M AY 19 2017 VOLUME 01 ISSUE 05 A M E R I C A S LGBTQ NEWS SOURCE LOSANGELESBLADE.

COM

Is gentrication ruining everything? A Venice LGBT history primer Remembering Roostersh

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0 4 MA Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 7
Homophobic dirty tricks mar race for Dem Party chair
Whispering campaign
equates pedophilia
with homosexuality
By KAREN OCAMB
kocamb@losangelesblade.com
Watergate was a scandal in which dirty
tricks were used by Republicans against
Democrats to win an election. Today, in the
case of the homophobic attacks against
Eric Bauman, longtime out chair of the Los
Angeles Democratic Party, the attacks are
apparently coming from supporters of his
Democratic opponent in the race to be the
next chair of the California Democratic Party.
Issue attacks are one thingsuch as
what Bauman calls a blatant whopper
that his support for the universal
healthcare bill, The Healthy California
Act (SB 562), is less than stellar. Bauman
is a registered nursefollowing in the
footsteps of his late mother, an unmarried
lesbian nurse. He met his husband of
more than 30 years, Michael Andraychak,
in 1983 in the ICU ward during the AIDS
crisis. Bauman has worked toward
securing a single- payer healthcare law
with then-Insurance Commissioner John
Garamendi, out former State Sens. Sheila
Kuehl and Mark Leno, and more recently,
SB 562 co-authors Ricardo Lara, and Toni
Atkins to make, in his words, California a
healthcare sanctuary state!
But it is the blatant homophobia used
as a bazooka in the politics of personal
destruction that has shocked many in the
Democratic Party.
When Bauman rst heard from volunteer
phone bankers about outlandish rumors
that he had engaged in inappropriate
behavior with 14- and 16-year-old boys,
he blew it o as an old saw used against
gay or lesbian candidates.
Right away, when the other side
doesnt feel like theyre running away with
it, the next thing you know, Bauman told
the Los Angeles Blade, the accusations
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
I thought the only way to stop it is to get out in front of it and stop it,
said ERIC BAUMAN
of pedophilia come out; the accusations
that were promiscuous; the accusations
that we have drug problems. I mean, its
an old saw that plays over and over and
over again. Ive watched it dozens and
dozens of times in my political career and
its despicable!
Bauman wrestled with how to respond,
thinking the false rumors were conned to
a small group of people.
But then a light bulb went o, he says.
What theyre accusing me of is being a
child predator! And I lost it. I started crying
uncontrollably. Michael put me on the
phone with my uncle. Then he put me on
the phone with [his best friend, former
Assembly Speaker] John Perez. There was
no consoling me. And nally Michael did the
proverbial scene from the movie Airplane
where the nun slaps the guy in the face. He
didnt slap me in the face but he said, Damn
it, stop this shit now. Lets go for a walk and
lets get past this. And that worked.
But it made Bauman think: how many
people are accused of things or are victims
of abuse and they hide in shame and so
it continues?noting how cyber-stalking
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE BAUMAN CAMPAIGN
can become dangerously viral. So I
thought the only way to stop it is to get out
in front of it and stop it.
He decided to send out an email to
every delegate entitled I can no longer
stay silent! The email, Bauman said,
fumed: This is despicable! This is not the
Democratic Party! These are Trumpian
tactics and it has to stop!
Im a pretty tough guy and I can take
the attacks, lies, distortions, and mud that
has been slung at me pretty well, Bauman
wrote in the email. But to accuse me of
child abuse, especially of this nature, is
beyond the pale and 100% unacceptable.
Bauman was heartened at the massive
positive response, including from his
opponents supporters.
But there were peopleand this
happens to rape victims all the timewho
accused me of doing it myself, Bauman
says. There were a good number of people
that posted that in Facebook groups. That
was disgusting! And then there were other
people who said, Well if Bauman wont
expose the person who said it, then why
is he hiding it? Then you had these people
LO CA L N E W S
who constructed these triple-straw man
arguments: Either Bauman put this out
there himself because no one else has
seen it or Bauman knows who it is and for
some reason, doesnt want to tell who it
is, maybe because they know that its true.
This is on the Internet!
The tactics then shifted to attacking
Bauman as a Jew in a delegate chat
room after the campaign posted a loving
YouTube tribute from Andraychak called
#TheEricIKnow.
They post this image described as a
16-year-old Palestinian girl laying dead in the
street with an Israeli ag stuck in her back and
the Star of David is replaced with a swastika,
Bauman says. Really? This is an election in
the Democratic Party. And as somebody
who has fought for 30 years to build and
strengthen this partythis is insane!
Kimberly Ellis, Baumans top rival,
denounced the tactics. These rumors
are despicable and theres no place in our
politics for such outrageous behavior and I
denounce any such type of cruel maligning
of someones character, Ellis said in her
own email to state Democrats, the L.A.
Times reported. Though theres certainly
a lot of passion on both sides, Im proud
of the mutual respect and courtesy weve
shown each other in our interactions.
Rick Zbur, executive director of Equality
California, is among those disgusted by the
dirty tricks. Just as we are at the precipice
of breaking a glass ceiling with the ability
to elect a gay man to the highest ranking
position ever for any LGBTQ person in the
nation in any major party, I am sickened
that there still are people in Californias
Democratic Party who would resort to
these false smears to favor their preferred
candidate, Zbur told the LA Blade. We call
on Democratic Party leaders to investigate
who launched and participated in this
despicable campaign and assure that
anyone who participated is removed from
positions of leadership in the party.
The election for California Democratic
Party chair happens on May 21.
LAPride_OYP_2017_Print_Blade_10x9.5_v2.indd 1 5/16/17 11:33 PM
06 MAY 19, 2017 W W W .LOS ANG E LE SB L A D E . C O M
Heilman sworn
in as WeHo mayor
The City of West Hollywood has sworn in longtime
activist and City Councilman John Heilman as mayor.
Heilman has served on the majority openly gay City
Council since West Hollywood was incorporated in 1984.
Now in his eighth term, Heilman is one of the longest-
serving openly gay elected ocials in the U.S.
Heilman, who served as mayor previously in 1990, 1995,
1999, 2001, 2006, and 2010, outlined his agenda for the
future of the city during his swearing in Monday.
Looking ahead to 2050, he indicated a desire to combat
poverty (15% of the citys population, about 5,400 people, live
below the poverty level), overhaul the parking in residential
areas, build a new re station, a new sheris station, a new
City Hall building, and continue his ght against conservative
policies initiated in Washington, D.C., many that impact the
LGBTQ community in West Hollywood.
First and foremost, we must do everything we can to
oppose and resist the reactionary policies that are coming
out of Washington, D.C., Heilman said in a speech after
being sworn in, adding, We must serve as a strong counter
example in the city of West Hollywood.
A native of Cleveland, Heilman is a graduate of Northwestern
University and the University of Southern Californias
(USC) Gould School of Law. He earned a masters in Public
Administration and in Real Estate Development from the Price
School of Public Policy at USC. He currently teaches law at
Southwestern Law School and USCs school of law.
Heilman has historically helped found the citys rent
stabilization decree and has been acknowledged for his
longtime eorts on behalf of people with HIV and AIDS.
When we started the City of West Hollywood, some people
said that a city built on rent control, and populated by gays and
lesbians, seniors and immigrants would never survive. These
critics said that businesses would not want to locate in our city and
eventually we would be bankrupt. We proved these naysayers
were wrong, Heilman was quoted saying on his website.
The position of mayor rotates yearly among the ve City
Council members. Heilman will serve a one-year term that
ends in May 2018.
Also sworn in was John Duran as West Hollywoods
Mayor Pro Tempore. The mayor pro tem lls in for the
mayor when he is not available.
Duran is a native of Los Angeles, and a West Hollywood
resident since 1990. He has served on the City Council since 2001,
and is a national leader on HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ equality issues.
REBEKAH SAGER
LO CA L N E W S
The cast of What Happens at The Abbey poses after the red carpet
premiere of the new reality show, held at The Abbey.
LOS ANGELES BLADE PHOTO BY JOHN BOATNER
New Abbey reality show debuts on E!
David Cooley celebrated the premiere of his new show What
Happens at The Abbey with a party featuring the shows cast at
The Abbey on Sunday night. The Abbey sta and budding reality
stars featured in the series walked the red carpet before watching
the rst episode in the crowded bar that remained open to the
public. Cooley appears in the show with an assortment of his
hottest sta, including Nick the Gardener of Ellen DeGeneres
fame, whose real name is Billy Reilich.
I am excited to show what [The Abbey] brand is, that I had a
dream 26 years ago to open a small coee house and now here
we are with a show on E!, Cooley told The Blade on the red carpet.
The show, airing Sunday nights at 10 p.m. on the E! network, is as
much a behind-the-scenes look at the personal lives of The Abbey
employees as it is a narrative of what is happening at The Abbey.
The show promises naked hard bodies, gay drama, straight drama
and characters with evolving sexual identity, many of whom are
following dreams while slinging and sometimes throwing drinks.
Previews of upcoming episodes show gaymous West Hollywood
couple Murray Swanby and Cory Zwierzynski getting into a
particularly heated alcohol induced argument and a drink being
thrown. We dont know what fueled the martini baptism yet but
its safe to say it was probably one of them irting/kissing/sleeping
with another, possibly someone of the opposite sex.
Zwierzynski told the Blade his family is thrilled for him to be
on the show but he is nervous for them to see him doing a lot of
shots, yelling and saying a lot of things he shouldnt say.
Asked what makes a good reality show star, Swanby said, You
have to be likeable obviously but I think you have to be able to
bring a little bit of drama and excitement to the show. A boring
character is never very fun.
Some critics argue shows like What Happens at The Abbey and
Logos recently debuted Fire Island portraying gays living a party
lifestyle undermine the gay community by ignoring rights abuses
the LGBT community faces from the Trump administration and
atrocities like the murder of gays in Chechnya.
Asked to respond to this criticism, Cooley said, The news is all
about Donald Trump, we need a break; we need some laughs; we
need some hope.
ROBERT WILLIAMS
LO C A L N E W S WWW.L OS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM MAY 19, 2017 07

Trump blasted for silence on atrocities in Chechnya

If the president will not do
this, then we will
do it ourselves

By KAREN OCAMB
kocamb@losangelesblade.com

The anniversary of the massacre at the

Pulse nightclub in Orlando is just weeks away.
Presidential candidate Donald Trump
and more recently, French presidential
candidate Marine Le Pen, used the murder
of 49 and the wounding of 53 mostly gay On the steps of Los Angeles City Hall LORRI JEAN, CEO of the Los Angeles LGBT Center, Los Angeles
Latinos on June 12, 2016 by an American City Council member PAUL KORETZ, Los Angeles City Council member MITCH OFARRELL (at the
podium), Los Angeles City Council member MIKE BONIN, and United States Rep. ADAM SCHIFF,
killer sympathetic to ISIS as campaign speak out on the atrocities against LGBT people in Chechnya. May 12.
fodder to get gay votes, suggesting theyd PHOTO BY JOHN BOATNER

be tough on anti-LGBT terrorists.

And yet since assuming the presidency,
Trump has remained silent about the
government-ordered atrocities against the
LGBT community in the Russian Republic
of Chechnya. And some Los Angeles
leaders are calling him out.
With the shocking revelations
about Trumps ties to Russia, the
anti-gay pogroms have been largely
overshadowed. The crackdown started in
early April, reported by the independent
Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, after
the Moscow-based GayRussia.ru applied
for Pride parade permits in four Caucasus
cities, sparking religious protests.
At least three gay men were reported
killed, according to Human Rights Watch
one died during his torture with the other
two dying at the hands of relatives as
honor killings upon release. About 100 gay
men were arrested, tortured and locked in
concentration camps. The Russian LGBT
Network later said as many as 20 men may
be victims of extrajudicial killings.
Once they bring you there, a survivor
told Ekaterina Sokirianskaia, project
director for Russia and the North Caucasus
at International Crisis Group about the
secret prison, they immediately start the
beatings and electrocutions, demanding
information about who you were dating.
The chilling prospect of a brutal, deadly
purge of gays from Chechnya was revealed
in late April when gay Conservative Sir
Alan Duncan, Minister of State for Foreign
and Commonwealth Aairs, told the
British parliament: Human rights groups
report that these anti-gay campaigns and
killings are orchestrated by the head of the
Chechen republic, Ramzan Kadyrov. He
has carried out other violent campaigns in
the past, and this time he is directing his
eorts at the LGBT community. Sources
have said that he wants the [LGBT]
community eliminated by the start of
Ramadan, which begins May 26.
On May 12, Rep. Adam Schi, Los
Angeles City Council members Mitch
OFarrell, Mike Bonin and Paul Koretz
and LA LGBT Center CEO Lorri L. Jean
held a news conference at LA City Hall to
highlight the dire situation, condemn the
violations of human rights, and call on the
Trump administration to take action.
Life, liberty and security are fundamental
human rights that we are all entitled to,
regardless of who we are, or who we love,
and the United States must speak out
against these attacks on fellow human
beings. We cannot be silent and look
the other way the United States must
serve as a beacon of hope for vulnerable
populations around the world. We must
recommit ourselves to protect and promote
the human rights and dignity of all persons,
said Schi, ranking member of the House
Intelligence Committee.
Trump is completely tone deaf, said
OFarrell. The Trump administration must
act and act now, and world leaders must
speak in one voice. If the President will not
do this, then we will do it ourselves.
And thats happening through a new
Twitter hashtag - #EyesOnChechnya, with
news of rallies and other events.
After the news conference, OFarrell,
Bonin and Koretz introduced a Resolution
condemning Putin and calling on the Trump
administration to take action beyond the
statements issued by the State Department.
After all, British Prime Minister Theresa
May condemned the gay persecution as
utterly barbaric. and foreign ministers
from Germany, Britain, the Netherlands,
France and Sweden sent a joint letter calling
on Russia to investigate the atrocities. On
May 2, German Chancellor Angela Merkel
stood next to President Vladimir Putin at
a joint news conference in Sochi and told
reporters she had called on the Russian
government to investigate, as well.
CONTINUES AT LOSANGELESBLADE.COM
0 8 MA Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 7 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM LO CA L N E W S

Lesbian visibility shines through in memoir by federal prop 8 plaintiffs

Ordinary lesbian couple
came to represent same-
sex couples everywhere
By KAREN OCAMB
kocamb@losangelesblade.com
A joyous celebration occurred May 13
in Highland Park as lesbian and straight
women artists and performers launched an
exhibition of archived work from the historic
Womens Building, the one-time feminist
mecca for womens culture in downtown
Los Angeles. Already marginalized by
mainstream society, the artists refused to
be invisible even unto each other.
Kris Perry and Sandy Stier would have
loved it. One of the most famous couples
in LGBT history as plaintis in the historic
federal Prop 8 trial, they have nonetheless
had their share of lesbian invisibility, even,
as they reveal in their new memoir, Love
on Trial: Our Supreme Court Fight For the
Right to Marry, unto themselves.
In Love on Trial, Perry and Stier
emerge from behind their famous odd
couple lawyers Ted Olson and David
Boies and trial leader Chad Grin, now
President of the Human Rights Campaign,
and sidestep their fellow plaintis Je
Zarrillo and Paul Katami to share how
this ordinary lesbian couple came to
represent same sex couples everywhere.
But unbeknownst to them, the couple
would each be forced to face unsettling
deep dives into their own lives when that
lawsuit was led in May 2009.
Perry shares that she always felt
dierent but didnt know why until her the relationships had been romantic. And I
late teens; Stier had always been straight
until, inexplicably, she fell in love with
Perry. That would be a point Brian Raum,
the attorney for the Alliance Defense
Fund, would harp on until turning red with
frustration deposing the former church-
going Iowa cheerleader.
I was not the lesbian he expected to
see, Stier writes, as Raum pummeled her
for answers about her relationships.
KRISTIN PERRY and SANDRA STIER, San Francisco Pride 2013.
I answered truthfully. I performed well
under oath, and, frankly, I have nothing to
hide. Yes, I dated men, or rather, boys, in
high school and college. Wonderful guys.
Yes, I cared about them. Yes, I married a
man in my mid-twenties. Yes, I had loved
him. All true. The other thing that was true
was that I now loved a woman, and I wanted
to marry her; I was in love with Kris.
Raum asked for intimate details. Stier
would only say they were romantic. He
started using baseball terms: What base
was reached in each of those relationships?
she writes. We have more of our parents
in us than we may realize. I gave him my
best Iowa deadpan stare and restated that
I burst into tears. All that heartache was
stopped there. My people dont talk about
bases to lawyers. Its not dignied. Id tried to put distance between myself
Stier understood that she was being
probed for the immutability argument.
She nds the argument oensive. Being
gay is not wrong and its not bad. Its not.
Love is not harmful; hate is. Rejection is.
Growing up immersed in religion and
spending most of my career in the eld of
human services, nothing could be clearer,
PHOTO BY INSAPPHOWETRUST; COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA
she writes. Love and acceptance are what
matters and are worth ghting for.
For Perry, pre-trial preparation was
tough as she was forced to come face
to face with coping mechanisms after
her beloved sisters death and how
those fed into an endless cycle of self-
protection from perpetual discrimination
as the other. That included the pain and
humiliation of knowingly refusing to even
think of being happily married because, as
a lesbian, it was not available to youand
everyone else knew it.
After we had meandered around the
core question for hours, Perry writes, Ted
asked me, How does it feel to be dierent?
closer to the surface than I had thought.
becoming more like an aunt than a parent.
and Bakerseld and how I felt there, but
it hadnt worked. I told Ted that I knew
who I was, and it had made me stronger,
but I didnt like that I had been forced into
being strong by building walls or hiding my
feelings. Hiding was a necessity, and it had
changed me, permanently.
The awareness hit her even harder on
the witness stand. I suddenly thought,
Enough. Enough coping. Enough settling.
Enough making me easier for everyone
else, Perry writes.
I could picture the three-year-old me,
the eight-year-old me, the sixteen-year-
old me, every one with a huge weight on
her shoulders, she continues. Keeping
a secret she didnt know or understand,
afraid of losing the love of her family, of
being rejected by her friends. By ghting
to be unseen and unheard, I didnt grab
love when others did. I didnt hold my head
highI looked down. I didnt see a future
with my children and spouse; I thought Id
always be single and alone.
Perry couldnt even imagine what
was possible. I had covered up my
embarrassment and humiliation for years,
and it was painful for my loved ones to hear
these experiences without censoring or
sugarcoating, she writes. I felt like a huge
weight had been lifted from mebut I knew
well there was still so much more to come.
Love on Trial is a kind of catharsis for all
LGBT people who havent realized the pain
of internalized oppression. Additionally, it
humanizes the Prop 8 plaintis.
Its as if we werent people until the
trial, Perry tells the Los Angeles Blade.
The world projected a lot onto us. We
were one dimensional. But we knew we
have very complicated lives.
The case was no way the hardest thing
weve ever done, says Stier, noting the
diculties theyve faced and the losses they
suered. Blending families is hard, for
instance, especially when her two sons didnt
accept their parents divorce and rejected
Perry. It got better when Kris took her foot
o the gas and wasnt so authoritarian,
Television station KQED led a motion
April 28 with the U.S. District Court
for Northern California to unseal the
videotapes of the Prop 8 trial. It might
be useful to read Love on Trial rst to
understand how much Perry and Stiers
love story matters in shedding light on
lesbian visibility everywhere.
LO C A L N E W S W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM MA Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 7 0 9

LA Pride, #ResistMarch kick into high gear

Hundreds of thousands
expected at events
June 10-11

By TROY MASTERS
tmasters@losangelesblade.com

While #ResistMarch organizers ramp

up their planning eorts for a mega
march that will stretch from Hollywood
and Highland (the launch point of the
rst Pride Parade in Los Angeles) to Santa
Monica Boulevard and San Vicente, LA
Pride has put together a stellar line up for
2017s LA Pride Festival.
The festival, a paid entry event, will be
held in West Hollywood park on June 10
and 11 and Erika Jayne is just one of the
big names.
The Festival will feature a collection
of Pop artists sponsored by Blue Shield
of California, including Young M.A, Erika
Jayne, Brooke Candy, Kat Dahlia, Aaron
Carter, ILOVEMAKONNEN, Spencer
Ludwig, Starley, Tish Hyman, Leon Else,
Connell Cruise, and Jesse Mntana.
Erika Jayne seems to be the one talent
that already has tongues wagging. Youre
either a megastar or a genius if you can rack
ERIKA JAYNE, Chromeo and Brandy are among LA Pride performers this year.
up nine #1s on the U.S. Billboard dance club
charts without major label support. PHOTO COURTESY OF LA PRIDE

On Saturday, CHROMEO will ll the

Festival with an electro-funk beat. The duo,
Dave 1 and P-Thugg have been turning out
their signature uniqueness since 2002. On
Sunday, after the #ResistMarch, Brandy
takes the stage as the evenings headliner.
The award-winning singer, songwriter,
recording artist, and actress will rock LA
Pride with her R&B hits.
This is our 8th year producing LA
Prides celebration and I have to say that
this is one of my favorite lineups of talent
for the festival, said Je Consoletti of JJLA.
This lineup is edgy yet balanced with
established hit makers and, much like
the community itself, is very progressive.
I think people will love how this years
lineup will make for a fun weekend-long
celebration of our community, he said.
The weeklong LA Pride hosts both free
and ticketed events starting Monday, June
5 and continuing through Sunday, June 11.
Events like the annual LA Dodgers LGBT
Night (in partnership with LA Pride) and
other community events will lead up to the
Festival on Saturday and the #ResistMarch
on Sunday.
Organizers are referring to the
#ResistMarch as a Human Rights
March and Rally. That event, expected
to draw hundreds of thousands of
intersectional marchers from a variety of
civil rights concerned communities and
organizations on June 11, will begin at
8 a.m. at the intersection of Hollywood
and Highland. That intersection marks
the very intersection where Christopher
Street West, the organization overseeing
LA Pride, began more than 47 years ago.
The march is open to the public and
will progress through LAs streets until
reaching West Hollywood Park on San
Vicente and Santa Monica Boulevards.
#ResistMarch will have a fair share of
glitz and glam, too, with an unannounced
stage lled with A-list celebrities and noted
community activists from around California.
Brian Pendleton, the Christopher Street
West board member who has taken the
lead in organizing the march, told the Los
Angeles Blade, We are really proud of the
plans we are putting together and ne-
tuning everyday. We have some of the best
minds in the event-organizing world working
to ensure our success.
Pendleton has the Rolodex for just such
an eort. He spent most of the last decade
building an events company that raised
billions of dollars for charities, companies
that include Palotta Teamworks (AIDS Bike
Ride organizer) and at his own company
Causeforce, a large scale, non-prot
fundraising events company.
The Los Angeles Blade is a sponsor of
Christopher Street West.
1 0 MA Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 7
Will Trump, govt agencies recognize Pride month?
Would be rst GOP
president to issue
such a proclamation
By CHRIS JOHNSON
Picture it: President Trump enters the
East Room of the White House on a warm
D.C. day in June to the sound of cheers from
adoring members of the LGBT community
holding up their iPhones to document the
occasion with videos and photos.
With his daughter Ivanka Trump and
son-in-law Jared Kushner at his side, Trump
welcomes guests and commemorates
June as Pride month by recognizing the
LGBT communitys accomplishments in
recent years.
Having trouble with this image? It could
be because of the anti-LGBT positions
and actions Trump and his administration
have taken or perhaps because such
an event would anger anti-LGBT groups
that supported his election. It could be
because instead of cheering him, LGBT
people angered by his policies would boo
Trump out of the room.
It might also be because recent reports
Trump may have abused executive power
or committed obstruction of justice raise
questions about whether Trump will even
be president in June.
Assuming Trump remains in oce, it
remains to be seen what steps hell take,
if any, to recognize June as Pride month.
Kelly Love, a White House spokesperson,
said via email when asked if Trump
wouldissue a Pride proclamation or host
a White House Pride reception, We will
let you know as soon as we announce our
June proclamations.
During the 2016 election, Trump in an
interview with ABC News Jonathan Karl
said hed look into whether he could issue
a proclamation as president recognizing
June as Pride month, essentially dodging
the question.
I would look into it, Trump said. And I
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
A scene from last years White House Pride reception. Will Trump host one this year?
feel so badly what happened [in Orlando].
And we have to do something about it.
President Clinton started the tradition of
issuing a proclamation to recognize June as
Pride month. Although President George
W. Bush discontinued that tradition, it was
renewed by President Obama, who also
in each of his years in oce held a White
House reception to celebrate Pride with
members of the LGBT community.
If Trump were to continue the
recognition of June as Pride month with
either a proclamation or a reception, he
would be the rst Republican president
to do so. It would also be consistent
with his claims during the presidential
campaignthat hes a bigger friend to LGBT
people than his opponent, Hillary Clinton.
Gregory Angelo, president of Log
Cabin Republicans, said his group
largely alone among LGBT organizations
thatsupport and interact with the Trump
administration has proposed the
idea of Trump recognizing Pride, but no
commitments weremade.
The suggestion has been formally
made to the White House, Angelo said.
Conversations are ongoing. Its too soon
to comment further.
Given Trumps predilection for photo
ops such as the pictures hes taken
with business leaders and presidents of
historically black colleges one possibility
for Trump recognizing Pride is a shot of him
in the Oval Oce with Angelo and high-
prole LGBT people who supported him like
Peter Thiel, Caitlyn Jenner or Ric Grenell.
Its not just whether Trump will
recognize Pride that remains in question.
In years past, the anity groups for LGBT
workers at federal departments hosted
Pride celebrations.
Some of those celebrations were newer
than others. The Pride celebration at the
Pentagon only came about after Dont Ask,
Dont Tell repeal in 2010, but celebrations at
the U.S. Justice Department occurred even
during the Bush administration and former
U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey
addressed LGBT employees in 2008. By
the end of last year, virtually each of the
departments had some kind of celebration.
Under the Obama administration, the
heads of the departments were featured
NATIONAL NEWS
BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
speakers atthe Pride events and delivered
remarks in solidarity with LGBT people. Its
certainly hard to imagine Attorney General
Je Sessions addressing LGBT employees
at the Justice Department.
The Washington Blade reached out to
multiple anity groups for LGBT federal
workers, but perhaps in a sign of fear
of reprisal they were largely silent on
plans for Pride celebrations with June just
a few weeks away. FedQ, the umbrella
organization for the groups, didnt respond
to multiple requests forcomment.
John Elias, president of DOJ Pride, was
the only head of an LGBT anity group to
respond to the Blades request and would
say only that plans are underway for some
kind of Pride recognition.
The Departments LGBT Pride Month
Observance Program is in the planning
phase, Elias said. I expect the format will
remain as it has been in recent years.
Elias didnt respond to a follow-up email
on whether that meant Sessions would be
invited to speak at the event and if he planned
on attending as Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch
did under the Obama administration.
NATIONAL NEWS W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
Trump extols religious freedom
at Liberty University
In a commencement speech at a school with an anti-LGBT reputation, President
Trump extolled a recent executive order he signed in the name of religious freedom
that opponents say could lay the groundwork for anti-LGBT discrimination.
Trump made the remarks during his commencement speech Saturday at Liberty
University, saying in reference to the executive order he did some very important
signings recently for religious freedom.
America is better when people put their faith into action, Trump said. As long
as I am your president, no one is ever going to stop you from practicing your faith
or from preaching whats in your heart.
It wasnt clear whether Trump was referencing the issue of clerks refusing to
marry same-sex couples in his remarks, although he has endorsed religious
freedom legislation known as the First Amendment Defense Act that critics say
would allow anti-LGBT discrimination.
Although the religious freedom executive order on its face doesnt allow
discrimination against LGBT people, the measure instructs U.S. Attorney General
Je Sessions to as appropriate, issue guidance interpreting religious liberty
protections in Federal law. Some LGBT advocates have said that language will
empower Sessions to nd ways to discriminate against LGBT people, such as
allowing workers at federal agencies to refuse to process paperwork for same-sex
couples in the name of religious freedom.
Other observers dont read the executive order the same way. The American
Civil Liberties Union had threatened to sue Trump over the executive order, but
laterdeclined to take that action on the basis that it was an elaborate photo-op
with no discernible policy outcome.
The religious freedom executive order reference was a small component of
a commencement speech in which Trump encouraged graduates to look to the
future and emphasized the importance of faith in America. On the day before
Mothers Day, Trump invoked the idea of his late mother smiling down on him
from heaven and the late Rev. Jerry Falwell smiling down on his son, Jerry Falwell
Jr., whos president of Liberty University.
Trump also during his speech belittled critics when encouraging graduates to
pursue their dreams.
Nothing is easier or more pathetic than being a critic, because theyre people
that cant get the job done. But the future belongs to the dreamers, not to the
critics, Trump said. The future belongs to the people who follow their heart no
matter what the critics say because they truly believe in their vision.
Trumps commencement speech marks the rst time since President George
H.W. Bush spoke at Liberty University in 1990 that the school has hosted a sitting
U.S. president. The speech is also the rst commencement address Trump
delivered as president.
A Baptist school, Liberty University has an anti-LGBT reputation. The university
has a policy of prohibiting sexual relations outside of a biblically ordained marriage
between a natural-born man and a natural-born woman, which prohibits intimate
relationships with LGBT people.
CHRIS JOHNSON
MA Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 7 1 1
BRANDON BOSTIAN was charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and
risking a catastrophe.
Gay engineer charged in 2015 Amtrak crash
An Amtrak engineer who was operating the train that derailed outside Philadelphia in
2015, killing eight people and injuring more than 200 others, was charged on May 12 with
involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and risking a catastrophe.
The Pennsylvania Attorney General led the charges against Brandon Bostian, 34, whos
gay, after a Philadelphia Municipal Court judge overruled a decision by a local Philadelphia
prosecutor not to le charges against Bostian on grounds that there was insucient
evidence of criminal intent.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Judge Marsha Neield agreed to accept a private
complaint against Bostian led by members of the families of 32 victims in the deadly train
derailment under a little known Pennsylvania law that allows private citizens to request
that charges be led against someone accused of one or more misdemeanor oenses.
Philadelphias local District Attorney sent the case to the state Attorney Generals Oce
after announcing it would be a conict of interest for him to prosecute the case because
he initially determined that no charges should be brought against Bostian.
The National Transportation Safety Board has determined that Bostian was responsible
for the derailment after accelerating the train to a speed of 106 miles per hour as it
approached a curve in the tracks with a 50-mile-per-hour speed limit. NTSB ocials said
their investigation found that Bostian was not impaired by alcohol or drugs and had not
been using his cell phone at the time of the derailment.
Bostian, who sustained a head injury during the crash, has said he has no memory of
what happened from the time the train approached the sharp curve and the time he was
treated for his injuries by rescue workers. His lawyer and NTSB investigators have said
operators of a nearby commuter train using the same tracks broadcast a warning a short
time before the crash that rocks were being thrown at the commuter train. NTSB has
speculated that the rock throwing alert and the possibility that rocks were thrown at the
locomotive that Bostian was driving could have distracted him. But no denitive evidence
of such an occurrence has been found, NTSB ocials have said.
People who know Bostian have told news media outlets in New York, including the New
York Times, that Bostian was involved in LGBT rights activities in New York City, where
he lived at the time of the fatal derailment. The Inquirer reports that he currently lives in
Boston and had yet to return to Philadelphia to face the charges against him.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
1 2 MA Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 7 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
Mariela Castro leads
LGBT march in Havana
HAVANA The daughter of Cuban President Ral Castro on Saturday led a
march through the Cuban capital that commemorated the International Day
Against Homophobia and Transphobia.
Mariela Castro, who directs Cubas National Center for Sexual Education that is
known by the Spanish acronym CENESEX, and more than 2,000 people marched
from the Havanas oceanfront to a pavilion that is near the Habana Libre hotel in
the Vedado neighborhood.
She noted to her supporters after the march that CENESEX rst commemorated
the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia which is May 17
in 2007.
This years International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia campaign
will feature events in Havana and in the city of Santa Clara that highlight anti-
bullying eorts in Cuban schools. Mariela Castro told her supporters the
International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia commemorations help
promote acceptance of LGBT people on the Communist island.
Each time more people understand that homosexuality is not a sickness, but
phobias . . . continue to be, she said, referring to the previous International Day
Against Homophobia and Transphobia events that have taken place in Cuba.
People understand that homosexuality is not dangerous, but homophobia and
transphobia are.
CENESEX on Friday honored Rev. Troy Perry, who founded the Metropolitan
Community Church, at a gala in Havana. He is among those who rode alongside
Mariela Castro in 1950s-era cars and joined her on stage at the pavilion as she spoke.
New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Gender Rights Maryland
Executive Director Dana Beyer, representatives of the British Embassy in Cuba and
Freedom to Work President Tico Almeida are among those who also attended the
march. Several Cuban LGBT rights advocates who work independently of CENESEX
and have publicly criticized Mariela Castro were also walking alongside march
participants and listening to her speech.
Im here to just lend support, solidarity, to build bridges with the community, to
let them know that they have support from the diaspora abroad, Mark-Viverito,
who is In Havana with a delegation of more than a dozen Latino leaders from the
U.S. and Puerto Rico, told the Washington Blade during an interview before the
march began.
Reynaldo, an activist from Havanas Playas del Este area who works with
CENESEX, told the Blade as he and a handful of his colleagues were standing
along the march route before it began that it is important to commemorate
the International Day Against Homophobia in Cuba because it is a Socialist,
machista and sexist country.
We have the need to make our ght against all types of discrimination, whether
it is because of sexual orientation, because of gender identity, more visible, said
Reynaldo. We have this need to be recognized socially.
MICHAEL K. LAVERS
I N T E RN A T I O N A L N E W S
Cuban activist prevented from meeting U.S. counterparts
HAVANA An independent Cuban LGBT rights advocate claims authorities prevented
him from traveling to Havana late last week to meet with a delegation of U.S. advocates.
Nelson Gandulla, president of the Cuban Federation for LGBTI Rights, told the Washington
Blade he received a summons that ordered him to report to police headquarters in the
city of Cienfuegos at 8 a.m. on May 12 for an interrogation. The meeting between more
than a dozen independent Cuban activists and their U.S. counterparts who included
Equality Florida CEO Nadine Smith began in Havana at the same time.
Gandulla told the Blade the police called him and told him he wasnt able to go to work
because the director of the citys local health oce was going to be visiting. Gandulla also
said they told him he could not leave Cienfuegos Province or the country.
Gandulla said police on May 3 detained his partner in the street while working as an
independent journalist and interrogated him for two hours. He told the Blade the agents
who interrogated his partner took his camera, cell phone and tripod.
They wanted to send him to prison for illicit economic activities, Gandulla told the
Blade. They wanted to say that he receives money from abroad, which is not the case. He
has never received money. They threatened him that if they saw him on the street lming
or with a camera he would go directly to prison without a trial.
Gandulla has told the Blade in previous interviews that authorities have previously
detained and harassed him.
He said ocials at Havanas Jos Mart International Airport prevented him from
boarding a ight to Panama City in order to travel to the Colombian city of Cartagena for
a workshop that focused on documenting human rights abuses. Gandulla said security
agents visited his home ahead of then-President Obamas visit to Cuba in March 2016.
Gandulla and two independent LGBT activists were detained for several hours at
Jos Mart International Airport in 2015 when they returned to Cuba after attending a
workshop in Colombia. Authorities searched their luggage and conscated their cameras
and USB drives for 30 days.
Mariela Castro, director of Cubas National Director of Sexual Health who is Cuban President
Ral Castros daughter, spearheads LGBT-specic eorts in the Communist country.
Mariela Castro on Saturday led an LGBT march in Havanas Vedado neighborhood in
commemoration of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia that
drew more than 2,000 people. LGBT-specic events are scheduled to take place in Santa
Clara and other cities across the country in the coming days.
Gandulla and other independent advocates many of whom met with the U.S.
advocates on Friday are critical of Mariela Castro on a host of issues. These include
marriage rights for same-sex couples, trans Cubans access to sex-reassignment surgery
and the countrys human rights record.
It was an honor to meet more than a dozen brave, Cuban LGBT advocates who are
part of organizations and campaigns that are independent of the Cuban government,
Smith told the Blade on Monday after she returned to the U.S. Despite the specter of
harassment and intrusive government surveillance, these leaders have organized in favor
of marriage equality and given voice to LGBT issues.
I learned a great deal in our lengthy discussions and they expressed deep appreciation
and a desire for greater engagement from the U.S. LGBT movement, she added. Florida
has a unique connection to Cuba and I will eagerly continue to assist their eorts to secure
equality and dignity for LGBT people.
The Blade has made repeated requests to interview Mariela Castro in Cuba. The Cuban
government has not responded to them.
MICHAEL K. LAVERS
 T:10 in
S:10 in

2017 Cedars-Sinai
Sometimes I self-diagnose.

Sometimes I just ignore it.

B:9.5 in
S:9.5 in
T:9.5 in
Sometimes I overreact.

Sometimes I underestimate.

Sometimes I search it.

Sometimes I put it off.

Sometimes I freak out.

But, I trust my Cedars-Sinai doctor every time.

cedars-sinai.edu1-800-CEDARS-1
& SRL

feat.
V E N I CE PRI DE W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM MA Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 7 1 7

Is gentrication killing everything good about Venice?

CITY THAT FAMOUSLY EMBRACED DIVERSITY IS QUICKLY BECOMING HOMOGENOUS

By CJ GRONNER

If you havent visited Venice in a few

years, you most likely wont recognize it.
The bohemian beach community that
has drawn freedom seekers for more than
a century, with its diversity, acceptance,
creativity, art, surf and overall excellent
good vibes is being threatened with
extinction thanks to the encroachment of
big money, which is driving out longtime
residents and businesses alike.
Tech giants like Google and Snapchat
have been making land grabs in Venice
for a while now, but in recent weeks the
pace has quickened. Snapchat is a favorite
villain among critics (which is nearly every
long-term Venice resident). The company
has taken over once funky local storefront
spaces and historic beachside buildings
and lled them with corporate drones
coding within.
Why Venice? Why not some oce park
designed for those purposes?
It all has a tangibly sinister air about it, Once a local hangout, this space is the new upscale home of Adidas.
especially when you consider that Venice PHOTO BY CJ GRONNER

is (was) truly the last beach community

where regular people could aord to live.
Where diversity, acceptance, and freedom
have always been the driving ethos of this
American Dream of a town.
That was Abbot Kinneys vision when he
created and founded Venice Of America
in 1905 a place of fun, entertainment,
and creativity that would draw revelers
from around the world. Venice has been
that dream realized ever since, and is tied
with Disneyland as Southern Californias
top tourist destination.
With the recent inux of chain stores and
tech corporations attempting to turn our
beachfront paradise into Silicon Beach,
its clear the people doing the buying
and selling (and renting) are aware of the
conundrum that as they succeed, the very
reasons people want to be part of Venice
are disappearing the eclectic place
everyone knows and loves is becoming
the same as everywhere else.
The Venice Freak Show recently lost its
lease on Ocean Front Walk to make way
for even more tech oces. Venice has
always been a bit of a Freak Show for
all the tourists to come and check out
how the uninhibited people of the world
work and play. To have the actual Freak
Show forced out of its perfect boardwalk
location merely to increase the square
footage of the tech footprint is a travesty.
What tourist comes to the Venice
Boardwalk to stand and look at a corporate
oce building? Exactly no one. They lined
up to see the Bearded Lady, Larry the Wolf
Boy, and Asia the Sword Swallower, not a
sealed o, guarded oce campus.
The cost gentrication forces are asking
residents to pay is the loss of one of the most
historically cool places on Earth. How do they
sleep at night, knowing theyve contributed
to the demise of the last aordable urban
beach community in America?
The writings about Venice are extensive,
and almost always poetically hyperbolic
about how wonderful the place is.
Venice of America: The American Dream
Come True, the 1973 book by Sweet
William, shows that this struggle between
greed and doing whats right is nothing
new. Its just much more dire now.
Sweet William wrote, Theres only one
beach in the United States of America
where poor people live by the sea,
and theyre being moved out as fast as
possible. Only one place in America exists
where old Jews and pensioners can sit
and watch the sun-on-the-water, where
welfare children can play in the surf, and
thats Venice Beach.
People of Venice fought to preserve that
but now we face an onslaught of change.
The charming Mom & Pop shops on Abbot
Kinney Boulevard have almost all been
kicked out, replaced by sterile, homogenous
mall brands that lack even a semblance of
character, or even a taste of the fun avor
that has always dened Venice.
The not even open new Adidas store that
is replacing Venices beloved Hals actually
had the audacity to claim Dening Venice
on its storefront a move that was met
with such derision in the neighborhood,
the German conglomerate removed the
oensive words within a week.
That shows you that the real Venice
people are still here, and still care deeply.
As Sweet William wrote those decades
ago, The spirit of Venice will never die, for
it lives in the hearts of brave and beautiful
men and women who are striving for
freedom at the edge of America.
Resist!
1 8 MA Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 7 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM V E N I CE P RI D E

Venice of America, a gay history primer

THE ONCE (AND FUTURE) MOST ACCEPTING PLACE ON EARTH

By CJ GRONNER

The Rocky Twins, LEIF and PAUL ROSCHBERG, legendary 1930s performers on Venice Pier.

Venice, California! It has always been a
place for seekers of fun, freedom, diversity
and acceptance.
People of every color and stripe have
made their way to this bohemian beach
enclave for more than a century, since
it was founded in 1905 by Abbot Kinney
to fulll his dream of having a Venice of
America. They were brought here by the
stories of ethnic, economic and cultural
dierences all coming together to prove
that those from all walks of life can live
together not only peacefully, but happily.
Maybe you came to Venice to play guitar
and roller skate down the boardwalk.
Perhaps you set out to be The Worlds
Greatest Wino. You might have just
wanted to surf and live out of your van.
You heard this was where all the artists
lived, and wanted to make your own mark
in that world. Or possibly you were just
gay and thought that it would be easier
to live in a welcoming place like Venice.
Whatever your dream, Venice has always
been there for you to give it a go.
With all the unique things to see and do
in Venice, its no surprise that Venice has
always been a safe bubble for gay folk.
In the 1930s, there was a beloved drag
act called The Rocky Twins, where brothers
Leif and Paul Roschberg would perform to
delighted audiences at The Ship Caf near
the Venice Pier.
Drag legend Gene Malin, the Mayor
of Venice, gave his last performance at
The Ship, before dying in a freak accident
when his car plunged o the pier, killing
him instantly. Thousands of local residents
mourned his death.
The passing decades continued to invite
the gay community to Venice, from the are restless, said Marvin Camp. There are
various bars (Blackies, Van Goghs Ear, Big more gay people in Venice than in most
Brothers, The Pink Elephant Saloon, and our neighborhoods in LA and nothing at all to do.
beloved The Roostersh) to the gay beaches But the community has coalesced in
called Chi Chi Beach and The Speedo Lido. several ways after the closure of The
Divine even moved to Venice in the 1970s. Roostersh.
2017 nds Venice still a welcoming bubble, The Venice Pride sign lighting and
but things have changed. There is still an area dance party, the enormous impromptu
of Will Rogers Beach (dubbed Ginger Rogers) outpouring at the Windward Circle vigils
that is known as a gay gathering spot, and there after the nightclub shootings in Orlando,
are gay nights at The Circle Bar on Main Street, the gathering of Venices LGBT and allied
and The Birdcage (upstairs in The Victorian in communities under the rainbow-lit Venice
Santa Monica), but thats not much. sign, were powerful examples of the
With the closing of The Roostersh strength of the local LGBT community.
last year, there really is no gay place This is why things like Venice Pride
to socialize. Russell Cletta told the Los matter, and this is why we will all once
Angeles Blade, We just dont go out at all. again gather together under the Venice
Indeed, a local network of house parties Sign on June 2 to show that we stand
took root over the past year. People hung out together for social justice and human
together in their homes, and at parties. People rights for all. See you there. Proudly.
V E N I CE PRI DE W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM MA Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 7 1 9

Reclaiming our space, one beach at a time

VENICE PRIDE TAKES A LIFEGUARD TOWER AND RAISES THE RAINBOW FLAG HIGH

By CJ GRONNER

The famous Venice Sign is just one of the many icons transformed by the rainbow.

PHOTO COURTESY OF GOOGLE STREET VIEW, AUGUST 2016

Building upon last years success, Venice
Pride organizers have added a special
component to this years Venice Pride
festivities that will show the whole world
how colorful and proud the Venice LBGTQ
community is.
And they are doing it in a way that is
perfectly Venice.
The stretch of Venice sand from Park to
Breeze Avenues will be dedicated on June
1 as the Bill Rosendahl Memorial Beach, in
honor of our rst openly gay person elected
to City Council. It will be marked by both a
permanent plaque ocially naming it Bill
Beach, and also by a beautifully painted
rainbow lifeguard tower at Brooks Avenue.
Venice Pride Board members and
partners of 16 years, Patrick Marston and
Michael Brunt, residents of Venice, are
spearheading the Pride Lifeguard Tower
project, and their enthusiasm is both
touching and inspirational.
Marston and Brunt told the Los Angeles
Blade this marks only the second time in
LA County history that permission has
been granted by county supervisors to
alter the appearance of any lifeguard
tower. LA Countys Beaches and Harbors
Department has a longstanding policy
dating back to at least 1975 that forbids
any public alteration of a lifeguard tower.
In addition, the rainbow tower at Brooks
Avenue will serve as a physical Pride ag all
summer until Sept. 4. Its about visibility,
Brunt said.Visibility brings safety, it brings
self-condence, and it brings action,
Brunt added.
All important when you are sometimes
talking about someones very survival. In
the 80s, there was a phrase often used
around the AIDS epidemic, that Silence
equals death.
Pride back in the day really was often
about survival, as people were persecuted
for their sexuality. As time has passed,
Pride has transformed into a celebration,
but with the Trump administration
threatening to undo much of the progress,
its evident that the entire movement
and the people that love them need to
remain vigilant.
Events like Venice Pride can certainly help.
Marston and Brunt stressed that Venice
Pride is open to ALL, and that the events
are free of charge (other than the $10
cover for The Birdcage Gaywatch after-
party, but those proceeds come back to
the Pride Board, so all good).
The hope is that Venice Pride can grow
to a level where it doesnt have to raise
funds just to put on the event, but to raise
funds for the organizations that need our
help, like The Trevor Project, a 24-hour
hotline for suicidal LBGTQ youth.
Marston is an artist, and is creating
the lifeguard tower likeness to be both
a brand logo and a stencil that will be
plastered all over town in advance of
the June celebration. He told the Los
Angeles Blade, Venice has always been
about doing whatever you like, and
Pride is a hub for everyone to celebrate
the diversity of Venice. Brunt added,
We want everyone to come to our
party Gays, friends of gays, parents
and teachers of gays, children of gays.
We all love each other, so lets come
together to celebrate each other and
our inclusivity. There is no agenda, just
a celebration for everyone.
The Brooks Avenue lifeguard tower will
begin its transformation in late May and is
set for a beachside press unveiling on June
1 to coincide with the rst day of national
LGBT pride month.
All information regarding Venice Pride
can be found at www.Venicepride.org.
All of Venice looks forward to celebrating
our diversity and inclusivity this June 2-3,
and beachgoers will be able to enjoy the
rainbow lifeguard tower all summer long
as a symbol of our community pride.
2 2 MA Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 7 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM V E N I CE P RI D E

Sponsors line up to support Venice Pride

LA RAMS MAKE HISTORY BY BACKING LGBT EVENT

By TROY MASTERS
tmasters@losangelesblade.com

The Los Angeles Rams and Google have signed on as sponsors of Venice Pride.

Venice Pride 2017 has lined up a number of
mainstream corporate supporters, including
the Los Angeles Rams, the new-but-native
NFL team in town, will help light up Venice
with rainbow colors alongside Google, BCG
Digital Ventures, and others in June as part
of the month-long Venice Pride Sign display.
The team has joined Venice Pride as a
bronze-level sponsor and has adopted 14
blue lights in the letter C of the famous
VENICE sign, heralding the start of the 2nd
annual Pride celebration on the beach.
Grant Turck, co-founder and executive
director of Venice Pride, said this is the
rst time an NFL team has ocially
sponsored an LGBT pride event. We are
thrilled the Los Angeles Rams has chosen
our celebration to make this welcome
and historic overture of inclusion to the
LGBT community. Its great for Venice,
for the Rams organization and for the
LGBT community. Hopefully this is the
beginning of even bolder outreach eorts
to our diverse community
We are proud to work with Venice Pride
and to stand in alignment with the LGBT
community that is such an important part
of the fabric of Los Angeles, said Los
Angeles Rams Vice President of Community
Aairs Molly Higgins. Inclusion has always
been a valued part of our organization and
we see this as a unique way to publicly
celebrate the diversity that makes this
community so special.
The team, before relocating to Los
Angeles from St. Louis, already had a
groundbreaking track record in LGBT
rights, being the rst team in history to
draft an openly gay player, Michael Sam.
The St. Louis Rams picked Sam in the
seventh round, the 249th of 256 players
selected in the 2014 draft. He became
the NFLs rst out gay player, an event
so important that even President Obama
hailed the decision. Congratulations to
Michael Sam, the Rams and the NFL for
taking an important step forward today in
our Nations journey he said. From the the beach community will join the LA Rams
playing eld to the corporate boardroom,
LGBT Americans prove everyday that you
should be judged by what you do and
not who you are. St. Louis Rams jerseys
bearing his name became a top seller.
Last fall, in a report on Outsports.com,
Higgins declared the teams support for
LGBT inclusive diversity. As a member of
the LGBT community, I know our interest in
the pursuit of equality is authentic and its
integrated into our overall organizational
strategy. We value diversity and believe we
are a stronger team because of it, she said.
Venice Pride kicks o on June 2, and
thousands are expected to attend the two-
day event.
Google also recently joined Venice. The
tech giant, one of the many transforming
in helping light up the Venice sign.
Leave it to Google to put it best.
Google is over-the-rainbow happy
to support Venice Pride and our shared
commitment to inclusion and diversity, said
Rebecca Prozan, Googles Head of Public
Aairs for California. Other sponsors include
the Human Rights Campaign, Keller Williams
Realty, Townhouse Venice and more.
V E N I CE PRI DE W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM MA Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 7 2 3

Roostersh closure gave birth to Venice Pride

A LEGENDARY PLACE WHERE EVERYBODY KNEW YOUR NAME

By CJ GRONNER

The Roostersh is still an empty store, more than a year after it closed, a haunting reminder of
Venices changing landscape.

PHOTO BY WALLY GOBETZ; COURTESY OF FLICKR

Venices beloved gay bar, The
Roostersh, closed on May 22 last year,
creating a massive void for the LBGTQ
community on the Westside. Massive.
Its been almost a year since that last,
poignantly festive night at The Fish, and
the space remains empty, a run-down
shell of a once lively headquarters for our
towns community, gay and straight alike.
It was a watering hole for the people,
whatever their sexual preferences.
Diversity was not merely accepted here,
but celebrated. Thats what was special
about The Roostersh.
Serving up the stiest drinks in town
since 1979, this extra-special dive bar
held a strong place in the hearts of Venice,
and is sorely missed each day, especially
when you pass by the ghostly faade that
remains so eerily untouched.
Gentrication takes a strong toll on a
neighborhood, but this hit was one of the
hardest. There was simply no other option
for the LBGTQ brothers and sisters. Its
closure was like the death of a community,
or at least it felt that way.
And for what?
Few can aord the astronomical rents
on the now unrecognizable Abbot Kinney
Boulevard.
Many here thought someone cool with
all this new money in Venice would swoop
in at the last minute to save The Fish, but it
never happened.
Dannys Deli and The Canal Club briey
tried to ll the vacuum left behind by
the loss of The Roostersh, with gay
promotions and the adoption of the
famous Margarita Wednesdays, but
it didnt take. People just wanted their
Roostersh back.
The entire Venice Pride movement yes,
movement was born out of the closure
of this historic bar. The loss produced a
mixture of sadness, anger, and pride that
swells up within all good people who still
feel displaced for nothing but the kind
of greed that has resulted in warehoused
storefronts awaiting trustafarian wealth.
Venice is the new East Village or Tenderloin
a neighborhood with bohemian roots
and traditions that is being bastardized into
a produced and commercial version of itself.
Cool is being repackaged.
Im thinking back now to the last heroic
night at The Roostersh last May, when all of
Venice came together to bid a fond farewell.
It was so sad, but so fun at the same time.
No one cared what or who you were, just
that we were all there to celebrate an iconic
part of our beach towns history.
I interviewed owner and manager Gary
Mick for the Free Venice Beachhead a
few years back. I asked him at the time if
it bothered the gay regulars that straight
Venice also had a soft spot for The Fish,
as it was one of the very few places where
you could still get an actual drink at a price
that allowed you to have more than one.
There was no pretension.
Mick responded that everyone was
welcome at The Roostersh, but it was rst
and foremost a gay bar. If that fact was
respected and it always was everyone
was welcome. He explained that the gay bar
was a very important part of the coming out
process and should be a safe place and
to basically just chill. Besides, he told me
laughing, everyone knows who is gay and
straight pretty much at a glance anyway, so
there was really nothing to sweat.
It was always just a place that really did
practice One Love, and man, do we miss it
here in Venice.
The Roostersh was always meant to
be a kind of gay center for people living at
the beach, a place to meet and socialize, a
watering hole by the sea. Walter Schneider
and B.M. Alexander were business
partners and pioneers of what would
become West Hollywood, opening both
The Gallery Room and The Up Disco in the
1960s. When they moved to Venice, they
saw a need for somewhere gay to go, and
a friend found them the spot that now still
sits vacant on Abbot Kinney.
They loved sport shing o the coast of
Cabo San Lucas, and their favorite sh was the
roostersh, so they named their new place
after it and a legendary venue was born.
Im sure everyone in Venice who ever
crossed the threshold of The Roostersh
has a good tale to share about it. From
Halloween, to birthdays, to street fairs, to
just drowning your sorrows, many, many
milestones were enjoyed and countless
memories were created within the walls of
this kind of dumpy, but incredibly awesome
spot. Oh, if those walls could talk.
Were now coming up on the second
annual Venice Pride festivities, and The
Roostersh is still being mourned a year later.
The silver lining is that from that end,
the new beginning of a Pride movement
in Venice was born and our community is
once again claiming the beach.
2 4 MA Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 7
Queery
GRANT TURCK
THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND VENICE
PRIDE ANSWERS 20 GAY QUESTIONS
By TROY MASTERS
tmasters@losangelesblade.com
Grant Turck is one of those people who asks
questions like, Tell me what I can do better,
something he asked of his fellow Venice Pride
board meeting recently.
That sums him up. He is not someone who is
eager to please, as the question might suggest,
but someone who truly does strive hard to do
his best, both professionally in his media and
technology consulting work and for the work he
does for the communities he loves, particularly the
LGBT community.
In Venice Pride, Turck has spearheaded the
creation of a high-style event on a shoestring
budget, spending nearly every waking hour
ensuring the most minor details are impressive. He
has done it with the single-minded aim of restoring
the visibility of the LGBT community in Venice.
And that has paid o, handsomely.
This year, Venice Prides second year, has
garnered the corporate support of the Los Angeles
Rams, Google and Yahoo as well as an impressive
array of Venice-area businesses and politicians.
And attendance is expected to reward the beach
community handsomely.
Ask Pepperdine University about Grants
tenacity. When the conservative Christian, Malibu-
based university said no to an LGBT student
group, saying the group is not supportive of
the universitys traditional Christian teachings
regarding homosexuality, Grant, who formed the
group, rallied an alliance of national leaders to help
change the policy.
The universitys decision will adversely aect
the quality of student life on campus for some
students, he said at a rally that drew national
press. It sends a clear message of ignorance to
both the student body and those outside the
university. It was through SAH that I had hoped to
stop the silence and bring about positive change
for all students at Pepperdine.
Insisting on visibility and positive change for all is
the thread that seems to run through his character
and is the hallmark of what Venice Pride is all about.
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?
17 years. My mom.
Whos your LGBT hero?
Ellen DeGeneres for being a lifelong
trailblazer. From breaking through
the rainbow ceiling in the 90s to
voluntarily serving as a positive role
model insideand outsideour
community on a daily basis for more
than 14 years, she has done more
than most to move the needle of
public perception in our favor.
Whats Los Angeles best nightspot,
past or present?
Roostersh, of course! Westside is the
best side.
Describe your dream wedding.
An intimate aair surrounded by
family and close friends at the El
Encanto.
What non-LGBT issue are you most
passionate about?
Aordable, universal health care.
What historical outcome would you
change?
The genocide of gay men in Chechnya.
Whats been the most memorable
pop culture moment of your
lifetime?
Attending Michael Jacksons memorial
service at The Staples Center.
On what do you insist?
The Golden Rule.
What was your last Facebook post
or Tweet?
NPR review of the new Broadway cast
recording of Hello Dolly starring
Bette Midler. Its a wonderful score.
If your life were a book, what would
the title be?
I havent had time to read a book in
quite a long time.:(
If science discovered a way to
change sexual orientation, what
would you do?
I would remain the way I was created.
What do you believe in beyond the
physical world?
Jesus Christ, my lord and savior.
Whats your advice for LGBT
movement leaders?
A journey of a thousand miles begins
with a single step. Its important to
remember that change is a process.
V E N I CE P RI D E
PHOTO BY JENNY ROLAPP
What would you walk across hot
coals for?
To protect those I love.
What LGBT stereotype annoys you
most?
The denial of femininity in the gay
community.
Whats your favorite LGBT movie?
Priscilla Queen of the Desert, but I
LOVE the musical.
Whats the most overrated social
custom?
Any social custom that requires a
person to do something for another
person based solely on their gender
alone is overrated in my book.
What trophy or prize do you most
covet?
A Tony Award.
What do you wish youd known at
18?
I wish Id known it would be OK.
Why Los Angeles?
Where does Los Angeles begin and
end, really? The beach cities are totally
dierent and I love everything about it.
W WW .L OS A NG EL ESB LADE .CO M MA Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 7 2 7

losangelesblade.com
@LosAngelesBlade
2 8 MA Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 7
Resistance is now
a patriotic act
KAREN OCAMB is senior contributing writer for
the Los Angeles Blade.
The center of American power, the seat of
democracy, is in chaos.
The world watched Donald Trump destroy
civility as a campaign sideshow; now his
bullying narcissistic ineptitude is threatening to
destroy civilization. Lord of the Flies as a reality
TV show.
But the White House is not an island unto
itself and the latest breathtaking revelations
that Trump leaked highly classied intelligence
about ISIS to Russian ocials during a
meeting in the Oval Ocethe sharing
of which was not agreed to by the Israeli
sourcehas caused feverish concerns about
his competence and credibility.
Meanwhile, despite claims from the State
Department that they are deeply disturbed
about the abuse and murder of gays in
Chechnya, the issue never came up in the
meeting between Trump and the Russian
foreign minister. The fact that Trump promised
to protect the LGBT community to get LGBT
votes, only to roll back Obama-era protections
and turn a blind eye to the anti-LGBT atrocities
in this region of the Russian Federation only
goes to shred the last wisps of his credibility.
Some of the changes that were seeing
should seem small, but they matter a great
deal if youre the person aected, former Sec.
of State Hillary Clinton told an audience at the
New York City LGBT Center last month. Others
carry historic signicance, like the future of the
Supreme Court.
Or the future of a state.
The Human Rights Campaign says it is
WWW .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
tracking more than 130 anti-LGBTQ bills in
30 states, including Texas. This is the most
number of specically anti-LGBT bills that weve
ever faced, Chuck Smith, president of Equality
Texas, told USA Today about the 24 anti-LGBT
bills introduced this session. Its an all-out
assault on LGBT people.
What is surprising is that some Democrats
seem to be backtracking on LGBT equality for
the sake of political expediency.
For example, North Carolina Gov. Roy
Cooper, a Democrat elected with a lot of help
from the LGBT community furious over the
hateful HB2, told the Center for American
Progress 2017 Ideas Conference on May
16 that he had a choice about signing a
compromise repeal bill.
Cooper said, Do I continue to make a
statement and pound on the table and nothing
happen, or do I take a positive step, make
progress, and continue to ght. I chose the
latter for my state because we got rid of the
birth certicate requirement, we opened up
the ability of local governments to provide
some protections now, and some in the future.
Im gonna issue an Executive Order pretty soon,
that is comprehensive, that helps with LGBT
protections, and were going to keep working
every day.
The CAP audience applauded. But LGBT
politicos on the ground felt betrayed by the
compromise, which Cooper hastily signed to
meet a deadline imposed by the NCAA. The
ACLU of North Carolina called the repeal a
disgraceful backroom deal that uses LGBT
rights as a bargaining chip.
Important provisions of HB2 are still in
eect until 2020, including prohibiting cities
from passing nondiscrimination ordinances
regarding private employment or public
accommodations nor are transgender citizens
allowed access to public bathrooms that
match their gender identity. Cooper signed
that bill in March but no executive order has
yet been oered.
Nor has the Democratic Governors
Association called o plans for a September
meeting in North Carolina, despite several
states, including California, upholding a
travel ban there until LGBT citizens receive
full equality.
And then theres the ugly homophobia
VIEWPOINT
in the race for California Democratic Party
chair with supporters of out Eric Baumans
opponent accusing him of pedophilia.
What theyre accusing me of is being a
child predator! And I lost it. I started crying
uncontrollably, Bauman told me about
hearing of the false rumors.
This is despicable! This is not the Democratic
Party! These are Trumpian tactics and it has to
stop! The reaction in the LGBT community has
been swift: I am sickened that there still are
people in Californias Democratic Party who
would resort to these false smears to favor
their preferred candidate, Equality California
Executive Director Zbur told the LA Blade,
calling for an investigation.
But ghting back, resisting is not enough,
Lorri L. Jean, CEO of the L.A. LGBT Center,
told the crowd at An Evening for Women in
Hollywood May 13. No matter the obstacles
we faced, no matter who was in power, we
NEVER accepted the status quo or settled
for crumbs. And we certainly have not been
satised with simply trying to limit the damage
being done to us, she said. We cannot allow
timidity or fear or even the prospect of short-
term failure to reduce our expectations or our
demands. That kind of determination has been
the key to our movements success thus far.
And it is key to our future.
Jean pointed out that Los Angeles and
California have enormous power, and will
exercise it. We will set the example for our
nation, continuing to make real progress while
holding fast to the values we cherish: inclusivity,
diversity, acceptance, she said, organizing
everywhere. We will speak up and expose
wrongs and hold the perpetrators accountable.
And in 2018 and 2020, with regard to those
who would have us regress to an America that
was never great for people like us, we will send
them packing!
In fact, Jean said, the LGBT community is
inspiring. Fighting for justice, and winning, is
what we know how to do. Its one of the things
we do best. In these dicult times, its critical to those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the opinion of
remind ourselves of that fact.
We must remember not only that we are
on the right side of history, but that we are
erce and resilient and inspiring. We must use
that power to ensure we do more than simply
weather the storm. We must BE the storm!
VOLUME 01 ISSUE 05
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V I E W PO I N T
Trump to LGBT Elders: DROP DEAD
Standing with our pioneers,
#WeRefuseToBeInvisible
By MICHAEL ADAMS
Four months into the Trump
administration and its become clear
that LGBT elders and their advocates are
in for a big ght, with the new regime in
Washington seemingly determined to
erase the progress toward LGBT inclusion
in federal aging policies and programs.
Given the erasure of LGBT issues
from White House and federal agency
websites within hours of Donald Trumps
inauguration, we at SAGE were alarmed
but not surprised when we learned of
plans to eliminate LGBT elders from the
annual survey that determines how $2
billion in publicly funded elder services
gets distributed. This outrageous move
sends a clear message to our LGBT elders,
many of whose very lives depend upon
federally funded services, that the Trump
Administration doesnt care whether they
receive those services or not.
As the leading voice for LGBT elders
nationally, SAGE responded quickly with
the #WeRefuseToBeInvisible campaign
a grassroots eort to mobilize a strong
response to the Public Comment period
that the Trump Administration is legally
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
required to undertake before erasing
an entire population from an important
federal program. The Public Comment
period for the survey exclusion ended on
May 12 and resulted in more than 8,000
letters making their way to Washington.
Many organizations, LGBT and allies
alike, have joined the cause. As Dr. Yanira
Cruz, President and CEO of the National
Hispanic Council on Aging, put it: We
know that Donald Trump and [Health &
Human Services Cabinet Secretary] Tom
Price wont change their minds on their
own, which is why were joining forces with
SAGE to raise our voices in demanding
that HHS add LGBT questions back into its
survey of older adultsBecause everyone,
at every stage of life, deserves to be
counted, heard, and treated with respect.
A broad array of organizations from
national and local LGBT leaders like the
Human Rights Campaign, the National
LGBTQ Task Force, and Fenway Community
Health to aging sector leaders like Justice
in Aging and the Leadership Council of
Aging Organizations have mobilized their
constituents to express opposition to the
erasure of LGBT elders. A recent analysis
published on Storify demonstrates the
degree to which #WeWillNotBeInvisible
has caught on via social media, touching a
powerful nerve across LGBT communities
and with allies.
There are emerging indications that at
least some in Washington are listening.
On April 27, a bi-partisan group of 19 U.S.
Senators led by Susan Collins, Republican
chair of the Senates Special Committee
on Aging, publicly demanded a reversal of
the Trump Administrations plans to erase
LGBT elders.
The deadline for the Public Comment
period for the survey exclusion has already
passed, and now we await a nal decision
from the Trump Administration on LGBT
inclusion in the elder services survey. But
while we wait, we will not back down in
our opposition to the erasure of our older
LGBT community, because unfortunately,
there is every indication that more battles
are looming on the horizon.
The so-called religious freedom
Executive Order signed by Donald Trump
early in May lays the groundwork for
Attorney General Je Sessions, a long-time
opponent of LGBT equality, to authorize
religious-based discrimination across
federally supported programs. Given
the history of religion-based, anti-LGBT
teachings, and the fact that faith-based
organizations make up more than 70
percent of the long-term care providers
upon which older Americans are forced
to rely, LGBT elders have every reason to
be deeply concerned that they will pay a
high price for the Trump Administrations not back down. We refuse to be invisible.
determination to favor religious voices
over all others. Tragically, discrimination
MA Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 7 2 9
far too often forces LGBT elders who need
care and services back into the closet
in order to protect themselves from
mistreatment. Weve made progress on
that front in recent years, as SAGE has led
eorts across the country to use training
to improve treatment of LGBT elders by
care providers. It will require extraordinary
vigilance to ensure the Administrations
drive to elevate religious voices fueled by
right-wing evangelical Trump supporters
does not erase that progress.
And the threats dont stop there. On
the very same day the religious freedom
Executive Order was signed, the House
of Representatives in a party-line vote
succeeded in passing a slapped-together
bill that would replace Obamacare with
a disastrous approach to health care
that favors the wealthy and dumps on
everybody else. Among the many groups
that would be hurt by Trumpcare, older
people face the threat of health insurance
premiums that are ve times higher than
premiums for younger people. Here again,
we must ght as hard as possible to ensure
that this terrible rollback in progress is
stopped in its tracks.
Through all of these battles, and those
to come, SAGE will continue to stand with
and for our LGBT elder pioneers. We will
MICHAEL ADAMS is CEO of SAGE.
3 0 MA Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 7 WWW. L O S A N G E L E S B L A D E . C O M

Marvelous, sad and blisteringly

funny. A brave and rewarding drama that
speaks to us all. - The Guardian The
hookup site
TOO HOT
for the
app store

THE WALLIS PRODUCTION OF

BY ALEXI KAYE CAMPBELL

DIRECTED BY THE WALLIS ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE

FROM THE
MICHAEL ARDEN TONY-NOMINAT
E
DIRECTOR OF D
FEATURING NEAL BLEDSOE, JESSICA COLLINS, SPRING
AUGUSTUS PREW, MATTHEW WILKAS AWAKENING

JUNE 8 - JULY 9, 2017

310.746.4000
TheWallis.org/Pride
 The Promise is a watershed moment for LGBT Armenians
New film creates bridge for thousands in Los Angeles

By THOM SENZEE

M A Y 1 9 2 0 1 7 V O L U M E 0 1 I S S U E 0 5 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 3 1

Christian Bale stars in The Armenians.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SURVIVAL PICTURES

When Henrick Vartanian invited Vic
Gerami to the Hollywood premiere of
director Terry Georges, The Promise, a
watershed moment was in the works.
It is a very significant film since its the
only...big-budget production which brings
the story of the Armenian Genocide to mass
audiences, finally and truthfully, Henrick
Vartanian, 46, told the Los Angeles Blade.
Nearly 200,000 Armenian-Americans
out of about 460,000 in the United
States overall live in Los Angeles County,
according to the U.S. Census Bureau,
making L.A. one of the largest Armenian
communities outside of Armenia.
Vartanian works as a media producer
at Brave New Hollywood, an independent
production company in Glendale. When
the opportunity to attend the premiere
arose last month, taking his pal Vic has a
no-brainer.
It was important to me to bring a
friend with whom I have more than a
few thingsin common, he told the Blade
during a recent interview.
One commonality he shares with Gerami
is a longing to simply hear and see the story
his family and his countrymen shared: that
of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-18, of
which the world has too many Armenians
almost willfully unaware for a century.
Deep inside, as Armenian-
Americans, we both wanted to see
the story of our ancestors told in our
lifetimesjust like our great grandparents
wished to, but never did.
Vartanian says he and Gerami are
fortunate as gay men to have grown up
in the U.S. He says he in particular as an
Armenian from Iran who came to the U.S.
in the mid-1980s shortly after the Islamic
revolution feels particularly lucky to have
escaped the threat of persecution that
regularly results in murder back home.
The concept and practiceof persecution
anddiscrimination is sadly familiar to us in
more ways than one, he said.
Gerami, manager of events at the West
Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, has
been an out-front member of this regions
LGBTQ business community for more
than a decade.
Im a zero-generation Armenian-
American, Gerami told the Blade. I
arrived in the USA on my 15th birthday. My
mom passed almost 20 years ago, but my
dad and two sisters live in Los Angeles.
Hes so visible and, frankly, so well
liked within Southern Californias LGBTQ
community that its hard to imagine him as
an outsider. Nevertheless, thats a description
with which he says hes most familiar.
Sometimes I feel like cress or celeriac in
a salad where I have to constantly explain
who I am, he said. For the most part, the
world doesnt know who we are, where we
come from or other specifics. Sometimes
they think were Middle Eastern,
sometimes Russian; but were neither.
For the record, Armenia according to the
CIAs World Fact Book, can be accurately
classified as a republic in either Europe or
the Middle East because it straddles both.
The same source notes that Armenia was
ContinueS ON page 39
3 2 MA Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 7 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM THEATER

Archduke makes an auspicious premiere at the Taper

RAJIV JOSEPH COMBINES HISTORY AND COMEDY TO GREAT EFFECT

By CHRISTOPHER CAPPIELLO

tutored by Apis in the history of Serbian

L-R: STEPHEN STOCKING and TODD WEEKS in the world premiere of Rajiv Josephs Archduke. Directed by Giovanna Sardelli, Archduke plays through
June 4 at the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum.
That a new play about the young Serbian
men tasked with the 1914 assassination
that sparked World War I could be
alarmingly relevant is one thing; that it is
also surprisingly funny is a testament to
the darkly comic imagination of playwright
Rajiv Joseph (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad
Zoo, Guards at the Taj).
As he has done to varying degrees
in other works, Joseph deftly combines
historical events and individuals with his
own unique invention, resulting in an
entertaining examination of patriotism,
identity, martyrdom, and destiny.
If we remember anything about WWI,
it is probably that the assassination of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand triggered
the worldwide conagration. Joseph
introduces us to Gavrilo Princip (Stephen
Stocking), the innocent and inept young
man who would carry out that fateful
deed, as he is being examined by Dr. Leko
(Todd Weeks) for tuberculosis. Leko is
known for oering free exams to the sick,
PHOTO COURTESY OF CENTER THEATRE GROUP
and when the imposing and intimidating
Captain Dragutin Apis Dimitrijevic
(Patrick Page) visits, it is to not-so-gently
convince the doctor to send several
lungers (boys with TB) his way. Turns out
the mad Serbian nationalist is looking to
recruit some doomed young men to carry
out his plan for Serbian independence
from the suocating and corrupt hand of
the Austro-Hungarian empire.
Gavrilo eventually joins Trifko (Ramiz
Monsef) and Nedeljko (Josia Bania) to be
oppression and the appeal of martyrdom.
In a mad dinner scene with a hilariously
large map of the region as a backdrop,
we watch Apis seduce the hapless young
men with dreams of posthumous glory.
The parallels to ISIS and other fanatical
groups are clear and present, even as the
outrageous comedy soars.
The production is a world premiere of
a CTG commission, and the smart script
will likely be ne-tuned from here. During
the Act Two train ride to Sarajevo (in a
gorgeous sleeper compartment courtesy
of designer Tim Mackabee), the three
young men consider ways out of their
monumental task, with sex and food
being the primary reasons not to embrace
martyrdom. The universally human desire
to survive and endure is compelling and
could use deeper examination. That the
eventual assassination was more or less
an accident only adds to that point.
But this premiere is a grand one,
with splendid production values and
wonderful performances. Stocking
pulls o physical comedy with aplomb
while imbuing the doltish Gavrilo with a
soulful yearning. Monsef, so excellent in
Josephs Guards at the Taj, again proves
himself a deft interpreter of the writers
boisterous humor, while Bania brings
charm and endearing innocence to the
guilt-ridden Nedeljko. Page dominates
the proceedings, both physically and
philosophically. Best-known for Broadway
musical villains, the accomplished classical
theater actor fully embraces the theatrical
extravagance of Apis, and we miss him
when he disappears.
Director Giovanna Sardelli steers the
actors along the razors edge of Josephs
sardonic and sometimes broad humor,
stopping on a dime when necessary and
allowing for moments of quiet power in
this auspicious premiere.
F I LM
Director Vincent Gagliostro on After Louie
NEW FILM EXPLORES CROSSROADS AT WHICH MANY AIDS ACTIVISTS FIND THEMSELVES
Filmmaker Vincent Gagliostro is a
relative newcomer when it comes to
making movies. He is, however, no
stranger to activism or the many questions
about identity he deftly grapples with in
his lm After Louie.
After building a career as one of the
most sought-after art directors in the New
York fashion world of the 70s and 80s, he
became enraged (like so many other gay
men and their allies) at the indierence
with which his city and country were
meeting the AIDS crisis so he put his
impressive skill set to work for ACT UP,
creating for them a host of now-iconic
graphics as well as actively organizing
and participating in demonstrations. (In
New York, he worked as art director of Los
Angeles Blade Publisher and Editor Troy
Masters QW Magazine, the nations rst
glossy LGBT news magazine.)
Subsequently, his career in commercial
art continued to expand and evolve, and
after moving to Paris in 2005 (with his
partner, Richard Nahem) he experienced
a sort of artistic rebirth that has yielded
several installations at Galerie NEC and the
blossoming of an interest in lmmaking.
The memories of his experiences on the
front lines of protests have never left him,
though, and now, three decades later, they
lie at the heart of his latest movie project:
After Louie, which premiered earlier this
year at Londons BFI Flame Film Festival
with three sold-out screenings.
Directed and co-written by Gagliostro,
After Louie tells the story of a 50-something
former AIDS activist, Sam, who is struggling
to make a lm that expresses his still-potent
feelings of outrage to a world that no longer
seems to care.
Los Angeles Blade: After Louie
confronts the lingering pain left by the
AIDS epidemic among its survivors.
Why this subject, and why now?
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
By JOHN PAUL KING
ALAN CUMMING (R) and ZACHARY BOOTH (L) star in After Louie, a story about a man desperate to
understand how he and his community got to where they are today.
Vincent Gagliostro: Two self-imposed
questions sparked the making of my lm.
What happened to us/me? And, how does
one generation connect to the next? There
is a tense generational tension in the gay
male community today.
A divide, so to speak, between two
generations of gay men coming to this so-
called post AIDS society from opposite
ends who just arent getting each other
those of us who lived through the eye of
the storm of the 1980s and early 90s and
those who entered into a sexual life with
HIV no longer a death sentence..
The lm the character of Sam is
making, at rst glance, situates the AIDS
crisis in the past; he is paying homage to
those whom he has lost (specically one
of his activist comrades in arms, William
Wilson); but- and a BIG BUT- is he looking
for closure or looking to reactivate the
activism of the past into the future? He is
struggling with the past, mourning, and
closure, but not-as his friends suggest he
do trying to get over it, to move on. Move
on to what? Thats where we meet Sam. Its
like he says to his gallerist, Rhona as she
looks for new paintings, he is trying to get
back to doing something important again.
PHOTO COURTESY OF VINCENT GAGLIOSTRO
Jean-Luc Godard once remarked, It is not
a matter of making political lms, but
rather making lms politically. This freed
the telling of the narrative for me.
At one point in the process of writing
I found myself, along with much of my
immediate community, reeling from the
death of our friend Spencer Cox, it hit
us all like a brick. Peter Staley put it so
eloquently in his eulogy, titled, Grief is a
Sword While many of us, through luck
or circumstance, have landed on our feet,
all of us in some way have unprocessed
grief, or guilt, or an overwhelming sense
of abandonment from a community that
turned its back on us, and increasingly
stigmatized us, all in an attempt to pretend
that AIDS wasnt its problem anymore.
That is Spencers call to action, and we
should take it on.
It was time to start talking to each
other again, time to tell the truth. And for
myself, the only way to do this was to keep
it personal. Many of my friends thought I
was making a documentary. That seemed
limiting. Selective memory seemed a more
potent way to get at the truth.
Blade: The central character, Sam,
MA Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 7 3 3
has a biographical background that
parallels your own in many ways. How
much of what we see in the lm is
autobiographical?
Gagliostro: I have to laugh a bit here.
Talk about a generation gap- sitting
with my co-writer Anthony Johnston, he
commented on how so much of this lm
is so meta, I excused myself to the toilet,
to look up what that meant on my phone.
When I returned I enthusiastically agreed.
Well, Sams visit with his gallerist, Rhona,
is lifted from my visit with my gallerist.
Surprisingly it turned out to be one of the
hardest scenes to write. Who knows?
Sams circle of friends Jerey, Maggie,
William are very much spooled from mine.
I was always telling Anthony, wait till you
meet the real Jerey.
Blade: The scene you mentioned, with
Rhona, actually sparked my next question.
Sam is also making a movie about AIDS,
and is met with resistance from those
around him. Does this reect your own
experience in making the movie, and did
such feedback have an inuence over the
ultimate direction it took?
Gagliostro: To some extent, yes. When
one sets out to tell a story around/about a
friend with mutual friends, in this case, my
friend William Wilson and his short story,
After Louie, ownership issues surface. I
was scolded by a very close mutual friend
for using William. This had a big inuence
on the direction I ultimately took. There is an
explosion that occurs over Chinese take out
at the apartment of Jerey and his husband
Mateo, along with Maggie and her husband
Mark. Jerey, egged on by Mateo nally tells
Sam how he feels about his using Sam. This
leads to an emotional indictment of Sam, his
white-male privilege, and a questioning of
what good his art does.
CONTINUES AT LOSANGELESBLADE.COM
3 4 MA Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 7 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM T RA V E L

Long Beach its the other queer city

A RELAXING URBAN GETAWAY AND PERFECT PLACE TO CELEBRATE PRIDE

By HEATHER CASSELL

The streets were smoking the weekend

my girlfriend and I visited Long Beach but
it wasnt because Long Beach was hot. It
was due to the Formula Drift, a car event
that allows competitors to legally spin out
in designated areas on the citys streets for
a weekend.
That was in advance of the recent Toyota
Grand Prix, where cars raced through
downtown Long Beach streets.
While racecar lovers were burning
rubber in Long Beach, my girlfriend and I
were burning rubber on the soles of our
shoes and with bikes from Long Beach
Bike Share to explore the city during our
36-hour jaunt.
We ew into Long Beach Airport
Friday night and settled into the Hilton
Long Beach to rest up for our weekend
adventure.
Long Beach is not just a great place to celebrate Pride (on the beach!) but also one of the top California cities for LGBT families.
Our hotel was located downtown, which PHOTO BY MITCH; COURTESY OF FLICKR
allowed us to easily hit all the happening
neighborhoods and sites Long Beach has
to oer. Possibly the best way to get a sample of what Brunch oered a buet ranging from
We walked everywhere from the Aquarium Long Beach has to oer is to check out Taste standard American breakfast to Chinese, GET FESTIVE
of the Pacic to Rainbow Harbor to Fourth of Downtown and Stroll and Savor. Foodies Italian, Mexican, seafood, and, of course, There are many reasons to go to Long
Street and Pine Avenue the rst day. We delight as they stroll along Pine Avenue and dessert, all washed down with champagne Beach, but festivals, especially now that
found that Long Beach was very walkable, Waterfront downtown and along Second that magically continues to appear in your spring will soon give way to summer,
at least in the downtown and within specic Street in the Belmont Shore neighborhood, glass. We also enjoyed breakfast at local also transform this city into a destination
neighborhoods. The following day we rolled tasting the best of what the citys restaurants favorite, the Breakfast Bar, which serves up worth visiting.
through the citys bike boulevards and bike have to serve up. Taste of Downtown takes a variety of favorites, including American, The season kicks o with Long Beach
lanes all the way up to Belmont Heights and place in May and August. Stroll and Savor Southern, and Mexican-American. Pride, which is May 20-21, and ends with
back before brunch. takes place monthly May through August. Our only regret was Georges Greek QFilms Long Beach, the LGBT lm festival,
Long Beach, with a population of about We still cant get the avors of Lolas Cafe. We had to refresh our palate from September 7-10.
510,000, is the seventh largest city in Mexican Cuisine, a popular funky the overcooked food and bad Greek wine Throughout the summer, Long Beach
California and the 36th largest in the U.S., restaurant, out of our minds. The menu with a visit after dinner to District Wine. celebrates the beach and sea with a variety
according to our host, Bob Maguglin, from features recipes from Guadalajara, Reviewing our list of restaurants, we of events by the Long Beach Sea Festival,
the Long Beach Convention and Visitors Mexico handed down to the restaurants wished we had gone to Cafe Sevilla for including the Original Lobster Festival, the
Bureau. A native, he has a deep passion namesake from her grandmother, as well Spanish tapas, but we wouldnt have largest lobster festival outside of Maine,
for the city. as modern Mexican fare. Theres indoor explored bustling Second Street and which wraps up the season in September.
and outdoor seating; the back patio has the Belmont Shores neighborhood if we Golfers will enjoy the annual Long Beach
PICK YOUR FLAVOR a cute, colorful atmosphere featuring had. However, we are quite sure that Golf Festival that features a womens and
Long Beach boasts 112 neighborhoods. Mexican artwork. The restaurant has there will be more than a handful of new mens city championship among nine
Restaurateurs have been spicing up the a second location in the Bixby Knolls restaurants to add to the list we created tournaments that attracts more than
citys culinary scene and its diversity is how it neighborhood along Atlantic Avenue. that will beckon our taste buds to return
got its new nickname, the International City. The Queen Mary Champagne Sunday to Long Beach soon. CONTINUES ON PAGE 35
TRAVEL
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 34
1,500 golfers from around the United
States and the world May 17-19.
Craft brew lovers can explore Beer
Camp on Tour, Americas largest craft beer
festival, which will be in Long Beach at the
Queen Mary Events Park June 24.
In July, Long Beach will celebrate artists
at the annual Pow! Wow! Long Beach. The
weeklong festival, July 11-17, celebrates
art, culture, and music with daily events
and a competition with internationally
known artists creating large-scale mural
instillations throughout the city.
Music lovers can enjoy the Long Beach
Jazz Festival, August 11-13.
POLISHING UP
One of the major reasons is that for
the past decade Long Beach, which had a
reputation for being rough around the edges,
has been working on cleaning itself up.
The city is alive with creative innovation.
Everywhere you go new restaurants and
shops are opening. Many of the new
boutiques and eateries in downtown Long
Beach along Pine Avenue and Broadway
sprouted at Made by Millworks, a gift and
art gallery that features more than 150
local brands, and was founded in 2014.
Some of the businesses such as
the Crepe Crafters, Pie Bar, Romeo
Chocolates, Saints and Sinners Bake Shop,
and lesbian-owned Wide Eyes Open Palms
started at Made by Millworks and have
opened nearby.
Then theres the historic favorite on
Pine Avenue, Hamburger Marys, where
Jamies T Girl Saturday and Brunch with
the Brunchettes draw the community out
to eat and laugh.
Taking a break from walking
everywhere, my girlfriend and I enjoyed
local brews at Beachwood Brewing, right
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
across the street from Harvey Milk Park on
the Promenade.
Along Ocean Boulevard, the historic
Club Ripples that has been a bastion in
the Belmont Shore neighborhood since
1972, is one of the citys 13 gay bars and
nightclubs. The nightclub also hosts one
of the citys only lesbian nights, Syrens
Ladies Night.
We were surprised that Long Beach,
which has a reputation for having a large
lesbian community, doesnt oer much for
lesbian nightlife. Its something that hasnt
gone unnoticed by local queer women
who spoke with the Bay Area Reporter.
Lesbian scene or not, the city is clearly
dusting itself o under the direction of
its rst young gay Latino mayor, Robert
Garcia. The founder and publisher of Long
Beach Post and an immigrant from Peru,
Garcia was elected in 2014.
The changes that started in 2007 appear
to have been kicked into high gear within
the past couple of years since Garcia
stepped into the mayors oce. Hes on
a mission to raise Long Beachs prole,
attracting several industries such as
high-tech and brand name stores to
revitalize the beach town.
Its working. Garcia has attracted young
people, who are bringing a new vibrant
energy to the city, while retaining its
laidback beach vibe, diversity, and family-
friendly atmosphere. Its the perfect
concoction for a hip city.
SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
Long Beach oers something for
everyone. Its a very queer city with gay-
owned businesses new and old residing in
many neighborhoods, from Pine Avenue
downtown to Fourth Street and Broadway
to Retro Row where The Center Long Beach,
the LGBT community center, is located.
There is more than one gay neighborhood
too; Alamitos Beach and Signal Hill and
Eastside are generally considered the
gayborhoods and lesbihood, respectively.
Our new friends, Tara Frazier and
Marisol Pathaco, a 30-something lesbian
couple we met during brunch at the Queen
Mary, told my girlfriend and I that there
is never a dull moment in Long Beach
because here is always something to do. moments, sad and uplifting, and includes
Frazier added that Long Beach is a
romantic city too, as we continued hanging
out on the ships deck sipping champagne.
Located on the Pacic Ocean with 11
and a half miles of sandy beaches and 345
days of sunshine that is when the fog isnt
around Long Beach has plenty of things
to do. Couples and families enjoy outdoor
activities, such as beach volleyball, biking,
boating, golf, tennis, and walking along
the beach or Rainbow Harbor Esplanade
or even a ride aboard Gondola Getaway
through the canals of Naples Island. It also
has a robust arts and culinary scene.
My girlfriend and I enjoyed gliding
through the canals of Naples Island at
sunset aboard one of the gondolas. As we
admired the unique array of architecture
and learned about the history behind
the buildings by our gondolier, a former
teacher, we also saw friends enjoying a
dinner set up on the boat, couples getting
engaged, and party boats celebrating
birthdays oat past us.
Art acionados will love the galleries and
museums, such as the Museum of Latin
American Art, along with the bars and
restaurants in the East Village Arts District.
Shoppers will enjoy Second Street in
Belmont Shores, Pine Avenue, the Pike
Outlets, and Retro Row, with antiques
and second-hand shops. Another great
shopping destination is Fourth Fridays at
the Pike. The event showcases more than
80 vendors, food trucks, and local artists
and is open to the public every fourth
Friday of the month from 5 to 10 p.m.
Families will enjoy the aquarium,
MA Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 7 3 5
especially the behind-the-scenes tour we
went on. They will also enjoy the Diana:
Legacy of a Princess exhibit, haunted and
historic tours, and other events aboard
the Queen Mary, a luxury passenger ship
built in 1936 with a glamorous past.
The Diana exhibit is educational and, at
the achievements of Princes Harry and
William of England.
The Queen Mary has called Long Beach
home since 1967 when it ended its nal
voyage at the popular cruise ship port,
where it is now a oating hotel and popular
event and wedding venue. Today, the port
is also home to Carnival Cruises, which is
expanding its cruises to Hawaii and Mexico.
WHERE TO SLEEP
We stayed at the Hilton Long Beach,
however, there are plenty of lodging
options, such as the Queen Mary. The ship
is not only a place to dine, drink, and have
a good time at any one of its many events,
it also has 320 hotel rooms.
Another luxury boat lodging option
is the Dockside Boat and Bed, where
guests sleep in yacht accommodations in
Rainbow Harbor.
More moderate and funky boutique
options from the Hotel Maya to the
historic 1920s Varden Hotel are also
located downtown.
GETTING THERE AND AROUND
We ew in on JetBlue, for which Long Beach
is one of its hubs. The Long Beach Airport is
about a 20-minute drive from the city.
The downtown is very walkable, as
we discovered, but there are shuttles
available: the Passport buses, Aquabus,
and the Aqualink. Passport buses are
free downtown and aordable for longer
distances. Fare-based Aquabus, will take
you to the aquarium, and the Aqualink, will
take you to Alamitos Bay and Naples Island.
3 6 MA Y 1 9 , 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
MAY 19
Pride Week Events: Pride Rally - The
Ocial LB Pride Kicko P, Fri, May 19 @
7 PM - 2 AM. Long Beach Gay Pride (386
E Shoreline Dr). The ocial kick o party,
formerly known as the Pink Party, will
be held on the North Promenade near
Broadway and Third Street.
RUBBER F*CKER, May 19 @10 PM - 1
AM. Eagle LA (4219 Santa Monica Blvd). The
hottest party for men into rubber, latex
and Fetish gear is back! Come dressed in
your hottest gear (head to toe) and we will
let you into the sexy abyss of kinky men
for free! $6 cover otherwise.
MAY 20
LA Pride Community Service Event,
May 20 @ 10 AM - 1 PM. Pets Are Wonderful
Support Inc - (2121 S Flower St). Come join
the LA Pride family as we help out our
furry friends!
2017 Long Beach Gay Pride Parade
and Festival, May 20 @ 11 AM - 10 PM.
Long Beach Gay Pride (386 E Shoreline
Dr). Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride, Inc.
Invites you to our 2017 Pride Celebration.
The Long Beach Pride Parade and Festival
are scheduled for May 20-21, 2017 in
Long Beach, CA the entertainment lineup
includes artists like Chaka Khan, Jody
Watley, Ty Herndon, Kat Deluna, Bre-Z,
Mann (rapper), Ana Victoria and more!
EYES ON CHECHNYA RALLY - LOS
ANGELES, May 20 @ 1:30 PM - 4 PM.
Pershing Square - (532 S Olive St). Never
again? *Notice: trigger warning!!!! With the
kidnapping, abuse, torture, and murder of
gay men and trans women in the Russian
republic of Chechnya, at the hands of their
government, it is past time for our country
to take a stand. Other cities are having
their rallies, and now its our turn!
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
6th Annual Voice Awards,May 20 @ 6
PM - 9 PM. JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE
(900 W Olympic Blvd). The Voice Awards
will be presented on May 20, 2017 at JW
Marriott. Last years Voice Awards raised
over $500,000 to support GMCLAs Outreach
Programs. The Voice Awards honors those
who advance our world, refute silence, lend
a voice to the oppressed, exhibit leadership
and give hope.
Drag Daze: Amateur Drag Competition
for Charity, May 20 @ 7 PM. Hamburger
Marys WEHO -(8288 Santa Monica Blvd.).
Drag Daze: Amateur Drag Competition
for Charity! 50% of Proceeds benet APLA
HEALTH. To participate email Kim Weekes
(kimmymweekes@gmail.com). $125 Cash
Prize for 1st Place $50 Prize for Best
Dressed Up To 8 Contestants have one
hour to get into drag and compete to win
amazing prizes.
The SHE Spot: Prosperity, Money
& You, May 20 @ 7 PM - 9 PM at Inspire
Spiritual Community - (9056 Santa Monica
Blvd.). The S.H.E. Spot is an evening
dedicated to empowering and uplifting
LBTQ women and allies. May is all about
living the GOOD life. More than just
nancial freedom (but were gonna talk
about that too), well discuss how to live
with a sense of abundance and well being.
DILF Los Angeles Underwear/Jock
Party by MAN UPP & Joe Whitaker, May
20 @ 9:00pm-4 AM. Los Globos -(3040
Sunset Boulevard). DILF LOS ANGELES
UNDERWEAR/JOCK PARTY is coming BACK
MAY 20! Join us for another HOT NIGHT
with LA DADDIES, PUPS, BOYS & MEN
having fun in their JOCKS ...DILF STYLE!
MUSIC this month will be by the SMOKING
HOT DJ J WARREN of Boston and SUPER
SEXY DADDY DJ MAX BRUCE of Los Angeles!
MAY 21
Long Beach Pride Parade 2017, May 21
@ 9:30 AM - 1 PM. Long Beach Gay Pride
(386 E Shoreline Dr). AVER will be joining the
VA Long Beach to once again lead the Long
Beach Pride Parade. In these trying times, it
is even more important to show ourselves
in public at the head of this parade.
MAY 23
Networking Event with CIA LGBT
Division, May 23 @ 6 PM - 8 PM at West
Hollywood Library (625 N. San Vicente
Blvd.). Please join us for a special screening
of the CIA documentary ANGLE of Ascent
followed by a panel discussion and
networking on Tuesday, May 23rd. ANGLE
of Ascent is an intriguing 45 minute
documentary created by the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA). It provides a rare
glimpse inside the CIA.
MAY 26
AARP Listening Session at Triangle
Square, May 26 @ 1 PM - 3 PM. Triangle
Square (1602 Ivar Ave). AARP is interested
in your opinions about the livability of Los
Angeles. Join us for a special community
listening session. Parking is available
across the street at Big Wangs Restaurant
(cash only). Provide your receipt and AARP
will reimburse. Light refreshments will be
served. Please RSVP by calling Tanya. See
gayinla.com for details.
CalComMen Spirituality Camp --
OPEN for Registration, May 26 @ 4 PM
2 PM. Camp Round Meadow - (41011
Jenks Lake Rd W). Welcome to CalComMen
Spirituality Community Camp! May 26-
29, 2017 (Memorial Day Weekend) Camp
Round Meadow, Angelus Oaks, CA Just
One Hour from Palm Springs; Two from LA
& San Diego ~~~~ What an inspirational,
engaging & unique way to spend Memorial
Day Weekend, in the company of 99 other
beautiful men!
Derby Dolls Moonlight Skate Night!,
May 26 @ 6 PM - 8 PM. Moonlight Rollerway
(5110 San Fernando Rd). Be your own hero
with the L.A. Junior Derby Dolls! Wear your
best super hero gear and skate with some
of the toughest girls around! Friday May
26 from 6:00-8:00 pm Admission: $20 and
includes skate rental Proceeds for the
night will help keep the LA Derby Dolls
rolling!
MAY 27
Her Cinema, May 27 @ 1 PM - 6:30 PM.
CA LE N D A R
Village at Ed Gould Plaza - (1125 North
McCadden Place ). Please join LAWN with
community partner Outfest for a Memorial
Day Weekend mini-lm festival featuring
the steamy Below Her Mouth, made by
an all-female crew, and the celebratory
Womens Voices Shorts Showcase with
Q&A. Hosted Bar. Tickets (includes Outfest
Crew Level Memberships - $50 value)
General $25.
Honey Pot - 10 Year Cancerversary
Celebration- Goodboy & Lily Khuu!,
May 27 @ 9 PM - 2 AM. The Other Door
(10437 Burbank Blvd). Were celebrating
Sarah Woodwards Birthday and 10 years
of remission as an ovarian cancer survivor!
Donations will be collected at the door
for cancer non-prots of Sarahs choice!
Queertainment Presents... HONEY POT
w/ GoodBoy, Megatronic/Miss Meg (DJ/
Producer), Lily Khuu, and GoGo Hoop
Dance Star Madison Orange! ...LICK HONEY.
Precincts 2-Year Anniversary, May 27
@ 9 PM - 2 AM. Precinct -(357 S Broadway
St). Come join us in celebrating 2 years
at the corner of 4th and Broadway in
Downtown Los Angeles! Hosted by The
Boulet Brothers (with special guest host
Shawn Morales) and music by DJs Omar
DiJou and Mateo Segade. Brought to you
by Jeremy Lucido and FurrTrade! $5 cover
after 10pm.
MAY 28
Community Visioning, May 28 @ 1 PM
- 4 PM. Inspire Spiritual Community (9056
Santa Monica Blvd.). Come join us and
participate in our visioning event - this is
an exercise to align and ground ourselves
to see whats going on next for Inspire.
It will be the 4th Sunday of each month
directly following service. This is FREE and
open to all.
Masterbeat Basic Training 2017, May
28 @ 6 PM - 6 AM. The Mayan (1038 S Hill
St). Check In For Some Training Masterbeat
is excited to announce the return of one of
our longest running holiday events, Basic
Training. For this years special edition we
return to Masterbeats exclusive home
CONTINUES ON PAGE 37
CA L E N DA R
ETHYLINA CANNE returns to host the fourth annual Queen of the Desert So-Cal Lip Sync competition on May 31 at the Renaissance Palm Springs. Proceeds will go to the Desert AIDS Project.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 36
at The Mayan, one of LAs greatest night
clubs, for a very special edition of Training.
MAY 31
HIV Criminalization, May 31 @ 9:30
AM 3 PM. APLA Healths Gleicher/Chen
Health Center (3743 S La Brea Ave).
Overview of HIV Criminalization, current
laws/changes in the laws (SB239), impact
on public health, intersections of racism
& HIV criminalization HIV in the Trump
Era Working with Clients in SUD & MH
Treatment and dealing with anxiety about
criminalization.
Exploring International LGBT Rights
in China & Abroad, May 31n @ 7 PM - 9 PM.
West Hollywood City Council Chambers
(625 North San Vicente Boulevard). Join
the City of West Hollywoods Human
Rights Speakers Series for Exploring
International LGBT Rights in China and
Abroad. The discussion will examine LGBT
rights in China as well as other countries
and the growing diculties activists, non-
prots, and others face when trying to
provide aid to LGBT individuals.
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
JUNE 1
June Mixer at US Bank West
Hollywood, Jun 1 @ 6 PM - 8 PM. U.S.
Bank Branch (8901 Santa Monica Blvd.).
In honor of Pride Month, US Bank will be
celebrating the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian
Chamber of Commerce as well as the
West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce,
Los Angeles LGBT Center, West Hollywood
Community Housing Corporation and Gay
Mens Chorus of Los Angeles.
PALM SPRINGS
MAY 19
Joshua Tree Music Festival, May 18
May 21 @ 10 AM - 1:30 AM. The Joshua
Tree Lake Campground (2601 Sunfair
Road, Joshua Tree, CA.) 15th Annual
Spring Joshua Tree Music Festival is a
family-friendly global music experience in
the magical Mojave, with continuous live
music, yoga from sunrise to sunset.
Women of Abstract Expressionism,
May 19 - May 28 @ 10 AM - 5 PM. The Palm
Springs Art Museum (101 Museum Dr.,
Palm Springs, CA). This exhibition presents
the work of twelve American women artists
active in New York City and the San Francisco
Bay area in the late 1940s and 1950s.
Tiki 9 Caliente, May 18 - May 21 @ 11
AM - 11 PM. Caliente Tropics (411 E. Palm
Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, CA.). Tiki
Caliente is an annual event that creates
the aura of island living, but transports
it to Palm Springs, California. It brings
together the best music, art, cocktails and
people to create a celebration dedicated
to Tiki culture
Babes and Bears Fridays at Toucans
Tiki Lounge, every Fri @ 10 PM - 2 AM.
(2100 North Palm Canyon, Palm Springs,
CA.) Toucans Tiki Lounge is mixing things
up with its Friday night dance party,
putting babes and bears on pedestals.
Thats right, the go-go dancers will be of
the female and husky male persuasion.
MAY 20
The Gay & Lesbian History of Palm
Springs, May 20 @ 4 PM - 5:30 P:M. The
LGBT Community Center of the Desert
(611 S. Palm Canyon Drive, Suite 201, Palm
Springs, CA). Join David Wallace, nationally
recognized author and historian, as he
traces the LGBT history of Palm Springs.
MA Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 7 3 7
David will base much of the program on
his popular book,A City Comes Out - How
Celebrities Made Palm Springs a Gay and
Lesbian Paradise.
Pinkie and Friends, every Sat @ 10 PM
- 11:30 PM. The RetroRoom Lounge (125
E. Tahquitz Canyon #102, Palm Springs,
CA) 10:00 PM to 11:30 PM. Join Pinkie and
her headdresses, and a rotating cast of
entertainers, for an evening of music, fun
and fabulosity! Reverse Happy Hour 9:00
PM to Midnight.
MAY 26
Memorial Day Weekend at CCBC, May
26 - May 29. CCBC Mens Resort Hotel
(68300 Gay Resort Drive, Cathedral City,
CA) Join in the fun at CCBC over Memorial
Day Weekend.
MAY 31
Queen of the Desert May 31 @ 6 PM -
9 PM. The Renaissance Palm Springs (888
E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs,
CA). Ethylina Canne returns to host the
fourth Annual Queen of the Desert So-Cal
Lip Sync competition. The fun begins with
cocktails at 6 PM and showtime at 7 PM.
3 8 MA Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 7 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM P RI D E LI ST I N G S

Celebrating Pride
LOS ANGELES IS BURSTING WITH EVENTS

By TROY MASTERS
tmasters@losangelesblade.com

MAY 22 4th @7pm (press preview); Sun, June 11th

One City One Pride Kicko / Harvey
Milk Day, May 22, 5-9 PM (The Abbey,
692 N. Robertson Boulevard) Join the
City of West Hollywoods One City One
Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival as we celebrate
Harvey Milk Day with an artist-led protest
sign-making workshop. Comments from
the West Hollywood City Council will take
place at 7:45 p.m.
MAY 23
29th Annual Lambda Literary Awards
Finalists Reading, 7 PM (West Hollywood
City Council Chambers, 625 N. San Vicente
Blvd.). Readings by the Los Angeles area
nalists for the annual Lambda Literary
Awards. Free admission.
MAY 25
LGBTQ Historic Places in L.A., May
25 @ 6:30 PM (Plummer Park, Great Hall,
7377 Santa Monica Blvd.). Join the Los
Angeles Conservancy for a screening of
three short lms spotlighting signicant
LGBTQ spaces: The Black Cat, The
Womans Building, and Great Hall/Long
Hall. Admission is $5 with proceeds
helping fund future activities highlighting
more of L.A.s LGBTQ historic places.
JUNE 2
Lesbians to Watch Out For: 90s L.A.
Activism, Jun 2 - @ 7-9 PM. Opening
reception for on view through June 30
(Plummer Park, Long Hall, 7377 Santa
Monica Blvd.). This year marks the 24th
anniversary of the National Dyke March in
Washington DC and the 25th anniversary
of the founding of the Lesbian Avengers.
These two events inspired national activist
eorts and a legacy of Dyke Marches
across the country. From protest and street
activism to grassroots community groups,
90s activism in LA and WeHo reected the
A performance work written by deceased author and historian Stuart Timmons (The Trouble
With Harry Hay, GAY L.A.) and directed as a performance art piece by Jason Jenn is an invigorating
celebration of Stuarts legacy and his lifes work.
energy of the decade. This exhibit tells the
stories of LA queer women from groups
like ACT UP LA, Queer Nation LA, Dyke
March LA, the United Lesbians of African
Heritage (ULOAH), Los Angeles Asian
Pacic Islander Sisters (LAAPIS), Lesbianas
Unidas (LU) and other organizations. It
also features The Lesbian Avengers: 25th
Anniversary traveling exhibition. Free
admission. www.weho.org/pride
JUNE 3
One City One Pride Day of History,
June 3 -30: As in years past, One City One
Pride provides an entire day of history on
the Saturday prior to Christopher Street
Wests LA Pride Festival.
Drag Queen Story Time @ 11 AM. (West
Hollywood Library Community Meeting
Room, 625 N. San Vicente Blvd. ) Organized
by RADAR productions (the same folks
who rst brought Drag Queen Storytime
to San Franciscos Public Library) join the
City of West Hollywood through WeHo
Arts and the West Hollywood Library for
childrens stories and crafts. Free.
Stuart Timmons LGBTQ History Tour @
11 AM to 1 PM. (Shuttles depart every 15
minutes from 11am to 1pm. from the West
Hollywood City Council Chambers, 625. N.
San Vicente Blvd. ) A performance work
PHOTO COURTESY OF ONE CITY, ONE PRIDE
written by acclaimed author/historian Stuart
Timmons (The Trouble With Harry Hay, GAY
L.A.) and directed as a performance art piece
by Jason Jenn, this tour dazzled audiences
in 2015 and 2016. Go West (Hollywood)
and join us for the adventure! (Tours last
between 90-120 minutes).
Reel In The Closet, @ 5 PM (West
Hollywood City Council Chambers, 625 N. San
Vicente Blvd.) Reel In The Closet is a feature-
length documentary. Free admission.
JUNE 4
Vox Femina: Woman Rising, A Taste
of Season 20, @ 3 PM (Congregation Kol
Ami, 1200 N. La Brea Ave, West Hollywood,
CA 90038.) This free concert combines
repertoire from VOX Feminas 20th
Anniversary season, a snapshot of the
organizations past, present and future.
Free admission.
#LastDance @ 7 PM (McCadden
Place Theatre, 1157 N. McCadden Pl.) Its
BOYS IN THE BAND with a little PARIS IS
BURNING thrown in! #LastDance will
make audiences rethink what really is
behind the wigs, makeup and heels and
nd out queens are people just like them.
Written and directed by Miss Barbie Q and
Cinnamon Rivera for One City One Pride/
Hollywood Fringe. Show dates: Sun, June
@10:30pm; Sun, June 18th @1pm; Fri, June
23rd @7:30pm; Sat, June 24th @8:30pm.
Tickets required.
JUNE 7
Outfest WeHo Screening of Pride
Under Fire @ 7:30 PM (West Hollywood
City Council Chambers, 625 N. San Vicente
Blvd) The City of West Hollywood through
WeHo Arts partners with Outfest for a
screening of Pride Under Fire.. which
takes us to Louisville, Kentucky, following
the Pulse Night Club Shooting. In this
documentary we see a nation divided,
personied in the town of Louisville, lled
with those celebrating Pride and reclaiming
their parade, and those deeply embedded
in gun culture and exclusion. After the
screening, there will be a discussion about
where we are as a community one-year
after the Pulse shooting Tickets required.
JUNE 8
Hollywood Fringe / One City One Pride,
Jun 8 - 25 (at various times and venues) The
Hollywood Fringe Festival is an open and
uncensored community-derived event. The
Fringes western border is usually Gardner
Street, but through a special collaboration
with the City, LGBTQ shows can take place
throughout West Hollywood as part of One
City One Pride. Visit www.hollywoodfringe.
org/weho_2017 to nd shows taking place
in WeHo.
LAAA Out There, Fri Jun 9 - Jun 16
@ 10 AM - 5 PM (Gallery 825, 825 N. La
Cienega Blvd.). Out There is an all media
exhibition at Los Angeles Art Association
during One City One Pride. Opening
Reception on Friday, June 9, 6-9 pm.
Gallery hours 10am-5pm every day except
Monday through June 18. Free admission.
CONTINUES AT LOSANGELESBLADE.COM
A R T S & EN TE RTA I N MENT
LGBT Armenians embrace The Promise
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31
the rst nation in the world to formally
adopt Christianity.
Moved by the experience of seeing
The Promise, a lm about the unwanted
crucible of Armenian identity, Gerami
waxed emotively on social media after
he got home the night he saw the lm, an
uncharacteristic act for the notoriously
mild-mannered 43 year old.
I was thrilled and shocked, he said. I
did not expect to have that reaction.
Anticipation. Thats the word that
may best describe both Geramis and
Vartanians feelings about seeing Christian
Bale play the role of an Associated Press
reporter involved in a love triangle with
two Armenian lovers played by Charlotte
Le Bon and Oscar Isaac during the waning
days of the Ottoman Empire. They feel like
theyve been waiting a lifetime for this lm.
The Promise also portrays the events
that gave rise to modern-day Turkey. It
was an advent that caused the slaughter
of as many as 1.5 million Armenians and
ethnic-Armenian Turks.
The lasting pain of the genocide has
been a generational one, passed down to
the children, Vartanian said. Its almost
imprinted on our DNA.
The Promise had more for him and
for his friend Vic Gerami because of who
they are, not just as Armenians, but also
as Armenian men who happen to be gay.
Addhomophobia andthe mistreatment
thats often found in both of our uber-
macho societies, American and Armenian,
which I think now is creeping back into
the fabric of our society today, and you
easily identify the familiar sting of an old
wound, Vartanian said. In our case, for
Vic and I, Id say its a [lm] with a multi-
angled meaning.
It turns out that the two buddies were
not the only Armenian-Americans in LA
to recognize a special signicance among
the intersections of ethnic minorities and
people within the Armenian Diaspora
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
Los Angeles Armenian LGBT community leader
VIC GERAMI
PHOTO COURTESY OF GERAMI
who are also are members of gender and
sexually diverse communities.
GALAS, as an inseparable part of the
Armenian community, held a private
screening of the lm on its opening night
to a sold-out theater of 130, said Armen
Abelyan, president of Los Angeles-based
Gay and Lesbian Armenian Society.
Our members and allies felt obligated
to unite with the greater Armenian
community over a shared tragedy, he
said. The Medz Aghet, as Armenians call
the genocide, has been a rallying call to
unite Armenians around the world for
over a century.
Claiming a core membership of just under
150 members, but a broader outreach to
about 2,300 friends and allies, GALAS is the
largest known LGBTQ and allied Armenian-
American organization in the U.S.
The Promise depicts the enduring
power of allies as witnesses who eventually
champion a story to nd ears and eyes
willing to hear and see trutheven if it
takes 100 years.
To have someone like Vic to share this
experience with, in a big theater, full of
people from all walks of life, while the two of
us share a closer connection to each other,
and the story unveiling on that silver screen
was an emotional, complicated experience
I am still digesting, happilyand one I will
never forget, Vartanian told the Blade.
President Obama broke his campaign
pledge to accurately and unequivocally
recognize the Armenian Genocide,
Gerami said, referring to the 44th
presidents calling the Armenian genocide
a mass atrocity during his meeting with
authoritarian president Turkish Recep
Tayyip Erdoan.
This was a huge disappointment for me
as an Armenian-American who considers
[President Obama] one of our greatest
presidents. He succumbed to threats and
bullying by the Turkish government, a so-
called NATO ally, and played politics as usual.
In remarks delivered while accepting
the prestigious ANCA Freedom Award
presented by the Armenian National
Committee of America, author and
international human rights activist, Fethiye
etin included gay men and other gender
and sexually diverse minorities, as well as
women and Kurds living in the crosshairs
of Turkish president, as most vulnerable
Erdoans regime.
The Republic of Turkey, which bases its
foundation on the atrocity and violence of
the genocide, sustains itself by producing
fear and threats and by creating expendable call it), is feeling pressure to, at minimum,
and disposable lives, etin said.
Yesterday the expendable lives were
those of the Armenians, she continued.
Today, Kurds, women, LGBT people and
members of the opposition meet the
same fate.
MA Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 7 3 9
For Gerami, theres a clear connection
between the struggle for LGBTQ equality
and the denial of the Armenian Genocide,
though hes quick to note theyre on
dierent scales.
The LGBTQI communitys refusal
to accept anything less than marriage
equality, and not settling for domestic
partnership or same-sex union, is
important, he said.
Similarly, the Armenian communitys
insistence on Armenian Genocide,
dismissing evasive phrases such as,
Armenian massacres, or great atrocities
of World War I are absolutely crucial to
making sure crimes against humanity are
not allowed to happen in the future.
As reports of concentration camps
emanate from the Russian Federations
Republic of Chechnya now, GALASs
president is keen to stay vigilant.
Whats going on in the Russian province
of Chechnya is, quite frankly, atrocious,
Abelyan said. The LGBTQ community is
under siege. Undoubtedly its a tragedy,
but we have to respect the gravity of the
word genocide and not use it liberally.
Personally, I am not aware of accounts
of treatment of the Armenian LGBTQ
community by The Young Turks during the
genocide [of 1915-18].
The term Young Turks is a troublesome
one, having been recklessly used for decades
as vacuous shorthand for antiestablishment
upstarts or radical outsiders.
As several news organizations, including
the Cal State Northridge Sundial, have
reported lately, a progressive media outlet
called The Young Turks founded by Cenk
Uygur, who was once a conservative and
who twice denied the Armenian Genocide
(but who now says hes not sure what to
change his outlets name.
Id like to highlight the unimaginable
insult that the organization The Young
Turks, or TYT, is, said Abelyan. TYT is the
name of the Turkish political party that
orchestrated the Armenian Genocide.
 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.