I am a 28-year-old cisgender sex-repulsed asexual gay man. While some asexuals choose to have sex for the pleasure it provides their partner, sex-repulsed asexuals like me do not engage in sexual activity and do not wish to be exposed to it. As a sex-repulsed asexual gay man, I feel alienated when I enter gay spaces like bars, parties, clubs. Gay allosexuals don’t seem to be aware that hypersexualized spaces make asexual men like me feel unsafe and unwanted. We are forced to choose between being isolated or entering spaces where other gay men are kissing, grinding, or worse. Also, bartenders are often shirtless, there are go-go dancers, and even the posters on the walls feature sexually explicit imagery. When gay sex is foregrounded like this it makes gay men like me feel like we are not welcome in the gay community. And to answer the obvious question: I go to gay bars for many of the same reasons allosexual gay men go to gay bars: to socialize and feel safe and to meet potential romantic (not sexual) partners. I also go because gay hookup apps are terrible for everyone, but they’re especially terrible for asexual gay men.

I feel like there should be one night a week where gay bars are safe spaces for asexual gay men. It doesn’t feel like asking people to remain clothed and refrain from groping each other one night a week is too much to ask if it makes a marginalized group within our own community feel welcome. I am curious what you think of my proposal and whether this is an idea that you would get behind.

Gay Ace Gay Space

In August, Mayor Bruce Harrell bragged that his #OneSeattle Homelessness Action Plan managed to decrease homelessness encampments by 61 percent over the last two years. At the same time, the 2024 Point-in-Time Count tallied more than 16,000 people experiencing homelessness in King County, the largest number ever reported in the survey and a 23 percent increase over the last two years. 

The ideology that fed those disparate results lies bare in Harrell’s 2025-2026 budget proposal, wherein he defunds stuff that houses people in order to fund stuff that temporarily pushes homeless people around town, allowing homelessness to fester out of sight. Essentially, Harrell is giving the city council a choice as they rework his budget in the coming weeks—treat homelessness as an aesthetic issue, or treat it as a humanitarian crisis. 

Goood morning: I took a walk last night, because I'm on that steps grind, and goddamn it's a beautiful time of year. It might rain today, but if it does it'll be a sprinkle. The temperature will rise to 55 degrees. The sun will set at 6:20 pm. I hit 10,109 steps yesterday.

And now to other weather "news": A Republican Washington State House candidate appears to believe the government can control the weather. Carrie R. Kennedy, who's challenging Democratic State Representative Clyde Shavers up in the 10th Legislative District, which covers the islands, reposted a Bikers for America Facebook post about weather manipulation on October 13, which basically peddled the conspiracy theory that the US Government caused the recent East Coast hurricanes as part of an attempt to depopulate the country. None of that is true. She has posted similar conspiracies before on her Facebook and her X account. Keep in mind, this isn't some kooky challenger way behind in the polls. Shavers only won the primary with 52 percent of the vote share. She's got some juice.

After I reached out to Kennedy last night to ask about several of her weather manipulation posts, the Bikers for America post now no longer appears on her Facebook. Luckily we grabbed some screenshots.

14. HALLOWED GROUND: Made by an Indigenous filmmaker or has featured Indigenous cast members.

Slash/Back

Nyla Innuksuk’s Slash/Back has been on my to-watch list since at least last year when it was added to Hulu, but it wasn’t until I saw Scarecrow’s Day 14 prompt—watch a film “made by an Indigenous filmmaker or has featured Indigenous cast members”—that I finally sat down to watch it.

It was a blast! Thanks, Scarecrow! 

Did you hear the one about the hedge fund millionaire who moves up from California and spends millions of dollars to get a bunch of his right-wing initiatives on Washington’s November 2024 ballot? Turns out it’s not a joke.

All four initiatives on the November ballot would, if passed, be awful for the health of people here in Washington. But Initiative-2117, stands out for just how far-reaching its bad health consequences would be. The initiative would repeal Washington's Climate Commitment Act (CCA) and prohibit any policies involving carbon pricing in the future. In the service of a self-interested extremist, it dangerously and ridiculously halts and reverses important progress finally being made to combat air pollution and climate change. These dangers are fully detailed in a Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility (WPSR) report, ‘A Risk to our Health: An Analysis of the Threats to Health Posed by I-2117’. 

It's just another manic Monday, but we're here to sort out your weekly plans with event suggestions from Kehlani's CRASH WORLD TOUR to Brittany Howard & Michael Kiwanuka and from an Indigenous Peoples’ Day Citywide Celebration to Text Me Back! An Election Preview & Live Podcast Taping, and much more.

MONDAY

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' DAY

2024 Indigenous Peoples’ Day Citywide Celebration
There are events scattered all across the city for Indigenous Peoples' Day. The day starts at 9:30 am at Pier 62 Waterfront Park, where folks are invited to bring their drums and their tribal flags and join the march along the waterfront to King Street Station, where there will be a rally and round dance for peace at 1:30 pm. Elsewhere around the city, you can see Khu.éex' (featuring A+P star and renowned glass artist Preston Singletary) perform at Westlake Park at 11 am and join the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center for dancing, dinner, and bingo at 5 pm. See all the day's details here. Unrelated: Remember that time in 2015 when Mayor Harrell, a city council member at the time, wanted to proclaim "Italian-American Heritage" Month on Indigenous Peoples' Day??? And now he's mayor! What a ride. MEGAN SELING
(Various locations)

Two students dead in 24 hours at Western: Two Western Washington University students died last week in unconnected incidents. On Wednesday, an 18-year-old student died from a fall off a residence hall. The medical examiner ruled it a death by suicide. The second student, also 18, was found unresponsive in their residence hall Thursday morning from a suspected drug overdose. 

Did you drop your improvised explosive device? Maybe you last saw it in Burien? On Friday evening, a boom and blast rattled drivers at the intersection of South 116th Street and 1st Avenue South. Officers found what was left of an improvised explosive device they say was tossed onto the road. No one was injured, but authorities wonder whether the explosion is related to Saturday's I-90 bomb scare. 

13. ALL THINGS BEING SEQUEL: …As long as it isn’t a Part 1.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2

One thing to know about me going into this review is that I largely agree with this tweet, which, unsurprisingly, had people frothing at the mouth.

Not only for horror but maybe one of the five best American films ever made, yeah https://t.co/7QQ6t2lyno

— Brandon Streussnig (@BrndnStrssng) October 10, 2024

12. THE LIVING IMPAIRED: Insert zombie joke here.

One Cut of the Dead

Watch One Cut of the Dead. 

NEW OPENINGS & RETURNS

Salmonberry Green Grocer
The beloved farmers market staple Salmonberry Goods, known for sourdough, bagels, kombucha, and baked goods made with local ingredients, soft opened its new Sunset Hill store last Saturday. You'll be able to find prepared meals, pantry items, and produce alongside the bakery offerings.
Ballard

11. BREAKING THE MOLD: More than make up, this one is when practical effects masters employ their crafting skills directly to making the whole damn movie.

Freaked

Really great art slips through the cracks every single day. Music, books, and movies better than anything you’ve ever known are constantly getting swept away in the crushing firehouse of cultural output before they have a chance to land in the welcoming arms of an adoring audience. Case in point: Freaked, the 1993 special effects masterpiece written and directed by Alex Winters and Tom Stern.

Combine the visual enchantment of Pee-wee's Playhouse with the gross-out factor of The Ren & Stimpy Show, and you have Freaked, a movie about a mad scientist who uses obscene experimental technology to turn kidnapped humans into deformed acts for his roadside attraction called Freek Land.

History will be made on Friday, October 18, when Charles Mudede and hiphop professor Daudi Abe perform their Stranger piece "Anatomy of a Song: The Sugarhill Gang’s 'Rapper’s Delight' (1979)" live! Onstage! At Clock-Out Lounge!

The world has never seen a performance like this before! 

The Seattle Queer Film Festival is back this week with both in-person and virtual screenings through October 20. Following last year’s impressive lineup, which made it one of the festival’s absolute best, this year has a shorter in-person component, running for just four days as opposed to 10. But it still boasts some solid programming from around the world, with films that are sad and sexy and silly (sometimes all at the same time!) and stories that include sensual sky-flirting and murderous dinner parties. 

Passes and a full schedule are available here. To help you jump in, I’ve rounded up five highlights you won’t want to miss:

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