The Rainbow Times' November 3, 2016 Issue

2 • The Rainbow Times • TheRainbowTimesMass.com

November 3, 2016 - December 7, 2016

November 3, 2016 - December 7, 2016

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4 • The Rainbow Times • TheRainbowTimesMass.com

November 3, 2016 - December 7, 2016

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November 3, 2016 - December 7, 2016

Religious freedom, safety concerns fuel anti-trans initiatives in Massachusetts By: Mike Givens/TRT Assistant Editor

IN THE LIMELIGHT

As a child, Liv Wyatt remembers controversial televangelist Pat Robertson preaching at her church in Portsmouth, Va. It was the ’60s and Robertson was a skilled preacher, one who would go on to amass a fortune as a right-wing commentator, international businessman, and religious demagogue.

“He was a charmer,” said the 61year-old Conway, Mass. resident.

“Sadly, what he [was] selling more than anything was his own greed.”

Wyatt grew up in Portsmouth during the ’50s and ’60s and Robertson’s religious fervor was endemic to the predominantly white community she grew up in. Wyatt said she observed the racism, homophobia, and “othering” commonplace within southern religious enclaves.

“When I was growing up, there were no gay people and the idea one could be transgender was unimaginable,” she said. “Sure, there were gay people and everybody knew it, but they were buried so deeply in the closet that as far as society was concerned, they didn’t exist.

“I knew I was different from the other boys. When they all got G.I. Joe’s, I would have been far happier off with the girls playing with Barbies®, but that just wasn’t possible so I played along. I will say I was probably the only boy in the neighborhood that never pestered my parents to buy me a G.I. Joe. I occasionally liked to dress [up] and even played with makeup a little, but

Faith leaders attend an October 11 rally at King’s Chapel in Boston in support of the trans community

couldn’t imagine I might not be a boy. I just thought I was a bit weird.”

The distinct feeling of dysphoria was so incredibly foreign, so threatening, that she buried it away.

“If I had told someone that I sometimes felt I was a girl I would have been rushed to the psychiatrist who would have immediately labeled me as delusional and recom-

mended I be sent to an institution. We joke about it now, but it happened. I wasn’t stupid, so I drank the Kool-Aid and bought into the assumption that I was a boy, just a strange one.”

In her early 20s, Wyatt experienced a revelation, though, one that would change the course of her life: She saw a transgender woman for the first time.

PHOTO: FREEDOM MASSACHUSETTS

“To put it mildly, I was blown away. Literally the first thought that passed into my head was, ‘Oh, you can do that?’ followed quickly by ‘I wish I was you.’ That was the moment I knew I was in trouble.”

Wyatt says she spent the next 30 years trying to reconcile that one brief experience ...

See Anti-Trans on Page 10

6 • The Rainbow Times • TheRainbowTimesMass.com

November 3, 2016 - December 7, 2016

Will it be Madam President? #NeverTrump Op-Ed: HBGC’s Youth Empowerment Conference By: Nicole Lashomb/TRT Editor-in-Chief

OPINIONS

them names and making and derogatory egardless of how many e- statements about their weight, looks, and mails are released by Wik- even menstrual cycle. He has encouraged iLeaks, or whatever the FBI overall exploitation of those less powerful finds on the laptop shared between from the beginning. Although he says he is Hillary Clinton’s top aide and her es- the “best” women’s advocate, he has proven tranged husband in a separate inves- he a predator that continues to oppress and tigation by the Bureau, I will never assault women through his actions. Most revote for Donald cently, after 11 Trump. Whatwomen have come ever comes out F WE ON THE forward with accusaabout Clinton tion of sexual ashas not and will sault, he says he will not compare to SIDE OF EQUALITY FOR sue them immediwhat the Republican ately following the WE WILL ALL FILL election, nominee has done to a even slew of Americans, through he has been those who are already THE SAME on video ON caught disenfranchised through claiming he even systemic racism, misoggrab a woman’s OVEMBER yny, sexual orientation pu$$y without conor gender identity, relisent. Threatening to gion, ethnicity, and so sue people after on. something unfavorable is revealed about Although this edition hits the streets a him seems to be his defensive mechanism. week before the election, I am hopeful peo- He is a petulant child who doesn’t deserve ple will remember what is at stake in this to be leading a major political party, and election. Most importantly, the next presi- much less holding the oval office. He is an dent will likely appoint four Supreme Court embarrassment and disgrace to so many of Justices. Trump has cited the late Anthony us.

Scalia as a “great” Supreme Court Justice— Clinton, on the other hand, has had her ethe same Supreme Court Justice who wrote mail hacked and U.S. intelligence has ala dissenting opinion that read “moral objec- leged that it was likely done by the Russian tions to homosexuality were sufficient justi- government. I am still baffled how the media fication for criminalizing gay sex.” is reporting on these illegally obtained eNot surprisingly, Trump has also been on mails. And, if we are going to be airing erecord stating that there needs to be some Read the rest of this story at: kind of punishment for women who have an http://wp.me/p22M41-4yN abortion. He has belittled women by calling

R

I

STAND

ALL,

N

BUBBLE 8.

Appreciating Perspective: One of the Creator’s great gifts about living a meaningful life By: Paul P. Jesep*/TRT Columnist

I

FAITH

n October, dad turned 90. I took my father, a gentle soul who is normally modest in words but very chatty on his big day, to breakfast at a diner. He had ham, eggs, and pancakes, long restricted due to diabetic and cholesterol concerns. He had a surprise dinner party later.

Dad had to be assured several times that the breakfast on this very special occasion wouldn’t bring forth the undertaker in an hour. He still thinks death happens to other people and will never catch up to him.

A near century of living provides perspective. In 1926, the year he was born, Winniethe-Pooh was published and magician Harry Houdini died from a sucker punch. In the ’40s, Dad survived World War II and Nazi forced labor. Additional events occurring between 1926 and 2016, included other wars, economic recessions, and the daily bittersweet challenges of life.

In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down anti-sodomy laws, though some states still have not formally repealed them. Housing, adoption, and employment are some areas where LGBTQ discrimination prevails in parts of the country.

A few decades ago when I attended law

THE FIGHT FOR LGBTQ EQUALITY TODAY IS VERY DIFFERENT THAN EVEN

20

YEARS AGO, NEVER MIND ITS STATUS IN

1926.

school, firms in liberal New York and Massachusetts were ambivalent and hesitant to employ someone openly LGBTQ. Many young lawyers in these states kept a low profile about their personal life in the workplace.

Today, huge progress has been made.

There also remains enormous work in the area of civil and human rights. It can even seem overwhelming at times, especially when the rights that have been gained can be taken away by an irrational political mood.

The next U.S. president may have four appointments to the Supreme Court. This could potentially cause setbacks for the LGBTQ community.

Sometimes personal challenges are best managed and understood by putting them in perspective either looking back on your life

See Appreciation on Page 22

By: Amanda Reveles*/Special to TRT

W

hen I was in my first year of college I had just moved to New England and had little knowledge of the different communities within the Boston area. I had first learned of the Hispanic Black Gay Coalition’s Youth Empowerment Conference (YEC) when I saw a poster for it at my university's GSA center.

I had gone to HBGC’s fourth annual YEC, nervous and unsure of what to expect but was taken away by the content being offered, the feeling of security, and the overall excitement of the people who attended. I felt like I had found home.

This past indigenous people’s day weekend, I attended my fourth YEC and those feeling were still there.

What keeps me coming back each year is that finally there is a space where I can be myself unapologetically, without fear of judgment or condemnation. Most of the participants share similar experiences of being a young queer person of color trying to make sense of their intersecting identities and this feeling of unity resonates in every interaction.

This past conference was different from the others that I had attended in a great way.

On Saturday, there was a theme of healing and community building that resonated in the content. I was able to attend a beginner’s yoga class in the morning and then a panel that discussed how we, as young people of color, can acknowledge and overcome the trauma we face in our lives. This panel was so powerful. It really opened my mind to how necessary it is to have a community like the one this conference provides.

To wrap up the day, I went to a workshop where we played “Family Feud” with the topic being sexual health. It was fun to be able to laugh and learn with other participants.

Letters to the Editor [In State Rep. Race, Allegations of AntiLGBT Views Surface about Caroline Colarusso, Ties to Tea Party] Dear Editor, Thank you for the informative article on my house district race. It is in the Trump mold the Caroline Colarusso operates her campaign. There are dirty tricks and outright lies being told. Being a gay man her views do not represent me or my husband. Mike Day has my vote.

—Bruce Connelly, Online [The Hat Sisters’ Legacy Lives On: Farewell to John Michael Gray] Dear Editor, I am so saddened to learn of the passing of John Michael Gray and offer my heartfelt condolences to Tim O’Connor. More than most, the fun and mad-capped duo were always a bright spot of reverie sunshine at events and marches during the saddest, darkest and most dangerous times for our community. You will be missed, John Michael, and our hats are off to both of you forever.

—Dale Orlando, Online

WHAT KEEPS ME COMING BACK EACH YEAR IS THAT FINALLY THERE IS A

SPACE

WHERE I CAN BE MYSELF

UNAPOLOGETICALLY, WITHOUT FEAR OF JUDGMENT OR CONDEMNATION. I left the conference that day with a new understanding of myself and where I fit into the world, which prepared me for the next day, when the bulk of the conference material was being offered.

See HGBC Youth on Page 20

The Rainbow Times The Freshest LGBT Newspaper in New England—Boston Based TheRainbowTimesMass.com editor@therainbowtimesmass.com sales@therainbowtimesmass.com Phone: 617.444.9618 / 413.282.8881 Fax: 928.437.9618 Publisher Gricel M. Ocasio Editor-In-Chief Nicole Lashomb Assistant Editor Mike Givens National/Local Sales Rivendell Media Liz Johnson Lead Photographers Alex Mancini Steve Jewett Reporters John Paul Stapleton Christine Nicco Sara Brown Chuck Colbert Al Gentile Keen News Service

Ad & Layout Design Prizm PR Webmaster Jarred Johnson Columnists/Guest* Lorelei Erisis Deja N. Greenlaw Paul P. Jesep Natalia Muñoz* Keegan O’Brien* Mike Givens Affiliations National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association NGLCC, QSyndicate Summer Intern Miguel A. Cuellar *Guest Freelancer

The Rainbow Times is published monthly by The Rainbow Times, LLC. TRT is affiliated with the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, NLGJA, National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, NGLCC, and QSyndicate. The articles written by the writers, columnists, and correspondents solely express their opinion, and do not represent the endorsement or opinion of The Rainbow Times, LLC or its owners.

Send letters to the editor with your name, address and phone number to: The Rainbow Times (address shown above), or e-mail any comment/s to the editor-in-chief at: editor@therainbowtimesmass.com. All submissions will be edited according to space constraints. The Rainbow Times, LLC reserves the right not to print any or all content or advertisements for any reason at all. TRT is not responsible for advertising content. To receive The Rainbow Times at your home via regular mail, or through electronic delivery, please visit its website. The whole content and graphics (photos, etc.) are the sole property of The Rainbow Times, LLC and they cannot be reproduced at all without TRT’s written consent.

TheRainbowTimesMass.com • The Rainbow Times • 7

November 3, 2016 - December 7, 2016

New report details discrimination, alienation experienced by bisexual people By: Al Gentile/TRT Reporter

The first time Narin Khem traveled to Cambodia, it was to marry a man she did not know.

“That was an experience,” said Khem, a Lowell, Mass. resident who identifies as bisexual. “At the time, I felt I was giving up on myself just to make my mom happy.”

When Khem came out to her mother about being bisexual, she said her mother’s traditional outlook on sexual orientation led to a conflict.

“Being from a traditional family she wasn’t used to that,” Khem said. “My mom was really having trouble with it to the point that she actually forced me into dating a man.”

In order to correct what Khem’s mother saw as a flaw, Khem endured six years of marriage before getting a divorce.

Khem’s story follows a trend of discrimination, misconception, and a statistically lower quality of life for bisexual people, according to a September 2016 report by the Movement Advancement Project (www.lgbtmap.org/, MAP). Khem’s experience is indicative of the experiences of many bisexual people when it comes to fully embracing their sexual orientation.

“Invisible Majority: The Disparities Facing Bisexual People and How to Remedy Them” (https://goo.gl/HCXUjr) reports that approximately 52 percent of the LGB community identify as bisexual. Of the respondents, only 28 percent reported that all or most of the important people in their lives know about their sexual orientation. The study highlights the fact that bisexual people experience significant amounts of discrimination in the workplace, are victims of violence because of their sexual orientation, and are more likely to have mental health issues and substance abuse problems due to violence and discrimination.

Heron Greenesmith, senior policy analyst for MAP, and one of the lead authors of the report, said the difficulties bisexual people face come from all sides and harbor deep consequences.

“Bisexual people face bias and discrimination in life and in families, and at school, that may lead to negative outcomes like homelessness, or lower earning power that in turn can even affect health, and have specific experiences like interpartner violence that all combine into this stew of lower quality of life, lower health, and poor outcomes,” Greenesmith said.

The MAP report shows bisexual people are significantly more likely to engage in self-harm such as drug abuse and suicidal ideation. Khem’s struggle with her sexuality lead her down a path of substance abuse, like many others.

“That was my way of getting through things,” she said. “I have thought about suicide.”

Jennifer Rheume, a bisexual woman who grew up in Barrington, N.H., said the fear of isolation and misconceptions kept her from coming out until high school.

“When I was in middle school before I came out, I definitely had a hard time and was very depressed,” Rheume said. “I just felt very alone and I didn’t know where to go with the emotions and feelings and all

Narin Khem, of Lowell, has battled and overcome the misconceptions, alienation, and discrimination from identifying as bisexual. Photo Credit Al Gentile.

PHOTO: AL GENTILE

that.”

Robyn Ochs, a bisexual activist, author, and educator, said the lack of representation of bisexual people stems from a general binary approach to sexuality.

“Western cultures tend to squeeze things in simple—and false—binaries: black/white, man/woman, Democrat/Republican, gay/straight. We are comfortable with simple narratives and simple messages,” Ochs said in an email to The Rainbow Times. “Marginalized communities, in particular, often feel a need to have [a] clear sense of us/them, safe/unsafe. Bi+ people, as a result, have often been distrusted, marginalized, excluded, and perceived as a threat.”

The term “Bi+” is used to describe people who are attracted to more than one gender and can include those who are polysexual or pansexual (https://goo.gl/pSc1B2).

Even with media becoming more sensitive to LGBTQ issues in recent years, Ochs said bisexual people are overwhelmingly left out of important dialogues around sexual orientation.

“Over-simplistic language such as ‘gay and straight’ or ‘the gay community’ is damaging, because it perpetuates bi+ erasure and invisibility,” Ochs said. “And the mainstream and LGBT media could do a much better job covering bi+ issues. If you do a review of coverage, I believe you will find very little specifically about bi+ people. Most bi conferences and events are not covered in the media.”

The MAP report recommends LGBTQ organizations must put more focus on the majority of its target population.

“Organizations that say they are supporting the LGBT community need to realize that bisexual folks make up the majority of the LGBT population,” Greenesmith said.

Coming out Khem said when she first came out as bisexual to her friends while in high school, a line was drawn. In one case, a long-time friend of Khem’s severed ties because of the misconceptions facing bisexual people.

See Bisexuals on Page 10

8 • The Rainbow Times • TheRainbowTimesMass.com

November 3, 2016 - December 7, 2016

FRENZY!: Provocative insight into gay men of color, IPV/A, bullying, mental illness By: Nicole Lashomb/TRT Editor-in-Chief

He is as it again—this time in a FRENZY! Award-winning and acclaimed author Wyatt O’Brian Evans intimately exposes the complexities experienced by two gay men of color as they navigate their relationship through turbulent waters in part two of his Nothing Can Tear Us Apart Series— FRENZY! A gay man of color, Evans poignantly calls attention to racial and ethnic issues encountered by Antonio and Wes as they navigate through riveting circumstances tied to their monogamous relationship while depicting the reality of Intimate Partner Violence/Abuse (IPV/A), mental illness, childhood abuse and bullying. Based on real-life events, this provocative, dramatic novel does more than provide for a good read. FRENZY! is more than an enthralling book—it is a call to action.

The Rainbow Times recently caught up with Evans to discuss the novel with a particular focus on gay men of color, racial and ethnic disparities and representation, monogamy, passion and survivorship amidst one universal ideal … love.

TRT: Why is it important for you to address the issues of Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse in your novels, specifically pertaining to the LGBTQ community?

WOE: Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse (IPV/A), is such a critical—and potentially life-threatening—issue facing the LGBTQ community. And, stigma is a driving force

that keeps it ‘swept under the rug.’ Therefore, it tends to be grossly under-reported.

As a journalist, I’ve extensively researched and reported on this behavior; I’ve interviewed scores of victims and survivors. And I, myself, am a survivor.

Q: Nothing Can Tear Us Apart— FRENZY! is a page-turner for sure. How did you balance the heat of sexual intimacy with addressing issues so critical like IPV/A, mental illness, childhood abuse and bullying?

A: As an author, it’s always my mission to present three dimensional characters and real-life situations. In FRENZY!, you have Wes and ‘Tonio, who are deeply, profoundly and fervently in love with one another—and are struggling to nurture and preserve their romantic relationship against the odds. A universal story. In order for their saga to resonate with readers, I had to believably demonstrate their burning sexual desire and passion for one another. I also had to present their obstacles, which are the IPV/A, mental illness, childhood abuse and bullying aspects.

Q: What do you think is the biggest misconception about the LGBTQ community relating to the serious issues you present in FRENZY!?

A: I believe the biggest misconception is that the LGBTQ community doesn’t have the same problems, issues and challenges as the heterosexual community. Regarding IPV/A between two gay/same-gender-loving (SGL) men, too many individuals don’t consider the abuse to be actual abuse. They

think, “Oh, well! It’s just ‘boys being boys.’”

Q: Does love always win? Why or why not?

A: Unfortunately, love doesn’t always win.

Love can only win when it’s accompanied by understanding, compromise, and a willingness to change oneself for the better.

Q: What was the biggest challenge writing this book?

A: To a very large degree, I’m a perfectionist. I always want to ensure that my characters and what they experience are true to life, so that they all strongly resonate with the

reader.

Q: How long did it take you to write FRENZY!? Did you research the topics before writing it?

A: It took about 13 months. I didn’t want to rush it. As a journalist who’s extensively researched and written about IPV/A and depression, I had a wealth of material at my disposal. And, I sought the counsel of a psychologist.

Q: Are the characters derived from real people that you’ve known?

A: Most assuredly! That way, the reader can feel that they are authentic … and real.

Q: Your novel delves into issues of child abuse and bullying. Why are these topics important ones to include? What message would you send to an LGBTQ youth who may be a victim of bullying at home or at school?

A: Any author worth his salt must present slices of real life to the reader. Over my lifetime, I’ve known child abuse victims. And, I was bullied through junior high school.

The message I send to bullied LGBTQ youth is that you are not alone. Also, and this is crucial: you must tell individuals you trust, because they can help you. Silence is a bully’s most effective weapon.

Q: Mental health is often an issue overlooked in the LGBTQ community. Your book hits it on target, particularly with DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) or multiple personality disorder. What more do we have to do to better address this ...

See FRENZY! on Page 22

TheRainbowTimesMass.com • The Rainbow Times • 9

PHOTO: ERIC EDWARD SCHELL PHOTOGRAPHY & HUGO PEREZ ART

November 3, 2016 - December 7, 2016

Aydian Ethan Dowling’s company Point 5cc: International Transgender Clothing and Apparel has provided monetary & other tangible donations to the trans community for years. Now with Point of Pride’s launch, he continues his mission of giving back, while working as an activist, soon-to-be wellness trainer, and an avid vlogger, documenting his transtition & overall journey as a trans man. Watch Aydian’s videos at: https://goo.gl/KyUzWV.

New Point of Pride launches surgery fund and donation programs for transgender Community Trans people in need may apply for funding for gender-affirming surgeries, request free chest compression binders, or request free breast forms/prosthetic inserts EUGENE, Ore.—Today, Point of Pride has begun accepting applications for its annual Transgender Surgery Fund, which offers financial assistance to trans people who cannot afford a gender-affirming surgery.

Any transgender person in financial need seeking surgery, who does not have medical insurance (or whose surgeries are not covered by their insurance), may apply for this assistance at www.pointofpride.org/surgeryfund. Applications close November 31, and finalists will be announced January 2017.

Aydian Dowling, Board President for Point of Pride, stated: “Last year, the Surgery Fund received an incredible 637 applications from trans people around the world and in need of support, and we anticipate over 1,000 applications this year. This illustrates how important community fundraising programs like this one are until all trans folks can get the coverage and assistance they need with gender-affirming surgery.”

Jeffrey Main, Board Secretary for Point of Pride, added: “Every applicant deserves safe and complete access to surgery. We will work tirelessly to support as many applicants as we can and expand our reach each year. Last year we donated $4,600 to people in need, and this year our fundraising goal is $10,000.”

Point of Pride also offers two donation programs year-round for the trans community, free for those in need: a chest compres-

POINT OF PRIDE ALSO OFFERS TWO DONATION PROGRAMS YEARROUND FOR THE TRANS COMMUNITY, FREE FOR THOSE IN NEED ... sion (binder) program and free breast forms/prosthetic inserts program. To apply or learn more, visit www.pointofpride.org.

About Point of Pride Point of Pride works to benefit transgender people in need through gender-confirming support programs that empower them to live more authentically. In conjunction with Point 5cc, an international clothing and apparel company for the trans community, Point of Pride has donated 900+ free new and gently used chest binders and donated thousands of dollars through the Annual Transgender Surgery Fund.

10 • The Rainbow Times • TheRainbowTimesMass.com

ing: Just "live and let live."

“People should just stop getting so upset “One of my closest friends at the time did- about the way people identify themselves, n’t agree with who I am,” Khem said. “Just and just focus on themselves,” Rheume said. because I came out as a bisexual, she would “Everyone needs to grow and figure out who not try to understand that.” they are without someone coming down on In her relationships, Khem said one of the them and bring[ing] them down.” most prevalent misconceptions was the inThe way the bisexual community is seen ability of bisexual people to be faithful in a in the LGBTQ community at large needs to relationship. be addressed, according to Ochs.

“We always have this misconception that “The bottom line is that bi+ people are we’re greedy, or we’re tired of being ignored and cheaters,” Khem said. excluded, and of having “You just can’t put that THE MAP REPORT SHOWS the legitimacy of our idenon sexuality.” tities and of our contribuKhem even said she BISEXUAL PEOPLE ARE SIG- tions to the LGBTQ+ stopped identifying as movement denied,” Ochs bisexual to avoid the NIFICANTLY MORE LIKELY TO said. misconceptions bisexual Khem said reaching out people face. to friends and parts of her ENGAGE IN SELF-HARM “I started to not label family helped her endure myself so I could get to her struggle.

SUCH AS DRUG ABUSE & know a person. There’s “Don’t hide who you are no chance to be who you because of how someone SUICIDAL IDEATION. are,” Khem said. “That else feels,” Khem said. “A was the only thing I good support system … could do with all the misunderstanding.” was a big part of getting through it.”

Rheume also stopped identifying as bisexBattling with bisexual invisibility, discrimual in order to avoid the stigma. ination, and alienation is not a struggle any“I feel like it’s more fluid than people like one should do alone.

BiNet to consider it, so people need to put that (https://goo.gl/kNMnQl), the oldest national label of bi, gay, or lesbian,” Rheume said. “I non-profit organization to support bisexual just never felt it was right to put that label people, offers advice, media content, and on, then the bisexual label just had so much connections to groups and individuals who negative connotation to it.” can offer support.

The Human Rights Campaign Moving forward (https://goo.gl/OGDxRZ) also works to Although the bi+ community continues to bring more visibility to issues affecting biface challenges from within the larger sexual people, as well as people from all LGBTQ and mainstream communities, sexual orientation backgrounds. often it simply boils down to a common say-

Bisexuals from page 7

November 3, 2016 - December 7, 2016

Anti-Trans from page 5 with what she’d been taught growing up.

“Dysphoria is a strange thing,” she said.

“You do your best to hide from it.

“For the longest time I did a pretty good job of it, but it was always there, sort of gnawing away at me. It would rear its ugly head occasionally and I would do my best to stuff it back in the box. Sometimes I could, but it always came back.”

In her 50s, a shift happened. Over the course of eight years, Wyatt eventually grew to accept herself and began the process of embracing her true identity.

On October 1, a new law providing explicit legal protections for transgender people in public spaces (https://goo.gl/IZJr6F) like shopping malls, restaurants, and hospitals, went into effect. The signing of the bill

by Republican Governor Charlie Baker in July was a much-welcomed victory for Wyatt and other members of the trans community across the Bay State.

Recently, however, a civil lawsuit has been filed against two state agencies claiming the law is a violation of First Amendment rights.

Also, a statewide coalition has successfully collected enough signatures to put the law on the 2018 ballot, a move that could overturn the legislation and strike a significant blow against trans rights in Massachusetts.

The Lawsuit Just 10 days after the public accommodations law went into effect, Horizon Christian Fellowship in Fitchburg (http://horizonfitchburg.org/), Abundant Life Church in Swansea (https://goo.gl/SwYEm4), House of Destiny Ministries in Southbridge (https://goo.gl/W2WmZE), and Faith Christian Fellowship in Haverhill (https://goo.gl/QSsZNZ) filed a civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) and the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AGO). The allegations claimed that enforcement of the law by the two agencies is a violation of their First Amendment right to freedom of religion.

“This is a civil rights action to stop the Commissioners of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (“MCAD”) and the Massachusetts Attorney General from punishing four Massachusetts churches and their pastors because they wish to communicate their religious beliefs regarding human sexuality and use their buildings in a manner consistent with their religious be-

liefs,” reads the 38-page complaint, “Horizon Christian Fellowship v. Williamson” (https://goo.gl/GXQkbn).

“Religious liberty is the cornerstone of the First Amendment. Remove it, and all other civil liberties collapse,” said Christina Holcombe, legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom (www.adflegal.org/), an Arizonabased organization that advocates for religious freedom and funds litigation for such cases internationally. “Make no mistake, a government that can threaten a church for what it believes is a danger to the freedom of everyone it governs.”

The four complainants contend in their lawsuit that, “The Churches believe and teach that when God created humankind, He made each person as either male or female, and that the two complementary halves of humanity—biological males and biological females—together reflect the image and nature of God.” The lawsuit, filed on their behalf by the ADF, blames both the AGO and MCAD for not creating a religious exemption to the law, which in effect makes church property areas of public accommodation and subject to the law’s mandate against discrimination based on gender identity.

“The language of the Act is broad enough to include within that prohibition written sermons, theological expositions, educational presentations, newsletters or church worship bulletin text, or other statements from the Churches, Pastors, and other religious leaders,” another section of the lawsuit reads.

The churches contend that though they are welcoming of transgender people and “ … want to be a blessing to them, and want to minister to them.”

“This case is also about stopping MCAD and the Attorney General from forcing the churches to use their facilities in a way that violates their religious beliefs about human sexuality,” the lawsuit claims, noting in a few instances concerns around restroom access and usage.

“Requiring the Churches to allow individuals to use the facilities reserved for the opposite biological sex contradicts the churches’ message about God’s intention and purpose for human sexuality,” reads another section of the lawsuit.

“When they say that the AG’s ruling ‘contradicts the churches’ message about God’s intention and purpose for human sexuality’ and that it forces them to ‘speak a message

See Anti-Trans page 19

The Rainbow Times TRans sisTeRs & BRoTheRs This monTh To RememBeR This yeaR’s joins iTs

Transgender Day of Remembrance

nov. 20, 2016

TheRainbowTimesMass.com • The Rainbow Times • 11

November 3, 2016 - December 7, 2016

HBGC to honor many at 7th Annual Gala BOSTON—On Thursday, November 10, the Hispanic Black Gay Coalition (HBGC) will host its 7th Annual Gala: Rooted in Resistance from 7:30 p.m. to midnight at the Multicultural Arts Center located at 41 Second Street in Cambridge.

The event, which commemorates HBGC’s founding in the fall of 2009 by Corey Yarbrough and Quincey J. Roberts, Sr., will offer members of the Black and Latinx LGBTQ community and their allies an opportunity to gather to reflect and call upon the inspiration and critical need for queer radical movements led by people of color—past, present, and future.

Just two days after the U.S. presidential election, this celebration will give intentional space and voice to a perspective conspicuously absent during the campaign season by honoring two radical black feminists.

Receiving the James Earl Hardy Legend Award, which recognizes a trendsetting activist who has impacted LGBTQ communities of color for more than 10 years, will be Demita Frazier, a lawyer and activist who was a founding member of the Combahee River Collective. Frazier has been a student of and active in social justice work since her high school years in Chicago in the 1960s.

Daunasia Yancey, a Boston native currently living in Pittsburgh, will receive the Audre Lorde Founders’ Award, dedicated to an up-and-coming activist who has taken initiative to create change in LGBTQ com-

munities of color. Like Frazier, Yancey began her work as an activist at a young age, working for organizations like the Boston Alliance of GLBT Youth (BAGLY) and Boston LGBT Adolescent Social Services (GLASS) as a teenager before founding Black Lives Matter Boston in 2014. In addition, HBGC will announce the winner of the Sylvia Rivera Community Award, which was determined by community voting during the month of October. This award honors a local organization, group, or business that has supported the mission of HBGC while doing its own work that improves the lives of LGBTQ individuals of color. This year’s nominees include The City School, Connected Boston, The Foundation Movement, and The Rainbow Times.

Tickets can be purchased online at https://goo.gl/mHppWK. General admission tickets are $65 in advance and sustainer (VIP) tickets, which include an open bar reception, are available for $100. Reserved table seating for 10 people is available for $850 by e-mailing info@hbgc-boston.org.

The VIP reception will start at 7:00 p.m. and the general door opens at 7:30 p.m. There will be a cash bar and hors d'oeuvres beginning at 8:00 p.m., with the program beginning at 8:30 p.m. At the conclusion of the program, there will be dancing from 10:00 p.m. to midnight.

For additional information, please contact info@hbgc-boston.org.

BeautY

beyond the

binary Part 2

Lee Chumack | Age: 27

Q: What does having a non-binary identity mean to you?

A: Having a non-binary identity, to me, is just the way things have always been. I remember thinking, as a kid, that it was so interesting (and a little bit confusing) how most people performed gender in such specific, binary ways. Until I started exploring things for myself, it never occurred to me that anyone would actually, strongly identify as male or female.

I always assumed that everyone struggled to conform just as much as I did, but they were just more successful at it than me.

Q: What does having a non-binary identity mean to you?

A: On the one hand, acknowledging and owning a non-binary identity means feeling complete. On the other hand, having a non-binary identity means invisibility and it also means anxiety about people’s opinions of that identity. I think in the popular trans narrative, non-binary identities aren’t part of that conversation. Everyone else wants trans people to follow the binary. However, lots of trans people don’t exist in that binary. We never have, even if some of us pretended to for awhile. That’s uncomfortable to some people, so having this identity and openly speaking about it with everyone I know can be hard for me. It’s hard because I don’t want to make them uncomfortable but it’s so much more painful to hide my true self from them.

Preferred Pronouns: They/Them/Their Lives in Quincy, Mass.

Q: What is one common misconception about non-binary people that you’d like to dispel?

A: That non-binary people always have a nonbinary (or androgynous) appearance. Shout out to the non-androgynous non-binary folks—I know you’re out there. That if a non-binary person were in the room, they would have made themselves known. It’s a strange feeling to be non-binary in a space where everyone continues to talk about non-binary people in hypothetical terms.

Q: How can society be more inclusive of gender non-conforming people?

A: By relaxing expectations and requirements surrounding gender. Gender non-conformity is really a response to the societal pressure towards gender conformity. To become more inclusive, all anyone (or any group) really has to do is loosen their rigid hold on the binary.

Sometimes people are not what you expect, and that’s okay! Oh, and for crying out loud, stop arguing about proper grammar and use of the singular “they.” It’s allowed ...

Preferred Pronouns: They/Them/Their Lives in Boston, Mass.

Q: What is one common misconception about non-binary people that you’d like to dispel?

A: I notice that people often try to neatly fit me into a label or box. I am not a square. My lines are not neat, and neither are the lines of the people who are trying to squeeze me in there. I’m guilty of trying to fit myself into a box too! I think we should all [be] allowed to be fluid. Claiming identities can be so freeing and yet adhering to those identities without fluidity is extremely limiting.

CHeck out more answers for beauty beyond the binary on

page 14

Daniel Alroy | Age: 40

Preferred Pronouns: He/Him/His; They/Them/Their Lives in Somerville, Mass.

Q: What does having a non-binary identity mean to you?

A: It means being free of the shackles of a gendered identity. It gives me the freedom to be me, and not having to fulfill culturally projected expectations of who I should be. It means that my feelings, emotions, likes and dislikes, choices, etc., are simply about me, and not written off as an expression of the world’s gendered expectations. It’s about being given an opportunity to represent myself, and not having the perception of my gender lead people’s opinion about who I am.

Q: What is one common misconception about non-binary people that you’d like to dispel?

A: I think the most frustrating misconception about people who identify as non-binary is that they are doing it simply to be transgressive.

This is so invalidating. It is a refusal to explore or accept the depth of a person’s identity and minimizing their experience to a mere political expression ... I think it is incredibly self-limiting.

Q: How can society be more inclusive of gender non-conforming people?

A: [B]efore we think about how society can be more inclusive we need to start the pattern of inclusivity internally, exploring our perception of ourselves. I think this starts with being brave and accepting who we are, accepting how our world has shaped our perception of gender, acknowledging it and then letting go of paradigm and moving forward with clear compassionate eyes in how we view ourselves. And then, from this place, we can individually look out and be more inclusive of the people around us ...

In part two of this series, The Rainbow Times explores non-binary identities and the courageous contention that beauty cannot be limited to traditional binary, cisgender, heteronormative standards.

Photos: Alex Mancini/TRT Photographer

Jamie Bartholomay | Age: 29

Always

Be Your Kind of Beautiful!

Hallima Docmanov | Age: 22

Preferred Pronouns: Whatever I feel like when I wake up in the morning Lives in Boston, Mass.

Q: What does having a non-binary identity mean to you?

A: I think my non-binary identity is [a] representation of all my identities that I encompass.

I never seem to completely fit in with any one identity and in many ways they contradict one another in the eyes of today’s society. That being Queer, Muslim, Black, Somali American, I have never felt that my identity fit into a neat little box like it should have and, frankly, I have given up trying to fit into all together.

Therefore, coming into my non-binary identity allowed me a freedom that I have been always searching for. That honestly, I am neither a girl or a boy all together.

Q: What is one common misconception about non-binary people that you’d like to dispel?

A: The idea that non-binary people cannot be femme or masculine presenting.

Mattia Maurée | Age: 28

Preferred Pronouns: They/Them/Their Lives in Somerville, Mass.

Q: What does having a non-binary identity mean to you?

A: It means that I’ve never quite fit into the “male” or “female” binary buckets, and when I learned there was another set of options I said “yes, this is it! This is me.” It means that when people recognized that, and when they use my pronouns, I feel more accepted and seen than I have in a long time.

Q: What is one common misconception about

Alison Sarah Tippett | Age: 22

Kimm Topping | Age: 23

Q: What does having a non-binary identity mean to you?

A: For me, finding the term non-binary was really comforting. I spent years explaining my identity as “not a woman,” but I also didn’t feel that I was a man. I threw around the word “genderqueer” for a long time, as it felt like it contained all of the uncertainty and indefinition I was feeling. But non-binary encompasses not only how I identify, but also how I feel and how I live my life. Not only am I not a woman or a man, I don’t accept those as categories that I could even be placed into. I don’t feel like those categories are as stable or secure as the majority of the world takes them to be.

Q: What does having a non-binary identity mean to you?

A: I identify as genderfluid. For me, that means that I experience and express my gender in many different ways. It’s both an internal sense of myself and also what I show the world.

Preferred Pronouns: They/Them/Their Lives in Newton, Mass.

Q: What is one common misconception about non-binary people that you’d like to dispel?

A: Something that I’ve seen a lot lately, especially on social media, is this acceptance of non-binary people as masculine-presenting individuals who were assigned female at birth (AFAB). non-binary people that you’d like to dispel?

A: That gender and presentation are the same, that all femininity is female, and that only thin, white masculinity is androgynous. Any body type, any presentation, any color can be androgynous.

And there are non-binary femmes!

Q: How can society be more inclusive of gender non-conforming people?

A: Start moving away from binary language (“ladies and gentlemen”), gendered bathrooms, gendered ways of talking about bodies/periods/ birth/genitalia. Stop forcing gender on kids. Think about the way your language sounds to someone who is not included in it. Get our pronouns right!

Preferred Pronouns: They/Them/Their Lives in Cambridge, Mass.

Q: What is one common misconception about non-binary people that you’d like to dispel?

A: That they have to look or act a certain way.

People read me as feminine, or as a woman, one-hundred percent of the time. Outward appearance doesn’t always match up with people’s expectations of gender expression.

Gender is much more complicated than that, and I’d want to dispel the idea that we can read a person’s gender identity by looking at them.

Q: How can society be more inclusive of gender non-conforming people?

A: Society can be more inclusive of gender non-conforming people by first accepting the many expressions and experiences of gender. Gender is a personal experience, and shouldn’t be monitored or judged by others.

Larger social policies, like public accommodations, gender neutral restrooms, and access to health care are slowly gaining more attention and allowing for greater freedoms.

Individual acts, like using gender inclusive language and respecting folks’ pronouns, can also create a safer, more inclusive environment for gender non-conforming folks.

For additional interviews and photos, visit http://alex-mancini.wixsite.com/genderseries

14 • The Rainbow Times • TheRainbowTimesMass.com

November 3, 2016 - December 7, 2016

Beyond the Binary From PP. 12-13 Alison Sarah Tippett (cont.)

Q: What is one common misconception about non-binary people that you'd like to dispel? ... I feel like non-binary and genderqueer have started to become synonymous with androgyny and that's not necessarily the case for most people. Someone's identity does not have to "match" their presentation, their name, or their pronouns. People who are assigned male at birth (AMAB) can be non-binary, just as AFAB people can.

Feminine-presenting people can be non-binary, just as masculine-presenting people can. To be non-binary someone does not need to dress differently than they have been previously, or go by a different name, or go by different pronouns.

Q: How can society be more inclusive of gender non-conforming people?

A: I think pronouns are an area where society as a whole can start to make more progress towards inclusivity. So many times, even within queer communities, I've heard a person be able to start using a new “familiar” pronoun for someone who is transitioning or transgender. For some reason it's easier for people to switch from "he" to "she" (or vice versa) than it is to switch from "he" to "they." For some reason, people fight it. There's something deeply seated in so many people that makes them angry that non-binary or gender non-conforming people have the nerve to ask to be respected.

And the number of times I've heard, "can't they just make up something else that doesn't sound like a plural?" and then reject "alternative" pronouns like xe/xem/xir. It's like there's no winning. It is not a requirement of the queer and trans communities to change ourselves to make straight and cisgender people more comfortable. I think the next big subject of discomfort is pronouns. Why at women's colleges is it so common for students to introduce themselves with their name and pronouns, but this practice is seldom seen outside exclusively queer and trans spaces? We can move away from assumptions. Away from reading and labeling people. We can move towards asking compassionately. Because this shows care. It shows respect.

Hallima Docmanov (con.t) Q: What is one common misconception about non-binary people that you'd like to dispel? ... I think you can be femme and non-binary or masculine and non-binary. Who has the authority to dedicate that beyond your own self? For me, part of living outside the binary is that clothing, make-up, etc. does not have a gender and, therefore, lipstick on a person does not make you more “femme” or

“masculine.” It’s just pretty color on a pretty person, who’s probably rocking it!

Q: How can society be more inclusive of gender non-conforming people?

A: I think we need to stop gendering clothing and products all together. That’s a great start. I never could understand why it was necessary to have only “boys” and “girls” sections. Oftentimes society doesn’t understand that it’s limiting ... altogether. Another way society could be more inclusive to gender non-conforming people is that platforms, both mainstream and those actively trying to give a voice to gender non-conforming folks, should allow more diversity to exist in their representations, especially when it comes to representing people of color, religious minorities, etc. because gender nonconforming people come from all backgrounds and experiences! And, most importantly, [I don’t get] the gendering of bathrooms! I think making our public spaces a little bit more inclusive would be an excellent start altogether.

Lee Chumack/Ôchumuk (cont.)

Q: How can society be more inclusive of gender non-conforming people?

A: [Through] Love, compassion, and embracing fear. Whether you've known them for a long time or you've just met them, loving someone means trust and vulnerability, and that's a very scary thing. In order to love someone you have to embrace fear and it's harder to embrace something you're not familiar with. Remember that a group of people are made of individuals, and we each have things in our lives that we worry about.

I worry about my loved ones, and I worry about whether or not I'll make friends at that party or whether or not I'll be able to pay that bill on time. I also worry about whether people will be violent towards me because they can't embrace fear and deal with our differences.

For more information on the first part of this series, visit: https://goo.gl/4gter3. This second part finalizes our Beauty Beyond the Binary series.

TheRainbowTimesMass.com • The Rainbow Times • 15

November 3, 2016 - December 7, 2016

Transgender Day of Remembrance: Remembering our transgender dead By: Deja Nicole Greenlaw*/TRT Columnist

N

TRANS OPINION

ovember is the time for the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, (TDoR). It is the time that we memorialize all of the trans people who have been murdered, often very brutally, within the past year. It is the day that we remember our transgender dead.

The TDoR was started by Gwendolyn Ann Smith on November 20, 1999 when Gwen memorialized the murder of trans woman, Rita Hester, (https://goo.gl/kPvB8T) who was brutally murdered in the Boston area the previous year on November 20, 1998. At the same time Gwen memorialized Rita's death, Gwen also started the annual TDoR to memorialize all of the trans people who were murdered within the past year.

The TDoRs have been held since every year.

The year for memorializing the deaths runs from November 20 to the next November 20 and they are held all over the world.

Rita Hester was a trans woman who educated people in the Boston area about trans identities and issues. She was stabbed 20 times in her Allston, Mass. apartment. Her

neighbor called the police and Rita was rushed to the hospital where she died within minutes after her arrival. The police never found the culprit. Many times, the murderer, or murderers of a trans person are never brought to justice.

As of this writing, more than 20 trans women have been murdered in the U.S. this year. Last year, there were more than 90

horrible the way that these trans people have been murdered and that is why we hold the TDoR every year—to memorialize these folks and to bring awareness of these heinous murders to the world.

A TDoR generally consists of a brief explanation of the origin and purpose of the TDoR, the reading of the deceased names and how they died, speeches, sometimes

THE YEAR FOR MEMORIALIZING THE DEATHS RUNS FROM NOVEMBER 20 TO THE NEXT NOVEMBER 20 AND THEY ARE HELD ALL OVER THE WORLD. murders worldwide. So far, this year's murders in the U.S. consist of severe beatings, burnings,, shootings, strangulations, stabbings, and throat cuttings. In the past years there have been transgender people run over by cars, stoned to death, decapitated, and dismembered. One year, I recall reading that one person was killed and their body was thrown into a dumpster. There was even a young toddler once who was dropped on his head several times by his father before he died because he didn't act “man enough.” It's

musical pieces, and perhaps a blessing from a local minister, priest, rabbi, etc. It's a very powerful and moving experience and I believe it is something that everyone should attend at least once. One can get a better grasp of the issues facing trans people and the violence that too many of us endure, especially of those who perish in a violent manner.

Recently many TDoRs have been including those trans people who have taken their own lives. Some people might object to in-

cluding these people who perished by suicide because it may take away from the original purpose of the TDoR, which is to concentrate on the violence inflicted upon trans people by others. Personally, I understand both points of view. Yes, we must keep the focus on the violence thrust upon us, but too many of us have had trans friends who have taken their own lives and it's very hard to exclude the memory of friends who have taken their own lives. One suggestion is to keep the two lists separate but include both in the TDoR. Most TDoRs are held on November 20 but there are others held before and some held after November 20.

Please check your local area for TDoRs near you and please consider attending. It is horrible the way that some trans people have died and we must make more and more people aware of the transphobic prejudice, harassment, and violence thrust upon us.

For more information on TDoRs please visit the original website https://goo.gl/9x1Ixf. Also, another resource is GLAAD, which has an informative website: https://goo.gl/eeaXct. *Deja Nicole Greenlaw is a trans woman who has 3 grown children and is retired from 3M. She can be contacted at dejavudeja@sbcglobal.net.

What will you do to stem the tide of death? Using your privilege is a good start By: Lorelei Erisis*/TRT Columnist

I

PHOTO: DAVID MEEHAN

ASK A TRANS WOMAN

t’s November my friends. And there are many things I would like to write about. I just returned from Fantasia Fair, for instance. It’s the longest-running transgender event in the world, and I was honored to be a keynote speaker.

And perhaps, I will write about that next month.

There’s also this election, the outcome of which we may know by the time you read this column. An outcome that, however it turns out, will have dramatic consequences for the lives of trans and LGBQ people in this country and the atmosphere in which activists like myself will be working.

I could write about the trans public accommodations law that only very recently went into effect in Massachusetts, or I could focus on the recent efforts of our opponents to get a referendum question on the 2018 ballot to overturn that law.

I really would prefer to write about any of those things. But, as I said, it’s November.

And that means it is the month in which we observe the Trans Day of Remembrance.

THE RAINBOW TIMES DIVERSE............just like our team is OBJECTIVE..........someone has to be INCLUSIVE........no one is left behind .....That is HOW media should be.....

Yes, I have written about this before and I don’t really like to repeat myself too often in this column. I prefer to keep things fresh, avoid recycling topics when I can.

But as long as trans people are being murdered; as long as our siblings, brothers, sisters and zisters are dying for simply trying to live their lives, then I will write. I will speak, shout, and even scream out to anyone who will hear my words.

scores of lives cut short because they were trans like us, Hidden trans lives, unknown and unmourned.

And yes, let me say it, I am lucky. I am so, so very lucky. I’m white. I am often perceived as middle or even upper class simply because of how I carry myself and where I am from. My family is supportive and my friends, for the most part, have stood by me.

I have privilege. Even as a trans woman,

... I BELIEVE THAT PRIVILEGE CARRIES WITH IT A MORAL IMPERATIVE TO HELP THOSE WHO MAY HAVE LESS PRIVILEGE THAN I DO, NOT IN A CONDESCENDING MANNER, OR IN A PATRIARCHAL, “I KNOW BEST WHAT YOU NEED” WAY. We have come a long way in the past few years. Our community is more visible than it ever has been. Trans people are a regular topic in the media. There are more trans actors, comics, models, politicians, and just everyday folks emerging into the spotlight all the time. We even, in a few places, have some halfway decent legal protections.

Yet the slaughter of our people continues.

The list grows longer every year. And yes, perhaps part of that is a result of better reporting and increased visibility of transidentified people. But to my mind that’s even scarier. That means for all the names of the dead we read out at TDoR vigils, there are still so many more we will never know—

as low on that privilege ladder as I have fallen, I am still several rungs up from so many other trans people, especially trans women of color. That privilege gives me access, support, even protections that my trans sisters do not have--that far too many of the dead, the great majority of them in fact, did not have.

And I believe that privilege carries with it a moral imperative to help those who may have less privilege than I do, not in a condescending manner, or in a patriarchal, “I know best what you need” way. It’s more like, using the point of my high heel to wedge open those doors that privilege opens for me and keep them open while others

slide in past me—using it to lift up those who need, and want, my help so they may climb higher themselves.

If my own privilege allows my voice to be heard, then I will use it to amplify the voices of others. I will use the spotlight shone on me to bring attention to those trans lives yet left in the dark.

I must do this. It’s the right thing to do— the human thing to do.

I beg you to do the same.

This November, if you have never been to a TDoR vigil, or if you have been to 10, find the one nearest you and go again. Listen to the names of the dead. Think about the real lives attached to those names.

And then, ask yourself what you are doing to prevent more names from being added.

What can you do? What will you do?

How can you use your own privilege, however much or little you may possess, to promote, amplify and put forward those trans people who have less? And if you do not know the answer to this, or even if you think you do, remember also to ask those you would help. Ask how you may best support the work they are doing themselves.

Then listen harder and more mindfully than you have ever listened before.

And maybe, just maybe, if we all listen carefully and work as hard as we possibly can to lift each other up and smash down the barriers that hold us all back, then perhaps that list of the dead might finally start getting shorter instead of longer.

Maybe some November I’ll be able to write about something else. I doubt it. But maybe. *Lorelei Erisis is an actor, activist, adventurer and pageant queen. Send your questions about trans issues, gender and sexuality to Lorelei’s personal e-mail at: askatranswoman@gmail.com.

16 • The Rainbow Times • TheRainbowTimesMass.com

November 3, 2016 - December 7, 2016 PHOTO: MEREDITH TRUAX

Out of the Dark: Tyler Glenn on resisting suicide, losing his religion & being ‘unapologetically’ gay By: Chris Azzopardi*/Special to TRT

“To be honest…” Tyler Glenn begins, following a telling deep breath.

Glenn’s lead-in could serve as the prologue to his new no-holds-barred solo debut album, Excommunication. Here, however, it precedes the heavy moment when Glenn, the lead singer of Neon Trees, reveals he’s considered suicide twice this year.

Perhaps that comes as a surprise. The singer seemed vibrant and hopeful when he came out in 2014. At the time, Glenn was looking to reconcile his Mormon faith with being gay, and during our talk that same year he said, “I think that there's a time and a place to come out, and I don't know if waiting till I was 30 was the best thing, but it definitely has turned out fine, and I'm a happy person.”

A year later, Glenn received dispiriting news that left him feeling just the opposite: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints enacted a policy that prevents children living with same-sex couples from being baptized until age 18—also, they must “disavow” same-sex relationships be-fore baptism—and proclaims members in gay marriages subject to excommunication.

The church’s shameful decision had a destructive effect on Glenn’s well-being. “I tried to kill myself,” the singer confesses on

the new album’s G.D.M.M.L. GRLS (i.e.

“God Didn’t Make Me Like Girls”), “and I’m not the only one.”

During our sobering exchange, the 32year-old ex-Mormon spoke candidly about his descent into a life-threatening low and how his own fans pulled—and are still pulling—him through.

Q: This album will likely define a lot of coming-of-age moments for a lot of LGBT people. When you were going through your darkest moments, which artists and albums did you find yourself clinging to during your journey to self-discovery?

Who did you turn to for musical salvation?

A: Often it was The Smiths and Morrissey just because I looked at him as doing sexuality in his own way, and I always clung to that idea that I didn’t want to be defined so much by orientation. Even Lady Gaga, during 2008 and 2009, when she was first coming onto the scene, was such a breath of fresh air. I remember obsessively watching any interview I could find on her when she first started doing press for The Fame and The Fame Monster. I felt validated as an artist and we hadn’t even made our first Read the rest of this story at: http://wp.me/p22M41-4yJ

November 3, 2016 - December 7, 2016

TheRainbowTimesMass.com • The Rainbow Times • 17

18 • The Rainbow Times • TheRainbowTimesMass.com

November 3, 2016 - December 7, 2016

Creep of the Week: Log Cabin Republicans By: D’Anne Witkowski/Special for TRT

T

he Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) have refused to endorse Donald J. Trump for President. On the one hand, Good for them. I mean, LCR isn’t a group with especially high standards (they endorsed Romney, after all), so their refusal to endorse Trump is really saying something. But then again, don’t expect me to be impressed that you finally decided on Oct. 22 that Trump was a no-go for the Republican homos.

Look, Republicans are not inherently bad people. But the Republican party has been taken over by a right-wing fringe that not only has no place for LGBTQ people, but that actively fights against LGBTQ rights at every turn. So it has been hard over the years to watch LCR lick the boots of just about every candidate the GOP threw at them. It’s like watching an abusive relationship and you know that the person being abused has really complicated reasons for not leaving, but that doesn’t make it any easier to witness.

Even in their official statement announcing their lack of endorsement they can’t help but make excuses for Trump.

“Mr. Trump is perhaps the most proLGBT presidential nominee in the history of the Republican Party,” LCR states. “His unprecedented overtures to the ‘LGBT community’—a first for any major-party candidate in our nation’s history—are worthy of praise, and should serve as a clarion call to the GOP that the days of needing to toe an anti-LGBT line are now a thing of the past.”

Okay. First of all, Hillary Clinton was way out front on all the LGBTQ stuff. It seems like LCR is claiming that Trump deserves credit for acknowledging that the LGBTQ community exists and is worthy of more than derision. It’s literally the least he can do. But it is more than Republican presidential nominees have done in the past. So woo woo progress, I guess.

But a “clarion call to the GOP” that antigay is a thing of the past? Has LCR read the 2016 GOP platform? Because the GOP platform goes out of its way to shit on LGBTQ people.

“Our laws and our government’s regulations should recognize marriage as the union of one man and one woman and actively promote married family life as the basis of a stable and prosperous society,” the platform reads. “For that reason … we do not accept the Supreme Court’s redefinition of marriage and we urge its reversal, whether through judicial reconsideration or a constitutional amendment returning control over marriage to the states.”

Aww, isn’t that cute? Because the torn patchwork of marriage rights and laws was working out so well for everybody. Like when my wife and I got married in California and came home to Michigan as legal strangers again. Those were the times.

The platform also endorses the so-called First Amendment Defense Act, which makes it legal to discriminate so long as you’re doing it because the Bible told you so. And LCR does not like that Trump likes this at all.

The LCR statement continues, “Rhetoric alone regarding LGBT issues does not equate to doctrine. As Mr. Trump spoke positively about the LGBT community in the United States, he concurrently surrounded himself with senior advisors with a record of opposing LGBT equality, and committed himself to supporting legislation such as the so-called ‘First Amendment Defense Act’ that Log Cabin Republicans opposes.”

Ah, if only Trump didn’t have those goshdarn anti-LGBT advisers he’d probably be the grand marshal in the NYC Pride parade.

To be honest, I feel a little bad calling Log Cabin Republicans “creeps,” because that’s not fair. It’s victim blaming, really. Trump is a creep, 100 percent. But that’s been obvious from the very beginning of this campaign.

And that LCR seems to just now be figuring that out is further evidence that they need to demand better and believe that they deserve better. *D'Anne Witkowski is a poet, writer and comedian living in Michigan with her wife and son. She has been writing about LGBT politics for over a decade. Follow her on her Twitter account at: @MamaDWitkowski (https://goo.gl/1zGTPp).

TheRainbowTimesMass.com • The Rainbow Times • 19

November 3, 2016 - December 7, 2016

QPuzzle: “True Colors” Be yourself, just be

Across 1 Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud 5 Harvey's _Hairspray_ role 9 Braggarts blow it 14 Whitman's "Sometimes With ___ Love" 15 Your first mate, and others 16 Put in a position 17 Election remnant 18 Irene of Fame 19 Ideal spots 20 Bisexual doctor on Across 23 Sue ___ Ewing Dallas 24 Stripped 28 Spanish king 29 Soft rock for bottoms 33 '70s TV series with Kristy McNichol 34 Del Tredici's In ___ of a Summer Day 36 Jerry Herman musical 37 She came out as bisexual at the "True Colors: 40 to None Summit" in Los Angeles 40 Good buddy on a radio 42 More touch-and-go 43 Bear-like creatures 46 Pick up 47 Baseball great Mel 50 Queen of Chicago 52 Spud, to Gomer 54 Seattle-based hospital drama of this puzzle's character 58 Film maker Frank 61 Lorca's stick

62 Blows 63 "...a ___ deferred" (Hughes) 64 North Sea feeder 65 Oodles 66 Nuts don't have this 67 Big top performer 68 Trueheart of comics

Down 1 Sport of Bend It Like Beckham 2 Prepare to blow 3 "Come on now!"

4 Come slowly 5 Caesar's "See!" 6 "Nuts!"

7 Burning software 8 Lammy, for one 9 TV's "Queen of the Jungle" 10 Like Shakespeare's night dream 11 Rough stuff for miners 12 Boy toy?

13 Wood and more 21 Put into the ground 22 New York Liberty game official 25 Guillermo of Weeds 26 Shade maker 27 Head job?

30 Doc's org.

31 Alfred Douglas' title 32 Lucas of Prelude to a Kiss 34 Big Easy festival 35 Hit with hand motions 37 Mailed out 38 Caesar's threesome

39 Part of a fashion name 40 M*A*S*H cross-dresser M. Klinger's rank 41 Noise of the lambs 44 Triangular lodge 45 Kind of enc.

47 Lawrence portrayer Peter 48 Beats, to Britten 49 No-tell motel meetings 51 Plugs up the wazoo 53 Opportunity for Billy Bean 55 Barneys event 56 Jessica of Little Folkers 57 Witty Coward 58 Accts. of interest 59 Queen's "We ___ the Champions" 60 James Baldwin's tool

SOLUTION

Anti-Trans from page 15 that they do not want to speak; namely that sex is fluid, that it is based on subjective experience, and that God approves of biological males using restrooms and shower with females and vice versa,’ it shows a complete lack of understanding of what it means to be transgender,” said Wyatt, who said that the authors of the lawsuit need to “re-read their Bibles.”

“As someone who was raised as a Christian ... I think I know my Bible well enough to know that what Jesus taught was at its core love, acceptance, respect, and tolerance of others,” she continued. “By the way, I’ve read the Bible front to back and don’t seem to recall him ever saying anything about queer people.”

But the leaders of the four churches have a different interpretation of the Bible and its edicts. The Rainbow Times attempted to interview representatives from each of the four churches, but was supplied with the following statements from Pastors Marlene Yeo of Faith Christian Fellowship, David Aucoin of Abundant Life Church, Esteban Carrasco of House of Destiny Church, and Pastor George Small of Horizon Christian Fellowship: “We welcome everyone to our churches, no matter who you are. Our faith teaches us to treat everyone with love, respect and dignity. All we ask is to have the freedom to teach our beliefs and operate our houses of worship according to our faith, without being threatened by the government.”

In response to the lawsuit, Jillian Fennimore, press secretary for the AGO, released the following statement: “We are pleased that we finally have a law in place that protects transgender people from discrimination in public places. This law is about civil rights and is critical for people who were without full protection and equality under the law for too long.”

When asked by The Rainbow Times for a comment on the lawsuit, a representative for MCAD said that they do not comment on pending litigation.

Jaime Matheny, 42, of Arlington, said she feels that the lawsuit is just another attack on the trans community and an attempt to erase trans identities.

“From lawsuits to violence, those who hate us and fear us are scrambling to find ways to ensure their place in society,” she said. “They want us to cease existing. They want us to vanish as if we were a bad dream.”

Freedom Massachusetts, a coalition of advocacy organizations across the Commonwealth (https://goo.gl/N43vEB), released a response (https://goo.gl/A7huoI) to the lawsuit on their website calling the effort a “ … last-ditch scare tactic … ” against transgender people.

“For decades in Massachusetts, churches have complied with nondiscrimination laws—and updating the law to include transgender people does nothing to take away protections from congregations, clergy, and people of faith to practice what they believe,” a portion of the statement reads.

“Hundreds of faith leaders and communities spoke out in strong support of the transgender protections law this year, making clear that equal treatment does not infringe on religious freedom.”

According to the coalition, more than 300 members of the clergy and more than 50 congregations have come out in support of the public accommodations law

(https://goo.gl/DbZ5Xp).

Brianna Harris, 55, of Jacksonville, Vt., said she sees the clergy members behind the lawsuit as hypocritical.

“Since religious freedom is already protected and trans anti-discrimination is now law in Massachusetts, I find it interesting that now it would seem that churches are the ones ‘asking for special rights and privileges,’” she said.

As a Vermont resident, Harris said she’s glad that Massachusetts has followed the trend of several other states in providing explicit legal protections for transgender people, but the lawsuit has discouraged her.

“It is a relief that Massachusetts has finally done the right thing by extending anti-discrimination protections to trans people but if the people of Massachusetts decide that I am not worth protecting, I may be forced to keep my money in my own state of Vermont where I am protected, she said.”

Anti-trans advocacy around the bill has been relatively successful on a legislative front also. A recent effort to pose a ballot question potentially overturning the law has gained enough signatures to bring it before voters in the state’s next major election in 2018.

The Ballot Initiative On the afternoon of October 11, the same day the civil lawsuit was filed in U.S. District court against MCAD and the AGO, Keep Massachusetts Safe (http://www.keepmasafe.org/), a campaign devoted to overturning the public accommodations bill, announced that it had reached a milestone. “ … the Keep MA Safe ballot question committee was informed that the final count after review by the Secretary of State is still over 34,000, which means Keep MA Safe has met the constitutional requirements to put this dangerous law on the ballot in 2018,” reads an announcement on their website.

Soon after Governor Baker signed the bill into law in July, the Massachusetts Family Institute (www.mafamily.org/), (MFI) a conservative advocacy organization and yearslong opponent of the legislation, threw its support behind Keep Massachusetts Safe and mobilized its members to collect enough signatures to pose the question of overturning the law during the 2018 election.

The campaign needed to collect 32,375 signatures within 90 days of the law’s signing and turn the signatures in to the Secretary of State’s Office. According to Keep Massachusetts Safe, more than 50,000 signatures were collected.

The Rainbow Times attempted to reach Andrew Beckwith, president of the MFI, for an interview, but an e-mail and a follow-up phone call were not returned. According to the ADF’s website, Beckwith is the local counsel for the four churches who’ve filed a lawsuit against the AGO and MCAD. Governor Baker, who’d previously been a vehement opponent of the public accommodations law, recently said in an interview with WGBH (https://goo.gl/UQyvd9) that he would vote against overturning the law.

"I signed the transgender rights legislation when it came to my desk because I don't think anybody should be discriminated against, and that's my position," Baker said in the interview. "I've said many times that if people can collect the signatures to put a question on the ballot, it should go to ...

See Anti-Trans on Page 21

20 • The Rainbow Times • TheRainbowTimesMass.com

On Sunday, I attended great workshops and was able to use this feeling of community that I felt from the day before to be more engaged in the content.

I had an open discussion about asexuality and its misconceptions, was able to have my voice heard on issues regarding LGBTQ inclusion within first and secondary education, and, for lunch, I was able to learn about the Point Foundation scholarship from actual recipients.

In the afternoon, I gained new insight on the radical connections people can make and how to go about those relationships in a safe and healthy way. I was also able to hear Rosa Clemente give a wonderful speech on what it means to be a person of color and an activist, as well as a brief history on queer activism and how that related to the Black Lives Matter Movement.

I left the conference that day feeling empowered, not be cliché. I believe it is important to have these spaces where people can be themselves and can connect with other people like them. Every year I attend this

... NEWFOUND KNOWLEDGE ABOUT MYSELF, ABOUT HOW TO BECOME AN

EFFECTIVE ACTIVIST, ABOUT HOW TO SURVIVE IN A SOCIETY THAT MARGINALIZES MYSELF AND OTHERS LIKE ME. conference, I leave with some newfound knowledge about myself, about how to become an effective activist, about how to survive in a society that marginalizes myself and others like me. I look forward to what else HBGC has to offer for next year’s conference. *Amanda Reveles is a senior at Boston University studying astronomy and physics. When she is not researching the origins of planets, Amanda enjoys studying film and being involved in the community. She currently volunteers for the Hispanic Black Gay Coalition and aspires to empower young queer people of color through their programs.

The OutField: “Out” off the field — athletic trainers By: Dan Woog*/Special to TRT

I

n nearly 10 years of covering sports, “The OutField” has reported on dozens of LGBT athletes and coaches. We’ve interviewed gay fan groups and referees. We’ve talked about the Gay Games, and the (largely) straight Olympics.

But we’ve never done a story on athletic trainers.

In the wide world of sports, trainers play a key role. They work intimately with athletes, diagnosing injuries and shepherding young men and women through physical therapy to get them back on the field. Trainers’ jobs are hands-on—literally—while their training room is often a safe haven, where athletes can talk freely about their greatest worries and deepest fears.

So, like other therapists—psychologists and psychiatrists—many athletic trainers do not talk about themselves. Particularly if that talk would involve same-sex partners.

That makes Rob Redding unusual. He’s the athletic trainer at Henderson State University. It’s a Division II school in smalltown Arkansas—and he’s completely out.

In some ways, Redding is a typical trainer.

He grew up two hours south of Houston, in Victoria, Texas, where football was king. He played “one day” in junior high, but found his calling because the high school athletic trainer was a great role model. Redding followed suit, and earned a scholarship to Texas A&M University.

He spent four years after graduation working at a high school, four more at a junior col-lege, then another four at California Baptist University. He’s been at Henderson State—a “much better fit”—for the past nine years.

Redding loves his work. He’d thought about practicing medicine, but realized doctors see patients for just 15 or 20 minutes, in an office setting. “There are no relationships,” he notes. “But athletes really talk to trainers. They’re in a safe space. It’s personal, and very fulfilling.”

Redding first thought he might be gay in high school. He was sure in college. He never had overt experiences with homophobia—but, he says, “It was a typical Southern atmos-phere. I heard the jokes and the negative things. They get imprinted on you.”

At California Baptist, he made a conscious decision to stay in the closet. It was not a happy time. When he moved to Henderson, he knew he could no longer hide – or lie. “If anyone asked, I promised myself I’d tell,” he says.

Redding started by calling out athletes for making anti-gay comments in the training room. Soon, he says, “people probably knew” he was gay.

Redding was assigned to the football and baseball teams. He had a great relationship with head football coach Scott Maxfield— with whom he had worked at a previous school—on and off the field. About five years ago, on one of their daily walks around the track, Redding came out to him.

Maxfield had one question: “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

Once Redding had the head coach’s backing—and Maxfield’s wife, who he told the

QSPORTS

HBGC Youth from Page 6

November 3, 2016 - December 7, 2016

same night—the rest of the process was easy. It culminated in a story he wrote for Outsports last month. He wrote: “I am at every practice and travel to every game with my teams. I am responsible for evaluating and treating injuries to my student-athletes.

A lot of time this requires close physical interaction with them. While I am very professional with all my interactions, I have long worried about how the athlete would feel if the guy doing a deep-tissue massage on his hamstring was gay.”

Those fears were unfounded. Redding realized that being honest allowed him to do his job even better.

Henderson State University is a safe place—“administratively, and with students and coaches,” Redding says. “There are a bunch of good people here.”

He’s been uplifted not only by Henderson’s athletes—who really don’t care about their trainer’s sexuality, so long as he gets them back on the field quickly—but by the respons-es of strangers to his Outsports story. A closeted trainer in Texas thanked him for provid-ing hope. A Pac-12 trainer who is out to a small group of people called Redding an inspi-ration for showing what it’s like to be fully out.

Redding does not have many professional role models. But at an Outsports “reunion meeting” in Chicago this summer, he heard stories from gay student-athletes, coaches, administrators, journalists—and even a few athletic trainers. That helped him understand the power of openness and honesty.

This year, Redding will speak about diversity at an NCAA Division II administrators’ meeting. He’ll tell his story, and hopes it will inspire others.

Athletic trainers shun the limelight.

“We’re support staff,” Redding notes.

“We’re just here to help. But if I can help reach folks who are in the closet, I’m happy to do that.” *Dan Woog is a journalist, educator, soccer coach and gay activist. His latest book is “We Kick Balls: True Stories from the Youth Soccer Wars.” He can be reached care of this publication or via his e-mail at OutField@qsyndicate.com.

TheRainbowTimesMass.com • The Rainbow Times • 21

November 3, 2016 - December 7, 2016

Faith leaders attend an Oct. 11 rally at King’s Chapel in Boston in support of the trans community PHOTO: FREEDOM MASSACHUSETTS

Anti-Trans from page 19 voters."

The Governor then went on to say that, as a citizen of the Commonwealth, he’d vote against the ballot question.

Reaction and Mobilization On October 13, just two days after the lawsuit and ballot initiative announcements made headlines, members of the trans community and their allies held a rally at King’s Chapel in Boston.

“This is essentially a fringe group of people trying to speak for an entire faith community,” said 24-year-old Kaden Mohamed, who spoke at the rally, of the lawsuit. “I do not believe that religion should be about putting other people down and discriminating against different identity groups.

“It should be about community, love, caring, giving, and support—all things that the transgender community needs to feel like we are truly part of this state.”

“The event left me personally, deeply moved by the compassion and support for trans rights, from so many different voices,” said Mason Dunn, executive director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (www.masstpc.org/), which co-chairs Freedom Massachusetts.

“I don't think I'll ever forget the end of the rally, when the entire crowd sung a trans-inspired rendition of ‘This Little Light of Mine.’" Hearing so many voices, from different perspectives, backgrounds, faiths, and experiences sharing that moment was inspirational, to say the least.”

Dunn said that Freedom Massachusetts and its allies will continue its work to defeat the anti-trans efforts.

“Just as with the legislative advocacy, we know that telling our stories is the best way to change hearts and minds,” he said.

“MTPC will be working in our community at the grassroots level, and empower community members to tell their stories.

“We will continue to work with our coalition partners to educate and advocate for trans rights, from the State House to the voting booth.”

Recently, Wyatt was having a conversation with someone about restroom access and transgender people. She made the oftenused argument that many trans rights advocates call upon when discussing sex-segregated facilities.

“When I pointed out to him that this is a non-issue and that there had been no reported issues of a trans person doing something nefarious in a public restroom his response was, ‘Not yet.’

“His implication was clear, in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, trans people cannot be trusted.”

For those who use religious beliefs as jus-

tification for transphobic sentiment, Wyatt is quite clear in her own beliefs: “On occasion I have been told by someone that their religion tells them to ‘Love the sinner but hate the sin’ when dealing with LGBTQ people,” she said. “Being a trans person is who I am, not something I do.

“The implication that I am doing something that is a sin that you hate is by default saying [who] I am is a sin and you hate me.”

Wyatt then discussed another trope often used by religious conservatives.

“Then there’s that old line that ‘God doesn’t make mistakes.’ I agree with that one 100%. He doesn’t and I am not a ‘mistake.’

I am the person I was born to be. It may not be who you are or something you understand, but please don’t call me a mistake. If you truly believe God doesn’t make mistakes then don’t call me one, because I’m not.”

Gloucester, Va. is about an hour north of where Wyatt grew up in the ’50s and ’60s and in 2017 will be a hotbed of media attention around trans rights. On October 28, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will hear the case of 17-year-old Gavin Grimm, a transgender high school student fighting for the right to use the boys’ bathroom (https://goo.gl/uJbEXq). Grimm, whose birth certificate identifies him as female, informed administrators at Gloucester High School in 2014 that he was male and had legally changed his name. The student and his mother filed a discrimination lawsuit against the county for not allowing him to use the boys’ restroom and a lower court ruled in their favor. The county is now appealing the verdict with the Supreme Court and arguments will be heard next year.

Wyatt sees Grimm’s struggle as one of a larger collective fight across the country.

“A friend of mine once said something that’s perhaps beneficial to remember at times like this: ‘Sometimes the most radical thing we can do is simply exist,’” she said.

“Being openly out, being competent in my job, being respectful and doing my level best to be a good person is probably the most important thing I can do to forward trans acceptance. I learned long ago that you can’t win every battle but I’m in it for the long haul.”

Jaime Matheny said that the anti-trans attacks will not destroy the spirit of the trans community, but will only intensify it.

“We are here. We have been here. We are your neighbors, your co-workers. We go to your churches; we go to your schools and gyms. We will endure and we will persevere.

We will win this fight. It isn't a question of safety, our existence isn't a debate. Make no mistake we are fighting for our survival. I have hope that through work and education we will win this fight.”

22 • The Rainbow Times • TheRainbowTimesMass.com

November 3, 2016 - December 7, 2016

FRENZY! from Page 8

Appreciation from Page 6 he pain of heartbreak can be soothed by looking at what’s gone on in your past while knowing that you can move on and love again. The loss of a job is traumatic, but chances are it has happened before and somehow you carried on. The fight for LGBTQ equality today is very different than even 20 years ago, never mind its status in 1926.

Relying more on personal and historical perspective can calm and soothe. It also can help manage emotions and frustrations leading to more “transcendental” daily experiences. Perspective can help spiritually elevate us to a bird’s eye view of the forest, keeping us from being consumed by the thick darkness of walking in one.

I sometimes regret not having kept a journal. Ironically, it’s one of the bits of advice I offer in my inner wellbeing workshops. It’s not only cathartic to vent in the written word, but when you go back and review challenges that occurred years ago, you’re

reminded that yes, you’ll overcome it; you’ve learned to manage challenges, and whatever difficulty you’re facing at this moment or on this day or this week, you will move beyond it.

Perspective is an uncomfortable reminder you shouldn’t put off making decisions waiting for something to fall into place. It may never happen. This is not to suggest you can’t make something happen, but free choice has its limits.

In 1942, Dad may have wondered if he’d make it through the war. Today, he’s 90.

Prior to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling making a commitment to another person didn’t require marriage equality. The LGBTQ community didn’t wait for society’s approval to make personal commitments of love and fidelity. Life really is living in the moment without any guarantee of tomorrow or hoping the best laid plans come to fruition.

That’s what perspective teaches. *Paul is a corporate chaplain, lawyer in the Albany, NY area, and author of “Lost Sense of Self & the Ethics Crisis.”

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representation of LGBTQ POC authors? If so, why is that the case? as a community?

A: That’s certainly the case. UnfortuA: We must continue to shine a bright nately, far too many publishing light on mental/emotional illness, and houses—for whatever the reasons—connot let stigma prevent us from doing so. tinue to refuse to “greenlight” the projThe first major step in addressing it is ects of LGBTQ POC authors. Because having more open and honest conversaof this, I created my own publishing tions. company, Nair’BoUniversal, which reQ: Are the issues that you present in leases my Nothing Can Tear Us Apart FRENZY! more prevalent in the series of novels. I wanted to portray two LGBTQ People of Color (POC) comaccomplished, upwardly mobile MOC munity? Is the LGBTQ “main(Men of Color) who are deeply, prostream” community doing enough to foundly and passionately in love with support the LGBTQ POC community one another. You rarely see that coming given the vast differences that exist from the established publishing houses. between the two? If not, what more Q: What is your wish that readers could be done? take away from FRENZY!?

A: Anecdotally, I tend to believe that is A: My wish is that FRENZY! provides a true. POC have to deal with racism and window into the critical issues (IPV/A, discrimination in their everyday exismental illness) confronting the LGBTQ tence. Certainly, this can fuel the issues community, thereby creating opporI present in FRENZY! Just like in tunities to further open an honest the heterosexual community, dialogue. That is what fosters there is structural racism within positive change. the LGBTQ community. This structural racism perpetuates FRENZY! is currently available barriers to opportunities and at all online retailers in digital racial disparities. We have to and paperback. Receive a special eradicate these barriers. One of 20 percent discount by placing the major reasons I write the your order through Evans’ ofNothing Can Tear Us ficial website at Apart series of novels https://goo.gl/fXhTR0. is to present LGBTQ To learn more about the POC in a vibrant, nuauthor, Wyatt O’Brian anced, “real-life” Evans, check out light, if you will. http://wyattevans.com.

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TheRainbowTimesMass.com • The Rainbow Times • 23

24 • The Rainbow Times • TheRainbowTimesMass.com

November 3, 2016 - December 7, 2016