SGN May 19, 2023

ISSUE 20

C E L E B R AT I N G

VOLUME 51

49 YEARS

F R I D AY

IN

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PRINT S E AT T L E ’ S L G B T Q I A + N E W S & E N T E R TA I N M E N T W E E K LY S I N C E 19 74

SPD LGBTQ ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETINGS RETURN

by Benny Loy SGN Contributing Writer Relations between Seattle Police Department (SPD) and the larger community have been on thin ice for years, especially after the George Floyd protests in the summer of 2020. Speak to most Seattleites about the SPD, and they can recall moments when tensions were high, and when they felt as though those sworn to protect did not fulfill their duty. Especially those belonging to marginalized communities have critiqued what they view as intimidation and discrimination at the hands of the police force.

But after three years of the advisory council meetings being on hold, they are coming back, and according to the speakers at latest meeting, they aim to rebuild trust.

see SPD page 4

Photo courtesy of City of Seattle

George Santos pleads not guilty to 13 counts of fraud

Eurovision 2023 as Queer as ever

Photo by Eduardo Munoz / Reuters

by Lindsey Anderson SGN Staff Writer George Santos, the Republican representative for New York’s 3rd Congressional District, turned himself in on Wednesday, May 10, to face a variety of charges. Santos was released on a $500,000 bond and pleaded “not guilty” upon arraignment.

Santos is facing 13 charges in total, including wire fraud, money laundering,

theft of public funds, and making false statements to Congress. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.

Nevertheless, Santos is still actively seeking reelection and refuses to resign, despite bipartisan calls from constituents.

He claims the allegations are a “witch hunt” and looks forward to showcasing his ability to “address and defend” himself.

see SANTOS page 16

Loreen – Photo courtesy of EBU

by Richard Isaac Special to the SGN The 2023 Eurovision Song Contest — among the world’s most watched nonsporting events, with an audience of about 170 million, give or take — is now in the history books.

Sweden’s legendary Loreen — and her hyperlong fingernails — bested 25 com-

petitors with a polished, dramatic performance of “Tattoo,” making her only the second artist (and first woman) to win the contest twice. She came out on top in 2012 with “Euphoria”; Ireland’s Johnny Logan won in 1980 and 1987.

Sweden has now also tied Ireland for the most wins in Eurovision’s 67-year history, with seven each.

see EUROVISION page 5

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

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SPD

Local News

continued from cover On May 11, the SPD LGBTQ Advisory Council held its first meeting in years at the Garfield Community Center. It was chaired by Mac McGregor, a Seattle city commissioner, and Officer Dorian Korieo, the SPD’s LGBTQ+ liaison officer. Other speakers included Victoria Beach, chair of the African American Community Advisory Board, and Sgt. Ron Campbell of the SPD Education and Training Section.

According to a handout at the meeting, the LGBTQ Advisory Council “was created to work with the department on issues of concern and to share insights and recommendations that could impact relationships between the Seattle Police Department and the community. Council members work together to create their own agendas and strategize ways for making police services more responsive to the needs of the community.”

Presenters and audience members formed a circle to help promote open discussion. The chairs quickly filled, and the meeting began with introductions.

After the mic was passed in a full circle, McGregor explained that the intent behind these meetings is to “try to reestablish relationships and build trust in the SPD, to ask questions, and to hear some of the changes that have been made in the last few years.”

He asked those in attendance to “help us let people know” about the meetings.

Officer Korieo explained that because of the Advisory Council’s hiatus, its email list is outdated, and the members would appreciate any help spreading the word about the meetings. McGregor added, “This is for the entire community.” The organizers hope more people can attend, ask questions, and share their thoughts.

The BTB program The mic was passed to Sgt. Campbell to speak on the first-of-its-kind Before the Badge (BTB) program. He said this is a “bottom-up” approach to improve the SPD. Forty-five days before their mandatory 720-hour Basic Law Enforcement Academy (BLEA), recruits will first attend the BTB program.

The City of Seattle’s webpage for the program states that “this training, launched in May 2022, immerses all SPD recruits in community-based, peer-based, and introspective experiences that will provide them both a lens through which to receive their eventual BLEA training and a foundation upon which to build their careers as Seattle Police Officers. During Before the Badge, SPD recruits will gain a more comprehensive understanding of the people they will eventually swear to serve and protect.

Because of BTB, recruits will first build relationships with the people of Seattle — before they receive their badges.”

BTB has three main goals: to “meet with community groups to have discussions as individuals about policing in Seattle. [To work] with the Wellness Unit to obtain tools to help with the stresses of the job.

[And to learn] about SPD precincts, officers, opportunities, and leadership.”

The website also states, “In addition, BTB includes exploration of the policing profession’s racist history, gender responsiveness, and the science of relationshipbased policing.”

Sgt. Campbell also shared that he hopes the program will improve the culture within the SPD “through generation after generation” of recruits who will learn the importance of empathy and understanding for every person. BTB is not just taught by cops but also by volunteers.

Seattle University is currently conducting a study on the effectiveness of BTB. Over several years, they’ll be collecting data points from the SPD and comparing them with those from police departments not involved with the program. If BTB is successful, it could be adopted by other departments and help to improve policing as a whole.

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Photo courtesy of Victoria Beach

Challenging the police Then Beach related how she’d been involved in training recruits and shared her past negative experiences with cops, saying “If you had told me back then [that] I’d one day be friends with a cop, I would’ve said you are very wrong.” She added that those involved with the program “stand up to them [the recruits].”

McGregor, a Trans man, said, “I go in there and challenge them about everything they know about gender and how they were socialized around gender. We have to figure out how to take steps towards how we can

learn from each other. So that they know some of us in the community. So that when something happens in the LGBTQ+ community, they know who they can come to ask about what’s really going on here.”

Finally, the future of the Advisory Council meetings was discussed. The next one will be held on June 7 from 6:30 to 8 p.m.; the location has yet to be decided. It will provide an opportunity for attendees to meet Cap. Jim Britt, the SPD commander for Pride 2023 weekend. There will be a briefing by Capt. Britt about Pride, plus a chance to share concerns and to take part in

creating a safety plan.

The meeting ended with the assurance that more would come and the community would be heard. The organizers said that the chief of police has agreed to attend a future meeting to answer questions, although the date is not yet set.

Now that the Advisory Council meetings are back, they are a chance to let your voices be heard.

For more information, contact Henry Liu Community, Outreach Coordinator, at 206-886-5564 or henry.liu@seattle.gov

SPD officers in the 2019 Seattle Pride Parade – Photo by Nate Gowdy

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

Arts & Entertainment

EUROVISION continued from cover

But what is less known about Loreen (born Lorine Zineb Nora Talhaoui) is that she came out as “quite simply” Bisexual in a 2017 interview.

She was not the only Queer representation this year, though, in what’s come to be known as “the Gay Olympics,” which has featured such Queer winners as Dana International for Israel in 1998 (Trans), Conchita Wurst for Austria in 2014 (Gay), and Duncan Laurence for the Netherlands in 2019 (Bi, engaged to a man), as well as Katrina (& the Waves) Leskovich for the UK in 1997 and Marija Šerifović for Serbia in 2007, who both won before coming out as Lesbian.

Norway: Alessandra and accepting yourself Norway’s Alessandra Mele, who was giving kind of a Xena vibe in her performance, is also openly Bisexual; she currently has a boyfriend.

About her song “Queen of Kings,” which came in fifth, she told Eurovisionfun.com, “This song shows the power of women, but also the power of all people, about how important it is to feel yourself. I am Bisexual, and when I lived in Italy [where she was raised], I had to hide who I was, because some of my friends and relatives would not approve of it.

“So I think it’s important to accept who we are, without caring about the opinion of others, as well as to accept that there are also bad moments in life from which we become stronger!”

However, she also told Aussievision.net, “Now I have to say something, and that is that I don’t like to call it Bisexual. And that’s because you kind of put it in a box.

But the definition you give is Bisexual, so I’ll just say that.”

“Be Who You Wanna Be” – Photo courtesy of EBU

Alessandra Mele – Photo courtesy of EBU

Luke Black – Photo courtesy of EBU

Gustaph – Photo courtesy of EBU

Let 3 – Photo courtesy of EBU

Käärijä – Photo courtesy of EBU

cedes Bends, and Tomara Thomas, along with the Podilya dance ensemble from Ukraine. Titled “Be Who You Wanna Be,” the flashy, rainbow-colored production was a medley of “Free Yourself,” “Free Your Mind,” “Free” (do you sense a theme?), and the 2018 Australian entry, “We Got Love.”

About this year’s shows Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso), Alesha Dixon (Britain’s Got Talent), and Ukrainian rocker Julia Sanina co-hosted all three shows. They were joined in the grand final by openly Gay Graham Norton, who has been commentating on Eurovision for the BBC since 2009.

Liverpool in the United Kingdom (last year’s runner-up) was chosen as the venue for the contest on behalf war-torn Ukraine, which was the victor in 2022, but there was a strong emphasis on Ukrainian musical acts and culture during each of this year’s programs, in addition to tributes to legendary musical artists who call this UNESCO City of Music home.

Both semifinals and the grand final were (and still are) on Peacock in the US, the latter with or without commentary by openly Queer Johnny Weir (of Olympic figure skating fame), who knows his Eurovision stuff and was also joined by 2009 winner Alexander Rybak of Norway.

Serbia: Luke Black wakes up Serbia was represented by Luke Black (born Luka Ivanović), who is Gay and currently lives in London. His melodramatic, industrial-lite song inspired by video games, “Samo mi se spava” (I Just Want to Sleep), was about being isolated during the pandemic, and people needing to wake up so evil can be defeated. It came in 24th.

Marco Mengoni Belgium: Gustaph celebrates self-love, – Photo courtesy of Martin Meissner / AP chosen family But the Award for Queer Excellence goes performers and drag artists — and backup to Gustaph (born Stef Caers) of Belgium, vocals by good friends of his; the vogue age 42, who has been out since he was 14. He dancer PussCee West joined them all on is a former member of the iconic Queer elec- stage and “walked that duck,” to the delight tronic collective Hercules and Love Affair. of the (very Gay) audience.

This is actually his third time at EuroviAbout why it’s so important for him to sion: he joined Sennek in 2018 and Hoover- represent his people, Gustaph said, “I think phonic in 2021 as a backing vocalist, both mostly because of my story and what I went of whom represented Belgium. through. When starting out I had to hide This year, he headlined. His unapologetic parts of who I was. If I have a chance to do anthem “Because of You” was influenced anything on a mainstream platform, I am by house music, sending listeners back to going to use the voice that I have to represent the late ’80s and early ’90s. my people who are not always represented…

The lyrics tell the story of being yourself “I did feel sort of a pressure from the recorddespite what others think: ing industry to keep my sexuality as myste“Remember when they told us / ‘You’re not rious… That was confusing for me. It transgood enough’ / Then you came into my life lated as ‘you can make it in the industry, but / And you changed my world for good / You just don’t be yourself,’ so that kind of messed told me to love myself a bit harder than yester- up my head.” day / ‘Cause life is too short and we sure got “Because of You” won Belgium’s national to celebrate … selection in January by one point. Early “Remember when they tried to break us / criticism of it focused on it being “dated.”

But look at us now / You told me the right It was too Gay for others. things at the right time / You got me feelAs Gustaph told Eurovisionworld.com: ing wild / See now I love myself much more “I am fine with you not liking the song — than I did yesterday / ‘Cause life is too that’s how it works with music. But some short and we sure got to celebrate…” people do go a bit far to the point they Gustaph told the fan site Wiwibloggs ear- criticize me for my sexuality or for the way lier this year, “[‘Because of You’] is really I look. It’s not necessary. Eurovision should about the chosen family, which happens a lot be seen as a safe space so everyone can be in the Queer world. [But] I think ‘Because of who they want to be, like what they want to You’ is universal. [It’s for] anyone who helps like and support whoever they want to supyou to where you are in life and helps you to port without bringing others down.” say, ‘This is who I am and I love who I am because of you.’”

As Gay as it gets The joyful performance in the grand If that weren’t enough, the second semifinal incorporated background visuals by final featured an interval act by three drag Gustaph’s husband — featuring ballroom performers: Miss Demeanour, Miss Mer-

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Of other Queer interest Handsome Marco Mengoni of Italy — around whom has swirled much speculation about his sexuality — walked onto the grand final stage during the show’s opening with both the Italian flag and the Progress Pride flag, a gesture that has already sparked more speculation.

Croatia’s eclectic all-male rock group Let 3 (founded in 1987) stripped down to their tank tops and underwear during a raucous performance of “Mama ŠČ!,” an antiwar, antiauthoritarian statement.

Portugal’s Mimicat and backup dancers put on a lively cabaret number with “Ai coração,” and Austria’s Teya & Salena’s clever and campy “Who the Hell Is Edgar?” added a comic spin to the plight of being a songwriter, especially as a woman.

But the crowd favorite — and winner of the worldwide televote — was Finland’s irrepressible Käärijä (born Jere Pöyhönen), who performed his techno-rock-pop bop “Cha Cha Cha” in a lime-green bolero exposing his bare chest, accompanied by rictus-grinning ballroom dancers in bright pink. The song, about needing a few piña coladas to loosen up and dance, electrified the arena but finished second in the end, unable to overcome Loreen’s lead from the 37 national juries.

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The performances of the top 10 finishers can be seen at https://youtu. be/3kn50WdjQ-E. All the full shows are still available on Peacock in the US, or on Eurovision’s YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@ EurovisionSongContest) using a VPN service set to a participating country. All this year’s entries’ music videos (most with English captions) and many performances can be seen at https://bit.ly/431FW4k.

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Arts & Entertainment

Local developer pioneers TTRPG for anime fans

Images courtesy of Valorous Games

by Daniel Lindsley SGN Staff Writer For Liana MacKenzie, Valor is more than a passion project but not yet a full-time job.

As a longtime fan of both tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) and anime, the local indie TTRPG developer has navigated both fandoms’ landscapes, and a winding path has brought her to the present: at the helm of Valorous Games, creating an animeinspired tabletop role-playing system.

The story of Valor goes back to MacKenzie’s years in middle school, when she was first introduced to the world of Dragonlance, a fictional setting made for use in the popular Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) system.

“I read the Dragonlance Chronicles books, and I immediately fell in love,” MacKenzie said. “I’d always liked fantasy.

I couldn’t really get through Lord of the Rings, because it was so dense.”

Luckily for her, there were over a hundred Dragonlance novels and anthologies already. With her parents’ encouragement and the help of her local library’s delivery system, she was able to order one of each of the books and jump right in.

Parallel to her Dragonlance obsession was her love for digital role-playing games, like the Final Fantasy series by Japan-based company Square Enix, and the D&D-based computer game Baldur’s Gate.

But she didn’t get into TTRPGs themselves until early high school.

“I would make my own tabletop games,” MacKenzie said. “And I don’t know if this was me kind of figuring out what D&D was trying to accomplish just by reading the [novels], but I was making games to sort of simulate Final Fantasy and the books that I was reading.”

MacKenzie soon discovered D&D 3.5 and was thrilled that there was already an

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official, fully fledged game built for her purposes. Even then, it wouldn’t be until college that she would actually get to play it, so she kept experimenting, making “at least 30 role-playing-style games” until the moment finally arrived.

“I was finally able to play in D&D games, and it never quite suited my style,” she said.

“And that finally came to a head when I was at [Western Washington University], where I sat down and used the current Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 engine.”

MacKenzie soon realized that D&D 3.5 wasn’t really equipped to tell the dramatic stories of anime, or even those of the Dragonlance novels. Undeterred, she decided to adapt D&D’s “d20 system” (referring to its central use of the 20-sided die) to one of her favorite animes at the time, Bleach.

“And I did it,” MacKenzie said. In fact, she spearheaded the beginnings of the Bleach d20 project, which was successful enough that it still has an active online community today.

Unfortunately, it was also “a nightmare” to pull off.

The woes of the icosahedron D&D’s marketing and its spinoff media depict it as one of the best ways to tell epic fantasy stories with groups of friends, and in the right group, it certainly can be. In the internet age, that messaging has been taken a step further by geek-oriented websites that churn out articles on how fans of other popular franchises can use the D&D system to tell stories within any given setting and genre.

Beginners to the TTRPG hobby can’t be blamed, then, for thinking that “D&D can do anything,” but the game’s roots lie in miniature wargames, whose rules were made for military simulations. The question a wargame answers isn’t typically, “What would make for a good story?” Instead, it’s often, “What would actually happen?”

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So the d20 system is good for tactical combat, but it’s not a reliable way to tell a traditional epic fantasy or anime story.

For an idea of how the d20 system can go, imagine if Legolas from Lord of the Rings had a streak of bad luck and missed five bow shots in a row, or if Frodo slipped on a wet rock, hit his head, and died before even leaving the Shire.

As MacKenzie put it, the d20 represents “such a high range that the dice will always matter more than the stats and the character,” at least without certain guardrails in place.

From that, one might conclude that dropping the d20 itself would solve the problem, but D&D is also plagued by the biases of its creators, and those of its Western-fantasy source material.

“We as a community and in [the Asians Represent! podcast network] have tremendous issues with how races in D&D work,” MacKenzie said, referring to the way dwarves, elves, orcs, and the like have been made monolithic. “Not just in terms of using and popularizing the term race... but because it’s so biologically deterministic.”

Building new foundations MacKenzie said she was happy that Bleach d20 got as popular as it did, but she stepped away from the project early on, because its foundation couldn’t support what she envisioned for a functional anime TTRPG. That way she was free to start building some foundations of her own.

Valor began in earnest as more of a proof of concept for a potential employer than a full-blown product in its own right. Living in Washington meant that MacKenzie wasn’t far from Wizards of Coast, D&D’s current stewards, or from Paizo, the creators of Pathfinder, so she was in a good position to sell.

But as Valor progressed, MacKenzie realized something: “I don’t want to try and sell this to someone or just use this as a portfolio piece. I love this system, and I want to see this book exist.”

The Valor system uses a ten-sided die (d10) for resolutions, and it gives each player limited but consistent ways to influence the narrative by spending points of “valor,” which can be awarded when a player shouts attack names, acts out a dramatic monologue, or generally role-plays their character in an anime fashion.

As MacKenzie explained, “It gives us that nice dramatic edge, where the storyline and the personal investment can overpower the fate of the dice, in addition to having a dice system that is much more equalized.”

Valor is also setting agnostic, and it grants players the freedom to create their characters’ abilities themselves, rather than limiting them to a set of rigidly defined archetypes.

As for next steps, MacKenzie said she is looking for licensing deals with anime franchises like Fire Emblem. Given that, she says she could supplement the Valor TTRPG with fiction, perhaps in a way similar to the Dragonlance books.

She’s also open to third-party creators making content of their own for the system, so long as they give credit, and she currently has two separate Valor campaigns streaming on Twitch. In early May, her Twitch show “Windriders” had the prolific and Nonbinary voice actor Corina Boettger on as a guest.

You can learn more about Valor at www.valorousgames.com. To see the system in action, follow www.twitch.tv/ valorousgames.

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Film

Book Club’s next chapter a picturesque Italian travelogue

Mary Steenburgen, Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, and Candice Bergen in Book Club: The Next Chapter – Photo courtesy of Focus Features

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN Staff Writer BOOK CLUB: THE NEXT CHAPTER Theaters I’ll give Book Club: The Next Chapter this: There are moments where the sequel comes close to matching the energetic fun its quartet of iconic actresses — Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen — appear to have had making it while

traipsing around Italy after the COVID lockdown. It’s perfectly agreeable matinee fodder, and a meal that fans of the successful 2018 film are almost certain to greedily gobble up and then happily ask for more.

But it is incredibly slight, even more so than Fonda’s superstar female–led comedy from earlier this year, 80 for Brady.

The script by returning director Bill Holderman (A Walk in the Woods), once again co-written with Erin Simms, feels more like an excuse to take the cast and crew on a vacation to Italy more than anything

else. The actual plot — eternally single Vivian (Fonda) is getting married, and her best pals Diane (Keaton), Sharon (Bergen), and Carol (Steenburgen) see this as a sign to head to Rome, Venice, and all points in between to celebrate — is undeniably minimalist, and nothing caught me even moderately by surprise.

Yet, as gorgeously shot travelogues go, there’s plenty to like, and cinematographer Andrew Dunn (Downton Abbey: A New Era) is at the top of his game. Holderman utilizes Italian locations both familiar and

novel nicely, and at a sprightly paced 107 minutes, the sequel does not overstay its welcome. All four actresses are in fine form, Steenburgen and Bergen in particular, the latter generating hearty laughs with such effortlessness that the overall effect whenever she’s on-screen borders on magical.

Don Johnson, Craig T. Nelson, and a sublime Andy Garcia are all back for seconds, but, other than Garcia, they don’t have a heck of a lot to do. Additional men added to the mix include a ravishingly sexy Hugh Quarshie, veteran character actor Vincent Riotta, and a woefully underutilized Giancarlo Giannini. The four ladies also pay a quick stop at an haute couture bridal store for ten minutes of goofy dress-up, with Keaton ending up in a black-and-white outfit so suited to her, it would not surprise me at all if costume designer Stefano De Nardis (Morgan) pulled it out of the actor’s closet instead of crafting something original.

The high point of the sequel involves Quarshie and Riotta. The women end up at a dinner party put on by the former, with a menu composed by the latter. This is where Steenburgen and Bergen get to truly cut things loose. The ease with which they generate connections with the actor they’re paired with — Bergen with Quarshie, Steenburgen with Riotta — is positively glorious. All four make even the most insipid snippets of dialogue seem almost inspired, and there were moments during this brief impromptu sojourn when I was giggling so hard, I had to wipe away a handful of tears.

There’s not much more to add. Much like the first film, Book Club: The Next Chapter is another easygoing lark that does zero that’s unexpected yet still generates just enough genuine laughter to make its sitcom-level simplicity bearable. Keaton, Fonda, Bergen, and Steenburgen all shine, and as simple as the film is, I can’t say anything particularly negative about it. This sequel’s heart is in the right place, making it a picturesque jaunt from one end of Italy to the other, one worth finding a seat on the tour bus and joining.

Book Club: The Next Chapter – Photo courtesy of Focus Features

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Film

Goofy first installment of the Fast saga’s climactic trilogy runs on fumes

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN Staff Writer FAST X Theaters Fast X is the most absurd entry yet in the long-running franchise, and that’s saying something, considering the crew journeyed into outer space in the previous installment, F9: The Fast Saga. But this is 140 or so minutes of pure obnoxiousness. Writers Dan Mazeau (Wrath of the Titans) and series regular Justin Lin (who directed four others) embrace the comic book, anythinggoes, Looney Tunes aesthetic established around the time of Fast & Furious 6 and run wild with it. Nothing makes sense.

Granted, I’m not sure it is supposed to.

The time, Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his “family” are forced to face off against Dante Reyes (Jason Mamoa), the larger-than-life, flamboyantly homicidal son of deceased Brazilian drug lord Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), the charismatic heavy from Fast Five. Dante’s out for revenge. But he doesn’t just want to kill Dominic and his clan; he wants to make the fast-driving thief turned government superhero suffer. Most notably, he’s after “Little” Brian Toretto (Leo Abelo Perry), and he’s willing to slit every throat standing in his way to get his hands on the child.

I’m not going to try and make sense out of any of this. I mean, if the movie doesn’t care to try and do it, why should I? Just know that Dante’s plan sends Dominic’s clan sprinting across the globe from Brazil to England, from Portugal to even Antarctica. But the dastardly baddie is roughly four steps ahead of every move they make as he tirelessly endeavors to achieve his vengeance against those responsible for his father’s death a decade prior.

Pretty much everyone is back, including Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Sung Kang, Jason Statham, Charlize Theron, Nathalie Emmanuel, Scott Eastwood, John Cena, and Helen Mirren. As for the newcomers, after Momoa, there’s also Brie Larson, Alan Ritchson, Daniela Melchior, and even Rita Moreno. There are massive stunts (mostly involving cars), cartoonish special effects (mostly involving cars smashing things like helicopters and the law of physics), and feats of derring-do (also — you guessed it — mostly involving cars).

Things explode. There are a few narrow escapes. The human body gets thrown around like a pinball and barely gets a scratch. There are gunfights and fistfights galore (not to mention fistfights that turn into gunfights — and vice versa — at the drop of a hat). In short, it’s everything and more that audiences have come to expect from these films, and the more insane they get, the bigger the take at the box office seems to be.

But when is enough enough? At what point do audiences start to tune out? While Fast X is reported to be the last turn around the track for Dominic Toretto and clan, that it has been split into three chapters strikes me as a level of overkill even this goofy series should have steered away from.

While I’m sure the story will get more convoluted as things near their conclusion, the simple truth is that there isn’t a lot of meat on this bony carcass. Going the Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame route with all this madness feels to me like a step too far, the comical cliffhanger ending that makes things even worse.

Lin’s decision to step away as director (during the early days of filming, no less) over “creative differences” is noticeable. It’s not that journeyman Louis Leterrier (The Transporter, The Incredible Hulk) isn’t up to the challenge so much as that his focus is

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Fast X – Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

more on the visual carnage than the human element. As blatantly melodramatic as the character interactions may be, as inanely convoluted as the mythology has gotten with each new chapter, Lin still maintained an emotional authenticity that was admittedly endearing. That’s not the case here.

Not that Leterrier doesn’t try. There is a focus on Dominic’s relationship with his son Brian, and that’s to be expected. But anything else involving these characters — both old and new — feels pulled from a how-to workbook that could easily have been subtitled “Soap Opera Emotional Theatrics for Beginners.” The director becomes so consumed by the razzle and

the dazzle that he appears to forget to give the audience worthwhile reasons to care, and that’s one gigantic chasm no supply of nitrous oxide could help this beaten-up wreck of high-octane lunacy jump across.

What Fast X does have is Momoa, and he’s extraordinary. The actor knows exactly what kind of movie he is in and precisely what is needed from him. His performance isn’t over the top — it’s ten or eleven steps beyond that. Momoa gobbles up every stitch of scenery. Dante goes from silly to cutthroat to playful to deathly serious at the drop of a hat. The villain oozes psychotic menace out of every pore of his monstrous frame, and I admit I’m curious to see if

Momoa can maintain this freakishly high level of titanic villainy for the entirety of this climactic trilogy.

But only slightly. As impressive as the Fast saga’s evolution has been since its inauspicious, small-scale beginnings back in 2001, the unrepentantly mind-numbing stupidity is wearing thin. Old-school Saturday matinee serial cliffhanger be damned, I honestly don’t know if I care to find out how Dominic and company continue their fight against Dante. And considering how meaningless death has become to this franchise, it’s hardly surprising this tank is running perilously close to empty, and I don’t foresee a refill happening anytime soon.

Jason Momoa in Fast X – Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

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Books

Chaotic Bisexuals hit the gym in Jennifer Dugan’s latest novel

by Lindsey Anderson SGN Staff Writer Jennifer Dugan has become famous for her YA novels featuring “chaotic Bisexual teens,” but this spring she is branching out into new territory and writing about chaotic Bisexual adults.

Dugan’s brand-new novel, Love at First Set, features the classic shenanigans, awkward situations, and humorous faux pas fans have come to expect from the author of Hot Dog Girl and Melt With You, but this time she’s raising the stakes for a (slightly) more mature audience.

Warning: adult content (sort of) Dugan did not intend to write an adult novel at first, but as the pandemic wore on, she couldn’t get the ironic idea of inspiring a runaway bride out of her head.

“I started thinking about this unspoken rule, where if you’re out and you go to a bar, and there’s this crying girl, you hype them up,” she said. “You’re like, ‘He’s the worst!’ or whatever they need from you to make them feel good. What if you accidentally did that to a bride, and she turned into a runaway bride?”

The idea of an unwitting bar patron ruining a thoroughly planned wedding kept returning to Dugan, but she soon realized that the premise was unlike anything she’d ever published.

“I realized there is no way I can make this work for young adults. I tried to play with it, and I was like, maybe it’s prom? But the stakes weren’t the same. That’s when I realized I [had] to make this jump into writing an adult rom-com,” she said.

Jennifer Dugan – Photo by Amber Hooper

A love letter to the gym She had plenty of time to expand on her runaway bride idea as the novel became a creative quarantine project.

“It was written during the COVID shutdowns in the early days. I was daydream-

ing about when I used to go out and when I used to go to the gym all the time,” Dugan explained. “At the time, I had been going to the gym. I was at this great inclusive gym that made everybody feel so welcome.

I missed it. This was a love letter to that.”

“Muscles are beautiful, and you can lean into traditionally ‘masculine’ things and maintain your femininity.”

Image courtesy of Avon

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Love at First Set centers around the tumultuous protagonist, Lizzie, who dreams of opening a gym as inclusive as Dugan’s reallife sanctuary. “That’s Lizzie’s quest, to make a gym where no matter your ability or reason for being there, you can feel good about being there. You feel like you belong,” she said. “A lot of it was daydreaming about getting out of this little nook where I did all my writing back in the early days of the pandemic.”

While she did do some research via Instagram “fitspo” influencers, most of the gym scenes are inspired by Dugan’s experiences as a weightlifter.

“I love lifting weights. I like to deadlift.

It’s my favorite. It just makes me feel super strong and badass,” she said. “I have some lifting scenes [where] Lizzie talks about how strong is still sexy. I think [people often] expect women to look or act a certain way, and she’s like, ‘Strong is still sexy, strong is beautiful, muscles are beautiful.

Bodies are beautiful in general.’”

Some of the main takeaways Dugan hopes readers lift from the book are body positivity and a healthy relationship with fitness. “I wanted to show that someone like

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Lizzie can be passionate about fitness and opening her gym, but it’s just one passion of hers,” she explained.

“I wanted to show that you can find an inclusive place [to work out]. If you’re part of a gym full of lunkheads who make you uncomfortable, go somewhere else. These places do exist. Also, muscles are beautiful, and you can lean into traditionally ‘masculine’ things and maintain your femininity.

It doesn’t make you less of a woman.”

Leaning into the mayhem Dugan hopes her book can help readers embrace their imperfections and lean into the mayhem.

“I write romances for messy, imperfect people,” she said, “so I hope people recognize that and recognize that [despite] having faults and flaws, you still deserve love, you still deserve happily-ever-after.”

“You may not be perfect, and it may not be a storybook romance. There are still ups and downs, trauma and mistakes, but if your heart is good, you can get there.”

Dugan’s style of charming yet messy characters has become a staple of her work.

“I think that’s my brand. If you’ve ever read any of my previous books, I think you know that’s what you’ll get when a reader picks up my books,” she said with a smile. “I love hearing them described [as chaotic] — that fits. It especially fits Lizzie, who is our POV character. She’s full of bad ideas, she’s doing her best, but you know she’s a mess.”

One challenge Dugan faced in writing chaotic adult characters instead of her usual teen heroines was understanding how living a topsy-turvy life as an adult can make mistakes feel more permanent.

“In YA, one of the things I love is that the stakes always feel like life or death, but you have your whole life ahead of you,” she said. “You can come back from mistakes when you’re a teenager. As an adult, your mistakes can have lifelong impacts.”

“Immediately, even though I’m writing a rom-com, the stakes are still higher, and you’re dealing with grown-up things. Cara leaving someone at the altar has ramifications. They’re living together, building a life together. She does a hard reset and leaves her cushy job, her cushy life, and everything.

The stakes feel higher when you’re writing as an adult.”

see DUGAN page 14

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Books

I Have Something to Tell You says all the right things

Image courtesy of Simon & Schuster

Chasten Buttigieg – Photo by Carina Teoh

no frame of reference, no experience, or role models. He just knew then that he was “different.”

A year later, he watched Will & Grace on TV for the first time, and it was hilarious.

But he had to be careful. Already, he understood that being someone “like that” had to be hidden. He was sure that Gay people weren’t found in places like his Northern Michigan hometown.

For much of his childhood, Buttigieg was bullied, he says, but being lonely was worse. He was awkward, but he found his happy place in theater.

“In school,” he says, “I felt a constant tug-of-war between where I was and where I wanted to be,” between authenticity and pretending.

A year as a high school exchange stu-

dent in Gay-friendly Germany, then a “safe space” in college in Wisconsin clarified many things and helped him gain confidence and “broaden [his] perspective.”

By the time he met the man he calls Peter, “I felt at ease to present myself in ways I hadn’t felt comfortable doing.”

Still, he says, things may be better or they may be worse. “We’ve got a long way to go, but you, the reader, get to be a part of that promising future.”

Filled with an abundance of dad jokes and a casual, chatty tone that never once feels pushy or overbearing, I Have Something to Tell You may seem like déjà vu, and for good reason. This gently altered version of his 2020 memoir, meant for kids ages 12 and up, says all the right things in a surprisingly paternal way.

And yet none of it’s preachy, or even stern.

Though there are brief peeks at his adult life on the campaign trail with his husband, now Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, the heart of the book is all memoir, set in a loving household in a small town.

It’s lightly humorous but not trite; to this, Buttigieg adds a layer of subtle advice, and genuineness to a tale that’s familiar to adults and will appeal to young, still-figuring-it-out teens.

You can expect a “you are not alone” message in a book like this, but it comes with an upbeat, fatherly calm. For a teen who needs that, reading I Have Something to Tell You will be a good experience.

Written by a professional chaotic Bisexual Dugan’s characters are unique because they often do the exact opposite of what a reasonable person in their situation would.

“There’s a gap between what you would think of as an ideal response and their response,” she said.

When brainstorming how to transcribe her messy coming-of-age themes into an adult novel, Dugan realized that many Queer adults experience delayed adolescence.

“There’s a lot of ridiculous reactions and decision-making. A lot of times, you do see that with people who realize they’re Bisexual later in life. They’re going through this second adolescence, where they get to experience everything, so you don’t have this cut-and-dry wisdom,” she said.

Dugan also believes that by nature,

Bisexual characters are prone to levels of chaos that others don’t experience.

“The act of being Bisexual and being attracted to multiple genders puts you in this chaotic state [and] a lot of times the LGBTQ community has mixed feelings about Bisexuality. People will either think you’re ‘too Gay’ or ‘not Gay enough.’”

Love at First Set creates an ideal recipe for Bisexual chaos: a runaway bride discovering her sexuality, a gym enthusiast with big dreams and bigger muscles, and a scheming best frenemy.

“All of that blends into this perfect storm, where you have these people who are feeling big emotions and not making the best decisions, but they are decisions where, if you’re in their shoes, you can see how it makes sense,” she explained. “They’re not always the most thought out. As someone who has been a lifelong chaotic Bisexual, that’s how I operate.

I’m like, ‘Maybe there was a calmer way to do it, but I like my way better.’”

Writing an adult love story also meant

Dugan needed to consider other factors YA protagonists don’t usually have to deal with. “A theme we’re dealing with is financial insecurity, which Lizzie has dealt with her entire life. It’s something that Cara, our love interest, has never had to deal with,” she explained.

“Cara has always done everything right, so embracing her sexuality is very new, and that second adolescence fits her character very well. For Lizzie, it’s more of trying to figure out how to survive without having been given the right tools and basics, so [she’s] going to make mistakes. Writing for adults was different because the stakes are a lot higher.”

Her fans don’t have to worry about waiting until 2024 to read more of her work, though. Her next book, Last Girl Standing, will be released this August.

“That is also Sapphic, but it is in no way a romance. I want people to know it gets very dark, so heed content warnings on that,” she said.

Following that is Full Shift, a Sapphic werewolf graphic novel slated for August 2024.

“I have a lot of things on the horizon,” Dugan said. “They’re all Sapphic across categories, and they’re all romances — aside from the psychological thriller in August.”

In the meantime, for anyone looking for a little romance and a lot of humor, as spring heats up, Love at First Set is the perfect exercise.

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by Terri Schlichenmeyer Special to the SGN I HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL YOU (for young adults) CHASTEN BUTTIGIEG (c) 2023 Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing $18.99 209 pages If you’d have asked eight-year-old Chasten Glezman (now Buttigieg) what his life was like, he probably would’ve told you about his big brothers and how wild and daring they were. He would’ve said he didn’t have many friends but that he loved his parents. He wouldn’t have told you about being Gay, though, because he had

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What’s next?

Writing adult characters was a fun challenge for Dugan, and she plans on continuing that in some of her upcoming novels.

Her next adult work will hopefully hit the shelves sometime in late 2024. She says it will also be a romance and set in a barn.

Love at First Set will be available on May 23, 2023. Pre-orders are open now and include a free print.

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Op-Ed

Coming out to your conservative family

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.

Dear Izzy, I’m new to my LGBTQ identity and don’t really know how to come out to my conservative family. They all have very strong personalities, and I guess they kind of ignore me anyway, so I didn’t really think about it. They didn’t love that I moved to Seattle and started talking about pronouns.

But now I’m seeing someone really great, and I want to be able to bring them home without it being weird? What do I do?

— Secretly Sapphic in Seattle Dear Secretly Sapphic, Mazel tov on your new romance!

The beginning of a relationship is an exciting time, especially if it’s the first time you are experiencing queerness in this way.

It’s a time for butterflies, connection, and new vulnerability. I am proud of you for putting yourself out there and jumping headfirst into the world of queerness. It’s a scary thing to do, but you are already killing it.

First, I recommend reading stories from other members of the LGBTQ+ community who came out to their conservative families, and then following their advice.

A quick online search will give you everything you need.

As for your family, it’s a tricky one.

You obviously want to be your most authentic self around them, but it doesn’t seem like they are all that supportive of you in the first place. Before you bring anyone home that they may not approve of, it might be best to start with a conversation.

Tell your family, maybe even one on one, how you are feeling, and be honest. If you come from a place of openness, they are more likely to do the same.

You can accept that you share different values, but also know that you deserve to be treated with respect. If they respond well to you sharing your thoughts on your pronouns and new community, then move forward by sharing your new relationship.

I found a few more bits of advice from a site called Diverse Church that you may resonate with: Take your time: There is absolutely no rush for you to get this conversation over and done with. In fact, it might be better to subtly drop hints over a few weeks. You can do this by mentioning Queer celebrities, people you look up to, or even other members of the community that your family might know. Make queerness a regular part of your conversations with them, and it will be easier when it’s time to break the news.

Mentally prepare yourself for the bestand worst-case scenarios: In the days

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Photo by Alexander Grey / Pexels

leading up to the big conversation, it might be helpful to journal or meditate. Think about how you want the conversation to go, how they might respond, and how it might feel if it doesn’t go exactly as planned.

Be the bigger person: If an argument arises while you are having the conversation, it’s important to remember not to stoop to their level. There are plenty of reasons why they may be responding the way they are, and it’s important to stay calm and regulated while they process the news.

Diverse Church says, “Try not to rise to their arguments in the first conversation at least. Reassure as much as you can, while not budging on your big news.”

Come from a place of love: Make sure your family knows that you are sharing this news with them because it is important to you, and because you love them and want to be your most authentic self around them.

If you reassure them of your love, they may have an easier time giving it back to you.

Finally, I want to reiterate that you deserve a beautiful, kind, loving relationship that you can share with your family. But that may involve meeting them where they are. Until they show you otherwise, assume that they love you and care for you, and want the best for you.

If at any point they begin to show hostility or disregard for your feelings, then you

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dip out. No need to put yourself in a situation where you could get hurt by people who mean the world to you.

Protect your heart and the rest will follow.

Resources: https://diversechurch.website/home/11tips-on-coming-out-well-to-christianparents ht t ps://w w w. thet revorproject. org/ resou rces /a rt icle/n aviga t ing- lgbtqidentities-and-religion/ https://youtu.be/fvLgDhBCji4 https://medium.com/@caitlinrweiner/ coming-out-to-my-conservative-christianparents-2ec0c3da88bb

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National News

SANTOS

continued from cover What are the accusations?

One of the allegations Santos faces is lying on congressional disclosure forms.

From June 2020 to April 2021, Santos claimed to be eligible for unemployment and received $24,744. However, during this time, he served as the regional director of an investment firm, Harbor City Capital, and made $120,000. The US government ultimately shut down the firm in 2021 after federal authorities determined it to be a Ponzi scheme.

The suit also charges Santos with filing for financial aid related to COVID-19.

He was wired two $564 checks meant for Americans experiencing unemployment due to the pandemic. When asked why he signed up for unemployment despite remaining employed, Santos said he was confused due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

False unemployment relief is not the only dishonest disclosure form Santos is accused of filing. On a financial form for the House of Representatives, he reported an income of $750,000 from his family company, the Devolder Organization, as well as $1 million and $5 million in dividends. When investigators unsealed financial records on Wednesday, they found that Santos had not received that money.

Photo by Shannon Stapleton / Reuters Another accusation Santos faces is elecBrazilian charges too Agreeing to the settlement may have dog breeders, though shortly after, Friends tion fraud and embezzlement. In 2021 he If 13 federal charges weren’t enough, on been the only option for Santos, as he was of Pets United held a puppy adoption event founded the company Redstone Strategies in Florida. The business was branded as a Thursday, May 11, Santos signed an agree- required to suspend his passport follow- at a New York City pet store, at which it campaign fund for his election bid and tar- ment with public prosecutors in Brazil to ing his arraignment and could not have pocketed hundreds of dollars per puppy.

Following the adoption event, Santos geted wealthy donors. Redstone Strategies avoid prosecution for forging two checks appeared in court in Brazil to challenge the in 2008. accusations. asked the pet store owner to write a check for promised that the money would go toward In the agreement, Santos admitted to the proceeds in his name. Instead, the store television ads for Santos. Instead, he allegHow much is that doggy in the window? owner made the check payable to the shelter edly wired $74,000 to his own account, stealing a checkbook from his mother’s employer in 2008, when he was 19, and The charges Santos faced last week are Santos was working for. The pet store owner and reportedly used the funds to pay for purchasing $1,350 worth of goods.

Per the not his first. In 2017 the New York repre- later discovered in his bank records that designer clothes. agreement, Santos will pay almost $5,000. sentative was charged with embezzlement “Friends of Pets United” had been blotted out Most will go to the shopkeeper he swindled. and the use of false checks while heading and replaced with Santos’ name.

Does his party still support him?

The rest will be divided among Brazilian Friends of Pets United, an animal shelter in While Santos was working in animal Despite continued allegations against charities.

New York City. advocacy, a homeless veteran accused him Santos, many in the Republican Party still Charges were filed against him back in According to the allegations, Santos of pocketing $3,000 he raised for his dying back him. Santos’ election flipped a Democratic seat in 2022, making his position 2011, but he refused to answer any subpoe- bought multiple puppies from dog breed- dog. In February, the FBI began investigatcritical in his party’s effort to hold on to its nas, and authorities could not determine his ers with checks totaling $15,000. When the ing the case.

Only time will tell if George Santos will slim majority of just four seats. Last month whereabouts. In 2013 the case was suspended. checks bounced, the authorities contacted After Santos won his congressional Santos. He claimed that a roommate stole be charged with fraud, forced out of office, he cast a vote for a party-backed bill to tie a debt-limit extension to a ten-year deficit election and gained media recognition his checkbook and must have made the pur- and convicted of multiple felonies. However, for fabricating a false life story, Rio state chases after he closed out his account. with each passing day, time seems to reveal reduction. This bill passed by two votes. prosecutors established his location and His attorney at the time claimed that Sanmore shocking truths about his colorful past.

While some Republicans, like Sen. Mitt tos was just as much a victim of fraud as the Romney, have been outspoken about their reopened the case. disapproval of Santos and have even called for his resignation, his fellow representatives have remained adamant that they intend to let the legal process play out before initiating steps to force his resignation.

“In America, there’s a presumption of innocence,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise when asked to comment on the charges against Santos. “They’re serious charges. He’s going to have to go through the legal process.”

Expulsion from the House of Representatives is rare. Since the Civil War, only two representatives have had to resign, and only after they were found guilty of federal charges.

Santos is continuing to prove his value to his party. Following his posting of bail, he returned to Washington DC, where he voted on a bill that would restrict more asylum seekers and increase border enforcement. The bill was a top priority for House Republicans.

Ironically, Santos also voted for a bill that increases state incentives to pursue unemployment fraud, just one day after being charged with that very crime.

House Democrats have accused Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy of refusing to expel Santos to keep the Republican majority intact. More than 36 Democrats in the House have signed a motion by Rep. Robert Garcia of California to remove Santos. “[McCarthy] can barely keep his caucus together on votes, so it’s clear that he’s using George Santos’ support to keep him in leadership,” Garcia said. He is now urging Santos’ fellow Republican representatives from New York to sign onto the motion.

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Photo by Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

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Labor unions ask ILO to investigate Starbucks

by Mike Andrew SGN Staff Writer The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the AFL-CIO have asked the International Labor Organization (ILO) to investigate Starbucks, charging the coffee giant with using gaps in US law to violate its workers’ rights.

The SEIU is the parent union of Starbucks Workers United, which has made remarkable gains against the Starbucks corporation in a little over one year of its unionization drive. The AFL-CIO is a labor federation that includes many of the country’s largest unions. The ILO is a UN agency based in Geneva charged with monitoring violations of workers’ rights.

The complaint, filed on May 11, asks for an ILO investigation because US laws and enforcement mechanisms are “woefully inadequate to deal with a big, powerful employer determined to crush union organizing.”

The SEIU and the AFL-CIO explain that the US lacks speedy ways to decide labor disputes as required under ILO standards, allowing Starbucks to exploit “excessive delays to frustrate organizing and bargaining rights.”

Photo by Mike Blake / Reuters

The complaint also requests an “onthe-spot mission” to interview Starbucks management, workers, union staffers, and government officials in connection with the complaint.

Starbucks workers charge management has retaliated against their organizing efforts with intimidation, firings, and closures on unionized stores — including the

Denny and Broadway store on Seattle’s Capitol Hill. Such actions violate ILO principles, which Starbucks explicitly agreed to follow in its 2020 Global Human Rights Statement.

Employees at more than 300 US corporate-owned Starbucks locations have voted to unionize since late 2021, but none have yet struck a deal on working conditions and wages.

Workers say Starbucks is guilty of badfaith bargaining – also against ILO principles and a violation of US labor law.

Specifically, workers say the company has attempted to draw out contract bargaining in hopes that pro-union employees will quit in frustration, allowing management to hire antiunion replacements.

Since late April, three Starbucks locations in New York have asked to vote on whether to decertify the union — in other words, to cancel union representation of their stores.

In a statement responding to the ILO complaint, Starbucks said that the National Labor Relations Act provides due process “if deployed appropriately.”

The company “has not created excessive delays in the organizing process as alleged” and “in the vast majority of elections, Starbucks has accepted the will of the voting partners and has sought to engage in goodfaith, in-person collective bargaining negotiations,” it said.

In the past, Starbucks has denied retaliating against organizers, accused US labor officials of improper conduct, and said it prefers direct relations with individual employees rather than bargaining with a union.

National news highlights

Activists staging a sit-in outside Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's office – Photo by Alicia Devine / Tallahassee Democrat via AP

by Daniel Lindsley SGN Staff Writer Gay Florida senator decries DeSantis signings In a signing ceremony that took place in the evangelical Cambridge Christian School in Tampa, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a series of bills that fall in line with others issued by state governments across the nation.

The laws ban gender-affirming care for minors and discussion of personal pronouns in schools, and restrict drag shows and bathroom use. They also place some restrictions on adults seeking genderaffirming treatment.

DeSantis reportedly made a show of tossing Sharpies to the crowd.

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Democratic state Sen. Shevrin Jones, who is Gay, said that Republican lawmakers “have cloaked themselves in being the party of less government and parental rights, and what we’re seeing now is the total opposite. Every other parent has the right to raise their child the way that they want to, as long as your child is not Gay, Trans, or Bisexual. That’s freedom for some parents, but not for all parents.”

Jones also said that the venue for the signing ceremony was a sign of how unpopular the governor’s platform is.

“If he’s so confident in his policies, don’t go hiding behind signing the bills at a Christian school or place where you’re more prone to get praise for your bigotry,” Jones said. “Do it out in the community.”

Three Florida families and their attor-

neys have asked for a federal court to intervene and block specifically the gender care law, as there are ongoing cases against the state Boards of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine.

San Francisco appoints first drag laureate San Francisco’s response to the wave of anti-Trans sentiment and legislation was to appoint the world’s first “drag laureate,” a kind of ambassador for the city’s LGBTQ+ community. Well-known drag performer and nightclub owner D’Arcy Drollinger was chosen for the role, which includes a $55,000 stipend for 18 months of her time.

“My goals are to make San Francisco sparkle,” Drollinger said. “I think drag

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performers bring a lot of sparkle and humor and glamour and silliness to the world. I think that is part of why drag is so successful.”

“I’m going to be in drag pretty much 24/7 for the next 18 months,” she added.

Other progressive cities seem eager to follow suit, with West Hollywood planning to appoint its own drag laureate later this month, and New York trying as well, but in both cases there are some budgeting issues holding them back.

Drollinger’s duties will include participating in drag events, serving as a spokesperson for San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ community, and helping officials ensure that the city’s drag history is “shared, honored, and preserved.”

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National/International News

Target’s annual rainbow-wash kinda fun, actually

by Cameron Martinez SGN Intern The month of May for many people is a time of warmer weather and the end of a school year, but for big companies like Target, it is time to take advantage of rainbow capitalism.

In preparation for June, aka Pride month, Target released its Pride collection, and many people don’t know how to feel about it.

The collection includes items such as clothing, accessories, jewelry, shoes, party supplies, home goods, outdoor items, stationary, and even gear for Queer pets. In the past, the company has designed most of its Pride items in-house, but this year it has partnered with Queer artists and outsourced companies for around 95% of its merchandise. Some notable Queer artists included in this collection are the 2022 Skittles collaborators Ash + Chess and JZD, “a lifestyle brand for the Latina queens.”

This move however, has not stopped the internet from creating memes about Targetbrand Pride merchandise. Some that have been the target include a cropped shirt that says “live, laugh, lesbian,” a bright green boiler suit with the word “gay” written in big letters on the back, a figurine of a bird dressed like a drag queen, and a mug with the words “gender fluid” written on the side.

According to Target’s website, a fair number of the products created for the Pride line have been imported from other countries. It is unclear which they are from and whether they are Queer friendly.

When the SGN went to Target to examine the Pride selection, there was also a rogue Funko Pop collectible of Mirabel from the film Encanto. The store also sells Chick-filA sauce. It’s safe to say shoppers can leave the store with items for any type of lifestyle.

Target’s history with the Queer community Target’s relationship with the Queer community has historically been an interesting one. In 2010, the company made a $150,000 donation to an anti-LGBTQ+ political group, which led to a boycott until the CEO apologized for the donation.

Despite a pledge in 2011 that Target would not become involved in the Gay mar-

Photos courtesy of Target

riage debate, in 2012 it released T-shirts and greeting cards with a pro–marriage equality message in an attempt to add more diversity and inclusion in its stores.

In 2014 Target took an official stance in support of Gay marriage by signing an amicus brief in two court cases, which led to a boycott of the company by conservatives.

In 2015, the same year same-sex marriage was legalized nationally, Target released its ironically polarizing Pride Month collection. In a blog post regarding the collection, it stated, “We’re not born with pride. We take pride. Pride in celebrating who we were born to be. Those are the powerful words we at Target want all guests and team members — of every size, color, gender and sexual orientation — to hear as we head into Pride month this week.

“But let us be clear: to Target, pride doesn’t just start and end in June — it is a

year-round commitment. And this year, we’re going all out, supporting Pride parades, events and merchandise.” Si n c e 2015, Target has made the Pride collection annually and has been vocal in its support of the Queer community by participating in Pride parades nationwide.

Should people buy their Pride merchandise from Target?

There are many people who do not support the collection, because of opposition to rainbow capitalism. According to a 2021 post to the site LGBTQ and ALL, “rainbow capitalism, aka pink capitalism, is the action of companies claiming to support LGBTQ+ causes and communities, but [which] are actually making merchandise for profit and capitalize on the trend.

“In other words, it centers …corporate interests and profit. As a result, instead of

LGBTQ+ issues being at the forefront of Pride events, it is actually capitalism.”

According to a 2023 Target corporate blog post, the company made $109 billion in 2022. A 2015 Forbes article indicates that Brian Cornell, the CEO of Target, made $28.2 million in 2014, while his employees earned around $30,000 that year.

There are several Queer Seattle-based artists and companies that make their own Pride merchandise as well. Some examples are Seattle Pride, Choke Shirt Company, and Dual Wield Studio, among countless others.

In the end it is up to the consumer to choose the ways they shop, but keep in mind where money goes and whom you want to support.

International news highlights

by A.V. Eichenbaum SGN Editor -in-Chief Chinese government pressure shutters Beijing LGBT Center The Beijing LGBT Center, an activist group that also hosted a safe space for members of the Queer community in China, announced its closure on Monday, May 15, in the midst of a “crackdown by Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government,” according to the Associated Press. The Beijing LGBT Center is one of several LGBTQ+ organizations forcibly closed in China in the last few years.

Prior to its shutdown, the organization pushed for marriage equality and equal rights, even working with the United Nations Development Programme to conduct a nationwide survey on gender and sexuality in 2015.

Many LGBTQ+ organizations in China don’t officially register with the Chinese government, and many have been shut down without the chance to tell the public about their closure.

“Their shutdown makes one feel very helpless,” an anonymous activist told the AP. “As groups large and small shut down or stop hosting events, there’s no longer a place where one can see hope.”

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The entrance to the closed Beijing LGBT Center on Tuesday – Photo by Ng Han Guan / AP

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