25.THE PRIDE LA, AUG. 26, 2016

the pride ISSUE NUMBER 20, VOLUME 2 08.26 — 09.09.2016

| AUG 26 — SEP 9, 2016

WWW.THEPRIDELA.COM PRIDE ⚫ 4

Can the board of Christopher Street West Save itself and LA Pride?

BUSINESS GAY BUSINESSES ARE HOT IN THE DESERT⚫ 14

LOS ANGELES

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THE LOS ANGELES LGBT NEWSPAPER BOOKS Q&A WITH TIM MILLER, “CHRISTADORA” ⚫ 22

TRANS YOUTH EARLY USE OF PUBERTY BLOCKING DRUGS ⚫ 12

OBITUARY ⚫ 6

Mark Thompson, 63, pioneer in LGBT journalism, dies LEGAL ⚫ 8

Jury: Gay Manager discriminated against straight employees NEWS ⚫ 10

Hobby Lobby case makes an ugly, disruptive return in trans rights case NEWS ⚫ 20

In Florence Foster Jenking, Meryl Streep hits a high note NEXT ISSUE

Witness history as Dale Green and Takashi Nakaya get married

UPCOMING: DALE GREEN, 85, AND TAKASHI NAKAYA, 53, OF TOYOHASHI, JAPAN, MARRY AT THE WEST L.A. VETERANS ADMINISTRATION HOSPITAL. THEIR STORY WILL MOVE YOU.

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08.26 — 09.09.2016

LOS ANGELES

STATE OF THE MOVEMENT

⚫ BY TROY MASTERS

Can Christopher Street West save itself and LA Pride?

Resignation of CSW’s Exectuvie Board seems increasingly likely as activists and West Hollywood City leaders demand change.

The time for massive change has come. That’s the firm conclusion I came to after meeting last week with Chris Classen, President of Christopher Street West, organizers of the annual 3-day LA Pride parade and festival in West Hollywood.

And, yes, change has been called for before over the years, repeatedly.

Consider, for example, this excerpt from a 2000 article by Doug Sadownick in the then-progressive LA Weekly entitled “Problems on Parade:” “All did not go well at this past spring‘s Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade and Festival in West Hollywood. The poorly attended event lacked activist vision and once again put the spotlight more on the internal problems of its organizer — Christopher Street West (CSW) — than on gay liberation.

Now, three months later, critics are wondering if CSW is capable of handling the annual event or if control should be ceded to the city of West Hollywood.”

Another vociferous critic was the late Frontiers columnist Dana Miller who excoriated then-CSW President Rodney Scott for orchestrating an uninspiring, uncreative parade. Nonetheless, Miller found words of appreciation for the community-minded Scott, who had been the volunteer president of L.A. Pride for 12 years when he resigned in 2013.

“Over the past decade, you and I have broken bread many times discussing this fly in the champagne,” Miller wrote in his Oct. 14, 2013 column in advance of a West Hollywood City Council discussion of the issue.

“In 11 years I’ve written six columns on why Pride sucks. You have always

been a champ, gracious beyond graceful. You have treated me with more respect than I do myself, yet over the years our collective words have had all the impact of a Marie Osmond talk show.”

Sound familiar? Many of the same themes and controversies are being echoed today. Why? Now that we have won marriage equality, is there a belief that LGBT people are free and the struggle for LGBT civil rights is over? The legacy of CSW is to take to the streets in a joyful parade to show America, to show the world that LGBT people are out and proud and will no longer subsist shamefully in a plywood closet constructed for Mainstream America’s comfort. The Religious Right hasn’t given up attacking us and trying to repeal our hard-won rights, so it is imperative that we continue to fight back – in the spirit of love.

But CSW feels like it’s throwing just another “fabulous” gay party, with lots of corporate sponsors who want that disposable gay dollar.

It would be too easy to roll your eyes and conclude that CSW will always be just a community flash point — a sort of ‘why bother changing anything’ conclusion. It would be tragic – and a middle finger to our venerable elders – to think it’s unfixable.

A start would be to deconstruct what happened in 2016, with consideration for the future. At stake is the very existence of Christopher Street West and LA Pride.

Here’s a quick overview. 2016’s CSW board, under Classen’s leadership, found itself engulfed in a whack-amole of controversy. Critics slammed the organization for increasing the price of festival entry; the elimination of free Friday; a diminished time slot for transgender events and timing of the Dyke March; changing the focus of what had been seen as a festival for everyone to a festival for a younger audience; erasing Seniors; appearing to remove LGBT from the event’s branding; giving the impression the festival might become a WeHo version of Coachella; showing an alleged disregard for the event’s legacy and for

THE CITY OF WEST HOLLYWOOD AND CHRISTOPHER STREET WEST HAVE A SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP.

LGBT history; eliminating the LGBT community leadership awards and grants; eliminating participation by local community small business vendors; ending the practice of inviting all local media to become sponsors of the event; enabling a primacy of corporate branding and enlarging corporate footprints; and making limited booth space available to LGBT non-profits. Suppliers to CSW, some critics claim, were not vetted properly for their pro-LGBT policies and nobid contracts were allegedly given to close associates of some board members, prompting snarls about possible financial conflicts of interest.

Critics specifically suggested a possible conflict of interest business relationship between CSW and its board’s selection of sponsors, vendors and artists and Chris Classen and board member Craig Bowers, who co-own an events marketing firm called Inclusion.

Some CSW board members addressed some of the concerns but appeared to do so grudgingly and, it was claimed, with obvious hostility toward critics. But for the most part, the board side-stepped or ignored much of the controversy and criticism. That, in turn, caused public animosity to-

ward CSW to blow up with calls for disbanding and replacing the existing board growing louder and louder.

That was precisely the point former CSW co-president Patti DiLuigi and several other speakers emphasized at a community forum held by West Hollywood Mayor Lauren Meister last week.

But Classen dug in even deeper during a lunch meeting with The Pride LA shortly afterward. Classen, who was personally very charming but insisted on no note-taking, said he is fiercely protective of Christopher Street West’s legacy. He also feels deeply pilloried by the community and by this paper. However, Classen energetically rejected the growing chorus of calls for his resignation as President of Christopher Street West.

Classen also admitted, without going into any detail, that reports of a significant loss in the CSW treasury are true, though he provided several plausible explanations for what may have caused the shortfall.

Prior to the community forum, it was revealed that CSW lacked funding to pay many vendors. As there are no further income opportunities in LA PRIDE continued on p. 7

08.26 — 09.09.2016

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OBITUARY

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08.26 — 09.09.2016

LOS ANGELES

LGBT JOURNALISM

⚫ BY KAREN OCAMB

Mark Thompson, 63, a pioneer in LGBT journalism, dies Mark Thompson, former editor of The Advocate, chronicled the LGBT community from the early days

Mark Thompson, photographer and author of several books on gay spirituality and the history of The Advocate died at his home in Palm Springs on Tuesday of unknown causes. He would have turned 64 next week.

Word spread quickly among friends and on Facebook Friday, leaving a wave of shock and a flood of memories. A longtime HIV/AIDS survivor who’d been very sick prior to the death of his beloved husband Rev. Malcolm Boyd last year, Mark seemed “fine” after a medication adjustment. Moving from Silver Lake to Palm Springs— where he had moved to continue his practice as a therapist—was not as easy a transition as expected, however. According to a friend, Mark was discovered by someone who had been trying to reach him without response.

Since Mark was prone to fainting as a result of health issues and medication, friends believe his death was accidental, that he fell or collapsed.

The Riverside County Coroner’s office says an investigation into the cause of death is pending with a toxicology report expected in six weeks.

Born and raised on the beautiful Monterey Peninsula in California—as if fated for a life of spiritual quest— Mark came out during the early days of Gay Liberation. In 1973, while a journalism student at San Francisco State University, he co-founded the Bay Area-wide Gay Students Coalition and started a gay student newspaper. In 1975, he asked David Goldstein, the new owner The Advocate—who was transforming the publication from an activists’ screed to a more sleek professional magazine—to write an article about gays and the political process. And to stir controversy “and maybe raise a little hell,” he asked camera-store owner and political hopeful Harvey Milk to

MARK THOMPSON, PICTURED HERE WITH HIS HUSBAND MALCOM BOYD.

contribute, as well, “knowing the two men’s ideology would be different, but not having a clue that their clashing views would ignite a long-festering feud.”

That famous feud was captured by the late journalist Randy Shilts—also an Advocate writer—in his book The Mayor of Castro Street, and later in the film “Milk.”

Just before graduation, in April 1975, Mark got a call from Goodstein to set up an interview. Aware that Mark had planned a summer tour of Europe, Goodstein suggested Mark interview artist David Hockney in Paris. Mark had never heard of Hockney. “Goodstein sputtered in shocked disbelief, but I received the assignment nevertheless,” Mark writes in the Introduction to The Long Road to Freedom, the important history of The Advocate Mark edited before he left the publication in 1994.

Mark interviewed Hockney on the Left Bank, then moved on to Amsterdam where he received a call that would change his life. Before leaving for Europe, editor John Preston had shown Mark clips about gay movements in other countries, including a

gay uprising in Spain that had been brutally suppressed by Franco’s regime. The call was from a contact in Spain, a professor who was one of a few members of MELH (Spanish Movement for Gay Liberation) who had not been arrested or forced into hiding. The man urged Mark to “Come at once,” which Mark heeded.

“I spent the next twenty-four hours with the resilient half dozen men and women of MELH, their struggle and courage in the grip of fascism a lesson indelibly impressed upon my consciousness,” he wrote. “When I returned to the United States that fall and filed my stories, I felt certain as never before that The Advocate and the just cause it represented would be forever worthy of my attention.”

That “cause” included reporting on “countless brutal assaults, and numbing assassinations, to the mounting horrors of the plague [AIDS],” he wrote, having to “make sense of the senseless, take stock of outrageous injustices unfamiliar to the mainstream.”

Mark explained that The Advocate stood as a “hopeful beacon, holistic in its concern for a people previous-

ly broken, adamant in its conviction that the pieces stay mended together. ‘The Advocate was for many of us the first exposure we’d had to the idea that what we are is not bad,’ says one longtime reader, speaking for many.

‘It was alight in the dark by which we could navigate.’”

It was to this vehicle of liberation that Mark devoted two decades of his life.

Mark was also on a spiritual quest, which flowered into full bloom when he met Mattachine Society founder Harry Hay in San Francisco in 1979.

The two became lifelong friends, even as Mark and Malcolm moved to Silver Lake and Harry and his longtime love, John Burnside, moved to West Hollywood. His trilogy, Gay Spirit, Gay Soul, Gay Body, was proudly promoted through White Crane publishing — as was his photography exhibit “Fellow Traveler.” “’Fellow travelers’ for me means being in the company of like-minded companions: Brave brothers who are building a community, moving forward together! It is also a sly reference to the use of the phrase during the early days of the Cold War when people who were accused of being communist sympathizers were dubbed “fellow travelers.” It was a coded word used pejoratively, so I wanted to redeem that and give it a more positive application for today, “ Mark told interviewer Bo Young. “Fellow Travelers is divided into two sections: Guides and Tribes. Some of the iconic individuals, or ‘guides,’ who have influenced or touched upon my life in significant ways include James Broughton, Ram Dass, Harry Hay, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Paul Monette. There are many others, of course. The Tribes section contains dozens of pictures taken at various Faerie gatherings held across Western lands during the 1980s and early ‘90s. Some of the images from the first Black Leather Wings Radical Faerie gatherings will probably be controversial to some readers.”

Mark helped organize the celebration of Harry Hay’s 100th Birthday, with community activist Wes Joe, Hay THOMPSON continued on p. 18

08.26 — 09.09.2016 2016 that would allow CSW to close the financial gap, vendors and consultants who are owed money will likely have to wait for 2017 revenues to flow before they can be paid.

The shortfall has been estimated at $396,000, according to WeHoVille. com. The current board inherited a surplus of approximately $300,000 – which Classen confirmed– but the organization now has cash on hand of substantially less than $90,000, a technical overdraw with several major obligations remaining unpaid.

Classen said he is determined that CSW financial information remain private among CSW board members — who have signed a confidentiality agreement — and its accounting team. He adamantly refused to make the books available for public scrutiny. He chafed at the notion that CSW (a non-profit) may be required to open the books, inquiring if The Pride LA (a for-profit newspaper) would do the same.

In an email to The Pride LA, Classen sought to explain his reluctance to open the books and discuss CSW’s (and his own) choice of vendors and sponsors in a more detailed manner: “This year we worked with our Festival Producer to conduct an extensive RFP process. We found that many of our existing vendors were in fact still offering us the best available rates, and some others were replaced. While we did this to confirm we were getting the best possible prices, the results did not surprise us since many of our vendors offer us deeply discounts due to their support of the LGBTQ community.”

Classen suggests that among his concerns about opening the process up is that doing so might discourage discounted offers and some vendors may be unwilling to make them if they feel their bids will be made public. “Many of these vendors offer us discounts in confidence that we will not share publicly (which could effect their ability to charge ‘retail’ rates to their other clients),” he wrote.

“Like other non-profits, our yearly financials in the form of our 990 IRS return are always publicly available as soon as they are filed. Full access to our books is of course available to our Board of Directors, who volunteer thousands of hours each year in support of the organization,” Classen wrote, with no mention of the pledge of confidentiality or the other financial obligations.

Classen maintains that that CSW volunteers are always welcome. “Anyone wanting to come work is welcome to join our Board and come volunteer with us,” he said. “Our Board applications are open now through September 20th, via https://1drv. ms/b/s!ApUc66sx1IGqhM9x0sQqQJ001feIWg.”

At last Wednesday’s meeting, WeHo Mayor Lauren Meister noted that the city waives fees for LA Pride totaling approximately $500,000. The fees include permit costs, police, medical and sanitation services, etc. In exchange, the city enjoys a healthy boost in tax revenues generated from an influx of visitors to the city who dine locally, stay in local hotels, entertain and shop locally.

As previously reported in The Pride LA, the City of West Hollywood will now require financial transparency from any group or organization that it promotes, endorses, co-sponsors or sponsors. Financial disclosure requirements include a Form 990 for nonprofits, event budgets, and other fiscal information.

However, in an email to The Pride LA, Mayor Meister said, “My item that I brought forward (for consideration) applies to more than CSW, and it was for staff to come up with a policy – so that is not in place yet.” WeHo, in other words, has not yet determined what kind of financial transparency it will or can require of organizations that benefit from their financial patronage.

Classen and CSW, therefore, are under little substantive pressure to provide financial documentation (i.e. the checkbook and detailed account of spending and receipts) beyond what is required of a non-profit by the IRS, federal tax filings that reflect not 2016 but previous years that may not see the light of day until 2017.

This is not just some fiscal shoulder shrug. The change in attitude toward an imperious fiefdom is light-years away from the noble humility of being responsive to the LGBT community and civil rights movement. It feels like the very existence of LA Pride and its 46-year legacy under the stewardship of Christopher Street West is at stake.

The organization’s pocketbook – and its heart and soul — are nearly bankrupt; city council members seem stymied, again; activists are demanding change; other Pride celebrations are popping up and the times, they are certainly a’changin.

But, if he remains CSW President, as he intend, it will be change at a snarky snails pace. “I don’t have any ulterior motive here,” he says. “I’m looking at an event that has to change a little bit every year and trying to be objective about what that looks like.

This year the feedback was for more history, free components and community areas, so for 2017 we will work on incorporating those suggestion.”

From my perspective, beginning to save Christopher Street West and LA Pride requires the following steps.

1. The organization must learn how to listen and how to communicate with community stakeholders.

2. The mission of the organization LA PRIDE continued on p. 7

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LONG BEACH CALIFORNIA

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08.26 — 09.09.2016

LOS ANGELES

LEGAL

⚫ BY CNS AND TROY MASTERS

Gay Nurse who discriminated against straight nurses must pay million$, L.A. jurors say Two former nurses at Community Hospital of Long Beach were awarded $2.8 million today by a jury that found they were subjected to harassment and discrimination by an openly gay male nurse.

The Los Angeles Superior Court jury deliberated for a little more than a day before finding in favor of licensed-vocational nurses Judy Alexander and Johann Hellmannsberger in their lawsuit against CHLB and Memorial Psychiatric Health Services.

The panel also awarded $165,175 to the son of the late CHLB nursing assistant Lisa Harris, who died before the case could get to trial.

Among the causes of action the jury found true were sexual harassment, discrimination, failure to prevent harassment and discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, defamation and negligent supervision.

The panel additionally found that the plaintiffs were subjected to malice or oppression, triggering a second phase of trial to begin the next week to determine whether punitive damages should be awarded against CHLB and MPHS. In that hearing, jurors granted a total of $1.5 million to Maurice Stamper,

the son of nursing assistant Lisa Harris, who was one of the three original plaintiffs. She died in September 2014 and her son was later substituted into the case.

The panel also awarded $100,000 each to licensed-vocational nurse Judy Alexander, 58, of Anaheim, and 56-year-old registered nurse Johann Hellmannsberger, a Fullerton resident.

Lawyers for the hospital and MPHS had urged the jury not to award any punitive damages because the two entities have been operating at a deficit.

Before the second verdict, Juliette Gabel, MPHS’s chief financial officer, testified that the company will be unable to pay the compensatory damages and that any further judgment would hamper its ability to continue assisting a foundation that helps provide medical assistance to Compton residents.

Accountant Mark Evans, a former CHLB interim controller, testified that the hospital still owes the city of Long Beach more than $1 million stemming from a loan made to the facility.

Attorneys for the hospital maintained the three were fired in April 2009 for an incident in which they, along with other CHLB employees,

put a patient in mechanical restraints without a doctor’s order.

The defense lawyers also accused the trio of failing to document the use of restraints in the patient’s chart in violation of hospital policy and state law, and maintained the plaintiffs lied during an investigation of the incident and engaged in a cover-up.

Hellmannsberger and Alexander hugged several jurors outside the courtroom. Both said they are currently working, but that the allegations made against them by the hospital made it difficult to find employment in their field.

“I’m just very pleased,” Hellmannsberger said.

Alexander said she was “thrilled” by the outcome of the case and that she was “glad to have her life back.”

Alexander said she considered Harris a friend. She said she became so emotional when the late woman’s video deposition was played in court that she had to step outside.

All three plaintiffs worked in a unit of CHLB that treats patients with mental illness and psychological disorders.

Nurse Keith Kohl was the openly gay director of the unit.

City News Service (CNS), a local

news bureau that provides news content related to Southern California, reported the plaintiffs alleged that Kohl subjected them to a hostile work environment by, in the words of CNS, “flaunting his homosexuality,” “giving preferential treatment” to other gay male nurses and by showing “disdain for women.”

Attorneys for the hospital maintained the three were fired in April 2009 for an incident in which they, along with other CHLB employees, put a patient in mechanical restraints without a doctor’s order and failed to document the use of restraints in the patient’s chart in violation of hospital policy and state law.

Defense attorneys maintained the plaintiffs lied during an investigation of the incident and engaged in a coverup.

The lawsuit was filed in November 2009. Harries died in September 2014, so her son, Maurice Stamper, was substituted into the case.

The Pride LA was unable to reach attorney’s for Keith Kohl and no word of next steps in the case has been reported elsewhere.

-- City News Services, supplemented

by The Pride LA

A transgender man who was denied a haircut at a Long Beach barber shop reached a settlement with the business, with management agreeing not to discriminate against patrons based on gender.

Rose Trevis’ Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, filed March 29 against Hawleywood’s Barber Shop, alleged discrimination based on gender and gender identity.

In a settlement reached Tuesday, the business also agreed to pay an unspecified amount to Trevis as well as to her lawyers, compensating them for their work in the case.

According to the lawsuit, Hawleywood’s website describes the shop as a “men’s sanctuary” and includes the statement, “You all know how distracting a woman can be and who wants a straight-razor shave with a buxom blonde in the joint?”

As part of the settlement, Hawleywood’s agreed to halt any potentially discriminatory advertising.

The suit stated that Trevis -- described in the lawsuit as having a “masculine gender expression” -- and domestic partner Laura Lozano were walking in Long Beach on March 4 when they came upon Hawleywood’s

on Fourth Street, and the plaintiff decided to get a haircut.

But after Trevis asked for service, a barber replied that an appointment was required. Trevis tried to have a date set to return, but the barber stared at the plaintiff and said, “We don’t cut women’s hair,” the suit alleged.

Surprised, Trevis replied, “Who says I’m a woman?,” according to the lawsuit.

The barber allegedly responded, “Like I said, we don’t cut women’s hair.”

A second barber appeared, “examined plaintiff from head to toe” and asked if he could help Trevis, the suit

stated.

After that barber also said the shop did not serve women, he told Trevis that the business had the right to refuse service to anyone and that it was an “old-school barber shop” that did not serve women, according to the suit.

After Trevis and Lozano noted that the shop’s policy was discriminatory, the second barber replied, “We don’t care,” and also said “women are not even allowed in the shop,” the suit alleged.

Trevis “felt ashamed and humiliated”

by Hawleywood’s denial of service, the suit stated. -- City News Services

Transman settles with barber

08.26 — 09.09.2016

LOS ANGELES

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PUBLISHER & EDITOR TROY MASTERS troy@smmirror.com

CONTRIBUTORS

MATTHEW S. BAJKO, ZACK FORD, CYNTHIA LAIRD, HENRY SCOTT, CHARLES KAISER, LISA KEEN, ALAN MILLER, TIM MILLER, MAER ROSHAN, KIT WINTER, BRAD LAMM, DAVID EHRENSTEIN, STEVEN ERICKSON, LILLIAN FADERMAN, ORIOL GUTTIEREZ, SETH HEMMELGARN, THOMAS LEONARD, IAN MILLHISSER, KAREN OCAMB, STEVE WEINSTEIN, CHRIS AZZOPARD, DIANE ANDERSON-MINSHALL, ALLEN ROSKOFF, JOHN PAUL KING

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Please call (310) 310-2637 for advertising rates and availability.

BUSINESS MANAGER MAX MONTEMER

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THE PRIDE L.A., The Newspaper Serving Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender L.A., is published by MIRROR MEDIA GROUP. Send all inquiries to: THE PRIDE L.A., 3435 Ocean Park Blvd. #210. Phone: 310.310.2637 Written permission of the publisher must be obtained before any of the contents of this paper, in part or whole, can be reproduced or redistributed. All contents (c) 2016 The Pride L.A..

THE PRIDE L.A. is a registered trademark of MIRROR MEDIA GROUP. T.J. MONTEMER, CEO 310.310.2637 x104; E-mail: troy@smmirror.com Cell: 917-406-1619

© 2016 The Pride L.A. All rights reserved.

08.26 — 09.09.2016

LOS ANGELES

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HEALTH

LGBT YOUTH

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08.26 — 09.09.2016

LOS ANGELES

TRANSGENDER YOUTH

⚫ BY ELAINE KORRY

Puberty blockers may improve mental health of trans kids A staggering 41 percent of transgender people in the United States have attempted to commit suicide, according to a study Puberty is no picnic, even in the best of circumstances. Once the sex hormones estrogen or testosterone kick in, there’s no turning back: Here come breasts and periods, Adam’s apples and acne. It’s a tough passage for many kids, but for some — transgender youth whose bodies don’t match their gender identity — puberty can be unbearable.

For one Oakland family, their daughter’s path was clear from the time she was 3. Her birth certificate said “male,” but the child would always say she wanted to be a girl, and that soon became, “I AM a girl,” said the mother, who asked that her family’s name not be used to protect her daughter’s privacy. She recalled a day when the girl wept in frustration trying to fashion a skirt out of some t-shirts.

“Finally I just said, ‘Honey, do you want a dress?’’ and they went to a store and bought one. “I literally thought she was going to faint or hyperventilate,” said the mother. “She couldn’t sit still, she was so excited and so happy. It was a moment of pure joy for her, and also a turning point,” she said.

She was happy growing up and attended a progressive school in the San Francisco Bay Area as a girl. But when she was approaching puberty, she became very nervous, “worried about getting facial hair or watching her shoulders get broader. It was all very painful for her,” her mother said.

The child was experiencing what’s known as gender dysphoria, a DSM-5 diagnosis of significant ongoing distress, with the feeling of being assigned the wrong gender at birth. Researchers at Harvard recently found that transgender youth are at a much higher risk for mental disorders, including depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and self-harm. They are more than twice

THE MOST IMPORTANT INGREDIENT IN A TRANS YOUTH’S LIFE IS A SUPPORTIVE AND LOVING FAMILY.

as likely as non-trans youth to be diagnosed with depression (50.6 percent vs. 20.6 percent) or suffer from anxiety (26.7 percent vs. 10 percent).

“These kids are saying to the world, ‘I was born in the wrong body, and there’s something just not right about living this way,’” said Scott Leibowitz, head child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.

Blockers ‘Safe and Effective’ Full-blown puberty is irreversible, but for transgender children, it’s no longer inevitable. By taking a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist, secretion of the sex hormones can be stopped and the onset of puberty suppressed, so that the body does not develop secondary sex characteristics.

This has been done safely for decades to suppress sex hormones in children who develop too early, a condition known as precocious puberty. Suppressors have also been used to treat endometriosis, uterine fibroids and

prostate cancer.

It was only in 2008 that the Endocrine Society approved puberty suppressors as a treatment for transgender adolescents as young as 12 years old. The Society, with members in more than 100 countries, has since declared that the intervention appears to be safe and effective. In 2011 the World Professional Association for Transgender Health(WPATH), also issued Standards of Care for the treatment of patients with gender dysphoria, which include puberty suppression.

There are few reported side effects to this off-label use of sex hormone suppressors. Despite early concerns that blocking sex hormones might harm bone development, arecent study from the Netherlands found no evidence of long-term effects on bone mineral density. If the suppressors are halted, puberty resumes as if there had been no treatment.

Data on the use of puberty blockers is scarce, but in the past decade or so,

it’s believed thousands of transgender youth and their families have chosen to suppress puberty to give adolescents a time-out while they figure out the next step in their development.

A St. Louis, Mo., child was classified as female at birth, one of a set of twin girls. But the parents had been discussing puberty blockers with him since he was seven years old, after he had begun dressing as a boy and showing more masculine traits.

“I remember watching a documentary where he learned what blockers were and we talked about it and he was sure that’s what he wanted when the time came,” said his mother, who also asked that the family’s names not be used to protect her child’s privacy.

“As soon as he got breast buds, it was like the panic button was hit,” the mother said. “He was quickly and very intensely uncomfortable and afraid. He would cry, knowing that this was the TRANS YOUTH continued on p. 13

08.26 — 09.09.2016 TRANS YOUTH continued from p. 12

beginning of something that he didn’t want, that he knew wasn’t right for him,” she said.

In March, after the boy turned 11, a pediatric endocrinologist prescribed the sex hormone suppressor Eligard, an injection that he receives every four months. According to his mother, because they intervened early, the unwanted breast buds receded quickly, along with her son’s depression and anxiety. “I don’t know what we would have done if we were not able to stop puberty so he doesn’t have to feel in constant conflict with his own body,” she said.

So far, according to the mother, the biggest problem their family has faced has been trying to get insurance coverage for her son’s treatment. She said they have been lucky to obtain the injections at cost — $500 per shot — rather than the $1,500 to $2,000 per shot that the therapy typically costs. Her husband’s employer, which self-funds its medical insurance plan, chose a clause that excludes transgender care.

That kind of exclusion could change, especially since the Obama Administration recently issued final regulations on Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act that ban the denial of health care on the basis of gender identity in programs that receive federal funding. The rule could help people who feel they have been discriminated against to bring complaints or lawsuits, according to the Transgender Law Center in Oakland, Calif.

In 2014, Oregon became the first state to provide Medicaid coverage for adolescents receiving puberty blockers.

Medicaid programs in other states, including New York and California, have also expanded transgender healthcare coverage, although that does not mean that puberty blockers always are covered.

How Early is Too Early?

Treatment with puberty blockers gives transgender children a breather so they can continue to mature and decide whether they will pursue treatment with cross-sex hormones or gender reassignment surgery. For many families, the question is not whether to intervene with blockers, but how early to start.

Because the onset of puberty varies so widely — as early as age 9 for some — suppression can begin at different ages. And that’s prompted some disagreement within the field — the “age versus stage” debate — about when to begin, according to Leibowitz. Most often blockers are initiated at the first visible signs of development as measured by the Tanner Stages, a scale of sexual maturation developed by pediatrician James Tanner. The trigger for suppression is usually Tanner stage 2, when pubic hair and breast buds appear.

“If you are able to suspend puberty

LOS ANGELES as soon as it happens you’re optimizing the benefits that it can bring physically,” said Leibowitz. Starting early may alleviate the need for surgical breast removal or voice modification therapy later on. It also makes it far easier for transgender teens to fit in. “That ability to blend in and be perceived as the gender that they identify with is associated with long-term psychological benefits,” said Leibowitz.

But does that mean that 9- or 10-year-old transgender kids should be started on puberty blockers? Even though the treatment is reversible and is considered safe, Leibowitz said some clinicians argue the age issue is important because less is known about very early interventions. How long can puberty be safely suppressed? And if the next step is transitioning with crosssex hormones, at what age should that begin?

Of course, there is no treatment at all unless the parents of transgender children agree. “For most of my clients [who are minors], the issue revolves around whether they can start hormones or puberty blockers without parental consent, and the short answer is ‘No,”’ said Danielle Castro, a psychotherapist and project director at the Center of Excellence for Transgender Health at the University of California, San Francisco.

Castro said families of some transgender youth refuse the intervention because they believe their children are “just going through a phase.” A study in 2008 found that 43 percent of very young children who experienced gender dysphoria no longer felt that way after adolescence. The 27 percent who remained dysphoric were the ones who had felt that way most strongly when they were young.

Young children may indeed change their minds, but gender identity seems to be fixed by the time kids have reached puberty. The Endocrine Society finds that transgender adolescents grow up to be transgender adults “100 percent of the time.” Dr. Stephen Rosenthal, director of the Child and Adolescent Gender Center at UCSF, agrees: “Children who meet the mental health criteria for gender dysphoria in adolescence are likely to be transgender for life.”

In a recent study of 70 participants all the adolescents who had been given puberty blockers went through with sex reassignment.

The Standard of Care Even though the Oakland family had agreed in advance that their daughter would start on blockers at the right time, “we had to reassure her constantly that we wouldn’t let it go too far,” she said.

When she turned 13, the girl started receiving monthly injections of Lupron, a widely prescribed sex hormone suppressor. “As soon as she started, you could just see the relief in her,” said the mother. “You could see it in her demeanor, in her mood; it was just a huge TRANS YOUTH continued on p. 17

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14

TALKING POINT PALM SPRINGS

LGBT BUSINESS

⚫ BY JUSTIN NELSON

LGBT business equality confab in Palm Springs 1200 people gathered in Palm Springs for the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce’s convention.

The National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, the business voice of the LGBT community, is proud to see equality in the business world creating more and more opportunities for all Americans. Such economic opportunity is the top policy

priority for the NGLCC. And it should be a priority for everyone.

Why? Because as Barney Frank once said, “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.” Every year America’s corporations, state governments, and all federal agencies spend tens of billions of dollars in procurement contracts for everything from office supplies to jet engine parts. To help give an equal, level playing field to the minorities that have redefined and innovated America’s small businesses, those companies and government agencies have instituted supplier diversity programs.

Without such programs, new busi-

nesses, many of them owned by LGBT citizens, would never be noticed against the legacy businesses that have historically won these contracts.

If you’re an LGBT business owner and not certified, you’re leaving money on the table to help your business grow, which allows you to give back our community as a role model, job creator, and valued success story of an LGBT person achieving the American Dream.

Currently only the Commonwealths of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, the California’s Public Utilities Commission, and several regional governments — including King County, WA,

Michael Feinstein on Grand Avenue October 22, 2016

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Diahann Carroll Kristin Chenoweth Marc Cherry Michele Lee

Ginny Mancini Barry Manilow Liza Minnelli Johnny Mathis

Maria Ferrer Murdock Judge Judy Sheindlin Jean-Yves Thibaudet Betty White

Photo by AJ Mast

Honorary Committee

Essex County, N.J., and Cleveland, OH — mandate the intentional inclusion of certified LGBT -owned businesses. Every day our policy team is coordinating with local legislators to create opportunities for LGBT business owners to contract with state governments just like every other small business. National legislation or a presidential executive order is necessary to ensure that every LGBT business owner has the same right to opportunities as everyone else in America.

Delegates to the Democratic National Convention meet at the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia on July 25, 2016. (Washington Blade photo

by Michael Key) Delegates to the Democratic National Convention meet at the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia on July 25, 2016. (Washington Blade photo

by Michael Key) Just this summer we saw some extremely positive momentum on this front. The Democratic Party will be including certified LGBT business enterprises in its contracting pool for the 2016 Democratic convention in Philadelphia. Nothing is more essential to the American Dream than an equal seat at the table, and we’re so pleased that the 1.4 million LGBT business owners in America will have an opportunity to contract with the party during this momentous election season.

During an election season when the candidates are falling over themselves to alienate and exclude the minority groups who are redefining the working class of America, the Democratic Party is reflecting what corporate America has recognized for decades: When everyone is included, everyone succeeds.

It’s gratifying to see the continued rise of popular support nationwide for LGBT protections and inclusion in the wake of the Supreme Court’s marriage equality decision, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission equal protections ruling, and other recent victories.

NGLCC continued on p. 16

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DALE GREEN, 85, AND TAKASHI NAKAYA, 53, OF TOYOHASHI, JAPAN, WERE MARRIED IN A CEREMONY AT THE VETERAN’S ADMINISTRATION HOSPITAL IN WEST LOS ANGELES. THE ENTIRE FLOOR’S STAFF JOINED TO CELEBRATE THE MOMENT. SEE THE STORY ONLINE. NLGCC continued from p. 14

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The work of our organizational allies, including the Human Rights Campaign, is ensuring that the post-marriage equality momentum continues onward. Even more inspiring is corporate America’s continued leadership of diversity and inclusion for LGBT citizens and business owners everywhere.

As my cofounder and NGLCC CEO Chance Mitchell regularly points out, “Business will continue to be the catalyst for positive change for America’s minorities — especially the LGBT community. We must keep the millions of LGBT business owners who grow local economies and create jobs in mind when shaping wholesale legislation that creates equal opportunities for everyone.”

As you’ve no doubt seen in Alabama, Texas, and elsewhere, the backlash has already begun. While some will be focused on preventing marriages from taking place, others will continue to push for so-called religious-freedom bills that further promote discrimination.

It’s morally unacceptable that hardworking LGBT Americans can still be fired from their jobs in 29 states (32 if transgender), evicted from their homes, or denied service in restaurants and shops simply for being who they are.

As major corporations expand their operations into states that have been traditionally anti-equality and unwelcoming to diversity, their presence will be a catalyst for social change.

The expansion of powerful, inclusive businesses in these states will help LGBT businesses grow by actively promoting opportunities to join their supply chains, adding to the human capital and economy of that state.

Our economy won’t achieve its full potential until every American has unfettered access to every contracting opportunity with state, municipal and federal governments, and in every marketplace. LGBT business owners pay taxes, provide jobs, and create endless opportunities just like every other small business owner in America—they deserve the same freedoms to succeed.

We’re already seeing leadership from corporate giants in financial services and insurance to help answer the myriad of new questions marriage equality raises about taxation, transition plans, and beyond. Their support will further strengthen the argument that there is no turning back from this moment in the path to full equality. We must push forward.

An equal seat at the table will bring the nation in line with a long-held best practice of corporate America: treating every worker and business owner with equal dignity, respect, and opportunity to succeed.

The great work for equality continues, one small business at a time.

-- JUSTIN NELSON is the cofounder and president of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, the business voice of the LGBT community. NGLCC is the exclusive certification body for LGBT-owned businesses.

08.26 — 09.09.2016 TRANS RULING continued from p. 10

mixed. While some lower courts have accepted the logic of the EEOC and other legal advocates who say the law already fully protects LGBT employees from discrimination, the higher courts have not—and the Supreme Court has not yet ruled definitively on the issue.

The reason why the court system is in such confusion is that discrimination against LGBT employees is not explicitly outlawed by federal law, and while some states and localities outlaw anti-LGBT discrimination, others don’t. Michigan, for example, does not have any state law that outlaws employment discrimination against LGBT people—it’s perfectly legal in the state to fire someone because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. In the absence of clear federal legislation on this issue, courts and agencies have been left to fight it out over the words that are included in federal law—namely, what the meaning of “sex” in “sex discrimination” is.

This has become an increasingly difTRANS RULING continued from p. 13

weight off her shoulders,” she said.

The family’s insurer, Kaiser Permanente, covered the treatment. Puberty blockers are considered “standard of care in the appropriate clinical circumstances,” said Erica Metz, medical director for Transgender Health at Kai-

LOS ANGELES

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ficult problem since the Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage last summer. Since more LGBT people can now get married, that means more people are seeking marital benefits and coming out at work, giving employers more opportunities to discriminate.

But it’s been a confusing legal issue for a long time. Twenty-seven years ago, the Supreme Court did rule on one aspect of gender identity discrimination: It said that employers can’t force workers to express their femininity or masculinity in a certain way as a basis for promotions or continued employment.

What that has meant, as the Seventh Circuit recently noted, is that someone can win a discrimination case if her boss fires her because of her butch haircut, but not if her boss fires her for being a lesbian.

Along those lines, the district court in the Michigan funeral home case didn’t accept the argument that the owner should be able to enforce its gendered dress code. But it also didn’t accept the EEOC’s longstanding argu-

ment that gender-identity discrimination is forbidden by Title VII. And that opened the way for the second, more significant part of the court’s decision: If the government forced the funeral home to keep Stephens on as an employee, that would place a substantial burden on the owner’s religious beliefs.

According to the decision, the funeral home “‘administers its dress code based on our employees’ biological sex, not based on their subjective gender identity.’” The owner, Rost, believes “‘the Bible teaches that a person’s sex is an immutable God-given gift and that people should not deny or attempt to change their sex.’” Because of this, Rost says, he “‘would be violating God’s commands’ if he let Stephens ‘deny [his] sex while acting as a representative of [the funeral home].’”

Following the logic of Hobby Lobby, the court ruled that a private business can make this kind of claim about religious conscience. While the EEOC argued that the funeral home should have to allow Stephens to dress ac-

cording to her gender identity, the court argued that this wasn’t the least restrictive way for the government to protect against the alleged discrimination—the agency could have proposed that the funeral home create a neutral dress code, for example.

If this seems like these legal arguments are missing the deeper point, that’s because they are. At its core, this case is not about someone being fired because of a dress code; it’s about someone being fired because she is transgender. It also validates a new way of using the Religious Freedom Restoration act—the court has effectively affirmed that religion can be a legitimate justification for firing a transgender person.

But because of the way the law is written, and because of the confusing set of court precedents in this area, the case had to be litigated as a matter of skirt suits. What may be coming next is more cases of people claiming they have a right to fire LGBT people as a matter of faith.

ser Permanente Northern California.

According to Metz, the treatment “gives patients and their families time to work with their mental health and medical providers to determine if it is appropriate to start transitioning.”

When the girl was 14, she started taking estrogen — the next step in her male-to-female transition. Instead of

growing facial hair and a male physique, she developed breasts and some curves. Her voice didn’t deepen, and she doesn’t have an Adam’s apple.

The mother described her daughter as a social, outgoing and well-adjusted teenager. She knows the grim mental health statistics for transgender people — 41 percent have attempted suicide,

nearly nine times the national average — and she doesn’t want to imagine a world where her daughter would be without puberty blockers, a medical intervention that she called a “lifesaver.”

“The thought of her having had to go through male puberty, I think it would have destroyed her mental health and well-being,” the mother said.

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THOMPSON continued from p. 6

biographer Stuart Timmons, left, and L.A.. Council member Eric Garcetti, right Mark helped organize the celebration of Harry Hay’s 100th Birthday, with community activist Wes Joe, Hay biographer Stuart Timmons, left, and L.A.. Council member Eric Garcetti, right In advance of the celebration of what would have been Harry Hay’s 100th birthday on April 7, 2012—for which Mark helped organize the dedication of the Mattachine Steps in Silver Lake — I reprinted his essay on Harry and John Burnside from his 2009 memoir Advocate Days & Other Stories (QueerMojo).

“The first thing Harry Hay ever told me was to pull off my ugly green frog skin of heterosexual conformity. It was May Day, 1979, and I had just left a plane from San Francisco, where gay people danced naked in the streets. There wasn’t too much hetero-imitative behavior as far as I could see. And as for that ugly green frog suit, well, perhaps only as a really bad piece of drag,” Mark wrote.

“Who was this character? A gay father figure with an overly active imagination? Or some kind of queer sage, a little too bent to fully comprehend? I decided to keep on listening. And I am

so glad I did.”

Harry and Mark met in a small apartment near the Hollywood Hills to discuss upcoming plans for the first-ever Spiritual Conference for Radical Faeries. “Nobody quite knew what a “radical faerie” was (including, I’m convinced, the organizers of the gathering). Yet it sure sounded grand, even romantic enough to capture the attention of readers. It did. Nearly two hundred gay men from across North America arrived at a remote Arizona oasis by summer’s end, kick-starting an international movement that flourishes to this day,” he wrote.

“Nothing escaped [Harry’s] attention, particularly if it informed his theories about gay consciousness.

His central idea–as revolutionary then as now–is that gay people have a special role to play in human evolution. He was the first to insist that we are a separate, distinct minority with certain traits and talents, mainly in the areas of teaching, healing, mediating opposites, and creating beauty.

Harry’s notion or “call” as he put it, seemed fuzzy to a lot of people, especially those unable to differentiate between different and special,” Mark continued.

“As Harry made clear–no more painstakingly than over long hours at his kitchen table–being different meant ‘neither better nor inferior–but athwart.’ He loved using five-dollar

words like that. What he was basically saying is that the ‘gay window’–our unique and often deeply ironic way of seeing–has something essentially wonderful to offer humanity.”

I was introduced to Mark in 1990 at The Advocate offices in Hollywood by editor-in-chief Richard Rouilard. I was struck by his décor: Native American drums, a long Talking Stick with feathers, sacred totems and leather garb, which resulted in his delightfully discussing the naked-dancing Radical Faeries. As an aging “Flower Power” Woodstock hippie, I loved the idea of finding freedom through gay spiritual consciousness. I was a former mainstream journalist, now doing my part for “the cause,” but I knew little of LGBT history. Harry Hay, Jim Kepner, Morris Kight and Connie Norman were among my teachers, with Mark serving in another editorial capacity explaining the “truth” and the behind-the-scenes motivations and personal agendas behind all the fascinating stories.

He used to quote A.J. Liebling’s famous line: “The freedom of the press belongs to him who owns one.” But as reporters and editors, Mark and I felt a responsibility on the frontlines to discern what stories were real, what was spin, and how to report on a controversy with both color and an ethical obligation to the larger context. It wasn’t always easy, but he

took the struggle to heart, apologizing profusely when another, more senior editor changed the title of one of my stories to make it more snarky—and incredibly sexist.

Mark didn’t abide sexism. In fact, he was close with many lesbians who would have shorn his dignity if he disparaged women—lesbians like Ivy Bottini, Robin Tyler, Torie Osborn, Terry DeCrescenzo and Betty Berzon.

“Mark was a solid rock of human understanding and had an open heart. He lived a spiritual life as he understood spirit. I have lost a long time friend,” Ivy said upon hearing of Mark’s passing.

Mark also helped recognize pioneer writers at The Lambda Literary Foundation’s 25th anniversary of Outwrite! in April 2013, that recognized literary pioneers Rev. Malcolm Boyd, Lillian Faderman (pictured above), Katherine V. Forrest, John Rechy and Patricia Nell Warren.

Mark and the late activist, writer Jeanne Cordova were particularly close, especially after Malcolm passed away. They last saw each other at Malcolm’s memorial last year. As Jeanne’s spouse Lynn Balin told me in an email: “Jeanne was in the middle of chemo - so not well enough to visit Mark - but she wrote asking him if he was comforted by a belief in God like Malcolm had.”

Mark wrote back: “The idea of God

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LOS ANGELES

MOVIES

FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS

⚫ BY JOHN PAUL KING

MOVIE KING

Meryl Streep, as Florence, hits a high note

Always a nominee but never a winner, this larger-than-life personality, is almost cartoonish, but in Streep’s hands she is nothing less than completely, believably human.

Walking into the theater to see “Florence Foster Jenkins,” it’s a given that you are about to watch another tour-de-force by Meryl Streep. I’ll waste no time in saying that she delivers on that expectation. The story of a real-life society matron who realized her life-long dream of singing at Carnegie Hall despite a complete inability to carry a tune, this bio-pic is tailor-made for her talents; it can be no surprise that she gives arguably her most delightful performance in years.

What’s surprising is that nobody sharing the screen with her disappears behind her shadow. On the contrary, her co-stars contribute just as much as she does to the movie’s overall charm, helping it to become much more than just a showcase for the talents of a beloved silver-screen diva.

To give full credit, it is necessary to recognize that this is not just a Meryl Streep vehicle, but the latest entry on the resumé of British filmmaker Stephen Frears, who first gained international recognition with his iconic 1985 gay romance, “My Beautiful Laundrette,” and who has helmed a number of prominent movies over the decades since- “Dangerous Liaisons,” “The Grifters,” “The Queen,” and “Philomena,” to name only a few.

No stranger to working with legendary talent, one of Frears’ great strengths as a director is his ability to enlist them in the service of his own sure-and-steady storytelling

N THE 1940S, NEW YORK SOCIALITE FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS (MERYL STREEP) DREAMS OF BECOMING A GREAT OPERA SINGER.

skills, allowing them to be actors instead of stars, and to enhance his work instead of dominating it. It’s an approach geared towards the character-driven projects he prefers; his movies, though they often involve unorthodox situations or famous figures, are always ultimately about universally-shared human experience, and they benefit from the workmanlike performances though which he guides his players.

In this case, of course, the incomparable Meryl is front-and-center, as she should be. Her Florence has all the hallmarks of a great Streep role.

She is a larger-than-life personality, almost cartoonish, but in Streep’s hands she is never anything less than completely, believably human. She displays impeccable comedic abilities in one moment and slips seamlessly into heartbreaking pathos the next, without ever relying on clownish mugging or heavy-handed sentiment- and on top of it all, she does her own bad singing without sounding like she’s trying to sing badly. In short, she gives the kind of performance that has put her in the echelon of such stars as Hepburn and Davis.

Even so, she is not the whole show.

The movie’s real surprise is certainly Hugh Grant. Usually regarded more as a personality with a pretty face

than as a high-caliber actor, he more than rises to the occasion here as Florence’s devoted (if not-quite-faithful) husband, who uses his connections in both the high and low strata of New York society to help her accomplish her improbable dream. Carrying himself with the slightly-obsequious swagger of a ne’er-do-well cad, he undercuts that demeanor with a layered performance which never leaves you in doubt of his sincerity. His aging-but-still-handsome features convey a depth of feeling which reveals “Florence Foster Jenkins” to be, at its core, a love story.

In the third key role, Simon Helberg (of “The Big Bang Theory”) portrays Florence’s reluctant accompanist, Cosmé McMoon, in a style which (in keeping with the film’s period setting) suggests the codified “sissy” characters of old Hollywood. His homosexuality is never explicitly addressed, but the film derives some good-natured humor from his obvious orientation- which, rather than demeaning or marginalizing him, serves to place him, along with all such characters, in his rightful role as an integral part of society. Queerness aside, Helberg gives us a marvelous serio-comic turn as a timid outsider who finds the strength of his own spirit through his dedication to his unlikely employer;

he fully earns the right to share the screen with his two co-stars.

The rest of the cast, though their names and faces are less recognizable, are equally effective in portraying their roles. In addition, the film benefits from breathtaking production design (by Alan MacDonald) and sumptuous costuming (by Consolata Boyle). Finally, as is always the case for a strong film, the screenplay (by Nicholas Martin) is well-crafted, literate, and thoughtful, providing a strong foundation upon which the other artists can build their own great work.

“Florence Foster Jenkins” is not a deep or ground-breaking piece of cinema. It’s a refined crowd-pleaser, a serio-comic slice of life designed to touch and delight its audiences.

That’s not a bad thing. In a summer filled with noisy blockbusters, it’s refreshing to be treated to a movie with such quiet class- particularly when it has as much talent on display as this one. After all, when a Meryl Streep performance is just the icing on top, you know that has to be one delicious cake.

FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS DIRECTOR: STEPHEN FREARS COMPOSER: ALEXANDRE DESPLAT SCREENPLAY: NICHOLAS MARTIN ARCLIGHT HOLLYWOOD > 8:05PM9:20PM10:50PM VINTAGE LOS FELIZ THEATRE > 7:00PM9:45PM PACIFIC THEATRES GLENDALE > 7:35PM10:10PM

08.26 — 09.09.2016 THOMPSON continued from p. 18

is always open to interpretation, but the reality of there being a Divine Spirit that infuses every aspect of our inner and outer worlds is something I have always embraced. I believe it is better to say ‘Yes’ in these matters than to deny. Who really knows in such matters? I believe it is better to be on the side of the angels--just in case they happen to be here.”

Mark’s relationship with Malcolm, who was 30 years his senior, was miraculous in their shared love and mutual respect, especially concerning their different spiritual and religious beliefs. Their union officiated by Episcopal Bishop Jon Bruno at the Diocese headquarters in Los Angeles was as controversial within the Anglican Church as was the elevation of Gene Robinson to bishop in 2004. But Mark loved how his poet priest could be feisty—wanting to meet with new Pope Francis over pizza and chianti to explain the glorious love shared by same sex couples.

Malcolm-Mark-“Malcolm and I met and began this relationship this month, February, in 1984,” Mark told me Feb. 27, 2015, sitting in the lobby of Good Samaritan Hospital after I came to say goodbye to Malcolm.

Mark noted that Malcolm was then 62, the age Mark was sitting across from me. “I have an ever-new appreciation for who he is.”

Mark recalled asking himself what he was doing—falling for an Episcopal priest 30 years his senior! “But once I looked into those incredible eyes, I was gone,” Mark said, with a mischievous twinkle in his sad eyes.

“We’ve been committed partners for 31 years. We got legally married in our living room with just a few friends and somebody from City Hall once Prop. 8 was resolved in July 2013.

But, of course, there was our famous community blessing in 2004 that made the front page of the Los Angeles Times with the church, Bishop Bruno and Malcolm deciding to make that stand.”

They decided to make that stand for marriage equality because President George W. Bush advocated for a federal marriage amendment to prohibit giving same-sex couples the constitutional right to marry in his State of LA PRIDE continued from p. 21

must be revitalized: history, legacy and LGBT civil rights must remain at the heart of CSW and LA Pride.

3. The board and its leaders must learn how to be more humble about their august community responsibility and engage people in a less imperious manner.

4. Like other 46-year old adults, CSW always must own up to mistakes.

5. CSW’s board and the City of West Hollywood must submit the organi-

LOS ANGELES the Union address.

“It was a very courageous act on everybody’s part,” Mark said.

“Malcolm and I were together for over three decades. We had no secrets. But because of the times and places from which we came, it was sometimes difficult. We had to work extra hard to resolve our differences.

But always there was love and reaching for a higher ground,” Mark said.

“The last years of our lives have been sublimely perfect. Even I am amazed at his breadth and commitment on so many levels of humanity.”

“My spouse, Mary, and I were very close to Mark and Malcolm through the years. We loved them, and their legacies of writing and art now live on for future generations. It was my honor to perform their wedding ceremony at the Cathedral Center, and together we helped take a stand for marriage equality that is now the law of the land. We are so grateful for the courage, leadership, friendship and inspiration of this remarkable couple,” Bishop Bruno said in an email.

In 2012, Mark wrote about how that day— May 16, 2004—came about for a piece in the Huffington Post entitled: “A Blessing of Vows: How Two ‘Stonewall Era’ Gay Guys Finally Got Married.” Here’s an extended excerpt: —— ““Get married!” I nearly shouted. “And in a church? You’ve got to be out of your mind!” I vehemently told my partner the night he came home from work with his grand announcement. As a four-decades-long gay civil rights activist, the thought of one day actually saying “I do” to the man I loved had never seriously crossed my mind. There were just too many other concerns to worry about — from reforming antiquated and damning laws, to finding a cure for AIDS, to fostering the belief in LGBT youth that their lives were worth living, to ... to ... well, the agenda was a long one.

Besides, as a “Stonewall era” gay man I wasn’t even sure if getting married was on my list of politically correct activities. But then I thought, who ever wrote that stupid list in the first place?

My hubby, a pleasant but stubborn man, quickly rejoined to my every protest.

“Well, first it won’t be an actual

marriage because that is still not legal in California. It will be a blessing of vows.”

Then he waited a moment before dropping the headline news. (And headlines it made too, on the front page of the Los Angeles Times the very next day!) “It won’t be in a church.

The ceremony will be performed as a large public event in the Cathedral Center of the Diocese of Los Angeles by none other than our dear friend and spiritual leader The Rt. Rev. Jon Bruno.” I could feel the blood rushing from my brain.

All this meant it would be an historic event and a very political one, too!

For it would be the first time in the United States that a sitting bishop would officially bless the union of two quite publically open gay men — and in his own Cathedral Center. It was a lot to think about. Being a gay man, and a rather meticulous one at that, my very next question was, “But what am I going wear?”

Malcolm just laughed at my obvious panic. “Don’t worry, everything will be alright. Bishop Jon really wants to do this. He’ll take care of everything.

All you need to do is show up.”

And so I did show up, along with about 150 of our closest friends, including my younger brother, John, who served as my best man. I looked splendid in a new blue suit, but I don’t think I had ever been so nervous in my life. I was certain the crowd could see the swarm of butterflies buzzing around my head. The date had been selected to commemorate the 20th anniversary of our union, so accordingly the pomp and circumstance was finely applied.

There were hymns sung, and incense pots swung. We exchanged our vows before the assemblage and then my brother stepped forward with a carved wooden box containing an antique silk scarf

zation to an independent forensic accounting of 2016’s finances and every year going forward to regain public trust.

6. Budgets should be publically approved for Pride’s commitments and funding should be secured in advance.

7. Bids should be elicited from a vetted vendors and suppliers list and only from sponsors, businesses and agents that are explicitly pro-LGBT and unaffiliated with board members’ business interests.

8. Christopher Street West must find a way to preserve the grassroots, community orientation of the event in a way that both attracts community participation and commercial and corporate support to make it financially successful.

9. Due to the diminishing available footprint in West Hollywood Park for the immediate future, all of Santa Monica Boulevard should be devoted to LA Pride on Sunday with the Festival held on the eastbound side. Friday and Saturday festival could become a

⚫ 21

that Malcolm’s mother had painted with the image of two crane birds several decades before. Although Beatrice was no longer alive, I could feel her spirit in the room as a palpable witness. The Bishop careful removed the delicate cloth from the box and then clasped our hands together with it. With that act complete, he then declared our union blessed in the eyes of the Holy Spirit and the Church.

The applause was thunderous, the exit music sublime as we all made our way into the adjoining Great Hall for a feast fit for a lifetime. Love was truly in the air that day — as it should always be no matter whom you chose to cherish as your one-and-only amigo, comrade in arms, soul mate and eternal treasure.” — However Mark died, I cannot imagine he died alone. I see Malcolm swooping down to lift him up, aided

by Jeanne Cordova and Paul Monette and Michael Callen and scores and scores of friends who cherished his sweet spirit over the years. Mark Thompson is now truly on the side of the angels.

MARK CELEBRATES MALCOMB’S 90TH BIRTHDAY AT THEIR HOME IN PALM SPRINGS LAST YEAR.

series of concert cul de sacs at major WeHo intersections. When appropriate the Festival can return to the park.

10. If Christopher Street West is unable to change, then the City of West Hollywood needs to require an open bid to run LA Pride. The organization must survive.

These are just a few ideas to jumpstart a new beginning and reboot an inspiring community event. What are yours?

⚫

> The view from Christadora 22

08.26 — 09.09.2016

LOS ANGELES

INTERVIEW BOOKS

AUTHOR

House, overlooking an epidemic

Since it came out in early August, Tim Murphy’s , which chronicles half a dozen intersecting lives in New York City at the height of the AIDS epidemic and the decades beyond, has received raves for its artful and vivid blending of fictional lives and real-life events.

Publishers Weekly called it “The Bonfire of the Vanities for the age of AIDS,” the Washington Post called it “one of the few serious attempts...in literature to explore the crisis of meth addiction among gay men,” and Paramount’s new TV division has optioned the saga for a possible miniseries to be coproduced by True Detective’s Cary Fukunaga and Love Is Strange cowriter and director Ira Sachs.

We talked to Murphy, a longtime New York-based LGBT and HIV/AIDS journalist as well as a main organizer of the new activist group Gays Against Guns: Q. That’s exciting about the book being optioned by Paramount. How did that happen?

A. I’ve known filmmaker Ira Sachs here in New York for a while and when I saw Love Is Strange, I thought, “Wow, that’s what I’d want Christodora to feel like if it were a TV show or a film,” that very quiet, matter-of-fact observing of these everyday New York lives with this kind of emotion and heartbreak pulsing underneath the surface.

So once Grove bought the book last summer, I asked Ira to read it and he said, “Sure, but just so you know, I

usually write my own material.”

But it turned out he loved it, so he gave it to his writing partner Mauricio Zacharias, who also loved it, and they passed it to Cary Fukunaga, who then passed it to Paramount, with whom he has a producing partnership, and that’s how they bought the option with such a great string of talent attached to it. Now they’d just have to sell it to someplace like HBO, Amazon or Netflix. Fingers crossed.

Q. You’ve been an HIV/AIDS journalist for 20 years. How did a novel with that backdrop come to be?

A. I wrote two pretty gay novels in my late twenties, Getting Off Clean The Breeders Box. But then I had some hard years with depression and addiction and when I came out of them post9/11, I threw myself into journalism at POZmagazine and really didn’t have much interest in writing fiction again, or when I’d try, I just couldn’t really feel it.

But after nearly a decade like that, I started to feel like I would get very unhappy if I never again tried to write another novel, and by that point, having lived through all sorts of ups and down in New York City for nearly 20 years, through the worst AIDS years and their aftermath, I had a lump in my heart of things I wanted to write about.

I just didn’t have a complete novel in mind, so I wrote a short story with some of the major characters from Christo-

dora, including the bourgeois artists Milly and Jared living in the Christodora building in the East Village with their little adopted son, Mateo, whose mother Ysabel had died from AIDS several years prior, and that’s how the book began.

Many of the major connections and plot turns in the book I didn’t figure out til I was well into the writing, so it was a very mysterious writing process for me. I found this story as I wrote it, not in advance.

Q. Was it hard writing about AIDS in the 1980s and early 1990s, probably the most painful chapter in LGBT history?

A. It was a personal mourning process for me and it was cathartic. The story of not just the grief and the horror but also the heroism displayed by AIDS caretakers and the street activists of ACT UP has not really been fully told yet, but it’s an amazing heroic and emotional story, and it deserves to be told and to be written into American history.

It was deeply moving to write fictional characters into that real-life history and I really just wanted to do that chapter of gay history justice and to get the science and politics right, overall, even while allowing myself some poetic justice and trying not to go so deep into the weeds of treatment and research that I would lose readers.

I kept always trying to root the story back into the characters and how larger events shape their lives and relationships.

Q. Reviewers have noted that the book is about so many things other than the AIDS epidemic--it’s about mental illness, addiction, gentrification, the art scene, the politics of activism, and especially about the ups and downs of friendship and family ties over many, many years. What is it about to you?

A. For one thing, it’s about how the past and present bleed into each other, which is why the book is non-chronological and jumps back and forth in time quite a bit, even though the story slowly reveals itself nonetheless, like a good mystery or puzzle.

It’s about reading the past through the lens of the present, and vice versa.

And it’s also about how nobody has to be the hero all the time, all their life, and how hopefully if you are the hero for somebody at one point in your life,

others will turn around and be the hero for you at another point when you most need it.

That is a recurring theme for me through the book. It’s also about being very nostalgic about New York in the 1980s and 1990s and trying to recapture those years through music and culture and clothes and past clubs, like Paradise Garage and Boy Bar. Q. And the funny this is that you’ve written so much about activism in this book and now you are one of the main members of the founding chapter of Gays Against Guns.

A. Yes, I didn’t think that when I was writing Christodora and trying to imagine and recreate on the page the heyday of ACT UP, that I would be sitting in meetings in the very same rooms at the NYC LGBT Community Center as we mount an ACT UP-like direct action fight against the gun industry lobby in the U.S. That lobby has effectively blocked in Congress even the most moderate and common-sense laws for gun safety, like reinstating the former ban on assault weapons, which no civilian needs, and background checks on all gun sales, including at gun shows and online.

I guess the connection is that people laughed at faggots and dykes and trans people when they were fighting for their own lives in the 1980s and then to get married in the 2000s, and then we won both those battles because being marginalized has given us a great deal of grit, ingenuity and persistence.

And some NRA lovers out there right now are laughing at these “silly faggots” trying to create gun reform after the Pulse massacre in Orlando. But the truth is that the vast majority of Americans are on our side both as queer people and as gun-reform activists, and our willingness to hit the streets for the first time shouting “Fuck the NRA!” is making that majority more powerful and outspoken, too.

Queer people have a history of being out ahead of the rest of the culture in terms of charting the country’s future course and it feels great to be part of the first gun-safety movement that is saying to the gun profiteers and to the NRA, “This is bullshit, you can’t keep enabling carnage for your own profit, and we have no problem making your life as miserable as possible until we break your back in Congress and in the culture overall.”

08.26 — 09.09.2016

LOS ANGELES

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