Local
Is America on a slippery slope to fascism?
The Republican Party ‘has become a threat to liberal democracy,’ says Steve Schmidt
President Donald Trump (Photo by Michael Key)
Out journalist Masha Gessen, an expert on Russian President Vladimir Putin and authoritarianism, pulled no rhetorical punches.
“I don’t think we have fascist rule in this country, but what we have is a fascist leader,” Gessen told MSNBC’s Joy Reid on June 23, referring to President Donald Trump. “We have a nativist, nationalist leader who is devoting all his energy into portraying a group of people as a super dangerous enemy, both sort of subhuman animals, right, ‘infestation,’ and superhuman at the same time because they’re so frightening— because if we don’t protect ourselves, terrible things will happen, we don’t know what kind of catastrophe will befall us,” encapsulating Trump’s use of fear tactics and dehumanizing language about immigrants to rile his base.
“That is fascism,” Gessen said. “Whether we allow fascism to take over this entire country is an open question and none of us knows what’s going to happen. But it is by no means hyperbole to call Trump a fascist.”
Gessen noted how slowly fascism takes hold. “Somebody posted recently the mock cover that The Boston Globe did before Trump’s election to try to scare people that said, ‘Deportations to Begin.’ And we thought it would be so shocking just a year and a half ago—and now we’re in the middle of it,” she said. “Deportations have long since begun and worse than deportations.”
“And soon internment camps,” Reid added as an almost throwaway afterthought.
And then came the internment camps—for children.
But first came the announcement. In March 2017, Trump called for an end to the “catch and release” policy whereby migrants crossing illegally into the US, a misdemeanor, would be freed to stay in the country while awaiting a court hearing. A Department of Homeland Security proposal called for women and children to be separated as a deterrent to mothers.
Implementing the new policy proposal “could create lifelong psychological trauma,” Marielena Hincapie, executive director at the National Immigration Law Center, told Reuters for a March 3, 2017 story. “Especially for children that have just completed a perilous journey from Central America.”
A year later, on April 6, 2018, Attorney General Jeffrey Beauregard Sessions announced a new “zero-tolerance” policy. Lest anyone miss the point, Sessions went to Friendship Park on the border on May 8 and gleefully spelled out the new policy.
“People are not going to caravan or otherwise stampede our border. We need legality and integrity in the system. That’s why the Department of Homeland Security is now referring 100 percent of illegal Southwest Border crossings to the Department of Justice for prosecution. And the Department of Justice will take up those cases,” he said. “If you cross this border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you. It’s that simple. If you smuggle illegal aliens across our border, then we will prosecute you. If you are smuggling a child, then we will prosecute you and that child will be separated from you as required by law.”
The felony criminalization of immigration forced authorities to take a child while the parent was referred for prosecution, which often resulted in deportation without the child. Sessions later declared that asylum would not be granted to anyone fleeing from domestic violence or gangs.
Asked by NPR if separating a child from a mother is “cruel and heartless,” White House Chief of Staff John Kelly said on May 11: “I wouldn’t put it quite that way. The children will be taken care of — put into foster care or whatever. But the big point is they elected to come illegally into the United States and this is a technique that no one hopes will be used extensively or for very long.”
During a May 15 Senate committee hearing, DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said that families seeking asylum who present themselves at ports of entry stay together. However, DHS later clarified that families may be separated if they can’t prove a custodial relationship or if DHS thinks a child may be at risk, being used by a trafficker to gain entry. In practice, asylum seekers who presented themselves at a point of entry were blocked, forced to find another way into the country, thus making their crossing illegal, with the children removed.
On May 29, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a 21 percent surge in one month in unaccompanied children in government detention centers. “Although the government has not disclosed how many children have been separated from their parents as a result of the new measures, [HHS] said Tuesday that it had 10,773 migrant children in its custody, up from 8,886 on April 29,” the Washington Post reported.
More than 100 children under the age of 4 were taken from their mothers, including breast-feeding infants, The New York Times reported, using data provided by HHS’ Office of Refugee Resettlement.
The policy was the last straw for former Republican strategist Steve Schmidt who renounced his membership in the Republican Party, now “fully the party of Trump.”
“This child separation policy is connected to the worst abuses of humanity in our history. It is connected by the same evil that separated families during slavery and dislocated tribes and broke up Native American families,” he said in the thread. “Today the GOP has become a danger to our democracy and values.”
Schmidt also came close to calling Trump a fascist. “Conservatism has become synonymous with obedience to the leader – a leader who says ‘I am the law. I am above the law. I will define what truth is.’ Truth is what the leader says it is, not what we would have recognized months ago as objective truth,” Schmidt told MSNBC. “The last time this happened, it unleashed a tragedy the likes of which the world has never seen. And I think there is a real lack of imagination in this country about how fragile these institutions are and how dangerous a president as unprepared, as authoritarian, as ignorant as he is—the damage he would be able to cause.”
The government tried to control the detention narrative. But reporting by Los Angeles native Jacob Soboroff for MSNBC after touring a facility in McAllen, Texas burst through. He described essentially a prison with “babies sitting by themselves in a cage with other babies.” He said reporters on the tour were asked to smile at the kids because they “feel like animals locked up in cages.” ProPublica released smuggled audio of young children crying for their parents. Reports of “tender-age shelters” and the sight of young people escorted in the dark of night to facilities around the country caused outrage.
Trump said he didn’t like the images and on June 20 signed an executive order that kept in place his “zero-tolerance” policy, but allows families to stay together while the parents are being prosecuted. However, many questions remain: what happens if the parents’ cases are not adjudicated within 20 days, when a federal court settlement requires that children be released from detention?
And while a San Diego judge ordered family reunification within 30 days of separation, the government has apparently not been keeping track of the children, including infants and toddlers who do not know their names. More than 2,300 children are in government custody since the separation policy started in April.
“I miss my mother and when I see those children on the border it rips my heart out,” says Maria (a pseudonym to protect her identity). “She died trying to get me here. She carried me from Honduras, first on a bicycle, then a van, a train, on foot, on bus…We traveled for such a long way, it took months. I remember it. She died in a small town on the side of the road in Mexico trying to get to my brother in California. She was not a criminal. She only wanted to give us both a better life but she didn’t make it. I was only 6 years old.
Maria remembers the good part of the journey. “People don’t understand. For 99 percent of the people, the journey is a highlight of their life, sometimes the only family they have in the world are people they meet along the way. They take care of each other, feed each other, share everything and they look out for the children, even the older boys who travel alone,” she says. “When my mother died people took care of me, they knew what my mother wanted for me and they made it happen.
“It’s not what Trump wants you to think,” she continues. “There were some bad people who took advantage of the good people, but they were not us. Most of the bad people were making money, stealing from the people the journey, making promises they did not keep.”
“I am not a bad hombre and neither was my mother,” she adds. “I was captured but not separated from the woman who told immigration people she was my mother. She took care of me for 2 years and worked everyday to help me find my brother. I still call her mom and she is still in danger of deportation all these years later.”
Maria made that journey in 2003. She was reunited with her brother, who had been adopted by a gay couple in the Palm Springs area and she eventually came out as a lesbian. She is working on getting her citizenship. “I love this country. My brother and I are lucky,” she tells the Los Angeles Blade.
Not everyone is as lucky. Last May, among the caravan of 225 asylum seekers fleeing Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador to the Mexican border were more than 20 transgender women. Not all arrived in Tijuana.
“Some of us have been kidnapped, assaulted, and disappeared,” Ivan Mondragon, 30, who organized the transgender group, told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “Some have been forced into sex work. Here in Tijuana, one of our girls was assaulted, someone broke her rib and we haven’t seen her since she posted a video on Facebook after she was beaten.”
“I have friends who don’t have the opportunity to ask for asylum because they are already dead,” Shannel Smith, 28 of Honduras, told the Union-Tribune. She is fleeing gang members who killed her friend.
Roxanna Hernandez, 33, turned herself to ICE in San Diego seeking help—she had AIDS and was also fleeing violence as a trans woman. ICE took her into custody, shuffled her from facility to facility until she died alone on May 25 in New Mexico.
But asylum for LGBT people is not easy to get. Udoka Nweke, a 29-year-old gay Nigerian, has been in Adelanto Detention Center since Dec. 2016. Fleeing his country after being attacked by an anti-gay mob, Nweke’s asylum plea was denied and he attempted suicide. The Black LGBTQ Migrant Project has petitioned for his release on parole so he can access lifesaving medical treatments.
Concern is growing about the psychological and emotional well being of the children now in government detention camps.
Mark Takano on the bus touring several camp facilities. Photo courtesy Takano’s Office
Out Rep. Mark Takano is among the congressional representatives who travelled to border towns and detention and prisons to see what’s happening. To him, the incarceration and the tent cities dramatically remind him of the Japanese-American internment camps during World War Two.
“I am just taken by how much the history of Japanese-American internment has been made current,” Takano tells the Los Angeles Blade. The fact that the family separation policy has been suspended “only proves that the administration was lying when it said it was law and they were forced to do this.” In fact, ‘the law did not require any of the cruel policies that they were implementing.”
Takano says that when he visited the McAllen, Brownsville and Port Isabel detention centers, he met with about 15 women from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. “None of these women posed a danger to our country. None of these women even came close to images of MS 13, which this president likes to broad brush all immigrants with to justify his policies.”
At Port Isabel, “you see 15 foot high walls and fences topped off with coiled razor wire,” Takano said. “And, of course, that image reminded me of my mother and my father who were two and three years old they went to Heart Mountain in Wyoming and Tule Lake in California. And certainly two and three year olds did not pose a danger to our country. And the executive order that lead to the interment of Japanese-Americans and Japanese immigrants” and Trump’s cruelty policy “were motivated by an extreme political agenda that was also further propagated by a media and a press that repeated the exaggerated claims of politicians….Rounding up and interring all Japanese-Americans was discriminatory.”
The disproportionate response then and now is based on “some vague notion of national security, some vague notion we’re protecting the public. That is simply a fiction and untrue. And it’s causing great suffering,” he says. “This is an immoral policy,” the scapegoating, stigmatization, “the marginalization of a vulnerable minority whose due process rights were not respected.”
“How does this connect to LGBT people?” Takano recalls how during the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, members of Congress called for the tattooing, quarantining, “the interment of LGBT people,” he said. “Medical science certainly negated those outrageous claims. We know that the calls to segregate and round up gays and to confine them was motivated by an anti-gay and homophobic animus.”
“[History] is repeating itself but it has gone to a new low with Donald Trump. When we were incarcerated [in Japanese-American internment camps], our families were intact. My parents were with me,” out actor George Takai told CNN. “But in this case, it’s come to a chilling low where babies are torn away from their mothers and placed in separate internment camps.”
Takai says Trump’s lies and inflammatory rhetoric are similar to what happened to Japanese-Americans in the 1940s. “We were characterized by the government, classified as ‘enemy aliens.’ We were neither,” he said, noting that many young Japanese Americans “rushed to their recruitments centers to volunteer to serve in the US military” right after Pearl Harbor but were denied.
But repeat a lie often enough “and it becomes a reality.” That’s what happened with “enemy aliens,” Takai said, recalling comments from the politically ambitious California Attorney General Earl Warren: “We have no reports of sabotage or spying or fifth column activities by Japanese Americans. And that is ominous because the Japanese are inscrutable. We can’t tell what they’re thinking so it would be prudent to lock them up before they do anything.”
“Taking that stereotype and grotesquely turning it against us—the big lie is happening with Donald Trump now, as well,” said Takai. “They are not murderers, rapists and drug dealers. They are literally fleeing for their lives and to call them infestations is absolutely grotesque.”
LGBT people should be concerned about Trump’s call to do away with immigration judges. “What are we going to do for LGBT people who are fleeing regimes that actually torture and kill them for being gay?,” asks Takano. “They don’t even get a hearing?” This anti-immigrant attitude harms us morally, to have this be done in our names as American citizens.”
Los Angeles
LA Assessor Jeffrey Prang to be honored by Stonewall Democrats
Prang is among America’s longest-serving openly gay elected officials
You may not be too familiar with LA County Assessor Jeffrey Prang. You’ve probably never heard of the office of the LA County Assessor, or you might only have a vague notion of what it does.
But with a career in city politics spanning nearly thirty years, he’s among the longest-serving openly gay elected officials in the United States, and for his work serving the people of Los Angeles and championing the rights of the city’s LGBTQ people, the Stonewall Democratic Club is honoring him at their 50th Anniversary Celebration and Awards Night Nov 15 at Beaches Tropicana in West Hollywood.
Prang moved to Los Angeles from his native Michigan after college in 1991, specifically seeking an opportunity to serve in politics as an openly gay man. In 1997, he was elected to the West Hollywood City Council, where he served for 18 years, including four stints as mayor.
“I was active in politics, but in Michigan at the time I left, you couldn’t really be out and involved in politics… My life was so compartmentalized. I had my straight friends, my gay friends, my political friends, and I couldn’t really mix and match those things,” he says.
“One of the things that was really impactful was as you drove down Santa Monica Boulevard and saw those rainbow flags placed there by the government in the median island. That really said, this is a place where you can be yourself. You don’t have to be afraid.”
One thing that’s changed over Prang’s time in office is West Hollywood’s uniqueness as a place of safety for the queer community.
“It used to be, you could only be out and gay and politically involved if you were from Silver Lake or from West Hollywood. The thought of being able to do that in Downey or Monterey Park or Pomona was foreign. But now we have LGBTQ centers, gay pride celebrations, and LGBT elected officials in all those jurisdictions, something that we wouldn’t have thought possible 40 years ago,” he says.
Prang’s jump to county politics is emblematic of that shift. In 2014, amid a scandal that brought down the previous county assessor, Prang threw his name in contention for the job, having worked in the assessor’s office already for the previous two years. He beat out eleven contenders in the election, won reelection in 2018 and 2022, and is seeking a fourth term next year.
To put those victories in perspective, at the time of his first election, Prang represented more people than any other openly gay elected official in the world.
Beyond his office, Prang has lent his experience with ballot box success to helping get more LGBT people elected through his work with the Stonewall Democrats and with a new organization he co-founded last year called the LA County LGBTQ Elected Officials Association (LACLEO).
LACLEO counts more than fifty members, including officials from all parts of the county, municipal and state legislators, and members of school boards, water boards, and city clerks.
“I assembled this group to collectively use our elected strength and influence to help impact policy in Sacramento and in Washington, DC, to take advantage of these elected leaders who have a bigger voice in government than the average person, and to train them and educate them to be better advocates on behalf of the issues that are important for us,” Prang says.
“I do believe as a senior high-level official I need to play a role and have an important voice in supporting our community,” he says.
Ok, but what is the LA County assessor, anyway?
“Nobody knows what the assessor is. 99% of people think I’m the guy who collects taxes,” Prang says.
The assessor makes sure that all properties in the county are properly recorded and fairly assessed so that taxes can be levied correctly. It’s a wonky job, but one that has a big impact on how the city raises money for programs.
And that wonkiness suits Prang just fine. While the job may seem unglamorous, he gleefully boasts about his work overhauling the office’s technology to improve customer service and efficiency, which he says is proving to be a role model for other county offices.
“I inherited this 1970s-era mainframe green screen DOS-based legacy system. And believe it or not, that’s the standard technology for most large government agencies. That’s why the DMV sucks. That’s why the tax collection system sucks. But I spent $130 million over almost 10 years to rebuild our system to a digitized cloud-based system,” Prang says.
“I think the fact that my program was so successful did give some impetus to the board funding the tax collector and the auditor-controller to update their system, which is 40 years behind where they need to be.”
More tangible impacts for everyday Angelenos include his outreach to promote tax savings programs for homeowners, seniors, and nonprofits, and a new college training program that gives students a pipeline to good jobs in the county.
As attacks on the queer community intensify from the federal government, Prang says the Stonewall Democrats are an important locus of organization and resistance, and he encourages anyone to get involved.
“It is still an important and relevant organization that provides opportunities for LGBTQ people to get involved, to have an impact on our government and our civic life. If you just wanna come and volunteer and donate your time, it provides that, if you really want to do more and have a bigger voice and move into areas of leadership, it provides an opportunity for that as well,” he says.
Los Angeles
SNAP benefits remain delayed — local leaders are creating their own solutions
Assemblymember Mark González has announced a $7.5 million partnership with the YMCA’s FeedLA food distribution program.
Today marks the 37th day of the current government shutdown, the longest witnessed in the country’s history. As a result, people who receive federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits have not received their monthly aid for November. In Los Angeles, over 1.5 million people rely on these funds to purchase groceries.
On Oct. 28th, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that California joined over 20 other states in suing the administration over its “unlawful refusal” to provide SNAP aid even though it has the funds to do so. Two federal judges ruled in favor of the lawsuit, though when and how much aid will be distributed remains inconclusive.
At a press briefing on Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that the administration is “fully complying” with the court order. “The recipients of the SNAP benefits need to understand: it’s going to take some time to receive this money because the Democrats have forced the administration into a very untenable position,” Leavitt continued. “We are digging into a contingency fund that is supposed to be for emergencies, catastrophes, for war.”
On Wednesday morning, local leaders in Los Angeles held their own press conference at the Weingart East Los Angeles YMCA to denounce the administration’s inaction and to discuss alternative efforts that are trying to fill the gap as SNAP aid remains suspended. “We’re here today because the federal government has turned its back on millions of families, and we refuse to stay silent,” said District 54 Assemblymember Mark González. “This is more than a press conference. This is a plea for sanity, a demand for humanity, and a call to action…California is stepping up to do what Washington will not, and that’s to feed our people.”
Alongside a number of other local leaders and advocates, including Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, Speaker of the California State Assembly Robert Rivas, Boyle Heights community leader Margarita “Mago” Amador, Congressman Jimmy Gomez, YMCA president Victor Dominguez, and Food Forward founder Rick Nahmias, González announced a partnership with the YMCA’s FeedLA program. $7.5 million has been secured to fund food distribution efforts across the county’s 29 YMCA sites.
Residents do not need to have a YMCA membership to take part. Resources like groceries, warm meals, and home deliveries will be available at various times throughout the week. There are currently no weekend distribution dates listed.
This announcement comes in the midst of other local efforts bolstering on-the-ground SNAP relief. On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion that will strengthen the Office of Food Systems (OFS), a partnership between county leaders and local philanthropic organizations aiming to create equitable food systems for residents. The motion would establish deeper connections between OFS and all County departments, as well as strengthen state and federal food policy coordination.
The county has also funded a $10 million contract with the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, which will allow the organization to purchase more produce and create additional pantry and food distribution pop-up sites.
For many, these solutions offer a temporary landing pad as they hold out for their benefits to be reinstated. “Food pantries are not just places where a bag of food is handed out. They are a bridge of hope for our most vulnerable communities,” said Amador, at Wednesday’s press conference. “When a family comes to a pantry, many times they don’t just bring an empty bag. They also bring worries, stress and [the] fear of not being able to feed their children. They leave with a bag of food [and] they take with them a bit of dignity, relief, and a feeling that they are not alone.”
California
Prop 50 has passed, with overwhelming support from local voters and LGBTQ+ advocates
Over 5 million Californians voted in support of the congressional redistricting measure.
Yesterday, on the night of the California statewide special election, polls closed at 8 pm for the vote on Proposition 50, the “Election Rigging Response Act.” The measure was created to combat Texas lawmakers’ plans to redraw their state’s congressional districts ahead of the November 3rd, 2026, midterm elections in order to secure more Republican seats in Congress.
A “yes” vote on Prop 50 would allow California to temporarily redraw its own congressional district maps beginning in 2026, according to the California Voter Information Guide. Since August, Democratic organizers and leaders have been advocating for the passage of the measure as a way to stand up to “cheating” that has been committed by other states.
Last night, over 8 million ballots were counted, and an overwhelming 63.8% of these were votes in favor of Prop 50. In Los Angeles County alone, nearly 2 million ballots were submitted, and 73% of voters sided with passing the measure.
Governor Gavin Newsom celebrated the victory as an act of resistance. “Instead of agonizing over the state of our nation, we organized in an unprecedented way,” he said, in a series of video statements posted online. “We stood tall and we stood firm in response to Donald Trump’s recklessness. And tonight, after poking the bear, this bear roared — with an unprecedented turnout in a special election with an extraordinary result.”
The results have also fueled impassioned LGBTQ+ leaders to keep the fight going, especially as federal legislation continues to put queer and trans communities at risk. “Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans have systematically targeted LGBTQ+ rights, rolling back nondiscrimination protections, erasing our history, and attacking transgender kids and their families,” said Tony Hoang, director of LGBTQ+ civil rights organization Equality California, in a press release. “With the passage of Proposition 50, Californians have sent a clear message: our votes will not be silenced, our voices will not be ignored, and our rights will not be rolled back during a rigged midterm election.”
Advocates have also stressed that Prop 50 sets a precedent in creating more ground in the ongoing battle for increased rights and protections for queer communities. “Tonight’s victory is critical in the fight to secure a pro-equality majority in Congress,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, another notable LGBTQ+ civil rights group. “This is a victory powered by communities that refuse to be silenced and are unwavering in their commitment to defending democracy.”
West Hollywood
Drag performers delight Carnaval crowds with demure and daring dances
The Halloween party is one of the most anticipated events for queer Angelenos.
On Friday night, techno pop remixes surged through a tight block on Santa Monica Boulevard, where hundreds of eager partygoers danced near a pop-up stage. Bass-heavy grooves echoed across neighboring streets as Beetlejuices, angels, and vampires swayed and thumped to the beat.
Oct. 31 marked the arrival of West Hollywood’s annual Halloween Carnaval, one of the county’s citywide celebrations — and one of the most anticipated for queer Angelenos.
The first Halloween Carnaval was celebrated in 1987, and has since become one of the most awaited nights for local queer celebration. Drag performers donning elaborate costumes and glamorous makeup set the stage ablaze as they strutted, flipped their hair and danced to the cheers of a crowd that grew enormously as the night went on. The energy was infectious, and the Los Angeles Blade was on the scene to photograph some of these moments.
Image captures by Blade reporter Kristie Song.
Los Angeles
Queer communities will face disproportionate harm when SNAP ends
The Blade spoke with researchers, local leaders and food distribution organizers to discuss the impact on LGBTQ+ people
On Oct. 1st, the previous federal budget expired, and the government entered a shutdown after being unable to reach an agreement on how different government services would be funded moving forward. Namely, democratic officials are arguing for more affordable healthcare as well as a reversal of President Trump’s cuts to Medicaid and health agencies, as proposed in H.R. 1 — otherwise known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” Without a compromise that Trump will agree to, several essential federal services remain stalled.
Now, the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, will be indefinitely halted beginning Nov. 1st. This affects over 1.5 million Los Angeles residents who rely on CalFresh, the state’s equivalent of SNAP. BenefitsCal, the portal Californians can use to access and manage benefits that include food assistance, announced on Oct. 27th that “the U.S. Department of Agriculture (U.S.D.A.) is not sending money to states for November CalFresh (SNAP) benefits. This means your county cannot add money to your EBT card until federal funding is restored.”
For LGBTQ+ community members, this impact will be particularly damaging.
Over 665,000 LGBTQ+ adults live in Los Angeles County, and 32% of this population reported experiencing food insecurity from 2023 to 2024, according to data analysis completed by researchers at the Williams Institute. In comparison, 23% of non-LGBTQ+ adults reported experiencing food insecurity.
“I think it’s important to realize that many people who are on SNAP are either disabled and can’t work, or they’re caretaking for young children — and those tend to be the groups of people in the LGBTQ community,” Brad Sears, the Rand Schrader Distinguished Scholar of Law and Policy at the Williams Institute, told the Blade. “Over 60% of LGBTQ people on SNAP are disabled, and about 46% are raising children…There aren’t a lot of options for them in meeting their basic needs, [like] providing food for themselves and their families, besides SNAP benefits.”
How can LGBTQ+ community members access food assistance in November?
Sears pointed out how, in times of social struggle, queer communities have turned to each other for support. He states that it is important, now more than ever, for local organizations and food distribution programs to stand in solidarity with LGBTQ+ people — many of whom face barriers to seeking resources due to various factors like the fear of discrimination. “This is an important time to send that message that they are inclusive, that their services are inclusive, and that everyone, including LGBTQ people, are welcome to access their resources,” Sears told the Blade.
The Hollywood Food Coalition is one of these spaces. The organization rescues and redistributes food through a community exchange program, and also provides hundreds of dinners to community members every day of the year. “We are open to anyone hungry. We’re proud to serve many LGBTQ+ guests and to offer a welcoming space where everyone can share a meal and feel safe, seen, and cared for,” Linda Pianigiani, the organization’s interim director of development, told the Blade.
The Los Angeles LGBT Center is also partnering with food justice organization Seeds of Hope to provide more free farmers’ markets this upcoming month. For Giovanna Fischer, the Center’s chief equity officer, this is an opportunity to champion intersectional queer empowerment in the midst of the administration’s actions. For marginalized community members, including those who are trans, disabled, or immigrants, organizers are thinking about multidimensional approaches as they support community members through crises like the indefinite end to SNAP benefits.
“Now we’re looking at an issue [that can be] compounded three times simply because of who that person is and the experience that they have in their life,” Fischer told the Blade. “There’s no single-issue analysis of anything that’s coming up for our community, because we’re not living single-issue lives…How are we thinking through things in a layered way to ensure that people with these intersectional identities have access to the things that they need?”
How is the state and county responding?
On Tuesday, Governor Newsom announced that California is joining 20 other states in suing the administration for its “unlawful refusal” to continue funding SNAP. Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath also stated in a press release that the county is working to fund a $10 million contract with the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank to expand food purchasing capabilities and create more food assistance pop-up sites and community pantry locations.
L.A. Care Health Plan is also investing up to $5.4 million to fund countywide food security and distribution efforts, as well as provide aid to nonprofit organizations that distribute fresh produce.
The limitations we’re facing
While these efforts are instrumental in delivering necessary food aid in SNAP’s absence, Sears is worried about the long-term strain the suspension of federal food assistance will have on LGBTQ+ communities and the organizations trying to support them. “A number of state and local governments are going to try to temporarily fill the gap, but…the resources to do that will likely be overwhelmed without SNAP benefits,” Sears told the Blade. “Nonprofit organizations are already feeling the pressure of funding cuts from the Trump administration.”
Pilar Buelna, chief operations officer of the Hollywood Food Coalition, is seeing this pressure in real time. She notes that the increase in the need for local food assistance has been growing since the summer, and will only continue to grow with the quickly-approaching end to SNAP benefits. “Yesterday, actually, we ran out of food,” Buelna told the Blade, after the coalition gave out 300 meals but were still met with individuals in need of food. “We are concerned that the need is going to increase so much that we’re not going to be able to keep up…We are sending out a call to action to the community to donate food and funding. We need [these] to continue our operations.”
The Blade will be shadowing various food distribution programs and efforts throughout November to track the impact of the end of SNAP on queer Angelinos, and the community-led efforts being organized to support them.
West Hollywood
West Hollywood installs new intersex pride flags on Intersex Awareness Day
On Sunday, city councilmembers gathered to raise two new pride flags to honor intersex community members
Early yesterday morning, on National Intersex Awareness Day, West Hollywood mayor Chelsea Byers, Vice Mayor John Heilman, as well as councilmembers Danny Hang and John M. Erickson gathered to install and raise two new intersex pride flags. They fly side by side with the American flag, upholding the City of West Hollywood’s vision of solidarity between national pride and LGBTQ+ visibility.
“We are facing unprecedented attacks on our community. It is important that we recognize the entirety of the LGBTQI+ community,” Vice Mayor John Heilman wrote to the Blade. “Intersex people have long been ignored and their issues disregarded. Raising the intersex flag also raises awareness about the challenges many intersex people face.”
Intersex people are born with naturally occurring variations in reproductive and sexual anatomy that don’t fit into binary “male” or “female” categorizations. As Planned Parenthood details, this can look like having both ovarian and testicular tissues or having combinations of chromosomes that aren’t “male” or “female,” just to name a few. According to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, one of the biggest issues intersex people face is non-consensual surgeries performed when they are children. These operations are considered medically unnecessary and can leave lasting physical and psychological damage on intersex youth.
The fight for bodily autonomy and intersex visibility was the main reason behind the first action organized by intersex advocates and trans allies on Oct. 26th, 1996. Protestors stood outside the Boston Convention Centre, passed out leaflets, and spoke with clinicians, nurses, and other medical professionals attending the annual American Academy of Pediatrics conference.
One of the main leaders behind this movement was Morgan Holmes, an intersex woman who had experienced a violating medical procedure meant to “correct” her anatomy. In May of 1996, she presented testimony in a room adjacent to a symposium on genital surgery for intersex infants, a conference she and other members of her advocacy group had been rejected from.
“What I am saying is that my medical ‘care-givers’ failed to respect my autonomy or my intelligence when they assumed that because I was a child, they could do whatever they wanted as long as my father provided his consent,” Holmes said. “And when I began to balk, instead of questioning their own treatment of me, they blamed my body, and they cut it up.”
Today, intersex people and their stories are more broadly recognized, but still struggle to reach mainstream audiences when it comes to discussions around LGBTQ+ identity. West Hollywood city officials see this addition of intersex pride flags as a step forward. “Updating our city’s flags was my item because visibility matters,” councilmember John M. Erickson wrote to the Blade. “Intersex people have always been part of our story, and it’s time that their history, identity, and pride are recognized in the public spaces that belong to all of us.”
West Hollywood
Residents remain dubious as officials claim “no ICE involvement” at The Abbey
The Oct. 17th “undercover operation” was addressed at the latest city council meeting
On Friday, Oct. 17th, West Hollywood gay bar The Abbey found itself in the center of a social media storm as clips were shared depicting the presumed presence of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. In a video posted on Oct. 18th by Charles Hernandez, who often creates content around gay nightlife in Los Angeles, several people are seen standing in a line as they are apprehended and handcuffed by officers wearing sheriff’s vests and tees. Hernandez noted that, while dressed in varying attire with the word “sheriff” on it, none of the officers were willing to identify themselves or present their badges upon request.
Hernandez can be heard asking the officers about the cause for arrest, to which one responded: “I don’t have to tell you our cause.” The video creator also questioned another officer, who can be seen wearing a gaiter to cover his face. “Isn’t it illegal to wear a mask in California?” Hernandez asked. “He has COVID,” an officer replied. In September, Governor Newsom signed five bills that weakened federal agents’ abilities to access school sites and health facilities, and prohibited them from hiding their identities. More specifically, SB 627 requires all California law enforcement agencies to create written policies limiting their officers’ use of facial coverings by July 1, 2026.
As this video circulated around the web, the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station released an online statement of their own, denying allegations that the officers present were federal immigration officers. The station also claimed that the night’s events were a result of an “undercover operation” that was conducted in response to reports made about pickpocketing and the transportation, use, and sale of illegal substances. “Several arrests were made,” the statement read. “ICE was not involved.”
Still, residents remained unconvinced, criticizing the station’s lack of transparency, careful conduct, and accountability. Over 50 people took to the comments of this statement to voice their discontent. “[It] was not that long ago when officers would raid LGBTQ spaces and arrest people simply for being there,” one comment read. “A raid such as this does not inspire feelings of safety for our community. Especially in times when people are being kidnapped off the street by masked federal agents. There simply must be a better response to pickpockets and “other criminal activity” than undercover raids by masked officers and transporting detainees in unmarked vehicles. DO BETTER.”
Two days later, at the West Hollywood city council meeting, West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station Captain Fanny Lapkin took to the podium to address some of these concerns. Echoing the station’s Instagram statement, Lapkin confirmed that the “pre-planned operation” was created in response to “concerns from our businesses and our community in regards to the pickpocketing, to the narcotics, and also to the illegal vending and some of the criminal activity during illegal vending.” Lapkin also confirmed that no federal agents were present, stating that everyone who took part in the operation was “sheriff’s department personnel.” And because the arrests were made as part of a planned operation, Lapkin further stated that warrants were not “necessary.”
The events were discussed with brevity at the meeting, but community ire has not been dispelled. Several people continue to question the ethics of this undercover operation: Why were the individuals being arrested not clearly told the reason for their detainment? Why were unmarked vehicles present? Why conduct the operation in this way, as Los Angeles neighborhoods continue to stay on high alert over immigration raids? These questions remain unanswered as more specifics about the operation have yet to be released.
California
Newsom announces $140 million will go towards state’s Planned Parenthood centers
This investment supports the organization as it struggles with federal defunding
Yesterday, Governor Newsom stated in a press release that he is dedicating over $140 million to keep statewide Planned Parenthood health centers running through the rest of the year until additional resources are identified.
H.R. 1, also known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” was passed in July and includes detailed notes on the congressional budget, including cuts to various federal agencies and programs. In section 71113 of the bill, federal funding is restricted against “prohibited entities” that provide health services like abortions. Organizations like Planned Parenthood were also blocked from receiving federal reimbursement for providing essential care services to patients enrolled in Medicaid or Medi-Cal.
Planned Parenthood traces its roots to the early 1900s, where it began as a clinic providing birth control resources. Today, there are over 100 Planned Parenthood health centers across California alone, providing abortion services, STI testing and treatment, gender affirming care, birth control options, and other reproductive care services. It has been a lifeline for many in accessing affordable care and education around their reproductive and sexual health.
The effects of H.R. 1 have cut deeply into local communities. As reported by local advocates and government representatives, the neighboring Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties (PPOSBC) had to eliminate a primary health care service line that provided over 10,000 patients direct access to services like cancer screenings, birth control, and prenatal care.
This recent investment by the state highlights California as a “reproductive freedom state,” Newsom said in a statement. “[This] latest investment continues to show our belief in protecting access to essential health care in times of distress.”
The governor’s next steps in this defense include working with other legislative leaders to identify more long-term solutions for 2026 that will allow Planned Parenthood clinics to continue operating. “While we know Trump and Republicans’ attacks on reproductive health care are escalating, we remain confident that our state leaders will continue to stand with Planned Parenthood patients and providers and ensure they have the support necessary to endure the persistent assaults,” said Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California president Jodi Hicks in a separate statement.
West Hollywood
Captain Fanny Lapkin wants more “transparency” between officers and WeHo residents
We sat down with the recently appointed captain to discuss her approach to LGBTQ+ community safety
Before Fanny Lapkin became Captain of West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station in August, she was a longtime advisor and mentor for the county’s deputy explorer program: a training and career development opportunity for young adults interested in law enforcement. “I probably had eight or nine of — I call [them] my kids,” Lapkin told the Blade. When some of these mentees became deputies, she felt like a “mama.” Lapkin brings this nurturing approach to her leadership, where she hopes to build deeper community trust and humanize her staff members. “People have the misconception that we’re machines and that we’re robots. We are human beings,” said Lapkin.
Lapkin first ventured into law enforcement as a college student, where a casual walk into the East Los Angeles Sheriff’s Station for volunteer credit led to a seven-year-long stint. As a volunteer, she assisted deputies, participated in neighborhood watch, and became involved with safety measures for local community members. “I fell in love with the job,” said Lapkin. She officially took on a law enforcement role in 1997 and was eventually assigned to the Santa Clarita Valley’s Sheriff’s Station, where she worked as a community relations deputy.
In 2019, Lapkin began working at the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station, climbing the ranks as service area sergeant to service area lieutenant before her most recent promotion to station captain in August. Lapkin says that she and fellow station staff pushed for LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum for peace officer standards and training.
In September 2018, AB 2504 was passed, which required the state’s commission on peace officer standards and training to develop training material around LGBTQ+ identity and create inclusive workplaces. In 2024, AB 2621 was chaptered into law, which required the commission to also create and implement instruction on hate crimes against specific groups, including LGBTQ+ communities.
Today, Lapkin hopes to continue building trust with marginalized community members, especially LGBTQ+ individuals afraid to seek help through law enforcement. The Blade sat down with the captain to discuss her perspective and approach.
How do you hope to foster effective relationships between the sheriff’s station and community members?
Honestly, [it’s about] being available, being present. Joining Neighborhood Watch, having that open communication, making sure that you know the residents, whether it be from our LGBT community or visitors. We make sure that our deputies have the necessary training to be able to deal with different community members, whether direct leaders, whether business owners, or public safety commissions. Being available for them — I think that’s the number one thing, is just making yourself available to have those conversations.
Also, having that transparency — if something does happen, let’s talk about what happened. In some cases, we won’t be able to discuss for obvious reasons, but it’s having that open communication and making sure that our community feels that they’re safe and that their voice is heard.
It’s having the conversation: How can we come together to find a resolution for [issues]? People come from different directions to try and resolve a problem. So my thing is, everybody has a seat at the table. From being a volunteer to a deputy to moving up the ranks, I’ve always lived by that. I’ve had amazing mentors who have always had that open-door policy, [where] every community member has a seat at the table. Come and tell us what your concerns are, and we’ll tell you how we can fix them. There are going to be times when we cannot do something about it, because it doesn’t rise to the level of a crime. But we can tell you, without giving you legal advice, how you can try to resolve something.
How have you seen community issues and safety shift since you started working in the West Hollywood Sheriff’s station in 2019? How do you hope to address all of these shifts?
2019 kind of put us all in a bubble. But again, it’s just having that open communication and making yourself available, going to local events, participating in outreach, and just making sure that our community members, whomever they are — our Russian community, our Jewish community, our LGBT community — that they feel that they’re being heard, that we listen to them, and we understand that each of them have unique needs. So it’s trying to understand that and fostering a great environment where they’re comfortable enough to come to us, whether it be telling us how wonderful our deputies are, or also telling us they didn’t like the service that they received.
If I get a concern, [like] somebody saying, “Well, I don’t like the way this deputy handled the call.” I look at every single body-worn camera footage. I listen to the phone calls. And if it’s something that we could do better, we fix it, right? And if it’s something that maybe was misinterpretation…I tell [deputies]: take the extra two minutes to listen to our community, because you’re going to learn something by just slowing yourself down.
Unfortunately, our patrol deputies are under tight constraints. We are understaffed. They are working the extra overtime, but…we’re not machines, we’re not robots. We’re humans. And sometimes, the human nature kind of steps in at times. But we have to make sure that we teach them how to find the balance.
What are the unique needs and challenges West Hollywood communities face today?
The challenge is just making sure that our community trusts us [and] that our community is comfortable enough to come to us when they have a concern, when they’re victims. Especially with the LGBTQ community or even our transgender community, they’re a little nervous about going to law enforcement, or they feel that they’re going to be victimized again. That’s one thing that [we see] as a priority. We want to make sure that they don’t feel that, and that they do feel that they’re being heard, and that their safety is one of our concerns. We don’t care whether you’re LGBTQ, transgender, Jewish, or Russian — we’re going to treat you equally. If you’re a victim of a crime, we’re going to assist you and help you. I think we just want to make sure that our community members feel that they can come to us and we’re going to advocate for them, [that] we’re going to be a good partner.
What are the active ways that you and the station are building that kind of trust, specifically with LGBTQ+ and trans community members? How can they have that open dialogue with you and the station to feel safer?
Because there was a need for our transgender community…we started with a quarterly meeting, but we moved them to every six months, where we have a meeting and we invite any member of the community to come in and sit down and talk to us. We included our California Department of Justice partners. We included the trans Latina community. Our LGBTQ commission came out.
That’s something that we’re trying to figure out. What’s going to be the best time to have these open dialogues? It’s a town hall roundtable. Tell us what your concerns are, and we’ll tell you how we can fix them.
Los Angeles
Anger, resistance and unity coursed through L.A. City Hall “No Kings” protest
The Blade photographed Saturday’s demonstration as thousands mobilized and marched
On Oct. 18th, a mosaic of Angelinos across generations and cultural backgrounds gathered outside of city hall as they proudly lifted handmade signs decrying President Trump and the current administration. This march was one of several rallies organized just within the city, and one of thousands others organized across the nation.
The protest was packed, with people standing nearly shoulder to shoulder as a number of local leaders including Black Women for Wellness Action Project policy analyst LaKisha Camese, TransLatin@ Coalition president Bamby Salcedo and Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, made rousing speeches and led passionate chants before the march began. Speakers like political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen did not hold back when they addressed the crowd. “[They are] so desperate to rebrand this thing as a ‘Hate America’ rally. But do you know what hating America looks like?,” asked Cohen.
Image captures by Blade reporter Kristie Song
“It looks like sending secret police accountable to no one into our cities…It looks like keeping the government closed because you are so hell bent on stripping away health care from 24 million Americans and trying to get their costs to double, triple or quadruple. So if you’re looking for the ‘Hate America’ rally, might I suggest the White House.”
Protestors cheered at the top of their lungs with each passing speech, and each clear and explicit denouncement of the current administration. “There’s no rally like what’s happening here in Los Angeles,” said Assemblymember Bryan. “This is where Black, brown, poor, indigenous, everyday people come together…Washington D.C. doesn’t care about us, and we know that. But, we care about each other, don’t we? We believe that health care is a human right, don’t we? We believe that housing is a human right, don’t we? We will stand up to authoritarianism, won’t we? Because when we fight together, what happens? We win!”
As people began to grow restless, the march finally began, taking them to a highway overpass.
As residents boarded a bus at Cesar E. Chavez and Broadway, they were halted by blocked roads as large congregations marched by. Transit riders looked on into the crowds, their faces mere inches from some of the passing protestors. Separated by a layer of window glass, one nodded along as protestors lifted their signs above their heads and chanted “ICE out of LA!” Some waved to people inside the stalled bus, inviting solidarity from those who weren’t marching alongside them.
When the road cleared, their calls could still be heard for a little longer.
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