O&AN | April 2015 by Out & About Nashville

OUTANDABOUT NASHVILLE.COM

APRIL 2015

VOLUME 14 | ISSUE 04

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04.15

LETTER

to the

EDITOR

In March, Tennessee Equality Project and the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition, along with an impressive array of engaged activists from across the state, gathered in Nashville for Advancing Equality Day on the Hill. One first time participant in the annual event shared her impressions of the day: I am the Knox, Anderson & Blount Counties Committee Chair and a board member [of TEP]. This was the first time I was able to attend this event. I have done public speaking but I was still nervous because I did not know what to expect, partly because of what I have seen from them either in the media or when I watch them in session on PBS. I was thankful that this year we were not having to discuss any Turn Away the Gays bill, Don’t Say Gay bill, or License to Bully bill. But still the fact that we had to again discuss the Counseling Discrimination bill was serious, because it moved so quickly in the Senate last time. I knew that any LGBT related bills would probably not be well received by my legislators. I live in Rockford, Blount County. I first met with Senator Overbey. I knew that he was going to have a committee meeting later [that day] regarding numerous gun legislation so I could tell that I didn’t have a lot of his focus. He seemed to remember the Counseling Discrimination Bill from 2013 but he could not remember how he voted [He did not vote on the bill]. He did seem receptive of my talking points regarding the bill and said he would consider

opposing the bill. He didn’t have an opinion on SB 0371 and didn’t want to discuss it further. He also didn’t know where he stood on SB1037, [though] he seemed to agree that bullying isn’t good and that there needs to be a better reporting method. I then met with Rep. Swann and he was a very different experience. He was stone faced and didn’t want to even look up the bills. He went off on a tangent about the bullying bill and was concerned with false reporting and how there are numerous false reports and then people who “didn’t do anything wrong” are affected, which was essentially a blame the victim mentality. He also was not supportive of the Human Rights Act.

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Overall, it was an adventure. I never expected so many other groups to be there talking to legislators but it was great to see it in action. I hope my schedule allows me to go next year. If I can’t make it, I will continue emailing, calling and writing my legislators. However, I highly recommend that others take the opportunity to go and talk to their legislator about the issues. - Gwen Schablik

Distribution : George Webster gwebster@outandaboutnashville.com

CONTRIBUTORS

Writers: Jane Dupree, Michael Finch, James Grady, River Johnson, Amy Sulam, Brian Sullivan, Brandon Thomas, Paige Turner, Cody Tracey, Bobbi Williams Photographers: Chris Deer, Andrew Eccles, Julius Greene, Ariana Hodes, Ethan James, Brett Kling Cover/Feature Photographer: Julius Greene Cartoonist: Damon Xanthopoulos National Advertising Representative: Rivendell Media 1248 Route 22 West Mountainside, NJ 07092 212-242-6863

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LEGAL Out & About Nashville strives to be a credible community news organization by engaging and educating our readers. All content of Out & About Nashville is copyrighted 2014 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. Out & About Nashville accepts unsolicited material but cannot take responsibility for its return. The editor reserves the right to accept, reject or edit submissions. All rights revert to authors upon publication. The editorial positions of Out & About Nashville are expressed in editorials and in the editor’s notes as determined by the editor. Other opinions are those of writers and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Out & About Nashville or its staff. Letters to the editor are encouraged but may be edited for clarity and length. There is no guarantee that letters will be published. Out & About Nashville only accepts adult advertising within set guidelines and on a case-by-case basis.

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APRIL 2015

Music City’s

d n a B t Bigges

Your Nashville Symphony | Live at the schermerhorn

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BI L L I E HO L I DAY w i t h CASSANDRA WILSON April 8

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April 9 to 11

ERO S GUERR T C O N D U C OV E N B E EL LTE H NY SYMPHO I

V E NA SH WITH TH April 11 at 11 am

tchaikovsky’s pathetique

April 17 & 18 • Added morning concert on Apr. 17

KENNY G with the Nashville Symphony

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April 30 to May 2

NATALIE COLE

with the Nashv ille Symphony

Mother’s Day - May 10

May 7 to 9

ABBA THE CONCERT A TRIBUTE TO ABBA

May 12

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Wedding Announcements

a family, struggled like a family, and celebrated like a family. We’ve earned this car ride. Congratulations, you two, on raising a wonderful loving group of kids (well, grownups) and showing us that a family is what you make it, not what anybody else tells you it has to be.”

Illinois, at Salvatore’s Ristorante. They were accompanied by about 90 family members and friends from across the country, and the ceremony was officiated by Alvin’s aunt, Robin Jarvis. Their best persons during the ceremony were Alvin’s best friend, Nathan Bohn, and Jamey’s sister, Danielle Rutschilling.

Douglas Thomas Hagler & Frank Joseph Moore

Alvin Jeffery & Jamey Rutschilling

Alvin Jeffery and Jamey Rutschilling are newer residents of Nashville, TN: they moved here almost two years ago from Cincinnati, OH where they met. Alvin is a PhD student at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, and Jamey is the aquatics director of the Maryland Farms YMCA. They are members of Glendale Baptist Church where they have a wonderfully supportive congregation. Alvin and Jamey were married over the Thanksgiving holiday on Friday, November 28th, 2014 in Chicago,

After a fifteen year engagement, Douglas Thomas Hagler and Frank Joseph Moore were married on Friday, March 15, 2015 in Asheville, North Carolina. During their years together, Frank and Doug raised four children, Katie Moore, and Sam, Ben, and Ruth Hagler. They are the proud grandparents of Fisher Craig, son of Brant Taylor and Katie Moore. As they returned home from their overnight to Asheville, Katie wrote about the significance of the trip and posted it on Facebook: “This is the first car ride where my dads are legally married. The first trip where my sister is legally my sister. The first time my son is legally Doug’s

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APRIL 2015

Brandon Murphy & Bob Collie

grandson and Ruth’s nephew. For fifteen years I have grown up considering Doug a 2nd father, and Ruth a sister, and Sam and Ben my brothers. We’ve loved like a family, fought like a family, laughed like

Bob and Brandon met on an airplane from Houston to Nashville in April 2001– a fitting location due to their shared love of travel. Bob lived in Nashville and Brandon in Dallas, and they commuted for almost a year between the two cities before Bob finally convinced Brandon to relocate to Nashville. After a long courtship and an even longer wait for marriage equality (13 years) the couple wed on March 22, 2014 in Washington, DC, in a small ceremony surrounded by both of their families. Brandon jokes that they waited so long to marry to make sure “Bob was the one.” Bob and Brandon celebrated their nuptials by hosting a celebration with friends and extended family in Aspen, Colorado, this past September. Dear Out and About Nashville readers, we would love to receive photos and announcements for other Middle Tennessee LGBTQ weddings or engagements. While we cannot guarantee print placement for every submission, we look forward to sharing your joy with our readers. @jamesallengrady

MAKING OUR VOICES HEARD 9TH ANNUAL LGBT COMMUNITY SURVEY BEGINS APRIL 15TH STAFF

While individuals who make their voices heard can have impacts in the real world, we all know there is power in numbers. For the 9th year in a row, Community Marketing & Insights’ (CMI) Annual LGBT Community Survey is offering LGBT people across the country, and the globe, the opportunity to weigh in on issues as diverse as consumer habits and political and social concerns. CMI has been producing comprehensive research on the LGBT community for leading corporations, organizations and government departments for nearly 20 years. The LGBT Community Survey is conducted in partnership with over 200 community-based magazines, newspapers, websites, blogs and mobile sites, as well as events, organizations and community centers. It presents an annual portrait of where the community stands today, and maintains trend observation and tracking.

CMI has focused on diversity, and, according to them, it only makes good business sense. As their report states, “General surveys on ‘the gay market’ are likely to only scratch the surface of the diversity and varieties of opportunities marketers can enjoy if properly explored and understood.”

In 2014, the survey received responses from over 9,300 self-identified gay and bisexual men, over 3,500 lesbian and bisexual women, and over 400 transgender community members in the United States alone.

Taking the new 2015 survey about your opinions and preferences, from an LGBT perspective, will allow businesses, community organizations, and politicians and political groups to understand what is of greatest interest and concern to our community. In the realms of business and politics, this can help effect change quickly, especially given the sheer volume of respondents. CMI reports that in past years as many as 45,000 responses have been received from 150 countries. Within our community, too, understanding what is at the top of the agenda for their constituents allows community organizations to direct

resources and energy toward those issues which are of top concern to those they serve. According to O&AN publisher, Jerry Jones, “This is the major reason O&AN has chosen to participate in promoting the CMI LGBT Community Survey for so many years: it helps us better understand who our readership consists of and their interests. This information is key to providing the best information to our readers, and generating advertising that is relevant to and has positive impact for our community.” Beginning April 15, 2015, you can visit http://goo.gl/M79ni2 to take the survey, which should take around 10 minutes to complete, and be sure to select O&AN as your referring partner. Everyone who completes the survey by May 30, 2015 may opt to be entered into a drawing to win one of ten $100 cash prizes, or, if you win, you may designate a charity to receive the $100.

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APRIL 2015

SO WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY?????????? LISA HOWE, NASHVILLE LGBT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, REPRESENTS IN D.C. STAFF

On March 16, 2015, Lisa Howe, executive director of Nashville’s LGBT Chamber of Commerce, traveled to Washington, D.C., to testify about workplace discrimination against LGBT Americans before the United States Commission on Civil Rights. It was the first time the Commission held a briefing about LGBT issues. As Howe wrote, “When people are denied the opportunity for employment and not judged by their work performance, it hurts the economy. It hurts families. It hurts children.” Now that marriage equality is rapidly approaching, that reality is looking more Lisa Howe and more like LGBT Chamber of Commerce a double edged sword for LGBT people in states that lack employment, housing and other equal rights protections. Below is a transcript from Howe’s presentation to the US Commission on Civil Rights: My name is Lisa Howe. I’m the executive director of the Nashville

LGBT Chamber of Commerce. We are a seventeen-year-old chamber who advances common business interests, economic growth, and equality in the workplace. This is my third year in the position, and my third year in this line of work. Prior to this I had a successful seventeen-year career as a collegiate women’s soccer coach. In

December 2010 I came out at work by announcing that my partner was expecting our first child, so with Christmas on the way and a baby on the way I mutually separated from my employer. When you have families whose financial planning goes very much

into their family planning, the lack of employment protections affects children and families. There’s research that says children of female same-sex households have a poverty rate of 41%. As the director of the chamber I receive communication and phone calls from people who were fired, maybe contracts went unfulfilled, they were denied service and even sometimes denied housing just for being gay. Recently for the first time I just had communication from a straight person who thinks they were

first person that says “Well, they’re within their rights to fire you for being gay” and maybe I get to refer them to the Tennessee Equality Project or the National Center for Lesbian Rights, somewhere they might have some opportunities. But they have no legal protections in the workplace. It’s hard to be that person telling someone for the first time. I hope it’s not presumptuous but I anticipate full marriage equality in June and while this won’t be a big issue for our inclusive LGBT chamber

fired because they were perceived to be LGBT. And that was a first for me. When I get these communications I do two things. I look at our chamber directory and I look at their employer’s non-discrimination policies. If I can find sexual orientation or gender identity in those policies, I know that I can refer them to one of our labor attorneys. But if I don’t find sexual orientation or gender identity in that policy then sometimes I have to be the

members, we anticipate Tennesseans getting married and getting fired based on the fact that their honeymoon was with someone of the same sex. And having a patchwork of laws like this is why we really need protections in the workplace. The LGBT community is in need of fully inclusive nondiscrimination protections and not a patchwork of freedoms. I’m happy to answer any questions as we go along and thank you for having me today.

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LOVE WITHOUT STIGMA //////////////// MUSIC CITY SISTERS HOST FOURTH ANNUAL H8’S A DRAG CODY TRACEY

“Whether it be the stigma of HIV status, sexual orientation, social status, age, gender or race,” said Sister Wendy Yugitov of the Music City Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (MCS), “we are all meant to be loved equally.” H8’s a Drag is just one way the MCS have been spreading and reinforcing that message over the last few years. For those of you who don’t know, H8’s a Drag is a drag extravaganza hosted by the MCS to raise money to fund the organization’s Youth Grant

community… they deserve to be safe to explore, grow, and live without fear. [At this event] we will showcase and celebrate success in the wake of obstacles, and raise support for our local groups to eradicate hate crimes and bullying in our LGBTQI youth population.” This resonates with what Sister Faegala told O&AN through her big sister during the event’s first year: “Since moving to Tennessee four years ago, I continue to find young questioning individuals reaching out

Drag also provides local organizations an opportunity to share their work with a wider community. Representatives from groups such as GLSEN, The Oasis Center, and Launch Pad will be on hand to provide more information about some of the opportunities available to help in our community. “H8’s a Drag,” said Pam Sheffer of the OASIS Center, “is one of those very special events that everyone has a blast experiencing, which at the same time raises much needed money for LGBT focused programming and services within the greater Nashville Area. As one of the recipients of the past grants funded by this event, the Just Us program has been able to provide much needed programs and services to LGBT high school students throughout Middle TN and more specifically to the growing number of trans identified youth with the T.Y.M.E. program (Trans Youth Meet to Empower).” So, now that MCS’s H8’s a Drag is now in its fourth year, what can we expect this time around? “This is our 4th Annual production of H8s a Drag,” said Sister Wendy in a statement, “and we are excited

and Ryleigh St. James. The MCS also announced that they will again be holding their 3rd Annual Stomp H8 Prom for LGBTQI youth the following night, Saturday, April 18th at Belmont United Methodist Church. “We would like to thank the Reconciliation Board of Belmont UMC,” Sister Wendy’s statement said, “for offering this place of love and acceptance where teens can come and experience a dance where they can be themselves with no fear of guilt or shame.” Come out and support the work of Nashville’s MCS, and through them the youth of our city. As Pam Sheffer said, “The Music City Sisters are the epitome of selfless community partners who are successfully utilizing their strength of agency to create the change they seek to see in Nashville.” SCHEDULE (Held at Play Dance Bar, Nashville, Tennessee): 7–8:00 p.m.— VIP Champagne Reception. $25.00. Meet and network with local LGBTQI community leaders, and greet our guest performers, with photo ops by Sid Niazi and music and video entertainment by DJ RON! Admission includes a drink ticket, meet & greet and priority seating. Cash bar open. 8–8:55 p.m.—General Admission. $10.00. Come early and get a good spot! Photos, music and video entertainment continue. Cash bar. 9–10:30 p.m.—The SHOW! In addition to talented guest entertainers, Music City Sisters will also perform!

Photos: Brett Kling

Fund. Money from the Youth Grant Fund has benefited organizations serving at-risk youth, such as GLSEN Middle Tennessee, Bully-Free Tennessee, and the Oasis Center/Just Us. According to the MCS, “LGBTQI Youth are the future of our

to me. It became instantly clear that my ministry with my Music City Sisters must be with our children who struggle. They deserve to be safe and enjoy all the abundance, health and joy in the world. I believe together we can be a source of light and love for them.” In addition to raising funds, H8’s a

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APRIL 2015

to showcase some of Nashville’s own amazing talent this year.” In other words, a sick’ning showcase of local talent sure to please the discriminating drag aficionados of Nashville! This year’s show is headlined by the Princess, and features Chyna, Vanity, Veronica Electronica, Paige Turner,

Pre-Sale Tickets are available now for both VIP and General Admission via PayPal on the Music City Sisters website www. musiccitysisters.org. Tickets will also be available the night of the event at the door!

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TENNESSEE DESIGNS HIT THE RUNWAY NASHVILLE FASHION WEEK OPENS WITH LOCAL TALENT

Nashville Fashion Week (NFW) recently announced its Nashville Designer Showcase, sponsored by YP Nashville. Seven local designers will present their collections on the event’s opening night, Tuesday, April 7 at Acme Feed & Seed. Returning Nashville Fashion Week designers Amanda Valentine of Valentine Valentine, Eric Adler of Eric Adler Clothing, Maria Silver of Black by Maria Silver, and Truly Alvarenga of Pink Elephant Designs will be joined by emerging designers Ashley Balding of Ona Rex, Leslie Stephens of Ola Mai and Van Hoang of Van Hoang Designs.

Van Hoang

Tickets to this event are $50 and are included in the All Access Pass. More information about NFW 2015, as well as tickets, are available at nashvillefashionweek. com.

Eric Adler While the city of Nashville has given Eric Adler virtually everything regarding his design career, he first began to dream of becoming a fashion designer while teaching English in Southern Spain. Eric became enthralled with the Europeans’ emphasis on everyday style, the belief that, no matter the occasion, one should always look one’s best. Eric brought this mindset back with him to the United States, and quickly

realized that Nashville was where he wanted his “Eric Adler journey” to start. To realize his new-found aspiration, Eric began an apprenticeship with one of Nashville’s most inspiring designers, Manuel, from whom he learned the dying art of true bespoke tailoring.

Photos courtesy of Paul Zhen

Van Hoang is a Knoxville native, coffee enthusiast, and shoe addict. She has a B.F.A. in Fashion Design from O’More College of Design and an M.A. in Design for Sustainability from Savannah College of Art and Design. Her influences include modern architecture, handcrafted details, and contrasting elements.

garment is made with care and intended to last for generations. In addition, every stage of the lifecycle is taken into consideration, from design and material choices to care and end of life. She hopes to spark conversations and encourage change through sustainable design while leaving a positive impact.

Adler, Alvarenga, Hoang, and Valentine were pleased to share some of their work with O&AN, and as you will see local design will be well represented this year at NFW!

Photos courtesy of Van Hoang

Eric Adler believes that the key to making style look effortless is to put a little effort in it. He uses this concept to help bolster the Eric Adler brand through his #bestdressedUS campaign, which calls on the gents of our nation to “spiff up a bit.” A #bestdressedUS gentleman believes that when his appearance is composed, he

Her main focus is women’s ready-towear and evening wear. She is also passionate about sustainable design and processes that encourage mindful consumerism. This means that each

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APRIL 2015

will receive more respect and, dare we say it, act with more respect. With this as his mantra, Eric plans to energetically promote the launch of the Eric Adler brand—a brand that was born in Spain and bred in Nashville.

Amanda Valentine

Amanda Valentine is the founder of VALENTINE VALENTINE, a Nashville-based clothing line. The designer launched her ready-to-wear line of women’s wear in 2010, after spending several years as a stylist working in the commercial and music arenas in Los Angeles and Nashville and creating custom looks for many of her clients. After competing on Project Runway in 2013 and 2014, she expanded VALENTINE VALENTINE to include menswear and jewelry. Her work is all about contrast. A little boho and a little punk rock, VALENTINE VALENTINE seeks to outfit the modern individualist.

Sui in NYC and a few stints with other designers as well. Defining her own path, Truly started Pink Elephants Designs and has been a part of Nashville’s fashion community since 2009. Her work encompasses the full fashion spectrum, from radical and inspired Leather jackets and dresses, to bathing suits, to elegant evening wear.

Truly Alvarenga brings the complete package to her business, Pink Elephants Designs. She conceives, sketches, designs, fits and sews all of her fashions. She has worked on everything from her own collections to doing wardrobe and custom pieces for music videos, and even gowns worn to the White House. Influenced by her many trips across the US during her upbringing, Truly graduated at the top of her class with a degree in fashion design and a double internship with the famous Anna

Photos courtesy of Truly Alvarenga

Photos courtesy of Amanda Valentine

Truly Alvarenga

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

SHARING MEALS, SHARING OUR STORIES JAMES GRADY | @jamesallengrady

In Nashville, food is something we pride ourselves on. As the food scene, and excitement about it, have grown, food and charitable giving seem as natural a pairing as wine and cheese! The national event, Dining Out for Life (DOFL), has thus found Nashville very receptive over the last thirteen years. Nashville CARES estimates that, on Tuesday, April 21, 2015, around 8,000 people will participate and dine out to fight HIV/AIDS in Nashville. DOFL has a simple concept: on a chosen day, participating restaurants will donate 30–100% of their proceeds from their breakfast, lunch and/or dinner sales to CARES. This year, over seventy restaurants are expected to participate. Last year DOFL raised over $150,000 for CARES, so the bar is high. In order to get customers out to the restaurants, and to spread the word about CARES and general HIV awareness, CARES pairs hosts with restaurants. Sometimes those hosts are Nashville organizations, like the Grizzlies or the Music City Sisters, but often they are simply people who have a deep interest in and devotion to the cause of HIV awareness and prevention. This year, for instance, sisters Shannon Mock Miller and Michelle Mock are hosting at Rolf and Daughters, which is donating 30% of its dinner sales. “My Aunt Melissa was a heterosexual woman, who married her college sweetheart,” Shannon said. “Still, she was diagnosed with HIV in 1991, and she got every sickness associated with the virus before she passed away in 1997.” “I was in college when I found out,” Michelle reflected. “It was 1991 and I had friends just beginning to be diagnosed, black and homosexual friends. My aunt didn’t fit the stereotype.” That stereotype both stigmatizes homosexual men and leads heterosexuals to undervalue their risk. “We got involved,” Michelle added, “because the stigma is still hurting people. Heterosexual sex is now the main route of transmission worldwide.” For Shannon and Michelle, then, the fight against HIV is personal, and wherever they’ve been, they’ve been involved. “I’ve done work with a number of non-profits over the

years,” said Michelle, “I’ve lost not just my aunt, but a lot of friends as well.” Shannon was also involved in a CARES-like organization in Baton Rouge and has supported the AIDS walk and DOFL for years. But last year was their first year hosting DOFL. “DOFL fell on our aunt’s birthday last year,” Michelle said. “It was like a birthday celebration for her.” But even at DOFL, Shannon and Michelle were confronted with exactly why they wanted to be a part of it. “Last year we went to each table and talked to the patrons about CARES, about why we were there,” Shannon said. “One of the guys at a table asked, ‘Your aunt?! How did she get it?’” Shannon admits that, as a college sophomore in 1991, this was one of the first questions she asked when her father told her. “As I’ve gotten more sensitive and grown up, I realize that it doesn’t matter.” “I feel like after all these years it’s still such a scrutinized disease, people treat it like the people who got it ‘asked for it,’” Shannon said. “The first question out of your mouth shouldn’t be, ‘How did you get it?’ and a person shouldn’t have to defend themselves against that.” And this stigma is what the sisters want to help combat. “It’s all about education and awareness,” as Michelle added. The sisters also support CARES because of the insight their aunt’s experience gave them. Their aunt was a beloved family member, and they saw the amount of support she needed. “Unfortunately,” Shannon said, “there are a lot of people who, unlike my aunt, have to battle through this alone, have already been ostracized by family and friends. That’s something I can’t comprehend, and it’s why we should all support the work of organizations like CARES.” But that doesn’t have to be difficult. “The great thing about DOFL,” Shannon said, “is that you don’t really have to DO anything. People are already eating out, they just need to go to the places that are participating in DOFL on April 21. You don’t have to put a rainbow flag on your car, or write a big check to support Nashville CARES— just come out to eat, and bring your friends!”

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APRIL 2015

Melissa Mock with Shannon (Top Left) and Michelle (Middle)

With over 70 restaurants participating this year, how are you to choose? If your own dining preferences don’t make the choice for you, consider that two groups of restaurants take top honors, the “100% Club” (donating 100% of their proceeds to CARES) and the “Founders Club” (restaurants participating in DOFL for all 13 years):

Photos courtesy of Nashville CARES

DINING OUT FOR LIFE RAISES FUND, BUT ALSO AWARENESS

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COMES TO CHURCH STREET

A MUSIC CITY THEATRE COMPANY PRODUCTION >>>>>>> JAMES GRADY | @jamesallengrady

“Why didn’t I fight harder! Why didn’t I picket the White House, all by myself if nobody would come. Or go on a hunger strike.” Thus begins one of the final moments in the stage version of Larry Kramer’s play, The Normal Heart. It is a question many LGBT activistis early in the AIDS crisis must have asked of themselves as their friends, family, and lovers died around them. The Music City Theatre Company (MCTC) will be bringing The Normal Heart to the Vibe Entertainment Complex on Church Street for Nashville audiences April 9–18, 2015, in what promises to be one of the most poignant community theatre events of the year. The cast includes Matt Smith as Ned, Memory Strong as Emma, and Daniel DeVault as Felix, along with Chuck Long, Daniel Vincent, Doug Allen, Daniel Morgan, Chris Malone, Brian Sullivan, and Fernando Ochoa. The Normal Heart centers around the rise of the AIDS crisis in New York City in the early 1980s. Ned Weeks, the protagonist, is a gay man and founder of a prominent HIV advocacy organization, who comes to believe that the only way to raise awareness of the crisis and motivate a helpful response is to use confrontational methods that keep the crisis front and center. This leads to disagreements with his friends, the organization he helped found, and his lover Felix. Dr. Emma Brookner, the physician in the play who becomes concerned as she sees more and more cases, helps us understand Ned’s brusque way. Brookner’s own advocacy too is continually stymied in her own attempts to raise funding for research and promote awareness, despite the mounting evidence she presents. A sense of slow despair builds that makes Ned’s confrontationalism easier to understand and calls into question the meeker approach taken by his contemporaries. One wall in the original production’s set contained a passage about Jewish American attempts to bring attention to the Holocaust, highlighting two available strategies: “cooperate with the government officials, quietly trying to convince them that rescue of Jews should be one of the objectives of the war, or … pressure the government into initiating rescue by using embarrassing public attention and rallying public opinion to that end.” The passage went on to show that Jewish Americans had

done the first, and “They were still trying to persuade the same officials when the war ended.” What Kramer attempted to do in his play, like in his other activist work, was to bring into the public sphere a disease that shame and social mores kept in the dark. Joseph Papp, who produced the 1985 premier of The Normal Heart, once wrote, “In taking a burning social issue and holding it up to public and private

scrutiny so that it reverberates with the social and personal implications of that issue, The Normal Heart reveals its origins in the theater of Sophocles, Euripides, and Shakespeare.” Projecting HIV/AIDS into the public eye, Kramer shows that it is not the victims of the disease, or the LGBT community then associated with it, who should have been shamed into silence. It was the government and local communities who should have been shamed into action against this disease. Eventually, through a long fought, uphill battle, those early activists did make headway toward the goal of public awareness, and the level of crisis has diminished. But HIV now affects populations on just the scale those early activists feared. They foresaw the escalation

of the crisis, and tried to prevent it by giving voice to the dying, but what they were facing most immediately was not a global epidemic, or at least not merely a global epidemic. What they faced was immanent destruction of entire families, friend groups, and communities. It is this element of the original production of The Normal Heart, the sense of dread and growing despair shared by author, actors and audiences, that is next to impossible to recreate. And yet the play remains a profoundly timely work. It poignantly documents the ravages of a disease that many in a younger generation have come to view as merely chronic. “In the South,” said Memory Strong (Dr. Emma Brookner), “we had the largest amount of new cases of HIV in the country in 2013…. We’ve gotten lax in our protection and education

efforts and the consequences can lead to death. It’s true that people are now living with HIV longer than in any other time in history, but that doesn’t mean we no longer need to be vigilant. The Normal Heart also speaks to us about the continuing importance of fighting

for ourselves, of refusing to be silenced and hidden. “I’m so glad The Normal Heart exists,” said Chuck Long, who plays Mickey Marcus, co-founder of Gay Men’s Health Crisis, “because it reminds us to never forget our past, no matter how painful. The Gay Men’s Health Crisis

members were warriors of the soul, and fought against preposterous opposition.” For more information about the MCTC, shows and events, visit them on Facebook. Tickets may be purchased at mctc.ticketleap.com. @O U T A N D A B O U T N A S H

JAMES GRADY, WITH BRANDON THOMAS, MICHAEL FINCH, AND RIVER JOHNSON

We often make a hard distinction between urban and rural, which isn’t exactly precise. The distinctions between rural towns and small cities is nebulous. Franklin, for instance, might be considered by some a suburb of Nashville, or a small city rather than a rural town. But to link red-leaning Franklin with solidly blue Nashville, seems questionable at best, for any reason besides proximity. Around Franklin, particularly to the south, Wilson County is decidedly rural. The same can be said of almost every county

rural areas, if they think of them at all, as in need of outreach/help. We often fear, or are suspicious of, the rural experience, and undervalue what it may offer us. Yes, LGBT people in rural areas are more subject to poverty than their urban peers, but despite this there are those who cannot shake their #RuralPride. The Tennessean recently published a wonderful article, “LGBT Face Challenges in Rural Tennessee.” The piece provided an intimate look into the difficulties many LGBT people face, and we do not dispute that: there are

Sometimes I seriously wonder how I’ve made it this far. Coming out with a lackluster support system can be a scary situation. Luckily, the invention of the internet has given a way for LGBT people to connect with one another regardless of location. In my younger years, the internet and media played a great role in how I viewed the LGBT community and myself. I watched a lot of Queer As Folk, and wished I had the family, friends and glamorous life that the main characters did. Once I went to college, I found

that we still face, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. Michael Finch: Being transgender means that my queer experience is unique. I’ve never had my parents disapprove of me liking guys—when they (and I) thought I was a girl, it was expected that I would like boys. So once I came out as trans, accepting that I was now their son was their biggest hurdle. I don’t think the fact that I was now their gay son even crossed their minds.

I’ve lived in Rutherford County, as well as Nashville, and to be honest, I’ve never had any random strangers hassle me for holding hands with boyfriends, never felt in fear of my life, never felt looked down upon for my

“LGBT FACE CHALLENGES IN RURAL TENNESSEE.” surrounding Nashville: the small cities and towns there are gateways between the urban enclave of Nashville and rural Middle Tennessee. In March, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) brought its National LGBT Rural Summit Series to Nashville in an effort to highlight the gulf between the experiences Nashville’s LGBT community and those of LGBT people in rural Middle Tennessee outside of Nashville. Those from rural areas, even those in surrounding counties, are often entirely unaware of the resources available to them because the resources, groups and organizations are based in Nashville, and it can be difficult for those from outside to discover these resources on their own. USDA’s Summit Series also accentuated a second element of its program. People of all kinds in urban settings tend to view those from more

myriad stories more heart-wrenching and disturbing that could be told. What about those LGBT people who have a different rural experience, though? What about those places where LGBT life and culture actually thrive against the backdrop of the rural south, like Short Mountain, near Liberty, Tennessee? We often think of the worst when we think of the rural South, but the story isn’t quite so simple for everyone, as these reflections on life outside of Nashville demonstrate. Brandon Thomas and Michael Finch are an interracial, gay couple, and River Johnson is a trans man. They are all from Rutherford County. Brandon Thomas: Growing up in the rural South as queer person of color has its challenges.

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the love of my life. Michael and I met briefly during a MT Lambda meeting. When I saw him, I thought he was the cutest one in the room. I knew then I needed to get to know him better. I found non-creepy reasons to get closer to him. I asked him to work with me as I tried to get gender identity added into MTSU’s non-discrimination policy. When I was Opinions Editor of the student newspaper, I asked him to write an op ed. And when I decided I wanted to start a chapter of Sigma Phi Beta, a queer-allied fraternity, I called Michael to see if he would help. We became best friends, and once I was brave enough to admit my feelings (with a little help from a friend playing Cupid at the bar), it turned into a relationship. We do everything together and I can honestly say that I’ve never felt unsafe in public. Although most people think that rural areas aren’t safe for queer people, and while there are challenges

identity. In that regard, I’m lucky. My trans brothers and sisters, especially trans women of color, face a high risk of violence, and the stigma seems to be worse in rural areas. I won’t deny the privilege I hold as a white man, even a queer man of trans experience. I’m also a little socially oblivious sometimes, and while that meant for the longest time that I could never tell when anyone was flirting with me, it also means I tend not to notice if someone is looking at me and thinking anything negative. I’ve had boyfriends who were more hesitant than me though. One in particular, from the North, refused to hold my hand in public for fear of violence. I tried telling him that the hip taco restaurant in West Nashville is not the most likely place for someone to experience anti-queer violence, but he wouldn’t listen. That’s part of why dating Brandon has been so refreshing. For as

Photos courtesy of Brandon Thomas and Michael Finch

Brandon Thomas and Michael Finch

River Johnson: My name is River Johnson, and I’ve lived in Rutherford County since I was thirteen. Living in a small urban/rural area has its benefits, but as a gay trans man, my path has been a largely uphill struggle. I wasn’t aware of, and thus didn’t have access to, a supportive LGBT group until I was a graduate student at MTSU at the age of twenty-one. It was only then that I finally had direct access to others like me, others who would finally enable connections with a wider community that provided me with the resources and

support I needed. I was a straight identified female for most of my life. I always knew something wasn’t right. I had chronic depression, anxiety with panic attacks, and a severe eating disorder. I never felt like I “fit” in my body. However being in such a rural setting my parents, I, my teachers, and my fellow students had little to no knowledge about being gay, transgender, or gender non-conforming. Some of the more poignant moments I have included being told to get a new doctor and new insurance by my former PCP when I revealed myself to be a transgender person who wanted to pursue transitioning. I desperately needed counseling to begin my journey into transition medically. She refused to even attempt to do any research or networking to get me referred to someone who might be helpful. I felt completely lost and abandoned. I didn’t know where to go to get help. I felt judged, anxious, and desperate. The first therapist I sought out for gender counseling utilized outdated guidelines that are no longer relevant to trans related healthcare guidelines, like making me spend a year in therapy while paying out of pocket for care. He also refused to help me get additional care, even though he knew I

was desperate enough to attempt getting testosterone illegally. The major downfalls in my rural/ urban area have been lack of sensitivity and diversity education training for: medical providers, counselors, educational institutions k through 12, for kids under the age of 18, and access for families with LGBT youth. People were polite enough—by southern standards— to talk about me when my back was turned, not to my face. I also didn’t experience any physical violence related

I think what bothers me the most about the local community is a sense of apathy and willful ignorance. Until a person you love is impacted by these struggles then you don’t know what’s happening, nor do you care. Why should you care about a battle that isn’t yours? Still, my experience living in a more rural community had some upsides: I found that on a daily basis people didn’t care what I looked like, which bathroom I used, or how I dressed. I think the ample room for education and growth is overall River Johnson

to my transition, though statistically I should have, since my chances of being murdered are 1/12. (If you’re cisgender your chances of being murdered are 1/18,898.)

Photos courtesy of River Johnson

much as he says he doesn’t need other people “knowing [his] business,” he’s perfectly willing to hug me, kiss me or hold my hand in public. I think we both have a lot of faith in our rural Southern communities. We spent a year living in Baltimore, and it was actually there that we faced the most public harassment we’ve had to deal with. A man in a car driving past the bus stop had some choice words about me getting close to Brandon to brush a piece of lint out of his hair. [Another time] some teenagers looking out the windows of a passing light rail train yelled and made faces when they saw Brandon with his arm around me. Neither incident was particularly scary, but I can actually say we’ve never experienced anything like that in Tennessee. We got homesick and moved back, and we’re here to stay. We both feel like it’s our job to make Tennessee, our home, even safer and more welcoming for Southern queers. No matter what, we’re staying for the fight.

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a positive thing for rural communities. In Nashville there are defined categories if you identify as anything besides heterosexual, and I just don’t fit any category of the LGBT community in Nashville. I’m a perpetual outsider there, graciously allowed to share space with “legitimate” gay people. People in rural communities are open to having a conversation and listening when I attempt to introduce them to how to address me, what questions are hurtful, and how to be a better ally. In the established LGBT community in Nashville I’m largely bull dozed over by people who reject me, who have expectations for how I should act as a gay man; I am shouted over rather than being heard, and many react with anger rather than accountability or desire to be a better ally or friend. My love life also suffers, and not just in the rural environment. Just last night in Nashville, a cisgender gay man called me “a woman who cut off her boobs.” The hate and vitriol I have experienced overall in the LGBT community in Nashville, makes me more afraid than ever to dream of having a healthy relationship while living here (though there have been exceptional individuals who have welcomed me). I am not willing to be fetishized. I am not willing to educate a romantic partner, if someone loves me, they will

educate themselves. Just as it’s not a HIV positive person’s job to educate people about HIV. I want to spread love and help others. That is my personal main function. I will remain in this rural community, which overall provides more safety for me than a community that “eats its own.” So many LGBT people who live in urban environments in the South fled from rural communities that would not accept them whole-heartedly, and this builds understandable mistrust. Others still have negative notions about the rural South formed by media and culture. And we are not trying to say that the rural environment is ideal, by any means. Rather, it seems that the simple narrative about LGBT life in and feelings about life in the rural South are far more complex that it may seem at first. As such, programs like the USDA’s Rural Summit Series and its #RuralPride initiative are invaluable in gaining greater understanding about not only the challenges, but also the rewards, of life in the rural South.

TO BE REMINDED OF CERTAIN SENTIMENTS JAMES GRADY | @jamesallengrady

Musical theatre buffs are sure to be thrilled by the news that Bernadette Peters will join the Nashville Symphony for a three night engagement, April 9–11, 2015. Audiences are promised “an enchanted evening when this Tony award-winning star of stage, film and television [as she] sings from her extensive songbook, including classics like ‘My Funny Valentine,’ ‘When You Wish Upon a Star,’ ‘Send in the Clowns,’ ‘Fever’ and other gems from Rodgers and Hammerstein, Sondheim and more.” Peters, whose work—in addition to stage and film—includes writing three children’s books, has been awarded THREE Tony Awards: two Best Leading Actress in a Musical awards for her performances in Song and Dance (1985) and Annie Get Your Gun (1999), and in 2012 The Isabelle Stevenson Special Award for a “substantial contribution of volunteered time and effort on behalf of one or more humanitarian, social service or charitable organizations.” This sort of service has been part and parcel of Peters’ work for decades. When she was once asked about why she had jumped so wholeheartedly into supporting HIV/AIDS organizations, she is reported to have said, “When there’s a terrible illness like AIDS sweeping through, you help people.” Simple as that. In fact, her solo debut at Carnegie Hall was itself a benefit for Gay Men’s Health Crisis, an organization The Normal Heart playwright Larry Kramer helped start. I asked Peters about her current charity work, and she said, “I’m on the board of Broadway Cares, of course. Cares has just been so giving and supportive and loving of everyone. Think of the aid they did for the tsunami, etc.! Thank God … when you have people like Hugh Jackman selling the t-shirt off his own body, they can be generous with their profits!” Her own organization, Broadway Barks, has a long history with Cares too. Barks was founded in 1999 by Peters, along with her friend with Mary Tyler Moore and others, who decided they wanted to do something to help New York City’s shelter animals. “When I started to put together Broadway Barks,” Peters said, “Tom Viola [of Cares] said,

‘Let us help you, we love our dogs!’ We were all animal lovers, and the city shelter animals needed help.” “So Broadway Cares got involved,” she said, “and they’ve produced our event for us every year. I just love telling Viola that he started it all. You know those people, when a problem comes up and they just say, ‘I’m going to do it?’ He did it, and now he’s running Cares too. He’s the most caring beautiful person you can imagine….” To benefit Broadway Barks, Peters has written two children’s books, “Broadway Barks” (a New York Times Bestseller), which includes a CD with an original lullaby written by Peters, and “Stella is a Star.” “I just wrote a third children’s book,” Peters said happily. “The first was about my first dog, the second about my second, and third one is about my third joining us, sibling rivalry, and that sort of thing. It’s called Stella and Charley: Friends Forever. It’s coming out in July!” When talking about her career, Peters was much more casually off-hand in a refreshingly non-self-absorbed way. “I did the series for Amazon called Mozart in the Jungle, and that got renewed so we’re going to start that in August, I think.” But then she grew animated. “And then I’m going to be the voice of Eloise, you know, from the books. I’ll be reading them, and … which I grew up reading…. The writing was so free and felt so original. It’s very exciting!” So what can audiences expect from her show with the Symphony? “Basically I know my job is to entertain, in a light way or a dramatic way or an amusing way. We’re going to be together under one roof and have a lovely experience, go on a journey together with Rogers and Hammerstein, and some of the other

Photos courtesy of Andrew Eccles

AN INTERVIEW, AND AN EVENING, WITH Bernadette Peters

standards…. It’s a concert, so there’s no fourth wall. I’ve added “Send in the Clowns”: I’ve been singing it recently.” “I like doing the old standards,” she added, “because I get to be reminded of certain sentiments, or songs that

Steve [Sondheim] wrote, like ‘No one is alone.’ They’re important things to hold onto in life: I like to hold on to them and remind myself of them.” “I get letters every so often,” she said. “Somebody will say ‘I was a teen and you helped me get through a bad period’ … but all I can think is that I don’t write these songs, I just get them out there. But if I can change people’s thoughts for one night I think that’s important—if we can uplift, if we can make them think…. That’s why I love Steve [Sondheim]’s songs: they’re about deep thoughtful emotional things, they make you think in a certain way.” That does sound like a nice evening, doesn’t it? For more information about Peters’ show, or for tickets, visit www.nashvillesymphony. org.

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

SPRING FEVER IN CHARLESTON! NASHVILLE’S GRIZZLIES OPEN THEIR SEASON IN STYLE

It’s that time of year again! While March may have meant ice and snow days for Nashville’s school children, it also marked the return of LGBT rugby to the field! Nashville’s Grizzlies traveled to Charleston, South Carolina for their season opener against the Charleston Blockade.

Photos courtesy of Ariana Hodes and Chris Deer

This season’s schedule promises a lot of excitement for the Grizzlies, and for Nashville’s enthusiasts of both rugby and rugby players, as it brings clubs from Charleston, D.C., St. Louis, and Columbus to our great city. So check out the schedule and pick a day, or a few, to head out to Douglas Park to catch a match!

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NOTABLE LGBT FILMS COME TO NASHVILLE FILM FESTIVAL FEATURES TALENT FROM LOCAL TO INTERNATIONAL JAMES GRADY | @jamesallengrady

Once again the Nashville Film Festival (NaFF) is bringing acclaimed independent and art films to our fair city. NaFF has come a long way since its founding in 1969 as the Sinking Creek Film Celebration. In recent years, it has been named one of “25 film festivals worth the entry fee” by MovieMaker Magazine and One of the Best Film Festival Prizes by Film Festival Today, and the Brooks Institute named it one of the top 5 film festivals in the U.S. This year’s festival features an amazing lineup of LGBT themed movies, some already famous and others sure to rise to prominence as they roll through the festival scene. Some of this year’s most notable LGBT offerings include: Paternity Leave, dir. Matt Riddlehoover Paternity Leave is a feature-length romantic comedy from screenwriters Matt Riddlehoover (Scenes from a Gay Marriage) and Dustin Tittle about a man who becomes pregnant. This film is a home-grown production: Riddlehoover and Tittle are locals, and the movie was shot in Nashville. Back in October 2014, Riddlehoover graced the cover of O&AN, as we went behind the scenes while he was filming this movie. The film builds on the reality-bending concept of a male pregnancy in some quite traditional ways. “Basically what Paternity Leave

does,” Riddlehoover explained in our interview, “is co-opt the traditional family and some of its roles. There’s a total blurring of the lines. I don’t think it was intentional, but watching the

behavior, driven by a concern for keeping their homosexual affair secret from their families and community, start to look to an undercover cop like violent radicalism. All of this, of course, further challenges the young men’s relationship.

Do I Sound Gay director David Thorpe and Project Runway host Tim Gunn Photo courtesy of ThinkThorpe

footage it’s easy to forget it’s two men.” If you’re looking for LGBT comedy at NaFF, Paternity Leave is your pick. Do I Sound Gay, dir. David Thorpe This feature-length documentary by David Thorpe has been getting a lot of press, and for good reason. It explores a touchy issue for many gay men, asking questions like, “Is there such a thing as a ‘gay voice’?” and “Why do some people ‘sound gay’ but not others?”, as

Photo courtesy of Ethan James

Behind the scenes, Paternity Leave

well as “Why are gay voices a mainstay of pop culture—but also a trigger for anti-gay harassment?” These questions and many more are tackled in the film, which features interviews with

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suck notables as Margaret Cho, Tim Gunn, Don Lemon, Dan Savage, David Sedaris and George Takei. Naz & Maalik, dir. Jay Dockendorf Naz & Maalik is a deeply complex film about two young, black, gay Muslim men living in New York City. As they go about their day making a little money and enjoying their time together, the two closeted teens have their Friday afternoon ruined by FBI surveillance when their smalltime scheming and secretive

Sand Dollars (Dolares de Arena), dir. Israel Cardenas Laura Amelia Guzman This drama explores the depths of an intergenerational, same-sex “romance” between two women. Set in the Carribean, Sand Dollars explores the tale of an Anne, an older European woman, and her enchantment with a Dominican woman, Noeli, fifty years her junior, whose struggle to make ends meet cements their relationship. Both women remain aware that Anne’s money is what has held this relationship

For more information on the Nashville Film Festival, a full list of films, and ticket information, visit nashvillefilmfestival.org.

together, despite the presence of Noeli’s boyfriend Yeremi, whom she passes off as her brother to Anne. The Chambermaid Lynn, dir. Ingo Haeb In The Chambermaid, an obsessivecompulsive chambermaid, Lynn, is drawn in, and out of her shell, by an androgynous dominatrix (Chiara). When we meet Lynn, she is extraordinarily shy, though she uses her position to invade the private lives of hotel patrons in secret. Her curiosity leads her to inspect their belongings and even to go so far as to hide under beds to observe them unseen. When she observes Chiara from this vantage point, she decides to hire the dominatrix to visit her at her home, where the two become deeply intimate and begin breaking down one another’s inner walls. The Royal Road, dir. Jenni Olson. This LGBT offering is a unique cinematic feature shot on 16mm film. In this film, simple California urban

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’ Shes Hot JANE DUPREE | @janedupree

Hello again, Nashville. Spring is here, the weather is warming up, and it’s good to be back with another fabulous local lady. Therese Bell is no stranger to the Nashville queer community. She is the owner of Rock N Pup and, from what I hear, host of some kick ass soirees. Therese Bell, originally from Cleveland, Ohio, is the youngest of ten siblings. She moved to Nashville in 2005 to be near her Tennessee Titan brother, Jacob Bell. Prior to moving to Music City, Bell attended Ohio’s Bowling Green State University, where she studied public relations. Therese calls herself a ‘simple girl’—she enjoys dancing, movies, exercising, musical theater, DIY projects, sculpting, and art museums. She has worked with animals most of her life, and in 2010, Therese took the big leap by launching Rock N Pup. Rock N Pup is a 50’s themed private pet salon based in Brentwood. They offer spa treatments, grooming, stencil tattoos, pet-dicures, facials, and full service doggie daycare, to name a just few of their services.

Featuring Therese Bell, Owner of Rock N Pup

walking and that quickly grew into pet sitting and overnight home stays. After four years of growth, Rock N Pup was born out of Claws and Paws pet sitting, when Therese added full service doggie daycare, boarding and the Hard Bark Cafe, a unique gourmet pet treat spot. In 2012, Therese received certification from Animal Behavior College and is looking to add pet training to her list of services.

Dupree: Do you have a celebrity crush? Bell: Katherine Moennig, Sandra bullock, Ruby Rose, Emma Stone, the list can go on and on lol.

Nashville scene. The only thing I’d change is to add a little more nightlife. Perhaps a new LGBT dance nightclub. We do love to have options

Dupree: What is your biggest accomplishment? Bell: I’d have to say my biggest accomplishment was having gastric sleeve surgery in October 2013. I know I needed to change and save my life. I was always a bigger girl but when my health started to become effected by it I knew something had to be done. I’ve lost 110lbs and I’ve never been so determined to reach my goals. The best decision I ever could’ve made!

Dupree: Describe your creative process? Bell: I used to sculpt when I was younger and I look at grooming like a work of art. I strive to make sure the groom is beautiful and the clients always happy.

Dupree: What is your favorite thing about Nashville? Bell: Being a city girl I love that I can get a nice mix of country and city here in Nashville. Dupree: If you could change one thing about the Nashville gay community, what would you change? Bell: I love the Nashville gay community. I think we have a very strong place in the

Dupree: Do you have any current projects? Bell: Yes! Very excited to say Rock N Pup is in the process of trying to find a new location in a standalone building. Hopefully we will be able to open by late 2016! Dupree: Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Bell: I see myself living a successful, healthy life with a beautiful wife and a family of my own. Fingers crossed. For more about Rock n Pup please visit www.rocknpup.net.

Photo courtesy of TTherese Bell

WE OFFER COUNSELING REGARDLESS OF HIV STATUS

Therese was inspired by a previously hired dog sitter. Bell’s brother needed a reliable pet sitter for his away games, and he hired a lady that would unknowingly serve as Bell’s muse. After watching the pet sitter, Bell saw her work and knew she could do the same. In 2006, Therese created Claws and Paws pet sitting. She began distributing fliers at dog parks and throughout the neighborhood. Her first service was dog

Dupree: How old are you? Bell: I’m 32 Dupree: What is your sign? Bell: Leo Dupree: Sneakers or heels? Bell: Chucks or flip flops!!

At Nashville CARES, we believe making healthy choices comes from a healthy mind and spirit. That’s why we are offering our counseling services to anyone in Middle Tennessee who needs our assistance. By simply reaching out to our trained professionals, we’ll start you on a path to a stronger you. It’s completely confidential and everyone is welcome.

Talk to us: NashvilleCARES.org or 800-845-4266

Dupree: What is your favorite drink? Bell: Alcoholic? Moscow mule, otherwise I’m an h20 gal. 15-CARES-0001 L1CG 4.65x5.25-Quarter-Page.indd 1

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NOT USING AS DIRECTED POPPIN’ PILLS POSES DANGEROUS THREAT TO HIV PATIENTS We now live in a state where prescription drugs have far surpassed alcohol as the drug of choice and, with that, a known risk for addiction. The statistics are alarming, and with the Volunteer State’s crack-down on prescription pain meds, more and more users are turning to cheaper alternatives to the escape afforded to them by doctor shopping. Across the U.S., we are seeing upticks in the statistics on abuse of meth and other synthetics, and in Maryland the Governor has declared her state’s heroin epidemic an “emergency.” But little alarm has been raised over the effects of drug abuse on someone living with HIV. What are the dangers of mixing the medical cocktail used to keep HIV from progressing into AIDS with the drugs an

or had a transfusion, so he knew that he had contracted the disease sexually. “Looking back it’s almost shocking that it took so long actually,” says Austin. “From there it was just all downhill.” “It was someone I thought I knew really well, and that I trusted,” says Austin. “He did not know that he was positive. By the time I found out he had moved to San Diego, and I called him and told him, and he was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.’ I looked him up just the other day. He’s still running around telling everyone that he’s negative when I know for a fact that he’s not.” When he found out, luckily, Austin had a really good support system. His friends rallied around him. He still, however, felt ashamed, scared and alone.

Some people, especially those in the so-called “bug chaser” community, consider contracting HIV a relief: “bug chasers” seek to contract the disease to relieve them of the “burden” of “living in constant fear” of contracting the disease. Like Austin, once they have HIV they feel as if they can engage in sexual activity without worry. Experts say this can be very dangerous for a person living with HIV, as they are susceptible to contracting other sexually transmitted diseases. “I spiraled into meth,” says Austin. “I just kept doing more and more and more and more and more. You start to not take care of yourself.” Austin’s doctor put him on Norvir, a protease inhibitor that reduces the amount of disease in the body; Rayetez, which

addict uses to escape the emotional pain of the disease? We sat down with an HIV patient in recovery to get the answers first hand. Austin was living in Atlanta when he fell really ill. His roommate was dating a guy that was positive, and they urged Austin to go get tested because they didn’t feel there was a reason for him to be as sick as he was. They took him to the testing facility, and that’s when he found out he was positive. “When I found out about my status I was 28,” says Austin. “It was the summer of 2008.” Austin hadn’t gotten tested a lot before that, and had never practiced safe sex. Austin had never exchanged needles

“The first act of the disease of addiction is isolation,” says Erik Hines of Addiction Campuses. “It makes you feel alone, and one of our basic needs as human beings is connection.” Austin was already doing drugs recreationally when he found out about his status, but afterward he began to spiral out of control. He basically felt like there was nothing worse that could happen, which took him to a very dark place. “I did meth to cope,” says Austin. “I engaged in chemsex. It was crazy. Looking back, there were a lot of things I shouldn’t have done, but I did it anyway. I felt like I could just have sex and not worry anymore.”

treats infections in the body caused by the disease; and Truvada, another infection fighter. Austin was able to lower his intake of meth when he went on the HIV meds, but still wasn’t able to let go of the grip of addiction. He quickly began to miss his daily regimen of meds. “It kept the medication from working as effectively as it could have,” says Austin. “If you miss more than once a month, you run the risk of becoming resistant to the medications. I would be on meth and get all scatterbrained and forget to take my meds a few days at a time.” Luckily Austin never became resistant to his life saving drugs. Someone addicted to meth is usually

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articulate and can maintain some level of function while using. It is when they are not using that meth is all their brain can think about. “I was doing about half an 8 ball a week,” says Austin. An 8 ball is around 1.75 grams. Austin’s HIV got very close to turning into AIDS at one point during his addiction. When he moved back to Nashville a year after his diagnosis, he was going every month to do lab work and his CD4, or T cell count, got down

to around 300. T cells, or white blood cells, fight off infectious disease in the body. The lab test measures how many T cells the patient has per cubic millimeter of blood. A healthy person has anywhere from 500-1500. A person is usually diagnosed with AIDS when the count gets to 200 or below. “Most people that I know stay around 600-700,” says Austin. “One day I woke up and realized that I was being stupid,” says Austin. “I was tired, I was cranky, I wasn’t taking my meds. I was able to stop. I honestly just stopped. When I did, my CD4 jumped about 600 points, and my viral load lowered to around 200. The doctor asked me what I was doing differently

and I said that I had stopped doing drugs.” Austin added that his doctor said, paraphrasing, “That’ll do it.” Austin says he didn’t lose friends when he stopped, but he did lose acquaintances. Meth is a stimulant, so the most dangerous time is during the actual high, versus downers, such as opiates and benzos, where the highest risk factor is during the withdrawal period. Luckily, Austin didn’t have to detox physically, but he did have to detox mentally.

angle,” says Addiction Campuses’ Dr. Jason Brooks. “Treatment is absolutely imperative to a long-lasting recovery. Clean out your house, your phone, your social networking and the company you keep.” Austin too has a strong message for people who are HIV positive and using drugs to cope. “Don’t,” says Austin. “All it is going to do is make it harder for you health wise. It’s not going to make anything easier. It’s a hard fight anyway just being positive, it doesn’t need any help. You can miss medications, it can keep them from being as effective as they could be. All kinds of things can go wrong.” Austin says the important thing when you are diagnosed is to deal with it head on. “Get a good support system,” says Austin. “Hang around a good circle. That’s what helped me was my friends and my family. Being able to just talk to them about whatever I needed to talk with them about.”

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“It wasn’t the physical high that was the reason why I did it,” says Austin. “It was the mental escape. An escape from the way that I thought I felt.” He’s had relapses when he says he’s put himself in situations he didn’t need to be in, tempting situations that have occurred since his recovery process started. Addiction Campuses promotes a “full life detox,” which they say is absolutely necessary for any chance at recovery. “You have to detox your life from every

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SNARKOLOGY: KNOCK IT OFF DISCLAIMER: Amy Sulam is a comic, and not everyone thinks she’s as funny as she does. We condone nothing she says, particularly not if you decide to take the following seriously. It should not be taken as such.

AMY SULAM | @Amysulam

Let me preface this month’s column by saying that I am one of those self righteous, self important, vegetarian, anti fur, hybrid-driving pretentious A-holes who will sit across from you at brunch staring into my child labor made smart phone, drinking fair trade coffee, and glancing up occasionally only to make you feel silently judged about your leather jacket. You monster. Earlier this week I got into a discussion with a friend about child labor. I know, right? Who doesn’t love it? We started talking about working conditions in these Chinese sweat shops. Did you know some factories in China have installed nets to prevent people from jumping to their deaths? And I thought I was desperate to get out of MY old job! At these factories, people put in 12–16 hour days cranking out the products we buy everyday. Some of them luxury items like smartphones and expensive bags. They do this work for very little money. On the other hand, imagine how much that iPhone would cost if it cost $5 more to make! Sure, they get a place to live and (some) food to eat but, but ask yourself is that REALLY living? They toil away making the trinkets that make our American dream just a little bougie’er, and they can’t get a day off. So, some of them, having worked in the factories that make our luxury goods, go into business making knocking offs of said products. Now, I would NEVER endorse copyright infringement, and I’m not doing that now…. I’m just playing devil’s advocate. These people being worked to death and hanging on by a thread see how easy it is to make these products and sell them for a HUGE mark up, just like the companies that have exploited them do. When these knockoff factories are discovered, they send in—I shit you not—SWAT teams to surround the places and take the faux merchandise at gun point. Talk about over kill. Meanwhile,

the leaders of the corporations that sell these products have enough money and power to make Solomon blush. They sit in palaces built on the backs of these people they’ve now ordered to be held at gun point. Pardon me if my sympathy seems misplaced, but they seem like real jerks. Why are knockoffs such an issue? People will say that they fund terrorism and drug running. Okay, well being held at gunpoint because you’ve tried to work around a torturous system seems pretty terrifying to me. And seriously? What DOESN’T fund the drug trade in some way? Others will say that knockoffs insult the integrity of the artist. Oh! Pardon me! It was difficult to spot your integrity as an artist when your lack of integrity as human being was shining SO much brighter. You willfully grow your profits by allowing your products to be made by sweatshop and child labor, and now you wanna talk about integrity? Yeah? No. Here’s why I think knockoffs really chap the rear: luxury items are a way separating the haves from the have nots. It is this game of relative deprivation we play in American capitalism to make it easier to keep score with our neighbors. Who needs to internalize and improve when we can just buy badges of self worth?! Are all sweatshop jobs awful, and should they be banished? Maybe not immediately. People need those jobs. But maybe, just maybe, if we demanded people be paid a fair wage for what they’re making—like a smartphone with a 600% mark up for example—we could combat the problem of knockoffs and the collateral criminal damage surrounding them a little bit better. Holding poor people at gunpoint to confiscate counterfeit bags seems like the worst possible way to fix anything. I’m sorry, but, in this scenario, I feel sorry for the big, bad, knockoff making laborer, NOT the designer with a house in the Hamptons. Life is funny that way. If you flaunt how good you have it in front of people, they will likely conspire to take it or tear you down, whether it’s by starting a rumor, stealing a partner or ripping off

your design. Don’t rub success in people’s faces, especially when that success is just birthright, luck of the draw, or, most dangerous of all, built off the work of those very same people. Be cool: don’t be a pretentious jerk (or start slow, and just

try to be a less pretentious jerk). Knock it off. Also, maybe consider living simply, so that others may simply live. And, no, I’m not just talking about your handbags and Ferraris.

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A KIKI WITH PAIGE TURNER | @PaigeTurner01

Time to get untucked! This week I had the honor of interviewing not only one of my favorite Playmates, but one of my favorite performers of all time, Miss Aurora Sexton! She was a huge inspiration to me and is well known all over the United States as one of the best in the biz. Holding multiple national pageant titles, she is also known for being able to transform into any and every female artist known to man! She has always been able to leave audiences gagging on her eleganza! See what she had us gagging on in Nashville Untucked as I kiki with Aurora Sexton!

Who would you say inspires you most in your Drag persona? Your amazing costumes? I’m inspired by many things. Other queens, designers, models, actors, art, I can take inspiration from anything! I’m

I met Brad three years ago, and we have been together ever since. The biggest benefit [of having someone supportive] is that they are usually your number one fan, and they get to see your dreams and goals unfold with you. Where Bradford helps me the most is he never lets me second guess whether I am as great as I see and

What inspired you to do it? I have always known I was meant to be on stage, to act and perform. I didn’t plan on becoming a showgirl, my passion has always been to act. Drag was just fun to do and a way to express myself creatively, a platform to showcase my art. Over time it snowballed into a successful career that I’m beyond grateful for. It’s allowed me to travel and meet so many amazing people, every day I am thankful for the gifts God has given me. How would you describe your drag persona? How does it differ from you in real day to day life? My specialty is character/ celebrity illusions, and when I am in character I am fully committed until I am out. Overall I tend to be very flirty and outgoing. It’s my job to keep people entertained and having a good time, so I keep a positive vibe. Out of drag I tend to be a homebody and fairly reserved if you can believe it...

Photos courtesy of Aurora Sexton

When and where did you start doing Drag? I’ve been dressing in drag since I could walk but I started my professional career at thirteen in Colorado performing in coffee shops with other young LGBT youth and eventually worked my way into the nightclub scene. I literally was raised by the nightlife.

an artist and a creator, I find inspiration in everything around me. I also am a complete advocate for marijuana legalization, which helps a lot too!

think that I am. He pushes me to be the best, whether that’s drag, my music career, or acting. He vindicates, he confirms, and he supports me.

Bradford is really supportive. When did you meet, and what are the benefits of having a “drag husband”?

What would you say is your biggest accomplishment in drag? Longevity in any career is an

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APRIL 2015

accomplishment and after fifteen years in the business I’m still working all across the country on a fully booked schedule. When I travel to other cities and states, I’m still surprised to find out how many people know who I am from watching me in pageant videos, on Youtube, from Instagram or just by word of mouth. It’s a great feeling to be recognized and respected for your work, I’m very grateful for all of it and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for me. What are your thoughts on RuPaul’s Drag Race? It’s completely changed the industry and brought drag to America in a mainstream way it’s never been before. I think it has been an amazing catalyst for many careers and has created an interest in the art form that has benefited everyone in the industry including myself: working private parties, corporate events, birthdays etc… I have also worked alongside many of the contestants for years, traveling together all over the country, and to see so many good things happen for so many of my friends is a beautiful thing to watch. I don’t like all the shadiness that’s encouraged but hey, drama makes for good TV and queens love the drama! It is what it is! How do you feel about TransQueens not being on the show? I have mixed feeling because I see both points of view. It’s a show with a

script to fill and you have to fit in the context. Right now that context is a full transformation from boy to girl and back. Just that has been enough for mainstream America to swallow, to see all the secrets and feel comfortable with boys dressing as girls. It’s amazing how mainstream it is now. In the Drag World there is rarely a show bar you won’t find a few trans queens on cast or performing. So many of our drag legends and artists who shaped this art form were trans. Even RuPaul acknowledged the late great Erica Andrews as a legendary drag artist on the Season 5 Finale, and she was one of the most beautiful transexuals to ever grace the earth.

I think if RPDR wanted to take that leap and include that style of drag in the program, now is a good climate to do it. People are interested in trans life and trans issues thanks to the pioneering efforts of trans people like Candis Cayne, Laverne Cox, Janet Mock, Chaz Bono and more… To read more of Paige’s interview, covering Aurora’s private life, working at Play, gender identity and other fascinating discussion topics, visit outandaboutnashville.com later this month. You can follow Aurora on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter / AuroraSexton.

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April 3 – 4 7th Annual Spring Clean Up Residents of the RV Parks get your sites ready for a busy and festive season! This will be a great opportunity to get some work done and meet your neighbors. On Saturday there will be a Spaghetti Supper and Steve’s secret recipe Sangria at the Lodge (our treat). Saturday evening we will have a mixer at The Tavern. Day Passers and weekend guests are always welcome! Spring RV Show by TRIAM RV Sales of Tennessee on site with several RVs on display to tour and get information on upgrades by their salesmen!

April 17 – 18 Tiki Tiki Pool Opening / Sarong or So Right Weekend It’s time to kick off the summer season POOLSIDE! You had such a good time with this last year we decided to bring it back for you! Tie on your sarongs boys and party! Saturday Night Party at The Tavern and After Hours Volcano Eruption and After Hours Party!

May 1 – 2 Totally Awesome 80’s Weekend See our website for details.

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ALL ABOUT Photos Julius Greene

BREASTS

BOBBI WILLIAMS

I’m sitting at my local, friendly bar chatting with a couple of the guys when I realize neither of them is looking me in the eye. They’re looking at my tits, or more accurately, my cleavage. “Hey, up here” I say, snapping my fingers and pointing to my eyes. “And by the way, you’re gay, you know,” I add, pointing to my breasts. “What do you care about these? They’re not even real!” One of them shrugs. “All guys like tits,” he says. And damn it, he’s right. There are days when I would love to have real breasts. And then there are days when I’m perfectly happy not to. Maybe that makes me less transgender than some. Many transwomen I know are very concerned about breasts. It’s probably because they are a defining element for women in our culture. To be a woman, we’re taught, is to have breasts, despite all logic. Male-to-female trans people (MTFs) on long-term hormone therapy get some breast development, but usually not more than an A-cup. A transwoman I knew was so frustrated at not developing more that she doubled her hormone dose, but the only thing that increased was her mood swings. Her endocrinologist explained that breast size depends to a large extent on genetics. If your mother was large-

chested, you are more likely to be so. As a result of this, many transwomen look into having breast augmentation surgery: a breast implant is inserted under the existing breast through an incision in the crease under the breast. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reports that every year American women undergo some 300,000 breast augmentations; the average cost is $3,678. It’s not covered by insurance, so many transwomen seek out risky and illegal alternatives. One such option is a “pumper”, a medically untrained person who injects silicone into the breast area. Too often, the silicone migrates to other areas of the body, causing infection, disfigurement, scarring, and even death. Of course, the FDA prohibits marketing or promoting products like liquid silicone (some have been known to use brake fluid), and the horror stories of the black market are legion. Then there are the breast creams and magic herbal feminizing pills, breast pumps, and body wraps. None of them delivers on its promises, but there are no laws specifically aimed at the unscrupulous who are more than willing to exploit desperate transgender folk. The fascination with breasts also affects the transman who desires to be rid of his breasts. That procedure is even more costly. The average price of “top surgery,” as it is known, is $6,000. A cheaper alternative is called “binding.” The process of flattening one’s breasts in order to create a male-appearing

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chest can be done a number of ways, depending on variables like the size of one’s breasts and the materials and methods used. Many of the synthetic materials used for binding don’t allow skin to breathe, and that sometimes leads to rashes and infections. Binding too tightly can cause pain and can restrict breathing, and tight binding is especially dangerous for young transmen because it can affect the growth of ribs and lungs. Riki Wilchins, author and transgender activist, is credited with the comment that sex refers to what’s between your legs, while gender refers to what’s between your ears. But, to a large extent (no pun intended), it’s what’s between your shoulders that counts. What we transwomen don’t like hearing about is the down side. There’s no data on the incidence of breast cancer in the transgendered, but studies of non-transwomen indicate hormone therapy brings a higher level of breast cancer risk. So MTFs who used estrogen and/or progestin for five years or more are probably at a higher risk than nontranswomen (the risk is probably even greater if they started hormones when they were young). Breast implants show no increased risk for breast cancer for either MTFs or non-transwomen, but implants do make cancer harder to detect on a mammogram. Female-to-male trans people who

use testosterone and have had “top surgery” might have a higher risk of developing breast cancer than the

“ALL GUYS LIKE TITS.” non-transman, because there’s always some breast tissue left behind. For the same reason, non-trans women who have had mastectomies still have a small risk of developing breast cancer. All of this is good to know, but unfortunately, it doesn’t stop those who see having breasts as essential to their womanhood from taking the risks. Those men—gay, straight, or other—who continue to be obsessed with breasts don’t help the situation. And, like the man said, “All guys like tits.”

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