#And the rest of my family is taking a day trip downstate so no one is going to be home when I get home

[janeway-lover]

i love how humans can experience a wide range of emotions all at once and definitely don't feel worse because of that very fact <- me when I lie

[harry-sussex]

COVID-19 from the Perspective of a New Yorker

I am from New York, specifically the downstate area, and here, in my home, there is a crisis.  My governor, Andrew Cuomo, gave a press conference earlier today (March 30th) listing the top 10 states in cases and deaths.  New York State has 66,497 confirmed cases and 1,218 confirmed deaths.  The state with the second most confirmed cases and deaths is New Jersey, which has 13,386 cases and 161 deaths.  We in New York have 5x the cases and 12x the deaths as the next most affected state in the country.  There are limitations to that data of course - population, population density, etc. - but just by looking at the raw figures as of earlier this afternoon, things are dire.

A lot of businesses - particularly small businesses - are not taking this seriously.  As usual, the almighty dollar reigns supreme above anything and everything else.  People are not staying home, or offices are not letting them.  They are not choosing their boredom/safety over their entertainment/risk.  They are not social distancing.  They are choosing to work in offices over working from home because it’s more convenient.  We have been under a government mandate requiring at least 50% reduced staffing for nonessential businesses since March 18th.  Currently, 100% of nonessential business staff are required to stay home, and yet, many people continue to refuse to take this seriously.   People are literally hosting coronavirus parties - I heard on the news yesterday of one person who had 47 people in a 550 s.f. apartment in New Jersey, complete with a DJ.  Yes, the party was broken up and yes, the host was arrested.  The governor of New Jersey did not hold back in his opinion - rightfully so.  People think it is a joke, an extended spring break, a vacation, a much-needed respite from the chaos that is regular life.  This quarantine, this virus - they are none of these things.  This is a war.   A war for which we are dramatically, dangerously ill-equipped.

The state infrastructure put in place to deal with illness, unemployment, etc. is failing - it was never equipped to deal with such demand.  Doctors, nurses, and other providers cannot possibly keep up with the overflow of COVID-19 patients cramming into their hospitals.  They’re ill-protected so even if they can start to keep up, the professionals are getting sick and becoming patients themselves - with nobody to work in their place.  They are scared - rightfully so.  They continue to go to work and expose themselves for the good of their greater community, at great personal risk.  More medical professionals become patients, more strain on the area hospitals, with fewer staff to administer treatment.  More patients with less staff attending to them equals more deaths.  

Anyone who has been exposed is supposed to be self-isolating.  Everyone else is under quarantine.  This has led to a surge in lay-offs as New Yorkers rush to file for benefits to which they are entitled.  The labor department website, designed to allow easier filing for unemployment claims, has been inundated for weeks, and is often unable to process requests due to high volume.  The phone lines are clogged, and the state does not have a holding queue - when you call, you are told to try again later.  What happens when the state implements a shelter-in-place order and businesses begin to close, but employees cannot file for unemployment?  Chaos.  Further crippling of an economy that is already damaged.  Desperation on behalf of those who cannot afford to not work for an unspecified duration of time.  When those people are offered the option to continue to work for their paycheck in violation of the state mandate, with rent/utility bills/car payments/etc. breathing down their necks?  They will choose to work.  Every.  Single.  Time.  The more these poor, desperate people continue to go to work, forced to make an impossible choice, stuck between a rock and a hard place, the more this thing will spread.  The more people who get sick.  The more people who die - all because the state and the federal governments were vastly unprepared for what would happen in the event of a global pandemic.

Nobody could have anticipated this, of course.  This is far beyond anything anyone could have imagined in their wildest dreams.  Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio have done much to help their constituents in these strange and dangerous times.  Nothing is enough, though.  It’s happening too fast, it’s hitting too hard.  It’s causing too much damage.  We can’t keep up.  The rates of incidence are growing exponentially every day.  We can’t keep up.

I urge you all to read this chilling New York Times article, entitled Doctors are Writing Their Wills.  New York City, arguably the liveliest and busiest city in the world, is a warzone.  They are using refrigerated tractor trailers as makeshift morgues, set up sometimes in the middle of streets that usually are bustling with traffic day and night.  Doctors are self-isolating from their families.  Nurses are using garbage bags as smocks.  One hospital staffer in a hospital forced to use garbage bags as protective equipment, an assistant nursing manager, has died due to the novel coronavirus.  

The governor and the mayor of New York City asked the federal government for 30,000 ventilators.  The government sent 4,000 and a message implying that we do not need the remaining 26,000, that we are being greedy for asking for these supplies.  The peak is coming and when it hits, it will be ugly everywhere, but especially here.  We need these supplies now, not when the peak hits.  We need them to prepare for the peak now, before it has arrived.  

No medical professional should be forced to choose which patient deserves treatment over another due to limited supply.  No medical professional should be forced to sacrifice their safety, health, and life every day at work for the sake of their patients.  Doctors, nurses, patient care technicians, hospital cleaning/disinfectant staff, hospital administrators, registration staff, pharmacists and their technicians... they are keeping this city and this state alive.  They and they alone can make it stop.  They are scared, sick, even dying - and they are fighting for the rest of us.  The rest of us are forever indebted to them, and should be willing to do what we can to help.  We are not only helping the sick and dying - we are helping medical professionals stay safe so they can continue to fight not only COVID-19, but also any other affliction or illness you or I may encounter in the years to come.

The federal government needs to step up and hand over the supplies they have to assist medical professionals in treating this monstrous virus.  More companies need to step up and switch up their manufacturing processes to make more supplies to protect our medical professionals on the front lines.  And people need to take this seriously.  Stay home if you can.  Only go out for necessities.  Limit your trips.  If you can’t stay home, stay away from other people.  Wash your hands.  Cover your coughs and sneezes.  If you are feeling ill, self-isolate.  Call your doctor if you are experiencing symptoms - do not head to this hospital without making them aware that you are coming.  

Do not be selfish.  Your urge for takeout is not more valuable than the life of the person behind the counter.  I’ve heard time and time again - especially from fellow New Yorkers - that many would give anything to have two weeks off from work to finish house projects, read some books, catch up on television shows, do some gardening, bake from scratch, organize the garage, go through closets... unencumbered by the threat of work responsibilities looming overhead.  You are being given this time now.  You are being asked to take the time you have always wanted to sit back, relax, and do whatever you please from the comfortable confines of your own home.  Take this time for yourself - not only for yourself, but for the benefit of the global community.  Stay home.  We can win this thing if everyone does their part.

The sooner we do this together, the sooner we can all go back to normal.  The sooner we take a statewide and global united stance against the novel coronavirus, the sooner the medical community can get a grasp on its spread, and the sooner we can go back to work, and to restaurants, and on vacation.  What a day it will be when that time finally comes.  Until then - do your part.

We are all in this together.  Globally and here in my home state of New York, the world’s newest epicenter of the novel coronavirus, we are all in this together.  The only way out is through, and the only way through is together.

[manaboutworldmag]

Gay-friendly Illinois: Personified Josh Laskowski, Champaign-Urbana

Josh Laskowski is the sunshiney morning voice of WQQB FM “All the Hits on Q 96” in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. His parents have owned a record store in Decatur for 30 years and still going strong, something that’s fueled his appreciation for every genre of music imaginable from death metal to Motown; but didn’t provide a straight path to his DJ career. After working a corporate gig in Chicago, Josh became promotions director at WQQB. As luck would have it, an on-air position opened up two weeks later. Despite his early morning wake up — his first alarm goes off at 4:25am weekdays! — he remains a cheerful morning voice for all his Champaign-Urbana listeners.

Josh always sits on the board of directors of Champaign-Urbana Pride & Parade, an event he helped significantly expand. Josh also leads tours of kids and young adults to historic places across the United States. We caught up with Josh after a recent morning show to discuss how Champaign-Urbana inspires him and what makes it so friendly for local and visiting LGBTQ+ people.

What inspired you to become a DJ?

I always knew I wanted to be in media. I tried TV, but didn’t like it.  I like to talk, and I’m loud. Someone gave me a shot on a late night show on a Decatur radio station. Two weeks in, my promotions director was fired and I took over. That lead me to doing community events that bring people together, which lead me to emceeing Champaign-Urbana’s Pride celebration. The event has become a staple for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in September. It’s fun for those who wish to dance and party to the wee hours, but also fun for the family.

Tell us about life as an LGBTQ person in Champaign. Is there a strong sense of queer community here?

Yes, and having the University of Illinois in our backyard helps tremendously. I came from a more blue-collar area in Decatur, which wasn’t as accepting as it is here in Champaign-Urbana. The only gay bar here closed but its closing hasn’t really harmed the local queer community. We’d love to have such a space here but I still feel accepted everywhere. “Midwest Nice” is real. In terms of diversity, it doesn’t get as diverse in Illinois as it does here.  I feel I can go anywhere and be accepted.

How does Champaign standout from the rest of Illinois?

Part of it is the university. Another is the wonderful food scene. The breadth of local farm-to-table restaurant options is amazing. I could go out every day for a month and never go to a chain and never go to the same place twice. Also of course the Pride celebration which was the first Pride parade downstate in Illinois outside of Chicago.

What are some places in Champaign that inspire you?

Because I go back to my music ties, the Virginia Theater is a gem in our community. I’m inspired by all the music coming through from 38 Special to Manhattan Transfer — a great spectrum of musical genres that comes to see us. I can see major performances including the Russian Ballet at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. We have an amazing monument of Lincoln near me in Urbana called “The Lincoln Lawyer” statue, which is is located in Carle Park across from Urbana High School. I’m inspired by all the learning that happens here. Champaign-Urbana is cultivating the next generation of leaders. We have an area called Research Park with many major companies recruiting here.

How can LGBTQ visitors support the queer community when they visit Champaign?

They should make plans to come down and see how we celebrate in September for Champaign-Urbana Pride Festival. Pride has become a staple for not only the community but also for University of Illinois faculty, staff and students. We celebrate Pride in September because the students are gone during the summer. Come and see how accepting people are no matter what you look or sound like. It’s an open and loving community. You can get that feel in general all over Champaign-Urbana but especially so in September for when we celebrate Pride in CU.

How would you like to see the LGBTQ community evolve, if at all, in Champaign?

We’d love to have rainbow sidewalks or cross walks! If Chicago and other large metros have them , why can’t we?! But I digress, I’d love to see a dance club open. C Street was the gay dance club and it closed so I feel like that’s missing. I’d love to see that club where it’s easy to go mingle with people looking for the same thing I am. We are only two hours from Chicago and Indianapolis and three from St. Louis so we have the best of both worlds, corn fields and small towns where everyone knows you and a quick drive to the city!

Tell us your perfect Champaign day.

It starts with brunch at Prairie Fruits Farm, a lovely farm whose restaurant (unsurprisingly!) offers a farm-to-table menu. You can also take a tour of the creamery. Then I’d go for a midday movie at the Virginia. We also have a great sports scene here with the fighting Illini. Then we end up downtown Champaign with a fresh meal at a local restaurant.

What local tips do you have for people visiting Champaign for the first time?

For the first time check Visit Champaign County and request a visitors guide ahead of time. Read it and follow it. It focuses on cool stories.  See a sporting event at the university. Go to the local theater. We have a reindeer farm in the county where you can interact with reindeer. Make sure to eat and drink locally. There are great local brews and extraordinary restaurants. Go local with more of my specific recommendations.

More Gay-friendly Illinois

This is just one of our many favorite stories and hotspots to help you discover gay-friendly Illinois for yourself. Continue your exploration here.

LGBTQ Guide to Chicago: The Windy City Heats Up This Spring and Summer

Five Romantic LGBTQ Getaways

Inclusive Art in Elusive Places

Personified: Douglas and Robert, the owners of the Aldrich Guest House

Personified: Jonna Cooley, an LGBTQ trailblazer

Big-Time Pride in Small-Town Illinois

Top instagrammable Spots in Illinois Outside of Chicago

Enjoy a more immersive Illinois experience in the magazine:

ManAboutWorld is an app-based travel magazine by gay men which provides travel inspiration and trip-planning information for all whether you’re in the LGBTQ+ community or are an ally. It’s built exclusively for mobile devices and is not available in print. We first published these articles in the spring 2019 issue and make them available here for your enjoyment. The app and issues are all free. Download it for Apple devices or Android devices.

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