The Rainbow Times' October 2022 Issue

Endorsement: Healey & Driscoll for the win; a dream team for Massachusetts

By: TRT’s Editorial Board

As the Massachusetts primaries ended and the general election campaign began, the Democratic ticket reflected a combo many Baystate residents were hoping for, a historic duo to take the reigns of leading the Commonwealth on a progressive path forward that works for nearly everyone — a “slam dunk” as some on our team have called it.

Attorney General Maura Healey and Salem, Mass. Mayor Kim Driscoll have much more in common than just being the first all-female Democratic gubernatorial team to advance to the November ballot. Although that is no easy feat, most importantly, they each have a long-standing record of accomplishments. Each is equipped with unique and countless skill sets. They have already successfully embodied the definition of effective progressive leadership in their respective positions. Healey, if elected, would become the country’s first openly lesbian Governor, one who has already taken on some of the largest special interests as the “people’s lawyer.” Driscoll, herself, a fifth-term Salem Mayor and the first woman elected to the position, lead the city out of crushing debt and thrust an antiquated past time into a future full of prosperity.

Throughout their tenure, The Rainbow Times’ team has covered in-depth stories on the initiatives, perspectives, and issues that impacted millions of residents in Massachusetts, with both candidates at the helm in their respective positions. Unlike some politicians who focus on getting in the game of equal rights just prior to an election cycle, these two women have spent their careers and lives serving not only the general population with brilliance and inclusion but also with an emphasis on defending and representing some of the most marginalized and discriminated against within it.

Housing, health, environment, rights

As a civil rights attorney turned the commonwealth’s Attorney General, Maura Healey has been advocating on behalf of Massachusetts residents since the start. As such, she has successfully taken on industries like Purdue Pharma, ExxonMobil, and predatory student loan lenders to protect Massachusetts’ residents. Among her litany of achievements, those are just the tip of the iceberg of what she has already accomplished.

Massachusetts is divided significantly among affluent residents and those struggling to make ends meet with soaring housing, healthcare, utilities, education, and other basic living costs. Healey & Driscoll are focused on getting the economy working for everyone. The vied positions will take experienced leadership — with their level of knowledge and expertise — and dedication to issues that impact every facet of life, such as taking on the climate crisis while addressing en-

vironmental and climate justice, healthcare access, job creation, smart innovation, infrastructure development, and clean transportation, amongst others.

Recognizing the impact of systemic racism in all sectors of society, including the criminal justice system, Healey has already supported criminal justice reform and has committed to tackling issues, such as housing and education, to help prevent entry into the criminal justice system in the first place. She will also ensure that the 2020 police reform bill, which she has also supported, is fully implemented.

Driscoll on character, housing, LGBTQ+ rights

Under Driscoll’s impressive leadership, Salem has thrived as a “worldclass city” with a booming economy, affordable housing development, sustainable plans tackling the climate crisis and rising sea levels affecting the city’s coastal region, and a clear understanding of human rights issues. Driscoll’s tenure as Mayor sends a clear message to the rest of the commonwealth: She can and will get things done and she will do so with compassion, integrity, honesty, and courage.

The Lieutenant Governor candidate does not shy away from adversity. When she encountered dire opposition to an affordable housing proposal, she brought in experts on accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and they substantiated the importance of implementing the affordable structures in other parts of the country. Most importantly, she made sure that those who opposed the measure were fully educated as to what it all entailed, its costs, benefits to all, etc. Knowing how this could alleviate financial pressure on city residents, she did not waver. Her tenacity shows how prepared she is to do the same for issues arising on Beacon Hill.

Driscoll has been a no-nonsense mayor of action. In 2014, Driscoll took on Gordon College (https://is.gd/trtDriscoll2014) by terminating its city contract early when the college policy included discriminatory practices directed toward the LGBTQ+ community, which violated the city’s non-discrimination ordinance enacted earlier that year.

“Gordon’s behavioral policies and their president’s advocacy for the ability to discriminate against LGBT individuals violated both the spirit and letter of that law. In Salem, perhaps

more so than most other cities, we have an especially unique understanding of the negative outcomes that can follow from any group of people being singled out for discrimination or stigmatization. Our values are shaped by our history, and it is a legacy that really impels us to stand up and take positive action,” she said to The Rainbow Times in a 2019 exclusive interview (https://is.gd/I4xUPE).

In 2016, when The Rainbow Times’ newspaper box explosion (https://is.gd/uPVA20) occurred in downtown Salem, Driscoll not only offered her support, but she was pivotal in ensuring that the perpetrators were caught, and that justice was served.

One of the first calls the publication management received after the incident was a message from Driscoll, offering her unyielding support to the LGBTQ+ community and the publication itself. Her proactive approach, amplifying her solidarity and commitment to business owners, residents, and the LGBTQ+ community, reverberated the kind of leader Driscoll was then, and is now.

Also under Driscoll, Salem passed Article XVI, the non-discrimination ordinance, which was the first of its kind on the North Shore to include protections for the transgender community, helping to circumvent what most states and local governments are experiencing today as full-blown attacks on members of this community.

It was also under Driscoll that the city’s first Human Rights Coalition (formerly known as the No Place for Hate Committee) was established.

In addition to a long history of inclusive measures and proposals, Driscoll is also the only candidate for Lieutenant Governor that has the expertise of city management, including working with a multi-million-dollar budget, and with a breadth of first-hand experience for what is demanded of such a position day in and day out. We’ve witnessed her grit and perseverance as the Mayor of Salem. We believe she’ll bring that same level of management and determination to the Lieutenant Governor’s office.

Salem has been cultivated into a cultural hub of the arts, utilizing state-ofthe-art technology and development while boasting a booming economy under Driscoll. Since first taking office, Driscoll created thousands of new local jobs and unemployment is the lowest it’s been since 2002, The Rain-

bow Times reported (https://is.gd/dmgH7z) in 2017. Thanks to Driscoll’s leadership, Salem has attracted some of the best talent from surrounding cities, such as Boston, largely in part to its attractive lifestyle and inclusion.

Sharing a teamwork approach, both candidates are committed to working together with experts and local communities to help develop plans to ensure effective change. Healey has expressed the importance of building an inclusive approach, rather than a typical top-down hierarchy. We can assume some of those attributes were learned in part when the AG was a point guard for the Harvard basketball team and as a professional ball player overseas, a shared commonality she has with Driscoll who played for Salem State University.

Healey on LGBTQ+ Issues

Other issues critical to a Healey administration are focused on economic

See Healey/Driscoll On Page 7

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OUR PAST IS THE GREATEST PREDICTOR OF THE FUTURE ... THE HEALEY/DRISCOLL TICKET HAS ALREADY SOLIDIFIED THAT AND GIVEN US SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN THE YEARS TO COME.

SpeakOUT’s Speaker Training centers on LGBTQ+ Stories: Nov. 5th Training at DFCI

BOSTON—Sharing one’s personal story can be an effective way to open minds and challenge ways of thinking – at least that’s been the belief behind SpeakOUT Boston’s mission for 50 years. As the nation’s oldest LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning) speakers bureau, SpeakOUT trains members of the community to tell an effective personal story to share with audiences at schools, colleges, businesses, faith communities, and other venues throughout the greater Boston area and beyond. Registration is now open for SpeakOUT’s Fall Speaker Training

AG Healey joins coalition in support of access to gender-affirming care

Brief Supports Trans Individuals & their Parents Who Were Denied Coverage for Gender-Affirming Care Under the Plan

BOSTON—Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey joined a coalition of 16 attorneys general in filing a brief in support of a group of transgender individuals and parents of transgender individuals denied coverage for gender-affirming care under the North Carolina State Health Plan for Teachers and State Employees.

The brief, filed Tuesday in the case, Kadel v. Folwell, argues that the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals should affirm a lower court ruling which determined that the health plan’s denial of medically necessary, gender-affirming care for transgender individuals violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The states argue that the

that is being hosted in person at DanaFarber Cancer Institute on Saturday, November 5th, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

The training is a one-day experience that gives attendees an intensive preparation for conducting speaking engagements in the region. Participants learn valuable skills such as setting the right tone, shaping and telling a story, overcoming fear, working with your co-speaker, and answering difficult questions. Participants will work in large groups as well as small breakout sessions with experienced speakers to

Read the rest of this story at TheRainbowTimesMass.com

ous plan.”

The amicus brief notes the efforts that states joining the filing have made to protect transgender healthcare rights, including prohibiting health care discrimination on the basis of transgender identity and ensuring that state employee health care plans cover medically necessary gender-affirming care. The states have also adopted policies that guarantee non-discriminatory coverage of gender-affirming care for transgender youth. These policies have improved the well-being of transgender people, and reduced the risk of suicide, substance abuse, and depression, without significantly increasing premium costs or expenses to insurers

OF COVERAGE “OVERTLY DISCRIMINATES AGAINST MEMBERS FOR FAILING TO CONFORM TO THE SEX STEREOTYPE PROPAGATED” BY THE HEALTH PLAN.

health plan’s denial of coverage “overtly discriminates against members for failing to conform to the sex stereotype propagated” by the health plan.

“Transphobic polices like this deny essential medical care to transgender patients,” AG Healey said. “We are calling on the Court to overturn North Carolina’s discriminatory and danger-

and plan sponsors.

In 2014, the Massachusetts Division of Insurance issued guidance stating that “denial of coverage for medically necessary treatment based on an individual’s gender identity” is sex discrimination that is prohibited under state law.

Read the rest of this story at TheRainbowTimesMass.com

Boston International Kids Film Festival returns for 10th year:

November 18 - 20, lots of fun

Filmmakers Collaborative Paves the Way for a Future Generation of Creators

BOSTON—The Boston International Kids Film Festival (BIKFF) returns for its 10th annual weekend dedicated to films for kids, by kids, and about kids. Featuring workshops, panel discussions and nearly 80 films from a dozen different countries, BIKFF will run November 18 – 20 at the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown.

The festival will showcase many films with local ties this year, including a feature documentary chronicling a debate team from Newton that follows a group of girls as they struggle to find their voices in the competitive, maledominated activity of high school debate. The festival’s other two features include a story of four young friends and their struggles growing up queer and a fictional film about ballet starring a local Boston dancer. In addition

to regular screenings in two theaters at the Mosesian, the festival will also offer panel discussions for professional filmmakers and acting and stop motion

Read the rest of this story at The Rainbow Times’ website

THE STATES ARGUE THAT THE HEALTH PLAN’S DENIAL

Monkeypox declared health emergency, MSM community is most impacted now

Exclusive Part II on Sexual Transmission, Focus

By: Audrey Cole TRT Reporter

IN THE LIMELIGHT

[TRT’s exclusive Part I of this story was published in the September 2022 issue of The Rainbow Times. Part II is below.]

At the same time, Ard, who is also an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School noted the significance of informing the community that is most susceptible of contracting the virus while not losing focus that monkeypox does not discriminate for who becomes infected.

“Although anyone can acquire monkeypox, the focus is on MSM currently because of the epidemiologic observation that most infections in this outbreak are among MSM,” the professor of medicine added. “Monkeypox spreads through close contact primarily, and it is currently clustering among social and sexual networks of MSM who have had close contact. That being said, the infection has, and will, affect others, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

Rather than the general public becoming fixated on whom is most susceptible at the moment, Ard encourages others to react in a supportive way, rather than accusatory.

“The approach should be one of ‘this community is facing a threat; let’s support them and devote resources to addressing the outbreak’ rather than one of blame or discrimination,” he said.

“Fortunately, I have seen more of the former than the latter in the response to monkeypox.”

Sexual Transmission

According to the Dr. Mayer, although monkeypox is not a classic sexually transmitted infection (STI), it can be spread that way and it may be subjectively defined.

“ … It can be transmitted [through sex], and through close bodily contact, which will fit into some people's definition of sex, and not others,” Mayer said.

Dr. Levin explained her analysis and how the virus is similar to others that have been recognized as an STI while still having its independent transmission factors as well.

“I disagree that [the] monkeypox virus is not an STI. It is. But, it is more than just an STI. [For example,] herpes is considered an STI even though it is spread through skin-to-skin contact and no penetration is required for transmission.”

However, she also explained other likely modes of infection.

“It is important for folks to know exactly how it is transmitted — by skin to skin contact but also probably through close contact with respiratory droplets (saliva, breath) and from _items_ that may have had exposure to those fluids/substances,” Levin noted. “

… These are items such as sheets, towels, and clothing that have been in contact with lesions or respiratory se-

By Philippa Punchard: Quick read with lots of info.

By: Terri Schlichenmeyer* Special to TRT

Take a left at the first road, then right and right again.

It's always a good idea to know where you’re going – but then again, getting lost can have its benefits, too. Veering off an easy path gives you a chance to see things, maybe even something better. You can get all kinds of directions for life but sometimes, as in “Gender Pioneers” by Philippa Punchard, you just gotta step off the road.

In 1912, French audiences were thrilled by the talent of a trapeze artist known as Barbette. The lovely Barbette flew over the heads of Parisians solo, gracefully, and the best citizens followed those performances avidly. By

1919, Barbette added to the end of the performance the revelation that “she” was really Vander Clyde Broadway, a male performer.

We might think that being transgender is “new” and just “a Western thing,” but Punchard has reason to disagree: history is dotted with men blending as women, and women living as men. As Christine Burns says in the foreword, “Trans people are not a new thing.”

Some seemed to do it as a means to an end: Ellen and William Craft wore clothing of the opposite sex in order to escape slavery in 1848. Betty Cooper may have worn men’s clothing for the same reason in 1771. Neither case, says Punchard, indicates “classical” trans behavior, but we'll never know for sure.

“Gender Pioneers: A Celebration of Transgender, Non-Binary and Intersex Icons”

development, education, healthcare, housing, LGBTQ+ rights, immigration, reproductive freedom, transportation, voting rights, expansion of the Child Tax Credit, and more.

Of utmost importance to our readers, are some openly discriminatory acts aimed at the LGBTQ+ community in Boston. An affordable LGBTQ+ senior housing project in the city was vandalized (https://is.gd/Rbeb3A) with homophobic and threatening graffiti in July. The next month, Boston’s Children’s Hospital received a bomb threat (https://is.gd/LTGz9D) for providing gender-affirming care to trans youth patients. If elected governor, Healey told NBC News (https://is.gd/iSpzh3), that she intends to use her “bully pulpit to fight back against the historic number of antiLGBTQ bills circulating in state legislatures … and the seemingly pervasive threats of violence the community has been subjected to this year.”

Healey was instrumental in developing the strategy, building the case, and arguing the first successful challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

“Imagine the federal government giving money for the construction of schools and telling us that we can build them for white children but not for black children,” Healey said, as reported by the Advocate (https://is.gd/nztEQZ) during the challenge to DOMA. “Or imagine that the federal government would give money

to subsidize health care for men but not for women.

“That’s what DOMA does to Massachusetts. It gives us funding but tells us to treat one category of married people differently than another. It forces us to violate equal protection.”

In addition, Healey went on to be the first openly gay Attorney General in the nation. Now, Healey is on the cusp of becoming the first “out” Governor, making history once again.

At this point in our nation’s history where basic rights are being overturned, where women have lost autonomy over their own bodies, where members of the transgender and LGBQIA+ communities are still deprived of basic humanity and rights, where people of color do not enjoy the same freedoms as their white counterparts, and the Supreme Court is expected to continue to dismantle civil rights protections on every front, etc., there isn’t a second where local protections should be taken for granted. That is why Healey is the best candidate for governor and the candidate whose actions have already proven to be for the betterment of us all, not just the elite or members of one party.

Other qualifications

Healey holds credentials (https://is.gd/dRR63u) that include having served from 2007 to 2013 in the attorney general’s office first as the Chief of the Civil Rights Division and then as Chief of the Public Protection

Out filmmaker discusses new series “Adam in Fragments”

By: Brian Hug Special to TRT

In the provocative, gritty drama, Adam in Fragments, a young man returns to his former life as a sex worker where he quickly re-engages with his seedy and often dangerous male clients. All appears status quo until his urge to guide a young and naïve aspiring adult film starlet and protect her from their terrorizing handler, Felix, triggers a series of events that send violent ripples through the Los Angeles underground sex-trade.

The series starring emerging young actors Beau Swartz, Keiva Bradley,

and Ryan Ruffing premieres on the gay streaming service Dekkoo on November 17.

“Most television shows about sex work either glorify the trade or exploit it,” out filmmaker Omar Salas Zamora explains.

Salas Zamora wrote and directed the series with Calvin Picou.

“In Adam in Fragments, we aim to examine the profession, not by sensationalizing it, but through exploring the main character and his interactions with drug dealers and johns,” said the

PHOTO: PROJECT PUBLICITY