ICONA POP Everything you need to know. Dates, gates, hours, stages, tickets and more. The 2018 LA Pride Festival takes place this month on Saturday, June 9th (12pm—1am) and Sunday, June 10th (11am—11pm). The LA Pride Festival takes place in West Hollywood Park, along San Vicente Boulevard (between Santa Monica Boulevard and Melrose Avenue), and…
We must make a distinction between the parts of LGBTQ culture that the mainstream hasadopted versus the parts that are still our own. BY SYD PETERSON Lesbian, gay, bi, trans and queer people are extraordinary. We have overcome great adversity by being tenacious and joyful, fierce and loving, smart and revolutionary. While our fight for…
Not just a meal but a flourishing force in Hollywood. BY TIMOTHY RAY IG: @freeman.jasper Coffee dates will get you far in Hollywood. Those connections elevate who you know and who knows you. For gay men of color in Tinseltown there’s a specific appointment you do not miss: Black Gay Brunch (BGB). BGB is an…
When Bette Met Mae. Honoring our shared history, and the people and events that paved the way for the rights we hold dear today. The City of West Hollywood’s One City One Pride LGBTQ Arts Festival celebrates pride in 2018 with the festival theme “I Remember”—honoring our shared history, and the people and events that…
My 12 Step Store offers custom chips for all recovery programs. BY PAULO MURILLO Chip Mart–a division of the My 12 store, the recovery gift store located at 8730 Santa Monica Boulevard, is coming up on one year of providing inspirational custom chips for all 12-step programs of recovery. Chip Mart specializes in chips that…
Brave Trails, an LGBTQ Youth Leadership Summer Camp, creates a safe, inclusive space for queer youth from all over the world. BY ROXIE PERKINS Jessica Weissbuch is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Brave Trails – a LGBTQ, non-profit Leadership Summer Camp for Youth based out of LA and Maryland. Brave Trails creates a safe,…
California’s first gay state senator leads the pack to be SF’s next mayor. Leo Herrera interviews Mark Leno. BY LEO HERRERA | PHOTO BY DUSTI CUNNINGHAM The first time I saw Mark Leno, he might as well have been a gay unicorn. I was 22 and had just arrived to San Francisco from Phoenix, AZ,…
Lena Fancher (L), Jan Zimmerman Addressing the needs of the LGBTQ community, Lotus Place Recovery’s Lena Fancher and Jan Zimmerman on living your authentic life. BY MARK ARIEL | PHOTO BY DUSTI CUNNINGHAM Lotus Place Recovery is a gender diverse conscious organization located in in Fountain Valley, near Newport Beach, whose goal is to help…
Xavier Espejo, California Drummer 2017, on taking advantage of opportunities that come your way. BY KIAN KAMATAKI | PHOTO BY DUSTI CUNNINGHAM California Drummer 2017, Xavier Espejo, leaving this month for Chicago to participate in International Mr Leather 2018 contest (IML), talks to THE FIGHT about racial diversity, sex positivity and representing his title to…
JUSSIE SMOLLETT, LONG BEACH PRIDE EVE, LA PRIDE A record number of Pride Festivals, taking place throughout the state over the next few months. Actor, singer and songwriter Jussie Smollett of Fox’s hit television series Empire, will showcase his musical talents at the 35th Annual Long Beach Pride Festival on Saturday, May 19 at the…
Former West Hollywood city council member, Los Angeles County Assessor, Jeffrey Prang is running for re-election. BY MARK ARIEL Los Angeles County Assessor Jeffrey Prang, former West Hollywood council member, currently running for re-election, is no stranger to politics. A gay man, originally from Warren, Michigan, Prang says that “public service has appealed to me…
Ariana and The Rose’s Ariana DiLorenzo on musical influences, Studio 54 and female front women. BY ROXIE PERKINS Ariana DiLorenzo, the creator of Ariana and The Rose, the synth, art-pop band that headlined at The Dinah last month, says that she “decided early on that with my music I want to make spaces for the…
PHOTOS BY ANDREW LEIGH GREEN Andrew Leigh Green, an award winning photographic artist based in Launceston, Tasmania, was the odd, creative kid who didn’t fit in, the one who just wasn’t normal and should be ostracized in the eyes of the conservative community. As a proud gay photographic artist Green makes full use of his…
Olympic Diver Robert Páez: “It was up to me whether I lived in happiness, or sank and lived in a lie that never would be.” Robert Páez, 23, a professional diver from Venezuela, who represented his country in the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics, came out publicly last month in a moving op-ed at outsports.com. “I’ve been…
(Photo: Danny Cruz) New laws, on local, state and federal levels, are driving more sex workers into the streets, putting their lives at risk. BY LARRY BUHL On April 17, a new California bill meant to expand the definition of “pandering,” which means solicitation and recruitment for prostitution, was tabled in the Senate Public Safety…
Mr. LA Leather Bear 2018 Ben Kaufher is the new Mr. Los Angeles Leather 2018. BY MARK ARIEL Ben Kaufher of Bears LA won the coveted title of Mr. Los Angeles Leather 2018 last month at the Mr. Los Angeles Leather 2018 Contest which took place at The Globe Theater. The runner ups were Spike,…
Sales of sex toys are up. “People are looking for ways to relieve stress.” BY ORLY LYONNE According to Mr. Hankey of mrhankeystoys.com, the recent political upheaval may have been bad for the country but good for sales in the sex industry. “Our sales are up 200% over last year—however I’m not really sure that…
