SGN November 3, 2023 by sgn.org

ISSUE 42

C E L E B R AT I N G

VOLUME 51

49 YEARS

F R I D AY

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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

SKAGIT DRAG LEADS WITH THE POWER OF LOVE

by Cameron Martinez SGN Contributing Writer Colorful, Halloween-themed lights enveloped the crowd of nearly 500 as they cheered for the queens at the Skagit Drag Show on October 21, which sold out the Lincoln Theatre in downtown Mount Vernon.

see SKAGIT page 6

Gina Touché – Photo by Cameron Martinez

Seattle Parks to remove Hiding and accentuating Black Lives Memorial curves dom+bomb co-owners make gender-affirming Garden in Capitol Hill styles for Spokane Photo courtesy of Black Star Farmers

by Lindsey Anderson SGN Staff Writer On October 7, 2023, signs began popping up around the Black Lives Memorial Garden (BLMG) in Cal Anderson Park, notifying the public that the plot of land known as the “Sun Bowl” would soon be undergoing a turf renovation.

The announcement sparked immediate backlash in the Seattle community, which had come together in 2020 during the George Floyd protests to start the garden. The Black Lives Memorial Garden started as a part of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Protest Zone, or CHAZ (also known as CHOP), which lasted for about three weeks.

see GARDEN page 4

dom+bomb co-founders Delena Mobley (l) and Kim Blessing – Courtesy photo

by Kali Herbst Minino SGN Contributing Writer Kim Blessing and Delena Mobley, co-owners of the fashion brand dom+bomb, became good friends while working at a public health accounting firm. They had talked about opening a business together before 2020, but the pandemic pushed the two to apply for

their business license. By 2021, they had quit their corporate jobs, and by April 2022, they launched their first line. “We had talked a lot about what business we wanted to do, and we really wanted a BIPOCand Queer-friendly space — we didn’t really want to run a bar,” Blessing said. “We’re both plus sized [and] we’ve always struggled with

see SPOKANE page 5

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C E L E B R AT I N G 4 9 Y E A R S!

In This Issue

SEATTLE NEWS 4 REGIONAL NEWS 5 NATIONAL NEWS 9 INTERNATIONAL NEWS 10 OP-ED 15 FILM 17 BOOKS 21

ORIGINALLY SEATTLE GAY NEWS FOUNDED 1974

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Publisher Mike Schultz Acting Editor Benny Loy Copy Editor Richard Isaac Advertising Maggie Bloodstone, Advertising Manager National Advertising Rep. Rivendell Media (212) 242-6863 Staff Writers Lindsey Anderson • Sara Michelle Fetters Daniel Lindsley • Isabel Mata Contributing Writers Alice Bloch • Maggie Bloodstone Kylin Brown • Sharon Cumberland Ian Crowley • Clar Hart • Kali Herbst Minino Jack Hilovsky • Teddy MacQuarrie Cameron Martinez • Nemesis Social Media Team Lindsey Anderson • Cameron Martinez Nemesis Photographers Lauren Vasatka • SGN Staff Comics Clar Hart Production Mike Pham SGN is published by Mike Schultz. © 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 the 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. It is our policy that no money shall be refunded if you choose to cancel your ad. Credit will be given for the balance owed. No exceptions.

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Episode 81: Gabbi Tuft Lindsey flexes her political science muscles with a rundown of the late Diane Feinstein's legacy, in light of some more uplifting news in the U.S. Senate. Benny is adamant that their wedding will not have a certain theme. And once again, "meme god" Cameron joins the show, this time with a mix of the Halloween-y and the wholesome. Lindsey interviews influencer, fitness coach, and former WWE star Gabbi Tuft.

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Seattle News

Don’t forget to vote on these key levies by Lindsey Anderson SGN Staff Writer This week is your last chance to vote in King County’s 2023 elections, so if you haven’t already, grab a pen and fill in your ballot! There are over 70 drop boxes in King County, mostly at libraries and municipal buildings. Voters can also drop their ballots in the mail for free (the postage is prepaid) or vote in person at one of six voting centers: Bellevue City Hall, Federal Way City Hall, Kenmore City Hall, Kent Centennial Center, the King County Elections Office, and the Lumen Field Event Center. Voters who have not registered can do so at these in-person voting centers and vote that same day. Levies, levies There are a lot of levies on this year’s ballot to look into. The city of Kirkland has one to increase property taxes to fund parks and recreation programs, green spaces, and community centers. This includes funding for park rangers, beach lifeguards, maintenance workers, and teen services. The city also hopes to erect a new indoor aquatic center with lap pools, a gym, classrooms, and community spaces. If passed, this levy should bring in about $10,800,000; the average cost for homeowners (with a $1,000,000 home) should be about $280 a year. Earlier this year, the Maple Valley City Council passed a measure to increase funding for public safety services. If approved by voters, this levy will increase property taxes to generate $2,200,000 for neighborhood safety patrols, traffic enforcement, a school resource officer, and crime prevention programs. This increase would cost the average homeowner about $212 a year.

Photo courtesy of King County Elections

The city is asking voters to approve this measure to keep up with inflation and increased labor costs. These funds will be restricted to the police budget only. If the levy does not pass, the city expects budget cuts in 2025. The Seattle City Council, along with Mayor Bruce Harrell, passed a measure earlier this year that will now appear on the ballot. It will replace the previous Seattle Housing Levy and continue to provide services for low-income households and people experiencing homelessness. Half of this levy funding will help households earning less than 30% of the city’s median income. This will increase property taxes in Seattle and allow the city to bring in up to $138,608,596. The levy includes several programs that focus on preserving affordable homes and providing emergency assistance to prevent low-income households from slipping into homelessness. Enumclaw School District is asking to issue $103,000,000 in general-obligation

bonds to build a new early-learning and elementary school to replace Byron Kibler Elementary. The Fife School District also wants approval of general-obligation bonds, though it’s seeking $204,800,000 to replace Fife High School, the athletic field, and the stadium. The Skykomish School District is looking to replace an expiring levy and asking voters to approve a new one that will bring in $75,000 for collection until 2027. The Kent School Board is looking to replace an expiring levy this year, which would affect property taxes in the district for the three coming years. If passed, it can expect to bring in $85,8000,000 by 2027. These funds will pay for school operations that are not state-funded, including arts, athletics, extracurriculars, special education, school safety, and more. The school district also has a second levy on the ballot, which will collect up to $64,900,000 through 2027 for building maintenance and internet access.

The King County Fire Protection District No. 27 is asking for an increased levy to keep up with rising inflation. It hopes to establish a regular property tax rate of $1.50 per $1,000 assessed valuation, claiming that increased funding to the department is essential to continue services in the growing community. The Snoqualmie Pass Fire and Rescue Department had its current levy rate reduced due to a limitation on property tax increases. It is now hoping to get a levy passed that will return the budget to a $1-per-$1,000 rate to ensure that it can continue to provide services. The Valley Regional Fire Authority is looking for voters to approve the issuing of $96,500,000 in bonds for the construction and furnishing of two new fire stations, the reconstruction of an existing station, and the reconstruction of training grounds. If approved, this bond will be paid back over the next 20 years through annual property taxes. The Si View Metropolitan Park District hopes to get voters to approve funding for a new pool in North Bend, which will replace the 85-year-old Si View Pool, built in 1938. The new pool will include lap lanes, learn-to-swim areas, recreation programs, fitness programs, and zero-depth accessible entry areas for people with disabilities. It will also have changing rooms, classrooms, restrooms, offices, and storage spaces. There are so many exciting new measures to vote for (or against) on the 2023 ballot! There are city council positions up for grabs in 39 cities (including Seattle), mayoral races, and King County Council seats up for grabs. Your vote is your voice — don’t forget to use it!

GARDEN

continued from cover Protesters set up a home base with tents, medical aid, and other resources in Cal Anderson Park. During this time, urban farmer Marcus Henderson first established the plots for the BLM garden. In short order, the garden was flourishing. It remained in place following the police raids and public reopening of Cal Anderson Park. For the last three years, the garden has remained one of the only lasting reminders of CHAZ, a living memorial to the lives lost to police violence in the United States. It was managed by a collective made up of city and neighborhood residents, known as Black Star Farmers, and has fed thousands of people. Following the news that Seattle’s Parks and Recreation Department planned a hasty overhaul of the land, activist groups returned to the park to protest once again on Thursday, October 12, Led by Black Star Farmers. The SGN reached out to Parks and Recreation, which responded by saying, “Unfortunately, the BLM garden is not appropriate for this section of the park, because the ‘Sun Bowl’ is one of the few spaces that is appropriate to host gatherings and events (because of its intentional design as a natural amphitheater proximate to electrical and water hook-ups).” SPR said they had tried numerous times to work out a compromise with Black Star Farmers to relocate the garden elsewhere, but the collective was unwilling to budge. “Additionally, the community engagement SPR conducted in the wake of CHOP protests yielded the community desire to relocate the BLM garden to another location within the park,” the department said. “SPR has been in regular communication with Black Star Farmers since 2020, offering alternative locations for the garden within Cal Anderson Park and/or in other Seattle parks, including the space behind Rainier Community Center. Unfortunately,

SGN

Photo courtesy of Black Star Farmers

Department (SPR) plans to remove the false solution to these problems,” the colBLMG and recolonize the garden’s thriv- lective added. “The real solution to these ing, biodiverse ecosystem with invasive problems is reliable access to housing, harm grass, even though lawns have long been reduction programs, and access to healthcare a tool of colonization, gentrification, and that is not contingent on employment and Black Star Farmers’ response In an October 19 press release, Black Star classicism. SPR’s actions involving the disposable income — not further removing Farmers clarified that they were not given BLMG are aligned with a shameful history community access to free and accessible enough notice before the Parks and Recre- of worker exploitation and violent displace- food and liberatory education.” ation Department began posting signage ment of houseless neighbors and activist Black Star Farmers says the garden is a movements for at least twenty-five years.” stating their intent to remove the garden. symbol of deep connection to the city’s legAccording to Black Star Farmers, the acy of occupation protests led by poor and “Black Star Farmers, a small collective founded through the creation of the BLMG department has revisited the garden’s site working-class Queer people of color. “The alongside hundreds of local community several times over the last few weeks, along garden grows an abundance of produce members, was notified by SPR on Octo- with Seattle Police, who have conducted and herbal medicine that is harvested and ber 4th about their pending turf renovation sweeps of homeless people in the park and distributed freely to the local community project to begin as early as October 13th,” investigated the garden. and is home to many native plants that are “In their plan to remove the Black Lives vital for the regeneration of the Capitol Hill the collective wrote. “The Seattle Parks and Recreation Memorial Garden, the city has proposed a urban ecosystem,” they said.

Black Star Farmers has not been interested in relocating the garden to any of the locations offered.”

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Regional News

Clientele looking to stand out out a call for models to get their measureThere seems to be demand for such styl- ments taken, try on the clothes, and then ing. Mobley has noticed that the people who give feedback on it. The call brought in 80 continued from cover come to them are looking to express them- models, at least half of whom were Trans finding cute clothes that fit, [so we thought] selves in unique ways. They have clients in and Nonbinary. why not just make our own?” varying stages of transition who come to “We think we’ve probably got one of the With sizes ranging from 5XL to down them for styling tips, and one client asked largest sizing data banks for the Queer to XS, their brick-and-mortar store in Spo- for ways to subtly express their asexuality community, probably in the country,” kane houses a variety of Queer staples, like through their wardrobe. Blessing said that Blessing said. “We’ve learned so much wide-leg overalls, sheer-neck tops, chain- gender-affirming styling usually looks like about what people are looking for in their mail earrings with different Pride flag col- hiding or accentuating curves or adjust- clothes, how to adapt clothing to help ors, and black joggers (Mobley’s favorite). ing dimensions in height, like the length of someone really express their gender in a The two design the clothes they sell, curate sleeves or pants. way that makes them feel great.” from other independent designers, and When the two started out, they decided “Being in Spokane, people kind of fall into offer gender-affirming styling. to create their own sizing chart. They put the same kind of styling habit, so people that

SPOKANE

Fashion as a mode for creativity They have the background to give out that styling advice, too. Mobley started making their own clothes when they were in middle school. “I went to school with a lot of wealthy kids, but I was not one of them. In order to stay in the loop of things, I would make Bermuda shorts or a pencil skirt and then wear them to school the next day,” Mobley said. “I would babysit and take my money and go to Woolworth or the local fabric store, and make my own clothes the night before wearing them.” During the pandemic, the two started making masks they would want to wear themselves, using fabric from local stores. While being a single mom and pursuing higher education, Mobley said they became attached to that creative expression. “[Making masks] brought up those old feelings of what it felt like to make something, see people wear it, and wear it myself,” Mobley said. Community support “People have just been really, really welcoming to us,” said Blessing about the reception they have received. Since starting the brand, Mobley and Blessing have also developed community partnerships with Spectrum Center and Odyssey Youth Movement, both LGBTQ+ centers in Spokane. They’ve also made connections with the Carl Maxey Center, Spokane’s Black community center. Those connections have been an effective way to reach their communities, Blessing says. Their first major event was Spokane Pride, the first since the pandemic. “Anywhere you go, even down to rural areas, there are Queer and Black people everywhere, so it’s a matter of really connecting. They’re hungry, especially in places like this that could be considered more of a desert of community.”

Photos courtesy of Kim Blessing and Delena Mobley

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are coming to us want to do something different,” Mobley said. “A lot of our clients, they attract attention anyway. So it’s like, ‘If you’re gonna look, then I might as well give you something good to look at.’ People want to stand out and feel really confident.”

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Regional News

Crystal Jewyl Box

SKAGIT

continued from cover Performers came from all around the state, including Gina Touché, Nemesis, Alexus Montoya, Bow, Crystal Jewyl Box, Indie Scent, James Bondage, Mx, Starla D’Ville, and Kaylin Bosley. “Skagit Drag is a place where people can come and let go of all the seriousness and relax into the love that they’ve been working so hard to build,” said the show’s creator and executive producer, Christopher Sadler, better known as Gina Touché. Despite the rural location, the production has stayed consistently popular since its creation, which, about 12 years ago, started when a college club tried to branch out into the field of drag. Sadler said the first show was so well attended that the fire marshal had to put a stop to allowing more people inside. “You find a lot of people who are growing up in these smaller towns, who see [what’s happening in cities] but don’t have access to it on a regular basis,” Sadler said. “They want to find something in the towns that they live in, that they can connect to and feel a part of without having to really travel outside of the place that they call home.” Not only do audience members love the shows, but performers do as well. Although the cast consisted of seven drag queens, Sadler said the October edition received 25 applications. Skagit Drag has turned into a quarterly Alexus Montoya – Photos by Cameron Martinez happening, with an emphasis on showing love and supporting the local community. Several organizations throughout Skagit we match… A lot of local businesses over All in all, Sadler’s desire for a loving County partnered and provided prizes, the years have just been really open to … drag show, by his own definition, has been ranging from $160 to $450 in value. building community through love and met with Skagit Drag. “Fortunately, we’re at a place now entertainment, as we do.” “Fortunately, we’re in a society that where we’ve been supported by the comSkagit Drag also uses its influence to seems to be veering in the direction of love, munity [such that] we can … support local promote local organizations that are help- but there’s always that wall that we’re facbusinesses that have supported us over time ing the Queer community. For example, ing,” Sadler said. “And every time that we by purchasing things,” Sadler said. “And Skagit PFLAG tabled right outside the seem to have a success, you know, there’s through that, we get donations, which now auditorium. even a bigger wall that seems to build itself

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up in front of us, … so we just want to be a place for [being yourself].“ Skagit Drag’s next edition is an all-singing show scheduled for January at the Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon. For more information on upcoming events, join the Skagit Drag Show group on Facebook or check out https://lincolntheatre.org.

C E L E B R AT I N G 4 9 Y E A R S!

Mx – Photos by Cameron Martinez

Bow

Indie Scent

James Bondage

Kaylin Bosley

Nemesis

Starla D'Ville

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Regional News

Hiking at Gold Creek Trail

by Lindsey Anderson SGN Staff Writer Benji and I returned to Snoqualmie Pass for our latest hiking adventure. Just an hour outside the city, Gold Creek Trail (not to be confused with the ones on the Kitsap and Olympic Peninsulas) wasn’t difficult to find, which made it particularly appealing for a directionally challenged person like myself. We drove out of the Seattle rain, climbing above the clouds. The trailhead was busy for a sunny Sunday afternoon — the lot was full, so we had to park on the side of the road! Once we set out on the easy, paved path around the gorgeous blue lake, it became clear to me why Gold Creek was such a popular spot for beginner hikers. The flat trail is one of the most accessible locations outside the main Seattle parks for people in wheelchairs or with mobility limitations to explore. With little to no elevation gain on the main trails, this hike can be enjoyed by people of all abilities. While Gold Creek didn’t offer Benji or me difficult terrain, it still presented us with the same splendor and beauty other more treacherous nearby trails keep hidden behind rigid peaks. The sunshine poked through gaps in yellow and orange leaves and glittered on the stunning blue water of the creek The woods were filled with mushrooms, which several children seemed to find enjoyment in foraging.. While the mushrooms did delight me with their whimsy, I kept my distance, as now and then, we stumbled upon a circle of them. Though fairy circles are a naturally occurring phenomenon, I’d heard enough stories about their hazards as a child to keep my distance. I may not believe all the folktales surrounding fairy circles anymore, but a small reminder that women who step foot inside are known to disappear did echo inside my little solo hiker ears. I also kept Benji far away from any mushrooms we saw, as I am not a skilled forager and did not want to risk him eating anything toxic. He spent his time instead sniffing out chipmunks and trying to catch falling leaves as they landed on the path ahead. Just off the trail, rocky inlets led us to the water’s edge. We passed through some trees and found ourselves on the bank of the creek.

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Looking out in all directions before me, I could see the water kiss the shore. Flat rocks, perfect for skipping, lined the inlet, daring me to see how far I could send them. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see fish jump, though as soon as I turned my head to catch their leap, all that was left were the ripples in an otherwise still body of water. Though the nice weather ultimately meant we weren’t as secluded as I’d prefer on a hike, there was something about Gold Creek that helped us escape reality for a few minutes. Maybe it was the reflection of the clouds mirrored on the creek, the jumping of water bugs, or the peaceful trickle of mountain springs? Looking out, the mountains above reminded us of all of fall’s beauty. Like

a dash of seasoning in an autumnal soup, yellow pine trees flecked the sides of green hills, which served as a beacon, guiding us along the trail. No matter which direction we wound up, those yellow and green pines still crowned the horizon. Benji enjoyed the freedom of being offleash and took advantage of what may have been the last sunny hike we’ll get this year. He darted in and out of the chilly water, attempting to catch bugs and minnows. Though this hike did not provide him with vast views of the world below, he did find solace in a bridge over the creek, from which he was able to peer out over the edge. The path took us around the lake, through colorful wooded landscapes, and finally to

a field of tall grass. The sounds of toads and crickets serenaded us throughout the walk but crescendoed as we ended our adventure. Gold Creek was an easy hike, even for me and Benji, who admittedly are not avid hikers. While the walk didn’t leave us sore or particularly challenged, it did stand as a reminder to me that nature is for everyone. Accessible trails are essential to ensure that all community members can go outside and commune with nature. Beautiful views should not be a luxury reserved for the select few who can make it up the mountain. Hiking isn’t about climbing up and looking down — it’s about getting outside and seeing things from a new perspective.

Photos by Lindsey Anderson

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National News

National news highlights

U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson – Photo by Elizabeth Frantz / Reuters

by Teddy MacQuarrie SGN Contributing Writer Newly elected House speaker’s anti-Queer record scrutinized Following the protracted fight over the position, newly elected US House Speaker Mike Johnson’s decades-long political and legislative records call attention to his extreme history of anti-Queer statements, legislation, and litigation. The Queer rights group Human Rights Campaign calls him “the most antiequality speaker in US history.” Now in his fourth term representing Louisiana’s Fourth Congressional District, he has received a zero on the HRC’s Congressional Scorecard in every term. He voted against the Equality Act, the Respect for Marriage Act, and numerous other proequality bills. He has introduced legislation inspired by Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law and led a hearing in opposition to gender-affirming care for minors. Before his tenure in the House, Johnson worked as an attorney for the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal advocacy group promoting what it calls “religious freedom,” in actuality vehemently anti-Queer rights laws and policies. While at the ADF in 2006, he touted the so-called Day of Truth, the far right’s response to the Day of Silence, which is a protest against bullying of Queer youth. The Day of Truth, he said, is “another perspective on the homosexual lifestyle, which many people believe is morally wrong and physically dangerous.” Stephanie Grace, a political columnist for the Times-Picayune and The Advocate (no relation to the Queer publication), both Louisiana newspapers, wrote that his stances are far to the right, but he tends to state them in a reasonable-sounding, legalistic way. “He doesn’t have the Jim Jordan confrontational demeanor, but his positions

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are pretty extreme,” she said, referring to the Ohio congressman who failed in his bid to be speaker. She added, “He has this way where he doesn’t come across as very frightening to people.” In an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity on October 26, Johnson explained his religious views: “I am a Bible-believing Christian. Someone asked me today — in the media, they said, ‘It’s curious, people are curious. What does Mike Johnson think about any issue under the sun?’ I said, ‘Well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. That’s my worldview.’”

In a statement, Allen Morris, policy director for the National LGBTQ Task Force, explained the context of Johnson’s views in relation to the Queer community. “I would be hard-pressed to think of a worse member to be elected speaker of the House, not simply for LGBTQ communities but for the American people.” He added, “Many of my family members have resided in the Fourth Congressional District of Louisiana for decades, so I know from personal experience his track record on civil rights and minority issues is clear and stark as our community continues to find itself under attack.”

Judge Dianne Hensley – Photo courtesy of First Liberty

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Texas Supreme Court to hear case of state judge who refuses to marry same-sex couples The county justice of the peace who was formally reprimanded after she refused to perform wedding ceremonies for samesex couples took her case to the Texas Supreme Court on Wednesday. Judge Dianne Hensley serves as justice of the peace in McLennan County in central Texas, and part of her duties can include performing marriage ceremonies. Beginning in 2015, she stopped officiating weddings altogether for a time, as she said performing same-sex ceremonies would be incompatible with her Christian beliefs, according to the Texas Tribune. The State Commission on Judicial Conduct issued a formal reprimand to Hensley in 2019 for her practice of marrying opposite-sex couples while refusing to marry same-sex couples. Hensley did not appeal the warning but instead challenged the commission in a Texas court. Hensley argued that the commission violated the Texas Religious Freedom and Restoration Act (RFRA) by warning Hensley to perform ceremonies for samesex couples even though such a practice violated her religious beliefs. The lower courts threw out the case, finding that the commission did not exceed its authority or violate Hensley’s religious rights. The fact the Texas Supreme Court has taken the case, as well as the lines of questioning in yesterday’s hearing, has led some to believe the court might be willing to revive the case for Hensley. The judges repeatedly peppered counsel for the commission, Douglas S. Lang, with hypothetical questions that seemed to question why a judge could decline to perform ceremonies in some situations without question but Hensley was being punished for a similar refusal. The court did not indicate when it would rule in the case.

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International News

International news highlights

Japan: The Plaintiff's lawyers, Kazuyuki Minami and Masafumi Yoshida, hold banners that read "returned" and "unconstitutional" - two main points of the Supreme Court's decision – Photo by Francis Tang / Reuters

by Teddy MacQuarrie SGN Contributing Writer Japanese court rules that forced sterilizations of Trans people is unconstitutional Japan’s top court has ruled that a government requirement for Transgender people to be sterilized before they could be legally recognized was unconstitutional, in a victory for the country’s Queer community years in the making. Under a law enacted in 2004, Transgender people who want their identity documents amended must have been diagnosed with “gender identity disorder,” be at least 18 years old, be unmarried, and not have any underage children. These requirements present a very high hurdle for legal recognition of their gender identity. They must also have genital organs resembling those of the opposite sex, and have no reproductive capacity. That means they must have undergone invasive procedures, including sterilization and plastic surgery. The law has long been decried by rights groups, though previous challenges in court have been struck down — until this case, brought by a Transgender woman who wanted to change her legal gender from male to female without surgery. The plaintiff argued that years of hormone therapy had already impacted her reproductive capabilities, according to public broadcaster NHK. Her case had been rejected by a family court and a higher court before arriving at the Supreme Court. On Monday, the latter ruled in her favor, declaring that the provision requiring sterilization was “in violation” of the constitution. According to a statement by the Queer rights group Human Rights Watch, “The case follows years of advocacy and litigation to remove this abusive and retrograde requirement that contradicts medical best practices and international human rights law.” HRW added, “This judgment is a major step toward upholding the rights to health,

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privacy, and bodily autonomy of trans people in Japan. It will also resonate regionally and globally as governments increasingly recognize that the process for legal recognition of trans people needs to be separate from any medical interventions.” South Korean court upholds military anti-sodomy laws South Korea’s constitutional court has upheld two anti-Queer laws, including the country’s notorious military “sodomy law” for the fourth time, in a ruling activists are calling a setback for equal rights. In response to several petitions challenging the law, the court, in a 5-to-4 vote, ruled that Article 92-6 of the Military Criminal Act — which prescribes a maximum prison term of two years for “anal intercourse” and “any other indecent acts” between military personnel, even while on leave and consensual — is constitutional. One judge in favor of the law stated that

due to a high number of men in the military, opportunities for same-sex sexual relations are frequent, and as such, the law is needed to maintain order and prevent same-sex sexual assault and the breakdown of the military’s combat readiness. Lim Tae-hoon, head of the Center for Military Human Rights Korea, which provides assistance to soldiers, including those accused of breaking the anti-Queer law, said the decision is “absurd, illogical, regressive, and driven by prejudice. “While the world has been making progress in abolishing discrimination against minorities over the past 20 years, the minds of the judges have not advanced even a single step,” he said. Amnesty International’s East Asia researcher, Boram Jang, said it was “a distressing setback in the decades-long struggle for equality in the country. “This ruling underscores the widespread prejudice experienced by LGBTI

people in South Korea and the government’s lack of action to prevent harm and ensure equality, which is their human rights responsibility,” Jang said. “It has no place in Korean society and should be scrapped immediately.” In 2017, an investigation — decried by rights groups as a “witch-hunt” — was launched to identify servicemen suspected of being Gay, resulting in the indictment of a dozen soldiers. A case in 2021 criminally punished two soldiers for a consensual sexual act. At the time, a court said their actions “bordered on rape.” Thursday’s ruling comes despite the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Article 92-6 convictions. Rainbow Action, an umbrella of LGBTQ rights organizations, said that the court’s failure to rule anti-Queer laws unconstitutional meant “it had not fulfilled its responsibility to protect the rights of minorities.” “The fight is far from over,” it said.

Photo by Ahn Young-joon / AP

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Op-Ed Knowing when it’s time to say goodbye Dear Izzy, When is the right time to reevaluate my relationship with my older, married boyfriend? As unconventional as it is with poly relationships (think of this like Terry Miller’s relationships with Dan Savage and that younger guy Tom), he and I have been in each other’s lives for nearly three years. It took us less than a year to say “I love you.” But this year has been challenging. His husband strongly dislikes me, so sometimes I feel conflicted on saying the “right” things while staying supportive. I know in my heart that I’ll always want more out of the relationship because he means so much to me, but right now there’s an adjustment phase from his recent medical situation (unprecedented to me), so leaving now or soon would devastate us individually as well as our friendship. — The Other Tom Dear Other Tom, Thank you for your message. To answer your first question, it seems as though you have already started to reevaluate your relationship with your older, married boyfriend by way of this question. There are a few key things I notice about your message that I want to explore. The first is that you feel pressured to say the

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 Turkan Bakirli / Pexels

“right” things while staying supportive. Unfortunately, there is no right thing to say, especially in a relationship as complex as yours. But the fact that you are feeling pressure shows that the situation is impacting you more than you might realize, since you don’t feel comfortable speaking your truth. You shouldn’t have to walk on eggshells with those you love, regardless of what other people involved think of you.

You already know that you want more out of the relationship than he is willing to give. So the question I want to ask is: how much are you willing to sacrifice for this person? The love that you two share is clear, but I urge you to think about how the relationship is benefiting you. Are you sticking around because you feel obligated to? Or because you genuinely care and don’t want to disrupt his healing?

There will never be a right time to leave or break up. You could come up with a million reasons not to leave, but the truth is you already have a few reasons why it is time for you to go your separate ways. And the longer you hold on to hope that something could change, the more likely you are to end up heartbroken. I recommend writing a pro and con list, as silly as it sounds, about your relationship with this person. How is it truly serving you? How is it not? Once you do this, I think you will have your answer as to what to do next.

How furries and Queerness intersect from one who is both by Daniel Lindsley SGN Staff Writer One busy trivia night in Queen Anne, I was two drinks deep with a college friend and made a passing reference to my “fursona.” I remember lending the notion of this rabbit-shaped self about the same gravity as I would my favorite band. It had become a simple, lightweight fact of life — one feather of many in the layered wings of my identity — but as the shadows of my friend’s smile deepened into a grimace, I knew that she had passed some mental event horizon and was staring into the abyss of a collapsing star. For her, this “fursona” was a loaded subject. She lowered her voice, glanced at the other tables, and asked if we could simply not talk about it. Out of respect, I let it go, and even though the night went on as usual, I was surprised and a little hurt. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, a good punching bag needs weight, and the furry fandom has a lot of baggage — much of it heaped on by media misrepresentation in the early 2000s, and then compounded by internet “cringe culture.” Don’t take my word for it. The International Anthropomorphic Research Project (IARP), a group of sociologists and furries alike, has been studying the furry fandom for years. Its findings debunked some of the most common stereotypes, such as the fandom being nothing more than a “deviant sexual fetish,” and all furries believing that they’re animals trapped in human bodies. In fact, only about 4% of furries considered sex the most important part of the fandom, and just 10% believed they were less

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Illustration by SGN Staff

than 100% human. Yet furries “were significantly more likely to have a history of being physically and verbally bullied,” and most felt reluctant to tell the people in their lives about their involvement. Here’s where things get Queer: only about 20% of surveyed furries identified as exclusively heterosexual, compared to the general population’s 80-90%. Meanwhile, 10% of respondents identified as Asexual, and 15% as Trans, Nonbinary, or Agender. What is it about the furry fandom that brings in so many LGBTQIA+ people? The IARP cites a general ethos of positivity and acceptance, but to answer the question more thoroughly and personally,

I’d like to bring us back to trivia night in Queen Anne. I hate having to spend so many words hauling old myths into the ditch where they belong, but at one stage of my life, like that college friend, I too was weighed down by false assumptions about the fandom. Up until 2016, the most I could admit was that I had loved anthropomorphic media from an early age. But I had also just been through a bad breakup, on top of all the other awful events of that year. Pain has a way of urging us to express it, and it was from pain that my fursona was born — not purely as some angsty, selfpitying creature but as something akin to

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an ideal self, a reliquary to preserve what really mattered to me, even under the withering gaze of self-doubt. A fursona gives many furries a way to divorce personality traits from gender identity. Being a “man” means I’m expected to be strong, stoic, and aggressive. If I instead adopt the symbolism of a jackrabbit, I have the space to be anxious and sensitive, but also rugged and tenacious in a pinch. (They are desert-dwellers, after all.) In 2019, I finally took the plunge and attended my first furry convention, Anthro Northwest. I admit I had braced myself for the worst, but I was trying to keep an open mind. I had attended other kinds of conventions before, for anime, comics, and movies. Some of them were 60,000 strong. But none could hold a candle to the energy of the 1,200 or so furries at the Hyatt Regency that weekend. Everyone was friendly, happy to be there, and so readily supportive that I almost didn’t believe it. The real draw to the furry fandom is a sense of belonging, because to live as a Queer person is to be reminded of what the world expects from you, and constantly fall short. Shouting to the heavens “to hell with it!” is a fine way to cope, but often it takes more than that to make living bearable — just to feel, for even a moment, what it’s like to be unapologetically alive on your own terms. So why not howl at the moon, if that’s what it takes? Bring some friends while you’re at it. Stomp your feet, wear a tail, draw yourself as a capybara. If it doesn’t do anything for you, that’s fine. But let’s stop pretending that it makes any less sense than reading tarot or painting your nails.

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Film

Seattle Erotic Cinema Society prepares tantalizing film festival by Teddy MacQuarrie SGN Contributing Writer Much has been made lately about the presence of sexual content in films. A phenomenon known as “sex-scene discourse” pervades online discussions, eliciting heated responses to titillating fare. And with a new report out of UCLA called “Teens and Screens” indicating that younger audiences prefer fewer on-screen depictions of sexuality, and social shifts arising from high cultural polarization, sex scenes are appearing in films less frequently than ever. In the midst of this comes the Seattle Erotic Cinema Society and its upcoming event, the SECS Fest, Seattle’s own international erotic film festival, bringing together a diverse array of movies that all feature positive depictions of sexuality in its many expressions. The group’s mission focuses on “celebrating the artistry of erotic cinema while inspiring diverse communities to engage in adult conversations about sex.” SECS Fest’s mission SECS’s founder and director DeAnna Berger shared her passion for these films with the SGN. “I’ve always kind of had an interest in sex and gender specifically…, and it came to my attention that … films that don’t even have …very explicit content but [are] about sex work, films about coming of age… don’t have an easy avenue to a wider audience, not even festivals.” Regarding their importance, Berger, who is Queer, noted that “I found so much of my own identity seeing these media portrayals… Seeing these depictions was very important to forming my own identity.” Her stated goal is to ensure that everyone, regardless of sexual or gender identity, can see their sexualities depicted and engaged with in cinematic form. Her biggest hope is that audiences “find something that they can connect with. I do try to mix it up so that you don’t have, like, [only] shorts for Lesbians or things like that.” Berger has felt the abovementioned cultural currents that oppose sexual depictions and sex-positivity more generally. This troubles her, because, “seeing positive depictions on-screen gives you an avenue to talk about it, and that makes it easier to bring it up with a partner or a friend. “In a way, it freed me up to talk more openly about sexuality, and probably to have more honest communication with people around me.”

Pandora's Mirror (1981) – Photo courtesy of MUBI

Festival lineup The SECS Fest’s 2023 lineup includes 42 entries, consisting of shorts, features, documentaries, and archival films. Shown over three days at Grand Illusion Cinema, the festival will be headlined by Nathaniel Dushku’s Gay erotic thriller Birder, about a stranger’s dark fetish at a New Hampshire nude campground, and will also feature Shaun Costello’s 1981 adult fantasy Pandora’s Mirror, about a mysterious antique mirror capable of showing the viewer the sexual escapades of everyone who has ever looked into it. Berger recalled the process of selecting the lineup: “How we put the festival together is that we asked for film submissions, and based on [those, we determined] how the festival runs…This year we have so many really interesting shorts.” The festival prioritizes diversity in sexual identities and expressions, with Berger clarifying that it tries “to focus on sex-positive images. We don’t want to see a bunch of stuff perpetrating myths about porn addiction, the absolute dangers of sex work. We try to avoid really stereotypical stories, as well as really heteronormative sexual expression.” All of SECS Fest’s entries, with the exception of Birder, contain graphic

Amber Adams (co-founder) and DeAnna Berger (founder) selling merch – Courtesy photo

depictions of actual sexual activity. Some of these have in the past been a challenge to audiences, with Berger recounting

The SECS Fest runs November 10-12 at Grand Illusion Cinema at 1403 NE 50th St. Tickets to each screening, along with the full lineup and schedule, are available at https://www.secsfest.org. All screenings are for those aged 18 and over.

Birder (2023) – Photo courtesy of Murgen Croaker

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how she prepared some attendees for films about an expression that can be particularly challenging for some. “We did the [Fred] Halsted restored films… I did a big intro about Gay men in San Francisco and LA and fist-fucking — it was quite the fun intro to give. I wanted to warn the audience about what they’re in for! That was a lot of fun.” SECS Fest’s first year was graced with the presence of Stephen Sayadian, otherwise known as Rinse Dream, an iconic multimedia artist and Larry Flynt’s former advertising director. Regarding this year’s lineup, Berger explains, “We have a little bit of darker horror content. One is a sex worker film that feels kind of scary but turns out to be scary in an unexpected and kind of more horrifying way… It’s perfect for our time currently.” Collectively, entries in SECS Fest may help put a dent in the current negativity surrounding sexual depictions in cinema. At the very least, they can provide a needed relief for those worn out by today’s corporate offerings.

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Film

SIFF at 50

A conversation with SIFF Artistic Director Beth Barrett by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN Staff Writer Starting tonight at the SIFF Egyptian with screenings of Eighth Grade, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, SIFF is kicking off its 2024 50th anniversary celebration a few months early. Running through December 3, the “SIFF at 50” series is the first of two planned retrospectives of past Seattle International Film Festival audience award winners and programmer favorites that have played during the festival over the past half-century. (The second event is tentatively planned for April.) “It’s exciting, isn’t it?” asked SIFF Artistic Director Beth Barrett. “We have so much going on right now, and next year’s festival is going to be really special. Having a series like this seemed like a great way of honoring SIFF’s history while also starting the clock ticking toward the 50th annual Seattle International Film Festival.” Barrett is right. There is a lot to talk about. Not only is SIFF getting ready for next year’s main event — the aforementioned 50th film festival, starting on May 9 and running through May 19 — there’s also its recent agreement to reopen and run the iconic downtown Cinerama Theater. In late October, I sat down with Barrett to chat about SIFF at 50, the reopening of the Cinerama, and what a vibrant film community means to Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. Here is the edited transcript of our wide-ranging conversation: Sara Michelle Fetters: So, you’re reopening the Cinerama when? Beth Barrett: We are thrilled to be opening on December 14 with Wonka, starring Timothée Chalamet! SIFF Cinema Downtown will be a home for all cinema, from first-run blockbusters to family-friendly fare to specialty screenings and series. We’re so happy to provide a space for film lovers of all ages to see a film over the holidays on the best screen in Seattle! SMF: That’s so exciting! So, we are officially calling the theater SIFF Cinema Downtown? BB: It is now SIFF Cinema Downtown! The name allows us to really work with the community on a more permanent name, while also reflecting the optimism of a returning downtown and helping make the area a more activated neighborhood space.

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) – Photo courtesy of MGM

Beth Barrett – Photo courtesy of SIFF Cinema

SMF: What is the excitement level as you inch closer to reopening Seattle’s premiere venue? BB: With the staff, the excitement level is pretty deafening. They are pretty excited to be getting going on December 14. We will be serving great local beer and wine, and, of course, chocolate popcorn! SMF: So, when we last talked in April, before the festival started, you were really excited about the 50th anniversary projects and events you had coming up.

I admit, when I received the press release for this particular event, I was happily surprised to see you’d be starting in November. BB: Yeah. Fifty years of films, right? It’s exciting. There’s a lot of films. Thousands and thousands and thousands of films! The festival is an organization-wide event. Passes and ticket packages for SIFF members are on sale now. And this series is a way to remind everyone that they saw all of these great films at the festival. These are audience award winners. These are special attractions. These are titles audiences will get excited about. SIFF started doing the audience awards in 1984. Kiss of the Spider Woman was the first winner, and we’ve got a beautiful 35mm print. It’s going to be emotional, I think, to see it now 40 years later. But looking at all of these [titles] is like, it’s so emotional; these were all films that really touched a large number of people. SMF: In terms of the lineup of this series, where else are you going to be able to watch The Empire Strikes Back, WarGames, Comrades: Almost a Love Story, Facing Windows, and the first,

The Empire Strikes Back (1980) – Photo courtesy of LucasFilms

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most important entries of The Kingdom all at one venue? And this is just the tip of the iceberg. BB: Yeah. It’s a fun lineup. SMF: But how do you do this? Where do you start? It seems like a monster task to assemble a series like this from almost 50 years of Seattle International Film Festival lineups. BB: This series is 21 films. I guesstimated that we have shown somewhere around 10,000 over the course of 50 years. [laughs]. So, yes, it’s an impossible task. This is why we used the “it won an audience award” rule when selecting most of the titles. For 16 of the 21 films, we’re like, great, that was the audience award winner. We’ll go with that. It made it easier than it otherwise would have been. For the … years prior to 1984, they were much more my favorites, if I’m being honest. That’s how we get things like Multiple Maniacs or The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum — which was the very first film showed at the very first SIFF! So, there’s a little bit of a balance. And then WarGames, of course, was shot right here in Seattle. And, well, The Empire Strikes Back is The Empire Strikes Back. [laughs] SMF: It’s not like we didn’t know that The Empire Strikes Back played SIFF in 1980. Pretty sure clips from it get used in every single SIFF trailer I’ve seen over the past three decades or so. What I did not know was that the world premiere of The Empire Strikes Back was right here in Seattle at SIFF. How did that happen? Do you know? BB: It showed at 12:01 a.m. [laughs] Seriously, though, it showed at 12:01 a.m. on the premiere day. Thinking back to 1980, this was before it was traditional to do those midnight — followed by 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. — showings kind of thing. That’s all very commonplace now, at least it was prior to the pandemic, for many of these big releases. But in 1980, it was not. That was very unusual. So, we showed it at the UA Theater. They had the print, and technically it was the same day, so we showed it at 12:01 a.m. Crazy, right? SMF: Is this going to be the “despecialized” edition to honor the original premiere? BB: No. Sadly, this will be the 1997 special edition. It’s all you can [show] publicly right now.

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SMF: Back to what you were saying about assembling this lineup, what stood out to you when you and the programming team were looking back through this rich history of the festival? BB: Every title has such an incredible story, and I always go back to the story. There’s comedy. There’s drama. There’s love. There’s heartbreak. There’s all kinds of things. But the characters at the center of all of these stories are all unforgettable when you think about it. You have Elsie Fisher at the center of Eighth Grade, heartbreakingly unforgettable. And then the young girls at Picnic at Hanging Rock, which is one of my favorites, by the way. Of course, William Hurt and Raul Julia in Kiss of the Spider Woman, so magnificent! Then there’s Jean Dujardin in OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies. I can’t see him in anything else and not think OSS. It’s the character development … in these films that catapulted them to an audience award. It is what allowed them to jump out at us when we were programming this first series. SMF: Somehow, heartbreak looks good in a place like this? That’s what you’re telling me? BB: Ha! [laughs] That’s exactly what I’m saying. SMF: For you personally, though, especially considering how long you’ve been involved with SIFF in your various roles, was it emotional for you at all doing this retrospective? BB: Absolutely. It’s hard because it’s a little bit of all of my little favorites. My favorite films from a lot of these years were not the audience award winners, and so there’s that challenge, too. But then, I started looking at all these great films, and I was like, ‘But I love that one, and I love that one, and I love that one! I remember when that one played! I remember that Peter Weir was here for Picnic at Hanging Rock!’ This was before my time, but Deborah Person used to tell the story of when she was a young guest relations staff person. She went outside to have a cigarette, and there was Peter Weir, and she’s just like, I’m smoking a cigarette with Peter Weir. Just that excitement! Can you imagine? Being with Michel Hazanavicius and Bérénice Bejo as The Neptune erupted in laughter for OSS 117, which nobody knew was going to be as successful. Richard Linklater here to talk about Boyhood. Who can forget that? Wonderful memories. SMF: I felt the same, looking at many of titles in the lineup for this series. Not only was it the memory of how much I loved seeing Black Dynamite, it was remembering watching it at midnight in a packed

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) – Photo courtesy of Australian Film Commission

SIFF Egyptian. Such a magnificent audience experience — and it would go on to win the Golden Space Needle! BB: And that’s essentially what we want to remind audiences of with this series, that we’ve been doing that thing right there, that audience experience, for almost 50 years! SMF: From an organizational perspective, it does feel like post-lockdown that SIFF, which has always been such a vital community member, is now taking another step, where it’s partnering with other Seattle nonprofits for a variety of events. Like with Scarecrow this month for the Scarecrowber series. You’ve always partnered with people to do projects, but it just feels like there is more of a sense of community engagement between Seattle arts nonprofits than I’ve ever seen before. Is that something that you’re feeling? Is that something you’re seeing? This has to be a priority for you all, right? BB: It’s incredibly intentional for us to be working with other members of the community on so many different levels, because filmgoing really is an all-boats-rise event. The more people go to the movies, the more people go to the movies. And they should be seeing things at the Northwest Film Forum and the Grand Illusion and The Beacon, and even at an AMC. There are so many movies out there. We can’t show them all by any stretch. So, the more people go out and experience and

remember what that moviegoing habit feels like — and I think COVID really broke us of that habit of “I go to the movies once a week” — I think the better that is for everyone. The more we get that habit back into our interaction with our arts and cultural sector here in Seattle, the more all of us are going to see audiences return in the ways that we need them to in order to remain vibrant and growing arts organizations. SMF: How do you manage that from a programming perspective? Right now you’ve got this archival Scarecrowber series going, you just finished DocFest, you have the Polish Festival, you have so much happening. But you’re also playing the Taylor Swift concert documentary. BB: It’s a careful balance, but, really, all it is for us is going back to that original mission, which is creating experiences that bring people together around film. So, is that experience Taylor Swift and being surrounded by 13-year-olds? Sure. Is that experience the amazing Sandra Hüller in Anatomy of the Fall? Absolutely. Is that experience seeing Near Dark in 35mm? Is that experience enjoying one of our partner organizations, the Polish Film Festival? The Romanian Film Festival? The Seattle Queer Film Festival? Of course it is. There’s so much film exhibition, and there’s so much community film interaction, happening in Seattle that we want to use the opportunity that is given to us by Taylor Swift to introduce some of those

The SIFF Cinema sign on the former Cinerama theater building – Courtesy of SIFF Cinema

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folks to something like Joan Baez: I Am a Noise. There’s a through line from Joan Baez to Taylor Swift. It’s a straight line… We’ve actually seen an uptick in Joan Baez tickets because people saw Taylor Swift, or they were looking for Taylor Swift tickets, and they’re like, “Oh! It’s Joan Baez.” Isn’t that fun? For a lot of us through the pandemic, we watched whatever we could get our hands on. We tried things that we might not ordinarily have tried because we had to. That was all that was available to us. Keeping that sense of adventure and that sense of really looking at different kinds of films — films that are subtitled, films that you may not have known about, films from a partner organizations — that’s important. The more people go to the movies, the more people go to the movies. That’s a good thing. SMF: Back to the former Cinerama, now SIFF Cinema Downtown, what did it feel like when you saw the signage go up? BB: That made me cry. It was like, yeah, we’re really doing this. But it also made me nauseous, because, oh, God! We’re really doing this! [laughs] Taking on the opportunity, but also the responsibility, of the former Cinerama is massive. I can’t wait to have people in there to eat chocolate popcorn and watch movies with us. It’s going to be great. SMF: Are events like this 50th anniversary series, the Scarecrowber series, the recent sci-fi series, and other events and series that you’ve worked on with other partner organizations something you want to keep doing? BB: Yes. I think that there’s an entire generation of people who have never seen these films on the big screen, and that generation is everyone from 0 to 50 in some cases. … When we showed Alien in March and asked who had never actually even ever seen it, half the audience had never seen the film. Then we asked who had never seen it on the big screen, and it was three-quarters of the audience. It’s amazing to me as a cinephile that that was real. The idea that this is one of the formational films of the genre that people haven’t had access to, to see it as it was meant to be seen on the big screen, with a bunch of people, and we got to remedy that? Extraordinary. SMF: I guess then, the best way to sum all of this up is to say that 50 years of SIFF is 50 years of building community? BB: Absolutely. Yes. That’s perfect. That is exactly right. It’s a 100% of our mission. It’s what we exist to do. The “SIFF at 50” series runs at the SIFF Egyptian from Nov. 3 thru Dec. 3, 2024. A second series is in the works and will be announced soon. SIFF Cinema Downtown — the former Cinerama Theater — reopens on Dec. 14, 2024, with Paul King’s Wonka starring Timothée Chalamet. More information on these and other SIFF events, including the 50th annual Seattle International Film Festival, can be found at https://www.siff.net.

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Film

Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla an ethereal, emotive whirlwind of romantic infatuation and feminine resolve

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN Staff Writer PRISCILLA Theaters Priscilla is a vibe. It’s a viscerally emotive whirlwind that sweeps around the viewer with hurricane-like intensity. It’s a magically transportive exercise in style and visual ingenuity in which location, clothing, makeup, hairstyle, and music all delicately augment the internalized, fractured, fairy-tale romantic journey the main character finds herself going on. It is one of the best pictures of Sofia Coppola’s career, fitting so snuggly inside the director’s filmography, it’s as if she and only she was the one destined to bring Priscilla Presley’s story to the screen. The most obvious point of comparison for Coppola’s adaptation of Presley’s 1985 memoir Elvis and Me (co-written with Sandra Harmon) is her ahead-of-its-time, still not-quite-successful 2006 drama Marie Antoinette. Her youth-centered take on the “let them eat cake” queen who’d eventually lose her head during the French Revolution was an anarchic explosion of modern music, period sets and costumes, and punk rock aesthetics that was as explosively alive as it was emotionally bewildering. The pieces never quite fit together, and as mesmerizing as the film could be in the moment, there was still something just slightly off about the execution that kept it from achieving lasting resonance. This is not the case with Priscilla. Coppola achieves a lyrical dynamism while showcasing Presley’s story that’s enthralling. She takes the iconic image of Elvis and makes it human in a way no other filmmaker has before, from John Carpenter to Denis Sanders to Baz Luhrmann. She shatters chimeras and illustrates that what is on the other side of the looking glass isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, while still examining how character is shaped and courage sharpened inside a crucible of love, cruelty, forgiveness, passion, and suffocation beyond imagining. Most of all, Coppola centers Priscilla Presley and makes her the focus of a story many think they’ve already heard and precious few know a solitary thing about. This is an ethereal dream that quickly accelerates into a haunting nightmare before shifting gears to eventually become a transformative burst of perseverance, selfexpression, and humanistic understanding. Through it all, by allowing herself to be broken down and remade, Presley discovers who she really is and embraces the

powerful woman she was meant to be, all of it with a Virginia Woolf–style, streamof-consciousness grace a filmmaker as talented as Coppola excels in manufacturing. The story begins in 1959 with Priscilla (Cailee Spaeny) being invited to attend a party at Elvis’ (Jacob Elordi) house on a US military base in Germany when she was a starstruck 14-year-old and he was, at 24, arguably the biggest music star in the world. It ends in 1973 with her walking out of Graceland with purpose and fortitude after letting him know she was filing for divorce. In between is a saga that’s a mixture of Alice in Wonderland and The War of the Roses, everything seen through the mirror of a young woman’s eyes as she realizes that the man she loves and the myth he’s striving to maintain are rarely — if ever — the same thing. Nothing is shied away from or watered down, including the fact that the pair’s relationship began while she was barely in high school. Her infatuation, how she so willingly allows herself to become remade in exactly

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Priscilla – Photos courtesy of A24

the image Elvis wants — giant hair, dark lashes, thick makeup, clothing that accentuates her diminutive stature yet would still be more appropriate for a person a decade older — is all made convincingly clear. With minimal dialogue and exquisite physicality, Spaeny brings the audience into this world with stunning, almost invisible ease. We see her grow and evolve. We feel it every time she is struck, whether physically or metaphorically. We cheer during her moments of joy. We are with her as she lets Elvis’s pleas for forgiveness and absolution work. He is her husband. She is his wife. Why shouldn’t he be in charge? Sure, he is micromanaging everything about Priscilla’s life, forcing her into a form of grandiose bourgeois isolation that’s a borderline form of imprisonment — but isn’t this what she signed up for by marrying the “King of Rock and Roll”? What’s even more remarkable is how Spaeny so deftly and astutely shows how Priscilla learns to be her own woman out of this subtle incarceration. I could feel

her backbone strengthen and stiffen as the pair’s story evolved. There is a noticeably vibrant resolve that hides behind Priscilla’s eyes, and it becomes increasingly noticeable throughout this elegiac — yet still hopeful — melodrama. Spaeny’s performance is so daintily enormous, so alive, so richly layered and effortlessly complex, that there was never a moment I could look away from her, even had I wanted to try. But the same goes for Priscilla on the whole. While this feminine gaze analyzes the fiction behind the illusion and the disquieting truth underneath the glamour, Coppola paints an incisive portrait of resilience that transcends gender specifics and heteronormative constraints. Priscilla Presley is as much a uniquely singular woman as she is every woman aspiring to be more than the simplified version of themselves society has predetermined. Her song is our song, and it’s one worth playing on repeat.

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Books

Gabe Cole Novoa releases first novel under his real name

Gabe Cole Novoa – Photo courtesy of the author

by Lindsey Anderson SGN Staff Writer While author Gabe Cole Novoa may not be new to publishing, his latest release, The Wicked Bargain, is a first for him. “It’s my first published novel under my name,” he said. Novoa’s three previous novels were written under a pseudonym. “The Wicked Bargain is the first book I wrote and published already knowing I’m Trans, so it was the first book I knew was going to be published under my actual name,” he said. “It felt important for me to be able to publish under my name. I felt more attachment to it and more pride behind my name.” Not only does the name on the front of the novel represent Novoa’s authentic self, but the protagonist, Mar, is also the first Trans lead character Novoa has written. “I was more nervous than I was with my prior books, because I put a lot more of myself into it,” he said.

Image courtesy of Random House

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Latino pirates and Queer and Trans themes Novoa has always been a fan of fantasy novels, so writing a Trans pirate adventure seemed like a no-brainer for him, though, as he analyzed the genre, he started to notice something strange. “Being a Latino person, it seems very weird to me that all the pirate stories I’ve seen and read were all about white men. It just seems impossible to me that there weren’t any pirates that were Latino?” He dove into research to figure out what life was like for Latino pirates. “I found there were Latino pirates, and that also inspired me to want to write Queer pirates at that point,” he said. Novoa also learned more about Mexican folklore. “I was researching Mexican mythology, and amid that, I came across a bunch of ‘deal with the devil’ stories, and it all started to come together in my head.” The Wicked Bargain uses magic as a metaphor for struggles Queer and Trans teens face. “I was halfway through the manuscript when I realized what I was writing about Mar’s magic and their initial reluctance and fear of being caught… was a perfect allegory for queerness,” Novoa said. “It was interesting to play that, because I never wanted The Wicked Bargain to

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necessarily be about coming out. I never wanted Mar to be scared of homophobia or queerphobia in the world. But I still wanted to write about queerness in a way that is relevant to today, so I was able to do that through Mar’s magic.” Novoa wanted to make sure the story was accurate to the period as well, which was difficult when depicting Trans characters in a time before modern terminology and medication. “What does it feel like for this character, who in the 1800s doesn’t have access to the same kind of medication I would?” Novoa asked himself. Upcoming novels Novoa once said he’d never write historical fiction, but now he has two more coming out next year. His upcoming novels, The Diablo’s Curse and Most Ardently, will also feature Trans protagonists — a trend he will continue throughout the rest of his work. Once again, his period pieces about Trans guys have raised difficult questions for him. “Both my [upcoming] books … are historical books that take place roughly in the 1800s, so I had to think carefully about where exactly I wanted to be in terms of my characters’ transitions. Again, there’s only so much that’s available to them,” he admitted. Most Ardently is a Queer and Trans retelling of Pride and Prejudice. “The second eldest Bennett is a Trans boy, and Darcy is a Gay teen,” Novoa explained. “I didn’t want to do the initial discovery of figuring out they were Trans. I wanted him to already know that. He wants to present himself masculinely and be seen as a boy.” Fans won’t have to wait too long for Novoa’s third book to be released. Just a month after Most Ardently, a companion novel to The Wicked Bargain will hit shelves. The Diablo’s Curse is the tale of a gender-fluid demon and the cursed boy who hates them. “That was fun because I got to play with one of my favorite characters from The Wicked Bargain and give them a whole book to flush them out,” Novoa said. Novoa hopes fans are as excited for his upcoming books as he is, but no matter what sales look like or what critics say, he knows one thing is certain: “This is my name, and these are my books.”

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Books

Lesbian porn for the Victorian man A deep dive into 1870s Carmilla, the first Lesbian vampire by Clar Hart SGN Contributing Writer CARMILLA J. SHERIDAN LE FANU 1872 $3.74 73 pages Content warning: Physical abuse, torture, murder, death Carmilla is the story of Laura, a lonely girl whose dad decapitates her only friend because Laura starts sleeping in late. In more detail: Laura lives in the middle of nowhere in a cheap castle her dad bought. Her mom?: dead (quelle surprise). One day, a traveling noblewoman asks Laura’s father if her daughter, who is about Laura’s age, may stay with them for a time. Laura, dear sweet Corduroy Laura, has a friend for the first time in her life. A friend who she wishes were a boy so they could bone. Carmilla’s your favorite pretty-boy asshole, the one in salmon shorts and eau de guillotine. At one point, a peasant funeral (of a girl Carmilla killed) passes by and she says, “Who cares? It’s a peasant.” Laura’s the resident himbo. She explains everything several times before she realizes she’s possibly explaining the explanation. Laura starts waking up with mysterious hickies after someone keeps sneaking into her room at night (Twilight, anyone?). Girls in the local village die suddenly. In the end, the landed gentry realize Carmilla is a vampire, and they dig her up from her tomb to stake her, decapitate her, and burn her bones. The story is loosely based on Elizabeth Báthory, a countess from Transylvania and supposed serial killer who bathed in the blood of virgins to maintain her youth. However, most likely, Báthory was framed by political rivals in order to destroy her family’s influence. She operated hospitals on her estate — a common practice — and most of the deaths there that could be verified align with plague outbreaks. Most of her ostensible torture, like piercing a person’s tongue, tearing skin with red hot tongs, sticking needles under fingernails, and not letting people sleep, were just the torturous medical practices of the time (for abscesses, infected skin, “fingernail poison,” and plague, respectively). She also employed a “witch,” that is to say, a woman involved in medicine. Many of the myths that show up in Carmilla seem to be pulled from the folklore surrounding Báthory, such as turning into a cat, bathing in blood in her casket, and hating peasants. I didn’t like Carmilla. It wasn’t good in a good way or bad in an interesting one. It was short yet also dragged. Also, although a woman is ostensibly the narrator, let’s not kid ourselves that a 19thcentury book written by a man would give her any real autonomy or depth. Laura’s only role is to be an accessory to her father. Plus, when a male character talks about why he was sad his niece died, it’s only because she benefited his dreary life. In the epilogue, eight years after the book’s main events, Laura’s again trapped in her father’s house with only lingering memories of Carmilla, the only person to ever find her dear. The moral seems to be: be careful of anyone who cares; they probably only want to drink your blood. Which is... a real bummer. Carmilla was written by a (supposedly) straight man, and it’s one of the first examples of their long obsession with Lesbians. I’m going to examine this like a straight man studying Queer relationships: I won’t ask any of the subjects, but will immediately jump to outrageous assumptions.

First, men in power hate when women have friends, especially young women, hence why the Bechdel test remains depressingly relevant. The first step of abuse is to isolate the victim, and implying that any close friendship with a woman is dripping with satanic lesbianism is an easy way to do that. As it happens, in Carmilla, it’s extremely easy for the property owner who’s kept his sole daughter isolated to declare that her new friend (who has no family to defend her) is actually a horrible Lesbian monster and must be killed. The second explanation is that men want to be desired but aren’t allowed to admit it, since “good women” are supposed to be sexless objects. As frequently happens in Lesbian pulp, women in our heteropatriarchy are not allowed to say yes to sex if they want to keep their reputation intact. So men create a safe way they can interact with a desire-ful woman: by turning them into a monster to be penetrated by the phallic stake. Maybe men actually desire the equality of a Lesbian relationship, a place to both give and receive pleasure, free from the predefined roles of society and the burden of performing masculinity. Or maybe men want to be part of everything they’re not, like when my straight guy friends try to set me up with the one other Lesbian they know. The most obvious explanation of this and so many other monsters that have caused panic in history — whether it’s vampires, witches, or Swifties — is that it’s always useful for the dominant class to turn a minority into a convenient villain. And it’s best for them when the scapegoat is someone like a young girl who’s unable to fight back, despite what her fictional counterpart is capable of.

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Illustration from The Dark Blue by D. H. Friston, 1872

Image courtesy of Pushkin Press

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