-UTLP

Utah Stonewall Democrats

 utahstonewalldemocrats.org

 fb.me/ utahstonewalldems

RELIGIOUS

First Baptist Church

 firstbaptist-slc.org

* office@firstbaptistslc.org

11a Sundays

777 S 1300 E 801-582-4921

Sacred Light of Christ

 slcchurch.org

823 S 600 E 801-595-0052

11a Sundays

SOCIAL

Alternative Garden Club

 utahagc.org/clubs/ altgardenclub/

1 to 5 Club (bisexual)

 facebook.com/ groups/1to5clubutah

blackBOARD

Men’s Kink/Sex/BDSM education, 1st, 3rd Mons.

 blackbootsslc.org

blackBOOTS Kink/BDSM

Men’s leather/kink/ fetish/BDSM 4th Sats.

 blackbootsslc.org

OWLS of Utah (Older, Wiser, Lesbian Sisters)

 bit.ly/owlsutah

qVinum Wine Tasting

 qvinum.com

Seniors Out and Proud

 fb.me/soaputah

* info@soaputah.org

801-856-4255

Temple Squares Square

Dance Club

 templesquares.org

801-449-1293

Utah Bears

 utahbears.com

 fb.me/utahbears

* info@utahbears.com

Weds 6pm Raw Bean

Coffee, 611 W Temple

Utah Male Naturists

 umen.org

 fb.me/utahmalenaturists

* info@umen.org

Utah Pride Center

 utahpridecenter.org

* info@utahpridecenter.org

1380 S Main St

801-539-8800

Venture OUT Utah

 bit.ly/GetOutsideUtah

SPORTS

QUAC — Queer Utah

Aquatic Club

 quacquac.org

* questions@ quacquac.org

Salt Lake Goodtime

Bowling League

 bit.ly/slgoodtime

Stonewall Sports SLC

 fb.me/SLCStonewall

 stonewallsaltlakecity. leagueapps.com

385-243-1828

Utah Gay Football League

 fb.me/UtahGayFootballLeague

Venture Out Utah

 facebook.com/groups/ Venture.OUT.Utah

SUPPORT

Alcoholics Anonymous

801-484-7871

 utahaa.org

LGBT meetings:

Sun. 3p Acceptance Group, All Saints Episcopal Church, 1710 Foothill Dr

Tues. 8p Live & Let Live, Mt Tabor

Lutheran, 175 S 700 E

Wed. 7p Sober Today, 1159 30th St , Ogden

Wed. 7p Bountiful

Men’s Group, Am. Baptist Btfl Church, 1915 Orchard Dr, Btfl

Fri. 7p Stonewall Group, Mt Tabor

Lutheran, 175 S 700 E

Crystal Meth Anon

 crystalmeth.org

USARA, 180 E 2100 S

Clean, Sober & Proud

Sun. 1:30pm

Leather Fetish & Kink

Fri. 8:30pm

Genderbands

 genderbands.org

fb.me/genderbands

LifeRing Secular Recovery

801-608-8146

 liferingutah.org

Weds. 7pm, How was your week? First Baptist Church, 777 S 1300 E

Sat. 11am, How was your week? First Baptist Church, 777 S 1300 E

LGBTQ-Affirmative Psycho-therapists Guild of Utah

 lgbtqtherapists.com

* robin@lgbtqtherapists.com

Survivors of Suicide Attempt

 utahpridecenter.org/ mental-health/sosa/ YOUTH/COLLEGE

Encircle LGBTQ Family and Youth Resource Ctr

 encircletogether.org

fb.me/encircletogether

91 W 200 S, Provo, 190 S 100 E, St. George 331 S 600 E, SLC

Gay-Straight Alliance Network

 gsanetwork.org

OUT Foundation BYU

 theout.foundation

 fb.me/theOUTfoundation

Salt Lake Community College LGBTQ+

 slcc.edu/lgbtq/

University of Utah LGBT Resource Center

 lgbt.utah.edu

200 S Central Campus

Dr Rm 409, M-F, 8a-5p 801-587-7973

USGA at BYU

 usgabyu.com

 fb.me/UsgaAtByu

Utah State Univ. Inclusion Ctr

 usu.edu/inclusion/

Utah Pride Center programs

Weekly drop-ins and activity nights held at the Utah Pride Center, 1380 S Main St. Some require registration at utahpridecenter.org/ programs/ ADULT & SENIOR Silver Pride Senior (50+) Mon 2–4 pm, in-person.

Neurodivergent Support & Social Club, Mon 6–7 pm, In-person & virtual Bi+Pan Support & Social Club, Mon 6:30–7:30 pm, Inperson & virtual registration req’d Trivia Night (21+ Mon 7:30–9 pm, in-person (no more than 6 per team).

Health Insurance

Help From Take Care Utah, Tue 3–5 pm, inperson, 18+.

Gay Men’s Peer Support Group, Tue 6:30–8 pm, in-person, 18+ * billblevins@ hotmail.com

Pride in Recovery, Tue 7–8 pm, in-person, 18+.

Gay Men’s Sack Lunch, Wed, Noon–1 pm, in-person, any gay male-identifying humans 18+.

Women’s Support Group, Wed, 6–7 pm, in-person & virtual, registration req’d

Utah Valley Univ Spectrum

 instagram.com/ spectrum.uvu

Weber State University

LGBT Resource Center

 weber.edu/ lgbtresourcecenter

Shepherd Union Suite 323 Dept. 2117 801-626-7271

Westminster Diversity Center

Bassis 105, M-F 8a-5p

 westminstercollege. edu/diversity

LezBee Honest Support & Social Club, Wed, 7–8 pm, In-person & virtual, registration req’d Trans/Nonbinary Support Group, Thurs 6–7:30 pm, In-person & virtual, registration req’d Queer People Of Color Support & Social Club, Thurs, 6:30–7:30 pm, Inperson & virtual, registration req’d Parents & Caregivers Support Group, Thurs 6:30–7:30 pm, In-person & virtual, registration req’d Game Night, Fri 5:30–9 pm, in-person, 18+

Families Like Ours, Sun 3:30–5:30pm, inperson

YOUTH & FAMILY PROGAMS

Youth 10–13 Support Group, Tue 5–6pm pm, registration req’d Youth 10–13 Activity Night, Thu 5–6 pm, registration req’d Youth 10–13 Free Time Hours, Tue/Thu 3–8 pm, reg. req’d Teens 14–17 Support Group, Mon 5–6 pm, registration req’d Teens 14–17 Activity Night Wed 5–6 pm, registration req’d Teen 14–17 Free Time Hours, Mon/Wed 3–8 pm, registration req’d

REVIEW BY TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER

Choosing Family: A Memoir of Queer Motherhood and Black Resistance

BY FRANCESCA T. ROYSTER. C. 2023, ABRAMS PRESS, $26, 264 PAGES

Check one from each category.

Pick carefully. Take one from Column A, one from Column B, or choose what’s behind Door Number One or Two. Immediate or long-term, when it comes to your future and your happiness, as in “Choosing Family” by Francesca T. Royster, it’s good to have options.

The whole idea hit her like a slap.

Francesca Royster had never particularly wanted to be a mother. She’d dated boys in

q scopes

FEBRUARY

BY SAM KELLEY-MILLS

ARIES March 20–April 19

You are feeling the spirit of Spring on the horizon and it’s making you really excited. Give in to the temptations to have a good time and put all your worries aside. Bounce back in style!

TAURUS Apr 20–May 20

What you want is hard to find, but it’s not out of reach. Keep your search broad and wide and be willing to dive deep. The path to success is paved with good ideas, so get to work now.

GEMINI May 21–June 20

Nothing is worth losing your mind over, unless it’s someone you care about. Don’t let go of what defines you but be open

school, decided that she liked women better, and eventually came out to her family. No, motherhood wasn’t on her radar — and yet, when she saw a sleepy toddler wrapped in her mother’s arms at an airport, Royster had the sudden need to tuck that little head beneath her chin.

She never discussed it with her partner, Annie. The urge “receded to the edges of my thoughts,” she says, and they traveled instead, hit middle-age together, cared for sibling’s kids, and joked about “breeders.” She loved the life they’d built as queer women with community, what Royster calls “queer time.” Would she lose that, if there was a baby involved?

She and Annie split, took time to think about the future, but came together nightly to talk and plan.

Royster spoke to the “Mothers” — ancestors and goddesses from other cultures — and she thought of the kids near her hometown of Chica-

go who needed families.

Her female forebears had raised children, their own and others’, in situations that were fluid. Surely, two queer women could, too.

And so she and Annie applied to adopt and after a nail-biting wait and a near-loss, they brought home their daughter, Cece, who became a fierce, smart, loving little girl who’s cherished by the family that her mothers have assembled.

“I... know that there might come a day when Cece won’t feel as comfortable with this motley group that is our chosen family,” Royster writes. But “...by living our lives as truly as we can... we can change the world that she inherits.”

Not that it will affect your enjoyment at all, but the subtitle of “Choosing Family” is a bit confusing. This book is more about “queer motherhood” than it is about “Black resistance” and that’s okay. The best, most meditative, most meaning-

fully-worded parts of author Francesca Royster’s story are in becoming a mother to her child, and in tales of Royster’s own mother and other steely female ancestors who left their prints on her.

Resistance? No, that’s irresistible, especially to anyone pondering raising children.

Anchored by the turning of the word “family” upside down and reclaiming it from white hetero-normalcy, then, readers are led — indeed, treated — to what Royster and her partner created B.C. (before child) and afterward. Theirs is a made family that includes blood relatives, absent relatives, and relatives-because-we-say-so.

That’s icing on a workin-progress cake for readers who are considering doing the same thing, formal or otherwise. “Choosing Family” is also for those who’ve done this work, created the family they want, and it’s all good. Picket fence and two-pointfive kids or not, check this. Q

to expanding your horizons with a friend or loved one. It’s exciting!

CANCER June 21–July 22

Regarding an important task, stay focused. This is a perfect time to get your finances in order and get your career needs back on track. Even if you don’t have a plan, the way forward is clear.

LEO July 23–August 22

There could be confusion with family and friends regarding your needs. Spell out what is important and be willing to take charge. At the end of the day, you glide when you provide. Be firm.

VIRGO August 23–Sep 2

The phrase “better late than never” doesn’t mean you have forever. If something is important, make the time. Even if you aren’t quick, move forward with your goals. It will make you happy.

LIBRA Sept 23–October 22

With a new season coming, you want to get going. A vacation or focus on fun times will drive you forward. Decide what you want, or you’ll overload. It’s all about quality, not quantity.

SCORPIO Oct 23–Nov 21

Bring good memories to your social gatherings instead of keeping them locked in the vault of your heart. You might hear some great stories in return. Social interaction is a game-changer!

SAGITTARIUS

Nov 22–December 20

Whatever the cause may be, you’re feeling a ton of pressure. Relieve it by letting go of a few burdens and replacing them with important lessons. An open mind is the key to a lighter heart.

CAPRICORN

Dec 21–Jan 19

The temptation to be defiant could get you into trouble, but you’re up for the challenge. Make sure to show sensitivity even when others seem capable of handling your whit. It’s important.

AQUARIUS Jan 20–Feb 18

The cost to your inner peace will be challenged by an annoying friend. Keep your distance and practice diplomacy. If words don’t work, then actions might have to be adjusted. Tough love works.

PISCES

Feb 19–Mar 19

The emotional support you provide is appreciated by someone in your life. Make a point to give time and space and be the support you desire to be. In the end, giving is better than receiving. Q

GAY DADS, POWERFUL PRINCESSES

BY CHRIS AZZOPARDI

‘PrincessPower’ exec producers Savannah Guthrie and Drew Barrymore on helping kids love who they are Snow White? I don’t know her. These days, the delicate, demure princesses from the earliest days of Disney films are history, replaced by a more socially progressive kind of young lady royalty that puts leadership and skills first, frilly dresses a distant second.

In fact, in “Princess Power,” a new Netflix kids show from executive producers Drew Barrymore and “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, the show’s theme song says it all — “no matter what we wear, we’re gonna be right there.”

Based on Guthrie’s bestselling book series, “Princesses Wear Pants,” co-written by parent-educator and psychologist Allison Oppenheim, the show is full of girl-power positivity for every kind of kid seeking aspirational get-’er-done determination and the power of friend-family. Those messages, along with a valuable one on self-expression, are a part of the queer-inclusive, pro-feminist fabric of the 14-episode series, which follows princesses of four major fruit kingdoms: Kira Kiwi, Beatrice “Bea” Blueberry, Rita

They all love and accept each other as they do their part to change the world by helping their fellow “fruitizens.”

And then, of course, there are the gay dads. Voicing Beatrice’s fathers are actor Andrew Rannells (King Barton) and “Queer Eye” style expert Tan France (Sir Benedict).

According to their character descriptions, “While King Barton isn’t as much of a daredevil as his husband and daughter, he’s a brilliant pilot and feels as much at home in a biplane as he does in the kitchen, where he’s a master of bold and surprising concoctions. … Princess Bea gets her playful streak from Sir Benedict — he has a similar gleam in his eye and an equal love of adventure.”

“I just think that once we went from book to the show, we were trying to expand the world in every way you can imagine,” Guthrie said on Zoom about the decision to make Bea’s parents a same-sex couple.

The show, she says, is designed for any kid looking to find versions of themselves, or who they want to be, on screen. “You don’t have to see a carbon

copy of yourself,” she said. “You just have to see an aspect that you can connect with and that tells you you’re accepted. I think that’s really in the DNA of the books and now the shows, and it’s so meaningful to us to be able to do that.”

A show where powerful princesses can change the world and break down gender norms fits right within the motivating force behind some of Barrymore’s most popular work, like

“Charlie’s Angels” and “Boys on the Side.” It’s something of which the actress, who is openly bisexual, is keenly aware.

“I did grow up on things and characters and humans and themes that made me believe as a young girl that I didn’t have to become a boy, or as a young woman trying to make films like ‘Charlie’s Angels,’ you don’t have to try to be a man

Raspberry, and Penelope “Penny” Pineapple.

‘Princess Power’ is Helping Kids Love Who They Are

or take men down,” she said. “For me, it’s like, ‘How do we love everyone and how do we make everybody feel?’”

For Barrymore, she connected to Guthrie’s books just like she has some of her past characters, including her streetwise fighter character Dylan Sanders in “Charlie’s Angels.”

“There can be things in the creative world and the human realm that just make you feel like you can do it,” she said. “These books seem like that to me. This show, I hope, is that for people. Because that is exactly what happened to me in my life through other characters or roles I got to play or stories that I was told. It is who I am today because of it.”

Guthrie, who’s been the co-anchor of the NBC morning news show “Today” since 2012, felt inspired to become the journalist she is today after watching Katie Couric as a kid, so she gets it.

“I didn’t have perfect hair, I didn’t look a certain way,” she says. “I didn’t know that I could make it into this business the way I was. When I saw how Katie did it, I knew that I could. There was a place for me. So even in that little narrow sense, I can’t make a comparison, but I do understand the power of example and the power of seeing yourself and believing that if that person can be there, if they can be accepted, then maybe I could be accepted as well.”

With recent rhetoric from anti-queer conservatives aimed at LGBTQ+ kids, from “Don’t Say Gay” laws to a troubling movement to ban queer-centric books from American libraries, the show — even if it is just a kids show about princesses — conveys a strong, necessary message to those who need to hear it.

“It’s simple: You belong. You’re here too. We

see you,” Guthrie said.

“I hope that it’s empowering,” she continued. “I hope that it feels embracing. I hope that anybody who watches it feels like they’re seen, even if it’s just one aspect of themselves that they recognize. Even in the silliest way.”

“I love a platform like Netflix,” Barrymore added. “I love the world you created in the books. There are worlds for everyone that include everyone and trying to speak and reach everyone. [Those are] the things I want to be a part of.”

Certainly, when it comes to queer-inclusive kids’ content on TV, there are more options than ever — options that better reflect people who live in our real world. Those include two other animated Netflix series: “Ridley Scott,” featuring Rannells as one of Ridley’s dads, and “She-Ra and the Princess of Power,” which also casts queer characters as heroes.

Elsewhere, the animated comedy-horror show “The Owl House” on Disney+ stars a bisexual character named Luz Noceda and features a two-dad household and a non-binary character, while Hulu’s “Steven Universe” has been celebrated as one of the queerest kids shows on TV.

“I feel like there’s always more work to be done,” Guthrie said regarding LGBTQ+ representation in kids programming. “You can never rest on your laurels. But I think you also have to acknowledge progress and be grateful for that and keep it going.”

Chris Azzopardi is the Editorial Director of Pride Source Media Group and Q Syndicate. He has interviewed a multitude of superstars, including Cher, Meryl Streep, Mariah Carey and Beyoncé. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, GQ, and Billboard. Reach him via Twitter @chrisazzopardi.

Deep Inside Sundance

BY ROMEO SAN VICENTE

Penelope Cruz stars in Italian trans drama ‘L’immensità’

Italian filmmaker Emanuele Crialese (“Golden Door,” “Once We Were Strangers”) has been open about being a transgender man for years now, but he has taken the opportunity of his new higher-profile, Penelope Cruz-starring film “L’immensità,” to remind the world of that fact. Set in Rome in the 1970s, the autobiographical story revolves around a family led by and Cruz’s mother character. Of her three children, one is a trans boy, and he fights for his place and his identity in the world when the family isn’t supportive. The film had its North American premiere at the Sundance Film Festival after European runs in 2022, and will most likely take a bow theatrically

in the U.S. later this year. With anti-trans sentiment out of control among cultural conservatives, now is exactly the time for more trans stories to be told. Buy a ticket.

Ben Whishaw-starring ‘Passages’ picked up by Mubi

The latest film from queer director Ira Sachs, “Passages,” one we reported on over a year ago, has hit Sundance to great acclaim, and a not unsurprising pickup

for distribution. Mubi will handle the drama for North American release, and audiences looking for non-sensational bisexual representation will want to take note. The story of a man in a long-term relationship with another man, one who then embarks on an affair with a woman, is explored with actors Ben Whishaw (“Paddington”), “Blue is The Warmest Color” star Adele Exarchopoulos and Franz Rogowski, the German

Invited by QSaltLake Magazine

rising star who stunned queer audiences in 2022 in the gay drama “Great Freedom.” The film’s European premiere takes place in February at the Berlin Film Festival, and the planned theatrical bow in North America will take place later in 2023. Be on the lookout. ‘Schmigadoon!’ adds Tituss Burgess We’ve spent the interim between seasons one and two of “Schmigadoon!” catching up on some of the musicals referenced in the wild song-filled comedy series (note to everyone: “Carousel” is a trip that might scar you forever), so we’re ready for the next round. The second season will follow stars Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key as they enter the world of “Schmicago” with a storyline that will no doubt be steeped in famous musicals of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. The regulars this time around will include song-and-dance man Tituss Burgess (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”), Broadway regular Patrick Page and a variety of other special guest stars. Musical theater kids, gets ready for the April 7 drop on Apple TV+ for an ongoing game of “Spot the Obscure Reference.”

Ava DuVernay adds cast to ‘Caste’

Ava DuVernay is rounding out the cast of her feature film adaptation of Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson’s book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.” Oscar nominee Aunjanue Ellis (“King Richard”) was already on board, and now the cast has grown to include fellow queer actress Niecy Nash-Betts, as well as Jon Bernthal, Vera Farmiga, Nick Offerman, Connie Nielsen and Grammy- and Emmy-winning actress Jasmine Cephas Jones. The story revolves around the roots of racism in America, told through the prism of social, economic and cultural factors. It’s a subject DuVernay has explored with great skill and emotional power in the films “Selma,” “13th” and the limited series, “When They See Us,” so this project is definitely in the right hands. Look for this one sometime late in 2023 or maybe 2024.

Romeo San Vicente’s Celebration Tour will involve watching “Who’s That Girl?” over and over.

PHOTO: WARNER BROS.

Q&A with Jesse Meredith, UMOCA Artist in Residence

BY MELISSA FIELDS

Artist Jesse Meredith is curious; mostly, it seems, about why things are the way they are. His interest in people’s lived spaces led him to make Overton Windows, a photography-sculpture series examining how control and whiteness influence how many Americans live. THE BLOCKS recently sat down with Meredith to discuss his evolution as an artist, why he joined a militia along the way in making Overton Windows and what he plans to do next. Overton Windows is on exhibition at UMOCA now through February 4, 2023.

What has been your path as an artist and how did it bring you to Utah? I began my BFA by studying sculpture, but then ended it in photography. After college, I lived in my hometown, New York City, and for a while in Arizona. I then moved back to New York where I set about establishing myself as a photographer. After a few years, however, I began to feel that the work I was creating wasn’t enough. I was making all these clever sculptural photos, but I didn’t know what they were about. I wanted to better understand the connection between thinking and making. So, I enrolled in graduate school at the Art Institute of Chicago. I lived there for a couple of years after getting my MFA and then came to Salt Lake City for a residency at UMOCA. You joined a militia while you lived in Chicago, an experience you used to create an exhibit that premiered at Salt Lake

City’s Finch Lane Gallery last spring called So That We May Fear Not. What was your time with the militia like? Before I moved to Chicago, I had developed an interest in how authority works. I continued my research into military tactics after I moved to Illinois via the Internet, which triggered an active recruitment by local right-leaning militia groups. I wanted to understand how these groups work and so I found a local militia willing to let me hang out with them, take photos and ask questions. They accepted me at face value, and we became friends. We would meet every other Sunday in rural areas surrounding Chicago to do things like practice navigation skills or learn first aid. I really enjoyed those outings. We’d be all kitted up but, because of Illinois law, didn’t have guns—though guns certainly play a major role in the overall context of militias. I love being outdoors and found a boyish glee in running around the woods with them every other Sunday. How long were you involved in the militia and what perception did you come away with? I spent five years attending the militia gatherings, from 2016 until I moved to SLC for the UMOCA residency. I learned that there was a big disparity between the militia ideology perpetuated by media outlets like Fox News and what the members believed. Not everyone was

on the same page about political issues. The commonality I did find was that the entire militia movement is based in white identity and the defense of territory. Many of the militia members were older and had grown up in a time when popular culture was rife with misogyny and war was romanticized. Fast forward 30 years and those things these men were promised when they were young has not been delivered. The ground is essentially disappearing beneath them, and they have no tools to adapt. The militia provides them with a safe space to discuss things that in a more mixed social setting would be problematic for them. It took me awhile to figure out what the militia project would be. I began working on Overton Windows at the same time and actually thought the two studies would become one big project. Part of the reason I applied to the residency at UMOCA was to have the space to bring both of those projects to a resting point. How did Overton Windows ultimately become a singular piece? The traditional definition of an ‘Overton Window’ is how what’s acceptable and what’s not shifts over time or with circumstances. Trump, for example, shifted the Overton Window; COVID did, too. The greater Chicago area is mostly suburban, and it made me start thinking about how space

is delineated, broken down and policed by both visible and invisible forces—like why militias are formed, to defend against threats that are perceived to be real. And so, I began examining houses both within the metro area of Chicago and the suburbs and found the latter to be much more defensive, closed off and, to me, illustrative of the ambient defensive culture in the United States In addition to suburban architecture, Overton Windows includes Western, pioneer-era imagery. What is the connection between those two for you? After I came to Salt Lake City, Overton’s perspective broadened to include the pioneer ideal of manifest destiny. I visited

several museums and other historic buildings in Salt Lake to explore Utah’s pioneer-era history. The art I found was so revealing, especially if you’re looking for it. It’s all about the idea of owning and defending property and whiteness. It’s very emblematic of American entitlement.

Your residency at UMOCA ended in November. What do you plan to do next? I want to continue the conversation I began with Overton Windows and So That We May Not Fear elsewhere in the West. I plan to spend a couple of months in Los Angeles later this winter. After that, we’ll see. Q

This story is courtesy of Downtown Alliance at downtownslc.com

BY THE COMMUNITY, FOR THE COMMUNITY PUBLISHED BY QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE GET LISTED AT SALES@QSALTLAKE COM

Dreaming of the Old Guard

BY ALPHA MERCURY

consent violations on their part, I feel a loss. When I see people dress up like slaves or pups but don’t act in ways that are slave-like or pup-like, I feel a loss.

It’ssaid

that the modern gay male Leather community in the U.S. had its origins with servicemen returning from World War II in the 1940s. Missing the camaraderie of the military, they formed fraternal civilian groups that had strict rules and codes of conduct. The groups were usually framed around motorcycles and riding them, but the purpose of the groups was to create families of men with a common cause. These groups gave birth to both modern motorcycle gang culture (which was mostly straight) and gay male Leather culture.

The period of the first few decades of Leather culture began to be known in the modern era as “The Old Guard.”

Pre-Internet, pre-cell phone, pre-personal computer, even for a time pre-Stonewall, the Old Guard was to some degree a secret society. If mere homosexuality was viewed as a perverse aberration by mainstream society, homosexual men engaging in BDSM was something whose perceived transgression could not be underestimated. So it was done in secret. One could only become a member of an Old Guard group by being sponsored by a current group member and being (what we now call) vetted by the group. You had to earn your way. There were very strict rules and protocols both for Dominants and submissives. Honorifics were mandatory. Only Dominants could wear covers (motorcycle caps.) A submissive could only wear a collar if they had been given it by a Dominant that they served. You couldn’t go to a store and buy leather gear or clothing for yourself, it was gifted to you by the group when you were deemed worthy. When you had earned it. Every piece of leather attire had a specific meaning, purpose, and manner in which to be worn. You could not give yourself a title (Master, slave, pup) you had to earn it.

In this pre-digital age, anything you learned was done through in-person mentoring. An expert in something (rope bondage, flogging, fisting) would train you how to master that skill — or how to

experience someone else exercising that skill upon you. The Old Guard groups were strong brotherhoods that taught, nurtured, and protected their own.

They were families.

FAST FORWARD TO NOW.

The Old Guard is gone. The mainstreaming of LGBTQ+ people and culture has made the need to be invisible obsolete. Computers, the Internet, and cell phones have made secret groups meeting in person unnecessary. You can watch a YouTube video on how to tie someone up or flog them or fist them. If you want to have a kinky scene you just pull up an app on your phone and find someone to do it with.

Many things are great now for the Kink/Leather/Fetish/BDSM community. LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. have made remarkable progress in the time since World War II in terms of visibility, representation, protections, rights, and political advocacy. (Although Republicans are trying to reverse that progress.) Those of us who share what used to be called “the love that dare not speak its name” now have representatives in government, our own celebrities and TV shows, and a whole month where our collective pride is celebrated by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. What we’ve gained is tremendously important and worthy of gratitude every day of our lives.

The current Kink/Leather/Fetish/ BDSM community is nothing like the Old Guard. Some would argue it’s better because it’s more far-reaching, inclusive, and available than it’s ever been. The modern community is worldwide. You can chat with someone on the other side of the world about your mutual kinky interests. I’m not trying to diminish that.

But I think we’ve lost some things too.

When I’m in a kink space and I see someone wearing a nice collar, ask them who put it on them, and am told no one, they just like how it looks, I feel a loss. When I meet someone who says they’re a Master and then I hear about

Please understand I haven’t declared myself the authority or arbiter of True Kink. I simply feel like we’ve lost something. This is something I struggle with a lot. If anyone can be or do or say anything they want with no knowledge or training or consequences, and then be and do and say something totally different tomorrow, does what they are and do and say really mean anything? Is status you don’t earn actually status?

I’ve been told that every new generation finds their way into kink and redefines it for themselves and that that’s a good thing. I wonder if that’s true though. Other communities don’t let new members come in and redefine what they are. Part of what makes a community what it is is that there are certain standards and traditions to be upheld. If you’re not willing to honor those standards and traditions, you can’t be part of that community. Yet how can communities evolve if they are stuck in rigid feedback loops of unchangeable rules? Communities must evolve in order to stay relevant and attract new members. I simply feel our particular community has evolved so much that it’s unrecognizable from where it started, and that much has been discarded that was valuable.

Leather bars are nearly extinct. Serious groups that teach and mentor are scarce and short-lived. Standards are gone. Anyone can be anything, just because they say they are, without vetting or training. That’s why I dream of the Old Guard and wish it had survived long enough for me to be a part of. And of course, there are some who say the Old Guard never existed, or that it wasn’t anything like what it’s been mythologized into.

All that may be true.

But to paraphrase a line from the movie L.A. Story, “The Old Guard may not be the truth, but it is what I wish were true.” Q Have thoughts, questions, or comments about this column or anything to do with Kink? Write to me at kink@qsaltlake.com and I’ll answer them in an upcoming column. Be safe and have fun out there! Alpha Mercury has been an out and proud member of the Kink/Leather/Fetish/BDSM community his entire adult life. He has a degree in Film Production from the University of Southern California and is a published author of erotic fiction. He lives with his Leather Family in Salt Lake City.

perils of petunia pap smear

The Tale of Powerball

BY PETUNIA PAP SMEAR

Recently, the lottery jackpot got up to more than one billion dollars. The prospect of winning a billion dollars was just too much for this old queen to resist. After all, Mama needs a new tiara! And some new glasses, and sequin caftans, and rhinestone studded breasticles, and, and, and… A billion bucks would almost cover my wardrobe needs. A quick trip to Idaho seemed in order.

So, I squeezed into my finest driving caftan, (made from polyester so it won’t wrinkle from the seat belt), and a matching travel-worthy beehive wig, (sprayed with three cans of Aqua Net so that the structural integrity of the hive was stronger than the titanium hull of the USS Enterprise), thus able to withstand a tornado. Then I threw on some stylish matching opera-length driving gloves, jumped in Queertanic VI, a silver minivan, tuned the radio to the disco station, and hit the road northward. I was motoring past Lagoon and singing along to Dancing Queen when I was very rudely interrupted by that screeching emergency alert signal followed by a message that there was an approaching severe winter storm with high winds and blowing snow, and extreme caution was advised.

Since I had just put new snow tires on Queertanic, I felt confident that she could weather any storm. So, I turned down the volume of the obnoxious announcement and began singing to the tune of the Mormon hymn, Let Us All Press On, as I drove onward.

“Let the queen press on in the quest for the horde, That when the number is drawn, she may gain the reward. In the quest for riches, she drove through the snow, The lottery on her bestow. Fear not, though the weatherman deride, Courage, for Queertanic’s on her side,

She will heed not what the weatherman may say, But the Powerball alone she will obey. She will obey.”

As I ventured closer to the Idaho border, there arose a fierce headwind. The road began to be slick. The blowing snow was making it more difficult to see than if my mascara had clumped and glued my eyelids shut. However, Queertanic, wearing her new snow tires, was surefooted, steadfast, and true. I arrived in Malad. As I exited Queertanic, the wind and snow gave me such a blow job that my beehive wig fell over sideways onto my shoulder, and I slipped on the icy pavement nearly turfing it. I quickly scuttled inside to buy my lottery ticket and, of course, the requisite king-size Snickers bar and a one-pound bag of M&M’s, because after all, there is not a buffet in Malad, and it’s a long way home.

I was only inside for perhaps 15 minutes, but when I came out, the wind was howling and Queertanic was covered in a solid sheet of ice. I raced to open the car door but, alas, it was frozen shut and my fingers froze to the door handle. Not as bad as Flick’s tongue was, frozen to the flagpole in “A Christmas Story,” but enough to cause some distress. Damn it. I lost 3 Lee Press-On Nails trying to free my hand. I tried the back door. No luck. Panicking a bit now, I tried the passenger side doors. Same. Then out of desperation, I tried the tailgate door on the minivan held hostage by Mr. Freeze. I was so relieved when it opened.

Miss Manners’ etiquette book had not prepared me for such a situation, but luckily, my Boy Scout mountaineering merit badge training filled the void. So, I hiked up my skirt and began climbing into the back of Queertanic as if I were making an ascent of Mount Everest. My foot slipped on the ice as I was placing my knee in the car, but luckily, my right breasticle caught on the back of the seat, much like a penguin’s beak then they fall

forward, thus saving me from falling to the frozen ground. I reached around and closed the tailgate behind my sizable, but frozen, buttockus maximus. Then, while climbing over the seats, my left breasticle became entangled in the seat belt.

Finally, after much contorting worthy of a professional yoga swami and many swear words, I was able to squeeze into the driver’s seat and start the engine. I heaved a great sigh of relief. I tried opening the door from within. No dice. I was trapped inside. So, after running the heater on high for about ten minutes, the ice on the windshield melted enough to be able to see. However, the heat was so intense that it also melted the snow that had blown into my wig. The water melted the hairspray enough that my hair lost its structural integrity and drooped down in front of my face, thus obscuring my vision. Huge drips of sticky wet hairspray flowed out of the wig and down on the steering wheel, making it a sticky nightmare. And the final indignity, my mascara ran leaving dark black zebra stripes down my cheeks. Oh, the shame. Happily, I did not see anyone that I knew. I began the trip home. As I got on the freeway, the open-door alarm began to ring. Fuck it!!! And I drove on. This story leaves us with several important questions:

1. Should I exchange the studs on Queertanic’s snow tires with rhinestones?

2. Should I begin carrying mountaineering equipment in my purse?

3. Could I attach an ice pick onto one of my breasticles?

4. How could I make it look attractive?

5. How difficult would it be to install a radiant heater capable of melting ice in the other breasticle?

6. How do I go about getting the store in Malad to erase their security camera footage of this event?

These and other eternal questions will be answered in future chapters of The Perils of Petunia Pap Smear Q

The road to Idaho is fraught with danger and excitement.