Get Involved With the Stonewall Democrats

"How do I get involved with the Stonewall Democrats of Colorado?"

If you've asked yourself this question, you can join them on Thursday July 21 at 6:30PM for a panel of former and current LGBTQIA+ Party Office holders.

Hear from:

Precinct Organizers
House District Officers
Senate District Officers
Judicial District Officers
County Commissioner Officers
Congressional District Officers
County Party Officers
State Party Initiative Officers
State Party Officers

This is your chance to hear how queer Democrats have added their voice to the Democratic Party organization across Colorado. 

Are You Gay With Something To Say? Bloggers Wanted Denver's Gay Community

Are you a new or experienced writer or blogger? Do you want to be? Or maybe you're just some gay guy with something to say? Well, what better forum for you than MileHighGayGuy?

MileHighGayGuy is looking for regular and guest bloggers to write about local news and events, do music and movie reviews, or write opinion or feature pieces from a gay perspective.

These are unpaid positions but offer the opportunity to be published in Colorado's Best Gay Blog (2010, 2011, 2012 OUTstanding Awards, Denver 2012 #WebAwards), expand your audience and gain valuable experience. There's also swag available in the form of free movie and concert tickets, music, books and other cool stuff.

If interested, shoot an email over to Drew Wilson at drew@milehighgayguy.com. And if you've got column or story ideas to pitch, this is the place to do it.

Human Rights Campaign Responds to Federal Judge Temporarily Blocking Trans-Affirming Guidance on Title IX

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) recently responded to news that a federal judge temporarily enjoined Department of Education guidance affirming that the rights of transgender students are protected by Title IX.

“We are disappointed and outraged by this ruling from the Eastern District of Tennessee where, in yet another example of far-right judges legislating from the bench, the court blocked guidance affirming what the Supreme Court decided in Bostock v. Clayton County: that LGBTQ+ Americans are protected under existing civil rights law,” said HRC Interim President Joni Madison. “Nothing in this decision can stop schools from treating students consistent with their gender identity. And nothing in this decision eliminates schools’ obligations under Title IX or students’ or parents’ abilities to bring lawsuits in federal court. HRC will continue to fight these anti-transgender rulings with every tool in our toolbox.”

Bostock v. Clayton County, the landmark Supreme Court decision that protected LGBTQ+ employees from discrimination nationwide, recognized that Title VII’s framework of prohibiting discrimination based upon sex also, by its very nature, prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Title IX, which uses a similar framework, also provides the same protections, as affirmed by the Department of Education’s guidance and numerous federal courts.

Additionally, earlier this month, the Department of Education issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to reverse unjust Trump administration changes to Title IX that limited the obligation of schools which receive federal funding to investigate and address allegations of sexual harassment and assault. HRC praised this move, and notes that this injunction does not impact the ongoing rulemaking process.

MY OLD SCHOOL starring Alan Cumming In Theaters July 22

 

In 1993, 16-year-old Brandon Lee enrolled at Bearsden Academy, a secondary school in a well-to-do suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. What followed over the next two years would become the stuff of legend. 

Brandon had been privately tutored in Canada while he accompanied his mother, an opera diva, on tour before her tragic death. The preternaturally bright student surprised teachers by blazing toward his goal of entering medical school, displaying a wealth of knowledge beyond his years. Brandon found friends despite his initial awkwardness, taking bullied students under his wing, introducing classmates to seminal retro bands, and even starring in the school's production of South Pacific. But then his unbelievable secret was revealed. 

Filmmaker Jono McLeod returns to his old school for a nostalgic look at the strange but true story of his former classmate, Brandon Lee. Utilizing playful, period-specific animation, a pitch-perfect soundtrack, the memories of students and teachers, and the talents of Alan Cumming to bring the tale to life, MY OLD SCHOOL offers more than one surprise along the way.

Human Rights Campaign Urges LGBTQ+ People, Allies to Weigh In, Support Proposed Changes in Title IX Protections

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) — the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization — marked the publication earlier this week of the U.S. Department of Education’s Title IX Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The proposed regulation, which will add sexual orientation and gender identity as enumerated protected characteristics within the Title IX regulation, is now open for public comment for 60 days. The Department is inviting comments from members of the general public and offers a helpful tip sheet on how to compose comments that will have an impact on the rulemaking process. 

“All students -- no matter their background, sexual orientation, or gender identity -- deserve to feel safe and welcomed in schools. The proposed rule to include clear protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity within the Title IX regulation will do just that,” said Sarah Warbelow, HRC Legal Director. “This is not a ceremonial step;  the voice of the people truly matters here, and we strongly encourage affected people – students, parents, and educators – to submit an official comment about how the proposed rule would positively impact students’ experiences in school. As we await further the Department’s promised additional rule on athletics provisions, which we expect to make clear that transgender youth should be included in these protections, individuals and groups can make their voices heard in defense of LGBTQ+ youth right now.”

The Title IX proposal will help the Biden administration to combat laws like the ‘Don’t Say Gay or Trans’ bills passed in Florida and Alabama that invite harassment of LGBTQ+ youth, and the bathroom bills in Alabama and Oklahoma that prevent transgender students from using facilities matching their gender identity. Polling shows that the public supports nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people, and this rule change is about making the will of the people a reality.

The proposed rule would reverse May 2020 changes to Title IX that limited federally funded educational institutions’ obligation to address sexual harassment and assault. The updated rule would also reinforce protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Even prior to final rules on implementation of Title IX, the law provides protections to LGBTQ+ students in federally funded educational programs. Numerous federal courts have found that discrimination on the basis of sex includes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, including in Title IX. This includes decisions from federal courts that it is a violation of Title IX to exclude transgender students from restrooms, locker rooms, and sex-separated programs and activities, including athletics, consistent with their gender identity.

Under the Trump administration, the Department of Education instituted a series of controversial and discriminatory regulatory and guidance changes to the implementation of Title IX – the federal civil rights law that protects students from discrimination in federally-funded educational activities and programs – dismantling long-standing protections and opening the door to sex-based discrimination against LGBTQ+ students.

• In 2017, the Departments of Education and Justice rescinded guidance to schools about their obligations to transgender students. 
• As part of the regulatory changes, requirements that federally-funded schools report sexual assault were relaxed and dismantled – creating more hurdles for survivors of sexual assault to seek justice, while giving more rights to alleged perpetrators of sexual violence.  
• The changes further threatened LGBTQ+ students and women, who face disproportionately high rates of sex-based discrimination and stigma that can make it more difficult for LGBTQ survivors to report sexual assault and harassment.
• Studies suggest that nearly half of bisexual women have been raped and half of transgender people will experience sexual violence at some point in their lifetimes. According to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a national survey of high school students, lesbian and bisexual women and gay and bisexual men experienced higher rates of sexual assault than their straight counterparts. In addition, a 2015 study by the Association of American Universities found that 60 percent of gay and lesbian students and nearly 70 percent of bisexual students report being sexually harassed on campus.

In March 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14021 to begin the process of undoing the Trump administration’s harmful actions undermining Title IX and protections for LGBTQ+ students. The executive order directed the federal government to ensure federally funded facilities and educational environments are free from sexual harassment, sexual violence, and discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

Dance Pop Artist Scott Gardner Drops Two New Singles, 'Daydreaming' and 'What You Do To Me'

NYC-based pop dance artist Scott Gardner springs back onto the music scene with not one but two new singles, “Daydreaming” and “What You Do To Me” that are out now on all major streaming platforms. Written, recorded and produced by Gardner, both songs give a taste of the independent artist’s new EP, set to drop later this summer.

Having built a successful career as a professional model over the past decade, Gardner has worked hard behind the scenes to also power up his music career. In 2019, he instantly hit the ground running, releasing three pop singles that fall. That same year, the artist gave his debut live performance at the Live. Life. Love: Concert For Suicide Prevention, presented by Journey's in Nashville, opening for Lizzo, Louis Tomlinson, Chelsea Cutler and other major artists.

Immediately after that big introduction to the music industry, Gardner performed on stages in DC and Miami for the epic iHeartRadio Jingle Ball, presented by Capital One in December 2019. The budding artist joined the lineup of some of the biggest music stars of today, including BTS, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Billie Eilish, Jonas Brothers, Lizzo, Niall Horan, Camila Cabello, Halsey and many others.

During the pandemic, Gardner continued songwriting. He collaborated with Venezuelan producer and three-time Latin Grammy Nominee and 13-time Promax Award winner Arturo Cabrera Brambilla to co-produce his two new singles.

Gardner has also teamed up with Billboard Dance charting DJ/Producer Hector Fonseca to produce a new remix version of his new “Daydreaming” single, which he plans to release later this month.

A Place Called Home - A Remarkable Story of Poverty, Foster Care, and Coming Out by Amazon Exec and Child Welfare Advocate David Ambroz

As a child David Ambroz was raised homeless in New York City, the home of Wall Street and more than 100,000 homeless children.

For David and his two siblings, their mother’s diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia sets them in motion for a life of poverty, violence and instability as they travel across New York and New England seeking shelter. For eleven years home for David means living in train stations, subway cars, 24-hour diners, and wherever is safe and warm; bathing in public restrooms; and stealing food to quell his hunger. When he gets into foster care, it feels like salvation, but it soon proves to be just as unsafe for young people—more of his foster siblings are put on a prison pipeline than college-bound.

Surmounting violence, continued poverty and physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his caregivers, David harnesses an inner grit to escape the inevitable outcome for kids like him. He takes shelter and finds hope on his own in libraries, schools, and in the occasional adult angel. Through hard work and unwavering resolve, he is able to get into Vassar College, the first significant step out from the yolk of poverty, and later graduates UCLA School of Law.

This heart-wrenching and inspiring story about young people pulls back the curtain on homelessness and poverty in the lives of children and shines a pivotal light on generations of kids that have been systematically ignored and overlooked. A Place Called Home is both David’s powerful personal account through the lens of a child surviving it daily. And as the go-to child welfare advocate for the Obama administration and major U.S. companies, A Place Called Home is a beckoning call to our national conscience to move from pity to action.

Helen R. Murray to Depart from Aurora Fox Joining American Stage in the Fall

American Stage in the Tampa Bay area recently announced the hiring of Helen R. Murray, as their new producing artistic director beginning in October. Murray will kick off Season 38 of the Aurora Fox Arts Center with the Gala Night Season Celebration on Sept. 17 and the Oct. 7 Colorado premiere of “Futurity,” before her departure to St. Petersburg, Florida. The city of Aurora will soon begin a national search for her successor.

 

Statement from Midori Clark, Director of Library and Cultural Services for the city of Aurora:

 

“Helen helped elevate Aurora’s place in the professional theater industry with award-winning, high-quality productions and several premieres. With her passion for thought-provoking shows and her intentional selection of diverse productions that contribute to conversations about important topics of our times, she set a solid precedent for the future of the Aurora Fox. Without a doubt, her shoes will be hard to fill."

 

“At a personal level, I will miss Helen. Over the last three years I got to know her and appreciate her many human qualities. I will cherish our hard work together at the peak of Covid safely reopening the Aurora Fox with a clear understanding of the importance cultural offerings have in times of isolation. I thank Helen for all her contributions and wish her nothing but the best in her next chapter of her prolific and successful career. I know she will do amazing things in Tampa Bay as she did here.”

 

Statement from Helen R. Murray, Executive Producer for the Aurora Fox Arts Center:

 

“It is bittersweet to be leaving the Aurora Fox. I have cherished my time here, and the work I have done with the city, the staff, and the community, is something of which I am very proud. I cannot thank the City of Aurora enough, especially Midori Clark, our library and cultural services director, for the efforts they made during the pandemic to help us keep operations going. As the theater industry across the world struggled, Aurora saw the importance of the art we make and the stories we tell."

 

“I also want our board, community stakeholders, partner organizations, sponsors, and supporters to know that I leave the Aurora Fox knowing that it will continue to be a beacon in the Arts District because of the passion and commitment of so many. I have had the honor of producing and directing so many beautiful pieces of work at the Fox, and am thrilled that my last effort for this wonderful theater is to direct ‘Futurity’, a new musical about ending violence and the things we can accomplish if we dream big.”

Limited Edition Rapunzel Doll Available Now on shopDisney

Time to let your hair down: Rapunzel is the newest addition to The Disney Designer Collection’s Ultimate Princess Celebration! A pink flower tops her infamously long curls, with her lengthy hair descending down a beautiful pink dress of gemstones and tulle, all tied together in a bow.

Finally out of the castle tower and now available on shopDisney.com, Rapunzel will certainly make an elegant addition to the esteemed collection! Designed by Tetsunosuke Saiki, this limited edition doll has been delicately curated to ensure every detail was captured. The fluffy gown, flower top and pink hue invite us into a world of garden parties and lush springtime. This collectible doll is sure to be a treasured keepsake for many years to come.

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Denver's gay community is the 7th largest in the United States - and growing all the time! And the best way to reach them is by working with MileHighGayGuy – Colorado’s Best Gay Blog.

Just click the Advertising page or email sales@milehighgayguy.com to get started today.

Super-Sized show this week City Park Jazz —3rd Annual Brass Band Blowout!

For the third year running, City Park Jazz revisits the runaway popularity of the resurgence of Second-Line-influenced Brass Bands. This popular series features an extended evening — festivities get started an hour earlier than usual, at 5 pm, and will feature a mega-brass-jam at the end of the night. This year's slate of Brass Bands includes the No Hands Brass Band, Tivoli Club Brass Band and the Badda Boom Brass Band.

GLAAD RELEASES SECOND ANNUAL SOCIAL MEDIA SAFETY INDEX: ALL PLATFORMS RECEIVE FAILING GRADES ON LGBTQ SAFETY

GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization, today announced the findings of its second annual Social Media Safety Index (SMSI), a report on LGBTQ user safety across five major social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok.

For the full report: http://glaad.org/smsi

The 2022 SMSI introduces a Platform Scorecard developed by GLAAD in partnership with Ranking Digital Rights and Goodwin Simon Strategic Research. The Platform Scorecard utilizes twelve LGBTQ-specific indicators to generate numeric ratings with regard to LGBTQ safety, privacy, and expression. A listing of the indicators is available here and below. After reviewing the platforms on measures like explicit protections from hate and harassment for LGBTQ users, offering gender pronoun options on profiles, and prohibiting advertising that could be harmful and/or discriminatory to LGBTQ people, all platforms scored under a 50 out of a possible 100:

●      Instagram: 48%

●      Facebook: 46%

●      Twitter: 45%

●      YouTube: 45%

●      TikTok: 43%

Detailed scores and a full list of Platform Scorecard indicators are available here. Indicators include:

●      The company should disclose a policy commitment to protect LGBTQ users from harm, discrimination, harassment, and hate on the platform.

●      The company should disclose an option for users to add pronouns to user profiles.

●      The company should disclose a policy that expressly prohibits targeted deadnaming and misgendering of other users.

●      The company should clearly disclose what options users have to control the company’s collection, inference, and use of information related to their sexual orientation and gender identity.

●      The company should disclose training for content moderators, including those employed by contractors, that trains them on the needs of vulnerable users, including LGBTQ users.

“Today’s political and cultural landscapes demonstrate the real-life harmful effects of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and misinformation online,” said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “The hate and harassment, as well as misinformation and flat-out lies about LGBTQ people, that go viral on social media are creating real-world dangers, from legislation that harms our community to the recent threats of violence at Pride gatherings. Social media platforms are active participants in the rise of anti-LGBTQ cultural climate and their only response should be to urgently create safer products and policies, and then enforce those policies.”

GLAAD also released new data from a May 2022 study conducted with Community Marketing & Insights. 84% of LGBTQ adults agree there are not enough protections on social media to prevent discrimination, harassment, or disinformation. 40% of all LGBTQ adults, and 49% of transgender and nonbinary people, do not feel welcomed and safe on social media. Additionally, the newly released 2022 ADL Online Hate and Harassment report found that 66% of LGBTQ users experienced harassment online, with 54% of LGBTQ users reporting severe harassment including sustained harassment, stalking, or doxxing.

The Social Media Safety Index (SMSI) was created with support from Craig Newmark Philanthropies, the Gill Foundation, and Logitech. In addition to the Platform Scorecard, GLAAD’s SMSI provides specific recommendations to each platform to improve LGBTQ safety. Additional trends reported in the SMSI include:

●      Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric on social media translates to real-life harm, including reported levels of increased severe harassment for LGBTQ users when compared to 2021.

●      The problem of anti-LGBTQ hate speech and misinformation continues to be a public health and safety issue. Viral misinformation and inaccuracies have been cited as drivers of many of the nearly 250 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in states around the country this year. Platforms are largely meeting this dangerous misinformation with inaction and often do not enforce their own policies regarding such content.

●      Issues like the promotion of so-called “conversion therapy,” targeted misgendering and deadnaming, and lack of true transparency reporting, remain prevalent for select platforms. Only select platforms prohibit actions like targeted misgendering and the promotion of conversion therapy. These actions need to be prohibited across the industry.

●      Companies possess the tools they need to effectively curb anti-LGBTQ hate and rhetoric but instead are prioritizing profit over LGBTQ safety and lives.

 

Recommendations across platforms include:

●      Improve the design of algorithms that currently circulate and amplify harmful content, extremism, and hate.

●      Train moderators to understand the needs of LGBTQ users, and to moderate across all languages, cultural contexts, and regions.

●      Be transparent with regard to content moderation, community guidelines and terms of service policy implementation, and algorithm designs.

●      Strengthen and enforce existing community guidelines and terms of service that protect LGBTQ people and others.

●      Respect data privacy, especially where LGBTQ people are vulnerable to serious harms and violence. This includes ceasing the practice of targeted surveillance advertising, in which companies use powerful algorithms to recommend content to users in order to maximize profit.

The May 2021 inaugural edition of the Index was the first-ever and only tech-industry baseline of LGBTQ user safety. In this past year, GLAAD has worked with platforms and applauded major achievements within the tech accountability space, including TikTok’s amendment to its community guidelines in March 2022 in which an explicit prohibition against targeted misgendering and deadnaming was enacted, per the 2021 SMSI’s recommendation. As noted in this year’s SMSI, such a prohibition does not exist on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube.

 

Congressional hearings, alarming research findings of the spread of misinformation, and massive media coverage have laid bare the urgent need for independent regulatory oversight of these companies — with virtually universal agreement about the need for industry-wide transparency and accountability. The GLAAD SMSI adds LGBTQ recommendations to this necessary and urgent dialogue.

To create the Social Media Safety Index, GLAAD convened an Advisory Committee of thought leaders to advise on industry and platform-specific recommendations in the Index. Committee members include ALOK, author, performer, and media personality; Lucy Bernholz, Ph.D, Director, Digital Civil Society Lab at Stanford University; Alejandra Caraballo, Esq., Clinical Instructor, Cyberlaw Clinic, Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School; Jelani Drew-Davi, Director of Campaigns, Kairos; Liz Fong-Jones, Principal Developer Advocate for SRE & Observability, Honeycomb; Evan Greer, Director, Fight for the Future; Leigh Honeywell, CEO and Co-Founder, Tall Poppy; Maria Ressa, Journalist & CEO, Rappler; Tom Rielly, Founder, TED Fellows program, Digital Queers and PlanetOut.com; Brennan Suen, Deputy Director of External Affairs, Media Matters for America; Kara Swisher, contributing writer and host of the Sway podcast at The New York Times.

“All platforms should follow the lead of TikTok and Twitter and should immediately incorporate an explicit prohibition against targeted misgendering and deadnaming of transgender and non-binary people into hateful conduct policies,” said GLAAD’s Senior Director of Social Media Safety, Jenni Olson. “This recommendation remains an especially high priority in our current landscape where anti-trans rhetoric and attacks are so prevalent, vicious, and harmful. We also urge these companies to effectively moderate such content and to enforce these policies.”

Human Rights Campaign’s Legal Director to Testify in House Judiciary Committee Hearing on the Impact of Dobbs on LGBTQ+ Rights

This morning at 9 AM ET, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary will hold a hearing on the threat to individual rights in a post-Roe world, significantly highlighting the potential impact on the LGBTQ+ community. Human Rights Campaign Legal Director, Sarah Warbelow, will testify on how the Dobbs decision may affect LGBTQ+ civil rights, including the potential impact on Obergefell v. Hodges and Lawrence v. Texas. The other panelists to testify before the committee include Jim Obergefell, the plaintiff in Obergefell v. Hodges, and New York University Professor of Law Melissa Murray. The hearing will be livestreamed at this link.

 

Cited in the harmful Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, the majority opinion, concurring opinion and dissent all make mention of LGBTQ+ civil rights cases. In Justice Thomas’ concurring opinion, he invited challenges to other landmark civil rights decisions, including Griswold v. Connecticut. Obergefell v Hodges and Lawrence v Texas. However, the majority opinion stated that the Dobbs decision only applies to abortion and does not have a legal impact on any other case, including Griswold, Lawrence and Obergefell.

IGLTA Foundation Adds Partner Engagement & Development Director

The International LGBTQ+ Travel Association Foundation is proud to announce the addition of Thomas “TJ” Chernick (he/him) to the staff as Partner Engagement & Development Director. Chernick previously served as Executive Director of the New York Chapter of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (nglccNY). In his new IGLTA Foundation role, Chernick will apply his distinct expertise in partnership development with a focus on business and economic development.

“We are thrilled to add TJ’s talents to the IGLTA Foundation’s philanthropic mission to empower LGBTQ+ welcoming travel businesses,” said IGLTA President/CEO John Tanzella. “Partnership, mentorship, and other supportive professional relationships are central to the Foundation’s work, and TJ will be a dynamic asset in cultivating and strengthening our collaborations in emerging and unique destinations around the world.”

Chernick in his new directorial position will build on more than 15 years of experience in international education, global human rights, and partnership development and stewardship. Before leading the nglccNY, he coordinated programs with the International Human Rights Law Institute at DePaul University, and served as a Program Officer for the International Fulbright Scholarship program. Chernick will bring to the IGLTA Foundation his robust professional experience, along with his enthusiasm for travel, education, foreign languages, and cultural exchange.

“I am beyond excited to join the IGLTA Foundation team and global community,” said Chernick. “I’m looking forward to bringing my experience and passion for international human rights, international education, and LGBTQ+ business advocacy to IGLTA. It is truly an honor to help advance the mission of the IGLTA Foundation by building lasting and sustainable partnerships.” 

Lynda Carter - Human and Divine

Lynda Carter, world renowned entertainer, singer-songwriter, producer, EMMY-winning star of TV and film and overall superhero, has made one of her fiercest moves yet collaborating with GRAMMY Award-winning producer/DJ Dave Audé (Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande).  They’re gearing up for the release of a two-track multi-single of his epic remix of her poignant and striking song “Human and Divine.”  One of the most emotionally resonant songs of her career (and an epic in its own right), the recent single reflects the inspirational love of her husband, but it’s also a connection to strength and the love found in the powerful female characters in Wonder Woman.  Audé has worked his trademark magic on the track taking the rich basso profundo moments and heroic chorus of the original and created a glorious beat-driven masterpiece.

Says Carter: “I’m in awe of what Dave Audé can do with a song and I’m thrilled and flattered that he connected with it instantly. He took me on a new musical journey that I am sooo in love with--it makes me want to go out to a club and let my Divine side loose on the dancefloor!”

Adds Audé: “When Lynda Carter called me to remix ‘Human and Divine,’ I knew I had to do something that lived up to the larger-than-life persona we all know and love. I was super excited to do something epic and at the same time keeping the spirit of the original. Immediately I felt a James Bond goes to the club vibe, so I ran with that and made sure that there were plenty of dramatic moments in the remix. I don’t think I ever could have imagined the end result and the journey it took to create this one was one I won’t soon forget.”