Fab Las Vegas Magazine - Volume 22 - #8 by Gay Vegas

LAS VEGAS VOL 22, #8 25 GayVegas.comYEARS Vegas’ #1 travel site for LGBTQ+ MAGAZINE FabLasVegas.comTheLGBTQ+localschoice Kevin Bacon OUR EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW @GayVegas#GayVegas Monkey Pox - Modus Vivendi Spread - Kevin Bacon Interview - Tuk Watkins Interview An LGBTQ-themed horror movie set at a conversion therapy camp Starring

Kevin Bacon at Camp Again

‘In ‘They/Them,’ the ‘Footloose’ actor’s character has surprises in store for this camp’s new queer recruits

4 Fab Vegas CELEBRITY INTERVIEW

In openly gay writer-director John Logan’s film, vulnerable queer recruits, led by nonbinary actor Theo Germaine’s Jordan, arrive both optimistic and skeptical to Whistler, under the impression they’re seeking ultimate happiness.

But when the pressure to conform is dialed up, that future prospect comes at the expense of their personhood. Known for his roles in “Footloose,” “A Few Good Men” and “Tremors” (some might say his best work was in “Wild Things”), Bacon took a few minutes to chat about the role and how the film challenges LGBTQ+ horror tropes. When you look back at your career, who is scarier: Owen, Jason or the “Tremors”?creepy-crawliesundergroundof

Kevin Bacon is back at camp. Not Camp Crystal Lake, where the 64-year-old actor met his gruesome demise in the original 1980 horror classic “Friday the 13th.” But at the kind of camp that is a horrific reality for queer youth — conversion therapy camp. In “They/Them,” Bacon, partly famous for being stalked by Jack on “Will & Grace,” runs the Whistler Camp, a place sold to LGBTQ+ teens as welcoming and inclusive when just the opposite is true.

Kevin Bacon

Front Cover Photo Credit: Peacock ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Photo Credit: Peacock By: Chris Azzopardi

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6 Fab Vegas [Laughs.] This is how I would compare those: The Graboids [in “Tremors”] are actual monsters. Jason is technically a human being, but he seems to have evolved into having almost kind of supernatural power. But the scariest part about Owen is that he’s a real man. He could be in your family. As the camp leader, you really tap into this sort of warmness that’s very unsettling. That’s something that John Logan and I talked about a lot. We didn’t want to come right out of the gate and have the guy be a drill sergeant or kind of Bible-thumping or terrorizing people right away. We wanted to bring everybody CELEBRITY INTERVIEW in in a gentle and warm sort of embrace, you know? And that left us a place to go so that when the anger and the fear and the manipulation and the darkness of Owen’s character come through, it comes as a little bit more of a surprise and becomes more chilling in that way. You really embody that. For someone who’s long been an LGBTQ+ ally, what was the appeal of doing a movie set at a conversion therapy camp, given the actual horror of that process? You know, it’s one thing to make a movie about very important issues. But sometimes you can make small dramas about these things and you’re gonna be preaching to the converted because they’re not gonna have any kind of widespread appeal. Whereas if you can take, as John so brilliantly did, this horrible notion and package it in a film that has the possibility of widespread viewing, then there’s something beautifully Trojan horse subversive in the Imessaging.thinkwhat John really wanted was for young people on the fringes who are feeling bullied or are closeted or living in some part of the country where who they are is completely unaccepted, to be able to see themselves up on that screen and feel a sense of identity. But the best outcome would be someone who thinks in the same way that Owen Photo Credit: Peacock -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Photo Credit: Peacock

Have you known people like Carrie Preston’s character or an Owen and had to have a conversation about why conversion therapy is not the right route for a queer child? I can’t say that I have. I also have a feeling that if they did feel that way that they probably wouldn’t bring it up with me. But also, maybe that just speaks to kind of [this] rarefied bubble of an existence that I live in. How do you think the film represents the trans community in a different light, as opposed to the typical way they’re portrayed in horror films — as victims or villains? Horror can be different genres, as you know. There’s psychological horror and there’s slasher movies. There’s monster movies, zombie movies, ones with vampires. You know, there’s different kinds of worlds. In the slasher world, the tradition was to take things that society had deemed morally wrong such as drug use, premarital sexuality, homosexuality, goofiness, race, obesity, anything, and kill those people. People seemed to agree that that was a good idea. And so this movie is definitely flipping that notion. I think that horror in general — “Get Out” being one of the great examples of this — is having a little bit more of a pointed view. As far as I’m concerned, it can just be… somebody in a closet with a knife, if it’s done well. But I do think that [“They/Them”] has more of a pointed view. And I can tell you that [during] the first scene that we shot in the movie, me walking out on that porch and looking at those people, I was really trying to

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thinks or that Carrie Preston’s character thinks and sees this and questions this very notion of conversion. They’ll think, “Oh, well, wait a second. This is just not right.”

cool. Maybe I became aware just now, in this moment. [Laughs.] No way. Not the guy who did “Wild Things.” There’s no way that there weren’t gay men coming up to you on the streets and acknowledging that role. [Laughs.] Well, you know, “Wild Things” was crazy because I didn’t even really think about the fact that male nudity would get so much attention. It was something that I... I don’t know. I mean, it’s just naïve of me, but it didn’t even cross my mind that it was gonna become what it became. But it was great, and I like to be acknowledged in any kind of way, so thank you for that.

10 Fab Vegas stay in the headspace of the character. I have to say that I felt a tremendous amount of pride with the fact that these young people were standing there in front of me, and brought together in this film by John Logan and Blumhouse in order to be thiskindsrepresentationsgenuineofalldifferentofpeoplethatmakeupsociety. When in your career do you first remember being aware that you had an LGBTQ+ fanbase? I honestly… I’m so happy to hear that. That never even crosses my mind. Great. That’s Photo Credit: HBO CELEBRITY INTERVIEW

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The

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Photo Credit: Netflix

Tuc Watkins hasn’t just seen how gay relationships have evolved on television — he’s been a part of that evolution.

On “Desperate Housewives,” Watkins portrayed one half of gay couple Bob and Lee, who became residents of Wisteria Lane in 2007. But the 55-year-old actor has actually been playing gay characters since the 1990s, when he portrayed the boyfriend to Alexis Arquette’s character in the 1997 indie rom-com “I Think I Do.” In 1999, he took on the satirical Showtime comedy-drama “Beggars and Choosers,” which ran for 42 episodes. In the show, Watkin’s character, Malcolm Laffley, came out of the closet after being accused of sexual harassment by a Now,woman.as Colin, he returns to a different kind of queer culture in the Netflix series “Uncoupled,” where PrEP and sending butthole pics on Grindr are the norm and, most importantly, LGBTQ+ characters aren’t just mere accessories but full-on leads. In other words, as Colin breaks it off with Michael (Neil Patrick Harris), they don’t get to just watch the drama unfold — they are the Watkins,drama. of course, is no stranger to the kind of heightened emotional spectacle that lives most commonly within the TV world. Beginning in 1994, the Kansas City native spent nearly 20 years on “One Live to Life.” More recently, he played Hank in the 2018 Broadway revival of “The Boys in the Band” and the 2020 Netflix film, which featured the same Broadway cast, including Watkins’ partner Andrew Rannells.

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By: Chris Azzopardi Tuk Watkins

CELEBRITY INTERVIEW

To reflect what it’s like to be single and gay in midlife in an urban environment is not something that we’ve explored a lot. In the hands of [creators] Jeff Richmond and Darren Star, breaking up stinks when it happens to you. But when it happens to someone else, it’s funny.

A gay man being in a bubble after being in a relationship for so long, which is the concept for “Uncoupled” — has that ever been you, where you get back out into the gay world and you’re like, “Wow, gay people have changed”? Unfortunately, I have experience in this arena. I’ve had four significant, intimate relationships in my life, and I’ve been dumped in 50% of those relationships. The reason I think that those two guys dumped me is because they are morons. I am kind and fun and a 100% allaround, wonderful guy. I got back together with those two guys to prove that to them and then we broke up again. Yes. I’ve experienced singledom in midlife and it stinks. Of course, it stinks. You think it might be fun. “Oh, I get to go on the apps, so I get to date around. I get to try all these things that my friends have been trying.” Most of that stuff is more fun in theory.

Speaking of gay men in relationships on TV, I was thinking about Bob and Lee in “Desperate Housewives” and reflecting on whether a shift has happened in how gay or queer men in relationships are portrayed. Have you seen a shift between being an actor on that show and, years later, on “Uncoupled”? Well, I think that’s a really good observation because there has been a shift. When Kevin Rahm and I played the gay couple on “Desperate Housewives,” it was about the same time that Jesse Tyler and Eric [Stonestreet] were playing the gay couple over on “Modern Family.” But what was notable about those two things is that there was a gay couple on those shows. And what I think has happened since is, you’ve got a show like “Uncoupled,” where it’s full of characters from the LGBT community. It’s not just the gay couple who have to represent what a gay couple is. You’ve got different stripes from a very colorful tapestry. I don’t feel like we have to show up and feel like we’re representing what being a gay person means. Because as we all know, there’s a huge spectrum, and that spectrum is now starting to be reflected in the programming that we have. I don’t remember in “Desperate Housewives” how many love scenes you had with Kevin. But I do know that “Modern Family” got a lot of flack for not allowing its gay couple to kiss. I think Kevin and I got married on that show. And if I remember correctly, there was a kiss in the script and it was cut, either by the time we shot it or the time that we aired it. Now to their credit, later, we had a very passionate kiss in another episode, but the fact that it was an issue… It probably went through several committees at the network: “Should they or should they not?” And if you watch “Uncoupled,” there’s a lot more than kissing. I’m no prude, but it gets pretty… in there. The show opens up with you two in bed. It does. In fact, in the script, it was more graphic. What made it into the episode was a little bit tamer, but we are pushing that envelope in scripts and what we shoot. And maybe it doesn’t always make it to screen, but we are headed in that direction. I think that’s a great thing. It’s just more representative of who we are

CELEBRITY INTERVIEW

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Recently, Watkins reflected on his firsthand experiences of playing gay roles, how it took 30 years for him to star in a Darren Star (“Sex and the City,” “90210”) project, and the crazy thing he learned that Neil Patrick Harris can do with his tears.

You’re right because there’s a big learning curve here, as Michael realizes in “Uncoupled.” I imagine straight people also have to deal with some kind of cultural curve after their breakups. Breakups don’t choose a sexuality to be more horrible to. They’re bad to everybody.

I think what is unique about “Uncoupled,” is it wasn’t that long ago that we were celebrating gay marriage, but what comes with gay marriage? Gay divorce, and so there’s two sides to that coin.

22 Fab Vegas as a community. What was the conversation around the scene that was cut and the one that inevitably made it on screen? I was not part of that conversation. I was in the scene, and Neil and I did the scene together. That scene in bed initially was a scene [that] was more graphic in a funny way, but in a very real way. I think they actually made a good choice in toning that down a little bit, because I think it may have set the series off on the wrong foot. The first 30 seconds are very indicative of the tone of a show. I think it would’ve been a good spice to the show, but maybe not in the first 30 seconds. [In a separate interview, Star said, “We wanted to emphasize the intimacy of their relationship and not the sexuality of their relationship. For the first 30 seconds of a show that nobody knows what it’s about, it felt like it was kind of creating almost a false impression of the story we wanted to tell about who these two people were.] Did you audition for the role? Well, I’ve been trying to work with Darren Star ever since he did not cast me in the pilot of “Melrose Place.” I reminded him of that when we started working together. I schemed and plotted and made very fast work of forcing him to cast me almost a half century later. What happened with “Melrose Place”? Well, I auditioned for the gay guy, and he hired that knucklehead, Doug Savant, instead of me. Doug and I later became friends on “Desperate Housewives.” He’s one of the nicest guys in the world, which made it even worse that Doug got the job because a nice guy succeeded. There’s nothing worse than a nice guy succeeding. You stick around long enough, everything comes around. So it took a while, but I got to work with Darren after all. So what was it like to be a part of the Darrenverse? What I like about Darren shows is they’re aspirational. By way of example, I was in a relationship with a guy CELEBRITY INTERVIEW Photo Credit: Netflix

it like building an onscreen romantic relationship with Neil, and how much did you know each other before you started shooting? Neil and I had never met. I quickly learned that Neil is like a surgeon when it comes to his acting style. He knows what needs to be done and he executes it. He knows where the joke is, he doesn’t do too much. He doesn’t do too little. And, well, he’s a magician, isn’t he? In real life, he’s a magician. He’s got a tattoo of a magic trick on his shoulder. One of the magic tricks that I saw him perform was, he has to do some pretty emotional, heavy lifting in some scenes that he and I do. When he was shot in profile, he cried from the eye that was on camera. But he reserved the tears in the eye that the camera couldn’t see, in case there was coverage coming up that he might need to use that eye. Now, that is a real technical, magical actor at work. I didn’t even know that was scientifically possible. Well, he’s got a real facility to his instrument, you could say. You have appeared in some of my favorite shows throughout the years, including “Six Feet Under” and “The Other Two.” I was surprised to find out that you were in “Silk Stalkings,” the show I watched and shouldn’t have as a teenager. I think Rick Springfield beat me up in “Silk Stalkings.” I was

24 Fab Vegas and I had the opportunity to move to New York a number of years ago, and he didn’t want to move to New York. I made him watch “Sex and the City” because who doesn’t want to live in Darren Star’s New York City? I made him watch that and sure enough, it worked and he moved to New York with me. I think [Darren] creates a world that we want to live in. “Desperate Housewives” was also a world like, “Who doesn’t want to live on that street? It looks so inviting.” In fact, I tried to mail a letter in the mailbox one day and the prop guy said, “What are you doing? That’s a prop.” You forget that you’re on a set. For “Uncoupled,” what was

Photo Credit: Netflix

CELEBRITY INTERVIEW

The first musical I ever saw was “The Music Man” with Tony Randall at Starlight Theater in Kansas City, and I was just a kid. I remember that at the end of one of his big musical numbers, Tony Randall climbs to the center of this red, Japanese bridge. One of those short but highly arched, red bridges. He throws out his arms and it’s a big musical number that ends. My takeaway was: “That’s not a real bridge. That’s a bridge on a stage, and that’s cool. I want to do that.” My entrance to being an actor was for all the tricks and the fun stuff. Now that you’ve been doing this for quite some time, have you pulled off the kind of magic you dreamed about as a kid? Well, I used to think as an actor, I wanted to ride a horse, shoot a gun and get killed. I got to do all three of those things in “The Mummy,” 20 years ago. So maybe I should have just retired at that point. It’s all downhill after you get to ride a horse, shoot a gun and get killed. And of course, Rick Springfield. Yes. Well, that was a departure.

CELEBRITY INTERVIEW

26 Fab Vegas beat up by Rick Springfield. What does that do for your ego to be beat up by Rick Springfield? If you’re going to be on “Silk Stalkings,” you might as well. Yeah. Might as well get beat up by Rick Springfield. Growing up, what was the moment in your life where you knew you wanted to be an actor? I remember in high school, I went to see a production of “Cyrano de Bergerac” at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. There was a moment where the stage went dark, and it came right back on and a huge tree branch had come out from under the proscenium. The actors took their cues off of individual leaves that fell off of that branch. I remember thinking, “That is so cool, I want to do cool stuff like that.” I think I was more interested in the magic and the tricks.

Photo Credit: Netflix

Fight the Queer Book Ban By Lovin’ Up on These 11 New LGBTQ+ Reads

By: Chris Azzopardi

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‘I Was Better Last Night,’ Harvey Fierstein Harvey Fierstein is a bona fide gay legend across the board, from his illustrious stage and screen career (among his most memorable work: “Torch Song Trilogy,” “Hairspray” and “Mrs. Doubtfire”) on through “Kinky Boots,” the Tony Award-winning musical he wrote the book for. Of course, there’s everything in between and everything that came before, and in his first memoir, “I Was Better Last Night,” Fierstein reflects on all of the above. The book covers aspects of his life as a prominent figure in the LGBTQ+ community, including his community theater roots in Brooklyn, his nonconformist childhood and two seminal moments in queer history — the early gay rights movement in the 1970s and the AIDS crisis the following decade. In a 2015 interview with Pride Source, Fierstein said, “I don’t believe in life after death, so whoever’s gonna remember me is none of my business, certainly. I ain’t gonna know about it.” With this memoir, surely, though unintentionallyperhapsso,he’s given us yet another reason to not let him slip away into oblivion.

No matter what Republicans tell you, there’s never a bad time to get lost in a queer book. But now just happens to be a really good time to do so as parents pressure administrators to ban books with LGBTQ+ content from school classrooms and libraries. You can take action against these conservative groups relentlessly pushing their troubling censorship efforts. One way? To simply exercise your reading rights by supporting these LGBTQ+ stories and authors.

Ryan O’Connell is currently playing a gay pop culture nerd on Peacock’s “Queer as Folk” reimagining, while also serving as a writer and executive producer. And before that, he created “Special,” the Emmynominated comedy-drama loosely based on O’Connell’s life as a gay man living with cerebral palsy that ran for two seasons on Netflix. Now you can add author to his everexpanding resume with his first foray into fiction. “Just By Looking at Him” tells the story of Elliott, who masks his alcohol addiction with a smoke-and-mirrors career as a TV writer. He’s cheating on his boyfriend, though, and things aren’t great overall. All the while, he has cerebral palsy, which makes him feel like a “gay Shrek.” O’Connell’s story is about the fight to overcome addiction while also searching for acceptance in an ableist world.

Just By Looking at Him,’ Ryan O’Connell

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‘Rainbow Rainbow,’ Lydia Conklin A visiting professor in fiction at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Lydia Conklin’s “Rainbow Rainbow” pulls from various aspects of queer, gender-nonconforming and trans life for this collection of stories: a young lesbian and her lover try to have a baby with an unprofessional sperm donor, a fifth grader dresses as an ox for a class “Oregon Trail” reenactment, and a nonbinary person experiences an open relationship alongside their top surgery during the height of the pandemic.

Described as “a layered story of queerness, assimilation and displacement” to the press, author Putsata Reang’s memoir sheds light on the gay refugee experience in America as she — born in Cambodia, raised in rural Oregon — tells her own story of intergenerational trauma and her complicated relationship with her mother, which she describes as “painful.” In “Ma and Me,” which is based on her Modern Love essay in The New York Times, Reang recalls how, in her 20s, after doing everything she could to be the kind of Cambodian daughter who would make her mother proud, she came out to her. Her mother tells her it’s only a phase, but then, in her 40s, Reang marries a woman, forever changing her relationship with Ma. A journalist for The New York Times, Politico and The Guardian, this is Reang’s first memoir.

‘Ma and Me,’ Putsata Reang

‘You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty,’ Akwaeke Emezi Nigerian fiction writer and video artist Akwaeke Emezi, who identifies as non-binary transgender, has been a celebrated queer voice — a “once-in-a-generation” one, according to Vulture — since “Freshwater,” their 2018 debut novel that is currently being adapted into a TV series for FX. Since then, Emezi has gone on to achieve major prestige, including being named a “5 Under 35” honoree by the National Book Foundation that same year. Their 2019 book, “Pet,” which explored identity and justice, was a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. And their latest book, “You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty,” the story of Feyi Adekola grappling with the aftermath of her lover’s death, was described by The New York Times Book Review as “an unabashed ode to living with, and despite, pain and ‘mortality.”

A Previous Life,’ Edmund White National Book Awardwinning author Edmund White explores polyamory, bisexuality, aging and love in “A Previous Life,” a book about Sicilian aristocrat and musician Ruggero and his younger American wife Constance’s decision to break their promise to each other to refrain from sharing intimate details about past relationships. Their transparency leads to some revealing revelations about each other: Constance was married to multiple older men, and Ruggero has loved not just women, but men too. And White, whose book experiments with writing himself into the story as a secondary character, just happens to be one of them.

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‘Girls Can Kiss Now,’ Jill Gutowitz Author and humorist Jill Gutowitz has been writing about her gay relationship with pop culture (thankfully lots about Taylor Swift) for 15 years, in magazines such as the New Yorker, Vanity Fair and Vulture. Now, in her first book of essays, “Girls Can Kiss Now,” the journalist and essayist expands, with her signature wryness, on the popculture stuff that makes her tick. And then, of course, there is, as the back of the book promises, “the time the FBI showed up at her door because of something she tweeted about ‘Game of Thrones.’”

‘Young Mungo,’ Douglas Stuart The second novel from author Douglas Stuart, winner of the Booker Prize for “Shuggie Bain,” is, at its tender core, a story of queer love and working-class families. Stuart, of course, is no stranger to steeping his literary work in queerness: In “Shuggie Bain,” his coming-of-age debut novel, he wrote about Hugh, a young gay boy growing up in the 1980s with an alcoholic mother. Now, in “Young Mungo,” we meet Mungo and James, who grow up together in a Glasgow housing estate. A world seeks to divide them, but their likedangerouspushesblossomsfriendshipagainst-all-odds—that,intime,intoaromance—againsttheviolent,forcestheymust,manyqueerpeople,face

‘together.

Tripping Arcadia,’ Kit Mayquist If you’ve ever been desperate for a job, you might understand Lena’s situation — to make money, in this case to support her financially challenged parents, no matter how unusual the work. And working for one of Boston’s most elite families is… weird. Weirder, too, the more Lena, a med school dropout, learns about the family; there’s that mysterious live-in doctor and Jonathan, the sickly poetic and drunken heir to the family empire. The author is Kit Mayquist, who is trans, and “Tripping Arcadia,” her debut novel, is a Mexican Gothic soap opera where the champagne flows as freely as revenge and greed.

‘Miss Memory Lane,’ Colton Haynes Colton Haynes lays bare his thoughts on stardom, addiction and living as an openly gay man in Hollywood in his debut memoir, which is described as the story of “a man stepping into the light as no one but himself.” The star of TV shows like “Arrow,” “Teen Wolf” and “American Horror Story,” Haynes writes about a death scare in his 20s that led to his sobriety. He chronicles that galvanizing episode in the book, when he woke up in a hospital after having two seizures, lost sight in one eye, ruptured a kidney and was put on involuntary psychiatric hold. His frank storytelling and emotional transparency moved Elton John and his husband David Furnish; they called the book a “brutally honest memoir that socks you in the gut with its candor,” adding that “Miss Memory Lane” is an example of “how conquering our demons in life is a neverending journey.”

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Time Is a Mother,’ Ocean Vuong “I was grieving, the world was grieving, and the only thing I really had was to go back to poems,” Vuong, who wrote “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous,” told TIME magazine earlier this year. At the time, he was expressing how his mother’s death, paired with the pandemic, led to his latest work, “Time Is a Mother.” The openly gay Vietnamese-American essayist and novelist, whose mother died in 2019 from breast cancer, writes about how he survived that loss in the collection, his second poetry book after 2016’s “Night Sky with Exit Wounds.”

LGBTQIA+ BOOK CLUB -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Equal EqualityImprovingPartners:GenderatHome” by Kate Mangino. St. Martin’s Press $29.99 / 344 pages Plates on one end, bowls on the other, glasses on top. It’s your turn to load the dishwasher tonight, but if you plead ignorance on how it’s done properly, maybe you could worm your way out of it. Somebody else’ll do it, so go sit down. Take a rest and read “Equal Partners” by Kate Mangino, then ask yourself if you could’ve assumed another chore Severaltonight.yearsago, researchers finally acknowledged what generations of women already knew: that many working women were responsible for a “second shift” after 5 p.m. The first shift was the job for which they received a paycheck; second shift included making meals, straightening up, schoolwork help, and all the other things that needed doing at home. Researchers also noted that the “second shift” is detrimental to men and boys; Mangino says that such gender inequality happens around the world, restricting everyone, perpetuated by “all Mostgenders.”often, she says, even when we try our hardest to maintain equality in the home, women generally take responsibility for “routine tasks” and men take “intermittent tasks.” It’s easy to slip into those roles; in fact, avoiding them takes real effort – although, interestingly enough, most same-sex couples do pretty well in “fiftyfifty equality.” Still, no matter what your domestic situation, there are always improvements to sieze that can make your household a more equitable one.

By: Terri Schlichenmeyer

First, know that things won’t fix themselves. Do a “gender check-up” to determine where you stand in your household and on the equal-housework spectrum. Before launching into a life-altering event such as marriage, having a baby, or starting a business, know what questions to discuss with your partner so you’re closest to an agreement. Remember that “women perpetuate sexism, too” and that men generally have “Four motivational themes” for their actions. Pick some role models, and be one, too. And finally, watch your words. They might need to be “tweaked” to reflect more Flipmindfulness.through “Equal Partners” and if you’re a man, you may feel a little on the defensive.

Though it’s not without a little abrasiveness, “Equal Partners” is a good conversation starter for fixing the status quo in your relationship status, regardless of what it is. Find this book, and add another thing to your plate.

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Author Kate Mangino seems to side with women on issues of home work, but she vows that she’s not showing bias, that statistics confirm her points. Still, some readers may have a lot to overcome before reading this book about overcoming inequality at Fortunately,home. Mangino shows why this is absolutely worth Throughdoing. pages and pages of stories – some that may have you thinking Mangino was peeking in your kitchen window – she systematically lays out how things get to be how they are and what actions couples can take. There are quizzes to tackle and places for notes (a reason to buy this book outright) and if you’re still not quite convinced, there are happy interviews with dozens of people for whom satisfaction lies in change.

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In hopes to lessen the stigma surrounding the Monkeypox virus, Brian Bonds spoke with Fox 5 Vegas about his experience with this disease.

Photo Credit: Facebook.com

Despite the findings of positive Monkeypox cases being found primarily amongst gay and bisexual men, the CDC continues to advise that Monkeypox can spread to anyone through close, personal, and often skin-to-skin contact.

Vegas man and adult film actor Brian Bonds one of first Monkeypox cases in Nevada

Brian has also tested positive for COVID-19 at the same time causing him to experience additional Accordingsymptoms. to data released by the Southern Nevada Health District, Clark County has already confirmed 100 cases with 99 of them men.

For additional information and resources including vaccine schedule, please www.SNHD.info/monkeypoxvisit:

The adult film actor, who has previously made appearances at local gay bathhouse Hawks Gym, was returning home from San Diego Pride when he eventually noticed a bump on his Thenose.bumps became very painful and were described as “being punched in the nose for like three days straight”, he told Fox 5 Vegas.

Visit www.HawksGym.com

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• Mutual monogamy means that you and your partner both agree to only have sexual contact with each other. This can help protect against STDs, as long as you’ve both been tested and know you’re STD-free.

• Not having insurance or transportation can make it more difficult for young people to access STD testing.

consider before having sex. It’s okay to say “no” if you don’t want to have sex.

You can get an STD by having vaginal, anal or oral sex with someone who has an STD. Anyone who is sexually active can get an STD. You don’t even have to “go all the way” (have anal or vaginal sex) to get an STD. This is because some STDs, like herpes and HPV, are spread by skinto-skin contact. How common are STDs? STDs are common, especially among young people. There are about 20 million new cases of STDs each year in the United States. About half of these infections are in people between the ages of 15 and 24. Young people are at greater risk of getting an STD for several reasons:

Information for Teens: Staying Healthy and Preventing STDs

• Girls and young women may have extra needs to protect their reproductive health. Talk to your doctor or nurse about regular cervical cancer screening, and chlamydia and gonorrhea testing. You may also want to discuss unintended pregnancy and birth control.

• Avoid mixing alcohol and/or recreational drugs with sex. If you use alcohol and drugs, you are more likely to take risks, like not using a condom or having sex with someone you normally wouldn’t have sex with.

If you choose to have sex, know how to protect yourself against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

• If you do decide to have sex, you and your partner should get tested for STDs beforehand. Make sure that you and your partner use a condom from start to finish every time you have oral, anal, or vaginal sex. Know where to get condoms and how to use them correctly. It is not safe to stop using condoms unless you’ve both been tested for STDs, know your results, and are in a mutually monogamous relationship.

• Young women’s bodies are biologically more prone to STDs.

• Some young people have more than one sex partner. What can I do to protect myself?

• Make sure you get the health care you need. Ask a doctor or nurse about STD testing and about vaccines against HPV and hepatitis B.

• Before you have sex, talk with your partner about how you will prevent STDs and pregnancy. If you think you’re ready to have sex, you need to be ready to protect your body. You should also talk to your partner ahead of time about what you will and will not do sexually. Your partner should always respect your right to say no to anything that doesn’t feel right.

• The surest way to protect yourself against STDs is to not have sex. That means not having any vaginal, anal, or oral sex (“abstinence”). There are many things to

• Many young people are hesitant to talk openly and honestly with a doctor or nurse about their sex lives.

• Some young people do not get the recommended STD tests.

What are sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)? STDs are diseases that are passed from one person to another through sexual contact. These include chlamydia, gonorrhea, genital herpes, human papillomavirus (HPV), syphilis, and HIV. Many of these STDs do not show symptoms for a long time. Even without symptoms, they can still be harmful and passed on during sex. How are STDs spread?

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• Some young people do not get the recommended STD tests.

HowCDC

There are places that offer teen-friendly, confidential, and free STD tests. This means that no one has to find out you’ve been tested. Visit GetTested to find an STD testing location near you. Can STDs be treated?

Transmitted Diseases www.cdc.gov/std/prevention/ Teen Pregnancy https://www.cdc.gov/ teenpregnancy/teens/ index.htm CDC-INFO

What are sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)?

STDs are diseases that are passed from one person to another through sexual contact. These include chlamydia, gonorrhea, genital herpes, human papillomavirus (HPV), syphilis, and HIV. Many of these STDs do not show symptoms for a long time. Even without symptoms, they can still be harmful and passed on during sex. How are STDs spread? You can get an STD by having vaginal, anal or oral sex with someone who has an STD. Anyone who is sexually active can get an STD. You don’t even have to “go all the way” (have anal or vaginal sex) to get an STD. This is because some STDs, like herpes and HPV, are spread by skin-to-skin contact. How common are STDs? STDs are common, especially among young people. There are about 20 million new cases of STDs each year in the United States. About half of these infections are in people between the ages of 15 and 24. Young people are at greater risk of getting an STD for several reasons:

• The surest way to protect yourself against STDs is to not have sex. That means not having any vaginal, anal, or oral sex (“abstinence”). There are many things to consider before having sex. It’s okay to say “no” if you don’t want to have sex.

Your doctor can prescribe medicine to cure some STDs, like chlamydia and gonorrhea. Other STDs, like herpes, can’t be cured, but you can take medicine to help with the symptoms.

• Some young people have more than one sex partner What can I do to protect myself?

Testing: Conversation Starters https://healthfinder.gov/ startershiv-and-other-stds/std-testing-conversation-Category/health-conditions-and-diseases/HealthTopics/ American

CS287360A

• Many young people are hesitant to talk openly and honestly with a doctor or nurse about their sex lives.

• Make sure you get the health care you need. Ask a doctor or nurse about STD testing and about vaccines against HPV and hepatitis B.

against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Health Association Sexual Health and You http://www.iwannaknow.org/ teens/ sexualhealth.html

HealthFinder.gov

If you are ever treated for an STD, be sure to finish all of your medicine, even if you feel better before you finish it all. Ask the doctor or nurse about testing and treatment for your partner, too. You and your partner should avoid having sex until you’ve both been treated. Otherwise, you may continue to pass the STD back and forth. It is possible to get an STD again (after you’ve been treated), if you have sex with someone who has an STD. What happens if I don’t treat an STD?

• Not having insurance or transportation can make it more difficult for young people to access STD testing.

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Some curable STDs can be dangerous if they aren’t treated. For example, if left untreated, chlamydia and gonorrhea can make it difficult— or even impossible—for a woman to get pregnant. You also increase your chances of getting HIV if you have an untreated STD. Some STDs, like HIV, can be fatal if left untreated. What if my partner or I have an incurable STD? Some STDs, like herpes and HIV, aren’t curable, but a doctor can prescribe medicine to treat the Ifsymptoms.youareliving with an STD, it’s important to tell your partner before you have sex. Although it may be uncomfortable to talk about your STD, open and honest conversation can help your partner make informed decisions to protect his or her health. If I have questions, who can answer them? If you have questions, talk to a parent or other trusted adult. Don’t be afraid to be open and honest with them about your concerns. If you’re ever confused or need advice, they’re the first place to start. After all, they were young once, Talkingtoo. about sex with a parent or another adult doesn’t need to be a one-time conversation. It’s best to leave the door open for conversations in the future. It’s also important to talk honestly with a doctor or nurse. Ask which STD tests and vaccines they recommend for you. Where can I get more information? You Can Prevent Sexually Contact Center ContactUs/Form STD Sexual

Many STDs don’t cause any symptoms that you would notice. The only way to know for sure if you have an STD is to get tested. You can get an STD from having sex with someone who has no symptoms. Just like you, that person might not even know he or she has an STD. Where can I get tested?

If I get an STD, how will I know?

1-800-CDC-INFO Contact(1-800-232-4636)wwwn.cdc.gov/dcs/

• Young women’s bodies are biologically more prone to STDs.

HIV is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system.It is usually spread by anal or vaginal sex or sharing syringes with a person who has HIV. The only way to know you have HIV is to be tested. Everyone aged 13-64 should be tested at least once, and people at high risk should be tested at least once a year. Ask your doctor, or visit gettested.cdc.gov to find a testing site. Without treatment, HIV can make a person very sick or may even cause death. If you have HIV, start treatment as soon as possible to stay healthy and help protect your partners.

WHAT IS HIV?

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), are infections that are commonly spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex and oral sex.

WHAT IS A SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE?

STD (SEXUALLY TRASMITTED DISEASES) INFO

Nevada is the fifth highest state in the United States for rates of new HIV diagnoses and is #1 in Syphillis to CDC HIV Surveillance Report, 2017 and the CDC Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance Report, 2017 released in 2018

SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES INFO, TESTING & RESOURCES

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*According

FabLasVegas.com 41 STD TESTING RESOURCE SOUTHERN NEVADA HEALTH DISTRICT ADDRESS 1: 280 S. Decatur Blvd. Las Vegas, NV 89107 HOURS: Monday – Friday 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (closed 12 – 1 p.m.) ADDRESS 2: 4201 W. Washington Ave. Las Vegas, NV 89107 HOURS: Monday – Wednesday 9 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. The following services are offered at the Sexual Health Clinic: 1. Diagnosis and treatment of active or suspected cases of: • Chlamydia • Gonorrhea • Syphilis • HIV • Trichomonas (females only) • Bacterial Vaginosis (females only) 2. Free condoms and instruction on how to safely use them (both male and female condom) 3. Follow-up bloodwork 4. Hepatitis screening, diagnosis and treatment 5. High-risk behavior counseling 6. HIV Nursing Case Management 7. Injection series for syphilis medication 8. Partner notification 9. Referrals by private physicians 10. Sexual assault follow-up 11. Test results and couseling Clients seeking treatment at the Sexual Health Clinic should know that the Health District is required to report cases involving assault or abuse to appropriate agencies. HIV Testing: HIV antibody testing is a simple blood test performed by a trained professional. This procedure is strictly confidential. Counseling regarding the meaning of the test and its result take place before the actual testing to ensure you understand HIV infection and the testing procedure. HIV testing procedure: Blood Test – Blood drawn from a vein is tested for HIV antibodies. This test is available at the Sexual Health Clinic (280 S. Decatur Blvd. Las Vegas, NV 89107 ), Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Please call (702) 759-0702 for more information. If you have questions, contact the clinic by phone at (702) 759-0702 or by email at SexualHealth@snhd.org

PRIDE FLAGS

46 Fab Vegas COMMUNITY RESOURCES

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AFAN works to reduce HIV infection through prevention and education to eliminate fear, prejudice and the stigma associated with the disease.

Aid for AIDS of Nevada (AFAN) provides support and advocacy for adults and children living with and affected by HIV/AIDS in Southern Nevada.