O&AN | July 2014

endorsements FOR LOCAL CANDIDATES

+TEP board with Metro Council

Approves Partner Benefits

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JULY 2014

VOLUME 13 | ISSUE 7

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PRIDE MONTH came to Nashville in style this year. The

celebration of the festival shifted from Riverfront Park to Public Square Park, and Nashville’s LGBT community and its allies gathered in the shadow of the Metro Courthouse. This summer, the significance of that location cannot be missed.

As Tennessee’s ban on same sex marriage progresses through the courts, Pride was celebrated in front of the very building where, just days later, an historic vote would grant domestic partner benefits to Metro Nashville employees.

Nashville has come a long way, but more change is coming.

CONTRIBUTORS

Writers : James A. Grady, Danielle Ackerman, Joseph Brant, Rebecca Davenport, Jonny Lim, & Paige Turner Photographers : Jessi Coggins, Marc Robert Colver, Michael E. Herman, Katy Parson & Daniel Weiss National Advertising Representative: Rivendell Media 1248 Route 22 West, Mountainside, NJ 07092 212-242-6863

W

e at Out and About Nashville celebrated Pride last month with our fellow citizens, hosting a small meet and greet with James Grady, our new Managing Print Editor, and the newspaper’s staff.

Grady and Joseph Brant, Managing Digital Editor, come to their positions after having served in the past as volunteers with the paper. Both look forward to ensuring that those changes which Nashville, and Tennessee, face – matters of great concern to the LGBT community – are covered, and that our community is well served.

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Out & About Nashville welcomes volunteer writers, photographers and videographers throughout the year. If you’re interested in contributing to our publication, send an email to editor@ outandaboutnashville.com with a resume, contact information and samples of your work if available. Our volunteer staff is unpaid, but contributors do receive credit for their work in our print publication and online.

Those seeking an internship in journalism or mass communications are strongly encouraged to apply.

In the coming months, please watch our website, www. outandaboutnashville. com, and our Facebook page for opportunities to become more involved in the newspaper’s volunteer corps, and when you see news and events of import arise, please contact us.

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All content of Out & About Nashville is copyrighted 2013 by Out & About Nashville, Inc. and is protected by federal copyright law and shall not be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. All photography is licensed stock imagery or has been supplied unless otherwise credited to a photographer and may not be reproduced without permission. The sexual orientation of advertisers, photographers, writers and cartoonists published herein is neither inferred nor implied. The appearance of names or pictorial representations does not necessarily indicate the sexual orientation of the person or persons.

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RETURN

NEWS

MAKING THE CASE FOR BENEFITS COUNCILMAN WESTERHOLM’S ADDRESS TO METRO COUNCIL On the evening of June 17, 2014, the Nashville Metro Council brought its Domestic Partner Benefits bill to the floor for an historic third reading.

In introducing the matter, Councilman Westerholm, a straight ally and one of the bill’s chief sponsors, made the following appeal to his colleagues in the Council.

COUNCILMAN PETER WESTERHOLM Thank you, Madame Vice Mayor.

I want to begin by expressing my appreciation to Council members Megan Barry, Lonnell Matthews, and Brady Banks, who have helped lead this effort.

I want to thank the council members who have signed on to support this legislation, and those who signed the initial letter requesting the appointment of a Study and Formulating Committee last fall to get this process started. And I would like to thank those members of the Study and Formulating Committee for their service, and the Dean Administration for their cooperation in our efforts.

We are here tonight to complete the process we set out to do, the seemingly simple task of extending city benefits to cover all of our employees and their loved ones equally, providing the same benefits for the same work performed.

Tonight we have the opportunity – as a Metro Council – to affirm that this is an idea whose time has come.

Looking back on where we were when this conversation began, for me, it was on the heels of President Obama’s second inaugural address, where he said: “Our journey is not complete until

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TO THE

HOUSE

our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law - for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.”

It was recognizing that we here in Nashville have a special place in the history of expanding civil rights. This is where, in our more recent history, we collectively said that Nashville is welcoming in any language. This is where Martin Luther King, Jr came to gain inspiration. This is where the profound question was asked by Diane Nash on the steps of this very building, “Do you feel it is wrong to discriminate against a person solely on the basis of their race or color?”

We all know the answer to that question.

We gather mere blocks from the State Capitol, where in August of 1920, Tennessee Governor Albert Roberts called a special session of the General Assembly in order to become the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment, granting women’s suffrage and making the words of the 14th Amendment ring louder, ring truer, and more fully embrace equal protection as the fulfillment of the radical notion that all of us are created equal, and entitled to the same rights and the same dignity that our shared humanity requires.

Since the link between Seneca Falls and Selma and Stonewall were made, we have seen every court, led by members of both parties and by justices of many religions, reinforce the notion that the 14th Amendment’s guarantees of liberty and equality protect gay and lesbian, bi and transgender Americans, and there has been no rational basis found for any continued deprivation of these equal treatments and equal protections.

And so here we are tonight in Nashville, in the midst of a nationwide embrace of an idea whose time has come. While the outcome of tonight’s proceedings may not be as monumental as those that have come before, nor will they be as far reaching as those that are likely soon to come – nevertheless – we have before us the opportunity to lend our city’s voice once again to the steadily expanding arc of justice.

We know what the answer to Diane Nash’s question was. We know what the answer is to the question of partner benefits. It is an idea whose time has come. I invite you tonight to embrace this opportunity.

JULY 2014

VICTORY

THAT

BUILT FRI SEPT 19

NEWS

THE PATH TO

DOMESTIC PARTNER BENEFITS HOW A GAY BILL BECOMES A LAW ... IN NASHVILLE

JOSEPH BRANT

On Tuesday June 17 the Metro Council in Nashville passed an ordinance that will grant domestic partners of city employees access to benefits such as insurance and pensions. By a vote of 27-7, with two abstentions, Metro Council made Nashville the fourth city in Tennessee – behind Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Collegedale – to offer domestic partner benefits to city employees.

For Bob Benson, the road to this particular council meeting began in April 2013. “I got a message from Chris Sanders with the Tennessee Equality project,” he said. “just asking if we could have coffee with him, if we could sit down and talk about domestic partner benefits in Metro, so I was thrilled just to be asked and thrilled that the topic was finally coming up.”

A Metro employee for the past from that and I always wished it would 22 years, the last 14 at Parks and grow to more because I know there’s Recreation, Benson agreed at that more than 17 people in Metro.” meeting to look for and engage as

By October, the council had many LGBT Metro employees that officially approached Mayor Karl Dean he knew who would be affected by with a request to open a “Study and proposed legislation. “So I did what Formulating Committee,” utilizing an I could,” he said, “and reached out to article in the Metro Charter that allows a lot of different people and we held for the Mayor to appoint and Council to our first meeting in late July at Café approve a study at least once every five Coco after work. We had about 17 years to look at “benefits, contributions, people show up and they came from all extent of coverage, actuarial soundness, different departments. We had [people and related matters in the system of from] libraries, parks, fire, police, the benefit plans.” The mayor’s acquiescence IT department, water department. It was deemed by mainstream media was really neat, I mean, to have 17 to be a tacit endorsement of potential people show up. I only personally forthcoming legislation. knew a few of them, you know, but “It was around mid-November,” people reached out to others.” said Benson, “on Facebook I got invited “So over the summer I kinda kept to a group and it was for LGBT Metro in touch with this group of 17 folks,” employees and their allies, started by Benson said, “but it never really grew John Johnson. He’s a paramedic. He

started this group, and it just exploded.

Right now this group has about 61 people in it, so it grew rather quickly and I’m so thrilled that he did it and I told him that it was a turning point for me because it really just upped our numbers and made me feel like this really was starting to move forward.”

“January,” he continued. “I think it was late-January when we all had another get-together at the Pour House down on Division Street. We had about 25 folks show up for drinks and stuff, and it was nice to really meet all these people in our group. It’s kinda funny, between parks and libraries we always kinda knew each other, and police and fire know each other well, but the worlds didn’t really … cross over much. So at this meeting they really did. That was fun to see.”

“So after that we just waited to hear when the bill would be introduced.”

That bill, formally presented at Metro Council on May 20, is technically “an ordinance amending Title 3 of the Metropolitan Code to provide domestic partner benefits for Metropolitan Government employees.” Its sponsors included Council Members Peter Westerholm, Brady Banks, Megan Barry, Lonnell Matthews, Ronnie Steine,

JULY 2014

Anthony Davis, Burkley Allen, Scott Davis, and Tim Garrett.

At Nashville Metro Council, bills almost always pass the first reading without any discussion. They’re basically approved at that point to begin discussion and debate, which generally happens at the second reading. A bill that passes second reading without being diverted, derailed, or just voted down stands a good chance of passing upon its third and final reading/vote.

So when the bill passed second reading with little fanfare or fireworks supporters were understandably happy.

Just one day before the third reading and final vote on the bill, Bob Benson seemed confident. “Looking good.

Thinking positively.”

Once the council voted to pass the bill on June 17, O&AN Managing Print Editor James Grady spoke with Benson and his partner, Michael McDaniel, outside the council chambers. “For us, it’s especially exciting,” he told O&AN, “because it means that my employer can recognize that when I go home at the end of a day’s work, I go home to a family. And he’s my family, so that means the world to me.”

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NEWS

PASSING METRO PARTNER

BENEFITS A CONVERSATION WITH CHRIS SANDERS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TEP JAMES GRADY

Shortly after the vote to approve domestic partner benefits for Nashville Metro Employees, the lobby outside the Metro Council chamber was a political circus in the best sense of the term.

Supporters and beneficiaries celebrated with their allies and friends, posing for photos and giving interviews. Once the crowds departed and the noise died down, Chris Sanders, Executive Director of the Tennessee Equality Project, sat down with us to look back at the process that his group did so much to shepherd.

JG: How long have domestic partner benefits been on TEP’s radar?

SANDERS: It was on our first PAC – political action committee – survey in 2007. That was really the first vote count we had on it. A lot of those members are still on the Council: They got reelected in 2011.

We surveyed on it again, and then we did a lot of work in gathering Metro employees last year. We really started working with them in about June or July last year, allowing us to have these meetings where they’ve talked with the media about the impact of partner benefits on their lives. That’s a huge difference from 2009, when we passed the nondiscrimination ordinance. Without those protections, Metro employees couldn’t exactly come out and talk about it. Since nondiscrimination passed, it opened up a space for them to talk. It was great to have their voices out here and to have them heard.

JG: So what signaled the shift that this was really going to happen, finally?

SANDERS: You know, it was really the mayor’s support. He’s always supported it, but it was a matter of timing. What’s interesting is how little opposition on the issue

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there has been. Usually equality bills get pulled on the first reading, when most bills sail through.

JG: So what changed, if the mayor has always been supportive?

SANDERS: The mayor’s support was key in getting the bill to track with the budget, which demonstrated that it was one of his immediate priorities. That gave us an indication that things were really going to go well this time.

JG: Tonight there were two main objections…

SANDERS: Yes, one moral and one economic. It is typical. They always try to raise the cost issue.

People tried to raise a cost issue to the nondiscrimination ordinance, and that didn’t cost anything! And obviously moral objections were raised… But you know the funny thing is that moral objections come up with regard to our community in ways that moral issues don’t generally come up when we’re normally talking about our coworkers.

JG: Could you explain that?

SANDERS: Well there’s no good explanation for the behavior, but if you’re going through a divorce or having an affair or have an open marriage, those sorts of things usually don’t become factors in considering your rights as an employee. If you’re straight and working in this kind of environment, your marriage being open isn’t an issue in terms of getting your spouse insured. But homosexuality for whatever reason gets singled out.

JG:At least in tonight’s meeting, it seemed relatively clear that we turned to moral concerns only when the economic issue failed to get traction. Do you think this signals a shift in the political safeness of bringing up moral issues?

OUTANDABOUTNASHVILLE.COM

JULY 2014

SANDERS: I think so – but it’s never really safe to bring up morality when defending inequality, is it? But what we also have seen in these debates is a strong moral argument for these protections on the other side – our side.

Councilman Scott Davis articulated in the last meeting a strong faith position and a pragmatic position for these benefits. I think we heard Councilman Westerholm lay out a progressive history of inclusion in America and where we fit in that. And those are both two very different kinds of moral argument.

JG: One of the strangest moments for me from tonight’s meeting was when Councilman Phil Claiborne expressed such surprise that his colleague from “that corner” of the room would speak in behalf of the moral imperative to pass the bill. Is there any reason for that surprise or…

SANDERS: I cannot account for Councilman Claiborne’s assessment of Councilman Matthews. Councilman Matthews

is one of the sponsors of the bill!

That struck me as odd. I definitely got the impression that Councilman Matthews was a bit surprised that Councilman Claiborne was surprised!

JG: How does it feel to bring this to a successful resolution?

SANDERS: It feels great!

What we’ll be doing now is taking some time to assess what we need to be doing at the next level and with cities and counties around the state, what other forms of protections and advances are needed, and we want to be very thoughtful about that. It took us a long time to put together the strategies for this and for nondiscrimination.

JG: Do you think that Nashville having done this will be a sign to other, smaller cities?

SANDERS: I do hope so.

Nashville is a different city in the political landscape, but as the capitol I think it can be very symbolic.

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NEWS

TEP ELECTS NEW BOARD MARRIAGE AND BENEFITS REMAIN CENTRAL, TRANS RIGHTS COME INTO FOCUS JAMES GRADY

With the passage of domestic partner benefits in Nashville Metro becoming the latest major accomplishment under its belt, the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) is not resting on its laurels but gearing up for a number of major pushes in activism. From organizing phone banks to support Chattanooga’s defense of its own domestic partner benefits at the ballot to laying a groundwork to get as many Tennessee couples as possible married on “Day One,” it’s shaping up to be a busy summer for TEP.

JONATHAN COLE In June, TEP held elections for its Board, including the new slate of officers who will work with Executive Director Chris Sanders in setting priorities and directing the organization’s work for the next term.

New Chairman and President Jonathan Cole says, “It is important to me to make sure, as much as possible, that our board reflects the diversity of Tennessee. Each Grand Division is represented on it.” Cole, as well as Treasurer Jeff Kirwan, live and work in Memphis, while David Glasgow, Vice

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President, and Secretary H. G. Stovall are Nashville residents. Knoxville is represented on the executive committee by at-large member Audrey Lee. Cole observes, too, that “the Board reflects old hats as well as some new faces.” Returning board members, as well as long-term leadership from Sanders and others, provide stability and an institutional memory. “We’re very lucky to have Chris, who has been a board member, as well as president, and we want to continue to support him.”

However, enthusiastic new leadership at all levels helps the organization maintain its energy and vision. “We try to recruit as a Board to reflect the many faces and segments of our LGBT community. We particularly focus on developing new leaders at the local level.” Most recently new steering committee chairs were recruited for Shelby county and the Tricities area.

One thing we won’t see with the new Board is a radical shift in priorities.

“We’re going to continue pursuing state and local goals in line with previous activism,” Cole assures. “Dignity for All Students continues to be a priority. This bill adds protections that aren’t currently included, including sexuality and gender identity, and we want to make it clear what’s acceptable.”

Also at the state level, TEP has its eyes on marriage again. In the event the Sixth Circuit makes a ruling in any of its cases which brings equality to Tennessee for even a brief window, TEP is organizing statewide. Cole says, “We’re very aware of 6th Circuit decision possibilities, and we want to be ready on day one for same sex couples to go obtain licenses, during what will probably be a brief window. We’re recruiting couples, as well as officials and ministers to solemnize those marriages.” While a stay may ultimately halt the marriages, these marriages strengthen the case that lack of marriage equality harms people more than it could possibly “harm” the state.

At the local level, the TEP will continue its legislative work in behalf of benefits programs and other rights issues.

Local school boards are also a major

OUTANDABOUTNASHVILLE.COM

JULY 2014

focus. “While the major districts have bullying protections, we don’t state wide, and a lot of rural kids especially aren’t protected.”

While TEP and organizations like it often hear complaints that the progress is slow and incomplete, Cole notes that this stimulates their agenda. “We elect representatives. When you can’t get congress to do it you go to the local level. This is a trickle up effect, and it works. Our impact is more immediate at the local level, and these local laboratories for policy help normalize expectations about who deserves protection. It stimulates state and national progress. Politicians have to watch their

constituents, and when they start realizing they’re being elected by districts that support what we’re working for, change happens. But you have to work at it constantly.”

With possible changes on the horizon concerning marriage and employment discrimination, TEP isn’t getting ready to celebrate victory. “We’re working on strategic planning. Housing and public accommodation laws, birth certificate laws, and the state hate crime statutes are all still areas of potential inequality.

Transgender people particularly still face a lot of difficulty. There is still a lot to do, and TEP is strong at translating realistic and specific goals into tangible gains.”

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STAFF

During this election season, Out and About Nashville has elected to make endorsements during general elections only. We are sharing our endorsements for county and local offices this month because local general elections will be held on August 7th, 2014. We will make our endorsements for state and national offices in the fall.

RACHEL BELL

LYNDA JONES

Rachel Bell remains a solid ally to the LGBT community, attending community events, such as this year’s HRC dinner. She is a member of the Tennessee Stonewall Bar Association, which “provides support to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) lawyers working in Tennessee” and “is dedicated to promoting LGBT inclusion and civil equality both in Tennessee’s legal community and the state’s general population.” In our opinion, Bell is one of the most progressive judges currently serving Davidson County.

Lynda Jones is the kind of family values candidate we can get behind.

An active member of West End United Methodist, she is married and has one daughter. But she is on the record as promising, “I am unbiased in my beliefs and demonstrate an open mind to people of all backgrounds regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or economic status.” Now promises are promises, we understand, but Lynda is a longtime friend of the LGBT community, and a Federal Club Member of the HRC. She puts her money, and her action, where her mouth is.

General Sessions Judge, Division VIII rachelbellforjudge.com

GLENN FUNK

Davidson County District Attorney voteglennfunk.com He may be running in an uncontested race, but O&AN feels that Glenn Funk, an accomplished attorney, with 29 years of experience, deserves our recognition and support.

Besides his vast experience as assistant district attorney, assistant public defender, and special prosecutor, as well as in private practice, Funk brings a deep sense of personal conviction to the job.

He believes that LGBT individuals should be respected as equals. Funk’s support for the LGBT community is rooted in, not in spite of, his faith. He relates, “Within my church, Westminster Presbyterian, I have consistently supported equal rights both in denominational issues such as equality in marriage issues, and locally with regard to our congregation’s hiring practices. I will look to add diversity within the office. I will also seek input from all groups within Nashville regarding the administration of justice.”

Throughout his campaign, Funk has attended to the concerns of the LGBT community, going so far as to hold a meet and greet at Suzy Wong’s House of Yum “to meet with voters and talk about issues important to the LGBT community.”

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MELISSA BLACKBURN

General Sessions Judge, Division II blackburnforjudge.com Melissa Blackburn is a huge supporter of our LGBT community.

She has attended nearly every LGBT political and social event in Nashville.

At Pride this year, she was a visible presence, and her smiling face left no doubt that she was proud to be there with us! She has really earned our community’s trust as an elected official and office holder with our best interests in mind.

“Throughout my career in the legal, private sector and charitable fields working alongside friends and colleagues, it has been clear to me that LGBT community members want essentially the same things most of us want: the opportunity to work, be successful, have a family, provide for the needs of their family and contribute to making Nashville a better place to live.”

Also, importantly, she wants us to remember she is NOT MARSHA.

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JULY 2014

General Sessions Judge, Division IX jonesforjudge.com/

NASHVILLE METROPOLITAN BOARD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION Education is a matter of broad, bi-partisan concern, and certainly most candidates for school board in Nashville are, with a greater or lesser degree of enthusiasm, on the right side of issues like discipline, bullying, and the inclusion of diverse families.

However, certain distinctions can be made: for some bullying is a matter to be dealt with as it happens, and for others it is grave concern calling for proactive and preventative measures. Some candidates are willing to include everyone, while others seek to make Nashville a place that extends a welcome .

With these thoughts in mind, we wish to

highlight two candidates in particular,

whose personal experiences and ethos

speak to issues of concern to LGBT families.

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TYESE HUNTER

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District Six facebook.com/hunterforschools Tyese Hunter is deeply invested in the state of education in Nashville and her district. Hunter has three children in Nashville schools, one in elementary, one in middle, and one in high school, and the district she seeks to represent, which includes Antioch/Cane Ridge, traditionally underperforms. “Our schools expect too little for and from children with differences. Whether we’re talking about economic disparities, learning differences, or groups like LGBT children, they’re making excuses for why children aren’t doing well but aren’t dealing well with underlying issues.”

One such issue is bullying, which her son experienced to the extent that he had to be taken to the hospital, and ultimately had to change schools. While Nashville has policies in place to prevent bullying, “they aren’t well addressed.

My son videoed a situation where bullying was happening and the teacher sat there. Without implementation, policies are no good. This is one reason why many children with differences aren’t as successful as they could be.”

Her experience, we believe, will make her a proactive board member on issues of diversity support and anti-bullying. “I support families that love each other, and hold each other up: I think that’s all that matters. We should have schools where sexual orientation isn’t an issue that causes stress for students.”

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RHONDA DIXON

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Rhonda Dixon is raising a grandchild in Nashville schools.

She reflects on her own family as a picture of diversity, and this has made her desire to “stand up and be an advocate for all people.” With regard to protections for diverse students, she reflects, “My stepson is gay and he’s faced a lot of challenges throughout his life – I have such a strong belief that people should have equality. Everyone should have their rights protected in school, whether they meet ‘the norm’ or not. My norm is diversity. People who are not like you should have the right to go to school without being harassed. School is hard enough without having to be afraid of showing up.” Dixon believes that her passion will allow her to make strong stands against powerful personalities of “the vocal minority. I will challenge them and speak up, and not let some group take over when children are at stake.”

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AUGUST

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Friday, August 15 7 p.m. – 11 p.m.

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OUTANDABOUTNASHVILLE.COM

JULY 2014

6/23/14 9:37 AM

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF JULIUS GREENE

SUMMER JAMES GRADY

LGBT communities are often tight knit, and they can be difficult to break into at times. Those who relocate to a new area or who have just come out, especially when they do so later than many of their peers, often face

the daunting task of trying to integrate into a social sphere that is already well set. Interest and/or activity groups provide one avenue for establishing new friendships and accessing social circles.

HotMess Sports, which describes itself as a “gay/gay friendly” league in

Nashville, is a popular and expanding sports league that has brought many diverse members of Nashville’s LGBT community, and its allies, together to enjoy sports that nearly all Americans grew up playing. Originally a kickball league, it has recently expanded to include dodgeball.

JULY 2014

League founder Derrick Lachney started playing kickball in Washington, DC: “I heard of this new gay/gay friendly kickball league called Stonewall Kickball. I joined as a captain and started my own team, the HotMess Kickers.”

The result was somewhat unexpected.

@O U T A N D A B O U T N A S H

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Thanks to kickball, “My circle of friends grew greatly and I finally felt like I was part of this very large community in our nation’s capital.”

When a job opportunity brought him to Nashville, Lachney brought HotMess with him. “ALL my Nashville friends wanted me to start a kickball team here, so, in the spring of 2012, we joined the Nashville Sports League as the HotMess Kickers,” he recalls.

He and teammates didn’t connect with other teams, though, and things came to a head when members of a church organized team made homophobic comments to HotMess players. “At that point I decided that this league didn’t have to be the only option for people in Nashville to play organized sports.”

From there, things moved quickly.

Lachney contacted friend and Play owner Joey Brown about sponsoring the league, and reserved East Park with Metro Parks.

“The next thing I knew, registration was opening for our first season in the fall of 2012. That first season we had 8 teams and 120 people. I was shocked and delighted.”

Despite the hurdles that the organization faced in that first season, it has grown by leaps and bounds. “Cut to 2 years later: we just finished our 4th season with 14 teams and 250 people!”

HotMess Dodgeball, which held its first

season in January, opened with 11 teams and 150 people. Also in January, HotMess Kickball attended its first tournament in Las Vegas. “I feel like the more the league grows the more opportunities we have to do bigger things elsewhere.”

It would be easy to underestimate the impact of a sports league like HotMess. After all, it is essentially a group of adult men and women playing children’s games – an enjoyable way to spend weekend afternoons in the park to be sure. But a short conversation with the league’s players quickly reveals how important it has been in developing community and friendship.

Keisha Thomas and her girlfriend played kickball on the only LGBT team in the Nashville Sports League before Lachney started his team here. Her team performed well, and they didn’t have too many issues. Balls of Glory was comprised of “mostly fit, athletic guys. I honestly didn’t know a lot of them were gay at first!” After HotMess’s difficulties, Balls of Glory’s captain joined the HotMess league. The move allowed players to have more social interactions in the larger LGBT community, as many LGBT teams joined HotMess. “The kickball community is the reason I am part of the Nashville LGBT community,” Keisha says. This is an experience shared by many.

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hen Ben Slinkard first moved to Nashville, he didn’t know anybody. One Sunday he met Lachney and a few HotMess players, and they convinced him to join the league as a free agent.

“Since joining the league, I have made lifelong friends. On Sundays when we all come together … it’s almost a time to be with family!” Like every family, HotMess brings together very different people, and in so doing it has helped Ben become “even more outgoing and more comfortable with who I am as a person!”

One thing that he especially appreciates is the opportunity to “be around a group of people who can be ridiculously silly with each other, and no one judges! I think when you are finally able to let your hair down, as they say, with the people you are around, you have succeed in life!”

Tim Wingard found himself in need of community in a very different way. After being married to a woman for 12 years and fathering two beautiful daughters, he finally decided to come out. Religious struggles compounded the difficulty. When he came out, he was still relatively new to Nashville. “My exwife left right away and went back to Arkansas with my two girls. I was also forced to come out to my family and friends quickly…. I was forced to face

my new journey alone.” A coworker connected Wingard with one of her gay relatives, who brought Wingard into HotMess. Kickball is more than a pastime for him. He credits the league with his “becoming a healthier man, not only physically but emotionally too.”

For Wingard, his new community was more literally a family, as new friends provided him with the support he needed. “My new family exploded.

I met one of my dearest friends through kickball. She and I both just came out around the same time and went through divorces. She is a part of my new family.” It also connected him with friends who helped him reconcile his religious life with his newly accepted identity: “They both opened my eyes that I can be a Christian gay man. I did not think it was possible.” One of those men is Ward Dukes Dukes loves the friendly rivalry and the opportunity to be around such diverse people. “There is a lot of rivalry and competition in the league, but even more so there is so much camaraderie and support no matter where you are in your health, fitness, or life in general,” Dukes explains. But for Dukes, who himself enjoyed the support of the team during a bout with cancer, the opportunity to meet and support people like Wingard is one

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of the great joys of being involved in the team. “As a gay man who has been out for almost 18 years, through Hotmess I’ve had the pleasure of meeting people who are just coming out and dealing with things I had long since forgotten as struggles.”

Dukes recalls Wingard expressing the feeling of having to choose between religion and family and being gay. Despite choking up as his own experience rushed back, Dukes shared his own story, which helped him “show [Wingard] how my family had grown to accept and love me even more despite their initial disdain, how I had not had to sacrifice my relationship with God, and how I had moved so far past those initial trials that I had almost forgotten I ever went through them. Through Hotmess, I’ve been able to pay back all the people in my past who helped me learn to accept and love myself, by helping others that are going through those trials now.”

Almost everyone associated with HotMess has a story to tell about how the league was instrumental in bringing them together with some of their closest friends. Kyle Wood is no different. But his story has a twist on the theme. His friends Nic and Bobby asked him to join a new team last year. He says, “I instantly found a new group of friends.”

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JULY 2014

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One person he met on the first day of practice last September was Steven Adair. After practice, “Steven and I locked eyes and decided to go shopping for cleats for kickball that weekend.

After that initial little shopping date we just instantly clicked.” Eight months have passed and Kyle says, “He’s my best friend and my soul mate, and I owe a lot of that to the HotMess league.

Without HotMess Sports, I wouldn’t have met Steven.”

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It’s these human interactions which are HotMess’s greatest contribution to the community. Future growth and expansion in the organization promise to increase the opportunities for bringing people together. Lachney is rightly proud of the organization he started.

“When I look back at where HotMess started and where it is now, I’m most proud of the sense of community it has given to its members, as well as myself. I see people on the field and around town together who met through HotMess, and it makes me smile. To get gays and lesbians, jocks and non-jocks, opening up to each other, becoming friends, and socializing together, that is what HotMess is all about.”

While dodgeball is being established in Nashville, Lachney is turning his attention to Louisville, where HotMess will be organizing its new league. He has also talked with a couple of members in the league, who may help to start other sports under the HotMess umbrella. But for now the group is focusing on its current enterprises. HotMess Sports will be shooting a 2015 Calendar in August to raise money for a return to Vegas for the Sin City Shoot Out in January.

Registration for the fall league will open August 11th. For more information, see the league’s website, hotmesssports.com.

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19

COMMUNITY

EHRENFELD ELECTED

TO AMA BOARD

LOCAL DOCTOR BECOMES FIRST OPENLY GAY TRUSTEE OF EMINENT MEDICAL ASSOCIATION JAMES GRADY

Jesse Ehrenfeld joined the faculty of Vanderbilt University Medical School in 2010. A graduate of the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine and Harvard University School of Public Health, Ehrenfeld has prepared himself for a career not simply as a doctor but as a leader in public health and policy as well.

Indeed, this overachieving young doctor is also an officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve’s medical corps.

In each of these areas he has enjoyed great success. He is now Associate Professor at Vanderbilt, where he wears many hats, including acting as a consultant to the Associate Dean of Diversity on LGBTI issues and directing a course on “Sex, Sexuality, and Sexual Health.” In the Navy Reserve, he has attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander, and from 2011-12 served as Administrative Department Head of an Operational Health Support Unit out of Camp Lejune.

Ehrenfeld received an historic honor in June, however, becoming the first openly gay person elected to the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Board of Trustees since the organization’s founding in 1847. The twenty-one member board, Ehrenfeld explains, “sets standards and policy for the medical profession. The AMA Board of Trustees ensures that the AMA remains focused on its essential reason for being: to promote the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health. The Board is also responsible for providing oversight of the AMA and to ensure it is acting in the best interest of physicians.”

Dr. Ehrenfeld was kind enough to address the impact of his election as a symbolic moment, as well as his own goals as a leader in medicine and public health, in a brief Q&A: JG: “What is the significance of having an openly gay trustee on the AMA Board of Trust?”

EHRENFELD: “My election as the first openly gay officer of the American Medical Association represents a growing desire to embrace diversity of all types by our membership and voting delegates. I expect that my service will signal to other gay physicians and trainees across the country, that the AMA is an organization that embraces the true diversity of our profession and is a place where all voices are welcome.”

JG: “More broadly, how will being a gay man and someone interested in LBGT medical issues influence how you will exercise your role?”

EHRENFELD: “As I step into my new role on the AMA Board of Trustees, I look forward to serving as a voice for LGBT physicians,

20

patients and their families. The AMA has longstanding policy in support of LGBT patients and providing the best care for those in our community.

I know that as an out physician, I will be able to bring an important perspective into the board room, as important conversations about training, access, and quality continue to evolve.”

JG: “What is it like being an LGBT naval medical care provider?

Will being an AMA Trustee give you an opportunity to affect the experience of LGBT military medical needs/concerns?”

EHRENFELD: “I am proud to serve my country as a medical officer in one of the finest medical corps in the world, the U.S. Navy.

With the repeal of DADT, it has been easier to ensure our LGBT servicemen and women receive the care they need. As Secretary Hagel commented last year, ‘Our

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JULY 2014

nation has always benefited from the service of gay and lesbian soldiers, sailors, airmen, and coast guardsmen, and Marines. Now they can serve openly, with full honor, integrity and respect. This makes our military and our nation stronger, much stronger. The Department of Defense is very proud of its contributions to our nation’s security.

We’re very proud of everything the gay and lesbian community have contributed and continue to contribute. With their service, we are moving closer to fulfilling the country’s founding vision, that all of us are created equal.’ The AMA has long advocated on behalf of both our military physicians, as well as our patients served by the military.

It will be a pleasure and an honor to ensure the perspective of those serving, including those serving as openly LGBT, is brought to the AMA Board.”

Ehrenfeld’s term on the Board is four years, and he will be eligible for re-election to a second term in 2018. Serving on the AMA Board of Trust is a distinguished position, but it is also a great responsibility: “the AMA is uniquely positioned to improve public health and improve the health of the nation.”

The AMA’s combined resources, as well as its influential relationships, give the organization the capability of addressing key issues in order to improve the system of healthcare, and the overall physical wellbeing, of Americans. In the coming years the AMA has three areas of strategic focus, including “Improving Health Outcomes, Accelerating Change in Medical Education and Enhancing Physician Sustainability and Satisfaction.” Each of these areas is of great concern to segments of our population.

You can learn more at www. ama-assn.org/ama/pub/aboutama/strategic-focus.page

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COMMUNITY

J

JAMES GRADY

ust two years ago, Nissan scored a mere 30 out of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s 2012 Corporate Equality Index, left in the dust by many auto companies. But Nissan took that mark seriously, and in a single year raised its score a whopping 70 points to a perfect 100. Turns out, it was Nissan employees themselves, as much as anything, who helped put Nissan on the map as a corporate friend to the LGBT community.

Nissan employees company-wide are organized into various “synergy groups” for people with various interests and concerns, from the original, focuses on the status of women, to the largest which emphasizes employee health and well-being. The Gay Straight Alliance at Nissan, or GSAN (which when said out loud cleverly rhymes with Nissan), is the youngest of these groups, but it’s fastgrowing and active.

Not long after Nissan received its dismal score from the HRC, Cathy Lively, current president and co-founder of GSAN, was attending a diversity breakfast. “Someone shared a story,” Cathy recalled, “about conversations that were going on during the elections. She had heard a lot of edgy conversations, and a lot of uneducated talk about LGBT issues, and she shared with us some

things that scared her.”

After this meeting, Cathy went to Nissan’s Director of Diversity and discussed starting a synergy team.

“Domestic partner benefits and other protections came with Nissan when it transferred here , so there were some things in place. But there wasn’t a synergy team – a group to support our LGBT employees and offer them a safe environment to discuss issues important to them,” Lively explains.

There were some issues that needed to be hammered out before GSAN would be formed. Synergy groups are entirely employee driven, so Cathy needed a core group. And as a straight ally, Cathy felt like she needed a LGBT “partner in crime” to get the group going – which she found in one of her best friends, Dave Damron. Once Dave joined her, the group still needed an executive sponsor.

“That’s when we were put in touch with Travis Parman, Director of Corporate Communications,” she explained. “Then we had our team in place.”

From a core group of about ten during the planning stages, GSAN expanded by leaps and bounds. By its launch a year-and-a-half ago, it had reached forty members, and has grown since to over a hundred, about 60% allies.

“Clearly it was a long time coming,” Lively says. “We just want people to

understand that we have a corporate culture where it’s not okay to be nasty to each other, and we want to work to spread that environment through the company, from offices to factories.”

As president of the group, Cathy has a lot to be proud of: from doubling its membership to winning awards from the LGBT chamber of commerce and bringing in HRC to do a panel on corporate issues, GSAN has been busy.

The event with the HRC also illustrates how GSAN is reaching beyond its own walls: the panel was open to other businesses in the hope of supporting pro-LGBT cultures in other companies.

“Of course we’re proud of our education and engagement with Nissan employees.

But growing our employee awareness – and our membership – allows us to take advantage of opportunities to reach out.

And of course we couldn’t sponsor Pride at the level we do without employee volunteer support,” she explains.

“When I came to Nissan,” Travis Parman says, “I saw we were a sponsor but weren’t in the program. All we had was two Infinities outside the gate with some product specialists. Last year and this year, we really increased our

engagement and put a human face on it with our employee volunteers. The cars draw people in, but it’s talking with our LGBT employees and their allies that shows people what we’re all about.”

And Nissan’s presence at Pride, like GSAN itself, is employee driven. This year they brought in some paid product specialists though. “Some people are really interested in the cars, of course,” Cathy says. “Having the specialists frees up our GSAN volunteers to get to know people. They connect with our employee volunteers and see that Nissan isn’t just putting money into pride, it’s putting it’s human presence there as well.”

GSAN looks forward to supporting Nissan’s LGBT employees and allies, as well as the broader community, in more and new ways in the future. “We’re local now,” Cathy said. “Each location has to have its own employee group to have a presence. We think we’re there at our Smyrna location.” She looks forward to the group expanding through the manufacturing side. “We also look forward to giving our employees more opportunity to engage in outreach. We’re proud of our community and we want to support it.”

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A Profile of the Eating Disorders Coalition of Tennessee

S

REBECCA DAVENPORT

adly, the LGBT community suffers higher rates of suicide attempts, depression and anxiety than the general population. We are also at higher risk of disordered eating. Fortunately, those struggling with food or body-related issues or who know someone who does, there’s a place in Middle Tennessee that can help.

Founded in September 2002, the Eating Disorders Coalition of Tennessee (EDCT) is the Southeast’s first statewide nonprofit to advance eating disorder awareness, education and prevention. It offers various support groups and has a statewide speaker’s bureau for schools, college campuses, churches, or any other group that wants information on disordered eating. It teaches people how to deal with negative body image and runs forum training for clinicians. It also provides counseling and group work and can do referrals anywhere in the country.

---- Courtney Cuden, director of programs & outreach for the EDCT says, “Research has shown an increase in reported cases of bulimia among homosexual men and that this population is particularly vulnerable to body dissatisfaction and poor body image.” Research also shows that, although heterosexual women are usually thought to be at the highest risk for disordered eating, lesbian women who identify as feminine have just as high a risk of developing an eating disorder as their straight counterparts.

Triggering pressures can come from outside the community, but can come from within it, as well. Studies show that the younger generations within the LGBT community are narrowing their concept of which body image is most appealing, and their rates of disordered eating are much higher than in older generations.

Why are eating disorder rates so high within the LGBT community? Cuden says that, “Eating disorders are often linked to identity issues, which would make a lot of sense.” Many LGBT individuals face rejection, discrimination, gay bashing, bullying, homelessness and other trauma related to our identity. Cuden continues, “Eating disorders are self harming behaviors which often times stems from very low self-esteem, body dissatisfaction, self-loathing. Among the LGBT community, the issues are obviously going to surround sexuality - stigma and acceptance…. Eating disorders seem often to show up to manage the anxiety surrounding identity and sexuality.”

Cuden, who recovered from an eating disorder, points to a few key factors in recovery. “I am a strong believer that eating disorder recovery is completely possible. People can be recovered, period.” When asked about the difference in recovery between food addictions and other addictions, such as alcohol, cocaine, or heroin, Cuden explains, “The difference between something like eating disorder treatment and treatment for other addictions is abstinence. Food is something that people have addictive and obsessive compulsive behaviors with and around.

You’ve got to have it. You can’t avoid it.

You’ve got to learn to manage food to stay alive. You have to become friends with it, which often times will land people in a place to be recovered because it becomes so manageable.”

When asked if being out makes a difference for LGBT people, Cuden exclaims, “Absolutely! I feel like the closeted mentality promotes shame and self-loathing and drives home and reinforces all these core beliefs of being worthless and unlovable. When someone does make some peace and come to terms with who they are as a sexual being and are brave enough to seek support and let others know who they are authentically, most folks in my experience and observation are surrounded with more love and support than they ever thought was possible. From that community and acceptance, I see depression and anxiety rapidly decline. Behaviors that show up to manage that anxiety ebb tremendously.”

If you suspect someone has an eating disorder, how you approach them can make the difference between a positive reception to your concern or being pushed away. “Coming at them with judgment or any kind of disdain is only going to cause them to shut you out,” cautions Cuden. “Always approach with love. Always approach with questions. Get the person you are concerned about to start talking about their experience.”

For more information on support groups or other resources offered through the EDCT, please visit www.edct.net or contact them by phone at (615) 831-9838. All groups are completely confidential.

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“It’s time to stop the hate and realize that none of us are truly free until all Tennesseans have equal rights under the law.”

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Where is House District 51? House District 51 represents those who live in Downtown, The Gulch, Salemtown, Germantown, parts of East Nashville, Inglewood, parts of Madison, Old Hickory and Lakewood.

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ENTERTAINMENT

TENNESSEE QUEER Movie Review JONNY LIM

to remember: it has the humor, the message, and an angry preacher hell bent on "curing" the homosexual problem.

There is even a mayoral candidate so set in his ways that even if God himself came down and said "Being gay is okay with me," he still wouldn't believe it, a dysfunctional family that sees its one gay son as the least of its problems, and a gay treatment camp video that will crack you up. Also if you have ever wondered what the most awkward striptease looks like, this movie will show you that too!

The movie had me laughing and crying at times. But the big thing I took away from this movie was that the

Tennessee Queer follows the story of Jason Potts, an out and proud southern boy, who returns to his hometown, Smythe, Tennessee, as an adult and starts a movement that opens the eyes of the townspeople to the facts: whether they like it or not, there are queers who are here, so they had better get used to it. Filmed entirely in Tennessee with an all-local case, Tennessee Queer is a must see for local LGBT audiences.

The movie opens with a look at the boys' locker room’s "Smear the Queer" wall, where the name of a potential "gay," as well as a place and time to beat him up, was written down. Now I had never heard of the practice of "smear the queer." I had to research it to realize that it was an actual thing. Having recently been a high school student, I shouldn’t have doubted that high school could be home to such a soul-crushing practice.

Jason Potts, grown up and living a happy life in New York City, is trying to forget about Smythe, where he had once found his own place on the “Smear the Queer” wall. Potts is lured back to this little, southern town by his family, who fakes an intervention for his alcoholic brother to convince him to move back and get closer to his family.

He tries to convince his family that Smythe is not a gay-friendly town by suggesting the town council hold Smythe’s very own pride parade. His plan unravels as his suggestion is accepted, and he is charged with organizing the entire thing. However, on top of the duo of the preacher and the mayoral candidate trying to ruin Visit Nashville Humane Association everything, Potts has to find a way to tell his crazy mom for Petriotic Pet Adoption Specials that he actually intends on moving to London, England. throughout the month of July!

This movie has the perfect recipe for a LGBT movie

way toward progress involves making LGBT normal, or, better yet, redefining normal as the freedom to be one’s self.

Jason Potts wanted Smythe to stop being stuck in the past and to realize that things are changing and that change isn’t a bad thing. Tennessee Queer does an outstanding job of questioning the stereotype of small southern towns filled with ignorant, change hating hillbillies by showing the audience how truly good small-town people can be.

Tennessee Queer will be released on DVD and cable (Comcast, Time Warner, Verizon) and Internet VOD (iTunes) on July 29, 2014.

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ENTERTAINMENT

Campy Campfield Sendup is Sure to Please JAMES GRADY

Like almost everyone, when I heard the title, Casey Stampfield: The Musical, I heard it wrong. I assumed rightly that the musical was about Stacey Campfield, the Knoxville lawmaker who has done more than any other to keep Tennessee on Jon Stewart’s political radar. Last year, locals Michael McFaden, Mark Beall, & Bradley Moore decided that comedians around the country shouldn’t have the Stacey Campfield market cornered and set out to write a musical comedy sendup of the beloved politician.

One reason for the main character’s renaming is that there is already a Stacey Campfield parody show. But McFaden also admitted, “He’s such a loose cannon, we had no real idea how he’d react, so we changed the name of the main character.”

Not that it takes a political genius to see past that clever renaming! Indeed even Campfield seemed to notice, but when interviewed about the show, he seemed to have good humor about it. One wonders if that humor will last once the content, and the hilarity of it, sets in. Moore thinks it ought to last: “He should love it. He’s been in the news so much for negative things, at least this is neutral for him, not some new controversy!”

Music City Theatre Company, created by artistic director Bradley Moore, describes Casey Stampfield as “a hysterical, musical lampoon of a controversial state senator from east Tennessee. The show follows the trials & tribulations of a sordid politician’s journey through congress as he attempts to keep his foot out of his mouth.”

The show began to take shape after McFaden heard in the summer of 2013 that someone had written a Campfield musical, and he determined that it had to be staged in middle Tennessee. However, Stacey Campfield: The Musical (a free download on http://dblfstudios. bandcamp.com/) turned out to be not quite what McFaden was looking for. “I listened to the download,” he said, “and for me it had more of the character of a rock album, and didn’t lend itself well to a theatrical staging. Not for a theatregoing audience anyway. So I thought, why don’t we start writing our own?”

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The writers knew they wanted it to be a comedy show, but McFaden admits he’s no satirist. So how did this musical ever get written? Bradley Moore points out that Saturday Night Live’s coverage of Sarah Palin is comparable to their show. “They didn’t so much write Sarah Palin as let Sarah Palin write her own lines. That was the genius of it: they could never have outdone her, they just let her talk!” In the end, Stampfield wrote itself in much the same way.

Indeed even Campfield seemed to notice, but, when interviewed about the show, he demonstrated good humor about it. The controversy he keeps creating wrote them out of one major production hole. The original script covered an incident in Campfield’s career when he joined the black Caucus, but the number, “Once You Go Black,” had to be cut due to casting difficulties. At around the time when the decision was being made to cut that piece, Campfield made public comments comparing Obamacare enrollment to Jews taking a “train ride” during the holocaust.

I had the distinction of being present during rehearsals on the first night “Senator from Knoxville,” set to the music of Chattanooga Choo-Choo was practiced. While heavily referencing the holocaust comment controversy, the song makes a relatively straightforward statement about Campfield’s unwillingness to spare the public new controversies: “I am not your average carrot top on Capitol Hill – I assure you I will never stop sponsoring ludicrous bills!” That’s so true it might not even be funny if it wasn’t set to music!

When asked whether it’s hard to play the notoriously anti-gay lawmaker, Chad Webb, an openly gay actor, was reflective, and quite serious. “When I play a part I want to know what motivates them. I feel some discomfort playing Campfield because when I get inside of him I can see some of what I used to be.” Webb spent years in the closet and married (ironically to the woman who is stage manager of Casey Stampfield, with whom he remains great friends), and grew up in a religious environment

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JULY 2014

that supports positions like Campfield’s.

“Getting in the role and playing this guy, well I can remember saying and doing things like that. I lost a friend in Miami because I was so in his face with my homophobic opinions,” Webb admits.

Not surprisingly, Webb values roles that allow him to work for the other side now.

For writer Moore, one of the most satisfying aspects of the show is the attention it’s drawing: “It seems like the perfect formula for theatrical success is write about a polarizing public figure.

Usually theatre gets so little interest from those who aren’t theatre junkies, unless it’s a hugely famous show!” McFaden said news of the show has led to the writers getting suggestions for new

material from people not involved in the project. “Del Shore just sent us a lot of material but it was too late anyway. But if he isn’t defeated, as long as he stays in the public eye, we basically have a show that can evolve forever.” As funny as the show is, and believe me you don’t know the half of it, here’s hoping we see the final version here in Nashville this summer!

Casey Stampfield: The Musical will show at the Vibe Entertainment Complex on Church Street on nine dates between June 27 and July 12, with a special showing on August 7 (Election Day). For show times and ticket information, see mctc.ticketleap.com.

ENTERTAINMENT

An Interview with

LISA LAMPANELLI The Queen of Mean Comes Clean

‘‘

realized I was ready to do something different,” Lampanelli explains. Those stories eventually took shape as I PUT UP [ON TWITTER] Lampanelli’s first theatrical production, THAT WESTBORO a one-woman show called, “Fat Girl Interrupted” that she wrote with Zweibel. CHURCH ISN’T REALLY The show, directed by Tony winner A CHURCH, IT’S John Rando, chronicles Lampanelli’s JUST A SHITTY SIGNstruggle with body image, food and men, often giving audiences a rare glimpse of MAKING COMPANY. the woman behind the comic. “Basically, THEY WERE BEING VICIOUS. during my stand up I make fun of people AND THEN, WHEN I WAS about surface things, stuff you can see, COMING TO TOPEKA, THEIR but in Fat Girl Interrupted, I delve a BACK YARD, THEY STARTED lot deeper. I show a different side of SAYING THEY WERE GOING myself.” But she is quick to point out TO COME OUT AND PROTEST. that it’s not all serious. “You should be I COULDN’T STOP prepared to laugh a lot, but also to be THEM, SO I THOUGHT touched. It’s more emotional.”

“I understand what it is like to never OF DONATING A fit in, to feel like there is something not THOUSAND DOLLARS right about you,” she explains. That’s IN EACH PROTESTOR’S why off stage, Lampanelli supports causes like the Gay Men’s Health Crisis NAME TO GMHC, (GMHC) and serves as an outspoken ‘CAUSE THAT WILL STICK IT TO (could she be anything else?) advocate THEM. I WANTED THEM TO KNOW, for others who have experienced even IF YOU COME OUT TO PROTEST greater isolation in society.

THE GAYS, YOU’RE GOING TO END This was never more evident than UP HELPING THE GAYS in 2011, when she decided to take on Westboro Baptist Church. Having learned that they intended to protest outside her gig in Kansas, Lampanelli --SHE EXPLAINED IN A 2011 decided that she would donate $1000 to INTERVIEW WITH the Gay Men’s Health Crisis for every THE VILLAGE VOICE. person that showed up to protest.

“I’d like to say this idea came from on the receiving end of the abuse he my love of gays, which part of it did.

But it also came from my wish to stick it inflicted.” Get ready to bend over, Mr. Phelps. to these sick douchebags. Their idea of Lisa Lampanelli will perform religion and sexuality is so fucked up!”

“Fat Girl Interrupted” at Andrew When asked her thoughts about the Johnson Theater in Nashville, TN recent death of the founder of Westboro on Friday, July 25 at 7:00pm and Baptist Church, Fred Phelps, she simply 9:30pm, and on Saturday, July 26 at said “I do believe in an afterlife of sorts 7:00pm & 9:30pm. and however he comes back, he will be

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But three years ago, Lampanelli, comedy’s reigning “Queen of Mean,” was ready to abdicate her throne. “I had done Radio City. I had done Carnegie Hall, and The Celebrity Apprentice,” Lampanelli recalled. “I said to myself ‘What else can I do?’ I was ready to retire. I had done everything.” That’s when she met Alan Zweibel. Zweibel, who produced “700 Sundays” with Billy Crystal, convinced her to do a onewoman show after learning about her personal struggles with food and men.

“I started telling him my stories about my addiction to food and men and

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hether its jokes about racial minorities (“‘My black boyfriend says the bigger the cushion the sweeter of a pushin.’ Bull!

He just wants something to hide behind when the cops start shooting!”) or the LGBT community or espousing the benefits of being with a fat man (“You always know when they’re ready for sex, ‘cause naked he looked like one of them butterball turkeys with the little pop-up timer”), Lisa Lampanelli is an equal opportunity offender. And audiences love it!

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I Kissed a Girl Local Film Project Documents Stories of Lesbians’ First Kiss JAMES GRADY

In the 1990’s, few songs made as bold a statement about the pleasures of the lesbian experience as Jill Sobule’s “I Kissed a Girl.” The song’s popularity, however, may indicate the sad fact that, perhaps, mainstream culture could ignore the song’s clear overtones and pretend it wasn’t about that. Well, Nashville filmmaker Jennifer Sheridan wants to make sure that our contemporaries cannot ignore the momentous, startling, and beautiful moment that is a lesbian woman’s first time kissing a woman.

The project has simple enough beginnings. “A few of us were just sitting around talking and someone was telling us about the first time she kissed a girl,” Jennifer explained. “We were all enraptured and we started talking about it. What occurred to me was that it’s a really affirming moment, and it’s part of our shared experience and it’s been incredible to hear people’s stories.”

Sheridan began to explore the possibility of documenting this moment in women’s lives, and quickly came to the conclusion that, for this project, she would keep her focus specifically on lesbian women’s first kiss with a woman. The rationale for not including queer, trans, straight, or otherwise identifying women isn’t exclusionary.

Rather the explanation is almost scientific – control the variables in order to get at the essential experience for the group in focus.

And what has Sheridan’s exploration exposed? “Society tells girls they’re supposed to feel X when they kiss a boy. What about all those girls whose experience is, ‘Eh, that’s okay, but…?’ When a lesbian finally kisses a girl, she begins to feel what everyone’s talking about when they talk about their first kiss. There’s relief because you finally feel, and start to really

understand, unshakably who you are. Sometimes there’s guilt, and sometimes there’s a taboo that’s scary or thrilling, but for the vast majority of us it is an incredibly positive experience.”

With the support of O&AN and the Tennessee Equality Project, Jennifer was able to get her film crew passes to Nashville Pride to shoot the bulk of her footage. “Pride was amazing,” Jennifer reported later. “I got great footage and there was a bonus to it I hadn’t thought about….

I wanted to meet lesbians outside of my circle and I knew Pride would be a perfect venue but what was really awesome was to see women well into their 70s in rainbow hats and boas.

A couple of them were thinking quite a ways back but they remembered their stories.”

While lesbians share very intense, personal feelings about their first kisses, Jennifer finds, there are common themes in many stories. “I’d hear some patterns.

Sleepovers featured commonly in stories and were big hits. It seems like, for a lot of us, our parents were so busy keeping us from the boys that, without thinking about it, they put us right where we wanted to be.”

But then there were those surprising moments when “you’d hear something that made you say, ‘Did I hear that right?’” One such moment presented itself at Nashville Pride when an older woman revealed that her first kiss was during her time in a convent. “When I heard about the convent, I blushed so hard that the women around me couldn’t

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stop laughing at me.” tories like these keep Jennifer’s energy and interest in the project at critically high levels. Without oral histories like the one she’s producing, “How else are you going to hear these stories? These are shared experiences a lot of us have, and lesbian presence in the media isn’t as high profile. Recording these so people can hear and understand better our experience is key.”

Beyond strengthening the sense of shared identity and common experience, Jennifer hopes that, by raising the profile of something as intimate in the lesbian experience as a woman’s first time kissing another woman, “straight people, especially our not-yet-allies, will see clearly that we have no more choice at being lesbians than we have shoe size or height and that for so many of us, it really is a joyous thing. That moment is profound and I think they’ll see that on these women’s faces. I’ve not met a lesbian yet who doesn’t smile when you ask her about the first time… it’s pretty awesome!”

If the project exceeds its funding goals, Jennifer hopes shooting will continue into July.

“We’re releasing in October, come hell or high water. I’m really aiming for National Coming Out Day.” She hopes that the film will show at festivals in the shorts category. And in case you wondered, Jill Sobule has given her blessing for her version of “I Kissed a Girl” to be featured in the film. So stay tuned for more about this exciting project!

For more information on the project or to contribute, visit www.indiegogo.com/projects/ikissed-a-girl.

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DRAG COCO: “Haha! We are all in the dark! You guys know just as much about All Stars as we do!”

PAIGE: “Why is it so important to you to be cast in All Stars 2?”

COCO: “We all have a story to tell that helps someone. I feel that my purpose was not completely fulfilled. All Stars would give me the opportunity to reveal the real Coco, and maybe it will help give a better perspective on who I am.”

Nashville UntuckeD with paige turner Hey there, my loyal Untuckers! It sure has been a minute, and what a crazy one, with pageants every other month, new drag shows, and most importantly GAY PRIDE! I had an amazing time at Nashville Pride this year! The new location, and everything in general, was amazing! My Pride was a little extra special this year, as I was blessed to meet and kiki with one of my most favorite RuPual’s Drag Race contestants of all time! That’s right folks, yours truly had a sit-down with Miss Coco Montrese!

To say that she is amazing would be a complete understatement! A loving pet owner, Coco sadly lost one of her adorable dogs, Prada, earlier in the week and she still took the time with me. She was so humble as we talked over … dessert! No Tic Tacs at this lunch! We discussed everything from the possibilities of All Stars to the things she faces in her hectic day to day life. Between her gigs, flying from city to city, she holds down her 6 night a week show cast spot in Las Vegas!

She admits the job is difficult at times, particularly since she has to juggle everything while also making time to take care of her home and husband, who is currently winning a battle with cancer. However, Coco credits Drag Race with making it all possible: “It changed my life. I was already working at an amazing show in Vegas and making money but this has opened a lot more doors, giving me the ability to take care of myself and my family.”

PAIGE: “When did you start doing drag and how did you choose your name?”

COCO: “I started doing drag in college in 1992! And actually I didn’t pick Coco at all! My drag mother, Mokha Montrese, named me!”

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PAIGE: “What is your fav song to perform?”

COCO: “Janet Jackson’s Escapade!”

PAIGE: “So come on girl! Everyone wants to know, can you spill the tee on All Stars? Do you know when they are casting it and when they plan to film?

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JULY 2014

PAIGE: “How have you grown since being on the show? What will we see from you if you’re casted?”

COCO: “I feel I have shown a lot of growth since the show. I paint very different and continue to learn something new every day. I have tons of new looks that you would not expect from Coco. If you feel like you have nothing to learn, that’s when you need to quit.”

PAIGE: “Who do you think are the queens most likely to be cast in All Stars 2? Anyone you do NOT think deserves to be in All Stars, or you do NOT want there because they are too fierce?

COCO: “I would love to see more of the girls who had unfinished business or didn’t get the chance to really share their stories. For example Indiah Ferriah: she can paint the house down! But you know, I think if you were on RuPaul’s Drag Race, you deserve to be on All Stars already….”

PAIGE: “What queens would you pick from your season to be on All Stars?

COCO:“I would pick myself and Ivy Winters.”

PAIGE: “Any other unfinished business from your season you wish to get off your chest here?”

COCO: “The thing I’m asked a lot is about my relationship with Alyssa Edwards. Alyssa and I fight like brothers but love each other like sisters and that pretty much sums up our relationship. So if you have sibling you would understand.”

PAIGE: “Who was your pick for the winner of Season 7? And which one was your least fav?”

COCO: “Bianaca DelRio for the win, of course! I would have to say my

#PAIGE+COCO least favorite was Magnolia Crawford.

She thinks celebrity impersonation is stupid, but she moved to Vegas! Go figure!”

PAIGE: “A lot of people admire you.

What’s next for you? And where can our readers buy one of those cool Coco hats or other Montrese merchandise?”

COCO: “I’ve got a busy schedule.

You can find me at Atlantic City with the cast of Divas Las Vegas, then I’m off to Seattle Pride and RPLACE in Virginia, with more dates and shows to come! And you can make purchases at my online store www. cocosclassythings.com.”

Coco and I chatted about a lot of things. One thing I discovered was news to me. When I asked her about Nashville, she hinted that we’d be seeing more of her in the area – what what? – and spoke on how she loves Nashville! In fact, at one time, she interviewed here and Nashville almost became her home before she landed the job in Vegas. Could you imagine?! She would def make a great Playmate! You can follow Miss Coco on Twitter @cocomontrese and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cocomontrese!

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