M AY 05 2017 VOLUME 01 ISSUE 04 A M E R I C A S LGBT NEWS SOURCE LOSANGELESBLADE.

COM

LA MAYOR ON
SANCTUARY CITIES,
LGBT RIGHTS AND
ALL THAT
2020
SPECULATION
PAGE 3

Riots and the LGBT community A tribute to Sandy Gallin The return of Billy Masters

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CO V E R STO RY W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM MA Y 0 5 , 2 0 1 7 0 3

Garcetti chooses LA over D.C. for now

Outspoken LGBT ally and
feminist talks to the
Los Angeles Blade

By KAREN OCAMB
kocamb@losangelesblade.com

Democrats scanning the landscape,

looking for a savior to lead the 2020 charge
against Oval Oce occupant Donald
Trump often alight upon Eric Garcetti. The
popular Los Angeles mayor was reelected
in March with a stunning 81 percent of
the vote in a diverse sanctuary city with a
population of more than 4 million.
Smart, hip and perpetually positive,
Garcetti embodies the youthful wellspring
of Democratic core values: hes a walking
Statue of Liberty, welcoming everyone
with the voice of an intersectional, feminist
Rhodes Scholar infused with Italian, Russian
Jewish and Mexican heritage and values.
Hes also a committed LGBT ally.
On Tuesday, ABC7 cited a New York
Times report that suggested Garcetti may
be considering a run for the White House.
ERIC GARCETTI says serving as mayor of LA is his dream job.
Allies of Mr. Garcetti acknowledged that
national donors had broached the subject PHOTO COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF ERIC GARCETTI: FLICKR

of 2020 but said that was the extent of his

attention to the race. Mr. Garcetti is weighing
a campaign for governor of California next
year, The Times reported April 30.
The 2020 presidential speculation may
have been fueled by a Politico story on
March 8 entitled Democrats planning rst
cattle call for 2020 contenders, in which
Garcettis name is included on the list of
invited Democratic star speakers at the
Center for American Progress (CAP) Ideas
Conference on May 16.
Garcetti is going to the CAP conference
but to discuss ideas. And, he told the
Los Angeles Blade in a May 1 phone
interview, he is not interested in any other
job than being mayor for the near future.
Every day I hear of dierent things Im
running for from dierent people, Garcetti
says. But when I have a conversation in
my own head, its really being excited
about my new job on July 1 when I get to
be a second-term mayor.
Garcetti describes being mayor of Los
Angeles as his dream job.
I love that we passed the largest
infrastructure initiative in the nations history,
times two, to build 15 rapid transit lines, passed
two homeless measures to build housing
and provide services to get our brothers and
sisters o the street who are unhoused,
Garcetti says. But the day after that, trac
was still bad, [homeless] tents were still in too
many places in the city. So I truly am excited
to see through the implementation of this
work and thats 100 percent what Im focused
on and new opportunities like bringing the
Olympics back to L.A.
As a result of a change in election dates,
Garcettis second term will run ve and a reelected, reports Gabriel Kahn in a long June
half years instead of four. I think you can 29, 2016 prole for Los Angeles Magazine.
make a real impact on your city the longer Garcetti is uncharacteristically awkward
youre there, he says. There may be the on the topic, telling me, I have not yet sat
time when I can serve my city in a dierent down and done any hard thinking about
role, that also helps Angelenos even more. governor, pausing as if unsure how to
But Im not a person whos very focused nish the thought. But I certainly know
on my political future. Im focused on my that the work that Im doing for L.A.
citys needs. and leading a lot of coalitions statewide
Garcettis critics dont believe that. that provides California cities some of the
From the start of Garcettis time as common help they need. But right now Im
mayor, there was speculation that City Hall not, Kahn wrote.
would be a mere pit stop on his way to Garcetti was far from hesitant, awkward
the governors mansion. The distrust isnt or calculating with the Los Angeles Blade.
unique to Garcettiambition and capability In fact, he was brimming with enthusiasm,
in a politician often seem at odds with which raises the question about how
trustworthinessbut it isnt going away, words like ambition and leader are
either. Mitchell Schwartz wants the mayor
to pledge that he would serve a full term if CONTINUES ON PAGE 14
0 4 MA Y 0 5 , 2 0 1 7
Life after the riots for LGBT Angelenos
Relationship with police
improved dramatically
after reforms
By KAREN OCAMB
kocamb@losangelesblade.com
Not guilty, not guilty, not guilty, not
guilty. Los Angeles was stunned on April
29, 1992 to hear the verdicts in the case
of four white LAPD ocers accused of
assault in the videotaped beating of black
motorist Rodney King a year earlier.
How could anyone, even the white
pro-police jurors in Simi Valley, refuse to
acknowledge what minority communities
had complained about for years the
brutality of the LAPD. The verdicts lanced
the festering wounds of injustice and riots
broke out in South Central. And LGBT
people were involved at every juncture.
The LAPD vice squad was infamous
for mistreating gays. No one cared. Even
before anti-gay Ed Davis became chief
in 1969, police harassed gays through
bars raids, entrapment and selective
enforcement, as well as violence with no
fear of accountability. For instance, cops
purportedly dangled a young gay man
over a cli to get him to reveal names of a
supposed pedophile ring.
Then on March 9, 1969, two vice ocers
raided the bathhouse-style Dover Hotel in
downtown L.A. looking for faggots. They
claimed that Howard Eand, a slightly
framed male nurse, groped them so they
beat him, arrested him, and dragged his
naked, bleeding body by his feet down a
ight of stairs as he screamed for help. Once
on the street, the ocers kicked him, knee-
dropped onto his stomach and continued
to beat him, according to witnesses. Eand
later died at LA County Hospital, with police
telling his parents he had died of a heart
attack. The coroner later ruled his death
an excusable homicide, a justication
accepted by the mainstream media. The
L.A. Advocate, however, reported the
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
real story, radicalizing gays like The Rev.
Troy Perry, founder of the Metropolitan
Community Church, who led 120 marchers
to the Dover to protest Eands death
under color of authority. Such consistent
LAPD abuse drove gays to unincorporated
West Hollywood where they were treated
slightly better by the L.A. Sheris.
But LGBT civilians werent the only victims
of LAPD abuse. In 1988, LAPD Sergeant
Mitch Grobeson courageously led an
historic employment discrimination
lawsuit against the department.
Tough guy LAPD Chief Daryl Gates had
publicly proclaimed that homosexuality
is unnatural and rejected gay ocers
because Who would want to work with
one? It was later revealed that Deputy
Chief Mark Kroeker ran a secret God
Squad that fast-tracked the careers of
like-minded anti-gay Christians.
After he was outed and harassed at
work, falsely accused of misconduct, and
had his life put at risk when members of the
department intentionally refused to send
backup to assist him in a life-threatening
situation, Grobeson felt he had to take action,
even knowing that doing so would surely
lead to further character assassination,
says Jon Davidson, legal director for Lambda
Legal who worked with civil rights lawyer
Dan Stormer on Grobesons behalf in what
turned out to be 25 years of litigation.
Grobeson didnt want what happened to
him to happen to anyone else,
Davidson notes: the LAPD settled
Grobesons 1988 suit in 1993 for $770,000;
agreed to revise its nondiscrimination,
recruitment, training, and complaint
policies and practices; and allowed
Grobeson to return to the force. But
Grobeson then faced appalling retaliation
for having sued as the LAPD ignored
most of the agreed-upon changes.
Grobeson sued again in 2006 and a
second settlement of Grobesons non-
monetary claims was reached in 2007,
this time including detailed new training
materials and recruitment procedures
Prior to the 1991 LA riots, the Los Angeles Police Department classied gay domestic dispute
situations NHI, as in no human involved.
backed up by amendments to the L.A. City
Administrative Code. The legal back and
forth continued until 2013.
But out of the L.A. riots came historic
change. Mayor Tom Bradley set up the
Independent Commission on the Los
Angeles Police Department, which became
known as the Christopher Commission,
named for its renowned leader, attorney
Warren Christopher.
The Christopher Commission looked
broadly and deeply into the LAPDs culture
and discriminatory practices, including
receiving a detailed report I authored
on the forces anti-LGBT history and
receiving testimony from numerous still-
closeted LAPD ocers, says Davidson.
The commissions recommendations
and the consent decrees secured by the
Department of Justice were essential
to bringing about a department that,
although still not perfect, is barely
recognizable as the successor to the one
Grobeson joined in 1981.
One of the details from the Christopher
Commission Report was the revelation
that when ocers were dispatched to
break up what was described as a gay
domestic dispute, the call typed into the
Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) was NHI,
which stood for no human involved.
Theres an important lesson here, says
Davidson. When racism and police violence
against black and brown communities are
tolerated, homophobia, transphobia, and
violence against LGBTQ people often are
LO CA L N E W S
PHOTO BY MICK TAYLOR; COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA
present, as well. Eorts to end certain forms
of ocial bias can diminish other forms, as
well. All Angelenos, including those of us
who are part of the queer community, are
better o because of the reforms of the last
25 years.
Since the L.A. riots, the LAPD has
changed dramatically.
Leadership from top LAPD Chiefs Bill
Bratton and Charlie Beck brought on
commanding ocers who would no longer
tolerate open homophobia and, with the
support of a more powerful city Police
Commission, numerous concrete reforms
occurred, says Davidson. Some of those
reforms include: the number of LAPD
ocers 15 years ago who were out swelled
to more than 150; the LAPDs previously
discriminatory scouting program was
replaced with an independent LAPD
Cadet Program; regular sting operations
targeting gay and bisexual men ended;
the LAPD instituted now-annual LGBTQ
Community Police Academies to foster
dialogue with L.A.s queer residents; and
the LAPD adopted rules requiring ocers
to refer to transgender individuals by the
name and gender they prefer and barring
searches of transgender individuals to
determine their genital anatomy.
Finally, in 1993, when out LAPD Ocer
Lisa Phillips received a Medal of Valor
for her courageous acts of heroism on
April 29, 1992, three tables of lesbians
screamed and hollered and the whole
room enjoyed their enthusiasm.
LO C A L N E W S
LAs May Day march includes LGBT visibility
ANGELICA SALAS and ARI GUTIERREZ
Focus on immigration rights,
equality and Trump
By KAREN OCAMB
Organizers from a massive coalition
that included LGBT groups estimated
that about 30,000 people turned out
for the May Day march on Monday, May
1, in downtown Los Angeles, though
100,000 people had been expected. The
alt-right site Breitbart headlined that 85
percent shortfall, with no consideration
of why there might have been fewer
demonstrators, no mention of the rampant
fear gripping the immigrant communities
that for so long have bolstered the ranks
of those commemorating International
Workers Day.
The fear is not just the election of
Donald Trump as president. After all,
President Barack Obama deported
2.5 million people, earning him the
nickname deporter-in-chief. The fear is
that Obama-era restrictions have been
lifted or loosened so even designated
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
PHOTO BY KAREN OCAMB
DREAMers are being detained and
deported, with ICE routinely sweeping up
more people than their intended target.
Additionally, as happened to Romulo
Avelica-Gonzalez, the father of four who
was arrested last February after dropping
o his 12- year old daughter at her
Lincoln Heights school, ICE ocers wear
jackets emblazed with the word POLICE,
instilling confusion and fear of the LAPD,
which has publicly stressed it will not
comply with ICE, unless necessary.
ICE says it is going after criminals, raising
the specter of the Mexican rapists, drug
dealers, and murderers Trump talked
about when announcing his campaign.
But the two criminal convictions for which
Avelica-Gonzalez, who has lived in the
U.S. for 25 years, was arrested and now
faces deportation and the breakup of his
family were misdemeanor DUI and driving
without a license in 2008 and buying a
stolen non-DMV-issued vehicle registration
tag in 1998, also a misdemeanor. He
ended up with a deportation order in 2013
for trusting a fake lawyer who ran o with
his money and paperwork.
Undocumented immigrants in California
have been able to get drivers licenses
since 2015.
It is no wonder, then, that thousands of
undocumented workers and their families
who might have proudly marched in the
May Day celebrations of the past were too
afraid to march this year, especially with
such a strong police presence.
But despite the numbers, there
may have been a turning point in the
call for unity in deance of the Trump
administrations eorts to take away basic
civil rights.
This year, the May Day Coalition of Los
Angeles, a network of more than 115
organizations led by Coalition for Humane
Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) and the Los
Angeles County Federation of Labor,
was intentionally inclusive. Rainbow
ags dotted the march from MacArthur
Park to L.A. City Hall with transgender
communications spokesperson Rachel
Rose Luckey of Stonewall Democrats
speaking before the march and trans
activist Bamby Salcedo of TransLatin@
Coalition speaking at City Hall. Among the
LGBT groups represented were: Equality
California, Human Rights Campaign,
Lambda Legal, Latino Equality Alliance,
Los Angeles LGBT Center, Stonewall
Democratic Club, and St Johns Well Child
& Family Center, which has a signicant
trans program.
On May Day, when WE resist together,
we honor the intersection of our identity
as immigrants and descendants of
immigrants and we honor the diversity of
our communities, says Ari Gutirrez, Co-
Founder and Advisory Board President of
the Latino Equality Alliance. The Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer
identied community includes immigrants,
survivors, dreamers, college students,
professionals and entrepreneurs. The
LGBTQ community supports labor,
immigrant and racial justice because
those issues aect us too! The safety and
dignity of our LGBTQ community in our
MA Y 0 5 , 2 0 1 7 0 5
advocacy for immigration, employment
and other policies must be a priority in our
common struggle for equality, equity and
justice. We must RESIST together and ALL
of us for each other!
It is a point CHIRLA Executive Director
Angelica Salas underscored in an interview
with the Los Angeles Blade. It is not
just the responsibility for the immigrant
community to stand up for Africa American
and LGBTQ rights. It is our responsibility to
change the country, she said at Stonewall
Democratic Clubs Stoney Awards on
Sunday, where CHIRLA was honored.
Salas also noted that CHIRLAs eorts at
unity and coalition-building required some
intense internal struggle and preparation.
In 2008, for instance, the leadership
recognized that the anti-gay marriage Prop
8 was the equivalent in the gay community
to the horric anti-immigrant Prop 187
was in the Latino community. Though
they were in the middle of the grant
process with the LA Catholic Archdioceses,
CHIRLA decided to return the money to
the churchwhich caused considerable
internal consternation, rather than bow
to church pressure over their opposition
to Prop 8. Of more importance was not
equivocating on their principles of fairness
and equality, she said.
CHIRLA is also extremely aware of the
issues and challenges faced by LGBT
immigrants and worked hard on behalf
of DREAMer Yordi Cancino, a gay youth
leader for his high schools Gay-Straight
Alliance, who wound up in an ICE detention
facility facing deportation. CHIRLA is also
advocating for LGBT asylum seekers.
LGBT people having been marching in
the May Day march for years, starting with
six brave staers and volunteers from
Bienestar. When gays were eventually
acknowledged and included, the
representative was often the last speaker
on stage. This year, with so much at stake,
the need for diversity in unity itself became
a message for #ResistLAeven in the logo
for the May Day ier.
0 6 MA Y 0 5 , 2 0 1 7
Schiff to Stonewall Dems: We Are Proudly Out of Control
Honoring allies and
advocates at the annual
Stoney Awards
By KAREN OCAMB
kocamb@losangelesblade.com
#ResistTrump heroes Reps. Adam Schi
and Ted Lieu marked the 100th day of
Donald Trumps presidency celebrating
LGBT rights and progressive values at
Stonewall Democratic Clubs Stoney
Awards on April 29. Lieu presented Schi
the Elected Ocial of the Year Award, with
both men underscoring the importance of
this moment in democratic history.
Schi, ranking member of the
House Permanent Select Committee
on Intelligence, is everything Chair
David Nunes is not, Lieu said to LGBT
Democratic party activists and allies in the
courtyard of Traxx Restaurant at Union
Station in downtown Los Angeles. Nunes
recused himself from the committees
investigation into the Trump campaigns
possible collusion with Russian ocials
to interfere with the 2016 elections after
it was revealed that he colluded with
White House ocials to allegedly launder
classied information. At stake is the
legitimacy of the Trump administration.
No pressure, Adam.
Schi thanked Lieu, top Trump troll on
Twitter, for the great job you are doing to
put real constraints on the unconstitutional
impulses of this administration.
In Washington and around the world,
what we are up against is not one man or
one party, said Schi. What we are up for the values that we hold dear for
against is the idea that we are stronger
when we are divided, when we turn
against each other, when we focus on
our dierences rather than our common
humanity. This is the root of the challenge
we face at home, and the challenge of
nativism and bigotry around the world.
The very idea of liberal democracy is under
assault, and along with it, that we were all
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
ADAM SCHIFF and TED LIEU were presented with the Stonewall Democratic Clubs Stoney Awards
on April 29 in Los Angeles.
created equal, regardless of how we look,
where we are from, who we worship, or
who we love.
The House investigation into Russian
interference is not about re-litigating the
election but how we protect our democracy
and that of our allies for generations to
come, Schi said. We cannot turn a blind
eye to outside interference just because
it helps us politically. America must
vigorously oppose the rise of autocracy
around the world.
Schi called Stonewall Democrats his
family and said there wasnt enough
time to list all anti-LGBT actions the Trump
administration took in the rst 100 days.
But he cited a few, including being silent
on the atrocities in Chechnya and on
the murder of members of our trans
community at home.
After congratulating fellow honorees,
Schi said he was truly thankful to stand
shoulder-to-shoulder with you in this ght
equality, respect and dignity. To our friends
and adversaries in the administration
who so often condemn California and our
judges, let me just say we are proudly
out of control. Now, back to work!
During his introduction, Lieu noted
that Schi is a signatory on his recently
introduced Therapeutic Fraud Prevention
Act of 2017, a bill that would put a federal
LOS ANGELES BLADE PHOTO BY KAREN OCAMB
ban on so-called conversion therapy by
allowing the Federal Trade Commission
to classify the practice as fraudulent.
Lieu rst lead the charge against ex-gay
therapy in the California Legislature,
passing a law in 2012.
The bill is very simple, Lieu told The
Washington Post. It says it is fraud if you
treat someone for a condition that doesnt
exist and theres no medical condition
known as being gay. LGBTQ people were
born perfect; there is nothing to treat
them for. And by calling this what it should
be, which is fraud, it would eectively shut
down most of the organizations.
On May 1, the U.S. Supreme Court refused
to hear a second challenge to the California
law. Vice President Pence and Education
Secretary Betsy DeVos have previously
expressed support for the practice.
Lieu says the bill has 70 co-sponsors.
Our hope is that it becomes law but in the
meantime, the Federal Trade Commission
can just do it, Lieu told the Los Angeles
Blade. Since Trump has not yet named a
new chair, I urge them to take action now.
Also honored was transgender activist
Michaela Irivi Mendelsohn, CEO of Pollo
West Corp., one of the largest franchisees
for El Pollo Loco restaurants in the Western
Region. She also founded TransCanWork,
with the mission of making trans inclusion
in the workplace the new normal.
LO CA L N E W S
Eric Bauman, who helped build
Stonewall Democratic Club into a political
grassroots powerhouse years ago and has
transformed the L.A. County Democratic
Party into the largest local Democratic
Party organization in the country, was
honored with the Public Ocial of the Year
Award. He is expected to win election to
become chair of the California Democratic
Party later this month, becoming the
partys rst out gay chair.
Sean Kolodji, Stonewalls young
membership recruiter, was honored
with the Member of Year Award, with his
mother in the audience looking on.
Out California State Sen. Ricardo Lara,
who is expected to run for Insurance
Commissioner, made a heartfelt
presentation of the Organization of the
Year Award to CHIRLA (Coalition for
Humane Immigration Rights), personally
praising and thanking Executive Director
Angelica Salas for embracing LGBT
Latinos. On May Day, CHIRLA lead a large
LGBT-inclusive coalition and a march of
thousands in a demonstration for social
justice and immigrant rights. It is our
responsibility to change the country, she
told the Blade.
Also receiving love from Stonewall
Democrats was LA City Council member Gil
Cedillo, a longtime LGBT ally who is running
for reelection in Council District 1. He faces
controversial candidate Joe Bray-Ali, whose
comments on explicitly racist and alt-
right websites included criticizing gender-
reassignment surgery for transgender
individuals as a shameful excess.
Out LAUSD Board President Steve
Zimmer got a special shout out from
Bauman and Stonewall President Stephen
David Simon to bolster his grassroots-
coalition backed reelection campaign
against well-nanced, private charter
school booster Nick Melvoin. We have to
speak truth to this money and not allow
this take over to take place,
Zimmer told The Blade. Im very proud
to carry this ag. The run-o is May 16.
LO C A L N E W S
RuPauls Drag Con is a world of wonder
Queens from around
the world celebrate
all things drag
By ROBERT WILLIAMS
If you ever wondered what it would be
like to jump through the wig of a drag
queen and swim around in her brain for
a few hours, this was your lucky weekend.
RuPauls Drag Con, the annual two-day
drag extravaganza, sashayed into the Los
Angeles Convention Center amid a wash of
pink adorned wigs, leather, pleather, boas,
babies, celebrities, and, of course, a whos
who of drag queens and Drag Race illuminati.
Thousands of queens from across the
U.S. and beyond roamed the aisles of
exhibitors at the Convention Center April
29 and 30.
The exhibitors included make-up, hair
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
Drag Race alum EUREKA entertaining kids in the Drag Con Kid Zone
and wig vendors. Celebrities like Lori
Petty and drag queen super novas, along
with socially minded panel discussions,
including the likes of the ACLU, drew lines
that dragged on for days.
Some of the panel discussions included:
The Truth About Trolls, an honest chat
about how proud trans women survive
the world of social media; Drag Race
alum Ginger Minj gave Jerry OConnell a
drag makeover; and social media stars
like Christine Sydelko and Elijah Daniel
gave advice on how to build your brand.
And, of course, there was a popular panel
on Wiggery; Teen Vogue, the famously
prescient blog, presented a panel called
What Is Drag In Trumps America?
And the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
enlightened everyone about protests of
past, how our community can ght back
today, and the political power of drag in
their panel called #Resist with the Sisters
PHOTO BY ROBERT WILLIAMS
of Perpetual Indulgence.
Attendees at Drag Con were just
as much an attraction as some of the
superstar drag queens and undoubtedly
some of them will one day have a booth
and lines of people waiting to see them.
Its an experience of a lifetime, you
dont see this anywhere in the States, its
denitely worth travelling from D.C. to
see, says Quinton Embly aka Siren Kelly.
I come to be amongst the freaks like
me and to be crazy and to show o looks,
Xanadu Darling says.
The event isnt only for adults and
even has a Kid Zone with bounce house
and programming for the kiddos. Drag
Race fans recently saw Eureka being sent
home due to a leg injury on RuPauls Drag
Race, and on Sunday she appeared well
while enchanting a ock of kids with an
inspirational story time.
The owners of childrens boutique La La
MA Y 0 5 , 2 0 1 7 0 7
Ling on Vermont Avenue were invited by
event organizers to promote their store,
which sells baby and kids clothes, books,
toys and accessories for kids ages up to
10, with a booth in the Kid Zone. Owners
Kara and Celine were excited to see many
of their LGBTQ customers and hope to
return next year.
Local drag queen super fan Isabel Balboa
came to Drag Con because of her general
love for the God RuPaul and all of the drag
queens on heaven and earth. She attended
with her 14-year old daughter Dalyan
Johnston and best friend of 30 years Lisette
Rubio. The quirky trio moved downtown
for the weekend to experience each and
every glittery moment of the event.
Asked whether her love of drag was
something she enjoyed with her friends
as well as her family, Johnston replied, Its
mostly a family thing, most of my friends
arent as committed as I am.
08 MAY 05, 2017
After protests, developer RD Olson
leaves anti-gay business group
Membership in Christian org
that espouses conversion
therapy at issue
By KAY KUDUKIS
Several dozen protesters gathered
outside of city hall on April 28 for a press
conference in protest of homophobic
developments in Hollywood, putting
RD Olson, an Orange County-based
construction rm that is developing the
21-story Ivar Gardens Hotel project on
Hollywood Boulevard, on notice for its
membership in Legatus, a right-wing
Christian business group.
RD Olsons website had stressed its
involvement in Legatus, a non-prot group
that describes itself as Ambassadors
of Christ in the Marketplace. Legatus
mission statement is to help its members
study, live and spread the faith in their
business, professional and personal lives.
UNITE HERE Local 11, a labor union
representing more than 23,000 hospitality
workers, had pointed to several articles
on the Legatus website that advocated
the use of conversion therapy for LGBT
children, the criminalization of abortion,
and the repeal of marriage equality.
Protesters were concerned that RD
Olson would be given project approval
from the planning and land use committee
of the Los Angeles City Council without
consideration of its support of anti-gay
and right-wing causes.
Richard Zaldivar, executive director of Wall
Las Memorias, who was present at the protest,
said I am very concerned that the City Council
would even consider a development project
from an organization that advocates hateful
homophobic beliefs and practices.
By Tuesday, May 2, however, the
aliation with Legatus had been erased
W W W .LOS ANG E LE SB L A D E . C O M
from RD Olsons website and the
companys president announced that
he had terminated his membership and
association with the group.
In a direct inquiry to the RD Olsons
Marketing Director, Joey Sanchez, the
Los Angeles Blade learned that President
Bill Wilhelm has resigned from Legatus.
Sanchez declined to say whether the
decision was due to public relations
pressure brought by the protesters.
California is among several states that
have banned conversion therapy, the
practice of attempting to eliminate same-
sex attraction through electroshock therapy
and other controversial practices. The
U.S. Supreme Court just this week upheld
Californias right to ban the practice.
It is not known if California or Los Angeles
has oered RD Olson any subsidies for the
construction of Ivar Gardens Hotel. But RD
Olson and Ivar Gardens Hotel could have
run afoul of workplace protections for
LGBT employees.
Controversy surrounding Legatus is not new.
In 2015, Brett Baier of Fox News was
scheduled to speak at a Legatus conference,
but later pulled out. Baier said, I am a
lifelong, mass attending Catholic Im a its woven into the fabric of our rm.
lector at my parish. I consider myself to be
in line with my church on most things. But,
describing homosexuality as a disorder and
talking about ways to cure people from it
does not seem to line up with the loving,
accepting church that I know.
Actor Gary Sinise, who also serves as a
missionary in service to American troops
abroad, also dropped out. I dont want
my mission which is designed to be
unifying to be disrupted by these, or
any, controversies, said Sinise.
Molson Coors Board Chairman Peter Coors,
who belonged to Legatus, also dropped out of
Legatus, citing similar reasons.
Bob Newhart, the comedian, also
LO CA L N E W S
declined to speak at their conference.
All identify as Catholics.
RD Olsons Community Statement, in
full, is below.
To Our Team and Community,
At R.D. Olson Construction, we are
committed to fostering, cultivating and
preserving a culture of diversity and
inclusion. After extensive thought and
evaluation, I am announcing that I will be
resigning from Legatus, a membership
organization for Catholic business leaders.
Although I remain a devout Catholic,
some of Legatus beliefs regarding sexual
orientation and womens rights do not
represent my own. My decision to part
ways with this organization is simply a
personal decision, one that reects my
leadership philosophy for R.D. Olson
Construction employees, industry
partners and vendors.
R.D. Olson Construction is the sum
of its parts and the company proudly
celebrates each and every employee
who brings his or her own diverse beliefs
and backgrounds to the team. We have,
and will continue to celebrate diversity
In continuing to foster an inclusive
culture at R.D. Olson Construction,
the company is a proud sponsor of OC
Prides As One LGBT Pride Parade &
Festival for the rst time on June 24. As
ongoing stewards of our community, we
also continually work to identify new
opportunities that allow the company and
its team members to live out R.D. Olsons
commitment to providing a safe and fair
workplace for every person that walks
through our doors. Thank you for your
understanding of this personal decision.
Sincerely,
William J. Wilhelm , President
R.D. Olson Construction, Inc.
LO C A L N E W S WWW.L OS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM MAY 05, 2017 09

The Los Angeles Blade celebrated its official launch at Pump

Restaurant in West Hollywood on April 25
About 175 people mixed and mingled and reconnected during the three-hour event, bringing together a diverse array of local and
national politicians (and their representatives), community leaders, community non-prot executive directors and staers, activists, local
business owners, advertising agencies, academics and culture mavens. (Los Angeles Blade photos by John Boatner)
1 0 MA Y 0 5 , 2 0 1 7
In uphill ght, Dems make case for Equality Act
Supporters condent
bill would pass if GOP
leaders allow a vote
By CHRIS JOHNSON
WASHINGTON, D.C. President
Trumps November victory and
Republican majorities in Congress arent
stopping Democrats from reintroducing
legislation seeking to enshrine into law
comprehensive non-discrimination
protections forLGBT people.
At an event Tuesday at the Rayburn
Room of the U.S. Capitol, Rep. David Cicilline
(D-R.I.) and Sen. Je Merkley (D-Ore.), lead
sponsors of the legislation in their respective
chambers of Congress, touted the Equality
Act as a means to extend LGBT progress in
the face of current obstacles.
Cicilline, lead sponsor of the Equality Act
in the U.S. House, said the legislation has
more supporters than ever in the House
and reects the simple idea that everyone,
including members of the LGBT community,
is entitled to equal treatment under the law
and right to live free of discrimination.
Its long past time to guarantee that
equal protection under the law applies to
every single American regardless of their
sexual orientation or gender identity, and
thats exactly what the Equality Act will
accomplish, Cicilline said.
Merkley, lead sponsor of the legislation
in the Senate, said the Equality Act is the
answer to the question of what constitutes
a just and equal society.
Every American deserves to be treated
with dignity and respect, Merkley said.
Every American deserves to be able to
pursue their full potential without the
door of discrimination being slammed in
their face. When we pass the Equality Act,
non-discrimination will be the law of the
land here in America once and for all, and
that day could not come sooner.
As when it was rst introduced in the
previous Congress, the Equality Act would
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
Sen. JEFF MERKLEY (D-Oregon) speaks at the reintroduction of the Equality Act at the U.S. Capitol on
May 2.
amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and
the Fair Housing Act to ban anti-LGBT
discrimination in employment, housing,
public accommodations, jury service,
education, federal programs and credit.
The bill also seeks to update federal law
to include gender in the list of protected
classes in public accommodation in
addition to expanding the denition of
public accommodations to include retail
stores, banks, transportation services and
health care services. Further, the Equality
Act would establish that the Religious
Freedom Restoration Act a 1994 law
aimed at protecting religious liberty cant
used to enable anti-LGBT discrimination.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.) invoked the recent ruling from the
U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals that
found anti-gay discrimination on the job
constitutes sex discrimination under current
law, but said the Equality Act is needed to
expand protections into other areas.
Now we must pass the Equality Act to
remove all doubt that sexual orientation
and gender identity warrant civil rights
protection, not just in the workplace, but
every place, Pelosi said.
BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
Lawmakers at the event characterized
the legislation as an eort to make a
distinction between supporters of LGBT
rights and their opposition in the White
House and Congress.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), top
Democrat on the Senate Health, Education,
Labor & Pensions Committee, lamented
being at a dierent place with Trump
in the White House than expected when
Hillary Clinton was leading in the polls.
The truth is there has never been a more
important time to keep up this ght, to lay
out a vision for the kind of country that we
all know we can be and to come together to
pass the Equality Act, Murray said. Since
the moment he walked into the White
House, President Trump has laid out a
hateful, damaging agenda to undo the hard
won progress for the LGBTQ community.
Upon its reintroduction in the 115th
Congress, the Equality Act has a greater
number of total co-sponsors in the
House and Senate than ever before. The
legislation has 195 co-sponsors in the
House and 46 co-sponsors in the Senate.
But the only Republican co-sponsor in
either chamber is Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
NATIONAL NEWS
(R-Fla.), an LGBT-supportive Republican
who this weekend said she plans to retire
from Congress at the end of next year.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) has been
a Republican who has taken the lead on
pro-LGBT measures in the past, such
as Dont Ask, Dont Tell repeal and the
Employment Non-Discrimination Act,
but isnt an Equality Act co-sponsor. The
Washington Blade has placed a call toher
oce seeking comment on why she
doesnt co-sponsor the bill.
The remaining co-sponsors are all
members of the Democratic caucuses. In
the House, the only two Democrats who
arent co-sponsors are Reps. Marcia Fudge
(D-Ohio) and Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.). Lipinski is
a rare member of the Democratic caucus
whos known for holding anti-LGBT views.
In the Senate, the only two Democrats who
arent co-sponsors are Sens. Joe Manchin
(D-W.Va.) and Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.).
Despite the lack of Republican support
in a Republican Congress, Cicilline
expressed condence Congress would
approve the measure if the measure is
allowed to come up for a vote when asked
by a reporter about GOP support.
Its like so many things: The ultimate
decision on whether or not this bill comes
to the oor for a vote rests with the speaker
of the House, Cicilline said. I have every
condence that if the bill came to the
oor it would pass because I think most
members of Congress recognize voting
to continue practices of discrimination
against individuals is un-American, and we
would be successful in passing it.
On the same day Democrats
reintroduced the Equality Act, the Center
for American Progress unveiled the
results of a new report titled Widespread
Discrimination Continues to Shape
LGBT Peoples Lives in Both Subtle and
Signicant Ways, which found 1 in 4
LGBT people report having experienced
discrimination in 2016.
CONTINUES AT LOSANGELESBLADE.COM
 TRUMP TO
LGBT ELDERS:

DROP
DEAD
The National Survey of Older Americans Act Participants is used to determine what
services will be provided to older Americans in need.
Trump wants the survey to stop gathering information about LGBT elders. If they
arent represented their needs wont be met. Its a first step in erasing the LGBT
community from the American map.
We will not be erased. We will not be eliminated.
We will not go quietly. We refuse to be invisible.
We have until May 12th to make our voices heard.
Sign the petition now at SAGEUSA.ORG.
1 2 MA Y 0 5 , 2 0 1 7
Trump exec order could jeopardize Stonewall Monument
Interior Secy to assess
whether monuments
are public burden
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
The designation last year of the Stonewall
Inn gay bar in New Yorks Greenwich Village
as a U.S. National Monument could be
jeopardized by an executive order issued
last week by President Donald Trump
calling for a review and reassessment of
national monuments named since 1996,
according to the head of a New York
historic preservation group.
Andrew Berman, executive director of
the Greenwich Village Society for Historic
Preservation, said supporters of the
Stonewall designation are worried about a
little-noticed provision in the Trump order
that covers nearly all national monuments,
not just those consisting of 100,000 acres
or more of federal lands.
The order directs the Secretary of the
Interior to review national monuments
designated or expanded by Presidents
Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack
Obama where the designation covers
more than 100,000 acres and where the
designation after expansion covers more
than 100,000 acres.
But the order also directs the Interior
Secretary to conduct a review of national
monument designations where the
Secretary determines that the designation
or expansion was made without adequate
public outreach and coordination with
relevant stakeholders.
Among the factors Interior Secretary
Ryan Zinke is directed to assess under
the executive order are whether national
monument designations create barriers
to achieving energy independence,
restrict public access to and use of
federal lands, burden state, tribal, and
local governments, and otherwise curtail
economic growth.
So you can see its pretty open ended,
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
President Obama designated as a national monument the area around the Stonewall Inn last year.
Berman told the Washington Blade on
Monday. So clearly if they chose to they
could use this to reconsider any of those
[monument designations], he said,
including the Stonewall National Monument.
I think there is a great deal of anxiety
about this possibility, he said. And I
certainly think the word is spreading and
has spread here in New York that this puts
Stonewall at the very least in theoretical
danger if not potentially real danger as well.
Gregory Angelo, president of the Log
Cabin Republicans, disputes Bermans
assessment, saying the overriding aim of
the executive order is to review National
Monument designations consisting of
100,000 or more acres of land.
If youre getting hung up on the
adequate outreach portion of the order,
the Obama administration did ample
outreach on the matter of the Stonewall
National Monument, Angelo told the
Blade in an email.
He noted that Log Cabin submitted a letter
in support of the Stonewall designation,
which is featured in the National Parks
Conservation Association website.
So reports attempting to shoehorn
the Stonewall National Monument into
administrative review is a canard, Angelo said.
BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
President Obama announced last June
that he had designated the Stonewall Inn
bar, the adjacent Christopher Park, and
the surrounding streets and sidewalks that
were the site of the 1969 Stonewall riots as
the Stonewall National Monument.
Historians have credited the Stonewall
riots, which started when New York City
police raided the Stonewall Inn and began
arresting some of its patrons, as the rst
signicant uprising by gay and transgender
people and the spark that triggered the
modern LGBT rights movement.
Berman agrees with Angelo that
the Stonewall Monument designation
was thoroughly vetted by the Obama
administration. He said New York City and
New York State ocials also consulted
with local stakeholders in the areas
surrounding the Stonewall Inn when they
pushed for its earlier designation as a
National Historic Landmark. He said the
proposed National Monument designation
received widespread support.
Obviously we would argue that there
was extensive consultation that went on
here, he said. But you take nothing for
granted with this administration.
A White House spokesperson couldnt
immediately be reached to determine
NATIONAL NEWS
whether the president or Interior Secretary
Zinke have any intention to target the
Stonewall National Monument for review or
for rescinding its monument designation.
Political observers have pointed out
that the executive order was based on
complaints by governors and public
ocials in several western states in
which presidents since 1996 designated
hundreds of thousands of acres of lands
as National Monuments, removing them
from use for development.
Televangelist Franklin Graham emerged
as a vocal opponent of the Stonewall
National Monument designation in May
2016, when news surfaced that Obama
was about to announce the designation.
He called it a monument to sin in a post
on his Facebook page.
I hope the president will reconsider, he
wrote. Flaunting sin is a dangerous move.
Mark Meinke, a founding member of
D.C.s Rainbow History Project and former
co-director of the national Rainbow
Heritage Network, which works to preserve
LGBT historic sites, said the 1906 U.S.
Antiquities Act, which gives presidents the
power to designate National Monuments,
has no provision for rescinding a National
Monument designation.
He noted that no National Monument
has ever been reversed and any attempt
to do so now would likely face a lengthy
court challenge.
In summary, it is highly unlikely the
attempt would be made and even less
likely that it would succeed, Meinke
said of an eort to rescind the Stonewall
National Monument designation.
Jerey Harris, the current board chair of
Rainbow Heritage Network, said he agrees
with Meinkes assessment but believes
the preservation and conservation
communities would rise in support of the
Stonewall Monument in the unlikely event
the Trump administration would try to
rescind its status.
CONTINUES AT LOSANGELESBLADE.COM
NATIONAL NEWS
LGBT groups prepare for ght over Trump religious freedom EO
Reports say order will
be signed on National
Day of Prayer
By CHRIS JOHNSON
WASHINGTON, D.C. In the wake of
a media report that President Trump is
preparing to sign a religious freedom
executive order on Thursday, LGBT groups
are making plans to ght the measure on
the assumption it will enable anti-LGBT
discrimination.
The Human Rights Campaign is planning
a rally and news conference at noon
Wednesday at Lafayette Square outside
of the White House to raise awareness
about a directive that the organization
says would put millions of LGBT people at
risk of discrimination.
Donald Trumps rumored
unconstitutional action is nothing more
than a license-to-discriminate order that
puts millions of LGBTQ people at risk,
HRC President Chad Grin said. There
is no religious freedom crisis in America
today, but there is a crisis of hate and
discrimination. At a time when two-
thirds of all LGBTQ people report having
experienced discrimination, Donald
Trump is making the problem worse by
giving legal cover to perpetrators. By even
considering this discriminatory order he
has broken his promise to be a president
for all Americans.
According to Politico, President Trump
has invited conservative leaders to the
White House on Thursday for the signing
of an executive order timed tothe National
Day of Prayer, which the administration was
planning to celebrate with faith leaders.
The report cites two senior
administration ocials conrming Trump
would sign the order on Thursday,
although one cautioned that it hasnt yet
been nalized, and noted that lawyers are
currently reviewing and ne-tuning the
draft language.
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
A draft religious freedom executive
order has circulated among federal
advocacy groups and would enable
discrimination on the basis of religious
objections to same-sex marriage, premarital
sex, abortion and transgender identity.
The proposed measure would gut former
President Obamas 2014 executive order
barring anti-LGBT workplace discrimination
against federal contractors, that the White
House saidTrump planned to keep intact.
Media reports have said Ivanka Trump
and Jared Kushner convinced Trump
not to sign the order, but White House
Press Secretary Sean Spicer has said the
administration would have something
on it. Just last week, USA Today reported a
group of 51 House Republicans have sent
a letter to Trump calling on him to sign the
religious freedom executive order.
Politico reported the draft executive
order Trump plans to sign is being
tightly held, but quoted an inuential
conservative who saw the text said it
hasnt been dialed back much - if at all -
since the February leak and has language
that is very, very strong.
Asked about any plans to sign a religious
freedom order, Sarah Huckabee Sanders,
a White House spokesperson, told the
Washington Blade, Nothing to announce
at this time.
The American Civil Liberties Union issued
a statement on Tuesday threatening the
administration with a lawsuit after news
broke about Trumps plan to sign the
executive order.
The ACLU ghts every day to defend
religious freedom, but religious freedom
does not mean the right to discriminate
against or harm others, said Louise
Melling, deputy legal director of the
American Civil Liberties Union. If
President Trump signs an executive
order that attempts to provide a license
to discriminate against women or LGBT
people, we will see him in court.
Peter Montgomery, senior fellow for
the People For the American Way, said in
a statement the executive order would be
very bad news for real religious liberty if
the directive is along the lines of the anti-
LGBT draft order.
The Religious Right has been working
for years to stretch and distort the concept
of religious liberty into a tool they can
use to discriminate against anyone who
doesnt think like them, especially LGBTQ
people, Montgomery said. Religious
liberty should be a shield that protects
MA Y 0 5 , 2 0 1 7 1 3
DONALD TRUMP is reportedly planning a
religious freedom executive order.
BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
every Americans religious freedom;
but the far Right is trying to transform it
into a sword to attack and harm others.
Its deeply disappointing, although not
particularly surprising, that Donald Trump
is once again willing to give extreme anti-
gay activists exactly what they want.
On the same day news broke that
Trump would sign the order, Faith in
Public Life issued a statement highlighting
a full-page letter published in Politico
last month that was signed by more than
1,300 faith leaders urging Trump to reject
the measure.
As clergy and faith leaders who serve
diverse communities across the United
States, we write to you to express our deep
concern over the draft religious freedom
executive order that some have urged
you to sign, the letter says. Although it
purports to strengthen religious freedom,
what this order would actually do is misuse
this freedom, turning it into a weapon to
discriminate against broad swaths of our
nation, including LGBTQ people, women,
and children in foster care. We urge you
to turn away from all proposals that would
abuse religious freedom, including any
executive orders on this issue that are
currently under consideration.
1 4 MA Y 0 5 , 2 0 1 7
Garcetti unafraid of threats against sanctuary cities
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 03
interpreted in an era where Trumps
bromances with tough guys extend to
self-proclaimed murderers like Philippine
President Rodrigo Duterte.
During his mayoral campaigns,
Garcettis critics called him weak, not
tough enough, and risk-averse, all signs
of ineective leadership.
Nobodys afraid of him, one politico
told Kahn for his Who Is The Real Eric
Garcetti? prole.
But what many male politicos might see
as weakness not being authoritarian
enough feminists see as strength. And
as California NOW said when endorsing
Garcetti over mayoral rival Wendy Greuel
in March 2013, Eric Garcetti is clearly the
stronger feminist.
Political feminism is about respectful
listening and consensus building, which
has served Garcetti well.
Kahn notes that, [u]nder his watch as
city council president, the political body was
almost eerily devoid of dissent. An analysis
during the rst seven months of 2009 by a
think tank found that in 1,854 votes, all but
13 were unanimous. As mayor, his general
managers say he gives them leeway
and encouragement, which can foster a
pleasant, productive work environment.
Garcettis ambition is guided more
by a duty to serve the public good than
personal gain, something he learned
when, as a privileged 16 year old, he
distributed medicine to villages in Ethiopia
during a human rights missionamong
other experiences.
Jewish history informs the decisions I
make all the time along with the kind of
values I was raised with in my family: the
interconnectedness of morals and the
importance of establishing local roots,
but having global awareness. And I think
the idea of having a kind of duty to give
back and stay engaged, not just because it
makes you feel good but because its part
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
Attorney General JEFF SESSIONS has threatened sanctuary cities like LA that have opposed
deportation orders. But Mayor Garcetti says hes condent the 10th Amendment will protect LA
from retaliation.
IMAGES COURTESY OF ONE ARCHIVES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
of your contract with your fellow human
being, Garcetti told The Times of Israel
in October 2014 after becoming the rst
elected Jewish mayor of Los Angeles.
On May 1, addressing the May Day rally
at LA City Hall, Garcetti took a rm stand
against Trump: It matters less whos in the
White House, he said. It matters whos in
this house. Adding: As long as I am mayor,
the LAPD will never be a deportation force.
They will be your police ocers.
Asked by the Los Angeles Blade about
possible federal retaliation, Garcetti said:
The Constitution is on our side, luckily. We
have a 10th Amendment, which says they
cant take away funding of ours just because
they dont like our discretionary policies.
Those local discretionary dollars include
services open to everybody, regardless of
their immigration status. In fact, L.A. is the
rst city in the nation to dedicate $290,000
to address the disproportionate rates of
high unemployment in the transgender
community and usually, in transgender
communities of color, Garcetti says, with job
training programs open to undocumented
transgender people, as well.
In March 2016, Garcetti established a
CO V E R ST O RY
transgender advisory council but not an
LGBT council because LGBT people now
have seats at all the tables. My vision
is more to integrate LGBT personnel,
commissioners, advisors at every level
and not just segregate them o in a way
on issues that are just about the LGBT
community, he says. I think so much of
our progressive politics is about even
as lefties segregating people and issues
o to a well-tended corner. I want to see
these be prisms that wash over all and
everything we do.
It is a vision Garcetti brings to the
current Democratic debate over identity
politics versus economic opportunity.
Its not that we have to get rid of
identity politics, he said. Its not like
racism or transphobia or homophobia
is something that was invented by us.
It exists. It nds us and it has to be
responded to. But I would ip it on its
head that transgender sister that I have
needs a good job. And so yes, we need to
be focused on good jobs and we need to
make sure the focus is for everybody. But
somebody who is selling herself on Santa
Monica Boulevard and doesnt want to be
should have an opportunity to actually
have a good job and to get a degree. And
thats something in common with the coal
worker who deserves to get a good job
and to have a good degree. So I do think
Democrats have taken our eye o the ball
of economic justicebut its not that we
need to do that in an exclusionary way. We
need to make sure we have opportunity
and equality side by side.
Its an idea that Garcetti intends to
talk about at CAP and at the upcoming
California Democratic Party Convention.
We, as Democrats, have to get focused
on whats real and forget this either-or
paradigm, he says. If I get asked one more
time whether we should focus on identity
politics or economic opportunityI will
scream because they are ip sides of the
same thing.
 Pride is On!
March With Us // Then Party!
Attention
Instead of parading this year, were
getting back to our roots by marching
TOGETHER for LGBTQ+ rights.
And oh yeah, there will be a HUGE party after!

Sunday, June 11TH Hollywood & Highland 8am

ResistMarch.org

In West Hollywood, well rally

CREATED BY WWW.HAZELJADEDESIGNS.COM
for our rights and party with PRIDE.
1 6 MA Y 0 5 , 2 0 1 7
Speaking out against
hate in politics
A leading candidate for LA
City Council is exposed as
an online hate-monger
By RICHARD ZALDIVAR
As a lifelong resident and activist from
the Northeast area of Los Angeles, I
have experienced many heated political
campaigns.
As a young man, I once worked for Los
Angeles City Councilman Art Snyder and
witnessed a recall campaign against him
because he was not Hispanic. I detested
racism and bigotry back then and detest
it now.
Recently, an investigative story by
LAList.com disclosed that Joe Bray-Ali, who
is running against Council member Gilbert
Cedillo in the LA City Council District 1
race, had mimicked Mexican people in a
video on YouTube titled Ask a Mexican.
Additionally, it was disclosed that this
same candidate had uploaded comments
about African Americans, overweight
people and transgender individuals on
a Reddit-like online forum called Voat,
known to be a social platform for racists
and bigots.
He also made comments on a racist
forum called v/N*****S, as well as a
forum called v/FATPEOPLEHATE. In
another thread titled Cuck, its whats for
dinner, Bray-Ali ponticates on whether
a group of people in a photo could be
categorized as Africans or n*****s.
Cuck is a pejorative term used by alt-
right white nationalists like Donald Trump
senior adviser Steve Bannon. According to
a report in The Daily Beast, cuk is short for
Cuckservative, dened as a portmanteau
of cuckold and conservative, [which] has
become a favorite slur on the right, used
like a sexually and racially charged version
of RINO, a Republican In Name Only.
Bray-Ali did not stop there. He has also
WWW .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
RICHARD L. ZALDIVAR is founder and executive director of The Wall Las Memorias Project.
stated that he feels gender-reassignment
surgery for transgender individuals
doesnt seem like something worthy of
praise, but instead of being criticized as a
shameful excess, LAList reports.
These were hateful and repulsive
comments that hurt the fabric of our
community in the 1st Council District and
that impact people throughout the City of
Los Angeles. This is an attack against the
very movement for equality and justice that
we have been ghting for during the recent
presidential election and its aftermath.
That is why the leadership of the
Latino LGBTQ community, including
Justine Gonzalez, prominent leader of
the transgender community, and Honor
PAC Board member Richard Corral, came
together for a news conference on April
27 with out Los Angeles City Controller
Ron Galperin to condemn the racist and
hateful comments by Joe Bray-Ali.
At that news conference, I strongly
recommended that Joe Bray-Ali suspend
his campaign and volunteer in LGBTQ
organizations to learn more about people
that he may not like and may not understand.
VIEWPOINT
PHOTO COURTESY OF ZALDIVAR
Since then, gay Council member Mitch
OFarrell and the Los Angeles Timesearly
endorsers of Bray-Alis candidacyas well
as seven members of the Los Angeles City
Council have asked him to step down and
withdraw from the election. According to
LAList, he conrmed that he made the
comments, apologized for the content, and
apologized for his personal mistakes to
his wife, daughter, family and community
for putting them in this situation. He has
not, however, apologized directly to the
Latino or transgender communities, as
far as we know, communities he says he
wants to represent.
That is not OK with us.
We should never fear speaking out
against hate and discrimination. We
must support worthy, knowledgeable
and respectable candidates for oce.
We must research their positions on our
issues, their knowledge of the community
and qualications for elected public oce.
Most importantly, we must question and
hold all political candidates accountable
if they want to exercise political and
electoral power in our name.
VOLUME 01 ISSUE 04
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V I E W PO I N T W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM MA Y 0 5 , 2 0 1 7 1 7

U.S. complicit in Chechnya horrors

Ignoring lessons of
Holocaust, Trump caters
to Putin while gay men die
KEVIN NAFF is national editor of the Los Angeles
Blade. Reach him at kna@washblade.com.
Listening to President Trump deliver
remarks on Holocaust Remembrance
Day last week proved yet another galling
exercise in surreal hypocrisy.
The same president who tapped Stephen
Bannon to serve as his top adviser had
the nerve to criticize Holocaust deniers,
adding we must never, ever shrink away
from telling the truth in our time.
And so, lets tell some truth.
Truth: Bannon established Breitbart
News as the platform for the alt-right,
as he boasted last summer. While clever
enough not to openly espouse anti-Semitic
views himself, he deliberately cultivated
Breitbart as the go-to place for expressing
misogynistic, white supremacist and anti-
Semitic views. Former KKK Grand Wizard
David Duke praised Bannons White House
appointment, which alone should tell you
all you need to know about this dangerous
gure. Alt-right lunatics are now ensconced in
the White House, including among the press
corps. Two fake journalists recently ashed
white power signs inside the White House
press brieng room and shamelessly posted
the photos to social media. As rst reported
by the Independent, Freelance journalist
Mike Cernovich and Cassandra Fairbanks,
a reporter for Russian news outlet Sputnik,
posed for a picture behind the podium in
the White House brieng room. In the photo,
they are making a hand sign that can be used
to signify white power.
Truth: According to a report from the
Anti-Defamation League, anti-Semitic attacks
increased by 86 percent in the rst quarter
of 2017. Between January and March, the
ADL reports there were 541 anti-Semitic
incidents in the country compared to 281
during the same period last year. Trumps
gullible supporters who are not inuenced
or constrained by facts, logic or reason will
dismiss those numbers as a coincidence.
But for those of us with more than three
functioning brain cells, its obvious that
Americas deplorables have heard the dog
whistles emanating from this White House
and are acting accordingly. The bigots are
unleashed and validated after being forced
to endure an America led by a black man for
eight years, their worst nightmare.
Truth: Speaking of dog whistles, White
House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told
reporters recently that Adolf Hitler never
used chemical weapons against his own
people and referred to concentration camps
and gas chambers as Holocaust centers.
Truth: As Trump belatedly and
hypocritically condemned anti-Semitism
after empowering bigots and ignoring
attacks on Jewish community centers and
cemeteries gay men are being rounded
up, tortured and killed in secret prisons
in Chechnya. Holocaust Remembrance
Day sounds like an opportune time to
condemn those prisons, which have
been widely described in the media as
concentration camps. But Trump didnt
mention Chechnya and hasnt denounced
the governments actions to cleanse the
country of gays. Hillary Clinton lambasted
Trump over his silence on Chechnya. The
State Department, which remains woefully
understaed such that it hasnt been
holding press briengs, is silent. Only Nikki
Haley at the U.N. could be coaxed into
denouncing Chechnya.
Why is that? Well, Chechnya is controlled
by Vladimir Putin, whose own campaign
against Russian gays is well known and
documented. Trumps ongoing love aair
with Putin (or is our president being
blackmailed by the Russian murderer?)
precludes him from speaking out.
And so, amid cries of never forget,
we do just that in Chechnya, turning
away from the well-documented horrors
being committed there against gay men.
Americas pledge to respect the lessons
of the Holocaust is now a hollow sham,
a photo op that oers the appearance of
caring while masking our governments
complicity in atrocity.
 Falling in love with Loev
Down-low, same-sex relationships Mumbai style

By DAVID EHRENSTEIN

M A Y 0 5 2 0 1 7 V O L U M E 0 1 I S S U E 0 4 A me r i c a s L G B T N e w s S ou r c e L O S A N G E L E S B L A D E . C O M 1 9

Sahil (Dhruv Ganesh) and Alex (Sidharth Menon) enjoy a rare moment of public affection, but
is it love?
IMAGE COURTESY OF Bombay Berlin Film Productions

Is the title misspelled or is it simply an
alternative way of exploring the meaning
of the same word? Thats the open
question writer-director Sudhanshu Saria
poses and his film almost answers.
For while its a love story, Loev is also
a gay one. In other words it doesnt travel
down the Route One of the Heterosexual
Narrative Highway, but makes any number
of detours, clearly marked on the Gay
Road Map. And on top of this the film is
set in India a country that only recently
decriminalized gay sex but has miles to
travel on LGBT issues.
Loev centers (as much as a tale so
discursive can be said to center) on a
triangle of sorts. Sahil (Dhruv Ganesh), a
music producer, is living with Alex (Sidharth
Menon), a fiscally irresponsible hottie
who would appear to have a job of some
import (its never really specified), yet the
action begins in darkness as hes failed to
pay the electricity bill. The relationship is
apparently an open one as Salial is taking
off to meet Jai (Shiv Pandit), a Wall Street-
level dealmaker of considerable clout
with whom hed had a past dalliance. Jai
is clearly out to revive it but on his own
very specific terms as we learn across the
course of the trip hes taking with Salail.
Its a trip in two parts.
The first finds them at a rural forest
getaway that they appear to be staying in
all to themselves. The second finds them at
a swank hotel in downtown Mumbai where
Jai is meeting with a consortium of bigwigs.
And its here that the films subtext comes
through most strongly. For Jai doesnt want
to spend the night with Salail at the hotel
and is quite upset when Salail delivers a
message to him during the bigwig meeting.
Simply stated, Jai is in the closet (like
most Indian men of his class). He wants a
relationship with Salail, but he also wants
to keep it on the down low. For his part,
Salail doesnt appear to be at all that clear
as to what he wants to do. He makes no
complaint about Jais closeted-ness. More
striking still, he shows little reaction when,
at the swank hotel, Jai is suddenly quite
sexually violent with him. Has he been
seduced by the fact that Jai has bought
him an expensive guitar and encourages
him to have a musical career, or is Salail
keeping his options open, as Alex has
shown up at the hotel with a boytoy
named Junior (Rishabth Chaddha) in tow?
Obviously theres a lot to unpack
here in some ways reminiscent of Wong
Kar Wais Happy Together (1997) a
modern classic about a troubled gay
relationship. Like Happy Together, Loev
is dramatically unresolved. Salail goes
home with Alex and Junior but its clear he
still has feelings for Jai.
It would take a sequel to sort this all out.
But alas there wont be one as Dhruv
Ganesh, the actor who plays Salail
with such sensitivity and insight, died
of tuberculosis during the films post-
production. Had he lived theres no doubt
he would have had a great career.
But theres also no doubt that
Sudhanshu Saria will have a great career
if he can continue to make films as tender,
insightful and surprising as this one.
2 0 MA Y 0 5 , 2 0 1 7
PHOTO COURTESY OF ROMAN
queery
MARIA ROMAN
By TROY MASTERS
tmasters@losangelesblade.com
Maria Louise Roman has been a leader
in social services for the transgender
community in Los Angeles for more than
19 years. She is a 47-year-old Puerto
Rican woman who began her journey
of self-discovery at age 19. Many doors
would close in her path, but she was
driven and determined to succeed. Her
determination became an inspirational
force for many in Los Angeles.
She survived life on the streets to
become an outspoken activist and a role
model for the transgender community.
She has won many awards and is a
noted actress, appearing in numerous
movies, including The Transgured
Body, a celebration Gwen Araujo.
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
How long have you been out and who
was the hardest person to tell?
I was out since the age of 5 or since I had a
sense of self. I could never really hide the
fact that there was something dierent
about me. In essence my sense of self and
the way the world viewed me always were
at odds. Although I could never hide who I
was I had an ocial this is who I am take
it or leave it moment at the age of 19 were
I would never put on male clothing and
changed my name to Maria. My Mother was
the hardest person to tell. The rst time
she saw me she could not stop laughing
and laughing turned into tears; I guess the
realization that her son was gone forever
was too much to bear.
Whos your LGBT hero?
Everyone who worked for our equality.
Whats Los Angeles best nightspot, past
or present?
OMG without a doubt it would be the old
7969 club. This was a hot stop for all the
individuals who did not t the norm.
Its where I let my womanhood out I
think this club for many of us was like a
steppingstone to nding where we belonged
in Los Angeles. My favorite performer was
Jaqueline along with the one and only miss
Jazzmun.
Describe your dream wedding.
I am fortunate to be currently engaged to
my wonderful ance of three years, Jason
Taylorson, a erce musician and nancial
expert. We are in the midst of planning
our wedding that will happen in the end of
2018. My vision is to have a grand chapel
wedding with a touch of old Hollywood. I will
be wearing two gowns - one for the nuptials
and one for the reception. Our wedding will
be classic, fun and unexpected.
What non-LGBT issue are you most
passionate about?
All human issues are LGBT issues so to
me there are no issues that are non-
LGBT. Abortion, for instance, is something
many LGBT people have to deal with. Its
a personal issue. You name it and LGBT
people deal with it daily - equal pay, housing,
2 0 G A Y Q U E ST I O N S F O R: M A R I A R O M A N
taxes, climate change, etc. It is my goal to
unite LGBT folks because we continue to see
apathy toward dierent segments of our
community (transphobia, for instance).
What historical outcome would you
change?
The 2016 election.
Whats been the most memorable pop
culture moment of your lifetime?
Having my own reality show on Showtime,
WILDTHINGS. My show along with
Cassandra Cass and Tiara Russel was the
rst reality show featuring an all trans cast.
On what do you insist?
I insist on claiming my space and demanding
respect everywhere I go. It is my belief that
people who have never met a trans person
before meeting me will, from our encounter,
judge an entire community. So I demand
respect.
What was your last Facebook post or
Tweet?
It was about a PrEP campaign I am part of:
Askmeaboutprep.org. Its one of my most
important community roles, spreading the
word about PrEP.
If your life were a book, what would the
title be?
Relentless - The Life of Maria Roman
If science discovered a way to change
sexual orientation, what would you do?
Make Donald Trump gay!
What do you believe in beyond the
physical world?
I know that there is something beyond all
of us that we have no comprehension of.
To many, its God. To others it is something
else. All of my life, however, I have felt
spiritual. I do believe in God and, as a matter
of fact, I spent my childhood praying that
I would be like all the other little boys. It
never happened and so I truly believe God
wants me to be who I am - just as I am -
because he made me.
Whats your advice for LGBT movement
leaders?
Our movement is currently fueled by
celebrity; we need to take back our stories
and see the value of all LGBT people.
We must continue the ght for visibility
and equality. Celebrity does not address
homelessness and so many other issues. I
hope that now we can all get married, we
can focus on the issues related to basic
human rights employment, shelter and
the ability to feed ones self.
What would you walk across hot coals
for?
I want a full comprehensive center that
services the specic and complex needs of
transgender individuals.
What LGBT stereotype annoys you most?
I think for decades the aming queen has
paid a high price from the non-aming
queen. Its just sad how we treat one
another at times and what we value.
Whats your favorite LGBT movie?
To Wong Foo!
Whats the most overrated social
custom?
Kissing strangers on both cheeks no gurl,
no!
What trophy or prize do you most covet?
I was given a certicate in 2002 by then-Sen.
Sheila Kuehl for organizing the local march
when Gwen Araujo was murdered. This was
one of the most moving times in my life and
its the rst time I felt I could do something
meaningful with my life. From that day on,
I have continued to speak for myself and
other women who identify with my story.
What do you wish youd known at 18?
I wish I had known it was all going to be OK.
Why Los Angeles?
Honey, because Los Angeles is EVERYTHING.
And, as a homeless youth, it would be warm
all the time I have been here since the age
of 19. Today, at 47, I am happy I made this
my home.
D A N CE
The Wallis spotlights two generations of dance genius
PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY MAKES A TRIUMPHANT APPEARANCE IN LA
Dance acionados rejoice! During the
month of May, the Wallis-Annenberg
Center for the Performing Arts oers the
opportunity to see the work of not just
one, but two choreographers who have
garnered worldwide acclaim while shaping
and redening the art form itself.
First up, for three performances, is the
Paul Taylor Dance Company. Formed in
1954, this ensemble has since performed
in more than 500 cities in 64 countries,
delighting audiences with an ever-
expanding repertoire of dances.
Taylor, an icon who has been hailed
as one of the creators of modern dance,
founded the company after spending time
in the ensembles of Merce Cunningham,
Martha Graham, and George Balanchine.
In its 60-plus years, it has featured and/or
launched the careers of such other dance
legends as Twyla Tharp, Christopher Gillis,
Lila York, and Bettie de Jong. The company
is the recipient of multiple awards,
including the Guggenheim Fellowship for
Creative Arts, Kennedy Center Honors, and
a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding
Choreography.
In its current incarnation, the PTDC will
be bringing a program of three classic
Taylor pieces to the Wallis stage:
SYZYGY: The nearly straight line
conguration of three or more celestial
bodies in a gravitational system. Music
composed by Donald York (1987).
THE WORD: For our God is consuming
re Hebrews 12:29. Music specially Adventures. He rose to international
composed by David Israel (1998).
ESPLANADE: Music by Johann
Sebastian Bach (1975), Violin Concerto in
E Major, BWV 1042 and Double Concerto
for Two Violins in D Minor (Largo &
Allegro), BWV 1043
Later in the month, the imagination of
a younger generations dance visionary-
Sir Matthew Bourne, OBE- will take the
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
By KAREN OCAMB
kocamb@losangelesblade.com
Paul Taylor Dance Company at the Wallis-Annenberg, featuring Matthew Bourne.
spotlight through Matthew Bournes Early
Adventures.
Comprising three early works, this
production will showcase the nascent
wit and wondrous early air of Bourne,
a British choreographer who gained
prominence within the dance world
through his company, Adventures in
Motion Pictures, and its successor, New
recognition with his acclaimed and
controversial production of Tchaikovskys
Swan Lake, in which all the roles were
performed by male dancers, and which
went on to become the longest-running
ballet in history; it also ran on Broadway,
where it gained him the honor of being the
only British director ever to be awarded
the Tony for both Best Director and Best
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY
Choreographer of a musical. He has also
been the recipient of multiple Olivier
Award nominations, winning seven to
date- with two of them coming in April of
2017 for his recent London production,
The Red Shoes.
Hailed as Britains most successful and
popular choreographer and director,
Bourne has a lengthy list of credits in both
dance and musical theater. In addition,
through Re:Bourne (the charitable arm of
New Adventures), he has developed projects
targeted at bringing dance to a wider
variety of young participants and audiences
throughout the UK, as well as in Asia,
Australia, and the USA; the organization also
oers diverse projects to supporting health
and wellbeing, such as dance workshops for
people living with dementia.
MA Y 0 5 , 2 0 1 7 2 1
The production at the Wallis will be
the only U.S. performance of Early
Adventures, which is remounted three
pieces choreographed by Bourne during
his days with AMP. The selections are:
Watch with Mother Seen but not
heard? (1991): Conkers, Hopscotch,
Doctors& Nurses; Childrens games
can be all-consuming, competitive and
sometimes cruel. Based on Joyce Grenfells
famous Nursery School sketches
(George Dont do that) and set to Percy
Graingers own piano compositions and
arrangements of Bach and Faure, this
piece has not been seen for over 25 years.
Town and Country Lie back and think
of England (1991):Moving and hilarious,
this heartfelt pastiche explores notions
of national character from a bygone era
through the evocative music of Edward
Elgar, Nol Coward and Percy Grainger,
amongst others.
The Infernal Gallop A French dance
with English subtitles (1989): This is France
as seen by the uptight English imagination,
with all the traditional clichs joyously
paraded for our entertainment and
climaxing in Oenbachs inevitable Can-Can!
TICKET INFORMATION:
Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing
Arts
Bram Goldsmith Theater
9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA,
90210
Paul Taylor Dance Company:
May 5 7, 2017
Performance Schedule: Fri-Sat at 8:00pm; Sun
at 2:00pm
Matthew Bournes Early Adventures:
May 17 21, 2017
Performance Schedule: Wed Fri at 8pm; Sat at
2pm & 8pm; Sun at 2pm
Single tickets: $39 $99 (prices subject to
change)
Online TheWallis.org
By Phone 310.746.4000
Box Oce Wallis Annenberg Center for the
Performing Arts Ticket Service, 9390 N. Santa
Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA, 90210
2 2 MA Y 0 5 , 2 0 1 7 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM F E A T U RE

Remembering gay entertainment mogul Sandy Gallin

THE POWER BEHIND ALMOST EVERYONE THAT GLITTERS IN HOLLYWOOD

By BILLY MASTERS

Lots of people have been talking about
20th anniversary of Ellen DeGeneres
coming out. We forget what a dierent
world it was in 1997. Being gay wasnt
something celebrities screamed from
rooftops. Getting an actor to play a gay
role was dicult. But one of the people
who helped usher in that change of
perception was Sandy Gallin, who passed
away on April 21 after a long battle with
non-Hodgkins lymphoma and multiple
myeloma. Throughout his life, Gallin
eschewed labels. He was a producer, a
manager, and an agent. He could pick up
a phone and make things happen. And he
wasnt shy about saying he was gay.
The story goes that in 1994 three years
before Ellens landmark announcement
Out magazine was putting together its
Hollywood Power issue, and having a devil
of a time nding people to participate. Out
founder and former Editor-in-Chief Michael
Go recently recalled that the only person
on their target list who not only agreed to
be featured but would also be on the cover
of the magazine was Sandy Gallin.
He just said Yes and joked in the
interview that in addition to getting to be
a role model, he might nd a boyfriend. If
only because of how many others didnt
do it, it was a brave thing at the time.
For someone who craved the spotlight,
he was publicly the least known of what
was called Hollywoods Gay Maa. While
he wielded more power than most in his
circle, he also wasnt nearly as wealthy as
some of his peers not that he was ever
hurting nancially. Whether being openly
gay adversely aected his career, he never
said. He simply lived his life, did his own
thing, and didnt care what others thought.
He got started the way moguls have gotten
started since the beginning of time at the
bottom. You hear about people getting their
rst job in the mailroom? In 1962, Sandy
worked in the mailroom at General Artists
SANDY GALLIN, pictured here with DOLLY PARTON backstage at the Grand Ole Opry, 1980.
Corporation an agency that later became
ICM. He knew what he wanted.
As soon as I could speak, I talked about
having millions of dollars, knowing famous
people and becoming a star, he once told
Ingrid Sischy. In short order, he was working
with agents booking talent on shows like
The Ed Sullivan Show. One of his rst
clients was Richard Pryor, who asked
Gallin to help him after he was arrested
at the Mexican border for possession of
marijuana. After handling that, he was
on his way. He became a junior agent,
and then an agent. Shortly thereafter, he
moved to LA and started a management
company and never looked back.
I rst became aware of Gallin in the early
80s when he was managing the career of
Joan Rivers. As I was soon to learn, that
was only the tip of the iceberg. At various
times he handled the careers of Cher,
Dolly Parton, Elizabeth Taylor, Lily Tomlin,
Whoopi Goldberg, Barbra Streisand,
and oodles of others. If they were a gay
icon, Gallin had his hand in their career.
His hand went back so far that he even
worked with Paul Lynde! In fact, one of
Sandys rst producing credits was The
PHOTO COURTESY OF GAYLORD ENTERTAINMENT
Paul Lynde Halloween Special.
While Gallins client list was vast and
varied, he especially loved his divas. A
special place in his heart was reserved
solely for Dolly Parton. The two met after
Dolly asked singer Mac Davis who should
help with her career. Davis said, You
should talk to Sandy Gallin hes my
manager. Sandy had one goal to make
Dolly a mainstream star. The rst thing
he did was set up a recording session for
the song, Here You Come Again. Dolly
was hesitant. She said, A monkey could
sing this song and have a hit with it. She
was very nervous that it would turn o the
country market, which she was very loyal
to. Gallin made a deal with her if the
song wasnt No. 1 on the pop charts AND
the country charts, hed never get involved
in her musical decisions again. Dolly took
the deal and lost. From then on, she and
Sandy were inseparable. They considered
each other beyond best friends and
almost soul mates. My husband didnt
love to travel, and Sandy was gay and he
did, said Dolly.
With Parton, Gallin formed Sandollar
Productions, which produced such lms
as Father of the Bride, Shining Through
and the TV series Buy the Vampire
Slayer. But where they really hit a home
run was when he served as executive
producer of Common Threads: Stories
From the Quilt. The 1990 documentary is
credited with raising global awareness of
the AIDS crisis. While it won an Oscar, it
didnt further Gallins hopes of becoming
a major lm producer.
Around 2001, Gallin left the management
game to indulge his other passion -
architecture and design. He loved putting
his years of detail-oriented work into all the
aspects that made a luxury home ideal for
specic people. He notoriously arranged
the books in his library not by title, not
by author, but by color! Barbra Streisand
told producer Mark Burnett about a
house Gallin nished. Burnett saw it and
bought it for $30 million. Gallins architect
partner, Scott Mitchell, once said, Barbra
Streisand was our Realtor! Whether she
took a commission is unknown. This shift
in careers did cause one major fallout
his relationship with Dolly. We did have
that small separation for maybe three
years. I felt a little bit left out and lonely.
Sandy was obsessive about documenting
his life and loved ones in meticulously
arranged photo albums. When showing
them to a writer from Vanity Fair, he said,
The sad thing is looking at the older books
and seeing how many people have died.
Its mind-boggling. That may have been of
inspiration when Gallins friends privately
mourned his passing. Mrs. Barry Diller,
designer Diane von Furstenberg, came up
with an idea for all of Sandys friends to
put together their favorite Gallin photos
and stories and make a coee table book
about his life and his contributions. And
because he wants to be on everyones
coee table, for sure, she added.
I think Sandy would approve and take
a commission!
W WW .L OS A N G EL ESB LADE .CO M MA Y 0 5 , 2 0 1 7 2 3

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THE WORLDS MOST POPULAR LIVING DANCE MAKER TIME MAGAZINE

MAY 17-21, 2017

1987 - 2017

310.746.4000 | TheWallis.org/Bourne
2 4 MA Y 0 5 , 2 0 1 7
Billy Masters is back in action
Its not hard to act in a movie I direct
because there are fewer people to argue
with. Barbra Streisand at the Tribeca
Film Festival.
What? Barbra? Argue? Never!
Have you missed me, LA? I know Ive
missed you. But Im back. How did this
happen? I havent a clue. One minute I was
at the Los Angeles Blades fabulous launch
party at Pump in West Hollywood chatting
with a cute waiter about hummus. Next thing
you know, here I am. So, without further ado,
weve got a lot of stories to cover.
It was recently the 20th anniversary of
Ellens coming out both as a person
and as a character on her sitcom. As I
watched the retrospectives, a thought
came to me - why did Ellen come out? I
dont believe the character was conceived
as gay. It wasnt a storyline that was
planned. Back then, I remember people
saying, Well, its obvious Ellen Morgan
is gay - look how she dresses. Or, Ellen
DeGeneres can only play gay - did you
see Mr. Wrong? Aside from the many
good things that came from DeGeneress
coming out, I wonder if part of that legacy
is also perpetuating the stereotype that
gay actors can only play gay roles.
A documentary about Whitney
Houston just opened at the Tribeca Film
Festival and asks a poignant question:
Whitney: Can I Be Me (it airs on
Showtime this summer). According to
reports, the doc implies that Whitney
had a secret love aair with best friend
and assistant, Robyn Crawford. Not true
it was never a secret! One of Whitneys
stylists says, I dont think she was gay. I
think she was bisexual. Bobby Brown
agrees. He said in his autobiography that
he believes Whitney was bisexual and that
her family kept her from living with the
woman. Bobby added, I really feel that
if Robyn was accepted into Whitneys life,
Whitney would still be alive today. When
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
ONE MANS FILTH IS STILL ANOTHER MANS BIBLE
By BILLY MASTERS
Aussie Bobsled Boy SIMON DUNN is a sight to behold.
asked if Whitney and Robyns relationship
was sexual, he said, I know. On the
other side, theres Whitneys mom, Cissy
Houston, telling Oprah it absolutely would
have bothered her if her daughter were
gay. So what do you do if youre Whitney?
She married Bobby, and Robyn wasnt
happy. Allegedly, Houston bought Robyn a
new Porsche, which was delivered on the
day of the wedding that kept her quiet
through the ceremony! For a few years,
all three co-existed somewhat peacefully.
Eventually, Robyn completely backed o.
People say thats when Whitneys life went
to hell in a handbasket, which sounds
mighty uncomfortable.
If Ive said it once, Ive said it 32 times,
the annual STAGE benet in LA is the
best show in town. The Southland Theatre
Artists Goodwill Event is the longest-
running annual HIV/AIDS fundraiser in the
world. And now, with its 33rd installment
under the direction of David Galligan (who
has directed all 33), its coming to an end. Or
is it? The organization says this is farewell,
while some people tell me o-the-record
that it will resurface in some form next
year. This years event is subtitled Idols
& Icons and will take place on May 13 at
the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills. People
PHOTO BY STUDIO CHRISTIAN SCOTT
like Carole Cook, David Burnham, Joely
Fisher, Barrett Foa, Jai Rodriguez, Melinda
Doolittle, Anthony Federov, and Kimberley
Locke will perform under the musical
direction of insanely talented Michael
Orland (hence all the Idol alums). Tickets
and info can be found at StageLA.com.
Ive previously told you that Playbills
Seth Rudetsky and hubby James Wesley
have been presenting a series of benets
around the country called Concert for
America: Stand Up, Sing Out. Well, the
series is nally headed to Los Angeles
and will take place at Royce Hall at UCLA
on May 24 and from the lineup, it
sounds like it too might be one of the
best shows in town! Some of the fabulous
performers will include Chita Rivera,
Cheyenne Jackson, Helen Reddy, Jane
Lynch, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Ricki Lake,
Wendy Liebman, Alec Mapa, and the Gay
Mens Chorus of Los Angeles. You can buy
tix at ConcertsForAmerica.com. And if you
arent in town, you can watch the concert
for free on their Facebook page.
The Broad Stage in Santa Monica has
been hosting some diverse and thrilling
musical events. Ive particularly enjoyed
their Celebrity Opera Series, funded by
the Lloyd E. Rigler-Lawrence E. Deutsch
G O SSI P
Foundation (theyre the same people who
bring us that Classic Arts Showcase TV
channel). Last month, I saw an animated
Vittorio Grigolo in concert alongside a
luminous Carmen Giannattasio. This
month, we get acclaimed tenor Joseph
Calleja in A Tribute to Mario Lanza on May
10. You can get tix at TheBroadStage.com.
In our Ask Billy question this week,
Roger in Delaware asked: What do you
know about that hot gay bobsled guy? Saw
his nude photo and love him. Is he single?
I am sure Olympian Simon Dunn really
wants to be referred to as that hot gay
bobsled guy. But I suppose there are worse
things to be called. Dunn is Australian,
retired at the ripe old age of 29, and has
a penchant for posing in various stages of
undress to the delight of his social media
followers. Apparently this is a practice he
follows in his private life as well, judging
from the photo that leaked. He addressed
the controversy online, expressing
embarrassment (although he certainly has
nothing to be embarrassed about), and
apologizing to his family and friends. Part
of his statement implies hes single.
I guess the silver lining is I can just link
people to Tumblr next time they ask for
such pictures. And remember boys no
matter how hot he is dont send nudes.
What? If hot guys didnt send nudes,
Id have nothing to share with you on
BillyMasters.com.
When Simon Says not to send nudes, its
denitely time to end yet another column.
Riddle me this, Bobsled Boy: if someone
online wanted to hook up and DIDNT send
you nude photos, would you meet them?
Ponder that while checking out www.
BillyMasters.com - the site thats not shy. If
you have a question, send it along to Billy@
BillyMasters.com and I promise to get back
to you before someone buys me a Porsche!
Until next time, remember, one mans lth
is another mans bible.
2 6 MA Y 0 5 , 2 0 1 7
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.
LOS ANGELES
FRIDAY, MAY 5
White Party Palm Springs 2017,
Fri May 05 - Mon May 08 - @ (888 E.
TAHQUITZ CANYON WAY). 30,000 gays,
taking over the entire city of Palm Springs,
for a weekend of unforgettable memories.
Grab your tickets and get all ocial
event info here: www.jereysanker.com.
Congratulations to GayinLA.com White
Party weekend pass winners Robbie S. and
Michael N.!
Cinco De Mayo LGBTQ Happy Hour, Fri
May 05 - 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM @ Redline - Gay
Bar and Lounge - (131 E 6th St). Join us for
the second annual Cinco De Mayo LGBTQ
mixer in downtown Los Angeles hosted by
HONOR PAC and Latino Equality Alliance.
Free event with a rae and drinks specials.
SATURDAY, MAY 6
White Party Palm Springs 2017, Sat
May 06, 2017 - Mon May 08, 2017 - (888
E. TAHQUITZ CANYON WAY). 30,000 gays,
taking over the entire city of Palm Springs,
for a weekend of unforgettable memories.
Grab your tickets and get all ocial event
info here: www.jereysanker.com
Drag Queen World Series, Sat, May 06
@ 1:00 PM - 04:00 PM at Glendale Sports
Complex - (2200 Fern Ln). LA Sisters
of Perpetual Indulgence vs. The West
Hollywood Cheerleaders in a Charity Ball
Game to benet the Life Group LA and the
POZ Life Weekend Seminars. Fun lled,
comedy, antics, raes, prizes and food!
SUNDAY, MAY 7
White Party Palm Springs 2017, Sun
May 07 - Mon May 08 @ (888 E. TAHQUITZ
CANYON WAY). 30,000 gays, taking over
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
the entire city of Palm Springs, for a
weekend of unforgettable memories.
Grab your tickets and get all ocial event
info here: www.jereysanker.com
JQ International Presents 2017
Awards Brunch, Sun May 07 @ 11:00
AM - 02:00 PM at Home of Lynn & Les
Bider - Beverly Hills, CA. JQ International,
which creates community and advances
greater inclusion of LGBTQ Jews and Allies
through identity building programs and
services inspired by Jewish values on a
national basis, will present its annual JQ
Awards Garden Brunch.
New Members Class, Sun May 07 @
2:00 PM - 04:00 PM at Inspire Spiritual
Community - (9056 Santa Monica Blvd.).
Do you consider Inspire your spiritual
home? Find out what it means to be a
member of Inspire Spiritual Community.
Learn more about our history, where were
growing and how YOU can get involved.
Ask questions. Get answers. Feel inspired!
Inside Outside Artist Reception:
Suzanne Shiett, Rowland Byass,
Sun May 07 - 4:00 PM @ 7:00 PM at
TOM House - (1421 Laveta Terrace). An
exhibition of two artists in two spaces at
TOM House. Suzanne Shiett uses art for
self-exploration, hoping that the products
of this exploration may reach others.
MONDAY, MAY 8
Inside Outside: Suzanne Shiett,
Rowland Byass, Sun May 07 @ 6:00 PM
- 9:00 PM at TOM House - (1421 Laveta
Terrace). An exhibition of two artists in two
spaces at TOM House. Exhibit viewing and
House Tours. Suzanne Shiett uses art for
self-exploration, hoping that the products
of this exploration may reach others.
TUESDAY, MAY 9
GO Live Organ Night at Moonlight
Rollerway (Roller Skating), Tue May 09 @
8:00 PM - 10:30 PM at Moonlight Rollerway
- (5110 San Fernando Rd). * Dress up
in old tyme clothes* Who doesnt love
live organs? Tonight, GREAT OUTDOORS
LA invites you to roller skate to the fun
melodic tunes of roller skating organ
music, played live by rink owner Domenic
on the 1930s HamMond B3 Organ.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 10
Unconditional Love: LGBTQ + and Ally
Youth Rally, Wed, May 10 @ 5:00 PM - 7:00
PM at Mariachi Plaza - (730 Pleasant Ave).
Unconditional Love LGBTQ+ and Ally
Youth Rally will be held at Mariachi Plaza,
Boyle Heights from 5pm to 7pm. The rally
will be to educate and spread awareness
of LGBTQ+ issues in our community!
LEAs youth and parents want to increase
community awareness on the issues of
mental health, gun violence, bullying,
family acceptance and Homophobia,
Transphobia and Islamophobia in our
communities.
SATURDAY, MAY 13
An Evening With Women, Sat May 13
@ 6:00 PM -9:00 PM at The Hollywood
Palladium - (6215 Sunset Blvd). RESIST.
PERSIST. ROCK. Were amping up the
energy at the world-famous Hollywood
Palladium for a powerful evening of
live entertainment, dining, and special
surprises that will leave you inspired,
empowered, and connected. Join us for an
unforgettable evening hosted by Cameron
Esposito & Rhea Butcher with comedy by
Tig Notaro and Eve Ensler performing The
Vagina Dialogues.
Get Sprung, Sat May 13 @11:00 AM -
02:00 PM at Gender Justice LA - (1730 W
Olympic Blvd). A QTPOC + ALLIES - SPRING
CELEBRATION! **********CLOTHING
SWAP & POTLUCK********* Please join
Gender Justice LA for our next get-to-
gether/Membership meeting, celebrating
our gender fabulous selves and
community! Its spring time, so you know
what that means, its time to CLEAN OUT
YO CLOSET!
S.T.A.G.E.: Idols And Icons, Sat May
13 @ 7:30 PM at Saban Theatre - (8440
Wilshire Blvd). APLA is pleased to announce
CA LE N D A R
the 33rd annual Southland Theatre Artists
Goodwill Event (S.T.A.G.E.). This years
performance, titled Idols & Icons, will pay
tribute to the stars of yesterday and today
and feature performances from a wide
range of stars of stage and screen.
Brt Los Angeles 05.13, Sat May 13 @
11:00 PM - 4:00 AM at Union Nightclub -
(4067 West Pico Blvd). We had such a blast
last Month that we just have to do it again!
On SAT, May 13th, BRT is back to take
over Union in Los Angeles! Gear up and
get down to the beats of Dan Darlington
& Peter Napoli.
SUNDAY, MAY 14
A Simple Tea Dance, Sun May 14 - Sun
Aug 13 @ 2:00 PM - 09:00 PM at A Simple
Bar - (3256 Cahuenga Blvd W). Come
dance the afternoon away at Superstars
Monthly LGBTQ Tea Dance at A Simple
Bar. Well drinks at Happy Hour prices all
night long.
MONDAY, MAY 15
Planet Queer: Lilith Faire 05.15.17,
Mon May 15 @ 7:00 PM - 11:00 PM at Akbar
- (4356 W Sunset Blvd). Ian MacKinnon
& Travis Wood present PLANET QUEER:
LILITH FAIRE An exciting evening of LGBTQ
experimental performance and music
celebrating Indie Rock Goddesses and
Women around the Universe. 2 STAGES
with over a dozen performers, musicians
and artists! Hosted by gay centered
performance activist IAN MACKINNON.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 17
Lezzertag: May The Odds Be Ever in
Your Favor!, Wed May 17 @ 8:00 PM -
11:00 PM at Bowlmor Santa Monica - (234
Pico Blvd). Sign up here: https://www.
squadup.com/events/lezzertag-may2017
Beat the odds with tons of beautiful Queer
women and allies at Mays Lezzertag event!
Defend your title! Or play for the rst time!
Your ticket includes: UNLIMITED Laser
CONTINUES ON PAGE 27
CA L E N DA R
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26
Tag UNLIMITED Bowling (Shoes Included!)
$8.00 GREY GOOSE DRINKS $14.00 BEER
PITCHER special (food available for
purchase).
PALM SPRINGS
FRIDAY, MAY 5
White Party Palm Springs, May 5 May
8 @ the Renaissance Palm Springs (888 E.
Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs, CA).
The White Party Palm Springs takes place
May 5th - 8th, 2017 and is widely considered
the largest gay dance music festival in
the nation. It has evolved throughout the
years to become an international cultural
and social phenomenon attracting more
than 30,000 attendees from every corner
of the globe.
Clark Gable Slept Here, May 5
May 28 (Fri & Sat, 8:00 PM 10 :00
PM; Sun 2:00 PM- 4:00 PM)@ Desert
Rose Playhouse (69-620 Highway 111,
Rancho Mirage, CA). One of the silver
screens brightest action stars charms
his way through the Golden Globe
Awards ceremony accompanied by his
wife. Meanwhile, back at the Chateau
Marmont, his sta tries to gure out
what to do with the naked dead male
prostitute on his bedroom oor.
LATER LIFE, May 5 - May 21
(Tuesday through Sundays. Evening
Performances at 7:30 PM 9:30;
Matinee Performances at 2:00 PM
4:00 PM) @ Coachella Valley Repertory
Theatre at the Atrium (69930 Highway
111, Rancho Mirage, CA.). Austin has
spent his entire life convinced that
something terrible is bound to happen
to him.One night, at a party, overlooking
Boston harbor, he has the pleasure of
rekindling a romance begun almost
thirty years ago with Ruth. Now a
multiple divorcee, Ruths personal life is
in suchturmoil that mutual friends look
to Austin as Ruths last shot at normalcy.
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
Rebel Rebel at Agua Caliente is an experiential theater must see on May 17.
SATURDAY, MAY 6
Evening Under the Stars, 5:30
PM 10:00 PM @ the ODonnell Golf
Club (301 N Belardo Rd, Palm Springs,
CA). AIDS Assistance Program
Food Samaritans will mark their 24th
annual event, which includes an
extended cocktail hour, delicious
dinner, awards, fireworks and Martha
Reeves and the Vandellas. One of the
deserts most enjoyable and beloved
fundraising events, Evening Under
the Stars will continue its traditional
Dance Party theme with dancing
immediately after the show with DJ
Jerry Bonham on the mainstage.
East Coachella Valley Pride
Festival, 2:00 PM to 7:00 PM @
Veterans Park (1500 4th Street,
Coachella, CA). Welcome to the 1st
Annual East Coachella Valley Pride
Festival: We are who we are (LGBTQ+
& Family resource fair). Open to
all, there will be booths with great
resources, fun activities, delicious
food, and talented performers.
COURTESY AGUA CALIENTE CASINO AND RESORT SPA
SUNDAY, MAY 7
The Judy Show starring Michael
Holmes, Sundays through Jul 9, 5:30, 7:00
and 8:00 PM @ Michael Holmess Purple
Room Supper Club (1900 E Palm Canyon
Drive, Palm Springs, CA. What do you get
when you mix an internationally acclaimed
impersonator, outrageous comedy,
great standards and a bevy of icons? The
hysterical parody of Judy Garland and her
guests found in Michael Holmes riotous,
The Judy Show! -- Encore Magazine
THURSDAY, MAY 11
Hot Rodeo 2017 May 11 May 14 @ various
venues (main event at A.C. Dysart Equestrian
Center, Banning CA.). Enjoy a weekend of
western rodeo and festivities while visiting the
fun and beautiful paradise of Palm Springs.
Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival 2017
May 11 May 14 @ the Camelot Theatre
(2300 East Baristo Rd, Palm Springs, CA.).
For our 18th year, we are presenting
an extremely diverse line-up of lms,
said festival producer and host Alan K.
Rode. This years program includes lms
MA Y 0 5 , 2 0 1 7 2 7
where the principals either reinvented
themselves or were cast against type.
FRIDAY, MAY 12
Dustin Lynch, May 12 9:00 PM 10:30 PM
@ The Show at Agua Caliente Casino Resort
Spa (32250 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage,
CA.). Dustin Lynch has been on a steady path
toward superstardom. With three consecutive
No. 1s and two Top 5 albums, hes already
been to the top of the charts.
Pride Prom 2017, May 12 8:00 PM
12:00 AM @ the Palm Springs Air Museum
(745 N Gene Autry Trail, Palm Springs CA).
You dont want to miss this years AMAZING
Pride Prom!! Held at the Palm Springs Air
Museum, this Pride Prom is going to be
even better than the last. More music, more
dancing, and most importantly, more of the
LGBTQ Pride that we know you all love. Up
to age 22 only.
SATURDAY, MAY 13
Rebel Rebel: The Many Lives of David
Bowie at The Show, May 13 8:00 PM
9:30 PM @ The Show at Agua Caliente
Casino Resort Spa (32250 Bob Hope
Drive, Rancho Mirage, CA.) The ultimate
experiential journey through the many
lives and arousing sounds of David Bowie.
THURSDAY, MAY 18
International Museum Day at the Agua
Caliente Cultural Museum, May 18 6:00 PM
8:00 PM (219 S. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs,
CA.). As the rst Native American Museum to
be part of the Smithsonian Institutions Aliate
Program, the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum
is excited to continue its legacy by announcing
inclusion inInternational Museum Day.
Tachevah 2017 Finals, May 18 7:00 PM
11:00 PM @ the The Date Shed (50725
Monroe Street, Indio, CA.). This is the nal for
the 2017 Tachevah. Bridger and Elektric Lucie
will join Kayves and Shawn Don and vie for a
grand prize of $3,000
POWERED BY GAY DESERT GUIDE
2 8 MA Y 0 5 , 2 0 1 7 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM P A LM SP RI N G S RE P O RT

LAs playground in the desert is yours for the taking

WHITE PARTY, HOT RODEO AND MORE ON TAP IN COMING WEEKS

By JOHN MIRAGLIA

As summer heats up, everything in Palm
Springs gets hotter and hotter. On any
given weekend there are numerous things
going on, so no need to plan ahead; just
aim your car to the desert and enjoy a few
days of fun, sun and hot bodies. Here are
some upcoming signature events to look
forward to.
For the weekend beginning on May 5,
Jerey Sanker once again presents White
Party Palm Springs, which is sure to be
bigger and better than ever. The party
kicks o on Friday at noon at the host hotel
(Renaissance Palm Springs http://cwp.
marriott.com/pspbr/wp2017)s enormous
pool. There will be plenty of music, sun,
drinks and friendly men in bathing suits.
(I had you at enormous, didnt I?) As this is
a weekend-long event, there is something
going on practically 24 hours a day. On
Friday night (10 p.m.5 a.m.), Sanker
teams up with Eliad Cohen for the White
Party Palm Springs version of the Papa
Party (https://www.thepapa.party/ ), Papa
Dark. According to Sanker, its a decadent
bacchanal exploration of music, leather
and fantasy. Make sure youre well rested
before heading out for this nonstop party.
Whats a perfect follow up to the prior
evenings dance fest? A pool party, of
course. On Saturday, make your way
to the Renaissance Hotel pool for a day
called Addicted to Boys (10 a.m.7
p.m.). Naturally, there will be world-class
DJs spinning the hottest tunes to keep
everyone grooving. You might even meet
a new dance partner for Saturday night.
Everyone gets drafted for the Saturday
night Military Ball (10 p.m.5 a.m.) where
more than a few good men will be wearing
their dress whites. This ball promised to
be huge, fun and sexy, full of so much eye
candy you may walk away with a cavity
(or, if youre lucky, a cavity search). DJs,
dancing, awesome lighting, and a surprise
performer make this an event you wont
Gay Cowboys take the desert by storm in the annual Hot Rodeo in Palm Springs.
want to miss. Have fun and play safe. If
you do meet a new dance partner, the two
of you can keep the party going at Climax,
which goes from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m.
Another day, another pool party.
Sundays One Day In Heaven (10 a.m.4
p.m.) brings the popular London nightclub
to Palm Springs. A DJ and dancing will help
keep you energized while poolside. Just be
sure to relax a bit before heading over to
the Sunday Tea Dance (3 p.m.10 p.m.),
which takes place outside among the hot
bodies and warm breezes. This amazing
event features a Ferris wheel and a live
performance by Belinda Carlisle and
ends with a spectacular reworks show
lling up the Palm Springs night sky.
White Party Palm Springs nal event,
Closing (10 p.m.8 a.m.), is a high energy
PHOTO COURTESY OF GAY DESERT GUIDE
dance party with plenty of dancers, an
amazing light show, international DJs, and
hot men from all corners of the world.
Have a blast and say goodbye to your new
friends before heading back to your hotel
(and reality).
Heres an alternate idea: Since Cinco
de Mayo falls on Friday, nearly every
bar and restaurant will have some sort
of special going on. But the place to be
is Las Casuelas Terraza (http://www.
lascasuelas.com/), where mariachi music,
margaritas, and delicious Mexican food
go mano y mano with perfect downtown
people watching. Salud!
Not feeling so spontaneous? Theres
nothing wrong with being a planner.
Consider getting yourself to the oasis in the
desert for the weekend beginning Friday,
May 12. Actually, three days is not enough
time to fully enjoy Palm Springs, so you
might as well take the day o on Thursday
so you can enjoy the weekly VillageFest
(http://villagefest.org/), which happens
downtown on Palm Canyon Drive. There
are plenty of vendors and lots of yummy
food, so take a stroll through downtown
on a balmy Thursday night and maybe
meet a cute local or two.
Fasten your seatbelts as also happening
the weekend of May 12 is the Arthur
Lyons Film Noir Festival (http://
arthurlyonslmnoir.ning.com/), featuring
plenty of restored noir classics as well as
some obsure-ish, not-available-on-DVD
titles. You can buy tickets individual lms
or to the entire festival, so you have plenty
of exibility. Many of these lms will look
better than youve ever seen them and some
feature a special guest before or after the
screening. All are screened at the fabulous
Camelot Theatres, which features a caf as
well as a full bar. Enjoy your classic lm with
a classic cocktail. Everything really is better
in black and white.
If you prefer your men and women in
Wranglers and cowboy hats, then the Hot
Rodeo weekend in Palm Springs (http://
psrodeo.org/hotrodeo/) is right up your
alley. It runs May 11 through May 14, and
the host hotel is the Baymont Inn and
Suites, which will be oering a special rate
to all the visiting rodeo fans. There will be
lots of traditional rodeo events along with
plenty of pool parties and dances to help
you get acquainted with that sexy cowboy
or cowgirl. Naturally, many of the local bars
will also be in the saddle for the weekend,
so there will be more than enough
opportunities to rope in a big one. Yeehaw!
The snowbirds may have own north
for the summer, but there are plenty of
hot things happening on any given Palm
Springs weekend, so get yourself out to
the oasis.
losangelesblade.com
@LosAngelesBlade
3 0 MA Y 0 5 , 2 0 1 7
The distinctive beauty of Guys Reading Poems
WHEN you have tidied
all things for the night,
And while your thoughts
are fading to their sleep,
Youll pause a moment in the
late relight,
Too sorrowful to weep.
So begins Solitude, by Harold Monro,
one of 32 works that comprise most of the
spoken poems in Harold Lee Hughes new
feature lm Guys Reading Poems.
The lm tells the story of a boy whose
unstable mother imprisons him in a puppet
box and builds an art installation around
him; to cope, the boy imagines a group of
young men who read poetry to him, and
these recitations echo through scenes of
his past, his future, and his fantasies.
This ostensible premise serves as the
centerpiece in a complex jigsaw puzzle
charting the reverberations of a traumatic
childhood, through which the resulting
psychological fallout fear and grief,
anger and sorrow is evoked both by the
masterful language of the poems and by
Hughes haunting black-and-white visuals.
Its an ambitious undertaking to pack
so much heavy emotional content into an
average-length movie; many lmmakers
have tried to channel these kinds of
demons into some kind of celluloid
catharsis, only to fall short of the mark.
Such eorts are often constructed either
as overwrought psychodramas that oer
trite resolutions for the sake of closure, or
else as fantasies that obscure the issues
behind mythological tropes and pseudo-
symbolic whimsy.
Hughes has taken a middle path;
Guys Reading Poems is both drama
and fantasy, which means that it is also
neither. Instead, it walks a line between
realism and artistic conceit; multiple layers
emerge from each other as a progression
of imagery takes us from past to present
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
A DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL BECOMES A CELLULOID CATHARSIS
By JOHN PAUL KING
ALEXANDER DREYMON as Father and CHRISTOS VASILOPOULOS as The Director in GUYS
READING POEMS
to future, through reality and fantasy and
places in between.
The storytelling is elegantly simple, and
almost entirely visual; a prologue depicting
the courtship of father and mother plays
like a lovely pantomime of archetypes, and
the rift that develops between them later
as well as the conict it creates in their
child is eloquently communicated by
body language and artful cinematography.
As for the reciting interlopers, they may
be somewhat disorienting, at rst, but
soon become a comfortable presence. Like
a Greek Chorus, they give voice to the soul
of the story. Its largely due to them that
the lms elevated stylization can yield an
authentic emotional connection, allowing
both plot and purpose to be revealed like
a lotus ower blossoming in a dream.
The array of poems incorporated
includes works by Blake, Whitman,
Wordsworth, Dickinson, Yeats, and WeHo
poet laureate Steven Reigns, among many
others; no less crucial, however, is the
visual poetry achieved by Hughes and
cinematographer Michael Marius Pessah.
Lushly lit and richly photographed, Guys
Reading Poems is a movie that revels
in its black-and-whiteness, evoking a
noir sensibility that pays homage to its
cinematic heritage and makes every frame
PHOTO COURTESY OF HAROLD LEE HUGHES
feel like a deeply embedded memory.
Combined with a air for artistic design
and a deft use of symbolism (which avoids
heavy-handedness without sacricing
clarity), this results in a movie of distinctive
style and beauty that lingers in the minds
eye long after viewing.
As for the on-screen talent, they face
the task of communicating complex
relationships mostly without the aid of
dialogue, and they succeed admirably. At
the center is young Luke Judy as the boy,
moving and endearing in a performance
as refreshingly natural as any of his adult
co-stars; but it is Patricia Velasquez as the
mother brooding and cold, yet vulnerable
and tragic who, appropriately, dominates
the screen. Rounding out the principal
cast is Alexander Dreymon as the father;
charismatic, and impossibly handsome, he
balances tenderness with a hint of swagger
as he provides an embodiment of the
elusive masculine ideal.
Of course, the movie is called Guys
Reading Poems, so the true stars of the
show are the ensemble of young men who
ll those title roles. Their soulful delivery
provides the movies beating heart, and
gives weight to what might otherwise
be nothing but a succession of pretty
vignettes. Each of them provides a diering
F I LM
perspective, standing in for various
aspects of the young protagonists psyche
as he makes sense of his experience and
each of them, like Dreymon, are stunning
examples of the male aesthetic.
In fact, the preponderance of maleness,
along with an underlying current of
unrequited yearning for masculine aection
(piercingly established with the departure of
the boys beloved father), inevitably suggest
a gay subtext. This tale of a boy locked away
in childhood provides an unmistakable
allegory for a life shaped in the closet;
the isolation from family and society,
the entwined longing and resentment,
the combination of loneliness and self-
suciency all these themes have deep
resonance within the LGBTQ community,
and all are intricately woven into every ber
of Guys Reading Poems. Never overt, but
vivid nonetheless, its a layer of meaning
that makes this a full-edged addition to the
queer cinema canon.
Even so, Hughes lm has a universal
appeal. By channeling the pain of damaged
youth into a unique lmic meditation,
he has created a touchstone for anyone
who struggles to reconcile these psychic
scars within their own life. Its an interior
landscape that can be recognized by
almost anyone, of course; and by treating
it with candor, acknowledging its dark
beauty, and honoring its inseparability
from identity, Hughes has given us a
movie which illuminates the path to
transcendence.
Guys Reading Poems is unequivocally
an art lm, and as such unlikely to achieve
widespread success at the box oce;
but for those of us who appreciate the
bravery required not only to confront
these dicult issues, but to explore them
in such a public and honest manner, it is
a much-appreciated eort and worthy of
being sought out. It deserves to be called
essential viewing.
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