Los Angeles Blade, Volume 09, Issue 05, March 07, 2025

GMCLA’s Rhinestone Cowboys set to dazzle

(Image courtesy GMCLA)

Upcoming shows at Saban Theatre set for March 22-23, PAGE 10

MARCH 07, 2025 • VOLUME 09 • ISSUE 05 • AMERICA’S LGBTQ NEWS SOURCE • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

LOCAL

Sondheim’s ‘Old Friends’ at the Ahmanson Theatre is here for a limited engagement Actor Jacob Dickey is holding his own opposite Broadway’s best while exploring the queer sensibility of Sondheim’s material

By ALEXANDER RODRIGUEZ

Los Angeles theatre audiences are enjoying a packed run of the Stephen Sondheim review “Old Friends,” which is here for a limited engagement before heading to Broadway. Actor Jacob Dickey represents the queer community starring opposite of Broadway’s Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga and captivating audiences with his take on roles from “Into the Woods,” “Sunday in Park with George” and “West Side Story,” among others.

In between shows, we caught up with the visiting actor to chat about his career, his experience with Old Friends, and the evolution of Broadway.

Dickey was raised in a military family and moved around a bit. His love of singing started at an early age.

“I got my start in church choirs and church production and then similarly transitioned to community theater. We moved all the time, so it was like always finding a little community and it eventually became community theater as my community, and I did it through high school and went to college for that. And here we are,” said Dickey.

Jacob made his Broadway debut in Disney’s production of “Aladdin” first understudying the title role, then taking it over. It was an extremely proud moment for him, and a touching one as well.

“My mom came [to see the show] on Mother’s Day and singing ‘Proud of Your Boy’ to your mom who dressed you up as Aladdin when you were four years old for Halloween was unreal, unmatchable,” he continued. “To see my own growth as an actor and a person through the character of Aladdin was really special. I feel like I walked away a better person and a performer because of it.”

Another career highlight was joining the Broadway revival of Company, also starring Patti LuPone. For Jacob, having the opportunity to play an updated version of the character Paul is the role that has spoken to him the most.

“That was my first experience playing a ‘my age contemporary gay man’ who’s in a happy relationship and just in love with his husband. I haven’t actually played a lot of gay characters, so it was a very special thing for me, and especially to do it on Broadway and obviously opposite of Matt Doyle,” said Dickey. “But I realized how special it was to just be able to kind of go on stage and be myself. Especially in a musical like “Company,” that was really, really incredible. Paul gets a really emotional moment, which is so nice to just like let go like that in front of so many people. It’s one of my favorite things to do. So, it was really juicy and I loved it.”

The update of “Company” changed the characters’ sexualities and genders. The typically male lead was cast as a woman and Jacob’s character became part of a gay relationship.

Taking the show on the national tour and outside of the bubble of New York caused a mixed reaction, with some audience members claiming the show was ‘too woke.’ Jacob was here for it.

“As much as I love classic, feel-good theater, I also love polarizing theater. Do I think ‘Company’ with a woman as the lead is polarizing? Personally?” said Dickey. “No, because it makes so much sense if you look at the text. Flipping it into a woman, all of those themes just became even more prevalent in this society, in America.

“Whether people want to accept that or not, that was just kind of up to them. So I would rather it be exciting than the same old, same old. If you’re going to revive something, do something with it.”

Jacob has received critical and fan acclaim for his performance in Old Friends. The show features an all-star cast, an embarrassment of riches. Jacob spends much of his stage time performing directly opposite of Bernadette Peters (his final call back was a chemistry test with her) while Lea Salonga also fills the stage with her expansive talent.

Does Jacob ever get starstruck?

“I definitely was deeply starstruck by Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga. I mean, the second I first heard [Lea] singing, I was like: ‘That’s the voice I grew up with. “Reflections” [from Mulan]. That is my song!’ Like when I first saw that movie in theaters, it was stuck 02 • MARCH 07, 2025 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

in my head weekly.

Such a little gay boy song. Bernadette is so playful, every night she does something, The other night she flicked a curl that was on my hair, and she pats my chest. And it’s insane that it’s Bernadette Peters, but also just so fun to do every night. But yeah, I get absolutely starstruck.”

Watching Old Friends is like coming home. Many of us theatre gays were raised on everything Sondheim. With everything crazy going on in the world, revisiting songs that we listened to over and over to get through different moments of life offers a magical relief.

The fact that the show offers a fresh take on these classics makes it vibrant and relevant.

In Dickey’s opinion, Sondheim will also be a part of what is happening on Broadway.

“The direction of Broadway is getting more commercial, that’s what sells. I feel like any time there’s a revival of Sondheim, it’s a little hit of, oh, this is why we’re here. Brilliant musical theater writers who are writing these musicals based on IP and movies and books, I guarantee every single one of them will be like, Sondheim is the reason I’m here’ because he is the archetype.

“He created musical theater in many ways. Sondheim’s language and his music, he’s the GOAT. Sondheim will never go away and it’s such a beautiful thing to see it.”

Jacob does not portray any gay characters in Old Friends. In fact, his wolf in “Into the Woods” is very much not gay. But with Sondheim being a gay man, Dickey feels that queer sensibility and pathos through the work. The show ends with a powerful but tearful version of “Being Alive” from Company, with Jacob leading the beginning of the song. A very special moment for the actor.

“A gay man singing the beginning of ‘Being Alive.’ That is one of Stephen Sondheim’s most personal songs. Bobby is one of his most personal characters because he was always the outsider looking in, trying to find his way as a gay man in a society that didn’t want him to be gay. To be there center stage with a spotlight on me being my out gay self singing the words that he wrote really about himself, I think is so incredibly special.

“Then that song turns into this massive, stunning orchestration with everybody singing it. It becomes everybody’s story, which is absolutely what Sondheim would’ve wanted.

He wanted to write for everybody and so for that story to then extrapolate to everybody finding their own version of it, it’s everything.”

Old Friends runs at the Ahmanson until Sunday, March 9.

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LOCAL

Jackette Knightley releases song inspired to unite communities She wrote her latest single “Together You and Me, Strong,” amid the January fires

By GLADYS B. VARGAS Drag queen Jackette Knightley was inspired to write a song that she hopes will not only unite the communities, but also provide immediate relief to people directly impacted by the fires that tore through Los Angeles in January, through a collaboration with a local initiative.

The Eaton Canyon and Pacific Palisades fires were ongoing while Knightley was writing the song at her home and in the studio in L.A., adding an emotional layer to her urgency.

The performer and activist said she wrote her latest single “Together You and Me Strong,” the day of Trump’s inauguration, emotional and hoping to bring together communities targeted by the Trump administration. In an initiative called Defense Against Deportation & Relief for SoCal Fire Victims, proceeds of the song will go toward the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles in an effort to support the undocumented community.

As Donald Trump was sworn into office–soon to sign a slew of executive orders attempting to roll back advancements on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, immigration and gender-affirming healthcare–drag queen Jackette Knightley was compelled to write the song.

The song shares a title with the charity event Knightley is hosting alongside Disco Dollie Saturday, March 8, which will also be benefiting CHIRLA and their SoCal LGBTQ+ Defense Against Deportation Charity Drive. The night of ‘Drag for a Cause’ will feature the performances of nine drag artists, including Chad Michaels, Marty Mars, ChiChi Fuera, Keex Rose, Jaxxlene East Coast, Glitz Glam, Maya Glitterzone, Strawberry and Mariam T. “I thought, you know what? Something that really encapsulates all of this is [ idea of] ‘Together, You and Me Strong’,” said Knightley. “There’s so many battles that we’re facing on so many fronts right now within our worldwide LGBTQ communities that I felt like [the song] was something that was really important to write.”

Knightley said she was also inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. Day., which this year happened to overlap with Trump’s inauguration day.

Knightley was also inspired by the civil rights movements of the 60s.

While she is often encouraged by others to stick to more modern, relatable music influence, Knightley aims to invoke the advocacy and unity of the past with church organ sounds.

”I want the music to be able to reflect the message that we’re alive,” Knightley said. “Maybe a part of those marches in the 60s could relate to today’s audiences or today’s generations as well.”

Many of the songs that Knightley writes are dedicated to a specific cause, with the proceeds donated to a nonprofit working on the issue. The songs are published under Jackette Knightley Music, under which Knightley started organizing the informal group called Queens and Kings for Causes in 2020, during the COVID shutdowns.

“I really quickly realized the need for mutual support within our community, but also continuing to reach out to our communities who were really isolated at home and really in need of escapism, as well as performers really needing to perform.”

Knightley said she recognized her privilege of having a fulltime job and being able to stay employed through quarantine, so she knew she had to help fellow drag artists without stable jobs get work to pay their bills.

According to an initiative of the Webby Awards called the Anthem Awards, of which Knightley has won five times, Knightley has accomplished her goal of expanding how people think of queer artistry. Her work aims to maintain the visibility of drag as a form of art, inclusive of original music and a key to ‘unite diverse people within and beyond BIPOC, LGBTQ+ communities.’

CONTINUES AT LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

Project Drag is back in West Hollywood and we have the tea!

This local drag competition comes to Beaches Tropicana, Los Angeles Blade serves as media sponsor

By ALEXANDER RODRIGUEZ After more than a decade of representing local drag talent, Project Drag, helmed by SoCal socialite Tony Moore, is back bigger and better than ever. While the war on drag wages on in the political scene, our community is fighting the fight.

This year’s competition means that much more as we refuse to be silenced. Drag is such an integral part of our queer community and Los Angeles history, we aren’t going anywhere. More than ever, now is the time to celebrate those local figures that keep the drag legacy going.

Los Angeles Blade is proud to serve as a media sponsor for this year’s festivities. We will be on hand during the competition providing ongoing coverage. The competition will begin on Monday, April 7 at Beaches Tropicana.

We caught up with Moore and asked him a few questions as he put the final touches on this year’s competition: Q: How did Project Drag start?

A: Project Drag started in 2013. When I was

working at another bar in West Hollywood, we had HUGE success with our RuPaul’s DragRace Viewing Parties and the club wanted to continue having an earlier crowd before our main drag show, and asked what we could do. I suggested a drag competition since there were so many queens who wanted to showcase their drag talents in hopes of being a part of our main show.

Q: What is the mission of Project Drag?

A: The mission of Project Drag is to give queens (whether they are just starting out or established) an opportunity to showcase themselves. It allows them to learn (from our judges) what they can improve on to become dynamic performers. It also allows them to win prizes that will help with their drag career, including cash, custom costumes, drag accessories, photo shoots, exposure through interviews and social media, and more.

Q: You are moving it to a new venue, what can we expect from this new version?

04 • MARCH 07, 2025 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

A: YES!! I am so excited to bring Project Drag to Beaches Tropicana! It is a bigger stage and an opportunity to create theatrical-like performances.

Q: What are some of the fun challenges we can expect?

A: Some of the challenges in the past have been Future of Drag (where they perform a futuristic style of their drag), Prehistoric Drag (where they perform drag as in the beginning of time), TV MOMS, and Saturday Morning Cartoons. There have also been design and group challenges where they perform in the style of past decades.

Q: What do you look for most in picking your contestants?

A: I look for performers who LOVE the art form of drag and who have experience in performance and drag; those performers who are hungry to really take their drag career to another level and just need a competition that allows them to showcase that, all the while learning (from our judges) on how to improve their performances.

Q: Why is it so important to represent local queens?

CONTINUES AT LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

NATIONAL

Trump assails DEI as companies grapple with uncertainty Speech to Congress includes more anti-trans attacks

By CHRISTOPHER KANE | ckane@washblade.com President Donald Trump delivered a divisive and partisan address before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday that also included multiple references to his administration’s anti-trans executive actions.

“We’ve ended the tyranny of so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion policies all across the entire federal government and indeed the private sector and our military,” Trump said, promising, “our country will be woke no longer.”

Later, he said “We have removed the poison of critical race theory from our public schools, and they signed an order making it the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.”

“I also signed an executive order to ban men from playing in women’s sports,” Trump said.

At that point, the president introduced one of his s p e c i a l guests, Payton McNabb PRESIDENT TRUMP used his speech before a joint session — who, he of Congress to again attack said, was DEI and trans Americans. seriously in(Blade photo by Michael Key) jured three years ago when her girls’ volleyball game was “invaded by a male” who spiked the ball “so hard in Peyton’s face, causing traumatic brain injury.”

GLAAD, in a press release before Trump’s speech, noted that “McNabb has since been hired by opponents of transgender people to use her injury to argue that all trans youth should be denied the chance to play sports as their authentic selves.”

She is “a paid spokesperson for an anti-transgender group that also advocates to ban health care and to force schools to dangerously out LGBTQ youth without their consent,” the group wrote.

Trump continued, “Take a look at what happened in the women’s boxing, weight lifting, track and field, swimming, or cycling, where a male recently finished a long distance race five hours and 14 minutes ahead of a woman for a new record by five hours.”

“It’s demeaning for women, and it’s very bad for our country. We’re not going to put up with it any longer.”

During this section of the speech, news cameras turned to Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer turned anti-trans activist,

who was a guest of Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (Iowa) and has worked with the same group as McNabb.

GLAAD wrote that Gaines “parlayed her fifth place finish into a career of testifying in states she does not live in to support full bans on transgender youth as young as kindergarten from playing sports.”

Later, when decrying government spending, Trump noted $8 million was used “to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of” and $8 million “for making mice transgender.”

About an hour into his speech, the president said, “My administration is also working to protect our children from toxic ideologies in our schools. A few years ago, January Littlejohn and her husband discovered that their daughter’s school had secretly socially transitioned their 13-year-old little girl.”

“Teachers and administrators conspired to deceive January and her husband while encouraging their daughter to use a new name and pronouns,” he said. “‘They-them’ pronoun, actually, all without telling January, who is here tonight and is now a courageous advocate against this form of child abuse.”

GLAAD notes that, “Records show January Littlejohn of Tallahassee, Florida, worked with the school district to support her nonbinary child, before Littlejohn sued the district with lawyers from a national anti-LGBTQ group.”

According to GLAAD, the family’s complaint accused school of discussing “restrooms and name change requests with their child without their consent” but “a public records request showed that the family had ongoing communications with the school and gave approval to let their child and their teachers lead on appropriate school protocols.”

“The Trump White House is using the address to Congress to continue its baseless and unhinged disinformation campaign against transgender Americans,” GLAAD said. “The invited guests being deployed to smear transgender people are paid spokespeople for anti-LGBTQ groups that demand schools dangerously out LGBTQ students without their consent, who go against every major medical association supporting medically-necessary health care, and do nothing to promote women and girls in sports or protect everyone’s safety and wellbeing.”

Private sector caves to Trump Trump’s attacks on DEI in the federal government have trickled into the private sector.

Powerful companies and well-known orga-

nizations have made headlines in the weeks since Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the private sector, whether by announcing changes or rollbacks to their DEI programs, by defending their policies and practices, or by declining to wade into the debate at this stage.

Danielle Conley, a partner at Latham & Watkins who leads the law firm’s anti-discrimination and civil rights practice, spoke with the Blade last week about how companies and organizations are navigating an uncertain and rapidly evolving landscape.

“So much of this is it just comes down to what is the risk tolerance of the leadership of your company or your organization,” she said, noting that some firms have taken steps to avoid scrutiny from the federal government while others are standing firm in their policies and practices concerning DEI with the expectation that they would be ruled lawful if challenged. “We’ve seen organizations and institutions on both ends of the spectrum.”

Conley said private sector companies and the types of organizations specified in Trump’s order are working on “making sure that they’re on the right side of the legal lines, in the way that the civil rights laws exist right now, and also reviewing their practices and policies for political risks, and seeing whether there are potential changes that they need to make in order to not come under federal scrutiny.”

She stressed, however, that this type of audit is “very difficult to do in light of all of the uncertainty” about how to interpret the orders and how the lawsuits challenging them will ultimately be decided.

“Folks expected that there would be a domestic policy priority around diversity, equity and inclusion issues,” as Trump promised during his campaign, “but at the same time, the language of those executive orders sweep very broadly, and so there were certainly aspects of the executive orders that clients are still very much grappling with and trying to understand the implications of,” she said.

Issued on the first day of Trump’s second term, the first order stipulates that “the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), assisted by the attorney general and the director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), shall coordinate the termination of all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility” (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the federal government, under whatever name they

appear.”

The directive issued on the following day includes a section titled “Encouraging the Private Sector to End Illegal DEI Discrimination and Preferences,” which mandates that the attorney general takes “appropriate measures to encourage the private sector to end illegal discrimination and preferences, including DEI,” “deter” such “programs or principles” and “identify … potential civil compliance investigations” to accomplish such “deter[rence.]”

Conley noted that DEI is not well defined, nor has the administration given “any specifics about what amounts to illegal DEI,” let alone an indication of “how the federal government is going to read the civil rights laws and interpret the civil rights laws to preclude certain DEI programs, and where they’re going to draw those particular lines.”

Risks and how to mitigate them On one end of the spectrum are the “things that we’ve always known that you couldn’t do under the law, like using race based and gender based preferences in hiring programs,” she said—conduct covered by longstanding federal anti-discrimination laws like Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits “employers from considering race or gender in employment based decisions outside very narrow circumstances.”

On the other hand, “In light of the failure to really define DEI or to really set out any specific guidance of the kinds of programs that the government believes, under their interpretation of the civil rights laws, run afoul of those particular laws, that’s where the questions are coming from,” Conley said.

Companies, their lawyers, and the broader public are likely to soon find out, though, how and in which circumstances the Trump administration will bring an enforcement action or file a lawsuit against a company over “illegal” DEI. The second executive action directs Attorney General Pam Bondi “to within 120 days of this order, in consultation with the heads of relevant agencies and in coordination with the Director of OMB, shall submit a report to the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy containing recommendations for enforcing federal civil-rights laws and taking other appropriate measures to encourage the private sector to end illegal discrimination and preferences, including DEI.” CONTINUES ON PAGE 06

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NATIONAL CONTINUED FROM PAGE 05

Private companies grappling with DEI amid Trump attacks

Along with other types of information and recommendations, the report must include “a plan of specific steps or measures to deter DEI programs or principles (whether specifically denominated “DEI” or otherwise) that constitute illegal discrimination or preferences. As a part of this plan, each agency shall identify up to nine potential civil compliance investigations of publicly traded corporations, large non-profit corporations or associations, foundations with assets of 500 million dollars or more, state and local bar and medical associations, and institutions of higher education with endowments over one billion dollars.”

Broadly, the sectors targeted by each agency will correspond with its remit, Conley said.

“HHS has an office for civil rights, and they enforce both Title VI, which prohibits race discrimination in federally funded programming, and also section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits race and gender-based discrimination and other forms of discrimination in health care programming.”

She continued, “So, based on their authority, you can imagine the Office for Civil Rights at HHS, would open up investigations, potentially, into health care companies, medical schools, other health care providers.”

Meanwhile, “the Department of Education has an Office for Civil Rights. Obviously, their enforcement authority is over institutions of higher education that receive federal funds.

They enforce VI, that same statute that prohibits race based discrimination in federally funded programming. And so you can imagine the Department of Education opening up investigations into colleges and universities over these issues.”

With the DOJ’s authority under Title VI, the department would be able to investigate and bring enforcement actions or litigation against healthcare companies or institutes of higher education or “any company that receives any sort of federal funding,” Conley said.

In the meantime, as companies look for clarity as evaluate the extent to which their policies and practices may draw legal or political scrutiny, Conley said there has been an “uptick in private litigation” over DEI, which means recent cases have been brought before federal courts—and, in some cases, have been decided by their judges.

These lawsuits have tended to focus on “scholarship, internship, or fellowship programs” or “grant programs” that “are restrictive on the basis of race,” or “supplier diversity initiatives” that might “have very prescriptive guidance” like requirements that a certain percentage of a company’s vendors are Black or brown or women-owned businesses, Conley

explained.

Still, she cautioned, “It’s super hard to speculate, because some of this stuff just hasn’t made its way through the courts,” she said.

While firms can expect these policies and practices targeted by private litigants are likely to be a focus for the Trump administration, the question, she said, will will be how far “beyond the kind of race based restrictions that we’ve already seen come under significant challenge in the context of private litigation, how far beyond those kinds of programs will they go, as potentially being violative of the civil rights laws?”

Conley added that these firms should focus not on programs and policies that present negligible or no legal risk, like dedicating a private room in an office space for nursing mothers. Rather, she said, they should consider questions like, “What do we do in the hiring and promotion space? What are we doing with respect to scholarship programs, internship programs and our outside partnerships?

What are we doing with respect to any grants that we give? Where do we have risk? Do we have any programs that are explicitly race conscious? Because we know that if we do, the legal risk there is significantly elevated.”

The process is about “really assessing each of those buckets,” she said, adding “It’s that careful analysis—it’s really all you can do in this environment, again, as things are sort of constantly shifting.”

At the same time, Conley said, “we have to remember that the vast majority of DEI programs really do remain completely lawful under any interpretation of the civil rights laws.”

“A lot of these programs were put into place to ensure and to protect against discrimination in organizations,” she said. A consequence of “the executive orders and the uncertainty around how the federal government will be interpreting the civil rights laws and the kinds of programs that may violate them could cause a lot of organizations to overcorrect.”

“Big picture,” Conley said: • “Anytime something restricted on the basis of race, we’ve talked about how that really heightens legal risk. But I would also say [there tends to be risk] anytime that there’s a benefit being given that can be traced to race, or a burden that’s being imposed that can be traced to race.”

• “So, for example, employee resource groups at companies have been completely lawful, and plenty of companies and organizations have them. You can imagine that there could be a legal argument that if there’s an employee

06 • MARCH 07, 2025 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

resource group where those members are getting certain benefits that would help them in the promotion process, that’s something that could potentially be attacked as being potentially violative of Title VII.” • “There’s actually danger in in saying this program violates the law and this program doesn’t, because it’s super nuanced, and really does depend on the facts and circumstances of these programs and how they’re designed.”

• “Because, again, I just want to make sure that I’m not on the record [saying] that, like, employee resource groups are illegal. They’re not.”

• “But I do think that if there could be arguments made that those employee resource groups, when they’re not open to all (most are) and those employee members are getting certain benefits that could potentially help them in, let’s say, a promotion process—that could be something that, I would say, as their counsel, that could elevate your legal risk.”

Responding to a question about whether pro-transgender DEI programs will face heightened risk amid the administration’s broader attacks against trans and gender diverse communities, Conley pointed to provisions of Trump’s executive order “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”

“That sort of set out this notion that it was the policy of the United States that there were only two sexes, male and female, and that federal funds shouldn’t be used to promote unlawful gender ideology, which seems specifically aimed at transgender individuals,” she said.

In practice, Conley said, “to the extent that an organization is receiving a federal grant, and that federal grant is being used in a way that the government [claims] is promoting unlawful gender ideology, then there’s a very real threat that that grant money will stop.”

Asked whether the administration may target a company for its financial, charitable support for trans people and causes, she noted that “some challenges that we’ve seen have been not to corporate giving, but to grants that were racially restrictive.”

“In the context of corporate giving,” though, “where you’re just talking about a gift—again, this is very fact specific, but if you’re just talking about a gift, then it’s hard to see how just a straight gift violates any federal civil rights laws,” Conley said.

President Trump’s attacks on the trans community have triggered numerous protests around the country, including this one in D.C. in February. (Blade photo by Linus Berggren)

She added, “An internship, a scholarship, something that’s reciprocal, something that is a contract, that’s a different analysis, right? But it is not, to my mind, nor have I ever seen a case suggesting that it’s illegal for organization X to write a $20,000 check to X civil rights organization.”

LGBTQ-focused nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations and charities are grappling with the loss of federal grant funding, particularly for overseas work. If the business community’s move away from DEI means declined corporate giving, these groups would struggle to continue their work, which includes efforts to push back against the administration’s attacks against LGBTQ and especially trans communities.

Courts will soon step in Importantly, “all of these EOS are caught up in litigation right now,” Conley said, noting that parts of the DEI executive actions were struck down on Feb. 21 by the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

Earlier this month, a federal judge struck down Trump’s executive orders restricting access to transgender medicine for patients younger than 19 and requiring trans women to be housed with cisgender men in prisons.

“I am watching closely to see what happens in the challenges to the DEI executive orders,” Conley said, noting that the Trump administration has already appealed the case, which “will go to the 4th Circuit pretty quickly.”

If the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in, “especially around the arguments that the executive order was unconstitutional because of the lack of clarity and guidance it gave to organizations about what violates the law in a way that wouldn’t allow them to comply, I’m watching that one, because it’ll be interesting to see how the 4th Circuit and maybe even the Supreme Court addresses that particular argument,” she said.

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VIEWPOINT

If this were Trump’s playbook, Democrats would be screaming If we want different results in 2026, it starts right here If the largest local Democratic Party entity in the U.S. can rewrite the rules to silence dissent, what’s stopping every other Democratic organization from doing the same? If Democrats in LA are willing to borrow from Trump’s playbook—changing the rules, consolidating power, and steamrolling opposition—then let’s not pretend this won’t spread. Best believe others are watching, and if they can get away with it here, they’ll try it everywhere.

Power grabs don’t always happen in grand, theatrical takeovers.

Sometimes, they come disguised as simple bureaucratic tweaks—like lowering the threshold to change bylaws in the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, from two-thirds majority consent to 60 percent to quell ‘the obstructionists.’

Why it matters Let’s be clear: ‘obstructionists’ is just a convenient label for people who refuse to rubber-stamp leadership agenda. More and more delegates are showing up informed, asking real questions, reading the fine print and—heaven forbid—pushing back when things don’t sit right. Instead of engaging, instead of organizing, instead of actually making the case for their ideas, leadership wants to change the rules so they don’t have to.

This isn’t just about efficiency. It’s about control. If they get away with it here, expect to see this playbook used across the state, and eventually, across the country. The fight for democracy doesn’t just happen at the ballot box in November—it starts in rooms like these, in party meetings where the rules of engagement are being rewritten in real-time.

If the status quo worked so well for Democrats, we wouldn’t be staring down another four years of Trump in the White House. Clinging to outdated strategies and leadership has cost us dearly. It’s time to face the music: doing the same old thing isn’t cutting it.

If we want different results in 2026, it starts right here.

This is the battleground.

This is where the fight for the future of the Democratic Party is happening. If folks don’t start paying attention, they’ll wake up to a Party where their voices—and their votes—matter even less than they do now.

Democrats can’t fight the White House’s power grabs while copying them In a functioning democracy, disagreement is not obstruction. It’s discourse. It’s debate. It’s the foundation of representative decision-making. But instead of doing the hard work of organizing, persuading, and building consensus, it feels like some in the Democratic Party want to change the rules so they don’t have to.

If this sounds familiar, it should. It’s the same strategy we’re seeing at the highest levels of government. Rules and norms are treated as inconvenient obstacles to unchecked power. When persuasion fails, the solution isn’t better arguments—it’s rigging the game.

The California Democratic Party bylaws require a two-thirds threshold for amending the bylaws as do the Ventura County Democrats, the Riverside County Democrats, the Orange County Democrats and 08 • MARCH 07, 2025 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM

JASMINE CANNICK is a delegate in the L.A. County Democratic Party representing the 55th Assembly District. the San Diego County Democrats. Most labor unions also require a two-thirds vote of members to change their rules.

We don’t need weaker rules for democracy—we need stronger organizing, better arguments, and a leadership willing to do the work of winning people over. Democracy was never meant to be easy, convenient, or a guarantee that the people in charge get their way every time. It requires debate, persuasion, and sometimes even the discomfort of compromise.

What we should not be doing is moving the goalposts after the game has already started just because leadership doesn’t like who’s playing. Changing the rules midstream to silence those who dare to question, challenge, or push for something different isn’t about efficiency—it’s about control. If leadership truly believes in their vision, they should be able to defend it on its merits, not rewrite the process to force it through. Because once we start making democracy more “manageable” by cutting out dissent, what we’re left with isn’t democracy at all—it’s just power protecting itself.

When Democrats start adopting the same playbook as President Trump—silencing dissent, changing rules to quash debate—how are we any different? It’s hypocritical to condemn such tactics in the White House while employing them within our own party. If we truly stand for democratic values, we must practice what we preach, even when it’s inconvenient.

We can’t claim to be the party of democracy while strong-arming internal rule changes to silence voices that don’t fall in line with the status quo.

If the Democratic Party truly believes in free speech, transparency, and accountability, that commitment has to start within our own ranks. Otherwise, it’s just hypocrisy wrapped in blue branding. We can’t fight authoritarianism with more authoritarianism. If Democrats don’t stop rigging the rules to suppress internal dissent, we’ll lose the moral high ground to call it out anywhere else and we’ll see a repeat of 2024 in 2026 and 2028.

Side eye with a side note Every four years during the Presidential Primary, voters in California are asked to elect their delegates—but after that? Crickets. There’s little follow-up, or transparency, and it starts feeling like some secret society situation. Los Angeles County Democratic voters should be able to go to the LACDP website, enter their Assembly District, and instantly see the names and email addresses of the people representing them in the Party. That way, you can actually reach out to them on key votes and issues that matter to you. But guess what? That resource doesn’t exist–yet.

The workaround Head over to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s website, look up the election results for the Presidential Primary, and scroll down to member, county central committee, for your assembly district and county. The top seven voter getters on that list are your representatives. From there; you can Google them, find them on social media, and let them know exactly where you stand on this issue and how you would like them to vote on your behalf on March 11th. Because representation should actually mean something—not just a title on a ballot every four years.

V O L U M E 09 I S S U E 05 PHONE 310-230-5266 E-MAIL arodriguez@losangelesblade.com INTERNET losangelesblade.com PUBLISHED BY Los Angeles Blade, LLC PUBLISHER ALEXANDER RODRIGUEZ arodriguez@losangelesblade.com, 310-230-2077 x 8080 EDITORIAL EDITOR GISSELLE PALOMERA gpalomera@losangelesblade.com, 310-230-5266 x 9460 NATIONAL EDITOR KEVIN NAFF knaff@washblade.com, 202-747-2077 x 8088 CONTRIBUTING WRITER KAREN OCAMB karenocamb@losangelesblade.com CONTRIBUTORS

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VIEWPOINT

GISSELLE PALOMERA is local news editor of the Los Angeles Blade.

Reach them at gpalomera@losangelesblade.com.

Anxiety doesn’t always start the way we think it does Bottoms-up!

“There’s nothing wrong with you, you’re just built different. Like a Ferrari,” said my cardiologist during my latest visit.

I laughed.

He went on to explain my test results and elaborate on his analogy. But first he asked me a question I thought was completely unrelated.

“Are you an anxious person?

“No doubt about it,” I answered.

At times, in my average day-to-day life I felt like I had just run a marathon and my heart was racing. When I started taking my health more seriously and got on a consistent schedule with yoga, I noticed that my heart always felt like it was jumping out of my chest. No matter what emotions I was feeling or what external or environmental factors were involved, I always felt like I was riding on an adrenaline rush. It was hard to focus on the meditative type of yoga because I always felt my heart pounding in my ears and chest.

The first stop in my journey for answers was my primary care physician who said my strong heart palpitations might just be anxiety, referring to the type of anxiety that starts with thoughts that often spiral out of control, triggering a body response such as elevated heart rate, sweating and a number of other responses.

I shrugged off her response about anxiety because I thought for sure that wasn’t it–I felt in control of my thoughts.

She referred me to cardiology just to make sure there were no abnormalities a simple electro-cardiogram couldn’t catch. After multiple cardiologist visits, I was given a heart monitor that tracked my heart rate for a specific amount of time. The cardiologist read the results of the heart monitor and said there wasn’t really anything to worry about. Something the heart monitor caught during the five-day period that I wore it, was a consistently elevated heart rate.

The cardiologist elaborated on his car-heart analogy.

“You’re a Ferrari and I’m a Honda Civic,” he said. “We both start here (motioning at a start line for a race) and when we accelerate, I stay here and you’re way over there.”

Hearing him compare me to a Ferrari, while he compared himself to a Honda Civic, was the peak of my visit.

He said that my accelerated heart rate was probably causing me to feel anxious because from the moment I awaken–I’m racing. An overproduction of adrenaline starts to build up and the reaction is then felt throughout my entire body.

Things started to make more sense.

The hyperactivity I struggled with as a child and was diagnosed and treated as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder–was that actually a misdiagnosis because in reality I just have an elevated heart rate, causing an overproduction of adrenaline?

This ‘diagnosis’ suddenly made me realize why most of my young adult years felt like a constant disaster. I have a lethal combination of a wonderfully hyperactive mind and an overproduction of adrenaline building up in my body. No wonder I always felt tired.

After reading the results of my exam, the cardiologist prescribed blood pressure medication– something that made me feel like I had suddenly aged 50 years.

The way he explained the medication and the way that I made sense of it, was that he was laying out speed bumps so this Ferrari can go the speed limit.

“It’s going to make you feel better,” he said.

In my head, I thought “Did this man just prescribe me with literal chill pills?”

Yes, he did.

At that moment, I heard my mom’s voice in my head always saying: “Ay tú, siempre bien acelerada.” Which roughly translates to: ‘you’re always racing for everything.’

If a lack of patience is hereditary or a learned behavior, I definitely got it from my mom. My biggest self-identified character flaws are my lack of patience and need to be in control of things I feel like others just don’t do fast or well enough–enter my job as editor.

In 2023, I started seeing a psychiatrist regularly. At first, it was to deal with a painful breakup and the self-doubt, depression, suicidal thoughts and financial instability that came with the situation. Then, it turned into a long journey of identifying and facing the childhood trauma I carried on my shoulders. I knew I had to if I wanted to better the relationships in my life.

This has been quite a journey of undiagnosed anxiety. I know for a fact it’s cost me a good amount of relationships and friendships.

Though I started off with a low dose for the medication, I immediately felt a difference.

The world seemed quiet for once. Like the noise I was somehow experiencing, was suddenly turned off. I realized I was no longer hearing my heart rate pounding in my ears.

At the psychiatrist, I explained to her the new medication I started taking and she said it made sense that I experienced anxiety. According to her, it was the type of anxiety that starts in the body, with that overproduction of adrenaline and it works its way to the top, where it begins to affect my thoughts.

It’s a bottom-up versus top-down approach to emotion generation.

At the psychiatrist, I explained to her the new medication I was prescribed and she said it sounded like what I was experiencing, sort of aligned with bottom-up emotion generation versus top-down.

According to an article on the subject, “bottom-up emotions are immediate, ingrained responses to a stimulus–such as an instant feeling of fear in response to a car pulling out in front of us. Top-down emotions are more conscious responses to the way we think about a situation– such as a feeling of anxiety after deciding that we didn’t study hard enough for a test.”

The instant response to stress is based off adrenaline. The overproduction of adrenaline from these responses causes the physiological response of a very accelerated heart rate and thus, the feeling of some sort of urgency–at all times.

I thought about something she had also said to me a few months back when we had some of our first conversations about anxiety and pre-historic human beings. If I had been an early human, she says, I would have had a better chance at survival because of that ability to sense danger. She said I would have better chances than, let’s say a less sophisticated primate, who is able to stare at a leaf for an extended period of time and not sense the tiger lunging toward them at full speed, ready for its afternoon snack.

In short, the medication I’m now on, and a vigorous cardio routine will balance me out and release the overproduction of stress and adrenaline my body stores naturally.

There is no one way to treat anxiety and there is certainly no one way to experience emotions, or the psychosomatic responses that happen as a result of stress and anxiety.

This is your reminder to listen to your body.

LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • MARCH 07, 2025 • 09

GMCLA’s Rhinestone Cowboys to dazzle the stage in upcoming concert Happening at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills on March 22 and March 23

By GISSELLE PALOMERA The Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles is bringing the glitz and the glamour to the stage along with 200 Chorus members dedicated toward singing and dancing to the most revolutionary hits in country music. Not that you need one, but this is the perfect excuse to corral the gays and gals and throw on your rhinestone-studded fits for a night of gay magic. We know you still have the perfect articles of clothing from Beyonce’s Renaissance Tour to make a new fit and make an appearance at the Saban.

The Rhinestone Cowboys concert will feature music by Dolly, Reba McEntire, Shania Twain, Johnny Cash, Chris Stapleton, Taylor Swift and more.

GMCLA will also feature music by the genre’s most beloved allies and queer artists such as Beyoncé, Brandi Carlile, Shaboozey, Lil Nas X, and Chappell Roan.

Los Angeles Blade had a chance to sit with Lou Spisto, who is the Executive Director & Producer of GMCLA and catch up on the latest.

“Whether we do Broadway, classical, pop or disco, [the production] is going to have a sound based on who we are and how we do what we do,” said Spisto. “It’s also going to have our sensibility and how we sass it up and spin with just a little bit of fairy dust.”

All artwork and photos courtesy of Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles. (Concert photos by Gregory Zabilski)

The Rhinestone Cowboys show will feature over 200 of their over 240 members, on stage throughout various songs – everything from the Cash classics, to the new Beyonce hits that earned her the Grammy for Best Country Album of the Year.

Spisto was brought on as Executive Director & Producer in early 2019 after the organization was experiencing financial trouble and began to engage the community and the organization in a fiscal turnaround by going directly to the public, even from the stage, asking for donations from community, subscribers and the corporate sector. The turnaround was successfully completed by the end of 2019 and months later COVID-19 forced the shutdown that all the world experienced.

Shortly after GMCLA ‘righted the ship,’ Spisto said, “COVID-19 shut us down and thankfully, by then, we had enough financial stability to withstand what we may not have been able to do at that time.”

10 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • MARCH 07, 2025

“Since 2019 and then after the pandemic again, we’ve grown much stronger, “ said Spisto. He credits the LA Arts Recovery Fund for giving them the critical support to keep the organization going through the shutdown and to be able to bring the Chorus back.

Four years after the pandemic shut down, Broadway and non-profit theatres are still struggling to see pre-pandemic attendance levels. Which means, GMCLA is beating the odds and keeping productions running during times where audience shifts, soaring prices on everyday items and other issues, limit attendance.

According to a broader arts industry analysis, ‘the last full season before the COVID-19 industry shutdown – the 2018 to 2019 season – saw historic highs in both earnings and artist work weeks.’ By contrast and because of COVID-19, the ‘2020 to 2021 earnings and total work weeks dropped to a historic low.’ The latest in the analysis of 2023 to 2024 shows the nation’s theatre productions just beginning to recover from the pandemic drop in live performances and audience attendance.

GMCLA plans upcoming productions that take over 12 weeks each to rehearse and produce while it also performs many free community events and school programs.

“We are financially stronger, and that means we have the ability to give back to the community as well,” said Spisto. GMCLA recently hosted an event at The Abbey Weho that brought together the community and raised over $7,000 dollars for those who were impacted by the fires that devastated neighborhoods in Los Angeles back in January. This is just one of the many ways that the Chorus is giving back. GMCLA continues its work on the current season’s remaining two sets of concerts, finalizing plans for the 2025 GALA in June, creating and developing an exciting season for next year, and keeping its eyes on the 50th season in 2028/2029.

FILM

Saldaña triumphs amid ‘Emilia Pérez’ collapse at Oscars Karla Sofía Gascón loses top award to Mikey Madison after scandal

By SUSAN HORNIK design, why I am a costume designer.”

It’s no wonder the camera caught actress Michele Yeoh crying after watching queer “Wicked” also won the Oscar for Best Production Design. singer Cynthia Erivo (nominated for best actress) and Ariana Grande (nominated for “Emilia Pérez,” Netflix’s mesmerizing Spanish language, trans crime musical, had a best supporting actress) perform one of the much-loved songs from “Wicked,” as they whopping 13 nominations, with first-time nominee Karla Sofia Gascón making history were simply magnificent. as the first trans woman to be nominated for best actress. This would have been the Grande opened with Judy Garland’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and Erivo sang most nominated foreign film in the history of the Academy Awards.

“Home” from “The Wiz.” That was one of the many bright spots in the 97th annual Unfortunately, after the Academy Awards, which controversy surrounding took place Sunday night at her past tweets, the film the Dolby Theatre in Hollyonly won two awards: for wood. best supporting actress While the duo sadly didn’t (Zoe Saldana) and best take away any awards, the original song (“El Mal”). magical film did — gay cosWhile the U.S. is in an era tume designer Paul Tazeof anti-trans political mawell won the Oscar for Best neuvering, Sunday night’s Costume Design. broadcast included no “This is absolutely asmention of trans people. tounding,” Tazewell enIn the pressroom, during thused onstage, in his acan interview with “Emilia” ceptance speech. “Thank composers Clément Duyou Academy for this very col, Camille, and director significant honor. I’m the Jacques Audiard, a journalfirst Black man to receive a ist asked if anyone wanted costume design award for to address what was hapmy work on ‘Wicked.’ I’m so pening. proud of this.”

Speaking in French via In the pressroom, Tazea translator, Audiard said, well elaborated on his well “Since I didn’t win Best Film deserved win. or Best Director, I didn’t “This is the pinnacle of have the opportunity to my career. I’ve been despeak, but had I had that signing costumes for over opportunity, I would have 35 years,” he said. “Much spoken up.” has been on Broadway Saldaña, who starred as and now into film, and the Rita, a lawyer who gets enwhole way through there meshed with the trans carwas never a Black male tel leader’s transition, was designer that I saw that I thrilled to win. could follow, that I could ZOE SALDAÑA, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, and KARLA SOFÍA GASCÓN in ‘Emilia Pérez.’ (Photo courtesy of Netflix) “I am floored by this honsee as inspiration. And to or. Thank you to the Acadrealize that that’s actually emy for recognizing the quiet heroism and the power in a woman like Rita. And talking me, it becomes a ‘Wizard of Oz’ moment, you know, it’s like no place like home. So to about powerful women, my fellow nominees, the love and community that you have come back to the inspiration being inside of me was — is really remarkable.” offered me is a true gift, and I will pay it forward. Thank you so much Jacques Audiard, Tazewell said he achieved the award with the help of a lot of really amazing and you are forever a beloved character in my life. Thank you for taking the interest, thank talented costume artisans of all types and an amazing staff and assistants and crew. you for being so curious about these women to tell this story to my cast and my crew “Because, you know, there’s no way for me to do it alone! And that also is my greatest of ‘Emilia Pérez.’” joy — to be collaborating with other very talented artists, so I respect what that artistry Saldaña’s nephew is trans; a few weeks ago, while winning the best supporting acis, and I share this with them because I value what their input is.” tress at the BAFTAs, she told journalists that she was dedicating the award to him.

The veteran costume designer knew the movie was going to be pretty spectacular, “I’m dedicating all of these awards and the film ‘Emilia Pérez’ to my nephew, Eli. He but he was “absolutely blown away,” because of their approach. is the reason — they are the reason — I signed up to do this film in the first place,” she “We were working on two films at the same time. It wasn’t until I actually saw a pretty said. “So as the proud aunt of a trans life, I will always stand with my community of complete cut that I actually experienced the journey that we have created for audienctrans people.” es. And so, to experience that –I was beside myself. And it defined why I do costume

12 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • MARCH 07, 2025

FILM

In LaBruce’s ‘The Visitor,’ the revolution will be sexualized Exploring the treatment of ‘otherness’ in a society governed by xenophobia

By JOHN PAUL KING If any form of artistic expression can be called the “front line” in the seemingly eternal war between free speech and censorship, it’s pornography.

In the U.S., ever since a 1957 Supreme Court ruling (Roth v. U.S.) made the legal distinction between “pornography” (protected speech) and “obscenity” (not protected speech), the debate has continued to stymie judicial efforts to find a standard to define where that line is drawn in a way that doesn’t arguably encroach on First Amendment rights – but legality aside, it’s clearly a matter of personal interpretation. If something an artist creates features material that depicts sexual behavior in a way that offends us (or doesn’t, for that matter), no law is going to change our mind.

That’s OK, of course, everyone has a right to their own tastes, even when it comes to sex.

But in an age when the conservative urge to censor has been weaponized against anything that runs counter to their repressive social agenda, it’s easy to see how labeling something as too “indecent” to be lawfully expressed can be used as a political tactic. History is full of authoritarian power structures for whom censorship was used to silence – or even eliminate – anyone who dares to oppose them. That’s why history is also full of radical artists who make it a point to push the boundaries of what is “acceptable” creative expression and what is not.

Indeed, some of these artists see such cultural boundaries as just another way for a ruling power to enforce social conformity on its citizens, and consider the breaking of them not just a shock tactic but a revolutionary act – and if you’re a fan of pioneering “queercore” filmmaker Bruce LaBruce, then you know that’s a description that fits him well.

LaBruce, a Canadian who rose to underground prominence as a writer and editor of queer punk zines in the ‘80s before establishing himself as a photographer and filmmaker in the “Queercore” movement, has never been deterred by cultural boundaries. His movies – from the grit of his gay trick-turning comedy “Hustler White,” through the slick pornographic horror of “LA Zombie,” to the taboo-skewering sophistication of his twin-cest romance “St. Narcisse” – have unapologetically featured explicit depictions of what some might call “deviant” sex.

Other films, like the radical queer terrorist saga “The Raspberry Reich” and the radical feminist terrorist saga “The Misandrists,” have been more overtly political, offering savagely ludicrous observations about extremist ideologies and the volatile power dynamics of sex and gender that operate without regard for ideologies at all. Through all of his work, a cinematic milieu has emerged that exists somewhere between the surreal iconoclasm of queer Italian provocateur Pier Paolo Pasolini and the monstrous camp sensibility of John Waters, tied together with an eye for arresting pop art visuals and a flair for showmanship that makes it all feel like a really trashy – and therefore really good – exploitation film.

In his latest work, he brings all those elements together for a reworking of Pasolini’s 1968 “Teorema,” in which an otherworldly stranger enters the life of an upper class Milanese family and seduces them, one by one. In “The Visitor,” Pasolini’s Milan becomes LaBruce’s London, and the stranger becomes an impressively beautiful, sexually fluid alien refugee (burlesque performer Bishop Black) who arrives in a suitcase floating on the Thames. Insinuating himself into the home of a wealthy family with the help of the maid (Luca Federici), who passes him off as her nephew, he exerts an electrifying magnetism that quickly fascinates everyone who lives there. Honing in on their repressed appetites, he has clandestine sex with each in turn – Maid, Mother (Amy Kingsmill), Daughter (Ray Filar), Son (Kurtis Lincoln), and Father (Macklin Kowal) – before engaging in a incestuous pansexual orgy with them all. When the houseguest departs as abruptly as he arrived, the household is left with its bourgeois pretensions shattered and its carnal desires exposed, each of them forced to deal with the consequences for themselves.

Marked perhaps more directly than LaBruce’s other work with direct nods to his influences, the film is dedicated to Pasolini himself, in addition to numerous visual references throughout which further underscore the “meta-ness” of paying homage to the director in a remake of one of his own films; there are just as many call-backs to Waters, most visibly in some of the costume choices and the gender-queered depiction of some of its characters, but just as obviously through the movie’s “guerilla filmmaking” style and its gleefully transgressive shock tactics – particularly a dinner banquet sequence early on which leisurely rubs our noses in a

A family has sex with an alluring stranger in ‘The Visitor.’

(Image courtesy of a_Political)

few particularly dank taboos. There are also glimpses and echoes of Hitchcock, Kubrick, Lynch, and other less controversial (but no less challenging) filmmakers whose works have pushed many of the same boundaries from behind the veneer of mainstream respectability.

Despite all of these tributes, however, “The Visitor” is pure LaBruce. Celebratory in its depravity and unflinching in its fully pornographic (and unsimulated) depictions of sex, from the blissfully erotic to grotesquely bestial, it seems determined to fight stigma with saturation – or at least, to push the buttons of any prudes who happen to wander into the theater by mistake – while mocking the fears and judgments that feed the stigmas in the first place.

That doesn’t mean it’s all fluid-drenched sex and unfettered perversion; like Pasolini and his other idols, LaBruce is a deeply intellectual filmmaker, and there’s a deeper thread that runs throughout to deliver an always-relevant message which feels especially relevant right now: the treatment of “otherness” in a society governed by homogeny, conformity, and xenophobia. “The Visitor” even opens with a voiceover radio announcer lamenting the influx of “brutes” into the country, as suitcases bearing identical immigrants (all played by Black) appear across London, and it is by connecting to the hidden “other” in each of his conquests that our de facto protagonist draws them in.

LaBruce doesn’t just make these observations, however; he also offers a solution (of sorts) that matches his fervor for revolution – one in which the corruption of the ruling class serves as an equalizing force. In each of the Visitor’s extended sexual episodes with the various family members, the director busts out yet another signature move by flashing propaganda-style slogans – “Give Peace of Ass a Chance,” “Go Homo,” and “Join the New Sexual World Order” are just a few colorful examples – that are as heartfelt as they are hilarious. In LaBruce’s revolution, the path to freedom is laid one fuck at a time, and it’s somehow beautiful – despite the inevitable existential gloom that hovers over it all.

Obviously, “The Visitor” is not for all tastes. But if you’re a Blade reader, chances are your interest will be piqued – and if that’s the case, then welcome to the revolution. We need all the soldiers we can get.

“The Visitor” is now playing in New York and debuts in Los Angeles March 14, and will screen at roadshow engagements in cities across the U.S. Information on dates, cities, and venues (along with tickets) is available at thevisitor.film/.

LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • MARCH 07, 2025 • 13

BOOKS

A taste for the macabre with a side order of sympathy New book ‘The Lamb’ is for fans of horror stories

By TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER What’s for lunch?

You probably know at breakfast what you’re having a few hours later.

Maybe breast of chicken in tomato sauce. Barbecued ribs, perhaps? Leg of lamb, beef tongue, pickled pigs’ feet, liver and onions, the possibilities are just menus away. Or maybe, as in the new book, “The Lamb” by Lucy Rose, you’ll settle for a rump roast and a few lady fingers.

Margot was just four years old when she noticed the mold on the shower walls, and wondered what it might taste like. She also found fingers in the shower drain from the last “stray,” the nails painted purple, and she wondered why they hadn’t been nibbled, too.

Cooked right, fingers and rumps were the best parts.

Later, once Margot started school, Mama depended on her to bring strays from the woods to their cottage, and Mama would give them wine and warm them up. She didn’t often leave the house unless it was to bury clothing and bones, but she sometimes welcomed a gardener who was allowed to leave. There was a difference, you see, between strays and others.

But Eden? Margot couldn’t quite figure her out.

She actually liked Eden, who seemed like a stray but obviously wasn’t.

Eden was pretty; she never yelled at Margot, although she did take Margot’s sleeping spot near Mama. Eden made Mama happy; Margot could hear them in the bedroom sometimes, making noises like Mama did when the gardener visited. Eden was a very good cook. She made Mama softer, and she made promises for better times.

And yet, things never got better. Margot was not supposed to call attention to herself, but she wanted friends and a real life. If she was honest, she didn’t want to eat strays anymore, either, she was tired of the pressure to bring home dinner, and things began to unravel. Maybe Mama didn’t love Margot anymore. Maybe she loved Eden better or maybe Mama just ached from hunger.

Because you know what they say: two’s company, three’s a meal.

Not a book to read at lunch? No, probably not – although once you become immersed in “The Lamb,” it’ll be easy to swallow and hard to put down.

For sure, author Lucy Rose presents a somewhat coming-of-age chiller with a gender-twisty plot line here, and while it’s occasionally a bit slow and definitely cringey, it’s also really quite compelling. Rose actually makes readers feel good about a character who indulges in something so entirely, repulsively taboo, which is a very surprising – but oddly satisfying – aspect of this unique tale. Readers, in fact, will be drawn to the character Margo’s innocence-turned-eyes-wide-open and it could make you grow a little protective of her as she matures over the pages. That feeling plays well inside the story and it makes the will-they-won’t-they ending positively shivery.

Bottom line, if you have a taste for the macabre with a side order of sympathy, then “The Lamb” is your book and don’t miss it. Fans of horror stories, this is a novel you’ll eat right up.

‘The Lamb: A Novel’

By Lucy Rose

c.2025, Harper | $27.99 | 329 pages

14 • LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • MARCH 07, 2025

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LOSANGELESBLADE.COM • MARCH 07, 2025 • 15

FORTY YEARS of pride