01/08/21, Vol. 11 Issue 20

IMPORTANT FACTS FOR BIKTARVY®

This is only a brief summary of important information about BIKTARVY and does not replace talking to your healthcare provider about your condition and your treatment.

(bik-TAR-vee)

MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT BIKTARVY

POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF BIKTARVY

BIKTARVY may cause serious side effects, including:

BIKTARVY may cause serious side effects, including:  Those in the “Most Important Information About BIKTARVY” section.  Changes in your immune system. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fight infections. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any new symptoms after you start taking BIKTARVY.  Kidney problems, including kidney failure. Your healthcare provider should do blood and urine tests to check your kidneys. If you develop new or worse kidney problems, they may tell you to stop taking BIKTARVY.  Too much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious but rare medical emergency that can lead to death.

Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: weakness or being more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, stomach pain with nausea and vomiting, cold or blue hands and feet, feel dizzy or lightheaded, or a fast or abnormal heartbeat.  Severe liver problems, which in rare cases can lead to death.

Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, or stomach-area pain.  The most common side effects of BIKTARVY in clinical studies were diarrhea (6%), nausea (6%), and headache (5%).

These are not all the possible side effects of BIKTARVY. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any new symptoms while taking BIKTARVY. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.FDA.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Your healthcare provider will need to do tests to monitor your health before and during treatment with BIKTARVY.

 Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. If you have both HIV-1 and HBV, your HBV may suddenly get worse if you stop taking BIKTARVY. Do not stop taking BIKTARVY without first talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to check your health regularly for several months.

ABOUT BIKTARVY BIKTARVY is a complete, 1-pill, once-a-day prescription medicine used to treat HIV-1 in adults and children who weigh at least 55 pounds. It can either be used in people who have never taken HIV-1 medicines before, or people who are replacing their current HIV-1 medicines and whose healthcare provider determines they meet certain requirements.

BIKTARVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS. HIV-1 is the virus that causes AIDS. Do NOT take BIKTARVY if you also take a medicine that contains:  dofetilide  rifampin  any other medicines to treat HIV-1

BEFORE TAKING BIKTARVY Tell your healthcare provider if you:  Have or have had any kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis infection.  Have any other health problems.  Are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if BIKTARVY can harm your unborn baby. Tell your healthcare provider if you become pregnant while taking BIKTARVY.  Are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed. HIV-1 can be passed to the baby in breast milk.

Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take:  Keep a list that includes all prescription and over-the-counter medicines, antacids, laxatives, vitamins, and herbal supplements, and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist.  BIKTARVY and other medicines may affect each other.

Ask your healthcare provider and pharmacist about medicines that interact with BIKTARVY, and ask if it is safe to take BIKTARVY with all your other medicines.

Get HIV support by downloading a free app at

MyDailyCharge.com

BVYC0218_BIKTARVY_B_10X10-5_Georgia-Voice_Dimitri_r1v1jl.indd All Pages

HOW TO TAKE BIKTARVY Take BIKTARVY 1 time each day with or without food.

GET MORE INFORMATION  This is only a brief summary of important information about BIKTARVY. Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist to learn more.  Go to BIKTARVY.com or call 1-800-GILEAD-5  If you need help paying for your medicine, visit BIKTARVY.com for program information.

BIKTARVY, the BIKTARVY Logo, DAILY CHARGE, the DAILY CHARGE Logo, KEEP ASPIRING, LOVE WHAT’S INSIDE, GILEAD, and the GILEAD Logo are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies. Version date: February 2020 © 2020 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. BVYC0218 04/20

DIMITRI LIVING WITH HIV SINCE 2018 REAL BIKTARVY PATIENT

KEEP ASPIRING.

Because HIV doesn’t change who you are.

BIKTARVY® is a complete, 1-pill, once-a-day prescription medicine used to treat HIV-1 in certain adults. BIKTARVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS.

Ask your healthcare provider if BIKTARVY is right for you.

See Dimitri’s story at BIKTARVY.com.

Featured patient compensated by Gilead.

Please see Important Facts about BIKTARVY, including important warnings, on the previous page and visit BIKTARVY.com.

5/12/20 9:36 AM

voice

georgia VOL.11 • ISSUE 20

ABOUT THE COVER: Cover photo by Shutterstock / RomarioIen

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

PO Box 77401 • Atlanta, GA 30357 P: 404-815-6941; F: 404-963-6365

BUSINESS

Principal/Publisher: Tim Boyd tboyd@thegavoice.com

EDITORIAL

Deputy Editor: Katie Burkholder

kburkholder@thegavoice.com

Editorial Contributors: Conswella Bennett, Melissa Carter, Jim Farmer, Maria Helena Dolan, Buck Jones, Bill Kaelin, Ryan Lee, Sydney Norman, Rose Pelham

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Publisher Emeritus: Chris Cash

FINE PRINT

All material in Georgia Voice is protected by federal copyright law and may not be reproduced without the written consent of Georgia Voice. The sexual orientation of advertisers, photographers, writers and cartoonists published herein is neither inferred nor implied. The appearance of names or pictorial representation does not necessarily indicate the sexual orientation of that person or persons. We also do not accept responsibility for claims made by advertisers.

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The editors reserve the right to accept, reject, or edit any submission. Guidelines for freelance contributors are available upon request.

A single copy of Georgia Voice is available from authorized distribution points. Multiple copies are available from Georgia Voice office only. Call for rates. If you are unable to reach a convenient free distribution point, you may receive a 24-issue mailed subscription for $60 per year. Checks or credit card orders can be sent to Tim Boyd, tboyd@thegavoice.com Postmaster: Send address changes to Georgia Voice, PO Box 77401, Atlanta, GA 30357. Georgia Voice is published twice a month by Georgia Voice, LLC. Individual subscriptions are $60 per year for 24 issues. Postage paid at Atlanta, GA, and additional mailing offices.

The editorial positions of Georgia Voice are expressed in editorials and in editor’s notes. Other opinions are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Georgia Voice and its staff.

To submit a letter or commentary: Letters should be fewer than 400 words and commentary, for web or print, should be fewer than 750 words. Submissions may be edited for content and length, and must include a name, address, and phone number for verification. Email submissions to editor@thegavoice.com or mail to the address above.

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4 Editorial January 8, 2021

GUEST EDITORIAL

COVID-19: Can We Have Our Cake and Eat It, Too? Dr. David Holland, M.D., M.H.S. Chief Clinical Officer Medical & Preventive Services Fulton County Board of Health

the data showing the negative impact of stigmatizing behavior on prevention efforts could fill this column.

So, how do we reconcile these two points?

It isn’t hard. We already know that complete cessation of fun isn’t necessary: We didn’t stop having sex in the 1980s and were still able to manage a dramatic decrease in HIV incidence once we realized what the problem was.

As we enter the year 2021, there is an almost universal sense of relief that 2020 is over — but that’s about all we can agree on.

Divisions over politics, economics, and a vast array of other topics literally threaten a repeat of the Civil War, but nowhere is our division more apparent than in our response to COVID-19.

In one corner is a group of people who see it as a global existential threat capable of killing hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Americans and overwhelming health care systems even in the richest parts of our country. In the other is a group that sees an overall low mortality rate and finds it hard to justify the extreme measures needed to control it when the vast majority of people who get it recover just fine.

Among gay men, this division has been growing steadily since the summer, when case rates first spiked. With waiting lists for hospital and ICU beds, the hospital system is now teetering on the verge of collapse, but large-scale events continue to be held both at local gay clubs and international destinations. Health care workers are being driven to the brink of exhaustion, so it seems inevitable that some people will want to lash out at what appears to be complete social irresponsibility among the revelers.

The situation has now erupted into a social media cold war, with the Instagram groups @ gaysovercovid, @gaysovergaysovercovid_, and @gaysovergaysovergaysovercovid leading us into a sort of COVID-19 shaming Inception.

It seems hard to believe, but there will be a day when COVID-19 will no longer pose a mortal threat to a significant portion of

our population. We have multiple vaccines being rolled out that will eventually return us to our regularly scheduled programming, so despite the anger and vitriol being swapped on virtual platforms now, it seems likely that many of us will end up at the same parties at some point in the future.

It would be nice if we didn’t have to show up armed.

Fortunately, science shows us that there is a path to a middle ground. To get there, we need to acknowledge two important points.

First, COVID-19 is a problem. While risk among younger people is quite low, infectious diseases are, in fact, infectious, so spread among low-risk groups will eventually find its way to high-risk groups.

Furthermore, calls to allow for unchecked spread to reach herd immunity ignore both the enormous number of additional COVID-19 related deaths we will suffer to get there as well as the vast racial disparities in mortality. We simply cannot throw people under the bus just because our lives are being inconvenienced.

Second, we must accept that people are going to do what they are going to do. We know from multiple studies that abstinence-only education doesn’t work to prevent HIV, and

Of course, HIV transmission requires (in essentially all cases) consent between everyone at risk of acquiring or transmitting the infection, whereas COVID-19 can be passed along to innocent bystanders, but there are still parallels in a harm reduction approach. Some suggestions: • Take it outside. Harder to do in winter, but transmission is less likely outside.

• Make it smaller. The risk of transmission and the number of people potentially infected increases with the size of the party.

• Acknowledge the risk. Accepting that everyone at a large gathering is at risk of carrying the disease into the community (yes, even if you have had it before) and taking extra precautions to limit contact with other people for the next 10–14 days could limit spread to those at high risk of serious disease.

And finally, we need to emphasize that the global spread of COIVD-19 isn’t being driven by gay parties — plenty of other groups are doing exactly what we are doing. In truth, failure to develop a coherent national strategy in one of the richest countries on the planet is universally to blame for our current predicament. Still, given our history, I think we have an opportunity to use our experiences and show everyone else how we can have fun and keep other people safe. We can have our cake and eat it, too.

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

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CELEBRITY CLOSE-UP!

Celebrity Brief (THE NEW YEAR EDITION) Happy 2021! Celebrate the new year with your favorite LGBTQ celebrities and public figures.

“After such a tumultuous year, there’s much to be hopeful for—a new administration, the means to conquer this pandemic, and a better 2021 for all.

[Chasten] and I are wishing everyone a very Happy New Year!”

—Pete Buttigieg (Twitter)

“2021 is working out for me, I’ve already had two naps!”

“Happy new year and lots of love to every last one of you.

Except 2020, f*ck you. Can’t wait to finally share a brand new record in ‘21.”

(PHOTOS VIA FACEBOOK)

—Wanda Sykes (Twitter)

—Ben Platt (Twitter)

“RING IN THE RU YEAR”

—’Drag Race’ alum Jan (Twitter)

6 Celebrity Close-Up! January 8, 2021

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

NEWS BRIEFS Staff Reports

Transgender Woman Found Dead in Athens, Georgia Athens police are seeking information in the investigation into the death of a transgender woman.

Kimberly Patricia Cope, 40, was found dead on Sunday December 27 in the parking lot of the Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers on Baxter Street in Athens, Georgia.

Cope’s body was found at about 6:00am Sunday morning. Friends of Cope told officers that she was last seen at 1:00 and 3:00am that morning across the street from her apartment, which was within walking distance from the scene. According to her friends, a white SUV pulled up, and the driver spoke to Cope before she disappeared.

It is unknown if she got in the vehicle or not.

While the victim’s exact gender identity is unknown, in a report obtained by Georgia Voice police identified Cope as a male.

Classic City News, which first reported the incident, also included her deadname in their article, despite using she/her pronouns in reference to the victim.

The cause of death is undetermined at this time, and there were no signs of foul play.

Anyone with information regarding Cope’s death is asked to contact Sgt. Gregory Dickson at 762-400-7070 or Gregory. dickson@accgov.com.

Mayor Bottoms Designates Atlanta Eagle as Historic Landmark Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced that the Atlanta Eagle building on Ponce de Leon Avenue has been designated a historic landmark.

The Department of City Planning’s Historic Preservation Studio and the Urban Design Commission has begun the designation process of the building, which has for more than three decades been an integral part of Atlanta’s LGBTQ community. With the designation, the property cannot be demolished or changed on the exterior without written approval from the Urban Design Commission.

“Businesses are feeling the devastating effects of COVID-19 this year, including LGBTQ8 News Briefs January 8, 2021

Kimberly Patricia Cope COURTESY PHOTO

owned small businesses,” Mayor Bottoms said in a statement. “This has es to LGBTQowned businesses around the country closing their doors. The Atlanta Eagle has a rich history and is a beloved place for so many people in Atlanta and across the world.”

The Eagle is one of the most famous LGBTQ establishments in the South and has been central to LGBTQ history in Atlanta. Drag legends like RuPaul and Lady Bunny have performed at the Eagle, and Atlanta Leather Pride has been hosted there every year. A police raid on the bar in 2009 became a foundational moment in Atlanta LGBTQ history, acting as the catalyst for the appointment of LGBTQ liaisons and updated training procedures in the Atlanta Police Department.

“Many have called the Atlanta Eagle home over the last three decades,” said Atlanta Eagle owner Richard Ramey. “I am grateful to Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and the city of Atlanta for ensuring that many more can call it home in the years to come.”

The historic designation comes after the Eagle announced it would be closing the Ponce de Leon location and relocating to an undecided location in 2021. The Eagle closed on November 14.

Trump Names Owner of Conversion Therapy Practice to Key Admin. Post Donald Trump has named Marcus Bachmann to the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities, an advisory panel in the Department of Health and Human Services. Bachmann and his wife, former Rep. Michele Bachmann, own a Christian counseling practice that has a

history of practicing conversion therapy.

Bachmann – who is not a licensed clinical psychologist – owns the practice which was caught in a 2011 hidden camera investigation to be telling LGBTQ patients that they could “convert” them to straight.

“I told my therapist that I was struggling with attraction to the same sex, and that my attractions were overwhelming, predominately, exclusively homosexual,” said John Becker, the gay man who went undercover for the 2011 investigation by ABC News.

“The truth is God has designed our eyes to be attracted to the woman’s body, to be attracted to her breasts,” a counselor at the practice told the gay patient. “I think It’s possible to be totally free of this.”

Becker concluded there was “no longer… any doubt” that Bachmann’s practice “practices reparative therapy aimed at changing a gay person’s sexual orientation.”

While Bachmann claimed in an interview shortly after the ABC news investigation was published that his practice was not antigay, he still has a record of homophobic remarks. In 2010, he called LGBTQ people “barbarians [that] need to be educated.”

The President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities advises the White House on “a broad range of topics that impact people with intellectual disabilities as well as the field of intellectual disabilities.”

Bachmann will serve two years on the panel and will therefore be advising President-elect Joe Biden.

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

HEALTH NEWS

COVID-19 Vaccine FAQ Sydney Norman

As 2020 comes to a close, the newly approved COVID-19 vaccines seem like a light at the end of the tunnel. As Georgia begins to inoculate select citizens against the novel coronavirus, many have questions about the vaccine and its availability. Here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions.

The COVID-19 vaccines seemed to come out so quickly. Are they safe?

According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, because COVID-19 is so similar to preexisting viruses, scientists had a significant head start in developing the vaccine. This is one of the many factors contributing to the expedited delivery of the vaccine. All approved COVID-19 vaccines have undergone rigorous testing and have been deemed safe through clinical trials that involved over 70,000 volunteers.

Do the vaccines really work?

The same large-scale clinical trials that were utilized to deem the approved COVID-19 vaccines safe were utilized to deem the inoculations about 95% effective.

Who will be eligible for vaccination first?

What is Georgia’s plan to roll out the vaccines?

The Georgia Department of Public Health has released a COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout Plan informed by experts across the medical field and the lessons learned from the H1N1 pandemic. We are currently in the first phase of the plan: Phase 1 with limited vaccines available.

Between the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, Georgia has been allocated a little over 500,000 doses. Being that there are about 10.6 million Georgia residents, the Vaccine Rollout Plan has to prioritize health care workers on the front lines and elderly residents at risk for severe illness when exposed to COVID-19 in this first phase.

The following sub-phases of Phase 1 continue to broaden the vaccines’ scope to 10 Health News January 8, 2021

PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK / ORPHEUS FX

include more elderly residents, residents with comorbidities (other diseases or medical conditions that may place someone at a higher risk when exposed to COVID-19), workers and residents in long-term care facilities, and other essential workers.

Phase 2 will come with an increased availability of the vaccines and will include residents eligible in Phase 1 that were unable to be vaccinated and “critical populations” as they are identified.

The Georgia Department of Public Health states that Phase 3 will begin when “vaccine supply exceeds demand” and will include the general population. Administration of second injections or “boosters” will likely begin in Phase 3.

Where can I get the vaccination once I am eligible?

It is likely that once Phase 3 begins, the vaccine will be available through many routine health care providers in their normal facilities. The Vaccine Rollout Plan also states, “To increase equitable … access to the COVID-19 vaccine, providers may conduct satellite, temporary, or off-site clinics in collaboration with community stakeholders.”

This aligns with the Georgia Department of

Public Health’s intention to make the vaccine easily accessible to the general population once possible by placing mass vaccination clinics in heavily trafficked areas instead of exclusively vaccinating residents in traditional clinical settings as was proven to be effective during the H1N1 pandemic.

Will I get sick from being vaccinated against COVID-19?

The Georgia Department of Health explicitly states that the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for causing COVID-19 is not present in the COVID-19 vaccines. As with other vaccines, some mild and temporary symptoms may occur for some people following inoculation. These symptoms can include fever, fatigue, chills, headaches, and pain and/or swelling at the injection site.

These symptoms are normal side effects of your body building protection postvaccination and are no cause for concern.

The CDC suggests to “move or exercise your arm” and “apply a clean, cool, wet washcloth over the area” in order to reduce any swelling or discomfort surrounding the injection site.

They also suggest drinking lots of water and wearing lightweight clothing in order to alleviate any discomfort caused by any other potential side effects.

“The same largescale clinical trials that were utilized to deem the approved COVID-19 vaccines safe were utilized to deem the inoculations about 95% effective.”

If I’ve already had COVID-19, will I still need to be vaccinated?

While the body does build a natural immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus after infection, experts are unsure of how long this protection lasts. The Mayo Clinic states, “Because reinfection is possible and COVID-19 can cause severe medical complications, it’s recommended that people who have already had COVID-19 get a COVID-19 vaccine.”

Will I need a second “booster” shot?

Yes. According to the Mayo Clinic, both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines require two injections. The Moderna injections are given 28 days apart and the Pfizer injections are given 21 days apart. The CDC states, “COVID-19 vaccines that require 2 shots may not protect you until a week or two after your second shot.”

Will I be able to get my children vaccinated?

The Moderna vaccination is approved for people age 18 and older and the Pfizer vaccination is approved for people age 16 and older. The Mayo clinic states, “Several companies have begun enrolling children as young as age 12 in COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials. Studies including younger children will begin soon.”

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

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positiveimpacthealthcenters.org

HEALTH NEWS

Paramount Plastic Surgery Offers Opportunity for Reinvention “Obviously, I’m passionate about what I do, but I think it’s a good thing in our community. I think it provides a service in our community where people feel more self-confident.”

Katie Burkholder The new year is a time of reinvention, and there can be nothing more transformative than addressing your insecurities with a cosmetic procedure. At Paramount Plastic Surgery, Dr. Keith Jeffords offers patients head to toe aesthetic surgeries to make them the best version of themselves.

Meet Dr. Jeffords Dr. Jeffords has a wealth of training and experience in the medical field, originally studying dentistry and medicine and using that experience in combination with his plastic surgery training for the benefit of his patients. He completed full residency training in the internationally renowned plastic surgery program of the University of Pittsburgh and has since lectured other plastic surgeons in regional, national, and international meetings, including the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the American Academy of AntiAging Medicine, the Mexico Academy of Medicine, and the Brazilian Society of Plastic Surgeons. He’s also been named one of Atlanta’s Top Doctors for ten consecutive years by Atlanta Magazine.

Dr. Jeffords is using this vast experience to transform the faces, bodies, and lives of his patients.

Becoming a more confident you “Plastic surgery is for self-esteem,” Dr. Jeffords told Georgia Voice. “It’s not for anything else.” Through a wide variety of procedures, Dr. Jeffords revitalizes patients’ self-esteem — a cause he’s passionate about.

“Obviously, I’m passionate about what I do, but I think it’s a good thing in our community,” he said. “I think it provides a service in our community where people feel more self-confident.”

12 Health News January 8, 2021

—Dr. Keith Jeffords PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK / ROMARIOIEN

A condition that can severely affect selfesteem is gynecomastia, or a condition in males that gives them a disproportionate chest size or “feminine breasts.” It was something Dr. Jeffords himself suffered from in his youth, which is why he centered his practice around gynecomastia surgeries, therefore attracting a large male client base.

Overall, men account for about three percent of plastic surgery patients in the U.S., but about half of Paramount’s clientele are men.

“We are the plastic surgery practice in Georgia for male plastic surgery,” Dr. Jeffords said.

Services offered Paramount doesn’t only address gynecomastia, however. Dr. Jeffords also performs procedures such as Botox injections, liposuctions, nasal surgeries, body contouring, breast augmentations, ear pinning, facelifts, labiaplasties, tummy tucks, reconstructive surgeries, and much more.

Dr. Jeffords is also the only plastic surgeon

in Georgia doing hair transplants, which he’s been doing or 15 years. It is a service he has used to help along transgender patients in their transitions.

“We booked a transgender male-to-female for a hair restoration,” he said. “She was thinning and wanting to look more feminine.” Paramount is well known for being an LGBTQ-friendly practice, with about 40 percent of the clientele from a part of the LGBTQ community.

New year, new you The new year is a popular time for plastic surgery; following Christmas, people make resolutions about looking and feeling better and start preparing to look good for spring break and spring weddings. However, if now is the time you want to get some work done, it’s important to consider recovery time. As Dr. Jeffords says, “there’s never a great time for plastic surgery; you have to make time.” Depending on the procedure, recovery can last anywhere from one to four weeks.

No matter what aesthetic outcome you’re looking for, Dr. Jeffords urges prospective patients to choose a plastic surgeon, especially if they are looking for a more permanent investment. While there are fewer than 300 plastic surgeons in Georgia, there are 5,000 practices offering some sort of aesthetic treatments. These trendy cosmetic procedures, like cool sculpting, laser treatments, or filler injections, can be ineffective and temporary, making them a potential waste of money.

If you want a more permanent alternative to filler, for example, fat from elsewhere in your body can be removed and injected into the places you want filled out by a certified plastic surgeon. It’s a more expensive alternative, but a better long-term investment.

“Beware of trends,” Dr. Jeffords says. “A lot of providers are not plastic surgeons.”

Paramount Plastic Surgery is located at 3964 Atlanta Rd. in Smyrna. You can contact the office Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm at 678-370-9854.

For more information, visit paramountplasticsurgery.com.

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

HEALTH NEWS

New Hair, New You The Anderson Center for Hair combats hair loss

Dr. Daniel Lee (l) and Dr. Ken Anderson of the Anderson Center FACEBOOK PHOTO

Katie Burkholder According to a survey by the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS), over 1 in 5 Americans are losing their hair — about 35 million men and 21 million women. Despite being extremely common, however, hair loss can still be detrimental to one’s self-esteem. There’s good news, though: hair loss can be prevented if caught early, and if you’ve already suffered loss, your hair can be restored. Practices like Anderson Center for Hair in Atlanta offer patients this opportunity for reinvention by offering preventive treatments and procedures, restorative transplants, and above all else, education. We sat down with Dr. Daniel Lee of the Anderson Center to discuss what options people experiencing hair loss have to become a better, more confident version of themselves.

When it comes to hair loss, there’s nothing more important than taking preventive measures. If you’re first starting to notice significant hair loss, no matter your age, Dr. Lee suggests looking into prevention as soon as possible.

“The earlier you start [prevention], the better,” Dr. Lee told Georgia Voice. “At first sign that you’re noticing a bunch of hair falling out, that’s when it’s time to do something about it. If you wait, you’ll have to deal with an emptier scalp … I have guys coming in that are 18 years old starting prevention.”

There are four prevention methods Dr. Lee suggests. The first is a prescription medication called finasteride, which blocks an enzyme linked with hair loss. The second is Rogaine, an over-the-counter topical treatment that increases blood flow to the scalp. The third is Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) injections, where 14 Health News January 8, 2021

“The earlier you start [prevention], the better. At first sign that you’re noticing a bunch of hair falling out, that’s when it’s time to do something about it. If you wait, you’ll have to deal with an emptier scalp … I have guys coming in that are 18 years old starting prevention.”

—Dr. Daniel Lee “The big thing I hear from folks is that [hair restoration] builds their confidence,” said Dr. Lee. “When someone comes back and says, ‘I just feel so much about myself,’ I mean, what more could you ask for as a physician than that?”

nutrients from platelets are injected directly into the follicles. The fourth, used by Dr. Lee himself, is Low-level Laser Therapy (LLLT), a cap that uses light of a particular wavelength that’s absorbed by the follicle cells to grow healthier hair. The Anderson Center offers both PRP and LLLT. “These are the only four things that are proven to work,” Dr. Lee said. “Shampoos and vitamins might help a little, but they’re not going to stop your hair loss.”

For most people, these prevention methods will simply keep the hairs they still have on their heads; a lucky few will actually experience some regrowth, while an unlucky few might see no loss prevention at all. If you’re at a point where you want more hair on your head, then a transplant might be right for you. That doesn’t mean that you get to skip over prevention, however.

“A transplant does nothing about the hairs that you still have that have the potential to fall out,” Dr. Lee said. “Prevention is super

important, even for someone who is having a transplant.”

When a patient gets a hair transplant, hair follicles from the back of their scalp where hair isn’t susceptible to the genetic factors promoting hair loss (called the donor site) are extracted and moved to the site of loss.

After the follicles are extracted, Dr, Lee will then design a hairline for the patient and make sites in the scalp for transplantation.

“It’s really important to make [the hairline] natural looking, age appropriate, and timeless,” he said. “The hairs we transplant never fall out; whatever we do is going to be there 20 or 40 years from now.”

After the hairs are transplanted comes the two-week recovery process, and then comes the waiting. As the follicle starts to grow new hair, the old hairs fall out, and it will take four months before you start to see growth and 12 to 15 months before you see the full results. But the wait is worth it.

If you’re unsure which prevention or transplantation method is right for you, Dr. Lee offers thorough education.

“People read whatever they want on the internet; a big part of what I do is sift through it all with the patient and tell them what’s really true,” said Dr. Lee. “I spend a lot of time during consults, about 45 minutes, educating them on hair loss, prevention, and what’s realistic and achievable.”

No matter where you decide to go for your hair restoration, Dr. Lee implores that you do your research on the provider.

“There’s no regulation of the industry, so any doctor can advertise being a hair restoration surgeon. The ISHRS is our field’s overseeing body. Anyone worth their salt is part of this society. Whoever you go to, make sure they’ve got the credentials to do it.”

For more information on the Anderson Center, visit atlantahairsurgeon.com.

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YOUR VOICE

On Passing and the Relativity of Gender Rose Pelham The word “transgender” implies motion — a transition or transformation — but to be transgender is to watch others move around you.

My first encounter with the trans community, like that of many my age, was through the internet.

In that first, online life, being trans was often presented as a linear progression from the closet, through a period of bodily transformation termed “transition,” to the ultimate goal of anatomically becoming the desired gender. The great expense and difficulty of this process rendered it a longterm endeavor, which few ever seemed to complete, especially considering the relative inaccessibility of transgender-specific health care. Complicating matters further, transition itself was frequently viewed as a somewhat awkward time, especially at its beginning, when one would be between images of self, conspicuously appearing as a successful expression of neither gender. To be successfully trans, the implicit logic went, one had to pass, and passing, because we still (mistakenly) 16 Your Voice January 8, 2021

assumed gender was essentially biological if also somewhat social, was what required these expensive medical procedures. In this time, between my first and second exits from the closet, I was in despair that I would never pass, the arcane rituals of transition seeming infinitely beyond the reach of my pocket.

My despair was unfounded. I would discover in college that, at least for me, passing took no great effort and not even a single surgery. Transition, in experience rather than practice, turned out to be an entirely social process of learning new mannerisms, new ways to use my voice, new habits of dress and grooming. I found a doctor to write me a prescription for hormones, because it was the thing to do, which would supposedly result in all sorts of strange new sensations.

All such promises proved untrue, although it had some anatomical effects that gradually became apparent. Over time, I began to pass. Straight men began to be interested in me, and I learned to repel them. Cis women began to assume I was one of them. Today, there are people with whom I am acquainted who have no idea I am transgender. A month or so ago, my partner’s mother declared me the most feminine person she knows and

wondered whether always passing was any different from being cisgender. I admit, the latter question had occurred to me before.

The truth is, for all I desired to pass, I do not want to be cisgender, or become a transgender approximation of a cisgender person. But I have been giving this account in such a way as to prioritize others’ perspectives of me, not my own.

While I am certainly aware of what I have done to change others’ perceptions of me, I haven’t fundamentally changed myself. My experience of transition did not reveal the secret essence of femininity; nether did it alter the pitch of the voice in my head nor cause me to think of myself as inherently different from before. If, around the time of coming out, the distance between me and what I perceived then as being a woman seemed insurmountably vast, the only change now is not that I have made the hike from masculinity to femininity, but that the distance between the two proved nonexistent. The distinction between the two points was a trick of perspective.

Relativity is as real in our encounters with

other people as it is in physics. To take an example from Einstein’s Relativity: The Special and General Theory, imagine you are on a train. The world out the window moves by, but the train is still, and so are you, and everyone else on board. At first, I was writing as if from the perspective of you on the train watching me move. In that account I started at some sort of masculinity and moved to being a woman. But I stood still, unchanging, as I watched you move from one perception of me to another. The word “transgender” is certainly applicable from an outside perspective; that is, from the perspective of the train, but from where I am standing its implication of movement feels inaccurate.

To be a woman, a man, or neither is all just part of human experience –– but “to be” is a misleading verb in this context, implying that gender and existence are entangled. I am certain that existence comes before gender, and that gender only comes afterward as a mode of expression. To express one’s self as a woman or a man or neither is just a fraction of the range of human expression. I cannot think it inevitable that all, or even most, people should only ever express themselves as only one gender.

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YOUR VOICE

A Tale of Two Responses Buck Jones It was the worst of times, and it was the very worst of times.

The COVID-19 pandemic, when it first appeared on the global stage at the beginning of 2020 following its initial outbreak in China during the previous December, has proven to be a difficult public health crisis for any country to manage, much less control. On the global stage, the list is short to find a case study for best practices, and such a comparison is laden with cultural and geographic caveats that make replication difficult.

For example, South Korea had its first recorded case of COVID-19 at the same time as the United States. As of the end of December 2020, South Korea’s total cases were at 60,740, with a death rate of 18 per million. Likewise, Singapore had slightly fewer overall positive cases (58,599) and an even lower death rate (5 per million).

Culturally, both countries skew heavily toward social collectivism over individuality, and in the case of Singapore, an authoritarian government tradition (in South Korea as well, but to a lesser extent). So they were each able to institute centralized coordination and massive testing, with the necessary component of contact tracing, to isolate and quarantine those infected. The ubiquitous use of an app on the phone to monitor, while an invasion of Western norms of privacy, was also instrumental in both countries in effectively managing, if not completely eradicating, the spread of the pandemic.

South Korea and Singapore are clearly oranges to our apples. So, let’s compare apples: the U.S. versus France, where I live.

As in the United States during the earliest weeks and months, the epidemiological health experts in France were saying that wearing a face mask was not necessary to stem the spread. Instead, their message was the usual refrain of frequent handwashing TheGeorgiaVoice.com

Trump (Photo by Gage Skidmore/Wiki); Macron (World Economic Forum / Sikarin Thanachaiary)

Maybe the greatest divergence between the two leaders, and by extension the two countries, is the public’s perception. French President Emmanuel Macron has projected empathy; he wears a mask consistently in public and can string together a sentence using a noun-verbobject and speak in paragraphs. At least he looks like he cares and is on top of things, even if the end result is basically the same dumpster fire that Donald Trump has created in America.

and face-touching avoidance. We in France watched with horror as the deaths in nextdoor Italy mounted, and even while we were in our first national shutdown from March 17 to May 11 we were still unclear what precautions to take when outside.

Let’s talk a little bit about what our national shutdown was like, and how it compares to what the United States has, and has not, instituted. The French “confinement” — as we call our version of the stay at home / shelter in place order many (but not all) localities and states have instituted in the States — was announced in quick succession between March 12 and 15. Various measures, such as mandatory closure of schools, limiting public gatherings to no more than 100 people, and the closure of all nonessential businesses, were announced each day.

By the 17th of March, one needed an official document to leave home. It was originally a paper pass, but it soon became a form downloadable to your phone. This pass was

mandatory if leaving the house, alone, to do an essential task (which included going to or coming from work for an essential industry, walking one’s dog, or going to the pharmacy or grocery store). If you left the home without your pass and without a face mask, you would be fined £130 (or $150).

Three violations would send you to jail.

The French government wasn’t messing around.

To put their money where their mouth (or as I call it, my rosé hole) is, the French government set up a system of “solidarity funds” to provide money to businesses impacted by the pandemic. This included paying 80% salary to any employee who was temporarily furloughed because of the confinement. These measures were supplemented by government-backed loans to small businesses (with a 1% interest rate and six-year payback schedule for the initial round, and with this second confinement, even more advantageous loan schedules). All

“Perhaps the biggest difference between French President Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump’s responses to the pandemic is their overall competency in providing economic support to those impacted.” in all, it was enough to keep most businesses afloat while the vast majority of the economy was shut down from consumer consumption.

Perhaps the biggest difference between French President Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump’s responses to the pandemic is their overall competency in providing economic support to those impacted. Both France and the United States are in the throes of a second and third wave, respectively. The death rates are nearly identical (985 per million for France and 1,057 for the US).

Both countries are fed up with the pandemic and frustrated with the closures, and patience is wearing thin.

Maybe the greatest divergence between the two leaders, and by extension the two countries, is the public’s perception. Macron has projected empathy; he wears a mask consistently in public and can string together a sentence using a noun-verb-object and speak in paragraphs. At least he looks like he cares and is on top of things, even if the end result is basically the same dumpster fire that Trump has created in America.

January 8, 2021 Your Voice 17

REELING IN THE YEARS

“As I See Myself, Growing Older” María Helena Dolan It’s no secret. I’m one of those infamous baby boomers. I know, I know; you’re sick of hearing about us.

Turn that aside for another time. Because this is a historic moment, when we’re all being forced into the isolation of our homes.

Except for those who must work or care for others outside, need to get groceries, or take (unconscionable?) risks.

There have been other historic moments

of isolation, but I best remember isolation outside my home, in the ‘70s and ‘80s, enforced by people who stopped talking to me when they “found out,” who waited for the next elevator to avoid breathing my air, who tried to sabotage my work or vomited venomous hate with lines such as “AIDS is God’s gift to get rid of you people.”

Trying not to internalize that shit, I stuck my chin and tits out, saying “fuck you,” sometimes literally, but usually via very public political and cultural actions. What has this got to do with our newfound enforced solitude? The evils of feeling unaccepted, unloved, lonely within the

18 Reeling in the Years January 8, 2021

María Helena Dolan (l) and her partner Chris COURTESY PHOTO

crowd of “us,” existed then, even as queer visibility increased. Other baby boomers found themselves alone, unable to get up from their hospital beds or leave their apartments unless evicted.

to stay together, to stay alive. Today we as a community must address the physical needs, as well as the loneliness and isolation, of enforced distancing and facial concealment, with its lethal cocktail of depression,

We as a community created ways to assist,

CONTINUES ON PAGE 19

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REELING IN THE YEARS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18 substance abuse, even suicide.

We know this. It’s all over social media. How many more hours per day can you fixate on this double-edged sword? Even extreme porn loses its luster in what can be the unsafe land of Tinder/Grinder/etc. Easy to become addicted, because we’re mammals. We need touch. We want to be accepted.

Or we can draw inward in other ways. Me? I’ve binged-binged-binged TV. Fuck the book! But even then, all the political money stuffing the media maw sticks in my craw.

Gods! Even when the spousal unit yells “I will leave you if you don’t shut up!” I still shout at English and Spanish TV, “Stop fucking lying!”

I continue to live with the same woman I “hooked up” with 24 years ago. In this, I am very lucky. “Loneliness and social isolation may represent a greater public health hazard than obesity, and their impact has

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been growing and will continue to grow,” according to research presented at the 125th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in 2017. We know things have only gotten worse; it’s all around us.

Despite my TV lobotomy, I’ve thought about Rebecca Ranson. She’s our nowdeceased one-woman Arts Engine and Arts Engineer. Among hundreds of things, she organized SAME (Southeast Arts, Media and Education) in Atlanta. For one SAME event, she invited some Atlanta-based lesbian writers over 40 to participate in a show called “As I See Myself, Growing Older.”

I don’t have my notes now, but I recall Rebecca doing a monologue as her alternate persona, “Brownie,” on turning 60. Brownie lived such a life, it amazed her. She looked in the mirror, at the eyes that have witnessed all. “But I miss the face,” she said, her face now deeply lined, with some real crevices.

At 40, I didn’t understand. I was still tall

(5’8”), dark (almost-black eyes and hair down my back) and handsome (a word regrettably seldom used now in relation to women).

I did not suspect that down the road within a four-year period I’d be forced from my job of 32 years, which provided a real sense of myself, nor that I’d have more than a decade of enforced idleness from various partsreplacement surgeries and blinding chronic pain, nor that my beloved mother would die young from a weird autoimmune disorder, nor that my “I’m your biggest defender” grandmother would shortly follow her cherished daughter into the light, nor that I would lose the looks and spirit that kept so many interested. The list goes on.

I knew something about inconsolable pain, helplessness and depression before COVID-19. And bromides like “just have a little faith” offer as much comfort as the cats using their box.

But some deep-down bone and blood refuses to break apart. I’m a warrior, a fighter. And

“I continue to live with the same woman I ‘hooked up’ with 24 years ago. In this, I am very lucky. ‘Loneliness and social isolation may represent a greater public health hazard than obesity, and their impact has been growing and will continue to grow,’ according to research presented at the 125th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in 2017. We know things have only gotten worse; it’s all around us.” on my good days I see my own worth at this historic moment. And I know I’m not alone in this, queer family. We’re still strong.

And those lines in my face? Earned.

January 8, 2021 Reeling in the Years 19

A&E SPOTLIGHT

Tamisha Iman and LaLa Ri Represent Atlanta on “Drag Race” Season 13 Katie Burkholder The thirteenth season of the well-loved LGBTQ franchise, “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” just premiered, and the uber talented and fabulous lineup of 13 queens includes two from Atlanta. Tamisha Iman and LaLa Ri are representing the gay mecca of the South on the show. The two differ greatly in style and experience — Tamisha is a more classic pageant queen who has been in the industry for 30 years, while LaLa is only three years old and errs on the edgier side of drag — but the two were acquainted years ago before reuniting on the show. In fact, Tamisha, the matriarch of the massive Iman dynasty, was the first person to put LaLa into drag.

We sat down with the two Atlanta queens to discuss their drag, Atlanta’s influence, and what fans can expect from the show. Quotes have been edited for length and clarity.

TAMISHA IMAN: @tamisha_iman on Instagram

You’re representing Atlanta on season 13 of RuPaul’s Drag Race alongside LaLa Ri, who is your drag daughter. How exciting was that to find out?

I was ecstatic, quite naturally. Let me explain the situation about LaLa being my daughter: I was the one to put LaLa first in drag. She was getting ready to go to an audition at LIPS Atlanta ... and she got a booking at a club later that night. It’s hard to get on the show, so for LaLa to be so determined within only a couple of years and get recognized by the network, I was really proud to see her effort recognized.

You’ve done drag for 30 years now. Have all of those years been spent in Atlanta?

Yes, Tamisha was birthed in Atlanta. I’m originally from Birmingham, Alabama, but I moved here when I was seven. So, I’m a peach, ya know? [laughs] And how has the Atlanta drag scene influenced your drag?

The older drag scene did influence my drag. What I learned about drag at the time was that drag isn’t just about taking the stage and performing. It was a platform for you to be a voice in the community. You are one of the ones people will gravitate towards because you are an entertainer. You’ve got the weight of the community on your shoulders. It was more than just a ‘kicking your heels up and doing songs’ type of thing. It was a job.

So do you think being in the game so long and having this older drag experience gives you an edge over the other girls on season 13?

I can’t say that. Drag has evolved! Keep in mind, I’m from the dinosaur years ... now you’ve got computers, internet, [and social media]. It took me 30 years to get to this point; somebody can watch YouTube and next week they can be on Drag Race! For me, [drag has been] a journey. I got to experience that journey, and I hope a lot of the new girls understand that they are now experiencing that journey. Even though many of them have had overnight success, they still have a long way to go in the industry. Just enjoy the ride.

CONTINUES ON PAGE 21 20 A&E Spotlight January 8, 2021

Tamisha Iman

PUBLICITY PHOTO

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A&E SPOTLIGHT

LaLa Ri

PUBLICITY PHOTO

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20 Absolutely. How would you describe your individual drag to people who are going to watch this season?

My drag is different. The show has been known for a lot of camp girls. In Atlanta, we try to represent the look and feel of real; the role model [for my drag] is my mother, you know what I’m saying? That’s just a Southern thing! I don’t do crazy crazy drag — I can, but it’s more of a Southern belle, Hotlanta style. My drag is the look and feel of a real woman with the calmness of an adult and the excitement of an old broom still able to compete with these young cubs.

Is there anything you’d like to tell fans who will watch the show?

This is a reality show. There are going to be high and low emotions. I just want people to understand that we all risked our lives to bring the next generation of Drag Race to the people because we filmed during a pandemic. Just don’t allow the show to make you form opinions about the girls [as people]. At the end of the day, whatever transpired in the moment was just that: in the moment. We all love each other, and we all support each other. But it’s a reality show, so enjoy it for what it is.

LALA RI: @misslalari on Instagram

Tell me how you felt when you learned you were going to be on Drag Race! I’m sure that was really exciting!

Yeah, it was super exciting! I couldn’t believe it at first because it was my first time auditioning. I didn’t think I was going to get chosen, honestly and truthfully [laughs]. When they made the phone call, I was in disbelief.

There were so many emotions, but to sum it all up: excited!

And you’re representing Atlanta with Tamisha.

Yeah. She was my original drag mother, but we actually reunited on the show.

How was that?

It was cool! It was cool to not only have somebody else from Atlanta but someone that I had personal ties to.

So, you’ve only been doing drag for about three years, but I’m sure you’re already pretty familiar with the Atlanta drag scene. How do you think it’s influenced your drag?

Atlanta is the mecca of drag. When you want to be a drag queen, come to Atlanta. These girls, the legends in this town, do not play when it comes to drag. Of course, Atlanta is pretty pageant-heavy so it’s very strict.

I’m not a pageant girl, but it’s groomed me to be the queen that I am now: my professionalism, my makeup, my stage etiquette, and my work ethic.

If you’re not a pageant queen, then how would you describe your drag?

“LaLa Ri is definitely a show girl, hands down. I’m really inspired by Beyonce, I like stage productions, overthe-top glam, choreography, dancers, lights, all of that. Lala is very sassy, a little ratchet [laughs] but most importantly, she’s everyone’s favorite homegirl. That’s why I feel like I can be America’s Next Drag Superstar.

I’m very approachable, everyone seems to love LaLa Ri. She’s an exciting character.

In the grand scheme of things, you’re still very new to drag. Do you think being a “baby” drag queen gives you an advantage with some fresh perspective and energy, or do you worry it will be a disadvantage in the competition?

I don’t think it’s a disadvantage at all. I do agree that it does give me a fresh perspective towards things. I’m more excited for it. I’m hungry for it. I want it so bad, and I’m going to go for it at all costs. [My drag just has] an edgier feel to it, a younger, fresher, edgier feel.

Is there anything you’d like to tell viewers before they watch the season?

Be ready for a slay and a gag [laugh]. I’m just excited to be representing my hometown, Atlanta, Georgia, and all the queens that came before me.

You can watch “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 13 on VH1 Fridays at 8pm or the day after online at vh1.com/shows/rupauls-drag-race.

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January 8, 2021 A&E Spotlight 21

JIM FARMER ACTING OUT

The Year in LGBTQ Cinema Jim Farmer

2020 was a year unlike any we’ve ever experienced. COVID-19 affected every area of life, including film. Movie theaters closed for several months and then slowly began to reopen with safety measures in place. Since many audience members aren’t quite ready to return to cinemas, virtually all films took to streaming either right off the bat or after limited theatrical runs. All in all, the year saw a slew of LGBTQ titles.

My favorite LGBTQ film of the year was “Dating Amber.” Directed by David Freyne, the engaging comedy drama finds two friends in high school pretending to date so that classmates won’t tease them about being gay. Stacked up against some other 2020 releases, it was easy to overlook, but is well worth a visit.

The highest profile LGBTQ film of the year was undoubtedly Netflix’s “The Prom.”

What began as a world premiere musical at the Alliance Theatre in 2016 and later a Tony Award-nominated offering on Broadway became a splashy movie, directed by Ryan Murphy and starring the likes of Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, James Corden, Kerry Washington, Keegan-Michael Key and Andrew Rannells. In it, a group of publicityhungry actors come to an Indiana town to stand up for a young student (Jo Ellen Pellman) who wants to take her girlfriend to the prom. Many people loved it, many people hated it, but it was seen by plenty of folks.

Murphy also helped bring an energetic new version of Mart Crowley’s classic “The Boys in the Band” to Netflix, starring the same actors who were part of the 2019 Tony Award-winning ensemble — Jim Parsons, Matt Bomer, Zachary Quinto, Andrew Rannells, Charlie Carver, Tuc Watkins, Brian Hutchison, Michael Benjamin Washington and Robin de Jesus, directed by Joe Mantello.

Speaking of Netflix, it housed another 22 Columnist January 8, 2021

Publicity photos

Clockwise from top left: “Dating Amber,”“The Prom,” and “Happiest Season.”

major LGBTQ title in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” dealing with the legendary singer who enjoyed the company of women.

The superbly acted movie was directed by a gay man, George C. Wolfe, and starred out actor Colman Domingo. Stars Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman (in a career-best performance) are Oscar favorites for their work here.

Another major title was “Ammonite,” featuring Kate Winslet as Mary Anning, a fossil hunter who gets involved with a younger woman (Saoirse Ronan) coping with melancholia. Coming from director Francis Lee, the director of the classic “God’s Own Country,” it felt stiff, despite some much talked-about sex scenes between the actresses. It also suffered in comparison to the masterful “Portrait of a Lady on Fire.”

Two other big movies went directly to streaming. Directed by former Marietta native Alan Ball, “Uncle Frank” made a splash on Amazon. Its story of a gay man coming home to deal with family issues

might not have walked new ground, but there was no denying the great performances from its cast, including Paul Bettany and Sophia Lillis. Clea DuVall’s romantic comedy “Happiest Season” — where Kristen Stewart accompanies her girlfriend Mackenzie Davis home for the holidays — was scheduled to land in theaters, but instead popped up on Hulu, where it was an undeniable ratings success.

Several excellent documentaries made marks this year. In “Welcome to Chechnya” — a possible Oscar nominee — David France (already an Academy Award nominee himself) looks at a handful of activists who put their lives at risk for LGBTQ rights in Chechnya.

“Disclosure” was a bravura look at transgender representation through the years, directed by Sam Feder and produced by Laverne Cox, while Daniel Karslake’s highly acclaimed “For They Know Not What They Do” examined the parents of LGBTQ children.

Other 2020 LGBTQ titles included “Straight Up,” “Stage Mother,” “Saint Frances,”

“The Prince,” “Benjamin,” “Kajillionaire,” “Born to Be,” “Monsoon,” “Lingua Franca,” “Funny Boy” and “Summerland.”

The Oscars have been pushed to April of 2021, so several films that will be technically released in early 2021 are considered 2020 releases.

One of those is the drama “Supernova,” in which Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci star as a gay couple who go on a road trip while one deals with dementia. Firth is a legitimate Best Supporting Actor contender.

The extraordinary “I Carry You With Me” — which played one week in 2020 for Oscar consideration — is a love story about two men in Mexico, one of whom decides to leave everything behind and come to New York. Look for it in the spring. Also on tap in early 2021 are “Joe Bell,” starring Mark Wahlberg as the father of a bullied gay son, “Falling,” with Viggo Mortensen as a gay man, France’s superb “Two of Us” and “The World to Come,” which features a lesbian relationship between Vanessa Kirby and Katherine Waterston.

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CLIFF BOSTOCK OLD GAY MAN

It’s Not So Bad to be a Size Queen!

Cliff Bostock I have a confession to make in my old age. I used to have a really big dick.

I first came to this realization when I was 26, still emerging from the closet after a five-year marriage. I went to Backstreet for the first time. It was closing and everyone was looking around in desperation. A really hot muscular guy, Jacob, grabbed me and we started making out. He asked me if I wanted to walk across the street to his place. Hell yeah, I wanted to, but I had no idea why someone that hot would be desperate enough to trick with a long-haired, long-bearded, still-skinny, anti-masc neo-hippie. I got my answer as we gulped the last of our drinks.

“I need to tell you something,” he slurred, whispering. “It’s embarrassing, but I have a really small dick, like tiny.” I laughed and assured him that, being a top (that night), I wasn’t feeling like a size queen. As soon as we undressed in his basement apartment, I pushed him onto the bed. After eight seconds of licking my way downward, I encountered an erection roughly the size of a thumb that quickly shrank to the size of my last girlfriend’s clitoris. I stalled. He sighed. Then, well, I tore him up because, goddamnit, my monster dick was despotic!

Great, but you know how it goes. A few weeks later, under the poppers-perfumed red light at

24 Columnist January 8, 2021

PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK / OCSKAY MARK

Mrs. P’s, I learned I have a really small dick.

The other guy destroyed me! I used to assume this power-drenched desire to fuck with or be fucked by the biggest dick imaginable was a feverish preoccupation of youth that would fade into a laughable memory with age. Forget it. By example, a friend in his late 60s decided a few years ago to stop the Botox, the liposuction, and the hair replacement to invest in surgery to enlarge his average-sized dick “because we live in a community of size queens and a big dick trumps everything else.”

I said: “That’s true, but do you seriously care? I mean, do we really need a big bulge in the diapers we’ll soon be wearing for incontinence?”

He was offended, and yes, he got the surgery, which cost him over $20,000. Predictably, he soon became unhappy with the half-inch of added circumference and length. This, some surgeons say, is often true with men whose anxiety about dick size is so extreme that “average” really is meaningless to them.

It’s called “Penile Dysmorphic Disorder,” psychology’s official, pathologizing term for “Common Size Queenishness.” He asked me if I thought he needed therapy. I told him yes, but not psychotherapy. “Just invest the next $20,000 into playing daddy to some kid who will treat your dick like it’s the axis of the planet.” He was again offended, but only because I forgot he’d already tried that.

As I’ve explained before, I actually wrote my doctoral dissertation about the obsession with big cocks in popular culture throughout history. I can easily explain the “condition” with an inevitably tragic Freudian explanation, but I’d rather tell you about the Greco-Roman god Priapus — the unattractive, dwarfish, unwanted son of Aphrodite. He had a gigantic dick that was constantly hard and never spurted (thus the condition we call “priapism”). He was the insatiable, horny, ugly, hilarious, swollen bisexual fucker that occupies every human male and female brain. But the seriously exquisite thing is that he was worshipped through ridicule. The main prayer to him was “I owe you nothing.” Thus, you should treat this disgusting part of yourself with acceptance, humor and celebration.

After our night together, Jacob, my Backstreet trick, and I became lovers for three or four months, then loving friends.

Naturally, he told me twice a day that good things come in small packages. He was beautiful and sweet and sinful and, like so many others that I loved, he floated into death. Be kind to your tiny dick or your huge one, because tomorrow you will be in a diaper.

Cliff Bostock, PhD, is a former psychotherapist now offering life coaching for creative people. Visit cliffbostock.com or write him at cliffbostock@gmail.com.

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Restaurant GUIDE

YOUR GUIDE TO LOCAL EATERIES

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January 8, 2021 Restaurant Guide 25

RYAN LEE SOMETIMES ‘Y’

Pornpocalypse Playlist to the Rescue “Engaging pornography has been championed as a safer and more responsible alternative to hooking up with sex partners throughout the pandemic, and I’ve added a handful of new favorites to my ‘pornpocalypse’ playlist.”

Ryan Lee A few days into the toilet paper crisis of 2020, when it felt like we were observing the eve of Armageddon, I began worrying the survival kit I created in 2016 was insufficiently stocked. I hadn’t hoarded bottled water, freeze-dried fruits and meats, or anything to wipe my ass with, but rather a single item I thought would be a lifeline after societal collapse: a portable collection of porn.

“You mean like a USB thumb drive?” a friend asked me recently.

“I mean an external hard drive with a terabyte of memory,” I clarified.

While most of the hellscapes that 2020 threatened us with have not yet turned our world into a Cormac McCarthy novel, my paranoia about the sturdiness of adultcontent supply chains was vindicated last month when generations of explicit videos evaporated off the internet overnight.

Having saved our species during the darkest, loneliest days of stay-at-home orders, sites like Pornhub and Xtube turned Grinch on December 14 by yanking millions of “unverified” clips from their channels.

As with so many injustices, children were invoked to rationalize the crackdown on

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adult entertainment. The leading porn aggregators claimed they were trying to curb child pornography and sex trafficking, without noting how their restructuring exclusively amplifies videos and studios from which the websites receive a financial cut.

Charmed as I felt not to be among the onanists coping with the disappearance of their favorite amateur stars or 90-minute cream pie compilations, a black hole swallowing more than ten million videos reminded me that my external hard drive originated as a defense from online porn swallowing me. Although re-branded as a survival-preparedness tool after a psychotic dotard assumed control of America’s nuclear codes, I created my portable porn library to

govern my intake at an infinite buffet.

Subjecting my libido to an internet algorithm could occupy hours or weeks of my schedule and overpower my sensibilities in a way anyone who falls into a YouTube wormhole or succumbs to targeted ads might recognize.

After curating my hard drive of greatest hits, I resolved to abstain from new internet pornography because there would always be new internet pornography — uploaded every minute and available on dozens of sites — and I could’ve spent significant chunks of my remaining life clicking from one cum shot to the next.

My stockpile of visual stimulation served me well for three years without dominating

my free time the way the “Recently Added” sections of porn sites did, but as with so many things in 2020, my prohibition against new online content was furloughed after a month of spring quarantine. I emerged from my foxhole to find an ecosystem where porn stars are less focused on fucking than acquiring followers, and even the hottest clips are sullied by absurd, implausible descriptions that remind me of the lame storylines from the porn of my childhood.

Engaging pornography has been championed as a safer and more responsible alternative to hooking up with sex partners throughout the pandemic, and I’ve added a handful of new favorites to my “pornpocalypse” playlist. However, my relapse into modern sexual media has me feeling as if I’m gorging Thanksgiving leftovers on New Year’s Eve, and reverting to my terabyte diet is among my resolutions for 2021.

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

MELISSA CARTER THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID

Online Dating Melissa Carter Like much of the world, a dear friend and I were recently discussing our hopes for the new year.

During the conversation I confessed how grateful I was that career ambitions always came easily to me, but that my personal aspirations, romantic relationships in particular, seemed to prove a challenge.

“Why don’t you use an online dating site, since it looks like we’ll remain home for a while?” she asked me. Trying not to be a rigid middle-aged woman, I allowed myself to be open to the idea. That lasted about an hour.

I’m not sure what it is about online dating that makes me uncomfortable. I first considered it while working in morning radio, since many of my younger colleagues considered meeting someone online the norm. I hesitated because of the public profession I had chosen. I worried a radio fan would find me. Then again, I liked my radio fans and now realize it was more about my radio co-hosts giving me crap and hazing my profile. We did do a radio bit once during which I posted an online profile, but I ended up inviting all the women I connected with to one big dinner so they could meet each other.

Now that I am no longer on local radio, I decided to give these profiles a real try.

I started with Bumble, because that site seemed to take the comfort of its clients more seriously. Bumble is known for only requiring the woman to make the first move, but with same-gender pairings, either party can.

I also found an app called Her, which caters to lesbians, and I’ve also known people who had successful relationships on Match.com, so I posted there too.

I searched for photos to provide in my profile, only to find most of my collection is of my six-year-old son. Not many people TheGeorgiaVoice.com

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volunteer to take pictures of mothers with their children, which results in most mothers lacking pictures for an online dating site. I dug up a few from before motherhood and used those instead.

The more I sat there feeling vulnerable, the more I realized I felt like a card in a deck. It was less about my being rejected and more about my guilt in swiping left. I think the Pisces in me took over and analyzed how swiping doesn’t allow the opportunity to hear a voice, catch a vibe, or experience anything else about someone besides their looks. I was left feeling more awkward than excited, so I deleted everything I had posted shortly after signing on.

I suggested to another single friend that we both should post a profile for 2021, thinking that might shake my analysis paralysis.

“That’s a hard NO,” was her reply.

Seems I’m not alone in my distaste.

As much as I appreciate my friend’s initial suggestion to find connections in the ether, I may have to take a pass. We will eventually get back to social interactions, and I will find more satisfaction in experiencing someone in full before assessing whether or not a date is appropriate. Until then, I will make sure those behind the camera do a better job of including me in photographs.

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