October 2, 2019 :: Power Players

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CONTENTS OCTOBER 2, 2019 VOL43 NO13

6 FROM THE EDITOR: QUEER POWER 8 THE JESTER: OPHELIA PEACHES REMINDS US TO DRESS UP, SMILE, AND BE HAPPY 12 THE JUGGLER: BRIANNA TITONE IS AT THE TABLE 16 HEALER OF OUR COMMUNITY: MICHAEL DOROSH 20 THE GUARDIANS: PFLAG ARE PROTECTING OUR QUEER YOUTH 24 THE LION TAMERS: PEAK PROPERTIES TAME THE BEAST THAT IS HOMEOWNERSHIP 26 THE RINGMASTER: WADE FRISBIE AND HIS LGBTQ CHAMBER LEGACY 30 HILTON FOCUSES ON GLOBAL DIVERSTITY AND QUEER INCLUSION 32 ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: DAVID BROOKTON 34 GHOSTS IN THE RING: NATALIE BROWN AND THE PHANTOM CIRCUS 36 DUMB BUT SEXY: DENVER’S DRAG SENSATION EVELYN EVERMOORE 38 MARY LAMBERT IS A SURVIVOR

This and all Power Winner photos by Veronica L. Holyfield 4 \\ O C T O B E R 2 , 2 0 1 9

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FROM THE EDITOR

W

ith Pride barely around the corner behind us, we’re diving head-first into gala season. Anyone in the nonprofit world knows this is the craziest time of year, as it’s the time to try and secure all sponsorships and donations, as well as make plans for 2020.

But our Power Gala is so much more than just a chance to hold a silent auction or eat some decadent food. It’s a night to honor the people who give 110 percent to the queer community all year 'round.

This year, we have PFLAG, a group of parents who want nothing but the best for queer youth, and Michael Dorosh, an AIDS and HIV activist who has been giving back and trying to change the stigma attached to the virus for decades.

We also have Brianna Titone, the first openly

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trans Colorado representative, and Ophelia Peaches, a 14-year-old drag queen. Plus, we’re honoring a corporate ally, a queer-friendly realtor, and the previous chairperson of the LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce.

So, if you can swing a Power Gala ticket this year, know you won’t just be padding the pockets of a corporation or non-profit. You’ll be making it possible for the Power Gala to honor our winners every year. Many times, this is the only chance for someone who constantly gives back to get time in the spotlight or hear a thank-you from the community.

So, we hope you’ll join us this year to help thank those who make us great. And if you can’t make it, you can read about their awesome projects right here in these pages.

-Addison Herron-Wheeler

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By Arianna Balderrama

THE

JESTER Ophelia Peaches

Reminds

us to Dress Up, Smile, and Be Happy

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“N

ot to be cliche, but drag really saved me.”

Self-expression is hard to come by. We all show different faces to different people, but our true uniqueness is often hidden. Being a queer youth and doing performance art can be a frightning thing to face. However, being truly yourself can overcome all.

Ophelia Peaches is a 14-year-old-drag queen and one of this year’s 2019 Power Winners.

She grew up watching RuPaul’s Drag Race and immediately developed a taste for the craft. She seems like someone who has always been in drag. Having an older sister, she was always “invited to all the tea parties” and can recall dressing up most of the time.

“I was in a full princess outfit with a giant hat, and I just had these horrible white glasses on. I stood there in the hallway just singing.”

The tip of the iceberg that launched Ophelia’s passion was attending a drag show. She had the opportunity to see Chad Micheals and Ginger Dougles, whom she describes as a goddess. However, it was also comforting to her that they were just people.

“Seeing them and realizing that they're people too helped me. I saw them as these seven-foottall glamazons, because that's what they are.

But then, getting to know them, I thought: they're like me. They're people. Why can't I do this? So I started doing.”

Before doing drag, academics weren’t Ophelia’s strong suit. Socially, she was shy and timid, afraid to speak out in class. The impact going to a drag show had on her made her realize people will always judge you, but living uniquely to you is key. Breaking from her shell, her motto was to simply be herself.

Ophelia’s first positivity memorable performance was at the first Dragutante, an event she and her mother put on for youth drag performers to get involved. She danced to “Born This Way" by Lady Gaga, perhaps an overdone classic, but in her words, “everybody has to do that.”

While she knows her first performances weren’t exactly flawless, Ophelia also knows her performances make her stand out. Maybe she doesn’t do death drops and the splits, but she always puts her own, unique spin on things.

She can recall her first performance at

Dragutante vividly. The lights made the crowd invisible, but she could hear the cheers and support of her family and friends.

“I remember this experience so much, because it was just filled withfilled me with so much love. And it wasn't that I worked the house down, because if I death drop, I'll drop dead. It was the fact that I went up there. I was brave enough to be myself, and that makes performance so memorable.

Everybody was so loving and supportive of me being who I am.”

Ophelia has been doing drag for over a year now. She describes a perfect performance as one riddled with emotion, because death drops and splits are simply filler. The key to a mesmerizing performance is “to show your true self and what your heart says in the performance.”

Still, the life of a youth drag performer can be tough. Ophelia knows the importance of having support around her to stave off any negativity. She feels that the support of her friends and family are what give her motivation to “try even harder to do an amazing job at something.”

Opheila stresses the value of supporting one another, but doesn’t take credit for her impact on other kids like her. She feels she takes just as much inspiration from them.

“I'd be selfish to say that I made an impact on their lives, when they really made the most important impact on my life. To know that even though I'm still learning my own thing, and they still take inspiration from me, is amazing. It's just great to know that they're realizing that they can be a performer and realize themselves through the art of drag."

Ophelia Peaches’ drag career is only in the beginning stages. She hopes to later learn how to death drop and do the splits in order to spice up some more of her performances, but for now, she's grateful for what she has.

“I'm very grateful for having the experiences that the community is giving me, my drag mother gives me, and you gave me just to come up here and say what I believe in.

If it wasn't for the community, people like you, even my family, and my drag mother, I wouldn't be here. Because, again, it's that support thing. They're just pushing me up.

I feel like I can just rise up and be my best self because of all their love. I thank them for that.”

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Aurora Fox Season 35 2019/20 Sept. 20 through Oct. 13

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By Arjuna

BRIANNA TITONE is at the Table

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B

rianna Titone has always wanted to be a good neighbor.

In 2018, Titone ran for office and was elected the first transgender lawmaker in Colorado’s state legislature, representing House District 27. She’s an important step in the journey of trans people gaining more power and representation in government.

Titone’s career as a politician was unexpected. She has undergraduate and graduate degrees in science and technology and has spent time as a geologist. Titone was, in fact, interested in becoming an FBI special agent.

When she realized she was too old to continue on that path, things changed.

Her future goals for herself pivoted, but she also realized she had a new freedom to choose her path. “I kind of had to reinvent myself, and I did that in a couple different ways. I came out as being trans first, and then, a couple of years later, decided to run for office.”

The transition process was difficult and opened up her eyes to the struggles of the trans community.

“At the time, before I came out, I had a lot of privilege I didn't know about. And when I came out, I lost that privilege, and I saw people like me in the community struggling. I'm the kind of person that wants to stand up and do something to help.”

Although her path into politics was unexpected, Titone has always been oriented towards public service. Aside from aspirations for the FBI, Titone has also spent time as a volunteer firefighter and as the president of her HOA before entering the political world.

After venturing into the political world, the opportunity to run for office arose.

It was hard for Titone to make that leap and decide to be the first trans person to run for state legislature.

She was also running for office in a majority republican district. However, she knew she had to try and make a change. She said, “I wouldn’t want to wait it out. I knew there was too much at stake. So I just stepped up.”

The final count was close; Titone was actually losing on the day of the election. But, 20,000 votes still had to be counted. As the results slowly came in, Titone waited and found herself slowly gaining the lead. She won the seat by 422 votes.

On finally winning the election after the work and the wait, Titone said, “Once we finally got to that threshold of having enough votes, It was a moment of triumph. And, you know, with the climate in the federal government, it felt like it was so needed.”

Her work after reaching the House has been broad and expansive, going beyond trans issues. She leverages her technical knowledge as well, serving on three committees: Joint Technology, Health and Insurance, and Rural Affairs and Agriculture.

Titone is also involved in a wide variety of bills. She has recently sponsored bills to increase tax credit allocation for affordable housing, create a consumer insurance council to advise the commissioner of insurance, and encourage the use of xeriscaping in common areas. Her work in state legislature has had a wide breadth.

Titone has risen to occasions to advocate for the trans community as well. One of her more satisfying and prominent achievements in office was Jude’s Law, a bill that made it possible for birth certificates to accurately reflect one’s current gender marker identification.

The moment the law passed felt incredibly important to Titone, who was honored to be a part of its passage.

In fact, Titone had testified on the bill before running for office and knew Jude.

Reflecting on the magnitude of the bill, she said, “I knew how so many people wanted this to be changed. It had to wait five, long years for that to cross the finish line. And it just felt so good to be one of those people that got to vote ‘yes.’”

Titone knows there is more work to be done; the stakes are so high for trans issues. “It's worse around the country; we're fortunate here in Colorado that we have a good community that stands

up for people. But we're not immune to the violence and the hatred people have. They're still among us here.”

Titone has faith that things can change, especially through involvement and service.

“Things are changing, because I’m at the table. And, as the saying goes, if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu. Trans people have been on the menu for way too long.”

Her position has also revealed the inner workings of Colorado’s political world, as she gets to “watch the sausage being made.” The world of politics has proven its complexity despite democrats having the trifecta of state control.

Titone admits, “Being that we have the House, the Senate, and the Governor, I thought it would be a little bit easier to get some things done. But, it turns out that there are still forces out there that are powerful and make it difficult to get some of the things we want done.”

With one legislative session under her belt, Titone feels ready to return and do more. She learned so much in the past year and is ready to carry forward with that new knowledge.

“Now that one sessions over, I've got a new pair of glasses for next session to look through to make sure that I can get more things accomplished and try to do a little bit better than I did last time. I don't consider what I did last year bad by any means, but I always try and set the bar a little higher every time,” said Titone.

She wants the trans community to match her enthusiasm about where things are headed. “Being in this position gives people hope for the future that someone like them can achieve a good, solid position of leadership and trust in the community.”

When given the opportunity, she urges others to commit to being change agents as well. “Don’t wait for someone to be the first if it hasn’t been done. Just go out there, keep trying, and be the first. You’ll break through new ground. You have it in you to do it.”

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By Veronica L. Holyfield

Healer of Our Community

MICHAEL DOROSH R

ecently, the well-known Queer Eye celebrity Jonathan Van Ness announced publicly that he is among the nealy 650,000 LGBTQ men who are currently living with HIV. This was applauded by the greater media and public, and folks like Van Ness need to be acknowledged for their bravery in standing in the face of stigma and potential judgement in order to shed light onto the topic that greatly affects this community so disproportionately.

When the community was facing the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 90s, the discrimination, misinformation, and 1 6 \\ O C T O B E R 2 , 2 0 1 9

stigmatization against those who had this illness was silencing to queer folks, as they watched their very own chosen family members suffer and pass on in staggering numbers. And these days, most stories of folks living with HIV and AIDS go untold and even unnoticed.

“I go back to the days when a different friend died every week back in the 80s and early 90s,” 2019 Power Winner Michael Dorosh said. As former general manager of Tracks and the now-closed Fox Hole, in addition to bartending at Charlie’s, Dorosh was immersed in the LGBTQ community and witnessed

first-hand the devastation that impacted the gay men of Denver.

He admittedly never saw a sunrise, enjoying the life of working in the nightclub scene and staying out until 2 or 3 a.m. But then, his health started to diminish, and everything changed.

Soon, Dorosh realized he was now fighting his own battle with HIV. This lead him to a randomized, clinical trial where he had a 50/50 chance of being administered a potentially life-saving drug or a placebo. He found himself after nine months of taking what was to become his second chance at life. Then, he found his way to activism and advocacy, getting deep into the weeds of research and the fight to find a cure.

He first held a position on an advisory board at the University of Colorado AIDS Clinical Trial Group in 1995 and then went on to serve on numerous planning councils, boards of directors, and state committees all focused on addressing the need for educating the community and providing adequate and equal access to life-saving treatments. He has also been affiliated with Denver Public Health and UC Denver. He is now held in high esteem and respect for his knowledge on HIV and AIDS treatments Recently, Dorosh co-founded Treatment Educat10n Network (TEN), whose mission is educating and empowering people living with HIV by providing information, skills, and knowledge about living well with HIV, not simply living longer. The all-volunteer program, which utilizes peer-to-peer support services, has become a staple resource for folks living with the illness and looking for a relatable community.

Through his years of activism and advocacy, however, Dorosh has noticed that the conversation around HIV and AIDS has shifted from one of urgent to old news.

“The younger people, they just have to watch a documentary to find out about it, and they're sort of sick of hearing about it, like ‘Oh God, not this story again; we've already heard this,’ he said.

He admitted that the attendance in 2019 at events like AIDS Walk Colorado has been incredibly low.

“I think a lot of people think it's ‘healed,’or it's really no big deal anymore. And in many respects, it isn't. And yet, it is. It just isn't popular; it's not trendy,” Dorosh said. “People don't perceive HIV as a death sentence anymore.”

So, when public figures like Van Ness utilize their platform for the proclamation of being one person of the hundreds of thousands who are living a full and thriving life with HIV, that can bring visibility to folks who aren’t getting the applause and a warm hug by society for their bravery. Yet, they are brave, and their stories are just as important.

“The disease that we have no pill for, no treatment for, is stigma. For many people, I’m poison, which is ridiculous,” Dorosh said with a chuckle. In all seriousness though, it’s the cases of early and undetected infection that are far more damaging than a case like Dorosh’s, as he’s been on treatment for years.

Unlike a person who has had a heart attack, a person diagnosed with cancer, or someone managing diabetes, a lot of people who have HIV hide it from their friends, families, and coworkers because of the miseducation and misunderstanding of contraction and illness management.

“That stigma is a really, really tough thing. There’s a lot of stigma out there for a lot of reasons, especially for gay people, women, people of color, all kinds of folks,” he said. “We don’t need stigma with HIV, and we try really hard to combat that.”

Now, with movements like U=U (undetectable=untransmittable) and PrEP for Prevention becoming more mainstream, Dorosh has hope that, through persistent and proper education, prevention, and maintenance if contracted, folks will get the chance to live a life they never thought possible only 20 years ago.

“One thing that we can't ignore is that we made amazing advances in treatment,” he said.”We were the very first people that got involved in the research, the very first people that demanded things, going back to the days of Act Up. We were the very first people that got involved in research as consumers, and now everybody's getting more involved.

Cancer patients are more involved in the research and the treatment components as people living with the disease or condition.”

While there is so much to celebrate in the way of medical advances, and even slight chips out of the mountain that is HIV and AIDS stigma, Dorosh knows that there is still a lot of work that he and other champions in this field need to do.

“A lot of people who are living with HIV, despite the fact that they may be doing well on medications, still struggle with a lot of things,” Dorosh said. “There’s so many side issues, comorbidities like premature aging, chronic inflammation, cardiovascular diseases, issues in just about every organ in our bodies, and, of course, the brain. There's something called H.A.N.D, HIV Associated Neurocognitive Disorder, because there's a lot of damage in the brain, and people do have cognitive impairment.”

Dorosh believes that we are on the cusp of some groundbreaking medications and treatments that could help society see the end of the HIV and AIDS epidemic as we know it.

“There are a lot of advances in cure research, that being a functional cure where the virus is there, but it’s completely inactive, or a sanitizing cure, where the virus is gone. That’s the cure field, but the epidemic is what I believe is going to end,” he said. “If 90 percent of people know their status; 90 perce of those people are in care, and 90 percent of those people are in therapy, we basically end the epidemic.”

Saying this, Dorosh gets energized and begins to glow. For him, this work is far more than simply finding a cure for himself; it’s about continuing to create a better life for those who come long after him because of those we lost long before him.

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By Arianna Balderrama

C

oming to terms with your sexual identity can be an uncomfortable thought for some. At whatever age you decide to come out, the question of whether acceptance will meet you at your doorstep still remains. This can be even tougher for kids still living under their parents’ roofs.

It’s understandable to be unsure of where to begin with sexuality and gender identity.

The questions are immeasurable, but so are the resources that offer answers.

PFLAG (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) is an organization that supports members of the LGBTQ community and their family and friends. The services PFLAG offer are support through group meetings and through the phone. The nonprofit also has an informational newsletter for parents with questions. Their resources are in both English and Spanish, and the main focus is simply educating people on subject matter pertaining to the queer community.

PFLAG began with a mother supporting her son. The organization originated in New York and first started in 1973. It was founded on love, support, and educating people.

“Family is your first support system that lifts you up or takes care of you,” said Curtis Halbach, the treasurer for PFLAG. “Now, we've branched out to allies and parents, friends and families, of queer people. It's allinclusive. A lot of people in the community branch out and create their own families, and we do a lot of sessions where parents come out, kids come out, people are transitioning, and much more. Our job is to facilitate and help them get together with other people that are like them.”

Crafting a safe space for families to be assisted through the worries that may come with being queer is crucial for our community. Halbach expressed that resources like PFLAG are in demand more for transgender youth.

A recent study by the American Academy of Pediatrics concluded that out of everyone surveyed, transgender youth have the highest rate of attempted suicide. However, with nonprofits like PFLAG, the number of young people attending sessions have increased. The ages are only getting lower.

“There's a growing demand, for transgender

youth, especially looking for outlets, places to go to learn and to meet other people like them. A year-and-a-half ago, there was maybe one group session a week. Now, there's two or three per week with people of all ages.”

PFLAG also has a scholarship fund to give to queer youth. The scholarship fund is distributed statewide to schools across Colorado, and unlike many scholarships, it is solely based on what the person has done for the LGBTQ community rather than on academics. Every year, PFLAG’s committee reads the hundreds of letters explaining different youth contribution to the community. Those selected attended a scholarship ceremony and give a heartfelt speech on their future.

PFLAG also has a lot of stories to share about those who are impacted by their services.

Halbach expressed the enjoyment of receiving spontaneous feedback from those touched with the significance of PFLAG. “All the people that come up and talk to you, and they’re crying; they're so happy that PFLAG exists. And we’ve been told it changed their lives and families. It's so insane, emotional, and inspirational. That's probably my favorite part of it.”

PFLAG’s catalyst is educating people on subjects pertaining to the LGBTQ community. The value of making others understand the meaning of our community has been proven to be the greatest triumph of all.

PFLAG specializes in informing the public, because that’s their whole deal. Information reduces ignorance.

“Misinformation is out there. You’ve got to provide them with information. Otherwise, you're just going to be ignorant, and that's not OK, because it doesn't get us anywhere.”

Understandably, being young and queer doesn’t come with perfect hands dealt. That is why this nonprofit does what it does.

Halbach emphasized his and PFLAG’s hope for queer youth and simplyfied it to three simple words: feeling loved, wanted, and accepted “They're not alone at all. They need to know we're all here for them. PFLAG especially, we're here for them. It does get better. This is 100 percent true.”

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Central City's 11th Annual

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By Apollo Blue

B

uying or selling a house is a stressful experience for anyone, and it can be extra stressful for queer people. Alex Tooke of The Peak Properties Group strives to make the experience of buying and selling a house less stressful for everybody, especially queer people.

Tooke started The Peak Properties Group nine years ago with his husband, and they strove to make Peak a family company that doesn’t define families as a man, woman, and children. They give a cozy, family touch to everyone from poly family units and queer couples to “traditional” families and folks who just want to live their best life at home with a pet. They also buy and sell homes all over Colorado.

For these reasons, the Colorado LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce is naming Peak Business of the Year. OUT FRONT had the pleasure of sitting down with Tooke to discuss more about the company.

Is there a specific clientele you mostly work with?

We work with anybody and everybody; I think that’s what makes us special. Our team is super diverse as well as the client base we serve. We want everybody to have an amazing experience, and that’s where we base all our starting transactions.

I think everybody has a great time working with us.

What got you into real estate, specifically?

I get asked that a lot. A big thing for me is, I want everyone to feel special, and I want everyone to have an amazing experience, be it buying a home alone or with friends or family. The main reason we got into real estate is, when we bought our first home, it wasn’t a great experience.

That sounds really negative, but to be honest, there were a lot of things that could’ve happened a lot better, but we were able to break that down into an experience that we want to provide to others. So, over the last nine years, we built a company around that mentality of providing an amazing experience for our clients.

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Buying a house is a huge commitment for anybody. It’s a scary thing, especially for first-time homeowners. How do you alleviate some of that fear?

I think it starts with making sure you have a solid process. And for us at Peak, that’s where we start every single one of our decisions. So, a first-time homebuyer has 1000 questions, and those questions need answered up front. We want to make sure every single person on our team knows how to answer those, knows how to put people at ease and get to know exactly what they’re looking for and not what we think they want.

We want to make sure we are answering their needs and their questions on their schedule and then building a plan around that. We’re really, really big about putting a game plan together, and those game plans are different for every single person.

So, it really makes sense for us to sit down, listen, really get to know someone. That also builds great relationships with the people that we work with, because they know that we’re there, and they trust that we can get them through the process.

Trust is a hard thing to develop; it’s not something that happens right away. Can you talk about building trust and the process of buying a home?

Trust has to be earned. Trust isn’t something you can sit down and educate somebody on. Trust needs to be shown in different ways, from asking the right questions to showing the right properties but really listening to how are they going to use that property; how are they going to use that home; how are they going to make it home?

And if we listen to how somebody is going to make something home, we can help them find the perfect house, and they can turn that house into a home. It’s just finding the right people that work for our company that actually care about getting from point A to point B to point Z. And that’s where the magic happens with all of our clients, is that it's not just, ‘hey, let's do this really quickly.’ It’s, ‘let's get you through this process; we understand the process.’ And that’s something that I don’t think a lot of people take the time to understand.

Is real estate personal?

Absolutely. You’re helping find somebody’s home; you’re watching them see themselves live in four walls and watching them say, ‘I can bring my family here’ and just really start imagining what life could be. And when you think about the role we play in that; that’s immense; that’s huge. That’s a huge responsibility that we have to take very, very seriously. And watching that transpire time and time again does create these amazing communities, and we see the fabric and the threads of these things come together. And it’s just amazing to be a part of that experience.

Is there anything else you wanted to say?

One of the things we’ve been talking about with our team is, what is the importance of queer representation and the LGBT community? You know, we have a lot of straight people on our team. And a lot of LGBT [people]; we have a lot of people who identify however they want to identify. In this political climate, having a team that understands the needs and necessities of just listening and being a part of somebody else’s experience is so, so important.

It’s all about how we’re bringing people together, how we can be a part of somebody else’s story. And in today’s world, there’s nothing more important than listening.

We have to come together, and I think that is one of the most amazing things we get to do as realtors at Peak or anywhere, We get to be part of other people’s stories. And I think that’s the most important thing we can do. One of our core values is ‘you be you,’ and that leads in many, many different discussions for our company and our team.

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By Addison HerronWheeler

THE

RINGMASTER Wade Frisbie and his LGBTQ Chamber Legacy

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I

n this day and age, it’s hardly groundbreaking or controversial to be an openly LGBTQ business owner. Queer businesses and employees are everywhere, and it’s not uncommon to have queer factions and groups within larger businesses.

But it wasn’t always so.

“Back in 2008, 2009, having that safe place to conduct business was key,” explained Wade Frisbie, currently of Frisbie Financial, and formerly chairperson of the Colorado LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce. “If someone was going to spend money, they would actually go out and look for an LGBTQ-friendly business or a business owned by someone in our community.

It was that important to be able to give back and spend money within the community.”

“I started at Trilogy Financial, and I saw a lack of education in the financial world for the LGBTQ community,” he said. “I really wanted to start helping with that, and the biggest way of doing that was getting involved in the chamber. I was able to get on the board and make my presence known, and then I was able to help LGBTQ people with their finances.”

As a financial guru, Frisbie realized that, much like the healthcare field, one of the biggest challenges in his area of expertise was a lack of transparency.

If clients couldn’t talk openly to their financial advisors about things like sharing finances with a same-gender partner, living under the same roof with such a partner, and even expenses related to their queer identity, then there was no way for them to get good financial help. He strove to make giving that help the goal of his financial practice and carried that role over to the Chamber both as a board member and as chairperson.

“The whole point of the Chamber is being able to help as many people as possible,” he explained."I've done some free seminars with the Center Stage Program, an elder program, which was amazing. During my time as chairman, I was also able to connect with the five other minority chambers: the African American Chamber, the Women's Chamber, the Indian Chamber, the

Asian Chamber, and the Hispanic Chamber, and created a program where it wasn’t just us doing things on our own; it was all of us together.

When we combined our power, we were really able to make more of a difference.”

Today, it’s not so necessary to just have a place where queer folks feel comfortable coming out or a way to find other, few and far between, LGBTQ businesses. That’s thanks in part to the Chamber.

“There are so many different ways to show support,” Frisbie said. “Even if it's not a LGBT-owned business, you see a lot more of the flags on people's front doors. You also see a lot of businesses actually starting to give back to nonprofits. People use social media to promote that, and then people come to their businesses eager to give back.”

With that victory under his belt, Frisbie recognized that it was time to step down. It wasn’t that he didn’t have more to offer the community; he just felt he could do so with his new financial business, Frisbie Financial, and realizes the importance of balancing power in a nonprofit.

“With any nonprofit, fresh ideas and fresh faces are a must,” he explained. “And Jim [Smith, the current chairperson] was able to take over, and I was very happy to turn over the leads to him to make more steps and leaps and bounds with, like I did with the Chamber. I also stepped down with Trilogy and started my own firm, Frisbie Financial, and 90 percent of my clientele is in the LGBT community. So, I’m still trying to make sure that everyone has a safe place and a safe space for them to share their finances and move forward. I'm also on the board of the Rocky Mountain Arts Association, which is the Denver Women's Chorus and the Gay Men's Chorus, and we’ve been doing some amazing things.”

While Frisbie's days with the Chamber may be over, his life calling of helping queer folks with their financial needs is far from it. Find him on the daily with Frisbie Financial, and look for his legacy in all the good that the Chamber still does.

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WHERE ALL ARE WELCOME! 3800 Walnut St, Denver, CO 80205 Phone: (303) 295-3800 Email: info@rinobeergarden.com rinobeergarden.com

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2019, 6PM Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center Spices are a key element of our meals at Project Angel Heart, adding flavor and health benefits for those who receive our meals. So, this year, we’re celebrating this pillar of flavorful food at A Taste for Life.

Join us for inspired cuisine, cocktails, and live and silent auctions to benefit our home-delivered meal program.

Purchase tickets Online at ProjectAngelHeart.org/ Taste Benefiting

Sponsored by

SUSAN SCHAFFNER The Grainger Foundation

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Hilton

Focuses on Global Diverstity and Queer Inclusion

By Addison Herron-Wheeler Photo provided by Hilton Properties 3 0 \\ O C T O B E R 2 , 2 0 1 9

F

or some companies, titles like “diversity and inclusion” are just there for show. For the Hilton, that’s not the case. Jon Munoz, vice president, global diversity and inclusion for Hilton, is the first Latino, gay man to hold this title, and he’s taking it very seriously. We spoke to him about the company’s efforts to improve diversity and get rid of unconscious bias, as well as the good work they’ve already done.

What does the president of global diversity and inclusion do?

I lead our efforts for global diversity and belonging. It’s focused on a global framework for culture, talent, and marketplace initiatives, focused on our team members, our guests. We focus on the communities that we serve, and the vendors that we work with, to support our corporate offices and our property.

We try to have a comprehensive approach toward diversity inclusion efforts, and I lead that effort.

What do you do to help the LGBTQ community and make sure everyone feels welcome?

As a gay man, it's really important for me that we do the right thing for all of our communities. But, of course, I’m sensitive to the needs and desires of the LGBT community. So, it is important that all the voices are heard within the company. My role is to make sure that different voices are heard and integrated in the way we do business, the way we deal with our guests.

It’s important that we leverage our point of view to inform our company policy. In 2012, we launched our team member resource groups here at Hilton, and we also launched the LGBT and Friends group during that time.

It’s a voluntary, collaborative effort to promote professional growth through networking and development and to support the business by tapping into key insights from each group’s vantage point.

Our LGBT and Friends resource group actively supports our marketing efforts, including private events in their respective corporate sites among other things. They’re very active and provide

professional development opportunities, and also work on things like Pride every year, and Spirit Day.

How do you make sure people of color and other marginalized people feel welcome at Hilton?

Being Latino and gay, I'm really aware of the intersections that people have, and the way we're talking about things like that more and more these days. So, I think it's important that the company shows support, that the corporation shows support for team members and makes sure all actions allign with our values as a company. We’ve also done some things with the Human Rights Campaign’s Business Coalition to support the Equality Act, and we signed on with the UN LGBT Standards of Conduct.

Those things help us insure we’re doing right by our community and supporting every voice in our community.

How does it feel to be getting the Corporate Ally Award at this year’s Power Gala?

We're honored to have been recognized by the Colorado LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce as their corporation of the year. We do a lot of work with community organizations, and it's important for us to have a strong voice and advocate for business owners around the country.

We’re very proud of the work we do.

Is there anything else you wanted to highlight or talk about?

I’m really excited about our new Team Member Resource Group. We've seen a lot of growth and excitement with that. We’ve also done some work with the Human Rights Campaign, the International LGBT+ Travel Association, the Matthew Shepard Foundation, and more.

Starting in 2019, we mandated diversity and inclusion and unconscious bias training as a brand standard for all 17 of our brands representing 6000 hotels in over 113 countries and territories to ensure that our team members continue to meet our highest standards for an exceptional guest experience.

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Artist Spotlight David Brookton

By Denny Patterson Art provided by David Brookton

D

enver is full of awesome opportunities for local artists.

From the vibrant mural scene spearheaded by Crush in the RiNo neighborhood to all the gorgeous galleries in the Santa Fe art district, there is tons of support for the local scene.

Local, queer artist David Brookton is a software engineer and interdisciplinary media artist who graduated with a BFA from the University of Colorado Boulder. His signature pieces are created by using sharpie and watercolor on canvas, two opposing media types. He hopes his paintings change throughout history, just as he would. Brookton works out of his Denver studio and enjoys recontextualizing classical sculpture in contemporary media.

OUT FRONT had the pleasure of chatting more with Brookton about his upcoming exhibit at the Millers & Rossi in the RiNo neighborhood. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter @davidbrookton to explore more of his work.

Hi, David! Thank you so much for chatting with me today! How does it feel to have your art displayed at Millers & Rossi?

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Of course! And it is such an honor. I am incredibly humbled.

I have been out as gay since I was 16, so it is very cool to feel supported by the LGBTQ community where I grew up.

What can attendees expect to see at this exhibit?

A lot of colorful ink, sharpie, and watercolor canvases.

Can you tell us a little bit more about your art?

To me, art communicates the human experience. Beauty anchors me to the world, so I honor it through painting. I paint in permanent marker and watercolor to render my own lens in a more poetic way. Permanent, black marks on canvas are enduring and everlasting, while watercolor is ephemeral and inevitably fades or dulls with the passage of time.

For me, color is my clever language of abstracted feelings. I use it to mask hidden gray, gloomy, black and white drawings with bright, joyful, vibrant, and saturated, pastel rainbow paintings. Color is my act of rebellion; it liberates me from

my narrative and grants me control to define what I observe in a more personal way.

Rainbow hues bring me great joy. I find harmony in the full spectrum of the color wheel. Painting in this way also celebrates my identity as a gay man. It signifies freedom to love, and not only brings me deep satisfaction, but is essential to my life and my process. In some works, I favor the black sharpie by itself. There is an undeniable minimalism and sophistication to the contrast of black lines, and I use them to communicate my experience as well.

Have you always had a passion for artistry?

Yes. I knew I wanted to be an artist when I was a little kid, and I kind of relentlessly fought against everything telling me not to do it. I love being creative.

And in addition to painting, you also dabble in design and photography?

Yes. I did some design for Anna Kendrick and did a big photo series in L.A. for a while. I moved out there after I got my BFA at Boulder.

backing. Like, once you have established your voice as an artist, I think it’s easier to do that. I certainly value artists who do so.

How would you say your art is unique and stands out from the million other artists in the world?

I tend to think that the use of sharpies and watercolors are not a very common practice. So, I think my media kind of stands out as well as, like, my sort of scribble approach to figure.

Will any of the proceeds from this exhibition be donated?

Twenty percent of the proceeds will be donated to Wildlife Protection Solutions. Essentially, they have cameras strapped around trees all around Africa, and they, in real time, prevent poaching, and they send images using artificial intelligence to local authorities across the different countries in Africa when they detect poaching. It just protects wildlife across the globe. It’s an organization that I heavily support.

What is the local art scene in Denver like? Have you encountered any backlashes for being an openly gay artist?

I really like to paint statues. More like ancient statues, historic statues, busts of people. I find landscapes to be very peaceful to paint as well.

I find the local art scene to be super accepting. I think maybe, separate from my identity, being a new artist in general is a little tricky, and it can be hard to get your foot in the door and in the right places. Overall, I would say that the queer community is super supportive, and I am thankful that I identify as gay, because it certainly gives a better sense of community. There are many more like-minded individuals in the Denver community.

Who would you say are some of your biggest artistic influences?

Do you follow any artistic trends, or do you tend to do your own thing?

Actually, you have interviewed quite a few of them. RuPaul’s Drag Race. I would say that drag queens are a huge influence in a lot of ways. Maybe not so literally, but Alaska has been huge. Yvie Oddly, Katya, but as far as, like, formal, visual artists, I guess I would say I am influenced by some contemporary, queer artists that I connect with on Instagram, like Scott Young, Jonathan Saiz, and Haley Dixon. And there’s Patrick Church in New York. He greatly inspires me.

That’s a great question. I tend to do my own thing, but I am heavily influenced by visual art throughout time. So, maybe not so much trends, but pop culture for sure.

What is your favorite thing to paint? Landscapes, people, abstract, what?

What do you hope people take away from your work?

Hopefully just, like, a new understanding or appreciation for imagination, like understanding a landscape or an artifact differently. And hopefully an appreciation for a lot of different colors and certainly just a lot of color usage.

Do you like your work to comment on current social or political issues?

I do hope to get a lot more into that. I certainly want to use art as a platform to comment on political issues. I think it is just one of those things that you can do easily once you have solid

What advice would you give those who wish to pursue an art career?

I think the best advice I have seen lately came from Lizzo. She did an Instagram post recently where she said she felt like she was just making music and sending it into the ether, and nobody cared or listened or paid attention. Then, suddenly, it all kind of worked out for her. For me, I think my advice would be along those lines.

Patience is the name of the game, and failure and rejection are incredibly common. So, just be patient and kind to yourself, but don’t give up.

What is the best piece of advice you have been given?

It’s cliché, but just to be myself. Being an artist, the only thing that you have that makes you unique is your story and experience of the world. So, the more honest you are and the truer you are to yourself, it will come through in your work.

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By Denny Patterson Photo provided by the Phantom Circus

GHOSTS IN THE RING

Natalie Brown and The Phantom Circus

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A

ccording to Phantom Circus founder and director Natalie Brown, power is understanding your own strength and your ability to create change. I believe it is safe to say that many would agree.

The Phantom Circus is Denver’s premier circus performance troupe, and they will be performing at this year’s annual Power Gala on October 12. When asked how the troupe began, Brown said that it was quite a story. She was right.

“I grew up in the arts,” she said. “I belong to a military family, so we lived all over the place. I went to nine different schools.

My mom was a closet artist, so all of us kids ended up growing up in the arts. I started in ballet and did a lot of school theatre and making things. My mom taught me about costuming when I was about 10; then I got into classical music.

“I ended up getting a degree in English at Tulane University in New Orleans, and thought I would be a journalist. So, I was working as a classical music and dance writer for Gambit Weekly in New Orleans, but I then threw my back out. It was pretty bad. So, when I got through that and kind of put my body back together, being a dancer, I figured maybe taking a dance class would be a good way to strengthen my body and help me feel better. So, I started belly dancing.

“I did that for about a year, and fell in love with the dance, culture, music, and challenge,” she continued. “Then, a year later, Hurricane Katrina hit. All the theatres and pretty much all the culture was under water. I knew there was no coming back. My family had retired and settled down in Columbia, South Carolina, and I went there to start over. I started a belly dance company, and that accidentally ended up expanding into a circus in a barn parking lot.

“This was about a block from where the Confederate Flag was at the State House. This was in like 2006 or 2007, and I started to see the punk burner underground circus movement start on the West Coast through the internet, and this was even before YouTube was a thing. I thought it was beautiful. It just caught my imagination. So, I grabbed a couple performers and combined them with my belly dancers. We started a circus in our parking lot. I had no idea what I was doing.”

The troupe was called Alternacirque. However, after Brown and the troupe started to hit the ground running, the economy crashed.

Flyers. I did that for about 30 hours a week for nine months.

When I got out, I felt like I was ready to start my new service.

I got an investor, and we founded Phantom Circus in 2016.”

Brown considers the Phantom Circus to be Denver’s very own Cirque du Soleil. Performers include aerialists, acrobats, jugglers, stilt walkers, belly dancers, and fire performers.

When the troupe was asked to perform at the Power Gala, Brown says she was honored.

“I am really excited,” she said. “The LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce saw us at a hotel grand opening in Denver, and I was jumping off the top of the building attached to a rope and doing acrobats. They said they enjoyed our performance, gave us a business card, and said they would circle back. We are very honored to perform at the Power Gala.”

Additionally, Brown says she loves being part of the Denver community and performing here.

“Denver is such an interesting place, and we are excited to be a part of it,” she said. “Also, as a queer woman, it is nice to be in a place where I can be myself, and I don’t have to worry like I used to about holding my girlfriend’s hand. We also have a gay governor which is very exciting. I just feel like there is this movement in Denver, and it is exciting to be asked to perform big events that are progressive and inclusive.”

After the Gala, the Phantom Circus will be performing at a corporate event in Boston, and many opportunities are currently in the process.

For more information, visit phantomcircus.com.

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“No one could afford to go anywhere,” Brown said. “Of course, being a small southern city, it did not take long for word to get around that a Katrina refugee belly dancer had just started a circus in the parking lot. So, everybody came running. We went from maybe 30 people coming to our shows to 500 or 600 people coming to our shows in just a few months. We became this weird cultural phenomenon. The mayor and the arts commission got involved; we became this weird little circus for change.

Brown led Alternacirque for seven or eight years. The performances went fabulously, but unfortunately, the money just was not there. Brown decided to shut down the troupe and move to Colorado.

“There were some people out here that I wanted to study with,” she said. “So, I moved to Boulder, and I auditioned for an elite circus aerial dance training program at Frequent

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Photo by Erik Holladay-McCann

Ditzy, Sexy, Cool: Denver’s Denver’sDrag DragSensation Sensation Evelyn EvelynEvermoore Evermoore

E

velyn Evermoore is an awardwinning drag entertainer and costume designer living in the heart of Denver. They have been providing audiences fun and engaging performances since 2016 with their unique blend of comedy and beauty. If you are stuck at a dull party or event, never fear. Evelyn will surely liven it up.

From private nights to public brunches, they can do it all. You can regularly find them doing shows at Pride and Swagger and Hamburger Mary’s, but on October 12, they will be hosting the 21st annual Power Gala at the Doubletree by Hilton.

OUT FRONT had the opportunity to chat more with Evelyn about the upcoming event and their passion for being an ultimate drag diva.

Hi, Evelyn! Thank you so much for chatting with me today. How does it feel to be hosting this year’s annual Power Gala?

Of course, and it’s exciting! I have heard 3 6 \\ O C T O B E R 2 , 2 0 1 9

By Denny Patterson about the event in the past, and I am excited to be a part of it. The theme is going to be a lot of fun, too.

Indeed. Now, you are no stranger to hosting shows and events, correct?

Yes. My partner, Dustin Schlong, and I hosted Aurora Pride this year, and I host regular drag events throughout the city. So, hosting is pretty much part of my vernacular.

Awesome. So, tell us a little more about you. Who is Evelyn Evermoore, and what is she all about?

Evelyn is kind of a dumb broad. She’s like the kooky art teacher you had in third grade that maybe had a bottle of scotch in the bottom drawer, maybe not, but she was just as weird with or without it.

glamour and comedy. So, I like to look really beautiful and be really stupid.

What can Gala attendees expect?

What is an evening with Evelyn Evermoore like?

It is a lot of fine references and maybe a couple of dad jokes here and there. A lot of fun, easy humor.

Fantastic. Now, what is your definition of power?

Power is being able to be who you are, most truly, at all times. It is sticking up for what you believe in and saying that joke that maybe won’t be funny to everybody, but it’s funny to you and a few others.

How long have you been doing drag?

How did it start for you?

And how would you describe your aesthetic?

I have been doing drag for three-and-ahalf-years, and I started as a Halloween queen. It kind of blossomed from there.

My aesthetic is, I think Ross Mathews said it best. It’s the intersection of

Is drag your full-time profession or more of a passion you do on the side?

Drag is my full-time career.

Okay, so what did you do before drag?

I was a computer repair specialist at Office Depot.

What is your favorite part about drag and performing?

My favorite part about drag is being able to use it as a medium to tell different kinds of jokes and communicate humor in a way that I wasn’t able to before.

Drag is this unique ability of being able to tell a story on stage as a character that is unique and interactive with an audience.

Word on the street is that you have exceptional costume skills and you make your own looks. Is this true?

I do. I make all my own costumes, and I even do costumes for other entertainers, like Yvie Oddly.

Nice! What costumes have you made for Yvie?

I made her triple-boob finale gown on her season of RuPaul’s Drag Race and another costume for her Vegas promos.

What are some of your signature looks?

I have, like, a purple and green weird club kid costume, a blue, mesh, sequined gown that is like a tight, form-fitting gown that you can see my legs through. It’s sensual and fun.

And I have my weird clown outfit, too.

Will we see any of these looks at the Gala?

No, I am making a brand-new costume for the Gala.

What would you say have been some of your biggest drag accomplishments?

Becoming a full-time entertainer and maintaining it for the last two years, and definitely making costumes for Yvie Oddly and having them featured on such a huge platform and received so well.

Have you ever auditioned for Drag Race?

I did last year, but a part of me is thinking about not auditioning again and just kind of seeing what other outlets drag has.

Drag Race is kind of a very mainstream way to do drag, and I want to see if there’s a different way to succeed.

Where do you hope drag will take you? What is the ultimate goal?

You know, I don’t know. I am very much a day-by-day person. I have some goals in mind for the future, but I don’t want to think too far ahead and then get stuck thinking about things that maybe I will change fromday to day. Someday, at least as far as my costumes go, I want to make a costume for Lady Gaga.

What kind of personal fulfillment have you received by being a part of the Denver drag community?

It’s twofold. By being a drag entertainer, I guess I am showing you the side of myself that I never really knew. Growing up, I was super introverted and shy. So, doing drag and kind of like putting this mask on of this outrageous character has helped me find this more intimate and fun person inside myself. The community at large has given me a home and so many wonderful friends and people that I look up to as artists and advocates and just fun people.

What’s next for you? Any upcoming projects we should be on the lookout for?

Yes, my partner Dustin Schlong and I are starting Denver Queer Radio. You can catch us at Craig Swagger recording once a month about current events through the eyes of queer folks. I also have a couple other projects in the works that you can look forward to on my social media.

OUTFRONTMAGAZINE.COM

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Mary Lambert is a Survivor

By Denny Patterson Photo provided by Mary Lambert

T

he world could not get enough of Mary Lambert after she was first featured in Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ 2012 hit, “Same Love.” Her work on this LGBTQ marriage equality anthem led to two Grammy nominations which then led her to begin a flourishing pop career. Her debut single, “Secrets,” shot to No. 1 on the Billboard Dance Charts, and her first full-length album, Heart

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on My Sleeve, was called refreshing and severely personal by the New York Times.

However, Lambert is not your typical, multi-platinum selling artist. After parting ways with formal management, she decided she was not going to allow someone else to dictate how and when she told her stories. For those who do not know, Lambert is a survivor in several

ways. She has spoken candidly about her life, which includes queerness, suicide attempts, bipolar disorder, and sexual abuse. A year ago, she published a powerful collection of spoken word pieces called Shame is an Ocean I Swim Across, which touches on all these subjects. Lambert wants you to know that you are not alone, and it is okay to cry. You are in a safe space.

OUT FRONT had the pleasure of chatting more with Lambert about her book, her life, and upcoming music projects.

We can expect to see a lot more Mary Lambert in the future.

I would like to start off by chatting about your second book of poetry, Shame is an Ocean I Swim Across.

It has now been a year since you published it. How has it been received by audiences?

I think it’s done pretty well. The hard thing is, I am primarily a singer/ songwriter. I release albums, and with albums, you release it that day or that week, and the access is very quick. Like everybody, your fans, listen to it. Within that week or that month, it’s quick. You get immediate feedback; you know what they think. With releasing a book, it’s so much slower. I think it forces a writer to really take other people’s certain thoughts with a grain of salt, because you just don’t know where it’s going to end up.

I think the first week I released it, I was just like, oh, everybody hates it. Like there’s no reviews; no one is saying anything about it. Then I was like, this is a slow burn. A book is a slow burn.

When I got a royalty check, I knew that people were buying it! And I am one of those obsessive people that don’t look at their own reviews, but according to the reviews, it has been doing the work that I hope it would, which was help people with trauma recovery and people that had a desire for healing. For people that wanted to understand a different perspective. There are a lot of us out there who are hurting, and we need compassion and empathy for each other in order to have a civilized life.

For sure. In the book, you explore topics like childhood abuse, sexual trauma, and mental illness.

As a survivor of all three, how challenging was it for you to write this book?

You know, the actual writing process is not difficult, because I think I was just born a vulnerable, open soul. For those experiences to have happen to me, you

know, I have been expressing it in my music and poetry for many years. So, writing about it isn’t the difficult part.

I think it’s the sharing, like however many people are going to read this, they are going to know my deepest, darkest shit. They’re going to know what my dad said when I was five. All this shit that not even my close friends know about.

I think this sort of pointed, explicit vulnerability is helpful for dismantling the systems that got us here in the first place. The systems that got from the survivors, where they are in the first place. The risk of feeling embarrassed or small or gross is so negligible to the possibility of being a part of somebody else’s catharsis. We just need to have a conversation.

I kind of laughed and said, no, rape is for people who also have a lot of violence happen with them. She’s like, no, that’s not the definition. So, I re-evaluated the situation and was honest with myself about what happened. I was taken advantage of, and it wasn’t my fault. With these sort of steps of being explicitly honest with yourself about your experience, I think the step after that is, we want to hold the abusers accountable. If you think your abuser might continue to hurt people and you feel like you have enough strength to speak out about it and do something, then by all means, speak up, but there is no obligation. If what is keeping you alive is your own, safe sort of network, then that’s what you should do.

It sounds like music and poetry has been very therapeutic for you.

Moving on to a little more lighthearted subject, what’s next in terms of your music?

One hundred percent. I started writing music when I was, like, f5. I just set up my little Casio keyboard and sort of selfsoothe and write myself songs singing that I’ll be okay. Then, I started writing poetry when I was about 8. Writing, for me, has always been a form of survival.

There are people who create art because they want to. They love the craft, and they want to create the greatest thing they possibly can, and that is super valid.

There are other artists that are going to die if they don’t create something, and that’s me. I would be dead if I couldn’t process my experience.

What advice do you have for those who are too afraid to speak up or talk about their traumatic experiences?

There is no moral obligation for anybody to talk about their experiences. I think the most important thing you can do when you have experienced trauma is to be honest with yourself. I write about being raped in the army barracks in my book, and I didn’t say I was raped for two to three years. I said that I cheated on my boyfriend. It wasn’t until I was describing the situation to a girlfriend of mine, and she said, Mary, that’s rape.

Like, you were raped.

Oh, yeah! I’m working on an album!

I’ve been working on this album for five years. I wanted to make my masterpiece.

This body of work that I can point to and say, this is my soul in an album. I am in the quality of reverb; I can make EQ; I’m in the sound design and the lyrics and melody. I’m in everything. I’m over the moon about it, and I cannot wait for it to be out. It’s called Grief Creature, and it will be out November 15.

Any more duets with Macklemore?

Actually, yes! I have a new song with Macklemore. I produced it, and I think it’s really good.

What musical artists would you absolutely love to collaborate with?

The Indigo Girls. I think in terms of artistry, I would love to do something with Kendrick Lamar. I think we could make something really cool. And then, of course, the legends. I would absolutely love to do a song with Natalie Maines from the Dixie Chicks; I would just lose my mind.

To stay up-to-date with Lambert, follow her on social media and check out her website, marylambertsings.com.

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Pride as a Tool for Mental Wellness As a therapist who works primarily with queer people, I see day-in and day-out effects of systemic oppression and bigotry on resilience. We are exhausted by society’s need for us to justify our humanity by constant misnaming, miss-pronouning, and misgendering, in addition to violence, hatred, and fear. The idea that Pride is a place where most of us feel accepted and no longer the outlier is not a novel one. But, I’m thoughtful of how we

rarely validate how essential these moments are to our mental health.

In my own story, I have found that being surrounded by heteronormativity and misogyny drains me. I often feel like I have this battery pack of energy that I can use to manage those moments, and throughout the year, people continuously take from it. What is essential is identifying the ways we can recharge. Is it volunteering at Rainbow Alley to give back to queer youth? Is it coffee with people in our community whom we love and trust?

Is it joining queer athletic leagues or

social clubs? Or is it taking time out of your year to attend large gatherings of like-minded folks such as Pride? This kind of recharge is what provides us with resilience to better cope with anxiety, depression, and other forms of mental illness.

So, my question to you is, where are your recharging stations? Do you know? Are you aware of how and when your battery is being drained? If not, let’s find out.

Justin R. Lewis, M.A, LPCC – The Denver Element

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