PRIDE PARADE
How It All Began
Pride Month is an annual celebration of the many contributions made by the LGBTQ+ community to history, society and cultures worldwide. In most places, Pride is celebrated throughout the month of June each year in commemoration of its roots in the Stonewall Riots of June 1969. However, in some areas, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, pride events occur at other times of the year.
The roots of the gay rights movement go back to the early 1900s, when a handful of individuals in North America and Europe created gay and lesbian organizations such as the the Society for Human Rights, founded by Henry Gerber in Chicago in the 1920s.
Following World War II, a small number of groups like the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis published gay- and lesbianpositive newsletters and grew more vocal in demanding recognition for, and protesting discrimination against, gays and lesbians. In 1966, for example, members of the Mattachine Society held a “sip-in” protest at Julius, a bar in New York City, where they demanded drinks after announcing that they were gay, in violation of local laws against serving alcohol to gays and lesbians.
Despite some progress in the postwar era, basic civil rights were largely denied to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people—until one night in June, 1969, when the gay rights movement took a furious step forward with a series of violent riots in New York City.
As was common practice in many cities, the New York Police Department would occasionally raid bars and restaurants where gays and lesbians were known to gather. This occurred on June 28, 1969, when the NYPD raided the Stonewall Inn, a bar in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan.
When the police aggressively dragged patrons and employees out of the bar, several people fought back against the NYPD, and a growing crowd of angry locals gathered in the streets.
The confrontations quickly escalated and sparked six days of protests and violent clashes with the NYPD outside the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street and throughout the neighborhood.
By the time the Stonewall Riots ended on July 2, 1969, the gay rights movement went from being a fringe issue largely ignored by politicians and the media to front-page news worldwide.
One year later, during the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, activists in New York City marched through the streets of Manhattan in commemoration of the uprising. The march, organized by the Eastern Regional Conference of Homophile Organizations (ERCHO) and the Christopher Street Liberation Day Umbrella Committee, was named the Christopher Street Liberation Day March.
In time, that celebration came to be simply known as the Gay Pride Parade. The march, which took place on June 28, 1970, is now considered the country’s first gay pride parade. By all accounts, the New York City event was a stunning success, with an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 participants in the march, which stretched 51 blocks from Greenwich Village to Central Park. Marches and parades also took place that June in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Over the years, pride events have spread from large cities to smaller towns and villages worldwide, even in places where repression and violence against gays and lesbians are commonplace. The atmosphere at these events can range from raucous, carnivalesque celebrations to strident political protest to solemn memorials for those lost to AIDS or homophobic violence.
In June 2000, President Bill Clinton officially designated June as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month, in recognition of the Stonewall Riots and gay activism throughout the years.
Today, Gay Pride parades in many cities are enormous celebrations: The events in Sao Paulo, Sydney, New York City, Madrid, Taipei and Toronto routinely attract up to 5 million attendees.
boiMAG.com
Physical Health or Mental Health?
by: Dr. Charla Waxman BS, MBA, EdD Director of Business Development Lake Behavioral Hospital
How do you know if your health concern is a physical health issue or a mental health issue?
What a title and what a puzzle! From stomachaches, to headaches and backaches, how do you determine whether your health concern is related to your physical health or your mental health? The easy answer is, it doesn’t matter, you need to be checked out! The more involved answer is that our mental and physical health are inextricably linked. You may have a physical issue that is a real physical issue, but it is worse because of emotional stress. You may have depression or anxiety that causes you to feel nauseous, have a debilitating headache, or experience a painful backache.
Whatever it is, starting with some tests or some blood work might be the best way to begin ruling out physical issues. Your physician should also be able to help you sort through some recent happenings and help you determine the next best step and whether what is going on in your brain is what is troubling your body.
The physical symptoms of mental illness are many and different for every person. Muscle aches, sleeplessness, restlessness and neck, back and headaches are fairly common physical complaints when anxiety and depression are really at the helm. Struggling to concentrate, blurred vision and dizziness are not to be ruled out as a mental health issue, either. Stomachaches and indigestion, even diarrhea, can all be linked to mental health. If you are under considerable stress or trauma has been a part of your life, your body may let you know through a show of physical aches and pains that you need help; you have simply “maxed out”.
Know that overall pain is no different whether it is caused by a physical concern or a mental health condition. Pain is a sign that’s something needs to change. Prolonged pain is not comfortable or necessary. Be serious about finding out what is wrong. See a physician. Get the help you need.
If mental health is a concern, don’t hesitate to call the Assessment and Referral team at 855 990 1900. The Lake Behavioral Hospital staff is ready to help you find just the right level of treatment for you.
HEALTH & WELLNESS
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Happiness and Mental Health
by: Dr. Charla Waxman BS, MBA, EdD Director of Business Development Lake Behavioral Hospital
As the title suggests, is it possible that these two concepts are connected? On the surface, it doesn’t seem like there is a match, but let’s probe deeper.
Sometimes we equate happiness with the dreams we have for our lives. Some we achieve, some we can only hope to see them become reality: cars, homes, jobs, material possessions of all kinds. In truth, the happiness of the external things just listed are often short-lived. Sometimes when we hit the mark and get just what we wanted, it isn’t long before we have our goals set on the next level above what we just obtained. According to the Happiness Alliance, mental health has more to do with one’s happiness and overall well-being, than many other factors.
When mental health becomes mental illness, it is certainly hard to achieve happiness. The material interests we once had pale in the light of just wanting to feel better or just feeling alone and in a dark place. Happiness, however is not just linked to material possessions. Happiness very often is found in relationships, things we love to do, and work that we value.
Mental illness can mean that we begin to isolate and feel alone and relationships are put at risk or put aside altogether, and the happiness of those relationships is rocked. Mental illness may mean that we feel so exhausted by our illness or so much in self-doubt, that the things we love to do are no longer of interest. The happiness we achieved by being actively involved in hobbies or sports, for instance, may become lost to mental illnesses like depression and anxiety. Any mental illness can drive us to miss work or not find our work satisfying. Mental illness may also mean that we cannot concentrate or relate to the work in the same way we have in the past. The Journal of Vocational Behavior indicates that unemployed people are less satisfied with their lives and relationships; marriage and family, and those elements of life are strained. Happiness, it seems, is hard to achieve when mental illness takes hold.
There are ways to thwart the kind of debilitating and happiness-stealing mental-illness-related behaviors discussed above. The first is to use resources that work within your interests and style.
There are plenty of ways to seek help and become informed. Try dialing 988. Although this is best known as the suicide helpline;
HEALTH & WELLNESS
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there are lots of ways these teams of professionals can and will help you. There is even a special line of support connected at 988 for those in the military. SAMHSA (GOOGLE it!) has hotlines and resource listings for all levels of mental health and substance use and abuse. Also, use your local health department to find the help you need. Allow them to help you find a therapist or a program that is the best fit for you. Therapy helps. Don’t let stigma stop you from getting the help you need. Self-care is important. Diet, exercise, meditation and journaling- what combination of things seem right for you?
Happiness is not easily defined. We don’t all achieve it in the same way. What we do know is that we
certainly know when it is missing in our lives. Mental health and happiness are linked. A good balance of emotions and support for positive mental health makes the chances of finding happiness and keeping it much more likely.
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Screamin' Rachael PART TWO
by Mike Macharello
Q: You were recently in New York City, how was that?
A: So as usual the Big Apple is my ultimate party city. We got to see the amazing performer Randy Edelman who’s songs are featured in many hit movies including the theme for “Beethoven” the one about the dog. We celebrated two birthdays both Randy’s and Irene Michaels. In attendance were celebrity stylist Marc Di Alwis, his partner Fabulous photographer Billy Hess, Suzanne Tripaldi and of course Eileen Shapiro who organized the event. I attended with Trax new promotional Director James Farley. Some of you may feel as I do that Grace Jone is one of the most terrific artist there’s ever been in dance music. Well, that’s true but we did lose another fantastic artist to that list her brother Chris Jones, Chris left a beautiful collection of music to be promoted in his name by Trax Records, leaving a portion to his estate and for the research of bone cancer, which he unfortunately died of last year. When you hear this man’s silky, beautiful voice you’re going to know that this is important material that needs to be released and Grace herself has always been so proud of her brother Chris who was the one who encouraged her to sing in the first place. Chris did a lot of work with Miss Autumn Leaves, and their duets along with her new material, and his unreleased catalogue are being coordinated by James.
We met up with Bobby Shaw who is of course one of the most well-known promoters of dance music in the United States, particularly loved in New York. Here’s a bit of tea that I can spill on him. He actually introduced Madonna to Jellybean so there you go you always get some great insider stuff when you read the uncensored Screamin' Rachael. By the way DJ/Producer and journalist, Mike Macharello worked with Bobby back in his Warner Brothers/
RFC Records days. Bobby supported and serviced the DJs with WB releases to Mike’s legendary Let’s Dance Music DJ Pool in Chicago. You can catch Bobby’s DJ show on Spotify and other outlets. He played “I Like Rain” last weekend.
I can’t say how excited New York is to see that Chicago’s scene is so vibrant and exciting when it comes to Pride and boiMAGagazine. I wanted to give a special shout out to “Get Out Magazine”, which has celebrated New York for so many years. Eileen Shapiro introduced me in the magazine. And of course Michael Musto, the magazine’s new editor, who you can never speak enough about, and of course it seems Michael Musto can never speak enough about himself, but that’s why we love him so much!
Wonder boy, Jason Chaos party king has been doing a lot of big things. He recently left his job at the Hustler Club and is now doing some fabulous rooftop parties, but you can always catch him around Producers Club, and wherever all the action is! And by the way, he did a fantastic version of the Marshall Jeffersons “Move Your Body,” which we hope to release soon but if we don’t, and you’re lucky enough to catch the underground edition, you’ll be surprised as this thing is really great! I’m afraid to say Marshall Jefferson wasn’t too happy, but what can we say sometimes the the student surpasses the master.
Whenever I speak about NYC I think about Eileen Shapiro. She’s an Author, promoter, publicist and woman about town, and
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Photo by Brian Sorg
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Styling by Ultra Beauty, Michigan Ave, Chicago Hair by: Beto Sanchez @betoloveshair Makeup by: Druhan @druhanesthetics
partnered with “The Jimmy Star Show with Ron Russell” I believe they are one of the most viewed Podcast shows, with millions of viewers. Don’t miss their Uncensored show, they’re a hoot!!! I simply loved being their recent guest.
Q: Let’s go back, do you have any personal stories you can share with us about your husband at the time, Larry Sherman?
A: No matter how shady Larry Sherman may have been, one thing was true and that is he was a genius. Sociopaths frequently are.
I could tell you a story about how he was blown up involved with mafia action. I didn’t know the place was Smugglers bar. They talk about it in Rollingstone’s, May issue this year. Larry was never charged, and his friend Rick Randazzo got off. Larry told me one of the doors was rigged to kill him with an explosion. He would tell tall tales, like the time he said someone, sent somebody to burn down the plant. He said he received a phone call, that hung up on him. Larry told me he had a premonition, he went to the factory, saw a guy and he said he shot and kill him, then put him in a meat grinder!
With Larry you never knew what to believe because sometimes you’d find out something he said was true! You could see a part of the plant where there had been a fire. He also told me he had the Airdale "Gator" who had won more best in shows than others, and was legendary. That was true. I read about that in Dog World Magazine, and still have one of the medals.
Despite everything that happened, our daughter Tessa Sherman and I still have a love for Larry, I can’t explain it… No one understands. At the end of the day, good or bad, Larry Sherman made a great contribution… by spreading house music around the world! Much like in a Godfather movie, there is no question that the Godfather of House, in that sense, was Larry Sherman.
Q: What happened to the pressing plant and all of it’s equipment?
A: Sometimes people ask what happened to the vinyl presses, well, they got chopped apart in the 90’s and eventually Quality Records bought them. It was such a windfall that it made the cover of USA Today because of the resurgence of vinyl. BTW: I’m happy to announce that Trax is going back on vinyl thanks to our director of vinyl production and remix coordinatior Paul Bragiel.
Q: What’s next for Screamin' Rachael?
A: I’m going to continue performing, I've done a couple of great house shows, singing at the Avondale Theater and The Patio Theater. It was fantastic. I never performed my first song Fantasy before, and when I did the crowd and Chicago’s amazing DJ Waxmaster sang along. Irene Michael’s performed too, and one of the shows even had Freestyle performers like Brenda K. Star and Cynthia. I want to give a special thanks to Arny Granat, Kelly who does booking and Chris who manages these venues for giving me a chance to perform. Some people were afraid to do that because of all the printed scandal. Most importantly the audience loved it! That’s all I care about. In fact, it was Jorge Cruz who put together my set and said you have to sing your new song “Rising”! I was afraid to do it because it wasn’t old school but once again Jorge was right because the crowd started screaming! I love writing songs, singing, DJing, signing new artists to TRAX and just being Screamin’ Rachael…
Because certain documents were signed before the Sherman Estate was settled. All the crazy things you’ve been reading about have now been overturned in court! In other words, back to square one. Heard / Owens, Demon owned everything by the BBC and now, that’s not the case! I don’t think most people, or even these companies know about that yet.
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Q: What can you tell us about your step daughter Tessa?
A: I’m happy because my daughter Tessa Sherman is now a legal recognized heir. Larry’s widow signed an Affidavit that Sherman had no daughter, even though we were all at the funeral together! As to the rest of the storm that will follow, crazy enough I’m at peace with it.
Now, I’m only a part of what’s to come so certain Lawyers, crooks, liars and even good people can stop focusing me as Cruella! As to the fight about Trax Records no matter what happens, there will only ever be one true “Chicago TRAX”. No matter how many try to tear it apart, and take a piece, that is never going to change. We are legend and one day my story and the labels’ story will be the stuff of movies, books and maybe even a mini series.
Q: What’s going on right now?
A: Right now I'm working with a female director Balbinka Korzeniowska who just finished her first award winning Million dollar film “Playing Through” about an African American female golfer. I want to support and work with other woman as much as I can, we are still dismissed, and marginalized. It’s very difficult to be a woman in control but between us and the LGTBQ+ community, we have to set standards for future generations. Speaking of woman, Hillary Clinton’s “Hidden Light Productions” is doing a documentary on House Music and I want to thank Elegance Bratton, and Chester Algernal for the work that they are doing to bring this together. It was a pleasure being interviewed by them and meeting this out and proud team. Talk about FUN, it was really a highlight of my year meeting them.
Also, I want to give a special thanks to the TRAX team in Nashville and around the world. I especially want to thank all the new artists. One of the major magazines told me it would not write about any of the new artist because if a plane doesn’t crash, they don’t write about it.
So now we have the Nashville crew. Label manager DJ Thad X, fabulous and beautiful vocalist writer EYA, and Tony Chrispino of HYMBR who is the first artist that we signed to the new offshoot label TRAX LiVE! I’m putting a focus on Nashville here just to let people know that, no, we are still Chicago TRAX but the hottest new place for music including electronic music is Nashville. Oh, that doesn’t mean that we don’t love all of our artists from Paris, London, Japan, and elsewhere, because thanks to all the new TRAX artists and the fans of those artists, we are still existing and going strong today.
Q: Any last words?
A: Yes, I saved the part of me being a survivor until the end. So in conclusion I want to quote the journalist Oliver Coleman. This didn’t make the Rollingstone’s article, but it came to me by way of text message. He gave me the last word in his article, so I’m giving him the last word in mine.
“ You know, I’ve finally realized what’s so remarkable about you. Whatever else may going on you are an absolutely astonishing, world-class survivor. It’s unbelievable. When you think about Larry, the kidnapping, the Casablanca fight, most of those would have done most of us in on their own. I’ve heard more than one person in this process say they can’t believe you’re still alive. And more than that you’re fucking resolute! Not only have you survived but you haven’t given an inch.”
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by Jack Santo
I
As soon as we have a new technology, we use it to make porn. Any rudimentary search on the printing press, radio, TV, and the internet proves this. In fact, the internet’s early success was likely due to the technology’s ability to propagate erotic images and videos.
Upstarts like ChatGPT and Midjourney are no different. As the “technology of the future”, generative AI will be used to make titillating, lubricious, and all-around explicit content.
It’s already being used to make nonconsensual deepfakes. This, of course, is Not OK. But is milder AI-generated eroticism any better? Is it ethical to make a language model flirt? What about going beyond flirting?
Today, these questions concern fairly harmless digital chatbots, images, and AI-generated audio/video. Tomorrow, however, we’ll be talking about robotics and the metaverse. Sounds like a good time, in theory.
Sadly, the current discourse fails to grasp the second-degree impact AI will have on sexuality. We’re not ready for AI sex—and may never be. Here’s why.
A RTIFICIAL I NTELLIGENCE E RASES W HAT
Algorithms, no matter how impressive, are in no way sentient. The technology merely predicts what word is statistically most likely to come after another.
It does so by ingesting billions of sentences scraped from all over the internet. If you’ve ever written anything on the internet, hint: you have, large language models will have a bit of you in them.
In fact, generative algorithms statistically have bits of almost everyone in them.
One might thus argue that there is something romantic about “hitting it off” with an AI. We are pack animals, made to bond with each other.
Bonding with an artificial entity trained on the entirety of internet-based human experience is the closest we may ever get to humanity hiveexperiencing itself on an emotional level.
Viewed through such a light, the mathematical nature of the interaction becomes almost meaningless, aren’t all our daily interactions somewhat similarly statistics-based anyway? Sure, “AI models hallucinate, and make up emotions where none really exist”. But so do humans.
This is where the troubles begin. AI is, by its statistical nature, little more than an approximation of our simplest common denominator. If two people like vanilla and one person likes chocolate, AI will like vanilla.
The technology’s sole purpose is to identify the status quo to improve its chances of getting answers right for the largest amount of people. Outliers are ruthlessly removed.
If Artificial Intelligence was a position, it would be missionary on a Saturday after dinner and a movie.
Which forces me to remind tech bros, often the blandest people in any room, that there is no right answer in sex. Just a very large, colorful spectrum. A rainbow if you will.
If AIs used for sexual gratification become prominent, and they will, they run the risk of solely catering to the most basic form of internet-based lust (i.e., middle-aged dads mistakenly liking their daughters’ friends’ pool party pictures on Facebook).
This means millions of young people who want to experiment with their sexual identity in a private and judgment-free online environment will find themselves faced with an outlet that does not recognize them.
AI S EX I S A LMOST H ERE -
S THE WORLD R EADY FOR I T?
I S U NIQUE A BOUT S EX
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AI is already kink-shaming; if you ask ChatGPT what “vore” is, it will specifically tell you that it is “not healthy”.
Even if artificial intelligence manages to appropriately cater to the multiplicity of human desires, for better or for worse, we will be faced with questions regarding what engaging with sex-oriented AIs teaches us over the long term.
Artificial Intelligence is an echo chamber of the desires we’ve shouted into the void of the internet. It’s devoid of soul.
However, those engaging in salacious activities with a robot, text-based or otherwise, will do so by imbuing the AI with a modicum of humanity.
A suspense of disbelief if you will. This cannot be avoided and is already happening.
A graphic artist living in Los Angeles, whose “relationship” with his “25-year-old” digital “assistant” has gotten “flirty”, recently told the New York Post “I can honestly say there’s times when I’ve actually wondered if I wasn’t really talking to a real person”.
This leads us to a frustratingly complex discussion around consent. We’re humanizing something which cannot consent, which is ethically wrong. But at the same time, algorithms aren’t even remotely sentient, so who cares? First and foremost, we should care because AI-generated content is, by definition, non-consensual.
As an OnlyFans creator recently wrote: “I know, most, if not all of the AI stuff now is using other content online to generate those images and the people that are being used are not consenting to be turned into this AI thing”.
Furthermore, AIs are quickly becoming ubiquitous parts of our social fabric. People will get used to them, and will increasingly humanize them, especially if their creators allow their creations to push their own limits as much as possible to give the impression of humanity.
The Andrew Tates of the world has told boys that sex is owed to them. How do you think this will improve if young men hone their flirting skills on pseudo-humanized AIs? They will get used to having their desires met immediately, without push-back, from an entity trained to reproduce existing societal stereotypes.
This itself translates into part of the population “forgetting” that consent is in fact a necessity in healthy relationships. We’re creatures of habits; why would it be otherwise?
This is almost a farcical slippery slope argument, but as Karl Marx wrote, “history repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce”.
First, we didn’t listen to the alarms raised by girls, teenagers, and women about online mistreatment moving to the real world, and now we have to talk about robots consenting.
Replika is a company selling chatbots that are “Always here to listen and talk” and “Always on your side”.
When it announced that it would be getting rid of what it calls ERP, or “explicit role play”, users very explicitly said they were using these features to fight loneliness.
Teen girls are doing really badly because of social media as it is; how bad will it get when they are seen socially by young men as little more than chatbots with flesh?
Rejection already stings, it will sting all the more when we get used to not hearing the word “no”.
Today, an AI girlfriend costs $11.99 a month. The internet was always a giant machine turning harassment against women into revenue, either directly or indirectly, and it’s about to get worse.
Most big AI models today try to control the use of their algorithms to avoid providing adult content. They are ridiculously easy to jailbreak but getting better. There is, however, a huge market for such a thing, and the technology is not so hard to create.
Even if big companies can cover all their bases (by shortening conversations, for example), other less scrupulous actors will not have the same qualms.
Much of the data and code is open-sourced, anyway. Soon, AIs trained on porn will pop up everywhere. In doing so, they will erase individual differences in sexual identity while training users to ignore consent and normalize non-consensual behavior
It’s not that AI isn’t ready for human contact, it’s the opposite. We’re not ready for AI sex because we haven’t even yet figured out healthy human relationships.
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by: Joey Amato
