The s*x instructor goes on to share some of the feedback she received from men in her workshop: "My heart opened and I miss my girlfriend's vagina all of the sudden", "What???? The clitoris was there the whole time???", "listen, this is how's this supposed to be tough in schools", "I have never set my eyes on a vagina like that, I didn't dare", "this has changed my life."

While many of the comments were less welcoming of the idea, some pointed to her excellent marketing tactic and applauded her courage.

She concluded her post by inviting her followers to her seventh workshop on January 28. The course, entitled "The Women Whisperer" is intended for men aged 21 and up who wish to learn about the secrets of the female body and pleasure.

LeClaire declined to answer follow-up questions, including who gave them their Ojibwe name and what information came to their attention.

**"Hobbyist genealogist" uncovers "pretendian" **

The deception first came to light in late November on New Age Fraud Forum, a message board on a relatively obscure website. User AdvancedSmite posted about LeClaire, including copious evidence of LeClaire's claims as well as evidence of their true genealogy.

AdvancedSmite spoke with Madison365 but asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution for exposing LeClaire and several other "pretendians."

AdvancedSmite, who is also of Indigenous heritage, said they first became aware of LeClaire through a Facebook ad for an upcoming talk on Indigenous feminism at which LeClaire was going to speak. It identified LeClaire as nibiiwakamigkwe, which AdvancedSmite found unusual; the single given Ojibwe name is "typically something that would just be used in ceremony or with other people who are Ojibwe or a part of your community," they said.

But they also said they're aware that some Indigenous people have recently been using those given names more publicly as a means to embrace and celebrate their heritage. While unusual, it wasn't necessarily a red flag.

Still, AdvancedSmite did some googling, and connected the Ojibwe name to LeClaire, which is "a common Native American last name." AdvancedSmite also noticed through online posts that LeClaire seemed to often identify as Anishinaabe, which was also unusual.

"Our band names are so important, so I tend to be suspicious when someone just says Anishinaabe," AdvancedSmite said.

Also a "hobbyist genealogist," AdvancedSmite used online records and resources to find LeClaire's true lineage -- German, Swedish and French Canadian. Once they had that more or less confirmed  -- and were sure there wasn't another Kathryn LeClaire of the same age -- they posted on the New Age Fraud Forum.

AdvancedSmite said they have no prior connection to LeClaire nor to the Madison Indigenous community, and are not personally involved in this case.

"I have a skill and I saw something and I did what I could," they said.

"A gut punch"

It took almost a month for the New Age Fraud Forum post to reach the Madison community, when clients started sending the link to giige members.

"I was so relieved that someone else had called it out and I didn't have to. I've had my suspicions, but I didn't have anything confirmed," said tattoo artist Nipinet Landsem. "At first, I was relieved. And then I moved into every human emotion known to man. I am horrified, I'm upset. We've already had so much taken away from us. American society is built off of things that have been stolen from Native and Black people. Stolen land, stolen resources, stolen labor, and white people think it's okay to just continue stealing from us."

"This causes a lot of harm, first of all, because it is a non-native person taking and making not just a profit, but making a name for themselves through our traditions, which is extra harmful because for so many years, these traditions were illegal," said Arvina Martin, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation and former Madison alder. "To take our traditions, and then make a name for your individual self is completely anathema to (our) values. And the fact that again, this was illegal for so long, and it just really twists the knife to see that happen. It's the worst when it's someone trusted."

"I'm just stuck. I'm stuck in a weird pool of emotions that I'm struggling to process," said Kristie Goforth, a member of the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians and candidate for Monona mayor. "I'm fighting the part of me that wants to say, 'here's a white person who's betraying us again, another white person that can't be trusted.' I don't want to group them all into a pool of people who can't be trusted, because that's just not the case. But that's how I feel right now a little bit, just because it's so raw."

Goforth said she considered LeClaire a friend, and was excited about the 28-year-old's prospects.

"I am a woman in my 50s. One of the reasons I was excited about seeing (them) come on the scene was this young (person), strong, bold and loud, really just pushing conversations forward. I really appreciated that," Goforth said. "I love to empower younger women. I think that's important that we do that in our community. I just really wanted to see ... them shine their light here and, and help move conversation and education forward. That's what's so hard. It's just such a gut punch."

Goforth said the white community in Madison is especially vulnerable to this kind of deception.

"There's this appetite in Madison to just really want (diversity) and want to believe it so badly," she said. "It's like a craving for it. We're craving culture here. And so then when someone like Kay comes forward, dressed as she did, and, you know, really being a loud voice for Native issues, it was fully consumed."

Suspicions raised

LeClaire graduated from Hamilton High School in Sussex, Wisconsin, where they were known as Katie Le Claire, in 2012 (despite later telling a Capital Times reporting intern that they were raised in Northern Wisconsin). They apparently attended the University of Wisconsin and in the summer of 2018 married fellow Hamilton alum Adam Pagenkopf, a research specialist at UW.

In a post on their now-deleted Facebook account during the wedding planning, LeClaire referred to themself as "a 20-something white woman." By 2019, however, they were identifying as Indigenous enough to cofound the giige collective with Landsem and several others.

Several members of Madison's Indigenous community who befriended or worked with LeClaire had small suspicions, but explained them away or gave LeClaire the benefit of the doubt.

"They claimed Métis (heritage)", said Landsem, who is a member of the Manitoba Métis Federation. "I knew they were not. They didn't know anything about being Métis. They told me incorrect things a lot. My assumption for the whole like last few years has been ... they're probably a disconnected descendant who has a complex about that. That's what I assumed because I was giving them the benefit of the doubt."

"I thought it was interesting how (they) often wore, it wasn't like full regalia, but (they were) often wearing furs and clearly Indigenous-made clothing and it was almost like flying a flag. 'Hi, I'm an indigenous woman.' You don't see that very often," Goforth said. "Really, I don't see that in my circles. I chalked that up to part of (their) role at the UW, bringing the exposure of culture forward, but now I look at it, and it was literally like a costume. It's just so painful."

Goforth also said LeClaire mistook a porcupine quill basket for a pine needle basket -- something Goforth said she wouldn't attribute to simply misspeaking. Rather, Goforth said she assumed LeClaire may have been somewhat distanced from their Indigenous heritage and was just now reconnecting.

"So much of our family records and our history is not available or it's been damaged. I just kind of chalked all of it up to that," Goforth said.

Landsem also noted LeClaire's frequent tanning, any mention of which Landsem said would bring accusations of colorism from LeClaire. Landsem said LeClaire used their high school senior photo as evidence that LeClaire's mother forced them to "bleach" their skin and hair.

"We know the harm that colonialism has done. We know how many people are disconnected or didn't grow up traditional," Landsem said. "They didn't grow up with the culture. We know how many people are like that out there, and we want them to come back. If you go to someone and you say, 'Hey, this is who I am, this is where I'm from,' they'll probably trust you ... I grew up really privileged, I'm Native, I know where my family's from. I didn't grow up on the rez. I didn't grow up in poverty. Who am I to question other people's experience of those things?"

Following the money

It's not yet known exactly how much money LeClaire made by claiming Indigenous heritage, but it's clear they worked their way into many institutions and exhibitions.

They were Community Leader in Residence at the University of Wisconsin School of Human Ecology Center for Design and Material Culture from March to December 2022, and were paid $4,876.56, which came from private giving and grants.

In a statement emailed to Madison365, the School of Human Ecology said LeLclaire had resigned their position on December 29.

"We are deeply concerned about allegations that a community member with whom we have partnered misrepresented their identity and engaged in disingenuous actions," the statement read. "There is a long and painful history of erasure and cultural appropriation in the U.S., which has had an immense impact on the lives of Indigenous people. These latest allegations are a disturbing reminder of how this persists today ... We greatly value our relationships with Native students, faculty, staff and community members in Wisconsin and across the nation. We strive to uplift others and make sure our school is a place where people of all backgrounds and identities know they belong. We remain steadfast in our commitment to creating educational pathways for Native students, faculty, staff and community members and invite feedback on meaningful ways to continue to support this commitment. As the layers of this situation unfold, we are committed to understanding and learning from it and fostering healing for all involved."

LeClaire provided a "jingle dress" to an exhibit at Overture Center, where patrons wrote thoughts and prayers onto small circles of fabric, which LeClaire then fashioned into the bells that adorn the traditional Ojibwe garment. However, LeClaire didn't make the dress; they commissioned it from a person who makes powwow regalia as a "rush order" just before the exhibit opened in September 2021.

The person who made the dress asked not to be identified, but said they didn't know that LeClaire had represented the dress as LeClaire's own creation until last week. The maker also said she declined to work with LeClaire on future orders because something seemed "off".

"We were shocked and disappointed by the evidence that an artist misrepresented themself and their work, and we plan to fully investigate the issue. Overture Center would never knowingly work with an artist that misrepresented their credentials or background. We are reaching out to the Indigenous community to apologize, and we also extend our apologies to the community as a whole," Overture Center representative Emily Gruenwald wrote in an email to Madison365. "While we are diligent in our efforts to research artists, it appears that this person went to great lengths to deceive Overture Center and ultimately our community. We will be contacting the person who made the dress to work with them to ensure they receive the proper credit and compensation for their work. We also will inform other performing arts centers about this situation so that it doesn't happen to other communities."

LeClaire also purchased birch baskets from a crafter who is not Indigenous, then apparently scratched that person's name off and replaced it with their own, according to photos provided by Landsem. Landsem said LeClaire gifted some of these baskets to friends; if they sold any, it could be a violation of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990.

LeClaire received a $300 stipend for contributing to the Collateral Damage exhibition in May 2022, organizers said.

LeClaire sold, or intended to sell, at least one deer leather bag to someone through Instagram, clearly indicating they would make the bag; however, the bags they advertised on social media were made by someone else.

"I don't blame any of the Native organizations that Kay works with," Landsem said. "We have all been blindsided and taken advantage of by a fraud. We're all hurting. And I think the larger community needs to take responsibility for how this was able to happen. I'm currently focused on keeping myself and my community safe from further harm by this person and by other institutions in Madison. I want accountability."

"A fight for our future"

It's unclear what, if any, legal ramifications may be in store for LeClaire. LeClaire has signed away their stake in giige, Landsem confirmed.

Community members want accountability one way or another.

"Kay needs to come back, take accountability, face up to what they did and make sincere apologies to every single person that they harmed, every nation that they claimed, their own mother for pretending that she was somebody other than who she is," Landsem said. "They need to accept the blame, apologize, pay reparations, do something to make it right."

"They are a human being, and it's clear they must need help," Goforth said. "I'm coming from a place of compassion. I cared for them. I hope they get the help they need."

"Everybody's still trying to piece together what they knew about their friend and fellow activist, fellow community member," Martin said. "I think it's gonna take a while. I'd rather it take a while, and we figure out how to do things in a good way, then rush to any kind of particular action if folks aren't ready."

AdvancedSmite, the New Age Fraud Forum user who uncovered the deception, said the appropriation of Native identity is a larger issue than any one person.

They noted that the self-identified Native American population grew by 85% between the 2010 and 2020 census, from just over five million to well over nine million.

"That's not population growth," they said. "It's a major issue. The government needs to ask if you are an enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe.

"You can't assume ... that Kay LeClaire is an isolated incident ... the pretendian problem is a long term, strategic issue," they wrote in a later email to Madison365, adding that people who falsely claim Indigenous heritage are then passing that false claim on to their children, who may unwittingly accept it, perpetuating a falsehood through generations. "It's a fight for our future and identity."

NOTE: This story has been corrected. Multiple sources told Madison365 that after the Overture Center exhibit, LeClaire donated the dress to the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection at the UW School of Human Ecology. SOHE told us in an email Wednesday that isn't the case.

https://madison365.com/indigenous-arts-leader-activist-revealed-as-white/

Even other queer people assume I'm straight, especially when I'm with my children. On a rare night away from them at an event this summer, I was approached by people who rightfully noticed my queerness. It's the presence of children that seems to determine whether or not I am visibly queer.

But I'm far from alone in this. A recent study by the Williams Institute of UCLA found that nearly a quarter of lesbian, bisexual, and queer women ages 18 to 59 are parents. Of those parents, they were more likely to be bisexual, in a relationship with a man, and nonurban. I tick all those boxes. But I feel isolated from that community, especially since I no longer have the social validation of being assumed queer.

I know being a member of the alphabet mafia is about much more than your sexual and romantic history. I also know with visibility comes risk. "Passing" can be a privilege. But there's also the fact that since my partner is a cisgender man, we don't operate in the social circles and spaces we had before, and especially since we had children, I feel a deep loss.

Mourning my visible queerness is really mourning the version of myself I was before I became a parent

The loss of all the versions of our children we know so intimately is made all the more devastating by the risk that they will not know us --- not really.

As my children grow older, I will face a choice: Do I come out to them? Would it matter if all they see in their lives is my relationship with their father? Is that a boundary I should cross for their sake, so they have the privilege of understanding their mother as a multifaceted and nuanced human being? Or should I tell them so that they can acknowledge the experiences of people like me who feel disappeared by bisexual erasure?

I'm jumping the gun, I know. My sons are not yet 4 and 2. My oldest has decided that his identity is a magical kitty cat, and his little brother is still nursing. These are all questions that will keep.

The joy and affirmation that I and so many of us find in raising children is both the lid to the pot and the pot itself. The joy is the reason we had these children, after all. But just beneath that lid is the roiling grief of loss that is so hot, so acute, it rivals a steam burn. And I suspect it will continue to burn until I figure out how to honor the part of myself that goes unacknowledged.

"They will laugh and point, or stop and stare. They won't make an effort to hide what they are doing," she said.

The model said the only time people in the states aren't so upfront is when they're trying to sneak a picture.

“I feel like they forget I’m still a human being. Just a human being with huge boobs.”

Day alleged that people in the UK are just as judgmental, though not as frank as those in the US.

“We are more reserved in the UK, so they are less vocal,” she said. “I get a lot of angry stares, mainly from other women.”

The one place Day feels she can go without judgment is Australia.

Day, who used to live in Melbourne, traveled back there for the holidays and was “shocked” by how she was treated.

“People just treated me like everyone else. They maintained eye contact, they don’t stare or point,” she shared. “It really was refreshing. I love Australians.”

She said Australia is one of her favorite places, specifically the animals, food, nature and “amazing vibes.”

Day went through surgery in 2018 and again in 2020 so she can have the “body of her dreams.”

Prior to going under the knife, she was a natural D-cup. Her size M breasts now weigh almost 10 pounds combined.

She first began her body transformation journey in 2017, losing about 70.5 pounds and gaining muscle through diet and exercise.

The influencer has gained popularity on social media thanks to her unique figure, with 386,000 followers on her main Instagram and 298,000 followers on her fitness Instagram.

Day loves her new dream body --- even though she's aware people think it looks "ridiculous."

“I get it, how I look won’t be to everyone’s taste, and that’s okay,” she admitted. “You have to live your life for you, and can’t control what others say.”

“If they have a problem with how you look, that’s on them,” Day continued. “If you want to achieve a certain look for yourself, then I say go for it. You can’t live your life for other people.”

Leis subsequently pled guilty to four counts of impaired driving, and was was slapped with a three-year prison sentence in 2021.

However, the Canuck wasn't about to throw away her shot at easing the financial strain.

This month, she and father Shawn Leis filed a lawsuit against Ovations Ontario Food Services, the company that distributed the hooch. They claim that the libations purveyor shares liability for the blast on the grounds that staffers "ejected Leis from the venue while failing to take steps to ensure she would not drive home," according to the legal documents.

In addition, Leis also alleged that Ovations had served her alcohol while aware that the bargoer was intoxicated, accusing them of putting "profit above safety," and that the resulting damage was "caused or contributed to by the negligence, breach of duty, breach of contract" by the bar.

As reparations, they believe that the booze distributor is responsible for "any awards or judgment amounts" resulting from multiple court claims levied against them by Woodman Avenue victims.

That is, if the father-daughter duo is required to pay any amount, then they are "entitled to contribution and indemnity from [Ovations]."

https://nypost.com/2023/01/17/women-sues-bar-after-getting-so-drunk-she-blew-up-10m-home/

LaTour managed to slowly scoot on her back more than 20 yards across the rocky ground until she finally reached the street. She pushed herself up a small incline with the hopes of being seen by an oncoming car, but said she was afraid to wave her arms because with every move, she "felt more blood pouring out."

Eventually, someone did see her and called for help.

Five minutes later, Stockton Police officers arrived, an incident report shows, soon followed by an ambulance. LaTour remembers the ambulance having to wait for a train to pass before she could be loaded in and whisked to the nearest trauma center. She says she then lost consciousness and awoke four days later in the hospital. LaTour said she still felt Jesus’ presence by her side.

After another week in the hospital, and months of recovery from serious injuries to her collarbone, shoulder, lung, liver, and even nerve damage, LaTour says she found “forced sobriety” quickly turned into “effortless sobriety.”

She also found forgiveness for her alleged attacker.

“I forgive Wesley Brownlee fully,” said LaTour, but “I’m not saying you should trust me in a room with him,” she added. “I have tried to hate him. God won’t let me.”

But LaTour is admittedly having a tougher time forgiving the officers who she says did not properly investigate her case. She told CNN she felt ignored by police following the shooting, saying "the only statement they ever took was when I was dying in the middle of the street."

A year and a half after the shooting that injured LaTour, Stockton Police had connected six homicides and were actively seeking a suspect. Chief Stanley McFadden sought tips from the public and offered a large reward to identify the person responsible for the killings that had the region on edge and garnered national attention.

Then, the police department released a shadowy surveillance image of a person of interest that LaTour recognized. "His clothes looked like they were hanging off of him. He looked like that the night of the shooting, too," she said. LaTour told police the image looked like her shooter, she said.

Roughly two weeks later, Brownlee was being surveilled by police in the wee hours of the night, Stockton Police said. Brownlee appeared to be "out hunting" and "on a mission to kill," McFadden said in mid-October, after Brownlee was taken into custody. "We are sure we stopped another killing," the police chief said, announcing the arrest.

Shortly thereafter, Brownlee was charged with three counts of murder. Two months later, the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office added another five charges: four more counts of murder, and for the shooting of LaTour -- attempted murder.

Ballistics proved to be a common thread in several of the killings, according to the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association, which said in October authorities had "high confidence the same firearm was used in three of the recent homicides."

^{Wesley Brownlee stands with public defender Allison Nobert during his arraignment in San Joaquin County Superior Court in October.}

According to the charging documents, Brownlee is accused of killing one man on April 10, 2021 and another on April 16 – the same night LaTour was shot.

Officers did not follow up with her during her 12-day stay in the hospital, LaTour said. After she sought out the investigating officer in the weeks following the shooting, LaTour said he indicated that the weapon used in her shooting was connected to a homicide earlier in April 2021.

Given her communication with the officer, and her belief that she was an only an opportunistic target, LaTour suspects police knew early on that a serial killer was at large. She said she believes police knew her shooting was connected with at least one other and if they had investigated appropriately, other lives could have been saved.

Of the seven men Brownlee is charged with murdering, five of them were killed after LaTour was shot, according to the charging documents. “Everybody that died after me didn’t have to,” LaTour said.

Joe Silva, public information officer for the Stockton Police Department, declined to comment directly about LaTour’s allegations, citing the pending criminal case against Brownlee. Officer Silva and Stockton Police Chief McFadden did offer LaTour a private apology regarding the investigation of her case.

“The chief and I apologized to her and the reason for that was because she’s a victim of a violent crime and she was apologized to because of a follow up that was not conducted during her investigation,” Silva said.

LaTour said the apology came during a vigil honoring the victims, when she was pulled aside by McFadden and Silva. The investigating officer in her case has since left the department for another agency, according to Silva.

Still plagued by nightmares about the incident, LaTour is interested in pursuing the victim advocacy field, hopeful that she can help find ways to make recovery easier for other crime victims. LaTour is particularly interested in assuring that victims are offered timely communications about their cases, and especially for those without health insurance, are assisted with timely health care including physical therapy and mental health treatment.

“I’m not angry about the shooting, I’m angry about what I have to go through,” she said. Above all, LaTour says she is grateful that her life was spared, that she found the Lord and for the chance to help others.

“The best way to show gratitude is being sober,” LaTour added. Twenty months after the shooting, she is still clean.

“I’m never gonna go back” to using, she vowed. “Never. Never. Never,” she insisted, firm in her divine beliefs. “I am honored God is using me for whatever His higher power is. God is dope. Seriously, He’s the best,” she said.