Mr. Long Beach Pride 2024

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Podcast i'm nino local construction daddy and podcast fatty my pronouns are he him thank you for asking i have with me here on this fabulous pride month my fabulous cohorts yay what's up y'all yay this christophe here your city top liaison my pronouns are he him and that motherfucker dr mikey here your professional chismoso my pronouns are he she all of them so what do you have for us today nino oh you know just some quick tea and queer events quick tea and queer events

quick tea and queer events quick tea and queer events quick quick quick take a sip take a sip you big stupid bitch all right so this is the quick tea and the queer events this is where we get into the L G B and the T of it all sometimes we get a little key you to. Do I oh you know I know what you mean what did the Queen's talk about this week today and gay online library is fighting anti-lgbtq plus censorship by offering free queer books Mississippi is about to open its first shelter for. Music.

Targets pride collection claim they've received no compensation a christian lifeguard can't handle standing near a pride flag in sues los angeles uh more homophobic pope today in trans court strikes down desantis hey also san francisco decides to become a trans sanctuary also a trans man wins 4.7 million in lawsuit with transphobic school today in what the fuck gay republicans go Go hard for Trump. Do any of you Queens know about any of these things?

I felt like I knew something about that lifeguard that was in L.A. But apparently, I must be confused with another. Well, you know, all employees these days don't want to do anything LGBTQ plus I. Everyone wants to work no more. A Christian lifeguard is suing the city of Los Angeles for severe emotional distress after he was stationed near a pride flag last year.

Jeffrey Little, who has worked for the city for 22 years, filed a lawsuit on Friday claiming he is being discriminated against for his evangelical faith by being made to stand in the same vicinity as the progress pride flag. Little alleges he was suspended from his role with the department's background investigation unit last year after he took down three LGBTQ plus flags during Pride Month.

That's not your job, sir. You were there to fucking lifeguard. nothing that fucking city equipment the los angeles county board of supervisors voted last year to require the rainbow banner be flown flown during the month of june at government buildings which include lifeguard stands little who claimed the flags present a direct conflict with his religion's beliefs fought to place at stations that would not fly the flag as they did not have the right flag pose to fly any banner little

arrived to his station at dockweller beach on june 21st 2023 and found three nearby facilities displaying the flag ordered by the lifeguard division's chief according to the complaint but after he removed them little said he was given a direct order from the chief to ensure the flag was displayed throughout the month little was accusing the department of religious discrimination and retaliation alleging that officials did not substantively engage with his objections and

instead threatened discipline and and eventually termination for failure to raise the progress pride flag. He is asking for damages based on severe emotional distress and standing exemption from raising the flag. The lifeguard scene, particularly triggered by the turquoise and pink stripes on the original pride flag designed by Gilbert Baker, which represents magic and sex respectively. Those two stripes are notably not on the progress pride flag,

the subject of Little Sue. still little claim that queer identity goes against the purpose of the human person. That makes no sense on what he's but basically the progress pride flag is the one that's so it symbolizes and advances a range of disputed viewpoints, both religions and moral regarding the family, the nature of marriage and human sexuality, the promotion of certain sexual practices and the identity, nature and purpose of the human person.

The lawsuit reads, additionally, particularly aspects of the progress pride flag were originally intended by his creators and echoed by the board in its motions to signify sex, magic and spirit, among other ideological and spiritual notations.

So little typically works at will rogers beach long considered a safe space among lgbtq plus beach goers the beach is so popular with queer residents and visitors that it earned the nickname ginger rogers beach that's what i was saying like all the gays go to that beach like what is you talking about like the flag itself so you're just mad that they are flying the flag but no matter what station you're at at dockwell you're gonna run until

lgbtq plus motherfuckers yeah so what What is the issue with the flag? He's going to be mad when he finds out that's a cruising spot. I mean, I'm quite sure he knows he's been there for fucking 22 years. He's just trying to prove a point. He's trying to say something. But it didn't even make sense. Right. Like, that's going to get denied and you can go ahead and lose your pension on that shit. Yeah. And he went even as far as like researching like the meaning of the flag.

I know. I thought that was interesting that he went there with like, oh, and it means this and this and this. Like, girl, you didn't know that. But he's probably one of those gay Trump, you know, one of them LGBTQ plus. Well, so he's 22. Well, he's been, no, he's been at the, he's been a lifeguard for 22 years. Yeah. Oh. So he's been working for the county for 22 years. So like this ain't nothing fucking new. How long has, now I know that they recently passed that the flags must be.

Be posted during pride month but ever since i moved here and at least since 2015 i have always seen a flag down there for some reason i don't know if it could be beach goers but well you know what i'll never really be paying attention to the lifeguard station it's a very populated beach that a lot of lgbtq plus people go to it's very gay friendly but like this idea of like severe severe emotional distress over a flag but like how they're gonna have to ask him like what was

so emotional yeah and how many days did you have to take off where's your note from your therapist what is like you gotta show me some proof on how this was so emotionally damaging.

Don't look at it yeah because the reality is regardless of your religion gay people exist this lgbtq people exist like your religion isn't like exempt you from acknowledging that idea if your argument is that exactly we already settled this it's science gay people are human beings that exist in nature but he's not saying well no because he's being offended because he's saying that it goes against my religious belief it goes against the human purpose it

goes against the human purpose and lgbtq kids are against my religion and it's offensive because my religion states this well you know what it doesn't matter that your religion states it because your religion came after gays did anyways so gays were here before your religion and therefore null and void yeah just hang up the flag and don't look at it i'm quite sure he's that's not gonna make it to anything substantial i don't think i don't know he's he's like he's bringing

in him bringing in the flag is like i feel like, something that he can really lean on heavily because like he's leaning in the idea of like it's denoting that has some sort of spiritual meaning and then now they're forcing him to.

Like he's going to tie it in and it's going to violate his religious aspect because you're forcing him to do something in another religion or in something spiritual like i see that's his angle yeah i mean that's a good that would be like a good angle if you were if you're stupid but i mean a lot of these people in these courts are stupid but if you had a smart gay lawyer.

Like i would be able to argue like bitch none of these gays know what any of these and it's true no one does no one knows what any of these little things are supposed to mean yes the designer maybe said that and attached it to it but you know what no gay person all wrote down that we observe this you know what i mean it's not a religion it's not it's not a political belief yeah but also he's bringing up the old flag but that's not the flag they're asking him to hang either right so it's like but

i think he's that's what he's saying like that first flag he didn't really care too much he didn't care but since this new flag is the progress and it involves spirituality and magic that goes against his religion so he's trying to put it in to like it's clever and so what if you don't have no fucking you don't have magic bitch so what magic Magic is still a thing, and you can't stop us. Jesus isn't magic. He turned water into wine. That's a great trick. Thank you. Also, spirit.

You don't agree with spirit now? I thought that was your whole religion. It's about spirit. I thought you had three of them. God damn. Okay. Go raise those flags. It's saying sex. It's about sex and magic.

And it's against my religion and you're discriminating against me no sis we're just telling you to do your job you're observing a flag with your eyeballs yeah discrimination and really asking for like one month all we get is a month of representation you should be focused on swimmers beachgoers why are you caring about the flag focus on that dumbass anyways thank you next what did the pope do again still still using that same language girl using this

language that he's sorry i can't get into the article he keep using the same word twice during pride month come on dummy he just has no idea see so like this isn't the thing like look at your your head leader is like discriminating against gay people and using a harmful word that causes emotional distress and a harmful word that has like the hand the hand in like people on the life in themselves right so there's no way you can tell me that like real like this religion.

Is not harmful yeah like if you people are supposed to be about godliness you're not doing things in a good godly spirit like even if that person is quote-unquote a sinner you're still talking about them as if they're like a garbage person right like do you talk about all the other sins in that same regard like do you talk about i don't know adultery no killing right what else is there i don't they say they can all go back and repent and it's all good and gravy become a monk

the end but no No. Anyways. But yeah. Stop using that word, Pope.

Keep us out of your mouth. I'm going to read this Target one. Artists, this is from The Advocate. Artists behind Target's Pride collection claim they've received no compensation. Several artists who worked on Target's annual LGBTQ plus Pride merchandise collection are accusing the company of giving them no compensation for their work.

Shani Benjamin, an artist specializing in bold feminine pieces, recently directly named the company in an Instagram post where she claimed it, quote, dropped myself along with three other artists from Pride campaign after, quote, working on these assets for two years now. A few months after we got word that Target was restructuring their Pride programming. Aka pandering, to the hateful right Trumpsters, she said, the production company has been very kind in trying to help us place product.

But it's a bit too late. I had an order of 21,000 units, and they're just going to sit in a warehouse in Miami. I'm able to keep 100, but the rest is just wasted.

So disappointed to have to to even have to make this video but on this weird ass world but this is the weirdest world we're living in hey beefcake known for his racy prints of muscular cartoon men said in a separate instagram video that he was asked to work on pride collection for a huge company's 2024 pride campaign before he was suddenly dropped as well the artist also claimed that the company's decision was influenced by last year's conservative campaign

against lgbtq pride collections and collaborations i spent over 160 hours hours i could have been spent on paying work designing my collection unfortunately i was dropped completely after the rampant homophobia and transphobia during last year's pride season he said no explanation no compensation nothing i wasn't the only one either in fact most of the other amazing artists were also screwed in some way small shop small and support your

favorite queer artists this year when one commenter when When one commenter asked if the company was Target, HeyBeefcake only responded with suggestive emojis. Target has celebrated Pride Month every June for over a decade with a collection honoring the LGBTQ plus community. The retailer began removing some Pride items in certain locations in May last year after threats were made to their employees' safety, a company spokesperson told The Advocate at the time.

Whistleblowers revealed at the beginning of may that target will not be stocking pride merchandise in about half of its 2 000 u.s locations this june the reports did not include mentions of employee safety concerns but rather cited the company as being motivated motivated by the financial impact of the conservative outrage get the fuck up out of here get the fuck up out of here with that bullshit thank you target thank you for saying that out loud right thank you okay oh so

that's who the fuck y'all give a fuck about okay you know the republicans they're protesting us so now we have to give in to their concerns okay but you're still selling pride merch anyways so you're trying to play both of us at the same time yeah right idiots you fucking idiots and you're fucking admitting to it at the same time so these people weren't responsible for what was in pride today this no so good because that shit was ugly.

That's why because they wanted to make sure we weren't in a band that shit so they so the conservatives won't have no fucking bite i mean that sucks i definitely understand what they're talking about where like a company tells you okay we're gonna work with you we're gonna hire with you and we're gonna go through all the pre-production which we don't ever pay for and you're gonna spend all this work hours actually working designing figuring things out getting everything ready to go

spending all your hours where you could actually be doing shit you're being paid for right but because it's target you're gonna say yes and you're gonna do that and then all of a sudden they say oh bye you're we're not doing this anymore oh sorry i yeah you we don't even they don't even gonna give a shit that you were doing all that work they don't even think that's they don't they're not even gonna think about it they not but shit i feel like i I don't know how legally

this could happen, but like, if you're the artist, you made those items, those items belong to you. If you didn't get compensated for it, those things belong to you. Go to the flea markets and all these other shops where if you want to support small and shit, get out there and do the street work. I mean, it could be that there's, I mean, I don't know what their fucking contract, if there even was a contract with them, but if it was a contract, like, shoot, throw me my money then.

Now, if I'm able, cause he did say that he can keep 100, but the rest is going to sit in storage so that means you've been compensated for something because if not, those $2,000 belong to me too, motherfucker. And run me my shit, man. Yeah, so I don't know why...

I'm like did they have like i don't know like still like the the rights to your work that you did for them but i think even if they don't and you have all this in stock now you have to go and take time away to go peddle all this merchandise somewhere like that.

Mass produce and like not your problem you know like now they have like a whole other job to try to like survive now i mean that's pretty fucking dirty yeah it is like yeah we're gonna work with you because you're like lgbtq plus that's what it's all about oh shit well the conservatives don't like this so bye right i hope y'all hear that as well i don't go to target no tarjay that's so sad i love tarjay right i can't no more like this is ridiculous to say it yeah oh the conservatives

got so mad we see the impact of them not spending money okay i mean yeah thank you for saying it out loud bitch now i know where you stand, now then you're we're gonna hear that and then we're gonna pull our money and then you're gonna do the same thing where you're gonna be like oh well we're coming back with pride now again because we're fucking idiots yeah but i mean yeah and the reason why your fucking pride merch sits on the fucking shelves

is because it's shitty and ugly don't want to wet it because you fucking probably have all these stupid guidelines that are like safety guidelines that you can only put this or that or you fucking guide the fucking artist anyways bitch like i want some of that hay beef cake merchandise i look cute i'm like i wonder what he was gonna do yeah i've seen i've seen those like i've seen designs maybe it is him but it's like popeye and he's like all muscular or like popeye and bruno like

all romantic with each other i like those cartoons yeah those muscle gay cartoons on instagram. That would have been cute to see, Target, but no. I mean, that is real, what, gay culture. Yeah. Yeah. I'm about to look at some of his stuff. Yeah, so go check it out, y'all. Go shop local. But, oh. What are you saying? I mean. It a little risque? Right. I don't know if this would be. But I'm also knowing that this would not be something that he would be making for a family-friendly establishment.

Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Oh, yeah, yeah. But I do like it. Let me see.

Lol my boyfriend's already following it your fiance i have seen all this i have seen this yeah i've seen this right so it's not like he's gonna right it's not like he was gonna have all of this out like and fucking sergeant i'm quite sure he made like a great fucking work you should put it out i'll buy one i'll buy a speedo or whatever you have now that i recognize this artist i'm like i can't believe target did that i mean i already couldn't believe that

they did that but even more so yeah so boycott target y'all man target you're done, also targets racist when i worked there they were racist oh the management was racist they're pretty much chick-fil-a with clothes yeah oh that's cute look at the little misty.

Okay anyways we digress go um go support was it hate beefcake who was the other one, shenny benjamin shenny benjamin go check out their stuff go buy from them directly shop local doing pride, So when you're at them pride festivals and you see those pop-up shops and those queer artists, make sure you buy something instead of buying them $40 goddamn beers and drinks. The last bit said, what is this name?

In Teslo, popular for their Winslow Gothic brand Girl Spells, added in another video that they are only being compensated for the four designs Target manufactured. However we don't know how much and we haven't seen a single set yet.

We hope that with enough support we will eventually have the means to slowly produce the full intended collection and get everything that we designed and manufactured ourselves dang see corporations don't care about us y'all they don't they really don't give a fuck it is i mean come on bitches it's always about the money it is always always oh that's cute the girl spells the girl spells that's cute go on to find girl spells on instagram i love this little goth goth gay vibe that's fun here

for it support gay businesses during pride month y'all i always try to go on to like etsy and find like gay artists to like buy shit from randomly when i just feel like spending money you do that's nice that's cute i'm gonna gonna start doing that they have cute stuff though i bought actually what i did buy is there is these really cute pins fuck i should probably shout out this fucking person yeah everyone talk about it i want to talk about it.

This isn't the one that I got, but from Witch Pins on Etsy. It's like, but the one I have was guys. Oh, that's cute. And it's like two guys kissing. And it says, and like one is like stars. It's cute, but I got the one with guys. And I do like Etsy because they don't do mass production. So like if you, once they out, it's out. Unless they remake it again or when they do custom order. Yeah, and it looks like this pin that I bought. Oh, here's the one that I bought. Oh, okay.

That's nice. But apparently the one that I got is not being sold anymore, so I got original cute pins, too. What'd you put it on? Limited edition. I just kept it, actually, in its little plastic thingy and put it on my wall. Oh, okay. And I bought my boyfriend one. Your... Oh, my fiancé. Gotta get used to her saying it now. My fiancé. So it'll be your husband. My brosband. Ah, that's cute.

Sorry. So Mississippi, which I'm actually proud of and to read about Mississippi's first LGBTQ shelter to open in Jackson, the state's first shelter devoted to the state's LGBTQ community is set to open at the end of June. The Jack Myers house is named after an LGBTQ activist from Mississippi credited for providing safe housing options for those in his community since 1960s. Myers, who is still alive, also provided housing to people living with AIDS during the 1980s.

Jason McCarty serves as the executive director of Mississippi Harm Reduction Initiative. The statewide organization helps to ensure that those in the LGBTQ community who use drugs use them safely and get to support their need on the road to recovery. The organization is opening the shelter and is excited about the impact that it will have on the state. The LGBTQ shelter has been about 10 year dream, McCarthy said.

We're really excited and grateful that, though, through MS harm reduction, we are now able to open the Jackson shelter. We'll work with the LGBTQ members experiencing homelessness, as well as those who experience sex trafficking, domestic violence. For security reasons, the shelter location will not be publicly disclosed. That's amazing. The Jack Mayer House will open on June 28th with 10 beds available for housing. The entire staff is trained on how to work with the LGBTQ population.

Shelter clients will receive the following free safe housing, three meals a day, an opportunity to get their GED or return to community college with a scholarship laptop included. Full time case management staff to help with job placement and create a long term plan for housing stability. A domestic violence education program with support groups.

The Jack Myers Wellness Center will open in August 2024 and will provide the following free felony expungement services, daily counseling services, case management for Social Security card, birth certificate replacement, laundry services. The Jack Myers House is accepting donations to help support the shelters initiative. A donor will match donations given before June 20th up to 50,000.

Visit the shelters Facebook page for more information. So you can go to the Jack Myers House Facebook page, help donate so they can get that match donation. That's great. This is actually great because especially being in the, you'll be surprised on how many individuals in the South don't really feel safe, period. But then to not have that opportunity to be somewhere safe and then also be on the streets.

States that most individuals that's how you know the west coast gets a get a lot of individuals from different cities and states and that's why because they don't have like all this stuff they're naming is pure basic it's the pure minimum that any city or state organization can provide if you're a first country right so that's what i'm saying like it's it sounds good but like in In Mississippi, they don't know about this.

So like if you're not from a major city, you don't know this is just the bare minimum. So they're getting their –. The rocks, you know, like they're getting it going. So that's a good step. And hopefully they get a lot of donations and be able to strive and get those individuals the help and the services that they need.

I hope they get that. yeah i think it's important i think we definitely need queer lgbtqia specific agencies and housing because like 40 percent of i last statistic i looked up was 40 percent of lgbtq youth i mean 40 percent of people who are on house are lgbtq and when they're young you know yeah when they're youth we when they're under age yeah yeah so like all of the youth who are on house right now 40 of them are lgbtq so and i think i'll be also need to acknowledge that

this system causes harm against people like they don't scream was it people who take in. Kids oh like foster care oh yeah we talked about this last week right where it's like there are states that allow discrimination against queer kids in the system. So of course they're going to become unhoused because they don't, they don't want to face that.

Like that is harmful and hurtful. They'd rather feel safe on the streets with a family who say that they love them secretly discriminating against them and shit. You know, what's so crazy is like, I've known so many gay people who have like struggled with homelessness.

It's like, I feel like I know at least five gay people who, and like one is a couple and right now they're like literally on instagram like asking people to donate to them because they're like about to lose their place yeah and i'm just like. It's a big fucking problem. Yeah. It is. Mm-hmm. With our community, it's homelessness. Yeah. It's something nobody ever talks about.

And, you know, it's because, like, what happens? Like, when you're a youth and your parent doesn't accept you, you either hide it or you face discrimination on a daily basis or you leave. Or you leave and just say, like, all right, shit. If I'm, like, when people come out, like, hey, you, nope, not under my roof. Yeah. Well, shit, I guess I can't be under your roof, dude. Yeah. I mean.

Go ahead. It's not even people leaving. it's like they have zero support system right they're nothing they have nothing their parents aren't their parents anymore yeah and i think either option like what what's going to happen what's next right you're probably might not finish school right even if you finish school if you're unhoused it's really difficult to go to college you know it's really difficult to hold down a job you know so like you're already setting up this individual for hardship

so like people who face a lot of discrimination coming out you know they're are already like behind and they're going to struggle with finding stability yeah especially since even when we have supportive families it's pretty hard to to what is it navigate this homophobic world as it is yeah like yeah we're still discriminated on the regular so it's kind of like when you have even less support. You don't really got anything. Mm-hmm. Anyways. I know. I'm glad they're able

to get that. Go, Mississippi. You need more things like that. You're leading in one thing. Well, let's say Jackson, Mississippi, because of the rest of Mississippi so far ain't really pulling weight. There you go.

Let's see. From KQED.org. work san francisco supervisors on tuesday declared the city a sanctuary for transgender people joining sacramento and west hollywood as the first cities in the u.s to do so did we do that okay long home to a prominent lgbtq plus community the city is now officially a place for safety for the transgender non-binary gender non-conforming and two-spirit people an umbrella a term used to describe indigenous and native

individuals who possess both a masculine and feminine spirit, according to the Declaration. We are reaffirming that our city has been and will continue to be a sanctuary and beacon for our transgender and gender non-conforming siblings. Supervisor Raphael Mandelman, who introduced the resolution, said in a statement. The pronouncement comes as 40 states across the country are considering anti-LGBTQ legislation, nearly half of which targets transgender youth, according to the resolution.

The Human Rights Campaign reports that as of May, gender-affirming care bans affect youth in half of the United States. In Tennessee, Missouri, Indiana, and Texas, state attorneys general have demanded access to patients' medical records to investigate their care, according to the resolution. California is one of 13 states, plus the District of Columbia, that have shield laws protecting access to transgender healthcare.

I mean, if the fucking Washington, D.C. has this fucking solidified, that should be a fucking sign to everybody that this is probably something you should have. California's Insurance Gender Non-Discrimination Act also prevents health insurance plans from discriminating against transgender patients by denying access and coverage for certain treatments.

San Francisco's largely symbolic sanctuary resolution reiterates the city's commitment to protecting access to gender-affirming care and protection for its providers in line with the state. But, like, that phrasing, largely symbolic.

Symbolic so i feel like i have an issue with this because it's like okay you declare yourself a sanctuary city now i know i don't live in san francisco but from my read and heard about san francisco is there a very high on house rate in their city yes rent is fucking ridiculous worse than here in los angeles so you decide to declare yourself a trans sanctuary city beautiful that sounds great on paper but then what happens when trans people decide to take you up on

this offer of like this is a place for me to be safe when your rent is astronomical and that there's a lot of unhoused people like what are they going to do of the unhoused youth 40 percent are lgbtq so it's like we have a high homeless rate and now you're telling us to come to homeless capital, like are we gonna just by chance become homeless because we came to this sanctuary at least you'll be safe though, that's what they're pretty much implying at least you'll be safe I'm like but

you gonna be homeless yeah.

God yeah try again san fran see you soon though i mean i mean like i think the answer is solution to that is then you have like housing already available for queer people for trans people just like this the housing shelter yeah in mississippi yeah exactly like that's how you that's how you rectify being a safe sanctuary yeah that's how you're not symbolic i mean that's funny i mean they said that west hollywood also did the same thing which is funny because it's another one

of these fucking you can't get you can't make that rent no unless you're a psycho gay yeah yeah it's true we don't need your symbolicness we need like solutions and physical help that's so fucking funny san francisco's largely symbolic sanctuary resolution, reiterates the city's commitment to protecting access to gender affirming care and protection for its providers in line with the state thank you for that yeah with the unprecedented level of attacks we are experiencing on

trans rights and bodily autonomy more and more people will be flocking to places like san francisco honey mahogany the director of sam that is quite the name girl i sound like uh only fans honey mahogany the director of san francisco's office of. I'm sure you are. What does that mean? I know. Transgender district.

Which mahogany helped create along with janetta johnson and aria saeed mahogany founded the compton's transgender cultural district an eight block zone oh a literal zone an eight block zone in the southeastern part of san francisco's tenderloin oh my god in the tenderloin girl that's like in skid row anyways and south of market neighborhoods in 2017 well i'm glad that they got that yeah a little trans little italy isn't that what we were

saying before like a trans little italy like an enclave yeah and like have a trans food.

Like your trans items that's cute the district is located around compton's cafeteria the location for the first documented uprising of queer people in the u.s in 1966 three years before the stonewall riots dang brianna mccree the current co-executive director of the transgender district said that the city has been a place for its transgender community to live play and thrive since the 1940s and 50s this decision kind of just brings everything home for me because san francisco

was home for us mccree said san francisco has been thought of as a safe space for trans community for a while and i think this resolution sends a message to the rest of the country that we will take care of our trans and non-binary people here we're gonna put them sends a message i mean that's good yeah i mean i understand like san francisco is i would say heavily noted as homosexual men oh yeah so but i mean obviously there's

a huge trans community obviously yeah but that's cool that they're declaring it because you do have to do these things or you do have to make these declarations even if they're kind of like empty but i'm glad that you're saying that we're pro-trans instead of anti-trans so that's good go elites.

But unless you have a really good job you will not be actually moving here, yeah can't afford it so if you can get a really high paying job as a trans person in mississippi or wherever then maybe you can come to san francisco and transfer out transfer out, i have the next article so a trans man just won 4.7 million dollars after suing his former school for refusing to let him use the boys restroom a trans plaintiff has has been awarded 4.7 million and following the resolution of a years-long

suit against his former school district, which refused to let him use a bathroom that aligned with his gender. Known as ARMA, RMA, court filings, the plaintiff originally sued in 2015 after Blue Springs School District in Kansas City, Missouri, barred him from using the men's locker room and restroom on campus. This was despite the fact that he had corrected the gender marker on his birth certificate and participated on men's sports teams in school.

According to a lawsuit, he was forced to use separate single-person unisex bathroom during practice and games rather than just using the same facilities as the rest of his teammates. He originally won his case in 2021, with the court finding that the district unlawfully discriminated against him, but the victory was delayed after defendants chose to appeal the decision.

On Tuesday, the Missouri Appeals Court ruled once more in ARMA's favor, with Judge Anthony Gabbard noting in the ruling that the district does not speculate, inspect, or otherwise inquire as the genitalia of other male students.

Thank you. although the outcome is welcome one is a welcome one following a decade of fighting in the courts judges have somewhat split over the constitutionally the constitutionality of anti-trans bathroom policies while former virginia student gavin grim won his years-long battle against gloucester county school board three years ago the 11th u.s circuit court of appeals ruled against plaintiff, Andrew Adams, in 2022 in a 7-4 decision.

This was after a three-judge panel from the same court ruled two years prior that Allen D. Neese High School in Ponte Verde Beach, Florida, had violated the law by denying him access to the facilities that most closely corresponded with his sense of self.

This always bothers me i'm like who told that person right like how do you know where the fuck i need to go and piss at right like who was there the coach right like no like that you can't go in there and like how did you know right the fuck like if this person already had their name changed they've been playing on this team for however long and it's like it sounds like who the fuck is going around telling people that shit because i'm not i don't think they're going around being like oh

hey i used to be a girl right no one's gonna do that right man your business i'm going to use the fucking bathroom like who the fuck's watching like who's policing this motherfucker right yeah going to the bathroom like it sounds to me like somebody found out told the coach i don't know i'm speculating well we they feel like they was too shit like there you go right sounds like they said someone found out told the coach the coach said no you can't go.

In that bathroom but it's like what right y'all shouldn't be looking at each other's private parts in the showers anyways yeah so what would it matter it makes no fucking sense yo also do you be using those showers for real some schools do but i mean if it's just a locker room right they just wanted to change they didn't want to shower it's like they're taking their fucking underwear they legit just wanted to like change with everyone else or like not because not have to go to a vip

goddamn i'm just like these motherfuckers i don't need no vip bathroom i can just go ahead and change right here and boom let's get this fucking game going yeah ridiculous making big shit out of nothing also why do we even have showers and lockers at this school who cares go and change at home get a shower your house get the fuck on oh man but yeah it's good for you Good for you, boo. Get that money. Go spend that change. Get that money.

I was going to read this one about the gay British Mexican man convicted in Qatar following police led grinder stain. Can I just say I've been side-eyeing Qatar for like the past forever for life since its introduction to the fucking world. Cause I'm pretty sure they're like relatively new country for one. And for two, they're like very anti-gay. And then didn't they do the fucking Olympics there? No one said shit about it. Everyone's like, Oh, it's cool.

We're fine with that. It wasn't for the motherfuckers who was getting, I think some it was a reporter we talked about this last year a reporter that was reporting at Qatar and he had like a gay pride shirt on or something and they was like no fine I'll get out of here damn so.

Earlier this year following an alleged police led grinder stink so like this is what the cops are fucking doing this is what y'all got y'all grinder stink let's get on grind like that's so even hard to do like it's a sting so lazy bitch you set up a grinder account and you like you fucking trapped a guy you told someone that was horny to come over and that you suck their dick or do whatever of course they're gonna come calling you to sting like it's some kind of fucking i put a skill

i know so studied so he so after that thing he received a suspended six months prison sentence alongside a fine of 2,100 pounds the decision was delivered on wednesday june 4th at outside criminal how long was the prison sentence six months and you're still using colonizer money wait what are they using pounds oh my god stop i'm assuming that's what pounds is i don't know that right here it looks like pounds yeah that's pounds right yeah Yeah.

Yeah. Okay. You're right. I'll be knowing. So according to reports, Manuel was found guilty of being in possession of an illegal substance and Qatari officials maintained the 44 year old arrest in February was due to drug offenses and no other factor was taken into account. They added that test, which Amnesty International described as questionable, found amphetamine and methamphetamine in his system. But Guerrero denies having taken any illegal substance.

The man's fight. Sorry, that's funny. But now look. Wait, say that again. They caught him with drugs. They caught him. But no, they said they gave him the sentence because they found drugs in his system. Oh, in his system. That's why. Right. So you set up a fucking. But he said that he denies having taken any illegal substances. The man's family claims that drugs were planted in his apartment by police officers after he was targeted for his sexuality through a honey trap operation.

The airline worker, who had been living in Qatar for seven years without trouble, was reportedly lured to a meeting spot by authorities posing as a man named Gio on the gay hookup app Grindr. Following his arrest, Guerrero was sent to a detention center where he was allegedly denied access to a lawyer and antiviral HIV medication and was forced to sign documents in Arabic without a translator.

Later after 42 days he was released on the condition that he had over his passport child no you know what you ain't taking my passport right his trial has been described as a travesty of justice by human rights groups fair square and animosity international urged qatar to overturn the outrageous conviction there are serious fears that guerrero was targeted for his sexual orientation and was coerced into providing the authorities with information

that they could use to pursue a wider crackdown on LGBTQI they say LGB T I they say fuck the Q we all the Q you need individuals in Qatar, Said Aya, the deputy regional director for the Middle East and North African at Amnesty International. Guidero treatment and custody and his unfair trial was utterly horrific.

Instead of convicting people after unfair proceedings, Qatar authorities must urgently end the discrimination and persecution of people based on their sexual orientation and gender identities and repeal all laws that discriminate against LGBTI plus people. Similarly, Deborah Gold, CEO of National AIDS Trust, throughout this whole process of arrest, detention and trial, Manuel has been unable to have uninterrupted access to life saving medication and proper testing assessments.

We are hugely concerned that he will not be able to assess the ongoing medical care that the treatment and treatment that is his human right while in Qatar. We urge the British government to do all it can to ensure Manuel's health rights and well-being.

Guidero described the entire situation as human rights breach adding although I welcome the fact that I can leave the country I still condemn the unfair trial I have been subject to and the torture and ill treatment I endured during my preliminary detention. In case he accepts the verdict, which he has considered appealing, and pays the fine, he will be able to leave Qatar.

Qatari prosecutors simply have 30 days to appeal the sentence, meaning he can't leave the nation immediately, even if he accepts the conviction. Dude, like, how, like, why do you, first of all, if you have to do a sting. Anybody gonna come up and meet up with you? So, like, ain't that like entrapment or some shit? Well, no.

Well, I mean, yeah. it is it's like what the fuck but also like for you to go out and set up a sting with a random person and then you're telling me that you're convicted them because they had drugs in their system one you didn't know this person had drugs in their system you found a random person and now you're blaming it on drugs in the system right right like what the fuck is wrong with these people that's what i understand like homophobic people come find us

we're just mining our own damn business see that's why you can't really damn that's fucked up like because what if you go out to country you want to hook up and you're like damn well or watch where you hook up right watch where you hook up at it don't be don't be on the fucking apps i guess i mean there's no other i mean you know how many fucking stories we've already read about people who fucking gets get got up and all type of shit on these apps just go to the bar and just i fuck

somebody until they come over you know it's one thing if you are a gay person and you entice me to your house with your dick pic and then you murder me and eat my body and it's another thing if you're a straight man who homophobically is stalking gay people exactly two different things bitch. To just have random fucking homophobes killing at random yeah i mean i guess i wouldn't rather be killed by anybody i mean that's best case scenario but you know what i'm saying.

But yeah don't trust the geo on grinder i mean it sounds hot i mean i think i think regardless of like yes there shouldn't be like an anti like gay law anti like you can't fuck law gay fucking law in countries but also if you're going to a country where that exists don't don't do that i don't know yeah you know i don't want to victim blame but girl like be smart about this but i mean i guess you also don't expect there to be cops honey potting you why why

don't people expect that they've been doing that forever they did that but why do you think stonewall happened because that exact reason because they're going in and busting these bars in and they used to do that damn yeah and the fucking bar and shit like even even long beach they've done sting operations at cruising sites here so it's like i don't know why people think cops are their are gay people's friends and they still doing it to tell you the truth well because they're undercover and

they're hot and when you're hot i'll do anything people are just horny when and they don't think straight when they're horny they i was gonna say they but we don't we don't i'm above it i wish i'm not well fuck help that this man gets his help i know but also they're not giving him.

As hiv meds that's fucked up yeah that is fucked up yeah that is fucked up that's like a human's right violation for sure like if he had cancer would they stop giving him his cancer medication of course not but yeah and y'all hear about the gay republicans getting hard for trump.

I heard about it but i don't know what that means i don't know if i want to see them hard, so a democrat court out as democrats court lgbtq plus voters during pride month republicans are staying silent or actively turning them away this hasn't stopped the log cabin republic log cabin republicans from enthusiastically throwing support behind donald Trump despite his storied record of anti-LGBTQ plus policies.

To the contrary, the LGBTQ plus GOP group is flat out denying the former president's history of harmful actions against the queer community. Charles Moran, president of the Log Cabin Republicans, recently claimed that That under Donald Trump. Your life was better. And it doesn't matter what your skin color was. Or your gender. Or your sexual identity. The economy. And malaise Joe Biden. And Democrats have brought.

Are affecting gay families as bad as Latino families, as Asian families, as everybody else in the country. So it's not like we have this policy portfolio that we have to present to these different communities. He has a track record of having been a philanthropist and a businessman and then a politician.

And all of those things have been congruent around his inclusion of LGBTQ lgbtq people moran's claims omitted trump's actual action surrounding lgbtq plus rights which included borrowing out trans people from serving in the military reversing non-discrimination policies from the obama administration and banning pride flags at the u.s embassies if re-elected trump has vowed to specifically target trans people including criminalizing gender affirming health

care for youth barring trans athletes from playing on school sports teams and reversing non-discrimination policies protecting trans students he has also promised to enact a national law declaring that there are only two genders contrary to scientific consensus who said that trump that's what he's going to do if he wins again yeah meanwhile biden biden's first term included signing the respect for marriage act which solidified marriage equality into law his campaign

has launched a number of lgbtq plus initiatives including hosting several events for pride month that doesn't count i need laws you hosted a pride event good thanks for the party that doesn't do nothing anyway which trump has not yet acknowledged this year of course he's not i don't expect that from him the president is planning is planning to host a pride month.

Celebration on the south lawn of the white house on june 16th before traveling to new york city to attend a lgbtq plus fundraiser on june 28th the day of stonewall i think vice president kamala harris has also recently hosted a pride month reception to commemorate the eighth anniversary pulse massacre vowing in her speech to continue protecting lgbtq plus rights our fight Pride is not against something, but for something, Harris said.

For the freedom to be who you are, for the right to love who you love, and for the ability to live without fear. Together we continue to push forward and ensure that joy and pride prevail. The Log Cablin Republican is an organization affiliated with the Republican Party, which advocates for equal rights for LGBTQ plus Americans. By educating the LGBTQ community and Republicans about each other.

While this group, it's kind of like first wave feminism, this group, because like while they are like somewhat like they oppose sometimes, sometimes they oppose things that the Republican Party do that is like homophobic, but they also are conservative on every other measure. Oh, yeah. So it's like they were opposed also to the defense against dreaming.

Yeah. yeah but then you're you're also they're also representing only gay people like they're obviously excluding trans people you know like i don't know i don't know if there's any trans log cabin republicans but like i don't imagine log cabin republicans looking anything other than white people so they're only going to be looking out for people who look like them and who identify as them so i think they're going to largely exclude trans rights not give a fuck about those things they

probably do not care about anything that's going to affect women of course, that is correct good deduction but but yeah but i don't know i feel like. Like the things they elicit for biden like what do you really do parties right that's what he did parties and like there's still a bunch of anti-trans laws happening and what are you doing about those thank you like okay so let's pretend in the best case scenario what could happen at this party okay so.

He meets with the head top like who is like who is gonna be at the party that's gonna be making who's even invited for one yeah who did you see was our leaders according to you that said these are the people that are the most lgbtq plus that should be here that like would either educate me to give them things they need and whatever what is needed in the country right now allegedly what's happening right like who are one these people who were invited on this fucking guest list because

i didn't see any of them and i don't recognize them by face right unless neil what's his fucking name patrick harris i'm sure he is fucking better be there is it the it was this party the one where we have pictures of billy porter with biden i i don't i don't know i think that was a just about like recently yeah i feel like that was a juneteenth celebration juneteenth celebration but he probably knowing the fucking president they probably put him all together yeah let's do it all at once because

he doesn't know what day it is, so either these gay lobbyists who are at this gay white house event need to be fucking, lobbying harder for our rights or shouting in his ear a lot better or maybe this is not even happening at all maybe they're not even talking anything about politics at these parties maybe Maybe they're just having wine and cheese and, I don't know, doing whatever y'all are doing. Taking pictures. All for front. All for show.

So, you know how they mention, like, Biden has done, like, all these, like, what do they say? Inclusive initiatives? When I click on the article that they're referencing, it's just Biden and Kamala Harris trying to get gay people to vote for them. Mm-hmm.

That's inclusive we're including you to vote for me yes i would like to include you i was like in my presidency i like to have your vote i'm not gonna do anything for you but i like to have your vote right because you ain't gonna do shit for me while i'm gonna vote for you that's funny like that's that's your what can you do to ensure that my rights will still be here after you're out of office good question right can you do things that can make sure that these laws don't become repealed

once you exit no actually we can't do any of that well i guess for the next four years i'll have to enjoy my time, enjoy that why at last yeah they're only going after your vote they all uh.

Dang oh republicans was law roach there i don't think so anything else i don't see no well is that it for these quick teas or do you have any more teas oh wait something that we did not that wasn't on the i was gonna say program on on that but remember i sent you guys something earlier this week i want to just read it because it was so sad but how the world is not fucking changing great love the ending i'm just kidding right so it's a touching story a decorated veteran

revealed his true self following a lifetime of secrecy oh yeah this is according to hollywood unlock that i have seen the article the obituary of. Colonel Edward Thomas Ryan, an army vet and retired firefighter from New York, which was published in the Albany Times just last week. It included a note written by Ryan himself and his own words. He stated, I must tell you one more thing. I was gay all my life through grade school, through high school, through college, through life.

Ryan went to reveal that he had found love in relationship with a man from North Greenbush, New York, who he described as the love of his life. Together, they share 25 incredible years. Tragically, Ryan's love passed away in 1994 due to a medical procedure gone wrong. In his obituary, excuse me, Ryan expressed his desire to be buried next to his beloved partner. He also shared the reason why he had kept his true self hidden during his lifetime.

I'm sorry for not having the courage to come out as gay, he wrote. I was afraid of being ostracized by family, friends and co-workers.

Seeing how people like me were treated i just could not do it now that my secret is known i'll forever and you can continue to read the story at hollywood a lot and he's probably resting at peace but sorry that you wasn't able to live your life out and open but i am glad that you did find someone that you were able to share your life with and a loving partner for all that that time and hopefully you're up there together.

Loving each other during this pride month rest in peace it's pretty, that's sad but also I'm glad that he still like had his partner yeah they got 25 years together that's nice because he's like I had to be out I had my man I'm sure everyone knew he was gay though you shouldn't want to admit it like I bet you can do something as his roommate, I mean right but yeah all right so yeah Yeah, so it for quick tease. Did you have something else?

I'm not thirsty anymore. I am not thirsty, but did you guys do anything for Pride Month? Well, I guess I can save it for King Pride Moment. I'm not thirsty anymore. Let us take a break. We'll be back. We'll be right back. Hey, y'all. Christoph here. And we at the Queer LBC just want to say thank you again for all your love and support. But we also wanted to let you know that you can hit that like button, boo.

But we really really really do appreciate a five-star review on apple and spotify podcast or wherever you listen to the podcast at you can also follow us on instagram at queer lbc to get updates on the shows and more also shit tell a friend about us get the word out you know we your favorite lgbtq plus podcast in lbc baby, and we're back so today we have a very special guest with us today in the studio we have mr long beach pride 2024.

Yes the king of long beach is here with us right here wow we are all actually so starstruck we You cannot speak. So could you please give the listeners in your own voice? Who are you? Who am I? Oh, my name is Sean. Yeah, I am. Mr. Long Beach! Right, 2024, which is wild. I moved here in 2019 and I met this incredible community. And yeah, I decided I want to be as big of a part of this community as I can. That's cool. Yes. I know how crazy after just like five years and then you just,

came in and ruled the school. It's funny, I used to joke about it. King got a castle. Yeah, I used to joke about it all the time, but maybe I manifested. So what does it even mean to be Mr. Long Beach at all? What does it mean to be king? How does it work? How do you, were you voted in? Did you lobby for this position? Did special gay political powers or influence or responsibilities that you have? What's next?

Is there any part, part or is there is this part of some kind of gay career that you're doing are you a career gay now do you know the gay agenda what's the benefits of being the king and all those but yeah what does it mean to be mr uh long beach pride you know i think that it's it's mostly just like me being a face of the community like i said i did move here in 2019 i didn't know there was a gay community and then i get hired at mineshaft and brit and i was embraced

for the first time in my life right i came from bakersfield which yeah like it was fine but i could not be me right and then i move here and i find these rainbow crosswalks on my way to my first interview out here which Oh, wow. That's nice. Right.

Yeah, I felt, for the first time, embraced. I wasn't questioned on why I talk the way I talk or dress the way that I dress. This is you, and we like you. And that felt special. Yeah, I kind of fell in love. Yeah. What helped you decide on Long Beach? Honestly, I didn't decide on Long Beach. I was in a nine-year relationship back in Bakersfield.

And when that ended nine years is a long time to be with someone your life oh yeah exactly your lives are intertwined everyone that i know knows him and i knew i needed to leave i didn't know where i was gonna go but i knew that his best friend ironically was planning on moving to la, and i was like how much are you gonna be paying out there and he was like sean i i know you need to leave Long Beach and, you know. Or you made Bakersfield.

Or yeah, leave Bakersfield. I'm going to leave before you get here. And I think you should come with us. And I was like, all right, as soon as you find a place, let me know. And he told me he found a spot in Long Beach. And I was like, I mean, that sounds like a dope city, right? Long Beach. I didn't know much about it, but obviously everyone knows Long Beach. Right. And yeah, I moved in with him and I honestly, like I was, I was going to come here and live here for maybe two years.

And the plan was that we were both going to move to San Diego because I always wanted to live in San Diego. And then my life happened here and he left, he moved to San Diego and he offered me a room where I would actually be paying a little bit less than what I was paying in Long Beach. Okay. And I, I was just like, I, I don't think that my time here is done. I have to stay. It's been the best decision I ever made. This community is special.

That's good to hear. A Long Beach success story. That's why I tell people Long Beach usually don't be on people's maps. But if it's for you, it will attract you to Long Beach. When I moved here, I didn't know. I was planning on. Everybody know about LA, Hollywood, North Hollywood, LA proper. I seen Long Beach. I said, ah, my heart.

So yeah yeah i don't know what the foreigner's perspective on long beach is like how do you see it people don't feel like it's not it's not on your radar okay you know i'm saying because everything when you think of socal you think of la or san diego you don't think of the little heart that could which i call lbc you know me so i don't think it's never on your radar.

Yeah it definitely wasn't for me like i i'd heard of long beach but like i said my goal was to go to san diego i knew san diego i'd been there many times i i enjoyed my time there and i thought i wanted to live there and then i ended up here completely by accident and realized no this is where this is where i want to be this is where i want to be and now you own the city. Yeah that makes me so uncomfortable good Good. So how does that work? So like, how does that work? How did it,

like, what's the process of, like, how did they find you? How do you know what? Well, working for the bars, I knew about the Imperial Court, right? They host events at the Brit. And I saw what they were doing. I know that they're raising money and they're giving back to this community. Can I share a little story? Yeah. Side story. So when the guy that I moved out here with decided he was ready to leave, he told me a month before he was leaving.

And I had to either pay 100% of the rent, which I could not do, or move home, live on the street. I really didn't know. I was scared. I liked it here. I knew I liked it here. I knew I wanted to stay, but I didn't know how I was going to do that. And I was at the bar and a few of the patrons were complaining about the homeless. And I made an off, like a side joke, like, don't talk about the homeless. I'm probably going to be one, right?

Totally joking because, you know, I could go home. That's, that's not an issue.

You and one of the patrons pulled me aside later and he was like hey are you serious and i i kind of explained the situation i might have to go home i i can't afford where i'm living i'm not exactly sure what i'm going to do i do feel like i'm gonna be okay but i don't i don't know yet right yeah i'm probably gonna have to go home which i don't want to do but it's okay and he was I was like, no, you're made for Long Beach. You can sleep on my couch until you find a place. I love gay people,

even though they're horny for you, but still. Yeah, probably. Nothing ever happened. Like he just, you know, I wasn't sure if I wanted to talk about this because. But you also don't have to use anybody names. Yeah, yeah. No, it's not bad. Like he was just really, really good to me. He believed in me. When I really didn't believe in myself, like, you know, not to get too much into the breakup prior to me moving here. But I left that relationship with no confidence, right?

I just, all I knew is that I needed to leave and start over. Over and you know in in a moment of weakness somebody showed that i i'm more than i think i am. And he let me move in completely rent free which was wild because i i kept trying to give him money and he was like no no i don't need your money i just i i want you to be the sean that i know you can be. And a month later, another member of the community reached out and said, I know you're still, you were looking for a place.

If you're still looking, my neighbor is leaving and I can give you the contact information. It's really cheap. You know, I'm pretty sure I can get you in. And so I reached out, there was someone before me who, if they paid the deposit, they would get the spot. I go look at it. It's a tiny studio in downtown Long Beach. It's more of a hostel, right? We had a room and we had community bathrooms. There's no real kitchen. You kind of have to make it yourself,

but it was cheap. I could afford it. And I moved in. I took a risk and I was like, you know what? If this allows me to stay in Long Beach, let's do it.

I was there for four years and or i'm sorry for two years and it in those two years i i really really found myself i started to actually understand what john was saying this is hard for me because he he did pass sorry to hear that uh and i never i never really got to say thank you but he made it happen i wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him i wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the person who found me the apartment that i was living in they made it to where i could succeed and i never

these were people that i'd known for a year and a half two years you know. Like i don't know you and you're taking better care of me than anyone that i knew back home. And I feel like I'm doing them proud. Yes, you are. We was talking earlier about homelessness in regards of the LGBT community. And it's just to show that you never know what's going to happen with somebody.

But for you to show up and show out for an individual and provide a couch or a linden ear or arm anything just to allow that individual to find themselves can go a long way you know i love your story because i feel like it's an actual real story of something that i feel like happens actually a lot of like gay people taking care of gay people and like it not being some weird sex situation and they're just being genuine genuine yeah they just take care of and that's so amazing and

that's so beautiful and that's so sweet and i'm so glad that there are people out there that will do that and that they helped you it is but also y'all know me and i don't want to be the devil's advocate but we also allow ourselves not to accept that help because Because society fetishized gay communities so much that we always assume somebody trying to get in your drawers.

Like you blocking your blessings just because you feel like somebody finds you sexually attractive doesn't mean that they necessarily not going to do nothing for you genuinely. Society has put that into our mindset that like, oh, yeah, you know, like it's all about sex. It's not. If somebody lends you a couch, take it.

I mean as long as you feel safe and whatnot but also I just wanted to throw that little PSA out there like don't block a blessing just because you feel like society is going to judge you or just because a age difference or race difference or any kind of difference don't let society block a blessing that could change your life or steer you in a better direction. But that's so blessed and beautiful. I'm so happy that that happened.

I definitely felt it. Like I knew, I could tell from the way he was talking to me, like he really does just want to help me. Obviously, there's always flirting in the community, right? And he was an older man and, you know, he was just so sweet. And, you know, there's always this, you know, I wonder, you know, but he just really wanted to look out for me. He knew that I needed to stay here. He knew that that was what was best for me. And he took on a role that I didn't have growing up, right?

Somebody who just would do, go out of their way to make sure that I fulfill what they, they believe that I can be. Yeah. And that, that's kind of why I actually ran for Mr. Long Beach, because I knew that I had to find a way to give back to this community. I have to. But, you know, I manage two bars and I work a lot. And I was like, how do I find the time to do that? Well, I can utilize my job to do that, right?

I can run for Mr. Long Beach. Beach, and the entire time I'm running for Mr. Long Beach, I'm raising money for a scholarship fund that sends queer youth to school, any schooling that is right for them, right? As long as they're enrolled, you can apply for that. And it was really just an excuse to raise money. I wanted to give back. I didn't think it was realistic that I could win.

Okay. I genuinely, I didn't think that I had the time to commit to raising money, right? Outside of the events that I'm already running, which is what I did, right? I, I'm scheduling events for the bars all the time. Well, let's make that money go towards the scholarship and, you know, that'll be votes, which is, yeah, that's how I was elected. The voting system is every dollar is a vote. The more money we raise towards this scholarship, the more votes we have.

Yeah but like i said outside i i did two events and i i didn't think that there was any way i could win but the community kind of picked up my slack i had people volunteering for things going out advocating telling people that i ran and and you know they kind of just rallied around me. And raise that money for me, which is just- So you need a team. I did. I had a team. I set out to just raise as much money as I can for whatever the charity will

be. And I didn't know at the time, but it's a scholarship.

And yeah, apparently I raised the most. Would you like to tell us about this scholarship? Yeah. So it's the United Way of Scholarship Fund. It was started by Empress Sabrina in the court. Basically, every year, everyone who's running for one of the 4M titles, they do events, they do whatever they can, they accept donations to raise money towards the scholarship fund. And throughout that time, people can apply. You just go to the Long Beach Imperial Court website, IACLB.com, I believe.

And yeah, you can apply there. basically anyone who's looking for higher education. So it's basically any, anybody who's graduating high school or beyond that. If you're looking for higher education, whatever that is, whether it be a trade school or a university or community college, you can apply for the scholarship. And then anyone who meets the qualifications, it's the vetting process is literally like, are you enrolled?

You know, are you actually using this money for school and if you meet those qualifications that money is then divvied between all the people who receive or you know who qualify for that scholarship yeah is there like. Financial aid money bracket that you have to not meet no you have to be can you be a rich gay and still technically yeah they don't i don't think that's part of the the questionnaire you know? Are you rich gay? Are you? Yeah. I'm like, maybe I should go back to school.

Honestly, I mean, you want to. And then I found out that actually one of my bartenders, he was, he was going back to school to become a teacher to teach people how to do hair. Okay. Yeah. He's a cosmetologist. Cosmetologist. Barber. Yeah. Hairstylist. And yeah, Yeah, he was going back to school to become an instructor for that. And so like that kind of ignited a fire, like, oh, I'm doing this for you, like apply for this scholarship, you know? Oh, nice.

Yeah, he wasn't actually enrolled at the time, so he didn't qualify, but that's fine. I still, I helped somebody, I hope. Oh yeah. That's cool. Very cool. A very worthy scholarship, or what is it? Charity. What? Charity? It's a scholarship. Very worthy. Scholarship fund. A very worthy cause. Yeah. But now that I've won, I get to choose the nonprofit, the charity of my choice, to raise money for throughout the year. Oh, okay.

Yeah. So wait, do each member of the M team actually get to choose a different organization? Yeah. All four M's choose their own organization that they want to support for the year. Oh, nice. Yeah, which is really awesome. Awesome. And we are encouraged to collab on events, which we have very much been doing. We have our own group chat. We are talking about what we plan to do and how we want to make this title something more than what it was before.

Yes, it is raising money for these nonprofits that are doing really good work in our community, but we also want to be active in our community, right? Doing things like going to the beach and doing the cleanups, right? Like just being out there, being a part of the community, doing real change, making our community better, stronger, more beautiful. Since I've become Mr. Long Beach, I am going to so many events that I was not, you know, invited to. Preview to it before, right? Exactly.

You know, like last Saturday I was at the black and white ball. Right. And I started to realize like I'm rubbing elbows with a lot of city officials, a lot of people who have a lot of influence over what happens to our community. Right. And so I'm at these events just really being myself and trying to connect with them and and kind of see.

You know we were also kind of talking about that earlier where we're talking about so the white house right they do these little like parties these lgbtq plus event parties they have i guess whoever questionable prominent the gay lobbyists yeah the obvious so i guess maybe you have to just become a gay lobbyist and you just kind of have to you have to be the one to push the narrative and i guess you just have to go keep doing the same thing you always been been doing

right and like more causes of the same or continue but i think what you have to do is continue to put being those people that make those decisions air you have to continue to stay in their ear so like if you're like hey like hey nice to meet you you know stay on them exactly i think that's what the celebrity come in like oh like hey you got to just stay on the air because they've You've talked to people in and out, I'm sure. Yeah. Like, I don't remember. I feel like I got very lucky.

Winning like my first year trying and and having a chance to like actually watch the court grow and and turn into what i think it's always meant to be and i and i see that from the leadership that we have like it's different right like i i see the excitement i see the the drive to do whatever it takes to make this community better right and when i say this community Like, obviously, you know, Long Beach is the primary, but our realm actually extends much further than that, right?

It's San Pedro and Downey, Lakewood, all the surrounding cities, right? In L.A. County before you get to, you know, L.A. proper. Oh, okay. Wow, that's cool. I didn't know that. Yeah. And I love it. Like, it's kind of great. And I've actually gotten to meet a lot of the leadership in LA so far, which really gets me excited because I feel like we've come to a point within these organizations that have been around forever.

Most people don't know this, but the Imperial Court of Long Beach is the longest LGBTQ nonprofit charity in Long Beach. It's been around longer than any others. and the the court is not just in long beach right every every major city has them a lot of regions i found out that there is a court in bakersfield which oh you gotta go and step up on them.

Exactly i'm like i i i didn't know how how far this reaches but now that i know, there's opportunity for collaborations right right we are very community focused as the Mr. Long Beach pride, the charity that I had to choose has to be within Long Beach or our surrounding realm. But I feel like we as a community are stronger together. And we can still do that, but also collaborate and start reaching larger areas, right? Like, why does LA have to stick to LA?

Why does Long Beach have to stick to Long Beach? Why don't we collaborate and do something for Southern California and then reach out to our Northern California family and do something that affects the state, right?

Like, we can do more. we can do bigger if we work together yeah i was just hearing about like especially with prides how like even in like cities like some they will just just they will just divide because they're having internalized drama and so everybody wants to just like have their own fucking way they split apart create too many now prides yeah and then everyone's fucked and nobody wants to go to one or the other because there's like there's more fucking money we

have to spend yeah rich and nobody wants to spend fucking 20 bucks i don't give a fuck if 20 bucks is a low ticket price that's way too fucking much anyways and that was back in the day still yeah that's when we used to go yeah that was like we did pay a little bit more to see ricky martin but exactly but the point is what you're trying to say is like yes like there should be more collaboration yeah absolutely and less fucking drama and

like i feel like everybody should just work on swallowing their pride during pride i'll see what you do right swallow everything and i mean you didn't be about community right like you said like southern california yeah exactly like not like there's wheel pride there's la pride there's long beach pride there's venice redondo head beach like come on y'all i gotta do all these things and then i gotta go to the straight pride with the best like straight female performer

pop star like i gotta go to But Coca-Cola's pride because I want to see Megan Thee Stallion. I get it, but we're tired. We're tired. Honestly, honestly, which is why I'm so glad now Long Beach is the third week of May. Yeah, back to, yeah. Thank God. Thank you, Jesus. We kick off pride. Yeah. Nobody's tired of it yet. Let's all go. After Long Beach pride, I was prided out. I feel like going to WeHo saying, nope. You're done. Going to LA saying, nope.

Long Beach kicked it off pretty good. it yes i think if you could do one thing as a mr long beach pride next pride work on the parking.

Make all the city thing that is talk to the city about giving all the gays free parking for all pride events and make a goddamn parking structure or two or three or four fucking free parking for the gay fucking pride goddamn event honestly there should be shuttles there should be yeah that go back and forth i mean yeah they because they do that shit for day trip and all those other like music festivals what they do i mean that's i mean well that's a lot of motherfuckers coming into the city but

that's also at queen mary which is oh okay a little farther but you know what maybe it's time we move there honestly i i'm really surprised that our pride isn't better right we've all when i first moved here.

And i worked for my first bride people talked about how long beach is one of the most attended prides in the country because we kick off the season right just as everyone's getting excited oh let's have a pre-party in long beach right and turn up and they did i experienced that my first pride this is wild i mean even when like like everybody talks about long beach pride as the real pride like that's the real pride it's not we ho is not the real pride

like yeah you will go to we ho pride because you want to be a slut and you want to get wasted but everybody knows the real party is in long beach fucking pride always we're la county but we are not la but they still do need to step it up like we have our vibe yes like if we are that why do we not have big artists thank you what like honestly i know we bring in money i know we do we can afford someone better i think they just need to look at themselves they i feel like they've

just been going so long as being like the second city to la so So, like, they...

People in long beach they just have us like a stepsister syndrome so they think they're probably not up there even though they are the best pride and it's like they just need to stand back look at it from fresh eyes realize that they are the top pride reinvest the money that way with those eyes and be like okay well for the top pride then we need to start acting like it looking like it another thing is as a as a pride as a pride as a gay person as a gay person who doesn't often

go to any prize i'll tell you the number one reason why i don't fucking attend pride is because of the parking situation it is garbage all the time no other situation is gonna make me not want to go worse than the fucking parking i don't give a fuck if it's my own fucking responsibility to find parking so i don't give a fuck if i have to find an uber person which i did the last time which was very easy and better but there's still a lot of traffic anyways subsidize some

goddamn fucking parking structures for pride for free or something and we ho they don't do parking enforcement during the weekend of pride yeah that's how it should yeah is that a secret because i didn't know that i just found out the other day i think it is a secret because i remember that's why i also never fucking go to we hope right he's like oh god because i don't fucking you I was going to have a fucking permit. Yeah, permits everywhere. That is a huge problem the gays are facing.

We are not only 40% of the homeless youth. We don't have money for a goddamn parking or the ticket. We're 40%. Yes, we were talking about that earlier today. We're 40% of the homeless youth. Okay, this is actually a good moment to segue into the charity that I chose. Oh, I was going to ask you that. Yeah. Yeah, so I chose my charity because of my history in Long Beach, right? Because I thought I was going to be homeless.

Because, yeah, obviously the option to move back to Bakersfield was there, but there was no way I could go back there and survive. Yeah, that's like going back to, no. No. Why would you go back to the place that you escaped? Exactly. I was better off living on the street here with a job, trying to make it work, than going back there. And that was really scary. And now that I have a chance to give back to the community, that's where I want my money to go.

So I chose the shower program of Long Beach, which showers the unhoused. They collect clothes throughout the year to, you're not going to, you're not going to shower someone and then put them back in their dirty clothes, right? To put them in clothes, just give them that safety. And what I'm hoping is that I can raise enough money to expand that beyond showers and clothing.

But like what I found out recently, the bartender that I was telling you guys about earlier, Earlier, the hairstylist was invited. There are several bartenders and hairstylists who go to their events regularly and they also give them haircuts and, you know, clean them up. We can take that further. I know that a lot of them need help, right? They need someone to talk to who can guide them. And there's people out there who can do that, but they just need the resources to be able to.

So if I can bring in a little bit more money and some of my network and.

To kind of facilitate the growth of this right because i feel like the the unhoused is a very big problem especially here in long beach oh yeah and and a lot of people don't realize that there's a lot of lgbtq plus individuals that are unhoused yeah i i didn't realize that but what is your opinion of miss what is her name karen bass karen basket no the mayor of la yeah is that her name yeah karen bass yeah since because i remember her whole

stance was we her whole stance on getting into office was that she was gonna fix the homelessness problem so what do you think about her and what she's been doing so far do you have any opinions on her i mean i i'm gonna be real i don't know her okay okay mariah but at the same time. We get pretty political.

I do love that, though. At the same time, though, I'm going to fix the homeless problem. What does that mean? So broad. I'm going to be real. As somebody who has really thought about this, I don't even know how to fully fix it. I feel like I know how to help remedy some of the symptoms.

But to to fix the whole problem is going to take a lot of minds right and a lot of support how do you how do you fix that yeah right like pay people more than inflation you know inflation and lower fucking housing costs yeah honestly rent control rent control i mean i mean i'm seeing it But also, like, is it enough? Yeah, no. Like, especially because a lot of the unhoused, it's not just money that keeps them from being able to, you know, live in a home. Oh, yeah. There are other issues going on.

And I feel like we as a society for so long have always ignored, you know.

Mental oh mental health yeah right like we kind of ignored it pretended like it wasn't a thing yet it really is and for a lot of us right we we minimize it so much that we fail to realize that a lot of us are struggling with certain things that we don't fully understand because we're conditioned to think that it's nothing yeah right you're fine you're fine like no sometimes we aren't fine sometimes we do need help we need someone to talk to we need a professional right little

assistance yeah it's a little government fucking assistance if this is a fucking if y'all are keep telling us every single day that this is the best country in the whole fucking world prove it and you're doing what bitch you know what i just went i'm gonna i'm going on right now because i just went i just went on a lovely beautiful vacation to guatemala oh okay not two weeks ago you know i only saw maybe five people on the street asking for money and that was in all

three cities in in three cities i only saw five people who were asking.

For money do you know if you go into la you will see a shantytown on every fucking corner you will see nothing but homeless people starving in the fucking streets people dying in the fucking streets of fucking los angeles every single fucking day and we call these other places shithole fucking countries give me a fucking break do something for your fucking people fucking biden give me a fucking break anyway while they're giving money to everyone else mm-hmm oh yeah i'm just

saying it's not it's not the individual's fucking fault yeah i mean i mean but that's what the culture of america is it's pull yourself up by the bootstraps individualism and you see the countries like the one you're talking about where it's more collectivists so people are going to take care of them of them of their community way better mm-hmm like it's just like. The way that we talk about other countries and like, they're like, oh, they live in metal shacks.

And I'm like, bitch, they don't have that here. They don't have metal shacks here. We have cardboard boxes, bitch. That part. The fuck? Give me a fucking break, America. At least we think of Michael Jackson, right? Man in the mirror. What do you think about no pride during Palestine? Being king of Long Beach, king of pride, Mr. Long Beach. So what does that mean? No pride during Palestine.

Do you support that that is that's a heavy question because like i get it what is happening right now is not okay right and it's it's hard to know what is going on and try to be happy and celebrate it is hard right so so i understand where that comes from because like there are days where I'm like, I don't feel like celebrating, right? There's not much to be proud of in our world, right? There's so much negative, so much. And I don't understand the hate. I've never understood it, but I see it.

And I don't know what we need to do, right? We can post, but how much is that really doing, right? We reach out and we tell our government how we feel, but how much of that is actually being heard. I feel like a bystander on the sidelines while horrific things are happening to people. And I feel guilt for having pride. But I also know that we do need it too, right? I have the strength to fill both, to lift the people up that need it right now and mourn for those who need it right now.

I don't think there's a right answer for everyone, right? But something needs to change. That is true. Yeah, sorry. We see so much, right? And I feel so powerless, and that's the worst feeling in the world, not knowing what to do, right? Especially when your actions feel like they're not doing anything. Actually, Miss Long Beach, Ashley, I was so proud of her. She, during the Pride Parade, was in a white dress, and she was spreading her message, right?

Showing support, spreading that message, stop genocide. While we are in the middle of pride, right? There are ways. She had the strength to do that. And there were so many people who showed love, right? Came up and were just so excited to see that she was using her platform to hopefully at least spread awareness, right? For those who are trying to ignore it because Because, you know, it is hard to ignore. But I know that there are people who just, you know, put those blinders up.

But, like, you know, she got out there and she did her thing. And I'm excited. And I support her and her cause. Because I don't think it's a negative thing. Like, I feel like it's a good thing that we're being very supportive of our brothers and sisters.

Yeah. out in the nether regions so i really don't see a conflict yeah because i feel like we, dr mikey is very good at explaining how like we both have the same we have the same fucking goals yeah and i mean you see did you have any did you have any feelings when you see people protesting in the streets against pride when they try to stop the parade or were you just like yeah i mean I mean, it's kind of like, even if you're for it, even if you're for pride,

even if you are in the situation of being Mr. King, in the middle of this no pride, no pride during genocide, obviously you still stand with the sentiments. No genocides.

I don't think that's going against anything. No. For you right let's say i mean that's not going against that's not going against like even like pride period it's kind of like you're just kind of like agreeing more yeah like we still need to show that unity and strength and pride in in who we are right for everyone in the world not even just for our community but like it's seen right and even those who are going through things that we cannot necessarily relate to that might be

what they're yearning for that might be what they need to see is that unity yeah exactly yeah for me when i think of like no pride during genocide it's it's a time for us as a community to like really reflect on kind of like our values and like our history and to acknowledge that like what's happening in palestine is interconnected connected with us right understanding that like we're combating colonialization in palestine and colonialization is what has vilified our queer identity you know and

i think it's also a time for us to reflect and look at who we're choosing to sponsor us who we're choosing as our allies and really see if they're aligned with who we are as community and in alignment with people who are fighting the same cause or we should be behind you know because like i like. The parades are like filled with a lot of corporations who really don't care like about the community or who are pink washing or rainbow washing for the

moment, you know? And I think like that is something like we need to reflect on. And I think that's what I hope like no project genocide like has an impact on is us really looking at that aspect of our festivities. I don't think it's as they're saying, don't have a pride. Don't, don't like acknowledge what's happened during this month.

Like don't party. i think it's more of like you are doing this very blindly not knowing that like you're in the bed with people who aren't necessarily in your corner right do you have do you ever think about that about like rainbow washing and like corporate allyship i mean now that you're in that space i mean obviously like you have worked mainly with like the gay community yeah and not like straight world i'm assuming

i'm not no i don't oh yeah no and like like obviously like you i mean i don't know what your relationship with is with straight corporate world or like if people like from like straight corporate world from like big major brands come to sponsor like maybe your guys's bars or like pride events like do you ever think about like that kind of like thing? I do partially. I mean, obviously we see it, right? Like, uh, you know, the, the video of hi gay, you know, right.

Of course, like I think about it, but are you vetting these bitches? You know, mostly my experience with that has been with a very particular company that a friend of mine is an executive for, but he also is the president of the LGBTQ initiative in their community outreach. So they actually have a team from their company. They do community outreach within each of their respective communities.

So there is like a Latino sect, a black sect, LGBTQ, women's, they have all of these different organizations. They all work together and then they do their own community outreach and they're usually run by people within that community. And I see that, right? I've seen what this particular company has done to show their support for the community, not just during Pride, but the fact that they are doing this all year long, right? They have money put aside.

What are the causes that we believe in? Where are we, you know, allocating our resources? And, you know, that's how I've seen it applied. Obviously, I know it happens. Yeah because i think yeah like now that i've had a couple drinks at me i would say if we if you had a direct link.

To pride what would the people want to say right the people would want to say you need to know where, your sponsors what your sponsors are doing at all times and who they're donating to yeah, because that's i feel like that's like one of the biggest issues and that people kind of are just kind of like lulling and except accepting just being like haha well yeah we're we're sponsored by like hitler inc but we got a great flow so it's chill

like i don't know bottom line yeah so i guess yeah that's i guess that's like a thing if like if we are if we are representing the people the people of the gays or the lgbtqs and we're gonna talk to mr long beach we're gonna tell you that you gotta vet these sponsors honestly i'm glad you told me that because i don't really think about that right because i'm not the one out there looking for the sponsors but, yeah i mean that is definitely something that should be thought about.

Because yeah i think that's like one of like the biggest right like hot topics at least when it comes to pride every year yeah more like because it's more commercialized and it's very driven by money yeah so like corporations come out only during like no we need your support and understanding and you're around we don't care that you gonna go ahead and put your logo on the pride flag yeah stop a rainbow on something exactly like go ahead and put your money

somewhere because that's what they do they want to pr it they want to be like oh look we we have like a float in the pride flag because we're so inclusive but like we're still donating to like kill all the gays yeah exactly what else do you do what else do you do yeah because like we were just what were we just talking about Target too. They had like a bunch of like, oh yeah. Yeah. That's why DEI is so important, but they're trying to get rid of diversity inclusion, equity inclusion.

So it's just like, yeah, we need that shit 12 months a year, 365 days a year. Like just, yeah.

Every time something comes up per month, don't just throw support then. We need you in January, February, March, April, May, July, August, September, October, November, December. Yes. I think we'll call this episode the radicalization of Mr. Long Beach. We strike again. Boom, bitch. Is there anything that you feel like you want the people of the listeners of Queer LBC to know about you that they may not have got into here or understand about you tonight? Know about me?

Or you or your title of Mr. Lone Beach 2024. What would you want to tell a young gay youth who's struggling? I mean, yes, I have a lot to say to young gays. honestly just know that there are people here who love you right I don't need to know you to love you that's true right like I can still want the best for you even if you're not someone in my life if you're not in it now like you know, There are people out there who care. There really are. And they can be hard

to find at times, but they're there. There is a community. There are people who love you. I love that. Never forget that. Yeah. As crazy as you might think you are, because I didn't think I'd ever find an actual community. And I did. Oh. Do you ever feel like a lot of gays talk about how they don't feel community?

Like they like to talk about it? or do you feel like you hear that that people don't find community in the gay community or the lgbt community yes but i i think that's because there's a lot of work that needs to be done in our community as well with the mindset because we had to talk about this recently.

Like people within our community not being accepting right that is literally what we've been asking for forever acceptance support and yet we aren't being that for our own people like that needs to change that needs to change especially towards like our allies and you know like i heard a story recently about a friend of mine who as a straight woman was having her birthday at one of our bars and was made to feel like she should not be allowed to have her birthday there.

This is someone who has supported our community for years, who helped me become a part of this community, a staple within our community. But because she doesn't identify as queer or gay or lesbian, she shouldn't be allowed in our spaces.

Last I checked, our spaces are safe spaces yeah safe spaces right for anyone i feel like that's like a a common thing that i see or feel like happens is that like some drunk angry gay or lesbian and i'm gonna just i'm gonna put it on the lesbians because i've seen this from lesbians a lot because i had a friend and all of us and i had i had one lesbian friend and she used to actually like do this often and she would like get on straight people and be like what the fuck are you doing

here and like just get nasty with straight people and i thought it was like crass and crude and but i also understand where she was coming from, where it's like, we only have so many spaces, and now you're here fucking stuffing it up with your straightness. And your bridal showers, and your whatever. That's a different story. That's different. But I also understand that is also unacceptable behavior. Right. And that shouldn't. Okay, I'm going to take that back. It's not lesbian behavior.

It's all people's behavior. That's true. But also, most of those people that's making those comments are the same motherfuckers that's trying to flip or flip the script on straight women and men. You know what I'm saying? Like, how you going to try to convert somebody, but then also tell a straight that they can't come in and do something? It's trauma. But you also trying to flip a motherfucker.

Street people are shitty sometimes i mean some people sometimes it's just a trauma response you know honestly though that's right yeah a lot of it is i mean that's true this is more about you like who yeah yeah yeah street people but even with that you're right we should be the bigger people and we should understand what's going on but i think that also points back to to a point about mental health right you know like sometimes like we we

feel like we don't necessarily get out of like fight and flight right or we still feel that we're in danger right or if we don't feel accepted by our community it's a lot harder to kind of let go of these things you know she was a very traumatized girl god work on yourself i mean we've all i know we everyone has some form oh yeah everyone oh yeah oh yeah it needs to be worked through and the worst part is that most of us don't even realize that

we've experienced that's the problem right because we block it out. Like, that's why I think everyone should talk to a professional. Whether you think you need it or not, just go. I mean, what does it hurt? What's the matter with talking to somebody that you don't know? It's that part. We all like to talk and be heard. Right. It's like going on a date, but with a therapist. I don't have a problem. Takes 12 loads. Not hating, just saying. Priorities. Could have got 13. That's unlucky.

You can't get to skip 13 to go to 14. I know, unlucky to have 13 loads only. Exactly. You didn't make it past that. You sound like detergent bottle. only 13 lows wash.

I know Queer LBC would like to thank you for coming out and speaking with us tonight in regards of your attributes to the, imperial court as well as sharing your lovely story with us and reminding the queers of the world and LBC that all it takes is for you to understand and love someone one and to accept help also another question so like are there people who like do it multiple times a year are there like people who are like i'm the king for like five years in a row or do they just do it one

time and give up so i was told that you can but in all honesty i this has been a lot you just started right it's been a month in the hail i'm not looking to renew, i'm gonna start the reality show full disclosure prior to even getting the title i was already like i don't know if i can do this is a lot especially with everything else i have on my plate like it's a lot but you know what i i'm doing it so i'm just gonna

take it by stride and keep pushing so we so you're saying we might see you next year. Damn, it's like a monarchy, right? So he's the king forever? You can't be, because I'm assuming it goes by how much money you raise. If you want the power influence, bitch, you better get it. I mean, I wouldn't run for Mr. Long Beach again, but the current emperor of Long Beach at his birthday party... Emperor? The emperor of Long Beach, yeah. Oh my god. You guys don't know there's an emperor? We don't know.

We're just simple TERFs. We're just peasants. TERFs. TERFs. Not TERFs. Well i'm here to educate no yeah rod he is the current reigning miss uh emperor of long beach and what does that even mean he has a lot more influence right he is one of the heads he's on the he's on the board of directors right he is basically steering the boat you know he holds it for a year and the community actually has to vote for him you actually have to go down and vote for him. It's not money-based.

It's actually taking the time to go and do that. And I actually had a long talk with him about why he did it. And just hearing his plans and what he wants to do with the court, I was like, this is exactly why I'm here. It's to be a part of this. Because I I know that I can add fuel and, and really make these visions come true.

This idea that the Imperial court will be a, a nonprofit within our community that literally helps everyone, right? That lifts up the community so that no one has to feel alone. No one has to feel like they can't. And I want to be a part of that. and at his birthday two weeks ago he actually made me one of his princes so i now we got a right yeah i'm not only mr long beach pride but i am a prince of the court.

Now what is that power does that mean you have potential to like step up i think so uh i think his motivation for doing that was to have me at the events that he is going to right he wants my influence my energy at these events and i am very happy to do this nice can you unite us and unite us yes that part exactly i literally when i first brought it up to the la court they were like oh no we have to do la and you have to do long beach and i was like,

we'll see about that we'll see about that i know like we're gonna do more are these bitches really strict about where you live at they are like it's it's gonna represent the people like when people joke about royalty like this it's it feels like like that almost like that type of thing yeah you know like there there is a hierarchy and there's a way of doing things but there's also a way to do things better yeah

and some bridgington stuff right without the sacrifice you're getting and all the orgies.

That's not the secret part about the gay cults is the orgies i'm like day one people together yeah that's a closeness you can't wow so this goes deep yeah it's kind of wild and i'm excited to be a part of it i'm excited that i'm meeting so many people yeah and also finding out that a lot of these people want to do what i want to do right like so like i said we have to have an event for our fundraiser and i had this idea in my head that i wanted to do and because i thought it

had to be me i was like all right this will be my fundraiser, But then I was like, no, that's not enough. And so I started a group chat with the other forums. And I was like, hey, I have an idea for a fundraiser, because I want it to be family friendly. And I want it to be somewhere outside of the bar scene, just outside. Where our community, all of our community can really come together.

And I felt it was important to have all of the four N's because we do represent a different part of our communities, right? And from there, I extended the invitation to the entire Imperial Court. And so we are working on kind of like a little carnival. The original idea was to do a balloon fight at a bar. Like a water balloon? Water balloon fight. Yeah. Sorry. I always say balloon fight and everyone's like, what?

Yeah. Water balloon fight where we each just bring like, I don't know, a thousand balloons, which is super cheap, not that big of a deal. We blow them up. We can sell them in bags of 20 for like five bucks. Right. Like just right. Ammo and just have fun. And that's kind of evolved into something much bigger, which is exactly what I was hoping for.

Right. So my first event as Mr. Long Beach is something that doesn't even qualify for my title as mr long beach because it's beyond that right it's it doesn't go towards my charity i felt the only way to make it fair was to make it to where each of the four m's together collectively we decide on a local charity outside of our independent charities like just because we need to do more right one is not enough, there's so many there are so many people out there who need help so let's do as

much as we can have y'all come up on the collective yet i know it's probably still in the planning and whatnot we haven't i mean the default is always like the center right because the center does so much for mom beach in general but i i kind of want to look outside that yeah right that's always my.

The way my brain works yeah i don't want to do the norm i want to do something different and yeah i we haven't gone that far okay we're logging down details on what we actually want to do at this event you know how do we raise money how do we make it engaging for the family and not just 21 plus family yes they're valid too they are right we talk about the queer youth let's support the queer year oh gotcha just because you can't come to my bar doesn't mean i don't care,

See, Mr. Lone Beach do care. True that. Imagine if I had been here younger, alone. Oh my God. Oh my gosh. No, I actually, let's not think about that. You'd be Pete Buttigieg by now. Probably. I mean, I definitely wouldn't be having this conversation.

That's great. This has been great. So do people like go career with the period core or do people continue to just do it voluntarily because like you have an emperor and that sounds like a lot of a lot of responsibility it does honestly i'm like how do you it's just a figure, they're just a title with no real anything behind it what's the real scoop like a ceo he's he's like actually rubbing elbows with everyone right like he's in the mix which gets me super excited. I'm like, I don't have that.

I get close because I'm not afraid to talk to people, but yeah, I feel like he's gonna, his goal right now though, is he's very focused on the Imperial court, right? He wants to change the direction of the, the Imperial court, not just be an entity that raises money for our community, but causes real change yeah right because you can give all the money you want but if i shit changing then you just exactly if there's no actual influence yeah right like how do you.

How do you create real change as opposed to just like throwing a billion dollars because we always hear about that like oh there's all these like billion dollar charities and like they're still the same fucking problem nothing's happened and they've embezzled all the money and And they're actually sex traffickers. So like. The worst. Exactly. I feel like that's why we're kind of trying to shy away from just raising money. Right.

Like we can do more than that. We can do actual shit. Yes. What kind of shit can we do? I mean, I listen. So. We can start by fucking subsidizing parking for pride. You got a ticket. You show the ticket to the parking attendant. And now your parking becomes free. Thank you. in all of Long Beach. Right? If it's not free parking, that should be a hate crime, right? It's pride. It's pride. I have to pay for parking. Move, I'm gay. Move, I'm gay. Thank you.

Give me to the printer. Is there no privilege? Yeah, I guess what comes up for me as you're talking about wanting to do more, it's almost like... Almost like creating another charity that it gives community aid to just Long Beach locals, you know? Yes. Yes. I'm honestly surprised that's not already. Yeah. Like, like in what sense, like what kind of aid would you be thinking towards?

Like food or maybe like setting up a shop where like you have people come and do resumes, right? People can, and you put on job fairs, right? Something that's very inclusive for like, what do you need?

Oh, we do it all. we just got give us some time to plan one stop yeah even yeah like even just like a coalition of like all of the community services businesses that provide services and businesses in this kind of direction of help getting them all together under one roof essentially yeah and providing, being the liaison for the people to that yeah because you have a castle full of people who have connections and networks right it's so easy just to pluck and be like here's what

we have to offer then we can set it up to do it so people can utilize it exactly exactly bringing those networks together because we are stronger together yeah like i said we're stronger together and it's kind of like that is like probably one of the main problems that i have seen everywhere in every, industry in every in every city in every setup is that so many businesses and things are all disconnected and it's like if we can just connect these things maybe we can

get some shit going there you go anything else from mr pride 2024 mr pride long beach 2024. That's so much pressure any other questions for the king i think uh for the prince for the prince Prince King. The King. Right. Mr. Prince Lonely. Mr. Prince. Just don't bow. Don't bow to me. Please do not. Oh, you should have never told me that.

No is it because you're not supposed to or is it because you're uncomfortable because it's uncomfortable right it's so uncomfortable can i curtsy to you then oh okay carsey oh nice little curtsy i mean a nice little twirl autonomy you can do a little twirl just know that like i don't know how to react to that i would just say enjoy, the applause while it yeah he's just like just give me a hug.

Don't do that because now i don't know what to do what am i supposed to do while that's happening just watch you're supposed to be like you're supposed to pretend to be gracious i feel you deserve it what'd you do that's my boyfriend is always like trying to make you wear my crown everywhere i'm like no he's like maybe you're a winner like he's the best hype man ever the way that you should deal with it is like the way lindsey lohan dealt with it when she was at

the the height of her celebrity and just soak it up and just pose for the camera and be the most audacious and just be like yes it is me i am the king i love how your advice is to be lindsey lohan my advice is to be the biggest train wreck you could possibly i was like yeah where does that lead her is that where you want that's where you want me at i'm your manager now i do need a manager actually so your new persona is drunken train wreck you didn't realize that's funny all

right then well if that's i think that's about it from all of us here at the queer lbc we would like to thank our very special guest mr long beach pride 2024 thank you for coming to the studio tonight thank you for being here thank you for fielding our questions and giving us the real tea from From all of us here, me, I'd like to say thank you to myself. Nino, Dr. Mikey, and Christoph, all of us here at the Queer OBC. You're good enough.

You're smart enough. And doggone it. People like you. Good night. Good night. Night. Good night. Good night, Long Beach.