David Atlanta Magazine | Atlanta 675

Issue 675 Dec 21-28 | 2011

2011’s Best Albums & Books Scott Thompson Kid in the Hall Grows up

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WTF!?!?

Nicole Scherzinger Gets Death Threats?!

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by Lucas Witherspoon

ven if you don’t watch The X Factor, you’ve probably not been immune to the huge amount of buzz the show is receiving following the departure of crowd favorite, Rachel Crow. Just to give you some background, we were introduced to 13-year-old Rachel during her first audition, where she performed a cover of Duffy’s “Mercy,” which ended in her being voted through by all four judges. She managed to continue along in the competition until Week 7; on the December 8 telecast, Rachel was in the bottom two, along with fellow contestant Marcus Canty, who had been in the bottom two twice before. After the other judges had voted, Nicole Scherzinger voted to send Rachel home, as she knew it would result in a deadlock, which meant that the person who went home would be decided by viewer votes. Stunningly, Rachel was sent home.

Immediately following her elimination, Rachel collapsed on the stage in tears. Host Steve Jones asked Nicole if she had any parting words, but Nicole, also visibly upset, was unable to speak, and was booed by the crowd for her decision to send the vote to a deadlock. In the aftermath of it all, Nicole received lots of strongly worded tweets, and even death threats... yes, death threats.

Yes, Rachel was incredibly talented, especially given her age, and I was sad to see her go, but this is a televised talent show, people! It’s fine to feel a little outrage or disappointment about the results, but it shouldn’t infuriate

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you enough to want to kill someone. It seems to be the American mentality, though. We see it from people upset about Obama’s job performance to Beliebers upset about photos of Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez kissing. I want people to think about that the next time their mentality tells them a death threat is an appropriate response to such trivial things: you are no better than a Belieber. That is the ultimate insult.

People have also begun throwing Paula Abdul under the bus, saying she could be heard coaching Nicole to go to a deadlock. I imagine Paula’s feelings would be hurt if she could actually feel.

We all know how these things go. Even if you don’t win, you get a record deal. There have already been reports of Rachel being offered a deal with Disney (cha-ching!), in addition to offers from multiple record companies.

This is one of those instances where I really wish people would just learn to step back, take a look at the importance of this one moment in the story of their lives, and tell themselves, “It’s not that serious.”

To her credit, Rachel has defended Nicole, telling CNN in a refreshingly coherent interview: “[Scherzinger] is the nicest person and the most beautiful person inside and out. ...

She is amazing, and I don’t understand why people are taking it out on her. It’s no one’s fault. It’s not even America’s fault. It’s no one person’s fault. It’s just what God had in store for me. And I will be okay.”

Good girl.

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WTF!?!? Tidbits

by Lucas Witherspoon

When asked to respond to Daniel Craig’s comments

about the Kardashians, in which he labeled them “fucking idiot[s],” Kris Jenner said, “The easy thing would be to criticize his career now, but our family won’t stoop to that level.” Let’s get something straight: Daniel Craig is a BAFTA-nominated, A-list actor who carries both critically acclaimed indie films, as well as enormously profitable mainstream films. I wouldn’t talk shit when my entire “career” is based on my daughters’ abilities to whore themselves out for a profit, which you take 10 percent of.

Stop me if you’ve heard this

one before: while on vacation in Hawaii, Lindsay Lohan’s $5,000 Chanel purse was stolen, the main contents of which were her ID, passport, legal papers, and $10,000 in cash. You may recall that in May of last year, she was stranded in Cannes when her passport was “stolen,” which forced her to miss a court date. Fortunately, the purse was returned to Lindsay, sans cash but with ID and passport in tact, meaning this time around she’ll make it back to L.A. before her upcoming probation hearing.

At least she’s being thieved instead of doing the thieving this time around.

Men’s Health Magazine has named Jennifer Aniston the Hottest Woman of All Time. I didn’t realize soccer mom looks and having the personality of a cinder block were turn-ons, but to each their own.

Reportedly, Ryan Seacrest is in talks to leave both American Idol and

his gig at E! News to replace Matt Lauer on Today. Letting Ryan Seacrest cover sometimeslegitimate news stories is a terrible, terrible idea. Please leave the real news to the drunken masters: Hoda and Kathie Lee.

Janice Dickinson has come forth to publicly

allege that America’s Next Top Model is completed rigged, and that CoverGirl ultimately decides whom the winner will be. I was under the impression that fact was common sense, unless maybe you’re as mentally deluded as Janice in her permanent pill haze.

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S

by Chris Azzopardi

cott Thompson is still a kid in the hall, but his outlook on life – it doesn’t always get better, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy ruined our community and “the world isn’t kind to us” – is very much of a grown-up who’s been gay for a while.

Thompson, 52, has been out publicly since his career launched in the ’80s with The Kids in the Hall, a sketch comedy show that helped push homosexuality into the mainstream with outrageously funny drag acts and monologues.

During our recent chat, Thompson looked back at The Kids in the Hall and how it wouldn’t have existed without AIDS; offered a solution to the bullying problem (“fight back”); and talked about the difference between him and Kathy Griffin – she makes you feel good about yourself, and he doesn’t.

Looking back, what do you think made The Kids in the Hall so successful?

We were lucky. Society was being forced to confront homosexuality because of AIDS, so we just came along at the right time. If AIDS hadn’t happened I don’t think we would have happened. At least Buddy Cole (a character of his on Kids in the Hall) wouldn’t have happened. AIDS in many ways pried open that door. We were discovered in a fairytale kind of way; those things don’t happen very often. They happen almost never.

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Was that show the high point of your career?

So far. The funny thing is, I’m still a “Kid in the Hall.” It was 22 years ago today that our special aired. How is that possible? We were just kids!

Hard to believe it’s been that long?

Yes, it is – because Kevin (McDonald, also of Kids in the Hall) and I are on stage, and we’ve known each other now for 25 years, and we’re still behaving like children. I mean, our show is so stupid! It’s weird, Kevin and I get off stage and we’re like, “What are we doing? We’re middle-aged men. We have no right to act this silly.” But it’s great! (Laughs) That’s what keeps you young. We’ll never get old at this rate.

If you didn’t have that attitude, you may have not overcome some of what you did in your life, like cancer a couple years back.

I talk a lot about cancer in the show. What’s interesting is that I’ve discovered it’s a taboo.

Now that homosexuality is completely boring I’ve been handed a new topic that people are uncomfortable with. I talk a lot about the side effects of chemo – like when I grew breasts! Suddenly I’m talking about cancer and hormones and transgenderism, and what could be more topical? I had bigger tits than Chastity... I mean, Chaz! (Laughs) I’ve been thinking a lot about this, the whole transgender thing. When I had cancer, the

chemo converted my testosterone to estrogen, I grew little tits like Jodie Foster in “Taxi Driver,” I became very emotional, I became obsessed with “Twilight,” I lost my ambition and my sex drive. I’m thinking, “But that doesn’t make me a woman; I’m just a man with a hormonal imbalance.”

You were halfway there.

I was! And now I’m back, because I went through testosterone therapy. So I’m myself again and I can’t tell you what that was like. Well, I do – I tell it onstage.

You say homosexuality is boring. Did you ever think you’d see the day when you’d be saying that?

Never, no! You know, today I was sitting in Starbucks having my tea and I look at the story about what we were two years ago, what our targets were, and in many ways the targets were straight white men in suits – that was the enemy. Now I go, I feel bad for straight white men! (Laughs) I feel like they’re the new woman.

Like, straight white guys can’t say shit.

There’s this huge national dialogue going on about bullying, and I had a terrible time as a child. But women are bullying now! Let’s be honest, look at the role of gay men on television

– for a gay male to be on television he has to be neutered, and who’s doing the neutering?

Women. Straight men don’t do it; they don’t give a shit. They are jealous of how much sex we have. It’s women who are neutering us. They want us to be their shopping companions, but they don’t want us to be doing spit roasts or sucking cock in back alleys.

Which shows are you referring to?

Every show. Point to a gay male on television who’s a man and who’s sexual. (Modern Family) is a hilarious show but there are two gay men who aren’t really allowed to be physical or touch each other; it’s implicit that they’re monogamous, which we know is nonsense. They have to raise a Chinese girl! How feminizing is that? davidatlanta | 21

And on every makeover show, everyone talks about gay men like they’re little poodles.

fucking cause cancer!” It’s like a fist being the spokesperson for domestic violence.

We have Queer Eye for the Straight Guy to thank for that.

You’ve addressed bullying before, specifically how the It Gets Better campaign is basically a lie – it might not get better, you say. What would you tell bullied kids, then?

Exactly. I remember when it first came out and I went, “Oh god, stop – you’re going to ruin everything.” And it absolutely did. Every fucking show is full of that.

I talk a lot in the show about my chemotherapy, about getting those tiny breasts and having to have a mammogram, and that’s when I was introduced into the world of breast cancer. Breast cancer is out of control. Not the actual disease but the program behind it. Seriously, the other day I saw a Pepsi truck that was painted pink and that had a ribbon on it and I’m thinking, “Pepsi, you 22 | davidatlanta

Grow a pair. Here’s the thing: The world is not kind to us; it never really will be. The gay male is always going to be at the bottom.

I believe the things that happened to me as a child scarred me terribly, and I wish somebody would have helped me with some of the things that happened. But you have to fight back. So much of these bullying campaigns are part of the trend that we were just talking about – the recasting of gay men

as eternal victims.

And it’s like, fight back!

Fathers should start teaching the boys how to punch. He does that to you, here’s what you do: You fucking punch him in the face.

I could never do it as a kid.

I couldn’t either, but with standup comedy you have that microphone – wow, is that powerful.

Did your scarred childhood lead you to comedy?

Yeah, absolutely.

When I’m on that stage, and if you come at me, you’re going down. You feel like the lion tamer. It’s very powerful.

The vast majority of people are sheep, but when they get angry, they’re lions. They don’t think. Mobs don’t think, so if one person does something you gotta slap them down because it will catch fire. I think of a heckler as a cancer cell, so the moment I see it appear I have to destroy it immediately or that will spread.

And then you’ll have man boobs.

(Laughs) That’s right! So if I don’t slap ’em down it will metastasize into a riot and they’ll attack me.

I’ll probably never get over my childhood.

And my heart breaks for these boys, and I know it’s so sad. I was reading the other

day about these schools for gay kids and I just think that’s the wrong approach. They’ll never get the skills they need. That’s segregation. That’s just racism. So I don’t like any of those trends. I think that’s absolutely wrong.

Did you ever feel bullied as a professional comedian? Is labeling a comic “gay” a form of bullying?

Oh, constantly. That’s total bullying. It’s putting you in a category that makes you lesser. When you hyphenate anything, that’s basically lessening you. How about just “comedian”? I reject all those hyphenates.

That’s just – no. I don’t want any hyphenates. I don’t want any handicap. It’s like affirmative action – that’s not good. I don’t need that. I can stand on my own two feet.

Right. We don’t call Kathy Griffin or Sarah Silverman “straight comedians.”

Exactly. And here’s the thing: Gay men almost never come to my shows.

They don’t?

Hardly at all, no. That’s always been an issue.

The shows with Kevin and I are packed with straight people and a sprinkling of gay men – and I mean a sprinkling. Because I’m not a ghetto queen. I wish more gay men would come out. I think gay men are so used to being victimized that they think that a standup comedy club is a place where they’ll be attacked unless the standup comedian is a woman, like Margaret Cho or Kathy Griffin.

Those women – and I love them both – make gay men feel good about themselves.

And you don’t?

(Laughs) No! You hit the nail on the head. I never thought of it that way, but no, I guess not. You got me.

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Music Reviews

Our Favorite Albums of 2011 Adele - 21

Stevie Nicks – In Your Dreams

This album had no competition; from the moment I played it in January I knew this would be my favorite album of 2011. It has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide since being released and has spawned the hits Rolling in the Deep and Someone Like You. Health issues forced Adele to scrap a sold out US Tour but she has plenty more up her sleeve with the release of Set Fire to the Rain.

All hail the goddess Stevie Nicks.

Stevie’s first studio album in a decade found her collaborating with Dave Stewart among others. Check out last single For What It’s Worth.

Florence + The Machine – Ceremonials I cannot heap enough praise on Florence + the Machine. Florence Welch’s ethereal voice combined with the band’s visually compelling videos are the future of music.

Kelly Clarkson - Stronger The Idol alum’s 5th disc is her best yet. This album is filled with thumping anthems, heartbreak and strength. Her 2012 tour will be at The Fox Theater in February.

The Civil Wars – Barton Hollow The Civil Wars met in Nashville but spent a lot of time honing their sound at Eddie’s Attic in Decatur. They’ve had songs featured in Grey’s Anatomy and with their Grammy nominations are poised for a promising 2012.

Vanessa Carlton – Rabbits on the Run Wait, do you mean Wayans brothers White Chicks, A Thousand Miles Vanessa Carlton? Yes, I do. This independently released album partly inspired by the Richard Adam’s novel Watership Down is a masterpiece.

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Julie Roberts - Alive I’ve followed Julie Roberts since her 2004 breakout country hit, Break Down Here and her albums have progressively gotten stronger.

Country radio has missed the boat on this independent album. Check out the sexy Let’s Fight.

Snow Patrol – Fallen Empires Snow Patrol finds their stride on this amazing album which has already been released overseas. The album will have an early January US release. Every track on this album is great but check out New York, In the End and The President.

Bon Iver – Bon Iver (self titled) Following their debut album For Emma Forever Ago and the Blood Bank EP, Bon Iver succeeds in building an ambitious album where each track represents a place. It’s a musical journey of the best kind.

Bright Eyes – The People’s Key Whether he records as Bright Eyes or Conor Oberst, I’ve always followed the music (even if I haven’t been able to keep up). This is the strongest material from Oberst since 2004-2005’s I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning.

The Decemberist’s – The King is Dead For those who didn’t understand or grasp The Decemberist’s last album Hazards of Love, welcome the rootsy/

Americana feel of The King is Dead.

I love the harmonica on this album and could sit on the back porch sipping a bottle of crisp Sauvignon Blanc soaking in its sounds.

Lady GaGa – Born This Way Love her or hate her, Mother Monster has something to say. She may not always do it in the most original way (Madonna comparisons of title track) but the 80’s inspired Edge of Glory helped put this album on the top of 2011 list. For those who think Gaga will eventually get tiresome, better think again- she’s here to stay, love her or hate her.

The Black Keys – El Camino Ask anyone who was at Music Midtown and they’ll tell you The Black Keys ripped it. El Camino was just released and mixes blues, rock and funk creating an aural fantasy trip.

Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday If there’s anyone’s remix, album or song Nicki hasn’t been on in the last year and half will someone please tell me. Super Bass made fans out of Taylor Swift and YouTube sensation Karmin not to mention the young girl from the UK featured on Ellen. Nicki has the swag to back up her ubiquity and I’m eagerly awaiting the release of her sophomore album (Valentine’s Day 2012).

Jennifer Hudson – I Remember Me The first half of 2011 had me singing ‘where you at’ to nearly any phrase I could think of. Wake up with a hangover can’t find my keys

. . . where you at? The tracks on Hudson’s sophomore album helped me forgive the cover art (I mean really who took this picture? Your niece?) and while I had hoped for a Linda Perry/Aguilera-esque album that delved into the shocking murders of Hudson’s mother, the rousing cover of Brooks and Dunn’s Believe that closes the album is golden.

Robyn – Body Talk Pt. 3 Actually released late last year, I was still listening to parts 1 and 2 to give it its full credit. With Grammy nominations and a SNL performance under her belt, Robyn is finally receiving the love from mainstream audiences (the love her gay fans have been giving forever).

Kristin Chenoweth – Some Lessons Learned At first I couldn’t get past the fact that I felt like it was Glee’s April Rhodes singing to me but after multiple listens I found that Kristin Chenoweth had a flair for picking amazing songs. Almost every song on this album delivers a punch, even the cast away, attempt to be edgy first single I Want Somebody (Bitch About) ultimately becomes catchy.

Taylor Swift – Speak Now I unabashedly admit that I <3 Taylor Swift. Mean, this year’s most country-sounding single was a fun kiss-off to critics. The girl knows how to write a song and was surprisingly great on tour as well.

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Top 20 Queer B

by Richard Labonte

ests are subjective, and Top 10s are limiting, but these are the books that stuck with me most in 2011. Some are examples of formal queer fiction or standard homo memoir/autobiography forms, several take a more daring – or daunting – approach to the art of literature; and, auguring well for the future, five of the 10 fiction titles are debuts.

In fact, it was a good year for gay (male) debut fiction: among my other favorites are Mitko,

by Garth Greenwell; Dirty One, by Michael Graves; We the Animals, by Justin Torres; Chulito, by Charles Rice-González; Songs for the New Depression, by Kergan EdwardsStout; Quarantine, by Rahul Mehta; Moffie, by André Carl van Der Merwe; and My Brother and His Brother, by Hakan Lindquist – not, technically, a debut, though it’s his first novel in English translation.

Kudos, too, to two novels by women: Jodi Picoult’s formulaic but formidable Sing You Home, in which the desire of two middle-aged lesbians to have a child collides head-on with Christian hatred; and Rebecca Makkai’s daring and compassionate The Borrower (another debut), in which a young woman librarian befriends (well, kidnaps, in a good way) Ian, a precocious 10-year-old booklover and bound-to-be queer, when his parents try to de-gay him.

Top 10 Fiction Reads of 2011 The Empty Family, by Colm Toibin, Scribner.

Master Irish storyteller Toibin queers it up, after last year’s essentially straight novel, Brooklyn, in this collection of nine haunting stories set in different countries and different times, but linked by a pervasive sense of melancholy, longing and loss. There’s not a single clunker in a no-wordwasted collection.

The Fog: A Novel of Desire and Reprisal, by Jeff Mann, Bear Bones Books.

Sex is violence and passion is pain in Mann’s relentlessly brutal yet irrepressibly romantic short novel. From first page to last, except for a redemptive epilogue, this pitch-perfect erotic novel epitomizes a thriller genre known as torture porn, though

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the poetry of Mann’s prose imbues even the most intense scenes with tender moments.

The Girls Club, by Sally Bellerose, Bywater Books.

Bellerose’s warm debut embraces the concept of sisterhood with propulsive gusto – mostly the real deal of three very different sisters caring deeply for each other, even as they squabble, but with hints that the sisterhood of nascent feminism has reached the small town where they are realizing their emotional and sexual selves.

Love/Imperfect, by Christopher T. Leland, Wayne State University Press.

As in real life, gay mingles with straight in Leland’s first collection (after five novels). Seventeen sensual tales, linked by the thematic threads of intimacy, desire and love, depict worried mothers, absent fathers, inter-class sexual affairs and men afraid of their desires.

Reads of 2011

Leland’s supple prose marks him as a short story virtuoso.

The Marbled Swarm, by Dennis Cooper, Harper Perennial.

A liturgy of salacious acts invested with luscious language and sly wit, this seductive, exhilarating labyrinth of a novel, with its secret passageways, elusive truths and elegant intricacies, is splendidly unlike anything Cooper has previously written, even as it echoes themes of earlier work

The Mechanics of Homosexual Intercourse, by Lonely Christopher, Little House on the Bowery/Akashic Books.

The Two Krishnas, by Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla. Magnus Books.

A closeted husband, an unsuspecting wife, an achingly needy younger lover – the three pivotal people in Dhalla’s second novel are stock gay-fiction standards transformed into wrenchingly real characters by the author’s mastery of human emotion; in the story’s nuanced universe, duplicity has consequences and tragedy is inevitable. This is not a happily-ever-after story; its heartbreak is cathartic and inevitable.

Wingshooters, by Nina Revoyr.

Akashic Books.

Xenophobia is rampant in rural Vietnam War-era Wisconsin, where tomboyish 10-yearold Michelle LeBeau, her small town’s only non-white resident, confronts discrimination, bullying and isolation with admirable resilience. Revoyr writes about deep heartache, flawed characters and squandered anger with grace.

The nine stories in this exuberantly nontraditional collection will challenge traditionalists who prefer their queer fiction come from formalists such as Ed White or David Leavitt. One hopes those readers will accept that challenge – homo fiction can always use more young writers who are queer in every sense of the word.

The Metropolis Case, by Matthew Gallaway. Crown Publishers.

First-time novelist Gallaway strikes beguiling chords in this inventive blend of mystery, romance, music and, skillfully, the supernatural. Technically, it’s a 2010 title, released at the end of December, close enough for 2011 – a cunning novel embracing the universal themes of searching for love, the meaning of life...and the glorious world of opera.

CUNY.

Zipper Mouth, by Laurie Weeks, The Feminist Press at

The narrator of this woozy, rapturous short novel, set in Manhattan’s edgy 1980s, engages heroin and cocaine with dedicated delight, maintains a soul-crushing crush on her ambiguously straight drug buddy, Jane, and shares her angst in unrequited letters to the likes of Sylvia Plath and Judy Davis. It’s an ecstatic debut.

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Top 20 Queer Top 10 Nonfiction Reads of 2011 Big Sex, Little Death, by Susie Bright, Seal Press.

You’d think that a memoir by a founder of the pioneering sex-positive lesbian magazine On Our Backs and author of the “Susie Sexpert” column would be all about sex (and there’s that title). Sex there is, but Bright’s account of a peripatetic childhood, of teenage radicalism, of labor organizing and, latterly, of contented motherhood is much more than a trip down orgasm lane.

Halsted Plays Himself, by William E. Jones, Semiotext(e) Native Agents.

This slender but authoritative chronicle of legendary erotic performer and filmmaker Fred Halsted – he reigned back in the 1970s, when daily newspapers reviewed porn films – mixes serious research with sexual relish, fleshed out by reprints of reviews, interviews, a smattering of dialogue from Halsted’s classic L.A. Plays Itself and – another side of the man – samplings of his erotic prose.

Happy Accidents, by Jane Lynch, Hyperion Voice.

Always candid, never coy, Lynch’s account of the happy casting accidents that led her to stardom – and, more recently, to love – is the work of a most talented woman.

Odd fact: By age 12, Lynch was mostly mooning about girls, though she confesses in this charismatic memoir to

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a hormonal crush on 1970s-era Ron Howard.

Nina Here Nor There: My Journey Beyond Gender, by Nick Krieger, Beacon Press.

Krieger’s journey through and beyond gender, from Nina to Nick, from a largebreasted “her” with shaved legs to an after-top surgery “him” with hairy calves, is chronicled with a dash of wit, with nuanced wisdom, and with candid accounts of confrontations with parents – particularly the father – who are puzzled and pained at seeing their daughter become their son.

Nocturnal Omissions: A Tale of Two Poets, by Gavin Geoffrey Dillard and Eric Norris, Sibling Rivalry Press.

Gavin lived in Hawaii. Eric lived in New York. Facebook brought them together.

Gavin, a former porn star, life-long poet, one-time chef and sometime hermit in his 50s, responded to an admiring post from Eric, a poet 15 years his junior. This two-author collection of 111 poems is the result – playful and passionate, lusty and seductive, erotic and philosophical.

Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme, edited

by Ivan Coyote and Zena Sharman, Arsenal Pulp Press.

TwentyyearsafterJoanNestle’s The Persistence Desire: A Butch-Femme Reader, this rambunctious, truth-telling, gender-confronting anthology both honors its antecedent and pulses with contemporary, assured, personal and provocative prose about the

Reads of 2011 personas of femme and butch within the queer community.

A Queer History of the United States,

by Michael Bronski, Beacon Press.

From the Puritan imposition of intolerant sexual mores on the land that was to become America, to angry activism in the face of the nation’s initial neglect of AIDS, Bronski’s cerebral hop, skip and jump assessment of LGBT presence across the centuries is an astute, succinct depiction of the truth that queers have always been everywhere – and everywhen.

A Saving Remnant: The Radical Lives of Barbara Deming and David McReynolds, by Martin Duberman, The New Press.

Duberman has crafted a riveting account of the public lives and noble ideals of two fierce early to mid-20th century queers, Barbara Deming and David McReynolds, through which he threads both their commitment to civil rights, peaceful protest and anti-war activism and a well-mannered glimpse into their sexual lives.

Taking My Life, by Jane Rule, Talonbooks.

Scholar Linda M. Morra came across an astonishing, never-catalogued find: a posthumous autobiography, handwritten on yellow foolscap paper, recounting Rule’s first 21 years from the thoughtful, painfully honest perspective of old age.

Best known for Desert of the Heart, Rule wrote 10 other novels; anyone who has read even one – though every queer reader with taste ought to read them all – will relish revisiting her fluid prose.

Tango: My Childhood Backwards and in High Heels, by Justin Vivian Bond, The Feminist Press at CUNY. The most riveting of celebrated cabaret artist Bond’s unorthodox memoir is the revelation that from the age of 11 the author was bullied at school by the boy with whom v (Bond’s chosen subject pronoun) was having exuberant, albeit confused and sometimes violent, sex.

But this free-form life story is at its best when it recounts the tension between a young trans soul and confused, distraught parents – a universal queer tale.

Footnotes

Though there are fewer gay (and especially lesbian, alas) titles coming from larger, mainstream publishers, smaller and newer publishers like Lethe Press (most venerable of the newcomers), Chelsea Station Editions, Tiny Satchel Press and Sibling Rivalry Press – to say nothing of ever-expanding Bold Strokes Books and some higherquality self-publishing – are picking up the slack. At the same time, three of those presses are also publishing magazines, where novice authors and veterans alike can find an outlet for their work. Lethe’s Steve Berman edits Icarus, which focuses on speculative fiction; Sibling Rivalry’s Bryan Borland edits Assaracus: A Journal of Gay Poets; and at year’s end Chelsea Station’s Jameson Currier launched Chelsea Station, the most eclectic of the journals, filled with lesbian and gay fiction, interviews, poems and book reviews.

All books cited, and all CDs in Favorite Albums, are currently available at Brushstrokes.

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The Bottom Line

Safe & Supportive

B

by Joseph Brownell

eing an LGBT youth isn’t always easy. It seems everywhere we turn there’s another report of a gay teen committing suicide. Additionally, a 2011 CDC report shows that gay, bisexual and questioning teens are more likely to have current drug use habits than heterosexual teens. The CDC correlates these high risk behaviors among sexual minority teens with a lack of “safe and supportive environments.” As organizations and businesses within our community plead for donations to keep their doors open, it’s imperative to recognize the need for safe and supportive environments for LGBT youth.

The release of Amy Winehouse’s posthumous album earlier this month once again spotlights the results of addiction. Sure, we could reflect on how coincidental it was that she passed at the same age as Hendrix, Morrison, Joplin and Cobain thus immortalizing her as Forever 27 or we could insert Rehab jokes here, but when will we stop trivializing the nature of addiction and have an open and honest discourse about it?

at the record label thinking about album sales pushing her to get back in the studio and record her third album. Winehouse probably didn’t have a very safe or supportive environment.

It may have been out of our reach to do something for Winehouse but it’s not too much to do something within our own community.

Environmentalists have long espoused the ideal to think generations ahead and politicos are currently debating the national debt and its effect on our nation’s future generations. The changes that have happened in our communities over the last 20 years will be carried well past our generation by those coming behind us.

Our LGBT youth need places and services that support them and help them become productive members of our community. Amy Winehouse can serve as a wakeup call to the realities and effects of addiction for the youth of the LGBT community. Help YouthPride today so that the next time a youth in our community is saying no, no, no to rehab, it’s not because they don’t want to go, but because they don’t have to.

Winehouse had issues, issues that go beyond my non-licensed 500-word column, but one thing is clear -she needed HELP. While I’m not familiar with the intimate details of Winehouse’s life, it wouldn’t be surprising if during her rehab stints there was someone

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Quality of life and HIV/AIDS There is good news

By Rodney Fox, PhD, ANP With another World AIDS Day behind us, I feel compelled to reflect upon a quality of life study I recently conducted on people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH), and HIV in general. This was part of my dissertation for my PhD. Foremost, you should know that there is good news. Worldwide, fewer people

are dying from AIDS-related complications. This is especially true in the U.S. where HIV medications are widely available. Today, medications have fewer side effects, and life expectancy and quality of life is increasing for PLWH. And, the longer a person lives with HIV, the stigma associated with this illness decreases. Fortunately, HIV is now a manageable chronic illness rather than the death sentence it once was. Overall, quality of life is good for PLWH. Of course, that is only half the story.

There is bad news. Worldwide, more

than half of those who need HIV medication do not have access to life-saving medicines. In the U.S., HIV infection rates are increasing by approximately 50,000 new cases each year. As you may have read recently, the ENTIRE Southeastern U.S. has the highest per capita HIV infection rate compared to rest of the country.

Those who do have HIV are increasingly experiencing multiple health conditions beyond HIV, further complicating their quality of life and cost of their care. Nearly half of those with long-term HIV will experience noticeable changes to their

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decreasing trend of HIV infection in our youth. We need to embrace sound and reasonable science-based HIV prevention education focused toward high-risk individuals. While a policy shift is underway, it cannot move fast enough.

Beyond moving to the Canadian frontier, offering positive feedback to PLWH might be the best medicine, and gift, you can provide this season. You see, as you might expect, the change in physical appearance some PLWH experience can negatively affect their quality of life. Stigma itself also can have a negative influence on quality of life.

appearance that may include loss of fat tissue of the face, arms, legs, and buttocks, or experience aggressive fat gain of the abdomen, neck, and torso.

Should we all wear body condoms or move to Prince Albert National Park in Saskatchewan where we can help others by shipping cheaper Canadian HIV medication get-well packages to those in need?

If you wish, but there are less drastic steps you can take. Besides, Prince Albert Park is probably not as fabulous as you imagine.

Obviously, taking steps to prevent new HIV infections is an admirable and simple goal. The abstinence-only stance of previous U.S. administrations reversed the

If you see a person at a party, or out having dinner that “looks sick,” have a positive influence. At the very least, don’t whisper this fact below your breath to a friend, or worse, state the obvious and make the person feel worse. Try to keep any sense of surprise or shock to yourself. Maybe even provide a compliment or other affirming gesture.

I’m not talking about being patronizing, just about setting any discomfort you may have aside. PLWH have plenty to concern themselves with, and do not need additional stigma or the effects of HIV on their appearance amplified.

In fact, providing a compliment may improve their quality of life as much that day as anything else this season. You might meet a new friend. You may make a person feel better about himself or herself, and you may feel better about yourself.

Have a safe, happy and healthful holiday.

Rodney Fox is an Adult Nurse Practitioner (ANP) with Pride Medical, Inc. He is a certified HIV specialist, recently completed his doctoral degree (PhD) in nursing, and is accepting new patients. This year Pride celebrated its 15th anniversary. Always consult your healthcare provider for specific advice or treatment. www.PrideMedical.com

ored by Pride Medical, Inc.

map Bar | Club

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Amsterdam

502 Amsterdam Ave. www.amsterdamatlanta.com

Bellissima

560-B Amsterdam Ave. www.myspace.com/ bellissima_lounge

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227 10th St. www.blakesontheparkatlanta.com 2284 Cheshire Bridge Rd. www.blissofatlanta.com 2345 Cheshire Bridge Rd. www.myspace.com/bjroostersat 893 Peachtree St.

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736 Ponce de Leon Ave. www.friendsonponce-atl.com 219 10th St. www.gilbertscafe.com

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15 Jungle 16 LeBuzz 17 Las Margaritas 18 Mary’s 19 Mixx 20 Model T’s 21 My Sisters Room 22 Opus 1 23 Oscars Atlanta 24 Swinging Richards 25 The Cockpit 2115 Faulkner Rd. www.jungleclubatlanta.com

585 Franklin Rd SE # A-10 www.thenewlebuzz.com 1842 Cheshire Bridge Rd. www.lasmargaritasmidtown.com 1287 Glenwood Ave. www.marysatlanta.com

1492 Piedmont Ave - B www.mixxatlanta.com

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26 The Hideaway

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27 Tripps 28 Woofs 29 91

1931 Piedmont Circle www.trippsatlanta.com 2425 Piedmont Rd NE www.woofsatlanta.com 91 Broad St

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30 Flex 31 Gravity Fitness 32 Manifest4U 76 4th St. www.flexbaths.com

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2103 Faulkner Road www.manifest4u.org

Retail

9 Rawhide Leather 33 Brushstrokes/ Capulets

at the Eagle. 404.881.0031

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34 Boy Next Door Bookstore 35 Outwrite & Café 1447 Piedmont Rd. www.boynextdoor.biz

991 Piedmont Ave. www.outwritebooks.com

36 Poster Hut Nights 37 Southern Videos

2175 Cheshire Bridge Rd. www.myspace.com/posterhut

2205 Cheshire Bridge Rd. www.southernnights.com

map | BARTAB

Safe Space

What’s your story?

by Chandler Beardon “I might have only been in Atlanta for a year, but I’ve definitely found a home at the local gay bars here in town. I like the guys… I can just hang out with them there or sometimes take them home. Which is why I’m glad I keep plenty of lube and condoms at my place. Even though I’m the bottom, I like to stay on top of situations that may come up. Thanks to my first boyfriend, I now know about HIV and what risky behavior like barebacking can do. He had a lover who was poz and who died because of it …. But he never got it himself cause he always used protection. I have tried following his lead. Yeah, sometimes I send guys home cause they only want it raw, but I’m still negative, still using condoms and still getting laid.”

-the guy next to you

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No one has a greater impact on your friends than you. Share your story with us; Share our story with friends. Sex is hot and we want you to have it and keep having it. We need you to help reach our community and positively impact the lives of those around you. Join our outreach team and take free condoms and stories like this to your favorite bars, favorite hangouts and favorite people.

Get involved! Contact Chandler Bearden at Chandler.

Bearden@PositiveImpact-Atl.org or call 404-5899040. MISTER offers free HIV testing and STD screenings Monday through Saturday at our new location in Midtown at 60 Eleventh Street just across from the Federal Building and one block over from the Midtown MARTA station.

Egg Nog

by Brent Star Why do people think it’s cute to say Merry “Xmas” instead of “Christmas”? I mean, I know everyone doesn’t celebrate it for the same reasons, but after awhile, I wouldn’t be surprised if folks eventually drop the “mas” AND the “Merry” and just say “X”. Can you imagine folks walking up and down the sidewalks greeting each other by just saying “X”. Or can you imagine inviting folks to your Christmas party on Facebook by saying “Come to my “X” party”? That would be awful…unless you had some good ‘x’. Unowatimsayin? Or worse, what if NO ONE shows up…except your X. Just a thought…

Speaking of thoughts, what in the hell does the “Nog” in Egg Nog mean? I asked my friends if they knew, and they all said “nog”, my roommate was like “hell nog”, even GOOGLE didn’t explain what the “nog” means! So I decided to drive to the North Pole right quick (I have a VERY good GPS on my phone by the way). Once I got there, I asked a couple of elves standing on the corner about the “nog” meaning, but of course they looked at me like I was crazy and said “oh we just make toys, but you might want to ask St. Nick out back”. They meant behind that gingerbread

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house where he was loading his sleigh, looking all stressed. “Boy if you don’t get out my damn face…I ain’t got time, I’m running late!

And where’s Rudolph?!!!”, he yelled. But he did suggest I go inside the house and ask Mrs. Santa Claus “Since that woman knows every damn thing” he said.

Oh my God, it smelled SO good inside their home, like a bunch of gingerbread menses sunbathing. Meanwhile, Mrs. Claus was baking while listening to Beyonce’s “Run the World (Girls)!” I interrupted with my question. She gave me a sweet hug and said “All baby boy, stop looking for a meaning to everything and relax. It’s just the drink’s name.” That made so much sense I thought but then I asked “Have you seen Rudolph?” She said “Yeah, I shot him because he kept asking me what does the “nog” in eggnog means”.

Moral of my ridiculous story?

Don’t get caught up in the different reasons why folks celebrate “X”, just drank yo’ egg nog, have a few laughs and just go with the flow of celebrating life! Oh, and I have no problem saying MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of you!

UNTIL next week, DON’T read the girls, instead read The Brent Star Report!

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calendar MONDAY

WEDNESDAY

BLAKES ON THE PARK

BLAKES ON THE PARK

THE EAGLE Comedy TV- Free Pool

THE EAGLE 80’s Music with Travis

FRIENDS ON PONCE

FRIENDS ON PONCE Bingo 8pm

Drag On The Edge Show 11pm

Bad Boy Brian opens at 2pm

HERETIC Industry Night with Brian; Dance Floor Open @ 10pm

JUNGLE Stars of the Century Show 11pm THE HIDEAWAY $2.50 Domestic Beer FELIX’S Free Pool THE COCKPIT Big Red Cup Mondays All Day & 1/2 Price Appetizers 5-8pm

TUESDAY BLAKES ON THE PARK I Gotta Sing!

Hosted by Jealose & Jerry (Karaoke) 11pm

THE EAGLE Tuesdays with Tony FRIENDS ON PONCE

Let’s Make a Deal 6pm

HERETIC Time Warp – 70’s, 80’s, & 90’s

Music with Paul; Dance Floor Opens 10pm

SWINGING RICHARDS

No Cover Before Midnight, $5 After

THE HIDEAWAY

Service Industry Night - Employee Prices.

Trivia w/ Will 9pm - 11pm

FELIX’S Smirnoff Martini Night THE COCKPIT DUDE: 80s Party, 9pm & 1/2 Price Appetizers 5-8pm

CHAPARRAL HipHop til 4am, $5

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Feathers & Flesh Burlesque Revue 11pm

HERETIC H.U.M.P Dress Code Party w/ DJ Lydia Prim.

SWINGING RICHARDS 2-4-1 VIP Room THE HIDEAWAY Craps & Blackjack with Miss Lauren

THE COCKPIT

Balls Deep Karaoke, 10pm with Mikey and Wesley &1/2 Price Appetizers 5-8pm

THURSDAY BLAKES ON THE PARK

Texas Hold’Em Poker 7pm, The Shawna Factor Show, 11pm

THE EAGLE Karaoke with Mikey FRIENDS ON PONCE Where Girls Who Like Girls Meet Girls all night

HERETIC : 3- Legged Cowboy Night @ 10pm; Dance Lessons @ 8pm

JUNGLE Cherry Pop Thursday!

LAS MARGARITAS

Crazy Bitch Bingo 7:30pm

SWINGING RICHARDS

2-4-1 VIP Room & 2-4-1 Door Entry

THE HIDEAWAY Levi & Leather Night FELIX’S Karaoke w/ Brett & Tyler 10pm THE COCKPIT

Dirty Boy Bingo, 9pm w/ Ruby Redd

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

BLAKES ON THE PARK

BLAKES ON THE PARK

THE EAGLE DJ Dance Party

THE EAGLE DJ Dance Party

FRIENDS ON PONCE

FRIENDS ON PONCE

HERETIC Primal Urges with DJ Lydia Prim;

HERETIC Club Night, Various Guest DJ’s.

JUNGLE Club Night, Various DJ’s

JUNGLE Club Night, Various Guest DJ’s.

SWINGING RICHARDS

SWINGING RICHARDS

CHAPARRAL Got Leche? til 4am, $10

FELIX’S Karaoke w/ Brett & Tyler 10pm

THE HIDEAWAY

THE COCKPIT Rotating VJ’s & DJ’s,

FELIX’S Bartenders Serve It Up!

SWINGING RICHARDS

Kitty LeClaw’s Meow Mix Show 11pm

Happy Times with Bad Boy Brian & Ken

No Cover Before 10pm, $5 after

Open @ noon with Bob Brewer

No Cover Before 11pm.

T-Shirt Review, $10 Cover

T-Shirt Review, $10 Cover

After Work Martini Madness

(resident DJ, Diablo Rojo)

THE COCKPIT Rotating VJ’s & DJ’s, (resident DJ, Diablo Rojo)

Jealose’s Daring Diva’s Show 11pm

T-Shirt Review, $10 Cover

CHAPARRAL Dance Party FELIX’S Karaoke w/ Brett & Tyler 10pm THE COCKPIT Rotating VJ’s & DJ’s, (resident DJ, Diablo Rojo)

CHAPARRAL DJ Jay McKracken, $5

SUNDAY BLAKES ON THE PARK

Sunday Brunch 12-3, DJ’s Bill Berdeaux and Daryl Cox Spin All Night.

FRIENDS ON PONCE Bad Boy Brian’s Smirnoff B Mary Bar 12:30pm

LAS MARGARITAS

All You Can Eat Brunch 11am-3pm

THE HIDEAWAY

Make Your Own Bloody Mary Bar 12:30pm

FELIX’S

Bloody Mary & Mimosa Wallet Pleasers

THE COCKPIT

PBR Beer Bust -- Open & Pouring

CHAPARRAL Hip Hop w DJ Truz, no cover

calendar | BARTAB

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Writers, Editors, Photographers!

David Magazine is always soliciting talent: calendar editor photographers features writers editorial interns

Email editor@sovo. com with a resumĂŠ and samples of your work.

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start at $25 To place an ad, call 404.418.8901 ext. 2 or email classifieds@ davidatlanta.com

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La Nota Rosa

La Navidad Tan Bonita, Tan Estresante,Tan Agobiante…

•

que tus vecinos, como no ven subir a tu casa a nadie en los últimos seis meses, te miren con cara de pena pensando que vas a pasar solo tan entrañables fiestas (“si quieres algo, ya sabes dónde estamos, ¿eh?”).

•

que tu hermana crea que nadas en la abundancia y, como hay confianza, te nombre rey mago suplente (“anda, tú que puedes, cómprale la wii a Dani, que nosotoros no llegamos”).

•

que tus amigos gays te manden una felicitación por email que siempre consiste en un papa noel que está buenísimo y que se va desnudando (“¡qué originales!”, piensas mientras al santaclaus sólo le queda puesto el gorro).

•

A

by Luis Chiruco

hora entramos en la época menos propensa para la relajación: la Navidad. Tan bonita...tan estresante, tan agobiante.

Y qué significa la Navidad para un gay sin pareja.

Pues más o menos, lo siguiente:

• que seas siempre el “impar” en las cenas y

comidas (“uy, tenemos que invitar a alguien más, que con Jorge somos trece en la mesa... qué mal rollo”).

• que

tu tía Lola al brindar siempre pida el deseo de que encuentres a la mujer de tu vida (“ay, hijo, a ver si te sale novia el año que viene, que yo no sé qué vamos a hacer contigo”).

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que tengas que llevar a tus sobrinos y a sus amigos a ver la última película de Disney a un cine abarrotado de salvajes de un metro y medio devorando palomitas y hablando sin parar (“antes era peor, había que llevarlos al circo...”, piensas y te consuelas, mientras tu sobrino más pequeño te pregunta por enésima vez quién es el malo y cuándo va a salir el pato Donald).

• que siempre pides lo mismo al año siguiente:

COMPAÑÍA, estar al lado de alguien cómplice, alguien en quien pensar, alguien que esté pendiente de ti, que te cuide, al que cuidar, con el que COMPARTIR, que es una palabra que parece que está pasada de moda y que tiene que volver en el 2012.

Por eso en estas fechas tan señaladas alzo mi copa para que todo el mundo (sobre todo los que leen mi columna) tenga PAZ, SALUD y ALGUIEN A QUIEN QUERER. Y yo que lo vea.

Feliz Navidad a todos... got leche?

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Bitch! Session

Marta’s policy if your bus breaks down: Wait for the next scheduled bus. If waiting for said bus will make you late for your appointment: Tough.

No means no, not ask me again every few days for 6 months.

If you used to go to Studio 54, that’s cool, but don’t brag about it to someone who was born in 1987, especially when you’re trying to impress.

The “Gun Show” is clearly smaller now, so there is no need to wear that cut off t-shirt at the gym twice a week.

I like that all the people suspicious of Barack Obama’s weird name are having to choose between Mitt and Newt.

I wonder how many boys want a Trans Am now after GaGa’s video?

Gotta Bitch?

text: 404.969.BTCH

or 404.969.2824 Novel idea, maybe if you want to take me on a date, don’t spent the entire night texting people?

Barbara Walters honoring Steve Jobs on her Most Fascinating People made me tear up.

Oh shocker, another “glitter” gay who wears A&F and thinks he DESERVES a 7-figure salary because he is “important”.

Don’t ask for me to make your drink “strong”.

You will get the same amount of booze as everybody else, unless you want to pay more.

I like to yell “YOU’RE WELCOME” to those who can’t say “Thank You”.

All I want for Christmas is a fuzzy man under my tree.

No I won’t be going “home” for Christmas. I will be staying here with people who accept me. You can choose your family, remember that.

OK assholes, because I honk my horn at you

To the new gay kids showing up at the gay bars, try to be less annoying. Acting like you own the place that you just started going to is sad… pay your dues, you don’t run any show.

I am 52 and get hit on more than most the guys in the bar. Why is that? Because I am rich and have a killer body. Maybe if you young boys who are trying to hit on me all the time actually tried to take care of yourself, I would be interested… however, I can find a man, with a job, and not worry about a whiny queen who is looking for a meal ticket and a Jaguar.

Mitt failed during the debate tonight when he inconspicuously insinuated that Democrats aren’t as American as Republicans.

I personally believe that people on welfare should be drug tested. I also think that any parents who have welfare, if their children’s grades drop below a certain GPA and/or their children get pregnant before 18, they should lose their welfare. If we put rules on the system to empower the next generation to NOT use the system, then we are saving the tax payers money and stopping a trend of abusive welfare recipients.

because you are violating traffic laws, doesn’t require you to FLICK ME OFF OR CUSS ME OUT. I mean seriously people, what’s with the anger?!?!

Dating --> Open Relationship --> Splitsville.

I’m going to leave Santa some cookies, milk, and the key to my chastity belt.

I am so tired of hearing about Backstreet and what Atlanta is lacking because our community can’t take of the places we already have!!!!!

Somebody should stuff my stocking this year with a hot black boy. Yummy!

Twinks will do anything you want – they are the best Christmas gifts in the world!

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