Montrose Star – Houston's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Newspaper | October 17, 2018

What a World

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People Will Talk: The Dr. Christine Blasey Ford Edition 10

THE GAY-ETY STARTS HERE! WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 17, 2018 e VOL. IX, 15 Photos: Machado Cicala

MONTROSE STAR .COM » Houston Rainbow Herald

2 » Foodie Diaries

7 » Across the Causeway

CHER Love and Understanding: A conversation with

21 INDEX Editorial Crossword Guide to the Clubs

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PAGE 2 | MontroseStar.com e | Wednesday October 17, 2018

HRH Report

e By

T H E S TA R C O N T R I B U T I N G W R I T E R S JIM AYRES by day is an employee benefits and human resources writer. By night he turns his creativity toward the local food and restaurant scene. Do you know of a restaurant that needs a review? Info@montrose-star.com JOHN BUCHANAN is originally from Florida but now calls Houston home for 20+ years. “Proud to be Gay and part of the Community – Your Gay Realtor of Choice!” johnwb214@aol.com

NANCY FORD has enjoyed a front row seat to the most remarkable and sparkly Cultural Revolution in the history of mankind. “What a world!” She reflects appropriately. After moving to Houston from Ohio in 1981, Ford became a highly visible player in Texas’ LGBT publishing circles as an editor and contributor to myriad other local and statewide LGBT magazines and newspapers.

RANDALL JOBE has been a fixture in the Houston LGBT Community for several decades in marketing and promotions for top nightclubs, as an actor/director/writer for dozens of theatrical productions, and is also known for his whimsical art pieces. He is the author of the 12-part series “This Old Queen”, which summarized his many experiences living in the gay Mecca, Montrose.

MARK KARIEL is from Marshall, Texas, but has called Houston home for almost 40 years. An accounting supervisor by day, he can be found working most Saturday nights at South Beach’s RuPaul’s Drag Race events. His RuPaul obsession began 6 years ago in Palm Springs. It will all be in his book, plus much more. Stay tuned! mark@sobehouston.com FOREST RIGGS is no stranger to the adventures of life, he bills himself as a “raconteur with a gypsy spirit.” A former educator, public speaker, hospital administrator, counselor and gay B&B owner, he was instrumental in the formation of OutSmart Magazine in the early 1990s. He has written for several newspapers, magazines and other publications.

Recently he completed a collection of short stories about his beloved Galveston and is working on a novel. He currently resides on the island where he can be found wasting bait and searching for the meaning of life.

JOHNNY TRLICA has called the Houston area home all of his life. Four years ago he founded and still edits the Houston Rainbow Herald and has worked in the apartment leasing industry for the past two years. His passion is keeping the battle for LGBT rights at the forefront of today’s headlines and fighting omplacency in the LGBT community.

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Photo via ProjectQ.us

Ray Hill, a club shooting and other top stories Johnny Trlica

ommentary: On June 25, 1978, I was one of about 6,000 gays and lesbians who gathered in the AstroArena for Town Meeting I. The event was being hailed as Houston’s first celebration of Gay Pride Week.

Far from being an activist, I mainly went to see my political idol, Frances “Sissy” Farenthold, the keynote speaker. I fell in love with Sissy when she ran for governor of Texas in 1972. The former Texas State Representative, gubernatorial candidate, and later vice-presidential nominee, is to this day my political hero. I will always remember her speech to the attentive crowd on that day, with words that included, “We are none of us free unless we all are free. We cannot open the door to some minorities while denying access to others.”

Also speaking that day was Ray Hill, whom I met for the first time and have many times since. Ray, who turned 78 on October 13, has been an LGBTQ activist since anyone can remember. He co-organized the first gay rights organization in Houston in 1967, according to his Wikipedia biography page.

In 1968 Ray co-founded radio station KPFT-FM and later hosted a call-in show focused on gay issues.

In 1977 he helped organize Houston’s largest to date gay rights event. Anti-gay crusader Anita Bryant was in town to address the Texas Bar Association and 12,000 gathered to protest her appearance.

Then a year later, Ray was a prominent figure in organizing the aforementioned Town Meeting I, which directly led to the creation of the Montrose Center and the Gay and Lesbian Switchboard of Houston.

“In 1991 Paul Broussard, a 27-year-old gay Houstonian, was murdered by a group of men on the street. Hill insisted that the murder was a hate crime or ‘gay bashing’ and urged the media to pay attention. He also helped organize Queer Nation, a queer activist group, to protest the murder and the police’s apathy. Hill was active in keeping the case in the public eye and called for the strong punishment of the perpetrators,” reads the Wikipedia page.

In addition to being active in the Lawrence v. Texas case which led to the Supreme Court striking down sodomy laws in the United States, Ray has also been an activist for people with HIV and AIDS, and serves on the board of directors for the FAIR Foundation. Ray is credited as authoring the first safe-sex pamphlet in the United States to help stop the spread of HIV and AIDS. In recent years, any time an injustice has occurred in our community, Ray has been there to call out those responsible. His is a voice of reason, justice and equality. Ray has mentored countless people over the course of his life and we trust those folks will carry the banner. They’ve been taught well.

Ray Hill As of our press deadline, Ray Hill is in hospice preparing for end-of-life care. With utmost gratitude we extend thanks to Ray for all he has done for our community and wish him a smooth transition.

Here are a few of the top news stories we’ve been reading on the Houston Rainbow Herald Facebook page.

Shooting outside San Antonio club Violence can and does happen anywhere.

A gunman opened fire outside San Antonio gay club Pegasus last week, wounding three people, reports KSAT.com. Bar manager Mike Rodriguez said an argument outside the club was started by someone’s use of a racial slur.

The shooter remains at large at press time.

Trump admin targets same-sex foreign diplomats For those who believe both of our political parties are the same, this one is for you. “The Trump administration has begun denying visas to same-sex domestic partners of foreign diplomats and United Nations employees, and requiring those already in the United States to get married by the end of the year or leave the country,” reports ForeignPolicy.com.

Foreign diplomats fear the decision will increase hardships for same-sex couples that hail from countries that do not recognize marriage equality.

The United Nations Human Resources Chief wrote, “The Department of State will not issue a G-4 visa for same-sex domestic partners. As of 1 October 2018, same-sex domestic partners… seeking to join newly arrived U.N. officials must provide proof of marriage to eligible for a G-4 visa or to seek a change in such status.”

Actor marries partner Congratulations are in order. “BD Wong, one of the first famous openly gay Asian actors in Hollywood, married his longtime partner, Richard John Frederickson Schnorr,” reports Out.com.

The couple met at a singles event in 2010 and has been dating ever since. Wong can currently be seen in American Horror Story: Apocalypse and was a recurring regular on the prison series Oz and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

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Johnny Trlica is the manager of the Houston Rainbow Herald Facebook page, your source for the latest LGBTQ news and information. Contact him at HRHeditor@gmail.com.

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MontroseStar.com e | Wednesday October 17, 2018 | PAGE 3

OP-ED

CREEP OF THE WEEK:

The 50 Senators who voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh e By

I

TOC OCTOBER 17, 2018 | VOL. IX, 15

D’Anne Witkowski

f you’ve ever wanted to commit sexual assault, now is your chance. I mean, has there ever been a better time, especially for men assaulting women? We are in the midst of the Kavanaugh Window where no accusation of sexual assault, no matter how credible, will be believed.

After all, any woman accusing any man, especially any powerful man, will just be accused of jumping on the #MeToo bandwagon. So go get your ‘sault on. And, honestly, the weirder the better. Sexual assault is shame-inducing and demoralizing all on its own, but if you can make the experience extra embarrassing then that makes it even less likely to be reported at all! Not that you have to worry, because people won’t believe her even if she does report.

You could do something really crazy like ask her, “Who has put pubic hair on my Coke [can]?” Or tell her that you want to rub her [expletive] with a falafel. Shout out to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and celebrity “news” host Bill O’Reilly who were accused of those very things respectively.

And terrible things happened to them like (checks list) getting confirmed to the Supreme Court and continuing to be paid outlandish sums for pretending to be a journalist. Harsh!

Or maybe you committed a smidge or two of sexual assault in your past, say, as a young child of 17 who couldn’t have possibly known that trying to make sex with a girl who didn’t want to make sex with you was in any way wrong. Well, you’re in luck, too, because attempted rape doesn’t count if you were in high school. (It’s also super helpful to be white and rich.)

Now, if you’re a man and you want to sexually assault other males, well, that is not recommended, but who knows? Maybe sexual assault tide raises all sexual assault boats. Then again, some men tend to take that sort of thing marginally more seriously, or at least are a lot less concerned about punishing a homo than, you know, a “normal” guy who rapes.

If I seem angry, then sorry, but not sorry BECAUSE I AM ANGRY AND YES I AM YELLING. With Brett Kavanaugh confirmed to the Supreme Court, where he and Clarence Thomas can drink all the Cokes they

want as they vote to take away a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body, by a president who has himself been accused of sexual assault and harassment many times over and who was caught on tape bragging about grabbing women “by the pussy,” we are saying to women and men who have been sexually assaulted, “You do not matter. We do not see you, we do not hear you, we do not care.” #HimToo is trending on Twitter. The idea is that men are the real victims here. Men have to live in constant fear that they will be falsely accused. In reality, men are much more likely to be sexually assaulted themselves than falsely accused. The idea that women make this stuff up for attention is insane. But it’s a lot easier to believe that than to actually address America’s systemic rape culture problem.

Thankfully if you search for #HimToo on Twitter you find mostly Tweets that begin “This is my son” with pictures of people who are, in fact, not the users’ sons, in order to mock a post purportedly by a mother who Tweeted a picture of her son in a sailor suit and claimed that “he won’t go on solo dates due to the current climate of false sexual accusations by radical feminists with an axe to grind. I VOTE.” The responses are truly hilarious.

And, man, I need to laugh because I feel like breaking something. But I can’t come up with anything worth breaking compared to democracy. America is broken. And as far as I can tell, this break isn’t going to ever fully heal. I’m not saying America will never walk again. But if we ever get back on our feet, we will always have a noticeable limp.

We will always have a reminder of what happened when we were careless. When we were cruel. When we didn’t #BelieveWomen. When we didn’t #BelieveSurvivors. When we went home with the drunkest guy at the party — the guy who’d spent the night boasting about sexual assault, making fun of disabled people, praising Nazis, and gambling with other people’s money — handed him the keys and said, “I’ll sleep while you drive.” Wake. Up. And. Vote. Everything and everyone depends on it. 

COOKING WITH PAULA DREAM

6

Hot and tasty chicken, three ways

DEEP INSIDE HOLLYWOOD Sandra Bernhard will regularly strike a Pose

14

HRH Report.......................................................... 2 OP-ED.....................................................................3 The Frivolist...........................................................5 Cooking with Paula Dream.............................. 6 Foodie Diaries.......................................................7 What A World................................................... 10 The Frivolist:....................................................... 12 Out at the Theater............................................ 14 Crossword Queeries......................................... 19 Across the Causeway....................................... 21 Deep Inside Hollywood...................................22 Positive Thoughts.............................................23 Star Buds.............................................................24

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PAGE 4 | MontroseStar.com e | Wednesday October 17, 2018

KEIRA KNIGHTLEY

Werks the queer narrative ‘Colette’ actress on playing bisexual author Colette, making a lesbian sequel to Bend It Like Beckham and her drag-inspired Sugar Plum Fairy e By

Y

Chris Azzopardi

ou know what’s to love, actually?

How Keira Knightley has now played enough feminist roles to know her character, Juliet, in the bubbly holiday classic Love Actually doesn’t exactly fall into that category. In the Christmas rom-com, Juliet is the object of not one but two men’s desire, and copious close-up shots insist on telling us what we’ve already known: Keira Knightley is breathtakingly beautiful.

The 33-year-old actress was just 17 when 2003’s Love Actually was filmed.

Since then, Knightley’s genre-spanning roles throughout her 23-year career have often positioned her as a heroine in girlpower period films, women characterized by their liberated state of mind (2008’s The Duchess) and patriarchal-defying genius (2014’s The Imitation Game, as Alan Turing’s mathematician-fiancée Joan Clarke). Real-life bisexual novelist SidonieGabrielle Colette, who ghost-wrote for author-husband Henry Gauthier-Villars (known as “Willy” and played by Dominic West) until she reclaimed her autonomy and byline, is right within Knightley’s wheelhouse of women smearing their male oppressors. Take Colette, whose 1944 book Gigi was adapted into a movie musical that won nine Oscars in 1959, including best picture.

Written and directed by out director and fellow Englander Wash Westmoreland (Still Alice), Colette is a tribute to his late husband and collaborator, Richard Glatzer, who died from the progressive neurodegenerative disease ALS. In the hospital before he passed away in 2015, Glatzer, who could not speak, typed “C-O-L-E-TT-E” to Westmoreland on an iPad to communicate that his – but in many ways, their – next project should be “Colette.”

Recently, Knightley called to talk about her special connection to gay directors such as Westmoreland (and James Kent, who directs her in the forthcoming The Aftermath), her enthusiastic response to a Bend It Like Beckham sequel where best friends Jules and Jesse are lesbian lovers, and her desperate plea to drag queens.

You’re so good in this I wouldn’t be mad if all you do is play period bisexuals for the rest of your career.

Well, thank you very much! I’ll quote you on that.

Is there a special relationship between gay directors and female actors such as yourself that helps in telling a story like this one?

That’s an interesting question!

Yes, I think so. I think that there’s that quality of having to fight for your space and fight for your right to be who you feel you are and fight for your voice. So yes, I think there’s a similarity in those two aspects, and one I think, probably, Wash identified with in the story of Colette.

When it comes to the male gaze, is there a difference in having a gay director direct a sex scene?

Yes and no. He did actually turn around when I think it was me and Eleanor (Tomlinson, who portrays bisexual American heiress Georgie Raoul‑Duval) and he was like, “You know, it’s really great ’cause there’s no male gaze here,” and I’m like, “Wash, there are only men in this room!”

(Laughs) He’s like, “Yes, no – you know what I mean!” (Laughs) So yes, because sex is sort of taken out of it in a way, because obviously he doesn’t find me attractive, and that’s great (laughs). But I still think male sexuality in all of its forms is probably slightly different from female sexuality, so there are probably still subtle differences. But it is very nice to know that when I took my clothes off he didn’t get off on it at all.

Are there any other films you’ve worked on where you felt having a gay director helped in doing the story justice?

for their identity and to be accepted and accepting of themselves, understand that there’s a level of emotional intelligence, which often – not always – a heterosexual man will simply try to shut down. So I think that helps if you’re dealing with emotions, which you are when you’re making a film. It helps to have an emotional vocabulary and intelligence and openness. And look, I’m a heterosexual woman, so maybe I’m completely talking out of turn, but I do feel, because there is still a process of acceptance that gay men go through, that emotionally they can be very, very intelligent and open and accepting.

Did Colette’s approach to sexuality speak to you in any profound or personal way?

Yes, because she was entirely natural to herself and she acted without shame. What a wonderful, positive way of looking at your sexuality and the people that you fall in love with. I really respected that about her. I loved that she was herself and that any rule that didn’t fit she just broke and made the life that she wanted to live. I think that’s a wonderful, empowering story, both from a feminist point of view and from the point of view of her sexuality.

Speaking of feminism, I have a feeling Colette wouldn’t love your character in Love Actually.

Probably not. (Laughs)

The men in that movie seem to have all the power, while your character is silent, cute; lots of closeups of you looking pretty. How do you reflect on that role and what it says about women?

I hadn’t really until you just said that! But yes, I can see that. I was 17 when I played that one and I was so excited about just getting a role in a Richard Curtis film. You know, I think there were some pretty good strong women in that. Not that one, but the Martine McCutcheon character and the Emma Thompson character, which is so heartbreaking. I don’t know. I’d have to look at it again with that frame of my mind. I do, however, know Scarlett Curtis, who is Richard Curtis’ daughter and a radical-feminist activist, so he’s done something right there.

As for Emma Thompson, she sobs to Joni Mitchell. And her story doesn’t have the happiest or even most empowered of endings.

But strong people are allowed to break down; it doesn’t mean you don’t have emotions. You just have to then pick yourself up and stand up again. See, the problem is, I haven’t actually seen it since it came out, which was over 10 years ago, so actually I don’t remember quite enough to be able to argue either way. You really, really know it, so I feel like I’m just gonna have to go with whatever you say. (Laughs)

Yes. I worked with… oh my god… my brain’s just literally gone blank and I’ve forgotten every single other person’s name You played gay computer scientist Alan that I’ve ever worked with before.

Turing’s fiancée in Imitation Game. Have you Wait, what the fuck? He directed ever fallen in love with a gay man before?

Aftermath. I can see his face. Oh No, luckily. I feel very fortunate in my god, this is really annoying that, ’cause that would be tricky! because literally I just spent eight weeks with him and he’s Rumor has it that Bend It Like Beckham was the loveliest man in the entire originally written as a lesbian love story? world.

I never read that version of the But I don’t know whether it’s script! I mean, not as far as I know. But sexuality that does it or just – I you might have information that I don’t think it’s the individual. Possibly have. No, the only version of the script gay men, because of their fight Find us on P v Facebook.com & t Twitter

that I ever read was the one that we shot, so it was as it was.

A lot of people in the LGBTQ community wanted Jess and Jules to be a couple in the end.

Fuck yeah! That would’ve been amazing. I think they should’ve been too. I think that would’ve been great. We need a sequel.

You’ve worn some fabulous period wigs over the years – is that your real hair in Colette?

No, I don’t think so. I think we had wigs, always through. Because there were so many different styles, and short, long. I think when it’s long we used some of my hair with some extensions, and then when it was short, it was a wig.

Do you realize how many drag queens are gonna be jealous of the one you wear in your role as the Sugar Plum Fairy in your forthcoming film The Nutcracker and the Four Realms?

Oh, dude, yes. Hell yes. You know, we actually designed it with them in mind. I was so pleased. It was my first time where I could actually be like a drag queen, and I was so excited. We were all talking about it at the time; we were like, “Come on, this is the most amazing drag outfit,” and honestly, I was really excited because normally you have to be so subtle in films and I got these really long, fake eyelashes – I can’t remember whether we used them – but with bits of glitter over them, and we were all like, “This is perfect drag queen attire.” It was so amazing, and I think there are some amazing drag queens out there who are gonna wear it even better than I did. I hope that this film inspires some amazing costumes.

You sound like you could be an avid watcher of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Everybody’s a fan! Yeah, there’s a bit of Drag Race watching. And then there’s a great drag night in East London, which I used to go to when I could go out before I had a child, which was always fun. So can I just put that out there: Please, please let there be a drag queen somewhere who will be in a Sugar Plum Fairy outfit.

As a teenager, you were told your kiss with a gay female friend you went to prom with wasn’t appropriate. What did that experience teach you about LGBTQ discrimination, and how did it influence you as an ally for the community?

I thought it was bullshit at the time. Bullshit... bullshit! Our picture was not put up (on the event’s photo wall) because it was deemed not appropriate.

I’m not sure it was that particular experience that influenced me; I just remember thinking that was stupid and I think I’ve thought that – always along the line – any discrimination against people because of their sexuality has been utterly ridiculous. It was the way I was brought up, and so I’ve never questioned gay rights. So yes, that was one of them; but no, I don’t think that was my sort of awakening. I’ve always had family with many gay friends, and people in the LGBTQ community have always been around me all my life and have been wonderful friends.  As editor of Q Syndicate, the international LGBTQ wire service, Chris Azzopardi has interviewed a multitude of superstars, including Meryl Streep, Mariah Carey and Beyoncé. Reach him via his website at www.chris-azzopardi.com and on Twitter (@chrisazzopardi).

MontroseStar.com e | Wednesday October 17, 2018 | PAGE 5

The Frivolist

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PAGE 6 | MontroseStar.com e | Wednesday October 17, 2018

Cooking with Paula Dream

 Hot and tasty chicken, three ways e By Paula Dream (A K A K AL E HAYGO O D)

W

elcome to the fall season! As the seasons change, so do our appetites.

In this issue I’m concentrating on giving you some easy chicken recipes. Everyone knows how Paula loves chasing chicken (not choking) around Montrose.

But back to cooking. Whoever invented the slow cooker crock-pot should be given the gay person award of the year. So here’s something for the grill and the slow cooker.

Halloween is coming and the leaves will be dropping, so enjoy. Don’t forget our advertisers!

CROCK-POT CHICKEN FRITO PIE

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded 2 cups chicken broth 1 package taco seasoning mix 3 cups corn chips 1 avocado, diced 1 cup cooked black beans, drained 1 large tomato, cored and diced 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped 1/4 cup fresh scallion, chopped

GRILLED CHICKEN & STRAWBERRY BBQ SAUCE

2 7 10 Montrose Blvd.

Houston, T X 7 7 006

713.526.0202 Order Online www.pepperonis.net

In a four quart slow cooker, place chicken, cream cheese, cheddar, chicken broth and taco seasoning mix. Cover and cook on high for three to four hours or six to seven hours on low. Remove lid. Shred chicken with a fork and stir until well mixed in cheese sauce. Serve over chips. Garnish with beans, tomato, cilantro and/or scallion.

1 orange habanero pepper, diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced 1 cup fresh strawberries, quartered 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 jar strawberry spread 1 tablespoons soy sauce 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1 teaspoon dry mustard Salt and pepper, to taste 2 to 4 pounds chicken pieces Using gloves, split open pepper and scrape seeds out, then mince. Mix pepper with garlic, ginger and quartered strawberries to a medium size saucepan with olive oil and a pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat for six to seven minutes, until strawberries start breaking down. Add fruit spread, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and dry mustard. Bring sauce to a slight simmer. Stir until all ingredients are well mixed. Remove from heat, allow to cool a bit, and then puree in food processor or blender until smooth. Return sauce to heat back to a simmer. Add salt and pepper, let reduce for 10 minutes on low heat until sauce is at your desired thickness, and then remove from heat. (Remember, it will continue to thicken.) Season chicken, then place chicken on grill until done. Since sauce is sweet, it will easily burn on the grill, so either add to chicken at very end of grilling or spoon over chicken before serving. Serve extra sauce for dipping.

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CROCK-POT SALSA-CHEESE CHICKEN

1 jar (16 ounces) salsa 1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs, salted to taste 2 cups Mexican style cheese 2 cups cooked Mexican rice Fresh cilantro, chopped (optional) Pour salsa in bottom of four-quart cooker. Place chicken on top of salsa and sprinkle with pinch of salt. Place lid on cooker. Cook on high for three to five hours or on low for four to six hours. Thirty minutes before serving, remove lid from cooker and sprinkle cheese over chicken. Cover tightly with lid and cook for another 30 minutes on high until cheese is melted and salsa is bubbling. Keep sealed so cheese won’t dry out. Serve over rice with chopped cilantro (optional).  Paula Dream (AKA Kale Haygood) owns Beyond Service, a Montrose-based, home-cooking catering company. For more information, call 713-805-4106 or email barrykale@yahoo.com.

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Foodie Diaries

MontroseStar.com e | Wednesday October 17, 2018 | PAGE 7

4412 WASHINGTON AVE | LAURENZOS.COM

Loving La Lucha: Nothing to fight about here e By

Jim Ayres

M

ake no mistake. Hunky Dory I can’t imagine any oysters being and Bernadine’s did not flop fresher than these. They were a with critics or the public. Their closing great start to a lunch of lushly just 18 months after opening reflected textured Blackened Catfish. Lime shady fiscal mismanagement more brightens up nutty brown butter and than the tastes of Houston diners. capers in this dish. The fish was as But…it happens. Those restaurants fresh as the oysters; its succulence are history and life moves on. transcends any other catfish in town.

Houston-born, Atlanta-based chef If you’ve ever been to a crab boil, Ford Fry certainly did. Best known you’ll find a side order of Crab Boiled here for State of Grace in Corn to be exactly what River Oaks, Fry wasted you expect. No more, no no time in claiming less, and that’s a great these neighboring spots thing. Butter and Old Bay at 1801 North Shepherd. take you to the seaside as Superica, a Tex-Mex cash you attack every little cob. cow, has opened in one.

As for the Shrimpy Fry aims for something La Lucha’s oysters Macaroni Salad, made more personal at La just as my own family did, Lucha. Drawing on his I couldn’t stop eating it. childhood memories Veggie bits are mixed in of the old San Jacinto with cocktail shrimp, but Inn, Fry and culinary the sugary mayonnaise director Bobby Matos dressing makes this salad have fashioned a new sing. I wouldn’t hesitate to menu of “Gulf Gems get it in bulk to bring to a and Chicken Dinners.” potluck—or for a spoonful That Chicken Dinner now and then at home. is your choice of a half I mentioned a or whole fried bird with bartender, so there must biscuits (a San Jacinto be a cocktail, right? La Inn specialty), pickles Lucha has a short list of and one of three sauce appealing ones. I tried the accompaniments — green La Lucha’s Analog Cocktail Analog, a palate cleansing harissa, honey sambal mix of mezcal, vermouth or oyster mayonnaise. It and two mystery sounds marvelous, but “aperitivos” (one must on my recent visit, I was have been Campari). The in the mood for seafood. dainty glass was beautiful After ordering, I and likely antique. mentioned to the La Lucha is a most bartender that, even inviting place. Sort of La Lucha’s Crab Boiled Corn and as I approach the big like a favorite relative’s Shrimp Macaroni Salad 6-0, I had never tried home where the comfy a raw oyster in my life. His gift to furniture is mismatched, family photos me? Three of the finest, all Gulfabound, and the tchotchkes mean sourced off the Alabama coast, served something. A place where everybody with horseradish, cocktail sauce stops by for a chat and a bite, no phoning and a shallot-vinegar mignonette. ahead or doorbell required.  I picked up the cute little fork, lifted the oysters from their shells, dipped them—and proceeded to 1801 North Shepherd Drive eat them right off the fork. Poor Houston, Texas 77008 form, I know, but I’m not the 713-955-4765 slurping type. Honestly, I’m not!

ace in l p t s e b the et town to g prime rib. it. come get

French dip

La Lucha

L A L U C H AT X . C O M

La Lucha’s Blackened Catfish

prime rib pizza

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Photos: Machado Cicala

PAGE 8 | MontroseStar.com e | Wednesday October 17, 2018

CHER Love and Understanding: A conversation with

Icon talks ‘hope’ gleaned from the LGBTQ community, ‘breadcrumbs’ of her legacy and that time she jumped out a window e By

C

Chris Azzopardi

her is so low-key about being Cher that calling her is like calling your mom. “Hi,” she purrs with signature simplicity when I phone her presidential suite in late August. We are speaking matter-of-factly about gay things, political things, Twitter things (“I’m finished with the emojis that we have”). About going to Walgreens and trying to remember why she went to Walgreens. This seems so very … normal?

Certainly, Cher is the most multi of multi-hyphenates – fiery human rights activist, Auto-Tune pioneer, a unicorn, the Phoenix – but no, not at all normal. Not from down here, where we’ve basked in the long-reigning diva’s treasure trove of film and music and bedazzled Bob Mackie costumes, and admired her ability to get down, do a five-minute plank (seriously), and somehow get back up again. That motion is the time-tested motion of Cher’s enduring six-decade career. It’s where grit meets guts meets glitter.

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Our Oz, our Wonderland; a safe, shimmering space providing escapist refuge since the 1960s, a span which has seen Sonny (Bono, her late ex-husband) and Cher, anthemic rock and gay dance, inventions and reinventions – Cher’s mere existence brought us closer to those within our own community, and closer to ourselves.

She has three Golden Globes, a Best Actress Oscar (for Moonstruck), a Grammy (for “Believe”) and an Emmy (for Cher: The Farewell Tour), and in December, she’ll be the recipient of the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor for her indelible contributions to culture. But Cher’s superheroine, Hollywood-royalty sheen isn’t without genuine normalperson realness. Unlike “Believe,” there is nothing artificially manufactured about Cher’s no-nonsense, everywoman, Walgreens-shopper persona. Because even when her sequins glisten like a galaxy of stars on a lit Vegas stage, when she’s floating high above you in majesticgoddess fashion, and when she’s still wearing a variation of her “If I Could Turn Back Time” music video one-piece at her current age of 72, Cher does the least pop icon thing a pop icon can do: remind you she’s still living in your world.

In July, she did her gay-icon due diligence by helicoptering onto the set of Mamma Mia 2! Here We Go Again to play the role she’d been playing in front of the world, most discernibly to generations of baby-gays and grown-up gays: maternal pillar. When I met Cher in 2016 on Halloween at a fundraiser stop for Hillary Clinton in the suburbs of Michigan, I was struck by her Cher-ness, the glitzy legend momentarily eclipsed by her warm, inviting humanness.

Armed with a cannon of glittery ABBA bops, Cher has come to our rescue once again with an ode to the Swedish discopop supergroup titled – what else? – Dancing Queen, her 26th album and first since 2013’s Closer to the Truth. In December, The Cher Show, the musical about her life, which she is co-producing, officially opens on Broadway. And next year, because she just can’t help herself, she will embark on a tour appropriately titled Here We Go Again.

The night we spoke, Cher was laid-back, reflective and full of hearty chuckles as she talked about that Walgreens detour, kissing Silkwood co-star Meryl Streep, the wedding dress she’d wear to Trump’s impeachment party, the “breadcrumbs” of her legacy, Twitter, the devil, jumping out of a window – and not only her long-standing influence on the LGBTQ community, but our influence on her.

Cher, I have a story you probably haven’t thought about in some time: It’s 2016, you’re at a Walgreens in Flint, Michigan, on Halloween. You were there campaigning for Hillary and some Walgreens shopper told you they loved your Cher costume.

Yes! Oh my god! Wasn’t that, like, the weirdest experie nce at the Walgreens?!

You tell me. I wasn’t there!

Haha! I needed to go into the Walgreens for something. Or: I had a moment to breathe ... I don’t know. I went into Walgreens and I was looking for something, and then the girls who were helping me realized it was me, and then there was a whole kind of hubbub

MontroseStar.com e | Wednesday October 17, 2018 | PAGE 9

thing and all these little trick-or-treaters came in as I was leaving. So they were all outside and I piled them into the limousine and we were hanging out in there. I mean, I was supposed to be going to a whole bunch of fundraisers – I ended up making them, of course – and I was busy playing with the kids.

Are you frequently mistaken for a Cher impersonator? Because, I mean, how often would the real Cher be at a Walgreens?

Right? And in Flint! Well, probably not often. Ha! But you know, the minute I start talking, they pretty much know it’s me.

You’re hard on yourself when it comes to your music. Are you happy with Dancing Queen?

I think I did a good job. Now whether people are gonna like it…

Less studio drama than that time you stormed out on producer Mark Taylor after recording “Believe”?

Well... yes. Haha! But I have to tell you something: These songs are not easy. You’d think, “Oh, they’re pop-y and Björn (Ulvaeus) and Benny (Andersson) and the girls start to get into them,” and they’re not. No more Mr. Nice Guy! They’re rough songs. And they’re much more intricate than I thought, but I had a great time. Some of them are easier, and some of them have some rough spots.

You could’ve easily found enough inspiration in the world’s current plight for another album like your 2000 indie album Not Commercial, which was dark.

But we don’t need that right now!

We need ABBA right now! If anything, we need to not be brought down because everything is so terrible. I was just talking to this one boy who came in and he was asking me what did I really think and I said, “Babe, I think the picture’s bleak. I think everyone’s gotta vote.”

Thankfully, Dancing Queen is a slice of gay heaven in hell.

Well, look, I wasn’t doing it for that, but I’m happy if it can make people happier than they were before they heard it.

When were you first aware that the LGBTQ community identified you as a gay icon?

I don’t think I was when I was with Sonny. I think it happened on The Sonny and Cher Show (which ran from 1976-1977), somehow. I don’t know – I don’t know how that happens. I mean, how does it happen?

I have no idea! It’s just like, we made a pact and we’re a group and that’s it.

But you were seeing more of the LGBTQ community come out at some point? There was a switch?

Yeah, there was a change, there was definitely a change. And I think it was when I was not with Sonny anymore, and then somehow it all started to click.

But I always had gay friends. I actually almost got arrested at a party with my best friend at school. He was gay but he couldn’t let anybody know, and he wanted me to go with him to a party and the party got raided. And we jumped out the bathroom window! It was high.

We had to go over the bathtub into the window and jump out.

And you got away?

Yep.

Do you recall the moment that galvanized you to stand up as an ally for the LGBTQ community?

I really don’t know if there was a moment. I’m not sure there was a

moment; I’m not sure what it was. I just feel that, probably, there was a moment where guys thought I was just one of you. It’s like, there’s a moment where you’re either part of the group and you’re absorbed into the group and people love you as part of the group, or they don’t even know you’re alive, you know? Gay men are very loyal.

Look, I have a friend (makeup artist) Kevyn Aucoin – he’s dead now – but he told me when he was young, he was growing up in some place in Louisiana and said how horrible it was to have to hide and be frightened, and he said he loved listening to Cher records. I think that’s a dead giveaway! Haha! If you want to hide being gay, do not buy Cher records!

And I had another friend who had a Cher poster on his wall. I don’t remember where he came from – some small town too – and his dad ripped it off the wall and he bought another one, put it inside his closet and said it was a way to really be who he was in spite of who his dad wanted him to be.

When in your life have you felt like the LGBTQ community was on your side when the rest of the world maybe was not?

Always. I remember when I was doing (the play) Come Back to the Five and Dime (in 1976) and we had standing room only before we got reviewed, and after we got reviewed nobody came except the community – the community, and little grey-haired old women who came to matinees. We managed to stay open until we could build back up the following. Also, the gay community, they just don’t leave you, they stay with you; that’s one thing that always keeps you going.

What does that loyalty mean to you?

There’s been sometimes where I was just, you know, heartbroken about things, but it always gives you hope when there are people who think that you’re cute and worthwhile and an artist. It’s a great thing to have in your back pocket.

Your mother once told you when you were a child: “You won’t be the prettiest, you won’t be the most talented, you won’t be the smartest, but you are special.” What kind of mark did that leave on you?

It just left some sort of indelible, interior tattoo. Because I have gone through so much shit in my life. I can’t tell you how many times people have written, “She’ll be gone by next year.”

I remember I got really pissed off at somebody and I went, “I’ll be here and you’ll be gone.” I don’t think I believed it at the time, but I was just angry.

So what you’re saying is what I’ve longed to hear: You’re immortal.

Well, no, I’m not saying that. Ha! I’m just saying I can be really pissy.

At the Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again premiere in July, you and Meryl Streep kissed on the lips. Was that meant to be the Silkwood reunion the internet wanted it to be?

we just thought it was funny. I said, “Kiss me!” And we just kissed!

I have to tell you something: She is funny. She is wicked funny! And I don’t know that she gets to show that side all that often, but she’s wicked funny and she just will do anything for a lark.

She’s got a really great serious side, but she’s got this really hysterical side too.

How do you hope your role as the mother of a trans son, Chaz Bono, has influenced other parents of LGBTQ kids?

This is what I think, and this is what I would hope: I would hope that, look, I didn’t go through it that easily. Both times. When I found out Chaz was gay, I didn’t go through it that easily; when I found out Chaz was (transitioning) ... except we talked about it a lot, actually.

But then Chaz didn’t mention it anymore, so I kind of forgot. And what I think is, there’s such a fear of losing the child you love, and what will replace that child.

I think it’s about the fear, mostly. I felt, who will this new person be? Because I know who the person is now, but who will the new person be and how will it work and will I have lost somebody?

And then I thought of something else: I thought, my god, if I woke up tomorrow and I was a man, I would be gouging my eyes out. And so I know that if that’s what you feel then that must be so painful that it doesn’t make any difference what anyone else feels or what anyone else thinks. Chaz is so happy now and we get along better than ever.

You’re known to speak your mind. When’s the last time your mouth got you into trouble?

I think it was my fingers that got me into trouble last time. I had to delete a couple of things that I tweeted, which now what I do is: If I’m gonna just go off on a rant, I do it first, I look at it, I delete it, but I take a picture of it first and then I have it. Then I decide if I really wanna put it on my Twitter or if I really wanna tweet it – or if I got it out of my system.

I said something that I thought was really funny but obviously the people on Trump’s side didn’t feel it was funny and I got so much shit that I didn’t expect.

There seems to be a fair amount of homophobes who you end up calling out.

Yeah. I mean, I don’t know what they are. There’s just so much phobia of everybody. You’ve gotta be the same color, you’ve gotta like the same things, you’ve gotta be the same religion. It’s like if you’re not one of them, you’re an enemy.

You’re known for your emojis – do you have a go-to?

Well, I have a few of them. I have cake when I’m really happy, I have a ghost when I’m really happy, and when I’m really, really happy I put them together. I wish I had something that was more than the guy who’s got the blue head that is screaming. I wish I had somebody with a scream and his head was coming off the top of his body. I really wish there were better emojis. I’m finished with the emojis that we have.

Haha! No! We were just thinking it was stupid! It was so dumb! Meryl came behind me and I didn’t know it, and then we turned to each other, she looked up Am I hearing right: You’re done with emojis? at me and she said, “You weren’t this tall Yeah, stick a fork in ’em! I just want yesterday!” And we laughed. And we just there to be more. I like the emoji that’s kissed! I had on my 10-inch heels, and the red-faced one with all the little signs you can see how tall I am next to her and over his mouth, which I always imagine Find us on P v Facebook.com & t Twitter

is “fuck.” That’s what I put instead of the letters because they just get so angry. But also, I use the guy with the zipper across his mouth because I can’t say that. I have little fans, so I have to stop using that.

You could send out the shit emoji and you know what, Cher, the gays would go wild.

Oh, I’ve done that before! I put a bull and that together for when I think, “Oh, this is such bullshit.”

What will you be wearing to Trump’s impeachment party?

Well, I think that we’re all a little bit too premature for that, because I don’t think that’s gonna happen. But in my dreams I will be wearing something – oh, I think I’ll wear a wedding dress! Haha! I think I’ll just wear a white wedding dress.

And a veil.

To symbolize?

Just purity and excitement and something new. A new phase!

And we’ll all go on a honeymoon after.

Yes, we’ll go on one big honeymoon forever afterwards. I don’t see that happening because I think that there are too many really smart people, in the devilish kind of way. All those people who are advising him, they’re really smart. But they’re really from the dark side. I don’t mean the actual devil in reality – not that I think that there is a devil in reality – but just a real dark side of gutting the entire government and gutting everything that was meant to preserve our safety and the water and the air and the land and schools and healthcare and all of it.

When it comes to our current pop landscape – Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, et cetera – who do you think does or doesn’t have the staying power that you’ve demonstrated throughout your entire career?

Gosh, I don’t know. It’s really hard to know until there’s more time under their belts, do you know what I mean?

There’s got to be a little bit more time under their belts to know that. I think they’ve all done a pretty good job so far, but I think you’ve gotta have ... like, I’m 54 years into this business, so I think we have to wait a minute.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how we interpret an artist’s legacy after Aretha passed, and every time an icon passes on. Do you think about yours and what you hope that will be?

You know, I don’t really think about it. The only provision I’ve made is: I want all my friends and family to go to Paris and have a big party. I’m gonna fly everybody to Paris and have a big party.

But no, I don’t think about it too much because it’s like, thinking about it can’t do me any good. It is what it is, and to think about it, what will that get me?

Kind of nothing. Also, what’s really great is there’s music left behind and there’s film left behind, you know? I’m gonna leave a trail. I’ll leave breadcrumbs. e As editor of Q Syndicate, the international LGBTQ wire service, Chris Azzopardi has interviewed a multitude of superstars, including Meryl Streep, Mariah Carey and Beyoncé. Reach him via his website at www.chris-azzopardi.com and on Twitter (@chrisazzopardi).

PAGE 10 | MontroseStar.com e | Wednesday October 17, 2018



What A World

PEOPLE WILL TALK:

“

The Dr. Christine Blasey Ford Edition e By

I sighed a big sigh yesterday evening and my 11-year old asked what was wrong. I told her about the vote and that Kavanaugh would be confirmed.

Her reply: I want to grow up to be a lawyer and then run for senate. But, first I will start with student council next year.

Nancy Ford

and thousands of people who have had their lives dramatically altered by sexual violence have reached out to share their experience and have thanked me for coming forward.

”

—Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Via MarieClaire.com

“

The first thing that struck me from your statement this morning was that you are terrified. And I just wanted to let you know I’m very sorry. That’s not right.

Photo via Esquire.com

not my responsibility to determine whether Mr. Kavanaugh deserves to “sitItonis the Supreme Court. My responsibility is to tell you the truth.… Thousands

”

—A mother. Via Facebook

is hard. Tomorrow will be harder. And “we Today will likely have even harder days ahead.

Please remember this: while we fight for ourselves and our friends, we also fight for our kids, and their kids, and theirs.

”

—Pantsuit Nation administrator Cortney Tunis. Via Facebook.com

If you listened to that opening “statement

by Dr. Christine Blasey

”

Ford, and it did not break your heart, please go see a cardiologist because you have no heart.

—Special prosecutor Rachel Mitchell. Via MarieClaire.com

”

is contagious. Indeed, that’s a driving “forceBravery behind the #MeToo movement. And you

—Political commentator, Ana Navarro. Via Twitter.com

sharing your story is going to have a lasting, positive impact on so many survivors in our country. We owe you a debt of gratitude for that, Doctor.

“If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion and will not hold ourselves bound to any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”

”

—Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat from Vermont. Via Yahoo.com

“

—Former First Lady Abigail Adams, writing in 1776. Via Facebook.com

I think we’re at a place where we need to begin thinking about the credibility and integrity of our institutions.

up. We can’t heal what we “don’tKeepfeel.yourAs ahead nation, we have needed to see all of this in order to do what it necessary to heal and correct it. Don’t become dis-engaged, become more determined. The arch of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.

Let’s lean on it and help it bend a little faster!

”

—Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska. Via NYTimes.com

Justice Neil Gorsuch because I “feltIhisvotedlegalforability and temperament qualified

”

—The Rev. Deborah L. Johnson. Via Facebook

him to serve on the Supreme Court. Judge Kavanaugh is different. If this were a political decision for me I certainly would be deciding the other way. History will judge you, but most importantly you will judge yourself.

Photo via Slate.com

”

—Senator Heidi Heitkamp, Democrat of North Dakota. Via CNBC.com

No matter what your political opinion/ “affiliation might be, we must admit that these decisions are not made by ‘the voice of the people.’ Kavanaugh was nominated by a candidate who lost the popular vote by 3 million+ votes. The 49 Senators who voted ‘No’ on Kavanaugh represent 181.8 million Americans.

The 51 Senators who voted ‘Yes’ represent 143.2 million. Our political system is broken.

Next time the National Anthem is “played, every woman and girl in this country should take a knee. ”

”

—Actor Johnny Galecki. Via Instagram.com

“

Interesting about Brett Kavanaugh, he was nominated to the D.C. Circuit in 2003 by George W. Bush. His nomination stalled for three years amid intense, intense controversy. At the time, the liberal lion of the Senate, Senator Ted Kennedy, called Brett Kavanaugh, quote, the youngest least experienced and most partisan appointee to the court in decades. He was nominated in 2003. He didn’t actually have his successful confirmation hearing until 2006.

—A viral meme. Via Facebook.com

”

—News anchor Rachel Maddow. Via MSNBC.com

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“I am a sexual assault survivor.

Trump the other day was speaking at a rally, and he said, ‘She has no memory of how she got to the party. Should we trust that she remembers the assault?’ The answer is ‘yes.’”

—Lady Gaga. Via Esquire.com

was able to express a real “anger,(Kavanaugh) an aggression, as well as a lot of emotion.

(No female Supreme Court candidate) would ever have the license to express (herself) in that way.…We still have so far to go in terms of the power that he had and the license that he had ... to cry or to be angry….At the end of the day, I certainly believed her

.”

—Brandeis Professor Anita Hill, who accused Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment when he was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1991. Via BusinessInsider.com

MontroseStar.com e | Wednesday October 17, 2018 | PAGE 11

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+1 Google+ Find us on P vFacebook.com, tTwitter & P

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

PAGE 12 | MontroseStar.com e | Wednesday October 17, 2018

The Frivolist:

6 get-up-and-go ways to experience fall’s magnificent foliage e By

Mikey Rox

5. HIKING STATE AND NATIONAL PARKS

E

xperience Mother Nature’s majesty with these make-a-weekend-outof-it ways to view stunning displays of fall foliage like never before.

Head into any of the state and national parks (by car or on foot) that include forestland in a seasonal climate to surround yourself with reach-out-andtouch-it foliage. If you’re crafty, take some of it home with you and DIY a project like leaf napkin rings for your Thanksgiving tablescape, an autumnal welcome sign for your front door, or 28 other fun ideas from Country Living’s “30 Gorgeous Ways to Craft Fall Leaves.”

Great for neighborly gifting, too.

1. CROSS-COUNTRY RAIL TRIP When I read about how blogger Derek Low booked himself a cross-country Amtrak trip from San Francisco to New York for $187, I was skeptical. So I reached out to Low – who now helps people like you and me book their own excursions for a $49 consulting fee (he basically does all the work for you) – and it’s legit, folks. My trip, which departed October 1 from New York’s Penn Station, cost about $450 total with overnight stops in Chicago, Denver, and Salt Lake City along the way. You can still take the 3,400-mile journey for around $200 – where you’ll see the brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows of fall from coast to coast from your cozy coach seat (how many people can say they’ve done that?) – but the lower price is dependent on when you’re traveling and includes no stopovers. I personally recommend spending the extra cash to get off the train and spend a couple days in the scheduled cities. Steamworks Baths in Chicago is a great place to unwind after the first 18-hour leg.

2. CITYPASS Aside from being one of the best ways for new and local tourists of an area to enjoy that destination’s main attractions, CityPASS also provides a unique way to encounter exceptional autumn vistas.

For instance, you can elevator up to Top of the Rock Observation Deck in

6. ROAD TRIP

midtown Manhattan to peer out over Central Park – the pinnacle of municipal foliage – as burnt color covers the entirety of the green space’s 51 blocks.

CityPASS is available in a dozen other cities throughout North America, most of which include opportunities to visit their tallest structures for 360-degree views.

3. LGBTQ CAMPS AND WOODED RESORTS If camping is up your alley, plan a trip to one of the many LGBTQ-focused or gender-exclusive grounds where you can pitch a tent (literally and figuratively) or rent a cabin for a weekend in the great outdoors.

There are 19 states across America that offer a gay camping experience, information for which is available on GayCampingUSA.com, where you can make friends over fires, participate in

traditional camp activities, and take leisurely hikes around the campuses or nearby trails to get up close and personal with fall foliage’s last hurrah.

4. HELICOPTER AND HOT-AIR BALLOON RIDES If you’re a risk taker and adventure lover, consider lifting off to cover grand expanses of changing leaves via helicopter or hot-air balloon. While many areas (especially those in proximity to major cities) offer helicopter rides, hotair balloon rides are scarcer, but you can find both – and save money – by searching Groupon and other dailydeal sites wherever you are. You may have to drive a bit to get to the launch locations – hot-air balloons are usually in rural areas – but it’ll be worth the road trip and photo memories that’ll awe all your followers on Instagram.

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My boyfriend and I are big on road trips, especially in the fall, because we’re both keen on local outdoor festivals, fresh markets and orchards, and anything made from harvest fruits like apple and pumpkin. Recently we spent a weekend discovering south Jersey – because who knew it was so quaint and rural?

– driving from cute town to even cuter town (you’ll absolutely love Mullica Hill), popping into small shops, tasting beers at craft breweries, eating our weight in donuts from Amish markets, attending a rodeo, and joining festivities, like the Smooch-a-Pooch event we happened upon at the Human Village Brewing Co. in Pitman, N.J., to save the lives of three puppies with holes in the hearts. Of course we smooched all the pooches and enjoyed our drives on county back roads where the trees were just on the cusp of changing. Doesn’t get more romantic than that.



Mikey Rox is an award-winning journalist and LGBT lifestyle expert whose work has been published in more than 100 outlets across the world. He spends his time writing from the beach with his dog Jaxon. Connect with Mikey on Instagram @mikeyrox.

MontroseStar.com e | Wednesday October 17, 2018 | PAGE 13

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

Sherlock Holmes and a double dose of Shakespeare e By

Randall Jobe

F

inal weekend. Main Street Theater presents The Book of Will

by Lauren Gunderson. This beautiful play tells the tale of how Shakespeare’s First Folio came into existence thanks to the loyalty and love of his dear friends, particularly John Heminges and Henry Cordell, actors in Shakespeare’s company. They are determined to preserve the true versions of plays and compile the works that shaped their lives. Their families join in what is a truly a labor of love, stopping at nothing to make it happen. Through October 21.

2540 Times Blvd. Tickets: 713-524-6706.

Stages Repertory Theatre presents Swimming While Drowning

by Emilio Rodriguez. Angelo and Mila are fifteen and homeless. Angelo is a dreamer and Milo is a streetwise hustler, but when they become roommates at a shelter for LGBTQ teens, they build a fragile bond that inspires them to reach for understanding and self-acceptance.

Rodriguez’s poetic coming-of-age story celebrates the healing power of hope and the beautiful mystery of being a teenager. Through October 21.

3201 Allen Parkway, Suite 101. Tickets: StagesTheatre.com or 713-527-0123.

Theatre Under The Stars continues its 50th season with The Wiz. Based on the book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, this reinvention of the classic tale features a book by William F. Brown and music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls. A TonyAward winner for Best Musical, The Wiz is a super-soul and energetic experience with a delightful twist on all of your favorite characters: Dorothy, Toto, the Wicked Witches and more. Through November 4. Hobby Center, 800 Bagby Street. Tickets: TUTS.com or 713-5588887 (TUTS).

The Alley Theatre kicks off its 2018-19 season by bringing to the stage Twelfth Night, Shakespeare’s comedy classic of unrequited love, genderbending hijinks and quick wit. Directed

by Jonathan Mascone, this hilarious tale finds Viola assuming the disguise of a page boy for Duke Orsino, placing her at the center of an explosive love triangle in which identity, passion and gender all threaten to come undone.

Bursting with vitality and romance,

Out at the Theater Photo via TUTS.com

PAGE 14 | MontroseStar.com e | Wednesday October 17, 2018

Twelfth Night gives audiences one of Shakespeare’s most dynamic heroines matching wits with a host of captivating characters. Suitable for audiences high schoolaged and older.

Through November 28. 615 Texas Avenue. Tickets: AlleyTheatre.org or 713-220-5700.

Alley Theatre presents A Landing on the Bayou; a multi-media artist’s performance exploring Houston’s diverse, rich and political drag scene in the years between the Stonewall Riots and the beginning of Salome Smith stars as Dorothy in Theatre Under The Stars’ ‘The Wiz’. the AIDS epidemic (1969-1985). community together during the darkest Drawing from audio recordings and days of the AIDS crisis raising funds interviews the artists conducted with through their unbounded generosity a wide range of community members and raising spirits through their including Hot Chocolate, Tasha Kohl, luminous performances. This limited Ray Hill and Mary Hooper, the piece engagement is free to the public. celebrates the legendary and amateur November 8 through 9. 4th Floor Texas drag performances who together in the Room, 615 Texas Avenue. Tickets and LGBTQ rights movement and held the reservations: AlleyTheatre.org.



First Annual Galveston HIV/ AIDS Seawalk on November 11 BENEFITTING ACCESS CARE OF COASTAL TEXAS

2018 GALVESTON HIV/AIDS SEAWALK "

B

enefitting Access Care Of Coastal Texas, Galveston will be having its first AIDS/HIV “Seawalk” benefitting ACCT. This 2-mile walk will take place on November 11, 2018, at 11 a.m., starting at 30th and Seawall. Check-in will begin at 9 a.m.

Street parking is available with a fee of $1 an hour or $8 for the day. Preevent swag pick up will be the week prior at ACCT MondayThursday 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. and again on Friday, November 9 at Rumors Beach Bar from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The walk will be both on the Seawall and the sand spanning from 30th tto 45th streets. Water Stations will be made available for all participants.

Following the walk, please join us for your Sunday Funday festivities at all three local gay bars. There will be three unique Drag Shows also benefitting ACCT. 

NOVEMBER 11TH @ 11AM

with a triple Drag show to follow AT ALL THREE LOCAL GAY BARS

Walk with "porpoise"

LEARN MORE AT OUR WEBSITE OR SIMPLY USE OUR QR CODE www.accttexas.org +1 Google+ Find us on P vFacebook.com, tTwitter & P

Galveston AIDS/HIV “Seawalk”

CONTRIBUTIONS $25 will receive a T-shirt $50 will receive a T-shirt & a water bottle $100 will receive a T-shirt, water bottle, and a hoodie. $250 will receive everything above and a ticket to our Annual Champagne Brunch

REGISTER ONLINE: Accttexas.org

MontroseStar.com e | Wednesday October 17, 2018 | PAGE 15

Turkish Festival reflects Houston’s international flair

T

he 26th Houston Turkish Festival will celebrate all things Turkish, including authentic Turkish food, coffee, live music, traditional folk dancing including the famous whirling dervishes, a kids’ corner filled with fun activities, arts and crafts, and a Grand Bazaar.

This year the festival will also feature a mini World Pavilion that will provide an overview to the mosaic of international cultures Houston prides itself with. The theme for the 2018 Houston Turkish Festival is “We come in different colors, we live as one.”

This year’s festival will feature

WHAT:

26th Houston Turkish Festival

award winning performances by the Tuana Ankara Folk Dance Group from Turkey as well as a collage of other live music and dance shows including “Opera and Keys Under the Stars” featuring renowned artist Mete Tasin and acclaimed Turkish composer Erberk Eryilmaz with piano and violin performances, Izmir Olgunlasma Institute fashion show, world-renowned clarinet player Ismael Lumanowski from New York with amazing folklore compositions, and many other performances by local international guest organizations. e

WHEN & WHERE:

November 17 through 18 Jones Plaza, 600 Louisiana St, Houston 77002 TICKETS:

$10 at gate. Children free. Reduced prices online INFO: www.HoustonTurkishFest.com

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PAGE 16 | MontroseStar.com e | Wednesday October 17, 2018

Please note: Events, dates and times subject to change without notice.

Q Tony’s Corner Pocket presents Twisted Tuesdays variety

Ġ Wed › October 17

show hosted by Amanda, Ashleey and Alexis Nicole, 9p, followed by Amateur Male Dance Contest, 10p

Q Alley Theatre presents Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, 7:30p (Thru 10/28) alleytheatre.org Q Heights Theater presents Mary Chapin Carpenter in concert, 8p, theheightstheater.com• Q Stages Repertory Theatre presents Emilio Rodriguez’s coming-of-age story Swimming While Drowning, (Thru 10/21) stagestheatre.com Q Tony’s Corner Pocket hosts ‘5-4-3-2-1 Wednesdays’ with Duckie & An’Marie, 8:30p, plus Hottest Male Dancers 6 Nights A Week, 10p

Ġ Wed › October 24

Q Tony’s Corner Pocket hosts ‘5-4-3-2-1 Wednesdays’ with Duckie & An’Marie, 9p, plus Hot Male Dancers 6 Nights A Week, 10p Ġ Thu › October 25

Q Avenida Houston’s Party on the Plaza presents GRAMMY-nominated singer/songwriter Hayes Carll, 7p, avenidahouston.com Q Arena Theatre: Gipsy Unidos presents Gipsy Kings by Andre Reyes, arenahouston.com

Ġ Thu › October 18

Q Improv Comedy Theater & Restaurant presents Anjelah Johnson: More of Me Tour, 7p (Select dates/ times thru 10/28) improvhouston.com Q Main Street Theater opens its 43rd season with the regional premiere of Lauren Gunderson’s The Book of Will, 7:30p (Select dates/times thru 10/21) mainstreettheater.com Q Matchbox 3: The Catastrophic Theatre presents Sam Shepard’s Curse of the Starving Class, 7:30p (Select dates thru 10/21) catastrophictheatre.com Q Scream World Haunted House presents Houston’s most terrifying haunts (Thru 11/3) screamworld.com

Ġ Fri › October 26

Q La Granja Disco & Cantina presents Terror at La Granja: Grand Costume Contest on the patio – win up to $500 in prizes, lagranjadisco.com

Mary Chapin Carpenter

Q Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents Studio 54, the documentary about the rise and fall of the ultimate escapist fantasy disco club in the heart of NYC’s theater district, 7p, mfah.org Ġ Sat › October 27

Q Arena Theatre: ESCAN presenta a Franco

Ġ Fri › October 19

Escamilla RPM USA Tour, arenahouston.com Q Azteca Fairgrounds hosts the 2018 Puro Tejano Fest Halloween Edition featuring Shelly Lares, a tribute to Emilio Navaira and much more, plus costume contests for kids and adults, 12–11p Q Hotel Derek presents Saints & Sinners Halloween Soirée featuring live music & dancing, hors d’oeuvres, cash bar and costume contest with prizes, 8p, hdh-sales@destinationhotels.com Q La Granja Disco & Cantina presents Terror at La Granja: Grand Costume Contest on the patio – win up to $500 in prizes, lagranjadisco.com Q Market Square: Downtownfest Houston presents Halloween Downtown, 10p Q Matchbox 4: Maria Sotolongo Productions presents Changed: When the Dams Opened, a Hurricane Harvey documentary, 7p, mariasotolongo.com Q Hobby Center’s Sarofim Hall: TUTS presents the Tony Award®-winning musical The Wiz, 7:30p (Thru 11/4) thehobbycenter.org Q Midtown Park: The Annual Puerto Rican & Cuban Festival featuring live entertainment, car show, food vendors and more, 12 - 10p, prcfestival.com Q Todd Mission, Tx: Texas Renaissance Festival Weekend – Theme: All Hallows Eve (Thru 10/28) texrenfest.com

Q Ensemble Theatre hosts the Second Annual Black & White Soirée, an exclusive formal event for Houston’s elite movers and shakers, 9p, ensemblehouston.com Q Matchbox 4: Aperio opens its 13th season with the premiere of Douglas J. Cuomo’s Savage Winter, 8p, aperioamericas.org Q Miller Outdoor Theatre: Dance of Asian America presents Splendid China XIII featuring dancers from China’s top companies and Houston’s Dance of Asian America, 7:30p (Thru 10/20) milleroutdoortheatre.com Q Tony’s Corner Pocket presents an evening of entertainment with Houston’s Hottest Male Dancers, 10p

Anjelah Johnson

Ġ Sat › October 20

Q 300 block of 19th Street: The Houston Zombie Walk presents the 8th Annual Halloween Festival, 5p Q Club Houston presents the sexy Naked Pool Party, 2p, theclubs.com Q Navigation Esplanade: East End Improvement Corp. presents the East End Street Fest 2018, 12-10p, eastendimprovement.org Q RMCC: Halloween Magic presents the hilarious, new production of Kinky Re-Boots/Making America Kinky Again, 7:30p (Thru 10/21) halloweenmagic.org Q Todd Mission, Tx: Texas Renaissance Festival Weekend – Theme: Pirate Adventure (Thru 10/21) texrenfest.com

Ġ Sun › October 28

Photo courtesy

Q 23rd Street Station, Galveston hosts Island Idol

Ġ Sun › October 21

Q 23rd Street Station, Galveston hosts Island Idol Season 4 with Carly Nation, every Sunday 7p (Thru 11/11) 23rdstreetstation.com Q Majestic Metro Theater presents PrideSuperstar® winner and America’s Got Talent semi-finalist vocalist Christina Wells, 5:30p, christinawells.com Q Tony’s Corner Pocket invites all to their 12th Anniversary & Customer Appreciation celebration, which includes a silent auction featuring Houston artists’ works, gift baskets and much more, 5p

Ġ Tue › October 170

Q Tony’s Corner Pocket presents Twisted Tuesdays variety show hosted by Amanda, Ashleey and Alexis Nicole, 9p PLUS - Tony’s Amateur Male Dance Contest, 10p

Q Miller Outdoor Theatre presents Movies at Miller: Poltergeist, 7p, milleroutdoortheatre.com Hot Chocolate

Courtesy Photos

Tequila Tuesday with Karaoke and Lip Sync Battles, 8p rumorsbeachbar.com

Ġ Wed › October 171

Kinky Re-Boots: Making America Kinky Again

Ġ Tue › October 23

Q Rumors Beach Bar - Galveston hosts

Season 4 with Carly Nation, every Sunday 7p (Thru 11/11) 23rdstreetstation.com Q Rich’s Nightclub presents The Legends Show featuring Hot Chocolate, Tasha Kohl, Dina Jacobs and special guests, 8:30p, RSVP: Bubba62758@aol.com Q Tony’s Corner Pocket’s Annual Mr. & Miss TCP contest, Registration by 5p + Pageant at 6p!

Q Tony’s Corner Pocket hosts 5-4-3-2-1 Wednesdays with Duckie DuJour & An’Marie Gill, 9p, plus Hot Male Dancers 6 Nights A Week, 10p

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» Crossword Queeries ....... 19

DANCING AROUND THE TRUTH

» Star Buds................................... 24

The wonders of terpenes

Section

MONTROSE STAR .COM

THE GAY-ETY STARTS HERE! WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 17,

Christina’s

e By

C

» Guide To The Clubs............. 26

2018

B

e VOL. IX, 15

got talent

Joey Amato

hristina Wells is a former winner of Pride Idol and is a fixture with Houston audiences and now with a much broader audience. She recently became a finalist on America’s Got Talent and was a favorite of Simon Cowell, who was always constructive, if brutally honest, in his assessment of her incredible talent and song choices. Wells took time from preparation of her upcoming concert to answer a few questions.

MONTROSE STAR: Why the decision to audition for America’s Got Talent?

Christina Wells: This past year I realized that my children were growing up, they’d be leaving my nest and then I would just have work and an empty house.

So I started thinking of what I wanted to do. My first thought was go get my Masters Degree in Nursing and start teaching. But then I realized that I wanted to try to go back and pick up my dream of being a singer. I

auditioned for The Voice on a whim but was turned down, and deep inside I always felt that if Simon Cowell could hear me sing that he would tell me if I had “it” or not. AGT was my best chance at singing for for Simon!

STAR: What was your favorite part of the overall AGT experience?

CW: The people! The new fans, friends, and followers but especially the other contestants. It was so refreshing meeting contestants who have the same dream, who’ve had challenges to overcome, S 18

PAGE 18 | MontroseStar.com e | Wednesday October 17, 2018 S 17 but kept pushing! The AGT contestants were from all over the world, so it was cool to meet such a diverse group of people. Also, the thousands of people who have reached out, told me their stories, struggles, hopes and dreams make me feel connected to the world!

STAR: Who was your favorite judge and why?

CW: Simon will always be my favorite judge because he pulls no punches. When he said I was good it was because I was. When he said I struggled it’s because I did. I respect his opinion and I know he will never just say that I did a good job to be nice.

STAR: Would you do anything differently?

CW: Not one single thing. I wouldn’t change a song. I wouldn’t change a note. I wouldn’t change one moment of stress, tears, or joy, for that matter.

STAR: What has life brought you since your appearance?

CW: People know who I am! They see me on the street, come up and hug me and say “You’re that singer!” It is my dream come true! I want to share a message of hope and joy and light with my voice and my music, and now people are willing to listen to me!

STAR: Who would you like to play you when they make a movie of your life?

CW: I think that Queen Latifah would be amazing! 

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

Crossword Queeries

DANCING AROUND THE TRUTH Across

50 “Xanadu” band, for short

11 Gus Van Sant, for one

1 Like Barber’s “Adagio

51 Source of Mary’s fleece

12 Compare online stats, e.g.

for Strings”

53 Speedy train

13 Wall Street bears

5 Beachwear for a hunk

55 End of the quip

21 More like a cunning linguist

10 Fruity drinks

57 Burt, the source of

23 Premature ejaculation meas.

14 Auto dash dial

the quip (1936-2018)

26 Say “No, thanks” to

15 Greek poet who

60 Alternative to “Go straight”

30 Went down on

didn’t look at porn

61 1996 Madonna movie

31 One way to cook your meat

16 “

63 Second year

34 GI under a corporal

17 Start to climax

student, for short

35 Scrap of cloth

18 “

64 Like hand-me-downs

36 USA spies

19 Kind of stimulating

65 Word that may follow

37 Appreciation expression

20 Start of a quip

sperm or organ

on Broadway

22 More of the quip

66 Stable female

38 Porn star also known

24 Mardi Gras, e.g.

67 Like hotties in a gay bar

as Dirt Nasty

25 Nook at the

68 Burke or Close

39 Rink star Babilonia

Cathedral of Hope

69 Nose activator

40 Kofi of the UN

27 Hustler’s stick

Down

41 Homo

28 NNW’s opposite

1 Everyone can go

44 Pampering, briefly

29 Albee’s Fam and

down on them

45 Like Finding Nemo

32 Bygone nuclear agcy.

2 What knights stick

47 Get ready to shoot off again

33 Billy Budd, for one

in their foes

48 Experienced hand

34 Pears and Cameron

3 The song “Do Re

49 One of Santa’s reindeer

36 Portable beds

Mi” explains this

52 It leaves a salty taste

37 More of the quip

4 Cry over spilt milk

in your mouth

41 Really big tale

5 Ethnic cuisine type

54 Burt posed for an iconic

42 Tennessee Williams

6 Game-ending sound,

centerfold for this mag

title critter

for Sue Wicks

56 Warhol, who was

43 33 1/3, for a Johnny Mathis LP

7 Last letter on Lesbos

shot in a film title

44 In Cold Blood writer, briefly

8 Like a crescent moon

58 Thames school

46 Sweaty guy on a sweaty

9 Film directed by

59 Craft store bundle

guy on a wrestling mat

Randal Kleiser

62 Button you use to

47 Symbol of punishment

10 Declare openly

turn down REM

l’amour!” there yet?”

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MontroseStar.com e | Wednesday October 17, 2018 | PAGE 19

PAGE 20 | MontroseStar.com e | Wednesday October 17, 2018

WE ARE HAVING A PARTY!

Celebrating Bering Memorial UMC’s 170th year 'Heaven Can’t Wait' and Bering Can’t Either. Bering is having a birthday… a big one!

W

ith a milestone birthday, Bering found a way to celebrate and underwrite its ministries: a play! Playwright Fernando Dovalina has written Heaven Can’t Wait, a musical revue that will benefit Bering’s ministries. The play will be performed at Bering on Nov. 3, 2018, at 7:30 p.m.

Mr. Dovalina said, “Imagine if you arrived in Heaven and had to put on a show…” Without giving too much away, he promised that this would be fun and memorable.

Esther Houser, event chair, plans to pack the house with over 500 people that night. All proceeds from the ticket sales will go directly to fund Bering’s ministries: Bering Connect, Open Gate, Children and Family Ministries, Latinx outreach, Harvey recovery, immigration advocacy, and community support.

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Pastor Diane McGehee speaks with great passion about Bering’s 170 year history as a German immigrant church that has stood and cared for Houston in times of great need: the Yellow Fever epidemic, the 1918 influenza pandemic, the homeless, those with HIV/AIDS, and homeless LGBTQ young adults and teens.

She also spoke of the great need now in Houston and Bering’s response: homeless young adults and their young families, outreach to the growing Latinx community in our midst - many of whom are LGBTQ and have no spiritual home, the immigrant community, foster and adoptive children and families, ongoing Harvey recovery, and issues facing the global United Methodist Church.

Do your part and buy your tickets here: https://conta.cc/2Pf2TLf. Your ticket purchase will guarantee a good time for you and Bering’s continued presence in the forefront of these important social justice issues in our neighborhood, our city, our country, and our world. 



MontroseStar.com e | Wednesday October 17, 2018 | PAGE 21

Across the Causeway

GALVESTON:

Where the ‘haints’ go marching in…and out!

Forest Riggs

B

oo! Finally, it is that time of year again. Halloween quickly approaches and Galveston Island turns black and orange. Like communities everywhere, the Galveston LGBTQ family loves Halloween and does not hold back when it comes to decorating, spooking, partying and donning fantastic costumes. The bars are gayly decorated (literally) with everything from spider webs, witches, jack-o-lanterns, skeletons and scarecrows, to robotic creatures that belong in present-day horror movies. Strings of colored lights hang from the walls and ceilings, giving light to plastic vampire bats, spiders and the glowing red eyes of goblins waiting to grab at you. It is fun, it is Halloween and everybody loves it.

You don’t have to look far or hard to find signs that Halloween has arrived on the Island; Galveston is one of the most “haunted” cities in American — by some claims, second only to New Orleans.

Many people ask, “Why is Galveston so haunted?

What is the big deal?”

With a rich and colorful history under its belt, the Island can’t help but have some lingering spirits that love to interact with the living (all of this, of course is if you believe).

“A haunted place is any area with a high concentration of ghostly activity that lasts over a prolonged period of time…strong emotional ties for the ghost.” —James Van Praagh Ghosts among us

You don’t have to be a super psychic or gifted medium such as Van Praagh, who has spent a lifetime exploring the relationships that exist between the dead and the living.

Since childhood, using his tremendous gift as a the conduit between the living and the dead, he has solved numerous murders and mystery cases, located dead or missing persons, cracked serial murder cases, written many books, appeared on television programs and even developed and co-produced the television series, The Ghost Whisperer, based on his personal experience.

James Van Praagh is not to be taken lightly or written off as a hocus-pocus nut case; he is as real as it gets and his abilities have not been disproved or staged like so many of the current and very popular ghost hunting shows and paranormal investigation series that proliferate the cable channels these days.

Reading his New York Times bestselling books, especially Ghosts Among Us, it is easy to see why Galveston Island is a choice “haunt” for those lingering between life and death.

Galveston has all the right components, from early Native American residents to pirates, the rise and fall of the Republic of Texas governmental seats, the development of the State of Texas, the mass deaths

from the 1900 Great Storm to devastating fires and carnage from all sorts of things. There have been “Mafia” bosses and organized crime, murders with missing heads, revenges over land being stolen or families not wanting to sell their property to certain entities and placing a curse. There are even ghosts that haunt the beautiful and sometimes old and run-down structures about the Island. There are haunted paintings, an image that appears on an external wall of a UTMB building, the story of Mrs. Alberti killing all of her family with poison, some unsolved murders that have been linked to Jack the Ripper and many more such stories.

The Walmart on Seawall Boulevard, now standing where the old St. Mary’s Orphanage once stood and 93 children perished in the 1900 storm, is reported to have night visitors that play in the toy aisles and have been captured rolling balls and rearranging shelf items.

Rumors, a popular bar, once a Kentucky Fried Chicken that was robbed and the employee killed, is “rumored” to have a night visitor that stalks around, as well as few former patrons that have “passed through the veil.” Security cameras as 23rd Street Station Piano Bar have captured something or someone, near the slots late at night, turning their chair. Could this be a friend and patron everyone knew and loved on the Island, killed in a tragic accident?There are stories of a “tall, wispy woman figure” seen on the second floor of City Hall. Lyda Ann?

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The stories go on and on. With streets lined with beautiful, old cemeteries housing graves from ancient to present, there is a veritable smorgasbord of “ripe for the picking” places for spirits to hang out. Just ask any Islander, especially those occupying an older structure or even a new building where something else stood before, and you will hear some tale of things moving, shadows, phantom animals, bumps, noises, voices and, in some cases, actual contact when sought out by the curious. The “haints” of Galveston are everywhere and they love to let their presence be known.

Throughout the year there are ghost tours on the Island and one can purchase some great publications and maps sharing information and locations about Galveston’s “spiritual population.” It is fun at night to see groups of ghost hunters and skeptics walking along the brick streets of downtown, or carrying lanterns and weaving among the ornate mausoleums and graves in the City Cemetery on Broadway, which actually seven cemeteries in one! Those brave enough or drunk enough to visit the old foundation of pirate Jean Lafitte’s house, Maison Rouge, on Harborside Drive, just might get lucky and hear howling dogs and low voices of men arguing at three o’clock in the morning.

With an estimated death toll from the 1900 storm, ranging from five-thousand to almost 12 thousand, it is no wonder that so many are still roaming, looking for their families, homes, pets and all that was lost.

Friends gathered one night at my house (a location known to have been washed under in 1900) and, much to my dislike, produced an old wooden Quija board, the type designed by Mr. Fuld. It did not take long for the planchette (“little board”) to begin moving. With me taking down the notes, our little group was stunned to see the movement and spelling of the words, “water…daddy…doctor…choking…water…fire…burns.”

This went on for about 15 minutes and when it was over we were sure two little girls that perished in the storm, Elizabeth and Sarah, had contacted us from the great beyond. Sarah spelled that her daddy was a doctor. They were never found or identified, but were burned on one of the many makeshift pyres that dotted the Island for days after the catastrophe. It was hair-raising, when I had hair!

So whether you are a believer or not, you can still enjoy all that Halloween brings to the Island from the orange and black to the walking dead. The ghosts and their stories abound, especially this time of year, just ask anyone.

Happy Halloween!  Forest Riggs, a resident of Galveston is no stranger to the adventures of life. A former educator and business owner, he enjoys Island life and all that comes with it. He says he is a “raconteur with a quixotic, gypsy spirit.” Forest has written for several newspapers and magazines as well as other writing pursuits, including a novel and collection of short stories.

Photos: Robert Viglasky / Bleecker Street.

e By

PAGE 22 | MontroseStar.com e | Wednesday October 17, 2018



Deep Inside Hollywood

Sandra Bernhard will regularly strike a Pose Romeo San Vicente

Nurse Judy is back from her break and she’s still not having any of your nonsense. Oh, wait, sorry, have you caught up on the first season of Pose yet? Not yet? Then drop what you’re doing and watch, because not only is it history-making, featuring the largest transgender series regular cast, as well as the largest LGBTQ cast ever for a scripted series, and not only is it coming back for a second season, but season one guest star Sandra Bernhard – as the tough nurse whose lonely job is caring for a hospital wing’s worth of young gay men with AIDS – is coming back as a series regular. The amplification of this storyline on the show was inevitable, of course, as the series is set in the late 1980s when HIV/AIDS had already devastated a generation of queer people. And the casting is nearly perfect, since Bernhard has been a fixture – now legendary in her own right – of LGBTQ culture since that time. But as long as we’re being given the gift of Miss Bernhard, we’d also love to see Nurse Judy moonlighting as a cabaret singer in her off hours. Listen, honey, you don’t get if you don’t ask.

Stay home, eat candy, watch Wicked Halloween

Choices: dress up like a Sexy Witch at a loud party and navigate a sea of drunk people, or sit on your couch, horde Reese’s Cups for your own use, and watch NBC’s A Very Wicked Halloween: Celebrating 15 Years on Broadway. The more comfortable option seems clear – we’ll be enjoying network television, complete with commercials, and hanging with Elphaba and Glinda, sister witches whose pre-Dorothy drama is the story of the smash hit Broadway musical.

Hosted by original cast members Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, this new concert special will feature songs from Wicked performed by them, as well as by the show’s current Broadway cast, Ariana Grande, Pentatonix, and others still to be announced. Now, if this were an old school TV special, those “others” would wind up being some sort of professional sports figure who can’t sing, a comedian who can’t sing, and a puppet. Aren’t you glad you live in 2018 where it’ll most likely be a synergistic appearance by Kelly Clarkson or a cast member from This is Us? You are.

Paul Feig sells NBC on Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist

Paul Feig, the man from Bridesmaids, is moving into musical television. He just sold a singing-dancing dramedy to NBC called Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist.

Co-created by Austin Winsberg (Jake in Progress) and not to be confused with the film Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, the story concerns a young woman in her late 20s who is suddenly gifted with the ability to know the deepest desires of everyone around her. This is accomplished through Find us on P v Facebook.com & t Twitter

Photo: KathClick.

e By

Sandra Bernhard

music, somehow, and it sounds fairly delightful. Smash not withstanding – and frankly, that show was kind of weirdly cool but never got its due – NBC is responsible for a lot when it comes to the re-introduction of music into primetime network TV, so this seems like the right home for a show like this.

Now, what would be truly extraordinary is a great non-corny cast and some good money poured into production and lots of people spontaneously dancing in the streets. You’ll have appointment television then and an audience of queer people keeping it in business.

Heterosexuals to invade Broadway

Remember the 2000 film Almost Famous? Remember how it was full of charming straight dude rock star characters you could actually like? The kind who were laid back and nice to teenage band groupies and who led Elton John sing-alongs on buses? Well, you have Cameron Crowe to thank for that one, and if the forthcoming Broadway musical version of this film is successful it will be a testament to his powers. There’s no casting news yet, but the project – the story of young Crowelike music journalist on tour with an up-and-coming rock band – will feature a book by Crowe based on his Academy Award-winning screenplay, music by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Tom Kitt (Next to Normal) with lyrics by Kitt and Crowe, and directed by Jeremy Herrin (People, Places and Things).

We’re hopeful for this one, and not just because we’re looking forward to “Tiny Dancer” belted out by an ensemble cast.

If the current political landscape has us soured on almost all heterosexual men, Crowe’s superpower is reminding us that they can be soulful and sensitive and as sexy as young Billy Crudup.



Romeo San Vicente does it his way all the time, darling.



MontroseStar.com e | Wednesday October 17, 2018 | PAGE 23

Positive Thoughts

Stop calling the cops When it comes to HIV disclosure, it’s time to stop involving the police

e By

Kenyon Farrow

W

hen I see films or documentaries about the early days of the AIDS epidemic that focus on the lives and relationships of gay men, I see a lot of people taking care of one another. In many cases, one partner might find out he’s HIV positive, the other partner finds out his status, and the two stay together, and one taking care of the other until one or both is met with the unfortunate fate of certain death. I’m sure it also happened that many men, who were brave enough to finally disclose their status in a time where there were no available treatments to keep them alive, were in fact deserted by their lovers, and left to other family and friends to care for them until they died.

But in neither scenario do I recall seeing images of a man, upon learning of his partners HIV status, sneaking quietly into another room, and dialing 9-1-1 to report to the police, that they may have been exposed to the virus.

And yet, that is happening. And I’d ask all gay men reading this to please stop.

There are laws that criminalize the lack of disclosing one’s HIV status to sexual partners in about [[http://www. thebody.com/content/80334/map-hivcriminalization-in-the-united-states. html?ic=sanext]]. Some make the act of “exposing” someone to HIV a felony crime. And some make the act of not disclosing one’s status to sexual partners a crime. Now, we can debate the fact that “exposing” someone to HIV is often based on ideas about transmission that are 30 years old and no longer relevant. Spitting doesn’t transmit HIV, for example. And we also know if a person is on antiretroviral therapy and the virus is suppressed in their bodies, they cannot transmit the virus through sexual contact – even if it’s sex without a condom (or what we call Undetectable=Untransmittable, or U=U).

While it’s important that we all know the latest information about HIV transmission, it still shouldn’t matter. No gay or bisexual men, as maligned as we all still are in the world, should ever think the best solution to deal with HIV – whether you contract the

virus or not – is to use the police and the specter of a prison sentence.

I’ve been working on issues of HIV criminalization for about 10 years. And in the last few years I’ve done some support on two particular cases where gay men have opted to bring down the force of punitive police and prison onto people they say didn’t disclose they were HIV positive, even if they didn’t contract HIV. [Michael Johnson[http:// www.thebody.com/content/80461/ michael-johnson-bypasses-trial-entersno-contest-p.html]] is a young black gay man in Missouri, currently serving a 10-year sentence for exposing several sex partners to HIV, only one of whom contracted HIV, and whether or not he disclosed his status is something only the people involved know. But the person who called the police and who is HIV positive says he contracted HIV from Johnson, but does not say that the sex they had was coerced, or anything approaching assault. It was consensual.

More recently, 24-year-old [Sanjay Johnson[http://www.thebody.com/ content/81289/sanjay-johnson-faces-

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prison-sentence-in-arkansas-h.html]] is facing trial in Arkansas, in early 2019, after disclosing his status after having sex with another young man. There is documented evidence that Johnson was, in fact, virally suppressed at the time of their sexual encounter, and the other person in question told TheBody that he tested positive just weeks later, and was concurrently given an AIDS diagnosis, which suggests he may have also been HIV positive at the time he had sex with Johnson, but did not know. The accuser also suggests that when he called the police, he didn’t realize they would charge Johnson with a felony and that it would mean Johnson would be sent to prison.

I am a Black gay man approaching my 44th birthday. I straddle the generation of men who literally lost dozens, if not hundreds, of friends and lovers, and those who are now coming of age where we have great treatments that will suppress the virus to make condomless sex of no risk for HIV transmission, as well as having PrEP – an option other than condoms to prevent HIV for those who are HIV negative. I’m on PrEP and made the choice to use PrEP several years ago so that I would take my own HIV prevention into my own hands, and not leave it to guess whether someone is HIV-positive or negative. And I also am open to dating or having sex with men who are HIV positive (and already have) but I don’t need someone to disclose their status in order for me to make decisions about my own body.

But I’ve been disheartened by the fact that we have such fear and mistrust of one another that people think calling the police on someone for their health status is something that will keep us safe.

Police and prisons do not bring about safety. Access to quality health care that is affordable is safety. Housing, drug treatment and harm reduction is safety.

And having the love and support of other men, as friends, as lovers, as a community, is what will make us safe, and heal us all of the specter and the stigma of HIV, whether HIV positive or negative.



Kenyon Farrow is the senior editor of TheBody. com and TheBodyPRO.com. Follow Kenyon on Twitter @kenyonfarrow. This column is a project of Plus, Positively Aware, POZ, TheBody.com and Q Syndicate, the LGBTQ wire service. Visit their websites at http://hivplusmag.com, http:// positivelyaware.com, http://poz.com, and http:// thebody.com for the latest updates on HIV/AIDS.

PAGE 24 | MontroseStar.com e | Wednesday October 17, 2018

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Star Buds

The wonders of terpenes e By

Rena McCain

H

appy Weedsday, everyone!

In previous articles we have touched on what is called the “Entourage Effect” and why it is useful for people who use cannabis. We have discussed some of the cannabinoids present in cannabis. But do you know what terpenes are?

Terpenes are found in a variety of plants, insects and even some animals around the globe. The biggest collection of terpenes in nature are found in various strains of cannabis, which gives the plant powerful medicinal value.

There are hundreds of terpenes in cannabis. Each terpene contributes to the plant’s aroma, texture and flavor, albeit some more than others. Each strain contains its own specific range of terpenes, which add their own unique properties. Certain “terps” are more dominate in some strains than others which contribute to what strain is most appropriate for certain medical relief.

Some of the most commonly found terps in cannabis are pinene, myrcene, linalool, caryophyllene, humulene and limonene. This list of terpines is by no means exhaustive. There are hundreds of them. They all do different things and they are found throughout nature.

Myrcene is the smallest of all terpenes but it is the most abundant in cannabis. Myrcene can also be found in mangoes, hops and thyme. It produces a spicy, balsamic flavor and aroma.

Myrcene’s effects and benefits are numerous. It acts as an antiinflammatory, an analgesic or pain reliever, an antibiotic, a sedative that promotes relaxation and an antimutagenic, which reduces the frequency of mutation.

Pinene is a terp found primarily in cannabis and conifers. It puts off a strong scent of pine. Conifers are a tree that bears cones and evergreen needlelike or scale-like leaves.

Pinene’s known benefits are also numerous.

It acts as an antiinflammatory and a

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bronchodilator that helps improve airflow to lungs. Pinene also helps counter shortterm memory loss associated with THC, and promotes alertness Linalool is a lovely terpene that is found in many flowers and spice plants, such as lavender, coriander, and basil.

People have used smells for therapeutic value, including many containing linalool, since ancient times to help lower stress levels, fight inflammation, and combat depression.

Linalool also relieves anxiety and symptoms of depression, promotes relaxation, reduces inflammation systemically, prevents and or stops epileptic seizures and relieves pain.

Caryophyllene is a terp that is common in two main forms, beta caryophyllene (also commonly seen as beta-Caryophyllene or abbreviated to BCP), and trans-caryophyllene or TC. Aside from cannabis, this terpene can be found in clove, black pepper and cotton.

Caryophyllene relieves pain, slows bacterial growth, relieves symptoms of depression, reduces inflammation systemically, inhibits cancer cell growth, prevents oxidation damage to other molecules in the body, helps relieve anxiety and slows damage to the nervous system and brain.

Humulene is found naturally in ginger, hops and sage. This terpene is known for its earthy, woody aroma and flavor. Humulene acts as an antibacterial agent and has anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties. In small quantities, it has been shown to kill the S.aureus bacteria. A 2003 study showed that humulene, especially when acting in concert with other terpenes and cannabinoids, killed cancer cells.

Limonene is a terp that is known for its citrus aroma and flavor. It is found in high concentrations in citrus fruit rinds, juniper, and rosemary. Limonene is used to prevent and treat cancer, treat bronchitis and aid in weight loss.

Nature is wondrous! O Rena McCain is a co-founder of the Cannabis Open Carry Walks. Find her on Facebook at Rena McCain, or via Twitter @sassikatt24 and Instagram at ganja_grrl420

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Guide to the Clubs

HOUSTON n MONTROSE - MIDTOWN Crocker Bar 2312 Crocker St, Houston (713) 529-3355 Large Deck | Karaoke George’s Country Sports Bar 617 Fairview Ave, Houston (713) 528-8102 Sports Bar | Pool & Darts | Patio Guava Lamp 570 Waugh Dr, Houston (713) 524-3359 • guavalamphouston.com Video Lounge | Karaoke | Mixed JR’s Bar and Grill & Santa Fe 808 Pacific St, Houston (713) 521-2519 • jrsbarandgrill.com Videos | Patio | Karaoke | Shows Michael’s Outpost Piano Bar 1419 Richmond Ave, Houston (713) 520-8446 Neighborhood Bar | Pub | Piano Rich's Houston 2401 San Jacinto (281) 846-6685 RichsNightclub.com Barcode Houston 817 Fairview Ave, Houston (713) 526-2625 • facebook.com/barcode77006

Shows | Neighborhood Bar | CD/Trans The Ripcord 715 Fairview St, Houston (713) 521-2792 • facebook.com/ripcordhouston Leather | Uniform | Fetish | Men n DOWNTOWN / EADO Lucky’s Pub - Downtown 801 St Emanuel St, 77003 (713) 522-2010 • Luckyspub.com Sports Bar | Food

Moon Tower Inn 3004 Canal St, 77003 (832) 969-1934 • damngoodfoodcoldassbeer.com Hot Dogs | Beer Gardens

Neon Boots Dancehall & Saloon 11410 Hempstead Highway Houston, TX 77092 (713) 677-0828 • neonbootsclub.com

Neil’s Bahr 2006 Walker St, 77003 (281) 352-7456 • NeilsBahr.com Premier Nerd | Gamer | Intellectual hangout

Viviana’s Night Club 4624 Dacoma St, Houston (713) 681-4101 • vivianasniteclub.com Latino | Tejano | Dance

Tout Suite 2001 Commerce, 77002 713-227-8688 • toutsuitetx.com Bakery | Cafe | Pub

n HOUSTON - SW Crystal Night Club 6684 SW Fwy, Houston (713) 278- 2582 • crystaltheclub.com Latin Dance | Salsa

Voodoo Queen 322 Milby St, 77003 713-555-5666 • damngoodfoodcoldassbeer.com Casual | Po’ Boys | Games n DOWNTOWN / WARDS 1-4 Tony’s Corner Pocket 817 West Dallas Street, Houston (713) 571-7870 • tonyscornerpocket.com Neighborhood Bar | Pool | Dancers n HOUSTON - NORTH SIDE Ranch Hill Saloon 24704 Interstate 45, Spring (281) 298-9035 • ranchhill.com Country | Cowgirl | Neighborhood Bar The Room Bar 4915 FM 2920 Rd, Spring (281) 907-6866 • roombarspring.com Neighborhood Bar | Shows | Dance | Mixed

n HEIGHTS / WASHINGTON CORRIDOR Pearl Lounge 4216 Washington, Houston 832-740-4933 • pearlhouston.com Neighborhood Art Bar | Live Music | Women

GALVESTON

23rd Street Station 1706 23rd St, Galveston (409) 443-5678 • 23rdstreetstation.com Piano Bar | Pub | Live Entertainment Robert’s Lafitte 2501 Ave Q, Galveston (409) 765-9092 • galveston.com/robertslafitte Neighborhood Bar | Pub | Cruise | Shows Rumors Beach Bar 3102 Seawall Blvd., Galveston (409) 497-4617 • RumorsBeachBar.com Beach bar | Shows

n NW HOUSTON La Granja Disco & Cantina 5505 Pinemont Dr., Houston (713) 518-6753 • lagranjadisco.com Latin dance club

SOLUTION FROM p19

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