October 5, 2016 :: The Power Issue

OCTOBER 05, 2016 OUTFRONTONLINE .COM FREE

2016 Power Issue The Winning Team Dana Zzyym Dr. Robert Davies George + Lawrence Powell Blanca Leos Tim Gaudette Lisa Moore First Baptist Church of Denver U.S. Bank Colorado Health Network

Other Notable Locals With Staying Power

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CONTENTS OCTOBER 05, 2016 VOL40 NO13

19 08 CORKY BLANKENSHIP’S HOUSE CATCHES FIRE 10 CO GRAPHIC DESIGNER FILES FOR RIGHT TO SAME-SEX DISCRIMINATION 14 MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ ON PLAYING A TRANS CHARACTER

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44 BI THE POWER VESTED IN ME 48 POWER AND PROMISE: CONSIDERING MATTHEW SHEPARD 56 RU JOHNSON ON HIP HOP, POWER, AND KEEPING YOUR HEAD UP 67 HEINZESIGHT 70 SCIENCE SAYS YOU SHOULDN’T GO IT ALONE 74 ASK A SLUT

ON THE COVER

Dana Zzyym, a 2016 Power Award Winner; Photography

by Christina Gressianu

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ONE COLORADO NEEDS YOUR HELP YES, YOU SPECIFICALLY. One Colorado — the state’s leading advocacy organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Coloradans and their families — is working hard this election year to help all Colorado queers.

In order to do that, they need your input.

Take a break from scrolling through Facebook, double clicking those Instagram posts, or looking a fool on Snapchat and complete the statewide needs assessment. This assessment will let One Colorado know what issues they need to focus on to push for full equality.

But your input isn’t the only thing One Colorado is looking for — the organization announced 50 pro-equality candidate endorsements for the 2016 election.

“Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Coloradans and their families know how important elections are — and we’ve seen firsthand the difference a pro-equality majority can make in the

Colorado legislature,” said Daniel Ramos, Executive Director of One Colorado. “For the past two years, we’ve watched every bill that would improve the lives of LGBTQ Coloradans get voted down in our state legislature. We are happy to endorse a bipartisan group of pro-equality candidates and look forward to working with them on their campaigns.”

Ryan Howe

Your input isn’t the only thing One Colorado is looking for — the organization announced 50 proequality candidate endorsements for the 2016 election.

“Every candidate we have endorsed will be a champion for LGBTQ Coloradans and their families in the legislature. It is important we keep working to move our state forward — by removing everyday barriers transgender Coloradans face, banning the harmful practice of conversion therapy, and making sure religious exemption bills don’t become law — so that no part of our community is left behind.”

PEEP THE LIST OF CANDIDATES House of Representatives:

HD 1 – Susan Lontine HD 2 – Alec Garnett HD 3 – Jeff Bridges HD 4 – Dan Pabon HD 5 – Crisanta Duran

HD 17 – Tony Exum & Kit Roupe HD 18 – Pete Lee HD 23 – Chris Kennedy HD 24 – Jessie Danielson HD 26 – Diane M. Bush

HD 6 – Chris Hansen

HD 28 – Brittany Pettersen

HD 7 – James Coleman

HD 29 – Tracy Kraft-Tharp

HD 8 – Leslie Herod

HD 30 – Dafna Michaelson Jenet

HD 9 – Paul Rosenthal HD 10 – Edie Hooton HD 11 – Jonathan Singer HD 12 – Mike Foote HD 13 – KC Becker

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HD 31 – Joe Salazar HD 32 – Adrienne Benavidez HD 33 – Matt Gray

HD 34 – Steve Lebsock HD 35 – Faith Winter HD 36 – Mike Weissman HD 40 – Janet Buckner HD 41 – Jovan Melton HD 42 – Dominique Jackson

Senate:

SD 14 – John Kefalas SD 17 – Matt Jones SD 18 – Steve Fenberg SD 19 – Rachel Zenzinger SD 21 – Dominick Moreno SD 25 – Jenise May

HD 46 – Daneya Esgar

SD 26 – Daniel Kagan

HD 50 – Dave Young

SD 28 – Nancy Todd

HD 52 – Joann Ginal

SD 29 – Rhonda Fields

HD 53 – Jeni Arndt

SD 31 – Lois Court

HD 55 – Dan Thurlow

SD 33 – Angela Williams

HD 59 – Barbara McLachlan

SD 35 – Jim Casias

HD 61 – Millie Hamner

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CORKY BLANKENSHIP SHOWING SIGNS OF RECOVERY Berlin Sylvestre

CORKY BLANKENSHIP’S HOUSE CATCHES FIRE OUT FRONT PHOTOGRAPHER CHARLES Broshous was on a ride with the Denver Fire Department on Aug. 29 when a call for 4501 E. Warren Avenue came through. Those in the community know the address to belong to longtime fundraiser Corky Blankenship.

Though reports are still trickling in, here’s what we know so far: Two people were rescued from the blazes.

“I know Corky and his brother used to live there,” Charles tells us. “They probably still do.” Only one person was given CPR by firefighters.

“I’m not sure who it was,” Charles says.

The house wasn’t completely demolished.

“I’d estimate the damage at maybe a quarter,” says Charles.

No word from anyone inside the house during the blaze is available. >>> UPDATE Aug 30

JIMMY MARTIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR the Corky Cares Foundation, gave us a ring this afternoon to fill us in on what he knows about Corky and Rick Blankenship’s statuses after a house fire destroyed their home.

“I’ve been the only non-familymember [to be let] in because I’m super-close to the family from my work with the foundation,” he says.

He tells us that Corky has passed a brain-damage test, in which a patient who has been unconscious or sedated is asked to perform simple functions once they’re awake. Corky was able to move his feet on command, as well as nod when asked — both are great signals for recovery.

Unfortunately, doctors have been unable to revive his brother who, though showing signs of brain activity, has yet to respond to any cues. “His brother has shown no improvement,” says Jimmy. That could be due to the allegations that it took between eight to fifteen more minutes for Rick to be found by firefighters, then an additional fifteen minutes of CPR. Both were in need of resuscitation but, according to Jimmy, Corky was revived on the scene and

Ronald L. Raphael Passarelli

He also says Corky suffered “minor burns on his arms and face and that’s all [the family has] told me so far,” before adding that Rick’s burns are a little worse.

“Yesterday, they turned the oxygen source off, and Corky breathed on his own for a little over three hours,” he says. “Then it was starting to get a little labored. He had a scratchy throat … so they put him back on the ventilator.”

If Corky’s condition continues to improve, Jimmy says doctors will have his tubes removed again within the next two days, and will attempt to get him breathing with the aid of a nasal cannula.

“They’re trying to get him to write a little bit, but he’s so wiped out,” he says. “You can imagine what painkillers do to a tiny little thing like him.”

CONT’D ON PAGE 12

IN MEMORIUM

Ron Passarelli of Phoenix, Arizona died on August 22, 2016, at the age of 69.

historic preservation work was devoted to the David Wright House in Phoenix.

Ron is survived by his spouse, Eric Moore of Phoenix.

He is also survived by two sisters, Marie Nigrini and Lanette Passarelli.

Most recently, Ron designed the Phoenix AIDS Memorial.

Ron worked vigorously on behalf of the Arizona LGBTQ community. He was a community historian who gathered material for the LGBTQ history project now on display at Arizona State University. Ron’s final and favorite 8 \\ O C T O B E R 0 5 , 2 0 1 6

rushed out via an ambulance. “Rick is in way worse condition,” Jimmy tells us. “He isn’t responding to anything but electrical stimuli. Doctors were keeping them sedated so they wouldn’t come to and pull their tubes out, [but] they took Corky’s out two days ago in the afternoon.

He was restless, having those tubes in his throat.” Jimmy says there may be severe damage to Corky’s lungs, so doctors removed some of the blood and mucous that had gathered in his chest.

A memorial service was held on Saturday, October 1, 2016 at the David Wright House in Phoenix. Memorial contributions can be made to the Phoenix AIDS Memorial, c/o the Phoenix Parks Foundation, 2700 N. 15th Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85007.

ARE YOU A WRITER? THIS IS FOR YOU.

FREELANCE WRITERS WANTED KNOW A WRITER? SPREAD THE WORD. The assignments are fun, the work is steady, and the pay depends on how many stories you pick up and are fit to print.

Though we’re an LGBT publication, we don’t stick to stories that would only appeal to an LGBT audience. You might find yourself writing about anything from traffic cameras to the new cat café, who knows? It’s a big world …

EST.

1976

SEND SOME WORK (SUBJECT: FREELANCER) TO: BERLIN@OUTFRONTONLINE.COM

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CO GRAPHIC DESIGNER FILES FOR RIGHT TO SAME-SEX DISCRIMINATION ATTORNEYS FOR THE ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM have filed a pre-enforcement challenge before the US District Court for the District of Colorado that aims to take on the state’s anti-discrimination laws — specifically one that prohibits the denial of services to same-sex couples. Denver-based graphic designer Lorie Smith of 303 Creative believes that marriage is a union between one man and one woman, and doesn’t believe in providing her services to those who represent the contrary. Per the filing, Lorie believes that “God is calling her to promote and celebrate His design for marriage by designing and creating custom wedding websites for weddings between one man and one woman only.”

On 303 Creative’s website, Lorie makes sure to announce her Christianity and warn potential clients that: “because of my faith, however, I am selective about the messages that I create or promote – while I will serve anyone I am always careful to avoid communicating ideas or messages, or promoting events, products, services, or organizations, that are inconsistent with my religious beliefs.”

“Artists shouldn’t be threatened with punishment for disagreeing with the government’s preferred views,” ADF Senior Counsel Jeremy Tedesco informed media via press release this morning. “The state must allow artists the freedom to make personal decisions about what art they can and can’t create.”

Added ADF Legal Counsel Samuel Green: “Every American, including artists, should be free to peacefully live and work according to their faith without fear of unjust punishment by the government. Just because an artist creates expression that communicates one viewpoint doesn’t mean Colorado can require her to express all viewpoints.

It’s unlawful to force an artist to create against her will and intimidate her into silence just because 1 0 \\ O C T O B E R 0 5 , 2 0 1 6

the government disagrees with her beliefs.”

Pre-enforcement challenges are presented before a court when a citizen believes he or she will face legal repercussions for acting according to their beliefs, in spite of those beliefs contradicting existing laws. These sorts of challenges are pre-emptive moves that aim to curtail repercussions for disregarding extant law. Such lawsuits are used by organizations such as Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union.

An excerpt from the Wednesday press release reads:

Berlin Sylvestre

“Because of my faith, however, I am selective about the messages that I create or promote – while I will serve anyone I am always careful to avoid communicating ideas or messages, or promoting events, products, services, or organizations, that are inconsistent with my religious beliefs.”

Specifically, the suit challenges Colorado Revised Statute § 24-34601(2)(a), a portion of Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission has construed CADA to force artists like Smith to create objectionable art even though Smith happily serves everyone and decides what art to create based on the art’s message—not her client’s personal characteristics. The law also prohibits artists from expressing any religious views about marriage that could make someone feel “unwelcome, objectionable, unacceptable, or undesirable” because of their sexual orientation.

The challenge has not received an official time on the court docket, and Lorie’s attorneys have informed media that she will not be speaking on the matter.

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CORKY BLANKENSHIP SHOWING SIGNS OF RECOVERY CONT’D FROM PAGE 08

Another friend of the family, Michael Jimenez, says, “We’re keeping them in our prayers.”

He says there’s so much speculation as to what caused the fire, that he wouldn’t personally hazard a guess. “People tend to think they know,” he says. “In reality, they don’t. But there’s an investigation [as to why] part of house is burnt and the other part isn’t.”

According to Jimmy, the brothers’ insurance company has deemed the house an entire loss. He credits the age of the house (“It once belonged to their parents”) and Rick’s tendency to hoard items as the reason the damage was so severe. The brothers shared the home and, says Jimmy, Corky’s side was “immaculate” while Rick’s was packed. “It was a tinderbox,” he says. “In the middle was the shared space with a living room, a kitchen, and Corky’s fish-tank.” It’s because of those fish that Corky doesn’t go on long vacations, according to Jimmy. “He talks and sings to the fish every morning. As weird as it sounds, that’s one of the first things I thought about.”

Update, Sept. 5: Sadly, Rick Blankenship succumbed to his injuries today.The cause of the fire is still under investigation. A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help Corky with expenses. The Denver Fire Department would like to remind readers to check the batteries in your smoke detectors, have an escape plan and keep items at least three feet away from anything that gets hot.

GoFundMe.com/2mm25bg

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He also says Corky suffered “minor burns on his arms and face and that’s all [the family has] told me so far,” before adding that Rick’s burns are a little worse.

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MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ ON PLAYING A TRANS CHARACTER: ‘YOU CAN’T REALLY ARGUE WITH ME BECAUSE I’M YOU’ MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ IS UNDER FIRE FOR PORTRAYING a very odd, and sorta controversial character in the upcoming film [re]Assignment, where she plays a cisgender male who is forced to become a woman by an evil doctor, Sigourney Weaver, who wants “to teach him a lesson.”

Rodriguez plays an assassin named Frank Kitchen.

After killing the brother of a brilliant but deranged surgeon, Kitchen is captured and awakes to find himself unwillingly turned into a woman.

The premise alone garnered backlash from the queer community for being insensitive toward transgender people, who said the medical procedure should not be used as a sensationalistic plot device. It was also called transphobic and exploitative.

In a series of Instagram photos, Rodriguez posed while revealing her chest binder, armpit hair, and a full beard that was applied temporarily. The caption reads (without edits): Heheheh at TIFF promoting ‘TomBoy A Revengers Tale’ producers are convinced the new movie title should be re-assignment but I’ll stick to the title I signed on to shoot… ‘Tomboy’. It’s in the B Movie genre, a culture shock pic, shot like a ‘film Noir’ graphic novel. I played a male assassin for four days in the movie, boy was that beard itchy. Then out revenge, a twisted Doctor played

by Sigourney Weaver decides to take my character’s manhood away with a sex change to teach him a lesson.

I never felt more like a woman than when I played a man. For the rest of the film I was a man stuck in a newly operated sex changed body. I had fake boob covers to look like man implants & I wore a fake hairy ‘mangina’ which you can’t really see cause they made it so hairy. In retrospect I’m I glad took the plunge, the industry seems to be running low on edgy creativity & 1 4 \\ O C T O B E R 0 5 , 2 0 1 6

‘real take a chance’ controversy, sometimes it makes me want to scream, instead I did what I always do when I’m bored with the ‘status quo’, I shot crazy b movie Indy to express my frustration. I wish I had more than a few weeks to prepare for this flic, I would have gained a lot more weight, & we would have made some hairy arms to match my Mediterranean look.

I feel that my skinny build sometimes comes off hermaphoditic in the film, especially when you add the crazy male chest for the nude sequences.

Lol hope y’all will enjoy the flic sometime, when we sell it of course… It’s interesting to say the least.

Ryan Howe

“Sorry Michelle, girl you gotta know I love you, but this movie sounds insensitive as f–k to the transgender community,” one commenter wrote.

“Turning their very real struggle into a fun little tour for you and a cheap shock value movie.”

“Sorry Michelle, girl you gotta know I love you, but this movie sounds insensitive as f–k to the transgender community,” one commenter wrote. “Turning their very real struggle into a fun little tour for you and a cheap shock value movie.”

Rodriguez addressed the ongoing controversy in an interview at the Toronto International Film Festival last month.

“I’m bisexual. I do guys. I do girls. You can’t really argue with me because I’m you. So if I do a movie, I’d never do a movie with the intention of offending anybody in the LGBT community because I’m a part of it,” she said.

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THE WINNING TEAM berlin sylvestre photography by christina gressianu

For 2016, OUT FRONT joined forces with the Denver Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce for our annual Power Awards ceremony. Traditionally, we’ve called it our Power Party, but this year’s one-two combo makes it more of a gala, so we’re excited to announce a slight break in tradition to bring our community the Power Gala Awards! We’ll be holding the party at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel in the grand ballroom. (We’re so stoked.) Our musical interludes are provided by none other than Ty Herndon, Alpha the Musical, and Spinphony.

HEADS UP: You can purchase tickets at DenverPowerGala.com, so be sure to do so before we (as is tradition) sell completely out.

But until then, we present: The Winning Team.

Our lineup of winners this year — as every year — is made of truly extraordinary people and you can find out more about them at OutFrontOnline. com. We’ll soon be featuring videos, interviews, and photoshoots with the award recipients that include their stories and what they’ll aim to continue bringing to the LGBTIQ community. For this issue’s pages, we wanted to focus on the lighter side of our winners, without giving too terribly much away. (That’s for the party.) See you October 15.

2016 power winners everybody has a story

DR. ROBERT DAVIES, MD

Dr. Davies spearheaded the addition of a mental-health clinic at CU that caters specifically to the community, and it’s known as the CU Health LGBTQ Mental Health Clinic at the University of Colorado Hospital.

The clinic is staffed by second- and third-year psych residents who deeply understand the upset of being cared for by often clueless providers who

have the potential to ruin even the most mundane of experiences and, in the process, deter future visits to healthcare facilities — in some cases, permanently.

Dr. Davies aims to join other clinics in alleviating that. He came to our interview sessions fresh from a literal Italian wedding wearing some kooky socks that perfectly displayed his jovial nature and good humor.

THIS GUY WALKED OUT OF HAMILTON ON OPENING WEEKEND, BUT WE ARE STILL HONORING HIM.

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What were you like in high school?

I was into theatre. I was a theatre and choir geek. I loved performing — it was fun. I like some of the newer stuff; I live for Spring Awakening. I have to say, though, that I’m one of two people in the world who walked out of Hamilton before intermission. I was with a friend who just wasn’t having it. It was opening week and we had amazing seats, but he just wasn’t into it. I tease him about it and he feels horrible. I have to go back and see it.

What’s the best part about your day?

The best part about my day is when I get up, go sit out back, and watch my koi pond with my dog while drinking coffee.

If you could choose to live in any era, which would it be?

I would love to live in Edwardian England. Just the formality and style … I mean, it wasn’t a great time for gay men, but … you know, there are ways around that. I love [Showtime’s] Penny Dreadful … Dorian Gray, yum.

What was your favorite book as a child?

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I just love something about a boy who didn’t have a lot but was just a good person, and everything opened up to him. I love that book.

What’re some of your guilty pleasures?

Taco Bell. For some reason, everytime I go to yoga in the evening, I’ll do this really healthy thing, then on my way home, get this insatiable craving for a Double Decker Taco Supreme. I’m also totally addicted to reality competition shows like Project Runway, Survivor, Drag Race, shows like that.

What’s something you’re actively trying to become better at?

I’m trying to be less reactive and just take things as they come. For the last two years, I’ve been working really hard at it. I used to be so serious, but now, I try to let things come my way and I let them sit, like “Does this really matter? Does this really affect me? Can I let it go and stay focused on my own motivations?”

If you were forced to wear a warning label, what would it say?

Warning: I mate for life. I’m a Cancer so I’m about home and family. Domestic life is what matters most to me.

If you could give one piece of advice to the world, what would it be?

Be true to your heart. Approach everything with love and honesty. And don’t vote for Trump.

As the Chief Executive Officer of Colorado Health Network (dba Denver Colorado AIDS Project), Darrell is committed to serving people living with HIV and helping prevent the spread

of HIV and other blood-borne diseases. We wish to honor him for providing life-sustaining services to people who are often challenged by a lack of resources, while also facing the

HIV has disproportionately affected the LGBTIQ community since before our organization was founded in 1983. Initially, Colorado Health Network primarily served gay men who acquired HIV/AIDS. Today, approximately 65 percent of

Can you give some examples of how Colorado Health Network has benefited the LGBTIQ community?

challenges of living with HIV. The services provided, Darrell hopes, will help eliminate the barriers to treatment and care, so clients can focus on their health and recovery.

We request feedback from clients regularly and survey

What kind of feedback do you get from the community about your services?

our clients are from the LGBTIQ community. In addition to disease-prevention services, we provide case management and supportive services including insurance, nutrition, housing and emergency financial assistance, insurance enrollment services and behavioral health counseling services, oral health care, and other supportive services to eligible clients.

2016 power winners everybody a story the winninghas team

A MODEST GENTLEMAN, MR. VIGIL WAS RELUCTANT TO GIVE AN INTERVIEW COMING FROM HIS STANCE ALONE. HE WANTED TO MAKE SURE HIS RESPONSES RESONATED SENTIMENTS FROM THE ENTIRE ORGANIZATION.

COLORADO HEALTH NETOWRK Darrell Vigil them at least annually. Our clients are very happy with our services and only wish that our services could have further reach to other individuals and populations.

We’ve received comments full of gratitude including that our services have saved lives!

Are the needs of the community a part of Colorado Health Network’s mission statement?

Colorado Health Network’s mission is to equitably meet the evolving needs of people affected

by HIV and other diseases through prevention, care, and advocacy.

What should the LGBTIQ community take away when they think of CHN? Colorado Health Network provides life-sustaining services in a caring and compassionate way to people living with HIV. We are here to help people live long, healthy lives!

Does Colorado Health Network intend to continue working for our community?

We have proudly served individuals from the LGBTIQ community from the beginning and will continue to do so as long as there is a need!

2016 power winners everybody has a story

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DANA ZZYYM DANA ZZYYM How brave are you to take on both Secretary of State John Kerry and the Colorado Passport Agency? Pretty damn brave, which is exactly why Dana was a natural choice for the 2016 Power Award — and for our cover! Dana, a retired Navy vet, was denied a passport when they (Dana’s preferred pronoun, along with them and their) applied. They’d never needed one while traveling with the Navy (it’s not required), but in order to attend a conference on intersex-related issues, the answer was a firm no. Why? Because without committing perjury, Dana couldn’t check the M or F gender marker. So they suited up and took it to court. The verdict is still out, but until then, meet Dana Zzyym.

If a genie popped out of a lamp and gave you three wishes …

I’d end intersex genital mutilation, I’d really like to stop all the hatred in the world, and ... I’ll save the last for later.

What’re some of your pet peeves?

I let so many things slide in my personal life, but drivers who cut me off … little things like that. But I don’t know: I wasn’t even mad when someone hit me on my scooter. Things happen. I was more mad at the insurance company [for the lack of proper compensation]. I also don’t like companies who run roughshod over their employees, or abuse sacred land. We wouldn’t let an oil company run a pipeline through Arlington National Cemetery — why would we let them do that in South Dakota? It’s disgusting.

What were you like as a kid?

Afraid of everything. Because I had my genitals cut as a kid, I lacked trust in everybody and everything. It was childhood trauma that continued, because they damaged [some internal organs] in the process. It was all very painful.

What’s the best part about your day?

When I can get out and go anywhere and do anything on my bike. I like talking to people about intersex issues, too. That’s a good day.

If you could live in any era, which would you choose?

If I get to know what I know now? I’d like to be 20 in this era. Now. But only if I [get to know] what I know now.

photo by paul wedlake

2016 power winners the winning team

GEORGE AND LAWRENCE POWELL OUT FRONT was given the Excellence in Features Writing Award by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalism Association for their story featuring George and Lawrence Powell. Below are excerpts from that story that may give readers a few clues as to why it was important to honor them this year. The rest of the story can be found on OutFrontOnline.com.

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Years before lifeless bodies began washing onto Mediterranean shores, before panicked refugees flooded European borders, before humanitarian aid was fervently debated in governing bodies across the world, a love story between a young Syrian and a Manitou Springs retiree unfolded in a Middle Eastern cybercafé.

They met six years ago on a gay-centric chat site aimed at connecting men who are curious about men from other countries. The pair struck up an online friendship, both looking to one another for insights into their respective cultures — George was taken on vicarious trips to the cities Lawrence traveled to for his promising modeling career; Lawrence rode virtual shotgun on George’s life as a retired engineer in one of the most beautiful places to live in the United States.

Though Lawrence had boyfriends and the dalliances expected of a young man, he was tied down to nothing but life. And George, also of few obligations that needed constant tending, enjoyed the casual routine of swapping stories with a friend in a faraway land.

2012, Syria War had officially broken.

Fed up with President Bashar al-Assad, Syrian citizens protested nationwide for him to step down. When he responded violently, they took up arms and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) was formed. Add chemical warfare, innumerable massacres, and ISIS to a region that already espoused anti-LGBT sentiments and you get an environment where gay men can expect death sentences at the hands of any and all parties involved.

Families in the ancient Syrian city of Homs huddled quietly and braced themselves amid announcements that the Syrian government was sending troops their way — not for their safety, but in spite of it. Water, electricity, and communication lines were cut. A sickened hush fell over the people.

Then the shelling started.

In spite of the chaos and anguish, his online relationship with George was evolving into something beyond friendship, and more than ever, keeping Lawrence safe became a priority for George. Between the increasing flirtation, the two made plans to get Lawrence out of Syria.

“I wanted him in my life,” George says.

_____

This is just the beginning of their story. Read the rest on our website, and join us in their journey as we honor their bravery at this year’s Power Gala.

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2016 IN THE GRAND BALLROOM AT THE SHERATON DOWNTOWN DENVER CELEBRATING BUSINESSES + INDIVIDUALS IN THE COMMUNITY

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David-Elijah Nahmod

Hollywood Allies and Heroes HERE’S JUST A SMALL SAMPLING OF THE MANY Hollywood stars who’ve used their fame to stand up for the LGBTIQ community. Some of these stands were most courageous, taking place before support for our community was considered acceptable.

Some of the names might surprise you — one of our heroes is remembered as a conservative Republican, but in 1988 he took an extraordinary stand for victims of gay bashings.

This list is by no means complete, so feel free to add more in the comments online!

Barbra Streisand

Elizabeth Taylor (1932–2011)

The Oscar- and Grammy-winning superstar has become a show business legend for her incomparable voice and her massive body of work. In 1992, when Colorado passed the now repealed Amendment 2 which legalized anti-gay discrimination, Babs led the call to boycott the state and repeal the law.

Dame Elizabeth Taylor was one of Hollywood’s greatest stars. The recipient of two Best Actress Oscars, she was lauded worldwide for her extraordinary beauty — she was also a tabloid editor’s dream due to her many stormy marriages.

Streisand has long used her celebrity in support of a variety of social-justice issues. The Streisand Foundation has contributed $16 million for numerous causes, including preservation of the environment, the protection of civil liberties and civil rights, and women’s issues, including the right to choose.

In 2009, she gifted $5 million to endow the Barbra Streisand Women’s Cardiovascular Research and Education Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s Women’s Heart Center in Los Angeles. She continues to publicly educate women about heart disease in women’s communities.

But her greatest role, that of AIDS activist, was offscreen. In 1985, her old friend and co-star Rock Hudson was outed when he became the first celebrity to die of AIDS. Taylor was appalled not only at how Hudson was treated, but by the barrage of claims from conservative groups that AIDS was God’s “punishment” for gay men’s “sinful lifestyles.”

Taylor was quite vocal in expressing her disgust at the religious right, and spent more than two decades fighting for AIDS causes. She marched with activists, visited hospitals where she embraced people with AIDS, testified before Congress for research funding, and co-founded AMFAR — the American Foundation For AIDS Research. She

later founded The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation. Both organizations remain at the forefront of research, treatment, and education.

In 1988, Taylor did a PSA which aired on national television. “Use a condom every time you have sex,” she urged viewers, “whether you’re gay or straight.” For her extraordinary stand, Taylor was awarded the Presidential Citizen’s Medal.

Patty Duke (1946–2016) Patty Duke became world famous after she won the coveted Oscar in 1962 for her extraordinary performance as Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker. A hit TV series and numerous movies followed.

During the 1970s, her life and career spiraled out of control due to a series of bizarre and psychotic behaviors.

As she recounted in Call Me Anna , her 1987 autobiography, a desperately ill, hospitalized Duke was diagnosed with manic depression, now known as bipolar disorder. Duke began taking her medication that same day. Her manic episodes disappeared and she resumed her career.

For the rest of her life, Duke advocated for compassion for the mentally ill and for better care. She spoke to community groups, sometimes traveling at her own expense to do so. She would often personally respond to people if they or a loved one were dealing with mental-health issues. She rarely gave an interview without bringing the topic up, offering hope for millions.

Through it all, Duke, who preferred to be called by her birth name of Anna, was also quite vocal in her support of LGBT rights.

Chaz Bono The son of show business legends Sonny and Cher, Chaz lived the first 40 years of his life as a lesbian, known to the world as Chastity. But he knew something was wrong — he wasn’t comfortable in his own skin. Soon after turning 40, Chaz realized that he was transgender.

A media firestorm ensued, and rather than ask for privacy, Chaz generously shared his personal story with the world.

His transition was chronicled in the 2011 documentary Becoming Chaz, which aired on the OWN Network.

Chaz granted hundreds of interviews.

In doing so, he let thousands and thousands of trans people know that it was OK for them to be who they are.

They weren’t alone.

CONT’D ON PAGE 36

2016 power winners everybody has a story

LISA MOORE

LISA IS A BEWITCHED FANATIC. SHE OWNS ALL THE SEASONS AND WATCHES THEM WITH HER DAUGHTER.

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Lisa Moore had us cracking up during her interviews. She’s incredibly personable and has a warm, quick wit that comes flying out of left field.

A massage therapist, she’s the owner of Massage & Moore, and she’s also incredibly active in the DGLCC. She loves to arrange meetings for the group and encourages as many people as she can to patronize LGBTIQ-friendly businesses. “I love the DGLCC,” she tells OUT FRONT. “It’s been wonderful for my business, the people are amazing and authentic, and I’ve made some great friends.” We knew within moments why they’d nominated her as a strong ally for the community.

A genie grants you three wishes. What are they?

I’d wish for $1000 a day for the rest of my life — that’s liveable. I’d like the world to be more compassionate. And. Hmm. I had a third one, but I forgot. How about a better memory?

What keeps you busy when you’re not at work?

We just bought a townhouse, so working on that keeps us busy. I have two dogs and a 20 year old who I try to spend time with. I do volunteer work with the Women’s Homelessness Initiative, and am a member of the First Unitarian Society of Denver, so I volunteer there, too. So volunteering, working out, and friends and family. Did I mention dogs?

10/6 10/15 10/24 11/18 11/20 12/17-18

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What’re some of your pet peeves?

People who smoke in front of kids. People who leave their dogs out all day and don’t give them any attention. Also, people who pronounce the ‘t’ in ‘often.’ I was raised Catholic and they’re very stringent. There’s a ‘t’ in ‘often,’ but you do not pronounce it.

If could converse with your dogs for five minutes and understand one another, what would you say?

Tell me how I can talk to you after these five minutes are up! Why do you do certain things and why do you make faces like I’m about to beat you when I pull something out, even if it’s a treat? And what does [warbling howl sound] mean?!

What’s something you’re actively trying to get better at?

Me. Until I was 40, I don’t even think I was authentically me. It’s hard to be yourself sometimes.

That’s why I like the chamber so much. It took me almost 40 years to find people who were just themselves and sometimes against terrible odds!

eventsatccc.com

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Yvonne Wright

5 Benevolent Traits of Powerful People YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE SMART TO BE POWERFUL. You don’t have to work harder than everyone else. You don’t even need to be liked. Research out of Stanford University shows perception is the main ingredient that separates leaders from followers.

This means what people think you do, who people think you are, is more important than who you actually are.

Don’t get me wrong — hard work and an intelligent approach are crucial to success, but they’re not the key ingredients that will land you on top. So what are some traits you can work on to radiate power?

Confidence It may be the most important trait powerful people share. It’s also what shapes others’ perceptions of you. In general, people are ultimately more attracted to confidence than to good looks. It’s also what will put you at the top of your career. You can spend years getting a good education and experience, but confidence is what pushes people to go for what they want.

Failure

Appearance Several studies show attractive people get hired sooner, get promoted more, and make better money than their less attractive co-workers. I’ll let you in on a secret: You don’t need to be the most beautiful person in the room to be the most powerful. (You don’t even need to be among the most beautiful,

PHOTOS // RYAN MCGUIRE

Confident people aren’t afraid to fail. They’re also not afraid of rejection. Or, if they are, they don’t let these fears stop them. Everyone fails. Everyone gets rejected. The thing about failure is it’s critical to success. Overcoming failure actually builds self-esteem. Self-motivation and confidence are born from the successes that follow failure. Powerful people don’t waste time justifying failure or blaming others. Excuses are what weak people make. Owning a mistake, taking responsibility, accepting the consequences, then learning from them are going to get you much further than looking for someone else to pin it on.

but you do need to act like you are.) Being attractive can, and often does, breed confidence — but so can having unattractive traits.

I’m sure you’ve heard of the Napoleon complex — the belief that shorter people tend to be more aggressive and domineering to compensate. If you feel ugly, left out, or rejected because of your looks, use it to your advantage. Compensate like crazy! Dress well. Work on staying healthy. Make your presence known.

One experiment shows people who stay in a position that takes up more space for longer than one minute (like raising your arms triumphantly toward the sky, for example) feel more powerful. This is caused by a biochemical reaction that increases testosterone and decreases cortisol. That’s right: Standing as if you’re larger than life makes you feel like you’re larger than life. Take up space. Smile.

Hold your head high and walk with confidence.

Communication Good communication is key. This means you need to know what you want. Take time to get to know yourself, to develop a vision. Then work on communicating your vision as clearly and precisely as possible. Listen to others. This is important for two reasons. First, you’re letting people know you care about what they have to say. Second, you’re building support, and you need the support of others to be put in positions of power.

However, don’t confuse teamwork and team

building with likability.

Not all strong leaders are liked — but they do listen, and they do implement others’ ideas and give them credit when doing so.

Jeffrey Pfeffer is a professor at Stanford University who wrote Power: Why

Some People Have it and Others Don’t. He

says Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is a perfect example of showing it’s better to be respected than to be liked.

“He’s very tough.” Pfeffer tells Forbes Magazine that Jobs illustrates that “likability is highly overrated. If you get power, the likeability will follow.

People love to be associated with success.”

Keep in mind that how you communicate matters. One particularly interesting study shows it’s important to break eye contact because continuous, direct contact lessens persuasion.

Instead of looking at someone’s eyes, look at their mouth. Another study published in Science found that people who sat in uncomfortable chairs were better negotiators (likely because the rigid sensation lessens a shift in decisions). This same study finds people who carry heavier objects are perceived to be more important.

Power Powerful people remain powerful by not abusing it. Don’t use your position to make others feel bad.

Be kind. Be ethical. Lead by example. If public opinion sways against you, your power decreases considerably.

OUTFRONTONLINE.COM

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2016 power winners the winning team

Morris Price and Brian Henderson of

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF DENVER

ONE OF THESE GUYS WAS KNOCKED OUT BY AN NFL PLAYER. READ ON TO FIND OUT WHO.

First Baptist Church of Denver began in 1864. Two centuries later, FBCD’s steeple stands tall at the intersection of 14th Avenue and Grant Street directly across from the south steps of the State Capitol. Taller still is FBCD’s vision of being a center of activity for Capitol Hill, where people of all walks of life and systems of belief can experience conversations rooted in hope and filled with a passion to serve the needs of the broader community. Reflective of FBCD’s historic commitment to social justice and the pursuit of equality for all people, on April 16, 1962, the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr., preached from FBCD’s pulpit. Dr. King’s vision of a beloved community is a vision for which FBCD’s members still strive.

When Morris and Brian came to us on Power Gala Interview Day, they were beaming. They stepped into a room with me and chose from a list of goofy questions that would tell us a little bit about themselves outside of what they’re being honored for, and the room echoed with laughter. They’ve got a great chemistry, a joy for living, and impart a relaxed and at-home feeling to those around them.

ARE YOU A WRITER? THIS IS FOR YOU.

FREELANCE WRITERS WANTED KNOW A WRITER? SPREAD THE WORD. The assignments are fun, the work is steady, and the pay depends on how many stories you pick up and are fit to print.

Though we’re an LGBT publication, we don’t stick to stories that would only appeal to an LGBT audience. You might find yourself writing about anything from traffic cameras to the new cat café, who knows? It’s a big world …

EST.

1976

SEND SOME WORK (SUBJECT: FREELANCER) TO: BERLIN@OUTFRONTONLINE.COM

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Describe the best job you’ve

Morris: Love more.

If you could give one piece of advice to the world, what would it be?

Morris: People who aren’t engaged. People who don’t care about something. Find something to care about and do something with it.

What’re some of your pet peeves?

Morris: Volunteering and not being still.

What keeps you busy when you’re not at work?

Morris: The people I work with. I work with AmeriCorps volunteers, and 71 of them get to go into Denver Public Schools. As I say over and over, I have a job I get to go to; not a job I have to go to.

Brian: I have a set of Royal Doulton teacups and saucers.

I found them in England, in a consignment shop, and I hemmed and hawed on whether I was going to spend £10 on them. I decided that I wasn’t going to, but before I left England, I had to get at least one teacup. I went

What’s something in your house you can’t believe you paid that much for?

Morris: Being still! Not being involved.

What’s something you’re actively trying to get better at?

Brian: Being the minister of the First Baptist Church of Denver.

It’s a community of people who allows each of us to be who we are. I love the fact that I get to be a minister and gay … and it’s ok.

ever had.

What’s something weird or amazing that happened to

Brian: I believed I could be a Stormtrooper. I had a Stormtrooper costume and believed I was going to build a command center under my parents’ porch in the backyard. I also believed that I was going to grow up to be the Green Lantern.

What’s something ridiculous you believed as a kid?

to a mall and ended up paying £50 for a new teacup and saucer.

The [thrift-store] collection was actually 10 cups and 10 saucers for £10. So by the time I got home, I thought, “I really messed this up.” I called a friend and asked her to get them for me. She went back to the consignment shop, paid admission, bought the set for me, then mailed it to me. In the end, it wound up costing me £150.

Brian: I was on a softball team and we were doing a fundraiser, so our team got to play with the New York Giants, back in the day of L.T., Lawrence Taylor. So the Giants arrived, and they were short one player. They asked my team’s coach if he could spare a player, so my coach looked and me and said, “Do you want to play with the Giants?” I said, “Absolutely.” So I shared the outfield with Lawrence Taylor. Into the second inning, there was a ball hit between L.T. and I, and we both start sprinting to get it. As the center-fielder, I’m saying, “I got it! I got it!” The last thing I remember hearing is [low voice], “No! I got it!” Boom! I spun in the air and was knocked out.

But I can say that I was tackled by Lawrence Taylor of the New York Giants and lived to tell about it. He missed the ball, by the way.

you that nobody believes?

WHEN MORRIS ADVISED PEOPLE TO LOVE MORE, A BOOM WAS OVERHEARD IN THE BUILDING, LIKE A SIGN FROM ABOVE. WE JUMPED, THEN LAUGHED LIKE BIG KIDS WHILE POINTING AT THE SKY.

What’s the best part about your day?

2016 power winners the winning team

MORRIS PRICE AND BRIAN HENDERSON

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Hollywood Allies and Heroes ’ CONT D FROM PAGE 27

Norman Lear Lear is best known for creating the groundbreaking sitcom All in the Family. On that series and others, he put LGBT characters on the tube and exposed bigotry for what it was.

In Judging Books By Covers, a groundbreaking 1971 episode of the sitcom, an effeminate young man turns out to be straight, while a macho, beer drinking ex-football player turns out to be gay. Six years later, Family’s Edith Bunker (Jean Stapleton) refused to go to Midnight Mass after her friend is gay-bashed to death on Christmas Eve. Lear’s courage at putting LGBT issues, as well as issues regarding race and feminism, on TV started many important conversations which continue today. In 1981, Lear founded People For the American Way, an organization which continues to fight for free speech and civil liberties.

Maya Angelou (1928–2014) Throughout her life, author/poet Angelou was open and honest about her past life as a sex worker. She was a fierce advocate for civil rights and for peace, always expressing her support for these issues with calls for love and understanding among peoples of differing communities, races, and sexual persuasions. She served on presidential committees, lectured around the world, and won many awards. The LGBT community were among the peoples she consistently supported.

Around 1991, her Bewitched co-star Dick Sargent came out publicly, one of the very first celebrities to do so.

Montgomery joined Sargent for the 1992 Los Angeles Gay Pride Parade, where they served as Grand Marshals.

Marlon Brando (1924–2004) Marlon Brando stood for social justice long before the term was even coined.

One of the top box-office stars of the 1950s, the two-time Oscar winner marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the 1960s. To Brando, doing what was right was more important than bowing to public opinion.

In 1973, Brando made headlines when he declined to accept his second Oscar for The Godfather as a protest against the film industry’s false and negative portrayals of Native Americans. In 1976, the star admitted to being bisexual which, at the time, was unheard of for a major celebrity.

“Like a large number of men, I too have had homosexual experiences,” he said.

“I am not ashamed. I have never paid much attention to what people think of me.”

Bob Hope (1903–2003)

(1933–1995)

Perhaps the most unexpected name to appear on this list, the popular movie/ TV comedian and long-time Oscar host is best remembered as a conservative Republican. Yet in 1988, when he was made aware of gay-bashing statistics, he appeared in a groundbreaking PSA denouncing anti-gay attacks. The PSA, produced by GLAAD, aired nationally, and raised many eyebrows at a time when AIDS had raised anti-gay hysteria to a fever pitch.

Elizabeth Montgomery is best remembered (and beloved) as Samantha, the nose-twitching witch on the classic sitcom Bewitched . One of television’s biggest names for nearly four decades, she lent her name to AIDS activism, women’s rights, gay rights, and was adamantly pro-choice.

For many years, Hope traveled to the front lines of war zones to entertain American troops, often putting his personal safety at risk to do so. He was also an active supporter of Fight For Sight, a nonprofit which funds medical research for vision loss and ophthalmology.

Elizabeth Montgomery

OUTFRONTONLINE.COM

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2016 power winners the winning team

BLANCA LEOS Blanca is such a sweet soul. She completely emanated that “Great Mom” vibe as we sat around a table and shot the breeze. She’s quick to laugh and loves talking about her son, Leo.

BLANCA WAS TERRIFIED OF LA LLORONA AS A KID. WHAT EXACTLY IS THAT? READ HER INTERVIEW AND SEE FOR YOURSELF.

Blanca is the President of the Board of Directors for PFLAG Denver. Over the years, she’s enjoyed helping other people by volunteering with several organizations. During her time with PFLAG Denver so far, she’s had the opportunity to work with our community and help our families when they truly need it. She counts her son as her inspiration in this undertaking, and believes in the unity and strength of family — for today and tomorrow.

What were you like in high school?

I was silly and goofy. I played soccer, but was very girly-girl. I had a lot of friends in high school who are still my friends to this day.

What’s the best part about your day?

I enjoy kissing my son every morning.

I know he’s 20, but since he was little, that’s just the thing we do everyday.

We wake up, get ready for the day, and before he leaves the house, he always kisses me goodbye. It’s the best way to start the day.

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If you could choose to live in any era, which would it be?

Definitely the ’20s! I love the atmosphere, the outfits! I find it fun and flattering. I love all the decor. I feel like people dressed up so much, where nowadays, people just wear tshirts and flip-flops. It looks slouchy!

What keeps you busy when you’re not at work?

I volunteer for PFLAG, which keeps me very involved in the community. Our main focus is keeping the family together. We offer lots of support groups and work with people who are struggling. It’s important to stay together and to be there for your kid no matter what. I work a full-time job and I volunteer, so that keeps me really busy.

What TV show are you addicted to?

I hate to admit this, but I love Real Housewives. I can’t pick one season over another. I think because sometimes my life can be considered boring, that drama just draws me in! They always have something going on, so it’s like wow! I could never deal with half the things they go through.

November

2-13 2016

What movie do you know all the words to?

My Best Friend’s Wedding. It’s a movie me and my girlfriends watch. I just pop it in, watch it, and know every word. Julia Roberts is one of my favorite actresses.

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What’s something in your house you can’t believe you paid that much for?

My TV. My son and I went looking for a new TV, even though I thought my old TV was fine. He was like, “There are all these TVs with lots of cool stuff” and he sold me on it. It’s 65 inches and I can’t believe it. He’s a little salesman. I still don’t even know how to use all the things it comes with. And no, my son won’t watch Real Housewives with me!

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What’s something ridiculous you believed as a kid?

I’m from Mexico and when I was growing up, parents wanted us to stay out of the dark and be careful. I don’t know if you’ve heard of La Llorona, but it’s a witch tale about a woman who threw her kids in a river and killed them. She’s all dressed in white and she screams out their name in the middle of the night.

She gets other kids and kills them. So my mom used to say, “Don’t go out or you’ll see La Llorona!” And I swear I wouldn’t go out! It wasn’t until I was about 12 or 13 that I stopped believing in that. I have to laugh, but I can’t believe I fell for it for so long!

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2016 power winners the winning team

U.S. BANK

U.S. Bank employees have taken strong leadership positions in the LGBTIQ community, and Denver is no exception. Chris Ross, Vice President of Commercial Banking, is currently serving as co-chair of the GLBT Center Board and has chaired the Center’s development committee for the past four years. He also serves on the U.S. Bank Multicultural & Diversity Advisory Board. Additionally, the HRC has recognized U.S. Bank with a perfect score of 100 in its Corporate Equality Index for the last eight years.

The index is a national benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices related to LGBTIQ equality in the workplace.

Can you give some examples of how U.S. Bank has benefited the LGBTIQ community?

Specifically speaking in terms of our local presence, U.S. Bank Colorado is committed to its support of and within the LGBTIQ community here.

In 2016 alone, U.S. Bank sponsored many events, including this year’s Denver PrideFest by hosting a booth, sponsoring the Latino Stage, and marching in the Parade, U.S. Bank also sponsored One Colorado’s Southern Colorado Ally Awards, the Center’s Jokers, Jewels & Justice Annual Gala, the Center’s 40th Anniversary Gala, DGLCC’s Minority Chamber Business EXPO, and the Power Gala.

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Chris Ross, Vice President of Commercial Banking, is currently serving as co-chair of the GLBT Center Board and has chaired the Center’s development committee for the past four years. He also serves on the U.S. Bank Multicultural & Diversity Advisory Board which reviews and approves philanthropic giving to minority organizations (including LGBTIQ) organizations within the Denver Metro area for U.S.Bank. A.J. Shaikh, Business Banking Officer, joined the Denver Gay & Lesbian Chamber this year and he championed U.S. Bank’s involvement in the DGLCC’s Minority Chamber Business EXPO. U.S. Bank has been a longstanding sponsor of the Chamber’s Annual Awards dinner. Susie Roh, SVP & Regional Trust Manager, and Mark Kraft, AVP & Regional Mortgage Production Manager, are also senior level managers at U.S. Bank based here in Colorado that serve “openly” within the organization demonstrating U.S Bank’s understanding and efforts to reflect the diverse customers they serve. They are supported by their Market President Hassan Salem and the entire corporation in our efforts.

Are the needs of the community a part of U.S. Bank’s mission statement?

At U.S. Bank, embracing diversity and fostering inclusion are business imperatives. We view everything we do through a diversity and inclusion lens to deepen our relationships with our stakeholders, our employees, customers, shareholders, and communities. It’s a priority for our leaders and we focus on recruitment and development in the workplace; multicultural business development and marketing strategy in the marketplace; building relationships with diverse businesses including minority, women, LBGTIQ, and veteran-owned businesses within our supplier chains; maintaining affiliations with national minority organizations; and giving and volunteering through community partnerships.

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What should the LGBTIQ community take away when they think of U.S. Bank?

I would like people to know that as an employee of U.S. Bank, I can attest first hand that U.S. Bank is an organization lead by a set of core values in action demonstrated by its leadership. Diversity and inclusion including the LBGTIQ community is held in the highest regard from the top down. U.S. Bank has been a welcoming and encouraging environment.

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2016 power winners the winning team

TIM GAUDETTE Small Business Majority/ Colorado Outreach Manager

TIM SEEMED MOST SURPRISED OF ALL OUR WINNERS UPON THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT HE WAS BEING AWARDED.

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He couldn’t make it to Interview Day, but he was able to give us an answer to the following question: “If you could fathom a guess as to why the DLGCC and OUT FRONT are honoring you tonight, what would you guess are the reasons?”

He responded: “I believe I am being honored for the work I have done through Small Business Majority for small businesses in Colorado, which includes significant work in the LGBTIQ world, especially around supporting nondiscrimination as the better business practice in employment and the providing of goods and services to our community. (Perhaps some may recall I was part of the Denver Gay & Lesbian Chamber leadership for many years.)

Being honored for the work I do is quite flattering and unexpected. I never planned to be an advocate. I will challenge folks in the audience to reconsider their role in creating change. If not you, then who?”

(He also wanted to answer the question: If could converse with your dogs for five minutes and understand one another, what would you say?)

We are an ever-evolving creative services agency with a knack for technology and a love for good design.

He responded: “I’ve always wanted to be able to talk to my dogs, but the more I think about it, I think I would rather not. That way, I can always remain the person they think I am. Currently I have a wonderful, aging yellow labrador named Buddy.”

Lastly, he gives a shout-out: “I must acknowledge my mother, who will be coming out from the East Coast to be with me [at the Gala]. She has always had my back. Love you, Mom!”

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BI THE POWER VESTED IN ME Ripley Grey

“YOU KNOW, WE GAY GUYS HAVE IT SO GOOD,” my

friend said to me over lunch one afternoon.

10/30/2016

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IF BISEXUAL EXCEPTIONALISM IS NOT THE ANSWER, WHAT IS? PERHAPS THE LESSON HERE IS TO PRACTICE BEING SEX POSITIVE. YOU DO IT, I DO IT, EVEN EDUCATED FLEAS DO IT. OUR ORIENTATIONS DON’T CHANGE, BUT OUR ATTITUDES TOWARD SEX CAN.

I looked up from my plate and, for the millionth time, gently reminded someone in my life that I am not a we — I am a me.

“confused.” We’re sexually “confusing.”

If we remain background noise, we get the carrot. If we speak up and open the closet door, we get the stick.

“Bi,” I corrected him, pointing my fork at him, then back to me. “You’re gay.

I’m bi.”

While it’s true that some of us love a good spanking, perhaps it’s more true that we’re all just like you.

“I know, I know. It’s just hard to remember,” he replied. “You’re seeing a guy right now. You feel gay to me.”

Are some of you promiscuous? (Don’t lie.)

“Sure. But that doesn’t mean I’m straight when I’m seeing a woman.

It doesn’t change,” I reminded. He rolled his eyes and kept eating, politely changing the conversation.

Perhaps the most difficult, and hurtful, conversation I had recently was with my sister after she c*ck-blocked me (again) during a night out. It’s particularly hard to make a move when you’re the FAB-U-LUSS(!) “gay brother.”

To be clear, I’m not making the case for bisexual exceptionalism; I’m making the case for bisexual visibility.

Coast to coast, there are 10 million or more LGBTs. That’s a lot of alphabet soup. According to the Williams Institute, almost half are bisexual.

So … where are they hiding? Is there a bisexual convention I’ve been missing out on? An invitation that keeps getting lost in the mail? Are we just … invisible?

The answer may lay in what goes unsaid. According to Pew Research, a little more than a quarter of all bisexuals are “out” to close family members, as compared to 77 percent of gays and 71 percent of lesbians surveyed. My suspicion is that it’s easier to stay silent than to correct every single transgression.

Then again, perhaps the stick is better than the carrot.

Perceptions of bisexuals vary widely.

We’re “promiscuous.” We’re sexually

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Are some of you confused? (Especially before your morning coffee.)

Are you a sexual mystery, replete with hidden fetishes and fantasies? (Yes. Yes you are.)

If bisexual exceptionalism is not the answer, what is? Perhaps the lesson here is to practice being sex positive.

You do it, I do it, even educated fleas do it. Our orientations don’t change, but our attitudes toward sex can.

How many times have gay men and heterosexual women alike proclaimed, “I follow the No Bi-Guy policy”? If that’s actually the case, why does a recent study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior demonstrate a 200-percent increase in the number of men and women who engaging in same-sex activity? Double the number of men and women are playing with members of the same sex as opposed to a decade ago — yet the same, tired old stereotypes persist.

These sex-negative policies don’t just harm closeted bisexuals. They harm everyone — trans, lesbian, and bisexual women who are fetishized by creepy old men; sex workers who are fighting for legitimacy, fairness, and recognition; the kid next door living a life of quiet desperation, praying he’ll meet the person of his dreams … someday.

The truth is, this Bisexual Awareness Week, when we practice being sex positive and affirming, we’re practicing something deeper: compassion.

OUTFRONTONLINE.COM

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r e t a t i n n m E ent e h T

POWER AND PROMISE: CONSIDERING MATTHEW SHEPARD

BY AKIVA WEINSTEIN

Cont’d on page 50

W

hat does it mean to be powerful?

I once heard a quote by Victor Hugo — 19th Century author and poet, writer of Les Miserables — that goes, “All the forces of the world are not so powerful as an idea whose time has come.”

Considering Matthew Shepard, the musical performance composed and conducted by Craig Hella Johnson, is that a powerful idea is stronger than all the forces of the world. Recently, it was recorded in studio-quality, and the CD was just released several months after the original performances earlier this year.

The operetta follows victim Matthew Wayne Shepard, who was brutally tortured and killed in 1998 while a student at the University of Wyoming. Matthew was, of course, killed because of his sexual orientation.

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POWER AND PROMISE: CONSIDERING MATTHEW SHEPARD Cont’d from page 48

E

van now, almost 20 years later, Matthew remains a symbol in the community. He has long been the subject of books, plays, and documentaries. We can add a new operetta to the repertoire.

Johnson works with theater supergroup Conspirare, whose work aims to reflect the diversity across America both in musical style and subject matter.

All in all, Conspirare’s core values are pretty rad: They include aiming to transform lives, open hearts, to transcend human and cultural differences, and to bring people together in joy, humanity, and peace.

Johnson, a multiple award-winning conductor and composer, “feels transformed in being part of this process.” The process to which he refers is being part of the powerful creation of Considering Matthew Shepard — a dedication to, for, and about the slain young man and all others who may be hurt or affected by his tragedy. In his own words, he went about composing the concert-length work by “creating [his] own response to the powerful events around Matthew Shepard’s life.”

Johnson states in a press release that he aimed to “follow [his] instincts and [his] heart to create something that would honor Matt’s life.”

As for what to expect? The work is advertized as a “contemporary oratorio” which Google translates as “a large-scale musical work for orchestra and voices, typically a narrative on a religious theme, performed without the use of costumes, scenery, or action. Well-known examples include Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Handel’s Messiah, and Haydn’s The Creation.” In other words, a litany of people wearing black singing and performing perfectly, and — don’t forget — powerfully.

I took a listen to the album and it blew me away. I won’t pretend to close-read the whole thing, but I do know it’s on par with tear-wrenching Disneyesque talent and sentimentality, and also as moving as anything Broadway has to offer. The opening piece for instance, Ordinary Boy, is catchy and relatable.

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The album is out online and worth a listen.

OUTFRONTONLINE.COM

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CALENDAR I’ve received lots of tips from readers about some of the fun events that are coming up this autumn. Because I want to be on the pulse of what’s going on in the community, I try to incorporate those tips whenever possible. In addition, I also prepared a few other recommendations, so these next couple of weeks shouldn’t be boring for any OUT FRONT reader! If you have a recommendation, email me at j.m.halterman@ gmail.com, or Tweet at me @ Mike_Halterman!

Mike Halterman

OCT 05

BIANCA DEL RIO The winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race season six, Bianca Del Rio is crisscrossing the country once again! Last year’s Rolodex of Hate tour sold out venues across the country, and now the feisty queen is back in the Centennial State with the Not Today, Satan! tour. She’ll be performing at the Boulder Theater in Boulder on Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 8pm. I would say don’t come for her and she won’t come for you … but her bite really is part of her charm! Tickets start at $37.50.

BoulderTheater.com

OCT 06

OCT 07

MAROON 5 It’s been nearly 15 years since Maroon 5 released their breakthrough debut album, Songs About Jane and, after 70 million singles sold, the quintet headed by Adam Levine has cemented its place in pop-music history. Now, they’re bringing their world tour to the Pepsi Center in Denver. See them on Thursday, Oct. 6 at 7:30pm. Opening for the band are musical acts Tove Lo and R. City. Tickets are $30.50 per person. AltitudeTickets.com

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BOBBY JO VALENTINE Green Mountain United Methodist Church in Lakewood will be hosting a special concert on Friday, Oct. 7 at 7pm. The guest of honor is singer-songwriter Bobby Jo Valentine, who has been named Songwriter of the Year twice by the West Coast Songwriter’s Association. Valentine’s music has been described as “soul pop” and “poetic rock.” Proceeds from ticket sales go to Rainbow Alley, a safe space supporting LGBTQ youth and their allies, ages 11 to 21. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Purchases can be made in person at Green Mountain United Methodist Church at 12755 W. Cedar Drive in Lakewood.

OCT 10

COLORADO SYMPHONY

SLAYER, ANTHRAX, + DEATH ANGEL Metal icons Slayer are celebrating 35 years as a band this year, and after 12 studio albums and millions of album sales, their reputation precedes them. They will be playing the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver on Monday, Oct. 10 at 6:30pm. The five-time Grammy Award nominees welcome two other legendary metal bands, Anthrax and Death Angel, as supporting acts. Tickets are $35 per person. LiveNation.com

OCT 13

FRIDAYS

OCT 14-15

The Colorado Symphony will be hosting the world premiere of the concerto Rising Phoenix by UC Boulder’s Daniel Kellogg, performed by violinist and Colorado Symphony concertmaster Yumi Hwang-Williams.

Special guest Edwin Outwater will perform Beethoven’s Overture to King Stephen and Dvorák’s Symphony No. 8 in G major. Music Director Designate Brett Mitchell will serve as conductor. You can see this performance either on Friday, Oct. 14 or Saturday, Oct. 15, at 7:30pm both nights at Boettcher Concert Hall in Denver. Tickets are priced from $29-$89.

ColoradoSymphony.org

NOV 18-DEC 23

DREAMGIRLS DENVER’S LONGESTRUNNING DRAG CABARET

Jackie Summers, host and face of Dreamgirls, has a juicy, meaty night of drag entertaintment tucked away for y’all! Every Friday at 10pm, M Uptown features the best that Denver’s drag scene has to offer. Reservations are important so call beforehand for a seat! M-Uptown.com

CHRISTKINDL MARKET The Denver Christkindl Market, now in its 16th year, is just weeks away! Hosted by the German-American Chamber of Commerce – Colorado, it will run from Friday, Nov. 18 through Friday, Dec. 23. Skyline Park will be turned into an “old world” European Christmas village, complete with a holiday market, a beer hall, holiday entertainment acts, and cultural performances. OUT FRONT is a proud sponsor of the Denver Christkindl Market! DenverChristkindlMarket.com

THRU OCTOBER

JIMMY BUFFETT

No need to grab a cheeseburger in paradise when it can come to you! Jimmy Buffett and The Coral Reefer Band will be playing all the hits from their songbook for one night only, Thursday, Oct. 13 (showtime 7:30pm), at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison. What a great time for Buffett and his band to drop in — the song Margaritaville was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame this year! RedRocksOnline.com

HAUNTED CEMETERY TOUR Have you ever thought about what it would be like to go on a tour of a cemetery? If you’re brave enough, you can do just that by going on a tour of Riverside Cemetery! Learn all about Colorado in its early statehood days while you attempt to keep the heebie-jeebies at bay! Tours start Friday, Oct. 14 with tours leaving 5201 Brighton Blvd in Denver on the half-hour every hour between 4:30 and 7:30pm.

Tours are available on weekends through the end of October. Tickets are $20 at Eventbrite.com or by calling Jim Cavoto at (303) 399-0692.

OUTFRONTONLINE.COM

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r e t a t i n n m E ent e h T

MINOR L DISTURBANCE, MAJOR VOICES

ook at the way the vein in his neck strains as he talks, heated and strong. It is not a warning of imminent violence; maybe that’s the story that’s been imposed on someone who looks like Jozer Guerrero — young, male, brownskinned — but that is not the role he chooses to play. An activist, actor, and slam poet, the bulging vein is not anger but passion. His fists he uses only to gesture, as power flows from his mouth.

BY SARAH FARBMAN

Cont’d on page 60

Twenty-four years old, Jozer first got his start in slam poetry at seventeen. He went to a Cafe Cultura event and there learned about Minor Disturbance, an independent literary arts organization that strives to help Denver youth find their voice through performance and poetry. Founded in 2006, the group hosts a monthly youth slam and open mic, a monthly workshop series, and outreach in the Denver Public Schools. Minor Disturbance is competitive, fielding a team every year for the annual Brave New Voices Youth Poetry Slam Festival. Yet when I spoke with Jozer, his fellow alumnus Franklin Cruz, and current participant Emery Vela, it was crystal clear that “the points [awarded in competition] are not the point.” As Emery says, they are “a team first and foremost, and then it’s about the poetry, and then it’s about the competition.”

OUTFRONTONLINE.COM

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r e t a t i n n m E ent e h T

RU JOHNSON P ON HIP HOP, POWER, AND KEEPING YOUR HEAD UP

ower is an interesting beast; although it’s something everyone craves, we often find ourselves struggling the hardest to hold on to or exert our power when we’re in positions where we hold more of it. Situations where you find yourself in charge of others or running things are often situations where you are also the most vulnerable, and this especially holds true for women, people of color, and queer people, who often find themselves fighting to have a voice at all, much less one that leads.

BY ADDISON HERRON-WHEELER PHOTO BY GLEN ROSS

Ru Johnson is an example of a woman who takes her position of power and completely rules. A self-made woman, Johnson is the brains behind the local hip-hop consulting group Roux Black, an organization that helps artists with their image and profile, and books shows. In her “spare time,” she still actively works as a journalist, since wordsmithing was her first love, penning stories about music for the Denver Post’s Reverb.

Johnson’s rise to power was certainly not without detractors. As a woman in a male-dominated world, she has often faced sexist people and dealt with those who can’t separate her personal life from her work persona.

Cont’d on page 64

“Well, people take me seriously as far as executing the work goes; it’s more that people often think it’s easy to exist in this world as a supposed public figure but also as a person who exists with autonomy outside of who I am as a ‘work’ figure,” she explains. “When it comes to maintaining positive relationships, that’s what I do in my life and work in general. It’s not my job to be ‘nice;’ it’s my job to be efficient. And that also means calling out sexist assholes or others who come solely from the ‘know-nothing’ wing of the industry spectrum.”

LEATHER NIGHT AT TRADE Dozens of kink aficionados donned their leather, rubber, and sports gear for a classic night of leather at Trade on Sept. 16th. The evening featured demonstrations with cupping, flogging, and clothespins. Trade hosts leather night the third Friday of every month.

Photos by Charles Broshous

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MINOR DISTURBANCE, MAJOR VOICES Cont’d on page 54

T

he first time Franklin Cruz took the stage was at a Minor Disturbance poetry slam, and he was shocked when audience members approached him after the performance to tell him how much his work had resonated with them.

“Never had anyone been this moved by anything I had ever done.”

In the summer of 2011, Franklin competed with Minor Disturbance at that year’s Brave New Voices festival.

Spartan warlords were the first to harness the power of love. They had a way of splitting battles into love affairs, encouraging the soldier to make love with his comrade.

The experience opened his eyes to “the power of youth.”

Shut up, faggot.

We. Are not faggots. We. Are Sparta.

Despite identifying as shy and quiet, Franklin found himself on a stage flanked by teammates, spitting about how a queer culture had been nurtured in the Spartan army. This, he tells me, was “a means to empower young queer individuals who feel powerless about their lives.”

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Emery Vela, a 16-year-old member of the 2016 BNV team, tells me that for him, it is the experience of practicing and performing poetry that makes him feel powerful. “I was reclaiming my voice. I am a trans and Latinx poet, and so often in media and art in general, these two facets of my identity are either misrepresented or not discussed at all.” Emery, too, acknowledges the incredible power, not just in poetry, but in the community that surrounds it. For him, dedicated coaches “uphold the sacredness it

takes to write and perform poetry.”

Jozer has come to discover not just personal satisfaction in his work, but the political power in poetry. When he was 18, Jozer performed a poem outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center. I could hear the pride in his voice when he related the story of a woman who had told him that his performance had given her detained husband the strength to keep going. But even in the seemingly apolitical environment of an open mic night or a youth festival, Jozer points out how the power of poetry has political weight. “People of color are always told that their stories don’t matter,” he tells me. “It’s the idea that your story matters just as much as anyone else’s.”

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This discovery does not come for free but is earned by writing and rehearsing, by asking loud questions — ‘If the sounds of stomachs rumbling reminded you of bullets, would you be afraid of hunger? If your children cried for food, would you steal a piece of bread for them?’

— and unflinchingly speaking the answers they find: ‘Then why would you blame anybody for coming to America?’

We all live, I believe, in houses built of narrative. A blond girl from the suburbs is nice and an easy target. A black teenager in a white tank top is a threat. For better or for worse, most of us live out the stories we’re born into. What the Minor Disturbance poets are doing is rare and powerful.

They are grabbing hold of the scripts that bind their lives. And rewriting them.

Minor Disturbance holds monthly workshops, youth slams, and open mics for all ages on the second Sunday of the month at the Mercury Cafe.

MinorDisturbance.org

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Photos by Charles Broshous

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RU JOHNSON ON HIP HOP, POWER, AND KEEPING YOUR HEAD UP Cont’d from page 56

N

ot only that, Johnson has experienced actual physical threats from those who don’t appreciate what she has to offer the community. She has to face mansplaining and patronizing attitudes as well as situations where men come across as hostile or angry.

“Sometimes when men disagree with me, or they feel like I don’t work within their parameters of power, they threaten me, or have in the past tried to demean me,” she tells OUT FRONT. “There’s a particular person who exists in the community who literally threatens to kill me every three months or so. His biggest issue is that I am an uncontrolled character and I’ll never bend to the will of any schmuck who wants to control my right to exist in this world — hip-hop or otherwise.”

This kind of power struggle is not unique to Johnson’s situation, or something that only occurs because of her work within the hip-hop community. Women often face this kind of prejudice. I have heard stories about men telling women they can’t deal with females being in positions of power, and power struggles within organizations like bands and social-justice collectives are often subject to frightening amounts of rape, violence, and threats, despite the politically correct message these organizations might preach.

Despite this, however, Johnson uses the vehicle of hip-hop to spread a positive message and heal some of the wounds caused by racism and bigotry.

“Hip-hop has always been a genre that’s spoken to and against the ills of society and black and brown communities,” she says. “We’ve seen hip-hop artists make incredible statements against the murders of unarmed civilians at the hands of police, like TI’s latest video, but truthfully, there shouldn’t have to be a movement for displays of simple humanity. Sure, I have a voice and I can say Black Lives Matter, and I can speak out against the racism heaped upon blacks by police, and I do. It’s important for me to do the work, and the art. And for me, that means continuing to open doors where conversations within hip-hop can exist to both tell these stories and heal us from the atrocities.”

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In short, power struggles will not cease for minorities of any kind any time soon. But that is what makes power in the hands of those outside the status quo even more thrilling and exciting. Those who had to struggle for the power they have will truly be the ones to make change, as they will be the ones who don’t shy away from the many trials and tribulations that come with it.

OUTFRONTONLINE.COM

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H E I N Z ES I G H T

YOUR INNER GAY KID HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY YOU’RE REALLY NOT HAPPY WITH yourself or in relationships? Have you tried to improve your life, but still struggle with feeling unfulfilled? Maybe you haven’t been as successful as possible because of something inside of you. That particular element may be the little gay kid that lives inside of us, who may hold some vital information for us. We just have to ask what’s going on so we can learn from him.

This symbolic little one has influence over how we deal with our environment. Think about feelings we develop growing up gay and how it influences our inner gay kid. He may feel strong and confident at times, but also often experiences intense struggles and strife. In many ways, these more negative emotions may create painful memories and powerful feelings of fear. As children, many of us experience the terror of a monster under our bed, in a closet, or lurking outside the bedroom window. If we never challenge our fear, we can continue to be freaked out by the potential to be attacked. It’s often our lack of confidence in facing those things that scare or concern us that causes insecurity and deeply ingrained scars to begin to be formed.

When our feelings turn into this terrifying foe, it takes a lot of courage to face it.

For many of us, our journey of accepting ourselves started at a very early age. It may even include many of our earliest memories. Feeling awkward, strange, unaccepted, hurt, or different can develop as we grow up and continue through our lives. This may be due in part to not ever getting over these uncomfortable and difficult feelings growing up. Realizing that we had different sexual attractions than other kids may have started us on a path of having lower self-esteem and concerns that we could be persecuted for our feelings. This may have impacted the ways we deal with other people and situations.

Our past can absolutely cause a stranglehold on us presently

and impact us in unhealthy and destructive ways.

Think about what could happen when our inner gay kid feels threatened, judged, or pushed to live in a darkened closet.

Animosity builds, feelings get hurt, depression sets in, and life can feel hopeless. Eventually, he may give up on things getting better. He might feel left to experience these alone without the assistance and support from others. Because of these struggles, an extremely unhappy individual is created and has the potential to continue to struggle throughout his life.

As we get older, it’s not unusual to struggle with expressing our frustrations and pain through anger, isolation, alcohol, drugs, or searching for personal validation in a variety of ways.

We can work on creating a persona that appears to be strong, happy, and indestructible while still feeling sad and empty inside. Some struggle in asking for help or support because they think it will show weakness or vulnerability. Many feel that it’s more important to “look good” than to actually “feel good.” It’s situations like these that may be stopping us from finding long-term happiness or fulfillment in our lives.

Exploring issues that have hurt your inner gay kid in the past is extremely important. Without figuring out what has caused him pain, you cannot support him through the rough healing process. There are wounds that need loving treatment for them to get better. Although some scars may be formed from these injuries, they don’t need to continue causing agony.

Quit ignoring your inner gay kid! Stop wasting time building an image that makes you look big and badass while still feeling insecure and powerless internally. Don’t tell your inner gay kid to “shut up” or that his feelings “don’t matter.” Listen to him and hear what’s really going on so you can feel confident in creating an amazing life in the outside world.

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PHOTO // RYAN MCGUIRE

Brent Heinze, Senior Columnist

If we never challenge our fear, we’ll continue to be freaked out.

It’s often our lack of confidence in facing things that scare or concern us that causes insecurity and deeply ingrained scars to begin to be formed.

H EA LT H It was a place of calm, the razed castle situated on a small island in the middle of an enormous lake, the large body of water sunk into the shoulders of rolling hills that unfolded into the distant horizon.

Spiders spun their homes in the corners of cellars once used to store grain or house treasonous prisoners. A sense of quietude overwhelmed me, save for the ceaseless wind blustering across the surface of the lake.

I couldn’t help but wonder what it was like to live each day in such a place. No electricity. No hot showers. No cell phone incessantly ringing with obstinate obligations.

Strangely enough, I felt at peace as I experienced the loud impermanence of such a place, the transitory nature of someone’s brief existence made tangible. You could literally touch finitude with your bare hands. The stones felt course and cold against the skin.

I wondered: How is it that these ruins ease my depressive, anxious mind? The castle belonged to the MacLeod Clan, constructed around 1490, two years before Christopher Columbus landed on the shores of the Canary Islands.

The site was home to a number of bloody battles, including a 14-day siege in which the MacLeods surrendered the fortress to their rivals, the MacKenzie Clan, in 1672. The castle was left largely derelict before being struck by lightning in 1795, burning most of it to the ground.

DUELING WITH DEPRESSION: BROKEN STONES ABOVE BROKEN BONES

So why is standing amid such destruction so paradoxically comforting? Perhaps it’s because I work so hard at building my own castles, all neatly tucked away in the corners of my life. These strongholds protect those things that are most precious to me, aspects of my own life I’ve worked hard to build, such as my writing career (or lack thereof).

But I often find myself growing restless as I try to build and defend all these blasted castles, forgetting to just stare up into the night sky and let loose my imagination on all that empty vastness above me. All those distant stars, so ancient and massive that they dwarf anything I could hope to accomplish here on this planet.

And those same stars watched with ambivalence the men who bled and died protecting that castle, their broken bones long buried beneath the marsh. What does a star cluster care if some lonely castle was occupied by the MacKenzies or the MacLeods?

Mike Yost

We all need our fortifications, practicalities to protect us from the cold or invading armies — a citadel to nurture creativity, to drink and laugh with friends, to sleep naked and content next to a lover.

I RECENTLY HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO VISIT THE RUINS OF A 15TH- century castle, tucked away in the highlands of northern Scotland.

Only remnants remain, crumbling walls surrounded by cracked stones that fell — hundreds of years ago — into the swampy landscape without a sound.

But all too often I get lost in the shadows of my own castles, in the worry of keeping it maintained and the disappointment when those walls inevitably decay. Ruins are an important reminder that the Earth will one day reclaim our carefully laid stones, leaving only grass bending to the ceaseless wind.

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RUNNING OF THE GAYS The 7th Annual Running of the Gays was held on East 17th Avenue on Sept.

25th. The three-block marathon in heels, (from Steuben’s to Tony P’s), hosted

by Art from Ashes helps fund creative empowerment workshops for LGBTQ youth. The workshops help improve selfperception and increase involvement with and connection to the community. This year’s after party was held at X Bar. Photos by Charles Broshous

OUTFRONTONLINE.COM

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H EA LT H

SCIENCE SAYS, YOU SHOULDN’T GO IT ALONE DEATH AND TAXES — THEY’RE INEVITABLE, AS THE SAYING GOES. NOW ADD LONELINESS TO THE LIST, IF DICKENSON’S POETRY HAS TAUGHT ME ANYTHING. LIKE THE FIRST TWO, LONELINESS IS A SERIOUS MENACE, AS MUCH of a risk to public health as obesity. Everyone feels lonely at multiple times in his or her life, and this is normal. But recently, scientists and researchers have been focusing on chronic loneliness, where a person’s prolonged isolation from others, or, as the Washington Post calls it, “the distress people feel when reality fails to meet their ideal of social relationships,” becomes a health risk.

Scientists from the University of Chicago and the University of California, Davis, have found that loneliness can force the brain to enter “fight-or-flight” mode, triggering an increase of the stress hormone cortisol in the brain. Social neuroscientist John Cacioppo, a co-author of the study, told Everyday Health that the level of cortisol might spike in the morning as one wakes to the thought of another day alone. Besides being just an overall sucky feeling to have, experiencing this higher amount of cortisol levels (i.e. being stressed) can put you at risk of a range of health problems, from heart disease, digestive problems, and weight gain.

Beyond this cortisol trigger, prolonged loneliness may have an actual effect on your genes, particularly those in charge 7 0 \\ O C T O B E R 0 5 , 2 0 1 6

of helping your body fight infection and inflammation. And, as the New York Times points out, your blood pressure may increase due to higher vascular resistance.

Many scientists have called for loneliness to be treated as much of a risk to public health as, say, obesity or depression, although public response has been slow to respond.

Articles on the subject have pointed to the United Kingdom as a pioneer in combating loneliness, with a variety of public interest groups campaigning for more research and outreach to lonely people — especially the older population. One such resource is The Silver Line, a telephone hotline reported on by the Times that provides older people with a basic channel for human communication.

While there doesn’t seem to be such a resource in place in Denver, that doesn’t mean the problem isn’t there. If you’re feeling lonely, consider joining a social group, taking some classes, and nurturing the social network you already have with phone calls and meet ups. Therapy is always an option, and can help you deal with the anxiety and self-doubt that may be holding you back to begin with.

PHOTO // RYAN MCGUIRE

Kelsey Lindsey

Prolonged loneliness may have an actual effect on your genes, particularly those in charge of helping your body fight infection and inflammation.

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BAC KWOR DS

ASK A SLUT [WARNING: GRAPHIC]

In what ways do you express your own personal brand of power?

Latexa: I am a world-renowned manipulator. I’m so good that I can talk you into talking me into whatever I want, thus making everything your fault while I walk away guilt-free!

Zoey: By my ability to drink and still be a happy drunk. I’m a lover, not a fighter, biotch!

Cookie: I’m the Queen of Sarcastic Comments. My humor goes totally over people’s heads because they’re not nearly as smart and witty as I. Thus they take it as truth without knowing it’s a lie, which makes me laugh to myself all the time.

Jack Lynn: I have an axe. And a shovel.

Zoey: The general public who come out to support ANY of the shows and donate their money to the charities. They rarely get the big thanks.

Cookie: What LaTexa said. Hear, hear.

Jack Lynn: I have a friend who is a mortician.

He also does taxidermy.

Kay: You, every last one of you. You got up and put your pantyhose on one leg at a time and you got out there and did it. You rock!

Cherri: My huge drag family and everyone who supports us.

If you could choose one superpower, which would it be?

Kay: By drinking from the skulls of my enemies.

Latexa: Shape shifting, because it would make sex

Cherri: By being sweet and innocent to make the

with me even more of a mind-blowing experience.

(What did you expect? I am a Slut, duh.)

world love Sluts.

Who are a few of your unsung heroes around Denver?

Latexa: There are too many to mention, but I feel that my predecessor Sluts never got the credit they deserved. Helen Bed, Bonita Bulge, Mona Lott, Donna Drag, Constance Hardon, Lucinda West, Venetia Blind, Ilene Dover, Lotta Ho, Cherry Hills, Tina Turnover, Sandi Fran Crisco, Ivanna B. Astar, Sheneeda Bleach, Gabbriella But’zin, Molotovia Cocktail, and of course Holly Would. They raised a lot of money to help a lot of people and they did it while dressed like Sunset Strip whores able to hold their liquor like they were born with gills.

Truly inspirational.

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Zoey: Speed! Then I could do multiple shows in one night all around the world. (Plus, the sex would be awesome!)

Cookie: Invisibility. It would go along with my jet.

Jack Lynn: I’d like to be able to read minds. Then I could give you what you want without you telling me. I could also tell which people are really sick sexually … and date them.

Kay: Control the dead. It would be fun to have my own little undead army.

Cherri: Time control so I can perform for multiple shows at once. Also, so I can cut a bitch before they cross me. I’m still a chola, after all!

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