November 28, 2014 by Next Magazine NY

NOV 28, 2014

CYNDI LAUPER COMES HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

ROBBIE ROGERS COMES OUT TO PLAY

WORLD AIDS DAY 2014 SNAPSHOTS FROM THE POST-PREP ERA

22.23

NEW YORK’S GAY GUIDE

CONTENTS

NOVEMBER 28, 2014 | VOL 22.23

FEATURE

15 POST EXPOSURE: WORLD AIDS DAY 2014 14 18 20 22

I Don’t Sleep With Positive Guys: The toll HIV stigma within the gay community is still taking on the fight against AIDS. The Fearless Generation: How the post-PrEP generation feels about HIV/AIDS. The Perfect Storm: How homophobia, lack of federal funding, and inadequate sex education have fueled the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the South Residual Side Effects: Two years after starting PrEP, an early adopter grapples with the continuing epidemic.

ThE NEXUS 4 6 7 8 42

Commentary: The time for ENDA is now! Finery: Life is all about the lining for this fahionable artist. The Week In Photos What’s Next: MLS player Robbie Rogers on his new memoir; Benedict Cumberbatch shines in The Imitation Game. Shot in the Dark

NEXTWEEK 24 26 31 32

Calendar of Events Bar Crawl: Sasha Seven’s Friday night in Hell’s Kitchen. Playlist: DJ DiCap’s favorite tracks. Brief Encounter with Cyndi Lauper.

LISTINGS 35 36

Business Directory Bars + Clubs Map

ON THE COVER AND ON THIS PAGE: Dimitri Genco shot exclusively for Next Magazine by Kevin Thomas Garcia (ktgnyc.com).

PUBLISHER DAVID MOYAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF JOHN RUSSELL ART DIRECTOR MICHAEL LOMBARDO NIGHTLIFE EDITOR MARK DOMMU DIGITAL EDITOR BENJAMIN LINDSAY

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2 NOVEMBER AUGUST 08, 01,28, 2014 2014

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What’s in 4 Commentary P. 6 Finery P. 7 Week P. 8 Next Photos

Michael Musto and Billy Porter get the Gay Gospel • Zachary Quinto is Out • Zac Posen and John Varvatos host Fashion For Action

US 11.28.14

THE

Visit The Nexus on NextMagazine.com for your daily dose of gay gossip, party photos, and more. BY CHRIS TYLER

ENDA is Equality’s Next Hurtle DESPITE PASSAGE IN THE SENATE LATE LAST YEAR, THE BILL’S CONTINUED EXEMPTIONS FOR RELIGIOUSLY AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS SHOW THERE’S STILL WORK TO BE DONE.

riday, November 7 marked the one-year anniversary of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act’s historic passage in the Senate with significant bipartisan support. Unfortunately, little has come of it since then. Let’s take a look at the details. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is federal legislation that seeks to prohibit discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The law would apply to all employers, save for religiously exempt organizations, with 15 or more employees on staff. Yes, you read that right. These protections are not law at the federal level (and New York state law protects only against sexual orientation-related discrimination). What’s more, HRC studies show that up to 80 percent of Americans think such legal protections already exist. Even more surprisingly, ENDA has been introduced in all the past 20 Congresses except the 109th. ENDA seems to die in front of the Senate every time. That all changed about a year ago, however, when the bill finally passed in the Senate with a 64-32 vote (thanks in no small part to an HRC-led $2 million campaign). Now, the Republican-majority House of Representatives need to vote on their version of

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Overheard:

“Have as much sex as you want. Be safe about it, in whatever way that means for you. I don’t give a shit. I do my own thing, I know what my own thing is. It’s all good.” —Zachary Quinto at the Out 100

ENDA IS EQUALITY’S NEXT HURTLE CONT.

the bill, but it sits awaiting approval to force a vote; as of September, 190 of the 218 that constitute a majority had signed on to move the bill to the House floor for a vote. Thankfully, Obama’s stance on the matter is clear. A longtime supporter of ENDA, he continues to emphasize LGBT job discrimination as the next frontier of gay

“HRC studies show that up to 80 percent of Americans think such legal protections already exist.”

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Interviewed at Strut by John Russell

HASH HALPER 34 • ARTIST DO YOU ALWAYS WEAR THIS JACKET INSIDE OUT? First time! IS THIS THE FIRST TIME YOU’VE EVER WORN IT? No. I got it at Ricky’s for Halloween. OH, IT’S A HALLOWEEN COSTUME? Well, I got it at Ricky’s for Halloween. It’s a suit. Of hearts. I just figured, inside out. I like the purple. It’s all about the lining. Life is all about the lining. SO WHAT BRINGS YOU OUT ON THIS COLD NIGHT? Dance party U.S.A. YOU DECIDED TO GET DRESSED UP AND GO TO A DANCE PARTY? I was actually chalking the sidewalk outside Ricky’s today, so since they gifted me with the suit, I figured I’d wear the suit. WHAT DO YOU MEAN, “CHALKING” THE SIDEWALK? We drew hearts all over the sidewalk. Positive public art. criminated against in the workforce at a much higher rate than cisgender lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals, the HRC continued to support non-inclusive reform. It’s unlikely that anything will come of ENDA this time around either. Although Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) is currently making a last-ditch attempt to catalyze an ENDA vote by attaching it to the 2015 defense spending bill, it’s unlikely the bill will pass

with a conservative House and many LGBT-rights groups currently feeling only lukewarm toward the legislation. Still, the fact remains that workers can be legally fired or harassed for identifying as gay, lesbian, or bisexual in 29 states— and in 32 states for identifying as trans. We need to advocate for rapid, trans-inclusive reform that doesn’t allow private companies to discriminate against us by masquerading as houses of worship. N

photo: Gustavo Monroy

rights. This past summer, he even signed an executive non-discrimination order barring federal contractors from engaging in prejudiced employment and hiring practices. Although Obama’s order applied to a particular subset of the federal workforce, it’s estimated to have impacted almost onefifth of the entire working population). Most significantly, Obama’s order left out the broad (and divisive) religious exemption provision that is in ENDA’s most recent iteration. Hoping to gain support from moderate Republicans, the current ENDA bill’s exemptions include the widely accepted ones for houses of worship and religious groups, as well as a disconcertingly broad exemption for religiously affiliated organizations like hospitals and charities. In June, fresh off the heels of the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby decision from the Supreme Court, a number of high-profile LGBT-rights groups withdrew their support for the current ENDA bill out of fear that private companies would begin citing religious objections for hiring and firing. Still, the HRC remains in support of the legislation. They have a history of taking an oppositional stance on the ENDA-front. In 2007, they received a significant amount of criticism from peer LGBT organizations for backing a modified version of the bill that excluded protections for gender identity and expression. Although it was widely known that President Bush intended to veto the bill if it reached his desk, and studies continually show that transgender and gender non-conforming individuals are dis-

>>> FINERY

Comment of the Week:

"There are still no publicly gay players in the NFL, NHL, or major league baseball. Believe me: They exist. Every pro sport has them.” —Jason Collins reflecting on his retirement in Sports Illustrated

FASHION FOR ACTION @ HOUSING WORKS Designers Zac Posen and John Varvatos co-hosted this November 20 charitable event with Housing Works’ chair Michael Gordon (middle). See p.43 for more photos.

THE OUT100 @ STAGE 48

Out’s artist of the year Zachary Quinto attended the magazine’s 20th annual Out 100 on November 20. NOVEMBER 28, 2014 7

fashion for action and Gay Gospel: Gustvo Monroy; out 100: slaven vlasik/Getty

THE GAY GOSPEL LAUNCH @ THE RITZ Billy Porter and Michael Musto came out to celebrate the release of Justin Luke’s self-help book for gay 20-somethings.

WHAT’S NEXT <<< FILM

A PREJUDICE-FREE PLAYING FIELD in his memoir, Coming Out to Play, robbie rogers reflects on his childhood, his family, and his historic place in Major league soccer. t’s been over a year and half since Major League Soccer player Robbie Rogers came out as gay, and in the wake of Jason Collins’ impending retirement, his impact on the sports world is felt today as strongly as ever. The decision skyrocketed him to fame overnight and cemented his handsome face and bright blue eyes as a symbol for a prejudice-free playing field. His new memoir, Coming Out to Play (Penguin), tells the story of his journey. While his life today is the better for it, coming out was by no means an easy road for the then-25-year-old. Until that point, his decorated career had led to him play in the Beijing Olympics, winning the MLS Cup, and moving overseas to play for Leeds United. He had a reputation to consider as a credible athlete, and he feared the professional repercussions that might come from judgmental peers, teammates, and fans if he came out. Plus, growing up in a devoutly Catholic household, he knew the way many of faith viewed homosexuality, and he’d do anything in his power to keep those he loved from viewing him negatively. Thankfully, in coming out, his familial relationships were left undamaged—if anything, they were strengthened. “The support surprised me most. I wasn’t expecting that at all,” Rogers says today. His relationship with Major League Soccer, however, was put on hold when he announced his retirement from the sport in conjunction with his coming out. He amended that decision a short time later, though, when he signed to L.A. Galaxy, for which he still plays. While no longer a Catholic, Rogers still identifies as a person of faith, and it’s that and his love for the soccer that brought him back to play. “I don’t really tie myself to any religion, but I definitely believe that I have a purpose and that I was created this way,” Rogers says. Part of that purpose was to change minds by continuing to play. “I really missed [soccer], but I also realized that I could help people just by being on the field.” While his story is nothing short of historic, in reading Coming Out to Play, it’s important to remember that Rogers is not a writer. Reminiscent of a sportscaster’s play-by-play, his simplistic prose is short and declarative, punctuated by emotionally honest moments like first coming out to his sister, the first time he kissed another guy, and learning that the truth, indeed, sets you free. The book will play best in the Young Adult demographic—an easy, straightforward read for teen boys and girls who need the role model Rogers never had. It’s for them that Coming Out to Play becomes a necessary read. —Benjamin Lindsay

as Genius war hero alan turinG, Benedict cuMBerBatch >>> FILM has never Been Better in THE IMITATION GAME.

lan turing saved an estimated 14 million lives when he cracked the code to Germany’s naval enigma machine. By engineering one of the world’s first computers, turing and his team of governmentbacked cryptologists determined the daily settings of Germany’s enigma—a communication device used to scramble messages to prevent ally translation. thanks to turing, the British military always knew hitler’s next move. despite ending the war an estimated two years early, turing’s homosexuality stained his status as a war hero. in 1952, he was prosecuted in england and opted for chemical castration over prison. two years later, he ended his life by cyanide poisoning.

8 NOVEMBER 28, 2014

too few know turing’s story, but with The Imitation Game (out november 21), he gets the recognition and exposure he has long deserved. as turing, Benedict cumberbatch is an absolute marvel. he perfectly captures the man’s high-strung antics and prodigal brilliance, nailing his stammer, his racing thoughts, and his unapologetically dry manner. turing spits lines so perceptive and blunt (though unintentionally so—ah, to be a socially inept genius), it’s near proof that a gay man’s judging wit is in the genes. the ensemble cast, Graham Moore’s adapted screenplay, and Morten tyldum’s direction all amount to one of the year’s very best film-going experiences. —BL

10 NOVEMBER 21, 2014

World AIDS Day 2014

We’re now living in a post-PrEP world. The availability of effective HIV prevention drugs has been nothing short of a game-changer in the fight against the disease. But that certainly doesn’t mean the epidemic is over. That’s particularly true in the U.S. South, where, as Benjamin Lindsay reports, rates of HIV infection are higher than ever (p.20). That’s in large part due to the stigma that continues to be attached to being HIV-positive. But stigma isn’t just alive and well below the Mason-Dixon Line. Lawrence Ferber explores the toll stigma continues to take in the fight against the disease within the gay community (p.16). How does the post-PrEP generation view HIV/AIDS? Mark Dommu looks to a group of young gay men to find out in his piece, “The Fearless Generation” (p.18). And Robert Maril, an early adopter explains why, over two years after starting PrEP, he’s angry that more people aren’t on it (p.22). As Maril puts it, PrEP is an invaluable new weapon in our arsenal, but the battle is far from over.

NOVEMBER 28, 2014 15

I Don’t Sleep With Positive Guys. How HIV stigma among gay men is still fueling the epidemic three decades later. BY LAWRENCE FERBER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN THOMAS GARCIA

hearinG the words “i’M hiv-positive” Made Bryan freeze. the 23-year-old graphic designer had met zach, a svelte 25-year-old tourist, at a hell’s kitchen bar where they danced, drank, and laughed the night away like so many other young gay guys. around 1am, just before heading to zach’s hotel for more private activities together, zach disclosed his positive hiv status. his viral load was undetectable, successfully suppressed with a drug regimen to the point that it was low to no risk for transmission, he was clear of other stds, and he packed an ample supply of condoms. Bryan (not his real name) declined to go back to the hotel with him, though, offering up a politely worded excuse rather than saying what he really thought: i don’t sleep with hiv-positive guys. zach, however, had heard those words, or variations of the same, more than a few times since his diagnosis a couple of years ago, and he could see them clearly in Bryan’s green eyes. he felt judged and tainted, and while he wouldn’t lie and tell someone he was negative, he understood why so many others in his shoes have, and do. Bryan ended up getting lucky a couple of hours later at another bar with alex, an architect-in-training from chicago who said he was negative. there’s a twist: Bryan, in fact, was positive that night, although he wouldn’t find that out until six months later, when he got tested for the first time in almost three years—something he put off because, in the back of his mind, he was concerned about a bareback encounter with someone he’d met on Grindr who, the next day, deleted his profile and disappeared.

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“stiGMa is really daMaGinG on Both ends,” says Matthew Rodriguez of comprehensive online HIV/AIDS resource site thebody.com. “For negative people, stigma can sometimes stop them from getting tested. If they feel they did anything that put them at risk, they may not want to get tested because the result may be devastating. I think it also stops people from interacting with those living with HIV as full people. People just look at you as a status, as a virus. It can also stop people from going to the doctor or seeking treatment, because that’s admitting they have the virus.” And this is what makes HIV stigma so destructive. A recent study by Houston’s Live Consortium on HIV stigma within the gay/bisexual male community concluded that, “because it is realistic to expect that in a climate in which HIV has become increasingly invisible and closeted and in which infections are on the rise [due to stigma], gay and bisexual men will be increasingly affected and infected by HIV.” Numerous organizations and campaigns are addressing HIV stigma, from the three-year-old The Stigma Project and HIV Equal to online resources like thebody.com, avert.org, and HIV Plus Magazine, to hookup apps like MISTER. The latter, in collaboration with Michigan’s Mr. Friendly nonprofit, allows members to declare on their profiles a commitment to “Live Stigma-Free” and date individuals of any HIV status. Despite these efforts, stigma is still affecting our own community, which Live Consortium’s disheartening study backs up. “I find often that stigma is self-imposed, out of undeserved and unwarranted shame and guilt,” shares Olympic gold medalist Greg Louganis. HIV-positive since the 1980s, his life is chronicled in the new documentary, Back on Board, which recently screened at Doc NYC. “The biggest problem is it inhibits open communication, and we still in this society have a difficult problem talking about sex.” Longtime AIDS activist Peter Staley, a subject of David France’s documentary How to Survive a Plague, describes stigma as, literally, a “viral divide between those who perceive themselves to be negative and those who are positive.” “I think a large number of negative men, especially if younger, try to avoid HIV just by avoiding people with HIV,” he explains. “They think they’re protected by a kind of moral code where a positive guy would disclose. On the flipside, the positive guys are so threatened by that stigma that they keep their status a secret, and that perpetuates the false assumption by many negative guys [that] there isn’t a lot of HIV in their world. They think it isn’t something playing out in their generation that much, even though it is.” Steven Colon, a 21-year-old videogame design student who was diagnosed with HIV this summer, now knows this sobering reality firsthand. Before he tested positive, Colon only had sex with partners who identified as HIV-negative. He opted to bareback with some, and assumed he could keep his status in check with regular HIV testing. He insists his personal sero-sorting wasn’t due to stigma against positive guys. It had more to do with the fact that nobody ever informed him they were positive. After testing positive, he contacted all his previous partners, but none have come forward to say they were actually positive or have tested positive since. “It’s a little upsetting I don’t know who it is,” he admits. Colon, who promotes the monthly superhero/spandex/Lycra-themed party Skintight USA, found some support among a couple of platonic friends who, coincidentally, also tested positive at about the same time. He says while most of his social circle is poz-friendly, and some take PrEP (something he considered prior to his last test), at least one rejects openly positive bedmates. “I was talking with a close friend and he was going to hook up with someone, but because the guy was positive he didn’t,” he recalls. “The guy

was very upfront about it and knew his counts. He knew everything. My friend had been complaining about not being able to get any for a while, and here was a responsible adult doing the right thing, so here’s your opportunity!” Staley feels that a major problem is that most anti-stigma campaigns play to the choir and fail to reach their target audiences, like gay millennials, whose new infection rates are rising, likely due to stigma and the ignorance that can accompany it. On the ACT UP NY Alumni Facebook page last month, member Rebecca Reinhardt reported some flabbergasting, ill-informed comments and opinions she overheard at a West Hollywood happy hour for Ivy League 20-somethings. Misinformation included: condoms are useless, since they always break and you have only a two percent chance of getting HIV from unprotected sex anyway; and PrEP is a waste of money since it’s just for sex addicts. “I’m not wagging my finger at these guys,” Staley insists. “This generation of young gay men is no worse than mine. They’re just living in diﬀerent times. When I was 20 I also perceived risk very diﬀerently, and was very dismissive of things that happened earlier in history and didn’t think applied to me.” One exception when it comes to the prevalence of stigma and misinformation seems to be San Francisco. “San Francisco is the shining example of where, if you put stigma on a locality ranking scale, you’ll find the least stigma of anywhere in the country,” Staley says. “They also have a very low HIV infection rate because guys there talk and think about HIV, and [do] a much more reasoned risk analysis. There will be a negative guy sleeping with positive guys, but asking about their viral load and making certain decisions determined by that. That sophistication is lost on many young gay men out-

“The problem with stigma is it perpetuates the perception that someone had to do something wrong to get HIV.” side SF and NYC. But I want to figure out the best way to reach them, and it’s likely going to come from their generation, not mine.” Activist Jack Mackenroth agrees that it’s diﬃcult to engage people who don’t think (or don’t want to think) that HIV directly aﬀects them. With stigma winning the battle today, is it possible to reprogram its destructive force and somehow wield it for constructive, preventive purposes? To replace fear and loathing with understanding and empathy, and to ultimately humanize HIVpositive individuals? “It would be useful to set someone down and say, ‘Imagine you are positive,’” Mackenroth muses. “You want to know what it feels like— wear a T-shirt saying you are positive all day long. You will feel what that’s like.” That’s exactly what founder Kevin Maloney’s Rise Up to HIV is doing with its “No Shame About Being HIV+”T-shirts. Members of NYU’s First Year Queers & Allies leadership program wear these to experience reactions from those who would perceive their shirt as a status announcement. It’s a start, and an experiment that more schools and colleges should look into. “I’ve worn it and gotten mixed responses,” says thebody.com’s Matthew Rodriguez. “Honestly, anyone can get HIV. The whole problem with stigma is [it perpetuates the perception that] someone had to do something wrong to get HIV. But we know from science that with gay men, two-thirds of infections happen within the context of relationships. I applaud people who don’t let status stand in the way of having a sexual relationship. It’s usually not the positive and on-treatment guys [that] one should be second-guessing. It should be the ones who don’t know [their status].” N NOVEMBER 28, 2014 17

The Fearless Generation Have decades of dealing with the HIV/AIDS epidemic resulted in a generation of young gays who are apathetic about the threat of the disease, or who simply refuse to let fear dictate their sexuality? BY MARK DOMMU

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN THOMAS GARCIA

for More than 30 years, the looming specter of HIV/AIDS and the memory of those we’ve lost to the epidemic have shadowed our community and our every sexual interaction. But have decades of fear, caution, and emphasis on safer sex desensitized the generation that grew up with the reality of the disease? In his recent Out Magazine cover story, Zachary Quinto said that he felt that “AIDS has lost the edge of horror it possessed when it swept through the world in the 80s. Today’s generation sees it more as something to live with and something to be much less fearful of.” He cautioned young gays against a sense of “laziness” towards safer sex. Later, clarifying his remarks on The Huﬃngton Post, Quinto added, “What troubles me…is an attitude among [some of] the younger generation of gay men—that we can let our guard down against this still very real threat to our collective well-being. I have had numerous conversations in my travels with young gay people who see the threat of HIV as diminished to the point of near irrelevance.” Is Quinto right? Is the younger generation of gays—who grew up in the 90s and who are entering adulthood as PrEP has become a viable option for prevention—completely anesthetized to the decades of fear, stigma, and rigorous emphasis on safety? When asked about the seriousness of AIDS in 2014, a group of 30 gay men aged 18 to 25 is split nearly evenly in its response. “I don’t think it is a

“It’s as serious as it ever was. I feel like the only people [who don’t take AIDS seriously] are the people who can afford treatment.” major issue population-wide in the U.S. in 2014, although it is still an important issue, but not in an extreme or overwhelming way it once was for us,” says Adam, a 21-year-old student, voicing an opinion shared by many of those I spoke with. Others feel diﬀerently. “It’s as serious as it ever was,” says Moi, 25. “I feel like the only people [who don’t take it seriously] are the people who can aﬀord treatment.” 18 NOVEMBER 28, 2014

It seems that those whose lives have been personally touched by the virus—those with infected friends, lovers, family members—are the ones who still consider it a daunting threat to their health. “I think it’s completely

“I am not one to live my life in fear.There are so many things we could worry about, but we should go about our lives with a healthy balance between caution and spontaneity.” one of those things where it feels like a complete nonissue until it happens to you or someone you know,” says Charles K., 21. “Then you slowly come to realize that it’s a way bigger issue than you’ve ever thought that has been totally marginalized in recent years, partially because I think we want to get away from the stereotype that all gay men have AIDS or are at risk, but the unfortunate side eﬀect of that is it marginalizes people who do and silences the fact that it still is a thing for gay men.” “We’ve come a long way with treatment, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that people are still acquiring AIDS because of a lack of sex education,” says Kevin, 20. “The gay community has an easier time now accessing forms of sex which makes it all the more easy to transmit diseases.” The most common opinion these young gay men share is that, while they still feel the legacy of anxiety surrounding HIV/AIDS, they refuse to let the possibility of contracting it or any other disease interfere with expressing themselves sexually. Years of distance from the initial AIDS crisis and an outpouring of education seem to have bred a generation without fear. But a lack of fear doesn’t equate laziness, as Zachary Quinto suggests. “I am not one to live my life in fear,” 22-year-old José insists. “Sexually transmitted diseases are really unfortunate, because they can get in the way of sex itself, which should be natural and liberating. There are so many things we could worry about, but we should go about our lives with a healthy balance between caution and spontaneity.” N

Lady Simon, 24

Charles Q., 22 “there’s more education available, but [education] has sterilized us [towards fear].”

“we’re lucky, these days, because it’s easily tested, there’s a lot of treatment, people can live normal, healthy lives with it. But it’s still a huge concern. people don’t take it as seriously as maybe they should, and as we used to, because it’s more treatable than it was in the 80s, and people just don’t think about it.”

Matthue, 22 “since we have [all this treatment for hiv/aids], i think a lot of people are not taking care of themselves and being reckless. i always try to be safe, but i’ve been reckless before.”

Grayson, 24

James, 24

“it’s not on everyone’s mind. the aids epidemic is far enough away that it’s not within our scope. it’s always been this monster looming under the bed. there’s a fear, but it’s not really as real for us, and maybe that’s a fault of our generation.”

“[our generation] deﬁnitely doesn’t take it as seriously as they should, but one of my friends is a doctor [and] has said that there’s more cases from younger people all the time, so it is a very serious thing. But i deﬁnitely don’t take it as seriously as i should. i [practice safer sex] probably 50 percent of the time.”

“there may be, among people our age, more awareness surrounding safe sex habits and ways to live a good quality of life if you have contracted [hiv]. however, it’s still equally as serious as it was a few decades ago, and just because we’re on prep and truvada doesn’t mean we can negate the threat that’s still there.”

Moi, 25

Tom, 21

José, 22

“i don’t have sex much outside of relationships, and in relationships, once we’ve both been tested a couple times, i don’t practice safe sex.”

“i deﬁnitely [practice safer sex]. i don’t care how cute you are; just because you’re a ho doesn’t mean you can dig in my secret garden.”

“the way we word things can be misleading, i don’t think sex without a condom should be deemed ‘dangerous.’”

Al B, 24

NOVEMBER 28, 2014 19

The Perfect Storm The U.S. South has some of the highest HIV/AIDS rates in the nation. With the stigmatization of sex, sex education, and homosexuality—not to mention the area’s flagging federal funding—there’s no simple solution in sight. BY BENJAMIN LINDSAY

as a Gay, hiv-positive resident of rural tennessee, 24-year-old Jordan Tucker is all too familiar with the medical crises facing the southern United States. “I don’t think people understand how high the population of HIV-positive men actually is,” Tucker says. “It’s improper for you to talk about it down here in the South.” Throughout his youth and teenage years, Tucker, a hairstylist, never received formal sex education. Everyone was expected to learn about the birds and the bees on their own without being taught the explicit—and necessary— details. His town’s young minds were left ignorant of matters like birth control, STD-infection, and HIV prevention. They were also left unprepared for the consequences of their ignorance. Tucker was 16 when he first learned of HIV/AIDS upon reading a brief blurb in a biology textbook. As a gay teen, he took particular interest in the virus and its history in the U.S. His teachers, however, refused to acknowledge the virus as a salient concern for the sexually active. At 22, Tucker tested positive for HIV. Despite the fact that he knew what procautions he should be taking, he says the lack of emphasis on safer sex education left him with a skewed perception of his likelihood of contracting the disease. “I knew a little bit based on what I had taught myself,” he says, “but I still didn’t know everything about it.” Fortunately, today Tucker is healthy by and large, thanks to medications provided through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, which services more than half a million HIV-positive Americans who have insuﬃcient healthcare coverage. He also has a solid support system in his parents and the local poz community. That said, Tucker’s contraction of HIV could have been prevented had safer sex practices been instilled in him during his formative years. It’s a predicament in which more and more southern gay men are finding themselves. Earlier this year, the U.S. Census Bureau released a list of the 25 cities with the highest rates of HIV/AIDS infection. Of these 25, six are considered the “Deep South”—Baton Rouge, La.; Columbia, SC; and New Orleans, La. are all listed in the top 10—while others like Memphis, Tenn. and Houston, Texas are surely considered the “American South” if not “Deep.” Florida is a monster all its own, boasting six cities on the Census Bureau’s list. One look at the rankings, and except for cities like Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and New York—which ranks fourth in the nation—it’s clear that HIV is descending upon the South. To illustrate, Baton Rouge’s rates of infection are 30.6 people per 100,000; New York’s rates are 27 per 100,000—but only 230, 000 people live in Baton Rouge compared to New York’s millions. It’s this pattern within southern cities that caught documentarian and journalist Tyler Curry’s attention. “This is not a new thing,” Curry says. “The South 20 NOVEMBER 28, 2014

has always been one of the worst-hit areas. It’s just getting more attention. The disparity is growing.” Curry runs HIV Equal Magazine and writes for The Advocate online out of Texas. He partnered with Steven Lucin, director of communication at World Health Clinicians, Inc. to create HIV Equal Online’s new web docu-series focusing on the South as part of the WHC’s campaign to have more people get tested for HIV. Having traveled through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee for their first leg of interviews, Curry and Lucin plan on premiering the series’ first episode in December. They’re traveling through the American South to not only explore the cause behind its gargantuan HIV rates, but to put a face to the statistics. “I keep reading these stories about numbers, but I never hear first-hand stories or

“As San Francisco and New York are finding different programs to make things like PrEP readily available, nonprofits in Memphis are trying to keep their lights on.” accounts of people who actually live in this region,” Curry says. Coupled with pervasive stereotypes about the South, the lack of that human component— a trigger for empathy—can lead to gross generalizations about one of our nation’s most misunderstood regions. “Whenever I hear people discuss the South, it’s, ‘Oh, those stupid, backward people. It’s all because of drugs and religion. They’re all such stupid Republicans; they don’t know what they’re doing,’” Curry says. “There’s all of these kinds of claims as to why the South is hardest hit, and they’re racist and economically prejudiced in a lot of ways.” “Stupid” and “backward” are harsh criticisms, certainly, but there are undeniable homophobic ideological norms in the South that have proven to contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS. Prejudices against gay men and lesbians are often more prevalent and accepted in the South, and as a result, living on the “down low” is a common practice among many gay southerners. A man may have a wife and children but sleep with men on the side. Many closeted men grapple with internalized homophobia, and when it comes to same-sex affairs, practicing safer sex is the rarely a priority. To consciously wear a condom would affirm his same-sex urges and concede to the fact that as a gay or bisexual man, he is at a greater risk for HIV infection. For these reasons, the condom is disregarded altogether, and HIV continues to spread. There are also many instances akin to Jordan Tucker’s experience where established systems of education fail young people—gay and straight. “Efforts

inset: courtesy of southern aids coalition

to have comprehensive sex education [in Louisiana] have not been very successful,” admits Louisiana AIDS Advocacy Network (LAAN) chair Dorian-Gray Alexander, a fact he chalks up to Louisiana’s status as a “very conservative state, with a majority of the state well-buckled in the Bible Belt.” Curry, too, found in his travels that religious zeal and sex education—or lack thereof—go hand in hand. He says that many in the religious South view HIV as a punishment for being gay, and therefore, contracting the virus is deserved. The circular logic Curry encountered when interviewing HIV-positive young peoploe in the South went something like this: there’s no point in getting educated about how to stay healthy and gay because being gay is unhealthy. Curry says these 20-somethings often come from stringently religious families. “They will be excommunicated if they are gay, much less HIV-positive.” Southern America’s creeds are just one piece to the puzzle. Financial security and racial disparity also play a role. It’s no coincidence that the southern states are the poorest and have the highest population of African Americans— the population hit worst by HIV. With their deep historical roots, these factors, paired with a general stigmatization of sex and homosexuality, create what Jean Redmann, director of prevention at New Orleans’ NO/AIDS Task Force, can only describe as a “perfect storm.” Fueling the epidemic further is the federal government’s shortsightedness in funding. Though the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program provides tremendous financial support for those unable to cope with the virus’s eﬀects alone, Redmann says that the way the funds are distributed is based on the cumulative rate of cases since the program’s founding in 1990. At that time, the highest rates

were in New York City, San Francisco, and other major gay metropolises of the coasts. But today, largely thanks to the program’s aid and greater success in raising awareness and prevention practices in non-southern cities, the rates of infection have shifted, and the South is in exponentially greater need of support that it’s not getting. “We have these ghettoed areas that are behind, and we aren’t doing anything about it,” Curry says. On the subject of the coastal cities’ disproportionate federal funding, he notes, “The disparity is growing because as San Francisco and New York are finding diﬀerent programs to make things like PrEP readily available, nonprofits in Memphis are trying to keep their lights on.” While domestic situations of this magnitude can at times seem hopeless, the main thing that will improve the American South is to get people talking. Especially considering southerners’ fear and reluctance to acknowledge the issue themselves, it’s time for the rest of the country to speak up for them. “We should really be able to bring back the conversation about HIV and AIDS and really break down barriers,” says Stephen Lucin, Curry’s partner on the HIV Equal docu-series. “[We want to] break down the stigma of people who are living with HIV or people who are aﬀected by AIDS, and really just stimulate a conversation in communities that either can’t talk about it or don’t want to talk about it.” Tennessean Jordan Tucker echoes the sentiment: “We need to figure something out. It’s about to be 2015; it’s way past due that we start being open and talking about HIV/AIDS [in the South] so we can start preventing it and working towards a cure. It’s just time.” N

red riBBons a woman hammers in markers representing 3,423 people in shelby county, tenn., who have died from aids.

NOVEMBER 28, 2014 21

Residual Side Effects Over two years after he started taking PrEP, an early adopter is still angry. BY ROBERT MARIL

22 NOVEMBER 28, 2014

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN VON HERGET

“i have to tell you soMethinG,” my friend Tim texted me, “but you have to promise not to be mad.” You know that’s completely impossible, right? Any time someone says, “You have to promise not to be mad,” it’s bad. Nobody ever says, “I have to tell you something, but you have to promise not to be mad: your haircut looks fantastic.” Or, “I just booked us two cabins on a gay cruise and we leave right now!” Whether they’re canceling a date or confessing that they fucked your boyfriend, it’s never good news. “Fine,” I texted back, following up with an inevitable (if obvious) lie: “I won’t be mad.” “I tested HIV-positive last week,” he wrote. If this were 1991 or even 2001, this is where I’d say I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me or that from then on, I knew that nothing would be the same. But in 2014, the news that this sharp and sweet 27-year-old man—the one I had aﬀectionately nicknamed my favorite fuck of summer 2013—had tested HIV-positive didn’t hold the same weight it might have years earlier. Not because an HIV-positive diagnosis isn’t still life-changing—it is. And not because HIV is now considered a chronic illness instead of a terminal one. The reason I took Tim’s confession with such even-headedness—the reason I didn’t leave work mid-afternoon to race to his house with a bottle of red wine and two plastic cups, the way I had when my best friend Austin tested positive in 2008—was because I wasn’t even surprised. I’m not judging Tim or any other person that tests positive. HIV infection is so politically charged, so closely tied to the societal expectations placed on the group that’s been dealing with it for 30 years, that we lose sight of what it actually is: an infection. Humans catch diseases, and no matter our serostatus, we are tasked with caring for people when they become infected. We are also tasked with attempting to make sure that no one else—not one more person—ever does. This gets to the root of my unhappiness with Tim’s diagnosis. He was so certain I’d be mad at him for testing positive because I’d been encouraging him to consider going on PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, or daily Truvada for preventative care) for almost two years. I knew what Tim was up to, because I’d gotten up to it with him. And I’d been goading, nagging, pleading with him about PrEP—and, for that matter, with all my other sexually permissive friends, many of whom I knew were not only having high-risk sex but lots of it. We were all dancing on the ledge, and I wanted to get a net under as many of us as possible. In the summer of 2012, I got a false positive diagnosis from a cheek-swab HIV test, the fastest method and the one most prone to human error. An angel of a man—a trick I only knew for those roller-coaster six weeks who was HIVpositive himself—dragged me, scared and sad, ashamed that I’d let a generation of guys die for nothing, into my follow-up appointment. He sat in the room with me and watched as his doctor examined me, took a blood test, and delivered the news: I wasn’t HIV-positive. There would be another test in three months (and three months after that, and three months after that, and on and on to this day) to confirm it, but he was certain I’d been misdiagnosed. He then handed me literature about a new preventative HIV treatment in which an HIV-negative person takes an antiretroviral pill every single day. Early studies coming out of San Francisco and Europe looked promising, so I went home and found more specific information about one of them on PubMed. I read the study protocol, learned about possible side eﬀects, saw the way the study was designed and how the doctors ran the statistics. A week later, I took my first Truvada. Granted, I was biased when it came to using my body for gath-

ering generalizable scientific knowledge: first, I work in clinical research and am a lot less afraid of participating in research or early-stage widespread treatment, especially when it’s been proven relatively safe in a large-scale, well-designed study. Second, I have Crohn’s disease and was already taking a daily medication far more toxic than Truvada. Adding one more pill to my daily 12 didn’t concern me that much. More than anything, though, I decided to take Truvada as PrEP because of my personal risk-to-benefit ratio. If I could take one pill a day to mitigate some of the damage done by high-risk behaviors I was already engaging in, shouldn’t I? What I hadn’t expected was the swift backlash against PrEP, backlash that wasn’t even leveled at the treatment itself but against the people

“We are all dancing on the ledge, and I want to get a net under as many of us a possible.” who were taking it. What I thought was an extremely personal, even brave decision was being politicized and venomously argued online. I’d decided to be one of the first people in New York City, the center of the gay universe, to test the eﬃcacy of a new method of safer sex and I was being met with judgment, even contempt. In public. In private, though, I was being met with questions. At the start of the moral outrage against PrEP, I’d picked sides: I was going to be one of the loudmouths arguing science vs. opinion with anyone who’d dare slut-shame me for taking control of my health and doing exactly what the hell I wanted with my body. Soon, thanks to Facebook, I was The Guy You Know Who’s on PrEP. The byproduct of arguing about PrEP was that I knew more about it than many of my friends’ general physicians and more about accessing it (and PEP, which stands for post-exposure prophylaxis, PrEP’s Plan B-like counterpart) than a lot of social workers. I knew how to argue when your insurance company refused to pay for it and what magic words to say when your doctor argued about prescribing it. (Between you and me, let’s just say that it helps if you’re the receptive partner in a serodiscordant long-term relationship. Doctors must think there’s a sudden explosion of dateable HIV-positive tops in the city.) Tim was wrong: I wasn’t mad at him for catching HIV. Well, I should say I wasn’t just mad at him. Every time one of my friends seroconverts, I’m also mad at myself, ashamed that I spent so long marching with the ignorant masses, avoiding getting tested for fear of what I’d find, contributing to a climate that keeps people from finding out or sharing their HIV status, a surefire way to make sure that we never beat this illness. I’m mad that as loud as I’ve been about PrEP and knowing your status, I still haven’t been loud enough. I firmly believe that with the tools we now have in our arsenal—not just condoms, but PrEP and PEP, not to mention better access to healthcare, education, and testing—not one more person needs to go through the life change of becoming HIV-positive. Not one more person should have to face telling his friends about his diagnosis, having his viral load and T-cell count checked every three months. And no one, regardless of his serostatus, should have to face the stigma and HIV-phobia that still eats at the gay community like a fungus. This is why I was mad at Tim. It’s why I will be mad every time anyone seroconverts, aware that even as I type this sentence, someone somewhere in New York City is testing positive for HIV. I’ll never stop being mad, not when we have the power to stop it. N NOVEMBER 28, 2014 23

Holiday cheer, my tail! If Grumpy Cat— voiced by Aubrey Plaza in Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever, which airs on November 29—was in charge, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting might be considerably less jolly on December 3.

NOVEMBER 28

ILLUSTRATION BY JAMES L. BARRY

WEEK

WHAT TO SEE & WHERE TO BE NOVEMBER 28 THROUGH DECEMBER 7

CONTACT MARK DOMMU AT LISTINGS@NEXTMAGAZINE.NET IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE LISTED. LISTINGS ARE FREE AND SUBJECT TO EDITORIAL DISCRETION.

CHUCK Atlas Social Club, 753 Ninth Ave (btwn 50th/51st Sts), atlassocialclub.com. Ernie Cote spins booming beats every Friday night so that Atlas’ hunky go-gos can shake their shit while you quaff cocktails at this neighborhood watering hole. 9pm; free.

FRIDAY

SECRETS Bar-tini Ultra Lounge, 642 10th Ave (btwn 45th/46th Sts), bar-tiniultralounge.com. This party is one secret you won’t want to keep to yourself. Chris Ryan and Scotty Em’s banger has music by DJ Natazu, shots by Fifi DuBois, and more hot boys than you can handle. 10pm; free. PHOENIX FRIDAYS Phoenix, 447 E 13th St (btwn First/Second Ave), phoenixbarnyc.com. Michael Cohen and co. pack the boys into this East Village stalwart every Friday night. Cute gays crowd the dance floor partying to your favorite pop throwback tracks. 10pm; free.

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GIRLS Lovegun, 617 Grand St (btwn Lorimer/Leonard Sts), Williamsburg, lovegunbarnyc@gmail.com. Whether you’re having a kiki with the queens up on the VIP balcony or getting down and dirty with the go-gos on the dance floor, Frankie Sharp’s Brooklyn happening is not to be missed. 10pm; $5 before midnight/$10 general admission. BEAR YOURSELF Rockbar, 185 Christopher St (@ Weehawken St), rockbarnyc.com. They say all cats look the same in the dark, but what about bears? DJ Chauncey D and co. turn the lights out for this blackout edition of Rockbar’s underwear party for furry guys. 10pm; free. KUNST Verboten, 54 N 11th St (btwn Wythe/Kent Aves), Williamsburg, verbotennewyork.com. Rap sensation Dai Burger and experimental musician Sadaf play this edition

of Susanne Bartsch and Gage of the Boone’s explosive Brooklyn dance party, with music by DJs Primo, Lauren Flax, Juliana Huxtable, and Bearcat. 11pm; $20. KING SIZE The Cock, 29 Second Ave (btwn First/Second Sts), thecockbar.com. DJ Jeff Chatterton spins an eclectic mix every Friday night at this infamous gay bar. Be sure to bring plenty of singles for the hunky go-gos working it on the bar. 11pm; $10. ELEVENELEVEN Open House, 244 E Houston (btwn Aves A/B), openhouse-nyc.com. It’s 11:11. Do you know where your party is? DJs like Michael Magnan, DiCap, and other special guests keep the main dance floor cute while host Stephanie Stone and co. hold court at Ladyfag’s popular weekly rage. 11pm; free before midnight/$5 general admission.

NOVEMBER 28, 2014 25

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 28

WEEK

BAR CRAWL

TGIF IN HK

t the end of a long week, the only thing you want to do is let loose. The way promoter Sasha Seven enjoys his Fridays is a night out “in the best gayborhood, Hell’s Kitchen.” Seven’s crawl starts with protein loading for the night ahead, followed by plenty of cocktails. —Mark Dommu

A 5. CRUISING TIME Industry, 355 W 52nd St (btwn Eighth/Ninth Aves), industry-bar.com. Once he’s had a few drinks, it’s time for Seven to enjoy the boys who make a Hell’s Kitchen Friday night so sexy. “One more stop is Industry for a little more eye candy and good music.”

3. MIX IT UP Barrage, 401 W 47th St (@ Ninth Ave), 212-586-9390. “My second

S FINI

stop is Barrage for one of the best mixologists in town, Pedro Alvarado. Check out the frozen margarita. Barrage is the perfect spot for a date, too!”

1. GRUB HUB Five Napkin Burger, 630 Ninth Ave (btwn 44th/45th Sts), 5napkinburger.com. The most important first step in any

4. SECRETS Bar-tini Ultra Lounge, 642 10th Ave (btwn 45th/46th Sts), bartiniultralounge.com. Seven’s next

26 NOVEMBER 28, 2014

2. HQ FRIDAYS The Ritz, 369 W 46th St (btwn Eighth/Ninth Aves), ritzbarandlounge.com. “First off, you have to stop in to The Ritz for HQ Fridays.” According to Seven, BoiParty’s new Friday night rage is the place to be in Hell’s Kitchen at the end of the week. “Drink prices are great and the music is phenomenal. DJ Xavier is on the main floor with Rico Alexis on the second floor and Mimi Imfurst on the third level.”

sasha seven: wilsonmodels; Mimi imfurst courtesy of logotv

stop is Bar-tini for Chris Ryan and Scotty Em’s new party, where “the boys are hot and the music is upbeat and on point. No cover all night can fit anyone’s budget.”

STAR T

night of serious partying is making sure you’ve got something in your stomach to soak it all up. “Grab a bite at Five Napkin Burger for one of the best burgers in town,” Seven reccomends. “After dinner, the night starts.”

NOVEMBER 28, 2014 27

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 29

WEEK STROBE Xes, 157 W 24th St (btwn Sixth/Seventh Aves), xesnyc.com. DJ Calvin has the beats to get you feeling your oats at this weekly Chelsea banger, with cute boys by the dozen. 9pm; free. SICKENING SATURDAYS Fairytail Lounge, 500 W 48th St (btwn 10th/11th Aves), fairytailnyc.com. Asia Persuasia and Haus of Litré’s weekly party is so turned up, it’s sickening. Special guest performers join resident DJ Thomas Trinity every week, along with sexy go-go boys. 10pm–3am; free. GLOW G Lounge, 225 W 19th St (btwn Seventh/Eighth Aves), glounge.com. Kareem McJagger’s weekly kiki is very illuminating! Knock back a few $2 shots and party with a cast of cute boys as DJ Scott Martin spins pop remixes. 10pm; free. VERS Bar-tini Ultra Lounge, 642 10th Ave (btwn 45th/46th Sts), bar-tiniultralounge.com. Show off how adaptable you are at this Hell’s Kitchen turnup. DJ PATRICK KUZARA is on the decks this week, and shot girl Fifi Dubois will get you liquored up. 10pm; free.

KEVIN THOMAS GARCIA

VIVA SATURDAYS Stage 48, 605 W 48th St (btwn 11th/12th Aves), vivasaturdays.com. DJs Tracy Young and Nina Young bring the big room beats to John Blair, Beto Sutter, Ric Sen, and BoiParty’s Saturday night rage. 11pm; $20–$25.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 30 BROADWAY BRUNCH Lips NYC, 227 E 56th St (btwn Second/Third Aves), lipsnyc.com. Show tunes and a hangover don’t usually mix, but if anyone can make the combo work, it’s Ginger Snapt. This queen’s weekly musical meal has specials like the “Legally Blonde” eggs and “Sweeney Todd” steak and eggs. Noon and 2:30pm; $21.95 brunch.

MUSIC FIGHTS AIDS Pacha, 618 W 46th St (btwn 11/12th Aves), lifebeat.org. DJ/producers A-Trak, Fedde Le Grand, Green Lantern, and special guests come together in honor of World AIDS Day for this special event benefitting Lifebeat, Music Fights HIV/AIDS. 4pm–midnight; $29. BELOW TEA The Monster, 80 Grove St (@ West Fourth St), manhattan-monster.com. This

28 NOVEMBER 28, 2014

evening disco delight is a fabulous way to wrap up another weekend! Join DJs Formika and Greg Scarnici, along with host, Robin Byrd, for their monthly tea dance in the disco dungeon of The Monster. 6pm–10pm; free.

1999 Industry, 355 W 52nd St (btwn Eighth/Ninth Aves), industry-bar.com. Indulge your 90s nostalgia and party like it’s 1999 at Industry tonight. Grab a cocktail and get a second one free until 9pm as DJ Scott Jones spins the hits of your youth. At 11pm, Kizha A. Carr performs. 8pm; free. THE INVASION The Stonewall Inn, 53 Christopher St (btwn Seventh Ave/Waverly Pl), thestonewallinnnyc.com. Logan Hardcore takes over Stonewall to host this weekly drag revue.

BRÜT Santos Party House, 96 Lafayette St (btwn Walker/White Sts), santospartyhouse.com. Franco DiLuzio, Eddie Baez, and Arsenio Amadis are just a few of the brawny brutes hosting this edition of DJs Dan Darlington and Peter Napoli’s rough-and-tumble party. The dress code is leather light, but make no mistake: the beats are gonna be plenty heavy! 11pm; $10 until midnight/$20 general admission.

Special guests Ariel Sinclair, Brenda Dharling, Dusty Ray Bottoms, Jada Valenciaga, and Terra Grenade will help Logan claim her territory. 10pm; free (plus two drink minimum).

1 YEAR

CIELO SERVICE Cielo, 18 Little W 12th St (btwn Washington/Greenwich Sts), cieloclub.com. DJ Escape has been giving New York a musical ministry for a year now. Celebrate this holy occasion with him and special guests. 10pm; free before midnight/$10 general admission. HOOKED Barracuda, 275 W 22nd St (btwn Seventh/Eighth Aves), 212-645-8613. Hostess Pixie will have you fiending for more performances, as DJ 2Face pumps his habit-forming beats at this addictive show. Midnight; free.

NOVEMBER 28, 2014 29

MONDAY DECEMBER 1 THE NORMAL HEART The Center, 208 W 13th St (btwn Seventh/Greenwich Aves), gaycenter.org. The Center celebrates World AIDS Day with this special screening of HBO’s acclaimed version of The Normal Heart. 7pm; free. BROADWAY MONDAYS Hardware, 697 10th Ave (btwn 47th/48th Sts), hardware-bar.com. If you can’t sit down at a long table without singing “La Vie Boheme,” then hightail it to Justin Luke and Sutton Lee Seymour’s weekly haven for theater nerds, where VJ OhRicky plays clips from your favorite shows! 7pm–midnight; free.

LYPSINKA: THE PASSION OF THE CRAWFORD The Connelly Theater, 220 E 4th St (btwn Aves A/B), queerartfilm.com. Ira Sachs’s Queer/Art/Film hosts a special performance of Lypsinka’s Joan Crawford tribute with a special talk-back with creator John Eperson after the show. 7pm; $39. DRAG KARAOKE Baby Grand, 161 Lafayette St (@ Grand St), babygrandnyc.com. Honey LaBronx’s monthly karaoke show comes early this month! Treat yourself to a song or two at this intimate karaoke bar. 8:30pm–11pm; free.

TUESDAY DECEMBER 2 BODY LANGUAGE The Cock, 29 Second Ave (btwn First/Second Sts), thecockbar.com. Shameless takes over this downtown palace of sleaze for happy hour, with Svetlana Stoli and Aric Wolff keeping it sexy. Enjoy 2-4-1 drinks and a whole lotta skin! 7pm–11pm; free. GENERATIONCURE HOLIDAY PARTY The Top of the Standard, 848 Washington St (@W 13th St), amfar.org. Kick off the holidays drinking cocktails with a group of young amfAR supporters dancing to beats by The Dolls and Elle Dee. 7pm– 10pm; $125 advance/$150 general admission.

NEW

TOUCH TUESDAYS Lovegun, 617 Grand St (btwn Lorimer/Leonard Sts), Williamsburg, lovegunbarnyc@gmail.com. The queers behind Hot Rabbit bring you a new Brooklyn turn-up every Tuesday at Lovegun, with music by DJs Colby and Jessamess. Expect a cute, mixed crowd and serious moves on the dance floor. 10pm; free.

18+

GAY COLLEGE TUESDAYS Rosebud Lounge, 512 W 42nd St (btwn 10th/11th Aves), therosebudnyc.com. Steve Sidewalk and the cute twinks who populate his

WEDNESDAY BEARDED LADY WEDNESDAYS Gym Sportsbar, 167 Eighth Ave (btwn 18th/19th Sts), gymsportsbar.com. It’s a real freak show in the basement locker room at this weekly screening of American Horror Story. World’s Tallest Queer Will Sheridan and bearded lady Daddy Dommu host, and with $3 shots every time someone dies, expect to be hammered before the first commercial break. 8pm; free.

DRAG ACADEMY G Lounge, 225 W 19th St (btwn Seventh/Eighth Aves), glounge.com. Everyone loves a makeover, and when you add a

TESTOSTERONE THURSDAYS Therapy, 348 W 52nd St (btwn Eighth/Ninth Aves), therapy-nyc.com. Inject a little testosterone into your Thursday night at Therapy’s hormonally charged weekly strip show. DJ David Scott spins the sexy jams for this sexy male revue featuring

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BATHSALTS Don Pedro, 90 Manhattan Ave (btwn Boerum/McKibbin Sts), Williamsburg, 718-218-6914. Outrageous Brooklyn queens give shows that tread the line of good taste at Macy Rodman and Severely Mame’s weekly “drag show for fuckups.” 11pm; free.

weekly collegiate bash are celebrating the Princess of Pop’s birthday! Expect Brintey tunes all night and a Britney tribute from hostess Paige Turner. 10pm; $10. WESTGAY Westway, 75 Clarkson St (btwn Washington St/West Side Hwy), westwaynyc.com. Everyone in the know knows that Frankie Sharp’s weekly party is the place to be on Tuesday nights—and now you know, too! DJs Nita Aviance and Jonjon Battles turn it out, go-go boys work it on the catwalk, and guest performers give late night shows. 10pm; $10.

DECEMBER 3

few cocktails it’s even better! Each week Marti Gould Cummings and a fabulous guest transform two very lucky—or very unlucky, depending on how many drinks these queens have had—audience members into their drag children. Hopefully these boys aren’t allergic to hairspray and sass. 9pm; free. TROPICAL WEDNESDAY Posh, 405 W 51st St (@ Ninth Ave), poshbarnyc.com. Now that the temperatures are dropping once again, there’s no better time to live a tropical fantasy on your Hump Day! Sip $5 tropical margaritas, Bay

THURSDAY DECEMBER 4

MY CHIFFON IS WET Eastern Bloc, 505 E Sixth St (btwn Aves A/B), easternblocnyc.com. There’s only one month left to get wet, so enjoy it while you can! Leo GuGu, Alan Cumming, and Ruby Roo let loose on the dance floor as DJ Paisley Dalton brings the beats. 10pm; free.

WEEK

JAY BRANNAN Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette St (btwn Astor Pl/W 4th St), joespub.com. Jay Brannan has strummed his way into the hearts of thousands of queer romantics. Catch him live at this iconic downtown venue. 9:30pm; $20 (plus $12 food/drink minimum).

go-go dancers, boylesque performers, and straight-up strippers. Plus, draft beers are $4 and Jack Daniels is $7. 10pm; free.

HELLA MARIAH Metropolitan, 559 Lorimer St (btwn Metropolitan Ave/Devoe St), Williamsburg, metropolitanbarny.com. Remember that episode of TRL where a mid-breakdown Mariah Carey walked on in a T-shirt, pushing a cart of ice cream? Relive that moment with tons of sexy Billyburg boys and Mariah tunes all night— maybe you’ll find someone who will always be your baby. 10pm; free.

Breezes, or Blue Hawaiians as DJ JRoc spins tropical beats to make you hula all night long. 9pm; free. JOCKSTRAP WEDNESDAY The Eagle, 554 W 28th St (btwn 10th/11th Aves), eaglenyc.com. Show off your buns in your favorite jock. If you haven’t got one, there are specials on the sexy undergarment at the Eagle store. While jocks aren’t required, they’re highly recommended, and let’s be honest, if you’ve got a cute tush, you’ll want to show it off as you shake it to beats by DJ Rob Sperte. 10pm; free.

NO STRINGS ATTACHED Cellar Bar at the Bryant Park Hotel, 40 W 40th St (btwn Fifth/Sixth Aves), cellarbarbryantparkhotel.com. Brian Rafferty and Joe Roszak’s party is better than any Grindr hookup, with a rotating roster of the city’s sickest DJs and pop-up drag performances. 10pm; free. TAKE IT OFF This N’ That, 108 N Sixth St (btwn Berry St/Wythe Ave), Williamsburg, thisnthatbrooklyn.com. DJ Jonathan Love’s underwear party returns! Take your pants off and get a free drink! 11pm; free.

FRIDAY DECEMBER 5

WEEK

PLAYLIST

PHOTO: CHRIS HARDER

Go hard on the dance floor Anthony DiCapua, better known as DJ DiCap, keeps it fresh at parties all over downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn. He’s a regular in the DJ booth at Girls, Frankie Sharp’s Williamsburg happening at Lovegun, where he goes in hard. “This is a list of some of my favorite tracks right now,” he explains of the mix he curated exclusively for Next. You’ll find it hard to listen without running to the nearest dance floor.

THE TRACKS: 1. Drippin – “Silver Cloak” 2. Omarion – “Post to Be” feat. Chris Brown and Jhené Aiko 3. Kitty – “Miss U” 4. Sophie – “Hard” 5. Baauer – “One Touch” feat. AlunaGeorge and Rae Sremmurd 6. LilAngelBoi – “Style” 7. James Nasty – “I Heard (You Got the Best)” 8. Dej Loaf – “Try Me” 9. Jam City – “Unhappy” 10. Sui Generis – “’90s Girls”

LilAngelBoi

AlunaGeorge

Jhené Aiko

DiCap plays Girls at Lovegun, 617 Grand St (btwn Lorimer/Leonard Sts), Williamsburg, Fridays at 10pm; $5 before midnight/$10 general admission. Visit lovegunbarnyc@gmail.com for more info. ’TWAS THE G’DAY B4 XMAS The Laurie Beechman Theater, 407 W 42nd St (btwn Ninth/Tenth Aves), spincyclenyc.com. Australian drag superstar Courtney Act is one of our favorite mistle-hos, and she’s gracing New York with her very first holiday show. It’s all about dreaming of a White Christmas during those hot Australian winters. 7pm; $22 general admission/$40 VIP (plus $15 food/drink minimum).

NEW

JACK Cameo Gallery, 93 N Sixth St (btwn Berry/Wythe Aves), Williamsburg, cameony.net. It’s all about the music at Paul Leopold’s electric new party, where techno masters A Village Raid, Joshua Steers, Drfnknstn,

and Shedontstop will spin in the basement of this Williamsburg venue. 9pm; $5 BEAT Xes, 157 W 24th St (btwn Sixth/Seventh Aves), xesnyc.com. Do you hear that beat? Do you feel it in your chest? Are you starting to move without even thinking about it? A Friday night should be all about the beats, and folks at Xes agree so much they put it in the name. DJ Jay Brancato spins all night, and $3 shot specials will have you feeling footloose and fancy free. 9pm; free. DISTORTED KRISTMESS The Laurie Beechman Theater, 407 W 42nd St (btwn Ninth/Tenth Aves), spincyclenyc.com. The girls of Distorted

Diznee are going homo for the holidays with a drag spectacle straight off the Vegas Strip. Holly Dae, Bootsie LeFaris, Pixie Aventura, and Brenda Dharling are serving song, dance, and high camp hijinks in their annual holiday revue! 10pm; $20 (plus $15 food/drink minimum). HUNG G Lounge, 225 W 19th St (btwn Seventh/Eighth Aves), glounge.com. Spend your Fridays at this Chelsea favorite, getting worked up by the rotating DJs who know how to bring serious noise and start you weekend off the right way. If that’s not enough to get your blood boiling, the go-go boys—who most certainly live up to the party’s oversized name—should help. 10pm; free.

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SATURDAY DECEMBER 6

A VERY CYNDI CHRISTMAS

BRIEF ENCOUNTER

cyndi lauperâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s true colors are shininG throuGh. the 80s icon and her Merry carolinG friends are coMinG toGether once aGain to support hoMeless lGBt youth this holiday season.

32 NOVEMBER 28, 21, 2014

WEEK hen you’re fortunate enough to have a family to spend the holidays with, it’s important to support those in your community who don’t. Leave it to Cyndi Lauper to bring the New Yorkers together for that very purpose. The pop icon has been working for years to improve the lives of homeless LGBT youth with her True Colors Fund, and this holiday season she and performers like 50 Cent, Rob Thomas, and Patty Griffin will come together at the Beacon Theater for her fourth annual Home for the Holidays benefit concert. A good cause and good music? That’s what the holidays are all about! We chatted with Lauper about the upcoming star-studded show, what the True Colors Fund does, and how it has parlayed its first tour in 2007 into a New York holiday tradition.

Who are some of the artists who have participated in Home forthe Holidays in the past? We have had a really diverse and incredible list of artists perform over the past three years, including Pink, Josh Groban, Jason Mraz, Sarah McLachlan, Lou Reed, Norah Jones, Adam Lambert, St. Vincent, and the list goes on and on. Who will be performing at Home for the Holidays this year? It is going to be a fun night with performances by 50 Cent, Rob Thomas, Natalie Maines, Patty Griffin, Salt-N-Pepa, Sufjan Stevens, Emily Haines and James Shaw of Metric, Emily West, Strfkr, and Liv Warfield. Also, we have Rosie O’Donnell and Laverne Cox co-hosting. What can the audience expect at the show? Music, music, and more music. It is three hours of performances by amazing artists. We have fun every year and it has become a holiday tradition in NYC for so many people. It is a big holiday celebration all in support of incredible LGBT youth who need us to stand with them.

PHOTOS: CYNDI: GAVIN BOND; 2013: GUSTAVO MONROY; 2012: WILSONMODELS

How did Home for the Holidays originally get started? We wanted to do something that would help the True Colors Fund raise awareness about LGBT youth homelessness and money to support our work. But we wanted to do it in a fun way. So, we took what we did in 2007 and 2008 with the True Colors Tour and turned it into a great holiday show with an array of amazing artists. Can you tell me more about the True Colors Fund and what it does? The True Colors Fund is focused on building a national movement and system to address LGBT youth homelessness. In America, up to 40 percent of homeless youth are LGBT, yet only seven percent of the general youth population is LGBT. The primary reason for them being homeless is rejection they face from their families. So, the True Colors Fund has a broad array of programs that we have built up the past three years to educate and engage the public, advocate in Washington, DC, collaborate with youth, conduct research, and focus at the community level to build up and improve their response to LGBT youth homelessness and prevent LGBT youth from becoming homeless in the first place. Why do you think it’s so important to support homeless LGBTQ youthduring the holiday season? It is important to support homeless LGBT youth every day of the year, not just during the holiday season. Their needs are the same each and every day. They need supportive adults in their life. They need a safe and stable place to live. They need opportunities that will allow them to reach for their dreams. They need for all of us to be there to stand with them every day. The holidays just afford us an opportunity during the “season of giving” to shine a spotlight on the issue.

Lauper with Pink at last years event.

What is the most special part of the holiday season for you? I just love the holidays. We decorate the house and I start playing holiday music early to get us all in the spirit. My son is away at school this year, so it’s really going to be special to all be home together. But during the holidays we all just try and stop our busy lives and focus on the family.

So many LGBT people are estranged from their families and have a difficult relationship with the holiday season. Are you creating a new family space for them to come home to? Home for the Holidays is a Billy Porter with Lauper in 2012. space for everyone to come to and feel empowered, safe, and welcomed. It is great to see such a diverse audience every year, all there to say, yes, I give a damn. Anything else you’d like prospective attendees to know about Home for the Holidays? Come, join us and experience what sold out crowds of over 2,800 people each year the past three years have experienced: a night of music, comedy, and fun all in support of incredible youth who need us to stand with them. N

Home for the Holidays at Beacon Theater, 2124 Broadway (btwn 74th/75th Sts), December 6 at 8pm; $50–$100/$500 VIP/$2,000 Premier. Visit truecolorsfund.org/homefortheholidays for more info.

NOVEMBER 28, 2014 33 NOVEMBER 14, 2014 33

SATURDAY DECEMBER 6

BAD REPUTATION Don Pedro, reimagines the classic holiday ballet as an erotic 1 YEAR 90 Manhattan Ave (btwn and opulent masterpiece, bringing together theSts), ater, burlesque, music, circus, Boerum/McKibbin and opera. 8pm; $75–$125. Williamsburg, 718-218-6914. Riot Chica celebrates one year of queer partying in true punk style, SATURDAY ROX Hardware, 697 10th Ave (btwn 47th/48th with music by Shomi Noise and Visit nextmagazine.com Sts), hardware-bar.com. DJ live performances by Dirty Exfor more event listings Scotty Rox makes sure your Satcuse, The Violence, and The urday night, you know, rocks. Bleed. 8pm; $7. He’ll be spinning into the wee hours of the mornNUTCRACKER ROGUE XIV, 428 Lafayette St ing as host Pusse Couture turns you out at this (@ Astor Pl), companyxiv.com. Company XIV Hell’s Kitchen hot spot. 10pm; free.

Where’s the party?

SUNDAY DECEMBER 7

SUNDAY’S A DRAG! Shadow Boxers, 215 W 40th St (btwn Seventh/Eighth Aves), shadowboxersbar.com. Whether you spent your Saturday night with Netflix or a wild party, brunch is the only way to start your Sunday. Reigning Miss’d American Sir Honey Davenport is your fabulous hostess, and your bottomless drinks include mimosas, Bloody Marys, bellinis, and sangria. 12pm and 2pm seatings; prices vary. SPARKLE: AN ALL-STAR HOLIDAY CONCERT 42West, 514 W 42nd St (btwn 10th/11th Aves), purplepass.com/sparklenyc.com. Scott

34 NOVEMBER 28, 2014

Nevins of Bravo’s The People’s Couch is bringing together a bevy of stars for a holiday event you won’t want to miss. Anthony Rapp, Perez Hilton, Lillias White, Marty Thomas, and others will deck the halls with song and cheer to raise money for The Actors Fund. 7:30pm; $65 general admission/$30 standing room only/$100 VIP.

BEATS The Eagle, 554 W 28th St (btwn 10th/11th Aves), eaglenyc.com. The weekend is nearly over, but the beat goes on at The Eagle. DJ B. Duron spins for a butch crowd at this Chelsea landmark. 10pm; free.

WEEK

BE CUTE One Last Shag, 348 Franklin St (btwn Lexington/Greene Aves), Bed-Stuy, facebook.com/onelastshag. Bushwick meets BedStuy as Merkin Muffley and Matty Beats spin for the children. 10pm; free. SIZE QUEEN SATURDAYS Mr. Biggs, 596 10th Ave (btwn 43rd/44th Sts), mrbiggsnewyork.com. You don’t have to be a big spender to get in on this action. Enjoy $8 Stoli and Absolut drinks and $5 Café Patron shots at Shawn Paul Mazur’s party, where Johnny Mack has the blood-pumping beats. 10pm; free.

SLURP Therapy, 348 W 52nd St (btwn Eighth/Ninth Aves), therapy-nyc.com. Slurp a few drinks as “showbiz spitfire” Paige Turner and friends provide a night of wacky entertainment. Expect high camp hijinks with plenty of Broadway polish. 10pm; free. UNTUCKED AND UNCENSORED The Ritz, 369 W 46th St (btwn Eighth/Ninth Aves), ritzbarandlounge.com. Enjoy the end of another weekend with Marti Gould Cummings. She’s got shows for days, hunty! DJ Clayton Moore spins all night. 11pm; free.