Arts & Entertainment
Caitlyn Jenner says she no longer supports Trump
‘I was wrong’
Caitlyn Jenner has changed her mind about President Donald Trump.
In an op-ed written for the Washington Post, Jenner says she no longer believes Trump and his administration are looking out for the transgender community.
She admits that during her āhighly publicized and glamorized early Caitlyn days, when my life as an out trans woman was just beginning,ā she was naive and thought TrumpĀ āwas the first Republican presidential candidate to claim to support this valuable, vulnerable community.ā She thought he wouldĀ āstand up for the LGBTQ community.”
She hoped toĀ Ā āleverage my privilege for changeā and āshift the minds of those who most needed shifting” by advocating with the Trump administration.
“Sadly, I was wrong,” Jenner writes.Ā “The reality is that the trans community is being relentlessly attacked by this president.”Trump “has shown no regard for an already marginalized and struggling community.”
She references the New York Times report of a leaked memo that would require the Department of Health and Human Services to define gender by a person’s biological sex at birth.
“I do not support Trump,” Jenner writes. “I must learn from my mistakes and move forward.”
She concluded that given herĀ āunique position of privilegeā she is open to continue to uplift the transgender community.
āI will still work with anyone who is committed to help our community,ā she writes.
Sports
Misogynistic & homophobic remarks by NFL player sparks outrage
Those in attendance laughed in support of Butker when he mocked Pride month as he cited a recent article headlined: āāA step back in timeā
ATICHSON, Kan. ā Addressing a friendly audience at a private, Catholic liberal arts college, three-time Super Bowl champion Harrison Butker spoke from his heart about his faith and revealed his personal beliefs as a cisgender man about women and the LGBTQ+ community.
In his 20-minute commencement address at Benedictine College on Saturday, the Kansas City Chiefs kicker said LGBTQ+ Pride month events are an example of biblical ādeadly sins,ā denounced ādangerous gender ideologiesā and the ādiabolical lies told to women,ā declared a womanās most important title is āhomemaker,ā and offered his take on abortion, in vitro fertilization and surrogacy, as well as President Joe Biden.
Butker, 28, criticized Bidenās handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and questioned his devotion to Roman Catholicism, calling him ādelusional.ā Speaking directly to the men in the audience, the athlete advised them to ābe unapologetic in your masculinity,” and to “fight against the cultural emasculation of men.”
The pro football player announced that God had given him a platform to speak and that, āI have no other choice but to embrace it,ā he said.
Those in attendance laughed in support of Butker when he mocked Pride month as he cited a recent article by the Associated Press, headlined: āāA step back in timeā: Americaās Catholic Church sees an immense shift toward the old ways.ā The article detailed the institutionās shift ātoward the old waysā and highlighted Benedictineās rules that āseem like precepts of a bygone age,ā which include āvolunteering for 3 a.m. prayersā and āpornography, premarital sex and sunbathing in swimsuits being forbidden.ā
āI am certain the reporters at the AP could not have imagined that their attempt to rebuke and embarrass places and people like those here at Benedictine wouldnāt be met with anger but instead met with excitement and pride,ā said Butker. āNot the deadly sins sort of Pride that has an entire month dedicated to it, but the true God-centered pride that is cooperating with the Holy Ghost to glorify him.ā Butker went on to say that only by surrendering oneās self to Christ will anyone find happiness.
“Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity,” the NFL’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer Jonathan Beane said in a statement addressing his comments. “His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.”
Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, called Butkerās speech āinaccurate, ill-informed and woefully out of step with Americans about Pride, LGBTQ people and women.ā
āThose with expansive platforms, especially athletes, should use their voices to uplift and expand understand and acceptance in the world,ā she said in a statement. āInstead, Butkerās remarks undermine experiences not of his own and reveal him to be one who goes against his own teamās commitment to the Kansas City community, and the NFLās standards for respect, inclusion and diversity across the league.ā
Butker called on religious leaders āto stay in their lane and lead,ā and told women their place was in the kitchen and the maternity ward.
“Iām beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me, but it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker,ā said Butker, and his words were met with thunderous applause.
āIt is you, the women, who have had the most diabolic lies told to you. Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world,ā Butker said.
The Chiefs did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but someone who handles social media for Kansas City posted on X that Butker doesnāt even live in Kansas City but in a suburb 30 miles outside city limits, in a now-deleted tweet.
TheChiefofReddit posted Ooopsā¦āOfficialā Twitter account for KC, MO posted this tweet about Harrison Butker. https://t.co/ojsZA1rOUL https://t.co/XmZda5X4W5
— r/KansasCityChiefs (@ChiefsOnReddit) May 16, 2024
Someone then posted an apology using that account:
We apologies for our previous tweet. It was shared in error.
— Kansas City (@KansasCity) May 16, 2024
And Kansas Cityās mayor himself apologized, also on X, saying āA message appeared earlier this evening from a City public account. The message was clearly inappropriate for a public account,ā he posted. āThe City has correctly apologized for the error, will review account access, and ensure nothing like it is shared in the future from public channels.ā:Ā
A message appeared earlier this evening from a City public account.
— Mayor Q (@QuintonLucasKC) May 16, 2024
The message was clearly inappropriate for a public account. The City has correctly apologized for the error, will review account access, and ensure nothing like it is shared in the future from public channels.
Butkerās comments earned him comparisons to The Handmaidās Tale, both in his words and in how his beard appeared similar to one of the Hulu seriesā characters.Ā
No.
— PlowOn š¦ (@PlowOn) May 14, 2024
This is NOT a scene from The Handmaid's Tale series.
NFL Kicker Harrison Butker for the Kansas City Chiefs told the female graduates in the audience that the best job for them is homemaker! https://t.co/tPJFnO2qub
You can watch Butkerās commencement address in full here:Ā
Sports
Engaged lesbian teammates spoil Caitlin Clarkās WNBA debut
Connecticut Sun fans saw the powerful duo of Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner lead the home team to victory
UNCASVILLE, Conn. ā The sold-out crowd at the Mohegan Sun Arena came to see former college basketball phenom Caitlin Clark in her professional debut, but thanks to two women in love with one another, fans also saw the powerful duo of Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner lead the home team to victory.
The Connecticut Sun broke the Indiana Fever, 92 to 71, on the leagueās regular season opening night.
Clark, the WNBAās number one draft pick, finished with 20 points on 5-of-15 shooting, 4-of-11 on 3-pointers, 6-of-6 free throws. The 22-year-old also had 3 assists, 2 steals and 10 turnovers. But considering this was her WNBA debut, it was a lousy start: Clark went scoreless in the first quarter and missed her first four shots before finally getting on the board midway through the second period.
The Fever offense was overpowered by Thomas, who led the Sun with 13 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds for her ninth career triple-double, which extends her all-time record to 12 if you include the playoffs.
āIām just doing what I do,ā said Thomas, in a post-game interview with ESPN on the hardwood. āThis is my game.ā
Her fiancƩe, meanwhile, had 20 points and moved into fifth place on the all-time WNBA scoring list, and Thomas spoke about Bonner following the game.
āI think sheās underrated,ā Thomas told ESPN. āFifth, all time? I mean, come on! Itās unheard of, and at her age? Sheās incredible. She makes it look easy out there.ā
Bonner, 36, passed former Phoenix Mercury teammate ā and ex-wife Candice Dupree ā who finished her career with 6,895 points and last week was named head coach at Tennessee State University. Bonner did so on a layup in the middle of the third quarter. She now has 6,901 points, and, after a timeout, raised her hands before the crowd to acknowledge the accomplishment.
Thomas, 32, has been dating Bonner since the COVID lockdowns of 2020, when they spent time together in the WNBA ābubble,ā as the Los Angeles Blade reported following their engagement in July 2023.
Bonner, the mother of twin girls with Dupree, also was a major reason for Clark’s early offensive struggles, hounding the guard who before this was the NCAAās all-time Division I scoring leader.
Earlier in the game, Clark managed a steal around the foul line and drove the length of the court before sinking the ball. She later added two free throws and hit a 3-pointer with 29.9 seconds left in the first half. Clark finished the opening 20 minutes with seven points, sinking two of her seven shot attempts. The Fever trailed 49-39 at the break.
Late in the third quarter, the Fever staged a comeback and closed within six points, with the score 63-57, thanks to two free throws by Clark. But Indiana never got closer the rest of this first game of the season.
DiJonai Carrington and Tyasha Harris each added 16 points for the Sun, who finished the 2023 regular season with a 27ā13 record and were the third seed in the 2023 WNBA Playoffs.
Those 27 wins were the most in franchise history. Unfortunately, they lost 81ā92 to the New York Liberty in a must-win game four of the semifinal series to end their season.
Last month, team president Jennifer Rizzotti accepted the Team Leadership Award at the Connecticut Voice Magazine Honors Gala in Hartford, Conn. She accepted this award on behalf of the Connecticut Sun as the organization continues to lead efforts in DEI and supporting creative and inclusive spaces for those in the LGBTQ+, underrepresented and underserved communities.
Next up for the Sun: The Washington Mystics visit Uncasville on Friday, while the Fever host the Liberty on Thursday.
Notables
Jimmy Carterās grandson believes his granddad nearing the end
“Thereās a part of that faith journey that you only can live at the very end. And I think he has been there in that spaceā
ByĀ Jill Nolin | ATLANTA, Ga. – The grandson of former President Jimmy Carter provided an update on his grandfatherās condition Tuesday at the Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy, which was the first held since the former first ladyās death.
Grandson Jason Carter said he visited his grandfather at his home in Plains a couple weeks ago to watch an Atlanta Braves baseball game.
āI said, āPawpaw, people ask me how youāre doing, and I say, I donāt know.ā And he said, āwell, I donāt know myself,āā Jason Carter said during the event at the Carter Center in Atlanta. āHeās still there.ā
Jimmy Carter, who at 99 years old is the longest lived president, has been in hospice care since early 2023. Rosalynn Carter, his wife of 77 years, died in November.
Jason Carter said he believes his grandfather is nearing the end.
āThereās a part of this faith journey that is so important to him, and thereās a part of that faith journey that you only can live at the very end. And I think he has been there in that space,ā Jason Carter said.
His grandfatherās time in hospice care has been a reminder of the work Rosalynn Carter did to advance caregiving and mental health, he said.
āThe caregiving associated with mental health and mental illness is so crucial and so fundamental to the work that we all do in this room and to her legacy that it is remarkable and important, and weāve all experienced it very first hand over the last year so we give thanks for that as well,ā Jason Carter said.Ā
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Jill Nolin has spent nearly 15 years reporting on state and local government in four states, focusing on policy and political stories and tracking public spending. She has spent the last five years chasing stories in the halls of Georgiaās Gold Dome, earning recognition for her work showing the impact of rising opioid addiction on the stateās rural communities. She is a graduate of Troy University.
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The preceding article was previously published by the Georgia Recorder and is republished with permission.
The Georgia Recorder is an independent, nonprofit news organization focused on connecting public policies to the stories of the people and communities affected by them. We bring a fresh perspective to coverage of the stateās biggest issues from our perch near the Capitol in downtown Atlanta. We view news as a vital community service and believe that government accountability and transparency are valued by all Georgians.
Weāre part of States Newsroom, the nationās largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
GLAAD Media Awards
Journalist Erin Reed wins Best Blog at 35th annual GLAAD awards
Los Angeles and Washington Blade(s) contributor, journalist Erin Reed, took home a GLAAD media award for her reporting on LGBTQ+ laws, people
NEW YORK – Los Angeles and Washington Blade’s contributor, journalist Erin Reed, took home a GLAAD media award this past Saturday as she was honored for her reporting on LGBTQ+ laws, people, and moments around the world with special emphasis on in-depth reporting on issues affecting the trans community, of which she along with her fiancĆ©e Montana State Rep. Zooey Zephyr (D-Missoula) are part of.
Reflecting on her recognition by the worldās largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization winning for Outstanding Blog: Reed said:
“When I started reporting on queer and trans issues several years ago, I never envisioned myself becoming a journalist in this space. Instead, I was simply trying to help people understand where to get their healthcare resources, what laws challenged those resources, and what they could do to advocate for themselves through the legislative process and courts. I moved to writing long-form content almost two years ago when I realized that major media outlets were leaving a giant void in reporting on queer and trans issues.
I have been so blessed to be in the position I am in, where I can tell our stories every day. I cannot do this without standing on the shoulders of giantsāthe trans kids I saw tonight at the Gender Cool Project, the trans elders who fought for our healthcare long before us, and the activists in every single state messaging me every time they see something important. I also could not do it without all of you, the subscribers who make this work sustainable.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You make this work worth it.”
The 35th Annual GLAAD Media Awards:
GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis, introduced by Attorney General of New York Letitia James, said in part: āTen years ago when I started at GLAAD, It was a much different landscapeā¦And now we have the urgent need to protect it all. Our latest poll shows that more than half of American voters are turned off by candidates who are anti-trans. Hating us is becoming a losing proposition. We have to keep telling our stories, raising our voices, pushing back on the rhetoric.ā
GLAAD presented the following awards onstage in New York:
- āOur America Who Iām Meant to Be ā Episode 3ā received the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Journalism ā Long-Form presented by Don Lemon
- Family Karma received the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Reality Program presented by the cast of Weāre Here (Jaida Essence Hall, Latrice Royale, Priyanka, Sasha Velour)
- Melissa Etheridge: My Window received the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Broadway Production presented by Uma Thurman
- āJennifer Hudson Surprises HIV Activist with $10,000ā The Jennifer Hudson Show received the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Variety or Talk Show Episode presented by Carla Gugino and Mary McDonnell
- Red, White, and Royal Blue received the GLAAD Media Award for Queer Fan Favorite presented by Cody Rigsby and Beanie Feldstein
GLAAD also announced these winners in an offstage video reel in New York:
Outstanding Podcast: Las Culturistas (iHeart)
Outstanding Film ā Streaming Or TV: Rustin (Netflix)
Outstanding Documentary: Beyond the Aggressives: 25 Years Later (MTV Documentary Films), Kokomo City (Magnolia Pictures), and The Stroll (HBO | Max Documentary Films)
Outstanding New Series: The Last of Us (HBO)
Outstanding Kids & Family Programming or Film – Live Action: Heartstopper (Netflix)
Outstanding Broadway Production: Melissa Etheridge: My Window, by Melissa Etheridge
Outstanding TV Journalism Segment: āNew York City Gay Bar Deaths Classified as Homicidesā (NBC News Now)
Outstanding Live TV Journalism ā Segment or Special: āIndiana Students Put on LGBTQ-Themed Play Themselves After itās Canceled By the Schoolā Yasmin Vossoughian Reports (MSNBC)
Outstanding Print Article: āAs Drag Bans Proliferate, Maren Morris Goes Deep With Dragās Biggest Stars on Why the Show Must Go Onā by Stephen Daw (Billboard)
Outstanding Online Journalism Article: āThe AP Interview: Pope Francis Says Homosexuality Not a Crimeā by Nicole Winfield (AP.com)
Outstanding Online Journalism ā Video or Multimedia: ā7 Remarkable Trans Elders Share Lessons for the Next Generationā (them.us)
Outstanding Blog: Erin Reed – Erin in the Morning
Spanish Language – Outstanding Online Journalism Article: āPersonas mayores LGBTQIA+ ātienen que regresar a un clĆ³set para poder buscar viviendaāā por David Cordero Mercado y JoaquĆn A. Rosado LebrĆ³n (PeriodismoInvestigativo.com & ElNuevoDia.com)
Spanish Language – Outstanding Online Journalism ā Video or Multimedia: āConoce a la primera diputada negra y trans de Brasilā por Natalia Barrera Francis, Joyce GarcĆa, David von Blohn, Paula Daibert y Claudia Escobar (Descoloniza ā AJ+ EspaƱol)
GLAAD previously announced Special Recognition awards for The Dads (Netflix), Love in Gravity, Relighting Candles (Hulu), Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce (AMC Theatres), The Tennessee Holler, Yes I Am: The Ric Weiland Story, Drag Latina (Revry / LATV), EnamorƔndonos (UniMƔs), El sabor de la navidad (ViX), Wendy, perdida pero famosa (ViX)
GLAAD also previously announced that +Life Media received the Barbara Gittings Award for Excellence in LGBTQ Media.
The following winners were announced at the 35th GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles on March 14th:
Outstanding Drama Series: Yellowjackets (Showtime)
Outstanding Comedy Series: Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)
Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series: Fellow Travelers (Showtime)
Outstanding Film ā Wide Theatrical Release: Bottoms (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
Outstanding Film ā Limited Theatrical Release: Monica (IFC Films)
Outstanding Reality Competition Program: RuPaulās Drag Race (MTV)
Outstanding Music Artist: Renee Rapp, Snow Angel (Interscope)
Outstanding Breakthrough Music Artist: David Archuleta (Archie Music)
Outstanding Childrenās Programming: āBlue River Weddingā Ada Twist: Scientist (Netflix)
Outstanding Kids & Family Programming or Film ā Animated: Haileyās On It! (Disney Channel)
Outstanding Magazine Overall Coverage: Out
Outstanding Video Game: Baldurās Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Outstanding Comic Book; Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, written by Alyssa Wong (Marvel Comics)
Outstanding Original Graphic Novel/Anthology: Four-Color Heroes, by Richard Fairgray (Fanbase Press)
Outstanding Scripted Television Series ā Spanish Language: Las Noches de TefĆa (Atresplayer)
Outstanding TV Journalism ā Spanish Language: āAdolescentes trans relatan su experienciaā Noticiero Telemundo (Telemundo)
Online/Digital Streaming Media
Deliciously queer āDead Boy Detectivesā a case worth taking on
A light-hearted, smart, and complex sensibility behind the fantasy
Believe it or not, there was once a time when the Hollywood entertainment industry didnāt take comic books very seriously ā but then, neither did anyone else.
In the early days, comics were dismissed by most adults as childish fantasy; indeed, those with a penchant for clutching pearls saw them as a threat to their childrenās intellectual development and therefore to the future of America itself. Their popularity could not be denied, however, and Hollywood, ever eager to capitalize on a trend, was certainly hungry to get a piece of the action.
The problem was that the studio lackeys assigned to adapt the comics for the screen during those āgolden yearsā were never actually fans of the comics themselves. The result was a parade of kitschy ā if occasionally stylish ā low-budget serials, kiddie matinees, and āB moviesā which operated, for the most part, at the level of cartoons, and mindless ones at that. Even in the 1960s, when comics like āX-Menā had begun exploring mature themes and turning the comic book into a counterculture phenomenon, the best that Hollywood ā now deploying the then-relatively new medium of television ā was a āBatmanā series that felt even campier than the corny serials of three decades before.
Yet despite being treated as a throwaway genre with no cultural significance or intellectual value, the popularity never went away ā and with the generation that grew up with comics now old enough to be working in Hollywood themselves, a new burst of creativity began to infuse the screenās version of the genre with the kind of nuance and sophistication that fans had always known was there. Fast forward to 2024, when comics-based content dominates not just our movie screens ā nobody needs to be told about the way it has shaped (some would say crippled) the mainstream film industry for the last decade or so ā but all our other screens, as well. And while much of the material that has resulted from this obsessive fascination with comics (and comics-adjacent material like āStar Warsā and other similar fantasy franchises) often suffers from the same safe āappeal to the LCDā mentality that robbed the vintage stuff of its potential, the artistry of creators who are fans themselves has also resulted in a lot of genuinely good storytelling.
In the latter category, we offer up āDead Boy Detectivesā ā a new series derived from a supplemental thread in renowned comics creator-turned-bestselling author Neil Gaimanās groundbreaking āSandmanā, which debuted last week on Netflix ā as a counter to the increasingly popular notion that comic books have hamstrung the industryās creativity.
Based on characters and storylines that emerged during the original run of Gaimanās iconic book (published by DC Comics via its Vertigo imprint), itās a fresh, funny-yet-emotionally engaging supernatural saga in which two ghosts who died in their youth ā the titular āDead Boysā ā operate a detective agency in London, solving mysteries for other spirits who need closure before moving on to the afterlife.
The boys ā Edwin (George Rexstrew) and Charles (Jayden Revri) ā are not themselves quite ready to depart the earthly plane, however; on the contrary, they operate on the lam, making sure to keep one step ahead of Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste, reprising her role from Netflixās acclaimed āSandmanā adaptation) so that she canāt drag them out of it before theyāre ready. Something of a mismatched pair (both died at the same English boarding school, but 60 years apart), they nevertheless have established a fondness for each other and a dynamic together that makes them an excellent team in solving the supernatural crimes they encounter in their work. Their biggest handicap is the difficulty of dealing with the living ā who, for the most part, cannot see or hear them ā when it becomes necessary in an investigation. Fortunately for them (and for the story, of course), they find a solution to that issue during episode one.
Enlisted by the ghost of a Victorian child to rescue the human medium ā Crystal Palace (Kassius Nelson), possessed by a former boyfriend who was actually a demon (David Iacono) ā that has been trying to help her ācross overā, the detectives find themselves with a living ally who can not only interact with them, but also with the ārealā world in which they do their work. With Crystal on the team, they are soon called to an American seaport town to investigate the disappearance of a child ā who, it turns out, has been abducted by a witch (Jenn Lyon) intent on draining her youthful essence in pursuit of her own immortal beauty. We donāt want to give anything away, but during the course of the case they not only incur her wrath, they set off alarm bells on the āother sideā, calling attention to the fact that two AWOL souls are still lingering in the human world.
Things get worse for them in the second episode, when Edwin attracts the interest of the local āCat Kingā (Lukas Gage, āWhite Lotus,ā āDown Lowā) and subsequently finds himself cursed to remain until he has ācounted all the catsā in town ā a daunting and maybe impossible task.
Though jumping into the second installment might feel like getting ahead of ourselves, itās important to look ahead for the sake of exploring the showās deliciously pervasive queerness, so forgive the spoiler-ish leap; because it is Edwin, who died in an era long before being openly attracted to other boys could even be discussed, let alone accepted, that serves to root the storyās tension into a real-life context that helps all the supernatural nonsense connect with relatable real-world experience and emotion. Uncomfortable more than a century after his death with the secrets of his own sexuality, he finds himself hampered by his jealousy of the obvious growing attraction between his literal BFF and the new girl psychic who has joined their team ā as well as vulnerable to manipulation from both the witch who has it in for him and the Cat King whoā¦ well, letās just say that Edwinās cat-counting curse could be easily lifted if he would only accept another way to appease the libidinous (and far from unappealing) feline monarch.
Itās best we stop there, before we reveal too much; the series ā developed by Steve Yockey and produced by (among others) original author Gaiman and out queer TV impresario Greg Berlanti ā sets up its story arc very plainly from the beginning, so savvy viewers will read the subtext long before any definitive events take place, but much of what makes it fun is watching how it all unfolds.
Suffice to say that, with engaging performances from all its players, a light-hearted, smart, and complex sensibility behind all of its fantasy elements, and a palpably queer vibe that leaves plenty of room for allies to jump on board, too, itās one of the more worthwhile (and meaningful) ācomic bookā stories to hit our screens in a long while.
Maybe more importantly, itās also entertaining, which makes it easy for us to recommend āDead Boy Detectivesā as a case youāll definitely want to accept.
Books
āMean Boysā raises questions of life, death, and belonging
āMean Boysā can make you squirm. For sure, itās not a beach read or something youāll breeze through in a weekend
āMean Boys: A Personal Historyā
By Geoffrey Mak
c.2024, Bloomsbury
$28.99/267 pages
Itās how a pleasant conversation is fed, with give and take, back and forth, wandering casually and naturally, a bit of one subject easing into the next with no preamble. Itās communication you can enjoy, like what youāll find inside āMean Boysā by Geoffrey Mak.
Sometimes, a conversation ends up exactly where it started.
Take, for instance, Shakespeareās āKing Lear,ā which leads Mak to think about his life and his inability to ācull the appropriate narratives out of nonsense.ā Part of that problem, he says, was that his living arrangements werenāt consistent. He sometimes ānever really knew where I was living,ā whether it was Berlin or California, in a studio or high-end accommodations. The parties, the jokes, the internet consumption were as varied as the homes and sometimes, āit didnāt really matter.ā Sometimes, you have to accept things and just āmove on.ā
When he was 12 years old, Makās father left his corporate job, saying that he was ācalled by Godā to become a minister. It created a lot of resentment for Mak, for the lack of respect his father got, and because his parents were āpassionately anti-gay.ā He moved as far away from home as he could, and he blocked all communication with his parents for years, until he realized that āBy hating my father, I ended up hating myself, too.ā
And then there was club life which, in Makās descriptions, doesnāt sound much different in Berghain (Germany) as it is in New York. He says he āthrew myself into night life,ā in New York Houses, in places that gave āa skinny Chinese kid from the suburbsā¦ rules I still live by,ā on random dance floors, and in Pornceptual. Eventually this, drugs, work, politics, pandemic, basically everything and life in general led to a mental crisis, and Mak sought help.
āI donāt know why Iām telling you all this,ā Mak says at one point. āSometimes life was bad, and sometimes it wasnāt, and sometimes it just was.ā
Though there are times when this book feels like having a heart-to-heart with an interesting new acquaintance, āMean Boysā can make you squirm. For sure, itās not a beach read or something youāll breeze through in a weekend.
No, author Geoffrey Mak jumps from one random topic to another with enough frequency to make you pay close to attention to his words, lest you miss something. That wonāt leave you whiplashed; instead, youāre pulled into the often-dissipated melee just enough to feel almost involved with it ā but with a distinct sense that youāre being held at armsā length, too. That some stories have no definitive timeline or geographical stamp ā making it hard to find solid ground ā also adds to the slight loss of equilibrium here, like walking on slippery river rocks.
Surprisingly, thatās not entirely unpleasant but readers will want to know that the ending in āMean Boysā could leave their heads swirling with a dozen thoughts on life, belonging, and death. If you like depth in your memoirs, youāll like that ā and this.
The Blade may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via this post.
Online Culture
Online safe spaces for queer youth increasingly at risk
āSocial media [are] where young people increasingly turn to get information about their community, their history, their bodies & themselvesāĀ
By Henry Carnell | MIAMI, Fla. – āThey had LGBTQ-inclusive books in every single classroom and school library,ā Maxx Fenning says of his high school experience. āThey were even working on LGBTQ-specific course codes to get approved by the state,ā he said, describing courses on queer studies and LGBTQ Black history.
No, Fenning didnāt grow up in Portland or a Boston suburb. Fenning graduated from a South Florida high school in 2020. Floridaās transformation from mostly affirming to āDonāt Say Gayā has been swift, he says. āIt feels like a parallel universe.ā
Fenning, who just graduated from the University of Florida, follows the developments closely as the executive director of PRISM FL Inc., a youth-led LGBTQ nonprofit he founded at 17. āIāve watched so many of the things that I kind of took advantage of be stripped away from all of the students that came after me,ā Fenning says. āItās one thing to be in an environment thatās not supportive of you. Itās another thing to be in an environment thatās supportive of you and then watch it fall apart.ā
āItās just gut-wrenching,ā Fenning explained, describing how Floridaās increasingly hostile legislation has transformed the state he has lived in most of his life.
Most recently, Florida passed HB3, āOnline Protections for Minors,ā which bans youth under 14 from having social media accounts. Youths aged 14 and 15 need parental consent before getting accounts and any minor must be protected from āharmful contentā online.
Unlike the previous legislation, which came predominately from the right and directly targeted issues like gender-affirming healthcare or DEI, HB3 is part of a bipartisan push across the country to regulate social media, specifically for youth. HB3 was co-sponsored by Michele K. Rayner, the openly queer Black member of the Florida Legislature, alongside many of her colleagues across the aisle. Similar national legislation, like Kids Online Safety Act, includes 68 Democratic and Republican sponsors.
Shae Gardner, policy director at LGBT Tech, explains that this legislation disproportionately harms LGBTQ youth, regardless of intentions or sponsors.
Gardner says that while all these bills claim they are for the safety of kids, for LGBTQ youth, āyou are putting them at risk if you keep them offline.ā She explains that āa majority of LGBTQ youth do not have access to affirming spaces in their homes and their communities. They go online to look like that. A majority say online spaces are affirming.ā
Research by the Trevor Project, which reports that more than 80% of LGBTQ youth āfeel safe and understood in specific online spacesā backs this up. Specific online spaces that are under target from legislation, like TikTok, are disproportionately spaces where LGBTQ youth of color feel safest.
āFor LGBTQ people, social media has provided spaces, which are, at once both public and private, that encourage, and enhance ā¦ a great deal of self-expression that is so important for these communities,ā confirms Dr. Paromita Pain, professor, Global Media Studies & Cybersecurity at University of Nevada, Reno. She is the editor of the books āGlobal LGBTQ Activismā and āLGBTQ digital cultures.ā
Fenning emphasizes that with bills like āDonāt Say Gay,ā in Florida ā and other states including North Carolina, Arkansas, Iowa, and Indiana ā LGBTQ youth have less access to vital information about their health and history. āSocial media [are] where young people increasingly turn to get information about their community, their history, their bodies and themselves.ā
At PRISM, Fenning works to get accurate, fact-backed information to Florida youth through these pathways, ranging from information on health and wellbeing to LGBTQ history to current events. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Often youth tell him āI wish I learned this in school,ā which is a bittersweet feeling for Fenning since it represents how much young LGBTQ youth are missing out on in their education.
Morgan Mayfaire, executive director of TransSOCIAL, a Florida advocacy group, said that these internet bans are an extension of book bans, because when he was a teen, books were his pathway into the LGBTQ community. āFor me it was the library and the bookstores that we knew were LGBTQ friendly.ā Now 65, Mayfaire understands that ākids today have grown up with the internet. Thatās where they get all their information. You start closing this off, and youāre basically boxing them in and closing every single avenue that they have. What do you think is going to happen? Of course, itās going to have an impact emotionally and mentally.ā
Fenning says that social media and the internet were powerful to him as a teen. āI was able to really come into my own and learn about myself also through social media. It was really powerful for me, building a sense of self.ā Gardner agrees, sharing that legislation like this, which would have limited ā15-year-old me, searching āif it was OK to be gayā online, would have stagnated my journey into finding out who I was.ā
Gardner also explains that many of the bills, like HB3, limit content that is āharmfulā or āobsceneā but do not specifically define what that content is. Those definitions can be used to limit LGBTQ content.
āExisting content moderation tools already over-censor LGBTQ+ content and users,ā says Gardner, āthey have a hard time distinguishing between sexual content and LGBTQ+ content.ā Pain emphasizes that this is no accident, āthere are algorithms that have been created to specifically keep these communities out.ā
With the threat of fines and litigation from HB3, says Gardner, āmoderation tools and the platforms that use them is only going to worsen,ā especially since the same legislators may use the same terms to define other queer content like family-friendly drag performances.
In addition to being biased, it has devastating effects on LGBTQ youth understanding of their sense of identity, Fenning explains. āThat perception of queer people as being overly sexual or their relationships and love being inherently sexual in a way that other relationships arenāt does harm to our community.ā
Gardner acknowledges that online safety has a long way to go ā pointing to online harassment, cybercrime, and data privacyābut that these bills are not the correct pathways. She emphasizes āeverybodyās data could be better protected, and that should be happening on a federal level. First and foremost, that should be the floor of protection.ā
She also emphasizes that content moderation has a long way to go from targeting the LGBTQ community to protecting it. āTrans users are the most harassed of any demographic across the board. That is the conversation I wish we were having, instead of just banning kids from being online in the first place.ā
Being queer on the ground in Florida is scary. āThe community is very fearful. This [legislation] has a big impact on us,ā explains Mayfaire.
āI mean, it sucks. Right?ā Fenning chuckles unhappily, āto be a queer person in Florida. In a state that feels like it is just continuously doing everything it can to destroy your life and all facets and then all realms.ā
Despite the legislative steamrolling, several court wins and coordinated action by LGBTQ activists help residents see a brighter future. āThereās a weird tinge of hope that that has really been carrying so many queer people and I know myself especially this year as weāre seeing the rescinding of so many of these harmful policies and laws.ā
For example, this March, Florida settled a challenge to its āDonāt Say Gayā legislation that significantly lessens its impact. Already, experts warn that HB3 will face legal challenges.
Pain emphasizes that social media is central to LGBTQ activism, especially in Florida. āThere have been examples of various movements, where social media has been used extremely effectively, to put across voices to highlight issues that they would not have otherwise had a chance to talk about,ā she says, specifically citing counteraction to āDonāt Say Gay.ā That is another reason why legislation like this disproportionately harms LGBTQ people and other minority groups, it limits their ability to organize.
Fenning emphasizes that HB3 directly attacks spaces like PRISM, which do not just share information for the LGBTQ community, but provide spaces for them. āFoundationally it provides an opportunity for the community,ā he says, but more than anything, it provides a space, where āyou can you can learn from your queer ancestors, so to speak, and take charge.ā And that is invaluable.
******************************************************************************************
Henry Carnell is a reporter and researcher specializing in climate, science, technology, disinformation, and, sometimes, the LGBTQ community.
He is also a Williams College graduate and Mother Jones’ Ben Bagdikian 2023-2024 Editorial Fellow. He is also a fellow at the Washington Blade through The Digital Equity Local Voices Lab. Previously, they have worked at MIT Press and 5280 Magazine.
His reporting has appeared in Them, Mother Jones, Inside Climate News, 5280, and LGBTQ Nation.
This story is part of the Digital Equity Local Voices Fellowship lab through News is Out. The lab initiative is made possible with support from Comcast NBCUniversal.
Celebrity News
Estimated 1.6 million attend Madonna concert in Rio
Free event took place on Copacabana Beach on Saturday
RIO DE JANEIRO ā An estimated 1.6 million people on SaturdayĀ attendedĀ Madonna’s free concert on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach.
The concert, which was the last one as part of Madonna’s Celebration Tour, included a tribute to people lost to AIDS.
Bob the Drag Queen introduced Madonna before the concert began. Pabllo Vittar, a Brazilian drag queen and singer, and Anitta, a bisexual pop star who was born in Rio’s HonĆ³rio Gurgel neighborhood, also joined Madonna on stage.
Congresswoman Erika Hilton, a Black travesti and former sex worker, and Rio Municipal Councilwoman MĆ“nica BenĆcio, the widow of Marielle Franco, a bisexual Rio Municipal Councilwoman who was assassinated in 2018, are among those who attended the concert.
“Madonna showed that we fight important fights for the human rights of Black (people), young (people), women and LGBTQIA+ people, and against all injustice, discrimination, and violence,” said AssociaƧao Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais (National Association of Travestis and Transsexuals), a Brazilian trans rights group known by the acronym ANTRA, on its X account. “What they call identitarianism’ is our subversion to the retrograde and conservative tackiness that plagues the country.”
The Associated Press reported the concert was Madonna’s biggest ever.
Movies
Itās game, set, and mismatch in unfulfilling āChallengersā
Not quite a bisexual love story for the ages
For months now, most of the buzz around Luca Guadagninoās newest film ā āChallengers,ā starring Zendaya as a professional tennis coach caught in an ongoing romantic triangle with a pair of male rival players ā has been about how ābisexualā it would be.
After all, this was the man that brought us āCall Me By Your Name,ā and even if the Italian filmmakerās work has not always been that queer in focus, this premise was begging for it; and when the trailers started to drop, heavily laden with imagery that made the bisexual subtext blatantly obvious, the speculation ā and the anticipation ā only grew.
As it turns out, āChallengersā wasnāt teasing us in vain ā but it may not even matter, because after spending two hours and 10 minutes with these characters, itās hard to imagine any viewer, whether straight, bi, or a total āKinsey 6,ā wanting to feel represented by them.
Told in a non-linear patchwork format, Guadagninoās movie ā penned by Justin Kuritzkes ā chronicles the complicated relationship that develops when two high school tennis champs, boyhood friends Patrick and Art (Josh OāConnor and Mike Faist, respectively), encounter high-profile pro prospect Tashi (Zendaya) at the US Open juniors. Infatuated at first sight as much by her prowess at the game as by her looks or personality, they woo her together, resulting in a steamy but thwarted three-way experience that ends with her promising her phone number to the one who wins the next dayās match.
More than a decade later, Tashi and Art are a married, wealthy power couple with a child; theyāve risen to fame after Tashi, sidelined by injury into a career as a world-class coach, has helped Art rise to international prowess, while Patrick, who originally won the challenge to become Tashiās lover, has sunken to the level of low-ranked has-been after brief professional success. Art has hit a slump in his upward trajectory, so to freshen up his game, Tashi enters him into a small-time āchallengerā tournament where Patrick, now scraping by on his meager winnings from lower circuit events such as this one, is a āwild cardā entry. The rekindling of old rivalries and complex feelings between this intertwined trio of āplayersā results in a final competition in which the outcome has more to do with unrequited personal passions than it does with tennis.
Ostensibly both a sports movie and a romantic drama, itās a film that wastes no time in tying its two themes together for an exploration of how the competitive instinct that might be essential to one can be a major obstacle when it comes to the other. Thanks to its back-and-forth time structure, we are rushed through all the necessary twists and turns of a 13-year romantic triad quickly enough to recognize immediately that the need to āwinā supersedes every other desired outcome for these three people; more than that, in the broad strokes that emphasize the quick deterioration of their affections in the pursuit of the āgameā (a word we use here both literally and figuratively), it becomes obvious that none of them are capable of recognizing how much influence their lust for victory has over their relationships with each other. To put it bluntly, in an era when polyamory has gained traction as a legitimate variation on the spectrum of human commitment, āChallengersā reads a little bit like a primer on how NOT to do it right.
That might, of course, be a big part of the point. In a story about professional athletes driven by the urge for victory trying to negotiate the delicate balance of self-respect and selflessness required to maintain a successful romantic partnership ā no matter how many partners may be involved ā itās probably an inescapable element of the plot that there would be a struggle to reconcile those two conflicting impulses. The trouble is that, here, the three characters involved are so far removed from typical human experience that it becomes difficult to relate to any of them. They operate within a privileged world that is out of reach for most of us, and the conflicts that arise in their triad dynamic mostly arise from pure ego. Itās hard to feel empathy for such individuals, frankly, especially when itās clear that their own mindset is the greatest obstacle to fulfillment in their lives, both professionally and personally. Theyāre all spoiled brats, and unrepentantly so.
Itās because of this that āChallengersā comes off as the kind of glossy, old-Hollywood fantasy that is more about wish fulfillment than anything else. Each of its protagonists is impossibly attractive; fit, sexy, and living an enviable life even when theyāre struggling just to get by. They are the kind of people many of us wish we could be ā and that, ironically, perhaps makes us dislike them all the more.
None of this is the fault of the players, who uniformly give the kind of fully invested performance that illuminates the humanity of their characters beyond negative cliches. Zendaya, never shying from her role as master manipulator in the filmās twisted ālong conā romance, makes us feel the visceral need for competition that eclipses her less imperative impulses toward personal connection. OāConnor (āGodās Own Country,ā āThe Crownā) and Faist (Broadwayās āDear Evan Hansen,ā Spielbergās āWest Side Storyā) are not only eminently likable, but present an unvarnished and completely believable chemistry as would-be-lovers who canāt quite get past their self-judgment to embrace the obvious feelings they have for each other. The fact that we believe equally in their impulse toward the dazzlingly self-actualized Zendaya makes their performances all the more stellar. Unfortunately, within the larger context of the film, their appeal is tarnished by our ambivalence toward the dynamic the characters perpetuate between themselves.
And what of their sexuality? Is āChallengersā that rare mainstream movie that vaults over the film industryās long-lamented ābi erasureā to present a bisexual love story for the ages? Not quite. Even if its ending (spoiler alert!) suggests that the entire movie has been about two men getting over their toxic masculinity to embrace their true feelings for each other, the fact that it never defines that relationship as a queer one and chooses instead to leave it up to our individual interpretation feels like something of a cop out. In the long run, perhaps, itās a better tactic to avoid labeling its relationships in terms of sexuality, since the cultural āendgameā at stake has arguably more to do with normalizing diversity than amplifying an individual sense of identity ā but even so, it canāt be denied that, when āChallengersā reaches its final moment, weāre left with a sense of ambiguity that feels far too āsafe,ā too much a capitulation to the fragile mainstream sensibility, to advance a sense of acceptance for the āBā in āLGBTQ.ā In the end, itās a movie that stops short of the mark for the sake of the lowest common comfort zone.
Which is why, sadly, we have to set āChallengersā aside as a failed ā if well-meaning ā attempt at providing visibility for the most traditionally invisible faction of the queer community, instead of the unequivocal validation of bisexual attraction weāre still waiting to see.
By JOEY AMATO | Las Vegas, known for its vibrant and inclusive atmosphere, embraces LGBTQ culture with open arms, making it a thriving hub for the community. Iconic events like the annual Las Vegas Pride Parade and Festival bring together people from all walks of life to celebrate diversity and unity. The 2024 Las Vegas Pride festival is scheduled for Oct. 12, so start planning now.
The cityās commitment to inclusivity is reflected in the diverse range of LGBTQ-friendly accommodations, ensuring that visitors feel welcome and respected. Beyond the nightlife, Las Vegas hosts a variety of LGBTQ-focused community organizations, support groups, and cultural events that contribute to the rich tapestry of the cityās inclusive ethos. Whether exploring the famous entertainment offerings or participating in community-driven initiatives, LGBTQ individuals and allies alike find a warm and accepting home in the vibrant tapestry of LGBTQ culture in Las Vegas.
Ever since I was young, I have always wanted to stay at Bellagio. Its iconic foundations have fascinated me for decades. The hotel stands as an epitome of luxury and sophistication, offering an unparalleled experience that seamlessly blends opulence, entertainment, and fine dining. From the moment you step into the grand lobby, itās evident that Bellagio is committed to providing a world-class stay, especially when you glance at the ceiling adorned with Chihuly glass sculptures.
I stayed in a recently renovated room in the Spa Tower with an unobstructed view of the Vegas Strip and the fountains. The attention to detail is evident in the tasteful decor, plush furnishings, and modern amenities. Beginning at 3 p.m. on weekdays and noon on weekends, the choreographed water show set against the backdrop of the Las Vegas Strip is a mesmerizing display of artistry, combining music, light, and water in perfect harmony. It sets the tone for the exquisite experiences that await within Bellagio.
Bellagio is also home to the famous Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, a lush oasis that undergoes seasonal transformations, displaying stunning floral displays and thematic installations. This botanical escape provides a serene contrast to the lively atmosphere of the casino and the bustling Strip. During our stay, the staff were completing the new springtime exhibition, which gave us Alice in Wonderland vibes.
For those seeking entertainment, Bellagio offers the spectacular āOā by Cirque du Soleil, a water-themed extravaganza that complements the hotelās overall theme. Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art is another cultural gem within the hotel, featuring rotating exhibitions that display masterpieces from around the world.
Although it is possible to never leave the hotel, we wanted to experience other MGM Resorts properties, so we headed to LPM at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas for dinner. LPM offers an exquisite dining experience that effortlessly marries Mediterranean charm with the vibrant energy of the Strip. From the moment you step through the entrance, you are greeted by an ambiance that strikes a perfect balance between sophistication and conviviality.
LPMās interior is a visual feast, adorned with chic decor, warm lighting, and an intimate atmosphere. The combination of contemporary design elements and classic French accents creates a welcoming space that feels both elegant and comfortable. Whether youāre celebrating a special occasion or seeking a romantic dinner, LPMās ambiance sets the stage for an unforgettable dining experience.
LPMās menu is a culinary triumph, highlighting the rich and diverse flavors of the French Riviera. The emphasis on fresh, high-quality ingredients is evident in every dish. We began our meal with a variety of appetizers, including the Yellowtail Carpaccio, Escargots, and their signature Burrata prepared with heritage tomatoes and basil and topped with white truffles. For our main courses, we decided to focus on seafood entrees, so we tried the Lobster Risotto and grilled Chilean Bass. Both were prepared to perfection and paired very well together if you are looking to share entrees.
Of course, one of the biggest attractions of Las Vegas is the Strip itself. Spend a few hours meandering through each hotel and taking in the Vegas vibe. There is no other place in the world quite like it.
If you are in the mood for a little adventure, head to Area15, located about 10 minutes from the strip. Area15 is an immersive entertainment complex that blends art, technology, and entertainment in a unique and captivating way. Boasting an otherworldly exterior and a dynamic interior, Area15 is home to a variety of innovative experiences, including interactive art installations and virtual reality adventures. Its anchor tenant, the Meow Wolfās Omega Mart, is a surreal supermarket-like environment filled with mind-bending art and hidden mysteries. The venue also hosts concerts and live events including Beyond Brunch, a variety show hosted by drag queen extraordinaire Andrew Ryan. The two-hour spectacle includes a wonderful buffet and performances by talented acts ranging from hoop dancers to Cirque-style entertainers. The show is well worth the price of admission; it is not your typical drag brunch.
Spend the afternoon touring Area15 or head to The Sphere, Las Vegasās newest concert venue. Rock icons U2 opened the venue with a 40-night run, but guests can purchase tickets to Darren Aronofskyās multi-sensory film āPostcard from Earth.ā
For a trip down memory lane, especially if you are in you were born in the ā70s or ā80s, check out Retro by Voltaggio at Mandalay Bay. The restaurant owned by Top Chef stars, Bryan and Michael Voltaggio, takes diners on a nostalgic journey through time, blending modern culinary techniques with comforting flavors reminiscent of classic American dishes set in a retro-chic environment. The space is adorned with quirky memorabilia, neon accents, and a colorful palette that captures a sense of nostalgia without feeling overly kitschy, creating a welcoming environment for diners to unwind and enjoy the culinary adventure.
Retro by Voltaggioās menu is a playful exploration of classic American favorites. We started our dinner with the deviled eggs with smoked trout roe along with the beet steak tartare, which was incredible. Next came the bluefin tuna ceviche served over coconut crushed ice. For our entrees we tried the trout meuniere, which was served in a lemon and caper sauce, as well as the lobster thermidor with lobster waffles ā yes, you read that correctly. It was as delicious as it sounds.
Save room for the dessert cart, which contains innovative creations that satisfy the sweet tooth. Whether youāre a fan of nostalgic flavors or simply seeking a unique and enjoyable meal, Retro by Voltaggio is worth the visit.
After dinner, catch a performance of Michael Jackson āONEā by Cirque du Soleil also at Mandalay Bay. The show is a captivating tribute to the King of Pop that seamlessly blends the magic of Cirque du Soleil with the timeless music and iconic choreography of Michael Jackson. From the moment the lights dim to the final bow, the show is a high-energy, emotionally charged celebration of the legendary entertainerās life and legacy. This isnāt your typical Cirque du Soleil show and is more like a concert featuring all of Michaelās greatest hits, memorable dance moves, and state-of-the-art production. I felt like āONEā is the type of concert Michael would have wanted to perform if he were still with us.
The thing I like most about Vegas is it is always evolving. Every time you visit, there is something new to see or do. Viva Las Vegas!
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