Georgia Voice 08/18/23, Vol. 14 Issue 11

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‘Everybody On Mute:’ Black Community Must Speak Out as Violence Targeting Black LGBTQ People Increases

Darian Aaron, Director of Local News: US South, GLAAD

“Big wave in the room, the crowd gon’ move. Look around everybody on mute.”

— Beyonce

It is constantly a shock to my system to know that all Black people are not created equal — that the existence of Black LGBTQ people is often viewed as a threat instead of the historical asset we have been in the quest to secure Black liberation and freedom. It is unfathomable for non-LGBTQ Black people to wrestle with the idea of violence rooted in anti-Blackness as a justifiable reason for Black death without immediate demands for justice from Black civil rights leaders. Yet, for Black LGBTQ people, it has become increasingly clear that in times of crisis, gaslighting or intentional silence from the Black community in the aftermath of anti-LGBTQ attacks reinforces what many of us already knew — Black LGBTQ people can only depend on each other.

The recent fatal stabbing of O’Shae Sibley, 28, a gay professional dancer murdered at a gas station in the Brooklyn borough of New York, following a verbal altercation with a group of white-presenting men who were initially reported as Muslims, is the latest example of how Black lives cease to matter to the most influential voices in the Black community — and too often, the (Black) media — when the victim is LGBTQ. Media outlets widely reported that Sibley was voguing to a song from Beyonce’s “Renaissance” album, music from the biggest pop star in the world celebrating Black LGBTQ people, when his 17-year-old attacker allegedly took offense to Sibley’s visible queerness and killed him.

The slow amplification of the final hatefueled moments of Sibley’s life, or no amplification at all in certain digital spaces frequented by Black people, illuminated the unchecked homophobia in the Black community that, contrary to popular belief, is not righteous or justifiable, but an impediment to our collective freedom. Sibley had the audacity to live without the restraints of patriarchy and toxic masculinity, embracing freedom and joy. He should still be alive to celebrate all that made him great and inspired others to live their truth.

Like countless hate crimes involving unarmed Black men and women taken from their loved ones prematurely, Sibley’s death should be a catalyst to move Black people toward dismantling white supremacist ideals. Instead, many Black folks would rather uphold the system hellbent on destroying Black lives — oppressing their Black LGBTQ brothers and sisters — weaponizing religion and aspiring toward unattainable white approval.

At the risk of denying the role of intersectionality in the experience of Black LGBTQ people while repeatedly being told that we’re “Black first,” everyday people, advocates, and public intellectuals like Dana White are pushing back on social media.

In a tweet, White said the quiet part out loud: “When a Black LGBTQ+ person is murdered in the streets for refusing to exist in the shadows, do Black civil rights groups organize? Do Black frats and sororities head to the LGBTQ+ centers to volunteer? Do Black parents sit their kids down to give them a talk about bigotry?”

The answer, more often than not, is no.

The denial of our humanity and complete disregard for the racism and homophobia Black LGBTQ people must navigate daily is a volatile mix of power and indifference by kinfolk eager to step into the role of the oppressor, even if it means contributing to the cause of another Black mother’s grief.

GLAAD has been tracking escalating violence against LGBTQ people, including at least a half dozen murders recently across the U.S. Sibley is the fifth LGBTQ person murdered in recent weeks. In April, Ashley Burton, 37, and Rasheeda Williams (aka Koko Da Doll), 35, were gunned down in Atlanta two weeks apart and are among the 15 trans and gender nonconforming people murdered in 2023. Their deaths add to an epidemic of violence against Black trans women exacerbated by more than 500 anti-trans bills proposed in state legislatures nationwide, the denial of lifesaving trans health care supported by every major medical association, and the rapid spread of misinformation that renders Black LGBTQ people as less than human and disposable.

This cannot continue.

Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric thinly disguised as freedom of speech does not provide freedom from consequences, or the reallife implications of hate speech manifested through physical violence. Black liberation is inextricably linked to the freedom and liberation of Black LGBTQ people. We will not be free until all of us are free. If there is an LGBTQ agenda, at the top of the list is an America that creates space for the O’Shae Sibleys of the world to dance and love openly without fear. And a Black America that will rise in its defense against unrelenting bigotry should his right to live cease to exist.

Trevor Project in Crisis Amid Financial Woes, Staff Dissension, ‘Union Busting’: Sources

Joel Lev-Tov, Washington Blade via the National LGBTQ Media Association

Read the full story online at thegavoice.com.

In 2022, Trevor’s phone and chat lines supported a record number of people, more than 236,000, through calls, texts, and online chats, according to the organization’s 2022 annual report. And the organization has been rapidly expanding, seeking to help more and more youth.

But in interviews, 11 current and former Trevor employees, many speaking anonymously for fear of retaliation, said that growth was much too fast and came at the cost of service.

Former CEO Amit Paley spearheaded the organization’s expansion from a handful of people to a massive organization with more than 700 employees. In the process, the employees said, it became more like a corporation than a nonprofit.

That growth put massive pressure on Trevor’s staff, especially the people running crisis services.

Suddenly, crisis workers couldn’t take time off between calls to regroup without taking paid time off or sick leave. The crisis workers criticized that policy, saying that they needed to be doing well to support callers, but management didn’t budge.

The National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020 created 988’s LGBTQ+ subnetwork as a pilot project. During that pilot, the Trevor Project was the only organization running the section of 988 dedicated to LGBTQ+ youth. Former employee Preston Mitchum said he pushed back on that, saying Trevor did not have the resources to run the lifeline by itself and even if it did, more than one organization should provide support. Then-CEO Paley,

though, reportedly disagreed.

The Trevor Project was the only organization running the LGBTQ line. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, charged with federal oversight of the 988 program, pumped $7.2 million into the pilot. The federal government vastly underestimated the numbers of callers and texters to the line, leaving Trevor short-staffed and unprepared for the surge of people seeking support, a source told the Blade

The 988 program was successful enough for Vibrant to make the hotline a permanent fixture less than a year later in July. This time, the federal government allocated $29.7 million to the LGBTQ subnetwork.

As part of the expansion, Vibrant decided to increase the number of call centers running the LGBTQ+ crisis line from just one, the Trevor Project, to seven, with Trevor still on board. The change meant a smaller piece of the pie for Trevor — the $29.7 million would now be distributed among seven different organizations.

Having to split the funding was enough to cause Trevor lay off more than 200 crisis workers, Trevor Project crisis counselor Finn Depriest said.

Issues concerning the organization’s diversity have also cropped up, including during Trevor’s expansion to Mexico. Instead of hiring a translator, it asked Latinx staff to translate material into Spanish, Vargas, the former New York office manager, said. The entire group were also congratulated on Mexican Independence Day — even though not all the Latinx staff were Mexican American.

These and other concerns led to the Friends of Trevor United union being formed in early 2022. Trevor did not immediately recognize the union, instead

asking for a card count, where employees sign union authorization cards. A Trevor Project spokesperson said the organization recognized the union voluntarily — which is true but insisted that a “wide margin” of cards support Friends of Trevor.

Gloria Middleton, president of the Communications Workers of America Local 1180, under which Friends of Trevor is organized, said Trevor opposed the union. While union organizers were in talks with Trevor, the organization began laying off workers. The union condemned that, calling it “union busting,” and said that Trevor intentionally gave the union very little time to respond.

Some asked if the layoffs were retribution for the formation of the union. The Trevor Project strongly denies this, pointing out that it laid off both workers in the union and non-union employees. The union, though, questions why Trevor announced layoffs during the negotiations and not before.

In a statement to the Blade, the Trevor Project said it takes its obligation not to retaliate against employees seriously.

Trevor’s co-founder Peggy Rajski presents herself as an ally in the statement and in other public appearances. She called herself the “straight, white godmother of a gay suicidal hotline,” in an interview with NPR affiliate KCUR in Kansas City, prompting ridicule among staff. But it pointed at a larger issue, employees told the Blade: Trevor’s C-suite is almost entirely white and cisgender.

“I think there needs to be a permanent CEO who is LGBTQ,” Mitchum said. “And in my opinion, one who is a person of color, or at least someone who actively understands intersectional framework and how to have these culturally important clinical conversations of competence and responsibility to specific communities.”

O’Shae Sibley, Gay Black Professional Dancer, Murdered in New York Hate Crime

Katie Burkholder

On July 29, O’Shae Sibley, a 28-year-old Black gay man, was murdered in New York City in a hate crime.

Sibley was a professional dancer and integral part of New York City’s ballroom scene. He studied dance at the Philadelphia School of Dance Arts and danced with the House of Du’Mure-Versailles and House of Old Navy. According to Kemar Jewel, a friend of Sibley for more than a decade, he was known in the ballroom community for his voguing, and he volunteered teaching others in the scene how to vogue.

“O’Shae was always dancing in some way, shape or form, everywhere,” Kayden Coleman, a transgender advocate and friend of Sibley, told CNN.

Sibley was approached by a group of men while he was dancing at a Brooklyn gas station with a group of friends while they refueled their car. A man called out and demanded they stop dancing, then the group began to yell at Sibley and his friends, calling them derogatory names and using homophobic slurs against them. An altercation broke out and Sibley was stabbed in the chest. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Seventeen year-old Dmitriy Popov was arrested for second-degree murder as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon after he turned himself in. He pleaded not guilty, according to his attorney.

Sibley was dancing to Beyonce’s newest album, “Renaissance” — an album that celebrates queer Black culture, as noted by Prince Shakur in a commentary for LGBTQ Nation – when he was killed. Beyonce paid tribute to him on her website; the home page read, “Rest in Power O’Shae Sibley.”

“The saddest part about is that we wrestle with his death. We wrestle with hate crimes. We wrestle with people within our community constantly facing discrimination,

tragic and sobering reminder of the reality for Black queer people.

“He was never able to reach his full potential,” Lee Soulja Simmons, Executive Director of the NYC Center For Black Pride, said at a press conference about Sibley’s death. “The saddest part about is that we wrestle with his death. We wrestle with hate crimes. We wrestle with people within our community constantly facing discrimination, not just because you’re Black, but because you

represent [the] LGBT [community].”

According to a New York Division of Criminal Justice Services report, anti-LGBTQ bias and anti-Black bias accounted for 17.7 percent and 11.4 percent, respectively, of all reported hate crimes in New York. In the wake of the upcoming Atlanta Black Pride weekend, Sibley’s murder serves as a

“For many Black LGBTQ+ people, the possibility of violence is always just around the corner,” Shakur wrote in his commentary. “It can happen during a latenight outing for food, after a slur lobbed from a car, or as a result of this year’s sweep of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation … The violence that led to O’Shae Sibley’s murder was born from efforts to prevent queer people from learning about our histories, defending ourselves, or even existing. This erasure is a continuation of the social, economic, and carceral politics against LGBTQ+ survival. It has led to LGBTQ+ people being sent to jail for defending themselves, like CeCe McDonald, a Black trans woman, who was sentenced to 41 months in jail for defending herself against attackers in 2011. This erasure is structural and personal.”

Otis Pena, who witnessed Sibley’s murder, described Sibley as a “beacon of light for a lot of us in our community that was engulfed with darkness.” His death shook New York’s LGBTQ community. At the gas station where he was killed, many gathered to honor his life by dancing.

O’Shae Sibley PHOTO VIA FACEBOOK

not just because you’re Black, but because you represent [the] LGBT [community].”

—Lee Soulja Simmons, Executive Director of the NYC Center For Black Pride

MAJOR FUNDING FOR THIS EXHIBITION IS PROVIDED BY William N. Banks Jr. Trust

PREMIER EXHIBITION SERIES SPONSOR

PREMIER EXHIBITION SERIES SUPPORTERS

ACT Foundation, Inc.

William N. Banks, Jr.

Cousins Foundation

Burton M. Gold

Sarah and Jim Kennedy

HIGH MUSEUM OF ART ATLANTA | OCTOBER 27–FEBRUARY 18 | HIGH.ORG

BENEFACTOR EXHIBITION SERIES SUPPORTERS

Robin and Hilton Howell

The exhibition is curated by Monica Obniski, Curator of Decorative Arts and Design at the High Museum of Art; Laura Mott, Chief Curator, Cranbrook Art Museum; and Elissa Auther, Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs and William and Mildred Lasdon Chief Curator, the Museum of Arts and Design.

Sonya Clark (American, born 1967), The Hair Craft Project: Hairstylists with Sonya: Sonya Clark with Jamilah Williams (detail), 2014, pigment print on archival paper, courtesy of the artist.

Photo by Naoko Wowsugi. © Sonya Clark.

WHAT’S GOING DOWN Atlanta Black Pride Weekend

This year’s Atlanta Black Pride weekend (ABPW), hosted by RockStars Productions and Traxx Girls, will be held at The Starling hotel in Midtown. APBW registration and ticket pick-up will be available on Thursday from 11am to 8pm, Friday from 11am to 10pm, and Saturday from 11am to 7pm. There will be a vendor market on Friday and Saturday from noon to 7pm.

Before the weekend festivities, there will be a Welcome to Atlanta Mixer on Wednesday at 7pm. Mayor Andre Dickens will host a welcome reception on Thursday at 6pm before the kickoff party on Thursday at 10pm. There will also be a welcome to ABP edition of R&B Thursdays at My Sister’s Room starting at 9pm.

The weekend officially starts on Friday for the ladies with the Annual N*kd Hustle All Girl Day Party at Magic City at 3pm. There will be a male mixer at The Starling at 5pm before the Influencer Dinner and Awards at 6pm. The semi-formal dinner, celebrating Black excellence by highlighting trailblazers and community influencers, will include a four-course meal, cocktail hour, a recognition ceremony, live entertainment, special guests, and an after party. The first night ends with Upgraded: Friday Pride Edition at 11pm and the Mega Ladies Lounge: First Ladies: Charged Up at 10pm.

The weekend continues for the women with Annual Wether Block Party at 3pm and for the men with the We Rock Pride Brunch at

noon before the Ultimate Day Party at 3pm. Throughou the day, pass holders will also be able to take part in the ABPW film festival, workshops, and a literary café. Ladies will have the opportunity to experience Whiipped University, a queer erotica dance and theatric performance, at 7pm (learn more at whipped. com) before the Her Big Bang Ultimate Pure EnHergy Experience, the biggest all-girl party in the country with DJ Face, at 10pm. The night closes out for the guys with Upgraded: Saturday Pride Edition at 11pm.

As always, the weekend will continue with the free Pure Heat Community Festival at Piedmont Park on Sunday from noon to 8pm with live musical performances and vendors. Applications for food and merchandise vendors are still open; apply and learn more at pureheatcommunityfestival.com. Other events happening on Sunday include a poetry slam and jazz brunch and the Henny Punch Brunch at noon. The night closes with Upgraded: Sunday Pride Edition and Goliath at 10pm.

The weekend closes on Labor Day Monday with the annual Lake Lanier Booze Cruise at 1pm – party buses will depart from The Starling at noon –the We Rock Pride annual BBQ at 4pm, the Drip Day Party at 5pm, and the Annual All White Party at 10pm.

To learn more about this year’s ABPW and purchase your passes, visit atlantaprideweekend.com.

OTHER EVENTS

Yard 1292 - For the Girls, Gworls,

and Gyal Dem

September 1, 10pm

Pour Taproom: Midtown

Celebrating queer Caribbean culture. Tickets via Eventbrite.

Ultimate Block Party

September 1, 11pm

Future Atlanta

Black Pride Brunch

September 2, noon

City Winery

Get ready to groove and celebrate Atlanta

Black Pride in style with the sensation Tyra B. Tickets at citywinery.com.

Rooftop Pool Party

September 2, 4pm

Embassy Suites Atlanta Buckhead

Classy Affair: All White Party with a Splash of Color

September 2, 9pm

TAGO Event Center Dunwoody

Hosted by Ms. Diva, Charlie Lee, and special guest host Jaieboo Da Heartbreaker. With DJ Slayher and DJ Honey. Tickets via Eventbrite.

500 Men Mega Party

September 2, midnight

Future Atlanta

The SaturDAY Party Bash

September 2, 5pm

Tongue & Groove

Featuring DJ Nutty. Tickets via Eventbrite.

Katie Burkholder

Get ready to groove and celebrate Atlanta Black Pride in style with the sensation Tyra B at the Black Pride Brunch. PHOTO VIA FACEBOOK

Celebrating TransLife the Atlanta Way

Adalei Stevens

The 3rd Annual TransLife Awards is one of the first events to kick off this year’s Atlanta Black Pride Month. The TransLife Awards is the first event of its kind in the country, founded by community leader Dewayne Queen in 2021 with the help of Atlanta Black Pride and In The Life Atlanta. The TransLife Awards “honor the unselfish contributions and never-ending work of the members of the Transgender and non-binary communities,” the organization states on its website.

Since Labor Day weekend in 1996, Atlanta Black Pride Weekend has attracted Black LGBTQ locals and neighbors for safe, open, cultural events for Atlanta’s LGBTQ community. Each year, local vendors, artists, and performers offer a variety of events, from the Unity Ball to the Pure Heat Community Festival in Piedmont Park. The weekend promises “male” and “female” events leading up to Pure Heat and the Annual White Party.

Queen, dismayed by the increased antitrans rhetoric in the media, noticed a lack of trans programming leading up to the 2021 Atlanta Black Pride Weekend.

“The transgender community is not a monolith,” he said in an interview with Georgia Voice. “So, why not highlight people in the areas that they’re comfortable in and they’re working and that they’re making change in and they’re being change agents within their scope of their community?”

Last year, the TransLife Awards honored community pillars like Dr. Annise Mabry, whose nonprofit organization offers the only diploma program in Georgia for sex trafficking survivors, homeless LGBTQ youth, youth aging out of foster care, and those who had dropped out of high school called the Tiers Free Academy Alternative Diploma Program. Despite Dr. Mabry’s cisgender identity, her efforts in LGBTQ youth education and health care warrant her Pioneer of Community award.

Queen wanted the TransLife Awards to highlight grassroots activists like Zahara Green, founder and executive director of the trans-led community organization group, TRANScending Barriers, and last year’s Pioneer of Well-Being; and Hope Giselle, founder of #AllowMe and the first openly trans woman to graduate with a Master of Fine Arts at Alabama State University, as well as the first Black openly trans woman to give

a keynote speech at NASA. Giselle was the 2022 Pioneer of Advocacy.

Queen emphasized the importance of supporting trans people within the LGBTQ community.

“When the trans community goes to legislation about an issue, they don’t just go on behalf of the trans community,” he said.

“They go on behalf of all LGBTQ, and I think that they have an understanding that we have yet to grasp in society: we are better together than we are separate.”

Pioneer of the Year 2022 was awarded to reality star and LGBTQ activist Ts “Maddie” Madison. Queen said he admires how Madison uses her platform to educate people on trans and LGBTQ issues.

“[She] does not shy away from the things that are frontline issues within the transgender community,” he said. “She will speak directly to the inequities in health care. She will speak directly to the importance of making sure that trans lives are seen, heard and appreciated … No matter how big her starlight gets.”

This year, awardees include Atlanta’s favorite drag queen, Taylor ALXNDR, named Pioneer of Inspiration, alongside Director of Community Engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative, Tori Cooper, who will be named Pioneer of Culture. This year’s Pioneer of the Year will go to trans activist Alex Santiago, who is on the advisory board for the Mayor’s Division of LGBTQ Affairs, ATLGBTQ+, and founder of The I Am Human Foundation.

The TransLife Class of 2023 Pioneers are:

Inspiration: Taylor ALXNDR

Resilience: Malik Brown

Advocacy: Dominique Morgan

Community: Chloe Jordan

Culture: Tori Cooper

Well-Being: Toi Washington-Reynolds

Pioneer of the Year: Alex Santiago

Lifetime Achievement: Dee Dee Chamblee

Vision: Raquel Thomas

Education: Amari McGee

The TransLife Awards start at 6pm on September 2 at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. Tickets can be purchased for $25 at thetranslifeawards. com until September 1. The ticket includes admission and a plated dinner. Visit atlantaprideweekend.com for the full calendar of Atlanta Black Pride Weekend events.

Recipients of the 2022 TransLife Awards SCREENSHOT VIA FACEBOOK

Gay East Point Businessman

Mike Herring Considers Run for Congress

Luke Gardner

East Point politician and businessman Mike Herring has set up an exploratory committee to potentially seek Georgia’s 13th Congressional District seat in the U.S. House.

Herring is an Atlanta native long involved in local politics, and he originally planned to run for East Point City Council.

“Right now, there seems to be an intent to criminalize LGBTQ Americans and an attempt to erase Black history, in Florida and other places,” Herring said. “[There’s an attempt] to take away important parts of our culture, and I can’t be a casual observer. I thought, ‘What can I do?’”

This was when he decided to set up the exploratory committee, which politicians commonly use to determine if there is organic support for them before officially deciding to launch a campaign.

Democrat David Scott has occupied the 13th District seat since 2003, continuously winning over voters in the heavily Democratic district. Herring sees the Democratic party as a unified party with minor differences and holds Scott in high regard.

“He has served long and done remarkable things,” he said.

He is considering running to be part of the conversation and to make a difference, not because he is displeased with Scott.

Herring has a history in politics, advocating for voting rights, serving as a member of the

East Point Cultural Enrichment Commission from 2010 to 2015, and serving as the first chair and commissioner of the East Point Utility Board from 2016 to 2020.

“I have written articles … and recorded voiceovers as a syndicated radio DJ in support of Amendment 4 in Florida, which restored voting rights for returning citizens,” Herring said. “The Amendment became law in Florida after a successful ballot initiative in 2018, but Governor Ron DeSantis and the GOP-led legislature eventually watered it down and basically nullified the law. Prohibitions on voting have a negative impact on Black communities, reducing overall group political influence.… There is not enough effort to reintegrate people who have been convicted. When a person does time and comes back to restrictions on voting and employment … they often come back to the same situation with no opportunity. We must change that dynamic to reduce crime.”

On the Cultural Enrichment Commission, Herring called upon his experience as a music professional to advocate for art programs and music workshops. On the utility board, he took part in robust discussions about lowering the cost of utilities for both homeowners and business owners. He also called out the City of East Point’s spending habits when $1 million was allocated for concerts while there were unfinished infrastructure projects and seniors in need.

Herring is known for sponsoring several events in the East Point community, including a free senior picnic on the first Saturday of each month. On August 19, he’ll be hosting the first of many quarterly giveaways for families

in need, in which locals donate clothing and home furnishings to neighbors.

Also the sponsor of the upcoming East Point Pride on September 1, Herring is proud to showcase the first Pride event for people of color in recent East Point and Greenbriar history.

On a national level, Herring discussed taking on the gun lobby and combating the normalcy of gun violence in U.S. culture, as well as protecting reproductive rights, addressing the high rates of Black women who die during childbirth, and protecting teachers from rightwing attacks and employment shortages.

He is also an advocate for transparency in government and strongly believes in reforming the campaign finance system.

“We have a system in place where candidates can be funded by dark money and groups that don’t disclose their goals,” Herring said. “That’s a big problem because everyone spending a dollar in a political campaign has an expectation. If someone is giving $2 or $10 million to a campaign, they probably have a vested interest in the decisions you make. This goes against the founding principles of the

United States. The money becomes a voter — an unregistered voter — that can impact the outcome. Money moves votes.”

In terms of nonpolitical experience, Herring has served as president and general manager of Greenbriar Marketplace since 2009. Herring said that managing the marketplace has taught him about the economics of household income and how budgets can affect the daily lives of citizens, knowledge which Herring plans to call on should he go on to run for office.

If Herring were to officially become a candidate and go on to win the race, he would become the first openly gay African American to hold a congressional seat in Georgia’s history.

“I think [being the first gay Black representative from Georgia] would mean that the sacrifices of my ancestors, the work they put in to ensure equality and increase opportunity, is being realized,” Herring said. “I’m here now as a businessperson, and I’m here because of people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Harvey Milk. … I give credit to people who came before me and made those sacrifices.”

Mike Herring COURTESY PHOTO

COMMUNITY

Hunter Buchheit

Read the full article online at thegavoice.com.

In a world with Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, and The Weeknd, the music industry often seems, from the outside, like an exclusive club — one that the average person can’t easily see into, much less dream of entering.

With contracts and agreements, managers and media executives, designers and concept creators and assistants galore, the sheer amount of money it seems to take to be successful as an artist today is unfathomable. This barrier to entry can be disarming and discouraging. What’s the point of making music if what matters — streams a nd plays and clicks — are being fought over (and won) by signed artists flush with industry cash?

Atlanta-based singer-songwriter Carlton Dawson, aka Tajonyx (pronounced Tyjon), is turning that idea on its head. As an independent artist, Tajonyx has been creating and releasing his own music, free of any label constraints, for over a decade. And he isn’t letting his lack of industry ties, or the traditional conventions of a male pop artist, get in the way of his creativity.

“Why should I work so hard to get to a point for a record label to then see my worth and value?” Tajonyx questions in a video on his YouTube channel, referencing his decadeplus as an independent recording artist. He recognizes the advantages that come from being signed — namely, the money required to generate that elusive industry “buzz” — but he’s content with the buzz he’s generated on his own. His music video for his song “Rockin Witcha” boasts over 100k views on YouTube, and the videos for “Swipe” and “Down” have both surpassed 50k.

In 2016, Tajonyx released his first collection of music, “Armor of Onyx,” a six-track EP. A few years later, in 2021, he released “Dark Matter,” another EP with a more distinctive, formative look at Tajonyx’s identity as a person and artist. “Dark Matter,” with a striking black-and-white cover, is only 14 minutes long, but delves deeper into Tajonyx’s views on heartbreak, friendship, and identity as a Black, bisexual man from the South.

Peering into Tajonyx’s creative process, it’s clear just how much intentionality, thought, and care goes into his work. Tajonyx doesn’t just write the lyrics; he builds his music and visuals from the ground up. And when an idea pops into his head, he moves quickly to catch it.

“I’ll wake up and a production concept is in my head. I’m hearing a track, I’m hearing the instrumentals,” he said. “I’ll get on my phone, sometimes it’s like three o’clock in the morning, and I’ll hum out the melody, beatbox the cadence, and hum out any other scents or pads or instruments that I may be hearing to accompany the production.”

Every piece of work he releases has a concept, an idea, and a purpose behind it. Bringing his ideas to life, he makes sure that, at its roots, his work is infused with meaning.

“I think symbolism is really a driving force to storytelling,” he said. “And I think that it can get your point across in such a raw and unfiltered way when you use symbolism.”

Phantom Fire, Tajonyx’s newest release, is the culmination of all of these elements, and his largest body of work to date. The album, just shy of an hour long, is rooted in pop and queer history. It’s both thoughtful and highly danceable, a journey from the ashes of self-deprecation to the light of strength, self-assurance, and confidence.

Identity is an inherent component of Tajonyx’s work. Growing up Christian, singing in church, and maintaining his faith have been vital to Tajonyx and continue to be powerful

steering forces in his life. However, living in the South, where so often LGBTQ people have the church and Christianity turned against them as a weapon and justification for bigotry, Tajonyx has felt his fair share of pushback, hate, and homophobia.

Even in the media, where LGBTQ support has become stronger in recent years, Tajonyx finds issue with the way LGBTQ lives and experiences are portrayed and tokenized.

“We’re just trying to make our way through life just like everybody else is,” he said. “We just have our story told, from all angles, not just the one that’s trendy, and not just the one that grabs the most attention the quickest.”

When asked who the album is for, Tajonyx said, “everyone” before clarifying: it’s made for everyone, but it’s also made for the fans, the loyal supporters who’ve stuck around, commented, and streamed for years, and the listeners who may need it more than others.

“There are young, Black queer children and young queer children in general that need that music, so that they don’t feel othered and they don’t feel alone in the world,” he said.

You can keep up with Tajonyx on Instagram @tajonyx and online at tajonyxmusic.com.

Atlanta-based singer-songwriter Carlton Dawson, aka Tajonyx COURTESY PHOTO

Lyte ImaginAri Captures Black Queer Joy on Camera

Lyte ImaginAri has a gift for capturing the moment. She finds herself most fulfilled in shooting Atlanta’s queer nightlife scenes. Her shots, full of emotion and authenticity, have gained traction around the community as of late.

“When [shots] come out looking the way they do and you see it as amazing, that’s just how amazing I felt in the moment,” she said of her photography.

Lyte moved to Atlanta from small town North Carolina only three years ago, in the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic. She came from a traditional religious background. Aside from the Bible, the only other thing her parents exposed her to was comic books, which were still given as a religious metaphor at times. She said her parents “liked to compare Captain America to Jesus a lot.”

“How I grew up, I didn’t really understand who I was, I didn’t understand anything that I was feeling. I wasn’t allowed to experience anybody else in the world,” she said. “Moving here was like the beginning of everything for me.”

Upon moving to Atlanta, Lyte was introduced to ideas about gender expression she had previously been taught to see as black and white. Before moving, the only experiences she had seen as close to her own were on YouTube, which felt far away. Being a trans

woman did not feel like a possibility, much less her reality. Although not armed with the vocabulary and knowledge to be able to address her gender identity, Lyte knew she did not fall into the box of cisnormativity from a young age. By the age of 10, she was already coming to terms with her fate with God and thinking she would take the secrets of her queerness to the grave.

“I knew I was different, but I can’t be different here, so I’ll just have to deal with it,” she said. “I gave up on so many things from such a young age thinking I would not be able to live the life I wanted to live, so I really focused on understanding what other people are experiencing.”

During the pandemic, Lyte picked up photography as a way to kill time between working three jobs back in North Carolina. Once she moved to Atlanta, however, it became a social experiment to her. Being a naturally shy person, Lyte was not sure how she would make friends, but she did know that people loved having their pictures taken.

Taking pictures made it easier to engage with people. First, she just started taking pictures on a phone because the camera felt intimidating, but people were loving the phone shots so much and she was meeting so many cool people that bringing the camera just felt right. Many people she has met through photography have built the community of love that has enriched Lyte’s life and spirit. Lyte’s photography is a gift for the community that has given her her own light.

“I am constantly amazed by the world around me and the people around me,”

she said when speaking on the gratitude that comes with her photography and why she found success. “This is my community and the life I get to live. I felt like I had to immerse myself in this place with something I could give back to people.”

Her photography is a selfless service. Much of her inspiration comes from the gratitude and love for the queer community she has found. Capturing those feelings is how she likes to pay them forward. Lyte says she “got lucky” in finding the spaces and people that have empowered her to be her most authentic self, because for a long time it did not feel attainable.

“I want other people to see my work, get the story and go experience it too,” she said. “It’s here, and it’s just as cunt as it looks!”

Keep up with Lyte ImaginAri’s photography on Instagram @yeahitslyte.

Mars Stone

Lyte ImaginAri COURTESY PHOTO

“I knew I was different, but I can’t be different here, so I’ll just have to deal with it. I gave up on so many things from such a young age thinking I would not be able to live the life I wanted to live, so I really focused on understanding what other people are experiencing.”

The Black Queer Influence on Experimental Dance and Electronic Music

Divine Ikpe

Read the full story online at thegavoice.com.

With the release of Beyonce’s album “Renaissance” and the popularity of documentaries such as “Paris is Burning,” Ballroom culture and, subsequently, the Black origins of house music have come more into the forefront in recent years. Despite this newfound mainstream popularity, a lot of important contextual information and prominent figures can still be pushed to the wayside by the general public. If you ask someone at a party or DJ set to name an electronic artist they like, more times than not they will name a non-Black artist due to the white washing of the genre.

One could argue that this goes all the way back to disco. In the genre’s height, we had Soul Train as an outlet for unashamedly proBlack joy, fashion, culture. and beautifully curated sounds. Disco died once it made its way to white audiences who sought to destroy it … literally. Former ’70s radio host Steve Dahl openly said that he viewed disco as a “disease” so he, along with the promoter for the Chicago White Sox, hosted an event in the team’s baseball stadium where people were encouraged to show up and burn disco vinyl records. 50,000 people attended the event shouting, “Disco sucks!” as they set countless records ablaze. Much of this hate was due to anti-Blackness (like much modern anti-rap rhetoric) and homophobia.

Fast-forward to the early ’80s where house music is starting to make a name for itself and become a more widely recognized genre. As noted in an article from LGBTQ Nation, “house music is disco’s revenge.” The genre came about during the peak of the AIDS epidemic, so house music and Ballroom culture were inherently political and existed as refuge for exiled and grieving queer Black

and brown people. Frankie Knuckles, who is considered the Godfather of house music, says that he first saw records labeled as “house” at some point between 1980 and 1981. The genre is based in part on the mix of disco, gospel, funk, and soul tracks Knuckles played at his parties in his Chicago club, The Warehouse. Other prominent figures of the time were DJ Larry Levan of the legendary Paradise Garage club, Stacey “Hotwax”, DJ Sharon White, Ultra Naté (house vocalist and DJ), and DJ Ron Hardy (who actually predates Knuckles). You can read more in depth about this era in “House Music Is Back. Let’s Remember Its Roots” from Harpers Bazaar

House is usually the only genre people discuss on this topic, but Black queer pioneered and were major influences for other electronic genres as well. More broadly, the concept of sampling in music is used uniquely by Black queer people to recontextualize media in a way that blends ideas of identity, community, pop culture, and politics into

the music, creating relationships between pieces of media that wouldn’t have any sort of connection otherwise. But, as with disco, house, and most other genres pioneered by Black people, as queer POC electronic music grew, the umbrella term EDM (electronic dance music) was created, and the genre became white-washed.

So, how do we counteract this? In recent years, Black queer people have started back up the DIY roots of the genre to create inclusive and revolutionary musical collectives that not only put on shows but support their communities. In Los Angeles: A Club Called Rhonda, Mustache Monday, Wildness at the Silver Platter, and Rave Reparations. Mustache Monday and Wildness at the Silver Platter later combined to become the New York-based label Fade to Mind, which Kelela used to be signed under. Chicago used to host parties and events in the north side, but since the area has become more and more gentrified, queer Black and brown folks have been pushed to the south

“Frankie Knuckles, who is considered the Godfather of house music, says that he first saw records labeled as “house” at some point between 1980 and 1981. The genre is based in part on the mix of disco, gospel, funk, and soul tracks Knuckles played at his parties in his Chicago club, The Warehouse.”

and west sides of the city. But the places that persist despite the rapid gentrification of the city are Jeffrey’s Pub, Club Escape, TRQPiTECA, Party Noire, and the record label Futurehood. Party Noire hosts dance events specifically for Black femmes and has the Femme Noir Grant, a grant to help support Black femmes in creative fields. As for New York City: GHE20G0TH1K (which sometimes collaborates with Mustache Mondays and Fade to Mind), Papi Juice, Discwoman (a collective  and booking agency for queer women and femmes), For The Gworls, and DisCakes. All of these NYC collectives host parties and event as fundraisers for important causes within their respective communities as a form of mutual aid and genuine community involvement.

In Atlanta, we have Malware Cafe, Sucia, and Club Morph (which specifically supports Black creatives) that cater more specifically towards queer DJs and dance artists of color. Some Black queer Atlanta DJs and electronic artists to look out for are Tori (@ techemprex), Final First (@final.first), Park (@frankconsent), JSPORT (@jsport_), ILOVEDADDYZ (@ilovedaddyz) and Zaida Zane (@1zaidazane). Black DJs and electronic artists are recreating space for themselves that was previously overtaken, and it’s about time we get recognition for our contributions to electronic music, both then and now.

Frankie Knuckles is considered the Godfather of house music. IMAGE BY RENAISSANCECHAMBARA IS LICENSED UNDER CC BY 2.0

‘No One Can Say I Didn’t Make It’ —

YouTube has a strange ability to showcase fare that rebuilds queer reality in previously unknown ways. Hence, we can delve into the life of Glenn Burke, an extraordinary man who came up Black and working class in Oakland, California, developing enviable shoulders, thighs, personality, and athletic prowess that bowled over Major League Baseball (MLB) prospectors, not to mention everyone around him.

Glenn was the first baseballer to (quietly) own his “homosexuality” with teammates. But he fielded in the hostile world of 1970s sports. We can probe his history with, among other things, “Out: The Glenn Burke Story,” a 2010 documentary that explores the life of a major leaguer who should be as well known as Cy Young or Roberto Clemente.

Equally at home in baseball and basketball, Glenn chose the horsehide and started with the Los Angeles Dodgers’ minor league team in 1976. Beginning his meteoric rise in 1977, his first year with the actual Dodgers, he played in the World Series, earning the ring to prove it.

A fan and player favorite, Glenn is widely credited with inventing the “High Five” salute. Yes, on October 02, 1977, rookie Glenn excitedly flew out onto the diamond to greet Dusty Baker, a Dodger powerhouse charging into home plate.

Dusty: “His hand was up in the air, and he was arching way back, so I reached up and hit his hand. It seemed like the thing to do.”

The Dodgers seized on the gesture, even featuring it in publicity materials: “The ‘High Five’ has become the Dodgers’ standard salute during the 1980 season.” But they’d stolen this signifying bit from a man they’d already kicked into the weeds.

As rumors began to swarm, the front office offered him $75,000 (over $300,000 in 2023 dollars) for a lavish honeymoon. Get married! was the clear message.

Front office attitudes worsened as he began spending time with “Spunky,” i.e., Tommy Lasorda Jr., offspring of Lasorda Sr., the Dodgers’ extremely homophobic manager, who never acknowledged his son’s queerness nor the AIDS that killed him. His sole comment on Glenn’s crash and burn? “I don’t know what happened. He just wasn’t happy here.” (Lasorda rebuffed all entreaties by Burke documentarians for an interview.)

Things changed. By 1978, Glenn no longer bunked or even partied with team members. Instead, “strange” men collected him after games in (literally) pink Cadillacs. And there was the red jock strap, something none of the other guys would ever wear.

In 1980, the hatefully homophobic Billy Martin came in as a manager. He “fagbaited” Glenn to no end, bouncing him back to the minors and then trading him to the Oakland A’s.

So, Glenn retired at the age of 28. Young, “built like a Greek God,” and blessed with a personality that could fill a room and make people swoon, he leaped into the burgeoning Castro scene.

He partied. Noticeably stoned, he came out publicly in an interview with Bryant Gumbel in 1982.

That same year, he participated in the first Gay Games and later played in the San Francisco gay softball league. But he finally ran out of money, even spending a short spell in prison for theft and drugs.

In 1987, his left leg and foot were crushed when he was hit by a car. After that, he went completely off the rails. He lived on the streets of neighborhoods he formerly owned.

Finally, in 1994, the Oakland Athletics organization discovered his struggles and began to help financially. Glenn finally moved in with his sister Lutha as his health

worsened. He died at the age of 42 in 1995. In 1990s interviews, he discussed the difficulties of AIDS, but nursed no grudges. Indeed, the one regret he expressed was never having the opportunity for a second pro sports career in basketball.

In the past few years, Glenn has obtained some positive recognition. Former 1990s Dodger Billy Bean took it upon himself to cement Glenn’s place in MLB and queer history. In 2015, Bean billed himself as “the only other openly gay [baseball] player in the past 151 years” (that has changed; there now are at least two more).

While he did wait until he retired in 2014 to come out, as MLB’s Vice President for Social Responsibility and Inclusion, Bean arranged Glenn’s premiere career celebration at the Oakland A’s first ever LGBTQ Pride game in June 2015. One of the commemoratives was the donation of over $23,000 to the Glenn Burke AIDS Project East Bay. Rest in peace, Glenn.

María Helena Dolan

The Incomparable Glenn Burke (1952–1995)

Baseball player Glenn Burke

PHOTO VIA OAKLAND WIKI

How Can We Make Atlanta Black Gay Pride More Age Inclusive?

As the leading advocate for older adults in Georgia, AARP is committed to promoting inclusivity and acceptance across all communities. In this spirit, we wholeheartedly support Atlanta Black Gay Pride weekend and emphasize the importance of accepting and supporting the LGBTQ community at every age.

Atlanta Black Gay Pride weekend is a vibrant celebration of diversity, unity, and empowerment. It provides a safe space for individuals to express their authentic selves, fostering a sense of belonging and acceptance. However, older adults have voiced that programming and events for them are lacking. While older adults have said that they don’t feel included in the current offerings, the promoters and organizers have begun to make efforts to open new activities.

Three listening sessions took place this year where older adults and promoters sat down to talk about inclusion and the types of events older adults might want to attend. While there was helpful information garnered from these events, we need input and participation from a larger section of the community to create a more cohesive community that bridges the generational gap during Atlanta Black Gay Pride Weekend.

Older LGBTQ individuals continue to face unique challenges, including social isolation, discrimination, and limited access to

healthcare. By actively involving older adults in notable events such as Atlanta Black Gay Pride, we can combat these issues and foster a sense of belonging and support.

Inclusion of older adults in Atlanta Black Gay Pride weekend can be achieved through various means. Organizers and partners can ensure that programming reflects the diverse needs and interests of all age groups. Workshops and discussions on topics such as healthcare, legal rights, and mental wellbeing can address the specific concerns of older LGBTQ individuals. Additionally, intergenerational events can be organized to encourage dialogue and understanding between different age groups.

Furthermore, community organizations, including AARP, can collaborate with Atlanta Black Gay Pride weekend to provide resources and support for older adults. This can include educational materials, workshops, and access to services that address the unique needs of older LGBTQ individuals.

AARP Georgia stands firmly in support of Atlanta Black Gay Pride and the LGBTQ community. Together, we can create a more inclusive and accepting society, where every individual, regardless of age or sexual orientation, can thrive and be celebrated. Please visit forms.office.com/r/reSgkeB7K4 to let us know how the older adult community can be better served during Atlanta Black Gay Pride Weekend.

PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/ MEDIA LENS KING

AARP

New Queer Comedy, ‘Bottoms’ is an Instant Classic,

Matthew Lopez Discusses New Gay Romantic Comedy, ‘Red, White & Royal Blue’

Jim Farmer

Read the full column online at thegavoice.com.

Three years ago, out writer/director Emma Seligman released her critically adored comedy, “Shiva Baby.” It had to screen largely virtually because most theaters were closed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but it nonetheless caused a stir.

Now she is back with the new film, “Bottoms,” which premiered at SXSW and will be in theaters next week. As a way to lose their virginities to cheerleaders as they hit their senior year, out students PJ (“Shiva Baby” star Rachel Sennott) and Josie (“The Bear’s” Ayo Edebiri) come up with a plan to start a fight club to teach girls self-defense. It works — high school students attend, the club gets a sponsor, and two girls PJ and Josie have their eyes on are suddenly on more friendly terms with them.

Seligman and Sennott came up with the idea for this well before “Shiva Baby.” It’s

a sex comedy, a high school comedy, and a buddy picture all rolled into one. It’s also a very politically incorrect work that could probably only be made as an independent feature these days.

Sennott and Edebiri — who seems to be everything these days, including two other summer movies – are perfectly matched, with Josie being the more restrained and rational of the two. There is a warmth between them, realizing they don’t quite fit in. Yet this is a comedy with layers and a rich ensemble of supporting players, especially Ruby Cruz as PJ’s friend Hazel.

It’s refreshing to have a film where characters aren’t having to deal with coming out and parents and adults who don’t understand or approve. PJ and Josie just wanna get laid, just like their horny classmates.

In the end, “Bottoms” is a queer-positive and inventive film. Comparisons to “Heathers” are fully warranted. There will be more prominent, highbrow LGBTQ films this

season, but none of the others will have the sheer laughs of this one.

Based on Casey McQuiston’s internationally beloved novel, “Red, White & Royal Blue” is now a film, with out playwright Matthew Lopez making his feature film writing and directing debut. It’s about the unexpected love affair between Alex Claremont-Diaz (Taylor Zakhar Perez), the son of the President of the United States, and Britain’s Prince Henry (Nicholas Galitzine).

Lopez was eager to direct and write this film, knowing full well the book’s appeal.

“Everybody is drawn to stories that are set in seats of power and halls of power,” he said. “Buckingham Palace and the White House are two irresistible locations. I think the book does a good job of transcending that. You go behind the closed doors in these places of power but it’s about two private people. There is something very relatable about these characters despite the fact that they live lives we’ll never lead. There is something really accessible about these two whose lives are inaccessible to us.”

Lopez identifies with the character of Alex in many ways.

“I am a biracial, queer kid from the American South,” he said. “Just like Alex, my mother is white and my dad is Puerto Rican. Alex’s dad is Mexican. There is something really hopeful and idealistic about him, which is also something I might have used to be called. I saw something in me in him and I wanted to bring it into the world.”

“Red, White & Royal Blue” has a ring of authenticity that only a film made by a gay man can have. That was very important for Lopez.

“It’s impossible for anything I make not to be made by a queer artist, even if I am telling stories about super straight people one day,” he said. “My favorite quote is from Sonia Sotomayor. In her confirmation hearing she talked about a quote of hers that ‘a wise Latino will often come to a different conclusion about things than a straight white judge.’ She got a lot of flak for that from many people, but it is about your perspective in the world. And mine to me is as a gay man and Latino and that influences everything I do. I know what it’s like to fall in love with a man and keep it a secret, to have these urges I am told are wrong and have to hide them.”

The Tony Award-winning play The Inheritance changed Lopez’ life forever. It premiered at the Young Vic in London in 2018 and then transferred to Broadway the next year. “I had never written anything as personal and as long. I was taking an enormous risk with that play, not just professionally and creatively but personally. It made my career, but allowed me to reach people I had never been able to. People tell me it changed their lives.”

MORE INFO

“Bottoms” is in theaters on August 25 “Red, White & Royal Blue” is now playing on Prime Video

“Bottoms” PUBLICITY PHOTO

“Red, White & Royal Blue” PUBLICITY PHOTO

Katie Burkholder

Queer Bait

August 18

Mary’s

Gay pop videos with DJ Headmaster! $5 cover.

Disco Dollz

August 18, 9pm

Future Atlanta

Starring Phoenix, Cici Nicole, Raquel Rae Heart, and Coco Iman Starr, hosted by Brigitte Bidet. No cover but make your reservation at future-atlanta.com!

Fantasy Girls

August 19, 9pm

Future Atlanta

Hosted by Destiny Brooks. No cover but make your reservation at future-atlanta.com

Down n Durty

August 19, 10pm

The Basement

All your favorite Dirty South anthems and club bangers! Tickets at basementatl.com

ICON

August 19, 11pm

Future Atlanta

Celebrating the icons of the industry, featuring Joe Gauthreaux. Tickets at futureatlanta.com.

XION

August 20, 3am

Believe Music Hall

With Alex Lo. Tickets at future-atlanta.com.

Karaoke Night

August 20, 7:30pm

The T

MUG CHECK!

August 20, 8pm

My Sister’s Room

Featuring June’s winner Jacey Rockett and special guest mentor Lucy Stoole!

Shameless Sunday

August 20, 11:55pm

Future Atlanta

Hosted by Kyra Mora and Tristan Panucci. No cover!

Dragnificent: Week 2

August 22, 9pm

Future Atlanta

Tickets at future-atlanta.com.

Trivia with Matthew

August 23, 8pm

Woofs

Karaoke Night

August 24, 9pm

The T

Queer Bait

August 25

Mary’s Gay pop videos with DJ Headmaster! $5 cover.

Disco Dollz

August 25, 9pm

Future Atlanta

Starring Phoenix, Cici Nicole, Raquel Rae Heart, and Coco Iman Starr, hosted by Brigitte Bidet. No cover but make your reservation at future-atlanta.com!

Bhaskar

August 25, 10pm

District Atlanta

Tickets at bit.ly/BHASKARATL2023.

Fantasy Girls

August 26, 9pm

Future Atlanta

Hosted by Destiny Brooks. No cover but make your reservation at future-atlanta.com

Atlanta Disco Society XIV

August 26, 10pm

The Basement

Get ready for a night of glamour, debauchery, and disco dancing! Anything goes on the light-up dance floor, and everyone who’s anyone will be there. Tickets at basementatl.com.

Disco Lines

August 26, 10pm

District Atlanta

Tickets at bit.ly/DISCOATL2023.

Gear After Dark

August 26, 10pm

Atlanta Eagle

Bootblack service by Tali! $5 cover.

XION

August 27, 3am

Believe Music Hall

EVENT SPOTLIGHT

Fantasy Girls

August 26, 9pm

Future Atlanta

Hosted by Destiny Brooks No cover but make your reservation at future-atlanta.com.

With

Karaoke Night

August 27, 7:30pm

The T

Shameless Sunday

August 27, 11:55pm

Future Atlanta

Hosted by Kyra Mora and Tristan Panucci. No cover!

Dragnificent: Week 3

August 29, 9pm

Future Atlanta

Tickets at future-atlanta.com.

Trivia with Matthew

August 30, 8pm

Woofs

Karaoke Night

August 31, 9pm

The T

Queer Bait

September 1

Mary’s

Gay pop videos with DJ Headmaster! $5 cover.

Hotlanta Rubber and Gear Barnight

September 2, 9pm

Atlanta Eagle

Come join up with the HRG crew on the back patio in your best latex, rubber, sports gear, leather, uniform, or whatever makes you feel hot, sexy, and ready to party!

InvAsian: Dragoncon Afterparty

September 2, 10pm

District Atlanta

Step into a realm where cosplays come to life, where fire spinners mesmerize, and where the music from Knockback b2b Tech Chase, Alex Kade, Yoshii, Drew Drew, and The Tweebs moves your soul. Tickets via Eventbrite.

XION

September 3, 3am

Believe Music Hall

With Jesus Montanez. Tickets at gaboyevents.com.

Karaoke Night

September 3, 7:30pm

The T

Trivia with Matthew

September 6, 8pm

Woofs

Karaoke Night

September 7, 9pm

The T

J Warren. Tickets at future-atlanta.com.

Photo via Facebook

When Everyone Knows You’re Wrong

Cliff Bostock

“I really love your writing!” someone yelled at me as I walked back to my car after a Queer Nation protest in the early ’90s.

“Thanks!” I shouted.

“But you have a real problem with women!” she shot back. She must have heard me rolling my woke eyes as she caught up with me as I got in my car. “Seriously,” she repeated, “you have a huge problem with us!”

She was right, but I was blind. That’s an agonizing truth about being human. The worst parts of ourselves are often embarrassingly visible to others long before we notice them, if ever.

This memory came back to me recently when I heard that the 1982 short film “Carnival,” about the Athens band Limbo District, was going to be shown at the Plaza Theatre. It was made by painter Jim Herbert, who was a professor of art at the University of Georgia at the time. I hoped Herbert was going to be at the event and planned to take a painting of his to the screening and ask him about its meaning. I learned he wasn’t going to be there, so I didn’t go, having a client scheduled at the event’s time.

I bought the untitled painting at the Frankenburg-Guthrie Gallery in Athens when I was living there around 1973. I was 24 and married. The watercolor features a woman in bed with someone while an airplane looks bound to crash between her legs. Around the same time, I bought an artist’s proof by Thomas Prochaska, “Another One,” of a desiccated woman in bed with what looks like a hugely bloated, bloody fetus floating beside her. And then there’s

the large photo montage by Richard Hill that depicts an adolescent boy in Edwardian clothes standing between a naked woman and a fuzzy bunny. It’s directly across from my front door.

Obviously, these works depicted my own ambivalence about women, especially as a deeply closeted gay man who derailed his life by getting married at 20. Freud observed that whatever we repress returns to us with increasingly greater force. I hung these pieces on my walls for at least 40 years without any thought that they depicted the messy complications of my messed-up mommy complex. My partner would hide the works when his family visited us. I thought that was comically provincial of him until my eyes opened.

While the art does reflect my personal struggle, it certainly represents a cultural one too. The Herbert and Prochaska pieces were both created about the time Roe v. Wade was originally adopted. When the Supreme Court rescinded the decision, effectively freeing states to outlaw abortion again, I unsuccessfully attempted to reach both artists to see if the

works I owned were intentional comments on the abortion debate in the early ’70s. At the very least, they demonstrate how we are all imprinted by the culture and the way so-called woke sensibility can confront our self-image. Yeah, during this same period, I wrote a letter to the new People magazine complaining about some foot-kissing feminists. I’m embarrassed.

I haven’t seen the new “Barbie” film yet, but it points to another more recently acquired addition to my wall display of feminine mystique. In 1998, the 18th annual National Barbie Doll Convention was held in Atlanta (during the same week as the 20th edition of the original gay circuit party, the Hotlanta River Expo). I went to the Barbie convention’s huge market and ended up buying four photographs by Barbara King, whose mother was there selling Barbie collectibles. Barbara’s photos show Barbie being blow-torched, turned into a sandwich, dismembered, and boiled. This reminded me of the afternoon I watched my niece Jocelyn torturing her

beloved Barbie by hanging her first by her feet and then by her neck. Both Barbara and Jocelyn demonstrated the love-hate relationship America has with Barbie and is, I’m told, the point of the new film.

My point, simply put again, is that none of us are entirely immune to the acculturated lunacy of systemic bigotry. To the degree we don’t acknowledge this is the same degree to which it will reveal itself as baldly as a TikToker in blackface. Undoubtedly, we’ll see this come up as some dumb white gay boys engage in their annual condemnation of Black Pride because, you know, there ain’t no White Pride (except like every day). The solution? Try pretending that you actually are wrong. You’ll be amazed how much further you see when you realize you aren’t that insightful.

Cliff Bostock, Ph.D., is a former psychotherapist who now offers life coaching to clients in search of creative solutions rather than diagnostic categorization; cliffbostock.com, cliffbostock@gmail.com.

PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/ NAKARIDORE

“Try pretending that you actually are wrong. You’ll be amazed how much further you see when you realize you aren’t that insightful.”