SEEING THE
Light? The role of God in a gay world
Photo by Adam Carpenter, photo illustration by Mike Ritter
Page 6
Saga continues YouthPride ED faces criminal charges. Page 4
‘Shakespeare’s R&J’ Best Bets Prep boys and the Bard play Check out our extensive LGBT calendar. Pages 21-23 with romance. Page 20
02.14.14
IN THIS ISSUE OF GA VOICE
FEATURED STORy
NEWS
4 | YouthPride ED faces criminal charges 11 | Point Foundation comes to Atlanta 11 | Gay married couple attends Fort Benning formal event 11 | Emory University announces LGBT award winners
FAITH + RELIGION
6 | A Sunday at Saint Mark 8 | Go-to guide for ‘clobbering’ anti-LGBT religious arguments 10 | An interview with a straight, affirming pastor.
VIEWS
18 | Guest editorial: Pope Francis: radical renovation or just window dressing?
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT 6 | SANCTUARY FOR ALL: A SUNDAY AT SAINT MARK
Photo by Adam Carpenter
OUTSPOKEN
FRIENDS & FOES IN THEIR OWN WORDS
Photo via screen grab
“While what it means to be a family hasn’t changed, what a family looks like has.”
— Unnamed NFL assistant coach -- one of many anonymous NFL sources quoted by Sports Illustrated -- predicting SEC Defensive Player of the Year Michael Sam’s “draft stock” will be diminished by his recent coming out. (Sports Illustrated, Feb. 9)
COLUMNISTS
26 | That’s What She Said: Melissa Carter on being badgeless in a Thin Mint world 27 | Sometimes ‘Y’: Ryan Lee on celebrity coming out parties
— Voiceover in new Chevrolet commercial depicting real families, gay and straight, that debuted during the 2014 WInter Olympics Opening Ceremonies in Sochi, Russia. (glaad.org, Feb. 7)
“Did you put your penis into x’s backside? … When x was penetrating you, did you have an erection? Did x ejaculate inside you. Why did you use a condom? … What is it about men’s backsides that attracts you?” — Questions asked of a bisexual asylumseeker in the UK during a five-hour interview with an official from the British Home Office. Such questions are a violation of government guidelines. (The Guardian, Feb. 8)
“If you knowingly bring someone in there with that sexual orientation, how are the other guys going to deal with it? It’s going to be a big distraction.”
16 | ‘Looking,’ ‘Orange is the New Black’ stars visit SCAD 16 | The Other Show ready to take stage show to film 19 | Food: Cliff Bostock: Finding Atlanta’s most divine dishes 20 | Theater: Shakespeare’s ‘R&J’ mingles gay preppies, the Bard 21-23 | Calendar 24 | Books: LGBT teens speak up on bullying in ‘Don’t Be So Gay’
Official photo
Michael Sam (Photo by Marcus Qwertyus via Creative Commons)
“Says a lot about the NFL when Michael Sam goes on the record as being a gay athlete but NFL general managers want anonymity to talk about it” — Yahoo Sports writer Charles Robinson in a Tweet posted from Sochi, Russia. (Twitter, Feb. 9)
“As all-important as the fight against racial discrimination was then, and remains today, know this: my commitment to confronting discrimination based on sexual orientation runs just as deep.” — US Attorney General Eric Holder announcing expanded federal recognition of same-sex marriage during an address to the HRC. (Time. com Feb. 8)
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02.14.14
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YouthPride ED faces felony charges Saga continues with LGBT youth group’s leadership not paying rent By DYANA BAGBY Criminal warrants have been issued for the arrest of Terence McPhaul, the controversial executive director of YouthPride, after a former landlord pressed charges against him for writing nearly $4,000 in bad checks to pay for rent for the LGBT youth organization. The checks, written on YouthPride’s account, were for $1,800 each and were to pay for rent in November and December of last year while YouthPride was located at 115 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. The warrants were issued by Fulton Superior Magistrate Court on Feb. 3 after McPhaul did not appear for a court hearing on Jan. 31. Bonnie Stinson, who rents and manages the space on the fourth floor of the building owned by Creations Group located at 115 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, said she had no choice but to press charges against McPhaul after he continually refused to pay rent for YouthPride — and then when he finally did pay rent she said he wrote two checks that were returned for insufficient funds. A penalty for writing a bad check in Georgia for more than $500 is considered a felony and if found guilty, the check writer can face up to three years in prison and a fine. When reached Tuesday by phone, McPhaul refused to comment. “I’m sick. I’m in a shitty mood. I made it clear for you to never call my personal number. YouthPride is closed today,” he said. When asked about the criminal warrants, he hung up the phone. McPhaul signed a year lease to use the fourth floor of the space on MLK Drive for YouthPride, Stinson said. He received one month free but never paid rent. When he was faced with eviction he wrote the checks that bounced, she said. “Because it was a youth group, I didn’t have a problem renting to them. I gave them more latitude than a normal tenet. And I think he uses that to his advantage. He says he is helping kids, but I don’t believe that,” Stinson said. Stinson said YouthPride stayed in the MLK Drive location for about five months, never paying rent. “He would always say ‘Give me two weeks.’ Then he got sick and got sick again. He said he was in the hospital. He kept saying he was waiting for a check,” she said. “And we saw checks come through to YouthPride from places like Coca-Cola, Bank of America, Sun Trust. These checks would be coming in but he would always say these were the small checks and he was waiting for a larger one to pay the rent with.” Stinson also said she never saw youth at the
process of recruiting to fill all their agency board of director positions which confirms lack of leadership necessary for the program to sustain its initiatives.”
WHERE IS YOUTHPRIDE LOCATED NOW? YouthPride’s Executive Director Terence McPhaul (inset) faces criminal charges for passing two bad checks using the LGBT youth organization’s account when trying to pay rent at its old space on MLK Drive. Although YouthPride made an announcement in December of its new location at 72 Broad St., the organization has yet to meet in the space. (Photos by Dyana Bagby)
building. Instead she saw college students from Spelman and Georgia State University who would make phone calls to various businesses asking for money. “He’s not helping these kids. He’s raising the money for himself,” she alleged. Stinson said she pressed criminal charges against McPhaul because she believes he has to be stopped from taking advantage of others. “He’s stiffing people and leaving them high and dry. I really thought we were helping a youth group. We were giving them the benefit of the doubt. He kept on until he found another space,” she added. “He’s just full of game and tricks. It’s not even about the money he owes now, it’s the principle of the matter. He’s taking advantage of these kids and the name of YouthPride.”
LONG HISTORY OF NON-PAYMENT OF RENT
As the executive director of the beleaguered YouthPride, McPhaul has a long history of not paying rent to landlords. In June 2013, YouthPride was officially evicted by Fulton County marshals from its location at 955 Washington Place SW in the Ashview Heights neighborhood after nonpayment of rent for one year.
In June 2012, YouthPride was forced to move from its home at Inman Park United Methodist Church after the church sued the organization for more than $50,000 in back rent. YouthPride’s troubles began in December 2011 when the organization put out a public call via Facebook it needed to raise $40,000 by the end of the year or its doors would be closed. But under the direction of McPhaul, the organization continues to exist. Soon after news of YouthPride’s dire financial straits made headlines, it was also learned the organization, founded in 1995, had no viable board of directors. Today, YouthPride’s leadership remains a mystery. While it’s by-laws require five board members, there are only two publicly-known board members — Tracee McDaniel and Theresa Willis. They have declined comment. The leadership troubles also led Fulton County in August to take legal action to be repaid more than $18,000 of a $40,000 grant awarded to the organization for 2011-2012 for not providing mental health/counseling services as mandated by the grant. Later in August, the federal Americorps VISTA program pulled its funding and volunteers provided to YouthPride because, “YouthPride is still in the
In December, McPhaul made a YouTube video in which he sang a tune announcing YouthPride’s new location at 72 Broad St. in downtown Atlanta and a “Mingle and Jingle” party to celebrate the new venue. However, during a recent visit to the site, the location was closed and empty except for a YouthPride sign that could be seen from the doorway. In a Feb. 4 email exchange, McPhaul explained YouthPride was closed because Atlanta Public Schools were closed during the snowstorm that slammed the city at the end of January. He also said the group was not yet meeting at 72 Broad St. “YouthPride is utilizing non-hostile meeting spaces until new furnishings arrive. YouthPride is striving to make the new center the best for LGBTQQ youth in every way. YouthPride knows LGBTQQ youth deserve the very best. YouthPride has engaged a more ‘youth-community engagement’ model as well,” McPhaul said. When asked via email where youth were meeting while the organization awaits new furnishings, McPhaul responded with this statement, “As a reminder to LGBTQQ youth, 13-24 years of age only, if you possess a YouthPride security code, which you get when you, or your parent or legal guardian, has signed the new YouthPride Legal Policy Form, you can be included in text messages, mailings, and emailings regarding news, events, field trips and meetings. If you have questions just email us at youthpride@youthpride.org.”
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A Sunday at St. Mark Longtime Atlanta LGBT-friendly church welcomes (and serves) all
By PATRICK SAUNDERS It’s rare that a church service begins with an announcement asking worshipers for nominations for an upcoming drag show. But not many are like Saint Mark United Methodist Church. The imposing structure that houses Saint Mark has anchored Midtown since the turn of the 20th century, but it wasn’t until the early ‘90s that the church started attracting LGBT people from around the rapidly changing area. Saint Mark now stands as one of the largest gayfriendly churches in the nation, with over 1,800 members — the vast majority of which are LGBT. A visit to Saint Mark’s is a history lesson. Worshipers stream in from all directions at the corner of Peachtree Street and 5th Street, coming into view of the striking building made from Stone Mountain granite. While the congregation is diverse as far as sexual orientation and gender identity, most of those in attendance are white males in their 40’s or 50’s. Some arrive alone, some with friends, some with their partners and children. There’s a triple entrance portal beneath a large lancet-arched window and front gable. The wood doors, original to the building’s 1902 construction, swing open to reveal an elaborate scene inside. Worshipers are enveloped by stained glass and fellowship. Handshakes and hugs to friends and strangers alike occur throughout the sanctuary. The wooden pews creak with every move, signaling that you’re not the first or the million-and-first person to take in a Saint Mark service over the years.
‘WE THOUGHT IT WAS A BAIT-AND-SWITCH”
Rudy Clemons was brought to Saint Mark by a bigot. The 1991 Pride parade was scheduled to make its way down Peachtree, right in front of First Baptist Church. And the church’s senior pastor, Rev. Charles Stanley, wasn’t happy about it. Stanley was one of the founding members of Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority and Pat Robertson’s Christian Coalition — a double-word score when it comes to the embrace of anti-gay religious teachings. Rev. Stanley also believed AIDS was God’s punishment for the supposed sin of homosexuality. First Baptist hired guards on horseback to
Saint Mark United Methodist Church now stands as one of the largest gay-friendly churches in the nation with over 1,800 members — the vast majority of which are LGBT. (Photos by Adam Carpenter)
keep the marchers off the property. They barred the doors to keep everyone out but their congregants, who jeered the marchers with homophobic comments before entering to worship God. But on the other side of the street, parishioners were handing out water to the marchers, along with fliers that said “Everyone is welcome at Saint Mark.” It was the beginning of a long-term relationship between Saint Mark and the city’s LGBT community, one that is personified by the vast number of LGBT parishioners on any given Sunday service, holding hands with their partners, hugging their friends. Rev. Stanley and First Baptist Church eventually retreated to Dunwoody. Saint Mark’s membership soared. Clemons was a part of the initial wave. “I like the inclusiveness,” he says. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re black, white, purple, gay, straight, bi. And we have some of the best pastors in the country.” Sheri Barrera-Disler and her wife Noey were brought to Saint Mark by water. They were marching in a late-90’s Pride parade when they noticed the church’s parishioners handing out cupfuls of sweet relief. They’ve been coming ever since, although they were wary at first.
FAITH & RELIGION
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‘We’ve finally found a community here where we ... can just focus on what really matters, which is loving ourselves, loving God and loving our neighbors. -- REV. JOSH NOBLITT “We thought it was a bait-and-switch,” says Sheri. The couple sat in the back their first few visits, so they could have an easy getaway if their fears proved true. “But we didn’t need to,” she says. “They seriously want all folks to come and they are very accepting.” Their son Todd, 14, was eventually baptized there. He can be seen every Sunday with his moms, hanging out after the service with the other kids — kids with gay parents and straight parents alike.
A LARGER MESSAGE IN PLAY
Rev. Josh Noblitt carries the title Minster of Social Justice. Although it sounds like he fights crime, his plate is actually full with plenty of other fights — and not just the LGBT ones. Whether it’s marriage equality or the death penalty or HIV/ AIDS or homelessness, Rev. Noblitt is there to coordinate the action, organize the protest or volunteer opportunity, to create the learning opportunities for the congregation. Noblitt and Saint Mark use LGBT issues as an entry point into larger social justice issues. “A lot of us have felt the sting of oppression and know what it’s like to be in an uncomfortable position like that,” Noblitt says. “So that’s our entry point into reaching the homeless, and doing HIV/AIDS stuff and politics even.” The sermon given on a recent Sunday by Minister of Missions & Outreach Rev. Jennifer
Hanson, was about the power of servanthood. Not a single “gay” or “trans” or “LGBT” was uttered. There are no rainbow flag vestments. There’s a larger message in play, the same one delivered that Sunday afternoon in 1991 on the corner outside.
AN APOLOGY AND A PROMISE
The Rev. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in a major Christian denomination, once compared the relationship between religion and the LGBT community to an abusive husband. After being hit so many times, what would draw someone to come back? “I’ve thought about that a lot, about why someone would come back,” Noblitt says. “My personal belief is that we are spiritual human beings. There is a lot of meaning to be found in being part of a spiritual community.” The Church is there in good times and bad, he says. Births and deaths, relationships beginning and ending. “Which I think is really, really powerful,” he says. As a man of the cloth, Noblitt wants to apologize to those who have experienced the “sting of ugliness” from the Church, as he puts it. “We don’t do that here because a lot of us have felt the same thing,” he says. “And we’ve finally found a community here where we don’t have to worry about that, and we can just focus on what really matters, which is loving ourselves, loving God and loving our neighbors. “That’s really what it all boils down to.”
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Your go-to guide for ‘clobbering’ anti-LGBT religious arguments Soulforce booklet explains the controversial passages
Leviticus is what’s known as a “holiness code” — a list of behaviors that people of faith find offensive in a certain place and time. It was written 3,000 years ago and includes many outdated sexual laws, and oh so much more — prohibitions against round haircuts, working on the Sabbath, wearing garments of mixed fabrics, and eating pork or shellfish. “To the Jews, an abomination was not a law, not something evil like rape or murder forbidden by the Ten Commandments,” according to Soulforce. It was a common behavior by non-Jews in a certain time and place that Jews considered displeasing to God. “Jesus and Paul both said the holiness code in Leviticus does not pertain to Christian believers. Nevertheless, there are still people who pull the two verses about men sleeping together from this ancient holiness code to say that the Bible seems to condemn homosexuality,” Soulforce says.
By PATRICK SAUNDERS “There’s nothing wrong with a fifth grade understanding of God...as long as you’re in the fifth grade,” said the Rev. Laurence C. Keene in “For The Bible Tells Me So,” the award-winning documentary about LGBT’s and Christianity. Oftentimes, people use particular Bible verses against us to “prove” that being gay is a sin. These verses are called the “clobber passages.” So how do you respond if someone tries to use the clobber passages against you? The Rev. Mel White, a former speechwriter for Jerry Falwell turned openly gay religious leader, has the answers. A 24-page booklet is available through Soulforce, the organization White founded to counter anti-LGBT religious bigotry with non-violence. We’ve taken the best arguments from Soulforce and whittled them down (adding just a touch of snark) to give you the best information you need to counter the arguments leveled against us.
‘THE BIBLE CONDEMNS HOMOSEXUALITY’
Jesus said nothing about same-sex behavior. And he’s kind of a big deal when it comes to Christianity. The Jewish prophets said nothing about homosexuality. There are over 30,000 verses in the Bible referencing all manner of business, and only six or seven of those refer to same-sex behavior in any way — and none of these verses refer to homosexuality as it’s understood today. It’s kind of like pulling six or seven lines of code from Microsoft Windows 1.0 and trying to use them to run Windows 8.1. But instead of Windows 1.0 being 30 years old, it would be 2,000 years old.
‘ADAM & EVE, NOT ADAM & STEVE!’
The creation story is primarily about showing the power God who created the world and everything in it. So what does the story have to do with homosexuality? Just because the text says it is “natural” for a man and a woman to come together to create a new life, that doesn’t mean LGBT couples are therefore “unnatural.” It’s a big leap to make to interpret the text that way, especially when the text is silent about all kinds of relationships that don’t lead to having children. Like couples unable to have children, couples too old to have children, couples who choose not to have children, or just regular single folks. Ask your “Adam and Steve”-bomb-dropping friend whether they think those relationships are unnatural
‘THE APOSTLE PAUL SAID HOMOSEXUALITY IS AGAINST JEWISH LAW’
SODOM AND GOMORRAH
Jesus and five Old Testament prophets talk about the sins that led to the destruction of Sodom, and not one of them mentions anything resembling homosexuality. Even Billy Graham doesn’t name-drop the gays when he’s preaching about Sodom. Reference Ezekiel 16:48-49: “This is the sin of Sodom; she and her suburbs had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not help or encourage the poor and needy. They were arrogant and this was abominable in God’s eyes.” By that reading, there are a lot of gay and straight Sodomites out there. Sodomites spend all they earn on themselves. Sodomites forget the poor and hungry. Sodomites refuse to do justice or show mercy. Sodomites rush to build bigger homes, buy bigger cars and own more property. Now should you run into the nearest McMansion and call the family a bunch of Sodomites? No. But it would make more sense to do that than someone calling gay people Sodomites.
‘FOR A MAN TO LIE WITH ANOTHER MAN IS AN ABOMINATION!’
Leviticus 18:6 reads: “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female. It is an abomination.” A similar verse occurs two chapters later, in Leviticus 20:13: “A man who sleeps with another man is an abomination and should be executed.” But take a look below the surface.
Here’s how the word “homosexual” got into the Bible — by a random translation done in 1958. The writings of Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10 are the last two places in the Bible that seem to refer to same-sex behavior. Paul is exasperated over Christian infighting and cites Jewish law in telling them how to treat one another. Don’t kill one another, don’t sleep with someone else’s spouse, don’t lie or cheat or steal, no fornication or drunkenness. He also includes “malokois”and “arsenokoitai,” and this is where issues arise because there is no consensus on what he meant. Some say malaokois meant “effeminate call boys” and others say “male prostitutes.” Some say arsenokoitai meant the customers of the “effeminate call boys” and others say it meant “Sodomites,” but they never explain what that means. Cut to 1958, and for the first time in history, someone translated that mysterious Greek word into English and decided it meant “homosexuals,” even though there is no such word in Greek or Hebrew. That translator made the decision for everyone that placed the word “homosexual” in the English-language Bible for the first time. “In the past, people used Paul’s writings to support slavery, segregation and apartheid. People still use Paul’s writings to oppress women and limit their role in the home, in church and in society,” according to Soulforce. And now they continue to use his writings it to condemn LGBT people.
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St. Luke’s a mainstream church for all LGBT inclusive church faces inner struggle over LGBT issues, but continues affirming path By DYANA BAGBY Rev. Liz Schellingerhoudt of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church knows mainstream churches get a bad rap — many times rightfully so — when it comes to LGBT people. For many, many years, pastors have preached hate from the pulpit, causing spiritual pain among gay Christians that sometimes can never be healed. As the associate pastor for Outreach and Pastoral Care at St. Luke’s, Schellingerhoudt says she always felt a calling toward the ministry and was ordained in 2009. She has been serving at St. Luke’s for nearly four years. “I am a straight, white, married woman with children. I’m pleased to serve with talented clergy at St. Luke’s who reflect the diversity of our parish. We have a straight, married white man with children; a partnered, gay white man; a married, straight black man with children; and a partnered, white lesbian who has a 1-year-old child,” she says. And St. Luke’s track record of affirming LGBT congregants is a solid one. “St. Luke’s has a long history of being a welcoming and affirming church, as do other Episcopal churches in this area. We don’t have any special groups for LGBTQ members at St. Luke’s. All of our members are invited to participate fully in the life and leadership of the church, and our LGBTQ members are integrated into the life of the parish and serve in many meaningful ways,” she says. “In the Episcopal Church, we express our call to live out the Christian faith through the vows we make at our own baptism, and we renew those vows every time we hold baptisms. In the vows, we promise to ‘seek and serve Christ in all persons’ and to ‘strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.’ All people means all people, regardless of how we may or may not be alike. Diversity is a reflection of God’s creation, and is to be honored and celebrated,” she adds. GA Voice asked her a series of questions on what she hopes to see from mainstream churches when it comes to the acceptance of LGBT people. GAVO: There has been some major headlines and strides forward with the election of the first gay bishop, Gene Robinson. But there was also blowback. What has been yours and St. Luke’s way to handle some of the negativity surrounding being an affirming church? What is it like to try to work with the Anglican Church to resolve differences of beliefs? Schellingerhoudt: As I mentioned above, St.
Rev. Liz Schellingerhoudt (far right) with parishioners of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church after handing out water bottles to participants in the Atlanta Pride Parade last year. (Photo via Facebook)
Luke’s has a long history of being a welcoming church. For years, we have had a water station for the Atlanta Pride Parade, which passes by our front door. That does not mean that all members agree with one another, however in true Anglican tradition, we come to the table to celebrate the Eucharist together rather than splitting over differences of opinion. We also remember our vows made and renewed at baptism, to respect the dignity of every human being, and we provide the same warm welcome to anyone who enters our church. How many members do you have in your church? How many do you think identify as LGBT? Our membership tops 2,000. As I said above, we do not in any way segment members who are LGBTQ from other members, so I have no way to answer your question with numbers. I can say that we have many members, male and female, who identify themselves as LGBTQ — they are single, partnered or married, with or without children, younger and older, as well as several members in the process of transitioning. There are enough members
who identify as LGBTQ that they can be found in every aspect of parish life, are known and loved by the parish. They are first and foremost members of our parish family, though, and not seen as our “LGBTQ members.” What do you say to LGBT people who say there is no room for them in Christianity because of the history of anti-gay rhetoric from the pulpit? Regrettably, people in the church have caused great pain for LGBTQ persons, and a lot of the condemnation has come from the pulpit. The Church is capable of making terrible mistakes, and this is a good example. The Church is in need of repentance and forgiveness for this violence. That said, there is room for all people in Christianity, because the relationship is first and foremost with a loving and trustworthy God who affirms everyone in his/her creation. It would be my hope that persons who have been wounded by the church can find a church that reflects God’s welcome of them as people who are thoroughly loved by God. The Episcopal churches in the Diocese of Atlanta are good examples of mainline denomination churches that are affirming and safe to visit. Has your church been the target of any hate because it is affirming? Our front sign was “tagged” last year during the Pride Parade, but nothing other than that.
What do you believe is the future of Christianity when it comes to LGBT people — there are many mainstream issues struggling with the issue. Will more and more become more accepting as a newer generation comes to power, similar to what is happening in our overall society? The image that comes to mind is a service we held last summer at St. Luke’s with a newly approved liturgy for the Blessing of a Same Sex Union. It was for a couple in our parish who have been together for 25 years. There were over 300 people present, and the movement and joy of the Holy Spirit was palpable. I hold that picture as a vision of the future for all persons. I hope that others can experience the same joy that comes from affirming people in their lives together, regardless of the gender construct of the couple. As for the Anglican Communion, it is not wholly against LGBTQ persons. Some media reports have portrayed the struggle as the Episcopal Church against the world, which is not the case. There are many countries, some in Africa in fact, who agree with us more than they disagree. The Anglican Communion is not guided by a hierarchy or an agreed-upon set of beliefs, but is an association of churches who trace their roots to the Church of England. The Episcopal Church is a part of this historic body and we have an important voice in this and other conversations (for example, the ordination of women), so my personal hope is that we remain at the table.
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ATLANTA ACTIVISTS FORMING POINT FOUNDATION PROGRAM TO HELP LGBT SCHOLARS The Point Foundation, the nation’s largest scholarship program for LGBT students, is forming an Atlanta Point Cornerstone Society membership program with an inaugural event set for Feb. 20. Host committee members are Louis Gary, Ivan Pulinkala, James Richardson, Ken Thaxton and Jamie Woodard. Point scholars and alumni will be at the Feb. 20 event to share their stories about how the scholarship fund helped them to achieve their goals. The event is free to prospective Point Cornerstone Society Members — those who will donate $500 or more a year. There will be appetizers and cocktails at the event. The Point Foundation has invested more than $15 million in the education and support of Point Scholars since it was founded in 2001. “We do a lot of fundraising in the city around issues relative to the community and sometimes we invest too much in certain ones,” said Louis Gary, an Atlanta financial planner. “In my formative years at Mississippi State I always had this great idea to have a gay scholarship fund, especially for those in Southern states. There is an ongoing concern that when parents and family find out their child is gay, they shut down funding and the child then loses scholastic funding,” Gary said. “I was afraid to come out in college because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to finish college. And for some when the funding is cut off they can become become trapped in mediocrity in a state that hates them.” Gary and his partner, Rocky Nixon, have helped LGBT young people who have been cut off from family and needing help to go to school and get jobs by giving them places to stay, even buying them suits for their job interviews. “But I still pined to create a scholarship fund,” he said. When a friend told him about the Point Foun- MORE INFO dation, Gary Event supporting knew there Point Foundation’s was no reason LGBTQ Scholars to reinvent Meet and hear from recipients of the wheel. prestigious national scholarship “And what’s Thursday, Feb. 20 most impres7 to 9 p.m. The Wimbish House sive is you 1150 Peachtree St. NE can name a Atlanta GA 30309 scholarship Register online at fund toward a www.pointfoundation.org/atl specific schowww.pointfoundation.org lastic avenue
NEWSIN BRIEF NEWS
or a specific university. One day I’d like to create a fund to [send LGBT students] to Southeastern universities,” he says. The Feb. 20 event is meant to educate young scholars about the program as well as let those who have the funds to donate and help sustain the education program to empower future LGBT leaders
Chief Warrant Officer Christopher Dellamura and his husband, Aaron Austin (Courtesy photo)
GAY COUPLE IS FIRST TO ATTEND FORT BENNING FORMAL EVENT
anti-gay state constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2004. The repeal of the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy was rescinded in 2010 and allows U.S. gay, lesbian and bisexual service members to serve openly. Transgender service members are not allowed to serve openly.
EMORY ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF ANNUAL LGBT AWARDS The 22nd annual Pride Awards hosted by the Emory Office of LGBT Life will be held March 4 and boasts a list of accomplished activists to be honored this year. This year the Keeping the Faith Award is being renamed to honor Rev. Dr. Susan HenryCrowe, the first recipient of the Keeping the Faith Award in 2011. “Her leadership and commitment to advocacy, justice and education created an engaged and affirming environment for all students, faculty and staff,” said Michael Shutt, director of the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Life. Henry-Crowe left Emory University earlier this month to become the chief executive of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society. The 2014 winners are:
The first openly gay couple attended a formal event at Fort Benning last month, marking a milestone in the history of the U.S. Army base located near Columbus, Ga. • Outstanding Transgender Advocate Award Aaron Austin and his husband, Chief War- Samantha Allen rant Officer Christopher Dellamura, attended 2015 PhD Department of Women’s, Gender, and Fort Benning’s Annual 4th Ranger Training Sexuality Studies Battalion Ball at the River Mill Event Center in Graduate Assistant in the Office of LGBT Life Columbus on Jan. 30. Dellamura, a senior instructor pilot and in- • Rev. Dr. Susan Henry-Crowe strument flight examiner, has been stationed Keeping the Faith Award at Fort Benning for just over a year, Austin told Sacred Worth, Candler School of Theology the GA Voice. While the two do • Outstanding Ally of not live on base, they are part of the Year Award the military family and said their Alpha Theta Chapter of attendance was well received by Alpha Tau Omega fellow soldiers and their families. “It was an amazing experi• Alum of the Year Award ence — and everyone was so John Blevins warm and welcoming,” Austin Associate Professor said. Rollins School of Public Health The couple has been together • Saralynn Chesnut six years and were married in Scott Turner Schofield is this LGBT Person of the Year Award Connecticut in August. year’s Saralynn Chesnut LGBT PerScott Turner Schofield “I am an active member of son of the Year. (Publicity photo) 2002 Alumnus the Family Readiness Group with his company and have found a great new family in the Army,” Austin added. “The other spouses have been so warm and welcoming and it gives me a great sense of community.” While married legally in the eyes of the federal government, the couple’s marriage is illegal in Georgia due to the
MORE INFO Emory University’s 22nd Annual Pride Awards March 4 6:30 to 8 p.m. Miller-Ward Alumni House 815 Houston Mill Road Atlanta, GA 30329 Free and open to the public
• Fierce Leadership Award Andy Ratto Founder of RoLL, Rollins and Laney LGBT Organization • GALA Leadership Award Cameron Coppala Emory Pride Secretary TransForming Gender Discussion Group facilitator
02.14.14
GA VOICE | 11
The
one
for me
Patient model. Pill shown is not actual size.
What is COMPLERA? COMPLERA® is a prescription HIV medicine that is used as a complete regimen to treat HIV-1 in adults who have never taken HIV medicines before and who have an amount of HIV in their blood (this is called “viral load”) that is no more than 100,000 copies/mL. COMPLERA contains 3 medicines – rilpivirine, emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate. It is not known if COMPLERA is safe and effective in children under the age of 18 years. COMPLERA® does not cure HIV-1 infection or AIDS. To control HIV-1 infection and decrease HIV-related illnesses you must keep taking COMPLERA. Avoid doing things that can spread HIV-1 to others: always practice safer sex and use condoms to lower the chance of sexual contact with body fluids; never reuse or share needles or other items that have body fluids on them, do not share personal items that may contain bodily fluids. Ask your healthcare provider if you have questions about how to reduce the risk of passing HIV-1 to others.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION What is the most important information you should know about COMPLERA? COMPLERA® can cause serious side effects: • Build-up of an acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious medical emergency. Symptoms of lactic acidosis include feeling very weak or tired, unusual (not normal) muscle pain, trouble breathing, stomach pain with nausea or vomiting, feeling cold, especially in your arms and legs, feeling dizzy or lightheaded, and/or a fast or irregular heartbeat. • Serious liver problems. The liver may become large (hepatomegaly) and fatty (steatosis). Symptoms of liver problems include your skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow (jaundice), dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored bowel movements (stools), loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, and/or stomach pain. • You may be more likely to get lactic acidosis or serious liver problems if you are female, very overweight (obese), or have been taking COMPLERA for a long time. In some cases, these serious conditions have led to death. Call your healthcare provider right away if you have any symptoms of these conditions. • Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. If you also have HBV and stop taking COMPLERA, your hepatitis may suddenly get worse. Do not stop taking COMPLERA without first talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to monitor your health. COMPLERA is not approved for the treatment of HBV.
Who should not take COMPLERA? Do not take COMPLERA if you have ever taken other anti-HIV medicines. COMPLERA may change the effect of other medicines and may cause serious side effects. Your healthcare provider may change your other medicines or change their doses. Do not take COMPLERA if you also take these medicines: • anti-seizure medicines: carbamazepine (Carbatrol, Equetro, Tegretol, Tegretol-XR, Teril, Epitol); oxcarbazepine (Trileptal), phenobarbital (Luminal), phenytoin (Dilantin, Dilantin-125, Phenytek) • anti-tuberculosis medicines: rifabutin (Mycobutin), rifampin (Rifater, Rifamate, Rimactane, Rifadin) and rifapentine (Priftin) • proton pump inhibitors for stomach or intestinal problems: esomeprazole (Nexium, Vimovo), lansoprazole (Prevacid), dexlansoprazole (Dexilant), omeprazole (Prilosec), pantoprazole sodium (Protonix), rabeprazole (Aciphex) • more than 1 dose of the steroid medicine dexamethasone or dexamethasone sodium phosphate • St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) If you are taking COMPLERA you should not take other HIV medicines or other medicines containing tenofovir (Viread, Truvada, Stribild or Atripla); other medicines containing emtricitabine or lamivudine (Emtriva, Combivir, Epivir, Epivir-HBV, Epzicom, Trizivir, Atripla, Stribild or Truvada); rilpivirine (Edurant) or adefovir (Hepsera). In addition, tell your healthcare provider if you are taking the following medications because they may interfere with how COMPLERA works and may cause side effects: • certain antacid medicines containing aluminum, magnesium hydroxide, or calcium carbonate (examples: Rolaids, TUMS). These medicines must be taken at least 2 hours before or 4 hours after COMPLERA. • medicines to block stomach acid including cimetidine (Tagamet), famotidine (Pepcid), nizatidine (Axid), or ranitidine HCL (Zantac). These medicines must be taken at least 12 hours before or 4 hours after COMPLERA. • any of these medicines: clarithromycin (Biaxin); erythromycin (E-Mycin, Eryc, Ery-Tab, PCE, Pediazole, Ilosone), fluconazole (Diflucan), itraconazole (Sporanox), ketoconazole (Nizoral) methadone (Dolophine); posaconazole (Noxafil), telithromycin (Ketek) or voriconazole (Vfend). • medicines that are eliminated by the kidneys like acyclovir (Zovirax), cidofovir (Vistide), ganciclovir (Cytovene IV, Vitrasert), valacyclovir (Valtrex) and valganciclovir (Valcyte).
COMPLERA.
A complete HIV treatment in only 1 pill a day. COMPLERA is for adults who have never taken HIV-1 medicines before and have no more than 100,000 copies/mL of virus in their blood.
Ask your healthcare provider if it’s the one for you.
These are not all the medicines that may cause problems if you take COMPLERA. Tell your healthcare provider about all prescription and nonprescription medicines, vitamins, or herbal supplements you are taking or plan to take.
The most common side effects reported with COMPLERA are trouble sleeping (insomnia), abnormal dreams, headache, dizziness, diarrhea, nausea, rash, tiredness, and depression. Some side effects also reported include vomiting, stomach pain or discomfort, skin discoloration (small spots or freckles) and pain.
Before taking COMPLERA, tell your healthcare provider if you: liver problems, including hepatitis B or C virus infection, or have abnormal liver tests • Have kidney problems • Have ever had a mental health problem • Have bone problems • Are pregnant or planning to become pregnant. It is not known if COMPLERA can harm your unborn child • Are breastfeeding: Women with HIV should not breastfeed because they can pass HIV through their milk to the baby. Also, COMPLERA may pass through breast milk and could cause harm to the baby
This is not a complete list of side effects. Tell your healthcare provider or pharmacist if you notice any side effects while taking COMPLERA, and call your healthcare provider for medical advice about side effects.
• Have
COMPLERA can cause additional serious side effects: • New or worsening kidney problems, including kidney failure. If you have had kidney problems, or take other medicines that may cause kidney problems, your healthcare provider may need to do regular blood tests. • Depression or mood changes. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any of the following symptoms: feeling sad or hopeless, feeling anxious or restless, have thoughts of hurting yourself (suicide) or have tried to hurt yourself. • Changes in liver enzymes: People who have had hepatitis B or C, or who have had changes in their liver function tests in the past may have an increased risk for liver problems while taking COMPLERA. Some people without prior liver disease may also be at risk. Your healthcare provider may need to check your liver enzymes before and during treatment with COMPLERA. • Bone problems can happen in some people who take COMPLERA. Bone problems include bone pain, softening or thinning (which may lead to fractures). Your healthcare provider may need to do additional tests to check your bones. • Changes in body fat can happen in people taking HIV medicine. • Changes in your immune system. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fight infections that have been hidden in your body for a long time. Tell your healthcare provider if you start having new symptoms after starting COMPLERA.
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit http://www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088. Additional Information about taking COMPLERA:
• Always take COMPLERA exactly as your healthcare provider tells you to take it.
• Take COMPLERA with food. Taking COMPLERA with food is important to help get the
right amount of medicine in your body. (A protein drink does not replace food. If your healthcare provider stops COMPLERA, make certain you understand how to take your new medicine and whether you need to take your new medicine with a meal.)
Stay under the care of your healthcare provider during treatment with COMPLERA and see your healthcare provider regularly. Please see Brief Summary of full Prescribing Information with important warnings on the following pages.
Learn more at www.COMPLERA.com
16 | GA VOICE
02.14.14
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
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‘Looking’, ‘Orange is the New Black’ A&E IN BRIEF stars light up SCAD Atlanta aTVfest Gay faves highlight of second annual festival By PATRICK SAUNDERS The stars came to town last weekend to take part in a diverse and lively discussion of all things TV in 2014 as SCAD Atlanta hosted their Second Annual aTVfest. GA Voice was there to document the highlights for you, and sitting at the top of the list was HBO’s “Looking” and Netflix’s “Orange is the New Black.” SCAD’s rapidly growing festival featured three days of screenings, conversation, networking and awards taking place at the school’s Peachtree Street campus and the 14th Street Playhouse. The 14th Street Playhouse was the scene on Feb. 7 as two episodes of “Looking” were shown, followed by a Q&A with the entire cast. “Looking” is a half-hour comedy-drama about a group of gay friends living (and loving) in San Francisco. The three principal characters are video game designer Patrick (played by “Glee” and Broadway star Jonathan Groff), 40-something waiter Dom (Australian actor Murray Bartlett) and artist’s assistant Agustin (Frankie J. Alvarez). The show premiered last month and is gaining a big following, especially among gay men. It is the first scripted show with a mostly gay male cast since “Queer As Folk” ended in 2005. While the two shows are often compared, “Looking” is a slower, more thoughtful show, and is less about being gay than about just experiencing everyday issues, like when to move in with a boyfriend, confronting old flames, navigating embarrassing social situations, and when to strike out on your own and open your own business. The three stars, as well as supporting cast members Raul Castillo (“Richie”) and O.T. Fagbenle (“Frank”), along with Executive Producer Sarah Condon, were there to take questions from the audience and openly gay moderator Marc Malkin, senior editor and writer of E! Entertainment fame. Malkin pulled double-duty on Feb. 8 as the venue switched to a jam-packed room on the SCAD campus on Peachtree Street for the “Orange is the New Black” panel. The show is about Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), a bisexual woman who is serving prison time for carrying drug money for her former girlfriend, Alex (Laura Prepon). It’s a true fish-out-of-water tale as the white, suburban Piper figures out how to adapt to prison world, featuring a large cast of characters with backgrounds completely unlike
‘The Other Show’ exceeded its fundraising campaign and is still accepting donations to take its conceptual show from the stage to the digital world in the form of a short film. (Photo via Atlanta Pride)
Atlanta drag fave ‘The Other Show’ set to illuminate the masses
Cast members from gay-fave shows ‘Looking’ on HBO and ‘Oranges is the New Black’ on Netflix participated in panel discussions during SCAD aTVfest Feb. 7-8. (Photos by Patrick Saunders)
her own. Inmates, correctional officers and prison staff mix together in an intimate environment, creating an intoxicating mix of laughter and heartbreak. The show has picked up a large and loyal audience, particularly among the lesbian community. It features many lesbian relationships and often-explicit lesbian sex. The show also has the largest representation of lesbian characters since “The L Word” and features the first transgender actress in a major TV role, Laverne Fox, who portrays Sophia Burset. “Orange Is The New Black” (along with “House of Cards”) has been credited with
helping Netflix explode into the world of original programming, giving networks and cable stations a run for their money. Amazon has now followed suit with original programming of their own, no doubt buoyed by Netflix’s success. Stars Uzo Aduba (“Suzanne ‘Crazy Eyes’ Warren”), Danielle Brooks (“Tasha ‘Taystee’ Jefferson”), Samira Wiley (“Poussey Washington”) and Matt McGorry (“John Bennett”) kept the crowd laughing while giving insight into their characters and trying as best they could not to reveal spoilers about the eagerly anticipated Season Two, which Netflix has yet to announce a premiere date.
It only took one week for the Other Show to raise more than $3,000 as part of a Kickstarter campaign titled “Help Illuminate the Other Show,” a project that promises to take the daring drag show to another realm — the movies. Hoping to raise $2,500 in one month, the drag show exceeded its goal in days, overwhelming the entire cast, saysEdie Cheezburger, who founded the Other Show in 2012 with Jaye Lish. The popular drag show is held every Friday night at Jungle and includes divas Violet Chachki, Miami Royale, Evah Destruction and Celeste Holmes. “We were worried about getting $1,000. We just want to thank everybody who donated, who comes to the shows and supports us. Traditionally we don’t get paid very much, but we want to give back to the local community,” Cheezburger says. “It just shows how much support there is for local talent.” The Other Show is working with artists Jon Dean and Blake England to bring their stage show into the digital world with a short film and a photographic series. Dean and England are two of the many artists behind the successful Legendary Children art exhibit. “We have a concept but we’re not going to release that yet. We want it to be a surprise,” says Cheezburger, who like any great drag queen, keeps her secrets tucked close to her, er, chest. When the film will be completed is unknown, but when the film is done there will be a screening to culminate with a grand performance piece and huge party. “We want to make make art that transcends from the stage to a digital space,” she explains. “This is a conceptual piece. We are doing all of the styling, we have a color palette, imagery and a theme as well as a loose story line,” Cheezburger says. “We are taking the Other Show to this different level. Everyone is going to see a new side of us — as serious actresses,” Cheezburger says with a laugh. — Dyana Bagby
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EDITORIAL
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THE GEORGIA VOICE
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EDITORIAL
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GA VOICES GUEST VIEW EDITORIAL
Pope Francis: Radical renovation or just Vatican window dressing? By DANIEL A. HELMINIAK Pope Francis has changed the face of the Vatican. He acts so un-papally. Elected pope, he insisted on personally paying his hotel bill. He gave up the papal regalia, carrying an iron, not gold, cross and wearing his orthopedic shoes instead of red slippers. He lives in a small apartment at the Vatican, not in the papal mansion. He drives a used Renault 4 instead of being chauffeured in the Mercedes Benz “popemobile” (and many of us wish he’d be more careful about his safety). What it all means is the $64,000 question. A gay friend, also a former priest, saw it this way: “He’s changed the window dressing but is still selling the same goods. But then again, window dressing matters — especially to gay people!” So far, yes, it’s only a change of facade. I sit by, looking on, mostly shrugging my shoulders, harboring some small hope, but not holding my breath. John Paul II and then Benedict XVI squashed all hope for the change promised, envisaged, even prescribed by the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. Francis may be appointing bishops with a pastoral bent, but the uptight, autocratic hierarchs already installed in every diocese of the world will take decades to pass on. Francis won’t outlive them all; he can’t change the church alone; and too many self-righteous religious folk prefer old-time certainties to the ambiguities of honest living. But Francis did make one real change in Catholic teaching — that famous “Who am I to judge?” He did not say that gay sex is okay. He suggested that just being gay is not an issue in itself. The implications are hard to assess. For some Christian traditions, personal responsibility is not needed for sin—you do it, you are condemned; no excuses! In contrast, Catholicism never said that just being gay was a sin; it’s not of one’s choosing. The sin is in deliberately acting on it. Yet even acting on it might not be a sin (even if it were wrong): God would not condemn us for doing what we sincerely believe to be, not wrong, but best for us. Many LGBT Catholics stand on this sane teaching, as do heteros practicing birth control and supporting LGBT relationships at percentages well beyond those in any other Christian denomination. In Catholic teaching, before God (if not before the church), conscience is supreme. No one but God, not even the pope, can judge the human soul. But from its earliest statement on homosexuality in 1975, in a seemingly Freudian take on
fixations at the oral and anal stages, the Vatican understood homosexuality to be “intrinsically disordered,” a “pathological constitution.” So Cardinal Ratzinger’s (later Benedict XVI) 1986 insistence that homosexuality is not a neutral condition, but “an objective disorder,” because it’s an inclination toward evil (gay sex, ye gads!)—this teaching was not new at all. And how pernicious it is comes clear in Ratzinger’s 2005 statement on gay seminarians. Even if they are celibate, they cannot make good priests — because they’re mentally imbalanced! Purportedly, they lack the “affective maturity … to relate correctly to both men and women.” A footnote to John Paul II’s list of requisites for a priest filled in the horrid details: knowledge of the human heart, ability to dialogue easily, love of the truth, a sense of justice, respect for others, integrity, and the like. Supposedly, homosexual people lack all these qualities inherently! If this ignorant and vile teaching is what “Who am I to judge?” repudiated, the Vatican — well, at least Francis — has made a major step into the 21st century. Nonetheless, the crux of the problem is how the Vatican sees human sexuality. It still insists that every sex act must be open to conception. On this one, biological foundation, all the standard condemnations rest: contraception, masturbation, and LGBT and other extra-marital sex. A nice theory, concise and simple! But it’s egregiously outdated. It depends on Aristotelian biology and ancient Stoic philosophy. Why, we only learned in 1875 that it takes both an egg and a sperm to produce a conception! For millennia human understanding of sexuality has been abysmal, totally lacking any psychological and spiritual dimensions. We have learned more about sex in the past century — in the USA, only since Kinsey’s research about 1950 — than the whole human race had achieved since the get-go. Catholic teaching holds that there can be no contradiction between faith and reason, religion and science, because God’s truth is one. This teaching keeps me, a scientist, a Roman Catholic. But on this point, I submit, the Vatican is in heresy. It refuses to accept the overwhelmingly supported conclusions of all current research on human sexuality — biblical, historical, biological, medical, psychological, anthropological, sociological. Of course, the Vatican has already lost on contraception. Upwards of 90 percent of practicing Catholics report using it in good conscience, at least in the developed nations. And if contra-
ception goes, so does all the rest. The United Nations just publicly faulted the Vatican for subverting the common good, not only by its cover-up of sexual abuse (undoubtedly related to Vatican sex-negativism), but also for its teaching on contraception and homosexuality. Here’s another nail in the coffin of Catholic sexual ethics. The sad irony is that now a secular institution must instruct the Catholic Church on matters of justice and social well-being. Another theme in Francis’s story is the role of women. Still dressing windows, he washes women’s feet and calls for their involvement, but he’s unbudging regarding the pathway to authority in the church: ordination. Patriarchy — and, indeed, outright misogyny — are ingrained in the Catholic system. Astoundingly, the early third century Latin Father of the Church Tertullian wrote, “What is seen with the eyes of the Creator is masculine and not feminine, for God does not stoop to look on what is feminine and of the flesh.” The great Saint Augustine echoed in kind: “The body of a man is as superior to that of a woman as the soul is to the body.” Such sentiment lives on in the Vatican’s all-male bureaucracy. This horror, too, must be excised, root and branch. New dressings cannot cure the ailments of the Catholic Church. Radical renovation is needed — and Francis just might be moving toward it. We’ll know after October’s Synod of Bishops on marriage and family life. Already his openness to all peoples highlights the complexity of life, and once admitted, this complexity will demand its due — fundamental change in the Vatican’s teaching on sex and gender. What might result is hard to know. I ventured a rendition in “The Transcended Christian.” The basic point is that we have to “get beyond it all.” Traditional religion with its unbending doctrines, self-righteous condemnations, irresolvable squabbles, and jihadist wars is simply intolerable in today’s world. Francis points to welcome, mercy, forgiveness, justice, and charity. These do transcend denominational lines. Hopefully, they will also dissolve religion’s dogmatism. Then for Francis, the medium would be the message. I hope and wait to see. Daniel Helminiak is a theologian, former Catholic priest, and current professor of psychology and spirituality at the University of West Georgia. His latest book, “The Transcended Christian,” is available now.
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02.14.14
GA VOICE | 19
EATING MYWORDS by CLIFF BOSTOCK
Finding Atlanta’s most divine dishes n
?
When I was five, I fell in love with the poetically named Wendy Woodcock. We played outside constantly, but I didn’t really like going inside her house. Everywhere you looked, there was a huge cross draped with a dead Jesus. I had no idea who Jesus was and, to this day, I cannot imagine growing up with a tortured corpse watching your every move. There was nonetheless a singular, truly awesome incentive to face my fears and follow Wendy inside. She had an Easy-Bake Oven! Our snack was always the same — heated-up pieces of Sunbeam bread. Wendy called it “Bread of My Body” and served it with Kool-Aid. With very little exposure to religion, I didn’t realize for years that I’d been regularly consuming the flesh of Jesus, topped with peanut butter and jelly. “Perfect! Eating inevitably brings up the spiritual. That’s why communion is the most sacred ritual of Christianity,” my friend Daryl White, an anthropologist specializing in both food and religion studies at Spelman College, remarked after I told him the story. You chew and swallow, you evoke the mystery of transformation — taking something into the body and converting it into something else. This mystery, what it means to be human, lurks behind all eating whether conscious or not. “And, besides,” Daryl cracked, “southern cooking is like baptism — total immersion in oil.” Buddhism offers a technique — mindfulness — by which we can explore the mystery of immediate experience, including eating. It’s something Bill Addison, dining critic for Atlanta Magazine, knows a great deal about. “Before I became a food writer, I studied with Natalie Goldberg, author of ‘Writing Down The Bones’ and a longtime Zen Buddhist,” he told me. “During one retreat, Natalie threw out an in-class writing topic: ‘Tell us about a meal you love.’ Everyone’s writing suddenly became so detailed and full of life. Natalie laughed and said, “Eating may be the only time in our lives when we’re really awake.” ‘That idea has never left me,” Bill said. “Eating engages all of our senses and brings us to the moment, which, for a Buddhist, is what spirituality is about. Not good, not bad: simply the crunch of a radish and its peppery taste.” So where can you find enlightenment on a plate? It needs to be a place where the chef is bringing the same mindfulness to his cooking that diners bring to eating. Bill, like me, raves in this respect about the mainly-vegetarian David Sweeney, owner of the defunct Dynamic Dish. He is now offering a pop-up menu Wednesday nights at The Sound Table. “I feel the loving intention behind his food,” Bill said. “He’s practical and matter-of-fact about cooking: It’s not magic, it’s good ingredients
Chef David Sweeney, owner of the defunct Dynamic Dish, is now offering inspired dishes as part of his pop-up nights every Wednesday at The Sound Table. (Photo via Facebook)
sourced locally from hard-working farmers and prepared with care.” Others do much the same. Here are a few recommendations The Sound Table. David Sweeney’s menu is offered Wednesdays, starting at 5:30 p.m. Combined with the always-fantastic music, you are going to get very, very high on life. 483 Edgewood Ave., 404-835-2534, www.thesoundtable.com. Miller Union. I’m sure you remember that scene in “Gone with the Wind” when a starving Scarlett O’Hara yanks a root vegetable from the ground, takes a bite, gags and proclaims, “As God is my witness, I’ll never be hungry again!” Well, if Steven Satterfield, a brilliant Southern chef, had been there to prepare the radish, turnip or whatever the hell it was, Scarlett would have had a more amiable spiritual moment. 999 Brady Ave., 678-733-8550, www.millerunion.com. Sufi’s. This restaurant’s name refers to Sufism, a relatively esoteric branch of Islam best known in the West for the (arguably) gay 13thcentury poet Rumi (who inspired creation of the Whirling Dervishes). Sufism is all about beauty and the spirit. If you order the fesensjoon, a stew of pomegranate and ground walnuts with chicken, your brain will whirl and you will go to heaven real quick. 1814 Peachtree St., 404-8889699, www.sufisatlanta.com. Lips. In many indigenous cultures, people who transgress normative gender roles have been accorded priestly roles (like the berdache of Native Americans). So, go get yourself healed at Lips’ Sunday gospel brunch. Seating is 12:30-1 p.m. for a meal and a show. It won’t exactly encourage mindfulness, but I’m sure some queen will tell you to “get off the cross because we need the wood for a fire.” 3011 Buford Hwy., 404-3157711, www.lipsatl.com. Cliff Bostock, PhD, conducts workshops in various subjects, including gay aging and the psychology of taste.
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02.14.14
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THEATER byJIM FARMER
‘Shakespeare’s R&J’ mingles gay preppies, Bard Fabrefaction show arrives just in time for Valentine’s Rather appropriately timed to open Valentine’s Day weekend, Fabrefaction Theatre Company has just bowed its new version of “Shakespeare’s R&J,” in which prep school boys play all the parts of the Bard’s romantic tragedy “Romeo and Juliet”– and get caught up in all the emotions. Trying to find something different than conjuring verbs and dealing with their normal day-to-day ennui, four school-age students come across a forbidden copy of William Shakespeare’s classic work. One starts reading it and before long they are acting it out, with the young men taking on the characters, male and female. Soon, however, what is happening in the text begins to parallel what the boys are actually going through. Brian Clowdus, the gay artistic director of Serenbe Playhouse, is directing the show while Chase Steven Anderson, also gay, is one of the four cast members. Anderson plays the character of Student Four, who brings the characters of the nurse, Tybalt and more to life. According to Anderson, when the four students find the book, they feel compelled to
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“Shakespeare’s R& J” Fabrefaction Theatre Company 999 Brady Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30318 February 13 – March 2
Fabrefaction Theatre Company presents ‘Shakespeare’s R&J’ in which prep school boys take on the roles of ‘Romeo & Juliet.’ (Photo and art by BreeAnne Clowdus)
proceed. “They need to do this or they might go crazy,” he says. Yet it takes them on paths they’ve never been on. They are initially uncomfortable with some of the content, but “they don’t want to sacrifice the integrity,” says Anderson. It’s a hormonal thing too. “They are all horny, living in close quarters at school,” he says. None of them are gay but all four are virgins and none of the boys has ever been in love. Performing the text brings them closer and
makes them question what they’ve previously thought. “The love they feel for each other is more important than what they’ve been taught,” Anderson says. A time period is not ascribed to the production. Anderson says it could be any time, from the ‘50s to present day. After Clowdus saw Anderson in “Urinetown” he asked him to audition for this. Anderson was obviously familiar with “Romeo and Juliet” but not this play. “(Once I read it) I realized what a poignant and profound piece this is; it’s fantastic,” he says. After the Georgia native graduated from Columbus State University, he moved to Los Angeles for a few months to get a sense of what the acting scene was like. He is happily back in Atlanta now, which he says is a booming place for creative types. He has been seen in the movie “Ride Along” as well as the series “One Tree Hill” and some commercials. “Shakespeare’s R&J” was produced by
Serenbe Playhouse, ironically, as part of the company’s inaugural season in 2010. This is the first staging of the piece since it was reworked by gay playwright Joe Calarco last year at Signature Theatre in D.C. Clowdus and Calarco had been talking for the past three years, but Clowdus officially met Calarco when he directed the playwright’s “Walter Cronkite is Dead” at Aurora Theatre last year and the playwright came down as part of the run. Calarco had just finished the revamped version and the new script wasn’t even published yet. He agreed to let Clowdus and Fabrefaction get their hands on the new version, however. According to Clowdus, the changes are subtle, but timely, most notably in the ending. “When Joe was asked to direct and adapt the show again 10 years after he first did it, he wanted to make it more current,” he says. “We are in a different time now. There is more of a sense of hope.” It’s left to the viewer to determine how the action affects the four young men and their future. “One of the four is definitely impacted,” says Clowdus. Like Anderson, he agrees that the show has its share of homoerotic moments as well as an important message.
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14
DJ Joe Gauthreaux visits from New York to spin all night, 10 p.m., Heretic Atlanta, www.hereticatlanta.com Photo via Facebook
Though technically Sunday morning, the Saturday night party continues in the morning hours at Xion in its new location with DJ David Corey spinning the inaugural morning party in the new space at 2043 Cheshire Bridge Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30324, 3 a.m., Xion, www.xionatlanta.com
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Charis and Cliterati pair up to present an inviting and fierce open mic & reading feature is an exciting collection of poets and writers from the new anthology, “G.R.I.T.S: Girls Raised In The South - An Anthology of Southern Queer Womyns’ Voices and Their Allies,” edited by Poet On Watch & Amber N. Williams. 7:30 p.m. – 9 p.m, Charis Books and More, www.charisbooksandmore.com
bout Tell us aBT event your LG ays to submit your
two w our online There are clusion in in r fo t n e v it your LGBT e dars. Subm ice. n le a c t n ri GAVo and p www.the ditor@ to fo in t n e ev to e ail details com or e-m om. e.c theGAVoic
The new play “Whistlin’ Psyche,” dealing with gender issues, continues through February 23rd, Woodruff Arts Center Black Box Theatre/ Third Floor, 8 p.m., www.woodruffcenter.org
Papi’s Love Sucks Ball begins at 8 p.m., with a four course meal for $16.95 and a couple’s meal for $29.95, Las Margaritas, 1842 Cheshire Bridge Road, Atlanta GA 30324 DJ Headmaster will be spinning music to make your heart throb at Mary’s Valentine’s Day Hookup Party, beginning at 9 p.m., www.marysatlanta.com The Other Show Valentine’s Day Edition stars Celeste Holmes, Edie Cheezburger, Evah Destruction, Jaye Lish, Miami Royale and Violet Chachki. $5 cover. Show starts at 9:30 p.m., Jungle, www.jungleatl.com Wassup N ATL presents its Drunk in Love party with Magic Mario and DJ Trouble, with doors opening at 11 p.m., Tantra, 2285 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30309
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Valentines in the Garden will feature decadent chocolates and other scrumptious sweets while visitors sip cocktails from cash bars, dance to live entertainment, and explore the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s current “Orchid Daze: Lasting Impressions” exhibit, 7 – 11 p.m., Atlanta Botanical Garden, www.botanicalgarden.org
Fabrefaction Theatre Company opens the company’s homoerotic “Shakespeare’s R&J,” directed by Brian Clowdus, running through March 3, tonight at 8 p.m., Fabrefaction, www.fabrefaction.org
SATURDAY, FEB. 15
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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15
Atlanta Cupid’s Undie Run is a fundraiser for the Children’s Tumor Foundation with half naked runners raising money. The party starts at noon and the run is at 2:30 p.m., www.cupidsundierun.com/ The Atlanta Rollergirls are back! All four home teams are squaring off in the first bout of the season. The Sake Tuyas take on the Apocalypstix at 5 p.m. then the Toxic Shocks play the Denim Demons at 7:30 p.m., Yaarab Shrine Center, www.atlantarollergirls.com SAGE hosts a Lesbian 50+ Potluck and Social, 6 – 8 p.m., Phillip Rush Center, www.rushcenteratl.org
FRIDAY-SUNDAY, FEB. 14-16
The all-male string quartet Well-Strung features classical musicians who sing, putting their own spin on the music of Mozart, Vivaldi, Rihanna, Adele, Lady Gaga and more. They come to Actor’s Express for a weekend gig, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., www.actorsexpress.com
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SOMETHING GAY EVERY DAY! Bookmark www.thegavoice.com to get your daily dose of local LGBT events.
Songwriters In-the-Round brings together Hannah Thomas, Danielle Howle and Caroline Aiken, 8 p.m., Red Clay Theatre, www. eddieowenpresents.com
My Sisters Room and the King of Courts present Eat Your Heart Out, Valentine Edition, as well as DJ Tina, at 11:30 p.m., www.mysistersroom.com
It’s That Time of the Month features Bob Killough and his comic friends – Jay Ward, Nick Cox, Ian Aber, Brent Star, Ben Palmer, Toni Richardson and Candi Ain’t Right, 8:30 p.m., My Sister’s Room, www.mysistersroom.com
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16
Guest Appreciation Night features no cover and DJ Karlito, beginning at 9 p.m., Jungle Atlanta, www.jungleatl.com
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17
The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival continues its run with Eytan Fox’s “Cupcakes” tonight, featuring gay and lesbian characters, at 10 p.m. at Atlantic Station, www.ajff.org It’s Atlanta Bucks Bar Night as well as a Pajama Party DJed by Christopher Kind, 10 p.m., Atlanta Eagle,. www.atlantaeagle.com
Flashback Showgirls hosted by Angelica D’Paige every Sunday featuring a new decade each week and live DJ. Showtime is 8 p.m., 10th and Piedmont, www.10thandpiedmont.com
Trans and Friends: a Project of the Feminist Outlawz, is a youth focused group for transidentified people, people questioning their own gender, and aspiring allies. This is a project of the Feminist Outlawz. This event is co-sponsored by Charis Circle’s Strong Families Whole Children Program, 7 – 8:30 p.m., Charis Books and More, www.charisbooksandmore.com
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18
Georgia Equality partners with the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia (ACLU) for By the People Lobby Day prepping individuals to meet and talk with legislators about issues important to the gay and transgender community and its allies, 9 a.m., Georgia State Capitol Complex, Coverdell Legislative Office Building, Room 605,18 Capitol Square Southwest, Atlanta, GA 30334 Join Georgia Equality for a training session designed specifically for clergy and religious leaders of all faiths on public advocacy and action. 2:30 – 4:30 p.m., The Temple, www.the-temple.org SPC/author Kayla Williams talks about her book “Love My Rifle More Than You.” This is a GA Center for the Book Event, free and open to the public, 7:15 p.m., www.georgiacenterforthebook.org
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19
Come on down to Lost-n-Found’s monthly game show fundraiser for games, prizes, and celebrity guests as contestants face off in Family Feud, The Newlywed Game, Minute to Win It, Let’s Make a Deal, Password and The Match Game, 7 – 10:00 pm, Jungle Atlanta, www.jungleatl.com Scholar Sarah Churchwell looks at “Careless People: Murder, Mayhem, and the Invention of ‘The Great Gatsby’” as part of a University at the Library lecture look at the end of 1922 when F. Scott Fitzgerald was riding high on his fame, and a double murder took place in New Jersey. This is a GA Center for the Book Event. It is free and open to the public. 7:15 p.m. www.georgiacenterforthebook.org The Alliance Theatre’s world premiere romantic comedy “In Love and Warcraft” has a gay character, with a performance tonight at 7:30 p.m., www.alliancetheatre.org Velvet Lips presents the Advanced Sexuality Series: G-Spot Ejaculation Love, looking at myths about ejaculation and proven exercises for enhanced experiences. This is a Charis Circle Urban Sustainability and Wellness Event. The suggested donation is $15. 7:30 – 9 p.m., Charis Books, www.charisbooksandmore.com
It’s tim Nigh Eagle
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22 Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles brings her That Girl Tour to the Fox Theatre tonight at 8 p.m., www.foxtheatre.org
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Atlan efits legal THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20 their r The Metro Atlanta Association of Profes- legal d david sionals (MAAP, formerly AEN) presents Business Networking with Lynn Pasqualetti, Philli www managing partner of HLM Financial Group, 6 – 8:30 p.m., Onstage Atlanta, www.onstageatlanta.com SAT
ATTA Free line dance lessons are on tap from 8 – 9 hosts p.m. as part of 3 Legged Cowboy Thursdays at follow Heretic Atlanta, www.hereticatlanta.com nis C Dinners with the Divas is every Thursday at Lips Atlanta, hosted by Savannah Leigh, www.lipsusa.com
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21
SCAD’s Ivy Hall Writers Series presents author Alice Hoffman and her new novel, “The Museum of Extraordinary Things.” Hoffman looks to the year 1911 in New York City when two fires, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and the Dreamland Fire, transformed the city and the life of every New Yorker. Admission is $10 at the door for the general public and free to all SCAD students, faculty and staff with valid SCAD ID. 6 p.m., SCAD Atlanta’s Events space, fourth floor, building C, www.scad.edu
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Bedla create - Lov Jungle hosts Dinner and a Movie every Friday, cover Piedm 7 p.m., www.jungleatl.com nitash The Third Friday Film series screens the film “Arranged,” about the relationship between an The n Orthodox Jew and a Muslim, tonight at 7:30 p.m., Dupr Sanc First Existentialist Congregation, www http://firstexistentialist.org/
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Grammy nominee Robin Thicke comes to the Fox Theatre tonight at 7:45 p.m., with special guest K. Michelle, www.foxtheatre.org
Shawnna Brooks and Monica Van Pelt host Synergy, with a bevy of guest stars, tonight at 11 p.m. at Burkhart’s, www.burkharts.com
Film Love presents The Velvet Underground, a cinematographic tribute to musician Lou Reed (1942-2013), the Velvet Underground, and the relationship with their mentor and producer Andy Warhol, 8 p.m., Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, www.thecontemporary.org
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23
The Inside Amy Schumer’s Back Door Tour hits the Cobb Energy Centre with laughs galore, tonight at 8 p.m., www.cobbenergycentre.org
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It’s time for the Mr./Mrs. Atlanta Eagle Bar Night with DJ Ron Pullman, 10 p.m. at Atlanta Eagle, www.atlantaeagle.com The Divas Cabaret, starring Destiny Brooks, Heather Daniels, Iysis Dupree, Kitty Love and special guests, begins at 11 p.m., with DJ Birdman spinning before and after, LeBuzz, www.thenewlebuzz.com
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22 SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23
Atlanta Pride is partnering with Georgia Benefits Counsel to provide a series of low-cost legal clinics that will help LGBTQ couples protect their relationships with important and necessary legal documents. Reservations are required. Email david@georgiabenefitscounsel.org. 12 – 6 p.m. Phillip Rush Center Annex, www.rushcenteratl.org
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22
ATTA – Atlanta’s Team Tennis Association – hosts a free Open Play session for its members followed by a cookout. 1 – 6 p.m., Glenlake Tennis Center, www.atta.org Play Texas Hold Em at 4 p.m. and stick around for guest DJs at Mixx Atlanta, www.mixxatlanta.com Dixie Invitational Bowling offers its Miss Gutterball 2014 event at 6 p.m. at Jungle Atlanta, www.jungleatl.com The Monthly POZ Social Potluck Dinner is tonight from 7 -11pm; email atlpozguys@outlook. com for more information and a location, https://www.facebook.com/AtlantaPOZGuys Bedlam Presents and LovHer combine to create the ultimate multicultural dance party - LovHer /LovHim, with DJ E spinning, $10 cover with RSVP and $15 without, 10th and Piedmont, beginning at 10 p.m., http://communitashospitality.com/10th-and-piedmont/ The new Drag Otic features Necole Luv Dupree, Trinity Bonet, Nichelle Parks, Stasha Sanchez and Taejah Thomas, 11 p.m., Blake’s, www.blakesontheparkatlanta.com
Joel Bradshaw and Amsterdam Atlanta present the second annual Armory Reunion hosted by Bubba D’Licious, Jimmy Sugarbaker, Mitch Grooms and Wild Cherry Sucret, featuring former and current cast members of The Armorettes & members of The Divas! 5 p.m., Amsterdam Atlanta, www.amsterdamatlanta.com
The encore run of “The Book Club Play,” featuring a gay character, ends today with a 5 p.m. show, Horizon Theatre, www.horizontheatre.com LGBT fave Francine Reed plays some blues tonight at 6 p.m. at Eddie’s Attic, www.eddiesattic.com
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24
New Monday Night Trivia hosted by Wild Cherry Sucret with chances to win up to $250 in cash and prizes. 11 p.m., Blake’s, www.blakesontheparkatlanta.com
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Writing With Intent: Voice and Values, Conveying Character in Poetry and Prose is a monthly writing class led by Charis Circle Executive Director Elizabeth Anderson. February’s meeting will focus on voice and values, conveying character in poetry and prose through what is said and unsaid. This is a From Margin to Center Literary Program and the suggested donation is $10. 6:30 – 8:30 p.m., Charis Books, www.charisbooksandmore.com Come watch the sixth season of “Rupaul’s Drag Race” at 9 p.m. upstairs at Blake’s, www.blakesontheparkatlanta.com
24 | GA VOICE
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
02.14.14
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BOOKS by Terri Schlichenmeyer
LGBT teens speak up on bullying in ‘Don’t Be So Gay’
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You really didn’t want to talk about it. Sometimes, you thought it might even be just a rite of passage: everybody endures namecalling at one time or another, right? Everybody’s bullied at some time. You didn’t want to talk about it, but you always wondered if you should’ve. When faced with bullies, is keeping quiet better — or, as you’ll see in “’Don’t Be So Gay!’” by Donn Short, are there better ways for gay teens to stop bullying? For about the last 35 years, schools and institutions have been concerned with bullying; more recently, the issue of sexuality has come into the conversation. Of all the anti-bullying programs he’s seen — the ones that help ensure the safety of gay teens — Donn Short says that Toronto has one of the best. But how good is the Safe Schools Act? Over the course of three months, he interviewed gay students and advocates, and teens who “did not identify as queer but who were, nonetheless, subject to homophobic harassment by their peers” to find out. Interviewees came from several different schools in the Toronto area; some were teachers. Many of those teachers didn’t think the policies were working. Students, Short notes, still used negative epithets, and at least one teacher spent considerable time scolding those students who did. He was also told that teachers were often “surrounded by homophobic colleagues.” Interestingly enough, though the policies instituted in the Safe Schools Act were meant to ensure safety of LGBTQ students, the students didn’t seem impressed. They were often “more familiar with safe-school and equity policies than most other students” and knew when something wasn’t working. Many had experienced homophobia from teachers. One young man — who wasn’t gay but was bullied as if he was — sued. Overall, LGBTQ students strongly suggested that anti-bullying policies would work better if administrators asked the students they’re trying to protect where flaws are in the system of protection. Students also believed that bullying would stop if the “entire” culture were changed, along with attitudes of homosexuality and the ubiquitousness of heternormativity. “It’s too late for my generation,” says one teen. “We need to be working on the kids in kindergarten.”
(Left) Donn Short, author of ‘Don’t Be So Gay!’ (Publicity photo)
There’s a lot of good in “’Don’t Be So Gay!’” — and a lot otherwise. First, the otherwise: though author Donn Short mentions anti-bullying policies in other countries, his admitted focus is on a few schools in Toronto which, though the range of interviewees is wide, narrowed the information here; it didn’t help that he wanders off-topic quite often, and into racial issues rather than the subject at hand. Furthermore, casual readers may find the info more academic than not. To the good, Short spent considerable time with the teens he interviewed, which allowed him to get unabashed answers to his questions. That kind of honesty — and the well-considered thoughts from LGBTQ teens — is what makes this book so good. This is by no means a front-of-the-fireplace book. It’s going to take some digging to get the nuggets of info you’ll need from it. But if you’re concerned about what’s going on with your child and in your school, “’Don’t Be So Gay!’” might spark some talking.
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MELISSA CARTER
THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID Badgeless in a Thin Mint world It’s Girl Scout cookie time. The glorious season when eager young leaders, in their outdated green uniforms and misguided berets, go doorto-door with such offerings as Samoas, Thin Mints, and Tagalongs. Who am I kidding? It’s really a time when the precious feminine youth of our country ask their parents to take the cookie form to the office and guilt their co-workers into buying boxes for said children. Stacking our freezer with these annual staples not only makes me feel guilty for the calories I am about to intake, it also reminds me of how I was the worst Girl Scout of all time. That’s because I never earned a badge. For those who were not a Scout, you have to be a special kind of lazy to never have earned a badge. The Girl Scout Badge Book, which highlights all there is to earn in the Girl Scouts, is 237 pages long. Troops are set up for the sole purpose of propelling their Scouts forward, and setting up situations during which their members can earn these ever-important patches to be sewn on their Miss Girl Scout sash. This year when you receive your Girl Scout cookies, the boxes even have samples of these badges and what has to be done to earn them. It’s as if the boxes themselves are mocking me. First, let me say I was a good Brownie. That’s the second level in the whole Scout organization, and you join as early as seven-years-old. My Brownie leaders were the life of the party and kept our meetings fun. And since I was quite shy at that age, it certainly helped that my mother, Millie Pete, was one of those troop leaders. The first The first person from a different country I ever met happened during a meeting. Family members of one of our members were visiting from Ireland, and for small Columbia, Tenn., that was quite exotic. We recreated their flags and hosted a celebration for them that in-
Melissa Carter is one of the Morning Show hosts on B98.5. In addition, she is a writer for Huffington Post. She is recognized as one of the first out radio personalities in Atlanta and one of only a few in the country. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCarter
cluded Irish music and food. Another big celebration was getting your wings. Much like Pan Am flight attendants back in the day, when it’s time to upgrade from Brownie to Girl Scout you stand on a symbolic podium and are given a pair of fabric wings to attach to your uniform. It’s quite empowering, and I was so excited to discard my brown uniform for the famous green attire and enter into what seemed like adulthood. In order to move up the Scout chain, I also had to change troops. Our Brownie group was based in our elementary school, but the Girl Scout troop was based in our neighborhood. Despite my mother and I sharing a home together, she was through with her Scout duties and left me to my own devices in the church down the street where the new troop met. Those meetings were more like study hall, with a lot of sitting in silence to work on individual projects. Since these other girls seemed to work with a needle and thread most of the time, and I was far from a seamstress, I left my Scout days behind. So when pictures of happy young girls selling cookies appear on TV and the Internet, it brings back these memories of failure for me. However, in the spirit of the Scouts, maybe I still have lessons to learn from it all. For instance, change isn’t always good and some new spaces are simply not the right fit. Or understanding that as enthusiastic as you might be, there are just some things you aren’t going to be good at. For every Miss America there has to be a runnerup, for every Olympic medalist there has to be a fourth place, and for every decorated Girl Scout there should be someone like me happily buying her cookies.
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RYAN LEE
SOMETIMES 'Y' Truth of the Youth
Are these the ‘closet’s’ last days? There was a D-List stench to celebrity coming-out stories in 2013. Not in terms of the caliber of the stars, but the relevance and impact of the disclosures. The year was filled with farcical outings, from Jodie Foster’s conflicted acknowledgement that the world is not flat at the Golden Globes in January, to the mind-blowing revelation in December that Brian Boitano had been non-openly gay all along. Jason Collins’s potential to be the first openly gay player in the NBA inspired difficult conversations and important attention on the gay experience, but, alas, we had already heard the story of the athlete coming out after his career had ended. Robin Roberts of “Good Morning America” ended the year with a Facebook post that, while widely celebrated, deserved no more than a yawn. Roberts may be an iconic darling of morning television, but that doesn’t mean she should be heralded for making people say, “Duh.” Nor should her admission be considered brave, although Roberts suffers no shortage of bravery. During her dozen years on GMA, she has built a brand on intimate candor and authenticity, particularly with her health struggles and triumphs. Roberts opened her life to her viewers — her family, as I’m sure they say in morning television — to the point that there were cameras in her hospital room. Yet, she considered part of her life so unmentionable, so unworthy of being shared, that there was a buffer seated between Roberts and her girlfriend of 10 years when she received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award from ESPN last year. Roberts, whom I consider endearing and inspirational, was most deserving of that award, but her coming out experience illustrates how these episodes are not necessarily bold or courageous. While gay people vigorously decry the closet, it’s considered distasteful to critique our role in its existence, or those who prop up its walls long after everyone around them can see through them. It’s hard to conceive what threat could’ve kept Brian Boitano in the closet all these years, or that it existed anywhere except in Boitano’s imagination. Neither Boitano, Roberts nor Foster were
Ryan Lee is an Atlanta writer.
easily mistaken for heterosexual, and the militant ambiguity of their romantic lives made the thing they were trying to hide become a defining character trait. They persisted with a strategy of their generation: excel, get people to like you, and then tell them that you are gay so that they will see all LGBT people are not stereotypes. Of course, many LGBT folks in their generation abandoned this foolish and frustrating trajectory years ago, and offered examples of how we can thrive without hiding who we are and those we love. They created a world where younger LGBT individuals can acknowledge who they are without the wrought and peril that has been historically associated with coming out. Missouri defense lineman Michael Sam became the first major coming out story of 2014 earlier this month, and what a glorious difference a year has made. The NFL hopeful has knocked the staleness off the celebrity comingout genre, just as I was considering it too vintage to be effective. Like basketball phenom Brittney Griner, Sam is refusing to compromise who he is in order to enter the arena of fame. These two young athletes have displayed such a casual confidence in who they are that their coming out stories have not seemed tortured, but rather the natural course of their personal identity and our society’s experiment with diversity. ESPN reporter Marc Schwarz was in Missouri when the network broadcast Sam’s announcement, and described the scene inside Columbia’s Campus Bar & Grill: “The people in the bar, around the tables watching the television casually, erupted in cheers when they heard that Michael Sam was admitting that he was openly gay.” We might have reached this point sooner had celebrities like Jodie Foster and Brian Boitano realized earlier that their closets were locked from the inside. The nonchalant courage of Griner and Sam, the almost universal support they have received, gives me hope that the closeted gay celebrity — and the closeted average adult — will one day be as unfashionably retro.
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