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april 07 2017 VOLUME 1 ISSUE 2 Ame r i c a s LGBT News S ou r c e L O S A N G E L E S B LA D E .

C O M

PHOTO BY MPAC16; COURTESY OF FLICKR.COM PHOTO BY LINGJING BAO, TALK RADIO NEWS; COURTESY OF FLICKR.COM

California R eps. T ed Li eu and Adam Schiff emerge as


prominent voices for LGBT rights in Congress PAGES 5 & 6

Stars turn out for GLAAD Awards Preparing for Venice Beach Pride Rainbow Flag creator dies at 65

PAGE 7 PAGE 8 PAGE 9


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No history, no equality
Why FBI documents, attic at McDermott, Will & Emery, have led a hate somebody.
lawsuit in U.S. District Court to force the One of their greatest discoveries was
curios and LAs Gay Girls
Justice Department and FBI to comply with uncovered at the Reagan Library in Simi
Riding Club matter longstanding Freedom of Information Valley by Francis and Pate Felts. In folders
requests for documents associated with marked Hospitals (not AIDS), they
By KAREN OCAMB the Eisenhower executive order. found documents showing how Nancy
kocamb@losangelesblade.com Francis is featured in a Yahoo News Reagan rebued her dear friend Rock
documentary entitled Uniquely Nasty: The Hudsons pleas for help after the movie
Theres a fear afoot in America. LGBT U.S. Governments War on Gays, reported star was admitted to a Paris hospital
people have made much progress but are by chief investigative correspondent with AIDS in 1985. Buzzfeed reported the
still second-class citizens in many respects. Michael Isiko. It includes never-before- story, complete with the telegram from
Now, under Donald Trump, there appears seen government memos by legendary FBI Hudsons gay publicist, Dale Olson. The
to be an intentional eort to virtually director J. Edgar Hoover (read by George story was an instant corrective to Hillary
render LGBT people invisible. Takei) and John Steele, a top lawyer for Clintons erroneous comment that Nancy
And while political and legal activists CHARLES FRANCIS heads D.C.s Mattachine the U.S. Civil Service Commission (read by Reagan had been a very eective, low
Society.
are jumping into the chaotic fray, a Matt Bomer) asserting that gays were not key advocate for HIV/AIDS. A fast backlash
group of archival activists is working PHOTO COURTESY OF FRANCIS
suitable for federal employment because ensued and Clinton apologized.
furiously against the clock to collect and of their sexual perversion. But not all discoveries are explosive,
preserve LGBT historical documents and malicious persecution, Francis told the The toxic animus starts out with vile or vindictive. Recently, the Mattachine
memorabilia before time runs out. Los Angeles Blade. concerns about gay people being able to team worked with ONE Institute and the
The surprise the archives reveal is a Documents show a purge of an be blackmailed, but it grew to revulsion UCLA Film Archives to uncover stories
creative resistance underneath the pall of estimated 7,000 to 10,000 gay and lesbian and then morphed into suitability and that might otherwise remain buried.
stigma and persistent intimidation, juiced federal employees in the 1950s alone. And stretches over seven presidencies from Stories such as the 1961 22-minute lm A
with an irreverent humor that invented transcripts of closed-door congressional Eisenhower through Reagan and didnt Roman Springs on Mrs. Stone, directed by
camp and pop art. testimony by Central Intelligence Agency really end until President Clinton put an Connie B. DeMille, aka Ray Harrison of the
In 1961, Frank Kameny and Jack Nichols director Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter posit gays end to it with an executive order, Francis Los Angeles-based Gay Girls Riding Club
established a Mattachine Society chapter as national security risks. [T]he moral told NPR in 2015. (GGRC)a lm preserved by lmmaker
in Washington, D.C. With others, including pervert is a security risk of so serious a Gay and lesbian history is so often Pat Rocco.
courageous out lesbian pioneers such as nature that he must be weeded out of deleted, sealed, destroyed. The letters With help from Michael Oliviera at ONE
Lilli Vincenz and Barbara Gittings, they government employment wherever he is are burned. So our biggest fear is more Institute, Francis also discovered the GGRC
daringly protested bias, carrying signs found, Hillenkoetter said. Failure to do destruction of documents and trying to Aware newsletters. GGRC was Harrisons
reading, Gay is Good and Stop FBI this can only result in placing a weapon put a stop to it now so that historians brainchild, starting out as a bunch of
Homophobes. Federal anti-gay witch in the hands of our enemies and their will have this record of a time of huge guys, sometimes a gal or two, who loved to
hunts were commonplace after President intelligence service, and the point of that upheaval and transition. go horseback riding on top of Beachwood
Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized anti-gay weapon would probably be aimed right at The archival activists are also seeking Drive in Hollywood or at Grith Park. But
discrimination in his infamous April 27, the heart of our national security. individual treasures locked away or Harrison got the idea to produce gay drag
1953 Executive Order 10450. Those signs Gay historian David K. Johnson discredits forgotten in attics or an old uncle or aunts satires of famous movies to be screened
and other historic LGBT memorabilia are that myth, pointing to a failed Russian storage facilityletters, posters, and in Hollywood gay bars. Made on $2
now housed as American Treasures in attempt to recruit famed columnist Joseph cultural curios that illustrate the real lives, budgets, everyone pitched in and helped,
the Smithsonian Institution. Alsop. Its a strong example of a gay struggles and ghts of LGBT people in the and got drunk, and made love, and were
After Kameny died in 2011, gay public person resisting blackmail, of which there 1950s and 1960s. very gay. DOZENS of handsome young
relations consultant Charles Francis, Pate were many examples in the 50s. In fact, We need this material so historians gay men made themselves available to be
Felts and Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance there are no cases of a gay man or lesbian and others can use them in our ght for in the lms, but it was Warren Fremming
President Rick Rosendall re-launched the American citizen succumbing to blackmail LGBT equality, says Francis. These anti- (Frieda) who starred in most of the
Mattachine Society of Washington with by a foreign power none, Johnson told LGBT laws are not based on anything lms. His Bette Davis in What REALLY
the new mission to be archival activists the Blade. rational. Theyre based on bigotry and Happened to By (sic, Baby) Jane is nothing
and nd original archival documents Francis and the Mattachine Society, with ignoranceand thats unconstitutional.
demonstrating the governments the pro bono assistance from attorneys You cant discriminate just because you CONTINUES ON PAGE 10
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Trans Resistance rally focuses on community goals, setbacks


Small but energized adulting, to which the crowd responded
with a laughter of recognition.
crowd gathers at
Many speakers, like Ortega, called on
Santa Monica City Hall the crowd to do more than talk about trans
inclusion. They must create opportunities
By ABBY DEES for trans people. Ortega highlighted the
high recidivism rate among incarcerated
About 50 trans and gender trans women up to 97% to show the
nonconforming people, activists and allies eects of discrimination and ostracism.
gathered on the steps of Santa Monica (According to the National Center for
City Hall for the Rally for Transgender Transgender Equality, nearly 1 in 6 trans
Resistance last Saturday, April 1, to bring About 50 activists and allies gathered in Santa Monica on April 1. people, and 47% of trans people of color,
attention to the assault on trans rights and will be incarcerated in his or her lifetime.)
LOS ANGELES BLADE PHOTO BY ABBY DEES
lives in the rst months of 2017. Human rights attorney Sandra Fluke
One day after the International spoke of how isolation and the threat of
Transgender Day of Visibility (TDoV), requirement that government contractors nonconforming people from the world, violence denies trans inmates access to
15 speakers representing the worlds of must document their compliance with anti- from the face of the earth. programs that could allow them to return
public health, the arts, grassroots, law, and discrimination rules. While the rally was born of this recent home and thrive. She supports Californias
government called out for, as organizer Luckey added that the threats presented wave of anti-trans actions, spearheaded Senate Bill 310, which would allow trans
Rachael Rose Luckey described it, strong by the Trump administration are not directly or symbolically by the president, inmates to legally change their names
resistance with love. limited to domestic policy: A deportation his name was rarely mentioned from the and gender markers while incarcerated,
Since 2009, trans people, activists of a transgender person back to their podium. Instead, other themes emerged: retaining right to decide if and when to
and allies have gathered on March 31 to home country is most assuredly a death The importance of building a strong and disclose their identities.
recognize TDov, and with each year they sentence, which makes Secretary of State truly inclusive trans community, and love Speaker Michaela Mendelsohn, by
have celebrated many more hard-won Rex Tillersons actions as much a matter of as an antidote to the corrosive power of contrast, illustrated the power of those
victories in law and public consciousness. trans concern as any bathroom bill. anger. This is not to say that the current opportunities. The founder of the California
But Donald J. Trumps victory has Last week, North Carolina passed state of trans rights nationally was Transgender Workplace Project and owner
brought with it a spate of executive HB 142, a compromise bill, according unimportant, but rather that an eective of many El Pollo Loco franchises, she
orders that eectively undo many of to lawmakers, that eliminates the anti- resistance begins at home. described what happened when she hired
those victories, as well as increased anti- trans bathroom restrictions of last Queen Victoria Ortega, rally speaker 40 trans people to entry-level positions at
trans rhetoric, renewed calls for state years notorious HB2 yet still allows and founder of trans visibility and her restaurants over four years. Twenty-
bathroom bills, and an increase in hate municipalities to discriminate against empowerment organizations FLUX ve percent climbed to management level,
crimes against trans people. the LGBTQ communities. Meanwhile, 13 and Boyle Heights The Royal Court, which, she said, is twice the companys
Since Jan. 1, eight trans women of color other states are considering bills that limit emphasized that the rally isnt about the average. Beyond the numbers she noted
have been murdered in the U.S. access to public bathrooms based on rigid Saturdays guest speakers, because, as the positive ripple eect of daily, simple
In response, the Stonewall Democrats denitions of gender. she explains, we are already at the table. interaction between out trans employees
and Santa Monica Democrats organized Scott Turner Schoeld, rally speaker Ortega viewed the rally as a call to activists living their authentic selves on customers
Saturdays rally. and out trans actor on The Bold and the and allies to make a place at the table for on both employees and customers
According to rally organizer and Beautiful explained why the furor over the rest of the trans community, especially alike. Through her organization she has
Stonewall Democrats ocer Rachael Rose bathroom bills is not just about peeing: people of color, artists, stay-at-home partnered with other business, including
Luckey, the impetus was President Trumps If you cant go to the bathroom, you cant moms and dads, and immigrants. And the California Restaurant Association, to
February order revoking President Obamas work. If you cant go to the bathroom you that requires a willingness to leave ones expand this model.
directive allowing public school students cant go to school. If you cant go to the comfort zone. Other rally speakers included West
to use restrooms and locker rooms bathroom you cant leave your house. That is the challenge today being Hollywood Mayor Lauren Meister, Los
consistent with their gender identities, in Because what if you need to use the comfortable with being uncomfortable, Angeles City Commissioner Justine
accordance with Title IXs prohibition on bathroom if youre outside your house? Ortega said. Working together doesnt Gonzales, health policy expert Dr. Sion
sex discrimination. Then, in March, Trump To Schoeld, there is malice underlying mean working perfectly together. It means Roy, and Chair of the Los Angeles City
issued the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces such laws, in that they are a direct way having very dicult conversations. Transgender Advisory Counsel, Karina
order, eliminating the Obama-era of erasing transgender and gender Ortega quipped that she calls this work Samala, among others.
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Schiff blasts LGBT data erasure from U.S. Census


Calif. Dem takes break from at Union Station with its Elected Ocial of and Baldwin also introduced the LGBT
the Year Award. Data Inclusion Act last April that would
Russiagate to weigh in
Indeed, as an elected ocial, Schi can require federal agencies to collect data on
be swamped with Russiagate and stand the LGBT population in federal population
By KAREN OCAMB up for the LGBT community. Before he surveys so law and policymakers would
kocamb@losangelesblade.com went to the White House, Schi released a have the necessary data to address the
letter, coordinated with Arizona Rep Ral LGBT communities specic needs.
If the fracas in Washington, D.C., wasnt so M. Grijalva and out Wisconsin Sen. Tammy [W]e are deeply troubled that in follow-
existentially serious for American democracy, Baldwin, sent to U.S. Census Bureau up statements, Director Thompson claims
Trumpmania would look like a bunch of Director John Thompson and Oce of that the rationale for excluding LGBT
concerned citizens trying to break up an Management and Budget Director Mick identities is that there is no federal need
amateur drunken WrestleMania brawl. Mulvaney expressing strong disapproval for such information, the legislators said in
Donald Trump continues to toss out of the Census Bureaus decision to remove their Census letter, noting that without such
Twitter zingers to rile up his staunchest data collection on LGBT individuals for demographic data, the number of people
supporters and deect from the FBI and consideration for the 2020 Census and the who identify as LGBT is undeterminable.
congressional investigations into Russian American Community Survey (ACS). The LGBT Americans continue to face
intervention in the U.S. electoral process letter soon had 91 signatories from both discrimination in facets of everyday life
with possible collusion from the Trump the House and Senate. such as in employment, housing, and
campaign. Leading the citizen brigade in The letter was in reaction to the discovery even in the justice system, they said.
nding the truth about Russiagate is Rep. Rep. ADAM SCHIFF represents Californias 28th that a report submitted to Congress with a There is also compelling evidence that
Congressional District.
Adam Schi, the ranking Democrat on the list of categories for data collection during the many, particularly transgender people,
PHOTO COURTESY OF SCHIFF
House Intelligence Committee, who told 2020 Census originally proposed including are at greater risk of being victimized
the Los Angeles Blade last month that there sexual orientation and gender identity by violence and experience signicant
is an absolute sense of alarm at how this Nonetheless, Republican Intelligence but had been corrected by the Trump health disparities and vulnerability to
administration is conducting itself. Chair Devin Nunes, who served on the administration to omit those categories. poverty. While the Census Bureau took
Adam Schi is the adult in the entire Trump transition team, plunged into a The LGBT Task Force found and an important step forward in 2013 by
Congress right now on foreign policy and series of Three Stooges-worthy capers highlighted the redactions. The Census including the marital status of same-sex
intelligence, Rep. Jared Human (D-San trying to help prove Trumps discredited Bureau explained that the categories had couples as part of ACS data on families, the
Rafael) told the Los Angeles Times. He is also tweet and wound up the ridiculed fall guy. been inadvertently listed. fact remains that we know little else about
a legislator who keeps an eye on his California On March 31, Schi went to the White A week earlier, the Department of the social and economic circumstances of
constituency, including the under-covered House to see classied documents that Health and Human Services removed a the LGBT population at large.
attempts by the Trump administration to Nunes touted as pro-Trump but failed question about sexual orientation from The lawmakers ask that the Census Bureau
erase the LGBT community. to provide other committee members, the National Survey of Older Americans Act acknowledge the concerns regarding the
Schis skills as a former federal a violation of protocol. Schi and Trump Participants. Additionally, the Department lack of reliable data on the LGBT population
prosecutor resulted in FBI Director James had a brief and cordial meeting in of Housing and Urban Development in the United States, the lawmakers
Comey revealing March 20 that there is an the Oval Oce for about 10 minutes, withdrew two notices impacting data write, adding that they want additional
ongoing FBI investigation into Russiagate according to a committee aide. The major collection and implementation guidelines explanation about why the categories were
and whether there was any coordination topic of discussion was an infrastructure for a homelessness prevention initiative not included and justication for stating
between people associated with the package, something very much on the targeting LGBTQ youth, according to the there being no federal need for data on the
Trump campaign and the Russians. mind of California Gov. Jerry Brown during Human Rights Campaign. LGBT population.
Comey added that if any Americans his March 20 trip to D.C. Schi, Grijalva and Baldwin are leaders LGBT Americans, the legislators
colluded with Russian ocials, then that Strict adherence to core principles and in advocating for LGBT data collection. conclude, like every American deserve to
is a very serious matter. keeping an eye on California constituents On April 5, 2016, Schi and Florida be counted and recognized in all federally-
Comey also said the FBI and the Justice may be why other members of Congress Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (who has supported surveys. We appreciate your
Department have no information to support are facing tough town hall meetings a transgender son) sent a letter to House attention to this important matter and
Trumps tweeted claims that President while Schi is being applauded. On appropriators requesting funding for the look forward to your response.
Obama and his administration wiretapped Saturday, April 29, Stonewall Democratic U.S. Census Bureau to conduct LGBT data For the full letter and more on Schi,
Trump Tower before the 2016 election. Club is honoring Schi at Traxx Restaurant collection for FY 2017 and FY 2018. Grijalva visit losangelesblade.com.
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Rep. Lieu revels in trolling Trump


Insists president a danger Will that attitude promoting LGBT erasure
become policy and bleed into reporting hate
to the Republic, asks for
crimes? The Center for the Study of Hate
special prosecutor and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino
reported that hate crimes in the city of Los
By KAREN OCAMB Angeles went up 15 percent in 2016, with
kocamb@losangelesblade.com a signicant spike (25 percent) in attacks
against the LGBT community, according to
Anger can cause all sorts of changes, the Daily News April 5. Additionally, hate
Rep. Ted Lieu told the Los Angeles Blade crimes against transgender persons jumped
on April 4 when asked why the usually from 2 in 2015 to 8 in 2016, according to the
staid lawyer, Air Force Reserve Colonel LAPD data.
and computer science geek has let loose Perhaps most disturbing is the surge in
trolling President Trump on Twitter. the most violent type of attacks, which are
Its an anger rooted in a profound aggravated assaults, said Brian Levin, the
sense of betrayal. After the election, Lieu, centers director. Whether its the increase
a longtime LGBT ally who represents LAs in aggravated assaults or criminal threats,
Westside, embraced Americas greatness The most patriotic thing I could do is to resist it appears that assailants are emboldened.
as demonstrated through a peaceful our president, said Rep. TED LIEU. Lieu said he is concerned that the
transfer of power and urged supporters PHOTO BY MPAC16; COURTESY OF FLICKR.COM FBI may also slough o on collecting and
to give Trump a chance to govern. By the reporting LGBT hate crime data.
beginning of January, he changed his mind. that America really is in danger with the Lieus resistance is not limited
I concluded I was wrong, Lieu said. administrations responses to Russian to Twitter. If the House and Senate
I concluded that Donald Trump is so intervention, the use of chemical weapons investigations show there was collusion
dierent that he is a danger to the Republic in Syria and North Korea saber-rattling. with Russia and Donald Trump knew
because he is attacking institutions of our Additionally, he is concerned about the about itthat would be an impeachable
democracy such as the First Amendment erosion of democratic principles throughout oense, said Lieu. On March 5, he sent a
and the presscalling it fake news. Hes governmentimpacting real peoples lives, letter to acting Deputy Attorney General
going after our judiciary, calling them including those in the LGBT community. Dana Boente requesting the appointment
so-called judges. He is suppressing Lieu signed onto a letter organized by of a Special Prosecutor to investigate any
internal dissent. His main adviser is Steve Rep. Adam Schi with Arizona Rep Ral Trump campaign collusion with Russia.
Bannon, who wants to deconstruct the M. Grijalva and out Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Because you serve at the pleasure of
administrative state. And Donald Trump Baldwin sent to U.S. Census Bureau the President, it is our belief that you have
lies pathologically and then the public Director John Thompson and Oce of a conict of interest and cannot exercise
cant tell the dierence between what is Management and Budget Director Mick true independence into an investigation
truth and what is ction. That leads us Mulvaney demanding to know why the that may implicate the President. That is
down the road to authoritarianism. And federal government nds no federal data one of several reasons we request that you
I decided that the most patriotic thing I need to include LGBT questions on the appoint a Special Counsel to investigate
could do is to resist our president. next Census survey. any collusion with Russia, the letter reads.
President @realDonaldTrump: You It really highlights what this At stake is the legitimacy of the Presidency
truly are an evil man. Your job is to help administration is doing in terms of trying and whether high crimes occurred.
Americans. Not intentionally try to destroy to take out of public discourse what we Lieus concerns extend to the core
their lives, @tedlieu tweeted March 25 in know to be true: there are gay people! American principle of upholding human
response to Trumps tweet about the GOPs Lieu said. Theyre trying to simply eect rights, especially in the face of reports of
failure to repeal the Aordable Care Act. how the public views reality. And its very a roundup of gay men and murder of at
Lieus prolic tweets trolling Trump troubling that this administration wants to least three gays in Chechnya.
have made him a political star. But behind erase what makes America great, which is
the well-crafted words is a shaken belief our incredible diversity. CONTINUES AT LOSANGELESBLADE.COM
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GLAAD glitters with stars at Beverly Hills gala


Hollywoods elite hit the red
carpet, stand up to resist

By REBEKAH SAGER

The 28th annual GLAAD Media Awards


were handed out April 1 in Beverly Hills,
and if there had been a theme, it would
have been that the days of the invisible
LGBTQ community are gone and if one
person or group in the community is
under attack, everyone is under attack.
As Hollywoods elite sauntered down
the red carpet, words like resist, and
stand down, and our stories are worth
telling reverberated. Shadowhunters HARRY SHUM JR. and MATTHEW DADDARIO.
Actress Patricia Arquette was honored
PHOTO COURTESY OF GLAAD
with the Vanguard Award.
In her acceptance speech, Arquette
thanked GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis and Mary J. Blige. songwriter Troye Sivan with the Stephen F.
the organization for honoring her and for We win when we give our children, the Kolzak Award, which honors LGBTQ media
their work helping foster acceptance and ones who are going missing in the night, professionals who have made a signicant
for helping LGBT kids see that they belong or wondering how much they matter to us, dierence in promoting equality and
and they are loved and that theres nothing to each other, to the law give them the acceptance.
wrong with them; because visibility matters courage, the tools and resources to scatter In his acceptance speech, Sivan called
and trans visibility really matters. their light across the cinema walls and attention to enormous challenges faced by
Arquette spoke about the many make the face of heaven so ne, McCraney the LGBTQ community, including violence
transgender women whove been said in his impassioned acceptance speech. against transgender women of color and
murdered, and the push to force Attorney We won for Moonlight today, but how are rates of youth homelessness. He concluded
General Je Sessions to investigate the we winning tomorrow? with a message of hope and empowerment,
murders as hate crimes. The response The ceremony was held at the swanky saying, Dont let anyone strip you of your
from Sessions was silence, she said. But Beverly Hilton Hotel and was presented truth and your love, because those are the
LGBTQ people and allies dont do silence. by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against foundations of who we are as a community.
When a woman in the audience cheered, Defamation, in honor of the 2016 season. He added, In a time where it might be
Arquette answered with, Were not going The event was hosted by comedian tempting to retreat into the shadows, I ask
anywhere. We will not be erased from Cameron Esposito, known for her role you to be louder keep holding hands, keep
your census. on Buzzfeeds series Ask A Lesbian, and nding pride in your identity, keep standing
The 48-year-old Academy Award winner the popular Put Your Hands Together up for those in our community who are
paid tribute to her late sister, Alexis, known stand-up podcast taped live at the Upright most vulnerable, keep love in your heart,
as one of the rst transgender activists in Citizens Brigade Theater in Los Angeles. and share it with the world.
Hollywood, who died at 47 last September. A tribute to the lives lost in the Orlando Music icon Mary J. Blige presented the
Barry Jenkins Academy Award-winning Pulse nightclub attack by Jussie Smollett award for Outstanding Film Wide Release
coming of age lm, Moonlight, took and a powerful performance of Imagine to Moonlight. Tarell Alvin McCraney
home the big prize for Outstanding Film in by Cynthia Erivo brought a hushed quiet accepted the award on the lms behalf,
wide release. to the room. and was joined onstage by Trevante
The lms writer, Tarell Alvin McCraney Surprise guest Carly Rae Jepsen joined Rhodes and producer Jeremy Kleiner.
and actor Trevante Rhodes were on hand legendary songwriter and GLAAD Board
to accept the award from R&B singer, Member Justin Tranter to present singer- CONTINUES AT LOSANGELESBLADE.COM
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Venice Beach Prides grassroots appeal


Yes, LGBT people have
a place on the Westside

By SUSAN HORNIK

LA Prides #ResistMarch planning


kicked into high gear after the City of
West Hollywood announced on April
3 it would provide $1,000,000 to cover
anticipated security costs of the nearly
four-mile long march. Though there is
no size comparison, nor is it competition
Venice Beach Pride organizers are hard at work planning this years event.
(#ResistMarch organizers expect to attract
LOS ANGELES BLADE PHOTO BY ABBY DEES
500,000 people), Venice Pride, the upstart JEFF WILCOX, Mr. Eagle LA Leather,
Pride on the beach, is giving WeHo a run Mr. LA Leather 2017.
for its money. And at one-tenth the price. was The Friendship on Channel Road (now controversy, due to its admission price, PHOTO COURTESY OF GAYINLA.COM

The new Pride on the beach for a straight bar), Blackies (now Chinois) and said Turck.
Westsiders is looking like a promising Van Gos Ear on Main Street, Westwinds In recent years, West Hollywoods LA
alternative to West Hollywoods LA Pride.
Building upon last years success, our
(now a T-shirt shop) and Match Box on
Ocean Front Walk, Big Brothers (now
Pride has forgotten its roots by putting
most of its energy into a music festival
LA Leather
13-member board has been hard at work Salt Air) on Abbot Kinney Blvd. and Free with a bloated budget that demands Pride sends
planning an incredible line-up of inclusive
events for all ages to enjoy this June 2-3,
People on West Pico Blvd (now Coal & Ice).
Over the last several years, weve lost one
expensive tickets. LGBT Pride should be
accessible to all with the fewest barriers Jeff Wilcox
said Grant Turck, president.
Among the many activities is a beach
Westside gay institution after the next.
News of Roostershs rumored closure
to inclusion necessary, because the
reality is whether young, old, gay, trans,
to Chicago
dedication to Bill Rosendahl, the rst last February left some feeling like gay non-binary, masc, fem, average or bu
openly gay person elected to LA City culture in the area had been erased. we are all in this ght together. And our LA Leather Prides 5th Annual
Council. Los Angeles County Supervisor I was at First Friday, a monthly event strength comes through the celebration of O Sunset Festival in the heart of
Sheila Kuehl and many other politicos will held on Abbott Kinney Boulevard last these dierences. Silverlake saw hundreds of leather-
be in attendance. year with a friend. People turn out for it in While the Trump administration has clad participants come together
From the dedication of the Bill droves. It was usually an especially grand caused much worry among LGBT people, at the festival where Je Wilcox
Rosendahl Memorial Beach to the annual night at Roostersh, as the Westside really Turck remains hopeful. (pictured) received the title of Mr. LA
Venice Pride Sign Lighting & Block Party came together for it. When we realized The American people have protested Leather 2017. The April 1 ceremony
and festival at the world-famous Muscle that the bar would be closing, it felt like we before and were doing it again now. was held at The Globe Theatre
Beach, a good time is sure to be had by needed to create something that would Grassroots movements like the Womens downtown. Scarlett SingleTail Sin
everyone, Turck said, promising there reinvigorate the recognition that there is March in D.C. and the upcoming (also pictured), was awarded the
would also be more surprises along the a gay community here. Continuing Venice #ResistMarches all across the country are Ms. LA Leather title at the Ms. LA
way. D.J. Victor Rodriguez, known for his Pride reminds LGBT people that they have only the beginning. These movements Leather ceremony held the prior
popular Bears In Space event will once a place here on the Westside. remind us of what is possible when we rise week at LAX Sanctuary. Wilcox
again spin tunes for the Block Party. Turck campaigned to secure Historic- together as one voice united. The present represented the Eagle Bar and Sin
Venice Pride, in part, emerged as a Cultural Monument designation for the bar administration forgets their victory was by represented Sanctuary. Wilcox will
grassroots response to the shuttering of from the City of LA, but was unsuccessful. a minority, and their failure to capture the now vie for the title of International
the last gay bar west of the 405, noted Several high-prole corporations have hearts and minds of the majority will be its Mr. Leather at the IML competition
Turck. expressed interest in sponsoring the undoing, Turck emphasized. on May 28th in Chicago.
Venice has a huge gay history. It is event, including last years sponsors like Members of the Venice Pride board JOHN McHUGH DENNIS
a symbol of diversity, acceptance, and SnapChat, Google and others. will also march in the free #ResistMarch
creativity for so much of the world. There West Hollywood Pride has had some happening on Sunday, June 11.
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Gilbert Baker, creator of


the Rainbow Flag, dies at 65 The best resource for
Gay Betsy Ross
an acclaimed artist
managing your HIV is you.
By TROY MASTERS
tmasters@losangelesblade.com

His life was a celebration of diversity


thatgave us gifts to the very end.
Gilbert Baker, widely recognized as
the creator of the rainbow ag, an iconic
If you have HIV, you know that your health concerns are
symbol of the internationalLGBT movement,
unique. The treatment regimen that is right for someone else
died on March 31 of unknown causes
may not be right for you.
athome in hisHamilton Heights apartmentin
Manhattan. He was 65. If you are interested in switching your HIV medications, you
Bakers work as a ag maker spanned39 may want to consider the ATLAS clinical research study.
years and includes two world records The study is being conducted to learn if two investigational
for ag making. Flags are torn from the medications, one called long-acting cabotegravir (CAB LA) and one called long-
soul of the people, Baker told the author acting rilpivirine (RPV LA), can keep the amount of HIV virus in your body at low
of The American Flag, Two Centuries of GILBERT BAKER died last week at age 65. levels compared to an HIV regimen containing three HIV medications. The study
Conict and Concord. will evaluate these two investigational medications in adults with HIV that is
PHOTO BY REX WOCKNER
The colors on the rst Rainbow Flag, currently controlled by existing HIV medication(s).
created by Baker and his team raised You may be eligible to participate in the ATLAS study if you:
at San Francisco Pride on June 25, June 2, 1951. He served in the U.S. Army Are at least 18 years old
1978 were intended to reect the from 1970-1972, which stationed him in Have been diagnosed with HIV that is controlled (suppressed) by your current
diversity of the LGBT community. Each San Francisco just at the start of the gay HIV medications
stripe on the original, eight-color ag liberation movement. Have been on the same HIV medication(s) and dose(s) for at least 6 months
had a meaning: Hot Pink for sexuality; Randy Shilts, in his groundbreaking book (approximately)
Red for life; Orange for healing; about the experiences of gays who served in
There are other requirements to be in the study that the study doctor will discuss
Yellow for sunlight; Green for nature; the military while LGBT people were banned
with you to determine if you are eligible to participate.
Turquoiseformagic/art; Blueforserenity/ from serving, Conduct Unbecoming,
harmony; Violetforspirit. featured a story on Gilberts experience. Study participation will last a minimum of 13 years. Participants will receive study-
Baker, writing about the moment the After being honorably discharged, related tests and procedures, as well as the investigational medications, at no cost.
ag was rst hoisted, said Seeing it there Baker remained in San Francisco and
To learn more or to see if you may qualify for the 201585 ATLAS study,
blowing in the wind for everyone to see! It taught himself to sew, applying that skill
completely astounded me that people just to creating banners for gay and anti-
visit www.theATLASstudy.com or call:
got it, in an instant like a bolt of lightening war street protest marches, often at a
that this was their ag. It belonged to all moments notice. He worked alongside
Pacific Oaks Medical Group
of us. It was the most thrilling moment of his lifelong friend Harvey Milk, the San 150 N. Robertson Blvd., Suite 300, Beverly Hills, CA 90211
my life. Because I knew right then that this Francisco City Supervisor who was
Contact: Evan Fuller (efuller@pacificoaks.com) or
was the most important thing I would ever assassinated along with Mayor George
Travis Holman (tholman@pacificoaks.com)
do that my whole life was going to be Moscone on Nov 27, 1978.

310-967-3620
about the Rainbow Flag. Baker credited Milk as an inspiration
His ght for LGBT rights was a long and forhis work.
signicant one.
Baker was born in Chanute, Kansas, on CONTINUES AT LOSANGELESBLADE.COM
1 0 A PRI L 0 7 , 2 0 1 7 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM LO CA L N E W S

Archival activists look to save LGBT history


CONTINUED FROM PAGE 03

short of miraculous high camp at its most


outrageous, reads one document.
A Roman Springs on Mrs. Stone
premiered on June 6, 1961 at the Grand
Prix, 8204 Beverly Boulevard (at N. La Jolla
Ave). In addition to the lm, the evening
featured a buet dinner and a live show
direct from the Black Cat in San Francisco
starring Jose! Jose was famous entertainer
Jose Sarria who sang No Camping (on
Velvet Records) Americas newest party-
fun record. Though not noted, at the time
Sarria was collecting 6,000 signatures to
run for a seat on the San Francisco Board of
Supervisors, the rst openly gay candidate
for U.S. public oce.
A Roman Springs on Mrs. Stone
screened at The Apache and elsewhere,
drawing up to 400 people. And though
spoofs, Francis says, you can see these
lms had movie-makers who understood
lm. They understood the vocabulary of
silent character development. It makes
you wonder what studio they worked for
back in the day.
Indeed. Oscar-nominated and Emmy-
winning cinematographer James Crabe, who
died of AIDS in 1989, was a GGRC member. IMAGES COURTESY OF ONE ARCHIVES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

There were hints of the harsh every


day reality outside the campgrounds. Scott and Cary Grant, Rock Hudson, and large, constitute the vanguard and This is just a smidgen of what the archival
The largest advertiser in GGRCs Aware and Liberace with guests such as Perry the most articulate audience of Camp, activists are trying to nd and preserve.
newsletter was a 24-hour bail bondsman. Mason actor Raymond Burr, Tab Hunter she wrote. Homosexuals have pinned The history of lesbians and gays is very
It was a hard life in many ways because and Troy Donohue and everyones best their integration into society on promoting important in that its been invisible in the
they were all criminal considered criminal gal pal, Natalie Wood. the aesthetic sense. Camp is a solvent of past, says V. L. Cox, a lesbian artist and
by the law considered insane, mentally ill But the subculture of the GGRC parties morality. It neutralizes moral indignation, activist in the Mattachine video. They
and damned, says Francis in commentary were camp and low class by design, sponsors playfulness. want to take us back, to control us, to put
on a Mattachine-produced video. So they on the cusp of the 60s counter-cultural Camp provided this marginalized us back in the closet, put us back in the
were creating their own island of self- movement. Actors in A Roman Springs on population with a mocking weapon against shadows again. And its very important the
worth up there in the Hollywood Hills. And Mrs. Stone did the Twist before Chubby the dening hierarchies of hegemonic people know about the history of gays and
we should not forget about it. Checker appeared on the Ed Sullivan straight culture. It was a subversive lesbians to where that does not happen
GGRC parties were like a giant boa-and- Show to popularize the dance craze. code understood by its adherents and again. We cannot allow that to happen.
glitter-on-foam middle nger to the cruelty These are the gays about whom practitioners, wrote Joe A. Thomas in his We need to insist on our own history.
outside the gay bar or private residence. intellectual Susan Sontag, a quasi-closeted essay Pop Art and the Forgotten Codes We need to discover our history, says
Hollywood insiders knew about the bisexual, wrote in her famous essay Notes of Camp. Thus, many critics and views Francis. No history no equality.
beefcake closet-open Hollywood pool on Camp in 1964. Not all homosexuals in the know, both straight and gay, were For more information, visit the Mattachine
parties thrown by actors such as Randolph have Camp Taste. But homosexuals, by able to discern Pop Arts camp subtext. Society of Washington D.C.
NATIONAL NEWS W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM A P RI L 0 7 , 2 0 1 7 1 1

Fedl court rules anti-gay bias barred under current law


Panel nds sexual didnt choose to be a woman; the lesbian
didnt choose to be a lesbian. I dont see
orientation bias illegal
why ring a lesbian because she is in
under Title VII the subset of women who are lesbian
should be thought any less a form of
By CHRIS JOHNSON sex discrimination than ring a woman
because shes a woman.
For the rst-time, a federal appeals But Posner cautioned against basing
court has determined discrimination the decision on Supreme Court precedent
based on sexual orientation amounts to prohibiting gender stereotyping in Oncale,
sex discrimination and is unlawful under which he wrote is rather evasive, or
current civil rights law. Loving, which he said was a constitutional
In a 69-page decision, the U.S. 7th case based on race and had nothing to do
Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago ruled with the recently enacted Title VII.
in the case of Hively v. Ivy Tech Community Despite criticism of the judiciary
College anti-gay workplace bias is unlawful for allegedly interpreting the law in
under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of U.S. Chief Judge DIANE WOOD said discrimination based on sexual orientation constitutes ways inconsistent with the intentions
discrimination based on ones perception of gender stereotypes.
1964, reversing an earlier decision from of Congress, Posner writes thats not
PHOTO BY LINDA RUX; COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA
a three-judge panel nding precedent a problem because he says courts do
precludes the court from making that it fairly frequently to avoid statutory
determination. rested on distinctions drawn according the 2nd Circuit had continued to reject obsolescence and concomitantly to avoid
Writing for the majority in the 8-3 to race, which were unjustiable and that interpretation of Title VII until now. placing the entire burden of updating old
decision, U.S. Chief Judge Diane Wood, a racially discriminatory, Wood writes. So The 7th Circuit ruling marks the rst time a statutes on the legislative branch.
Clinton appointee, nds discrimination too, here. If we were to change the sex federal court has reached that conclusion Writing the dissent in the case was
based on sexual orientation constitutes of one partner in a lesbian relationship, after decades of gay, lesbian and bisexual U.S. Circuit Judge Diane Sykes, a George
discrimination based on ones perception the outcome would be dierent. This plaintis ling complaints before federal W. Bush-appointed judge who writes the
of gender stereotypes, which the U.S. reveals that the discrimination rests on courts under that law. majority deploys a judge-empowering,
Supreme Court has determined is unlawful distinctions drawn according to sex. The ruling reverses and remands the common-law decision method that leaves
under Title VII. Wood cautions the ruling decided lower court ruling in the case, which was a great deal of room for judicial discretion.
Any discomfort, disapproval, or job only the issue put before us and not, for led in 2014 by Kimberly Hively against Sykes was on the list of judges from
decision based on the fact that the example, whether Ivy Tech is a religious her former employer, the Indiana-based which President Trump said during his
complainantwoman or man dresses institution and therefore entitled to the Ivy Tech Community College, where campaign hed make appointments to the
dierently, speaks dierently, or dates or religious exemption under Title VII, nor she worked as a part-time professor. U.S. Supreme Court and reportedly was
marries a same-sex partner, is a reaction the legality of anti-gay discrimination in The lawsuit alleged the school violated one of the three picks on the short list
purely and simply based on sex, Wood the context of the provision of social or Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by for the late U.S. Associate Justice Antonin
writes. That means that it falls within Title public services. denying Hively full-time employment and Scalias seat before Trump nominated U.S.
VIIs prohibition against sex discrimination, We hold only that a person who alleges promotions because shes a lesbian. Circuit Judge Neil Gorsuch.
if it aects employment in one of the that she experienced employment dis- Echoing Wood in a concurring decision The decision was a source of joy for
specied ways. crimination on the basis of her sexual is U.S. Circuit Judge Richard Posner, who LGBT rights supporters, who for decades
Wood also relies heavily on the orientation has put forth a case of sex was responsible for the 7th Circuits have made a priority of protecting LGBT
reasoning in the 1967 U.S. Supreme Court discrimination for Title VII purposes, decision in favor of marriage equality in workersfrom discrimination.
decision in the case of Loving v. Virginia, Wood concludes. It was therefore wrong 2015 and opined in this case changing Greg Nevins, employment fairness
which struck down bans on interracial to dismiss Hivelys complaint for failure to attitudes toward sex and gender call for a program director for Lambda Legal and
marriage and served as a basis for the state a claim. new interpretation of Title VII. attorney for the plainti, said in a statement
courts ruling in favor of marriage equality In a new trend, a number of district The position of a woman discriminated the decision is a gamechanger for gay
in 2015. courts have begun to rule anti-gay against on account of being a lesbian people facing workplace discrimination
Changing the race of one partner discrimination violates federal laws against is thus analogous to a womans being and sends a clear message to employers:
made a dierence in determining the sex discrimination, but federal appeals discriminated against on account of being It is against the law to discriminate on the
legality of the conduct, and so the law courts including the 11th Circuit and a woman, Posner writes. That woman basis of sexual orientation.
1 2 A PRI L 0 7 , 2 0 1 7 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM NATIONAL NEWS

NCAA caves, returns games to N.C.


The National Collegiate Athletic Association has decided to restore games to North Carolina in
the aftermath of the state reaching a deal to replace anti-LGBT House Bill 2 with another measure
that civil rights groups say is discriminatory.
The league announced in a statement this week the new law is far from perfect, but the
board of directors reached the conclusion to restore games to North Carolina after evaluating the
HB2 replacement signed by North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper after negotiations with Republican
leaders.
We are actively determining site selections, and this new law has minimally achieved a situation
where we believe NCAA championships may be conducted in a nondiscriminatory environment,
the statement says.
The statement, however, indicates any site awarded a championship event in North Carolina
or elsewhere may be required to submit additional documentation demonstrating how student-
NEIL GORSUCHs nomination is headed for libuster in the Senate. athletes and fans will be protected from discrimination.
BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHEAL KEY During a news conference after he signed the bill, Cooper had said he expects sports to return
to North Carolina, suggesting he was given assurances it was enough for the NCAA. The statement,
however, says the NCAA did not lobby for any specic change in the law.
Gorsuch nom heads to Senate oor The league initially cancelled seven championship games in North Carolina as a result of House
Bill 2, which barred cities from enacting pro-LGBT non-discrimination ordinances and transgender
people from using the public restroom in schools and government buildings consistent with their
The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced this week the nomination of Neil gender identity. The league gave the state a deadline of last week to repeal the measure or else
Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court, although the nomination has hit a signicant lose those games through 2022.
snag now that Democrats have secured the votes necessary to successfully The new law, House Bill 142, prohibits municipalities, state agencies and the University of North
libuster his conrmation. Carolina from the regulation of access to bathrooms, locker rooms and showers without the
Before the committee approved the Gorsuch nomination on a party-line vote, legislatures permission. It also bans municipalities from enacting LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) announced during the session he would oppose the measures that would apply to private employment or public accommodations until 2020.
nominee and support the Democratic libuster against him. That made him the CHRIS JOHNSON
41st vote needed for a successful libuster.
Other top Democrats announcing they would join Senate Minority Leader Chuck
Schumer (D-N.Y.)s libuster were Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), top Democrat on the
LGBT advocates attend global summit in D.C.
committee, and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-N.Y.), who until recently was ranking Democrat. Nearly 30 LGBT and intersex rights advocates from around the world are attending a
Feinstein cited during the hearing Republican obstruction of former President Human Rights Campaign summit this week in D.C.
Obamas nomination of Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court as well as Activists from Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India,
various decisions Gorsuch reached as a Justice Department ocial during the Nepal, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Latvia, Macedonia, Russia,
Bush administration and a judge on the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Ukraine, Brazil, Colombia, Jamaica, Peru, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan and Tunisia are
Also cited by Feinstein as a concern is the more than $10 million the Koch brothers attending the second annual HRC Global Innovative Advocacy Summit that is taking place
have declared they intend to spend to support the Gorsuch conrmation as well as through April 7. Caleb Orozco, an LGBT advocate from Belize who successfully challenged
ads buys from the National Rie Association and the Judicial Crisis Network. his countrys sodomy law, is also taking part in the gathering that began on Monday.
With a libuster of the Gorsuch nomination likely to succeed when the cloture The activists on Monday took part in a roundtable discussion with U.S. Reps. Joe Kennedy
vote for the nominee is held, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is (D-Mass.) and Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.) and met with Clifton Cortez, who is the World Banks
likely to invoke the nuclear option, which would eliminate the long-standing rst LGBT and intersex adviser. They also attended a reception at the Norwegian Embassy
ability to libuster nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court. with Kare R. Aas, who is the countrys ambassador to the U.S.
LGBT rights supporters have universally opposed the conrmation of Gorsuch Far too many LGBTQ people live in places around the world where there are few to
to the Supreme Court, citing as a chief concern his decision on the 11th Circuit in no legal protections, draconian civil or criminal penalties for being LGBTQ and sometimes
favor of Hobby Lobby being allowed to deny contraception coverage for employees even threats of violence or death, HRC Global Director Ty Cobb told the Washington Blade
under Obamacare on the basis of religious freedom for the corporation. That on Tuesday in a statement. Now more than ever before, its crucially important we come
reasoning, observers say, could lead to religious exemptions for LGBT non- together to ght for the equal rights of LGBTQ people everywhere.
discrimination laws should they be adjudicated by the U.S. Supreme Court. HRC is proud to bring together 30 LGBTQ leaders from around the world for a unique
CHRIS JOHNSON opportunity to share their approaches to advocacy, learn from each other, and return home
with renewed energy to continue their important work, he added.
MICHAEL K. LAVERS
I N T E R NA TI O N A L N E WS W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM A P RI L 0 7 , 2 0 1 7 1 3

Chechen police arrest 100 gay men: report


A Russian newspaper is reporting there has been a prophylactic sweep of men in connection
with their non-traditional sexual orientation, or suspicion of such by authorities in Chechnya.
Novaya Gazeta on Saturday reported more than 100 men in the semi-autonomous Russian
republic have been arrested. At least three of these arrests have reportedly resulted in murder.
What is happening to gay men in Chechnya is a horric violation of human rights and the rule
of law, said Human Rights Firsts Shawn Gaylord in a statement.
He added Secretary of State Rex Tillerson should publicly condemn these actions.
The United States cannot stand idly by while innocent people are being rounded up, detained,
and murdered by authorities, said Gaylord.
The Washington Blade has reached out to the State Department for comment.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for the Russian government, said the Kremlin knows about
the situation, but it is a question of law enforcement agencies.
It is not the Kremlins agenda, he said. Former U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic JAMES BREWSTER (left) had a big
impact on LGBT residents.
The Chechen government appears to have taken a similar stance on the situation.
Its impossible to persecute those who are not in the republic, said Ali Karimov, a spokesman BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHEAL K. LAVERS

for Chechnyas leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, in a statement to RIA Novosti, a Russian government
news agency.
If such people existed in Chechnya, law enforcement would not have to worry about them, Gay ambassadors departure
as their own relatives would have sent them to where they could never return, added Karimov,
referring to the ancient custom of honor killing. leaves void in Dominican Republic
Usually, people under arrest will bring shame on the family, so [their families] have to kill
them, Viacheslav Revin, a U.S.-based LGBT activist for Rusa LGBT, told the Blade as he spoke SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic Activists in the Dominican Republic who
about the dangers of getting arrested in Chechnya. attended an LGBT conference in their countrys capital this past weekend say former
Unfortunately, people can be killed [or disappear] because someone doesnt like the color of U.S. Ambassador James Wally Brewsters departure has left a deep void.
their shoes, he continued. Rosalba Karina Crisstomo, a lesbian activist who is the executive director of
MICHAEL K. LAVERS Comunidad de Lesbianas Inclusivas Dominicanas, is among the more than 300 people
from across the region who attended the conference that the Gay and Lesbian Victory

Trans Puerto Rico Senate employees lose protections Institute co-sponsored with Diversidad Dominicana, a Dominican advocacy group, and
Caribe Armativo, an LGBT organization that works throughout northern Colombia.
The president of the Puerto Rico Senate has eliminated protections for the chambers Crisstomo told the Washington Blade on Saturday that Brewster has had a big
transgender employees. impact in the country.
El Vocero, a Puerto Rican newspaper, reported Sen. Thomas Rivera Schatz on March 31 The Dominican Republic is a country controlled by religious Catholics, said
rescinded an administrative order that said trans Senate employees could use bathrooms and Crisstomo. Wally came here to the Dominican Republic and helped us with
wear clothing that is consistent with their gender identity. development and in doing that he highlighted all of the discrimination that exists
Then-Senate President Eduardo Bhata signed the order in 2014. El Vocero reported Schatz towards the LGBT community in the country.
who is a vocal opponent of LGBT rights in the U.S. commonwealth removed from the Then-President Obama nominated Brewster, who is a former member of the Human
list of discriminatory practices the requirement that a person (must) dress in a manner that is Rights Campaigns board of directors, to represent the U.S. in the Dominican Republic
inconsistent with their gender identity or prevents them from expressing their identity. in 2013.
Pedro Julio Serrano, founder of Puerto Rico Para Tod@s, a Puerto Rican advocacy group, in a Brewster and his husband, Bob Satawake, frequently appeared together at public
sharply worded statement he released on Tuesday accused Rivera of violating the islands 2013 events and in the Dominican media. They also met regularly with LGBT rights advocates.
law that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. MICHAEL K. LAVERS
You have to be a real bastard, Thomas Rivera Schatz, to eliminate well-designed protections
in an administrative order (and) to express and blatantly discriminate against the Senates
transgender and transsexual employees, said Serrano. Not allowing them to use the bathroom
or wear clothing that matches their gender identity is a violation of 2013s Law 22 that precisely Rivera Schatz should be ashamed of himself, said Mark-Viverito. Instead of taking the time
prohibits this type of discrimination. to disempower the must vulnerable Puerto Ricans, he should be focused on strengthening them
New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, who was born in Puerto Rico, in her own and moving the island forward.
statement also accused Rivera of violating the U.S. commonwealths nondiscrimination law. She Lambda Legal was among the plaintis in a 2014 lawsuit that challenged Puerto Ricos same-
added this deplorable act of cowardice not only mirrors President Trumps hateful and divisive sex marriage ban. The LGBT legal group on Tuesday said Rivera has violated Puerto Rican and
rhetoric, but falls in line with Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossells recent attempts to roll back the federal law and the U.S. constitution.
rights of Puerto Ricos LGBTQ community. MICHAEL K. LAVERS
1 4 A PRI L 0 7 , 2 0 1 7 WWW .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM VIEWPOINT
VOLUME 01 ISSUE 02

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EDITORIAL
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appeared to stumble in recent years.Last kna@washblade.com, 202-747-2077 x8088
INTERNATIONAL EDITOR
TROY MASTERS is publisher and editor of the year saw a number of controversies MICHAEL K. LAVERS
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losangelesblade.com. emerge that nearly imperiled the 47-year- mlavers@washblade.com
SENIOR CONTRIBUTING WRITER
old organization. The primary charge was KAREN OCAMB
On the morning of June 12, 2016, all that LA Pride had lost its sense of legacy karenocamb@sbcglobal.net
of our lives began to change. Our peace and history and that by trying to appeal CONTRIBUTORS
CHARLES KAISER, ALAN MILLER, TIM MILLER, MAER
was shattered, and, within months, our to a new, younger generation of LGBT ROSHAN, HOLLY HUGHES, KIT WINTER, BRAD LAMM,
condence that LGBT equality was secure people, it was prematurely embracing a DAVID EHRENSTEIN, STEVEN ERICKSON, LILLIAN
would be, too. post-gay sensibility. FADERMAN, ORIOL GUTTIEREZ, SETH HEMMELGARN,
ROBIN TYLER, CHRIS AZZOPARD, ALLEN ROSKOFF,
In Los Angeles, we woke to news of the Orlando changed that. The election JOHN PAUL KING, JOHN MCHUGH-DENNIS, MELODY
slaughter of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Last years Pulse massacre helped give new of Donald Trump changed that. The MUNDY, ROBERT WILLIAMS, DAN ALLEN, BRAD FUHR,
WINSTON GEISEKE, RICHARD ANDREOLI, DREW
Orlando and horror quickly blended with purpose to Pride commemorations around the Resistance movement demands change. MACKIE, JOEY DIGUGLIELMO, CHRIS JOHNSON, LOU
terror when, early that same morning, country, including in LA. Thanks to the dogged eorts of Brian CHIBBARO JR., MARIAH COOPER, ABBY DEES, REBEKAH
Santa Monica police announced they had BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL K. LAVERS
Pendleton, much of the funding necessary SAGER, JOHN MCHUGH-DENNIS, MIKE CIRIACO
PHOTOGRAPHY
arrested a man headed to the LA Pride to pull o the four-mile march is in place. BOB KRASNER, JON VISCOTT, MICHAEL KEY
Parade with assault weapons, a cache of people of color from his rallies, exploited It will wind its way from Highland Avenue CREATIVE DESIGN/PRODUCTION
and Hollywood Boulevard, to La Brea then AZERCREATIVE.COM
ammunitions, pipe bombs and explosives. xenophobia, bashed Islam, threatened DISTRIBUTION
In deance, a form of resistance, the LA to upend 225 years of international south to Santa Monica Boulevard ending CHRISTOPHER JACKSON, 562-826-6602
Pride Parade went on, and some 100,000 diplomacy, rhetorically fueled hate-lled up at Robertson. All material in the Los Angeles Blade is protected by federal copyright
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submissions by e-mail to tmasters@losangelesblade.com.
Donald Trump, a toxic presidential oppose LGBT rights. faith in Christopher Street West.
candidate he mocked disabled people, But that was just for starters. Since then, The ResistMarch honors our heritage,
bullied his opponents, gloated about we have lived a slow motion, miles long reclaims our peace and demands that our
sexually harassing women, ejected train-wreck of a presidency, crumpling up equality be honored.
2017 LOS ANGELES BLADE, LLC.
V I E W PO I N T W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM A P RI L 0 7 , 2 0 1 7 1 5

Why arent gay men getting meningitis vaccination?


Prevention is widely
available and nearly
100 percent effective

By IAN HOLLOWAY & PHIL CURTIS

Say there was a disease out there that


was mostly fatal, often debilitating, and
could cost you your arms and legs but
there was also a vaccine available to help
make sure you get it. Youd want the
vaccine, right?
Well, meningitis is that disease. And
there is a vaccine for it. Yet, despite an
ongoing outbreak among men who
have sex with men (MSM) in Southern
California, only 27 percent of MSM in Los
Angeles County report getting the vaccine,
and an additional 29 percent dont know if
they have been vaccinated.
Those are just a couple of the facts An ongoing outbreak of Meningococcal Disease in Southern California among men who have sex with men resulted in two conrmed deaths in the past year.
we discovered in a study published by PHOTO COURTESY OF HIVPLUSMAG.COM

our Southern California HIV/AIDS Policy


Research Center the week of March 27.
The information is both troubling and in preventing four strains of meningitis; it least eight weeks apart for people living protect themselves and their communities
tellingand prompt us to urge all gay and is known as quadrivalent meningococcal with HIV. In our study, only 26 percent of as primary motivations for getting
bisexual men, as well as any individual conjugate vaccine, or MCV4. It is available men who were HIV-positive had received vaccinated. These guys understand what
living with HIV, to get vaccinatedand do for free at Los Angeles County Public Health two doses. epidemiologists call herd immunity. The
it now. Department clinics and from community- In the course of our research, we also more of us who are vaccinated, the less
The California Department of Public based health care organizations such as learned that 12 percent of the men we likely meningitis will spread. Talk to your
Health declared an outbreak of invasive APLA Health, the Los Angeles LGBT Center, surveyed who had not been vaccinated were friends. Post to social media. Help raise
meningococcal disease (the ocial and AIDS Healthcare Foundation. concerned about side eects. The most awareness in your networks.
name of meningitis) in Southern California So why arent more gay and bisexual common side eect from the MCV4 vaccine Vaccines are safe and eectiveand
in March 2016 that has primarily aected men getting vaccinated? Our research is redness or soreness where the shot was in the case of a disease as serious as
MSM. Since then, 27 individuals have shows that many men want to learn given, which usually subsides in one to two meningitis, they are necessary. Many gay
been infected in Los Angeles, San Diego, more about the disease and the vaccine days. A small percentage of people who get and bisexual men understand all too well
Orange, and Ventura countiesmost of or they dont think they are susceptible vaccinated develop a mild fever. what its like to worry about contracting
them gay and bisexual men. Two men to infection. While 27 cases over the Which brings us to the role medical a disease through intimate contact. And
have died. The outbreak is ongoing. And course of a year may not seem like many, providers play in helping educate their while it may seem that meningitis is only
this isnt the only outbreak weve seen in meningitis can spread quickly in small, patients and getting the word out to the aecting a few of us, its easyand free
recent years. In a 2014 outbreak in Los close-knit communities. community. We need to talk to our own to protect ourselves. Please get vaccinated.
Angeles, three gay men in their 20s died Meningitis is transmitted through doctors about meningitis and request the Your life may depend on it.
as a result of being infected. intimate contactbut not as intimate as vaccine. Most physicians receive little or You can nd out more about meningitis,
Meningitis is a particularly nasty illness. you may think. Coughs and sneezes from no training on the unique health needs the vaccine, and where to get vaccinated
Depending on the strain, up to 70 percent an infected person carry the pathogen. of the LGBT community at large, and it is by visiting http://publichealth.lacounty.
of those who are infected can die. In Gay men are vulnerable in the places in our own best interest to advocate for gov/ip/ and www.chprc.org.
addition, meningitis can lead to loss of we socialize, such as bars, clubs, parties, ourselves. Give your doctor the Centers
limbs, hearing impairment, and central gyms. And it is not necessarily about for Disease Control and Prevention fact IAN HOLLOWAY and PHIL CURTIS direct the
nervous system and kidney failure. One sexual behavior. You can get meningitis sheet (www.cdc.gov/meningitis/) and ask Southern California HIV/AIDS Policy Research
in ve survivors of meningitis experience simply by sharing a drink or a cigarette. them to talk to their other patients who Center, a collaboration between UCLA, APLA
Health, and the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
serious lifelong health issues. For people living with HIV, meningitis may be at risk about the disease. Holloway is an assistant professor in the
The good news is that we have a vaccine can be especially dangerous. For this And theres more we can do. Many of Department of Social Welfare at UCLAs Luskin
School of Public Aairs. Curtis is the director of
that is 85 percent to 100 percent eective reason, experts recommend two doses at the men we surveyed cited a desire to government aairs at APLA Health.
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A P R I L 0 7 2 0 1 7 V O L U M E 0 1 I S S U E 0 2 A meri c a s L G B T N e w s S our c e L O S A N G E L E S B L A D E . C O M 1 7

James Wilby and Hugh Grant in Maurice, 1987.


photo courtesy of merchantivory.com

Maurice returns to the big screen 30 years later


The Merhant-Ivory classic still packs a punch

By DAVID EHRENSTEIN

Its been 30 years since Maurice, U.S. Supreme Courts approval of same- have come in Maurices wake, the most British teenagers, and Weekend (2011),
the Merchant-Ivory adaptation of E.M. sex marriage. Two entire generations of famous being the closeted sheepherder about an adult pair of British bohemians.
Forsters posthumously published novel gay men suffered the ravages of a deadly saga Brokeback Mountain (2005). But none have quite the special charge of
of gay love, made its theatrical debut. AIDS epidemic. In that context, it is striking But that was a gay love story with an Maurice, stemming from its lush setting
A lot has happened across that time span, to see the film again, given all we have unhappy ending. Those with happy ones and aristocratic-commoner breeding.
not the least of it being the rapid gains achieved since its release. like Maurice include Beautiful Thing
LGBT rights have made, climaxed by the On the screen many gay love stories (1996), a tale of gay lower middle-class ContinueS ON page 30
1 8 A PRI L 0 7 , 2 0 1 7 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM 2 0 G A Y Q U E ST I O N S F O R: R A B B I D E N I S E E G E R

queery Rabbi Denise Eger

By TROY MASTERS RABBI EGER


PHOTO COURTESY OF CONGREGATION KOL AMI
tmasters@losangelesblade.com

While studying to become a rabbi


during the 1980s in New York City, Denise How long have you been out What non-LGBT issue are (Your readers can follow me What LGBT stereotype
Eger started a group for gay and lesbian and who was the hardest you most passionate about? @deniseeger) annoys you most?
students, holding meetings far from person to tell? I have worked on a variety That gay men and lesbians do
campus. At the time, there were few I have been out to myself since of issues, womens rights, If your life were a book, not get along.
prospects for out lesbian rabbis, a lesson age 12 ... came out in the press ghting racism and working what would the title be?
Eger would learn personally no one in 1990 although I was out and for civil rights for all people, Speak Truth to Power Whats your favorite LGBT
would hire her. But she found her calling living as lesbian since college. working closely for farm movie?
at a synagogue created as a religious The hardest person ended up workers and their rights to If science discovered a My favorite LGBT movie is The
refuge for gays, Beth Chayim Chadashim not being hard at all I just fair treatment and pay! way to change sexual Kids Are Alright, in part because
in Los Angeles, the worlds rst gay and thought it was and that was orientation, what would I have always had a crush on
lesbian synagogue to be recognized by my father, who was loving and What historical outcome you do? Annette Bening, but also because
Reform Judaism. kind and accepting. would you change? No, I love my life! of the highlight of parenting.
It was a road that led her to found Kol If I could change anything it
Ami, a welcoming and jubilant Jewish Whos your LGBT hero? would be to destroy the rise What do you believe in Whats the most overrated
community that is open to all. I have many LGBT hero and of Nazism that led to the beyond the physical world? social custom?
Since then, the Reform Jewish sheroes! And I have been Holocaust and the murder I believe that what we call Saying youll call soon and
movement Egers lifelong spiritual fortunate to meet many of of 6 million Jews. I think God is the energy and life then not calling.
home has undergone a radical them. But Rev. Troy Perry who about the vibrant Jewish source of the whole universe
transformation on LGBT issues and now transformed the religious communities of pre-World that connects everything. Our What trophy or prize do you
fully embraces the community. So much community with his simple War 2 Europe and what would souls are part of this universal most covet?
so, in fact, that Eger, in 2015, became message that God loves gay be happening today if that energy. When we die it is only I am blessed to have had a
the rst openly gay president of the people is truly one of my had not all been destroyed. our body that dies but our lot of honors and recognition
Central Conference of American Rabbis, greatest heroes. souls are eternal and reunites of my work, so not trophy or
the rabbinical arm of Reform Judaism Whats been the most with the ultimate Source of prize but I guess I would say
the largest and oldest rabbinical Whats Los Angeles best memorable pop culture the Universe. winning the lottery. It would
organization in North America. nightspot, past or present? moment of your lifetime? be nice not to have to worry
Eger has been honored for her HIV/ I remember Revolver of the Meeting Lady Gaga at the last Whats your advice for LGBT about nances.
AIDS work and is a highly regarded 1980s. So many people would March on Washington movement leaders?
expert on Judaism and LGBT civil rights. be packed in on a Saturday Talk to one another and What do you wish youd
She is a noted author contributing to night. And so many who are On what do you insist? work together silos and known at 18?
anthologies such as Torah Queeries, now gone. High standards and competition do not advance I wish I had known about
Lesbian Rabbis, Twice Blessed, and expectations of myself. our cause. weightlifting. I have
Conicting Visions: Contemporary Describe your dream discovered that I love doing
Debates in Reform Judaism. She wrote wedding. What was your last What would you walk across that as part of my workout.
the piece Creating Opportunities for I had my dream wedding! 200 Facebook post or Tweet? hot coals for?
the Other: The Ordination of Women plus family and friends on a Commenting on the erasure My son Benjamin who is soon Why Los Angeles?
as a Turning Point for LGBT Jews, Sunday afternoon this past of LGBTQ people from the to graduate college. Because it is the most diverse,
which appears in the book The Sacred July! With a great DJ and 19 2020 census: More shameful vibrant, creative city, where you
Calling: Four Decades of Women in the rabbis all friends who came in mess from the Trump admin can be anything you dream of if
Rabbinate, published in 2016. to bless our marriage! #LGBTQ #spiritualresistance. you put your mind to it.
P A L M S PRI NGS RE POR T W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM A P RI L 0 7 , 2 0 1 7 1 9
PHOTOS COURTESY OF CLUB SKIRTS

Dinah Shore Weekend was a hole in one lot of fun


THOUSANDS OF LESBIANS TURN OUT FOR A HOT TIME IN PALM SPRINGS

By ERIN FAITH WILSON

Each year, queer women from around the world make their way to Dinah Shore in Palm
Springs, Calif., to live out their spring break fantasies.
The sun is hot, the drinks are strong and the women are ready for whatever life brings
them while they are there. As my wife and I drove from Los Angeles to Palm Springs on
Friday morning, the anticipation of the weekend had us bursting at the seams. Although
this was our third Dinah Shore, we knew that it could possibly be our last, so we were
amped up to make it the best.
What began as a small weekend gathering in 1991, Dinah Shore has exploded into a
ve-day girl party with music performances from stars such as Lady Gaga, Meghan Trainor
and Katy Perry.
While the spaces for queer women have basically become extinct, The Dinah has always
been one event that has remained consistent for the past 26 years. It makes perfect sense
as to why thousands and thousands of women want to experience it, even if you have
been in a long-term relationship for years.
The City of Palm Springs estimated that this years event, held March 29-April 3, attracted
5,000 revelers.
Although you may have missed your chance to attend this years Dinah, have no fear,
there is always next year.
2 0 A PRI L 0 7 , 2 0 1 7 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM T RA V E L

Hawaii is just the ticket


THERES A PLACE FOR US IN OAHU

By ED WALSH

Last month, I was in the middle of the Beyond the beach


hustle and bustle of Waikiki and in less
than an hours bicycle ride later, hiking Besides the beach, the citys main
through a tropical rainforest. While the drag, Kalakaua Avenue, is known for its
Waikiki section of the island of Oahu a high-end shopping catering to foreign
few minutes south of downtown Honolulu tourists. Its newest shopping mall is the
is very much an urban beach tourist International Market Place (http://www.
destination, it doesnt take long to get shopinternationalmarketplace.com/),
away to a more rural Hawaiian experience. which opened just before Labor Day last
About 70 percent of Hawaiis 1.4 million year and is drawing rave reviews. The mall
people live on Oahu. As the population is in place of the old International Market
center of the state, Oahu supports a Place. It kept the name but the open air
vibrant gay nightlife and a variety of LGBT mall is now very modern and upscale,
organizations. but with some of its old charm, including
If you havent visited before, the most the Market Places landmark banyan tree,
popular part of Hawaii for tourists is complete with a sele spot for visitors to
Honolulus Waikiki neighborhood, about take the perfect shot to annoy their non-
a 30-minute ride south of the Honolulu vacationing friends back home.
airport. That is where you will nd the Waikikis gentrication is showing no
iconic high-rise hotels that line the beach signs of slowing down. The trendy, upscale
with spectacular views of the long extinct Oahu is paradise for LGBT travelers. shopping along Kalakaua Avenue has
PHOTO COURTESY OF GOHAWAII.COM
Diamond Head volcano. Waikiki is also spread a block inland to Kuhio Street,
where almost all the islands LGBT nightlife which was once a place that some feared
is situated, all within about a 10-minute
Beaches check out Makalei Beach Park, along to walk at night. One of the best examples
walking radius. Queens Surf Beach in Waikiki is still the Diamond Head Road. It is a small beach, of Waikikis makeover can be found on
Waikiki is also a good home base to most gay-popular beach on Oahu, but but fewer people know about it so it is the side of the Prada store on Kalakaua
explore the island. Various tour companies it is not as popular as it was years ago seldom crowded. Avenue. You can buy a $300 shirt in the
oer a wide variety of excursions from full before gays felt more comfortable and If you keep walking along Diamond Head shop and walk down the narrow alley on
day, circle island bus tours to bicycle and accepted on the main beaches. The beach Road, take Beach Road, to the right, which the left side of the store and nd a sex shop
Segway tours that focus on sights closer to is next to the Diamond Head section of will take you down to Diamond Head Beach with private video booths upstairs from the
Waikiki and downtown Honolulu. Waikiki Beach, near lifeguard station 2F, Park. The expansive park includes the gay- tiny, but well-loved gay bar, In Between.
If you are staying in Waikiki, you are in front of the concession stand and next popular Lighthouse Beach. It was once Just outside of Waikiki, the hike to the
better o without a car. Hotels charge $30 to Kapiolani Park and the Honolulu Zoo. considered a nude beach even though summit of Diamond Head is a must-do
or more per day to park. If you want to The beach itself has gotten narrower and it was never legal but few people swim attraction for any visitor to Oahu. You can
take a daytrip outside the area, you could rockier over the years as the surf washed without a bathing suit there now. It is also drive or take a bus through a tunnel into
rent a car in Waikiki and return it the same away much of the sand. Many people who very popular with people who are homeless, the center of the old volcano crater. From
day for about what it would cost to park. use the beach hang out on the grassy who have set up tents on the hillside over the crater oor there is a great hike to
You can get just about anywhere on and shady area of the park close to the the beach just below the lighthouse. the summit. The trail meanders through
the citys bus service, The Bus. Check out concession stand. A walking trail from the Lighthouse the tunnels and gun stations built by the
its website for directions, scheduling, and If you keep walking toward Diamond Beach goes up to Diamond Head Road, military shortly after the U.S. government
real time information about when the next Head from Queens Surf Beach, you will where you will get a good view of the bought the property in 1905. The summit
bus is coming (www.thebus.org). The cash run into Sans Souci Beach, which is just Diamond Head Lighthouse. Unfortunately, oers a spectacular view of Honolulu. Bring
fare is $2.50. Be sure to ask for a transfer past the War Memorial. It is also gay- the lighthouse itself and its picturesque a ashlight or plan on using the ashlight
if you need to connect with another bus so popular but with a lot more sand. If you grounds are closed to the public but you app on your phone to make it a little easier
you dont have to pay another fare. Each want to enjoy a quiet and isolated beach can still get a partial view of it from the
transfer is good for two bus connections. but still in walking distance to Waikiki, surrounding hillside and fence. CONTINUES ON PAGE 21
TRAVEL W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM A P RI L 0 7 , 2 0 1 7 2 1

Hawaii oers beaches, nightlife for LGBT travelers


CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20 attracted to the bay that is a natural barrier of Oahu, in the town of Kailua is about a Surf Beach. Hulas rst opened in 1974 along
against the bigger predatory sh. It is 45-minute drive outside of Waikiki, or about an Kuhio Avenue, nearly 1.5 miles from its
closed on Tuesdays and the parks parking hour and 20 minutes on The Bus. The beach current location. It traded in its trademark
navigate the dark tunnels. Also, bring water. lot lls up very early in the morning, so if is known for its very white, wind-whipped banyan tree for an ocean view in 1998. You
The hike will be a lot easier early in the you go, The Bus or an organized tour is a sand and turquoise water. The beach and the can sit by the windows and enjoy a drink or
morning before it gets too warm. good idea. Admission is $7.50 and you surrounding town have become increasingly meal in the bars cafe, while socializing and
If you want to experience being out in the have to wait in line to view an educational popular with tourists, prompting some locals listening to music. (www.hulas.com).
Hawaiian countryside without having to go lm that cautions visitors to not touch or to fear that it might become a second Waikiki People who want to make the night last
too far outside of Waikiki, check out Manoa stand on the coral, which damages the and lose some of its old Hawaiian charm. a little longer head down Kuhio Avenue to
Falls. It takes about 25 minutes to drive environment and can cause injury. You Fusion, a dance club that stays open until 4
to the base of the Manoa Falls trail from can bring snorkeling gear or rent it at the Nightlife a.m. Fusion also includes drag shows and is
Waikiki, a little less than an hour to bicycle concession on the beach for $20. The park popular with Oahus transgender community
there, or about an hour and 20 minutes on oers information on shuttles that leave All of Oahus LGBT nightlife is in Waikiki with (http://fusionwaikiki.co/index.html).
The Bus. A number of organized tours also Waikiki daily and include snorkel gear the exception of Scarlet, which is in Chinatown. Tapas Restaurant and Lanai Bar is a
include a hike to the falls. rental for $25, which is a reasonable deal While mostly gay male, all the LGBT nightspots great gay bar and restaurant just behind
Hanauma Bay State Park (https:// considering that it what it would cost if you are lesbian- and trans-friendly. Fusion. It is famous for its karaoke and
hanaumabaystatepark.com/) showcases a took The Bus and rented your snorkels The legendary Hulas Bar and Lei Stand friendly sta and customers. It opens every
sheltered ocean inlet created by a volcano and ns there. The shuttle includes an is one of the most beautiful gay bars in the Sunday at 9 a.m. during football season for
crater. The bay features some spectacular instructional narration along the way. world, if nothing else because of its open-air
snorkeling views of the colorful tropical sh Lanikai Beach, on the rugged North Shore view over Kapiolani Park next to Queens CONTINUES ON PAGE 22

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2 2 A PRI L 0 7 , 2 0 1 7 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM T RA V E L

Hawaii oers array of LGBT-friendly boutique hotels


CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21 only LGBT space outside of Waikiki. It com/pride/), held in October. It oers Pride Surfjack is another great boutique hotel
opened in July 2015 in the citys Chinatown attendees a discount and donates $10 from operated by the Aqua-Aston chain, which
neighborhood, adjacent to downtown. each guest night to the organization that has long supported the LGBT community.
NFL Sundays (http://tapaswaikiki.com/). From Waikiki its about 15 minutes to runs Pride. The hotel is a great option any The slogan written on the bottom of the
Bacchus Waikiki is a friendly second- drive or about 25 minutes on The Bus. time of year. Rates start at a very reasonable pool says it all: Wish you were here.
oor pub on Lewers Street, just a block Scarlet is open weekends and features live $135 during the slowest times of year, which Surfjack is a sponsor of the Honolulu
from Fusion and Tapas. The bar draws a entertainment, drag shows, and dancing are generally the months of April, May, and Rainbow Film Festival. One of the hotels
crowd even during the slower weekday (http://scarlethonolulu.com/). from Labor Day through early November. great unique amenities is free bicycle
nights. A small outdoor balcony is a great Shoreline doesnt charge a resort fee if you rentals. The hotel is just a couple of blocks
place for smokers or anyone who wants Accommodations book directly through its website. To get the from the beach and conveniently located
to watch the world go by on Lewers Street cheapest rates, you would need to book in next door to Bacchus Waikiki, so you
(http://www.bacchus-waikiki.com/). Since the mainstreaming of Cabanas advance and stay six nights. Included are wont have to go far to hang out with your
Wang Chungs is a hip, modern bar and Waikiki several years ago and Hotel free Wi-Fi, beach towels, and use of the peeps. The Aqua-Aston hotel group oers
restaurant in the Stay Hotel. Like Tapas Honolulu years before that, there are no rooftop pool. A car rental company is just an Out and Proud 10 percent discount if
and In Between, it is known for karaoke. longer any exclusively gay hotels in Oahu, behind the hotel, making a day rental a you book through its LGBT site and a free
Wang Chungs is very straight-friendly and but you would be hard-pressed to nd any snap. The hotels restaurant, Heavenly Island Mai Tai at Hulas (http://www.aquaresorts.
is known for its colorful cocktails (http:// that are not gay-friendly. Lifestyle, is one of Waikikis most popular com/special-oers/lgbt-travel/).
wangchungs.com/). The boutique Shoreline Hotel in the heart breakfast spots and does a good business For more information, visit Oahus
Scarlet Honolulu is Oahus newest and of Waikiki is one of the sponsors of Honolulu until it closes every night at midnight (http:// ocial tourism website at https://www.
largest gay nightclub and the islands Pride (http://hawaiilgbtlegacyfoundation. shorelinehotelwaikiki.com/). gohawaii.com/oahu/.

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F I LM W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM A P RI L 0 7 , 2 0 1 7 2 3

20 years later, Danny Boyle is Trainspotting again


A WELCOME SEQUEL, EVEN IF ITS NOT A MASTERPIECE

By JOHN PAUL KING

T2 stars the original ensemble cast, including EWAN MCGREGOR, EWEN BREMNER, JONNY LEE
MILLER, ROBERT CARLYLE, and KELLY MACDONALD.
PHOTO COURTESY OF TRISTAR PICTURES

A little over 20 years ago, though Trainspotting followed the wild-and- irreverent energy, it was in turn dizzyingly ferocity and haplessness have only been
English director Danny Boyle had built a wooly exploits of a cadre of young mates joyous and harrowingly dark, laced with magnied by the passage of time. Finally,
reputation in his native country with his (Renton, Spud, Simon and Franco) as they absurdity and irony, and marked by a new addition Anjela Nedyalkova brings a
work in theater and his rst movie had tried to navigate life and heroin addiction refusal to rely on the tropes of social complex blend of warm and cold, along
just won a BAFTA award, he was still an in the economically depressed slums realism. That same vision propels T2: with a fresh perspective, into the mix as
unknown quantity to the rest of the world. of Edinburgh. It ends with Renton (aka it shares the same essential elements Simons Bulgarian girlfriend, Veronika.
That changed when his second feature Rent Boy) leaving his friends behind in (arresting camerawork, bright colors, When a sequel appears to such a
roared onto screens in 1996; immediately the squalor of their dead-end lives, as he free-associative imagery, an edgy pop- revered original, there is always a question
embraced by audiences and heralded escapes in the hope of building a better music soundtrack), and adds a touch of of worthiness. The intervening years have
by critics as a rebirth of Great British one for himself. T2 rejoins them 20 years self-referential humor to the mix (clever added layers of resonance that help to
Cinema, it became an instant pop culture later, as he returns to make amends. acknowledgment of the notoriously thick make T2: Trainspotting a compelling
phenomenon, and suddenly his name was Things arent much dierent, despite Scottish dialects, for instance, and several two hours, and Boyle and company have
no longer as obscure as the quaint English the intervening years. nods to the originals iconic toilet scene). certainly brought the same level of energy
pastime from which it drew its title. Its as if time has stood still for these The new lm unquestionably feels like a and expertise to the table. Its quality is
That movie was, of course, men, or rather they have stood still while natural extension of the old- perhaps a undeniable. Is it a masterpiece of the
Trainspotting, and 20 years later, it has time passed them by. Their world is still bit more sophisticated, and maybe a bit caliber of its predecessor? Not quite.
gained iconic status. Now, at least partly for dened by the blight of poverty, and the oft- mellower, but no less audacious. Does it add something essential to the
the same reason, it has also gained a sequel. repeated catchphrase, Choose life, seems The cast clearly relishes its chance to story? Perhaps not. Nevertheless, any
Still, T2: Trainspotting is no mere eort at as much a gilded lie as it was in their youth. revisit these characters. Leading it, of lm as intelligent, superbly executed and
pandering to fans; Boyle, now an Oscar- And of course there are still the drugs, with course, is Ewan McGregor as Renton, downright entertaining as this one will
winner and power player, has long spoken their insidious allure, and the abdication of bringing the same intelligence and good always be welcome and that not only
of a desire to revisit his breakthrough lm responsibility that comes with them. nature that allows us to like this character makes it necessary, but very worthy indeed.
because he felt there was still a story to be This time around, though, percolating even when his choices strike us as
told. With the help of original screenwriter under it all, are a host of long-buried questionable. The formidable Jonny Lee
John Hodge, he has mined the source novel conicts with each other and with Miller is every bit his equal, managing to be
(by Irvine Welsh) and its follow-up, Porno, themselves, which their reunion inevitably somehow lovable as Simon, the inept con NOW PLAYING:
to esh out that story, and re-enlisted the brings to the surface. artist on the other side of their precarious ArcLight Hollywood
4:25 p.m., 7:05 p.m.,10:55 p.m.
now considerably craggier original cast to Boyle directed Trainspotting with the bromance. Ewen Bremner is again both The Landmark
bring it to life. exuberant, visually engaging style that comical and heartbreaking as Spud, and 4:45 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 10:05 p.m.
Vintage Los Feliz Theatre
For those who need a refresher, has marked his entire output. Driven by Robert Carlyle gives us a Franco whose 4:15 p.m., 7 p.m., 9:45 p.m.
2 4 A PRI L 0 7 , 2 0 1 7 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM THEATER

Voyage to the rainforest in The Encounter


AN INNOVATION IN THEATER AT WALLIS ANNENBERG CENTER

By JOHN PAUL KING

If youre a fan of theater that stretches the depths of the jungle and beyond.
boundaries both those of your Originally produced by the U.K.s
expectations and of the art form itself innovative Complicite Theatre Company,
the Wallis has an upcoming production The Encounter followed its acclaimed
that belongs at the top of your must-see London debut with a limited engagement
list for spring. on Broadway before making its way to Los
The Encounter is a solo performance Angeles. McBurney (who is Complicites
inspired by the book Amazon Beaming, leader and one of its founding members)
by Petru Popescu, relating the true story discovered Popescus book two decades
of National Geographic photographer ago, and spent ve years bringing his
Loren McIntyre, who, in 1969, was lost in interpretation of it to the stage through
the remote Jovari region of the Amazon. experiments, improvisation and workshops.
His experiences there led him to a startling Though he may be less well-known to
encounter that would change his life, and as American audiences than to those in his
his story unfolds (through the narration of native England, the plays creator and star
actor/director Simon McBurney), his South will nevertheless be familiar to many from
American adventure becomes an inner appearances in television shows such as
journey that explores questions about how The Vicar of Dibley, The Borgias and
we live and what we believe to be true. Absolutely Fabulous, as well as roles
This is not just another one-man show. in lms like The Last King of Scotland,
Its a highly unorthodox theatrical event The Theory of Everything, and Mission
that engages your senses in unexpected Impossible: Rogue Nation. His theatrical
ways. McBurney combines his storytelling resum is vast; in addition to his work
skills with the use of cutting-edge aural with Complicite, he has performed in
technology to lead you on an epic and directed dozens of plays, including
journey from the intimacy of his home in acclaimed New York productions of Arthur
London to deep into the rainforest. The Millers All My Sons and The Resistible
audience wears headphones throughout Rise of Arturo Ui starring Al Pacino. In
the performance, through which they 2005, he was appointed as an Ocer of
are immersed in an intricate 360-degree the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for
soundscape weaving together the sounds services to Drama.
of the Amazon (complete with the buzzing
of insects, bird calls and the roaring THE ENCOUNTER
of unknown beasts) with the actors Directed and performed by Simon McBurney
April 6-16, 2017
narrative virtuosity. The result is a visceral Bram Goldsmith Theater
experience that transports listeners from Wallis Annenberg Center
SIMON MCBURNEY for the Performing Arts
their seats in the theater on a journey to PHOTO COURTESY OF WALLIS ANNENBERG CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills
THEATER W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM A P RI L 0 7 , 2 0 1 7 2 5

Elvis is dead, but a star is born


MATTHEW LOPEZ BRINGS HIS LATEST HIT PLAY TO LOS ANGELES

By DAN ALLEN

Young Caseys in a bind his wifes talented young men. When Andrew walked
pregnant, rent is due, and hes red from in for his rst audition, we just saw Casey.
his gig as an Elvis impersonator in a small- It would shortchange all the hard work hes
town Florida Panhandle bar. So whats a put into this to call this role easy for him.
boy to do? Don a wig and sashay, natch. But he does make it look eortless.
And so begins The Legend of Georgia
McBride, opening Friday, April 14 at the BLADE: You mentioned in a Playbill
Geen Playhouse. Its the hilarious latest interview last year that youre working on a
from writer Matthew Lopez, whose rst piece about the American gay experience
hit, the very dierent The Whipping Man, during the last 30 years. Could you tell me
has been one of the most widely produced a little more about that?
new American plays this decade. We spoke LOPEZ: Its my attempt to piece together
with Lopez last weekend, just as he arrived The Legend of Georgia McBride is playing from April 4 to May 14 at the Geen Playhouses Gil Cates a kind of continuum and to place myself
Theater (10886 Le Conte Ave.). Written by Matthew Lopez, Directed by Mike Donahue, Choreography
in Los Angeles for the start of Georgia by Paul McGill. Featuring Andrew Burnap, Matt McGrath, Nija Okoro, Larry Powell & Nick Searcy. and my generation on it. Its about what
McBrides previews this week. PHOTO COURTESY OF WALLIS ANNENBERG CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS it means to me to be a gay man. I was a
child during the Plague Years. My rst
LA BLADE: Your rst big hit, The it got me thinking: What would it take for great expanse of continent between understanding of what it meant to be
Whipping Man, was a serious play dealing a straight man to become a drag queen? New York and LA is a kind of geographic a gay man was informed by what I saw
with race relations during the Civil War, Who would he be, and what would that metaphor. Im very happy to get to do this on the news growing up. None of it was
and The Legend of Georgia McBride journey look like? Im fascinated by people here at this point in my career. It feels like encouraging. I came of age sexually in
seems pretty much on the opposite end of who leave their bubble and willingly place the fusing of two halves of my life. the mid-1990s, just as the Plague Years
the theatrical spectrum in terms of topic themselves in foreign territory. subsided. I liken it to being part of the
and tone. Is it important to you to cover Then I decided he needed to be someone BLADE: I know youre bringing along second wave on D-Day, watching the men
broad ground in your work? whose bubble is as far from drag as possible: director Mike Donahue, choreographer before me decimated and then being told
MATTHEW LOPEZ: Writing is obsessive a straight white redneck Elvis impersonator Paul McGill and actor Matt McGrath for it was my turn to take the beach. Sex was a
work. I sometimes compare it to digging from the Florida Panhandle, where I was the LA production. Were you involved frightening experience for me for much of
wells. Once youve struck water, you move raised. I was eager to watch that guy with the selection of the rest of the cast my younger life and I largely dealt with that
on to another patch of earth and start transform into something new and beautiful. for the LA production, particularly Andrew fear by avoiding sex altogether. I regret that
digging another well. If Ive explored a Personally, I spent much of my teenage Burnap as Casey? thats true. Im happy that it isnt anymore.
topic, a genre, or historical period to my years with drag queens. I had a friend who LOPEZ: Yes, I sat in on all the auditions, And now I know younger gay men who
satisfaction, I am eager to move on to had started doing drag and I would sneak which I dont often do for productions after were not alive back then and who have
another, to immerse myself in new world. in to the one gay bar in my hometown and New York. I love this cast and am eager for no experiential understanding of what it
If I kept repeating the same topic/genre/ watch him perform. Id hang out in the LA audiences to fall in love with them the was like. As a result, they have an entirely
period over and over, Id run the risk of dressing room with him and all the other way we have throughout this process. dierent relationship with their identities
writing the same play over and over. queens as they prepared for their shows. Andrew is a really special actor. He has and with sex than I did when I was their age.
That energy backstage was intoxicating shown me new things about this character, Im encouraged and heartened by that. And,
BLADE: What was your inspiration for (sometimes literally) and I wanted to capture things I never imagined were possible. He if Im being honest, perhaps a little envious.
The Legend of Georgia McBride? my memories of that time in this play. brings real heart and warmth to the role This play is my way of looking at that
LOPEZ: A friend of a friend of my then- and makes you care deeply about Casey 30-year history in the lives of gay men.
boyfriend (now husband) had put together BLADE: Are you excited to bring Georgia and his journey. He brings such dignity to Its my way of attempting to understand
a music playlist for her boyfriend who was McBride to Los Angeles? the roleeven when waddling around in the calamity that befell the generation
experimenting with drag as performance LOPEZ: Deeply. LA is a town I love and butt padding and falsies. that came before mine and also to
art. He was putting together a persona, Ive always hoped for a production at Andrew was also the very last guy we explain myself (as a representative of my
and the playlist was lled with female the Geen. As a writer working both in auditioned for this production. We saw generation) to the younger generation just
country singers: Dolly, Loretta Lynn, features and theater, you can sometimes some amazing actors but Casey is a really coming up in the world.
Tammy Wynette, etc. Its a great mix, and feel your life is bifurcated and that the tricky part. We had to say no to some truly Show opens Wednesday, April 12.
2 6 A PRI L 0 7 , 2 0 1 7 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM LO S A N G E LE S CA LE N D A R

E-mail calendar items to or maybe wanting to meet someone


tmasters@losangelesblade.com professional for possible romance, were
two weeks prior to your event. Space is
limited so priority is given to LGBT-specic hosting a fun event with Pitre Pizza in West
events or those with LGBT participants.
Recurring events must be Hollywood. Well have our own private area
re-submitted each time. out on the patio. $20 at the door.
GO RAINBOW SKATE NIGHT AT
MOONLIGHT ROLLERWAY, 8-11 PM at
FRIDAY, APRIL 7 Moonlight Rollerway (5110 San Fernando
Rd). Great Outdoors LA invites you to roll,
WHEEL OF FORTUNE TAPING - Fri Apr 07 bounce the night away. Admission: $10.25
@ 9:45AM - 3:45 PM at Village at Ed Gould Skate rental: $5.
Plaza - (1125 North McCadden Place).
Watch the wheels on the bus go round and THURSDAY, APRIL 13
round as guests of the Los Angeles LGBT
Center travel to the studio for a taping of SELF-DEFENSE WORKSHOP FOR
Wheel of Fortune. Call 323.860.5830 and SENIORS, 1-2:30 PM at Triangle Square
inquire about event 0426. Apartments (1602 Ivar Ave). Former
DAN SAVAGES HUMP! FILM FEST L.A., boxer and trainer George will teach basic
Fri Apr 7 @ 6-11 PM at The Downtown self-defense methods, including how to
Independent - (251 S Main St). HUMP! is protect yourself from blows and how not
home-grown short lm porn for wannabe Members of Trans Chorus Los Angeles are preparing to give David Bowie a run for his money in a to be a victim. Free.
porn stars. Youll enjoy a cornucopia debut stage performance of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars at the Los
Angeles LGBT Center Lily Tomlin / Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center.
of body types, shapes, ages, colors, IMAGE COURTESY OF BERGAMOT STATION FRIDAY, APRIL 14
sexualities, genders, kinks, and fetishes-all
united by a shared spirit of sex-positivity. professional contacts, and new friends. locals dont even know about Out & About CARE BEAR CAMPOUT #SpringBreak
Check out www.humplmfest.com. RSVPs are required, but free. https:// Tours and The Lavender Eect (http://www. 2017, 8 AM-12 PM at Crystal Lake Cafe
THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY oitlaanniversaryparty.eventbrite.com thelavendereect.org/tours/). (9877 N Crystal Lake Rd). Care Bear
STARDUST - Fri Apr 07 @ 8:00PM - 8TH ANNUAL WEHO SCAVENGER Campers will take adventure once again
08:00PM at Renberg Theatre - ( 1125 SUNDAY, APRIL 9 HUNT, 2-6 PM at Gym Sportsbar - (8737 this spring April 14 & 15 checking out
N McCadden Pl). HUMANS OF EARTH! Santa Monica Blvd). WeHo Dodgeball, Sunday the 16. This year we celebrate our
BREAKING NEWS -- we have ve years EQUALITY CA BENEFIT BRUNCH 11 W*A*R, and Rainbow Rex are thrilled seven-year anniversary. All campsites are
left to cry. Its true Earth is really dying, AM-2 PM at a Los Angeles private residence. to bring you a fantastic day of fun and $12 per vehicle, eight people per campsite.
but we can make it all worthwhile! The Join the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Chamber adventure. In the 8th Annual WeHo Contact Crystal Lake Cafe, 626-910-1029.
superstars of Trans Chorus of Los Angeles of Commerce for a benet brunch on at a Scavenger Hunt, you and three of your
- TCLA, in their debut stage performance, beautiful mid-century modern view estate friends will race around West Hollywood COACHELLA VALLEY MUSIC AND ARTS
present the smash hit musical The Rise in the hills of Bel Air, and support the work and the surrounding area trying to FESTIVAL 2017 (through April 17), 11 AM-
and Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders of Equality California Institute. Address will complete our diabolically challenging midnight at Coachella @ Empire Polo - (81-
from Mars. Stepping directly out of the be provided upon RSVP at this link: https:// list of photo and item objectives! $10 800 Ave 51). We all know Coachella, the
music of David Bowie, the chorus tells the secure.eqca.org/17brunch. Tickets are $100. per person or $40 per team. Visit crazed, global festive near Indio. Go for the
iconic story of his alter ego, Ziggy Stardust, LGBTINSEL TOWN WALKING TOUR, 11 wehoadultrecreation.com. weekend or for the day. Its worth the trip
a rock star who acts as a messenger for AM-1:30 PM at The Hollywood Museum A SIMPLE TEA DANCE, 2 PM-9 PM at A to see some of the greatest musical acts of
extraterrestrial beings. This production - (1660 Highland Ave). Youll start your Simple Bar (3256 Cahuenga Blvd W.).Come our time. Visit coachella.com for details.
is presented in partnership with the Los LGBTinsel Town Tour with a Champagne dance the afternoon away at Superstars
Angeles LGBT Centers Lily Tomlin / Jane welcome at The Hollywood Museum monthly LGBTQ Tea Dance at A Simple Bar. SATURDAY, APRIL 15
Wagner Cultural Arts Center. featuring the most extensive collection of Well drinks at Happy Hour prices all night long.
Hollywood memorabilia in the world all ONE EYED MONSTER (Homo Massive),
SATURDAY, APRIL 8 housed in the historic Max Factor building. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12 10 PM-3 AM at The Globe Theatre (740 S
From there well hit the streets to dig up Broadway, Los Angeles). A Huge Throbbing
OUT IN TECH L.A. SOCIAL -Sat Apr 8 the dirt on decades of closeted stars, GAY MALE AND FRIENDS SPRING MIX Dance Ball with a huge throbbing you
@ 4-7 PM at Revolver (8851 Santa Monica underground pansy bars, and gay rights NCONNECT, 7-9 PM at Pitre Artisan Pizza know what featured everywhere. Call 818-
Blvd). One year ago Out in Tech launched battle scars. From the initial footfalls of the (801 N Fairfax Ave #101). Whether you 622-7278 for details.
in LA. Come join us as we celebrate a LAs rst Pride parade to the secret tunnels are new to Los Angeles, in the mindset of
year of wonderful Out in Tech LA events, that lie under the Walk of Fame that the meeting new friends, wanting to network, Powered by gayinla.com
losangelesblade.com
@LosAngelesBlade
2 8 A PRI L 0 7 , 2 0 1 7 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM P A LM SP RI N G S CA LE N D A R

E-mail calendar items to


tmasters@losangelesblade.com
two weeks prior to your event. Space is
limited so priority is given to LGBT-specic
events or those with LGBT participants.
Recurring events must be
re-submitted each time.

FRIDAY, APRIL 7

SOUTHERN BAPTIST SISSIES by Del


Shores at Desert Rose Playhouse (69-
620 Highway 111, Rancho Mirage) - Fri
& Sat - 8:00 PM 10:00 PM, Sun 2:00 PM
SOUTHERN BAPTIST SISSIES follows the
journey of four gay boys in the Baptist
Church. Storyteller Mark Lee Fuller tries
to create a world of love and acceptance
in the church and clubs of Dallas, Texas, Perhaps to you Coachella is a simple trip to the desert to party and dance all day and night in the Sahara Tent. Maybe its an overpriced weekend
getaway, a way to catch your favorite music and experience up-and-coming artists.
while desperately trying to nd a place to PHOTO BY DREW RESSLER; COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA

put his own pain and rage.April 7 9


CHAPATTI byChristian OReilly at The
Pearl McManus Theater (314 S Cahuilla PAT LASCH RETROSPECTIVE at the Springs) 8 PM on April 8, 3 PM on April 9
Road, Palm Springs CA.) 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM Palm Springs Art Museum Palm Desert Modern Men presents Anything Goes! - FRIDAY, APRIL 14
Dezart Performs brings Chapatti to Palm (72-567 Highway 111, Palm Desert, CA) Songs from the 30s 40s & 50s.
Springs. Romance is a distant memory for 10:00AM to 5:00 PM Pat Lash: Journeys of CONCERTS UNDER THE PALMS at Spa THE LADY WITH ALL THE ANSWERS
two lonely animal-lovers. When Dan and the Heart surveys more than four decades Resort Casino: Lou Gramm at The Spa by David Rambo at the Palm Springs
his dog, Chapatti, cross paths with Betty of the artists work, highlighting delicate Resort Casino (401 E Amado Rd, Palm Art Museum Annenberg Theater (101
and her 19 cats, an unexpected spark cake and pastry sculptures for which she is Springs) 7-9:30 PM Concerts Under the N Museum Drive, Palm Springs.) 7:30-
begins a warm and gentle story about two best known, alongside stitched canvases, Palms welcomes to the stage the voice of 9:30 PM Coyote StageWorks, presents
people re-discovering the importance of porcelain gures and a stunning display Foreigner,Lou Gramm for this free concert. The Lady With All the Answers, a
humancompanionship. April 7 - 9 of life-size dresses marking signicant popular one-woman play that will feature
WOMEN OF ABSTRACT moments in a womans life. SUNDAY, APRIL 9 Coachella Valley favorite Gloria Loring as
EXPRESSIONISM at The Palm Springs Art she portrays the beloved American advice
Museum (101 Museum Dr. Palm Springs, SATURDAY, APRIL 8 OPERA IN THE PARK at Sunrise Park columnist Ann Landers. April 14-16 and
CA) 10:00AM to 5:00 PM. This exhibition (401 S. Pavilion Way, Palm Springs) 1-4 PM 19-23.
presents the work of twelve American AN EVENING WITH NORM LEWIS at Opera in the Park is a celebration of great THEY ALL SANG MY SONGS. A Tribute
women artists active in New York City The Palm Springs Art Museum Annenberg opera music with outstanding young singers. Cabaret to Composer Jack Lawrence -
and the San Francisco Bay area in the late Theater (101 N Museum Drive, Palm at The Pearl McManus Theater (314 S
1940s and 1950s. April 9 May 28 Springs,CA.) 8:00 PM 9:30PM Norm Lewis THURSDAY, APRIL 13 Cahuilla Road, Palm Springs.) 7:30-9 PM.
ON THE GRID: A LOOK AT SETTLEMENT is a performer of breathtaking range and Five cabaret singers, well known and
PATTERNS IN THE HIGH DESERT at power. Lewis received Tony, Drama Desk, OPEN CALL TALENT COMPETITION at beloved by audiences here in the desert,
The Palm Springs Art Museum, The Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle the McCallum Theatre(73-000 Fred Waring are coming together to pay tribute to one
Architecture and Design Center, Edwards Award nominations for his performance Drive, Palm Desert) 7-9 PM. Dont miss of the most prolic, but unknown to many
Harris Pavilion (300 S Palm Canyon Dr. as Porgy in the Broadway production the Valleys best performers of all ages in people, contributors to the American
Palm Springs, CA) -10:00AM to 5:00 PM of The Gershwins Porgy and Bess. Other this exciting talent competition that has Songbook, Jack Lawrence.April 14-15
Coinciding with the inaugural presentation Broadway credits include Sondheim become a McCallum audience favorite and COACHELLA MUSIC AND ART
of Desert X, the international art biennial on Sondheim, The Little Mermaid, Les sell-out event. Local artists team up with FESTIVAL 2017 Weekend One at the
in the Coachella Valley, the museum Misrables, Chicago, Amour, The Wild the sta and crew to present four visually Empire Polo Club (81-800 Avenue 51,
presentsOn the Grid: a look at settlement Party, Side Show, Miss Saigon, The stunning and energy lled performances. Indio) April 14-16 The Coachella Valley
patterns in the high desert, an exhibition Whos Tommy, and most recently as the Vote for your favorite performer. Celebrate Music and Arts Festival (commonly
focused around Lay of My Land, a major Phantom in Phantom of the Opera. the winners at Saturday evenings nal referred to as Coachella or the Coachella
sculptural work by the Joshua Tree-based ANYTHING GOES! at The Bank Palm performance. April 13 15, Saturday April Fest) is an annual two-weekend, three-
artist Andrea Zittel. April 9 May 22 Springs (383 S Palm Canyon Drive, Palm 15 at 2 PM as well. daymusicandarts festival.
3 0 A PRI L 0 7 , 2 0 1 7 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM A RT S & E N T E RT A I N ME N T

Maurice remains powerful 30 years later


CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17 from the largely condescending reviews it Clives estate, climbs through his bedroom Clearly, critics like Ebert failed to
received in 1972, it appeared he was right. window at night and makes love to him. understand Forsters point, which is
E.M. Forster (1879-1970) has long been Maurice is not only an openly gay novel, For a gay man of that era, fearful of his own echoed not only in his own life but that of
acknowledged as one of Great Britains its an attack on the class from which he desires as much as the wrath of society, other gay artists of his era.
greatest writers. But he was largely the came and the literary culture that thought this is the ultimate sexual fantasy. Yet as W. Somerset Maughams lovers, Gerald
subject of academic study until the 1980s, it knew him. fantastic as it might seem, Forster takes Haxton and Alan Searle, were both from
when lm adaptations of his work made Maurice was greeted with snarky it quite seriously. Because of his love for the lower middle classes. Likewise Terence
him popular. condescension except in gay political Scudder, Maurice will not simply get over Rattigans lover, Michael Franklin. Rattigan
David Leans opulent adaptation of his circles where it was heartily embraced. his tortured semi-aair with Clive, he will recognized the genius of a lesser class,
best-known work, A Passage to India, Merchant-Ivorys decision to create the turn his back on British society and, as Mark playwright Joe Orton, whose Entertaining
was a considerable success in 1984. It was lm was a daring one. With James Wilby, Twain would say head o for the territory. Mr. Sloane he praised. Orton, precisely
followed in 1985 by Merchant-Ivorys far Hugh Grant and Rupert Graves at the apex This is what Edward Carpenter did. the sort of lower class lout that attracted
more modestly scaled adaptation of A of their beauty, Merchant-Ivory were not But it isnt the route Forster the man Rattigan sexually, was thoroughly
Room with a View. Both Passage and pressed to be sensational in the mise himself took. For rather than head committed to writing well-made plays in
Room deal with sexual awakening en scene. Maurice isnt The Boys in the to the country, Forster found his own the Rattigan manner though sexually
producing dire results in the former but Band. But it isnt Sunday Bloody Sunday Scudder in town a policeman named radical in content. Rattigan said his ideal
highly copasetic ones in the latter. The sight (its nearest gay relative) either. Its a lm Bob Buckingham. That Buckingham was audience was a gure he called Aunt
of Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham thats both of Edwardian England and married didnt complicate matters, as Edna, and in tribute Orton created Mrs.
Carter) suddenly kissed in a sun-drenched 1987 at the same time. his wife was apparently amenable to her Edna Welthorpe, a comic persona he
eld in Italy by a rakishly handsome youth Forster was exceedingly scrupulous in husband having his novelist as a love on used to write cheeky letters to people
(Julian Sands), proved especially popular making his titular hero an intelligent, but the down low. regarding their goods and services. Had
below the Mason-Dixon line where bevies in no way remarkable man. Obviously It might have been interesting (though Orton not been murdered by his mentally
of proper Southern Belles longed to well educated, Maurice (James Wilby) obviously less romantic) had Forster unbalanced lover, Kenneth Halliwell,
be likewise ravished. Beautifully made, is not an intellectual or an aesthete of contrived an ending to Maurice directly he might well have followed Rattigans
perfectly paced and delightfully acted, the Oscar Wilde sort, as he calls himself in line with his own life. But in the course example and ventured into the cinema.
Room was an enormous success. after rst fully recognizing his gay desires. of writing the book he made a number of A lot has happened since 1987. Not
But Merchant-Ivorys next Forster step That isnt clear to him right away. His signicant alterations that explain why he just that Ismail Merchant Jim Ivorys
would be Maurice, a love story of a far love for fellow student Clive Durham didnt do so. partner in life and art has died (as a
more intense stripe. (Hugh Grant) remains platonic, while Originally, Forster penned an epilogue result of an ulcer operation) but legions
Forster was an intimate friend with edging close to the fully physical. A scene depicting a meeting between Maurice of gay men died in an AIDS epidemic that,
the radical and openly gay poet Edward in which his professor (Barry Forster) and his sister Kitty some years later. when Maurice was rst released, was
Carpenter, whose life in the English advises a student reading a classic text Alec and Maurice have by now become just getting its full head of deadly steam.
countryside was completely removed aloud to skip a passage concerning the woodcutters. He doesnt explain it fully to People like Maurice and Scudder died by
from the world Forster resided in. unspeakable vices of the Greeks, sets her, but it becomes clear to Kitty why her the score Denholm Elliot, who played
Carpenter and his lover, George Merrill up a confrontation with a fellow student brother disappeared. This portion of the the doctor that advises Maurice, among
were an inspiration for the book. But the (Mark Tandy) who has clearly given into novel would have underlined the extreme them.
saga of Maurice largely reects Forsters them. When this same student is arrested dislike that Kitty feels for her brother. The Yet the love of Maurice and Scudder
own life and frustration with his class for coming on to a Royal Guardsman epilogue ends with Maurice and Alec in persists among gay men even today. We
Carpenters counter-example coming into (notorious in their history as hustlers for each others arms at the end of the day, are, all of us, either waiting by a bedroom
view only at the novels end. the rich and famous) and goes to prison discussing seeing Kitty and resolving that window or climbing up a ladder into one,
Originally written in 1914, then revised for it much like Oscar Wilde, the example they must move on to avoid detection. in a world that Forster could never have
in 1932 and again in 1960, Maurice was of his ruined life is all Clive needs to call o Happily, for gay audiences, Foster dreamed possible.
shown by Forster only to select friends, his aair with Maurice. eschewed this melodrama. Merchant-Ivorys lm reminds us that
including Christopher Isherwood, to whom What is to become of me, Maurice A typical critics reaction was Roger though hes been dead for 46 years, E.M.
he entrusted the manuscript. Forster, cries when Clive tells him its all over (a Eberts review of the lm; he declares the Forster is still very much alive in us all.
who died in 1970, wanted Maurice to deeply moving moment beautifully played ending impossible to believe since Maurice Cohen Media Group has re-mastered
be published after his passing. He didnt by Wilby). and Alec are from dierent classes and, he 30 lms by the legendary Merchant Ivory
believe it was possible for such a story to He gets his answer when Alec Scudder surmised, in that era would never have Productions, including Maurice, which is set
be released in his lifetime. And judging (Rupert Graves), the under-games-keeper at spoken much less formed a life together. for release in select theaters this month.
T H E H U M A N R I G H T S C A M PA I G N W E L C O M E S

THE BLADE
TO LOS AN G E LES

Thank you for your past, present and future commitment


to sharing the stories of the LGBTQ community.

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