05/01/15, Vol. 6 Issue 4

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NATIONALNEWS

Supreme Court justices spar over marriage equality Gay legal activists remain optimistic same-sex marriage to become law of land

By LISA KEEN

further than Ginsburg and Scalia, to ancient Greece, noting that same-sex relationships were accepted then but that there were no marriages between same-sex couples.

“So their limiting marriage to couples of the opposite sex was not based on prejudice against gay people, was it?” asked Alito.

The first question from the U.S. Supreme Court bench April 28 was about the rights of states to regulate marriage, and though attorneys for same-sex couples tried numerous times to refocus attention to the damage that bans on same-sex marriage inflict on the rights of LGBT people, the focus stayed largely on states’ rights throughout the historic argument.

For two and a half hours—more than twice the time most cases get—an animated bench grilled attorneys for same-sex couples and the four states that seek to ban their marriages.

Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Stephen Breyer asked most of the tough questions to challenge the governmental interest served by banning samesex couples from marriage. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito asked most of the tough questions to parties seeking to strike down those bans. Per his routine, Justice Clarence Thomas asked no questions, and true to his role as the court’s most unpredictable vote, Justice Anthony Kennedy asked tough questions of both sides.

The packed courtroom’s audience was equally lively, laughing frequently, applauding once, and at one point, a man at the back of the courtroom jumped up and began ranting loudly and incessantly about the Bible and “abominations” and saying that gays would “burn in hell.” Such outbursts have occurred in the court recently on other issues and the man’s disruption seemed well-timed, given that it did not interrupt any attorney’s allotted time before the bench.

But, as is also routine, the justices engaged in a great deal of interrupting attorneys throughout the proceeding.

Barely a minute into Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders’ Mary Bonauto’s opening comments about how laws banning same-sex couples from marrying convey a “stain of unworthiness,” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg asked how the “federal government’s historic deference to states when it comes to matters of domestic relations” should influence the court’s decision

Fully expect Georgia to be brought into fold What the Supreme Court decides in June will mean whether LGBT couples in Georgia will finally have the right to marry in their home state. Georgia is one of the last states in the country to still have a constitutional ban in place prohibiting same-sex marriage.

Anthony Kreis, an openly gay University of Georgia constitutional scholar, said he is loath to make predictions on how the Supreme Court will rule based on oral arguments.

But some points stuck out for him while listening to the audio of Tuesday’s arguments.

“On the whole, the arguments in favor of the couples were certainly stronger.

There were far less weak moments for Mary Bonauto and the solicitor general [U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli],” he said.

The states’ attorneys arguing to keep samesex marriage bans in place did not fare well, according to Kreis, especially with their arguments that marriage is for procreation. “Justice [Elena] Kagan tripped them up pretty good on that.”

Kreis believes it is highly unlikely the Supreme Court will uphold the Sixth Circuit ruling to keep in place same-sex marriage bans. And with, hopefully, a ruling that same-sex marriage is legal nationwide, Georgia will finally be “brought into the fold” with the 37 states that currently offer legal same-sex marriages.

“It appears Gov. Nathan Deal and [Attorney General] Sam Olens won’t even wait for a formal court order to abide by the Supreme Court’s ruling, and that is certainly not an insignificant development,” he said.

“It bodes well for the rule of law.”

Kreis fully expects to be celebrating at 10th and Piedmont in June.

“I’m looking forward to June and being in Midtown again to celebrate. I can’t imagine what it will be like,” he said.

— Dyana Bagby contributed

Hundreds of supporters of same-sex marriage gathered at the Supreme Court on April 28 to be part of the historic arguments to decide if marriage equality will be legal in all 50 states.

(Photo by ACLU)

“The choice is not between the Court and the State, but instead whether the individual can decide who to marry, or whether the government will decide for him.”

—Mary Bonauto of the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders in her closing arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court. on whether the state bans are unconstitutional.

In asking her question, Ginsburg referred to the court’s 2013 landmark decision in U.S. v.

Windsor, in which the court emphasized states’ rights to regulate marriage as it struck down the key provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which had prohibited the federal government from recognizing marriages licensed to same-sex couples in some states.

“States do have primacy over domestic relations except that their laws must respect the constitutional rights of persons, and Windsor couldn’t have been clearer about that,” said Bonauto. “And here we have a whole class of people who are denied the equal right to be able to join in this very extensive government institution that provides protection for families.”

Chief Justice John Roberts jumped on Bonauto’s choice of words, saying same-sex couples weren’t seeking the right to “join” marriage but to “redefine” it. The comment echoed his remarks in 2013 and hinted early on that Roberts is not a likely vote in favor of striking

down state bans on same-sex marriage.

Kennedy jumped in next, first noting that it has been about 10 years since the Supreme Court struck down sodomy laws—a length of time comparable to when the court struck down state mandated racial segregation of schools and when it struck down state laws banning interracial marriages. It was an initial ray of hope that Kennedy was heading in the direction of striking down state laws. But then he compared 10 years to the “millennia” of years during which people thought of marriage as being between a man and a woman.

“This definition has been with us for millennia. And it—it’s very difficult for the Court to say, ‘Oh, well, we know better’.”

Justice Scalia soon entered the fray to say the question “is not whether there should be same­ sex marriage, but who should decide the point.”

“And you’re asking us to decide it for this society when no other society until 2001 ever had it,” Scalia told Bonauto.

Justice Alito took the discussion back even

4 News May 1, 2015 www.thegeorgiavoice.com

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The LGBT Institute will open this summer and an LGBT Atlanta exhibit will open this fall at the Center for Civil and Human Rights. (File photo)

Center of the action Atlanta’s National Center for Civil and Human Rights to open LGBT Institute

By PATRICK SAUNDERS When the National Center for Civil and Human Rights opened in downtown Atlanta last June, the LGBT community wondered how much of our stories would be included. The answer was, by most accounts, a fair amount. Nothing mind-blowing, but nothing to march in the streets about.

Since the Center’s opening, any of its struggles seem less to do with a lack of content to include from various groups representing the

African-American civil rights movement, women’s issues, global human rights issues and LGBT issues and more from finding a place in the Center to include all of those voices.

“Folks certainly have commentary,” says Doug Shipman, CEO of the Center. “I get a couple of emails a week that say ‘Why don’t you have anything on this? What don’t you have more than this?’ It’s something we knew that we were going to deal with it, but frankly I’d rather be having that, because that means that people want to be included and they want

to be reflected, as opposed to ‘Please no.’”

Little did many know that Shipman and many others have been busy behind the scenes, and in an exclusive interview with the Georgia Voice, they reveal exciting new plans about what’s to come.

This summer, the Center will open the LGBT Institute, an international LGBT organization housed inside the Center that will include an educational component, programming and an annual awards gala. And opening this fall will be an exhibition delving into the history of LGBT Atlanta.

Center administrators say they could not give a total figure on the cost of the LGBT Institute. The entire Center at 42,000-squarefoot facility had an original price tag of $125 million, but that was dialed down to $75 million, according to center officials.

Catching up with an old friend Three years ago, Shipman got together with an old college friend, Brian Tolleson, the openly gay CEO of Atlanta advertising agency BARK BARK. While catching up, they started talking about how the Center could tackle LGBT issues.

Tolleson brought up the idea of creating an institute within the Center whose sole purpose

would be to focus on LGBT civil rights around the world, while following the Center’s model of not being the authority, but the convener.

“Invite HRC, invite Lambda Legal, invite activists from around the globe to have conversations and celebrate the work everyone’s doing but from an academic perspective chronicling our history,” Tolleson tells the Georgia Voice.

The idea took root.

“The notion of combining an academic element with a programmatic element around LGBT issues was one that immediately sparked our imaginations,” Shipman says. “That really birthed the idea of the LGBT Institute.”

Shipman kept that idea in mind as the Center took shape and the grand opening approached, talking with several others in the LGBT community to get their feedback in the process.

One important aspect of the Institute is that it will be housed inside the Center, an organizational reason not without symbolism. It fights back against the notion some have that LGBT rights aren’t civil rights and can’t be compared to the struggles of other disenfranchised communities.

“In the LGBT community and moveCONTINUES ON PAGE 8

6 News May 1, 2015 www.thegeorgiavoice.com

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 ment, there’s a lot of people working on a lot of different things, so to have someplace that’s outside the beltway of New York, D.C., L.A., or San Francisco that’s grounded in the history of the civil rights movement is inspiring,” says Ryan Roemerman, interim executive director of the Institute.

Roemerman says that they will pay special attention to LGBT issues that don’t get as much exposure as others.

“For example in the LGBT movement, you have a lot of conversations around marriage or bullying but there’s a difference between legal equality and lived equality,” he says.

He mentions LGBT seniors and income inequality among LGBT people versus straight people as examples. They also plan for the Institute to be a place that bridges the divide between academics and activists.

“We’ve talked to a lot of academics who are saying, ‘There’s a lot of great work going on, but either we’re not all talking together or academics are talking to academics and advocates are talking to advocates, but we’re not coming together.’ And that’s what the Institute can help provide,” he says.

Other initiatives on tap include a partnership with Emory University to bring in a visiting scholar to speak on LGBT issues, and a partnership with the Point Foundation to identify research fellows to zero in on LGBT research gaps.

They’ll use the findings to call for papers to be presented an an annual symposium hosted by the Institute, where academics from around the globe will come to share their knowledge.

Another peg in the Institute’s mission is an annual awards gala called the LGBT Institute Medals, again hosted by the Institute and with separate awards for individuals in general, transgender individuals, governments and non-profits.

“It’s the combination of not just talking about what needs to be done, but celebrating what has been done,” Roemerman says.

Supreme Court decision nears as Institute opens In addition to the educational and awards components of the Institute, there will be a dedicated programming component both online and on a quarterly basis at the Center.

The Institute’s programming board will meet quarterly to set programming goals and assist with outreach to the community.

Those named to the board as of now include: poet, scholar, rapper and youth activist Tim’m West; archivists Mona Gerard and Hillery Rink from the Georgia LGBTQ Archives Project; religious scholar Letitia Campbell;

Above: Poet, scholar, raper and youth activist Tim’m T. West is a member of the LGBT Institute’s programming board. (Photo by Rich Williams Photography); Above right: The Center’s CEO Doug Shipman says the LGBT Institute has been in the works for three years.

(Photo by Patrick Saunders); Below right: Ryan Roemerman will serve as interim executive director of the LGBT Institute. (Photo by Patrick Saunders)

Dr. Michael Shutt of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion at Emory University; Charis Circle Executive Director Elizabeth Anderson; human rights and HIV/AIDS activist Dr. Michael Adee; and Dina Bailey, director of educational strategies for the Center.

While there are currently no transgender members on the board, Roemerman vows that they will appoint one before the Institute opens this summer, and says they are also looking for someone to represent LGBT youth.

The Center recently hosted a group of 50 college students who were in town for the Stamps Scholars National Convention, with Shipman facilitating a two-hour conversation about lessons from past civil rights movements that could be applied today.

Shipman asked the group what they wanted to talk about, and the vast majority brought up transgender issues and other gender issues related to the LGBT community.

“It reminded me that even if you don’t expect the issues to come up, as long as the institution is facile and is aware of how to make those connections, you may have unexpected ways in which they happen,” Shipman says, noting that gender and reconciling religion with LGBT issues were the main topics that came up. “None of that two-hour conversation was about marriage.”

It’s interesting timing that the LGBT Institute will open this summer, a summer that could see the U.S. Supreme Court legalize marriage equality nationwide. If so, some say the LGBT community could splinter further, without a singular issue that most

Into the future

Summer 2015: The LGBT Institute will open Fall 2015: The LGBT Atlanta history exhibit will open 200,000+ people will visit the National Center for Civil and Human Rights this year in the community seemed to rally behind.

Who will bring those coalitions together post-marriage equality?

“That’s exactly what the Institute is meant to do; it’s meant to provide that forum for those organizations to come together,” Roemerman says. “When we’ve been talking to folks about this and reaching out to the community, they’re saying that’s why we’d like to have a safe space to go to have some of these hard conversations. To take stock of, ‘Wow we’ve achieved a lot, but how do we live the equality that we’ve achieved legally?’”

West, a poet, scholar, rapper and youth activist who identifies as bisexual/queer, echoes Roemerman’s point.

“It’s not a knock against entities that have pivoted their concerns around some of the legal issues like marriage equality or religious freedom acts, but I think there are day-to-day experiences of LGBT people that don’t get addressed by that,” he says. “Like people’s quality of life, people’s support in the community and letting them know they’re not alone.”

‘There’s a huge opportunity to be a light for the nation’ Charis Circle’s Anderson is glad to know the Institute will be housed inside the Center.

“It shows that LGBT people’s stories and history and lives are not only worthy of dignity and honor but our struggles have always been inextricably intertwined with other social justice movements,” she says. “There’s no way to tell a single history without bumping up against other movements. It feels like an important understanding that we’re complex individuals and that to me is a hopeful way to look at organizing for the future.”

The LGBT Atlanta history exhibition will open around late August or early September along a large wall next door to the room housing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s papers.

“The wall will be an exhibition of the legacy of Atlanta LGBT activism and how that’s a window to the greater LGBT movement.

Then we’ll go to a very local lens, working with folks, pictures from here, a timeline here, of what’s happened in Atlanta, who have been the people, but then as a way to understand what has happened over time,” Shipman says.

8 News May 1, 2015 www.thegeorgiavoice.com

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NEWSBRIEFS Ga. company refuses to print lesbian wedding invitations A printing company franchise has apologized after the owner of its franchise in Suwanee refused to print wedding invitations for a lesbian couple.

Paige Beckwith told WXIA’s Rebecca Lindstrom that she and her fiancée Megan had been open with vendors that there would be two brides and that none of them appeared to care—until they came across Suwanee AlphaGraphics owner Alan Akins.

Beckwith contacted the company after being referred by a friend, but the owner called her back to let her know he wouldn’t print the invitations because of his disapproval of same-sex marriage.

“I kept asking him how, why, how he could do this? He just basically stood on his religious beliefs, referenced the Bible, called it a sin, and I was basically in tears saying how could you treat me this way?” she told WXIA. Akins confirmed to WXIA that he had declined the job and had declined other kinds of print jobs based on religious grounds.

Beckwith took her complaint to the company’s main office, which apologized and offered to design and print the invitations for free. A call to the company’s main office in Salt Lake City, Utah, to ask if action would be taken against Akins was not immediately returned.

Police: Attack on gay students not hate crime Atlanta police will not be investigating the recent fight at New Schools of Carver as a hate crime.

Elizabeth Espy, spokesperson for the APD, said an investigation revealed only four students were involved and the fight was not about sexual orientation.

“This case does not meet the parameters for a bias classification because the fight was not motivated by sexual orientation,” she told the Georgia Voice in a statement. “It was just a fight amongst kids where offensive language was used but the fight was not because of perceived sexual orientation.”

An APD police report states two students, Timothy Jefferson, 16, and Zyderryo Brown, 17, were taken to the emergency room after a major brawl broke out after school on April 20. The two told police they were beaten up because they are gay.

“We got into a fight because they don’t like us because we are gay,” Timothy told the Georgia Voice. He suffered a gash to his face www.thegeorgiavoice.com

Suwanee-based AlphaGrapics denied printing wedding invitations for lesbian couple Paige Beckwith and her fiancée Megan based on religious beliefs. (Photo via Facebook)

in the fight; he said it was caused by someone stabbing him with a screwdriver.

Georgia does not have a hate crime law— it is one of only five states in the country without one—but the APD does track such crimes to report to the FBI. Federal court denies transgender inmate’s plea for transfer A federal court judge has denied transgender Georgia inmate Ashley Diamond’s request to be transferred to a lower-security prison for her safety. The ruling came down after an April 20 hearing in which Diamond was present to testify. Diamond’s lawyers tell the Georgia Voice they are “very concerned” she will be assaulted again, or cause harm to herself again.

The hearing was held to address whether the Georgia Department of Corrections has taken necessary steps to keep Diamond safe since her transfer last month from Baldwin State Prison in Milledgeville to Georgia State Prison in the city of Forsyth.

“Ms. Diamond testified under oath that she would rather die than be assaulted again,” David Dinielli, Southern Poverty Law Center deputy legal director, told the Georgia Voice. “She is very fearful.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center filed the suit on behalf of Diamond in February.

Increased media attention, including vocal support from Elton John and Michael Stipe, was followed by the U.S. Department of Justice issuing a statement calling the denial of hormone therapy unconstitutional.

The Georgia DOC restored Diamond’s hormone treatments, although her lawyer ex-

pressed concerns that the dosage was too low to be therapeutic.

My Sister’s Room moving to Midtown Three years ago, Jennifer Maguire and Jami Siden conducted a poll and started asking around on social media where the ideal location for My Sister’s Room should be. The response was overwhelmingly in favor of Midtown.

“The customers just wanted us in Midtown; they said it every weekend, ‘Go to Midtown,’” says Siden.

Maguire (known in the nightlife scene as promoter and emcee Chase Daniels) and Siden, her co-owner and life partner, listened. In an April 22 Facebook post, they made the big announcement that the lease had been signed and the move to Midtown was in full swing.

MSR’s new home will be at 66 12th Street, a.k.a. the home of Twisted Taco for 10 years and currently the Deadwood Saloon until its lease runs out at the end of April.

Maguire and Siden are shooting for a mid-July “re-grand opening” at the new location.

MSR in East Atlanta will remain open until the move.

Also look for different hours in Midtown and no more being open only three and a half days a week as they are now. They’re starting out at five days a week, and aim to be open seven days a week at some point in the future.

A fenced-in area in the back room for an additional 500 people will open up for special events like Atlanta Pride, and they’re looking to build out the back patio and add a gazebo to give more of an outdoor feel like the previous location in Decatur.

May 1, 2015 News 13

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

Editorial

Bruce Jenner is transgender, and it’s a big deal

Editor: Dyana Bagby dbagby@thegavoice.com

By VANDY BETH GLENN

Deputy Editor: Patrick Saunders psaunders@thegavoice.com

On Friday, April 24, after months of gossip, speculation and some rude and unkind jokes, Bruce Jenner came out as transgender in an interview with Diane Sawyer of ABC News. It’s a big deal.

Note: the interview’s audience was told Jenner prefers to use male pronouns until he begins presenting as female in public. I’ll respect that here.

Bruce Jenner is not the first famous transgender American; there’s a small crowd of them now. But he’s the most well-known by far, especially within that small club who transitioned after they were already famous. Apart from Jenner, I can only name three: Alexis Arquette, Lana Wachowski and Chaz Bono.

It’s silly even to call them “famous” compared to Jenner. I’d bet everyone who reads this will have to Google at least one of those names.

Bruce Jenner has been in the public eye for several decades, and is better recognized than anyone else I’ll name in this column, including Diane Sawyer. He’s known as an Olympic gold medalist, businessman and TV star. That’s why his journey has garnered such intense scrutiny.

Many LGBT people, especially in the transgender community, are enraged by the attention, and hurry to observe how easy his transition has been.

It’s true; Jenner has every advantage one could hope for. He’s white, wealthy, surrounded by supportive family (even his exwives have been spirited cheerleaders), and lives in the most progressive state in the nation. His transition has been smooth sailing.

He won’t have trouble paying for transitionrelated medical or surgical needs. He won’t get hassled by a judge when he goes to complete his name change. The TSA will never stop him for humiliating body cavity checks if he flies while his ID doesn’t match his appearance. If his children were minors, their other relatives wouldn’t try to revoke his custody.

It’s doubtful he’s at high risk for suicide.

He has no reason to fear violence at the hands of violent, transphobic thugs.

He won’t lose his job. In fact, he’s getting a

Editorial Contributors: Melissa Carter, Jim Farmer, Vandy Beth Glenn, Shannon Hames, Bill Kaelin, Ryan Lee, Charles Stephens, Steve Warren, Simon Williamson

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Art Director: Rob Boeger rboeger@thegavoice.com

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14 Outspoken May 1, 2015

Bruce Jenner (Photo via Glaad)

“In the long term, this is what we’re striving toward: a society in which being transgender by itself isn’t remarkable, and we can earn distinction instead through our unique achievements.”

—Vandy Beth Glenn new job, if the reports about his reality show deal are true.

All those horrors have happened, and continue to happen, with discouraging frequency to transgender people—especially those who are women, impoverished or nonwhite minorities—or all three. After the interview aired, while Lady Gaga and other luminaries tweeted praise to Jenner for his “bravery” Ashley Diamond, a black transgender woman, continued to languish in the Georgia men’s prison system, where she has been mocked and misgendered by other inmates and guards, denied hormone therapy, and repeatedly raped. In the unlikely event Jenner faces prison for the fatal accident he caused in February, it’s certain his straits will never be so dire as Ms. Diamond’s. The two may as well live in different universes.

Life’s not as bad for all of us as it is for Ms. Diamond, but it’s bad enough for enough of us that calling Jenner “brave” is like praising my cat for her hard work in curling up on a cushion and sleeping all day. It’s not right we’re so taken with Jenner when so many others are forgotten, maligned or thrown away to die.

And yet, that’s exactly why Bruce matters

so much. Yes, of course the public should care more about transgender people who aren’t white or famous or rich. But they don’t. That’s human nature. We empathize more with people we see as being like us. For the white, middle-class majority, that’s someone like Jenner. Because he’s like them, they can’t dismiss his transition as some bizarre otherness, something only “those people” do. He’s bringing gender dysphoria into the suburban house next door.

The male image of Bruce Jenner is in their heads. Soon that will be joined by the female image. They’ll be forced to reconcile one with the other, and to comprehend that all the things they appreciated about the previous version are still there in the update.

Everyone goes through this process when a friend or relative comes out as transgender.

Now, through Bruce, anyone who hasn’t had that experience will have it. And when they realize it’s okay for Jenner to be transgender, they’ll realize it’s okay for everyone else.

Vandy Beth Glenn is Georgia Voice’s copy editor. She is a writer, transgender woman, and civil rights pioneer. She lives in Decatur. www.thegeorgiavoice.com

n

OUT IN THE WILD

By Simon Williamson

A critical mass

Simon Williamson lives with his federally-recognized spouse in the wild yonder of Newton County. You can follow him on Twitter: @simonwillo.

There are obviously two ways to interpret the word “critical.” One denotes decisive importance, according to some dictionary I found on the internet, and the other is like when we tweet furiously during the Academy Awards, for example, “Good god, why the fuck is Neil Patrick Harris in his tighty whities on stage?” (While we’re putting the visual straight into the wank bank).

The former definition is where I want to focus, as a “critical” mass is a large definer of how we live as gay people in a society not really designed for us. Because we have congregated in certain areas, we have managed to bend society our way a bit—take Midtown Atlanta, or Chermajesty’s Magnificent Protectorate of Provincetown in summer months—but out-

“As black boys that liked lenn other boys, we were so accustomed to being surveilled and scrutinized that everything was high drama, all the time.”

We say “coming out” even now—well, some of us do—to describe the naming of one’s sexual identity, publicly, outside of heterosexuality. In this sense, “coming out” is a step, a process, a series of self-realizations.

The rest of us know better, recognizing that sexual identity development is far from linear. The process is more like an always unraveling gift and by no means a solo journey.

Place and people, time and feeling, the accumulation of good and bad experiences, factor as much into this process of self-awareness as the utterance of the words “I’m gay.”

For me, the self-awareness part, though significant, was not as substantial, and certainly not separate from, the community of people that affirmed, shaped and inspired me.

Two of those people, Reggie and Charles, shaped my journey very much and early www.thegeorgiavoice.com

side our natural habitats, fabulous parts of major cities, we don’t have any power whatsoever.

Surely no one believes there are fewer gays per 100,000 people in Alabama than New York, but with a concentration of family in some major cities in the Northeast we managed, working harder than Anne Hathaway’s publicist, to stomp a few steps forward when it came to basic civil rights and the recognition thereof.

Atlanta fits right into this equation. Outside I-285, the LGBT pickings are slimmer than brunch at the Paltrow house, and recognition of our presence is akin to Martin O’Malley in Iowa. There just aren’t enough people out this way to band together and force some politicians into legal prohibition

of discrimination against sexual orientation and gender identity. We’re at a grand total of two counties on that front (Athens-Clark and Macon-Bibb), along with eight cities, all of which are basically in the Atlanta area except for Savannah and Columbus.

You saw it in Indiana and Arkansas, where religious freedom bills were vomited out of the legislatures as a knee-jerk response to the slowly creeping incidences of federal law mandating that LGBT+ people be treated humanely, and it took coalitions of our people, and those who, to an extent, support us with oodles of money and big business gravitas, to cunt-punch the genie back into the bottle. Until they were tested, no one knew such coalitions existed in the socially conservative lawmaking oubliettes of Indiana

“Our history in America is one where we had to agitate to get the most basic of rights, the right to do with our bodies what we wished,without interference from the police or high-horsed delusional moralistic government regulation.” and Arkansas (where a senator said we should be grateful we aren’t being hanged in Iran).

In places like Newton County, we haven’t been tested. While one hopes that proximity to Atlanta would help sway an argument if our Board of Commissioners ever decided to strip our growing list of rights, and by growing I mean like the speed of the Downtown Connector at 8:30 a.m. (marriage is merely one right, which is, of course, spreading like microwaved Nutella).

It would be as marvelous as the arse of Channing Tatum if laws protecting our people could be introduced to places like where I live, without the massive brawl that would ensue, over which we shouldn’t necessarily expect a win.

THE ICONOCLAST

By Charles Stephens

My two ‘gay mothers’ Charles Stephens is the Director of Counter Narrative and co-editor of ‘Black Gay Genius: Answering Joseph Beam’s Call.’ on. They both identified themselves as “gay mothers” to me; that is, black gay men who mentored me in the years I needed it the most.

Reggie was maybe the second or third person I told I was gay, outside of any kind of sexual pursuit. Let me be clear, I didn’t actually say to him, “I’m gay,” as much as I acknowledged it through gestures and references.

In those years, naming my sexual identity always involved elaborated and stylized verbal and nonverbal cues. Strategic smiles and intentional glances, deliberate references and body language. I think we all used those tools.

Reggie was a junior psychology major at Morehouse College. We met through a summer program I was a part of for college bound high school students, another rite of passage in the endless series of programs that

animated my existence. I discerned, I guess you could say, that he was gay and gathered the courage to approach him. I made some awkward E. Lynn Harris reference, his eyes grew huge, and we both laughed about it.

On a Friday he agreed to introduce me to his other friends and brought me over to his house where we all met. They, like him, were all Morehouse students. He introduced me as his new “gay child,” and that was that. His two closest friends were Vincent and Keiron.

From them I learned about house and ball culture, the importance of snapping, the difference between a “butch queen” and “trade.”

Or, if I thought a boy was cute, to say things like “he is the baby’s fathuh.” Most importantly I learned from Reggie that if you were being harassed for being gay you could actually fight back.

When I was 17 I met Charles through my friend Ryan. There was this always expanding network of black gay men I met early on.

Each relationship brought you two or three additional relationships. I wanted to know everyone. Charles was the first black gay man I met who shared my interest in literature and art. After school during my senior year I would go to his house and we would talk for hours. He saw things in me that I could not yet see in myself. I don’t think I saw myself as being particularly thoughtful or aware of the world until those conversations with Charles.

These men each played an important part of my development, and entered my life at important stages. These relationships created experiences for me, joyful experiences, that I still draw strength from to this day.

May 1, 2015 Outspoken 15

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The Dancer Erik Thurmond has been all over the world, but Atlanta fulfills him most

By PATRICK SAUNDERS Erik Thurmond has traveled all over the world, from New York to Tel Aviv to China, in his 26 years. And he’s crossed the globe for one reason—to dance. But in all his travels, he’s found that the most organic, most collaborative dance scene he’s been a part of is right here in his hometown of Atlanta.

When not working full time for CORE Performance Company, you’ll find him freelancing on a variety of projects throughout the city, exploring the craft and finding new ways to express himself.

“The way that I look at dance is that it’s really a time for me to kind of play make-believe and create a world with its own rules and explore in that and play in that,” he says.

But before all the numerous projects and the world travel, there was a little boy making up dances to Spice Girls videos and playing dress-up in his back yard in Gwinnett County. His mom eventually found a hip-hop class for him to take, his first official dance class.

From there, he piled on more lessons, taking any dance classes he could get his hands on—ballet, jazz, tap, you name it. Soon enough, he went away to a fine arts school in Birmingham, Alabama for his junior and senior years in high school.

CONTINUES ON PAGE 18 www.thegeorgiavoice.com

May 1, 2015 A&E 17

M OMMY ISS UES? Dancer and choreographer Erik Thurmond has been all over the world, but is most excited about Atlanta’s dance scene. (Courtesy photos)

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17

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“It was one of the most transformative experiences for me that really set me on the trajectory that I’m on still,” he says. “The school, despite being in Alabama, was a very forward-thinking place. For instance, the day that I got there I came out of the closet just because it was so queer that it was a really safe and open place for me to be.”

New York calling The experience gave him the confidence he needed to go to the next level, to study musical theater at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City. However, the experience left him feeling stifled and unsatisfied creatively.

“There was not a lot of room for selfexpression that I could find. It wasn’t about creation, it was more about how to get a role and play a part,” he says.

After AMDA it was on to The Ailey School, the school founded by renowned dancer Alvin Ailey, where he got to select his own classes and filled his days with numerous forms of dance, like ballet, modern, improvisational, African and more. But he still hadn’t found his place.

“Ailey was an amazing place for technique but they weren’t really pushing any boundaries as far as progressive performance,” he says.

After a year and a half at Ailey he wanted to get work experience, so he worked at a fashion company, then managed a bakery before getting a wake-up call courtesy of his mother.

“She was like, ‘Okay it’s cool that you can pay your own rent in the East Village, but what are you doing? You’re not dancing, you’re not doing any of these things that you love while you’re up there.’ It was really that conversation that pulled me back to dance again,” Thurmond says.

‘I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right now’ He started taking classes at a local studio, where he learned a dance technique called gaga, and that was the key to opening up the world to him.

He went to a summer program with a dance company in Israel, then on to China and bounced around Europe before a nine-month stay back in Tel Aviv to study the technique more intensely.

That stay included a stint as a go-go boy.

“It wasn’t even like go-go boy in the sexy sense but they would dress me in these crazy things and put me on some speaker or platform and I would dance and they would pass me drinks,” he says, laughing. “It was a different kind of dance training.”

Three years ago, with his visa and money running out, Thurmond returned to Gwinnett to live in his parents’ house and figure out his next move. He quickly got swept up in the Atlanta dance community.

“There’s some really cool things happening here for dance, and what’s specifically valuable for me is that if it’s not happening, I can make it happen. I can find a space and an audience to engage with,” he says. “I think people in Atlanta are excited about performances in strange places and are willing to be there for that, so that’s really how I’ve been able to do what I do.”

Last year he was named a Dashboard CoOp Artist, and he’s currently on tour in France with CORE, after which he’ll travel around Europe with his boyfriend before making his way home to Atlanta sometime in June.

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right now. I’m excited to go traveling right now and seeing things but I hope the next step is taking these things I’ve found here and made here elsewhere and sharing them elsewhere. But as far as a place to be making things, I’m in a really good spot right now in Atlanta,” he says. www.thegeorgiavoice.com

Art makers Poetry and politics

Theresa Davis refuses to separate activism from art

By ROBIN KEMP International slam champion, teacher, and rock star poet Theresa Davis is on the road.

Well-respected and well loved in Atlanta and in the larger poetry world, Davis taught at Horizons School for 23 years while cultivating her art. She was ranked the eighth female poet in the world by the Women of the World Poetry Slam in 2009. Then, in 2011, she won the title of Woman of the World Poetry Slam Champion after three days of tough competition. In 2012, She won the Emerging Artist Award, held the McEver Chair in Poetry at Georgia Tech and also participated in the TEDEX talks for Georgia Tech. She released her first published work of poetry, “After This We Go Dark,” in 2013.

What’s your schedule like these days?

I was touring with Rising Appalachia most of last year. I’m also on target with poet Shyla Hardwick and the Huemyn tour that we do—H-U-E-M-Y-N—doing poetry performances around social issues and queerness—being queer and being happy about it.

We did a big show at Colorado State University last year and it was awesome.

Still pleased with ‘After This We Go Dark?’ —your first published book of poetry? Any new projects in the works?

It’s still my first baby. People are still buying it. When it became an American Library Association honoree, I could go in the library and just know that my work will be here when I’m gone. I’m working on my new manuscript, “Drowned: A Mermaid’s Manifesto.”

I’m also working on a novel and a play. So I’ve www.thegeorgiavoice.com

Details

Theresa Davis www.theresa-davis.com got a lot of targets for myself. Hopefully they will all be as successful as “After This We Go Dark” has been for me.

Tell us about ‘The Three-Minute Activist.’

“The Three-Minute Activist” was a project of the Roswell Slam—they used to call it Slammin’ in the Suburbs. (Director/filmmaker) Michael Harper said, “I really want to have these conversations with these artists about why they do what they do.” It’s a slam documentary about how politics and activism shows up in our work. I think they’re hoping to get it on Netflix.

Why do some artists want to separate poetry from politics?

Because they don’t want to have the conversation. I don’t think that people really understand what it means to be political and what that looks like. If you’re doing poems about child trafficking, that’s political. And if you can’t see that depth in your work, I think you have to have a conversation with yourself about why you do what you do.

What are your thoughts on the ‘religious freedom’ bills?

In 2015, it’s just ridiculous that we’re still dealing with this type of legislation and these types of laws that they want to pass. To me, it’s just above putting signs back up for “Colored” fountains and “Whites Only”—it’s just a different way of doing the same thing.

Atlanta slam poet Theresa Davis has been recognized nationally for her work as she continues to combine activism and art. (Photo by Danielle Boise)

I feel like, just as a person, being attacked in all the parts of me—as a black woman, as a black person, as a queer woman—it’s just all constantly under attack.

There’s a mean-spiritedness to it, like the grown-up playground bully.

Yeah. We have a system that’s built on being bullied. Even when I work with these kids, the things that they say when they tease each other—this stuff is learned. We live in a world where it’s a daily thing—who can we pick on today, and get other folks to jump in on it? Social media ups it to a whole new level.

And that rhetoric has real-world consequences.

I did a show in Nebraska, of all places, in January, in a school assembly, and had that moment of watching the kids come in. You could see the ones who were picked on and bullied.

You could see it in their body language. And I could see the queer ones. And that’s what changed my whole set. I was worried a little bit about was the school gonna snatch me off the stage. But I could see it. So I addressed it. I talked about my queerness, I talked about feeling “other” and not feeling supported. Then one

kid asked, “What do you do when you have one parent that hates you for who you are, and then another one that pretends it’s not real?”

And I was like, “Well, you’re at school more than you’re at home during the week. And these teachers are here to support you. That is what their job is.” I said, “Am I right, teachers?”

And I called all of them out. (Laughs) So that in itself was good because I felt like they needed to connect with somebody.

Being able to offer that support is one of the great privileges of being a teaching artist.

That’s one of the things I do love about it. For instance, Missouri State University [at a recent tour stop] they want to have those hard conversations about race, about sexuality. I’m basically gonna come in and kick the door down so they can have these conversations. I think part of what’s happening, with all the legislation that’s going around, with all the policing other people’s bodies or other people’s choices, creates that disconnect.

And I think art is how we can reconnect, how we find our humanity. So every time I go into one of these things, I try to create a space for conversation to happen. Hopefully it happens even after I’m gone.

May 1, 2015 Arts 19

Anthony Antoine is a true independent artist, saying, ‘I can record whatever I like and release whatever songs I want.’

(Photo by Connie Cross)

Art makers

Sole practitioner Anthony Antoine prides himself as independent artist

By JOSEPH BROWNELL Anthony Antoine will never forget the first time he heard himself on the radio.

Driving home with his uncle to visit his mom, an hour outside Philadelphia, the artist then known as Tony Mac was featured on the Top 20 Billboard Dance hit “Swing” with the Deff Boyz. That was 25 years ago and marked the beginning to Antoine’s ever-evolving artistry and activism.

“I moved to London in 1987 directly out of high school with the purpose of creating an exciting story for my life,” Antoine shares. Determined to find possibility far from well-worn collegiate and military paths, Antoine’s story includes working as a session vocalist and featured rapper before winning a singing competition performing Bobby Brown’s 1988 hit “My Prerogative.” The prize? A recording session with famed “19” producer Paul Hardcastle, and the awestruck artist’s first American radio airplay.

“That’s every musician’s dream—to hear your song played on the radio,” Antoine says openly. “I experienced [“Swing”] on London radio but it just wasn’t the same as hearing it at home.”

During his six-year London residency, Antoine became a recognizable part of the European dance scene and his music mirrored his life: girlfriends, getting engaged to his childhood sweetheart and fatherhood.

But in 1993, three years after “Swing” became an international hit, Antoine began to struggle with his sexuality.

‘Ain’t nothin’ but a thang’ Over the next four years, Antoine took a break from music and moved back to the United States to focus on fatherhood and explore his sexual identity. His explorations set the stage for the artist’s resurrection as Antoine recorded his first “out” song, “Ain’t Nothin’ But A Thang.”

“It wasn’t until 1997 that I felt courage to sing and rap about [being out] in song,” An-

Details

Anthony Antoine www.facebook.com/AnthonyAntoine anthonyantoine.com. toine confesses. “And I haven’t looked back.

It’s my life and as a true artist, that’s what fuels my music.”

While “Thang” was never officially released until Antoine later re-recorded the demo for his 2012’s “London 2 Atlanta: The Ultimate Collection,” the track served as a precursor to Antoine’s official musical coming out. First, Antoine needed to call Atlanta home.

Moving to Georgia in 1998, Antoine independently released a year later “Dante’s Got A Man, Too,” a gay man’s response to R&B princess Chante Moore’s 1999 hit “Chante’s Got a Man.” “I am a huge Chante Moore fan and wanted to counter ‘Chante’s Got a Man’ with a release in which a man could sing equally as proud about the love in his life,” Antoine reveals.

Before people even knew his name, Antoine’s song ended up garnering play in many of Atlanta’s clubs. “I’d go to the club and folks would call me Dante—believing that was my name from the song,” Antoine jokes.

Loving his independent spirit Over the next decade and a half, Antoine released a number of EPs including 1999s “Songs from My Closet” and a 2005 fulllength album “Closets on Fire,” featuring preceding single “ASS.” Reminiscent of Madonna’s “Justify My Love,” “ASS” praises the power of the posterior and while might not be considered explicit by today’s standards, in 2004 the track served not just as a sexual celebration but a celebration of Antoine’s independence, in both his personal and professional life.

Antoine dedicated “ASS” to “ . . . the independent music makers who do not allow

‘the machine’ of the music business to stifle our creativity and ‘the kids’—who scream for music about our lives and lifestyle.”

Partly inspired by Madonna—who Antoine admires as “not just a recording artist but a recording activist”—Antoine was recording music that mattered to him, for an audience that was not yet pandered to in the early 2000s. And while Antoine was chasing major label dreams in London, his newfound honesty was affecting his creativity in ways he never imagined.

“Had [a major label deal] happened then, I probably wouldn’t be the artist I am today,” Antoine says today. “I love being an independent artist. I can record whatever I like and release whatever songs I want. I can record a ballad one day and the next it could be a rock/rap track. I’ve recorded them all.”

HIV work ‘feeds my own spirit’ But music isn’t the only place that Antoine

speaks his truth. Antoine was featured on the CNN special “In America” discussing being a gay parent with his daughter, has worked countless hours with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, and works as a Senior Research Project Coordinator at Emory University, teaching a new CDC intervention (Couples HIV Testing & Counseling) to various AIDS service organizations and health departments.

“My work in HIV prevention and research feeds my own spirit,” Antoine says. “There are black gay men who slow me down to tell me that I was a part of helping to save their life.”

While it’s been three years since the release of new music, Antoine is currently working on a double-disc dance album tentatively titled “The Art of Dance,” which will feature both songs he has performed and others he’s produced, and hopes one day to record an album of Prince or Prince-written/ Minneapolis sound covers.

20 Arts May 1, 2015 www.thegeorgiavoice.com

Art makers

Little doors, big city Curious city dwellers finding surprise art thanks to Tiny Doors ATL

By PATRICK SAUNDERS With all the roadwork projects, mixed-use development construction and other endeavors going on throughout the city of Atlanta, is there really room for another one? There is, as long as it’s...tiny. Enter Tiny Doors ATL, a public art project bringing curious city-dwellers together one door at a time.

The seeds of the idea were planted last summer when Karen Anderson and Sarah Meng, who both identify as queer femme, met in the crowd at a Tae Kwan Do tournament. Meng was embroidering, which caught the eye of Anderson, a professional cake artist with a degree in visual art.

Later, Anderson told Meng about the Fairy Doors of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Anderson’s hometown. The Fairy Doors were first relegated to the home of an Ann Arbor couple before the doors started appearing in public in 2005.

“Her idea was that we start putting those around Atlanta but in a way that felt more about our city,” Meng says. “Less about fairies and more about the fact idea that anyone that could live there.”

And Tiny Doors ATL, a “small artist cooperative” as they put it, was born, with Anderson and Meng as co-directors. But where would the first door go?

A tiny movement begins Tiny Doors ATL is a continuation of the conversation about public art in Atlanta. That conversation got a double-shot of momentum in 2010 with the introduction of Art on the BeltLine and the Living Walls mural project.

But long before that came the Krog Street Tunnel, Atlanta’s dark, dingy and true sanctu www.thegeorgiavoice.com

Details

You Can Find a Tiny Door at...

Tiny Door #1: Krog Street Tunnel Hint: On a pillar on the southeast corner (the Cabbagetown side of the tunnel) Tiny Door #2: The Eastside Trail of the Atlanta BeltLine Hint: Near the Old Fourth Ward Skatepark Tiny Door #3: Inman Park Pet Works Hint: Outside the store on Austin Avenue Tiny Door #4: Little Shop of Stories Hint: Somewhere inside the Decatur Square store Tiny Door #5: Freedom Park Trail Hint: On a big American elm off Washita Avenue near the Carter Center Tiny Door #6: Behind Paris on Ponce Hint: On the Atlanta BeltLine Tiny Door #7: Coming soon...check the Tiny Doors ATL Facebook and Instagram pages for hints.

Tiny Doors ATL www.facebook.com/tinydoorsatl instagram.com/tinydoorsatl

ary for street art. And that’s where the first Tiny Door appeared last June, with no announcement, no fanfare, no social media updates.

Slowly but surely, things started appearing at the door. A jack-o-lantern on Halloween. A bunch of little plastic kittens waiting to be let in from the cold.

By November, they put a second door up on the Eastside Trail of the Atlanta BeltLine and created Facebook and Instagram pages to interact with the public about the project.

Then people started soliciting Meng and Anderson, like Inman Park Pet Works, Little Shop of Stories and Trees Atlanta. The ribbon cutting for Tiny Door #6 happened earlier this month on the Atlanta BeltLine behind Paris on Ponce, with a little Rosie the Riveter doing the honors.

Above: Karen Anderson and Sarah Meng of Tiny Doors ATL. Right: Various Tiny Doors throughout Atlanta. (Photos via Facebook)

“Karen and I always go to the site and walk around for awhile and try to pick a place where the door can be hidden in plain sight,” Meng says. “So, for example, the one by the BeltLine by the Old Fourth Ward Skatepark, you could easily walk by it and not see it; it’s surrounded by a bunch of graffiti. We think about the characteristics of the neighborhood and then we get to making the door.”

Tiny Guardians help bring the doors to life Meng and Anderson create the doors but they also have a “Tiny Volunteer Committee” who help with the website, grant writing and more. And the co-directors can’t forget who they call their “Tiny Guardians.”

“I would count Tiny Guardians as any random people who stop by the door and leave trinkets,” Meng says.

Tiny Guardians have left money, action figures, a miniature to-go box from The Flying Biscuit, and snowmen and Christmas trees during the holidays. And a tiny reporter named Scoop Callahan has popped up with a Facebook and Instagram page, calling himself a beat reporter for The Tiny Atlanta Journal Constitution and

leaving Tiny AJCs by the doors.

There are no plans to take any of the doors down anytime soon, and Meng reveals that the location for door number seven has been chosen and that sheand Anderson will slowly reveal clues on social media in the coming weeks. There’s even a Tiny Doors ATL art gallery event planned for August 22 at Ponce City Market, where Atlanta artists will showcase their tiny art and split the proceeds from any sales with Tiny Doors ATL. “Atlanta has a really vibrant arts community and Atlantans are fans of art and are people who like to get out and explore the city,” Meng says. “I think that’s why the project has been so embraced because it encourages people to get out and walk around and be in their city.”

May 1, 2015 Arts 21

Art makers Wussy praises queer culture Online magazine looks to alternative scenes for inspiration

By MATTHEW TERRELL Wussy, the new online magazine for queer Southerners, wants to celebrate alternative, gay communities in the Southeast.

Less about news or issues and more about fun and art, Wussy depicts a vibrant section of queer life many people never see.

Most of the content is currently Atlanta-based, but the creators hope to expand Wussy’s reach throughout the Southeast.

Expect to see lots of photo galleries of drag queens and leather daddies, interviews and reviews of queer artists, and commentary by a local gay pony. Everything comes with Wussy’s own brand of sassy flair.

Jon Dean, the HBIC of Wussy, says, “It’s easy to get jaded about the local scene and just completely shut yourself off from it. We have to continue working to build the community we want to see.”

Atlanta has a vibrant alternative queer scene, and Wussy serves to highlight what makes it special, he adds. Hopefully, by covering other cities like Savannah and Birmingham, smaller queer communities will be strengthened as well.

The name “wussy” encapsulates much of the magazine’s editorial philosophy and their audience’s experience. One part wimp, and one party pussy, it’s a word every gay Southerner has probably been called a few times.

“We wanted something that was a little bit raw, in your face, Southern, and queer,” says Dean. “I didn’t want the name to speak to one kind of experience. The word wussy is equal parts masculine and feminine, and being a queer Southern sissy is something that we are all proud to be.”

“The visual style of Wussy is not as slick and commercial as other gay publications. Their photographer’s strong flash brings out the imperfections in all of Wussy’s photo essays, from deep lines on the faces of leather daddies, the dirty knees apparent on the furry costumes, and the drag queens who are clearly rolling around on a filthy floor.”

The visual style of Wussy is not as slick and commercial as other gay publications.

Their photographer’s strong flash brings out the imperfections in all of Wussy’s photo essays, from deep lines on the faces of leather daddies, the dirty knees apparent on the furry costumes, and the drag queens who are clearly rolling around on a filthy floor. Wussy has a very grungy, punk-inspired aesthetic, Dean explains, and the entire publication looks like an underground ‘zine, which complements the subject matter perfectly.

At the moment, the written material on Wussy is not as strong as the visual material. They do have “fag-rag” staples like drag queen interviews and sexcapade stories.

Local artist Aubrey Longley-Cook recently reviewed the show #Masculinity at the Low Museum using all #hashtags.

Sparkle Hooves, a local gay pony cartoon brought to life by filmmaker and animator

The new online magazine Wussy celebrates alternative queer life in the Southeast through photo galleries of parties and drag shows as well as interviews and art gallery exhibits reviews. (Photo by Austin Frantz)

Details

Wussy www.wussymag.com Eddie Ray, has turned his online act into a column to sass on everything from hot, sexy celebrities to the best dumpster in town to consummate a quick trick.

Austin Frantz, the graphic designer for Wussy, sums up what makes his magazine different than other gay publications in town: “I’d like to give a platform for people who normally wouldn’t have one in Atlanta— young artists, writers, event organizers, who are doing great things, but haven’t really had enough exposure yet. I’d also like to represent a really diverse LGBT Atlan-

ta community, from guys, to girls, to trans people, to non-binary identifying people, instead of just showcasing your typical ‘model type’ muscle-bound jock hotties.”

A launch party sometime in the summer is in the works and those at Wussy are also interested in doing some physical editions— perhaps a ‘zine of course or a photo book. All of this is dependent on what kind of interest and energy they can garner.

Right now the online magazine is mostly in need of new contributors. Writers, photographers, artists, and other weirdos are encouraged to submit proposals for any type of work they’d like to produce for Wussy. If you want your event listed or reviewed, they are taking requests for these as well. All these types of inquiries should go to: wussymag@gmail.com

22 Arts May 1, 2015 www.thegeorgiavoice.com

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ACTING OUT

By JIM FARMER

Gay dancer shines in ‘Pippin’ The music is still the same, but musical theater junkies familiar with “Pippin” might be a little surprised at the current version.

The production that made its Broadway debut in the early ’70s has definitely gotten a makeover in the hands of director Diane Paulus, who resurrected “Hair” in New York and on the road. “Pippin” bows at the Fox Theatre next week, courtesy of Broadway Across America, with out performer Alan Kelly part of its ensemble.

The pop musical tells the story of Pippin, a young prince who is looking for meaning in his life. He has the choice of whether he can live a simple but relatively happy life—or risk it all for a moment of glory. The characters of Pippin and his father are based on real-life people from the Middle Ages. Known for its Bob Fosse dancing and production numbers as well as Stephen Schwartz’s music, the reimagined “Pippin” won a Tony Award for Best Revival in 2013. The new concept—which Kelly says adds “an element of danger”—finds the players part of a circus troupe.

Kelly trained at the National Performing Arts School and the College of Dance in Dublin, Ireland, and later moved to London and got more training at Laine Theatre Arts and Trinity College London. The actor was a prolific performer already in shows such as Elton John’s “Aida” and the Freddie Mercury musical “We Will Rock You” when he won a green card lottery and got to move to the United States in January of 2013.

He is based in New York and “Pippin” is his first big show. The audition process for “Pippin” took a while, though. In all, he had to audition five times before he got the part.

Besides being part of the ensemble, he is the understudy for the character of Charles. As fate would have it, the first time he went on was the day of a matinee, so he wound up going on then as well as the evening performance. That

Details

‘Pippin’ May 5 - 10 Fox Theatre www.broadwayacrossamerica.com

Alan Kelly (inset) is a gay actor in the smash hit Broadway show ‘Pippin’ coming to the Fox Theatre May 5-10. (Courtesy photos)

first time, he recalls, was a more technical performance, trying to get it all right. The second time, however, he was more relaxed.

“Pippin” is a demanding show, requiring lots of physicality from its ensemble. For this production, Kelly has learned a contortionist trick, requiring him to lift another man during the musical. “That one scene probably took the longest in tech to finesse,” he says.

Most of the others performers have had to add something to their repertoire as well. “It all adds to the magical element,” he says.

The touring version features actress Adrienne Barbeau, who joined the cast earlier this year as Berthe. She is 70 years old but has fit in well with the cast, he says. “She is energetic, fun and charming,” he says.

“What she does is really impressive. It’s really great casting.”

The show also has the original Pippin—John Rubinstein—in its cast, starring as Charles.

Kelly, who will turn 30 during the Atlanta gig, has never been to the city but is looking forward to meeting up with some friends here and seeing more of the city. “I am very touristy,” he says.

He is contracted with the show through early 2016. After that he will determine his next move, whether it will be staying with the tour or looking for his next gig.

“That one scene probably took the longest in tech to finesse. Most of the others performers have had to add something to their repertoire as well. It all adds to the magical element.”

Actor Alan Kelly on learning a contortionist trick, requiring him to lift another man during the musical.

24 A&E May 1, 2015 www.thegeorgiavoice.com

EATING MY WORDS

By CLIFF BOSTOCK

Cinco de Mayo dining It’s almost time to drench yourself in margaritas with the illusion that you are celebrating an especially important day in Mexican history. I’m talking about Cinco de Mayo, which commemorates an 1862 battle in which the Mexican army won a battle against their French occupiers.

Soon after, the day was turned into a kind of pride holiday by Mexican-Americans living in California. It spread throughout the US as a weeklong cash cow for restaurants of all types. Or maybe it’s a way of steeling nerves before Mothers Day, which follows five days later on the 10th.

The leading new kinda-sorta Tex-Mex place is Ford Fry’s Superica (96 Krog St., www.supericaatl.com) in the developing gastronomic palace, the Krog Street Market).

This is the sixth restaurant in Fry’s almost universally celebrated empire. (He has a seventh—Marcel, a steakhouse—on the way in West Atlanta).

The menu is a pretty artful blend of classic Mexican and Tex-Mex. In fact, Mexican is the main fare, which, I assume, is why promotional literature describes the menu as “Mex-Tex,” a kind of precious phrase, but whatever. For example, there are tacos al pastor, pozole, ceviche, and chicken in mole poblano, along with Tex-Mexier hardshell tacos (ew) and fajitas. Fry describes his main inspiration as the restaurants in Austin, which is, certainly home to the most creative Mexican cooking in America.

Hopefully a newbie, Rosa’s Tex-Mex Revival (5480 Peachtree Road, Chamblee), will also be open, as announced, in time for a Cinco pig-out. This restaurant is a project of the owners of nearby Southbound. It will feature straightforward Tex-Mex, undoubtedly cooked with finesse by Chef Beth Colvin, chef de cuisine at Southbound..

Co-owner Mike Plummer lived in Texas for six years and recently told Atlanta Magazine that “diners can expect tacos, tortas, and fajitas, as well as entrees like slow-braised pork and items prepared on the smoker. There will be ceviche and fried yucca, too. www.thegeorgiavoice.com

Ford Fry’s Superica in Krog Street Market offers up ‘Mex-Tex’ dining perfect to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. (Photo by Erik Meadows)

I suggest you call Southbound (5394 Peachtree Road, Chamblee, 678-5805579, www.baconsnobs.com) before planning a visit. You may want to put Southbound itself on your dining list. Located in a former Masonic Lodge, it’s garnered improving reviews for its Sothern-inspired American cuisine during the last year.

Also heed Christiane Lauterbach’s list of some fave suburban taquerias in the most recent issue of Knife and Fork: Taqueria del Mar (5075 Peachtree Pkwy, Norcross, 678-820-9836), Taqueria La Duranguense (365 Pat Mell Road, Marietta, 404-9669480), Taqueria San Pancho (4880 Lawrenceville Hwy., Tucker, 770-493-3984), the raved-about Taqueria La Oaxaquena (605 Mount Zion Road, Jonesboro, 770960-3010). Believe me, they are worth the drive. She also mentions the inimitable Taqueria del Sol (Midtown and beyond).

Lauterbach, formerly dining critic for Atlanta Magazine, has published her newsletter for more than 25 years. It remains the city’s best source of reviews and news of quirky restaurants. Subscribe by calling 404-378-2775.

Cliff Bostock, PhD, is a long-time Atlanta food critic and former psychotherapist who now specializes in collaborative life coaching (404-518-4415).

May 1, 2015 Columnists 25

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Our Guide to the Best LGBT Events in Atlanta for May 1-14

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SATURDAY, MAY 2

The Glitterball Lace and Leather event features performances by Jaye Lish and Biqtch Puddin’ with DJ Neon behind the tables beginning at 9 p.m. Entry fee is $5 before 10 p.m. and $10 after, Heretic Atlanta, www.hereticatlanta.com (Photo via Facebook)

FRIDAY, MAY 1

Funny lady Suzanne Westenhoefer does her one woman show, and hosts a VIP reception, as a benefit for Pride School Atlanta, 7:30 p.m. at Virginia Highland Church, with tickets starting at $20, www.prideschoolatlanta.org Lindsey Hinkle and Antigone Rising in concert at Eddie’s Attic, 7 p.m., www.eddiesattic.com

EVENT SPOTLIGHT FRIDAY, MAY 1

Atlanta DJ Marc Cubs spins at the Friday Night Weekend Kickoff Party, The Hideaway, www.atlantahideaway.com

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PullmanSoul and Onyx SE present House Music First Fridays with Ron Pullman and guest DJ RayVibe of LuvVibe Entertainment, 10 p.m., Atlanta Eagle, www.atlantaeagle.com Femme Fatale brings together divas Destiny Brooks and Shavonna Brooks, 11 p.m., Burkhart’s, www.burkharts.com

SATURDAY, MAY 2

For Independent Bookstore Day today, Charis Books will be selling a limited edition book by Roxanne Gay, an

anthology featuring Anne Lamott, a print

by Margaret Atwood, a literary map of the United States and a “Guess How Much I Love to Read” onesie for the tiniest bibliophiles in your life, plus a few more surprises; all for sale first come, first serve.

In addition to special Independent Bookstore Day items, all used books will be 50 percent off from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m., www.charisbooksandmore.com The Lesbian 50+ Potluck and Social offers great company and tasty food.

Attendees are asked to bring a covered dish, 6 p.m., Phillip Rush Center, www.rushcenteratl.com The Glitterball Lace and Leather event features performances by Jaye Lish and Biqtch Puddin’ with DJ Neon behind the tables beginning at 9 p.m. Entry fee is $5 before 10 p.m. and $10 after, Heretic Atlanta, www.hereticatlanta.com Popular DJ Aron is back again at the Jungle tonight, www.jungeatl.com

My Sister’s Room holds a pre-Cinco De Mayo celebration with the Maria Gabriella Band and a drag race at 11:30 p.m., www.mysistersroom.com

SUNDAY, MAY 3

Passion for Paws presents the annual K9’s & Cocktails Big Deck Party benefiting Angels Among Us Pet Rescue and Leader Dogs for the Blind founded by the Lions Clubs. The event features dogs, music, giveaways and fabulous food, as well as the Human Slot Machine.

A $10 donation buys a complimentary drink and a drink koozie, 3–7 p.m. on the Henry’s deck, www.henrysatl.com Joining Hearts hosts its annual Change Of Seasons Tea Dance. The event will feature drink specials by Absolut and gift baskets that will be raffled along with tickets to the annul pool party in July. The infamous gummy bear shots will reappear to keep patrons hydrated and dancing, as well as DJ Travis and DJ Eric, 4 – 11 p.m., Jungle, www.jungleatl.com

www.thegeorgiavoice.com

TELL US ABOUT YOUR LGBT EVENT Submit your LGBT event for inclusion in our online and print calendars by emailing event info to editor@thegavoice.com TEN Atlanta celebrates Cinco de Mayo with prizes and giveaways, as well as DJ Rob Reum and DJ Rob Ansley, beginning at 4 p.m., www.tenatlanta.com

de Mayo event, transforming its parking lot into an outdoor festival with $3 draft beer, $5 martinis and DJs, beginning at 11 a.m., lasmargaritasmidtown.com

Jay’s Surgery Benefit Show features the likes of Ace Sterling, Drue Lingue, Uma Stephens and more, 7 – 11 p.m., My Sister’s Room, www.mysistersroom.com

Kick off your Cinco de Mayo celebration at Eclectic Bistro & Bar with a happy hour and dine out event that supports the AV200 charity bike ride and benefits the Emory Vaccine Center.

From 5:30-9:30 p.m., 10 percent of all revenue will be donated to AV200. Find out more at www.av200.org

Tony winner Christian Hoff, Michael Longoria, Daniel Reichard and Tony nominee J. Robert Spencer formed The Midtown Men after taking Broadway by storm as four stars from the original cast of the Broadway musical “Jersey Boys.” This fall, the four entertainers began their fifth North American tour, and continue to sell out performing arts centers and symphony halls from coast to coast. They perform tonight at 7 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, www.cobbenergycentre.com

MONDAY, MAY 4

Monday Mingle at Blake’s is an opportunity to network, with a free buffet and prizes, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m., www.blakesontheparkatlanta.com Trans and Friends: a Project of the Feminist Outlawz is a youth focused group for trans people, people questioning their own gender, and aspiring allies. This is a project of the Feminist Outlawz, co-sponsored by Charis Circle’s Strong Families, Whole Children Program. There is no suggested donation for youth participants of this program but adults and allies may make a donation in support of this program, 7 - 8:30 p.m., www.charisbooksandmore.com The PFLAG Atlanta Support Group meets tonight at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta, 7:30 – 9 p.m., www.uuca.org Come play Texas Hold’em Poker at Friends on Ponce, 8:30 p.m., www.friendsonponce-atl.com

CINCO DE MAYO TUESDAY, MAY 5

F.R.O.G.S. Cantina will celebrate Cinco de Mayo all day, beginning at 11 a.m., with beer and margarita specials, www.frogsmidtown.com Las Margaritas will host its own Cinco

www.thegeorgiavoice.com

The Tony Award-winning revival of “Pippin” opens at the Fox Theatre tonight with gay performer Alan Kelly in its ensemble, 7:30 p.m., www.foxtheatre.org DJ Bill Berdeaux spins at All Request Twitter Fest on Tuesday nights, Blake’s, www.blakesontehparkatlanta.com

WEDNESDAY, MAY 6

DJ Super Blue is the main attraction at Bulldogs, 893 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30308 Monica Van Pelt, Violet Chachki and Bubba D. Licious host Bitchy Bingo on Wednesday night, Lips Atlanta, www.lipsatl.com

THURSDAY, MAY 7

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence host a “Night of Nunsense” at Woof’s Sports Bar, Midler Madness style. The Sisters will be raffling off two tickets to the upcoming Bette Midler concert at Philips Arena. In honor of this, music from the Divine Miss M will be playing during the event. The evening will also feature bingo and jello shots. Raffle tickets will be sold starting at 7 p.m. with the drawing at 9 p.m., Woofs, www.woofsatlanta.com In My Own Words is returning for a one night engagement as a benefit and fundraiser for Stitched Up, a photographic series that captures people around the world who have physical scars. A night of music, the event features Barry Brandon, JL Rodriguez, Lauren Butterfield, Trevor Perry, and Brooke Gabey. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door, with tables $160. 8 p.m., Jungle, www.jungleatl.com Thursdays are Movie Nights at Cowtippers, 8 p.m., www.cowtippersatlanta.com

THURSDAY, MAY 7

High Femmes & High Times, a Femme Variety Show, is a benefit for Charis Circle that includes a night of dance, song, smut, spoken word, burlesque, a kissing booth, and more. The show features Kathleen Delaney-Adams, Al Schlong, Sid Robinson, Hanne Blank, Phoenix, Kenyatta Chinwe, Marla Stewart, Adriana Chiknas, Tennille Brown Smith, Stacey Beth Shulman and more. Suggested donation is $5, from 7:30 – 9:30 p.m., www.charisbooksandmore.com (Photo by constanceanderic.com) Brent Star emcees Game Night every Thursday at 9 p.m. at G’s Midtown, www.facebook.com/GsMidtown

FRIDAY, MAY 8SUNDAY, MAY 10

OutlantaCon, the Atlanta-based weekend-long event for the queer geek audience, takes place this weekend and includes discussion panels, gaming, costuming, special events and more, the Marriott Century Center in Atlanta. For the full schedule visit www.outlantacon.org

FRIDAY, MAY 8

Pearl Cleage’s “Blues for an Alabama Sky” returns to the Fox Theatre, with a major gay character, tonight at 8 p.m. through May 10, www.alliancetheatre.com Dine Out for Charis Circle at Duck’s Kitchen during lunch or dinner and a portion of proceeds go to benefit the work of nonprofit Charis Circle, www.duckskitchen.com Edie Cheezburger presents “The Other Show,” the most unique drag show in Atlanta, while the Other Girls will leave you gasping with laughter and surprise. Admission is $5, Jungle, 10 p.m., www.jungleatl.com

SATURDAY, MAY 9

As part of the Atlanta Pride Ride, cyclists can choose from a variety of trails in the

CONTINUES ON PAGE 28

EVENT SPOTLIGHT SATURDAY, MAY 2

It’s one of the big events of the year – the 28th annual HRC Atlanta Dinner and Auction brings together notables from the LGBT community, with actress Maria Bello as one of the special guests as well as HRC president Chad Griffin. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Jill Biden. The silent auction begins at 5 p.m. and dinner starts at 7 p.m., Hyatt Regency Atlanta, www.hrcatlanta.com

May 1, 2015 Best Bets 27

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27 Panola Mountain State Park and Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area. This ride is open to all ages and experience levels.

Thanks to the generous sponsorship from Bud Light, participants will receive a T-shirt and a post-ride meal. Assembly begins at the Alexander Lake Pavilion at 7:30 a.m. and the ride begins at 8:30 a.m. Free parking is provided. Registration: $35 in advance, $40 on site, www.atlantapride.org

EVENT SPOTLIGHT THURSDAY, MAY 14

Presented by Ian Aber, “Hot Mic” is a weekly Stand Up Comedy Open Mic featuring the best and brightest of local Atlanta talent, new and emerging comics and the occasional out of town guest, 10 p.m., The Hideaway, www.atlantahideaway.com (File photo)

Tha Big Dogs Spring Day Party from 4-7 p.m. is for big men and their chasers to enjoy each other at Bulldogs with DJ Sir Daniel on the turntables. The Deeper Love Project is also hosting a $5 raffle that benefits their program to empower, educate and network black gay men of Atlanta through discussions, retreats and mixers, www.facebook.com/thabigdogs The Atlanta Roller Girls host a double feature of games, one at 5 p.m. and another at 7:30 p.m., Yaarab Shrine Center, 400 Ponce De Leon Ave, Atlanta, GA 30308 The Men of David event benefits AID Atlanta, with hunks being auctioned off. DJ

PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY

Lee Dagger spins. A VIP pre-reception starts at 8 p.m. and general admission is at 9 p.m., Jungle, www.davidatlanta.com/menofdavid It’s two parties in one. DJ Rob Reum spins inside while DJ Daryl Cox turns up the music outside Saturday nights at TEN Atlanta, www.tenatlanta.com

SUNDAY, MAY 10

Seth Breezy whips the late night crowd up at Xion Atlanta, 3 a.m., www.cariocaproductions.com Wake up and make joyful noise with the Sisters of Sequin at Gospel Brunch with performers Bubba D. Licious and Justice Counce, 12:30 p.m. followed by a 1:30 p.m. show, Lips Atlanta, www.lipsatl.com

MONDAY, MAY 11

Making Space: A Community Writing Group for Activists, Healers, and Every Day Heroes is a writing group for those who work, move or spend time serving others through human service and community professions. Here, writing is used as a means for deepening understandings of private and public

journeys, relationships, work and how we make space for ourselves (or don’t) in the midst of it all. This is Charis Circle From Margin to Center Literary Program. The suggested donation is $10. 6:30 – 8:30 p.m., www.charisbooksandmore.com

TUESDAY, MAY 12

DJ Kaye G gets the boys going at Bulldogs, 893 Peachtree St, Atlanta, GA 30308

WEDNESDAY, MAY 13

BJ Roosters’ new Amateur Night is every Wednesday night at 9 p.m. with a $100 cash prize, 2043 Cheshire Bridge Road, Atlanta, GA 30324

THURSDAY, MAY 14

SAGE Atlanta’s social hour starts at 10 a.m., followed by a general meeting at 11 a.m., Phillip Rush Center, www.rushcenteratl.com Lambda Legal’s Mix and Mingle features light appetizers and discounted drinks. Stay for a recap of the Supreme Court oral arguments and an update on Lambda’s recent wins. 6 – 8 p.m., TEN Atlanta, www.tenatlanta.com

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THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID

By MELISSA CARTER

When nature calls You never know where you’ll be when nature calls, but normally its an extra errand to run that is uneventful. A recent need to pee proved quite eventful, though, when I took my mother to her doctor’s appointment in Decatur. I had to use the restroom when she got called in, and was directed to use the facility down the hall. It was there that I experienced something in a public restroom I had never experienced before, and my jaw dropped.

First of all, ladies, you know there are existing rules in the women’s bathroom regarding what the bathroom is intended for, and how women should help out one another in all bodily situations. For instance, when entering the bathroom you must first look under the stall for feet. If alone, you can act like you own the place but if there are others in the bathroom you need to be aware of the sounds in order to proceed.

The sound of urination is open season, so feel free to talk and take your time at the sink while washing your hands or checking your make-up. If the only sound you hear is the sanitary napkin dispenser door, or the sound of hangers as someone is changing clothes, the same rule applies.

But if you hear no activity, that means the woman in the stall is waiting for you to hurry up and leave so she can release what she came there to. Pee fast, wash your hands fast, and don’t reapply make-up this time around. Be considerate, so she can get back to her business.

And if you’re the one having to release something, as unpleasant as this topic might be, you must flush as you go. Timing is everything. The trick here is to flush before anything hits the water. Waiting until after you are done will be too late to tip everyone off to what you are doing.

So when I recently took my mom to that doctor’s appointment, and went to the bathroom, I noticed several other women in there and took my place in an empty stall next to one of them. A few seconds went by before I heard my neighbor start a phone conversa-

“I am increasingly frustrated at what seems like an invasion of idle chatter on cell phones in public spaces.” tion. As if that wasn’t bad enough, she put the person on SPEAKER phone and began to take NOTES of the business call on her lap! That’s when my jaw dropped.

I’m not sure how that scenario fits into the aforementioned rules. Do I stop peeing until she is done? Do I not flush? Or do I lay all the responsibility of that onto her shoulders and do what I would normally do? I chose to continue to perform my duties normally and allow her colleague to fully understand where this impromptu meeting was being held.

I am increasingly frustrated at what seems like an invasion of idle chatter on cell phones in public spaces. Now that practice is hitting the bathroom stalls. Of course I can’t be a hypocrite, having cleared several levels of Candy Crush or FarmVille while upon my porcelain throne. However, I have the sound off and purposely try not to impose on my neighbors.

But where are we headed as a society with increased smartphone use?

Kent State University did a study on the amount of time someone spends on their phone, and more importantly how that dedication affects them. They found that being so connected doesn’t make you happier or relaxed. Quite the opposite. Researchers found increased phone use actually raises your anxiety level, due to your inability to disconnect from the device. So etiquette regarding your smartphone becomes more rudimentary as the technology gets more sophisticated.

I don’t know what it will take but we’ve got to become more comfortable putting our phones down, so I can at least go to the bathroom in peace.

30 Columnists May 1, 2015 www.thegeorgiavoice.com

SOMETIMES ‘Y’

By RYAN LEE

The end of being a closeted stoner I expected melancholy to settle in toward the end of my recent vacation, but I was surprised by the rage that overtook me as I prepared to return to Atlanta. Potheads are not used to being mad, which may have been a part of the problem.

I couldn’t help feeling resentful after spending six days in Denver, where less than five minutes after arriving I walked into a deliciously smelling storefront and purchased marijuana using my driver’s license and debit card. My friend and I started our shopping spree with four prerolled joints, including a couple of Larry OGs, the 2014 Cannabis Cup winning brand.

After that we went to Dank dispensary, where we bought a couple of T-shirts and a 4/20 goodie bag that included a souvenir pin, shot glass, lighter, one-hitter, THC-infused chocolate bars, a pre-rolled joint and an eighth of an ounce of top-shelf weed—for $60. In case you can’t appreciate what a kickass, life-changing deal that is, let me be clear: I fucks with Denver. I fucks with Dank. I regularly smoke marijuana, and I no longer give any fucks about how morally or socially objectionable anyone considers that.

My emotions while waiting in the Denver airport terminal reminded me of the train ride home from my first Gay Pride in 1999.

Chill out, I’m not drawing universal comparisons between sexual orientation and recreational drug use, though it’s worth noting that in 1999 I was living in Alabama, where sodomy was still illegal (and where a man was improperly sentenced to a year in prison for having homosexual intercourse in 2010).

I am referring to the familiar feeling of having briefly experienced liberation, authenticity and the world as it should be, and knowing it was time to return to an absurd facade. I am talking about receiving messages while in Denver from well-meaning friends, including fellow stoners, urging discretion in what I thought were already coy social media posts.

Their concerns were valid. There is danger in admitting, let alone celebrating, illegal behavior. But I burn with uncontainable rage, www.thegeorgiavoice.com

“Marijuana is more commonly compared to alcohol, and that is useful in showing how hypocritical and illogical marijuana prohibition is.” and I refuse continued participation, in any way, in a scheme that has allowed millions of people to be incarcerated, and exponentially more to be fired from their jobs, over a substance that I put on par with coffee.

Yes, coffee. And I’m certain I spend an amount on weed equal to many people’s weekly tab at Starbucks.

Marijuana is more commonly compared to alcohol, and that is useful in showing how hypocritical and illogical marijuana prohibition is. However, it’s a blasphemous analogy considering the breadth of weed’s superiority to booze—medically, spiritually and behaviorally.

If anyone drank alcohol at the frequency and dosage that my friend and I consumed THC—two ounces of platinum-level dank in less than a week—I would be a better human being than that person. Suspend disbelief for a minute by pretending the drinker didn’t die, and imagine how lucid, functional and personable someone on a six-day bender might be.

If anyone drank coffee every time we toked, he or she would be intolerable, including to him or herself.

Upon extinguishing the last blunt of my Denver binge, I could literally have run a marathon, passed any sobriety or aptitude test, or written a column. Yet, I’m the one who is lectured to for celebrating 4/20, while everyone is free, and even encouraged, to get shit-faced for St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, weekends and family gatherings.

Fuck that, grandma; pass the blunt. It’s time this insanity ends.

May 1, 2015 Columnists 31

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