QUEER QUOTE: The entire Palm Springs City Council is LGBTQ!

The City of Palm Springs is Queer. Really, really queer! The Williams Institute at UCLA says that Palm Springs has the largest number of same-sex couples per capita in the state of California and is 3rd in the nation.

After last Tuesday's election, Palm Springs has another reason to be considered really queer. All 5 members of the City Council are members of the LGBT community (and Democrats!) Not even "Boystown, USA" (i.e. West Hollywood) has achieved that feat.

The five openly LGBT members of the City Council will be:

• Lisa Middleton*, transgender woman 

• Christy Holstege*, bisexual woman 

• Geoffrey Kors, gay man 

• Robert Moon, gay man 

• J.R. Roberts, gay man

Middleton and Holstege were just elected. The Los Angeles Times reported:

But now, the city is marking a new milestone in gay politics as well. When the two new members of the Palm Springs City Council are sworn in next month, every person on the panel will be a member of the LGBTQ community.

Lisa Middleton, a transgender woman, and Christy Holstege, a woman who identifies as bisexual, each won about 30% of the citywide vote to beat four other candidates and fill two vacant seats on the council. The pair will join three gay men on the five-person body.

Hmmmm, I haven't been to Palm Springs for awhile either. Time to make a trip!

hat/tip to Los Angeles Times

MOVIE REVIEW: Hot Guys With Guns

I happened to hear about a 1-week screening of Doug Spearman's directorial debut feature film Hot Guys With Guns and was happy that I could catch it in theaters before it is available on video-on-demand from Wolfe Video.

One tag line for the film is "Lethal Weapon if Mel Gibson and Danny Glover were ex boy-friends" and another is "It's Chinatown meets Boystown!" The films stars Brian McArdle as Patrick "Pip" Armstrong and Marc Anthony Samuel as Danny Lohman. Danny and Pip are ex-boyfriends who find themselves embroiled in a curious investigation when Pip is robbed after his attendance at an exclusive Hollywood sex party. Danny is an actor who is taking a night class on becoming a Private Investigator at a local Junior College so together the two try to discover the secrets behind who is victimizing guys who attend certain A-list sex parties. Danny's teacher Jimmy helps the two in the finer points of holding and shooting a gun and as the plot thickens dead body and hooded assailants appear, making it clear that someone has a secret they do not want to be revealed.

The movie is definitely campy and some of the acting is hit or miss. For an unabashedly gay take on the "Nick and Nora" genre of detective films Hot Guys With Guns is definitely a better movie than you would expect  it to be and less serious a film than it thinks it is.

There are definitely hot guys, with scantily clad twinks, hotties and studs galore as our heroes go "undercover" at one of the sex parties to get to the bottom (sic) of what's been going on and find out a lot more about Hollywood's underbelly that appears to be ripped from today's headlines.

The strengths of the movie are its production values (the soundtrack and songs by Mervyn Warren are excellent), the direction (the film is well-paced and even though the story is as thin as an extra-sensitive condom it does not drag) and the performance by Alan Blumenfeld as Jimmy Peppicelli, the PI who teaches Danny's night class in private investigation.

The primary weakness in the film is in the casting. The actors are fine in their roles (for the most part, with some notable exceptions who I shall refrain from mentioning) but I never really believed in the alleged sexual tension between Danny and Pip as ex-boyfriends. One reason is that although both actors are attractive, in my opinion neither of them is really "leading man attractive" in a compelling way. The member of the cast for whom that is true is Darryl Stephens, who was previously the leading man of Noah's Arc. Here Stephens is cast against type as a villain which he sorta pulls off but I think the film would have worked better with him as Danny and any number of very cute white boys who can act and look good in a tank top and speedo as Pip. I understand others may not feel the same way and casting is a mysterious process.

Overall, the film works on its own as a light entertainment, much better than your average niche gay genre film, and that is a significant achievement, really. See it for yourself!

Title: Hot Guys With Guns.
Director: Doug Spearman.
Running Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Release Date: June 27, 2013.
Viewing Date: April 4, 2014.

Writing: C+.
Acting: B-.
Visuals: B+.
Impact: B.

Overall Grade: B/B- (3.167/4.0).

SATURDAY POLITICS: Will L.A. Have An Openly Gay County Supervisor?

Hmmm! The plot thickens in the low-profile but incredibly important Democratic primary election for Los Angeles County Supervisor on June 3rd. The L.A. County Supervisor is one of the most powerful elected positions in the country, with each of the 5 Supervisors representing roughly 2 million Angelenos, more than several U.S. Senators. There are two Districts up for election this year, District 1 where Gloria Molina is being termed out and is likely to be replaced by former Congresswoman (and Obama Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis) and District 3 where 8 candidates are vying for the top two slots, with two openly gay candidates are serious contenders. MadProfessah has already endorsed Sheila Kuehl. Kuehl announced her intentions to run for this seat years ago and has had a historic political career as the first openly LGBT member of the Assembly and the Senate. Kuehl has also won the endorsement of the Los Angeles County Democratic Club and the East Area Progressive Democrats.

Last Sunday the Los Angeles Times picked John Duran over Kuehl in its endorsement for the 3rd District, possibly upending the race.

Kuehl, to be sure, has a strong record in those areas as well, and her knowledge of and experience in state government would be of great benefit to the county, which gets much of its funding and many of its programming guidelines from Sacramento. Of the two, though, Duran gets the nod because he is also the one most likely to lead the county toward new and better ways of thinking about and doing its business.

The primary election is less than two weeks away. Voting has been going on  by mail for at least two weeks already. Thanks to a stupid ballot initiative that passed in June 2012, California now has a "Top 2 jungle primary" which means that regardless of party, only the Top 2 candidates will be on the November ballot after surviving the primary. I have my absentee ballot and will be giving my endorsements next weekend.

It would be incredibly exciting if the top two candidates are openly gay, but most likely Bobby Shriver and either Kuehl or Duran will make the cutoff. If both LGBT candidates do make the run-off there will be an internal lesbians versus gays fight like we have not seen since the 2012 battle between Torie Osborne (Kuehl's former lover and longtime ally) and Betsy Butler (Duran's straight best friend who has served on the board of Equality California). In fact some say that Duran's entry into the Supervisor race is basically payback for some of the chicanery that occurred in the bitter fight in 2012 for the 50th Assembly District (where both their candidates lost and Richard Bloom ended up winning the seat).

Hopefully this time an LGBT candidate will emerge victorious, instead of bloodied and defeated.

WARNING! Deadly Meningitis Virus Now In Los Angeles County

Bad news from Los Angeles today. The deadly strain of meningitis which has led to the sudden deaths of multiple gay men in the New York City area and resulted in calls for all sexually active gay men in NewYork State to get vaccinated has now appeared in West Hollywood, the main gayborhood of Los Angeles.

Karen Ocamb reports about the death of Brett Shaad, a 33-year-old gay man, at her LGBTPOV blog:

Brett Shaad died of bacterial meningitis Friday afternoon, April 12. The 33 year old West Hollywood resident was a lawyer, a real estate broker and very popular among his friends, many of whom surrounded his bed at Cedar Sinai Hospital in shock and disbelief. 

“Last weekend I was with him at a local restaurant on Santa Monica Boulevard,” said West Hollywood Councilmember John Duran at a news conference about the meningitis scare. “He was tall and muscular, robust, looking as fit as a fiddle and we notified on Wednesday he was at Cedars and then yesterday, he was in a coma. And now he’s going to be removed from life support.” 

[...] 

Duran said that there is no evidence yet to connect this particular strain of meningitis to the strain in New York City that has resulted in 22 cases since 2010, with seven deaths.  However, the prevalence of the disease is the same – it is hitting sexually active gay and bisexual men and men who have sex with men. 

“Here, in the City of West Hollywood, we obviously have a very large number of gay men in our city and our community. We’re very concerned that two weeks ago, the White Party gathered about 10,000 gay men in the city of Palm Springs – including [gay men] from New York.” 

[...] 

But, Duran suggested, West Hollywood itself is a large gathering of LGBT people who, by nature or design, enjoy hugging, kissing, dancing in a way that produces sweat, and having close contact often without thinking. 

“We’re seriously concerned because every weekend in the City of West Hollywood, we host in the neighborhood of 200,000 LGBT people who come here for our nightclubs and night life – so we want to place the community on high alert that we may have an issue,” Duran said.  “We’re going to be monitoring this very closely. I asked the personnel here – including [LA County Health Dept. Area Director] Dr. Liggins upstairs: when does an outbreak become an outbreak?  I was given the explanation that with the Ebola Virus, one case is an outbreak. With this particular case, we have one reported case here now. We’re hearing from a physician in town there may be one reported case in Palm Springs – so we’re very closely monitoring what’s happening. If we start to hear that there is another case or another case, we’ll be right back on the phone with Dr. Liggins to say, ‘OK, now if we have 2 or 3 cases in the West Hollywood community, do we have an outbreak yet?” 

Duran also raised concern about the availability of sufficient vaccine to prevent the spread, if requested by people at risk. “We’re going to be working with our partners at the Gay and Lesbian Center, as well as the pharmacies in town, to make sure we have – if necessary – enough vaccines to get it out there to prevent the spread of meningitis. We learned a very tough lesson 30 years ago that we are not going to go through again here in West Hollywood.”

This is scary news, y'all! Bacterial meningitis can kill you in a few days from the onset of symptoms, if not treated right away. However, there is a vaccine which should inoculate you from contracting the disease.

According to Karen, the medical director of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center has sent a letter to the L.A. County department of health requesting that they provide vaccines to all gay men who request them (they cost $100-$200, and HIV-positive men need a double dose). I'm not sure what the status of the request is, but I will try to cover more details of this story as more is known. You should also check Karen Ocamb's coverage at Frontiers L.A..

hat/tip to Karen Ocamb

2013 L.A. Municipal Election: Analyzing The Results

The results of yesterday's Los Angeles Municipal elections are in and it looks like Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel will be competing in the May 21 runoff (on my birthday!) The Los Angeles Times (and MadProfessah) had endorsed Garcetti, so we are happy about this result. Even if he loses and Greuel is Mayor, history would be made in having the first female Mayor of one of the Big 3 cities (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago), so as a feminist I would not be totally displeased with the result. Surprisingly, an openly gay candidate (who also happens to be a Republican) Kevin James looks to be placing third, which must be somewhat embarrassing for Jan Perry who seems to be coming in fourth place.

Here's what the results look like so far:

Garcetti is firstwith 32.9% of the vote, which is pretty good in basically a 5-person feel, more than 10,000 votes ahead of Greuel with 29.2% which is not too shabby either. James and Perry are just over 1,000 votes apart so its possible that margin could tighten.

In other important news, Mike Bonin was able to win his former boss's City Council District 11 seat, ensuring that the body will continue to have an openly gay member on it with an overwhelming 62% of the vote. In fact, it is likely that the 15-member body may have two openly gay members. In Garcetti's City Council District 13, openly gay Mitch O'Farrell (18.6%, 3535 votes) is a few hundred votes ahead of John Choi (16.4%, 3158 votes) while two other openly gay candidates Matt Szabo and Alexander Cruz de Ocampo failed to make the run-off. This was a disappointing result for Szabo, who was a Deputy Mayor in the Villaraigosa regime.

Openly gay candidate Ron Galperin (37.1%) is just squeaking ahead of City Councilman Dennis Zine (37.0%) to replace Greuel as Los Angeles City Controller.

In West Hollywood, openly gay members Jeffrey Prang and John Duran won re-election to the 5-member council, which will maintain its longtime openly gay majority.

FOOD REVIEW: Burger Lounge (San Diego, CA)

While I was visiting San Diego for a conference recently I stumbled across a burger joint called Burger Lounge in the Gaslamp quarter. I had not heard of the chain before and was surprised to see that it was primarily a Southern California-based institution, with two locations in two gayborhoods (Hillcrest in San Diego and West Hollywood in Los Angeles).

As longtime readers of this blog know, I have been on a quest to find the best burgers in America for quite awhile. Some of the excellent ones I have previously found are brgr:shack (Arlington, sadly now closed!), Ray's Hell Burger (Arlington), Lazy Ox Canteen (Los Angeles) and Burger Joint (New York City). These are all in the burgeoning category of "better burger" joints with often higher quality ingredients and very modern and sleek dining environments. These are not your average $5 burger. For that, #1 on my list is still In-N-Out burger (Five Guys is close behind, but no one can beat In-N-Out for it's quality:price ratio.

But let's talk about Burger Lounge.  I generally try to order the same thing at burger places that I am trying out for the first time, usually some kind of cheeseburger. At Burger Lounge I had The Lounge Burger™ ($7.95) which consists of "100% American Grass-Fed Beef, Lounge Bun, Crisp Lettuce, Fresh Tomato, House-Made 1000 Island, Organic American Cheese and Grilled Onion." I added the small French Fries ("Fresh-Cut, Twice-Cooked in the Belgian Tradition") for $2.99 and the delightful Organic Cane Sweetened Maine Root Soda ($2.25).

The burger was excellent with the bun impressively light, but slightly toasted. It was too much bread for me, so I actually ate the burger as an open-faced sandwich, which worked quite well. It was grilled exactly to my specifications (amazingly some places do not know what medium-rare means: light pink in the center and moist throughout the patty). No single ingredient overwhelmed any other and they all blended well together; the only thing that could have improved it would have been the option of adding bacon (but then again, doesn't bacon make everything taste better!?)

Many of the better burger joints often lose points with me for neglecting to maintain the quality of their sides in their single-minded focus on the burger. But, to me, it is about the combination of burger plus fries plus beverage. Here, Burger Lounge really outdoes itself. The twice-cooked fries are simply excellent. Piping hot, very crunch and in a cute very solid paper box (like a chinese take-out container for rice). My one quibble is that they cut them into pieces which are slightly too small. The fries, combined with the drink (high-quality soda over shaved ice) make Burger Lounge one of the best of the better burger joints I have sampled. I would definitely rank it among one of the best burger experiences I have had on the West Coast, and in the upper echelons of burgers in the country.

Name: Burger Lounge (Gaslamp Quarter).

Location: 528 5th Avenue, San Diego CA 92101.

Contact: 619-955-5727.

Visit: January 11, 2013.

AMBIANCE: A-.

SERVICE: A.

VALUE: A.

FOOD: A+. 

OVERALL: A (4.0/4.0)

Where We Live: The "gayborhoods" of America

This is interesting! The real estate blog Trulia did an analysis of 2010 U.S. Census data which recorded in what geographical census tracts same-sex couples lived and overlaid it with median price per square foor for homes listed to come up with the list of the Top 10 "gayborhoods" in the U.S. by percentage of the neighborhood which is either male or female same-sex couples. One interesting thing to note is that of the Top 10 the only jurisdiction where same-sex couples can get legally married right now (or in 2010 when the data was from) is Provincetown, Massachusetts (although I suspect many of the California couples would have been married in the June 15-November 3, 2008 173-day window when marriage equality was legal in my home state).

To summarize

Just three neighborhoods — Provincetown, Rehoboth Beach, and the Castro — are on both the men’s and women’s top lists. The top four women’s neighborhoods, including Provincetown, are in Massachusetts. But one of the biggest differences is that the top men’s neighborhoods are much gayer than the top women’s neighborhoods: just one women’s neighborhood breaks the 5% barrier, while five men’s neighborhoods have more than 10% same-sex male couples. Remember, there are roughly the same number of male and female couples in the U.S. So, that means that male couples are much more clustered in particular neighborhoods than female couples are: female couples are more likely to be the only ones on their block.


[...]


The gayest male neighborhoods are a mix of well-known urban neighborhoods (Castro,West Hollywood), less-well-known communities (Wilton Manors, FL; Pleasant Ridge, MI), and vacation areas (Provincetown, Palm Springs, Rehoboth Beach).

Trulia also did an analysis of the gayborhoods in my hometown of Los Angeles:

 The gay center of LA for men includes two zip codes in West Hollywood: roughly from Doheny Drive to Sweetzer (90069, $481) and from Sweetzer to La Brea (90046, $465), as well as the Hollywood Hills (90068, $410). By Los Angeles standards these are expensive areas, though New Yorkers might not think so. Much more affordable, and still very gay relative to the rest of the region, is Signal Hill (90755, $200), a small city surrounded by Long Beach, about 30 miles south of West Hollywood. 

Long Beach also hosts the six neighborhoods with the highest concentrations of female couples in the LA area. The top three are Belmont Heights (90814, $278), Plaza / South of Conant (90808, $299), and Eastside (90804, $207) – all of which are far less expensive than West Hollywood.

Where do you live?

Hat/tip to Towleroad

Rally 5PM Today in L.A. After Prop 8 Ruling

The sponsors of the anti-Proposition 8 lawsuit American Foundation for Equal Rights and other LGBT groups like the Jordan/Rustin Coalition and Love Honor Cherish will be hosting a community gathering at Los Angeles City Hall starting around 5pm after the 9th U.S. Circuit's ruling in Perry v Brown is released 4 hours earlier.

Here's the deets:

For a Special Community Event in Response to the Ninth Circuit Court Prop. 8 RulingWithAmerican Foundation for Equal Rights,Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa,Courage Campaign, Equality California, Equal Roots Coalition, FAIR, Freedom to Marry, Jordan/Rustin Coalition, L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, Latino Equality Alliance & Marriage Equality USA, National Center for Lesbian Rights, California Faith for Equality and National Center for Lebsian Rights

Los Angeles City Hall Rotunda200 N Spring St, 3rd FloorEnter on Main St.
Tuesday, February 75 p.m.Street & Lot ParkingEasy access via the Metro Red Line's City Center stop 

Wish I could join you all  but I'm in Washington, D.C.!

DVD REVIEW: Latter Days

Finally saw a movie which was in our Netflix queue for over a month (sigh!) when I was back home in Los Angeles recently. The movie is Latter Days, which is about the romance between a West Hollywood muscle twink named Christian and a blonde, innocent 19-year-old Mormon missionary named Aaron.

Latter Days had been on our list of movies to see for a long time, since the Other Half was a Mormon missionary and word-of-mouth described the film as being a heartwarming gay love story.

Even with that much information about the film, I was still pleasantly surprised by Latter Days in two ways: the script and the cast. The director, C. Jay Cox, also wrote the screenplay, and (according to IMDB) apparently based it on his own life as a Mormon missionary who went to Los Angeles and turned into a West Hollywood gay party boy. One would expect the script for what is essentially a low-budget gay film festival flick to be trite and predictable but it repeatedly surprised me with plot twists. I kept on saying "I didn't expect THAT to happen!"--this is the mark of a well-written film that captures your attention and never lets go.

The other even more pleasant surprise was the cast. The biggest star in the movie (currently) is Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who was a child actor in television's 3rd Rock from the Sun but more recently has become famous for his non-threatening boy-next-door good looks in (500) Days of Summer and my favorite film of 2010, Inception. Jacqueline Bisset is also in the film, as the older sage and "den mother" who owns a restaurant in West Hollywood where Christian works as a waiter alongside his roommate Julie, an aspiring singer. The actors playing Christian, Wes Ramsey, and Aaron, Steve Sandvoss, are both very attractive in theor own way. Ramsay has a very muscular, low-fat, smooth body and a handsome face while Sandvoss has a very fit and athletic body coupled with classic blonde hair and blue eyes and a permanently innocent expression. It's fun to watch movies when there "eye candy" on the screen!

The one detraction I would make about Latter Days, although I think this was intentional choice by the writer/director to broaden the movie's appeal is that it is trying to span multiple genres simultaneously, possibly too many at once. At different points it wants to be a musical about starving artists making it in the big city, an AIDS buddy film, a Romeo and Julio love story, a gritty drama about religion and homosexuality, a (gay) sex comedy and, finally, a heart-warming story about self-actualization. It's probably a good idea for a small film to be about just more than one thing, but trying to be too many things at once can lead to a bit of dissonance as the film switches rapidly between tones.

All in all Latter Days is a very enjoyable experience, very much worth renting.

Title: Latter Days.
Director: C. Jay Cox.
Running Time: 1 hour, 47 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Rated R for strong sexual content and language.
Release Date: July 10, 2003.
Viewing Date: September 24, 2011.

Plot: A.
Acting: B+.
Visuals: A.
Impact: A-.

Overall Grade: (3.75/4.0).

Saturday Politics: AD-50 Gets Complicated

Assemblymember Betsy Butler represented
the 53rd Assembly District since 2010

Of course at MadProfessah.com we have been paying close attention to the impacts of redistricting on California politics in particular. You may recall that last year MadProfessah closely covered the ins and outs of the highly contested race for the 53rd Assembly District seat, where a viable openly gay, Black candidate was running. The seat was run by Equality California board member, lobbyist and straight ally Betsy Butler.

In redistricting the old 53rd was split between 3 new districts, the 62nd, 66th and 50th. Now, Butler has decided to move into the 50th and run for "re-election" from that district, instead of the 62nd where her current residence is. However Assemblymember Steve Bradford, who is African American, intends to run in the 62nd which has a significant Black population. However, the 50th District contains the liberal pockets of Santa Monica and West Hollywood and openly lesbian candidate Torie Osborne has announced her intention to represent this district. Previously, Osborne's ex-girlfriend, Sheila James Kuehl, was the first openly LGBT person ever elected to the California legislature and had been elected to represent West Hollywood in a similar district.

Butler's decision has not endeared her with LGBT activists.

But Osborn is facing powerful opposition from an unexpected source: Assembly Speaker John Pérez. The speaker is backing Assemblywoman Betsy Butler, who plans to move from Marina del Rey into the new 50th district. 

If neither side backs down, the contest could cost millions and drive a wedge through the L.A. Democratic Party. 

"This is gonna be the most exciting Assembly race in Southern California," said party chair Eric Bauman. Osborn's supporters hope it doesn't come to that. They argue that a seat that includes West Hollywood should be represented by a gay person. (Butler is straight.) 

[...] 

Much of Butler's current district has been drawn into the new 66th district, which is split almost evenly between Democrats and Republicans. Butler apparently feels she stands a better chance in the 50th, which leans heavily Democratic.

Bauman, who is an adviser to Pérez, pushed back against the claim that the 50th ought to be represented by a gay person.

"It's not a gay seat," he said. "There are many gay people in the Legislature now. That's a bogus argument."

Bauman said that Osborn would make an "outstanding" legislator. But, he said, "I think it's logical for any leader of any Legislative house to protect their members first."

There are other Democrats in the race, including Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom. West Hollywood Councilman Jeffrey Prang dropped out earlier this month, because he did not want to challenge Butler. 

It should be very interesting!

CA-SEN: Boxer Phone Bank Flashmob In Weho 2pm Today

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer who is in a tightening re-election race with failed former Hewlett-Packard CEO Republican Carly Fiorina that could decide who controls the upper house of Congress will be in West Hollywood today at 2pm for a Phone Bank Flashmob.

Yesterday Fiorina was hospitalized with an infection yesterday and still has not returned to the campaign trail but the National Republican Senatorial Committee has bought another $3 million of television ads supporting her.

Boxer is a strong supporter of LGBT equality and last week released a list of LGBT community leaders supporting her (that includes MadProfessah).

With even Meg Whitman endorsing Jerry Brown for Governor, the Senate race is the most important race in the State we must focus on. Come out today to meet Boxer at 2pm at Plummer Park and make some calls to friends and family urging them to vote for Barbara Boxer today!

LA TIMES Covers Health Justice's Condom Distribution Program

Monday's Los Angeles Times carried a story about the distribution of condoms in Los Angeles County jails by the Center for Health Justice:

Inmates call Ron Osorio "West Hollywood" because the words are printed on the cream-colored cloth bag he carries inside Men's Central Jail each Friday.

The bag is filled with 300 Lifestyle condoms. Osorio, who works for the nonprofit Center for Health Justice, has been visiting the jail almost weekly since 2001, when Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca approved a small but groundbreaking program that allowed the health group to pass out prophylactics to inmates in a segregated unit for gay men.

"We go to the dorms and a guy hands out the bagged lunches. There's another guy that hands out the juice. . . . and I stand between those two as they go through the line. They get their lunch, they get a condom, and they get their juice," Osorio said.
[...]
Eight years after Baca first approved the program, the sheriff is pondering whether to expand it by doubling the number of condoms distributed to the 300 inmates within the segregated unit.

His decision comes as a yearlong pilot condom distribution program at the California State Prison at Solano enters its eighth month.

Health advocates say that a successful review of that program could lead to widespread distribution of condoms in prisons throughout the state.

It would be one of the most aggressive measures in the nation's jails and prisons to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS, experts say.

Sheriff's officials acknowledge that the virus is a prominent problem in the jails.

They spend about $2 million each year in federally refundable money on HIV/AIDS medication and identify about 65 new cases each month.

On average there are about 1,400 people in L.A. County jails with HIV each year, said Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Department.

Great coverage for the great work that Center for Health Justice does (MadProfessah is Board President of the agency).

MadProfessah at Weho Gay Men's Forum SAT MAY 2

MadProfessah will be appearing at a panel on queer politics at the West Hollywood Gay Men's Forum on Saturday May 2nd.

The Gay Men's Forum is free, all-day event being held in Fiesta Hall at Plummer Park, 7377 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood. The theme of the event is "Where We've Been. Where We Are. Where We're Heading." The particular panel on which I will be appearing, with John Cleary (President of Stonewall Democratic Club), Michael Colorge (CSU Northridge LGBA leader) and moderated by Josh Kurpies (Deputy to West HOllywood Mayor Jeffrey Prang).

The title of the session at which I will be appearing is "Politicizing the Gay Community: Activism Past, Present and Future" and starts at 1:30pm.

Hope to see you there!

Video of John Duran Speech at Prop 8 Protests

Yesterday I posted the text of John Duran's truly powerful speech (as transcribed by Karen Ocamb) at Wednesday's protest in West Hollywood on the passage of Proposition 8. Now the video is available:

Speech By John Duran at Weho Protest Over PROP 8

John Duran, openly gay, HIV+ Latino former Mayor of West Hollwyood and Board President of Equality California gave the following powerful remarks last night from the stage about Proposition 8, LGBT civil rights and racism (as transcribed by lesbian reporter Karen Ocamb):

My voice has been horse almost gone but I had to get out of bed to be
here with all of you. I was so happy last night at the Music Box at
8:01 when California put Barack Obama over the line to be our next
President of the United States.

(Cheers.)

And I rejoiced watching (?) in Times Square in New York and Grant
Park, in Chicago at the Old Court House in Atlanta – all across this
country people cheering for Barack Obama as we did as a gay and
lesbian, bisexual and transgender community at the Music Box. We
shared that joy together.

And then, within 30 minutes, as the numbers started to come in – I
felt the joy being deflated by the fact that we were falling behind
on Proposition 8.

And then I was crushed when I heard that people of color were voting
against the GLBT community.

(Boos)

And I started to wonder to myself – how could this be? After all we
have struggled together as one coalition – in the Rainbow Coalition –
how could it be?

And then the stories started to come in from last night from my own
Latino culture on Santa Monica Boulevard – that there were Latino
males with Yes on 8 banners screaming “faggot” and “queer” at our
people along Santa Monica Boulevard.

(Boos)

As I heard the story of our black lesbian volunteer at a polling
place who was told by another black woman that “her kind” didn’t
deserve civil rights – how could that be?

(Boos)

My friends Alan and Jeff – who I married on Sunday – when they were
passing out No on 8 literature – had an old woman come up and spit
upon them. How could that be?

(Boos)

These were the stories I heard – so what it told me – and I get this
now – is that Yes on 8 – it was supported by black and white and
Latino and Asian and young and old people – that is true.

But the OTHER HALF of the vote was also black and white and Latino
and Asian and young and old.

(Cheers)

Never again. Never again will I assume that just because somebody is
of one race they are more likely to be supportive or opposed to me.
Or if somebody is of one religion – that he or she is more supportive
or opposed to me. Or of one political affiliation.

I need to start the same question with every person I meet,
regardless of those characteristics: Are you with the gay and lesbian
community or are you not?

(Cheers)

I completely get that the history of our country – and I completely
get the black community’s struggle against slavery and being denied
the right to vote and the lynching and the Jim Crows laws. And it
moves me with compassion when I hear those stories.

And I get the stories of Cesar Chavez and the farm Workers and the
xenophobia and what they had to fight for here in California. And it
moves me with compassion to hear about it.

And Asians being taken away to concentration camps during World War
Two. And Jews suffering in the Holocaust. I get all that.

But what about our chapter in the civil rights history? (Cheers)

(This is only partial because of the applause) If you want us to vote
for you or fight for you – then you must vote for us as well.

(Cheers)

But I am not here to compare our civil rights struggle to their civil
rights struggle. There’s no winner in the game for the bottom rung on
the ladder – we’ve all suffered. That is a no-win game.

I am here to say you must respect our same call for justice as we
respect your call for justice….
(cheers) because we too know brutality – the brutality on the
schoolyards when we were children and we know the brutality that AIDS
decimated our community over the last 25 years.

And we know the indecency now of not only being called threat to
children – as if we are a threat to our own children – but now to be
told indecently – we don’t have the right to marry the person we love.

That is not right in this America.

(Cheers)

So our stories are a call for justice – the same tonight. Remember
these dates: remember this night because this night is a new page in
the history our gay and lesbian community’s struggle. This week – we
will remember it from this time forward – just like October 11, 1987
when ACT UP was formed in Washington DC during the March on Washington.

And just like September 30, 1991 when we rushed into the streets when
Gov. Peter Wilson vetoed AB 101.

This night is our decade’s call to action…(much screaming and cheers)
– God Bless you all….

Wow. Channeling Harvey Milk. Remember the date: November5, 2008.

Rally in Weho To Protest Prop 8 at 7pm Today!

Jeff Prang, The Mayor of West Hollywood, the Los Angeles County's most predominantly LGBT neighborhood, sent out this annou ncement about a public reaction to Proposition 8's passage:

As deeply disappointed as we all are that California voters passed
Proposition 8, we must not allow that disappointment to linger. This
vote is a temporary defeat in the long march toward equal rights for
all citizens in America.

Please join me for a protest rally tonight at 7 pm on San Vicente Blvd
between West Hollywood Park and the Pacific Design Center (647 N. San
Vicente Blvd. West Hollywood CA 90069) as we move forward towards
restoring equality for all in California.

San Vicente Blvd, between Santa Monica Blvd and Melrose Avenue will be
closed tonight starting at 6 pm. San Vicente south-bound traffic will
be directed to make left or right at Santa Monica Blvd. Signs have
already been posted to help divert traffic.

For more information about tonight's rally, please contact (323) 848-6460.

Wade and Noah Get Married!

So, contrary to previous reports on this blog, the very fine Jensen Atwood will be appearing in Noah's Arc: Jumping The Broom after all, continuing his portrayal of Wade, the boyfriend (and husband?) of lead character Noah, played by Darryl Stephens.

The film is in theaters Friday October 24.

NOAH'S ARC: JUMPING THE BROOM In Theaters Fri Oct 24

Wilson Cruz

Jensen Atwood

There are reports on the web that th release date for the upcoming Noah's Arc movie has ben set. Noah's Arc: Jumping The Broom will be released in movie theaters on Friday October 24th.

According to the IMDb page for the movie, Jensen Atwood who plays the incredibly attractive Wade (and Noah's on and off againlove interest) is NOT in the cast! Sadly, it appears as if hottie Wilson Cruz who plays HIV-positive doctor Junito will also not be appearing in the Noah's Arc movie.

John Morgan Wilson book signing in Weho today

An annnouncement from my favorite mystery writer, John Morgan Wilson:

The first Benjamin Justice mystery, Simple Justice, is about to reissued in trade paperback by Bold Strokes Books. There will be a 7:30 p.m. reading and brief Q&A at A Different Light Books in West Hollywood.

Simple Justice launched the Benjamin Justice series, which has won three Lambda Literary Awards for best gay men's mystery. Sinple Justice also won the Edgar Allan Poe Award from Mystery Writers of America for best first novel, the first "gay mystery" by an openly gay author ever to win the prestigious Edgar. The eighth novel in the series, Spider Season, will be published by St. Martin's Minotaur in early December.

Mad Professah will try to attend the book reading and try to get all my copies of the first seven books signed.

John Morgan Wilson's SPIDER SEASON is coming!

My favorite mystery writer, John Morgan Wilson, wrote me an e-mail note today thanking me for MadProfessah's review of his most recently published book, Rhapsody in Blood, and to tell me that he has a new book, entitled Spider Season coming out late this Fall! December 9, 2008, according to Amazon.com. You can read the first chapter of the book at Wilson's personal website.

First of all, how cool of it is to get a letter from a writer whose work you admire and they tell you that they like the review you wrote of their work?

Secondly, how exciting is that finally after two long years, a new episode in the Benjamin Justice series will be out soon?

If you haven't heard of Benjamin Justice, he is the fictional openly gay, ex-reporter who won a Pulitzer Prize for the Los Angeles Times that had to be returned after a huge scandal.

He always seems to find himself in complicated murder mysteries set in Southern California and Los Angeles (the first several books are actually set in the heart of the gay ghetto itself: West Hollywood).

The first seven books in the series are: Simple Justice (1996), Revision of Justice (1997), Justice at Risk (1999), The Limits of Justice (2000), Blind Eye (2003), Moth and Flame (2004) and Rhapsody in Blood (2006).

I am thinking of re-reading (and reviewing) the first 6 books or so for this blog before the 8th one comes out in December. I would strongly recommend reading them in order, although each one is self-contained, the impact of the events on the character is deepened if you have experienced the events of the previous books.