THECONTENTS
>> JULY 2013 <<
COVER STORIES AND FEATURES POWERED 14 STAR Celebs On Marriage
14
16
22
MARRIED 16 GETTING Tying The Knot In California
24
DOMA 22 AFTER Know Your Benefits, Rights GAYMER CONNECTION 24 THE First LGBT Gaming Convention ENEMY WITHIN 26 THE Will Walters Reclaims Pride WHO? CAZWELL 32 GUESS Gay Rapper’s Lyrical Therapy RIGHTS 37 TRANSGENDER CA Senate Approves Protections FOCUSED 38 KEEPING Mark Studner’s Life Journey IN TRANSITION 44 LOST Selene Luna’s Unspoken Bond
ON THE COVER
MAIN PHOTO: CAZWELL. PHOTO BY MARCO OVANDO UPPER LEFT PHOTO: JAMES FRANCO. PHOTO BY MARK STUDNER UPPER RIGHT PHOTO: SELENE LUNA. PHOTO BY AUSTIN YOUNG DEPARTMENTS 10 THE CONTRIBUTORS Writers In This Issue 12 THE LETTERS City Of Trivialities 20 THE CITY Luciana At OC Pride 28 THE ROSTOW REPORT Gallagher Non Grata
32
30 THE FAMILY The Kids Are All Right 36 THE LAW Close Encounters 41 THE BODY Testosterone Boosters 42 THE EPIDEMIC HIV Cells Cancer Cure 46 THE EVENT Los Angeles Pride
26
48 THE CALENDAR Events, Groups
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38
44
50 THE FINAL FIGHT What If Paula Deen
THEEDITOR
>> JULY 2013 <<
l “This is an historic and momentous day for millions of families in our country with parents who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender,” Family Equality Council Board Chair Alan Bernstein told THE FIGHT, after the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and dismissed Proposition 8 last month (“The Kids Are All Right,” page 30). LGBT family advocate and Outspoken Generation Co-Chair Zach Wahls said the rulings reaffirm a message he has been spreading nationally since his 2011 speech before the Iowa legislature went viral on YouTube. “This is an incredible victory for families like mine,” said Wahls. “Children of LGBT parents deserve to have our voices heard, and today we know that we were. The Supreme Court has finally recognized that our parents and our families deserve to be treated with dignity and respect under the law.” For married same sex couples benefits will now include: joint parenting rights, such as access to school records; next-of-kin status for emergency medical decisions; having family visitation rights, such as a visit to a spouse in a hospital; receiving custodial rights to children, shared property, child support and alimony after divorce; inheriting property; and more. For more on how the Supreme Court decision effects you, check out “After DOMA,” on page 22. If you are thinking about tying the knot, this issue’s “Getting Married,” on page 16, walks you through the process. According to The National Center for Lesbian Rights, certain people should be especially cautious before deciding to marry, including people receiving certain government benefits (especially those receiving SSI disability benefits, TANF, or Medicaid) and people planning to adopt children internationally. If you are in this situation, you should consult an attorney about what marriage will mean for you before deciding to marry. With the Supreme Court’s ruling, “we’ve shifted the balance of power and we’ve changed the status quo,” states political commentator Ann Rostow (“Rostow Report,” page 28). “No longer are courts twisting themselves into knots to avoid a pro-gay marriage ruling,” writes Rostow. “Now they’re making sure that history won’t be adding their names to the blacklist of bigots. Politicians are thinking more about their grandchildren than their conservative constituents. In state legislatures, marriage equality bills are no longer the province of progressive outliers. And we may see the end of second class civil unions, which can no longer be presented as ‘equal’ to marriage.” “Meanwhile,” says Rostow, “one of the most critical marriage benefits will be available to all married couples at once; to wit, the ability to sponsor a foreign spouse for residency.” All in all, not a bad month.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Stanford Altamirano MANAGING EDITOR Mark Ariel ART DIRECTOR Nadeen Torio MARKETING CONSULTANTS John Michael Gamban Paul Vallejo Ryan King Steven Lewis SOCIAL MEDIA Tim Kreslake WEBMASTER Nadeen Torio
GET THE FIGHT AT HOME Sent Via First Class Mail 12 Issues: $36 6 Issues: $24 Mail check or money order to: Third Step, LLC 611 S. Catalina St. Suite 307 Los Angeles, CA 90005 PUBLISHER Third Step, Inc. DISTRIBUTION Pride In Media The Fight Magazine is published monthly by Third Step, LLC. 611 South Catalina Street, Suite 307 Los Angeles, CA 90005 Telephone (323) 297-4001 Fax (213) 281-9648 Email info@TheFightMag.com
THE FIGHT MAGAZINE LEGAL CAVEATS By listing in The Fight Magazine, advertisers acknowledge that they do business in the spirit of cooperation, fairness and service, maintaining a high level of integrity and responsibility. Providers of products or services are fully and solely responsible for providing same as advertised. The Fight Magazine assumes no liability for improper or negligent business practices by advertisers. Advertisers and their agencies assume responsibility and liability for the content of their advertisements in The Fight Magazine. Publisher assumes no liability for safe-keeping or return of unsolicited art, manuscripts or other materials. The Fight Magazine reserves the right to edit all material for clarity, length and content. All contents © 2013 Third Step LLC. All rights reserved. Content may be reproduced with permission. The Fight Magazine assumes no liability for any claims or representations contained anywhere in this magazine and reserves the right to cancel or refuse advertising at publisher’s discretion.
STANFORD ALTAMIRANO Editor-In-Chief
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TheFightMag.com For Display Advertising, please call (323) 297-4001
THECONTRIBUTORS
>> JULY 2013 <<
THOM SENZEE Thom Senzee is an award-winning journalist and an 18year veteran of print, online and broadcast media, having served as editor of LGBT Weekly, as law reporter for the Los Angeles Business Journal and as contributor to the Los Angeles Daily News, KTLA-Channel 5, and various other media outlets.
ORLY LYONNE Orly Lyonne is a freelance journalist, focusing on issues related to LGBT equality, culture and art. Her passions include skydiving, community theater and vegan restaurants. Orly can be reached at orlylyonne@gmail.com.
DAVID HAKIMFAR Los Angeles based Attorney David Hakimfar received his law degree from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego. While there, he made the Honor Roll and National Dean’s List. Currently David Hakimfar is a Trial Attorney and Senior Partner of Hakimfar Law, PLC. He can be reached at: 1-888-789-PRIDE (7743).
PAULO MURILLO West Hollywood resident Paulo Murillo has been writing for gay media for over twelve years. He got his start writing a biweekly column called “Luv Ya, Mean It” for FAB! Newspaper. Visit his website at thehissfit.com, or friend him on Facebook.
ANN ROSTOW Ann Rostow writes news analysis columns for THE FIGHT and other gay publications across the country. For weekly LGBT News updates, visit her blog at: annrostow. blogspot.com. Ann can be reached at: arostow@aol.com.
VICTOR MELAMED Victor Melamed began his career in journalism writing for the now-defunct Israeli gay magazine “Magaim.” He is currently working on a novel based on a true story about a love affair between two men on opposite sites of the Middle East conflict.
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THELETTERS
>> JUNE 2013 <<
WITHOUT INSULTING Dear Editor, In a city of trivialities, silliness and overall egomaniacal attempts to turn the truly frivolous into something of depth, thank you for producing a publication that tackles the sometimes overlooked issues in our community, without being preachy, and without insulting your readers’ intelligence. I particularly liked Thomas Mondragon’s article on “the unnamed wish at the heart of a gay pride celebration... a gay, mind-blowing, soulful life of meaning” (“Live Out Loud,” THE FIGHT, Issue 29). The take home message—that healthy self-regard comes from the relationship a gay man has with himself—was very much on point. D. Jackson Everett, via the internet
NOT ASHAMED Dear Editor, I just finished reading your Pride issue (June 2013) from cover to cover–and I have to say you guys put out an interesting, thought provoking, elegant looking magazine–something I am not ashamed to have on my coffee table. Even your article on sex toys (“Frisky Business,” THE FIGHT, Issue 29) was tastefully done. Nice work. Steve Morgenstern, Los Angeles
YOU PRINT Dear Editor, You print world class written opinion, information, and interviews. You represent the other 90% of us who don’t go to the gym every day but live very active, meaningful lives without a 6-pack. Being good partners and providers to our families and our neighbors: gay, straight, any race, gender, socio-economic status. George Raney, via the internet
A PRAYER Dear Editor, A prayer for your readers: Lord, surround those who suffer same sex attraction with Your Saving Blood. Forgive their sinfulness, heal their brokeness, and renew their hearts that they may be one in You. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen. Name Withheld, via the internet
> WRITE TO THE EDITOR Email: editor@thefightmag.com Fax: (213) 281-9648. Letters may be shortened due to space requirements. 12 T H E F IGH T | J ULY 2013
JULY 2013 | TH E F I GH T 13
STAR
POWERED
AFTER THE SUPREME COURT DECLARED THE DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT UNCONSTITUTIONAL LAST MONTH, PROVIDING LEGALLY MARRIED SAME-SEX COUPLES THE SAME FEDERAL RIGHTS AS HETEROSEXUAL COUPLES, CELEBS CELEBRATED THE LANDMARK RULING VIA TWITTER AND STATEMENTS TO THE PRESS.
MADONNA “What a way to start my day!! I’m wearing a smile from ear to ear. There is a G-d! Justice is served. Hallelujah!!”
WILLIAM SHATNER “Very pleased about the Supreme Courts rulings today on DOMA and gay marriage in CA.”
LENA DUNHAM “Don’t wanna traffic in stereotypes but let’s be real: I’m gonna love a gay wedding & No one be shocked if I get married and pregnant with a daughter today in a slightly premature fit of joy #americathebeautiful”
JESSE TYLER FERGUSON “Remember the old days when #DOMA was around and gay people couldn’t get married in California? Crazy right!?”
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA “Today’s DOMA ruling is a historic step forward for #MarriageEquality. #LoveIsLove”
KEVIN BACON “Great news today!! #domafail #prop8”
HARRY SHUM JR. “In all seriousness, congrats America. You win today. How this was even an issue still blows my mind. #LoveIsLove”
NICK JONAS “We are all equal and have the right to love. So proud to be an American. #equality”
LADY GAGA “We stand tall today. #DomaStruckDown So many fought for so long. Be proud, the prejudice are now the minority.”
JOHN STAMOS “I’m so happy about today’s decision I could kiss a man!”
LEONARDO DICAPRIO “Historic day. Well done #SCOTUS.”
MARGARET CHO “I can perform gay weddings. I’m certified, let’s go #ido”
MARK RUFFALO “Hey! You know what? The Kids Are All Right! Defense of marriage falls! We chose love over hate! Goodbye #DOMA”
BEN AFFLECK “Big news from the Supreme Court. Goodbye #DOMA #Prop8. Hello #Equality.”
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PADMA LAKSHMI “Hurray for all Americans and good riddance to DOMA. It’s a new day. A happy day.”
ALYSSA MILANO “A big day for equality and human rights. I’m smiling so big right now.”
DEBRA MESSING “Today is a good day. A great day. A historic day. So proud of our country. #love&equalityforall”
PIERS MORGAN “RIP bigotry. #SCOTUS #DOMA” LEA MICHELE “What amazing and beautiful news today! Goodbye #doma goodbye #prop8! #LoveIsLove!!!”
ELLEN DEGENERES “It’s a supremely wonderful day for equality. Prop 8 is over, and so is DOMA. Congratulations everyone. And I mean everyone.”
DEMI LOVATO “Gay, straight, lesbian, bi.. No one is better than any one else. What an incredible day for California AND for equality. OUR LOVE WAS MADE, #MadeInTheUSA!!!!!!! #equality #Marriage4ALL #NOH8”
RICKI LAKE “I smell some fabulous wedding invites in my future. #equality #doma”
JULY 2013 | TH E F I GH T 15
THESTATE >> JULY 2013 <<
out the state. This means that Prop 8 cannot be enforced anywhere in the state.
WHAT DO WE HAVE TO DO TO MARRY IN CALIFORNIA? > To marry in California, you and
GETTING MARRIED A GUIDE FOR SAME-SEX COUPLES WHO WANT TO TIE THE KNOT IN CALIFORNIA.
The National Center for Lesbian Rights (www.nclrights.org) has posted a same-sex marriage primer on their site. Below is a summary of everything you need to know if you are considering getting married in California.
BY ORLY LYONNE l Thanks to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Hollingsworth v. Perry last month, same-sex couples in California have the freedom to marry once again. Prop 8, the California constitutional amendment that stripped samesex couples of the freedom to marry, is off the books and unenforceable. On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that the sponsors of Prop 8 had no legal right (or “standing”) to appeal the federal trial court’s decision that Prop 8 is unconstitutional because allowing same-sex couples to marry caused them no harm. This historic ruling restores the freedom to marry to same-sex couples in California. Additionally, thanks to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Windsor v. United States, all married couples in California—including same-sex couples—must be treated by the federal government as married, equally, and with respect. 1 6 T H E F IGH T | J ULY 2013
ARE SAME-SEX COUPLES ANYWHERE IN CALIFORNIA ABLE TO MARRY? > Yes. The legal order (or injunction) that stops the State of California from enforcing Prop 8 applies to state officials through-
your partner must get a marriage license from the office of the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk of any California county, and then have a ceremony performed by someone authorized to solemnize marriages in California (such as a judge or clergy member) within 90 days. Both partners must go together to the county office, fill out the marriage license application, and present a government issued picture ID and proof that you are over 18 years old. (If either or both is younger than 18, different procedures apply.) Some counties have their marriage license applications posted online so you can fill them out before you arrive at the County Clerk’s office. Marriage licenses in Los Angeles County can be applied for online (marriage.lavote.net/ OMLS/) and issued within an hour if the application is made during normal business hours. The license fee varies by county but generally is less than $100. No blood test or health certificate is required. Call ahead or visit the county’s website to learn the hours, locations and fees of the county offices that issue licenses. The marriage license is valid for 90 days, which means you have 90 days to go get married. Your marriage can be performed anywhere in California. The person who performs your ceremony must be authorized to solemnize marriages in California and must complete and sign your marriage license after the ceremony. In addition, at least one witness 18 years old or older must sign the marriage license. The license then becomes your marriage certificate, which must CONTINUED ON PAGE 18
JULY 2013 | TH E F I GH T 17
>> JULY 2013 << CONTINUED FROM PAGE 16
be returned to the same county in which you obtained the license for filing within ten days of the ceremony. You may also be able to have your ceremony performed at the county office on the same day you obtain a marriage license for an additional fee.
WHO CAN MARRY US? > In California, persons who are legally authorized to solemnize marriage ceremonies include: clergy members; active and retired state court judges and court commissioners and assistant commissioners; commissioners of civil marriages or retired commissioners of civil marriage; justices or retired justices of the U.S. Supreme Court or judges, magistrate judges, retired judges, or retired magistrate judges of other federal courts; state legislators or constitutional officers of the state; and members of Congress who represent a district within this state. Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners of Civil Marriages perform civil marriage ceremonies by appointment at designated county offices. There is a fee, which generally is less than $50. Call ahead or visit the county website for more information. A couple can also have a friend deputized to perform their marriage ceremony through a county “Deputy Commissioner for a Day” program. The specific requirements vary by county.
SHOULD MY PARTNER AND I MARRY? > Marriage is a serious legal and personal commitment. Before getting married, couples should educate themselves about the legal consequences of marriage. Married same-sex couples also face complications that married heterosexual couples do not face, due to the fact that, at present, many states will not respect marriages of same-sex couples and certain questions about how the federal government intends to handle recognition of marriages if a couple has moved to or now lives in a state that does not recognize their marriage. The Supreme Court’s ruling striking down Section 3 of DOMA concerns only the federal government’s treatment of marriages. The ruling does not tell states whether they must recognize a valid marriage of a same-sex couple performed in another state. Thus, if you marry in California but live elsewhere it is still possible that your home state will not recognize your marriage. Certain people should be especially cautious before deciding to marry, including people receiving certain government benefits (especially those receiving SSI disability benefits, TANF, or Medicaid) and people planning to adoption children internationally. 1 8 T H E F IGH T | J ULY 2013
If you are in this situation, we strongly suggest you consult an attorney about what marriage will mean for you before deciding to marry.
WHAT HAPPENS IF WE MARRY IN CALIFORNIA AND LATER WISH TO DIVORCE?
the California Supreme Court held that it would be unconstitutional to take away the marriages of same-sex couples who married in California before Prop 8 passed. If you married in California during that period, your marriage is completely valid and entitled to full recognition and respect. You do not need to get re-married now.
> The only legal way to end a marriage is to divorce. Typically, in order to divorce in California, at least one of the spouses must be a resident of California for at least six months, and a resident of the county in which the divorce is filed for three months, before filing a divorce petition. However, under a law that went into effect January 1, 2012, same-sex couples who married in California but live out-of-state (and, thus, cannot meet California’s normal divorce residency requirement) can still get divorced in California if they live in a state where they cannot divorce. States that do not permit or recognize marriages between same-sex couples may not allow same-sex couples to obtain divorces there (although Wyoming explicitly allows samesex spouses to divorce, and this may be possible in other states that do not otherwise respect marriages between same-sex couples). The Supreme Court’s ruling in Windsor v. United States does not change that reality.
IF WE GOT MARRIED IN CALIFORNIA BEFORE PROP 8 WENT INTO EFFECT IS MY MARRIAGE VALID? DO WE NEED TO GET MARRIED AGAIN? > If you got married in California between June 16, 2008 and November 5, 2008, your marriage is still valid and recognized by the state of California. In 2009, in the case of Strauss v. Horton,
IF MY PARTNER AND I WERE LEGALLY MARRIED IN ANOTHER STATE OR COUNTRY, WILL CALIFORNIA RECOGNIZE OUR MARRIAGE, OR SHOULD WE REMARRY IN CALIFORNIA? > Couples who are legally married in another jurisdiction are recognized as married in California as well, regardless of when they married. Because the Supreme Court has held Prop. 8 to be unconstitutional, California will recognize you as married. Your relationship will not have some other type of status such as a domestic partnership; it will be appropriately treated as a marriage. There is no need for you to re-marry in California. n For more information about your freedom to marry and antidiscrimination protections, visit the following sites: Equality California: www.eqca.org, Lambda Legal: www.lambdalegal.org, National Center for Lesbian Rights: www.nclrights.org.
JULY 2013 | TH E F I GH T 19
THECITY >> JULY 2013 <<
WEST HOLLYWOOD CIVIL CEREMONIES l The City of West Hollywood will continue to partner with the Los Angeles County Registrar/Recorder to perform civil ceremonies in WeHo every Thursday from 1pm to 5pm (by appointment only). In order to be married you must first obtain a marriage license, and then you must have a marriage ceremony (either a private ceremony or a civil ceremony) within 90 days of obtaining the license. West Hollywood civil ceremonies will be performed at Kings Road Park—1000 N. Kings Road. Couples who want to schedule an appointment for a West Hollywood Civil Ceremony should go to the Beverly Hills Court branch of the County (located at 9355 Burton Way, 3rd Floor, Room 300, Beverly Hills, CA 90210) to obtain their marriage license and request an appointment for a ceremony. For more info visit weho.org/marriage or call: 323-848-6869. LORRI L. JEAN
CENTER APPLAUDS COURT’S SWIFT ACTION l In response to last month’s announcement that the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has lifted its stay on an injunction to stop enforcing Proposition 8, L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center CEO Lorri L. Jean said in a statement to the press that “for all of us celebrating Pride this weekend, it’s going to feel a lot more like Christmas! By lifting the stay on Judge Walker’s ruling so quickly, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has given us an incredible gift... We applaud and thank the 9th circuit for responding so quickly.”
ARREST MADE IN TRANSGENDER WOMAN ATTACK l The LAPD has arrested one suspect in the beating of a transgender woman in Hollywood, KTLA reports. Nicol Shakhnazaryan, 21, of Los Angeles, was arrested last month on a charge of felony battery in the attack on Vivian Diego, who was beaten and kicked by four men as she walked to a subway station after ending her shift as a barista at Beso restaurant. She sustained major injuries to her face, head, and ribs. Police are seeking the additional suspects with help from the FBI and are investigating the attack as a hate crime.
SAILORS TO WEAR UNIFORMS AT SD PRIDE l The United States Navy, Region Southwest has officially given active duty servicemembers under its command permission to wear their uniforms in San Diego’s LGBT Pride Parade this month. “San Diego has a strong military presence and a large LGBT community, and it is important to our LGBT servicemembers that we honor their full identity and service to our country. We are grateful to the Navy Region Southwest command for extending their support to our event and to these courageous servicemembers,” San Diego LGBT Pride General Manager, Stephen Whitburn, said in a statement.
SAN VICENTE INN NEW OWNERSHIP l The San Vicente Inn, a gay-friendly clothing-optional West Hollywood hotel, has been purchased by the Sunset Tower Hotel owner, Jeff Klein, reports wehonews.com. According to Mr. Klein, he bought the inn because, “it’s one of the most magical, special places in all of West Hollywood, and it deserves a lot of love and attention.” The hotel will remain gay-friendly (and open to one-and-all) and clothing optional, wehonews. com reports. 2 0 T H E F IGH T | J ULY 2013
VIVIAN DIEGO
LUCIANA CAPORASO
LUCIANA AT OC PRIDE l On August 10, 2013, from noon to 10pm, OC Pride will return to the streets of Downtown Santa Ana on Fourth Street, between Broadway and Ross. For the second year, OC Pride is presented free to the public. Grammy-nominated producer, house DJ, and remixer Dave Aude and acclaimed vocialist Luciana will be among the performers appearing at OC Pride. For more info visit prideoc.com.
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Kitchen Cabinets Starting at Only: $1228.15 Proudly Serving The LGBT Community
Fiberon Decking: Starting at $2.99 Per Foot
JULY 2013 | TH E F I GH T 21
Francisco Pride wasn’t enough of a surprise, with the demise of both DOMA and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the Secretary of Defense Chuck Hegel has announced that the Pentagon will start working “immediately” to extend benefits to same-sex couples. THE IRS HAS MORE WORK TO DO Now that that scam of a scandal is dying down, the IRS will have to figure out how to handle taxes for legally married gay couples who live in states that don’t recognize same-sex marriage.
AFTER DOMA BENEFITS SAME-SEX COUPLES CAN NOW LOOK FORWARD TO. BY VICTOR MELAMED
your husband or wife won’t be getting shipped back home. A New York judge adjourned a deportation hearing involving a gay male couple, upon hearing of the DOMA ruling. Gays now have the same right to sponsor their spouses for green cards.
WAKING UP LAST MONTH ON JUNE 27, a day after the Supreme Court ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act, is a lot like waking up the morning after your wedding day/night, says Terrance Heath at The Campaign for America’s Future (blog.ourfuture.org). Something momentous and life-changing has happened. The world looked pretty much the same as it did the day before, but everything has changed. Some of the changes are obvious. Other changes that you might not have thought of, will become apparent later, and reveal just how much has changed. Here are some of the things that have changed for some 59 million Americans affected by last month’s ruling.
GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES GET EQUAL TREATMENT Department of Homeland Security Sec. Janet Napolitano has announced that DHS will “implement [last month’s] decision so that all married couples will be treated equally and fairly in the administration of our immigration laws.”
DEPORTATION OF GAY SPOUSES STOPS Last month was a win for 36,000 bi-national same-sex couples. If you’re gay or lesbian and married to someone from another country,
THE PENTAGON WILL EXTEND BENEFITS TO GAY SPOUSES If seeing military recruiters at San
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GAY COUPLES GET OBAMACARE BENEFITS Last month’s ruling made gay couples eligible for federal benefits under Obamacare. Same-sex couples in states that recognize their marriages can apply for tax subsidies to offset healthcare costs. Some couples will now qualify for spousal protections under Medicaid. (Though filing joint tax returns may raise their household income above the threshold.) OTHER FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BENEFITS The federal government classifies more than 1,000 statutory provisions where marriage is a factor. For married same sex couples some of those benefits will now include: joint parenting rights, such as access to school records; next-of-kin status for emergency medical decisions; having family visitation rights, such as a visit to a spouse in a hospital or prison; receiving custodial rights to children, shared property, child support and alimony after divorce; inheriting property; receiving spousal benefits when an officer is killed in the line of duty, receiving spousal Social Security payments, having immunity from testifying against spouse, and more. n
THE GAYMER CONNECTION MATT CONN
FIRST LGBT GAMING CONVENTION HITS SAN FRANCISCO NEXT MONTH. BY PAULO MURILLO THE GAYMERS ARE COMING! That’s gamers with a “y” for gay gamers. GaymerX (formerly known as GaymerCon), the very first LGBT gaming convention that focuses on queer geek culture, is set to hit San Francisco on the weekend of August 3-4. GaymerX is offering a weekend of parties, panels, community and cosplay, where people dress up as their favorite game or comic book character. THE FIGHT caught up with GaymerX founder, organizer and self-proclaimed gay geek Matt Conn to discuss the growing pains of being a gay geek, the homophobic, racial, and misogynistic slurs that can be common language in the gaming world, and the looming threat of a demonstration from the Westboro Baptist Church. WHAT WAS IT LIKE GROWING UP, AS A GAY GEEK? Being gay has its own issues with the way people treat you socially— and being a geek means you also get made fun of for being different. The gay groups—at least for me growing up -weren’t very friendly to geeks. Then you have the geek communities that were very homophobic. I always felt like a weirdo. I definitely had some dark moments. SOME CRITICS CLAIM THAT A GAMING CONVENTION FOR THE LGBT COMMUNITY IS NOT NECESSARY. I started this because I wasn’t happy with what other gaming conventions were providing for queer members of the community. Part of our fight is to convince the world that gaming is art—not just games. If you look at games as a story telling medium, to exclude gender and sexuality as a whole element of storytelling, is taking out a very huge part of the human experience. HAVE YOU ENCOUNTERED HOMOPHOBIA IN THE GAMING INDUSTRY? I think a blunt yes would be very unfair. Most gaming companies have made 2 4 T H E F IGH T | J ULY 2013
strides to at least hire LGBT developers and support the LGBT community—however the gaming community itself is very homophobic. If you go to the comments section of any mainstream gaming site; any time a homosexual, female, or racially based topic comes up, you get the worst ignorant responses possible. If you’re a woman, people will call you a bitch and tell you to get out. You can go onto Call of Duty or any online game, and people are throwing up the N word and the F word with reckless abandon. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT WESTBORO BAPTIST THREATENING TO BOYCOTT THE EVENT? I respect their right to say anything they want. That will bring press to our convention. I think it’s important to realize that they are using us to get press for themselves. As long as we don’t touch them or do anything illegal, it’s fine. They make a whole career out of suing people. I expect it will be a show.
WILL THERE BE ADDED SECURITY? We will definitely have more security than required for the amount of people that are coming, not because of the Westboro Baptist Church, but because there could potentially be other issues; this is an LGBT gathering; it is the first of its kind in the gayming community and we want people to have fun and feel safe. DO YOU THINK YOUR 14-YEAR OLD SELF WILL BE SATISFIED WITH THIS EVENT? I hope this convention is something that everyone will value. It’s tough to time travel, but I think it would make me feel better to understand that I wasn’t a weirdo. Just because I was one of 2,000 in my school, I was actually one of hundreds of thousands in the world. Knowing that would’ve been so much more empowering and made me feel so much less alone. n To register and purchase a badge for GaymerX, visit gaymerconnect.com (use the discount code “thefight” to get $10.00 off at checkout).
GAY FRIENDLY GAMES The Sims Life simulator “The Sims” makes homosexuality a choice by allowing players to crush on, fall in love and engage in romantic shenanigans with other Sims of the same gender. No Sim is heterosexual by default. Mount Your Friends Muscle men in banana bikinis literally mount each other to get to the top of a human pile. The game is full of sexual innuendo with dongs swinging all over the place as men jump, do cartwheels, body slam and mount their friends. The guy on top WINS! Star Wars: Knight Of The Old Republic Juhani is the first openly gay character of the Star Wars universe. She first appeared as a playable character in the 2003 sci-fi game. There are some versions where a glitch allows a romantic subplot with male players, but for the most part Juhani is strictly into girls. Persona 4 Street punk Kanji Tasumi must confront his closeted homosexuality and battle it out. Kanji fights the chauvinistic Shadow Kanji that lives within him. Kanji must defeat his internalized homophobia and accept his sexuality as an essential part of himself. Fallout: New Vegas Arcade Gannon is a highly intelligent researcher of the potential medicinal uses of natural compounds. He is a personable and quick-witted complex member of the Followers of the Apocalypse in 2281. He also happens to be gay. Bully Players can make tough guy Jimmy Hopkins, the protagonist of “Bully,” make out with either boys or girls to gain good health. Although the game ends with Jimmy making out with female love interest Zoe, one of the female characters teases Jimmy by saying, “I’m like Helen of Troy, but you seem more interested in boys named Troy.” Grand Theft Auto IV The 4th installment of the Grand Theft Auto franchise gives us Gay Tony, who happens to be ... gay. A friend with main character Niko Belic, Gay Tony is a pill-popping, cocaine-snorting gay club owner, as well as a powerful and destructive socialite. Metal Gear Solid The character Vamp is a bisexual bloodfeeding bad guy with superhuman strength and a twisted attraction for knives. His name “Vamp” is actually slang for men who suck the necks of men. Mass Effect Liara is an alien member of an all-female race that is able to reproduce with any sex of any species. In “Mass Effect,” players can choose to play as a male or female character with an option for a subplot romance and sexual encounter with the pansexual Liara. Earthbound Tony from the Super Nintendo classic “Earthbound” only hinted at having a secret crush on his best friend and roommate Jeff Andonuts back in 1994. Years later, Tony’s homosexuality was confirmed via Earthbound director Shigesato Itoi.
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THE ENEMY WITHIN WILL WALTERS RECLAIMS
“STOLEN” PRIDE BY SPEAKING, EDUCATING ABOUT RIGHTS. BY THOM SENZEE IN 2011, Will Walters was allegedly assaulted by a San Diego LGBT Pride festival security official and subjected to illegal search and seizure as well as unequal enforcement of the law by San Diego Police officers. According to Walters and his attorney, Chris Morris, who is a partner at the San Diego powerhouse firm of Aguirre, Morris & Severson, the police were prompted to violate Walters’ Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights by none other than San Diego LGBT Pride itself. At issue was the choice of attire Walters made as he prepared for San Diego’s annual Pride festival that year. Once at the festival in Balboa Park, a photographer snapped a few photos of Walters wearing a leather gladiator kilt and a leather harness. That’s when a police officer told Walters his outfit was “borderline illegal.” Yet the overt sexuality of the leather gear in question (pictured within this article) was tame by the standards of anyone who has ever seen a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model or who has been to a typical bar or club, straight or gay, with gogo dancers. But, as a ranking San Diego peace officer later revealed, Pride organizers asked police for stricter enforcement of nudity laws in 2011 because they wanted that year’s festival to be more “family-friendly” than it had been in past years. For the record, the Pride security officer (a volunteer) who Walters has accused of assault denies the charge. Likewise, San Diego LGBT Pride and San Diego Police deny having violated Walters’ rights. However, a federal court judge agreed that Walters’ allegations have enough merit for a court trial, having 2 6 T H E F IGH T | J ULY 2013
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recently denied defendants’ motions to dismiss the most substantive of his charges against them in his civil case. But also for the record, the city attorney in San Diego declined to file any charges against Will Walters. In fact, after his arrest, all charges stemming from his ordeal at Pride were dropped. Legal battles aside, one unexpected outcome for Will Walters has been the emergence of his newfound passion for educating peoplegay, straight, young, and old-about the importance of knowing their rights as guaranteed by the Constitution. Rather than take what happened to him in 2011 lying down, or stopping at the filing of a lawsuit against his alleged perpetrators, Walters has mounted a campaign to inspire people to become well versed on their rights. By participating in panel discussions and making himself available for speaking engagements at schools, nonprofit groups and public service organizations, Walters hopes to help others avoid what he went through. Late last month, Walters joined a group of local LGBT editors and activists to comprise the San Diego Press Club’s first-ever all-LGBT discussion panel. Members of San Diego’s press corps and others attended the historic panel, which was hosted at “... I WAS HUMILIATED, the studios of San Diego’s ABC Television affiliate, VERBALLY ABUSED AND KFMB, Channel 10. SHAMED FOR MY ATTIRE, Entitled, “LGBTs WHICH WAS TRADITIONAL in the News: How To LEATHER GEAR... ON A DAY Meaningfully Cover A THAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO Diverse Community And BE CELEBRATING WHO I Its Emerging Issues With WAS, A SMALL GROUP OF Sensitivity And Respect,” PEOPLE WHO WANTED TO the panel discussion was MAKE THE GAY COMMUNITY co-sponsored by the MORE PRESENTABLE AND San Diego chapter of the FAMILY-FRIENDLY WRONGSociety of Professional FULLY DECIDED I NEEDED TO Journalists. It was moderated by this reporter. BY PUNISHED.” In an interview with THE FIGHT Walters talked about the media, knowing your rights and how conforming to someone else’s views does not equal equality. YOU RECENTLY SPOKE AT THE SAN DIEGO PRESS CLUB’S LGBT DISCUSSION PANEL. HOW WAS THAT EXPERIENCE FOR YOU? It was the first panel I’ve been on. It was a learning experience first and foremost. My goals changed as the evening progressed. I feel like it was a major leap just showing up and facing my fears to be there for my community. I hope I had some positive impact on the way the media reports on LGBT people in the future. Instead of being just a face showing up, I feel like I turned out to be more of a voice. A VOICE FOR WHOM OR WHAT IN PARTICULAR? I think I was a voice for the average LGBT person who is not a public figure and who doesn’t get to work in the LGBT community. If I’m not mistaken, I was the only person on the panel who doesn’t have an income from working or owning a business in the LGBT community. I have great respect for the other panel participants; and I admire the work they do for our community. But, like the average LGBT-American, I don’t get a paycheck from working for LGBT civil rights. This is strictly volunteer work for me. And, I think the average person who chooses to get involved in helping fight for equality for LGBT people is also donating their
time and energy. I hope having me on the panel gave voice to the average Pride festival attendee. WHAT IS YOUR MESSAGE TO THAT AVERAGE LGBT PERSON? It isn’t really just a message for the average LGBT person as much as it was a warning to anyone going to an event where there may be police officers. What I’ve learned from the very beginning of this whole ordeal is that there are laws and rules at all levels of society that don’t always agree with the Constitution. Every year, the U.S. Supreme Court finds several laws unconstitutional. I’ve found that most people don’t know their rights. I didn’t know about many of the rights I have. I knew I had some rights, but now I know it’s crucial to actually read the Constitution and Bill of Rights and know what specific protections you have. In fact, it gives me a new appreciation and a newfound since of pride to be an American because our forefathers created those documents for all of us. IN THE SIMPLEST TERMS— HOW WOULD YOU EXPLAIN THE ESSENCE OF WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU AT SAN DIEGO LGBT PRIDE THE LAST TIME YOU ATTENDED? In 2011, without getting into all the details, I was robbed of my pride in being an openly gay man during a weekend called Pride by an organization called Pride. My personal pride as a member of the LGBT community was robbed, just as my rights were unlawfully taken from me. COULD IT HAPPEN AGAIN TO ANOTHER MEMBER OF OUR COMMUNITY? Not only has my message evolved since this thing first started, it’s also been amplified, thanks to great publications and news
organizations like THE FIGHT. Let’s not let this happen to anybody at another Pride event ever. You know, I was humiliated, verbally abused and shamed for my attire, which was traditional leather gear of the kind that is a big part of our community. On a day that I was supposed to be celebrating who I was, a small group of people who wanted to make the gay community more presentable and family-friendly wrongfully decided I needed to by punished. This shouldn’t and doesn’t have to happen again to anyone who goes to a Pride festival in San Diego, L.A. or anywhere in the United States. Let’s not let things like this happen to anyone anywhere. DO YOU THINK THAT IN OUR RUSH TO BE EMBRACED BY THE MAINSTREAM WE ARE ERASING GAY SUBCULTURES IN FAVOR OF ASSIMILATION? This is something that I have had a lot of time to think about and learn about. I am absolutely opposed to conforming to anything, conforming to someone else’s views does not equal equality. The truth is when you start talking about conforming in regards to any community you are basically complicit in going back into hiding, shutting your mouth and smiling. There is history to everything and although as time goes by there is less need to be SO LOUD, there is always a need to remember our past and the struggles that each and every one of our communities have been through to achieve equality. Also, “traditional norm” is relative, as a community if we forget about the drag queens, the leather men and so many other groups within our community that have brought us to the marriage equality that we are celebrating with the repeal of the main parts of DOMA today, then history is going to repeat itself and everything that so many people worked so hard will be for nothing. n JULY 2013 | TH E F I GH T 27
THEROSTOWREPORT
BY ANN ROSTOW
WE WON MEDIUM!
> We got the right results from the High Court last month, but we didn’t get a whole lot of great new gay rights precedents. In striking the Defense of Marriage Act, Justice Kennedy gave us no clear sense of what legal standard should apply to gay discrimination cases. Nor did he articulate any general principles that we haven’t heard before. And obviously, the Prop 8 case focused entirely on the arcane details of Article III standing under federal law. Do we care? Not really! The important thing is that we won. Plus, there were so many bad things that could have happened, but didn’t. For one thing, we could have easily lost the Prop 8 case. Perhaps you noticed the truly weird line up on both sides of the decision. On the one hand, we had Roberts, Scalia, Kagen, Breyer and Ginsburg. On the other, we had Kennedy, Thomas, Alito and Sotomayor. Say what? Was this a legitimate debate over rules of standing? Or was it a chess match between justices, some of whom longed to strike antigay marriage laws around the country and others who hoped to deliver a generational setback to our cause? How close did we come to a narrow majority that gave deference to the electorate, concluding that states have the right to define marriage for themselves? Remember it wasn’t that long ago that the California Supreme Court said much the same, upholding Prop 8 as a legitimate expression of the voters’ views. If such a ruling had materialized, our defeat would have been severe. Because think about it. How on Earth could we return to the Court and insist on full marriage equality if the Court had just announced that discrimination was a legitimate public policy option? It would have been another Bowers v Hardwick, and we would have been measuring our future in decades rather than years. Or what if Prop 8 had been scrapped on really narrow grounds, grounds so specific to California that the opinion would be a green light for other courts to reject an argument from any other state? Instead, the Court effectively killed Prop 8 and (unless you think proposition organizers should have Article III standing) it did no damage in the process. Our Prop 8 victory was compounded by rapturous press and the amazing gesture of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which effectively put a quick end to the prospect of nitpicking postdecision legal skirmishes. As you probably know, the High Court’s decision will not be recorded for 25 days. But the Ninth Circuit was never required to maintain its stay on Judge Walker’s ruling for those additional weeks and indeed, with prodding from Attorney General Harris, the court chose to save all of us some time. Once the appellate court lifted the stay and marriages resumed, the Prop 8 proponents went whining back to the High Court with an emergency motion, begging for a window to make their case that Judge Walker’s ruling had limited scope. There they ran into Justice Kennedy of all people, who dismissed their last ditch effort without comment on Sunday. I’m sure they’ll keep trying to file motions and complaints, but that’s fine with me. In fact, it’s sort of fun to watch their pathetic maneuvers. And how about DOMA? True, we didn’t get a landmark opinion, chock full of new standards and gay rights jurisprudence. But we got a victory, and we got an opinion based mostly on gay rights rather than states’ rights. Why does that matter? Because if a majority of the High Court had looked at the Defense of Marriage Act and decided that the only problem with the law was that it trampled on the rights of states to define marriage, the legal status of gay couples would have remained a wide 2 8 T H E F IGH T | J ULY 2013
It’s still not clear whether the federal government will recognize married couples in unfriendly states for tax purposes or social security. But if President Obama follows through with his pledges, government agencies are intent on recognizing all legal marriages, regardless of the state of residence. open question. If the Court had struck DOMA without raising the issues of equal protection or due process, the opinion would have implied that gay rights are negligible, not important, something for another day. So that was another bullet dodged, although it felt close. Justice Kennedy did emphasize states’ rights in his opinion, so much so that Justice Roberts implied in dissent that the majority decision was based entirely on federalism. But it wasn’t. And while it wasn’t as groundbreaking as some of us would have liked, it has left us in a good position to continue our legal and political fights for full equality. Mainly, we’ve shifted the balance of power and we’ve changed the status quo. No longer are courts twisting themselves into knots to avoid a progay marriage ruling. Now they’re making sure that history won’t be adding their names to the blacklist of bigots. Politicians are
thinking more about their grandchildren than their conservative constituents. In state legislatures, marriage equality bills are no longer the province of progressive outliers. And we may see the end of second-class civil unions, which can no longer be presented as “equal” to marriage. It’s still not clear whether the federal government will recognize married couples in unfriendly states for tax purposes or social security. But if President Obama follows through with his pledges, government agencies are intent on recognizing all legal marriages, regardless of the state of residence. Meanwhile, one of the most critical marriage benefits will be available to all married couples at once; to wit, the ability to sponsor a foreign spouse for residency. All in all, not a bad month.
MARCHING ON
> What else is new? Oh, who cares! How can we be expected
>> JULY 2013 <<
to focus on the slow, yet inevitable, march of progress when we’ve spent the last several days leaping and bounding to new mountaintops of civil rights? Do any of you remember the aftermath of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s ruling on marriage equality in the Bay State? First, we had to wait six months because of some fuzzy language that allowed the legislature to mess around with the decision. At the same time, we were hit with a backlash so intense that some of our allies wondered aloud if our victory was worth the price. Of course it was. But I’d also like to point out that this time around, we’re getting a frontlash. Now, we are embraced by the media, while our new friends on the Ninth Circuit rush to let our marriages resume. Democratic leaders extol our success while Republicans grumble in respectful dismay and conservatives bleat to one another from within the confines of their own echo chamber. How many states will now proceed with marriage laws or referendums? How many of the civil union states will work towards an upgrade now that full marriages come equipped with full federal benefits? How many more courts will see the writing on the wall? Keep in mind that we have marriage suits in state courts in New Jersey, New Mexico and other places I forget. Meanwhile, we have federal, Prop 8-type, suits in Nevada and Hawaii and both of those lawsuits are now pending before the Ninth Circuit. Oh, and before we finish our High Court musings, note that the Court refused to take the appeal of a Ninth Circuit ruling that restored partner rights to state staff in Arizona. That leaves another gay rights federal appellate opinion intact and in force, and for the
record, leaves gay state employees in Arizona better off than most of us. Thanks Court!
GALLAGHER NON GRATA
> I noticed that a group in Chicago has had to cancel a debate of some sort between anti-marriage harridan Maggie Gallagher and eclectic gay philosopher John Corvino entitled “Can a gay man be friends with Maggie Gallagher?” Corvino and Gallagher wrote a book together purporting to bring a civilized tone to our fractious clash with the far right on marriage. And hey, I’m all for keeping things civilized, recognizing the humanity in our adversaries and making original arguments, but there’s a point at which Corvino doth protest too little. Can a gay man be friends with Gallagher? Um, not really. Gallagher and her ilk see us as
deviants, no more and possibly a lot less. She can present herself as a gay-tolerant champion of tradition, healthy families and social bonds. But there’s no such thing as that animal. There is no argument against marriage equality that is not based somehow on the idea that gay couples are inferior to straight couples, period. And I can’t help wondering why a gay professor choses to write books and do speaking tours with someone like Maggie Gallagher if not for publicity. John Corvino is a good writer, but he’s not that good. Would anyone take notice of the man were it not for his Gallagher gimmick? At any rate, the event organizers said various angry gay men and women threatened to disrupt the debate, or maybe run riot through the halls, so they reluctantly called it off. I’d rather it be cancelled for lack of interest rather than fear of the mob, but whatever. n
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THEFAMILY >> JULY 2013 <<
Zach Wahls: “This is an incredible victory for families like mine.”
ZACH WAHLS WITH HIS PARENTS
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT FAMILY EQUALITY COUNCIL: THE VOICES OF CHILDREN KEY TO DECISION BY JUSTICES. BY ORLY LYONNE l Family Equality Council, which connects, supports and represents three million parents who are LGBT and their six million children, hailed the Supreme Court’s decisions last month to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and dismiss Proposition 8.
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“This is an historic and momentous day for millions of families in our country with parents who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) said Family Equality Council Board Chair Alan Bernstein. Key to the rulings was an historic Amicus Brief, authored by pro-bono counsel Bryan Cave on behalf of Family Equality Council, which elevated the voices of children of LGBT parents—many of whom are part of a national public education and advocacy program, The Outspoken Generation. In writing the Windsor opinion, Justice Kennedy wrote, DOMA “... humiliates tens of thousands of children now being raised by
same-sex couples. The law in question makes it even more difficult for the children to understand the integrity and closeness of their own family and its concord with other families in their community and in their daily lives.” LGBT family advocate and Outspoken Generation Co-Chair Zach Wahls said the rulings reaffirm a message he has been spreading nationally since his 2011 speech before the Iowa legislature went viral on YouTube. “This is an incredible victory for families like mine,” said Wahls. “Children of LGBT parents deserve to have our voices heard, and today we know that we were. The Supreme Court has finally recognized that our parents and our families deserve to be treated with dignity and respect under the law.” n
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GUESS WHO? WITH OVER 3 MILLION YOUTUBE HITS ON HIS RUNAWAY HIT VIDEO “ICE CREAM TRUCK,” GAY RAPPER CAZWELL, WITH VOCALIST LUCIANA, RELEASES HIS NEW SINGLE, “GUESS WHAT?”
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BY MARK ARIEL | PHOTOS BY MARCO OVANDO OPENLY GAY RAPPER AND SONGWRITER LUKE CASWELL, known as Cazwell, recently described his musical style as, “if Biggie Smalls ate Donna Summer for breakfast.” With lyrics like: “Take off the Speedo / I’ll eat you like a Cheeto / You knew I was a freak / Don’t look surprised / When your ankles end up behind your eyes,” Cazwell’s music—a sexed up, tongue-in-cheek, fun mix of electrified dance and old school hip hop—has captivated underground and mainstream audiences alike with a string of viral YouTube sensations. Having first reached over 1 million YouTube hits with the riotous video for “I Seen Beyoncé at Burger King,” (featuring Jonny Makeup and directed by Bec Stupak), Cazwell has since set the internet ablaze with the runaway hit video “Ice Cream Truck” (directed by Marco Ovando) which quickly received over 3 million online views and continues to increase in popularity with fans worldwide. This summer, Cazwell and Luciana—a Britain-bred, U.S. based vocalist best known for her collaborations with Bodyrox (“Yeah Yeah”) and TV’s Betty White (“I’m Still Hot”)—are hotter than a chili pepper in the first single from Cazwell’s highly anticipated full-length album “Hard 2 B Fresh,” releasing soon from Peace Bisquit. Produced by up-and-coming Russian duo Fagault & Marina, the new single “Guess What?” is a gnarly, horn-ridden electro anthem with contagiously catchy lyrics and a hard-pounding beat. “Guess What?” is available on iTunes and major music e-tailers now. In an interview with THE FIGHT, Cazwell, born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts, talks about lyrical therapy, overcoming school bullies, dropping out of college and why it’s a great time to be gay. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR CHILDHOOD? A good childhood. Average lower middle class Polish American family. I have 2 brothers and I’m the middle child. I spent a lot of time alone as a young kid but I think that helped my imagination as an adult. HOW OLD WERE YOU WHEN YOU REALIZED YOU WERE GAY? Well, I’ve had crushes on boys since I can remember but it probably wasn’t until 9th grade that I actually associated those feeling with the word gay and figured out that’s what I was. HOW WERE YOU WITH THAT REALIZATION? I wasn’t cool with it. I didn’t want to be gay. I wanted a hetero life. I still had an image in my head of being happy with a wife and kids. I did a lot of fighting with myself in my head about not wanting to be gay but I think the biggest part came from not knowing anyone that was gay and out. WHEN DID YOU COME OUT TO PARENTS, FRIENDS AND HOW DID THEY REACT? I came out to my parents the day after I graduated high school. My mom had a little bit of a hard time digesting it but she soon got the hang of it. My parents were divorced at the time and my dad was trying to prove that he was a good father so when I told him he saw it as an opportunity to have a cooler relationship with his son. I think he had the right perspective. WERE YOU EVER BULLIED IN SCHOOL AND IF SO, HOW DID YOU DEAL WITH THAT? I was bullied in school but only my first two or three years because that was my real insecure, awkward stage. By junior / senior year I was way more confident in myself and that’s when it seemed to stop. I learned then that if you
hold your head up high you’re really no longer a target for a bully. WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO BECOME A RAPPER/ SONGWRITER? I always wanted to be a stage performer. When I was real young I started getting involved in drama classes and plays but I never really got into it. It was hard for me to get satisfaction out of performing something that someone else wrote. I always wanted to write and tell my own story. But I knew I couldn’t sing to save my life. When I started writing rhymes and putting them to beats I started to feel like “Okay, I think this is the way to go.” I can’t think of a better way to put a detailed perspective to music.
“I LEARNED THAT TO REALLY MAKE IT— YOU CAN’T SPEND YOUR TIME TRYING TO GET ACCEPTED BY SOMEONE ELSE’S SCENE, BUT RATHER YOU HAVE TO CREATE YOUR OWN SCENE AND WAIT FOR PEOPLE TO COME TO YOU.” HOW DID YOU TEAM UP WITH LESBIAN RAPPER CRASTA-YO? AT THAT POINT IN YOUR CAREER—WHAT WAS THE DREAM? Well, me and Crasta knew each other since we were like 14. We didn’t start rapping together until after high school. Our ultimate dream was to be the next Beastie Boys. We worshipped the ground they walked on and studied everything about them. Particularly how they wrote and crafted their beats. Everything I did started with the Beastie Boys for sure. IN 1997 YOU ENROLLED AT BOSTON COLLEGE, AND STARTED LINING UP LOCAL GIGS FOR YOURSELF AND
CRASTA. HOW WAS THAT TIME IN YOUR LIFE? DID IT PREPARE YOU FOR WHAT LAY AHEAD YOUR CAREER? Yeah, at the time, I lived in Boston and it was a huge learning experience as far as managing my career. I booked my own shows, got my own press, was in charge of our image, stage show production and getting beats made. I had actually dropped out of college but I kept the same work ethic but just put it towards my music career. DID ANYONE IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY EVER TURN YOU DOWN BECAUSE OF THE GAY CONTENT IN YOUR WORK? Not too much to my face, to tell you the truth. If people in the industry don’t want to work with you because you’re gay they don’t give you an explanation. They just don’t work with you. But while living in Boston I tried very hard to be a part of the college hip-hop community that was happening at the time. I soon realized that no matter how talented I was, straight people, particularly in the music business, have association issues with gay people. It was a good lesson to learn because at the same time I learned that to really make it—you can’t spend your time trying to get accepted by someone else’s scene, but rather you have to create your own scene and wait for people to come to you. AT WHAT POINT IN YOUR CAREER DID YOU FEEL YOU REACHED A MILESTONE? I’ve had a few milestones. I would say the first major milestone for me was when I went solo, I had gotten picked up by Bill Coleman and Peace Bisquit Management, as well as their record label, who worked out a deal with West End Records. They were a disco label, who let us sample their catalogue. Because of the late Mel Cheren and West End, I was able to put out the track “All Over Your Face” which samples the Loose Joints classic, “Is It All Over My Face.” JULY 2013 | TH E F I GH T 33
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“I DON’T PLAN ON GETTING MARRIED ANYTIME SOON SINCE I DON’T EVEN HAVE A BOYFRIEND BUT I WOULD LIKE TO GET MARRIED EVENTUALLY ... I ENJOY HAVING A PARTNER IN LIFE. I REALLY WANT THAT FOR MYSELF.” The song and video got me a lot of attention and the vid went viral for its time. This was also when I actually started to build a fan base. HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH THE LYRICS FOR “ICE CREAM TRUCK?” Nothing inspires me more than a deadline. Tell me when I need to turn in the finished track and I will find a way. Which was ultimately the inspiration with “Ice Cream Truck.” The song was written because my good friend JB Ghuman Jr., who wrote and directed this movie “Spork,” wanted a new track from me for the movie. It was the last day I had to work on it and I was very frustrated because it seemed like I couldn’t give him what he wanted. He was like “just give me a real simple, 80’s sounding track with minimal cute noises, the kind of noises that would come from an ice cream truck.” So at the final hour me and the engineer were like “Fuck it. Let’s just do a song called ‘Ice Cream Truck.’” We must have written and produced that track in less than 45 minutes. But sometimes that’s the best way to work. YOU HAVE COLLABORATED WITH NUMEROUS ARTISTS, LADY GAGA, AMANDA LEPORE, LUCIANA. HOW DID THESE COLLABORATIONS COME ABOUT? I rapped on the remix single for Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance.” So when I met her she was just starting her career and touring a lot of gay clubs and promoting the single. I did a couple shows with her. She’s really cool. A true artist. Even when she first started and no one knew her, she took her look and her stage performance very seriously. I remember we performed on a stage that must have been like 3 feet by 6 feet but she treated it like she was at Madison Square Garden. I don’t know how we did it but we fit her 2 dancers up on stage too. Amanda is my sister. She’s one of my favorite people and a true inspiration to me all the time. We are both from the same scene in NYC, so it was bound to happen. I’m just very inspired by her story and her point of view. Writing for her and putting her story to music is very fulfilling to me. I have always loved Luciana’s voice and I’ve been playing her 3 4 T H E F IGH T | J ULY 2013
records as a DJ for years. I had a couple random people tell me that they know her and I should work her. I got her contact info and the rest is history. We actually didn’t meet until the day before the video shoot [“Guess What?”] but us both being Cancers we clicked right away. She’s a very lovable person and her positive energy is infectious. I think you can see our Cancer chemistry in the video. YOUR PRESS RELEASE STATES THAT YOUR NEW ALBUM, “HARD 2 B FRESH,” TAKES YOUR MUSIC TO THE NEXT LEVEL. CAN YOU ELABORATE ON THAT? Well, just sonically you will hear new sounds from me that you haven’t before. I have tracks with everything from EDM to Moombahton. I also wanted to prove my skills as a writer on this album. I wanted to prove that I could rap and tell stories too. I went through a pretty rough break up this year so you will probably pick up on some lyrical therapy going on. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT DOMA’S DEFEAT AND THE
PROP 8 REVERSAL. DO YOU SEE YOURSELF GETTING MARRIED ANY TIME SOON? I think it’s amazing and a great time to be gay. I can feel the acceptance from the country like no other time in my life and it’s a good feeling. I don’t plan on getting married anytime soon since I don’t even have a boyfriend but I would like to get married eventually, no doubt. I enjoy having a partner in life. I really want that for myself. IS THERE ANYTHING WE HAVE NOT ASKED YOU THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH OUR READERS? Yes! Support your independent artists and musicians. Buy their music. Don’t just download for free. Go to their shows. Buy their merchandise. Show their videos to your friends. People don’t realize that independent artists need that money and support and visibility to continue making more music, art and videos. n For more on Cazwell, and to view a video preview of “Guess What?” visit Cazwell.com.
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THELAW >> JULY 2013 <<
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE PUBLIC KIND ACCORDING TO VARIOUS ONLINE STUDIES, UP TO A 25% OF RESPONDENTS REPORTED HAVING HAD SEX IN A PUBLIC PLACE. BY DAVID HAKIMFAR Planes, trains, cemeteries and confessionals? These are just some of the places where people have been caught having sexual encounters in recent news. There will always be those people who enjoy living life on the proverbial “edge.” According to various online studies, up to a 25% of respondents reported having had sex in a public place. Yet, while these folks have dared their senses into some imaginative and sometimes dangerous public places, it may lead to trouble with the law. While it may seem harmless in the heat of the moment, there are real dangers and potentially expensive, long-lasting, and in some cases, life-changing consequences if you are busted in the act. In California, Penal Code 647(a) makes it a crime “to engage in or to solicit anyone to engage in lewd or dissolute conduct in any public place or in any place open to the public or exposed to public view.” 3 6 T H E F IGH T | J ULY 2013
This act is most often charged using undercover cops as “bait” in public locations (such as bathrooms and parks). Undercover cops typically target and “bait” gay men into exposing themselves, masturbating, or proposing some other sexual act. Many times, the officer has engaged in entrapment and the suspect has done no wrong. Public sex is, by law, defined as sexual acts or forms of exhibition that take place in public or other “semi-public” places. Under California Penal Code 647(a), it can occur in a public place, a place open to the public, or a place exposed to public view. California courts have found “public” to include, among other places, an automobile, motorcycle, a common hallway in an
apartment building, the area behind the service counter in a men’s clothing store, a car parked on a public street, a private movie booth at an adult bookstore, and a massage parlor. For example, the backseat of a car may not seem especially public, but if a passerby can see you or you are otherwise visible to the public, you can be arrested and charged with a crime. The truly creative have been caught in places as diverse as public libraries, tram cars, amusement park rides and, as mentioned earlier, a church confessional in Rome! While it might be argued that some of these places may not have been truly “public,” California law applies the public standard in such a way that any place other than your home, hotel room or your personal office can be construed as a public place. So, before you get it on in your backyard or that big picture window facing the canyon, you might want to pull the drapes or find a safer alternative. As far as the definition of a sexual act is concerned, these too are covered by a broad spectrum of laws and statutes that can be interpreted in different ways. These can range from charges of indecent exposure to lewd acts in public. In most cases these are misdemeanors, but can be escalated to felony charges for multiple offenses. For felony convictions, most offenders will face prison time and be required to register as a sexual offender. Because the laws covering these crimes are complex, if you are arrested on a charge related to sex in public, it’s important that you contact an attorney immediately to discuss your options and how best to defend against consequences that could follow you for a lifetime. n David Hakimfar is a Trial Attorney and Senior Partner of Hakimfar Law, PLC, located in West Hollywood. He can be reached at (213) 265-9252.
MASEN DAVIS, TRANSGENDER LAW CENTER
CA SENATE APPROVES WIDE-RANGING PROTECTIONS FOR STUDENTS; NATION’S LARGEST PENSION FUND COVERS TRANSGENDER HEALTH CARE. BY ORLY LYONNE THE CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE approved a groundbreaking bill last month expanding antidiscrimination protections for transgender students in public elementary and secondary schools, among other things allowing them to choose sports teams and restrooms based on their gender identity, reports The Advocate at www.advocate.com. The bill has already been passed by the state Assembly, so it now goes to Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature, the Associated Press reports. A spokesman for Brown said the governor would not comment on the measure. “We’re thrilled that the Senate has passed this important legislation, and we are hopeful that the governor will sign it into law,” said Ilona Turner, legal director for the Transgender Law Center, in a press release. State law already banned discrimination within schools on the basis of gender identity, but this bill spells out protections in greater detail. The California measure is the first putting such language into statute, the AP notes. In related news—the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the nation’s largest public pension fund and the administrator of health benefits for 1.3 million enrollees, agreed last month to cover treatment related to gender transition effective next year. The CalPERS board voted last month to make such treatment available to beneficiaries, who include state, municipal, and public agency employees, as of January 1. A coalition of labor organizations and transgender rights groups, including the Service Employees International Union and the Transgender Law Center, had been advocating for the move for over a decade. Also, earlier this year a state regulatory agency, the Department of Insurance and Department of Managed Health Care, had directed health plans in California to “remove benefit and coverage exclusions and limitations related to gender transition services.” “We’re incredibly proud of the CalPERS Board for taking action to make sure transgender people are treated fairly and have the same access to care as everyone else,” said Masen Davis, executive director of the Transgender Law Center, in a news release. “CalPERS joins a growing list of public and private sector entities that have decided the time has come to end exclusionary policies.” n
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TRANSGENDER RIGHTS
JULY 2013 | TH E F I GH T 37
KEEPING FOCUSED
JAMES FRANCO. PHOTO BY MARK STUDNER 2 2 T H E F IGH T | J UN E 2013
“I WAS BORN WITH THE DESIRE TO CREATE, DESPITE MY HANDICAP,” SAYS LA-BASED PHOTOGRAPHER MARK STUDNER. FINDING YOUR PASSION, CONQUERING WEST HOLLYWOOD, AND THE JAMES FRANCO CONNECTION.
MARK STUDNER
BY MARK ARIEL BORN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY, but determined to triumph, Los Angeles based Mark Studner has been a professional photographer for over twenty years. “I picked up my first camera at the age of nine years old, when I was attending a school for persons with disabilities,” reveals Studner in an interview with THE FIGHT. “It was just something I knew I would be doing for the rest of my life.” With numerous magazine covers, as well as posters for plays and some Los Angeles-based movies, Studner has been proclaimed for his style, his lighting, and the expert quality of his work. His reputation for putting clients at ease in front of the camera is well known. “I was born with the desire to create, despite my handicap,” states Studner. “I had a passion for taking pictures of my friends and events in my life that meant the most to me. My best friend died when he was 6 years old. I think that drove my passion to capture moments, places and people. I learned from that early age the importance of remembering. To this day, the people I lost to cancer, AIDS, and old age, the greatest gift to them and to yourself is to remember them and who they were to you.”
OVERCOMING OBSTACLES “What I have,” explains Studner, “is called Minimal Cerebral Palsy (CP). It was caused by the umbilical cord that was wrapped around my neck while inside my mother’s womb. It cut off oxygen to my brain. The severity of CP depends on how long a fetus is without oxygen. In my case, they had to do an emergency C-section while my mom was awake. The cord was wrapped around my neck and I was blue and very close to dying... Folks with CP are affected in different ways. With me—it affected my speech and my walk. By going to physical therapy and speech therapy at a very young age, I was able somewhat overcome the severity of the disability... By working out and keeping my muscles toned my walk and speech have improved. However, when people hear me talk, they sometimes think that I am drunk or stoned.” “Cerebral Palsy should effect my photography, as it impairs motors skills, depth perception and balance, but by some miracle, it did not,” reveals Studner. “I always had a sense of humor about myself and a keen knowledge in who I am and the instincts to find a way to do something if my disability got in my way,” says Studner. “One of my favorite teachers in school, Cal Prep in Encino, gave all the seniors awards. Most of them were funny but when it came to me, it said, ‘The Studner Award goes to the person who overcomes the most obstacles on his way to making it.’”
IMAGES OF BEAUTY “In general, society can be cruel to anybody with a disability,” says Studner. “West Hollywood nightlife for example, can be very cold to anyone that might not fit what is considered an image of beauty or perfection. However, due to my photography, I was treated, for the most
part, with respect and kindness.” “I was introduced to West Hollywood via a [now defunct] gay magazine called Edge that focused on the arts. Many well-known photographers had their work featured there, including Herb Ritts... By coming out through my photography, at first in Edge, and then other gay magazines, people did not really care how I walked or what I sounded like... people got to know me through my photography and my subjects.” “After my work started to appear on the covers of other magazines, I met and photographed many models, actors, and musicians ... My most enjoyable photo shoot was with a then unknown actor—the adorable James Franco,” Studner reveals. “When I photographed him in 1997, he was new to LA and just starting out,” explains Studner. “I saw him at a modeling agency. I went over to him, showed him my portfolio and asked him to photograph him. He said he needed pictures but he did not have money. I told him that I would do it for free because I had an upcoming exhibit. My handicap did not faze him at all. He liked what he saw in my portfolio.” “During our photo session I just let him be him, and he let me take anything I wanted. I had never had a first photo session with someone so free and funny... Remember, at that time, James
“I ALWAYS HAD A SENSE OF HUMOR ABOUT MYSELF AND A KEEN KNOWLEDGE IN WHO I AM AND THE INSTINCTS TO FIND A WAY TO DO SOMETHING IF MY DISABILITY GOT IN MY WAY.” Franco was just a regular guy that came to LA to get into Hollywood. However, when I first saw him I loved his looks and when I started talking to him, I saw what a charming guy he was... and the rest is history!”
UNIQUE FINGERPRINT “Taking pictures is a way of connecting with people, sometimes intensely, because it’s just you and your subject,” reveals Studner. “You can feel your subject’s feelings, from happiness, feeling special, confidence, or weak and doubting yourself... So much of me and who I am is within each picture that I take as well. The way I look at it—that combination of me and my model is as unique as a fingerprint...” “You have to have trust in the people you are shooting, and they have to have trust in me. As a photographer I believe that I am a keeper of everyone that I ever shot, a part of them. That’s why I do not use any pictures without their permission. People come to me for their photography needs because of my talent; they stay because of their trust and to me that’s very important.” n To learn more about Mark Studner and his work visit: www.markstudner.com. Studner can be contacted via email at: markstudnerphoto@earthlink.net or at 310-498-7883. JULY 2013 | TH E F I GH T 39
THEBODY >> JULY 2013 <<
LIVE STRONG MEN CAN BOOST TESTOSTERONE LEVELS BY INCREASING THEIR INTAKE OF CERTAIN FOODS. BY VICTOR MELAMED l Testosterone levels peak during adolescence and early adulthood, and begin to decline after the age of 30 at the rate of about one percent each year. Fortunately, reports newsmaxhealth.com, men can boost testosterone levels naturally by increasing their intake of certain foods. They include:
1. OYSTERS Oysters contain zinc, which in addition to increasing testosterone, increases muscle growth, physical endurance, and sperm production.
2. BROCCOLI Increasing the amount of cruciferous vegetables in your diet, which include broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower, rids the body of excess estrogen, thus increasing testosterone. Crucifers are also high in fiber, which can help with weight control, and losing weight can also increase your body’s production of testosterone.
3. GARLIC Garlic contains the chemical diallyl disulfide, which stimulates the body to release a hormone that spurs the production of testosterone.
4. BANANAS Bananas contain the enzyme bromelain, which some studies have found boosts a man’s libido. They are also rich in B vitamins, such as riboflavin, which are essential for the manufacturing of testosterone.
5. BRAZIL NUTS Brazil nuts are high in magnesium, which helps raise testosterone levels. A recent study found that athletes given about 750 mg of magnesium daily for four weeks increased their free testosterone by 26 percent.
6. EGGS Eggs are rich in vitamin D, which is essential for optimal testosterone levels. One study found that men who were deficient in vitamin D had lower levels of testosterone and higher levels of estrogen than men who weren’t deficient.
JULY 2013 | TH E F I GH T 4 1
THEEPIDEMIC >> JULY 2013 <<
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DOCTORS REPROGRAM THE GENETIC CODE OF HIV TO TARGET CANCER. BY ORLY LYONNE l To achieve what seems to be impossible, a team of doctors from the University of Pennsylvania, led by Carl H. June, MD, have genetically engineered HIV to target cancer in patients, reports hivplusmag.com. Their strategy injects patients’ T cells with a modified form of HIV, disabled so it cannot cause AIDS, but with the ability to target and attack cancerous cells. Nicknamed “serial killer cells,” these have proved to be so strong that Patients’ T cells just one of them can kill up to 1,000 are injected with cancerous cells. The idea that one can reprogram the a modified form of HIV, disabled so it genetic code of HIV to target cancer cannot cause AIDS, instead seems like an idea from a Michael Crichton novel, but the truth is but with the ability that it has already saved lives, reports to target and attack hivplusmag.com. cancerous cells. During her second bout with leukemia, a young Pennsylvania girl Emma Whitehead and her parents seemed to have no other option for treatment, so this new technique offered them hope. After she was infected with the modified cells, it took a while for her body to absorb them, but once it did, her fever broke and the leukemia disappeared. Emma is now 7 years old. Over the past three years, 12 patients have received the treatment in all, and nine are in full or partial remission, June told a Philadelphia TV station. He and his team now intend to see if the treatment can fight other types of cancer. n
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JULY 2013 | TH E F I GH T 43
struggle women of color face in Hollywood, the unspoken bond she has with the gay community and what it’s like to be different.
LOST IN TRANSITION
my rock-n-roll motorcycle number that was inspired by my late friend Tura Satana [of the movie “Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!”]. I have a miniature chopper that was designed for me by Michael Schmidt - you might be familiar with him, he designs for Madonna’s tours, Janet Jackson, Lady Gaga, Dita and then me. My motorcycle number has become my signature number. Everyone seems to love it.
SELENE LUNA REUNITES WITH MARGARET CHO FOR “IN TRANSITION,” A NEW DARK COMEDY WEB SERIES ABOUT THREE WOMEN FRESH OUT OF PRISON. BY PAULO MURILLO SELENE LUNA may stand at 3'10", but she commands a larger than life presence, whether she’s walking a Hollywood red carpet, or performing for the big stage, big screen, flat screen or coming at ya from a computer screen. Here is a woman who despite being little, has toured the world as an original member of the Velvet Hammer Burlesque; she’s been in movies, she was on television playing Margaret Cho’s assistant in “The Cho Show,” and she’s currently doing strip tease with the queen of burlesque, Dita Von Teese in the Strip-Strip Hooray extravaganza—oh yeah, and she also does stand-up comedy. 4 4 T H E F IGH T | J ULY 2013
Luna reunites with Margaret Cho for “In Transition,” a new dark comedy web series about three women who are fresh out of prison and transitioning from the Big House to the Halfway House. The show is produced by Cho, Luna and Rico Martinez. Martinez is also director and shares co-writing credit with John Stapleton. The web series promises to be part Strangers with Candy and part My Name is Earl. In an interview with THE FIGHT Luna discussed the
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE “IN TRANSITION?” It’s a dark comedy about three women who are recently released from prison and they’re having a very difficult time transitioning to civilian life. They’re these scrappy hustlers. We have Tawny Kim being played by Margaret Cho; she’s a real sketchy Korean gang banger. I would call her the Mo of the Three Stooges. I play Concha; she’s the Mexican character that got in trouble with the Mexican Cartel. Then there’s Farhonda played by Yvette Saunders; she’s Tawny’s little sidekick. WHO INSPIRED YOUR CHARACTER? Concha has basically scammed people with her quote-on-quote,
PHOTO BY AUSTIN YOUNG
WHAT IS IT LIKE STRIPPING WITH DITA VON TEESE? Oh, it’s awesome. It’s a Broadway quality show. I’m doing
psychic powers. There’s a fine line between what’s real and not real with her. She starts to believe her own bull. She scammed the Cartel and got caught, so she’s always looking over her shoulder, because you don’t mess with the Mexican Cartel. The I’M NOT GAY, BUT THERE’S NO women in my life like my QUESTION THAT I KNOW WHAT aunts and cousins are part IT’S LIKE TO BE DIFFERENT. BE- of this character.
ING A LITTLE PERSON, I HAVE MY SHARE OF DISCRIMINATION OVER SOMETHING I HAVE NO CONTROL OVER. IT’S THE WAY I WAS BORN. I THINK I HAVE AN UNSPOKEN UNDERSTANDING WITH THE GAY COMMUNITY.
YOU’RE OBVIOUSLY FAMILIAR WITH MARGARET CHO. WHAT WAS IT LIKE SEEING HER TRANSFORM FOR HER ROLE? I could barely recognize her. Tawny is a perfect opportunity to see Margaret’s acting range. She’s an incredible actress. Unfortunately, in Hollywood, we don’t have a lot of opportunities to show all our talents. A lot of times we do whatever job is given to us. Margaret took this role and ran with it. THE MAIN CHARACTERS ARE WOMEN OF COLOR. WAS THAT INTENTIONAL? It was totally intentionally that all the starring roles were women of color, including our co-star Luenell; she plays Marla, an executive head of a company and she’s a black woman. We rarely get this type of opportunity, so we just decided to create this for ourselves.
DO YOU THINK THIS WEB SERIES WILL APPEAL TO A GAY AUDIENCE? Oh, I definitely think so-this will especially appeal to the gays. It’s been my experience that you can push the envelope a little further with the gays. I think the gay community has a special sense of humor. I think the challenges they face gives them permission to laugh a little darker. That’s the humor that appeals to me. HOW DOES THE GAY COMMUNITY RESPOND TO YOU AND YOUR BODY OF WORK? The gay community has been so incredible to me. I feel so lucky that I have been embraced by my gays and I think they know that I empathize on some level. I’m not gay, but there’s no question that I know what it’s like to be different. Being a little person, I have my share of discrimination over something I have no
control over. It’s the way I was born. I think I have an unspoken understanding with the gay community. WHO ARE “YOUR GAYS?” Oh my God, the closest people in my life are gay, unless I’m sleeping with them [laughs]. My good friend Jackie Beat is in our web series. She’s a world famous drag queen and she’s a major scene stealer. WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH WITH THIS WEB SERIES? I hope this shows the audiences and TV executives that women of color are funny and we can carry a well written show. n ”In Transition” premiers July 3 on Margaret Cho’s YouTube channel. New episodes launch every Wednesday by multichannel network Maker Studios. For more on Selene Luna visit her website at seleneluna.com.
JULY 2013 | T H E F I GH T 45
THEEVENT
>> JULY 2013 <<
PHOTOS BY PAULO MURILLO, THEHISSFIT.COM
LA PRIDE 2013
> LA PRIDE once again brought the masses into West Hollywood last month, with both the iconic LA PRIDE Parade and the LA PRIDE Festival. With well over 400,000 attending the Parade and Festival, 2013â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s LA PRIDE was a huge success. The large number of attendees were comprised of the LGBT community, straight allies and a number of celebrities, including Selena Gomez, Maria Menounos, Brendon Ayanbadejo, Christina Milian, Samuel Larsen, Richard Simmons, Pauley Perrette and many others. n
4 6 T H E F IGH T | J ULY 2013
PHOTOS BY PAULO MURILLO, THEHISSFIT.COM
>> JULY 2013 <<
JULY 2013 | TH E F I GH T 47
THECALENDAR >> JULY 2013 << GROUPS ASIAN/PACIFIC GAYS AND FRIENDS www.apgf.org GAY ASIAN PACIFIC SUPPORT NETWORK www.gapsn.org LOS ANGELES GAY AVIATION CLUB Pilots, Flights Attendants, Mechanics. www.unusualattitudes.info CLUB NUR Gay Middle Eastern. www.clubnur.com GAY MEN’S CHORUS OF LOS ANGELES www.gmcla.org THANK GAYS IT’S FRIDAY STANDUP COMEDY Every Friday, 8:30 p.m. MJ’s Bar, 2810 Hyperion Avenue, Los Angeles. (323) 650-1503
G.B.F. AT OUTFEST
GAY & LESBIAN SALSA Every Monday, 8 p.m. Little Temple Bar, 4519 Santa Monica Blvd., Silverlake, 90029. gaysalsanight@yahoo. com or www.facebook.com/gaysalsanight GAY TRAFFIC SCHOOL Third Tuesday and Wednesday of every month, 6-10 p.m. The Village at Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N. McCadden Place, Los Angeles 90038. 1-800-Gay-4-You or www.laglc.org
THROUGH JULY 21
OUTFEST LA LGBT FILM FESTIVAL Various venues throughout Los Angeles, for more info visit: www.outfest.org Outfest—the Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization that promotes equality by creating, sharing, and protecting LGBT stories on the screen - will hold the 31st Outfest Los Angeles LGBT Film Festival from July 11 to 21, 2013. The festival closes on Sunday, July 21, with Darren Stein’s comedy “G.B.F.,” written by Outfest Screenwriting Lab Fellow George Northy, and starring Megan Mullally, Natasha Lyonne and Andrea Bowen. For a full line-up of the films and other Outfest events go to: www.outfest.org.
future broadcast. Come find out how a gay man goes from stand-up gigs, red carpets, gay cruises, and circuit parties to being a responsible car-pool-driving, P.T.A. member. MONDAY, JULY 22
LEGENDARY BINGO WITH CHERI OTERI The Gorbals, 501 S. Spring Street, Los Angeles, 7pm. For more info call: 213-488-3408. Legendary Bingo comes to Downtown LA—at The Gorbals Restaurant—owned by Top Chef Season 2 winner Ilan Hall! Benefiting Food On Foot (www.foodonfoot. org) with special Celebrity Ball-calling Guest SNL’s Cheri Oteri! FRIDAY, JULY 27
UPRIGHT CABARET AT GLEH Triangle Square, 1602 Ivar Avenue, Hollywood. For more info visit: uprightcabaret.com. Every third Friday through Nov. 15, Upright Cabaret comes to Gay & Lesbian Elder Housing. Party past your prime (and maybe your bedtime) as hot recording artists belt the best of Broadway and decades worth of divas-all your gay favorites, aged to perfection. This evening features Matt Zarley.
FORTUNE FEIMSTER Renberg Theatre, The Village at Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N McCadden Place, Los Angeles, 8pm. For more info visit: www.lagaycenter.org. The lovable, openly lesbian Southerner has taken the Los Angeles comedy scene by storm since making her national TV debut on NBC’s Last Comic Standing, where she finished as a semi-finalist. Now Fortune is a full-time writer and roundtable regular on Chelsea Lately and also a cast member on the second season of After Lately.
SATURDAY, JULY 20
SATURDAY, AUGUST 10
ALEC MAPA: BABY DADDY Renberg Theatre, The Village at Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N McCadden Place, Los Angeles, 7pm. For more info visit: www. lagaycenter.org. BABY DADDY has rocked audiences in sold-out performances coast to coast. Now ALEC MAPA is bringing his take on gay fatherhood (and so much more!) back to the Renberg one more time—this time to be filmed for
OC PRIDE Downtown Santa Ana on Fourth Street, between Broadway and Ross. For more info visit: prideoc.com. For the second year, OC Pride is presented free to the public. Grammy-nominated producer, house DJ, and remixer Dave Aude and acclaimed vocialist Luciana will be among the performers appearing.
FRIDAY, JULY 19
4 8 T H E F IGH T | J ULY 2013
POP LUCK CLUB Second Sunday of every month, 11 a.m. Locations vary. Los Angeles based organization for Gay Dads, Prospective Dads, and their families. www.popluckclub.org PROSTATE CANCER SUPPORT GROUP 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month, at the Gay & Lesbian Center. RSVP to Dennis@malecare.org or call (323) 860-7340. GREAT AUTOS OF YESTERYEAR The largest LGBT classic car club on the West Coast. www.greatautos.org LOS ANGELES PRIME TIMERS Social group for older mature gay men and admirers. www.laprimetimers.org LOS ANGELES GAY BRIDGE CLUB www.communityvisions.org/IAGLBC LOS ANGELES GAY/LESBIAN SCIENTISTS www.lagls.org LOS ANGELES GAY FOR GOOD Gays making a commitment to volunteer for social welfare and environmental service projects. www.gayforgood.org LOS ANGELES GAY NATURISM California Men Enjoying Naturism. cmen.info BI-OSPHERE P.O.V. Every 2nd Wednesday, 8-9:30 p.m., The Village at Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N McCadden Place, Los Angeles. For more information, call (323) 860-7302. M-F between 6-9 p.m. Topic-driven discussion for women and men who identify as, or are exploring bisexuality. MEN’S SPEAKEASY Every Tuesday at 8 p.m. The Village at Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N McCadden Place, Los Angeles. For more information, call (323) 860-7302. Fun, alternative space for gay and bisexual men to meet and make new friends. LGBT BOOK CLUB First Wednesday of each month, 7:30-9:30 p.m. The Village at Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N McCadden Place, Los Angeles. For more information, call (323) 860-7302, M-F between 6-9 p.m. USC LAMBDA LGBT ALUMNI ASSOCIATION alumnigroups.usc.edu/lambda/ LOS ANGELES BLACK PRIDE www.myblackpridela.com GREATER PASADENA AID FUND www.greaterpasadenaaidfund.org POSITIVE IMAGES WORKSHOP Every Monday, from 7-9 p.m. The Village at Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N McCadden Place, Los Angeles. If you’re looking for
> EMAIL YOUR EVENT OR GROUP TO ways to deal with HIV, the Live Life Better Workshop can help you learn coping skills, build a support system, and work toward your health goals. An RSVP is required. For more information or to reserve your place, call (323) 860-7321. The e-mail contact is positiveimages@lagaycenter.org. TRANSGENDER PERCEPTIONS Every Friday, 8 p.m. The Village at Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N McCadden Place, Los Angeles. For more information, call (323) 860-7302. M-F between 6-9 p.m. Social networking group offers a safe and welcoming opportunity for people of any age and gender identity to learn from others and to share experiences. GET CENTERED Meditation Class. Every Saturday, 10-11 a.m., $10. Gay & Lesbian Center, 1625 N Schrader Blvd. Los Angeles. For more information, call (323) 860-7300. SENIORS SERVICES Ongoing, The Village at Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N McCadden Place, Los Angeles. For more information, call (323) 860-7359. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SUPPORT Ongoing, L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, 1625 N Schrader Blvd., Los Angeles. For more information, call (323) 860-5806. MPOWERMENT WEEKLY WORKSHOPS Tuesdays and fridays, 6 p.m. APLA, 3550 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 300, Los Angeles. More info: Donta Morrison, tel: (213) 2011561. For young gay men of color—ages 18 thru 24—looking for a safe place to hang out. “Each week offers a great opportunity to vent, laugh, make friends, and simply celebrate who you are.” SUPPORT FOR HIV-POSITIVE WOMEN Second and fourth wednesdays, 7 p.m. The David Geffen Center, 611 south Kingsley Dr., Los Angeles. More info: call Women At Risk at (310) 204-1046. SOCAL SOCIAL CLUB For more info: www.Socalsocialclub.com. Southern California’s social & business network for lgbt professionals. 12 STEP GROUPS
editor@thefightmag.com CRYSTAL METH ANONYMOUS Saturdays, 9:10-10:10 a.m. DEBTORS ANONYMOUS Tuesdays, 8-9 p.m. MARIJUANA ANONYMOUS Wednesdays, 8:15-9:45 p.m. Saturdays, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS Wednesdays, 7-8 p.m. SEXUAL COMPULSIVES ANONYMOUS Mondays, 8-9 p.m. Tuesdays, 8-9 p.m. Wednesdays, 8-9 p.m. Thursdays, 8:15-9:15 p.m. Saturdays, 12:15-1:45 p.m. WOMEN’S NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS Saturdays, Noon-1 p.m. SPORTS LOS ANGELES LESBIAN SOFTBALL www.lagaysoftball.com LOS ANGELES LESBIAN TACKLE FOOTBALL www.californiaquakefootball.com LOS ANGELES LESBIAN RUGBY www.eaglerockrugby.com WOMEN’S SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GOLF www.womensgolf.org/wscga LOS ANGELES LESBIAN POKER www.lalpg.com LOS ANGELES WOMEN ON A ROLL Luncheons, Comedy Nights, and Conversation Groups. www.womenonaroll.com
>> JULY 2013 << www.sagala.org V.O.I.L.A. Volleyball. www.lagayvolleyball.com GREAT OUTDOORS The largest gay outdoor recreational organization in Southern California. www. greatoutdoorsla.org GAY AND LESBIAN SIERRANS Camping, Outdoors, Hiking Angeles. www.sierraclub.org CHEER LA Cheerleading. www.cheerla.org
HOLLYWOOD UNITED METHODIST CHURCH hollywoodumc.org, 6817 Franklin Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90028 HOLY SPIRIT holyspirit-la.org, 4201 West Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90029 UNITED UNIVERSITY CHURCH uniteduniversitychurch.org, 817 West 34th St., Los Angeles, CA 90089
LA ROWING www.larowing.org
DIGNITY CENTER dignitylosangeles.org, 126 South Avenue 64, Los Angeles, CA 90042
DIFFERENT SPOKES Cycling www.differentspokes.com Rides start in various locations in the greater Los Angeles area.
HOPE LUTHERAN CHURCH-HLYWD hopelutheranchurch.net, 6720 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90038
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BLADES Ice Hockey. www.bladeshockey.com LOS ANGELES FRONTRUNNERS Running and walking club. www.lafrontrunners.com WEST HOLLYWOOD SOCCER CLUB Comfortable, supportive environment for learning and playing the world’s most popular game. www.gaysoccer.com LOS ANGELES GAY SCUBA CLUB www.barnaclebusters.org LOS ANGELES GAY ROCK CLIMBING www.lalgbtclimbing.com WEST HOLLYWOOD AQUATICS Swim and Water Polo Teams. www.wh2o.org
LOS ANGELES GAY RODEO CLUB www.gsgra.org
WORSHIP
LOS ANGELES GAY FLAG FOOTBALL www.laflagfootball.com There’s also lesbian tackle football.
METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH mccla.org, 4953 Franklin Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
WEST HOLLYWOOD GAY RUGBY www.larebellion.org
BETH CHAYIM CHADASHIM SYNAGOGUE bcc-la.org, 6090 West Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035
LOS ANGELES POOL LEAGUE Friendly Billiard teams. www.lapl8ball.com
fccla.org 540, South Commonwealth Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90020
All groups meet at The Village at Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N McCadden Place, Los Angeles. For more information, call (323) 860-7302 M-F between 6-9 p.m.
GAY & LESBIAN BOWLING LEAGUE www.tavernguildleague.com
KOL AMI REFORM SYNAGOGUE kol-ami.org, 1200 North La Brea Ave., West Hollywood, CA 90038
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS Mondays, 6:10-7:10 p.m.
SAGA LA Gay Ski & Snowboard Club.
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF LOS ANGELES
WEST HOLLYWOOD PRESBYTERIAN wehopres.org, 7350 W Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90046 MOUNT HOLLYWOOD CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH mthollywood.org, 4607 Prospect Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027 IMMANUEL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH immanuelpres.org, 3300 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90010 ST. MATTHEW’S LUTHERAN CHURCH stmatthewsnoho.org, 11031 Camarillo St., North Hollywood, CA 91602 CHRIST CHAPEL OF THE VALLEY christchapel.com, 11050 Hartsook St., North Hollywood, CA 91601 ST. PAUL’S LUTHERAN CHURCH stpaulssm.org, 958 Lincoln Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90403 ST. MONICA CATHOLIC COMMUNITY stmonica.net, 725 California Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90403 WEHO CHURCH wehochurch.com, 916 N. Formosa Ave., West Hollywood, CA 90046 ST. VICTOR’S CATHOLIC CHURCH saintvictor.org, 8634 Holloway Dr. West Hollywood, CA 90069 ST. LUKE LUTHERAN stlukelutheran.com, 5312 Comercio Way, Woodland Hills, CA 91364
For Breaking Daily LGBT News Visit
www.thefightmag.com
JULY 2013 | T H E F I GH T 49
THEFINALFIGHT
>> JULY 2013 <<
whether or not Baldwin’s wife tweeted during a funeral), lashed out on Twitter. Baldwin wrote, “I’m gonna find you, George Stark, you toxic little queen, and I’m gonna fuck...you...up.” A minute later, he added, “I’d put my foot up your fucking ass, George Stark, but I’m sure you’d dig it too much.” At first, Baldwin denied—and then deleted—his tweets. He has since apologized, asserting that he never meant to be homophobic. Baldwin, an actor best known for his role in NBC’s 30 Rock, and for his endorsement deal with Capital One, has not yet suffered
PAULA DEEN
ALEC BALDWIN
WHAT IF PAULA DEEN HAD CALLED SOMEONE A FAG? EXCERPTS FROM AVERY STONE’S HUFFINGTON POST OP-ED. BY AVERY STONE l If you were at your computer at all last month, you probably heard the news: Paula Deen, formerly a beloved celebrity chef, admitted to using the “N” word. And, rightfully, it is ruining her career. Right now, the damage done to Deen seems irreparable. Her publisher, Ballantine (an imprint of Random House), cancelled a five-book deal with her, including an upcoming cookbook that had soared to No. 1 on both Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com in advance sales. Additionally, multiple companies have cut ties with Deen, including The Food Network, Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot, QVC, J.C. Penny, Sears, and Walgreens. Overnight, the self-proclaimed “queen of butter” has lost her influence, many of her corporate partnerships, and her family-friendly reputation. Now, step back from Deen for a moment. Have you heard the other news? Alec Baldwin, a still-beloved actor, tweeted homophobic slurs. And the effect on his career and reputation is, so far, absolutely nothing. If you haven’t read the tweets, here’s what happened: Baldwin, in a heated online argument with British reporter George Stark (over 5 0 T H E F I GH T | J U LY 2013
any consequences for his violent, homophobic language. His endorsement deal remains intact. Media attention has been minimal, especially compared with Deen’s. Unbelievably, Baldwin seems so far to have emerged from the incident largely unscathed. There is something very wrong with this picture. Deen and Baldwin both used offensive language and demeaned whole populations of people. Why is there a vast disparity between how the public and businesses reacted? Why did Baldwin get off the hook while Deen is fighting to hang on to any semblance of dignity? ...
... Different people are afforded different privileges when it comes to reputation. What gave Baldwin the advantage in this case? Is it the fact that he’s male? Is it the fact that he’s a prominent actor and corporate spokesman, while Deen seemed more expendable? None of it matters. In no case should the “N” word carry more weight than violent, homophobic language. Both are inexcusable. Further, it is not just Deen and Baldwin who are at fault here. Blame also falls on the companies that are still allied with the two stars. So far, Capital One has refrained from commenting on Baldwin’s offenses. This makes the company an active part of the problem. By letting Baldwin get away with homophobia, Capital One enables—and even perpetuates—a culture of discrimination. Bottom line: This is detrimental to anyone fighting for equal human rights. So my question is this: What if Paula Deen had called someone a fag? Would she still have lost everything? My guess is no. And, even in 2013, when there is so much to celebrate in the vein of LGBT rights, these episodes show that it’s still possible to get away with homophobia. And that’s something to get angry about. n
Originally from Providence, R.I., Avery Stone is a senior at Amherst College majoring in English. She is planning on a career in journalism; her work has been featured on Fortune.com and GoLocalProv.com. You can find her on Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook.
TM