The Pride Issue 19, Vol. 2, June 30 2017

the pride ISSUE NUMBER 19, VOLUME 2 06.30 — 07.13.2017

| JUNE 30 – JULY 13, ‘17

LOS ANGELES

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THE LOS ANGELES LGBT NEWSPAPER

WWW.THEPRIDELA.COM

IS PINKWASHING REAL? Tempest in a Coffee Pot: How the Boyle Heights Resistance is Sending Mixed Signals.

More on page 5.

Protestors at the opening of Weird Wave Coffee in Boyle Heights.

Photos: Twitter.

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LOS ANGELES

2

YOU MATTER AND SO DOES YOUR HEALTH

That’s why starting and staying on HIV-1 treatment is so important.

What is DESCOVY ? ®

DESCOVY is a prescription medicine that is used together with other HIV-1 medicines to treat HIV-1 in people 12 years and older.

DESCOVY is not for use to help reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 infection. DESCOVY combines 2 medicines into 1 pill taken once a day. Because DESCOVY by itself is not a complete treatment for HIV-1, it must be used together with other HIV-1 medicines.

DESCOVY does not cure HIV-1 infection or AIDS. To control HIV-1 infection and decrease HIV-related illnesses, you must keep taking DESCOVY. Ask your healthcare provider if you have questions about how to reduce the risk of passing HIV-1 to others.

Always practice safer sex and use condoms to lower the chance of sexual contact with body fluids. Never reuse or share needles or other items that have body fluids on them.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION What is the most important information I should know about DESCOVY? DESCOVY may cause serious side effects: •

•

•

•

Buildup of an acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious medical emergency. Symptoms of lactic acidosis include feeling very weak or tired, unusual muscle pain, trouble breathing, stomach pain with nausea or vomiting, feeling cold (especially in your arms and legs), feeling dizzy or lightheaded, and/or a fast or irregular heartbeat.

What are the other possible side effects of DESCOVY? Serious side effects of DESCOVY may also include: •

•

•

•

Changes in body fat, which can happen in people taking HIV-1 medicines.

Changes in your immune system. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fight infections. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any new symptoms after you start taking DESCOVY. Kidney problems, including kidney failure. Your healthcare provider should do blood and urine tests to check your kidneys.

Your healthcare provider may tell you to stop taking DESCOVY if you develop new or worse kidney problems.

Bone problems, such as bone pain, softening, or thinning, which may lead to fractures. Your healthcare provider may do tests to check your bones.

The most common side effect of DESCOVY is nausea. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effects that bother you or don’t go away.

What should I tell my healthcare provider before taking DESCOVY? •

•

Serious liver problems. The liver may become large and fatty.

Symptoms of liver problems include your skin or the white part of your eyes turning yellow (jaundice); dark “tea-colored” urine; lightcolored bowel movements (stools); loss of appetite; nausea; and/or pain, aching, or tenderness on the right side of your stomach area.

All your health problems. Be sure to tell your healthcare provider if you have or have had any kidney, bone, or liver problems, including hepatitis virus infection.

All the medicines you take, including prescription and overthe-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Other medicines may affect how DESCOVY works. Keep a list of all your medicines and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist.

Ask your healthcare provider if it is safe to take DESCOVY with all of your other medicines.

If you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if DESCOVY can harm your unborn baby. Tell your healthcare provider if you become pregnant while taking DESCOVY.

You may be more likely to get lactic acidosis or serious liver problems if you are female, very overweight, or have been taking DESCOVY for a long time. In some cases, lactic acidosis and serious liver problems have led to death. Call your healthcare provider right away if you have any symptoms of these conditions.

•

Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. DESCOVY is not approved to treat HBV. If you have both HIV-1 and HBV and stop taking DESCOVY, your HBV may suddenly get worse. Do not stop taking DESCOVY without first talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to monitor your health.

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

•

If you are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed. HIV-1 can be passed to the baby in breast milk.

Please see Important Facts about DESCOVY, including important warnings, on the following page.

Ask your healthcare provider if an HIV-1 treatment that contains DESCOVY® is right for you.

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IMPORTANT FACTS This is only a brief summary of important information about DESCOVY® and does not replace talking to your healthcare provider about your condition and your treatment.

(des-KOH-vee) MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT DESCOVY

POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF DESCOVY

DESCOVY may cause serious side effects, including: • Buildup of lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious medical emergency that can lead to death. Call your healthcare provider right away if you have any of these symptoms: feeling very weak or tired, unusual muscle pain, trouble breathing, stomach pain with nausea or vomiting, feeling cold (especially in your arms and legs), feeling dizzy or lightheaded, and/or a fast or irregular heartbeat.

• Severe liver problems, which in some cases can lead to death. Call your healthcare provider right away if you have any of these symptoms: your skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow (jaundice); dark “tea-colored” urine; loss of appetite; light-colored bowel movements (stools); nausea; and/or pain, aching, or tenderness on the right side of your stomach area.

• Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. DESCOVY is not approved to treat HBV. If you have both HIV-1 and HBV, your HBV may suddenly get worse if you stop taking DESCOVY. Do not stop taking DESCOVY without first talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to check your health regularly for several months.

You may be more likely to get lactic acidosis or severe liver problems if you are female, very overweight, or have been taking DESCOVY or a similar medicine for a long time.

DESCOVY can cause serious side effects, including: • Those in the “Most Important Information About DESCOVY” section.

• Changes in body fat.

• Changes in your immune system.

• New or worse kidney problems, including kidney failure.

• Bone problems.

The most common side effect of DESCOVY is nausea.

These are not all the possible side effects of DESCOVY. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any new symptoms while taking DESCOVY. Your healthcare provider will need to do tests to monitor your health before and during treatment with DESCOVY.

ABOUT DESCOVY • DESCOVY is a prescription medicine that is used together with other HIV-1 medicines to treat HIV-1 in people 12 years of age and older. DESCOVY is not for use to help reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 infection.

• DESCOVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS. Ask your healthcare provider about how to prevent passing HIV-1 to others.

HOW TO TAKE DESCOVY • DESCOVY is a one pill, once a day HIV-1 medicine that is taken with other HIV-1 medicines.

• Take DESCOVY with or without food.

BEFORE TAKING DESCOVY Tell your healthcare provider if you: • Have or had any kidney, bone, or liver problems, including hepatitis infection.

• Have any other medical condition.

• Are pregnant or plan to become pregnant.

• Are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed.

Do not breastfeed if you have HIV-1 because of the risk of passing HIV-1 to your baby.

Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take: • Keep a list that includes all prescription and over-thecounter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements, and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist.

• Ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist about medicines that should not be taken with DESCOVY.

GET MORE INFORMATION • This is only a brief summary of important information about DESCOVY. Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist to learn more.

• Go to DESCOVY.com or call 1-800-GILEAD-5 • If you need help paying for your medicine, visit DESCOVY.com for program information.

DESCOVY, the DESCOVY Logo, GILEAD, the GILEAD Logo, and LOVE WHAT’S INSIDE are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies. All other marks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. © 2016 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. DVYC0019 11/16

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06.30 — 07.13.2017 COMMUNITY GENTRIFICATION

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LOS ANGELES

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FROM THE COVER

⚫ BY HENRY GIARDINA

Is Pinkwashing Real?

Tempest in a Coffee Pot: How the Boyle Heights Resistance is Sending Mixed Signals.

Last February, PSSST gallery opened on 1329 East 3rd Street in the diverse neighborhood of Boyle Heights. In the mission statement for the new space, a vision for a utopian, queer-friendly, artist-supported gallery was laid out in no uncertain terms. In addition to opening up a multi-purpose art space, PSSST’s mission was to “actively [work] with underrepresented artists – women, people of color, LGBTQ-identified.”

A year later, PSSST closed its doors for good.

In a closing statement, the gallery owners cited harassment by a Boyle Heights anti-gentrification group, whose attack on the gallery carried a personal charge.

“The ongoing controversy surrounding art and gentrification in Boyle Heights caused PSSST to become so contested that we are unable to ethically and financially proceed with our mission.” Wrote L.A.-based artists Barnett Cohen, Jules Gimbrone, and Pilar Gallego, co-owners of PSSST, on their Web page.“Our young nonprofit struggled to survive through constant attacks.

Our staff and artists were routinely trolled online and harassed in-person. This persistent targeting, which was often highly personal in nature, was made all the more intolerable because the artists we engaged are queer, women, and/or people of color.We could no longer continue to put already vulnerable communities at further risk.”

Meanwhile, the protest group Boyle Heights Alliance Against Artwashing and Displacement

(BHAAD) took the closing as a victory for the neighborhood: “PSSST arrogantly ignores the reality of the people who must build coalitions and local power to survive!” Wrote BHAAD in a statement online. “As President Trump escalates deportations...as city planners empower developers to artwash working class communities across the nation, the most marginalized people must continue to build strong national coalitions in order to resist!”

According to Newsweek, of Boyle Heights’ 92,000 residents, “94 percent are Latino, 33 percent live in poverty, 89 percent rent, 95 percent do not have a four-year college degree, 17 percent are undocumented immigrants.” The anger of Boyle Heights citizens in the face of an oncoming gentrification wave – as represented by the new influx of galleries popping up in the neighborhood – was understandable. As L.A. becomes a more and more of a place for political resistors and struggling artists, more and more families continue to be displaced to make way for newer, whiter residents and their more bourgeois standards for neighborhood living.

In May 2014, a tone-deaf poster asked (ostensibly upper-middle-class white folks) “why rent downtown when you can buy in Boyle Heights?”

Ever since, the citizens of the neighborhood have been in full force, making their resistance known. It’s not just Boyle Heights, either. Neighborhoods in East L.A. have all been feeling the pressure of impending gentrification. A few signs plastered around Glassell Park accuse renters: “YOU are the reason my Abuela is in the hospital because being displaced in your home is also a health epidemic in gentrifying neighborhoods.”

John Schwarz and Mario Chavarria at Weird Wave Coffee.

Photo: Henry Giardina.

While all of East L.A. is feeling the heat, Boyle cation = New Colonialism,” the group Defend Heights has been the undisputed hotbed of an- Boyle Heights came out to make their resisti-gentrification protests in the past two years, tance known.To the protestors, it was far more and the resistance has only been escalating since than a simple matter of coffee. the closing of PSSST in February, just short of “The very first day we went out there and the space's one-year anniversary, and with noth- tried to engage with them, and they started ing new slated to go in its place. But the prob- calling up racist and saying we were white rich lem, for groups like BHAAD and Defend Boyle privileged people.” said Schwarz.“We went back Heights, wasn’t just against PSSST.They’re against in and kept our heads down.” the notion that gentrification should be seen Since the launch date, they've been back conas inevitable. For sistently, with the this reason, they’re same message for fighting back strong, We have one pretty simple demand... which Schwarz and his showing up armed is for all art galleries in Boyle Heights to co-owners: Leave with signs and proleave immediately and for the community the neighborhood. to decide what takes their place. test chants, and “They came out making demands for about an hour – Maga Miranda, Defend Boyle Heights member the morning of with no room for From LA Weekly, 2016. the 23rd and then compromise.

“We have one the L.A. Times came pretty simple deand took a couple mand,” Defend Boyle Heights member Maga pictures. Then they went home.” Schwarz said.

Miranda told LA Weekly last year, when BHAAD “They’ve been attacking us online constantly.” was just getting its legs, “which is for all art galBut do the activists reflect the actual feelings leries in Boyle Heights to leave immediately and of Boyle Heights residents? for the community to decide what takes their “It’s not the neighborhood,” says Schwarz, place.” “it’s just these guys. The neighborhood loves us.

Artwashing, white-washing, and pinkwash- They’re accepting, friendly people. We get tacos ing (using queerness as an excuse to gentrify down the street every day, we go to the dollar a space, as in the case of PSSST) are all sides store to get ice. We trade coffee for hot dogs of the same coin to the Boyle Heights activist down the block.” who don’t want to see their families displaced Since the victory of the PSSST closing, the in the name of identity politics. The problem is, Defend Boyle Heights group has made it clear they’re using identity politics themselves.And it’s that they don’t have to consider a compromise. working.

They want Weird Wave to close, full stop.

One year later, the severity of activists like “That’s pretty much it,” said Mario Chavarria.

BHAAD's demand for non-residents to “get “They want us to get out.” out” has not weakened – if anything, it has On June 19, the Defend Boyle Heights group strengthened. Its new target? A small coffee posted a definitive statement against Weird shop on Cesar Chavez Avenue, across from a Wave on their Facebook page: King Taco and a going-out-of-business Payless. “[Weird Wave’s owners] are not from the It’s called Weird Wave Coffee, and it’s a tiny Boyle Heights community...But even if they storefront run by three men – Jackson Defa, were all people of color, Latinx or whatever, John Schwarz, and Mario Chavarria – whose why would that change their obvious purpose prices have kept the median income of Boyle of opening up a hip new coffee shop on Cesar Heights residents in mind: $1 for an 8-ounce Chavez? They are gentrifiers, plain and simple. drip, $2 for 12-ounce, and $6 for a sandwich. Regardless of their color, white, brown, black, This, despite the fact that they really have no etc.” competition.

The group also changed its profile picture to Weird Wave opened just two weeks ago on a picture of Weird Wave with block white letJune 15, and from the very first day, they were tering written across: “Defend Boyle Heights – targeted.

Boycott Weird Wave.”

“We had a very soft open on Thursday,” said Boyle Heights is starting to be seen as two John Schwarz, who’s been working on the Weird very distinct things: Both the ‘little engine that Wave opening since early this year when he first could’ of anti-gentrification efforts, and a neighgot the lease. “At the time we had a very insig- borhood stuck in a stalemate with what seems nificant Instagram with maybe 50 followers. We – to many others – like the inevitable wave of posted that we were open, and that morning, change. This identity crisis is almost fitting for a protesters showed up.” place that wants to keep out the ravages of time, Holding signs saying “FUEGO” and “Gentrifi- at the possible cost of creating a better home.

“

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CULTURE ARTS

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LOS ANGELES

“MORE THAN T”

⚫ BY HENRY GIARDINA

Silas Howard is Complicating the Narrative When MAC cosmetics wanted to create a documentary that brought complex and diverse stories of trans individuals to light, they looked no further than “Transparent” director Silas Howard to fulfill this vision. We sat down with Howard to discuss the result; “More Than T,” a documentary that moves beyond stereotypes to explore the depth and richness of trans lives.

How did the concept for "More Than T" begin?

MAC approached me. They wanted to bring transgender stories to light and felt it was best that they have a trans director on their team and felt I was the best fit. When they approached me, I was more than happy to jump on board with this project.

The fact that MAC wanted to work with creatives from the trans community to tell authentic stories from within our community was enormous. Often you see these narratives told through the lens of cis or gender-normative perspectives, which is fine - but there is power

or gender nonconforming people.

What's the most important takeaway from "More Than T?” “More Than T” gives a strong voice to the transgender community who now, more than ever, need to be heard. The seven individuals highlighted provide courage and inspiration to other trans and gender nonconforming folks to share their stories and illuminate the issues faced by the community at large.“More Than T” is transgender people looking at the transgender community, our friends, our brothers and sisters, and seeing us as whole people.This is so important. There is a difference between being looked at and being seen. Everyone deserves to be seen.

Photo: Miranda Penn Turin.

in a community telling it’s own story and sharing their experience on such a large scale.

How did you and Jen Richards (of acclaimed web series “Her Story”) decide to collaborate?

From the beginning, Jen Richards, the creative consultant on “More Than T,” and I, wanted to highlight trailblazers, activists and artists who were so much more than just a singular label. Their trans experience was an import-

ant part of their story, as it should be, but we wanted to move beyond this single identifier and showcase the complexity and multidimensional lives each individual led. For example, Mia Yamamoto is a distinguished criminal defense attorney who helps inmates on death row; Rev. Louis Mitchell is a faith-based community leader with a wife and child. The goal was to unpack these lives and explore how gender identity plays a role in each story without reducing them only to transgender

What kinds of discussions do you hope this project will create?

I'd hope to start a discussion about how diverse the voices of the trans community are.

What’s interesting about gender non-conforming and trans communities is we’re so often at the intersection of race, gender presentation, socioeconomic class, and age and fail to fit into a single mold. We’re all codeswitching.We’re all coming from different backgrounds.

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LOS ANGELES

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COMMUNITY HISTORY

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GAY L.A.

⚫ BY J.J. ENGLENDER

How Pat Rocco Documented the Male Body, and the Start of L.A.’s Queer Resistance This essay is part of a series on Queer underground cinema in the ‘60s.

Photo: Archives.

Activist and filmmaker Pat Rocco.

@ the beach

Activist and filmmaker Pat Rocco produced gay erotica in the 1960s. His work was widely embraced by the gay community, and received favorable reviews from the mainstream press.

Rocco got his start as a physique photographer of male nudes. During these photography shoots, Rocco brought his camera to film the sessions.

Armed with a sizeable collection of these short films, Rocco sold the prints via mail order.

In L.A.'s Westlake neighborhood, The Park Theater was one of the first venues to program gay film. The theater was owned by Shan Sayles and Monroe Beehler.

The two owners discovered Rocco while looking for filmmakers to provide content for their series at the Park, and asked to see his work. According to Anthony Slide’s 2000 book “Nitrate Won't Wait: A History of Film Preservation in the United States”, “The Original Pat Rocco Male Film Festival" at the Park Theatre in July 1968 was the first program of all-gay films to play in America.

Rocco's prolific output of erotic films decreased in the early 1970s as trends shifted toward hardcore porn. By the late 1960s, Rocco’s attention shifted toward serious issues. He shot gay demonstrations, parades, marches, festivals

and events, providing some of the only existing film at the start of the gay rights movement in the U.S. A collection of Pat Rocco's softcore films were given to UCLA in 1983. The works included “Pat Rocco Dares” (1969), “A Breath of Love” (1969), “Mondo Rocco” (1970,) and “Sex and the Single Gay” (1970).

One of the dominant studios at the time was Athletic Model Guild (AMG) - a physique photography studio started by photographer Bob Mizer in 1945. Mizer gained ground with the pocket-sized, mass-distributed quarterly publication “Physique Pictorial,” essentially an adult magazine masquerading as a bodybuilding magazine. The pictorials were packed with amateur models: “rough-looking, muscular men” according to Mizer. Many of the male models were considered the “human debris of the movie industry” since they were unable to find work in Hollywood.

For a while, Mizner got around strict mail-order guidelines on nudity with innovative ways to cover up the models’ dangly bits. The magazine was a success, selling up to 40,000 copies per issue.

By the late 1950s, the business had turned toward mail-order cinema. With time, Mizer's output went full-frontal. But the studio was in decline by the 1980s, hurt by the demand for hardcore content which made its way into theaters and the advent of the VCR.

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323 Ocean Front Walk 310.392.3997

Photo: Courtesy of Adsausage.

In L.A.’s Westlake neighborhood,The Park Theater was one of the first venues to program gay film.

06.30 — 07.13.2017

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06.30 — 07.13.2017 CULTURE FOOD

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LOS ANGELES

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COMING ATTRACTIONS

⚫ BY GENNA RIVIECCIO

⚫ BY ANNETTE SEMERDJIAN

Alamo Drafthouse Coming to L.A.

One would think that, as the cinema world capital, at least for porn, L.A. would have jumped on the Alamo Drafthouse bandwagon long ago. But it’s taken Tinseltown three years to catch up to Austin and, well, even Brooklyn (that’s what Angelenos get for the lifelong scar of stealing the Brooklyn Dodgers) in terms of being greenlit for a lease. While its arrival in Downtown’s The Bloc should be an exciting development for cinephiles, Alamo Drafthouse comes at a time of oversaturation in terms of what L.A.'s revivalist scene has to offer. At this point, there’s nothing all that special or marvel-inducing about a movie theater where you can drink and eat. Sure, the Alamo has its overpriced alcoholic milkshakes to set them apart and their women-only screenings that will hopefully continue beyond “Wonder Woman.”

Between go-to staples like the Arclight, the Landmark, and even more classic movie houses like Laemmle’s Royal Theatre, Alamo Drafthouse Photo: Flicker. merely feels like overkill, the sort of movie-theater-on-steroids that Downtown L.A. needs simply to continue growing into a caricature of

itself.

While the CEO of the Alamo enterprise Tim League commented of the expansion, “Building a new audience for foreign language films, documentaries, and independent movies is core to the Alamo brand, and this flagship theater will be ground zero for that effort,” L.A. isn’t exactly prime territory for such a “new audience.” This is the town that has managed to keep a silent movie theater afloat and attract hordes to a cemetery every summer to delight in the ghosts of the silver screen. L.A. is well-versed--almost grossly so, at times – in the nostalgic “core of the Alamo brand.”

Granted, the next generation of Angelenos is presumably nothing like Mia Farrow’s classic-film-obsessed Cecilia in “The Purple Rose of Cairo,” so maybe they do need a helping hand in learning how to appreciate the “esoteric” cinema of their forebears. Or they’ll just get a Filmstruck membership and get drunk at home while watching key pieces from the Criterion Collection. Either way, the Alamo Drafthouse, though tailor-made for the City of Angels, feels a lot like too little too late at this juncture.

Love is Love is Love is Love

Silver Lake Makes Way for (More) Thai Street Food Let's face it: there can never be enough Thai food in L.A., and the news of Isaan Classic opening in Silver Lake is a testament to that fact. The new restaurant, which will take over what used to be Vegan House, plans to open within the next couple of weeks. It will be located next to the cult favorite “Happy Foot/Sad Foot” sign for a foot clinic under a Comfort Inn on the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Benton Way. The owners of the new place are calling their cuisine “old-school, homemade, Thai street food,” according to LA Weekly.

Silver Lake does have quite a variety of Asian foods, something it has in common with most of L.A.'s Eastside. Isaan Classic will add to the neighborhood's already-vibrant selection of Southeast Asian cuisines, such as Same Same, Night + Market Song and Dee Yaw Myanmar - all on the same street as the upcoming Isaan Classic. An-

other popular restaurant that serves cuisines from the Isaan region is all the way in Koreatown called Isaan Station. LA Weekly also states, “Isaan Classic's menu has not been finalized, but there's a lot of chicken and fish, rice with everything, and an abundance of chilies and herbs.”

Silver Lake’s growing southeast cuisines gives the Hollywood and Los Feliz area a run for their money. Some of the best Thai food is located in the heart of Hollywood and Los Feliz area. Places like Tub Tim Siam on Hillhurst Avenue are local favorites.

Although places like Thai Town and Chinatown exist, the locals often know that the best cuisine is usually outside of those commercialized areas. The emergence of Southeast Asian foods in Silver Lake could make it the go-to, much like the San Gabriel Valley is the go-to for authentic Chinese food in L.A.

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06.30 — 07.13.2017

LOS ANGELES

12

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NEWS LGBT+

CONTROVERSY

⚫ BY ANNETTE SEMERDJIAN

OPINION: Philadelphia’s Pride Flag Boldly Addresses Racism in Queer Communities

With the inclusion of two black and brown stripes to the rainbow, the Philly Pride Flag has brought the importance of conversations about intersectionality to the forefront.

For this year’s Philadelphia Pride, a new design of the classic Gilbert Baker rainbow flag was unfurled, expanding the rainbow to include the colors black and brown. The inclusion was symbolic, and was meant as a nod to the struggles of people of color within and without the queer community. In such a violent year as 2017 has already been, the new pride flag was meant to be an acknowledgment and a reminder: The fight for equality is far from over.

As you can imagine, it didn’t take long for the backlash to hit from all four corners of the Internet.

“It appears to be a ploy to get attention,” said one commenter on a Refinery29 article,

“rather than an attempt to do the hard work required to fix a serious problem.”

“None of the other flags redesigns the rainbow flag,” wrote another. “That’s the whole problem here. Hikes decided she didn’t like the original and designed a new one to replace the existing one. I’d welcome a POC flag if it had been done like the trans, bi, and others – as a variation on the original, not a redesign and replacement.”

But here’s the problem.

The LGBT pride flag is a symbol of embracing our queerness and accepting ourselves and other community members. The recent backlash over the addition of black and brown stripes exemplifies the very reason we need them added.

When queer people of color add colors to a flag that is already supposed to represent the entire community, why wouldn’t it be upheld just as proudly?

The argument for preserving the original flag is that the colors are not indicative of race or ethnicity, so the addition doesn’t make sense to some people. However, there are

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already POC versions of many pride flags in existence, such as the POC version of the trans pride flag.

POC are constantly having to add themselves into even the underrepresented communities that fall across the LGBTQ spectrum, making intersectionality seem like an afterthought.

It’s not about being politically correct (if it was, the new flag would include a lot more than just black and brown stripes) it’s about the fact that in a time of increased hate-slinging and police violence toward people of color, the one community that prides itself on love, acceptance, and progress should be embracing the change. Not only was that not done, but people had qualms with the situation and began to spout preservationist

rhetoric to the likes of Republicans who have become the vanguard for racist America.

To face both microaggressions and blatant racism in a community that defies gender roles is telling of the subtle kind of segregation that has seeped into a culture rooted in the community of queer people of color.

Non-POC are always the default in media and re-tellings of history. Transwomen of color like Marsha P. Johnson have been the heroes of LGBT history, and it’s time to bring that forgotten history back and make it the symbol of Pride. Although the community has taken baby steps to accepting trans and genderqueer identities, it now has to understand that intersectionality can no longer be an afterthought.

⚫ BY CONNOR DUFFEY

Sweden’s Gender-Neutral Kindergartens

Sweden, ever the hub of progressive thinkers, has now introduced the concept of gender-neutral kindergartens into a few pre-existing schools throughout the country. The new program was conceived by Lotta Rajalin, a teacher who believes that removing gendered restrictions put in place by expected societal norms, allows children to express themselves in a healthier, more joyful way.

Rajalin explained the purpose of the kindergartens in-depth in a TEDx Talk from last year. In her lecture, Rajalin explained that she wished to break down expectations from a child’s “social gender” by utilizing classroom techniques that remove

Photo: Thinkstock.

gender norms. She explained that by intermingling toys that are traditionally associated with “boy” or “girl” toys, children are exposed to new ways of thinking and expressing themselves during play.

Additionally, in terms of hands-on experiences, Rajalin states that the children engage in a wide variety of activities, such as playing football, playing with dolls, drawing, spending time in nature, making films, and dancing. In these activities, Rajalin explained, both boys and girls are included.

Teaching techniques such as these can be used to help a child express themselves from an early age without fear of bullying.

As it happens, this method of teaching may be working. In a study from the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden concluded that children that attended on gender-neutral preschool were more likely to play with an unfamiliar child and were less likely to gender-stereotype or gender-segregate.

Near the end of her speech, Rajalin further asserted that by achieving intermixed harmony for the two genders, children could be opened up to a wide breadth of new experiences: “We don’t take away anything, we just add.”

06.30 — 07.13.2017 ENTERTAINMENT PODCASTS

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GIVE IT A LISTEN

⚫ BY HENRY GIARDINA

Queering the Airwaves

Two queer podcasts that you should definitely be listening to.

That is, if you aren’t already.

BUFFERING THE VAMPIRE SLAYER If you’ve ever wondered just how much source material two lesbians can get out of

WHAT’S

HAPPENING

THE BEST GOINGS-ON AROUND AND ABOUT LA

Culver City Centennial Food and Wine Festival WHEN: July 2, 4-8 p.m.

WHERE: 6333 Bristol Parkway, Culver City WHAT: What better way to celebrate Culver City’s sweet 100th than with gourmet

Joss Whedon’s cult TV show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” the answer is: You truly have no idea. When Kristin Russo and Jenny Owen Youngs get together each week to talk about the mysteries of the Buffy-verse, it’s a deep dive into 90’s culture, feminism, and one of the first specifically queer-coded shows many of us were exposed to as kids.You might assume

food and craft liquor?

WHY: Lots of food, lots of wine.

Queers, Coffee, and Donuts WHEN: July 2, 11 a.m.

WHERE: East Hollywood, TBA WHAT: The fabled monthly get-together resumes for the first time in the Cuties Coffee permanent space.

WHY: Crack a bottle of BYO-champagne and celebrate!

Beetle House WHEN: Now through September WHERE: 6356 Hollywood Blvd.

WHAT: A limited-time-only L.A. install-

that not having seen all (or any) of “Buffy” might set you back apace with this podcast – and you’d be wrong. Russo and Owen Youngs get to the deep, universally queer meaning of Sunnydale's goings-on, using the text of “Buffy” to open up stories about their own lives, their own queerness, and the many ways we find meaning in pop culture as young adults. #SAFEWORDSOCIETY If you’re already a fan of "Collectively Speaking" or "The Read," you’re not going

ment of the NYC Tim Burton-themed bar.

WHY: Sink your teeth into an Edward Burgerhands.

Jeff Solomon: So Famous and So Gay WHEN: July 8, 5 p.m.

WHERE: Skylight Books WHAT: Jeff Solomon discusses his book “So Famous and So Gay: The Fabulous Potency of Truman Capote and Gertrude Stein.”

WHY: Don’t pretend that title doesn’t intrigue you.

Jack’s Cats: Summer Sounds WHEN: July 9, 5 p.m.

to want to miss out on Kristen McCallum and Lamika Young’s #SafeWordSociety, an intimate space where Young and McCallum talk to guests about queerness, intersectionality, dating, and the trials and tribulations of living in New York City as young, queer women of color. Listen if you want to hear some elegant shade thrown, understand the difference between every queer-friendly and queer-centric dating app, or just want to feel you’re in great company.

WHERE: Kings Road Park WHAT: Jack Malstrom on clarinet, followed by some of L.A.’s best throwback jazz musicians WHY: In the words of Ryan Gosling: Jaaaazz, Baby!

Outfest 2017 WHEN: July 6 - 16 WHERE: Multiple Venues WHAT: Some of the queerest films from Sundance, TIFF, Cannes, and more reconvene in the City of Angels for a limited two-week engagement.

WHY: We know you’re dying to see “God’s Own Country.”

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06.30 — 07.13.2017

ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION

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GIVE IT A WATCH

⚫ BY HENRY GIARDINA

“Claws” is as Fierce as They Come liams, in whose plays a character with the moniker “Uncle Daddy” would hardly be amiss. But don’t make the mistake of getting caught up in “Claws”’ choice of location as an indicator of its type, or its quality. As Southern gothic tales go, “Claws” is a flashy, brilliant, update of the standard template.

Of course, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been leaning on a few cliches to its point across in the first episodes of the season.

Niecy Nash’s Desna has a mentally-challenged brother (Tennessee Williams had a mentally-challenged sister) she must support, providing that extra little bit of motivation for her dealings with the thugs in Uncle Daddy’s crew. Carrie Preston’s Polly is an ex-con who puts on a prom dress and tiara to go to the strip club after hours.

And the character of Uncle Daddy himself, played by Dean Norris, trades on the actor’s name-making performance in “Breaking Bad,” – that earlier, harsher, druggier series from which the possibility for shows like “Claws” was first born – to give him that sense of desperate, do-anything violence that makes him seem more sinister than he’s written.

But no matter: “Claws,” as it stands, is made up of far more originality than borrowed material. The mostly New Orleans-shot show gives us Florida in a new light – a sort of playful, gently depraved

“

one, colorful, exciting, and grim by turns.

The high-camp aesthetic of the tough, down-and-out women of the salon is fresh in its glorification – even its glamorization.

And the dazzling promise of a show led by a powerhouse female ensemble is something we haven’t seen in earnest since early seasons of “Orange is the New Black.” Except here, unlike the earlier show, we get to see these women thriving in the working world, and doing it in bodysuits, nine-inchlong talons, and stripper heels.

So does “Claws” have a shot at greatness? Time will tell. Our guess is that it won't take even a full season for “Claws” to sink its talons in and make its mark.

Neal Bledsoe and Augustus Prew. Photo by Kevin Parry.

In a strip-mall nail salon in Manatee County, Florida, a group of women – money launderers, muscles, and ex-cons – find themselves caught up in the slightly more sinister world of the opioid trade. More specifically, the “pain clinics” that have started sprouting up in Central Florida are an almost direct result of the specific kind of Southern desperation and decay that the women find themselves mired in day after day, even as they aspire to decadence in their own lives after hours.

At the head of it all is Desna, the owner of the salon whose dreams involve not much more than a larger salon and a new house with a roof that doesn’t leak. To get it, she’ll have to play nice with a sinister bisexual mob boss named “Uncle Daddy” who whittles in his spare time.

Sound familiar? If it does, it’s only due to the more-than-faint resemblance the new TNT drama “Claws” bears to its campy-ashell Southern predecessors. As in the complete works of Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, and most pointedly Tennessee Wil-

Remarkably subtle, refined and emotionally astute direction of Michael Arden and a flawless cast.”

- Daily News

THE WALLIS PRODUCTION OF

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Century City/ Westwood

BY ALEXI KAYE CAMPBELL

MICHAEL ARDEN FEATURING NEAL BLEDSOE, JESSICA COLLINS, AUGUSTUS PREW, MATTHEW WILKAS

Photo: TNT/ Turner.

The cast of “Claws,” headed by Niecy Nash. .

CenturyCity-WestwoodNews.com

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., 2116 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, CA. 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) 2017 The Pride L.A.

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© 2017 Cedars-Sinai

S:10 in

Sometimes I underestimate.

Sometimes I search it.

Sometimes I put it off.

Sometimes I freak out.

But, I trust my Cedars-Sinai doctor every time.

cedars-sinai.edu

1-800-CEDARS-1

T:11.7 in

Sometimes I overreact.

B:11.7 in

Sometimes I just ignore it.

S:11.7 in

Sometimes I self-diagnose.