Twitter has a lot to say about that video of Aaron Schock stuffing dollars into a go-go boy’s briefs
As you’ve likely heard by now, disgraced antigay former Republican Congressman Aaron Schock was caught on camera stuffing dollar bills into a stripper’s briefs at a Mexico City gay bar last weekend.
While serving in as a U.S. Representative for Illinois’ 18th congressional district, Schock voted against the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and for the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman. He also voted against adding sexual orientation, gender identity, gender, and disability to the federal hate crime protection groups.
“The last person I would expect to see in Boy Bar is a former Republican congressman,” the person who filmed Schock graciously handing out the bills last weekend told The Daily Mail. “I was taking a video of the go-go dancer on stage and all of a sudden I saw him. He looked like he was enjoying himself.”
Naturally, Twitter has had quite a bit to say about it…
“Hey Cutie, I’m Aaron Schock. As a congressman I voted against marriage equality, the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ and Equal Protections for LGBT folk. Now hold still while I shove this dollar down your shorts.” pic.twitter.com/YLGDXrW9Ei
There’s no shame in tipping male dancers. Lord knows I’ve done it a time or two. Then again, I’ve been out since I was 18, and have never been an anti-gay Republican congressman like @aaronschock. t.co/nQP5ZMBjHP
Five Questions NBC Debate Moderators Should Ask 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidates
GLAAD CEO: “This is an opportunity to discuss LGBTQ issues as we head toward the most consequential election of our lifetime.”
NEW YORK – GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, today challenged all five moderators in this week’s 2020 Democratic presidential debates to use the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Inn riots, an event which sparked and fueled the overall LGBTQ movement of the last fifty years, to make LGBTQ acceptance and issues affecting the LGBTQ community a main topic of discussion during the first debates in the 2020 presidential election year.
“Particularly on the eve of the historic 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, it’s important for media and those seeking the highest office in the land to discuss issues facing LGBTQ voters,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD. “No candidate or political party should take the support of LGBTQ Americans for granted. This is an opportunity to discuss LGBTQ issues as we head toward the most consequential election of our lifetime.”
Here is a sampling of questions tonight’s debate moderators should ask the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates:
What are your plans to achieve full equality under the law for all LGBTQ people in this country?
According to the Movement Advancement Project (MAP), LGBTQ Americans could still be:
Further, if an LGBTQ person experiences a hate crime, anti-LGBTQ attackers can still claim the so-called “gay/trans panic” defense in court in 44 states.
A poll released this week from GLAAD shows that LGBTQ acceptance overall has stalled – and even moving backward among younger generations? How will you use the power of the bully pulpit to reverse this trend and lead our country to 100% LGBTQ acceptance?
A new poll conducted by GLAAD and Harris Poll found acceptance for the LGBTQ community has waned in the last two years under the Trump Administration, with only 45% of younger non-LGBTQ Americans ages 18-34 saying they were “comfortable” with the LGBTQ community.
Will you support federal measures to forever ban so-called “conversion therapy” practices?
Approximately 18 states and Washington, D.C. have effectively banned any so-called “conversion therapy” practices. These “ex-gay” camps could cause long-term damage to LGBTQ people. This investigative report by ABC News’ “20/20” program brings light to what kind of damage “conversion therapy” programs could cause.
What will you do to stop the epidemic of violence plaguing the transgender community, specifically transgender women of color?
Violence against the transgender community, particularly transgender women of color, has skyrocketed in the last four years. So far in 2019, about ten transgender people have been murdered, repeating a national trend since 2016.
What are your plans to reverse the 115 anti-LGBTQ actions made by the Trump Administration?
Following the election of Donald Trump, GLAAD created its Trump Accountability Project (TAP) as a resource for journalists, editors, and other news makers reporting on the Trump administration, which catalogues the anti-LGBTQ statements and actions of President Donald Trump and those in his circle.
Since the start of his term in office, President Trump and his administration have issued more than 115 attacks in policy and rhetoric against the LGBTQ community.
HRC NAMES ALPHONSO DAVID AS NEW PRESIDENT – THE CIVIL RIGHTS LAWYER AND LONGTIME LGBTQ ADVOCATE TAKES THE HELM LATER IN AUGUST: David, who made history as the first openly gay counsel to the governor of New York and the state’s first deputy secretary and counsel for civil rights, will be the first civil rights lawyer and the first person of color to serve as HRC president in the organization’s nearly 40-year history. “At a time when LGBTQ people, women, people of color, immigrants and refugees, and so many others are being confronted with daily attacks on our most basic rights, Alphonso is the fierce, compassionate, and strategic leader HRC and our broader movement for equality needs,” said HRC Board Foundation Board Chair Deb Taft. David has played an integral role in:
Securing marriage equality in New York;
Banning the abusive practice of “conversion therapy” on minors;
Establishing non-discrimination protections for transgender New Yorkers;
Expanding Medicaid coverage to cover transition-related care;
Making it easier to amend gender markers on birth certificates; and
Enacting policies and regulations to support people living with HIV, driving new diagnoses to an all-time low statewide.
Prior to his work for New York State, David served as a staff attorney at Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. More from Associated Press, Advocate, Washington Blade and HRC.
BREAKING: Alphonso David has been named the next president of the Human Rights Campaign! David will be the first civil rights lawyer and the first person of color to lead @HRC. #AlphonsoDavidpic.twitter.com/GgiFQBtUVP
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representative (@SpeakerPelosi): “Congratulations to #AlphonsoDavid on being named the incoming @HRC president – we know your expertise & passion will be invaluable as we work to make H.R. 5, the #EqualityAct, the law of the land!”
Chuck Schumer, U.S. Senate Minority Leader (@SenSchumer): “Alphonso David has done incredible work on behalf of the people of New York State, and I know he will do the same as the new president of the Human Rights Campaign…And I know Alphonso is going to be the tenacious leader that we need to elect a pro-equality majority in the Senate and a president who will fight for the LGBTQ community and sign the Equality Act into law.”
Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) (@davidcicilline): “Looking forward to continuing the fight for full equality with Mr. David and outstanding team at @HRC!”
Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of NAACP (@DerrickNAACP): “Alphonso David has been at the forefront of civil rights battles in New York for more than a decade. He will be a strong leader for HRC. I and the NAACP look forward to working alongside Alphonso defending the fundamental rights that we ALL are entitled.”
Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund (@Sifill_LDF): “Congratulations Alphonso David & @HRC. I look forward to working together.”
Vanita Gupta, President and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (@vanitaguptaCR): “In this crucial moment for our country and the fight for equality, Alphonso brings a tenacious determination and long track record of advancing civil rights for all…I look forward to working with him to continue defending our democracy and advancing equality in the years ahead.”
Leana Wen, M.D., President and CEO of Planned Parenthood (@Dr.Leana Wen): “Thrilled to hear the news about #AlphonsoDavid. LGBTQ people are our patients, our supporters, and our staff, and the fight for LGBTQ rights is critical in the fight for equality and justice for all.”
Sharon McGowan, Chief Strategy Officer and Legal Director at Lambda Legal (@SharonMcGowanDC): “Alphonso has devoted his career to expanding civil rights and fighting for justice. As a staff attorney for Lambda Legal, he worked each day to advance the rights of LGBTQ people and everyone living with HIV, and he has remained an incredible advocate for our communities ever since.”
Fatima Goss Graves, CEO and President of the National Women’s Law Center (@FGossGraves): “Big news! Congratulations to #AlphonsoDavid, the incoming president of the Human Rights Campaign. @nwlc looks forward to working alongside you in the fight for full LGBTQ equality.”
UnidosUS, the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S. (@WeAreUnidosUS): “We welcome new @HRC President Alphonso David! His long career in civil rights, public service, and advocacy has made him well positioned to lead, and we look forward to working with him as we face America’s most pressing challenges.”
Annise Parker, President and CEO of Victory Fund (@AnniseParker): “Congrats to Alphonso David on being named the next president of @HRC! My team at @VictoryFund/@VictoryInst look forward to advancing the movement for full #LGBTQ equality with you.”
James Esseks, Director of the LGBT & HIV project at the ACLU (@JamesEsseks): “Fabulous news that @HRC has chosen Alphonso David as its new leader. He’s super smart, deeply embedded in our community, and knows politics. Great choice for HRC and for the LGBTQ movement overall.”
Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD (@sarahkateellis): “This is such exciting news and I can’t wait to see the work that @HRC does under Alphonso’s leadership and how we can work together for equality and acceptance.”
Brian Bond, President of PFLAG (@BrianKBond): “Congratulations Alphonso – looking forward to working with you @HRC @PFLAG – thank you @ChadHGriffin for all you have done to make this a better world!”
Melissa Mark-Viverito, Interim President of Latino Victory (@MMViverito): “Wishing you success in your new role #AlphonsoDavid. ¡Felicidades!”
KANSAS TO ALLOW TRANSGENDER RESIDENTS TO CHANGE PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION DOCUMENTS: “This decision acknowledges that transgender people have the same rights as anyone else, including the right to easily obtain a birth certificate that reflects who they are,” said Kansas Governor Laura Kelly (@GovLauraKelly). More from The Wichita Eagle and The New York Times.
WHAT WE’RE READING WEDNESDAY — HRC MARKS FOUR YEARS SINCE OBERGEFELL V. HODGES, JUNE 26 A HISTORIC DAY FOR EQUALITY: More from HRC.
1/ June 26 is a historic day for the LGBTQ community. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in four pivotal cases on this date spanning more than 12 years, starting in 2003 and ending in 2015. #LoveWinspic.twitter.com/Naw9Y66sco
KANSAS CITY POLICE INVESTIGATING DEATH OF TRANSGENDER WOMAN: Fox4kc.comreported that police said the victim was severely beaten, but neighbors said they also heard gunshots around 2:30 a.m. Police said investigators are working to identify the victim, who was found on the steps of a house in a residential neighborhood. Read more at Fox4kc.com.
STUDY SHOWS PARENTS CAN STRUGGLE TO ADJUST AFTER LEARNING THEIR CHILD IS LGB: The authors write that the findings “point to families most in need of intervention to improve parent responses and reduce adolescent risk.” More from NBC.
ARLINGTON TO EXPAND NONDISCRIMINATION PROTECTIONS FOR TRANSGENDER STUDENTS: More from The Washington Post.
PRIDE MONTH ROUNDUP
STONEWALL 50 YEARS LATER — MOMENTS THAT CHANGED LGBTQ LIFE IN CINCINATTI: Cincinnati Enquirer’s Noelle Zielinksi shares seminal moments following the Stonewall riots that energized the LGBTQ rights movement throughout the city and across the nation. More from Cincinnati Enquirer.
NEW YORK CITY GAY’S MEN CHORUS COMMEMORATE STONEWALL 50 WITH CHORAL SUITE BY LGBTQ COMPOSERS: Their performance Thursday includes pieces by Tony-nominated singer/songwriter Ann Hampton Callaway (@annhcallaway) and Michael McElroy, director of the 2019 Tony-honored Broadway Inspirational Voices. More from Playbill.
GLOBAL EQUALITY NEWS
NEW ZEALAND ECONOMIC SURVEY TO INCLUDE TRANSGENDER AND NON-BINARY INDIVIDUALS: More from Stuff.
JAPAN PREFECTURE TO START ISSUING PARTNERSHIP CERTIFICATES FOR LGBTQ COUPLES: More from Gay Star News and Kyodo News.
DOMINICA EXPECTS A CHALLENGE TO ITS ANTI-LGBTQ LAW: The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network announced that a gayman will file a lawsuit challenging the country’s sodomy law in Dominca’s High Court of Justice. More from The Washington Blade.
HRC EQUIDAD MX DESTACA LA INCLUSIÓN LGBTQ EN CENTROS LABORALES EN EL MES DEL ORGULLO: Francisco Robledo (@PacoRobledo), socio implementador de HRC en México, participó junto a más de 41 líderes corporativos LGBTQ para hablar sobre cómo vivir auténtica y abiertamente en el centro laboral en una nota especial de Expansión, la principal revista de negocios de México. En 2018, Equidad MX certificó a 69 empresas, duplicando así el número de negocios incluyentes en el país. Más de Expansión, Quién y Revista Moi.
READING RAINBOW – Bookmark now to read on your lunch break!
CNN highlights Aaron Philip (@aaronphilipxo) as the first Black, transgender and disabled model to feature on a major magazine cover; Miami’s Community Newspaper reports that former HRC general counsel and legal director Anthony Eudelio Varona (@ProfVarona) named dean of University of Miami School of Law; Advocate spotlights Lady Gaga’s (@ladygaga) powerful message for LGBTQ equality
POF’s Steamy Summer Report: Fashion Faux Pas, Dating Must Haves and Summer’s Hottest Date Ideas
As Nelly once sang,“It’s getting hot in here, so take….advantage of those weekday date nights!” Wait, was that Nelly or did I just make that up? It certainly is true though, as the latest report from Plenty of Fish reveals singles are capitalizing on the longer and warmer nights this summer, with eighty-one percent willing […]
Cosmo + Tinder are presenting the podcast you never knew you needed
It’s no secret that Cosmo and Tinder have heard tons of dating stories, and tbh, we’re having a hard time keeping them to ourselves. That’s why we’re launching “Single, Swipe, Repeat,” a podcast to satisfy your curiosity with real stories from real people from coast to coast.
Our single years are filled with fun and adventure. They’re a time when we experiment, meet new people, try new things and, ultimately, figure out who we are and what we want – which is WHY we’ve partnered with Cosmo to hear real dating stories from young people across the country who are living their most fabulous single lives.
Who doesn’t want to know what it’s like dating an influencer without actually dating an influencer in LA? Or how people date in DC if they are not in politics? And we definitely want to know about queer culture in the bible belt. Spoiler alert: It gets complicated.
Each week, Cosmo’s sex & relationships director, Faye Brennan, will be joined by a new guest to be fearless champions of the single journey and spill the tea on the juiciest, funniest, and sometimes romantic dating stories from people slaying that single life.
Check out the show, wherever you listen to podcasts — listen up, pour yourself a glass of whatever, and tune into “Single, Swipe, Repeat.”
Single, Swipe, Repeat is now available via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Cosmo and more. Subscribe and stay up-to-date, with new episodes released every Tuesday in July.
Let’s support the Equality Act and put an end to LGBTQ+ discrimination.
We believe everyone has the right to live how they want to live and love who they want to love. Imagine if holding hands in public, going to your favorite local bar, getting a job, or leasing an apartment was denied to you because of your sexual orientation. It’s easy to forget that the things we take for granted as rights are not certainties, nor are they permanent.
Until we live in a world where sexual orientation is not a crime, where all relationships are recognized and respected, and where all genders are treated as equal—we must act.
The Equality Act, which has passed the House and now needs to be brought to the Senate for a vote, is a bill that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, and protect many other essential civil rights.
“Discrimination in any form violates the fundamental values that drive Tinder. We believe everyone should have equal rights, and by calling on our millions of users to show their support and take action, we hope to make real change for the LGBTQ+ community,” said Elie Seidman, CEO of Tinder.
#RightToLove“>
Do Your Part to Support the Equality Act
Send a quick email to your senator with the Human Rights Campaign’s online toolkit.
#RightToLove“>
Come Slide for Pride
June 24th – Flatiron Plaza, NYC
Today, we have unveiled a PRIDE Slide in NYC leading up to the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to come ride a rainbow and show your support for the Equality Act. For every slide ride, Tinder will make a $10 donation to the Human Rights Campaign to help further the cause.
Connecting the Community to Good Causes
This summer, we’re also supporting the LGBTQ+ community by offering free advertising to nonprofit organizations dedicated to driving social, political and cultural equality and acceptance of people across all genders and orientations. Find out more or apply here.
Hank Plante on how he channeled his fury into coverage of the early days of the AIDS crisis
From 5B. Courtesy of Verizon Media
5B, the documentary from Acadamy Award nominee Dan Krauss and winner Paul Haggis, tells the story of the first AIDS ward. Located at San Francisco General Hospital, the story is told through the eyes of the medical professionals and volunteers who worked there.
As one of the first openly TV reporter in the Bay Area, Hank Plante reported almost daily on the AIDS crisis. Winner of six Emmy Awards, Plante has become a legend in his field partly by following his conscience: He felt a moral obligation to report on the epidemic ravaging his own community in the 1980s at a time when there was widespread ignorance about how HIV was spread and hatred aimed at the victims.
(Last year we reported on the importance of 5B before it had distribution. Acquired by Verizon Media, 5B hits cinemas this month.)
We caught up with Plante chat about his career, the movie and what it all means for the future.
So when was the first time you heard about, what at the time, was called GRID? Do you recall?
I remember. It was actually a few blocks from here. I was living in West Hollywood in 1981. Yesterday, June 5, 1981, Dr. Michael Gottlieb, who still practices here, wrote about five gaymen with unusual symptoms. Symptoms they should not have had. He published it in the CDC journal on June 5, 1981. I saw a guy I knew who was skin and bones. I remember it like it was yesterday. Then I saw more and more friends come down with the symptoms.
Did anyone suspect it was going to be the menace that it turned out to be?
Oh no. We all thought—and by “we” I mean reporters and doctors—we all thought it would be like toxic shock syndrome. It came and went and they got that under control quickly. We had no idea that it would become a pandemic.
Let the record show you were one of the first out-gay television reporters. Had you come out?
Oh yeah, I was out.
What blowback did you personally encounter covering this emerging tragedy?
The blowback came later. In the beginning, the stories I was doing were—they were science stories. The blowback actually came in San Francisco of all places. I worked for a very good TV station with very good managers who let me do what I wanted and cover it the way I wanted to cover it. This was daily in the mid-80s. But there were people inside the station—and somebody actually said this out loud at the station—there were people who thought if we covered it too much it would hurt our ratings.
Courtesy San Francisco Chronicle
Dear lord.
We actually had a guy who was in the PR department at the station said in a staff meeting “If you put gays on TV this much nobody is going to watch.” So there was that kind of blowback.
But having said that, it did not affect our coverage. Our bosses thought it was a compelling story and a public service. They let me cover it and do whatever I wanted. So is that blowback? I don’t know.
Did you ever feel that you might lose your job?
I did not. I wouldn’t have cared about it, to be honest with you. I mean, to me, I feel really fortunate to have covered it, weird as that sounds because it was a way for me to channel my grief and my anger into something. So it was more than just a story to me. We all felt really powerless. There were no drugs. I mean, there was AZT, but, you know…
It barely worked, didn’t work forever, and had deadly side effects.
And so it was just a chance for me to feel like I was doing something, which was night after night, telling people what’s the latest on the disease. How do you not get it? What drugs look promising? I felt like I was doing something. By the time I got to San Francisco, which was ground zero for the epidemic with more per capita cases than anywhere in the country. I got there in ‘85 and had honed my skills as a reporter enough, and was out enough so that I was just ready. I was ready.
So how did the film come to you? Did Dan [Krauss] and Paul [Haggis] reach out to you?
I got a call out of the blue when they started doing their research, maybe two years ago. They said they were doing this film on 5B which I knew very well and said: “Will you be in it?” And I said, “I’d love to do it.”
So what guidance, if any, did you offer them as someone who had already done extensive work on the subject?
Fortunately, I had kept a lot of my early AIDS stories. I had them transferred to DVD because tape, the medium of the time, disintegrates. And I had three discs at home because I knew at the time, it was something. I didn’t save every story. But there were significant stories that were important to me to have to show in my old folks home…
[Laughter]
…that I wanted to keep. So I was able to send them three discs that had a lot of my early stories on them. And you’ll appreciate this as a reporter: When you do a news story and you think it’s dead, you know, people read it and it goes away.
Yeah. That’s especially true now.
If it’s a really great story, they’ll praise you for a few months. I look back at my early work, and I’m really proud of it, but me and my husband are the only ones that remember it. So now to have the stories come back to life on the big screen, and to see it like this, or at Cannes, I’m so grateful. I thought it was gone.
And that underlines the public service element. People will look at it 200 years from now.
Yes, I hope.
So when you agreed to participate in the film were you nervous about revisiting that whole time in your life?
I had compartmentalized a lot of it, like a lot of gaymen my age. It’s interesting, there are two groups of people who will react very differently to this film. One is people your age who did not live through it. Then there are the others my age who didlive through it and put it out of our heads, otherwise, we’d just be crippled with PTSD. I started to get choked up a little bit when we were doing the interviews. So yeah, I had cut a lot of it out of my head.
There aren’t too many gaymen of that generation who lived to tell their story…
I lost most of my friends, yeah.
The few men of that generation I do know say the same.
Yeah.
Patient in ward 5B
For so many of us, our friends are our family, our support network. The idea that they would all be gone…?
There’s no substitute for people who “knew you when.” I have a lot of friends now, but very few of them knew me way back when we were all coming out together and making our way in the world, at least my gaymale friends. So it’s pretty sad.
I think a lot of people have a hard time understanding what the crisis was like at its worst when 5B was at its peak. What was it like to walk through the ward?
Many times it was very upbeat, believe it or not, because the nurses were upbeat. You had people like Rita Rocket [a cabaret entertainer] coming in and cheering people up. It was not as funerial as you might expect. And the patients were getting very good care. It wasn’t like going into a hospice which is a whole different deal. I went to plenty of those as well. It was very reverential experience. And when I would go there, they were helping me with my stories.
Sure.
I tried to say this in the film, but I don’t know that it came across. When you are working in daily news you get an assignment, kind of panic at the beginning of the day. You’ve gotta find people to interview. I gotta find someone with AIDS to interview, like now. I’m on the air at five, so like, now! And so I almost was unappreciative of what it was like to call these people and say, “Can you go on the air and talk about AIDS?” What I was really asking—Jesus Christ—was will you go on camera and talk about a deadly disease? And they would say yes, always, knowing that they don’t look well, or that they have lesions. Or that their co-workers or their family and their neighbors were going to see. Or that their landlords would see. And they would say yes because they wanted to help other people who were trying to deal with it. That’s why I say I was always appreciative when I would go into the ward or into apartments.
One thing particularly astonishing in the film is that Dr. Lorraine Day [an orthopedic surgeon who advocated mandatory HIV testing and the option of not treating AIDS patients] is very forthcoming about her reservations and about the criticism that she had for the ward, the way that the hospital staff conducted themselves. Did you ever interact with her?
A little bit, and with Dannemeyer [anti-gay congressman William Dannemeyer, who later married Day]. A little bit. You know, the film is really good with her. This is the mark of a good editor because when you first see her, she makes sense.
She doesn’t want to get splashed by blood, is that so unreasonable? Then you peel the onion more, and more and more and by the end of the film you know she’s a wack job. [In addition to her antigay animus, Day has advocated “holistic” treatment through diet for cancer and denied the Holocaust ever happened.]
She has nothing but contempt for these people.
Yes, that’s exactly right. Then when you finally learn the connection to the husband, who was really antigay, and that’s always what it was about. It was never about AIDS.
From 5B
Later on, yes, it’s about something more. There’s this weird resentment.
And there are a lot of people like that. She represents a lot of people. I talk in the film about the guy who died of AIDS at a company in San Francisco. They took his desk out to the parking lot and burned. It was bad. Lots of people got kicked out of their apartments before it was illegal to do that and fired. Fired from their jobs.
It’s a testament to your ability as a reporter, the scene in the film from your archives of you interviewing insurance agents who are asking potential policyholders if they’ve ever been a hairdresser, or a choreographer, or a florist.
And that guy said to me, “Why didn’t they just ask if I could lip sync to Judy Garland?”
[Laughter]
Can you imagine sitting as a reporter and somebody says that?
How do you hold it together when something like that happens?
I loved it. I loved every second of it. Chasing the lawyer down the hallway…I loved it.
That’s the thrill of the job, but at the same time, it’s like this is where we are!?
I just take great joy in putting on camera and letting people see where we are. My job wasn’t to react to it, my job was to facilitate. I loved it so much. And the [man in question] won his case.
It’s also a good argument for universal healthcare. So when you’re going back through all of this, you talk about compartmentalizing all the pain. Is that how you carry it day to day, for you as a person? How do you live with that?
I feel like I made a difference. I don’t know how to answer that without sounding arrogant. I felt like I made a difference. I’m proud of the work that I did, and I did it for my friends who aren’t here. This was an opportunity. It was handed to me. I just happened to be a gay reporter in San Francisco. I don’t want to pretend to be altruistic. I wanted to work in that city. But yeah, I’m really proud of those years. It’s the best work I did in my life.
Does that help you deal with the anger?
Yeah, it did then and it does now. Absolutely.
Courtesy KPIX-TV
So reliving it all, what catharsis did you find? Because when you relive something like that, you don’t just confront the people you lost, you confront yourself—who you were, the choices you made. What did you learn about yourself?
Wow.
[Long pause]
I learned I could do the job and put my emotions over here, and go on TV and report what was happening and not cry or say “f*ck you,” which was on my mind. I could cover people like Reagan, and interview his health secretary who was doing nothing at the time. I could really focus and use all that anger. Anger is a good motivator. I could use that anger to kind of let people at home know how absolutely terrible [the Reagan administration] was for their inaction. I liked confronting people on camera. I felt like I was standing up for my brothers and sisters. I really did.
But I couldn’t say that. I couldn’t go on TV and say “This is for you.” But that was in my heart, and I think they got it.
People are grateful.
It’s the proudest work that I’ve done. And believe me, I’ve been blessed with a lot of stories. I’ve been to the Oval Office and on Presidential planes, but nothing tops [my AIDS reporting] because it was so personal for me, and because I think I made a difference. I honest to God believe we saved lives. Reagan was silent for six years. He didn’t say the word (AIDS) for six years.
And I was in the room when he said it for the first time in 1987, I made a note in my reporter’s book that 21,000 people had already died. Contrast that with what was going on in San Francisco for those six years, going on TV every night and saying “Don’t share needles. Don’t have sex without a condom. It’s spread by blood, not by mosquitos. Not by kissing.” Just telling people how to not get it—and by “we” I mean all of us—we saved lives.
This film is about the nurses. They’re the heroes. I hope people remember, they were doing this when people didn’t know how the disease was spread. They didn’t know if they were passing it to their kids, to their lovers. They just knew intuitively how to respond with skill, love, and compassion.
Katya talks sex dreams, shapeshifting & her one-woman show. What more could you want?
Her one-woman show may be called “Help Me, I’m Dying,” but Katya Zamolodchikova, aka Katya, aka Brian McCook is doing just fine, thank you.
The RuPaul‘s Drag Race season 7 and Drag Race All-Stars season 2 standout has had a wild ride, from coming up in the Boston drag scene to finding a massive audience through TV and an ever-expanding one with the success UNHhhh, her web series with Trixie Matell. UNHhhh was later picked up by Vice for television as The Trixie and Katya Show for one season, and now the pair are back to producing UNHhhh.
Along the way, McCook took time off from the series, and from drag, to focus on mental health, and his willingness to be open about the process was a welcomed dose of honest realness.
It’s easy to scroll through Instagram and convince yourself that people are living the ‘dream,’ but we all have work to do throughout our lives. As queer people, some of that work can be especially challenging to unravel.
The good news? Katya is back and on a world tour, baby! “Help Me, I’m Dying” is set to make its way across Europe, Canada and the US. Head here for tickets and info.
Queerty’sDan Tracer caught up with Katya to talk about dreams, drag names, shapeshifting, and more.
Hi Katya! Good morning–is it morning where you are?
Yeah, I’m in bed still.
Oh wow, that’s actually the perfect location for my first question. As Katya, part of the gig is you have to be so extroverted out in public, but you also seem like an ‘inner world’ queen, too. What are your dreams like?
[Laughs]
It’s going to be that kind of an interview.
OK perfect. Actually last night I had sleep paralysis! Do you know what that is?
That’s like when you consciously wake up but your body is completely inaccessible.
I got it a lot as a kid. I’d start to fall asleep and then I’d feel like I’m being attacked. The one that happened last night, I was on my side and I felt like there were two people, one on my back and one facing me, that were trying to attack and I was trying to scream “Help!” And I couldn’t get anything out of my mouth.
Oh that’s terrifying.
It’s horrible, yeah. But there were two sleep monsters this time. Usually, there’s only one.
Have you ever lucid dreamed?
Yes. Yes!
What’s that like for you? I have too, I’m obsessed with lucid dreaming.
Yeah it’s really cool. It invariably goes sexual.
Yeah?
Because I’m in a dream and I can do whatever I want.
Right, you have that moment where you’re like, “Oh, anything’s possible?!” Mine’s always flying. I’ll think, “Oh I can do anything? I can fly!” And then I’ll float up and get so excited that I wake up.
[Laughs] Oh that’s funny.
So in dream world or in real world, if you could choose between invisibility or shapeshifting as a power, which one would you go for?
Oh shapeshifting for sure.
I mean you kind of already are a shapeshifter.
Right but it would be so much easier to just do it at the drop of a hat.
Oh god, yeah, that would save you several years of your life. And plausible scenarios, if a UFO came down right now, and some goopy alien prince discreetly took you aside, and you know, offered you some tea, was very nice to you, and then gave you the chance to leave, right now, no time to tie up loose ends, no goodbyes, would you go?
[Pause] Yep.
Yeah, that’s fair. And if he said you could make one phone call before you left, who would you call?
Oh! [Laughs] I sort of assumed you’d have to have the person’s phone number already, but that wasn’t part of the question. I would love to hear that conversation, you, on the line with President Obama, just before your interstellar departure. But leaving Barry out of the picture, you’re close with your family, yeah?
Yeah they’re amazing.
So they do know you’re a drag queen?
Nope. They think I work for UPS.
Your secret’s safe with us.
I have a really wonderful family, an older brother and a younger sister. They’re great.
Has your older brother ever tried on one of your wigs?
Well we used to have wig parties.
Oh!
And he just had a child. So I’m an uncle now, and I’m looking forward to procuring some child wigs.
What names did you cycle through before becoming hermetically sealed to Katya?
Gosh I can’t even remember… There was Sigourney Beaver. She was in the mix at some point.
Stop it. The name I’ve been floating for years is So-horny Beaver.
Ohh that’s like a double-whammy.
And run us through the characters in your one-woman show, Help Me, I’m Dying. It’s a one-woman show, but you come out in multiple characters. Katya is there but she doesn’t snag all the stage time. Who are the other featured players?
So there’s Katya the Russian character, so I go through her origin story, and then I come out as another character called Trish, who’s like a junkie/townie from the suburbs of Boston. And then I come out as me, like, without any character, just me in drag, which is slightly confusing.
Which of those three is the most comfortable for you?
Probably the Russian one. I just get into the accent and the origin story, which changes all the time. And I love that about it. It’s like, “Now I’m going to tell the truth,” and it’s never the truth.
I was lucky to have seen the show at the ACE Theater in Los Angeles back in March, which featured Trish in the most bizarre and brilliant physical comedy crowd-play I could ever imagine. For people reading this, you brought an audience member up onto the stage, sat him in a chair and crawled all over him, creating what I can only describe as some kind of kinetic, living, comedy sculpture. Has it changed or evolved as you’ve been touring?
Yeah, it changes all the time. In Singapore, I actually had another performer come up who I used to perform with in Boston, join me on stage, and we did a duet — we did Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion’s “Tell Him,” which is a song about a woman in love — she’s so in love with this guy but she’s too afraid to let him know how she feels, and the audience member we brought up was really not up for it. He was this straight dude who was probably dragged there by his girlfriend, and the song is really long, so he was just tortured for probably like, ten minutes. It was hysterical.
And did the audience love that or was it uncomfortable?
Oh they loved it.
That sounds right.
Yeah it was amazing to watch and probably harrowing for him to experience.
Or not! And so you’re touring now, you have quite an ambitious schedule ahead of you, and I strongly encourage folks to make it out to your gigs — how does the tour life treat you?
It hasn’t been so bad! And we’re actually on a bus starting next month, which I’m very excited about.
And I see you have a show in New York during World Pride, are you even ready for that much queerness?
I don’t think so.
They say 4.5 million people are expected to descend upon the city.
That’s too much gay, I think I’m going to be homophobic by the end of that.
And the reason it’s this massive confluence is it’s the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, and here at Queerty, we’re doing our Pride50 series honoring 50 LGBTQ trailblazers. We’ve been asking people where they see the movement headed in the next 50 years. What do you think Pride100 will look like?
Well, it’ll probably look like Atlantis because we’re going to be underwater. But one of the things I find encouraging is that young people these days, their conception of sexuality is much more fluid and less defined, which I really like. On the one hand, Gay Pride is great, but I also love this kind of like… ‘it doesn’t matter’ sort of attitude about it. You’re interested in who you’re interested in, it’s the blurring of the boundaries of sexual identity.
Identity changes. I think it would be better if there were more consensus on larger, broader issues like compassion, non-violence.
That sounds pretty good to me. Now one last question, a really important one. There is this theory that when the Big Bang happened, it actually created our reality and a second mirror reality which is just like ours except time moves in reverse. So I want to know… what is your drag name in the mirror reality?
Ohh… in the Benjamin Button one. Oh gosh. Sharon Stone.
Sharon Stone.
Sharon Stone, yeah. Just like the actress.
Oh because I guess she wouldn’t really exist as “Sharon Stone” in that universe.
No, she’d be something else.
So you’d just be Sharon Stone.
I’d just be Sharon Stone with a dick and that would be the huge gag in Basic Instinct.
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