Pride Guide: The best ways to celebrate OKC Pride

free every wednesday | Metro OKC’s Independent Weekly | June 20, 2018

The best ways to celebrate OKC Pride

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6/7/18 10:01 AM

inside COVER OKC Pride is more than a parade. It is a celebration of freedom and a recognition of the great accomplishments of the LGBTQ+ community in Oklahoma City.

In Oklahoma Gazette’s annual Pride issue, discover the people, places and events that are part of OKC Pride, along with stories about the community’s history and 39th District’s promising future.

Cover art by Abigail Burcham

NEWS OU School of Drama environment 6 Marijuana medical marijuana ‘get out the vote’ effort 8 Pride OKC Pride president Lori Honeycutt 9 State primary roundup 4 Education

10 Chicken-Fried News

EAT & DRINK 13 Review The Golf Club Diner at

Lake Hefner Golf Club 15 Feature TLC Donation Garden 16 Pride The Boom!’s Sunday Gospel Brunch 19 Gazedibles grilled

ARTS & CULTURE 21 Pride 39th District

22 Pride parade and events

23 Pride OKC LGBTQ+ rights history 25 Pride Women Lead and Freedom

Oklahoma merge offices 28 Pride drag and burlesque performances 29 Active Stars & Stripes River Festival 30 Shopping Bissy Swim 32 Calendar

MUSIC 35 Pride music lineup

36 Event Adam & Kizzie album

release show

37 Live music

FUN 37 Astrology

38 Puzzles sudoku | crossword

OKG Classifieds 39

Yukon native Abigail Burcham, 14, will be participating in her second OKC Pride Parade with her church, Grace Church. Abigail enjoys creating art and spending time with family and friends.

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e d u c at i o n

NEWS

‘Hypersexualized’ environment

Former OU students allege receiving inappropriate comments from the current school of drama director. By Ben Luschen

The alleged sexual misconduct of University of Oklahoma (OU) emeritus professor and former donor John Scamehorn has garnered a lot of attention recently, but some former students are saying the university’s school of drama fostered an environment that might have been conducive for such harassment.

Scamehorn’s donor status with OU’s Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts was rescinded in February 2016 after the school received several student reports of alleged sexual harassment and the possession of improper student photographs and images. His donations were also returned.

Wide public interest in the allegations was spread after several social media posts detailed the ways in which his involvement with the school’s theater and acting programs might have been inappropriate.

At least one former student claims to have filed a Title IX complaint against Scamehorn in 2016, but OU’s Office of Open Records says it has no record of a formal complaint related to Scamehorn.

Fine arts college dean Mary Margaret Holt did receive information from a student in January 2016 that prompted her to contact the school’s Title IX office, which immediately launched an investigative inquiry.

Several public posts on Scamehorn’s personal Facebook page bemoan Title IX complaints and allege OU’s intolerance of free speech.

On Dec. 19, Scamehorn’s Facebook account posted a link from Lexington Herald-Reader with the headline “UK Prof: Singing a Beach Boys’ tune got me punished for ‘sexual misconduct.’”

Scamehorn posted the link with a clause from an apparent OU discrimination policy and the comment that it should serve as “food for thought for those who falsely accuse men of slanderous behavior because of hypersensitivity.”

But Scamehorn is not the only person tied to the OU theater program with potential Title IX complaints. Former student Brynne Frauenhoffer spoke with Oklahoma Gazette this month after filing a complaint against current Helmerich School of Drama director Tom Orr. Frauenhoffer, a December 2014 OU drama graduate, claims that Orr frequently made blunt remarks about students’ physical appearances and sexual appeal and particularly how those things might affect their viability as professional performers.

“There were implications, from Tom 4

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specifically, that to make it in the industry, you had to accept sexual harassment,” Frauenhoffer said.

Orr did not reply to Gazette requests for comment.

Frauenhoffer, who now works as a playwright in Chicago, said she only took one class with Orr in her OU career, Professional Preparation, in fall 2013.

The course was intended to prepare students for careers after graduation and dealt with resumes, headshots and budgeting. Frauenhoffer said one day, Orr asked his students to bring in photographs of several Hollywood actors they felt were physically similar to them.

He reviewed the photographs with each student in front of the rest of the class. When it was Frauenhoffer’s turn, he appeared dismissive.

“He went through them, and he just said, ‘Prettier than you, prettier than you, prettier than you.’ Very bluntly,” she said.

The activity struck Frauenhoffer as an act of intentional public humiliation.

She said she understands being blunt about a student’s work as a way of helping them, but she had never experienced anything like this. She recalls crying on the phone with her mother later that night. “[Orr] instructed us not to take it personally,” Frauenhoffer said, “but it’s hard when it’s your body and your face not to take that personally.”

Frauenhoffer said she and other students would often receive comments from Orr about their need to lose weight. The comments made her doubt her self-image and whether she had potential in theater.

During another one of Orr’s classes, he asked students to assess themselves physically. Frauenhoffer remembers describing herself as “pear-shaped” and making some self-deprecating remarks. “[Orr] laughed, and I don’t remember the exact words, but he said, ‘No one in film will find you attractive, no one in theater will find you attractive, but I am so attracted to you, you have no idea,’” Frauenhoffer said.

She laughed off the comment at the time, but in hindsight, she has come to recognize what he said as sexual harassment. It took her awhile to come to this conclusion, which is why she said she waited so long to file her Title IX complaint.

“I had no fears that he would advance on me sexually, but it was a power play,” Frauenhoffer said. “It was a power move to say, ‘Other people will say you’re ugly, but I’m attracted to you.’”

‘Privilege’ position

Frauenhoffer is not the only former student claiming that Orr helped create an environment in which some students felt uncomfortable. On June 5, former student Gabrielle Reyes posted a video on Facebook that criticized OU’s role in harboring Scamehorn as a donor and its general attitude toward student complaints. The video now has more than 6,000 views.

“There was an understanding that Tom hypersexualized a lot of the female students and some of the male students,” Reyes said in a recent Gazette interview.

Reyes said there is nothing inherently wrong with being sexual, but Orr was in an instructor role over students ranging mostly in age from 17 to 22. She recalls several occasions in which Orr remarked about students’ weight or attractiveness.

“His concept of females was very skewed, and it was very, very misogynistic,” she said. “And because he is a white man of privilege, he did not recognize that.”

Reyes believes Orr exemplified a “pre-#MeToo” mindset — one that saw sexual harassment as a part of the acting industry that those who chose to participate in it were forced to accept. She also recalls Orr complaining about the program’s lack of funding after the university revoked Scamehorn’s donor status in 2016.

“Being a man of privilege and in a position of power, he still understood the industry to be just that,” she said.

“Unfortunately, it was in a time of change, and he really was just ignorant to the feminist movement going on that was stumbling then but is now in full force.”

Continued vigilance

In an email statement to Gazette, Holt did not comment specifically on Orr but did say that the safety and well-being of students has and will continue to be her top priority.

“I know that maintaining a culture free of harassment is our collective goal and we must all continue to be vigilant in helping develop and maintain a safe learning environment by utilizing all of the resources available to us,” she said. “My commitment to this goal is and will remain firm.”

Holt also added that students who have been victims of harassment should know they have several resources available to them, including the confidential resource OU Advocates, a 24-hour hotline students can call at any time when they feel subject to sexual assault, relationship violence, stalking or harassment. The hotline is operated by OU’s Gender + Equality Center.

She also pointed students with specific complaints toward OU’s Institutional Equity Office.

“Every report is taken seriously,” she said. “I hope all will please feel free to share these resources with others.”

In a university statement made June 7, OU acknowledged to those who had shared reports of harassment that its

Former University of Oklahoma student Gabrielle Reyes posted a video to Facebook earlier this month in which she was critical of the environment within the university’s School of Drama. | Image facebook.com/gabriellereyess

response system to student complaints could be improved.

“Your stories have highlighted that there may be gaps in our reporting and response, and we are actively investigating to ensure that will not happen in the future,” the statement said. “We will always strive to do better.”

‘Harm’s way’

Reyes said she looks back at her time at OU favorably, but mostly because of the relationships she made with other students while she was there.

“OU helped me get to where I am now,” she said. “It helped me know what autonomy is, and these experiences I’ve had with Tom helped me in my worth as a person and to understand those things are not OK.” She also said the School of Drama’s female staff were not people that would have been supportive of this type of behavior, but she believes they did not speak up because they were afraid they could be fired.

Frauenhoffer said she took both positives and negatives from her time at the university and she is still trying to process her experience at the school.

“There are things about my experience that I feel very sad and angry about still,” she said. “I don’t know if I would recommend it to anyone else or not. I do want to recognize that, of course, it was not all bad, but I do feel like I was put in harm’s way at times.”

What Frauenhoffer wants from the university going forward is openness regarding past conduct and a willingness to learn and change.

“I don’t want to ruin anyone’s life,” she said. “I just want individuals to be held accountable for what they’ve allowed to happen and perpetuated. I want to help protect future students — male and female — from experiencing what I felt during my undergraduate.”

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NEWS

‘Release the Kraken’

Yes on 788 goes into its final week pushing a ‘get out the vote’ effort on medical marijuana.

By George Lang

Editor’s note: This article is part of a series examining cannabis and cannabinoids in Oklahoma leading up to the June 26 medical marijuana referendum.

As the media spending increases in the final days before the June 26 primary that will also decide the fate of State Question 788, Oklahomans will go to the polls with mixed messages over what will happen if the state legalizes medical marijuana.

For its closing campaign against the measure, the political action committee (PAC) SQ788 Is Not Medical reportedly spent $453,000 in media buys to convince citizens to vote against making medicinal cannabis legal.

However, while the PAC is putting much of its efforts toward traditional media buys during local television news broadcasts, that group’s pro-medical marijuana counterpart, Yes on 788, is spending almost no money in that sector. Jed Green, executive director of Yes on 788, said his group is almost entirely focused on getting out the vote.

“The mass media buy we saw the ‘no’ campaign throw out was completely expected,” Green said. “And so what we’ve been doing for the past several months is providing professional organization to the massive grassroots network that exists throughout the state.”

Part of that is the ability to “read the room.” While SQ788 Is Not Medical is targeting older and more conservative voters who read daily newspapers such as The Oklahoman and Tulsa World and watch local television news, Yes on 788 is going another direction.

On May 29, SoonerPoll reported that public opinion has shifted only slightly on the question since January, when 61.8 percent of Oklahomans supported medical marijuana. That number is now at 57.5 percent with 29.6 percent opposing. Green said that he believes most polling on the question is still based on a “likely voter” model and with recent surges in voter registration, the numbers could significantly change on Election Day. “Our estimates are that probably 30,000 of those 45,000 registered to vote for 788,” Green said. “We had a booth out at Rocklahoma a couple weeks back, and we registered 500 people over two days at that one location.”

‘Likely’ story

Primaries are notoriously low-turnout 6

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affairs dominated by older populations with both the civic commitment and discretionary time to hit the polling places with regularity. These voters are referred to by pollsters and reporters as “likely voters,” but the Poison, Godsmack and Stone Temple Pilots fans that Green’s group registered in Pryor at Rocklahoma don’t typically fit that category.

“One of the reasons turnout is low in primaries is because candidates and campaigns typically go in and say, ‘OK, who usually shows up to vote? Let’s go talk to them. Let’s spare our resources and talk to those folks only.’ So there’s a serious awareness issue with campaigns,” Green said.

Yes on 788’s strategy is far less nicheoriented. Rather than target a single pie piece on the demographic chart, Yes on 788 is going for the whole pie. Green said it has to happen, given SQ788 Is Not Medical’s media buy and its potential impact on likely voters.

“We have made it our business to go and talk to all the folks who showed up in the last presidential general election, which is basically three times over what your typical likely primary voting pool is,” he said. “Even though we regularly see a roughly 60-40 split in favor of 788 among likely primary voters, we will take a five-to-seven-point hit with a strong ‘no’ campaign up on TV based on the quantifiable numbers and metrics that we have.”

That potential impact could make the difference between passage and failure of the state question. Green said the key is to fight that incursion with unlikely voters, many of whom are part of 45,000 individuals who registered to vote ahead of the primary.

“Our game is not to try to contest for the very few persuade-ables left in the likely primary voting universe,” he said.

“Our effort is to persuade people to simple show up and vote. That’s what we’re in the middle of, GOTV week. I also call it ‘rush week’ because we haze voters until they get out and vote — aka, release the Kraken.”

Field game

Getting out the vote for Yes on 788 means boots on the ground, knocking on doors and making direct contact.

While Green said there will likely be some final-week allocation for radio ad buys, the best way to ensure that the pro-SQ788 constituency shows up is to knock doors and shake hands.

“We’re talking to people at their doors, we’re talking to them on the phones — that type of deal,” he said.

Beyond that, there is social media.

Green said that following the Cambridge Analytica scandal in which over 87 million Facebook users had their information harvested for the 2016 presidential election, all political ads must go through an appeals process, which slows down all buys and, consequently, their effectiveness rate. He said delays tend to last three to four days.

However, Yes on 788 is pushing its case on social media and not relying on boosting posts to get across the finish line. Green said his group reached 400,000 Oklahomans last week through Facebook alone through organic posting.

The group’s official Facebook page, Oklahomans for Cannabis, has over 33,000 likes and follows.

Green said the group successfully marshals action on Facebook and Twitter thanks to the enthusiasm and social media acuity of medical marijuana advocates. When State Sen. Ervin Yen, R-Oklahoma City, posted on Twitter his opposition to the state question after previously introducing a bill to restrict the conditions under which medical marijuana could be licensed, he was overwhelmed by pro-SQ788 responses.

That level of engagement, Green said, could make the difference on June 26.

“If you’re going to be anti-788, social media is not the place to go,” he said.

“You’ll get crushed. It’s that simple.”

And in that realm, even the efforts of the anti-medical marijuana PAC can be used against them. It is political jiu-jitsu.

“Anytime we post what the opposition is doing, we get the strongest actual response,” he said. “The ‘no’ ads that you see are actually putting fuel on the fire.”

In the final push on State Question 788, the medicinal cannabis advocacy group Yes on 788 is concentrating on getting out the vote. | Photo bigstockphoto.com

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CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL!

A L L - D A Y F U N • S A T U R D A Y, J U N E 2 3 PLUS TWO EXHIBITS! Through September 2

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pride

NEWS

March on

Lori Honeycutt takes over as OKC Pride president during a period of uncertainty. By Ben Luschen

Last year, OKC Pride celebrated the 30th anniversary of its yearly parade and LGBTQ pride month celebration.

The event has grown a large local following through the years. Some in the city’s younger generations probably could not imagine a year without the observance, but as recently as February, it appeared to some within the community that this year’s celebration might not happen.

OKC Pride had elected a new president in October, but when that person decided to resign from the role earlier this year, there was a sudden leadership void. The void was filled by Pride secretary and board member Lori Honeycutt in February, but she was left with little time to assemble this year’s event.

Now, with a completely full roster of vendors for its festival and another permitted parade event scheduled to take place 6 p.m. Sunday between N. Classen and N. Youngs boulevards on NW 39th Street, she gets emotional looking back on where the nonexistent festival progress was just a few months ago.

“It’s a very overwhelming feeling that we accomplished this when many said that it couldn’t be done,” Honeycutt said.

She did not have to commit to the work of pulling this year’s Pride celebration off in a limited amount of time, but also could not bear to see such an important community function fall by the wayside.

“I love this community, and I have to give them Pride,” she said. “There was no question to it; this is my community, too.”

Stepping up

Honeycutt is an Edmond native and recently left her corporate job to go back to law school and get a degree in civil practice. She recently celebrated her one-year wedding anniversary with her wife Jen. But just four years ago, Honeycutt was in a very different place. She was going through a divorce in a previous marriage

and was not connected with the local LGBTQ or Pride community. A friend who was better connected saw that she was in a malaise and thought Pride would be a good way to break out of it.

“A friend of mine said, ‘Come on; you need to get out of the house. Come do this,’” Honeycutt said.

She spent her first year volunteering for Pride selling T-shirts in a tent for hours at a time.

“I was only supposed to work like four-hour shifts, and I ended up working all day Saturday and all day Sunday because I had such a good time,” she said.

Honeycutt returned to her Pride experience the next year in 2015, this time taking on a larger role by helping with the volunteer list. The year after that, she became a board member, took over the beer tent and helped organize Second Chance Prom, an LGBT-positive dance event.

The volunteers are our heart. If we don’t have those, we can’t put on Pride.

Lori Honeycutt Last year, Honeycutt stepped into the role of OKC Pride secretary. Since first volunteering, she has steadily climbed the ladder until reaching the top.

Nearly every major city in the United States has a pride celebration of some kind. If Oklahoma City’s celebration were to fall by the wayside after 30 years of tradition, Honeycutt believes it would have been a blow to the city’s image.

Pride also brings a significant economic impact not only to the bars and businesses in the historic 39th District

area its festival is located in, but to Oklahoma City in general. The festival and parade events bring visitors from across the state and beyond into the city.

“People come from all over for Pride weekend,” she said. “It would have been a big impact.”

Short on support

By far the biggest challenge Honeycutt and the OKC Pride board have faced in putting together this year’s event is a dearth of corporate sponsorships. In past years, the event has had many corporate sponsors, but this year, they have been harder to come by.

“They’re nowhere — anywhere — anymore,” she said.

This year’s event includes just two main sponsors: Jack Daniel’s and The Gayly, a local LGBTQ+ newspaper. Some 39th District businesses have also contributed money toward the celebration.

Honeycutt said she simply did not have enough time to secure sponsors ahead of the event.

“Normally, to plan a Pride, it takes a whole year,” she said. “Timing could be a big issue on my part. I wasn’t able to meet last year’s quota because it wasn’t done.”

A lack of sponsor money means limitations in the programming OKC Pride is able to offer. Music and other entertainment offerings have been scaled back until the organization can restore its previous sponsorship levels.

Aside from funding, Honeycutt said this year’s Pride will likely see a significant dip in community volunteerism. Again, a lack of time and changing of hands likely contributed to the shortage. But Honeycutt believes there are a number of people who would rather enjoy Pride than volunteer for it.

Often, she said, it is assumed that Pride is someone else’s responsibility and that it will always come together just fine without community input. But that’s not the case.

“The volunteers are our heart,” she said. “If we don’t have those, we can’t put on Pride.”

OKC Pride president Lori Honeycutt first began volunteering with the organization in 2014. | Photo provided

Honeycutt said its annual festival is totally full on vendor spots, which is a first for the event.

OKC Pride has a strong local focus when compared to similar events around the country, the president said.

While the organization has gone away from that model recently, Honeycutt said it is a value she would like to restore moving forward.

She wants OKC Pride to be known as a facilitator in the local community.

“I want all the other nonprofit organizations in the community to know they can come to us,” Honeycutt said. “They can lean on us and we will help them in whatever way they might need.”

Local focus

There are also plenty of reasons for optimism around this year’s Pride.

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Primary preview

Tuesday’s primary elections feature plenty of intriguing races to coincide with increased public interest. By Ben Luschen

It is not difficult to find something to get excited about this primary season in Oklahoma.

With a major state question in play, a logjam of candidates in the gubernatorial primaries, numerous state House and Senate seat openings and remnants of political tension from the April teacher walkout underscoring it all, intrigue is not lacking this election cycle.

Bill Shapard, founder of the statewide pollster SoonerPoll, said he expects voter turnout to be about the same for Republicans during the Tuesday primaries. Participation among Democrats, however, will likely increase, driven by their unfavorable view of Gov. Mary Fallin.

Shapard also expects to see an increase in Independent and casual voters driven to the polls by State Question 788, which would legalize marijuana for medical use in Oklahoma.

“I think there will be more turnout when it comes to 788,” Shapard said, “but I think it will be less about young people and more about lapse voters coming out of the woodwork who are more casual voters where not a lot has driven them to the polls before.”

The state Legislature approved a bill last legislative session that raises teacher pay by more than $6,000 per year. Shapard said the pay raise bill was not viewed as favorable by most Oklahomans, either because they believe it did not go far enough or they disagree with raising taxes to do so. An incumbent candidate’s decision to endorse or oppose that compromise legislation might have an impact on their standings with some voters.

“I’m not necessarily sure that it will have any profound impact on the

Democrat side,” Shapard said. “On the Republican side of the ballot, however, I do believe there is a small minority that are very unhappy with that particular decision, even though it is not the majority of Republican voters.”

Shapard believes an appetite for change and a wealth of competitive races could lead to a few surprises after votes have been tallied.

“I think there will be some incumbents who will lose,” he said.

Gubernatorial bottlenecking

There is no race in the state right now with more voter intrigue than the gubernatorial one, particularly in the crowded Republican field.

Fallin was first elected in 2010, but term limits will end her eight-year run as governor in January. There are 10 candidates vying to succeed her as the Republican nominee. With such a crowded bunch, Shapard said it appears unlikely that any candidate will earn more than 51 percent of the vote, which is required to secure a spot on the November general ballot.

“There is a fight for those top two spots,” he said, “because there will definitely be a runoff.”

If a runoff is needed, the vote will be held Aug. 28.

The field of Republican gubernatorial candidates include businessman Christopher Barnett, former Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett, former state representative Dan Fisher, U.S. Air Force veteran and teacher Eric Foutch, nurse Barry Gowdy, state auditor and former Oklahoma Republican Party chairman Gary Jones, Lieutenant Governor Todd Lamb, attorney Gary Richardson, school counselor Blake

Candidates for Labor Comissioner left to right Cathy Costello, Leslie Osborn and Keith Swinton. | Photos provided

Candidates for Attorney General left to right Gentner Drummond, Mike Hunter and Angela Bonilla. | Photos provided

“Cowboy” Stephens and businessman Kevin Stitt.

Shapa rd cha racter izes t he Republican primary as a land war between the top three SoonerPoll candidates: Oklahoma City’s Cornett, Tulsa-based Stitt and Lamb, who has established himself as a favorite in the state’s rural areas.

There are two candidates on the Democratic side: former attorney general Drew Edmondson and former state senator Constance Johnson. This is also the first year Oklahoma has had a Libertarian gubernatorial primary. Their candidates are businessman Joseph “Joe Exotic” Maldonado, business consultant Rex Lawhorn and Oklahoma City Police Department employee Chris Powell.

I think there will be some incumbents who will lose.

Bill Shapard

While polling numbers indicate it is likely that state voters will continue sending Republicans to Washington, D.C., for its five U.S. Congress seats, Shapard expects a more competitive gubernatorial race than in November 2014, when incumbent Fallin defeated Democratic candidate Joe Dorman by nearly 15 percentage points.

Attorney General

There might be no more hotly contested primary than the race for Republican attorney general nominee.

Incumbent Mike Hunter and challenger Gentner Drummond have exchanged negative television ads questioning the other’s capacity for office.

In May, Hunter’s campaign began airing ads against Drummond, calling him “uncaring,” “unethical” and “unfit” to hold the position.

The other Republican challenger, Angela Bonilla, has mostly stayed out of the fray.

Hunter was appointed to the seat in February 2017 by Fallin after Scott Pruitt was selected by President Donald Trump to run the Environmental Protection Agency. Hunter is running a campaign in favor of preserving state sovereignty and prosecuting those who perpetuate the opioid addiction crisis.

The Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) political action committee recently spent $400,000 on an ad campaign supporting Hunter.

Drummond is a Tulsa-based lawyer and former Air Force captain who participated in the Gulf War. According to his campaign website, Drummond is committed to “upholding the rule of law, protecting our Constitutional rights and serving the people of Oklahoma, not the political elite.”

Drummond loaned his own cam-

paign $405,000 in response to the RAGA commercials supporting Hunter.

Bonilla is an Okmulgee-based public defender who lists her campaign priorities as defending Oklahoma agencies from litigation, protecting children from sexual predators and protecting civil rights.

The only Democratic candidate is Oklahoma City area independent attorney Mark Myles.

Labor Commissioner

Perhaps the most circumstantially unique primary matchup is the race for the Republican state labor commissioner nomination.

Candidate Cathy Costello is the widow of former labor commissioner Mark Costello, who was killed by his son, Christian Costello, after a dispute August 2015 in a Braum’s parking lot.

Cathy is a former teacher and businesswoman. Her main goals are to improve workplace safety, promote STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education as a means of bolstering the state workforce and making up for losses in workplace productivity due to untreated mental illness. Costello has been a national advocate for mental health reform since the death of her husband.

Leslie Osborn is a former state representative from Oklahoma’s District 47 who once acted as the House appropriations and budget first female chair.

She was removed from the role last year

by House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, after publicly disagreeing with the speaker’s assertion that the state Department of Human Resources owed voters an explanation for cutting $30 million in services due to lack of funding. On her campaign site, Osborn also asserts that she is an advocate for building a more educated and qualified state workforce.

Costello has approached her candidacy against Osborn with some aggression, dedicating an entire section of her campaign website to the differences between the two, labeling Osborn as a “liberal.”

Keith Swinton is also running in the Republican primary. He is a Normanbased engineer and businessman who has founded three companies: Hidden Lake Products, Ref-Works and S&H Recording Studios. He has said that, if elected, he would focus on enforcing current public policy.

The Democratic primary pits Fred Dorrell, an employee of Tulsa-based Spirit AeroSystems, against engineer Sam A. Mis-soum. Brandt Dismukes is running as an Independent candidate.

Incumbent Melissa McLawhorn Houston, who was appointed labor commissioner after Costello’s death, is not seeking re-election.

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chicken

friedNEWS Ghosts busted?

No GOPride

The Oklahoma Republican Party hasn’t been an ally to the state’s LGBTQ+ community over the years, which was again highlighted in the most recent session as the GOP-controlled Legislature put a law into effect allowing faithbased adoption agencies to deny prospective parents based on their religious beliefs.

Oklahoma County Republicans inquired about space in the upcoming Pride parade, which is akin to extending an olive branch that is burning on one end.

The GOP was denied entry, but not because of political reasons; they simply applied too late in the process, and the parade route was full, OKC Pride president Lori Honeycutt told News 9.

In a later Facebook post, Honeycutt clarified that the Democratic Party and a few other nonprofit organizations were denied entry for the same reason, but that didn’t stop News 9 from only mentioning the GOP snub, even in its online story.

At least Oklahoma County Republican Party leader Daren Ward did reach out with good intentions.

“We wanted to reach out to them because they felt that Republicans at 23rd and Lincoln have done them injustice this year,” Ward told News 9.

If you replace “this year” with “like, forever,” it would be even more accurate.

Honeycutt offered the county GOP an opportunity to set up a booth at the Pride Festival, but according to her Facebook post, the offer was declined.

For the party that loves to call other people “snowflakes,” they are sure quick to point out every time there is a perceived slight.

An Oklahoma City-based rapper is wondering whether hip-hop megastars Kanye West and Kid Cudi sampled — or perhaps plagiarized — one of his own songs on their new and incredibly popular collaborative album Kids See Ghosts. And while the claim sounds audacious, he actually makes a pretty compelling case for it.

In a guest editorial for the hip-hopcentric music blog DJBOOTH, local emcee Josh Sallee says he noticed immediately when he played the Kids See Ghosts song “Reborn” that the opening keys were nearly identical to those on his song “AWAYO” with Maryland rapper K.A.A.N., which also happens to be Sallee’s most popular Spotify song. In addition to eerily similar chords, Cudi chants “awayyyooowayyy” in the song and the melody does sound similar to the chorus on “AWAYO.” Even if the songs sound incredibly similar, it does not necessarily mean one was sampled or copied from the other, right? After all, there are only so many keys to play in different patterns.

Still, Sallee has a few interesting points.

“The thought seemed just as ridiculous then as it does now as I type it out,” Sallee’s editorial states.

“However, despite the fact that [producer] Blev and I are next-to-noname musicians from Oklahoma, based on metrics alone, ‘AWAYO’ is our biggest song to date. Additionally, the song has circulated around much loftier circles than those we normally occupy. Shortly after the song’s release three years ago, we received a call from a Shady Records [a subsidiary of Universal Music Group co-founded by rapper Eminem] A&R, who expressed interest in the song for one of his artists. We sent them the beat with the hook, but we never received a reply.”

Kids See Ghosts is an album that includes plenty of eclectic sample choices, including guitar from Kurt Cobain and a 1930s Christmas song by swing jazz vocalist and trumpeter Louis Prima. As Sallee’s post points out, West’s album Ye, released in June, contained an uncleared sample by German rapper Kareem Lotfy.

It is more than plausible that “AWAYO” crossed West’s ears in a cor-

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porate studio at some point, and obscure sampling choices are not unheard of from the rapper-producer (whose late mother, Donda West, was born and is now buried in Oklahoma).

Still, Sallee does not seem to be that upset about a possible lack of credit on Kids See Ghosts.

“Do I think they did [sample ‘AWAYO’]? Honestly, probably not,” he wrote. “But I do believe the songs sound undeniably similar, and that alone was worth a discussion. Maybe an expert in music theory will be able to shed some additional light. Either way, it was fun to dream.”

You got ratio’ed!

On Twitter, there is a phenomenon called “the ratio,” and depending on the balance of that ratio, any given tweet can be mathematically judged as an overwhelming success or a crashing failure.

For example, if rapper Meek Mill tweets that he is “taking over” BET on the weekend of the BET Awards and he gets 4,000 likes, 1,100 retweets and 165 responses, that is a healthy freaking ratio.

On the flip side, Republican National Committee chair Ronna Romney McDaniel tweets that “Anyone that does not embrace the @realDonaldTrump agenda of making America great again will be

making a mistake.” For McDaniel’s promise of pogroms for Democrats, she gets 6,600 likes; 2,100 retweets; and a whopping 28,000 responses.

Why is that ratio bad? Because Twitter only responds en masse to a tweet when it is pissed off beyond all semblance of composure.

During the week of June 10, Oklahoma Sen. Ervin Yen, R-Oklahoma City, discovered what it’s like to join the Bad Ratio Society.

Yen, a cardiac anesthesiologist, authored Senate Bill 1120, a bill that put tight restrictions on the licensure of medical marijuana, winnowing down the potential recipients to those suffering neuropathic pain, muscle spasms due to multiple sclerosis or paralysis, chemotherapy-linked nausea, loss of appetite due to cancer or AIDS or the terminally ill who will die within one year.

Absent from Yen’s list of the potentially treatable were rheumatoid arthritis patients, glaucoma patients, anxiety sufferers and early stage cancer patients who could benefit from the effects of the drug, all of whom would be better off that way than getting hooked on opioids.

Yen’s bill was transparently an effort to gum up the works on State Question 788, making marijuana only available for a tiny sliver of a percentage of Oklahomans. SB1120 had its

enacting clause stricken on April 16, effectively sending it to bill hell.

So on Sunday Funday, Yen turned his back on even those few patients he thought deserved medicinal cannabis treatment with a nasty little Twitter missive.

“Medical marijuana has no place in #Oklahoma,” Yen tweeted. “I encourage all citizens to vote NO on SQ788. Only doctors should be able to prescribe medications and when reelected I will again introduce new legislation to ensure we continue to protect our children.”

Please, will someone think of the children?!? Well, SQ788 directly addresses restrictions on granting medical marijuana licenses to people under 18 years of age. But if you can scare gullible constituents into thinking that little Duncan or little Camrie can go get a lollipop edible from Dr. Robert the Pot Pediatrician without questions asked, well, damn — them’s some good politics!

What transpired with that tweet was a bad social media week for Yen, who got pilloried online.

Over the course of the next five days, Yen’s tweet received 21 likes,

five retweets and a toxic 220 responses. Only a few of those responses were attaboys, and the rest varied from stern disagreement to fiery rebukes, including promises to vote for Yen’s opponent in the June 26 primary and an enumeration of donations he accepted from Big Pharma.

Of course, Yen has only been tweeting for a few weeks; he joined Twitter this month and had only pushed out seven original tweets and three retweets as of CFN press time. He could end up building strong Twitter game, but that’s only if the SQ788 crowd doesn’t send him packing.

Or the nurse practitioners, but that’s a CFN story for another time.

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[ THE LEGACY | CONTINUES ]

Congratulations to

Bob Funk on 35 Years

of Record Breaking Success For three and a half decades, Bob, your commitment to Excellence and your Steadfast Leadership of Express has set countless Records. It is a privilege for your friends to champion your impressive records for you...

Largest Largest Privately Privately Held Staffing Held Staffing Firm Firm in in the the U.S. U.S.

$3.7 $3.7 Billion Billion in in Sales Sales for for 2017 2017

Over Over 800 800 Express Express Locations Locations Worldwide Worldwide

Millions Millions of of People People given given hope hope through through aa job job

540,000 540,000 Employed Employed in 2017 in 2017

Millions Millions of of Dollars Dollars Given to Charity Given to Charity

Express is blessed with your continued hard work, commitment and leadership. As you enter this new chapter, we wish you and your

organization all the best in stewarding and growing this LEGACY OF RECORDS. While your work to further the mission of Express is unwavering, we hope this new role will allow you the time to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Thank you, Bob, for giving us so much. You have blessed many

grateful people and wonderful organizations. Through your leadership, the philanthropic footprint of Express spans the world over.

The Express team helped to employ more than 540,000 people in 2017 alone.

Children’s Miracle Network The Oklahoma Youth Expo National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum Boy Scouts of America Make-A-Wish

Oklahoma State University OU Foundation Express Ranches Progressive Scholarship Program Wounded Warriors

May God continue to bless you and Express on your journey of providing HOPE and in your MISSION to put a million people a year to work! Enjoy this time, Bob. Enjoy your family and friends who love you dearly. Enjoy your achievements. Enjoy some of the most beautiful country on God’s green earth, Express Ranches. Thank you for sharing your success and instilling your western heritage and values in all of us.

Bob continues to share his western heritage. Through his famous Express UU Bar Ranches in New Mexico, he proudly and generously supports the following great charities:

Bob Funk and his famous Express UU Bar Ranches in New Mexico proudly support charities all across the United States.

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Future Farmers of America March of Dimes Oklahoma Youth Expo Southern Nazarene University Toby Keith Foundation

Paid for by Oklahomans Promoting Advancement, Inc.

Bob Funk, founder and current President of Express Employment Professionals, can still be found hard at work in his office.

EAT & DRINK

re v ie w

As a Wednesday special, the eggs Benedict with a drink and a side of home fries only costs $5.95. | Photo Jacob Threadgill

Fore-course meal The Golf Club Diner at Lake Hefner Golf Club is one of the best deals in the city. By Jacob Threadgill The Golf Club Diner 4491 S. Lake Hefner Drive | 405-843-1565 What works: The hollandaise on the eggs Benedict is light and airy, and the home fries are perfectly crispy and seasoned.

What needs work: One vegetarian sandwich and meat-heavy salads leave little room for a plant-based diet.

Tip: The diner is open from dawn until dusk, depending on the season.

The question you’re more likely to get at the restaurant with the best eggs Benedict and hamburger deals in town isn’t “Do you want fries with that?” It’s “How’d you shoot today?”

The Golf Club Diner at Lake Hefner Golf Club, 491 S. Lake Hefner Drive, about a quarter mile north on Meridian Avenue off Northwest Expressway, is open from dusk till dawn, depending on the season.

Chef Tim Lienke took over the restaurant in 1999 when he arrived from Classen Grill, bringing some of its recipes, including its hollandaise sauce, baked cheese grits and New Orleans bread pudding, to the restaurant by the links.

The hollandaise is the key to the diner’s most successful item, the classic eggs Benedict. Hollandaise can be one of the more difficult menus items to make from scratch, and the diner’s version is excellent.

“I think it’s more than just being from scratch, although many places use a mix, because you have to hit the perfect

balance of white wine and lemon juice,” Lienke said. “The eggs are cooked up the point of being done, but not scrambled, and the butter has to be the same temperature to get proper emulsification.”

The result is a light and airy hollandaise with acidic notes of lemon and creamy notes of butter that will trick your brain into thinking that there is cheese in the sauce. It is such a difference from the thick and viscous hollandaise that originates from a packet.

A few readers suggested that I check out the diner and mentioned the eggs Benedict, but I was expecting what amounts to a short-order kitchen. I figured it would only have a few things on the menu but do them well.

This is not the case at all. Guests go through a line and pick out a drink before ordering with the chef off a menu that includes large selection of all-day breakfast, lunch and dinner options.

After the order is placed, guests wait for their number to be called and pick up food along with requisite condiments behind the ordering counter.

Lienke said that the menu has expanded slowly and naturally over the years as specials have made their way to the permanent menu. Classic eggs Benedict ($8.95) is joined by Eggs Arnold ($7.95), which replaces the ham with sausage and hollandaise with country gravy. At many places, the Arnold might be a tongue-in-cheek reference to turncoat Benedict Arnold, but not at The Golf Club Diner.

“We’re at a golf course, so it’s Arnold Palmer,” Lienke said.

Eggs Blackstone ($8.95) top a toasted English muffin with bacon and grilled tomato with hollandaise and a poached egg. The Eggs Norwegian ($9.95) subs in smoked salmon.

I’ve had all kinds of variations on eggs Benedict through the years: fried green tomatoes, chicken-fried chicken and steak (I’m sensing a theme here), and it’s hard to beat the classic. The slice of ham at The Golf Club Diner drapes over the side of the English muffin and allows for a consistent bite.

I arrived at the restaurant around noon on a Wednesday when they had eggs Benedict as a special that included a side and drink for $5.95. At a price less than most fast-food comwbo meals, you can get a meal prepared with attention

and care. The home fries were perfectly crispy and seasoned.

The menu has expanded in recent years to include a few Tex-Mex-inspired dishes like huevos rancheros and “Texican” omelet and salad, but the basis of the lunch menu highlights the various Oklahoma hamburgers ($8.458.95 with a choice of side). Using quarter-pound patties, the diner offers Theta, Caesar and onion burgers. In addition, there is a chili cheeseburger, a blackened blue burger and a California burger ($9.45) with guacamole, bacon and chipotle mayonnaise.

If you’re looking for something sweet, the bread pudding isn’t the only dish made famous by New Orleans on the menu. Instead of making beignets in the style popularized by Café Du Monde, Lienke opts for a French preparation. Beignets come two for $1.95 all the way up to $4.95 for eight.

“The New Orleans style is more like a sopapilla, rolled out and cut. The French style is more like a cream puff; it is not rolled out and goes directly into the fryer,” he said.

Lienke said the diner’s hours follows the sundial. Its first goal is to be available to the golfers at Lake Hefner Golf Club’s two 18-hole courses, but anyone can stop by the cafe that has plenty of seating, including views of the course with the lake in the distance.

The diner opens as early as 6 a.m. during the summer but is open by 7 a.m. even if it is still pre-dawn during other parts of the year. It will close as early as 5:45 p.m., but during the summer, it is open until 9 p.m.

I haven’t swung a golf club in at least 15 years, but The Golf Club Diner at Lake Hefner Golf Club gives me a reason to visit the course with excitement.

During the summer, The Golf Club Diner is open 6 a.m.-9 p.m. Winter hours are 7 a.m.-5:45 p.m. | Photo Jacob Threadgill O kg a z e t t e . c o m | j u n e 2 0 , 2 0 1 8

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Helpful bounty

TLC Donation Garden grows produce for Homeless Alliance and BritVil Community Food Pantry.

By Jacob Threadgill

Four years ago, gardener Jenn Mabry looked at the vast array of gardening plots near the Chesapeake Energy Corporation campus off 63rd Street and Shartel Avenue and thought, “There is no way I can do this.”

After sitting neglected for a year and a half, the garden that employees once used to grow produce was overgrown and full of weeds.

“This is my home, and it’s been my creative outlet,” Mabry said. “I started it from ground up; I didn’t think there was any way I could do it. I cried for the first six months, and then got friends to help, and we reached out to the community.”

With the help of volunteers, Mabry now oversees an organic TLC Donation Garden, 6212 N. Shartel Ave., full of produce, herbs and flowers that fill 42 of the garden’s 63 plots. She harvests on Saturdays, Mondays a nd Wednesdays, and the garden offerings shift depending on the season.

Apples and pears grow on trees that line the garden’s entryway arches while squash and blackberries grow on the opposite end of the property. In the winter, the garden switches to seasonal greens and root vegetables. It is able to grow other crops using low covered tunnels and frost blankets.

“If it’s snowing outside, we’re here,” Mabry said. “Isn’t that crazy?”

On any given day, there are between one and five full-time volunteers at the garden, which donates much of its produce — about 5,000 pounds last year — to Homeless Alliance and BritVil Community Food Pantry.

“Food pantries and shelters never really get much fresh produce,” said Kinsey Crocker, director of communications at Homeless Alliance. “People usually donate canned goods, which we need, but it’s really good to get things like apples, radishes, Swiss char and cabbage. We serve about 300 people a day, so we need all the help we can get.”

Work around the garden is bolstered on the weekend and on Wednesday nights as Mabry welcomes groups from local churches, Girl Scouts and other eager community members. Every other Saturday at noon, Mabry hosts classes designed to get people started on their first home gardens or make ones already in progress flourish.

June 30, Mabry hosts a class to fight pests without using chemicals. A July 14 class gets people ready for a fall garden, and the July 28 class provides tips on how to grow transplants at home.

“We want to teach them how to garden sustainably and organically,” Mabry said. “We want to increase visibility of the donation garden by drawing them here. We have volunteers that come back

Flowers attract much-needed pollinators to the garden. | Photo Jacob Threadgill

to help after [being introduced to the garden during] classes because they are excited about the concept.”

Crocker said they she started a home garden after first getting involved with the donation garden. “[Mabry] teaches them stuff that they can apply at your own house, but they’re also helping out the Homeless Alliance food pantry, so it is a win-winwin,” she said.

One of the keys to keeping the garden pesticide-free is to attract pollinators like bees and butterflies, but also to bring in wasps, which sting and deflate species of worms invasive to tomatoes and cabbage. Another method of organic farming is companion planting.

Borage, a flowering edible plant that tastes like cucumber, grows next to a tomato plant and helps deter the tomato hornworm. Mabry said basil grown next to the tomato plant improves the tomatoes’ output and flavor.

“We don’t use any chemicals, so we do a lot of hand-picking for insects,” she said as she picked.

Educational work

Local Girl Scout Troop 577 got involved with the donation garden and helped transform the first plot that Mabry brought back to life when she took over the garden four years ago. They have transformed it into a demo garden for use at a home, complete with flowers, herbs, vegetables and a fountain. The Girl Scout troop earned its bronze medal for the project but still returns to the garden regularly to volunteer.

On a Saturday in early June, the troop was

helping create ornaments made out of cardboard and topped with mirrors and brightly colored ceramic shards to attract birds and helpful insects. The troop then trained their attention on building trellises and making butterfly watering stations.

“Insects get tired and they need to rest for water, just like us,” Mabry told a young volunteer.

Girl Scout mom Kayla McNeill and her daughter Skyler have begun planting strawberries, cucumbers, asparagus and onions in their home garden after picking up tips from Mabry. Before getting involved with the garden, McNeill said Skyler daughter didn’t want to eat many vegetables.

“With the benefit to the Homeless Alliance, [Troop 577 has] gotten to see something from a seed grow into something that can be harvested and donated to the Homeless Alliance to provide fresh, organic vegetables,” McNeill said. “[Skyler] learned to start eating broccoli and asparagus. They feel so proud of this place and what it accomplishes.”

Mabry works for TLC Garden Centers, which maintains the donation garden, and Chesapeake still owns the land but allows TLC to work it. The donation center is kept alive through donations collected during its biweekly classes and the power of volunteers.

“If I don’t have volunteers, this doesn’t happen,” Mabry said. “I could maintain three plots on my own.”

Visit facebook.com/tlcdonationgarden.

Gardener Jenn Mabry shows off a freshly harvested carrot from TLC Donation Garden. | Photo Jacob Threadgill

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Boom! brunch

Sunday Gospel Brunch, ‘church in a gay bar,’ delivers quick-witted laughs and good food.

By Jacob Threadgill

When Out magazine named The Boom! one of the top 200 gay bars in the world in 2013, it singled out Sunday Gospel Brunch as the one event you don’t want to miss, and for good reason.

The show has been led by drag queens Rev. Kitty Bob Aimes and Rev. Norma Jean Goldstein since 2009, not long after the bar and restaurant moved to its current location at 2218 NW 39th St. Brett Young, who is The Boom’s coowner with John Gibbons, plays Aimes.

Young has performed around the country since graduating from Oklahoma City College, according to The Oklahoman, working as artistic director for a theater in Wichita, Kansas, taking a gig with the Osmonds and performing in the first European tour of Oklahoma!

When the opportunity came to move to The Boom!, Young relied on experience with a construction company to help build much of the now 9-year-old building himself. Young is also the main writer for the Sunday Gospel Brunch, which includes lip-synched song performances complete with comical crowd work and four segments built around interactions with normal co-host Jeffrey Meeks (Goldstein) and audience participation.

With two shows noon and 1:30 p.m.

Sunday, The Boom! operates like a welloiled dinner theater machine. There are two bars: one near to the right of the entrance where patrons can pregame for the show and another in the stage room.

Well-oiled machine

Isabelle de Borchgrave, Marie de’ Medici, 2006, based on a 1595 portrait by Pietro Facchetti in the collection of the Palazzo Lancellotti, Rome.

Photo: Andreas von Einsiedel.

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I arrived for the 1:30 p.m. Father’s Day show a few minutes early to find staff quickly cleaning the stage room for its second show and was seated by 1:35 p.m. A server takes drink orders while seating large groups of families and friends in an expedient manner.

The menu is a pretty straightforward

The breakfast burger and au gratin hash-browned potatoes | Photo Jacob Threadgill

brunch menu devoid of any truly odd Frankenstein breakfast and lunch mash-ups. The chicken-fried steak ($14.50) — angus beef fried and served on a bed of roasted potatoes and topped with gravy and two fried eggs — earned good remarks from staff and diners around me.

There is a steak and eggs Benedict ($16.25), three types of omelets, a French toast plate ($9.75), a choice of meat or veggie quiche topped with hollandaise ($9), biscuits and gravy ($8.50), a bagel sandwich ($8.50) and a breakfast burrito ($8.75).

I nearly ordered the smoked salmon bagel ($11.50), a toasted bagel topped with cream cheese, smoked salmon, diced boiled egg, red onion and capers.

It seemed to be one of the most popular items of the afternoon and was aesthetically pleasing when brought out from the kitchen a few minutes before the show began.

I opted to go with the breakfast burger ($11.50) to test the kitchen because I assumed the salmon and bagel were not made in-house. A halfpound beef patty is topped with a fried egg, bacon and cheese that comes with a side of au gratin hash-browned potatoes and sliced tomato.

The burger is exactly what I’d want for a hangover cure on a bun if I was in need. The burger is well-cooked, and the combination of all four ingredients, which are accompanied by a heavy helping of mayonnaise, has enough grease to waylay the residual headaches and spins from the previous night’s escapades.

I found that the burger greatly benefitted from the slice of tomato, if only to give it some acidic contrast. It might benefit if the mayonnaise transformed into an aioli with either lemon or herb infusion to bring

some brightness to the dish, but overall, it was a very enjoyable dish.

The au gratin hash-browned potatoes were essentially a hash brown casserole that I’m assuming was baked early in the morning and kept warm for both services. It hit all the creamy and starchy notes you want in a casserole, if the once-crispy top had gone slightly chewy while keeping warm.

Alcohol served during the show includes mimosas and bloody marys. The group next to me discovered a hidden surprise in the pitcher of mimosas ($25): vodka.

“It’s like a new drink: a Screwmosa,” they said.

High-energy roasts

Not long after the server cleared the table, Elvis’ version of “Swing Down Sweet Chariot” began playing over the speakers to signify the show was about to begin.

Aimes emerges from behind the curtain in trademark blue-and-yellow robes with a blonde wig and glasses while lip-synching to “I Saw The Light / Do Lord / I’ll Fly Away” by Jim Hendricks. Aimes goes through the crowd, high-kicking, showing off her girdle and picking up her robes and placing them over willing participants in the crowd.

She welcomes the crowd to “church in a gay bar” while beginning crowd work to warm up the audience for an afternoon of one-liners, roasts and shock-laughs.

“Oh, are you a family?” Aimes asks a large group. “You look like the state fair.”

The barbs come fast and furious.

“Is that a Hawaiian shirt? The way you eat, you should be gay. You’re putting away that burrito. How long have you been straight? All your life?

Well, we don’t count that weekend at the Delta Chi house,” Aimes said.

With Goldstein out for Father’s Day weekend, Aimes brought out Lux Bentley, who took the stage with a large

pink wig and panache to match.

“I see you’ve been playing with the Kool-Aid again,” Aimes said of Bentley’s wig. “I wanted to go with Ronald McDonald but ended up with [disgraced Trinity Broadcasting Network founder] Jan Crouch instead.”

Aimes and Bentley sit behind a desk filled with kitschy and real religious iconography for a Gospel News segment to riff on real-life weird news stories, which include the viral clip of a dog at the Tulsa Drillers game, chasing baseballs. The duo brings members from the crowd on stage to celebrate birthdays and then welcomes a group of three from the audience for a singalong to “Just A Little Talk with Jesus” by The Statler Brothers as Bentley brought out pompoms and a traditional Jesus cutout that, when flipped, revealed a depiction of Jesus with a Pride flag and Black Lives Matter sign.

Bentley gave an emotive and passionate solo performance to Vickie Winans’ “Long As I Got King Jesus” before reconvening to another set of jokes built around Twitter musings. The show closed with a rendition of The Happy Goodmans’ “Looking for a City” as Aimes passed out white napkins for the crowd to wave to the tune.

The whole event is very well-run, but certainly not for the faint of heart.

“I’d love to come back and bring my most conservative friend, just to see their reaction,” said a person seated next to me.

The show adds a $5 cover charge to the bill, and it’s a deal hard to beat. The food and drink is reasonably priced, and the show is worth more than $5 alone.

The Boom! hosts free shows at 8 and 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday night for Pride Week and a drag marathon that will start after Sunday’s Pride parade and go until 2 a.m.

Visit theboomokc.com.

Kitty Bob Aimes was joined by guest host Lux Bentley at the Father’s Day edition of The Boom!’s Sunday Gospel Brunch. | Photo Jacob Threadgill

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g a z e di b l e s

eat & DRINK

From the grill

Summer is now officially here, and for many people, nothing symbolizes the season quite like firing up the grill. What if you don’t want to wash your own dishes, though?

These seven restaurants allow you to enjoy fresh charcoal taste without having to clean up afterward.

by Jacob Threadgill | Photos by Jacob Threadgill, Gazette / file and provided

Wagyu Japanese BBQ

3000 W. Memorial Road, Suite 105 wagyujapanesebbqokc.com 405-285-9796

The charcoal grill at the center of each table allows guests to be both meat curator and chef while enjoying a sociable meal of Japanese-style yakiniku.

Choose from high-quality Wagyu and Angus prime beef that comes a la carte or from a selection of prix-fixe menus.

Smoke pours out of the cherry woodsmoked filet, an excellent choice, as it comes tableside along with the tare wagyu zabuton.

Ok-Yaki

9 E. Edwards St. thepatriarchedmond.com 405-285-6670

The Patriarch Craft Beer House & Lawn has long been one of the best places to enjoy a craft beer in the metro area, but the addition of Jonathon Stranger’s Ok-Yaki concept puts it over the top.

Choose from the large selection of craft beer while munching on grilled meat and vegetable skewers (yakitori), and though the menu lists sandwiches as “sliders,” they are much bigger than what you might expect.

Johnnie’s Charcoal Broiler

2652 W. Britton Road johnniesburgers.com | 405-751-2565

This Oklahoma City institution isn’t resting on its laurels. With new Charcoal Broiler locations in Moore this July and Midwest City in the fall, the venerable franchise is expanding to give fans more options for its famous Theta and Caesar burgers. Each burger is cooked on its titular charcoal broiler for a smoky, crispy finish.

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Musashi’s

El Pollo Chulo

Flame Brazilian Steakhouse

Beyond just the fire emanating from the onion sitting on the hibachi grill, Musashi’s also offers items that are cooked on a robata grill, mainly its appetizers. You can get items like baconwrapped asparagus, duck with scallion, salmon and shrimp with pineapple that benefit from the kiss of charcoal.

Fred Tavangar has run this restaurant that focuses on flame-grilled chicken, steak and even salmon at its original Warr Acres location since 1989. With a second location, El Pollo Chulo’s commitment to fresh, healthy food has an audience. Choose from bowls, salad, burritos and even chicken paella at one of two El Pollo Chulo locations.

Even if you don’t want to gamble, there is an opportunity to visit Grand Resort for the grilled meats that arrive quickly with a lot of variety. Flame operates the same way as chains Texas de Brazil and Fogo de Chão, in which servers bring a variety of meat to your seat unless told otherwise.

4315 N. Western Ave. musashis.com | 405-602-5623

7220 S. Western Ave. elpollochulo.com | 405-602-6066

777 Grand Casino Boulevard, Shawnee grandresortok.com/flame 405-964-4777

Paseo Grill

2909 Paseo St. paseogrill.com | 405-601-1079

There are many restaurants with “grill” in the name that ironically don’t have many grilled items on the menu. This is not the case with Paseo Grill, as its lunch and dinner menus feature a variety of grilled chicken, filet, tenderloin and salmon. The signature salmon is grilled and topped with beurre blanc, smoked jicama and sweet pepper confetti that is served with toasted pine nut orzo and cucumber salad.

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ARTS & CULTURE

pride

39th District Association is working to beautify its area, bringing color to a neighborhood that spent years trying to be as nondescript as possible. | Photo Karson Brooks

District goals

39th District hopes to bring new beauty and services to Oklahoma City’s LGBTQ+ district.

By Joshua Blanco

Depending on when you visit, Oklahoma City’s version of a “gayborhood” might seem like a far cry from the bustling shops of New York City’s West Village or the sand-laden streets of Provincetown. In a major revitalization project, a community of hard-working individuals are banding together in an effort to change that.

Sandwiched between Youngs Boulevard on the west and Pennsylvania Avenue on the east, 39th District — an area properly named after the street that runs through it — is a place Diversity Center of Oklahoma calls “the heart of the LGBTQ+ community.” And while it has been around for several decades, serving individuals from all walks of life, only recently have there been substantial efforts to renovate the district in its entirety.

“Right now, let’s face it — it’s almost an urban blight — even though inside the clubs are nice and clean. … Just to walk down 39th Street, it just doesn’t have really good curb appeal,” said Craig Poos, president of 39th District Association.

Poos owns two local businesses in the district: Apothecary 39 and Phoenix Rising.

According to Lauren Zuniga, director of 39th District Association, the area is home to 45 businesses and organizations. Revitalizing the district would serve to bring awareness to these places while simultaneously creating an environment that welcomes all individuals, gay or straight, to enjoy a part of the city that has much to offer in the forms of community and entertainment.

Funding to accommodate this vision comes from a combination of grants and donations, business membership and the Commercial District Revitalization Program (CDRP), Zuniga said.

“We’re also working with the national Route 66 association because they have grants for beautification and things like that where we can restore some of these historic buildings,” Poos said.

Voters also approved the Better Street, SaferCityprogramthatisexpectedtoallocate money to the district for street resurfacing enhancementbylatesummer.Poosexplained that 39th District is priority number six on a list of 52 approved projects.

“As of right now, we are on the priority funding list for a new streetscape.

That’ll include better parking, sidewalks and lighting,” Zuniga said.

“There’s no real crosswalks or proper lighting, so that’s going to be a huge safety improvement.”

Beautify39, the district’s official renovation project, seems to be a promising resolution in the way of area revitalization. This includes putting together a service team, enhancing the streetscape and the installation of a mural. Of course, these endeavors come with difficulties.

Though 39th District Association hopes to install more than just one mural in the future, they were hoping to have one already completed for the upcoming OKC Pride Festival, the largest privately funded event in Oklahoma. According to the 39th District Association website, the owner of the building where the mural was supposed to be painted rescinded his decision.

“When you’re dealing with different people, you can think you know them.

And then you don’t,” Poos said.

Still, members of the association remain in good spirits, making their optimism clear in regard to the progress they’ve made since becoming an official district in 2013.

“It’ll come around,” Poos said.

“Where we are now, it’s become visible that there are changes happening. In the prior years, it was like, ‘We’re making progress; you just can’t really see it just yet.’”

Future pride

The board isn’t wasting any time planning out the future of the district. Zuniga discussed the idea of monthly events,

leaning toward those that focused more on music and arts. She also raised the possibility of a food truck event and mentioned the association is currently working to obtain a grant for a dog park.

Poos said he has been entertaining the idea of collaborating with local car clubs to do a monthly car show, which would serve to further diversify 39th Street.

“When you think of gay bars, you don’t necessarily often think of a muscle car,” Poos said.

The success of the district stems from the desire of these individuals to create a space where anyone can feel at home.

“We are not necessarily trying to just be an LGBTQ district. We want to expand and be more than that,” Zuniga said. “What else can we embrace? We’d like to be more vibrant, fun, welcoming, colorful — just a place everyone can come and hang out. We welcome everyone to spend time in the district.”

Still, the district has been successful in maintaining the annual OKC Pride Festival, a cornerstone event that brings individuals together from across the state.

“We definitely collaborate and work together. … We’re doing what we can.

Hopefully, in the future, we get to do more to collaborate,” Zuniga said. “We’re here to welcome and support Pride.”

Alison Scott, entertainment chairman and secretary of OKC Pride, said that a symbiotic relationship between the OKC Pride board and 39th District Association is essential in taking the steps necessary to move forward.

“We will be there to enhance them and help them in any way we can to get that section completed. … I don’t feel like it’s an us and a them. We’re all wanting the same goal,” Scott said.

“With the changes they’re going to make in this area, that’s going to also possibly bring in new business. And those new businesses donate to the Pride, which, in turn, gives us more funding so that we can put on another festival.”

Service and strength

A sense of unanimity is prevalent among members of the community, acting as the driving force in moving forward with the plans to create a better district for all.

“There’s just great unity within all the business owners and us,” said senior pastor Neill Coffman of Expressions Church. “We all seem to have the same

goal and the same drive: to want to see 39th become something beautiful. The people that live in that area and the people around Oklahoma City that want to go there deserve that. … They’re the ones who deserve for us to improve and to work hard to improve the area that they call home. A church is supposed to be a servant to the community.”

Kelley Blair, founder and CEO of Diversity Center of Oklahoma City, hopes people will have better access and more knowledge about the services it provides when the renovations are completed. Diversity Center houses OKC Pride in addition to providing health care services to members of the community. They are also actively involved in advocacy.

According to Blair, people she has talked to are excited about the renovations that are already underway.

“It makes them feel secure and safe,” she said.

But life in the district wasn’t always so nice, and people weren’t always so supportive.

“I‘ve been told by some of the elders in the community they would have to have three pieces of gender-appropriate clothing on or the lights would flash to let them know the police were coming. … Just all this nonsense, you know? Just living in fear … the way that it used to be. But I think over the years, through activism and advocating from the community, it’s changed,” Zuniga said.

Those stories offer some insight to why the district is the way it is today.

“That’s when you found so many gay bars were just very clandestine — you couldn’t tell necessarily what they were by looking at the building. So you just kind of had to be in the know, and I think that’s one of the reasons why, for the most part, 39th Street looks nondescript,” Poos said. “But with the success of equal rights movements, people can … feel comfortable being themselves no matter how they identify.”

That’s just the sort of inclusiveness the community hopes to instill in the district long before the renovations are complete. However, the date of completion is still unknown.

“It’s just a matter of showing developers that we’re worth investing in,” Zuniga said. “And I think it’s a really good time to invest in this area.”

O kg a z e t t e . c o m | j u n e 2 0 , 2 0 1 8

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pride

ARTS & CULTURE

Perennial parade

OKC Pride’s annual parade makes sure to include the entire community. By Jeremy Martin

As its name suggests, the plot for J. J. Austrian’s children’s book Worm Loves Worm is pretty straightforward.

“You don’t know if they’re both boys or both girls, but they’re in love with each other, and they want to marry each other,” said Shantel P. Mandalay, who recently read the book at the Oklahoma Drag Queen Story Hour she hosts monthly at Sunnyside Diner. “They decide who wants to wear the bride’s outfit and who wants to wear the groom’s outfit, and then they decide they don’t want to be typical, so one wore the dress with the top hat and the other wore the tuxedo with the veil.”

Mandalay — who also performs at local venues including The Boom!, Frankie’s and Tramps — will return as co-host of this year’s OKC Pride Parade alongside Raven Delray. Mandalay said her experience working with children is helpful to her as a parade host.

“I think it’s important to relate to the community and the people that are out there watching the parade,” Mandalay said. “You have to realize that it is a family event, and so there’s kids involved. You have to keep it at a level of professionalism. Usually drag queens are known for their catty comments and things they say on the microphone, but with this being a family event, you have to make sure that you’re professional and that everyone has a good time and they’re able to laugh and enjoy themselves as well.”

Though some relate Pride events to adult-oriented nightlife, Mandalay said many of the events are designed with everyone in mind.

“Most people think that it revolves around the bars, but … the festival runs throughout the weekend and so there’s a

lot of booths and things set up for old and young alike,” Mandalay said. “It’s not just a bar thing. It’s a community activity.”

When a friend approached Mandalay about bringing Drag Queen Story Hour to Oklahoma City, she was skeptical about how a children’s event hosted by a drag queen would be received here.

“Uh, I don’t think there’ll be a lot of support for it,” Mandalay remembers saying, but all 100 available spots for recent Story Hours, in which Mandalay reads a book about “being who you are and appreciating yourself for who you are” and then helps children create crafts based on the book and on drag queen fashion, have been claimed within 10-15 minutes of being made available.

Mandalay is excited that the event is so popular with families.

“I’ve been able to combine being a teacher with being a drag queen and do it all at once, and it’s been very successful,” she said.

For Mandalay, finding satisfaction in oneself as a member of the LGBTQ+ community is a major point of Pride.

“Pride is an opportunity for everyone to come together and celebrate who we are as individuals and be proud of who we are,” Mandalay said.

Motherly love

When Sara Cunningham first attended Pride events, she wasn’t sure what to expect. The location, along 39th Street where many of OKC’s gay bars are located, was an area she’d warned her son to stay away from since he first came out to her.

She said she was afraid he’d become involved in either “a hate crime or an orgy.”

However, her initial Pride experience would change her mind and, eventually, the course of her life.

Shantel P. Mandalay co-hosts the 2018 Pride Parade with Raven Delray. | Photo provided

“That was my first interaction with the community that I just fell in love with,” said Cunningham, who would go on to found the organization Free Mom Hugs. “The next year, I made a homemade button, and I pinned it to a sundress and I just made myself available to the communit y, w it h anyone who made eye contact with me. I’d say, ‘Can I offer you a free hug or a high-five?’ because not ever y one ’s a hugger. … And that was the beginning of it. By the end of the first day, I was covered from head to toe with glitter, and the stories that I heard of alienation and separation from our community and their families, the churches — it was just devastating.”

The following year, she joined with several other likeminded moms determined to “change the world, one hug at a time” and marched in the parade behind the Free Mom Hugs banner.

They were thrilled with the response.

“Kids were coming out from the barricades,” Cunningham said, “and older people were coming out of the bars, just to get hugs.”

Though she said she has never been interested in politics, the 2016 election inspired Cunningham to lead a group to Washington, D.C., upset that she felt like “my straight son has more rights than my gay son.” A second tour followed this year in support of her book How We Sleep at Night, detailing her experience with learning to accept and love her son for who he is. Both tours made a point to depart from the same spot she once warned her son to stay away from.

“We always leave from 39th Street,” Cunningham said. “We have a big kickoff there. I want to put 39th Street on the map. I think it needs to be celebrated and recognized as an important part of our history and our future.”

2018 will be Free Mom Hugs’ third year to have a table set up at Pride and its first to run the beer tent.

“We’re just trying to encourage the community that we love them and we’re allies and friends and fighting for them Free Mom Hugs will run the beer tent at this year’s Pride events. | Photo provided

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and to encourage mothers to have authentic relationships with their children,” Cunningham said. “I’m just doing things that I wish someone would’ve done when I was trying to figure this out. There’s a mom out there like me then; there’s a mom out there now who needs a mom like me now.”

For some members of the LGBTQ+ community, feeling accepted is “a matter of life or death,” and Free Mom Hugs takes its mission very seriously.

“We’ve been involved with the community enough to see the damage done by religion, by fear and ignorance,” Cunningham said. “Last year, we were set right up front where the main entrance is. We had protestors, and the moms were able to go in front of those protestors and usher the patrons in and say ‘Just come on in here. You go with your friends. You have fun. Don’t you pay them no mind.’ And we shut that down; you know, we wouldn’t tolerate it.”

Official OKC Pride events begin 8 p.m. Friday with opening remarks and the national anthem and culminate in the annual parade beginning 6 p.m.

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Pride groundwork

A decade after Stonewall, Oklahoma City’s fight for gay rights went to the courtroom. By Jacob Threadgill

The birth of the national gay liberation movement is often credited to the 1969 protests led by patrons of Stonewall Inn to police harassment in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village.

Oklahoma City’s formation for gay rights as a political force didn’t begin until 1978 — not because the city didn’t have a large LGBTQ community — according to Rose State College associate dean Aaron Bachhofer, but because it lacked a political rallying point.

Bachhofer published his 400-page dissertation The Emergence and Evolution of the Gay and Bisexual Male Subculture in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with Oklahoma State University in 2006.

The spark of the movement arrived in the form of a bill co-sponsored by Oklahoma Senator Mary Helm (R-Oklahoma City) and Rep. John Monks (D-Muskogee) that allowed state school boards to fire teachers for being gay or simply “promoting a homosexual agenda.”

“It could be interpreted very broadly,” Bachhofer said of HB1629, which would later be known simply as the Helm Bill, in a recent phone interview with Oklahoma Gazette. “If you were a colleague of a teacher that was receiving harassment for being gay and you said ‘stop,’ theoretically, that is ‘promoting the homosexual agenda.’”

Angles originated federal lawsuits that led to the end of police harrassment in the 39th Street neighborhood. | Photo Gazette / file

The Helm Bill earned the support of former Miss Oklahoma Anita Bryant — a brand ambassador for Florida Citrus Commission who was voted one of the Most Influential Women in America three years in a row by Good Housekeeping magazine.

Bryant founded the Save Our Children campaign in response to anti-discrimination legislation based on sexuality passed in her new home, Miami, Florida.

With the backing of Conservative leaders like Jerry Falwell, George Will and Pat Robertson, Save Our Children successfully led the movement to nullify the anti-discrimination law in Miami and similar ones around the country, which Bryant described as an “insidious attack on God and His laws.”

It is the Helm Bill and Bryant’s appearances in Oklahoma that led Oklahoma City attorney William “Bill” Rodgers to found the activist group Oklahomans for Human Rights (OHR).

“It was the first quasi-political, organized, focused group that lobbied effectively for equal protection for gays and lesbians in Oklahoma,” Bachhofer continued on page 24

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ARTS & CULTURE

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wrote in his dissertation. “It also tapped into a heretofore-invisible element within the gay community — the professional class.

Wealthy and professional gay men had never been out to the community at large for fear or losing their status in the community.”

OHR, with the help of National Gay Task Force and the Oklahoma chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), filed a lawsuit against the Helm Bill by naming the Oklahoma City Board of Education as a defendant and using recent Oklahoma City University graduate Stan Easter as its plaintiff. Rodgers represented Easter.

The suit argued that Easter, a gay man, was threatened with the loss of earning a living, along with other LGBT teachers, for the rest of their lives as well as violation of their First Amendment rights.

The Helm Bill survived its first step through the court system as U.S. District Judge Luther Eubanks upheld the school board’s right to fire employees engaging in “public” gay activity but laid the groundwork for First Amendment objections in the bill by saying that constitutional issue would arise if the school board terminated a teacher “who merely advocates equality in or tolerance of homosexuality.”

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals heard National Gay Task Force v. Board of Education of City of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on those grounds in 1984 and found unconstitutional language in the bill that encouraged “punishment of teachers for public homosexual conduct” while saying that the board could fire a gay teacher for sexual misconduct — the same as heterosexual teachers.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case in early 1985, but a fluke in circumstances prevented the decision from becoming the law of the land. Despite hearing arguments, Justice Lewis Powell did not cast a vote on the case due to illness, which ended in a 4-4 tie and automatically affirmed the lower court’s ruling.

“Had the justice voted in the affirmative, it would’ve been groundbreaking employment law in the United States,” Bachhofer said last week.

Even before NGTF v. Oklahoma City Board of Education made its way through

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the court system, OHR took aim at the controversial bill’s sponsor, Mary Helm.

Helm was just the second woman elected to the Oklahoma Senate and the first to serve since 1929, but OHR lead a successful get-out-the-vote campaign among gay residents in OKC to support their independent candidate, Bernest Cain. In a narrow vote, 5182 to 5005, complete with a malfunctioning voting machine, Cain defeated Helm and went on to serve District 46 until 2006. OHR eventually split, but Bachhofer said it laid the groundwork for Freedom Oklahoma.

Angles controversy

The victories against Helm and her cosponsored bill were the first for the OKC gay community and helped spark a lawsuit that paved the way for the establishment of the 39th Street neighborhood as an harassment-free area for the LGBT community.

Angles, 2117 NW 39th St., was out-ofstate businessmen Don Hill and Scott Wilson’s answer to Studio 54 in OKC, but they applied for liquor license and city inspection as Cotton-Eyed Joe’s, hoping the city would think it was another country and Western bar.

When word got out that it was a gay disco, it became a target for police harassment. After months of intimidating patrons by keeping multiple squad cars outside the entrance and spurious noise complaint charges, the tension came to a head Jan. 6, 1983, with the arrest of businessman Robert Tim Gravel. He was arrested for public intoxication minutes after entering the club and was allegedly hit in the face and choked nearly to the point of unconsciousness by an officer.

Angles’ corporate owners filed a federal lawsuit against the city, alleging Angles “suffered under an ongoing campaign of terror and harassment,” in February 1983. Gravel also filed a federal lawsuit seeking $8 million in damages and said police harassment on 39th Street began in 1979.

Hill and Wilson made an offer to drop the lawsuit if the city agreed to certain conditions, which it did. The settlement set a permanent injunction against the Oklahoma City Police Department to respect the civil rights of Angles patrons and provide sensitivity training for officers.

The city settled with Gravel for $25,000.

“Although the settlement would seem like a slap on the wrist for the police department, its effect was striking,” Bachhofer wrote. “[It] ended what gay and bisexual residents considered illegal searches, invasions of privacy and false arrests … [and] made NW 39th Street the safest spot for gays and lesbians in perpetuity.”

Dr. Aaron Bachhofer is an associate dean of history at Rose State College. | Photo provided 24

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pride

Women Lead Oklahoma’s Kasey Greenhaw left and Lindsey Kanaly right sit in their shared conference room with Freedom Oklahoma executive director Troy Stevenson center. The two organizations moved into a mutual office space in February. | Photo Ben Luschen

Civic union

Freedom Oklahoma and Women Lead Oklahoma share an office and similar goals. By Ben Luschen

On one hand, Freedom Oklahoma and Women Lead Oklahoma advocate for two distinct constituencies — the former promotes civil engagement in the LGBTQ community while the latter concentrates on those who identify as women.

But the two groups have more in common than they have separate — a shared board of directors and office space, for one. Freedom Oklahoma executive director Troy Stevenson said the two organizations are up against forms of animosity that originate from the same systemic bias.

“It comes from a place of misogyny, and it comes from thinking that men are better than women in society,” Stevenson said.

For that reason, the two groups have found themselves working closely together throughout their relatively brief histories. And when Women Lead was annexed by Freedom Oklahoma’s operating board last year, it seemed like a logical step forward.

“We had been working with them for years,” said Women Lead advisory committee co-chair Lindsey Kanaly, “so it was kind of a natural fit.”

In February, the two groups came even closer together when they moved into a shared office space at 4001 N. Classen Blvd. Freedom Oklahoma previously had a smaller office in the same building while Women Lead moved in from another building farther south on Classen.

While there are other advocacy organizations that exist for women and LGBTQ populations, Women Lead and Freedom Oklahoma are similar in that their main focus is on promoting civic literacy and engagement in those two communities rather than keeping a sole focus on specific policy.

“There were organizations doing direct service and direct political advocacy [when Freedom Oklahoma began],”

Stevenson said. “I think people were confused about the difference between talking to legislators and affecting law. I think teaching people to vote and teaching people to be civically engaged is politics, but it’s really public education.”

I feel like it’s a learning experience and hopefully we’ll be able to grow and be as wellknown as Freedom Oklahoma is.

Kasey Greenhaw

Educational efforts

Women Lead was founded in 2015 by former director Kendra Horn. At the time, there were women’s groups like Planned Parenthood that would advocate for reproductive rights or other specific issues but few that made political education their main concern.

“Women Lead was more focused on everyday civic engagement,” Stevenson said.

Horn left her role as Women Lead director to run for Oklahoma’s District 5 seat in U.S. Congress. Co-chair Kanaly was one of the women primarily responsible for organizing the Oklahoma City Women’s March at the state Capitol in 2017.

Kasey Greenhaw, the other co-chair of Women Lead’s advisory committee, said the organization is focused on getting women comfortable engaging in civics in their community and getting them out to the polls.

“It is a whole education program designed around empowering women in our communities,” Greenhaw said.

Greenhaw is responsible for organizing Women Lead’s monthly Across the Aisle series, which features prominent Democrat and Republican speakers talking about ways in which they have worked together or compromised. She said the intention of the series is to let the community in on how politics really works.

“When you sit down and have conversations,” she said, “you find out you agree on a lot of things, but so many people see that ‘D’ or that ‘R’ next to their name and then they’re evil people.”

Women Lead also hosts its Trailblazer series the third Friday of every month to showcase how different women in the community have been pioneers in their field. Transgender former police officer and community leader Paula Sophia Schonauer is scheduled to speak at the next event. Kanaly said that event is just one example of the ways in which Freedom Oklahoma and Women Lead’s programming overlaps.

“It’s a nice way to bridge those two communities and show that we are a part of the same,” Kanaly said.

Better together

While Freedom Oklahoma and Women Lead share the same board of directors, Women Lead maintains its own operating committee and is its own autonomous organization.

Still, sharing operating budgets, an office space and administrative staff makes the two organizations more efficient and able to spend more of their resources on accomplishing their core missions.

“I don’t know that many other organizations have done it this way before,” Stevenson said.

Greenhaw said the main advantage of officing with Freedom Oklahoma is the chance to see how they run things.

“They’re a more established organization; they have more funding,” she said. “I feel like it’s a learning experience, and hopefully we’ll be able to grow and be as well-known as Freedom Oklahoma is.”

Freedom Oklahoma is no stranger to mergers. In fact, its impetus came from a merger between the Cimarron Alliance and Tulsa-based TEN (The Equality Network), which came together under the Freedom Oklahoma banner in 2015.

“It’s kind of an ongoing situation where we try to make the most efficient use out of the limited funds that are in Oklahoma to do the most good possible,” Stevenson said.

Visit freedomoklahoma.org and womenleadok.org.

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pride

ARTS & CULTURE

King of drag Damian Matrix-Gritte put his own stamp on drag performances in Oklahoma City. By Jeremy Martin

At age 17, Damian Matrix-Gritte became a king. But when he first began performing at drag shows in Oklahoma City, Matrix-Gritte, now 34, had very few people to pattern his monarchy after.

“It was interesting,” Matrix-Gritte said. “There weren’t really drag kings, so I didn’t really have anything to go off of.

I’m sure there were some people who came through Oklahoma City previous to me, but when I started, there weren’t really drag kings. So I started going out to The Wreck Room and met some people.

I’ve always been interested in performance art and fashion and stuff like that.”

Matrix-Gritte, who hosts the monthly Rebels & Royals show at Frankie’s and will reign over The King Hour 2:30 p.m.

Sunday during Pride festivities, has previously been Mr. Wreck Room and Mr. Arkansas. He began competing in the Mister USofA MI drag king pageant in 2009 and won the crown 2012. In his years as a king, Matrix-Gritte has watched the drag scene change significantly. During the Barack Obama presidency, for example, Matrix-Gritte saw drag’s upending of sexual roles become more mainstream and less politically charged, but the culture has begun to shift again since 2016.

“I think people got complacent because things were so easy,” MatrixGritte said. “All of the things that we gained from Obama, we’re losing because of Trump. I think it kind of changed the idea about being complacent about fighting for your rights or fighting for what is right or doing something to make a difference. Our unfortunate political situation has helped re-spark people’s desire to do something to make a difference.”

Complacency can be dangerous, especially for minority groups, and nothing should be taken for granted.

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“You can have rights, but that doesn’t mean equality, you know what I mean?”

Matrix-Gritte said. “Things are not equal. You can say they’re equal, but they’re not equal. … Just ’cause something’s legal now doesn’t mean it will be legal tomorrow.”

Pride is not only about taking a stand as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, but about finding the joy in your identity as an individual.

“The point of gay pride is to be proud of who you are,” Matrix-Gritte said, “because you are part of a subgroup, and to celebrate that.”

No compromising

His monthly show predominately features drag kings in order to provide them with a “place where they can grow and flourish” in an atmosphere that largely caters to drag queens. Even in gay bars, Matrix-Gritte said, many people are unfamiliar with the concept of drag kings. Though he said an ambitious and driven performer can often make his or her own way in the entertainment industry even without a clear example to follow, Matrix-Gritte said representation is important to help aspiring artists realize they even have the option to do what they want in life.

“The amount of effort you put into something, you will get out,” MatrixGritte said. “If you are putting shit-tons of effort in your stuff and you are willing to find whatever ladders and work for what you want to happen, then anything is possible. But what I think happens is that sometimes if people don’t see available opportunity, they don’t know how to force opportunity or create opportunity.”

Ultimately, performers should realize that they don’t have to pattern themselves after anyone or change who they are to fit a pre-established mold, he said.

“You don’t have to compromise who you are for other people, nor do you have to compromise your entertainment for other people,” Matrix-Gritte said. “You will find more success doing what you love and staying true to your passion, because if people see your passion, well then they’re interested in it. You’re not just rolling through the motions on autopilot. If you truly believe in something, then other people will buy it. …

Just make sure you love it and you believe in it and go kill it.”

Pride performances begin 6 p.m.

Friday with the Hootenanny hosted by Raven Delray and Rayna Over, who host a similar monthly drag show with the same name at Frankie’s. The 2018 Mr. & Mrs. OKC Pride pageant winners will make an appearance at 4:30 p.m.

Damian Matrix-Gritte | Photo provided

Saturday, and Dust Bowl Dolls, who perform burlesque monthly at The Flea OKC, will take the stage at 11 p.m. On promotional materials, the Dolls describe their act as a “sin stepping, fringe swaying, tassel twirlin’, corset wearing, stocking peelin’, rhinestoned explosion of entertainment” and they “[perform] everything from classic burlesque and striptease to neo-burlesque and plain ole’ moving and shakin’.”

The King Hour, hosted by MatrixGritte, will also feature Bastian Cox and reigning Mr. OKC Pride Hunter MatrixWilliams. Drag queens Delray and Shantel Mandalay will co-host the official Pride parade 6 p.m. Sunday.

Visit okcpride.org.

ARTS & CULTURE

act i v e

Kayaks will be available to take out for a less challenging excursion during Starts & Stripes River Festival. | Photo Georgia Read / Riversport Adventures / provided

Holiday adventure

Stars & Stripes River Festival celebrates Independence Day in Riversport style.

By Heather Warlick

Riversport Adventures hosts its annual Stars & River Stripes Festival full of action, adventure and a day of water fun you won’t find anywhere but Oklahoma City.

The event starts 8 a.m. Saturday and is a celebration of the United States and its democracy as well as the Oklahoma River, the Boathouse District and Riversport.

“This has become a real signature event for us in the summertime,” said Mike Knopp, Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation executive director. “It’s all geared toward the community.”

However, the Riversport community spans the entire United States and 13 other countries, Knopp said, as the attraction draws visitors from across the globe.

“We’re unique in the world in the combination of things we have to offer,” Knopp said.

Stars & Stripes is chock-full of activities for those ready to take on the rapids, race a dragon boat or just go for a leisurely float while basking in the spectacle of fireworks. The event is free to attend, but adventures and attractions have costs associated with them.

While the Stars & Stripes festivities begin Saturday, Glow features live music

by Ciara Brooke, night zip lining and tubing and rafting at Riversport Rapids.

The kickoff event begins 7 p.m. Friday.

Competitive side

Saturday morning, Stars & Stripes gets off to a running start at 8 a.m. with Riversport Challenge, a combined kayak and 5K competition. Knopp emphasized that most of the events of the day require no experience. Experts will be on hand to guide visitors through the adventures.

“It’s usually a pretty large event,”

Knopp said. “Between 20,000 and 25,000 people will come out on Saturday.”

Among those thousands will be Judy Moon, a member of the Dragon Flies dragon boat team. Moon is 75 and said the average age of her team is 71.

“We love to dragon boat because it gives us an opportunity we’ve never had before. Most of us have never paddled a boat before,” Moon said.

After a friend took her to Riversport for the first time to watch the races, Moon became hooked. She gathered her girlfriends from her water aerobics class and formed a team.

“We love the fact that you can drive down there and, within 30 minutes, be on the water and kind of in a different world,” she said. “The whole area looks different when you’re in a boat on the river.”

Whether your team’s average age is 71 or 12, Moon said the key to dragon boating and any group watersport is teamwork.

“In order for them to make that boat move, they have to paddle together, and that’s just a good thing for everybody to learn,” she said.

This will be the Dragon Flies’ third year to race. They’ll be easy to spot, dressed in red from head to toe, including red visors. Spectators can cheer them on during the Dragon Boat League Championships at 4 p.m.

Adventure time

You don’t have to be a competitive Dragon Boater to enjoy the festival.

Riversport’s popular SandRidge Sky Zip and Sky Trail, paddle boarding, water slides and other Adventure attractions open at 11 a.m.

Following the morning’s 5K and kayak event, at 10 a.m., the Whitewater Rafting League Championship will get started.

If you’re skittish of the raging rapids, you can grab a raft after the timed competition for your own rafting excursion.

The Stars & Stripes Festival has plenty more on its menu of opportunities. From 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., during Olympic Day, visitors can try various Olympic sports in a low-pressure environment.

“Olympic Day puts a spotlight on the unique fact that we’re the only river in America to have the Olympic designation,” Knopp said.

At 7 p.m., revelers can enjoy the Surf Zone, tubing and other Riversport attractions.

Food trucks will be on hand and visitors can sit back on the patio at Big Water Grill and enjoy the bar while watching the activities at Riversport Rapids.

The day concludes with a spectacular fireworks display.

“I think people coming together to celebrate the Fourth of July and also this great resource that we have and having fun is all about building community,” Knopp said. “I think we see a lot of pride in people when they come out and show off the river and the boathouses to their families.”

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ARTS & CULTURE

All sizes

Oklahoma-born Sports Illustrated model Allie Ayers launches a body-positive swimwear line.

By Heather Warlick

Bissy Swim founder Allie Ayers was beginning to think her modeling career was never going to take off. Tall and lean with hazel eyes, long dark lashes, olive skin and a body many women would all but kill for, Ayers, who grew up in Snyder, has brains, beauty and confidence, but because her build included a slightly higher percentage of body fat than most models, she was considered too big for mainstream modeling and too small for plus-size modeling. The industry didn’t know what to do with her.

Well, most of the industry didn’t.

Sports Illustrated (SI) knew what to do with 24-year-old Ayers. As frustrated as she was with her career this time last year, that feeling turned upside down the day SI called and asked if she was interested in modeling for the 2018 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. Many happy dances later, Ayers came back to Earth and realized the opportunity gave her some real personal validation. The magazine didn’t care that she wore a size 6 or was considered by many modeling agencies to be wrong for the industry.

She was just right for the swimsuit edition, and after the issue was published in February, few argued.

Now, Ayers is bound to be associated with swimwear. Her first collection from Bissy Swim, her swimwear line, launches this month.

In the past, Ayers spent a lot of time and money looking for just the right swimwear for her tropical lifestyle.

“I think it’s really hard to find highwaisted bottoms that don’t

look like diapers,” Ayers said in a recent Oklahoma Gazette interview. “I wanted something that was a really high-cut leg that was sexy. I really was searching high and low for those bottoms.”

So she said something nearly everyone has said at some point: “I bet I could make it myself.”

Ayers bought a sewing machine and learned to sew. Making swimwear gave her a Zen-like calm. She would sit at her machine, zone out completely and, a few hours later, end up with a swimsuit.

Soon, she was getting compliments on her handmade suits and people were asking to buy them.

The last swimsuit she made by hand was at the request of her friend Cheyenne Darling, who was preparing for the Miss Oklahoma USA pageant. During the December 2017 pageant, Darling wore one of Ayer’s suits and won the tiara for 2018. That was when Ayers decided to approach a factory to produce her line of suits. She called it Bissy, a nod to herself when she was little and couldn’t pronounce Elizabeth, her middle name.

Her SI experience gave her the platform and recognition to boost Bissy. Her first collection launches at noon on Saturday.

“It’s definitely a retro-inspired line, but I wanted to make sure it still looks clean and modern,” Ayers said. “The inspiration for the entire line is drawn from my small-town upbringing. It’s raw; it feels like the middle of America.

There’s nothing too pretentious about it.”

Body image

Ayers ensures that the styles she creates are flattering to a wide range of body types. Bissy offers sizes 0 through 26 and her team has tweaked each size to be as flattering as possible since different women need support in different areas. That mission comes from personal experience.

Ayers graduated with 41 kids at Snyder High School and was an avid high school athlete, playing volleyball and basketball. She had considered modeling, but living a tiny town life, she didn’t see that as a real option.

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season, Ayers entered the Miss Oklahoma Teen USA competition, where she was scouted by former Mrs. Oklahoma Heather Rouba of Oklahoma City-based Brink Model Management LLC. Ayers told Rouba that she was too busy with school and sports to take up modeling but they’d talk again later. After high school graduation, Ayers enrolled at Southwestern Oklahoma State University and began modeling for Brink.

Though Ayers was naturally long and lean and in great physical health from all the sports-related exercise, the slim and healthy young woman was considered a plus-size model by the skewed standards of the modeling industry.

“That’s something I hadn’t had to worry about ever before — my weight — as a lean person. So it was a conflicting feeling,” Ayers said.

But she enjoyed modeling, and it satisfied that part of her that, since childhood, had longed to perform and be the center of attention.

“I needed to be in front of people; I needed to perform,” she said.

The constant struggle of a thin girl trying to lose weight began to weigh heavily on Ayers. She decided to take a break for her own well-being. Modeling had turned into something she resented and led to a really dark time in her life.

“It was really a negative thing that I let happen to my life,” she said.

She took a couple years off to focus on school and regain her self-worth.

“When I finally stepped back into modeling, it was at the size I’m at now, like a size 6, which is too big for modeling. So when I went back into it, it was as a plus-size model,” she said. “Honestly, I didn’t care. When I took that break, I was in such a bad place. During those two years, I got my degree and I found things that I value about myself that have nothing to do with my weight or appearance.”

Bissy Swim offers swimwear in size 0 through 26. | Photo Ethan Gulley / Bissy Swim / provided

Sports Illustrated model and Oklahoma native Allie Ayers launches her body-positive swimwear line, Bissy Swim, this month. | Photo Bissy Swim / provided

She still wasn’t getting much modeling work in New York City, but Ayers had other interests and a dynamic career at a computer coding school that had her travelling back and forth from Bali and Mexico.

“I was always in a bikini. … When Sports Illustrated found me, it really opened everything up. It was a validating moment,” Ayers said. “Because I am exactly at my version of healthy, and they wanted me for one of the biggest publications in the nation.”

For the SI shoot, Ayers said the models had a hand in choosing their swimwear and “control over [their] image” and “it was a completely empowering experience.”

Ayers said the best part of her experience has been turning a dark time in her life into an opportunity to find herself and achieve success on her own terms.

When women wear Bissy, Ayers said she hopes they see the suits as a symbol that they are choosing to love all of themselves just as they are.

“I really learned to choose to love the body parts that I didn’t feel were worthy of love. I practice that daily. I choose that every day: ‘I’m going to love you whether I want to or not,’” she said. “I hope that through this, I’m an empowering force to women — that I help women of all sizes to find pieces that make them feel like the best versions of themselves.”

Visit bissyswim.com.

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CALENDAR These are events recommended

by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members. For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.

Books Brunching with Books a book club meeting every other week, with reading selections chosen by group preference, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays.

Buttermilk Paseo, 605 NW 28th St., 405-605-6660, buttermilkokc.com. SAT Cristee Cook Book Signing the Texas-based author will read from and autograph copies of her children’s book Your Hands Can Change The World, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. June 23. Best of Books, 1313 E. Danforth Road, 405-340-9202, bestofbooksok. com. SAT Karen Robards Book Signing the author will autograph copies of her adventure novel The Moscow deception, Wed., June 20, 6:30-8 p.m. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. WED Mid-Oklahoma Writers a meetup for local writers featuring guest speakers and literary discussions, 7-9 p.m. Eastside Church of Christ, 916 S Douglas Blvd., 405-732-0393. WED

Film Clue (1985, USA, Jonathan Lynn) this comedic adaptation of the board game strands six colorful strangers in a mansion where a murder has occurred, 7 p.m. June 20. Tower Theatre, 425 NW 23rd St., 405-708-6937, towertheatreokc.com. WED

archaeologist Indiana Jones’ quest to beat the Nazis to the Ark of the Covenant, 7 p.m. June 21. Tower Theatre, 425 NW 23rd St., 405-708-6937, towertheatreokc.com. THU Sonic Summer Movies: Despicable Me 3 (2017, USA, Kyle Balda and Pierre Coffin), Gru meets his long-lost twin brother Dru who team up for one last heist, 9 p.m. June 20. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, oklahomacitybotanicalgardens.com. WED Sonic Summer Movies: Little Giants (1994, USA, Duwayne Dunham), American family sports comedy film with Rick Moranis and Ed O’Neill coaching rival pee-wee football teams, 9 p.m. June 27. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405445-7080, oklahomacitybotanicalgardens.com. WED

Happenings ’90s-’00s Dance Party hear the hits of the previous two decades, watch music videos and enjoy adult Capri Sun cocktails, 10 p.m.-2 a.m. June 23. . SAT Doggie Kissing Booth smooch a pooch for charity, with proceeds from photos and drink specials benefitting Underdog Rescue, 6-9 p.m. June 27.

The Bleu Garten, 301 NW 10th St., 405-879-3808, bleugarten.com. WED An Evening With Heartland Husky Rescue meet rescue dogs in search of forever homes and enjoy drink specials and purchase merchandise to help the rescue efforts, 6-9 p.m. June 23. The Bleu Garten, 301 NW 10th St., 405-879-3808, bleugarten.com. SAT Flower Farm Open House check out OKC’s urban flower farm, with guided tours, bouquetarranging demonstrations and refreshments, 6-8 p.m. June 21. CommonWealth Urban Farms, 3310 N. Olie Ave., 405-524-1864, commonwealthurbanfarms.com. THU Friends of Clara Luper this inaugural community event honoring the legacy of the local Civil Rights leader includes live music and poetry readings and a presentation ceremony for the Maya Angelou Community Peace Award, 2-6 p.m. June 23. Oklahoma Black Museum and Performing Arts Center, 4701 N. Lincoln Blvd., 405-213-8077. SAT Muscogee Nation Festival now in its 44th year, this celebration of Muscogee (Creek) culture includes athletic events, children’s and seniors’ activities, a parade and live music Wynonna & the Big Noise, Everclear, Tonic and more, June 21-24, June 21-24. Claude Cox Omniplex, 555 Tank Farm Road., 918-732-7992, creekfestival.com. THU-SUN OKC Toy Show shop collectible dolls, action figures, cars and more, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. June 23. Crossroads Event Center, 7000 Crossroads Blvd. SAT

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West Side Story Known in Spanishspeaking countries as Amor sin barreras (“Love Without Borders”), the film adaptation of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway hit won 10 Oscars (including Best Picture) for asking whether Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet would be just as tragic if it took place in the slums of New York City and featured characters named things like Ice, Action and Joyboy instead of Mercutio, Benvolio and Tybalt. Classic songs (“Maria,” hilariously cynical “Gee, Officer Krupke”) remain as timeless as, unfortunately, the violent racial tension between the Sharks and the Jets. Showtimes are 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday and June 27 at Cinemark Tinseltown USA, 6001 N. Martin Luther King Avenue, and AMC Quail Springs Mall 24, 2501 W. Memorial Road. Tickets are $9.50-$13.58. Visit fathomevents.com.com or call 405601-7468.

Oklahoma City Dodgers Pride Night the firstever Dodger Pride Night features fireworks and free hats for ticket holders, 7 p.m. July 27. Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, 2 S. Mickey Mantle Drive, 405218-1000, okcballparkevents.com. WED Tornado Alley Bulldog Rescue Meet & Greet the adoptable canines will be available for introductions; bring your own pet for a Fourth of July-themed costume contest, Sun., June 24, 1-4 p.m. EarthWise Pet Supply, 1710-G Belle Isle Blvd., 405-607-8965. SUN Paint Your Pride paint a pre-chosen design celebrating Pride Week, with karaoke and beverages from Twister Drink Factory beer and margarita truck, Wed., June 20, 7-11 p.m. The Diversity Center, 2242 N.W. 39th Street, 405-252-0372. WED Pride Night With OKC Energy join OKC’s professional soccer team to celebrate Pride month at this fundraising event, 7 p.m. June 23. Taft Stadium, 2501 N. May Ave., 405-235-5425, energyfc.com. SAT Pride Party & Pop Up Patio a fundraising pre-game party for the Pride parade with hotdogs and veggie dogs, music and locally brewed craft beer, 2-6 p.m. June 24. Freedom Oklahoma, 4001 N. Classen Blvd., 405-446-8836, freedomoklahoma.org. SUN Purple Sash Gala raise money for the victims of domestic violence at this black-tie dinner party hosted by YWCA Oklahoma City. with live auctions and a runway show, 6-10 p.m. June 23. The Criterion, 500 E. Sheridan Ave., 405-308-1803, criterionokc.com. SAT Queen Mariah’s Variety Show a monthly stage show featuring various drag performers, 10:30 p.m.

Saturdays. Frankie’s, 2807 NW 36th St., 405-6022030, facebook.com/FrankiesOKC. SAT

Sunday and June 27 Photo provided

Rage in the Cage mixed-martial arts fighting featuring Tommie “Brick Hands” Britton vs. Jake “The Will Breaker” Benton, 8 p.m. June 23. Farmers Public Market, 311 S. Klein Ave., 405-232-6506, okcfarmersmarket.com. SAT

Little Pink House (2017, USA, Courtney Balaker) a working-class neighborhood led by nurse Susette (Catherine Keener) fights to save their homes from corporate developers in this film based on a true story, Wed., June 27, 8:30-10:30 p.m. Cinemark Tinseltown, 6001 N. Martin Luther King Ave., 405424-0461, cinemark.com. WED

Self-Advocacy Workshop people 14 and older with disabilities will learn skills to become more self-sufficient, such as money management and public speaking, 5:30-7:30 p.m. June 26 & July 10.

Dale Rogers Training Center, 2501 N. Utah Ave., 405-946-4489, drtc.org. TUE

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981, USA, Steven Spielberg) an action-adventure classic about

Silent Unite hosted by Quiet Events, this Pride party will feature three DJs spinning different genres simultaneously, and dancers can choose

go to okgazette.com for full listings!

which to listen to through wireless headphones, 8 p.m.-1 23. The Diversity Center, 2242 N.W. Thesea.m. areJune events recommended 39th Street, 405-252-0372. SAT

by Oklahoma Gazette editorial

SoonerCon 27 a For pop culture, fantasy, sci-fi, staff members. full calendar listings, gaming, cosplay and anime convention featuring go to okgazette.com. special guests, art shows, costume contests, film screenings, and more, June 22-24, Fri., June 22, 10 a.m.-11:45 p.m., Sat., June 23, 10 a.m.-11:45 p.m. and Sun., June 24, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Reed Conference Center, Sheraton Hotel, 5750 Will Rogers road, 800745-0398, soonercon.com. FRI-SUN Super Mash Bros. N64 Tournament fight to the finish against friends and rivals in one of Nintendo’s most popular party games, 11 am.-5 p.m.

June 23. FlashBack RetroPub, 814 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-633-3604, flashbackretropub.com. SAT wellRED: From Dixie With Love get your laugh on with stand-up comedy partners Trae Crowder, Drew Morgan & Corey Forrester, 8 p.m. June 24.

Tower Theatre, 425 NW 23rd St., 405-708-6937, towertheatreokc.com. SUN World Giraffe Day learn more about the long-necked creatures and how to help conserve their habitats, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

June 21. The Oklahoma City Zoo, 2000 Remington Place, 405-424-3344, okczoo.com. THU Yard Party enjoy live music, local craft beers and outdoor party games at this event hosted by Children’s Hospital Foundation’s Innovative Board, 5:30-8:30 p.m. June 21. The Yard, 21 NW Seventh St., 405-290-7080. THU Yes on 788 Rally support the passage of State Question 788 with drinks, food and live music 1 p.m.-2 a.m. June 23. 51st Street Speakeasy, 1114 NW 51st St., 405-463-0470, 51stspeakeasy.com. SAT

Summer Explorers: Down in the Dirt dig into the earth to learn more about snails, worms and other creatures that live in the dirt, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

June 25-29. Sam Noble Museum, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., 405-325-4712, samnoblemuseum.ou.edu.

MON-FRI

Summer Jazz Camp music student age 14 and older can receive a weeklong intensive training and practice in jazz history, theory composition and more, with onsite housing and private lessons available for additional costs, June 24-29. UCO Jazz Lab, 100 E. Fifth St., 405-359-7989, ucojazzlab.com.

SUN-FRI

Western Explorers Summer Camp Campers age 8-15 can explore trails, view museum exhibitions and participate in crafts, games and art projects in week-long sessions, June 18-July 27., Through July 27. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum (3), 1700 NE 63rd St. MON-FRI

Performing Arts Always...Patsy Cline a tribute to the legendary country singer’s friendship with a fan, featuring many of Cline’s best-known songs, ThursdaysSundays, 8-10 p.m. through June 30. The Pollard Theatre, 120 W. Harrison Ave., 405-282-2800, thepollard.org. FRI-SAT Americana Fest this family-friendly event features live music from Kyle Dillingham & Horseshoe Road, Cimarron Swing, The Side Street Steppers and more plus kids arts and crafts and a children’s stage, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. June 23. American Banjo Museum, 9 E. Sheridan Ave., 405-604-2793, americanbanjomuseum.com. SAT

(817) 778-1000

Beginner’s Cookie Decorating with Sarah learn to make and decorate basic summer-themed cookies, 2-5 p.m. June 23. The Craft Room, 3017 N. Lee Ave., Suite F, 817-455-2972, craftroom.us. SAT

2018 – Licensed through I.M.P.S. (Brussels) – www.smurf.com AQUAFINA is a registered trademark of PepsiCo, Inc. © 2018 BUBLY and the Bubly Designs are trademarks. © & ® Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

The Maine Event feast on lobster and other favorite Maine specialties at this fundraiser for Rainbow Fleet Child Care Resource and Referral, 7-10 p.m. June 22. Dunlap Codding, 609 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-607-8600, dunlapcodding.com. FRI

Children’s Festival featuring dancing, Chickasaw and Choctaw singing, games, film screenings and more, this family friendly event will help kids broaden their cultural knowledge, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. June 23.

Chickasaw Cultural Center, 867 Cooper Memorial Dr., 5806227130, chickasawculturalcenter.com. SAT Farm Camp learn to grow vegetables, harvest herbs, collect eggs and care for goats, dogs, chickens, ducks and horses at this camp for children 6-12, 8 a.m.-1 p.m. June 4-29. 4C Ag Service, 18750 NE 122nd St., 405-990-7791, 4cagservice.com. MON-FRI Frog Talk find out about local amphibians at this family event that starts at the museum and ends with a caravan to a nearby park to see frogs in their natural habitat, 7-9 pm. June 22., Sam Noble Museum, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., 405-325-4712, samnoblemuseum.ou.edu. FRI Geekapalooza 2018 this family festival features activities designed to get children excited about STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics), 9 a.m.-4 p.m. June 23. Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, 1141 N. Lincoln Blvd, 405-521-6436. SAT Intensive Annual Summer Dance Camp children ages 7-17 can participate in a variety of dance classes offering instruction in ballet, tap, jazz, modern, hip-hop and more along with lessons in music and dramatic and visual arts, Through June 29. Metropolitan School of Dance, 414 NW 7th St., 405-236-5026. MON-FRI Lego Mania Art Camp Camp learn about the history of the popular plastic building blocks and complete creative projects with them. 9 a.m. through June 28. Artsy Rose Academy, 7739 W. Hefner Rd., 405-603-8550. MON-THU Oklahoma! Performing Arts Day Camp children 6-17 can learn theatre basics in preparation for a live performance of the popular musical, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. NW Optimist Performing Arts Center, 3301 NW Grand Blvd., 405-841-2414, okc.gov. WED-FRI Paper Art Extravaganza kids aged 10-12 can make paper hats, masks and shoes inspired by the art of Isabelle de Borchgrave, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. June 26. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. TUE

Enjoy family fun inspired by The Smurfs: • Papa Smurf’s Search Party Scavenger Hunt, Le Smurfs Art Corner and Sweet Shop • Breakfast with The Smurfs, Magical Meadow & Forbidden Forest Escape Rooms and Gargamel’s Wizard Academy • ANIMATE! Visual Light Show and Splash Party, both presented by bubly™ • Build-A-Bear Workshop®, Paradise Springs resort pool & lazy river, dining events and more!

GaylordTexan.com/SummerFest

Basque Country Cheese and Wine Tasting sample cheeses, meats and wine from the Spanish/ French region; must be 21 or older to attend, 6:45 p.m. June 22. Forward Foods-Norman, 2001 W. Main St., 405-321-1007, forwardfoods.com. FRI

Youth

Now - September 3, 2018

Book Your Summer Getaway Today!

Food

Pooch Ice Cream Social get some sun on the patio with your dog to enjoy puppy ice cream and people ice cream, 3-5 p.m. June 23. Fassler Hall, 421 NW 10th St., 405-609-3300, fasslerhall.com. SAT

Texas-sized fun, all in one Smurftastic place!

18-GT-2830_GT SF Oklahoma Gazette - TRADE_4.55x6.05_CNP_FINAL.indd 1

5/11/18 1:02 PM

Oklahoma Civil War Symposium With all the misinformation (call it “fake history”) still getting spread about the famously horrific “War Between the States,” what a relief to get the straight story from actual accredited experts in the field at Oklahoma Civil War Symposium. Speakers at this year’s symposium include leading Lincoln expert Harold Holzer from Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College and William & Mary history professor Carol Sheriff, who is working on a book about the contested versions of history presented in American textbooks. The symposium is 2-9 p.m. Monday in the Te Ata Memorial Auditorium at University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, 1727 W. Alabama Ave., in Chickasha. Tickets are $20. Visit usao.edu.

Monday Photo provided

Andy Woodhull the Indiana comic has appeared on Conan and The Late Late Show With James Corden, 8 p.m. June 20-23. Loony Bin Comedy Club, 8503 N. Rockwell Ave., 405-239-4242, loonybincomedy.com. WED-SAT Freaky Friday a stage adaptation of the film about a mother and daughter who swap bodies and must figure out how to switch back for mom’s big wedding, June 26-July 1. Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave., 405-297-2264, okcciviccenter. com. TUE-SUN Honey a play about desire and intimate moments between strangers, created from real-world interviews, June 14-16, 21-23., Through June 23.

Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 3000 General

continued on page 34

go to okgazette.com for full listings!

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CALENDAR

Stop By and See Me! Shop For that unique and special one-of-a-kind item!

C a l e n da r

June 22

COdY CAnAdA, JAsOn BOlAnd & MiKE MCCluRE

June 23

GinuWinE June 24 June 27

Pershing Blvd., 405-951-0000, oklahomacontemporary.org. THU-SAT Jersey standup comedy from The Haitian Sensation, 8 p.m. June 27-30. Loony Bin Comedy Club, 8503 N. Rockwell Ave., 405-239-4242, loonybincomedy. com. WED-SAT

LGBT Night and Drag Show hosted

by Keosha Simone, this drag show features appearances by Busty Springfield, Black Widow, Artimes and more, 9 p.m. June 21. Bison Witches Bar & Deli, 211 E Main St., 405-364-7555, bisonwitchesok.com. THU

YEllOW HOusE REvisiTEd

WEllREd COMEdY TOuR

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2717 W Reno Ave, OKC Tues-Sat 10a-6p Sun 12p-5p

Fa m i ly own e d & o p e r at e d

A Midsummer Night’s Dream a comedy by Shakespeare about two couples dealing with love and all that comes with it, May 31-June 23., Through June 23. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, oklahomacitybotanicalgardens.com. THU-SAT

sHAKEY GRAvEs June 29

July 1

July 7

Wild BOYs

The duran duran Experience

July 13

MY sO CAllEd BAnd Tickets and Info TOWERTHEATREOKC.COM @towertheaterokc 405-70-TOWER | 425 NW 23rd St. OKC

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To plaCe an oRdeR oR FoR MoRe inFo, call one of our consultants Mon-Fri at 800-433-2950 or email sales@dunnsfishfarm.com

OKC’s Newest Nightclub & Lounge Upcoming Bands June 21 – Drive June 22 – Replay June 23 – Life of The Party June 28 – Stars June 29 – The Weekend All Stars June 30 – HOOK

Thur - Sat 8 pm - 2 am Now open for Happy Hour Mon - Fri 4pm Address - 12000 N. May Ave. • Phone - 405-205-0807 The Shoppes At Northpark

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Hula Hoop Class learn to hula-hoop at this 30-minute class taught by Hooplahoma’s Chelsea Ryan, 7 p.m. June 21. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, oklahomacitybotanicalgardens.com. THU Move for Sickle Cell raise money to fight the disease by running or walking at the National Baptist Convention, 6-8 a.m. June 20. Cox Convention Center, 1 Myriad Gardens, 405-602-8500, coxconventioncenter.com. WED

The 46th Annual Prix de West Invitational Art Exhibition & Sale features more than 300 Western paintings and sculptures by contemporary Western artists of landscapes, wildlife and illustrative scenes, Through Aug. 5. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org. FRI-SUN

Delivery will be Tuesday, June 26th

8-9am: Bethany Country Store, 3401 N Rockwell, Bethany 8-9am: Ellison Feed & Seed, 115 S Porter Ave, Norman 10-11am: Tuttle Grain & Supply, 1 SW 5th, Tuttle 10:30-11:30am: Deer Creek Farm Store, 17625 N MacArthur Blvd, Edmond

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34

Foam Glow 5K runners and walkers will be blasted with glowing foam and lit with backlights, and a DJ’d foam party waits at the end of the course, 5:30-10 p.m. June 23. Remington Park, 1 Remington place, 405-424-9000, remingtonpark.com. SAT

Sketches New work from Norman Artist Todd Jenkins. Contemporary Metal Sculpture., 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, through June 30. CMG Art Gallery, 1104 NW 30 Street, 405-808-5005, cmgartgallery.com. FRI-SAT

P.O. Box 85 Fittstown, OK www.dunnsfishfarm.com (800) 433-2950 M-F 7am-5pm

Summer Special

Check out our FB page or website thelisztokc.com.

Conquer The Gauntlet race to complete a 4-mile obstacle course; a special kids’ course will also be available, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. June 23. John W. Nichols Scout Ranch, 12109 S County Line Rd., 405-8401114, scoutingrocks.tv. SAT

Visual Arts

AdAM & KizziE AlBuM RElEAsE sHOW sAM MORROW

Bowling for Pride grab a lane and get rolling, with a tater tot bar, a cash bar and Drag Karaoke afterward, 7-10 p.m. June 21. Dust Bowl, 421 NW 10th St., 405-609-3302, dustbowlok.com/okc. THU

Oklahoma Senior Follies Produced from 1907 until 1931, the Ziegfeld Follies were a series of lavish Broadway productions that claimed to be “glorifying the American girl” with a world famous chorus line that kicked off the careers of Barbara Stanwyck, Gypsy Rose Lee and Josephine Baker.

OKC’s more mature version celebrates senior performers in an elaborate stage show complete with fabulously extravagant costumes to raise money for Mobile Meals of Oklahoma County.

This year’s Follies begin 3 p.m.

Saturday-Sunday at Oklahoma City Community College’s Visual and Performing Arts Center Theater at 7777 S. May Ave. Tickets are $29.95. Call 405-682-7579 or visit tickets.occc.edu..

SAturday-Sunday Photo provided

Paramount Comedy Project a standup showcase hosted by Cameron Brewer and featuring Alex Sanchez, Caleb Collins and Steve Wampus Reynolds, 7-10 p.m. June 21. The Paramount Room, 701 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-887-3327, theparamountroom.com. THU Shelly Phelps Blues Revue a monthly variety show featuring music, comedy, performance art, drag and more, 7-10 p.m. Sundays. Frankie’s, 2807 NW 36th St., 405-602-2030, facebook.com/FrankiesOKC. SUN St. Jude Songwriters and Symphony songwriters join symphony players onstage at this concert and fundraiser for the children’s research hospital which also includes silent auctions, guest speakers, and country cooking, 6-11 p.m. June 22.

Will Rogers Theatre, 4322 N. Western Ave., 405604-3015, willrogerstheatre.com. FRI Stories of Pride: An OKC StorySLAM a storytelling open mic for up to 10 performers; stories must focus on the theme of Pride, 8-9:30 p.m. June 24. Saints Pub, 1715 NW 16th St., 405-602-6308, saintspubokc.com. SUN This Could Be Treble a comedy and music showcase featuring local performers, 6-9 p.m. June 23. The Root, 3012 N. Walker Ave., 405-655-5889, therootokc.com. SAT

Active Baseball OKC Dodgers vs Nashville, 7:05 p.m. June 25-28. Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, 2 S. Mickey Mantle Drive, 405-218-1000, okcballparkevents.com.

MON-THU

Beyond ART: Artist Talk & Demonstration with Pamela Husky the fiber artist discusses her method for creating landscapes out of felt, 2-3 p.m.

June 23. JRB Art at The Elms, 2810 N. Walker Ave., 405-528-6336, jrbartgallery.com. SAT Collage Collective: Perfect Picnic collage makers meet up to create picnic-themed works; old cookbooks and food magazines are requested for materials and snacks will be provided, 6-8p.m. June 20. IAO Gallery, 706 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-2326060, iaogallery.org. WED Isabelle de Borchgrave: Fashioning Art from Paper features l’œil paper works by Belgian artist Isabelle de Borchgrave showcasing four collections her work together for the first time, Through Sept.

9. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. SAT-FRI Jeff Tabor Recent Paintings features art by Jeff Tabor including media such as oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache and printmaking, through July 1., Through July 1. Norman Santa Fe Depot, 200 S. Jones Ave., 405-307-9320, pasnorman.org.

FRI-SUN

Mosaics, Oil and Jewelry an exhibition featuring gallery resident artists Jerron Johnston and Alice Baker and guest artist Katie Bixby, 12-5 p.m., Through June 23, In Your Eye Gallery, 3005 Paseo St., 405-525-2161, inyoureyegallery.com. THU-SAT Oklahoma Illustrators features the work of illustrators Arjan Jager, Jeff Sparks and Greg White, June 7-July 9., Through July 9. DNA Galleries, 1709 NW 16th St., 405-525-3499, dnagalleries.com.

THU-MON

Sojourning features fiber installations by Chiyoko Myose, a Japanese artist, expressing her experiences living in a foreign country, June 2-August 12.

Free. Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 3000 General Pershing Blvd., 405-951-0000, oklahomacontemporary.org. SAT Transitions features graffiti and street art that celebrates Native American culture by artists Yatika Starr Fields, Hoka Skenadore and Josh Johnico, through June 30., Through June 30. Exhibit C, 1 E. Sheridan Ave., 405-767-8900, exhibitcgallery.com.

THU-SAT

Live music submissions must be received by Oklahoma Gazette no later than noon on Wednesday seven days before the desired publication date.

Late submissions will not be included in the listings. Submissions run as space allows, although we strive to make the listings as inclusive as possible.

Fax your listings to 528-4600 or e-mail to listings@okgazette.com.

Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

go to okgazette.com for full listings!

pride

MUSIC

Proud notes

This year’s Pride music lineup features every genre from hip-hop to red dirt. By Jeremy Martin

From hip-hop to hair metal, long-lived scene vets to talented teens, the diverse music lineup for OKC’s 2018 Pride hops genres nearly every hour. The common thread throughout is that all of the acts are local to the metro area.

The music starts 9:30 p.m. Friday with Vibe Collective. Featuring Alison Scott, Theresa Zaizar, Marco Tello, Mike Ragland and Donald Hecker, Vibe Collective plays rock, soul, reggae and disco songs.

Miillie Mesh, who released the single “Lurk” earlier this month, is scheduled to follow at 11:30 p.m., closing out Friday night with fiery hip-hop. Mesh has performed as a headliner at AMP Fest and opened for Rakim.

Saturday’s performances start at 2:30 p.m. with singer/songwriters Tara Henry and Parker Cunningham. Cunningham said his personal, typically acoustic music gives him the chance to connect with people as individuals.

“The gay community isn’t especially known for our involvement in music other than in pop music, which is wonderful, too,” Cunningham said, “but I’ve been so lucky to know so many singer/songwriters, and I think doing this kind of music, it reaches out to a little bit of a different group, sometimes a more conservative crowd even. For me being a patio or cafe player, I get to just meet people all the time. It’s not like I’m just shipping off albums everywhere. Pretty much everything I do is live and in-person.”

This will be Cunningham’s third time to play at Pride.

“Pride to me, especially in Oklahoma, is representation first and foremost,” Cunningham said. “When your community is ostracized, you have to show up and say, ‘This is who I am, and this is how I’m showing up.’”

A showcase billed as the Next Gen Performers of OKC, featuring young IRIS | Photo provided

artists from NorthCare’s Q-Space community outreach program, some of whom will be performing publicly for the first time, follows at 3 p.m.

At 6:30 p.m., singer/songwriters Raina Cobb, Ben Brock and CJ Greco are scheduled to perform song-swap style with each musician taking turns singing lead on their own songs while the others provide musical accompaniment.

Cobb, who will be performing at Pride for the first time, said she’s excited to have a chance to support the LGBTQ+ community.

“I have a lot of very good friends that are in the community, and I feel strongly that they should all be accepted,” Cobb said. “That’s huge to me. … I want to do anything I can to support them. I think it will be awesome just to be there and participate and be involved.”

When your community is ostracized, you have to show up and say, ‘This is who I am, and this is how I’m showing up.’

Parker Cunningham One close friend she has known since high school has made the issue personal for Cobb.

“I want her to be accepted in every way shape and form around,” Cobb said. “I don’t want it to be looked upon as a bad thing or for them to be scorned or whatever. I accept it in my life and I feel strongly for her because we’re both getting older and things change in life when you get older. It’s not all fun and games sometimes, and I want her to be treated fairly, and that’s very important to me.”

Cover culture

IRIS, a band named for the Greek goddess of the rainbow, follows at 7 p.m.

The band — currently including Cathy Cahill, Sharlene Kell, Deb Mills and Kristall Bright — has been performing in OKC and beyond since the late ’90s when the group first began playing as The Office Girls at KA’z Pub. “IRIS is well known for playing favorite covers that include most genres from the last five decades,” the band said in a written statement. “Our sound has a lot of variety with band members that play various instruments, including acoustic and electric guitar, bass, flute, harmonica and drums.”

Lip Service, known for spirited covers of ’70s and ’80s rock bands such as Def Leppard, Poison, Mötley Crüe and Guns N’ Roses, will follow at 9 p.m.

Lead singer Dangerous Donnie Lee Rothchild said that the concept of pride is important for everyone.

“Be proud in what you do, whatever it stands for, whatever it is you’re doing in your life,” Rothchild said. “Be proud of what you’re doing, whether it’s standing up for something or whether it’s just every day life, a job that you’re doing or

Lip Service | Photo provided

it’s music you’re writing.”

Rothchild, who previously played at Pride as a member of Superfreak, will be joined onstage by lead guitarist Trikki Lixx, bassist Maxee Padd and drummer Tommy Leevowitz.

“We just do what we do,” Rothchild said. “Most people dig it. It’s fun.”

Sunday’s festivities begin at 1:30 p.m. when The Coveralls take the stage. At 4 p.m., On a Whim — featuring David Randall (lead guitar), Rodney Pretlow (bass), Terence Peterson (keyboards), Edgar Scott (saxophone), Ckai Dawson (vocals) and Isaiah Thomas (drums) — is scheduled to perform. The band, which specializes in contemporary jazz, R&B, pop, neo-soul and funk, will lead in to the Pride parade, which begins at 6 p.m.

Visit okcpride.org.

OKC Pride Music Lineup 9:30 Friday-6 p.m. Saturday 39th District NW 39th Street between Classen and Youngs boulevards facebook.com/okcpridefan | 405-652-9561 Free CJ Greco | Photo provided

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EVENT

MUSIC

JULY 2

OKLAHOMA CITY ZOO AMPHITHEATRE PURCHASE TICKETS: BUY FOR LESS STORES & UPTOWN GROCERY CALL 1.800.514.3849 OR ZOOAMPOKC.COM

thurs, June 21

The cake eaTers Fri, June 22

Tanner Miller & The cOnTraband sat, June 23

dylan sTewarT & scOTT evans Wed, June 27

celia MOnrOe thurs, June 28

sTephen baker Fri, June 29

dylan sTewarT & buffalO rOgers sat, June 30

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blake lankfOrd thurs, July 5

The cake eaTers Fri, July 6

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issac Mcclung & JT darling Weekly events Mondays

Open Mic w/caleb Mcgee tuesdays

Tanner Miller 405.928.4550 36

j u n e 2 0 , 2 0 1 8 | O kg a z e t t e . c o m

Third wheel

Adam & Kizzie’s poignant THREEDO gets its Tower Theatre release show. By Ben Luschen

The second installment in Adam & Kizzie’s Book of Eedo album series was released in 2014 with 12 songs and more than one hour of music. The duo’s newest third edition, given the alias THREEDO, is a much slimmer release with just seven songs and about 30 minutes of run time.

The R&B, soul and hip-hop husbandand-wife combo Adam and Kizzie Ledbetter are not alone in their brevity.

Rapper Kanye West and his G.O.O.D. Music label are in the middle of releasing a series of highly publicized, seven-track albums of their own — some of which do not even eclipse 30 minutes.

So were the Ledbetters channeling a short-album trend with their new release? Well, sort of.

In a recent interview with Oklahoma Gazette, Kizzie said the couple liked that their album came out shorter, but they were not trying to mimic West or any other releases. The album was actually written and recorded several months ago.

“It just felt right, having seven tracks,” she said. “It really completed the album.”

The songs on THREEDO represent the fruits of two marathon 20-hour recording sessions at Edmond’s The Music Group studio. The couple went into the sessions with the idea of recording an album that represented their live shows, which often do not include any more instrumentation than a keyboard and a loop pedal. Every sound on the album was a product of either the couple’s voices or their fingers.

“All the drums you hear on it are me beatboxing,” Adam said, “which is what I did live.”

While the intention was to create music on the album that they could easily replicate live, the duo was not

always successful in that effort.

Everything they did was their own, but some of it features a lot of different meters and time signatures that would be hard to pull off in a show simultaneously.

“What we ended up doing was creating music that we could do ourselves, but only in the studio,” Kizzie said.

But that won’t be a problem when Adam & Kizzie perform their THREEDO album release show 8 p.m.

June 29 at Tower Theatre, 425 NW 23rd St. They plan on performing with a sixpiece band and bringing in several surprise guests. Adam said they are even bringing in choreographers to help get the production at top level.

“It’s going to be the Adam & Kizzie experience for Oklahoma City,” he said.

Messages received

THREEDO’s second song “It Was Almost R&B” is an anthem for self-love and self-care. But it is also a literal telling of Kizzie’s creative process one day.

When putting the song together, she set out with the specific focus of crafting a straightforward R&B song. While some of her vocals touch on R&B influence, there are a lot of soul and other aspects that keep her from that classification. For many years, in fact, she had a hard time labeling her sound.

“There’s not really a formula or a foundation that I can compare it to,” she said. “Because of that, I didn’t trust that it was any good.”

Trying to write an R&B song was very frustrating because after several attempts, she did not feel like she was any closer. But after taking a step back, she was able to see things with a new perspective.

“I looked at all the music I had created in the process of trying to create an R&B song and realized I had this whole catalogue of great music,” she said. “This song in particular was the beginning of that journey.”

Adam said “It Was A lmost R&B” is a song that can be applied to individuals as well.

“I think that’s how we approach a lot of things in life, and I t h in k t he

bigger message is that people aren’t genres and lifestyles aren’t genres,” Adam said. “But we’re always making it that way; we’re always calling ourselves certain things. We limit our range of experiences when we do that.”

THREEDO also includes several strong female-empowerment messages.

“On Behalf of the Shaniquas” features Adam deftly delivering odes to black women. In the song “Good Things,” he offers the unambiguous command “treat women right.”

Adam said for the last few years, he has been reflecting on the ways he feels about racism as a black man and realizing that a lot of the things he complains about in the subconscious behaviors of others were turning up in some of his own behaviors toward women.

“I think it’s super common,” he said, “and it’s really just a matter of always checking your privilege and being someone who gives space and room for other people to be who they are without being judgmental about it.”

Kizzie said THREEDO’s predominant message is about love in all its forms.

“We firmly believe love is at the center of everything,” she said. “When we go away from that and turn our backs on it, that’s when things begin to fall apart.”

Promising future

Adam & Kizzie made many rounds in local media as finalists for the $1 million Megastar competition, a global talent contest hosted by R&B superstar Usher.

While the couple finished just short of the final prize, the experience had a big effect on how they will approach music going forward.

“I think the Megastar experience has really informed how we’ve promoted this album, more than anything,” Adam said.

“There were times when we felt like we were on the campaign trail. From dusk till dawn, you’re making appearances.”

The duo already has the songs for a follow-up to THREEDO written. While this current album feels like a big moment for the band in its own right, Adam expects the next project to eclipse everything.

“Whatever doors are still closed to us,” he said, “this next record is going to blow them away.”

Visit adamandkizzie.com.

Adam & Kizzie’s The Books of Eedo: THREEDO was released earlier this month and gets its release show June 29 at Tower Theatre. | Image provided

Adam & Kizzie album release show 8 p.m. June 29 Tower Theatre 425 NW 23rd St. towertheatreokc.com | 405-708-6937 $12-$15

LIVE MUSIC These are events recommended

by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members. For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.

Wednesday, Jun. 20 Carson McHone, The Blue Door. COUNTRY Dan Martin/Ben Brock, JJ’s Alley Bricktown Pub. FOLK Tory Lanez, The Jones Assembly. RAP

Thursday, Jun. 21 Aaron Hale & The Human Beings, The Root. FOLK Flotsam & Jetsam/Arkhon/Bag o’ Bones, 89th Street-OKC. METAL Jarvix, Oklahoma Contemporary Showroom. POP The Lucky Eejits/The Lost End, Blue Note Lounge.

PUNK

SINGER/SONGWRITER

Tuesday, Jun. 26

U.S. Bombs/Spooky Fruit/The Normandys, The Ruins Live. PUNK

Castle/Redwitch Johnny, Blue Note Lounge. ROCK

COUNTRY

Travis Linville, Greek Theatre at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. FOLK

Wednesday, Jun. 27

Fleece/Cut Throat Finches/The Tribesmen, Blue Note Lounge. ROCK Ginuwine, Tower Theatre. R&B Grayson Capps, The Blue Door. ROCK Have Mercy/Kississippi/Gleemer, 89th Street-OKC. POP

They Act Human/StuddaBudda/Candyass Execution, Bad Granny’s Bazaar. EXPERIMENTAL

Lil Jon/Original Flow/Sativa Prophets, Lost Lakes Waterpark and Amphitheater. HIP-HOP

SINGER/SONGWRITER

Sean McConnell, The Blue Door. FOLK

Beau Jennings/Jason Scott/Nellie Clay, The Yard.

Repaid in Blood/Short Fuse/Scylla, Kendells. METAL

SINGER/SONGWRITER

Kyle Reid, Scratch Kitchen & Cocktails.

Saturday, Jun. 23

Net/Mt. Terror/APMFG, Opolis. POP

Chelsey Cope/The Pauses, Opolis.

Royal Dukes Band, Whiskey Chicks. COVER

Tanner Miller & The Contraband, Bluebonnet Bar.

Merkules/DJ Scotty Wu/ C The Gray, The Venue OKC. HIP-HOP

Friday, Jun. 22

Jason Hunt, Sean Cumming’s Irish Restaurant. FOLK

Salt N Pepa/Naughty By Nature/Color Me Badd, Chesapeake Energy Arena. HIP-HOP

The Killdeers, VZD’s Restaurant & Bar. ROCK

Zac Lee, Saints Pub. JAZZ

Monday, Jun. 25

Psymbience/Weird Neighbors/Dog Will Hunt, Blue Note Lounge. ROCK

Sunday, Jun. 24 Dead Boys, Blue Note Lounge. PUNK Electric Jam with Aaron/Gonzo/Mad Dog, Still Working Bar. ROCK Makeshift Cities/To Kill Porter/Gohvn the Lohvn, Sauced on Paseo. PUNK Secrets/Lights of Alora, 89th Street-OKC. ROCK

Adam Miller/Ben Brock, JJ’s Alley Bricktown Pub. SINGER/SONGWRITER

Yellow House Revisited Oklahoma’s particular take on alt-country sprouted from fireside jam sessions on a legendary farm before it was transplanted to a rundown house where the likes of Jason Boland, Cody Canada (Cross Canadian Ragweed) and Mike McClure swapped songs, honed their skills.On their coheadlining tour, Boland, Canada and McClure share the stage to recreate that original laidback dynamic, minus, we assume, the dog. The show starts 8 p.m.

Friday at Tower Theatre, 425 NW 23rd St. Tickets are $30-$43. Call 405- 7086937 or visit towertheatreokc.com.

Friday Jason Boland | Photo Cameron L. Gott Photography / provided

Celia Monroe, Bluebonnet Bar. FOLK Leah Tussing/Rafael Tranquilino, The Deli. JAZZ Shakey Graves/Paul Cauthen, Tower Theatre. INDIE

Live music submissions must be received by Oklahoma Gazette no later than noon on Wednesday seven days before the desired publication date.

Late submissions will not be included in the listings. Submissions run as space allows, although we strive to make the listings as inclusive as possible.

Fax your listings to 528-4600 or e-mail to listings@okgazette.com.

Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

go to okgazette.com for full listings!

free will astrology Homework: Make a guess about where you’ll be and what you’ll be doing ten years from today. Testify at Freewillastrology.com.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you have cosmic permission to enjoy extra helpings of waffles, crepes, pancakes, and blintzes. Eating additional pastries and doughnuts is also encouraged. Why? Because it’s high time for you to acquire more ballast. You need more gravitas and greater stability. You can’t afford to be top-heavy; you must be hard to knock over. If you would prefer not to accomplish this noble goal by adding girth to your butt and gut, find an alternate way. Maybe you could put weights on your shoes and think very deep thoughts.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) You’re slipping into

CANCER (June 21-July 22) I suggest you ignore

the temptation to shop around for new heroes and champions. It would only distract you from your main assignment in the coming weeks, which is to be more of a hero and champion yourself. Here are some tips to guide you as you slip beyond your overly modest self-image and explore the liberations that may be possible when you give yourself more credit. Tip #1: Finish outgrowing the old heroes and champions who’ve served you well. Tip #2: Forgive and forget the disappointing heroes and hypocritical champions who betrayed their own ideals. Tip #3: Exorcise your unwarranted admiration for mere celebrities who might have snookered you into thinking they’re heroes or champions.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) “A waterfall would be more

the wild heart of the season of discovery. Your curiosity is mounting. Your listening skills are growing more robust. Your willingness to be taught and influenced and transformed is at a peak. And what smarter way to take advantage of this fertile moment than to decide what you most want to learn about during the next three years? For inspiration, identify a subject you’d love to study, a skill you’d eagerly stretch yourself to master, and an invigorating truth that would boost your brilliance if you thoroughly embodied it.

impressive if it flowed the other way,” said Irish writer Oscar Wilde. Normally, I would dismiss an idea like this, even though it’s funny and I like funny ideas.

Normally, I would regard such a negative assessment of the waterfall’s true nature, even in jest, to be unproductive and enfeebling. But none of my usual perspectives are in effect as I evaluate the possibility that Wilde’s declaration might be a provocative metaphor for your use in the coming weeks. For a limited time only, it might be wise to meditate on a waterfall that flows the other way.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Playwright and novelist

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Stage magicians may

Samuel Beckett won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969. Four of his works were essential in earning that award: the play Waiting for Godot, and the novels Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnamable. Beckett wrote all of them in a two-year span during the late 1940s. During that time, he was virtually indigent. He and his companion Suzanne survived on the paltry wage she made as a dressmaker. We might draw the conclusion from his life story that it is at least possible for a person to accomplish great things despite having little money.

I propose that we make Beckett your role model for the coming weeks, Gemini. May he inspire you to believe in your power to become the person you want to be no matter what your financial situation may be.

seem to make a wine glass hover in mid-air, or transform salt into diamonds, or make doves materialize and fly out of their hands. It’s all fake, of course -- tricks performed by skilled illusionists. But here’s a twist on the old story: I suspect that for a few weeks, you will have the power to generate effects that may, to the uninitiated, have a resemblance to magic tricks -- except that your magic will be real, not fake.

And you will have worked very hard to accomplish what looks easy and natural. And the marvels you generate will, unlike the illusionists’, be authentic and useful.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) The coming weeks will

be a favorable time to accentuate and brandish the qualities that best exemplify your Libran nature. In other words, be extreme in your moderation. Be pushy in your attempts to harmonize. Be bold and brazen as you make supple use of your famous balancing act. I’ll offer you a further piece of advice, as well. My first astrology teacher believed that when Librans operate at peak strength, their symbol of power is the iron fist in the velvet glove: power expressed gracefully, firmness rendered gently. I urge you to explore the nuances of that metaphor.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) If I were your mom, I’d nudge you out the door and say, “Go play outside for a while!” If I were your commanding officer, I’d award you a shiny medal for your valorous undercover work and then order you to take a frisky sabbatical. If I were your psychotherapist, I would urge you to act as if your past has no further power to weigh you down or hold you back, and then I would send you out on a vision quest to discover your best possible future. In other words, my dear Scorpio, I hope you will flee your usual haunts. Get out of the loop and into the open spaces that will refresh your eyes and heart.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Sex education

classes at some high schools employ a dramatic exercise to illustrate the possible consequences of engaging in heterosexual lovemaking without using birth control. Everywhere they go for two weeks, students must carry around a 10-pound bag of flour.

It’s a way for them to get a visceral approximation of caring for an infant. I recommend that you find or create an equivalent test or trial for yourself in the coming days. As you consider entering into a deeper collaboration or making a stronger commitment, you’ll be wise to undertake a dress rehearsal.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Members of the

Dull Men’s Club celebrate the ordinary. “Glitz and glam aren’t worth the bother,” they declare. “Slow motion gets you there faster,” they pontificate.

Showing no irony, they brag that they are “born to be

mild.” I wouldn’t normally recommend becoming part of a movement like theirs, but the next two weeks will be one of those rare times when aligning yourself with their principles might be healthy and smart. If you’re willing to explore the virtues of simple, plain living, make the Swedish term lagom your word of power.

According to the Dull Men’s Club, it means “enough, sufficient, adequate, balanced, suitable, appropriate.”

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) In the Georgian

language, shemomechama is a word that literally means “I ate the whole thing.” It refers to what happens when you’re already full, but find the food in front of you so delicious that you can’t stop eating. I’m concerned you might soon be tempted to embark on metaphorical versions of shemomechama. That’s why I’m giving you a warning to monitor any tendencies you might have to get too much of a good thing. Pleasurable and productive activities will serve you better if you stop yourself before you go too far.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) Please do not send me

a lock of your hair or a special piece of your jewelry or a hundred dollar bill. I will gladly cast a love spell in your behalf without draining you of your hard-earned cash. The only condition I place on my free gift is that you agree to have me cast the love spell on you and you alone. After all, your love for yourself is what needs most work. And your love for yourself is the primary magic that fuels your success in connecting with other people. (Besides, it’s bad karma to use a love spell to interfere with another person’s will.) So if you accept my conditions, Pisces, demonstrate that you’re ready to receive my telepathic love spell by sending me your telepathic authorization.

Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes /daily text message horoscopes.

The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.

O kg a z e t t e . c o m | j u n e 2 0 , 2 0 1 8

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puzzles New York Times Magazine Crossword Puzzle Rush-hour headaches

By Ruth Bloomfield Margolin | Puzzles Edited by Will Shortz | 0617

ACROSS 1 “Me too” 6 Expert on jingles 11 U.K. VIP 15 Corp. leadership 19 Baby’s woe 20 Nap for a loafer?

21 Cien ____ de Soledad

(Gabriel García Márquez novel) 22 Bailiwick 23 Lane restricted to allow

motorcades through?

26 Ribs 27 Jerry’s adversary, in cartoons 28 ____ colada 29 Night vision?

30 Early online forum 32 Honolulu’s historic ____ Palace 34 Current 36 Pressing and shoving me as I

enter the subway?

41 Sounds before sneezes 42 Word repeated by Romeo in

“As mine on ____, so ____ is

set on mine” 43 Brown v. Board of Education city 44 Last words of a pep talk, perhaps 48 Not taking a bow?

51 New Haven collegian 52 Mousetrap brand 54 Take a hit 55 Highway obstructed by

accidents, detours and construction?

59 Things sometimes stolen in Hollywood 61 East Berlin’s land: Abbr.

62 Prosperous period 63 Standing Rock tribe 65 Pays attention to 66 Rope for strangulation 69 Package sender to an enlistee, maybe 71 Kosher 74 Title kitten in a Key and Peele

action comedy 76 Not stay in the pail, say 77 Youth org. since 1910 80 They sit in front of a cox 82 Took public transportation

while one’s wheels were at the shop?

86 City near Provo 87 “Time ____ a premium”

89 Grp. with a co-pay 90 Bit of dangly jewelry 91 “Star-bellied” Seussian creature 93 Net fisher 96 Song lead-in to “di” or “da” 97 Rural turndown 98 “This tollbooth line will make

me late!”?

103 Portal in Alice in Wonderland 106 Shellac and myrrh 107 Rule against singing 108 Toodle-oos 111 Peddle 112 115 Where Scarlett got a letter?

116 Split an Uber?

120 Fun-run length, for short 121 Last thing said before eating?

122 Washington, but not Jefferson 123 Any local in The Music Man 124 Matter of interest?

125 Spot 126 Like legalized marijuana 127 Alternating-current motor inventor

DOWN

1 ____ no.

2 Home of many 3 One with ’18 after one’s name, say 4 Alma mater of Wm. Hewlett of Hewlett-Packard 5 Colorful summer treat 6 Like the “s” in “aisle” 7 Dodge SUV 8 Brave adversary 9 Condition for some distracted

kids, for short 10 Not e’en once 11 Like some oil money 12 Canine coat?

13 “Hmm, the oven was on. Did

____ didn’t …”

14 Time release 15 Get to Grand Central right at 5:00?

16 Tool for a blacksmith 17 Jason’s wife in myth 18 Finger-licking good 24 Thread: Prefix 25 San Francisco : BART ::

Philadelphia : ____ 31 Sweater damage 32 “No more for me, thanks”

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33 Force onward 35 Utah’s ____ Canyon (locale of petroglyphs) 36 Kale alternative 37 Fix, as a golf green 38 Pianist Rubinstein 39 Rise above the din, say 40 Somewhere over the rainbow

they’re blue, in song 45 Carry-____ 46 Scraped (out) 47 Cleanup target 49 Tax ____ 50 Queen dowager of Jordan 52 ____ Homme (fashion line) 53 Awkward 56 Decision point 57 Simple life?

58 Through 60 Quantico actress Priyanka ___

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64 Prefix with -phone 66 “I’m scared by the speed

you’re going in this traffic!”?

67 Not sagging at all 68 No-nonsense quartet?

70 Pout 71 Elton’s johns 72 Bring in 73 Special soldier 75 Did some theater work, casually 77 Good ol’ boy 78 Certain vodka order, informally 79 Up 81 Neighbor of Hond.

83 Radiate 84 Campaign supporter 85 Expressive facial features 88 ____ Tzu (dog) 92 Doofus

93 Take care of 94 Put on a pedestal 95 Sister of Snow White 99 Delaying response to “Is it time?”

100 Comic Boosler 101 ____ qua non 102 Sends a breakup text, say (tsk!)

103 Helicopter feature 104 Refrigerator handle?

105 Snacks during hora feliz 109 N.Z. neighbor 110 Mlle., in Managua 112 House work?

113 ____ cavity 114 Golden Globe winner Dunham 117 Friend of Francine 118 Kind of paper 119 Help make the bed?

W I N E T A S N A T A G E B O R

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