Los Angeles Blade, Volume 06, Issue 20, May 20, 2022

Thousands gather for ‘Bans Off Our Bodies Rally’ in DTLA

Several thousand Angelenos joined the hundreds of thousands of Americans including women, men, kidsBlack, Latino Asian, LGBTQ+ marching across the nation Saturday to protest the potential overturn of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision after the leak of the U.S. Supreme Court’s draft opinion.

The crowds were joined by politicians and dignitaries including U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who gave a speech to the rally, LA Mayoral candidate Congresswoman Karen Bass, (D-37), California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, the First Partner and wife to California Governor Gavin Newsom, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Tony Hoang, the Executive Director of Equality California and the President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America Alexis McGill Johnson. In his speech Padilla delivered remarks on the importance of defending access to safe, legal abortion at the federal level.

The “Bans Off Our Bodies” was a daylong event organized by groups including Women’s March, Planned Parenthood

Action Fund, UltraViolet, MoveOn, the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Abortion Rights Action League.

From Pittsburgh to Pasadena, California, and Nashville, Tennessee, to Lubbock, Texas, tens of thousands participated in “Bans off our Bodies” events. Organizers expected that among the hundreds of events, the largest would take place in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and other big cities, the Associated Press reported.

“If it’s a fight they want, it’s a fight they’ll get,” Rachel Carmona, executive director of the Women’s March, said before the march.

Saturday’s rallies come three days after the Senate failed to muster enough votes to codify Roe v. Wade. Sponsors included the Women’s March, Move On, Planned Parenthood, UltraViolet, MoveOn, SEIU and other organizations. At the Chicago rally, speaker after speaker told the crowd that if abortion is banned that the rights of immigrants, minorities and others will also be “gutted,” as Amy Eshleman, wife of Out Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot put it, the Associated Press noted.

Sen. ALEX

“This has never been just about abortion. It’s about control,” Eshleman told the crowd of thousands. “My marriage is on the menu and we cannot and will not let that happen,” she added.

WeHo in brief: City government in action this week

The City of West Hollywood is reminding community members about events surrounding the upcoming #WeHoPride season. The City will provide regularly updated information about WeHo Pride 2022 programming as it becomes available:

• WeHo Pride Weekend will take place on Friday, June 3, 2022, Saturday, June 4, 2022, and Sunday, June 5, 2022 in and around West Hollywood Park, located at 647 N. San Vicente Boulevard and will include will include a free WeHo Pride Street Fair representing a diverse array of LGBTQ+ community groups as part of visibility, expression, and celebration.

(Photo

• The annual Dyke March and the new Women’s Freedom Festival will take place beginning on Friday, June 3, 2022 at 5 p.m. The Dyke March will feature the presentation of the Melissa Etheridge and Community Activist awards, a poetry reading, sign-making and supplies, speakers, a DJ, and the Dykes on Bikes contingent. The Dyke March will step off and return to the corner of Robertson and Santa Monica Boulevards. The Women’s Freedom Festival will take place immediately following the Dyke March at the #WeHoPride Street Fair stage and will feature emerging LGBTQ and BIPOC women and non-binary musicians, comedians, poets, and activists, along with a featured performance from Milck, singing her latest protest song, We Won’t Go Back.

• WeHo Pride Weekend will feature OUTLOUD: Raising Voices, the award-winning three-day LGBTQ concert series produced by JJLA at West Hollywood Park. Headliners, artist lineup, and ticket information are available by visiting https://weareoutloud.com.

• The City of West Hollywood’s Pride Parade will step-off at noon at Crescent Heights Boulevard on Sunday, June 5, 2022 and will make its way west along Santa Monica Boulevard to the City’s Rainbow District.

• WeHo Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival (formerly known as the One City One Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival) will take place during 40 days from Harvey Milk Day on Sunday, May 22, 2022 to Thursday, June 30, 2022 live at various locations throughout the City of West Hollywood, along with selected online programming. The theme for 2022 is With Liberty, Diversity, Inclusion, and Progress For All. The

WeHo Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival runs for 40 days, from Harvey Milk Day through the end of Pride month and is organized by the City of West Hollywood’s Arts Division with input from the City’s Lesbian & Gay Advisory Board, Transgender Advisory Board, Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission, and community partners. A full calendar of events is available online.

More information and details about WeHo Pride Weekend will be posted as it becomes available at www.weho. org/pride.

Dyke March and Women’s Freedom Festival is scheduled to take place on Friday June 3, 2022.

OUTLOUD: Raising Voices Three-Day LGBTQ Concert Series Produced by JJLA Take Place from Friday, June 3 to Sunday, June 5

WeHo Pride Parade will Step-Off at Noon on Sunday, June 5 Along Santa Monica Boulevard

WeHo Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival Will Take Place from Sunday, May 22 to Thursday, June 30

For more than three decades, the City of West Hollywood has been home to the largest Pride celebration in Southern California, as hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ people and allies from around the world make West Hollywood their destination for the Pride season. Home to the “Rainbow District” along Santa Monica Boulevard, which features a concentration of historic LGBTQ clubs, restaurants, and retail shops, the City consistently tops lists of “most LGBTQ friendly cities” in the nation.

Since incorporation in 1984, the City of West Hollywood has become one of the most influential cities in the nation for its outspoken advocacy on LGBTQ issues. No other city of its size has had a greater impact on the national public policy discourse on fairness and inclusiveness for LGBTQ people. More than 40 percent of residents in West Hollywood identify as LGBTQ and three of the five members of the West Hollywood City Council are openly gay. The City has advocated for nearly four decades for measures that support LGBTQ individuals and the City is in the vanguard on efforts to gain and protect equality for all people on a state, national, and international level.

For more information about WeHo Pride, please contact the City of West Hollywood’s Events Services Division at eventsinfo@weho.org.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

LA trans sex offender arrested for murder in Kern County

An individual convicted of violently sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl in a Palmdale Denny’s restaurant restroom in 2014, was arraigned Tuesday afternoon in Kern County on charges of felony murder and robbery in an unrelated case. Hannah Tubbs, 27, who identifies as a trans female, is charged under her birth name in the most recent charges which stem from the Kern County case in 2019. Tubbs appeared in a Kern County courtroom in Bakersfield to face charges connected to the April 21, 2019 death of Michael Clark.

Tubbs is being held in Kern County jail on $1 million bond and is being detained in the men’s section. Kern County prosecutors are referring to her as James Edward Tubbs. Tubbs has a long criminal history in addition to the sex offender conviction in Los Angeles. She was arrested on a 2019 battery charge in Idaho, where in that case her DNA was matched in a national database relative to the LA County case for which she was arrested in November of

2021. Tubbs in 2020 was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm in Kern County, according to Kern County court records.

Ricardo Santiago, a spokesman for the LA County District Attorney’s Office, said Tubb’s transfer from the juvenile facility to Kern County jail was based on a 2019 warrant that was approved by a judge.

“District Attorney George Gascón is committed to protecting the public and especially our children,” Santiago told The Post on Monday. “In this case, Hannah Tubbs continues to serve her Los Angeles County sentence, while being prosecuted on an unrelated robbery charge in Kern County. … A no bail warrant has been obtained in the Los Angeles County case so officials here will be notified if she is released from Kern County.”

She was at the center of a controversy after Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mario Barrera sentenced Tubbs to a LA County youth facility for two years in isolation.

That ruling provoked widespread outrage over Gascón policies in regard to prosecution of juveniles for major felonies. When he took office in December of 2020, he announced a wide-reaching agenda of reforms for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office which included he will stop charging juveniles as adults.

In the Tubbs case, Judge Barrera stated that essentially, under current legislation, a person who commits a crime as a juvenile and is jailed in a juvenile facility once they turn 19, the court has no authority to transfer that person to an adult facility.

“This court will not disregard what the legislature has put onto it as a limitation,” he said.

Since the case remained in juvenile court, Tubbs will not

be required to register as a sex offender. Tubbs could have been sentenced to almost a decade in prison if she was tried and convicted as an adult.

As pressure mounted on Gascón, in an interview with LAist reporter Frank Stoltze, the LADA said, “We now have a year under our belt. We have seen the things that are not necessarily working as well as I would prefer.”

Going forward, Gascón said decisions on juvenile cases will be made on “a case-by-case basis” and “at the highest levels” of his office.

His position however, abruptly changed when it was learned by his staff that Fox News had obtained a jailhouse recording of Tubbs bragging about getting off lightly.

Fox reported that the explicit recordings of Tubbs reveal her admitting it was wrong to attack a little girl but gloating over the light punishment.

“She boasted that nothing would happen to her after she pleaded guilty and then laughed that she won’t have to go back to prison or register as a sex offender. She also made explicit remarks about the victim that are unfit to print.”

“I’m gonna plead out to it, plead guilty,” Tubbs says in one recording. “They’re gonna stick me on probation, and it’s gonna be dropped, it’s gonna be done, I won’t have to register, won’t have to do nothing.”

“You won’t have to register?” her father later in the conversation. “I won’t have to do none of that,” Tubbs replies.

“So what are they going to do to you then?” He asks. “Nothing,” Tubbs says in reply, then laughs.

In an email to the Los Angeles Times, Gascón said his approach was incorrect: “The complex issues and facts of her particular case were unusual, and I should have treated them that way.”

BRODY LEVESQUE

Calif. minimum wage projected to increase to $15.50 per hour

California’s minimum wage is projected to increase to $15.50 per hour for all workers on January 1, 2023. The accelerated increase is required by a provision in the state’s existing minimum wage law when inflation exceeds 7 percent. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in persistent supply chain disruptions and labor market frictions have driven inflation to its highest rate in 40 years. These conditions have further been exacerbated by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The wage increase will benefit millions of California households that are struggling to keep pace with the highest rate of inflation in decades. For years, the state minimum wage has increased steadily while inflation numbers remained modest.

As people throughout the country face increasing costs due to global inflation, Governor Gavin Newsom today announced an $18.1 billion inflation relief package to get money into the pockets of Californians.

“We enacted the most comprehensive economic stimulus program in the nation last year, getting billions in immediate relief to millions of Californians. But many folks are still struggling, especially with high costs due to inflation, so we’re leveraging this historic surplus to get money back into

the pockets of Californians,” said Governor Newsom. “This inflation relief package will help offset the higher costs that Californians are facing right now and provide support to those still recovering from the pandemic.”

Newsom’s inflation relief package includes:

• $11.5 Billion for Tax Refunds to Help Address Inflation. As the entire country faces increasing costs due to inflation, Governor Newsom proposed getting $400 checks to every eligible registered vehicle owner, capped at two checks per individual.

• $2.7 Billion for Emergency Rental Assistance. Governor Newsom is proposing significant state funds for qualified low-income tenants who requested rental assistance before March 31, helping these Californians get the support they need.

• $1.4 Billion to Help Californians Pay Past-Due Utility Bills. As Californians continue to face difficulties in paying for utility bills, this investment expands upon last year’s utility relief program to continue this vital support – $1.2 billion for electricity bills and $200 million for water bills.

• $933 Million for Hospital and Nursing Home Staff. Providing up to $1,500 to hospital and skilled nurs-

ing facility workers who have been delivering care to the most acute patients during the COVID-19 pandemic and saved thousands of lives.

• $750 Million for Free Public Transit. Governor Newsom is proposing incentive grants to provide three months of free public transportation for communities throughout the state.

• $304 Million to Make Health Coverage More Affordable for Middle-Class Families. This extends health insurance premium assistance under Covered California for families of four earning up to $166,500 annually, upwards of 700,000 Californians.

• $439 Million to Pause the Diesel Sales Tax. Bringing relief to the commercial sector and drivers, Governor Newsom is proposing a 12-month pause in the sales tax rate for diesel fuel that would provide upwards of $439 million in relief.

• $157 Million to Waive Child Care Fees for Low-Income Families. Making state-subsidized preschool and child care more affordable, benefitting 40,000 low-income California families with savings of up to $595 per month.

BRODY LEVESQUE

Newsom proposes reproductive health package

As the U.S. Supreme Court appears prepared to overturn Roe v. Wade and states throughout the country pass laws to restrict access to reproductive health care and ban abortions, Gov. Gavin Newsom has announced a Reproductive Health Package to expand access to these vital services and welcome companies from anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ states.

The Newsom administration continues efforts to maintain and improve availability of safe and accessible reproductive health care services and prepare for a potential influx of people from other states seeking reproductive health care and abortion services.

“California will not stand idly by as extremists roll back our basic constitutional rights; we’re going to fight like hell, making sure that all women – not just those in California – know that this state continues to recognize and protect their fundamental rights,” said Governor Newsom. “We’re expanding access to these critical services, welcoming businesses and their employees fleeing anti-abortion states, and reaffirming our commitment to continuing to work closely with the Legislature and reproductive rights stakeholders to further solidify California’s leadership on abortion rights.”

Newsom’s Reproductive Health Package includes $125 million to further bolster California’s health care infrastructure, expand access to services for patients, and help prepare for the influx of people seeking reproductive health care from other states. Today’s announcement, which adds $57 million to January’s $68 million proposal, includes the following:

• Cover Uncompensated Care for Peoples Uninsured for Abortion Services. $40 million for grants to reproductive health care providers to offset the cost of providing care to low- and moderate-income individuals who do not have health care coverage for abortion care services.

• California Reproductive Justice & Freedom Fund. $15 million for grants to community-based reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations to conduct medically accurate and culturally competent outreach and education on

sexual health and reproductive health issues.

• Comprehensive Reproductive Rights Website. $1 million to develop and maintain a website that provides accurate and updated information to the public on the right to abortion under state law, information about reproductive health care providers, and options for coverage for reproductive health services, including state-funded coverage and programs.

• Research on the Unmet Needs for Reproductive Health Care Services. $1 million for research regarding the unmet needs for access to reproductive health care services.

These new proposed investments build off of Newsom’s California Blueprint in January, a $68 million package to:

• Invest in Reproductive Health Clinical Infrastructure. To support California’s clinical infrastructure of reproductive health care services, the Blueprint included $20 million to provide scholarships and loan repayments to health care providers that commit to providing reproductive health care services.

• Capital Infrastructure, Improved Security. The Blueprint included $20 million to assist reproductive health care facilities in securing their physical and information technology infrastructure and to enhance facility security.

• Make Reproductive Health Care More Affordable. The Blueprint included $20 million to subsidize the cost of abor-

tion care for Covered California consumers due to federal payment limitations for abortion coverage.

• Remove Barriers for Reproductive Health. To make it easier to get the medical care needed for family planning and reproductive health, the Blueprint removed Medi-Cal requirements for in-person follow-up visits and ultrasounds if not medically necessary.

• Family Planning, Access, Care and Treatment (PACT) HPV Vaccine Coverage. The Blueprint included $8 million to add the human papillomavirus vaccine as a covered benefit under the Family PACT program, effective July 1, 2022.

In addition to these critical investments, Newsom is further investing in California’s values and growing the state’s inclusive economy by proposing incentive opportunities for businesses to relocate to California or grow jobs and their economic footprint here from states with anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ laws.

By updating existing business incentive programs to provide additional consideration for companies leaving states that have enacted restrictions on reproductive rights and anti-LGBTQ+ laws, Newsom is welcoming companies that share California’s values and doubling down on the diversity that makes our economy a global leader.

Newsom’s Reproductive Health Package includes proposals championed by members of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus. Today’s announcement builds upon the recent action of Newsom, Senate President pro Tempore Atkins and Assembly Speaker Rendon to advance a constitutional amendment to enshrine the right to an abortion.

The governor has also eliminated out-of-pocket costs for abortion services and signed into law a legislative package to strengthen access and protect patients and providers. And, in October, Governor Newsom announced the Administration’s participation in the California Future of Abortion Council, to collaborate with advocates, policymakers, providers, patients and others on ways to advance the state’s reproductive health leadership.

BRODY LEVESQUE

Garcetti announces new outdoor watering restrictions

In a press conference last week, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and officials from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) announced that outdoor watering in the city will be restricted to two days a week starting June 1.

The announcement comes as the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California declared an unprecedented water shortage emergency two weeks ago, imposing restrictions after MWD’s board voted to adopt the emergency measures to “reduce non-essential water use” in certain areas. Cities and smaller water suppliers that get water from MWD are required to start restricting out-

door watering to one day a week, or to find other ways to cut usage to a new monthly allocation limit.

In Tuesday’s press conference Mayor Garcetti said L.A.’s two-day limit was still more lenient than the one imposed by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which has ordered many of its member agencies to restrict outdoor watering to once a week. Sprinkler watering will be allowed on Monday and Friday at odd-numbered addresses in the city, and even-numbered addresses on Thursday and Sunday.

BRODY LEVESQUE

West Hollywood’s LGBTQ Arts Festival kicks off May 22

Virtual staged reading of ‘Dear Harvey’ features all trans, non-binary

Each year, the City of West Hollywood celebrates the artistic contributions of the LGBTQ community with its WeHo Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival (formerly known as the One City One Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival).

The festival runs for 40 days, from Harvey Milk Day on Sunday, May 22, 2022 through Thursday, June 30, 2022, which marks the end of Pride month. This year, some events will be presented in-person and others will be available online.

Note that for all all programming details please visit pride.weho.org.

The LGBTQ Arts Festival is presented in addition to WeHo Pride Weekend from Friday, June 3, 2022 through Sunday, June 5, 2022 and will include a Street Fair, the Dyke March, the Women’s Freedom Festival, the ticketed OUTLOUD Raising Voices Music Festival, and the WeHo Pride Parade.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

For decades, the City of West Hollywood has been home to the largest Pride celebration in Southern California. Hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ people and allies from around the world make West Hollywood their destination for the Pride season. Home to the “Rainbow District” along Santa Monica Boulevard, which features a concentration of historic LGBTQ clubs, restaurants, and retail shops, the City consistently tops lists of “most LGBTQ friendly cities” in the nation. All #WeHoPride weekend programming details: www.weho.org/pride.

“The City of West Hollywood is thrilled to be producing the LGBTQ Arts Festival and #WeHoPride for our community again this year,” said City of West Hollywood Mayor Lauren Meister.

“The City has a long-standing and proud commitment to both the arts and the LGBTQ community, and what better way to meld those commitments than with the #WeHoPride LGBTQ Arts Festival? Join the City online and in-person for art exhibits, thought-provoking panel discussions, entertaining performances, invigorating creative writing, educational self-guided walking tours, and even our very own queer ComicCon, where cosplay is encouraged and celebrated. Pride starts right here in West Hollywood and I’m looking forward to seeing you all in-person and virtually!”

The WeHo Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival theme for 2022 is “With Liberty, Diversity, Inclusion and Progress for All” and this year’s festival poster was designed by Kaija Sydlowski through an open call poster competition which received submissions from around the world.

The City of West Hollywood will celebrate Harvey Milk Day, kick-off #WeHoPride, and commence the LGBTQ Arts Festival with a virtual staged reading of the play Dear Harvey: Stories of Harvey Milk, by Patricia Loughrey.

Extensively researched and beautifully constructed, this documentary-style ensemble play recounts the life and lasting impact of groundbreaking LGBTQ activist and politician Harvey Milk, as told by the people who knew him best … the real-world figures whose lives were forever altered by Milk’s too-short career. This spirited play reaffirms his impact and the continued relevance of his campaign towards equality, three decades after his assassination.

This year’s production features an entirely transgender and non-binary cast including: Luckie Alexander, Blossom C. Brown, Abdullah “Abby” Rahsheen Hall, Marval A. Rex, Mallery Jenna Robinson, Sydney Rogers aka Miss Barbie-Q, and Emily Westheimer. This performance is directed by Brittney S. Wheeler and produced by Parnell Damone Marcano and

cast

Celebration Theatre, LA’s oldest theatre dedicated to producing LGBTQIA+ work.

The reading will be available for the public to view for free on the City’s WeHo Arts YouTube page (www.youtube.com/ wehoarts) for one week, from May 22 through May 29, 2022.

The City has also installed Our Pride, a mural by artist LaToya D. Peoples on the N. Sweetzer Avenue east-facing wall of West Hollywood City Hall, located at 8300 Santa Monica Boulevard. The mural features four hands, symbolic of LGBTQ equality, activism, and pride: the first is a fist, symbolizing the LGBTQ and BIPOC community’s fight against oppression throughout history; the next is a painter’s hand symbolizing the community’s creativity and openness; the next hand holds a sunflower, a symbol for self-love and the seeking of light; and finally, a hand in a classic peace sign.

The background is a gradient bright sky, symbolic of the progress the community has made and has yet to make. Each hand is painted realistically, in color, representing diverse people. Installation is complete and the mural will remain on City Hall through May 2023.

The Meringue public art exhibition by LGBTQ artist Kim Kiduck will be lit up in pink, light blue, and rainbow colors for the duration of Pride Month. The translucency of Meringue lets sunlight in to glow naturally during the daytime, and at night transforms Meringue into a mixing chamber of various light combinations. Meringue is located in the median on Santa Monica Boulevard near N. Doheny Drive.

Some highlights of the 40-day festival include:

• QUEER DIASPORAS: Lavender City of Dreams presented by Rubén Esparza and Queer Biennial – May 27, 2022 through August 19, 2022. Free. Online exhibition with some in-person events at ONE Gallery. Touching on issues of identity, activism, futurity, and beauty where queerness is the thread that weaves through all these personal – yet universal -perspectives. Realized in imagined (no limits) digital galleries, spaces, and textures as the backdrop, along with up-to-the-minute live performances on May 28, June 3, and June 4, 2022. View the exhibition beginning May 27, 2022 and find in-person event info at www.lavendercity.art

• Queer Crossroads – June 1, 2022, 10 a.m. Free. Online at https://www.youtube. com/channel/UCcTAimXuIpWYkLkUeRZdxiw – An exploration of queer intersectionality through video performance and conversation! What else do we bring to our beautiful queer spaces? Are you queer and Black, differently-abled, neurodivergent, HIV positive, Trans, Muslim, etc.? Let’s meet and share our stories in this workshop where intersectionality is explored and championed.

• Write Out Proud LGBTQ writing workshops – Wednesdays and Saturdays in June. Free. When we Write Out Proud, we share the love of who we are for the world to see, so the world can become better at loving us back. We write fun and flirty stories of our magical LGBTQ selves influenced by our personal ideas of gender, sexuality, and sexual orientation. All are welcome, both new and seasoned writers. This no-cost four session writing workshop will take place virtually on Zoom.

There are two workshop groups, each with the same writing prompts and plans. One group meets on Wednesday evenings in June from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., the other group meets on Saturday afternoons from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. culminating on Wednesday evening June 29, 2022 with an online reading of writings for those who care to participate. For more info go to writeoutproud.com. To sign up for this free workshop email info@writeoutproud.com.

• Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Pledge Allegiance to Your Flag: A Festival of LGBTQ Flags – June 4, 2022 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at various locations. Free. The Sisters will delight you as they work their butts off to erase shame and stigma and lovingly help you to claim your LGBTQ identity by choosing from a myriad of their spectacular LGBTQ color guard flags (or bring your own!) and create your personalized made-up mad cap mad lib Pledge of Allegiance. The Sisters will record content for you for your Pride media posts with Sisters, your flags, and your pledge. For details: http://www.writeoutproud. com/pledge.html

• Church of Trans Love – June 5, 2022 at 2 p.m. Free. The fictitious ‘The Church of Trans Love’ presents a queerdo take on ecclesiastical liturgical practices in the tradition of ‘The Book of Mormon’. The audience plays a ‘full, active, and conscious’ role in the show. The Church of Trans Love performance includes music from David Bowie and features Key Exchange, the show’s gospel choir of professional trans and non-binary singers. More information: https://bit.ly/churchtranslove.

More detailed information and a full list of the City of West Hollywood’s LGBTQ Arts Festival 2022 programming is available at pride.weho.org.

• WeHo Reads: Pride & Joy in the Matrix – June 7, 2022 at 6 p.m. Free. Online, RSVP: www.weho.org/wehoreads. LGBTQ+ authors are taking a hard look at society IRL and virtually, pinpointing the ways we come up short in connecting with and loving each other.

• Pride Poets – “Pledge” Poetry Hotline – June 11, 2022 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and again from June 11, 2022 at 11 p.m. to June 12, 2022 at 2 a.m. Free. Call (202) 9983510. LGBTQ poets are standing by ready to tackle all your poetic needs! Call in and have an original poem created for you or a loved one. This year’s theme is “Pledge: come share your allegiances with us!”

• Q Con: A One Day Comic Convention Celebrating LGBTQ Comics – June 18, 2022 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Plummer Park’s Fiesta Hall, located at 7377 Santa Monica Boulevard. Free. Find an exciting, diverse selection of LGBTQ comics and graphic novels all in one place! Talk to creators, get autographs! Q Con is family friendly, and admission is free. Cosplay is encouraged. Join in the costume contest for fun and prizes! For the latest updates on Q Con, visit https://www. prismcomics.org/q-con.

• Trans Pride LA 2022: The VarieTy Show – June 18, 2022 at 7 p.m. RSVP required. Free. For more information and to RSVP: https://transpride.lalgbtcenter.org/. The VarieTy Show serves as the grand finale of the annual Trans Pride LA Festival.

In addition, archived online programs from 2020 and 2021 are available to view. Among these is a collection of short films which tell the fabulous, fun, and deep LGBTQ history of the City of West Hollywood called the Stuart Timmons West Hollywood LGBTQ History Tour. Acclaimed author/historian Stuart Timmons (author The Trouble With Harry Hay, co-author of GAY L.A., former executive director of the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives) was in the process of writing his West Hollywood LGBTQ History Tour as the final in a trio of walking tours (Downtown Los Angeles and Silverlake are the other two) when he suffered a debilitating stroke in 2008. The tour remained incomplete until the City of West Hollywood’s Arts Division funded its completion as part of the City’s 2015 LGBTQ Arts Festival, allowing Timmons and a small team to help finish his research, bringing it to completion as both a self-guided walking tour and a special in-person event featuring performance artists as tour guides. This fun and informative tour returned for two more years, and in 2021, was recorded as a collection of short films that can be viewed on the City’s WeHo Arts YouTube channel.

The City of West Hollywood’s #WeHoPride LGBTQ Arts Festival is organized by the City’s Arts Division. The City of West Hollywood is committed to providing accessible arts programming for residents and visitors. The City of West Hollywood’s Arts Division delivers a broad array of arts programs including: Art on the Outside (temporary public art), Urban Art Program (permanent public art), Summer Sounds, Winter Sounds, the WeHo Reads literary series, Free Theatre in the Parks, Arts Grants for Nonprofit Arts Organizations, Library Exhibits and Programming, the City Poet Laureate Program, Human Rights Speakers Series and the #WeHoPride LGBTQ Arts Festival.

For additional information, please visit www.weho.org/arts. For more information about the City of West Hollywood’s WeHo Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival, please contact the City of West Hollywood’s Arts Coordinator, Mike Che, at (323) 848-6377 or at mche@weho.org or visit www.weho.org/pride.

IMPORTANT FACTS FOR BIKTARVY®

This is only a brief summary of important information about BIKTARVY and does not replace talking to your healthcare provider about your condition and your treatment.

MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT BIKTARVY

BIKTARVY may cause serious side e ects, including:

 Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. Your healthcare provider will test you for HBV. If you have both HIV-1 and HBV, your HBV may suddenly get worse if you stop taking BIKTARVY. Do not stop taking BIKTARVY without first talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to check your health regularly for several months, and may give you HBV medicine.

ABOUT BIKTARVY

BIKTARVY is a complete, 1-pill, once-a-day prescription medicine used to treat HIV-1 in adults and children who weigh at least 55 pounds. It can either be used in people who have never taken HIV-1 medicines before, or people who are replacing their current HIV-1 medicines and whose healthcare provider determines they meet certain requirements.

BIKTARVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS. HIV-1 is the virus that causes AIDS.

Do NOT take BIKTARVY if you also take a medicine that contains:

 dofetilide

 rifampin

 any other medicines to treat HIV-1

BEFORE TAKING BIKTARVY

Tell your healthcare provider if you:

 Have or have had any kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis infection.

 Have any other health problems.

 Are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if BIKTARVY can harm your unborn baby. Tell your healthcare provider if you become pregnant while taking BIKTARVY.

 Are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed. HIV-1 can be passed to the baby in breast milk.

Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take:

 Keep a list that includes all prescription and over-the-counter medicines, antacids, laxatives, vitamins, and herbal supplements, and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist.

 BIKTARVY and other medicines may a ect each other. Ask your healthcare provider and pharmacist about medicines that interact with BIKTARVY, and ask if it is safe to take BIKTARVY with all your other medicines.

(bik-TAR-vee)

POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF BIKTARVY

BIKTARVY may cause serious side e ects, including:

 Those in the “Most Important Information About BIKTARVY” section.

 Changes in your immune system. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fight infections that may have been hidden in your body. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any new symptoms after you start taking BIKTARVY.

 Kidney problems, including kidney failure. Your healthcare provider should do blood and urine tests to check your kidneys. If you develop new or worse kidney problems, they may tell you to stop taking BIKTARVY.

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 Severe liver problems, which in rare cases can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, lightcolored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, or stomach-area pain.

 The most common side e ects of BIKTARVY in clinical studies were diarrhea (6%), nausea (6%), and headache (5%).

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Your healthcare provider will need to do tests to monitor your health before and during treatment with BIKTARVY.

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Take BIKTARVY 1 time each day with or without food.

GET MORE INFORMATION

 This is only a brief summary of important information about BIKTARVY. Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist to learn more.

 Go to BIKTARVY.com or call 1-800-GILEAD-5

 If you need help paying for your medicine, visit BIKTARVY.com for program information.

Influential LGBTQ activist and author Urvashi Vaid dies

Former National LGBTQ Task Force executive director succumbed to cancer at 63

Urvashi Vaid, a powerful longtime influential attorney and LGBTQ activist whose career spanned from the early days of the AIDS pandemic to the contemporary battles over equality and equity for the LGBTQ community died Saturday after a bout with cancer at her home in New York.

Vaid, 63, known for her extensive career as an advocate for LGBTQ rights, women’s rights, anti-war efforts, immigration justice and many other social causes, had served as the executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force from 1989-1992 and served prior to that as the organization’s media director.

“We are devastated at the loss of one of the most influential progressive activists of our time,” said Kierra Johnson, current executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force. “Urvashi Vaid was a leader, a warrior and a force to be reckoned with,” continued Johnson, “She was also a beloved colleague, friend, partner and someone we all looked up to—a brilliant, outspoken and deeply committed activist who wanted full justice and equality for all people.”

By BRODY LEVESQUE

“Her leadership, vision, and writing helped shape not only the Task Force’s values and work but our entire queer movement and the larger progressive movement. We will strive every day to live up to her ideals and model the courage she demonstrated every day as an activist and a person. She will be deeply I missed. I miss her already,” concluded Johnson.

Vaid’s impact on the politics of the the AIDS crisis and the battles over full equality was considerable. During former President George H.W. Bush’s 1990 address on AIDS, Vaid, then the executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, made a statement with her sign: “Talk Is Cheap, AIDS Funding is Not.” Her critique made waves, disrupting the press conference, and shedding light on the failures of the Bush administration.

Another former executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force, Rea Carey noted in her post on Facebook: “I am deeply sad that Urvashi Vaid has died. My heart is with Kate and all of Urv’s beloveds who have been with her these last years, months and days as she dealt with cancer. My activism has been greatly shaped by the fact that Urv took me seriously as a young leader in our movement. She seemed endlessly excited about the ideas and passion for justice that young activists held. She was one of our movement’s motivators and north stars.

“Whenever Urv called, I’d clear my schedule for the next hour (at least!), pull out a pen and pad of paper and prepare to feverishly write down what were likely to be 10-20 rapid fire ideas of things she thought I should be doing, or doing much better … tomorrow!

“Urv pushed me to see connections, dig deeper, and I was a better activist and leader for it. Her impact within the National LGBTQ Task Force carried on long after she left its staff. The sheer intellectual and strategic hole in our movement’s drive towards liberation and freedom, left by Urv’s death, is hard to grasp.

“Up until her last months she was creating projects, mentoring others, pushing for liberation, gathering data through the National LGBTQ+ Women’s Community Survey. The only thing I ever saw Urv be more passionate about than her pursuit of freedom and liberation, was her love for Kate, their family, and her energy for her friends.

“The best way we can honor Urv is to continue to fight for justice and the full liberation

of all people,” Carey said.

Her time at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, in which she held multiple positions for over 10 years, notably media director, then executive director, saw her bring all aspects of queer life and struggle into the public eye. While at the Task Force, she co-founded the annual Creating Change conference, now in its 33rd year.

“I first met Urv in the early 1980s when we were both young attorneys and lesbian activists in Washington, D.C.,” said Los Angeles LGBT Center CEO Lorri L. Jean. “As we became friends and, eventually, colleagues, I admired her leadership and all that she accomplished, both within and outside of our movement—for queer people, for women, for people of color and against poverty. She continued her work to advance equity and justice until the very end.

“I’ll always be grateful to Urv for being one of the people who encouraged me, back in 1992, to accept the job running the Los Angeles LGBT Center. And when the National LGBTQ Task Force faced severe financial challenges in 2001, she played the key role in recruiting me to step in and help turn things around, lending her support every step of the way.

“Over the years, we spent many an hour laughing and scheming about ways to advance the causes we cared so deeply about. Urvashi was a visionary. But she was so much more: Brilliant, hilarious, charismatic, loving, determined and, above all, courageous. She made life better for all of us. Our community and our nation owe her an enormous debt of gratitude. Our hearts go out to Urvashi’s wife, Kate Clinton, and to everyone who loves her. If there’s a heaven, Urv is already organizing the angels.”

Troy Masters, the founder of Gay City News in New York, and current publisher of the Los Angeles Blade noted upon hearing the news, “On a day when millions march to protect our rights and stand up to a right-wing SCOTUS, we celebrate the life of one of our greatest social justice LGBTQ and AIDS warriors—keep shining on Urvashi Vaid.”

In 1995, after resigning from her position at the Task Force three years prior, she published her first book, “Virtual Equality: The Mainstreaming of Gay and Lesbian Liberation,” in which she criticized the idea of “mainstreaming” what was and is, in fact, a civil rights movement. Rather than tolerance, she argued, the objective for the movement should be fundamental, actionable change. It was not an immediately popular notion, as media representation for queer people was just beginning to take shape, though it was, for her, of great moral importance. In 1996 “Virtual Equality” won the Stonewall Book Award.

In her position as president of the Vaid Group, Vaid advised, mentored, and supported the LGBTQ movement.

In 2012, Urvashi Vaid launched LPAC, the first lesbian Super PAC, and it has since invested millions of dollars in candidates who are committed to social justice through legislation. Prior to that, Vaid held positions on the boards at the Ford Foundation, the Arcus Foundation (where she served as executive director from 2005 to 2010) and the Gill Foundation. She was a leader in the development of the ongoing National LGBTQ women’s community survey.

Vaid was the aunt of activist and performance artist Alok Vaid-Menon. She is survived by Alok Vaid-Menon as well as her longtime partner, political humorist Kate Clinton.

Appreciating lesbian thinker, activist Urvashi Vaid

‘A whip-smart lesbian of color who stood up and fought’

By KAREN OCAMB

Urvashi Vaid was whip smart. She could look at you with some analysis spinning behind her eyes and then smile a deep broad smile and you could exhale as a shared vision started coursing through your veins — a warrior sisterhood striving and fighting for liberation. And you didn’t even know liberation was on your wish-list. It’s hard to register that Urvashi Vaid is gone.

Urvashi could seduce your brain with elevated and clear-spoken common sense. And damn if she couldn’t rile you up and spur you to action as she did in Sacramento in 1991 after Republican Gov. Pete Wilson vetoed AB 101, the gay rights bill he promised to sign, and with her 1993 speech at the March on Washington.

And we needed that. After years of excruciating pain losing lovers, family and friends while Ronald Reagan’s spokesperson laughed about the scourge of AIDS in the White House press room, a serious LGBTQ political movement was emerging in the late 1980s. And igniting those righteous flames of fury was this short, thin, proud lesbian of South Indian heritage who exuded the perfume of power. She knew her stuff. And she was at ease with powerbrokers, including Hollywood A+ types who made history attending an August 1991 benefit for the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, thrown by gay Hollywood manager Barry Krost, entertainment attorney Alan Hergott and Hergott’s lover, NGLTF Board co-chair Curt Shepard. Hollywood was finally showing up for AIDS benefits — but gay rights was still just too controversial. It was a very big deal.

Among our own, Urvashi would let fools yammer on with puffed-up opinions. But eventually she would halt us with a glance, a quick quip or a concise Marxist-ish dissertation on any situation and its connection to poverty, rendering you dumbstruck, agog – pick a synonym.

Urvashi was a teacher, a mentor — though I don’t think she thought of herself that way. She was merely trying to help a brother or sister — especially younger folks — learn to think differently, think for themselves, and think of themselves as part of the larger movement for civil rights.

One moment perfectly captures that for me. I was a freelancer covering the monumental 1992 Creating Change conference in Los Angeles. That was the year when esteemed gay author Paul Monette (Borrowed Time) ripped up a picture of the Pope, freaking out a lot of Catholic Latinos. I kept an eye on Urvashi and her pal Torie Osborn, head of the

LA Gay & Lesbian Community Services Center, as they talked art with closeted LA City Councilmember Joel Wachs, as well as the usual leadership discussions, debates and skirmishes among activists in a heightened political year.

I also covered breakout sessions and one proved to be particularly daunting. It was a discussion about race in the gay movement. A young fierce gay Asian artist named Joel B. Tan took over the discussion and challenged my press credentials, my commitment to the movement, and my ability to report ANYTHING accurately or fairly about that meeting because I’m white. He called for a vote on whether I should be allowed to stay or get kicked out.

Some folks in the room, familiar with my reporting since the late 1980s, defended me. I was prepared to get shamefully kicked out when Joel went just a tad too far and started claiming the Task Force itself was a cauldron of white racism. In fact, the whole damn gay movement was basically a rich white gay conspiracy to get power and use everyone else as pawns.

When Joel finally took a breath, a muffled sound came from just outside the room. We looked and there was Urvashi, casually leaning on the door jamb with Phill Wilson, then co-founder of the National Black Gay & Lesbian Leadership Forum and of the LA chapter of Black and White Men Together. “What about us?” Urv asked very simply. The tension evaporated, I was allowed to stay and racism within the gay community was discussed with passion but without grandstanding. (I called Joel later and he said my report was acceptable.)

The tension eased so quickly because Urvashi had been fighting systemic racism at every level for a very long time, including within the gay community. Her power was smarts, compassion, humor — and credibility.

Not to say Urvashi was perfect. In fact, I had a serious disagreement with her over an incident that happened in Los Angeles. There was a ballot initiative that called for a new statewide Insurance Commissioner to be appointed by the governor. APLA Board Chair Dr. Scott Hitt and political consultant David Mixner opposed the initiative, which drove some AIDS activists crazy. We were in the middle of the second wave of AIDS and we needed government help. Hitt and Mixner explained that they didn’t oppose the idea, just the method: the Insurance Commissioner should be elected, not appointed. Imagine if we had a governor more horrific than Pete Wilson?

I reported that and activist writer Stuart Timmons freaked out. He wrote a 7,000 word thesis in a treading-water alternative weekly bashing Hitt and Mixner. He also showed up at my apartment screaming about how I was afraid of these prominent politicos. I was pissed — so I did my own deep dive into his tome and found people who complained that he quoted them out of context or actually changed their quotes to fit his activist premise. Eventually, we all moved on, including me since Stuart was friends with my friend Harry Hay.

But then Urvashi quoted extensively from Stuart’s disinformation piece in her book Virtual Equality: The Mainstreaming of Gay and Lesbian Liberation. I tried to reach her but failed. I later heard her cite Stuart’s story as an example of bad gays. I fumed for a moment, then let that go, too.

Besides, Urvashi was doing so much good. And her relationship with Kate Clinton was so cool and extraordinary. I learned what a “soft butch” was — but that’s another story.

Urvashi Vaid is appropriately being lauded as an exemplary warrior for justice and civil rights. I remember her as a whip-smart lesbian of color who stood up and fought but also offered peace and hope when possible — as she did appearing with conservative gay writer/editor Andrew Sullivan on the Charlie Rose show before the 1993 march.

Last July, Urvashi was the guest on Gay USA, anchored by her friends Ann Northrop and Andy Humm. She talked about the National LGBTQ+ Women’s Survey, an American LGBTQ+ Museum — and about fighting breast cancer. Urv seemed upbeat but a burdened aura of mortality cloaked her Zoom appearance. She seemed determined to approach death as she had lived — educating people about our ongoing fight for liberation and, with a deep, broad smile and thoughtful eyes, telling the truth about her own humanity.

Thank you, Urvashi Vaid.

Brian Sims, three other LGBTQ candidates lose races in Pa.

Gay, trans hopefuls competing for Philly state house

seat

lose

to straight ally

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

LGBTQ candidates running for the U.S. Senate, lieutenant governor, and a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in Philadelphia’s ‘gayborhood’ each lost their races in the Keystone State’s May 17 Democratic primary.

Transgender community activist Deja Alvarez and LGBTQ rights and economic development advocate Jonathan Lovitz, who ran against each other in a four-candidate race for the 182nd District State House seat in Center City Philadelphia, were thought to have the best shot at winning among the four LGBTQ candidates running in the state primary.

The two were running neck-and-neck to one another but were trailing far behind straight LGBTQ ally and businessman Ben Waxman as of late Tuesday evening. With the votes counted in 52 of 59 of the district’s electoral divisions, Waxman had 41.6 percent of the vote, Lovitz had 19.1 percent, with Alvarez garnering 18.6 percent. Café owner, community activist, and LGBTQ ally Will Gross had 20.5 percent of the vote.

Lovitz and Alvarez along with Waxman and Gross were running for the seat held by gay State Rep. Brian Sims, who gave up the seat to run in Tuesday’s primary as the state’s first out gay candidate for lieutenant governor.

Sims lost that race to fellow State Rep. Austin Davis by a margin of 63.3 percent for Davis and 24.5 percent for Sims with 88 percent of the votes counted. The Associated Press declared Davis the winner early in the evening. A third candidate in the race, Ray Sosa, had 12.2 percent of the vote.

In a development that surprised many observers outside Pennsylvania, more than 40 prominent LGBTQ leaders from across the state endorsed Davis over Sims earlier this year, saying Davis is a strong and committed supporter of LGBTQ rights and has the best chance of winning in the general elec-

tion in November.

Davis also received the strong backing of Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who ran unopposed in Tuesday’s primary for the Democratic nomination for governor. Shapiro, who also received strong backing from LGBTQ activists, said he considered Davis to be his running mate in the primary.

The fourth of the LGBTQ candidates running in Tuesday’s Pennsylvania primary, State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta of the 181st District in North Philly, ran as a longshot candidate for the state’s U.S. Senate seat being vacated by GOP incumbent Patrick Toomey. Kenyatta lost to Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who was declared the winner with 88 percent of the votes counted.

more LGBTQ residents than any other legislative district in the state, drew the most attention among LGBTQ activists both in Philadelphia and in other parts of the country.

Both have been involved in LGBTQ rights issues for many years. Lovitz drew support from a wide range of LGBTQ and labor and small business leaders who he knew in his past role as senior vice president of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce. Alvarez, a widely known transgender activist who led local community-based organizations providing services to the LGBTQ community, would have been the first transgender person to serve in the Pennsylvania General Assembly if she had been elected to the State House seat.

Fetterman had 59.3 percent, with Kenyatta finishing in third place in a four-candidate race with 10.0 percent of the vote. U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb finished in second place with 26.6 percent of the vote as of early Wednesday morning, with IT specialist and former small business owner Alex Khalil finishing fourth with 4.2 percent of the vote.

Kenyatta, who was one of three gay speakers who joined others in delivering a joint keynote address at the 2020 Democratic National Convention, received the endorsement of the Philadelphia Gay News in his bid for the U.S. Senate seat.

The race in which Lovitz and Alvarez competed for the State House seat in the 182nd District, which is believed to have

The LGBTQ Victory Fund, the national group that raises money in support of LGBTQ candidates for public office, drew criticism from some activists for endorsing Alvarez over Lovitz. Some argued that the group should have remained neutral or backed Lovitz, who had raised far more money for his campaign and appeared to be the most viable of the two candidates. Others expressed concern that two LGBTQ candidates running in a four-candidate race could result in a split in the LGBTQ vote that would help the straight candidates, who were known LGBTQ rights supporters.

As it turned out, the approximate combined share of the vote that Alvarez and Lovitz received — 38.2 percent — still fell short of the 42.6 percent of the vote received by Waxman.

WNBA players ask White House to ‘prioritize’ Griner’s release

Phoenix Mercury center detained in Russia in February

By MICHAEL K. LAVERS | mlavers@washblade.com

The Women’s National Basketball Players Association has endorsed a petition that urges the Biden administration to “prioritize” WNBA star Brittney Griner’s release.

“It is imperative that the U.S. government immediately address this human rights issue and do whatever is necessary to return Brittney home quickly and safely,” reads the Change. org petition that Tamryn Spruill, a freelance journalist and author, created.

“The WNBPA and its members proudly join Tamryn Spruill, the creator of this petition, in demanding that lawmakers prioritize Griner’s return,” it continues. “White House and Biden adminsitration, we ask that you take action today—doing whatever is necessary—to bring Brittney Griner home swiftly and safely.”

More than 135,000 people have signed the petition. Spruill on Saturday in a tweet said the WNBPA, a union that represents WNBA players, partnered with them and Change. org “in demanding that our elected officials work urgently to gain BG’s swift and safe release.”

Griner — a center for the Phoenix Mercury and a two-time Olympic gold medalist who is a lesbian and married to her

wife — was taken into custody at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport in February. Russian officials said customs inspectors found hashish oil in her luggage.

The State Department earlier this month determined Russia “wrongfully detained” Griner. A Russian court on Friday extended her detention for another month.

“The Russian system wrongfully detained Ms. Griner,” then-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday during her last White House briefing. “We take our responsibility to assist U.S. citizens seriously. And we will continue to press for fair and transparent treatment for all U.S. citizens when they are subject to legal processes overseas.”

“Now, because the State Department recategorized her as wrongfully detained, it means that our Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs — it’s quite a title but a well-deserved one — is going to be overseeing this case and leading the effort,” added Psaki. “Because it’s a deliberative process and we know from experience of bringing other Americans home, we’re just not going to detail what those efforts look like at this point in time.”

Griner faces up to 10 years in prison.

Lindsey Horvath

is a candidate for the seat representing Los Angeles County’s 3rd supervisorial district on the County Board of Supervisors. She currently is an elected member of the City of West Hollywood City Council.

Why I’m running

Lindsey Horvath is a candidate for seat representing LA County’s 3rd district on Board of Supervisors

My career is defined by tackling the hardest problems, building diverse coalitions, and delivering results for my community. I’m running to be the next Los Angeles County Supervisor from the 3rd District because I have the determination and experience to make a difference for the people who need it most.

Right now, working families are struggling to keep up with a crush of compounding crises. We need Los Angeles County to step up and protect workers’ rights while creating a thriving local economy. We need sustainable, supportive housing and services for the people living on our streets and community-focused public safety services that keep us all safe. We need our government to work for us.

I’m ready to use my experience leading the region on issues like homelessness, public safety, transportation, and economic development to put Los Angeles County back to work for the people. Throughout my career as a public servant, I have scored victories for my community on advancing the rights of women and LGBTQ+ people, as well as creating age-friendly, sustainable neighborhoods, and I’m just getting started.

Of all the candidates, I bring a proven record of bridge-building, community engagement, and innovative problem-solving on the local level. Like many Angelenos, I am a renter, a millennial, and someone who directly faces the needs of working people. My experience and connections at the local level have delivered opportunities to serve in statewide and national leadership roles.

I am the only candidate with relevant, current experience at the local level who has the community connections to implement real, on-the-ground, culturally-competent solutions to our District’s most urgent challenges. I’m currently working within County leadership to implement solutions to our homelessness and housing crises as well as our broken criminal justice system, to improve our health and quality of life through enhanced social programs, and to help Los Angeles transition towards a sustainable, clean energy future.

I’m also the only candidate who has direct experience navigating the LA County Sheriff’s Department to implement real and lasting change. This includes my work to clear the backlog of untested rape kit evidence and to hold the Sheriff and the Department accountable.

As Mayor during the pandemic, I worked with businesses and employees to keep businesses safely open and to improve working conditions. The unique, diverse coalition of support we’ve developed reflects the diversity of our region, and makes our

campaign uniquely positioned to connect with ALL communities throughout the district.

As a municipal official for 15 years, I took action to keep our communities healthy for all of our residents by fighting for investment in public safety services, preserving and building more affordable housing, improving public transit by bringing Metro rail to our District ahead of schedule, and finding solutions to care for and house our growing unhoused population.

We need leaders who know how to deliver for our communities. I’ve done this not just in West Hollywood but as Past President of the California Contract Cities; Board Member for the National League of Cities (NLC); Past President of Women in Municipal Government (WIMG) for the National League of Cities; Chair of the Liability Trust Fund Claims Board & Oversight Committee; and Executive Committee Member and Legislative & Regulatory Chair for Clean Power Alliance of Southern California.

Combating homelessness is a top priority for me. My leadership in the City of West Hollywood has produced an intersectional approach to solving homelessness – including housing, services, and community safety – that has delivered results. In addition to inclusionary housing, I have championed the production of transitional, supportive, and long-term affordable housing solutions. I also initiated the City’s request to have dedicated LASD Mental Evaluation Teams (MET), which combine a clinically-trained social worker with a public safety professional to respond to relevant calls.

We need to establish teams to meet people where they are with the relevant support they need, including mental health services, addiction recovery, and job training, instead of leaving them to face the additional challenges of navigating the endless bureaucratic process alone. We must invest in solutions that take into account the root causes of homelessness, rather than wastefully spending more public dollars without solving the foundational problems.

We also need to take immediate action to transform Los Angeles into a leading clean energy county. Climate change is an issue that requires bold action, which is why I supported the adoption of net-zero policy goals to set my community on the path to becoming a zero-carbon city, and I will work with cities and neighborhoods to do the same across Los Angeles County. Throughout my career, I’ve worked to bring people together to find solutions to the toughest local problems. I’m ready to put my skills to work for people of District 3 so that we can build a Los Angeles that works for everyone.

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A Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer, Aron Solomon, JD, is the chief legal analyst for Today’s Esquire. He has taught entrepreneurship at McGill University and the University of Pennsylvania, and was elected to Fastcase 50, recognizing the top 50 legal innovators in the world.

Where does wrongful detention of Brittney Griner go from here?

She will inevitably be labeled a hostage

It seems like years rather than weeks ago that American political prisoner, Trevor Reed, was released from Russia in a prisoner swap. It also seems like years since an American citizen, basketball superstar Brittney Griner, was taken into custody in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport for allegedly having hashish oil in her possession.

We now know what many of us believed all along - that Brittney Griner was, in the far too late proclamation by the U.S. government, “wrongfully detained.” In diplomacy-speak, wrongfully detained is synonymous with politically detained, which is super close to what will soon enough inevitably happen - calling Brittney Griner a hostage.

Since the beginning of Griner’s detention, I have done dozens of print, radio, TV, and related interviews, and I have a pretty clear view of how and why we got here.

As I wrote around six weeks ago, if we read between the lines of what’s being said in traditional and social media, we can extract three key reasons why the Griner situation isn’t getting the attention that it should be and would be if it was a different athlete.

The first reason is that Brittney Griner is not a terribly high-profile athlete.

This is patently untrue. As I have been commenting from the minute we learned that she was taken into custody by the Russians, Griner was absolutely the highest-profile American athlete that Russia could have taken into custody as they were preparing for their brutal invasion of Ukraine.

The only other high-profile athletes playing in Russia or transiting through at that time were the very few American players in Russia’s top hockey league, the KHL. None are superstars in their sport, as Griner is.

The second argument for why Griner isn’t getting the attention she should be is that she is LGBTQ.

I have argued that this is a reasonably good hypothesis. It just seems that a straight athlete would be getting a lot more attention and public sympathy than Griner has, in part, yet not in full, because of her sexual orientation. That’s a remarkably harsh position to have to take in 2022, yet it’s clear that Griner doesn’t fit the mold of what many Americans see as that all-American athlete. That one’s sexual or gender orientation should drive the American public’s level of sympathy for one of their own top athletes is a shame, but here we are.

The third and most commonly cited reason for Brittany Griner getting less attention than another athlete in a similar situation is that she’s Black.

This argument holds little weight with me. Yes, it makes sense that in comparison to a high-profile white athlete, some people are simply going to care less about a Black athlete. Again, that’s a harsh analysis, yet not unaligned with many things going on in the nation today.

But I think this is a reductive argument that crumbles under the weight of the analogy that I usually use during TV and radio broadcasts about the Griner case - and that is, what if this was Kyrie Irving?

I like to use Kyrie Irving as an analogy because he is a highly controversial

Black athlete. Obviously, NBA players don’t have to have second jobs in places like Russia, Turkey, and China, to make ends meet, as the WNBA women do. But just imagine that Kyrie Irving was traveling alone through Moscow airport. If Irving had been taken into custody by the Russians, I can guarantee that this would be front-page news not just in the sports section but on the front page of all significant papers practically every day. That simply hasn’t been the case with Brittney Griner.

Every day, I am asked where this goes from here. With Griner’s May 19 hearing delayed “one month” (though at the time of writing, no date has been set), I remained convinced of two things: that this goes to a worse place than we are now and that it progresses painfully slowly.

As to the first point, to maximize leverage over the United States, it’s likely that Griner will end up somewhere like a Russian labor camp before she ever steps back into the United States. While Russia does not follow the Rule of Law, it would be neither legally nor politically expedient to just hold Griner in a Moscow jail or prison indefinitely. They need to make her situation worse to turn up the urgency of the case for the American government.

But this indeed won’t happen overnight. As I’ve also been saying all along, the next hearing date will also be delayed, OR we will learn through a TASS Russian media release that Griner was tried, found guilty of all charges, and sentenced (see labor camp, above).

As to what each of us can do, my advice remains the same: Keep talking about it. Make this Brittney as viral as Britney Spears was a year ago. Just as Britney Spears’ freedom from her conservatorship was turbo-charged by the #FreeBritney hashtag, let’s #FreeBrittney now.

This is significantly less trite than it sounds. There is no indication that the American government doesn’t want you to forget about Brittney Griner. As former hostage Jason Rezaian discussed on an excellent recent Washington Post podcast, he always “calls BS” on those parties, saying we should keep detentions such as Griner’s out of the public spotlight. He advocates being as loud as we can be on this, which is why I keep doing interviews on this issue as much as possible.

Ultimately, Brittney Griner will be a political prisoner until the United States and Russia can decide, in crass basketball terms, on a fair player trade. On Friday, we learned that the two sides might actually be in discussions now for a trade involving Griner for notorious convicted arms trafficker Viktor Bout, aka the “Merchant of Death.”

Unless this can re-enter and remain in the public spotlight, along with any pressure on the government, Britney Griner will not get the treatment she deserves as one of the greatest basketball players of her generation. That the massive disparity between how NBA and WNBA players are compensated laid the foundation for her to be in this position is the harsh reality these leagues face today. Yet it pales compared to the uncertain reality Griner faces today in a Moscow jail.

AFTERGLOW ignites minds & heart

By BEKAH WRIGHT

HOLLYWOOD – Life imitates art, the saying goes. Sometimes, art also serves as a form of therapy. Enter Afterglow, a play written and directed by S. Asher Gelman. While he won’t give away what unfolds in the play, Gelman doesn’t hold back about what led up to its creation. So how will audiences view Afterglow? Will they see themselves reflected onstage? Will they find themselves seeking out therapy? Or will they experience a belief shift? Turn up the stage lights. The west coast premiere of Afterglow, and its director/writer, are ready for their close-up.

Currently running in Hollywood’s Hudson Mainstage Theatre through June 19, Afterglow first made its appearance Off-Broadway and in London. The 90-minute, one-act play opens with a threesome, Josh (Noah Bridgestock) and Alex (James Hayden Rodriguez)–a married couple in an open relationship–who’ve invited Darius (Nathan Mohebbi) to share their bed.

Though Josh and Darius have been chatting online, it’s the first time the trio has met. Suddenly, they find themselves considering possibilities. “We’ve been brainwashed into a very specific understanding of what love is, what relationships are, what relationships can be, and what love can be,” Gelman says. “The notion of a one-size-fits-all relationship isn’t true for everyone. The characters are surprised to learn other possibilities exist.”

It was a similar scenario that led Gelman to pen Afterglow. He and his husband Mati were a couple of months into opening their relationship when Gelman began seeing someone. “The experience almost ended my marriage,” he says. Being brand new to consensual non-monogamy, Gelman had difficulty navigating the situation. “I was afraid of my feelings; I was dishonest about them, which caused a lot of pain.” Guilt-ridden about how he handled the situation, he wrote Afterglow as a way of deconstructing and learning from the experience.

It was during the premiere of Afterglow that reality struck. “We were already polyamorous with our partner Tony, but completely oblivious to it.” Already a great friend, Tony did everything with the couple, including spending the night. They embraced the newfound structure of a throuple. “Our society equates romantic love with ownership and commitment with exclusivity,” Gelman says, “but nobody ever says you shouldn’t be friends with other people because it would take away from your other friendships.” For Gelman, Mati, and Tony, society’s norms didn’t fit. “Loving this other man didn’t mean my husband and I didn’t love each other as much, or in the same way.”

As for the characters in Afterglow, the scenario begins with their exploration of an open relationship, but the perceived security of their marriage is shaken. Like the three men, the

play has audiences examining their definitions of relationships.

During Afterglow’s New York run, Gelman received an influx of messages akin to, “My partner of five years and I went to see the show last week, and we haven’t stopped talking about it. This morning, we broke up.” Others were from people who refused to bring their partners to the play for fear it would open a Pandora’s Box and change their relationship. “In relationships, we want to freeze time,” Gelman says. “I’m thrilled Afterglow has engendered people with the courage to have these difficult conversations and learn things they might have been afraid of knowing. We evolve as we gain new information about ourselves, and sometimes that information brings us apart.”

Gelman realizes he and Mati have been lucky to have their relationship evolve in a parallel manner. It’s what made it possible for him to tell Mati he’d developed feelings for Stefano, his now boyfriend. Mati is supportive of the relationship. “Polyamory gets a bad rap,” Gelman says. “People see it as ‘commitment lite,’ but it’s actually commitment heavy, a delicate balancing act of multiple people’s schedules and needs to ensure everyone’s happiness.”

Ultimately, Afterglow is a global love story. “It’s a shared experience of what we perceive true love and relationships look like,” Gelman says. “Love is powerful. Love is strong. We should work towards it, understanding that it doesn’t solve all the issues, and sometimes love just isn’t enough.”

As for Gelman, Mati, Tony, and Stefano, Afterglow’s Los Angeles premiere is giving the four the opportunity to meet in person. “It’s sort of the dream and the nightmare of polyamory when your partners are comparing notes right in front of you,” Gelman laughs. And for those wondering, Gelman says of his love life, “I’m no longer looking. I’m polysaturated.”

AFTERGLOW

Written and Directed by S. Asher Gelman

OPENS: Thursday, May 5 at 8pm

RUNS: Thursday, May 5 – Sunday, June 19, 2022

PERFORMANCES: Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 8pm; Sundays at 7pm.

Ticket prices are $45.00 for General Admission; $65 for Premium Admission

(includes a concessions item plus a souvenir program).

HUDSON THEATRE - 6539 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles

For tickets or more information, please visit www.afterglowla.com

of “AFTERGLOW” - Written and directed by S. Asher Gelman and now playing at the Hudson Theatre in Hollywood.

JAMES HAYDEN RODRIGUEZ, NOAH BRIDGESTOCK and NATHAN MOHEBBI star in the L.A.

(Photo

NATHAN MOHEBBI, NOAH BRIDGESTOCK and JAMES HAYDEN RODRIGUEZ star in the L.A. premiere of “AFTERGLOW.”

Pride is back and better than ever

After two-year hiatus, the

season

is upon us and filled with

unmissable events

JUNE

1

WEHO PRIDE LGBTQ ARTS FESTIVAL

Assorted Locations

The gay epicenter’s LGBTQ Arts Festival offers a monthlong array of readings, art exhibits, plays, and concerts at venues around the city. Through June 30. Pride.weho.org.

JUNE

2

A BEVERLY HILLS PRIDE CONCERT

Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

The first-ever Pride celebration in Beverly Hills will feature an evening of live music, poetry, and performances by local luminaries such as Celeste X, Jeshua, and San Cha. Pride.weho.org.

DIGITAL L.A. LGBTQ+ CREATORS AND INFLUENCERS

Stache West Hollywood

An annual WeHo panel with LGBTQ+ creators and influencers sharing advice on creating content, engaging with viewers, and working with brands. Digitalla.net.

THRIVE WITH PRIDE AT THE BEVERLY CENTER

The Beverly Center

The landmark L.A. shopping mall is throwing the first of its Thursday night Thrive with Pride events (also part of Beverly Hills Pride) featuring gay-themed movie nights, special performances, and rainbow cocktails. Lapride.org.

JUNE

3

LGBTQ+ PRIDE NIGHT

Dodger Stadium

The Los Angeles Dodgers are teaming up with L.A. Pride for “Pride Night at the Stadium” as they square off against the New York Mets. A special pre-game ceremony will recognize frontline workers and feature surprise guests. A postgame celebration will include fireworks and music from DJ Bowie J. Mlb.com/dodgers.

OUTLOUD RAISING VOICES MUSIC FESTIVAL

West Hollywood Park

WeHo’s 2022 Pride weekend kicks off with a rollicking three-day concert series at the newly refurbished West Hollywood Park featuring a lineup of musical acts like Lil’ Kim, Marina, and Years & Years who’ll perform anthemic hits. June 3-5. Weareoutloud.com.

By JEREMY KINSER

JUNE 4

PRINCE AND PRIDE

L.A. Kings Burbank Sports Center

Who wouldn’t want to go to a funky roller-skating celebration of Prince’s birthday and Pride month?

Lakingsburbanksportscenter.com

JUNE 5

THE WEHO PRIDE PARADE

WeHo’s pride extravaganza kicks off at noon along Santa Monica Boulevard at Fairfax and ends up at Robertson.

CHERRY BOMB WEHO PRIDE TAKEOVER

Hotel Ziggy

Cherry Bomb, a social group for queer women and gender expansive folks, is colonizing the entire hotel for a weekend of female-friendly dinners, pool parties, comedy performances, and VIP open bars.

PRIDE PAWTY

Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel Reserve your spot for pawdicures and fun activities like a dog-friendly photo booth and crafting matching pup and human accessories. Free puptails and $15 cocktails will be available. A portion of the proceeds will go to the L.A. LGBT Center. loewshotels.com.

JUNE

10

THE YARD X LEZ CROIX

Catch One

The special Pride lineup at the historic venue that provided a safe place for queers of color will feature performances by local performers and a band of musicians who will fly in from across the gay universe. Catch.one

UNITED IN PRIDE

Various locations

Masterbeat’s four-day Pride fest will begin with a lively Saturday afternoon pool party on the rooftop of the Andaz Hotel. Among the other highlights are a Saturday night dance party with tunes from DJs Deanne and Tom Stephan at the Avalon nightclub and a Sunday evening Pride tea dance at Academy L.A. June 11-14, Masterbeat.com.

JUNE 28

JEREMY ATHERTON LIN ON “GAY BAR: WHY WE WENT OUT“

Book Soup

Strobing lights and dark rooms, throbbing house music and drag queens on countertops, first kisses and last call, the gay bar has long been a place of solidarity and self-expression. The author will discuss his book, as well as the decline of America’s gay bars in a Pride Month chat at the venerable L.A. bookstore.

Booksoup.com

JULY 8

LONG BEACH PRIDE

Long Beach’s threeday Pride festivities start on Friday night and continue all weekend. The annual event attracts over 80,000 revelers from across the SoCal area and conclude with a dazzling concert featuring Iggy Azalea and Natalia Jimenez. June 8-10, Longbeachpride.com.

JULY 9

VENICE PRIDE TEA DANCE AT THE JAMES

James’ Beach

The famous monthly dance party presented by Venice Pride and Roosterfish is hosting a special Pride Month party at James’ Beach, the longest operating gay-owned bar in Venice. DJ Spencer H will be spinning.

Jamesbeach.com.

JULY 14

OUTFEST: SUMMER FILM FESTIVAL

Various Locations

SoCals’s premiere showcase of queer films and filmmakers, will launch its annual 11-day summer film festival on July 14. The festival, which began in 1982, will offer premiere screenings and schmoozy parties at movie theaters all around Los Angeles.

Outfest.org.

AUG. 5

DTLA PROUD ’22

Pershing Square

Founded by a group of local residents, business owners, and community leaders, the annual Pride event at the main stage of Pershing Square will offer an exclusive screening of the fascinating documentary “Proud in a Pandemic,” as well as two days of stage performances, DJs, art, food trucks, and a dance party at the waterpark.

Dtlaproud.org.

Join Joel Kim Booster on ‘Fire Island’ this summer Gay rom com features queer Asian cast

It would be an understandable mistake to see Joel Kim Booster on one of the two “Out Traveler” magazine covers he’s gracing this month and assume he was just another sexy fashion model, but the 34-year-old Korean-American comedian is not having a moment in the blazing sun of queer pop culture just because of his undeniable talent for rocking a Speedo.

He is actually in the middle of the publicity push for the upcoming film “Fire Island,” which he wrote and in which he co-stars with (among others) close friend Bowen Yang and comedy legend Margaret Cho, and which begins screening exclusively on the Hulu streaming service just in time for Pride month.

Directed by Andrew Ahn (“Spa Night”), it’s a movie that’s generating a lot of buzz, partly because it’s the first predominantly queer film to be backed by a major movie studio (Disney, through its Searchlight Pictures division). We’ve been burned too many times not to be skeptical about such a project, but anyone already familiar with Booster’s work will undoubtedly tell you it’s not likely to be another watered-down, safe-forthe-mainstream offering designed to check off boxes on the diversity agenda. Since he first made a splash with an appearance on “Conan” in 2016, he has gained a following among queer and straight audiences alike with his unapologetically gay, unabashedly sex-positive comedy, leading to what some might call a meteoric rise to the brink of superstardom through an acclaimed stand-up career, his roles on TV in shows like the shortlived sitcom “Sunnyside” (on which he was a regular), “Shrill,” and “The Week Of, and his popular podcasts (“Urgent Care with Joel Kim Booster + Mitra Jouhari” and “The Joy Fuck Club”).

Now he’s poised to become a movie star with “Fire Island,” a gay romantic comedy set in the titular vacation retreat that dares not only to feature a cast made up entirely of queer characters, but doubles down by putting the focus on queer characters who also happen to be Asian. To top it all off, it gives Booster a chance to show off his literate side with a story – that concerns a group of gay best friends out for sexual adventure, and possibly even romance, on what might be their last trip to the iconic gay getaway – adapted from no less esteemed a literary source than Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.”

By JOHN PAUL KING

The Blade was fortunate enough to chat with Booster in the middle of this very high-pressure month before his feature film debut, and our conversation was informed by the kind of erudite and compassionate intelligence that has marked the young comedian’s career from the start.

BLADE: In your comedy, you’ve drawn a lot of inspiration from being raised as a Korean adoptee by white American parents in a deeply Christian midwestern community. Does that experience figure into the movie, too?

BOOSTER: Of course! As a transnational adoptee, my entire life I’ve been fighting against this nagging feeling of not quite fitting in – and that’s whether I’m around white people, or Asian people, or even some gay people. It’s tough, and it’s been such a paramount part of my life to find people who make me feel seen and accepted and to keep them close, so it felt really important for the theme of chosen family to stay in the forefront when I was making this movie. As much as it’s a “rom com,” it’s also about friendship – about relationships with people who,

like I say in the movie, “fill in the gaps.”

BLADE: How did you hit on using Jane Austen as a source?

BOOSTER: It was really a lucky accident. I brought “Pride and Prejudice” with me on the first trip Bowen and I ever took to Fire Island. I would be lying there on the beach reading it and thinking, “It’s amazing how the things she was writing about are so relevant to what we’re experiencing on this island right now.” It was kinda wild, and it started out as threat, a joke – I would keep saying, ‘I can’t wait to write an all-gay adaptation of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ set on Fire Island,’ and people would boo and throw things at me. But after that I would always bring an Austen book with me to read on the island, because it felt like there was something so prescient about what she wrote, and about her observations on class, especially reading it in this place where we had sort of created our own class system, as gay men.

BLADE: When did it stop being a joke?

BOOSTER: Actually, my agent suggested that I should write it, because I was in between projects. I just had a pilot that was passed on by Comedy Central, I was depressed, I had nothing to do – so I ended up writing it as half-hour pilot script. But nobody wanted it until Quibi [the short-form entertainment platform that launched and folded in 2020 after failing to meet projected subscription levels]. Say what you will about them, but they really invested a lot of money and time into new and young voices, and they took a lot of chances. They took a chance on me, and when they folded I had this script that I could point to which I had written and developed with them. This movie was a tough pitch to sell on just a log line, but I had this finished project, this complicated piece of work to show people, that was much more intricate than I think “Gay ‘Pride and Prejudice’” would maybe lead people to believe.

BLADE: Your movie is just one of several big queer titles on deck for 2022, including Billy Eichner’s rom com, “Bros.” How do you feel about that?

BOOSTER: Honestly, it really takes some of the pressure off. When we get, like, one gay movie a year, a lot of attention and scrutiny gets put on that movie and it’s expected to be everything to everyone in our community. And our community is huge, and it’s diverse, and there are so many stories that aren’t being told. I’m so glad Billy’s movie is coming out as well, he was my first comedy boss, and I’m really happy that people in our community are going to have two big gay rom coms to choose from.

BLADE: We haven’t seen “Bros” yet, but we’ve seen “Fire Island.” There’s a review embargo [until May 23], but I think it’s safe to say nobody is going to boo or throw things at you. Do you feel any sense of competition about it?

BOOSTER: My hope is that people love both, but it’s nice that if somebody goes to see my movie and says, ‘That’s not for me, I don’t see myself there,’ then a couple months later they’ll see Billy’s and they’ll have another shot at it. And I hope both of our movies are successful enough that they create a million clones. I hope it’s just the beginning.

“Fire Island,” which also stars Conrad Ricamora, premieres on Hulu on June 3.

Omar, Netflix’s ‘Elite,’ and queer Palestinian representation

Valid critiques aside, show provides a step forward in combating racism, homophobia

By SA’ED ATSHAN

Elite, the Spanish Netflix original series released in 2018, has now become a worldwide sensation. Created by Carlos Montero and Dario Madrona, Elite follows the lives of teenagers and classmates at Las Encinas, a fictional private school for wealthy children from Spain and other countries.

There are several students from lower socio-economic backgrounds on full scholarships, and the series explores their intersecting experiences in the community. Over the course of the five existing seasons, taboos are boldly displayed on screen: from racy sexuality, to rape, abortion, drugs, alcohol, crime, murder, and corruption.

While this may be too much for many viewers, the provocative themes, attractive actors, love triangles, extensive scenes of partying, compelling cinematography, and the psychological thriller aspects of the series have galvanized fans in Europe and beyond. Merely a month after its release, Netflix revealed that Elite was streamed by over 20 million accounts. It has since secured a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and has become one of the most successful shows globally.

Alongside the superficial elements of this show lies a thoughtful and nuanced exploration of the central characters’ inner worlds and the profound issues with which they grapple. This includes the salience of class and inequality in society, the power of education for social mobility, immigration, racism, and xenopohobia, the role of law in attaining or evading justice, feminism and the struggle for women’s rights, the prevalence of internalized and external homophobia, the command of technology, social media, and surveillance on our lives, and the effects on young people of having to grow up and mature too quickly.

I was particularly captivated by the character of Omar, played by a Spanish actor with the same first name: Omar Ayuso. While many of the characters who appear in the earlier seasons do not return, Omar is present for all five seasons thus far, becoming central to the overarching narrative.

His Palestinian background is emphasized in the script and on screen and this is huge for the mainstreaming of Palestinians in Western popular media. Omar’s gayness is also clearly highlighted, bringing queer Palestinian lives to the screen in a formidable manner.

While Omar Ayuso was not one of the most experienced actors and is not the most talented of the actors in this series, his character undergoes a transformation that is powerful and compels audiences. His dark features are handsome, with a signature unibrow, and his attire becomes more and more colorful and expressive, and his bodily comportment more comfortable, as he grows more secure in his own skin.

We learn that Omar comes from the Shanaa family and is the son of Palestinian Muslim im-

from home to escape their conservative parents and his

Omar and Nadia’s father is overbearing. Like their mother, Nadia wears the hijab. The mother is soft-spoken and unassuming in many ways, yet Nadia is a force to be reckoned with who aspires to balance pleasing her family with being true to herself. Nadia is brilliant and academically-driven, earning a scholarship to Las Encinas, even as Omar is distracted initially with drug-dealing and working for his family’s business.

After coming out as gay to himself, his family, and the broader community, he movies out and severs ties with his parents, secures work as a bartender, and receives a scholarship to attend Las Encinas. Omar embraces his sexuality and finds a way to lead a life that feels authentic.

Elite challenges the Islamophobia of Spanish and Western societies, representing both the homophobia that Omar must endure alongside the racism that he experiences as an Arab in Europe. Spain’s long history with the Moors, the Inquisition, and modern migration from North Africa has made its relationship to the Middle East and Islam quite fraught.

The show does not romanticize Omar’s Palestinian immigrant family and it captures the even more dramatic delinquencies of many Spanish and European families. The audience cannot help but juxtapose how Omar’s parents desperately try to preserve notions of tradition, ethics, and honor from their homeland of Palestine amidst a broader landscape of decadence and moral decay in Western contexts.

Omar disavows elements of both the former and latter, while embracing elements of each, and he emerges as a moral compass in the show. His integrity and compassion are palpable and at one point he articulates an aspiration to become a social worker in the future.

The love that Omar shares with his serious boyfriend, Ander, is beautifully portrayed as well. Though they certainly grapple with their own set of challenges, the chemistry and soulfuness between them is one of the highlights of the show.

After Netflix posted a romantic photo of Omar and Ander on their Instagram page, it was met with homophobic comments, and Netflix laudably responded simply with a chain of rainbow emojis.

With valid critiques of Elite aside, the show provides a monumental step forward in combating both racism and homophobia. Netflix has done the global queer Palestinian community right by developing the character of Omar in this manner. Whether or not he appears in season six is yet to be announced, but even if not, he will have already captured countless hearts and minds.

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