OMG, Chersace is the Pride crossover you’ve been waiting for
Plus: There’s a temporary Gun Violence Memorial at the National Mall
Hello, in this issue we’ll look at…
There’s a temporary Gun Violence Memorial at the National Mall
A fireproof version of “The Handmaid’s Tale” just sold for $130,000
OMG, Chersace is the Pride crossover you’ve been waiting for
There’s a temporary Gun Violence Memorial at the National Mall

For the second straight year, former Rep. Gabby Giffords’ gun safety reform group put on a temporary installation on the National Mall to remember lives lost to gun violence.
This year’s Gun Violence Memorial included more than 45,000 flowers to represent the 45,222 Americans who died from gun violence in 2020. Giffords, who survived a 2011 mass shooting in Arizona that left six people dead while she was a U.S. House member, called on lawmakers to “be bold” in taking action against gun violence at the installation’s opening ceremony.
“Stopping gun violence takes courage, the courage to do what’s right,” Giffords said. “Now is the time together, be responsible, Democrats, Republicans, everyone.”

Last April’s display on the National Mall was done in collaboration with visual artist Doug Landry and included 40,000 flowers for those who died from gun violence in 2019. Giffords also put on a similar installation in New York City’s Battery Park last October with 1,050 flowers for those who died of gun violence in New York state.
On the National Mall this year, organizers used white flowers plus 5,000 vases of orange flowers to represent the increase in deaths to gun violence in 2020. The Gun Violence Memorial is open through Saturday.
A fireproof version of “The Handmaid’s Tale” just sold for $130,000

If you want to burn the fireproof edition of Canadian author Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale, you’re going to need a lot of heat, and no, a flamethrower won’t do the trick.
Atwood’s one-of-one nonflammable “The Unburnable Book” (2022) uses materials found in electrical components and aerospace manufacturing, with inks that are stable up to 2200°F printed on fire-resistant paper. Atwood tested it herself using a flamethrower for a promotional video for the Sotheby’s auction, where it sold Tuesday for $130,000.
The book was produced by Toronto bookbinding atelier The Gas Company Inc. and print-and-bindery master craftsman Jeremy Martin, with cover art by Noma Bar, who designed minimalist covers for The Handmaid’s Tale, 1984, and Brave New World in 2018.

Proceeds from the auction are going to efforts to fight book banning by PEN America, a 100-year-old organization that promotes free speech and included Robert Frost among its founding members.
PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel said in a statement the proceeds from the sale would “go far to ensuring we can have an impact against this urgent wildfire of book banning and educational gag orders.”
There have been at least 1,586 instances of public school book bans between July 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, according to a recent PEN America report. The bans encompass 1,145 book titles by 874 authors in 26 states. Books with LGBTQ topics or queer protagonists or secondary characters account for 33% of the banned titles, and books with protagonists of color make up 41%, per the report.
The Handmaid’s Tale was ranked No. 29 on the American Library Association’s list of the 100 Most Banned and Challenged Books of the 2010s, and it continues to be targeted. Just last month, one Idaho school district banned it along with 21 other books.
OMG, Chersace is the Pride crossover you’ve been waiting for

Versace has teamed up with Cher this month for the one-off Pride capsule collection Chersace to benefit Gender Spectrum, a nonprofit that provides social groups and educational events for transgender youth and their families. Cher announced the collection on Twitter, writing, “OMG CHERSACE.”
The limited-edition collection includes a $3,350 bedazzled Chersace tee, a non-bedazzled $425 version, $125 Chersace socks, and a $395 baseball hat with a rainbow Versace Medusa logo and signatures from Cher and Donatella Versace embroidered on the side.
Cher responded to one fan on Twitter who complained about the price tag, writing, “that’s costly but it wasn’t my call. Versace is high brand, known all over the 🌏”
Cher said in 2018 that when her son Chaz came out as transgender, it wasn’t easy at first.
“I didn’t go through it that easily. Both times. When I found out Chaz was gay, I didn’t go through it that easily; when I found out Chaz was (transitioning),” Cher told Pride Source. She chalked it up to fear.
“I think it’s about the fear, mostly,” Cher said. “I felt, who will this new person be? Because I know who the person is now, but who will the new person be and how will it work and will I have lost somebody?”
In other pop star Pride news, Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty brand launched its own Pride line and announced it would make a donation to GLAAD.
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