On Sunday nights in West Hollywood, the stretch of gay bars lining Santa Monica Boulevard look mighty different when a Sissy Stroll is underway. The monthly bar crawl, which includes the hot spots Revolver, Mickey’s and Heart, was created by dynamic trio the Sissy Squad. The mission? Curate a social hangout that prioritizes genuine connection among queer Black people, queer people of color and those who support them, while joyfully taking up space in WeHo’s notoriously white nightlife scene.

The Sissy Squad consists of Matthew Brinkley, a.k.a. Dr. Brinkley, a psychotherapist who focuses on relationship and queer life coaching; Neville, a.k.a. Aunt Jackie, an event producer and founder of Obtaining Mental Wellness Inc.; and David Brandyn, a writer and sex educator. In an effort to satisfy their appetite for stepping out on the town while at the same time addressing the lack of comfortable social spaces for queer people of color in West Hollywood, the group channeled their creativity and community-building skills into creating the change they wanted to see with support from partners House of Love Cocktails, Impulse Los Angeles and Obtaining Mental Wellness.

“When I first moved to L.A., I asked a friend of mine who grew up in L.A., ‘Where are the Black spaces where I can see myself?’” Brandyn says. “He said, ‘There are none. … It’s been a long time since we’ve had a space. But what you do is, you gather all the Black people and you infiltrate the space that you want to be in’ and I never forgot that.”

“What I’ve always loved about the Sissy Strolls was that it was a curated safe space for queer people of color and their allies. It’s not exclusive,” Neville says, noting that people of all different racial and ethnic backgrounds, sexualities and gender expressions have enjoyed themselves on a Sissy Stroll. “It shows that ‘sissy’ can come in any form. Come drink these free drinks and pop around with us and dress how you wanna dress and tonight, we all sissies. It’s just a fun word and I love that we have led this renaissance with the word sissy.”

“Now personally, I wasn’t really called a sissy as a kid, I was called the f-word,” laughs Brandyn. “Sissy, to me, spoke to the f-word in a lighter way. It spoke to the way that folks have treated us, the damage that folks have done to us because of who we are, and reclaiming it just feels really good.”

It’s a moment when people attending a Sissy Stroll show up at the meetup location — and it’s an absolute vibe when the group enters a bar as a unit. “Those clubs look so different when we’re there. And when we leave those places, you get to see this storm of people of color walking down Santa Monica,” Neville says. “It’s really impactful. It’s like, OK, the Sissy Stroll is here.”

For regular attendees like Roy Covington, a musician and Virginia native who relocated to Los Angeles a year ago, the feeling is exhilarating: “Once you make it into the bar, everyone is there and people are there to greet you and they’re so happy to see you and it just feels so good.” Covington credits the genuine warmth of the Sissy Squad, whether they’re hosting the Sissy Stroll, a game night or another local event, with helping him make organic friendships while building a foundation in a new city. “Any event that the three fellas host is a very warm, loving and just come-as-you-are kind of experience. It’s so great and they just want everyone to have a good time.”

Matthew Brinkley, a.k.a. Dr. Brinkley, a psychotherapist who focuses on relationship and queer life coaching.

(Annie Noelker / For The Times)

The ritual of dressing for a Sissy Stroll is special for the three co-creators: thoughtfully applying glam, adorning oneself with feel-good accessories and being seen while each Sissy sparkles in their authenticity.

For Brinkley, serving a look is a mixture of feeling fabulous, important and powerful. “I feel like Sailor Moon when she transforms into herself to fight crime, or do whatever, that’s how I feel.” Brinkley’s aesthetic in a nutshell? “Something furry but sexy, tight — and I know my ass looks great.”

For Neville, who brings the maternal, auntie energy to the group, his fashion taste leans more modest. A statement hat with a big brim and in a variety of colors is a must. Flourishes like a rhinestone fringe or a leopard pattern peeking out underneath is to be expected, alongside a chunky heel or raised moon boot and an array of vibrant glasses and earrings.

“I’m more of the cool, rich auntie vibe. Like, you can go over to Auntie’s house and drink. You get to go to Auntie’s house and you might get to hit that blunt for the first time or if you’re not allowed to eat bacon at home, Auntie Jackie gon’ make sure to slip you a little piece of bacon,” Neville says. “During the Sissy Strolls, it’s like when Aunt Jackie puts on her good outfit to go find an uncle. Rich Auntie is stepping out and putting on her Sunday best, but in the gay way.”

Scenes from the black, queer bar crawl Sissy Stroll in WeHo – includes hotspots Revolver, Mickey’s and Heart. Created by the dynamic trio The Sissy Squad.

(Annie Noelker / For The Times)

Brandyn, on the other hand, enjoys rocking his signature combo of a masculine chain paired with a short mini skirt. Plus “an unconventional hat like a beret or cowboy hat,” an abundance of sparkles and rhinestones and a boot with a 5- or 6-inch heel. Something “tight on the top and loose on the bottom” is the motto.

Getting dressed for a Sissy Stroll can be an opportunity for playful experimentation when it comes to fashion, but it’s also a sacred form of inner child healing, explains Brandyn. “I dress for the little boy in me that really wanted to wear these clothes so badly but felt like he could not do it. That’s why my style is very late ’90s, early 2000s, ’cause that’s the age I grew up in,” he says. “When I’m with the Sissy Squad I know I can wear anything I want, I can behave any way I want, ethically of course. It gives us permission to truly just be whatever we want and that feels really good for us — and I’m assuming it feels that good for the folks who come on the stroll.”

For Ty White, 28, the Sissy Strolls have been an affirming space to make both personal and professional connections. “They cultivated a really nice space for people to network. I’ve met people who are hairstylists, some people do makeup, some people are producers for shows,” White says. A queer get-together with people who possess an understanding and a certain degree of cultural fluency from navigating the world as a fellow openly queer Black person has been a major plus for White.

“Even though places have the reputation of being occupied by a certain demographic and catering to a certain demographic even, it doesn’t have to be so lonely,” White says, referring to the prioritization of men who are “white, muscular, and under 130 pounds” in numerous gay spaces. “I encourage others to put themselves out there in any capacity for community-building because you never know how many people are having the same experience that you’re having,” he says. “I think the Sissy Stroll has done a great job of putting themselves out there … and pulling people in to create a community within a larger community and making people feel like they belong.”

“What I’ve always loved about the Sissy Strolls was that it was a curated safe space for queer people of color and their allies. It’s not exclusive,” Neville says.

(Annie Noelker / For The Times)

Beyond the Sissy Squad’s impact in Los Angeles, the group continues to leave its mark around the globe thanks to its show “Sissy That Psyche,” which streams worldwide on WOW Presents Plus. In the eight-episode series, the three hosts revisit and analyze “RuPaul’s Drag Race” meltdowns through a mental health lens — in fabulous outfits — and provide self-care tools viewers can apply in their day-to-day.

It’s not lost on the three Sissy Squad members that they are, as Neville puts it, navigating the world as “three chocolate men.” Colorism and the many other branches of racism and white supremacist culture are real and omnipresent. “It’s always kinda like, the extra stigma. We have a really cool way of representing three different points of view but looking like we’re together,” Neville says. “We are three chocolate men who play with androgyny, wear feminine clothes but still have this masculine edge to it and it’s really inspiring. People have literally come up to us and said thank you all for showing up this way.”

When you Google the word “sissy,” you’re sure to find a handful of definitions that list the word as a derogatory term for boys and men who are perceived as feminine, gay and existing outside patriarchal imaginings of acceptable masculinity. But as the Sissy Squad regularly affirms, a wealth of nuance and subversive power exists within the word.

“Basically, what they’re really saying is a person who has feminine qualities or who is femme-presenting [isn’t positive],” Brinkley says. “Actually that can be really great. That can be so amazing to have those qualities. Being soft can be very powerful and so I do think reclaiming it to make sense for us and the people who use it is really, really powerful. I hate the definition that’s in the dictionary [for the word sissy], but I’m so glad that we can look beyond that and create our own definition.”

Keep up with upcoming events hosted by the Sissy Squad on their Instagram @sissysquadla

“I don’t have time to feel bad”

Action dramedy “Citizen of a Kind” is the story of an ordinary woman who takes matters into her own hands after losing all her money over a voice phishing scam. Directed by Park Young-ju, it is her commercial film debut, and indeed a successful one, considering that “Citizen” topped the South Korean box office on its opening weekend with a cumulative of $3.58 million.

Deok-Hee (Ra Mi-ran) is an ordinary ajumma (a middle-aged woman) whose laundry business and home have just gone up in flames, leaving her and her kids homeless and almost penniless.  However, she is not the kind of woman who stops and feels sorry for herself; in fact, she is working for a laundry company and frantically trying to borrow some money and start her business afresh. Unfortunately, her positive and energetic attitude borders with naivety and she incautiously transfers all her money in order to obtain a loan, prompted by a fictitious bank manager, Mr. Son Jae-Min (Gong Myung) she only spoke to by phone. It’s a classic case of voice-phishing, when impostors fraudulently build up trust with victims online or by phone, in order to scam them. When she discovers she has been swindled, her reaction is imaginable. The police are rather unhelpful as they are overwhelmed by a deluge of similar incidents and Detective Park (Park Byung-eun), in charge of her case, is quick to dismiss it as a routine scam. “Think of it as a life lesson” are his harsh words for her.

Deok-Hee is desperate and refuses to believe that police cannot do anything, when something completely unexpected and unimaginable suddenly happens. Mr. Son phones her and confesses the scam, promising to help her to unveil the whole fraudulent operation. He also tells her he is help captive in a sort of “fraud farm” in Quingdao, China, operated by a criminal gang, where he and many other young men and forced to scam internet users around the world into withdrawing cash. The major problem is that he doesn’t know the exact location where he is in Quingdao and – again – the police cannot act on this mysterious phone call alone. It is a big bet, but Deok-Hee decides to go to Quingdao and track down her informer and the source of the problem. Fortunately, her true friends and colleagues Bong-Rim (Yum Hye-ran) and Sook-Ja (Jang Yoon-ju) decide to go with her and help her in every possible way.

This tale of popular justice is based on an incredible true story of a laundromat owner in Hwaseong, Kim Sung-ja who in 2016 managed to facilitate the arrest of a criminal boss, thank to a repentant gang member. In general, real-life events may lack the dramatic tension or narrative structure necessary to be turned into a compelling film and the factual details of a true story can limit the ability to explore creative possibilities. However, an excellent treatment has been done here to the script and despite the creative liberties, the distortions of the facts for dramatic effect, the addition of cinematic elements and characters, the result is a film that has already managed to please both the real-life protagonist who was invited at the opening, and a vast audience.

This is mainly due to a combination of the strong emotional connection with the protagonist, and a skilful orchestration of the action. Despite being easily imaginable how the story will pan out, there are plenty of genuine moments of suspense that will keep you at the edge of your seat. On the other hand, a well-placed amount of comedy mixed with the classic tale of ordinary people solidarity and bond, deliver the magic formula for a crowd-pleasing and entertaining spectacle.

Voice-phishing, also known as “vishing”, a type of scam where fraudsters use phone calls to deceive individuals into revealing personal or financial information is on the rise everywhere, and recently various films have dealt with this social epidemic or use it for dramatic purposes. However, not many have presented in such manner the “fraud factory” that is shown in “Citizen of a Kind”. Delving into the voice-phishing cartel opens a whole can of worms and reveals an underworld of modern slavery where young workers are trained to create online personas which they use to scam, their passports are confiscated, and they are blackmailed or threatened with organ harvesting and forced prostitution if they do not scam successfully. It is very easy to empathise with ”deserter” Son and all the other victims.

Check also this interview

Ra Mi-Ran as Deok-Hee is a real force of nature. She thoroughly embodies the no-nonsense, ordinary middle-aged woman, tough-spirited, determined and righteous; she surely has big part in the success of “Citizen of a Kind”. She is supported by an accomplished group of actors; as her loyal friends, the excellent tragicomic Yum Hye-Ran, and Jang Yoon-Ju who shows she is not just a pretty face but also a good comedian, then boy band member Gong Myung as repentant operator Son, Park Byung-Eun as slippery Detective Park and a special mention to Lee Mu-Saeng as vicious villain and big boss of the scam cartel.

Park Young-ju has directed with flare “Citizen of a Kind”, a film that is a sensible blend of comedy, action, drama, true friendship, social exposé and redemption.

A recent bombshell from Anne Hathaway may not have the detonation radius some people think.

In a V Magazine story published Monday, the “Devil Wears Prada” alum said she was regularly asked to participate in uncomfortable chemistry tests while auditioning for roles in the 2000s.

“It was considered normal to ask an actor to make out with other actors to test for chemistry, which is actually the worst way to do it,” Hathaway said. “I was told, ‘We have ten guys coming today and you’re cast. Aren’t you excited to make out with all of them?’ And I thought, ‘Is there something wrong with me?’ because I wasn’t excited. I thought it sounded gross.”

She added, “It wasn’t a power play, no one was trying to be awful or hurt me. It was just a very different time and now we know better.”

While Hathaway did not call out anyone by name, at least one casting director who worked with her during that time has denied such tests were conducted on their set.

“I certainly was not a part of any audition that required her to make out, or anyone else to, and it was not something done at Disney and Touchstone for the 15 years I was a casting executive in feature films, as far as I am aware of,” Donna Morong, casting director for “The Princess Diaries” — which was released in 2001 and may see a third installment soon — said in a statement to The Times.

“I have no reason to believe that Anne Hathaway would lie about experiencing that in other casting offices but it seems like a crazy way to measure whether two people have ‘chemistry,’ completely ineffective and I would agree, ‘gross,’” Morong continued. “As Anne said in her article in ‘V,’ she loved working with Garry Marshall and never referenced making out with multiple actors during the casting of ‘Princess Diaries.’”

“Brokeback Mountain” casting director Avy Kaufman told TMZ she has no recollection of anything similar to what Hathaway detailed in her cover story. She told The Times on Wednesday that she didn’t have “any good stories” to share.

TMZ also reported that Linda Lamontagne, who helped cast Hathaway in the 1999-2000 series “Get Real,” denied overseeing any chemistry read matching the actor’s description.

“I’ve worked in casting since ‘Capital News’ in 1988, and, in all honesty, never had to have actors make out with any other actor for any auditions nor chemistry tests,” Lamontagne told the outlet, adding that while she doesn’t deny Hathaway had such an experience, she was never at the helm of it.

“It’s hard enough to audition for something that is new, or even established and we don’t want to make a talent uncomfortable. It’s enough pressure as it is,” she said.

Lamontagne didn’t reply immediately to The Times’ request for comment.

As a producer on her upcoming film “The Idea of You,” which premiered March 16 at South by Southwest and drops May 2 on Prime Video, Hathaway was able to concoct a chemistry test of her own, which she related to V Magazine.

During auditions for the film, actors were asked to choose a song they felt their character would love and to play it in a bid to get Hathaway’s character, single mother Solène Marchand, to dance.

Nicholas Galitzine — whose previous credits include “Red, White & Royal Blue” and “Bottoms” — won her over with an Alabama Shakes tune, Hathaway said.

“I was sitting in a chair like we had come in from dinner or a walk or something, we pressed play, and we just started dancing together. … Nobody was showing off,” she continued. “Nobody was trying to get the gig. We were just in a space dancing. I looked over and Michael Showalter, our director, was beaming. Spark!”