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Contents

DOLLY VERSE

To celebrate Dolly Parton’s 77th birthday, Dustin Brookshire has corralled 50 fellow Parton-inspired poets for a new anthology. By Doug Rule

PICTURE PERFECT LEATHER WEEKEND

Ward Morrison returns to MAL for the first time in three years to capture the leather Scene in action. Photography by Ward Morrison On the Cover: Daniel DeLuca, Mr. MAL 2023

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Volume 29 Issue 34

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HUSTLERS & HARLOTS

Celluloid Bordello shrewdly probes cinema portrayals of sex work via classic film clips and commentary from actual sex workers. By André Hereford

SPOTLIGHT: DOLLY VERSE p.11 OUT ON THE TOWN p.15 COLUMN: WILL O’BRYAN p.27 HOMOPHOBIC COPYCATS p.29 MAKING DRAG ILLEGAL p.31 DESANTIS DEMANDS TRANS MEDICAL INFORMATION p.33 REFUSAL TO REIMBURSE p.35 THE MAN IN THE SPEEDO p.37 VIGIL HELD FOR SLAIN D.C. TRANS WOMAN p.39 TV: THE LAST OF US p.55 MUSIC: HYPHEN HYPHEN p.57 SCENE: MAL BOOTCAMP p.61 SCENE: MAL DISCOVERSE XL p.64 LAST WORD p.67 Washington, D.C.’s Best LGBTQ Magazine for 28 Years Editorial Editor-in-Chief Randy Shulman Art Director Todd Franson Senior Editor John Riley Contributing Editors André Hereford, Rhuaridh Marr, Sean Maunier, Doug Rule Senior Photographers Ward Morrison, Julian Vankim Contributing Illustrators David Amoroso, Scott G. Brooks Contributing Writers Hugh McIntyre, Ryan Spahn, Justin Walton, Kate Wingfield Webmaster David Uy Sales & Marketing Publisher Randy Shulman National Advertising Representative Rivendell Media Co. 212-242-6863 Patron Saint Tony Bachrach and Jim Mantis Cover Photography Ward Morrison During the pandemic please send all mail to: Metro Weekly PO Box 11559 - Washington, D.C. 20008 • 202-638-6830 All material appearing in Metro Weekly is protected by federal copyright law and may not be reproduced in whole or part without the permission of the publishers. Metro Weekly assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials submitted for publication. All such submissions are subject to editing and will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Metro Weekly is supported by many fine advertisers, but we cannot accept responsibility for claims made by advertisers, nor can we accept responsibility for materials provided by advertisers or their agents. Publication of the name or photograph of any person or organization in articles or advertising in Metro Weekly is not to be construed as any indication of the sexual orientation of such person or organization.

© 2023 Jansi LLC. 4

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Spotlight

Bechdel

Outside the Lines

Debuting on PBS, Vivian Kleiman’s No Straight Lines casts a perceptive light on the rise of queer underground comix. By André Hereford

M. SHARKEY

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N THE WORLD OF COMIC STRIPS AND cartoons, even the artists have great origin stories. That includes the queer creators of underground comix profiled in No Straight Lines, Vivian Kleiman’s delightful documentary making its TV debut this month on PBS’s Independent Lens. Inspired by the acclaimed anthology No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics, edited by Justin Hall, the film chronicles how pioneering artists grew a niche art form into a social movement with the pop culture impact to produce mainstream successes like Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel-turned-Tony-winning Broadway musical Fun Home. Bechdel, one of the five main subjects in the

film, along with Mary Wings, Rupert Kinnard, Howard Cruse, and Jennifer Camper, traces her comic strip origins back to the day she discovered Cruse’s landmark, semi-autobiographical, unabashedly queer underground mag Gay Comix, published from 1980 to 1998. “All of a sudden here was this permission, a roadmap for exactly what I felt like I wanted to do in my life,” Bechdel recounts in the film, over vivid panels of Cruse’s sexually liberated comics. “The thought that I could draw about my own queer life was really revolutionary for me.” The movie captures that sense of discovery again and again, also in interviews with the next generation of artists progressing LGBTQ representation in comics one panel at a time. For PeaJANUARY 19, 2023 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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body Award-winning filmmaker Kleiman (Color Adjustment), the movie itself arose from her experience of connecting with Hall, a driving producer on the film, and discovering just how passionately this community of creators supports each other. “I met Justin because he had an idea to convert the book into a documentary,” Kleiman recalls, noting that Hall’s anthology of some 70 artists and examples of their work had piqued her interest. “It's a beautiful book. It won awards, deservedly, but what really caught my heart was when Justin encouraged me to attend the Queers & Comics Conference [in New York in 2016]. “When I walked into that conference hall, I was completely overwhelmed,” says Kleiman. “The sense of joy and connection and love, with a tremendous variety of queer people in conversation together, slapping comic books and pins and stickers into each other's hands. It ran so counter to the stereotype that I had of a comic book artist. My stereotype was based on people like Robert Crumb and the underground comics, curmudgeonly and snarly and not really people people.” Instead, Kleiman found a vibrant community of storytellers depicting stories she hadn’t heard before. “And even ones I was familiar with — for example, stories of Stonewall and stories of the highlights of queer history over four decades in the U.S. — were from such a different perspective. Even the ones that were so full of grief, in dealing with HIV, stories about loss and tragedy and frustration and anger, rage, even those, there were cartoonists who were doing humorous takes on the situation. And that was life. That was our life.” With bracing candor, Cruse, Kinnard, Wings, Camper, and their peers, drew their own LGBTQ lives and fantasies into titles like Billy Comes Out, B.B. & the Diva, Come Out Comix, and The Well-Mannered Dyke. However, for the film’s PBS presentation, current FCC rules dictate that certain comics in the film had to be edited or altered

to avoid nudity and adult language. It’s an ironic development for a film that celebrates artistic freedom, but not an unfamiliar situation for Kleiman, who, early in her career, worked closely with controversial gay, Black filmmaker/activist Marlon Riggs. “When national PBS approached him about broadcasting his landmark work Tongues Untied, he said, ‘You've got to be kidding,’” Kleiman recalls. “Once he recovered and started to breathe again, he said, ‘Yes, you can broadcast it, but you cannot change one frame, not even a half a frame.’ And that's how it was broadcast. Not one frame was changed.” Thirty years later, having seen her festival hit No Straight Lines rejected by streamers Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Max, Kleiman was contacted by PBS, which wanted to broadcast the film — but only after changes made to conform with FCC regulations. “My first step was to say, ‘Okay, I will consider it, but first I need to check in with the artists,’” says Kleiman, who heard a resounding response from the five main artists profiled in the film. “They all said in concert, ‘We hate the idea, but we'll hold our nose and say, okay, for the sake of 2 to 3 million viewers.’” Kleiman took it as an opportunity to hone some of the film’s humor, based on having seen it with audiences at festivals. “That said, I was surprised, because I knew the FCC regulations about four-letter words and body parts. But national PBS today is a barometer of how our society in general has become so much more conservative,” Kleiman notes. “The culture wars that Marlon was facing in the early nineties — Marlon and some of the other high profile artists who were slammed by Jesse Helms and the extreme conservative right at the time — today looks like a picnic. Today Tongues Untied would not be broadcast without changes being made. And that's really the heartache: that we have come so far, at the same time, we've gone back so far.”

No Straight Lines premieres on Monday, Jan. 23 on PBS Independent Lens. Check your local listings for times. Visit www.pbs.org/independentlens. 8

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Spotlight: Poetry

Dolly Verse

To celebrate Dolly Parton’s 77th birthday, Dustin Brookshire has corralled 50 fellow Parton-inspired poets for a new anthology. By Doug Rule

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N HIS POEM “SPIRIT OF ’76,” GAY WRITer Gregg Shapiro refers to Dolly Parton as an “Earthbound Honky-Tonky Angel.” As editors and fellow contributors to Let Me Say This: A Dolly Parton Poetry Anthology, Dustin Brookshire and Julie E. Bloemeke, in their introduction, rattle off a litany of additional honorific sobriquets for Parton, identifying her as “the great unifier, the queen of country, the Book Lady, our angel of Appalachia, and our living saint of Tennessee.” It’s an exceptional amount of high praise to shower on any one person, but through its collected works of personal essays and poems of varying styles, the new anthology offers evidence to justify all those titles for Parton. Renowned and revered the world over, the country music legend and superstar septuagenarian has been in the limelight for nearly six decades, ever since her debut as the scene-stealing “New Girl” on The Porter Wagoner Show in 1967. “I think she's always had a certain appeal,” Brookshire says. While her popularity “has ebbed and flowed [decade to decade], over the last five years, in my opinion, she's just had this renaissance.” Miley Cyrus can take some of the credit for that renaissance, by helping to introduce Parton, her godmother, to fellow millennials through her blockbuster Disney TV show Hannah Montana. Parton said as much herself just a few weeks ago

while co-hosting Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party on NBC with Cyrus. “Miley having her on Hannah Montana really opened her up to a new audience, because all those kids are adults now, and they like her,” Brookshire says. Her renaissance has been further fueled by the 2019 hit podcast Dolly Parton’s America as well as the 2020 revelation that the country legend played an integral if heretofore unheralded role in supporting the creation of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (both the film and TV series) through her production company. Not to mention other, better-known, and bigger-deal artistic pursuits and charitable endeavors. Yet adoration for Parton in the LGBTQ community long predates all of that — and also long predates Miley Cyrus’s public coming out as queer and gender fluid in 2015. “From day one, she’s never faltered on anything,” Brookshire says, referring to Parton’s public comments in support of her LGBTQ fans and related issues. “She sends the same message and it's consistent: ‘Love everybody.’ ‘Everybody deserves to be loved and to be who they are.’ And, ‘We need to put more love in the world.’ And she embodies it. Everything from donating to [the development of] the Moderna vaccine, to what she did [in the wake of the 2022] fires in Tennessee, giving a certain amount of money every month for six months,” to those affected by the natural disaster in and around her hometown. JANUARY 19, 2023 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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Calling himself a “Dolly super fan” as well as “a worshiper in the church of Saint Dolly Parton,” the gay Georgia native says one of his earliest memories “is sitting with my mom on the couch, and I remember Dolly [on TV] in a swing singing ‘Love is Like a Butterfly.’” Later, he remembers obsessively playing his parents’ 45-inch record of Parton’s pop classic “9 to 5.” It wasn’t until high school, though, that he “just really became enthralled with her and her message.” He continues: “She was the first religious person I knew [who didn’t] hate people for being different. She was the first person who was just like, 'I'm a Christian, but I don't judge people.' Growing up Southern Baptist in a small town in north Georgia, I never had experienced religious people that were preaching love and acceptance for everyone and saying, 'It's not my place to judge.' Because all the Southern Baptists I knew were very quick to judge.” Decades later, “she's my inspiration for what I call my poetry job” — referring to his work as curator of the virtual-based poetry gathering Wild & Precious Life Series and as editor of the cheekily named online journal Limp Wrist, both of which he created. “She’s my inspiration that, if you want to do it, you just make it happen. Don't let anybody tell you your ideas are too big or they won't happen.” Let Me Say This grew out of a special Dolly issue of Limp Wrist co-edited by Brookshire and Bloemeke and published to celebrate Dolly Parton’s 75th birthday on January 19, 2021. “We had so much fun doing the issue, even before we were finished, I was like, ‘I think we could do an anthology.” They got the greenlight from their top choice as publisher to begin work on the poetry anthology, which the Texas-based Madville Pub-

lishing released this week, on Parton’s 77th birthday. “There are 54 poets in the anthology, and more than half of those poets identify as a member of the LGBTQI+ community, [and] 75 percent female,” says Brookshire. The anthology is an inspiring, insightful, and moving collection of poems offering personal reflections and reminiscences inspired by or about Parton. As Bloemeke puts it in Brookshire her introduction, the collected poems “hold the diamond up to the light, shining facets of Dolly often overlooked or previously unconsidered,” and also show “the range of ways in which she has impacted families and fans.” The diverse group of featured writers include Dorianne Laux, a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, Beth Gylys, Brookshire’s mentor and an English professor at Georgia State University, Lambda Literary Award winner Maureen Seaton, Philadelphia-based Lambda Fellow Kelly McQuain, and the D.C.-based queer Latinx historian Dan Vera. The publication’s front cover features an official photo of Parton by Fran Strine rendered in dramatic, sparkling black and white, save for the pops of red on Parton’s long fingernails. “We are just over the moon that she released the cover photo for us,” says Brookshire. To date, Brookshire concedes he has only interacted with “Team Dolly” — her assistants and lawyers — and not the icon herself. Parton also did not see the anthology before publication, but will soon have 20 copies to her name, sent as a special birthday gift. It seems only a matter of time before she returns the favor to express her gratitude, a prospect that fills Brookshire with an overwhelming sense of both anxiety and joy. “When you hear that I had a heart attack, you're going to know that she reached out,” Brookshire says.

Let Me Say This: A Dolly Parton Anthology is available for $20.95 in paperback or $9.99 as an eBook from Madville Publishing. Visit www.linktr.ee/letmesaythisanthology. 12

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Out On the Town By Doug Rule

DARIO ACOSTA

Merz Trio

STRATHMORE HIGHLIGHTS MANDY PATINKIN, KAKI KING, BSO “Welcome Back,” is the first message you see when loading Strathmore’s website. The Montgomery County performing arts campus is certainly giving a warm welcome to both musical artists and music lovers this winter, presenting a rich and diverse lineup in the warm and acoustically rich venues of the Music Center and the Mansion on the North Bethesda campus. An equally impressive, if more limited, lineup is also on offer at AMP, the sibling intimate cabaret spot up the road. Below are 10 highlights of shows on tap at the three venues between now and early March. The Merz Trio is a group, consisting of Brigid Coleridge on violin, Julia Yang on cello, and Lee Dionne on piano, known for experimenting with connections between artist and audience, music and text, and traditional and timely repertoire, resulting in dynamic programming, wide-rang-

ing collaborations, and prolific new arrangements. (1/26, Mansion) Mandy Patinkin In Concert sees the Emmy-winning TV star (Chicago Hope, Homeland) and Tony-winning Broadway legend (Evita, Sunday in the Park with George) dropping by for a powerful, passionate evening of song, specifically to perform “Being Alive,” a collection of some of his favorite tunes, from Irving Berlin to Cole Porter to Harry Chapin, and of course Stephen Sondheim, all accompanied by Adam Ben-David on piano. (1/28, Music Center) Kaki King, the lesbian guitar virtuoso, celebrates the 20th anniversary of her debut album Everybody Loves You, with an early Valentine’s Day stop to rekindle any long-lost love. (2/2, AMP) Described as “an intoxicating cocktail of postgenre musical goodness,” the string quintet Sybarite5, comprised of five virtuosic musicians, defies easy categorization and has been surprising JANUARY 19, 2023 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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audiences for the past decade, in particular with a repertoire ranging from Piazzolla to Radiohead, Coltrane to Pete Seeger. (2/2, Mansion) Allison Miller Presents Rivers In Our Veins, a multi-sensory, multi-genre performance exploring the cultural and ecological life of rivers featuring tap dancing and choreography from Claudia Rahardjanoto, Luke Hickey, and Maleek Washington, video projections by Todd Winkler, and original jazz music performed by Boom Tic Boom and the band’s leader Miller, a queer drummer, composer, and educator and Montgomery County native described as “a modern jazz icon in the making” and known for her work as the rhythmic force behind everyone from Sara Bareilles to Ani DiFranco, Brandi Carlile to the Indigo Girls. (2/10, Music Center) The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Black Panther In Concert offers a chance to relive the excitement of T’Challa becoming king and battling Killmonger, all while the BSO performs Ludwig Göransson’s Oscar- and Grammy-winning score as the 2018 Marvel Studios blockbust16

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Allison Miller

MARCO DEVIDI

Kaki King

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er screens overhead. (2/11, Music Center) Pardon My French is comprised of New York City swing guitarist Pete Rozé, Memphis-born performer Caroline Fourmy, traditional jazz star Joshua Gouzy, and classical composer Michael Ward-Bergeman. They’re united in their love of sensual and sassy vintage jazz-inflected music, from Paris to New Orleans, with plenty of laughs and light-hearted revelry along the way. (3/9, Mansion) The BSO Pops offers an enchanting night of classic show tunes with “Rodgers, Hart, and Hammerstein,” led by conductor Jack Everly and featuring vocalist Ashley Brown from Broadway’s Mary Poppins. (2/23, Music Center)

Afro-Cuban All Stars, a remarkable ensemble of expatriate Cuban musicians led by Juan de Marcos Gonzalez, is one of the best live bands around, full of passion and quality musicianship, as documented in the classic Wim Wenders’s documentary Buena Vista Social Club. (2/24, Music Center) More than 25 years after her debut album River Under the Road won many accolades and positioned her as Austin’s best folk artist, the openly gay Ana Egge tours in support of 2021’s Between Us. (3/2, AMP) For more information and tickets, Call 301581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.

VANISHING GIRL: A NEW MUSICAL FLYING V THEATRE A team of local theatermakers and artists have been working to develop Vanishing Girl, a new comingof-age musical inspired by comic books and centered on a queer heroine. This month, they’ll get additional assistance in developing the work as the public gets an early sneak peek at the show. Billing itself as “the D.C. area’s premier nerd and pop culture performing arts organization,” Flying V gravitates toward staged shows that

are more offbeat and different than the standard theatrical fare. A Flying V show is also typically more varied and experimental in presentation, generally by incorporating elements of puppetry, stage combat/professional wrestling, and digital media and projections into a baseline mix of acting, singing, and dancing. Many of those elements factor into Vanishing Girl, a musical in development from composer and lyricist William Yanesh — a Helen Hayes Award-winning music director (Ford’s Theatre’s

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Into The Woods) — and writer Hope Villanueva, with Broadway veteran and Helen Hayes Award-winning local actor Eric Jordan Young (Signature Theatre’s Side Show) serving as director. An impressive cast of 10 local performers will help the trio further develop and hone the musical through a week-long developmental workshop next week, culminating in two public performances the last weekend in January, all presented as the kickoff production of Flying V’s 2023 season. “We are thrilled that Vanishing Girl is our first offering of 2023 and our second theatrical performance since we’ve returned from the COVID shutdown,” says Flying V’s Artistic Lead for Theatre Kelly Colburn. “This new work explores the intersectionality of the nerd experience, which is something Flying V is focused on celebrating in our upcoming seasons.” Styled as a musical that “will resonate with anyone who has felt invisible,” Vanishing Girl is about Luciana, a college student with one best friend and a secret crush on the girl at the comic shop. After acquiring short-lived electricity-re-

lated superpowers, Luciana is challenged with figuring out how to be seen before it’s too late — before her superpowers slowly fade out. The Flying V workshop production features Helen Hayes Award Winner Rayanne Gonzales (Olney Theatre’s In The Heights), Helen Hayes Award Nominees Justine Icy Moral (Constellation Theatre’s Avenue Q) and Harrison Smith (Toby’s Dinner Theatre’s Disney’s Newsies), Bianca Lipford, Meredith Richard, and Carl L. Williams, plus three additional cast members to be announced. “While we’ve been able to hear the musical out loud in a staged reading format and on Zoom, this unique workshop experience will give us the opportunity to really dig into the music and finetune the story,” says book writer Hope Villanueva. “There are discoveries you can only make in person with your fellow artists.” Public performances are Saturday, Jan. 28, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Jan. 29, at 3 p.m. Silver Spring Black Box Theatre, 8641 Colesville Rd., Maryland. Tickets are pay-what-you-can, with a suggested donation of $10. Visit www.flyingvtheatre.com.

BANFF CENTRE MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Every fall, organizers of Canada’s Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival summon the world’s finest mountain filmmakers to its locale in the Canadian Rockies. After the festival, they then select and package an assortment of the year’s more notable films, particularly those with shorter runtimes, into programs for a World Tour of screenings in over 40 countries, including multiple stops in Canada and throughout the U.S. For over 25 years, National Geographic has served as the D.C. host of what is billed as “the largest adventure film tour on the planet.” The 2023 edition features a slate of two-dozen short films, shot on location and spanning multiple countries and continents around the world, showcased in three programs, each screening twice during six days of scheduled programming. First up are the eight films in the Aspen slate, screening Monday, Jan. 30, and Thurs-

day, Feb. 2, including: Walking on Clouds, a seven-minute short from Brazil following along as Rafael Bridi attempts the highest highline record in the world, with his line set dramatically above the clouds. Sheri, a 19-minute American short detailing the hurdles that Sheri Tingey overcame as she launched a company at age 50 that has gone on to revolutionize the outdoor industry. Colors of Mexico, rider Kilian Bron’s view of Mexico from the tops of its most active volcanoes to the steep and colorful streets of historic villages. Eco-Hack!, about American biologist Tim Shields’s quest to intervene in the plummeting tortoise populations of the Mojave Desert on account of its ballooning populations of ravens. And Clean Mountains, following along as a Sherpa family climbs Mount Everest during the pandemic to clean up the garbage left behind, “restoring the holiness of the mountain and calming the gods.” Next are the eight films in the Willow slate, JANUARY 19, 2023 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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screening on Tuesday, Jan. 31, and Friday, Feb. 3, and including: The Fastest Girl in the Village, about Khothalang Leuta, who never imagined she could become a bike racer growing up as a girl in Lesotho. Wild Waters, a 45-minute profile from Switzerland of Nouria Newman, the most gifted kayaker of her generation. Free to Run, a look at UN human rights attorney and mountain runner Stephanie Case, taking on her most challenging ultra-race yet while also struggling to find a way forward for the Afghan women of her NGO. Creation Theory, a journey from the interstellar birth of gravity and rhythm to their ultimate human creative expression of surfer on wave, snowboarder on peak, and musician on stage in the Westfjords of Iceland. And Flow, depicting the aerial and symphonic journey of skier Sam Favret in the heart of a closed resort during the winter of 2021. Finally, the eight films in the Juniper slate screen on Wednesday, Feb. 1, and Saturday, Feb. 4, including: Before They Fall, a 40-minute Canadian film capturing the moment when a coalition of con-

servation groups, First Nation members, scientists, and land defenders block a logging company from accessing the last unprotected watershed in an old-growth forest on southern Vancouver Island. North Shore Betty, a profile of Betty Birrell, who picked up mountain biking in the misty forests above North Vancouver at age 45 three decades ago. Wood Hood, a profile of 15-year-old DeVaughn who gets his wish of retreating to a “quiet place” to escape the chaos and bullies of his New York City home on a weekend-long group camping trip. Doo Sar: A Karakoram Ski Expedition Film, the adventure of Polish freeriders Andrzej Bargiel and Jędrek Baranowski at over 6,000 meters above sea level. And Reel Rock 16: Bridge Boys, a 28-minute American short capturing “a horizontal big-wall adventure on the longest, most ridiculous crack climb ever attempted.” All screenings at 7 p.m. National Geographic Live is at 1600 M St. NW. Tickets, including parking, are $35 for each of the three programs. Visit www.natgeolive.com. SEQUENCE: AN ART + TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITION TOUCHSTONE GALLERY Any and all interested artists were invited to submit work for the latest exhibition organized by D.C.’s Touchstone Gallery, so long as the work was created with, or influenced by, technology. A panel of three jurors then reviewed the submissions and whittled SEQUENCE: An Art + Technology Exhibition down to 31 pieces on display in the gallery show and an additional 13 works for a virtual exhibition. In sum, 44 artists from 14 U.S. states, Japan, and the United Kingdom are represented in the show, selected by jurors Maleke Glee, director of art and programming at STABLE, Lauren Leving, Iteration 4 by Michelle Robinson

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rxsqtta-stzne by Chris Combs

Used by KJ May

curator at Cleveland’s Museum of Contemporary Art, and Roddy Schrock, executive director of Eyebeam. SEQUENCE showcases a range of technological uses in art, from 3D printed sculpture, to digital paintings, to time-based media, to NFC-embedded mixed media. “Technological developments have always presented a disruption to artmaking, and are rarely without scandal…. But like so many technological advances, from Photoshop to projectors to the iPad, what really matters is how the tool is used by the artist,” says Abbey Alison McClain, Touchstone’s executive director. “The current technology most disrupting the art world is AI (artificial intelligence)…. SEQUENCE includes several pieces by artists [who] utilize AI as a way to enhance their artistic practice, rather than deleting the human artist from the process. We hope this ex-

Babel (Vandenberg SFB) by Andrew Wharton JANUARY 19, 2023 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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hibition can help gallery visitors expand on how with natural footage aestheticized through video effects. they think about art and technology.” Listening Windows by Scottish artist Lucia Notable works in the exhibition include: Lisa Strata by Pennsylvania artist Drew Zim- Sheppard, a video exploring the social isolation merman, a 22-minute digital video presented as yet inherent connection with others as seen by a musical satire of gender roles based on classic looking up at the windows of an apartment buildplays by Aristophanes, with stop-motion ani- ing as dozens of neighbors go about their day and mation, digital photography, and digital video night, enhanced by audio pieces featuring the and video editing, accompanied by a musical artist’s friends and family as well as strangers soundtrack similarly produced digitally through around the world. And 10 works on 10 pedestals in the Sweet Old composition software. Slick Mirage 2 by Adam Jaye Porter, a synthesis World collaborative installations created by D.C. of multi-media sources based on scans of materi- artist Chris Combs and Alexandria-based artist als from queer archives, which are then wrapped Ceci Cole McInturff, integrating organic elements around scanned 3D models of the artist’s boy- with the industrial/technological to examine planetary and cultural degradation, technology’s friends, then further manipulated into collages/ Processing Gender Aspirations by the Califor- influence on habits and information in society, nia-based artist Homosocial, a photograph of an and hopeful signs of unity and random beauty. The opening reception is Saturday, Jan. 21, androgynous child surrounded by a microchip created out of cut paper that is bending the binary. from 4 to 7 p.m. On display through Feb. 20. GalThe Lost Garden, an eight-minute video by New lery hours are noon to 5 p.m., Wednesdays to Jersey-based artist Jeremy Newman with music Sundays. Touchstone Gallery, 901 New York Ave. by Rachel Blythe Udell, focused on the tension NW. Visit www.touchstonegallery.com for the between the natural and built environments, slick virtual exhibit. A MAMMOTH SHOWCASE: INTERDISCIPLINARY GATHERING OF NATIVE ARTISTS WOOLLY MAMMOTH Four years ago, the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company literally set in stone a land acknowledgment to the Nacotchtank and Piscataway peoples, etching that into the concrete foundation of its building in Penn Quarter. The action, as Artistic Director Maria Manuela Goyanes put it in a release from 2021, represents “a commitment to honor our local Native community as well as present, produce, and support Indigenous artists in the theatre.” Mohegan theatermaker Madeline Sayet has been the most prominent of Indigenous artists recently supported by Woolly. The company partnered with the Folger Shakespeare Library to produce Sayet and her solo show Where We Belong, resulting in both a filmed version of the work, offered as a paid digital livestream in 2021, and an ongoing national tour of the stage production, directed by Mei Ann Teo. The tour will 22

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include a live D.C. run of the show presented at the Folger sometime next year, with dates to be announced. To supplement that national tour and also further demonstrate its commitment to Indigenous artists and communities, Woolly has planned a free Indigenous arts showcase for later this month. The showcase is also a product of the company’s Connectivity initiative. “Through our Connectivity work, we strive to deepen and create long-standing community relationships through art,” says Kristen Jackson, Woolly’s associate artistic director and also director of Connectivity. “We are grateful and honored to continue building our connection with local Native groups, as well as artists from around the country, by producing this event — and for our Woolly family to have a free opportunity to experience the work of these artists.” Set for Sunday, Jan. 29, “A Mammoth Showcase: An Interdisciplinary Gathering of Native Artists” is scheduled to kick off and end with the Uptown Singerz. Comprised of male and female

Miss Chief Rocka

singers and several dancers, each representing different tribal nations from all over Indian country, this D.C.-based intertribal Native American group will perform the Native American powwow style of singing, dancing, and drumming. They’ll be accompanied by Miss Chief Rocka, a proud member of Frog Lake First Nation from Edmonton, Alberta, also known as Angela Miracle Gladue/Lunacee and a lead dancer of The Halluci-Nation, performing a traditional Native Shawl Dance and Hoop Dance. A major focus of the evening is on the work of Anthony Hudson, a Portland-based writer and artist also billed as “Portland’s premiere drag clown Carla Rossi.” Two of Hudson’s video installations — Lamp Back and Martyr, or: Your Own Prairie Bonnet Jesus, both exploring themes around injustice and marginalization of Native communities — will be on display in the lobby, with a third video, When It Was Hers, based on

a personal poem by Hudson, also factoring into the program as well as a livestream conversation with Hudson. Another highlight of the showcase is a reading of Ady by Navajo Nation citizen Rhiana Yazzie, an award-winning writer for stage and screen (AMC’s Dark Winds) who is also the founding artistic director of Minnesota’s New Native Theatre. Yazzie will be joined by Regina Victor to present this two-person play about real-life muse Ady Fidelin, a Caribbean dancer and the only Black woman living amongst the surrealist movement artists in France. Exploring the collision of Navajo life and sexuality, the play reading will be directed by Angelisa Gillyard. The lineup also includes a conversation with Rose Powhatan, a local Native American mixed-media artist, historian, and cultural activist, descended from leaders of the Powhatan Paramountcy, which extends from Virginia to JANUARY 19, 2023 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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D.C., and co-founder, with her husband, of the Powhatan Museum. Sunday, Jan. 29, starting at 6 p.m. Performanc-

es are in the Rehearsal Hall, 641 D St. NW. Free tickets can be reserved by calling 202-393-3939 or at www.woollymammoth.net.

BAMBI AND MOLASSES DANCE PLACE “More than a two-them show,” An Intimate Night with Bambi and Molasses “is a dizzying kaleidoscope of gender, trust, sex, and support,” to quote the official description of the latest “cabaret extravaganza” from Robert “Bambi” Woofter and haus of bambi. As the story goes, Woofter, who teaches dance at American University and George Washington University as well as at Dance Place, was inspired to launch his queer D.C.-based dance and production company during a visit to the seminal queer capital of the world. Specifically, the spark was lit as a result of the sense of community and togetherness engendered in Berlin’s famed hedonistic, anything-goes contemporary club scene. “Born on the dance floor of Berlin’s Berghain,” as the official description puts it, haus of bambi is “dedicated to the promotion of queer joy through art and participation.” The outfit is “committed to working with queer, trans, non-binary, and femme and butch performers across the spectrum, and to creating spaces for the complexity of queer identities.”

As a 2022-2024 Artist in Residence at Dance Place, Bambi is ready to debut the company’s newest cabaret, a duo performance with a fellow D.C. artist, the nonbinary drag king known as Molasses. The show is promoted as one “exploring queer intimacy and the stories that shape us. Through narrative and song, Bambi and Molasses deconstruct and assert their personas in a fraught attempt to get closer to one another and to their audience.” It also comes with a “Content Warning: Adult Themes, Nudity, Haze/Fog, & Strobe” on Dance Place’s website. Sporting a signature beard, smooth moves, and “a fusion of masculine expression, feminine swag, and that special sauce that rockstars are made of,” Molasses has become a regular performer at the 9:30 Club’s BENT, among other venues, and also serves as co-producer of As You Are Bar’s monthly drag show Half & Half. Molasses won haus of bambi’s 2022 HAUS AWARD, a $1,000 cash prize honoring their “demonstrated visionary perspective.” Friday, Jan. 27, and Saturday, Jan. 28, at 7 p.m. Dance Place is at 3225 8th St. NE. Tickets are $25. Visit www.danceplace.org or call 202-269-1600.

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JANUARY 19, 2023 • METROWEEKLY.COM

Will O’Bryan

QUEEN TAKES BISHOPS

A

The Catholic Church just keeps getting in my way.

LONG TIME AGO, I WAS CATHOlic. Very recently, I was ill. Perhaps terminally, I genuinely believed. As the Catholicism came first, let’s get that out of the way. As I grew, I became aware of the Catholic identity. This was realized primarily in a suburban church in Springfield, Va., in the 1970s. I did, however, have a beautiful first Communion in the American Cathedral in Paris. All the trappings! Never quite made it to Confirmation. By that point, my parents were divorced and my mother no longer received the Sacrament. “I’m just learning how to masturbate, while she’s the most upstanding member of our community, yet I’m still in God’s good graces and she’s the Whore of Babylon?” She explained to me that the rules would disqualify her, being divorced and all, now living in sin with my to-be stepfather. Dora is very good about following rules. And she taught me the same, so I, too, jumped ship. At that juncture, it seemed a sham. I was glad to have been cut off at the pass, no longer tithing bits of my weekly allowance to fund my future oppression. Dora was thrilled to have extra free time on Sundays. Plenty of queer Catholics stick around, and good for them. I certainly don’t hate the Catholic Church. Plenty of Jesuits are downright delightful. It is, however, arguably the wealthiest religion and therefore the most powerful. However you preach it, it’s certainly the one with which I have the most baggage. Besides, the only reason my mother was Catholic was that conversion was a condition for marrying my father. He, meanwhile, was hardly devout. Mom, meanwhile, is back with the Unitarians, the faith community in which she was raised. That’s my Catholic backstory in a nutshell.

The illness popped up during the summer. My first bout of COVID hit in May, seemingly inconsequential. By August, though, I was dragging. Two months overdue for my annual physical, I got myself checked. About 48 hours later, I was notified that I should get myself to an emergency room. Hemoglobin-wise, I was running on empty. How nice to get a delicious pint of blood at Sibley Memorial Hospital, rather than in the basement of Comet Ping Pong. QAnon tells me that’s where all the cool kids go. The thing with iron-poor anemia is that it could be a warning of something serious in one’s gastrointestinal tract. My previous colonoscopy revealed six polyps. A welcome outcome would be a fresh crop of bleeding polyps. Coincidentally, I already had my next colonoscopy scheduled. On the table, eyes open, I watched the screen as the camera made its way through my guts. C’mon, big money! C’mon, bleeders! C’mon, polyps! On this fantastic journey, bupkis. Well, nearly bupkis. Two inconsequential polyps. Zap and zap and Bob’s your uncle. From there, the next step would be an endoscopy. I’d already had one of those, too, back when I had the previous colonoscopy. Apparently I was mildly anemic back then. I chalked it up to bleeding hemorrhoids. (Full transparency: I love being at a point in life that telling the world I had bleeding hemorrhoids causes me zero embarrassment. Seriously, I should’ve mentioned it in the holiday letter. I’ll spare you the photos.) This is where the bureaucracy kicks in. With Swiss roots on Dora’s side, I generally love bureaucracy. Write a letter to a faceless cog in a department? Yes, please! But bouncing through medical “portals” and dancing to hold music was JANUARY 19, 2023 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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figuratively painful. As I waited for insurance clearance, which wasn’t actually required, disturbing insights were piling up. I started losing weight. Could that be related to cancer…? You bet! Those little aliens can siphon off your calories for their own nefarious — yet quite natural — purposes. Greedy little cancer bastards. Of course, starting to walk three miles every morning like Death is nipping at my heels may have contributed to weight loss. Then there was the conversation with my baby sis, the nurse practitioner. “We really do have a bad GI history in our family.” Uh, what? I thought my father died of kidney cancer. Casey corrected me. He may have had kidney cancer, but he died of duodenal cancer. Huh. Who knew? Casey, that’s who. “And Uncle Mike.” Excuse me? WTF? Stomach cancer. “He died at 62. Like Dad.” Oh, my. Then more waiting till I was finally in for an appointment to swallow a camera, aka capsule endoscopy. It had eight hours to travel the Willy River, taking 50,000 images. Returning the attendant equipment at the end of the eight hours, I asked if I’d hear something in a week or so. “Well, they look at these images after hours, so maybe two weeks.” Oy. Golden Girl Rose had to wait three days for the results of her HIV test. We all did back then. I waited three weeks for what I was now certain would be a hybrid of Jabba the Hutt and the Mucinex blob living somewhere inside of me, killing me. While it was probably the iron supplements I’d begun taking giving me stomach upset at times, I was sure it was them. But it wasn’t. The endoscopy revealed more nothing. Today, I still don’t have a definitive answer, but my blood is much improved. If it turns out I have leukemia — very unlikely — I’ll let you know. Being a planner, I used those weeks of dread and uncertainty to come to terms with my mortality. I planned my wake, though made the mistake of sharing the event playlist with some dear friends. I’m sure they judged my harshly. Janet Jackson? Tove Lo?

This is where the Catholic Church stepped back in. I’ve had my fights with them over the years, of course. Our biggest falling out was over marriage equality. Among my medical destinations in this journey has been the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. It’s Catholic. I’m certain I’ve seen a papal statuette as I’ve walked through the Medstar Georgetown University Hospital to get to those appointments. It gives me the willies. It's not because the Vatican has an abysmal record on LGBTQ rights. It’s because the church just won’t get out of the way. Specifically, I’m referring to physician-assisted suicide and compost cremation. These are both very attractive options to me. If not today, still at some point. Plenty of religions are opposed to the former. Again, though, I’ve got the baggage with the Catholic Church, so I can be angrier at them. Much the same way I am so very angry at Morrissey for going full-on xenophobe. I adored you, Moz! The Vatican fought against my marriage. Fought and lost. I can only hope that it will lose in its efforts to block the rest of us from a full range of medical and funereal options. New York has just allowed compost cremation, which is a beautiful way to incorporate your body back into the physical universe. The New York State Catholic Conference, representing the state’s bishops, does not agree, putting its muscle into fighting the new law. “Composting is something we as a society associate with a sustainable method of eliminating organic trash that otherwise ends up in landfills. But human bodies are not household waste, and the bishops do not believe that the process meets the standard of reverent treatment of our earthly remains,” wrote their executive director, David Poust, as reported in the Catholic Courier. I will die at some point, of course. I was hoping it wouldn’t be any skin off the Vatican’s ass for me to do it my way. But as long as it keeps sticking its rosary into other folks’ business, it will remain a very bitter breakup.

Will O’Bryan is a former Metro Weekly managing editor, living in D.C. with his husband. He is online at www.LifeInFlights.com. 28

JANUARY 19, 2023 • METROWEEKLY.COM

theFeed

Patterson

Homophobic Copycats

Conservative lawmakers continue to push "parental rights" bills seeking to bar LGBTQ-related instruction in classrooms. By John Riley

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WO MORE STATES HAVE DECIDED to copy Florida’s actions, with Republican lawmakers introducing bills to ban discussions of LGBTQ-related matters in elementary and middle schools. In Texas, State Rep. Jared Patterson (R-Frisco) has introduced a bill that would bar any public or public charter school employee from providing “instruction regarding sexual orientation or gender identity” to students in grades K-8, and requires that if such topics are addressed at the high school level, that the material must be “age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate.” “Parents and taxpayers have spoken loud-

ly over the past year-plus,” Patterson said in a tweet. “The message is no more radical ideology in the classroom — particularly when it comes to inappropriate or obscene content. The sexualization of our children must stop.” The bill also embraces the call for “parental rights” by barring school districts from providing health-related services, including mental health counseling, without first consulting parents. Under the bill, school districts would be barred from providing students with health-related questionnaires without receiving parental consent or allowing parents the option of declining health-related services for the remainder of JANUARY 19, 2023 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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theFeed the year. They would also be prohibited from barring parents from accessing their children’s educational or health records or discouraging communications with parents regarding children’s well-being. The bill also directs the Texas State Board of Education to review school counseling frameworks and standards, education practices, and student services personnel guidelines or standards by August 1, 2024. Patterson has said the bill’s provisions are needed to provide parents with “maximum transparency” over what services or counseling their children may be receiving at school. In an appearance on Newsmax’s National Report, Patterson said that adults are forcing a “radical sexualized agenda” on children, and limits need to be put in place to protect children from sexually explicit material in the classroom, in libraries, and in other venues where children are separated from their parents. “I think that every human being is made in the image of God and has value and worth, but I would say that the adults’ radical agenda of sexualizing our children...no one needs to talk about sex to my third grader or fifth grader or seventh grader other than me, the parent,” Patterson said. “I’ve got three young kids, and I’ve got to tell you, if my local school started pushing this radical agenda on my kids, I’d be up there in about two minutes.” Patterson’s bill goes further than a similar bill introduced by Texas State Rep. Steve Toth (R-The Woodlands), which seeks to ban LGBTQ-related instruction up to the fifth grade. Both bills are nearly identical to Florida’s “Parental Rights in Education” law — dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law by critics — which bans LGBTQ-related content in grades K-3, and which is likely to be expanded to apply to students in middle schools under pending legislation. House Speaker Dade Phelan has already signaled support for such measures, saying they’re needed to protect children from age-inappropriate topics, according to the Texas Tribune. Proponents of such bills say that prohibitions that leave such topics up to individual parents 30

JANUARY 19, 2023 • METROWEEKLY.COM

to broach with their children are needed to protect students from “indoctrination” and respect parents’ individual decisions on how to raise their children. But critics of such measures are skeptical of the motivation behind such bills, seeing them as political “messaging” bills that are pushed to cater to the right-wing base by exploiting Texans’ feelings of animus toward the LGBTQ community. Cece Cox, the CEO of The Resource Center, a Dallas-based advocacy organization for the LGBTQ community, called Patterson’s bill “another attempt by Republicans in Texas to further marginalize and erase LGBTQIA+ youth at school.” “Nobody is asking for learning standards that are not accurate and age-appropriate,” Cox told the Corsicana Daily Sun. “This bill seems like just another political stunt that will end up harming kids.” Similar legislation has been introduced by Republicans in Iowa, with a bill barring instruction related to sexual orientation or gender identity in grades K-3, and requiring any instruction related to human growth and development to be “age-appropriate” and “research-based,” according to The Gazette, a Cedar Rapids-based newspaper. A separate bill that’s considered a companion piece of legislation would prohibit schools from affirming or recognizing a student’s preferred gender identity in school without first receiving written consent from their parents. That bill also prohibits school administrators and teachers from encouraging or coercing students into holding information about their gender identity from parents — thus effectively forcing teachers to “out” LGBTQ-identifying youth to their parents. It also prevents teachers from suggesting to parents that their children “undergo any medical procedure, treatment or intervention that is designed to affirm the student’s gender identity if that gender identity is different than the sex listed on a student’s official birth certificate.” Like their counterparts in Florida and Texas, Iowa LGBTQ advocates say the proposed

theFeed bills will further encourage censorship of LGBTQ-identifying students in schools, break any trust between teachers and their students, and potentially lead to more negative mental and emotional health problems among youth who feel isolated or ostracized. “It only took the Iowa Legislature three days to release an unrelenting attack on LGBTQ youth,” Becky Tayler, the executive director for Iowa Safe Schools, said in a statement. “HF 9 will put LGBTQ youth directly in harm’s way and create a legal and administrative nightmare for school administrators. HF 8 is ultimately a form of big government censorship intended to create a hostile school climate for LGBTQ students.”

Democratic Sen. Liz Bennett (D-Cedar Rapids), the first out LGBTQ woman to serve in the upper chamber, told The Gazette she’s concerned that the proposed bills will simply discourage LGBTQ youth from confiding in school staff if they are struggling with their sexual orientation or gender identity. She also sees the bills as attempts by Republicans to distract from other, more pressing issues. “I think it’s really sad that at a time when Iowans are struggling to afford groceries, trying to find jobs, struggling to go the doctor, that we’re seeing more extreme culture war legislation,” Bennett said. “That should not be the priority here in Iowa.”

EFFATUM, DREAMSTIME

Making Drag Illegal

T

Texas Wants to label any venue hosting drag shows as “sexually oriented.” By John Riley

EXAS LAWMAKERS HAVE FILED AT ually oriented business.” State Reps. Jared Patterson (R-Frisco), Matt least four separate bills aimed at making it illegal for a bar or restaurant to host a Shaheen (R-Plano) and Nate Schatzline (R-Fort drag show unless the venue is classified as a “sex- Worth), and Sen. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) JANUARY 19, 2023 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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theFeed have all introduced bills aimed at preventing children from being exposed to drag-related events, focusing on so-called “all-ages” shows that have rankled social conservatives, especially those that see gender-nonconformity as inherently “sexual.” The proposed bills would amend state law to define any venue that hosts a drag performance as a “sexually oriented business,” similar to a strip club, sex parlor, adult bookstore, adult movie theater, or other businesses that provide nude entertainment. Defining venues that host drag events as “sexually oriented” would have a significant impact on zoning, since such businesses cannot operate within 1,000 feet of libraries, museums, schools, or other establishments that might attract children. It would also carry tax implications, since Texas requires “sexually oriented” businesses to pay the state $5 for every customer they admit. Due to the complications that would likely arise from embracing such a designation, the proposed law is more likely to have the desired effect of serving as an unofficial ban on drag in the state, as most restaurants and bars that once hosted drag-themed events will now eschew such events. “If you want to be a sexually oriented business, that’s fine, but you need to play by the same rules as everyone else does,” Patterson told Austin-based ABC affiliate KVUE when asked about the rationale for his bill. “We’re trying to tailor a bill to say that the sexually suggestive drag shows where grown men wear women’s underwear and seek children to stuff dollar bills into their underwear,” he said, referring to a viral video of an all-ages drag event held at a Texas bar over the summer. That video led right-wing groups across the country to protest outside venues hosting drag shows, attempt to disrupt such events, or even firebomb LGBTQ-friendly venues, based on the belief that drag performances are a form of “indoctrination” or the false assertion that they promote pedophilia. “We don’t want that to occur in the state of Texas,” added Patterson. 32

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Although Patterson admits his bill is overly broad in terms of its scope and the language needs to be tightened, he says he is trying to ensure that children are not exposed to age-inappropriate material at drag shows. “I don’t want a big, heavy-handed government coming down, but I think that we need to protect the innocence of our children,” he said. But opponents of the bill say that not all drag shows are sexual in nature, and that many performers often “dial back” some aspects of their shows if they are going to be performing in public or for a wider audience beyond regular bar patrons. “For [drag] to be classified as a whole as a sexually oriented art is just wrong,” Kerry Lynn, the owner of Extragrams, a drag entertainment business, told KVUE. “It’s just absolutely wrong. Any time we know that there are going to be children present or there’s going to be a younger audience, we always make sure to curate it so that it’s appropriate.” Lynn notes that as outrage over drag has become a political issue, and as more lawmakers continue to push bills aimed at restricting or outlawing drag performances, drag performers have received threats and have had to cancel bookings or shows out of concern for their personal safety. “It’s shocking to see that our representatives are choosing to wage a war on artists,” she said. “They’re choosing to wage a war on performers who just want to exist and be fabulous and entertain and bring joy.” Classifying drag shows as “sexually oriented” would likely result in an unofficial acrossthe-board ban in cities like Corpus Christi, where police say that the city no longer issues licenses for sexually oriented businesses, and all existing businesses have been “grandfathered in,” according to ABC affiliate KIII-TV. Brittany Andrews, the owner and operator of Brittany’s Diva Brunch, in Corpus Christi, says she believes the bills likening drag to peep shows and nude entertainment venues are unfair. “I don’t understand why I should be terrorized or legislated out of a 30-year career,” she told KIII.

theFeed

DeSantis

DeSantis Demands Trans Medical Information

Universities must submit detailed data on how many students have been connected with gender-affirming health services. By John Riley

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

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LORIDA REPUBLICAN GOV. RON DESantis is asking state universities to provide the state with the number and ages of students who sought out gender-affirming care, including hormone prescriptions and gender confirmation surgery, in a survey released on Wednesday. The survey asks 12 state universities to provide the number of students or individuals who received gender-affirming treatments over the past five years, and how many students were diagnosed with gender identity disorders during that time period. It also asks how many of those

cases were “first-time” visits for treatment and how many students were referred to other medical facilities for treatment. The survey says to protect students’ personal identities when completing the survey. According to The Associated Press, the survey also requires a breakdown by age, regardless of whether the student is over age 18, of students who were prescribed hormones, hormone blockers, or surgical procedures such as mastectomies, breast augmentation, or genital surgery. The survey is being sent to university board of trustee chairs by DeSantis’ budget director, JANUARY 19, 2023 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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theFeed Chris Spencer. ideologies that conservatives claim seek to in“Our office has learned that several state uni- doctrinate students and to combat so-called versities provide services to persons suffering “cancel culture.” from gender dysphoria,” Spencer wrote. “On beIn a news release, the FCS presidents promised half of the Governor, I hereby request that you to ensure that all classroom instruction, initiarespond to the enclosed inquiries related to such tives, and activities at their schools will not “proservices.” mote any ideology that suppresses intellectual The governor’s office has not clarified what and academic freedom, freedom of expression, the purpose of the survey is, viewpoint diversity, and the or what it will do with the data pursuit of truth in teaching and “This is it collects from it. The survey learning.” They also promised must be completed by Feb. 10. to review and remove any inanother Spencer told the board of struction that embraces “woke” example of trustee chairs that completing concepts, such as critical race the survey is “part of their obtheory and intersectionality, by DeSantis ligation to govern institutional Feb. 1. using his resources and protect the pubDeSantis has cast himself as office to lic interest,” according to the a champion of “parental rights” AP. by attacking so-called “gender attempt to State Rep. Fentrice Driskell ideology” in schools, signing a intimidate (D-Tampa), the Minority Lead“Parental Rights in Education” er in the Florida House of Replaw — dubbed the “Don’t Say colleges and resentatives, predicts that the Gay” law by critics — that bars universities information from the survey on LGBTQ-related instruction in transgender college students grades K-3 and requires that into becoming will be used to penalize unisuch topics only be addressed in less inclusive.” versities that affirm students’ older grades in a manner that is gender identities socially, those “age-appropriate and develop—Brandon Wolf, that provide gender-affirming mentally appropriate.” Equality Florida treatments for transgender inHe also signed a bill making dividuals, or even those who it easier for parents to challenge refer such patients to trans-affirming physicians and request the removal of books with content outside of university health systems. they consider “inappropriate” from school class“We can see cuts in funding for universities to rooms or libraries. treat students with this condition, and I think an The LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Florida all-out elimination of services is certainly on the called the governor’s demand for data on transtable,” Driskell told the AP. gender students’ medical decisions “incredibly The trans health survey is similar to one that disturbing.” the DeSantis administration has sent to state “This is another example of DeSantis using his universities asking them to detail their spending office to attempt to intimidate colleges and union diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives or versities into becoming less inclusive of their stucritical race theory programs. dents for his political gain,” Brandon Wolf, press The transgender health information survey secretary for Equality Florida, told Politico in a was also released on the same day that Florida statement. “Those institutions should continCollege System presidents voted to support the ue providing affirming services for all students DeSantis administration’s ongoing campaign to despite the governor’s attempts to intimidate rid educational institutions of so-called “woke” them.” 34

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theFeed

Najberg

Refusal to Reimburse

Aetna, Cigna, and Humana accused of creating financial hardship for a trans doctor’s practice. By John Riley

URGENTEMS

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TRANSGENDER DOCTOR IN LOUISIana is facing financial hardship and may have to close due to insurance companies that have refused to reimburse her for patient care using her legal name. Dr. Tiffany Najberg, who owns UrgentEMS in Shreveport, Louisiana, says that even though she legally changed her name, insurance giants Cigna, Humana, and CVS-owned Aetna refused to pay out claims unless they are filed under her “dead name.” Najberg’s name change, which was confirmed long before she opened her clinic in June 2021, has been accepted by various government agencies, including the Louisiana Department of Motor Vehicles and the U.S. Social Security Administration, as well as various medical boards and regulatory agencies, her residency program, her medical school, the Medicare Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System, and insurers like Blue Cross and United Healthcare. However, Cigna, Humana, and Aetna refused

to acknowledge her gender identity or new name, and insisted on issuing reimbursements under her previous name — meaning Najberg cannot recoup the money she’s owed without breaking the law. “I immediately changed all of my professional qualifications by the end of June 2021, and that included not just things like my social security and driver’s license, but my medical license, my DEA number, my Louisiana State Board of Pharmacy number, databases that insurance companies draw from,” Najberg told the Shreveport Times. “Some of the insurance companies decided that they weren’t going to honor my name change and they were just going to use my dead name,” she noted. “Since I can’t legally practice any medicine or medical care underneath my dead name as that would be fraud and impersonating and a felony. They’re using that as an excuse to just not pay because according to them I’m not a person.” Najberg also notes that name changes are not uncommon in the medical field. JANUARY 19, 2023 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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theFeed “Cis women get married all the time and some of them are even doctors and insurance companies don’t get away with saying ‘we’re not going to pay for a year and a half’ because you got married, right?” she said. “What they’re doing in my case is clearly discriminatory.” Najberg was also forced to relocate her clinic in December 2021, just six months after opening, due to a malfunction that led her office to lose air conditioning for an extended period of time during the hot Louisiana summer, which caused some of the medical supplies to melt and forced her to postpone seeing patients in person due to the extreme temperatures. That relocation had already put the clinic into financial hardship, which was subsequently exacerbated by the refusal of the insurance companies to reimburse her under her legal name. Najberg estimates she’s lost about $150,000 in payments from Cigna, Humana, and Aetna, and has created a GoFundMe page in which she has promised donors certain prizes or benefits for varying donation amounts. For instance, any person who contributes $50 will have their name listed o the clinic’s website, while a donation of $250 gets the donor a 15-second shoutout video on Najberg’s popular TikTok page, and a donation of $1,000 gets the donor a 30-minute Zoom call to discuss any medical matters with Najberg, free of charge. Earlier this month, Najberg created a petition on Change.org calling out the insurance companies for discriminating against her. The petition, which has garnered more than 6,900 signatures, also urges signers to contact the insurers via phone and complain about their anti-transgender stance. Najberg also filed a complaint to the Louisiana State insurance commissioner’s office and has acquired a forensic billing expert and a lawyer to help her navigate the financial difficulties caused by the insurers’ refusal to acknowledge her name change. On Jan. 11, Najberg posted an update to her TikTok channel, in which she noted that representatives from Aetna had reached out to her forensic billing expert and have agreed to reprocess all of the claims and reimburse her, with in36

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terest. Aetna also reportedly promised to issue a letter of apology to Najberg and to require employees to take diversity and inclusion training. “At Aetna, we value our relationship with our providers and strive to resolve any issues they may experience as quickly as possible,” the company told the Shreveport Times in a statement. Najberg’s forensic billing expert, English Perez, told the Times they had spoken with Aetna representatives and confirmed that the claims were denied due to Najberg’s name not matching the name listed in the company’s database. Since the initial article regarding the reimbursement denial, Humana has also reached out and is in the process of negotiating with Najberg to ensure she’s reimbursed for services rendered. “Celebrating diverse backgrounds and creating an environment of inclusion is at the heart of Humana. We also have a strong and longtime commitment to the state of Louisiana and the members and providers we serve throughout the state,” a company representative said in a statement. “We have looked into this matter and discovered that the contract on file has a different provider name (doctor and business) and requires additional information to process the claims. We are expediting a new contract with the provider so that the claims may be processed.” The Times previously reported that Cigna claimed to be working on a statement to respond to Najberg’s claims, but the company did not respond to a subsequent request for comment. Najberg recently received some positive news after an anonymous donor left a check for $5,000 at the clinic to help her cover overdue rent payments. With that money, UrgentEMS will be able to stay open for another month while Najberg tries to negotiate with the insurance companies. Najberg continues to encourage her followers to keep up the pressure on the insurance companies so they will do the right thing. However, she has noted in subsequent videos that only 5% of her TikTok followers have signed the petition, putting her well behind her goal of reaching 10,000 signatures. “I simply want fair reimbursement for services rendered,” she told the Times in a follow-up in-

theFeed terview. “I used my life savings to cover what has implications that are far wider. This isn’t just they didn’t give me. I mean, $150,000 is not a tiny me wanting to address a personal grievance, I amount of money. The other thing is this fight also don’t want this happening to others.”

The Man in the Speedo

Right-wingers attack gay Arizona Democrat Matt Heinz over a Zoom mishap, speculating a man with the lawmaker was a sex worker. By John Riley

TWITTER

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N ARIZONA DEMOCRATIC LAWmaker came under attack from rightwing trolls after a man in a speedo and a black undershirt was seen behind him while he appeared on a Zoom call during a Pima County Board of Supervisors meeting. Supervisor Dr. Matt Heinz, an openly gay man, was attending the supervisor meeting remotely while he was on a vacation cruise to Panama. At one point, the man in the undershirt and Speedo appeared behind Heinz, began lifting up his shirt, then froze, appearing to realize that Heinz was in a meeting. Heinz’s camera then quickly switched off.

None of the other supervisors addressed or referred to the man’s unexpected appearance behind Heinz. Right-wing trolls — who had already targeted the Democratic-led board of supervisors for abuse over policy disagreements — soon began speculating about the man, claiming that the speedo was a “bikini” or “panties,” and asserting that the man may have been a sex worker. The mishap was then amplified by the right-wing publication Daily Caller, who described the man as “half-naked” and wearing “female underwear.” Heinz later explained to The Advocate that the JANUARY 19, 2023 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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theFeed man in the video is a “travel companion” and denied any relationship with him. He compared the moment to other viral moments in which Zoom calls have been interrupted by children and pets, and said he was “baffled” by how much attention the video broadcast has received. Heinz explained he traveled with his friend to Panama as part of a 10-day Ritz Carlton cruise, but denied any relationship with the man. The cruise was slated to end this past Saturday in Panama City, after which Heinz and his friend were scheduled to fly back to the United States via Florida. Heinz also pushed back against assertions that his companion is a sex worker, saying his friend had been out on the balcony of their room and came back in to change his shirt when he was caught on video. “He’s 24. He’s clearly an adult, and we’re good friends who travel well together,” Heinz said. “We are not dating. We are not boyfriends. We’re not engaged. We’re not married.” Addressing the right-wing rumors being spread online, Heinz characterized the fascination with the unexpected Zoom guest in the speedo as “strange” and “perplexing.” “As a public official, I’m pretty used to getting…targeted and having all sorts of often incorrect stuff said about me — fine,” he said. “But leave my friend alone. He was in a swimsuit. He accidentally walked into the frame for like not

even three seconds, was not naked, is clearly an adult, and is not a sex worker — not that there’s anything wrong with that — but it’s just been a really strange reaction.” Heinz previously served in the Arizona House of Representatives from 2009 to 2013, and ran unsuccessfully for Congress three separate times. Between 2013 and 2015, he worked in the Obama administration as the Director of Provider Outreach in the Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs. Explaining why he called into the board of supervisors meeting rather than attending in person, Heinz told The Advocate that because he is a single man, he often works a lot around the holidays in order to allow his colleagues who have families to spend time at home. He currently has three jobs, working as an attending physician at the Tucson Medical Center, as a county supervisor, and as the owner of a small scribe business. Heinz added that he had hoped that attending a meeting remotely while on vacation would show his dedication to his position, only to be disparaged by some online users over his traveling companion’s choice of attire. “I have three full-time jobs,” he said. “I figured that at least I [would] get a little credit for participating remotely in this board meeting because of my commitment to my constituents and public service.”

Vigil Held for Slain D.C. Trans Woman

Police have not yet made any arrests in the fatal stabbing of Jasmine Starr Parker. By John Riley

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OMMUNITY MEMBERS RALLIED ON Monday afternoon, January 16, to remember a transgender woman who died after being stabbed earlier this month in Northeast D.C. A group consisting of friends, family, and fellow D.C. residents gathered at the corner of 38

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Gallaudet Street NE and Providence Street NE, in the Ivy City neighborhood, to remember Jasmine Starr Parker, who was 36 when she was murdered on Jan. 7. According to the Metropolitan Police Department, police were flagged down in the 2000

WUSA9

theFeed

block of Gallaudet Street NE, in between Gallaudet University’s campus and Mt. Olivet Cemetery around 3 a.m. on Jan. 7. Upon arriving on scene, they found Parker on the ground, unresponsive, suffering from a stab wound to her leg. Parker was declared dead at the scene. Earline Budd, a longtime transgender rights activist and case management specialist at the nonprofit HIPS, Inc., who knew Parker as both

a friend and as her caseworker, was one of the chief organizers of the vigil. She recalled Parker’s love for food, singing, and fashion. “I loved her dearly,” Budd told D.C. CBS affiliate WUSA9. “She was someone who deserved so much more than what she got.” Kenya Hutton, the deputy director of the Center for Black Equity, also spoke at the vigil. Hutton denounced the recent national spike in JANUARY 19, 2023 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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theFeed violence against transgender people, especially trans women of color, who comprised the overwhelming majority of victims of anti-trans violence over the past two years. “Walking the streets should not mean risking your life. Going to the store should not mean that you could be taken down,” Hutton said. “It’s not being called a hate crime. Well, we know what it was. Starr should be here today.” Japer Bowles, director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, told Parker’s family members that he was sorry for her death and pledged to do more to assist members of the transgender community who are vulnerable. “Circumstances should not have put Starr and many members of the community that we see in the danger that they are in, and that is a failure from where I’m at in my job,” Bowles said. “We have to do more. I promise we will do more.” Pamela Witherspoon, Parker’s sister, said she appreciated the show of support from the local community. She recalled her sister as jolly, hap-

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py, and “always singing and dancing — just trying to make you laugh.” She also said she couldn’t understand why anyone would hurt her sister. “She wasn’t the type of person that did things to people,” Witherspoon said. “I don’t understand why. What did she do to deserve this? I’ll never understand that.” Witherspoon told WUSA9 that she and her family forgive the person who took Parker’s life, but hope they turn themselves in. Thus far, no arrests have been made in the case, and investigators have not released information about a possible motive in the case. The Metropolitan Police Department currently offer a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for a homicide in the District of Columbia. Anyone who may have information related to the case or the people involved should call police at 202-727-9099 or text the department’s tip line by sending a text message to 50411.

PICTURE PERF LEATH T

Ward Morrison returns to MAL for the first time in three years to capture the leather Scene in action. Photography by Ward Morrison

HRONGS OF LEATHER MEN AND WOMEN, KINKSTERS AND NEOPHYTES, puppies and handlers, surged into D.C. last weekend for Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend. Hosted by the Centaur MC, it was the first full-on MAL since Covid struck. The 38th annual event saw a return of the complete host hotel lobby experience and an extensive exhibitor hall. Dance parties multiplied to four official events from Thursday night's opening at Soundcheck to Sunday’s closing at UltraBar. In addition to the bustling lobby, jam-packed parties, and exhibitors selling their wares, there is also the weekend’s main event — the Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather Contest. On Sunday, January 15, at 1 p.m., five contestants took the stage in front of an international panel of judges to compete for the title, the sash, and a year of representing the community around this country and beyond. Second-place runner-up honors went to local D.C. designer Chad Alan, while first runner-up was awarded to Trell Walters of Meridian, Connecticut. But it was ultimately Daniel DeLuca of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who won the sash, glowing as he was named Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather 2023. 42

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Movies

My Own Private Idaho

Hustlers & Harlots

Celluloid Bordello shrewdly probes cinema portrayals of sex work via classic film clips and commentary from actual sex workers. By André Hereford

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ILMMAKERS’ FASCINATION WITH the world’s oldest profession dates back to the earliest days of cinema — as evidenced by the saucy silent-era film clips deployed in Celluloid Bordello (HHHHH). The enlightening documentary from director Juliana Piccillo chooses wisely from a wealth of film and TV material, spanning over a hundred years, in compiling its compelling history of how sex work has been portrayed onscreen. Piccillo, who has been a sex worker, journalist, university instructor, and author, previously created the autobiographical short I Was a Teenage Prostitute: Coming of Age in a Massage Parlor, and her informed, compassionate point of view comes through clearly in every aspect of Celluloid Bordello. In addition to having edited the film (formerly titled Whores on Film), Piccillo appears prominently among the interview subjects offering

first-hand testimony as former or current sex workers. Underground artists and activists, including Annie Sprinkle, Scarlot Harlot, and Deep Dickollective’s Juba Kalamka share the impact and influence these films have had on how they view themselves and trading sex for money. Sex work advocate and “first porn star to earn a Ph.D.,” Sprinkle, interviewed in front of what looks like a Zoom background, stands out as a warm, witty critic breaking down stereotypical cinema depictions of downtrodden women. The film follows through with a blunt montage of silver screen ladies of the evening being shot, run over, beaten, and brutalized. “People want to watch us die,” opines artist and acrobat Nat. By contrast, Sprinkle brightly names beloved 1962 musical Gypsy as the film that inspired her eager swing towards a life in burlesque. Her favorite number, of course, is “You Gotta Have a Gimmick,” Jules Styne and Stephen Sondheim’s JANUARY 19, 2023 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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Trading Places

tongue-in-cheek guide to getting ahead in the bump and grind of the Life. Whatever funds and resources didn’t go to snappy-looking interview setups for Bordello must have gone to the primo clip collection, since Gypsy and the dozens of other classic films discussed are well-represented with excerpts onscreen. The pace of memorable movie moments is brisk, and the myriad scenes well-placed to illustrate the subjects’ nuanced analyses. Sex work pioneer Harlot, for example, confesses she saw strength in Shirley MacLaine’s starry-eyed taxi dancer in Sweet Charity, despite the character’s raw vulnerability and horrendously bad choices. Extended scenes of MacLaine and company singing and dancing through Fosse’s fantastic film do convey the glamour and allure that might have inspired many a young performer, as well as the pain and disappointment these movies promise should await those who dance over the edge. When it comes to portrayals of male hustlers, according to several who are interviewed in the film, disappointment awaits every man. From Midnight Cowboy to My Own Private Idaho and

Mysterious Skin, movies always depict that men in the trade must be driven by trauma, says performer and revolutionary Gabe Vigil. But bisexual art activist Kalamka, who co-founded the hip-hop group Deep Dickollective, declares he got into sex work as an extension of his art, an exploration of porn performance, and, because it got him off, a rather refreshing admission. The interviewees are candid and entertaining — though some are allowed to ramble at times, their narration unembellished by Ethan Leinwand’s slinky piano blues score. Still, building a documentary exploration of sex work in the cinema around the deeply felt confessions of actual sex workers is a great gimmick, since you gotta have one. Piccillo and her subjects provide the film’s unique point of view, as well as sharp insight into why audiences, artists, and especially actors can’t get enough of stories about hookers and hustlers. An amusing sequence showing a parade of stars accepting Oscars for playing pros really drives home the point that there’s been a special place throughout cinema history for guys and dolls who turn tricks.

Celluloid Bordello is available on DVD and on most streaming platforms, including Amazon, Apple TV, and iTunes. Visit www.whoresonfilm.com or www.firstrunfeatures.com. 54

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Television

Pascal

Killer Shrooms

Based on one of the greatest video games of the 21st century, HBO’s The Last of Us roars to life. By Mark Young

HBOMAX

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EW WORKS WILL HIT THE SCREEN this year with as much acclaim as the new HBO series The Last of Us (HHHHH). Since releasing on the Playstation 3 almost a decade ago, a lot has been said of the video game’s groundbreaking narrative. While most games are known for being fun to play, The Last of Us changed the medium for its story, one that has long been ripe for a television adaptation. Starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as Joel and Ellie, The Last of Us is an all-encompassing beast, spanning over 60 years in its first episode alone while narrowing in on what made the original special. Craig Mazin, the creator of the similarly harrowing Chernobyl, and Neil Druckmann, the game’s original creator, are at the helm of TLOU, which probably has more expectations on its shoulders than any other television show this year. We first meet Joel in Austin, 2003, where

the hints at the apocalyptic horrors to come are shoved away by his daughter Sarah, who is more concerned about getting her dad a good birthday present. As Sarah’s day goes on, unsettling whispers and panic mingle with constant sirens rushing by, until it all comes crashing down with the official onset of a fungal zombie apocalypse. The opening sequence is the first true merging of the original game and the show, padding out some of the story with new details while staying true to what made the game so amazing in the first place. When we pick up with Joel again 20 years later, he’s gone from a blue-collar worker to a drug smuggler in a highly militarized Boston, rife with food shortages, and hangings for those who don’t fall in line. Joel and his partner Tess are struggling to find a car battery to get out of Boston and try to locate his brother, who has gone radio silent. The post-apocalyptic world presented in TLOU shows how far HBO is willing to go with JANUARY 19, 2023 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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Ramsey and Torv

which turns out to be a dud. Instead, they are presented with an intriguing opportunity from the Fireflies. Marlene promises Joel and Tess more than a car battery if they can bring Ellie, the chained girl, outside of the city walls to the nearby statehouse, where a fueled car will be waiting. Unsure, but with few options, they accept, beginning one of the most memorable journeys in recent times. The Last of Us will no doubt come up on your radar for being one of the best video game adaptations ever, but it’s always been an outlier. The story is frequently harsh and cruel, which makes the light that shines through even better, even as the world it presents continues to be brutal and unforgiving. Pascal and Ramsey’s performances are only just gearing up, but it's clear that they have a mighty punch to pack. Fans of the original games will find loads to love, but won’t hate what the television show adds, clearly in reverence to what came before, yet newcomers will also find that same beauty without being left out of the loop. While The Last of Us is brutal, it’s one of those rare stories that can transcend any medium it's told in to craft a beautiful story about love, family, and survival against all odds. A decade after it came to the Playstation, the weight of the original is translated into a glorious punch to the gut, and then a breath of fresh air.

New episodes of The Last of Us premiere on HBO and on HBOMax every Sunday at 9 p.m. Visit www.hbo.com. 56

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HBOMAX

this beloved franchise. The setting looks fantastically ruined, with the streets of a decayed society coming to life almost perfectly. Each shot of a crumbling building reveals more than the last, showing a world that somehow managed to survive falling apart. Tess (Fringe’s Anna Torv), introduces us to the politics of a Bostonian dictatorship after being jumped by the people who double-crossed her for the car battery, but is saved by a random act of violence from a local rebel group. Meanwhile, the Fireflies, a rebel group fighting against the military hierarchy, prepare for a major operation in the nighttime, with Ellie (Bella Ramsey, who you may remember as Lady Mormont in Game of Thrones) chained in a room. A lot of details have been changed from the original video game, but it's clear that the show has nothing but respect for the fans who have kept the franchise alive for over ten years. The leader of the Fireflies, Marlene, is played by Merle Dandridge, who reprises her role from the original game, giving the show enough connective tissue to expand upon its foundation. Composer Gustavo Santaollala also returns to score the series, which will instantly send chills down your spine. Even the newcomers wonderfully fill their roles with enough familiarity for anyone to become invested. Joel and Tess locate their missing car battery,

Music

Hyper-hyphenation

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French queer trio Hyphen Hyphen’s third album strives for mass international appeal. By Sean Maunier

ANY GROUPS ARE UNDENIABLY best experienced live, and the queer French trio Hyphen Hyphen would gladly sort themselves into that category. Known for their stage presence and ability to put on a memorable show, they are ready to hit the stage again, although their own pandemic-induced

introspection period has left them looking for a new direction in their music, too. C’est la Vie (HHHHH) represents an effort to elevate their sound and position themselves as nascent global pop superstars, goals they pull off with varying success. Hyphen Hyphen has been up-front about JANUARY 19, 2023 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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their intent to achieve a more international bent with their sound to connect with a more international audience. So if the album’s sound seems more self-consciously accessible and more in line with the current direction of pop music as it is, this is no accident. That approach is most obvious on its singles, the euphoric opener “Don’t Wait For Me,” and its power ballad follow-up, “Too Young,” which sound more radio-friendly than anything they have done before. Mostly, their approach works well enough but the predictable side effect is that it causes them to lose some of the edge and sparkle of their last album, the brilliant HH. Even in the moments where C’est la Vie stumbles or drags, the mononymous lead singer Samanta "Santa" Cotta’s powerhouse vocals are enough to keep it interesting on their own. “Too Young” comes out strong but stays relatively tame — until Santa starts to really belt, giving it a sudden boost of rawness and pathos that save it from being another bog-standard pop anthem. Hyphen Hyphen’s calculated shift in sound carries with it problems that are perhaps predictable, but are not dealbreakers in and of themselves. Allowing Santa’s vocals to do the heavy lifting leave some of the tracks feeling a little hollow. Bringing on songwriter Glenn Ballard, known for his work with Alanis Morisette and Katy Perry, does not seem to have done them many favors. The desire to evolve past the sound of HH, while understandable, leads them to overproduce much of the album, often saturating it with synths when a more stripped-back approach would have allowed the songwriting and vocals to really shine. One of the biggest strengths of C’est la Vie,

though, is that it is a far more interesting album than its radio-ready singles would suggest. Several of the in-between tracks show that the band has done its homework, going far beyond the Fleetwood Mac and Bruce Springsteen albums the band has previously name-checked as influences. “Lie” allows Santa to flex some punky snarl in a way that evokes ’80s and ’90s rawk and pop punk in the best way. “Symphony,” on the other hand, is an evocative, tightly-written ballad that evokes early Sarah McLachlan, albeit with more grit to the vocals. They carry that same approach through to the acoustically-driven “Cry (Cry Cry),” a track that actually pulls off the satisfying and cathartic slow build that feels tiringly formulaic elsewhere on the album. C’est la Vie was envisioned by the band as their “most personal” yet, another feature that is not necessarily obvious on the surface. There are flashes of personality and their sense of humor in the opening tracks, and certainly once the album finds its stride, it’s obvious what makes them such a likable group. Nowhere do they do this better than on the title track, an anthem to taking life less seriously which expertly walks the line between self-deprecating and inspiring. There’s no doubt that Hyphen Hyphen has all the talent and star quality necessary to become a runaway international success, and their coming North American tour dates may well give them the notoriety they are after. As their star rises, hopefully it will open up more chances to show and explore the more interesting sides of themselves that peek out on C’est la Vie. If this is their most personal album yet, it is a sign that their best work may very well still be ahead of them.

C’est la Vie is available to stream and purchase starting on Friday, January 20. Visit www.hyphenhyphen-music.com. 58

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Scene

MAL Bootcamp, Presented by Kinetic at Soundcheck Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023 • Photography by Yaro Vargas

For more #Scene follow us on Instagram at @MetroWeekly

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Scene

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MAL’s discoVERSE XL, Presented by Kinetic at UltraBar Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023 • Photography by Ward Morrison

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For more #Scene follow us on Instagram at @MetroWeekly

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LastWord. People say the queerest things

“The thing we have to be careful of...is we cannot mistake absurdity for lack of danger. Because it takes people with no shame to do shameful things.” —JON STEWART, on his Apple TV+ podcast talking about Congressman George Santos, whose entire biography has been a mountain of alleged lies and fabrications.

“ Well, he used [the name] Zebrosky for his GoFundMe. He would say ‘Oh, well, the Jews will give more if you're a Jew.” —GREGORY MOREY-PARKER, a former roommate of George Santos, to CNN’s Anderson Cooper, explaining why Santos had used the alias Anthony Zabrovsky for his alleged scam, Friends of Pets United.

“ Kellan talks so openly about our family. He has a huge personality, he is so bright and outgoing....

We don’t want his light to be dimmed by people that don’t even know him and judge him because of who we are.” —ROBBY PRICE to USA Today about the son he is raising with his husband Jordan Letschert in Sarasota, Florida. The family is considering leaving Florida, which is doubling down on its “Don’t Say Gay” attitude, for a more tolerant city.

“ I wanted to get married and felt it would’ve been a disservice for me to live anything other than my truth, come what may.” —NIECY NASH-BETTS to Vanity Fair about her why she went public about her marriage to partner Jessica Betts. Nash-Betts noted she was warned not to come out by industry insiders but decided that she had reached a point in her life and career where “I do what I want.”

“ Yeah, baby! That’s so nice! I don’t know what it means, but it’s nice. Yeah. Cool. I’ll take it!” —CATE BLANCHETT, during an interview with Attitude Magazine, responding to the news that she is now officially seen as a lesbian icon. Blanchett has portrayed a lesbian character in both 2022’s Oscar front-runner Tár and 2015’s Carol .

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