18 minute read
Community Announcements
We’re excited to announce a new medium for you to enjoy Ambush Magazine.
Ambush Radio Podcast hosted by George Bevan Jr will bring the stories that matter most to our community from our pages to the airwaves of a new podcast. A new Ambush Radio will be released every other Tuesday.
Episode One: Interviews with Ambush Publisher TJ Acosta & Editor-in-Chief Reed Wendorf
The fi rst episode includes interviews with our Editor-in-Chief Reed Wendorf discussing his efforts estab
Introducing Ambush Radio Podcast lishing the CrescentCity.com Meal Assistance Program and our Publisher Tomy Joe Acosta sharing his experience with COVID-19.
Episode Two: Interviews with Author Robert Fieseler and Rob Gerhart of Louisiana Pizza Kitchen Uptown
In the second episode of Ambush Radio, we talk with award-winning author Bobby Fieseler about his book on the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and Rob Gerhart of Louisiana Pizza Kitchen Uptown on how LGBTQ small businesses are surviving during these challenging times.
Episode Three: Interviews with Dan Beck of Inner Makeup Astrology and Patrick Staunton of Saint Patrick Park Pub
In our third episode of the Ambush Radio Podcast, George Bevan Jr interviews our resident astrologer Dan Beck of Inner Makeup Astrology to learn more about astrology and what the stars can tell us.
We also visit Patrick Staunton at the only bar that has stayed open in New Orleans since the start of the coronavirus shutdown.
The Louisiana Library Association has selected Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation as the recipient of its prestigious Louisiana Literary Award. This is the fi rst time an LGBT+ themed book has won the award.
Published by Liveright, Tinderbox is the third book written about the tragic arson and positions the fi re in the context of the national gay liberation movement. The Louisiana Literary Award is just the latest in a long line of honors the book has garnered. Featured in The New York Times and on NPR, Tinderbox was named a Best Book of 2018 by Kirkus Reviews and Library Journal. More recently, it won the Edgar Award in the category of Best Fact Crime.
Tinderbox Author Robert Fieseler Wins Louisiana Literary Award
Fieseler, originally from Chicago, moved to New Orleans with his husband, artist Ryan Leitner, after years of traveling to New Orleans to conduct research for the book. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana. A recipient of the Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship and the Lynton Fellowship in Book Writing, Fieseler graduated co-valedictorian from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Fieseler’s feature stories have been published in a wide variety of places, including the anthology, My Gay New Orleans. Fieseler’s work has also been recognized in roundups of best nonfi ction by The Atlantic, and his essays have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize.
Stay tuned to ambushmag.com/ podcast and our Facebook page for more announcements. Ambush Radio Podcast is available on all major podcasting platforms. Send feedback, advertising inquiries and stories you want to share to george@ambushpublishing.com.
Search “Ambush Radio” in your favorite podcasting service including iTunes and Spotify OR visit our website to subscribe: https://www.ambushmag. com/podcast/
The Louisiana Literary Award consists of a bronze plaque and a cash prize of $250.00. The award was scheduled to be presented at an awards ceremony on March 26, 2020, as part of the Louisiana Library Association’s Annual Conference at the Lafayette Cajundome and Convention Center, Lafayette, LA. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent social distancing, the Award and Conference Committees are currently planning an alternative awards program.
George Bevan Jr george@ambushpublishing.com
New Orleans is known worldwide for its unique cuisine. It boasts over 1,216 restaurants. That is 605 full-service restaurants, 476 quick service restaurants, and 135 bars with kitchens. It’s nearly impossible to travel a block in most neighborhoods without coming across one of these restaurants or a corner convenience store serving someone’s world famous fried chicken.
This holds true at the foot of Carrollton Avenue near St. Charles where there is a cluster of eateries including Louisiana Pizza Kitchen. Rob Gerhart has operated this location of Louisiana Pizza Kitchen, known to locals as LPK Uptown, since 1992. It has survived several hurricanes including Katrina, being one of the fi rst restaurants to return to the area. Almost fi fteen years later, the struggle is back, but not in the way of a disaster like Katrina.
“Totally different than Katrina,” said Gerhart. “We lost probably 75 percent of our staff who had moved away and evacuated to somewhere else. We were literally dealing with friends coming in to work who had never waited tables, but they were willing to help.”
Now, things are much different.
“We don’t have the customer base that we had after Katrina; we were fl ooded with customers then,” said Gerhart with no pun intended.
On any given Wednesday, you can usually fi nd the restaurant fi lled with familiar faces in the LGTBQ community. Wednesdays at LPK Uptown are colloquially called “Gay Wednesdays.” But for the last month, the usual Wednesday crowd has been absent. The chatter of friends spilling the proverbial tea, the clanking of plates and fl atware, the boisterous laughter from a table in the corner have fallen hush.
Gerhart had to change the way he operates his restaurant after Mayor Latoya Cantrell and subsequently Governor John Bel Edwards, ordered bars shut down and limited restaurants to take-out orders only.
“Obviously for us, we depend on the interaction between customers the most, and that’s the strangest part, having no such interaction. Defi nitely not from my perspective being in the kitchen. It’s slower, but luckily for us we’ve been fortunate to have a lot of the locals in the neighborhood, plus a lot of new customers that have never been here before, who are just kind of stumbling across us,” said Gerhart. “It’s a different face to the restaurant for us, but the restaurant business is all about adapting.”
Gerhart’s restaurant was lucky to be able to accommodate the change in operations. Many other restaurants, particularly the kitchens that operate out of bars, were unable to offer takeout options due to liquor license requirements of the bars they are located in.
“The beginning was rough,” said Gerhart. “The fi rst two weeks were quite scary, literally we were off by a thousand dollars a day.”
Just because Gerhart has still been able to toss pizzas doesn’t mean that the pace of business has kept up with pre-outbreak numbers. Gerhart and his staff are fi nding ways to get by.
“Now we’re off by a little bit, but we’ve made enough adjustments to what we were doing that it’s not quite as big of a drop – there’s less cost involved,” said Gerhart.
“We did apply for the Payroll Protection Program. We were lucky enough to make it into the fi rst round, so we’re safe in that respect, and it’s allowed me to keep pretty much my whole staff without cutting their hours dramatically. We’re pushing through it.”
But pushing through things is not always easy. Some sacrifi ces had to be made. Gerhart did his best, however, as a business owner to keep things as normal as he could given the cir
cumstances.
“We’re pretty much rolling with 14 employees, it’s just less people working per shift. So, everyone has to be a little more willing to do more than they were before,” explained Gerhart. “A server is not just a server; some of them are now delivery drivers. Luckily, everybody here has been quite good about it. Nobody’s complained about it and they know they’re all fi ghting for a common cause of just staying open and keeping everyone employed.”
Despite the struggles, Gerhart has always given back to the community, and LPK continues to do that even in the face of adversity.
“We started a month ago with something I was doing for a couple of friends who are doctors. I just sent them a message, ‘Hey, by the way, I don’t know how much longer we’re going to be open, y’all want us to make y’all some food? I’ll just feed your hospital departments.’ It became this thing where people were calling me, but not asking for food but offering fi nancial assistance.”
“The whole pay it forward aspect has just kept on going. I know these hospital people are exhausted, way more than we can ever be here.”
Gerhart looks forward to being able to get back to some semblance of business before the outbreak. He was excited about the prospect of opening up his outdoor seating for customers to dine in.
“I got the message yesterday and I’m out in the parking lot trying to reconfi gure the seating out there, and then all of a sudden, I got the word today that it was not going to happen. We just have to be a little more patient,” said Gerhart.
In the meantime, for those who have missed out on the beloved “Gay Wednesdays,” Gerhart says pies are still available even though the social aspect of sitting down with friends is not.
“As much as I love the delivery services, if you want to support your local restaurant, go pick up your food. It’s been helpful that they’re doing the deliveries, but if you’re in the neighborhood, drive by and pick it up. We’d all love to see y’all more than a delivery driver.”
Louisiana Pizza Kitchen Uptown is located on South Carrollton Ave near the intersection of St. Charles. They are open for take-out 11am to 9pm seven days a week. You can fi nd their menu online at louisianapizzakitchenuptown.com.
Important Facts About DOVATO This is only a brief summary of important information about DOVATO and does not replace talking to your healthcare provider about your condition and treatment. What is the Most Important Information I Should Know about DOVATO? If you have both human immunodefi ciency virus-1 (HIV-1) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, DOVATO can cause serious side effects, including:
• Resistant HBV infection. Your healthcare provider will test you for HBV infection before you start treatment with DOVATO. If you have HIV-1 and hepatitis B, the hepatitis B virus can change (mutate) during your treatment with DOVATO and become harder to treat (resistant). It is not known if DOVATO is safe and effective in people who have HIV-1 and HBV infection. • Worsening of HBV infection. If you have HIV-1 and HBV infection, your HBV may get worse (fl are-up) if you stop taking DOVATO. A “fl are-up” is when your HBV infection suddenly returns in a worse way than before. Worsening liver disease can be serious and may lead to death. ° Do not run out of DOVATO. Refi ll your prescription or talk to your healthcare provider before your DOVATO is all gone. ° Do not stop DOVATO without fi rst talking to your healthcare provider. If you stop taking DOVATO, your healthcare provider will need to check your health often and do blood tests regularly for several months to check your liver.
What is DOVATO?
DOVATO is a prescription medicine that is used without other antiretroviral medicines to treat HIV-1 infection in adults who have not received antiretroviral medicines in the past, and without known resistance to the medicines dolutegravir or lamivudine. HIV-1 is the virus that causes Acquired Immune Defi ciency Syndrome (AIDS). It is not known if DOVATO is safe and effective in children.
Who should not take DOVATO? Do Not Take DOVATO if You:
• have ever had an allergic reaction to a medicine that contains dolutegravir or lamivudine. • take dofetilide.
What should I tell my healthcare provider before using DOVATO? Tell your healthcare provider about all of your medical conditions, including if you:
• have or have had liver problems, including hepatitis B or C infection. • have kidney problems. • are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. One of the medicines in DOVATO (dolutegravir) may harm your unborn baby. ° Your healthcare provider may prescribe a different medicine than DOVATO if you are planning to become pregnant or if pregnancy is confi rmed in the fi rst 12 weeks of pregnancy. ° If you can become pregnant, your healthcare provider will perform a pregnancy test before you start treatment with DOVATO. ° If you can become pregnant, you should consistently use effective birth control (contraception) during treatment with DOVATO. ° Tell your healthcare provider right away if you are planning to become pregnant, you become pregnant, or think you may be pregnant during treatment with DOVATO.
• are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed if you
take DOVATO.
° You should not breastfeed if you have HIV-1 because of the risk of passing HIV-1 to your baby. ° One of the medicines in DOVATO (lamivudine) passes into your breastmilk. ° Talk with your healthcare provider about the best way to feed your baby. Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Some medicines interact with DOVATO. Keep a list of your medicines and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist when you get a new medicine. • You can ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist for a list of medicines that interact with DOVATO. • Do not start taking a new medicine without telling your healthcare provider. Your healthcare provider can tell you if it is safe to take DOVATO with other medicines.
What are Possible Side Effects of DOVATO? DOVATO can cause serious side effects, including:
• Those in the “What is the Most Important Information I Should Know
about DOVATO?” section.
develop a rash with DOVATO. Stop taking DOVATO and get medical help right away if you develop a rash with any of the following signs
or symptoms: fever; generally ill feeling; tiredness; muscle or joint aches; blisters or sores in mouth; blisters or peeling of the skin; redness or swelling of the eyes; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue; problems breathing. • Liver problems. People with a history of hepatitis B or C virus may have an increased risk of developing new or worsening changes in certain liver tests during treatment with DOVATO. Liver problems, including liver failure, have also happened in people without a history of liver disease or other risk factors. Your healthcare provider may do blood tests to check your liver.
signs or symptoms of liver problems: your skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow (jaundice); dark or “tea-colored” urine; light-colored stools (bowel movements); nausea or vomiting; loss of appetite; and/or pain, aching, or tenderness on the right side of your stomach area. • Too much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis). Lactic acidosis is a serious medical emergency that can lead to death. Tell your healthcare
could be signs of lactic acidosis: feel very weak or tired; unusual (not normal) muscle pain; trouble breathing; stomach pain with nausea and vomiting; feel cold, especially in your arms and legs; feel dizzy or lightheaded; and/or a fast or irregular heartbeat. • Lactic acidosis can also lead to severe liver problems, which can lead to death. Your liver may become large (hepatomegaly) and you may develop fat in your liver (steatosis). Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get
any of the signs or symptoms of liver problems which are listed above under “Liver problems.” You may be more likely to get lactic acidosis or severe liver problems if you are female or very overweight (obese).
©2019 ViiV Healthcare or licensor. DLLADVT190031 November 2019 Produced in USA.
Learn more about Kalvin and DOVATO at DOVATO.com
SO MUCH GOES INTO WHO I AM HIV MEDICINE IS ONE PART OF IT. INTO WHO I AM
Reasons to ask your doctor about DOVATO:
DOVATO can help you reach and then stay
undetectable* with just 2 medicines in 1 pill. That means fewer medicines † in your body while taking DOVATO
You can take it any time of day with or without food
(around the same time each day)—giving you fl exibility
DOVATO is a once-a-day complete treatment for adults who are new to HIV-1 medicine.
Results may vary. *Undetectable means reducing the HIV in your blood to very low levels (less than 50 copies per mL). † As compared with 3-drug regimens.
KALVIN ‡
Living with HIV
What are Possible Side Effects of DOVATO (cont’d)? • Changes in your immune system (Immune Reconstitution
Syndrome) can happen when you start taking HIV-1 medicines. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fi ght infections that have been hidden in your body for a long time. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you start having new symptoms after you start taking DOVATO. • The most common side effects of DOVATO include: headache; diarrhea; nausea; trouble sleeping; and tiredness. These are not all the possible side effects of DOVATO. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
Where Can I Find More Information?
• Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist. • Go to DOVATO.com or call 1-877-844-8872, where you can also get FDA-approved labeling.
October 2019 DVT:2PI-2PIL Trademark is owned by or licensed to the ViiV Healthcare group of companies.
‡ Compensated by ViiV Healthcare
Could DOVATO be right for you? Ask your doctor today.
Charles Turberville passed away on Tuesday, May 5, 2020, from complications of COVID-19.
He died in his apartment at Woldenberg Village where he had resided for the past year.
Charles was born in New Orleans in 1948 and attended Behrman High School. He served in the Navy from 1971-75. After leaving the Navy, he worked for the IRS for a short time. After leaving the IRS, he spent the rest of his professional career as an auditor for the Department of Defense, originally at the Naval Support Activity in Algiers and later at Avondale.
Charles’ greatest passion in life, however, was Mardi Gras. His love of Carnival began as a child, when he was crowned King of a Mardi Gras party at his elementary school (in later years he often told friends that he had really wanted to be Queen).
Charles joined the Krewe of Choctaw in the early 1970s and was active in the organization for decades. He reigned as Chief Choctaw in 1988, and served on the Board of Directors until a few years ago when his health began to fail. He was active in the Krewe of King Arthur for many years and reigned as King Arthur in 1997 for the Krewe’s twentieth anniversary.
In 1989, Charles joined the Krewe of Armeinius and soon became a driving force in the organization. He served as Captain for seven balls, most recently in 2013. He reigned as Queen Armeinius in 1994 and King Armeinius in 2002. He held numerous Board positions and served on the Board until 2015. Charles was also active in the Krewe of Petronius for several years in the early 2000s and reigned as King Petronius in 2008.
In addition to his krewe memberships, Charles was elected to the Board of the Fat Monday Luncheon, the oldest annual gay event in the country, in the mid-1990s and continued on its Board until two years ago. He also joined the Steamboat Club around the same time and was active until recently when his health began to fail.
Charles was a pillar of the gay community in New Orleans and is remembered by his countless friends as a man of great charm and boundless energy. Armeinius founder and longtime friend Wendell Stipelcovich recalls that Charles “was a hard worker and had a knack for pulling things together”.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother. He is survived by his lifelong friend David Scheu, who served as Charles’ primary caretaker during his fi nal years; by his niece Tara
Charles Turberville
Reaves and great-niece Carly Reaves; by cousins Bonnie Laigast and Katie Floyd; and by dear friends Claudia & Guy Laigast; as well as hundreds of friends all across the country.
Due to the COVID pandemic, the funeral will be private. A celebration of life will be planned when conditions allow.
Ourlegacyisyours.
NewOrleansAdvocatesforGLBT Elders(NOAGE)providesservices and advocacyforlesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenderolder adultsin theNeworleansmetro area.
W ehostregularsocial eventsfor LGBTolderadultsand theirallies, and weprovidecultural competency trainingsforhealthcareand other serviceproviders.
