the pride
MOVIES 3.11.2016 CUPS AND WITCHES ⚫ 15 & 16
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ISSUE NUMBER 5, VOLUME 2 1 MARCH 12 — MARCH 26, 2016
LOS ANGELES
THE LOS ANGELES LGBT NEWSPAPER
LGBT BUSINESS ⚫ 13
Mark Morales energizes LA’s LGBT business social network
FIRST AMENDMENT ⚫ 6
Student badges provoke some anti-gay hate, kindness ADDICTION ⚫ 8
Harm reduction is focus of Federal health funding PEOPLE ⚫ 19
Bravo! for TV’s first married gay couple reality stars
FAMED OUT GAY COP:
SGT. MITCH GROBESON (L) IN A 1993 PRESS PHOTO WITH FORMER LAPD CHIEF DARYL GATES (R). (FROM SGTMITCH.COM)
REPORTED BY KAREN OCAMB
Out Former LAPD Sargent charged with spousal abuse
⚫ Sgt. Mitch Grobeson, who had fought lengthy legal battles with the LAPD over its treatment of gay officers, was charged Tuesday with pointing a handgun at his husband during an argument in their West Hollywood home.
⚫ Grobeson faces one felony count of assault with a firearm and a count of criminal threats, according to Deputy District Attorney Jessica Kronstadt. If convicted, Grobeson faces up to 14 years in state prison.
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LOS ANGELES
3.11.2016
3.11.2016 Los Angeles CRIME
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LOS ANGELES
Community News
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⚫ BY KAREN OCAMB
Sgt. Mitch Grobeson, jailed after dramatic standoff with SWAT team Sgt. Mitch Grobeson famously sued the LAPD in 1988, alleging he was forced to resign due to antigay harassment. Grobeson sued again in 1996, alleging the harassment continued upon his return to the force. He settled with the LAPD in 2013.
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gt. Mitch Grobeson, a nationally prominent LGBT figure who battled institutionalized homophobia within the ranks of the LAPD, is accused of “pointing a handgun at his spouse to force him to leave their home” following a domestic dispute March 4. The victim contacted LASD the next day to help him retrieve some belongings. Deputy District Attorney Jessica Kronstadt announced the charges against the openly gay former LAPD on March 8. Kronstadt asked for bail to be set at $100,000 and for a criminal protective order for Grobeson’s spouse. Grobeson faces a possible maximum penalty of 14 years in state prison if convicted. Grobeson’s incarceration could inadvertently prove to be a significant test of the jail reforms put in place after a settlement with federal prosecutors last August. Despite the bad blood between old school law enforcement officers and the openly gay for mer sergeant after Gr obeson exposed homophobia in the LAPD ranks in 1988, the
county is now responsible for the safety of the one-time gay icon while he’s in custody. Gr obeson’s arr est stems from an incident last Friday afternoon, March 4, when the LASD was called to a domestic violence incident on the block of 800 West Knoll Dr. in West Hollywood. The Sheriff’s office deployed SWAT, a crisis negotiating team, the bomb squad and a helicopter after it was reported that Grobeson, 57, had threatened his spouse Oscar with a gun, was making wild suicidal threats and had multiple guns in the house, according to West Hollywood Sheriff’s station spokesperson Sgt. Jeff Bishop. The couple has been together for 12 years without any public incident and both Grobeson and his spouse are considered very “neighborly.” The domestic distur bance began Thursday night, a source said, when the couple fought so intensely, Oscar was forced to sleep in the car. According to a reliable source close to the couple, Grobeson had a “meltdown,” though LASD has not released any information
A SWAT TEAM SURROUND THE WEST HOLLYWOOD HOME OF SGT. MITCH GROBESON. PHOTOS COURTESY RENEE SOTILE & MARY JO GODGES
regarding a motive behind the incident. James Mason, Grobeson’s out next door neighbor, believes Grobeson broke down as a result of a series of mental health stress-related issues centered around his not being able to get a law enforcement job since he left the LAPD under sour circumstances. “It just basically rode on him to the point it became too much for him,” Mason told The Pride, adding that Grobeson repeatedly applied for law enforcement positions but was denied because of his history with the LAPD. “That str essed him out.” Grobeson has served as a security guard for celebrities ranging fr om Car ol Chan-
ning to Selma Gomez and has taught security courses over the years. Grobeson’s original lawsuit in 1988 resulted from horrific harassment from fellow of ficers, including failure to provide backup, leaving Grobeson stranded in a dangerous situation. His lawsuit exposed homophobia within the LAPD, which his attorney, Jon Davidson, brought to the attention of the independent Christopher Commission in 1991, which investigated the LAPD in-depth. In addition to looking at the hiring, firing and harassment of lesbian and gay officers, the Commission found that officers held homophobic bias toward LGBT citizens. For instance,
when dispatch called about a gay domestic violence incident, it was logged into mobile transmission devices at “NHI,” which is code for “No Human Involved.” Grobeson’s 25-year confrontation with the LAPD finally ended in 2013. Grobeson faces a possible maximum penalty of 14 years in state prison if convicted. “I am sorry to hear of Mitch Grobeson’s arrest,” Davidson told The Pride via email from Massachusetts. “The LGBT community owes much to Sgt. Grobeson. As a result of his tireless efforts, including suing the LAPD more than once, numerous reforms were brought about in the GROBESON continued on p. 9
⚫ 4
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3.11.2016
LOS ANGELES
SCHOOLS
CALIFORNIA INDIO
⚫ 5
⚫ BY KAREN OCAMB
Student badges provoke some anti-gay hate, kindness
“If the slogan is vulgar and profane, the court allows the school to interfere. But when speech has a political slant, schools need to be cautious,” says Human Rights Campaign Legal Director Sarah Warbelow.
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he most recent battle over wearable protest art started several weeks ago when about a dozen students at Shadow Hills High School in Indio decorated their school ID badges with an anti-gay “NO!” symbol over a rainbow. The decal was also plastered on the window of the Gay Straight Alliance office. “I’m Jewish, and if that had been a little swastika on my window, what’s the difference?” asked history teacher Amy Oberman in a March 4 Desert Sun story. “This group of students was publicly displaying an intolerance and hate for the LGBT community when a large portion of our students at SHHS are part of the community or close to people a part of it as well,” senior Michelle Bachman, vice president of the school’s GSA, told The Sun. “This is definitely hate speech, but legally, we can’t do anything until these students start to physically harass us, which I believe is an injustice.” The administration concurred. “After con-
sulting with district level personnel and our legal counsel, it was determined that these students do have the protected right to freedom of speech, just as students portraying rainbows in support of the LGBT would,” read an administration statement. “If at any point students are interrupting class time to express their beliefs, they are to be sent to the discipline office with a referral for disruption.” The anti-gay badges are similar to what Human Rights Campaign Legal Director Sarah Warbelow calls the “tee shirt cases.” Students wearing tee shirts featuring anti-abortion pictures or anti-gay slogans to school have sued over the years in cases that have reached the 7th, 8th and 9th circuit courts. The courts have ruled that offensive tee shirts are permitted unless the administration can reasonably foresee that the tee shirt would be disruptive. “It’s hard to know exactly where the line is,” Warbelow told The Pride. “If the slogan is vulgar and profane, the court allows the school
STUDENTS IN AN INDIO, CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOL WHO PLACED AN ANTI-GAY SYMBOL ON THEIR ID BADGES CLAIM AND ADMINISTRATORS HAVE DEFENDED IT AS FREEDOM OF SPEECH. IMAGE FROM FACEBOOK.
to interfere. But when speech has a political slant, schools need to be cautious. They can only engage in restricting speech if it disrupts the operation or interferes with the rights of other students.” Warbelow noted that a “Straight Pride” tee shirt might be offensive but is not inherently disruptive. However, the 9th Circuit ruled that a tee shirt saying, “Homosexuality is shameful. Romans 1:27” on the front and “Be ashamed. Our school has embraced what God has condemned” on the back was demeaning and harmful to vulnerable students. The situation with the anti-gay badges depends on whether the students “were going out of their way” to offend LGBT youth with predictable hostile action. Joey Hernández, Manager of the Los An-
geles LGBT Center’s Education Policy and Programs, thinks the badges created a hostile environment. “Anti-LGBT propaganda and rhetoric, such as the anti-LGBT badges in question, create and perpetuate hostile school environments for LGBT and allied students,” he said in a statement. “While expressing one’s opinion is an important component of the educational experience, schools must recognize the need to provide a welcoming and LGBT -inclusive school environment.” Hernández noted that LGBT students “already experience high levels of discrimination and harassment,” according to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s 2013 School Climate Survey. The report showed that up to 75% of LGBT students were verbally ha-
rassed in 2012 because of their sexual orientation, with over 55% harassed because of their gender expression. “By allowing these badges to have a place on campus, Shadow Hills High School is opening up endless opportunities for continued and more extreme harassment of LGBT students. Bullying and physical violence can deprive LGBT students of a safe education—sometimes resulting in lower attendance, lower grades, or dropping out.” “The Center is currently communicating with the Desert Sands Unified School District,” Hernández told The Pride, to ensure that it has “the resources it needs to create an LGBT -inclusive school environment,” resources such as those provided by The Center’s OUT for Safe Schools program. Meanwhile, the badg-
es sparked a counter-offensive of kindness. Palm Desert Charter Middle School eighth grader Paige Labayog, who has LGBT friends, was so outraged by the badges, she created wearable displays of her own. “She said ‘This is crap, mom. I can’t believe this is happening at a desert school. I want to do something,’” Paige’s mother, Melissa Labayog, told The Sun. “It’s pretty sad that a 13-year-old at another school is the one that had to draw attention to it.” Paige’s design—a smiley face sticker with a hand-painted rainbow across the faces— has become a big hit with district teachers and students. “(I want) to show that your sexuality is OK no matter what your sexuality is,” Paige told The Sun. “To make everyone feel welcome.”
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PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES
⚫ BY LISA KEEN
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3.11.2016
LOS ANGELES
2016 ELECTION
One candidate is half way, another seeks loyalty oath, a third backs down People have expressed concern about transgender people facing harassment when they use public bathrooms that don’t match their perceived gender.
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he Democratic presidential candidate who appears to have the most LGBT support narrowly lost a major primary Tuesday to the Democratic presidential ca n d id a te w h o bo a s t s the most consistently progay record. The only Republican presidential candidate who has encouraged business owners to respect LGBT people appeared this week to back of f that position. And to this mix, add the Republican frontrunner’s new rally feature: asking participants to raise their hands and “solemnly swear” to vote for him and saying, “Bad things happen if you don’t live up to what you just did.” Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders picked up a surprise win in the Michigan primary Tuesday, as did Republican presidential frontrunner Donald T rump. Polls leading up to Tuesday gave Democrat Hillary Clinton the advantage in Michigan. She appeared to have had significant support from the LGBT community in Michigan. Gay philanthropist Jon Stryker, head of the Kalamazoo-based Arcus Foundation, contributed heavily to political action committees supporting Clinton. LGBT organizers in Royal Oak on Sunday hosted
former President Bill Clinton. And Michigan LGBT newspaper publisher Susan Horowitz said she supports Clinton. But of the six states that held Democratic balloting between Saturday and Tuesday, Sanders won Michigan and thr ee others (Kansas, Maine, and Nebraska) and Clinton won two (Louisiana and Mississippi). That kept up a general trend, so far, of Sanders winning in the northeast and Midwest, and Clinton winning in the south. Though Clinton won fewer states in the past week, she picked up more delegates (152 to Sanders’ 136) and is now mor e than halfway to securing the 2,383 delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination. Sanders is 24 percent of the way. While Trump is the Republ i c a n f r o n t r u n n e r, h e h a s only 37 percent of the 1,237 delegate votes needed to secure the nomination. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas has 29 percent, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio has 12 percent, and Ohio Governor John Kasich has four percent. Unless Kasich and Rubio can pull off victories in their home states next Tuesday, the Republican contest could soon be a two-man race.
DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY AND CAUCUS ELECTION RESULTS AS OF MARCH 9, 2016 COMPILED FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS DATA
But T rump continues to lead in most of the remaining polls –including in Florida and Ohio – and maintains the lion’s share of media attention. That continued this week when Trump began asking rally participants to swear an oath to him, unleashing open discussion of a concer n that T rump’s rhetoric and tactics are reminiscent of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Ger many. T rump has also had security personnel to remove protesters from his rally. A former head of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman, told The T imes of Israel, “As a Jew who survived the Holocaust, to see an audience of thou-
sands of people raising their hands in what looks like the ‘Heil Hitler’ salute is about as offensive, obnoxious and disgusting as anything I thought I would ever witness in the United States of America.” Trump called on his audience to make the pledge in Orlando, Florida, Saturday and Concord, North Car olina, on Monday. Photos from the events show some people holding their hands up in a classic pledge pose, with their forearms perpendicular to their upper arms. But many held their ar ms straight out from their bodies in a pose that is reminiscent of Hitler’s salute. Asked about it by various television news r eporters,
Trump said the oath was just “for fun” and that his audiences were beckoning him to “do the swear in.” Republican Party leaders are distraught over the seeming likelihood that T rump will win the nomination and many have been throwing their support behind Rubio and Kasich. Anecdotal information suggests LGBT Republicans are, too. Many were pleased with Kasich’s remarks during a February 25 debate in Houston about the refusal of some to do business with same-sex couples. “If you’re in the business of selling things, if you’re not ELECTION continued on p. 10
3.11.2016 PUERTO RICO GAY MARRIAGE
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LOS ANGELES
FEDERAL COURTS
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⚫ BY ANGELO CASIANO
Gay Marriage re-emerges at Puerto Rican Federal Court
U.S. District Court Judge Juan Perez-Gimenez ruled that a U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing gay couples to marry anywhere in the United States does not apply on the island because it is a U.S. territory and not a state.
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United States District Court judge in Puerto Rico, Juan M. PérezGiménez, has issued an order stating that the Supreme Court ruling that made samesex marriage a constitutional right does not automatically apply to the island territory. Puerto Rico’s Governor Alejandro García Padilla, in response, made an urgent instruction that government entities must continue issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples and recognizing such marriages performed out-of-state. In his 10-page document, Perez-Gimenez denied the resources requested by the human rights defender and lawyer Ada Conde Vidal along with other plaintiffs almost two years ago against the constitutionality of Article 68 of the Civil Code of Puerto Rico that defines marriage as a civil institution between a man and a woman. Perez-Gimemez said that the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling “does not incorporate the fundamental right in question to Puerto Rico through the Fourteenth Amendment (equal protection under the laws”) nor does it invalidate Article 68 (which defines marriage in the Civil Code of Puerto Rico)”. The judge followed by saying that, “[i]t is not within the jurisdiction of this court to declare, as the parties request that the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees the
right to marriage for samesex.” Perez-Gimenez states that the Fourteenth Amendment, unlike the states, does not automatically apply to citizens of Puerto Rico since it was not precisely extended by the Supreme Court ruling in question. The judge says that a right to same-sex marriage in Puerto Rico requires further clarifying language from the Supreme Court of the United States, or the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico or by legislation from the US Congress in the exercise of the powers conferred under the territorial clause to overturn Puerto Rico law and amend or repeal Article 68. “One would be tempted to assume that the constant reference to the “states” in the case Obergefell includes the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. However, it is not the function of this court to venture into such an interpretation,” says the judge in his decision. “For these reasons, the Court concludes that the fundamental right to marry, as has been recognized by the Supreme Court in Obergefell, has not been incorporated into the legal reality of Puerto Rico,” he concludes. Thus, the judge denied the plaintiffs’ request to rule that the ban against marriage for same-sex codified in Article 68 of Puerto Rico’s Civil Code is a constitutional violation. It is important to note that
60 COUPLES GATHERED LAST AUGUST IN SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO TO MARRY IN THE US TERRITORY’S CELEBRATORY MASS GAY WEDDING.
the ruling also covers, and thus, denies, the plaintiffs’ second argument to the effect that refusing to recognize the marriages performed in other jurisdictions was a constitutional violation. Pérez-Gimenez’s decision comes at a critical time. The United States Supreme Court is poised to decide a pair of cases that will conclusively tell us how Puerto Rico’s status as an unincorporated U.S. territory shall be interpreted when allocating constitutional rights. One of the cases deals with bankruptcy laws while the second (and most important one), Pueblo v. Sánchez seeks to clarify the reach of the Fifth Amendment’s Double Jeopardy clause. Scalia’s position during oral arguments in Pueblo v. Sánchez were in favor of applying the Double Jeopardy clause. His position in that
case would credit the notion that Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory, which would in turn support the basis for Pérez-Gimenez’s decision not to automatically apply marriage equality to the Island. Justice Scalia heard the case prior to his passing and almost certainly left his
views in writing before his untimely death. The Plaintiffs in the case against Article 68 immediately vowed to return to Boston’s Court of Appeals for the First Circuit hoping for a summary reversal of tonight’s unfortunate and unexpected decision by PérezGimenez.
U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE JUAN PÉREZ-GIMÉNEZ
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PUBLIC HEALTH HARM REDUCTION
3.11.2016
LOS ANGELES
>
ADDICTION & TREATMENT
⚫ BY ANNA GORMAN
Harm reduction in LA focus of Federal health funding
ACCORDING TO THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEATH, THERE ARE NEARLY 40 PROGRAMS IN THE STATE THAT PROVIDE SYRINGE EXCHANGE SERVICES. MANY HAVE FIXED LOCATIONS, BUT OTHERS OPERATE AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS AND TIMES THROUGHOUT THE WEEK. SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY HAS THE MOST PROGRAMS WITH SIX, FOLLOWED BY LOS ANGELES WITH FIVE AND HUMBOLDT WITH FOUR.
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t precisely 8:30 a.m. on a Tuesday morning, the doors to the needle exchange on Skid Row open and the daily procession of injection drug users begins. Michael Poor, 47, is one of the first customers. He has used his last clean syringe. Poor, who is homeless and addicted to methamphetamines, says coming to the downtown exchange puts his mind at ease: clean needles lower his risk for HIV. “It is a very needed service, not just in downtown but anywhere drugs are an issue,” says Poor, a lanky, friendly man who is missing all of his teeth. “Thanks to needle exchange … I have stayed pretty healthy, which is a hard
thing to do when you are injecting drugs.” Needle exchanges like the one Poor visits could receive a financial boost this year following a decision by Congress to lift a ban on federal funding. As abuse of prescription drugs and opiates continues to spread across the nation, more states are considering exchanges as a way to save lives. Indiana, for instance, opened its first exchange after an HIV outbreak last year. The change in federal policy, part of a spending bill approved earlier this month, allows funding only in areas where drug-related cases of hepatitis and HIV are rising or are likely
to. State and city health departments will make that determination along with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the legislation. The money can be used to pay for staff and programs, but not for syringes. “It is really an important and historic moment for us at syringe exchanges,” said Mark Casanova, executive director of Homeless Health Care Los Angeles, which runs the syringe exchange on Skid Row, known as the Center for Harm Reduction. “But it doesn’t go far enough.” Casanova said about a third of his $350,000 budget for the exchange program is spent on the 1.2 million syringes he hands out each year, and he will have to continue relying heavily on private donations to pay for them. Despite the restrictions, lifting the ban underscores a growing recognition that needle exchange programs can help reduce the the spread of infectious diseases, said Daniel Raymond, policy director for Harm Reduction Coalition. “This is a huge victory,” said Raymond, whose national organization advocates and provides training for exchange programs. “It is in some way the last chapter of an era where syringe exchange was considered too volatile and too partisan [for policy makers] to come to a consensus.” Critics of needle programs counter that opening the door to federal funding could leave less money for treatment of people who want to get sober. The new law does not allot additional funds for the exchanges, but rather allows them to compete for existing drug program money. “The dollars are precious these days,” said Calvina Fay, executive director of Drug Free America Foundation, a drug policy and prevention organization. “When we have people wanting to get clean and standing in line waiting for a treatment bed … the money could certainly be better
spent.” Needle exchanges began at the height of the AIDS epidemic and today number roughly 200 around the United States, including about 40 in California. Using clean syringes continues to be the safest way to prevent transmission among injection drug users, according to a 2012 CDC report, which said the percentage of injection drug users infected with HIV dropped by half from the mid-1990s to 2009. “Syringe programs have really been concentrated in large cities and have done an excellent job of preventing HIV infection where they have been implemented, but we now really need to move to address the new injectors that we see in small towns and in rural areas, particularly in Appalachia,” said Don Des Jarlais of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who has spent 25 years studying the exchanges. Des Jarlais said federal funding should enable existing centers to expand and new ones to open.. “With the exception of a few states, there really has not been adequate funding of needle exchange programs in the US,” he said. Libby Harrison, who manages the Cincinnati Exchange Project in Ohio, said it was “about damn time” for the change in federal policy. “We’ve had the science on syringe exchange for almost 30 years. People and their politics getting in the way of science drives me crazy,” said Harrison, whose exchange has two staff members and is open three days a week in a region that has been hit hard by drug abuse. Inside the lobby of the Harm Reduction Center in Los Angeles, customers wait in a line marked with red tape on the floor. A poster on the wall reads in big letters, “Needle exchange saves lives.” At the front of the room, plastic bins are filled with syringes, sterile water ampoules, rubber bands, antiNEEDLE EXCHANGE continued on p. 9
3.11.2016 NEEDLE EXCHNAGE continued from p. 8
bacterial ointment and alcohol swabs. An oversized, locked red bin sits nearby, and clients deposit dirty needles into it. They don’t need appointments, insurance or even identification. They simply answer a few questions, including whether they are homeless. When 26-year-old Eli Guerra walks up to the front counter, he tells the clerk he is out of needles. The clerk asks him what he uses now. “Whatever I get my hands on,” he replies. Guerra, who uses heroin, has been coming to the needle exchange for about a year but says he hopes this will be one of his last visits. “This ain’t me, really,” he says. “I am really trying to stop.” Chloe Blalock, program coordinator of the center, said she hopes federal funding will enable her to hire more people and expand services such as therapy, medical care, overdose prevention training and medication-assisted treatment. For now, she can afford to stay open only seven hours on weekdays and six on weekends. “We should be open 24 hours,” she said. “From a public health standpoint, you want to make sure people have what they need — or more than what they need — no matter what.” On a recent Tuesday, Dr. Rolando Tringale was at the center, teaching medical students about the health effects of drug use.
GROBESON continued on p. 9
Department’s hiring, personnel, and policing practices affecting our community and others. He also consulted with law enforcement authorities nationwide in efforts to create better educated and trained forces that treat LGBT people equally and more fairly.” One neighbor felt that the response to the domestic violence incident was “an over reaction,” with SWAT failing to take into account the distress of elderly people trying to get into their HUD building for six hours. “It was a real disruption to the neighborhood,” said the neighbor, who asked for anonymity. Mason said Grobeson has lived in his apartment for 25 years and they have been neighbors since 1992. Grobeson and Oscar have been together for 12 years and Mason said he has never heard a similar fight. “I was totally shocked,” Mason said. He described Oscar as “incredible, wonderful, loving, compassionate and an absolutely beautiful person.”
LOS ANGELES Tringale, who treats abscesses and wounds, explained why staffers hand out alcohol swabs. “This is an important part of harm reduction education, preventing skin-based infections,” he said. Diamond Mendoza, a self-described homeless man who is addicted to heroin, said that since coming to the exchange he has learned a lot about injecting drugs more safely. He wipes his skin with alcohol before puncturing it. He goes to see the doctor whenever he gets a wound or an abscess. And he always uses clean needles, he said. “I don’t have HIV because I am really careful,” said Mendoza, who exchanged 40 needles on a recent morning. Michael Poor said he has been using drugs since getting hooked on Vicodin, when he was a registered nurse. At first, Poor said, he couldn’t get clean syringes and often reused and shared them. “You had to use one that had been used 15 or 20 times,” he said. He said he believes that’s how he became infected with hepatitis C. Poor said he has been coming to the center for about five years and stocks up so he can give clean needles to others. Staff members know him by name. During his recent visit, he dumped about 35 used syringes into the red bin. Minutes later, he was back out on the street, holding a small brown lunch bag filled with supplies.
Mason described Grobeson as an “awesome human being” who would “give you the shirt off his back and his last dollar.” The action that took place Thursday night and Friday afternoon “is not the Mitch Grobeson I know. He would never have done something like this. He truly must have been having a breakdown of some sort.” Mason noted that Grobeson had nine registered guns and a “nice collection” of knives used for martial arts, which were featured almost “as art pieces” hung prominently on his walls. He said the police planned to storm the apartment, if necessary. The reason the standoff took so long, Mason said, is because Grobeson “refused to lay in the middle of the street, with everyone watching, as they put the handcuffs on him. He didn’t want to be humiliated.” However, the crisis negotiating team insisted that Grobeson be treated like any other suspect. Mason, who was at the Command Post, said he finally convinced the negotiators to allow Grobeson to come out with his hands up, wearing only shorts and a tee shirt,
and promised he would then comply with being arrested. “All he wanted was respect,” Mason said. Mason said he does not think drugs played any role in the incident “whatsoever” since Grobeson has always been into fitness. That is also why he does not think Grobeson was suicidal. “I talked to Mitch several times and at no time did he ever mention ‘suicide-by-cop,’” which was a motive being tossed around early on. “That doesn’t sound like something he would do.” An investigation into what happened on March 4 is ongoing, with Oscar safe at home. But Grobeson might not be so safe in jail. When the initial story about the incident first came out last week, the LASD did not release the suspect’s name. Bishop said he does not know why Grobeson’s name was withheld but said that he received no calls after the incident until The Pride called the West Hollywood station on Monday to confirm that the suspect was Grobeson. Shortly thereafter, an odd “press release” allegedly from a gay deputy
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at the West Hollywood station, alerted local media to Grobeson as the suspect. That triggered an avalanche of calls and stories. Bishop said he was unawar e of the anonymous press release—that also identifies Grobson’s spouse as “Oscar”—and said that release of a suspect’s name “depends on the situation.” One particular line from the press release suggests a predisposed bias against Grobeson: “As an armed and dangerous man the LGBT community should know about this since Grobeson volunteers as an “armed security guard” at many LGBT fundraising events and has a guard card.” Bishop said he is unaware of Grobeson being placed on any mental health hold but noted that there is a LASD policy about cops in custody. “I don’t know where and how he is being housed,” Bishop said. “I do know that, if, in fact, he is a former police officer, there are policies that guide us on how to treat a police officer housed in custody.” At press time, Grobeson is in Men’s Central Jail.
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3.11.2016
LOS ANGELES
PRESIDENTIAL
PRIMARY UPDATE, CONT.
2016 ELECTIONS PUBLISHER & EDITOR TROY MASTERS
troy@smmirror.com CONTRIBUTORS MATTHEW S. BAJKO, CYNTHIA LAIRD, HENRY SCOTT, CHARLES KAISER, LISA KEEN, MAER ROSHAN, KIT WINTER, BRAD LAMM, DAVID EHRENSTEIN, STEVEN ERICKSON, ORIEL GUTTIEREZ, SETH HEMMELGARN, THOMAS LEONARD, KAREN OCAMB, STEVE WEINSTEIN, CHRIS AZZOPARD, DIANE ANDERSON-MINSHALL, ALLEN ROSKOFF, JOHN PAUL KING
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BERNIE SANDERS WON THE MICHIGAN PRIMARY OVER HILLARY CLINTON, 50 PERCENT TO 48, IN A STINGING UPSET. PHOTO SANDERS16
ELECTION continued from p. 6
going to sell to somebody you don’t agree with –OK, ‘Today, I’m not going to sell to somebody who’s gay and tomorrow maybe I won’t sell to somebody who’s divorced’. “If you’re in the business of commerce, conduct commerce,” said Kasich. “That’s my view. And if you don’t agree with their lifestyle, say a prayer for them when they leave [the shop] and hope they change their behavior.” But during the latest debate, March 3, Fox News reporter Bret Baier said “some faith leaders got nervous about that answer” and asked Kasich “Do gay marriage dissenters have rights?” Suddenly, Kasich seemed to waffle. After rambling about trying to be “a man of faith every day as best as I can,” he then restructured the conflict into one that gay couples were causing. “Look, you’re in the commerce business, you want to sell somebody a cupcake, great, OK? But now they ask you to participate in something you really don’t like –that’s a whole ‘nother issue, OK? Another issue,” said Kasich. He reiterated that he didn’t agree with the U.S. Supreme Court rul-
ing that struck down state bans on same-sex marriage and that he favors “traditional marriage, a man and a woman.” “If you go to a photographer to take pictures at your wedding, and he says, ‘I’d rather not do it,’ find another photographer. Don’t sue them in court,” said Kasich. “You know what the problem is in our country? In our country, we need to learn to respect each other and be a little bit tolerant for one another.” “…At the end of the day, if somebody is being pressured to participate in something that is against their deeply-held religious beliefs, then we’re going to have to think about dealing with the law.” Baier then asked Cruz, “Do you believe a gay couple should be able to adopt?” (This was four days before the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order that said Alabama had to accept an adoption approved in Georgia for a same-sex couple.) Cruz said “adoption is decided at the state level, and I am a believer of the 10th Amendment in the Constitution. I would leave the question of marriage to the states. I would leave the question of adoption to the states.” On Monday, a voter in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan, confront-
ed Kasich about his revised position. According to the Washington Post, the voter “asked if the governor would stand for the rights of gay people to be served just as L yndon Johnson had stood for the rights of black people.” The Post said Kasich “tried to pull [the voter] over [to his side] by portraying the religious liberty fight as one good people could agree not to have.” “Don’t make laws until you think you need to,” Kasich said, according to the Post. “Let’s take a deep breath and see if we can get along….If common sense doesn’t prevail, we can pass a law.” He did not, apparently, identify which law he would want to pass. Reacting to Kasich’s remarks, the Clinton campaign Twitter feed posted a graphic of a smiling Clinton against a rainbow background with the message “Marriage equality is the law of the land –Deal with it.” The race for the nomination in both parties now rushes into the District of Columbia (Saturday) and five delegate-heavy states: Illinois, Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, and Missouri. The Clinton Twitter feed, @HillaryClinton, has been posting numerous LGBT -related messages. A March 4 post says, “Today, nearly 100 #LGBT leaders from all across Illinois
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announced their support for @Hillary Clinton.” The list includes State Rep. Kelly Cassidy; Chicago Alder men James Cappleman, Ray Lopez, and Deb Mell; Community Leader Bernard Cherkasov; long-time activist Rick Garcia; and NGLTF Creating Change Co-Chair Kenny Martin-Ocasio. March 5 post says, “We should be supporting LGBT kids—not trying to change them. It’s time to end conversion therapy for minors.” And a March 6 video showed same-sex couples together, with Clinton saying that “I’m running for president to stand up for the rights of LGBT Americans and all Americans.”
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BUSINESS FOCUS NEW
LOS ANGELES
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LGBT Business Series
⚫ BY T. S. LEONARD & DAVID EHRENSTEIN
Mark Morales energizes LA’s LGBT business social network
The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce opens many doors in the Southern California business world
M
ark Morales, recently appointed President of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, wears a lot of hats. It’s a good look for the leader of the Chamber he’s steering, because members of the LAGLCC—minority business owners—are, by nature, varied hat wearers themselves. To be an entrepreneur of any stripe requires a near-athletic degree of versatility; to do it as an unsupported minority can present an even greater, and often lonelier, challenge. But using identity and diversity to a financial advantage is Mark Morales’ specialty. As the Vice President of the SBA division of HomeStreet Bank, he has spent nearly 20 years consulting financing with small businesses. He is an appointed member of the California Department of Insurance diversity task force. He pitches in to help husband Michael Mirch run their Asian antique importer, Charles Jacobsen. His many varied professional capacities provide plenty of a-ha moments for Morales about best business practices, informing the seasoned and assertive leadership he brings to the Chamber. “We have very specific goals,” Morales says. “We plan on growing the Chamber by 20 percent. We are trying to certify everyone within our membership that would benefit from it.” That certification process is key. The LA Chamber is one local contingent that works within the much-larger National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. The nationwide organization has its own certification status. Morales has a vision of working deliberately to interconnect businesses within the LA area that will ultimately draw lines across a national playing field. “Part of our mission is connecting large companies to the LGBT suppli-
MARK MORALES, PRESIDENT OF THE LOS ANGELES GAY AND LESBIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, PHOTO COURTESY LAGLCC
ers,” he explains. “It’s all about relationships, and those relationships are created on the local level with [us].” The usefulness of linking large corporations to LGBT suppliers was another one of Morales’ a-ha moments, from his experiences attending big business events as a representative of the Diversity Task Force. His work with the California Department of Insurance has been a continuing inspiration for rallying action amongst the Chamber. “The first year I attended the [California Department of Insurance’s] Diversity Summit, there were three LGBT businesses represented there,” Morales explains, excitedly. “The following year in Sacramento, there were 22. Fully a quarter of the audience were LGBT businesses, and most of them were from Southern California, trained by me to be in those seats in
front of those insurance companies. A 700 percent increase. All it took was one person talking about it for a year.” Meeting Mark Morales, it’s no surprise he could drum up such support by simple word-of-mouth. Morales is a talker, but a quick one, an efficient one. It’s no surprise, given his busy professional calendar, that the word “hyperactive” comes to mind. He networks with seamless agility, able to caption one businesses’ operation to another in seconds, and determine how the two could help one another in just a few more. This social character has seeped down through the ranks of the LAGLCC. At a recent networking event on the Sunset Strip, there were suited attorneys dishing furniture trends with interior designers. Publicists were talking politics with small non-profit leaders. Like any networking event,
there were plenty of handshakes and elevator pitches floating around the bar. But the LAGLCC feels unique for its internally plural character. The directory of registered businesses boasts a wide array of diversity within the community. There are recognizable names that run the gamut from Fresh Brothers to Morgan Stanley. And in between pizza and finance, there are delegates from real estate to restaurants to major media outlets. Brought together by their common minority identity, this rag-tag roundup of businesses big and small builds a collective community of support. “As much as I’d like to say it’s what you know,” Morales explains, “it’s who you know—connecting—and the relationships you create.” The ever-multiplying membership of the Chamber is remarkable. When the organization began in 1979, as the Valley Business Association, it was only a handful of entrepreneurs, rallying together in reaction to the just-defeated Proposition 6—the proposed statewide ban on gays and lesbians working in California public schools. Long gone are the days that business owned by and catering to the LGBT community feel the need to present their allegiances carefully. For the Chamber today, the point is visibility. “Acknowledging that the LGBT community is a viable consumer base is just good business sense,” Morales says. And in his professional opinion, considering that identity internally is just good business practice. “It’s like this: here’s a list of 300 large corporations,” Morales explains. “Do you do business with any of these companies? Good! Then it benefits you to get certified, because that opens the doors to do business with the others.” In its almost 40-year history, the LAGLCC has helped open many doors in the Southern California business world. Going forward, Morales is palpably giddy to see how that effect can be multiplied as it is applied across LGBT businesses and suppliers. His energy has been infectious, and the future of the Chamber seems assured to be a proactive, and possibly, hyperactive, one.
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3.11.2016 IN THEATERS NOW
LOS ANGELES
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MOVIE PICK
⚫ BY STEVEN ERICKSON
Terrence Malick’s “Knight of Cups” perplexes Terrence Malick’s latest film features Hollywood excess – and an excess of Oscar winners
A
“La Dolce Vita” for the era of YouTube, director Terrence Malick’s “Knight of Cups” is likely to have speculators deciding it’s either a masterpiece or complete crap. That’s the polarizing direction in which Malick has recently been moving. His first four films received near-universal acclaim, probably aided by the 20-year gap between the 1978 “Days of Heaven” and 1998 “The Thin Red Line.” “Tree of Life” and “To The Wonder” reaped a much less widely enthusiastic response, with critic Robert Koehler offering an eloquent putdown in an article in “Cineaste” magazine. It didn’t help that by that point, Malick’s style, particularly his signature image of a woman twirling through wheat fields, had been copied by other filmmakers and advertising directors, but he didn’t seem to notice. For me, “Knight of Cups” is the most rewarding late Malick film, even if it works mostly as eye candy. Screenwriter Rick (Christian Bale) lives in a plush Los Angeles loft, but his life seems empty. Over the course of “Knight of Cups,” he drifts into relationships with six different women: Della (Imogen Poots), his ex-wife Nancy (Cate Blanchett), model Helen (Freida Pinto), Elizabeth (Natalie Portman), stripper Karen (Teresa Palmer), Isabel (Isabel Lucas). Malick also ventures from L.A. to Las Vegas, driving along the desert via the freeway in spedup images. Along the way, he goes to an enormous party, hangs out at fashion shoots and movie sets, and parties at strip clubs, but only at the end of the film does he reach any kind of peace with himself. There’s very little dialogue in “Knight of Cups.” Instead, Malick has replaced it with a voice-over that passes from character to character. The voiceover of “The Thin Red Line,” which functioned similarly, bothered me at first because every char acter’s thoughts sounded identical and their philosophical musings didn’t ring true as the ideas of uneducated 20-year-olds. It took me a few viewings to realize that such literal verisimilitude was the last thing on Malick’s mind. Few people will have that problem with “Knight of Cups,” which also does a much better job of differentiating each character’s voice. “Knight of Cups” stakes out the controversial position that nature is a better balm for the
CHRISTIAN BALE AND NATALIE PORTMAN SHARE A ROMANTIC MOMENT IN ‘KNIGHT OF CUPS.’
soul than nightclubs. It’s funny how many films about the evils of Hollywood devote more time to its wild parties and three-way sex than its casual racism. But even if Fellini said all this back in 1960, “Knight of Cups” is very much a film of the ADHD-addled present and benefits from its modernity. You could take almost any minute-long stretch, put it on YouTube and have a chance at creating a viral video. I’m particularly fond of the scene of a dog swimming after its toy, shot from an underwater camera. Malick and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki’s camera angle choices are consistently odd. The voice-over switches so quickly that it can be hard to keep track of who’s speaking, especially towards the beginning. The editing isn’t as radical as an avant-garde film like Isiah Medina’s “88:88,” which chops up philosophy, hip-hop lyrics and images of poverty in Toronto, but it comes close. Malick proves himself again one of the most adventurous narrative filmmakers in the U.S. The details of that adventure are sometimes vague. Malick’s scenes of Hollywood decadence often play like a PG-13 Bret Easton Ellis parody. He’s never been credited as a social realist, but the brief images of burned homeless men are much more bracing, probably because the men aren’t actors. (It’s distracting to have Antonio Banderas show up at a party, spout a bunch of gibberish for
two minutes, and then vanish from the film.) A practicing Christian, Malick throws in several references to his faith, such as a scene where Rick’s father Joseph (Brian Dennehy) prays on his knees, but the film is suffused with a general sense of spirituality that’s as open to tarot cards and statues of Hindu gods as Jesus. One gets the sense that Malick keeps his films’ religious options open because he risks pissing off the arthouse audience by getting too specific. “Knight of Cups” is designed as a modern-day “Pilgrim’s Progress”, and its glamorous setting tends to work against it, as does the fact that its six female characters enter and exit the film so quickly that we never really get a chance to know them. But if there’s one thing Malick does know, it’s how to seduce his audience with images. Almost all the urban and rural landscapes through Rick travels look immensely appealing, at least at first glance. And Malick resists the urge to have women cavort through grain! Formally, his work is growing more complex and more engaged with the world around us. I just wish its content was keeping pace.
KNIGHT OF CUPS
“Knight of Cups” Director & Screenplay: Terrence Malick Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki Music composed by: Hanan Townshend Playing at ArcLight Hollywood, 12:30 daily
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3.11.2016
LOS ANGELES
MOVIE REVIEW
⚫ BY JOHN PAUL KING
“The Witch” casts a spell from within “This is no cautionary tale about danger in the literal woods; rather, it’s a warning about what happens when we isolate ourselves within our beliefs…”
“T
he Witch,” from first-time filmmaker Robert Eggers, is a horror movie which asks us to suspend our modern-day disbelief in order to accept that witchcraft, black magic, and Satanic possession are as much a part of the real world as its family of 17th Century protagonists considers them to be. Subtitled “A New England Folk Tale,” and based on the lore of a region and era in which widespread hysteria over such matters infamously culminated in the Salem witch trials, it informs us that much of its dialogue is taken directly from official transcripts of first-hand accounts from the period. It strives to convince us of its authenticity, seeming to insist that our ability to accept the literal truth of what it shows us is crucial to our understanding of the story. Set in New England of the early 1600s, “The Witch” follows a family of settlers who have been cast out of their Puritan community for their preaching their own strictly conservative beliefs. They establish a farm on the edge of the wilderness, where father William rules the family with a firm but loving hand; he daily performs the hard work required to maintain their home with the help of his eldest, daughter Thomasin, and her brother, Caleb; mother Kate tends to her newest baby, while the young twins, Mercy and Jonas, spend their days playing with the goats in the stable. For a time, they seem to thrive, living an austere but tranquil life.
ONE OF THE MOST BUZZED ABOUT MOVIES OUT OF THIS YEAR’S SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL WAS THE COLONIAL HORROR FILM THE WITCH. WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY FIRST-TIMER ROBERT EGGERS
The family’s fortunes take a turn, however, when baby Samuel, while under the watch of Thomasin, suddenly disappears from their midst. Though William insists the infant was taken by a wolf, it soon becomes apparent that another sinister presence from the woods is responsible, and as its mysterious grip tightens around the isolated family they find themselves terrorized by events that challenge not only their deeply-held faith in God, but their faith in each other, as well. In the hands of many directors, this plot would undoubtedly be the framework for a host of lurid thrills and cheap shocks. Indeed, throughout “The Witch,” horror buffs may find themselves repeatedly expecting the requisite “surprise” pop-up frights, and waiting for the slow build to explode into a progression of ever-grislier mutilation and carnage.
Eggers, however, has a different experience in mind; through both his screenplay and his meticulous staging of the film, he avoids sensationalism and focuses instead on maintaining and reinforcing the kind of realism more reminiscent of a subtle period drama than an over-the-top fright flick. Not only are the costumes and the settings simple and historically accurate, the language of the dialogue is written and spoken with the ring of period authenticity. The cinematography (elegantly executed by Jarin Blaschke) uses mostly natural and available light to remain firmly rooted in the real world while still using plenty of shadow to evoke the implied darkness lurking in the heart of the story, and Eggers artfully frames his shots to create painterly images that are nevertheless tangibly naturalistic.
Perhaps most critically, the actors are uniformly superb, a true ensemble cast. Each member of the family is portrayed with the kind of absolute honesty that reveals complex and unexpected layers of humanity; even the youngest children are remarkably believable, a fact which enhances the overall effect of the film’s horror immeasurably. All deserve equal credit. . It is the film’s well-crafted realism, though, that may prove its fatal flaw, for some audiences. Everything about it, from its title to its haunting score (composed by Mark Korven), tells you that it is a horror film, but — on the surface at least — it doesn’t play like one. The pace is slow, and the implied menace is rarely shown. Even the title character herself barely appears onscreen, though we are emphatically expected to believe in her.
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ROBERT EGGERS (PHOTO BY RICHARD KOEK)
ones, and our own true nature. The interpersonal drama of the little family we are shown gives us plenty of clues about the real evil that is tearing them apart, and it comes from within, not from without. It is this sly and subversive subtext running through its center that makes “The Witch” stand apart within its genre. “The Witch” may not terrify, but it provokes, and that is what will linger in your memory. Well, that, and a certain black goat…
THE WITCH continued from p. 16
The brilliance of Eggers’ movie, of course, is that it never really does expect us to do that. The movie hinges on the certainty that we will question the reality of this family’s experience and analyze it on a deeper level. This is no cautionary tale about danger in the literal woods; rather, it’s a warning about what happens when we isolate ourselves within our beliefs- at odds with our communities, our loved
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3.11.2016 PEOPLE
TALKING POINT
LOS ANGELES
Conversations
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⚫ WITH CRAIG RAMSAY & BRANDON LIBERATI
Bravo! for TV’s first married gay couple reality stars
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itness expert Craig Ramsay and celebrity beauty guru, Brandon Liberati are known as the hottest couple on the latest season of Bravo’s Newlyweds: The First Year and the first legally married LGBT couple on reality television since the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of same-sex marriage last June. Newlyweds followed the dynamic husband duo throughout the first year of their marriage, which included an uncomfortable honeymoon camping experience, Craig providing his sperm to Brandon’s lesbian sister, Bree, Brandon’s gynecomastia surgery to remove male breast tissue after a cancer scare and their own journey marrying their business, Fit & Phab (Pure Health and Beauty). Now that the show has wrapped, the two sit down with each other and relive some of their highs and lows as a married couple and give Pride LA a taste of what’s to come. How have you grown as a couple since filming ended? Craig- We are gayer than ever, I mean closer than ever! We are truly grateful to have been given the option to get married and then to film our first year was crazy! Brandon - To go through the filming and have our marriage survive is a feat for anyone- but in gay terms that’s like making it through a circuit party with your shirt on. What’s one thing you wished you had done differently during that time period? Craig- We live our lives and pride our marriage on a “no regrets” philosophy but when we were on Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live show I (Craig) was asked by a caller who I thought would last as a married couple from our season and the quick response “only us” was mostly joking of course but it kept me up many nights because it wasn’t my place to joke about other peoples marriages-especially because some of the other newlyweds on the show were going through some serious issues. Brandon - I thought it was a funny answer. F*ck em if they can’t take a joke! What I would have done differ-
We receive thousands of messages from married couples sharing with us extremely personal relationship situations and questions and it’s flattering that they trust our advice and tips. Brandon- We love the stories from the people that have changed their opinion and outlook on marriage equality, and the feedback that includes the occasional dirty picture also moves us. What was the hardest moment to relive? Craig- Watching Brandon’s sister Bree talk about her miscarriage moments after she found out from the doctor. Thinking about it brings me to tears. Brandon- That was hard for me to watch and it didn’t help that what I was wearing made me just as upset. Who is your favorite celebrity couple? Craig- Ken & Lisa Vanderpump. As a couple that also works and has a business together we admire how well they balance work, life & filming responsibilities with still finding time to enjoy their marriage. Brandon- Tom Ford and Richard Buckley. Everything about them- they have been together almost 30 years.
CRAIG AND BRANDON, PHOTO BY JACE DEAN PHOTOGRAPHY
ently? I would have had her sugar my balls along with everything else! Over the course of the show, you dealt with the challenges of “creating a family” - what’s your status now? Craig- What viewers didn’t see on Newlyweds was Brandon’s sister Bree actually had a few miscarriages not just one and these are highly emotional experiences. That said, I got super sperm now and we are activity trying to successfully start a family. First for Brandon’s sister & her wife, then for us. Brandon- This modern family is still in the making! In what ways do you feel like you challenge each other to be better
husbands? Brandon- We are complete opposites, we’ve been told we are the gay “odd couple.” We challenge each other daily- he’s messy, I’m not! You see this dynamic especially in our @fitandphab business adventures. Craig- I’m more of the playful and spontaneous one and Brandon is the more mature, organized and responsible one. Can you share some of your favorite fan feedback from moments on the show? Craig- We are happily surprised at how many men (mostly straight guys) have reached out thanking us for providing them tips and tools on how to be a better husband by example of how we handle conflict and life as husbands.
What do you hope for the future as Fit & Phab? Craig- Eventually a Fit and Phab stor front (gym/beauty salon combo) is the goal. We are really proud of our Fit and Phab fitness DVD program “Workout’s a Drag” with Pandora Boxx. It’s a workout program that will not only help you reach your physique and health goals but will entertain you along the way. This summer we launch our Fit and Phab class “Stretch: A Reason to Wine,” which is a stretch course paired with wine tasting. We’ve also partnered with some of your favorite Bravo Real Housewives and their delicious wines. Of course, always catch up with us on social media and check in with us on our Fit & Phab YouTube channel. Brandon- I hope to be a household name that people identify as a go-to brand for beauty, style, wellness and fitness. A one-stop beauty and body shop!
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