Events
The Advocate Turns 50! Remembering Editor-in-Chief Richard Rouilard
A groundbreaking magazine
The Advocate’s Lucas Grindley and Paul Colichman with Nancy Cohen at a 50th anniversary party on June 15, 2017. (Photo by Karen Ocamb)
The Los Angeles Advocate started in the late 1960s, as the anti-Vietnam War movement swelled and the liberation movements overwhelmed the long civil rights movement. The newsletter, produced and distributed by the Gay Liberation-inspired political activist group Personal Right in Defense and Education (PRIDE) informed the local gay community about news and events happening during that heady time. It was, after all, created in response to the LAPD raid of the Black Cat Tavern in Silver Lake on January 1, 1967 and the community needed to know when and where the next anti-LAPD demonstrations would occur. In September 1967, the newsletter became a newspaper. By 1974, The Advocate printed 40,000 copies an issue.
The Advocate has undergone tremendous changes since then, which Here Media owner Paul Colichman, editor-in-chief Lucas Grindley, Neal Broverman, Diane Anderson-Minshall and the whole team have recognized in an <ahref=”https://www.advocate.com/advocate50″>amazing tribute to the 50 year old LGBT institution they now run and protect.
I have written intermittently for The Advocate over the years, starting in 1990. My editor was Mark Thompson, for whom The Advocate stood as a “hopeful beacon, holistic in its concern for a people previously broken, adamant in its conviction that the pieces stay mended together. ‘The Advocate was for many of us the first exposure we’d had to the idea that what we are is not bad,’ says one longtime reader, speaking for many. ‘It was alight in the dark by which we could navigate,’” as I wrote in my tribute to him last year.
I was introduced to Mark in 1990 at The Advocate offices in Hollywood by editor-in-chief Richard Rouilard. We felt a responsibility to discern what stories were real, what was spin, and how to report on a controversy with both color and an ethical obligation to the larger context. It wasn’t always easy, but he took the struggle to heart, apologizing profusely when another, more senior editor changed the headline of my story on a confrontation faced by a woman author to make it more snarky: “She took a licking and kept on ticking.”
Before he left, Mark edited the exquisite Long Road to Freedom: The Advocate History Of The Gay And Lesbian Movement in 1994. In it is a short essay by Rouilard on the importance of 1990, the year he took over as editor-in-chief of The Advocate.
The Advocate changed dramatically in 1990. Aggressive investigative reporting was initiated by the editorial staff,” Rouilard wrote. “Cover stories attacked corporate giants like AT&T and Bank of America for employment discrimination, unveiled AIDS-phobia and homophobia in Hollywood, on Madison Avenue, and on Seventh Avenue, and explored the gay revolution on American college campuses. The staff also instituted the annual Sissy Awards for America’s worst homophobes. The winner that year was cover boy Jesse helms, whose lips were smeared with a very unflattering shade of red lipstick. Advocate news reports and feature stories were picked up by mainstream media around the world. The Advocate, like the gay nation it reflected, entered the gay nineties with a roar.”
In his Introduction, Thompson noted how Rouilard amplified that roar. “Above all else, the colorful editor-in-chief plunged The Advocate back into the community, a place from which it had been estranged for some time. Under his leadership, the magazine achieved a new standard of excellence for gay journalism, a quality not seen since (Robert I.) McQueen’s early days as editor.”
Rouilard,” Thompson wrote, “had a genius for making the world take notice.” That’s something of an understatement.
Bob Sipchen wrote this in the Los Angeles times on June 28, 1990: “REQUIRED READING: * Webster’s Dictionary has two definitions for the word “sissy.” One is “effeminate.” The other is “cowardly.” In its July 3 issue, The Advocate, subtitled “The National Gay Newsmagazine,” adopts the second meaning and attaches it to its “First Annual Sissy Awards,” dedicated to “some of America’s biggest homophobes.” The issue, he wrote, “is worth picking up if only to see the cover shot of Sissy Award winner Jesse Helms, wearing editorially applied magenta lipstick.”
Richard Rouilard loved being editor-in-chief of The Advocate. Ideas shot out of him like fireworks on Independence Day—ideas to make the magazine better, of higher-quality, and more important with a cutting edge to get more leverage in the mainstream media, and by extension, influence the nation’s premier influencers.
Like Thompson—and most of the other reporters, editors and staff I met when I freelanced there, Richard was furious about anti-LGBT discrimination. He insightfully saw the gay activism stirring around the country and not only seized on being the first to tell the story—but virtually advocated for ACT UP and Queer Nation and the zines popping up with a stunning array of self-expression. And he didn’t stay cordoned off in his Hollywood office or in his well-appointed West Hollywood condo with his beloved partner Bob Cohen. When California Gov. Pete Wilson vetoed the gay rights bill AB 101, Richard was on the streets protesting, putting his body on the line, stopping traffic. I know. I was there. I have pictures.
Richard took the gay rights movement very seriously—and personally. Having been abandoned as a baby, he was later rejected by his adoptive parents when he became too effeminate. He turned that into being too fabulous, adopting his French mother’s maiden name and transforming himself into a gossipy American Anna Wintour with a law degree and biting sense of humor.
He co-founded the National Gay Rights Advocates, the first gay public interest law firm, in 1979, hiring Democratic honcho Jean O’Leary as executive director. Two years later, he created a society column called “Bunny Mars” for several local newspapers and magazines, though best known in the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. Over his career, he worked as an editor or reporter or consultant for scores of magazines and newspapers and helped co-found the Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association.
Richard’s Rolodex could fill a closet. But he relied on friends like LA Gay & Lesbian Community Services Center executive director Torie Osborn and entertainment manager/producer Barry Krost for help, tips and balance. He was a mentor and a mensch, a diva, a dragon and a diplomat. And he really, really cared about gay people.
My first cover story for Richard was Aug. 26, 1990. He wanted a story on fundraiser—but not just the “usual suspects,” the big dollar donors who were in many ways carrying the movement as more and more people died of AIDS. He wanted stories about fundraisers in their own communities, no matter what the “big bucks” dollar size. He wanted to give them props, in his own fashion.
I was in the office one day when he came bounding over, incredibly excited to share some news with me: the next issue would say “The Advocate: The National Gay and Lesbian Newsmagazine.” It was the Oct. 29, 1990 cover featuring two white presumably gay men giving a half hello/half-Nazi salute under the headline: “Gay Right-Wingers: Traitors to the Cause?” The top banner headline read: “The Man Who Outed John Travolta Apologizes.” I don’t know if anyone noticed the change.
My next cover story proved problematic. I had been assigned over the summer to find and interview students on college campuses who were acting up, fighting back, resisting, disrupting and being downright rude about it. They were loosely known as Queer Nation. The problem was—no one was on campus during the summer. And then, when I came in for a story conference and Richard excitedly showed me the cover art—I blanched. I had the fists, I had the middle finger. But I didn’t have the equivalent of a student’s hand holding dynamite. “Find it,” he told me. The cover was done. I had to fit the story to the cover. That was not the way I had done journalism before. Luckily, I fund students in an uproar over a cancelation of a Robert Mapplethorpe exhibit at a museum in Cincinnati, Ohio that resulted in the Contemporary Arts Center and its director being put on trial for obscenity. The jury acquitted in early October, but I had my stick of dynamite in the fight for the First Amendment and to protect the arts.
He made news by publishing Michelangelo Signorile’s outing of Pete Williams who served as Pentagon spokesperson while there was a ban on gays serving openly in the military. Williams is now the Supreme Court correspondent for NBC News.
“Outing is a very nasty business,” Richard told the LA Times in 1992. “But homophobic homosexuals are a nastier business. I don’t think homosexuality is a privacy issue.”
Richard Rouilard died of AIDS on Wednesday, May 8, 1996. He had resigned from The Advocate in 1992 after getting into fights with the publishers over his enthusiastic spending of their money.
“I think he was most proud of turning The Advocate around and being on the vanguard of bringing gay rights into the mainstream,” LA Times reporter and close friend Mary McNamara told the San Francisco Chronicle. “He was able to approach very serious subjects with intense attention but also with a great sense of humor and empathy.”
Richard’s last Editor’s Note for The Advocate was in the August 13, 1992 issue with the cover story: “Eating Our Own.” It is as important today as then. Here’s what he said, as re-printed in the San Francisco Examiner.
“In a speech at a recent journalists’ conference, author Randy “And the Band Played On” Shilts referred to just about anyone who disagrees with him as a “lavender fascist.” Later he told The New York Times that the lavender fascists were nothing more than third graders whining, “Do what I want you to do, or I’ll tell on you.”
Knowing beforehand that Shilts was going to make this unusual speech, I had to respond. Someone had to defend lavender fascists, whatever they are.
As a joke, I had a dozen T- shirts made up that read LAVENDER FASCIST on the front, The Advocate on the back. The New York Times then reported that those at the conference who were in favor of all-out outing — that is, the now- defunct OutWeek’s position, certainly not The Advocate’s — were wearing “earrings and sassy T-shirts.” The anti-outers were allegedly suited.
I am no more a “lavender fascist,” and all-out outer, than Shilts is a “homocon,” a conservative homo opposed to outing under any circumstances whatsoever. This kind of reductionist thinking about the gay, lesbian and bi community is best left to the straight press, which needs to pigeonhole us because they don’t take the time to find out about the depths of diversity in this hodgepodge we call the gay community. We shouldn’t take them seriously.
But when we start seeing each other as enemies — reducing our complicated lives to black and white, left and right — we are in serious trouble. Our greatest task now is to try to understand, to tolerate, to trust each other a little.
We must. We have precious little in common. We are Republicans, Democrats, rich, poor, black, white, brown, yellow, men and women — just for starters. Our community, our few institutions are under attack from a well-financed, highly organized Right. And if a Washington Times report is accurate, the anti-gay right has the blessings of President Bush.
The backlash against us is raging unchecked across America in small towns and cities. The recent destruction of the offices of Campaign for a Hate-Free Oregon has Urvashi Vaid, the head of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, worried, deeply worried. Vaid knows that the anti-gay juggernaut is being fueled by this election year’s great American grandstanding issue — family values.
We have become the Willie Hortons of ’92. Obviously, we can’t afford to be “eating our own” this year. But what is eating our own? Is any criticism, any disagreement, an example of eating our own? Shilts, referring to those with whom he disagrees as lavender fascists, and I with my sarcastic T-shirts are nothing more than two old, bitchy queens going at each other.
Marvin Liebman, a co-founder of the American conservative movement, an out gay man and an old friend of mine, called me an “idiot” in the New York Post for outing an acting chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, Anne-Imelda Radice, a friend of his. Well, ditto for Marvin, and he’s older than Randy and I put together.
Eating our own and political disagreements are two very different animals. But past disagreements that are left unattended can, on occasion and frighteningly quickly, turn into the frenzied phenomenon we recognize as eating our own. Two of our most prominent organizations, National Gay Rights Advocates (NGRA) and the Fund for Human Dignity, were eaten alive recently by vast differences of opinion. The parties at odds refused to deal with each other. The disputes became public. Fund-raising abilities collapsed. The organizations folded.
I was the board chair of NGRA during this period. I could not get the two sides to deal with each other as anything but enemies. The animosities were overwhelming. There were voracious beasts on the sidelines — oppression, sickness, internalized homophobia, anti and pro-establishment agenda-ism anti-authority forces and God knows what else; I don’t. Two years later, I still can’t say which one of the beasts was more prominent.
The beast is at the doorstep again. This year’s gay pride parade and festival in Los Angeles was marred by a public dispute between Queer Nation and event organizers Christopher Street West. QN claimed that the entrance fees at the festival and CSW’s attitude towards minorities and drag queens were not conducive to creating a fully diversified ambience. CSW protested.
In an essay in the event program, activist Torie Osborn suggested that QN was involved in eating our own. No. Not quite. Not yet. Nonetheless, Osborn’s call for unity must be heeded because this fracas could easily become a cannibalistic frenzy if it continues.
The differences of opinion here — angry ads were placed in the local gay press by QN — are too dramatic. The drama, a natural result of our diversity, is the signal that discussion is imperative. But how to get these two sides to sit down with each other is the problem.
Where is the meeting ground when some multiculti-queers suggest that one of our finest leaders, Vaid, should be tried for treason? What happens when Tom Stoddard has committed Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund to a fund-raiser in New York at a performance of “Miss Saigon,” a show being boycotted by Asian-American groups? Should Stoddard have canceled the benefit, thereby threatening Lambda’s fund-raising base for the year? Is Stoddard the enemy?
On the other hand, just how long must women and minorities wait for recognition of their needs, acknowledgement of their absolute right to participate in decisions that intimately affect their lives, decisions that are sometimes made by white-male-run organizations?
There are no easy answers. Seemingly, there are no answers. I think I’ll give that bitch Randy Shilts a call.”
Events
LA events to attend in honor of Trans Day of Remembrance
If you’re looking to pay your respects or be in community with others, here are a few events to attend
Content Warning: Mentions of hate, gender-based violence.
Trans Day of Remembrance is coming up this Nov. 20, preceded by the Trans Week of Awareness from Nov. 13 to 19.
This year has been full of grief for the transgender community across the country. In 2024 alone, the Human Rights Campaign has kept track of 27 transgender and gender-expansive people across the United States who died of violent causes, such as gun or intimate partner violence. According to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office Hate Crime Report on data from 2022, 44 anti-trans hate crimes were the highest number ever recorded in the county, surpassing 42 in 2019. The county crimes had a large rate of violence as well at 91 percent. TDOR seeks to honor the lives of people lost to this type of circumstance.
For those unfamiliar with the history, Trans Day of Remembrance started in 1998 with Gwendolyn Ann Smith. According to Vogue Magazine, the trans writer and activist heard of Black trans woman Rita Hester’s murder in Boston in an online forum, and found the case was greatly similar to that of another Black trans woman who had been killed in Boston in 1995, Chanel Pickett. Realizing a need for documentation, Smith created the Remembering Our Dead web project to track instances of violence against the trans community.
In 1999, trans community members in both San Francisco and Boston used the web project as source material to coordinate candlelight vigils, creating the November holiday.
“I am no stranger to the need to fight for our rights, and the right to simply exist is first and foremost,” Smith said. “With so many seeking to erase transgender people — sometimes in the most brutal ways possible — it is vitally important that those we lose are remembered, and that we continue to fight for justice.”
If you’re looking to pay your respects or be in community with others, here are a few events to attend. Allies welcome.
November 15, 6 p.m.: The Trans Advisory Board in West Hollywood is hosting a small reception and ceremony at the WeHo City Council Chambers. For more details, visit weho.org/lgbtq
November 20, 3 to 6 p.m.: Cal State L.A., is hosting a resource fair with music, vendors, and more to celebrate and commemorate the trans community. Find more information on their event page.
November 20, 4 p.m.: L.A. Civil Rights Department, Trans Advisory Council and the office of Councilwoman Traci Park are hosting a gathering at City Hall. Guests are invited to join an evening of reflection and community. Register for free through this form.
November 20, 5 to 7 p.m.: The queer and trans connect team at Latino Equality Alliance is hosting a special event inviting community members to bring photos for their TDOR altar and enjoy light refreshments. Find more details and register for the event for free through their online form.
Arts & Entertainment
Infinity Festival Kicks Off Today: A Celebration of Creativity, Innovation and AI
The founders are a gay couple who met in the tech industry
Infinity Festival brings together art, innovative technology and creative thinking, to the intersection of the Hollywood entertainment industry. This year, the event is taking place at The Avalon Hollywood, Nov 6 through Nov 9.
The event founders, Mark Lieber and Adam Newman, created this space to bring together Hollywood’s creative visionaries, with Silicon Valley’s cutting-edge technology.
Mark and Adam are not only business partners, but life partners too.
“We met at a party in the Paramount lot and that was 28 years ago,” said Adam. “We worked separately for many, many years and when our careers started to change a bit, we came together to develop projects in television through a company that we formed.”
The two decided to marry in 2014, soon after it became legal to do so in California after Prop 8 was successfully ruled unconstitutional and same-sex couples were allowed to marry.
“We live together, so work is 24/7 and we often get into situations where I have to ask Mark not to talk about work after one o’clock in the morning because I need to go to sleep,” said Adam.
The two set out on a mission to unite their complementary strengths and creative visions, to bring together this innovative festival that spotlights the foremost cutting-edge technologies in the entertainment industry.
This year’s festival will feature prominent voices from the technology, gaming and entertainment industries. The festival will also feature Julien’s Auction, presenting over 200 collectibles from Star Trek on exhibition throughout the festival and then culminating in a live auction on Saturday at 10AM.
The festival’s purpose is to display and discuss the future of technology and its intersection with the gaming and entertainment industries using Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality.
The festival features keynote speeches, collaborative demonstrations with partners like Sony, HP, Verizon and Intel.
The panels will feature discussions on the evolution of animation, cross-media development, virtual effects, gaming production and many other topics.
“We’re not there to talk about how scary AI is, but to talk about how it’s going to be a wonderful tool to push the entertainment business into a broader scope of technology,” said Adam in an interview with Los Angeles Blade.
Mark addressed the concerns that many people have regarding AI taking jobs in the entertainment industry, specifically Hollywood.
The major points of discussion and demonstration at Infinity Festival include: Generative AI, Utility AI, Procedural AI, Mini Labs- Scripted & Unscripted, Machine Learning, Ethics, Natural Language Processing, Computer Vision (AR, Spatial Computing), Deep Learning and Expert Systems.
Earlier this year, Gov. Newsom singed AB 896, the Generative Artificial Intelligence Accountability Act, into law.
“We are talking to people who are using it in a way that won’t eliminate creative jobs, but maximize efficiency,” said Adam.
There is a lot of fear and anxiety surrounding job loss to AI, but Adam reassures festival attendees that learning about how to work in tandem with AI, will be beneficial to productivity and that this is a good thing for many of these industries and their many job functions.
“I look forward to seeing everybody, I mean really, it’s just a great group of people and bring these two groups of tech and production together,” said Mark.
(Photo Courtesy of Mark and Adam) Adam (L) and Mark (R), have been married for over 10 years and together they dedicate their careers toward making Infinity Festival a success for the entertainment, gaming and tech industries.
Mark and Adam created the festival in 2018, but they have been married for 10 years. They got married shortly after it became legal in California in 2013.
They both came from a background in entertainment, Mark has experience in executive roles and Adam had experience in Hollywood production. They came together, married and in 2017, when both of their careers were taking a different path, they decided to start Infinity Festival.
Since then, they have worked together to bring forth the best and latest technology to their events and bridge the gap between industries that will continue to incorporate AI into their systems.
The Monolith Awards this year will happen on Friday, Nov 8 at 7:30PM at The Aster. There are various categories for the Monolith Awards; Gaming Tech: Audio-Driven Narrative, Excellence in User Experience, Visionary Innovation, Live Engagement, Jurors Choice: New Media Fine Art, Audience Award for Best of Fest Popular Vote, Next Gen: Student + Teacher, and the Nexus Award: Excellence in Applied Technology.
Events
Beverly Hills Pet Festival returns with doggy adoptions, family activities
Even the dogs know 90210 is the zip code that offers the best treats.
Beverly Hills is known for high-end shopping, $500 haircuts, pampering at every turn and a few famous and infamous celebrity homes. But this Sunday it’s going to the dogs — at least for one day.
Beverly Hills will host its annual Doggy Daze 90210 festival next Sunday at Roxbury Park, transforming the grassy expanse known as “Wiggly Field” into a hub for pet adoptions, entertainment and family activities.
The free event, running from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 3, aims to connect homeless pets with potential owners while celebrating the bond between humans and animals.
“This is more than just a pet festival — it’s about building community and helping animals in need,” said Dana Besen, spokesperson for the City of Beverly Hills, which organizes the event.
Five rescue organizations, including The Amanda Foundation and Wags and Walks, will bring adoptable pets to the festival. A highlight of the day will be a pet parade featuring costumed animals, followed by a talent contest.
30 vendors will line the park, offering everything from luxury pet spa services to gourmet pet food. Even Shake Shack is getting in on the action, selling special “pup cups” for four-legged attendees.
For children, the festival will feature an arts and crafts zone, face painting, and library story time sessions. Food trucks will be onsite throughout the day.
The event has attracted notable local support, with Beverly Hills residents Lili and Jon Bosse serving as gold sponsors. Owen Care and Foo Dee Doo Press have also signed on as sponsors.
To manage the expected crowds, organizers have arranged free parking at Beverly Hills High School, with pet-friendly shuttles running to and from the park from 10:45 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Last year’s event drew hundreds of attendees and resulted in so many pet adoptions, according to city officials, that the event is now one of the most popular the city hosts. They expect an even larger turnout this year.
The festival comes as animal shelters across Los Angeles County report high numbers of pets needing homes, making events like Doggy Daze increasingly important for connecting animals with potential adopters.
Roxbury Park is located at 471 S. Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills. More information about the event can be found at beverlyhills.org/csevents.
Arts & Entertainment
This Bunny is not for everybunny
Lady Bunny Warns ‘Don’t Bring the Kids’ to her LA Show
Drag legend Lady Bunny is back in Los Angeles in “Don’t Bring the Kids,” her laugh-out-loud comedy show that has been selling out venues nationwide. Known for her towering wigs, sharp wit, and fearless attitude, Bunny’s latest revue delivers everything fans love about her—and more. On Saturday, October 19, at 6 p.m., “Don’t Bring the Kids” lands at The Vault in the Beverly Center, promising an early evening of pure, unfiltered entertainment that’s definitely not for the faint of heart.
So, what can fans expect from Lady Bunny this time around? True to form, “Don’t Bring the Kids” is packed with jaw-dropping moments, from parodies of pop icons like Adele and Cardi B to an original dance tune called “Is It Ozempic, Or…”, based on Bunny’s distorted views of the popular weight-loss drug. “The show is a mix of musical styles,” Bunny explains. It even includes a dishy number about some of your favorite queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race. “I tease Trixie Mattel for stealing my look, call out Willam for being a whore, and do a remake of ‘Big Dick Energy’ about Yvie Oddly. Let’s just say the rumors are true,” she says.
“Drag Race has given me plenty of material,” she reflects. “I love poking fun at the queens, and I always update my act with topical humor.”
“Don’t Bring the Kids” isn’t merely about drag celebrity gossip. Bunny tackles serious issues, like defending drag queen story hours in the face of conservative backlash. “As I say in the show, ‘Look at my wig. I can barely groom myself!’” Bunny quips.
There’s also a parody of the viral spat between Marjorie Taylor Greene and Representative Jasmine Crockett, and Bunny takes the opportunity to unveil her brand-new bitch track, “Pussy This Good”, out now on all platforms.
The performance pushes boundaries, and Bunny admits that’s exactly the point. “I came up in the late-night NYC club scene where we were encouraged to be as wild and dirty as possible. My humor isn’t for everyone, and it’s certainly not for kids — hence the title.”
“Don’t Bring the Kids” is both a warning and a promise. Bunny makes it clear that her comedy is strictly for mature audiences, with jokes and performances that might be too much even for some adults. “I’ve always felt it’s important to be upfront,” she continues. “I love dark, raunchy humor, and that’s what my audience comes for. Every show so far has gotten a standing ovation, and we’ve sold out in Philly, DC, and San Francisco.”
For Bunny, bringing her show to LA, particularly at The Vault, is an exciting opportunity. “I’ve worked with Voss Events (the show’s producer) for years, and they found this fantastic space. I DJed there this past New Year’s Eve, and it’s perfect — great stage, excellent sound. I’m excited to be back in LA, a city that always knows how to appreciate a little twisted drag humor.”
Of course, no Lady Bunny interview would be complete without a few words about her longtime friendship with Troy Masters, publisher of LA Blade. “Troy and I go way back,” Bunny recalls. “One of my first magazine covers was for Outweek, a publication he ran back in the ’80s. I was still thin then and working my own blonde hair! He’s been such a supporter, even hiring me to work as a phone monitor for his boyfriend’s sex line. I’d pop onto the leather line in a queeny voice, calling myself ‘Humphrey Davenport, dominant top.’ The leather guys hated it, but I thought it was hilarious.”
Lady Bunny presents “Don’t Bring the Kids” at The Vault in the Beverly Center on Saturday, October 19th at 6pm. For ticket’s visit VossEvents.com.
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.
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.
Events
GALECA: Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics and Hollywood Creative Alliance unite for 2024 Dorians TV Toast and Astra TV Awards
Event to take place at Avalon Hollywood on Aug. 18
(July 30, 2024) — The Hollywood Creative Alliance (HCA) and GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics announced today that they are joining forces this year to present their respective Dorians TV Toast party and Astra TV Awards ceremony in back-to-back events. The paired celebrations, during which each group will reveal their top choices in television and streaming, will take place on Sunday, Aug. 18, at the Avalon Hollywood.
The 2024 Dorian Awards TV Toast, an intimate champagne-and-appetizers gathering of GALECA nominees and members, will start at 3 p.m., leading into HCA’s larger 2024 TV Astras ceremony at 6 p.m. Helping cap the Astras gala, the organizations will present their new, jointly sponsored Mosaic Award to a TV or streaming series “that captures the power of diversity, equity and inclusion in a polished, entertaining and seamless way,” both on and behind the camera.
GALECA and HCA’s collaboration, likely the first of its kind, marks a show of solidarity for professional entertainment journalists, and journalism itself, at a time when AI, industry strikes, layoffs, media outlet closures, decreasing pay and more threaten the field’s existence.
“In such difficult and divisive times, Hollywood Creative Alliance will continue to lift up those underrepresented in the media,” said Scott Menzel, CEO of HCA. “Our GALECA partnership is one way HCA can stand by that commitment and make an impact.”
“GALECA is grateful for the opportunity to work with the HCA,” added GALECA Executive Director John Griffiths. “Our groups are on the same page — and now, red carpet — when it comes to pressing for a media world where all walks of life have a strong voice. I think we’re all excited to figure out more ways our groups can champion each other’s missions.”
HCA plans to present additional special honors of its own at the Astra TV Awards, which will be broadcast live from the Avalon Hollywood and streamed globally on YouTube and KNEKT.tv.
Outside of special non-transactional, board-chosen accolades such as the Mosaic Award, the nominees and winners of HCA’s Astra Awards and GALECA’s Dorian Awards are all decided in democratic fashion by the groups’ respective memberships.
About GALECA
GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics and its Dorian Awards honor the best in film, television and, under its theater wing, Broadway and Off-Broadway. More than 500 members strong, GALECA reminds society that the world values the informed Q+ eye on everything entertainment. A nonprofit organization, GALECA also advocates for better pay, access and respect for entertainment journalists, especially the underrepresented. Follow us @DorianAwards on social media, and find more information at GALECA.org.
About the Hollywood Creative Alliance
The Hollywood Creative Alliance, commonly called HCA, is a membership-based, not-for-profit organization. Its diverse and inclusive membership includes critics, entertainment journalists, content creators, industry insiders, and creatives with a shared passion for celebrating excellence in entertainment. The HCA’s vision and mission is to amplify diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and culture in film and television. HCA believes in creating a culture where representation is a critical component of the evolution of the entertainment industry. For more information please visit TheAstras.com.
Arts & Entertainment
LGBTQ representation shines at San Diego Comic-Con 2024
Annual event promotes inclusiveness.
San Diego Comic-Con 2024 once again became a mecca for gender-bending cosplay, with attendees cross-dressing as characters like Spider-Man, Beetlejuice, Elphaba from “Wicked,” Pennywise, and Peter Pan.
Gay attendee Rick Rhoades was thrilled with the detailed costumes.
“I loved seeing all the LGBTQ characters — it was such a pleasant surprise to see the Ambiguously Gay Duo from ‘Saturday Night Live!'” he said.
“So many people dressed up, it’s just as amazing as the show itself!” Rhoades added.
Cosplayer Casey Hayden told the Los Angeles Blade, “I love being able to express myself freely. Regardless of your pronouns, being able to get out of your comfort zone and dress as your favorite superheroes is so interesting and powerful.”
Stephanie Tillotson, a clinical therapist for children and an LGBTQ ally, appreciates how Comic-Con promotes inclusiveness.
“This is a safe and positive event for our LGBTQ community, where they can cosplay as their gender of choice and be treated with respect,” she said.
Tillotson participates in Dungeons & Dragons activities throughout the 4-day event.
“D&D is a wonderful role-playing game where attendees can become a character and be whatever gender they want,” she explained.
The 10th Annual Her Universe Fashion Show kicked off Comic-Con with a standing-room-only crowd. Broadway star Michael James Scott, who co-hosted, performed Katy Perry’s “Roar.”
“What an absolute dream to be part of an event that celebrates who you are,” Scott said. “To be invited back by Her Universe founder Ashley Eckstein and to do it with my husband is a true dream come true!”
Prism Comics, a nonprofit supporting LGBTQ-friendly comic books and professionals, had a lively presence on the convention floor and participated in several queer panels.
The organization celebrated the 10th anniversary of its “Still Transgender, Still Here: Trans and Nonbinary Comics Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow” panel. Tara Madison Avery moderated, joined by panelists Tilly Bridges, Alex Combs, Liam Coballes, Nicole Maines, Sonya Saturday, and Gaia WXYZ.
Prism also participated in a Queer Horror panel, moderated by screenwriter Michael Varrati. The discussion explored the LGBTQ community’s relationship with the horror genre and whether a distinct queer horror genre exists.
“Thanks to this amazing lineup for a truly insightful discussion,” Varrati tweeted. “Horror IS Queer! #sdcc”
Events
WeHo is co-sponsoring 1st ever Inglewood Pride Festival, June 22
The pride event, co-sponsored by the City of West Hollywood, will offer live entertainment, DJ sets, and free food
By Paulo Murillo | WEST HOLLYWOOD – The City of West Hollywood is co-sponsoring the first annual Inglewood Pride Festival in the City of Inglewood on Saturday, June 22, 2024. Events are set to take place at the Creative House Gallery at 122 N Market Street and outdoors in the Historic Market Street Shopping District.
The pride event, co-sponsored by the City of West Hollywood, will offer live entertainment, DJ sets, and free food. An RSVP was required and has already sold out.
Inglewood Pride Festival 2024 will be an indoor/outdoor event with plenty of options to captivate and educate the community. Booths will provide resources to the LGBTQ+ community, and there will be a wide range of sponsor vendors. The festival offers free food, free entry, and a family-friendly environment.
The Los Angeles Department of Public Health will also be on hand to provide mpox vaccinations and offer information and resources on various health concerns, including COVID-19 vaccines.
The event schedule is as follows:
GALLERY SECTION
12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
Guest Red Carpet Photos
$50 Grocery Gift for Best Dressed
CABANA SECTION
12:00 PM to 3:00 PM
DJ TLA Storm
70s, 80s, 90s R&B/Soul/Deep
GALLERY
2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
County of Los Angeles Presentation (Cholesterol)
Roberto Luno, Emergency Preparedness; Public Health Nurse, Einique Forris, Health Educator
CABANA
3:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Di P-Nasty
Hip-Hop/R&B/Latin; Dance Contest
CABANA
6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
Artist Performances
To learn more about this event, visit:
Inglewood Pride Festival
The Creative House Non-Profit:
The Creative House Gallery is a non-profit art gallery with a goal of helping the community transition, survive, develop, and thrive through art access and art education.
The Creative House Gallery is committed to enhancing the quality of life through artistic programming that serves all ages, ethnicities, backgrounds, and economic statuses, with an emphasis on marginalized, underserved, and underrepresented persons.
The Market Street Shopping District:
Since Inglewood’s founding in 1908, Market Street has served as the central shopping district. When automobiles came to Market Street in the 1920s, sidewalks were installed to serve pedestrians. In 1927, the chain store S.H. Kress was built at 233 S. Market Street with a signature architectural style. J.C. Penney moved to 139 S. Market Street in 1940.
The late 1960s brought city and county facilities just south of Market Street. During the 1990s, a rehabilitation of Market Street brought street trees and new tenants. Today’s Market Street district has art galleries, bookstores, the Inglewood Senior Center, and the light rail Florence Boulevard station.
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Paulo Murillo is Editor in Chief and Publisher of WEHO TIMES. He brings over 20 years of experience as a columnist, reporter, and photo journalist. Murillo began his professional writing career as the author of “Love Ya, Mean It,” an irreverent and sometimes controversial West Hollywood lifestyle column for FAB! newspaper. His work has appea
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The preceding article was previously published by WeHo Times and is republished with permission.
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