Indholdsfortegnelse for June - July 2018 i The Advocate

WHEN I WOKE UP APRIL 17TH, I found out my long-time friend, legendary lesbian activist Donna Red Wing, had died. Named Woman of the Year by The Advocate in 1992 and dubbed “the most dangerous woman in America” by the far-right Christian Coalition around the same time, Red Wing was an activist for over 30 years. Former executive director of One Iowa, she previously worked for GLAAD, Human Rights Campaign, the Gill Foundation, and with Howard Dean and former president Barack Obama. Oregon queers owe her thanks. In the 1990s, as head of Oregon’s Lesbian Community Project, she led successful efforts to defeat Measure 9, a ballot initiative that would have amended the Oregon constitution to ban gay-inclusive civil rights laws, while also declaring homosexuality “abnormal, wrong, unnatural, and perverse.”…

Umber Ghauri is making a name for herself as an activist makeup artist—and if there wasn’t such a thing, there is now. The talented 26-year-old has already worked with many queer, trailblazing people of color, including Black Lives Matter cofounder Patrisse Cullors; multi-gendered American rapper and poet Mykki Blanco; and English gender non-conforming trans activist, writer, and artist Travis Alabanza. It’s a path Ghauri chose consciously, after a bit of soul searching. “That’s kind of an example of my niche,” she says, “working with people who are feminist, who are activists, who [need] services like makeup… And there’s a lot of them doing really well, so there’s a clientele.” Surprisingly, Ghauri wasn’t always so confident about going into a creative field. She explains that she once struggled with “a kind…

Trailblazing Trans Teen ( headlines finding acceptance on his high school boy’s baseball team) is the first teenager and transgender person to be honored with the Trailblazer Award from JQ International—for having “inspired, forged new paths, and created the highest visibility for LGBTQ+ Jews.” (JQInternational.org) Our Names on Buildings! A Maryland elementary school was renamed in honor of gay civil rights leader Bayard Rustin (above); while pioneering politician Harvey Milk’s name will grace San Francisco International Airport’s Terminal 1. All Dolled Up Born naked (and faceless) Vladonna Alternative Fashion Dolls are fully customizable. Designed by RuPaul’s Drag Race’s Pearl Liaison, you provide the drag. ($40 KidRobot.com) Wait a Bucking Minute When the Beat Dropsis Jamal Sims’s documentary on the black LGBT dancers behind bucking. Produced by World of Wonder(RuPaul’s Drag…

With her new book, No Place Like Home: Lessons in Activism from LGBT Kansas, activist and author C.J. JANOVY hopes to inspire other queer folk in rural areas, small towns, or conservative states to stand up and speak up. No Place Like Home explores the reasons LGBT people stay in places like Kansas, even when they face discrimination. Earlierthisyear, Janovytold The Pitch—where she’d served as editor in chief from 2000 to 2010—that activists in these areas must “prepare to lose. In many of these stories, people lose twice or three times before they get a win.” She advises activists to “be gentle with your allies. They’re humans, they’ll say stupid stuff, but fighting with them takes energy away from fighting the real fight.” And she says, the most important thing,…

Activist, political journalist, and media maven IMARA JONES launched The Last Sip, a news show on Free Speech TV, to get to the bottom of things and “explore issues that affect all of us.” Jones, who used to work for Viacom, says there’s a huge gap in news programming, which started with the rise of cheaper-to-produce reality shows, when many youth-based networks, like MTV and BET, “nixed their news.” “I also do a lot of television and I spent a lot of time in newsrooms,” Jones explains, “One of the things that I noticed in most mainstream newsrooms is how non-representative of the country they are, and how non-representative they are of the largest generation in American history—that’s millennials—who are increasingly the future and in whose hands our country lies.…

It’s been a life-changing (and affirming) year for Olympic figure skater ADAM RIPPON. The out athlete won a bronze medal—and fans around the world—this year at the 2018 Winter Olympics, becoming the first out gay U.S. male athlete to medal at a Winter Games. His charisma, confidence, and larger than life performances quickly turned him into a fan favorite. In many ways, his new spotlight is where he was destined to be all along. “I don’t want to be recognized for being an athlete anymore,” he said to InStyle. “I’ve always loved skating, but on some level I’ve always known that entertaining is what I’m better at.” Rippon grew up in Scranton, Penn. where “for so long I was so ashamed of who I was.” Skating brought him out of…

I Can’t Date Jesus is Michael Arceneaux’s hilarious memoir about being black, gay, and Texan. Arceneaux is a welcome voice adding to those of other queer people of color. From his wry observational take on bigoted Texans who have derided his right to exist, to his grandmother’s religious-based admonishment of his orientation (from which his clever title derives). Arceneaux’s acerbic observational humor is reminiscent of the very best of American humorist and author, David Sedaris. (Atria Paperbacks) —Savas Abadsidis House of Nutter: The Rebel Tailor of Saville Row by Lance Richardson is about famed Saville Row tailor, Tommy Nutterand his lesser-known also-gay brother David, who together impacted the celebrity culture of an entire generation. The outgoing Peacock Revolution tailor (Tommy) and gifted photographer (David) revolutionized the industry and chronicled private…

READING: Luke Williams’s zine Cave Homo premiered last year at New York City Pride, with a hit gallery show and a feature on just-out pro skateboarder Brian Anderson. Its second issue (debuting June 23 at Fierman Gallery in N.Y.C.) features Lacey Baker (above), the gender non-conforming queer skateboarder, with sights on the 2020 Olympics. Proceeds from the event go to The Trevor Project. (CaveHomo.com) CARRYING: I’ll be carrying the myCharge Limited Edition PRIDE Power Bank to every march and parade this year since it doubles my phone’s battery life, and five percent of its sales go to The Trevor Project.(MyCharge.com) MARVELLING: Howard Schatz’s astonishing new tome, KINK, features photos from a booth Schatz has manned at San Francisco’s Folsom Street Fair every year for a quarter century. KINK is a…

Hernan Lopez joined Fox in 1997 as a marketing executive and proceeded to work his way up to the C-suite, first being tapped to head Fox Latin American Channel in 2000, and then promoted to CEO of Fox International Channels in 2011. That move made him one of the most powerful gay Latinos in the television industry. So, why would Lopez leave that cushy position and become an entrepreneur with a podcast startup? It depends on who you ask. According to Variety, Fox’s 2016 reorganization, which eliminated the Fox International Channels unit, prompted his departure. But Lopez says the real impetus was noticing a “gap in the marketplace” ripe for exploration: “We had many great movies, TV shows, and books—but not nearly enough great stories being told with sound.” Sound…

Delilah Ali Raja: “I actually love the word and I think it is one that only same-gender loving women should use. Yes, it s a double standard. One that was earned through years of pain caused by its use in the past. I know there are many that consider it offensive and painful. I think a sensitivity to that is important even within the community, and I think there is something powerful in women choosing to reclaim its use for ourselves if we so choose.” (Raja is an actor, writer, and producer who’sappearedin Dyke Central, How to Get Away With Murder, and the Here TV short, Secrets & Toys.) Veronica C. Combs: “I love the word dyke. It resonates with strength, power, and conviction. For a lot of society, the…

As soon as I walked into Lost and Found: Safer Sex Activism I couldn’t help but notice an image with black men. As a black man living with HIV, I am troubled by narratives that fail to include the vast contributions and experiences of black and Latino populations who have carried the heaviest burdens of HIV and AIDS. I’d been expecting to see a bunch of images of smiling white guys in Lost and Found, an exhibit at ONE Gallery in West Hollywood, Calif. (on display until June 24), but I was pleasantly surprised. The show features nearly 100 groundbreaking and iconic safer sex activism posters, comic strips, ads, photos, and other artwork by activist groups, including Gran Fury, Color Coded, Gay Men of Color Consortium, Gay Men’s Health Crisis,…

Somehow, 2018 is looking a lot like a full revolution, with young people of many colors and classes protesting nationwide. There’s a rebellion happening in politics, sports, entertainment, and schools. From #MeToo to #NeverAgain, from our workplaces to our social media channels, leading this wonderfully intersectional revolution is a group of LGBT-plus change-makers more diverse than mainstream media has ever seen. We could have honored thousands of them, but picked just one for every state in the country (and D.C.) as our inaugeral 2018 Champions of Pride .(Don’t worry, Guam, we didn’t forget you. Go to Advocate.com to read about rabble rousers in Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and other territories.) ALABAMA Daroneshia Duncan is the founder and executive director of Transgender Advocates Knowledgeable Empowering (TAKE), which provides support for…

After launching a federal lawsuit against her former employer, Sanford Health, for discriminating against her based on her gender identity, Fargo native FAYE SEIDLER has become a staunch activist for pro-trans legislation. She’s testified in front of the North Dakota House of Representatives about LGBT rights while advocating for better health care for trans people. She says she’s motivated by a “desire to make the world a better place, not just for [my]self, but for everyone. … There are people like me who cannot abide by injustice and no matter how drained I feel, I get up again and again, because I believe wholeheartedly that people are better than they are worse. I believe in the future, not as an optimist who expects magic, but as a realist who will…

TAN FRANCE is the British Pakistani fashionista leading therebootofQueerEye(formerlyQueerEyefortheStraight Guy). When the show first launched on Bravo in 2003, it was a sign that LGBT audiences were looking for authenticity, for real queer folks to carry the torch. It was also revolutionary for presenting queer men as role models for straight men. Now a new Fab Five is taking their message to Trump’s America, into the lives of working and middle-class families in the South, giving them, France says, a chance to “talk about things we’ve never talked about on TV before.” Born in England to Pakistani parents, France had only seen the British version of Queer Eye but binge-watched the original when he was asked to audition. He realized the original cast “were trail-blazers, and I found it pioneering.”…

My friends and I didn’t hesitate when we found out about a party for queer women being held at a bar in the center of Hollywood last summer. After all, most of us women of color feel the need for a safe place to shed our shields—even if it’s only for one night. We talked of nothing else in the week leading up to it, but when we got there we quickly discovered it was a space for some of the ostracized, but not all. Almost everybody was white. The music was mind numbing, and the sense of loss that came to define our lives was still there. I couldn’t help but wonder: What place is there for a queer woman of color in a society? If my questions seem…

“ If it’s difficult to come out of the closet in Los Angeles, it’s got to be fucking terrifying in Des Moines, Iowa, or Boulder, Colorado.” —Steve Howey In many ways, the best kinds of allies are those we least expect. For Shameless star Steve Howey, speaking out for what he knows is right has become an art form, one that is unpredictable but always strikes a nerve. Last December, the Texas-born actor came out on Twitter, he says, to fight the stigma behind saying the words, “I’m gay.” His tweet, which read simply: “I’m gay and proud,” sparked dialogue and a fair amount of confusion about the straight, married father of twins—but he isn’t bothered by that. Some fans thought Howey, who plays gay in Netflix’s Game Over, Man!,…

Toshio Meronek and Erica Meiners spent over a year investigating for our special report on gay and bi men locked up in civil commitment (page 38). The story was produced in collaboration with The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute. TOSHIO MERONEK has also reported for Al Jazeera, The Nation, andTruthout. His work appears in several anthologies, including Trap Door: Trans Cultural Production and the Politics of Visibility. ERICA MEINERS, The Bernard J. Brommel Distinguished Research Professor at Northeastern Illinois University is the author of For the Children? Protecting Innocence in a Carceral State, and has written articles for a wide range of media outlets. The Investigative Fund’s mission is to produce high-impact investigative reporting that holds the powerful accountable. It serves the public in enabling independent journalists to bring…

THIS ESSAY ISN’T for the casual drinker, the person who can “just have one,” or anyone who doesn’t know what it feels like to regret the night before. But if you often find yourself disappointed after a night when you had more to drink than you wish you would have, keep reading. Who would you be if you weren’t always spending time regretting decisions you made while drinking? I asked that question a lot in early 2017. Too often I was regretting going to that last bar, having that last shot, and caving into peer pressure while failing to do the things I told myself I’d do before the hangover kicked in. At 33—with a great job, a beautiful boyfriend, and a life I didn’t deserve—I was still on a…

When Tommy Dorfman hit the Vanity Fair x Instagram Golden Globes party earlier this year, he did so rocking a gold slip dress over a classic white tee. “I always hated that clothing was gendered when I was young,” Dorfman says. With classic Hollywood looks, Dorfman could have easily skated into a career of traditional hunky lead roles, avoiding political statements and having a great career on The CW. But then he wouldn’t be, well, Tommy Dorfman. Dorfman, who identifies as gay and non-binary, represents something new in Hollywood. Being out as gay from the start of his career—something that used to be a career killer—has propelled him forward. Dorfman received his first major acting accolade, the Lavender Award for outstanding contributions to LGBTQ film, at the 2017 OUTshine Film…

While attending Mississippi State University, BAILEY MCDANIEL planned and organized the first ever Pride parade in Starkville, Miss. The 22-year-old had gotten approvals of the mayor, police, and fire departments—the latter even offered use of the town’s pink fire truck. But everything changed when she presented it to the city’s Board of Alderman, which has final say on what events can be held in the city. At their meeting (which traditionally begins with lengthy opening prayers) held on February 20, the board voted 4-3 to deny the parade. McDaniel said she felt a mix of shock, hurt, disappointment, and anger. As a cisgender white woman, she acknowledges her privilege, but says no LGBT person really feels “safe” in the ultra-religious and conservative Southern town. “It’s dangerous to be LGBT anywhere—but…

Native American HENRY ROANHORSE GRAY is an LGBT activist from Tulsa and cofounder of the group, Osage Citizens for Marriage Equality. The 24-year-old played a prominent role in the successful battle to gain legal recognition of same-sex marriages in the Osage Nation—one of Oklahoma’s largest Native American tribes. The measure passed last year with 52 percent voting in favor, although only 10 percent of eligible tribal members cast their ballots. While the U.S. Supreme Court recognized marriage equality in 2015, the ruling didn’t apply to Native Americans in legally sovereign nations. Gray is optimistic that the Osage Nation decision could be a catalyst for marriage equality throughout Native nations (the Cherokee Nation and the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes already recognize same-sex marriages). As the vice president of the Tulsa Young…

Cece Suazo (aka Camille LeBeija) has seen it all. The trans ballroom icon has been a force in her community as house mother of the prestigious House of LaBeija, where she’s been a member for 26 years. She continues to inspire the many youths she’s mentored. Growing up, Suazo’s passion for performing ripened at an early age, leading to her being discovered by members of the House of LaBeija when she was just 12 years old. The infamous Pepper and Porsche LaBeija took her off the streets and groomed her to become one of the House’s most memorable performers—an act of kindness she continues to pay forward. “Being homeless made me value and overcome any obstacle set in front of me,” says Suazo. “There are going to be hurdles, but…

Self-described “genderqueer, Gen-Y, lesbian author” M. Ullrich is a New Jersey native who also “identifies as a diehard Madonna fan” and an elaborate karaoke performer (who incorporates complex choreography with backup dancers into her routines). Her fifth novel, Love at Last Call (Bold Strokes Books) comes out in July. Tell me about your writing style. I approach my writing in the way I approach myself. I don’t force it into a set box or category. I’m always looking for a fresh perspective or unique spin. I want my readers to be left wondering what’s next. Does writing come easy for you? If only you could see how hard I’m laughing! Every time I sit in front of my computer, I struggle. Do you write genderqueer characters? The closest I’ve come…

Ryan Murphy makes TV history with FX’s musical series Pose, which features the largest cast of transgender actors in series regular roles on a scripted TV show. Pose is set in 1987 in New York City’s vibrant queer ball culture of extravagant fashion show competitions among houses of gay men and trans women of color—which play out against the era’s backdrop of AIDS, homelessness, and culture wars. Murphy quipped at the Television Critics Association press tour earlier this year that looking for the right trans actors was like “searching for Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With The Wind.” After many open casting calls and outreach to the LGBT community, creators found their dream team: MJ Rodriguez, Indya Moore, Dominique Jackson, Hailie Sahar, and Angelica Ross—all trans actors playing trans characters on…

Whether you’ve just been diagnosed with HIV or it was so long ago you think you have your treatment regimen down pat, it’s always important to find allies among your friends, family, and health care providers to keep you healthy for years to come. Friends are essential at any time, but especially when you’re struggling, like when you are first diagnosed with HIV. Of course, you’ll want to share this journey with your friends and family, but also think about talking with someone who is also living with HIV: they’ll have special insight into what you’re going through. There are HIV support groups in every state and someone is always just a click or call away. Your family often knows you better than anyone, and their support may be the…

Gilda Wabbit is a fiery force rising out of the Astoria, N.Y., drag scene. And what makes her shows (at local gay bars Icon and Albatross, among others) unique isn’t just her live singing or sexy pinup looks—but the messaging behind them. Between doing splits and belting out show tunes, Wabbit is educating her audiences about PrEP. “I’m an amorous woman, if you catch my meaning,” quips the 25-year-old newlywed. “Sexual health treatment and prevention are very important to me.... I also know many people in the community and think that outreach and education, combined with entertainment, is the best way to reach them.” The Louisville, Ky., native tells The Advocate that the stigma of the “Truvada whore” label is “real and damaging. It is sex-negative, cruel, and discourages safer…