A tale of patience, love, and persistence that broke new legal ground and changed the way California law defines family. BY VICTOR MELAMED Meet Ian Jenkins—he’s a doctor, living in San Diego, a specialist in hospital medicine and a professor at a major university. He’s been with his partner, Alan, for seventeen years. And they’ve…
Carlos Anthony Lopez has designed, collaborated on, or produced pieces for many of Los Angeles’ top local establishments including Bar Calo, Cafe Stella, Hotel Covell, Atrium Los Feliz, Dinette, Ostrich Farms, The Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles, Gjelina Group, Laurel Hardware Group, Sawyer and Kettle Black. Winston Studios—www.Winston-studios.com—is his creative agency for interior/exterior space design,…
An interview with Dr. Alexander Mason on a virtual confidential telemedicine addiction recovery program geared towards executives. BY MARK ARIEL Specialist TeleMed’s TORVAE is a completely virtual opioid addiction recovery program geared for the working professional. The program allow patients to recover from the privacy of their own homes or offices and on their schedules.…
How can we create new hope when our world is in chaos? BY JAMES GUAY, LMFT As we enter a New Year in the midst of a worsening pandemic, how do we hold space for hope and possibilities? Our lives have been upended in 2020 and we’re still in the midst of increasing infections, deaths and…
Pete Buttigieg makes history as first gay cabinet nominee Nearly a year ago in Des Moines, Pete Buttigieg hugged his husband onstage after his win in the Iowa caucuses made him the first openly LGBTQ candidate to earn delegates toward a major political party’s presidential nomination. Last month, reported USA Today, he made history again…
Dan Savage’s HUMP! Film Festival—the “Sundance of amateur porn”—online January 30th through March 6th 2021. BY ALEJANDRO CERVANTES If you’ve ever wanted to be a porn star without the internet presence, consider submitting to the HUMP! Film Festival—it’s the Sundance of amateur porn. Multi-hyphenate media pundit, co-founder of the It Gets Better Project and creator…
Tom of Finland Foundation Awards 2020: Bruce LaBruce, Annie Sprinkle and Dan Savage. Last month Tom of Finland Foundation (ToFF) proudly presented awards to stellar individuals who have demonstrated their vast commitment to our community. These awards were given on the final day of ToFF’s 25th Art & Culture Festival: Plugged In, which marked both…
Three best friends, Willam Belli, Marco Morante and Ashton Hirota, working side by side, on their “little queer block in the heart of Hollywood.” Family values BY MARK ARIEL | PHOTO BY DUSTI CUNNINGHAM Fashion designers Ashton Hirota (Ashton Michael), Marco Morante (Marco Marco) and drag queen and recording artist Willam Belli met over a decade…
A heartbreaking letter from a boy asking Santa if he supports the LGBT+ community has been drawing emotional responses online, reports Pink News. The United States Postal Service’ Operation Santa, which coordinates responses to letters addressed to Father Christmas, shared a heartbreaking message from a boy named Will. His letter reads: “Dear Santa, do you support…
Many men do not recognize, acknowledge, or seek help for their depression, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Successful treatments are available. BY VICTOR MELAMED An estimated six million men in the United States have a depressive disorder-major depression, dysthymia (chronic, less severe depression), or bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness). Although these illnesses are…
John Waters’ top 11 films of 2020. Includes a courtroom drama, an allegory about red states and blue states and a horror film about a woman who eats marbles Every fall, the Baltimore-based writer and filmmaker John Waters reveals his list of the movies he considers the year’s best in Artforum magazine, reports LGBTQ Nation…
I eagerly await the day we all can skip through the gates at The Abbey, make eyes with Lance Bass at Rocco’s, or catch a show at Precinct—but when, with who, and at what bar? BY ALEJANDRO CERVANTES If one more gay bar closes you’ll find me outside its front door, mourning with flowers and…
The international theme of this year’s #WorldAIDSDay is “Global Solidarity, Shared Responsibility” BY ORLY LYONNE World AIDS Day originated at the 1988 United Nations World Summit of Ministers of Health on Programmes for AIDS Prevention and is held each year on December 1. Every year, United Nations agencies, governments, nonprofit organizations, and civil society join…
An interview with Daniel Franzese: upcoming projects, Mean Girls, and being queer and Christian. BY MARK ARIEL | PHOTO BY PAUL BRICKMAN How are you dealing with the pandemic? At first it was surreal. It felt half scary and half like a vacation. Like I can’t remember the last time before the pandemic I had…
A collection of vibrant portraits that celebrate the expanding spectrum of queer identity and visibility. Magnus Hastings’ new coffee-table book, Rainbow Revolution is a collection of vibrant portraits that celebrate the expanding spectrum of queer identity and visibility. Inspired by the photographer’s social media campaign #GayFace—a project that quickly became a viral sensation for featuring…
LGBTQ youth make up roughly 40% of California’s homeless youth. How Covenant House helped one man to “live in victory.” BY VICTOR MELAMED November is Youth Homelessness Awareness Month, a month that follows LGBTQ history month. This connection is an intentional one as LGBTQ youth make up roughly 40% of California’s homeless youth. Most of…
Bisexual recording artist Tayla Parx: “Be nice to yourself. Go through those growing pains, because they enable you to become who you’re meant to be.” BY ORLY LYONNE Multiple GRAMMY® Award-nominated recording artist Tayla Parx has released the official music video for her new single “Residue.” “Residue” is available now via Tayla Made/Atlantic at all DSPs…
The CARE Center at Dignity Health—St. Mary Medical Center: Remembering 40 Million People—Let’s End AIDS World AIDS Day takes place on the 1st of December each year. Founded in 1988, World AIDS Day was the first-ever global health day, and serves as an opportunity for people to unite in the fight against HIV, to continue…
Kids of same-sex parents perform better academically, according to study According to a recently published study by researchers from the University of Oxford, kids raised by LGBTQ+ couples academically outperform their peers raised by straight couples, reports Raffy Ermac in The Advocate. The study was conducted in the Netherlands (the first country to first legalize…
Finding common ground with the most commonly misunderstood letter in LGBT. Labels, misconceptions and why Handy Dan “sometimes feels like a faggot in a straight man’s sexuality.” BY MARK ARIEL | PHOTO BY DUSTI CUNNINGHAM Last month, on September 23, “Bi Visibility Day,” was celebrated—a worldwide holiday to “accelerate acceptance of the bi+ (bisexual, pansexual, fluid,…
