02/17/23, Vol. 13 Issue 23

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WHAT MAKES A LEADER

Katie Burkholder

As I began working on putting this issue together, I was tasked with finding and highlighting those who lead among Atlanta’s LGBTQ community. As I thought about who to feature, I realized that I was tasked with something far more difficult: to actually define what a leader is.

My first instinct when I thought “leader” was someone we know well, a household name with influence and power. Someone with many followers, perhaps, or maybe someone working with a large-scale entity. As I gathered those people in my mind, people whose names are, at this point, synonymous with LGBTQ Atlanta, something felt off to me. If a leader is strictly someone with a large following or impact, what does that make the little guy? Are the rest of us simply followers, waiting around for those with more power and recognition to make a difference?

No. True leadership isn’t about how many people you impact, or how known you are. True leadership is about integrity. It’s about bravery. It’s about knowing what’s right and acting accordingly. It’s about serving others — whether they be friends, family, your community, or the entire city — and especially those who are disproportionately forced into the “disempowered” side of our power structures.

While there are people in this issue you may know — like Taylor ALXNDR, Atlanta’s busiest drag queen (page 14), or city council member Matt Westmoreland (page 15) — there are others you may not, like Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, the nonbinary environmental activist who dedicated their life to peace and helping others before it was ended by police (pages 10 and 11).

Whether you know their names or not, one thing ties them all together: they’re all normal people, just like you and I, who work to create space for those who need it. They lead through dedication and commitment to what they believe in, and they believe in giving everyone a seat at the table.

In a world dominated by social media, social hierarchy feels ever-present around us. We are constantly reminded where we fall in that hierarchy when we see that digital number indicating how many people are interested in keeping up with us (or, to be more honest, the performance of our digital presence). This hierarchy can easily persist at the forefront of my mind, coloring every thought I have about myself and others — even when I delete or distance myself from social media — and the limit of my impact feels constricting. How can I lead and have an influence on others when I don’t have tens

of thousands of followers, when I don’t have the resources to make a huge change?

The people highlighted in this issue remind us that we are all leaders — or we all have the capacity to be. Whether in your social circle, family, workplace, church, nonprofit, club, or community, you can lead the way. If you commit to a belief in acceptance, visibility, inclusion, equality, honesty, and love, and embody that belief in every aspect of your life, you are a leader, just like every person in these pages.

Do not allow perceptions of powerlessness — encouraged by a social ethos that equates worth with influence, power, and above all else wealth — to prevent you from leading. There is no impact too small; we all have the ability to live with honor and integrity and inspire more people to do the same. When we do, we can make a huge difference.

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Read these stories and more online at thegavoice.com

36th Out On Film is Accepting Submissions

Following another accomplished year for one of the country’s longest running and celebrated film festivals, Out On Film, Atlanta’s LGBTQ Film Festival announced its Call for Entries for its 36th edition, taking place on September 21 through October 1.

“Last year’s 35th Anniversary celebration highlighted what our filmmakers and audiences have come to rely on when they attend Out On Film — a celebration, here in Atlanta of the best in LGBTQ cinema, wonderful conversations on films with our honorees, like last year’s ICON honoree, Colman Domingo, and simply screenings and events that immerse everyone in the joy we all receive from seeing great films and meeting the people who have made those films,” Out On Film Festival Director Jim Farmer said.

As an Oscar® qualifying film festival, short films that win Out On Film’s Best Drama Short award are eligible to enter the Academy’s Live Action Short film competition for the concurrent season, provided their films otherwise comply with the Academy rules.

Two Screenplay Competitions — a Short Film Screenplay Competition and a Feature Film Screenplay Competition were introduced last year. Winners in the Short Film category receive $250 and the Feature Film category receive $500. Both winners receive a staged reading during the film festival.

The submission deadline for the 36th Out On Film festival is June 9, 2023, with late submissions accepted through June 30. For more information on Out On Film, please visit outonfilm.org.

LGBTQ Groups Largely Praise Biden’s State of the Union Speech

LGBTQ rights groups have largely praised President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech that he delivered on February 7.

“It’s our duty to protect all the people’s rights and freedoms,” said Biden. “Make

no mistake: If Congress passes a national abortion ban, I will veto it. Let’s also pass the bipartisan Equality Act to ensure LGBTQ Americans, especially transgender young people, can live with safety and dignity.”

The Equality Act would add sexual orientation and gender identity to federal civil rights law. The bill has passed the U.S. House of Representatives in two previous Congresses, but did not come up for a vote in the U.S. Senate.

“In re-upping his call for Congress to pass the Equality Act and protect transgender youth, the president is leading by example to expand freedom so no one is left behind,” GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis commented on Twitter.

Likewise, Equality PAC, the political arm of the Congressional LGBTQ Equality Caucus, was committed to the president’s vision of a safer U.S. for LGBTQ+ people.

“At a time where LGBTQ Americans, especially those who are trans, are increasingly under attack by right wing extremists, these [legal] protections have never been more dire,” remarked U.S. Reps. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and David Cicilline (D-R.I.), who co-chair Equality PAC. “We remain committed to working with President Biden and members of Congress to pass the Equality Act and enshrine additional LGBTQ rights into law.”

The National LGBTQ Task Force in its response to the State of the Union noted how all of the issues on which Biden

touched — Social Security, fair wages, Medicaid expansion, access to education, reproductive rights and police reform — have the LGBTQ community “at the center of all the issues.”

“LGBTQ people are often disproportionately impacted because of the discrimination our community faces every single day. LGBTQ people are not fully able to participate or benefit from all that our country has to offer. For too many queer people, the American dream is out of reach,” said National LGBTQ Task Force Executive Director Kierra Johnson.

Log Cabin Republicans President Charles Moran had a far different take.

“Last night, all Americans heard from President Biden was a laundry list of expensive new spending bills and tired campaign slogans, couched between a series of lies about Republicans and the U.S. economy. Meanwhile, inflation is still wrecking American families, our debt is skyrocketing out of control, and nearly half of American families — including LGBT ones — are worse off financially than they were just a year ago,” said Moran in a statement. “Not surprisingly, we heard nothing from Biden condemning the woke, race-and-genderobsessed forces coddled by his administration. LGBT conservatives are thankful that we now have a Republican House to put a stop to the Democrats’ radical policies and look forward to working with Republican leadership to advance our own pro-America, pro-equality and pro-freedom agenda.”

LGBTQ rights groups have largely praised President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech that he delivered on February 7. PHOTO BY WWW.SHUTTERSTOCK.COM / MIDARY

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JERUSALEM HOUSE TO PROVIDE WRAPAROUND SUPPORT TO PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV WITH NEW GRANT

Katie Burkholder

For more than three decades, Jerusalem House has been providing housing and support to homeless and low-income individuals and families impacted by HIV/ AIDS in Atlanta. The nonprofit, the oldest and largest of its kind, will be deepening its impact and support, as it was recently announced to be a recipient of a $200,000 grant from Gilead Sciences.

Jerusalem House operates on a model based in what president and CEO Maryum Lewis calls “wraparound support.”

“People are living and thriving with HIV,” she told Georgia Voice. “It is not a death sentence by any stretch of the imagination. So, as people come in with us, a lot of times they have gone through life situations or circumstances that have meant that they are struggling financially. Our aim is to provide the housing so they can maintain their health and become undetectable. In order to do that, we provide a wraparound support of services through case management to help them as an individual. The ultimate goal is for that family or individual to transition into whatever is next for them. A lot of times that looks like employment, so what we want to do while they’re with us is to focus our training and support skills so that when they leave us, they will have the best income possible [and] the best opportunity for sustainability in the future.”

Support from Jerusalem House looks like food support and groceries, transportation support, connection to medical providers, counseling support, and mental health services. Each resident has their own case manager, accessible whenever they need them, who works with them to determine what they need for success. Jerusalem House’s work is focused around not just temporary

aid; the nonprofit is permanent supportive housing, so while they provide the tools and resources to foster self-sufficiency for each resident, they can stay as long as they need.

Jerusalem House will continue to offer this wraparound support with its 360° Education, Workforce Development and Life Skills Program, which the grant will fund.

[The program] provides employment training and coaching, it provides tools and resources,” Lewis said. “We also help people with entrepreneurship. We just introduced a lot of tools that are customized to whatever that specific resident needs to help them get to their next level … It is going to be customized to what a specific resident needs:

career readiness, college readiness. It could be specific support; if they need a uniform, for example, or other specific tools. We’ve also had people interested in entrepreneurship, so it could look like somebody coming in to talk about what it looks like to start an LLC, what are the tax implications, what do you need to do, how do you market your business. It will look different with each specific resident, but the whole goal of it is that these supportive services will help you get to whatever is next for you as an individual.”

The $200,000 will be used directly to fund these supportive services, catered to each specific resident.

“That will look like training opportunities

“People are living and thriving with HIV. It is not a death sentence by any stretch of the imagination. So, as people come in with us, a lot of times they have gone through life situations or circumstances that have meant that they are struggling financially. Our aim is to provide the housing so they can maintain their health and become undetectable.”

— Jerusalem House CEO Maryum Lewis

for people to come out, they’ll be meeting directly with coaches, consultants, different people who will come in and teach them about different topics that are important,” Lewis said. “We will also provide incentives for them that will help, that will include materials and different things they may need as they’re on their journey … [The grant is] just a resource for us to provide a deeper level of support than we’ve already been able to provide.”

While this new grant is significant and will extend Jerusalem House’s depth of support, they are always looking for help from the community. Those interested in assisting Jerusalem House’s work can donate or volunteer through their website, jerusalemhouse.org. If you have a specific skill set or resources that could benefit the residents, Lewis urges you to volunteer. If you would like to apply for assistance from Jerusalem House, contact Hope Atlanta at 404-574-1693 to start a supportive housing application.

Jerusalem House CEO Maryum Lewis PHOTO VIA JERUSALEM HEART’S FACEBOOK

Tortuguita

Lived for Peace; GEORGIA POLICE MADE SURE THEY DIED FOR IT

Content warning: police violence. Read the full article online at thegavoice.com.

Tortuguita, named by family Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, known affectionately to many as Tort and more recently as Cami, was a beloved community medic. On the morning of January 18, they were murdered in a sleeping tent by members of the Georgia State Patrol during a surprise raid on Weelaunee Forest. They were in the forest providing medical care to tree sitters and other defenders opposed to the creation of a police militarization center known as “cop city.” They were 26 years old.

I knew Tort — just barely, not nearly well enough — and my heart breaks that I will

never know them any better. They meant the world to so many friends of mine all across the city. Though relatively new to Atlanta, they were someone who knew everyone — they were part of the living, beating heart of the community. Their slaying stole from our city a person of rare goodness who had dedicated their life to myriad ways of helping others instead of pursuing a career. It is not possible in a brief summary of their life to do justice to their existence.

Their brother, Daniel Paez, said of them on their family’s GoFundMe: “Tortuguita was Indigenous Venezuelan of Tomoto-Cuica descent, queer, non-binary, and always the biggest light in any room they entered. They were an eco-anarchist, Forest Defender, and community member.”

Tort was a prolific activist who spoke eloquently about the need for nonviolent resistance to police and carceral violence. An abolitionist, in interviews they expressed their hope for a future without prisons, where everyone would be free.

Throughout their communities, Tort was known for their dedication to the liberation of queer, trans, and Indigenous people of color. It was a dedication shown not merely in words, but practiced daily.

They were a trained street medic who studied a curriculum for community-based first aid, called a 20-hour training, that traces its roots to the model of community street medicine invented by Freedom House. Tort ran as a medic at protests and provided free medical

care at community clinics. In the forest, they fulfilled the role of an onsite nurse for basic medical needs. In the event of a shooting, they would have been equipped to provide lifesaving first aid.

Even now, after their killing, their work still serves to keep others safe. They taught Atlanta bar staff to save the lives of shooting victims following the homophobic attack on Club Q in Colorado.

According to the Atlanta Community Press Collective, Tortuguita “spent their time between Atlanta, defending the forest from destruction and coordinating mutual aid for the movement, and Florida, where

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Rose Pelham

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they helped build housing in low income communities hit hardest by the hurricane.”

At their memorial two days after their death, friends recalled their support of the unhoused community in Atlanta and Florida with their work for groups including Food Not Bombs.

When neo-Nazis in Tennessee threatened a drag event at a small-town bookstore, Tort drove for hours to be there and protect the families in attendance. A medic who often worked with them later told me they had faced down fascists armed with guns.

In the forest, police increasingly relied on the terrorization of its defenders to break resistance to construction. SWAT team-led raids on camp became a monthly occurrence. In the months leading up to Tortuguita’s death, police armed and armored with military equipment shot at them with pepper balls — powerful chemical irritants fired from a gun — and threatened to shoot them with assault rifles. Many of their friends were arrested and charged with domestic terrorism for no more than being accused of camping in the path of construction.

Roughly a month before their death, Tort called a friend after a raid and told them they feared for their life from the police.

Despite facing extreme violence, Tortuguita was known among activists for their tranquility. They had no love for conflict and advocated for a peaceful existence in the forest with respect and consideration for nature and community members. When David Peisner asked them about an incident in the forest, they responded: “I don’t crave conflict. I’m out here because I love the forest. I love living in the woods. Being a forest hobo is pretty chill. Some folks probably have flashpoint moments where it’s like, ‘Oh, yes, the truck is being lit on fire!’ But not me. I love it when everything is calm.”

Their death marks the first government killing of an environmental activist for blocking construction in the United States, according to the Guardian.

In many other respects, however, their

killing underscores the continuous inequity of state violence.

Tort was a queer, trans, Indigenous activist from Venezuela known by many for their words about peace, defending the environment, and abolition. They were killed by police officers with military equipment for opposing the ecologically disastrous creation of a police militarization center in a predominately Black neighborhood, on land stolen from the Muscogee (Creek), that had been subsequently turned into a site of slavery and imprisonment — and which is thought to include unmarked graves. Tort’s murder, its cause, and its place combine to form a horrific illustration of the interconnectedness and historical continuity into the present of oppressive violence as a systemic part of this country. Moreover, the state’s deliberate misrepresentation of the pacifist as a violent terrorist in a naked effort to blame Tort for their own murder stands as a testament to the ongoing use of racism as a justification for state violence, even under Democratic administrations.

We may never know the exact circumstances of their killing. The problem is not that there is a lack of witnesses — Tortuguita’s tent was likely surrounded by SWAT police at the moment of their death — but a blue wall of silence, misdirection, and lies. The Georgia State Patrol, whose SWAT team carried out the shooting, notably does not issue body cameras. They were one of the only police forces on the scene not to use them. Their Atlanta counterparts had body cameras filming on the day of the raid but were not present at the site of the shooting when it happened.

On February 7, exactly three weeks after Tortuguita’s murder, the Atlanta Police Department quietly released four videos taken from four APD officer’s body cameras.

All the officers were in the same group and were just out of sight of where the shooting happened. At 9:01am on January 18, four suppressed shots are heard, followed by 20 to 40 more suppressed gunshots in rapid succession. The APD was close enough to hear shouting immediately after the shooting. A minute later, one cop says of the shooting, “You fucked your own officer up.”

In the minutes following Tort’s murder, the videos document a litany of police selfendangerment, even as they shout repeatedly to each other not to get in front of their own lethal weapons. We see APD members surround a green tent with their guns drawn, only to realize that in such a circle they risk shooting each other. Awkward reshuffling ensues to turn the circle into a crescent, but then they accidentally expose most of the unit to chemical irritants anyway – which they suffer, coughing and spitting, without protection. Talking with each other about what they have just heard, the officers seem to accept immediately that the situation was friendly fire and everything we see about how they operate seems to confirm the plausibility of that assessment. They seem totally unaware, in the forest environment, where their coworkers are in the trees around them.

Comments at the end of three of the videos indicate that as of 9:20am, Tortuguita’s body was still in the tent where they were assassinated, obscured from their killers. According to an independent autopsy, they were shot at least 13 times. Around 10 to 30 bullets missed. It is possible the GSP SWAT team never saw who they were shooting at.

For many who paid attention to the intensifying raids in the forest, this turn of events seemed inevitable. The policy pursued by Atlanta, Decatur, and the state of Georgia was one of deliberate escalation

that relied upon the threat of lethal violence and trumped-up charges in an attempt to terrorize the forest defenders into surrender. That threats of lethal violence would become lethal violence approached inevitability the longer the raids went on. There are only so many times guns can be pointed at people without going off. Every child with a BB gun knows not to point it at people for that very reason. The choice to repeatedly raid the forest with SWAT teams was like flipping a coin until inevitably, eventually, it came up tails. It was too deliberately methodical to call it a reckless endangerment of life. It was the deliberate creation of the conditions for violence to happen.

Over the past month I have imagined, again and again, Tort’s final moments. Where were they? What did they see, what did they hear, what did they feel? How long before Tort received any care? Did anyone feel regret or shame for the terrible violence just committed?

Tort believed in the possibility of a peaceful world without police or prisons, a world where everyone would be free. We have forgotten that before both had become fixtures of modernity, there was no need for them. It is well documented that policing in this country originates from slave catcher patrols. Its overall function has not so much changed as been updated to match the modernized conditions of prison slavery and ongoing de facto segregation. Law and order can be indifferent, even opposed to humanity, peace, and justice. We owe it to Tort to understand this and not, out of a mistaken realism, to turn our backs to liberatory possibilities. What is now is not forever.

“The abolitionist mission isn’t done until every prison is empty. When there are no more cops, when the land has been given back, that’s when it’s over.”

— Tortuguita

“Tort was a queer, trans, Indigenous activist from Venezuela known by many for their words about peace, defending the environment, and abolition. They were killed by police officers with military equipment for opposing the ecologically disastrous creation of a police militarization center in a predominately Black neighborhood, on land stolen from the Muscogee (Creek), that had been subsequently turned into a site of slavery and imprisonment — and which is thought to include unmarked graves.”

THE COMMUNITY AND CHAMPIONING VISIBILITY

Roger Rutkowski: CONNECTING

Anybody can be a leader, and nobody embodies the everyday qualities of a leader quite like Roger Rutkowski. If you’re involved in LGBTQ Atlanta, chances are you know him — or, at the very least, recognize his face. From work to socializing to community involvement, Rutkowski is spreading his infectious positivity and lust for life throughout his favorite city.

Originally from Trinidad, Rutkowski moved to London 25 years ago before finally finding a home in what he calls the “greatest city in the world.”

“I love Atlanta,” he told Georgia Voice. “I was skeptical at first, but it’s the greatest city in the world, I think. I love it, it’s so young, so great and dynamic.”

In his five years spent in Atlanta, he’s spent four at Mercedes-Benz HQ, where he currently works as Manager of Legal Services. At Mercedes-Benz, he also serves as chair of the LGBTQ Unity Group, where he works to increase visibility for the LGBTQ community.

“[The LGBTQ Unity Group] is a fairly new group for MBUSA. We’re putting together a calendar of events that’s going to rotate around Pride month,” he said. “We do a Pride reception. And then we’re going to have a series of lunch-and-learns … [O]ne of the most important things about being an out gay person in [the auto industry], which historically is not a very progressive environment, is visibility. If you’re able to

give your story to people, it gives them some buy-in, and they’re able to see themselves through you. I couldn’t imagine, coming from Trinidad, that I would be part of the legal team for Mercedes-Benz. As it turns out, the head of Warranty and Recall is also Trinidadian!”

It’s not only in the workplace where Rutkowski employs his skills to help the LGBTQ community. Rutkowski also serves on the board of Lost-n-Found Youth, an organization working to end homelessness among LGBTQ youth. He is also the Director of Marketing for the organization, helping to give LNFY the attention he feels it deserves.

“I’m trying to help them get organized, get all the positions formalized, do some governance,” he said. “I’m taking over their marketing, budget, working with their marketing partners to get them the publicity they deserve. People don’t know about them as much as they should.”

Rutkowski says his goal with the organization is to start up a patrons committee to increase visibility with celebrity endorsements.

Rutkowski also fundraises for LNFY through Atlanta Socializers, a group he founded to socially connect the LGBTQ community and allies.

“I like Atlanta because it’s a very young population, but it has a self-imposed segregation in it: either you go to a group with old people, or a group with white people, a group with Black people. There was

no mix of people,” he said. “I just got tired of it. So, when we started getting vaccinated, I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to start my own group.’”

The group meets monthly with a variety of activities appealing to everyone. When the group first started, back in April 2021, it was made up of 150 members, and the first meetup attracted 20. Now, the group has almost 3,000 members, and 300 attended the last event at Woofs.

“What I love about it is that we have 85-yearold people in it, and we have 21-year-old people in it,” Rutkowski said. “We do things at the opera, and we do things at BJ Roosters. We’ve done lesbian bars, we’ve done gay bars, we’ve done straight bars.”

As if that wasn’t enough, Rutkowski also founded another social group serving the LGBTQ community: Mountain Men of North Georgia, a group for gay men and

allies in North Georgia and beyond to socialize over hikes, dinner, and drinks. More than 1,000 people are a part of the group.

“People drive hours to come to it, people fly in to it!” he said. “There’s a bunch of guys that do hikes every week, we do a meetup once a month. It’s a closer community, lots of the guys have become friends. I think that’s great.”

While his name is attached to a multitude of avenues spanning Atlanta’s corporate, nonprofit, and social scenes, it’s his charm and vibrancy that cement him as a pillar of the community. Upon meeting Rutkowski, his dedication to connecting with others is clear — and it’s contagious. All in all, Rutkowski is leading the way in LGBTQ Atlanta.

You can join Atlanta Socializers Club and Mountain Men of North Georgia through Facebook. Learn more about Lost-n-Found Youth at lnfy.org.

Katie Burkholder

Roger Rutkowski PHOTO VIA FACEBOOK

Taylor ALXNDR: THE BUSIEST DRAG QUEEN IN ATLANTA

Editor’s note: Taylor ALXNDR’s pronouns are she/they. Both are used throughout the article.

When you think of queer spaces in Atlanta, from drag shows to community events, there’s a good chance Southern Fried Queer Pride (SFQP) is behind it. You probably also think of Taylor ALXNDR. It’s impossible to imagine Atlanta drag without her. She’s a community organizer, drag performer, singer/songwriter, and proud, “quintessential” Aquarius. As the mother of House of ALXNDR and co-founder of SFQP, Taylor stays busy.

Taylor ALXNDR moved to Atlanta for school in 2011 from Griffin, Georgia. At Georgia State, Taylor joined student organizations, like the Alliance for Gender and Sexual Diversity. At the same time, she immersed herself in the Atlanta LGBTQ community.

“It was a light bulb moment for me … I didn’t know what drag was until I moved to the city,” she told Georgia Voice. “I didn’t even know what transgender meant until I moved to the city.”

It wasn’t long before Friends on Ponce and Mary’s exposed her to the art of drag, where she was “quickly surrounded by all of this drag talent.” Soon, she began performing.

Three years after they moved to Atlanta, Taylor co-founded SFQP with Mickaela Bradford because they “didn’t see a lot of spaces that honored the intersectionality of being queer and Black in the South … It was a few backyard parties and meetups, and then we wanted to do a three-day festival. So, we did.”

The festival took place in queer spaces across Atlanta, including Broad Street and Little Five Points.

“Over the years, we’ve grown into a nonprofit organization and a family,” Taylor said of SFQP, which has become a nonprofit, community organization group focused on uplifting and supporting queer and trans artists in the city and increasing accessibility of safe spaces for all.

“People look to us for community,” they said. “It comes with a lot of responsibility and a lot of love … A lot of people don’t have pride in being from the South, either because of historical context or the stigma around how we’re treated in the LGBTQ community. [The South] is often written off as a conservative hellscape … With SFQP, we wanted to uplift and center being Southern. We wanted to uplift and center the arts, and how it can be a tool to organize and build a community. We wanted to create spaces we didn’t see, like spaces that cater to Black and brown people, people that don’t want to go to the bars, people under 21, and so on.”

According to The Williams Institute, 35 percent of the LGBTQ population resides in the South.

“We’ve had our own riots and historical moments.,” Taylor said. “We have our own icons and legends. We’re in a very unique part of the country.”

Along with SFQP, Taylor’s drag house, House of ALXNDR, also uplifts trans and queer voices.

With Molly Rimswell and SZN ALXNDR, Taylor created House of ALXNDR in 2018.

As of 2023, Aries ALXNDR, Fortuna Fiasco, Ivana ALXNDR, Canzara Szn, and Mr. Elle Aye (Taylor’s fiancé) have joined the family.

“Everyone in the House comes from marginalized communities,” Taylor said. “Many members are Black, so we want to highlight Southern, Black, queer voices. All of us are trans, so we want to center and uplift trans and nonbinary people ... We think the party is political. Music, drag, and burlesque are political ... That’s intentional. We were intentional from the get-go.”

Since its inception, House of ALXNDR has hosted unique events, including drag wrestling competitions and drag political debates.

“We want to bring drag to places you wouldn’t think exist,” Taylor said. “We want to create spaces that are unique and intersectional.”

As Executive Director of SFQP, Taylor’s got her sights set next on a community center for the LGBTQ community in Atlanta: the Clutch Community Space.

“We wanted a center that was open during the day, to everyone, where you can do anything from accessing resources to workshops to social events,” they said.

So far, SFQP has raised over $200,000 toward the center. Donations can be made on their website: southernfriedqueerpride.com/donate. Learn more at southernfriedqueerpride.com/ clutch-community-space

In addition to her work with SFQP and House of ALXNDR, Taylor is also a passionate musician. She taught herself how to produce music in 2014, which allowed her to team up with Chicago-based production team FUTUREHOOD in 2016 to release her first singles, including “Nightwork.” Since then, she has released two EPs: Hologram (2018) and 1993 (2022).

“I see every aspect of my artistry as political,” they said. “When you take up space and exist as yourself, it’s inherently political.”

Hopefully, she said, a full-length album will be out next year.

Taylor credits her success and support to her community, and her mission is to expand that community into visibility like you’ve never seen in the South. She runs several shows on Edgewood, including its longest running show, Amen!, every first and third Thursday at Sister Louisa’s Church, as well as Switch, a monthly queer pop-up show at My Sister’s Room. For more information on Taylor and her many endeavors, follow them on Instagram @tayloralxndr.

Adalei Stevens

Drag entertainer Taylor ALXNDR PHOTO BY CANZARA SZN

Matt Westmoreland:

LEADING THE WAY IN EDUCATION AND LEGISLATION

he started to notice the inequalities between students that existed within the school.

Atlanta City council member Matt Westmoreland’s name appeared in article after article on the eve of his second term, right after he came out to the public as gay. It was a historic moment, as he became the fourth openly gay member to serve on the city council that term — the highest number of openly LGBTQ members the city has ever seen.

While this headline-making moment was just over a year ago, Westmoreland has been serving the Atlanta community as a leader for far longer than that.

Westmoreland was elected to his first term on the city council in 2017 and reelected for a second term in 2021. Prior to that position, he served for four years on the Atlanta Board of Education, where he represented the Eastern 6th District from 2013 to 2017. Westmoreland said that he was prompted to run for the position after teaching at Carver High School for three and a half years.

“My decision to go into the classroom was largely influenced by my experience as a student in Atlanta Public Schools,” Westmoreland, who spent all of his precollege years in the Atlanta Public School (APS) system, told Georgia Voice

Westmoreland said that it was during his time as a student at Grady High School that

“My experiences at APS are what sent me to Princeton … but I saw at Grady that that wasn’t true for everybody at my own school,” he said.

After serving on the school board, Westmoreland noticed that there were issues within the APS system that could be fixed with collaboration between the Atlanta Board of Education and the Atlanta City Council. Taking the initiative to start this collaboration between the two different groups, Westmoreland decided to run for council himself.

“I honestly wanted to try and find a way to bridge better collaboration and teamwork between the school system and the city government, and to help make an impact on the issues that were impacting kids and families in Atlanta on a daily basis,” he said.

In terms of his decision to come out in early 2022, Westmoreland said it was prompted by a “soul-searching” process that he went through in 2021, which provided clarity on who he was and how he identifies.

“I felt like, given the fact that I held an elected role and that I was a city-wide representative, this was something about me that I had finally wrestled with and fully realized,” Westmoreland said.

Referring back to his background in education, his former students were a major factor he considered in deciding to come out publicly.

“Part of why I felt like I should share this was to show young folks that we’ve now got four members on city council that identify as members of the LGBTQ community,” he said. “There’s power in that, and [I] wanted to share my story in such a way if, at whatever age you are, you’re wrestling or struggling with who you are, [you’ll] have some courage to do that.”

Westmoreland said he felt it made sense to come out at the beginning of a new year and a new term. Along with that, he wanted the freedom to openly be with his partner — Malik Brown, the Director of the Mayor’s Division of LGBTQ Affairs — without feeling like he had to hide the relationship or go back into the closet.

Westmoreland said that the reaction he’s

received from his constituents and fellow council members has been overwhelmingly positive and that he doesn’t feel that he’s been treated any different from his first term because of his sexuality.

While the Atlanta City Council could be doing more to make running for office more welcoming and accessible to members of the LGBTQ community, Westmoreland said he’s proud of the work that the council has done over the past few years to make the body more diverse in terms of race, sexuality, and gender.

Westmoreland plans to continue to work on legislation that will help protect and advocate for the LGBTQ community, something he did during his first term as well. One project in particular that he mentioned was a collaboration between the city council and the Atlanta Legal Aid fund, which helped provide name change services to trans folks for little or no cost.

Sukainah Abid-Kons

Atlanta City council member Matt Westmoreland PHOTO VIA FACEBOOK

Beyond the City Limits: 6 LGBTQ LEADERS TO KNOW

Luke Gardner

Queer people have existed in every society, often serving as leaders, fighters, healers, and heroes. Whether they are persecuted, tolerated, or celebrated, there are always countless stories of LGBTQ people standing in their truth and helping lead others to do the same. Following are some examples of queer leaders from around the world who are helping to institute positive change.

DANIELLE BONANNO ATHENS, GEORGIA

As the president of the Athens Pride and Queer Collective, Danielle Bonanno is wellknown in Athens as a community activist. The collective hosts the annual Athens pride celebrations and creates visibility and community spaces for queer people.

Bonanno is also the founder and Co-Executive Director at Inclusive Recovery Athens, which provides a stigma-free environment for queer people to heal from substance use disorders. Much of her work is focused on healing the trauma found at the intersection of the queer community and the recovery community.

To get involved with the Athens Pride and Queer Collective, visit athenspride.org/volunteer.

DUSTY CHURCH SAVANNAH

Dusty Church is the Chair of the Board of Directors at the First City Pride Center in Savannah. The center provides a safe space

and various resources for local LGBTQ people. Along with hosting fun events like pool parties and open mic nights, the center also hosts local support groups and provides counseling services.

Church also serves on Savannah’s LGBTQ task force, Proud Savannah, which was announced in 2020 by Mayor Van Johnson. The task force created the Proud Savannah History Project, which collects oral histories of local queer people.

To get involved with the First City Pride Center, visit firstcitypridecenter.org/volunteer. To learn about Savannah’s LGBTQ+ history, visit Savannahga.gov/3272/Proud-Savannah-History.

DYLAN MULVANEY LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

Constantly making headlines and viral videos, Dylan Mulvaney is a name people recognize. A proud transgender woman, Mulvaney documents her life and her transition on TikTok, with millions of viewers tuning in every week. Originally intended for just family and friends, as her videos racked up the views, Mulvaney decided to use them as a way to educate and empower trans people and allies.

In a recent red carpet interaction with trans actress and activist Laverne Cox, Mulvaney asked viewers to give trans people in their daily lives the same love and support they give her online. You can follow Mulvaney on TikTok @dylanmulvaney. Trans people in the U.S. can learn about their legal rights at transequality.org/know-your-rights.

CHANNING GERARD JOSEPH BERLIN, GERMANY

Channing Gerard Joseph is a journalist and queer culture historian who is celebrated for his research that rediscovered William Dorsey Swann, a formerly enslaved queer activist who was the first “queen of drag.” Joseph is a celebrated journalist, having written for The New York Times and the Associated Press and currently serving as a professor of journalism at Princeton University.

Although he resides in Berlin, Joseph is a proud descendant of enslaved folks and jazz musicians in New Orleans and his work has an undeniable impact on U.S. history. Joseph recently gave a Ted Talk on how Black queer culture shaped history and is writing a book about Swann. To learn more about his work, visit channingjoseph.com.

ZAHRA SEDIGHI-HAMADANI, AKA SAREH IRAN

Sareh, a gender nonconforming activist, was detained in Iraq in October 2021 because she spoke out against abuses of LGBTQ people in the region on a BBC documentary. After her release, she tried to cross into neighboring Turkey from Iran. It was there that Sareh and her friend Elham Choubdar were arrested on trafficking charges. The two are being held

by the Iranian authorities and were initially given the death sentence, which was lifted in December following international pushback.

For months Amnesty International, LGBTQ rights group All Out, and the United Nations have condemned the detention and original sentencing. To follow the case and learn how to support international queer people in need, visit action.allout.org.

RANI KO-HE-NUR INDIA

Internationally celebrated Indian Drag Queen Rani Ko-HE-Nur has long served as a fierce LGBTQ rights advocate, using a multitude of platforms to increase queer visibility. Ko-HE-Nur, who goes by Sushant Divgikar out of drag, won the Mr. Gay India pageant in 2014 and has continued to have a career in acting, singing, and public speaking. In 2021, Ko-HE-Nur impressed fans with stunning vocals in the drag singing competition Queen of the Universe.

Last year they were awarded the Drag Hero award from the annual Gay Times Honor Awards and were presented the award at DragCon UK. You can follow Ko-HE-Nur on Instagram @sushantdivgikr, where they are one of the most followed drag queens in the world.

President of the Athens Pride and Queer Collective, Danielle Bonanno COURTESY PHOTO

DIRECTORS EXCEL

WITH ‘OF AN AGE’ AND ‘PAMELA: A LOVE STORY’

Stolevski had a very different trajectory than Kol’s.

Read the full article online at thegavoice.com.

Out director Goran Stolevski drew raves for his 2022 film, “You Won’t Be Alone,” and he’s receiving similar praise for his new film, “Of An Age ” It’s the story of how 17-year-old Serbian-born Australian amateur ballroom dancer Kol (Elias Anton) meets his friend’s older brother Adam (Thom Green) circa 1999. As they unexpectedly spend time in a car, they start to learn more about each other.

“It was a time before technology made it easier to connect with people who are similar to you from all over the world, before there were phones and everything,” Stolevski said. “You could be the only gay in the village.”

“I was very much out and militant about my queerness, but I was still the only gay boy I knew,” he said. “Otherwise, gay people were just on TV and not in your day-to-day life. There was a special kind of loneliness of the time in being a queer people. It was a reality that you couldn’t really find someone talk to something about and feel deeply understood. In this context, if you did run into someone who could understand you, electricity happened. Two queer people in this space would have a special connection.”

That sparked the idea: two people stuck in a car where circumstances forced them to engage with the person next to them and discover them.

“I think it’s a queer romance in many ways,” he said.

It was vital for him, yet tricky, to find the right actors. He was impressed by the natural chemistry between Anton and Green. He had also seen Green in the LGBTQ-themed “Downriver.”

Green joked that he definitely doesn’t read Kafka, but he does love cinema and can relate to Adam and his personality. Yet much was his own take on the character.

“A lot of Adam was acting,” Green said. “I am not that cool and charming.”

Anton related to Kol’s vulnerability and uncertainty in trying to find himself.

“When we spoke to Goran, we decided that Adam doesn’t change as drastically as Kol does,” he said. “He is in his early 20s and feels very confident in his own skin. With

Kol, it is about accepting who he is. It was like he was looking for an instigator.”

Both actors called working with Stolevski an amazing experience and enjoyed being part of a gay-positive story.

Directed by out former Atlantan Ryan White, the new “Pamela: A Love Story” is an extraordinary and telling documentary about superstar Pamela Anderson. White admits to knowing very little about Anderson as a young man in Dunwoody.

“When I was growing up, she was the most famous person in the world,” White recalled. “When she was becoming really famous in 1991, I was 10. I was 20 by the time she [was] the most famous person in the world. She was the It Woman. I knew Playboy, ‘Baywatch,’ the stolen tape, the tabloids. I was enchanted by her as a young gay kid in kind of a Marilyn Monroe-esque way, but I didn’t know a lot about her life story.”

When he was approached by a producer, he knew right away that Anderson was a great subject — but he was hesitant.

“I thought this may not be the kind of doc I like to make, which are very personal, stripped down, bare bones, not biographies,” he said.

The producer connected White to Brandon Thomas Lee, Pamela’s son and a fellow producer, and at their lunch everything Lee said blew White’s preconceived notions of who Anderson was out of the water.

“I did not even know she was Canadian,” he

said. “That alone shocked me, because to me she was the symbol of American sexuality during the ’90s and 2000s, and [the fact that] she was from an island in a small town blew my mind. She has returned to this island and is living the rest of her life there and has left fame and fortune behind and is not trying to be an actress or model for the last 15 years.”

The next day Anderson and White spoke via Zoom.

“She popped up in her little square, no makeup, no hair[styling],” White said. “She was so compelling, and I wanted to spend all day chatting with her. I thought she was so interesting and a great conversationalist. She asked me so many questions about my life.”

One of the ironies about Anderson’s sex tape scandal with ex-husband Tommy Lee is that Anderson never made any money from it. It was a situation no one had ever had to navigate before. These days, White said, people use sex tapes as career strategy.

White and Anderson have remained friends, and he was extremely proud of her for tackling one of the biggest challenges of her career — taking on the role of Roxie Hart in Broadway’s “Chicago” and facing notoriously harsh New York theater critics.

MORE INFO

“Of An Age” is in theaters February 17.

“Pamela: A Love Story” is now streaming on Netflix.

Jim Farmer

‘Of An Age’ PUBLICITY PHOTOS

‘Pamela: A Love Story’

LGBTQ NIGHTLIFE FORECAST FEBRUARY 17-MARCH 3

Katie Burkholder

XION

FEBRUARY 19, 3AM

FUTURE ATLANTA

With Pagano. Tickets at future-atlanta.com.

DRAG ON! GUYS & DOLLS

FEBRUARY 20, 10PM

BULLDOGS

Hosted by Will Dupree Saint James and Tatianna Tuesday Dickerson.

TRIVIA TUESDAY

FEBRUARY 21, 8:30PM

THE HIDEAWAY

With host DeWayne Morgan.

ATLANTA ALL STARS WEEK 6

FEBRUARY 21, 9PM

FUTURE ATLANTA

Tickets at future-atlanta.com.

MARYOKE

FEBRUARY 21, 9PM

MARY’S

SHOW TUNE TUESDAYS

FEBRUARY 21, 9PM

OSCAR’S

With Daddy C.

JAMES HYPE

FEBRUARY 24, 10PM

DISTRICT ATLANTA

Tickets at wl.seetickets.us/event/JamesHype-at-District-Atlanta/522175.

LADY CAMDEN

FROM RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE

FEBRUARY 25, 9PM

MY SISTER’S ROOM

RuPaul’s Drag Race season 14 top two finalist Lady Camden comes to headline at MSR! Meet and greet starts at 9pm, show at 10pm. Tickets via Eventbrite.

BEY DAY –ALL BEYONCE DANCE

FEBRUARY 25, 10PM

THE BASEMENT

PARTY

Get ready for the fiercest, flawless-est, most bootylicious party in Atlanta. Tickets at basementatl.com.

THE HOUSE CONNECTION

February 25, 10pm

District Atlanta

The House Connection features rare backto-back sets with some of Atlanta’s finest and District resident DJs. Arrive before midnight for free entry.

ICON

FEBRUARY 25, 11PM

FUTURE ATLANTA

This monthly party celebrates some of the musical icons in our industry. This month features DJ Alex Acosta and a performance by Phoenix from RuPaul’s Drag Race. Tickets at future-atlanta.com.

EVENT SPOTLIGHT

ICON

FUTURE ATLANTA

FEBRUARY 25, 11PM

This monthly party celebrates some of the musical icons in our industry. This month features DJ Alex Acosta and a performance by Phoenix from RuPaul’s Drag Race. Ticketsatfuture-atlanta.com.(PhotoviaFacebook)

HOUSEORAMA SACRED SUNDAYS

FEBRUARY 26, 2PM

DISTRICT ATLANTA

This event kicks off a weekly day party featuring a strong lineup of DJs from Detroit, NYC, and Chicago. Tickets via Eventbrite.

MUG CHECK: AN OPEN STAGE DRAG SHOW

FEBRUARY 26, 8PM

MY SISTER’S ROOM

Mug Check is back, featuring January’s

EVENT SPOTLIGHT

LADY CAMDEN FROM RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE

DISTRICT ATLANTA

FEBRUARY 24, 10PM

RuPaul’s Drag Race season 14 top two finalist Lady Camden comes to headline at MSR! Meet and greet starts at 9pm, show at 10pm. Tickets via Eventbrite. (Photo by Tom Buck via Facebook)

winner Jarvis Hammer, special guest mentor Cici Nicole, and host TAYLOR ALXNDR. $5 before 9:30pm, $10 after 9:30pm.

DRAG ON! GUYS

FEBRUARY 27, 10PM

BULLDOGS

ATLANTA ALL STARS FINALE

FEBRUARY 28, 9PM

FUTURE ATLANTA

& DOLLS

Hosted by Will Dupree Saint James and Tatianna Tuesday Dickerson.

TRIVIA TUESDAY

FEBRUARY 28, 8:30PM

THE HIDEAWAY

With host DeWayne Morgan.

The $10,000 cash prize will be awarded. Tickets at future-atlanta.com.

MARYOKE

FEBRUARY 28, 9PM

MARY’S

SHOW TUNE TUESDAYS

FEBRUARY 28, 9PM

OSCAR’S

With Daddy C.

THE HOME IN HOMOPHOBIA

Ryan Lee

Modern wisdom takes for granted that the real world is more authentic than cyberspace and that folks’ online façades are less reliable than their true lives. However, when observing peoples’ opinion on LGBTQ issues and culture, I’ve become inclined to trust what they reveal on social media as much as any real-life interactions we’ve had.

I’ve lost count of how many family members and close friends have deep-faked me into believing our relationship was based on love and mutual respect, and who gave no in-person indication my sexual orientation disturbed or frightened them. So, it’s always disappointing when those same folks share a meme about deviants trying to destroy the nuclear family, or when they’re in the comments section of a post about LGBTQ groomers talking about, “Factz!” or “They don’t wanna talk about this tho!”

Actually, I do wanna talk about that: Those are the vibes you got from me? That I’m interested in recruiting or confusing your young child, or that I’m part of a demonic plot to replace prayer with pedophilia? Yikes!

If confronted, they’d likely assure me I was somehow different from the queer people they defame; or their hostility is toward the illuminati overlords rather than unwitting individuals who’ve been conscripted as foot soldiers in an ungodly agenda; or, they have no problem with the choices I make as adult, but LGBTQ youth should postpone understanding and accepting themselves, or believing their existence is decent and deserving of dignity.

Many people, including some gay men and lesbians, hide behind the distinction between sexual orientation and gender identity, and indeed the overwhelming majority of hate I witness online is now triggered by transrelated debates. It’s hard to take shelter in the bigots finding a new favorite target,

especially when so many arguments against transgender rights were made verbatim in opposition to gay and lesbian equality as recently as five to 10 years ago.

Homosexuals must not abandon our trans brothers and sisters simply because the social acceptability of homophobia seems to have expired. We ought to remember that in all human rights advancements there is a lag between what people believe and what they believe they’re allowed to say (or no longer say).

This era of doublespeak has me questioning another axiom of our times: the assumption that LGBTQ youth are subjected to fewer trials and traumas than previous generations. While they may be more protected from bullies at school and affirmed in mass media, for too many their least safe space is at home.

Even if they’re not directly punished or abused for being queer, they undoubtedly hear their parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents saying things they can no longer say in polite company, complaining about the pace of change or the risk of cancellation. One’s family and home have never been a guaranteed refuge for LGBTQ children, but it must be uniquely torturous to hear the folks you love and admire mumble resentment and disgust while the rest of the world is whistling rainbows.

PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK.COM / NADIA SNOPEK