Leslie Jordan - Metro Weekly - August 13 and 20, 2020

August 13 & 20, 2020

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Contents

FROZEN FUNDS

DC Eagle allegedly withheld tens of thousands in PPP loan money from employees.

By John Riley

HERE COMES MR. JORDAN A natural, hilarious storyteller, Leslie Jordan is the star of this Saturday’s Gay Men’s Chorus virtual summer gala.

Interview by Doug Rule

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Volume 27 Issue 14

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STATE OF THE UNION

Boys State documents a contentious mock election where the emotions, intrigue, and shady politics are vividly real.

By André Hereford

OUT ON THE TOWN p.5 SPOTLIGHT: RESTAURANT WEEK p.9 HEY MR. VJ p.11 THE FEED: COUNTING ON KAMALA p.13 TRANSPHOBIC TWEETING p.18 CHANGE OF MIND p.19 TEACHER TROUBLE p.20 HARBORING HATE p.24 SUPER CEREMONY p.26 GALLERY: LUCA BUVOLI p.34 RETROSCENE p.38 LAST WORD p.41 Washington, D.C.’s Best LGBTQ Magazine for 26 Years Editorial Editor-in-Chief Randy Shulman Art Director Todd Franson Online Editor at metroweekly.com Rhuaridh Marr Senior Editor John Riley Contributing Editors André Hereford, Doug Rule Senior Photographers Ward Morrison, Julian Vankim Contributing Illustrators David Amoroso, Scott G. Brooks Contributing Writers Sean Maunier, Kate Wingfield Webmaster David Uy Production Assistant Julian Vankim Sales & Marketing Publisher Randy Shulman National Advertising Representative Rivendell Media Co. 212-242-6863 Distribution Manager Dennis Havrilla Patron Saint Earl ‘Brother Boy’ Ingram Cover Photography Courtesy of Leslie Jordan 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.

© 2020 Jansi LLC.

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Out On The Town

A Gay in the Life

Compiled by Doug Rule GARRETT CLAYTON’S A GAY IN THE LIFE

Former Disney Channel star and out Hollywood actor Garrett Clayton (King Cobra) recently launched a weekly LGBTQ series on YouTube with the long-term goal of humanizing the stories and struggles of contemporary LGBTQ rights and peoples around the world. Co-created and co-hosted by Clayton’s fiancé Blake Knight, the series also intends to reveal how LGBTQ identities, attitudes, and experiences vary greatly from one country and culture to the next. Episodes from the first several weeks have offered quick takes on subjects ranging from LGBTQ issues in the Philippines to racial prejudices within America’s LGBTQ community, as well as short interviews with Tan France of Netflix’s Queer Eye and the Zakar Twins, the Pray The Gay Away Iraqi-American comedy duo — plus Clayton and Knight sharing their coming out stories and giving a peek into the happy couple’s Date Night activities. Future episodes are expected to include profiles of a Two Spirit Native American and a fa’afafine, or third gender, Samoan, glimpses into LGBTQ life in China, Thailand, Sudan, and Spain — and Los Angeles, through additional vignettes planned from the hosts. New episodes every Thursday. Visit www.youtube.com/c/AGayInTheLife.

RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE: VEGAS REVUE

The showgirls will go on even if RuPaul’s Drag Race Live! can’t.

A sextet of veteran Drag Race queens are featured in a new docuseries originally conceived as a way to promote the franchise’s expansion into live theater and debut Las Vegas residency, before COVID-19 put an end to all that only two months into the run. As a result, the six-episode Vegas Revue now serves to document the making of the show and the work of its stars Yvie Oddly, Asia O’Hara, Derrick Barry, Kameron Michaels, Naomi Smalls, and Vanessa “Vanjie” Mateo. Premieres Friday, Aug. 21, at 8 p.m. Visit www.vh1.com.

RuPaul’s Yvie Oddly

ROMEO AND JULIET

A new production of Shakespeare’s beloved romantic tragedy aims “to shed new light on what it is to love others and yourself.” More specifically, what it is to love another of the same gender, as we see Juliet (played by Erin Nealer) fall for a young woman named Romeo (Audra Jacobs) in a staging by the Rude Mechanicals. The update from the provocative theater troupe is set in a small rural American town where the queer star-crossed lovers are forced “to grapple not only with their secret infatuation but with the secret of their own identities” — not to mention “the prejudices of their families and even themselves in order to be together.” Director Claudia Bach leads a mix of professional and amateur artists in two closed-door performances from the Greenbelt Arts Center that will be livestreamed for the public on Zoom and YouTube. Saturday, Aug. 15, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Aug. 16, at 2 p.m. The Sunday matinee includes a post-show talkback with the cast and crew. Suggested donation of $10. Visit www.rudemechanicals.com.

ZERO

A trio of teenage troublemakers become obsessed with the seemingly bottomless pit they stumble upon one day in the forest near their reform school in Zero. Gay playwright Ian August officially describes his work as “a darkly comedic allegory about the relationship between addiction and empathy, the danger of simple solutions, and whether ‘nothing’ actually exists anyway.”

Mental illness, depression, and non-binary are three additional keywords for Zero, which also comes with the disclaimer, “Trigger Warnings: This play includes all the things. This ain’t no Disney Channel sh*t.” Craig Baldwin will direct a “livestream reading” of Zero for Spooky Action Theater with actors Emmett Shaw Grosland, Dylan J. Fleming, Shubhangi Kuchibhotla, and Alejandro Ruiz — “and featuring Rick Hammerly.” Premieres at SpookyActionDC on YouTube Sunday, Aug. 16, at 6 p.m.

Available through Aug. 19. Free, but donations gratefully acceptAUGUST 13 & 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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Brandy Clark

ed to benefit Food for All DC. Call 202-248-0301 or visit www. spookyaction.org.

BRANDY CLARK

March started off with a bang for the lesbian country artist with the release of her stunning third album, Your Life Is A Record.

“No one is writing better country songs than Brandy Clark,” wrote David Cantwell of the New Yorker. Clark has also been called Nashville’s “best-kept secret,” but by now any self-respecting queer country fan should know the name, or at least her work in writing hits for others — including “Follow Your Arrow” for Kacey Musgraves. Early on in the pandemic, Clark launched a series of livestreams from her Nashville home called “You Can’t Come Over (But You Can Come In)” — a play on an early Clark song, “You Can Come Over.” Over time, she’s done a little less singing and a lot more talking per episode — all in conversation with her special guest of the week — usually a fellow female artist, occasionally a superstar, with Mary Chapin Carpenter, Reba McIntire, and Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls all past guests. (All episodes are available for streaming from Clark’s YouTube page.) After taking a few weeks off, Clark has now revived the series, with upcoming guests Jessie Jo Dillon, the artist who co-wrote Clark’s singles “Girl Next Door” and “I’ll Be The Sad Song,” set for Wednesday, Aug. 19, at 7 p.m., and Liz Rose, a frequent Taylor Swift collaborator, on Wednesday, Aug. 26, at 7 p.m. Visit www.brandyclarkmusic.com.

DAUGHTRY

Led by the one-time American Idol hunk Chris Daughtry, this hard-rock band is currently in the midst of a special 19-date livestream tour, each geared to a specific city and benefiting a specific venue, with a unique setlist and other surprises in store on each date. On Tuesday, Aug. 18, at 7 p.m., the “Live From Home Tour” virtually stops at the Birchmere, which will benefit from proceeds of ticket sales and tips. Tickets are $10, or $25 to $75 including VIP packages and merch. Visit www.onlocationlive.com/category/birchmere.

GREENSKY BLUEGRASS

In order to safely and truly perform together as one band in one room any time soon, the musicians in this genre-defying progressive bluegrass band reasoned they would need to get creative in devising a kind of concert compromise. So last

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month, the quintet booked a week at an empty concert venue in St. Louis, where they proceeded to perform eight different concerts, each with a completely different set list. All are full-band, full-production spectacles from a quiet hall, where the only other folks were members of a camera crew capturing the performances in 4K with high definition audio. Now, every Friday night until the end of summer, Greensky will unveil these Leap Year Sessions, delivered to pay-per-view audiences through the new platform HYFI. Friday, Aug. 14, at 9 p.m., and every Friday through September. Tickets are $14.95 for individual sessions, available for two-week streams, or $99.95 for a Full Tour Pass of all eight sessions available after broadcast through Halloween.

Visit www.hyfi.com/greensky-bluegrass.

TOM GOSS

“Dancing in My Room” was a very April thing to do. Now that we’re in the thick of summer, singer-songwriter Tom Goss has responded by releasing a new song and video suited to the season. You might even consider it a sequel to “Bears,” his playful ode to furry fellas everywhere released during the summer of 2013 paired with a video featuring a pack of hirsute hunks in D.C. In 2020, though, Goss is in hot pursuit of a particular type of furred fellow: a “Nerdy Bear.” The new summer anthem sounds little like anything you’ve heard from Goss before, a sultry slowjam that’s more R&B than pop — and not folk at all. Directed

by Michael Serrato and photograhed in New York, the video finds Goss chasing after a particular plus-sized gay man (Jason Villegas), pulling out all the stops in trying to get his attention: gyrating wildly, singing like a vocoder madman, jumping through hoops, even donning a little drag to appear as Princess Peach from Mario Brothers. It’s as fun and silly as Goss intended.

“Given the hot mess that is 2020,” he says in a press release, “I feel like I have a responsibility to create music that brings people together and helps them to see the world in a positive light.”

Visit www.tomgossmusic.com.

JANE FRANKLIN DANCE’S FORTY+ PROJECTS VIRTUAL PROGRAM

Dancers over the age of 40 comprise this organization’s Forty+ ensemble, which next week will present a virtual program of mixed repertory, including a new work for camera by choreographer Emily Crew. Hoopla is inspired by circles, both the space contained within the geometrical shapes and at their edges, and was developed virtually by company dancers performing at their

Tom Goss

Inherit the Windbag

home. The bill also includes Franklin’s Shorthanded, performed by an intergenerational cast exploring what it means to be of “your generation” as symbolized by key cultural practices and popular technologies of the time —- from shorthand notation and paper dolls, to cassette tapes and VHS — and Kelsey Rohr’s You and Me, a work set to the groovy music and sultry voice of Barry White and featuring moves intended to serve as a reminder to have fun and let go. Wednesday, Aug. 19, at 1 p.m. Free. Call 703-933-1111 or visit www.facebook.com/JaneFranklinDance or www.janefranklin.com.

FORD’S THEATRE: CONFEDERATE MONUMENTS CONVERSATION

Through Cabinet Conversations, its ongoing series of livestreamed discussions, Ford’s Theatre has examined an array of topics, aimed at connecting aspects of our nation’s history — lessons of the Civil War and/or Lincoln’s presidency and legacy in particular — to contemporary life and issues. Although details have not yet been announced, the next discussion — Thursday, Aug. 27, at 4 p.m. — will focus on the 57th anniversary of the original March on Washington in light of today’s resurgence in activism for racial justice, and a return to the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington 2020 planned the next day (also when the NAACP will lead a 2020 Virtual March on Washington). Among a handful of past Cabinet Conversations, all of which can be streamed from Ford’s YouTube page, arguably the most timely and illuminating was the July 30 discussion “A Reckoning for Confederate Memorials.” Historian Kevin M. Levin helped frame and contextualize the discussion as well as elicit keen observations and experiences from Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson and former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu. In particular, Landrieu noted key lessons from the successful effort he led to remove four prominent confederate statues as part of the city’s post-Katrina rebuilding efforts.

He even revealed how he finally became convinced that removal was the right thing to do. “I remember as we were rebuilding the city, I was thinking about this: What the hell is the difference between a confederate flag and a monument? Now I knew in my head that one was metal and steel, and one was cloth. And the cloth was easier to take down, and the monuments would be much harder. But really, as a matter of integrity, what’s the difference? They’re no different at all. And it was just time. It just kind of hit...like the moment that we’re in right now in America.”

Visit www.fords.org.

Hello, Bright Eyes

MOSAIC THEATER’S INHERIT THE WINDBAG

Mosaic Theater’s sixth season was originally set to kickoff next week with preview performances of the world premiere Inherit the Windbag. While that’s obviously not possible during the ongoing pandemic, the company is doing what it can to keep a mid-August focus on the play by Washington Post humorist Alexandra Petri. Rehearsals have started for the virtual adaptation of Inherit the Windbag, set for release in the fall and starring Paul Morella as Vidal and John Lescault as Buckley, with Tamieka Chavis and Stephen Klime as multi-character “Demons.” This week’s Creative Conversation — taking place Friday, Aug. 14, at 4 p.m., on Mosaic Theater’s Facebook page — will feature Petri and the play’s director Lee Mikeska Gardner shedding light on the work as well as the seminal moment in American history that inspired it. Specifically, the blistering nightly free-for-all between conservative pundit William F. Buckley and gay liberal author Gore Vidal in 1968 during the televised Republican and Democratic conventions.

Documentary filmmaker Nicholas D. Wrathall (Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia) will join as a special guest to further illuminate that history as well as its resonance to today. Inherit the Windbag will also be the focus of Mosaic’s next online Peace Cafe, “Political Partisanship, Resistance & Reconciliation,” set for Monday, Aug. 17, at 4 p.m., on Zoom; RSVP required. Visit www.mosaictheater.org/alive.

HELLO, BRIGHT EYES

Old eyeglasses, lenses, and eyeglass “arms” have been reused or upcycled in some of the artworks on display this month at Del Ray Artisans Gallery. Hello, Bright Eyes is the latest themed show at the quirky Virginia gallery, whose member artists were inspired to create paintings, photographs, sculptures, mixed-media collages, and other artworks focused in some way or another on eyes, eyesight, eyewear, or one’s sense of vision. The Prevention of Blindness Society of Metropolitan Washington donated the upcycled used eyewear and is also overseeing a series of screenings and discussions to complement the exhibition, curated by Stephanie Chan and Tracy Wilkerson.

Now to Aug. 29. Del Ray Artisans Gallery is located in the Colasanto Center, 2704 Mount Vernon Avenue, Alexandria.

Free and open to the public, with proper social distancing and the wearing of face masks, from noon to 6 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Call 703-731-8802 or visit www.thedelrayartisans.org.

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SIMO AHMADI

APRIL GREEG TMG

Spotlight

Unconventional Diner’s French Dip Pappardelle

Duke’s Grocery’s Proper Burger Fully Loaded

Meal Deals

O

Next week sees the return of Summer Restaurant Week, completely reimagined and reconfigured for these pandemic times.

RGANIZERS WERE INITIALLY UNSURE IF THEY “It’s a real big push of dine-out, takeout, and eat up, focusing should even proceed with Summer Restaurant Week. on al fresco and focusing on Restaurant Week however you want After all, at its core, “it’s a promotion designed to push it,” Hollinger says. In addition to the promotion’s standard mulpeople to restaurants,” says Kathy Hollinger of the Restaurant ticourse meals available at participating restaurants for $22 per Association of Metropolitan Washington. “And we had to really person at lunch and brunch, or $35 and $55 per person at dinner think about overall comfort levels” as well as “be very mindful (not including tax and tip), some participating restaurants will of capabilities” at a time when restaurants are operating with also offer special family-style to-go meals available for curbside reduced staff and limited service. pickup. Prices for these RW to Go packages range from $60 to It’s also a time when restaurants, which survive on incredibly $100 for two, and $130 to $210 for four. thin profit margins even in the best of times, could really use Over 200 restaurants are participating in the promotion, the boost. “The overwhelming response was, ‘We absolutely including Clyde’s, The Hamilton, Duke’s Grocery, Rasika, Tico, need Restaurant Week, even if it is reimagined and rethought,’” Oyamel, Brookland’s Finest Bar & Kitchen, Logan Tavern, Slate Hollinger says, citing surveyed members of the association.

Wine Bar and Xiquet by Danny Lledo, Nazca Mochica, Jaleo, “We wanted to offer something for everyone,” she continues. The Pig, Stellina Pizzeria, Bastille, Mintwood Place, Founding “We wanted to design a promotion that Farmers, RIS, All-Purpose Pizzeria, Cafe Click Here to View allows for the fullest flexibility and options Berlin, Sushi Ko, Centrolina, Napoli Pasta for diners and restaurants.” As a result, this Participating Restaurants Bar, Annabelle, Officina, Ankara, The Red year’s Summer Restaurant Week, which Hen, and Shaw’s Tavern. starts Monday, Aug. 17, has been expanded “to include to-go “For everything that this industry has gone through,” offers and family style meals [and] beverage pairings.” It will also Hollinger says, “to be above 200 going into this promo is pretty run twice as long: “It's two weeks long this year allowing opera- indicative of the need for diners to come out and support small tors to ease into a longer promotion to encourage more support.” business.” —Doug Rule Summer Restaurant Week kicks off Monday, Aug. 17, and runs to Aug. 30, at participating restaurants in D.C., suburban Maryland, and Northern Virginia. Visit www.rwdmv.com.

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LAURA HARDING

Spotlight

Hey Mr. VJ

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Singer-songwriter Kisos spends Queerantine building community and boosting the music of emerging queer artists.

EAMING QUEER MUSIC AND POSITIVITY TO A In addition to serving up fresh music and good vibes, episodes global audience, Queerantine has opened a unique conduit raise funds for causes from Black Lives Matter to trans advocacy of connection for its growing community of fans. The charity G.L.I.T.S. (Gays and Lesbians Living In a Transgender LGBTQ music video showcase, which just premiered its second Society). The focus, Kisos says, is on sharing and uplifting — season on livestreaming platform Twitch, was created by NYC- Queerantine is a no-negativity zone. “At the beginning of each based singer-songwriter Kisos as a means of elevating queer episode, I set some ground rules, but the ground rules are really artists and performers who have been hit particularly hard by just [that] this is the safest space, it's the most positive space,” he the loss of live venues during the pandemic. says. “Not to say that everyone's perfect or whatever. You don't Kisos and Canadian artist Cory Stewart had been hard at work have to fake positivity, but it’s more just about focusing on what's plotting an LGBTQ music tour, “and then all the COVID news good. Focusing on what you like. So it's just about appreciating started coming out,” Kisos says. “Cory was like, ‘Do you think we everybody instead of comparing.” should not plan a whole tour when it looks like things might be Maintaining that positivity isn’t as hard as one might think, happening in the world?’ I was like, ‘You know what? Good idea. reveals the artist, who describes his recently-released second EP Maybe let's put this on hold.’ Obviously, none of us expected it to Sweet Nothings as “music to break your heart and heal your soul.” go for as long as it did, and be as deep as it's going to be.”

Queerantine just happens to attract “a super positive group, and Still, Kisos and Stewart remained committed to showcas- I really don't have to do anything. I did prep in certain weeks — ing queer music acts, if not live, then digitally via Twitch, best like when we did, at the peak of the Black Lives Matter protests, known as a hub for gamers. “I've been livestreaming since an all-Black lineup, of all LGBTQ artists. And I was just waiting 2018 on Twitch, but it was more just kind for racist, homophobic trolls to come in. But, of playing games, or sometimes I would do actually, nothing happened. And it was one Click Here to acoustic sets,” says Kisos. “I was like, okay, Watch “Queerantine” of our best episodes and everyone had a great what can I do that's more of an event?” Thus, time, and we raised over four thousand dolQueerantine was born — a weekly interactive, 21st-century lars that day. So it's just been really surreal to see how everything TRL-style music video marathon, featuring Kisos and a guest fell into place without me having to try that much. Like once I set host chatting alongside the latest clips by queer indie artists like it up, everyone was there, everyone was ready to be positive. And Sellah, foxgluvv, and Teacup Dragun. it was amazing.” —André Hereford Queerantine streams Sundays at 3 p.m. ET on Twitch. Visit www.twitch.tv/itskisos.

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QUINN DOMBROWSKI

theFeed

Counting On Kamala

Harris

Joe Biden picks LGBTQ ally Kamala Harris for Vice President. By Rhuaridh Marr and John Riley

J

OE BIDEN HAS PICKED SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA) to be his running mate and potential vice president, his campaign has announced. Harris, a strong supporter of LGBTQ rights, will become the nation’s first female, Black and Indian American vice president if she and Biden are successful in November’s election against Donald Trump.

“You make a lot of important decisions as president. But the first one is who you select to be your Vice President,” Biden wrote in an email to supporters. “I’ve decided that Kamala Harris is the best person to help me take this fight to Donald Trump and Mike Pence and then to lead this nation starting in January 2021.”

In a follow-up tweet, Biden called Harris a “fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants.”

“Back when Kamala was Attorney General, she worked closely with Beau,” Biden said, referencing his son. “I watched as they took on the big banks, lifted up working people, and protected women and kids from abuse. I was proud then, and I’m proud now to have her as my partner in this campaign.”

While Harris, 55, and Biden, 77, clashed during the presidential campaign — an exchange over busing led to Harris to briefly become the Democratic frontrunner, before bowing out of the

race at the end of last year — the California senator has become a vocal supporter of the former Vice President, often drawing strong contrasts between a potential Biden presidency and the current Trump administration.

Her selection as vice president finally ends months of speculation over whether Harris would receive the nod from Biden, despite widespread support and most pundits agreeing that Harris would be the likely pick.

It also cements the Biden-Harris ticket as one of the most pro-LGBTQ campaigns in recent memory, and possibly ever.

Harris, elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016, has a long history of supporting and defending LGBTQ rights, including perhaps most notably during her tenure as California’s attorney general, where she refused to defend the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8, ultimately setting the stage for marriage equality to be legalized nationwide in 2015.

A longtime supporter of marriage equality, Harris not only refused to defend Proposition 8 as attorney general, but also spoke out against it prior to its passage in 2008.

When Harris was first elected as the District Attorney for San Francisco County, she installed an LGBTQ hate crimes unit to work with victims and to prosecute those who commit bias-moAUGUST 13 & 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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theFeed tivated crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Harris also used her tenure as attorney general to urge the state legislature to outlaw the use of gay or trans “panic” defenses, which allowed defendants to justify violent crimes against members of the LGBTQ community due to discomfort with their sexual orientation or gender identity.

During her tenure in the Senate, Harris has used her position on the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold to account President Donald Trump’s nominees to the federal bench, one-third of whom held blatantly anti-LGBTQ records, including during Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing, where Harris repeatedly asked Kavanaugh whether he believed that the court’s 2015 marriage equality decision was rightly decided.

She also introduced legislation to ensure LGBTQ Americans were properly counted in the census, introduced the Do No Harm Act in 2018 to prevent religious beliefs from being used to justify discrimination against the LGBTQ community, and was one of 19 senators who spoke out against the Trump administration removing LGBTQ health information from federal websites.

Harris also supports the passage of the Equality Act to extend federal nondiscrimination protections to LGBTQ people, and supports allowing transgender Americans to use public facilities that match their gender identity.

During her campaign for president, Harris touted LGBTQ rights and equality, both in her campaign pledges and while out on the campaign trail, including reversing the Trump administration’s attacks on LGBTQ Americans, such as banning transgender people from open military service and attempting to prevent trans people from accessing emergency shelters that match their gender identity.

Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization, said Harris has “exemplified what it means to be an ally to the LGBTQ community.”

“Senator Kamala Harris is an exceptional choice to serve as the next vice president of the United States, and Equality California is proud to stand with her and Vice President Biden in their historic campaign to take back the White House and restore the soul of America,” Executive Director Rick Chavez Zbur said in a statement.

“Throughout her career, Senator Harris has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to civil rights and social justice for all LGBTQ+ people,” Zbur said. “As vice president, we are confident she will continue Vice President Biden’s tradition of using the office to champion and advance full, lived LGBTQ+ equality — and equality for the diverse communities to which LGBTQ+ people belong.”

Zbur noted that Equality California has had “the privilege of working alongside [Harris] in her fight for civil rights and social justice” since she was first elected to public office more than two decades ago” and said “Senator Harris has exemplified what it means to be an ally to the LGBTQ+ community.”

“The LGBTQ+ community knows that representation is power,” Zbur continued. “We strongly believe that when America’s leaders look like the diverse communities they serve, everyone benefits. We applaud Vice President Biden for choosing a Black, Indian American woman to serve as his running mate and the next vice president of the United States, and we look forward to helping her make history this November.”

The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ rights organization, tweeted: “This fall, we have the opportunity 14

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to vote for the most historic, pro-equality ticket in history. We’re proud to support @KamalaHarris and elect her as our next vice president.”

HRC President Alphonso David called the Biden-Harris campaign a “historic, trailblazing unity ticket we can all get behind,” and said HRC is “is ready to help send this incredible team to the White House. Let’s go!”

GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis called Harris a “proven fighter for equality, safety and justice for all” in a tweet, adding, “we know she will continue making LGBTQ acceptance a priority in her history-making run alongside [Joe Biden].”

“Sen. Harris’ record stands in stark contrast to that of Mike Pence and the Trump Administration, which has relentlessly targeted LGBTQ people — 168 attacks in policy and rhetoric since taking office, according to GLAAD’s research — and the number goes up every week.”

Rea Carey, Executive Director of the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund, said that Harris' selection as Biden's running mate meant that "millions of people across the country will finally see themselves reflected in this historic choice."

"If elected, it will be the first time a woman and a woman of color would have held federal executive office in the United States of America which will forever shift what our nation’s leaders will look like in history," Carey said in a statement.

Carey added that the Trump administration's attacks on voting rights, immigration, and civil rights, among other things, show that the "administration will stop at nothing to weaken democracy and call into question the election outcome."

"This is not a partisan issue, this is not a Republican versus Democrat issue, this is an American issue," Carey concluded.

"The most important thing for each and every one of us to do is to vote. Vote your heart and your head for those candidates who you feel will best serve you, the LGBTQ community, and the country."

“As a Black, queer woman and leader in the LGBTQ movement, I know far too well how women of color are often asked to fix all that’s wrong with our systems in a short period time as if it didn’t take centuries for the system to become as corrupt as it is," Kierra Johnson, National LGBTQ Task Force Deputy Director, said in a statement.

Johnson urged "the media and others to be attuned to the racism and sexism targeting candidates, including Senator Harris," and said there was "no doubt that Sen. Harris would be a Vice President who would go to sleep every night working to ensure the civil rights of all of us are protected all of the time."

Biden has established his campaign for president as a counterpoint to Trump’s administration with regards LGBTQ rights, pledging to enact pro-LGBTQ legislation and undo Trump’s attacks on LGBTQ people.

Earlier this summer, the Biden campaign launched the “Out for Biden” initiative, which will target LGBTQ people and seek to drive them to the polls in November.

“Our campaign’s decision to launch Out for Biden in the shadow of historic protest elevates the power of the moment and encourages deep — and sometimes difficult — dialogue within our LGBTQ+ community as Pride month begins,” Reggie Greer, the Biden campaign’s LGBTQ Vote Director, said in a statement in June.

“LGBTQ+ people of color are central to the fabric of our communities. We must elect a government that will center their voices and celebrate the contributions of LGBTQ+ people everywhere.”

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DAVID UY

theFeed

Frozen Funds

DC Eagle

DC Eagle allegedly withheld tens of thousands in PPP loan money from employees. By John Riley

M

ONTHS AFTER THE DC EAGLE CLOSED DUE TO alleged mismanagement, former employees say they have still not been paid for past-due wages, even though the bar received tens of thousands of dollars from the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program.

Bank accounts belonging to D.C.’s longest-running LGBTQ leather, kink and BDSM club have allegedly been frozen amid an ongoing legal fight between Eagle co-owners Ted Clements and Peter Lloyd, preventing an estimated $35,000 in federally provided funds from reaching former employees to cover lost wages during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Former employees and an attorney for Lloyd accuse Clements — majority owner of the business entity Eagle N Exile LLC, which operated the bar — of having the Eagle’s accounts frozen before employees could be paid with the funds. They also allege that he failed to pay wages, utility bills, and vendors prior to the Eagle’s closure.

The closure of the DC Eagle, which had served Washingtonarea patrons for nearly 48 years, came as a shock to some of the bar’s lower-level employees, who were informed of the decision to close during a Zoom meeting in early May. While many lamented the end of a bar that had played such a significant role, not only as an employer, but as one of the first 16

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spaces where they felt secure in their LGBTQ identities, some also reported that they were still owed checks for hours worked prior to the Eagle’s closure.

Miguel Ayala, who served as the DC Eagle’s marketing promotions manager, claims that he assisted Lloyd in applying for a PPP loan — a program implemented by the federal government as a way to assist small businesses affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic — in the hope of obtaining money to compensate the bar’s employees.

He says the application was submitted in late April, weeks after the bar closed to customers amid the raging global pandemic.

“When we closed on March 15, there were no more shifts,” says Ayala. “There was no money to pay employees. Because we closed in the middle of a pay period, we had checks owed to employees. We applied, and got a notice around April 28 or 29 that we were approved. So I let Peter know that right away.”

Ayala claims he and Lloyd “had a primary concern and fear that the money would be mishandled by someone other than us,” and so Lloyd opened a separate bank account, attached to Eagle N Exile, “where we would be able to store that [PPP] money until it was distributed.”

“Our goal was to distribute the money to employees imme-

theFeed diately,” says Ayala. “And Peter had already gone through and done the math of figuring out the average amounts of most of the employees’ checks.”

But Ayala says that as he and Lloyd were setting up the payroll system and preparing to reimburse employees, Lloyd received a call from BB&T Bank around May 5 informing him that the Eagle’s accounts had all been frozen, at the request of Clements’ lawyers.

Ayala claims he and Lloyd sent an Excel document to Clements’ lawyers outlining what the plans for the PPP money were, with most of it going to compensate employees, as required by guidelines established by the Small Business Administration, but he claims that Clements’ lawyers did not respond.

“Ted did respond in an email directly to me, not to anybody else, saying that the lawyers have the money and there’s nothing we can do with it, and that a judge or trustee will figure it out,” says Ayala. “I’ve since replied and let them know: this is not money that the bar earned or made in any way. This is not the bar’s money. This is money that the government has given to the bar to use in a specific fashion, primarily to help employees.

So it’s not subject to anything in terms of bankruptcy, if that happens, or liquidation of the business. It should be distributed immediately.”

Ayala says he received no follow-up reply from Clements or his lawyers. If the money isn’t used to help compensate employees, the money must be returned and it is the Eagle’s responsibility to pay it back.

“I’m sure the government will find out [if the money isn’t used] because there are deadlines to the use of this money,” Ayala says. “Luckily for us, in this situation, the government extended those deadlines recently until the end of the year, which is good, because if this has to go to court or something, I’m hoping someone of sound mind will say, ‘Yes, this is a PPP loan. This has to be used in a particular way and should be used immediately.’ But at this point, the money is just sitting there.

And even if we wanted to return it to the SBA, Peter and I can’t because the accounts are frozen.”

In a statement, Glen Ackerman, the attorney representing Lloyd, told Metro Weekly that the Eagle had received $45,633.36 in PPP money from the government, which was deposited into an Eagle N Exile account at BB&T bank in May 2020, but the funds have not been distributed to employees.

Ackerman told Metro Weekly that the Eagle N Exile had filed a petition for bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia on June 26.

“The Eagle’s bankruptcy filing identified the Small Business Administration as a nonpriority unsecured claim in the amount of $56,298.63 for an alleged payroll protection program loan,” Ackerman said in the statement.

Ackerman said that an attorney representing the Eagle had filed the Eagle’s petition for bankruptcy without contacting himself or Lloyd, and that the attorney, Donald F. King of Odin, Feldman, & Pittleman, did not respond to Ackerman’s request to engage.

In addition, Ackerman said that he is drafting a complaint for Lloyd — who is the minority owner of the Eagle N Exile — alleging Clements, the majority owner, has “breached his fiduciary duties he owed to the Eagle N Exile and to Mr. Lloyd.”

Ackerman added: “Mr. Lloyd is seeking damages in excess of $1,000,000. The Eagle in Exile and Mr. Clements are represented by Stephen O’Brien, of Milos O’Brien. The relationship between Mr. O’Brien and Mr. Ackerman is strained because Mr.

O’Brien refuses to provide any financial documentation.”

Ackerman claimed in an email to Metro Weekly that he obtained a copy of the Eagle’s petition for bankruptcy from a friend who practices bankruptcy law, but alleges that the petition is not accurate because it fails to identify all of the Eagle’s creditors, or those people or entities to whom the business owes money. (Disclaimer: The Eagle currently has an outstanding balance with Metro Weekly. The Eagle failed to identify Metro Weekly as a creditor in its bankruptcy filing.)

In addition, Ackerman claimed that Clements stopped paying attention to the Eagle’s day-to-day operations in 2018, including neglecting to pay rent, the building’s electricity and water bills, vendors, or to “timely fund the payroll account, and to pay taxes.”

“Mr. Clements did, however, make several payments to his spouse, Dr. Thomas Kristie, for an alleged loan,” Ackerman said.

Multiple calls seeking comment from Clements, O’Brien, and King were not returned as of press time.

Ryan Oberlin, a former manager with the DC Eagle who left in 2018, provided copies of notifications from Comcast and Rubicon Global, a software company specializing in waste management, that were sent to him in June seeking payment for overdue bills. Oberlin responded to the company informing them that he was no longer the contact person for the account, and giving them Clements’ personal information.

Oberlin says he had previously listed himself as the point of contact and set up the bills for automatic debit so that Clements couldn’t refuse to pay them. He alleges that Clements emptied the accounts, but did not update the contact information or cancel the services, even though Oberlin had provided Clements with all the necessary account information on his last day, in December 2018.

Ayala says that the Eagle owes a significant amount of money in past due bills, surpassing the amount of the PPP loan. But the money could help reduce the debt the bar owes.

However, he’s primarily concerned with the estimated $35,000 that has been earmarked for almost 25 employees who were never reimbursed for their work, including bartenders, security, maintenance professionals, and performers, including some of the bar’s drag queens and DJs. “From what I know, there are at least six or seven employees who have had checks bounce, and some of those checks are for $25. But now they’ve been charged $30 for the checks that bounced,” Ayala says. “We could use the money to reimburse them, because it’s part of the payroll expenses. But the problem is when they froze the account, they froze everything. And that’s why some of those checks bounced.”

Jon Rybka, who worked as lead bartender on Friday and Saturday nights, claims that he did not receive his last paycheck.

“It was only 100 bucks or so, but still,” says Rybka. “I reached out to Ted and asked him about my last paycheck, and it bounced twice. So I texted him and he basically sent me a message saying, ‘Talk to my lawyer.’”

He then claims he received a letter in the mail from Clements’ lawyers, along with a copy of the bankruptcy filing, listing him as one of the bar’s creditors. He says that he knows of another creditor, who allegedly loaned the bar a substantial amount of money to help keep it afloat, who has also not gotten his money back.

“I’m a little pissed at Ted,” says Rybka. “I mean, I sat there, and even talking with you, I defended him, thinking he was going to do the right thing, and all of this shit happened. I feel kind of betrayed by what I thought was a friendship, but obviously, he didn’t give a shit.”

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Transphobic Tweeting

Ellis

Trump advisor Jenna Ellis misgenders and attacks Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine. By John Riley

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RUMP 2020 CAMPAIGN ADVISOR JENNA ELLIS continued her habit of anti-LGBTQ comments, aiming her fire at Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine, who is transgender, and misgendering her in a tweet.

Commenting on a May 2020 article about an incident where Levine criticized a reporter for a right-wing talk radio station after he repeatedly called her “sir” during an on-air interview, Ellis tweeted: “This guy is making decisions about your health.”

Ellis is a senior legal advisor to the Trump campaign, and has a long history of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, including endorsing antiLGBTQ conversion therapy and saying higher HIV rates among gay and bisexual men was “God’s moral law.”

Pennsylvania State Rep. Brian Sims (D-Philadelphia) responded to Ellis’ tweet, saying that Levine is “a world-class public health expert who has been saving countless thousands of lives. I realize you may not know what that looks like.”

Sims continued: “She’s also a hero to LGBTQ+ people like me and doesn’t deserve your scorn or mockery.”

Levine, due to her public persona as the person in charge of Pennsylvania’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, has drawn the attention of anti-LGBTQ social conservatives.

A person in a dress claiming to be Dr. Levine was featured as part of the “dunk tank” at a local festival, a Pennsylvania restau18

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rant named one of its dishes after her in a jab that made a gross reference to her genitalia, and she’s been frequently misgendered on social media with transphobic memes.

The harassment led Levine to denounce the attacks, telling her detractors that they weren’t harming her so much as “perpetuat[ing] a spirit of intolerance and discrimination” against LGTBQ Pennsylvanians, particularly transgender youth struggling with their identity.

In response, a state lawmaker who has previously called for her resignation over the slow reopening of the Pennsylvania economy then rewrote her comments to create a parody in which people who refuse to wear masks during the COVID-19 pandemic are victims of discrimination.

The Human Rights Campaign condemned Ellis’s remarks in a statement.

“Jenna Ellis is a bigot and Dr. Levine is a patriot — plain and simple. Dr. Levine illustrates character and patriotism while Ellis cannot even define those terms. Using a person’s pronouns is a basic level of respect,” HRC President Alphonso David said.

“Despite claims of allyship, Donald Trump, Mike Pence and their staff have gone out of their way to dehumanize and attack transgender and non-binary people simply for existing,” David added. “Trump and his allies have refused to acknowledge the epidemic of violence transgender and gender non-conforming

theFeed to social conservatives, recently told those who opposed a recent Supreme Court decision on LGBTQ workplace discrimination that they should re-double their efforts to elect Trump and ensure that the federal judiciary is stacked with socially conservative judges that will rule against LGBTQ rights.

Ellis has previously claimed that higher HIV rates among gay and bisexual men are a testament that “We cannot escape God’s moral law and His supremacy.”

She has also called the Stonewall Inn monument a “celebration of sin,” has argued in favor of conversion therapy by linking to since-debunked “reference material” that claims it is safe for those subjected to it, and argued that Christians cannot be accepting of homosexuality or equal treatment for LGBTQ people under the law, on the grounds that homosexuality is sinful, and thus, cannot be condoned.

In 2016, following the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, she penned an opinion column in which she lamented that some people began calling for greater tolerance of, or expanded rights for, LGBTQ people following the massacre.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

people face, attempted to strip away their access to health care, and blocked these patriotic Americans from openly serving in the military.

“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Levine has steered Pennsylvania through this crisis leading efforts to reduce the spread of the virus and keep Pennsylvanians safe and healthy.

Our nation has and should continue to laud the frontline workers and public servants confronting this pandemic, not attack them simply for living their truth.”

Ellis responded to the criticism, telling The Hill in an email that HRC “thinks it can define character and patriotism while it apparently can’t even define male and female.”

When Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel attempted to show Ellis’ hypocrisy by showing a “Trump Pride 2020” T-shirt that the campaign is selling — as part of an effort to cast itself as a defender of LGBTQ rights at home and abroad — Ellis continued to troll her critics, tweeting: “I have a lot of pride too that Donald Trump is your President! Great shirt.”

Ellis, an evangelical Christian who often engages in outreach

Change of Mind

Bergin

Mormon therapist apologizes for homophobic past after ‘painful’ education from gay sons. By Rhuaridh Marr

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PROMINENT MORMON THERAPIST WHO SUPported conversion therapy and made homophobic claims about gay people has apologized and urged others to reconsider their anti-gay views. Dr. Allen Bergin is a clinical psychologist known for his work integrating psychotherapy and religion, as well as for his leadership positions within the Church

of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In a formal apology to Latter Gay Stories, a podcast dealing with LGBTQ issues and the Mormon Church, Bergin, 85, revealed that two of sons are gay, as well as one of his grandchildren. As such, he had endured a “painful and enlightening” education on the gay experience, which has transformed how he AUGUST 13 & 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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theFeed views homosexuality.

Bergin’s family responded to the release of “On the Record,” a project created by Latter Gay Stories to document the church’s various stances and doctrines on LGBTQ issues.

During his time with both the church and the Mormonaffiliated Brigham Young University, Bergin was “often quoted

by Church leaders as an authority on homosexuality within Mormonism,” Latter Gay Stories noted.

“Bergin’s research was used to promote LDS teachings that homosexuality was a compulsion, it led to bondage, and labels homosexuals as bizarre,” they write. “He also made claim that the average gay man had between 500-1000 partners.”

Bergin touted that homosexuality could be “overcome” through conversion therapy efforts, including teaching that “self-discipline” and “a mixed orientation marriage” could solve “the problem of homosexuality.”

His family subsequently reached out to Latter Gay Stories, saying that Bergin had undergone “a change of heart.”

“As a mental health professional and psychology professor from 1961 until my retirement in 1999, I was among the traditionalists who believed that homosexuality was a disorder and that it could be treated and changed to some degree,” Bergin wrote, noting that his views “have carried influence in some circles.”

“I regret being part of a professional, religious, and public culture that marginalized, pathologized, and excluded LGBT+ persons,” he said. “As a father of two gay sons and grandfather of a gay grandson, I’ve been given a personal education that has been painful and enlightening.”

Bergin told the general public to “Stop. Listen. Learn. Love,” and said his colleagues, fellow church members, and political leaders should “apologize and compensate those of God’s children who have been afflicted by our treatment of them when they should have been embraced and loved.”

“We are all children of the same Heavenly Parents, who I believe love and value all their children, regardless of sexual orientation, and who grant each of us the same opportunity to

receive Jesus Christ’s Grace,” Bergin concluded. “I will continue my efforts for the rest of my days to receive that Grace for myself and to point others toward His healing and redeeming power.”

The Mormon Church’s official doctrine rules that “sexual relations are proper only between a man and a woman who are legally and lawfully wedded as husband and wife,” effectively forbidding all same-sex sexual relations. However, the church’s stance towards LGBTQ Mormons has changed in recent years.

Last year, the church clarified its opposition to conversion therapy, after Utah — where the church is based — mulled introducing a rule that would effectively ban the practice.

Conversion therapy — also known as “ex-gay” therapy — is a widely debunked and harmful practice that purports to change a person’s sexuality or gender identity, through talk therapy or more extreme methods such as aversion or shock therapy.

While church officials had reservations about the ban and its lack of protections for parents and religious leaders, an LDS spokesperson said, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opposes conversion therapy, and our therapists do not practice it.”

In 2018, the church donated to an LGBTQ support group for the first time, sending $25,000 to Affirmation, which offers suicide prevention support to LGBTQ Mormons, and in 2015 the church gave its assent to a nondiscrimination bill in Utah that protected LGBTQ from discrimination in employment and housing.

Last year, the valedictorian at Brigham Young University made headlines after coming out as gay during his commencement speech. Matt Easton told those in attendance that he had come to terms “not with who I thought I should be, but who the Lord has made me,” adding that he was “proud to be a gay son of God.” And in January 2019, Mormon “ex-gay” therapist David Matheson came out as gay and admitted that conversion therapy doesn’t work and apologized for the “damage and harm” he had caused.

Teacher Trouble Gay congressional candidate Alex Morse rebuts "completely untrue" allegations of improper conduct with students. By John Riley

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OLYOKE MAYOR ALEX MORSE, THE PROGRESSIVE challenger to U.S. House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.), has rebutted accusations that he engaged in improper conduct by pursuing sexual relationships with college students, calling some of the allegations lodged against him "completely untrue."

Speaking on Tuesday with Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti, hosts of The Hill's online web series Rising, Morse denied any wrongdoing and challenged the factual basis of some of the allegations that had been made in a letter from the College Democrats of Massachusetts disinviting him from future events.

In that letter, the College Democrats claimed that Morse, a political science adjunct professor and lecturer at UMass Amherst, matched with Democratic and progressive students on dating apps, added them as "friends" on social media and sent them direct messages, and engaged in sexual relationships with students.

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Though none of the students were in Morse's classes or in a subordinate position to Morse, the letter argued that, while consensual, Morse had created a "lopsided power dynamic" by taking advantage of his position as both an elected official and as a professor.

To begin with, Morse called the timing of the accusations — dropped less than three weeks before what many expected to be a fiercely contested Democratic primary on Sept. 1 — "incredibly suspicious," given that he's been running for mayor for more than a year but the accusations are only coming forward now.

Throughout his campaign, Morse has touted his progressive bona fides, running on a platform that includes support for Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and other liberal initiatives, while also blasting Neal — whom The American Prospect reported in February was the member of Congress who had received the most campaign money from pro-business political

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Morse

action committees — for being beholden to corporate interests and using his chairmanship to defeat amendments or bills that would help working people, including one that would have ended surprise medical billing.

Morse later told public radio station WAMC he believes the Neal campaign was involved in the publication of the allegations against him, saying he would "not be surprised" if more information comes to light regarding the basis for the accusations that reveals them to be part of a political smear.

"I think this is what happens when you go against power," he said. "This would not be happening if I wasn't a candidate for Congress, this would not be happening if I wasn't on the verge of defeating one of the most powerful Democrats in this country.'

A spokeswoman for the Neal campaign told the Springfieldbased newspaper The Republican that the campaign played no role in the publication of the allegations, praising the "courageous" students who lodged accusations against Morse while also noting that the College Democrats came forward of their own accord.

Morse told the Rising co-hosts that the story was "shopped around" to outlets like Politico and The Washington Post in the preceding weeks, who passed on it because they were never able to obtain on-record confirmation from any students who, as the letter claimed, felt "uncomfortable" after learning of his positions.

"Basically the UMass Daily Collegian" — which first reported the accusations — "just printed word-for-word an email from the College Democrats," Morse said. "And the mainstream media, I think, have done an incredible disservice by amplifying this, and publications from the Boston Globe to other outlets have given more scrutiny to my personal sex life, and personal life, than they've ever given scrutiny to Congressman Neals' corruption 22

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and the way in which he's used his power over a 30-year period."

Morse also takes issue with the claims made in the College Democrats' letter, saying that the allegations are vague, although he insists that the messages he sent to people were neither sexual nor salacious.

"If you look at the letter from the College Democrats, there is very little specificity. There are no names. Even their follow-up statement talks about Instagram messages, but doesn't go as far as to say the messages were inappropriate," he said.

"Anyone on my 'Close Friends' on Instagram knows I take pictures of sunsets and chocolate-chip cookies and blueberry muffins that I cook...and so, I just think it's interesting that three weeks out, we're talking about my personal sex life," Morse continued.

Morse flatly rejected the notion that he had behaved in a lecherous manner with members of the College Democrats of Massachusetts. "[T]his suggestion that I would seek out college students at College Democrats events is completely untrue. I've never hooked up with a college student that I've met at a College Democrats event. I've been to one College Democrats event since I announced this campaign over a year ago," he said.

Morse did acknowledge that he should have been more cognizant of his positions of power and the way that might influence people's reactions towards him, and apologized if any students felt "uncomfortable" after he sent them "friendly Instagram messages, thanking them for the panel, or for the event."

"It was never my intention to abuse power whatsoever. And I don't think I ever have. I've never used my status as mayor or as a guest lecturer at UMass Amherst to coerce or take advantage of any students," he said. "I am completely confident that I have not violated any policies of the University of Massachusetts, and

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theFeed I believe I have every right to have consensual relationships with other men."

Morse worries that the controversy will overshadow the substantive issues that have allowed his campaign to gain traction, but also notes that he has received an "outpouring of support" from people in the district — as well as progressives across the country who believe he's being unfairly smeared — with his campaign enjoying one of its best fundraising weeks since its launch last year.

The LGBTQ Victory Fund, which endorsed Morse's bid for office, also expressed skepticism around the timing of the allegations, calling it a "disservice to voters who want a progressive member of Congress but now only have time to make a decision based on vague and anonymous accusations."

"Alex is taking responsibility for actions that made students uncomfortable and we support the independent investigation

by UMass, despite no complaints having ever been made to the university," Victory said in a statement, "But it is critical the media and others avoid reinforcing tired homophobic tropes or sensationalizing this story because of Alex's sexual orientation.

"Alex has been open about the fact that he has had consen-

sual relationships with other men, including students enrolled at local universities that he has met using dating apps, and there are no allegations of non-consent or of anyone underage. The media and voters should review the allegations and determine whether a straight candidate would be held to the same scrutiny and standards."

Morse echoed those concerns about whether fears of similar treatment will intimidate other LGBTQ people from becoming politically engaged due to fears that their personal lives become fodder for political operatives dealing in bad faith.

"What's most problematic is this age-old response to these allegations, the language being used to describe these allegations, and people like me, who have had to ensure an over-policing of our sex lives, as a member of the queer community," Morse said.

"This framing of gay men as predators is incredibly problematic, and something we've been going against for generations....

[Y]oung people and queer people need freedom, too. We deserve to run for office. Will young people, gay people ever run for office, if this is how powerful people are going to treat us when we want to make a difference in this country?"

Harboring Hate

Screenshot of the attack

Gay Arab couple attacked and spat on as large crowd watches. By Rhuaridh Marr

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TEENAGER HAS BEEN ARRESTED IN ISRAEL after allegedly spitting on and attacking a young gay Arab couple in the port city of Jaffa.Hundreds of people watched as the 16-year-old and another person harassed the couple after allegedly spotting them kissing in the harbor, Haaretz reports.

The men were reportedly attacked because of their sexuality, with the alleged suspect telling a witness that they were “[giving] Arabs a bad name.”

Footage of the attack, which police described as “grim video evidence of the brawl,” was shared online, showing the couple being assaulted by at least two men while another person intervenes to help them.

The teenager who allegedly participated in the attack was arrested after the attack and charged with aggravated assault and committing a hate crime.

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Prior to the attack, the couple — who are Arab Israeli — reportedly kissed while in the harbor area after enjoying a boat tour.

Itzik Avneri, who operates a tour boat business, said the attack took place next to his boat and that he tried to help the couple. He told Haaretz that he attempted to restrain the attackers, and ultimately pushed one of them into the water in the harbor — something visible in the background of the footage of the incident.

“I have a tour boat in the port, and there was the holiday [Eid al-Adha] for the past few days when a lot of Muslims come to the port to have a good time and take a cruise,” Avneri said. “Two guys got on the boat to go sailing and when it ended, they got off and sat on the dock next to each other. Other people saw them and spat at them.”

When he intervened, one of the alleged attackers reportedly told him that they were harassing the couple “[because] we’re

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MARVEL

Arabs and they’re gays, and there won’t be gays among the Arabs, it gives Arabs a bad name.”

Avneri said he tried to isolate the couple in a private part of the dock surrounded by a fence, but two people ” jumped over the fence and they began to hit and kick” the couple.

“This violence was just because of the hate,” he said. “There was no talk between them, all they did was look a little bit different, that’s all.”

Avneri added: “What you don’t see in the video is 500 people, not a single one of them lifted a finger.”

LGBTQ youth organization IGY praised police for the prompt

arrest of those involved in the attack, but said the “severe beatings seen in the video are the nightmare of every LGBT+ child in Israel.”

“It should be clear — violence against LGBT+ people continues to rage, and we must fight it with all our might, and in all parts of Israeli society,” they added.

Ofer Cassif, a lawmaker in the Knesset (Israel’s legislature), called the attack homophobic and said it was “a horrific event that must not overlooked.”

“I expect the attackers to be treated as perpetrators of a hate crime in every way,” Cassif said. “Homophobic hatred is as ugly and dangerous as any other form of discrimination.”

Super Ceremony

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Marvel features first-ever same-sex wedding between gay superheroes. By Rhuaridh Marr

ARVEL HAS PUBLISHED ITS FIRST-EVER COMIC featuring a same-sex wedding between two superheroes. In Empyre #4, Young Avengers members Hulkling and Wiccan — alter egos of Teddy Altman and Billy Kaplan — were shown to have wed in a secret ceremony prior to a major cosmic event.

Marvel has published same-sex weddings before, but Hulkling and Wiccan’s nuptials represent the first time that two gay superheroes have tied the knot.

In Empyre #4, the pair head to Las Vegas for a last-minute wedding attended by their Young Avengers friends. They opted to marry prior to Hulkling venturing into space to become the Emperor of the Kree/Skrull alliance, CBR reports.

The wedding was revealed in a surprise flashback at the end of Empyre #4, but was fully addressed in Empyre #5, released on August 12. In the issue, Wiccan describes the wedding as the “ultimate drop-everything secret mission,” decided in the hour prior to Hulkling leaving for space.

“I just looked at him and... I couldn’t keep it in,” Wiccan tells Human Torch and Captain Marvel. “Everything I felt about him.

This unbelievable space prince.”

Hulkling then suggests the couple marry, and they teleport to Las Vegas for the ceremony — where, in an Easter egg, Hulkling 26

Hulkling and Wiccan

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and Wiccan co-creators Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung appear as greeters at the venue.

The characters were first introduced in 2005’s Young Avengers, where their relationship was widely interpreted to be more than just a friendship — something later confirmed by Heinberg, who had intended to reveal their relationship at a later date.

Empyre writer Al Ewing said he has “a lot of love for Hulkling and Wiccan, both individually and as a couple.”

“It’s a good feeling to be able to deliver this kind of ‘shock ending’ for readers,” he said of the surprise wedding, “which hopefully lifts fans’ spirits a little rather than bringing them down.”

Cheung, who co-created the heroes, said he had “no inkling” the characters would survive for as long as they have — gaining status as Marvel’s most prominent gay superheroes in the process,” PinkNews reports.

“Billy and Teddy really became fully fleshed people to me, thanks to Allan’s incredible writing, and it’s been wonderfully rewarding to follow their growth and evolution under the guidance of other creators over the years,” Cheung said.

“Now that they’re taking their relationship to the next level, I can’t wait to watch where their next adventure takes them!”

Here Comes

Inter view b y Doug Rule

Mr. Jordan A natural, hilarious storyteller, Leslie Jordan is the star of this Saturday’s Gay Men’s Chorus virtual summer gala.

It’s not a joke — well, not exactly — but it is a funny tale when recounted by Jordan with his signature flair. It’s also exactly the kind of story that has made his life and career so rewarding.

“I was on a horse, and Boy George led me across the Mojave Desert,” Jordan says. “It was miserable!” The occasion was an elaborate film shoot to capture a 15-second TV commercial starring Boy George to promote a Japanese sake brand.

“That was one of my first jobs,” says Jordan, who was uncomfortably outfitted to portray a monkey with “straws up my nose and prosthetic pieces.”

“I really enjoyed being with him,” he continues. “He's quite the jokester. I asked him at one point, ‘How do I yell to the Japanese crew that I've got one more take in me? How do I say one more? That's all, because the sand is getting into my contact lenses, and it's getting up under these prosthetics, and it's like sandpaper on my skin. I'm bleeding.’ And he taught me a Japanese phrase, because he’s fluent [that] I yelled. And you know what I was yelling? ‘Do you have a big dick?’ Well, they all looked at me and bowed and ran away.”

Spend any time with Jordan, and you’re sure to hear story after story just like that one. And always — always — with Jordan finding the funny. It all comes naturally. “I come from a family of really funny people,” he says. “My dad was hilarious.

And my mother's father was hilarious. So much of my comedy is storytelling. I don't do jokes.” All that storytelling is a reflection of his southern upbringing in particular.

This Saturday, Aug. 15, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington will present Jordan as part of a brand-new virtual gala. Billing him as “the Quarantine Queen and Emmy-winning star of NBC-TV's Will & Grace,” the organizers of “A Summer Soirée with Leslie Jordan” promise “hilarious stories from his many adventures in the entertainment industry.” For his part, Jordan vows to make the most of it. “I'm going to put on a tuxedo, and stand in my apartment, and virtually host a wonderful evening. They have so much planned,” he says. Indeed, gala attendees can expect 28

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PHOTO COURTESY OF LESLIE JORDAN

Have you heard the one about Boy George and Leslie Jordan on a horse in the Mojave Desert?

performances by the chorus, an online silent auction, “special celebrity guests,” as well as appearances by its directors, Justin Fyala and Thea Kano. And all for free.

Jordan has no shortage of material to draw from as the evening’s featured entertainer, be it his colorful upbringing as a self-proclaimed “Southern Baptist celebutante” or the 65-yearold’s long and varied career in Hollywood. “It's more sordid than a movie, okayyyyyyy,” Jordan teases, referencing his starring role in the Southern-fried cult-classic film Sordid Lives.

There’s also, of course, his latest feat, at an age when most others consider retirement: A nearly overnight rise during the pandemic to become the hottest Instagram celebrity around, with five million followers and counting. And he did it all, essentially, by doing what comes naturally. Or, as Jordan puts it, “I just talk about whatever. There is no plan. I just think of something funny, and say it, and post it.”

METRO WEEKLY: Let's start by going all the way back to your roots.

Where did you grow up? And what was your family like?

LESLIE JORDAN: I grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I had an amazing, amazing childhood. Mother had me at 19, daddy was 21. There's myself and then 22 months younger than me are identical twin sisters. We were this golden family with a beautiful mother. When I was little, I thought she was a fairy princess.

She's a bashful champagne blonde, and still at 85 she is the prettiest woman I know. My dad was very handsome, and we were just an adorable, churchgoing family. I was raised in the Baptist church, which is both good and bad. It can get a little rough if you landed in your mother's high heels! All that's in my past, too, any kind of anger or upset. It all made me who I am today. It was a wonderful, wonderful childhood. I'm very blessed.

My dad was in the Army. When we were little, we lived in Germany and all over. And then once I got into school, we settled back where both my mom and dad are from. When I was 11, he was flying to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to Camp Shelby for a summer Army Reserve camp, and the plane crashed. Now that was a terrible time to lose your dad. My mom was 33, with three children to raise. There's a bond there from that. My sisters, over the years, they've always lived together. Now they're married.

But they're the happiest human beings I know.

One time, I remember after I had moved out to the San Fernando Valley, my sisters and I were having dinner. They said, "Do you like it out there?" I said, "Well, it's a little lonely."

They go, "What do you mean?" I said, “All my friends are in Hollywood." They looked at me like, “Oh." I thought to myself, They don't know lonely. Of course, as a concept they do, but they've always had one another. They just don't quite get that.

I thought, wow, that's a great way to go through life, always

having that person.

MW: When did you come out?

JORDAN: I told my mom when I was about 12 years old, in the ’60s. Her only reference was Liberace, who never came out, or Paul Lynde, being snarky in the center square [of Hollywood Squares]. Her advice to me was pretty sterling. I thought that she might pull her Bible out, because she's pretty devout, but she just said, "I'm so afraid Leslie, if this is the path you're going down, that you'll be subject to ridicule. I don't think I could bear that.

Perhaps you should just live quietly." Well, here I am!

She did the best she could with the light she had to see with — that's what my spiritual advisor said. And I love that. I started telling people in high school. I would say, “I’ve got this big thing to tell you: I’m gay!” I got the same reaction every time. They would look at me like, "Duh! Ah, yeah, what else? You're gay and you're a murderer?” I was a very popular kid. I learned very early I could keep the bullies at bay if I could make them laugh.

I was the funny guy [with] a lot of inner turmoil. My main inner turmoil was the spiritual. I wanted to be a good little Christian boy, but yet you have these thoughts, and these desires. And you're just like, "Oh my God! I'm going to go to hell." It was a struggle. I've been baptized 14 times! Every week the preacher would say, "Would the lost sinner come forward?" I'd think, "Oh my goodness. I was behind the barn with that boy. I’d better go down there."

MW: You’re still very close to your family.

JORDAN: We're very supportive of one another. The greatest thing I ever did as an adult was buy them this beautiful two-story, four-bedroom townhouse. God, what you can get in Chattanooga, Tennessee!

MW: Is that where you were living at the start of the pandemic?

JORDAN: Well, I go there quite a bit, and I saw it coming. I thought, “They're going to make us stay home. They're going to make us stay in. [But] there is no way I could hunker down with my mother and sisters.” So I rented a bed and breakfast. [And that’s where] I started posting on Instagram twice daily. For 80 days I did two posts a day. And I have a gobsmacking 5.1 million followers.

And it's all coming to fruition. I'm getting jobs [that] I really cannot talk about. I got this top-secret job that is just amazing.

They'll be announcing it very, very soon, but they've sworn me to secrecy. Then I’m starting [shooting] a big television series for Fox in October with Swoosie Kurtz, Mayim Bialik, and Cheyenne Jackson. A bunch of wonderful actors, and it's adorable. It’s called Call Me Kat. Mayim Bialik and a lady named Darlene Hunt created it. It takes place in Louisville, Kentucky, and it's very southern. It's about a mother-daughter. Swoosie Kurtz plays the mother [and] is very fancy, and goes to the races.

“I was playing a Ferengi on Star Trek. I delivered my first line, and they just fell on the floor. The director said, "This is not ‘Deep South Nine.’

I had to work with a linguist, who said, ‘Mr. Jordan, feather doesn't have four syllables!’”

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“Young actors say, ‘I don’t want to be typecast.’ Yes you do! Yes you do!

The minute you're typecast, you work. All the shit they teach you in acting class, that's not going to happen.

If you're a gay man, you're going to play a gay man.”

Then she's got this 38-year-old daughter, and she's just a little horrified and desperate to get her daughter married. Mayim Bialik says, "I'm fine mom. I'm happy." To spite her, she takes her dowry and buys a cat café. I run the cat café.

MW: Do you like cats in real life?

JORDAN: I do love cats. I'm the pussy wrangler. I don’t have a cat right now — I’m 65 and I travel too much — but my sisters have cats. We're big cat people. We've spent the last two years dealing with a feral cat problem in their neighborhood, and we've got them all now. We catch them and we trap them, and then have them fixed, and then release them.

MW: Speaking of animals, you also grew up around horses, right?

JORDAN: Yeah. I rode my whole life. I got my first pony when I was four, and I rode and I rode. I just went to Kentucky and took a clinic with some of the best American saddlebred instructors.

I'm really getting into it. I may show — I may buy a horse and go to horse shows.

MW: Is that what you wanted to do before acting entered the picture?

JORDAN: I wanted to be a jockey with racehorses, which is a whole different breed. I did that for many, many years. I never became a jockey, I was an exercise rider, where you get on the horses in the mornings and exercise them. I was very involved in that world for years before I started acting.

MW: I know we can't talk about the top-secret show, but I want to clarify something. Do you think you got that because of your success on Instagram?

JORDAN: I know I did, because for the first time, my contract involved how I can take my Instagram followers and help. I've never had that before. We went back and forth, because I said, "Look, I don't post to push things. That's part of my success, that I just post funny things." I've been approached by companies where I could have made a lot of money pushing their products, but I don't do that, I'm having too much fun. We worked it all out, as long as I'm doing fun things. While I was on the set this last week...they would come and say, "You can't post it." I said, "I'm not going to post it. I'm banking it, so I could post it [later].”

Anyway, when you get involved with these big studios — and this is an app, which I don't even quite know what that is! They have a publicity department, and they have a plan, and they’re rolling it all out. I wish I could talk about it, it's a lot of fun. It’s something sweet. I've been in show business a long time, and I could tell by about day three, I said, "Look, we've got something here."

MW: I guess it's fair to say you've become a fan of social media, or Instagram at least.

JORDAN: Well, I wasn't. I was on The Cool Kids with Vicki Lawrence, Martin Mull, and David Alan Grier. I'd say something funny and the girls in the publicity department kept telling me "Post that. Post it.” I said, "I don't know what you mean." They

go, "You don't have Instagram?" I go, "No." Well, they signed me up, and within two or three days I had 20,000 followers, and I was just excited. They said, "Oh, that's nothing. You'll get more." Then Megan Mullally from Will & Grace reposted, and I had 80,000. I said, "Oh my gosh, 80,000 people!" And then I started posting during the pandemic. I was so real about it, just being locked down and going crazy. I started that way — "Well shit, what are y’all doing?" It became a catchphrase. It's a little arduous right now, only because I also have a book deal that I got from my Instagram — which I also can't talk about. This is crazy, but I am writing. They're going to roll it out pretty soon. I want my stories to go into my book.

MW: Will it be a memoir?

JORDAN: No, I had a memoir, My Trip Down the Pink Carpet, where I went into all about growing up gay in the Baptist church.

This is more just stories of me now, current day, more like essays. In the vein of David Sedaris, something like that.

MW: A few months back you participated in a Sordid Lives virtual reunion and performance. How did that go?

JORDAN: What we did was, we read it virtually. It seemed to me, it didn't have the magic — I don’t know. You know what, it's hard. Everything is done virtually, so you're sitting in your bedroom. You see the other actors. But because my particular part of that had to be pre-taped because of scheduling, they were all live and it looked like I was live, but I had already taped my part.

They went on Instagram Live, but I wasn't there. The magic of Hollywood! But I had pre-taped Brother Boy's parts and all my scenes with Rosemary, Dr. Eve. I've done a lot of those Zooms. It just drives me crazy. I want to be in the room with you. I want to see you, I want to hug you. I'm really having a hard time with it.

I walked back in this week onto a set, to a whole new world.

We were at a gated studio. You pulled up to the gate, you had to go on this thing called Work Care, and do a morning check in.

“Do you have a temperature? Have you shown any signs?” Then you get it on your phone, your work clearance. They take your temperature. We had daily COVID tests — daily. I have had so many Q-tips up my nose, I've been sneezing all weekend. I can't take another Q-tip up my nose. We had on-set masks, absolutely.

The make-up and hair [people] had gloves. I thought, “This is it.

It may be like this for a long time.” You just don't know. But it was a whole new way of working. Of course, we were allowed to lower our masks, and take them off when we were working, but the minute that we finished, they went back up. They were very careful with social distancing. We had plexiglass shields between us. It was so bizarre.

MW: It seems likely that we’ll be facing such drastic measures for another six months, or more.

JORDAN: I think so, unless there is some sort of vaccination or something. It's not going to just go away. When people ask me AUGUST 13 & 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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about it, I say, "Listen, when this all started, I thought, ‘I've been through this before, with the AIDS epidemic.’ What happened was, we knew as a community we weren't going to get a lot of help. We thought, ‘We're going to have to take care of our own.’”

That was the birth of Project Angel Food, and AIDS Project Los Angeles. I was around during all of that. We came out of it, I feel, a stronger community. There was more of a sense of us as a community. We're going through the pandemic as a worldwide community — perhaps we'll come out of this a little stronger, and more willing to reach out to one another, to help one another.

I'm trying to look on the good side of it.

MW: I'm with you on that, although I would have thought by now we would have seen signs of that. Since you mentioned it, the AIDS epidemic tracks pretty closely with your time living in Los Angeles, right?

JORDAN: Yeah, I got to L.A. in 1982, and West Hollywood was in crisis. You'd go to the bars every night — we were out every single night. In the early days, people would lose weight really quickly — the first sign. You'd see somebody was gaunt, and you didn't know what to say. You just did not know what to say — but you knew they had it.

MW: That must have taken a real toll on you emotionally and psychologically. But you survived, which is something.

JORDAN: I think those of us that came through it have a responsibility. I've done a lot of fundraising, and a lot of charity work, and giving up my time for that. There is a sense of responsibility, because listen — I was no angel. I was acting out in unsafe ways, that's for sure. But I didn't get it.

MW: And I take it you haven't gotten COVID-19 either?

JORDAN: No, I haven't. I'm healthy as a horse. In the beginning, I thought, "Oh my God, I've got to get checked." Because I'm a little bit of a hypochondriac. We have a wonderful clinic for the Screen Actors Guild. For $25, you can get everything from a facelift to a colonoscopy. I'm over there so much, when I walk in, they go, "So what now, Mr. Jordan?"

MW: Let's talk a little bit more about your career overall and highlights from the past. Do you have a favorite memory? A favorite show? A favorite costar?

JORDAN: I'd say my best memories are of Sordid Lives. We were able to take that from a play to a movie to a television series.

That's pretty spectacular, to take a character all the way through that. And I knew the minute I walked on the Will & Grace set and threw my first line at Megan Mullally, I thought, "This is going to be verbal ping pong. This is going to be fun." I have to say that working with her has been an amazing experience. She's a brilliant, brilliant comedian. Those are probably my two best memories — Sordid Lives and Will & Grace.

Standing on the set of American Horror Story with Lady Gaga for months — I got that, too. George Clooney, I did a series with

him called Bodies of Evidence. It didn't last very long. That was even before E.R. It was so long ago. I did a series with Billy Bob Thornton for years called Hearts Afire by Linda BloodworthThomason. I've worked with the best. I think the wonderful part is that I've done everything I set out to do. I had $1,200 that mama pinned into my underpants when, on Valentine’s Day in 1982, I got on a bus, and I went to Hollywood. I had a degree that I couldn't even pronounce when I got off that bus in Hollywood.

I said, “the-AA-ter." They said, "It's theater." “That's what I said, the-AA-ter!"

MW: So your Southern drawl was a hurdle right off the bat. What about in the decades since, has it gotten in the way at all? Have you tried to tame it?

JORDAN: I've been asked many, many times, but I can't. I’ve tried. It's a marketable package. The only time I got in trouble, I was playing a Ferengi, which is a character from outer space on Star Trek. They put 40 separate prosthetic pieces on me, and I waltzed onto the sound stage and delivered my first line, and they just fell on the floor. The director said, "This is not ‘Deep South Nine,’ it's ‘Deep Space Nine.’ You've got to get that Ferengi north of the Mason Dixon." I had to work with a linguist, who I didn't get along with. She was such a bitch. She said, "Mr. Jordan, feather doesn't have four syllables!”

MW: She sounds like a ringer for the antigay conversion therapist who antagonized your character in Sordid Lives.

JORDAN: Exactly. She was mean to me.

MW: I like the way you describe your accent as part of your “marketable package.” It’s part and parcel with being openly gay and naturally effeminate — on a good day, anyway. Do you think it’s cost you any roles or jobs you tried out for? Did you ever try to suppress it?

JORDAN: I tried. I remember, believe it or not, I was being considered as a hockey coach when they were [casting for the 1992 movie] The Mighty Ducks. Early on, I wasn't quite as typecast as I am now. Young actors say, "I don’t want to be typecast." Yes you do! Yes you do! The minute you're typecast, you work. All the shit they teach you in acting class, where you can do a stretch — that's not going to happen. That happens for Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep. It ain’t going to happen for you. You're going to play what you are. If you're a gay man, you're going to play a gay man.

Can you play a straight man? Well absolutely. But I can't, really. I used to, and I was being considered, I swear to you, for [the part played by] Emilio Estevez in The Mighty Ducks. Why on earth would they consider me for that part? My agent said, "Look, you're out of the running. They've decided to go another way." I said, "Because I'm so sissy!" He said, "No, no, no, no. They just had some problems with your southern accent. It's supposed to be New England." I mean, I could have been in The Mighty

”We’re going through the pandemic as a worldwide community — perhaps we’ll come out of this a little stronger, and more willing to reach out to one another, to help one another.

I’m trying to look on the good side of it.”

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“I've been baptized 14 times! Every week the preacher would say, ‘Would the lost sinner come forward?’ I'd think, ‘Oh my goodness.

I was behind the barn with that boy. I better go down there.’”

Ducks had I been a little butcher, and not so southern. My career £100 a day to eat on. I could go to these fancy restaurants. would have taken a different trajectory.

That's the number one show in Europe, so I thought maybe MW: You’ve played a straight character before though. it would segue into something. I thought, “I’ll be able to do my JORDAN: I have. I went to England to do a TV series, Living The one-man show all over Europe.” But it didn't — it was just a bad Dream. Very early on, I thought the character was probably gay. experience all around. Except when I came off the show [but They didn't say yes or no. Then I saw in some of the future epi- still in London], it was like I was Elvis. They would scream when sodes where I had a little bit of a crush on the lead. Her name they’d see me. was Leslie Sharpe. I said, "Oh, so he's not gay?" They go, "Oh MW: I’ve also heard you say you get recognized often here in the God, no." I thought to myself, it’s different over there, because states. so many European men, you think are gay. I don't think they're JORDAN: I sure do. A lot. I used to love to sit at Starbucks and raised quite with the macho thing we are. I was told when I was read the paper. But I can't do that anymore. People, they line little, "Don't cross your legs." My daddy would tell me, "Little up. They used to want autographs, now they want a picture boys don't sit like that. Little boys don't do this, don't do that." with you, and everybody has a camera. It's, "Just real quick Mr. We were raised that way, but I don't think you have that there. Jordan, can I get a picture?"

They all seem gay over there.

MW: And “real quick” turns into five minutes, or longer.

MW: In 2014, a few years before Living The Dream, you were JORDAN: Exactly. They will tell you things. But you can't comalso seen on British television — as a contestant on Celebrity Big plain, it comes with the dinner.

Brother UK. What was that like?

MW: What would you want to say about your future, or what are JORDAN: Worst experience of my life. I'll tell you exactly what you hoping for? happened. I had some problems with the IRS. I still owed them JORDAN: Here is what I'm hoping. I'm hoping that Call Me Kat, for something, I can't remember. And I couldn't get that damn my series with Mayim Bialik, runs about eight years. I was in bill paid off.... I was really panic-stricken about it. The phone Louisville, Kentucky, last week looking for show horses. Outside rang, and I had been offered five episodes of American Horror of Louisville, there is a town called Simpsonville, the American Story: Freak Show. And I didn't make a lot of money on that show, saddlebred capital of the world. You could buy a farm for like and I thought, "I don't know that I can get it paid off with that." $800,000. A cute little farm with a house, and a barn, and the Then the phone rang, and my manager said, acreage. I think you would never hear or Click Here to Register "You've been offered a reality show." I said, see from me again! I would do my televi"No, I don't want to do that." He said, "It's for the Free GMCW Gala sion show, and then on my break I would Big Brother UK." I said, "No, I've seen that go and ride my horses, which I think is a show. They lock you in a house. No!" He said, "Leslie, the initial wonderful way to grow old. offer is $150,000.” I said, "Well, fuck Ryan Murphy! I'm going."

MW: So you think you might retire there?

I went over there, and the minute I got in that house, I JORDAN: Well, I'll never retire. I will always have a place in L.A. thought, “This is the biggest mistake I've ever made in my life.” I And I want to work longer than Betty White, that's my goal. I'm really had a hard time with it. I fought with everybody, I fought going to still be working in my nineties. I want to work forever. with [eventual winner] Gary Busey — I tried to spit on him, There is no way I could retire. because I thought he spit on me. I mean, just insane behavior on my part. I'm self-diagnosed, but I am radically hypoglycemic — I But I would have a place to go — to get back to the south, get back have to eat little bits along the way or I have sugar drops, and to my roots. Get where you can order sweet tea, and they don't I get mean! My mother has noticed it, and said, "Have you had look at you funny like, "Well, there’s the sugar over there.” “No, I want sweet tea!” sugar? Why are you acting like that?"

Anyway, I got kicked out [of Big Brother]. They kicked me The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington presents the virtual fundout! But I got my money. And my manager at the time was so raising event “A Summer Soirée with Leslie Jordan” this Saturday, smart. They said, "If we kick him out, we have to bring him back Aug. 15, at 7 p.m. The gala’s auction is open until Sunday, Aug. 16, at for the finale." My manager said, "It's only 28 days. If you kick midnight. Free but registration is requested. Visit www.gmcw.org. him out, keep him. We don't want him back here in L.A. Keep him over there." So when I got kicked out I got a two-week vaca- Follow @thelesliejordan on Instagram and other social media tion in London. I was put up in a beautiful hotel. They gave me platforms.

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Gallery

T

Luca Buvoli

HROUGH HIS ONGOING ASTRODOUBT AND THE Quarantine Chronicles series, multimedia artist Luca Buvoli has been reflecting on our present-day realities through the guise of a fictitious astronaut. Named Astrodoubt, the character doesn’t let an earth-shattering deadly pandemic get in the way of his escapist fantasies about life in outer space or a post-pandemic future on this planet.

Buvoli, an Italian-born, New York-based artist also on the faculty at the prestigious Maryland Institute College

of Art in Baltimore, was invited by the Phillips Collection to produce new work that engages in some way with the museum’s permanent collection as part of its Intersections series — and becoming the first-ever digital Intersections edition in the process. The result is an extension of Buvoli’s Astrodoubt series — with the astronaut exploring 12 paintings from the collection, inserting text to reflect on each scene depicted from an often tragicomic perspective of COVID-19. —Doug Rule

Picture: Present is featured on the Phillips’ website as well as on its Instagram account. A Zoom Artist Talk with Buvoli is set for Thursday, Aug. 13, at 5:30 p.m. Visit www.phillipscollection.org or www.instagram.com/phillipscollection.

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Television

State of the Union

Otero, center, with water bottle.

take-no-shit fierceness that generally protects him from some low blows thrown by opponents. He’s one among the movie’s compelling quartet of lead subjects, including Steven Garza, the self-described Boys State documents a contentious mock election progressive son of an immigrant, who where the emotions, intrigue, and shady politics arrives for the week wearing his Beto camare vividly real. By André Hereford paign tee, and Robert MacDougall, whose golden boy, “clear eyes, full hearts, can’t F LIFE IS LIKE HIGH SCHOOL, AND POLITICS HAS BECOME JUST A REAL- lose” bravado belies a genuinely thoughtity show, then the documentary Boys State (HHHHH) has found the perfect for- ful young man. The fourth, Ben Feinstein, mula for distilling our modern political era down to one riveting campaign among a whip-smart amputee who prominently a group of teens in Texas. Since 1935 — starting in Illinois, then throughout the U.S. raises his disability in his campaign speech — the American Legion has sponsored Boys State, which assembles high school lads for party chairman, is the most openly calfor a week-long immersion in the functioning of state and local government. The deep culating, confessing a belief that “personal dive into policy and civil discourse also confers a profound education in partisanship, attacks” are sometimes the most effective, at least according to the film’s broad insight into the summer 2018 assembly of Boys expedient tactic.

State Texas.

Being bright teens, these guys aren’t Day one, participants are randomly assigned to two political parties, Federalist and above deception and obfuscation, yet Nationalist, the members of which must caucus to decide their respective party’s posi- they’re guileless enough to be refreshingtions and candidates in elections for statewide offices. The top elected spot would be ly transparent about it, relative to their the office of governor, although races for party chairman on both sides turn out to be adult counterparts. The film’s directors hotly contested, as well. Of the hundreds of boys assembled, only a few will lead, and, Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss dangle whether to stoke their ambitions, to better themselves, or merely for the power and the question of what happens to politipopularity, the ones who want it really want it. cal aspirants between these noble years They’re all also shrewdly aware that the previous year’s Boys State Texas assembly of wanting to perform a public service, garnered headlines and hits nationwide by voting to secede from the United States. and later becoming a hypocritical party The temptation to leave a similarly sensational mark on history stooge. The distance Click Here to Watch the from one to the other is brought up by more than one participant. They are a savvy group, social media-fluent, conscious of the camera but not overmight not be as vast as “Boys State” Trailer ly self-conscious, and still notably conservative in their politics. seemingly good guys Even in Texas, it’s striking to hear so many 17 and 18-year olds this fired up about being like Steven Garza would hope. Not that anti-abortion and pro-gun. One candidate for party chair, René Otero, calls the experi- any of these kids are bad guys — merely ence an education “that every liberal needs.” the voices of our future reflecting the A Black kid originally from Chicago, Otero operates with verbal dexterity and a truth right back at us.

I

Boys State is available globally on Apple TV+. Visit www.apple.com/apple-tv-plus.

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RetroScene

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BackTracks at Tracks Nightclub, Oct. 1997 - Photography by Randy Shulman To see more photos from this event online, click on the photos below.

AUGUST 13 & 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

RetroScene

American Brotherhood Weekend, April 1998 at The Improv and DC Eagle To see more photos from this event online, click on the photos below.

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LastWord.

People say the queerest things

“Joe Biden clearly still thinks gays are security risks.

No gays or lesbians even considered. ” —Gay former Trump administration official RICHARD GRENELL, in a tweet accusing former Vice President Joe Biden of homophobia for not choosing an LGBTQ running mate. Grenell’s curiously specific accusation ignored a number of LGBTQ people connected to the Biden campaign, as well as the Trump administration having attacked LGBTQ rights an estimated 167 times since January 2017, per GLAAD.

“We have our struggles of course, like every marriage, but me being gay hasn’t been... the biggest issue in our marriage.

It’s been communication. ” —SKYLER SORENSEN, a gay Mormon in Utah, speaking to the New York Post about his “mixed-orientation” marriage to heterosexual wife Amanda. Sorensen went viral for a tweet proclaiming that his “happy” marriage was “like going to Disneyland and having some people tell you you’d be better off at Six Flags. Six Flags may have more rollercoasters, but it’ll never beat the happiest place on earth.”

“These text messages are pathetic appeals to homophobia and they will backfire. ” —Victory Fund President and CEO ANNISE PARKER, responding to news that Shevrin Jones, who is seeking to become Florida’s first openly gay state senator, has been the target of homophobic robotexts linking to a story about him being rejected for blood donation because of his sexuality. Parker said it was “vital that the cowards sending this information are identified and exposed.”

“Your use of that word, as you know, implies a form of harassment to me.”

—WILLIAM SHATNER, in a series of tweets asking Forbes writer Dawn Ennis to stop calling him “cis,” short for cisgender, meaning someone who is not transgender. “It’s used as a slur & term of harassment,” Shatner tweeted. “If you want to use that term in your own mind to differentiate people for whatever reason; that’s your right. You using it to label me; I’m going to object to it because I cannot fathom any positive reason to use it on strangers online.”

“The church has lost her way and fails to communicate this message when it flies a sodomite flag.”

—DANIEL CHARLES SVOBODA, a “Trump Republican” and recent candidate for the Washington House of Representatives, in an email to The Leader explaining why he tore down a rainbow Pride flag from Seabold United Methodist Church on Bainbridge Island.

Svoboda may face charges of harassment and malicious mischief after congregants alleged he threatened them while removing the flag.

AUGUST 13 & 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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