O&AN I March 2014

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Last fall, Chattanooga city councilman Chris Anderson led a move to pass a city ordinance extending benefits to the domestic partners of city employees, including those in same-sex relationships. The Extended Benefits and Equity Ordinance passed 5-4 in November and was welcomed by the mayor. In praising the measure, Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke echoed the sentiments of city executives around the state: “In the 21st century, we must ensure we attract talented employees and remain competitive...that means hiring employees based on merit and offering a benefits package that retains and recruits the very best employees possible.”

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city of Chattanooga, many of whom were misled into signing.” He also expressed confidence that the measure would pass a popular vote.

By mid-January, it became clear that opponents of the measure were not satisfied with bringing the issue of domestic partner benefits before the voting populace - they intended to target Chris Anderson, Chattanooga’s first openly gay elected official, directly. A small group of citizens presented yet another petition, this time to the Hamilton County Election Commission, beginning the formal procedure to recall Anderson. With the approval of the Commission, the group would then have 75 days to collect the signatures of about 1,800 District 7 residents.

The group complained that Anderson has ignored his district’s needs in order to pursue “matters Mr. Anderson considered more important.”

One of the men delivering the petition, Mahmood Abdullah, stated plainly, “He doesn’t represent what the people want.... His only goal is to boost homosexuality.” Further calling the recall into question is the role of Charles Wynsong in the recall petition drive: Wynsong is not a District 7 resident, but he was part of the initial drive to block the city ordinance extending domestic partner benefits.

I think it’s a very small minority of people in the city of Chattanooga, many of whom were misled into signing.

By December, however, the city was forced to stop enrollment for domestic partners in benefits, as a local group, Citizens for Government Accountability and Transparency, managed to get enough signatures on a petition to put the issue on the ballot for voters to approve. Supporters of the petition drive, leaders of which have strong ties to tea party politics, point to the ease of collecting signatures as a sign of the unpopularity of the measure.

At the time, Councilman Anderson, as reported in the Chattanooga Times Free Press said that he felt that the petition drive didn’t reflect the will of the people as its backers claimed. “I think it’s a very small minority of people in the

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Anderson has stood strong. “I knew when I ran for public office that I would have to make decisions that were politically difficult,” he wrote in an email to the Times Free Press. “If you want to recall me over the equal rights of the public servants that work so hard for the City of Chattanooga, bring it on.” More recently, Councilman Anderson has decided to take the offensive against what seems to be a bias-motivated recall. On February 18, 2014, Anderson filed suit to have the petition thrown out, pointing to the bias behind it and claiming that it represents a violation of his rights. Anderson’s attorney, Stuart James, said, “It’s discriminatory. It’s our position that under the constitution you can’t call a recall election” on that basis. The lawsuit seeks an order to halt the petition drive while the courts rule on the petition’s status. While a great deal rests on the outcome of the lawsuit, the success of the recall position then leads to a recall vote at the ballots, and according to state law, a successful recall of a city councilperson requires that “sixty-six percent (66%) of those voters [who vote] vote ‘for recall’” (Tenn. Code Ann. §6-31-307). So Councilman Anderson’s political fate may not be determined in the near future.

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MEET THE OF THE TENNESSEE STATE LEGISLATURE

SENATOR STACEY CAMPFIELD Seeing that State Senator Stacey Campfield (R-Knoxville) is up for reelection this year we might be saved from his crazy Don’t Say Gay Legislation but that doesn’t mean we won’t get any crazy. Look no further than SB2493, which as introduced, prohibits use of institutional revenues, including student activity fees, to engage visiting or guest speakers for events at public institutions of higher education. After the hoopla Sen. Campfield made last year about UT Knox Sex Week, it looks like he’s found legislation to circumvent that. So ‘Don’t Say Gay’ and ‘Don’t Talk About Sex’ . . . what about gay sex?

REPRESENTATIVE JIMMY MATLOCK We’re watching State Representative Jimmy Matlock (R-Lenoir City) because he is the sponsor of HB2450, the House version of Campfield’s higher education bill SB2493. It takes two to make a thing go right . . . or in this case terribly wrong.

REPRESENTATIVE BILL DUNN The old adage that things happen in threes is pretty accurate for the recently defeated Turn the Gays Away bill. Tennessee State Rep. Bill Dunn (R-Knoxville) was the sponsor for HB2467, similar legislation to Senator Bell’s SB2566. With all the other issues Tennessee faces, when will Dunn be done and move on to issues affecting more Tennesseans?

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SENATOR JIM SUMMERVILLE Rounding out the defeated trifecta is State Senator Jim Summerville (R-Dickson), who signed on to SB-2566 as a co-sponsor. Notice a trend from our villains? Don’t they all look the same? And of course, they’re all Republicans.

SENATOR MIKE BELL Tennessee State Senator Mike Bell (R-Riceville) tops our list of Villains for signing on to sponsor SB2566 after the bill’s original sponsor Sen. Brian Kelsey backed away. Although Bell moved for the bill to be bumped to general subcommittee (effectively killing it this year), we still have our eyes on Sen. Bell. After all, anyone who compares Stacey Campfield’s ejection from a Knoxville Bistro in 2012 to turning away LGBT consumers because of sincere religious beliefs has to be a joker, right?

MARCH 2014

YOU

You’ve met a few of the villains we’re keeping our eyes on this year, but for every villain we need a hero. And the Tennessee State Legislature has several heroes fighting for equality every day.

HOW CAN BE A HERO!

SENATOR OPHELIA FORD State Senator Ophelia Ford (D-Memphis) is a hero in our books as the state senate sponsor of SB0708, otherwise known as the Transgender Hate Crimes Act. It would add “gender identity or expression” to the Tennessee Hate Crimes Penalty

LGBT community members and their allies across Tennessee took the first steps towards being a hero in mid-February when they took steps against SB2566, aka ‘Turn the Gays Away’ bill.

Whether they called their representatives, emailed them or shared a story via social media that helped make someone else aware of the harmful consequences of discriminatory legislation, each and every person stepped into the proverbial phone booth and emerged a hero—making sure that Tennessee didn’t become a state where it was legal to refuse service to someone based upon their sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

Enhancement Act of 2000. Sen. Ford is also a co-sponsor on the Dignity for All Students Act and the sponsor of SB1216, or the Tennessee NonDiscrimination Act, that would ban discrimination based upon sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

The Tennessee Transgender Hate Crimes Act is also championed by House Representative Gary Odom (D-Nashville) and the Tennessee NonDiscrimination act is sponsored by House Representative Sherry Jones (D-Nashville).

SENATOR JIM KYLE

BUT IT DOESN’T STOP THERE. IN MARCH THERE ARE 2 MORE WAYS YOU CAN BE A HERO:

#WEARPURPLETN

Passing comprehensive anti-bullying legislation is a top priority for many organizations. The Dignity for All Students Act (SB1124/HB0927) was co-written with Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition (TTPC), Tennessee Equality Project (TEP), ACLU and GLSEN. On March 4, members of the Tennessee LGBT communities will gather in purple at Legislative Plaza for the TN House Education Subcommittee to show support for HB927, the Dignity for All Students Act. The event begins at 3 p.m.

Can’t make it? You can still be a hero all month long. Show your support for Tennessee students and the Dignity for All Students Act by snapping a photo of yourself wearing purple and post on your social media with #WearPurpleTN.

State Senator Jim Kyle (D-Memphis) is the driving force behind SB1124, otherwise known as the Dignity For All Students Act. It is bipartisan legislation that would expand the definition of bullying and harassment in schools.

Sen. Kyle is joined by Senators Ophelia Ford, Charlotte Burks (D-Monterey) and Rusty Crowe (R-Johnson City) in sponsoring the bill.

HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE KAREN CAMPER

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ATTEND ADVANCING EQUALITY DAY ON THE HILL ON MARCH 11

State House Representative Karen Camper (D-Memphis) is the hero and champion of HB0927, the House version of the Dignity for All Students Act. Rep. Camper is joined by a host of co-sponsors on both sides of the aisle that include: Representatives Joe Pitts (D-Clarksville), Gary Odom (D-Nashville), Brenda Gilmore (D-Nashville), Craig Fitzhugh (D-Ripley), Mike Turner (D-Old Hickory), Darren Jernigan (D-Old Hickory), Sherry Jones (D-Nashville), Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville), Harold M. Love, Jr. (D-Nashville), Bo Mitchell (D-Nashville), Jason Powell (D-Nashville), Bob Ramsey (R-Maryville) and Mike Stewart (D-Nashville).

no.

Celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2014, Advancing Equality Day on the Hill (AEDOTH) is the annual event organized and attended by the states foremost equality organizations, TEP and TTPC as well as religious leaders and community members concerned with equality legislation. It is a day when citizens from all over Tennessee visit the Legislature to talk to their lawmakers about important bills that affect the equality of LGBT people.

TEP asks that those interested in attending RSVP online at tnequalityproject.org/day-on-the-hill/ The day will begin Rymer Gallery on March 11 at 8:30 a.m. and additional details including transportation from East and West Tennessee will be provided by TEP after all RSVP’s have been received.

MARCH 2014

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Federal Judge strikes down Virginia same-sex marriage ban LISA KEEN KEEN NEWS SERVICE

A federal judge in Norfolk, Virginia, struck down the state’s ban on samesex couples marrying but stayed the execution of her order, that the state stop enforcing the law, pending appeal to the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

The decision marks the first time a judge in a southern state has struck down a ban on same-sex couples marrying. Whatever the Fourth Circuit’s decision, it will apply to Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, and West Virginia.

“Equality isn’t something that happens just up north,” said American Foundation for Equal Rights executive director Adam Umhoefer, at a press conference Friday morning.

Judge Arenda Wright Allen (an Obama appointee) opened her 41-page decision with a quote from a book by Mildred Loving, the African American woman who, with her white husband, won a lawsuit striking down bans against interracial couples marrying.

“We made a commitment to each other in our love and lives, and now had the legal commitment, called marriage, to match. Isn’t that what marriage is?” wrote Loving in Loving for All. In an eloquent, history-laden opinion, Allen acknowledged that a “spirited and controversial debate is underway” regarding same-sex couples marrying, but added, “Our Constitution declares that ‘all men’ are created equal.

Surely this means all of us.” She said the ban violates the rights to due process and equal protection and deprives same-sex couples of the fundamental freedom to choose to marry.

“Although steeped in a rich, tradition- and faith-based legacy, Virginia’s Marriage Laws are an exercise of governmental power,” wrote Allen.

“For those who choose to marry, and for their children, Virginia’s laws ensure that marriage provides profound legal, financial, and social benefits, and exacts serious legal, financial, and social obligations. The government’s

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MARCH 2014

involvement in defining marriage, and in attaching benefits that accompany the institution, must withstand constitutional scrutiny. Laws that fail that scrutiny must fall despite the depth and legitimacy of the laws’ religious heritage.”

The case, Bostic v. Virginia, was argued by Ted Olson, David Boies, and a team supported by the American Foundation for Equal Rights which pressed the successful challenge against California’s statewide ban, Proposition 8.

The decision was dated 9 p.m.

Thursday but entered into the record Friday, February 14, Valentine’s Day. At a press conference in Norfolk Friday morning, plaintiff Tim Bostic read from the decision an excerpt from a letter by President Lincoln in 1860 regarding the need to end slavery: “It can not have failed to strike you that these men ask for just. . . the same thing—fairness, and fairness only. This, so far as in my power, they, and all others, shall have.”

Casey Mattox, senior counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom which

represented a northern Virginia county clerk who intervened in the case to defend the ban, was out of the office today and could not be reached for comment. But Family Research Council leader Tony Perkins called the decision “another example of an arrogant judge substituting her person preferences for the judgment of the General Assembly and 57 percent of Virginia voters.”

Interestingly, however, judges have struck down only eight of the 21 state and D.C. bans since 2004.

Nine of the reversals were done by legislatures, three by voters, and one by a combination of court and legislature. Three of the eight court decisions finding state bans unconstitutional are pending review by federal appeals courts and, along with many other lawsuits, are expected to find their way to the U.S. Supreme Court for a final decision.

Read more Virginia news online outandaboutnashville.com

Kentucky same-sex marriage decision may help Tennessee case JOSEPH BROWNELL

A Kentucky ruling forcing the state to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states could have an impact in Tennessee.

On February 12, U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn ruled that a provision of Kentucky’s constitutional ban against same-sex marriage “treats gay and lesbian persons differently in a way that demeans them.”

In the 23-page ruling, Heyburn presented a long history of court decisions—from mixed-race marriages to restrictions on women—as well as recent victories in states across the nation as its rationale. “Each of these small steps has led to this place and this time, where the right of same-sex spouses to state-conferred benefits of marriage is virtually compelled,” Heyburn wrote.

Combating religious motivations, Heyburn noted “religious beliefs ... are vital to the fabric of society ... assigning a religious or traditional rationale for a law does not make it constitutional when

that law discriminates against a class of people without other reasons.”

While the ruling does not invalidate Kentucky’s ban against performing samesex marriage, Heyburn noted that recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings and his opinion in the Kentucky case “suggest a possible result to that question.”

And at least two couples hope so.

Timothy Love and Lawrence Ysunza, who have been together for 33 years, and Maurice Blanchard and Dominique James, who have been together for a decade, filed suit in hopes that Heyburn might extend his ruling.

The Kentucky decision comes before a similar case in Tennessee is decided.

In October, four Tennessee samesex couples, legally married in other states, filed a lawsuit in federal district court challenging the Tennessee laws that prevent the state from recognizing their marriages and treating them the same as all other legally married couples in Tennessee.

The lawsuit argues that Tennessee’s laws prohibiting recognition of the couples’ marriages violates the federal Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection and due process and the constitutionally protected right to travel between and move to other states.

The couples are represented

by Nashville attorneys Abby R. Rubenfeld, William Harbison, Scott Hickman, Phil Cramer and John Farringer of the law firm of Sherrard & Roe, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), and attorneys Maureen T. Holland of Memphis and Regina Lambert of Knoxville.

“Tennessee recognizes the marriages and families of all other couples that were married out-of-state,” said Harbison, a partner at Sherrard & Roe, in a press release. “It is wrong and unfair for Tennessee law to single out these legally married couples and treat them as legal strangers to one another simply because of who they are.”

Rubenfeld noted to press that she intended to file the Kentucky decision on behalf of her case.

For more updates on the Tennessee case, be sure to tune into :

OUT & ABOUT TODAY March 7-9 & March 21-23 for Pam Wheeler’s interview with Nashville attorney Abby Rubenfeld.

Watch Out & About Today on: •NewsChannel 5+ •Comcast Cable Channel 250 (in Middle Tennessee)

When: Fridays at 10:00 p.m., Saturdays at 9:30 p.m. and Sundays at 10:00 p.m.

You can also watch online at outandaboutnashville.com

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News Briefs

Ugandan anti-gay bill could strain US relations

In mid-February President Barack Obama issued a statement condemning proposed legislation that would criminalize homosexuality in Uganda.

In the statement, Obama said, “The Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda, once law, will be more than an affront and a danger to the gay community in Uganda. It will be a step backward for all Ugandans and reflect poorly on Uganda’s commitment to protecting the human rights of its people.”

The statement comes after Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signaled that he was likely to sign the legislation into law.

The bill was first introduced in 2009 and initially proposed a death sentence for homosexual acts. The bill was amended to issue jail terms including life in jail for what it called aggravated homosexuality.

The move could strain US-Ugandan relations. “As we have conveyed to President Museveni, enacting this legislation will complicate our valued relationship with Uganda,” Obama said in his statement.

BREAKING UPDATE: At press time, Uganda’s president signed the antigay legislation

Ellen Page comes out at HRC event What happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas.

“I am tired of hiding and I am tired of lying by omission,” Ellen Page admitted in mid-February at the HRC Time to Thrive conference held in Las Vegas.

“I’m here today because I am gay.”

And with that the young actress, known for her roles in X-Men and Inception as well as her Academy Award nominated role in Juno, came out.

In an eight-minute speech Page acknowledged not only her sexuality but also the crushing standards of Hollywood.

“I suffered for years,” she continued, “because I was scared to be out. My spirit suffered, my mental health suffered and my relationships suffered. And I’m standing here today, with all of you, on the other side of all that pain.”

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Boy Scouts’ membership experiences small decline after changes

After experiencing a four percent drop in membership in 2012, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) announced in mid-February that their membership rates dropped six percent in 2013.

Last May, the organization’s leadership voted to accept openly gay scouts for the first time. The decision drew both support and opposition from LGBT rights groups as the organization did not address its ban on openly gay leaders.

The decision drew quick criticism from conservative and religious groups who deemed that homosexuality should not be part of the Boy Scouts’ values.

While BS membership has slowly been decreasing for years, leaders say the policy change is likely a factor in the membership decline but other issues are also to blame.

Currently, the BSA has 2.5 million scouts and nearly one million adult leaders.

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Facebook unveils new gender options

Users of Facebook, the mostpopular social networking site, are no longer limited to binary gender descriptors thanks to a move by the social media giant.

In early February, Facebook unveiled more than 50 different options that included “transgender,” “cisgender,” “gender fluid,” “intersex” and “neither.”

“When you come to Facebook to connect with the people, causes, and organizations you care about, we want you to feel comfortable being your true, authentic self,” Facebook said in a post on its Diversity page.

Facebook also gave its users the choice of pronouns. Users can now select from she/hers, he/his or the gender-neutral they/their.

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HRC: Nashville

Announces 2014 Equality Gala Award recipients O&AN STAFF REPORTS

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Nashville announced the recipients of the 2014 HRC-Nashville Equality Award and Community Service Award. Each year, members of the Nashville community are chosen and honored at the annual HRC Equality Gala by the members, supporters, and sponsors of HRC. This year, HRCNashville awards Joseph Interrante with its Equality Award and Rev. Greg Bullard with its Community Service Award.

JOSEPH INTERRANTE Joseph Interrante is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nashville CARES. He joined the staff of CARES in May of 1994, and this year will mark Joe’s 20th year of service to Nashville CARES and the Middle Tennessee Community. Throughout his career, Interrante has been a leading voice for the entire community.

“Joe has been a tireless advocate for the LGBT community not only in Nashville but all over our great nation,” stated HRC Gala Co-Chair JR Simon.

“His dedication to serving and caring for those with HIV/AIDS does not go unnoticed in our community.”

GREG BULLARD “Pastor Greg” Bullard has been fulfilling the spiritual needs of the Nashville LGBT community for over fifteen years. For thirteen years, he has kept the Nashville Pride Spirituality Night alive, making it one of the most popular events during Pride. He serves on the board for Nashville Pride and is one of the only openly gay ministers on Nashville’s Interfaith Council.

In 2011, Bullard was recognized with OutCentral’s Autumn Honors for the food pantry that his congregation sponsors. He is also one of the only openly gay court-appointed advocates for Tennessee’s Department of Children’s Services, representing LGBT youth in the foster system. Most recently, he stood alone with a transgendered teen having placement difficulties.

“Pastor Greg is the embodiment of true love,” stated HRC Gala CoChair Steven Altum. “You can see the inspiration that pours out of him on the faces of the people’s lives that he has touched. Pastor Greg is a great addition to the long list of past winner of this award and I am so glad that he is standing with us on the road toward Equality.”

Both recipients will receive their awards at the HRC Equality Gala on March 8 at the downtown Renaissance Hotel. The doors will open at 5:30 with one of Nashville’s largest silent auctions. Gala tickets are available to purchase online at www.hrctn.org. For more information about the Equality Gala or to find out how to get involved please email info@hrctn.org See O&AN spotlight with Joseph Interrante beginning on page 14

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Step into Spring with the Middle Tennessee OUTsiders JAMES A. GRADY

Building a community of LGBT and welcoming friends can be a daunting experience, particularly if you’re new to an area, came out later in life, or just don’t navigate the traditional social scenes of bars and activism. But there are many other shared interests, many of which can provide just as much social lubrication as a few drinks at the club.

“We have great traditional competitive sports organizations in our community, but some of us were looking for something different,” said Mark Hubbard, one of the organizers behind the Middle Tennessee OUTsiders (MTO).

After attending Birmingham Pride in 2010, Hubbard came back to Nashville inspired. ”We discovered a group that clearly had something unique going on— you didn’t have to be experienced and you didn’t need a lot of expensive gear.

The focus was clearly on a love of being outdoors, and everyone was accepted for exactly who they were. No one ever felt left behind. Their ideas inspired what has evolved into a ‘hiking AND ___’ group. “ In addition to hiking, any given event might include learning about plant or wildlife, local sustainable agribusiness, historical or geology. Recent winter excursions have included a weekend trip to Joe Wheeler State Park for the ‘Festival of the Cranes,’ as well as hikes of various skill levels in Bowie Nature Park, Mousetail Landing & Lady’s Bluff, and Frozen Head State Park.

These activities are meant to foster not only a shared appreciation and enjoyment of nature, but also the development of friendships and a sense of community and fellowship. To that end, the group is committed to providing

accessible opportunities that “appeal to participants who are diverse in terms of age, experience, and ability.”

“We get exercise on our outings but testing personal limits and achieving target heart rates just isn’t what we do,” explained Hubbard. “Our plans vary in length and difficulty and often include options to accommodate participants’ different needs. We’ve learned that all of this yields a unique inclusiveness in terms

of interests, age, experience, and ability.”

Since its inception, MTO have welcomed a diverse range of people to their outings. “We have an active core of people who attend as many OUTings as possible and others who pick and choose,” said Hubbard. “Most have cultivated really strong relationships with other participants. We share a deep appreciation of the magnificence of nature and are all about slowing down

to appreciate the endangered blue-eyed Mary blooming at our ankles, a pair of bald eagles circling overhead, or the historical significance of a decades-old ‘terazza’ dance floor encountered on a trail at the top of a ridge.”

In June, MTO will take their longest trip yet–five days and four nights at East Tennessee’s Roan Mountain State Park. “The mountain views are spectacular,” Hubbard beamed.

GET INVOLVED With Spring weather on Nashville’s doorstep, MTO is a perfect social group for those with a wide variety of outdoor interests.

Those interested in any upcoming OUTings are encouraged to email middletennesseeoutsiders@gmail. com or visit the group’s Facebook page.

MARCH 2014

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13

Joseph Interrante: Past, present and future JOSEPH BROWNELL

While the Nashville community-atlarge recognizes Joseph Interrante as the CEO of Nashville CARES, Tennessee’s largest HIV/AIDS service organization, providing services for more than 60,000 Middle Tennessee residents infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, his resume is a long list of LGBT advocacy dating back to the year he came out in 1976.

From working with the editorial collectives at Radical America and Gay Community News, helping to found the Boston Gay and Lesbian Oral History Project and attending the 1979 March on Washington, Interrante says “AIDS work was a logical extension of these activities.”

Out & About Nashville chatted with Interrante, in advance of his HRC Equality Award, about his twodecade tenure at Nashville CARES, the organization’s future plans and what the LGBT community needs to do in a new generation of HIV/AIDS. Out & About Nashville: You are not only HIV-positive yourself but have personally cared for your partner, who passed away in 2012- when did you know that HIV/AIDS was your life’s work?

Joseph Interrante: Actually that occurred in two “stages” beginning in 1983, when my first life partner was one of the first diagnosed cases of AIDS in Boston. During the six months between his diagnosis and death, Paul became involved with the AIDS group that was forming at that time and I became involved with him. That experience left me with a commitment to AIDS work, which I continued on a volunteer basis for five years in Boston and then, Cleveland, Ohio.

The second “stage” came in 1988 when I was volunteering with the AIDS group in Cleveland as a board member coordinating community education. The organization decided to hire its first program staff, so I joined the agency as its HIV educator and became Executive Director the following year. I held that position from 1989 to 1994 when I came to CARES. I met Sandy in Ohio in 1987, and we were together for 25 years until he died in 2012.

O&AN: You joined the staff at Nashville CARES in 1994. Can you share the background on that?

JI: I came to CARES to take the job as Executive Director, now CEO. Those were somewhat tumultuous times for CARES, I later learned, due to some dissatisfaction in parts of the gay community with the search process that was underway.

I learned about the job opportunity in the second stage of that search process. I was very impressed with the scope of CARES’ work at the time and what CARES was trying to accomplish.

I was equally impressed with the level of engagement with HIV by the Nashville community-at-large. I brought experience as an openly gay man and person living with HIV who had led a comparable organization through a significant process of growth and diversification. Obviously it turned out to be a good fit, and I’ve never regretted my decision to join CARES. O&AN: Surely, there have been climates changes between 1994 and 2014 in not only CARES but also the community? Can you talk a bit about your time at CARES? JI: The most significant change has been the introduction of protease inhibitors and combination therapy in the mid 1990s along with the subsequent refinements in treatment. It fundamentally changed the meaning of part of CARES mission.

In CARES’ first decade, when AIDS had a 70-75% mortality rate,“improving the quality of life for people with HIV/AIDS” basically meant helping people die with dignity, knowing that they were loved and not alone. With combo therapy, it started to mean helping people really to live with HIV, for an open-ended number of years. That promise of living has a lot of contingencies—the high level of adherence needed for treatment success is not accomplished easily or simply, especially if you’re dealing with any material or psychological survival needs—but it started a strategic realignment in CARES’ work.

I would caution that this change in mission was more an expansion than a “shift,” since Sandy’s death in 2012

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reminded me that, for some people with HIV/AIDS, we can still in the end only help them die knowing they are loved and not alone. Fortunately that is a much smaller number of individuals, but it is still an important part of what we do.

With the more recent science documenting that treatment is also prevention, there was an additional realignment that closed the circle of HIV work by linking preventing new infections to helping those infected live with HIV. The addition of other so-called “biomedical” prevention strategies is fundamentally deepening and enlarging our approach to HIV prevention. We now talk about a “toolbox” of strategies, with our job being to help each individual (or couple) choose the specific combination of tools that they can use effectively and consistently.

My own work as CEO at CARES has also changed tremendously over time. It has increasingly focused on strategic leadership and public policy work, along, of course, with fundraising and community relations. I’m lucky because CARES has a really good staff, some of whom have taken on the role of managing operations which has freed me to focus on those other things.

I have a high-caliber team who work with me on strategic issues.

CARES also has a great board, and it’s my job as CEO to support the board in fulfilling its governance and fundraising responsibilities. It’s really all of us together—board, staff, volunteers—that have given CARES its strong reputation nationally and regionally as well as within the Nashville nonprofit community.

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O&AN: Do you think there will be a cure found in your lifetime or possibly the next generation’s lifetime?

JI: At the risk of being viewed as pessimistic, probably not in my lifetime—certainly not a cure that I think will be uncomplicated, affordable and widely accessible. Though I would love to be proven wrong about this. However, we can make HIV infections rare, and help people who are infected live full, productive and rewarding lives. We can create the conditions for a truly AIDS-free generation. We’ve already taken some important steps toward that new world. So, I actually am far more optimistic about our progress than I was even a decade ago.

‘‘

I’VE SPOKEN IN THE PAST ABOUT OUR NEED TO RECOGNIZE THAT HIV IS STILL A GAY DISEASE—

NOT IN THE SIMPLE AND SIMPLY WRONG WAY THAT SOMEBODY LIKE STACEY CAMPFIELD SAYS IT’S A GAY DISEASE, BUT IN THE FACT THAT GAY MEN REMAIN MOST HEAVILY AND DISPROPORTIONATELY IMPACTED

BY THE DISEASE.

‘‘

O&AN: CARES celebrated some of its most successful events in the recent years, notably a 2013 record-breaking Dining Out for Life- what does the future of Nashville CARES look like?

JI: We are currently completing a long-overdue strategic plan that formalizes these strategic realignments in mission and purpose. Once you focus on health outcomes, it becomes increasingly difficult to “silo” HIV off from all the other issues or needs that research has shown directly affect people’s ability to stay HIVfree or to live successfully with HIV. That doesn’t make us any less specifically focused on HIV/ AIDS as CARES’ mission. It just recognizes that working toward an AIDS-free generation requires us to address things that are not exclusively or even specifically HIV-related. So you may see CARES adding STD testing to our HIV testing services, and offering more counseling for gay men/couples who are not HIVpositive but dealing with a range of concerns that can impact risk. It could also mean increasing our satellite locations inside Nashville and outside Davidson County and providing for co-location and better integration of medical and social services.

New initiatives take money of course, so we will want to build on recent fundraising successes to increase and diversify non-governmental funding in particular. These initiatives will also represent a clear prioritization reflective of the goal of ending AIDS so that we use our resources wisely and strategically.

O&AN: Some will argue that the apathy of a younger generation is the biggest obstacle facing the LGBT community in terms of HIV/AIDS. What is the biggest issue, in your opinion, facing the LGBT community in terms of HIV/AIDS? JI: I don’t believe it’s fair to blame young gay men for their alleged apathy about AIDS, if that’s what it is, when they don’t see AIDS discussed much within the gay community. The simple fact is that HIV/AIDS has not been a priority issue for what might be called “mainstream” LGBT organizations for years—an unanticipated consequence of the success of combination therapy.

When AIDS stopped being (or at least feeling) like a crisis and calamity, many gay men and GLBT organizations moved on to other issues. These were long-standing and important issues, but the “trade-off’ in attention was unfortunate.

However, that neglect has begun to change especially this past year— the joint statement on gay men and HIV issued at GLBT Pride in 2013 and the recent Creating Change conference are two recent examples.

I’ve spoken in the past about our need to recognize that HIV is still a gay disease—not in the simple and simply wrong way that somebody like Stacey Campfield says it’s a gay disease, but in the fact that gay men remain most heavily and disproportionately impacted by the disease.

In 2012, 46% of the new cases of HIV in Greater Nashville were found in gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. Equal numbers were white and black men. But only one-third were younger gay men under age 25; most new cases were in men in their 30s and 40s (and some even older). So it isn’t just the “apathy” of a younger generation that is driving the epidemic here. Each generation of gay men has a somewhat different relationship to the epidemic, though it is worth noting that if you’re a gay men under age 40-45, which is where almost all of new HIV infection is occurring, your entire existence as a gay man has been played out against the scrim of HIV. Blaming any of these men for being apathetic or simply careless doesn’t begin to address the complexity of what I think is going on.

That’s why I believe the reembrace of HIV as a priority issue by GLBT organizations and the GLBT

community is so important. Effective use of that prevention toolbox I mentioned earlier requires us to be able to talk as a community about HIV in the context of our needs and desires as gay men. That will make HIV prevention what it needs to be: less a list of rules and more a menu of possibilities. If the battle over “don’t ask don’t tell” should have taught us anything, it is that a policy based on silence, on not speaking, simply leads to suffocation. So I hope that revival of the issue will lead once again to open, authentic, honest, and supportive communication among us.

O&AN: You’ve received many honors and awards throughout your career, any words about being the 2014 HRC Equality Award recipient?

JI: As a friend said to me when they heard about it, “It’s a big deal.” I am deeply touched and honored. I’m acutely aware at this stage of my life of my need to pass on my understanding of our history and nurture a new generation of leaders. Hopefully, the award can be part of that process and hopefully it will propel this renewed interest in HIV and in ending the disproportionate impact of HIV on gay men.

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SEEN OUT & ABOUT IN NASHVILLE photos courtesy of Jessi Coggins

NASHVILLE CARES’ AVANT GARDE MASQUERADE Hundreds donned their masks and frolicked freely behind them at this year’s Avant Garde on February 8.

: HER HRC WOMEN AND SONG HRC-Nashville hosted a smashing, sold-out night of music at Lipstick Lounge on February 7.

O&AN favorites Jen Foster and Steff Mahan were among the eight ladies on the night’s bill.

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2014 annual report • thebrooksfund.org

Free Grid Lined Graph Paper from http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/gridlined/

The Brooks Fund Mission The Brooks Fund of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee is dedicated to encouraging the inclusion, acceptance and recognition of Middle Tennessee’s gay and lesbian citizens by supporting nonprofit programs in Middle Tennessee which enhance their quality of life and builds bridges between all segments of the community.

[The Brooks Fund[

o f T h e C o m m u n i t y Fo u n d a t i o n o f M i d d l e Te n n e s s e e

Facebook.com/TheBrooksFund

Twitter.com/TheBrooksFund

MARCH 2014

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// T h e B r o o k s F u n d . o r g //

n

A Look AT The LiFe oF H. Franklin Brooks

o matter one’s age, race, religion or beliefs, H. Franklin Brooks wanted everyone to feel included. Thanks to his genuine interest in all people, Brooks endeared himself to people of all walks of life. He could sit down at a four-year-old child’s level and listen as intently and with as much engagement as he would with a colleague or student. That was what made him beloved.

For 25 years, Franklin Brooks was one of the most treasured figures on Vanderbilt University’s campus. As an associate professor in the Department of French and Italian, he was repeatedly recognized in the classroom — as much for his creative teaching technique — as for his natural friendliness and personal integrity.

Brooks was instrumental in leading the dialogue that eventually helped include gays and lesbians in Vanderbilt’s anti-harassment policy in the late 1980s. He was also the faculty sponsor for the first gay and lesbian students’ organization on campus.

After Brooks’ passing in 1994, a group of his friends wanted to honor him and continue his forthright championing of human rights, and so The H. Franklin Brooks Philanthropic Fund was created at The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. Brooks’ tireless work to promote equality for gays and lesbians and diversity among the community as a whole is a legacy that lives on through The Brooks Fund.

The Power oF endowMenT: THe Brooks Fund ... Forever

A

s an endowment of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, The Brooks Fund will be a funding source for GLBT issues in Middle Tennessee. Forever. It operates much like that retirement account your financial planner encouraged you to open— the money is invested and when it is time to make a distribution, only a small percentage is paid out so that the account and the distributions continue to grow.

The Brooks Fund infused larger amounts of money into the community early on as a member of The National Lesbian and Gay Community Partnership, but when it began paying out five percent of the Fund in 2003, there was $3,650 available for grantmaking. In 2014, there will be $16,700 available for grantmaking. We’re thrilled to have so much more to share with nonprofits serving GLBT youth, families, and others. Forever.

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OUTANDABOUTNASHVILLE.COM MARCH 2014 Free Plain Graph Paper from http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/plain/

// TheBrooksFund.org //

w

reinForcing our coMMuniTy Through grAnTs

ith the help of our generous donors, supporters and volunteers, The Brooks Fund is able to distribute grants to Middle Tennessee organizations dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for the GLBT community. Since 1997, the endowment has provided over $207,600 to a variety of

nonprofit organizations to support health and safety programs, youth counseling and mentoring, sensitivity and diversity programs, and the fine arts.

The Brooks Fund annually accepts grant applications from Middle Tennessee

nonprofits supporting the GLBT community, through The Community Foundation’s discretionary grant process.

For more information, visit cFmt.org or call The Community Foundation at 615-321-4939.

“Jewish Family Service turned a difficult situation into a pleasant, great process.” — Paula Foster JewisH Family service

w

hen Nashville residents Jessica Hoke and Paula Foster decided they wanted to start growing their family, they turned to Jewish Family Service of Nashville and middle tennessee to help the couple with second-parent adoption services.

After Jessica had their first child, Wesley Grace, Jewish Family Service conducted the family’s home study and guided them

through the finalization of the procedures.

After the birth of their second child, Hannah, they again turned to Jewish Family Service to form essential legal ties to the children they are parenting together.

Jewish Family Service has been providing adoption services for over 35 years to

the Nashville and the Middle Tennessee community, and is well known for its welcoming stance toward gay and lesbian perspective adoptive individuals and couples. Along with adoption home studies, The Brooks Fund grantee also coordinates placement and post-placement services for the gay and lesbian community.

MARCH 2014 OUTANDABOUTNASHVILLE.COM Free Plain Graph Paper from http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/plain/

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// TheBrooksFund.org //

F

ounded in 1988, mt Lambda strives to provide a safe and secure place for everyone with an emphasis on the LGBT+ community at Middle Tennessee State University. As the group prepared for their 25th year of service, long-time group advisor Dr. William Langston posed a question to MT Lambda’s president Joshua Rigsby – “What do you want to do to leave a mark?”

Free Grid Lined Graph Paper from http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/gridlined/

After months of thought and planning, the LGBT+ College Conference was born. The inaugural event, taking place on MTSU’s campus from April 10-12, 2014, will bring together dozens of Tennessee Board of Regents and University of Tennessee System institutions and Middle Tennessee community organizations. The Brooks Fund’s grant to this effort was the first financial contribution to the effort.

It will cover a variety of subjects from community building to political strategy, and will empower students from various institutions across the state to use their individual student organizations as a mechanism for positive change geared towards awareness, inclusion, and diversity.

“The grant from The Brooks Fund and The Community Foundation was the first tangible support we received and it helped solidify to us and the community that this is a worthwhile project.” — Joshua Rigsby

// PasT GranT reciPienTs// 2012

2010

2008

2006

Jewish Family Service of Nashville and Middle Tennessee

Nashville Film Festival

Abintra Montessori School

Nashville Film Festival

Nashville in Harmony

Nashville Film Festival

Tennessee Equality Project Foundation

Oasis Center

2011 Jewish Family Service of Nashville and Middle Tennessee

Nashville in Harmony

2009 Abintra Montessori School Nashville in Harmony

Oasis Center

OUTANDABOUTNASHVILLE.COM

OutCentral, Inc.

YWCA

2007

2003

Eating Disorders Coalition of Tennessee

Nashville in Harmony

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MT LAMBdA

Nashville Film Festival

MARCH 2014

Nashville Children’s Theatre

// TheBrooksFund.org //

Free Grid Lined Graph Paper from http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/gridlined/

“Because of The Brooks Fund’s belief in our work and our mission, we have been able to gain ground on the sustainability of our initial program.” — Pam Sheffer

oAsis cenTer’s JusT us

e

very Tuesday from September through May, Pam Sheffer advises high school students through Oasis center’s Just Us program. During this time, LGBTQI youth are engaged in group discussions and facilitated activities while connecting with opportunities to create positive change in the community.

2002

Oasis Center

Equality Tennessee

PFLAG

Nashville Film Festival

2000

PFLAG Rainbow Community Center YWCA

2001 Community Nashville

As a Brooks Fund grantee, Just Us provides support and advocacy through relentless outreach to these youth, their families, and community allies; bi-weekly support and educational events; youth leadership and community climate change initiatives; individual support services (offered through Oasis Center; including crisis intervention, counseling, emergency shelter, education support and more); and more.

1999

1997

Center for LGBT Life in Nashville

Oasis Center

Community Nashville

Community Nashville

GLSEN

GLSEN

Mockingbird Theatre

Nashville CARES

Oasis Center

Oasis Center

PFLAG

PFLAG

Planned Parent Association of Middle Tennessee Unitarian Universalist First Church of Tennessee

1996 Council of Community Services

Nashville CARES MARCH 2014

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// TheBrooksFund.org //

s

The Brooks Fund hisTory ProJecT

ince the earliest days of The Brooks Fund, documenting the life stories of the community’s older GLBT residents was always an aspiration of the founding advisory committee. Capturing the stories of those who came of age before the Stonewall riots in 1969 would offer many the opportunity to break free of years of silence about life as a gay or transgendered resident of Middle Tennessee. These stories would provide perspective to the community; a community that has changed for the better in many ways and yet still has a great distance to go to achieve equality for the GLBT community.

The Brooks Fund History Project began as The Fund was approaching its 15th anniversary. Collecting the 28 interviews of gay men, lesbian and transsexual women, same sex couples, and straight observers was a tandem effort conducted by Phil Bell, an Emmy award-winning journalist, and Deidre Duker, an experienced film and video producer.

Once the interviews were complete and the archives collected, the painstaking process of ensuring copyright and privacy protections were initiated by several attorneys, all of whom have provided pro bono assistance on these critical issues.

wAnderLusT seTs sAiL

w

anderlust has become a destination event for people from throughout the community, raising thousands for the The Brooks Fund’s mission.

But as the event approaches its 10th anniversary, The Fund’s advisory board has decided it’s time to say “bon voyage” to the party and throw one last bash as they explore new fundraising avenues.

So save the date – Wanderlust: OH SHIP! is set to sail away FrIdAy, AUgUSt 14, 2014, at ANthem (125 12th Avenue N., Nashville).

As always, the event will feature an on-site travel raffle drawing for a coveted travel voucher worth thousands (which can be used for airlines, hotels and car rentals), a fabulous silent auction, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, and vibrant musical entertainment.

Contact Michael McDaniel about sponsorship opportunities at mmc@cfmt.org.

2014 advisory Board Leadership Todd Grantham, Chair Amy Parker, Co-Chair Amos Gott, Secretary Scott Ridgway, Past Chair

Final preparations are underway to make these incredible stories available in the Metropolitan Nashville Public Library for public use by researchers, educators, and others interested in knowing of the courage of members of an earlier generation that struggled for acceptance with themselves, their family and community. Additionally, a documentary— anticipated for a Fall 2014 premiere—is beginning to take shape from the hours of recorded audio and video.

The Brooks Fund History Project is made possible through the vision, resources, and continuing commitment of donors and volunteers.

GLBT History Project Steering Committee Iris Buhl John Bridges Deidre Duker James Mathis Roger Moore, Ph.D. Dan Cornfield, Ph.D.

T

he Brooks Fund Advisory Board is comprised of community members who share the vision of a more accepting and tolerant community. It includes business leaders, educators, volunteers, nonprofit executives, and professionals who oversee grantmaking, fundraising, strategic planning, education, alliance building, and public awareness.

Members Emily Allen Stephanie Barger Anthony Barton Kyle Bradley Caroline Blackwell

Roger Gore Miguel Otero Pat Patrick Dayne Reed Michelle Rene Jim Schmidt

The Brooks Fund of

Randy Silcox Rob Sikorski Shelly Steel Susan Taylor Daniel Tidwell Maryglenn Warnock

Peter Westerholm John Winnett Michael McDaniel, Coordinator

The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee

3833 Cleghorn Avenue | Nashville, Tennessee 37215 | 615-321-4939 | TheBrooksFund.org | cFmT.org

For More inForMATion conTAcT: MichAeL Mcdaniel aT mmc@cFmT.orG

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O U T A N D A B O U T N A S H V I L L E . C O Free M Plain MARCH Graph 2014 Paper from http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/plain/

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The Computer Butler is at your service JAMES A. GRADY

When business owners consider computer maintenance and IT solutions for their business, LGBTfriendliness may be a secondary consideration. Chris Butler’s The Computer Butler does us one better: here we find a socially conscious, LGBT-owned and operated business providing comprehensive computing services for small and medium-sized businesses in the Nashville area.

Chris is the definition of an entrepreneur: at just 24, he’s been operating his business in Nashville for three years already. Up until this year, he developed his business while also working another full-time job. 2014 has seen him turn his venture, at last, into his sole focus.

‘‘

these preventatives, we want to make sure our customers experience as few issues as possible.”

The Computer Butler’s primary customer base is businesses without IT support in-house, and Chris estimates that his services save his contract customers between $1015,000 over having a single IT support person on staff.

As a business owner for whom ethics and social consciousness is very important, Chris offers a significant discount to non-profit organizations, LGBT and otherwise, that he serves.

He sees it as a social obligation to offer such organizations affordable alternatives. He also serves on the board of a number of non-profits,

including Nashville Harmony.

As he moves forward he hopes to engage and reach out more explicitly to the wider LGBT community through his business and social endeavors. In supporting LGBT-owned or –friendly businesses, he sees the possibility for “building the kinds of relationships between businesses that creates a safety net and a foundation for social equality in the Nashville business community.”

When asked about his overall aspirations for his business, Chris said, “It is my intention to make The Computer Butler the preferred choice for IT solutions in both the GLBT business community, and the Music Business industry in Nashville.”

we offer complete care for our customers.

Basically, if it works on electricity – computers, but also printers and copiers, and other electronics – we service it.

‘‘

The services he offers are comprehensive. As Chris put it, “we offer complete care for our customers.

Basically, if it works on electricity – computers, but also printers and copiers, and other electronics – we service it.”

They also offer services that include “disaster recovery and planning,” web design, and search engine optimization and marketing support.

One thing that Chris prides himself on is offering his customers preventative care. Like in medicine, a lot of services focus on treating what’s already gone wrong, or breakfix support. Chris believes that a more responsible business model is to provide a service that saves his customers a great deal over time. “We run updates, set up security and plan updates, and do physical cleaning of the components. While we could make a lot more money charging people to fix problems caused by the lack of

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OUTANDABOUTNASHVILLE.COM

For more information, visit computerbutler.net or call 615-200-8113 MARCH 2014

Actors Bridge presents ‘Next Fall’ “No one’s the devil, here. We’re all just trying to get along.” The anonymous quote parades itself not only in the foreword to, but also weaves itself throughout the narrative of, Next Fall, the award-winning play making its Nashville debut with Actors Bridge March 21 – April 6.

“I’ve had [the quote] in mind through out this whole process,” says director Ricardo Puerta. “It reminds me that really good theatre takes life, shows it to people, and forces them to think whether they want to continue living it the same way or if it’s worth making some changes.”

In the play, Luke and Adam are a “contemporary ‘odd couple.’” Adam is a responsible but neurotic atheist, while Luke is an impulsive, underemployed actor and a devout Christian but doesn’t every relationship require a leap of faith?

When Luke is involved in a serious accident, family and friends’ deeply held beliefs collide.

Next Fall, the 2010 Tony Award-nominated play, is the perfect production for a polarizing time in Southern and conservative communities where religion and society are clashing.

And even more so in Nashville, as Tennessee recently made headlines, along with a host of other states, for religious freedom bills masquerading blatant attempts at gay discrimination.

The religious and personal growth themes running throughout Next Fall will appeal to a wide cross-section of the Nashville LGBT (and also hopefully straight) audience. The production highlights the struggles many in the LGBT audience have when coming out amidst heavily religious families and communities. “I’m a Christian, not an atheist like my character Adam, but I’ve traveled many of the same roads and asked a lot of the same questions,” says Chuck Long. “I have many friends who’ve turned away from religion because of the judgmental attitudes and that breaks my heart.”

Next Fall succeeds because it doesn’t solely focus on Luke and Adam in a bubble. As with any relationship, there are a host of other gravitational forces pulling at the seams of their struggle. Brought together by Luke’s

accident, the cast of characters—each committed to contrasting journeys themselves—include Luke’s divorced parents, his childhood friend Butch and Adam’s longtime friend Holly, who serves as metaphor for the families the LGBT community often creates for themselves when coming out.

In addition to the documented experiences the play reflects, it also offers a snapshot into issues that while have been playing themselves out in relationships throughout the LGBT communities for years, have not yet experienced wide discourse.

As marriage equality looms and the landscape starts to swell with the narratives of LGBT couples in relationships and/or raising families, the situations of having to navigate raising children and discussing faith are becoming more substantive.

deeper topics, which I love.”

“The writing in Next Fall doesn’t judge the characters,” Long continues.

“It presents their stories and let’s the audience react the way they will. I think every audience member will have a different ‘come-away.’”

And Long shares that Actors Bridge has planned for those ‘come-aways’ with a series of Talk Backs planned with “voices from the legal and faithbased worlds, as well as couples who have legally wed in other states and the challenges that face them in a state like Tennessee.”

Theatre in itself is a teaching tool.

While Next Fall doesn’t necessarily preach ‘the answer,’ it will surely cause audiences to reflect upon whether their own beliefs are pushing them closer or farther away from those they love in their life.

photos courtesy: John Jackson Photography

Left to right: Conway Preston as Luke, Chuck Long as Adam

“I believe that one of the great things that Next Fall accomplishes is to broaden and deepen the conversation about what being gay encompasses,” Puerta shares. “While coming out can be a very challenging experience, this play tells us all that there is a whole lot more that needs to be considered, and that people, regardless of their sexual orientation, will never fit in the box we try to put them in just so we can make sense of them.”

With all the heavy-handed issues, the play is sure to make you laugh as well. “It puts the questions out there and brings up some thought-provoking conversations,” says Long, “but it often uses humor as a way to get to some MARCH 2014

‘‘

I FEEL STRONGLY THAT MY JOB AS THE PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AT ACTORS BRIDGE IS TO CHOOSE PLAYS THAT TELL STORIES NASHVILLE NEEDS TO HEAR,” SAYS VALI FORRISTER. “AS A NATIVE NASHVILLIAN WHO GREW UP IN THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, I CAN THINK OF NO OTHER ISSUE THAT AFFECTS MORE PEOPLE I LOVE. I HAVE WATCHED TOO MANY FRIENDS AGONIZE OVER CHOICES BETWEEN LOVE AND FAITH OR FAMILY. EVEN THOSE OF US ‘RECOVERING FUNDAMENTALISTS’ WHO HAVE BEEN RELEASED FROM THE DOGMA OF OUR CHILDHOOD RELIGION ARE STILL HIDING PARTS OF OURSELVES OUT OF FEAR OF REJECTION.

‘‘

JOSEPH BROWNELL

Next Fall premieres March 21.

Showtimes are Fridays and Saturdays (7:30 p.m.) and Sundays (4 p.m.) through April 6.

Tickets are $20 and advance purchases are recommended.

For more information, visit actorsbridge.org OUTANDABOUTNASHVILLE.COM

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Mister USofA MI brings dreams, divas and D-Luv to Nashville

‘‘

AMIEE SADLER

26

...IT’S NOT EASY CONVINCING PROMOTERS TO BACK MALE IMPERSONATORS IN A VERY FEMALE IMPERSONATOR DRIVEN INDUSTRY.

‘‘

With ten plus titles, D-Luv Saviyon has made history, not just in Tennessee, but in one of the nation’s largest pageantry system as the first African-American Mister USofA MI Classic winner.

So what do you do when you are the most heavily crowned drag king in Tennessee? You add a few rhinestones to Bible Belt buckle and bring the biggest pageant to you.

“In the beginning, when I started with Mac Productions, I never thought I would make it to this point” he says.

Starting small, performing locally and quickly branching out to what he now considers his second home, Atlanta, GA, over the years D-Luv has grown as a performer and now is regularly booked across the country.

On Thursday, March 6, D-Luv will be handing down his crown as Mister USofA MI Classic. As emotional of a night as it will undoubtedly be, there is another historic moment taking place.

For the first time in the Mister USofA MI Pageant’s history, it will not be held in Oklahoma City, but right here in Nashville.

Jordan Allen, former Mister USofA MI and current show director of Ladies’ Night at Play Dance Bar, helped to make the move a reality. “I am honored and super excited for Mister USofA MI and MI Classic as well as Miss Diva USofA to be coming to Nashville and PLAY Dance Bar. I am glad to have been of help to bring something so amazing and close to my heart here to our ever growing king and diva community.”

The USofA pageantry system is one of the largest and most widely known pageantry systems in the country, encompassing pageants for kings/ male impersonators, divas, GQ’s and queens/female impersonators of all ages.

“Nationals being held in Nashville gives a way for a new audience that has never been exposed to the US of A pageantry experience a chance to see how they do things,” D-Luv says. And oh, what an experience it is.

The categories of the pageants seem ordinary enough: a non-judged presentation, personal interview (25% of the total score), creative evening

IT REQUIRES THE PROMOTERS TO NOT ONLY BELIEVE IN ME BUT TO BELIEVE IN DRAG KINGS AS WELL.

wear (25% of the total score), and talent (50% of the total score). Then you realize, this isn’t just one night of competing. This is a week-long event with three different titles up for grabs.

It kicks off on Monday with a last chance preliminary—either you get a ticket in or you go home. Tuesday begins the first actual day of competition.

After registration, for both the Classics and the Divas, interviews will begin.

During registration, MI contestants are broken up into groups for their stages of competition. That night, the battle begins. Half the contestants do their talent and the other half do their evening wear. Wednesday, the other half will compete in the opposite category of what they had done the night before.

Thursday night, things start getting real with the entire Diva and Classic Competitions—every category. There is no warm up and very little time for rehearsal. You bring it all and leave it all on the stage. Friday is finals night for the MI contestants. All contestants participate in presentation and then the top 12 compete again in evening wear and talent, often with a completely different or at the very least, an alteration from what was done just a few nights before.

Thursday night will be bitter sweet for D-Luv. After being on cast at Play for over six years, he recently stepped down.

This is will be his first time gracing the stage since then. “I feel like I have gotten a lot accomplished in this year but feel like there was still more to be done. I’m excited it was such a productive year but it will be hard to let it go. I hope whoever

OUTANDABOUTNASHVILLE.COM

MARCH 2014

D-Luv Saviyon (left) and Ivory Onyx (right) pose after winning 2013 Mister USofA MI Classic and MI

gets crowned takes the ball and runs with it,” he says.

Very few actually know the amount of work that goes into the reign. It’s not just about winning the crown, it’s about keeping the crown and preparing contestants for possible succession.

D-Luv traveled across the country this year, not only performing but judging pageants, and convincing promoters to send contestants to nationals. “It’s been a labor of love, very difficult but even more rewarding,” D-Luv says.

“It was time consuming and tiring but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. It’s not easy convincing promoters to back male impersonators in a very female impersonator driven industry. It requires the promoters to not only believe in me but to believe in drag kings as well.”

It should come as no surprise that D-Luv has what it takes. As well as holding the title of Mister USofA MI Classic 2013, Mr. King of Hearts

2013, he was also named one of the 100 Most Influential Gay Entertainers, in the anthology of the same title, authored by Jeanetta J. Baines.

Holding multiple titles is nothing new.

During his more than twelve years competing, the former Mr. Esquire, has held at least two titles consecutively for at least four of those years.

D-Luv is not the only king passing on his crown this year. Ivory Onyx will be stepping down as Mister USofA MI and there are six local kings hoping to take his throne. Skylar Wylde, Stephen Amastud, Lucas Prescott, Teddy Michaels, EZ Love, and Trey Alize are all competing in hopes to keep the crown in Tennessee. Also, for the very first time there is an opportunity for Diva’s to get in on the action. Jamison St. James and Q-Tip Chanel, both former Miss TN Diamond Divas, are both vying for the title of Miss Diva USofA Emeritus.

♠ ♣ ♥ ♦ ♠ ♣ ♥ ♦

The pageant competition starts March 3 and culminates with finals night March 7. With the exception of interview, all of the competitions are open to the public and tickets can be purchased in advance or at the door. For a full listing of the schedule and ticket pricing information, you can check out the website at misterusofami.com

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27

Local out author pens first anthropomorphic novel JOSEPH BROWNELL

Earlier this year, Jonathan Thurston published his second book Where the Carnivores Meet. A departure from his first novel, the young adult Farmost I See Tonight, Thurston’s latest novel is a story of strength, courage and determination.

The young, out author recently hosted a reading and book signing at Barnes and Noble Vanderbilt.

Here’s the rundown: Meet Diego and Marsh. Diego is the straight, muscular best friend who is always dependable but certainly prone to fits of anger. Marsh is the gay twink who has major family issues and has an abusive boyfriend.

When a Chicago gang targets Diego and Marsh gets involved, what are the two willing to do to save one another? When secrets come out, how willing are they to trust one another again?

Oh yeah, Diego is a rabbit and Marsh a fox. Where the Carnivores Meet is an anthropomorphic novel. We chatted with Thurston about the role his furry identity plays in his novel, his take on the furry community and what’s next in his writing queue.

O&AN: The novel falls under a subset of fiction called furry fandom? Can you explain furry fandom to those who might not be familiar?

JT: I do classify this book as “furry fiction.” That is to say that the characters are anthropomorphic, similar to Wind in the Willows or Brian Jacques’ Redwall series. They walk on two legs. They talk. They wear clothes and function as a society akin to humans.

Some furry fiction can include human society and anthro-society. Some of it is transformative, e.g. anthro becoming

human and vice versa. Carnivores is strictly anthro-society.

I have noticed that everyone has their own explanation for furry, so I will not pretend that I am the definitive resource. My own belief is that being furry is very much a fandom and a community. The media portrays furries to be sexual deviants, wearing fursuits while having intercourse. However, I

defining characteristic.

Being furry is often hanging out with people over a cup of coffee. You all respect your animal side and may correlate your personality with an animal (not by any means to say that you believe you actually are an animal). Most have an appreciation for anthropomorphic art and literature. It is a fandom and a community all at once.

know very few furries who actually even have fursuits. Also, I would say that there are as many furry fans having sex in fursuits as there are Star Trek fans (just naming another fandom) having sex in Captain Kirk costumes.

Yes, the fetish exists, but it is not the

O&AN: I realize that this may require a further explanation about yourself and your experience with being a furry- would you share that story?

JT: I came out as both a gay man and a furry last year shortly after the publication of my first book. I had actually been doing literary research on the furry fandom for a few weeks and decided to stop by one of their coffee meet-ups. To be honest, I had been fully

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surprised. No one was in a fursuit. I saw no one wearing tails. They were perfectly normal people. It was just a group of people that liked talking about animals. I met my first boyfriend there and decided to stick around with the group. After a while, I just decided I must be furry too.

It’s the people I’ve fallen in love with.

I’m afraid that the misconception that many readers may have is that this is all about sex—the novel and the furry community, that is. And I think you try to tackle that in the beginning pages with Diego’s declaration that he is not a ‘lustful rabbit.’ Can you help dispel those misconceptions? Perhaps by offering a relatable introduction to the world of furries?

While I definitely tackled the issue of sex in the furry fandom above, I can definitely work to dispel it about my book. There are definitely sex scenes in this novel. It is what I classify as a gay “adventurotica.” I have a twofold belief: 1. Sex does not make a good book. 2. A good book can have sex and use it well. There is definitely more to these characters than is first apparent. There is deceit. There is fear. There is pain. Sex in my novel functions as an embodiment of the emotional relationships the characters have. Diego’s statement that he is not a “lustful rabbit” shows that he is a bit of a hopeless romantic. He does not believe in acting solely on lust. He believes that there can be more to sex than lust… or maybe that’s just what he wants you to think.

Read the rest of the interview online outandaboutnashville.com

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29

Nashville’s Benji Brown is one of the ‘Worst Cooks in America’ JOSEPH BROWNELL

Last month we were rooting for areagay Jay Qualls on ABC's The Taste. Well, now that's he's been eliminated, we've been on the hunt for our latest reality show fixation. Enter Benji Brown and season 5 of Food Network's Worst Cooks in America.

If you've seen this season's promo, Benji is the 'dude, that's a potato' guy.

If you know Benji, he's a warm and hilarious fixture on the Nashville local live music venue scene. In any capacity you can show your support for Benji and Nashville by tuning into Season 5 and while he’s on the show attending Monday night viewing parties at The Stirrup.

We chatted with Benji to find out if he really knew the difference between an egg and potato, what he'll do if he wins and what people can expect of his cooking skills.

PHOTOS COURTESY FOOD NETWORK

O&AN: So, what makes you the worst cook in America?

BB: Well, I have never really cooked before besides something really simple like a grilled cheese or a frozen pizza. I never had luck with even those things turning out right. I'm also a super picky eater—chicken nuggets, plain cheeseburgers. I eat a lot of fast food.

The fact I don't like so many things is a hindrance to being able to cook something and know if it's cooked properly.

O&AN: Your contestant bio mentions your sister wanting you to eat healthier, was she your driving force to audition?

BB: Yes and no. I know I need to be healthier and that I could stand to lose some weight. She has always been concerned about my eating habits and I have tried in the past to broaden my

30

palette. If I enjoyed things like a salad, or maybe vegetables and fruits, I know that it would be easier for me to lose weight. Being thrown into a situation like this not only forces me to try new things and maybe even find some new things I will eat in the future.

O&AN: What can you share about your audition process? How did you make it onto season 5?

BB: I was emailed by a friend in California who said they were casting for Worst Cooks In America. He thought it would be fun for me to audition because he knows me and my eating habits. I sent in an application and it just took off from there!

O&AN: What was it like working with Anne and Bobby Flay?

BB: It was an amazing once-in-alifetime experience. Both were extremely nice and had good methods of teaching us. Chef Bobby and I could have been friends. I would have enjoyed grabbing a beer with him. Maybe one day!

O&AN: Did you have a strategy going into the competition?

BB: Simply to learn as much as possible and to just be myself. I wanted to be completely open-minded and try anything and everything I could. I knew that I was 1 of only 14 people chosen for the show, so I just wanted to be completely open to the experience and absorb everything I could from it.

O&AN: If you win season 5 (and Nashville hopes you do) what would you do with the prize money?

BB: I would give the money to Sarah McLachlan so she could write a new song for those ASPCA commercials. That song is too sad! (Laughs) Seriously, I would go on a vacation with my boyfriend Andy.

He has done so much to support me in the 5 years we have been together and a vacation is something we could both use right now. The rest would go towards the bar/live music venue my Dad and I have been looking to open up over the last few months. We all know Nashville needs another live music venue!

Update: At press time, Benji became the second contestant eliminated from Worst Cooks in America.

Who else should we watch on TV, Nashville?

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MARCH 2014

All means all.* *No exceptions.

We invite you to join a community that believes every person is of sacred worth and created in God’s image.

At the corner of Acklen and 21st in the heart of Hillsboro Village 8:15 and 10:30 AM Sunday Worship For more info, visit BelmontUMC.org.

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Patricia Snyder Attorney-at-Law The Law Office of Patricia L. Snyder 2400 Crestmoor Road / Nashville TN 37215 615.279.4411 phone / 615.523.1179 fax pat@psnyderlaw.com / www.psnyderlaw.com No ChArge for INItIAL CoNSuLtAtIoN If you meNtIoN o&AN ALL PhoNe CALLS PromPtLy returNed general Practice, Landlord-tenant Law, Personal Injury Criminal Law: Felonies & Misdemeanors duI, Sex offenses, Internet-Based Crimes State & Federal

SEEN OUT & ABOUT IN NASHVILLE photos courtesy of Jessi Coggins

: OoooPS THEY DID IT AGAIN The Music City Sisters packed The Stirrup for their annual Valentine’s FUNdraiser Pink Panty Pulldown.

The Music City Sisters joined forces with members of the Nashville Grizzlies’ for a HOT underwear auction and a night of light debauchery to help raise funds for their community grant programs and April’s H8’s a Drag.

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fROM SHAMROCK SWEETIE SHELTER ADOPTION SPECIALS TO TEDDY’S WAGON AT ST. PUPPY’S DAY...

Adopting during the month of March gives everyone the LUCk Of ThE IrISh! VISIT US 213 Oceola Avenue Nashville TN 37209 nashvillehumane.org 615.352.1010 Monday 10am – 5pm Tuesday 10am – 5pm Wednesday CLOSED Thursday 10am – 5pm Friday 10am – 5pm Saturday 10am – 5pm Sunday 12pm – 5pm

MARCH 2014

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31

turnabout Hey there Untuckers!

Get ready for April 4 because Nashville PRIDE continues their fundraising efforts in advance of its yearly festival with Nashville Pride Turnabout, a gender-bending night of entertainment hosted by PLAY Dance Bar. Members of Nashville PRIDE, the PLAY staff and Nashville’s LGBT community will appear in drag at the April 4 event. Doors open at 7

p.m., and the show begins at 8 p.m..

Admission is $10 and all proceeds benefit Nashville Pride.

So get your scissors out and clip the paper doll

out, share on social media #NashvilleUntucked and we’ll see you April 4 with Nashville PRIDE! XO, Paige Turner

And yours truly, Paige Turner, is involved this year. Well, sort of. I’m playing drag stylist to Out & About Nashville Editor Joseph Brownell. I’ll be draggin’ that beard off his face and slapping’ on an inch of makeup and he’ll be wearing a Paige Turner original. And the rumor has it, he’ll even ‘sing’ live.

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OUTANDABOUTNASHVILLE.COM

MARCH 2014

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March 7 – 9* Pajama Party Weekend Back by popular demand… what do you wear to bed?

Then wear the same thing to The Tavern Saturday night!

The Tavern will be also be open Saturday (12pm-5pm) for pool, beer, snacks, movies and Wii!

March 21 – 23* Who’s Your Daddy!

A tribute to all those sexy men of a certain age and their admirers.

The Tavern will be in full force Saturday night with an After-Hours Black Out Party in the Backroom! * Winter Room Rate Specials “BUTTS IN BEDS WEEKENDS” 50% discount on weekend rooms rates January 3 – March 30, 2014.

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33

M HCARCH RAM

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

MISTER USOFA MI,CLASSIC & DIVA PAGEANT Play Dance Bar

The national drag king pageant relocates to Nashville, TN and Divas get their first go around at a title. See page 26 for more information March 3-7

NASHVILLE IN HARMONY’S CHORAL BLAST Ryman Auditorium

Join Nashville in Harmony and four other choirs for a spectacular night of music. Tickets on sale now nashvilleinharmony.org March 4 / 7:30 p.m.

EDITOR’S CHOICE

CHER-EOKE / MUSIC CITY SISTERS’ NIGHT

EDITOR’S CHOICE

10TH ANNUAL ADVANCING EQUALITY DAY ON THE HILL

Advocate for equality in Tennessee State laws with Tennessee Equality Project, Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition and more. See more details on page 7.

March 11 / 8:00 a.m.

SISTER ACT: THE MUSICAL TPAC

Tickets still available to this hilarious musical based upon the hit movie.

March 11-16

March 8 / 5:00 p.m.

What do you need to say about Wicked. This will sell out. For showtimes and ticket prices, visit tpac.org.

March 20 / 8:00 p.m.

EDITOR’S CHOICE

JILLIAN MICHAELS’ MAXIMIZE YOUR LIFE TOUR James K. Polk Theater

Jillian Michaels stops by Nashville to share the inspiration you need to reach your health and wellness goals. Tickets start at $25.

March 15 / 8 :00 p.m.

NEXT FALL Actors Bridge

Next Fall deals with spirituality and sexuality. A perfect play for Nashville audiences. For more information, see page 24.

March 21 – April 6 / Various showtimes

21

QDP

FRI

5 Spot

Join QDP as they queer up the 5 spot for probably the most popular monthly dance party in Nashville..

March 21 / 9 p.m.

CHAD MICHAELS

NASHVILLE PRIDE 2 CHEFS/ 2 BLOCKS

Play Dance Bar

Silo and The Mad Platter

24

MON

BETTY WHO IN CONCERT High Watt

Betty Who’s “Somebody to Love’ made headlines when it was featured in a viral same-sex marriage proposal video.

Tickets $10 March 24 / 9 p.m. (show)

Cher impersonator and RuPaul’s Drag Race’s Chad Michaels takes the Nashville stage before the Cher concert.

March 28

MUSIC CITY SISTERS’ FREAK AND FETISH Trax

Are you ready to let your Freak Flag Fly? Join your favorite freaky nuns for a night of fetish fashion and freaky performers.

March 29 / 10:00 p.m.

CHER

Bridgestone Arena

Cher brings her Dressed to Kill tour to Nashville and is joined by Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo for a night the absolute gayness.

March 31

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TPAC

March 26 – April 20 / Various showtimes

March 24 / 6 p.m.

March 6 / 7 p.m.

Join HRC-Nashville in celebrating the successes and accomplishments of the LGBT community in 2013.

Tickets still available.

Diane Birch and Andrew Belle coheadline this bill of amazing music.

Experience the creations of two of Nashville’s finest chefs from Silo and The Mad Platter in an evening filled with food, cocktails and friends to benefit Nashville PRIDE. Tickets are $75 per person or included with a Friends With Benefit membership.

Join O&AN, Music City Sisters and Nashville in Harmony for your chance to win Cher tickets with Cher-eoke, our Cher karaoke contest.

Renaissance Nashville Hotel

WICKED

Mercy Lounge

Tennessee State Capitol

Canvas Lounge

2014 HRC EQUALITY GALA

DIANE BIRCH IN CONCERT

Find Something You Want Now posting great McKay finds on Facebook & Twitter!

MARCH 2014

APRIL 15 BUY TICKETS: 615.687.6400 NashvilleSymphony.org

WITH SUPPORT FROM