ISSUE 29
C E L E B R AT I N G
VOLUME 51
49 YEARS
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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
DESANTIS FACES HEAT FROM VOTERS AFTER HOMOPHOBIC NEW AD
by Lindsey Anderson SGN Staff Writer Presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis left many on both sides of the political spectrum confused and uncomfortable when he released an ad for his campaign on June 30 that targets Donald Trump but flashes between images of shirtless men while club music plays in the background, suggesting that the twice-indicted former president is too supportive of the LGBTQ+ community.
see DESANTIS page 17
Florida Gov. Ron Desantis – Photo by Scott Morgan / Reuters
Starbucks is not a monolith
Perfectly pink Barbie a phantasmagorical triumph
Image courtesy of Starbucks
by Daniel Lindsley SGN Staff Writer A reader reached out over email last week to express some concerns about the SGN’s coverage of Starbucks Workers United. They specifically mentioned the articles about the alleged removal of Pride decorations in some Starbucks stores, saying that
coverage was biased toward the statements of the union and hasn’t done enough to discover or acknowledge all the good the company is doing for its Queer employees. (This reader requested to remain anonymous, so their name has been omitted. To that end, I am using gender-neutral pronouns.)
see STARBUCKS page 15
Barbie – Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.
by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN Staff Writer BARBIE Theaters
If one threw Playtime, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Singin’ in the Rain, Sabrina, Young Frankenstein, and Josie and the Pussycats into a blender and poured the contents into a glass, it’s likely that the pink-colored concoction would look a lot like Greta Gerwig’s Barbie.
see BARBIE page 7
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In this Issue
LOCAL NEWS 4 A&E 6 FILM 7 BOOKS 10 OP-ED 14 NATIONAL NEWS 17 INTERNATIONAL NEWS 18 J U LY 2 1, 2 0 2 3
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Local News
Cutie Fest expanding young artist accessibility: The search for a venue
Cutie Fest Creator Kaitlin Fritz – Courtesy photo
by Kali Herbst Minino SGN Intern No one was buying Kaitlin Fritz’s art when she set up a blanket in Cal Anderson Park and sold her COVID-era works a couple of years ago. The next year, the creator of the Cutie Foundation — founded to support and showcase young Queer artists — posted on Instagram asking if anyone wanted to join her. Free of charge to vendors and emphasizing the work of young Queer artists, the new market steadily grew to cover half of the park, attracting a crowd that cares about mutual aid. Some vendors have free stuff or sliding-scale pricing, and one vendor’s profits funded their friend’s top surgery. Now, Fritz (she/they) and her team of volunteers are planning fundraisers for a permanent retail and event space. Fritz credits the success of the event to a need for such markets she was hearing about, even in the early days of Cutie Fest. She said the participating artists are usually young people who have not been given space or taken seriously. “There are markets, but there’s not a lot … [and they] are pretty broad: there will be some old dude selling crafts and a young person selling anime art prints,” Fritz said. Cutie Fest is more focused. The reality of vendor fees — something Cutie Fest doesn’t charge — has also helped attract that kind of seller. Getting a full-sized space at Punk Rock Flea market costs $100 for one day or $150 for a weekend. The smaller booths at Urban Craft Uprising shows cost $175. “If foot traffic’s not great, the market’s not for you. You’re spending a hundred dollars and making a hundred, and then you’re there in the hot weather all day,” Fritz said. “It’s the expense; it’s not accessible. Once you get there and you pay all this money, there’s no support. They don’t care if you make money.”
At Cutie Fest, a group of volunteers called Cutie Facilitators provide the support Fritz believes other markets are lacking. The facilitators help vendors set up booths and print out payment-option QR codes. In Fritz’s
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vision for the retail and event space, that support won’t disappear. She hopes to provide mentoring opportunities around sales and financial planning, setting people up to make money and run their own business.
“You can’t do that unless you know somebody,” Fritz said. “[You need to] give an opportunity for all these young people to know somebody and be able to …have grown-ups who are in the business and have connections with the city. I get so passionate about being able to provide that.” Planning for the joint retail and event space is still in the early stages, but Fritz’s vision includes a place to sell artists’ work without taking out any commission, a space for fundraisers and other events, a small coffee shop, and a tool library. Fritz feels that it’s the Cutie Foundation’s job to fund the space. Since it is not charging artist fees, she’s finding creative ways to secure that funding. Right now, Fritz is waiting on nonprofit certification, which would allow the organization to tap into city and grant money. “There’s so much money that is allocated for …young arts, so much money just sitting there, but there’s not enough people that are taking the money,” Fritz said. Venmo is the primary way to donate to Cutie Fest at the moment, but Fritz is planning multiple fundraising events over the summer and an Indiegogo campaign. The goal is to raise $60,000 for initial costs. Fritz is looking for locations that are central and easily accessible by public transportation, since some artists use the bus to get to Cutie Fest events. The Cutie Foundation has a budget of $5,000 per month, and Capitol Hill and the Central District are at the top of its list. The Cutie Foundation’s website is currently rather barren, and there’s a lot to be done before a permanent space can be opened. That being said, Fritz seems optimistic about the project. “So far it seems like Seattle’s okay. The local art scene has come together a little bit, doing cool stuff,” Fritz said.
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Arts & Entertainment
Jam Fest is intentionally local and adored by its Queer performers
S A M and The Shanghai Pearl at Jam Fest – Photo courtesy of Wing Luke Museum
by Kali Herbst Minino SGN Intern On historic Canton Alley and Maynard Alley, there’s a free festival with lines of tabling organizations, local music, and art. Organized by the Wing Luke Museum and its community advisory committee, Jam Fest started in 2010 and used to occur multiple times a year. COVID limited that frequency but did not put a damper in festivities, and now it takes place annually in July. July 13 was the date for this year’s Jam Fest, the second after COVID. The festival’s turnout doubled to 700 attendees. Le-Vy Nguyen Craig, the events coordinator at the Wing Luke Museum, originally became involved with the institution by being a performer at Jam Fest. She says she fell in love with it and kept coming back, eventually becoming a volunteer and getting a museum studies certificate during the pandemic-era rise in anti-Asian hate. Ultimately, she was hired there. Her next goals for the festival include growing the physical space it occupies, because Canton and Maynard Alleys are not sufficient. “We are an adventurous staff. I love to make things bigger and better,” Nguyen Craig said. Following the museum’s mission to tell the history of the CID and share the culture of the neighborhood, Nguyen Craig emphasized the importance of activating the local community. “We don’t bring in outside food vendors, because we want our guests to get to know our tabling partners, enjoy the show, enjoy a restaurant, or get some boba in the neighborhood,” she said. “I always try to focus on uplifting a different performer or tabling partner every year.”
That effort has not gone unnoticed by performers at the event. Chiku Nance, an indie artist who has worked with the Wing Luke Museum in the past, said they appreciate the inclusion of other nonprofit organizations. “They always really incorporate the neighborhood into their festival. They’re not just having it at the Chinatown International District — they’re having a festival for the community as well. They’re inviting people
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from the community to table and having people interact with them in a way that they wouldn’t normally,” Chiku Nance said. Viper Fengz, a drag artist who performed at the festival, said they like how raw and local Jam Fest is, adding that other festivals usually book a big headliner to bring in a large audience: “Usually what happens is all that work, all that money, goes to this one incredible artist, and all that’s left goes to the local talent.”
All three artists the SGN interviewed said they felt supported by the community and organizers during the event, and all three praised its meticulous organization. “Everything that I’ve done through Wing Luke Museum, they’ve been able to garner a really solid audience for it. Not only that, the community is always looking for an opportunity to support,” Viper Fengz said. “I’m a Virgo. I love a clean show.” S A M, a drag performer at the fest, went as far to say it was one of their best gigs. They were contacted by the Wing Luke Museum in the later stages of planning. The museum couldn’t fit in another performance, but S A M was invited to wander the alleys in a colorful jellyfish drag costume they had posted on their Instagram. Usually a stage-oriented performer, S A M found the audience was a little different from their usual events. “It was really nice to feel a little bit like a Disney princess, with all the kids,” S A M said. There were special moments for other performers, too. Chiku Nance’s favorite part was when a friend brought strawberry ice cream to pass out during the set to celebrate an upcoming song of theirs, “Strawberry Ice Cream.” The festival follows an emotionally taxing year of anti-Trans legislation and drag bans throughout the country, but Nguyen Craig described it as one of joy and care. “[Queer performers] just brought so much sparkle and joy to the event. It was an honor to include them in the lineup,” she said. The artists can be followed on Instagram: S A M @aahmedsam, Chiku Nance @chikunance, and Viper Fengz @ viperfengz.
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Film
Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie in Barbie – Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.
BARBIE
continued from cover The Oscar-nominated Lady Bird and Little Women hitmaker has returned with a vengeance, toy giant Mattel and the studio bosses at Warner Bros. having seemingly given the director far more creative freedom than one may have thought possible when she signed on to helm the $100 million-plus production. In Barbie Land, all of the Barbies and Kens (along with the random Midge, Skipper, and Allan) live in blissful harmony. Each day in their plastic paradise is full of sunshine and rainbows. They wave to one another each morning inside their see-through dreamhouses, frolic at the beach, and have massive dance parties — which always culminate in another energetic “girls’ night” for all the Barbies while the Kens go off to, well, somewhere. No one really knows. But Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie) has begun to wonder if this is all life has to offer. She’s having some sort of existential crisis, ruminating on death, and starting to suffer odd patches of cellulite seemingly out of nowhere. Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon) urges her fellow doll to head off into the “real world” to find the answers to all her questions. Stereotypical
Barbie is surprised to find a blonde Ken (Ryan Gosling) who is eager to join her on a quest that will lead all the way to the Mattel corporate offices and a meeting with its nonplussed CEO (Will Ferrell), who doesn’t act too terribly surprised to see the company’s iconic doll suddenly standing before him. Gerwig, cowriting the screenplay with frequent collaborator Noah Baumbach (Frances Ha), pulls out all the stops. The Barbies of Barbie Land come in all shapes and sizes, featuring practically every iteration of the doll created over the past sixplus decades. They are portrayed by a variety of familiar faces, including Alexandra Shipp, Issa Rae, Emma Mackey, Dua Lipa, Hari Nef, and Ritu Arya. They are doctors, lawyers, astronauts, delivery drivers, Supreme Court justices, and even the goshdarn president. It’s a suitably eclectic group, and Gerwig goes out of her way to make sure all of them are unique in one memorable form after another. The Kens are all variations on the same theme: well-shaped male matinee idols, all vying for the attention of one of the Barbies. Joining Gosling as eye-catching accessories are the likes of Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, and Scott Evans, and all of them have far more to do than is initially hinted at during the film’s delightfully wacky
opening act. Also making an impression is Michael Cera as the one and only Allan. His reaction to Stereotypical Barbie and Ken’s return from the real world builds to a supremely funny outburst of truthfulness that’s laced with a somewhat shocking level of acidic observational commentary I honestly did not see coming. Yet that’s Barbie. Sure, the film is a phantasmagorical triumph, with production designer Sarah Greenwood (Atonement) and costume designer Jacqueline Durran (Anna Karenina) delivering on a level that’s about seven steps beyond spectacular. But it is the human aspect that makes what Gerwig is doing resonate. This is a slyly eviscerating social commentary. Better yet, the filmmaker tackles a bevy of complex topics, most notably ones involving the patriarchy, feminism, consumerism, and stereotypical gender roles, in ways that are easily digestible for audiences of almost — emphasis on “almost” — any age. Robbie is stunning. Her reaction to seeing that the real world is not the female-driven paradise of equality and friendship that living in Barbie Land has led her to believe it is is earthshattering. Even better is a moment where Barbie’s complex, not exactly pleasant history is unleashed upon her with the sort of fire-and-brimstone candor only an angrily cavalier middle schooler (wonderfully portrayed by newcomer Ariana Greenblatt)
Kate McKinnon in Barbie – Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.
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can deliver. Robbie’s reactions are so authentically honest and touching that I was nearly moved to tears, and this only helps augment the character’s growing determination to set things right (in both Barbie Land and the real world) later on. Gosling is equally tremendous. This may be the actor’s best comedic performance to date, which is saying something for anyone who has seen The Nice Guys. His giggly glee in learning all about the maledominated real world is a gigantic treat, and while his Ken learns all of the wrong lessons and becomes moderately obsessed with crafting a Stepfordized, patriarchal, horse-loving utopia, Gosling’s goodnatured himbo cluelessness is a poetic thing of beauty. Then there is America Ferrera. She is Gerwig’s secret weapon, a human interloper in Barbie Land named Gloria who, on the surface, is dealing with rather normal and mundane issues involving work-life balance, parenthood, and the somewhat shattered dreams of youthful innocence. In lesser hands, her character could have been a melodramatic, maybe even didactic bore. Instead, Ferrara makes Gloria a potent force of nature. Her delivery of a fiery monologue just before the film’s climax overflows with so much passionate, hardscrabble intensity that I wanted to leap to my feet and cheer. Not all of the jokes land. Some of the visuals come up short, and a chase through banal corporate cubicles — straight out of Jacques Tati’s aforementioned Playtime — oddly falls slightly flat. There are moments of messy world-building when I almost felt like Gerwig was throwing things at the pastel walls, trying to see what would stick, and it’s hard not to get the sensation that both she and Baumbach would have loved to have pushed the sardonic envelope a bit more if they could have. It truly does not matter. Barbie is a triumph. There’s so much happening in every corner of the frame, yet not so much that Gerwig ever loses focus on the characters populating her madcap realm of nonsensical imagination. It all culminates with a final line of dialogue that ranks as one of the best of this still young century, maybe even up there with Some Like It Hot’s “Nobody’s perfect!” or The Apartment’s “Shut up and deal.” As for the parents forced to answer some potentially uncomfortable questions from their little ones as they exit the theater? That’s exactly as it should be, and I don’t think Stereotypical Barbie — or her creator, Ruth Handler — would want it any other way.
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History, ego, and scientific discovery explode in Nolan’s ambitious Oppenheimer by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN Staff Writer OPPENHEIMER Theater Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is the type of old-school, star-studded, epic historical biography Hollywood does not make anymore. It’s shot on 70mm IMAX film. A full three hours in length. Overflowing in directorial flourishes reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick and David Lean. No penny pinched — every dollar is up on the screen. All of the technical aspects — from costumes to production design, set decoration to makeup, editing to cinematography, original score to sound design — border on perfection. Make no mistake, it is nothing short of extraordinary. Yet the film, a time-bending chronicle of the birth of the atomic bomb and an examination of its complicated creator, American theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (magnificently portrayed by veteran character actor Cillian Murphy), is as frustrating as it is fantastic. This is a sprawling, sometimes self-indulgent opus that determinedly keeps its central figure in the spotlight but often reduces many of its key supporting players to ephemeral one-dimensionality. Nolan has crafted something so exhilarating that its more maddening aspects can’t help but stick out like a sore thumb, and I’ll be curious to discover if my opinion of the finished product improves or diminishes on a second watch. I am not a Manhattan Project historian. I only know what I learned about Oppenheimer, the Trinity Test, and his subsequent fall from grace from what we briefly covered in my AP American History class in high school. Even though Nolan’s dense, multilayered script is based on the Pulitzer Prize– winning American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, I can’t say I have the first clue how closely the director’s narrative hews to its source material. If anything, Oppenheimer resembles Oliver Stone’s Academy Award–winning docudrama JFK more than anything else. This is also an ambitious retelling of historical events that shifts from color to blackand-white and back again as it moves backward and forward through time, as if linear storytelling was boringly passé. The film is slickly edited by Jennifer Lame (Tenet), stunningly shot by Hoyte Van Hoytema (Nebraska), and features a titanic score courtesy of composer Ludwig Göransson (Black Panther) that instantly ranks as one of the Oscar winner’s crowning achievements. These are all attributes Nolan’s film shares with Stone’s 1991 favorite. But it shares other aspects as well. There is a layer of sensationalism that keeps much of the core emotional dynamics that rumbles throughout the piece irritatingly at arm’s length. The opening act, where Nolan introduces his central figures and starts placing his pieces on the chessboard, is messy, muddled, and strangely hurried. Many of the female characters are nonentities, and their plights rarely matter in a meaningful way. Sometimes, the cavalcade of superstar faces becomes a game of “look who that is!” instead of a shining moment for a talented performer to disappear into a role and make a lasting impression. Does all of this make Oppenheimer something of a mixed bag? Certainly, but in some ways that’s more of a plus than a minus. Nolan is taking big swings and challenging the audience to pay attention. He keeps the viewer on their toes with sizzling dialogue reminiscent of 12 Angry Men or Seven Days in May and keeps the visual and audio razzle-dazzle to a surprising minimum. He presents Oppenheimer as a complex figure who is neither hero nor villain, never
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passing judgment on his accomplishments, thus allowing the audience to decide for themselves whether or not the seismic change he unleashed upon the world was an unpardonable sin or nothing more than a tragic inevitability that humanity was destined to discover with or without him. What I imagine will not come as a shock to anyone is that the film’s midsection at the Los Alamos testing site in New Mexico is the film’s chief asset, in particular the actual Trinity test itself. Nolan is firing on all cylinders throughout this portion of the story. Every scene between Murphy and Matt Damon — portraying project lead General Leslie Groves — is pure poetry. The byplay between Oppenheimer and his determined team of scientists crackles with urgent pizazz, most notably any interaction he has with future hydrogen bomb enthusiast Edward Teller (Benny Safdie) or longtime friend and colleague Isidor Rabi (David Krumholtz). It all builds to that Trinity test, and the whole sequence is nothing less than magnificent. Nolan channels some mystical combination of Terrence Malick, David Lynch, Kathryn Bigelow, and Michael Bay during the buildup to and aftermath of that fateful July 16, 1945, morning, so much so that it
was almost as if sweat were dripping right off the screen. It’s magnetically tense, and by the time the bomb drops and the world as everyone knew it up to then changed forever, I’d moved so far up to the edge of my theater seat, it’s a wonder I didn’t fall off. I’ll be curious to see how general audiences react to the final act of Nolan’s sprawling creation. Everything is presented with a two-piece framing device. One chronicles an inquest into Oppenheimer’s past associations and communist ties as they pertain to his security clearance. The other looks at the Senate congressional hearing for potential cabinet nominee Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.). They are utterly intertwined, and each section is chock-full of fascinating moments and startling revelations. This is also where Nolan is his most selfindulgent. Some of his flourishes work extremely well, like the casual nudity between characters sharing a postcoital conversation or a Machiavellian maestro reveling in the intricacies of a plan that’s been years in construction and that is hopefully about to pay dividends. But other aspects don’t work as well, and having characters who were mostly invisible throughout the first two-thirds of the story
suddenly show up to make the most impactful revelations considerably mitigated my emotional connection to the material. It should be noted that, as much as Florence Pugh and Emily Blunt try, the women in Oppenheimer’s life barely register. After a wonderful introduction, Pugh is subsequently underutilized to such a degree it’s infuriating. As for Blunt, who portrays Oppenheimer’s wife Katherine “Kitty” Puening, while history tells us she was a complicated woman with one heck of a backstory of her own, that’s only hinted at in the sparsest of brushstrokes here. Yet, thanks to one superb scene during the inquest where the actor magnetically spars with an aggressively pugnacious Jason Clarke, she manages to come out of this relatively unscathed. I will see Oppenheimer again. Even though Nolan’s not staring into the impenetrable galactic heavens as he did in Interstellar, showcasing mystical illusions as in The Prestige, navigating the heroic retreat of Dunkirk, or introducing Batman’s arch enemy The Joker with action-packed gravitas, this is still every bit the cinematic magnum opus any of those motion pictures were. Whether or not it will leave a similar lasting impression, only time will tell.
Oppenheimer – Photos courtesy of Universal Pictures
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Books
Uncover the mysteries of history at Books on the West
Spanish American War. Star Photo, St. Louis, ca 1898, 1898. – Image courtesy of Books on the West
by Lindsey Anderson SGN Staff Writer Long before Amazon’s online bookstore became a retail giant, most Americans got their books from small shops and independent sellers like Gene Baade. Baade knows a thing or two about those days gone by. Since 1988, he has been selling books out of his own home, with a catalog he designed himself. Baade has since put the catalog online, called Books on the West, but his inventory remains in his home, where he can usually be found with his nose in a volume. A book lover turned collector “I’ve always loved books. I grew up on a farm in Oklahoma and was a reader from the beginning. I was encouraged to do that,” Baade said. “When my wife and family and I moved to Portland, Oregon, in 1986, I began to frequent certain used bookstores. Portland was great with used bookstores, some of the obvious ones and some of the less-well-known ones. I started to do a lot of buying for private collections, and eventually I decided that I needed to begin selling in order to support my habit, so to speak.” Most of the books Baade collected from used-book stores around the Pacific Northwest focused on a special interest of his: Western Americana. “My specialty is Western Americana and Canadiana, even though I have a much broader inventory,” Baade explained. His enchantment with sensationalized tales of American history started early on. “I was always interested in the Old West. I was interested in my state and the former territory …from early on. During high school on the school bus, I would read Louis L’amour novels,” he said. Through his collecting, he made con-
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nections with other genre enthusiasts and began a humble mailing list. Within just a few years, his small, homegrown shop was reaching readers across the country. “I was able to acquire a significant mailing list of Western Americana collectors and libraries and so forth from an acquaintance in Texas,” he said. A different kind of collection Almost every book in Baade’s 4,000piece collection is unique. “Because my business field is Western Americana used and rare, I don’t carry a stock of multiple copies of virtually anything. Most of my material is one of a kind,” he explained. While his store definitely won’t have the hottest celebrity memoir or summer romcom, he’s noticed that trends still ebb and flow in the world of Western Americana literature. When popular Western history magazine True West releases a special on a topic like Jesse James or Billy the Kid, Baade sees a spike in interest in those topics as well. This summer, books related to the new Scorsese film Killers of the Flower Moon have been flying off the shelves. “[Books] about the Osage in Oklahoma and how they were cheated out of their oil allotments in the 1920s [are popular], and that particular title is very popular,” Baade said. “I only have two or three copies of that in the first edition. I usually only handle material in the first edition rather than reprints.” Baade’s favorite books aren’t always the most popular. The most unique thing in his collection right now is an old collection of maps. “I have an 1887 atlas of the state of Kansas. Very few copies are available on the internet. It’s a wonderful, huge atlas,” he said.
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The Official State Atlas of Kansas: Compiled from Government Surveys, County Records and Personal Investigations. Philadelphia: L. H. Everts & Co, 1887. First Edition. Hardcover. – Image courtesy of Books on the West
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C E L E B R AT I N G 4 9 Y E A R S!
Books
Life on Other Planets: A memoir of two worlds by Terri Schlichenmeyer Special to the SGN LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS: A MEMOIR OF FINDING MY PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE AOMAWA SHIELDS, PHD © 2023 Viking $28.00 352 pages Growing up in a “self-sufficient and independent,” all-female, Black household that prized education and encouraged her love of the planets, Aomawa Shields was raised securely on a foundation of science. As she says, “the sky was my first love.” She didn’t know then that the night sky could become a career; she remembers wanting, instead, to be a cheerleader like the pretty white girls she saw on TV. Her PhD-educated mother “winced” over that but delighted in her fascination with stars and embrace of STEM subjects. By the time she was 12 years old, Shields had mapped out her entire future career. To get there, she read as much about astronomy as she could find. She “devoured” TV shows about space before applying to an elite prep school that took her from her California home to New Hampshire. At Exeter, she says, “as soon as I could, I took astronomy courses.” She dreamed of applying to NASA. She also auditioned for a play and landed a good part. Acting, Shields learned, was fun and she was quite good at it; storytelling, making an audience feel a certain way — it was addictive. And so, when she began struggling academically in college and a professor told her that maybe it was time to put astronomy aside, another “love” was waiting for her in the wings. She continued to attend astronomy classes, but he also secretly auditioned for parts before moving back to California for her new career. Still, she says, she wasn’t satisfied.
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continued from page 10 He still acquires most of his books from used-book stores and antique sales. Now, over 40 years since he started collecting, Baade says he’s mastered the art of knowing a good book when he sees it. “It’s kind of a sixth sense in many ways,” he said. “Other booksellers would say that. You see something, and you think there’s something special that maybe you want to look at more closely. You’re looking for things that appear to be nice. It’s kind of an undefined thing.”
Aomawa Shields – Photo by Steven Meckler
Astronomy and acting — how was this going to work? She had two loves, and was about to meet a third... Pick up Life on Other Planets, and you may be tempted to put it right back down. The subject matter is pretty heavy. It’s very science-y — what if it’s over your head? You might get lost, right? Not really. Shields does bring a lot of science into her tale, but it comes with gentle, wide-eyed wonder and explanations that are easy for an average reader to grasp. There’s beauty in what she envisions, and she shares her excitement in a way that will make you see the sky with fresh eyes. That’s the first leg of this book. The other part is about Shields’ journey to fit into two worlds, with one foot in each of them, while still being true to herself and her interests. Readers who love science will love this book, but you don’t have to be a STEM expert to enjoy it. Find Life on Other Planets and see if it doesn’t brighten your summertime reading. LGBTQ+ people in history One thing that keeps Baade coming back to the thrill of Western Americana is the mystery attached to the genre. “There are a lot of undiscovered identities in the history of the frontier, and it’s only when somebody brings attention to that [that they are recognized],” he said. For example, many LGBTQ+ people lived on the American frontier, where they explored gender and sexual identities. These topics are not often taught in basic history courses. “Unless you read about it yourself, you won’t know about those histories, but that’s what makes it exciting, uncovering the
Image courtesy of Viking
mysteries,” Baade said. He recently discovered the history of a Gay mountain man in Wyoming. “I was just contacted by a friend the other day about the book he was looking at. It was about a mountain man who was born and raised in England, who came to America in the 1830s and ’40s for the fur trade. He was a trapper,” Baade explained. “I did not know that apparently there was an alternative rendezvous for the fur trade that was usually held around Greenwood, Wyoming. That rendezvous was more geared toward people of his sexual orientation. That was a complete surprise to me.”
On The Track of The Sasquatch: Encounters with BIGFOOT from California to Canada (Books 1 & 2, both signed) Harrison Hot Springs: Cheam, 1980. First Edition. Soft cover. – Image courtesy of Books on the West
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A Sasquatch scholar Western Americana isn’t the only topic that interests Baade. He is also a semi-wellknown Bigfoot scholar. “I am a researcher in Sasquatch and Bigfoot material. I specialize in that material,” he said. Not only does he collect material about the elusive cryptid, but he has also published several of his own findings. “I have done some writing and publishing in that field as well,” he explained. “[My research was] pertaining to footprints that were discovered in northern Wisconsin, where I lived. I also did various interviews in northern Wisconsin even in the 1970s. I published a bibliography for one of the most important books in the field, which was published in Yakima in 1966. I am the author of the bibliography of that — it’s called Roger Patterson’s Snowman Book — and I have written articles for various online journals as well as for the Book Club of Washington.” As a theologist and semiretired pastor, Baade has a long answer for anyone who asks point-blank if he believes in Bigfoot: “I don’t believe the word ‘belief’ quite fits it,” he began. Due to evidence, some of which he has documented, Baade has concluded the creature must be real. “If you want to just assume the old layman’s answer, yes I do,” he said. Baade’s entire collection can be found online. “If people want to look …at my inventory… over 4,000 [titles] online in various fields, if they’re interested in something, [they can] contact me directly,” he said. “I’m always happy to meet people. I’m not really open for general browsing, but I am open for contact. I do believe strongly in good customer service.” Baade can be reached at info@ booksonthewest.com. His website is https:// www.booksonthewest.com.
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Op-Ed
Getting lost in London and finding calm at home
Seattle's Orca Swim Team outside London Olympic Pool June 2023 – Courtesy photo
Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Thames, Buckingham Palace, the Tate Modern, Hyde Park, the West End, Soho, the Tower Bridge and Trafalgar Square. These are just a few of the attractions on any London tourist’s mustsee list. I have to admit: When I visited London for an international LGBTQ+ swim meet, all I could think about were the cute guys in tiny, tight swimsuits, perfectly coifed and with tart British accents, standing in front of me. We had all been gathered for the IGLA swim competition in sweltering Palm Springs last April. I’d been swimming with the local Queer team, the Seattle Orcas, since the late 1990s and loved the camaraderie, especially at the Gay Games, held every four years in various glam destinations, like New York City, Amsterdam, Sydney, Paris, or even my own hometown of Cleveland (which I wouldn’t call glam but rolled out the red carpet and beautiful August weather in 2014 to offer a memorable snapshot of Midwestern hospitality). Several swimmers from the Out to Swim London team had traveled to that desert destination to announce that their team would host the annual IGLA swim meet, where elite and not-so-elite (i.e., like me) LGBTQ+ swimmers, divers, water polo players, and others gather to compete. I couldn’t resist those accents and friendly invitations. So my best friend — also on the swim team — and I boarded a Virgin Atlantic flight on June 21 and headed to merry old England. I hadn’t touched down in the UK since my twenties, when I began a backpack-
ing adventure with a Eurail Pass and visited nine countries in six weeks. That first visit, I arrived in May during a heat wave, with an unwieldy Rick Steves pack and a woolen sweater glued to my back, because I’d expected cooler weather. Not completely out of the closet at that time, I met a girl who developed a crush on me. So my memories of the place were colored by discomfort and a general feeling that London wasn’t a Gayfriendly destination. My, how times change! Over 30 years later, we encountered a London as Queer as a three-dollar bill! We arrived at our hotel in Piccadilly Circus and saw the Regent Street shopping district decked out in Pride banners as far as the eye could see. I guess we’ve been identified as a demographic with deep pockets, but I’d like to think it was a way of welcoming and celebrating our community. I’ve always loved the romance of Paris but will admit that the ease of not having to think in a different language before I spoke gave me a sense of belonging and calm. Not that you can always understand British dialects, which I discovered after watching four seasons of The Crown. I still struggle with comprehension, but at least the language is my own. My friend and I took a cruise along the Thames, soaked up the historical sites as we pounded the pavement, rested at outdoor cafés, listened to jazz at a former speakeasy housed within a brasserie, and grabbed last-minute tickets to a show — with the provocative title I F*cked You in My Spaceship — at the Soho Theatre-Dean Street, which seemed like a proper introduction to a revival of the famed musical Cabaret we saw later that week. After a jam-packed weekend in central London, we hopped the Tube and traveled
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by Jack Hilovsky SGN Contributing Writer
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London Pride Parade 2023 – Courtesy photo
to Stratford in East London, where we took up residence on the edge of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, home to the 2012 London Olympics stadium and pool, where we’d compete. We stayed in an award-winning hotel converted from shipping containers called The Snoozebox: inexpensive and snug. The swim meet feels like a blur. I’d registered for five events: the 50-meter back and breaststroke, 100-meter IM, 200-meter freestyle, and several relays with my teammates. Still overcoming the residue of jet lag and a bout with COVID prior to the trip, I did the best I could and saw my swim mates take home medals for first, second, and third place in their respective heats. Go team! We returned to the city after the meet ended and marched with Out to Swim London in the July 1 Pride Parade, which began in Kensington and stretched through the heart of London to Piccadilly Circus and beyond. It was a bright, sunny afternoon, and the crowds lining the parade route cheered and whooped for us and the other marchers. We carried our makeshift Seattle Orca Swim Team sign for the majority of the parade route, flirting and fraternizing with other participants from the US, Europe, Australia, and elsewhere. We even learned a choregraphed number set to Kylie Minogue’s
latest hit, “Padam Padam,” replete with blue hand fans flapping in unison. After landing back in Seattle one week ago, it all seems a bit like a mirage. For many, traveling is a luxury; for some, a necessity. The gift is allowing yourself to get lost, loosening the reins of your mustsee list, and instead discovering a fluid approach to encountering a new place, new people, new ways of seeing things. Seattle is so busy in the summertime, as we try to squeeze every moment out of the warm, long, sunny days we are given. But I returned home with a desire to relinquish whatever frenetic pace I had set for summer and instead find more moments to exhale, rest, and dream. Sometimes slowing down and getting lost leads you to new places. I’m looking forward to seeing what I may have missed in the rush of life and sinking into the depths of it. Jack Hilovsky is an author, actor, and blogger who has made his home in Seattle since 1986. His first book RJ, Farrah and Me: A Young Man’s Gay Odyssey from the Inside Out, was published in June 2022. It can be found at Elliott Bay Book Co., Madison Books, Nook & Cranny, University Bookstore, Pegasus Book Exchange, and Third Place Books (Seward Park), among other local booksellers.
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Photo courtesy of Starbucks
STARBUCKS continued from cover
been some district managers or others who don’t follow corporate policy on Pride decorations,” they wrote, “but I find it in bad taste when reporting does not attempt to look at the whole picture and instead publishes these blanket accusations based on perhaps a few isolated incidents blown up by the unions, which attempt to make Starbucks look like any other company that is anti-LGBT.”
Many might be tempted to write this email off as a case of misplaced sympathy. Anticorporate sentiment is popular right now, but whether or not one believes that sentiment is warranted, a Queer view from within corporate offices is rare. That is to say, this reader’s experience Zooming out matters. As a Queer, Trans person with Let’s zoom out, then, to see more of the more than a few years at the company, who whole picture. Starbucks’ healthcare plan knows people “from baristas to upper-level has covered gender-affirming surgery managers” throughout, they wrote that since 2013, and according to PBS, the com“Starbucks is an extremely LGBT-friendly pany extended full health benefits to sameplace.” They pointed out the company’s sex partners in 1988 — which was early, very public support of the LGBTQ+ com- considering that the first publicly traded munity, like its tradition of raising the Pride company to do so was Lotus, in 1991. (Starflag at its headquarters. bucks went public in 1992.) Perhaps most importantly, they wrote On the Human Rights Campaign’s Corthat “Starbucks paid for [their] (gender- porate Equity Report last year, the coffee affirming) surgery and has excellent giant scored a perfect 100. The report rates healthcare benefits for Transgender people.” participants on criteria like workforce pro“I’m not doubting that there might have tections for LGBTQ+ employees, whether
healthcare benefits are inclusive, and the quality of internal training and education around LGBTQ+ identities. Those metrics are a strong indication that, in many ways, Starbucks is indeed at the top on LGBTQ+ issues. Its marketing also makes that hard to forget. References to the HRC’s report can be found on the company’s website, along with a year-by-year list of philanthropic acts and awards. Starbucks makes regular donations to LGBTQ+ nonprofits, totaling over $700,000 last year. Starbucks also dedicates considerable resources to diversity, equity, and inclusion. However, in October of last year, a video released to Bloomberg showed the results of a survey of office-based Starbucks employees in the US. Only 52% of respondents said they “completely agree” that the company “behaves in an ethical and responsible manner”; only 48% said they completely agree that they were “proud of the role Starbucks has in making a social impact.” The news outlet described these figures as “historic lows.”
That the survey was conducted at all could imply that, internally, Starbucks is doing some soul-searching and could be trying to bring those numbers up. But at the same time, the company’s response to the union movement so far has been far from open and sympathetic, and it has also used its record of good citizenship as a shield against criticism. An article published in the New York Times late last year dedicated a sizable portion to analyzing the history and character of now-former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, and though the story it told was complicated and not entirely flattering, it gave him a lot of credit for the company’s employee-friendly policies, as well as its alleged union-busting campaign. In March, Schultz testified before a Senate panel, where he was grilled about his role in the company’s hundreds of alleged violations of the National Labor Relations Act, which protects private-sector employees’ rights to organize. At that time, the company had already been found guilty by an NLRB judge for telling workers that unionizing was futile, and for unlawfully firing seven union organizers in Buffalo, New York. In his opening statement, Schultz emphasized how well Starbucks treats its workers, and that the company is an industry leader in employee benefits and compensation. Those claims and the allegations of the union can both be true, in the same way that Starbucks can receive a perfect score from the HRC and remove Pride decorations from certain stores. The game, then, isn’t to choose a specific person or group of people to blame but to identify the systemic issues within the company that allowed the violations to occur, and ensure that the system is changed so that people within it aren’t harmed in the same way again. If most corporations were eager after all to scrutinize their own systemic shortfalls and broadcast them loudly year after year, the duty of a journalist might then be to raise awareness of their good practices. But when some of Starbucks’ lowest-paid workers report casual discrimination, qualifying their statements with the company’s otherwise stellar treatment of LGBTQ workers is redundant at best, and at worst could mistake a systemic problem for a fluke.
Image courtesy of Starbucks
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Op-Ed
Threads is the next Queer app by Cameron Martinez SGN Intern I think members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies should ditch Twitter for Meta’s newest app, Threads. It’s a text-based app linked to Instagram. It essentially functions just like Twitter in terms of a text-based timeline, except instead of being owned by billionaire edgelord Elon Musk, it’s owned by billionaire meat smoker Mark Zuckerberg. I know what most of you are thinking and I agree: both men are notoriously disliked billionaires. Billionaires should not exist for plenty of reasons, but that’s not the focus of this debate for me. For me, it’s choosing between a far-right spaceman with a weird affinity for anime girls, and someone who has the personal information of nearly three billion people at his fingertips. Personally, I dislike Musk more than I’m creeped out by Zuckerberg. As someone who grew up with the internet, I’m used to being always watched, which is frightening, but like most people in my generation, I don’t really care anymore. Ever since Musk purchased Twitter in 2022, the app has gotten progressively more toxic, and this is without even mentioning the constant porn and crypto bots that bombard my direct messages. Between posting edgy memes and updates about his phallic spaceships, Musk has really been chugging along on the antiTransgender train that far-right media has been fueling. “Repeated, targeted harassment against any account will cause the harassing accounts to receive, at minimum, temporary suspensions,” Musk tweeted in response to someone complaining about being called “cis.” “The words ‘cis’ or ‘cisgender’ are considered slurs on this platform.” This tweet by Musk encouraged more anti-Trans people to speak out. “‘Cis’ is ideological language, signifying belief in the unfalsifiable concept of gender identity,” said TERF and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling on Twitter. “You have a perfect right to believe in unprovable essences that may or may not match the sexed body, but the rest of us have a right to disagree, and to refuse to adopt your jargon.” This anti-Trans ideology is extremely harmful to some in the Queer community, along with it being false.
Photo by Anna Shvets / Pexels
According to PinkNews, “Much of the way we speak about gender derives from Latin. Both ‘cis’ and ‘trans’ are Latin prefixes, with cis meaning ‘on this side of’ and trans meaning ‘across from’ or ‘on the other side of.’” Just like the word “Trans” is not an insult, neither is “cis.” If you think the word “Trans” is an insult, that implies you have an issue with Trans people. The increase of hate since Musk purchased Twitter isn’t just speculation; it’s been proven by the Center for Countering Digital Hate. According to the CCDH, “The volume of [the anti-LGBTQ+] narrative on Twitter has only grown under Elon Musk, with tweets and retweets mentioning the LGBTQ+ community alongside ‘grooming’ slurs jumping 119% since his takeover of the platform on October 27, 2022.
Photo by Richard Drew / AP
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“Often targeting educators, Pride events, or drag story hour events, the ‘grooming’ narrative demonizes the LGBTQ+ community with hateful tropes, using slurs like ‘groomer’ and ‘pedophile.’” Why Threads is a friendlier place Threads, on the other hand, censors anti-LGBTQ+ posts. For example, the Twitter account @libsoftiktok tweeted, “Stating facts is ‘hate speech’ on Threads,” with an accompanying image of a blocked thread that said “non-binary isn’t real.” There was also a warning that popped up indicating the spread of false news when some Threads users tried to follow Donald Trump Jr. Meta claims that this was a mistake and has since removed the warning, but I think they should bring it back and put
it on all accounts that spread fake news. I’m sick and tired of these hateful people having such a large and visible platform. I’m not the only person who believes that Threads is the next Queer-friendly social media platform either. In its first few days, there were many speaking about their excitement about having a platform not run by Musk. “Elon is a slur,” said Queer internet celebrity Matt Bernstein on Threads, an obvious jab at Musk’s decision to villainize the word “cis.” Concerns There are some concerns people are already pointing out about the app, though. For one, nudity and pornographic material is not allowed on Threads, but it’s allowed on Twitter. My response to this is that in the decade I’ve spent on Twitter, I’ve seen way too many pornographic tweets that I did not want to see on my timeline, so I have no problem with platforms that don’t allow porn. There are also plenty of other places on the internet to find porn, so people need to chill out. As someone who has grown up with the internet, I think Threads is also a safer place for kids, because they do not need to be seeing fake news and porn. I know kids shouldn’t be on social media anyway, but they obviously are so, let’s make a safe space for them on at least one app. Another concern is the fact that Threads is connected to Instagram, so those who follow you on Instagram and make a Threads account will automatically follow you on Threads. Those who are annoyed by that and don’t want to follow certain people (or have them follow their account) can just block or unfollow them or remove them as followers. People are also complaining about the fact that there is no direct-message feature. To that argument, I say that I’m tired of being added to Twitter group chats with scammers, so the lack of the feature is alright with me. I also know that some are beginning to flee from Threads, but I know they will come crawling back as soon as Musk bans another word or does something equally as stupid. Musk has threatened to sue Zuckerberg over the creation of Threads, so we’ll see what happens next. In the meantime, I’ll be using Threads instead of Twitter.
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National News
Photo by Jacquelyn Martin / AP
response to the Pulse Nightclub shooting, which happened in Florida, where DeSantis continued from cover serves as governor. The ad also criticized Trump for his friendThe ad begins with a soundbite of Trump ship with former Olympic athlete Caitlyn addressing the Republican National Con- Jenner. Jenner responded to the ad on Twitter, vention in 2016, in which he says, “I will do saying, “DeSantis has hit a new low. But he’s everything in my power to protect LGBTQ+ so desperate he’ll do anything to get ahead — citizens.” The quote was part of Trump’s that’s been the theme of his campaign.”
DESANTIS
A sequence of images within the ad – Screenshots via AP
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Criticism from all sides The latest campaign ad has since gone viral online. While many critics are talking about its celebration of DeSantis’s recent attacks on LGBTQ+ communities in Florida, others have noted the sheer oddness in the combination of clips and music. “I’m going to leave aside the strangeness of trying to prove your manhood by putting up a video that splices images of you in between images of oiled-up, shirtless body-builders,” US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who is openly Gay, said. “I just don’t understand the mentality of someone who gets up in the morning thinking that he’s gonna prove his worth by competing over who can make life hardest for a hard-hit community that’s already so vulnerable in America.” Republicans are also speaking out against the ad. Fellow GOP candidate Chris Christie, who is currently bringing up the rear in national polls, commented on the ad, saying, “I’m not comfortable with it, and I’m not comfortable with the way both Gov. DeSantis and Donald Trump are moving the debate in our country.” Log Cabin Republicans, a group of conservative LGBTQ+ voters, also issued a statement condemning the ad. “Ron DeSantis’ extreme rhetoric has just expanded into homophobic territory,” the group wrote after the video was released on Twitter.
strong stance on culture war topics, which include LGBTQ+ rights and abortion. Those with political experience believe this is a losing strategy. Former Florida Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo critiqued the strategy on MSNBC earlier this week. “DeSantis doesn’t appear to be running to the right of Donald Trump. He seems to be running beneath Donald Trump. He’s attacking Donald Trump for saying Gay people should be treated equally,” he said. “What Gov. DeSantis is doing is dangerous. He’s trying desperately to gain support among Republican primary voters. But in some ways, he’s almost disqualifying himself, because the types of swing voters who helped Democrats recover from the Republican trifecta of 2016, they’re not going to be okay with this.” Not only has the DeSantis campaign come under fire for promoting homophobia, but news networks have also picked up murmurs that the campaign is grossly overspending. In the first six weeks of DeSantis’s candidacy, he has spent nearly $8 million. To cut costs, DeSantis is now firing dozens of political staffers. Following his anti-Trump ad, donors have also begun to pull funds from the campaign. According to Politico, some are considering shifting investments toward Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina. Even Rupert Murdoch, who voiced early support for DeSantis, DeSantis fights back is holding out for another candidate. Despite negative feedback from DemoIt isn’t just the DeSantis campaign that crats and Republicans, DeSantis’s team is hurting — the whole state of Florida is voiced support for the ad. In a response experiencing financial issues related to to the Log Cabin Republicans, Christina DeSantis’s conservative social policies. Pushaw, a spokesperson for the DeSantis Currently, it has the highest inflation rate in campaign, claimed, “Opposing the federal the country. The Tampa Bay Times’ higher recognition of ‘Pride Month’ isn’t ‘homo- education reporter, Divya Kumar, says phobic.’ We wouldn’t support a month to some of the state’s economic issues stem celebrate straight people for sexual orien- from a “brain drain,” due to the increase in tation, either… It’s unnecessary, divisive, empty education positions as teachers and pandering. In a country as vast and diverse professors leave the state. Insurance comas the USA, identity politics is poison.” panies are also dropping policies in Florida DeSantis also spoke out in favor of the ad. due to increased climate disasters and antiIn an interview with conservative personality LGBTQ+ policies. Tomi Lahren, he said, “Identifying Donald According to an NBC poll, Trump holds Trump as really being a pioneer in injecting the lead over DeSantis in Florida by 20%. gender ideology into the mainstream, where he was having men compete against women Trump’s response in his beauty pageants — I think that’s totally Trump’s team has now spoken out about fair game, because he’s now campaigning the ad. “A desperate DeSanctus [sic] camsaying the opposite.” paign, with a flailing candidate, in its last throes of relevancy,” Steven Cheung, a Trouble in Florida spokesperson for the Trump campaign, said. The ad flap couldn’t have come at a worse Make no mistake: Trump is far from time for DeSantis. His campaign is bleed- being an LGBTQ+ ally. While in office, ing money, and national polls continue to he banned Transgender people from servshow him trailing Trump, despite many ing in the military, removed Title IX proanalysts having speculated early on that he tections for Transgender students, banned would be the GOP candidate to keep an eye Pride flags from flying at US embassies, on. It appears the DeSantis campaign strat- and of course, appointed an unprecedented egy has been to position the Florida gover- number of anti-LGBTQ+ judges. nor to the right of Trump by showcasing his
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National/International News National news highlights by Kali Herbst Minino SGN Intern California proposition could enshrine same-sex marriage in 2024 California’s state constitution currently has an inactive section from 2008 that bans recognition of same-sex marriages, called Proposition 8. Same-sex marriage has been legal there since 2013, two years before it became legal nationally, but Proposition 8’s language remains in the constitution. In 2024, California voters will be able to vote to remove that language. California’s Senate passed the proposed amendment July 13 on a 31-0 vote. Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, called the decision “joyous.” All but one of the chamber’s eight Republicans did not cast a vote. Two members of the California Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus, Scott Wiener and Evan Low, began the process to put the proposition in voters’ hands after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. It was worried that LGBTQ+ rights could be next, since Justice Clarence Thomas said the court should consider other rulings besides abortion, including the 2015 decision that legalized same-sex marriages. Idaho law preventing minors from crossing state lines for an abortion sparks lawsuit In Idaho, abortion at any stage of pregnancy is currently banned (with narrow exceptions), and a law passed in May prevents minors from traveling across state lines for an abortion without parental consent. Helping a minor do this could result in a felony and 2–5 years in prison. The Northwest Abortion Access Fund and the Indigenous Idaho Alliance are suing Idaho in response, alongside Nampa attorney Lourdes Matsumoto.
Abortion rights protest outside of Boise, Idaho statehouse – Photo by Sarah A. Miller / Idaho Statesman via AP
All three plaintiffs help minors looking to get an abortion. According to the lawsuit, the Northwest Abortion Access fund alone helped 166 Idaho residents last year. The group says that the law is too vague and that it violates a First Amendment right to talk to minors about abortion and Fourth Amendment right to travel across state lines.
The number of abortions has increased in states surrounding Idaho — by 1,500 in Washington, over 1,300 in Oregon, and almost 2,600 in Nevada. Idaho’s new law makes the portion of the trip across state lines in Idaho illegal, making its constitutionality murky. One part of the Constitution requires states to
respect the laws of others, but another forbids the restriction of commerce between states. There is no public transportation between Boise, Idaho’s capital, and the closest abortion provider in Oregon.
International news highlights by Kali Herbst Minino SGN Intern Budapest Pride protests 2021 law limiting Queer media Among the thousands that attended Budapest’s 28th annual Pride were those who protested a discriminatory law from 2021 that bans portrayals of Queer relationships and gender transition in any content for minors. Event organizer Jojo Majercsik said the law had no instant ramifications back in 2021 but has lately been enforced more frequently. Most recently, a Hungarian bookstore chain was fined $35,930 for putting copies of the graphic novel Heartstopper in a youth literature section without a closed package. Hungary’s media authority also cracked down on a 30-second Pride advertisement in which two women touched foreheads. Deemed unsuitable for minors, it was only allowed to be broadcast between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government says the laws protect children from sexual propaganda. On Saturday a distributed denial-ofdervice — an online attack that involves flooding a server with internet traffic to make a site unavailable — hit Budapest Pride’s website, which was unavailable during the event. Meanwhile, counterprotesters gathered along the march route. Director David Vig of Amnesty International Hungary said that Budapest Pride, unlike such events in North America and Western Europe, act more as a protest than a celebration.
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Attendees of Budapest Pride – Photo by Tamas Kovacs / MTI via AP
Russian law banning gender-affirming care passes lower house of parliament A draft of a law that would ban gender-affirming care and legal gender changes passed Russia’s lower house of parliament, the Duma, on July 14. The draft is set to move on to the Federation Council and then go to Vladimir Putin to become law.
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Once passed, Russians won’t be able to change their gender on legal documents, and medical workers will be barred from providing gender-affirming surgery and hormone therapy. Additions to the draft banning Trans people from adopting children, as well as annulling marriages if a partner undergoes those legal or medical changes, were made during the second of three Duma readings.
The draft is expected to become law. Putin has said in the past that LGBTQ+ lifestyles are against traditional Russian values, and last December, additional restrictions were added to an existing law limiting portrayals of LGBTQ+ actions to children. The modified law imposes fines on LGBTQ+ actions and content in public, online, and in films or books.
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Episode 70: Bobby Goodwin Co-hosts Benny and Lindsey get into the potential long-term impacts of the Supreme Court's recent ruling on anti-discrimination laws. To potentially lighten the mood, they also bring out the first installment of their dramatic readings of some of Seattle's strangest Craigslist ads. Lindsey interviews City Council District 3 candidate Bobby Goodwin on graffiti, criminal defense, and more. Bobby's Website: https://goodwinforseattle.com/
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