SGN November 4, 2022

ISSUE 4 4

C E L E B R AT I N G

VOLUME 50

48 YEARS

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“THIS IS IT.” PATTY MURRAY WANTS TO PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS

by Lindsey Anderson SGN Staff Writer Surely, everyone has seen the election ads bombarding Washingtonians’ airwaves. While it may be surprising that candidates on both sides are spending so much money on the state’s senatorial election, incumbent candidate Patty Murray believes this year’s race is the most important one of her life.

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray speaks at Elliott Bay Book Co. in Capitol Hill on October 27, 2022 – Photo by Lindsey Anderson

see MURRAY page 4

Republicans target Trans kids in last-minute Joseph Brennan on election ads the “thrusts and bulges” Trump aide Stephen Miller orchestrates of Gay porn studies campaign Stephen Miller – Photo by Leah Millis / Reuters

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer In a last-minute blitz of TV and radio ads and slick mailers, Republicans are seeking to make gains in the upcoming election by scapegoating Transgender children and youth.

According to the Human Rights Campaign, the ad campaign has spread to at least 25 states and is orchestrated by former Trump aide Stephen Miller. Miller’s group, America First Legal, has reportedly spent more than $4 million on ad buys in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Detroit — all key cities in states with competitive elections.

see ADS page 18

Photo by Mike Jones / Pexels

by Daniel Lindsley SGN Staff Writer Author and independent scholar Joseph Brennan has published a new entry on Gay pornography in the Oxford Research Encyclopedias, which is an updatable, online resource that summarizes the history and current trends of research of all kinds.

“Being invited to write the first survey on Gay pornography for the Oxford project has been a career-defining honor for me,” Dr. Brennan said.

He added, “I am delighted to take part in a movement that, through the nomination and involvement of recognized topic experts and rigorous peer review, and backed by

see PORN page 7

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Local News

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray with WA Rep. Nicole Macri at Elliott Bay Book Co. in Seattle’s Capitol Hill on October 27, 2022 – Photo by Lindsey Anderson

MURRAY

continued from cover “I keep saying this is the most important election of my lifetime. I think I say that every time, but now, this is. This is it,” Murray said in a roundtable for Seattle’s LGBTQ+ community on Thursday, October 27. “Women’s rights are on the line. LGBTQ+ rights are on the line. Our democracy is on the line. Where our country is going to go is on the line, and it comes right here through Washington state.”

An ally to an LGBTQ community at risk Aside from the obvious concerns that a Republican senator from Washington would mean the Republican Party would take control of the Senate and put Mitch McConnell back into power, Murray believes that if her opponent is elected, the LGBTQ+ community will face serious risks.

“We are really at a critical juncture for the LGBTQ community, and I just think it is so important that we have someone in the United States Senate who will stand up and speak out for you, and who will vote right for legislation like the Equality Act or the Same-Sex Marriage Act,” she said.

“When I saw my opponent on Sunday, she didn’t even know how to talk about samesex marriage and was yelling at everyone that we need religious exemptions. I don’t know what that means. Nobody is requiring you to get married.”

Not only does Murray worry that a Republican majority in the Senate will make it much harder for Democrats to pass laws codifying same-sex marriage, but she also is concerned about the introduction of federal legislation that mimics Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” law. On Tuesday, October 18, Rep. Mike Johnson introduced a bill in Congress that, if passed, will halt federal funding to public schools that allow conversations, literature, and sex education that involves LGBTQ+ people.

Murray has built her 30-year Senate

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career around standing up against Republicans like Johnson and has made a name for herself as an ally to the LGBTQ+ community. After 30 years, she has grown increasingly tired of the same intolerance she’s encountered throughout. “Seriously, I work in the United States Senate, and I hear the comments from people who are supposed to be elected representatives, and I am just appalled at where we are — banning books?

“To make this especially hard on our kids today, to me, as a parent and a former teacher, is so wrong. I will tell you, and my fellow senators will tell you, I’m the first one out on the floor yelling at people if they start talking about Trans kids.”

A history of protecting the Trans community Murray works tirelessly in the Senate as an advocate of Trans people and their families. “I remember one night we had an all-night session where they were offering amendments every few minutes, and we had one minute to respond, and I had finally taken a break because I chair the Health, Education, and Labor Committee, so I was constantly having to do the rebuttal, but I went back to my office just to take a break.

“My staff called, and she said, ‘You gotta get back out there. They’re offering an amendment against Trans kids,’ and I went back out there — and I never do this on the floor, but I said, ‘For the love of God’ — that’s literally what I said — ‘What are you doing? We’re here talking about this other issue, and you have to insert this? And put kids down? Kids, who already have challenges, and making them feel worse by the United States Senate making some kind of statement?’ I usually get to the facts, but I was just angry.”

It’s Murray’s unabashed support of Queer and Trans youth that she believes may be the reason behind Republicans targeting her seat. While Washington doesn’t often have very close elections, major superPACs and Trump-based support groups have poured money into the campaign of Murray’s opponent, Tiffany Smiley.

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“Women’s rights are on the line. LGBTQ+ rights are on the line. Our democracy is on the line.

Where our country is going to go is on the line, and it comes right here through Washington state.”

“I know, everyone’s turning off the ads.

She raised $6 million in the last quarter. It is funneled here through the Trump campaign. Folks like the Graham family, and Betsy DeVos family, have contributed to that. So, if you just look at that, you know where it’s coming from. And Mitch McConnell just gave a million and a quarter for the next ten days. Please don’t watch TV at all: it’s going to be ugly. They are just throwing money at my poor little state! But they want the majority,” she said.

Smiley comes for Capitol Hill; Murray defends unions One of Smiley’s tactics has been to condemn Seattle neighborhoods as dangerous and crime-ridden. One of her most popular ads shows Smiley in front of the Capitol Hill Starbucks, which closed down earlier this year.

While Smiley has been vocal in her disapproval of Seattle, Murray has a different outlook on the community.

“I have communities all over the state, including many in Seattle, who are struggling right now. With crime. With inflation.

With people not wanting to come because of COVID. All of this is real, but I don’t go to communities and take a picture and put it on an ad on the TV to denigrate that community,” she said.

“I go to that community and talk to community leaders and say, ‘What can I do as a US senator to help you with homelessness, with crime, with inflation, with making sure people get what they need, like vaccines, so they can get out and feel confident again? I get to those community leaders and say, ‘What can I do to support you?’ and I go back to Washington DC and fight to get that done.”

Murray is also aware that the ads Smiley runs can be misleading. For those outside of Seattle, the fact that recent Starbucks closures come on the heels of attempts by employees to unionize is not common knowledge. Murray wants to make sure that all employees have a fair shot at unionizing, and is actively working on passing a law that will help with that process.

“I support the right for employees to… join a union. At Starbucks, at Amazon, at wherever. In fact, as the chair of the [Health, Education, and Labor Committee], I am the prime sponsor of the PRO Act, which changes the laws to make it easier for people to gather and work and become part of the union. I have been very active and upfront with supporting employees.”

Making Washington a safe haven for Trans kids and abortion seekers Not only is Murray dedicated to fighting for Washington families, but she is also working to make sure that the state continues to be a haven for those targeted by far-right legislation, such as total bans on abortion and the criminalization of genderaffirming healthcare. While some politicians have tried to downplay the effects of new anti-Trans legislation, Murray says she has seen the consequences firsthand.

“I’ve talked to families from Texas, for example, who have had social workers come to their home and try to take their kids away or threaten to take their kids away. I mean, these are already kids who are struggling with their identity and trying to figure out who they are and going to school… You know, being in eighth grade… is horrible, for anybody. And then to have this super threat that you might open your door one day and

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someone might take your kid away? I honestly believe that this, just like the right to an abortion, is a decision between a family and their medical doctor.”

While Murray does not identify as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, she thinks it is important to talk to people who do, and see how to best support them when it comes to crafting legislation.

“It should be the kids who have a say in this; it should be the parents who have a right to privacy to have their medical doctor discuss with them how they can best support their child, whoever they are. And to insert a politician into this is just astounding to me.

“So, yeah, we need to figure out how we can protect Trans kids, but I would also say as leaders, we need to stand up and call out those who are condemning [Trans kids]. I am really worried about the suicide rates, about the families that are struggling with this. I’m worried about these kids and their future.

They are productive individuals, if we allow them to be productive individuals, and I want them to be that.”

Codifying rights after Roe LGBTQ+ rights are gearing up to be some of the most hot-button topics for the next few years. With concerns that the Supreme Court could overturn Obergefell just like it did Roe, and upcoming antidiscrimination lawsuits on the docket, Democrats in Congress are trying their hardest to pass laws that will protect the rights of same-sex couples to marry and adopt children.

“Well, I certainly think a lot of the rights and protections that we …have in place are now at risk,” Murray said. “Now, instead of just assuming that Roe is the law of the land, as we thought it would be forever, or assuming same-sex marriage in a court decision became the law of the land, we need to start looking at everything and saying, ‘Do we have to codify this?’

“And of course, the scary thing is, if they get enough votes, they can turn it around later,” she added. “So, to me, getting it codified also means that we have judges that are not far-right conservatives. But yeah, we’re

looking at all those court decisions now that the Supreme Court may rule on.”

Another pillar Murray is running on is the necessity of civility, something many Americans have noticed deteriorate in the post-Trump era. “Trump enabled people to speak things that were obnoxious, out of line, over the top, and when you don’t have leaders who say, ‘That’s not how we speak in this country’ and enable people to do that, it is a frightening time,” she said.

“We need leaders who are willing to stand up and speak out, and that is on the ballot this election, and it is across the country.”

Worried about going backward With this election looking closer than others Murray has faced as an incumbent, she’s also worried about the prospects of a Trump-supporting senator representing Washington.

“I am worried, too. I’m worried about our democracy, I’m worried about going backward. Listen, Roe was a constitutional

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray at Elliott Bay Book Co. in Seattle’s Capitol Hill on October 27, 2022 – Photos courtesy of Team Patty

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protection for 50 years, and now my granddaughters don’t have the same protections that I did. Same-sex marriage is a constitutional right: how do you wake up and say, ‘Sorry, we don’t mean that anymore?’ And the rest of the world is going the other way.

“So, how do we change that? We vote, we stand up and speak out about it. We don’t let it be a backroom issue. We speak out about it. I know how hard it is, I do it myself, but we can’t let them win by being silent.”

The 2022 election is not a shoo-in for Murray, and she wants voters to understand that apathy could be fatal for the future of American democracy.

“What’s happened is, a lot of Democrats think, ‘Oh, Patty will be fine, she’s been elected before,’ and they aren’t involved, and they’re not thinking about voting. If we get people involved, I will not lose this election. If people stay home and think, ‘Oh, she’s fine,’ then it’s going to be a real challenge. Your vote, who’s speaking for you, and who’s in the majority, matters. So, all those things you’re asking, about housing supply funds, discrimination, everything else, will be determined by whether or not Mitch McConnell gets the majority,” she said.

As for her opponent, much of Murray’s public criticism of her stems from Smiley’s tweets about the LGBTQ+ community, ties to homophobic religious leaders, and refusal to accept Biden’s election as legitimate.

Murray’s concerns for the election extend beyond just the damage Smiley could cause, though. “If my opponent wins, Mitch McConnell will get the majority. She’s out selling change right now: ‘Oh, she’s been in office for 30 years.’ Well, what change are you going to get? Mitch McConnell as the majority leader. And I know Mitch McConnell, and I know what he will do.

“If we allow Tiffany [Smiley] to win because we are lackadaisical, don’t tell our friends, don’t get people out to vote, we are going to live with the consequences.

I am doing everything I can. I am out everywhere, doing another town hall with her.

I will try to stay calm, but I need your help, I cannot do this by myself, and I do need everyone to get your friends out to vote.

This is critical.”

This election will be critical for the future of LGBTQ+ rights, not only in Washington state but across the country. Every vote matters.

The last day to cast a ballot in Washington State is November 8. Voters can register in person up until November 8 as well.

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Local News

The last bite: SpoCon 2022’s finale

by Benny Loy SGN Contributing Writer It all started with a collection of nerds in 2008. They wanted to create a space to celebrate science fiction and fantasy while promoting the greater good by supporting local literacy programs. The first event was held at Gonzaga University, in Spokane. Timothy Zahn, the prolific author of the Star Wars expanded-universe series Thrawn, was the first guest of honor.

The SpoCon convention was a hit, with far more attendees than anticipated. Three years later, after moving to the Spokane Doubletree Hotel, new record attendance numbers were set. Fans clamored to see the creators of their favorite books, art, and films. They sat in on panels with these artists, absorbing every discussion with the same enthusiasm they had when they first explored these works.

The guests asked questions about how they could better their crafts, and they excitedly shared their tales and experiences. But most importantly, in the words of Tim Martin of the “Geek Garrison,” they practiced the mantra “be excellent to each other.”

In 2019, SpoCon was moved to the Historic Davenport Hotel, one of the greatest venues (if not the best) in Spokane. With the theme “All Hail the Goblin King,” the convention was abuzz, with all of geekdom roaming the halls. I was invited to be a speaker that year.

Afterward, I found myself waiting in excited anticipation to speak at the next — but of course, we all know what happened in the year 2020. The convention was canceled due to the pandemic. SpoCon could not risk the health of attendees and speakers, especially those at-risk. So I, like the other professionals and fans, waited.

2021 arrived, and invitations were sent; I would speak again. The theme was “SpoCon ReVamped.” Similar 2019, when we there were many panels exploring the folklore behind goblins, 2021 would be about vampires. The theme was chosen to reflect that SpoCon was “improving, changing, and being generally punny.” It was also an attempt to rise from the pandemic’s grave and express fandom’s immortal passion.

However, the increase in cases of COVID again slammed a stake into the heart of the convention. To much disappointment, it was canceled once again.

Another year was spent in limbo, but the promised land of 2022 arrived. SpoCon rose from the grave with the same theme, venue, and guests of honor.

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Photos courtesy of Benny Loy

The last SpoCon As the festivities began, I spotted several cosplayers on my way to pick up my pro badge and attend the opening ceremony. I then sat down to watch video producer and comedian Brad Steiner amp up the attendees. The presentation’s tone turned bittersweet when he said, “Unfortunately, this will be the last SpoCon.” It was explained that the pandemic’s effect on SpoCon’s finances had been too significant. I couldn’t help but glance back at the rows behind me and realize there were fewer people than at the last convention. The pandemic had sucked the previously vibrant life force from this event.

That’s not to say that the fans that had gathered weren’t lively, because they cheered throughout the rest of the opening ceremony with enthusiasm and love. The friendships and good times we had all had together in the past motivated us to make this a great last hurrah. Like vampires, we’re going to enjoy these last nights before eventually facing daybreak.

Panels For my first panel, I joined the writer Lynsey G and historian Krys Wood for a viewing of the 1994 film Interview with a Vampire.

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We discussed with the audience the subversion of hetero-patriarchy in the film, along with the themes of colonialism. We also didn’t miss the chance to make fun of Tom Cruise’s portrayal of the character Lestat, sending the audience into fits of laughter.

On the second day of the convention, I spoke on panels about finding time to write and writing what you know. My last panel for the day was about impostor syndrome. It was an exploration of vulnerability, as professionals and audience members shared their struggles with unfounded feelings of fraudulence and their strategies for maintaining self-esteem.

Queer issues On the last day, I took part in the LGBTQIA+ Fan Gathering. One person shared how both of her grandmothers began to date women later in life but struggled to identify openly as Lesbian.

A straight father came to gain insight into his child’s experiences trying to decipher their sexual and gender identity. Two Gen Z people talked about the lack of elder Gays in the community, which could have been a boon for their personal journeys if not for the AIDS crisis and discrimination.

An audience member was dismayed that

some members of the LGBTQIA+ community could discriminate against other members. The topic of Trans rights was brought up as an example of how some cis Gay people can be exclusionary.

I told them, “It’s so shortsighted when people do that. All of the progress we make in society affects one another.”

What I said could be applied to the entirety of the meetup. Those grandmothers having difficulty completely coming out, that father wanting to support his child, and those young adults grieving the lack of mentorship — every one of these individual experiences changes the LGBTQIA+ community as a whole.

As the convention came to a close, the attendees were thanked for their support, and we said our final goodbyes to SpoCon. They say that the Historic Davenport is haunted. Perhaps the ghost of the years of gaming, discussing literature, and the camaraderie we celebrated will stalk those extravagant rooms for years to come.

The hotel itself had once fallen into disrepair and was facing demolition, only to be restored after its historical value was recognized. One can hope that someday someone can raise SpoCon from the dead again, just as its venue had once been.

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Arts & Entertainment

Dr. Joseph Brennan – Photo courtesy of the author

PORN

and patterns of the porn industry, and a third keeps an eye on audience reception.

Brennan’s entry isn’t the first pertaining to pornography; that title goes to April Alliston, whose article on porn in general was published in 2020. But it likely won’t be the last, either, given that Lesbian, Transgender, and other identity-based categories of porn have yet to receive entries of their own.

“I wrote the survey to capture something of Gay porn now, with due acknowledgement to history,” Brennan said. “And because it was designed to be updated: the study of Gay porn’s future, it is hoped, seems not only assured in the pages and online portals of Oxford University Press but may be accounted for in subsequent updates as well.”

The entry is also divided into three approaches to Gay porn studies. One involves analyzing the themes and archetypes of the porn itself. Another looks at the structure

the field really is. Since 2014, Brennan writes in his article, an academic journal dedicated to the sociological analysis of porn has been bringing such topics into further prominence.

Titled Porn Studies, the journal made its debut with a slight hitch, since in its first issue, an author asserted that Gay porn had actually been studied more than the straight variety — when in reality, Brennan writes, the “Gay tradition” had been excluded from scholarship since modern Gay porn’s emergence in the 1970s.

“I wrote the survey to capture something of Gay porn now, with due acknowledgement the Oxford University Press, meets the challenges students, researchers, and the to history,” Brennan said. “And because it was interested public face today when seeking designed to be updated: the study of Gay porn’s informed, unbiased, and trustworthy information.” future, it is hoped, seems not only assured in The entry, which is available for free online for a limited time, partly orgathe pages and online portals of Oxford University nizes topics into “thrusts” and “bulges.”

Porn studies Thrusts are relatively unexplored areas of But what does this mean for the field of Press but may be accounted for in subsequent study gaining traction more recently, while porn studies? Before even that question is bulges are discussions well underway. answered, some might wonder how relevant updates as well.” continued from cover

Image courtesy of Dr. Joseph Brennan / Oxford Reserach Encyclopedias

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Historically, Brennan goes on, researchers were more focused on the “scholarly agenda” that women were being “dehumanized as sexual objects or degraded as the victims in heteroporn.”

Flaws should be expected when beginning anything so fresh, of course. Porn Studies is now on its ninth volume, having published four issues each year so far. Access to its archives is somewhat restricted, but it seems to be going strong.

Other more general academic journals have also released special issues on the subject of porn, like AG About Gender, an international journal of gender studies. AG’s 16th issue, published in 2019, attempted to tackle the ways the discourse around porn has perpetuated ideas of gender hierarchy — which, the authors argued, had severely limited scholarship beyond different flavors of moral panic.

Beyond academia Beyond academia, it may surprise no one that porn is a hot topic in some political spheres as well. As of 2019, 16 US states (most of them Republican-led) have declared porn a public health crisis, for reasons ranging from ease of access to dubious links to sex trafficking.

And whatever one’s stance on porn might be, none can deny that it’s a big industry and an important facet of culture.

Brennan goes so far as to cite leading Gay porn scholar Stephen Maddison to say that

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“Gay cultures are especially ‘pornified,’” meaning that porn offered Gay men a kind of cultural and aesthetic heritage, among other things.

Gay porn has been “especially important during times of discriminatory hostility,” Brennan writes, “where it was played in bathhouses, sex clubs, bars, and discos.

Such traditions are ongoing and evolving today, via the ‘hook-up culture’ at home.”

Of the Oxford Research Encyclopedia, Brennan said, “Nowhere is such a project more vital or timely than on topics as culturally loaded and historically underrepresented, even suppressed, as Gay pornography.

The study of Gay porn overcame erasure and underrepresentation in the literature to thrive today as a vibrant subfield of porn studies, with its impact keenly felt in the wider humanities and social sciences as well.”

Though this particular entry in the Encyclopedia only addresses male-on-male content, it paves the way for more areas of study, like Lesbian, Bisexual, Trans, and other Queer categories of porn that have their own histories and cultural influence.

To sign up for Joseph Brennan’s newsletter and learn more about his other works, like his upcoming novel Loose Lips, or his academic and nonfiction articles, visit https://www.josephbrennan.com.

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Film

Pitch-black Banshees is a magnificent comedy of human terrors

Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson in The Banshees of Inisherin – Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN Staff Writer THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN Theaters The Banshees of Inisherin is as perfect a motion picture as I’ve seen in ages. For writerdirector Martin McDonagh, the film is an absolute triumph and easily his best work since 2008’s In Bruges. Heck, it may be even better than that, but only time will tell.

The connecting tissue between that gleefully vulgar crime comedy and this new effort is the presence of stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. Their reunion with McDonagh is cause for celebration.

It is as if working together again has led the trio to up their collective game to stratospheric heights. McDonagh’s writing is the sharpest and most cunningly incisive of his career. A suitably grizzled Gleeson commands the screen, towering above all comers with a penetrating glare that pierces the heart and leaves a lasting scar. As for Farrell, this is the performance he will be remembered for, a titanic, emotionally bone-shattering tour de force people will be analyzing, debating, and most of all enjoying for decades to come.

On an isolated island off the west coast of Ireland, farmer Pádraic (Farrell) and musician Colm (Gleeson) are having a row.

Although they have been lifelong friends, Colm has decided, for reasons entirely his own, that he simply does not like Pádraic anymore. Simple as that. Plain as day.

As far as he’s concerned, nothing more needs to be said on the matter.

No one in town understands what’s going on, Pádraic in particular. He tries to talk it out with his sister Siobhán (Kerry Condon) and gets some nonsensical advice from young roustabout Dominic (Barry Keoghan), the troubled son of the local constable, but mostly, the farmer is forced to figure things out on his own. But it doesn’t make any sense. And even though Colm has stated he’ll do something horrifically unthinkable to himself if his former friend speaks even a single word to him, Pádraic is certain that if they talk it out, the two will be back sharing a pint at the local pub before the week is up.

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What follows is a pitch-black comedy about human nature, conflict, midlife malaise, unfulfilled dreams, lost loves, regret, and forgiveness that grabbed me by the throat and refused to let go. But there’s something more. McDonagh sets his story during the 1922–23 Irish civil war.

The islanders can hear and see societal changes taking place just across the bay, with pillars of smoke rising above the water set to the sudden thundering of canon fire or the staccato beats of one rifle shot after another.

It is this world in seemingly never-ending crisis that spurs Colm to action. It is this same world that forces Pádraic to believe that their differences must be put aside, almost as if the reforging of their friendship might plant seeds of peace that could spread back to the mainland. Neither man is right, but both think they are, and while some, like Siobhán, can see how things are destined to

spiral out of control, most townsfolk are too befuddled by the sheer lunacy of this feud to understand that tragedy is stalking, not just Pádraic and Colm, but all of them.

McDonagh doesn’t rush things. There is an absurdist wit to the early sequences that’s almost Monty Python-esque in its obtuse flippancy. But as Colm begins to explain why he has decided to no longer be friends with Pádraic, events confidently shift onto a much darker path. What makes it hurt even more is that it’s easy to understand where the aging musician is coming from. His desires aren’t outlandish.

His dreams of having his name live on after he’s gone are universal and timeless.

Once Colm shows how far he’s willing to go to force Pádraic to stop speaking to him, it becomes horrifyingly clear where things are headed. But while the last act doesn’t offer any narrative surprises, that does not mean the finale McDonagh has concocted

for his two sparring partners is ineffective or disappointing. Far from it. The fiery conclusion stopped my heart cold, and the tears I shed for both men, as they inadvertently succumbed to an inner darkness neither knew was there, ripped me to shreds.

There’s so much more to dig into: The ways Siobhán’s pursuit to break free from the island’s grip on her future shifts how Pádraic will react to Colm’s ultimatums. How Dominic’s pursuit of an honest emotional connection subtly feeds into the bigger picture. There’s also Pádraic’s beloved donkey and Colm’s affectionate dog, each animal an essential piece of a bigger puzzle that, once assembled, shows how humanity can be stripped naked to its barest essentials in a matter of seconds.

But digging too deep would spoil the magic. The Banshees of Inisherin is unquestionably one of the year’s best films.

Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell in The Banshees of Inisherin – Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

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Episode 38: Richard Peacock Special guest Richard Peacock talks to us about the importance of recognizing burnout, his vision for Queer BIPOC art collective Yusephinum, and performing at a cabaret vs. in a theater. Ash & Lindsey talk about Liz Cheney's politics, bell hooks, Cuba's new marriage laws, and how Ash should probably go to therapy!

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C E L E B R AT I N G 4 8 Y E A R S!

Film

Unforgettables: Cinematic milestones with Sara Michelle Near Dark: 35 years of atmospheric thrills, chills, and challenging expectations with Kathryn Bigelow’s vampire Western

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN Staff Writer I saw Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark with my dad around the middle of October 1987.

We were at Spokane’s Magic Lantern to see John Boorman’s semiautobiographical WWII drama Hope and Glory, but for some reason we got there late, and I talked him into buying tickets for Bigelow’s horror-Western hybrid instead.

Even though we’d watched plenty of horror flicks at the local drive-in, as genres go, this was not one of my father’s favorites.

I think I convinced him we should give it a shot by saying it was an action film starring three of the actors from Aliens, and not a tale of vampires stalking the deserted highways and rundown small towns of the American Midwest.

I was so absorbed in what was happening that I did not monitor my dad’s reactions to all of the violent, blood-splattered madness Bigelow so expertly orchestrated. The movie held me spellbound. What I do recall is his brief statement after we’d gotten back to the car. “Damn!” he proclaimed.

“That was pretty dang good. Damn good.

Glad you talked me into it.”

That was it. Nothing more. Just a simple statement of affirmation that I picked something good for the two of us to see. But as we drove home in silence, the smile on my face never disappeared. This was our moment. We’d had a nice night at the theater, and for the first time, I was the one who chose what we saw.

But he was also right. Bigelow’s Near Dark is a damn good motion picture. The past 35 years have proven it’s even better than that. This moody little marvel has slowly progressed past cult classic status and begun to move up the ranks to loftier heights. While I won’t say it’s entered into many “masterpiece” conversations, it does feel like things have moved in that direction. Not bad for a low-budget shocker that critics may have championed but audiences mostly went out of their way to ignore.

The scenario by Bigelow and co-writer Eric Red (The Hitcher) plays like a melding of a Howard Hawks Western crossed with a Fritz Lang noir. Cowboy Caleb Colton

Adrian Pasdar and Jenny Wright in Near Dark – Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

(Adrian Pasdar) saunters into town after a long day working the family farm with his veterinarian father Loy (Tim Thomerson) and precocious little sister Sarah (Marcie Leeds). He meets a beautiful stranger, Mae (Jenny Wright), standing underneath a lonely streetlight, and immediately sparks fly.

One thing leads to another, and they’re suddenly kissing in the front seat of his truck. But the dawn is coming, and Mae bolts out into the empty street, terrified, but not before she inadvertently bites Caleb on the neck. Next thing he knows, he’s been abducted by a feral family of outsiders led by the exuberantly vicious Jesse Hooker (Lance Henriksen) and his cutthroat reptilian ladylove Diamondback (Jenette Goldstein).

Caleb has to figure out what is going on, who these people are, and what he needs to do to get back home, and if he can save Mae in the process, that would be A-OK by him as well.

The word “vampire” is never uttered, but it’s readily apparent what Jesse and his

small band of carnivorous cutthroats are.

They can only come out at night. Sunlight kills them. They must drink human blood to survive. A simple bite has transformative properties. The math is clear.

Bigelow finds macabre poetry in this simplicity. She strips the mythology out of these creatures and makes them more human — and thus far more terrifying — than almost any other cinematic depiction. She pulls from Western, noir, and melodramatic coming-ofage tropes and, instead of twisting things on their head, plays them all relatively straight.

This allows for the brutality of Caleb’s situation to hit home with a pugilistic intensity that’s jarring. It also gives his classical love affair with Mae a ring of poignant truthfulness that’s entirely unexpected.

All of the themes Bigelow and Red are playing with come together with fiery fortitude in a rundown saloon in the middle of the Texan nowhere. It is here that Jesse has ordered Caleb to make his first kill. While an

Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, and Jenette Goldstein in Near Dark – Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

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earlier montage shows how this undead band of beastly miscreants get through the night and the ways each stalks their prey, the bar massacre is where their full powers are finally unleashed — and it is chillingly glorious.

This is also the moment where the late, great Bill Paxton struts his stuff with charismatic, malevolent forcefulness. He dominates the sequence with cocksure panache, toying with each person unlucky enough to be in the bar with a cartoonish urgency that’s a combination of James Dean’s cool, Elvis Presley’s moxie, and Vincent Price’s operatic flamboyance. It’s stunning stuff, and a powerful reminder of Paxton’s massive talent, which was sadly so seldom utilized to its fullest potential.

Bigelow would go on to become the first woman to win both Best Director and Best Picture Oscars for The Hurt Locker in 2010; she would receive a second Best Picture nomination for Zero Dark Thirty in 2013. The filmmaker also helmed two additional classics in the 1990s, Point Break and Strange Days, both of which, much like Near Dark, were dismissed during their initial releases only to build passionate followings over the succeeding years.

As wonderful as all of that is, my affinity for Near Dark goes back to that first viewing as a wide-eyed 13-year-old sitting next to my stern, tight-lipped father. As a kid, I was spellbound. As an adult, each revisit brings me new pleasures as I discover layers to Bigelow’s chilling horror masterwork I hadn’t noticed before.

Yet it’s the simple happiness I find in knowing I’d led my father to a place outside of his comfort zone and that he’d enjoyed the trek that makes the film so personally memorable. We don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things. Our differences are massive. Even so, he continues to seek my opinion and is willing to challenge himself by watching films that don’t perfectly align with his worldview.

This brings me untold joy.

Not all of my recommendations turn out to be as “damn good” as Near Dark, and that’s how it should be. We still have great conversations afterward the majority of the time, and very rarely do we disagree so severely that the only appropriate reaction is silence. While I dearly love Bigelow’s film, I love that even more.

Now celebrating its 35th anniversary, Near Dark is available to stream on the Criterion Channel through Nov. 30. It is currently unavailable on DVD or Blu-ray.

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Books

Drag-ing your butt to work again? Get a new job with this book

Image courtesy of Plume

by Terri Schlichenmeyer Special to the SGN WORKING GIRLS: TRIXIE & KATYA’S GUIDE TO PROFESSIONAL WOMANHOOD TRIXIE MATTEL AND KATYA ZAMOLODCHIKOVA © 2022 Plume $28.00 224 pages If you must work, at least you should find a job that fits you, right? So start with the career aptitude test in Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova’s guide, Working Girls: Trixie & Katya’s Guide to Professional Womanhood. You might be surprised — or you might “qualify for 0 percent APR financing.”

Next, think about what you really want to do with your life. How about a career of service as a cleaner who removes “the carnage of lowly grifters, criminals, and monsters”?

Or you might rather hang out with kids as a nanny, or be a “tipped laborer.” (Remember, always tip the waitstaff.)

You could work in publishing, “big tech,” financing, whatever you choose, but always dress for the job. If that means drag, “grab a wig, some fabric, and two lashes... and poof!” You’re ready to hire.

But wait. First, you’ll have to go through an interview, so think about the skills you want to showcase, then “reel them in” with thoughtful answers to those silly questions.

Once you’ve got a job offer in hand, be forearmed with the handy guide to the types of coworkers you might encounter. Remember: work is not like college, where you can avoid “germs, viruses, and nonessential enzymes named Carol from Accounts Receivable.”

Know how to ask for a raise (do you even deserve one?). Be glad if they ask you to do a Zoom meeting from home. Know how to manage your time, know when it’s time to leave your job, and know how to be graceful if it wasn’t exactly your idea. Learn to recognize work scams. And then prepare for retirement. Yeah, you do deserve that.

It should be crystal-clear by merely looking at the cover that this book pokes plenty of fun at the world of work. It’s funny, saucy, and over the top... and it actually includes surprisingly decent advice, too.

Just be willing to read between the lines, although that shouldn’t be a problem. Readers who are old enough to handle the theme of this book should be smart enough to know that Mattel and Zamolodchikova aren’t exactly trying for Dear Abby here; there’s an overload of snark and sarcasm in these pages, and it’s in neon.

Still, the fact remains that there are usable nuggets inside this book — on working from home, on getting along with coworkers, on asking for a more money, and on how to quit.

Bring your sense of humor when you tackle this book, but bring your résumé, too. Working Girls is funny and useful, and, well, you want it.

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Trixie and Katya – Photo courtesy of Plume

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The River Has Teeth is a cathartic horror novel for Queer women

by Lindsey Anderson SGN Staff Writer Halloween has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean the scares have to stop. Like horror author Erica Waters, we are just getting started with our spooky fall reads. Waters appeared out of nowhere in 2020, when she released her debut novel, Ghostwood Song, which received high praise from New York Times best-selling author Claire Legrand, and quickly hit the ground running.

Where has Erica Waters been hiding?

Just a year after releasing her first book, she was back in 2021 with her second.

The River Has Teeth is a stunning mystery exploring the nuances of grief and love for teenage girls, a perfect after-Halloween horror novel for readers looking for something scary yet empowering. The novel is equal parts beautiful, terrifying, and inspiring.

With two horror hits under her belt, some readers thought she might take a well-deserved break, but the new powerhouse author isn’t stopping. Only a few weeks ago, she released her third novel in three years, The Restless Dark.

After pumping out so many fun, frightening, and fantastically Queer hits over the last few years, many readers are wondering, where did Erica Waters come from?

“Well, I guess, I had always wanted to be a writer,” she said in an interview with the SGN. “I think that’s common for a lot of writers… that, even from a young age, you kind of have a feeling of, ‘I’m good at this, I’m good with words, I like words, I find a home here.’ But for me, it took a long time to get to the place where I could think that being a writer was a reasonable dream for me to have.”

Similar to many young women, she struggled with impostor syndrome. She viewed writing as a hobby or a passion but felt that the mature career decision was to aim for a more practical career. “Growing up low income, going to college, it was like, ‘Let’s just try to be practical and get a job, and you know, take care of myself.’”

Everything changed for Waters after a family tragedy struck. “It was really only after my dad died… fairly young, of cancer… He had just retired and was planning on traveling and seeing the world. He’d never really gotten to do anything, and then he died.

“I was working at this job, and it was good and stable, but it was just soul-killingly boring, and I realized, okay, if I ever really want to write, do this thing that feels like the truest part of me, then I need to go ahead and do it. This is my time.”

A nonstop writer She then got to work and hasn’t stopped.

“That’s when I got serious about writing.

I wrote two novels before Ghostwood Song.

That was kind of me learning how to write a novel. And after that [was] when I wrote Ghostwood Song.”

She drafted her first novel with the help of an author mentorship program, which helped Waters get her foot in the door, and within only a couple of years of starting the process, she was able to see her name on the bookshelf.

While writing Ghostwood Song took a bit longer due to Waters learning the tricks of the trade, she has revised her process to now become a “book a year” author. Writing The River Has Teeth was an entirely new one, though.

“So, at this point, I was working with an editor. Harper Teen had already bought my second book before I’d even written it, so it was a very different writing experience, because it wasn’t just me writing what I wanted to write, in my little world of trying to tell myself a story,” she said. “Now I [had] deadlines. I had reader expectations, and I had to work with my editor. It was a very different process of trying to write more as a team.

I’m still the person writing the book, but more people have a say in [it] at that point. It was a more collaborative process, and it went more quickly, because of course I had deadlines…

“The River Has Teeth came out just one year after Ghostwood Song. My next book, too, will come out in a year. So, I’m kind of on a book-a-year schedule right now.”

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Erica Waters – Photo courtesy of the author

Image courtesy of HarperCollins

Horror inspired by nature Where does an author find inspiration for a story as masterful as The River Has Teeth in such a short amount of time? For Waters, the answer is in nature. “Most of my ideas start from a place, a setting, you know, I visit somewhere, and it captures my imagination.

I start imagining [who] might fill this space, what story would take place here.”

The setting that sparked her idea for The River Has Teeth was the natural landscapes of the deep South. “For The River Has Teeth, I was visiting some nature parks, in and around Nashville. …One in particular was Bell’s Bend Park …which has lots of open fields with wildflowers. And on the day I went… it was empty.”

She felt something there and knew she wanted to explore it more. “Nobody else was there. I was all alone there, and all of the tall grass was shoulder high and dead and brown and kind of going ‘shhh’ in the

wind. It was… this moment of feeling [that] a place had a stronger sense of self than you’d expect just land to have. It almost felt like it was alive and listening.

“I started thinking about a place that would feel that way and what kind of people would be populating that place, what would be happening there, and so, really, The River Has Teeth grew out of my love for Tennessee landscapes and… how sparked my imagination was by the flora and the fauna and the general landscapes around me.”

These inspirations for the beauty in her novel also drew some of the most frightening concepts out of her psyche. “I love being out in nature, but I also am afraid of nature,” she admitted. “I love being out in the woods, and there is a sense of peace there. [But], especially as a woman, we have been socialized to be afraid, to watch for danger, and to be hypervigilant.

“So, when I’m in the woods, I am hypervigilant. Every time I hear something creek or crack, or someone coming up behind me on a trail, I feel afraid. I knew from the beginning that… even though I thought it was beautiful and powerful, I would also be viewing [this landscape] with a sense of danger and fear.

That’s kind of where it grew from.”

“For everyone who’s been made to feel like prey and wished for sharper teeth” Not only did she find the seeds of inspiration in the Tennessee wilderness, but she also knew from the conception of the novel that The River Has Teeth would be a book for the LGBTQ+ community.

“I feel like all of my novels tend to change a lot from the original conception to what ends up in the bookstore, but that is something that never changed. From the beginning, I knew there was going to be a love story between two very different girls who, at their core, had something similar at heart. So, yeah, I always imagined this as a love story between Della and Natasha.”

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She says she will always write LGBTQ+ stories. “I think we write aspects of ourselves in our books, and for me, as a Queer person, I write characters who can reflect something about me and my friends and family members that I love and care about, so that is always going to include LGBTQ people.”

Empowering readers, especially LGBTQ+ readers, is always at the forefront of her work. “I hope that readers take away a sense of their strength and resilience,” Waters said. “I hope that readers feel, after reading this book… like they’ve received some sort of catharsis, and I hope that they feel like they can turn to the people in their lives and find meaning and hope and love in their relationships, even amid scary and difficult and even terrible things.”

She held her readers in her heart while crafting her book, so much so that she dedicated the work to them. “I’ll read the dedication: ‘For everyone who’s been made to feel like prey and wished for sharper teeth.’ That’s really who this book is for, and I hope, at the end of it, that anyone who reads that dedication and feels like this book is for them… feel[s] like they have had some catharsis and maybe even a little bit of closure.”

For Waters, there is catharsis, and even power, in horror. The genre she chooses to write in reflects the messages she hopes her readers take away. “I think horror and … dark fantasy …both… are such a good way of taking the things that we are most afraid of, and putting them on a page in more concrete, tangible ways. We can take these abstract fears, and we can face them.

“So, for me, writing horror is a lot about taking the things I’m afraid of, exploring them on the page, and trying to get at them and seeing why am I so afraid of them...

I think horror is a great way to look for things that we tend to keep buried in the dark. Horror is a great way to bring those things to the light and deal with them.”

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Travel

Your Barcelona holiday

Great food and nightlife and a vibrant Gay neighborhood

by Bill Malcolm Special to the SGN Barcelona, Spain (and specifically the Eixample Gay neighborhood) are perfect for a vacation. Restaurants, bars, transit, and more are within steps of each other, and you can even walk to some of the main attractions. It reminded me of a big-city version of Puerto Vallarta or LA, with better transit and stunning architecture.

The city, with a climate similar to California, Chile, or Australia, is a temperate LGBTQ+ paradise at bargain prices. With the euro at par with the US dollar, drinks at a bar are just $5. Enjoy a fancy meal with wine for under $25. Get the special five-day transit pass for just $20 (including from the airport).

The people are well dressed, with interesting haircuts (very short on the side).

They are also friendly, but you will have to adjust to their odd hours. Nothing is open before 9 a.m. on weekends — even for coffee. Take a nap between 2 and 5 p.m. Enjoy dinner at 8 or later: the food is great, and of all types (lots of empanadas!). And the bars don’t close until 3 a.m. or later. They are indeed night owls.

Where to stay Stay at the Axel Hotel: enjoy the nightly events at the Sky Bar, make new friends at breakfast, work out at the huge gym. Axel is a LGBTQ hotel chain with locations all over Europe (and in Miami Beach). However, everyone (Gay or straight) is welcome there; its motto is “we are hetero friendly.”

The staff is very helpful with travel tips and information about things to do.

What to do Enjoy the historic but still unfinished church La Sagrada Família. You can walk from the hotel and stop at the Gaudí house (Casa Batlló) along the way.

Grab lunch at the St. Joseph’s Marketplace, better known as La Boquería. It has 300 food stands (try the fresh fruit juices) and is located on the historic Las Ramblas boulevard. The market dates to 1840, but its origins go back to the 13th century.

Head up to Parc Montjuic for city views.

And enjoy the botanical garden, which features plants from around the world.

Walk around the Arc de Triomphe and nearby park, Parc de la Citudella.

Go to the clothing optional (and very gay) beach, Playa de la Mar Bella.

Nightlife There are lots of clubs and bars in Eixample just steps from the hotel. Try the nearby Dmen’s, Gin Bar, the Boxer Café, and others. Dance the night away at the Safari. The bar on the seventh floor of the Axel Hotel (the Sky Bar) has events almost every night; try the cava (champagne) for just 5 euros.

There’s also a bar next to the rooftop pool on the eighth floor during the day. Both are a lot of fun.

What to eat I enjoyed the empanadas, which are seemingly everywhere. The cava is very refreshing, not to mention the sangria.

And of course, Barcelona is famous for its tapas. The Spanish omelet at La Cova de La Mari (across the street from the hotel) is very good. Ask for a coffee with milk, or have a café americano or a double espresso.

(Note: There is no such thing as a 12-ounce cup of coffee in Spain.)

Getting there American Airlines rerouted me onto Iberia Airlines by Level, a low-cost budget carrier that has great food (Indian beef stew) and great service but uncomfortable seats. I spread out to sleep in the nearby unoccupied seats, as the plane was not that full. The fare was very low too.

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On the way home, I took American Airlines, which had great service and offered free wine and beer, a delicious lunch (a choice of meatballs or pasta), followed by British ice cream and then a pizza-type sandwich. The service was great, and the flight was on time. Terminal 8 at JFK in NYC is new and very nice. However, Kennedy suffers from long TSA lines, so leave plenty of time for your connection.

I also took EZJet from Barcelona to Milan. This is Europe’s equivalent to Southwest or Spirit Airlines. Fares are cheap, but they charge for everything, and service was so-so. We waited for 20 minutes on the jetway to board and then faced a one-hour delay due to a staffing snafu.

Getting around Take the Metro (line 9 Sud (south)) from the airport, and buy a five-day pass for just $20 (including from airport). Then take a short bus ride to the hotel. There are also street cars and buses. The pass is good on all of them.

Travel tips At the airport metro station, pick up a copy of the official LGBTI Barcelona Gay map published by the city, or read it on line at visitbarcelona.com. It even includes listings for fetish bars and cruising/dark rooms. This is one LGBTQ+-friendly city!

Pick up some gazpacho soup or snacks at the nearby Jespac Market. There’s also an Aldi store close by the hotel, where you can great local food to go (cheeses, yogurt, fruit, and more) for a quick and affordable bite.

Buy a converter (5 euros) for your cell phone charger, as Europe is on a different electric voltage.

Get euros out of an ATM. Banks don’t convert US dollars. Or use your credit card for everything.

This is only a sampling of the many things to do in this great city you’ll want to return to. It’s arguably the most Gayfriendly city in the world, and it’s very walkable. And affordable for all.

Bill Malcolm is North America’s only syndicated value LGTBQ+ syndicated travel columnist, whose column appears or has appeared in publications in Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles, Seattle, Toronto, Fort Lauderdale, Charlotte, Atlanta, Dallas, and other cities.

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Photos courtesy of Bill Malcolm

C E L E B R AT I N G 4 8 Y E A R S!

Fighting uncertainty in the workplace

by Isabel Mata SGN Staff Writer Ask Izzy is a biweekly 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. Looking for some guidance? Submit your question to info@sgn.org with the subject line: Ask Izzy Submission.

Dear Izzy, I’m having second thoughts about my career. My industry is always tumultuous, but I thought I finally had something steady. It turns out it wasn’t as steady as I thought, sort of a startup thing. They’re still paying me for now, but I’m worried things won’t last much longer. My career is my passion, but the stress from the level of work I have to put in and from the uncertainty about my next paycheck is making me question whether or not I should just give up and work in retail or something. I know I’d hate that too, but at least the pay is steady. My coworkers say I should just suck it up and keep working so we can succeed as a team. I’m not so sure I can handle that. What should I do?

— Stuck and Stressed in Seattle Dear Stuck, I’m sorry you are feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and anxious about your career.

There is nothing worse than thinking you had a steady job than finding out it is anything but.

When you say they are still paying you but are worried it won’t last much longer, what do you mean? Is the startup well funded? Are there rumors circulating about potential layoffs? Either way, I hear you. That uncertainty would be enough to drive me out for sure.

But before we jump the gun, I want to focus on one part of your message that stood out to me. You said, “My career is my passion.” This is a huge deal! I know so many people, including myself, who have struggled for years to find a job that they are passionate about but where they can also make good money. Besides the anxiety and uncertainty, it seems as though you have managed to do just that. That is no small feat — celebrate it for a moment.

Start by asking for more transparency Since you do love your job, my recommendation is to find a way to find more stability in it, while thinking ahead. Your teammates are right: there is no way to predict what the future of the industry holds, so working as a team has its perks.

But… you need to find a way to ease your worries before it breaks you down even further. Have you had a conversation with your manager and hiring team? Have they given you any information about the future of the business? Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

You deserve to know whether you will have a job in the next six months. If they give wishy-washy answers, then that’s your cue to start looking for something else.

If you know you would hate retail, then don’t go there just because of the money.

If you are feeling stuck now, you will certainly feel stuck somewhere else, especially if you hate the work. You deserve to spend your time doing something meaningful while also feeling secure about your finances.

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Photo by Yan Krukov / Pexels

Since you do love your job, I recommend sticking it out until you know for sure what the state of the business is. You don’t want to quit prematurely when a layoff with financial benefits (like a severance package) might be just around the corner.

Build out your dream day When someone I know is feeling stuck just like you are, I tell them to answer a few questions: • How do you want to be spending your time?

• What about your job do you love the most?

• Do you feel fulfilled on a day-to-day basis?

• What made you enter the industry in the first place?

• Do you work remotely but want to sometimes go into an office to build community?

• Do you enjoy a flexible schedule?

• Do you work best in the mornings?

Since you are thinking about changing things up, this is a great opportunity to restructure a lot of things, not just your place of employment. Answering some of these questions will help you to figure out what next steps to take in the short term.

After you’ve done that, write down what an ideal day could be for you, including what work you want to be doing. Do you like analytical problem-solving? Public speaking?

Writing? Look at the skills you currently use at work and write down which you love using the most. Then look at your current day-to-day and write down all the things you hate about it and wish you could change.

Once you’ve answered those questions and have made a solid list of all the things you like and dislike, begin to search for roles and companies that fit the criteria you’ve laid out.

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The best part is that you can be doing all of this while still working full-time.

This will help give you a backpack plan in case you do get laid off.

Settling won’t save you I know it might seem easy to quit and find a more comfortable job in an industry that’s new, but that may only solve things temporarily. When you are unhappy with how you are spending your time, sooner or later everything in your life is going to feel unhappy. And you don’t deserve that!

Life is short!

It’s important to be intentional about how you spend your time, and that may mean living with a bit of uncertainty (temporarily). Just make sure you have solid self-care routines in place outside of work and a savings account that you are contributing to regularly, just in case.

Best of luck, friend!

SGN

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National/International News

National news highlights

by Daniel Lindsley SGN Staff Writer

Sen. Ben Sasse in the Senate – Photo by Andrew Harnik / AP

No-confidence vote for Sasse school bid By a margin of 65-15, the Faculty Senate of the University of Florida has approved a no-confidence vote on the selection of US Sen. Ben Sasse as the sole finalist for the school’s presidency.

Sasse’s selection had been criticized by the United Faculty of Florida union, and the school’s student senate, citing the senator’s lack of experience in running a school so large, and his conservative stances on same-sex marriage and other LGBTQ issues.

“The process is the biggest problem here, because we don’t know who those other candidates were,” argued Breann Garbas, the Faculty Senate member who drafted the motion. “We don’t know anything about them, and we have no input in this and no say in it as a faculty as a whole.”

Sasse would resign from the Senate for the position, but he’s not in quite yet. The school’s board of trustees and the state board of governors each have to vote for him and confirm his appointment.

South Carolina candidates spar over Gay rights In a debate for the state’s gubernatorial seat, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said that he would support his state’s defunct ban on same-sex marriage if the Supreme Court overturned its 2015 ruling on the subject.

“Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I think marriage ought to be between a man and woman — just like I think that boys ought to play in boy sports and girls ought to play in girl sports,” McMaster, 75, said, firmly in line with current Republican talking points.

“But, I mean there’s — you have to have some common sense in this arena, which seems to be changing all the time,” he added. “But I think our traditions are strong and for a reason.”

Former Rep. Joe Cunningham, a Democrat and McMaster’s foremost opponent in the race, seemed shocked. “It’s 2022, and Gov. McMaster wants to ban same-sex marriage — you just heard that tonight, folks,” Cunningham said.

“We have politicians that have been in government so long and have become so calcified in their beliefs, and Gov. McMaster has been a politician literally longer than I’ve been alive, and he’s been taking our state backwards the entire time.”

“Gov. McMaster has been leading South Carolina into the 1950s since the 1980s,” Cunningham said.

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Photo by Eric Gay / AP

ADS

continued from cover The ads feature solemn, even ominous, music and a voice-over claiming that Democrats want to force children to get puberty blockers and gender-affirming surgery.

“The Biden administration is pushing radical gender experiments on children,” the narrator says in one radio spot. “Tell Joe Biden and left-wing leaders across America, ‘Hands off our kids.’”

According to Politico, America First Legal has also sent mailers to Black and Hispanic households in states, including Georgia, Texas, and Nevada.

In Spanish- and English-language mailers, Miller’s group warned against “radical and irreversible gender experiments,” including anecdotes from unnamed people who regretted “destroying their lives” with gender-affirming care and surgery.

Another ad more specifically goes after Biden, surrounding a picture of the president with anti-Transgender headlines related to schools from Fox News and the Daily Wire.

Citizens for Sanity, another group formed by former Trump administration operatives,

has spent tens of millions on late advertising, including TV buys targeting Trans issues in battleground states, including Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada.

Geoff Wetrosky, the HRC’s national campaign director, said the ads are an effort to suppress turnout.

“If they were looking to motivate voters to get to the polls and support particular candidates, I don’t think it would be using the particular language and messaging that they’re using,” he said. “It’s meant to fly under the radar as much as possible. Voter suppression efforts are typically done at the last minute and behind the scenes.”

Wetrosky noted that organizations made similar efforts to create divisions between LGBTQ individuals and Black and Latino voters when campaigning against marriage equality a decade ago.

“This is not a new playbook. It’s just a new chapter and an unfortunate playbook that we think is outdated. And it didn’t work for marriage,” he said.

NAACP President Derrick Johnson said the organization sent letters to radio stations asking them not to run the anti-Trans ads, which he called “the worst I’ve seen” in this election cycle.

“This is playing to the lowest common denominator of hate and otherizing, targeting the LGBT community,” Johnson said.

“When you create this type of negative reaction to individuals who [don’t] present any societal grief, you only create space for people to feel justified for attacking them physically and through public policy.”

America First Legal’s vice president and general counsel, Gene Hamilton, defended the radio ad.

“The Biden administration and its allies are advancing a radical agenda that denies biology, denies reality, and denies that they are threatening children,” he said in a statement. “We believe in biology, and we believe that confused children should not be harmed permanently by individuals with radical agendas.”

Miller says he launched America First Legal to be a “conservative version of the American Civil Liberties Union.” It has taken part in several lawsuits challenging instruction about racism in public schools, voting, LGBTQ and immigration policies, as well as claiming Biden’s administration is “anti-white.”

International news highlights

by Daniel Lindsley SGN Staff Writer Giant flag keeps Taiwan Pride dry Over a hundred thousand celebrants participated in Taiwan’s 20th annual Pride event last Saturday. People in raincoats carried a huge Pride flag through the streets of Taipei, to shelter the paraders in their makeup and colorful outfits.

A group in white blew clouds of bubbles over the crowds.

Queer joy was in the air. A university student praised their high school experience: “We were not discriminated [against]. Everybody knew. We did not have to worry much. We were just ourselves,” said Chen.

Publishing company owner Tommy Huang, meanwhile, still faced some challenges with his partner’s family.

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Revelers at the Taiwan LGBT Pride parade – Photo by Chiang Ying-ying / AP

“His parents haven’t fully accepted me yet,” Huang said. “One day, I really hope I could visit his parents during Lunar New Year and get to know them, and that they could accept us the way we are.”

During the first Taiwan Pride Parade in 2003, just 700 participants gathered in central Taipei, in face masks to avoid being stigmatized.

Last state in Mexico legalizes Gay marriage The state of Tamaulipas became Mexico’s last of 32 to legalize same-sex marriages last Wednesday, with the passing of a measure that amended the state’s

civil code.

The vote took place in private, after lawmakers retreated to a room not bombarded by onlookers shouting from balconies in favor and against the measure.

Just a day earlier, the state of Guerrero had done the same, with 38 of the 46 lawmakers in favor. Tabasco did so a week before that, with 23 of 36 in favor.

It seems that, overall, Mexican politics has swung in favor of LGBTQ rights.

Supreme Court President Arturo Zaldivar tweeted of the development, “The whole country shines with a huge rainbow. Love the dignity and rights of all people. Love is love.”

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