voice
georgia VOL.10 • ISSUE 14
TheGeorgiaVoice.com
PO Box 77401 • Atlanta, GA 30357 P: 404-815-6941; F: 404-963-6365
EDITORIAL
Editor: Patrick Colson-Price pcolson-price@thegavoice.com Editorial Contributors: Conswella Bennett, Cliff Bostock, Camryn Burke, Melissa Carter, Mariah Cooper, Dallas Duncan, Aidan Ivory Edwards, Jim Farmer, Luke Gardner, O’Brian Gunn Elizabeth Hazzard, Ryan Lee, Rose Pelham, Dionne Walker, Steve Warren
PRODUCTION
Art Director: Rob Boeger rboeger@thegavoice.com
ONLINE
Digital Content Senior Staffer: Katie Burkholder kburkholder@thegavoice.com
BUSINESS
Managing Partner/Publisher: Tim Boyd tboyd@thegavoice.com
SALES
Sales Executive: Dixon Taylor dtaylor@thegavoice.com Sales Executive: Jim Brams jbrams@thegavoice.com Business Advisor: Lynn Pasqualetti Financial Firm of Record: HLM Financial Group National Advertising: Rivendell Media, 908-232-2021 sales@rivendellmedia.com
FINE PRINT
All material in Georgia Voice is protected by federal copyright law and may not be reproduced without the written consent of Georgia Voice. The sexual orientation of advertisers, photographers, writers and cartoonists published herein is neither inferred nor implied. The appearance of names or pictorial representation does not necessarily indicate the sexual orientation of that person or persons. We also do not accept responsibility for claims made by advertisers. Unsolicited editorial material is accepted by Georgia Voice, but we do not take responsibility for its return. The editors reserve the right to accept, reject, or edit any submission. Guidelines for freelance contributors are available upon request. A single copy of Georgia Voice is available from authorized distribution points. Multiple copies are available from Georgia Voice office only. Call for rates. If you are unable to reach a convenient free distribution point, you may receive a 26-issue mailed subscription for $60 per year. Checks or credit card orders can be sent to Tim Boyd, tboyd@thegavoice.com Postmaster: Send address changes to Georgia Voice, PO Box 77401, Atlanta, GA 30357. Georgia Voice is published every other Friday by The Georgia Voice, LLC. Individual subscriptions are $60 per year for 26 issues. Postage paid at Atlanta, GA, and additional mailing offices. The editorial positions of Georgia Voice are expressed in editorials and in editor’s notes. Other opinions are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Georgia Voice and its staff. To submit a letter or commentary: Letters should be fewer than 400 words and commentary, for web or print, should be fewer than 750 words. Submissions may be edited for content and length, and must include a name, address, and phone number for verification. Email submissions to editor@thegavoice.com or mail to the address above.
YOUR VOICE MATTERS
EDITORIAL
Too Young to Know Better Patrick Colson-Price Recently at a dinner with my husband and friends, the topic arose on how young we were when we first had sex with another man. The four of us went around the table listing our ages and the ages of the men we first played around with. My turn quickly garnered gasps from my fellow tablemates for more than one reason. It’s my #metoo story long before #metoo was a hashtag. I was 15 years old living in Spartanburg, South Carolina. I connected with an older friend in his mid-20s and we became good friends. It was sexual at times but nothing forced or uncomfortable. He invited me out for drinks and dinner one night even though I was well below the legal drinking age. He knew that but figured having dinner with older gays might be an interesting experience for me. We went out in downtown Greenville to a bar that served beer, wings, and all things fried. There were about six in the group including myself. I sat next to my friend but my attention quickly went to a guy sitting across the round tabletop from me. He was noticeably older than my friend. I’d say in his late 20s, possibly early 30s. I never asked and didn’t care because he was hot with scruff and a tight muscle shirt. We made eye contact all night long with a few moments of light conversation. After dinner was done and the buckets of Bud Light were empty, we got up to leave. The guy I’d been eyeing all night long approached me with a grin and then asked if I’d like to head back to his place to hang out. My heart startedracing started racing and my hands started to sweat as I quickly nodded and left by his side. I drove even though I wasn’t supposed to because I still had a drivers permit which meant no driving without an adult. But me being rebellious, I did it anyway. Once we pulled up into his building parking lot just minutes from the bar, I got out and followed him in his building, climbing three flights of stairs, where we entered into his loft studio apartment.
Join us online: facebook.com/thegavoice twitter.com/thegavoice instagram.com/thegeorgiavoice youtube.com/user/GAVoice
4 Editorial September 13, 2019
It was dark and the apartment smelled of cedar and cigarette smoke. It was messy as well. I
“Was I about to be raped by someone I didn’t even know? The questions of what could’ve happened in that studio apartment haunted me for months and even years.” felt slightly uncomfortable as my intuition told me to cut this encounter short and flee home where I was supposed to be, but I didn’t listen. A few minutes later, he approached me throwing me onto his bed just feet from his front door. He was on top of me kissing me while he held my arms on each side of my head. My 150lb body was no match for what seemed like a 225lb fit body. I began to panic as he took one arm and began to unbutton my shorts. I was being held down by the weight of his upper body while his legs pinned my lower body down. At this point, the erection I had when he began to kiss me had quickly turned soft as I began wondering what terror was about to happen. The moment I made a move was when he decided to remove his shirt releasing my arms from his hold. I pushed him off of me and rolled off the bed pulling my shorts up as I made a run for his front door. I flung the door open and raced to the stairwell where I stumbled down what felt like thousands of stairs until I made it to the front door of the building. I pushed the door open and made eye contact with my car. Without automatic door locks, I had to be precise in opening the door because I had no idea if he was behind me or still in his apartment. Thankfully I got my doors open and jumped into the driver’s seat to start the engine. My tires screeched as I pulled away onto the nearby street that led to the interstate. Was I about to be raped by someone I didn’t even know? The questions of what could’ve happened in that studio apartment haunted me for months and even years. To this day, visiting the city gives me anxiety, and even when my husband and I visit someone else’s home, I always prepare a plan of escape just in case something goes wrong. I wish I would’ve known better but these situations prepare us for life itself. For that, I am grateful.
LGBTQ Art Student Raped and Killed in Southwest Atlanta Sidequa MsDiva Brisha: “This was a hate crime! Hence she was the only one sexually assaulted and killed. Doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.” Barbara Howard: “Exactly why is this not a hate crime? She was the only one sexually assaulted, only one that was gay, and these little boys got off on the fact that “she just hadn’t had the right man!” This was a hate crime! This judge is stupid to think otherwise!” Lynn Pasqualetti: “Such a sad ending to a beautiful life. My heart breaks to see this horrible news.” Sun Principe: “Not a hate crime? Bullshit! We should all be outraged! What the hell is so wrong with the law that they could come up with that?” Piercing the Heart of Homophobia Shannon Jackson: “If his shirt had said ‘I Love Southern Girls,’ no one would have assumed his shirt referred to children. Heal thyself, Ms. Chatman!” James Scanlon: “The only one ‘tarnishing’ the reputation of South Fulton is Chatman. Bigotry and homophobia have no place in today’s society. She needs to go.” Sara Amis: “There’s a lot of biphobia and homophobia floating around in local Democratic circles. It’s a problem.” Adam Steinke: “So where is the apology to the gay community? Or is she just going to keep doubling down with more crap? She needs to go.” Founder of Southern Conversion Therapy Organization Denounces the Practice After Coming Out Todd Frary: “Apologies are empty without acts of contrition and atonement. It’s nice he denounced it, but how do you atone for the wanton cruelty you inflicted on so many lives? How do you undo the damage done?” TheGeorgiaVoice.com
NEWS
LGBTQ Art Student Raped and Killed in Southwest Atlanta Katie Burkholder
confirmed Liger’s friend leased an apartment in the complex where she was killed and the victim was already inside the apartment when the attackers broke in.
Two men have been arrested and charged with the kidnap, murder, and sexual assault of LGBTQ art student Te’a Denise Liger in Southwest Atlanta.
Liger’s mother remembers her as “an artist in every way” and “the brightest spirit,” she told WSB-TV.
Anthony Laquan Goss, 28, and Roy Hill, 18, were arrested on August 23 and 27, respectively, and both face kidnapping, rape, and felony murder charges. Both men remain in custody in the Fulton County Jail. Liger, 21, was fatally shot at Vesta Adams Park Apartments on August 21. The perpetrators robbed and assaulted her, along with two other victims, and sexually assaulted Liger before shooting her in the head. One of the other two victims was pistol-whipped and both were injured. However, Liger was the only one to be raped and killed. Liger went to Kell High School in Cobb
6 News September 13, 2019
Investigators have confirmed with the Georgia Voice that this was not a hate crime, as police do not believe Liger was targeted due to her sexual orientation. The incident is believed by investigators to be a completely random attack “and that the suspects did not know the victims,” according to a press release from the Atlanta Police Department. The police believe there are no other suspects at large. County and graduated in 2016. She was a student at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and was reportedly visiting
a friend in Atlanta. A spokesperson for the Atlanta Police Department told the Georgia Voice that homicide detectives have
According to Liger’s obituary, her memorial service was held on August 27 in Carrollton, Georgia.
TheGeorgiaVoice.com
NEWS
Atlanta Black Pride Recap Patrick Colson-Price
day to get it cleaned up, but residents were already complaining of piles of trash on Labor Day. Alvarez quickly got to work, hiring a new vendor in which they had to pay $4,000 to get the trash cleaned up right away. “We were still within our timeframe, by 3pm it was cleaned,” said Alvarez.
As the dust settles on Atlanta Black Pride weekend, organizers with the Pure Heat Festival already looking forward to next year, but with a few changes, says Vaughn Alvarez with the CR8 Agency. “I’d like for us to seek out more and that could change the energy of the park.,” said Alvarez. “I think we need to find more diversity in indie artists. We normally get stuck off this rap thing by default.”
BISHOP OC ALLEN, ANGELICA ROSS, AND RASHAD AT ATLANTA BLACK PRIDE COURTESY PHOTO
monologue from the episode where she died.” Normally, the festival brings in musical talent for performances, but this year, they went with one of POSE’s headliners, Angelica Ross, giving much-needed representation to the trans community. “Having Angelica Ross there meant everything for the trans community,” he said. “She did the whole
Alvarez says other special guests like political democratic powerhouse Stacey Abrams, sent a powerful message to Pure Heat attendees.“She continued her fair fight tour. She’s letting us know that we have to vote, don’t be discouraged,” he said.
But with the clean operation of the weekend festival came the not so clean aftermath. Alvarez tells Georgia Voice the vendor they hired to clean up Piedmont Park after the festival was over, didn’t show up. According to city permits, the organizers for the festival had until 5pm the next business
Overall, he says this was the best year they’ve had in the past five years. Attendance numbers were through the roof according to festival organizers which means an increase in dollars raised for local non-profit organizations that give back to the community. “All of the proceeds go to the vision community foundation, founded by Bishop Oliver Clyde Allen III,” said Alvarez. “That money raised feeds over 20,000 families a year and helps empowerment and education for HIV testing.”
Join us for an evening of recognition and celebration
Tickets Available Now TheAGLCC.org
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2019 Cocktail Reception 6:30 Dinner 7:30
Four Seasons Atlanta TheGeorgiaVoice.com
September 13, 2019 News 7
COMMUNITY
Nominees Announced Ahead of Ceremony
The Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce 2019 Awards Patrick Colson-Price
AGLCC AWARDS COURTESY PHOTO
Starting in the late ’80s, a group of Atlanta locals organized an expo designed to promote LGBTQ-owned businesses. After several years of continued growth, the Greater Atlanta Business Coalition was established, creating the first recognized LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce in the entire country. In 2002, the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce was founded to help expand economic opportunities and advancements of the LGBTQ business community. A year later, Atlanta members changed their organization’s name from Greater Atlanta Business Coalition to the Atlanta Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. In 2007, the AGLCC was selected as the National Chamber of the Year by the national organization. Since then, they’ve won several awards and have created business opportunities to members in the Atlanta metro area and across the country. This year, they celebrate their 25th anniversary!
8 Community September 13, 2019
This year’s Community Awards Dinner will be held on Friday, September 20 at 6:30pm at the Four Seasons Atlanta Hotel. Below, nominees for this year’s awards are listed!
Creative Approach Jim Farmer Out On Film Chip Ivie Compass Jack Kinley The Collabo Group
Delta The Coca-Cola Company Turner Broadcasting System UPS
NOMINEES 2019 Business Person of the Year Mindy Dawn Friedman InterContinental Hotels Group Robin Rayne ZUMA Press Atlanta Bureau Kim Sorrells The Atlanta Pride Committee, Inc.
2019 Rising Star Award Malik Brown City of Atlanta, Office of Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Buzz Busbee A Better Buzz - Brand & Experience Design Joshua Grizzle Kaiser Permanente Joshua D. Lorenz MAAP Metro Atlanta Association of Professionals Norma V. Nyhoff Nicholas House, Inc.
2019 Member of the Year Justin Cullifer Aligned Partner Group Dan Dunlop Dunlop Productions Luis A. Ruiz Continuon Services Jan Stepp Pizazzz Promotions, Inc.
2019 Business Woman of the Year Suzanne Baugh Q&A Events Janaya (Jai) Davis BoxFit Fitness & Performance Studio Katie Leikam True You Southeast Erica Wright U First, Inc.
2019 Guardian Angel Award AID Atlanta AIDAtlanta.org Latino LinQ LatinoLinq.weebly.com Out On Film OutOnFilm.org Stonewall Bar Association of Georgia StonewallBar.org U First ProjectUFirst.org
2019 Business Man of the Year William Duffee-Braun
2019 Corporate Ally Award Cox Enterprises, Inc.
2019 Small Business of the Year A Better Buzz Brand & Experience Design BetterBuzz.net Aligned Partner Group AlignedPartnerGroup.com Pizazzz Promotions, Inc. Pizazzz.com The Collabo Group TheCollaboGroup.com Tiger’s Eye Barbershop TigersEyeBarbershop.com TheGeorgiaVoice.com
ASK THE DOCTOR
Back to School Germaphobe Patrick Colson-Price
There’s always that one parent taking extra care to make sure their child never gets sick. But the reality is, germs are and will forever be a pest for any parent and their growing child. Studies show that kids touch and retouch around 300 surfaces in a 30-minute period. Now, factor in the nearly 10,000 bacteria in just one sneeze. Those germs now multiply with every touch afterward. And with those cold and flu germs, they can survive on any surface for nearly 72 hours. Dr. Ryan Graddy, a primary care physician at Absolute Care in Atlanta sees the chain effects of germs, especially around back-toschool time. “I’ve seen parents and other people who’ve come into contact with kids with cold and flu symptoms,” he said. Even though it’s not the prime time for cold and flu germs, warmer weather according to Dr. Graddy can bring with it a unique set of illnesses including viral gastroenteritis. It can spread during the summer into the fall. He says your number one defense in keeping your kids from sickness is cleanliness. Wash your hands often with soap, before and after meals, stay home if you’re sick, don’t share drinks or food, disinfect and sanitize TheGeorgiaVoice.com
anything before your child touches is, and as always, keep seeing your doctor annually. “Your kids haven’t been exposed to as many people during summer as they would during the school year,” said Dr. Graddy. “Going back to school, they’re going back to kids that they haven’t been exposed to which means germs and illnesses that can affect any child’s immune system.” Dr. Graddy says it’s very important to have your kids up to date on their vaccinations, even though there aren’t any special ones needed when kids go back to school. “Everybody can get exposed,” he said. Which means the parents he sees in his office need an extra line of protection when around their kids. That comes in the form of the flu shot that parents and their kids can start getting this month or October. At Absolute Care, flu shots and other vaccines are administered daily depending on the season, but Dr. Graddy urges any person with active kids to play it safe when it comes to germs, to keep from spreading them to those around them. For more information on flu vaccinations and other preventative measures, visit absolutecare.com. September 13, 2019 Health 9
FALL ARTS
IMAGINARY WORLDS: ALICE’S WONDERLAND
COURTESY PHOTOS
Atlanta’s Magical Wonderland Alice and Friends Grow to Life in Fall Exhibit Patrick Colson-Price There’s something magical in the woods of the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, and it’s only if you enter the world of Alice’s Wonderland! Running through the end of October, the exhibit gives visitors a look into the whimsical, fairytale world that holds the imagination of kids and adults alike. When Emily Saccenti, Atlanta Botanical Garden’s Exhibition Manager, found out Alice would be making a prolonged stop, she knew her two kids would jump at the opportunity to these flowery sculptures 10 Fall Arts September 13, 2019
up close. Her career has led up to many moments like these where ABG’s exhibits are more than just a revenue booster, but a moment to make memories with family and friends. We caught up with Saccenti in the midst of this mystical journey through the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. Tell us the inspiration behind Alice’s Wonderland and why you decided to bring this to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens? “We have been collaborating with Mosaiculture Internationales de Montreal for several years, originally for shows in 2013 and 2014. When we partnered again to plan for the 2018 and 2019 shows we really wanted to delve deeper into fairy tales. And from this came Alice’s Wonderland.”
How long did it take to create from start to finish? “We started discussing the 2018 exhibition in early 2017. The design and structural planning began in the spring of that year with the fabrication of the steel frames in late 2017. We received our first shipment of sculpture frames very early in 2018 and got right to work wrapping the structures in fabric, filling them with soil, and planting them. Installation took place in April with the show opening in May. For this year’s iteration, we received the Alice sculptures in January and got to work planting and replanting last year’s sculptures in advance of this year’s early May opening.” What characters from Alice’s Wonderland can visitors see when they come to the gardens?
“In addition to our fairy tale Dragon, Pegasus, Mermaid, and Phoenix the exhibition features the mischievous Cheshire Cat keeping watch over a sleeping Alice, a chess set made up of 17 individual sculptures such as the famous card soldiers, but the most impressive character is our nearly 30 foot tall White Rabbit floating in an upsidedown umbrella inside the aquatic pond in our Skyline Garden.” How many flowers were used in creating all of the displays? What other materials and their quantities were used as well? “We used over 110,000 individual plants (38 varieties of plant, mainly annuals) on the sculptures this year. We also used over CONTINUES ON PAGE 11 TheGeorgiaVoice.com
FALL ARTS
770-321-3433
snappyservices.com Snappy Makes Homes Happy!
$75 OFF
ANY SERVICE CALL, NEW & EXISTING CUSTOMERS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10 12,000 square feet of fabric and lots and lots of soil. Too much to measure!” The Atlanta Botanical Gardens are already magical in a way. What do you think Alice’s “Wonderland has done for the gardens since the exhibit was installed? I think the show has allowed us to highlight our mission to an audience that was just coming to see some cool art! It is our most popular exhibition to date boasting higher attendance than our 2016 blockbuster Chihuly in the Garden!” Tell us what kind of teamwork it takes to make something like Alice’s Wonderland happen. “The Atlanta Botanical Garden has a strong tradition of presenting amazing sculptural art to our audience but Alice’s Wonderland and our previous Mosaiculture exhibitions are special because they are such an incredible combination of beauty, art, and plants! I had the pleasure to work extremely closely with the garden’s horticulture staff in the planning, execution, and maintenance of this show. TheGeorgiaVoice.com
We have a full-time team of 5 horticulturists dedicated solely to the care and maintenance of the sculptures which require daily watering, trimming, and replanting.” What was your role in making this exhibit a reality? “My role as Exhibitions Manager is to keep the entire process moving, on time, and on budget. I make sure everyone has all the information they need to be able to do their jobs. I also handle all of the logistical aspects such as transportation, installation, and budget.”
•Heating •Attic Insulation •Cooling •Plumbing •Electrical •Energy Audits
What excites you the most about having an exhibit like Alice’s Wonderland at the ABG? “I just love this show so much because it truly offers something for everyone. Whether you love plants, art, fairy tales, or all of the above, you are guaranteed to enjoy your experience.” Any interesting facts that our readers should know to help them enjoy this exhibit more? “Fun fact: It took 750 hours to wrap, stuff, and plant just the Dragon alone!” September 13, 2019 Fall Arts 11
FALL ARTS
CIRQUE DU SOLEIL’S “VOLTA”
COURTESY PHOTOS
Cirque returns to Atlantic Station ‘Volta’ features urban feel, street-inspired sports and stunts Dallas Anne Duncan Get ready, Atlanta – the Big Top is coming back to Atlantic Station next month. Cirque du Soleil’s “Volta” is the eighth show to be performed at the Midtown shopping, dining, and entertainment complex. “It’s not like a traditional traveling circus, by any means,” said Starr Cumming, specialty leasing retail director for Atlantic Station. “It’s almost like a dream. The choreography and the music and the set design and the costume design, while you’re watching a 12 Fall Arts September 13, 2019
show you almost feel like you’re in a dream because everything is so vivid and exciting.” “Volta” follows the life of a character named Waz, a gameshow contestant “that has lost touch with himself,” according to the show’s site. “He’s ashamed of who he is because of his difference” – blue feathers for hair – and enters the gameshow searching for fame, believe this to be the secret of love and acceptance, but this turns out not to be the case. Following the show, and a return to doldrum around him, Waz meets a free spirit named Ela, who helps him find exactly what he’s searching for. Per the show’s site, “Volta” “explores the themes of celebrating differences and unique qualities in a world where technology often
isolates people from one another rather than freeing them.” It plays off the trends of celebrity culture and reality TV to demonstrate that “the path to fame is not necessarily the path to freedom.” Cirque perks at the Pinnacle Lot Various Cirque shows have been at Atlantic Station for the last 14 years. Before that, the Big Top was hoisted at Turner Field and what is now the site of the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. She said audiences members travel from Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama for the shows. Cumming said businesses in Atlantic Station see a rise in foot traffic, including double-digit increases in restaurant sales and an uptick in hotel bookings. For guests coming to “Volta,”
there are a few added perks to take advantage of nearby, including a package deal for show tickets, dinner, and a hotel stay; the upcoming ice skating rink; and a “show your ticket” promotion at select businesses in the complex to get discounts and specials. “When Atlantic Station was redeveloped and opened in 2005, it had this large vacant, empty lot, which was named the Pinnacle Lot,” Cumming told Georgia Voice. “[It] became their new home in 2006 and we have loved having them here.” A ‘tender and humble story’ Cirque performer Kevin Beverley told Chicago Sun-Times that “Volta” thrives on CONTINUES ON PAGE 13 TheGeorgiaVoice.com
FALL ARTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 adrenaline, calling it a high-energy show incorporating urban aesthetics and extreme sports like BMX. “But at the same time, there’s a very tender and humble story about becoming true to yourself. Accept who you are, love yourself. It takes a journey and people to help you along the way,” Beverley said. “The lead character’s life starts in one direction, but through a series of events and other characters he breaks free and finds his true self.” DC Metro Theater Arts writer John Stoltenberg likens “Volta’s” storyline to that of Cirque du Soleil itself: “Long before Cirque became internationally renowned for its opulently imagined syntheses of music, design, dance and circus arts, it was simply ‘a band of colorful characters [who] roamed the streets, striding on stilts, juggling, dancing, breathing fire and playing music.’”
TheGeorgiaVoice.com
What is now Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group began in Baie-Saint-Paul, Canada, in the early 1980s as a group of 20 street performers. It now boasts 1,300 performers from about 50 countries, and its shows – big top circus-style, arena, ice, and even water, with more expansion plans to come – traveled to audiences in more than 60 countries, according to the company website. Unlike some of its previous shows, “Volta” embodies a human element, foregoing elaborate, otherworldly makeup so characters are more relatable, Stoltenberg suggests. Even the sets give the idea that characters are on the streets. Performances include the expectedly unexpected trampoline routines, hoop diving, and gravity-defying acrobatics, as well as streetinspired jump rope and juggling. “At the end, the cast comes out into the audience and high-fives everyone within reach,” Stoltenberg writes. “It’s so cool and so fitting, because dramatically and spectacularly, ‘Volta’ is unadulterated vicarious liberation.”
September 13, 2019 Fall Arts 13
FALL ARTS
Andy Warhol and the West Exhibit Opens at Booth Museum
BOOTH WESTERN ART MUSEUM COURTESY PHOTO
Seth Hopkins Andy Warhol was drawn to the lore and lure of the American West throughout his life. In 1963, early in his career as a pop artist, Warhol appropriated a publicity photograph from a western film of a six-gun–wielding Elvis Presley for use in a painting. Appearing nearly life-size, Warhol’s images of Elvis boldly confront viewers with the legends of the West. Warhol’s foray into blending western subjects with contemporary style did not stop there; he continued to revisit western iconography within the body of his work in the decades that followed. The movie from which he appropriated the Elvis image was titled Flaming Star. Warhol went on to create the portraits of several other western movie stars, including Dennis Hopper. He was friendly with and painted several western and Native American artists. He painted a Native American activist emblematic of modern-day civil rights for American Indian people. He made at least two westerns as a filmmaker. He painted wildlife of the American West and a large series of sunset images. And he amassed a large collection of Native American and western art, objects, and photographs. His 1986 Cowboys and Indians series— consisting of fourteen screenprints, including ten edition prints that were released in the final portfolio, four additional trial proofs, and related paintings of at least three subjects— represents an important milestone in both the artist’s career and the history of western American art. Among the last major projects he completed prior to his death, Cowboys and Indians received little critical or public attention at the time of its release and remains one of the most understudied aspects of the artist’s career. The images selected for Cowboys and Indians include iconic western American figures and subjects that in the hands of Warhol become important comments on the contemporary understanding of the mythology of the West. 14 Fall Arts September 13, 2019
Warhol was influenced by the myths of the American West conveyed to him primarily through film and television, similar to a majority of his young American peers, children who grew up waiting to see what Gene Autry or Roy Rogers would do next Saturday on the silver screen. In some ways he never grew out of that fascination, wearing cowboy boots most days, although he only occasionally set foot in the West. In 1963 Warhol went on a road trip across the country to attend an art opening in Los Angeles. In 1968 he filmed Lonesome Cowboys at Rancho Linda Vista in Oracle, Arizona, and at Old Tucson, the setting for many important western movies. He had a particular affinity for the Colorado Rockies and bought 40 acres near Aspen. According to his diary entries, he visited Colorado half a dozen times after buying his property. On these trips, Warhol created Polaroid snapshots of his travels. Exploits of him skiing and snowmobiling were captured by his friends and associates. He clearly enjoyed his time exploring the vast and varied western region. Warhol also was not immune to the powerful forces that have drawn creative souls to the artists’ mecca of Taos, New Mexico. In
addition, he had a romantic view from afar regarding Texans and their home state, at one point suggesting that a museum documenting his career belonged there more than in the familiar urban settings he knew in Pittsburgh and New York. He felt Houston was a fitting location but it should look more like Nieman Marcus than any museum he had visited. His affinity for the West extended to his collecting habits. One whole day of the 10day estate auction at Sotheby’s was devoted to his collection of Native American artifacts and photographs. While many of Warhol’s western subjects derive their power from nostalgia and familiarity, an exhibition at the Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State University asked a significant question: “How should Americans feel about themselves and their country when confronted by Warhol’s images in Cowboys and Indians?” She then goes on to answer her own question: For this series of images prompts us to ask whether such representations glorify westerns and the presumed leadership qualities that enabled non-Indian settlers to appropriate, more often than not unfairly, Native people’s lands or whether they serve as artful commentaries on just such self-
satisfied presumptions on the part of citizens who know nothing about the Native peoples who have been displaced in order to foster the ideals of “progress” supported as a national American vision. Pop art was hailed during its heyday as purely American—notwithstanding that the term and the movement originated in England— and Warhol regularly told interviewers that he was as American as they come, and few things are more uniquely American than the West. Determining Warhol’s intent or social commentary in any facet of his art is difficult, if not impossible, with the artist always insisting that the surface was all there was. His work is a surface, as he suggests: a self-reflecting mirror that looks wryly at American culture—the good, the bad, and the ugly. But despite Warhol’s statement, his art goes deeper; it is nuanced and layered in complexities. One of the critics who knew the artist best, the former Metropolitan Museum of Art curator Henry Geldzahler, provided a fitting summary for any analysis of Warhol’s work by posing a series of questions one might prudently ask: “Is he being cynical? Is he kidding? Is he simple? Does he think we’re simple? Are we?” Warhol was notoriously vague in providing details about his work. His casual, detached posturing makes it difficult to interpret the artist’s intent. With regards to the West, we are left to wonder: Is Warhol elevating his subjects as American heroes, portraying them as vintage kitsch, or commenting on their has-been status? We may never know, or at least never be sure. What we can be sure of is Warhol’s profound ability to find subjects that continue to hold relevance and meaning today, reminding us that the American West and its myths have influenced and inspired people through a turbulent past into a dynamic present and a shared future.
MORE INFO Booth Museum Through December 31, 2019 Tickets: boothmuseum.org
TheGeorgiaVoice.com
Georges is the owner of the La Cage Aux Folles nightclub, which features a drag show starring his partner and the love of his life, Albin. After twenty years of un-wedded bliss, the pair face the hardest challenge of their relationship, yet: meeting their son, Jean-Michel’s fiancé’s parents.
OCT 24-NOV 9, 2019
BOOK BY HARVEY FIERSTEIN • MUSIC & LYRICS BY JERRY HERMAN
Tickets: $15 and up Out Front Theatre Company 999 Brady Avenue, Atlanta
www.OutFrontTheatre.com
TheGeorgiaVoice.com
September 13, 2019 Ads 15
FALL ARTS: ARTS
Atlanta’s Artistic Seasonal Landscapes The High reunites collage series; MOCA GA highlights textile pieces on race
OTHER SHOWS OF NOTE “The Atlanta Years, 1986 – 2003,” Art of Mildred Thompson Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta Beginning September 11 “A Route Campagne: Impressionist Works from the Melamed Family” Oglethorpe University Museum of Art, Atlanta Beginning September 13
Dallas Anne Duncan While Mother Nature is busy painting crisp fall landscapes in the north Georgia mountains this month, art curators in Atlanta are readying exhibit spaces for seasonal landscapes of their own. Mixed media collage, photography, impressionist works and pieces that challenge politics will grace the city’s museums this autumn.
“Lonesome Dove: Photographs by Bill Wittliff” Booth Western Art Museum, Cartersville Starting September 19
“Something Over Something Else” at The High In 1977, the late artist Romare Bearden described his creative process to the New Yorker as “putting something over something else.” Bearden was so inspired by the profile piece written about him under that title that it spurred him to create his “Profile” series, which, for the first time in nearly 40 years, will be fully together again this fall at The High Museum.
“Delta Hill Riders: Photographs by Rory Doyle” Hudgens Center for Art & Learning, Duluth Starting October 12
“The idea really came out of a major acquisition we made in 2014 of a work by Bearden called ‘Artist with Painting & Model,’” said Stephanie Heydt, Margaret and Terry Stent curator of American art at The High. “It’s one of his only known selfportraits.” After learning it was part of a series, she became curious as to what the series looked like as a whole. Thus began the process of reuniting Bearden’s autobiographical works. All but about 12 will be in the exhibit, Heydt said. The series was first displayed in 1978 and again in 1981 by the gallery that represented Bearden. It includes two parts, one that 16 Fall Arts September 13, 2019
“The Perpetual Stranger:” Art from Tori Tinsley and Ally White Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art, Marietta Beginning September 21 72nd Annual Members’ Exhibition Quinlan Visual Arts Center, Gainesville Beginning October 10
chronicles Bearden’s early life in the 1910s and ’20s, and one that follows his later life in Harlem, New York. According to a news release from The High, Bearden presented “Profile” as “a shared history — his reflection on a life path that follows the journey of migration and transition in black communities across the mid-20th century.” Bearden was a black man, but was so lightskinned compared to others in his family that it led to challenges during his childhood in North Carolina, Heydt said. Though many works seemed to be about his life, “Profile” is the only one that drew from his personal memories. His work can be described as mixed media collage. “Some of the paper that he used, he actually hand-painted or he modulated in some way. Some works have wallpaper and fabric; some are watercolors with scraps and cut-out pieces that he layered in,” Heydt said. These collages are paired with captions Bearden co-wrote with an author friend, and
The High exhibit will also feature film of the artist talking about the series. “No one since the ’70s has seen the works pulled together in this particular way,” Heydt said. “It feels like Bearden’s walking with you through the exhibit.” On display beginning Sept. 14 Myra Greene’s “INTERVAL” at MOCA Atlanta-based artist Myra Greene, an associate professor of photography at Spelman College, is the featured Working Artist Project this season at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia. “INTERVAL” is a combination of two of Greene’s bodies of work in textiles — “Piecework” and “Mixed” — which “explore our relationship to, and interpretation of, color, race and identity,” according to the exhibit’s webpage. Both look at how the color brown can be produced when dyeing fabric, and utilize different techniques to “transform fabric into this rich tone which is reminiscent of the artist’s skin.”
“Fashioning Art from Paper”: Isabelle de Borchgrave exhibition SCADFASH, Atlanta Beginning October 22
To create “Piecework,” Greene first dyed fabrics their complementary colors, creating a smooth transition from that color to brown. She then silk-screened original patterns, inspired by traditional Dutch Wax patterns on African textiles, onto the dyed fabrics using metallic inks. The pieces of fabric cut into triangles and sewn together in new and abstract ways. “Mixed” is one of Greene’s more recent textile series. Each piece is “a composition of hand-dyed strips of fabric that fade from rich tones of red, green and blue to brown … highlight[ing] the seductive nature of color and address that brown is not a pure color, but merely a tone, a composite and a beautiful hybrid of information,” the exhibit website states. On display beginning Sept. 11 TheGeorgiaVoice.com
September 20–22 | Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
DOMINIQUE MORISSEAU’S
directed by JAMIL JUDE SEPTEMBER 240thru OCTOBER 20 at the SOUTHWEST ARTS CENTER tickets at WWW.TRUECOLORSTHEATRE.ORG
An emotionally-charged and intoxicatingly beautiful program to kick off our 90th Anniversary Season. Featuring Ricardo Amarante’s Love Fear Loss, Liam Scarlett’s Vespertine & the world premiere of First Impulse by Claudia Schreier. Visit atlantaballet.com or call | 1.800.982.2787 for tickets. Groups of 10+, email groupsales@atlantaballet.com.
Airi Igarashi & Keaton Leier. Photo by Charlie McCullers.
TheGeorgiaVoice.com
September 13, 2019 Fall Arts 17
FALL ARTS: THEATER
The Stage is Set For Fall! Atlanta Theatre Ready’s for Change in Seasons
OTHER SHOWS OF NOTE Sean Dorsey Dance’ Boys in Trouble September 12 – 15 7 Stages “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” September 12 – 29 Georgia Ensemble Theatre
Jim Farmer Jerry Mitchell is a Broadway legend already – and now he’s looking to steer another show to New York. The openly gay Tony Award winner is directing the world premiere musical “Becoming Nancy” at the Alliance Theatre, now in previews and officially opening next week. It’s one of many productions to savor as part of Atlanta’s theater offerings this fall. Known best for “Kinky Boots” and “Hairspray,” Mitchell was about to board a plane several years ago when he realized he had watched virtually every movie that would be offered – and had even finished his last book. After picking up the Gay Times magazine in London and seeing a review of Terry Ronald’s young adult novel “Becoming Nancy,” he bought a copy before departing. When he opened it, he couldn’t stop reading. “I am not someone who will sit down and read a book cover to cover – I rarely do that – but this one I did,” he admits. “I didn’t want it to end. I was in love with it, the characters and the story.” When Mitchell landed, he called his lawyer and asked to get the rights. It took a while – a year and a half – but once he cleared that hurdle, he began finding his creative team Elliot Davis handling the book and George Stiles and Anthony Drewe the music and lyrics. The team rehearsed for three weeks in New York this summer and then moved down here to get ready for the opening, In the new musical, set in a London suburb in the late ‘70s, teenager David Starr tries out for a version of “Oliver” and gets cast – in a female role. The casting has repercussions all around the community. It’s a hefty challenge 18 Fall Arts September 13, 2019
“Mary Poppins” September 13 - 22 City Springs Theatre Company “Skintight” September 18 – October 13 Actor’s Express “The Roommate” September 19 – October 20 Aurora Theatre “The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night-Time” September 20 – October 27 Horizon Theatre “Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” September 24 – 29 Fox Theatre courtesy of Broadway Across America “Veronica’s Room” October 11 – 27 Onstage Atlanta
for David, who is already dealing with the realization that he is attracted to a male transfer student. His best friend is having her issues. An African-American, she is dealing with racism, at one point even called an immigrant. What gets David through some hard times is his love of music. He has posters of Sting, Debbie Harry, Kate Bush, ABBA and more on his wall – and when he talks to those posters, the people come to life and talk back. For Mitchell, so much of what he read seemed relatable to today – especially how parents and teachers oftentimes deal with a situation they are unaware or unfamiliar with. It reminds him of the current struggle the transgender community has to deal with incoming out. “People just don’t understand how to deal with basic human differences,” he says.
MORE INFO “Becoming Nancy” Through October 6 Alliance Theatre
Mitchell identified immediately with the protagonist. He grew up himself in Paw Paw, Michigan with no role models or anyone to talk to. After time in St. Louis, he eventually moved to New York, where he danced professionally for a while and eventually began choreographing shows and directing. “Hairspray,” which he choreographed, was a monster hit and he won Tony Awards for two other musicals he choreographed, “La Cage Aux Folles” and “Kinky Boots.” He directed “Kinky Boots” as well and is still amazed at how the show has struck a nerve everywhere it has played,
“Jekyll & Hyde” October 19 – Nov 3 Atlanta Lyric Theatre “Wicked” October 23 – Nov 17 Fox Theatre courtesy of Broadway Across America “La Cage Aux Folles” October 24 – Nov 9 Out Front Theatre Company “Christmas With the Crawfords” December 5 – 21 Out Front Theatre Company
from metropolitan areas to smaller markets. Besides his work in musicals, Mitchell is also well known for creating the annual Broadway Bares benefit for Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS. TheGeorgiaVoice.com
DINNER A W
I VA
•
R
ES
•
LABLE
PRE-SHO
CHANTICLEER
ERV
E TO
Y A D
GRAMMY award-winning ensemble Chanticleer, known around the world as “an orchestra of voices,” will bring their brilliant harmonies to the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center.
Friday, October 25 at 8 p.m. Byers Theatre
Find your tickets at citysprings.com Call the Box Office for group rates 770-206-2022
The national debut of a major traveling exhibition Andy Warhol loved the West. His bold prints, films, photos and collections showcase his lifelong fascination. Explore this rare view of the most recognized artist of the 20th century – only at the Booth.
Through December 31
Booth Western Art Museum BoothMuseum.org | Cartersville, GA
T
E
L
L
U
S
S
C
I
E
N
C
E
M
U
S
E
U
M
BECAUSE SCIENCE MATTERS! The exhibits of Tellus Science Musuem open minds and ignite a passion for science. Come see minerals from all over the world, stand under a massive T-Rex, and imagine what it was like when the Wright brothers took their first flight next to our full-size replica of their flyer. Kids can interact and learn in the Collins Family My Big Backyard, pan for gems, and dig up fossils to take home. The Museum also features various special exhibits throughout the year featuring everything from motorcycles to brain teasers and toys.
n
GEMS AND MINER ALS
n
DINOSAURS
n
HANDS-ON SCIENCE
n
WRIGHT FLYER
n
DIGITAL PL ANETARIUM
n
WALK-IN FOSSIL DIG
n
GEM PANNING
n
120,000 SQ FT OF FUN!
JUST NORTH OF ATLANTA OFF 1-75
#tellusmuseum
tellusmuseum.org
FALL ARTS: FILM
Ready, Set, Action! Fall Films To Hit the Big Screen
Jim Farmer Mainstream LGBTQ films may not be as plentiful this fall as they were back in 2017 but several releases this season will be looking for LGBTQ patronage, as well as Oscar attention. The most high-profile of those may be “Judy,” released on the 50th anniversary of the passing of iconic Judy Garland. The movie – which just screened for the first time publicly at the Telluride Film Festival – is already receiving strong notices and raves for its star, Renee Zellweger, playing Garland. In director Rupert Goold’s film, based on Peter Quilter’s stage play “End of the Rainbow,” Garland is on the skids, personally and professionally, and has arrived in London circa 1968 for five weeks of sold-out performances. The LGBTQ angles may be minimal but gay men should flock to this – and expect Zellweger to figure prominently in the Best Actress Oscar talk. Winner of the Queer Palm at the Cannes Film Festival this year, as well as the Screenplay Award, “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” is another film with all sorts of Oscar buzz. In France in 1770, painter Marianne is commissioned to do the wedding portrait of Héloïse, a young woman who has just left the convent. Héloïse is a reluctant bride to be and Marianne has to paint her without her knowing. To do so, she has to observe her – day by day – until the two become closer. From director Celine Sciamma, best known for her 2011 film “Tomboy,” “Portrait” and its slow-burn lesbian romance should be a highlight of the season. Before it bows late this year/early next, it will have its Southeastern debut at Out On Film Oct. 1. 22 Fall Arts September 13, 2019
JUDY
PUBLICITY PHOTOS
PAIN AND GLORY
Another Cannes darling is “Pain and Glory,” by beloved gay director Pedro Almodovar, about a film director who looks back at his life and the choices he has made. Antonio Banderas – playing a gay character again – stars and Penelope Cruz – another of the director’s muses – has a few scenes as the central character’s mother in flashbacks. “This is Not Berlin,” directed by Hari Sama, opens for a week-long run at the Midtown Art Cinema this weekend. Xabiani Ponce de Leon stars as Carlos, a 17-year-old living in Mexico in the mid-80s, who doesn’t fit in. When he goes to see a band at a night club,
his life changes forever and he becomes more politically aware. The LGBTQ elements are secondary but it’s edgy and well made. Among other offerings, “Where’s My Roy Cohn?” takes a look at the controversial politician, extending to his ties with Donald Trump, while the lauded “End of the Century” charts two men who meet in Barcelona and realize that they are not strangers. Finally, although few have seen it yet, gay director Bill Condon’s “The Good Liar” could be a sleeper surprise. In it, out actor Ian McKellen plays a con man who meets a wealthy widow – played by Helen Mirren – online. As he sets about preparing to rip her off, he finds himself unexpectedly beginning to care for her, complicating his scheme. Russell Tovey – another out actor – is in the supporting cast. Cordon directing Mirren and McKellen and Tovey in the same movie? Count me in – way in.
FALL FILM DATES “Where’s My Roy Cohn?” Late September Out On Film September 26 – October 6 “Judy” September 27 “Pain and Glory” October 4 “End of the Century” October 14 “The Good Liar” November 15 “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” December TheGeorgiaVoice.com
FALL ARTS: TELEVISION
Getting Your TV Remote Fix Top Shows to Watch for Fall 2019
THE POLITICIAN
Katie Burkholder American Horror Story: 1984 American Horror Story, created and produced by Ryan Murphy, is back on the small screen for its ninth installment and this time, it’s inspired by old-school summer camp slasher films. 1984 follows a group of friends who are terrorized by an escaped serial killer Mr. Jingles while at camp. Unfortunately, fan-favorites Evan Peters and Sarah Paulson are not expected to return as lead roles in the season. However, there’s been speculation that this season will see a return of the aliens from season two! Where: FX When: Wednesday, September 18 at 10pm Mixed-ish First we had Black-ish and Grown-ish, now Mixed-ish. The show is a prequel to Black-ish and follows the childhood of main character Rainbow Johnson as her parents Paul and Alicia move from a hippie commune to the suburbs. Where: ABC When: Tuesday, September 24 at 9pm Modern Family The well-loved, award-winning, and LGBTQinclusive comedy is ending its successful tenyear run this fall with its eleventh and final season. Season ten was a whirlwind, with a shocking death and unexpected pregnancy, and season eleven will be no different. ABC Entertainment President Karey Burke confirmed that the final season will have “more milestone events that anyone who has been a fan of the series won’t want to miss.” Where: ABC When: Wednesday, September 25 at 9pm The Good Place The hit comedy about life, death, and the 24 Fall Arts September 13, 2019
AMERICAN HORROR STORY: 1984
BATWOMAN PUBLICITY PHOTOS
afterlife comes back for its fourth and final season. All of the main characters are set to return, including Michael (Ted Danson), Janet (D’Arcy Carden), Chidi (William Jackson Harper), Tahani (Jameela Jamil), Jason (Manny Jacinto), and Eleanor (Kristen Bell). Fans may even see an LGBTQ romance bloom on this final season, as Harper recently confirmed that Eleanor is “super bisexual” could a romantic storyline between her and Tahani be in the works? Where: NBC When: Thursday, September 26 at 9pm The Politician Ryan Murphy’s latest project, starring gay Dear Evan Hansen actor Ben Platt and American Horro Story actress Jessica Lange, tells the story of Payton Hobart (played by Platt), a wealthy student who wants to be President of the United States. But first, he has to navigate the politics of his high school. This season revolves around his involvement in the student body president election and following seasons will reportedly center on various other political races Hobart’s involved in. Where: Netflix When: Friday, September 27 Big Mouth The puberty-focused animated comedy returns this fall for a third season, this time with equal parts shock and aww. The show
follows a handful of pre-teens as they handle the grossly hilarious world of puberty, insecurities, and sexuality. While not much has been revealed about season three, you can expect to see the Hormone Monster (or Monstress) continue to terrorize the student of Bridgeton Middle School. Where: Netflix When: Friday, October 4 Batwoman Ruby Rose stars in this history-making TV show as Batwoman, also known as Kate Kane. Kane, the cousin of Batman’s alter ego Bruce Wayne, is an openly lesbian character, making her the first openly LGBTQ live-action TV superhero. The show follows Kane on her journey to becoming Batwoman and making a name for herself outside of her cousin’s shadow. Where: The CW When: Sunday, October 6 at 8pm The Walking Dead The Georgia-filmed zombie phenomenon is back for its tenth season. The new season of The Walking Dead will see Danai Gurira return as Michonne for the last time as the ensemble continues to face the postapocalyptic world. Fan-favorites Carol and Daryl will be the focus of the season with Rick and Maggie gone, and fans may even see romance spark between the two. Where: AMC
When: Sunday, October 6 at 9pm
Riverdale The Archie Comics crew is back with the fourth season of the popular murder-mystery teen drama. This time around, the gang is in their senior year of high school, which means more drama and college applications. Expect the usual Riverdale tropes: a shocking death (or two?), intense romances, and of course, a wonderfully cheesy musical episode. Where: The CW When: Wednesday, October 8 Shameless The dysfunctional Gallagher family is back for Shameless’ tenth season. The show, which has been praised for its inclusion of gay and queer characters and storylines, returns without its leading lady; Emmy Rossum will not be reprising her role of Fiona. But in Fiona’s absence, Ian Gallagher (played by Cameron Monaghan) will return after serving time for arson during season nine. Where: Showtime When: Sunday, November 3 at 9pm The Crown Get ready for more 20th century drama, romance, politics, and of course, Queen Elizabeth II (played by The Favorite’s Olivia Colman). Season three of The Crown is set to focus on the turbulent marriage of Princess Margaret and Anthony ArmsrrongJones, Lord Snowdon, spanning from 1964, four years after the two married, to 1976, two years before their divorce. Where: Netflix When: Sunday, November 17 The L Word: Generation Q The highly anticipated sequel of The L Word is coming to Showtime this December! Jennifer Beals, Kate Moening, and Leisha Hailey return to the series to reprise their original roles and are joined by a new group of diverse, self-possessed LGBTQ characters. The series will follow their lives as they experience heartbreak, love, sex, setbacks, and success while living in Los Angeles. Where: Showtime When: Sunday, December 8 at 10pm TheGeorgiaVoice.com
FROM THE PEOPLE THAT BROUGHT YOU
Brian Robinson & Sean in Men with MoneDoherty y, 2019
Add some
sparkle
to your holiday this year!
The Cast of Christmas Canteen 2018; Photo by Chris Bartelski
Christmas Canteen, now in its 24th year!
Seats fill up quickly! Grab tickets today! AURORATHEATRE.COM | 678.226.6222 | #ATCANTEEN2019
TheGeorgiaVoice.com
September 13, 2019 Ads 25
FALL ARTS: MUSIC
The Musical Beats of Fall Patrick Colson-Price
LIL NAS X
TAYLOR SWIFT
PHOTO VIA FACEBOOK
OFFICIAL PHOTO
Grab your Pumpkin Spice whatever and tune in to the hottest fall tracks from some of your favorite LGBTQ and LGBTQ-friendly music artists! These talented musicians take equality to the airwaves with chart-topping songs with lyrics that stand for our community. From Taylor Swift to out-gay rapper Lil Nas X, there’s a song for everybody. Why not make it your anthem for Fall 2019?! This year’s big talker in music is the one and only Taylor Swift! After nearly two years of studio work, Swift released one of the most highly anticipated albums of 2019, “Lover,” and it’s just in time for fall! Her top track and crowd favorite, “You Need to Calm Down,” gives a stern nod to those against the LGBTQ community. Swift has been a vocal supporter of equal rights, and her video for “You Need to Calm Down,” features prominent LGBTQ figures like RuPaul, Todrick Hall, and a gambit of drag queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race. The majority of her album stands up against sexism, homophobia, and can be called a political music manifesto for younger generations. After his and Billy Ray Cyrus’s “Old Town Road” hit number one on the Billboard’s Songs of the Summer chart, Lil Nas X knew it was time to make it known – he was gay. The Lithia, Georgia native, Montero Lamar Hill, is the only artist to come out while still having a number-one record on the charts. His album, “7”, released over the summer got international attention where it peaked in the top ten in six countries. His album cover features a rainbow building which he highlighted in a tweet after the album’s release stating, “deadass thought I made it obvious!” At the age of 20, this rapper and songwriter is set to help push the LGBTQ musical community forward by leaps and bounds. Openly bisexual singer Halsey has created 26 Fall Arts September 13, 2019
SHAMIR
PHOTO VIA FACEBOOK
FALL CONCERT DATES Zedd Coca-Cola Roxy October 1, 8pm an army of LGBTQ and LGBTQ-friendly fans all about her sexuality referenced lyrics. Her song, “Bad at Love” mentions her struggles with men and women alike, and her bold, edgy hairstyle signals an independent woman defined by no labels. In March, Halsey announced that her third studio album would be released in 2019, which means expect it to drop this fall! Her newest single from that unreleased album is called “Nightmare,” and gives listeners an insight into her empowerment as a female. There’s nothing to hide with 24-year-old singer-songwriter Shamir, a Las Vegas, Nevada native who’s openly queer. He’s been in the musical game since the age of six, releasing his first album when he was just 20 years old. “I don’t have that luxury of being able to be publicly closeted. It wouldn’t work. It’s basically like telling
people you’re not black. How could I get away with that? I’m so aggressively queer,” he said in a recent interview. His most recent album, “Be the Yee, Here Comes the Haw,” was released earlier this year, and is a mixture of instrumentals and even country music, he says. Atlanta’s Concert Experience We can all agree that live music is almost always better than a recorded track on Apple Music! And because we’re one of the top music capitals in the country, talent from all genres have Atlanta as a prime destination for their concert performances. From EDM and rap to country and pop, here’s your chance to get an up-close and personal look with some of your favorite LGBTQ and LGBTQ-friendly artists! Oh, do you need tickets? Ticketmaster is your go-to for the best seats in the house!
Tyler, The Creator State Farm Arena October 3, 7pm Emeli Sande Terminal West October 6, 8pm Trisha Yearwood Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, October 13, 7:30pm Carrie Underwood State Farm Arena October 19, 7pm Elton John State Farm Arena November 2, 8pm TheGeorgiaVoice.com
Make it a night — or an afternoon, or a morning! — at the new Alliance Theatre. The 51st season includes three world premieres, two Broadway-scale musicals, award-winning new plays, and the return of Atlanta’s A Christmas Carol to the Coca-Cola Stage. (Plus classes, camps and workshops for all ages!)
COMING SOON
T HIS MON T H on the COCA-COL A STAGE
Book by
Music by
Lyrics by
ELLIOT GEORGE ANTHONY DAVIS STILES DRE W E
SEP 6 – OCT 6 A DDI T ION A L PRODUC T ION SUPPOR T F ROM
Based on the novel BECOMING NANCY by
Directed & choreographed by
TERRY RONALD
JERRY MITCHELL
A world premiere musical from Tony Award® -winning Kinky Boots director and choreographer Jerry Mitchell.
GET TICKETS
for as low as
$25
OCT 4 – 27
How do you speak your mind
DEC 5 – 24
Music, stories, and holiday
when you can’t say a word?
cheer with Atlanta performer Courtenay Collins.
box office 404.733.5000
alliancetheatre.org/season
12 8 0 PE ACH T REE S T NE AT L A N TA , G A 3 0 3 0 9
OUT ON FILM PREVIEW
Get A Glimpse into the 2019 Out on Film Features Steve Warren Let’s get the elephant out of the room. It’s a sad coincidence (or a Russian plot if you prefer) that the movie so many gay men have been waiting for is opening opposite the 32nd Out on Film festival. But remember, “Judy” will be on local screens for weeks and available in other formats. Most of the 126 LGBTQ features, shorts and web series from 16 countries that comprise Out on Film will be hard, if not impossible, to find if you miss their festival screenings.
FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO PUBLICITY PHOTOS
END OF THE CENTURY
BEFORE YOU KNOW IT
According to recent surveys, same-sex marriage is approved of by half as many Americans as approve of Donald Trump. When did we get to be so normal? Most of the films in this festival have at least one of three goals: 1. Celebrating our victories: If you can barely remember when same-sex marriage was illegal, you need a history lesson from someone who remembers Stonewall and what life used to be like for LGBTQ people. 2. Planning to move forward: There’s still room for improvement in achieving full equality, with new “religious freedom” laws legalizing discrimination, Trump banning trans troops, 40 percent of transgender teens attempting suicide, and many states not including us in their equality laws. 3. Screw it. Let’s just tell a good story.
of the films that open wide because they’re thought to have the potential to reach a broader audience. You can read elsewhere about distributors losing bundles by overestimating the appeal of movies they’ve released. It’s a tough call, even in programing a festival for a specialized audience, as Out on Film Director (and GA Voice contributor) Jim Farmer does so well.
While I’m only reviewing features, don’t forget the 15 programs of shorts, many of them free. They’re perfect for brief attention spans, and if something doesn’t appeal to you, you’re only stuck with it for a few minutes, not an hour and a half or more.
While previewing this year’s Out on Film, I watched “Sell By” and “Straight Up” back to back. I felt the former was a too in-depth story about a group of friends that keeps the rest of us at arm’s length, while the latter resonated with me so deeply I wasn’t sure anyone else would get it. (I’ve since talked to someone else who saw it and he enjoyed it as much as I did, so there are at least two of us, but a third didn’t like it at all.)
The quality of festival films seems to improve every year, even if many are the work of novice filmmakers with little or no budget. Though few will have theatrical runs, many compare favorably with some
So while I’ll be offering positive and negative views on several films in the next and online, the best advice I can give is to take a chance if something sounds interesting to you. It would be a dull world if we all had the same taste.
28 Out On Film Preview September 13, 2019
Of the 20-some features I’ve previewed so far, I’d pick “Straight Up” as the best narrative film and “For They Know Not What They Do” as the best documentary. The ratings for the festival features in the next issue and online are on a four-star scale, but I never give anything four stars. To read all of the reviews, grab a copy of our Out on Film Issue on Sept. 27, or go online to thegavoice.com. FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO H H H1/2 (Sept. 26, 7pm) Several of the year’s best screen dramas are collected in, of all things, a documentary! The subjects are four good Christian couples who each learned one of the children they’d been raising was gay or transgender. They all had to go through a process to reach full acceptance, not to mention what their children went through. Their tales don’t all have happy endings, or even happy beginnings or middles. Director Daniel G. Karslake has found the right people to tell the right stories that show true Christianity is about loving. Bring tissues to the screening, but don’t miss it!
END OF THE CENTURY HH (Sept. 26, 9:15pm) Lucio Castro’s debut feature begins with vacationing Ocho (Juan Barberini) cruising Barcelona silently at length until he hooks up with Javi (Ramon Pujol). On their second date Ocho realizes they’ve met before. An unannounced flashback of 20 years, in which the men don’t look a day younger, shows their first meeting. Then back to the present and finally – I wouldn’t spoil it if I could. Castro has some filmmaking skills and a fine cinematographer, but he’s not much of a storyteller. Though I was repeatedly sucked into the tale, my ultimate takeaway is WTF? BEFORE YOU KNOW IT H H1/2 (Sept. 27, 7pm) Director/star Hannah Pearl Utt and co-writer Jen Tullock play sisters who live with their father (Mandy Patinkin) above a Greenwich Village theater-for-rent. That Rachel (Utt) is a lesbian only figures in bookend scenes unrelated to the main story. She is older but less responsible Jackie (Tullock) believe their mother died when they were very young, but learn she’s a famous soap opera star (Judith Light), who’s surprisingly welcoming after ignoring them for some three decades. Not meant to be taken seriously, this movie can be enjoyed for some insiders’ insights into the worlds of Off-Off-Broadway and TV’s daytime dramas. FROM ZERO TO I LOVE YOU H (Sept. 27, 9 p.m.) Probably the festival’s worst film, here’s a textbook example of getting everything wrong. Happy husband and father Jack (Scott Bailey) resumes acting on the gay urges he felt in high school. He has a yearlong affair with Pete (Daryl Stephens), who’s been down this road before and should know better. As the melodramatic complications pile up, we’re supposed to take it seriously, even rooting for Jack and Pete to get together for a happy ending they don’t deserve after all the lives they’ve harmed. Stephens evokes the most sympathy, not for his character but for being trapped in this mess. TheGeorgiaVoice.com
EATING MY WORDS
From China to Kennesaw … Chinese Cuisine at its Finest! Cliff Bostock
FIRE STONE CHINESE CUISINE PHOTOS BY CLIFF BOSTOCK
If you’re a diehard foodie, you know the name Peter Chang. Many consider him to be America’s master of the extra-spicy cuisine of China’s Sichuan region. His story, including stints in the Marietta area, is full of intrigue, but for this column, it’s only important to know that one of his proteges, Wen-Qiang Huang, operates a restaurant, Fire Stone Chinese Cuisine, in Kennesaw. (No, it has nothing to do with tires.) The restaurant has been open for more than a year. I don’t hang out much in Kennesaw, but I’m here to tell you that it’s worth the journey. The small restaurant is located in a gigantic shopping center that snakes its way around other gigantic shopping centers on an eight-lane road to god knows where. Once you find it, you’ll appreciate Fire Stone’s mainly minimalist design with firered walls and a stone wall that separates the main dining room from a full-service bar. The restaurant’s menu describes the food as both Sichuan and Hunan. Both are traditionally spicy, but, honestly, I encountered nothing very challenging at Fire Stone -- even to the delicate mouths of the four friends with whom I dined. It’s really simple in any case to avoid torching your luscious lips. While many dishes are bathed in hot chili oil, the real fire is in the dried peppers. If you avoid eating them, you’ll not suffer much. We shared 10 dishes. The most unique dish was the gigantic “scallion bubble pancakes.” Far from flat, these two pancakes were inflated into gigantic globes that you tear apart to dunk in accompanying curry sauce or any other liquid you find on plates. The bread is chewy, with a mild grain flavor. Another favorite starter was the dan dan noodles, which seem to be appearing on every Sichuan-influenced menu in Atlanta. It’s thin noodles tossed with peanuts and topped with minced beef. A spicy oil 30 Columnists September 13, 2019
pervades the plate. Yet another city-wide favorite on our table was cold, curly ribbons of tofu skin in an oily sauce moderately spiked with the infamous numbing peppers. If you want to run the risk of a five-alarm fire in your mouth, order the “crazy beef.” It is flavored with the infamously hot ghost peppers, but, here again, if you stick to the meat without popping a chili in your mouth, you’ll be fine. The final two starters included two varieties of pork-filled dumplings. One was quite unimpressive soup buns; the other was much better, fried dumplings draped with something like an edible, lacy doily. It looked funereal but tasted unhuman. Our three entrees included one specifically ordered for a friend terrified of heavy spice. It was chicken with three varieties of mushrooms in a brown oyster sauce. I don’t like brown sauces, so this was my least favorite dish of the evening. I much preferred the tender, seared chunks of ribeye with onions and scallions, served with wedges that the menu called cornbread, but tasted much
more like yuca. The best dish of the evening was fat, tender pork ribs that were fried and served under a mound of something like crispy bits of cornmeal. I asked the server for the actual content of the tiny bits, she asked the chef, and the chef said it was a secret. There is much more of interest on Fire Stone’s menus, including several duck and fish dishes. There are also hot pots with which my friends and I have grown bored of. Also, check out the pork belly dishes. Any Sichuan treatment of that fatty flesh is always worth a trip anywhere – even to Kennesaw. Cliff Bostock is a longtime Atlanta restaurant critic and former psychotherapist turned life coach; cliffbostock@gmail.com.
MORE INFO Fire Stone Chinese Cuisine 840 Ernest W. Barrett Pkwy. Kennesaw 678-324-0512 FireStoneKennesaw.com
TheGeorgiaVoice.com
TheGeorgiaVoice.com
September 13, 2019 Ads 31
BEST BETS Our Guide to the Best LGBTQ Events in Atlanta for September 13-26 Friday, Sept. 13
performance. In any format, it’s a fragmented memory of queer identity and friendship – with characters that navigate fluid genders, relationships, and bodies that resist order, category, or completion. Come see the art, participate in (or listen to) the group reading, and join for a conversation on queer/trans and crossmedia art 1 – 2pm Charis Books and More
Swinging Richards & Boy Next Door present the 10th Annual Underwear Auction, hosted by Wild Cherry Sucret. All auction proceeds benefit Atlanta Pride, Inc. 9pm – Midnight Swinging Richards
Tuesday, Sept. 17
The LGBTQ-themed film “This Is Not Berlin” opens today. Seventeen-year-old Carlos doesn’t fit in anywhere, not in his family nor with the friends he has chosen in school. But everything changes when he is invited to a mythical nightclub where he discovers the underground nightlife scene: punk, sexual liberty, and drugs. Midtown Art Cinema Various showtimes
Every second Friday at the Atlanta Eagle is Latin Dance Party with DJ Moose. 10pm Jump on your broomstick and head over to RITUAL’s Hocus Pocus: Witches & Warlocks party! It’s the first of a three-month season of spooky themes to celebrate Halloween! DJ System Fail and DJ Aesthetic will be spinning the beats all night long! Don’t miss tarot card readings and spooky art for sale as well! $10 Cover at the door! 10pm – 3am Heretic Atlanta
Saturday, Sept. 14
Sonia Leigh maintains an individuality that is so liberating it extends beyond genre. From her mainstream country catapult with Zac Brown’s in 2011 to her 2018 dark, pop-rock full-length release “Mad Hatter” to her latest release “Sonia Leigh and Friends,” recorded live at Abbey Road Studio in London, England, she continues to rock. The out musician performs tonight. 9pm Eddie’s Attic Saturnalia Productions presents the first anniversary of the Rome party. Come dressed in your best Roman empire gear and be ready to dance and party the night away with an unbelievable set from DJ J Warren. 10pm – 3am
32 Best Bets September 13, 2019
EVENT SPOTLIGHT Friday, Sept. 13
7 Stages presents Sean Dorsey Dance’s “Boys in Trouble,” a timely and urgent commentary on contemporary masculinity, in which powerful dances place a trans and queer lens onto intersectional questions of embodiment, violence, black queer love, whiteness, shame, and posturing. This one-week residency includes three more performances and an artist workshop with trailblazing transgender choreographer Sean Dorsey. 8pm, through Saturday and 5pm Sunday. (Courtesy photo) Heretic Atlanta Amsterdam Atlanta hosts the city’s only ‘80s new wave music video dance party hosted by DJ Anthony. 10pm – 3am Come get LIT on the dance floor with DJ Neon the Glowgobear at the Atlanta Eagle! This is the Southern Bears bar night as well so come out and take a visit to the back bar! A night of fun, friskiness, and frivolity with the best beartenders in town! 10pm – 3am
Sunday, Sept. 15
Atlanta’s very own DJ Seth Breezy heads to Xion after hours for an early morning of sweaty dancing with your closest friends! 3am – 7am BJ Roosters The PFLAG support group for parents and families of LGBTQ children opens its doors today. 2:30 – 4pm The Spiritual Learning Center
Monday, Sept. 16
Trans and Friends is a youth-focused
group for trans people, people questioning their own gender and aspiring allies, providing a facilitated space to discuss gender, relevant resources and activism around social issues. 6:30 – 8pm Charis Books and More More than 40 years before “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” the groundbreaking documentary “The Queen” – about the 1967 Miss All-American Camp Beauty Pageant – introduced audiences to the world of competitive drag. Organized by LGBTQ icon and activist Flawless Sabrina, the competition boasted a star-studded panel of judges including Andy Warhol, Larry Rivers, and Terry Southern. But perhaps most memorable is an epic diatribe calling out the pageant’s bias delivered by Crystal LaBeija. The film screens tonight. 7:30pm Plaza Atlanta Charis and the Agnes Scott College Center for Digital Visual Literacy welcome Miriam Suzanne to discuss her novel, “Riding SideSaddle*.” The novel was written on 250 shuffled notecards. It is also sometimes a website, an album, a play, art installation, or collaborative
Show your support for Pets Are Loving Support and Planned Parenthood Southeast tonight as both charities will split the proceeds of this special Drag Queen Bingo event. The theme is Pretty in Pink, so dress like P!nk, wear your best ‘80s clothes as a nod to the film “Pretty in Pink,” or just wear pink if you want to get into the spirit of the evening. 6:30pm Lips Atlanta Charis welcomes local professor, activist and author Anneliese Singh as she presents tools from “The Racial Healing Handbook,” a powerful and practical guide to help you navigate racism, challenge privilege, manage stress and trauma, and begin to heal. 7:30 – 9pm Charis Books and More
Wednesday, Sept. 18
The Writers and Scholars Series presents out Atlanta author and poet Jericho Brown tonight, reading from his book, “The Tradition,” now in paperback. 6 – 8pm Charis Books and More Qalm meets tonight. What is Qalm? Qalm is part sober gathering, part meditation, part space to slow down. Designed for queer introverts, Qalm is meant to be a space where meaningful conversation can happen, with no loud music to talk over. A place where the senses are calmed, instead of overloaded, Qalm is a space for queer people to simply be together. 7 – 9pm Fulton County Library System – Metropolitan Branch
CONTINUES ON PAGE 34 TheGeorgiaVoice.com
TheGeorgiaVoice.com
September 13, 2019 Ads 33
BEST BETS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 32
Tuesday, Sept. 24
Thursday, Sept. 19
And the tiara goes to … ! Hosted by Celeste Holms, the Miss and Mr. Atlanta Pride Pageant is tonight. 8pm Heretic Atlanta
Think summer, rooftop venues, networking, and films. What do you get? Join MAAP tonight to network and celebrate this year’s Out on Film. 6 – 9pm High Note Rooftop Bar at the Atlanta Marriott Suites Midtown
Enjoy SoulStar Karaoke every Tuesday at Midtown Moon. 10pm
It’s bound to be one of the biggest productions of the fall. The Alliance Theatre presents the world premiere of “Becoming Nancy,” based on the young adult novel by Terry Ronald about a teenage boy who tries out for a musical and is cast in a female part. It’s directed by the legendary (and out) Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell 7:30pm, through Oct. 6
Friday, Sept. 20
The Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (AGLCC) hosts its annual Community Awards Dinner tonight, handing out awards for Guardian Angel, Corporate Ally, Member of the Year, Business Man, Business Woman, Business Person of the Year and more. The evening is an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the city’s LGBTQ+ and allied community of businesses, nonprofits, corporations, and individuals who are defining true excellence, service, authenticity, compassion, and pride. 6:30 – 11pm Four Seasons Hotel Grab your swimming suits and get ready for some sexy fun at the Under The Sea Foam Party, hosted by BJ Roosters & Twee. 9pm – 3am BJ Roosters
Saturday, Sept. 21
Theatrical Outfit’s version of the LGBTQthemed “The Laramie Project,” running in rep with the classic “Our Town,” starts previews tonight. 7:30pm, officially opening Friday, Sept. 10 through Sept. 29 A dazzling night on the French Rivera awaits you at the Rainbow Ball 2019. Roll the dice and join Out Front Theatre Company for an evening featuring a delectable dinner, endless cocktails, the hottest gaming tables, unforgettable
Wednesday, Sept. 25
EVENT SPOTLIGHT Saturday, Sept. 21
Cheers to 10 years of lantern parading. The Atlanta BeltLine Lantern Parade, a creative collaboration based on community participation. 7pm. Irwin Ave. at the Eastside Trail. (Photo courtesy of Atlanta BeltLine) entertainment, and live and silent auctions to leave you speechless. 8 – 11pm Do you love books, sci-fi, and fantasy? Then join the Atlanta OutWorlders Book Club. The book for September is “The Left Hand of Darkness” by Ursula K. Le Guin. Participants will mix and mingle, eat snacks, and talk about the book’s themes, characters, plot, and ending – and vote on upcoming books to read. 1 – 2:30pm Northwest Atlanta Library at Scott’s Crossing Get Ready to Rumble. House of ALXNDR presents Suckapunch, with drag wrestling featuring special guests Dorian Electra + Mood Killer. Break out that spandex and come out for the showdown throwdown of the year. The event features guests Alex Suarez, Aries Alxndr, Avana Alxndr, Brigitte Biget, DKnighten Day, Ivana Fischer, JayBella Banks, Miss He (Trevor Blake), Molly Rimswell, Mr. Elle Aye (Lawrence), Rrruby Fiasco, Saliva Godiva, Summer Solstice (Tk) and TJ Maxxx (Em Arwood). 9pm – Midnight The Bakery Atlanta
DJ Mohammad, makes his much anticipated Atlanta debut at Heretic as Atlanta’s newest resident DJ! Join your friends for high-intensity music and non-stop dancing all night long! 10pm – 3am Heretic Atlanta
Sunday, Sept. 22
DJ Martin Fry is back at Xion after hours to keep the party going into the early morning! 3am – 7am BJ Roosters To kick off the 90th anniversary season, Atlanta Ballet has assembled a program of emotionally-charged and intoxicatingly beautiful works. Inspired by the poignant personal life of French singer Édith Piaf and her music, Brazilian choreographer Ricardo Amarante’s “Love Fear Loss” follows the love story of the late songstress through her classic works. 2pm Cobb Energy Centre
Monday, Sept. 23
Jam to All Music Monday with DJ Bill Berdeaux tonight at Blake’s on the Park.
When Jodi Isaac flies across the country to visit her famous fashion mogul father for his 70th birthday, she finds that his posh downtown New York townhouse has a new resident: dad’s new boyfriend who is 20-years-old, and a porn star. “Skintight” is a blistering new comedy by Joshua Harmon (“Bad Jews,” “Significant Other”) hilariously excoriates America’s obsession with youth, sex, and physical beauty. 8pm, through Oct. 5 Actor’s Express
Thursday, Sept. 26
The Feminist Women’s Health Center – Atlanta hosts Unruly Night of Political Misbehavin’, a night to raise money for the fight for reproductive freedom. 6:30 – 9:30pm Highland Inn & Ballroom Lounge Out On Film opens its 32nd annual LGBTQ Film Festival with Daniel Karslake’s film “For They Know Not What They Do,” following the LGBTQ children of four religious families – including Pulse NightClub shooting survivor Vico Baez Febo – as they reconcile with their families. Karslake and Febo are expected in attendance. 7pm Midtown Art Cinema
UPCOMING Saturday, Sept. 28
DILF Atlanta “Leather Me Up Daddy” Party returns to the Heretic Atlanta. Grab your leather harnesses, jockstraps, and boots for a night of hot and sweaty fun. 10pm – 3am
Sunday, Sept. 29
Phil Romano returns to Xion for the last after hours of September! Don’t miss it! 3am – 7am BJ Roosters
34 Best Bets September 13, 2019 TheGeorgiaVoice.com
SUNDAY, 09.29.2019 WALK! RUN! DONATE! FUNDRAISE!
REGISTER TODAY! AIDSWALKATLANTA.COM
THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID
Braving the Water Melissa Carter
I pride myself on my dedication and efforts to be a good mother. However, I’m afraid I let Mr. Carter experience something that he really didn’t like … and I could have stopped it from happening. Over Labor Day my brother came to town and he brought with him a few gifts, including season passes to Six Flags for the three of us. We went to pick up our passes Labor Day Monday and spent the holiday in the park. My 4-year-old had never been to Six Flags, and all he cared about was if there was a train on the premises. My brother assured him there was and that is where we spent a majority of the day, riding the train around the park. It was during our 5th or 6th trip around Six Flags on the train that Mr. Carter noticed a lot of water. There was one place in particular where people slid down a watery slide into a giant splash. He asked what that ride was, and since I couldn’t remember it’s proper name here I explained it was a “log ride” where one rode a boat about a water track and ended up sliding down the big slide. “I want to go on that,” he said. My son is a very particular man, and that affects his choices in food, toys, and entertainment. Excited he was willing to be this brave, I accepted his request and led him toward that area of the park. The line was long, and I assumed he’d lose his desire to go on the ride and back out any minute. He watched people on the ride, studying the giant drop most. Noticing people screamed on the way down, he asked that neither of us make a noise on the most harrowing part of the ride. I smiled and agreed, again assuming we’d never have to worry about it. We got to the stairs that descended to the ride and were asked to enter the giant log. 36 Columnists September 13, 2019
Six Flags COURTESY PHOTO
My son darted to sit in the front of the boat and I nervously sat behind him realizing this was going to happen. I sensed his apprehension when the boat knocked back and forth on the track and assured him it was only to splash water on us and that the whole point of the ride was to get wet. Then the moment of truth, as we made our ascent up the incline before the big drop. As we crowned the top of the hill, I realized this drop might be too intense for a young kid since I think I was seven before I rode something like this. But I kept my promise not to scream, as did Mr. Carter, and he remained silent after the wall of water passed over us. I asked if he was ok, and after a few seconds, he raised his foot and stomped it hard a few times on the bottom of the boat. “I … don’t … LIKE … that!” Despite his vocal disappointment, I spent the rest of the day explaining what true bravery is and that he indeed had been brave to commit to that ride. I also stopped to buy the photo they took of us to commemorate the moment, as my son stared into the abyss and I grit my teeth to avoid a maniacal laugh. One of the first out radio personalities in Atlanta, Melissa’s worked for B98.5 and Q100. Catch her daily on theProgressive Voices podcast “She Persisted.” Tweet her! @MelissaCarter TheGeorgiaVoice.com
SOMETIMES ‘Y’
The Sin-icle Men-istry of Jerry Falwell Jr. Ryan Lee LGBTQ Americans might want to start bracing ourselves for the possibility that our most significant contribution to this young century might not be an athlete coming out, a trans-themed show winning an Emmy or some other glorious milestone that showcases the strength of our movement. The queerest twist in this toxic era of American history might be when a closeted gay (or bisexual) evangelical was blackmailed into endorsing the man who daily proves himself to be a moral and political Antichrist. It’s no surprise the son of the late Jerry Falwell – the founder of the Moral Majority who blamed the September 11 attacks on “the gays and the lesbians” – grew up to be a pervert. It’s rather shocking how flagrantly Jerry Falwell Jr. has expressed his fondness for male physiques, and financially rewarded the hard-bodied young men who developed a close friendship with him and his wife, Becki. There’s still a good chance that instead of being part of the LGBTQ family, Falwell Jr. is simply a cuck. What’s becoming highly likely is that the president of Liberty University, the world’s largest Christian pseudo-college, is a man who enjoys other men’s penises – the only question is whether it’s in himself or his wife. Politico was the first to unearth Falwell Jr.’s skeletons when it reported in August 2017 about his family co-owning a seedy Miami hostel that the online magazine characterized as a dilapidated “cesspool of vice.” In May 2018, Buzzfeed revealed one of the family’s business partners in the hellish hostel was an Italian pool boy who Falwell Jr. and his wife met while they were staying at a luxury hotel in Miami Beach in 2012. That tanned 21-year-old must have appeared to be the Second Coming of pool cleaners, as the Falwells were inspired to befriend him, bring him along on hiking and skiing excursions via Liberty University’s private 38 Columnist September 13, 2019
JERRY FALWELL JR.
jet, and “loan” the young man $1.8 million to invest in the debaucherous hostel in South Beach months after meeting him .
WIKI COMMONS
The next scene in the shittiest Christian porn storyline since “Cathy Gets Cruxxxified” came last month when Reuters reported that Falwell Jr. had lubed a real estate transaction for his buff, blond personal trainer. The relationship between Falwell Jr., his wife, and the 23-yearold personal trainer was so cozy that Liberty University wound up “selling” the young man a sprawling sports complex for pennies on the dollar. In between the revelations of these two sugardaddy splurges, the Miami Herald reported in June that it had seen three pictures of the First Lady of Liberty University “in various stages of undress.” Earlier this week, Politico published a candid shot of Falwell Jr. on the dance floor of a Miami nightclub looking every bit the desperate circuit daddy. Knowing how ably he had helped Donald Trump suppress negative information about his sex life, the Falwells had allegedly enlisted Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, to help them squash evidence about possible liaisons. Cohen’s assistance could be unrelated to Falwell Jr. becoming the first prominent evangelical leader to give his blessing to the most morally repugnant candidate in the 2016 presidential race, especially if you’re the type of person who believes a burning bush spoke the word of God. It was entirely natural for Falwell Jr. to endorse Trump since evangelical Christianity in America has long been a front for the white supremacy the president champions. But it would be grossly unfortunate if this chapter of U.S. history was made darker because a couple of sexual hypocrites were determined to keep their closet door closed. www.thegeorgiavoice.com
PROUDLY PRESENTS
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5 ENT M N I A T TER LIVE EN GAMES FOOD G DANCIN
CTION U A T N SILE
7PM–11PM | THE GATHERING SPOT 384 NORTHYARDS BLVD, NW • ATLANTA, GA 30313 FESTIVE ATTIRE SUGGESTED.
The Premiere Party supports CHRIS 180’s programs providing housing, training and advocacy to enable LGBTQ+ youth to live safely and go to school in environments with supportive adults, equal access, and validating, high quality counseling and other services.
TICKETS GENERAL ADMISSION
$60
VIP TICKETS (OPEN BAR)
$100
PRICES INCREASE AT THE DOOR.
For more information, visit PREMIEREPARTYATL.ORG
Lisa Galm & Cindy Simpson
Kathy & Pete Colbenson