ISSUE 1 VOLUME 52 F R I D AY JA NUA RY 12 , 2 0 24 SE AT T L E & T HE PACIF IC NOR T H W E S T ’S L GB T Q I A + NE W S & EN T ER TA INMEN T SOURCE SINCE 19 74
CHARLIE’S QUEER BOOKS Washington’s first all-LGBTQ+ bookstore
by Lindsey Anderson SGN Staff Writer On November 4, 2023, Charlie’s Queer Books, originally a pop-up and online store, officially opened its doors in the Fremont neighborhood. Opening a brick-and-mortar location was a goal for owner and founder Charlie Hunts, who wanted “something that would fit the vibe as Queer but outside Capitol Hill.”
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Celebrating LGBTQ+ excellence in the PNW
The 2023 SGN Reader’s Choice Awards list
Now is the time to declare Denny-Blaine an official nude park
COURTESY PHOTO
by Kali Herbst Minino SGN Contributing Writer The SGN’s third annual Reader’s Choice Awards have come to a close — and results are in!
To celebrate, here’s a little bit about the fabulous performers, athletes, businesses, and organizations our community loves.
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PHOTO BY ENRIC CRUZ LÓPEZ / PEXELS
by Teddy MacQuarrie SGN Contributing Writer It has been a month since a Seattle city department granted Denny-Blaine Park a reprieve as a safe space for nudists and
Queers. A proposed children’s play area at the park, funded almost entirely by a single anonymous donor, would likely have led to conflict between the nude sunbathers
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IN THIS ISSUE ORIGINALLY SEATTLE GAY NEWS
SEATTLE NEWS 4 REGIONAL NEWS 9 NATIONAL NEWS 11 INTERNATIONAL NEWS 14 OP-ED 15 FILM 18 BOOKS 21
FOUNDED 1974 509 10th Ave E Seattle, WA 98102 (206) 324-4297 info@sgn.org sgn.org
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Photography Matt Cyphert · Lauren Vasatka · SGN Staff
Comics Clar Hart SGN is published by Stratus Group LLC. © 2023. All Rights Reserved. Reprints by permission. Publication of names, photographs, or likeness of any person, organization, event or business in this publication cannot be taken as any indication of the sexual orientation of the person, organization, event or business. Opinions expressed in bylined articles, columns, and letters are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff or management of this paper. SGN welcomes unsolicited material, including letters to t he editor, but reserves the right to edit or reject material. All rights revert to authors upon publication. We assume no liability for loss or damage of materials, solicited or not. We invite feedback, please write.
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Faces of AIDS
Sixty Portraits of Persons with AIDS SEATTLE GAY NEWS VOLUME 15, ISSUE 3 JANUARY 15, 1988 by William J. Freeberg Dive into the archives of the SGN at https://issuu.com/sgn.org An emotionally moving AIDS photo exhibition called the “Faces of AIDS” is being presented at Western Washington University this month. The exhibit, which has been shown in Portland and four other cities, was the project of the San Mateo County Department of Health Services. Photographer Jim Wigler collected photographs of 58 men and two women for the riveting presentation. These sixty people shatter the coldness of statistics with their eyes, frowns and grins. The accompanied quotations from each individual drives home the pain, the fear and hope in the face of an epidemic. Since the exhibit was first presented, four of the subjects have died. Each of their portraits is marked with a small black flag. Their deaths are also echoed in some quotations by other people, which makes this simple show a serious statement about death and dying. One man, John Lorenzini, is featured in the promotional posters for the exhibit and raises the fears of death in his quotation. “I know I am facing a wall,” he states. “I have to keep reminding myself to turn around away from that wall.” One of the two women, Meredith Miller, has freckles, dark hair and eyes, and a stark frown or grimace. “I’ve done many interviews,” she states, “and in each of them I’ve publicly thanked the Gay community for their support for reacting to stigma, hate,
and fear with love, with compassion, and with education. And not once has the media printed my thanks. If not for the support mostly of Gay men, I would have been dead a long time ago.” Contrasting Miller is Ted Parry, 41. Parry is clean-shaven, except for a moustache that plays with his impish grin. He states, optimistically, “Life is like a movie, you enter in the middle and go out in the middle. There’s no beginning — no end.” There is only one — Tedd Hathaway — who doesn’t look directly into the camera lens and this is perhaps the most staggering and reflective shot of the entire show. His gaze is cast left and downward. His expression is bittersweet — somber, but in the same moment he seems at peace, relieved; near tears, and the wrinkles outlining his eyes lend him a gentle wisdom. Hathaway’s reflective mood is accented even more by his statement. “The mass consciousness of the world today is of love and healing and it’s growing by leaps and bounds. This is only the beginning of our lesson that all disease is a healing in progress.
Looking face to face with these people is an overwhelming, heartfelt experience. For those who needed the closeness of people to understand AIDS, they will be educated by the soul reaching statements of these brave people. This exhibit serves as a living memorial for everyone. We can learn from it, which makes “Faces Of AIDS” the most poignant photo exhibit one may ever see. (These photographs recall the Newsweek spread of last summer that printed many photos of those who died during the year from AIDS.) “Faces Of AIDS” is showing in Western Washington University’s Viking Union Gallery in Bellingham from January 7 to 26. This exhibit will travel next to Washington, DC, and then may go to Stockholm, Sweden. “Faces Of AIDS” may not return to this region soon, and it is worth the trip to Bellingham to spend an hour embracing this wonderful show. This article was edited for length. To view the original article in full, visit Washington Digital Newspapers.
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“We feel lucky to have found a great location in the neighborhood we were looking for and be able to reach as many folks in Seattle as possible,” he said. “It’s been great, of course. Opening in time for the holidays is always wonderful, and we were able to work out all of the kinks before the rush came,” Hunts continued. The store has successfully been open for two months, and the response from the Seattle community has been overwhelmingly positive. “It’s been great to see what people are reading, what resonates with them, and how they feel about the space and get some of their input about how we can continue to grow throughout the next year,” Hunts said. “It’s been great to get that immediate feedback loop in such a positive and supportive way.” The most feedback he has received is that people are craving more Queer third spaces. “I think folks are hungry for events and places to gather that aren’t based in nightlife,” Hunts said. “So, if you’re under 21, sober, if you just want something during the day, something more relaxed and casual, I think people are eager for that kind of space, and we have a chance to play our part in that. And events are one way to do that.” In fact, the question Hunts gets most from customers is about events. The store currently hosts several book clubs, though they’re filling up fast. Charlie’s Historical Fiction Book Club will meet on January 17 to discuss The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, and the Romance Book Club will meet on February 4 to discuss The Queer Principles of Kit Webb. (Readers can sign events lined up for the new year. The first is up to join any of the book clubs online at a conversation with local Queer illustrators https://charliesqueerbooks.com/pages/ Teo Duvall and Levi Hastings. “The few events that we have done so far events. Hunt is also excited about upcoming in our short time being open, the response community engagement nights. On the has been huge,” Hunts said. “That just lets 24th, Charlie’s will provide the hot glue, us know that we need to keep going down rhinestones, and googly eyes for “Shitty that path in providing a space for folks, a Craft Night.” It also has several author third place for Queer people.”
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHARLIE’S QUEER BOOKS
“The few events that we have done so far in our short time being open, the response has been huge… That just lets us know that we need to keep going down that path in providing a space for folks, a third place for Queer people.” C E L E B R AT I N G 5 0 Y E A R S!
Growing in all genres Charlie’s Queer Books is one of the first all-Queer bookstores in the US. “There are many bookstores that are Queer owned, but not very many that stock Queer books only. I think there’s a handful — six at most, I would guess,” Hunts said. Everything at Charlie’s is about LGBTQ+ topics or by LGBTQ+ authors. “By that, 98% of the authors in the store are Queer or identify as such, and the other 2% did representation well,” Hunts explained. “It’s an either/or situation. So either the author is Queer, but perhaps the subject matter isn’t — so for example, a cookbook — and then you also have Queer authors who are writing straight stuff, or straight authors who are writing Queer stuff. So it’s either in the content or by the author.” While Charlie’s Queer Books has only been open for two months, it has already grown far beyond its first few days. Today, it carries titles in nearly every genre. “Our goal was to make a bookstore that is really like any other, where we have different genres and a large breadth of everything, from cooking and crafts to memoir and fiction, and it just happens to be by a Queer person or about Queer people,” Hunts said. “I think we have almost every genre at this point, including spirituality, which is pretty cool. [We have] different graphic novels, middle-grade, and children’s books. We’re filling it out pretty quickly. It’s growing in size from when we first opened.” Now that the holidays have wrapped up, Hunts can confidently say Heartstopper has been one of the best sellers, along with anything by TJ Klune. PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHARLIE’S QUEER BOOKS
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A safe place Especially in this era when LGBTQ+ books have become so politicized, Hunts has been conscious of safety. “I tried to take as many precautions as possible for the safety of our customers,” Hunts said. “We coated the glass with a special film that would help against bullets, any break-ins, vandal situations, or graffiti. We installed several security cameras that are always running around the perimeter. We tried hard to ensure that if anyone wanted to harm the shop, folks would be as safe as possible.” “I was really prepared to get a blowback, but so far, there hasn’t been any,” he continued. Though Charlie’s received some hate comments after a video showcasing it went viral, it has yet to experience the same vitriol other PNW Queer businesses have faced. “We’re trying our best to prepare, because we know it’s not an ‘if’ but a ‘when,’” Hunts said. “It’s just too important to shy away from existence. That’s the goal, right? With any bullying, you’re trying to eradicate that group or that person from public life. That’s why we started the store, in reaction to that.” Hunts hopes readers of all kinds can find their way to the store, check out the wide selection of books, and let him know what else they’d like to see. “It’s just about what the customer is looking for and how we can best support the Queer community as a third place while staying true to our vibe of a nice chill place where folks can relax and be themselves,” Hunts said. Charlie’s Queer Books is open Wednesdays through Sundays at 465 N. 36th St,.
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SEATTLE NEWS Clarity Countdown: Alcohol-free events for Dry January
by Cameron Martinez SGN Contributing Writer On the evening of Saturday, January 6, 45 people attended a community event in South Lake Union with a focus on being alcohol-free. The sold-out event, “Clarity Countdown: An Intention-Setting Dry January Celebration,” was hosted by Seattlebased nonalcoholic business owners Molly Flynn and Juanita Unger. “[It was] a really beautiful event, in my humble opinion,” Flynn said. “It was a night dedicated to nonalcoholic, Dry January intention setting. We had a nonalcoholic happy hour, a nonalcoholic bottle shop courtesy of The N.A. Sommelier, [and] yoga … and then we had a sound bath.” The idea for “Clarity Countdown” was conceived when Flynn, owner of the nonalcoholic events consulting business Molly Makes Clinks, had a coffee date with Unger, the owner of the nonalcoholic bottle shop The N.A. Sommelier. “I just recently opened a little … bottle shop, and I really wanted to do something for Dry January,” Unger said. “Also, I really wanted to meet Molly, because I’d seen her in the community and knew of the awesome work she was doing. So, we had a coffee date and — not thinking that we were going to do a Dry January thing or anything… — by the end of the conversation, we were like, ‘Let’s do something together!’” Meeting a need While there are many people who are sober for one reason or another, there is a distinct lack of dry events, especially Queer ones. “I specifically want to do events that my community can participate in,” Flynn said. “I believe in the importance of nonalcoholic events, because of the feedback
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that I’ve heard from the people in my community that they need spaces in which they can engage with other people [and] do activities where alcohol isn’t present, for a number of reasons. It’s not just for alcoholic dependency… I am a Queer person, and I know that the rates of alcohol abuse are so much higher in the Queer community.” According to a 2020 study conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, “Approximately 21.8% of sexual minority adults had an alcohol use disorder in the past year, compared to 11.0% in the overall population.” This is for a variety of reasons, ranging from mental health issues being more prevalent to the promotion of a party-based lifestyle. “There is an abundance of reasons why people don’t drink, and I want to just honor that there is something that speaks for everyone, including the sober curious and people who are mindful moderators,” Flynn said. “I stopped drinking a few years ago, and I feel like… I would go out if there was a space for me to go and hang out with other folks who were not drinking and who were like-minded and where there were delicious options still, without them having alcohol,” Unger said. “So, it’s something I need too, and I don’t see it in the community. Let me create it.” While Flynn and Unger aren’t the first people to own nonalcoholic businesses, the influence they have will likely ensure that they aren’t the last.
“I am a Queer person, and I know that the rates of alcohol abuse are so much higher in the Queer community.”
People who want to pick up nonalcoholic products for Dry January can stop by The N.A. Sommelier, located in The Fishbowl Art Gallery in the Uptown neighborhood of Seattle. People interested in hosting a nonalcoholic event can visit https://mollymakesclinks.com. COURTESY PHOTOS
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Urban Animal is giving workers a seat at the table
by Lindsey Anderson SGN Staff Writer The local veterinary chain Urban Animal has seen many changes in the 12 years since opening its doors in Capitol Hill. However, the biggest change is coming from within. “We have formed a worker cooperative,” CEO and founder Cherri Trusheim told the SGN. In 2019, Washington State passed a law that created a new legal entity known as a legal cooperative association (LCA), which allows workers to obtain a portion of the business that employs them, effectively giving them a seat at the corporate table. Right now, the workers at Urban Animal who take part in the program, from veterinarians to front-desk employees, collectively own 5% of the company. But that will soon change too. “Over the next five to ten years, I will sell portions of Urban Animal on what I call ‘familial terms,’ so I sort of look at it as taking the entire staff as my business partner,” Trusheim said. She thinks of the process as similar to getting into the housing market. “You just need to get in, you need a piece, because then that equity grows. By giving them a small percentage of the company, then as we grow the company, that small percentage gains more and more value and gives them the ability to buy the company over time. So, eventually, it will be 100% worker-owned.” Now, workers pay a small fee to secure their spot in the cooperative. If they leave the business, they get the money back that they paid in. “It just holds your place,” Trusheim explained. The advantage to workers participating in the cooperative is that they now get a seat at the table. Two members will sit alongside Trusheim as board members for Urban Animal Industries. The employees get a say in how the company is run and, eventually, expanded. “What I am ultimately trying to create is a space where veterinary professionals have a voice in what their jobs look like, because right now, corporate America is just gobbling up private equity,” Trusheim said. “You don’t go into veterinary professions to make money. We all should make money and have livable wages, but it’s not an industry that makes sense to have people focused on the bottom line. I want to change that, and this is how we start to do that.”
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF URBAN ANIMAL
“You don’t go into veterinary professions to make money… but it’s not an industry that makes sense to have people focused on the bottom line. I want to change that, and this is how we start to do that.” JA NUA RY 12 , 2 0 24
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Veterinarians in crisis Trusheim hopes other practices will follow Urban Animal’s lead to create a better work environment for their employees. A study by the BBC found that the veterinary industry is one of the worst when it comes to mental health. Trusheim is aware of this crisis and believes elevating the voices of the vets who work at her practice is the first step in combating it. “We’re trying to make an environment that can support our people,” she said. “A lot of us with trauma are drawn to work with animals. We all know the healing bond you can have with animals.” She sees a combination of sensitive people who come to the field to care for and help animals and a growing number of pet owners who see their dogs and cats as surrogate children as adding to this crisis. “When we make dogs our children — which we do, and there’s no judgment around that — …we almost always outlive them,” Trusheim said. “Outliving your child is not something within us that feels right, but it’s going to happen if your child is a dog.” While veterinarians experience a similar emotional trauma to pediatric doctors, especially when helping their clients say goodbye, they don’t receive the same benefits, support, or income. “It is an emotionally exhausting field,” Trusheim said. “It’s also not a lucrative field. If we’re motivated to keep it affordable and accessible, which we are at Urban, those things are like opposing magnets. You want people to make more money doing the work, but you also want to keep it affordable. It’s a challenge.” Everyone at Urban Animal works to make sure the Seattle community receives quality and affordable vet care. Trusheim wants to guarantee that her staff gets paid a good wage, but she does not want that to come at the expense of the community. In 2023, the company introduced the ACT subsidy, an additional and optional fee that helps it continue to provide care to low-income clients. “As long as animals are killed at shelters,
vet care should not be a luxury,” Trusheim said she believes. “That human-animal bond shouldn’t just be for the wealthy or the people with means.” Trusheim’s dedication to fostering the lives of humans and animals in the Seattle community has kept her from selling out.
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PHOTOS COURESY OF URBAN ANIMAL
“Corporate America would love to buy Urban Animal. I get solicitations every day. It would be a windfall to me, but then what?” Trusheim asked. “It’s not anything I’d be proud of. Even outside the veterinary industry, that wealth gap is growing in the wrong direction. It feels like the end of cap-
italism’s life span. Those who can do something different, like myself, need to. “It’s not just about my industry, it’s about our economic industry in general. We need to stop looking at things from a scarcity narrative. We can share. People should be a part of the success.”
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REGIONAL NEWS AWARDS
Best Queer Bar — Rumors Cabaret This “openly open” club has been in business since 1984 and is one of the longest-running in Bellingham. Its daily happy hour from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. is incredibly affordable, with $3 wells and $4.50 cider and microbrew pints. By holding community drag shows, karaoke nights, and Drag Race watch parties, and hosting special guests at their weekly “Queer Ass Fridays” events, the folks at Rumors’ have created a radical and ravishing Queer space. 1119 Railroad Ave., Bellingham
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Best Brunch Spot — Dreamland Bar & Diner Fremont’s whimsical and dreamy community diner has themes of nostalgia playfully woven through its decor, food, and lively events. Its weekly Saturday drag brunch features the queens Arriety and Irene the Alien, plus various guest performers. While waiting for plates of chicken and waffles and raspberry-infused breakfast martinis, visitors can meander through Dreamland’s disco-ball hallway and reflect wistfully on happy, peaceful, and perfect days. 3401 Evanston Ave. N, Seattle, https://www.dreamlandfremont.com
Best Coffee Shop — Squirrel Chops Hanging on the wall is an illustration of the cutest little critter holding a cup of coffee. Central District’s Squirrel Chops is women and LGBTQ+ owned and specializes in small-batch, locally roasted coffee — and that’s not the coolest thing about it. It’s also a hair salon with experienced stylists and a fifth-generation barber who’s dedicated to genderaffirming, euphoric cuts. 2201 E. Union St., Seattle, https:// www.squirrelchops.com
Best Thrift Store — Worn Again Thrift Bellingham’s mostly vintage store is filled with customers experimenting with their sense of style, sustainably. The six-person team doesn’t separate clothes by gender, believing that they can be worn by anyone who likes them. Also, one of the store’s employees is a shop dog named Archie — what’s not to love? 232 E. Champion St., Bellingham, https://www.wornagainthrift.com
Best Bookstore — Elliott Bay Book Company Woman- and Queer-owned Elliott Bay Book Company has been in Seattle since 1973. In 2010, it moved from Pioneer Square to Capitol Hill, where it remains a community staple, with shelves dedicated to Queer studies and LGBTQ+ authors, as well as plenty of author talks. The knowledgeable staff and beautiful building are sure to charm. 1521 10th Ave., Seattle, https://www. elliottbaybook.com
Finalists: Best LGBTQ+ Bar: Wildrose (Seattle), Unicorn (Seattle), Kamp Social House (Seattle) Best Brunch Spot: Kamp Social House (Seattle), Endgame Bellingham (Bellingham) Best Coffee Shop: Caffe Adagio (Bellingham), Olympia Coffee Roasting Co. (Olympia, Seattle), Ocean Beach Roasters (Ocean Shores)
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Best Athlete: Gabby Williams (Seattle Storm), Sue Bird (Seattle Storm), Jess Fishlock (OL Reign), Dak (Dallas Cowboys) Best Comedian/Comedy Act: Sneaky Boo (Seattle), Kailyn Bosley (Bellingham), Repeating Gossip (Bellingham), Joe Dombrowski (Seattle) Best Thrift Store: Lifelong (Seattle), Red Light Vintage & Costume (Seattle) Best Bookstore: Village Books and Paper Dreams (Bellingham), Charlie’s Queer Books (Seattle)
Best Tattoo Parlor: Triassic Tattoo (Seattle), Bad Apple Tattoo (Seattle), X Tattoo (Bellingham), Red Sparrow Tattoo (Bellingham), Wisteria Tattoo (Bellingham), Sorry Sorry (Seattle), Sabbath Tattoo (Bellingham), Old School (Bellingham), 17th Avenue Tattoo (White Center), Gargoyle Tattoo (Aberdeen), Stanwood Tattoo Company (Stanwood), Supergenius Tattoo (Seattle) Favorite Charitable Organization: Lambert House (Seattle), Lifelong (Seattle), DVSAS (Bellingham),
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Burien Cares (Burien), Gender Justice League (Seattle), Free2Luv (Seattle), Cocoon House (Everett), Grays Harbor College Food Pantry (Aberdeen), Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (Seattle), Spokane AIDS Network (Spokane), Seattle’s LGBTQ Center (Seattle) Favorite Drag Performer: Shay Fox, Issa Man, Jizzy Pop, King Leo Mane
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Best Drag Performer — Isabella L. Richards The Afro-Latina diva has 11 years of performing under her belt and has reached audiences all around Washington. The powerhouse performer has close ties to Seattle University’s Triangle Club, whose drag show she participated in every year from 2016 to 2020. Curious drag-brunch-goers can see her in Bremerton, Seattle, and Tacoma, specifically at Taqueria Cantina, where she’ll be appearing twice in January and February.
Best Tattoo Parlor — Electric Kitten Tattoo Despite its recent opening in 2021, Electric Kitten’s tattoo artists cover a wide range of styles, including American traditional, stipple and line shading, neo-traditional, and dotwork. Owner Robyn Emlen founded the Community Tattoo Collective, a nonprofit organization that raises funds for organizations that help people in the PNW through tattooing; in 2023, the participating artists raised $50,700. Two shop artists have expressed interest in Furbys, making the business the ideal spot for that long Furby tattoo. 5309 22nd Ave. NW, Suite E, Seattle, https:// www.electrickittentattoo.com
Best Charitable Organization — Queer Mountaineers The volunteer-led nonprofit hosts outdoor social events and classes through four different chapters across the PNW. Back in February, the cofounders of the organization told the SGN that their biggest priorities are community and access. Ten members of Queer Mountaineers, along with two guides, summited Kulshan (otherwise known as Mount Baker) in June 2023. https://www.queermountaineers.com
Athlete of the Year — Megan Rapinoe Known for her skill and advocacy, Megan Rapinoe ended her 11-year career with the Seattle women’s soccer team, OL Reign, in November 2023. During her time on the field, she helped the US women’s national team win two World Cups. She was also among a group of players who filed a wage discrimination claim against US Soccer over unequal pay compared to male teams; the claim ultimately ended in a settlement that secured equal pay for the teams in the next union contract.
Best Comedian — Juno Men Juno Men mixes storytelling and comedy in all of the events she participates in — or creates herself. As producer of Comedy Nest Seattle, a weekly open mic night focused on women, Trans, Queer, and POC people; and Flock!, a Queer comedy showcase, Men carefully crafts jokes centering her Trans and Asian identity. She also occasionally hosts events from The Moth, a nonprofit that hosts storytelling events across the United States.
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NATIONAL NEWS National news highlights by Teddy MacQuarrie SGN Contributing Writer Five Louisiana families sue to overturn gender-affirming care ban Five Louisiana Transgender youth and their families have sued to overturn the state’s law banning gender-affirming care for Trans minors. The suit, Soe v. Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners, contends the law violates the Louisiana state constitution and the rights of Transgender adolescents and their parents to dignity and equal protection. It was filed Monday in Civil District Court for Orleans Parish. Louisiana lawmakers passed the legislation, Act 466, by overriding Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’s veto in July. It went into effect this month. It bans puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgeries for the purpose of gender transition for minors. Health care workers who violate the law are subject to discipline by licensing boards and can be sued. “By selectively banning treatments for transgender youth, the Act deprives Louisiana transgender adolescents of medically necessary and often life-saving care that has proven to be effective in treating a transgender adolescent’s gender dysphoria and addressing the depression, anxiety, and other serious health conditions that can result from untreated gender dysphoria,” the suit says. It adds, “The Minor Plaintiffs, along with hundreds of other minors in Louisiana, are thus poised to lose access to safe, effective, and well-established necessary medical care because Louisiana has singled them out for a discriminatory treatment in violation of the guarantees to equal protection of the laws and equal dignity provided by the Louisiana Constitution.” “This health care ban only stands to harm Louisiana’s Trans youth and their families,” Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, counsel and health care strategist for Lambda Legal, one of the organizations representing the plaintiffs, said in a press release. He continued, “The Transgender young people we represent, along with hundreds of other minors in the state, are at risk of losing necessary, life-saving medical care just because Louisiana has singled them out for discriminatory treatment. The health care ban represents broad government overreach into the relationship between parents, their children, and their health care provider.” Twenty-two states have passed laws banning some or all gender-affirming care for Trans minors. Several of the laws have been blocked by courts while lawsuits proceed, and one, in Arkansas, has been struck down in court, but that ruling is on appeal.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ACLU OF LOUISIANA
Most recently, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a ban on gender-affirming care but then issued an executive order banning gender-affirming surgeries for minors — which are almost never performed — and directed state agencies to draft administrative rules that will make it almost impossible for either Trans youth or adults to access any gender-affirming care. San José council member granted restraining order against transphobic Instagramer An elected official in California has been temporarily shielded from attacks by a right-wing extremist. San José
City Councilmember Peter Ortiz recently obtained a restraining order against Robert Saenz, the owner of a popular Instagram page called “ESSJ Times.” The action comes in response to Saenz’s posts on the social media platform, which Ortiz says have put him and his girlfriend in danger and have incited hateful messaging toward the Queer community, Mercury News reports. The “ESSJ Times’’ Instagram account, with more than 66,000 followers, features content about crime and public safety in San José. Recently, Saenz began to obsessively post transphobic content, including controversial material regarding
PHOTO BY DADO RUVIC / ILLUSTRATION / REUTERS
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medical treatment for Transgender children. He used the term “groomer” in these posts, which falsely associates legitimate medical care for Transgender youth with child abuse and fosters violence against the Queer community. According to Mercury News, the situation escalated on December 17, when Saenz shared a photo of Ortiz with the words “brown puppet” superimposed over the councilmember’s face. This post accused Ortiz and his colleague Omar Torres, both Latinx, of failing to represent the Latinx or Mexican community. It particularly highlighted their alleged stance on issues related to the treatment of children. Ortiz filed for the restraining order on December 20, following another post on December 13 that included disturbing content. This post featured a video with images suggesting that Transgender medical treatment leads to inappropriate sexual encounters, alongside pictures of Ortiz, his girlfriend, and Torres. The court granted the restraining order December 21. It bars Saenz from making further defamatory statements about Ortiz and his girlfriend and approaching the council member’s girlfriend. However, the court found the request to extend protection to the schools of Ortiz’s girlfriend’s children unenforceable due to vagueness. Ortiz and Torres have been vocal supporters of the Queer community in San José. In October, the City Council, including Ortiz and Torres, unanimously passed a resolution supporting Transgender and Queer people. This resolution countered a local “parental rights’’ group that opposed using Queer-themed school materials.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS International news highlights by Teddy MacQuarrie SGN Contributing Writer France appoints country’s first Gay prime minister Gabriel Attal has been appointed France’s new prime minister, becoming the first out Gay person to serve in the position. The 34-year-old is also the youngest to fill the role in over 65 years. Attal has served as the minister of education since July, and previously served as minister of public works and public accounts. He was also the government spokesman from 2020 to 2022, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Attal came out in 2018 after being outed on social media by his former classmate, Juan Branco, a former lawyer for Julian Assange. He said in a TV interview that he often faced homophobic bullying from his classmates, implying that Branco was the ringleader, and that the latter was “obsessed” with his sexuality. Attal then made public his civil union with Stéphane Séjourné, a member of the European Parliament. The two have since reportedly broken up but have not spoken publicly about their relationship. Attal is France’s most popular politician, according to a December poll by IPSOS, though his approval rating sits at just 40%. He replaces Elisabeth Borne, who resigned on Monday after 20 months in the position. Attal’s appointment has been widely celebrated by Queer activists, including the president and CEO of the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute, Annise Parker, who said in a statement, “At a time when our rights are under attack across the globe, France is sending a powerful statement by appointing its first out LGBTQ+ prime minister — one of the highest-ranking positions held by an LGBTQ+ person anywhere in the world. “Democracies are stronger when LGBTQ+ people can participate at every level of government, and Prime Minister Attal’s appointment will inspire even more LGBTQ+ people to consider public service.”
GABRIEL ATTAL – PHOTO BY CLAUDIA GRECO / REUTERS
Ukrainian Queer community pushes for same-sex civil marriage Queer couples in Ukraine are pushing to have their government recognize samesex marriage in a push for equality in the war-torn country that has received plenty of international support and at-home pushback. Months after Russia’s invasion, a citizen petition calling for the legalization of same-sex marriages received more than 25,000 signatures, prompting a response from Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said constitutional changes for same-sex marriage could not be made during wartime. In early 2023, a draft civil union law was introduced in the parliament that would give same-sex partnerships legal status. The law would mean official recognition for partners of soldiers who are killed, the right to make medical decisions if their loved ones are injured, and the ability to collect death benefits from the state. “It is important that the international community supports Ukraine to adopt legislation that recognizes the rights of LGBTI couples and ensures that two people of any gender can create a family in safety and dignity,” said Marie Struthers, Amnesty’s director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Inna Sovsun, a member of the Ukrainian parliament who submitted the draft bill in March, said that the political response has been diverse, but that while she expected the process to be difficult, it has turned out more positively than she anticipated.
“Since we introduced the bill, my belief that it will get passed is growing stronger,” said Sovsun. “We will get it done. The question is, when?” The government has committed to approve the bill by the end of 2023, according to the European Commission. In June last year, the European Court of
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PHOTO BY GLEB GARANICH / REUTERS
Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that a samesex couple who tried unsuccessfully to get married in Ukraine suffered discrimination. The court ruled that Ukraine had violated articles on discrimination and the right to private and family life. “We don’t want to be seen as [a country that] violates the ECHR, so we need to do
something about that,” added Sovsun. While attitudes toward the community have improved in recent years — with 58% of Ukrainians feeling positive or neutral toward their Queer compatriots, according to a recent survey — societal attitudes have taken longer to penetrate the conservative and patriarchal military.
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OP-ED DENNY BLAINE CONTINUED FROM COVER
and local residents and parents. Protesters mobilized to prevent possible clashes with offended parents in the cherished area. Following a spirited community meeting that demonstrated overwhelming support for the current character of the park, which the SGN covered, the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department (SPR) very quickly scrapped the project. This debacle, however, is only the latest in a long history of residents and city officials demonstrating animosity toward public nudity. This history has gone on long enough. Now that the immediate threat is over, it is time to have the City of Seattle officially designate Denny-Blaine Park as a clothingoptional space. A history of friction In December, the SGN filed a Freedom of Information Act request for documents related to the city’s process of planning and surveying this disruptive project. The City responded to the SGN’s request with the first of what are several planned installments. This batch contains archival evidence of a long, protracted history of friction between Seattle nudists and other community members, with city officials time and time again failing to protect nudists from the scruples of some of the more easily offended residents. These records include news articles, letters of complaint, and official correspondence by city employees concerning these complaints. These letters date as far back as June and August of 1952, when Seattle Parks and Recreation officials responded to a complaint by neighborhood resident Louis Dulien protesting the use of the park as a public bathing beach — though not yet a nude beach. According to the letter, “[T]he city would Dulien expressed his disapproval at the lack of sanitary facilities and refuse collec- not be liable for damages…unless that tion, and complained about people trespass- it can be said that the city is maintaining ing on his property, saying that they were a ‘nuisance’ in the legal sense in this area “making use of our property for their conve- … [I]t appears that the Parks Department is not operating the park or the adjoining nience” and causing damage to his fence. Internal correspondence between the public area as a public bathing beach and city’s legal counsel, A.C. van Soelen, with maintains no facilities for [that], and seeks then-superintendent of SPR Paul Brown to discourage such use.” To this day, this bureaucratic strategy set the precedent for the tensions in the means that Denny-Blaine Park still lacks decades to come.
DENNY-BLAINE PARK WATERFRONT ON LAKE WASHINGTON, CA. 1910
the general approach being that as long as nobody is offended, nudity is fine. The ambiguity of that phrasing has periodically, and with some consistency, led to conflict between nudists and Seattle police and residents. This first trove of documents contains several articles from local news outlets such as the Seattle Times that record such incidents. These articles date from 1974 to 2010 and tend to feature a similar pattern: residents encounter nudists, claim offense, and report to law enforcement, and in public restrooms, drinking water, and return there arises a public outcry. refuse facilities. One notable instance of this sort of conflict was reported in the Seattle Times Ambiguity with public offense in August and September 2004, in which The city’s response to Dulien established resident Randy Hansen called police on the pattern with which it would engage nudists rallying in Discovery Park to call park users in the coming years. Neither on the city to designate an official clothingthe State of Washington’s nor the City of optional beach. The article quotes Hansen Seattle’s laws and regulations prohibit pub- as saying, “I should not have to rearrange lic nudity, with the caveat that such nudity my plans,” referring to a beach outing he can’t be “indecent” or “disruptive,” with had planned with his grandchildren. The Seattle Times said, “To make a point, Hansen is considering showing up at the beach and being the one to take offense.”
“It is time to have the City of Seattle officially designate Denny-Blaine Park as a clothing-optional space.”
Pushing for an official designation Seattle’s laws concerning public decency may allow for nudity, but they do not protect nudists from residents such as Hansen, nor the one who proposed a children’s play area at Denny-Blaine Park. An official clothing-optional designation, however, would set the expectation that the site is a place for nudism, forestalling claims of offense and protecting nudist expressions from interference. Yet city leaders have a history of relying on bureaucratic methods of evading calls to protect public nudity. The City Council refused to take up the issue in 1985, and in 2010, SPR also refused, saying through a spokesperson that Superintendent Christopher Williams did not believe there was sufficient public support, and would not act to provide such designation without it. If December’s public meeting shows anything, it’s that public support should now meet Williams’s threshold. With the latest effort to protect Denny-Blaine Park now past, it’s time to tell city leaders and easily offended residents to stop coming for nudists. This cycle has to stop. It is time to demand the protection of a clothingoptional designation. Free expression in Seattle has to endure. SGN has an ongoing FOIA request with the City of Seattle. Further updates on Denny-Blaine Park may be forthcoming as these records become available. PHOTO COURTESY OF JACK HILOVSKY
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OP-ED Rape, anti-LGBT bias, and the hero’s journey
violence survivor, more than a Gay man, more than a stigma. They have treated me like a brother and a friend. People from all walks of life have contributed their support in 94 languages, in 27 Sharpie marker colors, and on 502 giant foam boards, from Boston and Miami to San Diego and Wyoming, and many other places. This massive artwork has become similar to a modern-day AIDS quilt. It’s over 4,200 square feet of hope, triumph, acceptance, spontaneity, inclusion, laugh therapy, unity, and resilience.
by Ron Blake Special to the SGN Content warning: Rape A brutal rape and the anti-LGBT bias that accompanied it almost ended my life. Law enforcement and the criminal justice system treated me like a Dixie cup, like another throwaway Gay. I struggled severely with PTSD after the trauma. But this is not a story of anger, revenge, hatred, and sadness. It’s an exciting call to action: to inspire trauma survivors and victims of bullying, bias, and harassment in Seattle’s LGBT community to use my ongoing, eight-year, 73,000-mile, cross-country recovery adventure to make an exhilarating New Year’s resolution, to head out in 2024 on their own hero’s journey like I did, and to then return home transformed and triumphant. “Get busy living” One night in 2011, three men entered my loft in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, while I was asleep. I was held down, beaten, and raped. At some point, I got free. I made a harrowing 911 call, during which the emergency dispatcher documented the rape that she heard happening live. The four responding officers arrived and found me only in my ripped underwear in the middle of the bloody crime scene, surrounded by the three perpetrators. I explained what the men had just done to me. It was later officially determined that those officers made no arrests and categorically dismissed the rape because I am Gay. Since that night, I’ve needed surgery, extensive physical therapy, and many years of mental health counseling, I’ve also had to overcome significant problems with opioids. I required security details and bodyguards to keep me safe from repeated threats from the known perpetrators and their friends, who wanted me to stay silent about the rape. Still, surprisingly, there have yet to be any arrests.
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Part of my story reads like a famous scene in the classic movie The Shawshank Redemption, in which Andy says to his best friend, Red, “It comes down to a simple choice, really: Get busy living, or get busy dying.” And that’s just what happened one inky-black, cold, lonely evening. I got busy living. The hero’s journey A malfunctioning TV timer led to an unexpected moment of laughter from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that stopped me from dying by suicide at 10:44 p.m. on November 2, 2015. That fortuitous or heaven-sent spark started my hero’s journey. The hero’s journey is a literary theme in many all-time great movies such as Star Wars, The Color Purple, and The Lion King. It’s about experiencing a disruption in your life, answering a call to action, head-
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ing out on an adventure, facing your fears, and overcoming challenges, finally returning home transformed and triumphant. I did just that. I answered my own comedic call to action — to become a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — heading out on a riveting adventure to reach a symbolic goal in New York City and no longer isolating myself due to the PTSD and anti-LGBT bias. I engaged strangers daily and learned to talk about and process my trauma. This gave me a purpose and a mission to realize my emotionally significant goal. I’ve now walked up to and engaged 32,707 complete strangers one by one on this 2,953-day adventure. Those people have all heard my story and have written stories of support for my efforts to get stronger, to recover from the trauma and bias, and to get to The Late Show. They have treated me as more than a sexual
Vanquishing villains The mission continues. I am working on getting Stephen Colbert’s attention. One day, I will get that invitation to be a guest and finally deliver this incredible display to the Ed Sullivan Theatre in New York City, where I can entertain, inform, and inspire millions of viewers to see the happy stuff beyond trauma, discrimination, and recovery. And to share the power of laughter. Meanwhile, a team of talented students at Arizona State University has produced an Emmy-nominated documentary about my odyssey, called The Blake Project. Those dedicated young journalists followed me on my adventure for several months. I hope this film can serve as a guide to remarkable successes in your coming year. As long as there is bullying, discrimination, harassment, trauma, and indifference in our world, there is an equal and opposite force for good that is present — a call for survivors to proudly and courageously step up and vanquish those villains. 2024 is the year of the superhero in Seattle’s LGBT community and beyond. Your epic journey starts with answering a call to action like this one. To learn more about Ron Blake’s journey, watch The Blake Project at: https://youtu.be/V0LMlFDIbgQ.
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The case against New Year’s resolutions
by Isabel Mata SGN Staff Writer Ask Izzy is an advice column about relationships, mental health, and sexuality. Written by Isabel Mata — a Seattle-based lifestyle writer, podcast host, and mental health advocate — Ask Izzy offers tangible expert advice so all readers can have stronger relationships, better sex, and healthier mindsets. Submit your question today by scanning the QR code below.
PHOTO BY FREESTOCKS.ORG / PEXELS
While everyone on my social feed was out in sparkly dresses, sipping champagne, and probably spending too much money this past New Year’s, I was cozily nestled on the couch with my cats as the rain patted my windows. As I looked outside, everything was asleep. The trees, birds, even the worms that speckle the sidewalks seemed still in hibernation. I said to my husband that I didn’t feel like setting resolutions this year. At least not now. This came from realizing that the tradition of New Year’s resolutions tethered to the Gregorian calendar is incredibly disconnected from the natural rhythms of the earth’s seasons. This misalignment poses an intriguing question about the suitability of this date for setting personal aspirations, especially considering the deep winter phase prevalent in many regions at this time. This got me thinking: Why is there so much pressure this time of year to make big changes? What if instead there was a better time that made more sense? One such instance is Lunar New Year, typically observed in February. Celebrated in various cultures, it marks a time of renewal, accompanied by vibrant festivities and symbolic traditions. This event often aligns with the arrival of spring in many
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“Why is there so much pressure this time of year to make big changes? What if instead there was a better time that made more sense?” parts of the world, symbolizing rejuvenation and new beginnings in harmony with nature’s rhythms. The association with spring’s onset aligns more seamlessly with the impulse for growth and change, making it a potentially more suitable juncture for setting resolutions. Another significant temporal moment is the astrological new year, which transpires in March. This celestial event, heralded by the arrival of the vernal equinox, marks the beginning of the astrological calendar in many belief systems. The commencement of the zodiac cycle can be a time for fresh starts and new endeavors. Its alignment with the
rebirth of nature during the onset of spring amplifies the symbolism of new possibilities and growth, offering a promising framework for initiating personal resolutions. Considering these alternative milestones invites contemplation of the potential advantages of setting resolutions at times more harmoniously attuned to natural cycles. Aligning resolutions with these points on the calendar could tap into the collective energy of rejuvenation and renewal that accompanies the changing seasons. If you find yourself contemplating your growth and future this time of year, be
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gentle with yourself, as nature shows that now is not the time to begin fresh cycles. Instead, pour yourself into art, creativity, and self-exploration, within yourself and the home. Use this time to look back on the past calendar year and pull out moments of pride, growth, and gratitude. If the pressure to set goals leads you to fall into a comparing mindset, remind yourself of the seasonality of it all. Take a walk outside, noticing the deep slumber around you. We are not separate from nature; we are a crucial part of it. The time will come to contemplate personal growth and desired changes — just not at this moment.
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FILM Buzzy Beekeeper makes bloody honey out of narrative hooey
by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN Staff Writer THE BEEKEEPER Theaters The Beekeeper reminded me of almost every Steven Seagal action flick released between 1988 and 1997. Starting with Above the Law and concluding with Fire Down Below (with box office-friendly pitstops like Hard to Kill, Marked for Death, Out for Justice, and, of course, Under Siege along the way), the basic outline rarely changed. Some sort of law enforcement officer or military operative — either active or retired, it never truly mattered — found himself thrust back into action after a horrible incident involving a friend, relative, loved one, innocent bystander, or combination of all of the above. Seagal’s character would proceed to forcefully dole out his concept of justice, and there was never a single second when a viewer felt there was any danger he wouldn’t be successful in his mission. With their new endeavor starring action specialist Jason Statham, director David Ayer (End of Watch) and writer Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium) follow this template down to the last broken femur. Statham is an unstoppable force of nature going by the name Adam Clay. But in international espionage circles, he’s also known only as a “beekeeper,” an elite operative who will do anything he feels is required to “protect the hive.” Anyone who tries to stop him from reaching his target? They better stand down, because if they want to continue to walk normally or retain the use of both of their hands, then getting in his way is not the best idea. There’s a broader plot, of course, but it’s a large, gelatinous jar of bunk. Basically, Clay is compelled to set things right after Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rashad), the kindly retiree he’s been renting a section of her barn from, has her entire life savings wiped out by cybercriminals. With Eloise’s FBI agent daughter Verona (Emmy RaverLampman) dogging his every step, this retired man of action who hoped to van-
ish into a much simpler life systematically dismantles a massive illegal empire run by the entitled son (Josh Hutcherson) of a powerful politician (Jemma Redgrave), who is also protected by the former head of the CIA (Jeremy Irons). It’s clear that Ayer and Wimmer know how insanely silly this is, and instead of trying to play it straight and conceal the plot’s inherent lunacy, they instead lean into the comedy something fierce. Not the actors, mind you (although Irons is clearly having a blast slumming as the one man who knows how pointless it is to stand in Clay’s way, and Hutcherson hams it up marvelously crafting a narcissistic Gen Z villain for the ages), but more in the way the filmmakers handle the production’s tone. They want the audience to laugh with their film, not at it, and that makes
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THE BEEKEEPER – PHOTOS COURTESY OF MGM
all of this far more goofily enjoyable than it deserves to be. Not that Ayer makes any attempt to minimize the brutality. He allows Clay to be such an unrepentant badass that there were instances when — much like Verona — I wondered whether or not it was appropriate to be rooting for the guy. The dude’s as unstoppable as Jason Vorhees (and even more vicious). He slices and dices his way through so many security guards, tech stooges, and high-priced mercenaries that I eventually lost count of how many he killed. Clay is essentially The Terminator — the 1984 version, not the “hasta la vista” variation from 1991. Granted, that’s an obvious observation on my part. It’s not like Ayer makes an attempt to soften Clay’s ends-justifies-the-means
antics. But I do think it’s still important to point out this decision on the director’s part. This stylistic choice is almost nihilistically fetishistic, and hours after the promo screening, I still feel somewhat dirty for enjoying myself as much as I did. But while the film’s political leanings do not come anywhere close to meshing with my own, there is still something euphorically crowd-pleasing in watching Clay lay waste to a toxic capitalistic enterprise that joyfully preys upon an unprotected middle class and the clueless legal system that allows it to get away with it. The Beekeeper makes honey out of hooey, and if this plants roots and grows into a new franchise for Statham, I’ll happily buzz into line to pollinate the box office with a few hard-earned dollars of my own to keep it blooming.
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Musical Mean Girls hits too many sour notes
by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN Staff Writer MEAN GIRLS Theaters There is something about the 2024 musical version of Mean Girls that vexes me. It’s very well cast (although none of the newcomers are going to make anyone forget about Rachel McAdams, Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried, or Lacey Chabert). Directors Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. stage a handful of impressive sequences with visual dynamism. Several of the songs are fairly catchy, and goodness knows, whenever pop sensation Reneé Rapp or Moana star Auli’i Cravalho were at the microphone, my ears perked right up and my toe reflexively began to tap. But an emotional response? A deeper bond with the characters or the story they were a part of? I felt neither. To paraphrase
one of Tina Fey’s memorable lines from her screenplay for the now-classic 2004 version, the limit of my personal attachment to the narrative did not exist, mainly because there was none. I didn’t care about Cady Heron (Angourie Rice). Her journey with The Plastics Karen Shetty (Avantika), Gretchen Wieners (Bebe Wood), and powerful queen bee Regina George (Rapp) barely registered with me. Her complicated and fragile friendship with outcasts Janis ‘Imi’ike (Cravalho) and Damian Hubbard (Jaquel Spivey) never came fully alive. It all fell strangely flat, the ending particularly so, and I walked out of the theater wondering how this new adaptation became such a Broadway sensation, scoring 12 Tony nominations (if no wins) back in 2018. It starts out promisingly enough. The opening musical number showcasing Cady’s first day in public high school reminded me of Grease 2, with a free-
wheeling, enthusiastic vitality similar to that underrated 1982 sequel. I also love that this version’s Greek chorus comes in the form of Janis and Damian, and it’s something of a bummer this production doesn’t utilize the pair more often, frequently giving their stories far too short a shrift. Fey’s general scenario — loosely inspired by Rosalind Wiseman’s 2002 best-seller Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends and Other Realities of Adolescence — hasn’t changed much from its 2004 incarnation. At its heart, this is still the Cady vs. Regina show, and Janis, Damian, Karen, Gretchen, and the rest of the students (and teachers) at North Shore High School are stuck squarely between the two of them. While that is expected, the thing about this film that shocked me was how little I connected to anyone and how what they did — or were going through — resonated with
MEAN GIRLS – PHOTOS COURTESY OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES
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me even less. There is a choppiness here that makes it difficult for scenes to symbiotically coexist with those that surround them. Character evolution either happens in fits and starts or doesn’t materialize at all. The music shines and many of the set pieces are impressive (especially one featuring Cravalho after the revelation of The Plastics’ “Burn Book” rips North Shore apart), and yet almost none of it made a meaningful impression. On the plus side, Rapp and Cravalho are undeniably “grool.” They have a cinematic magnetism that leaps off the screen. While Rapp will never replace McAdams, the wonderful thing in this is that she doesn’t even try to. She tackles many of Regina’s signature lines with a reading that’s entirely her own. Better, she brings an internalized pathos to the teenage titan I wasn’t anticipating. This gives Regina a sympathetic underpinning that helps make her final confrontations with Cady more compelling than they otherwise would have been. As for Cravalho, she’s sensational. The young actor makes mincemeat out of any opportunity to take center stage that Janis gets. Cravalho rages against the machine with a burning intensity that engulfs everything with a flame of awesomeness that borders on the atomic. As mentioned, it sucks that her character tends to be something of an afterthought, especially as Janis has a great, progressively timely backstory that comes tantalizingly close to being worth crowing about. And yet, I wanted more. Jayne and Perez Jr. can’t maintain a consistent pace, and the haphazard ways in which the proceedings come to a grinding halt at the most inopportune times drove me batty. They reproduce signature scenes from the original — like the climactic mathlete competition, this time with a special guest cleverly emceeing the proceedings —but they don’t mean anything. They make almost no impact. “Fetch” still isn’t happening. No matter how successful it may have been on Broadway, the same can’t be said about this new Mean Girls. I wish I could bake the film a cake filled with rainbows and smiles and everyone would eat and be happy, but that’s not the case. Heck, I’m pretty sure we don’t even go to the same school.
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FILM Forgettable Night Swim drowns in a pool of suspenseless monotony
by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN Staff Writer NIGHT SWIM Theaters While watching the new supernatural chiller Night Swim, there were several instances during the 98-minute running time when I thought to myself, “I bet this would have made a decent short.” Turns out, writer-director Bryce McGuire’s feature-length debut started out life as exactly that, and I’m curious enough to see what that version looked like that I’m going to try and watch it at the earliest opportunity. As for this adaptation, McGuire’s updating of the material he conceived with writer Rod Blackhurst back in 2014 sadly leaves a great deal to be desired. The storytelling is muddled to the point of being haphazard. There are almost zero scares, and the suspense is at a bare minimum. Good ideas are left to languish in an unfinished state. There comes a point where it almost feels as if McGuire was making it up as he went along. So little of this thriller makes sense that it’s impossible for it to generate a lasting emotional impact. This is something of a shame, because, at least from a technical perspective, there is much about Night Swim that I found impressive. The creepily immersive sound design makes an impact. Editor Jeff McEvoy (M3GAN) does a fine job cutting together many of the key set pieces, his deft handling of the material generating a sense of uncertainty that frequently kept me on my toes while trying to visually decipher what was going on. Cinematographer Charlie Sarroff (Relic) does his best Bill Butler (the man who shot Jaws) impersonation, utilizing a variety of strange angles and inventive horizon points any time the characters go into the pool and unknowingly flirt with the ephemeral dangers lurking beneath the surface of the water. It should also be said that there’s a fine performance from The Banshees of Inisherin Academy Award nominee Kerry Condon
that’s definitely worth talking about. She brings an increasingly haunted depth to the proceedings and has palpable chemistry with costar Wyatt Russell. I liked how her character methodically attacked the unfathomable mystery she unexpectedly found herself forced to deal with. But it’s all for naught. The plot is a bunch of mundane gobbledygook involving Ray Waller (Russell), a former Major League Baseball player battling multiple sclerosis who moves his family (Condon, Amélie Hoeferle, and Gavin Warren) into a suburban Minnesota home with a possessed swimming pool. At various moments, McGuire cribs from The Shining, It, Light’s Out, Poltergeist, and any number of haunted house flicks in which a malevolent
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NIGHT SWIM – PHOTOS COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL PICTURES
spirit wants to munch on an unsuspecting victim’s soul (preferably that of a child). At the core is a “be careful what you wish for” scenario as Ray discovers that the more time he spends in the pool, the faster his MS vanishes. Obviously, the tradeoff for this newfound health is going to be extreme, but for the life of me, I couldn’t have cared less. The film’s internal mythology is completely out of whack. There’s no reason fueling it. Or if there is, the rules for what this watery entity can do, when its powers are at their zenith, and who it wants to focus its attention on are so vague and take far too much effort to figure out and keep track of. I’ll tell you the one thing Night Swim did make me want to do. When it was over,
I immediately went home and put on the 2018 WWII action-horror yarn Overlord. It also stars Russell, and it’s far more satisfying. Strangely, it also has scenes in which a main character appears to excrete grotesque black goo from their facial orifices, begins to lose control of their sanity, and even tries to choke someone with one hand. Of course, it also has the added benefit of being good, making it exceptionally easy to rewatch (and even easier to recommend). That is unfortunately not the case with McGuire’s opus. It quickly sinks to the bottom of the pool, and I imagine I wasn’t the only one at my promo screening drowning in boredom by the time the serviceable — if also inevitable — climax thankfully reached its conclusion.
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BOOKS Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone heat up the winter with erotic new series
SIERRA SIMONE AND JULIE MURPHY – PHOTO BY DANIELLE NICOLE
by Lindsey Anderson SGN Staff Writer Julie Murphy, the famous author of Dumplin’, has teamed up with Sierra Simone, the Queer author of the steamy American Prince and Sinner, to bring a little romance and a lot of heat to warm up the winter. Their new Christmas Notch series begins with A Merry Little Meet Cute and combines cozy winter vibes with tense moments of desire to kick off your 2024 reading list with a bang. The release of A Merry Little Meet Cute came just in time for Murphy and Simone to celebrate their tenth friend anniversary. The two met in 2014 while debuting their respective first novels. “A friend of ours put together a little makeshift book tour in a minivan, and she invited both of us,” Murphy and Simone said in a follow-up email after an interview with the SGN. “We like to say our friendship began with some great romance tropes: Forced proximity! There was only one bed!” Collaborating on their new book was not challenging. Since their first tour together, Murphy and Simone have been inseparable. Not only do they critique each other’s writing, but they also attend writing retreats and even family vacations together. “Luckily, since we’ve been working side by side for so long and our friendship is so lived in, collaborating came naturally,” they added. “It’s been interesting to see how stress-free our collaborative projects are, compared to our solo work, and that comes down to the fact that we are each other’s biggest fans.” Working with a friend has also helped Murphy and Simone learn how to treat themselves in stressful situations. They are more mindful of deadlines and offer each other kind words and grace when they come up against mistakes. “It’s forced us to be kinder to ourselves because neither of us would ever treat each other how we sometimes treat ourselves,” they admitted.
watching cheesy holiday romance movies when they realized that the production quality of a Lifetime or Hallmark film is not much different than adult films. Combining the heat of an adult erotic novel with the whimsy of a holiday romance got their gears turning, and ultimately became A Merry Little Meet Cute. The book has a content warning that Murphy and Simone hope all readers catch before turning the first pages. While fans of Murphy may be looking for another book similar to Dumplin’ and Puddin’, this novel
is specifically for readers 18 and up. “It’s been a leap, that’s for sure,” Murphy said about writing adult-only content. “On a personal level, I read so much romance, but transforming that into something I … publish has been exciting.” Murphy is also grateful to the hardworking librarians and educators who dedicate their time to recommending and sometimes redirecting younger readers to more age-appropriate LGBTQ+ books. “It’s made the messaging of this series much clearer,” she said.
Heat and whimsy Murphy and Simone’s inspiration for A Merry Little Meet Cute came to them on one of their writing retreats. Every year, they take a getaway to work on their craft around Christmas time. On one of their retreats, they were eating pie in bed and
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Simone also saw A Merry Little Meet Cute as a challenge to step away from what she usually does. “The series has really been a departure for both of us, and yet it still contains so many hallmarks of both our work,” she said. “While it’s not as spicy as my solo books, readers will be excited to see that we don’t hold back.” Simone was also happy to write a book with “way less angst” than her typical erotica. Romance is for everyone Murphy and Simone hope readers who visit Christmas Notch see that romance is for everyone. The characters in the series are more than picture-perfect, airbrushed images. They look and feel like real people — and like real people, they deserve love, pleasure, and romance. “We want readers to see that a place like Christmas Notch doesn’t just exist for people with flawless reputations and perfect bodies and perfectly packaged needs and desires,” Simone and Murphy said in the follow-up email. “The characters in our series are kooky little misfits, but they’re also complicated and contending with big life issues and choices. Those two things can coexist.” The Christmas Notch series centers on a different-sex Bisexual couple, which Simone and Murphy felt was integral to getting the heart of the book across to readers. “One of the most powerful things about Queerness is that it lends creativity and generosity to everything it touches, and as Bisexual people ourselves, we wanted to bring those things to the world of Christmas Notch,” they added. “Especially in a medium as typically heteronormative as the made-for-TV holiday movie industry, it was really important to us that our story didn’t establish straightness as a default, and that the Queer lens of the protagonists — even in a relationship that a lot of the world would read as straight — would give Bee and Nolan more nuance and insight into things like sex work, consensual nonmonogamy, and body positivity.” Murphy and Simone have been hard at work. Their second book, A Holly Jolly Ever After, was released at the end of 2023. The final installment of the series will hit shelves in October 2024. In the meantime, readers can also check out a digital-only novella (set between books 1 and 2) called Snow Place Like Home.
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BOOKS Twilight Girls : The mile-high club opens for business 1950s Queers take to the skies by Clar Hart SGN Contributing Writer TWILIGHT GIRLS Paula Christian © 2003 Kensington Publishing Corp. $15.00 282 pages Content warning: Sexual harassment, sexual assault, incest, racism Twilight Girls is written by Paula Christian (real name: Yvonne MacManus) and hews to her real life closely. Like the main character, MacManus is Mexican but raised in the States and had a failed marriage she got into in her teens and out of in her early twenties, then a career as a stewardess — in which, with the help of other stewardesses, she learns more about going down than going up. The main character’s name is Val MacGregor and goes by Mac (similar to MacManus). As someone who’s seen many a puffyeyed flight attendant being verbally abused by a rowdy passenger, I’ve never considered how, a single generation earlier, this could have been a type of freedom impossible anywhere else. Like being shoved into a metal tube and sent 30,000 feet in the air, it’s a strange type of liberty — something impossible a few decades before but simultaneously so degrading that it’s difficult to appreciate. More than the (barely there) romance, this is a story of what it was like to be a woman existing in this world of torturous sexism for a thin scrap of autonomy. Watching Val navigate was like watching a bullfighter: she swerves gracefully between assault and harassment, her parries witty and her comportment unperturbed — until she’s cornered and trampled into a bloody heap over and over and over again. Within the first few pages, she’s harassed by her coworker, who describes all the sexual things he’d like to do to her — in public, in front of all of their passengers, at an airport. Then a pilot pinches her, then another pilot grabs her, pulls her bodily into his lap and bites her ear. All of this she laughs off while still picking up weeping vomit bags and helping the crew navigate a hurricane. These affronts continue throughout the book; some Val is able to extricate herself from and others she isn’t. She’s also very much alone. The only woman in power is the wife of the couple who owns the airlines, and the only equal opportunity she’s interested in is equalopportunity predation, which she makes clear in her late-night summons to Val. Despite constant abuse, the only time Val is ruffled is when she’s kissed by Toni, a fellow stewardess with whom she shares a room, and she realizes, for the first time, that she wants more. Val tries to tamp down her budding Sapphic feelings by drowning herself in the cascade of thirsty male suitors. Her boyfriend proposes marriage, and a married pilot professes his love, among dozens of others. The most heartbreaking is an older man who initially expresses patronly interest and with whom she seems to have a genuine rapport — until he follows her to her room, where he takes out on Val the selfloathing he feels over his own desires with brutal physicality. It’s the end of the closest thing Val has to friendship. Eventually, Val decides to leave Miami and go back to her home in New York and to Toni. But falling into a relationship isn’t the happy ending it pretends to be. The happy ending here is not when Val goes back to Toni; it’s when she’s in a Miami club with Don, her would-be fiancé. They realize it’s a Gay bar, and Val, instead of leaving with
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More than the (barely there) romance, this is a story of what it was like to be a woman existing in this world of torturous sexism for a thin scrap of autonomy. Don and accepting his proposal, stays. Don leaves. Val dances with another woman in public, among her people. For the first time in her flight-oriented personal and professional life, she chooses to stay. While the book calls itself “Lesbian pulp,” the novel could more accurately be
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called a bildungsroman. Val is dealt a tragic hand: her life growing up was filled with abuse, she escaped a bad marriage, and by the skin of her teeth, she managed to land a stewardess job. She’s an incredibly strong character, but she dismisses everything she’s accomplished and fails to give herself
any gentleness for the way she has to cope in a poisonous environment. MacManus wrote much of herself into this book, and this self-condemnation was part of it. In The Ladder, MacManus wrote that she wished psychiatrists would invent a cure for homosexuality. She was vilified for this, but from the relative comfort of the present day, it’s hard to have the same animus. At its heart, that was a wish for an easier life. It was simpler for MacManus to imagine she could change herself than that society would change around her. Like the book, it’s tragic in a way that the main character may never realize. I hope MacManus found her Toni.
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