LEO Weekly, June 7 2023

Volume 32 | Number 30 LOUISVILLE ECCENTRIC OBSERVER

974 BRECKENRIDGE LANE #170. LOUISVILLE, KY 40207 PHONE: (502) 895-9770

ON THE COVER

FOUNDER

John Yarmuth

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Erica Rucker, erucker@leoweekly.com

DIGITAL CONTENT EDITOR

Amy Barnes, abarnes@leoweekly.com

ART DIRECTOR

Talon Hampton, thampton@leoweekly.com

CONTRIBUTING VISUAL ARTS EDITOR

Jo Anne Triplett, jtriplettart@yahoo.com

BUSINESS MANAGER

Elizabeth Knapp, eknapp@leoweekly.com

DIRECTOR OF SALES

Marsha Blacker, mblacker@leoweekly.com

EDITORIAL INTERN

Gracie Moore

CONTRIBUTORS

Christina Estrada, Robin Garr, Marc Murphy, Jeff Polk, Tracy Heightchew, T. E. Lyons, Melissa Gaddie, Scott Recker, Alicia Fireel, Cameron Deeb, Kathryn Harrington, Hannah DeWitt, Brennen Cabrera, Mags Fitzmaurice, Josiah Rogers, Star Rupe

EUCLID MEDIA GROUP

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Andrew Zelman

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICERS

Chris Keating, Michael Wagner

VP OF DIGITAL SERVICES

Stacy Volhein

www.euclidmediagroup.com

REMEMBER TO BE RADICAL

By Erica Rucker | erucker@leoweekly.com

IT’S Pride month, and what I didn’t want to do was push trauma into the faces of LEO’s LGBTQ+ readers. There is enough news about how the queer community is being demonized and scapegoated by politicians, and I didn’t want this space to be that. I feel like we all know those stories, and with 491 bills across the country, the hatred is systemic. What I did want for this issue was some respite, a bit of joy, and stories that lift this community.

I try to do the same with issues of trauma across the board. I think LEO can report relevant news without trauma porn.

My interactions with the LGBTQ+ community came as a young child. I have gay family, as we all do, but I didn’t know what “gay” meant until I was about 11 and learned that my best friend’s mother was a lesbian. What I knew then was that I became a second daughter, deeply cared for and welcomed into her home on a daily basis. I met her partners, broke bread across her table, and when my parents were working — and the need arose — my sister and I were given shelter with her. So my impression of what it means to be a member of the LGBTQ+ community is informed by the safety and acceptance I found without question in the home of this woman whom I still consider family.

As I grew through the ‘80s, aware of the AIDS crisis, and saw the fear-mongering that pushed a struggling queer community to the brink of death, I saw people who locked their arms around each other and anyone who needed them to fight in the streets and in the halls of policy-making for the right to live with dignity.

What I know now is that what is happening now is a reminder that the same forces that made anti-gay policies in the ‘70s and ‘80s have been in power too damned long.

It’s time for those fights to continue because, once again, the risk is the safety and health of individuals within the LGBTQ+ community.

Because it is Pride month, the act of celebration needs to be the fight. This

month is a time for recharge, fellowship, and fun. It is space to organize and prepare for what comes next. Who are the politicians that will come from this community and move this country from those 491 anti-LGBTQ bills to zero?

I’ve been around long enough to know that this fight won’t be won by hatred and that this community is fighting and will continue to fight to make America move closer to the place it claims to be.

To get there, I can’t expect the LGBTQ+ community to fight alone because this fight is also the fight against anti-Blackness, anti-immigration, and against any other attempt by the global minority to push those with less power farther to the fringes as they scramble to maintain their hold on dying ideologies.

In the end, these dinosaurs don’t win.

But it is June, the month that commemorates the “Stonewall Riots” when police brutality and mistreatment pushed

this community, at the site of the Stonewall Inn, to fight back.

Remember, It is radical to celebrate in the face of adversity, and it is radical to be proud of who you are when you are the most ‘hated.’ And when you’re ready to jump back into the fight, give it everything you’ve got. •

ONE

By Christina Estrada | leo@leoweekly.com

SEXUALITY is confusing. The journey is lifelong and sometimes perilous. Sexual desire is a primal instinct, and the ability to bloom into who you are sexually is an integral part of good mental health. In that transformation, there is confusion and sometimes heartbreak. It’s important that we acknowledge this yet continue to grow into who we are intended to be.

I did not have many boyfriends in high school but had some great relationships and crushes with some wonderful boys. I was passionate about my close friendships and found myself in love with the souls close to me, whether male or female.

My struggle was that I had several experiences with adults and other kids that confused me and left me questioning boundaries, what a woman really is, and my own desires. I don’t remember any openly gay people in my adolescence, but I do know that sexual play between adolescents of the same sex is common and normal. Boys and girls explore their bodies with both sexes. It is a human fact.

When I went to college at WKU I met people from all over and started to find my tribe. It was here that I found David and a crew of folk from Louisville that have become lifelong friends. We shared the freedom to grow outside the rules of our parents. We were finally free to do what we wanted — and we did wholeheartedly.

David and I hit it off right away. We could not help smiling at each other and locking eyes whenever we were together. We were expressive with wicked senses of humor that fit together in a way I had not experienced before. We simply clicked, and soon found ourselves inseparable.

In my gut, I thought David was gay from day one. I asked my friends that had known him if he was, and they all said that he loved women. He did not hesitate to touch me, showing his love for me daily, and we got to know one another and each other’s families.

It was a beautiful college experience. We were in a state of love that felt almost symbiotic but something was off.

David and I talked about a future together, what we wanted to do and how our life would be with one another beyond college. It was my first serious and, I thought, mature relationship. It felt organic but there was no sex. Nei-

ther of us had enough experience to really understand who we were sexually nor the earthquake his realization would cause for the both of us.

I began to worry about the lack of sexual play between us and shared my feelings with David. He was on a different journey and going through something primal, and extremely confusing to him. We were both lost.

He confused me with the love he shared with me, and everything in me had fallen for him — and who we were together — but we were in limbo.

The wick was lit and the powderkeg was ready to blow. Something had to change for both of us to grow.

One day the tension got the best of us and he finally shared with me that he loved me more than anything but that he had no sexual feelings towards me.

I heard him, yet internalized that I was disgusting and was simply unlovable despite him never saying this. Every body image issue I had bubbled to the surface. We clumsily tried our best not to hurt one another with the limited understanding of who we were becoming. David was in pain and needed more from me than I was able to give.

David spent a weekend in Nashville and understood his true identity as a gay man. Looking back, I feel that I failed him because I could not ignore my own needs to be the friend he needed. He called me, angry that I was not there for him at a crucial and desperate time. He had been wanting his friend and soulmate to be with him through this awakening.

I was heartbroken, and yelled back that his life was not my responsibility. I was devastated and resorted to the only coping mechanism I had at the time, flight.

I transferred to UofL and did not look back. I felt lonely. I did not look for love anymore and resigned myself to a lifestyle of no commitments.

David moved on with a life of travels, exploring his life. We both graduated college and kept up through friends, but left one another to heal.

In the years that followed, I would run into him from time to time, and the sting was still there. We did not know how to act with each other anymore but there was still love even in the distance. We were simply on different paths.

If I were meant for David or him for me, we would have

been together, but David could not be with me in the way that I desired a man. Even though it hurt, his need to be himself was a life or death situation. Still, our relationship changed us both forever.

We are both married now and share the occasional, “Howdy,” on Facebook. He is happy and has the love he has always deserved, and so do I. My heart is full for him. That sting is gone for us both.

For this Pride celebration, let’s all be gentle with one another as we are all here to give and receive love as the highest form of being human. We are in this life together even if our paths diverge sometimes. We are ONE. •

CHRISTINA ESTRADA

Christina Estrada is a lifelong seeker of light in the darkness wearing a variety of hats, including, but not limited to: student/teacher, survivor/healer, mother/child, therapist/client, introverted extrovert. At present, a disabled wife and mother with stories and thoughts from five decades of life and 30 years of social work, inpatient and outpatient.

YOU’RE THINKING

SOAPBOX: WHERE WE KNOW WHAT

We like it when you talk to us, even if you’re upset. This space is for you. Sometimes, we talk back.

SURPRISE, WE DIDN’T PISS YOU OFF.

It appears that no one had much of a bone to pick with us over the last week, other than our creepy phone caller who breathes and mumbles the names of activist groups in our phone. In lieu of complaints, let’s play a game. Where are these located? Hint: It’s the former site of a famous Louisville “collection.” Send your answers to leo@leoweekly.com

THORNS & ROSES ROSE

THE WORST, BEST & MOST ABSURD

We’re glad that Churchill Downs responded to the calls to cease racing at their track in response to the spate of horse deaths. In the past six weeks, 12 horses have died at the racetrack.

ABSURD

The response from Churchill Downs to move racing to another track that they also own continues to put horses at risk. Like PETA and Animal Wellness Action have said, it isn’t simply the place. There is more to it and to the industry that needs to be addressed to ensure the safety of the animals.

ROSE

It’s Pride Month, y’all. In the midst of a brutal year for the LGBTQ+ community — with government attacks against freedom of speech events like drag shows, story hours, etc., and the frightening and dangerous laws against medical care for transgender individuals — Pride is a good reason to remember a few important facts. Pride began as a riot, so don’t give up the ght, even when you’re tired and, two, it is okay —necessary and radical — to celebrate in the face of oppression.

ROSE

EVIL ENDURES

Reader Thomas Clay shared a long piece about how time comes quickly for some, and yet Henry Kissinger seems to continue. The piece is too long for Soapbox so you’ll have to finish reading it on leoweekly. Here’s the intro:

“Neither of my parents were particularly religious but I do remember with perfectly clarity the last time I ever went to church. Father Thomas was the Episcopalian preacher who came into our two-hundred year-old church in PeeWee Valley and I remember him saying, ‘with enough time, all evil dies, yet the Lord remains.’ Mind you that at age 14, I was an unannounced atheist to spare my evangelical grandparents the trauma of knowing their grandson was a heathen, and I knew perfectly well that my mother would have fornicated with Father Thomas in front of the entire congregation if she had the chance but *I* was there strictly for the coffee and eclairs. You had to be fast on the eclairs if you hoped to get one because those blue-haired Grendels were on them like flies on you know what...”

For the Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge, Thomas Parker in Tennessee who did his damned job, and declared the Tennesee Drag Ban law unconstitutional calling it “too broad” and saying in his ruling that, “There is no question that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment. But there is a di erence between material that is ‘obscene’ in the vernacular, and material that is ‘obscene’ under the law.” So while his words are a bit “shady,” his action is a win for the Tennessee drag community.

ROSE

For the graduating class of 2023. Congratulations kids. Make this world a better place for all.

CHURCHILL DOWNS, INC. RELOCATES RACING AMID HORSE DEATHS AND CALLS TO SUSPEND OPERATIONS

By Erica Rucker | erucker@leoweekly.com

ON Friday, June 2 Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI) released a statement that said the company will, “suspend racing operations at Churchill Downs Racetrack (“Churchill Downs”) beginning June 7, 2023, through the remainder of the Spring Meet, scheduled to run to July 3. Live racing at Churchill Downs will be conducted as scheduled this weekend on Saturday, June 3 and Sunday, June 4. The remainder of the race meet will be relocated to Ellis Park Racing & Gaming (“Ellis Park”) in Henderson,

Kentucky, beginning on Saturday, June 10.” Ellis Park is also owned by CDI.

The move comes after a request by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA), and repeated pleas by activist groups and public pressure to make changes after the deaths of 12 horses at the track in this season alone.

HISA released their statement on the same day as CDI released theirs. “The Horseracing Integrity and

Safety Authority (HISA) has recommended to Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) that racing at Churchill Downs Racetrack be temporarily suspended to allow for additional comprehensive investigations into the cause of recent equine fatalities at the track; CDI has agreed with and accepted this recommendation.”

In the CDI statement, CEO Bill Carstanjen said Churchill Downs is committed to providing a safe environment for participants, and acknowledges that

The Speed Art Museum is honored to present In the Garden, a special installation centered around Amy Sherald’s portrait of the late Breonna Taylor. The painting was originally commissioned for Vanity Fair magazine’s September 2020 issue as a public memorial to Taylor’s life and the ongoing quest for social justice. In the Garden is a special presentation mounted to invite re ection, dialogue, and community contemplation. This installation, which also features artworks by leading contemporary artists Anthony Akinbola, Firelei Báez, Andrea Bowers, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, vanessa german, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Ebony G. Patterson, Nari Ward, T.A. Yero, and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, explores themes of loss, joy, injustice, growth, and sorrow.

Throughout the course of this installation, the Speed will offer public and community programming around the topics of personal healing, gun violence, and empowerment.

Image:

Amy Sherald

American, born 1973

Breonna Taylor, 2020

Oil on linen

137.2 x 109.2 cm / 54 x 43 inches

© Amy Sherald. Courtesy of Amy Sherald.

Photo: Joseph Hyde

Learn More

bit.ly/in-the-garden-breonna

“Amy Sherald’s portrait of Breonna Taylor may prove to be one of the most important paintings of the 21st century.” —Forbes

Kathysshoppe.com

NEWS & ANALYSIS

they have an “immense responsibility” as

thoroughbred

“By relocating the remainder of the meet to Ellis Park, we are able to maintain this industry ecosystem with only minor disruption. We are grateful to the Kentucky horsemen for their support, resiliency and continued partnership as we collectively work to find answers during this time,” Carstanjen continued.

HISA worked with CDI and The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission to evaluate the Churchill Downs racetrack.

In the evaluation of Churchill Downs racetrack, “track surface expert” Dennis Moore graded the track on these criteria: (from the HISA statement)

Cushioning: The consistency of the track was measured at every 1/8th Pole on the inside and outside racing lanes by RSTL using the Orono Biomechanical Surface Tester (OBST). The findings found the track was consistent at the various measurement points around the track and compared to previous pre-race meet inspections performed by RSTL.

Cushion Layer: Data that was collected by RSTL’s ground penetrating radar (GPR), which measures up to depths of one and half feet deep, similarly did not identify any anomalies or causes for concern.

Daily Measurements: Moore verified Churchill Downs’ daily measurements and RSTL’s pre-meet inspection, which included a time-domain reflectometer (TDR) moisture reading instrument to measure the moisture and manual probing for cushion depth. He reported that the track was within the expected measurement ranges around the track and as compared to previous years.

Surface Grade: Moore and RSTL performed surface grade measurements together to verify the percent crossfall of surface was similar to the pre-meet inspection performed by RSTL.

Composition: The dirt’s surface samples collected at multiple locations around the track were sent to RSTL’s laboratory in Lexington, KY and returned consistent with previous years.

“HISA’s highest priority is the safety and wellbeing of equine and human athletes competing under our jurisdiction,” said HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus in the release. “Given that we have been so far unable to draw conclusions about the cause of the recent equine fatalities at Churchill Downs, and therefore have been unable to recommend or

require interventions that we felt would adequately ensure the safety of the horses running there, we made the decision to recommend to CDI that they temporarily suspend racing at Churchill Downs while additional reviews continue.”

LEO reported in May about the heightened incidents of horse deaths. In the time since the week of Derby, groups like PETA and Animal Wellness Action made several requests to both Churchill Downs, Inc. and HISA to suspend or otherwise address issues at the facility.

PETA went as far as sending out videos of horse fatalities on the track.

“We are putting a face on these horrible deaths because every one of the 12 horses was an individual,” says PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo in a release. “PETA urges HISA to put horses’ welfare first by immediately halting racing and timed workouts at Churchill Downs until the cause or causes of these deaths can be determined.”

Wayne Pacelle of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy said this relocation is not enough to remedy the loss of horses’ lives.

“If the track surface was the singular cause of the rash of horse deaths at Churchill Downs, changing the racing venue might make sense. But it’s apparent that there’s more at work here than track surface threats,” said Pacelle in a release. “We renew our request that Churchill Downs suspend its racing schedule until there is a proper forensic analysis of the horse deaths and a comprehensive plan to remediate future deaths. This is a response, but it feels like a shell-game response.”

In a statement to the Courier Journal, Louisville Tourism’s Rosanne Mastin said that this year the economic impact from the Kentucky Derby was $401,866,455. It was an increase of $41 million over last year.

“The show cannot just go on, and the leadership of the track should hit the pause button for the well-being of the horses and of the industry itself,” added Louisvillian Joseph Grove, director of communications for Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy in a release.

According to Animal Wellness Action, the transfer of Churchill Downs activities only applies to live racing and does not extend to simulcasting of other races from other racetracks. •

R I T E S OF PA S S AGE : OUR COVER ARTISTS TELL THEIR COMING OUT STORIES

By Hannah DeWitt, Mags Fitzmaurice, Josiah Rogers, Brennen Cabrera, Star Rupe | leo@leoweekly.com

EACH coming out story is unique. There are no rules for how and when someone needs or has to come out about their sexuality. It is truly the business of the individual. However, there are times when being shut in the closet is harder than letting the world know exactly who you are. Our cover artists collaborated, creating this Pride-themed collage, and shared their stories of coming into their own skin and out of the “closet.” Their stories are short and simple.

If you are considering your own coming out, let your instincts be your guide. Say who

you are when you want, and don’t ever feel that you have to explain who you are. Coming out is a rite of passage for many members of the LGBTQ+ community, and when it happens (if you feel it needs to happen) it is your choice. If you need support, there are many organizations available to support you. Louisville Metro government website has a good list of local organizations to get you started. Visit: https://louisvilleky.gov/government/homelessservices-division/lgbtq-resources.

JOSIAH ROGERS

(THEY/THEM)

“I grew up in a religious bubble. Being homeschooled and insulated from the world, I didn’t even have the concept of what being queer was. For a long time when I came to realize this about myself, I devoted myself to celibacy. Spiritual mentors and leaders thought of me as some liaison to evangelize to LGBTQ peoples. I put myself through conversion therapy. I was always most devoted to finding peace and what would bring it to me. Peace came through accepting myself and my queerness and rejecting that which denies me humanity.“

HANNAH DEWITT

(SHE/HER)

“I had already had water-testing conversations of hypothetical gayness, but I got my wisdom teeth out relatively early in life, and while in a wishy-washy state of not being fully out yet, my anesthesia self told my mother that I wanted to sleep with Lana Del Ray.”

MAGS FITZMAURICE (THEY/THEM)

“I never felt right. Wasn’t girlie, wasn’t straight, but not fully gay. I just wasn’t. I thought around 15 I was bisexual, and my mom assured me I just loved the girl like a sister. I pushed that down for years.

At 30, there were finally words for who I am. My name is Mags Fitzmaurice I am a demisexual, pansexual, polyamorous, and gender fluid.”

STAR RUPE (THEY/THEM/HE/HIM):

“I’ve always been told that I’m suppose to find a husband and have kids, but that never really clicked for me. The thought of more intimate situations honestly scared me, and overall felt gross. After researching how I felt I came upon the term ‘Ace.’ I was elated to see I wasn’t alone! Others felt how I did! Another downside was that I never felt like a girl or a boy… more so somewhere in the middle. I discovered the term non-binary and it sort of clicked. Like Ace, I found others who also shared my own feelings. It was like I wasn’t doing something wrong, I was just finally me. I love who I am no matter how different. I walk my own path and I have never been happier.“

BRENNEN CABRERA (HE/THEY):

“Queer discovery for me came by going back and forth figuring out is it girls or guys that I like? It became more obvious in middle school that it was men. But also having some feelings for women too. High school came around where I wasn’t really exploring my sexuality much, aside from pornography. I was reserved and hypersensitive from bullying. My sexuality really didn’t peak until my early 20s. Hooking up with men, going to gay bars, wearing some leather.

I wanted to be one of those graceful queer twunks with a hint of mystery. I guess I’m there. Art’s pretty gay, too, when you think about it, hah?

I’m most definitely gay but a small percentage of me is still curious about other genders.” •

FutureIslands

PHOTO ESSAY

PHOTOS FROM 3RD ANNUAL PRIDE

KICK-OFF PARTY

Photos by Kathryn Harrington | leo@leoweekly.com

ON Friday, June 2, Queer Kentucky with Milewide Brewery and Louisville Silent Disco celebrated the 3rd annual Pride kick-off party. The event happened at Milewide Brewery with a release of a special brew called, Dorothy’s Riot, DJs, drag shows, yoga, vendors, and more. LEO photographer Kathryn Harrington made it to the event and captured some of the fun.

STAFF PICKS

THROUGH JUNE 10

‘Beyond Likeness’

By Gaela Erwin

Moremen Gallery | 710 W. Main St., Suite 201 | moremengallery.com | Free

SURREAL

Rush to see the latest works by Louisville treasure Gaela Erwin. This is her rst solo show at Moremen Gallery as well as her rst exhibition since the pandemic. For her, portraiture is just the stepping-o point. It’s best to think of Erwin as a psychologist and mystic as well as a painter. “The spiritual dimension and psychic nuances of the sitter are as important to me as the architecture of the head and features,” she said. —Jo Anne Triplett

SATURDAY, JUNE 10

Western Library Block Party

Western Library | 604 S. 10th St. | www. lfpl.org/branches/western.htm | 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. | Free

The Western Library will host a community block party on Saturday, June 10 with storytelling, poetry, crafts, dance, performances, games, food trucks, and music. The library will be giving out free books as well as Summer Reading awards. —Gracie

Moore

SATURDAY, JUNE 10

BAD: Pride Tingz

Brew & Sip Cafe | 505 W. Broadway | lovethybelly.org/ | 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. | $10

Love Thy Belly is hosting a celebration of pride and body positivity including drag, dancing, burlesque performances, poetry and comedy. Attendees can sponsor a ticket for a transgender attendee for $10. A portion of sales will go to Transcending Stigma.

PRIDE

—Gracie Moore

“Adrift” by Gaela Erwin. Oil on panel.

STAFF PICKS

SATURDAY, JUNE 10-11

Arts On The Green 2023

The Maples Park, Crestwood | aaooc.org | Free | Times vary

THE NATURE OF ART

The 23rd annual Arts on the Green is held this year on Saturday, June 10 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sunday, June 11 from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. This juried arts and craft festival, organized by the Arts Association of Oldham County, features local and regional artists working in a wide range of media. Textile artist Dolores Fegan was last year’s Best of Show winner and will be at the festival again this year. The Louisville Food Truck Association will have 15 trucks at the art fair and there’ll be musical entertainment and children’s activities too. A free shuttle bus will be available from the nearby parking sites. —Jo

Anne Triplett

THROUGH JUNE 19

‘Celebrating The Black Experience’

Kentucky Center for African American Heritage | 1701 W. Muhammad Blvd. | kcaah.org | Free

In case you are ever in an argument about what art is “good for,” mention the exhibition “Celebrating the Black Experience.” The 22 artists, by showing the diversity of their daily lives and the traditions that bind them, are revealing the impact Black art has made against racism. The show is curated by art educators Julia Youngblood and Gwendolyn Kelly, artists-inresidence at KCAAH’s Samuel Plato Industrial and Creative Arts Institute. —Jo

Anne Triplett

THROUGH JULY 16

Unflappable Karl - Celebrating 20 Years of Tattooing

Aurora Gallery and Boutique | 1264 South Shelby St. | Auroragallerylouisville.com | 6 p.m. -9 p.m. | Free

Good Karma tattoo owner commemorates 20 years of artistry with “The un appable Karl Otto,” a solo exhibition at Aurora Gallery and Boutique. The opening reception is June 17th from 6-10p.m. l The show will run from 6/17-7/16.

—Amy Barnes

Dolores Quilts at Arts on the Green.

“Wisdom” by Desmone Stepp. Oil and acrylic on wood.

FRIDAY, JUNE 16

Stonecutters w/ Bihargam & Baptise

Planet of the Tapes | 640 Barret Ave. | Planetofthetapes.biz | Check the venue for pricing | 9 p.m.

This movie-themed cocktail bar and venue is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of Stonecutters’ album, “Creatio Ex Nihil. Bihargam and Baptise are musical guests. —Amy

Barnes

FRIDAY, JUNE 16-17, 23-24 VaVa Vittles

Art Sanctuary | 1433 S. Shelby St. | vavavixens.com | $35-$45 | Doors at 7 p.m., Show at 8 p.m.

It’s comedy. It’s burlesque. It’s a hell of a good time. The Va Va Vixens present “Va Va Vittles,” a dazzling mix of comedy, striptease, and daring acrobatics in a night of music and fun. —Erica

Rucker

SATURDAY, JUNE 17

The Fannie Lou Hamer Story

The Kentucky Center for African American Heritage | 1701 W Muhammad Ali Blvd. | kcaah.org/ | 7 p.m. | $25

The Kentucky Center for African American Heritage in partnership with the Juneteenth Jubilee Commission is hosting a weekend experience from Saturday, June 17 through Sunday, June 18.

The Fannie Lou Hamer Story is a one-woman performance by Mzuri Moyo Aimbaye about a woman who was an “unsung hero” for the Voters Rights Act of 1965. —Gracie

Moore

SATURDAY, JUNE 17

Saucy Santana

Bourbon Hall | 116 W. Je erson St. | Search Eventbrite | 10 p.m. - 3 a.m. | $50 - $100

Get your “Booty” wiggling because “It’s a Vibe,” rapper Saucy Santana is bringing beats, walks, lewks, and fun to Bourbon Hall this Pride month. De nitely, a night to remember. —Erica Rucker

SATURDAY, JUNE 17

Kentuckiana Pride Parade

Lincoln Elementary Performing Arts School | 930 East Main Street | Register at fairness.org/parade | 11 a.m. (parade begins at noon). |Free

March with the annual Kentuckiana Pride Parade’s signature “Human Balloon Float,” featuring a “Trans Rights!” theme. —Amy Barnes

SATURDAY, JUNE 17

Kentuckiana Pride Festival

Waterfront Park | 1101 East River Rd. | kypride.com | Noon - 10 p.m. | $10

Come and fellowship with others in the LGBTQ+ community in an accepting space. Enjoy food, vendors, and performances by Vincint, Slayyter, Morgxn, Brooke Eden and more. —Erica Rucker

ROCK FUNNY

JUBILEE RUMP SHAKE’IN

PARADE FESTIVAL

SATURDAY, JUNE 17

Juneteenth in Vine Grove

Optimist Park | 300 Knox Ave., Vine Grove | 4:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. | Free

The Juneteenth Unity and Freedom Festival in Vine Grove will have food trucks, vendors, music, and poetry. There will also be education and nance advice on site. Join the fun and celebrate freedom. —Erica

Rucker

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21

Reading the Rainbow: Queer Ducks

IUS Library | 4201 Grantline Rd., New Albany | fb.me/e/16EccMAJ3 | Free | 6 p.m.

Same-sex attraction, love, or mating is not just for humans. This book discussion at the IUS library will illuminate a straightforward fact — humans aren’t much di erent than other animals, and how we mate, fall in love or desire is as natural and primal as it is for “queer” ducks. —Erica

Rucker

1386LEXINGTONRD,LOUISVILLE,KY

COMINGSOON

THENATIVEHOWL

WARHIPPIES

DEXTERAND

MUSIC

PRIDE PLAYLIST

7 SONGS FROM MUSICIANS PERFORMING AT KENTUCKIANA PRIDE FESTIVAL

By Scott Recker | leo@leoweekly.com

THE Kentuckiana Pride Festival returns on Saturday, June 17, bringing a loaded day of music and entertainment to the Big Four Lawn at Waterfront Park. The Equality Stage will feature multiple local drag performers and will also showcase the Kentuckiana Pride Festival’s court, while the Stonewall Main Stage will host bands and artists from various genres. We decided to highlight one song from seven music acts performing at the Stonewall Stage to create a “playlist” preview. Check these songs out before you hit the festival. General Admission tickets are $10, and proceeds go to the Kentucky Pride Foundation for its “year-round efforts of promoting social, economic, and health equity of Kentuckiana’s sexual and gender minorities as the members advocate pride, celebrate achievements, and educate leaders.”

VINCINT

“ROMANCE” (SPOTIFY)

A pop confessional about a hidden crush on a friend, “Romance” aligns a gigantic soundscape and dazzling hooks with lyrics that visit the nervous moment before you open up to someone about your feelings. VINCINT showed incredible vocal range and prowess singing a cover of “Creep” on the first season of show “The Four” in 2018, and “Romance,” a recent single, continues to show that dynamic ability.

SLAYYYTER “DADDY AF” (SPOTIFY)

Slayyyter’s pop whirlwind “Daddy AF” sounds like if early career Kesha and Harmony Korine collaborated on an EDM banger about living free and wild. It’s big, bold and has an unapologetically zerofucks to give, bridging the gap of where indie sleaze meets top-40 ambition, which sometimes logically results in a cult classic — and it certainly does here.

BROOKE EDEN “GOT NO CHOICE” (SPOTIFY)

SCANFOROURFULLSCHEDULE

One of the coolest things about the Kentuckiana Pride Festival 2023 lineup is how many styles it includes. Brooke Eden is a goldenvoiced singer who melts country with pop in captivating way, and “Got No Choice” somehow feels both from the ‘90s and the future. Eden avoids a lot of the pitfalls of modern radio country — like cheesy over-production. She has no need for gimmicks, her voice and lyrics are strong enough.

MUSIC MORGXN

“MODERN MAN” (SPOTIFY)

Through electronica dance-pop, Morgxn’s “Modern Man” is packed with energy, from the radiant beat of the burning verses to the explosion of the chorus. If you zoom into the lyrics, the song is about trying to become a better version of yourself in a challenging world, which is a highly-relatable and often-heavy subject, but on the surface level, the disco-borrowing party jam makes you want to throw your doubts away and have fun, which is an interesting balance.

CHRIS HOUSMAN “BIBLE BELT” (SPOTIFY)

Chris Housman’s red dirt country-style anthem “Bible Belt” chronicles the hypocrisies and lack of acceptance from a lot of the religionfueled areas of the Bible Belt region and the trauma that results from it. It has the heart, spirit and melody of a Turnpike Troubadours song, and I mean that as high praise.

THE DADDY SISTERS

“(WHEN I GROW UP) I WANNA BE A GIRL” (BANDCAMP)

I haven’t covered the Louisville music scene with consistency since before the pandemic, but the thing that I miss the most from it is discovering bands and artists that I’ve never heard of, and being blown away by them. I saw The Daddy Sisters at Poorcastle the other weekend, and the punkinfused garage rock from the duo and their larger-than-life stage presence combined for the sort of mesmerizing magic that makes a show truly special. “(When I Grow Up) I Wanna Be A Girl” is full of speed and intensity with a touch of the blues. While this is the only song on their Bandcamp page currently, you’ll hear many more originals at the show, and you won’t be disappointed.

ADAM THOMAS “WHITE LIES” (SPOTIFY)

A little bit folk rock, a little bit golden-era pop punk, Adam Thomas’ “White Lies” is a sharp and evocative coming-of-age tale about a pivotal point in a relationship, where it either turns into something substantial or it evaporates into something of the past. There’s also this movie-like thread that runs through it, where the main character is zooming around town, going to parties and is constantly around people, but feels alone and searching in certain ways. Those cinematic qualities make the song rich and magnetic. Pair that with the clean and dynamic song structure, the gem of a chorus and the passion that was clearly poured into the song, and “White Lies,” which was released on Thomas’ 2023 album Disco Dreams, is a local song-of-the-summer candidate.

Teddy's Tenth Season!

CLASSICS SERIES

SEASON 2324

LastingLegacies

Sat,Oct.14,2023

(Un)SilentFilm: Nosferatu&A SymphonyofHorror

Sat,Oct.28,2023

FILM SERIES

TheNightmare

Bolero&Friends

Sat,Nov.18,2023

TogetherinSong

Sat,Jan.13,2024

MagnificentVoices

Sat,Mar.23,2024

FAMILY SERIES

Mahler6 Sat,Apr.27,2024

CreatorsFest Sat,May11,2024

POPS SERIES

FrightNight

Sat,Oct.21,2023

The Kentuckiana Pride Festival takes place at the Big Four Lawn (1101 E. River Road) on June 17 from noon to 10 p.m. Other than the entertainment stages, there will also be a Kids & Family Area, numerous vendors, and several food and drink options. For more information, visit kypride.com.

Wed,Oct.18,2023

HarryPotter&the Half-BloodPrince

BeforeChristmas Wed,Jan.17,2024

StarWars:The ForceAwakens

Sat,Feb.17,2024

HolidayPops Composing aStory

Sat,Oct.7,2023

Santa'sSymphony Spectacular Sat,Nov.25,2023

Constructingan Orchestra

Sat,Feb.3,2024

NIGHTLITES SERIES

LastingLegacies

Fri,Oct.13,2023

Bolero&Friends

Fri,Nov.17,2023

Handel'sMessiah

Fri,Dec.1,2023

Sat,Nov.25,2023

QueensofSoul

Fri,Jan.19,2024

MarchMusic Madness

Sat,Mar.16,2024

MariachiFiesta Sat,Apr.6,2024

OurKYHome Sat,Sep.16,2023

MagnificentVoices SpecialGuest:ChrisThile

Fri,Mar.22,2024

EXCLUSIVE Availablewithpurchase ofanysubscription!

SubscriptionsStartingat$42!

COMPOSE YOUR OWN SINGLE TICKET PACKAGE

Pick4ormore concertsand get15%off!

Subscriberbenefitsdonoapply

Forexample:

Film:TheNightmare

BeforeChristmas Wed,Oct.18,2023 Classics:Mahler6

Pops:QueensofSoul

Fri,Jan.19,2024

The Daddy Sisters. |

PHOTO BY NIK VECHERY

GRLWOOD’S REJ FORESTER TALKS NEW MATERIAL, NEW ALBUM(S), AND LIFE ON THE ROAD

By Jeff Polk | leo@leoweekly.com

HAVE you ever met someone who makes you feel like you’ve known them forever, even if you’ve never spoken with them before?

Rej Forester has a way of doing that. The singer/guitarist/songwriter, along with drummer Mia Morris, make up the two-piece self-described “Queerdo Scream-Pop” band GRLwood. LEO caught up with Rej prior to the release of their latest single “Love is Fire,” and what started out as a typical interview turned into an hour-long conversation with what felt like an old friend.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

LEO: YOU HAVEN’T

PLAYED

LOUISVILLE SINCE PRE-COVID. WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO?

Rej Forester: When COVID happened I was like, fuck, what am I gonna do? I have to make money. So even though I don’t smoke, I got a job in California in the marijuana industry through someone I knew. I did farm work there for about a year, and then I came back to Louisville and have mostly been focusing on recording. I was playing shows nonstop before because it was the only way I could make money. Whereas now streaming has been pretty good and I’ve taken advantage of it to really flex my artistic muscles in ways I didn’t have enough time to before. So that’s why I haven’t played shows in a while, because I’m working on recording. So after these songs get released, we are turning our engine towards performing again.

I KNOW YOU LEFT LOUISVILLE IN 2010 AND SPENT SEVERAL YEARS HITCHHIKING AROUND NUMEROUS OTHER COUNTRIES. WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO LEAVE INITIALLY?

Well, it probably starts like any chapter in a coming of age, typical trope-y lesbian story; I had a crush on somebody. I finished high school and I didn’t know what the fuck I wanted to do. I tried going to college and it was a horrible idea. I hated college. I hated everyone around me. I hated my family. Louisville was not something I felt good in at that moment, so I was like fuck this shit. And I had a crush on somebody who called and said, “I’m going to be in Honduras in

a couple of weeks, you should fly down and meet me.” So I scraped together all my money and I went, and that’s how it started. It was just crazy because I had never slept outside, I’d never been camping, I’d never been out of the country. So I get down there and come to find out the situation is not at all what it was made out to me to be, and it wasn’t too long before I was on my own. I had like $100 cash on me, a Walmart kids play tent, and a Walmart school backpack. I was not ready. And I had this crazy whirlwind experience where I went from having never even slept outside to waking up with howler monkeys above my head and having to chop wood to make the fire every night to heat up water to drink and foraging for food. Everything got better once I got a guitar and I started busking in the streets for money. But it takes a lot of fucking gumption to walk miles every single day to play music in the street for six hours a day, that is a fuck ton of energy. Then walk back, doing all of that on only like a kebab or what you can find in the garbage can as your only meal for the entire day. So I’d hitchhike into towns to make money, and then I would hitchhike out when I wanted to go somewhere. And that continued until I came back here and started GRLwood in November-ish 2016 and decided that I was gonna pursue music seriously. There’s a lot that happened between leaving Louisville and coming back, but it definitely made me who I am today. All the PTSD along with the good things, it’s not all bad. I love who I am and I am very thankful for all the lessons I’ve learned and I

have a lot of really valuable life information because of it. If the zombie apocalypse ever happens, I am your bitch! [Laughing], I got the team!

WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE NEW MATERIAL?

You know, I have so many fucking songs that are done right now that I can release one huge album or two full albums. What I love about it is that it’s all over the place. There’s

a lot of poppy songs sprinkled in with the rock music, I even have an ‘80s synth pop song in there. But they’re all done; I’m just wrapping up the last few. I’m also making music videos for every song, and then I’ll figure out how I’m going to release them.

HOW DO YOU THINK PEOPLE ARE GOING TO REACT TO THE NEW SONGS?

I don’t want people to ever know what

GRLwood is Rej Forester and Drummer Mia Morris | PHOTOS AND ART PROVIDED BY GRLWOOD.

to expect. When I release these, I want some people to be like, “What the fuck? I hate it. Why is it so different?” I want everything to be a curveball. I’m a person with a lot of experience and a lot of likes, and I love to channel that through music. I feel like people are always trying to put me in a box of like, “You need to make only hardcore punk music.” And it’s like, “Bitch, have you listened to any GRLwood albums ever? Because there’s literally only a few songs per album like that.” I mean, you can sit at the table amongst the buffet of flavors and only eat what you like. That’s okay if you only like mac and cheese, you can eat the mac and cheese. But when it’s all gone, don’t bitch about there not being more because you ate it all. Why don’t you try these dank-ass fuckin’ brussel sprouts? And if you don’t want to try the dank-ass Brussel sprouts, that’s on you not me, [laughing].

IS THERE ANY TIMELINE AS TO WHEN THESE SONGS WILL BE COMING OUT?

Best case scenario, early fall. Worst case scenario, fucking winter.

ARE YOU PUTTING IT OUT YOURSELF, OR IS THIS ON A LABEL?

No, no more labels. You don’t need a label. Honestly, most of the music business is just a bunch of business people trying to take money, And if they’re not actually doing anything to further the art itself, then why give them your money? I worked really hard to get to where I’m at, and I am at a position now where I can put something out by myself. I don’t have to deal with someone being like, “I need an album right now. I need exactly one love song. I need three sad songs, and I need five heavy songs.” I’m so fucking blessed that I don’t have to deal with somebody breathing over me telling me what I need to put out, telling me what kind of songs I need to create, telling me when I need to put it out. It’s great! I love being free. •

GRLwood’s latest single “Love Is Fire” is now available on all major streaming platforms. For more info on the band, check out their website at grlwoodband.com

GRLwood concept art.

MODICA: MOCKTAILS AND COCKTAILS MADE WITH PRIDE

By Robin Garr | leo@leoweekly.com

THE two guys work together like the practiced team that they are. Their elevator speech is sharp. Then they segue smoothly into a clear presentation. They look at each other. They smile. They laugh. They finish each other’s sentences.

Meet J.D. Mitchell and Eric Wentworth, co-creators and corporate co-owners of Modica, billed as “the world’s first superfood cocktail and mocktail mixer.”

Modica, the team proudly asserts, is a gay-owned local company, certified by NGLEC, the largest advocacy organization dedicated to expanding economic opportunities and advancements for LGBT people and the exclusive certifying body for LGBTQ-owned businesses.

These guys obviously love what they do. And they appear to care about each other. They’ve been on this project since it started as an experimental gig while they were fellow students in the University of Louisville’s Entrepreneurial Master of Business Administration program.

So, a reporter has to ask: Are they a couple? Married?

They echo each other in a big laugh. Nope! Just business partners and friends.

And there is a Pride Month lesson for us all: There’s no reason to assume that our LGBTQ+ friends are somehow basically different from the rest of us. Do straight, cisgender business partners become lovers? Sure. It can happen. Is this one of the first questions you’re likely to ask them? Probably not.

So let’s move on, honoring the creativity and spirit that led two then20-somethings to create a product that arguably disrupts the bottled mixer market.

They met in their U of L grad program in 2016, J.D. and Eric said during a casual interview over samples of their drinks. They took night classes while working full-time: J.D. at an investment firm, Eric as a bartender, mixologist, owner and founder at The Hub on Frankfort Avenue.

Combining work and grad school could be a slog, they said. At the end of

the day, they often got together for a cocktail. After a long day, they explain in their well rehearsed presentation, they didn’t want to put a lot of effort into constructing a tasty cocktail. Eric didn’t want to muddle or infuse anything. And J.D., as he famously explains, can barely squeeze a lime on a good day.

They prowled grocery stores in pursuit of a quality mixer and found loads of of preservatives, toxic-sounding ingredients. and a ton of sugar. Inspired by the absence of what they really wanted, they came up with the idea for Modica: A healthy, flavorful mixer equally suited to building tasty cocktails or equally flavorful nonalcoholic mocktails.

Their creation is built with “superfood” ingredients like aloe, turmeric, ginger, tart cherries, and more traditional ingredients, all naturallysourced and stoked with vitamins, and electrolytes. No preservatives, no fake flavors.

The coined the product name Mōdica from the Latin “modicum,” a

Two Modica zzes previewing yet-to-be-released avors mixed with club soda: reddish Blueberry Lavender Lemon Drop and co ee-dark Cacao Espresso Martini. | PHOTOS BY ROBIN GARR.

Harrison Wells, bartender at Cultured – Cheese and Charcuterie Bar on East Main Street, fashions a simple but impressive mocktail with Modica mixers.

small amount of something great. They ramped up quickly, creating labels and trade information with the help of Eric’s sister Cat Wentworth, a Yale University arts graduate.

Made with a reasonably short list of ingredients, Modica mixers typically contain water, cane sugar, fruit concentrates, electrolytes and vitamins.

Want to try some? You know you do! You can find them at many local wine shops, bars and restaurants, and grocers including Rainbow Blossom, Paul’s, and some Kroger wine shops. A 16-ounce glass bottle, which holds enough to make 10 cocktails or mocktails, sells for $20 on the website. They’re often a couple of bucks less at retail. There’s a full “Find Us” directory on the Modica website at drinkmodica.com/pages/store-locator.

I tasted two soon-to-market flavors with Eric and J.D., crafted into simple fizzes with sparkling water.

I thought the blueberry lavender lemon drop flavor was very good. A pretty reddishgarnet color, it brought appetizing fruity and floral scents to the party. It would make a great cocktail with vodka or even bourbon or rye. Or, of course, sipped with bubbly water as a non-alcoholic fizz.

The cacao espresso martini had me at the first sniff: Rich, bold, dark coffee flavors leapt out of the dark cola-color fluid, and forward coffee and distant cocoa hit my palate upside the taste buds.

These two new flavors should be on the market this summer, Eric said. Meanwhile, I

was equally impressed with the three current flavors, tasted later at home.

The Cucumber Aloe Margarita mixer is designed for tequila but also goes well with gin, vodka, or plain club soda. I fashioned a cocktail with equal parts mixer, Sipsmith London Dry Gin, and Topo Chico sparkling mineral water plus a slice of cucumber. Distinct cucumber flavors and slight sweetness made this one a winner.

The Tart Cherry Old Fashioned mixer, as the name implies, makes a great instant old fashioned: Just add bourbon to its fresh, appealing cherry flavor. Fair enough: A little mixer, a little more Old Forester 86, and a seasonal farmers’ market strawberry popped in made a fine version. Topping it off with Topo Chico mellowed it out for day drinking.

Finally, all the superfoods meet and mingle their anti-inflammatory properties in the Turmeric Ginger Mule mixer, a powerfully aromatic, sunny yellow ginger-forward potion that you can mix with vodka, rum, tequila, or gin or knock back with a little iced sparkling or warm water. Here’s to your health! •

MODICA SUPERFOOD COCKTAIL MIX

tiktok.com/@drinkmodica

instagram.com/drinkmodica

facebook.com/drinkmodica

A drink made with Pride: J.D. Mitchell (left) and Eric Wentworth, co-owners of Modica, billed as a 100% certi ed gay-owned local company that produces Mōdica, billed as “the world’s rst superfood cocktail and mocktail mixer.”

ROLLOUT OPPORTUNITY, KENTUCKY, LET’S

THIS DONE RIGHT!

By Mayor Wando | questions@mayorwando.com

KENTUCKY, please get this cannabis rollout correct. We don’t want to squander the real possibility of another growth industry, an opportunity that will directly impact all 120 counties. I can honestly say that I have consumed cannabis in many recreational states, and without a shadow of a doubt, know that our home state has better cannabis. Kentucky has grown exceptional cannabis for generations. If you’re interested in a fine read, please check out the book: The Cornbread Mafia: A Homegrown Syndicate’s Code of Silence and the Biggest Marijuana Bust in American History by James Higdon (Author).

We never learn, Prohibition does not work. First, the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, prohibited any growing of cannabis or its cousin, hemp, after October 1, 1937. Not shockingly, the main push behind limiting cannabis was a racist and irrational fear of people of color. The tale of this racism is of course, a wandering and never to the point type of tale. After the passing of the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote, women for the first time in American society were being allowed the most movement and freedom. Never before in America had women had such blatant autonomy. Enter the swinging 1920s. A decade of decadence that blossomed after the horrors and close of World War I, the roaring 20’s found more Americans drinking, dancing and embracing the excess as a way to loosen up.

Timely as ever, lawmakers felt that women in nightclubs and speakeasy’s weren’t ‘supposed to be happening.’

The main consumers of cannabis at that time were African Americans, some of whom were jazz and swing musicians. Other consumers were Hispanic, so the racist angle that pushed the legislation of making cannabis illegal was that Persons of Color were going to cavort with white women in these clubs.

Flash forward 34 years, and Richard Nixon was having major political issues from two groups of Americans, both protesting the Wars in Vietnam. Nixon’s two main foes were the politically active left (aka “hippies,”) and Black people. Both had positions that overlapped as to why they would be protesting against the war in Vietnam, but Nixon’s advisors saw an opportunity. How could they attempt to shut-down these two, different sets of people, with some cultural overlap? He equated both groups with the use of marijuana and began constructing restrictions that would affect both.

Kentucky is in a unique, albeit more difficult position than most states when it comes to commercial cannabis growth and the scale needed for medically-available cannabis. Namely, because of the 2018 Farm Bill. Kentucky was already a State of agricultural goods and because Burley tobacco is waning, the Farm Bill allowed for mass production of hemp. Those following closely at home, will soon realize; you cannot grow hemp and cannabis next to each other. Their closeness as cousins within the Cannabis sativa species, means that they are able to cross pollinate and ultimately, crossbreed.

Colorado seems to have gotten some things correct in the rollout. The 12.59% retail cannabis tax collected is then deposited in the State Public School Fund. Kentucky could see amazing innovations and updates in the school systems of every county in Kentucky. The items that Colorado failed to include in the cannabis industry is that there were no social equity programs enacted, meaning that the current industry is overwhelmingly white. There need to be better incentives to invest into more energy efficient systems, from energy production and battery storage, and water reclamation systems. Michigan stumbled at first, but it appears to be a genuine growth market.

Take a cue from California and refuse to have a vertically integrated model. In the vertical model, the company has to own the land, hire the workers, grow the product, harvest, cure, package, transport to company owned stores, hire front of house workers, clean, stock and present the product. It’s a very exclusive club because of the hundred of millions of dollars it takes to get the company off the ground, not to mention owning the land beforehand. The amount of infrastructure and resources needed is cash heavy

and labor intensive. Kentucky needs transparency and that means a horizontal integration model. Where farmers grow, labor harvests, curing and the next production stage is set to be completed and utilized at the local level. The amount of potential industry is simply staggering.

To increase the social equity pathways, we need to expand the programs that allow access to capital, so that all people willing to work as an entrepreneur are able to; and the burdens of previous records are able to be expunged. There needs to be reinvestment in communities of color, access to readily available incubators and training programs to give all participants equal access to the data, knowledge, capital, seed capital and monetary loans for this burgeoning marketplace.

Whew. I know, it’s a lot of information.What questions do you have? Shoot me a line at questions@mayorwando. com

Canna-curious and have some questions?

Email and Ask the Mayor! Email: questions@mayorwando.com

Remember, we’re not telling you to use cannabis, but if you do, be informed. •

FILMS FROM THE FUTURE

By Tracy Heightchew | leo@leoweekly.com

SOME movies are time capsules, snapshots filled with the streets and clothes and attitudes of an earlier era. Not that the filmmaker has necessarily set out to make time stand still. They are just trying to tell a story with the tools they have on hand with little foresight about the exact details that will date the film. Capturing particular stories means preserving elements of a moment, and often, as with the compulsive use of racial and sexual slurs in mainstream ‘80s movies, these elements can shrink a film down to the time in which it was made, alienating the future audience. And sometimes, what is being worked out on screen is the kernel of an idea that will come to fruition in the future, giving these movies a prescient feel. Threads are pulled that are still being unraveled decades later. These are two of those films.

FUNERAL PARADE OF ROSES

Sunday, June 18, 1 pm

Free

www.speedmuseum.org/cinema

“Funeral Parade of Roses” (1968) is New Wave Cinema, Japanese style. Meet Eddie, the new, hot young thing in Tokyo’s drag club scene, and a callback to her Factory Girl namesake, Edie Sedgewick. Eddie is looking to usurp her boss Leda’s hold on The Genet, the club where they both work, as well as her hold on Gonda, the club owner. Gonda spends his time whispering sweet promises to both Eddie and Leda, and dealing drugs to his club’s underground clientele. We follow Eddie and meet her friends and clients, getting access to a coun-

terculture that is experiencing a shakeup as younger people aggressively work to supplant the older generation.

“Funeral Parade” wears its influences proudly on its sleeve. You can see Goddard and Alain Resnais’ fingerprints on director Toshio Matsumoto’s decisions, but, in contrast to his European counterparts, Matsumoto is showcasing a nation trying to define itself after a WWII defeat. Hallmarks of ‘60s cinema are on full display: performance art, street protests, melted film stock, sped up, obnoxious music, speech bubbles, and fuzzy guitars. It never lands on a genre, and plays that as a strength, using a time-jumping narrative to reveal layers to Eddie’s story, while also breaking the 4th wall to interview the actors about their lifestyles and identities, resulting in a stylish field recording.

And did I mention that it is a retelling of the Oedipus story? By using a classic tragedy to frame Eddie’s tale, the film can be lumped into the unfortunate “Tragic Gay” film category along with many early examples of Queer cinema. But what separates Matsumoto’s cult classic from “The Children’s Hour” or “Suddenly Last Summer” is that the experience of these gender nonconforming characters (and actors) is centered,

and accepted. No one is asking these club scenesters to change, they are in fact celebrated, and the camera has a habit of lingering on characters loving their bodies. In this way, it is a film from the future, imagining a strata where gender expression is fluid, playful, and unapologetically erotic.

Long unavailable in the U.S., this remastered version is a crisp and beautiful print to be savored in a cinema setting. This screening in courtesy of the Asia Institute Crane House for Queer Trans Asian American Pacific Islander Week.

DRYLONGSO

Saturday, June 17, 6 pm

Sunday, June 18, 3:30 pm

$12 | $8 Speed members

www.speedmuseum.org/cinema

Fast forward 30 years for another film from the margins. Shot over 22 days in late 90s Oakland, CA, “Drylongso” is director Cauleen Smith’s lost ‘90s Black indie film scene classic. Heralded at film festivals across the country, it never had a theatrical or home video release — until now with this remastered release.

Like “Funeral Parade of Roses,” “Drylongso” defies genre classification, choosing instead to bounce between being a romance movie, a murder mystery, an artist awakening tale, and buddy picture. Oakland art

student Pica is finding her way into young adulthood, establishing herself as an artist by photographing the young Black men in her neighborhood. She is outraged by the constant death of these men, and uses her art to mark their passing. Meanwhile, she is on the lookout for a serial killer stalking Oakland, while simultaneously befriending a young woman, Tobi, who is hiding out from her abusive ex by taking on a male persona. Drylongso is a Gullah language word meaning ordinary, as in an average day for our main character and her neighbors. Calling on this and other motifs from an earlier generation’s transplanted Southern roots brings to mind Charles Burnett’s excellent Los Angeles film “To Sleep With Anger.” Like Burnett’s film, Smith’s community based filmmaking lends authenticity to the film. Her camera sets in amber a pre-gentrified West Oakland, the same streets where the Black Panthers set up shop decades earlier, with non-actors onscreen. While the clothes and music set the film in a certain time, the concerns and actions of the main characters are perennial. Whether it is concern about violence among and against young Black men, domestic violence, police abuse and neglect, or a frank discussion about gender expression and the way it relates it to racial politics, these questions are louder every day. Couple these themes with the fact that the serial killer in this film is based on the Grim Sleeper, years before the police admitted a serial killer was on the loose. It was not until 2010 that he was named, though the locals knew he was stalking their streets for decades, including the film’s director, who used the film to draw attention to this situation. That makes this a film from the future too. •

Still from “Drylonso.”| PHOTO PROVIDED BY SPEED CINEMA.

Still from “Funeral Parade of Roses.”| PHOTO PROVIDED BY SPEED CINEMA

REBIRTH AND RENEWAL

By Allie Fireel | leo@leoweekly.com

HI there! Welcome to the very first Arts

Writing is Dead column. I’m Allie Fireel, a bipolar, queer, nonbinary theater-maker based here in good ole Glitter Ball City. This bi-weekly column covers the performing arts, (and whatever else I have feelings about), but I’ll mostly eschew the standard preview/review format. Look here for big ideas, insider musings, call outs, call ins, shameless adoration of my faves, and yes, the occasional mention of the theater I’m doing. Moving on… It’s June! It’s Pride Month! So this week I’m focused on queer theater.

The 1968 off-Broadway premiere of “Boys in the Band” is seen as the start of the modern queer theater movement. Before that, no one was making openly queer theater in the mainstream. Flash forward 45 years. We’re still fighting for basic human rights, but queer culture is a constant in mass media. There is now, happily, more queer theater in Louisville than I can fit in one column. But that means it’s in the difficult position of being almost passe in some circles, but still dangerous to make and perform.

No one better illustrates this conundrum than Pandora Productions. (Full disclosure, they have produced my work as a writeractor within the last year.) Pandora started up in 1995, and its queerness implicitly placed it to the far left of mainstream theater. Remember, this was before “Queer Eye,” “Drag Race”, “Will and Grace,” and “Brokeback Mountain.” Ellen was still in the closet. Pre-1995 queer plays in Louisville were few. So Pandora’s existence was radical. Now, almost 30 years later, they are downright respectable. A pillar of the theater community. Like many respected theater companies — Actors Theatre, Kentucky Shakespeare — Pandora is walking the Boomer v Gen Z tightrope, and, in my opinion, they’re doing it better than many companies. But what’s next? Given the recent announcement that longtime Artistic Director Michael Drury will be retiring at the end of the 23-24 season, we could see huge changes. I’ll talk about Drury more in September, closer to Pandora’s season opener, “Love! Valor! Compassion!,” but suffice to say as Pandora’s leader since 2000, Drury is likely the single person most responsible for Pandora’s growth and longevity. Of Pandora’s 109 pro-

ductions, Drury has produced or coproduced 103, and directed 67. That is a lot of theater. They were the sole company focused exclusively on queer theater for roughly two decades. Now there are two other explicitly queer companies: Drag Daddy Productions, and Three Witches Shakespeare.

I’m very interested in Drag Daddy Productions. Helmed by Tony Lewis, as the name suggests, Drag Daddy’s work is rooted in drag performance, but places drag in a theatrical context. Stories, characters, motivations. Stuff like that. What frequently emerges is essentially a musical with big camp energy, anchored by house performers at Play, which is home to many of Drag Daddy’s productions. They also create immersive and themed drag events, one person shows, and the occasional piece of traditional theater. (Shouts out to “Anita-Do Over,” an original one person show starring drag Queen May O’Nays, written by Ms. O’Nays and Eric Stephen Sharp. The show imagined hate monger Anita Bryant attempting to make amends to the queer community, and I LOVED it, so much) While I enjoy Drag Daddy’s work, artistically, I’m also fascinated by what they’re doing culturally. They are erasing the unnatural distance that often exists between theater and drag. Instead of trying to induce an audience to come in to a traditional theater space, by producing shows at the club, they are reaching out to the queer community, outside of the theater scene. It’s something

theater struggles to do. One of Drag Daddy’s next shows is another experiment: They’re teaming with The Chicken Coop theater to produce a full on, large scale theatrical musical. Chicken Coop isn’t technically a queer theater company, but Artistic Director Jason Cooper brings an aesthetic of cultivated and intentional camp to much of their work. It feels queer, in the best possible way. The project? The beloved musical “Jesus Christ Superstar.” It was subversive 52 years ago, not so much these days. Can Drag Daddy and Chicken Coop make it subversive again by casting (my crush) drag queen Gilda Wabbit as Jesus? Find out in early August.

And here’s one of those spots where my work can’t help but intrude on the conversation. Along with Tory Parker and Clarity Hagan, I’m one of the founders of the third company explicitly committed to queer theater: Three Witches Shakespeare, a queer, feminist company focused on innovative classical theater. (For short, I always just say ‘Queer Shakespeare.’) We’ve done one show. It was rad. We’ll be doing more. Come see it.

Three Witches is germane to this conversation because it helps show the breadth of what’s being done by companies

explicitly devoted to the queer community, let alone the many other companies and entities that regularly feature queer plays. (Special shouts out to the trans-playwrights like Vidalia Unwin who are part of the creation of a new canon of trans-theater, on and offstage, where transgender people and stories are still underrepresented). We do still need more. There are still corners of the queer community that are underrepresented, including Black queer artists, Latin queer artists, and others.

But, big picture? We’ve gone from a few furtive examples of queer theater pre-1995, two decades of only one queer theater company, now finally a diverse landscape of offerings that tell queer stories, and elevate queer artists. queer theater creates a place for the LGBTQ+ community to explore and celebrate our continued existence, contemplate our past, imagine our future, and even though we still struggle for true equality even inside our community, take pride in what we see. •

May O’Nays in Anita Do-Over. | PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRONICLE CINEMA.

Fern Creek • 5623 Bardstown Rd

Street Box @ Piccadilly Squar e • 5318 Bardstown Rd

Jay “Lucky” Food Mart #1 • 5050 Billtown Rd

Cox’s - J-Town • 3920 Ruckriegel Pkwy

Bearno’s Pizza - Taylorsville • 10212 Taylorsville Rd

Louisville Athletic Club - J-Town • 9565 Taylorsville Rd

Cox’s - Patti Ln • 2803 Patti Ln

L.A. Fitness • 4620 Taylorsville Rd

Habitat ReStore - Taylorsville • 4044 Taylorsville Rd

Feeders Supply - Hikes Point • 3079 Breckenridge Ln

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Paul’s Fruit Market - Bon Ai r • 3704 Taylorsville Rd

Jewish Community Cente r • 3600 Dutchmans Ln

Street Box @ Marathon Frankfort Ave • 3320 Frankfort Ave

Boone Shell • 2912 Brownsboro Rd

Ntaba Coffee Haus • 2407 Brownsboro Rd

Beverage World • 2332 Brownsboro Rd

Kremer’s Smoke Shopp e • 1839 Brownsboro Rd

Big Al’s Beeritaville • 1743, 1715 Mellwood Ave

Mellwood Arts Center • 1860 Mellwood Ave

KingFish - River Rd Carry Out • 3021 River Rd

Party Mart - Rudy Ln • 4808 Brownsboro Center

Shiraz - Holiday Manor • 2226 Holiday Manor Center #1

Crossroads IGA • 13124 W Highway 42

Party Center - Prospect • 9521 US-42

Captains Quarter’s • 5700 Captains Quarters Rd

Fitness 19 • 2400 Lime Kiln Ln

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Street Box @ Republic Bank Bus Stop • 10100 Brookridge Village Blvd

Party Center - Fern Creek • 5623 Bardstown Rd

Street Box @ Piccadilly Square • 5318 Bardstown Rd

Jay “Lucky” Food Mart #1 • 5050 Billtown Rd

Cox’s - J-Town • 3920 Ruckriegel Pkwy

Bearno’s Pizza - Taylorsville • 10212 Taylorsville Rd

Louisville Athletic Club - J-Town • 9565 Taylorsville Rd

Cox’s - Patti Ln • 2803 Patti Ln

L.A. Fitness • 4620 Taylorsville Rd

Habitat ReStore - Taylorsville • 4044 Taylorsville Rd

Feeders Supply - Hikes Point • 3079 Breckenridge Ln

Street Box @ Heine Bros • 3965 Taylorsville Rd

Paul’s Fruit Market - Bon Air • 3704 Taylorsville Rd

LAKISHA PATTERSON TALKS

TRIB WITH LEO

By Allie Fireel| leo@leoweekly.com

ALL talk of corporations, Target, and “rainbow capitalism” aside, my basic problem with big corporations flooding the market with Pride merchandise is more immediate: To make their rainbows, they have to steal someone else’s shine. And they sometimes take it from small queer-owned businesses and clothing lines like the one created by designer and entrepreneur LaKisha Patterson. Her brand, TRIB TALK Tees, is still being bourne, and I thought it would be cool to see what that process is like, and to signal-boost a queer business that’s still finding its place in a crowded market.

After meeting through a mutual friend, Patterson and I met for an interview at the Old Louisville Coffee Co-op, so I could learn more. When she walks in, she’s wearing a shirt emblazoned with the motto “Netflix and Trib.” It’s a tee-shirt she made as a part of the first trial run of offerings from TRIB TALK Tees. For those who don’t know, “trib” is short for tribadism. A technical term for a specific sex act, often more commonly referred to by the colloquial term, “scissoring.” Patterson started her TRIB TALK Tees to address what she sees as a problem, an absence, in much of the Pride wear she sees: “I want to have a line that caters specifically to the lesbian community, both masculine and feminine-presenting. This is my lifestyle. I want this line to reflect that.” Patterson’s outspoken attitude towards her lesbian identity started in her late teens, just after she escaped an abusive relationship with the father of her daughter. “I was like, ‘I’m going to be the gayest person people have ever seen,’ because I had hid that part of me for so long.”

Looking at TRIB’s inaugural line of tees, it seems “Netflix and Trib,” is indicative of the humor, and the attitude that Patterson is bringing. Other shirts in the first line include slogans like “Top, Bottom, Tribadism.” Another shirt has the definition of tribadism, and a third repurposes lyrics from Da Dip; “I put my hand up on yo’ hip, When I TRIB, You TRIB, We TRIB.” There are other shirts even more risque. Patterson laughed when I pointed

out the shirt with the Freak Nasty lyrics and said, “What I love about that shirt is that that’s basically instructions for tribbing.” Patterson isn’t confused about how some people will respond to her shirts; “I wanted my shirts to be loud, and I wanted to be fun. If you take offense to that, that’s something that you need to deal with within yourself.”

This trial run of tees was made using equipment loaned to her by a friend. She’s given them to a few friends, to get the shirts circulating, creating early word of mouth buzz for her Kickstarter. Despite the fact that many awesome businesses and products have started on Kickstarter, Patterson shied away from the idea at first, but then realized if she wanted to turn TRIB into a reality she needed to go all in. “A lot of people’s dreams just end up dying because of the financial side of it all, and it takes a lot for a person that grew up like me to ask for anything because either you’re used to just doing it all by yourself, or you’re afraid of being like, judged for asking.” Patterson’s belief in the importance of her work is what finally led her to speak up and ask for help.

“We’re so overlooked, and so downplayed. Or we’re over-sexualized without our consent.”

Patterson hopes that with a successful Kickstarter, and a strong launch for the line, she can expand into other kinds of clothing. “I wanna have workout gear, I know I want some gear that says ‘I only work out so I can trib longer.” From there, she wants to get into intimate apparel.

“Because at the end of the day, tribbing is a sexual act, and I want to have the cute bralette and the boxer shorts, you know?

I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on her work, (and yes, donating to her Kisckstarter), as well as enjoying her wit and defiant attitude as she brings TRIB TALK Tees to life. Keep up with TRIB TALK on insta @tribtalktees, and on the web at tribtalktee.com. •

LaKisha Patterson in Netlix and Trib shirt.| PHOTOS PROVIDED BY PATTERSON.

Top, Bottom, Tribadism shirt worn by creator LaKisha Patterson.

The New York Times Magazine Crossword

IT’S ALL ON THE TABLE

BY GREG SLOVACEK | EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ No. 0731

103 Groups within groups

106 100 percent

107 Part of U.S.D.A.: Abbr.

108 Original first name of Mickey Mouse

111 It can have a French or pistol grip

112 What can keep a bubble from bursting

115 Trumpeter Armstrong

119 F.D.R. initiative for workers’ rights

120 Sci-fi author Asimov

121 ‘‘That’s cool, man’’

123 Some loungewear

126 ‘‘Whole ____ Love’’ (Led Zeppelin hit)

127 Artifacts

128 Held in high regard

129 Scornful look

130 Philosopher Descartes

131 1998 Matt Damon film featuring this puzzle’s game

DOWN

1 Pop culture sister site of The Onion

2 ‘‘I’m back’’

3 Flowers like marigolds and petunias

4 Takes

104 Big swigs

105 Sign of a full house

109 Public-transit customer

110 Patterned fabric

113 Kismet

114 Place to dine on a train

116 Account creator, maybe

117 ‘‘____ Excited’’ (Pointer Sisters song)

118 Yearly January speech to Congress: Abbr.

122 Chill

124 Give new hope to 125 1960s campus activist grp.

SAVAGE LOVE

By Dan Savage | mail@savagelove.net @fakedansavage

OUT WITH IT

Q: I’m a solo polyamorous hetero-romantic pansexual cisgendered man. My serious romantic relationships have all been with cis women, but most of my sex partners are men. Since I bottom when I am with men, most people think I must be closeted or suffer from “internalized homophobia.” This has caused tension with the women I date, ranging anywhere from women not wanting to be with me because they think I am “living a lie” to a recent situation where I was repeatedly “outed” by a bi female poly partner who told people (friends, random gay men) that I was “into guys” and “bi.” I asked her many times to stop, explaining that while those labels may be accurate when I’m in a kink club or my doctor’s office, it is up to me to decide when to use them and with whom. And because I am hetero-romantic, I do not identify as pan or bi outside of those specific places. I think “LGBTQ” labels identify who one loves, whereas to me it is simply a description as the types of sex I enjoy. I had to end things with this woman over this and when I explained why she never admitted to doing anything wrong. While a part of me wants to just not tell women I date about my other partners, I know I can’t since my having sex with men who also have sex with men has health implications for my female partners. How do I convince women that disclosing my sexual preferences without my consent is wrong? How can men like me maintain our sexual privacy while responsibly disclosing relevant information to sex partners?

Pissed About Non-Necessary Erotic Disclosures

A: The first sentence of your letter is the most LGBTQ shit I’ve ever read in my life. I mean, anyone who needs seven words with roots in Latin, Greek, and Tumblr — clocking in at 20 syllables — to describe his sexual identity and romantic orientation is a lot of things, PANNED, but straight (single syllable!) isn’t one of them.

Which is not to say the people you privately come out to as pan — the women you date — have a right to tell friends and/or random gay men that you’re into guys (which you are) or that you’re bi (which you aren’t, although lay people often use “bi” and “pan” interchangeably). If the fact that you get fucked by men is something you wanna keep private… as private as you can keep something you’re doing in public sex environments (kink clubs)… your preferred sex partners (male) and preferred romantic partners (female)

should respect your wishes and keep that shit private.

Sadly, PANNED, figuring out who can be trusted with something a partner has a right to know but that we would prefer kept private isn’t easy or obvious. All too often we only learn someone can’t be trusted after they’ve violated our trust. On the flipside, demanding absolute secrecy about an important part of a relationship — telling our partners they can’t confide in friends they feel they can trust (and might later learn they can’t) — isn’t reasonable or fair. Your right to privacy isn’t absolute, PANNED; your right to privacy has to be balanced against the needs of the women you date to seek advice, perspective, and bullshit detection from their (hopefully) trustworthy friends.

Zooming back in on your sexual identity and romantic orientation… maybe I’m not being fair. You didn’t claim to be straight, PANNED, you only claimed not to identify as pan or bi outside of kink clubs and doctors’ offices. Still, denying that you’re queer because you don’t fall in love with men — you’re not like the other girls — is a weird flex for someone who identifies as pansexual, PANNED, and it’s difficult to see what besides internalized homophobia and/or biphobia would motivate such a flexy denial. If you don’t want people who aren’t currently dicking you down and/or taking a rectal swab to think you’re queer, well, that’s your business. Just as some kinky people prefer to be perceived as vanilla, and some nonmonogamous people prefer to be perceived as monogamous, some bi/pan people prefer to be perceived as straight. People are assumed to be straight, vanilla, and monogamous unless they speak up (or unless their loose-lipped girlfriends speak up), and if you’re comfortable with those assumptions — if you’re comfortable benefiting from those assumptions — no one can force you to identify as LGBTQ when you aren’t getting your ass fucked or swabbed.

But kinky people can’t claim they’re actually vanilla because they only get whipped on Mondays and people who are non-monogamous can’t claim they’re actually monogamous because they only fuck other people on MDMA — and you can’t claim to be something other than LGBTQ on a technicality like, “I only do queer shit with people I could never love.” You can’t embrace the LGBTQ label when it’s convenient (taking loads in kink clubs) and deny being LGBTQ when it’s not (on dates with women). Actually, you can do that — that is, in fact, exactly what you have been doing. But you

shouldn’t do that, PANNED, not right now, and not anymore. These are perilous times for LGBTQ people, as anyone who’s been paying attention to the news knows. Anti-gay, anti-trans, and anti-drag laws are being passed all over the country, books are being banned, Pride events are being met with increasingly menacing protests. LGBTQ people are under siege, PANNED, and the people attacking queer people aren’t going to spare the hetero-romantic queers. So, while I’m sure everyone loves seeing your queer ass in the kink clubs, PANNED, we’re going to need your queer ass on the barricades, too.

Q: My boyfriend and I have struggled to connecting sexually more or less since the beginning of our long-distance relationship more than a year and a half ago. First the issue seemed to be condoms, which he couldn’t stand, but now that I’ve gotten an IUD his desire for sex has completely plummeted and I spend my nights reading through r/deadbedrooms subreddit posts. He says “this usually happens” to him after about a year but he wants to stay together and work through it. But in all honestly, he seems unbothered by the lack of sex. I started snooping — I am aware that is super problematic and something I need to work on — and learned he had recently watched porn featuring exclusively Asian women and then found out he has been contacting random Chinese women via a social platform and asking to meet IRL so he could “learn more about Chinese language, culture, and food.” This just seems so off. I’m not anti-porn and I understand we all have types, but I’m weirded out by the possible fetishization and lack of transparency on his end. Big red flag?

Perplexed And Sadly Sexless

A: That red flag is so big you can’t see the other red flags behind it. You’ve wasted a year and a half on this guy, PASS, and you shouldn’t waste another minute on him. And if it took a little snooping for you to figure that out — if it took snooping for you to see that your boyfriend has been lying to you from the start and that he was prepared to tell you (and other women) bigger and worse lies — you don’t have to waste any time feeling bad about the snooping. DTMFA.

Q: I’m a cis woman that loves to go to sex clubs to try new things. The last event I went to, someone put his penis and balls inside of my pussy, which was such a great experience. But now I am thinking this was a mistake on my end because although he wore a condom on his penis, there isn’t a “ball condom,” at least so far as I know. I want to try this again, but I also want to do it in a low-risk way to keep myself and my other partners safe. Is this considered a risky sexual practice? I know that balls nor-

mally are uncovered, but normally there isn’t nearly so much contact as having them inside of me.

Somewhat Apprehensive Concerning Kink’s Estimated Danger

A: A stranger’s balls slapping against your vulva (or your taint, or your asshole, or your chin) while he fucks you while wearing a condom on his dick vs. a stranger’s balls inserted into you pussy while he’s fucking you while wearing a condom on his dick… doesn’t make an enormous difference where the risks of STI transmission are concerned. Viruses such as HPV, herpes, or mpox can be transmitted via skin-to-skin contact regardless of whether his balls are inside your vagina or being pressed up against your vulva. (Your risk of contracting mpox during straight sex is very, very low — but if the men at the sex clubs you frequent also have sex with each other, they should get the two-dose mpox vaccine and so should you.)

The location of infection can make an STI harder to spot, harder to treat, and more painful to endure. If the dude shoving his dick and balls into you has a small wart or sore from syphilis, herpes, or mpox tucked away under his balls, you may not realize that it’s there. And a genital wart inside your vaginal canal may go unnoticed at first, thereby delaying treatment, SACKED, whereas you or one of your other partners are likelier to spot one on your labia right away. (And if you aren’t already vaccinated against HPV, the virus that causes genital warts, get vaccinated for that too!)

In the final accounting, SACKED, letting someone put his balls inside you elevates your risk of contracting STIs that are passed through skin-to-skin contact — but these are STIs you’re already at risk of contracting during casual sex even when using condoms and, depending on how often you frequent sex clubs, STIs you have probably been exposed to before. The added risk here, again, is the potential location of an outbreak. Ultimately, only you can decide if the reward/thrill of having someone’s balls deep inside you is worth the additional risk. If so, go for it. If not, don’t.

P.S. While none of my gentleman callers has ever shoved his balls into me, I would imagine it would be a lot easier for a condom to unintentionally slip off if someone somehow managed to get his/her/their dick and balls all the way inside — so, maybe consider using a female/insertable condom next time.

P.P.S. Recognizing that we all make mistakes, SACKED, the right time to think about the safety of our other partners is before someone shoves his balls in us, not after.

Send your burning questions to mailbox@savage.love Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love!

ARTS AND HUMANITIES COUNCIL // BLOOMINGTON HANDMADE MARKET // IU WRITERS’ CONFERENCE

GRANFALLOON.IU.EDU

JUNE 6-11, 2023 / BLOOMINGTON, IN

EVERYTHING WAS DIGITAL AND NOTHING HURT

THE FLAMING LIPS

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT

SON LUX

LANGHORNE SLIM / INDIGO DE SOUZA / KAINA / MARK BINGHAM / SALO PALLINI / DANIEL VILLARREAL / GIRLS ROCK BLOOMINGTON / PAT KEARNS DUO / BILLY PILGRIM AND THE EARTHLINGS / DAVID T. JAMES / DJ ANGST / JORDON MUNSON

The Bishop Bar / Blockhouse Bar / The Bluebird Nightclub / Buskirk-Chumley Theater / Cicada Cinema / City Of Bloomington / Constellation Stage & Screen / Cosmic Songwriters Club / Downtown Bloomington Inc. / Eskenazi School Of Art, Architecture + Design / Gallery Walk Bloomington / Girls Rock Bloomington / Indiana Humanities / IU Auditorium / IU Cinema / IU Department Of English / IU Libraries / IU Theatre / Jacobs School Of Music / Kurt Vonnegut Museum & Library / Landlocked Music / Lilly Library / Luddy School Of Informatics, Computing, & Engineering / Monroe County Public Library / Morgenstern’s Books / Platform: An Arts And Humanities Laboratory / The Orbit Room / Visit Bloomington / We Work It / WFHB / Wonderlab Museum Of Science, Health & Technology