Watch Black Panther Free Las Vegas - Back in Theaters for Black History Month
- January 30, 2019 - 6:05pm
Get the chance to see Black Panther back on the big screen for free!
Today we are excited to announce #BlackPanther will return to the big screen to celebrate #BlackHistoryMonth from Feb 1-7 at participating AMC theaters. Tickets are free! We will also donate $1.5M to @UNCF to make the dream of higher education a reality for more students.
— Robert Iger (@RobertIger) January 28, 2019
Academy Award®-nominated “Black Panther” returns to the big screen to celebrate Black History Month for a one-week engagement, February 1-7, at 250 participating AMC Theatres locations. Simply check availability below and click 'Book now.' Once tickets are all claimed, they will open up a limited waiting list for cancellations before showing it as 'Fully booked'. Book your ticket now by CLICKING HERE
Trans Figured Review
- January 16, 2019 - 2:56pm
It’s not a good fit.
You saw it and loved it, but now you know the truth: it’s too small or too large. Too brassy or too muted. It’s the wrong color or the wrong neighborhood or just not you. It doesn’t fit because maybe, as in the new memoir “Trans Figured” by Brian Belovitch, it’s the wrong gender.
In his family of almost all boys, Brian Belovitch stood out because he lacked something his brothers had in abundance: hypermasculinity. Belovitch was soft and “chubby” with curls and long eyelashes and was often mistaken for a little girl as a preschooler, which was just fine with him. He enjoyed his femininity, even though he knew that it would get him a beating – if not from his brothers, then from his father.
Even as a young child, Belovitch says, he was overly-curious about sex, and especially about the male body. He recognized early that girls held “no interest” but boys were another matter. He was in fourth grade when he had his first sexual encounter, with a slightly older male classmate.
By his early teens, Belovitch had discovered alcohol and shoplifting. He’d run away a few times, and visiting gay clubs near his Rhode Island home was, for him, a natural next step. After a traumatic coming-out to his family, he moved in with a man he considered his first real friend; it was through Paulie that Belovitch met a community of trans women.
And that was when “Natalia” was born with “great joy…”
She was beautiful, sexy, “my own special creation,” says Belovitch of himself as a trans woman. As Natalia, she was the toast of New York, a model and actress thanks to hormones, silicones, pilfered clothing, and a desperate need for love. Belovitch got married as Natalia, and divorced; she led him to prostitution, heroin, cocaine, alcohol, HIV, and an attempted suicide. He was Natalia when he reached out to friends and sought therapy. As Natalia, he took “a… look at the direction in which my life was heading.”
Belovitch was Natalia when he realized that he was “feminine-inclined,” but Natalia had to go…
Toward the end of this totally frank memoir, author Brian Belovitch says that if it wasn’t for the AIDS epidemic, his “story would be as common as salt.” Readers may find that arguable, since “Trans Figured” goes well beyond unique.
Beware, though, that it’s going to put you through the wringer.
Belovitch is completely open about the abuse he experienced, and his recounting can be graphic. Beware where you read this book, because it contains nudity inside. Also know that nostalgia for the 1970s may hit you but that’s going to include a breathlessly steep plunge into memories of cocaine, promiscuity, and epidemic.
Still – without giving too much away – there’s a happy ending to this memoir, one that manages to educate readers as it oddly entertains them with stories of times past. It’s a happy ending well-deserved and well-told and, considering the overall uncommonness of “Trans Figured,” it fits.
c.2018, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. $24.99 / $38.99 Canada 232 pages
7 Not-To-Be-Missed LGBTQ Artists
- January 15, 2019 - 3:23pm
Looking to support the sounds of our community? To start, add these acts to your gaylist.
MNEK
You’ve heard English singer, songwriter and producer MNEK behind the scenes, writing for artists like Madonna and Beyoncé (yes, he co-wrote a Lemonade jam, Bey’s “Hold Up”). But with his Capital Records debut, the 23-year-old UK rapper-singer steps into the spotlight, seeing his own artistic vision through with a 16-track album meant to be heard as a full album, a defiant move in a singles-driven music industry. Black and gay, MNEK knows the struggle to thrive in a majority-rules world, which he writes about on the album’s standout, “Correct,” a call-to-arms for queer people, served through the musical guise of a big party bop. Words to live by: “Yas bitch, stay fabulous, honey.”
Donna Missal
As is the case for many aspiring musicians who climb YouTube’s ladder, New Jersey’s Donna Missal stormed the internet first, racking up 11 million combined streams. The demand opened the doors to her first album, the soulful This Time, released in September on Harvest Records. Produced by Tim Anderson, known for helming projects by Solange and Halsey, the sexually fluid LA-based singer-songwriter’s rock-meets-soul sound is as intoxicating as her lyrical content, which she says reflects “taking chances for yourself, figuring out who you are and really standing behind that.”
John Duff
Sassy, frequently shirtless IG sensation John Duff took his social clout to the next level with the release of his song “Girly,” a frothy pop romp celebrating femme power (“let’s get girly, flip our hair, we don’t care”). Its accompanying video is a tribute to a pantheon of gay icons. In the clip, he delightfully mirrors the precious mannerisms of Mariah in her 1999 “Heartbreaker” video along with her signature look – a midriff halter top, cut-off jeans – while also recreating other iconic music-video scenes from Madonna, Britney, Beyoncé and Christina Aguilera.
Shea Diamond
Activism is art in Shea Diamond’s case. Performing songs to fellow prisoners while serving time in various Michigan prisons, the trans singer-songwriter and her inspiring narrative soon fell into the nurturing hands of star producer Justin Tranter, who Diamond has called her “fairy godmother.” Tranter produced songs from Diamond’s first EP, released this year. For the album, the artist channels her personal struggles as a trans woman of color living in a time when the trans community is under attack. Now, particularly, her soulful croon is a voice that needs – and demands – to be heard.
Chris/Christine and the Queens
Pansexual French pop singer, songwriter, producer and choreographer Hélöise Letissier yearned to break down gender constructs, so she fashioned an androgynous look, started going by “Chris,” and used her new persona (previously, her professional alias was Christine and the Queens) as the title of her sophomore album, released in September. One of the most exciting pop albums of the year, Chris holds a mirror to the artist’s personal journey, boldly framing her newfound identity in assertive retro beats that throb and empower.
Michael Blume
Michael Blume, an alumni of Yale University whose future was once academia-bound, almost didn’t pursue music as a career. But after joining an on-campus a capella group that toured the world, performing in 35 countries, the New Jersey-bred, NYC-based singer has forged a flourishing musical career for himself. Queer and other human rights issues still rest heavy on his mind as illustrated by his latest release. A follow-up to his 2016 debut When I Get It Right called Cynicism & Sincerity, the six-song EP’s musically diverse palette – from trap hip-hop to gospel and electronica – is the conduit for his pointed and passionate activist convictions.
Faultlines
Folk-pop trio Faultlines pulled no punches with their Trump-targeted words on “Rain,” released early this year. The fired-up anthem is in the stomping soul style of 1960s protest songs and blends the earthy voices of band members Todd McCool, Ashley Morgan and John Flanagan, who draw upon urban pop and roots country for the gritty call-to-action. Their lyrics rouse: “There's a man in a big white house trying to take your voice away,” they sing. “Do nothing and stay silent if you think that it's OK.”
10 Best Queer Pop Culture Moments
- January 14, 2019 - 1:54am
Is it because we’re all swimming together in the toxic Trump pool that makes every new addition to the LGBTQ cultural canon feel like an act of rebellion? Probably. But even if we were living in a queer-friendly political era, 2018’s (they’re calling it #20GayTeen on the Internet, just FYI) pop culture output would still be impressive. And not just among ourselves – the mainstream took notice and we didn’t have to dilute or code ourselves to make a splash there. The receipts:
1. Pose on FX forever smashed ideas about how much trans is too much trans for one show. TV mogul Ryan Murphy stepped back, let transgender actors, writers and directors take over, and it made the show more true, heartfelt and emotional than we even dared to hope for. And over on Viceland, the documentary series My House went into the real 2018 ballroom scene and let audiences know exactly what has changed since Paris is Burning.
2. Janelle Monae’s “PYNK” and its accompanying video served as a deliriously gorgeous and hypnotic ode to women of color – both cis and trans – loving other women of color, and it turned into a launching pad for best friends Monae and Tessa Thompson coming out, Thompson as bisexual and Monae as pansexual. If you’re confused by the difference, there’s always Google.
3. The Miseducation of Cameron Post and Boy Erased, together, formed one solid movie about the toxic world of anti-gay Evangelical conversion camps for LGBTQ young people. Miseducation had a queer director in Desiree Akhavan, which informed the film’s ability to get the anxiety and power of teenage desire just right, but Erased, based on author Garrard Conley’s lived experience in the church, dove deep into the terror and abuse of fundamentalist belief. See them both.
4. Broadway went Old School this year with revivals of Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song Trilogy (closing in January of 2019 and beginning a national tour) and the groundbreaking drama The Boys In The Band, starring Jim Parsons. They’re a reminder that within the lifespan of most members of Generation X, the American public’s perception of queer people has shifted in ways that make the word “dramatic” quite an understatement.
5. Love, Simon took heat for being about a relatively affluent suburban gay white boy, but as a mainstream multiplex entry with very long legs (its budget was somewhere around $15 million and over its run raked in over 65) this teenage coming out and coming-of-age story was the sweet John Hughes-esque comedy Hollywood hadn’t yet bothered to make.
6. Vida was the Starz network’s queer Latinx show you haven’t watched yet, but when you do it will become your very favorite thing. About two Mexican-American sisters in East Los Angeles, it’s a dramedy about identity and the making and breaking of family bonds. Go stream it!
7. About a transgender woman going for and getting everything she knows she deserves in the face of much adversity, Chilean film A Fantastic Woman won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and made a rising star of Daniela Vega.
8. Listen, we still like Queer Eye even if we think Tan’s fashion advice is a bit too transparently product placement for Bonobos and overly reliant on shirts that are only half tucked in (don’t blame France for it, dude). We’re into Jonathan’s gleefully defiant attack on the masc4masc aesthetic. All day. Every day.
9. Here for lesbian drama: Disobedience with Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams had the hottest sex, Skate Kitchen had better skateboard skills than Mid90s, Lizzie had the best violent attack on the patriarchy, and The Favourite had the fanciest, iciest, lady-on-lady seduction in the biggest royal costumes and tall wigs. All of them matter.
10. Haley Kiyoko was MTV’s Push Artist of the Year at the 2018 VMAs. Do you know her yet? You will when you go watch her video for “What I Need,” which features queer singer Kehlani. Then you’ll wonder why this story of young women running away to be together wasn’t a feature-length film. Neither of these young ladies came to play, and you’ll soon be seeing and hearing more from both.
Stop Calling the Cops
- January 14, 2019 - 1:14am
When it comes to HIV disclosure, it’s time to stop involving the police
When I see films or documentaries about the early days of the AIDS epidemic that focus on the lives and relationships of gay men, I see a lot of people taking care of one another. In many cases, one partner might find out he’s HIV positive, the other partner finds out his status, and the two stay together, and one taking care of the other until one or both is met with the unfortunate fate of certain death. I’m sure it also happened that many men, who were brave enough to finally disclose their status in a time where there were no available treatments to keep them alive, were in fact deserted by their lovers, and left to other family and friends to care for them until they died.
But in neither scenario do I recall seeing images of a man, upon learning of his partners HIV status, sneaking quietly into another room, and dialing 9-1-1 to report to the police, that they may have been exposed to the virus.
And yet, that is happening. And I’d ask all gay men reading this to please stop.
There are laws that criminalize the lack of disclosing one’s HIV status to sexual partners in about [34 states[http://www.thebody.com/content/80334/map-hiv-criminalization-in-the-united-states.html?ic=sanext]]. Some make the act of “exposing” someone to HIV a felony crime. And some make the act of not disclosing one’s status to sexual partners a crime. Now, we can debate the fact that “exposing” someone to HIV is often based on ideas about transmission that are 30 years old and no longer relevant. Spitting doesn’t transmit HIV, for example. And we also know if a person is on antiretroviral therapy and the virus is suppressed in their bodies, they cannot transmit the virus through sexual contact – even if it’s sex without a condom (or what we call Undetectable=Untransmittable, or U=U).
While it’s important that we all know the latest information about HIV transmission, it still shouldn’t matter. No gay or bisexual men, as maligned as we all still are in the world, should ever think the best solution to deal with HIV – whether you contract the virus or not – is to use the police and the specter of a prison sentence.
I’ve been working on issues of HIV criminalization for about 10 years. And in the last few years I’ve done some support on two particular cases where gay men have opted to bring down the force of punitive police and prison onto people they say didn’t disclose they were HIV positive, even if they didn’t contract HIV. [Michael Johnson[http://www.thebody.com/content/80461/michael-johnson-bypasses-trial-enters-no-contest-p.html]] is a young black gay man in Missouri, currently serving a 10-year sentence for exposing several sex partners to HIV, only one of whom contracted HIV, and whether or not he disclosed his status is something only the people involved know. But the person who called the police and who is HIV positive says he contracted HIV from Johnson, but does not say that the sex they had was coerced, or anything approaching assault. It was consensual.
More recently, 24-year-old [Sanjay Johnson[http://www.thebody.com/content/81289/sanjay-johnson-faces-prison-sentence-in-arkansas-h.html]] is facing trial in Arkansas, in early 2019, after disclosing his status after having sex with another young man. There is documented evidence that Johnson was, in fact, virally suppressed at the time of their sexual encounter, and the other person in question told TheBody that he tested positive just weeks later, and was concurrently given an AIDS diagnosis, which suggests he may have also been HIV positive at the time he had sex with Johnson, but did not know. The accuser also suggests that when he called the police, he didn’t realize they would charge Johnson with a felony and that it would mean Johnson would be sent to prison.
I am a Black gay man approaching my 44th birthday. I straddle the generation of men who literally lost dozens, if not hundreds, of friends and lovers, and those who are now coming of age where we have great treatments that will suppress the virus to make condomless sex of no risk for HIV transmission, as well as having PrEP – an option other than condoms to prevent HIV for those who are HIV negative. I’m on PrEP and made the choice to use PrEP several years ago so that I would take my own HIV prevention into my own hands, and not leave it to guess whether someone is HIV-positive or negative. And I also am open to dating or having sex with men who are HIV positive (and already have) but I don’t need someone to disclose their status in order for me to make decisions about my own body.
But I’ve been disheartened by the fact that we have such fear and mistrust of one another that people think calling the police on someone for their health status is something that will keep us safe. Police and prisons do not bring about safety. Access to quality health care that is affordable is safety. Housing, drug treatment and harm reduction is safety. And having the love and support of other men, as friends, as lovers, as a community, is what will make us safe, and heal us all of the specter and the stigma of HIV, whether HIV positive or negative.
Rainbow Wave: More than 150 LGBTQ candidates win in the midterms
- January 13, 2019 - 7:56pm
The 2018 midterm elections resulted in big wins for LGBTQ candidates, with over 150 claiming victories. These wins include successes in governor, congressional, state and local races.
At the governor’s level, two important victories were registered. Jared Polis (D) became the first openly gay man elected governor in the country. In Oregon, bisexual lawmaker Gov. Kate Brown (D) held on to her title. When she was first elected governor in 2016, she became the first openly LGBTQ person elected to the position in the United States.
In the congressional races, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D), the first openly LGBTQ person elected to the Senate, won re-election. Then there was Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D),who won a tight race for a vacated Senate seat—making her the first openly bisexual person elected to the Senate.
Reports NBC News:
Of the estimated 20 openly LGBTQ major party candidates running for the House, eight won. The incumbent winners include Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif.; Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y.; Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I.; and Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis. The new LGBTQ House members include Democrats Sharice Davids of Kansas, Angie Craig of Minnesota, Chris Pappas of New Hampshire and Katie Hill of California.
“This is a historic night in the fight for equality,” said Rep. Cicilline in a statement. “We will enter the 116th Congress with an unprecedented number of LGBTQ members.”
“We are also celebrating the rise of a Democratic majority,” he continued. “Issues important to LGBTQ Americans, like the Equality Act’s protection from discrimination and equal and affordable access to health care, will now be top priorities for the People’s House. The LGBTQ members of Congress are ready to lead in the House to ensure equality for all across this country.”
As for the state legislatures, NBC News reported the election of “a record-breaking number of LGBTQ representatives,” with 129 expected wins.
LGBTQ victories on the local level were registered as well. For instance, several transgender candidates won local races for city council and school board positions.
Gifts By and For LGBTQ Friends and Family
- January 13, 2019 - 7:24pm
Keep it in the “family” this year by giving these gifts from LGBTQ-led businesses designed with our queer brothers and sisters in mind.
Furious Goose Pocket Squares
Fancy silken pocket squares – like the luxurious Selim’s Hammer geometric depicting Ottoman flintstock pistols nestled in an arabesque of roses – doubles as an aristocratic neckerchief with anarchist flair to help elevate your Coachella look from basic bitch to baddest. $54, furiousgoose.co.uk
Smash the Patriarchy Earrings
It’s been all-out war on toxic masculinity in 2018 – and there’s no reason to relent now. OHME’s brass (and brash) Smash the Patriarchy earrings put all the men at your holiday dinner table on notice without you having to say a word. $73, wildfang.com
Üllo Wine Purifier
Selective Sulfite Capture technology in the Üllo purifier restores your vintage to its just-bottled taste, removing the artificial preservative suspected to cause those nasty wine headaches. Package includes an adjustable aerator, four replacement filters, travel bag, and display base to capture stray drips. Custom hand-blown glassware also is available and designed to work specifically with the device for a chicer presentation. $80, ullowine.com
Bullies and Biceps Calendar
Photographer Mike Ruiz panders to your sensitivities by bringing shirtless models and adorable, adoptable dogs together for his 2019 Bullies and Biceps calendar. The just-safe-enough-for-your-cubicle calendar honors the memory of Ruiz’s beloved pit bull Oliver who passed away earlier this year, and $1 from each copy sold will benefit New York Bully Crew, a rescue op that specializes in rehabbing and re-homing the world’s most misunderstood breed. $25, nybullycrew.org
Haus of Karyn Rolling Papers
As the marijuana-legalization train picks up steam, so are fey ways to get fuzzy, like rolling a fatty in slow burning, 100% hemp “Fancy AF” papers from lesbian-owned maker Haus of Kayrn. Stuff a toker’s stocking with the also available “Happy Pride, Bitch” set while you’re at it. $2.99, haus-of-karyn.myshopify.com
Exotics by Cedrick Heel-Boot
Miss Vanjie will be yelling your name on loop after a death drop in the Sarae Boot from Exotics by Cedrick, featuring a leather upper with faux snakeskin print, side zippers, and a five-inch spiked table-leg heel that lets all those hoes know you came to snatch the crown. $1,250, exoticsbycedrick.com
Marsanne Brands Custom Dog Sweater
Get the most bark for your buck with Marsanne Brands’ custom dog sweaters, available in sizes that range from Chihuahua to Chow Chow, adorned with fabric roses and sequins in you-pick colorways and embroidered with your pet’s name. Canine couture cheaper than from a store. $39, shopmarsanne.com
Mr Turk x 2(X)IST Smoking Jacket set
Add more merry to your Christmas morning routine in the Hef-inspired velvet satin smoking jacket and matching lounge pants, a collab between gay go-tos Mr Turk and 2(X)IST, that save the best package for last. $596, 2xist.com
I Love My Weiner Amenity Bag
You’re so vain, you probably think this bag is about you. Might be – if you’ve got a special doxie in your life or, ya know, just an affinity for what your daddy gave you. $24.95, nakeddecor.com
Upcycled Mixed Print Jogger
Sewing-room floor scraps are redeemed in no-two-are-alike joggers (and other couture clothing and accessories) from Zero Waste Daniel, which makes it its duty to avenge textile pollution and champion fair labor practices one toss-away at a time. $123, zerowastedaniel.com
Nitro Noir Eau de Parfum
If the Paramount Network’s ill-fated, thrice-canceled, but-nonetheless-delicious Heathers reboot (resurrected on demand) were liquefied and bottled, it’d smell exactly like Kierin NYC’s intoxicating Nitro Noir, with notes of Italian bergamot, pink berries, orris, and the envy of all your hangers-on. Isn’t it just? $78, kierin-nyc.com
Blind Journalist Starts Up a Publishing Company Exclusively for Authors Who Write About Disability
- January 13, 2019 - 6:36pm
When he lost his sight as a result of a violent beating in 2007, Belo Cipriani of St. Louis Park, Minn., a suburb of Minneapolis, all of a sudden found himself thrust into a scary new world he didn’t know how to navigate. At the age of 26, he had to start his life over again.
“One of the first steps I took in my recovery was to seek insight into my situation,” he said. “I started looking for disability stories that were contemporary in nature.”
He didn’t really find anything that fit the bill, so he did the next best thing. “I started turning to people and places that could offer support,” he said. That support eventually led him to pursue a Master’s in Creative Writing, and start a new career as a disability journalist.
“Right away when I started working, I began meeting other disabled writers and asked them questions about how they were navigating life,” he said. Their answers are among those featured in the debut title for Oleb Books, a new publishing company Cipriani started up that will exclusively publish writers with disabilities.
The company’s debut title, Firsts: Coming of Age Stories by People with Disabilities, is scheduled for release the week of Oct. 01, 2018. It is a collection of eleven essays Cipriani edited that showcase what it’s like to live with a disability.
Included in the collection are “The Hearing Child” by Kevin Souhrada, who writes about what it’s like to be a second-generation deaf man. In his essay, Souhrada shares intimate details about how he communicates with the world around him, about the modification made to help him interact with the hearing world, and of the trials and tribulations associated with parenting his hearing children.
Also included in the book is “Dark Clouds,” by Nigel David Kelley. In his essay, Kelley shares how being diagnosed with a slow growing, but debilitating brain tumor helped him discover the important things in life; and in “Heart in a Bottle,” Christina Pieres shares how difficult it is to overcome the assumptions and stereotypes people have about those living with autism.
Some of the writers were born with their disabilities. The majority, like Cipriani, developed them later in life. “A common thread in a lot of the stories is that many of the writers were the first person with a disability to do a certain thing,” said Cipriani.
Souhrada, for example, was the first deaf child in his community to play t-ball for the local team; the first deaf middle school football player; and the first deaf man in the nation to take the national Spanish Exam. Another common theme shared by many of the writers, they had a second “Coming of Age” as a result of their disability.
“There’s a sense that once you’re disabled your life is over, or it’s less rich. I don’t think that’s the case. All of these people lead very rich lives. They are falling in love, they are getting work, they are moving around. Yes, they have experienced tragedy, but they are learning to manage it,” said Cipriani, who hopes the book will serve as a reminder to others that life may not be perfect, but it is manageable.
“Great books touch our minds, hearts and take us to undiscovered lands. But for far too long, literary works have failed to capture the disability experience. I’m hoping to change that through Oleb Books,” said Cipriani.
In her review of the book, Amy Silverman, a commentator on KJZZ Radio, the NPR member station in Phoenix, Ariz., and the author of “My Heart Can’t Even Believe It: A Story of Science, Love and Down Syndrome,” said, “I feel like I was given a ring of keys, and that each one allowed me to enter a different world. Each narrator is unique, each world fascinating -- at turns heartbreaking, funny and hopeful -- and yes, disability is center stage but it’s not the only thing that makes these characters jump off the page. Far from it. This is a beautifully written collection of stories about obsession, art, work, family, love, loss. It’s about the things that make us different -- and the things that make us the same.”
Hamburger Mary’s employees claim payments withheld. Franchise location closes after employee tests positive for Hepatitis A; rodents & roaches found.
- January 13, 2019 - 5:48pm
Former employees of the Hamburger Mary’s Las Vegas location are claiming they haven’t been paid in months.
Heidi Burgener, a former assistant general manager with the restaurant, also says that around 100 people were laid off within the first few months of the Las Vegas venue opening, this back in August. Of those who kept their jobs, some are reportedly not getting paid.
“I don’t like unethical workplaces and for me to have to lie constantly to staff who are losing their homes. I know 11 people who lost their homes. I know at least six to seven who have lost their cars. Numerous cell phones have been shut off,” Burgener told 13 Action News.
Former employee Eric Kristiansen also spoke to the news channel.
“I know that there are people right now who have gone a month, two months without getting any pay,” Kristiansen said.
According to 13 Action News, current operations manager Lou Placencia seemed shocked to hear this news, but says he will rectify any problems past or current employees may have.
“It’s pretty upsetting, I gotta be honest with you. I’m not happy about it but I’m very willing to take care of anything, any issues they had or we’ve had. But it’s upsetting because we try hard,” Placencia said.
This is more bad news for Hamburger Mary’s. The franchise has also been in the news lately after a Hepatitis A scare and rodents and roaches were found in the kitchen ultimately closing the Hamburber Mary’s Ybor location for good.
An employee had tested positive for Hepatitis A, and the health department encouraged anyone who ate at the restaurant between Oct. 4 and Oct. 20 to get vaccinated.
Then a television investigation in early November discovered that the restaurant had to also be closed down over live roaches and rodents in the kitchen. In the end, the decision was made to close the business.
Nevada legislators give final okay to gender diverse school regulation
- January 13, 2019 - 5:27pm
State lawmakers have given final approval to a regulation guiding how Nevada school districts should address the needs of their transgender students.
“Despite all the existential arguments that I have heard over the last couple of months, it boils down to protecting kids for me,” Assemblywoman Maggie Carlton (D), who voted in favor of the regulation, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The Legislative Commission voted 7-5 in favor of the Department of Education’s regulation. Assemblymen Keith Pickard (R), Jim Wheeler (R), Chris Edwards (R), and Sens. Scott Hammond (R) and Ben Kieckhefer (R) opposed it.
Writes the Review-Journal:
The regulation requires school districts to adopt a policy that includes training on the needs of people with diverse gender identities. Districts must also develop a plan to address the rights and needs of such students, addressing issues such as access to school clubs and dress code.
It does specify that transgender students may only be referred to using the pronoun with which they identify. But students and staff who don’t comply with that directive may only be disciplined if the failure to do so constitutes bullying or violates school district policy.
But the regulation does not specify which restrooms trans students must use, nor does it require districts to address the matter.
Parents continue to be divided over this new regulation.
The regulation was required after a law passed in 2017. This final approval closely aligns with the Clark County School Board’s transgender policy, which passed on a split vote back in August.