THE FIGHT SOCAL’S LGBTQ MAGAZINE JANUARY 2019

JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 1

2 T H E F I GH T | www.thefightmag.com

LENNIE ROMAN GENERAL MANAGER

“As the new general manager of NEW CENTURY HONDA GLENDALE, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to my brothers and sisters in the LGBTQ community. If you’re in the market for a new car but dread the hassle of the typical macho “hard sell” sales approach—please consider us. We will help you find the car of your dreams within your budget.” —Lennie Roman, GM, New Century Honda Glendale

JOSE NAVARRO INTERNET SALES

TONY LOPEZ GENERAL SALES MANAGER

Call: 833-707-2506 NEW CENTURY HONDA GLENDALE 1235 S Brand Blvd, Glendale, CA 91204 www.newcenturyhonda.com JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 3

THECONTENTS ON THE C O VER IAN DEVOGLAER IG: @IDEVOGLAER COVER PHOTO, TOC PHOTO & SPREAD PHOTO BY DUSTI CUNNINGHAM

DE PA RT MEN T S

08 THE TALK 10 THE NATION 12 THE CITY 16 THE ROSTOW REPORT 20 THE TRANSACTION 26 THE SPREAD 28 THE SHARE 34 THE BIG DILL 40 THE ART 44 THE EVENT 48 THE CALENDAR

FE AT U RES

13 14 18 22 30 32 36 38 42

JUSTICE FOR JONATHAN GAY MAN KILLED IN HOLLYWOOD HOW VERY DARE YOU! CONSERVATIVES PANIC OVER GAY KISS THE KILLING FIELDS NEW REPORT ON CHECHNYA BIG TECH’S WAR ON SEX THE DEPLATFORMING OF SEXUALITY A LIFE WORTH LIVING SETTING INTENTIONS FOR A NEW YEAR MAPPLETHORPE: THE MOVIE PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST THE FATHERS PROJECT: 2 LEO HERRERA’S DOCUSERIES STRIKING A POSE RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE NAOMI SMALLS FIGHT FOR LOVE COURTNEY ACT’S NEW DANCE-POP SINGLE

www.thefightmag.com 4 T H E F I GH T | www.thefi ghtmag.com

Beauty and Pride

We manufacture our own products at our own factory, so your custom designed, ENERGY EFFICIENT windows and doors are installed within weeks, not months. 20% OFF any Purchase of $12,500 or More. Use Code FIGHTMAGAZINE

20735 Superior Street, Chatsworth, CA 91311 / (855) 820-5103 / www.cdwindows.com Due to the recent fires, for every project installed by January 31, 2019, CD Windows will donate a portion of the proceeds CA Fire JANUARto Y the 2019 | THRecovery E F I GH TFund. 5

THEEDITOR

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Stanford Altamirano MANAGING EDITOR Mark Ariel ART DIRECTOR Nadeen Torio MARKETING CONSULTANTS Grey Crouch Tom Pardoe Sean Galuszka Jacci Ybarra SOCIAL MEDIA Mark Ariel Sinan Shihabi WEBMASTER Nadeen Torio ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Sinan Shihabi EVENTS MANAGER Joseph Arellano >> IN THIS ISSUE <<

In this new year’s issue of THE FIGHT Stephen Molldrem examines social media’s deplatforming of sexuality and how to resist it (“Big Tech’s War On Sex,” page 22). A new federal “anti-trafficking” law called FOSTA/SESTA has rightly been blamed for the increased policing of sexual content by digital media companies, writes Molldrem. “However,” states Molldrem, “the deplatforming of sexuality cannot only be understood as an outcome of this new law. It is better framed as part of a recent upsurge in cultural anxieties around sexuality, sexual commerce, and sexual media that are much more widespread.” “Masha Gessen has rightly characterized these conditions as a sex panic, while David M. Halperin and Trevor Hoppe say that we are living in a War on Sex. This was the milieu in which FOSTA/SESTA was passed and in which it is being implemented. It is also the context in which queers, kinksters, and our allies can fight back.” “What is at stake,” states

Molldrem, “is nothing less than the internet itself as queers have come to know it: an internet that has historically been a place where sex workers, sexually marginalized folks, Leatherfolk, kinky people, purveyors of sexual wares, and consumers of niche pornography can find representations of their desires, explore their identities, form communities, and engage in sexual commerce.” “The most critical strategy for resisting the deplatforming of sex is simply for queers and our allies to stay vigilant and to support one another,” states Molldrem. “If sexually marginalized people are not actively paying attention to the suppression of sexual media and sexual commerce online, talking about these issues amongst ourselves, and taking action to defend our communities, there is little hope of reversing the tide of repression that we are currently experiencing. Our greatest sources of power in confronting the deplatforming of sexuality are ultimately our individual and collective voices.”

CONTRIBUTORS Dusti Cunningham Brent Heinze Orly Lyonne Victor Melamed Stephen Molldrem Paulo Murillo Ann Rostow Sinan Shihabi Brenden Shucart GET THE FIGHT AT HOME Sent Via First Class Mail 12 Issues: $36 6 Issues: $24 Mail check or money order to: Third Step, LLC 611 S. Catalina St. Suite 307 Los Angeles, CA 90005 PUBLISHER Third Step, LLC DISTRIBUTION Pride In Media The Fight Magazine is published monthly by Third Step, LLC. 611 South Catalina Street, Suite 307 Los Angeles, CA 90005 Telephone (323) 297-4001 Fax (213) 281-9648 Email info@TheFightMag.com THE FIGHT MAGAZINE LEGAL CAVEATS By listing in The Fight Magazine, advertisers acknowledge that they do business in the spirit of cooperation, fairness and service, maintaining a high level of integrity and responsibility. Providers of products or services are fully and solely responsible for providing same as advertised. The Fight Magazine assumes no liability for improper or negligent business practices by advertisers. Advertisers and their agencies assume responsibility and liability for the content of their advertisements in The Fight Magazine.

STANFORD ALTAMIRANO Editor-In-Chief

Publisher assumes no liability for safe-keeping or return of unsolicited art, manuscripts or other materials. The Fight Magazine reserves the right to edit all material for clarity, length and content. All contents © 2019 Third Step LLC. All rights reserved. Content may be reproduced with permission. The Fight Magazine assumes no liability for any claims or representations contained anywhere in this magazine and reserves the right to cancel or refuse advertising at publisher’s discretion. TheFightMag.com For Display Advertising, please call (323) 297-4001

www.thefightmag.com 6 T H E F I GH T | www.thefi ghtmag.com

JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 7

THETALK > > W H AT T H E Y ’ R E S AY I N G < <

TAN FRANCE

SECURITY RISK

WHO YOU ARE

“I’m brown but that does NOT mean I’m a damn security risk!!!”

—Queer Eye star Tan France, in a tweet last month, accusing the Transportation Security Authority (TSA) of racial profiling after being stopped at airport security three times in one week.

WARWICK ROWERS

“You have every right to be a part of your sport and PATRICIO not have to MANUEL compromise who you are as a person in order to compete.” —Patricio Manuel, the first trans boxer to compete in a professional fight, and the first trans boxer to win one, in an interview with the Daily Beast, last month. LANDON RAFE ZUMWALT

REFUSED TO COMPROMISE

“As an out and proud gay man … I refused to compromise my own values or professional integrity to defend a statement that goes against everything I am and everything I believe.”

ARE LEFT ALONE

“Accounts that feature similar levels of female nudity, often presented in a far more sexualized and exploitative manner… are left alone to post whatever they like.”

—Landon Rafe Zumwalt, former head of communications for Grindr, announcing last month that he can’t defend a statement made by Grindr president Scott Chen, who said he believes in traditional marriage between a man and a woman. BILLY EICHER

—The Warwick Rowers calling out Instagram last month for once again for censoring nude content from their account. Most of the posts that were deleted were images from their 2019 nude calendars, proceeds from which will go towards promoting inclusivity in sports.

I’M DOWN MILEY CYRUS

“I’m down with any adult — anyone over the age of 18 who is down to love me. I don’t relate to being boy or girl, and I don’t have to have my partner relate to boy or girl.”

—Miley Cyrus in an interview with Paper magazine, last month.

www.thefightmag.com 8 T H E F I GH T | www.thefi ghtmag.com

HOW I WISH

“A generation of LGBT Americans, many in their 20s and 30s, was wiped out by an AIDS epidemic ignored by Reagan/Bush and Bush/ Quayle until it was far too late. God how I wish they could have lived until 94 too. We won’t forget them and we won’t ignore the truth.” —Billy Eicher, in a tweet last month, after the death of President George H.W. Bush at age 94.

THE INNER

“At the moment I’m looking for the inner pussy.” —Sir Ian McKellen on his forthcoming role in the movie version of Cats on The Graham Norton Show.

SIR IAN MCKELLEN

We Are FAMILY.

Chrysler Pacifica Limited Minivan 2018

Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat 2018

Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk 2018

Ram 2500 Laramie 4x4 Crew Cab Pickup 2018

Best Deals. Best Service. Best People.

CALL NOW! (855) 227-0542

www.premiercdjrbuenapark.com 7301 Artesia Blvd, Buena Park CA 90621 JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 9

THENATION >> NEWS BRIEFS <<

GAY AMTRAK VICTIM: “I DID NOT JUMP FROM THE TRAIN” Aaron Salazar, the young man who was found in May critically injured along train tracks outside of Truckee, Calif., continues to improve and is speaking, reports ThisisReno. A video shared by his family with ThisisReno shows Salazar saying that he did not jump from AARON the Amtrak train he was SALAZAR riding from Denver to Sacramento. “I did not jump off the train,” he said. “I’d never, ever try to kill myself.” His family alleges that Salazar was a gay hate crime victim. His statement contradicts what Amtrak’s Police Chief, Neil Trugman, said at a press conference in May. Trugman described Salazar as “distraught” while on the train between Reno and Truckee. Amtrak stated that Salazar attempted to commit suicide by jumping off the train.

JAY BROME

RUSSIANS SET UP FAKE HOTLINE FOR GAY YOUTH Two reports released last month by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence describe how Russian election meddling targeted LGBTQ voters during the 2016 elections in order to help Donald Trump win, with tactics that included setting up hotlines for Christian masturbators and LGBTQ youth, reports LGBTQ Nation. “It is evident that the campaigns sought to demobilize African Americans, LGBT, and liberal voters,” one of the reports says. Two mentioned in the report were a “support” hotline for LGBTQ youth and one for Christian masturbation addicts. The hotlines may have been set up to collect personal information to use later, the report says. 1 0 T H E F IIGH www.thefightmag.com 10 GH T | www.thefi ghtmag.com

GAY FORMER OFFICER SUING CHP OVER DISCRIMINATION A former California Highway Patrol officer says his coworkers made his life miserable on the job because he’s gay, and he’s now suing the CHP for discrimination, reports The Advocate. Jay Brome, who was a CHP officer from 1996 until 2015, when he took leave due to medical stress, told The Sacramento Bee the homophobic harassment began when he was in the police academy and continued throughout his career. At one point at the academy, according to his lawsuit, a fellow cadet aimed a training gun at his head and said, “I know you’re gay, tell me you’re gay or I’ll pull the trigger.”

CELINE DION

PRIEST CALLS GENDER NEUTRAL CLOTHING LINE “DEMONIC” A Pennsylvania-based priest has deemed Celine Dion’s new gender-neutral clothing line for kids “demonic” and “satanic,” reports Gay Star News. Dion launched the groundbreaking clothing line, called CELINUNUNU, last month. When asked about the clothing line Msgr. John Esseff, a priest and exorcist in the Diocese of Scranton, told The National Catholic Register that he is “convinced that the way this gender thing has spread is demonic… It’s false. I don’t even know how many genders there’s supposed to be now, but there are only two that God made.’

TRUMP STRIPS LGBT RIGHTS FROM USMCA TRADE DEAL

The Trump administration has exempted the United States from provisions in the new USMCA trade deal with Mexico and Canada that require LGBT+ rights protections to be put in place, reports Pink News. Canada’s Global News notes that changes have been made to discrimination provisions from a previously-published draft, significantly watering down lines that refer to LGBT+ rights protections. The US has no federal law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and Republican lawmakers had threatened to nuke the trilateral deal if it required such protections to be put in place. ■

Rauschenberg: The 1/4 Mile Through June 9, 2019

Plus Rauschenberg: In and About L.A. Through February 10, 2019

Merce Cunningham, Clouds and Screens Through March 31, 2019

^ Los Angeles County Museum of Art 5905 Wilshire Blvd., near Fairfax LACMA.org |323 857-6010 free for members and children 17 and under

Robert Rauschenberg, The 1/4 Mile or 2 Furlong Piece (detail), 1981–98, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 11

THECITY >> BY PAULO MURILLO <<

LOUISE DESER SISKEL

PA SA DE N A

ROSE PARADE’S FIRST LESBIAN ROSE QUEEN Louise Deser Siskel made history this month during the Rose Parade as the first Rose Queen to publicly identify as a lesbian, reports www. qvoicenews.com. Siskel, the 101st Rose Queen, held court over the 130th Tournament of Roses Parade on January 1. Candy Carlson, a spokeswoman with the Tournament of Roses, confirmed Siskel’s place in history. “The Tournament of Roses values diversity and is committed to reflecting the community in which we live,” Carlson told Q Voice News in a statement. “Over the years, the Tournament of Roses has worked diligently to promote diversity in every part of the organization. We are proud that our Royal Court members, volunteer members and Association leadership represent the fabric of our community.”

LONG B E AC H

MAYOR ROBERT GARCIA WEDS LONGTIME PARTNER MATTHEW MENDEZ

history and is now the first mayor to be married while in office in California’s seventh-largest city.

Mayor Robert Garcia married his longtime partner Matt Mendez on Saturday, December 22. The wedding took place at the historic First Congregational Church in downtown Long Beach, before a large crowd of over 700 guests. They were married by the Rev. Elena Larssen, senior pastor at the church, after exchanging vows and platinum rings from Tiffany. Garcia continues to make history. He’s the first openly gay Latino in the city’s

DRAG PERFORMER ATTACKED IN HILLCREST

S A N D IEGO

Drag performer Carlos Juarez alleges he was physically attacked last month after leaving Flicks in Hillcrest while he was still in drag. Juarez posted on Facebook that after his debut performance at The Merrow, he and a few friends decided to go to Flicks for a nightcap. He says all of his friends

left except one, who wishes to remain anonymous. According to Juarez two men approached them and started insulting them in Spanish. The two men approached Juarez and his friend and then physically attacked them. They tore off his jewelry and threw rocks at them. The two men also broke a business window during the attack. Juarez and his friend sustained injuries from the attack, but declined medical attention. Juarez filed a police report.

WES T H OLLY WOOD

ANNUAL CLOTHING DRIVE FOR LGBT YOUTH IN NEED The City of West Hollywood will host its seventh annual clothing drive for the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Youth Services program this January. Clothing and accessories that are in good condition, as well as personal hygiene items are in great need. All items collected will be distributed to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth in need. The City of West Hollywood will be accepting items in collection bins at West Hollywood City Hall, located at 8300 Santa Monica Boulevard, from Wednesday, January 2, 2019 until Thursday, January 31, 2019. Gift cards, preferably in $5 denomination, can be left with staff members in the City’s Social Services Division on the 3rd floor of City Hall.

PA LM S PR INGS

LGBTQ 106.5 KGAY RADIO DEBUTS IN PS Sunnylands Broadcasting Classic Hits “Valley 106.5” 1270 KVGH/106.5 K293CL Thousand Palms/Palm Springs debuted its new “for LGBTQ by LGBTQ” radio format on Wednesday, December 26. The change comes with operations of the station and sister Soft AC “CV 104.3” KHCV Mecca coming under the umbrellas of non-profit QChella Media Corporation. In preparation of the launch, the station aired Christmas songs from the Palm Springs Gay Mens Chorus and the Gay Mens Chorus of Los Angeles. The new format will be the second LBGTQ targeted station in Palm Springs following Entercom’s “Channel Q”, which launched on 103.1 KQPS on November 1. n

F O R D A I LY U P D AT E D L G B T Q N E W S V I S I T: W W W . T H E F I G H T M A G . C O M 1 12 2 TTH HEE FFIGH IGHTT || www.thefightmag.com www.thefightmag.com

> > J O N AT H A N H A R T < <

KYRSTEN SINEMA JONATHAN HART, RIP.

Justice For Jonathan

Unarmed man killed by Walgreens security guard in Hollywood. Attorney: “He was harassed because he was gay and he was shot because he was black.” BY VICTOR MELAMED

A 21-year-old

man who was fatally shot by a security guard at a Hollywood Walgreens store was not shoplifting, but was targeted because he was black and gay, an attorney for the man’s family said last month, reported NBC4 News. Jonathan Hart, 21, who was homeless and was also known as Sky Young, was fatally shot at 8:10 p.m. on December 2 inside the store at Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street. The guard allegedly claimed that Hart was shoplifting. Authorities said there was a brief confrontation between the unarmed Hart and the unidentified guard, who opened fire when Hart tried to leave the store. At an emotional news conference, attorney Carl Douglas said Walgreens only has armed security guards at four stores in the Los Angeles area. “Each of these stores are in the black, brown and homeless and LGBT communities, and we want to

know why,” Douglas said on behalf of Hart’s family. Walgreens issued a statement saying the company has “extended our deepest and most sincere condolences” to Hart’s family, and noting that as a result of the shooting, “we immediately terminated the security company.” “We are committed to providing a safe environment for our employees, patients and customers in the communities we serve,” according to the company. “We contract for armed and unarmed security, as well as video surveillance, in our stores based on the public safety needs of each location. We operate in thousands of communities and neighborhoods across the nation and the suggestion that we would inappropriately serve any community is simply false. We firmly believe everyone should be welcomed and treated equally in all of our stores.” Douglas insisted that Hart was not shoplifting, reported NBC4 News. He said Hart and another

“THE ONLY WAY THAT WE WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE OUR COMMUNITY SAFE FOR ALL THE JONATHAN HARTS OF THE WORLD IS BY HITTING WALGREENS WHERE IT HURTS.” black man were in the store, and at one point while inside the store, one of them picked up a $2.99 water flavoring product. The guard confronted the men and got into an argument with Hart, the attorney said. Hart died at a hospital. Douglas said the only thing in Hart’s hands when he died was a California ID card. “Jonathan was not shoplifting,” he said. “Let me repeat that. Jonathan was not shoplifting when he was shot. That’s the propaganda Walgreens wants you to report.” He added: “I dare say, Jonathan Hart was profiled because he was homeless. He was harassed because he was gay and he was shot because he was black.” Douglas said he plans to file a lawsuit against Walgreens seeking $525 million in damages and an explanation about why it has armed guards only at stores in minority communities. “The only way that we will be able to make our community safe for all the Jonathan Harts of the world is by hitting Walgreens where it hurts,” he said. “I gave this family a pledge: that Jonathan will not have died in vain, and that, on behalf of the people of America, through the spirit of Jonathan Hart, we are gonna make Walgreens pay,” Douglas said. JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 13

>> THE WOODINGTON’S <<

KYRSTEN SINEMA

BY VICTOR MELAMED

A kiss

between a gay sailor and his husband had some conservatives’ blood boiling, reports LGBTQ Nation. Last month, when the U.S.S. The Sullivans returned to the Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Florida, after a seven-month deployment, News 4 Jax aired an innocuous segment about the sailors being reunited with their families. 14 4 TTH HEE FFIGH IGHTT || www.thefi www.thefightmag.com 1 ghtmag.com

There was a lottery among the spouses to see who got the first kiss, and Bryan Woodington won. “I was excited and I could not wait for it to happen. I knew I was going to dip him,” Bryan said. And he did. The newlyweds’ first kiss in over half a year was aired on the local news last month. But in the month since the segment aired, the station has been inundated with negativity.

THE COUPLE ALSO SAID THAT THEY’VE GOTTEN PLENTY OF POSITIVE FEEDBACK AS WELL, AND THEY BELIEVE THAT THIS CAN BE A “TEACHING MOMENT.” “How sad that your station has dropped to such a low as to show a gay couple kissing on your news cast. How many people are now trying to explain to their young kids why 2 men were kissing. Very disgusting.” “I’M SITTING HERE WITH MY 9 YR OLD GRANDDAUGHTER AND 4 YEAR AND 3 YEAR OLD GRANDSONS WATCHING YOUR NEWS AT 6:00 AND WHAT COMES ON THE SCREEN???!!! FULL HUGGING/LIP KISSING BETWEEN MEN IN A MAYPORT REUNION!!!??? WTF!!!” One viewer suggested that airing the kiss was an attempt to be politically correct, even as they were writing an email about how offended they were by a news program’s reporting. “Was this an effort to be ‘politically correct?’ I thought this was a family friendly news channel.” The Woodingtons are well aware of the negative comments, since a lot of them got posted to social media, reports LGBTQ Nation. Kenneth, Bryan’s husband, said that he “doesn’t really care that much about what people say,” and Bryan told News 4 Jax that “some people have a different life and this is how they are.” The couple also said that they’ve gotten plenty of positive feedback as well, and they believe that this can be a “teaching moment.”

JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 15

THEROSTOWREPORT >> BY ANN ROSTOW <<

WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? It’s not the first time something like this has happened, but it’s still a sweet story with which to begin the year. In Barrington, Illinois, someone stole the rainbow flag from Casey Handal’s backyard pole and replaced it with the stars and stripes. Handal, who is about to marry her partner Zadette Rosado, had moved to the Chicago suburb with Rosado and their two daughters last May. She posted the news on Nextdoor, and within a short time her neighbors had acquired several dozen mini rainbow flags and soon virtually everyone was displaying one on their door, house, or mailbox in solidarity. In addition, as news of their upcoming marriage circulated, the neighbors started dropping off gifts and congratulations. Stories like this one give me a little hope for a future which is soon to be darkened by ugly Supreme Court precedents, enshrining disdain for local gay rights ordinances and antigay interpretations of federal statutes into law. Who knows? It’s possible that majority support in this country will mitigate such disasters in some way.

LES TEMPS PERDUS In Perth, a glory hole has been preserved for posterity and will be installed in a West Australian museum as a monument to the area’s LGBT history, which frankly strikes me as odd. The archivists removed part of a toilet stall in a train station parking area in order to save the precious aperture from demolition. Old timer Neil Buckley told the Perth Voice: “I am sure this exhibit will bring back a lot of fond memories for many of the men who used beat culture as a way to meet other gay men to form a friendship,

RUTH BADER GINSBURG

… MY HAPPIEST RECENT STORY WAS THE ONE WHERE RUTH BADER GINSBURG HAD LUNG CANCER SURGERY AND NOW SEEMS FINE. OH MY GOD! I WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED IF GINSBURG GOT HIT BY A FREIGHT TRAIN AND EMERGED WITH A FEW CUTS AND BRUISES. THIS WOMAN IS INDESTRUCTIBLE, KNOCK ON WOOD.

1 6 T H E F IGH T | www.thefightmag.com

partnerships and a quickie. “Beats were an important part of gay social life and culture: they were a great place to meet, make friends and have a great anonymous sexual experience. Beat culture is not often talked about, but most of the gay community has done it at one time or another. Sadly this culture has now disappeared with the installation of automated toilet cubes and gay pick up apps like Grindr [and] Scruff.” Guys? I have no idea what “beats” refers to, but is it really “sad” that the practice of sticking your dick through a hole to be greeted by who knows who or what on the other side has been replaced by face-to-face encounters between openly gay men? Maybe not openly gay, but you get my point. And how can a scuzzy public toilet be considered “a great place to meet and make friends?” Never mind, don’t answer that. I know what you’re going to say. Perhaps you’d like to save a branch from that special tree you used to lean against at two in the morning in your favorite park. You rascal!

IN OTHER GOOD TIDINGS I just discovered a list of happiest LGBT news items of 2018 on the UK-based PinkNews, and in the interests of starting the year in good spirits, I’m going to summarize them. But first, my happiest recent story was the one where Ruth Bader Ginsburg had lung cancer surgery and now seems fine. Oh my God! I would not be surprised if Ginsburg got hit by a freight train and emerged with a few cuts and bruises. This woman is indestructible, knock on wood. In other good tidings, we have a student, Finn Stannard, who came out during an assembly in a Catholic school in

> > W O N ’ T Y O U B E M Y N E I G H B O R • L E S T E M P S P E R D U S • I N O T H E R G O O D T I D I N G S • PA G I N G H A WA I I F I V E - O • G O O D B Y E 2 0 1 8 , G O D H E L P U S I N 2 0 1 9 < <

Sydney, and was greeted with a standing ovation from 1,500 schoolmates. (There’s a video.) Then there’s Molly Pinta, age 12, who planned and organized the first Pride Parade in the city of Buffalo Grove, Illinois, also with video. And one of my favorites, the 27-year-old who was returning on foot from a trip to the art store in Manchester when a driver shouted “faggot” at him for reasons unclear. Nick Hurley caught up with the two men at a red light and, by his own account: “In a moment of white hot create rage I emptied a tube of glitter into their car through the passenger window.” Nick reported that the men seemed confused and drove off without further comment when the light changed. Another video shows 16 month-old Willum meeting a drag queen at a grocery and being so struck with delight

that he ran from his mother to greet her. Adorable. We also have a homophobic dad who changed his ways when his son came out, and a Scottish gay bash victim who posted a bloody selfie “to the wee cunt that called me a faggot” and beat him up. “Trust it to be someone insecure with his own sexuality trying to take it out on someone secure in himself. Wish you well.” And now we return to our regularly scheduled depressing news.

PAGING HAWAII FIVE-O But first, did you read about the monk seals in Hawaii that are being plagued by eels crawling up their noses? It’s a mystery, with one researcher speculating that the seals may be “naturally attracted to getting into troublesome situ-

ations” and that juvenile seals are copying each other much as human teens compete to inhale condoms or swallow laundry detergent pods. “We have no idea why this is suddenly happening,” said seal maven Charles Littnan in the Washington Post. “You see some very strange things if you watch nature long enough, and this could end up being one of these little oddities and mysteries of our careers that 40 years from now, we’ll be retired and still questioning quite how this happened.” The seals, whom Littnan described as “stoic,” recover quickly once (and if) the eel is removed, although the same cannot be said for the eels, who do not survive the trip through the nasal passage. I’m struck by the image of Littnan and his colleagues ruminating about the phenomenon in the year 2058, perhaps over Cognac in the Home for Retired

Seal Researchers. And as one observer remarked: (Sing with me) “When. The. Nose of Seal, Has Been Stuffed With An Eel, That’s a Moray.”

GOODBYE 2018, GOD HELP US IN 2019 I thought I had more space to write about, Kevin Spacey (weird video, court date looming), Mika Brzezinski (since when is “butt boy” a gay slur? It’s a slur that happens to be gay), and the absurd ads for “coravin,” (which lets you drill a hole in your wine cork in order to save the bottle for weeks or longer. Who does that? Our wines don’t last an hour after we open them.) But alas, we have reached our word count. The new year awaits. Good luck to us all. n arostow@aol.com

Come Play With Us! JANUARY 26, 2019

All funds raised will go directly to the men, women and children living with HIV in Orange County.

JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 17

>> CHECHNYA <<

KYRSTEN SINEMA

ZELIM BAKAEV, WHO WENT MISSING IN AUGUST 2017, WAS ALLEGEDLY TORTURED TO DEATH BY AUTHORITIES IN THE RUSSIAN REPUBLIC.

New report documents horrific anti-LGBTQ crimes against humanity in the Russian republic of Chechnya. BY ORLY LYONNE

The

Human Rights Campaign (HRC) responded last month to a new report released by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) documenting horrific anti-LGBTQ crimes against humanity in the Russian republic of Chechnya that first made headlines in April 2017. Refuting denials from Chechen and Russian authorities, the report details the systematic torture, abuse and murder of LGBTQ people. The report was authorized by 16 OSCE countries last month in order to investigate the human rights abuses and the Russian government’s failure to respond. It clearly states that there is “overwhelming evidence that there have been grave violations of the rights of LGBTI persons in the Chechen Republic,” while also citing gruesome personal stories from victims of the Chechen regime’s cruelty. The report also calls on Russia to establish a special investigative committee to “undertake an effective, impartial and transparent investigation of the allegations” and “bring to justice the alleged perpetrators.” “The Russian government can no longer deny the existence of these barbaric anti-LGBTQ crimes against humanity in Chechnya,” said HRC Global Director Ty Cobb. “World leaders, 1 8 TTH HE E FFIIGH www.thefightmag.com 18 GH TT || www.thefi ghtmag.com

including the Trump-Pence administration, must take action to hold Russia and those responsible for the crimes accountable and to ensure these atrocious crimes have been stopped and never happen again. It’s crucial that Russia follow the report’s recommendations and launch a serious investigation, and that the world community—and especially the United States—welcome refugees escaping these gross human rights abuses.” On April 1, 2017, Novaya Gazeta, a Russian independent media outlet, first broke the news that Chechen authorities had rounded up and detained in secret prisons more than 100 men who were suspected of being gay or bisexual. Chechen leaders have denied these accusations, going so far as to deny the very existence of LGBTQ people in Chechnya—a claim the Russian government astonishingly repeated. Chechen officials have also reportedly encouraged families to murder relatives they suspect might be gay or bisexual. While the initial detentions and attacks targeted men suspected of being gay or bisexual, the campaign has also brought about a surge in lesbian women sharing stories about humiliation, abuse, and threats they have faced from male relatives or from

“IT’S CRUCIAL THAT… THE WORLD COMMUNITY— AND ESPECIALLY THE UNITED STATES— WELCOME REFUGEES ESCAPING THESE GROSS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES.” others. Transgender Chechens have also fled violence. In October 2017 various media outlets reported that the Russian-Chechen singer Zelim Bakaev, who went missing in August of that year, was allegedly tortured to death by authorities in the Russian republic. In comments on state television last year, Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov suggested the 25-year-old was murdered by family members ashamed of his sexuality. Bakaev’s father, Khussein Bakaev, told Radio Free Europe that the family had no involvement in his son’s disappearance. While former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reportedly wrote a private letter to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov raising the human rights abuses, that letter was never released publicly nor was it accompanied by any public statement on Chechnya. In October 2017, HRC filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the U.S. Department of State for all records regarding that letter—a request that has yet to be fulfilled. While the White House has remained silent, both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate have passed bipartisan resolutions condemning the atrocities.

JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 19

THETRANSACTION >> RAIN VALDEZ <<

CELEBRATING TRANS WOMEN

“The Fantasy” calendar was created in response to Victoria’s Secret ban on transgender models.

R

BY ORLY LYONNE

ain Valdez has produced a new calendar celebrating trans women, reports Gay Times. The Los Angeles based actress and filmmaker created the calendar after a Victoria’s Secret executive said that trans women shouldn’t be included on their runways. The lingerie company’s chief marketing officer, Ed Razek told Vogue that he had “considered” including plus-size and trans models, but said he decided against it because the Victoria’s Secret runways are “a fantasy.” In response to the controversy, Rain and her Now More Than Ever producing team, Kellen Quinn and Alessandro Nori, decided to create a calendar of multicultural women of trans experience simply called “The Fantasy.” “We will continue creating content that celebrates our existence

2 0 T H E F IGH T | www.thefightmag.com

and reverses the shame and stigma associated with our experiences as trans women, because it’s tiring and inauthentic,” said Valdez. The women featured are: Zackary Drucker, Trace Lysette, Rain Valdez, Cassandra James, Lina Bradford, Rosalyne Blumenstein, Carolina

Gutierrez, Lee Te, Juliana Joel, Sarah Parlow, Blossom Brown and 8Maria Roman. The limited edition calendar is on sale now for $35, and a percentage of proceeds will benefit Trans Latina Coalition. n For more info visit: www.noweverartists.com.

Natural health, wellness & healing through Holistic Naturopathic Medicine

~

TRADITIONAL AND ALTERNATIVE CREMATION AND BURIAL SERVICES

We’re passionate about finding the path that works best for you, on your road to recovery!

CALL TOLL FREE 24/7 +888-939-5959 SERVICIO EN ESPAÑOL: +323-514-9601

(310) 795-4918 | WWW.RELIABLE-HEALTH.COM

FRIENDS FUNERAL HOME CORPORATE OFFICES ARE LOCATED AT: 37 PARK AVE #A, VENICE CA 90291 / 1505 9TH STREET #306, SANTA MONICA CA 90401 13800 SATICOY STREET, VAN NUYS CA 91402

JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 21

The deplatforming of sexuality and how to resist it. BY STEPHEN MOLLDREM

www.thefightmag.com 2 2 T H E F IGH T | www.thefi ghtmag.com

>> FOSTA / SESTA <<

O

n December 17th, Tumblr—a social network notorious and celebrated for the many varieties of niche pornography and kinky communities that it once hosted on its servers and allowed to flourish on its playful interface – made its first major move to effectively purge sexual media from its platform. This followed a December 3rd announcement from the firm (owned by a subsidiary of Verizon) that the social network would ban all “adult content.” Tumblr defines “adult content” both carefully and sweepingly, as “primarily includ[ing] photos, videos, or GIFs that show real-life human genitals or female-presenting nipples, and any content—including photos, videos, GIFs and illustrations—that depicts sex acts.” There are some exceptions carved out in the new policy. A December 17th post from the company assures users that visual media depicting nudity deemed newsworthy or political will be permitted, as will “nudity found in art, specifically sculptures and illustrations.” However, “photorealistic imagery or photography,” even if it is deemed art, will be flagged. And while illustrations of nudity are given a pass, “illustrations” of “sex acts” are banned. There are carve-outs for textual erotica and health-related content ranging from pictures documenting gender transition to breastfeeding and afterbirth photos. However, the intent is clear: most sexy visual media are not welcome on Tumblr. Shortly after Tumblr announced its plans, news began to circulate that Facebook had quietly updated its Community Standards to ban a broad array of content and speech related to sexuality. The two cases make an interesting juxtaposition. Facebook has a relatively puritanical history compared to Tumblr, yet the firm still felt the need to place more restrictions on sexual expression on its platform.

SEXUALLY MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES A new federal “anti-trafficking” law called FOSTA/SESTA has rightly been blamed for the increased policing of sexual content by digital media companies. In the wake of FOSTA/SESTA’s passage in March 2018, Craigslist closed its personals section. Many websites catering to fetish communities and sex workers shut down or changed their content moderation policies. One prominent example is the Furry-oriented website Pounced.org, which hosted community features and personals. The Department of Justice also raided the offices of the personals website Backpage and shut it down shortly after FOSTA/SESTA was passed. Craigslist and Backpage were two primary platforms used by independent sex workers to find clients—particularly transgender sex workers. There was an immediate negative impact on sex workers who utilized these platforms, with many having to go onto the streets to find clients: a much more dangerous marketplace than a digital environment where clients can be screened. Whatever one’s position on how real or overblown the problem of trafficking is (a topic for another essay), the broad and draconian policies that firms such as Tumblr and Facebook are enacting to regulate sexual content often go far beyond the requirements of FOSTA/SESTA. The enforcement of these policies constitutes the direct repression of sexually marginalized communities. However, the deplatforming of sexuality cannot only be understood as an outcome of this new law. It is better framed as part of a recent upsurge in cultural anxieties around sexuality, sexual commerce, and sexual media that are much more widespread. Masha Gessen has rightly characterized these conditions as a sex panic, while David M. Halperin and Trevor Hoppe say that we are living in a War on Sex. This was the milieu in which FOSTA/SESTA was passed and in which it is being implemented. It is also the context in which queers, kinksters, and our allies can fight back.

What is at stake is nothing less than the internet itself as queers have come to know it: an internet that has historically been a place where sex workers, sexually marginalized folks, Leatherfolk, kinky people, purveyors of sexual wares, and consumers of niche pornography can find representations of their desires, explore their identities, form communities, and engage in sexual commerce.

FEAR OF PROSECUTION The Tumblr and Facebook episodes—but especially Tumblr - are two prominent examples of a recent trend in internet history that I call “the deplatforming of sexuality” or “deplatforming sex.” In the context of digital infrastructures, deplatforming sex occurs when an outlet implements Terms of Service, Community Standards, or related policies that explicitly bar sexual content, sexual speech, or sexual commerce on its platform. Firms build tools that are designed to remove or filter content that meet the criteria they set in their governing policies. The retroactive removal of existing content deemed too sexy for a platform’s updated policies is a hallmark of recent episodes where sex has been deplatformed, as is the ongoing monitoring and filtration of new user-generated content. Any claims about the “true” motivations of the executives who have decided to implement such broad and platform-altering

JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 23

> > A D U LT C O N T E N T < <

policies about sexual content at Tumblr or any other platform are inherently speculative. However, it is clear that FOSTA/SESTA is one major motivator. FOSTA/SESTA revises Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act, the “safe harbor” provision that shields platforms from liability for content posted by users. The American Civil Liberties Union cites Section 230 as “the reason why websites can offer platforms for critical and controversial speech without constantly worrying about getting sued.” It makes the internet as we know it possible. FOSTA/SESTA’s revisions to Section 230 make platforms liable for any content posted that could be construed to be an advertisement for prostitution, thus conflating “trafficking” with essentially all sex work. The law also further empowers state and federal prosecutors to target platforms that they determine are hosting user-generated content related to sex work using local anti-prostitution and related statutes. The law has yet to be fully implemented, so the extent of its ramifications remain to be seen. However, the response of platforms to date does not suggest a bright future for sexual economies online. While passed in the name of “anti-trafficking,” FOSTA/SESTA’s practical effect has been to incentivize large social networks to suppress sexual content and to force smaller ones to shut down or systematically remove content out of fear of prosecution or sheer uncertainty.

MECHANISMS FOR RESISTANCE On December 17th, Tumblr made good on its promise, converting all content identified as “adult” to private and “only visible to” the individual user who posted it. Tumblr accounts that were hubs for sexual subcultures have now effectively been turned into archives accessible to a single viewer: the account holder. Many sexual communities on Tumblr have essentially ceased to exist. Independent sex workers who utilized Tumblr have been denied yet another platform. However, deplatforming is not a single act. It is a process. Well-resourced social media companies largely do the work of deplatforming algorithmically, by building tools that identify specific types of content, flag it, and then remove it. As issues with the tools built to do this work become apparent through their application and users’ responses, they are updated. The code that determines what www.thefightmag.com 2 4 T H E F IGH T | www.thefi ghtmag.com

constitutes a penis, vagina, or “sex act” is reworked and refined to become better at identifying and filtering content. As the deplatforming of sex moves ahead, documenting deplatforming processes, confronting firms about overlybroad or repressive policies, and generally staying vigilant and taking action will be key strategies of resistance that sexually marginalized folks and allies can employ to resist it. This is especially true for queers who work in areas of tech where sexual commerce or media are hosted and/or regulated. Documenting and sharing of instances of deplatforming or content moderation is something that sex workers and researchers have actively been doing

OUR GREATEST SOURCES OF POWER IN CONFRONTING THE DEPLATFORMING OF SEXUALITY ARE ULTIMATELY OUR INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE VOICES. since the passage of FOSTA/SESTA. For example, the now-dormant organization Survivors Against Sesta published a list of known actions by firms that took place in the wake of the law’s passage. Another collective led by Ashley Lake and Liara Roux has documented actions of discrimination against sex workers by over 150 companies following the law’s passage. However, you need not be an activist or researcher to do the work of documentation. If you see media being filtered that you believe is an egregious example of suppression on the basis of it being overly sexual, take a screenshot. Share it in your social networks with some contextual explanation, and/or with organizations and researchers that are documenting and responding to FOSTA/ SESTA’s implementation. If you are queer and work in an area of tech where content reviews are conducted or new policies and filtration tools are produced, document the internal processes used to create those policies and technologies. Assess the fairness of the company’s

processes, speak up internally, and—to the extent that you can—share information with others. Another mechanism for resistance is built into the deplatforming process itself. Content that is flagged or removed can usually be challenged. For example, Tumblr staff writes in its December 17th post: “If your post(s) are flagged under the new policy, they will be hidden from public view and will only be visible to you. You can appeal these flags if you feel your content was erroneously marked as adult content. Upcoming feature changes will also make appeals more manageable for those of you with multiple flagged posts.” Maximize these processes. File appeals with platforms, especially if you believe that the content moderated actually did not violate that platform’s policy. However, even if content flagged did clearly violate a policy (e.g. a dick pic you posted on Tumblr in 2017 being retroactively made private), appeal mechanisms can be leveraged to voice opposition to the policies themselves. If you are a queer person or ally who works at a tech platform in an area where appeals are processed, internally advocate for review protocols that favor sexually marginalized people. You could even engage in acts of workplace organizing or refusal on the basis that doing certain kinds of content moderation is an ethical line that you cannot cross. If you need support, reach out to groups such as the Tech Workers Coalition (www.techworkerscoalition.org) Free Speech Coalition (/www.freespeechcoalition.com), Sex Workers Outreach Project (www.swopusa.org), or Electronic Frontier Foundation (www.eff.org). The most critical strategy for resisting the deplatforming of sex is simply for queers and our allies to stay vigilant and to support one another. If sexually marginalized people are not actively paying attention to the suppression of sexual media and sexual commerce online, talking about these issues amongst ourselves, and taking action to defend our communities, there is little hope of reversing the tide of repression that we are currently experiencing. Our greatest sources of power in confronting the deplatforming of sexuality are ultimately our individual and collective voices. Stephen Molldrem is a PhD Candidate at the University of Michigan, a writer, and an activist. He lives in Atlanta, GA.

Honda of Hollywood 138 S Glendale Ave, Glendale, CA 91205 New Owner, New Attitude.

New Ownership, New Management

WHOLE NEW ATTITUDE! We Have A Huge Inventory So We Can Give You The BEST DEALS!

LY PROUD G SERVGIN BTQ THE L UNITY! M Mention COaM ll NOWâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; or A C

6 T H E F I GH T | www.thefightmag.com

HT F THE FIG Pride ia Spec l unt! o Disc

TEL: 866-632-4180

6511 Santa Monica Blvd, Hollywood CA 90038

www.hondaofhollywood.com JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 25

THESPREAD AGE: 25 HOMETOWN: Austin, Texas. SELF IDENTIFY AS: I’ve always identified as a Bear Chaser and nail polish enthusiast. Also, Gay/Male/6ft/Can host. CURRENT AND PAST OCCUPATIONS: Stage Manager for The Boulet Brothers and Line Producer for “The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula.” CHILDHOOD CRUSH: Bowser, of Super Mario fame. He’s a total beefcake and introduced a generation of nerdy gay boys to muscly leather daddies! RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Dating a dreamy bear cub, waiting to adopt a rescue pitbull. PET PEEVE: Nail polish that refuses to dry quickly and gets fucked up as a result. HOBBIES: I’ve been playing videogames since I was old enough to hold a joystick, and playing with joysticks since I was old enough to sneak into gay bars. YOUR BEST AND WORST QUALITY: BEST, I’m extremely loyal and a total people pleaser (people say I have a nice butt?). Worst, I have very strong and intense opinions that change on a whim. SOMETHING NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT YOU: I’m pretty fuckin’ good with a pistol and a great shot with a shotgun. I grew up in Texas and learned how to (safely) handle guns when I was kid, and I get to practice whenever I visit family. CONTACT INFO: Instagram is @ idevoglaer and my FB is Ian DeVoglaer!

PHOTO BY DUSTI CUNNINGHAM www.thefightmag.com 2 6 T H E F IGH T | www.thefi ghtmag.com

JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 27

THIS PAGE IS SPONSORED BY

THESHARE >> BY PAULO MURILLO <<

GIFTS OF SOBRIETY

We asked these clean and sober folks with various lengths of recovery time what they consider the greatest gifts of sobriety in the past year.

INTELLECTUAL EXPANSION

ASHLEE MARIE

“This past year was the year of intellectual expansion for me. I learned to lean more into the nuances instead of the noise. I didn’t allow myself to become as reactive and decided to become more proactive. I recognized that I’m either part of the problem or part of the solution and it really transforms—not only my life, but the way that I view other people. Coming out of 2017 with [my confrontation with] Caitlyn Jenner, I started to feel like I was living in active addiction without the drugs. The gift for me was that I got to reset my sobriety without ever having to pick up. That was a concept I was never familiar with. I want to focus more on spiritual recovery instead of physical recovery. I’ll have seven years in March. Maybe for the first five years of my sobriety it was about physically abstaining from the use of drugs and alcohol, and that 2018 was more about mentally abstaining from behaviors are asymptomatic of addiction.” —Ashlee Marie Preston, sober since March 11, 2012.

SPIRITUAL PROGRAM “2018 was a challenging year which makes me even more grateful to be in recovery and in the solution. My spiritual program has afforded me the tools to handle the ups and downs of life, with grace, humility and hope. I am better able to identify, assess and rightsize challenging situations

VIC GERAMI

www.thefightmag.com 2 8 T H E F IGH T | www.thefi ghtmag.com

and take the next indicated step. Much like a lot of things, you get out of recovery what you put into it. I try to always be in action regardless of my circumstances and stay in the middle of the boat. One of my favorite quotes that I live by is, ‘You cannot think yourself into right action, you can only act yourself into right thinking.’ I am lucky to have a huge support system and a community that has been there for me whenever I needed them. Recovery has also made me be more present for other people and be of service whenever and wherever I am needed.” —Vic Gerami, sober since February 24, 2008.

RAYMON LOPEZ

SETTING GOALS

“The gifts of sobriety for me in 2018 has been about setting goals and accomplishing them. I paid off my $10,000 restitution for my past court cases. I completed my hours of continuance education for my drug and alcohol counseling certificate. I paid off my house bill at the Van Ness Recovery House at the beginning of 2018. I also successfully completed my probation in November of 2018. I got into a lot of trouble before I got sober. I was in and out of jail. I feel very fortunate and grateful that I get to participate in my sobriety today. I recently celebrated three years sober and I hope I continue to stay clean and sober one day at a time in 2019.” —Raymon Lopez, sober since December 23, 2015.

Depression-Anxiety-Trauma-Addiction-Grief-Life Challenges

Individual & Group Music Therapy featuring the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music www. musicempowers.com Redlands 909 809 4150

Lotus Place Recovery is a gender diverse conscious organization whose goal is to help clients grow into their authentic selves as they work towards self-acceptance and sobriety. Utilizing our team of experienced professionals, we provide a vast array of therapeutic modalities unique to each client’s journey towards healing. Clients explore multiple components of Self and Safety in Gender Expression, Emotional Intelligence, Self-Acceptance, Grief and Loss, Deconstruction of the Critical/Negative Self and the Impact of Trauma on the Self Experience while learning to live a substance-free lifestyle. Lotus Place Recovery’s core foundation is the SelfAcceptance ProgramÓ uniquely designed by Heidi Wells, Clinical Director and Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, whose extensive background in diversity and trauma recovery contributed to the formulation of a program tailored to address the needs of the LGBTQIA? Community. The SelfAcceptance Program seeks to increase client awareness of the Self (strengths and challenges) while decreasing negative belief systems that mediate the daily functioning experience and contribute to chronic relapse and selfdestructive behaviors. This is accomplished by facilitating trauma resolution; deconstructing negative self-concepts and helping clients discover their unique journey to healing the Self while maintaining long-term sobriety.

For more information about Lotus Place Recovery in Orange County, California please contact our staff 24/7 at (888) 735-3832. JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 29

>> NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS <<

A LIFE WORTH LIVING Setting intentions for a new year. Be careful about allowing insecurity, fear, or apprehension to discourage you from working towards your aspirations. BY BRENT HEINZE

A

t this time of year, many of us start thinking about those pesky new resolutions that we will thoughtfully plan out and then often leave twitching by the side of the road around March or April. It’s not usually difficult to identify aspects of ourselves or our lives that we want to change, but it can be challenging to develop solid ways to achieve these desires and keep the motivation to work towards them. There are so many personal and professional goals that we can set, but with limitless possibilities also has the pitfall of endless solutions. We can get stuck in thinking about the best ways to achieve something and never actually work towards accomplishing them. In our culture of pool parties, shirtless dancing, and other social engagements, we can struggle to feel confident with our image and achievements, especially when we compare ourselves to others. It can also be difficult to face challenges relating to our own concerns about self-worth, confidence, relationships, and self-esteem. It’s important to get in the mindset to get excited and poised for personal change with some fantastic new adventures. Be careful about allowing insecurity, fear, or apprehension to discourage you from working towards your aspirations. Consider working on parts of your life that will benefit you. You don’t have to chase a perfect body or a fancy car. Instead of focusing on strictly physical changes and material possessions, you may want to embrace goals relating to having fun, creating strong support circles, and building a life worth living. You can continue to 3 0 T H E F IGH T | www.thefightmag.com

MAKE SURE YOUR GOALS ARE REALISTIC AND ATTAINABLE, BUT ALSO GIVE YOURSELF OPPORTUNITIES TO IDENTIFY WHEN YOU HAVE MADE SOME PROGRESS INSTEAD OF JUST FOCUSING ON SUCCESSFULLY REACHING THE FINISH LINE. work on improving your appearance and overall health, but don’t feel that you must run out for Botox treatments or emergency liposuction. You don’t need to drink fresh squeezed organic juice, eat kale chips, sign up for yoga, or have perfect tan lines. Try not to forget that most people care more about an engaging personality and a big smile than some version of perfection. Make sure your goals are realistic and attainable, but also give yourself opportunities to identify when you have made some progress instead of just focusing on successfully reaching the finish line. Change takes time and success does not just need to be measured when you complete a task. Feel proud of sticking to your plan while cutting yourself some

slack when you don’t live up to your own expectations. If you fall off the wagon, it’s okay. Just pick yourself up, dust off, and start working again. Things rarely go according to plan and unexpected challenges tend to pop up sometimes. Try to determine if your goals have been created because you truly want to achieve them or if you have convinced yourself that you need them to gain acceptance from others. The idea that we need to look or act in certain ways to be accepted should remind us about our early days of growing up queer. Most of us wanted to fit in with the rest of the crowd despite the fact that most of us knew there was something significantly different about us. In our culture, we have worked hard to get accepted by the rest the world, but we still struggle with gaining acceptance of ourselves within our own community. It’s part of the human condition to struggle to find our self-worth, feeling fulfilled, and developing pride in who we are and what we have accomplished. Finally, evaluate if you are getting the results you expected. Thankfully, there is rarely only one solution to solve any problem and you can get to where you’re going in many ways. Stay on your course but be open to changing directions or methods for achieving your goals. Work on feeling proud of your efforts and celebrate your successes. Your New Year’s resolutions will thank you for it. Brent Heinze has a master’s degree in clinical psychology and works as a life coach in Southern California (Brent@BeginTheShift.org).

JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 31

MATT SMITH (SHIRTLESS), JOHN BENJAMIN HICKEY IN >> NOLAN CROCE << MAPPLETHORPE.

MAPPLETHORPE: THE MOVIE

A nuanced portrait of an artist at the height of his craft. BY VICTOR MELAMED

The story ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE, SELF-PORTRAIT, 1980.

Mapplethorpe’s work displayed eroticism in a way that had never been examined nor displayed before to the public. www.thefightmag.com 3 2 T H E F IGH T | www.thefi ghtmag.com

of legendary gay photographer Robert Mapplethorpe will be the subject of the upcoming biopic Mapplethorpe, reports Rolling Stone. Dr. Who and The Crown actor Matt Smith portrays the photographer in the Ondi Timoner directed biopic that chronicles his sexual and artistic awakening in New York City of the seventies and eighties, as well as his friendship with rock legend Patti Smith, up to his untimely death from AIDS in 1989. “Photography, it’s about light, it’s about composition, it’s about the personality of the subject,” Smith’s Mapplethorpe says in voiceover. “I’m an artist. I would have been a painter but the camera was invented.” “The film depicts Mapplethorpe’s life from moments before he and Patti Smith moved into the famed Chelsea hotel, home to a world of bohemian chic. Here, he begins photographing its inhabitants and his newfound circle of friends including artists and musicians, socialites, film stars, and members of the S&M underground. Mapplethorpe’s work displayed eroticism in a way that had never been examined nor displayed before to the public,” the film’s synopsis states. “Exploring the intersection of his art, his sexuality and his struggle for mainstream recognition, Mapplethorpe offers a nuanced portrait of an artist at the height of his craft and of the self-destructive impulses that threaten to undermine it all.” Marianne Rendon portrays the Horses singer in Mapplethorpe, with John Benjamin Hickey (as the photographer’s benefactor Sam Wagstaff), Brian Stokes Mitchell, McKinley Belcher III and Carolyn McCormick also in the cast. Following its premiere last month at the Tribeca Film Festival, Mapplethorpe opens nationwide March 1st, 2019.

Español

Español Français

Français

Español

Deutsch Japanese

Deutsch

Français

1-855-452-4676 • www.citysightseeingla.com Korean

English

Español

Portuguese

Mandarin

Japanese

Deutsch

Japanese

Korean

Korean Deutsch

Français

Italiano

Mandarin

Mandarin

The fun starts here. Everyone is welcome. Tour historic and current LGBT hotspots all within walking distance of our Hop-On Hop-Off stops. Arts, Culture, History, Shopping, Dining, Nightlife and more! Go to our website www.citysightseeinglosangeles.com/pages/pride and discover our special LGBT itinerary covering destinations over all routes. Enjoy our special offer with code FIGHT.

1-855-4LAHOPON (1-855-452-4676) www.citysightseeingla.com

@hoponhopoffla

@starlinetours

ADA compliant

JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 33

THEBIGDILL DILL >> BY PICKLE <<

SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE

NAVIGATING BODIES

Pickle interviews activist Bella Bathory on the fight to decriminalize sex work, the nature of kink and her love for Jayne Mansfield.

I

meet a lot of fabulous people in my line of work. I am, after all, in the business of being fabulous. I thought it would be keen to interview some of the queer individuals that I come across in this city over lunch and highlight them. My first subject is proud sex worker, self-described Barbie Daddy, Scholar, Sadist, Activist, Power Dyke Bella Bathory. www.thefightmag.com 3 4 T H E F IGH T | www.thefi ghtmag.com

We sat down at one of my favorite spots in Los Angeles, HOME Restaurant on Hillhurst. I would like to thank HOME for being so generous and hospitable to us; the support of the Queer community from local businesses is invaluable, and very precious to me. Sitting down on the patio, a cool December breeze rustling the leaves, we talked about Bella’s activism and her life here in Tinsel Town.

The first thing that struck me about Bella Bathory was her eyebrows. Perfectly manicured, sharp, distinct. She wears black glasses and has blonde, almost white hair that snuck out of the grey beanie she wore to lunch. It was the beginning of a spa day; one of the perks of her line of work is the flexible schedule. Bella looks like a student, and indeed she’s been working on “the world’s longest bachelor’s of biological sciences degree” for five years. She’s not rushed to finish-school and the weather brought her from Chicago to Los Angeles, along with the proximity to higher paying work and more opportunities. She moved to the Windy City from Las Vegas at seventeen, and remained for nine years. “I miss a lot of things about Chicago. The people and the community are very tight-knit.” She still visits annually to attend IML (International Mister Leather). “It’s always an adventure. Things are slowly changing, but back in the heyday of IML women were not really welcomed. There’s this party called Vespertine that this old leather daddy butch lady throws

> > I N T E R V I E W W I T H B E L L A B AT H O R Y < <

which is an all femme-identifying play party. Being able to be with a bunch of women in that space is really special.” Her first job in Chicago was working as a hostess in a heavy metal bar called Kuma’s Corner. They serve “these ridiculous fucking hamburgers,” one which has an entire Chicago-style hot dog on it. All served on a pretzel bun. I asked her what she took away from the job: “Never work in the service industry.” Indeed, I reflected on this moments later as I asked our server to list the aioli options. Bella ordered the Chilaquiles and I the classic HOME Wrap, a delicious veggie patty with avocado, arugula, cabbage, and mediterranean salad, although I typically substitute basil aioli for the chipotle. We both congratulated ourselves for making healthier choices in the end (Bella had flirted with the chicken fried steak and I begrudgingly opted for a side salad in lieu of french fries). We laughed about gay nightlife and the fragility of Angelinos in the face of cold weather (myself includedhaving spent four years in New York I one time awoke to a gentle snowfall and collapsed weeping onto the floor). I asked who her favorite villain was. She said Jayne Mansfield. “She’s not so much a villain, but she was the anti-Marilyn (Monroe). She was so openly sexual and had a pink house.” Bella has an altar in her home that she prays to, with different pieces of spiritual significance: an image of David Bowie, the Goddess Kali (of Time, Creation, Destruction and Power), the first dollar she made doing sex work. Among these items she has a piece of glass from the car accident that took Mansfield’s life back in 1967. “How did you get that?!” I blurted, my mouth full of veggie patty. She told me about a creepy museum across from Hollywood Forever, The Dearly Departed Museum that has memorabilia from Hollywood Deaths. “I love her. She was here for the fame and here to get weird.”

TOXIC STIGMA Bella engages in a great deal of activism, particularly with an organization called SWOP LA, (Sex Workers Outreach Project-The Los Angeles Branch). She shared with me the project she’s currently working on with bigger organizations such as Kaiser Permanente, who have reached out to SWOP for assistance. “I’m working on a three part cultural competency for mental health, medical health and law en-

“IN LOS ANGELES— IF YOU’RE A STREET-BASED SEX WORKER AND YOU HAVE CONDOMS ON YOUR PERSON THEY CAN ARREST YOU AND CHARGE YOU FOR PROSTITUTION FOR EVERY CONDOM ON YOU. SO TO AVOID ARREST IF YOU’RE WORKING THE STREET, YOU CAN’T HAVE CONDOMS ON YOU. RISK YOUR BODILY SAFETY TO MAKE MONEY OR RISK ARREST. THAT’S NOT A CHOICE ANYONE SHOULD HAVE TO MAKE.” forcement. So that when they’re interacting with a sex worker they can know how to be of service to them without making them feel alienated or stigmatized.” Stigma is something, she argued, “we overcome every day, over and over again. I’m over my stigmas, but the rest of the world isn’t.” I asked Bella what some long term goals are for her and SWOP-LA. Decriminalization is at the top of the list. Bella feels it isn’t too far off. According to her, seven out of the eight wards in San Francisco are no longer arresting sex workers. LA is behind in that regard. “For instance, something that’s definitely not legal that they’re still doing (in Los Angeles) is if you’re a street-based sex worker and you have condoms on your

person they can arrest you and charge you for prostitution for every condom on you. So to avoid arrest if you’re working the street, you can’t have condoms on you. Risk your bodily safety to make money or risk arrest. That’s not a choice anyone should have to make.”

NAVIGATING BODIES Somewhat naively, I entreated Bella to define “Kink” for me. I had grown weary of boys on Grindr asking me if I’m “kinky” and being unsure how to reply. Was I halted at the gates of paradise, allowing my vanilla fears to creep down my spine and suffocate honest pleasure with their lily tendrils? Have I allowed them to keep ransom the corners of my own sexual mind? I figured, while I had a professional across from me, I may as well seek some guidance. She regarded me briefly over her blood orange mimosa, those immaculate brows furrowed before sharply responding “I don’t define it. I’ve been doing this long enough to know that everyone’s into some weird shit. Because of that, nothing is normal and nothing is irregular.” Upon my insisting that we define it somehow, we settled on “kink” being synonymous with open-mindedness, with a willingness and ability to articulate one’s sexual desires. I felt a sense of relief, and my own curiosity freed up a bit. Maybe this would be the beginning of some new adventures! Bella remarked of sex work that it was magical to be a part of realizing other people’s sexual fantasies. There is a profound intimacy to being the curator of that experience, she says. Above all, though, her favorite part of the work is meeting her fellow sex workers. “Sex workers are incredible, to be able to navigate people’s bodies, communicate our boundaries and connect with one another.” Lunch hour was nearly done, and Bella had a spa day to get started. With a good deal of work ahead, the fight to de-criminalize sex work, the fight to be treated with dignity and the right to pursue sex work safely when the government bombards the community daily with new devastating blows, I asked Bella if she is optimistic about the future. “It depends on the day. I am. It seems like a lot of this is very similar to the plague in the 80s. We lost so many people, and there’s a lot of loss of rights and access, but we’re coming together more now than we ever have.” ■ JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 35

> > AB2356 < <

THE FATHERS PROJECT: 2 Leo Herreraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s docuseries imagines sex without consequence.

3 6 T H E F IGH T | www.thefightmag.com

Viral

filmmaker Leo Herrera has released Episode 2 in his a sci-fi docuseries Fathers Project to bring awareness and a ray of optimism to World AIDS Day on December 1. This latest installment also shines a light on the importance of making Truvada/PrEP available to everyone. PrEP reduces the transmission of HIV by 99 percent, but its manufacturer has made it prohibitively expensive. The movement to #BreakThePatent by AIDS activists echoes the early fights of Act Up and was a big inspiration for this episode and timing its release for World AIDS Day.

Link to film: https://vimeo.com/302146447

JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 37

TRIKING A POS

>> NAOMI SMALLS <<

RuPaul’s Drag Race Naomi Smalls releases her new single Pose. BY VICTOR MELAMED | PHOTO BY ADAM OUAHMANE

Naomi Smalls,

currently competing on the fourth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars, premiered her fierce new ballroom house anthem on the show last month. “Naomi Smalls is a fashion model and ‘Pose’ is her dream world,” explained the drag extraordinaire. She enlisted music producers Cameron Traxxx and Todd Diederich and Weird Life Films, to bring her super chic song to life and says the making of it was the most fun she’s had in her seven years of performing drag. “I loved the entire process of creating the song and its music video. I think it will give viewers an enjoyable glimpse into my chaotic mind.” Naomi Smalls is the stage name of Davis Heppenstall, best known for competing on the eighth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race,

38 8 TT H IGH www.thefightmag.com 38 GH TT || www.thefi ghtmag.com 3 HE E F F IIGH www.thefightmag.com

where she placed as runner-up with Kim Chi, behind winner Bob The Drag Queen. It wasn’t until she moved to Chicago in 2016 that she discovered her passion for house beats. “Windy City DJ’s like Derrick Carter and Michael Serafini got my lanky ass on the dance floor in a way that never happened in the past. Spinning around and posing my heart out was the greatest fun and the most me I have ever felt.” When Smalls was invited to compete on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 4, she knew it was essential that she find a way to incorporate Pose on the show. “Pose is a celebration of runway, models, glamour and confidence,” she says. “It highlights the one thing Naomi Smalls does better than any fashion queen out there: Pose.” The single is be available now on iTunes. For more info visit: www.naomismalls.com.

Looking for volunteers! OBESITY AND HEALTHY THINKING STUDY

Supportive Supportive therapy therapy for for people people living living with HIV with HIV

What is the study about? This study is being done to learn if Egrifta may improve brain function in HIV positive people with abdominal obesity, which increases the risk for impaired thinking.

What will be done? + You will be assigned to immediate versus deferred treatment with tesamorelin (Egrifta) for 6 months. There is no placebo. + Your memory and ability to solve problems will be tested. + You will have special MRI images of your abdomen and brain before and at the completion of the 6 months period.

Is there compensation? YES, for study visits and MRI testing.

Who may be eligible? + HIV positive people who are at least 40 years of age; and + Have a waist circumference of 38 inches or greater

Did you know that if you are living with HIV, it is important to take care of not only your physical health but also your mental health?

To learn more and whether you might want to be screened for this study, call: Rod Hagan at 760.507.3321 or email at rhagan@borregohealth.org. (IRB#151568)

Julia Schwab, MS

Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist Lic #104811

(818) 646-7921

Toby Barron, MSW

BBS Intern #ASW64431 Supervised by Grant Courtney, LCSW #65538

(213) 986-6194

JuliaSchwabTherapy.com TobyBarronTherapy.com

For the past 5 years, Toby and Julia have been providing therapy to those impacted by HIV. Our therapy approach incorporates a nonjudgemental, LGBTQ+ affirmative, intersectional lens. We serve clients 18+ COUPLES WELCOME Evening and weekend hours available for both our Westside and San Fernando Valley locations. Populations served: HIV, Hepatitis C, PreP, PeP, LGBTQ+ relationships, trans*, gender non-conforming, cisgender men and women

Why Wait In Line At Your Pharmacy? There Is No Waiting In Line Ever! We offer free same day and overnight delivery to a location of your choice to almost anywhere in California! Refill Reminder Services Avoid running out of medication, our specialist will call you routinely or ship your medications automatically (informed prior consent)

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re PrEPard, are you? Contact us @ (310)360-9969 7360 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 101, West Hollywood, CA 90046

Medication Synchronization Avoid multiple trips to the pharmacy or deliveries throughout the month.We will tailor your prescriptions to be refilled at the same time each month. Most Insurance Plans Accepted No insurance? No problem. We offer the lowest prices on brands and generics. guranteed! Open Mondayâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Friday from 9am-6pm 24-Hour Emergency Paging Service is Available

Co-Pay Assistance Programs Available For Those Who Qualify Contracted Network Provider For Serostim JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 39

THEART >>

4 0 T H E F IGH T | www.thefightmag.com

JOE NIVENS

<<

>>

LGBTQ ARTISTS

<<

ERIN BURRELL

B

orn in Salt Lake City, Utahâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Erin Burrell currently lives in Los Angeles, California, where he studied fine art at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. Burrellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work is influenced and affected by music, film, and the queer community that surrounds him in Los Angeles. He focuses on the discovery of new ways to create portraits composed of mylar, acrylic, graphite and spray paint to form sub-layered drawings and sculptures. n Website: https://erinburrell.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jcerinburrell/ JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 41

>> COURTNEY ACT <<

KYRSTEN SINEMA

COURTNEY ACT. PHOTO BY JACK ALEXANDER FOR GAY TIMES.

Fight

For LOVE

Courtney Act’s new dance-pop single competes to be Australia’s entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. BY VICTOR MELAMED

RuPaul’s

Drag Race finalist and 2018 UK Celebrity Big Brother champion Courtney Act released her brand new single Fight For Love on iTunes and Spotify last month. Courtney is bidding for this instantly memorable dance-pop smash to be Australia’s entry 42 2 TT TH HE E FF FIIGH IGH T ||| www.thefi www.thefightmag.com 42 GH TT ghtmag.com 4 H E www.thefightmag.com

at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. She will compete on Australia’s national selection TV show ‘Eurovision—Australia Decides’ on SBS on Saturday 9 February 2019. “A sweet 16 years after Australian Idol, I have the chance to show Australia how I have grown

“I THINK IT’S SO IMPORTANT TO THINK ABOUT THE BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS OF OTHERS AND TO USE OUR COLLECTIVE VOICES, MINDS AND BODIES TO LIFT THOSE PEOPLE UP AND BRING ABOUT CHANGE.” as an artist and performer and I am so excited,” said Courtney. “To compete to represent Oz in Eurovision is second only to being on that stage in Tel Aviv and singing my lungs out for my country. Fight For Love is a dance floor banger all about coming together and fighting for the things we believe in. I think it’s so important to think about the basic human rights of others and to use our collective voices, minds and bodies to lift those people up and bring about change.” One of the first artists to showcase the art of drag during season one of Australian Idol, Courtney showed the judges much more than her music ability. In 2014 she returned to television as one of the top three in season six of the Emmy Award-winning RuPaul’s Drag Race and in 2018, she entered the UK Celebrity Big Brother house and won the competition. Courtney is currently the host of the first bisexual dating show The Bi Life airing on the E! channel worldwide. Courtney’s new single Fight For Love is available to purchase now on iTunes and stream on Spotify. Courtney will compete with Fight For Love on SBS’ “Eurovision—Australia Decides” on Saturday 9 February 2019.

Alex vdH ON iTUNES, SPOTIFY, OR WHEREVER YOU LISTEN TO MUSIC. WITH HIT SINGLES

DEAD WITHOUT DANCING NATURE BOY OCELOT AND GEORGIA SUMMER DREAM

WWW.iTUNES.APPLE.COM/US/ARTIST/AVDH/1357955831

EVERYDAY CLOTHING FOR EVERY BODY.

CUTIES COFFEE OUR HOMETOWN QUEER OWNED AND OPERATED COFFEE BAR IN LOS ANGELES. HELP KEEP JOBS FOR AND BY THE LA QUEER COMMUNITYâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; CONTRIBUTING $5 A MONTH KEEPS US OPEN! PLEASE VISIT: WWW.HICUTIES.COM/FUND

www.DapperBoi.com DISCOUNT CODE: TheFight20

Valid for 20% off In Stock Now products only. One (1) per customer.

JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 43

THEEVENT >> PHOTOS BY DUSTI CUNNINGHAM <<

Bearracuda was back on December 8th for the final party of 2018. The “Drunk Holiday Party” with non-denominational excitement all around, included a drunk Santa who roamed around the dance floor, Mrs. Claus, Krampus and elves, with DJ Ryan Jones on the decks.

4 4 T H E F IGH T | www.thefightmag.com

>> TOY BOX GIFT PARTY <<

JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 45

www. ibc - ps . com

46 6 T TH HE E F F IGH IGH T T || www.thefightmag.com www.thefightmag.com 4

JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 47

THECALENDAR >> THINGS TO DO << THROUGH JANUARY 27

MICHAEL CHILDERS: DISTORTIONS ONE Gallery, West Hollywood, 626 North Robertson Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA 90069. Guest curated by Joseph Daniel Valencia. The exhibition is organized by the ONE Archives Foundation, Inc.

Present: DILF LOS ANGELES JOCK/UNDERWEAR PARTY. Featuring Dirty House Music Beats By: DJ XAVIER ALVARDO of Mexico City, DJ MAX BRUCE of Los Angeles.

SEE SATURDAY, JANUARY 26

THROUGH MARCH 17

OUTLIERS AND AMERICAN VANGUARD ART LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036. The first major exhibition to explore key moments in American art history when avant-garde artists and outliers intersected, and how their interchanges ushered in new paradigms based on inclusion, integration, and assimilation. FRIDAY, JANUARY 4

RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE ALL STARS VIEWING PARTY 8:00PM Precinct DTLA, 357 S Broadway, Los Angeles. They are viewing the show at 8pm before QUEEN KOKG. SATURDAY, JANUARY 5

ANTIPATRIARCHAL MASCULINITIES OPENING! 1PM–4PM Cuties Coffee, 710 N. Heliotrope Dr, Los Angeles, California 90029. Kikuye Sugiyama’s “AntiPatriarchal Masculinities” photography show gracing the walls of Cuties. STONEWALL DEMOCRATIC CLUB HOLIDAY PARTY 8PM–12AM V Wine Room, 903 Westbourne Dr, West Hollywood 90069. Join Stonewall Democratic Club for their annual winter holiday soiree, where you can enjoy good food, spirits, and camaraderie.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 11

ADULT SLUMBER PARTY 9PM–2AM Bullet Bar, 10522 Burbank Blvd, North Hollywood, 91601. A nostalgic look back on some of the crazy, cool, and terrible cartoons we used to watch in the 60s/70s and largely in the 80/90s. SATURDAY, JANUARY 12

HEART2HEART TOUCH WORKSHOPS 1PM–4PM The Village at Ed Gould Plaza, Los Angeles LGBT Center, 1125 N McCadden Pl, Los Angeles, 90038 For gay and bisexual men, fully clothed participants explore safe, supportive and nourishing nonsexual touch activities. SUNDAY, JANUARY 13

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16

WEHO READS: THE LIBERATION OF IVY BOTTINI—A MEMOIR OF LOVE AND ACTIVISM 7PM–8:30PM West Hollywood City Council Chambers, 625 North San Vicente Boulevard, West Hollywood, 90069. Highlighting the new book, the event features a conversation between feminist, LGBTQ activist, and West Hollywood icon Ivy Bottini and her biographer Judith V. Branzberg. THURSDAY, JANUARY 17

MR LA LEATHER BEAR 2019 MEET AND GREET Eagle LA, 4219 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles. Visit www.eaglela.com for more info. SATURDAY, JANUARY 19

3RD ANNUAL WOMEN’S MARCH LA: TRUTH TO POWER 10:00AM-2:00PM Pershing Square, 532 S Olive St, Los Angeles, 90013. Join the 2019 Women’s March in Los Angeles.

JOSH PAUL THOMAS: REINTENTIONS Museum of Retail Space, 649 S Anderson St, Los Angeles 90023. Tuesday–Saturday, 12PM–7PM, through March 13. The exhibition shows photographic, drawing, painting, and video work. Inspired by the power dynamics of the phallus, and being equally responsive to thought as to feeling, Josh Paul Thomas explores the violent and healing inertias of indefinable intention—both intentionally and unintentionally.

COLOR BONITA 7:00PM - 10:00PM Los Angeles LGBT Center,1125 N McCadden Pl, Los Angeles, 90038 A new media art performance piece intimately connecting audiences with the queer Latino experience around family, religion, machismo and homophobia.

AIDS PROJECT LOS ANGELES 611 S. Kingsley Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90010. www.apla.org. (213) 201-1600.

91411. www.childrenofthenight. org. 800) 551-1300 . Shelter for sexually exploited LGBT youth ages up to 17 yrs old.

ASIAN PACIFIC AIDS INTERVENTION TEAM 605 West Olympic Boulevard Suite 610, Los Angeles, CA 90025. www. apaitonline.org. (213) 553-1830. Provides services to all Asian and Pacific Islanders.

COVENANT HOUSE 1325 North Western Avenue, Hollywood, CA 90027. www.covenanthousecalifornia.org. (323) 461-3131. Shelter for youth ages 14-24 yrs old, HIV support, employment assistance, counseling.

GAY AND LESBIAN CENTER OF LOS ANGELES 1625 Schrader Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90028. www.laglc.org. Supports groups, legal help, counseling, HIV+ services, substance abuse treatment and more.

ADVANCED G-SPOTTING 8PM–10PM The Pleasure Chest, 7733 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, 90046. Already found your G-spot? Wondering what else it can do? This class will help you take G-spotting to the next level! THURSDAY, JANUARY 10

MOVIE CLUB AT MI CENTRO!—MI CENTRO LGBTQ BOYLE HEIGHTS 2PM–4PM

The Resources

Mi Centro, 553 S. Clarence St, Los Angeles, 90033. Join Senior Service staff for a different movie every month. Mi Centro is a partnership between the Los Angeles LGBT Center and Latino Equality Alliance.

BIENESTAR AIDS PROJECT 4955 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90027. www.bienestar.org. CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT 14530 Sylvan Street, Van Nuys, CA

GAY AND LESBIAN CENTER OF LONG BEACH 2017 East 4th Street, Long Beach, CA 90814. www.centerlb.org.

4 48 8 TTH HEE FFIGH IGHTT || www.thefightmag.com www.thefightmag.com

DILF LOS ANGELES “DAMN DADDY” JOCK/UNDERWEAR PARTY—10PM–3AM Los Globos, 3040 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, 90026. Joe Whitaker & the DILF Party

GENDER WELLNESS OF LOS ANGELES 116 North Robertson Boulevard, Suite 702, Los Angeles, CA 90048. www.genwell.org Counseling for individuals, couples, families coping with gender identity issues. JEFFREY GRIFFITH YOUTH CENTER 7051 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA 90038.

GPS NINAQUARIUM 10:00PM - 4:00AM Globe Theatre, 740 S Broadway, Los Angeles, 90014. Paul Nicholls & Justin David present: An Underwater Adventure with DAN SLATER & NINA FLOWERS + THE GPS DANCERS, EPIC PRODUCTION & SHOWS! Support your GPS (Gay Party Saturday). SUNDAY, JANUARY 20

PALM SPRINGS ART MUSEUM PRESENTS MICHAEL CHILDERS: HAVING A BALL Palm Springs Art Museum, 101 N Museum Dr, Palm Springs, 92262. In tandem with the exhibition Andy Warhol: Prints from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and his Family Foundation. Runs through May 28, 2018. SATURDAY, JANUARY 26

PROJECT NUNWAY LA: CIRQUE DES SOEURS 8:00PM-11:00PM Vertigo Event Venue, 400 W Glenoaks Blvd, Glendale, 91202. The Los Angeles Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are proud to announce the resurrection of Project Nunway LA after a three year hiatus, their over the top designer competition and fashion show returns. For 2019, they present to you: Cirque Des Soeurs (Circus of Sisters). SUNDAY, JANUARY 27

FAB FEMMES FRATERNIZING 2PM–5PM Cuties Coffee, 710 N. Heliotrope Dr, Los Angeles, 90029. Cuties is looking to push back against femme-invisibility and femme-phobia by creating space! Come out and bask in the warmth of other fab femmes like you. Trade compliments, make-up tips, and more. They’ll have a social hour followed by resource sharing. The day will wrap up with support circle. www.laglc.org. (323) 461-8163. Drop-in services, support for at risk, homeless trans youth. LOS ANGELES FREE CLINIC 8405 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048. www.sabancommunityclinic.org. (323) 653-1990. LOS ANGELES GENDER CENTER 1923 1/2 Westwood Boulevard #2, Westwood, CA 90025. www.lagendercenter.com. (310) 475-8880. Sliding scale clinic. ORANGE COUNTY THE CENTER 12832 Garden Grove Boulevard, Suite A, Garden Grove, CA 92843. www.thecenteroc.org.

“Illuminating, Celebratory, a MUST OWN for the Owner and the Owned!”

A slave for three decades, Author Norman McClelland offers the Ultimate Master/Slave Manual from the unique perspective of the slave. Available NOW at www.slavescripture.com JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 49

GET RIPPED! Achieve The Six Pack You Always Dreamed Of With Celebrity 90210 Dr. Farzadmehr

Procedures Include: • LipoSculpture • Male Breast Reduction • Rhinoplasty (Nose Reshaping) • Eyelid Surgery • Pectoral Implants • Tummy Tucks • Phalloplasty • Buttock Implants • Botox, Fillers, Lasers • Chemical Peels TRANS OPERATIONS • Breast Augmentation • Hips and Brazilian Buttocks • Facial Feminization Surgery (FFS)

Dr. Farzadmehr is a world renowned plastic surgeon, requested for his experience in body contour surgeries by members of the film industry and top models.

CALL NOW FOR A FREE CONSULTATION! (310) 271-1133 90210 COSMETIC SURGERY 5 0 T H E F IGH T | www.thefightmag.com

1125 S Beverly Drive, Suite 600 Los Angeles, CA 90035

JANUAR Y 2019 | TH E F I GH T 51

New year. New hair. New you.

Actual NHI Medical Patients

Mention discount code: NHIM3 to receive a $300 discount on your hair replacement procedure at NHI Medical. *Discount cannot be combined with other offers/discounts.

Where compassionate care meets innovative technology. 5 2 T H E F IGH T | www.thefightmag.com