Year 15, Vol. 1 • January 6, 2022 - February 10, 2022 • www.therainbowtimesmass.com
15 TH AN
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PHOTO: JOHN SCHNOBRICH / UNSPLASH
PARENTS’ RIGHTS First LGBTQ+ Families Secure Parentage Protections in CT p4
PHOTO: KATHY HUTCHINS / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
PHOTO: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
PHOTO: KAROLINA GRABOWSKA / PEXELS
NEW ENGLAND’S LARGEST LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER NEWSPAPER SINCE 2006
HEALTHCARE COVERAGE Proposal Would Reinstate Obama-era Rules for Health Plans p5
TRANS SURVEY U.S. Transgender Survey Pledge Launched p6
BOOKWORM: “HIGH-RISK HOMOSEXUAL: A MEMOIR”
Golden Girl Dies at 99, A Final p9 Farewell
JAN. 6: GLAD & VARIOUS OFFICIALS ISSUE JAN. 6 STATEMENTS p4 AG HEALEY: CO-LEADS INVESTIGATION INTO INSTAGRAM & YOUNG PEOPLE p8
p9
2 • The Rainbow Times • TheRainbowTimesMass.com
January 6, 2022 - February 10, 2022
Fifteenth-Year Anniversary: Rolling out The Rainbow Times 2.0 in 2022 Publication launches subscription-based exclusive content in print for a inaugural introductory rate, more By: Nicole Lashomb* TRT Editor-in-Chief
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OPINION
hen The Rainbow Times was founded 15 years ago, we never dreamed it would flourish into the region’s largest LGBTQIA+ newspaper, and one of the most trusted community news sources. We knew about the expertise and education of our team, our founders and publisher. We’ve hit hard, holding elected officials, organizations, companies and businesses accountable to corruption, disenfranchisement of the LGBTQIA+ community, discrimination against not only those who identify as LGBTQIA+ but also the vast intersectional identities that exist within it. It was critical to our editorial team not to whitewash the historical truths and experiences of
cited credible sources throughout the years. In the same spirit and while upholding journalistic ethics, we lent our platform to the people to tell their stories one by one. With objectivity on our side, we have worked to fulfilling our responsibility to you, as the watchdog for the people, as the fourth estate. We live by the transparency and impartiality of these principles and stand by them. As we move further into the 21st century in a medium that is ever-evolving and at a time in history when the truth is twisted and manipulated to obfuscate the masses, we find ourselves renewing those vows more so now and redirecting the news to you quicker. Not everyone who writes is a journalist. Not every media is run by journalism graduates. We are. And, we are proud of the professional quality and expertise behind our exclusive content. We
AS WE MOVE FURTHER INTO THE 21ST CENTURY IN A MEDIUM THAT IS EVER-EVOLVING AND AT A TIME IN HISTORY WHEN THE TRUTH IS TWISTED AND MANIPULATED TO OBFUSCATE THE MASSES, WE FIND OURSELVES RENEWING THOSE VOWS MORE SO NOW AND REDIRECTING THE NEWS TO YOU QUICKER. our community members — then and now. We wanted truth, diversity, and inclusion from the in-depth reports to the opinion columns, which have also
continue to charge forward in the undeniable evolution and reinvention of the future of LGBTQIA+ journalism.
WITH OBJECTIVITY BY OUR SIDE, WE HAVE WORKED ON FULFILLING OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO YOU, AS THE WATCHDOG FOR THE PEOPLE, AS THE FOURTH ESTATE. WE LIVE BY THE TRANSPARENCY AND IMPARTIALITY OF THESE PRINCIPLES AND STAND BY THEM. As we celebrate our 15th anniversary next month, we are morphing into integrating the best of print and digital media. We are fortunate to have substantial digital reach not only on social media, as the publication with the most sizable audience on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and so on, but also as an independent publication, not beholden to a larger media conglomerate or bound by the limitations that such a “partnership” can create when publishing. We are beholden to facts, to our readers and those that have a vested interest in the publication. Beginning in 2022, The Rainbow Times’ print edition will become an exclusive subscription-based monthly publication, sent directly to your home. It is the first monthly of its kind in New England. The inaugural rate will honor our 15th anniversary, as an introductory rate for the print edition starting in February. Likewise, from that moment on, readers can opt to subscribe digitally to access additional in-depth prime content on our website, or subscribe to both print and digital for an additional discount. Whatever way you prefer to read the publication, it will be available. Or, you can always read our free content online as well. These options will be rolling out over the next 3 months. If there is anything that this pan-
demic has taught us all, it is to innovate, create and embrace the new normal for how business and life in general is conducted. We’ve seen it in
See TRT Anniversary On Page 11
Multiple Award Winning
The Rainbow Times New England’s Largest LGBTQ+ Newspaper — Boston Based TheRainbowTimesMass.com editor@therainbowtimesmass.com sales@therainbowtimesmass.com Phone: 617.444.9618 Publisher Graysen M. Ocasio
Photographer Jenna Joyce
Editor-In-Chief Nicole Lashomb
Reporters Chris Gilmore Audrey Cole
Assistant Editor Mike Givens National/Local Sales Rivendell Media Liz Johnson Lead Photographers Steve Jewett Christine M. Hurley
Ad & Layout Design Prizm PR Webmaster Jarred Johnson Columnistst Lorelei Erisis Deja N. Greenlaw Paul P. Jesep
The Rainbow Times is published monthly by The Rainbow Times, LLC. TRT is an award-winning publication that started printing in late 2006. The 1st print issue was published in Feb. 2007. 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. The appearance of names or photographic representations in TRT does not necessarily indicate the sexual orientation or gender identity of the named or depicted individuals.
January 6, 2022 - February 10, 2022
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January 6, 2022 - February 10, 2022
Pres. Biden, VP Harris condemn Jan. 6th insurrection and attack on democracy
IN THE LIMELIGHT
U.S. President Joe Biden remarks from the site of the insurrection condemned the acts of terror a year ago during the riots on January 6 at the U.S. Capitol and also centered on Trump’s attempts to overthrow the 2020 election. “We will make sure the will of the people is heard,” said the President at the Capitol’s Statuary Hall. “That the battle prevails, not violence. That the authority of this nation will always be peacefully transferred. I believe the power of the presidency is to unite this nation, to lift us up, not tear us apart.” Lawmakers reflected on the attack and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke about the “fragility of democracy.” In a letter (https://bit.ly/344rEHg) to his Democratic colleagues earlier this month, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote that the rioters and all who participated in the January 6 insurrention were “fueled by conspiracy and the ravings of a vengeful former president. “As we all are witnessing, the attacks on our democracy have not ceased. In fact, they have only accelerated. Much like the violent insurrectionists who stormed the US Capitol nearly one year ago, Republican officials in states across the country have seized on the former president’s Big Lie about widespread voter fraud to enact anti-democratic legislation and seize control of typically non-partisan election administration functions. Statement from GLAD In Massachusetts, GLAD Executive Director Janson Wu issued a statement too. “As LGBTQ+ people, as with every community and constituency in this country, our fates are tied to the survival of our democracy. It is a question of whether or not our voices will be heard, whether our communities will be represented and protected, and whether those who spread lies and foment fear in order to gain power will be held accountable. That is why we must do all we can to secure and strengthen our democratic institutions, including the fundamental right to vote. And it is why we must fully reckon with what happened one year ago today so that it never happens again.” Michigan Attorney General Michigan AG Dana Nessel issued the following statement: “The unprecedented attack on our democracy last year made clear that the biggest threat we face in maintaining our Constitution and all that this country stands for comes from within our own borders, fueled by seditious conspiracies and alternate realities that
continue to be peddled today. Some will respond to today’s anniversary by doubling down on the dangerous lies that led to the January 6 riot. Others will say we must move on as a country as if the heinous scenes we collectively witnessed never happened. I refuse to let this day pass without recognizing the damage done and the very real threat that remains. I also send my heartfelt gratitude to the brave members of law enforcement who defended the Capitol that day, and honor those we lost in the days and months following as a result of the attack. Like many, I have heard the first-hand accounts from on-duty officers who put themselves in harm's way that day. They defended our nation's founding principles and deserve our utmost respect for their service and sacrifice. “Those who have pushed unfounded claims of election fraud are deliberately chipping away at our democratic foundation in an effort to make last year's attempt to overturn the will of American voters a successful, authoritarian outcome in future elections. We must continue to fight for our free and fair elections, and I remain committed to upholding democracy.” Following the insurrection, Nessel joined a bipartisan coalition of 50 states, territories and the District of Columbia condemning the attack (https://bit.ly/3nefrG6). Third Way Statement “It is important in our civic life to pause to remember heroism and sacrifice in the face of evil. So today, we join the rest of civilized America in reflecting on our collective debt to the Capitol and Metro Police officers who battled for hours with a mob intent on invading our republic’s most sacred spaces and committing violence against some of our most senior leaders. It cost some officers their lives, and many others suffered grievous injuries to their bodies, their psyches, or both. We join a grateful nation in saluting their courage and devotion to duty. “But another important exercise on this awful anniversary is to work to ensure that January 6 remains only past and not prologue. The former president who sparked the insurrectionist violence has continued his seditionist rantings, and his party’s elected officials – including most Republicans in Congress – have become his Amen Choir. One year ago, 147 Republicans members of the House and Senate voted against their nation, their Constitution, and their oath by refusing to certify the democratically elected Joe Biden. One year later, many of these same members as well as others are engaged in an active plot to steal the next presidential election, after Trump and the rioters failed to do so last time. We will use this solemn day to vow to do everything we possibly can to stop them.”
PHOTO: KAROLINA GRABOWSKA / PEXELS
GLAD’s ED, other leaders issue statements too
First LGBTQ+ families secure parentage protections in Connecticut Landmark Connecticut Parentage Act takes effect HARTFORD—Earlier this month, the first LGBTQ+ parents in Connecticut signed Acknowledgments of Parentage to secure equal legal protections for their children and familie---s. Federal law requires states to provide a simple civil process for acknowledging parentage upon the birth of a child, the Acknowledgment of Parentage program. Properly executed, an Acknowledgment of Parentage has the binding force of a court order and should be treated as valid recognition of parentage in all states. Until the Connecticut Parentage Act went into effect this month, same-gender parents in the state were not eligible to sign Acknowledgments to secure their parentage, putting a lengthy and costly burden on LGBTQ+ parents and leaving many children vulnerable. Stephanie and Denise Ocasio-Gonzalez (https://bit.ly/35v1tcZ), parents of a 2-year-old and a 14-year-old, and Emily Pagano and Rachel PrehodkaSpindel (https://bit.ly/3rdfuEN), parents of 7.5-month-old twins and a 3-year-old, advocated as part of the We Care Coalition to pass the landmark Connecticut Parentage Act last year and spoke out (https://bit.ly/342pQOY) about the harms the state’s outdated and unequal parentage laws caused their children. Both sets of parents signed Acknowledgments of Parentage this morning at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. Emily Pagano and Rachel PrehodkaSpindel (https://bit.ly/3rdfuEN) signed Acknowledgments securing parentage for all three of their children. “Signing the Acknowledgments of Parentage today, knowing our three children are now fully protected and we will both finally be recognized as their legal parents is a tremendous relief,” said Emily Pagano. “As unmarried parents, we’ve faced frustrating and sometimes scary hurdles just trying to take care of our kids. Rachel wasn’t allowed to be a voting member of the Parents Committee at our 3year-old Dylan’s public pre-school because she wasn’t seen as a legal parent.
And when our entire family came down with COVID recently Rachel wasn’t permitted to act as Dylan’s medical proxy, delaying our ability to get our child’s test results. We are so grateful that we won’t have to fight these types of battles anymore, and neither will other Connecticut families. We’re proud of our work advocating for the Connecticut Parentage Act as part of the We Care Coalition and are thrilled to be part of this historic day.” Stephanie and Denise Ocasio-Gonzalez (https://bit.ly/35v1tcZ)were able to sign an Acknowledgment of Parentage today securing Denise’s parentage of their 2-year-old daughter, who was born to Stephanie during the couple’s marriage. “As a married couple, we are grateful to have access to this acknowledgment of parentage to secure our child wherever we travel,” said Stephanie Ocasio-Gonzalez. “LGBTQ+ parents still experience discrimination in other jurisdictions, and having access in Connecticut to a simple form that operates as the equivalent of a court decree gives us the protection and security we’ve been waiting for.” Denise has been the second parent to the couple’s 14-year-old son since he was 3 years old. Once the de facto parent provisions of the Connecticut Parentage Act go into effect on July 1 they will be able to secure Denise’s legal parentage of their son as well. “Although we will have to wait another six months to protect our older child through the de facto parent provisions, we are thrilled to be so much closer to having full security for our entire family,” added Stephanie. “It has been empowering to play a role in educating people about the barriers families like ours have faced, and in making Connecticut a place where all families are recognized and protected.” Legal parentage protects children by ensuring parents have clear responsibilities and rights like providing health insurance, decision-making for medi-
See LGBTQ+ Parents On Page 6
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January 6, 2022 - February 10, 2022
Proposal from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would reinstate Obama-era rules for coverage plan, helping LGBTQ+ people Biden administration restores sexual orientation & gender identity to ACA, removed under Trump admin. By: Delphine Luneau* Human Rights Campaign
... LAMBDA LEGAL SHOWS THAT 56% OF LGB PEOPLE AND 70% OF TRANSGENDER AND GENDER NON-CONFORMING PEOPLE REPORTED EXPERIENCING DISCRIMINATION BY HEALTH CARE
PROVIDERS. insurance plans and exchanges to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity runs contrary to the core principle of the Affordable Care Act – to provide comprehensive, low-cost or no-cost health care coverage for everyone. Given that LGBTQ+
PHOTO: GAGE SKIDMORE
IN THE LIMELIGHT
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) praised the proposed rule changes published recently by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that would require health insurance plans (https://bit.ly/3JYcrrc) offered through the Affordable Care Act to once again recognize sexual orientation and gender identity as protected characteristics. The rules change would reverse moves taken under the Trump administration that removed sexual orientation and gender identity from the regulations by once again ensuring that exchanges, issuers, and agents and brokers are prohibited from discriminating based on sexual orientation and gender identity. “This proposed rule change is yet another sign of the Biden administration stepping up to make tangible changes that will provide a real difference in the lives of LGBTQ+ people,” said Sarah Warbelow, Legal Director for the Human Rights Campaign. “Allowing health
Former United States’ President, Barack Obama, speaking on the recovering housing sector in 2015 at Central High School in Phoenix, Arizona.
people, especially Black and Brown LGBTQ+ people, are known to face widespread discrimination when it comes to health care access and outcomes, HRC is eager to see this proposed rule go into effect.” Among its provisions, the proposed rule would also prohibit states from operating an exchange that discriminates based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It also labels discriminatory health care plans that exclude coverage of gender-affirming treatment for transgender people, and it has additional requirements for ensuring that marketing around health care plans issued through the Affordable Care Act are not discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. According to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law (https://bit.ly/3tgBCj6), about 15% of LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. are uninsured, compared to 12% of nonLGBTQ+ people. The LGBTQ+ population is also more likely to be unemployed (9% vs. 5%) or to have an annual salary below $24,000 (25% vs. 18%), both factors that can make it difficult to obtain health insurance. In 2021, HRC called attention to a report (https://bit.ly/3F8QIt6) from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that showed LGBTQ+ people were more susceptible to the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that 37% of LGBTQ adult smokers smoke every day compared to 27% of non-LGBTQ people; 21% of LGBTQ adults have had asthma, compared to 14% of nonLGBTQ people; and one in five
LGBTQ adults aged 50 and above have diabetes.
See LGBTQ+ Health On Page 11
6 • The Rainbow Times • TheRainbowTimesMass.com
January 6, 2022 - February 10, 2022
NCTE, partners launch 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey Pledge
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P e h et
IN THE LIMELIGHT
WASHINGTON—The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and partners are excited to launch the 2022 U.S. Trans Survey Pledge (USTS) at ustranssurvey.org. Through the USTS Pledge, members of the trans community can now sign up to receive information about the survey, learn how to participate and pledge to take the survey when it is released in 2022. “NCTE is proud to partner with the Black Trans Advocacy Coalition, TransLatin@ Coalition, National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance, and other organizations that serve trans people nationwide on the 2022 U.S. Trans Survey,” said Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, executive director of NCTE. “The Black Trans Advocacy Coalition is incredibly excited to be a partner for the 2022 U.S. Trans Survey, the leading source for insight into the reallife experiences of the trans community. As the largest trans survey in the U.S., we know that it’s critical to ensure that the experiences of as many Black binary and nonbinary trans people as possible are captured in the survey,” said Carter Brown, national executive director of BTAC. “We are encouraging everyone to be a part of history and pledge to take the 2022 U.S. Trans Survey.” “Our organization is grateful to part-
Tak
ner on such an important milestone for our community with the 2022 U.S. Trans Survey,” said Bamby Salcedo, president and CEO of the Los Angelesbased TransLatin@ Coalition. “The data we will generate as a community will provide support for our continued advocacy for our specific needs.”
Information about the U.S. Trans Survey: ◊ The U.S. Trans Survey is the largest survey of trans people in the United States. ◊ The USTS documents the lives and experiences of trans people in the U.S. and U.S. territories.
LGBTQ+ Parents From Page 4
Rainbow PrideDoku — Enjoy! To our readers, we hope you enjoy a little before, during and after Pride Season. Maybe it’ll help de-stress you too. Good luck! The solution is
cal care or education, providing for basic needs, or payment of child support and parenting time in the event of separation. The Connecticut Parentage Act, which was signed by Governor Lamont in May 2021 and went into effect January 1, 2022, ensures equal access to legal parentage for all children, including those with unmarried, samegender, or nonbiological parents. In addition to granting LGBTQ+ parents access to the simple administrative Acknowledgment of Parentage (https://bit.ly/3IPmXQb) form, which can be filled out in the hospital before or after birth or at a Department of Social Services Office for an older child, the CPA also extends accessible paths to parentage for children born through assisted reproduction and strengthens protections for children born through surrogacy. “Connecticut has been a national leader in the fight to expand and protect the rights of LGBTQ+ people,” said Representative Jeff Currey, lead sponsor of the Connecticut Parentage Act. “With equal access to the Acknowledgment of Parentage program Connecticut’s LGBTQ+ families can now be protected here at home and wherever they travel. I’m proud to see our state take this historic step today to ensure that all children, and all families, are equally protected by our laws.” “The Connecticut Parentage Act is one of the most child-centered, inclu-
◊ The U.S. Trans Survey is for all trans people ages 16 and up. ◊ The USTS is for people of all trans identities, including binary and nonbinary trans identities.
See Trans Survey On Page 11 sive, and comprehensive parentage laws in the country,” said Douglas NeJaime, Yale Law Professor and principal drafter of the CPA. “With this law in effect, Connecticut families will now be treated equally, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or marital status, and LGBTQ+ parents and their children across the state will be more secure.” The Connecticut Parentage Act is based on the model Uniform Parentage Act of 2017. In addition to Connecticut, California, Maine, Rhode Island, Washington, and Vermont have recently updated their parentage laws to incorporate recommendations in the UPA. A similar bill, the Massachusetts Parentage Act, is currently pending in Massachusetts. “A secure legal parent-child relationship is core to a child’s long-term stability and well-being, and as of today all Connecticut children have access to that security regardless of the gender or marital status of their parents or the circumstances of their birth,” said Polly Crozier, Senior Staff Attorney at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders and a leading advocate for updated and inclusive parentage laws. “I hope other states, including neighboring Massachusetts, will soon follow Connecticut’s excellent example by updating their parentage laws to ensure all children have equal access to parentage.” More information about the Connecticut Parentage Act can be found at glad.org/cpa or law.yale.edu/cpa.
January 6, 2022 - February 10, 2022
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AG Healey co-leads nationwide investigation into Instagram’s impact on young people Bipartisan group of Attorneys General concerned for safety, well-being of children; examining potential violations of consumer protection laws BOSTON—Attorney General Maura Healey recently announced she is coleading a bipartisan, nationwide investigation into Meta Platforms, Inc., formerly known as Facebook, for providing and promoting its social media platform – Instagram – to children and young adults despite knowing that such use is associated with physical and mental health harms. Attorneys general across the country are examining whether the company violated state consumer protection laws and put the public at risk. “Facebook, now Meta, has failed to protect young people on its platforms and instead chose to ignore or, in some cases, double down on known manipulations that pose a real threat to physical and mental health – exploiting children in the interest of profit,” said AG Healey. “As Attorney General it is my job to protect young people from these online harms. Today, I am coleading a nationwide coalition to get to the bottom of this company’s engagement with young users, identify any unlawful practices, and end these abuses for good. Meta can no longer ignore the threat that social media can pose to children for the benefit of their bottom line.” The AG’s investigation targets, among other things, the techniques utilized by Meta to increase the frequency and duration of engagement by young users and the resulting harms caused by such extended engagement. Today’s announcement follows recent reports revealing that Meta’s own internal research shows that using Instagram is associated with increased risks of physical and mental health harms on young people, including depression, eating disorders, and even suicide.
AG Healey has long been concerned about the negative impacts of social media platforms on Massachusetts’ youngest residents. In May, she co-led a bipartisan coalition (https://bit.ly/3ykBM9n) of 44 attorneys general urged Facebook to abandon its plans to launch a version of Instagram for children under the age of 13. In the letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the coalition contends that Facebook has historically failed to protect the welfare of children on its platforms. Leading the investigation, involving a broad group of states across the country, is a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Vermont.
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January 6, 2022 - February 10, 2022
Betty White: Friend ’Til the End — A final farewell to a woman who never gave up Honored by the Guinness World Records as having the longest television career by a female entertainer
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ast Thanksgiving, I spent by myself. I live in my van and travel full time as a roaming nomad, and I wasn’t near anyone special to celebrate. Naturally, I was in my feels, lonely on a holiday. So I published this to Facebook: “Need something to be thankful for today? We’re less than two months away from Betty White’s 100th birthday.” Current events considered, that post didn’t age well over the course of a few weeks; certainly not as well as its subject had over the course of her lifetime. I know what you’re thinking: I killed Betty White. Of course not, but when the tragic news broke of the legendary actress’s passing on New Year’s Eve, I felt guilty for perhaps jinxing her chances of achieving centenarian status with my premature hopefulness. Thankfully, I’m not superstitious. The fact is, Betty White was old. Ninetynine years old. It was her time. There was something else I felt when I read TMZ’s report the morning of 2021’s last hurrah: Cheated. Yes, I felt cheated. I don’t think I’m alone when I say that we all deserved – after enduring several years of mounting setbacks and increasingly terrible headlines – to see America’s
grandmother reach a milestone birthday that less than 1% of the human population reaches. Nobody deserved it more than Betty White herself, but we deserved it too. Still, her last-dayof-the-year death wasn’t altogether surprising. Chalk it up to one more way the 2020s are royally screwing with us. Blue-check Twitter user Qasim Rashid, Esq. managed to soften some of that blow, however. Hours after Betty’s death dominated the news, he offered a virtual Band-Aid for our collective hearts with this (unedited) tweet: “On one hand she was 99 years 348 days old when she died. On the other hand she lived through 24 leap years, i.e. 24 extra days. All I’m saying is mathematically, it arguably checks out that she lived 100 years and 7 days.” That declaration is hereby official as far as I’m concerned. Digging a little deeper, what was it about Betty White that endeared us to her – perhaps more than any other “Golden Girl” our queer community quotes, imitates and venerates? That she was the last one left? Her singular dedication to animal welfare? Her Guinness World Record for the longest working person in television? Those inevitable appearances on our lazy Sunday game show rerun marathons? Or maybe it was the way she played Rose Nyland with such believable naivety.
PHOTO: KATHY HUTCHINS/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
By: Mikey Rox Special to TRT
“High-Risk Homosexual: A Memoir” By: Terri Schlichenmeyer* Special to TRT
H
THE BOOKWORM
ere. Try this. It fits you, but the color isn’t flattering. It’s too long, too short, too tight, too loose. That’s not your style, so try something else until you find the thing that looks like you. The perfect thing is out there. As in the new book “High-Risk Homosexual” by Edgar Gomez, when something’s right, it’s right. He was thirteen when he figured out that he was a problem to be solved. Edgar Gomez’ mother had left him in her native Nicaragua with his “tíos,” just for a while because she had to return to Florida to work. He wasn’t there without her for long, but it took years for him to understand that his time with his uncles was meant to make him more masculine. In retrospect, he says, nobody wanted him to be a man more than he did. He wanted to be liked by other kids and so he told lies in school to make himself stand out. He wanted his mother to see his love of pretty things and say that it was okay. He wanted his brother to acknowledge that Gomez was gay, and to tell him that he loved him.
The iconic trailblazer & actor with the longest career in Hollywood, Betty White, was well known for her many roles on radio & TV shows. Portraying “Rose Nylund” in The Golden Girls, White passed away in her sleep on Dec. 31, 2021, a few days before her 100th B-day. White is missed by hundreds of thousands of people, ourselves included. “Thank you for being a friend!”
Instead, after his brother left for college, Gomez got his first boyfriend, a boy he came out to but who couldn’t come out to himself. He was called names in school. He came out to his mother, who freaked out about it. He befriended a drag queen, but “Princess” used him. Things he wanted: a real boyfriend. Love. A ban on the stereotype of a macho Latinx man. Things he still had, while in college: his mother and older brother. A tor-
See Bookworm On Page 11
There’s something to the latter. Betty played plenty of memorable TV characters before Rose: The title character on “Life With Elizabeth,” where she made history as the first female producer of a sitcom in the 1950s; perpetually perky Sue Ann Nivens on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”; and Ellen Harper Jackson on “Mama’s Family.” But Rose was different than any character Betty had played before – and that’s exactly why she chose to play her. Any LGBTQ+ person worth their salt knows that Betty was offered the role of Blanche, and Rose was meant for Rue McClanahan. The former didn’t want to play another iteration of sex-charged Sue Ann – the part she was most famous for before the 1985 premiere of “The Golden Girls” – nor did McClanahan want to regurgitate the sweet-but-scatterbrained Vivian Harmon, whom she played on Bea Ar-
thur’s previous vehicle “Maude.” So they switched. And none of us can imagine it any other way. “The Golden Girls” was popular among queers then and now because we see ourselves in them. Among our own friends, we know a Sophia, Blanche, Dorothy and Rose. We personally identify ourselves as one of those character types as well or a blend of two or more. Me? I’m a quickwitted, smart-mouthed Dorothy-Sophia hybrid. Proudly. Betty wasn’t Rose, though. According to her friends, she was bawdy, a little bit crude at times. She enjoyed vodka and hot dogs. During World War II, she drove a PX truck as a member of the American Women's Voluntary Services. She never had a single acting lesson. While those first few characteristics make her relatable, especially for a ce-
See Betty White On Page 11
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January 6, 2022 - February 10, 2022
Trans Survey From Page 6 ◊ The USTS is the main source of data about trans people for the media, educators, policymakers and the general public, and covers health, employment, income, the criminal justice system and other aspects of life. ◊ USTS reports have been a vital re source, including the reports on the experiences of people of color and reports by state.
Betty White From Page 9 lebrity who’s been a celebrity the entirety of most people’s lives still living on this planet, it’s the last detail that stands out for me. She never had a single acting lesson because she didn’t need one. She was a natural, but she also was genuine. We saw it and we felt it, in our homes and in our hearts, decade after decade. We didn’t have to meet her in person to know that, unequivocally, if we threw a party, in-
TRT Anniversary From Page 2 healthcare with the rise of telehealth; we’ve seen it for industries involving customer service, and virtually for any office job, even in education, and certainly we’ve seen it in media. We look forward to continuing to evolve as technology and our surroundings continue to change. We will continue being that watchdog as always, directly connecting with our readers and fighting another day to bring truth to
LGBTQ+ Health From Page 5 Fear of discrimination causes many LGBTQ+ people to avoid seeking health care, and when they do enter care, studies indicate that they are not consistently treated with the respect that all patients deserve. Studies (https://bit.ly/33liS79) by Lambda Legal show that 56% of LGB people and 70% of transgender and gender non-conforming people reported experiencing discrimination by health care providers — including refusal of care, harsh language and physical roughness because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. According to a report (https://bit.ly/3Fg0xFR) by the National Center for Transgender Equality, 23% of transgender respondents did not see a doctor when they needed to because of fear of being mistreated as a transgender person and a startling 55% of transgender respon-
◊ In 2015, nearly 28,000 people took the USTS, making it the largest survey of trans people in the U.S. to date. A lot has happened since then, and it’s time to conduct the USTS again in 2022. Participants who sign a pledge form to participate will receive email updates from NCTE about the survey. Taking the pledge does not obligate anyone to take the survey and participation is voluntary. Participants will be asked to consent to take the survey once it becomes available. vited everyone we knew, we would see … You know where I’m going with this. Betty White – thank you for being our friend. *Mikey Rox is an award-winning journalist and LGBT lifestyle expert whose work has been published in more than 100 outlets across the world. Connect with Mikey on Instagram @mikeyroxtravels. issues and telling the stories that are often left by the wayside. This is The Rainbow Times 2.0 and we are thrilled to do it with you. *Nicole Lashomb is the Editor-inChief of The Rainbow Times & Co-Executive Director of Project Out. She holds a BM from NY’s Crane School of Music and an MBA from Marylhurst University. She can be reached at editor@therainbowtimesmass.com.
Bookworm From Page 9 mentor-turned-mentor. A part-time job. His weirdness. His virginity. Things he wanted to lose, while in college: his room at his mother’s house. His virginity, but that wouldn’t happen until later, during a painful one-afternoon-stand with a hot man who said he had a girlfriend. That hurt, both physically and emotionally but like so many things at so many times, Gomez tried not to think about it. If he never considered what he didn’t have, he says, “I wouldn’t miss it.” In a way, you could say that “HighRisk Homosexual” is a book in search of a point. It’s really quite random and told (mostly) linearly, but not quite. It has its high peaks, but also low valleys. And you won’t care about any of this, because you’ll be enjoying every bit of it. Yeah, this memoir is good: author Edgar Gomez’s literary wandering makes it feel much like an honest conversation with readers. There are wince-worthy moments that allow empathy here, and experiences that are unique but oddly ubiquitous, that leave space for a sense of sympatico. There are passages that are so wistfully uncomfortable that you might squirm, or start “snort-laughing,” or want to stop a moment and just think. And there’s room for that, too, so take your time. “High-Risk Homosexual” is an affable book with just
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January 6, 2022 - February 10, 2022
Edgar Gomez
enough seriousness to make it worth a try. “High-Risk Homosexual: A Memoir” by Edgar Gomez c.2022, Soft Skull Press; $16.95; 304 pages *The Bookworm is Terri Schlichenmeyer. Terri has been reading since she was 3 years old and she never goes anywhere without a book. She lives on a prairie in Wisconsin with two dogs, one patient man, and 17,000 books.
dents who sought coverage for transition-related surgery were denied. According to HRC Foundation’s analysis (https://bit.ly/3GeMmSI) of the 2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), the nation's premier system of health-related telephone surveys, 17% of LGBTQ+ adults do not have any kind of health insurance coverage, compared to 12% of non-LGBTQ adults. Furthermore, 23% of LGBTQ+ adults of color, 22% of transgender adults and 32% of transgender adults of color have no form of health coverage. This can lead to avoidance of medical care even when medically necessary and to severe economic hardship when medical care is ultimately accessed. The proposed CMS rule is available for public comment (https://bit.ly/3JROamG) now through Jan. 27.
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January 6, 2022 - February 10, 2022
