Photo by Jeremy Lucido

Jon Bush’s documentary Club King parts the veil and offers a behind the scenes peek into the world of Mario Diaz, L.A.’s own King of Sleaze—and it is making its L.A. debut tonight as part of Outfest. But Diaz was not born to the crown. Here is a brief timeline of his decades promoting parties, from the early days  as the coolest kid in Seattle, to his time as New York City's Prince of Perv, to his reign as King of Gay Nightlife in the  City of Angels.

Jon Bush’s documentary Club King offers a peek inside the world of Mario Diaz. From the smoky leather bars of Silver Lake to brightly lit Boystown, L.A.’s own King of Sleaze has shaped our city’s gay club scene in his image, but he was not born to the crown. Diaz shares a brief timeline of his decades promoting parties, from the early days in Seattle and New York City to our hallowed gayborhoods in the City of Angels. 

In 1983, during the waning days of a conference devoted to gay and lesbian health taking place in Denver, Colo., a group of men living under the shadow of the newly identified human immunodeficiency virus addressed attendees and delivered what would come to be known as the Denver Principles, a list of 17 demands and recommendations that changed the course of the AIDS epidemic (and arguably the American health care system) forever.

Many Brazilians remain unhappy about the $11 billion spent to host the 2014 World Cup despite the country’s difficulties funding schools, mass transit and other basic services, but the Brazilian government is using the opportunity of the world’s most popular sporting event—and the global attention that brings—to hand out condoms to World Cup fans and to test people for HIV.

“We can’t miss an opportunity like this,” says Ivone De Paula, Sao Paulo’s coordinator for sexually transmitted disease prevention. “The fact that it’s the Cup lightens the mood a bit. People say, ‘Hey I’m going to watch the game. I’m having fun. Why not get tested, too?’”

A new documentary produced by the My Status is Not a Secret campaign in association with several LGBT health and HIV advocacy organizations and directed by John Saint-Denis—perhaps best known to WeHo audiences for his smart and sexy short films Knowing and Open, which deal with gay relationships in the modern age—Status premiered June 18 at the WeHo Council Chambers as part of the annual One City One Pride arts and culture festival.

It can be hard to discern for those just breezing through the City of Angels, but Pride has come and gone and summer is truly here. In celebration of the halcyon, golden days, three of L.A.’s hottest music venues—the El Rey, Fonda Thatre and The Roxy—have put together Rdio playlists inspired by their upcoming summer line-ups.

LGBT America’s sweetheart, the irrepressible Margaret Cho, dropped by the product placement-laden studio of GGN—the weekly celebrity interview webcast hosted by none other than the D-O-Double-G himself, Snoop Dogg—to talk about her influences (Richard Pryor and Tamayo Otsuki), her current projects (Drop Dead Diva? Who knew?) and her career aspirations (among them, recording a song with Snoop, natch) all the while smoking copious amounts of marijuana.
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Last night, Sunday, June 8, was the 68th annual Tony Awards.  Often considered the proverbial “red-headed step child” of the big awards shows, in recent years the annual celebration of musicals and theatre has been garnishing more attention, in large part thanks to the contributions of perennial hosts/honorees Hugh Jackman and Neil Patrick Harris—and this year was no different.
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How do you mark the beginning of a revolution? The Stonewall Riots are often thought of as the birth of the modern Gay Rights Movement, but as formative as the events of that hot summer evening and the days that followed were to our people, they often overshadow another, equally pivotal, event in our shared history--the Black Cat Riots right here in Los Angeles.

Earlier this month, Iowa’s Senate and House chambers unanimously voted to repeal its draconian HIV criminalization laws. And today Iowa Governor Terry Branstad signed the historic bill into law, making Iowa the first state to completely modernize its legal code to reflect the realities of HIV understand and treatment as it stands today.