The Agenda December 2013

VOLUME 02, NO. 02 DECEMBER 2013

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Law Office of

KELLEY J. DWYER, PLLC WWW .DWYERLAWAUSTIN. CO M

Estate Planning Business Law

proud membe r since 20 09

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VOLUME 02 ISSUE 02 DECEMBER 2013

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Please… stop me if

you’ve heard this one before: A Catholic priest and a Methodist youth minister walk into a gay bar… Except this time, the joke’s not on them. The joke’s not on anyone, not even a rabbi. As it turns out, this turns out to be quite a lovely story. And actually, the likelihood that this priest and minister walk into a gay bar and run into someone from one of their friendly congregations, and the likelihood that someone from a gay bar walks into this priest or this minister’s house of worship is quite good – in fact, it might even be on the rise – as both clergymembers serve in local churches that encourage members to be themselves while exploring and manifesting spirituality within the loving arms of safe and welcoming communities.

Austin has long been blessed with wonderful nondenominational churches and open-hearted spiritual leaders in a number of local traditional houses of faith serving LGBTQ faithful. But the stories of Mary Ann Barclay and Father Jayme Mathias as told to our David Estlund in this issue’s cover feature, mark promising shifts in a few mainstream religious entities and may point toward paths of greater LGBTQ acceptance.

This, indeed, is "good news," one might even say "biblical," especially during the holiday season, which can be marred by the snark of unaccepting relatives, the rejection of arrogant parents, or the leer of church lady side-eye

The Agenda is published quarterly by the Austin Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with The Austin Chronicle and is financed entirely by the support from the membership of the chamber.

The views and opinions expressed in The Agenda and austinagenda.com do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Austin Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (AGLCC), nor its officers or board of directors, nor The Austin Chronicle.

thrown in what’s supposed to be a house of love. God bless (or whichever divine or diety you believe) Jayme and Mary Ann; their challenges come with personal struggle and require firm resolve.

Bless us all, for that matter.

On another note, have you been keeping snug in this wild roller coaster of Austin weather? Well, please let us recommend either a nice pair of rainbow-striped socks or a piping panoply of pogoing at a local punk rock show. In either case, you’ll not only keep your tootsies toasty, you’ll also be supporting a few enterprising young LGBTQers. We hope that Andy Campbell’s interview with Pride Socks’ Rachel Smith and new Agenda writer Sarah Marloff’s visit with BitterHeart Society’s Tamicka Phillips warm your hearts and other parts.

This quarter’s edition of The Agenda, the only gay chamber of commerce magazine produced in collaboration with an alternative newsweekly, is brought to you by our advertisers (all AGLCC members) and a modest and dedicated staff of writers, editors, tech and art folk. We all wish you and yours double rainbows and triple unicorn snuggles this holiday season.

Kate X Messer | The Agenda Editor-in-chief

Copyright © 2013 Austin Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. All rights reserved.

Unsolicited submissions (including resumes, articles, artwork, and photographs) are not returned.

PO Box 49216, Austin, TX 78765 512/761-LGBT (5428) contact@austinagenda.com

Any advice or opinions provided herein are for informational purposes only.

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 MALLORIE, JOHN, DULCE & BRAD FROM THE AGBL “To our best season ... and yours!”

 BILLY “Peace and love.”

 LANCE “I wish I could go home and see my family.”

 MIRANDA “I wish people could learn to love and take care of each other.”

 JAROD “I can't tell you. 'Bootybootybootybootyrockineverywhere.' For everyone to be happy and to be married.”

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 GZ & ROCHELLE

“For all the families who haven't been blessed and for those who won't be with us this year.

Much love to Royce Babb.” ~GZ “I wish that 2014 is my year! And everyone's year!” ~Rochelle

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Rev. Jayme Mathias and Mary Ann Barclay preach good news in rainbow hues Interview By David Estlund Photos By Devaki Knowles s the holidays roll past us and 2013 draws to a close, we find time to reflect on our year, our accomplishments and setbacks, and to wonder what the next year will bring. For most Americans, it’s also a season for families to come together and renew their bonds, but for some of our most vulnerable, there is no family to turn to. Due to rejection by their families, 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ, and many more are confronted annually with harsh and bitter messages from family members, and perhaps even in a church setting.

A few denominations accept and welcome their queer churchgoers, but many communities of faith openly exclude queer people under any circumstance, while others do so in more subtle ways. This year, two Austinites of the cloth made national news for breaking barriers in LGBTQ acceptance, Rev. Dr. Jayme Mathias, an American Catholic priest, for becoming the first openly gay trustee on the AISD School Board, and Mary Ann Barclay, an out lesbian youth minister at University United Methodist Church. We spoke with them about their experiences and the path of faith they believe can reconcile the mixed messages with which so many struggle.

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ev. Dr. Jayme Mathias grew up in rural Ohio with plans to become an attorney, when a priest at a church retreat convinced him that he could pursue both. At age 18, Mathias entered seminary and started down an unexpected path. He became a priest at Cristo Rey in East Austin for about a year, and had been accepted to five major law schools, when the Catholic priest sex abuse scandal rocked the Catholic world and sent him in a new direction. He began teaching school in 2003 at San Juan Diego Catholic High School, and eventually was elected president of the school. In 2009 he was named Pastor of Cristo Rey, and two years later, Rev. Mathias left the Roman Catholic Church.

The reason for Mathias’ sudden decision can be summed up in one word: abortion.

Not that his stance is so staunchly prochoice that the issue in itself was the last straw, but that when Cristo Rey invited Roman Catholic U.S. congressman Luis Gutierrez from Chicago to come and speak immigration reform, the bishop of Austin went into orbit, according to Mathias, and asked him to disinvite the congressman because of the congressman’s position on the unrelated hot-button issue of abortion.

At that point Mathais realized he could no longer faithfully serve the Roman Catholic Church, so he took a sabbatical to complete his fourth master’s degree and doctorate. In 2012, he discovered the American Catholic Church and became Senior Pastor at Holy Family in East Austin.

It is his recent election to AISD Board of Trustees, however, that garnered national attention for Rev. Mathias. “Priest elected to public office comes out as gay; opponents demand a recount” obviously makes for a juicy headline, but in this case it’s mostly true. “My strategist told me that if I was ever going to come out, this was the time, because public office would mean public scrutiny,” Mathias recalls. “I told him to go ahead, and he called Nathan Bernier at KUT and said that it was a historic moment, that I was the first openly gay person elected to the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees. When I stood before the congregation that Sunday, the response was overwhelmingly positive and loving.”

This was a very different response than Rev. Mathias had received from his family many years earlier. As he puts it, “My father’s response was, ‘Your mother and I thought we had raised you better.’ Ouch! Too many of us, when we come out, don’t receive the responses for which we had hoped.” The Roman Catholic Church unfortunately also has a deeply conflicted stance on LGBT issues, Mathias admits, “In fact, one of the last funerals that I presided over at Cristo Rey was for the victims of a double murder in East Austin. A young woman and her mother were shot by her partner’s father; he had discovered that she was a lesbian, and that was his motive. In this case, the party line just wouldn’t cut it. I abandoned the standard script and offered direct words of comfort to their friends and family, which was tremendously freeing.”

Leaving the Roman Catholic Church for the American Catholic Church was not as large a leap of faith as most would imagine.

There have been various divisions in what originally could have been called the universal or “catholic” Christian church, the first being in 1054 when four patriarchs of the church excommunicated the fifth, the Bishop of Rome, in a dispute over the source of the Holy Spirit. The four who believed they had the “orthodox” or “right” faith, created the Eastern Orthodox Church and similar institutions that we see today. Other schisms have rocked the church, such as the formation of the Anglican Church and the Protestant Reformation, which set off a century of warfare and intrigue, but in 1870, when the Roman Catholic Church declared that the Pope was infallible (interestingly at the height of anti-Catholic sentiment in the United States), the Archbishop of Uchtrecht in the Netherlands created the Old Catholic Church in objection, and that church carries the same right of apostolic succession as the Roman Catholic Church. The American Catholic Church, as part of the Old Catholic Church, mainly differs today on the issue of infallibility as well as matters of conscience: in matters of sexual orientation and identity, along with birth control, abortion, and similar sensitive issues, the church does not position itself between the believer and the divine, instead allowing the individual to make the best decision he or she can make in any situation.

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Rev. Dr. Jayme Mathias

Although Rev. Mathias has left the Roman Catholic Church, he sees hope for change within the institution. “Sometimes Pope Francis seems more American Catholic than Roman Catholic,” he says. “It’s fascinating to watch this unfold from within the American Catholic Church. He recently said we should be careful about alienating people with our stances on single issues, like abortion, and the same bishop who wanted to cancel the immigration speech over abortion immediately issued a statement in agreement.”

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And as someone who is working to help create a new, more inclusive community than the one he left, Rev. Mathias has some advice for those whose community may not know about or understand the queer members among them. “The basic message that needs to be remembered is that we exist, that we are out there, and we represent between 4 and 13 percent of the U.S. population, and that’s just those willing to self-identify as LGBTQ. We need awareness of the fact that we are great in numbers, and that in itself poses an important spiritual question. Many religious institutions have cast a pall over issues of sex and sexuality, so the challenge is to help community members to step from the shadows and take pride in who they

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are. Many churches have stances on sex and sexuality that don’t allow members to be the authentic person who I believe God created them to be.”

In terms of theology, Mathias believes all queer and feminist theology springs from liberation theology, which is the reading and application of scripture from the perspective of an oppressed people. Although much of the Old Testament is a combination of poetry, myth, tribal law, history, and even sometimes simple record-keeping, the story of Jesus the Nazarene is inarguably one of a person (or group of people) on the fringes, not only of the Roman Empire, but also of its client kingdom of Judea, a strange backwater filled with both zealotry and cynical corruption. Despite these stifling limitations (and through the ultimate sacrifice), and regardless of whether much can be known about him except what people wrote decades after his death, he certainly managed to transcend the limits of an ordinary lifetime.

Mathias explains, “Liberation theology is looking at the experiences of the people described in scripture and our experiences today, and building bridges between them.

Father Daniel Helminiak, a former priest at Cristo Del Rey, who wrote What the Bible

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hias

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Mary Ann Barclay

Really Says about Homosexuality, which went on to become a bestseller, argues that the Bible should not, or actually cannot be taken literally: it’s not a book of history, it’s a book of theology. Take for example the story of David and Jonathan, in which ‘he loved him as his own soul;’ whether he loved Jonathan in the same sense as he loved his harem of women, their relationship presents a model for us to examine together.”

Overall, his perspective is one of overwhelming hope. “There’s good news all around! This holiday season can the big red bow on top of the gift we’ve been receiving all year long in our work toward LGBTQ equality. This year has been one piece of good news after another; just look how many states have recognized marriage equality, or are working on it right now.

I truly believe we are at a tipping point in history, and one day we’ll be looking back and thinking ‘I remember when people were not allowed to celebrate their love for one another.’ Children see us as pioneers.”

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Mary Ann Barclay is also breaking the mold for America’s largest mainline Protestant denomination, the United Methodist Church.

Having grown up in Pensacola, Florida from birth to college, her growth and education took some surprising turns. Her upbringing involved an unusual arrangement, attending

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a Methodist church with her mother, but attending a Catholic church on family occasions with her father. In high school, however, Barclay started attending a nondenominational church, called Calvary Chapel, which was a very narrowly bible-based evangelical conservative fundamentalist model. It was there that she first felt called to service, and it was there that she was told by the youth director that as a woman, she had no future in the ministry.

Later, studying at the University of West Florida, Barclay came to understand the structures and processes that shape our experiences, even though relatively few other Pensacola citizens were so politically conscious, but it was the year she spent in Nigeria that gave her the language to communicate and understand these issues.

Teaching seminary classes and assisting with an HIV/AIDS program, she began to overlay her understanding of faith and politics, and when she returned to the states to start seminary, she found that many theologians consider progressive values inherent to their theology. “It was a liberation for me,” she says. “I wasn’t out yet, but as a woman with an interest in social justice, I was able to start forming a language about faith and politics.”

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clay

This language reflects that of Rev. Dr. Mathias: “It’s all based on the understanding that throughout biblical history, those doing the interpretation and writing were presumably straight men, writing for other straight men. The scriptures aren’t necessarily feminist themselves in most cases, but they are sometimes touched by an understanding of sexism that can be seen from a certain perspective. For example, the average male scholar has always interpreted the David and Bathsheba story as a woman’s seduction, but a woman might read the text carefully and see David coercing her through his power.”

Two years into seminary, two of Barclay’s friends came out of the closet. It was a brave move, considering the community within seminary is overwhelmingly made up of straight men. She began to question whether she was just a great ally, or might she just be really repressed. With the understanding she had come into, and with the examples made by her friends, Barclay was able to find the strength to come out, and together with them began to change the culture of the school. They put together a gay-straight alliance, the school went from having one or two out gay and lesbian students to having a dozen by her senior year.

After graduation, Barclay came to Austin to work as a youth minister for University United Methodist Church. She made a point to be out to everyone during the hiring process, and assumed that because church policy forbids the ordination of a self-avowed, practicing homosexual, she would not be hired. “When I reached an important vote with the local committee, being out to all of them, I was certain that the path I was on would end that day. The fact that I was an out and partnered lesbian made my ordination strictly against the rules,” she says. “Since they didn’t ask me whether I was practicing my lesbianism, they technically weren’t breaking a rule, because they can’t assume, but they were still taking a risk when they voted to accept me into the ministry.”

This January, Barclay was scheduled to meet with the Southwest Texas Conference, a panel which was to decide whether to confirm or deny the local council’s decision. However, before her interview, under political pressure, the group met and voted to remove her before the scheduled interview. The bishop, the highest authority in the conference, declined to rule on whether this action was appropriate

or legal within the Church’s framework, which led to the recent decision of the Judicial Council, the national body set up as the highest authority within the United Methodist Church. In October, that council gave the bishop 60 days to decide whether the local conference acted appropriately or must reconsider its decision. Despite her precarious situation, she recognizes the difficulty of the bishop’s decision: “If he lets them kick me out without due process, he’ll be seen as anti- gay, but if he doesn’t, he’ll be seen as a pro- gay activist, and neither is especially good for his position as neutral arbiter. People don’t realize that this decision is about procedure; they just see ‘lesbian,’ so his decision is more difficult."

The bishop ruled that the group had not followed proper procedure.

The story has garnered a variety of feedback, including some particularly nasty blog posts and discussions on the web from the extreme right wing of the Church. “I can really laugh at it, because it’s so extreme and out of touch,” Barclay says.

“I’ve gotten less hate mail and pushback than I expected, considering the publicity around this.” Although considering the local culture, she doesn’t expect the bishop to rule in her favor, the national council will review his decision again in April, both of which she sees as important: the national discussion is ongoing and needs a catalyst for the denomination to move forward, and the discussion is all but ignored at the local level. Barclay is optimistic, saying “Pretty much every mainline denomination has a safe space for LGBT constituents; Presbyterians do, some Lutherans do, certain strains of Baptists do, and hopefully soon the United Methodists will.”

Despite the ongoing struggle, Barclay finds strength in her own congregation.

“They show me what church is supposed to be about, and that includes the LGBT people who show up, week after week, because the church is doing that makes the denomination’s behavior bearable. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be able to stand up to the denomination, but what they’re creating is worth fighting for. I’m so glad to be in a community that has enough faith to not be scared of people for being different, and to ask instead ‘What can I learn from people who are different from me? How can I see God in them? What does that teach me about who God is?’ Those are the questions with the power to heal.”

All that’s left to say to these two spiritual leaders is: Preach!

AU STIN GAY & L E SB IAN

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Our LGBTQ Nonprofit Landscape

By Edgar Gierbolini, AGLCC Nonprofit Membership In 2009, Greenlights nonprofits management consultants released a report that showed Austin as having over 6000+ nonprofits in our Metropolitan Statistical Area, or to put it in plain English: more organizations per capita than any other city in the Southwest. Since then, Central Texas has weathered a recession, but our nonprofit landscape remains similar to what it was in ’09. Just like the wide variety of people in our vibrant city, our nonprofit sector is dynamic and reflects quite an array. This array, of course, includes our LGBTQ nonprofits.

Some of these organizations evolved from the early days of the AIDS crisis, while others formed seeking equal treatment under the law. These members of our Chamber do everything from promote marriage and gender equality, to foster camaraderie through good sportsmanship, and to expand our cultural barriers through film, dance, and performance art.

The AGLCC is proud to have partnered with many of these groups: Bonds are strengthened with AIDS Services of Austin with each year’s AIDS Walk. The Long Center and Austin Symphony show they are part of our team by curating fantastic events aimed at welcoming LGBTQ audiences. The Care Communities leveraged many AGLCC members to produce its most successful fundraising gala to date. And Polari invited members to continue the mission of their inclusive, internationally heralded film festival.

The Chamber looks forward to fostering even greater partnerships with these and other nonprofit organizations that provide unique opportunities for individuals and businesses to combine their energy, talents, and resources for community improvement and enrichment.

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ON BEHALF OF OUR COM

AND THE LGBT NONPROFIT ME A*FAB Austin

Austin LGBT Bar Association

allgo - a statewide queer people of color organization

Austin Roundup Austin Tennis Club

The American Military Partner Association (AMPA) Austin Chamber Music Center Austin Community College - GayStraight Alliance Austin Gamblers Bowling League Austin Gay & Lesbian Senior Services (Family Eldercare)

Austin Weird City Sisters Bobcat Pride Scholarship Fund Capital City Men’s Chorus Equality Texas Faith Presbyterian Church

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Lo

Lone

Gathering Place Worship Center Gay Straight Alliance Warriors

Austin Gay and Lesbian Pride Foundation

Hill Country Ride for AIDS

Austin Gay Basketball League

Jewish Community

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Human Rights Campaign

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Sa

R COMMUNITY PARTNERS

OFIT MEMBERS OF THE AGLCC

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nd

ter

ors

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Association of Austin

Softball Austin

Legalize Human

Stonewall Democrats of Austin

Lesbian & Gay Peace Officers Association

Team Prohomo

Life in the City service at First United Methodist Church Log Cabin Republicans of Austin Lone Star Lambdas Square Dance Club OutCast Austin OutYouth PFLAG Austin Project Transitions San Antonio LGBT Chamber of Commerce

Texas Advocacy Project Texas Gay Rodeo Association Texas Mamma Jamma Ride Transgender Education Network of Texas The United Court of Austin, Inc. University Baptist Church UT Austin - GBSA The GLBTQA Business Student Association Volleyball Austin Waterloo Counseling Center

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FEET FIRST PRIDE SOCKS’ RACHEL SMITH EARNS HER STRIPES

WRITTEN BY ANDY CAMPBELL PHOTOS BY DEVAKI KNOWLES When Gilbert Baker designed the first rainbow gay pride flag in 1978, he was responding to a deep-seated need for queer iconography. Of course, the gay liberation movement, which was putting on muscle faster than a skinny kid on whey protein, already had the lambda, the pink triangle, and those intertwined gender symbols in their visual arsenal. But the rainbow – which campily alluded to Judy Garland’s famous croon and hippie pacifist sentiments equally – seemed to be a representative image for a movement. And if you know anything about vexillography (the design of flags, natch!), you know that they often come heavily laden with symbolic content. Baker’s original eight (that’s right, eight) stripes represented the gamut of queer values: from sex to spirituality, from life to magic.

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Now, 35 years on, the rainbow is more ubiquitous than specific – double rainbows notwithstanding. And perhaps it’s time to reassess such a storied affiliation; assuming that LGBTQ folks have a lot to teach the world around them, wouldn’t a great export be our most fabulous symbol?

Rachel Smith, founder and owner of Pride Socks (which sells more than socks), thinks so, and wants to bring the message of pride to the populace at large. We caught up with Smith as she and her partner were about to leave for a much-needed transatlantic vacay. In the interview that follows, Smith elucidates on her entrepreneurial ethos, and why she’s glad no one gave her any advice.

Andy Campbell: I know a bit about your company’s founding, and that it’s connected to your brother, Ivan Smith, who began a sock company for skaters, Skatersocks.

How did the initial conversation happen with your brother about Pride Socks?

Rachel Smith: Well, let me back up a little bit. There are five kids in my family, and both my parents are deaf. Deaf people generally live with some form of assistance. We were very lucky in that my father worked for the post office, but we were very, very poor. We all shared socks. I didn’t have any nice socks

when I was little, most had holes in them.

But as we grew older, we all became freaks about our socks, not in the sense of which sibling could wear the craziest socks, but in terms of being territorial. “These are my socks, and don’t you touch them.” So my brother started the skating sock company about 10 years ago, and he was the first company to bring the tube sock back. I was teaching high school at the time and – most teachers work a second job to make a living – I was also serving tables. I asked my brother if I could do sales for his company, because I wanted to be done serving. One day my brother said to me, “Rachel, do your own thing.” And I was like, “What? That’s a challenge! Alright! I’ll do my own thing!” So we came up with the domain name and concept, and some designs, and flew out to the manufacturer three weeks later. That’s how the ball got rolling.

But I knew by starting Pride Socks, I would quit teaching. And if I was going to quit teaching, I needed to create a brand. Being a teacher is about giving of yourself – and I knew that if I wanted to have a sock brand, I wanted something I could be proud of.

In that regard, Pride Socks is a very inclusive company; we’re very open and we don’t exclude anyone, so we try to stay away

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from anything that’s political. I don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable, on whatever side of the fence they may be. And it’s not that Pride Socks won’t fight for this cause or that cause, but if you’re a full on rightwing Christian, and you’re proud of that – then that’s what we are proud of. We want you to be proud of what you are doing, as long as you are making positive changes in the community.

AC: How would you describe your experiences as a teacher? What did you teach?

RS: I taught special education for 10 years, and no matter what class, where I was, if I were to ask a group of students to write about the worst day of their lives, they could write pages for me. These are kids who you’d otherwise have to bend over backwards for, just to get them to write a sentence for you. Yet the minute I asked them to write about the best day of their lives, something positive… crickets…

AC: They got stuck.

RS: And after 10 years of that, it got depressing. I wanted to build something around positivity. You can make an impact at the high school level with students, and that’s important, but I wanted to take that positivity global. At heart, I’m a social motivator.

AC: Did you import any other skills from being a teacher for all those years?

RS: Oh, yes! Flexibility. If I had an angry kid in the classroom, I had to figure out how to get him laughing or calm within five minutes.

I was good at that. I don’t know how I did it, but I did. [laughs] Or you think you have a plan for the day and a student has a meltdown…

AC: …and all of a sudden, the plan is very different.

RS: That forced me to look at things from 20 different angles. You might see something black, and they might see it as blue, so you have to compromise, which is another important skill – communication, and working with others to see the positive. It’s a kind of manipulation, but not in the bad sense of the term.

AC: Were you an athlete growing up?

RS: Not really, but I started running in the 10th grade. I was a tomboy. I didn’t know I had a running talent. My sister began running, and I started to run with her. But I was running circles around her! She told me

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I needed to join the cross-country team; I did, and excelled. That kind of belief was a revelation, because my parents were raised in boarding schools. Deaf people in their generation didn’t really have parents, but instead were raised by teachers. My coaches had that kind of impact on me, instilling what it meant to believe in myself.

AC: I’m wondering if the interest in tube socks came out of your relationship with athletic culture?

RS: Yes, it is connected to that. But the primary connection to the tube socks was really a branch from what my brother was doing. Broadly, tube socks are really about American culture. They fit in sports, in fashion, across the board. It’s about keeping that American pop culture alive.

AC: You’ve made all kinds of products out of the same concept – that baby swaddle is possibly one of the most adorable things I’ve ever seen. It’s a baby in a giant sock!

RS: Yeah [laughs] isn’t it awesome? I love it, I love it! And that’s the plan – to branch out with so many more products as the company grows.

AC: Can you talk about the beginnings of the “Proudest Moments” blog? That seems to be an integral part of your brand – like an “It Gets Better” campaign but one that’s not specifically LGBTQ focused.

RS: Pride Socks has many folds to it.

Stereotypically, people look at the rainbow and think, “Oh, that’s gay. Is that a gay sock?” and my response is, “If you’re gay, and you’re proud, then yeah, it’s a gay sock.”

But really we’re proud of whoever you are. If you’ve struggled as a single mom, and you work two jobs, raise two kids and find time to go to school – be proud of that! Continue to be a great mom. The beginning of the “Proudest Moments” campaign happened as I was riding my bike around town, six or seven months after I started the company.

I needed something to bridge that connection for people, to communicate that Pride Socks is inclusive of everyone. When I created the blog, I saw it as that bridge.

AC: It’s interesting, because it takes something in the LGBTQ visual lexicon, the rainbow, and broadly applies it.

RS: We can take that same concept into corporate culture. I really want to support LGBT in Chase Bank – they’re a huge movement within the company – so if they’re holding some kind of event, I would like to take our brand into their event and ask, “What’s your proudest moment

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working for Chase?” Or we could take our concept to a 5K: what got you started running? What’s your proudest moment around running?

AC: That seems to give everyone a stake in the conversation about pride. Actually, I read on your blog about your recent participation in Louisville’s 5K Pride run. You had all the participants in Pride Socks…

RS: Oh my god! In the past, I had approached several 5K directors, and I kept getting shot down. So the director of Louisville’s 5K found me and approached me in Chicago, and told me what he had in mind – everyone in Pride Socks – and I was ecstatic. In that 5K there were about 450 runners, and everyone had the socks on. And just the look, the presence of, so many people wearing Pride Socks at the same time put me on cloud nine for a good long while. The whole idea is to celebrate individuality within a common cause, and people really bought into it. At my booth in Louisville’s Pride festival, people who had participated earlier in the run kept coming up to tell me how much fun it was. I smiled for days. I’m going to take that concept and fight for more cities.

AC: I’m wondering if there are any surprises in the way the brand has been received in all of the places you’ve been?

RS: I can specifically talk about the difference in going to Pride celebrations from day one of my company to today.

Seeing the amount of straight allies increase and grow has been amazing.

AC: So that’s been noticeable to you?

RS: Absolutely. I travel all around the United

States, and I’ve probably been to about 20 different Prides. Just to see that number of allies grow in the last three and a half years has been astronomical. It’s been surprising.

When I’ve gone to straight-specific events – this goes back to the point I made earlier about the rainbow, that we’ve been brainwashed to associate the rainbow with gay-related causes – the older generation often come up and tell me stories about

how their perceptions have changed.

They’ll buy the socks, and they’ll tell me it’s because they “love everyone!” I hear story after story after story, and I love that.

AC: You’ve obviously built a successful brand, and a model for a new venture. So I have to ask: What’s something you wish someone had told you before you embarked upon owning your own business?

RS: That’s a really good question, and my immediate response is that I’m almost glad no one gave me advice. Had I known how hard this journey could be, I might not have done it. Hitting every wall and climbing over it, gave me the energy to hit the next milestone. That’s probably not what you’re looking for, but…

AC: No, that’s a beautiful, honest answer.

RS: But if I were to expand on that, my advice would be this: If you have a vision and a passion for something, someone, or a movement, follow your gut and run with it. It will be hard, and you will face challenges along the way, but if you stay focused on what your purpose is, you will overcome those challenges, and the fight is completely worth every minute of it. The opportunities, adventures, and the endless learning is what makes it all worth it.

AU STIN GAY & L E SB IAN

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BITTER HEARTS RUN FREE

TAMICKA PHILLIPS PUTS THE SPUNK IN PUNK

WRITTEN BY SARAH MARLOFF // PHOTO BY RAPHAEL UMSCHEID 32 agenda-v2n2-printer.indd 32

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N

othing feels more punk rock than walking through the dimly lit hallways of a practice space after a long and sleep-deprived Halloween weekend. Fitting that today’s interview with Austin’s pop punk band, Bitter Heart Society, takes place here.

Upon entering the trio’s soundproofed room I’m greeted with smiles and headnods from every direction. It’s a delightful, if unexpected image of what punk rock, or at least this serving of punk rock, looks like in Austin, 2013.

By definition, punk has always been about the outsiders. A musical genre birthed from a subculture of misfits and rabble-rousers – or vice versa. In punk they found a home, or at least a place to squat for the night. With its roots deep in an antiestablishment agenda, it is no wonder that many a queer has also taken sanctuary under punk’s umbrella.

Tamicka Phillips is one such dissenter, in love with rock & roll ever since she was a kid. “Being the black rock & roll girl on the inside was always my dirty little secret,” she admits. “I remember in eighth grade, these skater dudes I knew slipped me a Megadeth tape on a fieldtrip like they were selling me drugs. It was very covert.” Phillips laughs.

The Bitter Heart Society front-woman, Phillips is the glue that put the band together.

From her seat on the floor, where she has been energetically reordering the setlist for their show at Cheer Up Charlie’s just two days away, she tells me about the band’s formation. Everything started when Phillips played a song she’d written and recorded on GarageBand software for her bass instructor, Chris Crossland.

“He told me I should start a band, but I was like, ‘No. No. I’m too shy. I can’t play in front of people!’” Fast-forward through six months of this ongoing back-and-forth between teacher and student. Finally, Phillips approached her friend Julie “Jules” Shipp.

“I brought some songs over to her house and basically told her ‘I have all these songs, so I think I’m going to start a band,’ and I asked if she wanted to play bass.” she remembers.

“So we’d practice these songs, but we wanted a girl drummer and couldn’t find one…” (“or any drummer, for that matter,” adds Shipp). It took another year, and Shipp switching to the drums, before they found a woman in January 2012 to complete their threesome, bass player Elizabeth Jackson, of the beloved and late-lamented Darling New Neighbors.

As a fully formed trio, their music is a mix of pop punk energy, and Sex Pistols chord pounding, and pre-Riot Grrl sass. The role of songwriter is split between Shipp, who writes the “queer, gender-focused, political songs,” explains Phillips. “And I write all the emo songs.” The band name Bitter Heart Society begins to make sense.

Phillips believes that many of her tracks share a similar theme, being: “I have a crush on you, but you don’t like me… and you’re a racist.” While she delivers lines like this in her sing-songy, sometimes child-like voice, it does pack a punch.

It’s no secret that Austin is a predominantly white city. According to the 2010 Census, only eight percent of the city’s population is African-American. As local journalist Joshunda Sanders recently wrote in her blog about leaving Austin: “I feel a hypervisible invisibility in Austin.” Sanders elaborates, “polite racism is still racism, and because black people with brown skin in particular are unable to pass as anything but, I would argue that people hear most often from us about bias in Austin and Texas because there is no way to blend in or avoid the subject.”

But when asked to elaborate on how Phillips – as the lead singer – is received by BHS’s audience, her answer is simple. “I haven’t gotten any negative feedback about being a black female in a punk band, not around Austin. Maybe because I heard a lot about not being ‘black enough’ while growing up, but I rarely notice anything like that now. So if there are people out there with a negative attitude,” Phillips shrugs. “Haters gon’ hate.”

But don’t be fooled by her good nature, race and politics still play out in Phillips’ writing.

“Some songs come from things that piss

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me off. I wrote ‘Justice’ after the shooting of Trayvon Martin, and all those politicians thinking they have a right to negotiate the activities of my uterus. As a black woman in America,” she pauses. “We just have shit coming from every direction.”

On the lighter side, Phillips’ other songs are inspired by her crushes, or sometimes just cute passers-by. “It’s mostly unrequited as I’m too shy and awkward to bust a move on anyone, ever. Like the song ‘Mystery Girl.’ I wrote it about this cute girl I met one night, and nobody seemed to know her. Perfect.

Until I came across her again a couple of months later. Then it was just awkward and less magical,” says Phillips. “And maybe a little bit creepy.

For her. I was the creepy one.

So yeah, my mack game is on the negative end of the spectrum.”

In fact, Phillips in convinced she is the least desired lead singer/guitarist alive.

“There should be a documentary made on this phenomenon.

Julie and Elizabeth are the crush receivers in this band. I get no play because of it.”

About nine songs into their practice, Phillips abruptly stops playing, a look of confusion on her face. “This happens – I forget how all the songs start.” The band mulls over the lyrics for a few moments. From behind the drumset, Shipp cracks open a Coors Light, and soon they decide to “come back to it.”

34

Apparently this is nothing new for Bitter Heart Society, and pretty par for the course of a genre that offers welcome respite from the tight control of perfect pop. Phillips – who knocked on wood while admitting this – believes that forgetting song lyrics is the most embarrassing moment they’ve yet to have on stage. “I guess it’s awkward every time I forget lyrics to a song, but the remix defense seems to work, and it’s happened so much that I’m almost used to it. We are unphased by fuck-ups, because even those are well rehearsed.”

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During BHS’s first outing at the Mohawk this past October Phillips simply stopped playing when she forgot how one song started.

Luckily, that same endearing naivety of hers pulled them through. “It was awkward, but everyone had a giggle, and then on with the show.”

Listening to the trio’s banter during short interludes from playing affirms how well they meld together. During one pause in the music, Shipp informs me that while Phillips is a lady-lover, she’s got a soft spot for a redhaired, Irish farmer. The character is fictional, but Phillips swears she’d pick up and move to Ireland faster than a Descendents song in double-time if she could.

“Everyone who knows me knows that I have an obsession with Ireland,” laughs Phillips.

“It’s beautiful with really nice people, and I’m convinced that all the happiness I want in the world could be found in one Irish husband to marry me – so I can legally live there forever,” she adds quickly.

“Then I could also get A Sheep Named Larry.”

Not just Larry, but A Sheep Named Larry. One can’t help but imagine a Disney – albeit punk rock Disney – princess with a lamb as her four-legged sidekick.

But Bitter Heart Society is a bit too crass for Disney. The opening riff of “Done with Whores,” for example, shares a similar sound with the Misfit’s “Saturday Night.” It’s no wonder that they’re one of many bands that Phillips cites as her influences. Others include the Ramones, Bikini Kill, and the Queers. But her heart truly belongs to the Descendents.

“They sing songs about girls, completely unashamed and not interested in filling this super macho stereotype,” explains Phillips.

“Basically, I listen to lots of different stuff and love it for different reasons. I think that’s why our songs are here and there. Some are super happy, some are a little burlier.”

12/13/2013 2:29:25 PM

But Phillips is the only one in BHS who specifically claims punk roots. She credits MTV shows like Headbangers Ball and 120 Minutes for laying the groundwork, but says she didn’t identify punk as a specific genre until she was 18.

“Luckily Jules and Elizabeth like the music I write enough to play shows with me. I think Julie might have listened to a little bit of punk – the Ramones maybe. But her tastes run more in line with The Pixies and Elastica.”

While Jackson is a self-taught bass player and is known in Austin for her way with an accordion, Shipp went to school for music and is well-versed on both the drums and bass. Before joining forces with Phillips, Shipp played in Designer Genes, but BHS is her first foray into playing punk rock. “When we first started playing together, I kept telling her to drum faster,” laughs Phillips.

It’s clear that BHS is a mishmash of subcultures and coteries. Two of the three members check off the queer box and yet their biggest fans (other than their friends, who Phillips says are “obligated” to like them) are straight, white, cis-gendered males. “We get a lot of positive feedback

from that demographic. But we’ve never had any issues arise about us being women and queer.”

In typical punk-rock fashion, BHS is not elitist when it comes to venues. “We’ll play house parties,” says Phillips. “We just want to play.” But when they played GayBiGayGay, Austin’s huge, outdoor, end-of-SXSW queerapalooza in March, 2012, the band unofficially declared: “We made it!”

“We played first, so no one really saw us except our friends, but we were still so excited,” muses Phillips. “GayBi is an amazing mystical thing, and it was our first time playing as a three-piece in public.”

As practice comes to end, it’s clear that BitterHeart Society is in it for the long haul.

That is, unless an Irish farmer or an Australian girl comes to sweep Phillips off her feet.

“Oh, the Australian girl,” Phillips reminisces at Shipp’s reminder. “I met her in a local pub in Ireland. The evening started with one pint and ended in utter shenanigans. It was great.

She was simultaneously something … and something else.”

AU STIN GAY & L E SB IAN

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AU ST IN G AY & LE S BIA N

A directory of current AGLCC members

ENTERTAINMENT

HUMMINGBIRD HOUSE Not your garden variety event venue.

512/614-1953, hhouseaustin.com

CIVIC

THE IRON BEAR When the teddy bears leave the picnic, they hit up A*FAB Help for fellow nonprofits. their favorite party spot. 121 W. Eighth, afabaustin.com roger@theironbear.com, theironbear.com ACC GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE KAREN2 BARTENDERS EXTRAORDINAIRE 254/338-5688, facebook.com/accgsa Let these mobile bartenders take AUSTIN CHAMBER MUSIC CENTER care of your next party. 512/537-1789, AIDS SERVICES OF AUSTIN HIV/AIDS Expanding appreciation of chamber bartenders-extraordinaire.com music. 3814 Medical Pkwy, 512/454care in Austin. 7215 Cameron, 512/4580026, austinchambermusic.org 2437, asaustin.org LONE STAR LAMBDAS Boot scoot on over for a good time. 512/418-1629, ALLGO Statewide resource for LGBTQ AUSTIN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA The high art part of the Live Music Capital lonestarlambdas.org people of color. 512/472-2001, allgo.org of the Planet. austinsymphony.org THE LONG CENTER Home of Austin’s AUSTIN ART IN PUBLIC PLACES creative community. 512/474-5664, Local & national artists imbue Austin BRASS HOUSE AUSTIN Lounge thelongcenter.org near the Convention Center. into cultural landmarks. austintexas.gov/ 115 San Jacinto, 512/649-1253, department/art-in-public-places NJ PHOTOGRAPHS Capturing the brasshouseaustin.com essence of life, love, culture, and art.

AUSTIN GAY & LESBIAN CHAMBER 208/389-8152, njphotographs@gmail.

CAPITAL CITY MENS CHORUS. OF COMMERCE Austin’s colorful com, pinterest.com/njphotographs31 512/477-SING, info@ccmcaustin.org, rainbow umbrella for gay-owned and ccmcaustin.org gay-friendly businesses. 512/761-LGBT, OILCAN HARRY’S Made Fourth Street info@aglcc.org, aglcc.org what it is today.

Fag/fag-hag CELEBRATIONS EVENT PLANNING HQ. 211 W. Fourth, 512/320-8823, Complete event planning for all of AUSTIN GAY & LESBIAN PRIDE oilcanharrys.com life’s celebrations. 512/567-7875, FOUNDATION Austin + Pride You = The planningcelebrations.com LGBTQ community’s biggest party, PARAMOUNT & STATE THEATRES fest, and parade of the year.

Premiere entertainment venues THE CITY THEATRE COMPANY New 512/468-8113, austinpride.org in downtown Austin.

713 Congress, works, comedies, classics, and musicals.

512/472-5470, austintheatre.org AUSTIN GAY & LESBIAN SENIOR 3823 Airport, Ste.D, 512/524-2870, SERVICES To ensure everyone’s golden citytheatreaustin.org PREMIERE PARTY CENTRAL Rentals for years are rainbow hued. 512/628-1694, tenting, specialty linens, glassware, CONNECTATX Creative agency that aglss.org specializes in video production and flatware, decor. 512/292-3900 or brand development. connectatx.com 512/870-8552, austinpartycentral.com AMERICAN MILITARY PARTNER ASSOCIATION Drop and give us 20 SHOWLISTAUSTIN.COM A list of can’t- (hugs for partners and spouses DEEP STACK POKER CLUB Austin’s miss shows in Central Texas. premiere free poker league. of LGBTQ service personnel and 512/484-4708, showlistaustin.com facebook.com/Deep-Stack-Poker-Club vets). Ten hut! 202/695-AMPA (2672), militarypartners.org STARBUCK WEDDINGS Minister, DJS FINE & DANDY W/ KATE & ANDY officiant, counselor. 512/906100% local, 100% loungey, 100% vinyl AUSTIN LGBT BAR ASSOCIATION 0163, info@starbuckweddings.com, chill. 512/217-9223, facebook.com/ Working to promote and unite the sacredaffairs.com djsfinedandywithkateandy LGBT legal community in the often byzantine realm of law. austinlgbtbar.org STEVEN TOMLINSON Business educator DEPARTURE LOUNGE Upscale, high-tech and coach. steven@abporter.org, coffee and wine bar/travel agency.

AUSTIN POLICE ASSOCIATION Standing abporter.org 311 W. Fifth, Ste.102, 512/322-9399, in solidarity with the thin LGBT blue departurelounge.com line. 512/474-6993, austinpolice.com URBAN BARTENDERS, LLC Hire them for your next affair.

AUSTIN ROUNDUP Sobriety in the 512/206-4450, UrbanBartenders.com LGBTQIATX. austinroundup.com 3 OR LESS PRODUCTIONS New, local visual media production company.

512/897-7304, contact@3orless.com, 3orless.com

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AUSTIN WEIRD CITY SISTERS Like real HILL COUNTRY RIDE FOR AIDS nuns, these sisses are all about the Late-April charity bike ride. service (and the getting down on the 512/371-7433, hillcountryride.org knees….). weirdcitysisters.wordpress.com HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN – AUSTIN BOBCAT PRIDE SCHOLARSHIP FUND Steering committee of the national Support for our LGBTQ Texas Staters. organization. hrc.org/states/texas Go, Bobcats! bobcatpridescholarship.com JEWISH COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION THE CARE COMMUNITIES Caring for OF AUSTIN Where Jewish living and those living with HIV/AIDS and cancer. learning can thrive. 7300 Hart Lane, 512/459-5883, thecarecommunities.org shalomaustin.org

THE OCTOPUS CLUB Raising the big bucks through fab parties for AIDS Services of Austin. www.octopusclub.org

EQUALITY TEXAS Our front line at the Texas Lege. 512/474-5475, allison@ equalitytexas.org, equalitytexas.org

POLARI - THE AUSTIN GAY & LESBIAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Founded in 1987. 512/302-9889, polarifest.com

FAITH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 1314 E. Oltorf, 512/444-1314 faithpresaustin.org

LEGALIZE HUMAN Envisioning a society where people are equal in all aspects of life. 512/659-6617, legalize.human@ gmail.com, facebook.com/legalize.human

LESBIAN & GAY PEACE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION Supporting LGBT sworn, civilian, and retired members of the GATHERING PLACE WORSHIP CENTER Austin Police Department. lgpoa-austin.

Bible-believing, Christ-centered, spirit- org filled church. 7801 N Lamar, 512/3239501 www.gpwcaustin.org LIFE IN THE CITY SERVICE Broadway fills us up when we didn’t even know we were GAY STRAIGHT ALLIANCE WARRIORS empty. 512/478-5684, fumcaustin.org Texas A&M’s GSA 1001 Leadership, Killeen, 254/501-5874 LIFEWORKS Helping youth and families achieve self-sufficiency. 3700 S. First, GLBTQA BUSINESS STUDENT 512/735-2400, lifeworksaustin.org ASSOCIATION What do you have in your wallet? A stash of $3 bills, we bet. LOG CABIN REPUBLICANS OF AUSTIN texasgbsa.com Austin’s chapter. 512/428-5475

OUT YOUTH Support for our LGBTQ (or questioning) kids. 909 E. 49 1/2, 512/419-1233, out@outyouth.org, outyouth.org PFLAG AUSTIN Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays 512/302-3524, PFLAGAustin.org

PROJECT TRANSITIONS Serving Austin’s HIV/AIDS community.

512/454-8646, projecttransitions.org RAINFOREST PARTNERSHIP Tropical rainforest sustainability through civic engagement. rainforestpartnership.org

TEAM PR the wee excellen www.tea

TRANSG OF TEXA about g info@tra

THE UN Providin to other unitedco

UNIVER worship voice of 8559, ub

SAN ANTONIO LGBT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Where LGBT and LGBTfriendly biz concerns in SA meet. sagaychamber.com

WATERL Austin’s support 314 E. H 9922, wa

STONEWALL DEMOCRATS OF AUSTIN The Austin affiliate of the National Stonewall Democratic Federation, stonewallaustin.org

YOUTH program family. 3 lifeworks

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TEXAS A legal ser violence 800/374

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TEXAS ADVOCACY PROJECT Free legal services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

800/374-4673, texasadvocacyproject.org

DESIGN & MEDIA

TEAM PROHOMO The beasts behind ALT CREATIVE Philanthropic design the weekly Queer Ride and other most firm. 512/535-0444, info@alt-creative. excellent Austin adventures. com, alt-creative.com www.teamprohomo.org APROPOS PROMO Swaggy promotions TRANSGENDER EDUCATION NETWORK suited to your specific needs. 10601 FM OF TEXAS Educating the State of Texas 2222 Ste R-163, 512/241-1479, 888/705about gender diversity. 877/532-6789, 2522, apropospromo.com info@transtexas.org, transtexas.org THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE Free THE UNITED COURT OF AUSTIN, INC. alt-newsweekly. Home of the “Gay Providing financial and physical support Place” column and blog. 512/454-5766, to other charitable organizations. austinchronicle.com/gay unitedcourtofaustin.org BLOGPHILO NEW MEDIA Copywriting, UNIVERSITY BAPTIST CHURCH Come filmmaking, and social media worship with “Austin’s progressive consulting. 512/516-5544, brian.boyko@ voice of faith.” 2130 Guadalupe, 512/478- gmail.com, blogphilo.com 8559, ubcaustin.org BUMPERACTIVE Custom stickers and WATERLOO COUNSELING CENTER decals of all kinds . 8711 Burnet, Ste A-4, Austin’s nonprofit hub for LGBTQ 512/465-9306, bumperactive.com support and support groups.

314 E. Highland Mall Blvd., #301, 512/444- MELISSA CHA MEDIA Video, 9922, waterloocounseling.org photography, and editing services.

650/504-6431, melissacha.com YOUTH & FAMILY ALLIANCE Lifeworks’ program focuses on youth and CHERICO CREATIVE And we mean family. 3700 S. First, 512/735-2400, creative. jonn@chericocreative.com, lifeworksaustin.org chericocreative.com

FUN LOVING PHOTOS Count on Devaki Knowles to capture your good side.

512/298-9249, devakiknowles@gmail. com, funlovingphotos.net FLYINGDOGDESIGN Top dog David Carroll boasts 140 dog years of experience. 512/914-1270, david@ flyingdogdesign.com, flyingdogdesign.com GAY PLACE ONLINE Steer here, queers, for all things gay in the gAyTX. 512/4545766, gayplace@austinchronicle.com, austinchronicle.com/gay KILLER DESIGN TX Interior design for a complete graphic image makeover. rick@killerdesigntx.com, killerdesigntx.com L STYLE G STYLE 512/443-3663, alisa@ lstylegstyle.com, lstylegstyle.com OUTCAST, KOOP 91.7FM Tune your FM to 91.7 every Tuesday at 6pm. info@ outcast.com, outcastaustin.com POSTNET - FAR WEST For all your printy needs. 3571 Far West, 512/231-1321, postnet.com/austin-tx157 PROSOCIAL MEDIA COACHING & MARKETING Social media and marketing strategies. 979/229-3157, brad@prosocialmediacoach.com

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THEREPUBLIQ Chase Martin is the man JOHNS & WILKINSON LLC This crew STRATEGIC PAYMENT SYSTEMS Fullabout A-town’s gay-town. 512/200-3040, can sort your business and personal service and cost effective solutions info@therepubliq.com, therepubliq.com stress. 512/445-2800 for payment needs. 2013 Wells Branch, 512/807-7015, spsinfo.com SHWEIKI MEDIA Heavy-duty industry MASSMUTUAL SOUTHWEST Help with publishers for all your gloss and matte decisions for long-term financial TITLEMAX Getting you the most needs. 512/480-0860, shweiki.com success. 512/527-0671, southwest. bill$ for your car title since 1998. massmutual.com 8505 Springdale, 512/605-6037, ricky.

SOUL MATTERS MEDIA GROUP guerrero@titlemax.biz, titlemax.biz INTERNATIONAL A select company NAPKIN VENTURE Ever scribbled your where soul matters. 512/476-8999, brilliant business plan down on a TROVENA INVESTMENT ADVISORS fjonesesq@gmail.com napkin? This venture group can assist. Retirement planning, tax planning, 611 S. Congress Ste 340 , 512/922-2511, and investment services. 512/445SITE STREET From the ABCs of SEO to www.napkinventure.com 2800, kermit.johns@trovena.com, crossing the Ts and dotting the Is of trovena.com your web presence. 3009 N. Lamar Ste 3, NEW YORK LIFE Life and longterm care 832-8383, sitestreet.com nsurance, annuities, and mutual funds. VISA INC. Global payments tech aeford@ft.newyorklife.com company. www.visa.com BRENDA THOMPSON COMMUNICATIONS Providing strategic public relations NP FINANCIAL Individual and small WELLS FARGO HOME MORTGAGE counsel services 512/461-5644, businesses insurance. 512/567Steven Parrish, private mortgage brendathompson.com 0681, n.pastuhov1@gmail.com, banker. 512/703-0333, steven.parrish@ bestinsurancecheap.com wellsfargo.com, needamortgage.com TRESAL PHOTOGRAPHY Look your very best. 512/739-8718, carlos@ PHILIP OLSON, FINANCIAL ADVISOR, XPRESSCPA PLLC Fast. affordable. tresalphotography.com, facebook.com/ NEW ENGLAND FINANCIAL sustainable. consulting and tax tresalphotography Specializing in planning for artists, services 512/696-1457, Joseph@ creatives, and LGBT couples and XpressCPA.com, XpressCPA.com TRUE-FM ONLINE LGBT RADIO Texas families. 6300 Bee Cave, Bldg 2, Ste.400, LGBTQ music, talk, news. truefmonline.com 512/637-6255, philipolson.net

FINANCIAL

MICHELLE REYNOLDS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR, EDWARD JONES Develop a strategy to help achieve your longterm financial goals. 1211 W Sixth, Ste #200, 512/480-8003, edwardjones.com

ACCOUNTING BY ANGIE Proud to SCHULZE & ASSOCIATES, INC. Over be the bookkeeper for the AGLCC. 512/765-6655, acctbyangie@gmail.com, 30 years of financial experience.

512/371-1040, cole@ledgersheet.net, accountingbyangie.com ledgersheet.net BB&T, BRANCH, BANKING AND TRUST Banking services to help you reach your THE SOLOMON GROUP Services for everyone regardless of financial status. financial goals. bbt.com 5508 W. Hwy 290, Ste. 300, 512/4849578, afowlkes@solomonwealth.com, BROOKS WATSON BENEFITS Group solomonwealth.com benefits, individual medical, life insurance, and 401k retirement needs.

512/320-0123, brooks@bwatsonbenefits. SOUTHERLAND & ASSOCIATES An independent insurance and financial com, bwatsonbenefits.com services firm. 1715 Capital of Texas Hwy. AMY COOK, CPA Pride in managing your Ste 201, 512/329-0108, saprotects.com financial needs. 1514 Corona, 512/4199696, amy@acookcpa.com, acookcpa.com

CHEZ ZE Romanc Balcone

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KREMER from Kre 512/589

ALFRED’S CATERING Seasoned seasoning pros so thorough, “you’ll be a guest at your own party!” 512/7858416, alfred@alfredcatering.com, BeAGuest.net

SATAY R cuisine.

512/467

BAR MIRABEAU & RESTAURANT JEZEBEL Genteel atmosphere and delicious menu. 800 W Sixth, Ste 100, barmirabeau.com BEEF CAKE SHOP Classic comfort foods and familiar flavors custom crafted into delicious bite-sized patties. 512/5544849, beefy@beefcakeshop.com, facebook.com/beefcakeshop CAPITAL CITY BAKERY All-vegan cupcakes and other small pastries that everyone can enjoy. 512/666-7437, capitalcitybakery.com

Helping people of all ages live happy, healthy lives without pain or illness.

15004 Avery Ranch Blvd. A|200 ~ Austin, 78717 saluschiropractic.com ~ 512.255.5252

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CHARLIEE’S HOT SPOT The only Puerto Rican food truck in Austin. 74 Rainey, 818/255-8110, charlieeshotspot.com CHEZ ZEE AMERICAN BISTRO Romancing Austin since 1988. 5406 Balcones, 512/454-2666, chez-zee.com FROT VODKA Fraught about where your money goes at a local watering hole? Fret not. LGBT owned and operated. 512/966-4174, frotvodka.com

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GENUINE JOE COFFEEHOUSE LGBT and nerd haven up in the ‘burbs.

2001 W. Anderson, 512/220-1576, genuinejoecoffee.com

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GUSTO ITALIAN KITCHEN + WINE BAR Everyday flavors of Italian cuisine.

4800 Burnet, 512/458-1100, info@gustoitaliankitchen.com, gustoitaliankitchen.com

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IN GOOD TASTE CATERING & DESIGN Make sure everyone leaves your shindig saying “Om-nom-nom.”

512/825-7573, john@ingoodtastecatering.com, ingoodtaste-catering.com KREMER CREATIONS German cuisine from Kremer’s kitchen to your table.

512/589-1064

ou’ll be 2/785-

SATAY RESTAURANT Fine South Asian cuisine. 3202 W. Anderson, Ste.205, 512/467-4731, satayusa.com

and Ste 100,

THIRD BASE SPORTS BAR Locally owned bar/restaurant. 9600 S IH 35 ; 13301 Hwy 183,B ldg E; 1717 W Sixth St; 3107 S IH 35, Round Rock, thirdbaseaustin. com

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HEALTH & FITNESS ALPHA MEDICAL MASSAGE & REHABILITATION Massage the pain away. 595 Round Rock West Dr, Ste 601, Round Rock, 512/366-5483, alphamedicalmassage.com

graphic design

AUSTIN GAMBLERS BOWLING LEAGUE We promised ourselves that we would not make cheap jokes about balls. But come on, you know they’ve got big ones. 512/786-4013, austingamblers@gmail.com, facebook. com/austin.g.league

HAND & STONE MASSAGE & FACIAL SPA Professional massage, facial, and hair removal services. tevans@ handandstone.com, handandstone.com

HAUSMAN CHIROPRACTIC & ACUPUNCTURE Your body can heal without the use of traditional medication. 8015 Shoal Creek, Ste.110, AUSTIN GAY BASKETBALL LEAGUE Bounce balls. Shoot hoops. Sign up to 512/419-1000, drrobhausman@gmail. play or come out and support. 512/814- com, hausmanchiropractic.com 6495, info@atxgbl.com, atxgbl.com HAWTHORNE CHIROPRACTIC AUSTIN TENNIS CLUB For LGBT people Amelioration, mollification, and consolation from subluxation. who ‘love’ to make a racquet.

3300 Bee Caves Rd, #390, 512/448austintennisclub.com 2225, drglenndc.com BODY BRITE A variety of treatments to ake your skin shimmer. 3701 Guadalupe, LIFE-TREK, LLC Chocolatey delights that may just help you live longer.

Ste.105, 512/454-2639, bodybriteusa.com 800/844-2685, LifeTrekLLC@gmail.com, johndabbs.youthfulchocolate.com RUSS BOYD, MA, NCC, LPC INTERN Psychotherapist working with the DEREK LEIGHTON, LMFT, LPC, NCC, CGP gay community. 512/632-4731, Promotes “healthy sexuality” and a russboydcounseling.com better outlook on life. 3534 Bee Caves #114, 512/658-2960, leightontherapy.com CAPITOL DERMATOLOGY ASSOCIATES Comprehensive dermatologic care for PIAZZA CENTER FOR PLASTIC SURGERY patients of all ages. 11410 Jollyville AND ADVANCED SKIN CARE Cosmetic #2101, 512/345-8688, capderm.com and reconstructive plastic surgery.

512/288-8200, practiceadmin@ CHIROPRACTIC LIFESTYLES CENTRE Let Dr. Kenneth White and staff align thepiazzacenter.com, thepiazzacenter. com/blog you right. 3410 Far West, Ste.100, 512/346-5735, chirolifestyles.com RODAN+FIELDS DERMATOLOGISTS The creators of Proactiv. 512/844CITY OF AUSTIN HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES HIV counseling, testing, and 6514, suzyjuncker.myrandf.biz outreach. 15 Waller, 512/972-5580 omar.lopez@austintexas.gov, austinhiv.com SALUS CHIROPRACTIC Helping people of all ages live healthy lives, free from pain and illness. 512/255-5252 DR PEA’S ACTIVE HEALTH CENTER drditto@saluschiropractic.com Safe and affordable alternatives to toxic drugs and surgery. 1309 SOUTH AUSTIN MEDICAL CLINIC Family Singleton, 512/289-3225, drpeas@ medicine clinic, we see all ages gmail.com, drpea.com 2555 Western Trails, 512/892-6600, FAMILY TREE DENTAL GROUP Keep your southaustinmed.com choppers in tip-top ship-shape. .

SOFTBALL AUSTIN Players of all 5310 Burnet, Ste. 108, Austin, 200 N. expertise levels wait on-deck at Red Bud, Round Rock, 512/458-5999, their turn to bat more than just familytreedentalgroup.com eyelids. softballaustin.org

business branding/ brochures business services identity cards (512) 231-1321 postnet.com/tx157

Far West

DESIGN

PRINT

SHIP

mailouts

3571 Far West Blvd.

Austin, TX 78731

GROW

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THE SPRING Guides patients toward healthful living, naturally.

512/445-7373, thespringatx.com

NATIONWIDE INSURANCE Personalized THE LAW OFFICE OF VIRGINIA W. insurance and financial services.

GREENWAY Defense for people accused 512/360-8497, nationwide.com of crimes – from simple traffic up to first degree felonies. 811 Nueces, TEAM PROHOMO The hunks behind 512/573-3221, vwglaw@austin.rr.com, the weekly Queer Ride bike ride and virginiagreenway.com other excellent Austin adventures. teamprohomo.org JAN JACKSON, ATTORNEY, PLLC Probate and estate planning with an TEXAS GAY RODEO ASSOCIATION This emphasis on trusts. 106 E. Sixth Ste. JULIE ALEXANDER LAW, P.C. Legal is Texas, darlin’. Of course there is a solutions for business and real estate 900t, 512/658-1784 gay rodeo. 214/346-2107, tgra.org operations. 1700 E. Second, 512/478LAW FIRM OF FRANCÉS J. JONES 9770, aalawaustin.com TEXAS MAMMA JAMMA RIDE Specializing in entertainment and Awareness and much needed funds BARNETT & GARCIA, PLLC Collecting arts. 1108 Lavaca, Ste 110-405, for folks coping with breast cancer. debts and representing businesses 512/476-8999 mammajammaride.org in litigation. 3821 Juniper, Ste.108, LEE, GOBER & REYNA - LAW FIRM 512/266-8830, barnettgarcia.com URBAN DENTISTRY Offering state “Family” lawyers who handle family, of the art, gentle dentistry in a safe personal injury, and criminal matters.

CHRISTINE HENRY ANDRESEN, environment. 512/440-5900, admin@ 11940 Jollyville, Ste 220, 512/478ATTORNEY-AT-LAW Any family lawyer urbandentistry.com, urbandentistry.com 8080, rwleelaw.com who puts a portrait of the Addams Family on her website is A-OK with us.

VOLLEYBALL AUSTIN Come out to 905 W. Oltorf, Ste. C, 512/394-4230, cha@ LYTTLE LAW FIRM, PLLC Immigration set and spike the night away with attorney with experience chalaw.com, chalaw.com these volley-lovin’ Q-ballers. on LGBT legal issues. 1524 volleyballaustin.com ELIZABETH BRENNER, ATTORNEY AT LAW S. I-35, Ste.175, 512/215-5225, austinimmigrationlawyerblog.com Estate and family legal services WHITEHEAD CHIROPRACTIC for the Austin LGBT community.

Providing fast, gentle and effective LAW OFFICE OF KENT SCHUSTER 512/217-8289, ebrenner@bajb.com, relief. 5775 Airport #300, 512/451-0115, brennerattorney.com Personal and business law firm. whiteheadchiro.com 979/279-5118, schuster442@gmail.com BUTCHER & CALLAGHAN, P.C. Business WORK IT PERSONAL TRAINING Get off law, family law, and estate planning. SHEFMAN LAW GROUP PC Personal your butt, and get fit. 512/426-2336, info@ 1504 West, 512/861-2294, injury trial lawyers. 1002 West, workittraining.com, workittraining.com 512/386-8117, lenore@shefman-law. www.butchercallaghan.com com, shefmanlawgroup.com CAPPS LAW FIRM It’s all about family.

ATTORNEY ERIC TORBERSON And keeping it legal. 7718 Wood Criminal Defense attorneys. 512/340Hollow, Ste. 205, 512/338-9800, 7300, attorneyeric1@gmail.com cappslawfirm.com

LEGAL

INSURANCE

ALLSTATE INSURANCE Home, auto, commercial, and life insurance 512/345-0005 BRITTON & BRITTON Local allies service all your insurance needs at the best possible rate. 512/334-6330, 512insurance.com

CYPERT LAW FIRM Dedicated to assisting the Texas LGBT community with estate planning, probate, guardianship, and business law needs. 1016 MoPac, 512/5355008, texasdomesticpartnership.com

LAW OFFICE OF KELLEY J. DWYER It’s your estate. It’s your business. Make LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE sure they are protected, legally. 9442 Competitively-priced. One of the few Capital of Texas, Ste 500-159, 512/343companies in the industry to recognize 3630, dwyerlawaustin.com domestic partnerships. 512/591-2172, ethan.mckay@libertymutual.com, libertymutual.com/ethan-mckay

LODGING HYATT REGENCY AUSTIN Perfect balance of the city’s vibrant energy and resort-like tranquility. 208 Barton Springs, 512/480-2036, christi.rein@ hyatt.com, austin.hyatt.com

Insurance Agency home | auto | commercial | life

Ian Punjwani Licensed Sales Agent 3435 Greystone Dr Ste 107 Austin, TX 78731 Office (512) 345-0005 ianpunjwani@allstate.com

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LAKEWAY RESORT & SPA AAA Four Diamond award-winning resort nestled on the shores of Lake Travis.

101 Lakeway, 512/261-7396, gschneider@lakewayresortandspa. com, lakewayresortandspa.com RADISSON HOTEL AND SUITES AUSTIN DOWNTOWN Ideally situated in downtown Austin. 111 E. Cesar Chavez, 512/473-1529 www.radisson. com/austin-hotel-tx-78701/txaustdt

PETS DOGBOY’S DOG RANCH Has your pup had it ruff? Spa day! Good dog!

2615 Crystal Bend, Pflugerville, 512/251-7600, dogboys.com MUD PUPPIES Boarding, grooming, playcare, dog wash, and training.

12233 FM620 N. Ste.110-A, 512/2492498, edward@mud-puppies.com, facebook.com/pages/Mud-Puppies PAWS & MORE Sit! Humans sit with your pups and kits and more. While you’re away, your mice and gerbils and sugargliders will play. 512/6953131, pawsandmore.com

n-law.

TRAINING BY TARA LLC Specializes in “misunderstood” dogs.

512/402-4229, trainingbytara.com

REAL ESTATE ARNOLD, JEFF - TEXAS LAND & LIFESTYLE LLC Working with everyone from 1st time home buyers/sellers to seniors looking to rightsize their homes/ lifestyles. 3571 Far West #226, 512/6398838, jeffarnold.realtor@gmail.com, TexasLandAndLifestyle.com AUSTIN HOMES REALTY Real estate brokerage making finding realty in Austin a reality. 512/507-8252, austinhomesrealty.com AUSTIN REAL ESTATE AGENT AT SKY REALTY AUSTIN - TEAM ENSOR Professional services for buyers, sellers, and leases. 4501 Spicewood Springs, Ste.1029, 512/522-8196, morganmatthewe@gmail.com, SkyRealtyAustin.com AARON W BEEMAN - CENURY21 SUNSET REALTORS Hill Country proud, Fredericksburg friendly. 408 W Main, Fredericksburg, 210/884-7654, aaronbeeman@me.com

KELLI M. BURNS, REALTOR 12+ years in the industry. 1801 S. Mopac, Ste.100, 512/423-2242, kellimburns.com CASTLE & COOKE MORTGAGE, LLC Using the latest technology, application to funding takes only eight days. castlecookemortgage.com CHICAGO TITLE OF TEXAS For over 160 years, expertise in Title Insurance, deep in the heart of Texas. 4310 Spicewood Springs, Ste 100, 512/3456525, chicagotitleaustin.com JOHN DOUCETTE, REALTOR - DOUCETTE PROPERTIES From downtown to Westlake and beyond. 512/828-2604, DoucetteProperties@gmail.com, DoucetteProperties.com DICK DUNBAR: YOUR HOME LOAN EXPERT Residential and commercial mortgages. 512/323-2644, dick@ dickdunbar.com THE GAFFORD GROUP AT KELLER WILLIAMS Specializing in Round Rock, Cedar Park. and surrounding areas.

512/439-3768, TheGaffordGroup.com TROY HANNA, PRESIDIO Representing the realty interests of Austin’s LGBT community for over a decade. 1701 W. Koenig, 512/659-7093

2/340-

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JAN HILL MORTGAGE Help you with your financial homeownership needs.

512/431-5223, jhill@janhillmortgage. com, janhillmortgage.com

MIDTOWN INDEPENDENCE TITLE When you cross the threshold into home owning this LGBT-owned co, has got you covered. 3009 N. Lamar, 512/4591110, midtowntitle.com

DENNY HOLT REALTORS Working with buyers and sellers in all price ranges.

MISSION RESOURCES Real Estate.

8708 Primrose, 512/694-1103, denny@ Investments. Community. 512/541dennyholt.com, dennyholt.com 5826, missionresourcestexas.com THE HUDDLESTON TEAM AT REALTY AUSTIN Gay-owned and -operated and ready to help navigate buying, selling, and leasing in Austin.

512/468-8113, thehuddlestonteam.com HULSE PROPERTY GROUP AT KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY Michael Hulse - Realtor, Hulse Property Group at Keller Williams. 1801 S. Mopac, Ste. 100, 512/6890867, michael@michaelhulse.net, searchaustintxhomes.net INDEPENDENCE TITLE COMPANY Licensed directly in 22 counties and supported by every major underwriter in the U.S. 901 S Mopac, Plaza II, Ste.150, 512/329-5299, independencetitle.com KRIEGEL & ASSOCIATES REALTOR Make your buying or selling experience special. 512/547-9525 MAGNUM PROPERTY INSPECTIONS Pretransaction inspections for business and home. 512/560-5967, magnumpropertyinspections.com

RETAIL & FASHION ANNA LANI MAKEUP UT Technical Theatre grad lives to see creative theatre, film, and print projects manifest. 361/442-3206, facebook. com/AnnaLaniMakeup

LESLIE NEGRON - KELLER WILLIAMS The needs of the client always prevails. BLUE GENIE ART BAZAAR An Austin 12515-8 Research #100, 832/884-7738, tradition during the holiday shopping lnegron@kw.com, lnegron.kwrealty.com season, open daily 10am-10pm, through December 24th at the BRADLEY POUNDS, WATTERS Marchesa Hall & Theater. 6226 INTERNATIONAL REALTY Guaranteed Middle Fiskville, 512/222-7303, Sale Program for sellers and bluegenieartbazaar.com Buyer Advantage Program for buyers. 7801 N. Capital of TX, Ste. CAPRA AND CAVELLI Exception 220, 512/736-3353, BradleyPounds. shopping, quality clothing, and tailoring AustinTexasResidence.com since 1995. 3500 Jefferson Ste.110, 512/450-1919, capracavelli.com RIVER & OAKS REALTY LLC Stacy Bass specializes in outlying areas, COCO COQUETTE Wig out to look as like Driftwood, Lakeway, Wimberley, divine as Divine. The higher the hair, Dripping Springs, and more. the closer to Gawd. 2109 E. Cesar 512/413-7893, stacybassrealtor.com Chavez, coco-coquette.com RON REDDER, PRESIDIO With over 18 years experience, he might just be on to something. 1701 W. Koenig, 512/657-8674, ron@presidiogroup.com, presidiogroup.com

FASCINATIONS Premier intimacy enhancing retailer encouraging exploration of sexual health.

7816 Burnet, 866/386-5683, yourfascinations.com

THE STAGING GUY Gussy up your home to make it irresistable to prospective buyers. 7310 Manchaca Rd #152936 , 512/537-4489, thestagingguy.com

FIAT OF AUSTIN The nation’s number one Fiat dealer. Ask for chamber member Casey Jordan. 11011 Domain Ste.124, 512/228-3428, cjordan@ nylemaxwell.com, fiatofaustin.com

SHWEIKI

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1406 W Sixth, 512/236-0916, cobyneal.com

SERVICES

GREAT OUTDOORS All things outdoors.

2730 S Congress, 512/448-2992, A-ONE ELECTRIC Full “circuit” of GreatOutdoorsNursery.com residential and commercial electrical services. 512/497-1513, aoneelectric@ JOLLY PENNY Curios and necessities, hotmail.com, aoneelectricaustin.com $1 and up. 9505 Burnet Ste C, 512/900-3883, facebook.com/ ACE AUCTION COMPANY Going once, JollyPenny going twice, sold! . 512/ 219-0209, aceauctioncompany.com PACKAGE AUSTIN & TAPELENDERS High end men’s athletic clothes, ACERO CONSTRUCTION General swimwear, and underwear. 1114 contractor. 512/786-5698, W. Fifth, #201, 512/472-0844, weldon@aceroconstruction.com, packagemenswear.com aceroconstruction.com PRIDE SOCKS How better to rock ALL BRITE POOL SERVICE Proudly one’s inner unicorn than to don serving CenTX for over 20 years. hooves in rainbow tubes of stretchy, 512/567-1596, allbritepoolservice.com nostalgic comfort? pridesocks.com ARRANGING IT ALL Professional Q TOYS Phthalate-free, artisanal, and organizer s. info@arrangingitall.com high quality sex toys will nake you come… back for more. 512/772-1614, AUSTIN AREA LANDSCAPING Residential qtoysaustin.com and commercial lawn and landscaping services. 512/487-8820 REGALÉ FINE JEWELRY Jewelry retail, repair, and service concierge.

AUSTIN QUEER WEDDINGS Erica Nix 512/442-2500, RegaleJewelry.com wedding photography. Over a decade experience working with “family.”

SOUTH CONGRESS BOOKS Used, austinqueerweddings.com collectible, vintage, and unique books and paper. 1608 S. Congress, 512/9168882, southcongressbooks.com

BLUE DRAGON PLUMBING No extra charge for 24/7 service. No word on fire-breathing. 512/947-2491, gilbert@bluedragonplumbing.com, bluedragonplumbing.com BOB SALON Welcoming, positive energy and approachable luxury.

3703-A Jefferson, 512/914-7078 CENTRAL TEXAS IMPORT CAR REPAIR 512/560-5967 CENTURY TRAVEL Luxury providers worldwide, first class. 2714 Bee Cave #101, 512/327-8760, centurytravelaustin. com CÉBÉ IT & KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT LLC Information and knowledge management. 7118 Las Ventanas, 281/460-3595, cebe-itkm.com CITY OF AUSTIN SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM Assistance and business solutions to emerging small businesses. 512/974-7800, austintexas.gov/department/smallbusiness-development-program CITY OF AUSTIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT Cultural arts, music, international and emerging technology programs. 512/974-7819, austintexas.gov/department/economicgrowth

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COOK-WALDEN Celebrate your loved one with a funeral and memorial service befitting of the life lived.

512/971-2449, cook-walden.com

KINGDOM CHAUFFEURED LIMOUSINE SERVICE Late-model sedans, SUVs, and 9-passenger Lincoln Town Car limousines.

512/416-5466, kingdomcls.com

ETCH OF CLASS Awards in most media: LJB SERVICES Personal assistance office glass, metal, wood, acrylic, stone. management, landscaping, house and pet 512/785-4435, etchofclass.com sitting, general property maintenance and cleaning. ljbaus@yahoo.com FRI Interior design and business furniture dealer. 9737 Great Hills #305, MILLER-STEPHENS AND ASSOCIATES 512/371-1232, fri-texas.com Focused on non-profit, healthcare and social change initiatives. 512/422-6030, FRIENDLY CAR CARE Earth-friendly, millerstephens.com community-friendly, and people (LGBT)-friendly. 9110 Burnet, NATIVE EDGE LANDSCAPE, LLC 512/821-3300, friendlycarcare.com Creating responsible landscapes for a sustainable future. 512/507GREEN ISLAND CAR WASH & DETAIL Full 2006. info@nativeedgelandscape.com, service wash and detail shop. expresslawnaustin.com 512/257-1799, greenislandcarwash.com NEW QUEST STAFFING SOLUTIONS HE’S FOR ME Find me a find a match, Staffing resource and office solutions at catch me a catch! Make a match, you your service. 210/884-3321 busy gay professional. 300 Guadalupe g.drake@newquestss.com Ste. 200, 855/443-7463, H4M-Austin. com NOETIC OUTCOMES CONSULTING Business management doc diagnoses JACKIE HUBA Author, keynote speaker, and prescribes ways to assist. 5501-A business consultant 512/394-8832, Balcones #136, 512/386-1402, jackiehuba.com noeticoutcomes.com INTELLIGENT LIGHTING DESIGN RAINBOW SPECTRUM MEDIA Screen Cutting edge iDesign LED lighting printing and embroidery. series for special events and weddings. terry@rainbowspectrummedia.com 5002 Burelson, 512/553-4226, events@ildlighting.com, ildlighting.com

SEND OUT CARDS Custom greeting cards to get your business noticed.

1908 Justin #200, 512/789-0267, socphotostore.com TAILORED TEAM Let TT unlock your company’s full potential through their informative and fun training courses. 1103 Ridgecrest, 512/563-3845, bartnaustin@aol.com, jblmicrotraining.com BUD TWILLEY LANDSCAPES Landscape design and installation 512/7081640, budtwilleylandscapes.com WINESHOP AT HOME In-home or In-office tastings and sales. 4800 Twin Valley, 512/750-7722, wineshopathome.com/ christinebird TIM YOUNG One-stop shop for increasing your business: product creation and funnels, Internet and creative marketing, social media, press releases, copywriting, and more. 1216 E. Seventh, 443/722-3286, timyoungjd@ gmail.com, milliondollarpizzaparty.com

AUSTIN GAY & L ESBIA

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The Austin Chronicle is a proud supporter of Austin’s LGBTQ community.

If it’s important to Austin, it’s in The Austin Chronicle.

austinchronicle.com/gay

Available at over 1,800 locations every Thursday.

47

Our Community’s Candidate For Travis County Commissioner

EXPERIENCE • Public Relations Director, Constable Sally Hernandez • Chief of Staff, County Commissioner Karen Huber • Congressional Aide, Congressman Lloyd Doggett

LEADERSHIP • Assistant Director, Travis County Democratic Party • Two-term Committeeman, State Democratic Executive Committee • Delegate, 2004 Democratic National Convention and numerous county and state conventions

DIVERSITY • Secretary, Stonewall Democrats of Austin • Regional Field Organizer, Human Rights Campaign

DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY TUESDAY, MARCH 4 VOTE EARLY FEBRUARY 18-28

votegarrybrown.com Pol. Adv. Garry Brown Campaign, Susan Shelton, Treasurer

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