Party On

PARTY ON… Squid’s attended many drag-themed events over the years, and has always found them to be welcoming. Despite the naysayers, drag is a form of art that can be entertaining for all ages.

Unfortunately, those in power have a history of making uneducated decisions based on hearsay or their own personal biases. That seemed to be the case in the fledgling City of Marina, when early city leaders, looking to regulate adult businesses, lumped drag performers in a section of its municipal code that includes descriptions of “human male genitals in a discernibly turgid state.” It essentially banned drag shows in the city without a permit.

At the end of Pride Month, Councilmember Brian McCarthy requested the city remove the words “male and female impersonators” from the code’s definition of “adult cabaret” – “The policy is outdated, discriminatory, unnecessary and unfairly targets a form of artistic gender expression that is protected by the First Amendment,” he said. The Planning Commission recommended the change, and the council is expected to sign off on Sept. 16.

Squid is glad to see the city slowly getting with the times. Squid can’t wait to party with the queens in Marina, whether turgid or gelatinous – all such creatures are welcome in the sea.

PAPERED OVER… Squid always enjoys sea snail mail, partly because it’s slow. Send a letter to Flapjack the Octopus, and it might take a couple of weeks to arrive.

So Squid was stunned when the mailbox started filling up immediately after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of bills, collectively called the Election Rigging Response Act, on Aug. 21. Opponents were ready to go with mailers paid for by PACs Right Path California and Hold Politicians Accountable. The former featured what looks to Squid like an AI-generated illustration of a left hand (ha) drawing blue lines on California’s map, next to a broken red pencil. The implication is that Democrats are to blame for this gerrymandering mess, but it all started with President Donald Trump telling Texas lawmakers to gerrymander their state to secure a Republican majority in Congress. California’s rebuttal is a special election that goes to voters on Nov. 4, with a chance to approve a map that would all but ensure a Democratic majority neutralizing the Texas plan.

Another opposition mailer quotes the president of the League of Women Voters of California – implying the organization is part of the opposition, while in fact it is neutral on Prop. 50. “Election integrity begins with an informed electorate,” the League’s Monterey County chapter president Tama Olver wrote in response. That’s true not just when it comes to the ballot itself, but all the glossy snail mail.