O&AN | March 2020

You Better Werk!

Greg Howard Releases New Middle Grade Book

NEWER LGBTQ BOOKS FOR KIDS AND YOUNG ADULTS NASHVILLE FASHION WEEK HIGHLIGHTS DIVERSITY

MARCH 2020 / VOLUME 20 / ISSUE 3 FIRST ISSUE FREE - ADD’L COPIES 50¢ EACH

Landscape paintings by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), widely regarded as Britain’s greatest painter, are now on view at the Frist.

Come witness the power of Turner’s palpable atmospheres, stormy seascapes, transcendent effects of light, and epic scenes of history.

Downtown Nashville 919 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203 FristArtMuseum.org

THROUGH MAY 31 J.M.W. Turner: Quest for the Sublime was organized in cooperation with Tate.

This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

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J.M.W. Turner (1775–1851). The Blue Rigi, Sunrise, 1842. Watercolor on paper, 11 3/4 x 17 3/4 in. Tate: Purchased with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Art Fund (with a contribution from the Wolfson Foundation and including generous support from David and Susan Gradel, and from other members of the public through the Save the Blue Rigi appeal), Tate Members and other donors 2007. Photo © Tate, 2019

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CONTENTS

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CONTRIBUTORS

NOT IN FRONT OF THE STRAIGHT PEOPLE

Writers: Craig Ammon, James Grady, Bennett Jason, Josh Robbins, Sara Schuster, Jason Shawhan, Will Shutes, Chris Spear

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Photographers: Lindsay Binkley, Molly Buckley, Jake Harsh, Clint Searcy, Cody Stallings, Jakob Wandel, Jess Williams, Eric Winton, Jamie Wright

TURNIP TRUCK

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FORAGING IN YOUR FRONT YARD

CORRECTIONS

We regret that the February LGBTQ Business Directory and Travelers’ Guide listed an incorrect phone number for Karuna Therapeutic Solutions. Their correct phone number is 615-669-6621.

We apologize for the confusion.

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YOU BETTER WERK!

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LGBTQ+ LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN AND TEENS

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content of Out & About Nashville is copyrighted 2017 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.

FASHION WEEK CELEBRATES LOCAL TALENT

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10 MUST-SEE LGBTQ MOVIES

Out & About Nashville strives to be a credible community news organization by engaging and educating our readers. All

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LAVENDER GOD: ALBUM REVIEW

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Cover: Greg Howard, photo by Jamie Wright Images

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JASON SHAWHAN

Writing about film is an unmitigated joy. There are so many possibilities to view, and experience, and share, and what I want to get into today is a subgenre of cinema that I like to call “Not In Front Of The Straight People” movies. These are films that deal with issues that are complicated within our community. They deal with material that we all have better things to do than to have to explain, in all their many facets, to well-meaning, inquisitive, or (most often) bad faith homophobes looking for something to wield against us.

It’s not a new kind of movie—The Boys in The Band set the tone for it, dishing dirt and hashing things out by LGBTQIA+ characters in a milieu where straight people are absent or are quietly observant guests.

For the longest time, low budget adaptations of plays (think Torch Song Trilogy, Love! Valour! Compassion!, or Jeffrey, to get all ‘90s with it) are where you would most often see this kind of film. But recently, it’s been a genre film that’s been stepping up and addressing some of the more problematic issues that we’re dealing with.

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NOT IN FRONT OF THE STRAIGHT PEOPLE

2019’s Midnight Kiss (now streaming on Hulu) is part of Blumhouse Productions’ monthly Into The Dark series, which comes out with a new horror film tied to a holiday of some sort. This one, directed by Carter Smith (of the deliriously fun killer plant romp The Ruins, and the horrifying and all too relatable Bugcrush) and written

by Erlingur Thoroddsen (who wrote and directed Rift, which is an Icelandic film that manages to tell a queer suspense narrative with no cliches whatsoever), has an almost completely queer cast, including Lukas Gage from Euphoria, Augustus Prew from About A Boy as our protagonist, and Scott Evans.

It’s New Year’s Eve, and a group of gay friends (and their one straight female longtime associate) are heading off to a vacation home in Palm Springs. They’ve been doing this for years, and some strain is starting to show. It seems like everyone has dated everyone else, and there’s an engagement on deck, and no one wants the same thing as anybody else. Oh, and there’s a murderer on the loose. He wears a pup mask, and he’s got that grand old horror trope—secrets from the past—in common with seemingly everyone in the cast.

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So Midnight Kiss is a very classic 1980s slasher film in structure and narrative, but it is explicitly focused on issues like opening relationships, and bottom shaming, and ultimately addresses the abject cruelty with which we treat our own. I’m not saying that the murderer was right, or anything close to that. But if you can keep your moral table tennis skills up, this film asks a lot of really interesting questions about queer lives and what that means when we (for the time being) have gay marriage but also the enervating death spiral of the planet under the Trump administration. It is exactly the kind of slasher film a young gay viewer in the ‘80s would have wanted to see, with exactly the same louche attitude toward semigratuitous nudity.

If you really want to see a film that will freak out even your most good-hearted of straight friends, may I direct you to Jim Hansen’s You’re Killing Me, from 2015 (currently on Amazon Prime and Hulu). It’s not ‘scary,’ per se, but it is the most ruthless comedy you may see this decade, and it is utterly horrifying for anyone who wants to believe that queer people aren’t as venal, violent, and destructive as straight people are.

What happens when that one friend of yours starts bringing around his new boyfriend, who’s just so hot you could die? That’s the thing about Joe, though. He’s quite up front about being a serial

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killer. But everyone who talks to him just thinks he’s got a morbid, deadpan sense of humor because he’s so hot—like, think Antoni Porowski hot, where the eyes tell secrets.

Even when people start dying, nobody could accept Joe’s genuine forthrightness about who he is and what he does. And honestly, if someone is going to make a film about how abs and a pretty face can keep so many dickmatized, I’m glad it’s actual talented gay people. You’re Killing Me has Drew Droege, and Jeffrey Self, and Sam Pancake, and Edi Patterson from The Righetous Gemstones, and it is a superb film that will provoke some deep discussions. Like some of the best examples of queer cinema, show it to your straight friends at your own risk.

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Lavender God ALBUM REVIEW

Chris Spear

Jeff “Attlas” Hartford from Canada just released his first full length album, Lavender God, on January 31, 2020. Before his rise in the dance music scene, many believed he was an alias of Deadmau5. In 2019 He was voted breakthrough DJ North America in DJ Mag. Although his music sits in the EDM genre, Attlas has found a sound all his own.

Every remix he does sounds nothing like the original, and he is a master at slicing up a vocal and then weaving it back together.

I’m always impressed by his sound design, which leaves me asking myself, “How did he do that?” He always creates space with his atmospheric synths, pads, and subtle yet complex beats.

The interactions I’ve had with him over social media have shown me what a genuine person he can be. He has been gracious and friendly. Over the years he has aired mixes with videos and visuals. Usually he and his collaborators join in on the viewing and interact in a lovely fashion. Knowing that he is such a friendly and passionate person just allows me to enjoy his work even more Lavender God flows nicely from song to song. Every time I listen to it, the whole album manages to finish before I realize it.

The introduction to the album, “Shatter,” creeps in and starts soft and smooth, like the first sip of refreshing water. The melody plays throughout most of the song, with beautiful transitions panning synths and a strong bass.

My favorite parts of “A Winding Path” have to be the piano and bells throughout.

The entire track creates so much space and movement, with little to no beats. Possibly the stand out track of the album “Half Light,” featuring Alisa Xayalith, is more of a traditionally laid out dance track. The chorus feels so impactful, almost like the synths are breathing along with Alisa. The sound design in Lavender God makes me feel like I’ve been floating out in space while I watch different galaxies drift by. “November” is a playful track that has a main arpeggio that slowly morphs as it’s joined by pads, strings, and piano.

The first release of the album “Sinner Complicated” reminds me more of some of Attlas’ older productions. The way Attlas introduces sounds in a song is so well done and unique. The first beat doesn’t come in

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until the 1 minute mark, but you wouldn’t know it at first because there are so many sounds to entertain your brain. The meat of the song is more along the lines of a tech house track, alerting you to why people mistook him for Deadmau5.

Another absolutely gorgeous track, “A Ray of Light,” is again more on the traditional side of songwriting. The layers upon layers of synths and piano during the breakdowns and build ups are breathtaking. It’s like you are at the base of a waterfall and the music is just rushing over you, leaving you wanting more. The track, “Home,” has a fun broken beat with lush pads. By the middle of the track, you are listening to echoing piano that slowly drifts into a more driving beat and synth.

The second release of the album, “Hotel,” featuring Maylan is another more traditional dance track with vocals that constantly seep in from beneath murky pads. One of the things I enjoy most about this track is the percussion and how he constantly manipulates it.

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The album finishes up with “More Than That,” which almost reminds me of listening to a band set up before a show, with all the rattling of drums and plucking instruments.

The first half of the track is beautifully organized chaos. When the beat does kick in, it feels like the album is slowly slithering away from you, leaving you craving more.

I have been listening to this album quite a bit in the morning and in the car.

It’s not a pump you up dance album to work out to. It’s a great album to have on while driving in the rain on a pleasantly gloomy day. So far I have really enjoyed this album, listening to it once, if not a few times a day. I’ve definitely reached obsessed levels and couldn’t be happier about it. I always love when producers or bands continue to grow and improve upon their style and sound. So if you are looking for something new and beautiful to enter your brain’s auditory cortex, please give it a few listens.

Lavender God can be found at mau5trap.ffm.to/lavendergod.

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Turnip Truck CRAIG AMMON

Strolling through the aisles of either of Nashville’s two Turnip Truck stores is a feast for the senses. Shoppers are greeted by an array of fresh fruits and vegetables bursting with colors and fragrances that invite them to enjoy finer produce than they will find at grocery store chains. Turnip Truck features a large selection of meat and dairy products from local, organic farms. They also offer a wide array of healthy, natural kitchen essentials from local vendors to stock their customers’ pantries. The list goes on and on.

Turnip Truck’s two current locations are in the heart of the Gulch on 12th Avenue South and in East Nashville across the street from East Park. Owner John Dyke is excited to announce their third location will open in just a few weeks at 5001 Charlotte Avenue to serve customers in The Nations and the Sylvan Park areas.

Dyke says he wants each store to serve the needs and preferences of customers in the surrounding neighborhoods. In fact, it was this desire that prompted Dyke to leave a career in surgical sales and open the first Turnip Truck in East Nashville almost 20 years ago. Dyke lived in that part of town for years and would travel miles to the Sunshine Grocery—the nearest healthy foods store. While shopping there he often saw his East Nashville neighbors who had also made the trek because there were no healthy foods stores nearby.

It was clear to Dyke that East Nashville needed its own full-service natural food store. Since other retailers weren’t stepping in to fulfill that need, Dyke decided to do it himself. Opening his first retail store was a leap for Dyke, but like any good entrepreneur he knew the value of networking and collaborating with others. He started going to health food expos and learning all he could about the industry from those he met.

It took two years of learning and planning, but in 2001 Dyke opened the first Turnip Truck on Woodland Street, right down the road from Five Points. Dyke had clearly foreseen a great demand for local, full-service health food stores in Nashville. Turnip Truck opened the Gulch location in 2009 and they moved to a new East Nashville site in 2015 that is five times the size of the original. Now they are about to open a third store the same size and footprint of the new East Nashville site.

Like so many fellow members of the Nashville LGBT Chamber of Commerce, Dyke is committed to making a positive impact on the city he calls home. As such, he is continually making changes in his stores to fulfill his commitment to sustainability. The East Nashville location has ten honeybee hives on the roof, and they use the honey they harvest at the end of each summer in their juice bar beverages. The newest location will generate 15% of its own power from its rooftop solar panels. Turnip Truck is also work-

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ing toward eliminating all single use plastic in their stores. And, of course, selling local goods leaves less of a carbon footprint than shipping products from around the country.

As a resident of East Nashville for 30 years, Dyke acknowledges that he lives and works in a “bubble of inclusivity.” Recently, Dyke says that he and other business owners were invited as guests to a corporate event in Nashville. He says, “It was a bunch of middle-aged, presumably straight men whom I didn’t know well. Because I wasn’t sure of their social or political views, I wasn’t comfortable inviting my partner. And for the first time in 20 years I didn’t feel comfortable presenting my true self to these other businessmen. It was not a good feeling.”

Dyke wants to ensure that none of his customers or employees ever have that uncomfortable feeling while shopping at Turnip Truck. “I just want to treat everyone as human,” Dyke says, “and it’s not just those of us who identify as LGBT, but everyone, regardless of race, gender, age, or economic status.”

The Nashville LGBT Chamber of Commerce recognized Dyke’s contributions to our community by awarding the Turnip Truck the “Small Business Diversity Award” at the 2017 Excellence in Business Awards. Dyke was recognized by the Chamber as the “Entrepreneur of the Year” that year as well. While Turnip Truck has been an active member of the Chamber for years, Dyke says, “I wish I’d joined the Chamber long before I did. Chamber membership and LGBTE certification bring some validity to our gay-operated business. And it sends a message to the broader community that Turnip Truck is a welcoming place that is open to hiring and serving all of our neighbors.”

Dyke acknowledges that these days Nashville shoppers have other options to shop for healthy foods, and he is competing with some large chain stores. But he knows that his customers appreciate that each Turnip Truck is a truly neighborhood store. For more information on the hot bar menu, a comprehensive list of local vendors, or to check out their blog featuring recipes, articles on eating healthy, and even local events, please visit theturniptruck. com.

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Foraging in Your

Front Yard Sara Schuster

NOTE: before you start foraging, always make sure you are 100% certain in your plant identification before eating something, and don’t eat anything from yards that have been sprayed.

One of my happiest first signs of spring is the return of vibrant plant growth to my yard. Three of my favorites that I’d love to share with you are dandelions, violets, and chickweed. All three of these plants are simple to identify, have edible parts, and are a cornerstone of my herbal preparations.

Back before we had year-round access to produce, these mineral-rich herbs were a welcome kickstart to our diets after a winter without fresh vegetables. They’re also easy to incorporate into your meals! Besides being free and tasty, these plants are often more nutritionally dense than the greens we can purchase at the grocery store.

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Dandelion is familiar to almost all of us from our childhoods, and so is easy to spot. Sadly, many people attempt to remove this plant from their lawns, viewing it as a weed and a nuisance. Every part of this herbal powerhouse – the root, the leaves,

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and the flower – is beneficial though! I prefer to dig dandelion roots in the fall, when they have a higher level of inulin, but in spring their greens and flowers are absolutely delicious. The greens get more bitter as the leaves get larger, so you’ll want to harvest these when they’re young and tender. They’re a fun addition to your salads or can be dried as part of an herbal tea. The yellow ray florets of the flowerhead can be pulled off and added to your salads as well.

And let’s not forget about the joys of making dandelion wine!

Violets, with their bright purple flowers, are also simple to find in your yard. Both the leaves and the flowers are edible and are a fun way to jazz up salads (who doesn’t love edible flowers?). The leaves can also be added to your soups and stews, or lightly sauteed with other vegetables. Violet leaves provide a good amount of soluble fiber as well as Vitamins A and C. The flowers are quite versatile in the kitchen—they can be candied as a decoration for desserts, frozen into ice cubes to impress your guests the next time you host an event, or infused into a gorgeous purple-hued simple syrup. If you feel like getting adventurous and beginning to learn about some herbal preparations, violet leaves can also be infused into oils to make a cooling, soothing salve.

Shake it up.

Stir it up.

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Be mellow. Be responsible.

Chickweed, like violets, grows low to the ground in a dense carpet of greenery. Another name for it is starweed, due to its small white flowers.

Each flower has five double-lobed petals, with the cleft so deep that it initially looks like ten petals. At this time of year, they are tiny stars of white that readily catch your eye in a sea of green. Both the greens and the flowers are edible, so you can harvest with a pair of scissors and by giving chickweed a “haircut.” Come back a few days later, and you’re sure to see fresh growth. I love chickweed in salads and sometimes even in smoothies (provided your blender can break everything down finely). It can also be sautéed but doesn’t need much heat. A fun note: in addition to all three of these plants being great in salads, they can also be mixed together as the base for a wonderful pesto! Just work from your favorite pesto recipe and substitute any or all these greens in place of the basil.

I hope this will inspire you to go take a look at your lawn or a nearby park. Culinary adventures await you!

Sara Schuster is a queer herbalist, homesteader, and medicinal ESS15_EN_HalfPageH_August.indd 1 educational workshops, herb farmer. She offers herbal products, and herbal consultations through her business, Fox and Elder. She is also the host of the Tending Seeds podcast. Sara can be reached at FoxandElder.com, as well as on Instagram and Facebook.

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Take the first step and start making connections at our Annual Meeting and Holiday Party on Thursday, December 12that the Nashville Children’s Theatre.

Details and RSVP at nashvillelgbtchamber.org.

Coming January 2021: The Second Annual Out & About Nashville LGBTQ Business Directory and Travelers Guide!

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You Better Werk!

Greg Howard Releases New Middle Grade Book

PHOTO: WRIGHT UTAND A B O U T N A S H V I L L E .CO M 1 6 OJAMIE

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JAMES GRADY

Local writer Greg Howard has begun to make a name for himself in the world of Young Adult (YA) and, increasingly, Middle Grade literature—especially for LGBTQ+ and allied readers. Last year, I talked with Howard about his then-new middle grade release, The Whispers, and just a little under a year later I sat down with him again to discuss his new book and some upcoming work. Middle School’s a Drag: You Better Werk hit the shelves on February 11, 2020, and if you haven’t seen it yet, look for it, especially if you have young readers around.

James: So, last time we talked, you had just released The Whispers. How has the response been?

GREG: Well, it was interesting, because it was everything from getting letters and emails from parents and teachers and kids who just loved it, and parents who told me they were able to have conversations with their kids through it, to some very ugly emails and letters. Which is very interesting to me because The Whispers is such a sweet, innocuous story. I mean, it is gay lite, you know what I mean? that is not what the story is about, in a lot of senses. There is a kiss, and he has a crush. And it's a very chaste kiss...

I even got this one email that kind of broke my heart from this father who wrote me an email and just laid into me about how his 12-year-old son had picked up this book... I didn't even know that was still a thing but apparently it is: he laid into me about pushing my homosexual agenda on his son and how dare I ... blah blah blah.

He even sent me a picture of The Whispers ripped up and in the trashcan.

And I thought to myself, "Oh my Lord, if that if that kid is gay, he just saw his dad throw him in the trash, basically." That thought just broke my heart. So heartbreaking letters like that but also some very heartfelt and beautiful letters too.

Also, I just found out this week, by the way, that The Whispers nominated for the Edger Award for Best Juvenile Fiction.

That's an award given by the Mystery Writers of America so it's like the Oscar of mystery writers, so very excited about that.

James: Your new book is Middle School's a Drag. So you're doing something very different this time around...

GREG: Very different from The Whispers,

yeah. This one took a more comedic route.

Although The Whispers had some comedic elements to it... But, yeah, this one I just kind of went in a little different direction.

When I was a kid, I was a little bit of an entrepreneur. We had this storage room and laundry room off of our carport in South Carolina where I lived. My dad had a big oak desk in there, and I would go in there and start businesses, so to speak. I called it The Anything Shop. I started a little general store that my dad built for me out of cardboard, and I gave croquet lessons and charged kid money. You know, just a total rip off: I was making up the rules as I went.

That's kind of what started the idea for this story, because Mikey, in the story, considers himself a kid entrepreneur. And he works out of his family's storage room laundry room off the carport like that.

James: So how did the drag kid element come into play?

GREG: I got inspired when I was watching Good Morning America... They had a special on drag kids, and one in particular whose name is Desmond Is Amazing, and it was really the first time that I had seen kids doing drag, very seriously, like this was their passion, this is something they wanted to do to express themselves and perform.

And I was just amazed, in an incredibly good way... I felt very happy for these kids, and these parents that were supporting them.

So that gave me the idea of bringing a drag kid into the story, which has not been done yet in Middle Grade.

So all this gave me the idea for one of Mikey's businesses to be a junior talent agency. His first client is this drag kid named Julian, who's an eighth grader, and his drag persona is Coco Caliente Mistress of Madness and Mayhem. That's where the idea started from. I'm really proud of it. People are liking it, which is always good, you know, and I'm hoping this will reach even more kids than I reached with The Whispers.

James: What would you say is the theme of Middle School’s a Drag?

GREG: This is a fun, uplifting comedy.

It's about a boy, Mikey, who is gay and he knows he's gay and he's even out to his parents and his best friends. But he hasn't made like the big announcement to the middle school yet, and he's really worried about coming out that way. It's not about him not accepting he's gay because he does. He's just worried about how people are going to treat him when they find out, so that's kind of where this one's coming from.

Mikey learns from Julian, the drag kid, about being confident in who you are. The quote at the beginning of the book is by the drag kid that inspired me, Desmond: "Be yourself always." So I use that as the quote opening the book. So, this book, to me, is just pure joy; it's just fun. It's easy to read: people are telling me they read it in a day or weekend. I love that, there's lots of hijinks in it, lots of gay stuff, lots of queer stuff.

James: Have you heard from people? Are there any common thoughts or responses?

GREG: The thing that I'm hearing most is the pure joy people feel when they read it. When I write I don't think about making people feel a certain way, but I am hearing a lot of people saying that that's what they felt when they read it. And that made it left them feeling hopeful and triumphant. And I like it that they're using the word hopeful again, because that was a big word with The Whispers. It ended with a lot of hope, and the theme of the book was hope, and I love the fact that people are finding that similar theme in this book, even though it's so completely different from The Whispers.

James: With the book tour starting, are there festivals or events you are looking forward to?

GREG: I love doing SE-YA Book Fest in Murfreesboro. It's one of the bigger YA book festivals, and it has Middle Grade.

It has all the big writers in YA and Middle Grade. I think the big name this year is gonna be Angie Thomas who wrote The Hate You Give and On the Come Up. I love going to that one.

What I love about those festivals is that a lot of them have student days, so there's one day that they bussed in kids from schools, and those are the best. It is amazing to see this big open room full of writers giving autographs, and these middle school and high school kids acting like they're rock stars. That's so friggin’ cool, because I never met an author when I was that age. They are just enamored, and we all love it. We just love seeing their excitement about books.

James: Tell me about what you're working on now: Do you have anything in the works?

GREG: Well, I just actually turned in my latest book called The Visitors. It will be out next summer, 2021, and it's a ghost story.

I've always wanted to write a ghost story, again based on my childhood. We grew up next to this old deserted haunted rice plan-

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YA [Young Adult] is great! There's tons of stuff, but not enough a middle grade, so I'm kind of making that my focus right now. I did write a YA novel, Social Intercourse when I first started, but I have kind of found my niche in Middle Grade writing about queer kids. It seems to be working, and it seems to be resonating with parents, with teachers, and with kids. My goal is to give queer kids their happily ever after, one story at a time— that's my mission.

tation in Georgetown, South Carolina, and we had our own little ghosty experiences there.

I wrote this story kind of harkening back to my times there, and it's about the spirit of an 11-year-old boy who had died mysteriously on the plantation. These present-day kids come and befriend him, and they help him figure out how he died, so he can be free of the place, because he's stuck there.

That was fun to write, I loved writing that one, and of course my life was a little more settled, so it was easier to get it out and on the page.

James: What motivates you?

GREG: I mean, this is my dream for the rest of my life! It makes it all worth it, talking to the kids and ... we talked about this, but here's just not enough yet in Middle Grade literature for [LGBTQ] kids. I mean,

James: So, with The Visitors that will make three Middle Grade books. We talked last time about the challenges, about the gatekeepers and things like that. As a writer, what do you enjoy about writing for those kids?

GREG: I think one is I just enjoy the voice of that age group... Somehow I'm able to tap into it… And I love the fact that I can write these books that are getting into the hands of kids who are seeing themselves represented, you know? There was another review, I think on Amazon, where somebody said about The Whispers something like "this would have been a great story. But why did the kid have to be gay? That just ruined it."

I just want to shake that person and say, "Because there are kids out there that they need to see themselves in the books they read!" I don't know about you, but I never saw myself in books, except by imagining something is going on [behind the scenes].

I love that I had this one parent at my Parnassus event for The Whispers... She picked it up and read the back to her son, who was like 11 or 12. When she said the

kid has a crush on this older boy, he looked up at her and said, "Mom, it's like he knows my life!" And I'm thinking, "Yes, I see you, I see you kid!"

James: So, what are your longer-term goals?

GREG: I'd love to keep writing books for Penguin; they've been amazing. And I would like to do more school visits, which is something that I just started doing this past year with The Whispers.

In Chattanooga, I spoke with this rural middle school in front of 300 sixth graders.

And then I spent a period a classroom and did a writing workshop. And that was amazing and inspired me to do more of that. In that writing workshop there were about 30 kids. I had at least four of them come up to me and come out to me after, in tears.

I'm not talking just flippantly saying, "Oh, hey I'm gay." These kids were terrified.

They came up to me separately at the little book signing after the writing workshop.

They would tell me then, and they would speak very quietly, and they were crying.

And I just want to help these kids and tell them it's gonna be okay. What I usually end up saying is, “Thank you for telling me that.

I want you to know that you're not alone, and you are loved.” And I always ask them if they have support at home, and luckily, so far, they've all said yes, which I think is wonderful and amazing. So I want to I want to do more of that.

You can find Middle School Is a Drag most anywhere books are sold. It can also be purchased online from Amazon in print or for Kindle. For more on Greg Howard, check out his website!

KATE NELSON, REALTOR® 220 Athens Way, Plaza 1 Suite 105 Nashville, TN 37228 615 | 320.1155

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615 / 268-0319 615 / 383-6964 kjcnelson@gmail.com DIRECT

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LGBTQ+ Literature for Children and Teens

YA & Middle Grade Recommendations from Greg Howard

We asked Greg Howard, the author featured on our cover, to recommend Young Adult (YA) and Middle Grade selections of interest to LGBTQ+ and allied readers. While he noted that this is a growing market, full of excellent choices, he submitted the following:

MIDDLE GRADE – LGBTQ NOVELS

YOUNG ADULT – LGBTQ NOVELS

Martin McLean, Middle School Queen by Alyssa Zaczek Rick by Alex Gino The Best at It by Maulik Pancholy Hurricane Season by Nicole Melleby The Whispers by Greg Howard

Like A Love Story by Abdi Nazemian The Gravity of Us by Phil Stamper Ziggy, Stardust, and Me by James Brandon What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera Social Intercourse by Greg Howard

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YOU DESERVE TO BE PAID.

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10 Must-See LGBTQ Movies JOSH ROBBINS

I’ve definitely gone through phases where I’d call myself a “movie person.”

Maybe even a die-hard movie connoisseur that would have a major BF (bitch fit) if anyone stepped on the toes of the films that I considered epic, brilliant, smart, amazing, or any other adjective that appears on almost all movie posters.

Yet, at other times in my life, it seems that I’m always answering friends and family in casual conversation about the latest box office hits with, “No I haven’t seen it yet.”

Regardless of my time or current interest level in film, I have always had an eye for great queer films and movies.

Here’s my Top 10 LGBTQ Movie Favorites, in no particular order: 5B is a “remarkable story of courage and compassion from the nurses and caregivers of San Francisco General’s Ward 5B” during the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. They had a simple approach to caring for patients who were often abandoned by their families and dying alone: human touch and not wearing spacesuits for protection. The first-person film footage shot in the 1980s was commissioned by Johnson and Johnson and premiered in 2019 (I attended the red carpet event). It’s available on all streaming platforms.

Brokeback Mountain, #2 on IMDB’s Best Gay Movies List, is the drama and romance that grossed over $83.04M in the box office with stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger. The story centers around two cowboys who had a forbidden and secretive relationship for years and the journey to find love.

The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love is a 1995 lesbian love sto-

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ry written and directed by Maria Maggenti and starring Laurel Holloman (Tina from the L Word!) Nicole Ari Parker, and Maggie Moore. It won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film–Limited Release in 1996.

And it’s a good thing it won ‘cus this movie is cute and heart-warming AF. Milk is the film based on the life of Harvey Milk, the gay rights activist and political who was also the first openly gay person elected to public office in California. The film, which starred Sean Penn and was written by Dustin Lance Black, received 8 Academy Award nominations—winning Best Screenplay and Best Actor in a Leading Role.

Dallas Buyers Club stars Matthew McConaughey playing the real-life Ron Woodroof, who, after receiving an AIDS diagnosis, simply refused to die. He created a membership club to illegally distribute life-saving medication needed by AIDS patients while everyone waited for the medical establishment to cut red tape and approve the meds.

Boys Don’t Cry is the 1999 biopic telling the story of Brandon Teena, a transgender man looking for love and acceptance in Nebraska, falling victim to a brutal hate crime. The film voices themes including the causes of violence against queer-identifying individuals and those who identify as transgender specifically. Trust me, you will most definitely cry and will likely sob at the end of this movie. Hilary Swank won an Oscar for Best Actress for her heart-wrenching portrayal of Brandon Teena.

Shortbus is John Cameron Mitchell’s 2006 cult classic, which, according to rottentomatoes.com, “follows a varied group of seven people, among them a dominatrix and a sex therapist, as they navigate between the paths of sex and love in mod-

MARCH 2020

ern-day New York City.” The movie is sexually explicit and definitely NSFW (and some audiences that may be offended) for non-simulated sexual intercourse with visible penetration and male ejaculation.

Love, Simon is the thoughtfully-done high-school drama that didn’t exist when you were a kid, unless you happened to be born in the year 2000 or later. Directed by Greg Berlanti, the film received a 92% from Rotten Tomatoes and received a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film–Wide Release and a Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie–Comedy. It’s nice knowing this film is out there for all the youngins’!

The Kids Are Alright tells the story of a lesbian couple who raised two kids who were born with the help of an anonymous sperm donor. As the kids grow up, they begin to want to explore their heritage and find the donor—leading to chain reaction of events. It scores a high 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.

God’s Own Country is about a young farmer in Yorkshire who regularly engages in destructive behavior until he meets a Romanian farm worker who changes everything for him. Debut Director Francis Lee is “clearly indebted to the memory of ‘Brokeback Mountain” according to The Wrap.

I hope y’all enjoy these! Now tell me: what film did I obviously miss in my list?

Josh Robbins is a spokesperson for Dating.com Group, an award-winning sexual health advocate, and author of the site imstilljosh.com. He was nominated for a GLAAD media award in 2017 and recently won the National Lesbian and Gay Journalist Association’s Excellence Award in the blog-ging category.

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WILL SHUTES

FASHION WEEK

CELEBRATES LOCAL TALENT

An Interview With the Co-Founders Ask the average tourist, and they would likely not guess that Nashville fashion goes beyond denim and the deals they’ll find on cowboy boots along Lower Broadway. But the Tenth Annual Nashville Fashion Week, taking place from March 31 through April 4 at OZ Arts, is setting out to prove that the Music City’s talents go way beyond just music. I had the privilege of talking to NFW’s co-founders and managing partners, Connie Cathcart-Richardson and Marcia Masulla, to get their perspectives on how this tenth Nashville Fashion Week will be like nothing we’ve seen before.

Will: Tell me a little bit about the history of Nashville Fashion Week as you kick off your Tenth Anniversary.

MARCIA: The mission since day one

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has been to educate local and national audiences about Nashville’s growing fashion community and our city has experienced the results. Nashville Fashion Week and the Nashville Fashion Forward Fund have helped raise awareness of our creative talent by showcasing 180 designers and hundreds of local businesses with an investment of over $1.3 million in the local community over the past nine years. NFW could not continue to do this year after year without the support of dedicated sponsors, volunteers and ticket holders.

CONNIE: Nashville Fashion Week was co-founded by a collaboration of fashion, media, and marketing professionals that partnered to combine our passion and resources to create a completely volunteer-led, run, and managed event to spotlight Nashville’s growing fashion community with an ongoing, sustainable focus for philanthropic sup-

port of our creative community.

For the first seven years, we changed locations every single night as a way to pair both emerging and historical Nashville neighborhoods and projects with fresh designer talent. In 2011, our opening night runway event kicked off high above the city at the yet-to-beopened raw space in the Pinnacle Building. That first year we moved around each day with runway shows at The Arcade, War Memorial Auditorium and at the Crystal Springs Baptist Church in East Nashville with Christian Siriano as our headline designer. Our runway show footprint has also included The Parthenon, Trolley Barns, Belmont Mansion, shutting 5th Avenue down, the Bi-Centennial Amphitheater, the Veranda at Union Station and Legislative Plaza in front of the Capitol. These unlikely locales are just a few of the fifty locations that we chose to spotlight our city.

MARCIA: After hosting our opening night in 2017 at OZ Arts Nashville, we immediately knew that we had found our home. In 2018 we officially partnered with OZ in a strategic collaboration to highlight their expansive facility and resources. This partnership has allowed NFW to elevate our production capabilities for our runway shows and Nashville Fashion Forward Awards by keeping these anchor events all under one roof. Since our initial foray, we have added interactive Learning Labs, a Shop Nashville initiative to promote fashion commerce, Fashion Talks that focus on issues and vital topics in the fashion industry, a sustainable summit niche events for influencers and men, along with celebratory parties. And for year ten, we still have some magic up our sleeves!

CONNIE: Ticket proceeds from Nashville Fashion Week benefit the Nashville Fashion Forward Fund of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. The Nashville Fashion Forward Fund is an endowed fund that supports the next generation of fashion industry professionals with ties to Middle Tennessee by providing an annual financial award and resources for experiential professional development opportunities to advance the career of local talent with demonstrated experience in any fashion-related field. The Nashville Fashion Forward Fund ensures that Nashville Fashion Week will impact the Nashville fashion community for many years to come.

Will: What excites you about the class of designers being shown during the 2020 celebration?

CONNIE: Nineteen of twenty-one designers this year are from Middle Tennessee. This is the first time in our 10-year history that we’ve had the talent to do that. It’s just another example of the progression of the fashion industry in our community.

PHOTOS: LINDSAY BINKLEY, MOLLY BUCKLEY, JAKE HARSH, CLINT SEARCY, JAKOB WANDEL, JESS WILLIAMS, ERIC WINTON

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Will: What trends do you see emerging this year?

MARCIA: For the first time, the AMAX + NFW Model Search and agency casting was open to everyone of all ages and sizes.

Our designers have embraced heading into a more inclusive way to design for a broader consumer and audience. This is another sign of our fashion community’s growth. Our runway’s showcase a wide range of perspective and many times, we see trends created from these points of view. With eight designers making their NFW debut, we expect to shake things up a bit in year ten!

Will: Tell me about the spirit of diversity being highlighted in this year’s events.

MARCIA: Back in our inaugural year, we immediately recognized that as a part of our responsibility to our fashion community, investing in education experiences was an integral component to our mission. Since then we have hosted a range of opportunities that have included engaging Learning Labs on how to start and grow fashion businesses along with hosting industry leaders to share insight from their own experiences. As the fashion industry is tackling the issue of

sustainability, we hosted a free sustainable summit last year to be a platform for change.

This year, we added another free interactive event with our partners, The Tennessee State Museum, in tandem with the opening of their high-profile “Ratified! Tennessee Women and the Right to Vote” exhibit, that will share how the intersection of social movements and style have historically gone hand-in-hand and continue to do so. We are also addressing the topic of diversity and inclusion head-on as a part of the third installment of our “Fashion Talks” series with fashion industry legend, Fern Mallis. Mallis will lead the conversation with esteemed panelists who can share their perspectives while also encouraging ways that we can all support change.

Will: If you had to sum up your thoughts on the future of fashion in a single sentence, what would it be?

CONNIE: We are Nashville fashion!

Nashville Fashion Week’s Tenth Anniversary runs from March 31 until April 4 at OZ Arts, located at 6172 Cockrill Bend Circle in West Nashville.

Tickets and details are available at http://www.nashvillefashionweek.com/.

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The Queens’ Table Vol. 5 - Mockingbird

Presiding Queens: The Countess Casanova @casanova_ loves_you, @lilithlanedrag, @vag4short BENNETT JASON

Welcome back to Queens’ Table, your destination for Nashville’s fabulous food scene, as experienced by fierce beauty queens! This month we dined in modern luxury while enjoying comfort food with a global influence. Our queens chose Mockingbird, a fast favorite for the Downtown and Gulch scene, and an absolute must for the growing LGBTQ crowd.

This divine venue opened August 2016, and is proudly gay owned and operated by executive chef Brian Riggenbach and front of house extraordinaire Mikey Corona. The menu is full of farm to table ingredients with cute and campy names that will have you cracking up. Our ladies sat down to a round of Tequila Mockingbird, a delicious cocktail of smoky Benhez mezcal, tequila, lime and egg white. This started our night off proper, the usual sequins and sass were flying, when the beautiful shared plates arrived.

We had the Cabbage Patch Kids, their amazing brussel sprouts, Don’t Worry Brie

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Happy, perfect mini grilled cheese sandwiches filled with whipped brie, jalapeno jam and chimichurri. We dare you to say no to whipped brie!

Then, La Vie En Rows, decadent savory waffles topped with herbs, feta, almond granola and garlic honey, as well as Rice Rice Baby, amazing mini rice balls stuffed with pi-

MARCH 2020

HEALTH

LEGAL SERVICES

Dental Services East Side Smiles 7 North 10th Street Nashville, TN 37206 615-227-2400 Eastsidesmile.net

Lawyer Bart Durham Injury Law Office 404 James Robertson Parkway Nashville, TN 37219 615-338-6177 Bartdurham.com

Healthcare Providers Cool Springs Internal Medicine & Pediatrics MD 1607 Westgate Circle, Ste 200 Brentwood, TN 37027 615-376-8195 Coolspringsinternalmedicine.com

ARTS

Pharmacy Nashville Pharmacy Services 100 Oaks Plaza, Skyline Medical 615-371-1210 / 615-724-0066 Npspharmcay.com Optometry Look East 1011 Gallatin Avenue Nashville, TN 37206 615-928-2281 Lookeastnashville.com COUNSELING & PSYCHIATRIC HEALTH Individual & Couples Therapy Barbara Sanders, LCSW/John Waide, PhD, LCSW 2016- 21St Ave South/2323- 21st Ave South, Ste.401 Nashville, TN 37212 615-414-2553 / 615-400-5911 Dignitytherapynashville.com Brandon Teeftaller, APN 220 Athens Way, Plaza 1, Suite 105 Nashville, TN. 37228 615-320-1155 Karuna Therapy Solutions 210 25th Ave. North, Suite 1220 Nashville, TN 37203 615-669-6621

Performing Arts Nashville Symphony Schermerhorn Symphony Center One Symphony Place Nashville, TN 37201 615-687-6400 Nashvillesymphony.org SPIRITUALITY Holy Trinity Community Church 6727 Charlotte Pike Nashville, TN 37209 615-352-3838 www.htccnashville.com Belmont United Methodist Church 2007 Acklen Avenue Nashville TN 27212 Learn more at BelmontUMC.org.

Blakemore United Methodist Church 3601 West End Ave Nashville, TN 37205 Learn more at BlakemoreUMC.org.

East End United Methodist Church 1212 Holly Street Nashville, TN 37206 Learn more at EastEndUMC.org.

Edgehill United Methodist Church 1502 Edgehill Avenue Nashville, Tennessee 37203 Learn more at Edgehill.org.

Glendale United Methodist Church 900 Glendale Lane Nashville, TN 37204 Learn more at GlendaleUMC.org.

West End United Methodist Church 2200 West End Avenue Nashville, Tennessee 37203 Learn more at WestEndUMC.org.

REAL ESTATE Sheila Barnard, Realtor, The Realty Association 1305 Murfressboro Road Nashville, TN 37217 615-385-9010 cell 615-424-6924 Sheilabarnard.realtyassociation.com Emily Benedict, Realtor, Village Real Estate 2206 21st Ave South, Ste. 200 Nashville, TN 37212 615-585-1258 BSLNashville.com Kate Nelson, Realtor, Village Real Estate 2206 21st Ave South, Ste. 200 Nashville, TN 37212 615-383-6964 Realestatewithkate.com ORGANIZATIONS Nashville Humane Association 213 Oceola Avenue Nashville, TN 37209 615-352-1010 Nashvillehumane.org Nashville LGBT Chamber of Commerce P.O. Box 330971 Nashville, TN 37203 615-507-5185 Nashvillelgbtchamber.org BARS & NIGHTCLUBS PLAY Dance Bar 1519 Church Street Nashville, TN 37203 615-322-9627 Playdancebar.com Tribe 1517 Church Street Nashville, TN 37203 615-329-2912 Tribenashville.com

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PHOTOS: CODY STALLINGS

mento cheese arancini, and tatchos, a super fancy take on tater tots, smothered in beer cheddar, scallions, lamb chili and crema. This deliciously compassionate plate is also known as “Tots for Tots,” as all the proceeds of this dish go to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.

“There’s nothing better than great food benefitting a great charity,” Lily exclaimed and popped a tot.

The ladies ordered another round of drinks as we took in the inviting atmosphere. This venue is dining perfection, with a spacious second floor (indoor-outdoor dining area) overlooking the Gulch.

Our drinks arrived, and we all tried something new. Casanova had the Cuba En Fuego, a tropical blend of Havana Club Rum, lime, mint, jalapeno and simple syrup.

Vidalia got fully gangster with a Jen & Juice, a mix of Uncle Val’s Botanical Gin, Thai basil, strawberry and pinot jam. “Pink and delicious, just what I need,” Vidalia said, feeling divine.

Lily had the Old Fashioned-ish. This celebrity praised beverage used bourbon, mantra chai simple, and chocolate and orange bitters. “Yessss ma’am!”

Entrees were next to come to table and painted mouths were watering. We plated Oooooh Barbacoa, an impossibly tender beef short rib with parsnip puree, roasted mushrooms, pearl onions, turnip and petite greens. We are talking melt in your mouth fancy. We enjoyed Pasta la Vista, a delightful pasta dish with broccoli pesto, pork sausage, pine nuts and Pecorino Romano. Let the kitsch meter declare “house down boots!” for this killer dish. Finally, we flew the coop for Bird is the Word, boneless fried chicken thighs, chorizo gravy and salsa verde mashed potatoes. Exquisite!

As if the corsets weren’t bursting at the seams already, Mikey and Brian wowed us with dessert. There was a rich and decadent bourbon chocolate tarte for all those chocolate lovers. There was a

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warm chocolate chip cookie a la mode that hit any remaining spots.

But the absolute favorite was the white chocolate mousse with fresh passion fruit, candied fennel, poppy and sesame seeds. This dish is perfection. The sweet taste and flawless texture of the mousse with the tart and unique toppings is truly something to behold. This is, to say the least, an absolute must.

Our whole-hearted gratitude to the entire Mockingbird crew.

Be sure to look for Mockingbird’s own Brian Riggenbach on the new season of Beat Bobby Flay on Food Network in March.

This venue is rich, luxurious, loaded with personality. Should you need a 10’s across the board venue, be sure to enjoy Mockingbird (121 12th Ave. N. Nashville, TN 37203).

Until next time fierce foodies! As always, much love and good taste from The Queens’ Table.

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