Blaire Fleming is at the center of a national debate over transgender athletes joining gendered sports at the collegiate level, after her team won fourth match by account of forfeiture.

Fleming made headlines earlier this year as her former roommate and team co-captain, Brooke Slusser, filed a class-action lawsuit against her and the National Collegiate Athletics Association. Slusser took to the Independent Council on Women’s Sports to file the class action lawsuit along with other cisgender athletes.

They claim that allowing Fleming and other transfemme athletes compete in women’s sports is in violation of Title IX, which does not permit trans athletes to compete against biological women, or use women’s restrooms. 

The move to forfeit on account of a trans athlete, sparked controversy and driving the three other universities to forfeit in the recent weeks.

San Jose State responded to the latest forfeiture by stating that outing Fleming would have violated school policy. 

The NCAA stated that it will “continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in women’s sports and ensure fair competition for all student-athletes in all NCAA championships.”

The controversy gained more traction as cisgender, far-right, voices joined the conversation. 

Riley Gaines, a former competitive swimmer who came in fifth place in a 200-yard NCAA freestyle championship – tying with trans athlete Lia Thomas – took to X to speak on the issue and openly express her transphobia.

In the post, Gaines repeatedly misgenders Fleming, also adding that it is ‘unfair and dangerous,’ to allow transfemme athletes to compete in women’s sports. 

Gaines is one of many far-right athletes who have either tied or lost a match to a trans athlete, then made it their mission to cast trans athletes out of women’s sports. 

Equality California’s Executive Director released a statement regarding the issue.

“Equality California stands with San Jose State University and appreciates their strong support for their student athletes. All students deserve a safe and inclusive environment where they can thrive without fear or anxiety while being themselves,” said executive director Tony Hoang. 

The San Jose State women’s volleyball team is scheduled to go against San Diego State on Oct 10.

Los Angeles Blade will continue to cover the issue as the story develops.

The LGBTQ rights organization Family Equality held its annual LA Impact Gala on Saturday, September 28 at Citizen News in Los Angeles. Honorees at the event included actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson and husband, producer Justin Mikita. Also honored at the event were Rainbow Book Bus founders Adam Powell and Eric Cervini. Speakers, presenters and performers included Jinx Monsoon, Jai Rodriguez, Richie Jackson, Lyle, Angel Bonilla, David Hernandez, and Family Equality Interim CEO Alexis Kantor.

(Photos by Getty Images for Family Equality)

In 2017, Jon Paul was suicidal. In nearly every place Paul encountered, there were signs that consistently reminded the transgender community that their presence in America by the far right is unwelcomed.

Former President Donald Trump’s anti-trans rhetoric is “partly” responsible for Paul’s suicidal contemplation. 

“I’m driving out of work, and I’m seeing all of these Trump flags that are telling me that I could potentially lose my life over just being me and wanting to be who I am,” Paul said. “So, were they explicitly the issue? No, but did they add to it? I highly would say yes.”

During Trump’s time as president, he often disapproved of those who identified as transgender in America; the former president imposed a ban on transgender individuals who wanted to join the U.S. military.

“If the world keeps telling me that I don’t have a reason for me to be here and the world is going to keep shaming me for being here. Then why live?” Paul added. 

The rhetoric hasn’t slowed and has been a messaging tool Trump uses to galvanize his base by saying that Democrats like Vice President Kamala Harris “want to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison.” Trump made that claim at the presidential debate against Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.  

Not only do Trump’s actions hurt Paul, but they also affect 17-year-old Jacie Michelleé, a transgender person at Friendly Senior High School.

“When former President Donald J. Trump speaks on transgender [individuals] in a negative light, it saddens my heart and makes me wonder what he thinks his personal gain is from making these comments will be,” Michelleé said.

“When these comments are made toward trans immigrants or the transgender community, it baffles me because it shows me that the times are changing and not for the better,” Michelleé added. 

The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation responded to Trump’s rhetoric that opposes the transgender community and how it affects democracy through programming at its Annual Legislative Conference in Washington.

“Our agendas are not set by what other groups are saying we should or shouldn’t do. It is set by our communities and what we know the needs and the most pressing needs are for the Black community, and we know that our global LGBTQAI+ communities have needs; they are a part of our community,” said Nicole Austin-Hillery, president and CEO of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.

One pressing need is suicide prevention, which the National Institute of Health deems necessary, as 82% of transgender individuals have reported having suicidal thoughts, while 40% have attempted suicide. This research applies to individuals like Paul, who reported contemplating suicide.

But instead of choosing to self-harm, Paul met Latrice Royale, a fourth-season contestant on “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” who was awarded the title of Miss Congeniality while on the show. Paul said that meeting brought meaning when there was barely any left.

“It was like I met them at a time where I really, truly, not only needed to see them, but I needed to be able to actively know ‘girl’ you can live and you can have a really a good life, right? And Latrice was that for me,” Paul said.

Though Trump is representative of a lot of movements that are clashing with society, the Democratic Party is actively pushing back against anti-transgender movements and says there is “still much work to be done.”

Not only did Royale model success for Paul, but they also share the same appearance. Paul proudly identifies as “fat” and uses this descriptor as a political vehicle to empower others in the book “Black Fat Femme, Revealing the Power of Visibly Queer Voices in the Media and Learning to Love Yourself.”

“My book, my work as a Black, fat femme, is inherently political. I say this at the very front of my book,” Paul said. “All three of those monikers are all three things in this world that the world hates and is working overtime to get rid of.”

“They’re trying to kill me as a Black person; they’re trying to get rid of me as a fat person. They are trying to get rid of me as a queer person,” Paul added.

Besides Paul’s political statements, the book’s mission is to give those without resources a blueprint to make it across the finish line.

“I want them to look at all the stories that I share in this and be able to say, ‘wow,’ not only do I see myself, but now I have a roadmap and how I can navigate all of these things that life throws at me that I never had, and I think that’s why I was so passionate about selling and writing the book,” Paul said.

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The first LGBTQ+Ñ Literary Festival in Spanish – the first of its kind – will kick-off six days of panels, short film screenings, book signings, performances and a photo exhibit starting today, at different locations across Los Angeles. 

The LGBTQ+Ñ Literary Festival will bring together Spanish-speaking and Latin American writers who explore and celebrate a variety of themes in their work, including sexual diversity and perspectives on identity. 

“Feminist culture and LGBTQ+ culture have been the movements that have most transformed modern societies in recent decades, and therefore deserve special attention,” said Luisgé Martín, director of Instituto Cervantes of Los Ángeles. “There was no stable forum that brought together creators from across the Spanish-speaking world, which is why we have organized this literary festival. It aims to serve as a framework for reflection and a meeting point for LGBTQ+ writers.” 

The festival will bring together authors, readers, academics and activists, to discuss their experiences and share perspectives about the LGBTQ+ community and its academic intersections. 

The first stop for the literary festival is at the Instituto Cervantes of Los Ángeles, from 7 PM to 9 PM on Tuesday, to screen short films that are part of FanCineQueer. 

The festival will feature authors like Myriam Gurba Serrano, Alejandro Córdova “Taylor”, Felipe J. Garcia, Boris Izaguirre, Nando López, María Mínguez Arias, Felipe Restrepo Pombo, Claudia Salazar Jiménez, Pablo Simonetti, and Gabriela Wiener. 

There will also be a photo exhibit and featured photographers such as Gonza Gallego and Liliana Hueso. 

The festival will take place at multiple venues including the Instituto Cervantes of Los Ángeles, The Student Union at Los Angeles City College and Circus of Books. 

For more information on the event visit the Instagram page for Instituto Cervantes of Los Ángeles. 

The Latino Equality Alliance hosted its annual fundraiser on Saturday at Del Records in Bell Gardens as their quinceañera-themed Purple Lily Awards raises nearly $100,000 to create safe spaces for Latin American LGBTQ+ youth and their families. 

This year, LEA honored co-founder Gutiérrez Arámbula, RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 15 Contestant, Salina Estitties, and the Liberty Hill Foundation. 

“The Latino Equality Alliance’s history and survival underscores the importance of providing critical resources and positive support for LGBTQ+ youth struggling to find a safe space,” said founder and executive director Eddie Martinez. “We are proud to have stood shoulder to shoulder with the Latinx community for 15 years and are excited about the promising future ahead of us.”

LEA’s mission with this event, is also to bring attention to Proposition 3 – which puts same-sex marriage on the November ballot. 

Proposition 3 seeks to reaffirm the right to same-sex marriage. 

This proposition shines light on the California Constitution that still to this day upholds language that does not include gender non-conforming people or queer and trans people in the protections for marriage equality. 

The CA Constitution says ‘only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California,’ which also only upholds protections and recognition for same-race couples, excluding interracial families, as well as LGBTQ+ families. 

That language — while still on the books — is effectively void after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 allowed same-sex marriage to resume in California, and the high court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in a historic 2015 decision. 

Upholding protections for marriage equality is important to LEA because California has the largest LGBTQ+ population in the United States. 

The grassroots organization is celebrating continued growth in their progress toward equality and celebrating the achievements of the Latin American community members that are at the forefront of creating safe spaces in Boyle Heights and beyond. 

LEA was the first community and school LGBTQ youth civic policy advocacy and empowerment program to lower dropout rates, bullying and increase graduation rates.

“¡Tacos, los tacos de canasta, taaacooos!”

This echoed at the screening of “Transmexico” on Thursday at the Hola Mexico Film Festival.

It’s also the sound many people in Mexico City hear and recognize as Lady Marven, better known as Lady Tacos de Canasta.

She is one of three trans women featured in the documentary “Transmexico,” whose story brings joyous laughter and tears to the audience at HMFF. 

Earlier this year, the film won the Audience Choice Award at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.

The documentary features the stories of three trans women throughout Mexico. It explores their experiences with transition, social acceptance and access to health care within a culture and government that upholds impunity for crimes against women and gender-nonconforming people.

Director Claudia Sanchez approaches the themes of social stigma, discrimination and death with care and compassion as she frames the narrative around the true and lived experiences of the documentary’s subjects.

“I was a witness of the abuse and bullying that trans women suffer through the first trans woman I ever met when I was around 5 or 6 years old,” Sanchez told the audience at the Q&A. “I decided to make a documentary that would highlight the beauty of the trans [femme] community because I didn’t think it was fair that the entire community is usually labeled negatively.”

“It’s important that we can do this and show people that we are here and we are present, and that there are other titles and labels – like lawyer, mother, queen – that represent us,” Lady Tacos said in Spanish. “Today, we want to claim titles and labels that impress the world and have impact on the world and that show what we are truly made of, and what we are capable of.”

Lady Tacos made a red carpet appearance at HMFF, joining Sanchez and others on a panel for a Q&A following the screening.

She spoke about how proud she felt experiencing this journey and seeing herself on screen sharing her story.

Lady Tacos – who identifies as muxe, a third gender in Mexican culture – went viral on social media after she was recorded being harassed and misgendered by the police force in Mexico. They took her basket and repeatedly called her “sir” and “mister” as they forced her to stop selling tacos on the street. She angrily yelled back and made it known that she clearly doesn’t identify as a male, motioning to her dress and trenzas, or braids.

Since then, she has become a well-known and respected internet celebrity to the people of Mexico City and has been able to open her own brick-and-mortar restaurant with the support of her family and many members of the LGBTQ+ community in CDMX.

The film also features trans activist Kenya Cuevas Fuentes. Fuentes shared her story of being a former sex worker who started at age 9. By 10 years old, she had been incarcerated, and by her teen years, she contracted HIV.

As an adult, Fuentes witnessed the murder of her good friend, Paola Buenrostro. This experience shaped Fuentes and turned her to activism because she knew Buenrostro would never get the justice she deserved and her killer would continue to walk free.

In 2016, transfemicide was officially recognized as a crime in Mexico City following Buenrostro’s death and activism by Fuentes.

“TransMexico” highlights the accomplishments and strides for justice that Fuentes has brought to Buenrostro’s case.

Felicia Garza’s story is also featured in the documentary, showing a more hopeful side of the transition journey.

She shares her struggle with not only coming to terms with her identity – and being willing to lose everything in the process – but also how her story offers insight on how family members struggle and learn to embrace their family members’ new identity.

“You have to be willing to lose everything, and if you’re not prepared for that, don’t do it,” Garza said in the documentary.

Following the Q&A, guests lined up outside the theater for complimentary tacos de canasta.

The film festival screened the documentary on Thursday night at Regal Theatres at L.A. Live and will continue making rounds at upcoming film festivals.

‘The Rainbow Age of Television: An Opinionated History of Queer TV’
By Shayna Maci Warner
c.2024, Abrams Press
$28/304 pages

Wanna hand over the clicker?

You don’t want to miss the season premiere of that show you binge-watched over the summer. You’re invested, a fan who can’t wait to see what happens next. You heard that this may be the last season and you’ll be sad, if that’s so. Is it time to start looking for another, newer obsession or will you want to read “The Rainbow Age of Television” by Shayna Maci Warner, and find something old?

Like most kids of the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, Shayna Maci Warner spent lots of time glued to a television screen, devouring programming before school, after school, and all summer long. For Warner, that programming eventually led to a revelation. They saw people that looked like them, for which they formed “a personal attachment.”

It was “life-changing.”

It didn’t happen all at once, and some of TV’s “milestones” are forever lost, since broadcasts were live until the 1950s. Shortly after shows were taped and preserved, homosexuality became a “source of worry and blunt fascination” but certain performers carefully presented gently risqué characters and dialogue that nudged and winked at viewers.

Some queer representation appeared in the 1960s, but it wasn’t until the 1970s when dramas began to feature more gay and lesbian characters, however subtly. It took a while for “the ‘rest’ of the alphabet” to be represented in a meaningful way and – despite that “Star Trek” and its many versions included gender-diverse characters – it wasn’t until 1996 that an intersex infant was featured on a regular television drama.

Since Ellen DeGeneres came out practically on her namesake TV show and “Will & Grace” became a wild hit, queer representation on TV has ceased to be an unusual thing. And yet, programmers and writers know that caution is still warranted: sometimes, “there can still be hesitation around pushing the envelope and fear that a queer character who burns too brightly just won’t last.”

Quick: name three after-school TV shows that aired when you were in fourth grade. If you can’t do it, one thing’s for certain: you need “The Rainbow Age of Television.”

But get ready for some argument. Author Shayna Maci Warner offers a rabid fan’s look at the best and the worst queer representation had to offer, and you may beg to differ with what they say about various programs. That makes this book a critique, of sorts, but Warner offers plenty of wiggle-room for argument.

Tussling over the finer points of queer programming, though, is only half the fun of reading this book. Microwave a box of pizza snacks or mac-and-cheese, demand “your” sofa seat, and dive into the nostalgia of old TV shows, most of them from the later last century. Yep, your faves are here. It’s like having an oldies channel on paper, and in your hand.

This is a must-have for former kids and current TV addicts who are happy to see themselves represented on TV. If that’s you, who brought the chips? “The Rainbow Age of Television” will just click.

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The Gay, Lesbian, Alliance Against Defamation organization hosted a reception on Thursday, to kick off Hispanic Heritage Month and celebrate the season two premiere of the digital series, “Dímelo.” 

The digital series Dímelo, or “tell me” is an interview-based series with Latine comedians who identify as LGBTQ+, serves non-traditional conversations with critiques on media tropes and  unfiltered opinions about how LGBTQ+ identity is both understood and misunderstood. 

“Dimelo, is a digital series we created at GLAAD, in order to have a place to see ourselves and to have a place where we could come together in laughter and joy,” said Monica Trasandes, senior director of Spanish language and Latine representation at GLAAD and series executive producer. 

Season two featured series creator Gabe Gonzales, a “boricua” comedian, writer and consultant from Central Florida, who also self-identifies as the “LaCroix of Latinos.” 

“There’s a little bit of flavor there, but I gotta tell you what it is first,” said Gonzalez. 

The interviews featured in the series are meant to be incisive and unfiltered views into the lives of the Latine, LGBTQ+ comedians who agreed to share their perspectives and laugh out their traumas. 

Last Thursday, GLAAD hosted a reception to launch season two with some of the comedians from the series as special guests who performed stand-up skits. 

Lorena Russi, Roz Hernandez, Danielle Perez and Gabe Gonzalez performed comedy skits at the series launch at the London Hotel in West Hollywood. 

The season premiere will be available to watch on GLAAD’s YouTube and the LatiNation+ app. Exclusive clips from the series will be released on TikTok and Instagram through October 15. 

Learn more about the comedians and watch the trailer here.

The Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Media Institute released its 2024 Studio Responsibility Index, finding an alarmingly low amount of queer and trans characters in 2023 films and TV series, oftentimes still being blatantly offensive. 

“It’s our job to provide you with the tools and support to tell fair and inclusive stories,” said GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis. “This is so important because we are seeing a direct correlation between a very sharp rise in LGBTQ+ violence and over [600] anti-LGBTQ+ laws [being introduced] this year.”

Over 600 anti-transgender laws were introduced this year alone, whereas in 2023 there were a record-breaking 400 anti-trans laws introduced. 

The SRI found that in 2023, only two films featured a trans character. 

The report further found that not only is representation “alarmingly low,” but it is “also at times, blatantly offensive.”

Yesterday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation released a report highlighting hate crimes against LGBTQ people, showing an increase from the previous years. 

Megan Townsend, the GLAAD Media Institute’s senior director of entertainment research and analysis, stated that the need for more LGBTQ representation is more crucial than ever because more Americans than ever now identify as part of the LGBTQ community. 

“One in five Americans identify as LGBTQ+ and this is a figure that has gone up,” said Townsend. “Super majorities of both LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ 18-24 year olds actively seek out queer inclusive media.”

The purpose of this Studio Responsibility Index is not only to highlight the lack of representation on Hollywood screens, but also to protect the progress that has already been made. 

GLAAD uses research and analysis of ten major studios that include A24, Amazon, Apple TV+, Lionsgate, NBC Universal, Netflix, Paramount Global, Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Discovery. 

The studio responsibility index explores films across five genres, comedy, drama, family, fantasy/sci-fi/action and horror. 

Each studio receives a rating on the scale of excellent, good, fair, insufficient, poor and failing to provide with enough valid representation. 

The SRI also uses The Vito Russo Test, which was inspired by The Bechdel-Wallace Test. The Bechdel-Wallace Test was named after Alison Bechdel and Liz Wallace, who developed it to measure women’s representation on screen. To pass, the film must feature a conversation between two female characters, where they don’t mention a man. 

The Vito Russo Test, therefore, was inspired to measure LGBTQ representation on screen. GLAAD developed its own set of criteria to analyze how characters are represented within a narrative. In 2023, 71 percent of the 256 films analyzed passed the Vito Russo Test. This marks a consistent rise in this specific part of the report. 

Music and dance artist Isla Cheadle is producing “Build This House,” a weekend of vogue performance and community-building workshops at the Warehouse at the Geffen Contemporary on Oct. 4-5. The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) and the Banjee Ball Foundation, a Ballroom-centered organization providing creative, educational and career opportunities to LGBTQIA+ individuals and women, are presenting the event.

“Ballroom is one of the greatest American art forms, both in its creative potency and competitive structure,” Cheadle said. “It belongs in spaces that respect it — not just for the finger snaps, but for the effect it has had on culture for half a century.”

Organizer, Isla Cheadle, an award-winning voguer and sought-after choreographer.

Cheadle, who was one of the dancers on HBO Max’s popular Ballroom series “Legendary” in season one, said this weekend is a “full circle” moment for her.

“Back in 2014, when I was early in my ballroom path, I was asked by a music artist friend to help choreograph their performance at MOCA. I pulled in my new voguer friends and it was amazing. Ever since then, I have dreamed about getting back there and letting Ballroom fully take up space.”

Cheadle has been in talks with MOCA for almost two years about hosting a Ball there. “This year I finally turned my brand Banjee Ball into a nonprofit (also a longtime dream) and we were able to bring it all together.”

With almost 20 years of experience in entertainment, Cheadle has toured the world performing dance music with her husband under the name Purple Crush. They’ve released collaborations with artists such as “RuPaul’s Drag Race” stars Raja and Eureka O’Hara, rapper Le1f, Ballroom/House producer Vjuan Allure and Ballroom commentator Icon Kevin JZ Prodigy, who worked with Beyoncé and Madonna.

“Build This House” is also the title of a new song Cheadle and her husband have worked on. “The song is about creating safe space, by building community from the ground up, brick by brick,” she noted, adding that Purple Crush’s full album will be out this fall.

Friday night will feature a lecture series by some of the great minds in Ballroom and HIV activism: Michael Roberson, an acclaimed Ballroom historian and professor at the New School for Social Research; Ballroom We Care, a harm-reduction Ballroom-centered organization; and trauma healer Tovi C. Scruggs. The workshop series will be followed by live performances by artists like Kevin JZ Prodigy. Saturday night will be a full Ball, with categories, costumes and competition.

Zay Basquiat (formerly from the House of Lanvin), also known as Isaiah Victor, will be choreographing and performing, alongside Purple Crush and Kevin JZ Prodigy.