The Pride LA 12.2.22

the pride

Los Angeles LGBT Center Honors Transgender Day of Remembrance, Mourns Colorado Shooting Victims

November 21 event remembers victims of the Colorado Spring Shooting

On the evening of November 21st, the Los Angeles LGBT Center held a candlelight vigil to honor Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) and the victims of the Colorado Spring Shooting. The evening of community support and healing was designed to not only remember those we’ve lost, but to raise awareness about the constant stigma and discrimination experienced by the TGI/ ENBY+ community.

Transgender Day of Remembrance is a solemn occasion where our community names and honors the members of our trans and gender-nonconforming family who we lost to senseless acts of violence. At least 32 transgender or gender non-conforming people have been killed in the U.S. this year, though the actual number is likely to be even higher due to underreporting.

“We refuse to let violence rob us of the possibility to gather, to love each other, and to dream together in solidarity,” said Trans

Wellness Center Program Manager, Mariana Marroquin. “We gather because we must remember what is worth fighting for. For now, we commemorate. We tell the stories of the ones we lost. For tonight, that will be enough.”

TDOR is a powerful occasion—a gathering that forces us to confront the most horrific truths of our society, and a reminder of who we need to center in our ongoing fight for liberation. This year’s vigil comes amid a rise in anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-transgender legislation across the country. Since the beginning of 2022, at least 13 states have enacted anti-transgender legislation targeting trans youth, school curriculums, and doctors who provide safe and affirming medical care.

This year, TDOR came on the heels of a senseless shooting in Colorado Springs that left five members of our community dead and more than 25 injured. Last night’s vigil also held space to mourn those who were senselessly killed at Club Q. Condemning the increase in anti-LGBTQ+ violence, rhetoric, and political maneuvering in this country, the Center vowed to continue to do everything possible to keep the LGBTQ+ community safe.

“The Center will honor the lives we have lost by taking continued action to protect our community from all forms of anti-LGBTQ

violence,” said the Center’s CEO, Joe Hollendoner. “Whether that’s by preserving and expanding the sacred spaces like Trans* Lounge where our community can come together to be safe, continuing our advocacy efforts to address anti-LGBTQ legislation and rhetoric, or caring for survivors of hate crimes through our anti-violence program, the Center will do everything possible to make sure another queer or trans life is not lost due to

hate. Recent events have served as a painful reminder that our local and national antiviolence work remains urgent.”

The community-anchored event was organized by the Center’s Cultural Arts, Trans* Lounge, and Trans Wellness Center teams, and was supported by community partners Bienestar, TransLatin@ Coalition, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Friends Community Center, and Youth Moving On.

Palm Springs Pride Parade ‘Say Gay’ Draws Large Crowd

36th annual parade brings crowds from all over

By Susan Payne

The 36th annual Greater Palm Springs Pride Parade this month drew a large crowd and highlighted the nation’s regional divisions against LGBTQ+ rights.

Donning rainbows and festive looks, people of all ages represented a myriad of groups, including high school students and adult performers.

“Say Gay,” the festival’s theme, is a play

on a controversial Florida bill that was signed into law in March which restricts classroom discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by its opponents, according to the Desert Sun.

“Parades in general in places like Palm Springs — we’re pretty out there,” said Harry Helbing told the Desert Sun. “So ‘saying gay’ is like, ‘Yeah, what?’ Maybe if this was in a (red) state it would be a different story.”

Helbing moved to Palm Springs during the pandemic and said the city’s festival “had a homemade quality that’s kind of fun.”

Austin, Texas, resident Kate Dunn traveled to Palm Springs to visit family and attend the festival.

“We thought, ‘Why not do it in the place that knows how to do it?’” Dunn said. “(It has a) small-town feel but we’re still celebrating

Pride with everyone around us.”

The theme of the festival brought on issues in Texas that Dunn believes needs to be talked about.

“Kids are going to go through these experiences regardless and if we can help them along the way — I know that it helps me to have these conversations with people, particularly people younger than me,” she said. “I think it would just be a lot easier if we would pull the cloak off of things and just talk about things openly instead of having this puritanical approach to education and discussion about sexual orientation and gender identity.”

Jim McMichael, celebrating with friends, didn’t have a strong view of the event’s political message, but being able to be proud and receive support from allied partners in a

year that’s been so divise was important, he told the Desert Sun.

West Hollywood resident Jeff Max said, “You do have to ‘say gay.’ They should be in books, they should be taught.”

Arson suspect sought in connection to incident

B y S u S an P ayne

A 35-year-old bookstore was set on fire in North Hollywood in November and is believed to be a target of an alleged arson attack.

LA Fire responded to the call, seeing the front of the rear entrance of Iliad Bookshop, located at 5400 Calhuega, fully engulfed in flames after an unknown person or persons stacked up books and items left out by the store, according to the Los Angeles Blade.

Bookstore owner Daniel Weinstein told multiple news outlets that a flyer was left at the scene of the blaze, considered “terrorist.”

The extent of damage to the store’s inventory is unknown, according to the Blade.

To offset cost of repairs, the bookshop started a GoFundMe.

“We were very lucky: neighbors saw the flames and flagged down a passing fire

truck; had the firefighters arrived mere moments later, the entire store would probably have gone up. As it is, we suffered heavy damage to the main entry. The doors (which are metal) are still functional, but will need to be either replaced or fixed. We lost lighting fixtures, signage, and wood framing; we also suffered damage to the mural on the right side of the doors. Smoke filled the interior of the store, but we were able to rescue our two cats Zeus and Apollo and we’re hopeful that the damage to the books and fixtures is minimal,” said Weinstein.

“We have high insurance deductibles, so we need to cover the cost of replacing the exterior lights, sign, and trim, and touching up the mural. We expect the funds we’re looking for to be divided between repair costs and a mural artist,” he continued in the GoFundMe description.

Iliad is known for its cozy mix of “librarial reverence and old lore magic,” according to magazine writer Augustus Britton.

“Weinstein’s 10 employees are awesome. There are no better poetic words to describe them. One could say they all look like fictional characters. Grateful Dead fans, Philip K. Dick spies or Stendhal savants

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eating Chinese food at the counter while the shop’s spunky cats Zeus and Apollo — more nods to Greek mythology — climb over their shoulders,” Brittan said about the

bookstore.

LAFD’s arson investigators are currently looking into what caused the fire, according to the Blade.

Pasadena Reproductive Center Facing Lawsuit for Wrong Implantation

Gay couple sues Huntington Reprodive Center

By Susan Payne

A gay couple’s lawsuit against a reproductive center in Pasadena has been trimmed by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, dismissing some parts of the claim, but keeping others. Albert and Anthony Saniger allege their wish to have a son were denied when Huntington Reprodive Center wrongly implanted a female embryo in their gestational carrier, according to NBC Los Angeles.

Judge Teresa Beaudet dismissed the negligence claim against the medical group and Dr. Bradford Kolb, but they will still have shore up their breach of contract cause of action for it to remain part of the lawsuit but added that they had provided enough details for now for their claims for fraudulent concealment and violations of the unfair competition law and Consumer Legal Remedies Act to remain in the complaint, according to NBC Los Angeles. Medical malpractice was not challenged in the defense motion. Defense attorneys say

that the Sanigers have not provided details that would allege conduct on the part of the defendants that would demonstrate anything more than median negligence.

The lawsuit was filed in July and stated that the Sanigers met more than 10 years ago, married in 2013 and dreamed of having two children, both sons. While working with HRC and Kolb, the suit stated that the couple wanted only male embryos transferred to the gestational carrier. The embryos selected had an identified gender to be used in each transfer, according to the suit.

According to the suit, HRC and Kolb “negligently, recklessly and/or intentionally transferred a female embryo to the Sanigers’ gestational carrier.”

The trial is scheduled for Nov. 29, 2023.

California to Send First Openly Gay Immigrant to Congress

Robert Garcia, Rex Richardson make history

By Susan Payne

Long Beach voters ushered in two historical election firsts for the region during this year’s election.

Robert Garcia, the current mayor of Long Beach, is set to become the first openly gay immigrant in the U.S. house of Representatives, after a decisive showing from voters in the 42nd Congressional District, which includes Long Beach and southeastern Los Angeles County, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Garcia has declared victory in the heavily Democratic district. He tweeted that he received an “incredibly gracious call from President Joe Biden. … He’s in great spirits and feeling good. I told him I’m ready to get to work.”

Having to leave his seat as mayor, Long Beach voters made history and elected its first Black mayor, Rex Richardson. During his 53% lead in the election, he stated that he was confident in his path to the seat.

This year’s midterm elections have made history in California. Voters elected the first Latino to represent California in the U.S. Senate, Alex Padilla, and the first Asian American to become mayor in San Bernardino, Helen Tran.

The LGBTQ Victory Fund called Garcia’s win important for representation and the future.

“With anti-LGBTQ and anti-choice legislation currently moving through Congress, the stakes of this election could not have been higher — and California voters delivered,” said Annise Parker, the president and chief executive of LGBTQ Victory Fund and former mayor of Houston. “His win tonight will inspire countless other LGBTQ and first-generation Americans to pursue careers in public service.”

Garcia, married to Matthew Mendez Garcia, a professor of political science at Cal State Long Beach, came to the U.S. from Peru with his mother, and gained citizenship later as an adult. He is a two-times elected mayor of Long Beach at the age of 44.

Garcia lost his mother and stepfather to COVID-19, but went on to lead an aggressive vaccination campaign headed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, according to the LA Times.

Phoebe Bridgers Covers Holiday

Proceeds from the song will go to the Los Angeles LGBT Center

By Susan Payne

Singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers released a cover of the Handsome Family’s song “So Much Wine” from 2000.

This year, the proceeds of that song will go to the Los Angeles LGBT Center.

Bridgers anchors the “So Much Wine” cover with her signature folksy acoustic guitar against her vulnerable, empathetic vocals that match the sorrowful lyrics of the song, written by Rennie Sparks of the Handsome Family, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Lamenting a loved one’s battle with alcohol, Bridgers starts the song:

“I had nothing to say on Christmas Day / When you threw all your clothes in the snow.”

In the chorus she pleas, “Listen to me, butterfly / There’s only so much wine / That you can drink in one life / But it will never be enough / To save you from the bottom of your class.”

Bridger’s boyfriend, Paul Mescal, from “Normal People” is featured in the background vocals of the track, along with fiddle and

whistling from multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird.

Since 2017, Bridgers has committed the proceeds of her annual holiday covers to nonprofit organizations.

In 2019, she covered Simon and Garfunkel’s 1966 song “7 O’Clock News/Silent Night” over news-radio programming of current events at the time, including abortion access, the opioid epidemic and the murder of Botham Jean, a Black man who was shot and killed inside his own apartment by a white, off-duty Dallas Police Department patrol officer named Amber Guyger, according to the LA Times.

In a Facebook post promoting the song, Bridgers wrote:

“Happy Holidays to everyone whose family has been literally or figuratively torn apart by Donald Trump. And to my racist, xenophobic, misogynistic, hypocritical family members, f— you.”

LGBTQ Seniors Show Off Talents During Fall Showcase

Event shows off the array of talent and work produced by the group

By Susan Payne

The Los Angeles LGBT Center held a fall showcase for senior citizens, the first of its kind for the department, celebrating the array of talent and work produced by the group.

Opening the day, a color guard routine was performed by some of the department’s retired veterans, followed by a tai chi practice led by an LGBT Center instructor. Members of the Senior Writing Group featured readings from the group, then members of the Allies for Racial Justice Book Club took stage and encouraged seniors to sign up and learn about building connections and trust.

“It’s both showing off all the amazing things our seniors are doing and making sure that the community is aware of all the different offerings that are available,” said Michael McFadden, Senior Services’ associate director of programs, in a report from LGBT News Now.

“We invite anyone to be in the group,” said participant Neil Beecher. “You don’t necessarily have to have read the books to participate, because you have a lived experience to share. Because the dialogue that

takes place will open things up in your mind and you’ll go, ‘Oh, I saw that. I experienced that.’ We learn from one another in that way too.”

Other groups, TransC.A.R.E. (Community, Autonomy, Resilience and Empowerment) and Men Living With HIV, encouraged seniors to get involved and sign up as new members.

In between moments of seriousness, the senior chorus, the R&B Line Dancing class and a beginners’ tap dance group performed lively renditions and performances.

“It’s been great to see people coming back in person,” said McFadden. “The folks who have come back have been really eager and excited to have these opportunities to reconnect with their friends—or to meet new friends who they’ve been on Zoom with for two years and never actually met in person. Some of them have been deeply connected and supporting each other through the COVID-19 pandemic but hadn’t ever actually met in person until now.”

Going forward, the department will host biannual talent shows.

LGBTQ Movie ‘Bros’ Flopped, but Still Important for Representation

By Susan Payne

“Bros” features an all-LGBTQ principal cast in a big-studio romantic comedy among challenging political times for the community and was recently reviewed by USA Today’s David Oliver.

The movie opened with $4.8 million at North American theatres at the end of September and finished fourth place behind new horror flick “Smile,” “Don’t Worry Darling,” and Viola Davis’ “The Woman King,” according to Oliver. Co-writer and star Billy Eichner took to Twitter and slightly attributed the low box office numbers to homophobia.

“Even with glowing reviews, great Rotten Tomatoes scores, an A CinemaScore etc, straight people, especially in certain parts of the country, just didn’t show up for Bros,” Eichner wrote on Twitter Sunday. “And that’s disappointing.”

Although Eichner has a point, homophobia might have been one reason it didn’t succeed. The high amount of due widespread antiLGBTQ sentiment and legislation across the nation could be another part.

Eighteen states have block transgender youth from playing in sports according to their gender identity. Although politically challenged, Hollywood should keep taking risks on LGBTQ films, Oliver said.

“Without mainstream film representation, LGBTQ people will only feel that much more stuck on the sidelines of society,” Oliver said.

Oliver wrote that he walked into a “Bros”

screening with high expectations. The trailer featured hot men who would inevitably end up together after a series of traditional rom-com trials and tribulations with the added twist of homosexual high jinks – a meet-cute at a gay bar! Gay sex! Inter-LGBTQ community arguments!

“Bobby Leiber (Eichner) and Aaron Shepard (Luke Macfarlane) fell in love, broke up and got back together in less than two hours – I’ve

fallen in and out of love with a man in less time, honestly – pushing each other to look inward to accept themselves in order to love and accept the other fully. And this all happened against “a backdrop of NSFW selfies, casual group sex and indiscriminate steroid injections,” as my colleague Edward Segarra points out,” Oliver wrote in the USA Today article.

Oliver said he laughed a lot, teared up and questioned his own insecurities about body image and masculinity during the film.

Bobby Leiber (Eichner) and Aaron Shepard (Luke Macfarlane) fell in love, broke up and got back together in less than two hours – I’ve fallen in and out of love with a man in less time, honestly – pushing each other to look inward to accept themselves in order to love and accept the other fully. And this all happened against “a backdrop of NSFW selfies, casual group sex and indiscriminate steroid injections,” as my colleague Edward Segarra points out,” Oliver said.

While no movie can represent everyone, films like Hulu’s “Fire Island” and Paramount+’s “Three Months” contribute to LGBTQ representation.

Oliver finished his review of the movie with the following statements:

“The more you make, the more opportunities to find a sweet spot. But more importantly – stay with me, Hollywood – the more you make, the more opportunities there are for people to see parts of themselves onscreen they may not even know exist.

“People need to watch themselves have a main-character moment instead of settling for another interpretation of the sassy sidekick. That way, we can make room for LGBTQ people of color, particularly trans women of color, to land leading roles, too.

“I will encourage everyone I know to go see “Bros” when they can. But I don’t fault anyone for waiting for it to stream. Movies are expensive! We are still in a pandemic! I get it. But seeing this movie means you are seeing me. My friends. My life.

“We finally got it. Let’s get more.”

“Straight people, especially in certain parts of the country, just didn’t show up for Bros,” Billy Eichner says

SANTA MONICA COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Dr. Louise Jaffe, Chair; Barry Snell, Vice Chair; Dr. Susan Aminoff; Dr. Nancy Greenstein; Dr. Margaret Quiñones-Perez; Rob Rader; Dr. Sion Roy; Catalina Fuentes Aguirre, Student Trustee; Kathryn E. Jeffery, Ph.D., Superintendent/President Santa Monica College | 1900 Pico Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90405 | smc.edu