Losangelesblade.com, Volume 05, Issue 37, September 10, 2021

Lil Nas X receives suicide prevention award Fighting

for queer representation, highlighting mental health

The Trevor Project, the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people, honored Grammy Award-winning artist Lil Nas X this week with its inaugural Suicide Prevention Advocate of the Year Award.

Lil Nas X has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to supporting The Trevor Project’s mission to end suicide among LGBTQ young people with his openness about struggling with his sexuality and suicidal ideation, his continued advocacy around mental health issues, and his unapologetic celebration of his queer identity.

The Trevor Project’s inaugural Suicide Prevention Advocate of the Year Award marks the start of National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month and the crucial work that needs to be done to end suicide among LGBTQ youth.

FROM

STAFF REPORTS

According to The Trevor Project’s National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health, 42% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth. Due to higher rates of discrimination, rejection, and social isolation, LGBTQ young people are at increased risk for negative mental health outcomes such as anxiety, depression, seriously considering suicide, and more.

In accepting the award, Lil Nas X said: “Thank you so much to The Trevor Project for this award and for all they do for the LGBTQ community. Discrimination around sexuality and gender identity is still very real, and our community deserves to feel supported and totally free to be themselves. I often get messages from fans telling me about their struggles with depression and suicidal thoughts, and it made me realize that this was something bigger than myself. If using my voice and expressing myself in my music can help even one kid out there who feels alone, then it was all worth it.”

Amidst a record-breaking year for anti-LGBTQ legislation and violence against the LGBTQ community, The Trevor Project is highlighting the importance of queer representation in the media, and the powerful message of visibility and hope it sends to LGBTQ young people.

“The Trevor Project is thrilled to honor Lil Nas X with the Suicide Prevention Advocate of the Year Award,” said Amit Paley, CEO and Executive Director at The Trevor Project.

“His vulnerability in his journey to self acceptance and expression has created space for candid conversations around mental health and sexual identity, signaling to LGBTQ youth that they are not alone. The Trevor Project’s research shows that over 80% of LGBTQ youth say that LGBTQ celebrities positively influence how they feel about being LGBTQ, further affirming the cultural impact of Lil Nas X being proud of who he is and an ideal recipient of this inaugural award.”

Following his chart-topping, genre-defying debut “Old Town Road” in 2019, Lil Nas X quickly became a global LGBTQ icon recognized for his fearless effort in changing the status quo around what it means to be queer and Black in the mainstream music industry. Throughout his career, he has been an outspoken and unapologetic advocate for the LGBTQ community, using his platform to shed light on mental health issues many LGBTQ young people face.

In February, Lil Nas X shared a series of intimate TikTok videos documenting his life story, including his silent battle with depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation during his rise to fame. The following month, he penned a heartfelt letter to his 14-year-old self about coming out publicly to mark the release of “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name).”

In the letter he states, “I know we promised to die with the secret, but this will open doors for many other queer people to simply exist.” In May, he released the music video for his single “SUN GOES DOWN,” which depicts Lil Nas X uplifting a younger version of himself in high school when he was contemplating suicide and struggling to come to terms with his sexuality.

Through his bold music videos, poignant song lyrics, and candor on social media, Lil Nas X continues to fight for mainstream queer representation and elevate important issues around mental health, igniting change and spotlighting the experiences of LGBTQ young people around the world.

In news related to National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, the California State

Senate passed the LGBTQ Violent Death Data Collection Pilot Program (AB 1094) this week. The bill now heads to Governor Gavin Newsom for his signature.

The bill, introduced by Assemblymember Dr. Joaquin Arambula (D-Fresno) and co-sponsored by Senator Susan Eggman (D-Stockton), would equip coroners and medical examiners in six participating counties across California with the training necessary to identify and collect data on an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI) in cases of violent death, including homicide, suicide and the use of deadly force by police.

The number of LGBTQ youth who actually die by suicide (or other violent deaths) remains unknown due to the lack of SOGI data collected on a broad scale in the U.S. However, suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth ages 10–24 nationwide — and according to the CDC, LGBTQ youth are more than four times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight/cisgender peers.

The Trevor Project’s 2021 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health found that 42% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth.

“The first of its kind in the nation, this bill marks an important milestone in the movement to protect and save LGBTQ lives,” said Amit Paley, CEO and Executive Director for The Trevor Project. “There is a critical need to track cases of suicide, homicide, and police brutality among the LGBTQ community, allowing us to better understand these crises, respond more effectively with solutions, and help prevent future tragedies. We thank all the sponsors and advocates for championing this historic bill in California and hope that decision-makers across the country take note of this pilot program to model it in their respective communities.”

“I believe AB 1094 is an important and humane step in ultimately preventing these deaths. Data may sound like a scientific subject, but, at its core, it leads us to better help and serve all our communities with compassion and empathy,” said Assemblymember Arambula. “We must have better data to understand the scope of what’s happening in our LGBTQ community – especially among the youth – when it comes to violent deaths, including homicide and suicide. This information will be a crucial guidepost to prevention efforts and saving lives.”

AB 1094 would establish a three-year pilot program with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) where coroners and medical examiners would be trained in cultural competency and best practices on how to properly identify a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity before being required to do so. The bill explicitly requires respect for confidentiality — all personally identifiable information, including names, addresses, and dates of birth would be removed before being reported.

“Recognizing LGBTQ identity matters — in life and in death,” said Carrie Davis (she/her pronouns), Chief Community Officer for The Trevor Project. “Particular members of our LGBTQ community, such as transgender women and queer young people of color, face disproportionate rates of violence and suicide. Better data around the occurrence of these preventable deaths can help us create life-saving programs to protect our most marginalized community members.”

“AB 1094 will begin the work to bring dignity and visibility to those in the LGBTQ community who have been taken from us too soon,” said Senator Eggman. “I’m grateful for the broad support in the Senate today because this will allow us to craft better informed solutions to prevent this violence and save lives.”

This bill comes at a time with public support for the tracking of this type of data. According to polling conducted by The Trevor Project and Morning Consult, more than four in five adults (84%) feel it is important to include sexual orientation and gender identity when evaluating suicide and other violent death statistics, including 91% of Democrats, 80% of independents and 77% of Republicans.

If you or someone you know needs help or support, The Trevor Project’s trained crisis counselors are available 24/7 at 1-866-488-7386, via chat www.TheTrevorProject.org/Help, or by texting START to 678678.

L see in re istered se o ender in i S a incident

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has charged 2-year-old Darren Merager, a registered sex offender, with five felony counts of indecent exposure stemming from a viral video incident of an alleged exposure at the Wi-Spa on June 23, 2021.

The spa, which is located in the 2700 block of Wilshire Boulevard in the Westlake/ oreatown neighborhood, had been the focal point of targeted violent protests against trans people by far-right extremists the Proud Boys and other radical right-wing groups after the incident was posted to Instagram and went viral.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Blade Thursday via phone, Los Angeles Police Department Public Information Officer Tony Im confirmed that an arrest warrant has been issued for Merager, whose last known residence is in Riverside County East of Los Angeles, but Merager was not in custody as of Thursday evening he said.

Five individuals, four females and a female minor, had come forward to report the indecent exposure incident to the LAPD. Detectives assigned to LAPD’s Rampart Division conducted interviews of victims and witnesses, reviewed the evidence, and ultimately corroborated the allegations.

The investigation was presented to the LA County DA’s Office for filing consideration and Merager’s actions were deemed criminal. The suspect has been a registered sex offender since 2006 as per California Penal Code 290, due to indecent exposure incidents in 2002 and 2003.

Merager has a lengthy criminal history which includes nearly a dozen felony convictions for crimes ranging from sex offenses to burglary and escape. In December of 2018, investigators from the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s West Hollywood substation arrested Merager on seven felony indecent exposure counts, stemming from allegations of indecent exposure in front of women and children at West Hollywood Park.

Merager is currently awaiting trial on the seven counts which were first filed in 2019 by the LA County DA’s office according to court records obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

In poster distributed in December of 2018 by the LA County Sheriff’s Department, Merager is described as “claims to be female in order to gain access to women’s locker rooms and showers.”

The LA DA’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment or provide a copy of the criminal complaint against Merager according to the Times. A Blade request has also gone unanswered as of time of publication Thursday evening.

In a lengthy interview with the New York Post first published Thursday morning, “Everything about the Wi-Spa was a bunch of garbage and lies,” Merager said.

Merager went on to claim a Trans female gander identity and says she is legally female in California and was in a jacuzzi in the women’s section when accosted by “Cubana Angel.”

“She never saw me naked. I was underwater with water all the way up to my chest,” Merager told the Post and denies ever being erect or around children at the spa. Merager claims to actually be the victim of sexual harassment by transphobic women at the Wi Spa.

Merager is a tier-one California registered sex offender with two prior convictions of indecent exposure stemming from the 2002 and 2003 convictions and declined to comment on those convictions. In 2008 Merager was also convicted for failure to register as a sex offender.

A Trans activist who asked to remain unidentified told the Blade that the situation with Merager is a Trans person’s worst nightmare “This is no different than the religious fundies claiming all gay guys are paedophiles and want to diddle little boys,” they said adding “Horrible scenarios like this are used as justification to attack Trans peoplethis isn’t a trans person regardless of claims made, no this is a serial sexual predator, a criminal deviant.”

Detectives are asking anyone who may be a victim or has additional information

regarding this investigation to contact Rampart Detectives at (213) 484-34 0. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (87727-3247).

Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call the LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477) or go directly to www.lacrimestoppers.org.  Tipsters may also visit www.lapdonline.org and click on “Anonymous Web Tips” under the “Get Involved-Crime Stoppers” menu.

BRODY LEVESQUE

LA County opens early voting locations

LA County’s chief elections official Dean Logan announced that his office has opened 108 in-person early voting locations countywide Saturday morning. Logan says that coronavirus safety protocols are in effect including mandatory mask requirements and social distancing. This as statewide officials prepare for the Sept. 14 recall election against Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Speaking to  ABC7 Los Angeles, Logan said that for voters who need to find the location closest to them, that process has been made easier.

“We have a lookup feature on our website at lavote.net,” Logan said in an interview with ABC7. “If you’re on your smartphone, you can even navigate to wherever the closest location is.

“And we’ve also mailed postcards to every registered voter, with a list of the locations that are closest to where they live,” Logan added. “But, again, they’re not limited to those locations. They can go anywhere in the county.”

As LA County gears up the in-person voting effort, California Republican Party Chairwoman

Jessica Millan Patterson announced that party officials have launched a campaign to get the Republican voters in the Golden State to return their mail-in ballots. The California Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Weber s office has mailed out approximately 22 million ballots last month to registered voters for the September 14 recall election.

The Republican party push comes as a recent Public Policy Institute of California Poll showed that Governor Gavin Newsom is likely to survive the recall efforts. Fifty-three percent of adults and likely voters approve of Gavin Newsom’s job performance as governor, similar to levels throughout 2021 so far.

Three in four Democrats approve of Governor Newsom, while more than eight in ten Republicans disapprove. Women are much more likely than men to approve, and residents in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area are much more likely than those elsewhere to approve of his performance.

Reuters reported Friday that Republicans will roll out videos on its digital platforms showing Republican Party officials mailing their ballots and urging supporters to vote early in the Sept. 14 election, according to footage seen exclusively by Reuters and interviews with party leaders.

Reuters also noted that speaking on background privately, California’s Republicans’ leadership acknowledged that false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election by former President Donald Trump and others in large part created the reticence about mail-in voting.

“It’s a trust but verify strategy,” Party Chairwoman Patterson told Reuters. “We want to make sure that they have confidence in the election process, and we want to make sure that they know there are different ways that they can vote.”

Patterson said she planned to mail her ballot.

Newsom likely to survive recall: poll

With just days left until California’s recall election day, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is stepping up his efforts to convince the state’s voters that it is in their best interests for him to remain as the state’s chief executive.

A poll released by the Public Policy Institute of California shows that voters are leaning toward that choice.

These are among the key findings of a statewide survey on state and national issues that was conducted from August 20 to August 29 by the PPIOC:

• Among California likely voters, 39 percent would vote yes to remove Newsom, with Republicans far more likely to vote yes. About half of likely voters (49%) say they either have not decided or would not vote for any of the replacement candidates on the recall ballot.

• Seven in ten California likely voters say that the outcome of the recall election is very important to them, including solid majorities across partisan groups. When thinking about the September 14 recall election, 47 percent say they are more enthusiastic about voting than usual.

• Californians name COVID as the top issue facing the state today. Forty-seven percent say things in California are generally going in the right direction, with partisans deeply divided; 49 percent say that California is in an economic recession, and this view declines with rising income.

• Fifty-three percent of Californians approve of the way that Governor Newsom is handling his job overall, and 50 percent approve of the California Legislature. Fiftyeight percent approve of the way that President Biden is handling his job, and 41 percent approve of the US Congress.

• Forty-six percent of Californians say things in the United States are going in the right direction. Forty-four percent think the US will have good times financially in the next 12 months.

• Sixty-one percent of Californians favor requiring proof of COVID vaccination for large outdoor gatherings or certain indoor spaces. More than three in four Californians—including strong majorities across regions— think the state government is doing an excellent or good job distributing COVID vaccines.

The survey’s findings also included that if the recall election—scheduled for September 14, 2021—were held today, 39 percent of California likely voters say they would vote yes to remove Governor Newsom from office, while 8 percent say they would vote no on removing Newsom. There is partisan disagreement, with most Democratic likely voters (90%) and about half of independent likely voters (49%) saying they would vote no on removing Newsom, while most Republican likely voters (82%) say they would vote yes to remove him.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

YOUR VOTE IS YOUR VOICE! Check your mailbox! Ballots are on the way! September 14th You can return ballot by mail with prepaid postage, at a secure drop box, or in person. Find out what you need to know today! vote.ca.gov/

Elder tells supporters to report ‘shenanigans’

In this last week before the recall election, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the leading Republican hopeful to succeed him Larry Elder were out to rally voters over Labor Day weekend.

Newsom has seen an upward tick in approval numbers recently with the latest poll released by the Public Policy Institute of California showing that if the recall election were held today, 39 percent of California likely voters say they would vote yes to remove Newsom from office, while 8 percent say they would vote no on removing the governor.

As Newsom spent the weekend crisscrossing the Los Angeles region, Elder appeared Sunday on Fox News, speaking with Howard Kurtz, the host of Fox News’s Media Buzz program. Elder appeared to be preparing to position himself to launch a legal challenge of the recall election’s results should the governor prevail, laying the ground work for allegations of election fraud.

Referencing the lies of former President Donald Trump with his unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him by Joe Biden, Elder told Kurtz; “The 2020 election, in my opinion, was full of shenanigans. And my fear is they’re going to try that in this election right here and recall. So I’m urging people to go to ElectElder dot com. Whenever you see anything, hear anything suspicious, go to my website. We have a battery of lawyers. We’re going to file a lawsuit in a timely fashion this time.”

Elder claimed that “we know there were shenanigans in Michigan, shenanigans in Wisconsin, in Pennsylvania,” naming three of the half a dozen states where Biden narrowly edged Trump last November. “There are all sorts of reasons why the 2020 election, in my opinion, was full of shenanigans.”

Elder has a track record of touting what some progressives in California have labeled as extremist right-wing conservative positions, including Newsom who took aim at Elder during a stop Monday at the African American Voter Registration, Education, and Participation rally event in Baldwin Hills.

“California’s made great progress, we’re going to roll back that progress. We’re at Labor

Day, and [Elder] doesn’t believe in the minimum wage, doesn’t believe there should be a corporate tax, doesn’t believe in labor rights, doesn’t even believe women are as smart as men,” Newsom told TLA’s Megan Telles after Monday’s rally in Baldwin Hills. “He’s the last thing Californians need.”

Elder has taken a hardline position on women’s reproductive right maintaining if elected governor that he would take several hard-right steps to curb abortion rights in California.

The conservative radio talk show host told Kurtz he is running to save California and small businesses hurt during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I know that Gavin Newsom has mandated that every state worker who has not been vaccinated be tested once a week and wear a face mask at work. I’m going to repeal it before I have my first cup of coffee,” Elder said.

Fox reported that a new Newsom advert running on California airwaves warns that “what’s at stake in the September 14 recall It’s a matter of life and death.” And it charges that Elder “peddled deadly conspiracy theories and would eliminate vaccine mandates on day one.”

“I’m not anti-vax, despite what his ads say. I’ve been vaccinated because I’m in a high-risk category and I urge people who are in categories that are high-risk to be vaccinated,” he insisted.

“But I don’t believe the science does compel children to be vaccinated. They’re not likely to contract the coronavirus. They’re not likely to get really sick. They’re not likely to go to hospital and they’re certainly not likely to die,” Elder told urtz.

Elder has also embraced Trump’s theory that the coronavirus was manufactured by the government of the People’s Republic of China. Elder also argued that Newsom is “trying to turn this (the recall election) into a referendum against (coronavirus pandemic) scare because he can’t defend his record.”

BRODY LEVESQUE

Law preventing ‘deadnaming’ on diplomas heads to guv

Legislation authored by Assemblymember David Chiu (D-San Francisco) to give students at California public colleges, especially transgender and nonbinary students, the ability to have their chosen names printed on their diplomas passed the Assembly floor on a concurrence vote and now heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk for his signature.

Assembly Bill 24 will ensure diplomas do not “deadname” or call the graduate by the name they were assigned at birth rather than the name they use.

“The day a student receives their diploma should be filled with happiness and pride,” said Assemblymember Chiu. “When a diploma doesn’t match the student’s name, it can turn an otherwise great day into another obstacle to overcome. It can put up barriers to future employment and out a person in an unsafe situation. This simple policy ensures transgender and nonbinary students have one less barrier to overcome. I look forward to the Governor signing this crucial bill to lift up all of our students.”

Transgender and nonbinary Californians often face discrimination, violence, and barriers to employment. These existing barriers can be exacerbated by student records that do not reflect their name and gender.

If a person’s name does not match the name on a transcript or diploma, that can present real challenges when applying for graduate school or employment opportunities. It can also “out” individuals who may not wish to be outed as transgender or may not feel safe in their current situation to openly identify as transgender or nonbinary.

Many California colleges have taken steps to give students the opportunity to designate

their affirmed name and gender in a variety of areas like student identification cards and school email accounts. However, those opportunities are not always extended to diplomas, and colleges across the state have vastly different processes for updating student records after graduation.

AB 24 will require public colleges to provide graduating students the option to have their chosen name printed on their college diploma. The bill will also standardize the process for updating records after a student graduates, clarifying which forms of legal identification are sufficient to update student records. In order to update records after graduation, a student would need one form of legal identification, including, but not limited to, a driver’s license, state identification card, birth certificate, passport, social security card, or court order indicating a name or gender change.

AB 24 builds off of AB 711, authored by Assemblymember Chiu and signed into law in 2019 by Governor Newsom. AB 711 required schools districts to update the diplomas and transcripts of former K-12 students, particularly for transgender and nonbinary students, to reflect their accurate names and gender markers.

Equality California and Lieutenant Gov. Eleni ounalakis are sponsoring AB 24 .

“Every diploma earned by a student in California commemorates years of hard work and achievement despite tremendous challenges – especially for our transgender and gender nonconforming students,” said  ounalakis.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

LGBTQ community shared nation’s grief after 9/11 attacks Gay

passenger may have helped stop

hijackers from crashing into White House

Many in the LGBTQ community throughout the country were expected to join their friends, neighbors, and family members this week in commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the New York World Trade Center’s Twin Towers and on the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C., as well as a hijacking that ended with a crash in Shanksville, Pa.

Activists involved with local and national LGBTQ advocacy organizations have said they recall a coming together of LGBTQ people and their co-workers, neighbors, and family members to support one another during a time of unimaginable horror and grief.

A total of 2,996 people died in the 9/11 attacks, including 19 terrorists who hijacked four jetliners whose passengers included Americans and citizens of 78 countries, according to history.com.

“The gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities and those living with HIV/AIDS have worked diligently to overcome other forms of evil, whether it be bigotry or violence,” said A. Cornelius Baker, who at the time was executive director of D.C.’s Whitman-Walker Clinic, in a statement during the week of the 9/11 attacks.

“And we will stand side by side with our fellow Americans and our fellow citizens of the world to do everything we can to overcome this new threat to humanity,” Baker said

For many LGBTQ residents of New York and the D.C. area, the suffering over the loss of loved ones, including same-sex partners, was heightened a short time later when they learned they were initially ineligible for local and federal programs aimed at providing financial assistance to survivors of the victims of the 9/11 attacks because same-sex partners were not legally recognized.

At the urging of LGBTQ rights organizations, state, and local officials in New York and the D.C. area took steps to address the initial denial of financial support for surviving same-sex partners in programs under their control. Officials with a massive, multi-million-dollar federal aid program for 9/11 survivors, however, said they did not have legal authority to authorize payments to same-sex partners.

The officials, in the administration of President George W. Bush, said the best they could do would be to leave it up to local authorities to determine whether state probate laws would recognize a same-sex partner as a family member for eligibility in the federal aid program for 9/11 survivors, many of whom lived in states outside New York and the D.C. area.

Among those who lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks was American Airlines co-pilot David Charlebois, an out gay man and member of the National Gay Pilots Association, who was on American Airlines Flight 77, which the terrorists crashed into the Pentagon.

Also among the terrorists’ victims in the 9/11 attacks was public relations executive and rugby enthusiast Mark Bingham of San Francisco, who contacted his mother by cell phone shortly before the United Airlines jet he was taking from Newark, N.J. to San Francisco crashed into the countryside in western Pennsylvania.

Surviving family members of other passengers on that flight have said they too were called by their loved ones who told them some of the passengers were planning an attempt to somehow regain control of the jet from the terrorists.

Bingham’s mother, Alice Hoagland, who at the time was a United Airlines flight attendant, said she believed her son joined other passengers to prevent the terrorists from carrying out what authorities said was their plan to crash the jet into the U.S. Capitol or possibly the White House. She said her son’s reputation as a fighter for civic justice, along with a past episode where he fought off muggers, led her to believe he was among those who foiled the terrorists’ plans to fly the jet to Washington.

An investigation into the 9/11 attacks by a federal 9/11 commission later found that flight data recordings from the cockpit of United Airlines Flight 93, where Bingham was among 44 people aboard, showed that one of the four hijackers who took control of the jetliner shortly after its takeoff responded to an attempt by passengers to storm the cockpit by deliberately steering the plane into a downward direction at about 500 miles per hour, causing it to crash into an empty field near the town of Shanksville in western Pennsylvania at 10:10 a.m. All 44 people were killed.

“The fact that he was so close to the action, it is likely that he was able to get at these guys,” Hoagland told the Associated Press. “It gives me a great deal of comfort to know my son may have been able to avert the killing of many, many innocent people,” she said.

Hoagland became an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ rights and for the gay rugby teams that Mark Bingham helped to create in the years after her son’s death. She died on Dec. 22, 2020, of natural causes at the age of 71 at her home in Los Gatos, Calif., according to the Associated Press.

Longtime LGBTQ rights advocate Jay Fisette, who at the time of the 9/11 attacks held the elected position of chair of the Arlington County Board, which serves as the county’s governing body, was among the Arlington officials that came to the Pentagon’s grounds to oversee efforts by Arlington firefighters to rescue Pentagon workers on the day of the attack.

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

Fisette noted that the Pentagon is in Arlington County, and it was largely the county’s firefighters and emergency medical teams that put out the fire caused by the jetliner crash and provided medical assistance to survivors of the crash.

At an Oct. 7, 2001, 9/11 Day of Remembrance and Appreciation ceremony held in Arlington, Fisette expressed the views of many in the community in response to the 9/11 attacks.

“Tonight, our community gathers as a family,” he told the gathering. “We gather in sorrow and in disbelief, in remembrance and appreciation,” he said. “But we come here, too, with resolve and pride. We come together as Arlingtonians who love our county, as Americans who love our country,” he said.

This week marks 20 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000.

“Our enemies may hurt our bodies and destroy our buildings, but they will never defeat our determination to make this a world of peace and a community in which our children grow up safe and secure,” Fisette told participants at the gathering.

Although some of the same-sex partners of those killed in the 9/11 attacks faced obstacles in obtaining financial support through the federal 9/11 relief program, Tom Hay, the surviving partner of 14 years of American Airlines pilot David Charlebois was treated with respect and honor by American Airlines officials and colleagues at Charlebois’ funeral mass at D.C.’s St. Matthews Cathedral.

More than a dozen uniformed company pilots and flight attendants attended the mass. In a news release issued in June of this year, American Airlines mentions Charlebois’ relationship with Hay and tells how Hay stood with Charlebois when Charlebois pushed for equal rights for LGBTQ people in the airline industry through his involvement with the National Gay Pilots Association.

“David was an early member of the NGPA,” the American Airlines statement says. “His contribution helped ensure ongoing progress toward fairness and solidarity,” it says.

Activists in New York have said the 9/11 attacks drew attention to the need for legal protections for same-sex couples, including the need for legal recognition of same-sex marriage.

Ros Levi, who in 2001 served as executive director of the New York LGBTQ advocacy group Empire State Pride Agenda, or ESPA, said his group became aware that same-sex partner survivors were being treated differently when New York City and private relief agencies like the Red Cross set up an emergency station on a pier along the Hudson River. The station was intended to help people find a family member missing and as yet unaccounted for in the World Trade Center carnage.

“Literally, [gay] people had to go there, turn around, go back home, and get some paperwork that spouses didn’t have to get to prove a relationship existed,” Levi told the Washington Blade in 2011 when the Blade reported on the 10-year anniversary events related to the 9/11 attacks.

“You were nervous and scared and sad and then you had to go through that,” Levi said. “And worse, other people turned them away, even with the paperwork, saying sorry you’re not a family according to our guidelines.”

Activists said New York City and New York State officials quickly recognized the inequities faced by same-sex partner survivors and took steps to change policies and laws to correct the situation. Among other things, activists were pleased when New York’s then GOP Gov. George Pataki issued an executive order in October 2001 that included surviving partners of gay and lesbian victims of the World Trade Center attacks in receiving full spousal benefits from the state’s Crime Victims Board.

The New York State Legislature soon took its own action by approving three separate bills that included same-sex partner survivors in various state benefits to be allocated to 9/11 survivors and their families.

“The grief and loss were the same between heterosexual and same-sex couples, and a perception of this seemed to come through to much of the public,” said Jennifer Pizer, the then senior counsel for the LGBTQ litigation group Lambda Legal.

In a separate development, Lambda Legal, ESPA, the Human Rights Campaign and other LGBTQ advocacy groups created the September 11 Gay & Lesbian Family Fund to provide some support to surviving same-sex partners who were ineligible for help from the federal relief fund program.

“The Family Fund was established in December 2001 to help offset the discrimination gay and lesbian partners faced in obtaining benefits automatically afforded to surviving spouses, including Social Security and Workers Compensation survivor benefits and compensation under the Federal 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund,” ESPA said in a statement.

RC resident red a ter lin s to Cuomo scandal David vows lawsuit to challenge termination

Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David has been terminated as head of the nation’s leading LGBTQ group following a public dispute with the board over his role in the Andrew Cuomo scandal.

Jodie Patterson and Morgan Cox, co-chairs of the Human Rights Campaign, issued a statement late Monday explaining the decision that David, the first Black president of the LGBTQ group, was being terminated under the “for cause” provision of his contract.

“At HRC, we are fighting to bring full equality and liberation to LGBTQ people everywhere. That includes fighting on behalf of all victims of sexual harassment and assault,” Patterson and Cox wrote. “As outlined in the New York Attorney General report, Mr. David engaged in a number of activities in December 2020, while HRC President, to assist Gov. Cuomo’s team in responding to allegations by Ms. Boylan of sexual harassment. This conduct in assisting Governor Cuomo’s team, while president of HRC, was in violation of HRC’s Conflict of Interest policy and the mission of HRC.”

By CHRIS JOHNSON | cjohnson@washblade.com

According to the statement, the boards for the Human Rights Campaign and Human Rights Campaign Foundation voted to terminate David. The board names Joni Madison, the current chief operating officer of the Human Rights Campaign as interim president effective immediately as board members engage in a search to replace David as president.

The decision to fire David comes after public sniping between him and the board co-chairs on the independent review the Human Rights Campaign initiated after he was named nearly a dozen times in the report issued by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Both the Human Rights Campaign campaign board and the Human Rights Campaign voted to terminate David. A source familiar with the vote said it happened Monday night and no one voted “no” in either case. The campaign board vote was unanimous and there were two abstentions in foundation board vote, the source said.

The source familiar with the vote said David never told Human Rights Campaign he was helping Cuomo during his role as Human Rights Campaign president or talking to the New York attorney general. The first board members heard about it was when it hit the press, the source said.

According to a report in the New York Times, a person familiar with the deliberations among the HRC board said that David “never told the organization that he was helping to advise Mr. Cuomo when the accusations came to light.” Further, David didn’t consult the LGBTQ group’s counsel, or inform them he was going to be interviewed by James’s office, the Times reported.

The ignominious outcome of David’s tenure at the Human Rights Campaign comes after two years with him at the helm of the organization. Observers had high hopes for him as the first person of color to run the nation’s leading LGBTQ group, which he took into new directions with a foray into legal work on LGBTQ rights.

David, via Twitter, where his profile as of Tuesday morning still identifies him as HRC president, vowed to fight the decision to terminate him in court.

“As a Black, gay man who has spent his whole life fighting for civil and human rights, they cannot shut me up,” David wrote. “Expect a legal challenge.”

The board identified as reasons for termination David’s inability to serve as the public face of the Human Rights Campaign as well as “material damage” David has caused to the Human Rights Campaign as evidenced by media coverage and “hundreds of calls, emails and other negative communications HRC has received from staff, members of the Board of Governors, volunteers, program partners, general members, supporters, corporate partners, political figures, and more expressing serious concern with Mr. David’s conduct and its inconsistency with the values and mission of HRC.”

“This is a painful moment in our movement,” Patterson and Cox said. “While the Board’s decision is not the outcome we had ever envisioned or hoped for in terms of Mr. David’s tenure with HRC, his actions have put us in an untenable position by violating HRC’s core values, policies and mission.”

Over the weekend, David tweeted in a statement the board came to him late Friday telling him the review is completed, but suggested he resign even though they could produce no evidence of wrongdoing.

“I have the support of too many of our employees, board members and stakeholders to walk away quietly into the night,” David said. “I am not resigning.”

The next day, the board sent the email to their fellow members, saying they were “surprised and disappointed by the inaccuracies in his portrayal of events.” The email was shared with the Blade and three sources confirmed its accuracy.

Among the “mischaracterizations” identified by the board was David’s “assertion that there was ‘no indication of wrongdoing on his part.’”

David has said from the beginning he has committed no wrongdoing and wouldn’t resign as HRC president, even though other activists caught up in the scandal — Tina Tchen, president of “Time’s Up,” and Roberta Kaplan, board member of the same organization — made the decision to step down.

After the HRC board email became public on Monday, David issued a subsequent statement on Twitter: “The facts are that I was contacted by the board co-chairs late Friday night,” David wrote. “They told me that the Sidley Austin review was complete, but they would not provide the report to me or anyone. They gave me a deadline of 8 am the next morning to tell them whether I would resign. They didn’t offer a shred of evidence of any wrongdoing on my part when I asked repeatedly.”

At the time news of the New York attorney general report emerged, the board initially supported David, and renewed his contract for five years. The next week, however, the Human Rights Campaign board and David announced they had agreed to an independent review on his involvement in the Cuomo scandal that would be conducted by Sidley Austin LLP and last no longer than 30 days.

Sidley didn’t respond to multiple requests from the Washington Blade to comment over the weekend on the review. The board chairs have indicated the results of the review would be confidential.

According to the New York Times, the person familiar with the review, said there was no written report and there was never going to be one. Instead, there were oral presentations to the board. David is said to have given names to the board of people who would speak on his behalf during the investigation, in addition to the 10 hours he spent being interviewed, the Times reported.

Some legal experts had doubted the validity of a review by Sidley Austin on the basis it was among the legal firms agreeing in 2019 to help with the Human Rights Campaign entering into litigation to advance LGBTQ rights, an agreement David spearheaded upon taking the helm of the organization.

New York Attorney General Letitia James’s report on Cuomo names David nearly a dozen times. Among other things, the report indicated after his tenure as counselor to Cuomo, he kept the personnel file of an employee accusing the governor of sexual misconduct, then assisted in returning that file to Cuomo staffers seeking to leak it to the media in an attempt to discredit her.

(A representative has disputed the characterization of materials David kept as a personnel file, saying it was memorandum on an internal employment matter David kept because he, in part, worked on it. David has said he was legally required to return the material.)

Further, the report finds David allegedly said he would help find individuals to sign their names to a draft op-ed that sought to discredit the survivor but went unpublished, although he wouldn’t sign the document himself. Also, the report indicates David was involved in the discussions about secretly calling and recording a call between a former staffer and another survivor in a separate effort to smear her.

In response, David said he agreed to help with only one version of the letter that was more positive in nature and his part in the discussion about recording a survivor was limited to his role as counselor.

The nation’s leading LGBTQ group is now faced with the task of finding a new president at a time of significant challenges for the movement. The Equality Act is all but dead in Congress and numerous states have enacted laws targeting transgender youth, many of which are being challenged by litigation that was filed by the Human Rights Campaign.

‘I don’t want to die’ in Afghanistan

Gay Kabul resident desperate to leave with family

By MICHAEL K. LAVERS | mlavers@washblade.com

A gay person in Afghanistan says the Taliban will kill them if they and their family don’t leave the country.

“I don’t want to die,” they told the Washington Blade on Tuesday during a telephone interview from Kabul, the Afghan capital. “I have a lot of dreams in my life.”

The source, 25, said their mother and sister are currently living with a relative after they fled their home when the Taliban came into their neighborhood. The Blade is withholding their name and gender identity in order to protect their identity.

“I’m 100 percent sure that my life is not safe any more they will definitely kill me,” they said. “Being gay is not a good thing in Afghanistan.”

The Taliban entered Kabul on Aug. 15 and toppled then-President Ashraf Ghani’s government.

Dr. Ahmad Qais Munhazim, an assistant professor of global studies at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia who is originally from Afghanistan, in an op-ed the Blade published last month wrote the Taliban hanged men in soccer fields who had been accused of having same-sex relationships when they controlled the country from 19962001. A Taliban judge in July said the group would once again execute people if it were to return to power in Afghanistan.

“People were going to work, people were going to school,” said the source when the Blade asked them what Kabul was like before the Taliban regained control. “We were living in freedom. We never thought we would be under pressure.”

“I’m scared,” they added. “I can’t go outside … everything has totally changed. Nobody is happy here.”

They told the Blade that men have repeatedly raped them and threatened to kill them. They said the perpetrators have also told them they would report them to the Taliban.

“They are still doing this because they think we have another pervert,” they told the Blade. “They will kill you. They will cut off your hand, your nose.”

The U.S. evacuated more than 123,000 people — including upwards of 6,000 American citizens — from Afghanistan since the Taliban regained control of the country until American military operations ended on Aug. 30. Dozens of members of Congress have urged the U.S. to evacuate LGBTQ Afghans from the country, but it remains unclear how many of them have been able to leave.

Canada thus far is the only country that has specifically said it would offer refuge to LGBTQ Afghans. Immigration Equality, the Toronto-based Rainbow Railroad, ILGA Asia and other groups continue to try to assist LGBTQ people who remain in Afghanistan.

The person with whom the Blade spoke said Immigration Equality has contacted them. They also said they have reached out to American and European politicians, but they said “we can’t help you.”

“I texted everywhere,” they said. “I called everywhere.”

“I’m just trying … to leave as soon as possible Afghanistan because of the situation I’m facing,” they added. “I’m getting death threats from people and now it’s especially hard for me I’m suffering. My mom is suffering. My sister is suffering.”

They added the current situation in Afghanistan is “very difficult, not just for me, but for everyone who is facing these kinds of issues.”

“I’m 100 percent sure that my life is not safe any more they will definitely kill me,” they said. “Being gay is not a good thing in Afghanistan.”

Afghans seek assistance from Immigration Equality

Immigration Equality last week said 80 LGBTQ Afghans have requested assistance from the group.

Aaron Morris, executive director of the New York-based group, in a press release noted, “our attorneys spoke directly with 0 queer people before the U.S. government left the nation” on Aug. 30.

“We did everything in our power to get as many people out as possible,” said Morris.

A Taliban judge in July said the group would once again execute people if it were to return to power in Afghanistan. One LGBTQ Afghan who commented under a Facebook post said the Taliban “will kill us one by one, so I have no choice but to escape.”

More than 60 members of Congress have urged the U.S. to evacuate LGBTQ Afghans from their country. Immigration Equality, the Toronto-based Rainbow Railroad and ILGA Asia are among the groups that continue to try to assist LGBTQ people who remain in Afghanistan.

“Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan two weeks ago, the reality for Afghan LGBTQ people has become a living nightmare,” said Morris. “The punishment for being gay in Afghanistan again includes public stoning, being crushed by a wall, and other violent horrors. All of the LGBTQ Afghans we have spoken to are begging for someone to save their lives. They are terrified, and they are desperate.”

“Immigration Equality won’t stand for the abhorrent treatment of our Afghan LGBTQ brothers, sisters and non-binary siblings,” added Morris.

“Now that airplanes are no longer taking off, there are still scores of people who need urgent evacuations. And there is still time to save lives,” said Morris. “We must all work together to find safe passage for those in our community who need to leave. Evacuating LGBTQ and other vulnerable populations is a long-term undertaking, and we intend to do our part to get them to safety. We implore the people of America not to forget LGBTQ Afghans. Let us welcome them as refugees and expedite their safe arrival in this country.”

LINDSEY P. HORVATH

is an elected council member of the West Hollywood City council and mayor.

re ection on my time as e o mayor Community gets you through

When I was sworn into office on May 18, 2020, I knew West Hollywood was facing unprecedented challenges, but I never could have predicted the turmoil of the past year and a half. Our community was reeling from the first devastating wave of COVID-19 infections — our businesses were shuttered, people out of work, and our hospitals overwhelmed — when the video of George Floyd’s murder shook our nation to its core.

We immediately dove into intense conversations about law enforcement, community safety, and systemic racism. West Hollywood navigated a summer of protest second, third, and, now, fourth waves of this awful pandemic and a generational change in leadership with the departures of longtime Councilmembers as well as our City Attorney Mike Jenkins and our City Manager Paul Arevalo. In years past, any one of these events would have defined a term as Mayor. But we steered through it all by putting our faith in the West Hollywood community.

On Sunday, May 31 at 9 pm, I was on a call with city officials and local business leaders. It was the night before a major Black Lives Matter demonstration was set to make its way through the city, and members of our community were both eager to participate in the protest and concerned about the potential impacts, having witnessed the wreckage that happened in neighboring cities.

For me, the objectives were clear: to be present to the very justified outrage over systemic, deadly racial oppression to create safe space for protest to prevent use of force by law enforcement to ensure swift response to any reports of violence or destruction. On top of everything, we had a City Council meeting with time-sensitive business at the same time as the demonstration. We needed to keep the city moving forward while recognizing the importance and context of the moment. It was a tall order.

The key was community. West Hollywood has a long history of activism and protest, and we do our best to honor the right to speak out while keeping people safe. Public safety teams coordinated with our sanitation contractor to use dumpsters to block streets to vehicle access, allowing more safe space for pedestrians to protest. Businesses worked together to put up art and signs welcoming the protest to our space, showing their support for the right to speak out against injustice.

The result was a largely peaceful demonstration that provided people space to express their outrage and demand change. And, we were able to get the work of our City Council meeting done to sustain, especially, our most vulnerable community members during a global health pandemic and economic recession. While we weren’t perfect, we stayed true to our City’s core values of respect and support for people and responsiveness to the public.

These powerful moments of community kept me going during this mayoral term and shaped who I am becoming as a leader. I would be lying if I said that this was the easiest time to be a public servant. Each

day presents a new challenge in being present to people’s pain and struggle as well as to my own heartbreak about the state of the world — all while keeping our City afloat and pushing for structural change. I am proud of what we did to hold space to meet the moment, and I am committed to the work we will continue to do to embrace the fullness of the movement. I am proud of the ways we cut through red tape and opened more outdoor spaces for local businesses to operate safely and for people to get back to work. I am proud that we activated city workers to check in on the older adults, who were advised that they were safer at home, and that we created a partnership with Project Angel Food to ensure that our at-risk populations didn’t go hungry. I am proud that we have taken steps to honor the dedication of frontline workers, who have carried us through this time of tragedy. I am proud that, in an increasingly divisive time, our community came together and stayed true to our core values.

Today, we face a new manifestation of an old fight. Reproductive health care access — in particular, abortion — is under attack. The Supreme Court allowed Texas to implement a new form of state-sanctioned discrimination and hate in SB8, which prohibits abortion after 6 weeks, without exception for rape or incest. The bill also provides for 10,000 bounties for any citizen reporting anyone seeking an abortion after 6 weeks, as well as anyone who aids someone seeking an abortion, including medical professionals, spouses, close friends, and rideshare drivers who drop someone off for a procedure.

This crusade has never been about protecting human life they want to control women’s bodies and autonomy. We will stand strong in the face of this attack on human rights. As America’s first declared pro-choice City, West Hollywood will be, in partnership with service providers like Planned Parenthood Los Angeles and Cedars Sinai Medical Center, the safe space for Texans that they are denied at home.

Having now served the longest term as Mayor in West Hollywood history, during unimaginable hardship and challenges, I will be sad to step aside on September 20th. I also remain hopeful for our future, and look forward to working together with our new Mayor, Mayor Pro Tempore, and Councilmembers to continue the transformational work that is happening in West Hollywood. I am especially excited to see what the next iteration of West Hollywood Pride will look like, and I cannot wait to welcome everyone back to our community for a long overdue celebration.

It has been a privilege and an honor to serve my City as Mayor and to have led our community through this extraordinarily difficult time. I trust that we will emerge even stronger because of the lessons we learned during this challenging time. I will, forever, remain inspired by the ways our people came together in this moment, as we do every day, to provide support and care for each other. The beating heart of West Hollywood will always be our community.

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Two decades later, a world changed I still find myself mourning our lost innocence

One often hears the cliché of ‘innocence lost’ used to label historic events in the chronicling of contemporary America. Given the context of some of those events, that phrase isn’t necessarily always accurate, but for this reporter on a bright, sunny and beautiful September day two decades ago this coming Saturday, the United States truly experienced a dramatic sense of ‘innocence lost’ and frankly so did I.

A dry and measured academic description of that day by historians recorded: “On September 11, 2001, 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al Qaeda hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. Two of the planes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Almost 3,000 people were killed during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which triggered major U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism and defined the presidency of George W. Bush.”

Again a clich describing that day as a typical Tuesday’ best fits. My assignments editor had called earlier that morning saying that a colleague was going to be absent due to a family emergency and asked would I please cover the regular beat at the Pentagon. I agreed and headed out for Washington D.C.’s Metro system’s Yellow Line trains for a quick 10-minute ride across the Potomac River.

Upon arrival I headed up and into the building, in those days directly accessible from the subway station, and upon gaining entrance passing through the Pentagon police security checkpoint I stopped along the Pentagon’s Concourse where its retail and services shops were located to grab a soda pop and a sandwich.

Walking into the press briefing room I immediately realized that something was going on — the normal flow of conversations were low almost muted and all eyes were glued to the television monitors in the room.

On those screens were images of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and one of the towers was belching a thick cloud of black smoke. The chyron said it was a CNN live broadcast and like my fellow reporters I was transfixed by the images and then suddenly there was a collective exclamation of ‘oh shit’ when the second tower shook and then black smoke rose from it as well.

A pair of planes had deliberately been flown into the Twin Towers, this was not an accident nor a coincidence.

The discussions in the room took on a sense of urgency, the term ‘terrorist attack’ bandied around and then it happened — having lived in California the sensation was not unlike a powerful earthquake say a 4 on the Richter scale as the building shook for mere seconds. Then a cacophony of alarms, shouting and then, ordered to evacuate, we headed for the exits.

Twenty years later, as I now reflect on the resulting chaos of those next 16 hours, all of that day seems reduced to a series of vignettes; memories of the scenes, sounds, smells, after American Airlines Flight 77 flew into the side of the building that faced Arlington National Cemetery, across Virginia’s State Highway Route 27 Washington Blvd., at 9:37:46 AM EST on September 11, 2001.

Last Tuesday, on August 31, the last remaining American military personnel left Afghanistan permanently after President Joe Biden earlier in the summer ordered a complete troop withdrawal ending what had turned into America’s longest war. A war that was ignited by the events of that bright September day.

Spanning the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and finally Joe Biden, the warfare Congress authorized on Sept. 18, 2001 for the American military to go after culprits in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks had a heavy cost as the war ended.

Nearly 8,000 American soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsman lost their lives in direct combat support, tens of thousands returned wounded, and even more sobering, nearly 30,177 active duty service members and veterans have died by suicide according to a Brown University study.

Tragically, even at the very end with only literal days left, America would see the conflict cost the lives of 13 U.S. military personnel, five of whom were born the year it began.

On the 14 th annual Memorial Day observance at Arlington National Cemetery on May 27, 2013, standing in Section 60 where U.S. service members who died during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried, I silently watched as President Barack Obama hugged a grieving family member and spoke quietly with others, relatives of those buried under our feet in Arlington’s Gardens of Stone.

Walking away from the official party and the crowd and approaching the edge of Section 60 which faces the side of the Pentagon that Flight 77 crashed into that terrible morning, I pondered the dramatic changes in the world around me that I had witnessed since that day.

There was no Facebook nor Instagram in 2001. The first Apple iPhone was released on June 29, 2007 followed by the first commercially available smartphone running Android on September 23, 2008. You didn’t need to pass through a TSA checkpoint to board your flight at the airport chiefly because the TSA, like its parent Department of Homeland Security didn’t exist.

Thankfully though, the chief architect of the horrors of September 11, Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, had been hunted down and killed on May 2, 2011, in Abbottabad, Pakistan, at the direction of the man standing behind me in that crowd at Arlington that day.

As I write these words today, now eight years after that Memorial Day visit to Arlington and miles, time and space apart from the events of that autumn morning 20 years ago, I still find myself mourning that lost innocence.

LaBruce delivers shocking story of brotherly love in ‘Saint-Narcisse’ Skilled director’s incest tale challenges our boundaries

By JOHN PAUL KING

It’s gratifying to live in a time when queer stories and characters have become more commonplace on film and television than ever before, but for those of us who are old enough to remember a very different world, it’s hard not to feel a twinge of regret over what we may have lost in the transition. After all, in the days when mainstream entertainment culture was still pretending that queer people didn’t exist, queer cinema was an underground experience infused with a certain rebellious spirit – a sense of righteous non-conformity, if you will – that is somehow absent from much of the content made possible by the “rainbow explosion” taking place on our screens today. And while nobody is complaining about the increased acceptance achieved by our LGBTQ community, it’s nevertheless a welcome pleasure when a movie comes along to remind us that queer cinema can still be transgressive.

For such a film, one can always count on Bruce LaBruce.

The Canadian iconoclast, who rose in the 90s from the world of queercore zines to gain a cult following as a filmmaker, is notorious for assaulting cultural norms. Combining the tropes and formulas of conventional Hollywood cinema with the raw sexuality of hardcore gay porn, some of his films, like “Hustler White” and “L.A. ombie,” have stirred shock and controversy even among the most hardened queer cinephiles, and while his style may have mellowed somewhat since his earlier career, his latest effort – the dark comedy “SaintNarcisse,” which hinges on “twincest” between two brothers separated at birth – proves that he still takes delight in shattering even the strictest taboos.

The film, which opens in limited theaters and through VOD platforms on Sept. 17, unfolds a sort of contemporary adult fairy tale centered on a young man named Dominic (F lixAntoine Duval), who fuels an unrequitable fetish for himself by taking Polaroid selfies. The death of the beloved grandmother who raised him leads to his discovery of a deep family secret: his birth mother (Tania ontoyanni) didn’t die in childbirth as he was told, but is alive and living in exile with a female companion (Alexandra Petrachuk) at a remote cabin in the woods. When he reunites with her there, he quickly learns of the existence of a twin brother (Duval again), taken away at birth and raised in a nearby monastery, where a priest (Andreas Apergis) has kept him all these years against his will. Determined to reunite his family and drawn by a desire to be with his beautiful, identical brother, Dominic soon embarks on a path that will embroil him with all the others in a blasphemous web of sex, revenge, and redemption.

Like most of LaBruce’s work, this latest piece draws on a wide array of cultural influences. Set in 1972 (in the “afterglow of sexual liberation,” as the publicity material puts it), it revels in the aesthetic of the 70s genre pictures that have always inspired the filmmaker, evoking and emulating the lurid psychosexual thrillers of the era while reinventing them through a countercultural queer lens. At the same time, it’s a sly satire of our modern, self-obsessed culture, in which the myth of Narcissus is reframed around a selfie-snapping hero who yearns to be his own lover. Above all, it’s an unabashedly campy affair, a wild and wooly Freudian melodrama that resembles a fable from the Brothers Grimm as interpreted by Jean Genet.

Yet for all that, LaBruce keeps it grounded throughout. He guides his actors to play their roles in earnest – something they achieve with somewhat surprising excellence, with the handsome Duval earning particular kudos for rising to the challenge of his difficult dual role. Moreover, he underpins the screenplay (co-written with Martin Girard) with a healthy dose of social observation, clearly conveyed yet handled with just enough restraint to avoid weighing down the delicious B-movie goofiness. LaBruce has a reputation for performing a deft balancing act in his movies between the ridiculous and the profound, in which the line between them seems to disappear, or at least become irrelevant in “Saint-Narcisse” he earns it anew with the skill of a true master.

Still, one doesn’t see a LaBruce film for its restraint, and for all its measured contemplation of themes, the purpose of “Saint-Narcisse” is to make us squirm. The relationship at the heart of the story, after all, is a forbidden one. Not only are the two star-crossed lovers boys, they’re also brothers – and because it is a LaBruce film, we find ourselves wanting them to

be together almost as much as they do. And also because it is a LaBruce film, we know we’ll get to see it happen.

It’s not just the incest that challenges our boundaries, either. There’s also the complex and conflicted relationship between Daniel and the priest who is his father figure/captor/abuser, and the one between an older woman and the daughter of her own dead lover. The film is full of conflicting and conflicted impulses, shaped by the dualities that permeate our social and personal lives – male and female, age and youth, spirituality and carnality, coercion and consent – and our various loyalties to its characters collide with our preconceptions about what is or is not acceptable until our reflex toward judgment simply short-circuits. By the time his story has reached its suitably over-the-top climax, LaBruce has already set us up so well that we are ready to go willingly with him into whatever wickedly subversive happy ending he has in store.

As to that ending, it’s best to leave the details spoiler-free for effect – but suffice to say it is a logical culmination of all the threads “Saint-Narcisse” has interwoven from the start, and that it will leave most viewers with a feeling of perverse satisfaction despite themselves. In other words, LaBruce has once more succeeded in turning a lot of internal taboos upside down, and whether or not the effect is permanent we are forced to question our own assumptions about self, sex, love and family – along with a good number of other social mores and institutions that have more influence over our humanity that most of us care to recognize.

All of this is precisely the point, of course. And while “Saint-Narcisse” (like all of LaBruce’s films) is unquestionably a piece of queer cinema, the product of a queer sensibility and a lifetime of living outside cultural norms, it is ultimately not a movie about queer experience. It’s a movie about human experience, and its observations about the way our lives are programmed by the things we believe about ourselves and the world around us are meant for everyone.

Of course, by this point it should be obvious that it’s NOT for everyone’s tastes. While it may not be as explicit as some of LaBruce’s previous works, there’s still plenty of fullfrontal nudity and intense sex involved combine that with the twisted sensibility that drives the story and dictates its outcome, and you have a movie that should be approached with caution by anyone who is faint of heart.

For the rest of us, though, it’s a sinfully satisfying cinematic snack.

Sullivan’s new book a cornucopia of wit, provocation Out on

a Limb’

offers queer cultural

By KATHI WOLFE

history

with a point of view

Gay writer and political commentator Andrew Sullivan’s first day in journalism began on a Sunday afternoon in 1984 in London at the Daily Telegraph. The paper was housed on the “original Fleet Street,” Sullivan writes, “the place Evelyn Waugh had made eternal in his satirical novel Scoop.”

The editor that day, “a high Tory intellectual,” was completely blind, chain-smoked and “wore a patch over one eye, like a pirate,” Sullivan writes.

He was told to write an editorial on a topic he knew nothing about. Using, “all the skills my Oxford training in extemporaneous bullshitting had given me,” Sullivan writes, he wrote the piece.

Sullivan, who was instrumental in bolstering support for mainstream equality and for dismantling “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the military, hasn’t stopped writing since.

Sullivan’s writing is as colorful as the Fleet Street editor with the eye patch.

I’m a blind lesbian. Reading “Out on a Limb” (on Audible and indle), there were times when I rolled my blind eyes.

At other moments, I marveled at Sullivan’s bravery and compassion.

But, whether I disagreed with or applauded Sullivan, I couldn’t stop reading him.

I’m betting this will be the case with you.

An Irish Catholic gay man, Sullivan is one of our most provocative and fascinating writers.

The essays in “Out on a Limb” cover everything from the death of Princess Diana to AIDS to “Brokeback Mountain” to Abraham Lincoln’s sexuality.

Sullivan, a self-described small-c conservative who was one of the first to bring Barack Obama to the attention of the mainstream press, has angered many.

“I have been criticized for abandoning the right,” he writes, “and for criticizing the left.”

Sullivan’s voted for, among others, Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair in Britain, and Ronald Reagan, Obama and Joe Biden in America.

The causes he has supported over 40 years include: marriage equality, the legalization of recreational drugs, welfare reform and, as he writes, “a very expansive concept of free speech.”

If you didn’t disagree with Sullivan on anything,

‘Out on a Limb: Selected Writing, 1989-2021’

By Andrew Sullivan

c.2021, Avid Reader Press | $35 | 76 pages

you wouldn’t be human.

But, if you didn’t agree with him on some things, you wouldn’t have a heart or a brain.

The essays in “Out on a Limb,” are a time capsule of Sullivan’s career from his time with The New Republic (where he was the youngest editor in the magazine’s history) to his current perch with “The Weekly Dish.”

The collection shows how Sullivan’s views have evolved over the years. Sullivan, who with “The Dish,” was a blogging pioneer, is a refreshingly honest writer.

Some writers never want to cop to a mistake. This isn’t true with Sullivan, who says he was wrong about supporting the Iraq war.

It’s hard to remember how brave it was for Sullivan in 1989 to pen the essay “Here Comes the Groom: A Conservative Case for Gay Marriage” for The New Republic.

Then, when sodomy laws were on the books in many states, it was courageous to be out as Sullivan was.

Marriage equality wasn’t on the horizon – let alone on a magazine cover.

Sullivan writes movingly about seeing the AIDS quilt in 1992 on the Mall in Washington, D.C.

The collection includes some controversial pieces such as “When Plagues End: Notes on the Twilight of an Epidemic.”

It’s true that for many AIDS is no longer a deadly plague.

But AIDS is still a death sentence for many who don’t have health insurance or access to care.

Sullivan’s essays on gender and campus life such as “The He Hormone” or “We All Live on Campus Now” made me want to throw the book across the room.

I wish Sullivan hadn’t published a symposium on Charles Murray and Richard Herrnstein’s book “The Bell Curve” in The New Republic. (The book says there is a connection between race and intelligence.)

But I was moved by the essay “Dear Ta-Nehisi,” in which Sullivan explains why he felt compelled to air writing of, as he writes, “sometimes painful topics.” “Out on a Limb” is a cornucopia of wit, queer cultural history and provocation. Enjoy the feast.

LGBTQ travelers show how to explore safely this fall More destinations enacting COVID safety protocols

Just when we thought it was safe to hit the road, we were walloped by the Delta variant, the latest plot twist in the 18-month-and-counting pandemic story. The surprising data that fully vaccinated people could transmit the virus came shockingly from Provincetown with a 90% vaccination rate. Ptown quickly tightened restrictions requiring masking at all indoor locations and proof of vaccine at all entertainment venues — interventions that worked. As of press time, the positivity rate there is much lower than much of the rest of the U.S. and it remains one of our top recommendations this fall and beyond. Ptown demonstrated a successful response — stressing safety yet continuing to deliver a deeply satisfying experience.

Read on for our favorite queer-friendly destinations striving to create a safe space for you and strategies for navigating the increasingly complex world of pandemic travel. Safe, beautiful and fun LGBTQ-friendly destinations, experiences and accommodations beckon whether you seek to recharge your batteries, deplete them or a little of both.

Queer and safe destinations

By ED SALVATO

• Provincetown, Mass. is our very own home beyond the rainbow as suggested by this year’s Carnival theme. Book far ahead for popular weeks (July 4; Bear Week; and Carnival) but we recommend visiting outside of the most popular times for a less frantic more enjoyable stay. There are diverse LGBTQ-oriented events almost every weekend through New Year’s Eve. Information: Provincetown Business Guild ptown.org and Provincetown for Women provincetownforwomen.com.

• Fort Lauderdale and Miami remain the beating heart of LGBTQ-friendly Florida despite the barbaric state-level response causing the Sunshine State to be among the worst hit in the U.S. by the pandemic. Fort Lauderdale has been world renowned for its authentic and inclusive vibe for all visitors since 1996. More than 1,000 local businesses have taken the Safe & Clean Pledge, sunny.org/travel-resources/safe-clean-pledge/. Likewise, Miami has implemented the Greater Miami Travel Guidelines and Destination Pledge accessible from the destination’s homepage outlining how safety measures are being implemented throughout the community.

• Puerto Rico is the undisputed LGBTQ capital of the Caribbean enticing visitors with reliably warm, sunny weather and a sincere outreach to queer travelers. Despite unfortunate, highly publicized attacks on local transgender people, Puerto Rico boasts a visible and vibrant trans community, and nightlife options that specifically cater to queer and nonbinary folx. This helps create a safer and more comfortable environment than other warmweather destinations in the Caribbean or Mexico, which lack venues for a trans community that mostly lives in hiding. Information: Discover Puerto Rico, discoverpuertorico.com Philadelphia makes for a fun urban getaway. Once the kids are back in school and the lines at the Liberty Bell disappear, you’ll find a warm, walkable and LGBTQ-welcoming city. Find LGBTQ restaurants, safe nightlife, engaging events and recommendations galore at Visit Philly, visitphilly.com/lgbt/. Pro tip: Try to schedule a half day at the Barnes Foundation art collection.

• Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Wait, what? Yep, this charming midwestern town is our top unexpected recommendation. You’ll find historic cultural venues, a walkable entertainment district with plenty of topnotch live music and theatrical performances, a delectable culinary scene and a truly warm welcome. Find trip-planning recommendations at the destination’s website.

Queer cruises and land vacations

Cruises are coming back, and it may be surprising to hear that they are probably the safest vacation you can take. According to Randle Roper, CEO at VACAYA, an LGBT+ vacation company, “With cruise lines soon to mandate that all guests and crew members must be vaccinated, cruise ships will be among the very safest locations on the planet – with the

entire population vaccinated. Making sensible choices like masking and social distancing while ashore, cruisers can avoid infection altogether.” Resort vacations are also safe with similar universal vaccinations and plenty of room for guests to spread out. Remember with no children during LGBTQ weeks at mainstream resorts, they offer much more space per adult guest. VACAYA’s big 2021 fall events include an all-inclusive Mexico resort vacation (Oct. 30-Nov. 6) and a New Orleans Cruise (Nov. 14-22). In 2022, there are only two trips that still have rooms available: the Caribbean Cruise (Jan. 10-17) and the all-inclusive Costa Rica Resort (June 5-12). Information and booking at MyVACAYA.com.

Not only will queer tour companies get you there and back safely, but “they also can ensure your money is being spent with other welcoming, progressive and even queer businesses and individuals around the world,” according to Robert Sharp, founder of Out Adventures. “This is even more important,” he continues, “when planning travel to countries that are known to be less than queer welcoming.” Visit their site to read about their New Year’s Eve trips to Thailand and Cuba and in 2022, their Iceland winter trip, and four back-toback Croatia small group cruises, which are starting to sell out.

R Family Vacations is one of our top recommendations for planning an incredibly fun and satisfying tour or cruise (big ship and river cruises) in the company of other queer travelers and allies. You don’t even have to have children to join their trips. In 2022, R Family offers land tours in Thailand and Ireland; an LGBTQ group on board a cruise in Alaska; and a magical all-queer full-ship-charter Uniworld river cruise in Northern Italy among other trips. Information: R Family Vacation, rfamilyvacations.com.

Even in this uncertain time, you can enjoy enriching and joyful travel opportunities in LGBTQ-friendly environments in a way that maximizes safety and minimizes risk. You just have to plan a little more. We highly recommend using an LGBTQ expert travel adviser who keeps up to date on LGBTQ-friendly tour, cruise, and safari providers, as well as destinations and hotels and that understand innately the needs and concerns of LGBTQ travelers. They dedicate themselves to both LGBTQ travel safety and keeping up with the latest, ever-shifting pandemic-era guidance, health protocols, openings, and closings. They know how to get the best value for your time and money, and, thanks to their global connections, they can often score VIP upgrades for you at hotels, on cruise lines, on tours, and more. They are also your most important advocate when trips are cancelled or rescheduled. Best of all clients use travel advisers, like our top picks here, for no additional fees:

Kelli Carpenter, who also co-owns R Family Vacations; Kcarpenter@tzell.com

Jonathan Alder, Travelstore USA; Jonathan.a@jonathanstravels.us; and Sandie Anders; Bursch Travel; Sandiea@burschtravel.com

Giuseppe Giulio; Gay Friendly Italy; giuseppe@gay.it

We’ve heard far too many stories of queer guests receiving a frosty welcome (or worse) when checking into a hotel or AirBnB. These are our top choices for LGBTQ-friendly resources for accommodations where you can truly relax and be your authentic selves: MisterBnB https://www.misterbandb.com/ includes one million LGBTQ-friendly listings in 200 countries and is primarily geared towards gay men.

FabStayz https://fabstayz.com/ proudly offers accommodations inclusive of all the letters of our ever-growing acronym.

Orbitz Pride https://www.orbitz.com/lp/lgbtq-gay-travel-hotels?pwaLob=wizard-hotelpwa-v2 lists LGBTQ-friendly accommodations; and Booking.com https://www.booking.com/ is rolling out an LGBTQ certification program, including live training and ancillary materials, for their hotel partners over the next year. Look for the “Proud Hospitality” label on listings.

(NYC-based Ed Salvato is a freelance travel writer, instructor at NYU and the University of Texas at Austin’s NYC Center, and an LGBTQ tourism marketing specialist. This article is courtesy of the National LGBT Media Association.)