Hey, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Wednesday. It's National Running Day apparently. The only running I do is an occasional beer run. Love is funny. Usually, anyway. Not this particular case of love, though. This particular love between a woman and the man she caught sodomizing her pet Maltese is whatever the opposite of romantic is. What’s the opposite of romantic, exactly? Horrific? Appalling? I guess it’s just fucking a dog. This definitely is not a meet-cute, partly because they’d already met and partly because of the aforementioned sex with a dog. Manhattan man Jesus Gutierrez was charged with sexual misconduct and misdemeanor torturing of an animal after his girlfriend set up a camera and filmed him raping Princess, the woman’s Maltese. A Maltese, by the way, can weigh up to 7 pounds at most. Gutierrez was recorded sodomizing the dog with his fingers and grinding up against its genitals for 30 minutes in the apartment he shared with his girlfriend. It’s unclear why the woman set up the camera. Gutierrez’s punishment was a year of counseling and being barred from owning a pet for just five years. While the state may have punished Gutierrez, his girlfriend mostly did not. They’re married now. Not only is Gutierrez now married to the woman whose dog he raped, but she was also there to support him in court during his dog rape trial. A previous report from the Daily News noted that Gutierrez was intoxicated at the time he assaulted the dog and that he’s a father of six. Jesus Christ. Is the dog okay? The story says it was taken to a vet but that’s about it. In the video, according to authorities, the dog was “visibly distressed” which is one of those hilariously dry courtroom understatements... in this case about a human man plowing a 7-pound dog. Here’s hoping Gutierrez got all the help he needed to get off whatever he was on and get his head straight so that the father of six and his wife can live normal, productive, peaceful lives from here on out.
Raising a baby in Australia feels… risky. The predators are large and/or potent, which is a fairly dry way to say Goddamned terrifying nightmares. Literally, by the way, damned by God. They’re from hell. A human baby is probably pretty tasty looking to these devil beasts. One couple in Queensland, Australia almost found out as much. The father was vacuuming the family’s nursery when, according to Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers, who were called to the home and posted about the incident on their Facebook page, the man thought he had discovered a young eastern brown snake hiding between the wall and a box of diapers beside the crib. The eastern brown snake is harmless, so the dad wasn’t overly concerned with the situation, though he did still elect to call the snake catchers. Thank God he did, because he was sorely mistaken about the snake’s identity. It wasn’t a harmless little brown snake. It was venomous yellow-faced whip snake. The snake was found in the home of the family in Little Mountain on the Sunshine Coast. Here’s how Max described what could have been a harrowing situation, "Not a good place to find a snake! A Little Mountain local was vacuuming his house today when he saw what he thought to be a young brown snake in the babies room! Keeping an eye on the snake he gave us a call and I rushed out. The culprit was actually a mildly venomous yellow-faced whipsnake. See if you can find him in this photo!"
The potential baby killing snake was taken out of the home and the story ended happily (without a dead baby, in other words). Still, though. Is there nothing Australians can put down to keep these little bastards out? Snake repellent? Miniature drone sentries armed with knives? Just nuke the continent from orbit.
Actor George Clooney has decided to speak up, stating that COVID-19 isn’t the greatest pandemic that has occurred in the United States. Clooney noted that our greatest pandemic is racism. In response to the nationwide protests after the death of George Floyd caused by Minneapolis police officers, Clooney wrote an essay that was published by The Daily Beast. The 59-year-old actor wrote, “how many times have we seen people of color killed by police?” He continued, “Tamir Rice, Philando Castile, Laquan McDonald. There is little doubt that George Floyd was murdered. We watched as he took his last breath at the hands of four police officers. Now we see another defiant reaction to the systemic cruel treatment of a portion of our citizens like we saw in 1968, 1992, and 2014.” The Hollywood actor noted the public does not know when the protest will subside, but he hopes and prays that no one else will be killed, stating we, as a country, “know that very little will change.” Clooney wrote that the frustration and anger are evident in protests across the nation and are a reminder of how little we have grown as a country from the original “sin of slavery.” He continued “The fact that we aren’t actually buying and selling other human beings anymore is not a badge of honor. We need systemic change in our law enforcement and in our criminal justice system.” Stating race is our pandemic, he believes this situation affects us all, and in 400 years we as Americans have yet to find a vaccine. He also noted there was only one way this country could bring lasting change, which is to vote. “So this week, as we’re wondering what it’s going to take to fix these seemingly insurmountable problems, just remember we created these issues so we can fix them. And there is only one way in this country to bring lasting change: Vote.”
An Arizona woman... one with a lot of time, an active and graphic imagination, and a solid knowledge of human biology that becomes pretty distressing when combined with the other two... went on a date with a guy who probably deeply regrets doing so now. Jacqueline Ades sent a man with whom she went on one date 159,000 text messages over the course of ten months. The messages included graphic, violent descriptions of what she would do with the man’s body parts. “I’d wear ur fascia n the top of ur skull n ur hands n feet” “I’d make sushi outta ur kidneys n chopsticks outta ur hand bones.” All in all just not the type of stuff you hear from someone who’s second date material. According to Ades, she and the man men on a dating site for millionaires called Luxy. The site claims that one-third of its members earn over $500,000 a year and that it is a legitimate dating site, not a place for “Sugar Baby and Sugar Daddy” arrangements. After the date, the man told Ades that he didn’t want to see or hear from her again. Later, when he saw her parked outside of his house, he called the police. It was after that incident that the threatening texts started. Eventually, Ades was arrested for a second incident, in which she broke into the man’s house while he was out of the country. She brought her two dogs with her and had begun pretending to live there. The man observed her on a home camera and quickly called the authorities. When the police arrived they found Ades taking a bath and arrested her. According to reports, she seemed genuinely confused as to why she was being arrested. The police also found a large butcher knife in her car. On another occasion, Ades showed up to the man’s office claiming to be his wife. Ades is currently being held in the Maricopa County Jail on charges of stalking and criminal trespassing.
The United Kingdom has banned everyone from having sex until marriage. Kidding, totally kidding. BUT, they have taken a step further and have banned people from having sex in their own house with someone from a different household. Yup, apparently it is now illegal to have sex in the privacy of your own home after the government alerted its coronavirus legislation. As of Monday, a change to the law was introduced which bans two people from different households in England gather in an indoor place during the coronavirus lockdown. The amendment to the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Bill states “No person may participate in a gathering which takes place in a public or private place indoors, and consists of two or more persons.” Previously, going to another person’s home to have sex would have been a breach of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, but now both parties could be prosecuted under the law. And in case you were wondering, yes, having sex in a public place is already illegal, so this just further enhances that. Only those with a “ reasonable excuse” are actually allowed to meet in a private place. The amended bill reads, “no person may, without reasonable excuse, stay overnight at any place other than the pale where they are living.” This does differ from the previous legislation which prohibits people from leaving their homes without a reasonable excuse. So, if anyone is caught breaking this... sex law, they can be fined. Human rights barrister, Adam Wagner, tweeted about the ridiculous law, stating, “I can’t believe I’m about to tweet this. From tomorrow sex between two (or more) people in a private place who do not live in the same household is a ‘gathering’ between 2 or more people and is therefore illegal.” Officials did state that those who may be deemed to have a reason for meeting other people indoors are sports professionals, people who are attending funerals, vulnerable persons who are fleeing or risk of violence, people who are attending a funeral, and people with unavoidable work commitments. For those who are attending a funeral, the rule allows an overnight stay at a location other than their own home in line with attendance at a funeral as a member of the deceased person’s household, or a family member of the deceased person. Meanwhile, certain athletes are allowed to stay in a different location to their own residence if they are training for a competition, which is a rule that applies to an elite athlete, a parent, and a coach. Others were also exempt from the new rule are those moving houses and people who needed to obtain medical help. Apparently, in line with these ridiculous moments, police in England will be able to tell people to leave someone’s home and they’re actually caught breaching the new lockdown rules. According to a guidance issued by two officers by the National Police Chief counsel and College of policing, “You may only direct a person to return home. There are no powers in the regulations to remove someone or use force. Fixed-penalty notices (FPNs) and arrest still apply, where appropriate.” Seems to me like the United Kingdom is trying to control the Brit’s sex life, limiting you to one visitor at a time. Will this help not spread the coronavirus? Probably. But this is just ridiculous, can’t wait for the public’s reaction on this one. Don’t get any ideas, Trump.
Speaking of Trump, this is where he is hiding...
So, this was five years ago...
And this is "today"...
Those lockdown protestor signs people have really bother me...
Some celebrities are tone-deaf when it comes to posting during the George Floyd protests. Kylie Jenner snapped at somebody who told her to use her platform. Her "using her platform" was tagging other supermodels in an Instagram story with the hashtag Black Lives Matter.
And...
Here is another creative measure that a business is taking to maintain social distancing out in the world...
It's time for grads to be clever with their yearbook quotes again...
Hahahahahaha. Despite everything going on in the world, bridezillas are still gonna bridezilla. One bride wrote to me to ask for advice after her bridesmaids called her out for demanding that one of them get a haircut. It all started when the bride asked her bridemaids to show her their hair and makeup plans for the wedding day.
"I (hopefully) will be getting married this October to my amazing fiancé. We’ve been together for four years, since we were 18. Over the past few weeks, my friends and I have done a weekly Zoom call to gossip and discuss details. I asked them all to send me their intended hair and makeup for the day, to which they all did and I thought it was a reasonable request. All of them went for very similar, apart from Madeline." Madeline's long hair may keep her from being able to have the same style as everyone else. "Madeline is the only one of the group who has hair past her chest, and due to the style, she wouldn’t be able to do the same style as everyone else. I gently suggested that she cut her hair to be able to do the same style as everyone else." The bride asked her to cut it, and all the bridesmaids revolted. "She asked if I was being serious and I said yes, that I wasn’t planning on asking but that it seemed a simple thing to do. My friends were all pretty outraged over this minor thing and now Madeline is saying she doesn’t want to even be my bridesmaid. It’s only hair, it grows back! Am I wrong?" Yeah, I think you're out of line. Asking people to modify their appearance to be in a wedding party is not a reasonable request. If you want everyone to have to same. To all the brides and grooms out there... the people you select for your wedding party are most likely people you have known for a very long time. You know the color of their hair, the style of their hair, how many visible tattoos they have, their general appearance, etc. If you do not like any aspect of their appearance DO NOT try to get them to change for your "special day," simply to do not ask them to be in your wedding party. So that settles it once and for all... you don't get to ask your bridesmaids to cut their hair! Sorry.
Ha! This is a good one. If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. Now from the home office in Port Jefferson, New York here is...
Top Phive Things Said In The Last Week Of May
5. Everyone I've ever heard say they "don't wear a mask because it's unflattering" already looks bad.
4. Grimes and Elon Musk are the Kardashians for people who watch "Rick & Morty."
3. High school football players were really like "ima win this game for you, baby" and then would lose 65-7.
2. My moms told me the government putting chips in people, I hope I get Hot Cheetos.
And the number one thing said in the last week of May is...
1. I know this may be going against the grain but I think now IS the time for fun boozy lemonade ideas!
Okay, so, with the protests and the George Floyd story I thought I would invite one of the smartest people I know personally to the Phile to get his take on it. I like this guy a lot, and if I was famous he'd be my bodyguard. Please welcome to the Phile... Brandyn Washington...
There’s been a lot going on in this country (and to be honest, the world… But I’ll focus on home for now) to people that look just like me. So I have been left with a lot of feelings over the past month and I feel that now is an appropriate time to speak. I have been made a target several times in my life based solely on my skin color and if you don't believe it’s the reason then that’s fine, but PLEASE do not try to invalidate or “educate” me on my experiences as a black man. Some of you may know this and others may not, but I have been both shot and stabbed on this premise, so it is VERY REAL to me. If you care to know and understand, then stick round. If not, with all due respect, please scroll down. In my life, I have been stopped and questioned by cops 19 times. I was driving only one of those times. The other 18 times, I was simply at a park, walking home from work or just walking through a neighborhood. And I was stopped because, you’ll never believe this, “I matched the description of someone that had committed a crime in the area”. I’m 6’3”, 250 lbs, I don't match the description of many people unless you’re at an NFL Combine. Did I mention that I have NEVER committed a crime? This goes beyond being a slight inconvenience and falls into being flat out harassed. I have always know that my presence or even existence has been seen a threat to certain groups of people and I hate it so much! Everything I do, whether you notice it or not, is curated to my environment to so as not to be seen as “scary," “angry” or “intimidating” because even though I’m not an ambassador for black people, anything negative that I do will be attributed to my entire race. However, the positive things about me are attributed to whiteness, which is another reason why I hate it when people say, “Well, Brandyn isn’t like BLACK black” or “Brandyn is like the whitest black person I know” but that's a topic for another time. The fact that black men (and women) are being targeted is much sadder than I can put into words. I couldn’t imagine being in Ahmaud Arbery’s position, going for a run and seeing a parked vehicle in my path and people brandishing weapons. I don’t care who you are or what your skin color is that is terrifying! In that instance, my fight or flight instincts would kick in and I refuse to believe that I should stop and hear these people out, who have not identified themselves as police or anything. Because to me, that whole scene looks like a set up for a modern day lynching and I’m not for it. Now if he had a gun, which is his right as an American, would it have turned out any differently? I think not. It would have actually made it worse for him I believe. I’ve been seeing a lot of things saying that as black people, it's time to arm ourselves for protection and I’m conflicted. I don't currently own a gun anymore but I did have two back when I lived in Arizona. They were strictly for protection and never left my apartment. Why? You may ask, because imagine this: I’m already viewed as a threat by some just by being around minding my own business, how much would that be amplified if they knew or even just suspected that I had a weapon? I can honestly say that despite doing nothing wrong, I don’t think that I would have made it out of the situations with the cops alive. If you don’t believe me, look up Philando Castille… A good man who happened to own a gun and inform the officer of that, was gunned down in front of his girlfriend and daughter. Trust me, the perception of a black person with a gun is seen very differently than a white person with a gun. Don't believe that? Look up Robert Lewis Dear, James Eagan Holmes, Jared Lee Loughner or Dylan Roof. All taken in ALIVE while actually using their weapons to actually take lives. But they were not enough of a threat to be killed on sight. So I’m conflicted because I want to be able to protect myself but at the same time, just by doing that I’m putting myself in an even more dangerous predicament. All I want to do is feel safe. And now in the headlines we have George Floyd. I don't even wanna get started on that or this post would never end. We have a problem in this country, and it's only getting worse every day. After all that I have been through as an individual, the one thing that I can say without a doubt that I absolutely love being a person of color and I wouldn’t change it for the world but I do want the world to change for it. Just as comfortable as I am in my own skin, I want others to feel the same way, no matter what color you are. I want people like me to be able to go stores, sit at a shop or be able to walk through any neighborhood without being perceived as a threat. Or even when they’re actually being detained to not be treated like chained animals or further abused/ assaulted. WE NEED TO CHANGE! But in order to do that, we need to first acknowledge the injustices and not just pretend they don’t exist to make ourselves feel better. Do not just disregard someone's experiences because you cannot relate to it. Anyways, that’s all I really had to say before I disappear for another couple of months. If you made it all the way through, thank You! Thank you for hearing me out and understanding my position and dilemma. Until next time, I love you all and take care!
Wielding extraordinary federal authority, President Donald Trump threatened the nation’s governors on Monday that he would deploy the military to states if they did not stamp out violent protests over police brutality that have roiled the nation over the past week. His announcement came as police under federal command forced back peaceful demonstrators with tear gas so he could walk to a nearby church and pose with a Bible. Trump’s bellicose rhetoric came as the nation convulsed through another round of violence over the death of George Floyd at a time when the country is already buckling under the coronavirus outbreak and the Depression-level unemployment it has caused. The president demanded an end to the heated protests in remarks from the White House Rose Garden and vowed to use more force to achieve that aim. If governors throughout the country do not deploy the National Guard in sufficient numbers to “dominate the streets,” Trump said the U.S. military would step in to “quickly solve the problem for them.” “We have the greatest country in the world,” the president declared. “We’re going to keep it safe.” A military deployment by Trump to U.S. states would mark a stunning federal intervention rarely seen in modern American history. Yet the message Trump appeared to be sending with the brazen pushback of protesters outside the White House was that he sees few limits to what he is willing to do. Some around the president likened the moment to 1968, when Richard Nixon ran as the law-and-order candidate in the aftermath of a summer of riots, capturing the White House. But despite his efforts to portray himself as a political outsider, Trump is an incumbent who risks being held responsible for the violence. Minutes before Trump began speaking, police and National Guard soldiers began aggressively forcing back hundreds of peaceful protesters who had gathered in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House, where they were chanting against police brutality and Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. As Trump spoke, tear gas canisters could be heard exploding. Floyd died last week after he was pinned to the pavement by a police officer who put his knee on the handcuffed black man’s neck until he stopped breathing. His death set off protests that spread from Minneapolis across America. His brother Terrence pleaded with protesters on Monday to remain peaceful. Five months before Election Day, the president made clear that he would stake his reelection efforts on convincing voters that his strong-arm approach was warranted to quell the most intense civil unrest since the 1960s. He made little effort to address the grievances of black Americans and others outraged by Floyd’s death and the scourge of police brutality, undermining what his campaign had hoped would be increased appeal to African American voters. The scene in and around the White House on Monday night appeared to be carefully orchestrated. As the crowd of protesters grew, Attorney General William Barr arrived in Lafayette Park to look over at the demonstrations and the swarm of law enforcement. The sudden shift in tactics against the protesters was initially a mystery. Then, after finishing his Rose Garden remarks, Trump emerged from the White House gates and walked through the park to St. John’s Church, where an office had been set on fire the previous night. Trump, who rarely attends church, held up a Bible and gathered a group of advisers... all white... to pose for photos. The moment was quickly decried by Trump’s critics, with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo saying the president “used the military to push out a peaceful protest so he could have a photo op at a church.” “It’s all just a reality TV show for this president,” he said on Twitter. “Shameful.” Federal law permits presidents to dispatch the military into states to suppress an insurrection or if a state is defying federal law, legal experts said. But Trump’s statements also set up an immediate conflict with officials in New York and other states who asserted that the president does not have the unilateral right to send in troops against the will of local governments. The country has been beset by angry demonstrations for the past week in some of the most widespread racial unrest in the U.S. since the 1960s. Spurred largely by Floyd’s death, protesters have taken to the streets to decry the killings of black people by police. Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin has been charged with murder, but protesters are demanding that three of his colleagues be prosecuted, too. All four were fired. While most of the demonstrations have been peaceful, others have descended into violence, leaving neighborhoods in shambles, stores ransacked, windows broken and cars burned, despite curfews around the country and the deployment of thousands of National Guard members in at least 15 states. On Monday, demonstrations erupted from Philadelphia, where hundreds of protesters spilled onto a highway in the heart of the city, to Atlanta, where police fired tear gas at demonstrators, to Nashville, where more than 60 National Guard soldiers put down their riot shields at the request of peaceful protesters who had gathered in front of Tennessee’s state Capitol to honor Floyd. Two people were killed during protests in the Chicago suburb of Cicero, authorities said, but provided no details. In Louisville, Kentucky, riot police firing tear gas scattered several hundred protesters from downtown, violently capping a day of mostly peaceful protests. A vehicle plowed through a group of law enforcement officers at a demonstration in Buffalo, New York, injuring at least two. Video from the scene showed the vehicle accelerating through an intersection shortly after officers apparently tackled a protester and handcuffed him. The officers were hospitalized in stable condition, authorities said. In New York City, where nightfall has brought widespread scenes of destruction, large crowds rallied peacefully in Times Square and Brooklyn during the day. Then, in early evening, looters rushed into a Nike store in Manhattan and protesters smashed storefront windows near Rockefeller Center. Video posted on social media showed some protesters arguing with people breaking windows, urging them to stop. The city has already endured immense commercial damage from the unrest. On Monday, rioters got through the doors of the city’s flagship Macy’s store, famous for its Thanksgiving Day parade, and police later pulled at least two handcuffed men out of the store and put them into a van. By that time, most of the the street was littered with broken glass. In Washington, protesters continued marching peacefully through Washington hours after being forced from Lafayette park and past the 7 p.m. curfew. Eventually, within sight of the Capitol building, the marchers were turned back by law enforcement officers using tear gas, pellets and low-flying helicopters kicking up debris. As they dispersed, some protesters smashed windows at a nearby office building. Earlier Monday, Trump told the nation’s governors in a video conference that they “look like fools” for not deploying even more National Guard troops. “Most of you are weak,” he said. He added, “You’ve got to arrest people, you have to track people, you have to put them in jail for 10 years and you’ll never see this stuff again.” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, dismissed Trump’s comments as the “rantings of an insecure man trying to look strong after building his entire political career on racism.” Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential candidate, vowed to address institutional racism in his first 100 days in office. He met in person with black leaders in Delaware and also held a virtual meeting with big-city mayors. Biden said hate emerges “when you have somebody in power who breathes oxygen into the hate.” In Minneapolis, meanwhile, Floyd’s brother Terrence made an emotional plea for peace at the site where Floyd was arrested. “Let’s switch it up, y’all. Let’s switch it up. Do this peacefully, please,” Terrence Floyd said as he urged people to use their power at the ballot box. Also Monday, an autopsy commissioned for Floyd’s family found that he died of asphyxiation from neck and back compression, the family’s attorneys said. Authorities in many cities have blamed the violence on outside agitators, though have provided little evidence to back that up. But on Monday, federal authorities arrested a 28-year-old Illinois man saying he had posted self-recorded video on his Facebook page last week that showed him in Minneapolis handing out explosive devices and encouraging people to throw them at law enforcement officers. More than 5,600 people nationwide have been arrested over the past week for such offenses as stealing, blocking highways and breaking curfew, according to a count by the Associated Press.
Your dog doesn’t know you can make mistakes. So when you trip over him in the dark, he thinks you got up just to kick him in the head.
The 127th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...
Ms. Marion Ross will be on the Phile on Monday. Okay, let's see what is going on live in Port Jefferson, shall we?
Ahhh... a nice day there and people seem to be sitting in a circle on the grass. Let me take a closer look real quick...
Yeah, they look like they are about six feet apart as well. Good job, Port Jeff people...
Today's pheatured guest is a Tobagonian-American actress, author, model, and reality television personality. As an actress, she is most known for her leading role of Elektra Abundance on the FX television series "Pose." Please welcome to the Phile... Dominique Jackson.
Me: Hey, Dominique, welcome to the Phile. How are you?
Dominique: Hello, Jason, great to be here! I like your blog.
Me: I'm glad. So, you're on a show called "Pose." What is the show about?
Dominique: "Pose" is a series that explores the early beginnings of New York's '80s ball scene. The queer ball scene was started by the city's black and Latino trans community, and for decades, it's been a safe space for the queer community to express themselves through performance, dance and music.
Me: You play Elektra Abundance, that's a great name. Who is she?
Dominique: Reigning queen of the New York ball scene and mother of the House of Abundance!
Me: I have no idea what that means, it sounds like something out of Harry Potter. Haha. What is a house mother?
Dominique: The house mother is everything. I believe it's because of the upbringing of the founders Crystal LaBeija and Paris Dupree, to name just two, these women when they were raised in the 50s and 60s and stuff like that they experienced what we call "tough love." Then to come out here into the community and try to survive and try to live and try to still be glamorous yet had to be tough. Being tough the house mother protects the kids, the house mother like many families is the matriarch. She is the power and the driving force, she is the glue that holds everything together.
Me: I've never heard of this ball scene before, have you?
Dominique: I actually came up in New York's and Baltimore's ball communities, Jason.
Me: Ahhh, okay. So, what was it like walking into a ball for the first time?
Dominique: Going into a ball for the first time is like being seen for the first time. It feels like the space is for us and we have found our people. In the beginning they would talk about the competition, how we can serve it but it was never in the case that we had to win. It was a case of get out there and serve it. One thing people didn't realize about ballroom, for many of us the goal is not really to win, it's to get our "tens." We can keep continuing and we can keep battling and we grow. So, when I first walked out when they were just looking at me and as I would use ballroom terms, they were gagging. In that "gag-nation" it was gag-nation that was applauding. Of course some people gave me pointers how I could approve my look but overall as I stood there I felt accepted. I don't look for acceptance in 2020. I look for respect. But back then it was like Cinderella walking into, you know, sitting at home and not knowing how she would go to basically the ball and getting to that ball and having the help of the Fairy Godmother. That's what a lot of the house mothers are. We are like Fairy Godmothers, and having someone take care of us and send us off to this ball and walking in is just magnificent. We're seeing people that are just like us, we are seeing people that are living lives and not feeling so afraid of the way they are. They're expressing themselves, being themselves, it's such a beautiful thing. I felt at home.
Me: So, I read you have a boyfriend of some sort in the show. Am I right?
Dominique: In our community sex work is prevalent. A lot of girls have to engage in this sort of act because getting a job, especially back then was difficult. Elektra was fortunate to have found this man that, well, she thought he loved her. But he owned her. And she knew that her version of her journey to being a woman meant that she had to have "bottom" surgery. So, now here's the dilemma, she wants the bottom surgery but the man who gives her everything she has, the man that owns her, doesn't want her to have it. How does she deal with that? How does she process her truth over her survival? Over her way of life?
Me: Urrrrr.. okay, You yourself had surgery, right? Did you have much input in shaping Elektra?
Dominique: Actually I didn't need to put a lot of input into it because remember, we have women like Janet Mock and Our Lady J, and Mr. Ryan Murphy is so amazing, they do all the necessary research. What I did was I told them about my experience, my personal experience.
Me: What was your experience like?
Dominique: My experience was amazing. Doctor Rachel Bluebond-Langner did my surgery on June 29th, 2017. I can't believe it's been that long already. For me it was finally being able to stand in front of a mirror and not cry hysterically. It was for me finally knowing that that one day to cut "it" off myself was a horrible day that there was an end to that. I didn't have to live like that anymore. I could be in my truth. It's my version of my journey to womanhood because for each transgender person it's very different. There are many that do not want any kind of surgery and those that do want surgeries. It's all the individual journey. As we're out here we must emphasize being transgender doesn't mean we have to go from one place to the next. Being as I am a post-operative transsexual it doesn't mean that is something that can be fantasized or anything like that. This is all done for us. It is a personal reason why we do these surgeries. It's not for anyone else trying to judge that or tell us what direction we should go so they feel comfortable looking at us or being around us.
Me: Why do you think "Pose" is a popular show in this day and age, Dominique?
Dominique: It's not just the glamor of the ball scene but in addition to the glamor which is an important part of the show it reveals the social issues surrounding it, it reveals the prejudices that made the ball community necessary in the first place.
Me: You mentioned Ryan Murphy, he's the one that co-created "Pose." He called this television as advocacy. Do you see it that way?
Dominique: Of course! Of course it is. After "Pose" when we were working on set I was nervous. I didn't know where it would go. I didn't think people would get it. I felt like I was putting my life on the line but it was more than a sacrifice I was willing to make because now I'm one of the most out transgender women. I don't come from privilege so I still have to walk the same streets.
Me: When you see or meet people that know who you are and what's going on what do they say or do? Is it different now?
Dominique: The amazing thing is that when I walk the streets the people that have seen the show are now saying to themselves, saying to me, "Whoa, we had no idea life was like that for you guys. We always thought it was about going out and sleeping with people and stuff like that. We didn't know about your pain, we didn't know about your struggles. Now I'm going to take more time..." I had people who called their children who they haven't spoken to in years just so they could apologize and say, "Look, I watch 'Pose' and I want to be a part of your life because you're not an abomination, you're a human being. And because it's what socially has done for you, done to you, that has caused you to go out there and had to live this life but yet you still make it so damn glamorous!"
Me: I read that one of the characters on the show works for Donald Trump. I'm not surprised. Haha. In your real life you tweeted about Trump's ban on transgender people in the military. What do you think about this?
Dominique: Of course. Her's the thing... the trans community has always been under attack. Along with so many other communities. With the transgender community is people are not, and it's sad across the board, because when someone thinks LGBTQLA plus it's all about other peoples thoughts. They need us to be labeled for them to feel comfortable with themselves. For them to say okay, I approve of your existence because they're not family or friend.
Me: Hmmm... does this have a name for it?
Dominique: Yes, it's called the Othering.
Me: How did you feel when the military ban came down?
Dominique: It speaks volumes to how people see us as people and what they think of us. So why can't a trans person defend their country? For a trans person that wants to go into the military to defend their country and they're told no, you can't, you're not good enough...? No. It's okay for every other person to get in as long as they identify as male or female. But it speaks volumes to what people think of us as in looking at us as incapable. Looking at us as less than. They're saying ti us we're not human, we shouldn't be here. We have people who are saying now bevies of the current administration that it's okay to discriminate against trans people. Kick us out of restaurants, refuse us to allow us on the bus. And go back to that talent place where a lot of us are murdered and there's just a slap on the wrist. Now in New York City that's not going to happen. It's now law that they cannot discriminate against a transgender gender non-conforming and non binary person when it comes to housing, public accommodations, anything like that.
Me: Now that you are famous do you think it's important to talk about what's going on with your community?
Dominique: We always have a choice. But when someone is blessed... it's like they say in Spider-Man, with great power comes responsibility. When we are someone that can speak out we must. However we must be careful and how we speak. Not just how we speak but what is delivered. We must be very careful of our message, we must be careful for which we stand for. We must stand for something. I am not one that went to acting school and came out and caught a big break. This big break was about the life that I have lived, the experience that I have had. Knowing the people that went through these situations, and living them myself.
Me: Okay, so, I want to end this very interesting interview with a fun question. You're at an award show, they call out your name as you won... you walk upon stage, what song is playing do you think?
Dominique: "It's My House" by Diana Ross.
Me: Why that one?
Dominique: I don't know. It's just speaks volumes of strength and knowing the space that I stand in is where I belong. A lot of times we don't do that. We don't believe we belong in certain spaces.
Me: Dominique, thanks so much for being on the Phile. I hope a lot of my readers learnt something today. Please come back again soon. Take care.
Dominique: Thank you so much, Jason.
That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to my guests Brandyn Washington and Dominique Jackson. The Phile will be back tomorrow with music legend Neil Young. Spread the word, not the turd... or the virus. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.
I don't want you, cook my bread, I don't want you, make my bed, I don't want your money too, I just want to make love to you. - Willie Dixon
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