Los Angeles
Equality California raises $1 million at 20th Anniversary Gala
There was something comforting about Equality California’s 20th Anniversary Awards ceremony last Saturday, Sept. 28. The sold-out crowd of 1200-plus people in the JW Marriott/LA Live ballroom not only applauded the notable honorees and the LGBTQ lobbying organization’s successful legislative history but celebrated a political and creative unity that has historically changed American culture in the midst of an unprecedented constitutional crisis.
Transparent creator and new non-binary spokesperson Jill Soloway cheered the “wonderful young TikTokers complaining about their non-binary dysphoria” as she accepted Equality California’s Equality Visibility Award. Introduced by trans activist Alexandra Billings, who will make Broadway history in January taking over the role of Madame Morrible in Wicked, Soloway talked about how “queer and trans people are magic” and noted trans pioneers lost to history whose stories deserve to be told. “I am so privileged to walk this road paved by my transcestors,” Soloway said. The evening closed with a standing ovation for 27-year old trans pop star Kim Petras.
Jill Soloway with runway guru Miss Jay Alexander (Photo by Karen Ocamb)
CNN Republican commentator Ana Navarro served up some red meat, dishing on Donald Trump during her Ally Leadership Award acceptance speech after a saucy appetizer. “I said to Gloria [Estefan]: ‘Do you think I should wear these shoes?’” recounting her getting ready for the gala. “And she said: ‘Are you going like that? You don’t have hair and makeup? Really, you’re going to a gay event?’”
Navarro went ten minutes beyond her allotted five minutes, riffing on her gay friends, on how getting an award for supporting LGBTQ people was like “getting a straight man an award for peeing inside the toilet bowl instead of the sink” and describing green costumed Sean Spicer on “Dancing with the Stars” during Hispanic Heritage Month as “a florescent parakeet dancing salsa. That’s a damn sacrilege.”
But Navarro got serious, too, saying she “didn’t grow up feeling threatened by or superior to people that were different from me in some superficial way. I was not taught that in order to feel accepted and strong, I had to make others feel weak and illegitimate. For me? Prejudice against the LGBTQ or any group is about ignorance and insecurity and political gain. That’s the worst part. When people who know better are fanning the flames of prejudice against other people in order to win elections.”
It used to be “embarrassing to be a bigot,” Navarro said. “But in the last few years, bigots have come out of the closet.”
The need to defend LGBTQ rights is a reality. “Bigotry, it’s like shoulder pads or bell bottoms—it’s an ugly trend that really should never come back, but it does. And it’s name is Trump,” Navarro said. “But actually, I should refer to it as public, outward, institutionalized bigotry. That’s the real problem we have right now, it’s institutionalized. It is coming from the government, from the federal government. The people who don’t want to light up the White House with pride colors on Pride Month. The people who give an order to embassies to not raise a pride flag during Pride Month. That’s institutionalized discrimination. And that’s very purposeful, and very strategic.” She vowed to always remain an ally.
Equality California Executive Director Rick Zbur (Photo by Karen Ocamb)
But in some ways, the 20th anniversary was crystalized by Equality California executive director Rick Zbur. The longtime political activist and environmentalist retired from Latham & Watkins in 2014 as an out senior partner after practicing law there for decades. But his long association has been fortuitous: Latham & Watkins contributed almost $3 million in pro bono services for the last three years, including work on the Safe And Supportive Schools Program and representing Equality California in its Stockman v Trump federal fight against Trump’s transgender open military service ban for which Amy Quartarolo and her team received the Community Leadership Award.
Amy Quartarolo and her Latham & Watkins team with plaintiff Nicolas Talbott (Photo by Karen Ocamb)
The award was presented by plaintiff Nicolas Talbott from Lisbon, Ohio who recounted his dream deferred by bigoted politics. Talbott shared:
“Growing up, I always wore boys clothes and wore my hair short, and I knew that I was transgender before I even knew what that word was. The other thing that I’ve always known is that I wanted a career that would enable me to serve my country and to protect people. So I looked into the ROTC program at Kent State University where I went to college and I decided to pursue a career in the military.
After graduating, I contacted several military recruiters, but they told me I would not be permitted to enlist simply because I am transgender. So, without the military as an option, I had to support myself and my grandmother with whatever jobs I could find, which included being a bus driver, an operations manager, and a truck driver, but I still hoped to enlist one day.
Then in June 2016 when I got a call from a friend who said the ban on transgender military service had been lifted, I was thrilled. The Obama Administration’s decision to lift that ban told me and the transgender Americans across the country that we were worthy of serving our country, that we would be valued and supported like any other service member.
But as powerful as that message was, so too was President Trump’s tweet just a little over a year later, which told me that I would no longer be allowed to serve. So alongside Equality California and six other transgender Americans, I joined one of four lawsuits to challenge this unfair, unconstitutional ban, which brings us to tonight, where I now have the chance to say thank you to Amy Quartarolo and to Latham & Watkins, both of whom so generously made that happen.”
Talbott, Amy Quartarolo said, accepting her award, “is the real superstar of the story. We are just the lawyers” of the “brave” plaintiffs.
“We have seen hope, and we have seen incremental victories. But we have also faced many challenges, and truly have gained an understanding of just how many obstacles remain,” Quartarolo said. “Importantly, we understand that with every one of those challenges, there is a new opportunity, and a renewed chance for commitment.”
In a powerful and moving speech, attorney Andreas Meyer, the President Emeritus of Equality California who formulated the organization intersectionality strategy, outlined a particular challenge that thoughtful LGBTQ advocates may overlook if dulled by what Michelangelo Signorile called “victory blindness.”
First honoring those who were lost to AIDS and “the thousands of LGBTQ people who continue to lose their lives every year to acts of intolerance and hate,” Meyer articulated a threat the LGBTQ community has not yet fully tackled. Here’s an extended excerpt:
“I believe we are faced at this particular moment in time with the great war of our movement. Our enemy has become more cunning than ever. He’s cloaked himself in our rhetoric of tolerance and civil rights and in the same breath incriminates us with false cries of religious persecution. And he is persuasive.
Even here in California, the forked tongue of our nemesis has planted seeds of doubt in the minds of ourselves and our allies. I experienced the effect of our enemy’s guile just two days ago during a board meeting at the Orange County Fairgrounds. I introduced a draft policy for the board to consider that would prohibit the Fairgrounds from entering into agreements that do not include nondiscrimination language.
I proposed this policy after learning that in 2018 the Fairgrounds had granted $75,000 to an institution with a long history of discrimination against our community. The OC Fair Board is almost entirely comprised of compassionate allies of our community, and the proposed policy was at first received positively.
But then the devil cracked open the door and whispered in our ears—‘wouldn’t this measure go too far?’—he asked. Wouldn’t we be prejudicing the free exercise of religion? Is it lawful to exclude those who have sincere religious beliefs about the sinful and abominable character of homosexuals? Doubt even crept into my own mind as these whispers craftily persuaded me that perhaps the policy was not necessary.
Surely, the managers of the Fairgrounds had heard the message loud and clear about the importance of nondiscrimination. Faced with conflict with my allies and desperate as I’ve always been like so many of us for acceptance, I withdrew the proposal.
In the two days since that meeting, I have reproached myself for letting the fog of war cloud in my mind. The answer to all those questions was simple: if an institution will not agree to conduct its activities on State property or using State funds in a nondiscriminatory manner, then it has no business conducting its activities on State land or using State resources.
I wish I would have asked myself harder these questions during the meeting. Does that go too far? No. Does it prejudice the free exercise of religion? No. Is it lawful to exclude those who have sincere religious beliefs about the sinful and abominable character of homosexuals? If it isn’t, then it should be and we should not go down without a fight.
In accepting this award tonight, I can promise you that I will not back down again. I will not compromise. And I will be not be told that our civil rights are an overreach. Because we are at war and we must sound the alarm. Our fight is not just a fashionable political issue, but rather a struggle for our very survival.
Those of us gathered here, the privileged and the blessed, must not forget where we came from. Even though it’s painful, we must constantly remind ourselves of the dark and unshakeable terror of physical violence, social exile and criminal prosecution that lurks in our recent past and which continues to torment our brothers and sisters across the country and around the globe.
And let’s not be fooled: our enemy would see us go back to that place. But we will not let him win. And our sacrifices will nourish the flowers of our future, the hope, and the birthright of our community. For we have been patient. We have been tolerant. We’ve learned the difficult lessons. And so the legendary children shall inherit this earth.”
Zbur drove home that deep commitment to full equal rights for LGBTQ people. He framed Equality California’s historical mission courageously leading on marriage equality enabling lesbian pioneers Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon to marry in 2004 and again, after winning in In Re Marriage, in 2008 before Prop 8 passed. He also talked about working with state legislators to pass protections for transgender students, a law enabling trans and non-binary folks to up update their official state gender markers, banning so-called “conversion therapy,” sparking a nationwide movement to end the psychologically harmful practice and working beyond the California borders in with a new program in Nevada and on the immigration issue, including helping those seeking asylum—as well as having one of four lawsuits challenging the transgender ban and “all we’ve been dealing with” since Trump’s Electoral College victory on Sept. 6, 2016.
“Yes, we face threats from the White House and an administration that’s hell bent on rolling back the progress we’ve achieved. But at every turn we keep moving forward because we in California have a special role in leading this movement – and doing so boldly. As my friend Congressman Mark Takano likes to say: ‘We’re here, we’re queer and we’re Californians,’” Zbur said. “We cannot and we will not rest knowing that members or our community or the diverse communities to which we belong don’t have full lived equality.”
Echoing the late Harvey Milk, Zbur said, “Still, with so much work ahead of us, I have hope” because “we Californians have the courage and will to do it” until the work is done.
Then, sounding like an activist parent during the 1960s civil rights movement, or paraphrasing the Crosby, Stills and Nash song about teaching your children well, Zbur shared how the core principles of equality and social justice have been inculcated into his 10-year old twin boys, Ryan and Raffa.
“They came home from school a few months ago and they were complaining. Their homework was stupid. The school was stupid. The fact that they weren’t allowed to talk about Donald Trump in their classroom was stupid. And I looked at them and honestly, I was a little bit surprised. I turned to them and I said, you know, Raffa and Ryan, we’re not a family of complainers. If you don’t like something, go do something about it.
Well, the next thing we’re being called by their principal’s office because Ryan and Raffa decided they were going to circulate a petition and when they didn’t get what they demanded, they decided they wanted to organize a walk out of their fourth grade class.
Half of me was thinking, ‘this isn’t really what I had in mind when I said go do something about it.’ But the other half of me was filled with pride. And when they complained later on that they were punished for fighting back against what they perceived to be super extreme injustice, and after explaining that It doesn’t quite wok that way in school, I explained to them that most people are punished for fighting injustice and that during the civil rights movement, the freedom fighters who marched on Selma were beaten and jailed and even worse. And Dr. King said, ‘freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor. It must be demanded by the oppressed.
Or as Speaker Pelosi says, ‘No one gives you power. You have to take it from them.’”
Zbur hopes that the next generation of leaders “don’t give a damn what the cynics have to say.”
So, Zbur concluded with a flare of positivity, “let’s make a toast to them, to all of you, and to us collectively, to 20 years leading the Golden State’s fight for LGBTQ civil rights and social justice on to the next 20 years of striving to create a world that is healthy, just and fully equal for all LGBTQ people—until the work is done.”
Zbur later told the Los Angeles Blade that the gala had raised $1 million and counting.
Please note: this story has been updated to correct some mishearing of words in the remarks by Andreas Meyer.
Los Angeles
Ysabel Jurado claims victory: A new era for Los Angeles City Council District 14
The LGBTQ+ candidate maintained steady lead over incumbent Kevin De León, eventually declaring victory
Ysabel Jurado, the Highland Park resident and tenants rights’ attorney, is now Councilmember of Council District 14 after a battle for the hot seat against incumbent Kevin De León.
“Today, I am humbled to officially declare victory in the race for Los Angeles City Council District 14. This win is not mine—it belongs to our community,” said Jurado shortly after the win was announced.
Jurado makes history as the first Filipino American to serve on the Council and has expanded LGBTQ+ and women’s representation too.
In her celebratory statement after Thursday’s win, she stated that De León used Trump-like tactics and she is glad the city did not play into it.
“Trumpism has no place in CD-14– and we proved that by resoundingly rejecting the divisive tactics deployed by our opponent–tactics adopted directly from the Trump playbook,” said Jurado. “Like Trump, our opponent thumbed his nose at the law—from his racist gerrymandering scandal that likely violated the Voting Rights Act– to the current open investigation into his campaign for money laundering.”
Jurado is the new hope for a city that has been marred by racial and phobic remarks by those previously and still in positions of power.
Other news outlets are reporting that this marks another fallen Latino leader after the leaked L.A. City Council audio recording went viral in 2021 and led to the resignation of Los Angeles City Council president Nury Martínez.
De León’s goal during his term was to retain and expand Latin American political power.
With De León out, that leaves Latin Americans taking up only four out of the Council’s 15 seats, in a city that has a majority Latin American population. The city’s biggest Mexican American communities like Boyle Heights and El Sereno will not have a Latin American leader for the first time in nearly 40 years.
During De León’s campaign, he urged voters that if Jurado were to be elected, it would come at the expense of Latin American voices.
Last month, Eastside voters received a text message from De León’s campaign saying: ‘Forty years of Latino political power is under threat.’
Jurado secured her victory after placing first in the March primary, with support from Latin American politicians like Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, L.A. Unified School District trustee Rocio Rivas, L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis and Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who replaced incumbent Gil Cedillo after he was also caught on audio making racist and defamatory remarks.
“These are heavy times, but Ysabel Jurado’s win is an incredible cause for hope,” said Hernandez in a congratulatory post on Instagram. “She has proven again and again that our city has not just the capacity to dream of a better future for ourselves, but that we demand it.”
De León tapped into the pathos of Eastside residents during his campaign, resorting to political tactics that attacked Jurado directly, rather than tackling the key issues at hand.
“Like Trump, he relied upon fear mongering, red-baiting, misogyny, and racial dog-whistling in an effort to divide us. But unlike Trump, his tactics failed.”
Los Angeles
Los Angeles opens nation’s first transgender vote center
Activists, local officials attended opening
In a landmark development for electoral accessibility, Los Angeles County has opened the doors to the nation’s first general election Vote Center located within a transgender establishment. The Connie Norman Transgender Empowerment Center officially launched its voting facilities today, inviting the local trans community and all registered voters in Los Angeles County to participate in the democratic process.
The Vote Center at CONOTEC will operate for early voting from Nov. 2 – Nov. 5 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Registered voters in Los Angeles County can cast their ballot at CONOTEC, regardless of their residential address. This initiative not only creates a safe and affirming space for marginalized voters but also aims to foster broader community engagement.
During the grand opening, Los Angles County Registrar Dean Logan and West Hollywood Mayor John Erickson, celebrated this significant moment.
Logan said, “The county and everyone in my office know that we need to make voting as accessible and welcoming as possible in every corner of the county. The CONOTEC leadership has done a great job preparing this Vote Center, and we thank them for opening their space to their community and all of the LA County residents who chose to vote here.”
Queen Victoria Ortega (at podium), president of FLUX International, addressed the need for more action.
“We are tired of everyone discussing our safety while doing nothing about it. Now, we are taking matters into our own hands,” Ortega said. “We, the trans community, have created a safe space for the most marginalized to vote, and when you do that, you create a safe place for all. We are honored and duty-bound to be the first presidential election Vote Center in America at a transgender establishment.”
Queen Chela Demuir, executive director of the Unique Women’s Coalition, emphasized the historical legacy of trans rights activists.
“In the spirit of Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, we honor our transcestors and carry their legacy forward,” she said. “This voting center stands as a safe and welcoming space for our trans siblings, while also embracing all allies and residents of Los Angeles County. It’s a space where everyone’s voice matters, uplifting and empowering our community.”
Bamby Salcedo, founder and CEO of the TransLatin@ Coalition. (Photo by Troy Masters)
Bamby Salcedo, founder and CEO of the TransLatin@ Coalition, expressed her support for the initiative, stating, “My sisters at CONOTEC have done a great service to our community by securing this Vote Center. We all look forward to casting our vote in our community and appreciate the support as we work towards equality for all.”
Michael Weinstein, president and CEO of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the world’s largest and most influential AIDS Service organization, pointed out that around the world voting is a perilous adventure for LGB and particularly trans people. “AIDS Healthcare Foundation is in 47 countries around the world and in so many of those countries, the right to vote does not exist,” he said. “It turns my stomach to see on TV political ads targeting the trans community.” hightlighting the need for safe voting spaces like the CONOTEC.
Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, praised CONOTEC’s efforts to empower LGBTQ+ voters. “With our vote, each of us has the chance to write the next chapter of this nation’s story. And the nation’s story is incomplete without each one of us. When we show up, equality wins,” Robinson remarked, emphasizing the importance of collective civic participation.
Features
The little idea that could: These queer, Latinx, DJs are shifting the scene in LA
‘All you jotas, grab your botas!’
The rallying call urges all the Spanish-speaking and corrido-loving sapphics, butchonas, jotas and vaqueeras, to grab their boots and meet up at Little Joy Cocktails for a carne asada-style, family party every fourth Sunday of the month, featuring spins by DJ Lady Soul, DJ French and DJ Killed By Synth.
In Los Angeles, these three disc jockeys have embraced the word buchona, adding the ‘t’ as a play on the word butch.
The free event, now locally known as Butchona, is a safe space for all the Mexican and Spanish music-loving lesbians to gather on the last Sunday of every month.
Buchona is usually a term used in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries to describe a woman who is a boss– someone who exudes dominant energy or marries into a powerful position.
“I didn’t know how well [the idea for Butchona] was going to be received and my favorite part of all that, has been the looks everyone has been bringing,” said Rocio Flores, who goes by DJ Lady Soul.
The event that started only a few months ago, brings in dozens of dressed-up jotas. The ‘looks’ that the crowds bring are reminiscent of how dad’s, tíos, and their friends dressed at Mexican family parties: a tejana, cowboy boots, giant belt buckle and a beer in hand.
Dressing up in these looks is a way to show wealth and status to earn the respect of other males in a male-dominated and -centered culture– that is until now.
This traditionally male, Mexican, cultural identity, is something that has never been embraced or accessible to women or gender non-conforming people. The giant belt buckles that are traditionally custom-made and specific to male identities like head of household, ‘only rooster in the chicken coop’ and lone wolf, are only part of the strictly cis-gendered male clothes that dominate the culture.
The embroidered button-ups, belt buckles and unique cowboy hats –all come together to create the masculine looks that are now being reclaimed by women and gender nonconforming people at the event curated by three queer, Mexican DJs, who once had a little idea that could.
Flores, 37, (she/her), Gemini, says that to her the term butchona describes a woman who is a little ‘chunti,’ a little cheap in the way she dresses– but in a queer way.
“That title also means that you’re a badass,” she said. “I want to look like that señor, I want to look like that dude and now I feel like I could, so why not?”
Flores says that now she feels like she can embrace and reclaim that cultural identity, but it wasn’t always that easy.
At first, her family upheld the traditional cisgender roles that forced her to dress more feminine, but she always wanted to dress like her cousins and her tíos.
“Now, I’m like: ‘Fuck that!’ I’m going to wear the chalecos and the Chalino suits,” she said in Span-glish.
The Chalino suits are traditional, Mexican, suits that were worn and popularized by Chalino Sanchez, known as the King of corridos—a genre of music that is said to have originated on the border region of Texas, Tamaulipas and Nuevo León, Mexico.
“It felt good to break into the DJ scene, but what I always noticed was that the lesbian culture was always lacking,” said DJ Lady Soul. “I would mainly see gay males at parties and a lot of male DJs.”
According to Zippia–a career site that sources their information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics and the U.S. Census–23.5 percent of disc jockeys are women, 16 percent are LGBTQ+ and only 12.7 percent are Hispanic or Latin American.
What has always been a traditionally machista music genre and scene, is now being embraced by a growing number of queer women and non-male DJs in Los Angeles.
For Fran Fregoso, who goes by DJ French, 33, (they/she), Taurus– embracing their cultural identity came a lot easier because of their late uncle who sort of paved the way for them to come out as queer and be more accepted than he was as the first openly out queer person in their family.
Their music journey began listening to the 90s grunge, alternative, hip-hop and metal music played by their older siblings at home.
“Then I met Vanessa [DJ Killed By Synth], and she introduced me to the industry,” said DJ French.
DJ French felt the acceptance and support to enter this music space and decided to embrace their cultural roots by playing music that they grew up listening to at family parties. They booked their first gig with Cumbiatón LA, a collective of DJs and organizers who host Latin American parties across Los Angeles, often centering queer DJs and other performers.
“When [Lady Soul and Killed By Synth], brought this idea up to create Butchona, I was like: ‘Oh, I’m in 100 percent’,” they said. “Because I love playing corridos and banda music because that’s a core memory from my childhood and family parties.”
Banda, corridos, cumbias and other traditional music is a big part of Mexican culture, even as gendered and male-centered as it has been, it is embraced by all.
“I know a lot of people in our queer, Latino, community love that music too, but they also want to be in a safe space,” they said. “That’s where we decided to make an environment for our community to dance and be themselves.”
Vanessa Bueno, 40, (she/her), Libra, who goes by DJ Killed By Synth, says her journey started about 20 years ago when she started DJing for backyard parties in East L.A. and across L.A. County.
Her family is from Guadalajara, so she says that growing up she also had a lot of family parties with corridos and banda blaring in the background of memories with the many cousins she says she lost count of.
“A lot of the music we heard was bachata, banda, cumbia and even some 80s freestyle,” said Bueno.
Even while she had a ‘little punk rocker phase,’ she says she couldn’t escape that Spanish music her family played ritualistically at family get-togethers.
When they began their music journey–back in the AOL, Instant Messenger days, they played a lot more electronic music, hence the name Killed by Synth. At first, it was just a username, but then it became her DJ name.
“Later down the line, comes [the idea for] Butchona came about, and me, Rocio and French collaborated,” she said. “It’s kind of always been my goal to create these safe spaces for women and queer people, and I had been in the scene long enough to where people were willing to answer my calls to work with them to make it happen.”
For Bueno, it was natural for her to build community and embrace this part of their culture later on in her career when she saw a need for queer, Latin American-centered club spaces with family party vibes.
She started hosting Latin American-style parties, blending music, culture, and food and attracting the exact audience she envisioned. With these events, Bueno aimed to reclaim her Mexican identity and foster a sense of family and community at these events.
“We’re here to build a safe space to embrace the music and kind of not think about the machismo that is tied to it and celebrate who we are,” said Bueno.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor and Statistics, California, Texas, New York, Arizona and Washington rank the highest in employment rates for disc jockeys in 2023. There is also a recent trend in more women DJs–the study does not include gender nonconforming DJs–booking twice as many gigs as men in event spaces and concerts that host DJ sets.
“It feels like we’re barely cracking into these safe spaces and expanding our horizons a little bit,” said DJ French. “I hope this inspires other people to also create safe spaces like Butchona.”
The next Butchona event will be on Sunday, Oct. 27 and will feature all three DJs playing corridos, banda, cumbia and all the classics, for a chunti Halloween party.
Los Angeles
Urgent Prop 3 community town hall will feature discussion about marriage equality with local LGBTQ+ leaders
Join the conversation about safeguarding the freedom to marry for LGBTQ+ communities!
LGBTQ+ leaders will gather on Monday, Oct 28 at the historic St.Thomas the Apostle Church in Hollywood, for a community town hall and panel discussion in support of Proposition 3. The gathering will feature a panel with community leaders who will explain the importance of voting on this proposition, with a reception to follow the discussion.
The event is being hosted in collaboration with CALÓ News, a local nonprofit newsroom that covers Latinx issues across Los Angeles, and the Yes on Prop 3 campaign team. Los Angeles Blade will be using this opportunity to formally announce their new collaboration with CALÓ News with the addition of new Local News Editor, Gisselle Palomera.
The event begins at 7PM, starting with the town hall and panel discussion moderated by Palomera. Community leaders from the American Civil Liberties Union, Equality California, Trans Latin@ Coalition and the Gender and Reproductive Justice Project, will join Palomera on stage.
Proposition 3, also known as the Right to Marry and Repeal Proposition 8 Amendment and it aims to cement same-sex and interracial marriage equality in the California Costitution, which still only uses language that recognizes marriage can only be between a man and a woman.
To read more about Prop 3 ahead of the discussion, click here. To RSVP for the in-person community town hall event, click here.
California
What you missed at the CD-14 debate between Ysabel Jurado and Kevin De León
LGBTQ+ candidate faces off against opponent Kevin De Leon on community forum on Wednesday
Los Angeles Council District 14 (CD-14) candidates Ysabel Jurado and Kevin de León sparred over their qualifications in what could have been their last in-person debate before the November election.
Wednesday’s CD-14 debate, a district home to approximately 265,000 people, 70% of them Latin American, offered the public a chance to hear from both candidates and their stand on issues such as homelessness, public safety and affordable housing, among other things.
CALÓ News was one of the media outlets that were present inside Dolores Mission Catholic Church in Boyle Heights, where the debate was held. Below are our reporter’s main takeaways.
People showed up and showed out. More than 300 people attended the debate, which was organized by Boyle Heights Beat and Proyecto Pastoral. More than 260 people gathered inside the church and the rest watched via a livestream projected on the church’s patio.
The debate was bilingual, with translation services available for all, honoring the many Spanish speakers that live in the district, as Brendan P. Busse, pastor of the church, said in the opening statement.
As part of the event guidelines, Busse also shared that no applause or booing was to be permitted, a rule that was broken within the first ten minutes of the forum. “Where you are tonight is a sacred place. People who are in need of shelter sleep here and have for the last 40 years,” he said when referring to the church transforming into a homeless shelter at night for over 30 adults. “Power and peace can live in the same place.”
That was the most peaceful and serene moment throughout the two-hour forum.
What followed was traded insults and competing visions from both candidates.
One of the first stabs occurred when De León accused Jurado of wanting to “abolish the police” and when Jurado reminded the public of De Leon’s “racist rhetoric,” referring to the 2022 scandal over the secretly recorded conversation with Gil Cedillo and Nury Martínez where they talked about indigenous Mexicans, Oaxacans, the Black and LGBTQ+ communities and councilman Mike Bonin’s adopted son.
“I made a mistake, and I took responsibility. I have been apologizing for two years,” De León said. “Just as in the traditions of the Jesuits, love, reconciliation [and] peace, one must choose if we are going to be clinging to the past or move forward. I choose to move forward.”
When Jurado was asked about her stance on police, she said she had never said she wanted to abolish the police. “Don’t put words in my mouth,” she told De León. “I have never said that,” she said. “We put so much money into public safety into the LAPD yet street business owners and residents in these communities do not feel safer. The safest cities invest in communities, in recreation and parks, in libraries [and] youth development.”
De León and Jurado also discussed their plan to work with the homeless population, specifically during the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. In Los Angeles County, an estimated 75,312 people were experiencing homelessness, as stated in the 2024 homeless count. For CD-14 the issue of homelessness takes a higher level as it is home to Skid Row, which has one of the largest homeless populations in the U.S.
“We should continue to house our unhoused,” De León said.
He followed this by saying that under his leadership, CD-14 has built the most interim housing than “in any other place in the entire city of L.A.” He made a reference to the Boyle Heights Tiny Home Village and 1904 Bailey, both housing projects in CD-14.
“We need safety when the Olympics come,” he added.
Jurado said De León’s leadership has fallen short in his years in office, specifically when it comes to the homeless population and said that housing like the tiny homes is not sufficient for people in the district to live comfortably.
“My opponent has governed this district, Skid Row, for over 20 years. Has homelessness in this district gotten better? We can all agree that it hasn’t,” she said. “County Supervisor Hilda Solís put up 200 units that are not just sheds; they have bathrooms, they have places and they have support services. Why hasn’t [CD-14] gotten something better than these tiny homes?”
One of De León’s repeating arguments in various of his answers was the fact that Jurado has never held public office before. “I’ve dedicated my whole life to public service, to the benefit of our people. My opponent, to this day, has not done one single thing,” De León said in the first few minutes of the debate.
In one of the questions about low-income elders in the district, he listed some of his achievements when helping this population, including bringing free vaccines for pets of seniors of this district and food distributions, which, as De León noted, help people with basic food needs, including beans, rice and chicken. “The same chicken sold in Whole Foods,” he said.
Jurado defended herself against the reality of never holding public office and said her work as a housing rights attorney and affordable housing activist have given her the tools and experience to lead the district in a different direction than the incumbent, De León. “We can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results,” Jurado said. ‘We need long-term solutions,” she said.
Last month, The L.A. Times also reported on Jurado’s past political experience, including working on John Choi’s unsuccessful 2013 run for City Council, as well as her work as a scheduler in Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office and how she was appointed by Garcetti to the Human Relations Commission in 2021.
She later added that she was proud to already have the support of some of the L.A. City Council members, such as Eunisses Hernández, Nithya Raman and Hugo Soto-Martínez, which De León later referred to as the “socialist council members.”
After the debate, CALÓ News talked to both candidates and asked how they thought the debate went.
“It was a spirited debate, no question about it,” De León said. “Sometimes elections can take a real ugly twist that is very similar to Trump-ian characteristics. Like Donald Trump just says whatever he wants to say, no matter how outlandish [or] inaccurate it is.”
When asked the same question, Jurado said, “ I think my opponent said a bunch of lies and said that he has plans for this district when he’s had four years to execute all of them. It’s really disappointing that only now he suddenly has all these ideas and plans for this district.”
Both candidates told CALÓ News they will continue working until election day and making sure CD-14 residents show up to vote.
“But I think past the debate[s], it’s just [about] keeping your nose to [the] grindstone, working hard, and taking nothing for granted, knocking on those doors and talking directly to voters,” De León said.
Jurado said she still has a couple other events that she and her team are hosting before election day. “I’m out here talking to voters. We want to make sure that people know who I am and that they have other options. People are disappointed. We’re going to keep folks engaged and make sure that [they] turn out to the polls,” she said.
Jorge Ramírez, 63, from Lincoln Heights, said he has been supporting De León since his time in the State Senate and said he will continue to vote for him because he doesn’t know much about his opponent. “He is the type of person we need. He’s done a lot for immigrants,” he said. “The other person, we don’t know much about her and she’s not very well known. She doesn’t have much experience in this field.”
Alejandra Sánchez, whose daughter goes to school in Boyle Heights and lives in El Sereno, said she believes CD-14 has been in desperate need of new leadership and worries that many people will vote for De Leon just because he is who they have known for so long. “It’s very powerful to see a woman leader step in… It’s been an incredible year to see a woman president elected in Mexico, a woman running for president in the U.S. and a woman also running for leadership here in our community,’ she said. “That’s part of the problem… we are afraid to think about something new, about the new leadership of someone doing things differently.”
General election day will take place on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Early voting began on October 7. You can register to vote or check your registration status online on the California Online Voter Registration page.
AIDS and HIV
40th anniversary AIDS Walk happening this weekend in West Hollywood
AIDS Project Los Angeles Health will gather in West Hollywood Park to kick off 40th anniversary celebration
APLA Health will celebrate its 40th anniversary this Sunday at West Hollywood Park, by kicking off the world’s first and oldest AIDS walk with a special appearance by Salina Estitties, live entertainment, and speeches.
APLA Health, which was formerly known as AIDS Project Los Angeles, serves the underserved LGBTQ+ communities of Los Angeles by providing them with resources.
“We are steadfast in our efforts to end the HIV epidemic in our lifetime. Through the use of tools like PrEP and PEP, the science of ‘undetectable equals intransmissible,’ and our working to ensure broad access to LGTBQ+ empowering healthcare, we can make a real step forward in the fight to end this disease,” said APLA Health’s chief executive officer, Craig E. Thompson.
For 40 years, APLA Health has spearheaded programs, facilitated healthcare check-ups and provided other essential services to nearly 20,000 members of the LGBTQ+ community annually in Los Angeles, regardless of their ability to pay.
APLA Health provides LGBTQ+ primary care, dental care, behavioral healthcare, HIV specialty care, and other support services for housing and nutritional needs.
The AIDS Walk will begin at 10AM and registrations are open for teams and solo walkers. More information can be found on the APLA Health’s website.
California
Equality California celebrates 25 years of championing LGBTQ+ rights
On Saturday, Equality California’s Los Angeles Equality Awards brought in Ru Paul’s Drag Race alum Sasha Colby, to host their 25th anniversary celebration and honor award winners Julian Breece, director of Rustin, and Greg Sarris, Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria.
U.S Senator Alex Padilla, California State Treasurer Fiona Ma, and California State Superintendent for Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, spoke at the event, urging for more visibility and attention to the bills, measures and propositions that affect LGBTQ+ rights currently on the November ballot.
The civil rights organization recognized Breece with this year’s Equality Visibility Award and Sarris, with the Community Leadership Award.
The civil rights organization also reached a milestone in their fundraising efforts by raising $100,000 in under a minute at Saturday’s awards celebration. Though the goal of raising $250,000 wasn’t met, they did fundraise over $200,000 during the awards ceremony.
“For a quarter of a century, we have strived to create a world where every LGBTQ+ person can live freely and authentically,” said Equality California executive director Tony Hoang. “We are thrilled to celebrate the Los Angeles Equality Awards with steadfast LGBTQ+ community leaders and visionaries, as we celebrate this significant milestone and the many victories we have accomplished to improve the lives of LGBTQ+ Californians.”
Equality California has been at the forefront of litigation battles and milestone achievements for the advancement of LGBTQ+ rights and protections in the California Constitution now for 25 years.
EQCA also celebrated that Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed six of the bills that the organization prioritized in this Legislative Session.
Newsom signed AB 2258, which now increases access to preventative care and requires health plans to cover STI screenings for PrEP, and SB 729, which now requires large group health plans to cover fertility and IVF treatments. Newsom also signed SB 957 into law, which now ensures that the California Dept. of Public Health collects complete data on sexual orientation, gender identity and variations in sex characteristics or intersex status.
SB 990 introduced by State Senator Steve Padilla, was signed into law, now requiring California to update the State Emergency Plan to include LGBTQ+ inclusive policies and best practices.
SB 1333 was also signed by Newsom in the latest Legislative Session, now allowing confidential data sharing for HIV and other reportable diseases to ensure more effective responses during public health emergencies.
The sixth and final bill recently signed by Newsom is SB 1491, which now requires public colleges and universities to adopt and publish policies on harassment and designate a confidential employee to address the needs of LGBTQ+ students and staff.
These signatures follow the signature of AB 1955 in July and the immediate backlash from far-right extremists like Elon Musk, who then officially stated that he was pulling his companies out of California and into Texas.
The next award ceremony will be held at the Riviera Resort and Spa in Palm Springs, on Saturday, Oct. 26.
Community Services - PSA
LGBTQ+ voter education town hall held tonight in Los Angeles
Unique Women’s Coalition, Equality California and FLUX host discussion on upcoming election.
The Unique Women’s Coalition, Equality California and FLUX, a national division of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, will host their second annual voter education town hall today at the Connie Norman Transgender Empowerment Center in Los Angeles from 7PM to 9PM tonight.
The organizations will present and discuss ballot propositions and measures that will appear on the November ballot and that affect the LGBTQ+ community in this part of the town hall series titled ‘The Issues.’
“The trans and nonbinary community is taking its seat at the table, and we are taking the time and space to be informed and prepare the voter base,” said Queen Victoria Ortega, international president of FLUX.
The town hall will feature conversations through a Q&A followed by a reception for program participants, organizational partners and LGBTQ+ city and county officials.
There will later be a third town hall before the election and The Connie Norman Transgender Empowerment Center will also become a voting location for anyone who feels like they need a safe space to vote, regardless of what voting district they are a part of.
“Our community is really asking for a place to talk about what all of this actually means because although we live in a blue sphere, housing and other forms of discrimination are still a very real threat,” said Scottie Jeanette Madden, director of advocacy at The Connie Norman Transgender Empowerment Center.
Arts & Entertainment
LGBTQ+Ñ Literary Festival kicks off this week in Los Angeles
The festival will bring together authors, readers, academics and activists to discuss their experiences and share perspectives about the LGBTQ+ community.
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.
Events
Latino Equality Alliance hosts quinceañera fundraiser
LEA’s mission with this event, is also to bring attention to Proposition 3 – which puts same-sex marriage on the November ballot.
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.
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