FLAME //
May 2015
May 2015
PUBLISHER Peter Rayes PETER@FLAME-MAG.COM MANAGING EDITOR Austin VanKirk AUSTIN@FLAME-MAG.COM ART DIRECTOR Caleb Snowberger CALEB@FLAME-MAG.COM DIGITAL EDITOR Rachel Mann WEB@FLAME-MAG.COM ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Dorothy “Joan” Stevenson JOAN@FLAME-MAG.COM MEDIA RELATIONS COORDINATOR LeeAnn Connelly MEDIA@FLAME-MAG.COM LOCAL ADVERTISING Peter Rayes ADVERTISING@FLAME-MAG.COM NATIONAL ADVERTISING Rivendell Media 212-242-6863 SALES@RIVENDELLMEDIA.COM PHOTOGRAPHERS Alejandro Garza Murray Grondin Tony Lowe Jacob Lewkew CONTRIBUTORS Tony Lowe Joan Stevenson Rachel Mann Austin VanKirk GRAPHIC DESIGN PR Solutions
CONTENTS
APRIL 2015
CONTENTS
MAY 2015 11 14 16 21
JOHNATHAN JOHNSON BIG CITY COUNTRY BOY
THE “LIKE” SOCIETY BECOME WHO YOU ARE
HOLY HOMOPHOBIA, BATMAN! WORLD ACCORDING TO JOAN
SCENE PHOTOS!
“Johnathan Johnson has been bartending around Metro Detroit for years. We’re now lucky to know him as a staff bartender and manager, slinging drinks over at Club Gold Coast / SIN...”
“Social Media: It’s everywhere. Any website created after 2010 is going to have a “like” button, a “tweet” button, and/or a “share” button of some kind. Social Media logos are on soda cups, on menus, on clothing labels....”
“There’s something that’s been bothering me. Why are presumably heterosexual white males in power (a.k.a. Republicans) so afraid of homosexuals that they have to deny them all human rights? This time they’re even going as far as...”
“Tag on Instagram using #FLAMEMAGAZINE to be considered for our next issue and check us out @FLAMEMAGAZINE!” APRIL 2015
FLAME //
May 2015
May 2015
FLAME // 8//
APRIL 2015
APRIL 2015
JOHNATHAN JOHNSON BIG CITY COUNTRY BOY Photos by: Tony Lowe
Johnathan Johnson has been bartending around Metro Detroit for years. We’re now lucky to have this cutie slinging drinks over at Club Gold Coast / SIN. We caught up with the big city country boy to find out a little bit more about him and what he does.
May 2015
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FLAME // FEATURE: JOHNATHAN JOHNSON FLAME //
Johnathan, you’ve been bartending in the area for years. What’s your favorite part of being a bartender? Talking to our patrons has to be my favorite thing about bartending. We get people from all different walks of life and they have such interesting stories to tell. Whether it’s a young man experiencing a gay bar for the first time or a regular that I have seen several times, I love the people.
What makes your gig at Club Gold Coast / SIN different from your previous jobs? For the first time in my bartending career, I am also a manager. In addition to pouring drinks and keeping my customers happy, I also have to make decisions involving staffing, stock, and design, among other things. It is a lot more responsibility, but it gives me the opportunity to flex my creative muscle and develop new skills.
How do you balance your managerial duties with your bartending duties? Balancing the two can be a bit challenging at times, but it really boils down to strong communication. It is important to make sure everyone is on the same team and shares the same vision for the bar. It also helps having wonderful co-managers to bounce ideas off of and lean on for the more difficult decisions.
What separates Club Gold Coast from everyone else? Gold Coast is the only gay male strip club in the area. It is a judgment-free, come as you are, kind of place where people can come to have a good time. We accept everyone. It is also two bars in one [building]; we have the Gold Coast side, which is the strip club, and the Sin side, which has more of a lounge feel to it. It gives people a choice and allows them to add a little variety to their evening.
Club Gold Coast usually has some special events each month, what’s coming up? Our next event is the Blacklight Glow Party on Saturday, May 16th, which should be a lot of fun and visually pleasing. We also have a party bus scheduled for LGBT Pride Night at Comerica Park on Wednesday, June 3rd. The bus is $50 dollars and includes admission to the Tigers game.
What has been your favorite moment as a Club Gold Coast bartender? It is too hard to pin down one favorite moment, because there are so many great ones. I will say my favorite kinds of moments are those when I can help turn someone’s bad day into a better one. Whether it is a strong drink, a friendly smile, or a few kind words of encouragement, I will do what I can to make them feel better.
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What has been your favorite moment as a Club Gold Coast bartender?
It is too hard to pin down one favorite moment, because there are so many great ones. I will say my favorite kinds of moments are those when I can help turn someone’s bad day into a better one. Whether it is a strong drink, a friendly smile, or a few kind words of encouragement, I will do what I can to make them feel better.
What do you like to do when you’re not working? I am a big family man. I have some pretty amazing nieces and nephews who mean the world to me and I spend as much time with them as possible. I am also a major foodie. I have a fun and adventurous palate that is always hungry for new, delectable morsels. I also love mac ‘n’ cheese, which I try everywhere I go.
In the game of life, what are some of your short-term and long-term goals? My main goal is to run a successful bar that provides a fun and safe environment for people to enjoy themselves. It is also important for me to give my employees a place that they enjoy working at. It is always better when you have fun while you work, and a bar is the perfect place for that. I would like to own my own bar someday. It would be rewarding to be able to look back and see that I have taken all my experiences as a bartender in the different bars I worked in and my responsibilities as a man ager here at Gold Coast and turned that into something that is my own – it’s the American dream.
Lastly, is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers? What people may not know about me is that I am a huge country boy at heart. Don’t get me wrong, I love my city, but I am just as happy being in the woods on my four-wheeler, camping outunder the stars – I guess roughing it, so to speak.
May May2015 2015
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the “like” society
FLAME //
BECOME WHO YOU ARE
Written by: Austin VanKirk
Social Media: It’s everywhere. Any website created after 2010 is going to have a “like” button, a “tweet” button, and/or a “share” button of some kind. Social Media logos are on soda cups, on menus, on clothing labels. Companies now have entire departments devoted to managing all the social media outlets they use. There are far too many of these in my opinion: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit (I think it’s sometimes considered one?), Vine, YouTube, Ello, and Tumblr. And let’s not forget the “romance” specific ones: Grindr, Tinder (which you can’t have unless you have a Facebook, by the way—total design flaw in my opinion), Scruff, and too many others. And there are other ones I can’t even think of—there are just that many. Social media, originally intended to actually keep people together, is now all about marketing and advertising. We are flooded with images and messages. As our generation continues to delve into digital communication, we have certain scenarios where it is impossible to communicate with certain people without the meta-communication provided by the ads within social media. It got so annoying to me that I have deleted nearly all of my accounts. But what is even more annoying is the way that people are communicating these days. I’ve talked to a few people who’ve had similar observations. Now, let me explain to everybody what a conversation, traditionally, looks like. I say something insightful. Then you agree, disagree, or provide some sort of meaningful response. That response may continue on that same topic or move to a relatable topic. I then will ask a question or give a response related to what you said.
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Lately, this is how I’ve noticed conversations going: Person A: I am making an assertion. Person B: I am also making an assertion that is in no way related to what you just said. Person A: I’m making another assertion, that may be related to my first assertion, but is definitely not related to Person B’s. Person B: Here’s another unrelated assertion. And it kind of just keeps going on, without anything building from what was said. It’s just like this string of unrelated, nonsensical, and isolated anecdotes and notions. They’re like one-sided conversations happening concurrently. I don’t know why people enjoy having these type of “discussions.” What is being learned? I can’t imagine that it is much. My theory for this behavior says that we’ve gotten so used to simply sharing information via tweets and status updates that it’s boiled over into the way we communicate interpersonally (as opposed to digitally). People have become so wrapped up in providing information about their lives (which, objectively and generally speaking, aren’t terribly interesting) that listening to other people has become unimportant. And when we do respond, we can get away with a simple retweet, thumbs up, or “LOL” comment. And let’s be honest: the only reason why we leave these little likes and comments to begin with is because we secretly hope the favor will be returned.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with seeking validation from other people. It makes us feel good to see the likes—but for some people it’s become an addiction and a source of anxiety (“I only got ten likes in the past five minutes. Do you think I should take it down?”). I can’t speak for everybody else, but talking to my best friend about something good that happened in my life, it means so much more to hear him verbally congratulate me and ask me questions pertaining to the accomplishment. In comparison, the likes I would receive form that on social media are trivial. It also means a lot more to have my best friend commiserate with me when something goes wrong in my life. It’s the human connection that is satisfying. We keep chasing that satisfaction up and down the social media channels. We’re not going to find it there, though. But what do I know?
May 2015
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO JOAN FLAME //
HOLY HOMOPHOBIA, BATMAN! Written by: Dorothy “Joan” Stevenson
There’s something that’s been bothering me. Why are presumably heterosexual white males in power (a.k.a. Republicans) so afraid of homosexuals that they have to deny them all human rights? This time they’re even going as far as using God as the excuse. Why are they so afraid of homosexuals being happy and living ordinary lives? Oh, and I should also mention they’re not all that fond of women and people of color either. I mean it has to be fear, right? All of this simply can’t be in the name of religion. With the majority of Americans who agree that gays should be allowed to legally marry and have the same basic rights and freedoms that every American is entitled to that we all share, there is a powerful minority that wants to make sure that no rights apply. And now they’re doing it in the name of God. I’m speaking of the recent flap with Indiana governor Mike Pence signing the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law. This act protects a person or business owner from government persecution when following their religious beliefs. He just basically sent a message that in the state of Indiana, if homosexuality is against your religious beliefs, it’s ok to deny goods and services on the basis of sexual orientation. This was the case with the idiot at Memories Pizza saying that if a gay couple wanted them to cater their wedding, they would refuse. (Yeah, like gays are just clamoring to have a pizzeria catering their wedding.) But this religious freedom act quite literally legalizes covert (well not so covert) discrimination. This little piece of legislation was brought up to circumvent the fact that so many states have legalized gay marriage. Never mind that the majority of the American people have given their support for gay marriage. Oh no, the powers that be (in the name of God) can’t have that. They can’t have this “deviant” group of people having equality. It’s sad really that on the one hand gays have been given the legal right to marry, but depending on what merchants or services
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they might choose to do business with (in states that have signed this act into law) can still be singled out for discrimination and it’s all perfectly legal. The federal government washes their hands and will let the states carry out this act as they see fit. There is a similar bill currently circulating in the Michigan Senate, even though currently it is still legal in Michigan to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. Oh, here’s another little tid-bit: Did you know that even now In twenty-nine states in this country, you can legally be fired from your job just for being gay? Twenty-nine states and that includes Michigan! And in thirty-four states it is legal to fire someone solely for being transgender. But why? Why do so many hate or fear gays? I don’t think its hate per se. I think its fear. I think people turn fear into hatred to try to justify it. Hate makes you strong, if you fear something that is seen as a weakness, so it has to be fear right? But what is the basis of that fear? I’ve heard it said that the biggest fear of people in power is equality. That makes sense because power is held by a select few. It’s because of that that they can hold sway over the many, but if everyone were equal, then there would be no majority that could impose their will. This holds true for any group: the LGBT community, women, people of color, etc. My personal theory? In the case of gays, I think it’s because they’re afraid that if people enjoy homosexuality too much, they would rather be gay (as if that’s a choice), and if that happens, then the human race will cease to exist. That’s a mighty BIG fear and a big responsibility since the powers that be have seemingly appointed themselves guardians of humanity. But what the powers that be don’t understand is that homosexuality is a part of human nature. Paranoid Power Heteros need not worry, especially with people like the Duggars out there whose mission is to be fruitful and multiply, humans will still be having children. The catch is as long as people keep breeding, there will always be gays.
So what now? It seems that their only solution is to oppress as much as possible; to deny equality or at least parse it out in careful minute doses. Give a little with one hand, but not much (marriage/ couples rights) then take it away with the other (Religious Restoration Act). We must limit the rights and freedoms of this deviant group. They seem to forget one thing gay rights = civil rights The last time our friend the Religious Freedom Act made the news was when the company Hobby Lobby denied contraceptive coverage to their female employees. Citing that in the name of God (but really I believe it was just to get out of complying with the Affordable Care Act mandate) that they did not believe providing contraception was concurrent to their religious beliefs therefore they would not provide it. The Supreme Court ruled in Hobby Lobby’s favor So Republicans, in the name of God, are denying legal rights. Land of the free indeed. To what end? How does this serve their agenda, and oh, they DO have an agenda. So far all I can see is oppression of gays, women, and the poor and people of color. It’s that equality issue popping up again. The law is supposed to guarantee freedom and liberty for all, not to be used as a club to beat the huddled masses down. This is clearly a civil rights issue and it should be contested highly, but it’s because it’s done in the name of God that courts are reluctant to act with the force needed to prevent such travesties. All we the people can do is to remain vigilant and keep fighting for what is right. No one should be denied basic human rights just because of who they are and who they love. Discrimination in the name of God. I think that is quite possibly one of the lowest forms of manipulation. I don’t understand that, I just cannot understand.
May 2015
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