A U G U S T 2 5 2 0 1 7 V O LU M E 0 1 I S S U E 1 2 A M E R I C A S LG B TQ N E W S S O U R C E LO S A N G E L E S B L A D E .

C O M

PHOTO COURTESY BARRYS BOOTCAMP

Barrys Bootcamp goes global

and much more in our
inaugural sports issue.

PAGES 13-19

Division, possible lawsuit roil Calif. Dems Dave Chappelle says hes not transphobic Our review of Hamilton

PAGE 04 PAGE 10 PAGE 23

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0 4 A UGUST 2 5 , 2 0 17
3 months later, Ellis still refuses to concede to Bauman
Is Berniecrat lawsuit
coming against
California Dem Party?
By KAREN OCAMB
kocamb@losangelesblade.com
Three months after Eric Bauman was
elected chair of the California Democratic
Party on May 20, his main rival, Kimberly
Ellis has still refused to concede.
Ellis nal appeal through the partys by-
laws was denied on Aug. 20, by the partys
credentials committee, which underwent
a painstaking and thorough review of
355 questionable convention ballots and
concluded Bauman won by 1.9 percent of
the vote.
California is and must remain the Big
Blue Beacon of progress and opportunity
for every person in our country. With the
conclusion of the Credentials Committee
hearing today, it is my hope that our
entire California Democratic Party family
can move forward on making progress
on these urgent and pressing issues, free
from the distraction of costly litigation and
needless division, Bauman, whos gay,
said in a statement.
Ellis, however, appears unwilling to put
party over her complaint and threatens to
keep ghting, regardless of the cost. The Bay
Area Democrat with Berniecrat followers
insists that the internal strife that mirrors
the primary ght between Hillary Clinton
and Bernie Sanders is necessary to change
the party and thus win elections in 2018.
Today was yet another missed
opportunity for us to get the Democratic
Party back on track, Ellis said in a statement.
As weve said from the onset, we were
committed to going through the internal
process before deciding whats next. Were
now soliciting feedback from key supporters
and deciding where we go from here.
Ellis added: As of now, all options are
on the table with some feeling more
inevitable than ever.
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
ERIC BAUMAN was elected chair of the California Democratic Party but his rival is contesting the
results.
Unsolicited advice was oered on Aug.
18 by many in the LGBT community who
think the California Democratic Party
needs to focus on challenges to the
supermajority in the State Legislature with
Sen. Josh Newman, who was the deciding
vote in car and gas tax hikes, facing a recall
election in either November or December
led by San Diego Republican gay activist
Carl DeMaoi.
Additionally, Equality California, which
recently opened an oce in Washington
D.C., is among a slew of organizations
particularly concerned about protecting
hard-won LGBT rights threatened by the
Trump administration that called on Ellis
to concede.
Their open letter is a partisan plea:We
under the bylaws of the Party, and she has
LOS ANGELES BLADE PHOTO BY KAREN OCAMB
call on Ms. Ellis to move beyond the
divisive threats of more legal action and
work together with Eric C. Bauman, the
rst openly gay Chair of the California
Democratic Party, to protect marriage
equality, transgender rights, and nally
achieve full civil rights for the LGBTQ
community.
Open message to Kimberly Ellis from
California LGBTQ Leaders:
Californias LGBTQ community needs a
united and energized Democratic Party to
lead the resistance to the hateful policies
coming from the Trump/Pence/Sessions
administration, including opposition to
the meanspirtied and backwards policy on
transgender soldiers recently announced
via twitter. The acts of white supremacists in
LO CA L N E W S
Charlottesville last weekend show just how
much is at stake.
To that end, we are deeply concerned
that Kimberly Ellis prolonged, costly legal
battle whether it is in the court room or in
binding arbitration, will drain the California
Democratic Party of the focus and resources
needed to combat Trumps hate and
defend Californias values of inclusion and
opportunity.
We certainly respect Ms. Ellis right to
challenge the outcome of the Chair election
availed herself of every option. Following
the process established before the May vote,
the Party has conducted an exhaustive,
transparent, audit of the ballots and given
Ms. Ellis ample opportunity to present
evidence to support her challenge.
Having failed to present any facts that
would change the outcome of the vote, her
threats to drag the Party into court or a
lengthy arbitration process demonstrate a
desire to put one persons agenda ahead of
the LGBTQ community, people of color, and
other Californians who are counting on the
Party to represent their voices.
We must be united in facing down the
unprecedented threats this hostile White House
poses for our civil rights as LGBTQ Americans.
We call on Ms. Ellis to move beyond the
divisive threats of more legal action and work
together with Eric C. Bauman, the rst openly
gay Chair of the California Democratic Party,
to protect marriage equality, transgender
rights, and nally achieve full civil rights for
the LGBTQ community.
Signatures:
Equality California
Stonewall Democratic Club
Stonewall Young Democrats
Denise Penn, Co-Chair, California
Democratic Party LGBT Caucus
Eddie Martinez, Executive Director,
Latino Equality Alliance & Mi Centro
Oscar De La O, CEO, Bienestar Social
Services
Richard L. Zaldivar, Executive Director/
Founder, The Wall Las Memorias
LO C A L N E W S
Crystal meth is a black gay emergency
In The Meantime Men
hosts town hall after
Gemmel Moores death
By KAREN OCAMB
kocamb@losangelesblade.com
The toxicology report has not come back
to determine the exact cause of death for
26-year-old Gemmel Moore, but the Los
Angeles Coroners oce originally ruled
his death an accidental overdose from
crystal meth.
For Jerey King, founder and CEO of In
The Meantime Men, that sounded an alarm
many people have ignored for too long
about the epidemic of crystal meth in the
LGBT African-American community.
King, along with a slew of community
partners, held an open Emergency Town
Hall Meeting and Call to Action on Aug. 22
to talk about the silent meth epidemic in
the black community. Before the event, King
told the Los Angeles Blade that he wanted
to give dignity to the life Gemmel Moore
lived, to empower the life of this young man
who shared the same kind of experience
with many peers. We think its important
to shed light on the complexity of addiction
and crystal methwhere race meets sexual
orientation meets addiction. With race
comes racism. Why was he not working a full-
time job or in school? Why was he escorting?
To make fast money? Because he had too
many felonies that made it dicult to nd a
job? Its a cycle. And he was surrounded by
amazing peoplewere going to be delving
into all that complicated stu.
But, King said, the community also must
nd solutions and highlight the important
work mental health and social support
agencies are doing together and
formulate a call to action. For instance,
why is the Van Ness House the only facility
(other than Tarzana) for LGBT addicts/
alcoholics seeking help in the LA area?
Sober living facilities help keep you clean
and sober, he said, but they dont get you
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
out of the clutches of addiction. Perhaps
a campaign targeting local elected ocials
can raise awareness of the state of
emergency the silent meth epidemic has
created in the Los Angeles County African-
American and Latino communities.
King is doing his part. Every Saturday
from 11:30-12:30, there is a free 12 Step
Recovery Meeting called The West Adams
Group at the Carl Bean House at 2146 W.
Adams Blvd.
Theres a drug breakdown on the In
The Meantime Men website under the
category LARG (LA Addiction/Recovery
Guide). Heres an excerpt under crystal
meth: Long-range damage: In the long
term, meth use can cause irreversible
harm: increased heart rate and blood
pressure; damaged blood vessels in
the brain that can cause strokes or an
irregular heartbeat that can, in turn, cause
cardiovascular collapse or death; and liver,
kidney and lung damage.
Meth users may suer brain damage,
including memory loss and an increasing
inability to grasp abstract thoughts.
Those who recover are usually subject to
memory gaps and extreme mood swings.
But crystal meth has its own brand of
scariness. The Addictionblog notes that:
JEFFREY KING, founder, CEO of In The
Meantime Men
PHOTO COURTESY OF KING
[M]eth users can take a lethal dose and
not realize it right away. But in general,
meth overdose is characterized by
physiological deterioration, eventually
leading to a heart attack or stroke. Further,
meth should not be used by people with
heart, thyroid disorders and diabetes,
because these chronic conditions may
lead to sudden death.Because of rapid
onset, death proceeds suddenly and
unexpectedly after a meth OD. Many
fatalities usually manifest symptoms of
coma, shock, inability to pass and secrete
urine, and muscle twitching. Emergency
department visits due to meth overdose
have been up to 130,000 per year, out of
which almost 15% were fatalities.
Crystal meth was out of control in the
Los Angeles County area in the early
2000sso bad in Long Beach, for instance,
that the Long Beach Press Telegram ran
an important and shocking series called
The Meth Menace.
With PrEP not even on the horizon,
the addiction, coupled with high risk sex,
lead to the frightening conclusion about
the possible spread of HIV. Meth use,
which has intensied over the past ve
years and replaced cocaine as the most
popular illegal stimulant in Long Beach,
A U G U ST 2 5 , 2 0 1 7 0 5
and the nation, is widely abused among
heterosexuals, too, but the high-risk
sexual behavior it triggers among gay men
has presented a new front in the war on
AIDS, the report said.
Then the epidemic seemed to subside,
except in the black community. [W]
e are subjected to such pervasive
scientic objectication by society that a
consideration of our interior lives, is often
unthinkable, author Charles Stephens
wrote in a 2015 essay in the Georgia Voice.
To talk about meth addiction and black
gay men forces a conversation about our
sexual practices and our sexual pleasures.
It forces a conversation about how we
seek intimacy and connection. It forces
a conversation about how we struggle to
cope with racism and homophobia and
also struggle to transcend them. It forces
a conversation about how black gay men
have inherited the collective trauma faced
by our ancestors and elders.
More recently, lmmaker Christopher
Rudolph produced a documentary, ParTy
Boi: Black Diamonds in Ice Castles,
about how there has been an uptick in
crystal meth that is devastating queer
communities of color. In [parTy & play]
community it has become a part of the
norm, Rice says in the trailer
But the drug is not restricted to gay men.
A new study from Chapman University
found that transgender teenagers are
twice as likely as their cisgender peers
to have substance abuse problems,
including crystal meth, according to a
news report about the study published in
the Journal of School Health. Transgender
adolescents face tremendous social stress
in families and schools, which often leads
to behavioral health disparities, said Kris
De Pedro, Ph.D., assistant professor at
Chapman University and lead author on
the study.
For more information on his eorts to
combat crystal meth, go to Jerey Kings
Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/
inthemeantimemen or call 323-733-4868.
0 6 A UGUST 2 5 , 2 0 17 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM LO CA L N E W S

Will rainbow lifeguard tower be preserved?

Venice Pride creation
may become LA icon;
vote set for Sept. 5

By ROBERT WILLIAMS

A Change.org petition to save the

Venice Pride Flag Lifeguard Tower has
reached its goal of 10,000 signatures.
The art installation is set to expire Sept. 8
unless the Board of Supervisors allows it
to remain.
On September 8th the rainbow-colored
tower is set to be erased... forever, the
petition reads. At a time when so much
of what the LGBT community and its allies
fought for is under attack, the L.A. County
Board of Supervisors should save the Venice
Pride Flag Lifeguard Tower by designating it
a permanent public art project.
The Tower, located at the end of Brooks
Avenue on the recently named Bill Rosendahl
Memorial Beach, was transformed from its
The Venice Beach Rainbow Lifeguard tower on Bill Rosendahl Memorial Beach was installed as a temporary art exhibition for Venice Pride 2017.
traditional baby blue color into a rainbow
pride ag by local artist Patrick Marston PHOTO COURTESY OF VENICE PRIDE

and husband Michael Brunt to celebrate

diversity and commemorate Venice Pride in
June of this year.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila
Kuehl, who represents the 3rd District,
including Venice Beach, is in favor of
preserving the lifeguard tower but it will
take a full vote of the ve-member board.
A representative from Kuehls oce said
she plans to introduce a motion at the
Board of Supervisors Sept. 5 meeting asking
the Department of Beaches and Harbors to
preserve the Tower as a memorial to Bill
Rosendahl, who in 2005 became the rst
openly gay member of the Los Angeles City
Council. Rosendahl, whose district included
Venice Beach, died of cancer in 2016.
Venice Pride founder and president
Grant Turck predicted the motion will
pass and the stand will be preserved in its
present form.
I think it will be a slam dunk, Turck
told the Los Angeles Blade. It has been
incredibly well received and thousands of
people have visited it.
Council member Mike Bonin, who now
represents Rosendahls former district, is
also in favor of preserving the stand.
Hell, yes, he said in an email to LA
Weekly. I enthusiastically support the
grassroots campaign and county eorts to
make the pride-colored lifeguard tower at
Brooks Avenue in Venice permanent. The
colorful lifeguard tower is an awesome
celebration of inclusivity and LGBT
pride, and I would love to see the most
Instagramable lifeguard tower in the
world become a permanent part of our
Venice neighborhood.
Actor and ACT UP activist Colin Campbell
told the Los Angeles Blade he created the
petition after attending Venice Pride and
being struck by the inclusiveness of the event
and how many young people were attending.
So much of Los Angeles LGBTQ
services and social life are based in West
Hollywood and the Eastside, he said. The
Westside and Venice, in particular, lack
cultural landmarks and anchors for the
LGBTQ community.
With the May closing of Roostersh,
the iconic gay bar that had been located
on Abbot Kinney Boulevard for 37 years,
and with all the hate in the world today,
Turck said we have a responsibility to
make others feel accepted, and symbols
of diversity, freedom and inclusion must
be infused back into the community,
especially Venice Beach.
Turck and George Francisco, a local lm
producer, came up with the idea to paint
the tower like a rainbow ag as a way to
marry two iconic symbols the California
lifeguard tower and the Pride ag, a
symbol of LGBT freedom.
The idea was not initially well received.
In May 2016, Turck reached out to the
Department of Beaches and Harbors
seeking permission to transform a tower
into a rainbow ag a few weeks prior to the
inaugural Venice Pride. He was refused.
In February 2017, he approached
Beaches and Harbors again seeking
permission. The Department did not
reject the idea but would not grant
permission. Instead, it asked the Los
Angeles County Supervisors whether
it would be permissible to temporarily
transform a tower similar to the 2010
project Portraits of Hope, which covered
150 lifeguard towers in temporary panels
painted in bright colors by Los Angeles-
area children and adults, many of whom
were coping with poverty, serious illness
and disability. On March 8, 2017, Keuhl
introduced a motion in support of the
temporary installation and it passed. The
Tower was funded by Venice Pride and
Dunn-Edwards Paints.
NATIONAL NEWS
Trump trans military ban likely to happen soon
Pence pushing hard for
implementation: source
By KAREN OCAMB
kocamb@losangelesblade.com
White House guidance on the
transgender military service ban President
Trump ordered via tweet July 26 is headed
to the Pentagon, as soon as possibly
Friday, a senior White House source told
the Los Angeles Blade.
A Guidance Policy for Open Transgender
Service Phase Out was temporarily stalled
by ocials at the White House as Defense
Secretary Jim Mattis told his senior command
he would put all personnel matters on hold
while dealing with an apparently escalating
conict with North Korea.
That guidance was also watered down
from the complete ban Trump ordered
to one that would allow active duty trans
service members to continue serving after
even Republicans opposed the policy
change. The weakened policy requires
that recruitment and the accessions
policy be halted (they are now), enlistment
contracts not be renewed, promotions
result in discharges, and transgender-
specic healthcare be prohibited.
At an Aug. 14 news conference, Mattis
indicated support for trans service
members, noting the United States Armed
Forces is a widely diverse force. We look
at E Pluribus Unum on our coins. Out of
many, one. They were simply emphasizing
on the battleeld we are one team and
thats the way we stay.
It has now been widely reported that
Mattis quietly intervened to scotch eorts
by anti-LGBT Reps. Duncan Hunter and
Vicky Hartzler to get a version of the trans
ban passed through Congress. Nor did he
object when Marine Corps Gen. Joseph
Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said
the current policy of open service would
remain in eect until it is formally replaced
or when Navy Secretary Spencer said
any patriot should be allowed to serve,
echoing other commanders supporting
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
A U.S. Army sergeant ies the American ag from the back of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter over
southern Kandahar province, Afghanistan. The pilots and crew chiefs y American ags to present
with certicates to service members as part of aviation tradition.
their trans service members.
However, Mattis also noted that the
military chain of command requires him
to follow orders given by the civilian
commander-in-chief. You all elected the
American people elected the commander
in chief. I they didnt elect me. So the
commander in chief in our country and
our system of government is elected by
the people. He has that authority and
responsibility. So that was fully within his
responsibility, Mattis said.
Mattis agged that he expected the
guidance very soon, after which we will
study it and come up with what the policy
should be.
It is unclear how long it will take to study
the guidance and come up with a policy,
considering that the Pentagon is already
investigating four serious incidents
with the Navy involving numerous
deathsraising questions about military
readiness in the forward Asian theatre
as North Korea continues saber-rattling.
Additionally, Trump is sending roughly
4,000 more troops into the 16-year-old
U.S. ARMY PHOTO BY STAFF SGT. BRYAN LEWIS
war in Afghanistan, while also ghting
a war in Iraq, a conict in Syria and in
hotspots like Somalia.
Ignobly, Trump called for unity during his
Afghanistan speech as the ban was being
prepared. [All service members] are bound
together by common purpose, mutual trust,
and seless devotion to our nation and to
each other, Trump said. Loyalty to our
nation demands loyalty to one another. Love
for America requires love for all of its people.
When we open our hearts to patriotism,
there is no room for prejudice, no place for
bigotry, and no tolerance for hate.
The White House senior ocial source
who spoke to the Blade on condition
of anonymity said Vice President Mike
Pence is the driving force behind the ban.
In fact, he has been spearheading the
trans ban reinstatement since last May, at
the behest of conservative leaders such as
Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research
Council, and scores of retired anti-LGBT
military ocers.
[Trump] makes decisions based
upon what he believes is right, but more
A U G U ST 2 5 , 2 0 1 7 0 7
importantly, what he committed to,
Perkins told the Christian Broadcast
Network after the tweets. Hes only doing
what he committed he would do.
Trumps fear of his evangelical base is
more powerful than his promises to the
LGBT community, justifying the ban by
saying: Its been a very dicult situation
and I think Im doing a lot of people a favor
by coming out and just saying it. As you
know, its been a very complicated issue
for the military, its been a very confusing
issue for the military, and I think Im doing
the military a great favor.
Fact check: an estimated 6,000 trans
service members have been serving
openly without incident since the original
ban was lifted by then-Defense Secretary
Ash Carter in July 2016, after a year of
study and deliberation.
News of the ban prompted the California
Legislative LGBT Caucus to introduce a
Resolution saying California would protect
its own trans service members. California
is home to more than 190,000 active and
reserve service people on three army
bases, seven marine bases, 10 navy bases,
six air force bases and ve reserve and
numerous U.S. Coast Guard bases.
Trumps decision to ban transgender
people from serving in the U.S. military is
oensive, misguided, and contrary to our
American values, said Assembly member
Evan Low (D-Silicon Valley), Chair of the
California Legislative LGBT Caucus, after
introducing Assembly Joint Resolution 22
on Aug. 23. The thousands of transgender
military service members who have put
their lives on the line for our country deserve
better. The California Legislative LGBT
Caucus stands by our transgender service
members and will do everything in our
power to prevent further discrimination.
The LGBT Caucus cites a Pentagon-
commissioned study by the RAND
Corporation that estimated medical care
for transgender service members would
CONTINUES ON PAGE 08
0 8 A UGUST 2 5 , 2 0 17 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM NATIONAL NEWS

Trans military ban imminent: source

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 07
cost approximately $8 million a year of
the Pentagons $600 billion budget
compared to $84 million, which the
United States military currently spends
on Viagra and other erectile dysfunction
drugs, the Caucus says in a press release.
As an American, a veteran and a lesbianI
am deeply troubled by President Trumps
recent announcement that transgender
people will be banned from military service,
said Assembly member Susan Talamantes
Eggman (D-Stockton). Americans who love
their country and feel a call to dutyin the
form of military serviceshould be lifted up
for their courage and sacrice, rather than
pushed out!
Military rules and regulations allow
trans people to serve their country, and
even the commander-in-chief cannot
change those via Twitter. Thousands of
trans service members on the front lines
deserve better from their commander-
in-chief. Discrimination doesnt make us
safer, but it does exclude those with the
desire and talents to serve our country.
Their service matters, their lives matters,
and the CA LGBT Caucus stands with our
trans service-members, said Sen. Ricardo
Lara (D-Bell Gardens), vice chair of the
California Legislative LGBT Caucus.
Interestingly, at the end of the resolution, the
Caucus notes what could prove to be a wrinkle
in Trumps plan. Resolved, That the Legislature
of the State of California calls upon the
Governor of California to direct the California
National Guard, the California Air National
Guard, and the other Armed Forces of the state
to take no action that discriminates against
transgender service members in enlistment,
promotion, or any other aspect of their
service, on the basis of their gender identity or
expression, unless superseded by federal law,
regulation, or formal directive from the United
States Department of Defense.
But what happens if and when transgender
members of the state National Guard are
called up and federalized? Lows oce says
they are looking into that. AJR 22 will be heard
on the Assembly oor in the coming weeks.
Next up are the lawsuits. GLAD and the
National Center for Lesbian Rights already
led aDoe v. Trump lawsuit on Aug. 9 in
federal court in D.C., seeking an injunction
against Trumps directive to reinstate a
ban. A joint lawsuit from Lambda Legal
and OutServe-SLDN, with lots of amicus
briefs, will no doubt be coming soon.
It will be interesting to see if the same
outrage demonstrated at Trumps alignment
with white supremacists will greet the
ban on the patriotic right of transgender
Americans to serve their country.
NATIONAL NEWS W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM A U G U ST 2 5 , 2 0 1 7 0 9

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1 0 A UGUST 2 5 , 2 0 17
Immigration looms as critical issue
Building the wall, funding
sanctuary cities, saving
DACA about to explode
By KAREN OCAMB
kocamb@losangelesblade.com
The nation is about to convulse as
President Trump presses forward with
his anti-immigration campaign promises.
Undocumented LGBT immigrants face
particularly high risks since most of the
countries from which they ed have brutal
attitudes, harsh penalties, even death, for
being LGBT or HIV-positive and the asylum
process is too complicated and culturally
incompetent to complete.
In a campaign rally speech in Phoenix,
Ariz. on Tuesday, Trump threatened to shut
down the federal government if he does
not get federal funding to build the border
wall along the U.S. southern border, even
though he pledged repeatedly that Mexico
would pay for it.
This comes as Congress returns from its
summer recess and faces a new budget
debate, raising the debt ceiling, a long-
promised tax reform bill and Trumps
push to kill Obamacare. If we have to
close down that government, President
Trump said as if he was still a campaigning
outsider, we are going to build that wall.
Meanwhile, the City of Los Angeles is
ghting back against Trumps threats
to sanctuary cities. In the beginning of
August, the Department of Justice sent
threatening letters to the cities of San
Bernardino and Stockton in California,
as well as Albuquerque, New Mexico and
Baltimore, warning them that federal
funding will be withheld if they refuse to
give federal immigration ocials access to
detention facilities, according to The Hill
newspaper. Additionally, those cities must
alert Homeland Security 48 hours before
releasing an immigrant from custody.
[A] commitment to reducing crime
stemming from illegal immigration is now a
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
Rep. JUDY CHU at Save DACA news conference.
prerequisite to receive funding through the
DOJs Public Safety Partnership Program, the
letters said, thus compromising those cities
ability to ght violent crime through federal
training and technical assistance.
By protecting criminals from
immigration enforcement, cities and
states with so-called sanctuary policies
make all of us less safe, Attorney General
Je Sessions said in a statement.
The DOJ has not yet targeted Los
Angeles, which Mayor Eric Garcetti has
proudly proclaimed is a sanctuary city.
Nonetheless, on Tuesday, City Atty. Mike
Feuer joined a lawsuit led earlier by San
Francisco in U.S. District Court asking the
judge to strike down those DOJ rules.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra
previously announced that the state is
joining the lawsuit, as well.
Feuer argues that the DOJ rules violate
the separation of powers laid out in
the countrys Constitution, which give
Congress, not the executive branch, control
of government purse strings, according to
the LA Times. The Trump administration
is overreaching, and were going to ght
it, Feuer told reporters at a City Hall news
PHOTO COURTESY OF CHIRLA
conference. Were going to ght because
the administration would put Los Angeles
to the untenable choice of risking a key
public safety grant or making the LAPD an
arm of federal immigration policy.
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck has publicly
committed to continuing a policy started
by former chief Bill Bratton to not
cooperate with Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) or do their jobs for them.
The LAPD policy is to promote community
policing which encourages all people
regardless of their immigration statusto
report crimes as victims or witnesses.
LA County Sheri Jim McDonnell
asserted a similar policy. Enforcement of
immigration laws is the responsibility of
the federal government, McDonnell said
in a statement. The men and women of
the Sheris Department are focused on
keeping our local communities safe, and
will not detain or arrest any individual
solely on suspicion of illegal presence in
the United States.
Several LGBT community organizations
met with Sheris Department ocials
on August 22 to discuss the departments
immigration policies and a pro-
LO CA L N E W S
immigration bill passing through the
state legislature now, SB 54, known as the
California Values Act.
Many LGBT immigrants have found a
safe haven in California after experiencing
persecution and physical abuse in their own
countries, Dave Garcia, LA LGBT Centers
Director of Policy and Community Building,
said in a statement before the community
forum. For that reason, we stand not only
with our LGBT brothers and sisters, but
with all immigrants who have come here
to escape poverty, discrimination, and
violence in their homelands.
Also on the political horizon is a
confrontation over Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Last June
before the explosion of white supremacy
in Charlottesville and Trumps controversial
responseocials from 10 Republican states
sent a letter to Sessions to end the DACA
program by Sept. 5 or risk a federal lawsuit.
We respectfully request that the
Secretary of Homeland Security phase
out the DACA program, Texas Attorney
General Ken Paxton wrote.
I think we have to prepare for the worst
and get ready to ght mass deportation,
Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois said
in a statement before being arrested during
a Save DACA demonstration in Washington
DC on August 15, the 5th anniversary of the
DACA immigration program.
DACA has been one of the most benecial
immigration programs in decades, saving
over 800,000 young immigrants from
deportation. A signicant number of these
young DACA recipients are LGBT leaders
in their communities and national vocal
advocates, Jorge-Mario Cabrera, the
out Director of Communications for the
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights
(CHIRLA), told the Los Angeles Blade before
demonstrations in LA. The contributions
of these young people are numerous and
President Trump must stand up against
those bullying immigrants and keep DACA
until Congress enacts a permanent solution
for these young people and their families.
NATIONAL NEWS
One-on-one with Dave Chappelle: Im not transphobic
Critics pounce as comic
continues oensive
jokes in routine
By MICHAEL K. LAVERS
NEW YORK Comedian Dave Chappelle
on Saturday said he does not consider
himself transphobic.
I wouldnt consider myself that because
Im not even sure what the term means,
he told the Blade during a one-on-one
interview that took place backstage at
Radio City Music Hall shortly before 1
a.m. after he performed with The Daily
Show host Trevor Noah and other comics
on Aug. 18. Do I discriminate against
somebody because theyre trans? I would
like to think absolutely not.
Its not something that Im going to
say I clearly understand this, that and
the other, added Chappelle, during the
interview that lasted nearly 15 minutes.
Im not an obstructionist of anybodys
lifestyle, as long as it doesnt hurt me
or people I love and I dont believe that
lifestyle does.
The outspoken and controversial
comedian made the comments in
response to a question the Blade asked
from Monica Roberts, a Houston-based
transgender activist of color, about why
he persists in telling those hurtful jokes
when black trans women have asked him
not to because those jokes lead to violence
and murders aimed at us.
Chappelle during his show made
jokes about President Trumps decision
to ban trans service members from the
U.S. military and speculation that Caitlyn
Jenner may pose nude in an upcoming
issue of Sports Illustrated that trans
advocates have previously criticized. He
also used the phrase faggotty ass on
stage, but Chappelle later applauded gay
men who challenge discrimination that he
said they confront in their lives.
Chappelle also mocked North Carolinas
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
DAVE CHAPPELLE performs at Radio City Music Hall in New York on Aug. 18.
House Bill 2, which banned trans people
from using public restrooms consistent
with their gender identity and prohibited
local municipalities from enacting LGBT-
inclusive non-discrimination ordinances.
That law was fucking absurd, he told the
Blade. It was clearly a mean-spirited law.
You could say whatever you want about
someones lifestyle, but denying them
access to a restroom is a denial of their
humanity, he added. We all need to use
the fucking bathroom. No ones going to go
through the pains that transgender people
go through so that they can be in another
bathroom and look at naked women. What
the fuck are you talking about? These types
of things make no sense.
Roberts on Tuesday dismissed
Chappelles comments.
Being transgender is not a lifestyle, dehumanization, violence and death aimed
she told the Blade. Its the essence of who
we are as people. And some transgender
people are unapologetically Black and
catching hell for being both.
PHOTO BY MATHIEU BITTON
Chappelles month-long residency at
Radio City began on Aug. 5, eight days
after comedian Lil Duval said on The
Breakfast Club morning radio show that
he would kill a woman he was dating if he
found out she was trans.
Roberts pointed out to the Blade that
Lil Duval made his joke less than three
days before TeeTee Dangereld, a trans
woman of color, was shot to death outside
an Atlanta apartment complex. She also
noted Texas lawmakers adjourned last
week without considering two bills that
would have limited trans people from
using bathrooms consistent with their
gender identity.
I appreciate a good joke as much as
anyone, Roberts told the Blade, referring
to Chappelle. But when jokes lead to
say whats clearly right and wrong, I dont
at trans people, thats when a line has been
crossed and it has to be called out.
Rev. Merrick Moise, a trans man of color
in Baltimore who is a longtime LGBT rights
A U G U ST 2 5 , 2 0 1 7 1 1
advocate, echoed Roberts.
Dave is an example of many who just
dont get it, Moise told the Blade on
Monday. They may not have a virulent
anti-trans stance but failed to grasp the
hurtful nature of their jokes. Clearly he
needs more education and conversation
with black trans people to understand the
gravity of his jokes made in poor taste.
Chappelle said he considers comedy a
reconciliation of paradox.
I consider problems of race paradox, he
told the Blade. These are true things that
shouldnt be true and Im certain that in the
trans narrative, there is also a lot of paradox.
I dont even think they would deny that.
Im learning like the rest of the
population is and now they have a
platform, added Chappelle. Theyre
articulating these things and were all here
. . . this is news to many of us.
Trump is a narcissist
Chappelle spoke to the Blade a week
after a violent white supremacist rally in
Charlottesville, Va., left Heather Heyer, a
32-year-old counter-protester, dead.
He mocked the white supremacists
who marched through the University of
Virginia campus with torches. Chappelle
also sharply criticized President Trump
over his assertion that both sides were
responsible for the violence.
To see people dress like him and carry
Tiki torches and chant those things and
his softball response made clear to me
this guy is a narcissist, Chappelle told the
Blade. You didnt want to criticize these
motherfuckers because they look like you,
because they dress like you.
Youre wrong, he added, referring to
Trump. If youre that committed or that in
bed with people that diabolical that you cant
know. It was a small line, but on both sides
on many sides it was like Jesus Christ.
CONTINUES AT LOSANGELESBLADE.COM
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joey gonzalez wants
to make the world sweat
Blessed is the word he uses. It wasnt
what I expected him to say.
We have, despite being gay, lived a
very conventional life, says Joey Gonzalez,
39, CEO of LA tness chain Barrys
Bootcamp. Husband Jonathan Rollo,
39, and he have worked hard, gotten
married, had children, [have] a committed
relationshipall of that is possible as a
gay person today. And by committed he
means monogamous.
Yeah, sounds pretty conventional.
Gonzalez grew up a Catholic, rst-
generation American in a very
homogenous, white suburb outside
Chicago. His mom is Italian, his dad Cuban.
It was dicult, he said, referring to being
Latino. Anything that makes you dierent
makes your life challenging.
He came out at 21 and, although he
struggled to accept his sexual orientation,
his friends and family were extremely
evolved and supportive.
So what he means is: a lot of life is luck.
There is no other way to attribute
the way I feel about our life than saying
blessed because I dont walk around
feeling like I deserve everything I have.
Its hard to argue with his perspective.
Handsome, t, wholesome smile, positive
attitude, energetic yet calm demeanor,
gorgeous husband, Hancock Park home,
West Village apartment, two blonde
children (a boy and a girl) both under two
years of age, many friends, loving family
and a burgeoning tness lifestyle brand
set to have 41 locations around the globe
by the end of this year.
But it wasnt always this way.
So this guy walks into a gym
It was 1995, the year Coolios Gangstas
AUGUST 25, 2017
SUCCESSFUL CEO READY TO TAKE BARRYS BOOTCAMP GLOBAL
By MICHAEL JORTNER
JOEY GONZALEZ plans to open multiple locations of Barrys Bootcamp this year in cities around the
country and the world.
Paradise topped the Billboard charts and
best picture Forrest Gump was released.
Gonzalez arrived in LA to be a part of
what so many young people dream of:
becoming a star. He studied acting at
USC, yet despite some success landing
commercials and lm roles, something
just wasnt clicking.
I was just at a point with the acting,
Gonzalez said, where my input and my
output didnt match up. And I am someone
whoIm all about ecacy.
He oundered a bit. I started to
do anything else. I got my massage
certication. I was a real estate
salesperson. I started a dog-walking
company. I, literally, had, like, ve dierent
LOSANGELESBLADE.COM
PHOTO COURTESY OF GONZALEZ
jobs in two years.
Then, maybe close to hitting bottom,
Gonzalez stumbled into the famous (some
might say infamous due to the fear it
ignites in so many) high-intensity cross-
training workout still known as getting a
Barrys body.
When I walked into Barrys, there was
denitely not this What Im meant to do
moment. It was a workout. A workout
[that] changed my life.
Gonzalez was never super athletic
and Barrys was my rst experience with
tness. His soft body became hard.
His 20 percent body fat shrunk to 10-12
percent. All of this in less than a month.
He also convinced his then overweight
13
roommate to join. She lost 25 pounds in
six weeks, he said. She now teaches at
Barrys in New York.
He has seen this narrative many times.
Theres like an emotional transition you
go through, whether youre a customer
or somebody who works at Barrys, he
said. You start to work out here where its
not just body, but its mind and spirit and
everything.
Even love.
Hello husband
Warning: you may begin feeling
something. Its called envy.
Rollo is Commander-in-Leaf of Greenleaf
Gourmet Chopshop, a chain of all-natural
eateries throughout SoCal. His corporate
oce is adjacent to Barrys WeHo.
He has sandy brown Kurt Russell-style
hair, light golden brown eyes, a winning
smile, and, like his hubby, Rollo is in
exceptional physical shape.
Of course they met at Barrys Bootcamp.
Yeah, he took my class, admitted Gonzalez.
He was the rst student I ever even kissed.
That was 2005. We were being set up. [A
friend] brought Jon to my class because he
thought we would fall in love.
A bunch of weddings followed, it
depends who you ask, Gonzalez chuckled.
2014 is when we legally married [but] we
consider ourselves married on 11/11/11.
Children are now in the mix: Francesca
and Jake Stone. Two under two, each of
them says separately, unbeknownst to the
other. It must be an agreed-upon shorthand
the couple uses in social situations to
telegraph how crazy-busy their lives are.
The kids share a last name with each
CONTINUES ON PAGE 27

varsity gay league is more
than a kick in the grass
Every year when he walks out onto the
eld of Dodger Stadium to play kickball, Will
Hackner tears up. Taking the mound to pitch
a game of kickball on the home eld to one
of the most famous and successful teams in
Major League Baseball, is a dreamlike honor
and culmination of an unlikely journey for
the gay man, once a bullied and un-athletic
small kid who loved video games.
Hackner, who has been called the
godfather of gay kickball, founded the
national LGBT sports organization Varsity Gay
League, which provides sports and recreation
for the LGBT community, after becoming
disillusioned by his job in Hollywood and the
West Hollywood bar scene.
Now in its tenth year and serving ten
cities across the U.S., VGL has serviced
over 8,000 players across many sports
and all experience levels while pioneering
a kickball movement within the LGBT
community. With kickball as its anchor
sport, the league oers bowling, soccer,
tennis, beach volleyball, ag football and
dodgeball, among others.
The idea for the league started after
Hackner and few friends walked into a West
Hollywood bar just as they realized how
little any of them wanted to be there. Will
was exhausted by the monotonous notion
of another night whose success depended
on matching with the ever-elusive hot guy
essential for a happy ending.
On a whim, the group went to West
Hollywood Park to hang out and then
began a spontaneous game of tag. They
chased each other around the park on
the warm summer night while becoming
soaked by the sprinklers. Their infectious
jubilation recruited strangers passing by
to join in on the playful merriment. Will
was experiencing a child-like fun that
seemed absent from his life.
14 AUGUST 25, 2017
SPORTS ARE ALL ABOUT FRIENDS, FAMILY AND EMPOWERMENT
By ROBERT WILLIAMS
Varsity Gay League teams square o at Dodger Stadium.
The experience reminded me that
regardless of our age and the values our
community perpetuates - like having to
be one of the cool guys at the party with
the great bodies to matter - you can be
yourself and have fun, Hackner said.
From that moment, Hackner was
emboldened to create a way for people to
connect and have fun. Varsity Gay League
was an organic evolution of that idea, a
way for Hackner to play games and get
out of the house; it was not meant to be
a business. Starting with capture the ag,
other sports like kickball and paintball,
and activities like an Easter Egg hunt, soon
followed. Through sports, friendships
began to form and those friendships
created community.
In 2012, Hackner, who had been working
as a creative producer for companies
like DC Entertainment and Spinmaster,
experienced two layos in as many years.
Hackner decided to take ownership of his
LOSANGELESBLADE.COM
PHOTO COURTESY OF VGL
life and no longer work at the wavering
mercy of others who may or may not
share his creative vision. VGL became his
business, which in a twist of fate fullled his
original purpose for working in Hollywood -
to entertain and connect with others.
VGL gives people the opportunity to
connect with others and be seen succeeding
in an environment that doesnt adhere to
supercial social rules and hierarchy that
plague the gay community, Hackner said.
I get to be a part of a changing paradigm
and it gives me purpose.
Hackner sees this cultural shift slowly
envelop each city VGL serves. The league
isnt homogenized and segregated like
much of the gay community. People
begin to form friendships with someone
unexpected. With sports as a uniting
activity, no longer are people only
connected by having a similar appearance
or social status. Hackner believes VGL
helps to destroy the supercial social
barriers and misrepresentations that for
so long segregated the community.
VGL was a gateway into a community
that league member Clayton Grey didnt
know existed, much less that he had the
athletic skills to be welcomed in.
Having an outlet to explore my
athleticism that I was too nervous or
scared to do as a child and teenager, has
given me condence and security in myself
as an athlete and as a person, Grey said.
VGL means Ill always have a league or a
team to belong to, and Ill always have a
community to hang out with.
To see that communal switch happen
in every VGL city is remarkable, Hackner
said. When I walk into a bar now, I am
not looking for the hot guy to sleep with;
I am not looking for a guy to make laugh
or try to get drunk and get rejected by. I
am looking for my friend; I am looking for
someone to play in my league.
The league community is about more
than athletic ability, it about nding a family-
like group that allows each person to have
the security to grow and try something
new. When kickball lover Michael Shutt had
three strokes that left him mostly blind and
paralyzed on his left side, he spent nine
months recovering, which left him feeling
isolated. Wanting to be involved in the
community as he continued to recover, he
signed up to be a captain of a draft league
kickball team. Generally, VGL kickball teams
are self-formed and players without a team
are assigned a team by league managers
with the exception of draft league, which
occurs once yearly. Draft league teams
are formed by captains who draft players
based on skill level observed during a day
of scrimmages.
CONTINUES AT LOSANGELESBLADE.COM
 AUGUST 25, 2017 LOSANGELESBLADE.COM 15

ucla coach kirk walker

on life after coming out
YOUR TEAM IS A FAMILY, AND I NEEDED TO BE TRUE TO MY FAMILY

By TRACEY SAVELL REAVIS

Kirk Walker ocially became the gay
Division I softball coach back in 2005 when
he came out to his team at Oregon State.
The press coverage followed with headlines
that declared he was the rst publicly out
coach in the NCAA. Despite courageously
sharing his story, Walker wasnt completely
comfortable with the new title.
I didnt want to be labeled the gay
coach, he admits. But then I said thats
ne. I realized it needed to be said, that we
needed to have some visibility. I decided
to stop ghting it.
Like his life, Walkers role is one that
keeps evolving. It has been shaped by
the sports environment he works in, the
condence he continues to gain from the
process of coming out and his morals.
When he nally embraced who he was,
he found it directly conicted with his
personal coaching philosophy. That was
his motivating factor for coming out.
I had been feeling for years like I was
sending the wrong message, says Walker,
who has been an assistant coach at UCLA since
returning in 2012. As a coach you tell your
athletes to have integrity and to be authentic.
How could I ask that of them when I wasnt
setting that example? Your team is a family,
and I needed to be true to my family. That was
his motivating factor for coming out.
Walkers experience resonated with
many, and after sharing his story, his
inbox was ooded. When Rick Welts, a
longtime NBA executive, decided to come
out, Walker reached out to show his
support. The response he got from Welts
still inspires him to this day.
I got an email from him that said, I carried
your story around with me before I decided
to tell mine. He applauds the signicance of
sharing. Your story can aect somebody.
That small interaction was a big factor in
KIRK WALKER came out in 2005 while coaching for Oregon State.
leading Walker to enter the advocacy stage
of his life, and he has been loaning his
support to several LGBT sports initiatives
for years. Nationally he has been involved
since 2012 with the Nike LGBT Sports
Coalition, speaking at the annual summit
held in Portland, Ore.
I have a great passion for LGBT
advocacy, says Walker, whose demeanor is
both measured and charged with purpose.
Theres so much more to be done around
education, bullying and diversity in sports. I
hope to be able to do this full time when I
retire from coaching. I look forward to any
opportunity to be involved.
Walkers diversity and inclusion vision
includes work with his foundation. Equality
PHOTO COURTESY WALKER
Coaching Alliance and the LGBT Sports
Coalition both provide condential support
and counseling to hundreds of athletes.
While the younger generation can benet
from more visible role models, something
Walker did not have, he thinks their views
on coming out or why they stay closeted are
very dierent from in the past.
They dont really see coming out as
being all that imperative and dont even
like labeling themselves as gay or straight,
he says. There are many in this generation
that are comfortable existing as they are,
without making statements.
Counseling and connecting high school,
college and professional LGBT athletes is a
major part of the advocacy work that Walker
does. And he has seen throughout the years,
that building a network of support creates
an environment where athletes can see they
are not alone, and can feel strong enough to
choose to come out or not.
But Walker acknowledges there are
fears around the process, and feels that
the same pressures exist today.
The perception that sports is inherently
homophobic still keeps many coaches,
athletes, and individuals from coming out,
he says. You never have to come out when
you are straight, it is assumed. Even in an
accepting environment your sexuality will
always be assumed straight because it is a
huge majority of how society identies itself.
In his view, one of the most impactful
detriments to not coming out is the
amount of time and eort put into trying
to be someone else.
Every second that an athlete or a coach
spends on pretending is wasted energy, says
Walker. He lived that lie for years, he says
and it was exhausting. Why does it matter
whether you come out or not? Because it frees
you up and allows you to focus on competing
and being an athlete. It lets them uncap their
athletic potential. What coach wouldnt want
that? What athlete wouldnt?
Promoting diversity, building awareness
and helping create opportunities for
LGBT athletes around the country lls
up Walkers days as much as devising
strategies for his softball players. Along
with the spotlight, he welcomes the titles.
The stories weve seen in the last six or
seven years have been powerful, Walker
says. I think it will continue to be the
headline of the story for a while. But it
doesnt have the same gravitas as before.
We have to move on, to where it becomes
the second part of the story. I think we will
get there.

weir, scurry, others on
how branding has changed
I hadnt even come out to my mother.
Just 16 years old, Johnny Weir was already
one of the worlds top international gure
skaters. The sport was a lucrative business,
and Weirs talent amassed attention from
agencies worldwide. The rst agency that
approached me said We really want you,
but you cant be gay if we represent you.
Sports marketing is a $70+ billion
industry, and one in which gay athletes
are still nding their footing with balancing
their personal brand and their sexuality.
But it wasnt long ago that being out wasnt
widely accepted by the sports community
or its stakeholders.
When we won the World Cup in 1999,
the networks were very curious about
where I was running to celebrate, says
recent National Soccer Hall of Fame
inductee Briana Scurry. The cameras
followed me. But when they realized it was
to my girlfriend, they cut away.
Presentation and representation of
an athlete dictates the career. In most
cases the majority of an athletes lifetime
earnings and social impacts come by
way of sponsorships and marketing
opportunities meaning branding is the
most important game many athletes will
ever play. But its not simple. And for gay
athletes, nding an identity that appeals to
teammates, fans, and sponsors alike is an
even more complex facet of the business.
Though agencies and corporations
werent always open to partnering with
gay athletes, augmented acceptance
has alleviated constraints on their
opportunities within the industry.
Demographics have changed, asserts
Hudson Taylor, founder of Athlete Ally.
Younger generations are very accepting.
Sponsors and agencies have seen both
internal backing and increased support
16 AUGUST 25, 2017
FINDING AN APPEALING IDENTITY A COMPLEX FACET OF SPORTS BIZ
By T.M. PHILIBIN
Being the absolute truest brand of myself has been the greatest career asset Ive had, said gure
skater JOHNNY WEIR.
from consumers.
Now, 18 years since Briana Scurry and
Johnny Weir were penalized for their
sexual orientation, its one of the key
aspects considered when developing an
athletes personal brand.
Dan Levy, a senior vice president
with sports marketing rm Wasserman
suggests, People get excited when
athletes come out, so players feel pressure
to present their orientation publicly. Its
a piece of the puzzle its a variable you
have to take into consideration when
trying to create opportunities.
But theres still no clear-cut approach
to branding for the gay athlete. As
restraints faded with mounting cultural
approval, new challenges emerged. No
longer xated on the industrys consent,
gay athletes must consider the degree to
which they represent and champion their
sexual orientation through their branding.
Abby [Wambach] felt really strongly
LOSANGELESBLADE.COM
PHOTO BY KATHCLICK; COURTESY OF BIGSTOCK
that true progress was not having to come
out and talk about it publicly, says Levy.
Wambach, whose rst public
conrmation of her sexual orientation was
her 2013 marriage, told the Associated
Press, I never felt like I was in a closet.
Ive never been asked a question about
my relationship rightfully so, because it
shouldnt matter.
Laina Cohn, partner at Cohn Torgan
Management and representative for
Johnny Weir suggests that not every
athlete is equipped to lead the charge.
Johnny wasnt an activist, he was an
athlete. His whole world was about getting
on the ice and winning. He never stepped
onto the ice because he was gay.
Some athletes view their branding as
a unique responsibility. Joanna Lohman,
one of the National Womens Soccer
Leagues most outspoken advocates,
embraces the position. I am admired for
being out and proud. I realize how special
it is to be viewed that way - its why I take
advocating so seriously. Its important for
me to use the platform and brand that I
have as a professional athlete to elevate
the community.
Similarly, Megan Rapinoe utilized her
visibility and personal brand to represent
the LGBT community after inking a healthy
deal with Nike. Megan was the rst athlete
I really dug in with on a coming out, Levy
says. She felt really strongly after the World
Cup that she wanted people to see that
there are a lot of gay athletes out there.
Rapinoe in 2014 served as guest editor of
the Washington Blades Sports Issue.
But its a dierent world for men, a view
shared by many.
Theres a lot of social pressure on the
male side, Lohman submits. Its not a
very supportive environment. There are
labels and stigmas associated with being
a gay man in sports, so you just dont
see that represented very often. On the
womens side its much more accepted, if
not assumed.
Scurry says that hesitation on the part
of male athletes stems from existing in a
dierent culture. For female athletes now,
it doesnt seem to hinder them. But with
male athletes, its dierent. There are a lot
of male athletes that have chosen not to
come out until after their career was over.
Biases against gay males have been
integrated into the actual structure
of sports perpetuating stereotypes
and suppressing awareness. Sport is
a gendered space, an institution that
teaches masculinity and femininity and
it does so in a very binary way, says
Taylor. That masculinity is often wrongly
reinforced with homophobic language.
CONTINUES AT LOSANGELESBLADE.COM
 AUGUST 25, 2017 LOSANGELESBLADE.COM 17

travel bans complicate sporting

events in states with anti-lgbt laws
PUBLIC SCHOOLS SCRAMBLING TO COMPLY WITH DIRECTIVES

By CHRIS JOHNSON

In the aftermath of states enacting

anti-LGBT laws, other jurisdictions have
responded with bans on state-sponsored
travel to those places and the impact is
already being felt in the sports world.
A number of states and D.C. enacted
travel bans to North Carolina after
passage of House Bill 2 and renewed
those bans after North Carolina Gov. Roy
Cooper replaced it with another law critics
say is still discriminatory.
As a result of the travel ban enacted by New
York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the State University
of New York at Albany last year had to back
out of a non-conference mens basketball
game set to take place at Duke University.
Additionally, the NCAA altered the seeding
for Stony Brook Universitys womens lacrosse
team in the postseason tournament so the
team wouldnt have to travel to University of
North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
The New York ban is also inuencing
New York Gov. ANDREW CUOMO enacted a ban on ocial state travel to North Carolina after its legislature passed a notorious anti-LGBT law.
upcoming games in the Colonial
PHOTO BY BOB JAGENDORF; COURTESY OF FLICKR
Athletic Association, the only Division 1
conference whose membership includes
public schools in New York and at least games are scheduled and where there special warm up gear to show solidarity events is another arrow in the quiver for the
one in North Carolina. It makes things can be held because theyre seeing teams with LGBT people. According to ESPN, movement, but the impact is still playing
complicated for Stony Brook Universitys who are saying were not going to travel many teammates sported red, tie-dyed out and may be more clear at a later time.
football team, which is set to compete and were not going to compete, Taylor shirts that read Love is Love on the front If Texas goes through during its special
against Elon University in the fall. said. Were denitely seeing an impact and I stand on the right side of history. session called by Gov. Greg Abbott with an
Because the competition was scheduled at least at the conference level about the They felt and I think a lot of schools are anti-LGBT law of its own, Hudson said there
before House Bill 2 became law, New York approach to scheduling games and where going to feel that if we can actually travel could be additional fallout with sporting
granted Stony Brook an exemption to the these types of competition will be held. and make a dierence that is a more events, citing recent opposition from the
travel ban, but that wont be an option Even though the bans are only for state- meaningful experience, than, just say, Dallas Stars to the pending proposal.
in the future. The conference is now sponsored travel, and thus would aect boycotting, Taylor said. I think its very possible we see the
identifying a dierent scheduling matrix only public schools, not private schools, Whether these interferences with anti-LGBT laws that were introduced be
for games between 2018 and 2021. Taylor said even private schools are acting sporting events are having an impact on defeated and not pass during the special
Hudson Taylor, executive director of with anti-LGBT laws in mind in terms of anti-LGBT laws is another question. After all, session, Taylor said. And I think you can
Athlete Ally, said the rescheduling of the sporting events. HB2 may be gone, but North Carolinas new attribute some of the pressure that these
conference demonstrates the travel bans The Marist Red Foxes, for example, made law bars city pro-LGBT ordinances for three bans and statements from the athletic
are having an impact. the decision to travel last year to North years and state institutions from making community that theyre making, I think you
Theyre having to completely overhaul Carolina to compete at Duke University, but bathroom policies for transgender people. can attribute some of that to the failure of
their scheduling processes to change how also met with a local LGBT center and wore Hudson said the cancellation of sporting the bills, should it happen in Texas.

chris mosier is the
modern front runner
Chris Mosier is a man of many rsts.
In 2015, he became the rst openly
transgender man to make a Mens U.S.
National Team, when he qualied for the
Sprint Duathlon team.
In 2016, he became the rst trans
man to compete against men in a World
Championship race. He is now a three-
time member of Team USA in the sprint
and long course duathlon (run/bike/run)
and sprint triathlon (swim/bike/run).
He is the rst transgender man to
be featured in ESPN Magazines Body
Issue and the rst transgender athlete to
appear in a Nike ad the Nike commercial
debuted in primetime during the 2016 Rio
Olympics.And, he was named Person of the
Year by Outsports and to the OUT 100 list.
Mosier is vice president of program
development and community relations
for You Can Play, an organization that
works to ensure the safety and inclusion
of all in sports including LGBTQ athletes,
coaches, and fans. He is also founder
ofTransAthlete.com, a resource for trans-
inclusive policies in athletics.
We spoke to Chris Mosier on his 36th
birthday.
What was the moment you realized?
I always knew who I was deep down
inside, but at a certain point it didnt
match up with what the people around
me expected of me as a little girl. All
throughout my childhood, Im hearing that
little girls dont like to skateboard, but I like
to skateboard, so, what is the disconnect?
I didnt understand my identity to be a
transgender guy until after college.
My now wife, who I was dating at the time,
was like, you should put some thought
into your gender and how you feel about
existing in your body. That lead me to some
18 AUGUST 25, 2017
TRANSMAN TAKES THE WORLD OF SPORTS BY STORM
By REBEKAH SAGER
CHRIS MOSIER
books and I was doing a lot of research on
YouTube because that was the only place I
felt safe to access that information without
identifying myself. There was one video in
particular called Transgender Basics. Its
put out by the LGBT Center in New York City.
It has Laverne Cox, before she was famous
as Laverne Cox, and I remember watching
that and hearing the storytelling from
Laverne as a trans woman, a guy named
Nicco [Beretta], a trans man, and a gender
queer person, and just remember watching
it over and over again, and thinking, wow,
this sounds a lot like my experience.
What are you most proud of?
Im at a point today where I really feel
condent in being my authentic self.
Athletically, Im most proud of sharing
that with the world, to open up the door
for other younger transgender athletes or
LOSANGELESBLADE.COM
PHOTO COURTESY OF MOSIER
non-binary athletes to pursue what they
love without compromising their identity.
Im most proud of making Team USA and
having a part in the IOC [International
Olympic Committee] policy change to open
the doors for athletes to come after me
maybe a transgender Olympian or a trans-
kid in high school, who can play the sports
he loves without having to hide who he is.
What are you most embarrassed about?
Publically, when Im telling my story, I
didnt have the language or terminology
to identify who I was until about 27 or
28-years-old. Its interesting for me to
stand up as an educator and advocate
and be humble in that moment, and say,
you dont know what you dont know.
This is who Ive always been since I was
4-years-old and I can remember my rst
experiences with gender activities, but I
didnt have the language to describe who
I was. Looking back, there are moments
when thats embarrassing for me.
Whats more challenging -- getting
older as an athlete, or ghting for trans
rights for athletes?
Fighting for trans rights for athletes.
Getting older has been awesome. Im so
excited every year since I have transitioned;
Ive loved my birthday. Before, I didnt
want to tell anyone it was my birthday. I
didnt want parties or gifts, but today I feel
really good telling people. I didnt feel I
was worthy of having a celebration of my
life. So, its really cool now to get older and
every years been better than the last.
What scares you the most?
The idea of getting my teeth knocked in
like being in a bike or car accident.
Do you think reactions from other
athletes would have been dierent if you
were transitioning from man to woman?
Absolutely. I have had the privilege of
experiencing male privilege in my transition
in a way that ties into how deeply sexist sports
can be. People assume that people assigned
male at birth are better at all sports and
all aspects of sports than people assigned
female at birth. So, when I transitioned,
people in many ways gave me a slap on
the butt and said, good luck, go out an get
em. No one thought I would be competitive
and when I have won races, people kind of
shrugged and said, good job. I know that
trans women and trans girls whore ghting
just to participate, encounter so much more
resistance to both their existence and their
ability to participate in sports.
CONTINUES AT LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

the intersection of sports policy
and lgbtq equality
ASHLAND JOHNSON is a civil rights lawyer
and sports inclusion advocate. She serves as
director of public education and research for
the Human Rights Campaign.
Sports have the power to captivate
the fans and transform the athletes. As
a former Division I basketball player and
lifelong athlete, I can personally attest to
how sports can build character, encourage
discipline, foster community, and teach
individuals to work together toward a
common goal.
And as a civil rights advocate, I see the
power of sports and especially team
sports to transform both individuals
and society by bringing communities
together. Sports provide us with a
platform to promote our equality message
on a broader scale.
Weve come a long way.
Historically, sports was an arena
that hewed to rigid societal gender
roles, fueling a legacy of homophobia,
transphobia and biphobia on and o the
eld. Until recent years, being an openly
LGBTQ athlete came with great risk: it
often meant risking your job, your spot on
the team, commercial endorsements, and
even your safety.
I spent most of my life playing competitive
sports in the South. Like many other athletes,
I had to spend most of my life closeted
for fear of losing my team (family) and my
scholarship, which was my livelihood.
However, in recent years, progress
toward inclusion in sport has mirrored
advances in other areas of society. In
particular, the coming out of Brittney
AUGUST 25, 2017 LOSANGELESBLADE.COM
A POWERFUL FORCE FOR TRANSFORMING SOCIETY
Griner, Jason Collins, and Robbie Rogers
in 2013 signaled a game change pro
leagues and fans could no longer deny
that LGBTQ people could both participate
and excel in sports.
Increasingly, sports leagues are adopting
and promoting LGBTQ-inclusive policies.
For example, the NCAA recently created
an LGBTQ-inclusve anti-discrimination
policy in its bidding process in an attempt
to be more LGBTQ-inclusive at the venues
hosting NCAA-controlled tournaments.
Further, sports bodies including the
U.S. Soccer Federation, the National
Womens Hockey League, and the NCAA
have created pathways for transgender
inclusion in competition.
Weve also seen greater repercussions
for athletes who make anti-LGBTQ
19
BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
comments in MLS, MLB, NFL, and the
NBA, where anti-LGBTQ comments can
lead to hefty nes and/or loss of lucrative
sponsorships.
These wins not only bolster LGBTQ
participation in athletics, but also help us
secure LGBTQ equality victories under
the law. Leagues and teams with inclusive
policies and practices tend to have more
visible LGBTQ participation by players,
coaches, administration, and fans. Increased
visibility makes these sports entities more
likely to take public positions on LGBTQ
equality positions that educate voters
and potentially inuence lawmakers.
Indeed, voices in the sports community
have proven to be essential to LGBTQ
rights battles in Georgia, North Carolina,
and Texas in the last two legislative cycles.
In Georgia, the NFL, the NBAs Atlanta
Hawks, and the NFLs Atlanta Falcons
all released statements opposing a bill
that would have allowed businesses to
discriminate against LGBTQ people. And
recently in Texas, women athletes took to
social media to speak out against Texas
most recent anti-transgender bill.
Voices in the sports community will
continue to be essential allies in protecting
and promoting LGBTQ equality as we
continue to face an onslaught of attacks
at the state and federal level. And if we
want to fully harness the power of sports
to positively impact LGBTQ equality under
the law, we must make sure that our sports
institutions are built on a solid foundation
of LGBTQ nondiscrimination.
Unfortunately, that is not yet the case.
Most leagues, teams, and governing
bodies still lack basic LGBTQ protections
for players, coaches, and fans. For
example, NCAA athletes can still lose
their scholarships because of their sexual
orientation and/or gender identity. And
currently only some states have laws
that protect transgender athletes from
discrimination in high school athletics. The
NWHL is the only professional U.S. league
with a pathway for transgender athletes to
compete. Increasing the inclusive policies
in sports, and addressing the disparities
they create, will help our ability to leverage
our sports communities in our eorts to
win equal rights.
So, as we look to make further inroads
to change hearts and minds in parts of
the country that are still reticent to accept
LGBTQ people, sport can be as crucial and
eective an avenue as our partnerships
with businesses and faith communities.
When we work to make sport more
inclusive, were not just supporting
individual players, were fortifying an
invaluable avenue for equality.
2 0 A UGUST 2 5 , 2 0 17
Dont Ask,
Dont Transition
Will the T in LGBT be
silenced in the military?
RILEY DOSH was discharged for her gender
upon graduation from West Point in May 2017.
Recognition of our normalcy requires
equality in every aspect of society.
There is nothing intrinsic to being gay,
lesbian, or bisexual that hinders military
performance, just as there is nothing
intrinsic to being transgender for the
same. Proving that we are just as capable
in combat proves we are not second-
class citizens. This logic has held for
racial and female integrations. Civil rights
movements were built and reinforced
after equality in the military was achieved.
This is a ght that we all must take part in.
On Sept. 22, 2011, two days after the
ocial end of DADT, Army Captain Stephen
[Snyder-]Hill came out to the world as
gay by asking Republican presidential
candidate Rick Santorum whether he
would continue the progress that had
been made for gay and lesbian soldiers
in the military. The video clip went viral,
both for Santorums piss-poor response,
but also the crowd of Republicans booing
a soldier who was currently deployed. To
that room, politics came before service;
who you were mattered more than your
military eectiveness. We are seeing a
virtual repeat of that exchange today.
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter lifted the
ban on transgender military service in June
2016. After a year of implementation, that
policy is now under threat by this White
House and the policy on recruiting and
WWW .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
commissioning transgender individuals,
which was supposed to be implemented
last July, has been stalled. Meanwhile,
Republican lawmakers are proposing
legislation to prohibit transgender
healthcare in the military, and some
agree with the president that the ban on
transgender service should be re-instated.
The arguments used by supporters of the
ban on transgender service are verbatim
taken from debates about DADT. This
issue is one-in-the same. The talking points
against both bans are weathered, worn,
and battle-tested. Therefore, failure to
prevent this ban from being implemented
would blow a crater in any LGBTQ issue.
Any acceptance of the ban would result in
brazen stain of stigma that some of us are
not dependable to defend our country. And
that stigma would bleed over - everyone
would be tainted. The conservative
narrative of the queer liberal snowake that an attempt to reinstate DADT or the
that cannot be productive in society would
nd justication. This is unacceptable.
And while politicians argue, transgender
Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen,
and Coast Guardsmen wait in nervous
anticipation for their careers. Their
units anxiously wait for guidance and
their families worry about keeping their
healthcare and income. Yet while we
are eectively at the whim of a twitter
feed, our advocacy is unbridled. From
Republican Senators Orrin Hatch to John
McCain, transgender service has found
unlikely allies. It will be a dark day when
Senator Hatch is a bigger advocate for
LGBTQ rights than those of us who are
LGBTQ, unless we step up.
For my own story, I fell into a loophole
where I was active service, but not yet
covered by the lifted ban. This meant
that upon graduating West Point, I was
discharged for my identity. Somewhat
ironically now, I would have operated anti-
ICBM technology and been one of those
ready to shoot down major aerial threats,
possibly from North Korea. Instead, I am job
VIEWPOINT
hunting. There is no bitterness towards the
military, or her ocers. They simply did their
jobs. However, many of my commanders
actively supported me. Consternation
about discharging me was universal in my
chain of command. As one high ranking
ocer told me: the end of DADT was the
greatest non-issue the Army ever witnessed.
Implementation of the transgender policy,
he anticipated, would be as uneventful. That
was in September of 2016.
The morning after the election, in
my Ocership class, we discussed the
surprise result and how it would impact
the military and our role as ocers. When
called upon by my professor, a Lieutenant
Colonel whom I respect very much, my
only response was that this has suddenly
resulted in widespread fear among
minorities and the LGBTQ community,
particularly in the military. I hypothesized
ban on trans service might be attempted.
I was laughed o; of course the President
would never do such a thing
This emotional backlash to diversity is
an historic norm, but does not normally
succeed. I have very real support from
military commanders to serve, but
apparently not the civilian leadership
playing politics for their constituents.
The military is fully willing and capable
to include people of all identities, it is our
civilian leaders that are failing us.
Open transgender service is a civil right
we all are invested in. With every addition of
diversity in the military, we spark new civil
rights in our society. Our American identity
literally undergoes trial by combat. With
trans-panic laws sweeping the nation and
our bathrooms, this is not a time to falter or
be choosy about priorities. Just as the end of
DADT legitimized being gay in America and
allowed for mass acceptance of marriage
equality, so too will the transgender identity
be legitimized. The gay rights movement
has not ended, nor should it, but at least the
T is no longer silent.
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V I E W PO I NT W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM A U G U ST 2 5 , 2 0 1 7 2 1

Recovering after Charlottesville

The battle between
an exclusive and an
inclusive America
By RICHARD J. ROSENDALL

Jamil Smith of The Daily Beast tweeted

on Aug. 16, All these folks worried about
erasing history when the Confederate
statues come down will be thrilled to learn
about the existence of books.
Battles over monuments to treason may
be symbolic, but symbols can promote
violence as well as virtue, and clashes over
what merits public commemoration are
stand-ins for an old struggle over whom our
public institutions are supposed to serve.
The aftermath of Charlottesville
included ACLUs announcement that
it will cease defending hate speech
accompanied by rearms; the fortitude
of the parents of Heather Heyer, who was
murdered with a car; and testimony by
DeAndre Harris, whose beating by racists
with metal poles caused wounds including
a skull fracture that required eight staples.
Neo-Nazis continued to defame Heyer
and threaten Harris; web hosting rms
banned The Daily Stormer. Heartening D.C. protesters rallied in support of Charlottesville after a woman was killed there counter-protesting the Klan and Neo-Nazis.
developments included the presidents PHOTO BY ROBERT GAMBOA
entire arts advisory panel resigning; a
huge counter-protest in Boston; and white
nationalist Steve Bannon being booted who supported Trump. Obama, whose patience. Being receptive to contrasting more a political plan than vandalizing
from the White House. stature only grows, spoke to the best in views requires grace unfamiliar in our War statues. Disputes over public memorials
Still deling the Oval Oce is our Birther- us. He did so when we needed it most, Room political culture. But willingness to will continue (my Civil War favorite is the
in-Chief, who refuses to call domestic after horrors that included the murder learn is a key quality to distinguish us from one by Augustus Saint-Gaudens in Boston).
terrorism by its name. He will not repudiate of schoolchildren and a massacre in a Mr. Trump. But we must also look ahead. Attracting
the white-grievance mongering he rode church. He soared at his second inaugural: Our nation is beset by provocateurs, voters requires a theme and purpose that
to power, much less check his spiteful We, the people, declare today that the opportunists, and hate peddlers much animate otherwise dry policy proposals.
outbursts or his lifelong contempt for most evident of truths - that all of us are more from the right than from the left, Far-right fanatics and their collaborator
people of color. Hang your head, John Kelly. created equal - is the star that guides us despite rampant moral equivalency. in the White House are handing us plenty
Trump sees no disparity when, as Tina still; just as it guided our forebears through We must be ready to combat the lies of of ammunition to use against them. But if
Fey noted, Native Americans are shot Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall.... people like Jack Posobiec (who pushed the we ght on their terms and their schedule,
with rubber bullets for protesting at Inspiring words are not enough, but are Pizzagate and Seth Rich hoaxes) and Dinesh we lose. Upholding American values that
Standing Rock while Nazis freely march vital. We must inspire people to consider DSouza (who erases considerable history are under assault demands an assertive,
with semiautomatics in Virginia. By the the consequences of inaction and to portray Democrats as still the party of condent message that connects at a human
way, is it just me, or is there something recognize the possibilities of cooperative segregation), but we must avoid playing a level, not just a better deal. Lets be about it,
slightly o about anti-Semites adopting a eort. We will not inspire them to exercise purely defensive game. Anger may fuel our telling the truth and shaming the devil.
preppy polo-and-khakis look popularized their voting franchise by endlessly re- activism, but empathy should steer it. Copyright 2017 by Richard J.
by Jewish clothiers? litigating the last election. Tina Fey, a University of Virginia grad, Rosendall. All rights reserved.
The midterm elections are less than Pragmatism and principle are competing gave a lacerating commentary about
15 months away. Do the Democrats look forces, not enemies. We need both if we Charlottesville on Weekend Update
ready? The people they need to win over are to practice the politics of addition Summer Edition while gorging on a sheet
RICHARD J. ROSENDALL is a writer and activist.
are not Obama haters, but Obama voters required to win. We also need respect and cake. Humorous venting, however, is no He can be reached at rrosendall@me.com.
 Hamilton: the musical catharsis
HEADS BOBBING TO HISTORY, RIVALRY AND A RELATABLE LOVE STORY THRILL LA AUDIENCE
A U G U S T 2 5 2 0 1 7 V O LU M E 0 1 I S S U E 1 2 A M E R I C A S LG B T N E W S S O U R C E LO S A N G E L E S B L A D E . C O M 2 3
All the hype, the over-the-top praise, the
spirited reviews for this infectiously positive
revolutionary piece of theatreall true.
But opening night of Hamilton on August
16 as it officially launched its national tour
at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood was
extraordinarily powerful and cathartic
following the ugly remarks by the President
of the United States supporting white
supremacy the day before.
Hamilton is all about how the majesty
and moral authority of the office of the
presidency was created, as seen through
the lens of today.
And in this exciting, moving and
challenging interpretation of the American
Revolution and the countrys shaky
beginnings by Puerto Rican Lin-Manuel
Miranda, Founding Fathers George
Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and
forgotten Founder, Alexander Hamilton, are
all played by African Americans, supported
by a minority-majority cast. The visual
symbolism alone stands as a profound
rebuke to Trumps dystopian vision of
By KAREN OCAMB
kocamb@losangelesblade.com
MICHAEL LUWOYE & ISAIAH JOHNSON.
PHOTO BY JOAN MARCUS; COURTESY OF HOLLYWOOD PANTAGES THEATRE
Americawhich the audience celebrated.
I believe that this play, as it moves
throughout the nation, is going to change
lives, change mind-sets with all the stuff we
have going on right nowthe hatred and
all of that, Will Johnson, father of Isaiah
Johnson, who plays George Washington,
tells the Los Angeles Blade.
Weve got to come together. Thats the
only way were going to survive. Were one
United States of America. Our Founding
Fathers had a visionand in this play, they
are African American!
The embers for Mirandas imaginative
musical about the war of ideas that shaped
America were stoked at a poetry slam at the
Obama White House in 2009. A video of the
key song Alexander Hamilton and a mixed
tape went viral, pumping up expectations
for its Broadway opening two years ago.
The Los Angeles audience was primed
opening night, exerting a Herculean effort
to not sing along. Laughter and knowing
side-glances were shared at subtle
contemporary references to Beyonce,
Biggie Smalls and other rap masters,
as well as cheeky cultural cues such as
Thomas Jefferson having a mic-drop
moment during a rap battle with Alexander
Hamilton over the national debt.
The reviews for Hamilton properly
praise the stellar cast, including Michael
Luwoye as Alexander Hamilton, Joshua
Henry as Aaron Burr, and out Rory
OMalleywho performed in his friend
David Mixners one-man show Oh Hell
No! in LA in 2015. OMalley portrayed King
George as a 1960s British pop starand
a white guy in a world of color who also
offers comic relief.
Hamilton not only flips the script on
casting and introduces an interweaving
of musical forms but it may be the first to
explore the American immigrant experience.
I dare you to watch the video [of
Mirandas White House performance],
wrote Vogue theater critic Adam Green,
and not get a chill from the sight of a son
of an immigrant rapping about the son of
an immigrant to a son of an immigrant
who became Americas first African-
American president.
And in the sanctuary city of L.A., the
opening song, Alexander Hamilton, was
greeted with the head-bouncing grasp of
understanding.
How does a bastard, orphan, son of a
whore/And a Scotsman, dropped in the
middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean
by providence impoverished/In squalor,
grow up to be a hero and a scholar? sings
Aaron Burr, Hamiltons frenemy who turns
out to be the damn fool who shot him.
The ten-dollar founding father without
a father/Got a lot farther by working a lot
harder/By being a lot smarter, By being a
self-starter sings John Laurens, a young
officer from South Carolina with whom
Hamilton served in George Washingtons
colonial army. Letters expressing deep
affection between the two men have lead
many to believe that Hamilton and Laurens
had a bisexual affair, a point raised by
CONTINUES ON PAGE 30
2 4 A UGUST 2 5 , 2 0 17
queery JUSTINE GONZALEZ
By TROY MASTERS
tmasters@losangelesblade.com
Justine Gonzalez has her sights set high.
Nearly 10 years ago she visited the Los
Angeles LGBT Center as a client for the
rst time. I was in need of community,
and the Center quickly became my chosen
home and family. My life changed the day
I walked through the Centers doors, and
I will always remember what it was like to
enter a space where I felt like I could safely
be myself for the rst time, said Gonzalez.
While she praises the importance of
#ResistMarch, she felt the gloom and
doom that had descended over the nation
thanks to Donald Trump just needed to
go away. So when The Glitter Run was
proposed, she was eager to sign on and
quickly found herself running the show.
More than 2,000 attended, including
hundreds of children ages 12 and under.
Gonzalez, who is transgender and
identies as femme, is originally from
New York City and has spent most of her
adult life in California. When not running
campaigns or serving on commissions and
boards, she spends her time being mom
to her 3-year-old, Cecilia. But that hasnt
kept her from becoming an essential part
of LGBT life in Los Angeles.
Gonzalez has served as a member
of the West Hollywood Transgender
Advisory Board, and currently serves as
vice president of the City of Los Angeles
Human Relations Commission.
She was recently honored by the West
Hollywood City Council for her advocacy.
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?
Well I came out twice: rst as bisexual, and
later as transgender. Ive lived out as bisexual
for about 8 years, and transgender for about 3.
Whos your LGBT hero?
My LGBT hero is denitely Drian Juarez. The
work she has done and continues to do
inspires me every day.
Whats Los Angeles best nightspot, past or
present?
Im a fan of rooftop views, so Im usually down
to visit Perch if I have a free night.
Describe your dream wedding.
My dream wedding would be intimate, 20-
30 or less folks, a rooftop bar with a nice
view, and mimosas with a casual toast. We
would toast at sunset and hang out for the
rest of the night.
What non-LGBT issue are you most
passionate about?
Im very much interested in income inequality
and getting working families into good paying
jobs. That issue, like pretty much every other
issue facing people in here in the U.S. and
across the globe, impacts LGBT people just as
it does their families, allies, and people who
arent allies to the community.
What historical outcome would you
change?
The assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Whats been the most memorable pop
2 0 G A Y Q U E ST I O N S F O R: J US TI N E G O N ZA L E Z
culture moment of your lifetime?
Lady Gagas Poker Face changed my life.
It was my coming out song, and being her
fan was a signal to the people in my life that
change was coming.
On what do you insist?
I insist on approaching people with humility
and kindness.
What was your last Facebook post or
Tweet?
A thank you to West Hollywood
Councilmember Lauren Meister for giving me
the opportunity to serve on the Transgender
Advisory Board!
If your life were a book, what would the
title be?
Something cheesy like: We dont leave anyone
behind (how I broke free and never gave up
on Justine)
If science discovered a way to change
sexual orientation, what would you do?
I have no desire to change anything about my
sexual orientation. Say no to the cure!
What do you believe in beyond the physical
world?
Im not sure what to believe on this. I do
believe we can live beyond our physical bodies
in the memories of those we love and those
who wish to remember us.
Whats your advice for LGBT movement
leaders?
Dont call issues non-LGBT issues. All modern
PHOTO COURTESY OF GONZALEZ
societal issues are LGBT issues.
What would you walk across hot coals for?
The safety and wellbeing of my daughter, Cece
and co-parent, Erin.
What LGBT stereotype annoys you most?
Stereotypes are silly in general.
Whats your favorite LGBT movie?
Ive really enjoyed watching independent LGBT
lms and shorts made my LGBT youth at
OutSet, a program from Outfest and the Los
Angeles LGBT Center. Im looking forward to
the programs return next year.
Whats the most overrated social custom?
Apologizing. People apologize so often.
Were all doing our best and doing your
best to improve is something that is helpful
to everyone.
What trophy or prize do you most covet?
Little thank you notes and congrats are things
that ll my heart.
What do you wish youd known at 18?
I wish I had known that being myself, and
facing challenges as my true self would be a
reward in and of itself, and that I shouldnt let
fear hold me back from living that truth.
Why Los Angeles?
Los Angeles is a beautiful city. Its imperfect,
but I love it for that. Its very ambiguous.
Im imperfect, Im very comfortable with
ambiguity. Theres a lot of love in this city, and I
love that too. Were a perfect match.
O U T & A B O UT W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM A U G U ST 2 5 , 2 0 1 7 2 5

The Front Runner is still in the lead

PATRICIA NELL WARRENS 1974 BESTSELLER IS A LOVE STORY FOR THE GAY AGES

By JOHN PAUL KING

In 1974, not many people would have
expected a novel about the same-sex
romance between a college track coach and
his star runner to attract much of an audience.
Thanks to Stonewall, the so-called gay
liberation movement was enjoying a
newfound visibility and millions who had
previously been hidden in the closet began
a generations-long struggle for equality that
continues to this day. But in 1974, as in 2017,
visibility is not the same thing as acceptance,
and nobody expected a book like The Front
Runner to be embraced by readers outside
the niche market of the gay community.
Yet embraced it was and resoundingly so.
Patricia Nell Warrens The Front Runner
became a crossover sensation, drawing
rave reviews and becoming the rst gay-
themed book to land on the New York
Times prestigious Top Ten Bestsellers list.
It eventually sold more than 10 million
copies, yielded two successful sequels
(with another on the way), and has never
been out of print since.
For those unfamiliar, this landmark novel
tells the story of Harlan, a former Marine who
now coaches track at a small New England
college, and Billy a young runner who joins
his program after being kicked out of a larger
school for being gay. Harlan, though gay,
has always lived a closeted life; Billy has an
openness about his sexuality that reects
the younger generation to which he belongs.
Their relationship blossoms and the book
details their love story over the course of
several years, culminating in Billys triumphant
and tragic journey to the Beijing Olympics.
The impact of Warrens book, aside from
its historic place as a breakthrough of gay
culture into the straight mainstream, lies in
the resonance it found with so many of its
LGBT readers. Its characters were not just
gay, they were gay athletes, like millions of
other men and women out there. Forced to
hide who they were in order to participate
in the deeply homophobic culture of
inspire, and bind us together as a human
The Front Runner has sold more than
10,000,000 copies since 1974 and is still in
print.
sports, they found Harlan and Billy not only
imminently relatable, but inspirational.
The result was the birth of the
Frontrunners club, an organization for
LGBT runners that was started in San
Francisco and has since grown into a
worldwide network. This group has been
instrumental in fostering a movement of
support and acceptance for out athletes,
which in turn led to the creation of the Gay
Games, which, in 2013, awarded Warren
its Medal of Honor for writing the book
that, in many ways, started it all.
So how did a novel about two men in love
manage to defy seventies-era social taboos
and become a national bestseller? Maybe
it had something to do with the fact that
Warren, a gay woman, chose to write a love
story about gay men a fact which, at the
time, generated substantial controversy.
The author herself is still amused by
that today. Patricia broke the rules she
chuckles, echoing the words of her long-
ago critics. She wrote about men instead
of writing about women.
She goes on to explain why breaking
those rules may have been the key to her
novels success. There might be a tendency
to look at it and think that its a mens story,
but one of the things about the book that I
always appreciated is that it was read by as
many women as men. I know that in the
book business theres a lot of talk about
targeting to demographics, but I think its
important to appeal on a broader plane
than that, so that we understand these are
human things. Those kinds of stories can
race instead of dividing us into dierent
demographics. This story has done that,
and I think it still does that.
She also says this core humanity has
allowed the book to continue reaching
across boundaries throughout the years.
I am always hearing from people who are
reading it for the rst time. Theres been
quite a raft of readers that have come in
from the Spanish edition of the book, and
its reaching a lot of people in South and
Central America. Theyre reading it for
the rst time and thats the way theyre
approaching the story, as a human story.
What about younger readers, those who
are now growing up in a very dierent world
than the one in which The Front Runner is
set? Does it still have relevance for them?
Warren certainly believes so.
The story deals with young people.
I think that the most important thing
for young people today is what they
encounter in the schools, which I think
has certainly gotten a lot worse than in the
1970s. Theres a lot of standing up thats
going on right now in our schools, by our
kids, and ghting for change. The schools
have become major battlegrounds, not
just for gay issues but other issues as well,
and I think thats part of the arc for today
that our country has to gure out. I hope
that our kids have the heart for this ght,
because its a really important one, and
important for them to be involved. They
will see some of this in the story, because
that was all starting in the 1970s.
Longtime fans of the book, of course, have
one particularly burning question: what has
become of the long-awaited lm version of
The Front Runner? The lm rights were
sold shortly the books publication, with
none other than Paul Newman signed
on as producer, but unsurprisingly
Hollywood nanciers balked at the risk of
making a movie about gay men, so funding
never came. The subsequent years saw
the project shuttled through an array of
dierent would-be developers, but every
attempt fell through. After years in court,
Warren regained the rights in 2002, and has
held them ever since, waiting for the right
oer to come along.
Im still hopeful, she says. I think
its a good moment for a movie like that;
the way the country is going, probably
the timing is better than ever. Im really
concerned about all the negativity about
LGBT people that is going forward in the
country right now, and that certainly will
rebound into what we do in sports, so,
Im still hoping that it will happen. People
approach me about it all the time. Im
hoping for the people to come along who
are the right t for the story. The question
is, are they able to get the kind of job
done that I would hope to see done, the
story and the casting and so forth, and so
thats the important thing. I think thats
what a lot of people want, and I think that
willingness to attend the movie, when
its nally out, is going to be based on if
they feel that justice has been done to the
story that they love so much, so I think its
important to protect that.
CONTINUES AT LOSANGELESBLADE.COM
2 6 A UGUST 2 5 , 2 0 17 W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM THEATER

Gender uidity as seen in the

concentration camp at Buchenwald
WALKING TO BUCHENWALD FORCES YOU TO EXPERIENCE CHANGE

By LENI FELICE

Tom Jacobson, one of LAs most

acclaimed gay playwrights, loves to play
with theatrical form.
His newest play, which he calls a
shattering comedy, tackles questions of
gender, cultural and national identity, as
well as politics, marriage death and the
mutability of theater.
Titled Walking to Buchenwald, it begins
previews on Sept. 9 at the Atwater Village
Theatre in Los Angeles, where it is being
presented by Open Fist Theatre Company.
Walking to Buchenwald introduces
us to a couple named Schiller and Arjay,
who have taken Schillers parents on their
rst trip to Europe. There, Schiller and
Arjay plan to tell the parents that they are
planning to marry.
Jacobson has written the younger
couples characters in such a way that they
can be played by either men or women.
The Open Fist production will feature
two alternating casts, one featuring two
women and the other featuring two men.
The possibility also exists to mix and match
those to arrive at two heterosexual couples.
How does the play change depending
on which cast is viewed?
Theater is a mutable thing, which is
what makes it living and unique, Jacobson
said. Every night of a production is
dierent, and every production of the
MANDY SCHNEIDER and AMIELYNN ABELLERA alternate with CHRISTOPHER CAPPIELLO and JUSTIN HUEN in the roles of Schiller and Arjay.
same play is dierent. I love the idea
that who you cast changes the way you PHOTOS BY RODERICK MENZIES

feel about both the character and the

situation. Thats something I always like to
play with in my work.
As the four travel through England,
France and, nally, Germany, they discover
what it means to be American in a world
that no longer admires the U.S. According
to the press notes, Guinea pigs playing
cricket, dead bodies that talk and an
unexpected trip to a concentration camp
lead to a shocking yet poignant conclusion.
Jacobson is one of L.A.s most important
writers. He has written over 70 plays, and
has had more than 90 productions, winning
multiple awards. This is not the rst time he
has experimented with gender and form in
his work. His solo play, The Captain of the
Bible Quiz Team, recently premiered in L.A.
using four alternating actors of dierent
genders and ethnicities. His play Ouroboros
consists of ve scenes that, when, presented
in chronological order play as a comedy, but,
when reversed, turn the play into a tragedy.
He has also written plays under a non-gender
specic pseudonym using similar techniques.
Walking To Buchenwald begins previews on
Sept. 9. All four preview performances are
Pay-What-You- Want. Opening night is Sept.
15, and performances continue through Oct. 21
with all tickets priced at $30.
Atwater Village Theatre is located at 3269
Casitas Ave in Los Angeles, CA 90039.
On-site parking is free. For reservations and
information, call (323) 882-6912 or go to www.
openst.org.
 AUGUST 25, 2017 LOSANGELESBLADE.COM 27

barrys bootcamp
is about to go global
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13
other, but not entirely with their dads. The
guys wanted to create a surname that felt
authentic; one created together. Instead
of Gonzalez-Rollo or Rollo-Gonzalez,
dicult to navigateand a mouthful,
they went with what people had been
calling us for years and years. Ladies and
gents: meet the Gonzollos!
Many power couples maintain a erce
boundary between their personal and
professional lives. Not the Gonzollos.
Though, they never worked together
formally until two years ago, Rollo said.
Barrys Bootcamps newly enhanced
concept adds FuelBar to the format, a
healthy made-to-order smoothie bar Rollo
designed. Bootcampers pre-order shakes
before working out so they are waiting for
them after class.
However, they also started Au Fudge, the
upscale family ice cream place on Melrose
(in partnership with Jessica Biel) and are
about to launch CAMP, the Center for Arts
Music and Play. Its more like Barrys [with]
classes all day, said Rollo. It will be next to
Barrys WeHo.
Consider this workout
You wait around in a lobby with a throng
of tness types, both men and women.
Youve never done Barrys before so youre
nervous, maybe a lot nervous. Whats it
gonna be like? Is it really gonna be as
intense as people say? Will I survive, or
be carried out on a stretcher? These are
the questions ashing through your head
as you do your best to act cool. No sweat,
you tell yourself.
Ha, the joke is on you. Because there is
gonna be sweat. Buckets of it. If you are
not drenched in a slick, warm emergence
of your own aggressive perspiration at the
end of a Barrys workout trust me, more
Traditional to the core:FRANCESCA GONZOLLO, JON ROLLO, JOEY GONZALEZ and JAKE STONE
GONZOLLO.
sweat than you ever knew your body could
produce you did not fully commit. You did
not fully invite the savior into your heart.
And Gonzalez agrees. He transformed
his life through working out, so it can be
true for you, too. Maybe not exactly an
ugly duckling when he walked in 14 years
ago, hes denitely a power swan today.
He wants the same for you.
That is, if you want it.
He started the worldwide expansion
of the Barrys brand because I wanted to
share what I had experienced with as many
people as possible. I wanted other people
to be able to go on that same journey.
Gonzalez teaches only one class a
week now (in Venice) so I felt lucky to see
him in action. Hes relaxed and jazzed
simultaneously, buzzing around the studio
wearing a wireless mic/headset, dee-jaying
high-energy music, motivating subjects
to Keep goingThats itDont give up wicking the sweat from my exhausted,
Youre awesomeYaaaaassssss!!! quivering, yet delighted body, I wondered:
PHOTO COURTESY OF GONZALEZ
It is hard work, but somehow we dont
really care because we look stunning
bathed in Barrys signature red and
aesthetically pleasing lighting (standard
in every Barrys studio). We feel like were
working out in a nightclub, writhing on top
of a platform like the hottest go-go dancer
ever, ready to vanquish any competitor,
real or imagined capable of seducing the
lover(s) of our choice Snap! like magic.
Yes, Barrys Bootcamp made me feel
that good.
I even discovered I could run again
thanks to the Woodway Treadmills.
Teslas of their kind, They cost ve
[times] what normal ones do, Gonzalez
shared. Theyre even better than running
outdoors. I was amazed at how I felt. All
of the pain I usually feel after running (hips
and knees), I didnt feel.
Soaking my workout towel when
her hands resting on her knees, smiled at
me as if to say, Fuck yeah, we did it.
Am I about to join the Revolution? Wait
is this a cult?
What the world needs now
Gonzalez had an epiphany. I told Jon,
Im gonna take this global.
Barrys started in WeHo in 1998. Locations
throughout LA followed. (Original founder
Barry Jay still teaches in Hollywood.) Then
came gay enclaves Hillcrest in San Diego
and Chelsea in New York.
But now its about everybody, says
Gonzalez. When I took his class in Venice I
saw mostly thin blonde women. Men were
the minority.
The world has become a more
integrated place. The Castros are a thing of
the past. Everybody is living everywhere,
which I love, Gonzalez explained. Our
communityis very much in our DNA.
Those are the roots of who we are. We are
gay-owned and operated...out of WeHo,
but the audience [now] is much broader.
How broad? Were going to be in Paris
before were going to be in Kansas City, if
that makes sense, Gonzalez explained.
So cosmopolitan cities with successful
professionals it seems are the target. As far
as whats coming down the pipeline, were
gonna be in Atlanta, Stockholm, Dallas, D.C.
and Toronto before the end of the year.
Barrys Bootcamp is not just a workout.
Its a lifestyle.
I adopted it myself, if but for an hour. In
a class of 30 people I didnt know, because
the workout is so intense, I bonded with the
two exercisers on either side of me. We had
just climbed Everest together. Good job!
the 20-something woman to my right said
to me at the end of our four brutal circuits.
I admitted I was a Barrys virgin and she
added, Then really good job!
The gal to my left, slightly bent forward,
2 8 A UGUST 2 5 , 2 0 17
Alistair McCartneys compelling new
novel, The Disintegrations (University of
Wisconsin Press) is the story of one mans
obsession with death. It pulls no punches.
As Australian author Christos Tsiolkas
wrote, its a book that takes possession
of you right from the opening and will
not let you go. Challenging and gripping,
a rumination on death and memory that
speaks eloquently to our sense of loss,
both personal and communal.The writing
is exquisite. I know this book will haunt me
for the longest time.
I found myself similarly haunted as I
read this genre-bending book, engrossed
in the stories of suicides, serial killers and
a disquieting array of natural deaths. I was
drawn into the unique and surprisingly
funny perceptions of its narrator and
moved by the warmth that arises in
unexpected places. McCartney establishes
a wonderful intimacy between the author
and the reader.
I recently caught up with my fellow
Australian-American in his neighborhood
of Venice Beach to talk about The
Disintegrations, as a warm up to our
conversation at Skylight Books on
September 16th.
How did you come to write The
Disintegrations? Can you talk about how
your fascination with death was born?
The book arose from an obsession.
Thats the source from which all my
writing springs. My rst novel, The End of
The World Book was an encyclopedia of
obsessions, literally, A to Z, but for this
book I narrowed the lens to just one. Who
knows why we become fascinated with
anything? I was xated on the subject and
I needed to write my way out of it. Its not a
subject I would have chosen to write about.
That said, since I was a teenager, most of
the writers Ive gravitated toJean Genet,
Marguerite Duras, Dennis Cooper, W.G.
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
The Disintegrations
AUTHOR DAVID FRANCIS INTERVIEWS ALISTAIR MCCARTNEY
By DAVID FRANCIS
ALISTAIR MCCARTNEYs The Disintegrations stares in the face of death and change and life.
Sebald, to name just a few-- have taken
the excavation of death as their primary
subject. And I think its a fairly common
preoccupation, though one were taught
to repress. My narrator cant repress it.
The protagonist of your book spends
a lot of time at Holy Cross Cemetery in
Culver City, wandering around, trying
to get to the bottom of death. I am
also someone who is fascinated by and
writes in cemeteries (my local being
Hollywood Forever.) Can you talk about
your relationship with Holy Cross?
Well, like my narrator, I do teach across
the street from Holy Cross, at Antioch
University. Ive taken my classes there, had
my students write there. My book is very
much an investigation of that cemetery,
drawing on that great tradition of writers
mining the mythology of Death and
PHOTO BY DAVID FRANCIS
California, like Joan Didion. But at a certain
point, I didnt allow myself to go there or
even look at it, even though I can see it
from my oce window. The Holy Cross
I conjure up is based on the actual space,
but its a character, its the cemetery Ive
fashioned in my head.
You call this book a novel but it reads
as a subtle fusion of ction, nonction,
memoir and prose poem. Did you
write The Disintegrations with much
awareness as to the form it was taking?
Yes and no. The book took me about 8
or 9 years to write, and one of the reasons
for that was guring out the right form to
tell this story, to hold together the pieces Id
written. It was originally much longer and
more traditionally structured, but I realized
the structure wasnt working and last
year I did a pretty radical re-write and re-
BO O KS
visioning that arose organically. One thing I
was always clear on was that even though
I would use real names, this book is ction.
My stories are eulogies, but theyve ctional
eulogies. Its impossible to access the truth
of the dead. Like I say in the introduction,
death makes ction of us all.
You became a US citizen last
month, after a long immigration
struggle, something your husband the
performance artist Tim Miller has done
great work on. What was that like?
And can you talk about your identity
as a writer an Australian writer, a
gay writer, an immigrant writer, a
California writer? Do you particularly
ascribe to any of those monikers? Or do
you nd them limiting or unhelpful?
To be sworn in with over 4,000 new
immigrants at the LA Convention Center
was amazing and moving. For me, that
only became possible when DOMA was
overturned, and Tim and I were able to
nally marry. For years we were living in
great uncertainty, so becoming a citizen
after more than 20 years of bureaucracy
was a huge relief.
To answer the 2nd part of the question, I
think all those categories arise in this book.
Some of the stories take place in Australia,
much of it is rooted in California and LA.
The narrators sense of distance from the
past and from his own life is perhaps the
predicament of the immigrant. And one of
the recurring threads in The Disintegrations
is the intersection between sex and death.
But if I take up any moniker, it would be,
to go back to the rst question, obsession:
Im an obsessive writer who has to follow
his obsessions through to the end.
David Francis and Alistair McCartney will talk
more about The Disintegrations at Skylights
Books, 1818 N Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA
90027, on Saturday September 16th, 5:00pm.
T E L E V I SI O N W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM A U G U ST 2 5 , 2 0 1 7 2 9

Andrew Cunanan gets his close up, 20 years later

RYAN MURPHY TAKES ON THE INFAMOUS VERSACE MURDER

By SUSAN L. HORNIK

For the upcoming television series The

Assassination of Gianni Versace: American
Crime Story, executive producer/director
Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story,
Feud: Bette and Joan, The People vs. O.J.
Simpson) has set out to tell the story of
Andrew Cunanan, the spree-killing sociopath
who murdered the late fashion designer on
the steps of his mansion 20 years ago.
I think the thing about American Crime
Story is that were not just doing sort of a
crime, Murphy said at the Television Critics
Press Tour. Were trying to talk about a
crime within a social idea. And this was
always interesting to us because the idea
was that Versace, who was [Cunanans] last
victim, really did not have to die.
What gets discussed in the series is The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story stars, from left, RICKY MARTIN (Antonio DAmico), DARREN CRISS (Cunanan) and EDGAR
RAMIREZ (Versace).
homophobiawhich Murphy notes, was
PHOTO BY FRANK MICELOTTA/PICTURE GROUP; COURTESY OF FX NETWORK
how Cunanan was able to successfully
make his way across the U.S. and kill these
victims, many of whom were gay. thing to announce that [Versace] was gay closets that he personally created will be Youre doing a docudrama. So theres
Homophobia, particularly within the and out of the closet, which he did in an among the scenes in the lm. always certain things you take liberty with,
various police organizations that refused interview. So all of that has a ripple eect We were lucky enough to be able to get particularly, and the movement of wanting
in Miami to put up wanted posters, even the Versaces will like some of what we do, inside there and lm in thatIt was really to move toward something emotional, at
though they knew that Andrew Cunanan and some of it they will be uncomfortable an amazing opportunity to be able to go least for me.
had probably committed many of these about.I dont think there should be any in there. We did a tremendous amount In the series, Edgar Ramirez plays
murders and was probably headed that stigma or shame attached to HIV at all... of research, down to the backpack that Versace, a complicated character that
way, all of which we deal with in the show. And I think there really was, and we Cunanan had, and what was his shoelace changed the world of fashion.
I thought that that was a really interesting address that head on. like. And that, to me, is one of the joys of For the rst time, [Versace] combined
thing to examine, to look at again, With period pieces like Versace and the work, to really get it right. I think we sexiness and glamour and opulence, like
particularly with the president we have the Emmy nominated, Feud, which did get it right with this show, because we no one has ever done before. He could
and the world that we live in. proles the behind-the-scenes rivalry of cared. We wanted to do honor to him. see the sexiness of the 70s, and then all
The series is based on a book by Maureen Bette Davis and Joan Crawford on the set While Versaces former lover, Antonio, the opulence of the 80s, and he sensed
Orth, called Vulgar Favors, which indicated of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, initially expressed concern about the that in the 90s. He combined it, and
that Cunanan had HIV, though publicly, this Murphy feels obligated to be accurate series, Murphy indicated that he has had everybody went crazy, Ramirez noted.
was disputed by the family. with all the details. a change of heart. He added: Its very interesting how the
About that time period and the stigma To that end, FX recreated the former Ricky [Martin] spoke to him today, story captures not only a very dramatic,
surrounding HIV, Murphy said: You could Miami home of the late fashion designer, and he was very great and excited to talk amazing story that needs to be told, but how
literally lose your business, lose everything which has since been turned into a $1,000+ to Ricky. My point of view about that is I it captures the spirit of the time. Its something
that you had. You could be red. This a night hotel. Earlier this year, the cast think its very hard to judge anything that that also has a lot to do with Ryans work. And
company that Versace had was about to Ricky Martin, who plays Antonio DAmico, youre watching based on a paparazzi Im a huge fan of thatmovies, products,
go public, and he was terried of anything Versaces longtime partner, Penelope photograph, which is apparently what his content that not also tell compelling stories,
coming out negative about his personal Cruz, (Donatella, Versaces sister) Darren judgment was about. And I think when but also capture the zeitgeist and the spirit
life. We delve into that in the show. Criss (Cunanan) and Edgar Ramirez youre doing a show like this, or a show of the time that speak about greater subjects
Murphy continued: It was a huge went on location; Versaces bedroom and like O.J., youre not doing a documentary. going on in society.
3 0 A UGUST 2 5 , 2 0 17
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23
Hamilton biographer Ron Chernow, upon
whose work Manuel based his musical.
The exclamation mark on immigration
comes after the rebels beat the British at
the battle of Yorktown, turning the world
upside down, winning the revolution,
thanks in large part to Hamiltons ingenuity
and help from France arranged by the
Marquis de Lafayette. Immigrantswe
get things done! they sing/say with pride
as the LA audience roars its approval.
Mirandas mantra is the political always
has to be personal, he told the PBS
NewsHour in 2015. The idea was to tell
the story of the rst American immigrant
and the formation of our country. In that
sense it felt intensely personal.What it
feels like to land here and make your way.
The feminist refrain the personal is the
political is underscored by the Schuyler
sisters, Eliza, Angelica and Peggy, who
seem a bit Destinys Child and a bit feminist
Greek Chorus. Angelica, the feistier of
the three, sings about the Declaration of
Independence: [W]hen I meet Thomas
Jeerson/Im a compel him to include
W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM
Hamilton thrills LA audiences
SOLEA PFEIFFER, EMMY RAVER-LAMPMAN & AMBER IMAN.
PHOTO BY JOAN MARCUS; COURTESY OF HOLLYWOOD PANTAGES THEATRE
women in the sequel!
Aaron Burr is not the same villain
portrayed in history. A few years older,
already a Princeton graduate and lawyer
when Hamilton arrives, Burr is a man to
whom Hamilton looks for guidance and a
boost for his ambition. Burr tells Hamilton
to talk less, smile more. In Wait For It,
Burr cites family as a reason for caution,
and yet it is grueling to see the impetuous
Hamilton succeed.
The fatal duel that ends Hamiltons life
takes on an air of inevitability with Burrs
imagining of the dinner party where
Hamilton, Thomas Jeerson, and James
Madison devise the compromise of 1790.
Hamilton agrees that the location of the
nations capitol will be on the Potomac
River while the two men from Virginia
agree to support Hamiltons plan for a
federal government that would assume
the states debts but have states pay taxes
to the central government.
Burr takes that political exclusion
personally, leading to the explosive song
The Room Where It Happens. He describes
how political deals are still made: No one
really knows how the game is played/The
art of the trade/How the sausage gets
made/We just assume that it happens.
The duel becomes inevitable after
Hamilton continually maligns Burr, calling
him unprincipled and despicable, and
eventually throwing his support behind
Jeerson after a tie in the electoral college
in the 1800 presidential election. If you
stand for nothing, Burr what do you
fall for? Hamilton would rather support
his rival than the man he thinks has no
principlesa point disputed by historians.
Interestingly, Jeerson may be the
real villain here. Portrayed as an elitist
fop who didnt ght in the war Whatd
I miss? he asks when returning from
ParisMiranda underscores the hypocrisy
of having the man who wrote all men are
created equal being a slave-owner.
Hey neighbor. Your debts are paid
because you dont pay for labor, Hamilton
snaps at him.
Later, Jeerson and Madison get in the
weeds, look for the seeds of Hamiltons
misdeeds to ruin him. Their evidence of
corruption is actually Hamilton paying
blackmail to hide an extramarital aair
while Jeerson has an ongoing aair with
his slave mistress Sally Hemings.
Hamilton was an abolitionist (as was Burr),
A RT S & E N T E RT A I N ME N T
a fact briey raised as an intention to end
slavery after the war. In 1785, he and John
Jay founded an anti-slavery organization
in New York City that eventually abolished
the international slave trade in that city.
Hamilton wrote that slaves natural faculties
are as good as ours.
Let me tell you what I wish Id known/
When I was young and dreamed of glory/
You have not control/Who lives/Who
dies/Who tells your story, sings George
Washington, who insists that Hamilton write
Washingtons famous Farewell Address.
The audience might walk out of the
theatre pumped up by the multi-layered I
am not throwing away my shot. But the
lingering question is who writes history?
I dont think there could be anything
more important than this show right
now, says out producer Neal Meron,
who pioneered diversity casting with
his producing partner Craig Zadan. The
musicality, the message, the diversityits
everything that were about and we should
be about for the future.
Hamilton continues performances at
the Hollywood Pantages Theatre through
December 30. Call: 800-982-2787 or check
online at www.hollywoodpantages.com.
 LO C A L N E W S W W W .LOS ANG E LE S B LADE .C OM A U G U ST 2 5 , 2 0 1 7 3 1
thor - We
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showed up ten seconds BEFORE paperback some other such incident?

Singles Party 2017. Its the aftermath of that incident and then the actual murder they do wind
up investigating, that take over the book. As with my fictional characters,
**THIS IS NOT A SEX PARTY ** the aftermath of the real-life incident continues; other cops in trouble, on
trial, or soon to be on trial. My detectives are honest and try to do right,
Sept. 23 7 pm - 1 am but that is as big a threat to some in the police department as those who lie.

South Plainfield, NJ Paul Turner, a gay man, a husband, and a father, has to negotiate the shoals

$30
of danger and deceit, with his police department partner, Buck Fenwick, as
Close to all public transportation from NYC/Newark airport. they try to live through the dangers that envelope them. All for
This is a nationwide invitation. simply doing the right thing - standing up to idiocy, deceit, and
an array of villains.

Contact Tony for more information! The book is Ring of Silence

s
Call or text: (908) 930-9204 available August 25 book
though

Email: tyleeking@aol.com as a paperback BEFOR

then the
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** DRUGS ARE NOT ALLOWED ** partner,
enve
to

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