a&e features
2018 Best of Gay LA Awards
All of your favorites, from bartenders to activists and more
Best of Gay LA
Welcome to the inaugural Best Of Gay LA Awards presented by the Los Angeles Blade. There were hundreds of nominations in 25 categories and thousands of votes. Here we present your picks for the best LA has to offer along with editors’ choices in most categories.
LOCAL HERO: JON DAVIDSON
Jon Davidson (Photo courtesy of Davidson)
Jon Davidson has been fighting for the rights of the underdog for most of his adult life.
An attorney focused on the LGBTQ community and people living with HIV, virtually since graduating from Yale Law School in 1979, Davidson has fought and won some of the most important cases facing LGBT Americans. But, as he says, ultimately it’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the long game.
“What I’ve learned is that one of the realities of doing the LGBT rights litigation that I’ve spent most of my career doing, is that sometimes you can lose the case, but still win. Because those sorts of cases end up educating people about the things that are wrong,” Davidson told the Los Angeles Blade.
He became interested in politics in high school, around the time of Stonewall. He was boycotting grapes and lettuce in support of California farm workers and he protested the Vietnam War. He says he was excited about political change. He started taking cases pro bono.
His first big case was no small potatoes. He sued the city of Los Angeles on behalf of homeless people. Not long after, he says, in 1985 a lot of his friends started to get sick. He started looking for a way he could help.
Davidson teamed up with attorney and activist Susan McGreevy, who was at the ACLU at the time. She enlisted his help in writing the first brief to the U.S. Supreme Court about AIDS. It was about whether people with contagious diseases could be considered disabled and protected against discrimination under a law called the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The goal was to convince the courts that AIDS was a disabling condition.
“At the time, the Reagan administration was arguing that contagious diseases couldn’t be considered disabilities because that would mean that people with AIDS would be protected from discrimination,” Davidson says.
Another local case got a lot of attention when Davidson was working with a gay rights organization that no longer exists, on behalf of a man threatened with eviction for hanging a gay Pride flag off his apartment’s balcony. The building’s argument was that people would think it was a “gay building.” Davidson argued that people put American flags on their balconies, so why not a Pride flag?
Davidson left private practice in 1988 to work for the ACLA of Southern California. He was there for eight years, and then joined Lambda Legal, where he worked for more than 20 years.
It was Davidson’s work on a case against the Boy Scouts of America that brought much national acclaim. He was the lead lawyer on the Curran v. Mount Diablo Council of the Boy Scouts of America, a case that went to California Supreme Court. He lost the case, but it was part of the fight to get people to understand that the Boy Scouts were engaging in discrimination.
Davidson also helped out on the Dale case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that the constitutional right to freedom of association allows a private organization like the Boy Scouts, to exclude a person from membership when “the presence of that person affects in a significant way the group’s ability to advocate public or private viewpoints.” In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that opposition to homosexuality is part of BSA’s “expressive message” and that allowing homosexuals as adult leaders would interfere with that message. It reversed a decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court, which had determined that New Jersey’s public accommodations law required the BSA to readmit James Dale, who the BSA expelled after Dale went public about being gay.
Davidson says despite losing those cases, the suits against the Boy Scouts outed the organization as discriminatory and ultimately led to a lot of pressure on them to change their position – both social and financial pressure.
“I used to joke that I’ve spent the bulk of my career fighting for LGBT people to serve in the military, get into the Boy Scouts, serve in the Los Angeles Police Department, and to get married, but I didn’t want to do any of those things. But those are four of the most conservative institutions we have in this country and they all in many ways epitomize being an American citizen,” Davidson says.
He and his longtime partner celebrated their 13th anniversary this year, which they count from the time they moved in together.
“I believe that an attack on any member of this nation or the world is an attack on all of us. But I decided more than 30 years ago I wanted to put my professional energies into and work on behalf of my community, which I define as the LGBT community and those living with HIV. That’s what spoke to me and where I felt there was a need,” he says. But, he adds, “A big part of the battle is also to remember that our community also includes several other groups who’ve been targets of the Trump administration – poor people, people of color, Muslims, people from other countries, you name it – it’s frightening. Our community needs to address the fact that many of the gains we made didn’t really help those most marginalized in our community.” (REBEKAH SAGER)
BEST BARTENDER: ANTHONY SALDANA
Anthony Saldana (Photo by Brett Saari Photography)
He prefers to be called a bartender rather than a mixologist, but Anthony Saldana is Micky’s top man behind the bar.
“We are more fine-tuned for speed and agility than mixing fancy drinks, because it’s always so busy,” Saldana told the Los Angeles Blade.
Born and raised in Ontario, in the inland empire, Saldana has lived in LA for the last 10 years, and worked at Micky’s for most of that time.
His first job after finishing UC Riverside was at Target as an executive manager. He says he was making $70,000 but on his first visit to Weho, a friend came running out of Micky’s with his shirt off, and told him they were hiring.
“I went in and spoke with the manager, who tore my shirt off in the office. He takes one look at me, and says I can start Monday. I told him about my Target gig and what I was making. He laughed at me and said I’d make double that,” he says.
Saldana waxes poetic about the days before the straight crowd discovered Weho.
He explains that straight guys come in to hit on drunk girls, but they don’t drink as much.
Trained using YouTube videos, this is the fourth year he’s won a Best Bartender title. In 2013, Grindr awarded him Best Bartender. He was flown to Vegas to receive the award.
“I don’t know why I keep winning, because I’m kind of an asshole,” he admits sheepishly. He adds, “If you come into my bar, and you act shitty I’m going to call you out on it. I’m very protective of my customers. I’ve jumped over the bar and thrown people out. I take shots with all of my customers. They literally love it.”
Saldana left home at 17 to “do his own thing.”
Now fairly distant from his family he says people don’t get to choose to be born into a family. “I want to choose who I love. I don’t want to be forced to love people I don’t even get along with. I travel a lot, and I take my friends wherever I go.”
His family found out about his being gay via social media. He almost married a girl. He has some complicated views on being gay, and says he gets pretty deep with customers about them all the time.
“I was born a straight man. I was in love with this female, it wasn’t until my sophomore year I had my first gay experience. I think as a child something very small could alter your thought process. I feel like the gay community always says ‘oh, you’re born gay,’ but if 10 percent of the community is born different than the other 90 percent, then that would make it a disability. I would hate to think that being gay is a disability. Personally I don’t want to be thought of as born gay… But, I’m gay now.
“I definitely appreciate a beautiful female though… and have this girl Natalie in my life that I call my wife. We’re inseparable and we do everything together, and I swear she would get married in a heartbeat, but sexually I just can’t do it. I associate with being gay,” Saldano says.
Single and dating, he has a staunch rule about never dating customers. He’s pressured a lot by men, and says he’s had to tell people he’s straight because it’s easier than telling men he’s not interested.
Despite turning a few guys away, Salgado gets gifts — lots of them. At Christmas he received a Cartier love band worth $10,000. “I mentioned that I’d always wanted one, and the next thing you know it’s getting screwed on my wrist,” he says. He’s been given a Mercedes, taken on trips, and even had someone give him money for his sick father.
“I mean people will give 10 to 20 percent to a church, whereas in the gay community they’ll give 20, 30 or 40 percent to the bars,” he says.
Although he’s known by the tattoo inked on his flat stomach, complete with washboard abs, the days of bartending shirtless are over.
A gym rat, Saldano says to keep his liver from completely failing, he only does shots of tequila, and his favorite is Don Julio anejo – always with a slice of orange. (REBEKAH SAGER)
MICKY’S
8857 Santa Monica Blvd.
310-657-1176
BEST BARTENDER, EDITORS’ CHOICE: CORY ZWIERZYNSKI
Cory Zwierzynski (Photo courtesy of Zwierzynski)
Bartender and star of “What Happens at The Abbey,” Cory Zwierzynski is the editors’ pick for Best Bartender. For nearly 25 years, The Abbey has dominated gay nightlife in West Hollywood. And Cory is almost as famous, thanks to his starring role on “What Happens at The Abbey.”
“When you start working at The Abbey,” Corey told the Los Angeles Blade, “it’s like joining a big family. We don’t just work together; we have a good time together. We have so many regulars at The Abbey that they are all part of the family too.”
Corey’s favorite moment at The Abbey so far? “People dancing to Diana Ross’ music on the dance floor with Diana Ross. It doesn’t get more memorable than that.”
THE ABBEY
692 N Robertson Blvd.
310-289-8410
BEST DJ: STEVE AOKI
Steve Aoki (Photo courtesy of Aoki)
Steven Hiroyuki (Aoki) is one of the world’s most influential DJs. He certainly has the whole EDM circuit world jumping at venues around the world. But he’s really just an ordinary guy who grew up Newport Beach and attended USCB.
He holds degrees in feminist studies and sociology. But while in college, a spark captured his imagination when he produced a do-it-yourself record and began running underground concerts at Isla Vista, a section of residential land adjacent to UCSB. The venue became known as The Pickle Patch and it changed Aoki’s life.
In his early 20s, Aoki built his own record label, which he named Dim Mak – a reference to his childhood hero, Bruce Lee.
Aoki has won and been nominated for a number of industry awards, both in annual competitions and in magazine rankings. In 2007, he was named Best Party Rocker DJ by BPM Magazine, Best DJ of the Year by Paper Magazine, and Best Set of the Season at the Ibiza Awards. Several years later, in 2012, he was named #15 in the Top 100 DJs in DJ Magazine, and was named America’s #2 Best DJ. Also in 2012, he won an
EDM Effect Woodie Award by MTVu, and the following year he was nominated for his first Grammy.
In 2014, Aoki was awarded two Guinness World Records, one for the “longest crowd cheer,” and also for the “most amount of glow sticks for thirty seconds.” Aoki performed at the 2015 Ultra Music Festival in Miami Beach on May 21. He also earned the Guinness record for “most traveled musician in one year,” with 161 shows in 41 countries in 2014.
To say he has been successful is an understatement.
He is the founder of the Steve Aoki Charitable Fund, which raises money for global humanitarian relief organizations and medical research. In 2015, he was named Global Ambassador for the Best Buddies program, a non-profit devoted to young people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Learn more at steveaoki.com
BEST DJ, EDITORS’ CHOICE: SHANE IVAN NASH
Shane Ivan Nash (Photo courtesy of Nash)
As a transgender activist and talented musician, Nash has consistently shared his story and his music, helping to inspire others. When asked what he loves most about DJing, Nash said, “Your profession requires you to party, dance and create a collected consciousness. The nightlife is the release from life—we’re all on the same beat, in the same moment.”
Of his work with the LGBT community, Nash said, “I’ve helped countless people in the community start their endeavors including Trans Chorus LA and as a board member for LA Pride, I fought for the trans representation.” Learn more at ShaneIvanNash.com.
BEST CHEF: STUART O’KEEFFE
If you haven’t heard of chef Stuart O’Keeffe, then you clearly haven’t been invited to the right A-list Hollywood dinner parties.
A small town Irish hottie, who now lives in West Hollywood, O’Keeffe made a name for himself on the Food Network’s “Private Chefs of Beverly Hills.”
“I was always obsessed with America and always wanted to be on TV,” O’Keeffe told the Los Angeles Blade.
His first gig in the U.S. after culinary school in Ireland was in Napa Valley working at Meadowood Napa Valley. But restaurants didn’t suit him. He says he didn’t like the way people were treated.
“I knew I was destined to do what I wanted without the stress. I thought there must be another way, and I kind of started doing dinner parties in my apartment for friends, and they’d tell people about them. I was also working as an executive assistant, and started getting hired for private parties.
O’Keeffe can’t talk a lot about who he works for, but will mention a few celebs he says have “eaten at his tables” – stars such as Sharon Stone, Jennifer Aniston, Justine Bateman, Harrison Ford, Cindy Crawford, Jane Fonda and Christina Aguilera.
O’Keeffe has been at his job long enough and has become well known enough that he doesn’t suffer fools and although his clients tend to be high-maintenance, he lives to cook for others.
“I want people to be nice. I’m not going to bow down to people. I’m well equipped to do this. I won’t stand for people being rude. I’m fair. I mean, how much do you value yourself really,” he says.
So, why do celebs keep calling him back? He says straight up, it’s the way he looks. “I’m a cute guy from Ireland. A lot of women, I overhear them asking if I’m straight or gay. It can be funny in a really sweet way,” O’Keeffe says laughing.
He’s currently single and dating. He likes to meet guys through friends or at a bar. He says his favorites are the Abbey, Revolver and Chapel. He meets people through friends mostly, and doesn’t do the app thing. He says he’s tried it, but it’s not personal enough and he’s too old school.
O’Keeffe says the “power gays” don’t hire him much.
“They have their set people they use… I think people think that I don’t do this anymore because I do so much TV, or because they think I’m above it. But, if I have time in my schedule, I’ll do it. I don’t really turn down things. I like to keep busy. I’d like to do more things,” O’Keeffe says.
His goal is to have his own TV show on the Food Network. He has another cookbook coming out later this year, and he wants to open a restaurant in the next year or two.
He envisions a show where he can travel around the U.S. — a kind of Irish guy fish out of water. He says he loves rural America, and thinks the people are funny and sweet. They remind him of the small town he grew up in — Nenagh, not far from Limerick.
He says Irish food is different than people think. “We have some of the best meat and fish in the world where we are,” he says.
His signature dishes are chicken cacciatore, short ribs, individual baked Alaska, and a killer flourless cake – “Jennifer Aniston told me my cake was good, so it must be badass.”
For a guy that makes his living off people who don’t cook for themselves, O’Keeffe believes a major problem with Americans in general is that they don’t cook at home enough.
“People need to get back in the kitchen and start cooking. There’s so much joy in that. And it’s healthier,” he says. He adds though that he actually hates to shop. “One of the most annoying thing about cooking is going to the store and shopping for the ingredients. I tell people to go shopping one day, and cook the next day. Cooking can be stressful if you don’t know how to do it.”
When O’Keeffe isn’t cooking for actors and Hollywood executives, you can find him on Mondays at the farmer’s market, on Gardner and Fountain streets, or at his local Whole Foods.
He lists Jar, Rossoblu, and Cecconi’s as his favorite restaurants in LA.
As for his TV aspirations that dream has certainly come true, if you count Food Network, “Stuart’s Kitchen” which aired in Ireland and New Zealand, appearances on Marie, CBS’s “The Talk,” “The Home and Family Show,” and Republic of Telly and Asiana Airlines featured Stuart in its national “Fly with Color” campaign.
EDITORS’ CHOICE, BEST CHEF: SUZANNE TRACT
Suzanne Tracht (Photo courtesy Tracht)
Chef and owner of the critically acclaimed Jar Restaurant, Suzanne Tracht has won international praise for her culinary adventures at Jar. Her countless appearances on the “Today” show, Food Network, and Extra, as well as her multiple awards led her to be inducted into the Fine Dining Hall of Fame and participating in Fortune magazine’s Most Powerful Women Summit.
“Relating to people and making them feel warm and welcome isn’t hard and you can do it in many ways, which is why I cook,” Tracht said. “I like feeding people and making them happy.”
JAR
8225 Beverly Blvd.
323-655-6566
BEST BUSINESSPERSON: BRAD LAMM, BREATHE LIFE HEALING CENTER
Brad Lamm (Photo courtesy of Lamm)
Fifteen years ago Brad Lamm was a self-proclaimed total mess. He was bulimic. He smoked two packs of cigarettes a day. He was an alcoholic, addicted to meth, and he supplemented all of this by taking Xanax. In 2002, he got clean.
Lamm’s journey to help others grew into an empire with two treatment centers that have helped numerous people in the LGBTQ community get clean and sober.
“I knew I was gay at 5 years old,” he says. “When I took my first drink at 15, I was deliciously soothed. By the time my first partner died in 1989, I was 19 years old and convinced not only was I going to die, but we were all going to die.”
He added, “We were part of this sad infected class with no upside… Gay men in my generation, pre-HIV cocktail, it was more than a death sentence, it was a shame sentence. It was a downward spiral. It was a grizzly and gruesome death. And I’d already been cast out of my family.”
ACT UP became Lamm’s upside. Although he was still getting high at the time, he fell into a clan he calls “purposeful,” working to make progress and trying to save his life.
“I found a place for my rage, but I thought I was going to die from alcohol and drugs, so when I didn’t, it was an amazing ‘ah-ha’ coupled with helping others, and it was all congruous with my trauma survival and being a gay man,” Lamm says.
It was in Lamm’s search for what to do with his life after getting clean that he found doctor Dr. Judith Landau, a South African psychiatrist focused on “invitational intervention,” a trauma-informed approach to helping families help their families.
“Essentially you invite your family to an intervention and the work starts from there. It suited me and it coincided with enormous energy I had around, never thinking I’d stop this litany of things that were killing me,” he says.
Lamm’s entre into the work Landau was doing eventually led to starting an intervention practice himself in New York, 13 years ago, and it really took off thanks to contacts he’d made in his former life as a TV weatherman.
“Some of the same skills I had as a journalist and some of the people I grew up in that industry with were now in TV running shows, and they knew about my remarkable turnaround.
“The ‘Today’ show said come and do a show on recovery, and Oprah said come and do a docu-series on food and that became “Addicted to Food,” an eight-part series produced for her. Then Dr. Oz said come help launch the show. And I did like 30 stories. That was the rocket fuel to this mission of helping my recovery community and their families reduce its suffering,” Lamm says.
Five years ago, Lamm opened a trauma-informed treatment center that would accept health insurance, Breathe Life Healing Center in Los Angeles.
“Meth and alcohol was my struggle, drug and hurt, so to see treatment in my community is powerful,” he says.
He and Scott Sanders, a Tony, Grammy and Emmy winning television, film and theater producer (Sanders produced the musical “The Color Purple” for Broadway), were married and it was the first gay wedding Oprah attended.
He says he sees so much of himself in the Celie character from “The Color Purple.”
“You’re at the end of the rope and you’re so beaten down, and then all of a sudden instead of cutting Mister’s throat, you choose grace and find your way. And part of that is forgiveness. But forgiveness doesn’t mean I need to live up to anyone’s version of who I need to be,” Lamm says.
Lamm says the headline of his life continues to be defined by something famed author, Alice Walker said to him 13 years ago.
“She told me that ‘the power of you is not your story, but that you’re a ‘bodhisattva.’ I was like, what’s that? She told me to go and look it up. It means, the one who goes into the lake of fire to help another out. That’s the beauty of every person to help another. The very wreckage of my past becomes the crown jewel of my ability to help another,” Lamm says.
BREATHE LIFE HEALING CENTER
8730 Sunset Blvd.
800-929-5904
EDITORS’ CHOICE, BEST LGBT BUSINESSPERSON: OLIVER ALPUCHE, REDLINE
Oliver Alpuche (Photo courtesy of Alpuche)
When asked what inspired the business venture that led to the opening of this premier gay bar in DTLA, Oliver Alpuche said, “I’ve lived downtown for eight years and noticed that the LGBTQ community was growing, but we had nowhere to go and meet each other. Downtown deserves a dedicated queer space 365 days a year.”
That paved the way for the DTLA Proud Festival, which Oliver created. “DLTA Proud is committed to celebrating everyone’s story, to spreading optimism, to growing our community and to expanding our definition of diversity,” he said. “I love Los Angeles because of how diverse it is.”
REDLINE
131 E 6th St.
BEST LAWYER: S. CHRISTOPHER WINTER
S. Christopher ‘Kit’ Winter (Photo courtesy of Winter)
S. Christopher (“Kit”) Winter didn’t always want to be a lawyer.
“I wasn’t one of those kids who had a clear idea of what I wanted to be when I grew up,” he said. “I could envision myself doing a lot of different things. It all seemed interesting.” That curiosity is reflected in his varied career in New York between graduating from Yale in 1987 and starting law school at UCLA in 1994. “I had a little bit of career ADD after college,” Winter said. “I worked in advertising sales, graphic design, desktop publishing – and I always had a side gig.”
Those side gigs included promoting parties at Limelight, Sound Factory and other New York nightclubs featuring DJs such as Frankie Knuckles, Little Louie Vega, and Junior Vasquez; bartending at various restaurants in the West Village and Chelsea; and working catering jobs for clients including Madonna.
“I think people were surprised when I decided to go to law school,” Winter laughs. “It wasn’t something that you would have necessarily thought was in my future.”
Surprising or not, Winter excelled at law school, graduating UCLA law in 1997 in the top 10 percent of his class and winning numerous academic honors. For more than two decades since then, Winter has been practicing law in Los Angeles, in settings ranging from large national law firms to his current solo practice.
“I don’t believe in fighting for the sake of fighting,” Winter says about his philosophy. “My goal as a lawyer is to help my clients navigate their legal challenges as quickly and affordably as possible.”
Winter’s practice is focused on serving as outside general counsel to small-to-medium sized companies, encouraging his clients to take a proactive approach to avoiding legal problems and crafting effective strategies to address problems. His legal background includes experience in litigation, intellectual property and general business law, and he has authored portions of treatises relating to privacy law and technology transactions.
Winter doesn’t specifically target his practice to the LGBT community, although he says he represents a diverse group of clients.
“I’m a ‘gay lawyer’ because I’m gay and I’m a lawyer,” he jokes. “I’ve been out of the closet since I was a teenager.”
Indeed, Winter has a long history of LGBT activism extending back more than 30 years. As an undergraduate at Yale, he was the co-chair of the Gay & Lesbian Co-op (with the late Sarah Pettit, a founding editor of OUT magazine), and part of a group of students who successfully lobbied the Yale Corporation to include “sexual orientation” in the university’s non-discrimination policy in 1986.
“I was sort of a big gay on campus,” Winter recalls, “writing op-eds in the Yale Daily News, arranging protests, that kind of thing.” Asked whether he contributed to the environment that led the Wall Street Journal to label Yale the “Gay Ivy” in 1987, Winter laughs, “I’d like to think so. I definitely left Yale a gayer place than I found it.”
Winter moved to New York City in 1987, in the middle of the AIDS crisis and shortly after the founding of ACT UP. “It was a terrifying time,” Winter says. “While my straight friends from college were starting their careers or heading to graduate school, gay men were trying to survive an apocalypse.”
Winter became involved in ACT UP and found a home in gay publishing, working first at the New York Native, New York’s gay newspaper, and later serving as the founding advertising director of Outweek magazine.
He later served as the production manager of QW, a gay newsweekly (Troy Masters, Los Angeles Blade publisher was a founder and publisher of QW) for which he also briefly penned the advice column under the moniker “Queer Abby.” “I don’t think we thought much about trademark law back then,” Winter laughs. After working as a freelance desktop publisher at various Conde Nast titles including Mademoiselle, Allure, and Details, Winter decided to pursue the challenge of a career in law, and hasn’t looked back since.
“I love being a lawyer,” Winter says. “Legal issues can be overwhelming to people, and can be fatal to businesses. Helping my clients get through that successfully is very rewarding.”
Winter is married to Patrick Jensen, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. They live in Silver Lake and have two dogs and two cats.
This year will mark Winter’s fourth time riding in AIDS/Lifecycle to raise money for the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
EDITORS’ CHOICE, BEST LAWYER: LAURA W. BRILL, KENDALL BRILL & KELLY LLP
Laura W. Brill (Photo courtesy of Brill)
A lifetime focus on cases that promote equal rights, make Laura Brill a force in the fight against discrimination.
“One of my briefs in the early 1990s argued in the case of Lawrence v. Texas (a challenge to a state anti-sodomy statute) that discrimination based on sexual orientation was a type of sex discrimination and that the statute should be ruled unconstitutional on that basis. That same argument has been made many times over the years…this theory is now gaining recognition by courts and administrative agencies, including most prominently, in cases relating to employment discrimination.”
In the case Colin v. Orange Unified School District, Brill helped pave the way for Gay Straight Alliances. Brill discussed this significant moment: “We got the first preliminary injunction requiring the school to allow the club to meet and use school facilities just like any other club. One of my favorite moments since then has been going to gay Pride events more recently and seeing the huge numbers of wonderful high school students marching with their Gay Straight Alliance banners. I’m so happy to have had a part in helping kids have a safe environment at schools.”
“My New Year’s resolution is to do all I can to increase voter registration rates, especially among young people and especially in the LGBTQ community. Many people don’t know that young people can pre-register to vote when they are 16 or 17. Then when they turn 18 they will be automatically registered to vote,” Brill said. “Most people don’t know about pre-registration, but we need everyone registered so we can make sure government policies reflect our priorities, instead of the opposite.”
Kendall Brill & Kelly LLP
10100 Santa Monica Blvd
310-556-2700
BEST ALLY: MAYOR ERIC GARCETTI
LA Mayor Eric Garcetti in his office (Photo by Karen Ocamb)
EDITORS’ CHOICE, BEST ALLY: LISA VANDERPUMP
Lisa Vanderpump (Photo by Toglenn; courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
As an entrepreneur, avid activist, author, television personality, and restaurant owner of LA staples such as Pump and SUR, Lisa Vanderpump is an LA icon. She has consistently stood up for the LGBT community, having worked as a spokesperson for GLAAD, led the AIDS Walk Los Angeles, served as grand marshal of 2017 Long Beach Pride, worked with Desert AIDS Project, The Trevor Project, the LA Gay & Lesbian Center and more.
In addition to advocating for the LGBT community, Vanderpump created The Vanderpump Dog Foundation, working to help end animal abuse. She somehow also found time to produce “Vanderpump Rules,” the smash reality TV show. She’s the ultimate philanthropist who really does it all. Vanderpump has a love for all living creatures that shines through in her humanitarian efforts, making her a model ally.
BEST DRAG SHOW: LEGENDARY BINGO AT HAMBURGER MARY’S
Jeffery Bowman and cast members from Legendary Bingo. (Courtesy Legendary Bingo)
Beautiful drag queens, fantastic food, money, charities…Bingo! Legendary Bingo at Hamburger Mary’s is not just a great drag show, it’s a fantastic and sometimes wild night out. Jeffery Bowman is almost as legendary as Hamburger Mary’s.
HAMBURGER MARY’S
8288 Santa Monica Blvd
323-654-3800
EDITORS’ CHOICE, BEST DRAG SHOW: LYRIC HYPERION, GREEN EGGS AND GLAM
Lyric Hyperion Theatre & Café
2106 Hyperion Ave.
323-928 2299
BEST BAR: THE ABBEY
Where else are you going to see Diana Ross or Elon Musk tear up the dance floor? The Abbey is arguably the best-known gay bar in all of the U.S. and always a fun night out with your besties. It’s a treasured LA icon and so is owner David Cooley.
THE ABBEY
692 N. Robertson Blvd.
310-289 8410
EDITORS’ CHOICE, BEST BAR: REVOLVER
WeHo loves the oversized drinks and darts in the back at this famous video bar.
REVOLVER
8851 Santa Monica Blvd.
310-694 0430
BEST RESTAURANT: SUR RESTAURANT AND LOUNGE
“Real Housewives” star Lisa Vanderpump’s SUR is a great place for people watching, and the upscale food is, well, impressive. It’s definitely a see-and-be-seen scene that can’t be missed.
SUR
606 N. Robertson Blvd.
310-289 2824
EDITORS’ CHOICE, BEST RESTAURANT: Cecconi’s West Hollywood
The Northern Italian cuisine is spectacular, the decor a kind of elegant retro Roman-chic with outdoor seating. True luxe.
CECCONI’S
8764 Melrose Ave.
310-432 2000
BEST GROCERY STORE: TRADER JOE’S
Quite simply, the best place to go shopping for unique, curated food brands.
TRADER JOE’S
7310 Santa Monica Blvd.
323-969-8048
EDITORS’ CHOICE, BEST GROCERY STORE: PAVILIONS
Extensive selections of the highest-quality foods. And, at least in WeHo, it’s where the boys are.
PAVILIONS
8969 Santa Monica Blvd.
310-595-1730
BEST REAL ESTATE AGENCY: THE COLLECTIVE REALTY
Experienced real estate agents who negotiate well for their clients. One reader said, “The Collective is the concierge service of boutique realty. And Andy Vulin is the best real estate investment teacher I ever met.”
EDITORS’ CHOICE, BEST REAL ESTATE AGENCY: BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY
Find the most luxurious West Hollywood or Beverly Hills home of your dreams and call Berkshire Hathaway, because no one can close it faster or more fairly. Readers praised their attentiveness to detail.
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY
131 S. Rodeo Dr.
310-844-6434
BEST STYLISTS: SHORTY’S BARBER SHOP
Whatever level of service you require for your coif, Shorty’s is the place to go. It’s the very best place in West Hollywood for a drop in fade. People travel from all over Los Angeles to the unmistakable storefront on Fairfax.
SHORTY’S
755 N. Fairfax Ave.
323-297-0554
EDITORS’ CHOICE, BEST STYLIST: MARCO PELUSI
Celebrity hairstylist Marco Pelusi has the best tips for looking great. “Ask your stylist to do a gloss or a shine treatment when you’re next at the salon,” he recommended. “Your hair can often dry out and look dull, lifeless, and frizzy during winter months; the added shine treatment will boost the condition of your hair and make it look healthy.”
MARCO PELUSI
636 N. Robertson Blvd.
310-967-0999
BEST CAR DEALERSHIP: BEVERLY HILLS BMW
One reader commented, “At Beverly Hills BMW, I walked through and decided what I wanted and with no pressure at all I left with the $90,000 ride of my dreams. No hassles, no pressure. Just great service and a brilliant ride.”
BEVERLY HILLS BMW
5070 Wilshire Blvd.
877-794-4678
EDITORS’ CHOICE, BEST CAR DEALERSHIP: HONDA OF HOLLYWOOD
Honda of Hollywood has one of the best full-service shops of any dealership in Los Angeles. Our favorites are the 2018 CRVs and HRV. Great quality SUVs at a realistic price.
HONDA OF HOLLYWOOD
6511 Santa Monica Blvd.
323-466-3247
BEST MEDICAL PROVIDER: CEDARS SINAI URGENT CARE
World-class urgent care from one of the world’s leading medical institutions.
EDITORS’ CHOICE, BEST MEDICAL PROVIDER: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MEN’S MEDICAL GROUP
Doctors you can talk to and advice that’s easy to take because they are just like you. Comprehensive, fully loaded and state of the art.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MEN’S MEDICAL GROUP
9201 Sunset Blvd.
310-550-1010
BEST FITNESS FACILITY: 24 HOUR FITNESS
One of the busiest places in WeHo, 24 Hour Fitness is as much a family for some as it is a gym.
24 HOUR FITNESS
8612 Santa Monica Blvd.
310-652-7440
EDITORS’ CHOICE, BEST FITNESS: EQUINOX FITNESS
A little bit of luxury goes a long way during a hard workout. Outstanding, modern and clean facilities are what make Equinox worthy of Editors’ Choice.
EQUINOX FITNESS
8590 Sunset Blvd.
310-289-1900
BEST MARIJUANA DISPENSARY: MEDMEN
Since Jan. 1, MedMen has experienced lines down the block and its fans are true believers in the almost Apple Store experience of boutique weed products of every kind. Founder Andrew Modin, almost overnight, has become a business sensation in West Hollywood and is now ramping up to take it national.
MEDMEN
8208 Santa Monica Blvd.
323-848-7981
EDITORS’ CHOICE, BEST DISPENSARY: ZEN HEALING WEST HOLLYWOOD
Some say it has one of the highest-grade selections of any store in Los Angeles. Its edibles and medicinal choices are outstanding.
ZEN HEALING
8464 Santa Monica Blvd.
323-656-6666
BEST HOTEL: WALDORF-ASTORIA
One of the world’s leading hotel names is now at home along Santa Monica and Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. Unprecedented luxury is just the tip of the iceberg of the Waldorf experience. After watching it soar skyward during construction, you know you want to spend the weekend there. Staycation!
WALDORF-ASTORIA
9850 Wilshire Blvd.
310-860-6666
EDITORS’ CHOICE, BEST HOTEL: JEREMY HOTEL
Soon to experience a name change — think One Hotel — The Jeremy, as everyone now calls it, is an astounding architectural gem and gorgeous hotel overlooking Rainbow City. It’s not only a great place to stay, it’s also a destination.
JEREMY HOTEL
8490 Sunset Blvd.
310-424-1600
BEST HOUSE OF WORSHIP: FOUNDERS METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH
The house that MCC founder Troy Perry built is a rollicking, down home gospel of faith and a beacon in the fight and one of the most consequential cornerstone establishments of LGBT history in LA.
FOUNDERS
4607 Prospect Ave.
323-669-3434
EDITORS’ CHOICE, BEST HOUSE OF WORSHIP: KOL AMI
One of the most significant Reform synagogues in America is also one of the most innovative. A powerhouse of Jewish tradition and thought, Rabbi Denise Eger is devoted to community and social justice.
KOL AMI
1200 N. La Brea Ave.
323-606-0996
BEST LGBT SOCIAL GROUP: IMPULSE GROUP LA
Impulse Group is an international group that advocates change toward healthier sexual lifestyles among gay men in 18 cities around the world, based in Los Angeles. Founder Jose Ramos felt stronger community bonds and family building among peers can reduce HIV rates and save lives. Turns out he was right.
EDITORS’ CHOICE: BEST LGBT SOCIAL GROUP: VARSITY GAY LEAGUE
California’s largest LGBT recreational sports league is celebrating 10 gay years! A robust and well-organized calendar of Kickball, Dodgeball, Bowling, Tennis, Soccer and Volleyball. Who says gays don’t do sports? Will Hackner and Andrew Miller want to know.
BEST MUSEUM: LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART
LACMA is a world-class museum and with its expansion, including an incorporation of Hollywood movie and Oscar history, it’s unrivaled. Many outstanding collections and community events, like outdoor films, make it a treasured institution.
LACMA
5905 Wilshire Blvd.
323-857-6000
EDITORS’ CHOICE, BEST MUSEUM: THE BROAD
One of the most important modern museums in the western United States is also one of the most iconic landmarks in DTLA. Eli Broad’s massively important contemporary art collection almost wound up in a building that would have been where the new Waldorf is today.
THE BROAD
221 S. Grand Ave.
213-232-6200
BEST NON-PROFIT: AIDS HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION
AHF provides services to more than 600,000 HIV+ individuals in 15 U.S. states and 36 countries worldwide and is the largest AIDS service organization in the world. Michael Weinstein founded the agency as a hospice when no hospital would care for AIDS patients and since then has grown it into a billion-dollar non-profit.
AIDS HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION
6255 W. Sunset Blvd.
323-860-5200
EDITORS’ CHOICE, BEST NON-PROFIT: LOS ANGELES LESBIAN & GAY CENTER
Founded by Morris Kight in 1969, LA’s LGBT Center is now the world’s largest LGBT social service agency and community center and is in the middle of an expansion that will revolutionize its reach. Lori Jean, its CEO, has become one of the most important LGBT non-profit leaders in the U.S.
LGBT CENTER
1625 N. Schrader Blvd.
323-993-7400
BEST VET: LAUREL PET HOSPITAL
A truly empathic provider of outstanding medical services for generations of LGBT community members in West Hollywood.
LAUREL PET HOSPITAL
7970 Santa Monica Blvd.
323-654-7060
Dr. Mark Nunez
EDITORS’ CHOICE, BEST VET: Dr. MARK NUNEZ, formerly of VETERINARY CARE CENTER, now Medical Director of VCA Miller-Robertson Animal Hospital.
Dr. Mark Nunez was previously Veterinary Care Center’s go-to doctor, known for going the extra mile to save your pet. Dr. Nunez recently accepted a new position as Medical Director of VCA Miller-Robertson Animal Hospital
VCA Miller-Robertson Animal Hospital
8807 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90069
310-657-7050.
BEST LA ATTRACTION: GRIFFITH OBSERVATORY
The go-to place for all family visits and the south-facing slope of Mount Hollywood offers views that just can’t be beat.
GRIFFITH OBSERVATORY
2800 E. Observatory Rd.
213-473-0800
EDITORS’ CHOICE, BEST LA ATTRACTION: HOLLYWOOD BOWL
The iconic outdoor theater celebrates everything about Los Angeles and features some of the greatest names in music, under the stars.
HOLLYWOOD BOWL
2301 N. Highland Ave.
323-850-2000
BEST RED CARPET EVENT: HRC LA DINNER
The Human Rights Campaign brings out the star power each year in Los Angeles and is famous for an exuberant red carpet experience. On March 10, 2018 you have your next chance to take a walk.
EDITORS’ CHOICE, BEST RED CARPET: OUTFEST
The world’s most important LGBT film festival is also becoming one of LA’s most anticipated events.
(Mary Jo De Silva contributed to this article)
a&e features
How Nurse Blake is bringing ‘holistic comedy’ across the country
This ICU nurse and TikTok star is using his platform to advocate for others — all while making nurses everywhere laugh their scrubs off.
Every popular content creator today has a hook. Whether it be indomitable wit, unyielding beauty, or a unique expertise, it’s undeniable that every influencer has some kind of talent that continues to bring their audience back for more. There are dozens of these individuals, each with their own specific set of skills — but only one is as good at making people laugh as he is at literally saving lives.
Nurse Blake is a content creator who has gained a massive following on TikTok with his comedy skits and anecdotes from a decade-long career as an ICU nurse. His fame actually began as a way to cope; after many years working in trauma centers, he began posting online to escape the everyday stresses of his job. What began as a fun pastime has turned into an online empire, with medical professionals all over the world feeling seen by how Blake hilariously portrays the (often very gross) trials and tribulations they face daily. It’s a style of comedy that the performer recently took on the road, with the Los Angeles Blade catching up with him on his But Did You Die? tour only days before shows in Anaheim and LA. Nurse Blake opened up about the struggles of tour life and what he misses about the medical field, all while making one thing very clear: whether in a hospital or onstage, he’ll never stop being a nurse. And it’s always a nurse’s job to advocate for the people who need it most.
“I just got burned out,” said Nurse Blake, when explaining why he first started releasing videos on TikTok. “I’ve been a nurse for 11 years now, and [as a nurse] you’re so overworked…I needed an outlet to let loose and just have fun a little bit.” An outlet that, since it began in 2017, has gained Blake 1.2 million followers on Instagram and even more on TikTok. His skits detail the often ridiculous plights of modern nurses, with scenes of unruly patients and inconsiderate administrators showing your average viewer a side of the profession they wouldn’t know otherwise.
While he has helped educate thousands, Blake was proud to say that everything he does is always for the nurses in the audience. “I saw that [my videos] were helping other nurses and nursing students get through their day. I don’t work at a hospital anymore, so I can’t interact with patients directly — but if I can help a nurse better manage their patients with some laughter, then [I feel] I’m still in the role of helping people feel good.” This is at the core of all the performer’s work: making others feel good. It was one of the few transferable aspects between his careers; he worked tirelessly as a nurse to provide holistic care to his patients, meeting their medical needs while ensuring they felt comfortable and respected in the harsh healthcare system. Obviously, the man’s sold-out shows are a different arena than the crowded hospitals he used to inhabit, but he still feels it’s his duty to offer viewers the comfort he once gave to thousands of patients. It’s ‘holistic comedy,’ an innovation for the medium that is necessary now more than ever.
Between his tour, his social media, and keeping up his skills as a nurse, the creator stresses that he remains licensed and always ready to practice. Nurse Blake still finds the time to speak up for his LGBTQ+ community. In a recent article with the Huffington Post, the creator shared how his experience with conversion therapy as a teenager still haunts him to this day. In discussing said article, Blake summarized his thoughts for anyone unable to read it with one sentence: “Conversion therapy kills people.” He went on to describe how this horrific ‘treatment’ has left him with indescribable trauma, countless emotional wounds that he’s only able to heal from through a supportive community and his comedy. Especially with the Supreme Court gearing up to hear a case that could reverse the ban on conversion therapy, Nurse Blake urges everyone in his audience to speak out against this heinous practice to protect those at risk of it.
When he’s not writing op-eds, Blake advocates for his LGBTQ+ community by simply being himself onstage. “I’ll do shows in small, rural areas with no LGBTQ+ people, but I don’t change my show. [The audience] has a great time, and then they’re exposed to…these issues that queer people face.” It’s a seamless yet extremely intentional form of advocacy, and it goes back to the fact that, beyond his titles as influencer or comedian, Blake will always be a nurse whose job is to care for those in need.
“It’s about us being not only there to give patients medications and run procedures, but also being an advocate for them and their community,” said Blake, when describing the true duty of a nurse today. “So when I’m doing [my comedy]…being a nurse, it’s [my job] to create a safe space for everybody.” It’s an immensely difficult task, especially in the United States, which continues to attack queer folks at a social and medical level. But by carving out his own niche on social platforms and then bringing that welcoming space to people across the country, Blake helps queer folks feel seen and educates those who have a direct hand in their care.
Nurse Blake’s holistic comedy is an art form that makes people laugh while simultaneously nurturing them with every joke. It’s a sense of humor that shows a tremendous amount of care for everyone in the audience, giving them a reprieve from their stressful lives while equipping them to advocate for themselves and everyone they may encounter — what else could you expect from a nurse?
a&e features
Gottmik and Violet Chachki are bringing drag excellence across the country with ‘The Knockout Tour’
Gottmik spills on this legendary tour and the power of art in the face of hatred.
No conversation about legendary Drag Queens is complete without discussing Gottmik and Violet Chachki.
Audiences first met these iconic performers on RuPaul’s Drag Race; Violet sent waves throughout the fandom with her hard-fought victory during the show’s seventh installment, with her revolutionary style instantly cementing her as a truly historic ‘fashion queen’. Gottmik, who had made waves in LA for years as a makeup artist before getting cast, was a fan-favorite finalist on season 13 before returning to raise money for Trans Lifeline during All-Stars 9. Both Queens made headlines during their tenure on the show, but most of their hardcore fans know them for the jaw-dropping projects they took on afterward — often with one another. One of the most famous ‘Drag Duos’ today, whether it be hilarious podcasts or high-energy songs, these performers have remained constant collaborators amidst each other’s many individual ventures. Their careers are filled with so many legendary feats, but none are as ambitious as their latest international endeavor: The Knockout Tour.
Gottmik made time to speak with the LA Blade during one of his rare breaks before the next stop on their tour. He dug into tour life with his best friend and the death-defying stunts that fill each show, as well as what it means to bring such unique artistry to some of the most conservative counties across the country. Gottmik spoke about their ongoing mission of using this platform to inspire others to live as their most authentic selves — all while looking completely immaculate, of course!
“The second I was on Drag Race, we started touring together…and it just clicked!” Said Gottmik, discussing how effortlessly he and Violet became best friends post-Drag Race. Fans have grown to adore their dynamic over the years, with the duo’s podcast No Gorge highlighting how each’s biting fashion sense and deep appreciation for the most niche gay slang make them such a perfect friendship match. It’s why, despite many people warning them against taking on such a big professional opportunity with a friend, it was never a question that the pair would do this tour together. “[The Knockout Tour] works because, no matter how we get there, we have the same end goal: pushing the needle forward in the Drag space, breaking down barriers, and slaying together!”
“This is drag at an extremely high level,” Gottmik gushed when describing what fans can expect at a Knockout show. “We have multiple aerial [stunts], these crazy props that we’re climbing on, and it’s just so wild! It’s drag in a theatrical burlesque, rock and roll style that you’ve [never seen].” In many ways, this aesthetic is a perfect fusion of the pair; Violet is a premier burlesque performer specializing in aerial work, and Gottmik has always embodied a grunge-filled perfection in his trademark Drag style. These Queens are bombastic and dramatic in the best way, unabashedly showing off the unique flairs that make them some of the most distinct performers working today. It’s a pairing that inspires not only awe but a sense of effortless confidence — a confidence that Gottmik knows many of his fans need right now.
Hateful rhetoric has steadily grown across the United States in recent years, with certain areas becoming hotbeds of the conservative discrimination that Gottmik has always faced as a transgender man (the performer uses he/him pronouns when out of Drag and she/her when in Drag). Despite this, Gottmik emphasized that it was never a question that their tour would stop in these areas — in fact, they made a point to. “We are two queer entertainers with a platform, and it’s important that we visit [those places] and share our stories and inspire people in towns who don’t get to see shows like this…to inspire them to be themselves.”
Gottmik is especially passionate about using his platform for good because he knows how much of his large fanbase is young trans kids, just like he once was. “The ones who are growing up and figuring themselves out, and then are looking at their TVs and [seeing] their government call them crazy…it’s important for me to use my platform to show them [representation] that I didn’t get to see in the media.” He clarified that, yes, audiences are going to come to the show and see a punk rock-and-roll Goddess oozing confidence onstage — but being that person didn’t come easy. It took years of self-discovery for Gottmik to recognize his transgender identity, and it was the love and support of a found queer family that helped him become the creative powerhouse audiences know him as now. Each Knockout Tour show brings audiences into this intimate journey, showcasing the incredible authenticity that Gottmik has spent years developing while reminding attendees that this is all possible in their own lives.
Throughout the interview, Gottmik painted a riveting image of The Knockout Tour — the shows themselves, and the queer community who made it all possible. He detailed the shocking stunts fans will see onstage, the incredible music he and Violet perform each show, and the years of hard work that created these two performers that so many fans love. At the root of it all, though, is representation.
A representation of not only Violet and Gottmik’s many talents, though of course these Queens’ immense expertise is the bedrock of this entire tour. But the vital image of two queer people who refuse to dull themselves just because others said they should. Of a transgender artist who stands proudly in the face of discrimination and who uses his art to inspire others to do the same. “We’re [showing] the whole world that we’re not going anywhere, and you can’t change us.” Explained Gottmik, as the interview came to an end. “We create an amazing queer safe space that is really special for so many people…and it’s just really cool that [we get] to create that space for everyone every [show].” It’s a kind of space that’s hard to come by nowadays. And it’s one that Gottmik and Violet Chachki are determined to bring to thousands of queer artists just like them internationally with this tour.
a&e features
‘Peter Hujar’s Day’ director on the “radical individuality” of ‘70s and ‘80s queer artists and connecting with Ben Whishaw over legacy
Based on the real transcript of Rosenkrantz’s and Hujar’s conversation, which was recorded on Dec. 18, 1974, the film is both a celebration of Hujar’s life and an homage to the artists who died of AIDS.
When I log onto Zoom to speak with Ira Sachs (Passages, Little Men), a queer filmmaker who has been immersed in New York’s independent film scene since 1989, he’s having a conversation with one of his kids (offscreen) about taking his favorite bag for trick-or-treating. “If you won’t lose it, you can take it. It’s hard to find. Just don’t lose it!” Sachs says.
It’s a rare glimpse into the active life of both an artist and a father, which I can’t help but keep thinking about when we begin talking about Peter Hujar’s Day — Sachs’ intimate new film that paints a portrait of Peter Hujar (Ben Whishaw), a real-life artist who died of AIDS in 1987, just through a conversation with his friend, Linda Rosenkrantz (Rebecca Hall). It’s in everyday discussions about everything from Halloween bags to the morning smell of coffee that we can sometimes find the most connection.
Over the course of 24 hours, Sachs paints a vivid portrait of Hujar’s daily struggles to make money as an artist, his insecurities about capturing portraits of Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs, and the friendships with people like Linda that kept him afloat. Based on the real transcript of Rosenkrantz’s and Hujar’s conversation, which was recorded on Dec. 18, 1974, the film is both a celebration of Hujar’s life and an homage to the artists who died of AIDS.
Ahead of the theatrical release of Peter Hujar’s Day, The Blade had the opportunity to speak with Sachs about honoring the New York-based artists of the ‘70s and ‘80s who were immersed in queer culture, reuniting with his Passages star Ben Whishaw, and why community is so fundamentally important to the LGBTQ+ community. This interview has been edited and condensed.
Obviously, this is a very New York movie, and we’re here talking for The Los Angeles Blade. But I love how specific this film is to New York. To start off, I’ve read about how you discovered this conversation. How did the form of this conversation inform what you ultimately wanted to portray about Peter Hujar as an artistic figure?
Well, I think I almost didn’t know the answer to that until the film was done. I realized what it does very well, thanks to Peter’s storytelling, is that it’s a window into the truth of how hard it is to make art. And I think the struggle that he goes through around the quality, the success or failure of his photograph of Allen Ginsberg is, for me, both very moving and also very comforting. Every time I make art, it seems impossible, and I feel like, “Oh, it’s hard for Peter Hujar too.” And I feel that gives me a kind of strength and confidence. And I will say that I have often looked to the artists of the East Village, particularly queer, gay artists of the ‘70s and ‘80s, as an extraordinary inspiration — many and most we lost to AIDS. But there was a kind of radical individuality during that time, and that was encouraged in art making, which I feel is beautiful and necessary.
Here, you are reuniting with Ben Whishaw, whom I loved in Passages. I’d love to hear about your collaboration specifically with him between these two films, and what made you see him as the leading man for Peter Hujar.
Well, I read the book when I was working with Ben on Passages, and it was a great and wonderful excuse to keep working with Ben Whishaw. And I also knew that Ben had an interest in queer history and queer creative life that paralleled my own. It’s something we talk about a lot. We want to be adventurers like our heroes. He also looks a little bit like Peter, and it turns out he has a self-portrait of Peter on his wall, which I didn’t know. So all stars aligned, and we got to make this film.
This is your first time working with Rebecca Hall, and I know she’s going to be in your next film, the musical The Man I Love with Rami Malek. You’ve had actors you’ve returned to work with throughout your career, so I’d love to hear about some of the most fruitful aspects of these collaborations.
Well, Rebecca has a whiff of genius. She’s so fine in her work. She’s an actor who, even in silence, is also a writer. She tells stories and subtext without underlining anything. So it seemed exhilarating to collaborate with her. Specifically, I’d seen her in a 2016 movie called Christine, which I thought she was so brilliant. And also with Ben and Rebecca, they’re comfortable with risking failure. I think that is so generative — not to be looking at outcome, but to be embracing process.
I absolutely agree. And as you mentioned earlier, you are depicting New York at a very specific time in the ‘70s, before the AIDS epidemic hit. You’re someone who’s lived in New York and started your film career there. Obviously, it takes place in an apartment, but we do get to hear the sounds of New York; it still paints a very specific portrait and texture of this city.
It was important to bring the sound of a city into the movie, and it also became part of the drama. Whether it be a jackhammer or a siren or, at certain moments, quiet. Specifically, the sounds of prostitutes on a street corner, which are the last image described by Hujar when he talks about his day: the sex workers below his window. To me, that’s a very city sound and a city image. It was one of the ones that made me love the text and love the book. It’s this quiet in the middle of the night when you hear somebody else’s drama between the glass of your apartment.
There are also moments where you decide to intercut beats with classical music, which I thought was really effective. Could you speak to that?
Well, I wanted the film to be both real and theatrical at the same time. The music ruptures an idea of the everyday. It brings the film to a heightened level of emotion and drama. From the beginning of the film, I also wanted to be explicit that this was, in itself, a creative act. Making the film was like taking a photograph. It was experimental, it was uncertain, it was exploratory, and, hopefully, it was a form of portraiture — both of Hujar, but also of this friendship between Peter and his friend Linda, which seems really personal. My relationship to certain women in my life is conveyed through the love that you see between Peter and Linda, and between Ben and Rebecca.
For me, one of the real emotional anchors of this film is this universal feeling that we’re wasting our time in the day, or if you were to look at everything you do in any given day, there’s the fear that you haven’t accomplished enough. But I really love the structure of this film and that you’re inviting us to sit in the mundane, little moments. Could you speak to what you wanted to convey in your relationship to time in the film?
There is an evocation throughout the film that goes unspoken to the loss of Hujar and so many others to AIDS. That is really the unspoken emotion in the film, which is the preciousness of someone like Peter. Something about Peter is quite extraordinary, partly because he’s such a good artist. In certain ways, I tried not to think about Hujar’s photographs, but they were in me. And similarly, I tried not to think consciously about losing Peter; 13 years later, he was dead. But it was really in me when I made the film, and the fairness of that loss. There is an image of these steel planks in the Hudson River, which are remnants of the piers. I don’t know if that comes through to anyone, but something is missing in this shot of the river, and I think in this city, there’s a lot that’s missing.
That makes me want to re-watch the film to pick up more on that.
I made a film called Last Address, an eight-minute film. It’s online, it’s probably my most seen film. It’s about a group of New York artists who died of AIDS, and I shot the houses where they lived at the time of their death. Someone said to me today that it seemed like Hujar is the inverse because Last Address has no biographical information except where people lived and when they died. And this is now actually all biographical information on a certain day. And that film is also structured artificially in the course of the day. It begins at Keith Haring’s house early in the morning when you hear birds and trucks delivering milk, and then it ends at Times Square, at the house of Reza Abdoh, who was an Iranian theater director who died of AIDS. Similarly, I constructed a false day, a cinematic day.
On that note, I’m not somebody who went into this film knowing too much about Peter Hujar. I saw this at AFI Fest, and I was struck by some of the conversations that people were having as they left the theater, being interested in wanting to learn more about him and discover his work first-hand. How do you see this film as an opportunity for up-and-coming queer generations to discover Peter Hujar as an artist?
That’s interesting. I will say that it was not my intention, but it’s pleasurable to hear that that’s the case. There’s something about discovering an artist so singular and so powerfully confident within what could be a marginalized space that is extraordinarily generative to younger artists. It can be. Peter’s attention to the people around him, the queer people around him, the gay people around him, and the trans people around him is so rigorous and so loving, and also so counter to mainstream and global culture. The film is really about the resistance of globalization, and to the extent that that’s what Peter’s work does. It says the local is where you find meaning. And that’s anti-capitalist.
This film premiered at Sundance back in January, and I know you’ve had many films premiere there in the past. Could you speak to the state of the film industry because, as we’re seeing, there are not as many distribution deals coming out of Sundance? But this film was one that was really able to find its audience, getting picked up by Sideshow and Janus Films.
It’s never easy to work outside the dominant system. We are struggling with the dearth of exhibition spaces. I guess we’re struggling with an ecosystem that isn’t fertile, and so sustainability becomes very difficult for artists, when there’s not, in each stage — including festivals — the energy, whether that be economic or artistic, that might generate more and more work. But I don’t want to be nostalgic. There’s an attempt to understand that we have lost things; we lost a generation of artists to AIDS. We lost the kind of local nature of an artistic community that we had in the East Village in the ‘70s and ‘80s. We lost places like The Bar, which was on the corner of Second Avenue and Second Street. On Second Avenue and Fourth Street, there was a local watering hole where people could find each other on a daily basis and share their stories. And so, in a way, the movie is an encouragement for conversation and to spend time with people. In doing so, we can gather strength as artists and as a community, as queer people.
I love that. I’m not in New York, but I think finding a real sense of community is something I’ve personally struggled with as a queer person. That’s just hard to find in everyday life. So I felt this film was, as you said, a reminder of the power of community and conversation.
It’s so necessary, and I think particularly as people who are making creative work, you need something that is a ballast against one’s doubt. And companionship can be that.
The film will have a U.S. theatrical release in November.
a&e features
Guillermo Diaz reflects on his role as a queer, Latino actor in the biz while taking on the director’s hat.
Diaz has a career that spans over 30 years; he’s shattered stereotypes and Hollywood norms with his long list of work
Actor Guillermo Diaz has been working hard in the entertainment industry for over three decades. Proud of his heritage and queer identity, he has broken through many glass ceilings to have a prolific career that includes tentpole moments such as roles in the films Party Girl, Half Baked, and Bros, and in major TV shows like Weeds and Scandal, and even in a Britney Spears music video. This season, he made his feature-length directorial debut with the film Dear Luke, Love Me.
In an intimate sit-down with the Blade, Diaz shares that he attributes a lot of his success to his Cuban upbringing.
“Well, it prepared me to learn how to lie really well and be a good actor because it was a lot of acting like you were straight, back in the eighties and nineties (laugh). Another thing I learned from my Cuban immigrant parents is that they work super hard. They both had two jobs; we were latchkey kids, and I just saw them constantly working and wanting to provide for us by any means. So that was super instilled in me. That was the one thing that really stuck out that I admire and respect.”
Besides Diaz’s recurring roles on TV, his resume includes appearances in just about every genre of programming out there. If there is a major show out there, he was probably on it. Law and Order, Girls, The Closer, Chappelle’s Show, ER, Party of Five, and the list goes on. He’s accomplished more in his career thus far than most actors do in a lifetime. There is no doubt he is a hard worker.
“It’s a sign that I just loved to work, and it’s funny looking back at it now because you see all those things, but at the time it was just the next gig, the next job. I was just wanting to keep working and acting and learning and doing all that stuff. Then it sort of accumulates, and you look back and you’re like, damn! That’s a lot of stuff!”
Acting was never on Diaz’s radar until he was asked to fill in for a friend in a Beastie Boys medley for a talent show when he was a sophomore in high school.
“I did it and fell in love with it. I was teased a lot in high school. Then, when I did that performance, all those people who teased me were like, you were so great! So I looked at it initially as a thing of like, oh, this is where I’m accepted and people like me when I’m on stage. It’s kind of sad, too, because that’s what I latched onto. And then of course, I fell in love with the craft and performing and acting, but that initial rush was because all these people who were messing with me and teasing me all of a sudden liked me. And I was like, this is what I have to do.”
Little did Diaz know that he would break the mold when it came to stereotypical casting. When he first hit the industry, diversity and positive representation were not a thing in Hollywood.
“You just kind of accepted at the time. It was the early nineties. 90% of the time, it was playing a thug or a gun dealer, or a crack head – it was all bad guys, negative characters. But it was either that or not act and not be in anything. So you just kind of accept it, and then you have this sort of vision or hope that in the future it’s going to get better.
Diaz’s management was trepidatious about him playing gay roles for fear of being typecast. But Diaz did play a handful of gay roles early on, although he passed on But I’m A Cheerleader, which went on to become a gay cult classic. Diaz decided early on that he was not going to hide his sexuality. Diaz appeared in the film Stonewall. That was the defining point for him in sharing his identity.
“Being cast in that historical sort of dramatization of the 1969 Stonewall riots – I couldn’t believe I was in the midst that I was in the middle of doing this and playing the lead drag queen on the film. I just felt so honored, and I knew it was important, and I knew I needed to do a really good job. I thought, what a special moment this is. And it kicked my ass shooting that movie.
I remember after doing Stonewall, people saying, well, now you’re either going to have to make a choice if you’re going to lie, or if you’re going to just be honest, and you’re going to have to be out from now on if you’re going to be honest. And I was like, I’m not going to freaking lie. When they’d asked me, I would say I was gay. I think because I never tried to hide it, it didn’t become a thing. So people just kind of ignored it. It didn’t mess with me or my career. I don’t know. Or I just got lucky. I don’t freaking know.”
As a queer, Latin actor, Diaz is all too aware of what is happening politically and socially in the world towards minority communities. Does he think actors have a place in politics?
“For sure. I mean, we’re people first, right? Like, I hate when people sort of are like, oh, you’re an actor, shut up. I’m super political and outspoken, and I’m that guy who will say shit. I’m on the right side of history, at least. I’m not being complicit and silent. So, yeah, I think actors for sure have a place in politics. Absolutely.”
While directing was on Diaz’s radar, it wasn’t something that he was actively searching out. But as life would have it, his friend Mallie McCown sent him her script for Dear Luke, Love Me, a film she would play the lead in. Diaz was hooked.
“It was one of those scripts that I had to keep putting down every like 20 pages. I would put it down because I didn’t want it to end. It was so good. Originally, I was just going to come on as a producer of the film, and then the director dropped out, and then Mallie asked me if I was interested in directing. I was scared as shit. I had never directed a feature film. But I was like, it’s now or never.”
The film covers a decade of the friendship between Penny and Luke, covering themes of platonic love, asexuality, co-dependence, and self-identity. With most of the film focusing on just the two leads, Diaz has crafted an intimate and raw film. What is his message with the film?
“That love is complicated, but it’s beautiful and rewarding and worth all the heartache. I believe that. I don’t want to give away too much in the film either, but I think everyone can relate to it because there’s heartache and there’s pain, and there’s beauty and there’s love.”
And in looking at his past work and in looking toward his future career, what kind of legacy does Diaz want to build?
“That I broke some ground, that I knocked down some walls as an artist; I’m hoping that made a difference. It’s funny because when you’re in it, you’re not thinking about all this stuff that could possibly pave the way for other people. You’re just kind of moving along and living your life. But yeah, I would hope that I broke down some walls as a queer Latino.
I hope that people can sort of get something out of me trying to live as authentically as I can, just being my queer self. Hopefully, that helps someone along who is having some troubles being accepted or being comfortable with who they are.”
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Messy makeouts and making queer art with director Breanne Williamson
This director, writer, and YouTuber sits down to discuss her new series and what making queer art looks like today
Most LGBTQ+ people see being outed as one of the worst things possible. For YouTuber, comedian, and director Breanne Williamson, she saw it as an opportunity.
“I started hearing around town that people were saying I was a lesbian,” said Breanne, when she sat down with the Los Angeles Blade to speak about her newest project, Basement 51. “That was really frustrating to me, because as much as I was stressed about coming out, I also wanted it to be in my own words and my own story! So, I decided to upload a video to YouTube called ‘Coming Out’…and the rest is history.” A history that has been filled with more than 12 million views and almost 100K subscribers, as Williamson has risen to become one of the platform’s biggest queer creators.
What began as a rebellious video reclaiming her narrative has become a lifelong career; not only have Breanne’s short films Coming Out and Aging Out racked up millions of views, but her lengthy acting portfolio and regular stand-up performances have established her as one of Vancouver’s rising comedy stars. She spoke to the Los Angeles Blade about her new projects and the struggles that always accompany getting a piece of media off the ground — struggles that have only gotten worse in 2025.
Despite not living in the United States (a fact that many people would call an asset to this performer), Breanne has still been forced to contend with increasing hatred online. “We’re starting to roll back support for queer media,” explained Williamson. “I think back to funding Aging Out a couple of years ago and the amount of businesses down to jump on board — in hindsight, maybe [they were] trying to get that checkmark to say, ‘I support something that’s [gay]!’ But now…it’s a lot of nos, a lot of walls, a lot of, ‘I don’t know if we want to be associated with that right now.”
Recent months have seen the struggles that have always existed for LGBTQ+ creatives get even worse. For years, the entertainment industry has been a treacherous space for new artists; a growing emphasis on multi-million dollar movies and shows has left producers unwilling to take a chance on new ideas. It’s an ever-present issue that has always been even more difficult for marginalized performers like Williamson…lucky for everyone, Breanne and the many artists like her aren’t backing down.
“It’s [all] about uplifting one another,” She said, when describing the many ways her fellow performers have been helping crowdfund and raise awareness about each other’s work. “Amongst my peers, we’re really feeling the need to support one another’s projects more now than ever.” Breanne was lucky to find a place in this supportive, thoroughly LGBTQ+ community early into her career, a group that has only become more vocal in the face of rising bigotry online. It’s because of them that she’s created so many projects that embody queer culture — namely, how thoroughly awkward it can be.
Whether it’s coming out over the course of years or discovering at 30 that you’re older than half the people at any given gay bar, Williamson has always captured the hilarious (and often extremely uncomfortable) sapphic experience through her projects.
“Each character is probably six people in my life, myself included,” she said, when discussing how she imbues every project with the realities of herself and other queer women like her. “When I write, there’s obviously truth to every character and story…like in Aging Out, which is a sapphic rom com, there’s a messy makeout scene in the bathroom of a gay bar — [which was] very much an experience I had that I knew needed to make it in the film!” She laughed at the memory while detailing how it’s scenes like this that really resonate with queer viewers. While simple inclusion is always an asset to the LGBTQ+ community, we’re beyond trying to teach people that being gay is okay. To truly connect with the marginalized folks in her audience, Breanne surmises, you have to recognize the countless awkward, funny, gross, embarrassing, and unpleasant yet nostalgic emotions that make up being LGBTQ+ in the modern day. She has always tried her hardest to bring that level of authenticity to every story…even if those stories happen to be set during an alien invasion.
Basement 51 is Breanne’s newest project, a YouTube web series that sees a lesbian comedian get stuck with her coworkers (and former partner) during an alien invasion. As witty as it is jaw-droppingly wild, Williamson balances the utter chaos of this premise with the grueling experience of being forced to share space with your ex-girlfriend (who you may or may not still have feelings for). While the project is a funny enough metaphor on its own about the abject terror of trying to make it in comedy, above all else, Breanne just wanted to make something for people to laugh at. “At the end of the day, the project is something that I want people to be able to click on and find an escape [from] everything that’s going on in today’s world — to have a laugh.”
It’s a sentiment that has carried the director throughout her career. She stressed how affirming and fulfilling it’s been making the LGBTQ+ media that she never saw as a child, and why people shouldn’t be afraid to do the same today — in fact, they need to. She encourages others not to feel discouraged by the people attacking queer art today and to instead show them that our communities can never be silenced. Of course, this is so much easier said than done, but to everyone nervous about sharing their stories, Breanne ended her interview with some warm advice:
“Set the camera up, and just get going…if you wait and wait for the perfect project, you’re going to be waiting forever. [You’ll look back] and wish you did things differently, but then the next time, you’ll [actually] do those things differently and [improve]. It’s all a learning experience — you’ve just got to go for it.”
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Parenthood and punchlines: Alec Mapa honored for his ongoing legacy of love and laughter
Celebrated actor, comedian, and loving father, Alec Mapa, will be honored at Family Equality’s NIGHT OUT for his trailblazing work in entertainment and his advocacy for LGBTQ+ families
When it comes to blending humor and hard-earned perspective with a healthy dash of heart, few do it quite like Alec Mapa. Actor, comedian, and self-proclaimed “attention whore” (his words, not mine) has spent decades lighting up screens and stages while using laughter as both a mirror and a megaphone for truth.
This November 8 at Nya West in Los Angeles, Mapa will be honored at NIGHT OUT, Family Equality’s gala celebrating LGBTQ+ families and the many avenues of love that make them thrive. It’s an appropriate recognition for someone like Mapa who’s managed to turn visibility into advocacy.
Equal parts entertainer and family man, we had the chance to sit down with Mapa as he shared with us about the power of being seen, the continued efforts for equality, and how both comedy and fatherhood continue to shape the way he navigates through the world.
You’ve got a big evening coming up with NIGHT OUT hosted by Family Equality this coming November 8th. What does it feel like to be honored not just for the impact you’ve made as an entertainer but also as a parent and family man?
It feels lovely because I’m an attention whore, and surprisingly, because I never leave the house. To hear that my work or family would have any impact at all is wonderful news. I’m just here folding the laundry.
Family Equality has been an impactful force for LGBTQI+ families. What do you think is the most urgent and impactful work they’re doing right now?
The urgent work to change hearts and minds hasn’t changed one bit. Since 1979, Family Equality’s mission has been to ensure that everyone has the freedom to find, form, and sustain their families by advancing equality for the LGBTQ+ community. The fight for queer rights is like a game of Whack-A-Mole. Just when you think you’ve made some impact, a new generation of bigots pops up.
With such a diverse and talented group of performers like Monét X Change and Brendan Scannell, how do you think events like NIGHT OUT help showcase the many faces of queer comedy and entertainment?
Performing at queer Hollywood fundraisers is how I met all the queer creators who hired me! Sylvio Horta cast me in Ugly Betty after seeing me perform for the GLAAD awards. Ryan Murphy cast me on Scream Queens after seeing me at Family Equality. Greg Berlanti cast me in Doom Patrol, but not from a fundraiser; I auditioned. Still sore about that.
You are a true Renaissance man, from TV and film to Broadway, stand-up, and voice work. What aspects of your career in the public sphere have influenced your role as a parent?
I took my kid to every set I worked on and introduced him to every department from wardrobe to craft services because I wanted him to see that being an artist is a real job.
What has parenthood taught you about yourself that performing never could?
I’m more careful about my words.
Using harsh language on your kids doesn’t make them stop loving you, but they end up loving themselves less.
Comedy can be a weapon just as much as it can be a unifying force. How do you approach the balance between pushing boundaries while also creating a connection with your audience?
I started out on Broadway, so I always want my audience to experience a catharsis- that sublime release that happens when you laugh all the laughs and feel all the feels.
From Roseanne and Friends to Jane the Virgin and Scream Queens, you have been representing the entertainment world for a minute. How have you seen queer representation evolve over the span of your career? Is there still room for improvement?
In 2000, I was the first out gay Asian actor to play a gay series regular role on network television. Now, Gaysian superstars like Bowen Yang, Nico Santos, and Joel Kim Booster are smashing it. I feel like a gremlin that someone got wet or fed after midnight. However, the caste system that centers whiteness is currently in charge, so diversity, equity, and inclusion might go the way of the Dodo.
You’ve been speaking out and showing up for queer causes for decades. What gives you hope in this current climate? What gives you pause?
What gives me hope is the unstoppable strength, resilience and queer joy of the LGBTQ+ community. No matter how much they try to pave over us, we’re as relentless as a blade of grass bursting through concrete. What scares me is the complete lack of humanity of those in power.
How do you use comedy to spotlight queer issues, especially at a time when audiences might prefer to “laugh and not think”?
The more specific you are, the more universal you become. I didn’t spotlight queer issues in my Showtime Special “Alec Mapa Baby Daddy” (now streaming on YouTube), I just spoke honestly about my experience as a married gay Filipino man and the adoption of our son. My new stand-up hour, “The Buttcracker,” on December 11th at El Cid on Sunset, is all about doing stand-up while I was recovering from prostate cancer. Hilarious.
Adoption is undoubtedly a transformative way for many LGBTQ+ folks to build families. From your point of view, what is the unique power of adoption in creating families, and how has it shaped the broader narrative of queer parenthood?
Several studies have shown that LGBTQ+ individuals and couples are significantly more likely to adopt or foster children in the foster care system. My friend Stephanie White adopted and raised 7 special needs kids. Jason Cook and his husband adopted 6 kids and kept all siblings intact. Despite that powerful narrative, adoption agencies can still legally discriminate against qualified individuals based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Family Equality sent me to Capitol Hill to lobby on behalf of the “Every Child Deserves a Family Act” to prevent anti LGBTQ+ discrimination in foster care. The Act has still not passed. Whack-A-Mole it is.
Join the Los Angeles Blade on Saturday, November 8, in Los Angeles for a special evening of love, laughter, and change-making. Event info here.
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Peppermint and Hugh Ryan on their new podcast: ‘Queer 101’
These queer historians break down why their podcast is premiering at the perfect time.
‘Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it’ — a cliché phrase that is more relevant now than ever.
It’s an unfortunate truth that the erasure of queer history is not a new phenomenon. While the current political climate has featured some of the most blatant attempts to remove our communities’ impact, those in power have always tried to diminish just how much LGBTQ+ people have influenced society as a whole. It’s an ongoing attack that has left many worried about future generations not knowing all of the queer greatness that came before them — and it’s why Queer 101, hosted by Peppermint and Hugh Ryan, couldn’t have come at a better time.
This new podcast from Pride House Media commemorates the moments in LGBTQ+ history that are too often ignored by the mainstream news cycle. And it’s hosted by a pair who make history as much as they record it; Peppermint is a world-famous Drag Queen who went from stunning on RuPaul’s Drag Race season nine to breaking barriers as the first out trans woman to originate a role on Broadway. And as one of the leading voices in the preservation of LGBTQ+ culture, Hugh Ryan has dedicated his career to unearthing and documenting the moments in our history that too many have already forgotten. The Los Angeles Blade was lucky to sit with these hosts to discuss Queer 101, why learning from the past is key to navigating the present, and how everyone listening is already an LGBTQ+ historian – they just don’t know it yet.
“Queer history is a history of resistance,” said Hugh, as he and Peppermint detailed what initially drew them to this project. “This is our chance to talk about everything that touches on pure life, culture, and resistance right now.” And talk about it they do; each episode sees the duo tackle a new aspect in queer history, ranging from deep-dives into little-known advocates to interviews with stars like George Takei about queer life within Japanese internment camps. Theirs isn’t the first podcast to discuss subjects like these, but Peppermint emphasized that Queer 101 is unlike anything listeners have heard before. Not only because of how these topics personally affect them — Hugh is a gay man and Peppermint is a trans woman — but because of their genuine love for the spirit of liberation that makes these stories so impactful. “We often end up with these whitewashed versions [of history],” she explained. “It’s up to the queer people, the people of color…the marginalized people [to] assert our history and redeem it.”
They stressed that this doesn’t mean these episodes are a droll recitation of information — quite the opposite. Each segment is filled with small tangents and jokes from the hosts, with their unique brand of approachable education ensuring that audiences are actually growing from the information they’re hearing.
“A lot of people don’t have…basic knowledge of American history — let alone queer history!” Said Peppermint, when discussing how curated, over-simplified accounts of the past (which almost always erase LGBTQ+ presence) are often all that your average person is exposed to. “We’re setting out to change that…and reintroduce people [to this history].” It’s a valiant mission at any time, but particularly now when so much of the history people have fought generations for is under attack.
Every week under the current presidential administration brings some new attempt to erase the impact of marginalized communities. Whether it be ‘softening’ depictions of slavery or trying to remove transgender folks from the Stonewall Riots memorial, time and time again, these people have shown how desperate they are to disregard those who truly built this country. This podcast’s goal is not only to fight back against such a violent erasure by educating listeners, but also to remind them of a darkly hopeful fact: this isn’t the first time things like this have happened.
“It’s how we know how we got [here], which is how we know what’s happening next. It’s how we understand ourselves and how [to] push back.” Stated Hugh, whose long career has shown him the cyclical nature of history — particularly how many times queer communities have fought for their freedom, attained some, and then had their pride attacked by those fearful of true equality, restarting an at-times unbearable cycle. Peppermint echoed this sentiment, clarifying that while we are in uniquely troubling times, it doesn’t mean that we can’t learn from those who fought before and use their tactics to combat erasure now.
And the best method of preserving queer history for the future? Telling our stories today.
“Everyone has a voice recorder on their phone!” Exclaimed Hugh, when discussing how, by documenting their stories, individuals are preserving their own LGBTQ+ impact and that of those around them. “Where you can do it, bring it out, share it…it’s something we can all do.”
“It’s important for queer people to learn about their history,” continued Peppermint. “To have a connection to the generation before them, to understand how these things get passed down…because it doesn’t happen automatically.” It’s something that these two do every week with their fun, insightful conversations that finally give so many people and moments the respect they deserve. And, they want to remind everyone listening, it’s something that every person in their audience can do by remembering: you’re an LGBTQ+ person with a story to tell.
That means you’re already on your way to making queer history yourself.
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A NIGHT OUT to remember: Tig Notaro on comedy, parenthood, and the value of being seen
Comedian, actor, and producer Tig Notaro is being honored with Family Equality’s Visibility Award at this year’s NIGHT OUT gala, celebrating the authenticity and love she and her wife, Stephanie Allynne, bring to their family and the LGBTQ+ community
There’s seldom a night that combines laughter, love, and a good cause quite like NIGHT OUT, Family Equality’s gala celebrating the beauty and resilience of LGBTQ+ families. This November 8, at Nya West in Los Angeles, NIGHT OUT brings together advocates, artists, and allies for an evening where joy meets justice, and this year it will be honoring none other than the incomparable Tig Notaro. The Emmy- and Grammy-nominated comedian, actor, and producer (and master of the perfectly timed pause) will be honored alongside her wife, the talented Stephanie Allynne. Together, they’ve built a life and career grounded in authenticity and heart, raising their family while reimagining what visibility looks like. As we sat down with Notaro ahead of this year’s festivities, she reflected with her signature mix of dry wit and warmth on her career, community, and what it means to be a family.
You and your wife are being honored alongside some incredible talents at Night Out, hosted by Family Equality. What does this recognition mean to you—personally, professionally, or otherwise?
I’m flattered that anyone has noticed what we’re doing, honestly. We’re already so proud of our family and the life we’ve built together, and to have others take notice—and to feel like it’s making an impact for other families—is really meaningful. It adds another layer of appreciation to something we already hold dear.
You and your wife built your family together, and parenthood is still a politicized space in many ways. How do you navigate the balance between protecting your family and being a symbol of resilience within the LGBTQ+ community?
We just keep moving forward—like we always have. I think that’s the best statement we can make: continuing to live our lives and move ahead.
You’ve spoken openly about the importance of chosen family, which is such a vital part of queer culture. How has your chosen family shaped your journey?
Our sons, Max and Finn, honestly don’t know who’s biologically related to them and who isn’t—and that’s kind of beautiful. We have so many incredible people around us who take on different roles, bring different personalities and love into our lives. If they weren’t around, sure, we could figure things out, but having them in our lives is remarkable. It’s this beautiful, extended web of support. I don’t know if that fully answers your question, but that’s how I feel about it.
It absolutely does. On that note, you were a producer on your dear friend Andrea Gibson’s documentary, Come See Me in the Good Light. How did your relationship with Andrea—and your involvement in that project—impact how you move through the world now?
That experience was deeply personal. I was very clear from the beginning—both as a friend and a producer—that everything needed to be rooted in love and support for Andrea and their wife, Meg. That was my North Star throughout. Even now, any decision I make on the film is guided by that principle: doing right by them.
Working on the documentary was what I call a “compartmentalized joy”—because it was filled with love and laughter, despite being a film about a friend who was dying. And what surprised me was how much hope it gave me—not just in humanity, but in collaboration. In film and TV, it’s easy for differing opinions and egos to get in the way, but this project didn’t have that. We came out the other side with something really positive. That gives me hope.
You co-host the podcast Handsome with Fortune Feimster and Mae Martin, and you field a lot of questions from guests. If you could ask one question to the entire nation—something to spark an important conversation—what would it be?
Hmm… I think it would center around compassion. I’d ask: At what point do you crack open to compassion? And at what point do you shut it down? I’d be very curious to hear about those breaking points in both directions.
That’s a powerful one. Switching gears a bit—you portray Jet Reno on Star Trek: Discovery. If Reno were beamed down to the United States in 2025, what do you think would be the first thing she’d try to repair?
She’d probably start by repairing the planet itself. My character jokes about fixing anything with duct tape—and honestly, that’s not far off. But in all seriousness, environmental issues are the most pressing. If there’s no planet, there’s nothing else to worry about. Jet Reno would definitely beam down and start duct-taping Earth back together.
Your comedy is both personal and deeply relatable. How do you decide what parts of your life to bring to the stage, and what to keep private?
It really comes down to connection. Whether it’s a personal story or something observational, I have to feel a strong connection to it. Sometimes I know right away—oh, there’s something here. Other times, I test it out on stage a few times to see if it clicks. But if I’m amused or entertained by what I’m saying, chances are the audience will be too.
How has the landscape for LGBTQ+ performers evolved since you started your career, and where do you see it going?
When I started stand-up almost 30 years ago, LGBTQ+ performers were mostly confined to LGBTQ+ shows. If you wanted to see a queer comedian, you had to go to a specifically queer lineup. Now, it feels like much less of an issue. The comedy world reflects the larger world—it’s divided in many ways—but within comedy, if you’re funny, people generally don’t care about your sexuality or gender. I hope that continues. Despite the larger political pushback we’re seeing, I haven’t experienced that same resistance within the comedy scene. It’s come a long way.
Finally, as Family Equality’s Night Out celebrates joy and resilience, what message do you hope attendees take away from the evening?
I hope the message is that families—of all kinds—are valid and powerful. In certain circles, there’s still resistance or controversy, but among the families I know, it’s such a non-issue. Our kids didn’t even know we were gay! We never thought to “come out” to them because it just… was. That’s how normal it felt. And I think if we keep creating and celebrating these families, that sense of normalcy will continue to grow. It’ll stop being a “thing”—because it isn’t.
Join the Los Angeles Blade on Saturday, November 8, in Los Angeles for a special evening of love, laughter, and change-making. Event info here.
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Reality star Bill Alverson discusses pageants and parenting
‘Coach Charming’ himself breaks down what it means to be a gay parent today.
In the Bill Alverson’s own words, he spends each day as a ‘walking paradox’; Alverson puts in long hours at his law office, conducts countless appointments as one of the country’s premier pageant coaches, and still makes time to appear on Lifetime’s hit reality series A Sorority Mom’s Guide to Rush!
This isn’t the first time the legal professional has graced TV — he had his own series in 2015 and produced the Netflix hit Insatiable — but his appearances on television are more impactful now than any of his before. Finally, Bill gets to greet viewers as the proud gay man he is today.
From the struggles of America’s legal system to the cutthroat world of beauty pageants, the Los Angeles Blade sat down with Alverson to hear about his coming out journey and how he’s been navigating his sexuality, his many pursuits, and his role as a father (all while appearing on numerous reality shows over the years). He offered ample advice to other queer parents on what it means to put your child first while still respecting your own identity. And, in regard to his long career that grows by the day, Bill makes something very clear: no matter how many shows he’s on or pageants he helps people win, his family always comes first.
“I grew up in a small town in South Alabama…in 2016, the highest percentage per capita that voted for Trump was my county,” explained Alverson, when discussing why it took him so many years to come out. “I didn’t even know what the word bisexual was!” He first grabbed national attention back in 2015 with his reality show Coach Charming, a TLC series that saw the attorney take a break from practicing law to mentor debutantes across the country. Audiences quickly fell in love with this hilarious personality; when he wasn’t showing off his bombastic coaching style or critiquing modern pageantry, each episode showed the idyllic life Bill lived with his wife and three children in Alabama. Viewers quickly fell in love with this family man and the epitome of Southern charm that was his daily life, which is why so many were shocked when he was outed as gay shortly after the first season finale.
While able to joke about it now, Bill described the trauma of his colleagues allegedly outing him to their local community. “When I did Coach Charming, my law firm [allegedly] hacked into my computer…and found out I was gay.” Said Bill. “We were the oldest firm in Alabama at the time, and I was one of the youngest partners…[and] one of them literally told me to ‘get out of town’.” This came during a time when Bill had already opened up to his wife about his sexuality, when the man had been preparing his own public statement to come out to fans on his terms. Because of this alleged invasion of privacy, what could have been a milestone in reality television was instead a personal explosion for Bill and everyone he loved the most.
Eventually, he was able to recover. He capitalized on his newly public sexuality and, after an amicable divorce with his wife (who remains a close friend to this day), began dating men and pursuing new projects as his most authentic self. This led to camp classics like Netflix’s teen comedy Insatiable or his current role on A Sorority Mom’s Guide to Rush!. But even though Bill was able to navigate his new reality with pride, he knew that above all else, he had to make sure his children were as safe and happy as he is now.
Bill didn’t try to rationalize or smooth over his children’s emotions when they struggled with his sexuality. “I [said] to [my daughter], ‘You know what? I didn’t have a road map. I’m sorry I put you through that, and you have a right to be angry.’” He had a version of this conversation with each of his children, small and large confrontations where they questioned his identity and the unwanted national attention his outing had on their family. Bill approached each with a similar candor, stating the key to helping them understand his experience that every queer parent should know: “It all has to come from being honest.”
Alverson quickly learned a hard truth about being a queer parent: your pride can’t just be for yourself. “Are you winning the battle to lose the war?” He asked, when speaking about the times he wasn’t as open about his sexuality because he knew it would lead to his kids suffering with their peers. Bill clarified that he never hid his identity — “I’m like, ‘Who’s the parent, and who’s the child?’” he joked, when describing the times he had to tell his children that he wouldn’t go ‘back in the closet’ for their comfort. But he also learned that when you’re a gay parent, pride is a conversation, an ongoing journey that has to account for not only your experience but that of the children you’re raising. There’s no one way to do it, and he’s experienced many issues with his kids over the years in trying to maneuver life as a gay father. But by respecting their feelings and speaking to them like the young adults they are, he’s been able to turn his journey of self-discovery into a trip the entire family is taking together.
Bill Alverson has established himself as a true powerhouse of reality TV, showing up to inject various shows with his unique brand of Southern sass while still taking the time to defend clients as a practicing attorney. He’s a modern model of truly ‘having it all,’ and throughout his interview, the man reiterated that none of this would be possible without the family who has stood by him every step of the way. His sense of pride is a familial one, and for every other parent struggling to share their authentic identities with their children, he says, “Be the friend you’d want to have — not what makes you happy, but what would make them happy.”
a&e features
Best of LA DJ of the Year & queer creative Cazwell gets candid on & embracing his Daddy Era
Legendary queer music artist Cazwell takes home the Best of LA’s DJ of the Year award just in time to release his latest LP HITS ALL OVER YOUR FACE [The Peace Bisquit Collection].
Music is magic. It has the power to transform minds, uplift spirits, and unite communities. In a time of too much discord, good music has the potential to provide us with some much-needed harmony. For many marginalized communities, this harmonious energy is not only an instrument of healing but also an amplifier for our collective voice, no autotune necessary. For decades, rapper, producer, and songwriter Cazwell has been dropping dearly queerly tracks, from Loose Wrists to Rice & Beans, melting both our hearts and our ice cream with every beat. It is to absolutely nobody’s surprise that our beloved bicoastal babe has snagged himself the Best of LGBTQ+ LA 2025 award for DJ of the Year (congrats!)
We sat down with Cazwell and talked about the importance of trans empowerment, bringing his East Coast vibe to the West Coast sunshine, and the anticipated release of his latest LP. Sink your teeth in – this one’s going to get all over your face…
Congrats on winning DJ of the Year by the Los Angeles Blade’s Best of LGBTQ+ LA 2025. How does it feel to be recognized for your influence and impact on the queer music scene?
Thank you, Los Angeles Blade and Best of L.A. Awards! I feel recognized for how much I’ve grown as a DJ. I’m very grateful for getting a Saturday night residency at Hi Tops (West Hollywood). The unpretentious atmosphere gives me permission to take chances and surprise the crowd. When it comes to my music, I’ve been told by some gay people in music that I’ve inspired them to keep going with their craft. It feels good to know that I’ve made a positive impact.
Your sound and visuals have always pushed boundaries and tightened trousers. What fuels your creativity, and how has it evolved throughout your career?
I think what fuels my creativity is that I enjoy the process. I get less satisfaction from observing the work I’ve done compared to when I am taking the steps to make it happen. When my head is wrapped up in the world of making a song or filming a music video, time kind of stands still, and that’s when I feel my most powerful. Making music always gives me the opportunity to talk about the life I want to have or the confidence I want to have, and then I get it from the power of the song. Or maybe it was always there, and I had to just dig it up. I’m not sure, but it works for me.
Can you give us a taste of your latest LP, HITS ALL OVER YOUR FACE [The Peace Bisquit Collection]? What themes can we expect, and how does it reflect where you are in your life?
HITS ALL OVER YOUR FACE [The Peace Bisquit Collection] gave me the opportunity to look back at all I’ve done and give myself a little pat on the shoulder, which I rarely do so for my mental health. It was a positive thing. For me personally, the double album is a reflection of how Peace Bisquit has helped me navigate through my decision-making with music production. I’m very proud of it. I looked at the compilation track listing and said to myself, “Damn! I’ve made a lot of great songs!”
Your fashion and visuals are just as iconic as your music. How do you define your style these days, and who or what inspires it?
Well, now I am certainly in my “Daddy Era.” I’ve been pulling a lot of inspiration from 90’s movies like Trainspotting and Fight Club. I also pay attention to a lot of Japanese fashion and always seem to have my head in a Japanese fashion magazine like “Popeye.” Besides that, I’ve learned that no matter what I wear, if I’m not happy with my body, I’m always hiding something. So now my perspective is to be as healthy and fit as I can, and I will feel and look good.
You’ve collaborated with many talented artists. Who is on your dream list that you haven’t worked with yet?
I want to work with Charli XCX. I was just listening to the BRAT album yesterday, and it still hits hard. I’ve been a fan of hers for years and years, and watching her excel and morph into this party girl-raver-superstar has been amazing. I want to write a song with her just to learn. I can’t wait to see what she drops next.
You’ve always been unapologetically queer in your work, especially at a time when visibility wasn’t always celebrated. What does queer visibility in music mean to you today?
Visibility and queer music need to be protected. To me, it means empowerment and not keeping silent, no matter who you make feel uncomfortable. There’s nothing much more powerful than music when it comes to strengthening your mental health. I’ve always wanted to use my music to make gay people feel just as entitled and cocky as straight people do when they rap or sing.
In a political climate that is increasingly hostile toward LGBTQ+ rights, do you feel a new type of urgency in your work as both an artist and public figure?
The urgency has always been there, but they’re coming for trans people first. The most important thing that all artists – gay and straight – can do right now is use their visibility to bring attention to protecting trans people. And that doesn’t just mean wearing a “Protect The Dolls” t-shirt and calling it a day. It means putting them in their songs, their videos, and finding a way to donate money or time to causes that help trans people. Let trans people know that they are loved and cared for anyway you can.
Have there been aspects of your background (cultural, regional, or familial) that you’ve consciously brought into your work, or that you’ve had to push against?
Well, most recently, I’ve been bringing my Polish heritage into my work, wearing a Polska red and white jogging suit in my “Daddy” videos for social media. I’ve always loved that Eastern European look of the guy with the shaved head in a jogging suit looking like a total asshole, lol. I think it’s funny and sexy in its own way. The influence that New York has instilled in my attitude will affect me forever. I’m still hustling to get all my work done like a New Yorker while some of these West Coast kids are waking up at 2 pm every day thinking about brunch.
In today’s conversations around representation and intersectionality, how do you see your place (or your responsibility) as someone who’s broken boundaries in both mainstream and underground spaces?
Our government is trying to get rid of any piece of history that celebrates people of color and the LGBTQ community. It is important for gay artists to recognize that the majority of the genius that comes from our music was birthed from the Black queer community and to pay them respect every opportunity we have. I also feel it’s my responsibility to mentor young queer artists any time I can. I’ll try to give advice or give my thoughts on their work when they ask me. Many young artists don’t have anyone in their circle to just give them constructive criticism or even uplift them and tell them how talented they are. I think everyone needs that.
You’ve spent time on both coasts. Do you consider yourself more East Coast or West Coast at heart? How have the scenes in NYC and LA influenced you differently, both musically and personally?
I’m definitely more East Coast. I’m a New Yorker till the day I die. Los Angeles has given me the opportunity to relax and gather my thoughts as opposed to always being in a competitive hustle just to keep a DJ gig and pay rent on time. I miss the vibration of New York, but I wouldn’t trade it for the mental clarity that I’ve been able to develop on the West Coast. Hopefully, someday I’ll be bi-coastal.
What’s something fans might be surprised to learn about you, either in the booth or outside the spotlight?
I think the thing that would surprise them the most is that I haven’t had sex in over a year. Partly by choice and partly because I prefer to have sexual relationships with somebody I admire, and I haven’t been able to find that in a long time. It was definitely easier on the East Coast, but I’ve been working on myself a lot lately, so I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything.
What’s your message to younger queer artists navigating the music industry right now?
Don’t try to perfect your work. It will never happen. Enjoy the process and don’t be afraid to suck. No artist that’s been in the game for years wants to listen to their early pieces of work because it feels so cringe. Just keep making music. Keep putting out art. Don’t focus on the outcome. Just focus on the vision you’ve received because you got this calling for a reason.
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