Indholdsfortegnelse for April - May 2017 i The Advocate

Never before have we seen as much LGBT art and activism coming out of repressive Asian countries like China, Singapore, and Taiwan. Transgress Press (@trans_books) recently published Lei Ming’s Life Beyond My Body, the first book written by a transgender man in China. After a neglected childhood in a rural Chinese village, Ming left home at 16 to find answers to who he is in a culture that still doesn’t speak of men like him. Ming, who is in the U.S. for a spring book tour of the West coast, tells of using black market testosterone, being jailed over his identity—but most of all, of finding his place in the world. Meanwhile, in May, New York Review Book Classics (@NYRBClassics) releases Qiu Miaojin’s Notes of a Crocodile, with a new…

THE PERSON: Cody Alan. The host of CMT’s Hot 20 Countdown, and a popular personality in the country world, Alan wrote a moving open letter in a January Instagram post explaining his journey as a gay TV and radio personality. “This is not a choice I made, but something I’ve known about myself my whole life,” he wrote. “Here’s to being happy with yourself, no matter who you are, who you love, where you come from, or what cards life has dealt you.” THE IMPACT: Alan was “overwhelmed” by support from country stars—including Dierks Bentley, Maddie & Tae, Kacey Musgraves, and Dan + Shay—and his own kids, about whom he was initially worried. “But my son said, ‘You’re a great dad; it’s okay.’” Alan wrote. “To their generation, being gay…

CLEVE JONES landed in San Francisco too late for the Summer of Love. Fifty years ago, about 100,000 young people from around the country converged on San Francisco. They were flower children and hippies, queers and artists, radicals and draft dodgers. A generation of freethinkers looked to the city for change, with resistance, liberation, and free expression unfurling in every corner. Because of them, the city gave rise to movements in support of the rights of women, African-Americans, gays, farm workers, Native Americans, animals, and even the planet. Change was everywhere. A closeted gay teen living in Arizona, Cleve Jones dreamt of this utopia by the bay, where he imagined being welcomed with open arms. But by the time eager peace activist Jones made it to San Francisco, the Summer…

IN ORDER FOR a movement to flourish, you need to have a trailblazer. Asia Kate Dillon (who uses the pronouns they and them) has been blazing trails long before becoming the first nonbinary gender-identifying actor to be cast in a major television series. After a memorable role as racist skinhead Brandy on Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, Dillon joined the world of high finance and politics on Showtime’s Billions, as Taylor. In a TV first, a nonbinary gender-identifying actor is portraying a genderless character. Before playing Brandy on OITNB, Dillon was already redefining the way casting directors and audiences look at gender. After graduating from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA), they were chosen from nearly a thousand actors to participate in a workshop of 50 new plays…

A recent study from Dell Medical School at the University of Texas has found a link between extreme pubic hair grooming and increased rates of sexually transmitted infections. The results indicate that high frequency shavers had a quadrupled risk of contracting an STI. One reason, researchers speculate, might be that infections can spread more easily due to tiny cuts or tears in the skin that occur from grooming. Another theory is that people who groom more often engage in more sex and are thus already at higher risk for contracting STIs.…

Isabella Gomez, who plays Elena Alvarez on the remake of the 1970s series One Day at a Time, felt intimidated at first about playing a lesbian character, because she worried she might not get it right. Luckily, Gomez had a writers’ room that included LGBT scripters, like Michelle Badillo, who helped shape Elena’s storyline—including her coming-out story, based on Badillo’s own experience. The show reframes the groundbreaking Norman Lear original to focus on a Cuban-American family living in Los Angeles. Gomez plays the queer, 15-year-old feminist daughter who is headstrong, independent, and often clashes with her family. In one episode, Elena’s mother, Penelope (Justina Machado), makes an effort to connect with her newly out daughter by telling her that she spent some time reading Autostraddle, a queer women’s website; where…

LAST FEBRUARY,The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report predicting that, if things don’t change, one out of every two gay or bi black men will become HIV-positive in their lifetime. This statistic has been repeated endlessly, usually in connection with reasons why HIV rates are higher among African-American men who have sex with men. To be fair, there are a wide range of factors that play a part in raising HIV risks, including poverty, drug use, childhood sexual assault, and depression. “We cannot separate the high infection rates among black gay men from several ills that continue to plague our society,” Greg Millet wrote for The Advocate in 2015. “Discrimination, poverty, stigma, and lack of access to health care all affect health care utilization for black gay…

NEARLY A DECADE ago, Dr. Alison Ash was a Stanford University doctoral student researching why hetero college-aged women were orgasming less often than their male peers. Ash found that many women didn’t feel entitled to pleasure—especially in casual sexual encounters—and they felt uncomfortable receiving oral sex because they worried about how they looked, smelled, and tasted. Women were also more concerned about their partner’s enjoyment than their own. Fueled by her research’s findings, she made it her mission to help others find sexual empowerment; saving the world one orgasm at a time. Three years later, Ash created the workshop, “How to Be a Feminist in the Bedroom,” which teaches participants how to say “No,” and to ask for their needs to be met. The project was so successful it led…

WHEN FRANCIS, A TEACHER FROM the African nation of Ghana, suffered a mental health crisis, his family and friends didn’t know how to help. In his small village, they only knew of one solution: to lock him away until his madness subsided. “[Francis] was treated much like anyone who suffers from a mental condition in a third world country,” says Chris Gernon, the gay CEO and founder of Fugitives, the firm behind the virtual reality documentary short, Francis. “They truly thought that strapping him to a log and locking him in a mud hut for two years was the best course of action. They didn’t have the knowledge or understanding of how to diagnose or treat his mental illness.” Kept isolated in near-constant darkness for years, Francis’s already fragile connection…

KNOWING THAT TRUMP and Republicans would soon take a wrecking ball to everything he held dear, former President Obama used his last days on the job to preserve his progressive legacy by investing in AIDS relief, pushing healthcare enrollment, protecting trans inmates, making a record number of sentence commutations (including Chelsea Manning), ending oil exploration in the Arctic, and so much more. Trump used his first few weeks far less charitably. Here are some of his worst. DRAINED THE SWAMP RIGHT INTO THE WHITE HOUSE: In addition to rolling back post-financial crisis regulations, Trump is rewarding his billionaire cronies with control over federal agencies that they wish to undermine. Our new Secretary of Education, billionaire Betsy DeVos (whose family has given $200 million to Republicans), doesn’t understand the basics of…

The heart of New York’s Madison Square Park has become a unique hub where talented designers and artists bring products to a wider market. Now one of the area’s boutiques offers even more reasons to shop: 10 percent of the purchase price is donated to charity. “We wanted to create a new retail concept that incorporated our three areas of expertise: fashion and lifestyle curation, brand direction and graphic design, [and] charitable causes and ethical consumerism,” Maison 10’s bi-continental founders Tom Blackie, Henri Myers, and Carsten Klein told The Advocate in a joint statement. Maison 10 carefully curates its products to offer a limited number of items for sale at any one time. Specifically they hand-select 10 items, one each from 10 set categories; which include art, fragrances, home wares,…

TOM ATWOOD IS not only daring. He is arguably one of the most committed photographers in the country. His second book and accompanying gallery exhibition, Kings & Queens in Their Castles (Damiani), took 15 years to complete. During that time the lensman traveled across 30 different states, photographing more than 350 LGBTQ individuals—including nearly 100 celebrities—in the comfort of their own homes. There’s a reason Kings & Queens has been called one of the most ambitious photo series ever conducted of the LGBTQ experience in America. The roster ranges from actors, to farmers, drag queens, athletes, and everyday folks. For Atwood, it was more than a passion project. It was a duty. “I felt there was a need for a serious photo series of the LGBTQ community,” he says. “I…

While this is advice for those who identify as “bottoms,” anyone who has anal sex should have an understanding of the process involved in successful bottoming. It will help you be a better “top” and positively affect overall sexual experiences. The act of bottoming is a true art, and whether it’s your first attempt or you’ve been experimenting with it for quite some time, analyzing your readiness and the proper techniques not only allow you to reach heightened sexual pleasure, but also enable safe and enduring practices. If you’ve never tried bottoming, but you’re curious, let’s just address straight away that it won’t always just happen right then and there. Successful and pleasurable bottoming takes time and practice through dilation exercises, training of your self-awareness, and control of the pelvic…

IN SOME WAYS, maintaining sexual health as a bisexual is just like maintaining sexual health as someone with any other sexual orientation. For example, Denarii Monroe of the Bisexual Resource Center says, “Staying sexually healthy for me personally means making sure that I’m getting regular STI and HIV check-ups, preferably before starting a new sexual relationship with someone.” “In terms of tips for the happy, healthy bisexual, my number one tip for sexual health is to maintain [it] by getting those exams,” says Amy Andre, who works with the Bisexual Research Collaboration on Health at The Fenway Institute in Boston. She argues that routine screenings and preventative medicine are essential for long-term health. “Unfortunately,” Andre acknowledges, “studies show that compared to women of other orientations, women who identify as bisexual…

I just came back from this incredible trip to Mexico. It was a group trip, mostly couples, with some singles, like me, mixed into the bunch. There were also some on the trip who were open to sharing their significant other with me—for some much needed cuddles (but that’s another story). The trip was to a planned LGBT-friendly resort community within Riviera Maya, minutes from Playa del Carmen and an easy flight into Cancun. These private resort communities are not uncommon in Mexico; in fact, I had visited Punta Mita in Riviera Nayarit recently and was kind of in love with the exclusivity of it all. This time, the destination was Mayakoba, and with the rowdy bunch I had enlisted to join me, I was looking forward to lots of…

I LOVE SEX. And I’m unashamed to say I have a lot of it, and with various men and women, many of whom are HIV-positive. However, I only feel comfortable having sex with HIV-positive folks because I strictly adhere to my daily Truvada as PrEP regimen in addition to using condoms (as an additional layer of protection from HIV and other sexually transmitted infections). I would be way too nervous to have sex with a poz person, even with condoms, if I wasn’t on PrEP. But, I’m not perfect. I get too drunk, I can’t maintain my erection with a condom on, or I get lost in the heat of the moment and say, “Screw it. Let’s go raw!” Shit happens, and I’m not going to shame myself—or anyone else—who…

DURING THE 1992 presidential primaries, Pat Buchanan, seeking the Republican Party nomination, used an unauthorized clip from Tongues Untied, to blast the National Endowment for the Arts and attack George H. W. Bush. Documentary filmmaker Marlon Riggs’s masterpiece—exploring black gay identity and experience through storytelling, poetry, movement, and expression—premiered on PBS the year before. At least 17 stations refused to air it. The controversy surrounding the work revolved around some profanity, a drawing of a penis, and depictions of black men kissing. Buchanan, the Christian Coalition, and the American Family Association sought to use the film to defund the NEA. Tongues Untied would become weaponized in the culture war. The brilliant work was condemned as pornography by the right wing and debated in the halls of Congress, when Senator Jesse…