We sample astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson's talk last weekend at the Aero Theatre, where he gave his top three StarTrek guests ... We'll preview Trans Pride and meet punk singer Drew Arriola Sands, whose career only took off after she transitioned from male to female ... Meet The Crenshaw Cowboy, dances next to his spaceship in Mid-City ... Hank Rosenfeld's card to his late father. We'll hear a poignant Father's Day card from contributor Hank Rosenfeld. Hank plays tape of him and his late father – a World War Two vet and shoe store magnate - driving around their hometown, talking about life.
The Cinderella story of Trap Girl's trans front woman
Growing up, Drew Arriola-Sands' music was "too weird for the weird kids." Her first band couldn't even get a backyard gig, but since Sands transitioned in 2013, her current band, Trap Girl, have been at the center of an exploding queer hardcore scene in Los Angeles.
NOTE: Trans Pride L.A. is taking place this weekend, Saturday June 17, at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. To hear a preview of the event with organizer Gina Bigham, listen to the extra audio on this post.
Sands is 28 now, but she's always been drawn to glamorous women with big hair. Her mirror is adorned with pictures of Ronnie Spector, Dolly Parton, and Jayne Mansfield. Wig idols, she calls them. Sands has a large collection of wigs, and even makes her own, but it all started 20 years ago.
"When I was a little kid, my mom always had short black hair," Sands remembers. "And then one day, getting ready for school, she walked out of the bathroom with a long, thick, black braid with a ribbon on it, and it freaked me out, because I never saw her with long hair. So I was like, 'That’s weird! What is it?'" She was eight years old. For weeks to come, Sands would lock herself in the bathroom and stare at the extension braid in it's clear, Avon box until her mother threw it away without warning. The seed had been planted, though.
Her love of singing came at an early age too. As a child, Sands would stand up on a chair while watching baseball with her father to sing the national anthem. Her mother would scold her for being loud and tell her that she could sing at a baseball game when she was older. At 11, her father put her in little league.
We look at a picture of young Drew in a baseball jersey. Sands was a chubby little kid, biting down a smile, and burying her hand in her mitt. "I was a 'catcher' even then," laughs Sands.
"I was told I was gay before I even knew I was gay, because people saw I was feminine, did things a little different, spoke a little different, a little more sensitive," says Sands. Bullying was a consistent part of her childhood, with no one incident standing out because there was always "80 more horrible ones," she says. But she found ways to cope through her hobbies.
Her father said if she wasn't going to play a sport, she had to play an instrument. The first instrument she started with in earnest was the guitar, before picking up bass and more. "Nirvana was still the biggest band in the world. Everyone at my junior high who played guitar learned how to play 'Rape Me' or 'Smells like Teen Spirit' as their first song" says Sands. The first song sands learned on guitar was Nirvana's "About a Girl," and the first album she bought was Hole's "Live Through This."
"One of my first jobs, actually, was making burnt cd’s for a guy who sold them at the alley, and he made me copy Trina cd’s, ten at a time. She had songs on there like 'Nasty Bitch,' things like that, and I just loved it! But it was like a guilty pleasure, 'cause I was still a rock kid." - Drew Arriola-Sands
By her early twenties, she started her first real band, The Glitter Path; Sands describes it as something like Daniel Johnston, the schizophrenic outsider musician, mixed with Patsy Cline - extremely emotional, "lying across the road, ready to die type of music." It didn't fit in in the "very straight, very cis, surf rock-indie" backyard scene, says Sands. She can't remember the band playing more than two or three shows, anywhere, but she says she doesn't hold any grudges.
The Glitter Path's "Wear a Wig"
We look at another photo of Sands from her Glitter Path days. She points out the increasing number of women’s accessories she was wearing at the time. She was starting to feel a change coming.
"I was in a relationship in 2013 with an artist, but I was male presenting, and I had these feelings of identity and gender, and I expressed them to him, and he accepted them," Sands says, "but didn’t know how to deal with me and I didn’t know how to deal with myself." Sands boyfriend broke up with her, and she reevaluated her emotional state. "My mental health was not going to get better if I did not come out [as a trans person]," she decided.
She had a much easier time dating after transitioning, and one chance hook-up set Sands down a new musical road.
"So this guy I was hooking up with at the time would play the Damned in the room while we were hooking up. I had a guitar in the room, and he didn’t know I played music and said, 'Do you play guitar?' I said, 'Yeah.' He said, 'Well, you should start a band, like the Damned, and play guitar. It’d be good, looking the way you do, and wear ball gowns.'” - Drew Arriola-Sands
Sands started Trap Girl, not as guitarist, but as lead singer, in 2014.
The early shows were backyard gigs in South Central. Songs like “Dead Men Don’t Rape” went over well, but Sands wasn’t out as a trans performer yet. Maybe people could read between the lines though, with a name like Trap Girl. Sands offers a few definitions for Trap Girls/Trap Queens (though she has never settled on just one).
- A woman who helps out a "trap lord," or drug dealer
- A very convincing transvestite
- A girl trapped in a man's body
Throughout 2015, Trap Girl built their following Downtown and on the Eastside, with Sands finally out as a trans artist.
Trap Girl live at Xicana PUNK Night
"I started this band alone," explains Sands. "I didn’t know any queer people, I didn’t know any trans people, I didn’t know who was gonna help this band. Who was gonna give us a shot? So, I was ready to defend this band, even though there was no one defend it from."
Rather, Trap Girl were embraced and found sisterhood in bands like Sister Mantos and Yaawn. In 2016, Sands took it a step further and organized the first annual Transgress Fest (at the Santa Ana LGBT Center), for trans performers. "We had people as young as twelve to people as old as sixty in the audience," she says. "We had a huge turnout. I never expected that."
Transgress Fest is coming back in November. In the meantime, Trap Girl are getting ready to release their second EP, "The Black Market." The title track grapples with the question of whether or not a trans person needs surgery.
"Being a woman doesn’t mean you have to look like a woman. I didn’t know any trans people at all before I transitioned, so automatically, my idea was to think that I needed to present as feminine to be accepted as a trans person, but little did I know, that that’s the last thing you need to be a trans person. Not all people can pass, and that’s ok." - Drew Arriola-Sands
Sands says the takeaway from "The Black Market" is not to risk your life with black market cosmetic procedures. "These girls are killing themselves to achieve their looks," says Sands. "They’re getting it offline [sic], off Craigslist. You know, they go to someone’s basement and get their ass injected with cement, and then they go home and get a blood clot in their lungs, and they die." "The Black Market" EP is due for release this summer.
Trap Girl is singer Drew Arriola-Sands, bassist Ibette Ortiz, drummer Jorge Reveles, and guitarist Estevan Moreno.
Hank Rosenfeld's Father's Day card to his late father
Norman, 5-foot -7¾ and broken nose from playing football for the Wolverines in 1938. Slight scent of Williams “Lectric Shave.” Like so many in the greatest generation, he came back from the Second World War, dream deferred.
Norman is Off-Ramp commentator Hank Rosenfeld's dad, who would have turned 99 this August. He died about five years ago... but not before Hank made sure to record a bunch of conversations with him back home in Michigan.
Norman joined the family business helping his father sell shoes … at Sibley’s, the spot for Florsheim Shoes in Michigan. But Hank wonders what might have been ... if his dad had followed his dream of becoming a radio announcer. That's the dream that Hank followed.
Listen to Hank's piece in the audio player... a meditation on dreams, careers, sports, radio, growing up ... and driving.
Driving With Dad
There's an old joke about the 89-year-old widower who decides to get married again. His friends all ask him, “Why would you want to do that? Can she cook?”
“No.”
Does she sew?
“No.”
Does she keep house?
“Nope.”
Then why get married again?
“Because idiot, she drives at night.”
This story is about my father near the end of his life, but let’s start with a couple of folks who have their whole lives ahead of them: my two nephews in Detroit, Ben and Harrison. “Benjamin Harrison," funny, right?
Ben is my 13-year-old nephew, and his brother Harrison is 9 and they are both baseball players...
"Harrison, who are you playing?"
"Devil Rays."
"Are ya nervous?"
"Kinda."
"What position?"
"Last game I played pitcher 3 innings, shortstop 2 innings and first base one inning. I think. Wait! No. First base two innings."
For some reason Harrison has a question for me about radio…
"Uncle Hank, why is NPR so serious?"
"Who ya talking about?"
"NPR. I think they’re too serious."
"Well, maybe you could lend some humor."
"Ok."
"Do you have a joke or something we could put on the air?"
"Um, why did the chicken cross the road?
"I dunno. Why?"
"To listen to NPR! Ha!"
Cute kids. So now I'm with my dad, Norman, five-foot-seven-and-three-quarters, broken nose from playing football for the Wolverines in 1938, slight scent of Williams “Lectric Shave.” We’re on our way in the big Cadillac Seville to watch his grandchildren play ball. Here’s what I always liked hearing my father go on about:
"Dad," I asked him as we rolled along. "Didn’t you start as a broadcaster?"
"Yes at U of M, I took classes in broadcasting. There was a man in charge, Waldo Abbot; he was a terrific guy and at one time a professional announcer. He had a great voice. And I announced on WJR Detroit."
"WJR Detroit? 'The Great Voice of the Great Lakes'?"
"Yeah it was," he went on in his very easy going manner. "Anyway, to answer your questio. The war came along and even though Mr. Abbot told me I could get a job perhaps in –
"Watch out! Better Stop!" I said, as he went rolling through a Stop sign.
"-- Grand Rapids, Michigan, but right after graduating in 1941, a few months later I was in the army fighting, helping to fight World War 2."
Pretty good radio voice. But like so many in the greatest generation, he came back from the Second World War, dream deferred. He joined the family business helping his father sell shoes, at "Sibley’s." “I’ll See YOU at Sibley’s,” is how their radio spots went. Anyway, ever since, I wake up and thank God for my grandfather’s feet.
And I wonder if I went into radio because of my father?
"So what kinda programs did you get on the air," I asked him. "Sports, news or what?"
"Well, I remember one I liked the best," he said smiling. "It was called 'The Cask of Amontillado.' By Edgar Allen Poe. Maybe you remember that? About a man who did something bad and thought he got away with it and he was punished for it in a very ghastly manner."
"WATCH OUT STOP!" I shouted.
"I had my foot on the break." Calm as a cucumber.
"So are you gonna take the 696 here past the Detroit Zoo?"
"No," he said. But then he laughed. "I missed Lincoln. Like I miss all the roads. Don’t you admit, it’s an adventure driving with me?"
"Yeah but I’m afraid you’re gonna go off the road someday. I really worry about you..."
And there’s nothing you can do about it. Not a thing. Well maybe take away his keys. But in the Motor City? Driving is a rite of passage!
"So Dad, tell us the rest of the places you’ve made wrong turns today."
"I can’t really tell you, " he replied. "If I knew that I wouldn’t have made the bad turns."
That made me laugh. "Of course I had my son Hank with me in the car, and he was of no help whatsoever."
I laughed again.
I been in my father’s car like forever. I’d go visit shoe stores with him on weekends in his Plymouth Fury. Then in his low-slung T-bird, a ’66 model, black and so cool the taillights flash flash flashed in the direction you turned. “Sequential signals," they were called. You don’t see much of that anymore. Then there was his Buick LeSabre; you don’t see any of them anymore.
Okay here’s some fun I recall: my dad behind the wheel of my mother’s Mercury Colony Park –with the fake wood paneling--and we motor four hours “up north.” And when we’d get to the motel, my Mom and my sisters would head right to the room. But my brother and I stayed in the car to catch the end of the Tigers game. My Dad had tuned in WJR 760, 50-thousand watts from Detroit and able to reach the gravel parking lots by Grand Traverse Bay.
In fact, my father was friends with Tigers great play-by-play man, Ernie Harwell. I can still hear Ernie on the radio all those nights... “And this big crowd is ready to break loose. Three men on, two men down for the Tigers in the ninth..."
Sometimes I could get my father to do a little play-by-play:
"So it's a summer night in Detroit," I said from my passenger seat of the Seville.
"Whoops," my father said. "I missed the road there..."
I stuck my head out of the window and announced to anybody listening, "That’s the voice of the old announcer!"
And sure enough, he turned on his radio voice: "So we’re anticipating...it’s a beautiful night here in Detroit. There’s not a cloud in the sky. They’ve been looking for some nice weather around here, and they finally got it!"
"Watch out!" I interrupted. "There’s a guy coming."
My dad seemed rather unperturbed. "It's either a right or a left here, I think it’s a left," he said.
"Bacon is to the right."
"I will find it!" he said confidently. "I am not the least bit worried. I just missed the turn there…"
One night we were driving on 8 Mile Road, way east of Woodward, and my father just froze for some reason, right on some railroad tracks. For some reason he had thrown it into Neutral and we were just stuck there. We saw the lights of a train coming and his four kids started screaming in the back seat, and my mother, his wife Dulcie was slamming her hand into the leatherette up front going, “Norman! Norman!”
Finally, he was able to lurch the car forward off the tracks and we made it safely to Shakey’s for dinner.
"Dad," I asked as we continued to look for the ball fields. "Did you see that movie '8 Mile' about Eminem?"
"No, we didn’t see that."
"You’d like it."
"Well if you think we’d like it," he replied. "Maybe we’ll catch it on TV one of these days."
"Oh yeah," I said. "It has some great stuff about Detroit."
What can I say? I’m a booster I’m a builder. Finally we got there.
"Which game should I watch," I asked him. "Ben or Harrison's?"
"Well naturally, the older players are more skilled."
He was always schooling me. And he would have been 98 this August. My father died in 2014. I think in recalling this story: I did go into the family business. Just not the one my father did, eventually.
You know, it’s not strange hearing his voice, more like it’s Reassuring – one of the beauties of radio, hearing that reassuring voice.
One of my dad’s favorite admonishments was, “Did I ever steer you wrong?” No Dad, you always knew what was the right thing to do, even if you did have a difficult time sometimes making a left…
Good news/Bad news from Off-Ramp host John Rabe
I’m very excited to tell you some really good news.
One of my bosses at KPCC said a very nice thing about Off-Ramp a few months ago: "Off-Ramp sounds like it's wrapping its arms around all of Southern California."
That's exactly what we set out to do almost 11 years ago when we started Off-Ramp. The idea was to tell stories from all over SoCal that encouraged all of you to take the off-ramp, to explore our city. As Mark Twain wrote in a letter to the San Francisco Alta California in 1867, "...nothing so liberalizes a man and expands the kindly instincts that nature put in him as travel and contact with many kinds of people." That goes for traveling to Timbuktu ... or to Bakersfield.
With luck, some of that has rubbed off on me over the last 11 years. I hope producing and hosting Off-Ramp every week, meeting thousands of Southern Californians in that time, and relating their stories on the radio, has made me a better person.
Check out the slideshow for some of my favorite guests over the years!
You know where this is going.
While I've loved doing Off-Ramp, it's time to try something new and a little scary. Over the last few months, my bosses worked hard to craft a position for me here that will let me bring the essence of Off-Ramp to the whole station, and starting July 5, I'll start my new job as KPCC's Production & Promotions Director. I will be working with everyone at the station who wants to do better radio.
The final Off-Ramp will air July 1 & 2. While I’ll be sad to see Off-Ramp end, this is something I've been thinking about for a long time, and frankly, Steve Julian's passing death kicked me in the pants and made me ask myself: "Self, am I doing something that challenges me in a new way? Am I doing something that's a little bit uncomfortable, a little bit scary?" This new job will be a huge challenge, and I think a very rewarding one.
I’d like to thank everyone who made Off-Ramp a success for the last 11 years, from the producers and interns, to the hundreds of thousands of YOU who listened every week -- including the many of you who are KPCC members.
And especially, thanks to the thousands of Southern Californians who let us tell their stories. If I started naming them, I'd never stop. You know who you are, and your generosity and trust have enriched all our lives.
It's been an honor.
Neil deGrasse Tyson shares his top 3 StarTalk guests
Neil deGrasse Tyson came onto the science-themed, late night talk show circuit with some clout. The "Cosmos" host, author, educator, and Hayden Planetarium director's first guest when StarTalk "jumped species" from podcast to television was Whoopi Goldberg.
On Friday June 9, 2017, Tyson opened up a screening of "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" at the American Cinematheque's Aero Theatre in Santa Monica with a talk on his career as an astrophysicist-turned-broadcaster. Access Hollywood's film critic, Scott Mantz, moderated the event and asked Tyson for his three favorite StarTalk guests.
1. Nichelle Nichols
While StarTalk was still just a podcast, Nichols appeared on StarTalk twice. Tyson learned that Star Trek had been a holdover gig for Nichols while paying her dues to land dancing parts on Broadway. Tyson didn't think being Lieutenant Uhura was anything to sneeze at. "She is actually in the chain of command to be captain of the ship," remarked Tyson.
Early on into the series, Nichols decided it was time to go back to New York and find her dream job, Tyson said. However, before leaving she attended a party where she bumped into Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
"And he says, 'Oh, my children! We line up at night, and you make us all proud.' And she said, 'Oh, thank you, but I'm going back to New York,' and he said, 'You can't do that. There are no other black people on television. Much less, what there are, they're not in any kind of role of responsibility, and integrity, and dignity.' And he convinced her to stay with the series." - Neil deGrasse Tyson
Tyson teared up, searched for tissues, and said he opened up a bottle of wine at eleven in the morning during the taping with Nichols. "And then, I think it was only one and a half glasses of wine," Tyson said, before he asked Nichols about her and William Shatner's interracial kiss on Star Trek, one of the first interracial kisses on television. Tyson said Nichols told him that the producers of the show wanted to film a version of the scene without the kiss, but that she and Shatner purposefully kept messing up the non-kiss until they ran out of filming time so that the editors of the show wouldn't have any such scene to work with.
Nichols then asked Tyson if he wanted to see what a "racial kiss" was, and then she kissed him.
Tyson also recognized Nichols for her role in recruiting women and people of color for NASA space missions from engineering schools across the United States. Tyson said Nichols was able to find these recruits by looking where NASA had not been looking.
"You were only looking at the U.S. Naval Academy and not Tuskegee Institute where they have a huge engineering group. So she laid out this recipe, and that first astronaut class: it had black people, it had Asians, it had women. And they were at the top of their class when they came out of college and graduate school, so she shaped the modern view of NASA."
2. Biz Stone
"The name doesn't even sound real," said Tyson, referring to the co-founder of Twitter. Tyson counts Stone among the great entrepreneurs who never finished college: Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Mark Zuckerberg.
"Until he described how he envisioned Twitter, I had not fully appreciated what it was," said Tyson. Stone asked Tyson if he had ever seen birds suddenly take flight and flock together after behaving independently, and then, just as swiftly as they started, return to their posts and be "individuals again."
"Twitter is a flocking mechanism for humans," Tyson said. "I live near Ground Zero in New York City," Tyson recalled what could be described as a Twitter moment from 2011. "I'm watching TV, all of a sudden I heard noises in the street. Crowds were developing. I said, 'What's going on?'" While Tyson was sitting in his home, it had been announced that Osama Bin Laden had been killed.
Tyson got on the internet and read the news. "I missed all that, but all these people got the tweet, and everyone gathered back at Ground Zero." That realization of the nature of social media made Biz Stone Tyson's number two guest.
3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Jabbar's appearance on StarTalk is from the upcoming season, so Tyson did not want to reveal the topics of the episode, but he could not resist including Jabbar because of his numerous qualifications.
- He has written a novel about Sherlock Holmes' older brother, Mycroft Holmes (which Jabbar talked with Off-Ramp about in 2015)
- He had a column in Time Magazine
- His high scores on Celebrity Jeopardy
- He's the highest scorer ever for the NBA, with 38,387 career points (Kobe Bryan is third with 33,643 points)
- He played in the All-Star Game 19 times out of his 20 NBA seasons
- He has six NBA Championship rings
- And he was in "Airplane!" and Bruce Lee's "Game of Death"
Tyson gives us one giveaway though, from Jabbar's interview. The one film role that Jabbar is disappointed about never being cast in was Chewbacca in "Star Wars."
Neil deGrasse Tyson's new book is Astrophysics for People in a Hurry. Thanks to him and the American Cinematheque for allowing us to excerpt their presentation on Off-Ramp.
CAAM exhibits the diversity of the disappearing black woman
Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle's "The Evanesced" was inspired by the #SayHerName movement against police violence, as well as Los Angeles's Grim Sleeper serial killer. Hinkle depicts black women in the nude, twisting and writhing, as though they're sinking back into the canvas. Or are they reemerging from it?
Deputy Director of the California African American Museum Naima Keith says Hinkle's exhibit looks at the "historical present," the way in which history still affects us today, harkening back to slavery and Jim Crow. Keith says the main issue Hinkle is addressing is the invisibility of black women, especially those who are abused or in danger.
Hinkle was particularly inspired by the South LA serial killer "The Grim Sleeper." He is accused of murdering over one hundred women from the 1980's onward, until being captured in 2007. Many of his victims were women of color according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
"He had been killing prostitutes and runaways and drug addicted women," says Keith, noting that some saw these deaths as occupational hazards.
Most of Hinkle's subjects in the paintings and sketches in "The Evanesced" are clearly nude. This was a deliberate choice to showcase femininity, according to Keith. She says:
She’s talking about being women... There’s love, there’s joy, there’s pain. All things we experience as all women... But [nudity], I think, allows us to focus on the female form, not necessarily get caught up on what they are wearing or what they’re doing.
In the artwork, viewers can see that every face, body, and hair style is completely unique to each sketch or painting. Keith says this helps the viewer appreciate the diversity amongst women of color. She says:
You have women that are smiling. You have women that are looking at you- you know- lovingly, shyly. Not every one, not every image in the show is about negativity, disappearance, or sadness. There is a bit of celebration. There’s interaction between multiple women. That’s what makes the body of work so interesting: it’s not just seeing women of color through one lens. There’s the possibility of seeing them through, like I said, disappearance, and also the freedom to have a wide range of emotions.
There is one painting that continues to draw Naima Keith back to it. It is called "Uproot 2017" and it features a feminine figure with three exposed breasts. She says this painting speaks to her about motherhood and the connection women have with their changing bodies. Keith says:
I asked Kenyatta why she depicts women with multiple [extra] breasts and we had a conversation about being moms. Kenyatta and I are both mothers of young children... As moms, we just kinda talked about how things aren't what they used to be, in terms of where they used to be. Like I said, becoming mothers, you have this different relationship with your body in relation to someone else.
Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle's "The Evanesced" runs at the California African American Museum through June 25, 2017.
Off-Ramp Recommends: Spending a day with your "dad"
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Father's Day is coming quick! But before you run to Walgreen's Sunday morning to find they are sold out of touching cards for the father figure in your life, let us help you curate a fun day out with dad.
Thinking about significant-figure holidays, there seems to be more of a method for planning Mother's Day surprises. You get the breakfast-in-bed together quietly for mom or grandma or aunt, etc., wake her up early on a Sunday, she quickly scrambles to hide the fact that she decided to sleep pantsless, then you present her with some poorly made waffles and juice which she will inevitably spill on her white sheets.
But what about your father-figure? A card? Yes. Maybe a golf ball? Okay. A mug you Amazon Prime'd to him in a last-ditch effort that says "Captain Dad?" Don't do that. It might be weird to ask the men in our life, "What the hell do you want?" under the veil of Father's Day, so to spare you we've compiled some ideas.
Idea #1: Take your father to get pampered! Spa days are are not gender-specific and when was the last time someone even looked at your dad's feet? Hollywood salon Hammer & Nails focuses on men's cuticle care. Treat your dad to a MANi-pedi, and he'll also enjoy a glass of bourbon, a personal flatscreen TV with noise-cancelling headphones, all while relaxing in an over-sized leather chair. Although Hammer & Nails targets men, women are also welcome. 8257 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046.
Idea #2: Take in a tasting. Greenbar Distillery is LA's first spirit distillery since the Prohibition was repealed in 1933. They boast the "World's largest portfolio of organic spirits." Take a tour, pose with their gigantic copper stills and whiskey barrels, sign up for a class, or just taste some of their 16 spirits and five bitters. Their tours are reserved for Saturday so consider this a pregame to your other Father's Day plans. 2459 E 8th St, Los Angeles, California, 90021.
Idea #3: Younger kids? Let's play! Sunday, the Autry Museum of the American West is opening a new exhibit about the history of play. Experience the next generation of toys and games, but also see how they differ across generations and cultures. The exhibit is very interactive and the museum is in beautiful Griffith Park, so there are plenty of hiking trails, picnic spots, or viewpoints to snap some pictures with your man/men. 234 Museum Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90065 .
Idea #4: The Abbey's annual Father's Day Brunch. For the past six years, The Abbey in West Hollywood has hosted a brunch in celebration of LGBT families or those considering starting one. There will be a breakfast buffet from 9am-1pm and attendees can get more info about fostering opportunities. $18 per person. 692 N Robertson Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069 .
Much love to all the dads, uncles, grandpas, friends, and men nurturing other people!