August 2018 by OutSmart Magazine

AUG. '18

E PRI1D i 8n

20 OS PHOgT .94

HOUSTON'S LGBTQ MAGAZINE

outsmartmagazine.com

THE

MUSIC ISSUE

8 LOCAL ARTISTS TO KNOW

PLUS k.d. LANG STEVE GRAND BOBBY JO VALENTINE

KATHYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S BIG COMEBACK OUT OF EXILE, GRIFFIN PREVIEWS HOUSTON SHOW Pg.34

DAYNA STEELE ON HER HISTORIC CAMPAIGN

Pg.12

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AUG.2018 FEATURES VOLUME 25 • NUMBER 7

COVER STORY

‘THE MAYOR OF ZERO F--KSVILLE’

Eight local LGBTQ artists to know

Steve Grand on recovery—and his second album

2018 MUSIC ISSUE

Kathy Griffin took Trump’s best punch, and lived to tell about—but she isn’t done yet

K.D. LANG: TRUMP IS A CANCER Lesbian icon brings her Ingénue anniversary tour to Houston

A NEW BEGINNING

Texas’ largest LGBTQ country dance club celebrates five years

Bobby Jo Valentine balances his Christian faith, gay identity

MFAH exhibit celebrates gay Houston collector Clint Willour

FILLING BIG BOOTS

‘STRONG ENOUGH’

THE ART OF GIVING

Impulse Group Houston launches with Coachella-themed pool party

Porcelain, the haunting tale of a trick gone wrong, comes to MATCH

Gay candidate Jim Kovach faces GOP opponent affiliated with anti-LGBTQ hate groups

Houston activist fears for fellow LGBTQ refugees under Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy

Racine and Tiffany Armstead tied the knot after a shower-glass proposal

Joel Quiñones and Bradley Brandt got hitched in New Mexico, then celebrated again in Houston

Five pages of photos from this year’s Pride celebrations

GETTING THEIR FEET WET

WEDDING GUIDE

FATAL ATTRACTION

WEDDING GUIDE

4 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

FIGHTING FOR FAIRNESS

PRIDE 2018

DEADLY CONSEQUENCES

TAKE THE LEAD

Take an active role in your health. Ask your doctor if an HIV medicine made by Gilead is right for you.

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AUG.2018

DEPARTMENTS N E WS & C O M M E N T 12 20

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NEWS & COMMUNITY LEFTOUT

Hey, Mike Pence, here’s my schedule

MONEYSMART

A crash course on the TRA

THE RARE REPORTER

Was Brandon Woodruff Railroaded?

UNAPOLOGETICALLY TRANS

More than just murder victims

TIMEOUT

OUTSMART ’s readers and recommendations

A R T S & E N T E R TA I N M E N T 88

›

QUEER QUOTES

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GROOVEOUT

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READOUT

Cynthia Nixon, Bill Maher, Paris Jackson, George Takei, and Spencer Day Snail Mail, Felix and the Future, Alexis Michelle, Frankie Simone, Christeene, and more

Tin Man: A Novel and Blame It on Bianca Del Rio

OUT & ABOUT 112 SIGNOUT 101 OUTTHERE 110 BAR/CLUB GUIDE 114 SCENEOUT A DVE RT I S E R S I N D EX 104 Advertisers Index 106 Classifi ed Marketplace

ONLINE EXCLUSIVES

O u t S m a r t M a ga z i n e . c o m

Anti-LGBTQ groups are calling for the Houston Public Library to end its Drag Queen Storytime program, starring Blackberri (pictured). For continuing coverage, visit OutSmartMagazine.com. 6 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

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Standing with you, Houston. Then. Now. Always. Standing together with the LGBTQ community. It’s a commitment we made 30 years ago. Since then, we’ve contributed over $50 million and countless team member volunteer hours to organizations that are making a difference. We’re proud to stand together with the LGBTQ community now, and we promise to be there always. Visit wellsfargo.com/standingtogether to watch our video series about inspiring organizations that are having a positive impact in the LGBTQ community, and learn how you can help.

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E DITOR´S NOTE

I’

d like to interrupt my regularly scheduled Editor’s Note to sound an alarm over the recent return of anti-LGBTQ political attacks in Houston. Nearly three years after the repeal of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO), the groups that led the anti-HERO campaign appear to be emboldened by the anti-LGBTQ climate fostered under president Donald Trump’s administration. Late last month, the Houston Area Pastor Council and the Conservative Republicans of Texas targeted the Houston Public Library’s popular Drag Queen Storytime program (featuring local LGBTQ performers reading to children and their parents), calling it “a form of pedophilia.” The groups also criticized mayor Sylvester Turner and police chief Art Acevedo for participating in this June’s Houston Pride parade, which they said was “overflowing with the gender-confused” and “sexual deviancy.” Turner and Acevedo, both supporters of equality, brushed off the criticisms. But the anti-LGBTQ groups have a City Council ally in Michael Kubosh, who also publicly complained about Drag Queen Storytime last month. It would be easy to dismiss these attacks

as empty rhetoric from right-wing extremists. But given the current political climate of growing intolerance, that would be a mistake. On the heels of their successful antiHERO campaign, these same groups are involved in a lawsuit against the City of Houston, Pidgeon v. Turner, which aims to roll back marriage equality by allowing government entities to deny benefits to the same-sex spouses of public employees. Moreover, these local groups’ national counterparts like the Family Research Council enjoy unprecedented influence over the White House and Congress. Trump recently nominated another far-right Supreme Court justice, Brett Kavanaugh, whose confirmation would tilt the court’s majority against LGBTQ rights. In short, much of what the LGBTQ community has fought for and won over the last few decades—from marriage equality to the very legalization of our existence in Lawrence v. Texas—is now in jeopardy. The first real opportunity to stem this tide of intolerance will be the midterm elections in November, when Democrats have a realistic chance to take back both the House and Senate. Several of the key races

10 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

in this equation are in Texas, including Beto O’Rourke’s bid to unseat Republican senator Ted Cruz, and Lizzie Pannill Fletcher’s campaign against GOP congressman John Culberson in west Houston. Although our opportunity to oust at-large City council member Kubosh won’t come until the 2019 municipal elections, the time to act is now. The deadline to register to vote in November is October 9. In the meantime, you can also support pro-equality candidates by donating, volunteering, and/or getting involved with groups like the Houston GLBT Political Caucus. We simply cannot afford to sit this one out. —John Wright

AUG. '18

PRIDE in 2018

HOUSTON'S LGBTQ MAGAZINE

outsmartmagazine.com

PHOTOS Pg.94

THE

MUSIC ISSUE

8 LOCAL ARTISTS TO KNOW

ON THE COVER

PLUS k.d. LANG STEVE GRAND BOBBY JO VALENTINE

KATHY’S BIG COMEBACK OUT OF EXILE, GRIFFIN PREVIEWS HOUSTON SHOW Pg.34

DAYNA STEELE ON HER HISTORIC CAMPAIGN

Pg.12

KATHY'S BIG COMEBACK Out of exile, Griffin previews Houston show Pg.34

Photo by

Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

FEATURED SPEAKERS INCLUDE

Presented by

John Kerry

Former U.S. secretary of state

Annise Parker

Former mayor of Houston and head of the LGBTQ Victory Fund & Institute

Alex Wagner

Co-host of Showtime’s “The Circus”

Sally Yates

Former acting U.S. attorney general

September 27-29

Karl Rove

Former White House deputy chief of staff for George W. Bush

Larry Wilmore

Comedian & host of the “Black on the Air” podcast

Eva Guzman Texas Supreme Court justice

DeRay Mckesson Author & civil rights activist

Downtown Austin

Cecile Richards Author & former head of Planned Parenthood

Lupe Valdez

Democratic candidate for Texas governor

Mike Morath Texas education commissioner

Julián Castro

Former U.S. secretary of housing and urban development

#Tribfest18

Beto O'Rourke Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate

Will Hurd

U.S. representative, R-Helotes

Nancy Pelosi

U.S. House Democratic leader

Yamiche Alcindor

White House correspondent for PBS NewsHour

SPONSORS

Enter promo code OS18 for $100 off of your registration! Visit festival.texastribune.org. Walmart ⋅ Laura and John Arnold ⋅ AARP ⋅ Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas ⋅ Anheuser-Busch SPECIAL THANKS TO ⋅ The Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life ⋅ The Annie E. Casey Foundation ⋅ AT&T ⋅ Austin Community College ⋅ The Beer Alliance of Texas ⋅ Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas ⋅ Boeing ⋅ CenterPoint Energy ⋅ Comcast ⋅ Deloitte ⋅ Educate Texas ⋅ Entergy ⋅ Google ⋅ Greater Texas Water ⋅ Gulf States Toyota ⋅ H-E-B ⋅ Hatton W. Sumners Foundation ⋅ Hill+Knowlton Strategies ⋅ Houstonfirst ⋅ Huston-Tillotson University ⋅ IBC Bank ⋅ JPMorgan Chase ⋅ LBJ School of Public Affairs ⋅ Lobby Days ⋅ Lumina Foundation ⋅ The Meadows Foundation ⋅ The Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute ⋅ Messina Hof Winery and Resort ⋅ Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas ⋅ The Cynthia & George Mitchell Foundation ⋅ The Nature Conservancy ⋅ NRG Energy ⋅ Oncor ⋅ Pearson ⋅ Quest Diagnostics ⋅ Raise Your Hand Texas ⋅ Seton ⋅ Silicon Labs ⋅ Southwest Airlines ⋅ Spurs Sports and Entertainment ⋅ St. David's Foundation ⋅ St. David's HealthCare ⋅ Texas Education Grantmakers Advocacy Consortium ⋅ The Texas A&M University ⋅ Texas A&M University System ⋅ Texas Association of Community Colleges ⋅ Texas Association of Realtors ⋅ Texas Central ⋅ Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities ⋅ Texas Exes ⋅ Texas Secretary of State ⋅ Toyota North America ⋅ UBER ⋅ The University of Texas at Austin ⋅ The University of Texas Press ⋅ Upbring ⋅ UT Southwestern Medical Center ⋅ Valero ⋅Walton Family Foundation ⋅ Zachry Group ⋅ Austin American-Statesman ⋅ Austin Chronicle ⋅ Community Impact ⋅ CultureMap ⋅ Gatehouse Media ⋅ Houston Public Media ⋅ KERA - Think ⋅ KLBJ ⋅ KXAN ⋅ OutSmart Magazine ⋅ Rivard Report ⋅ Texas Standard ⋅ The Monitor ⋅ Univision ⋅ Voice of Asia ⋅ The Washington Post

N ews

Dayna Steele Makes History in Congressional Bid Democrat with gay son takes on anti-LGBTQ incumbent. By Marene Gustin

ayna Steele has been a pioneer in a lot of things. She’s been a rockand-roll DJ, businesswoman, book author, nonprofit organizer, motivational speaker, and mother. Now, she wants to be a Democratic lawmaker from one of the reddest districts in Texas. Steele is making history not only as the first woman to run for U.S. Congress in the 36th Congressional District of Texas, but also for having raised $500,000 so far—more than any previous Democratic candidate. “And this is mostly small, individual donations,” Steele says. “We don’t take PAC or special-interest money.” Steele’s campaign manager, Mitch Zaiman, one of 22 paid staffers, points to strong grassroots support. “And we plan to keep building on that,” he says. Steele is running against first-term incumbent Republican Brian Babin, whose campaign did not respond to a request for an interview. In 2016, Republican Donald Trump captured more than 70 percent of the vote in District 36, which stretches from Seabrook to Jasper. Babin has praised Trump and voted in line with the president’s position more than 95 percent of the time, according to FiveThirtyEight.com. Babin maintains the lowest possible score of zero on the Human Rights Campaign’s Congressional Scorecard, which measures support for LGBTQ rights.

Steele Resolve Former radio DJ Dayna Steele is the first woman to run for Congress in the 36th District, and has raised more money than any previous Democratic candidate.

During Babin’s failed congressional bid in 1998, his campaign manager, 21-year-old JonMarc McDonald, came out as gay and resigned. McDonald claimed Babin had made disparaging remarks about gay people, something the candidate denied. Steele, who has a gay son, has been a longtime supporter of the LGBTQ community. “I’m very proud of what my mom is doing,” says her son, Dack Justiz, joking that it’s probably the most important thing she’s ever done, except for raising him. “She is more than capable, and Texas 36 needs someone who will actually represent them, not just the richest people and corporate interests in Southeast Texas.” Family support has been very important to Steele. “We discussed this run as a family,” she

12 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

says. “I would not have done it unless my husband and children were on board.” Steele, who starts her day at 5 a.m. by reading the news, says her husband and their younger son, Nick (who lives at home), cook dinner most nights after she’s spent the day on the campaign trail. She claims even the family’s dogs help out as the “kitchen cleanup crew.” “Dayna has always had a passion and desire to help people, but her run for the U.S. Congress has intensified all of her considerable talent,” says her husband, Charles Justiz, a first-generation Cuban-American and retired NASA pilot. “There have been recent times when the concentration of her focus and fire have so reminded me of a nuclear furnace that I would have sworn I felt heat pulsing from her,” he adds. Steele says there are no debates planned

A Family Affair Steele, second from left, a longtime supporter of LGBTQ rights, is shown with her family, including her gay son, Dack Justiz, third from right.

with Babin, and she hasn’t spoken to him. She spends her days traveling around the Southeast Texas district, holding meet-and-greets and knocking on doors. “I have met so many people in the district and heard so much about what they want in leadership,” she says. Steele, whose home in Seabrook took on 29 inches of water during Harvey, says she still sees people living in tents a year after the hurricane.

“I know this is a Republican district,” she says. “But we are getting more donations and more support. When I started this, I heard people say how brave I was, but that I couldn’t win. We are just now starting to get some national attention.” Steele received a note of support from actor Alec Baldwin, and stars including David Crosby and Melissa Etheridge have hosted benefits for her campaign. She’s hoping that

Trump Country Republican incumbent Brian Babin, who has voted in line with president Donald Trump more than 95 percent of the time, represents a large swath of Southeast Texas, from Seabrook to Jasper. The district voted for Trump by more than 70 percent in 2016.

having Democratic Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke at the top of the ticket will have a down-ballot effect. “Right now, it’s a ground war, and we are focusing on opening more district offices and recruiting more volunteers,” Steele says. “Eventually, we will do TV commercials.” Babin has already started airing commercials on Houston stations. Long before she announced her run for Congress, Steele was a queen of social media, and that has been an important tool in her campaign chest. Although she still has ardent followers called “Steele Workers” from her radio DJ days, she has gained many more. But not all of them are supportive. If you follow her on Facebook, you’ll notice a lot of rabid Republicans posting some pretty mean things. And she fearlessly, but politely, engages them. “If you give people an answer, they will come around,” she says. “Being on the radio was a good training ground. People always say nasty things, and I just don’t take the bait. I’m doing this because I want to represent all of the people. I want to hear everyone’s concerns. Yes, I even care about the trolls.” For more on Steele’s campaign, visit DaynaSteele36.com. Marene Gustin is a regular contributor to OutSmart magazine. Community ➝

OutSmartMagazine.com | AUGUST 2018 | 13

C ommunit y

On July 15, Legacy Community Health hosted Mint Julep 2018 at Rich’s. Pictured are Katy Caldwell, Nick Alvarado, April Ayers, Jim Sikorski, Ben Dillon, Yvonne Cormier, Tony Bravo, Linda Cantu, and Chree Boydstun.

Photos by Dalton DeHart and Edgardo Aguilar

On July 18, the Diana Foundation distributed money to beneficiaries at its July dinner meeting. Pictured are (front row) Lorriane Schroeder, Lisa German, and Courtney Sellers, and (back row) Dalton DeHart, John Heinzerling, Don Graff, and Dan Maxwell. On July 15, OutReach United hosted Summer Lovin’ Boylesque: The Showtunes Must Go On at Guava Lamp. Pictured are Woody Almazan, Tim Stokes, Nicole Ridgway, Adam Skidmore, Ken Sevier, Sean Lane, and Gary Wood.

On June 22, Microsoft hosted a Staging Solutions Pride Mixer at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Pictured are The Boys Who Booze (Dan, Jon, Alan, and Anthony) with Amanda Hines, and Nina Rubio.

On July 15, Del Shores performed Six Characters in Search of a Play at Resurrection MCC. Pictured are Mark C. Brown, Marsha Cooper, Del Shores, Aileen North, Van English, and Mark Eggleston.

On July 8, JR’s hosted the 41st annual Christmas in July. Pictured are hosts.

On June 30, Texas United Charities hosted its annual Pay It Forward Casino Party at Neon Boots. Pictured are Tim Dudley, Melissa Flories, Keith Woods, Sara Sjolander, Barry Larson, and Kenny Barclay.

On June 26, Lazarus House hosted A Reason to Wine at Sable Gate Winery. Pictured are (front row, from left) Travis Springfield, Douglas Sorensen, Danielle Sampey, Melissa Serra, Justin Anderson, Andrew Robinson, and (back row) Scott Allen.

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START YOUR FUTURE THIS FALL Transferable college credits to most public universities in Texas Degrees and certificates available in-class and online Classes begin August 27

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8/18

Calendar of Events Compiled by Marene Gustin

Theater District Open House Your seat is waiting.

BOTH PHOTOS - DALTON DEHART

he downtown Theater District in Houston is one of the largest in the country, with eight performing companies housed in five stunning theaters. And for one day every August, you can visit for free, see performances, tour the facilities, enjoy family activities, and get special deals on season tickets. There will be backstage tours, although it doesn’t look like the Wortham Theater Center will

that runs from noon to five o’clock, so wear comfortable shoes and clothing and be prepared to be wowed by some of the best arts companies in the land. The Houston Symphony will give a free performance, and Houston Ballet will be offering free movement classes. —Marene Gustin Theater District Open House • August 26 • theaterdistrictopenhouse.com

Radio * Performing Arts A Art & Photography + Other Things V Save The Date

1 Houston Restaurants Weeks

thru Sept 3 + Eat out and support the Houston Food Bank. houstonrestaurantweeks.com

2 Fashion Show & Reception

Peacock in the Desert: The Royal Arts of Jodhpur, India thru 19

The history of India’s extraordinarily vibrant culture through some 250 objects. mfah.org

3 *and 4 The Festival of Originals and five 20-minute original plays. theatresouthwest.org

The FOO

Resident artists at the Craft Center. crafthouston.org The Wiz Jr. * thru 5 Resident artists at the Craft Center. crafthouston.org

5 A

be ready for visitors yet. After taking on 12 feet of water during Hurricane Harvey, renovations are still ongoing, but the word is that Houston Ballet and Houston Grand Opera will be back in their home by September. New this year will be a festival at Sesquicentennial Park featuring artmaking activities, food trucks, and a performance by the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Jazz Ensemble. This is a family-fun event

The Haunting of Bella de Ghosse

thru 18 An old-west melodrama. oldwestmelodrama.com

6 A thru 25 Three new exhibits at the center. artleaguehouston.org Art League Houston

16 AUGUST 2018 OutSmartMagazine.com

4 Texas Tenors * A unique blend of country and classic music. thegrand.com Ambiente Amor A thru 24 An exhibition by Felix Lopez. clarkeassoc.com

7 Salam Neighbor

A documentary about Syrian refugees. hmh.org

8 A thru Jan 13, 2019 Site-specific art by Carlos Cuz-Diez. buffalobayou.org

Art in the Cistern

For ongoing events, visit outsmartmagazine.com

9 Kids Camp + thru 11 For children with substance abuse in their families. councilonrecovery.org

+ Support the arts at this pre-concert party. woodlandscenter.org/2018/pcfr

Hop on the Bandwagon

She Was Only Marginally Honest

thru 25 An old fashioned melodrama. theatresuburbia.org

* thru 26 Provocative play about a gay man accused of murder. thecaduceustheater.com (See page 18 & 74.)

The Mousetrap * thru Sept 2 Summer Chills at the Alley. alleytheatre.org (See page 18.)

+ Have fun and raise funds for the horse sanctuary. aplaceforpeanut.com

Lyft Summer Concert Series

An installation made up of 3,000 bamboo poles. mfah.org

Film and beer, what else do you need? cinemartsociety.org Walls Turned Sideways

thru Jan 6, 2019 Artists confront the justice system. camh.org

* last day She’s on a metaphysical journey. catastrophictheatre.com Buyer and Cellar * last day A comedy about gay men and divas. mainstreettheater.com Tamarie Show: Field Trip!

15 B. Anele: I Don’t Play That Game

A solo exhibit. crafthouston.org

16 A & 19 Sacred music and dance. asiasociety.org Blanket Bingo + & Sept 20 Bingo, music and prizes at the park. marketsquarepark.com The Mystic Art of Tibet

Laugh Your Head Off

* And his Large Band. thehobbycenter.org Shakira * With songs from her latest album. houstontoyotacenter.com Lyle Lovett

Get ready for the 2018–2019 performing arts season! theaterdistrictopenhouse.com (See opposite page, top.)

30 The Moors

* thru Sept 15 A black

comedy about the Brontë sisters. mildredsumbrella.com

23 * The legendary crooner comes to Sugar Land. smartfinancialcentre.com (See page 18.)

Tony Bennett

Magic, Music, & Mayhem

Bucky Miller: Two Raccoons

thru March 31, 2019 Part of the Art on the Lawn series. camh.org

The illusions of Ben Jackson, up close and personal. benjacksonmagic.com

26 Theater District Open House

Kathy Griffin’s world tour. houstonfirsttheaters.com (See page 34.)

25 CineBrew Sip & Screen

Music from The Man in Black. stagestheatre.com (See page 18.)

The Josh Abbott Band performs. whiteoakmusichall.com

21 Mike + Doug Starn: Big Bambú This Thing Called Life thru Sept 3

17 2nd Annual A Place for Peanut Gala

Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash thru Sept 2

13 Porcelain

Lambda NextGen Happy Hour

Join LGBT young professionals at Roka Akor. facebook.com/events/ 156676581836502/

Save the Date September 24

Troye Sivan V The openly gay singer heads to Sugar Land for The Bloom Tour with special guests Kim Petras and Leland. smartfinancialcentre.com More Calendar ➝ OutSmartMagazine.com | AUGUST 2018 | 17

8/18 Calendar of Events continued from previous page

Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash

Thru Sept. 2

Now thru September 2 –

Stages Theatre presents music from The Man in Black. Ring of Fire is a unique musical about the life of Johnny Cash—his ups and downs, sorrows and losses. And of course it’s filled with more than two dozen of the man’s hit songs. The talented Eric Anthony stars in his first appearance at Stages. This is definitely a must-see for country fans. stagestheatre.com Porcelain August 3–26 –

You enjoyed a colorful 40-year career. Now you are working on your first greatest hit. RETIRE You never imagined moving to a community would be so inspiring, and now you couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. Be Inspired.

A provocative play by Chay Yew about a gay man accused of murder, this one resonates on so many levels. Written in 1992, the main character is a Chinese-British young man named John Lee who is searching for his identity and battles loneliness by hooking up with strangers in public bathrooms. He is accused of killing one of these men, and the play focuses on his real motive. Sexual content, violence, and language make this one best for mature audiences. thecaduceustheater.com The Mousetrap

August 10–September 2 –

of Th e H e i g h t s 1407 Studewood Houston, TX 77008

License # 106191

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1015 S. Shepherd Dr. Houston, TX 77019

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18 | AUGUST | OutSmartMagazine.com 18 AUGUST 20182018 OutSmartMagazine.com

10–Sept. 2

Summer Chills at the Alley this year features one of crime writer Agatha Christie’s most popular plays. If you’ve never seen The Mousetrap—and how is that possible?—it’s a compelling story of a group of strangers stranded by a snowstorm in an English manor. And, of course, there is a murderer amongst them. Whodoneit? We won’t tell. Even though it’s been around for 66 years, it’s still a fun theatrical event, and the surprise ending is part of the fun. alleytheatre.org Tony Bennett

of R i v e r Oa k s

3–26

August 23 –

We still swoon when he croons “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” Legendary jazzman Tony Bennett is still going strong at 92, and this month he comes to Sugar Land for one night only. He’s recently performed with such singers as Lady Gaga and k.d. lang, but on this tour he’s bringing another young singer, his own daughter Antonia Bennett. She’s an amazing songstress in her own right whose voice has been likened to Billie Holiday, Ricky Lee Jones, and Betty Boop. smartfinancialcentre.net ■

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L eft O ut

By Susan Bankston

Hey, Mike Pence, Here’s My Schedule The feds are keeping tabs on the press, so I’m volunteering my daily itinerary.

t was recently revealed that the Department of Homeland Security is compiling a database of professional journalists and “top media influencers” so the department can monitor what the journalists are putting out to the public. Without vast frivolous ruckus involved, my name could quietly be muttered as a “professional journalist” in certain Houston venues that serve alcohol. And you, my dear friend, are certainly a “top media influencer.” Luckily, through the miracle of modern WikiLeaks and Congressvarmint Trey Gowdy, purveyor of lavish gossip and hearsay, I have discovered that it would be far easier and cheaper if we media moguls just sent our daily itineraries to vice president Mike Pence for his pleasurable bedtime reading. Lord knows that man needs some pleasure, especially at bedtime. Anybody who calls his lover “Mother” is either having a really great kinky time in bed, or no time at all. I’m going with the Nope option. So, being a plucky American and always wanting to help, here is my daily media schedule for tomorrow, which Vice President Pence will surely want to send to the Department of Homeland Security: • Spend two hours trying the decide what to order from DoorDash. Research the theory that all the food comes from a Cisco truck stuck in traffic on 610 near a Styrofoam plant in Pasadena. • Check my Walmart receipt to make sure that a Fully Automated Luscious Russian Communism surcharge isn’t on it. • Call up random members of the Houston architect’s society and ask them what they are doing. Try to write it down without overusing the phrase “not much.” (I will report a mini-scoop from hip inside-the-loop architects: wide is out and tall is in. If you can’t do a parachute jump from the roof of your one-bedroom condo, you ain’t upscale-living inside the loop.) • Visit Numbers nightclub. Try to figure out what the hell these people are doing besides not-

‹ Needs Pleasure This is the official White House photo of vice president Mike Pence by D. Myles Cullen. We’ve added the halo. Note : the fact that his tie skews to his left is not an indication of his leanings.

damn-voting. • Make up ratings and reviews for restaurants in the Heights. Call them all “Houston’s best-kept secret.” • Check my Walmart receipt to make sure that a Fully Automated Luscious Russian Communism surcharge isn’t on it. • Fantasize about what Rachel Maddow is wearing under her desk. Okay, it’s jeans. She’s wearing jeans. So there goes 15 to 20 seconds of my life, wasted on unfulfilled dreams. • Look for even more evidence to prove the theory that the only reason we don’t throw Donald Trump in the Potomac is that we’d have to skim off the nasty for a month. • Research the possibility that whatever school gave Greg Abbott a law degree could legally be declared an Arby’s. • Can’t we scientifically classify Sean Hannity as a pompous ass, be done with it, and move

20 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

on with our lives without assuming he plays in the Homosapien league? Hell, we could have a ceremony and everything. • Call the supply company in Austin and inform them that if I ordered a trainload of sumbitches and they only delivered lieutenant governor Dan Patrick to my door, I’d accept it as a full shipment. Be well, my friends, and I wish you good luck this month trying to decide if Mother Nature is trying to steam or parboil us. And, never forget the difference between left-wing and right-wing rage: Right-wing rage gave us the KKK. Left-wing rage gave us the weekend.

Susan Bankston lives in Richmond, Texas, where she writes about her hairdresser at The World’s Most Dangerous Beauty Salon, Inc., at juanitajean.com.

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M oney S mart

By Grace S. Yung, CFP

A Crash Course in the TRS Navigating the Teacher Retirement System of Texas.

f you work in the education sector, it’s likely you’re a participant in the State’s largest public-retirement system, the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS). For more than 80 years, TRS has provided retirement and related benefits to current and previous employees of public schools, colleges, and universities. Benefits offered through TRS include pension plans, health-benefit programs, and long-term care insurance. You are eligible to participate in TRS if you work at least 20 hours per week for at least four-and-a-half continuous months. Through the TRS defined-benefit pension plan—which is governed by IRS Code Section 401(a)—participants can count on a set income in retirement, with several different annuity options. These options include a standard annuity, which provides a monthly payment for the remainder of the participant’s lifetime, or a joint and survivor annuity, which pays a benefit for the remainder of the participant’s life as well as the life of a surviving beneficiary. While you can designate a non-spouse as your joint-income recipient, there are some qualifications that must be met. For example, some income options may not be available if there is an age difference of more than 10 years between you and your intended joint-income recipient. The TRS plan also provides a disability retirement option, which is a type of pension offered to those who are either temporarily or permanently unable to work because of a disability. For eligible participants, death and survivor benefits are available. At the time of retirement, you may also be eligible to select a “partial lump sum” distribution option via TRS. This is in addition to either a reduced standard annuity or a reduced optional form of annuity. Mandatory employee and employer contributions are directed into the large TRS pension trust fund, which is managed by experienced financial professionals. For the fiscal year ending August 31, the employee contribution is 7.7

percent of income, and the employer contribution is 6.8 percent. Unlike Social Security, TRS has not been able to provide annual cost-of-living adjustments to recipients for many years. So, while retirement benefits have continued to be paid through TRS, participants typically need to find other ways to ensure that income keeps up with inflation. For approximately 16 years, TRS has also offered TRS-ActiveCare. This is a statewide health-insurance program available to publiceducation employees. Through this plan, participants can choose from several different HMO and PPO options. TRS also offers health insurance for retirees. This TRS-Care benefit provides medical benefits through Aetna, along with prescription drug coverage through Express Scripts. The TRS-Care plan is funded on a pay-as-you-go basis, so this program has no obligation to offer benefits beyond the current fiscal year. TRS also offers an optional long-term care insurance benefit. Those between the ages of 18 and 80 who are actively contributing to TRS (as well as some retirees) are eligible for this benefit, as are their spouses, parents, parentsin-law, and grandparents. This plan is currently administered by Genworth Life Insurance Company. Because it is a group plan, you may be able to take advantage of a reduced premium

22 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

rate. However, TRS long-term care benefits are somewhat limited, so a private long-term care policy may provide more flexibility. While TRS offers a number of benefits for future needs, you can also take advantage of these funds for current financial requirements. For instance, you may be able to borrow or request a refund of your personal TRS contributions to pay off higher-interest debt or meet other pressing needs. Before you do so, though, it is important to weigh the benefits of this strategy against any short- and long-term penalties you may incur. To come up with a comprehensive plan, consider working with a seasoned financial advisor who can help you in determining the best course of action, based on your specific objectives. For LGBTQ public-education workers, it can also be beneficial to work with tax and financial professionals who are well-versed in planning for non-traditional families. Grace S. Yung, CFP, is a certified financial planner practitioner with experience in helping domestic partners plan their finances since 1994. She is a principal at Midtown Financial LLC in Houston and was recognized as a “FiveStar Wealth Manager” in the September 2017 issue of Texas Monthly. Yung can be reached at grace.yung@lpl.com.

The Rare Reporter

By David Webb

Was Brandon Woodruff ‘Railroaded’? Author, filmmaker say antigay bias led to Texas man’s conviction in parents’ murder.

randon Woodruff came out flamboyantly at 18, joining the private gay party circuit, dancing late nights in Dallas’ flashy Station 4 club, and flying to Florida to star in pornographic movies under the name “Bradley Rivers,” after a studio scout spotted him shirtless on the dance floor. All of that gaiety came to a tragic halt after only a year, with Woodruff’s arrest on two sensational murder charges and a subsequent life sentence that he is now serving in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Hughes Unit in Gatesville. Woodruff’s plight—being wrongfully punished for a crime that he claims he did not commit—is the message of Railroaded: The Homophobic Prosecution of Brandon Woodruff for His Parents’ Murders, a new book authored by retired attorney Phillip Crawford Jr.; Texas Justice: Brandon Woodruff, a documentary under production by Scott Poggensee; and FreeBrandon .org, a website devoted to restoring the freedom of the former Abilene Christian University freshman and weekend party boy. Crawford, a former New York litigator who now lives in Florida, and Poggensee, an emergency medical technician and novice filmmaker who lives in a Dallas suburb, are convinced that Woodruff, now 31, was innocent of the brutal double-murder of his parents in their home in Royse City in October 2005. They contend the investigation into the bloody murders of Dennis and Norma Woodruff, who died from multiple gunshot and stab wounds, as well as the prosecution and conviction of their son in March 2009 in homophobic Greenville, reflected an antigay bias. In their view, law enforcement officials, prosecutors, the judge, and the jury all allowed their religious convictions to overrule their reason, resulting in an innocent youth being incarcerated while the real killer or killers escaped punishment.

‹ Framed?

Brandon Woodruff was 19 when his parents, Dennis and Norma, were brutally murdered at their home in Royse City, Texas, in 2005. Four years later, he was convicted of the crime. The prosecution theorized that Woodruff killed his parents after they confronted their son about being gay, his failing grades in college, and his fledgling porn career. The prosecutors also attributed Woodruff’s motive to a life-insurance policy owned by his parents that named him as a beneficiary, which would allow him to continue his party life without interference. Woodruff’s supporters have countered that prosecutors presented no evidence to show any conflict ever existed between parents and son. Crawford, who is also the author of The Mafia and the Gays, published in 2015, said he became aware of Woodruff’s case in April 2017 when he was browsing profiles on the Write a Prisoner website after reading about the program in a news story. After reviewing the briefs of the case and the news coverage of the trial, he developed doubts about Woodruff’s guilt. He viewed the evidence against Woodruff as flimsy, and he noted the prisoner had passed

24 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

two polygraph tests. “The case bothered me to my core,” Crawford says. “The risk that Brandon Woodruff was convicted based on the prejudicial effect of the homophobic narrative employed by state prosecutors was amplified, in my opinion, [by] the weak evidence against him. Something just did not seem right about his conviction; none of it made sense to me.” The prosecution of Woodruff raised ethical questions before trial, when his attorneys discovered that prosecutors had eavesdropped on telephone conversations with their client in the Hunt County Detention Center where he was being held on a $1 million bond. The presiding judge ruled that prosecutors had violated Woodruff’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel, and he ordered the Hunt County district attorney’s office to recuse itself and allow the Texas Office of the Attorney General to take over the case. ➝

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to him a year later. They became pen pals, and Poggensee visited him in prison a couple of years later. The filmmaker obtained all of the public court records from the trial, and he studied them in an effort to get the “true picture.” “In about May 2017, I finally just told him, ‘Brandon, if you want people to know about your case, you’re going to have to make some kind of movie or something about it.’ I didn’t think we could expect anyone to sift through

sure this type of thing doesn’t happen in the first place. Brandon’s situation could very well have continued from page 24 been avoided if just one investigator or one assistant district attorney had stood up and said, In May 2017, Crawford wrote to Woodruff ‘You know what? Maybe we don’t have the expressing his interest in writing a book, and the right person. Maybe there truly isn’t enough eviprisoner quickly responded with answers to his dence to say this guy did it for sure. Maybe we questions. Soon, Poggensee also reached out to need to take a second look at it.’ No one ever Crawford, offering to share information he had did that. Once they arrested Brandon, it became acquired while working on the documentary. ‘Let’s prove Brandon did it.’” They joined forces in an effort to raise awarePoggensee said there is speculaness about Woodruff’s case. tion about who might have killed “The principal motivation Woodruff’s parents, but that informawas that I believe Brandon tion cannot be revealed yet. “We’re Woodruff has been wronged not ready,” he says. by the so-called criminal jusBoth Crawford and Poggensee tice system—railroaded, if you say they hope the book and the will. The deeper I got into the documentary will lead to an outcry case, the more outraged I befrom the public and a full review of came at the cumulative injusWoodruff’s conviction by the Texas tices against him, from arrest Court of Criminal Appeals. A threethrough trial, and conviction judge panel from the Sixth District through appeals. The main Court of Criminal Appeals in Texarfocus for me was the homo‹ kana expressed concerns about the phobic narrative by state prosOut for Justice ecutors against him in which a Author Phillip Crawford Jr. (l) and filmmaker Scott Poggensee agree that legitimacy of the weapons produced young gay boy’s coming-out Woodruff was the victim of antigay bias. as evidence in the trial, but it upheld the verdict in 2010. process was treated as some Poggensee’s goal is to finish sinister double life, essentially tens of thousands of pages of documents, but I the documentary this month. He has already evoking The Talented Mr. Ripley.” didn’t have any problem asking someone to sit spent $30,000 on the project, in addition to Poggensee said he first became aware of through an hour-long documentary. It was from his volunteer time. He notes that he reached out Woodruff’s case in 2005, immediately after his there I thought to myself, ‘I have a camera, and I to everyone involved in the investigation and arrest. He was at dinner with two friends when have a computer. I can make the documentary.’ prosecution of Woodruff, and that none of them Woodruff’s mugshot flashed on a TV screen in Little did I know what a massive project I was would participate in the documentary. the restaurant. One of the friends said, “Oh my taking on.” Crawford’s book has also attracted some God, that’s my ex-boyfriend.” The filmmaker-toPoggensee says his motivation is stoked attention since its release in May. One of Woodbe immediately became intrigued by the case. by outrage that the criminal-justice system can ruff’s defense lawyers, Kathy Ferguson, read it “I had no idea who Brandon was at that so miserably fail citizens, and that the public and left a review. “I am the attorney who tried point. However, his mug shot did not look like is so blind to what occurs. News coverage of the case for Brandon,” Ferguson wrote. “Mr. someone that could commit such a cold-bloodWoodruff’s arrest and trial focused solely on the Crawford has done an excellent job of setting ed double homicide,” Poggensee says. “I realinformation fed to the media by the prosecution, forth facts—not speculation or prejudice—that ize you can’t spot a murderer, but he just looked he says. show Brandon Woodruff is innocent.” too innocent to do something like that.” “At some point, I think that we as a nation Poggensee followed the case through its need to stand up and say, ‘Enough is enough,’” David Webb is a veteran Texas journalist with climax more than three years after Woodruff’s Poggensee says. “We need to not only fight four decades of experience in the mainstream arrest. After the conviction, Poggensee wrote to for the falsely convicted, but to fight to make and alternative media. Woodruff, and the prisoner finally wrote back

The Rare Reporter

‘I Won’t Ever Stop Fighting’ Woodruff proclaims innocence in phone interview from prison. By David Webb

randon Woodruff lost his freedom in 2005 when he was arrested in connection with the double murder of his parents in Royse City, Texas. In 2009, a jury convicted him of the murders, despite his claims of innocence. He has spent 13 years behind bars, and is serving a life sentence in the Texas

Department of Criminal Justice’s Hughes Unit in Gatesville. The 31-year-old Woodruff, who is openly gay, participated in an interview by phone from the prison he calls home. Woodruff says he has spent his years in confinement drawing, reading, and educating himself. He has attended classes and church programs. He has abstained from alcohol, drugs, and getting tattoos. An animal lover, he has befriended a pet mouse and a pet bird over the years. He has had jobs in the kitchen and factory, and says he is focused on remaining a “good person.”

26 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

David Webb: What is your reaction to a book being published about your case, and a documentary film in production? Brandon Woodruff: It means the world to me— and it actually means a lot more than that. I think they will help me get the story out. I’ve been extremely thankful, and appreciate their time, dedication, and energy. In a way, I feel really inadequate because they are doing everything for me, and I can’t go out and get a job to help cover the expenses. I can never thank them enough. Time is very precious on earth, and they are spending it for me.

What has your time been like in prison? I kind of got plucked out of reality as a normal person would know it, and put in this whole other world. I had to grow up really fast. At first, it was really terrifying. I was afraid of my own shadow. I had never had any serious fights growing up, and so just being put in this environment was really nerve-wracking for a while. I’ve kind of relaxed a little, but you can never relax completely because you are constantly having to watch your surroundings. I’ve never been severely beaten up or raped, so I feel like maybe my mom and dad are still watching over me.

‹ Inmate #01559439

Brandon Woodruff is shown in a July 2017 photo from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. What did you think would happen? Before the jury came back with the verdict, I was actually very positive. I thought I was about to walk out the door with my grandmother. I thought we were going out to dinner that night. My mind, my heart, and my body were set on walking out the door. My attorneys were very positive. I thought there was no way in the world I was going to be found guilty. It was the most unreal thing, because your body doesn’t know how to react. It’s something I’ll never forget.

What was your reaction to being convicted and getting a life sentence? I ultimately would describe it as being indescribable. I was shocked. I was confused. I was angry. I was scared. I was sad. It was like a tidal wave of emotions going through my entire system. I specifically remember standing there, trying to stand tall and firm with what I knew was the truth. I did not kill my parents. But yet there are 12 people over there that just said they believe I did it. It was a gut-wrenching moment. Later that day, I threw up all my lunch in the jail cell. It was disbelief, but at the same time it was coming together like one big nightmare. I really wanted to talk to the jury. It was horrible.

What is your response to the prosecution’s claim that you being gay somehow turned you into a murderer? The State wanted to argue that because I

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didn’t tell certain people I was gay—that if I could lie about being gay, I could lie about being a murderer—and that’s just not the case. I was coming to find myself, and I didn’t feel like I needed to go around telling every single person what Brandon was doing in his private life. I do know the State was telling people they had evidence. But when asked what it was, the State said, “We can’t tell you, but just trust us.” The central issue was if I could lie about being gay, I could lie about being a murderer. That’s just not true. Do you ever lose hope? I can easily say I’ve never lost hope. There’s a line in a book I read once that said, “You can put a bird in a cage, but you can’t stop it from singing.” I won’t ever stop saying I’m innocent. I won’t ever stop fighting for the truth. I won’t just sit around and wait for other people to help me. I’m going to talk to as many people as I can to get the story out there. I think [when] more people learn about my case and go digging, they will see I’m innocent. And they will see what that town did. I think [that when we get] more exposure on it, they will eventually have to do the right thing. I do believe justice will eventually prevail. Right now, there’s been no justice for my mom and dad. There are people walking around out there that really committed the crime. n

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OutSmartMagazine.com | AUGUST 2018 | 27 27 OutSmartMagazine.com | AUGUST 2018 |

Unapologetically Trans

By Monica Roberts

We’re More Than Just Murder Victims Black trans people are excelling in all facets of society.

‹

spend a lot of time on my TransGriot blog chronicling the deaths of transgender people. As of this writing, we have lost 16 to anti-trans violence in 2018, and 10 of those were AfricanAmerican. Sadly, there will be more. Far too often, trans people who have been murdered are then misgendered and deadnamed by law enforcement and the media. That’s one of the major reasons I spend so much time trying to tell the stories of our fallen trans siblings and give them the respect they are due. While trans murders and the subsequent disrespect are newsworthy issues to which we have long struggled to draw attention, I have a problem with the “black trans person equals tragic murder victim” narrative. This framing of our lives takes attention away from discussing our many accomplishments. Remember, it was a black trans woman named Marsha P. Johnson who threw the first shot glass at police and kicked off the 1969 Stonewall riots. Those riots sparked the formation of the modern LGBTQ rights movement. But before Marsha threw that shot glass, a group of black gender-variant kids stood up for their humanity and human rights during a 1965 sit-in and protest that lasted for a week at Dewey’s Lunch Counter, a diner on the edge of the Philadelphia gayborhood. Black trans folks are more than just tragic murder victims. We are parents, nieces, nephews, spouses, and significant others in relation-

#BlackTransExcellence Marsha P. Johnson (clockwise from top left) kicked off the Stonewall riots, while Janet Mock is a writer and producer on the FX series Pose, and Andrea Jenkins and Phillipe Cunningham are members of the Minneapolis City Council.

ships. We are entrepreneurs, actors, lawyers, teachers, clergy, college professors, models, politicians, and advocates. And like this GLAAD Media Award-winning OutSmart columnist, we are also writers. Dallas has become the center of the black trans universe, in large part due to the Black Trans Advocacy Coalition (BTAC) founded by Carter Brown. The BTAC’s annual conference is held in Dallas during the last week of April. One of the people I met at BTAC, Dr. Kortney Ziegler, directed and produced the awardwinning 2008 documentary Still Black: A Portrait of Black Transmen, which was the first-ever

28 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

film focused on the lives of trans men. Ziegler created Trans H4CK, a hackathon event that seeks to use information technology to solve real-world problems in the transgender community. Ziegler and his business partner, Tiffany Mikell, have also created an app called Appolition, which turns spare change from everyday purchases into bail money for those who would otherwise stay incarcerated due to their financial circumstances. Breanna Sinclaire is a classically trained musician who recently sang the national anthem at a San Francisco Giants game. She had ➝

Unapologetically trans continued from page 28

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previously done so for the Oakland Athletics in June 2015. Tona Brown, a classically trained singer and violinist based in Washington DC, performed for President Obama, and in June 2014 became the first African-American trans person to perform at Carnegie Hall. #BlackTransExcellence is heavily involved in the FX series Pose, which was recently renewed for a second season. Janet Mock is a writer and producer on the show, and Angelica Ross, when she’s not playing Candy Ferocity, is the founding executive director of TransTech Social Services. We have examples of #BlackTransExcellence who (as Miss Major Griffin-Gracy would say) are “still f--cking here” in elders like GriffinGracy, Jonathan Thunderword, Tracie Jada O’Brien, Gloria Allen, and Sharyn Grayson. Other high-profile examples of #BlackTrans Excellence are personified in Andrea Jenkins and Phillipe Cunningham, who sit on the Minneapolis City Council after their historic elections in November 2017. Jenkins, who serves as the council’s vice president, was the first out black trans person elected to public office since Althea Garrison joined the Massachusetts state legislature in 1990. But Cunningham’s win was even more impressive. To become the first out, black, transmasculine person elected to public office, he had to beat former Minneapolis City Council president Barb Johnson, a 20-year incumbent, for the Ward 4 seat he now ably represents. And this isn’t just a modern-day occurrence. Wilmer Broadnax was an accomplished gospel-quartet singer in a career that spanned four decades from the 1940s to the 1970s. And, when it comes to marriage equality, one of the people put on trial for marrying the person she loved was Lucy Hicks Anderson. During her 1945 trial by authorities in Ventura, California, she defiantly said, “I defy any doctor in the world to prove that I am not a woman. I have lived, dressed, and acted just what I am—a woman.” I also have to talk about the people who have gone on to join the ancestors—pioneering leaders and advocates for our community such as Alexander John Goodrum, Marcelle Cook Daniels, and Cheryl Courtney-Evans. Yes, we black trans people are more than just tragic murder victims. We are—despite the efforts of the Trump administration, the Trans Exclusive Radical Feminists, the Republican Party, and its white nationalist allies—undeniably part of the diverse mosaic of human life. Monica Roberts, a native Houstonian, is the founding editor of the GLAAD award-winning blog TransGriot. Her ongoing mission is to educate people on the lives of transgender people and fight for everyone’s human rights.

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• Upper respiratory tract infection (sinus, nose, and throat infection) • Bronchitis (swelling in the tubes that carry air to and from your lungs) • Cough • Flatulence (gas) • Increased bilirubin (a waste product when red blood cells break down) For a full list of side effects, please talk to your doctor. Tell your doctor if you have any side effect that bothers you or does not go away. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Should I Take Mytesi If I Am:

Pregnant or Planning to Become Pregnant? • Studies in animals show that Mytesi could harm an unborn baby or affect the ability to become pregnant • There are no studies in pregnant women taking Mytesi • This drug should only be used during pregnancy if clearly needed A Nursing Mother? • It is not known whether Mytesi is passed through human breast milk • If you are nursing, you should tell your doctor before starting Mytesi • Your doctor will help you to decide whether to stop nursing or to stop taking Mytesi Under 18 or Over 65 Years of Age? • Mytesi has not been studied in children under 18 years of age • Mytesi studies did not include many people over the age of 65. So it is not clear if this age group will respond differently. Talk to your doctor to find out if Mytesi is right for you

What Should I Know About Taking Mytesi With Other Medicines? If you are taking any prescription or over-the-counter medicine, herbal supplements, or vitamins, tell your doctor before starting Mytesi.

What If I Have More Questions About Mytesi? For more information, please see the full Prescribing Information at Mytesi.com or speak to your doctor or pharmacist. To report side effects or make a product complaint or for additional information, call 1-844-722-8256.

Rx Only Manufactured by Patheon, Inc. for Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. San Francisco, CA 94105 Copyright © Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Mytesi comes from the Croton lechleri tree harvested in South America.

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32 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

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“Seriously, the entire country could sigh a sigh of relief if they saw my 98-year-old mother in the Oval Office, even if she was drunk with a box of Franzia.” —Kathy Griffin 34 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

‘THE MAYOR of

ZERO F--KSVILLE’ Kathy Griffin took Trump’s best punch, and lived to tell about it—but she isn’t done yet. By David Goldberg

ong before she posed with president Donald Trump’s severed “head,” long before she was considered a political pariah, Kathy Griffin was in the fight of her life. Ever since Griffin first hit stages and TV screens with her shameless confessional stories and stand-up comedy, she has called out hypocrisy among A-list celebrities in the two-faced entertainment industry, even when it meant losing social standing and career opportunities. And, as she’ll be the first to tell you, Griffin advocated for the LGBTQ community long before it was de rigueur in Hollywood. The severed-head incident of 2017—in which Griffin posted a photo of herself holding a Trump Halloween mask in a way that suggested a decapitated head—led to Secret Service interrogations, death threats, show cancellations at theaters around the country, the loss of a job at CNN, and castigation from Hollywood and the media. Now, after the most harrowing year of her life, the performance maverick is back and ready to battle with her 27-city Laugh Your Head Off tour, which hits Jones Hall in Houston on August 20. Griffin spoke to OutSmart recently in an exclusive interview. David Goldberg: I just looked back at an interview I did with you in 2015, and we may as well have been living in a different galaxy. Kathy Griffin: I can’t even imagine—the innocence! I don’t want to say we didn’t know how well we had it when we were in the Obama administration, but my guess is that there were very few political questions [in that interview].

We were talking about Jane Lynch and the time you met Lady Gaga... Are we ever going to return to those days, David? Now, we talk about Robert Mueller. All we talk about is trying to survive the next goddamned hour with this lunatic. I don’t know if you know this, but I’m a member of ISIS. Big, high-ranking. I don’t know what my title is in ISIS that these f--king idiot Trumpers and possibly Roseanne [Barr] think, but I’m going to go ahead and give myself a good title—like Diva and Chief of Operations? Just the fact that you’re on an Interpol list… Honey, during the federal investigation, I was on the No Fly List, like one of the f--king 9/11 hijackers. We have a lot to cover, my friend, how they came after me. They tried to knock me down, and they’re still in the process. I don’t know if you watched the Keep Families Together march, but how much did you love it when Maxine Waters, whom I of course adore, said: “You better shoot straight; there’s nothing like a wounded animal!” F--king mic drop. Not that I’m encouraging anyone to shoot me, but I feel the same way: if you’re going to shoot me, motherf--ker, you better be a good shot, because I’ll show up at my next show with a bullet hole in my upper arm. This magazine is in Texas, so… You guys aren’t open-carry, are you? Um… Oh my God, David, you have to come work security for me! ➝

OutSmartMagazine.com | AUGUST 2018 | 35

‘The Mayor of Zero F-- ksville’ continued from previous page

What the hell is going on in Texas? Your act used to be about your reactions to celebrity culture. Now, your life is political. How does the new show reconcile the last year with your brand of comedy? I really, really love doing this show, and I’ll tell you why: I’ve done something like 23 specials and all this other shit, and I’ve been touring for so long. I never think of my act as a show. But the Trump story, the photo scandal, really does have a beginning, middle, and end. I’ve enjoyed doing it to great success at my sold-out Carnegie Hall show [and at] Radio City Music Hall. I’ve totally flipped and now embrace the picture, because it has caused me the most trouble but is allowing me to play Jones Hall. Frankly, three years ago, I don’t think I could have sold out Jones Hall, and now I’m selling better than I have in ten years, because I really have a story to tell. But don’t worry: it’s not going to be a boring lecture about the government and the First Amendment. I will be making fun of [senators] John Cornyn and Ted Cruz. By the way, it doesn’t matter what year it is—Cruz is a comedy punching-bag no matter what.

you are visiting children at the border] to make your dumb message to the press? F--k her. Anyway, it’s the first time truly in the history of this country that a sitting president has used the power of the Oval Office, the First Family, and the entire right-wing media to make [someone] lose [their] ability to make a living in [their] home country for over a year. I thought Not on my watch, motherf--kers. And that’s why I love doing this show, because I feel like it’s important to tell this. A lot has changed over the past year. When the photo came out, it was pre-Harvey Weinstein, pre-#MeToo. And Trump—let’s admit it—hadn’t done as many horrifying things as we now see, so it’s been a really slow process for me to get Americans to “forgive” me. What I pride myself on with this tour is that this isn’t a show I could do in a lesser venue, because there’s some meat on the bone. I’m reading my death threats on stage. And I think the audience gets it. Believe it or not, even with death threats I put in my Kathy Griffin sprinkle of hilarity. Sometimes I’ll take a break from the Trump story and do an ancillary story. One of the great things about this experience is that the day it happened, I was sobbing in a ball on the floor, thinking it’s all over. Luckily, since then, I’ve literally traveled the world oversees on the Interpol list—15 countries and 23 cities—and I really learned how to go, “Let me tell this story in a way that is really candid and real.” I talk about the phases of the fallout from the [Halloween mask] photo. Like I said, it’s historic. Can you imagine Barack Obama commenting on a comedian? Even George W. Bush? And I am no W. fan, trust me. By the way, I also got as many death threats in

Forever. I really still feel that as much as [my attorney] Lisa Bloom had me do a f--king press conference, the one thing I stand by—even though it was not my finest day, I’m happy to admit— was when I did stood there and said: “I really believe that if this can happen to me, it can happen to you.” And then it did! I was like the test case for Samantha Bee. At least enough time had passed since the incident with my photo, when 60 million Americans believed that I had joined ISIS and had actually severed the president’s head. We’ll get into the logistics in the show. Look, I’ve watched a lot of Grey’s Anatomy, and I don’t think you can sever a head and then sew it back on—which is apparently what the Trumpers must have thought. During the show, I tell the story, then I really go into the interrogation. And I’m not going to lie: it gets a little deep. Because, honestly, my situation has never happened in the history of this country, for real, where a sitting United States president has “Honey, the gays and used the power of the First Famthe comedians are next, ily—although that’s a pretty sketchy bunch. And don’t get me started so heads up, everybody! on Melanie [sic], with that f--king You tell those babygreen jacket. I don’t know what the gays to get out and hell that was. Oy. Right, Melanie? You picked [the day

vote, goddamnit!” —Kathy Griffin

36 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

the mail as I did online. Some of them are so f--king nuts—a third of my death threats had return addresses! Come on. I would hand them to the FBI, and they would be like, “Oh, we’ll have an answer for you in ten minutes.” And here’s one more: I got a consolation note from Billy-f--king-Bush! What? No, I’m not going to tell you what’s in it; you have to come to the show! And no offense, I know he meant well, but I don’t want to be in the Billy Bush club. I’m sorry! But just so you know, I’ve been talking to Samantha Bee, and I’m in better company than I was. When it first happened, it was just me. Now I’m superexcited to be in the company of Jamele Hill from ESPN, Colin Kaepernick, and Sam Bee. So I have plenty of stories, and I can pivot a little to a funny Stevie Nicks story, and of course to my mother, who had the classic response [after she had been drinking]: “I’m not with you on this one, since you’ve joined Al-Qaeda. Why couldn’t you start stamp collecting instead?” I [also] have a story about wanting to go to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. I got into so many fights that I basically ran out of there. Run! Run to the car! Were you the only nonblond woman there? Honey, I can’t even. . .when I saw that feckless c--t Kellyanne Conway. . . Look, honey, I’m 57, I’ve met them all—the good, the bad, and the ugly. You get to a point in your career when you’ll pretty much say hi to anybody. I’ve been in green rooms with that idiot Ann Coulter, and I’ll think it’s easier to say “Hi, Anne!” It really is. But when I saw Kellyanne Conway, and Mr. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, whom I believe has actually been recruited as the entire defensive line for the Houston Texans. You heard me, I said “Mr.” and I know that the trans people are going to get mad. But when it comes to Sarah F--kabee and

AP PHOTO/MARK J. TERRILL

canned from Bravo—after helping build the network, frankly, and earning eight nominations and two Emmys—they canned my ass with a “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.” I just want to let you know that Billy Bush, when he was fired, got a nine-million-dollar severance package, and I got a middle finger from Andy Cohen. So I did 80 cities. I was like, “Girl, you better get your hustle on.” That’s what I’ve been doing. Touring has been my only source of income since I got fired at Bravo [in 2013]. Try being a 57-year-old redheaded chick in television. They’re like: “Go out to pasture, you old cow!” And I say I refuse to moo.

‹

And Then They Came for Her Kathy Griffin says one thing she stands by from a June 2017 news conference, shown, is her statement that “if this can happen to me, it can happen to anyone.”

Kellyanne Conway, f--k those bitches! All bets are off! Thank God you’re back. You can see that I’m not holding back. My Twitter header is “Mayor of Zero F--ksville.” Whoever first tweeted that at me, thank you, because that’s who I am now. Well, your comedy used to be about how you were the only sane person in Hollywood. Now, DC is Hollywood. Sean Spicer is developing a TV show. It’s all full circle. May I give you an exclusive? Ten emails from the f--king company that’s doing the Sean Spicer pilot. They want me—of course for free. I’m sitting here, nobody will do a special with me, I can’t get a series sold. Hollywood is the last group to forgive me. I’m selling out Carnegie Hall and Radio City, and every network is like “Oh no, she’s scary and my mom said she was in ISIS, and she tried to cut people’s heads off!” I’m bitter. But Sean f--king Spicer not only has a pilot and I don’t, with my two Emmys and a Grammy, but he also thinks I’m going to go on his motherf--king show. I will be putting that online and humiliating him in the way that is deserved until he goes to prison! You know he must have been in the room with Trump, who is clearly in the throws of dementia. I say that with full love for my 98-year-old drunk mother. Seriously, the entire country could sigh a sigh of relief if they saw my 98-year-old mother in the Oval Office, even if she was drunk with a box of Franzia. Even Angela Merkel would go: “Oh, thank God! Maggie Griffin is president, we can

relax a little bit!” Even your neighbors, the Kardashian-Wests, have met with the president. After over a year of the Trumpies threatening to shoot me in my c--t at least 50 times a day, and then decapitate me and put my decapitated head up my c--t—by the way, they’re all about civility—I have now decided that I totally love all the Kardashians. Hear me out: given the choice of a bunch of dumb-asses that make sex tapes and makeup, and people who are trying to shoot me, I’ll take it. I saw Kim yesterday, and let me tell you, I was literally like, “Hi! Oh my God! How are you?” I even tell a story in the show about how I made a deal with her. If you continue to let me make fun of you and your insane husband, you can call me literally any time, 24/7, and I will give you a free comedy concert if you’re having a bad day. And she’s done it twice. I have a deal with Kim Kardashian! In 2015, when we spoke, you really wanted a talk show. What are your goals and your dreams right now? First of all, Andy Cohen killed [my Kathy] talk show. When I had the show for two seasons, I loved doing that job. I’m not saying I was perfect at it. I had a lot to learn, but even when I started doing it, I asked Bravo, “Are you guys going to let this show coexist with Watch What Happens Live? And they’re like, “Yeah, of course!” The reason everybody is afraid of me is that now they know I’m just going to blab, because I have nothing to lose. Maybe I couldn’t tell you in 2015, but I remember when I got

And the stakes are only getting higher. When the freaking government comes in and says “You can’t even go on tour,” you start to panic. That’s one of the reasons I love to do this show. I’m not going to lie: it’s crazy times, and I don’t know if networks are afraid of me because I’m so associated with the scandal or because we’re all fearing that, God forbid, Trump keeps on winning. Then is the network going to give me a show? I’m sure TBS [which airs Full Frontal with Samantha Bee] is thinking, “We got through the one tweet, but let’s say Mueller calls and all of a sudden Trump tweets ten more times asking why Sam Bee isn’t fired.” I lived it. They really did fire me. I don’t know anybody at TBS, but I started a whole online campaign begging my fans to flood TBS and make sure to not let the president get another female comedian’s show cancelled! That is not good for the world! I’m thrilled to be touring, but I’ll be honest, honey: after November 1, I’ll be back on the breadline. I’ll have to figure out my own future. I don’t have an agent, I don’t have a publicist, I’m kind of a one-man band, and luckily I’ve never run out of ideas. I’m no stranger to rejection, and I’m going to keep pitching television shows—unscripted and scripted shows—and hosting opportunities. Luckily, I’ve always realized that you only need one Yes, and I’m still hoping for one. So far, there’s not one call—nothing, from Netflix, HBO, nobody. But I’m hoping, hoping, hoping. I celebrate you, and even if you’re performing in the concentration camps in ten years, I’ll be there, front row. F--k, man—I know. Honey, the gays and the comedians are next, so heads up, everybody! You tell those baby-gays to get out and vote, goddamnit! I don’t want them to think they can just vote every four years. Elections are every year. David Goldberg is a frequent contributor to OutSmart magazine.

OutSmartMagazine.com | AUGUST 2018 | 37

THE

MUSIC ISSUE

LOCAL LGBTQ

ARTISTS In case you haven’t noticed, Houston has a thriving LGBTQ music scene. From hip-hop to country, and everything in between, Space City is full of rising stars, in addition to those who’ve long been shining. In this, our 2018 Music Issue, we profile eight local LGBTQ musical artists to know. To read about additional artists, visit OutSmartMagazine.com. 38 | AUGUST 2108 | OutSmartMagazine.com

RICO ESCOBAR

CHARLES RICHARD

ico Escobar is a fearless Houston rapper who embraces his bisexuality and finds a stronger, more authentic voice in the process. The robust Houston hip-hop scene is crowded with talented artists, but Escobar is unique in his sound and his approach. “I’ve been called everything under the sun, but I’ve never been told that I couldn’t rap,” the 27-year-old says of his experiences as an out artist. Escobar is certainly not the first queer rapper in the game. However, even in 2018, many artists, especially in hip-hop, are encouraged not to be open about their lives. ➝

OutSmartMagazine.com

AUGUST 2018

| 39

Eight Local LGBTQ Artists to Know continued from previous page

“I’ve always been out as a rapper, even when a few record execs advised me to go back into the closet because [they said] there was no way to market a bisexual rapper,” Escobar says. “There is no blueprint for an openly bisexual rapper, so I decided to make my own.” His approach is wise for a burgeoning talent. Authenticity often lends itself to more meaningful work, even in an industry that still misperceives queerness as a negative. Escobar sees an opportunity in that misperception. “My queerness can be an obstacle because hip-hop is still seen as a hetero, maledominated genre,” Escobar says. “Bisexuality is viewed as nothing more than ‘confusion’ or a mental illness by society, especially for men of color. That notion pushed me to go harder because I knew that I was fighting an uphill battle. I knew I had to be creative and work harder than everybody else.” Escobar released his first video, to his single “Dance with the Devil,” in 2017 as part of his EP titled Back to Business. He is working on his next single, which should be released later this year. You can find his music on all major music-streaming platforms. “Sonically, I am influenced by a lot of the greats such as Kendrick [Lamar] and Nicki [Minaj], but also L.L. Cool J, Missy Elliot, and Biggie Smalls,” Escobar says. “I also study the style and emotion of classic R&B acts like The Emotions, The O’Jays, and Donnie Hathaway.” As an emerging artist, Escobar offers some advice for newcomers who think they lack the resources to create their own music. “I would reiterate the power of the Internet,” he says. “Luckily for us, we live in an era where you don’t have to spend a ton of money on studio time and beats just to get started. Doing something as simple as free-styling over a YouTube instrumental and putting it on your social-media pages can help you build a following. Don’t go broke to appear rich. You might not have the resources, but you can definitely be resourceful.” A major driver behind Escobar’s music is the freedom he has experienced by being unapologetically out and proud about his bisexuality. “Imagine doing something you love, but not being able to be yourself while doing it,” he says. “It feels like you’re standing outside and not able to breathe, even though you feel the wind blowing. I couldn’t do that to myself, and I knew the community needed a voice. The value of being out as an artist is freedom. There is nothing to hold you back, and you become fearless.” reverbnation.com/ricoescobar —Ryan Leach 40 | AUGUST 2108 | OutSmartMagazine.com

STOO GOGO

ouston’s Stoo Gogo is a selfdescribed amalgamation of Grace Jones, technology, and Michael Jackson’s Thriller. As a queer-femme artist, Gogo is unbridaled by constraints that bind other musicians—and the results are proof that the approach is working.

“I am unapologetically a pop artist,” Gogo says, “but I do get people tilting their heads because my music tends to encompass various genres. Pop music is seen as ‘cheesy’ or ‘overrated,’ but I see it as a universal art medium— and my way of painting on a canvas.” Gogo’s first EP was a collaboration with Luis Cerda, called Costume. The album was released on SoundCloud last year and received critical praise, including for Gogo’s unique vocals—which can be a wonderfully androgynous coo at times. Although the music is unmistakably pop-influenced, there is a softness to it that is enchanting. Costume was recorded entirely on an iPhone—a surprising revelation, given the high quality of the EP. “Luis and I recorded on iPhone because we did not have the funds for booking a studio, and we learned about other artists doing the same,” Gogo says. “Of course, we would get nervous about not following ‘the rules,’ but we really wanted to make and release music. Making Costume helped us see our light as musicians, and I’m glad to have shared that time with one of my best friends. It might seem like a cliché, but you have to trust the universe for things to happen.” Gogo is currently in a 31-day writing process for a new solo album. Fans can follow that process on Gogo’s Instagram and Tumblr. Gogo regularly posts inspirational images, mood boards, videos, and journal snapshots. The creative process is Gogo’s favorite part of a project. Gogo’s outward appearance aligns with the artist’s approach to music. Gogo leaves pronouns open-ended. “It feels good when people ask, though, because it’s nice to know the queer and trans communities are gaining respect.” Gogo has always been “out” as an artist. “I couldn’t hide it even if I tried,” the artist says. The queerness seeps into every aspect of Gogo’s work, from outward appearances to the cool sound. “I recently finished Fabulous: Rise of the Beautiful Eccentric by Madison Moore, and it has inspired me to push forward in showcasing fabulosity as my armor [as I create new] work. Queerness and fabulousness are on the same wavelength to me.” Like other emerging queer artists, Gogo finds a great deal of value and inspiration in living authentically. It enhances rather than hinders Gogo’s craft. “I’m always going to be a work in progress, but living my truth as an artist is super-important for me, to show how magical queerness/otherness can make the world colorful.” You can stream and download Costume on Spotify, iTunes/Apple Music, and SoundCloud. Gogo plans to release new music this fall. soundcloud.com/blingst —Ryan Leach More Artists ➝

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Eight Local LGBTQ Artists to Know continued from previous page

PAIGE LEWIS

o much for scribbling hit songs on a napkin. Cute-as-a-button singer/songwriter Paige Lewis leaves herself phone messages with ideas for future songs as they come to mind. “Right now, my phone is filled with voice messages of all these awesome songs I haven’t written yet,” she says. “I am prolific at writing, until I’m not.” Lewis, who is openly gay, plays Saturday, August 25, at Neon Boots. She’s also booked this month at Capone’s, Bubba’s on Washington, Watson’s, Revelry, and The West End in Houston; Woodson’s Tap + Kitchen in Conroe; The Social Club in Katy; Capone’s in Missouri City; Sam’s Boat in Seabrook; and Baker Street in Sugar Land. On September 5, she will play at Simple Pleasures Café in San Francisco, where Golden State fans know her from four full-length studio albums and an EP she dropped last year as

part of a duo called See How They Run. Lewis began taking piano lessons at age 5. At 14, she picked up a guitar while attending James E. Taylor High School in greater Katy. “I recorded a demo, and my uncle, who is a songwriter in the industry, helped me get it out to people,” she says. The Christian music industry in Nashville took notice, and Lewis found herself traveling back and forth to Tennessee, including a gig writing a song, “I’m All Yours,” for Rachael Lampa. It won an ASCAP award for one of 2002’s top songs for radio airplay. “That was about the same time I started to realize that my sexuality was not congruent with the teachings of the Baptist Church,” says Lewis, who is now 34. “It was real tricky there for a few years, but I found my way. I still have faith. I still believe in God.” When friends introduced Lewis to Aimee Pipes about 13 years ago, the pair fell in love, and Lewis graduated to writing songs about

42 | AUGUST 2108 | OutSmartMagazine.com

real-life romance. “Before, I was writing about my faith, or a fictitious love interest—what I thought a love song would be like,” says Lewis. Following a brief stint in California, she has performed music full-time in Houston since the end of 2016. Lewis and Pipes, a property manager, recently married. They live in the Montrose/River Oaks area. A recent achievement for Lewis is an Uber commercial that she performs in. It promotes various artists and is the featured video on her Facebook page, Facebook.com/thepaigelewis. She has also been interviewed and featured on the FastCompany website (fastcompany. com/3050250/what-makes-uber-run), opened for LGBTQ singer/songwriter Jennifer Knapp in San Francisco, and performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live in Hollywood as a background singer for singer/songwriter José Gonzáles. thepaige.com —Don Maines

WADE in the SONIC JOY

ueer spaces were once borne of necessity, to serve as sanctuaries and protect those living on the outskirts of society from persecution. While having a queer public existence was once considered radical, our post-Stonewall world—where drag culture now overlaps with pop culture—is seeing the power dynamics shifting ever so slightly. We have marriage equality, Janelle Monae’s Dirty Computer, and Kristen Stewart in her power suits. While queer existence is still radical in many ways, even more so is the existence of queerness in the mainstream. Dangling like Lady Gaga at the Houston Super Bowl on the precipice of this new mainstream queerness is non-binary artist Wade in the Sonic Joy. “I want to be a pop star,” Wade says. “I don’t want to be indie—I want to be Rihanna.” The simplicity feels revolutionary. Maybe the next phase of queer liberation lies outside the many confining niches of old. Wade in the Sonic Joy’s debut album, SEXSPELLS, is slated for a fall release, but is already garnering social-media buzz. Even Wade can’t contain the excitement: “This is the first album I’ve made that I actually enjoy listening to myself. I stayed true to myself, and the result is dope. There’s probably a message in there somewhere.” A handful of teaser singles released on Bandcamp and SoundCloud lays a decidedly

THE

ISSUE

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sultry foundation for the rest of the album. The dreamy pop is evocative almost to the point of synesthesia, conjuring the neon purples and blues of Black Mirror’s Emmy-award-winning episode “San Junipero,” which became an LGBTQ favorite in 2017. SEXSPELLS explores similar themes of queer love with one foot in a futuristic cyber utopia and another in 1980s middle-America. Wade’s honeyed, Bowie-esque vocals swim effortlessly over heart-thumping, candy-coated electronic beats. Reminiscent of the Psychedelic Furs and Depeche Mode, songs like “Sacrifices” are somehow both nostalgic and modern. This is new wave dressed up in 2018 couture. It’s no coincidence that Wade is heavily influenced by avant-garde women like Björk, FKA Twigs, and SOPHIE. Wade’s brand is

innovative pop with a femme-forward conscience. “If you’re not fighting for women, you’re not fighting for anybody,” Wade says. “By building my own platform, I’m also fighting for people and pushing for equality and representation.” As is the case with every identity under the LGBTQIA+ rainbow, gender non-conformity is not a new concept; there has simply been an historic lack of prominent pop stars operating openly outside of the gender binary. The absence of relatable icons creates a lamentable vacuum for countless trans and non-binary people who crave examples. Wade’s work as a non-binary pop artist with mainstream goals is both refreshing and necessary. Wade is right—there is a message in there: being true to oneself is the key that unlocks the potential to thrive. Being gay or trans is not unusual, nor is anyone’s personhood just a niche. You don’t have to be indie, and you don’t have to downsize your dreams just because no one who looks like you has achieved them yet. With glittering examples like Wade, you can be the Rihanna you wish to see in the world. wadeinthesonicjoy. bandcamp.com —Kathryn Way

CHRISTELYN KAT

More Artists ➝

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MOE CARRO

xpect the unexpected, says indie artist MoeCarro, when she takes the stage in Houston, Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta, or points beyond. “Most people think I rap,” she explains. “I wear tennis shoes, blue-jean shorts, a T-shirt, and a hat—I won’t go anywhere without my hat—so I don’t look like my musical inspirations Jill Scott, Lauryn Hill, and India.Arie.” However, when the beat drops, MoeCarro croons a smooth, sultry sound that fans describe as Neo-Soul/R&B. “It’s going to take you by surprise,” she says. “I want people to wake up—and don’t judge a book by its cover.” MoeCarro grew up Missouri City, graduating from Willowridge High School in 2004, where she advanced to percussion section leader in the marching band, playing bass drum. “I took to drums very, very early,” she says. “I pulled out my mama’s pots and pans, and that’s kind of how that went. I grew up in the church, and throughout my teen years, I sang with several gospel groups, including James Fortune and Fiya.” However, when MoeCarro came out as gay at 18, “People at my church had the most to say. I got the looks—people talking under

their breath, like I was not wanted. So I took myself out of the equation.” “Stepping out on faith,” and armed with the “pride, discipline, honor, and respect” that she learned from her high-school band director, MoeCarro self-funded a coast-to-coast tour “to perform anywhere and everywhere.” “I write my own music,” she says. “I write about life. Seriously, it’s all truthful. It’s all things I’ve been through. If you really listen, you will see that it’s about love and relationships, which should be meaningful, not superficial, and not selfish. It’s a nice genre. You can bob your head, tap your feet. I take you to a different mindset.” MoeCarro has worked full-time as a musician for three years, performing locally at Guava Lamp, The Studio at Warehouse Live, House of Blues, and Mercy Night Club, among other venues. The “yin to my yang,” she says, is her wife of three years, Christine Pipkin, an educational consultant. The couple recently purchased a house in Hockley. “Christine is your conservative old schoolteacher,” says MoeCarro. “She taught second and third grades for seven years. She is quiet and keeps to herself—you wouldn’t think she would be with a musician.” For more about MoeCarro, and to see her music videos, visit moecarro.com, where you also can hear “Don’t Remix (G Remix),” “All Night,” “Lay Up,” and “Take Me There” (featuring Spider). moecarro.com —Don Maines

JERRY ATWOOD

here are many talented musicians in Houston, but perhaps none is as popular in so many social circles as the colorful and charismatic Jerry Atwood. Sometimes called “the man with magic feet” for his ability to work a synthesizer’s bass pedals while his hands render brilliant keyboard melodies, Atwood has been spreading joy with his musical dexterity for 50 years. One can find this handsome, openly gay artist playing a grand piano at a prestigious gala one night, opening for a national act the next, then entertaining in a quaint LGBTQ bar the night after. The truth is, wherever Jerry Atwood goes, his fans will follow. 44 | AUGUST 2108 | OutSmartMagazine.com

His is a talent that developed at an early age. When Atwood was 2, he was singing harmony to the radio. His parents bought him a piano at 4, and throughout his youth his skills advanced. Eventually Atwood became an electrical engineer, but he never wandered far from his first love—music. “In the early 1980s, I was an engineer by day and a one-man band at night. But I couldn’t remember lyrics—I still can’t,” Atwood laughs. “So I sought out a singing partner. When tenor Ricky Comeaux and I first got together, we soon realized that Ricky excelled at soaring show-tunes, so we started slipping those in with the pop tunes, to the delight of audiences. We found our niche.” In 1987, the duo officially became “Atwood and Comeaux.” At that time, HIV/AIDS was devastating Houston’s LGBTQ community, so the duo committed to fighting back by launching Christmas Songfest, their nonprofit fundraising organization.

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“Songfest raised $4,500 its first year,” Atwood recalls with pride. “Every year after, it got bigger. At our peak, a thousand people attended. Guests signed up to sing Christmas songs on a huge stage, one at a time or one organization at a time. Songfest became a magical, musical hot mess and lasted for 20 years. The memories are still very special to many, including scores of volunteers— without whom it could not have happened. “ As Atwood and Comeaux’s reputation grew, they performed at many bars, restaurants, and other venues in Houston. “We had a long run at the Post Oak Grill,” Atwood recalls. “In its heyday, that spot was the hangout for Houston’s rich and famous. That’s also when the great paying parties and galas really started rolling in.” In the 1990s, Atwood and Comeaux started performing concerts at Ovations in Rice Village, to packed houses. “Ovations has been my showcase ‘home away from home’ for 30 years now,” Atwood says. “What really put us on the map there was our Phantom of the Opera suite. Ricky donned the cape and mask, sang the title song, and then at the end disappeared in a flash of light and cloud of smoke from Ovation’s grand staircase. People simply loved it.” Comeaux moved to Kentucky in 1994 when he was hired as business manager for the Kentucky Opera, and Atwood began working with other vocalists in Houston. One was the popular songstress Sharon Montgomery, who enjoys national acclaim from singing with the trio Montgomery, Plant and Stritch. “It would be impossible to fully state the importance of Jerry Atwood in the cabaret scene in Houston,” Montgomery says. “Through the years, I’d wager he’s worked with every serious cabaret singer in town. But the most important thing I can say about Jerry Atwood is that he is a walking, talking party. He’s a guaranteed good time.” Atwood says his “most consistently fun gig” is at Michael’s Outpost, which he calls “the only LGBTQ piano bar within 1,000 miles.” “People are seated around a grand piano, singing one at a time or together,” he says. “I project the lyrics on the wall at the same time, so they call it ‘Jerry-oke.’ It’s quite a hoot.” Despite his popularity, Atwood remains humble. “I freely admit I’m not the best pianist in the city, but I capture more disparate styles of music than any other, so I stay very busy,” he says. “I intend to remain that way unless the body or brain fails me. Until then, I’m for hire.” jerryatwoodmusic.com —Kim Hogstrom

WENDY TAYLOR

ouston-born artist Wendy Taylor has been performing since she was 3. “Mostly, I didn’t look back. I started so young,” Taylor says. “It was my first love. It’s the only thing in my whole life, [aside from] science, that I haven’t gotten bored with.” “I think life responds to music,” Taylor adds. “Plants respond to music. Elephants dance. It’s in our biology. Even before there were instruments, cavemen pounded with rocks with sticks. Music reflects who we truly are.” Now 35, Taylor has been singing, dancing, acting, writing, and entertaining for over three decades. You can catch her across the Houston area on a variety of stages. “I’m a singer, but I play piano. I can also play the guitar and drums horribly,” she laughs. “I’ve also been coaching up-and-coming artists for the last 15 years, including the last two seasons of Pride SuperStar.” Taylor has even been on American Idol— twice. “It was an entertaining experience. I gained many wonderful friendships and memories from the experience, learned a lot about reality TV—and nothing about music. I’d do it again.” But what’s most remarkable about Taylor is that for the last several years, she has donated roughly two-thirds of her performance proceeds to charity. “I get to sing for the Montgomery County CPS ‘Light Up the Night with Hope’ every New Year’s Eve to raise money for foster kids to help them get adopted. They have such a good program there in Montgomery County.

It’s the most successful in the state,” Taylor says, adding that she also performs annually at CureFest. “It’s a big concert we do every year to fund a trial at MD Anderson Cancer Center for glioblastoma,” she says of CureFest. “After getting more involved, I decided to go back to school to become a neurosurgeon.” After graduating from San Jacinto College, Taylor plans to transfer to MD Anderson to continue her studies. She says she has always been a “big science nerd” and that pursuing medical school is “a heart thing.” “I got personally involved with these people’s lives,” she says of the glioblastoma patients. “I got tired of just throwing money at it. I wanted to fight the fight on the ground floor. I can’t watch it anymore, so I decided to battle this with more than just music.” Taylor, who works full-time as a musician and is also a single mother of three boys, jokes that she has “roughly 400 years left in school.” But she adds that it’s “better to chip away at it and get there eventually” rather than giving up on a dream. In the meantime, she and her dad designed and built a studio from the ground up. “Music is supporting me and my three boys while I’m going to school,” she says. “This wouldn’t be possible without the incredible, unlimited support from my family. I owe them so much.” Taylor, who identifies as bisexual, also credits her “rainbow family.” “The Houston LGBTQIA+ community is my home,” Taylor says. “The more I’m learning about pansexuality, the more I identify with that. I’m open to loving anyone.” wendytaylormusic.com —Jenny Block More Artists ➝

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ISSUE

SPACE KIDDETTES

ecently featured in the Houston Chronicle and Houston Press, the Space Kiddettes are a rising duo to watch. A collaboration between University of Houston alumni Trent Lira, a 25-yearold gay man, and Devin Will, a 22-year-old bisexual woman, the Space Kiddettes began working on their freshman EP, Livingspace // Headspace, in October 2015. Since releasing the five-track mini-album in 2017, Lira and Will have performed their synth-pop tunes at popular Houston nightclubs including Barbarella, Pearl Bar, and Leon Lounge. The band’s music pays homage to ’70s and ’80s New Wave. Yazoo, Devo, Oingo Boingo, and Depeche Mode are among the Space Kiddettes’ musical influences, Will says. Lira and Will’s attention to detail is unmatched. What sets the Space Kiddettes apart from other up-and-coming performers is their eccentricity that can be seen in every part of their work. They insert clever (and sometimes obscure) pop-culture references into each of

the band’s instrumentals, live stage performances, and even their name: the group titled themselves after a 1960s Hanna-Barbera cartoon called The Space Kidettes, but added an extra “d” to avoid copyright issues. “There is a sense of humor that bleeds into our music,” Lira says. “People don’t always catch our references, but they seem to like what we’re doing. We’re high-energy, and the crowds we play for get into that.” “Process Ü,” the first single from the Space Kiddette’s second EP set for release this fall, compares social anxiety to a computer that has difficulty processing information. Will says she relates to “Process Ü,” and was more involved in the songwriting for the new EP than she was for Livingspace // Headspace. “We’re doing things more collaboratively, and our new music will reflect that,” Will says. “Our EP will tell a full story—a nostalgic one about a young person with no car or means of leaving the suburbs. Trent and I have both experienced that.”

Aside from creating music, Lira and Will work on projects that are a part of “the Space Kiddettes’ lifestyle.” On the last Saturday of each month, they host Drag Queen Story Time at the Houston Public Library’s Freed-Montrose campus. Lira created the event and kicked it off with Will in September 2017 after he saw that drag queens were reading to children in public libraries in other cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York. This month’s Drag Queen Story Time will take place at the library on August 25. On Fridays, the Space Kiddettes upload a weekly podcast, Space Case, in which they investigate unsolved mysteries, conspiracy theories, and issues that plague their personal lives. You can also find the Space Kiddettes cohosting Magical Girl Day (a drag convention and music showcase) on August 4 at the Park Inn Hotel and Convention Center, and performing at the Spruce Goose club on August 28. spacekiddettes.bandcamp.com —Lourdes Zaveleta

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A New Beginning Steve Grand on recovery —and his second album. By Gregg Shapiro Photo by Mark Pollard

he title of Steve Grand’s second album, Not the End of Me, says it all. Reflecting on his downward spiral before sobriety, and tackling his demons head-on, Grand has composed some of his most visceral songs to date (check out “Disciple”). Nevertheless, Grand knows his fan base well enough to include the kinds of songs his devoted followers will appreciate, such as “You or the Music.” I spoke to Grand about the album and his newfound clarity in July, while he was completing a summer residency in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Gregg Shapiro: One of the first things I noticed about the songs on Not the End of Me is that you are doing different things with your voice. For example, the gorgeous vulnerability of “Canʼt Go Back.” Can you say something about that? Steve Grand: I wanted the sentiment of the song to be reflected in the way I was singing it. With this album, I was more focused on being truly honest and vulnerable instead of just making something that was as mass-appealing as possible. I allowed my voice to do what it was going to do. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten more comfortable with some parts of my voice that I wasn’t always comfortable with. Which is also a metaphor for the way we go through

life, I guess. I’m more comfortable with it, and I’m more than okay with parts of my voice that used to bother me. I’ve come to appreciate them more. It’s my voice, and I know what’s behind that voice— what that voice has been through. There’s an authenticity there that’s been earned. When I was younger, I didn’t always feel that way. I’m confident I’ve earned whatever authenticity and vulnerability is there in my voice. If there is a prominent theme on Not the End of Me it would be the issue of indulgence and recovery, something listeners can hear on “Pink Champagne,” “Donʼt Let the Light In,” and “Ainʼt It Somethinʼ,” to mention a few. Please say something about addressing these subjects in song. Because I’m lucky enough to have a lot of loving and caring people in my life, they were able to catch me before things got too bad. But I was definitely on a road to self-destruction. I’ll say that. I was able to catch myself before it got too bad. It did get to the point where I was drinking every single day. I would drink in the morning, and I started to rationalize drinking for just about every situation. It became my way of self-medicating. I wanted to numb myself out when I was feeling too stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed, which is something I was feeling all the time those first couple of years. I always want to talk about this in a nuanced way,

and it’s hard to communicate that nuance in a headline. I feel like there’s an understandable tendency for writers and bloggers to sensationalize the experience of addiction—or whatever you want to call what I went through. Like everything, it’s complex, and it’s different for everybody. Iʼm glad you said that, because in addition to your record, the recent albums by Nicole Atkins (Goodnight Rhonda Lee), Girl in a Comaʼs Nina Diaz (The Beat Is Dead), and fellow Chicago musician Michael McDermott (Out from Under) are indicators that recovery music has become its own genre. What do you think about that? I think we can continue to break everything down into infinitely smaller sub-genres. [laughs] But if that’s a way for people to classify music, then so be it. If it’s something that has an audience that wants to hear it, and take strength from it, I’m for that. You included two versions of “Walking”—an “original cut” and a “radio cut”—on the album. Was this because you couldnʼt decide which one you liked better? That was part of it. Also, the original version is the one that came first. At some point after ➝

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A New BegiNNiNg continued from page 49

that, I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to try and make a fun pop record. I was experimenting with making it sound more fun and lighter and more commercially viable. That was the version that I released and made a video for last year. I always kept going back to the original version. It was one of the first songs I recorded for this album. I wanted to put it on the album because it was the initial intention that I had for the song. I thought it would be a great way to start the album—also because of the lyrical content. I really love books and songs that start right in. I love it when, with the first line or two, the writer throws you into it. I sing, “Caught up in the lights/Cameras in my face/Where did we go wrong/Why’d you walk away?” It gives you the right amount of information with the fewest words, to take you to exactly where I’m at. That’s where I wanted the album to start: in the

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chaos and confusion of having a viral hit and being overwhelmed by trying to keep my life together as things in my personal life are spiraling out of control—how that fed into whatever I was doing professionally at the time. “You or the Music” is also reflective of the kind of pure pop elation that your fans have come to expect from you. Have you ever had to choose between your music and a boyfriend? It sometimes has felt that way. I was in a very tumultuous relationship—my first relationship ever, that lasted quite a long time. Of course, it’s not that simple. In order to make a cool song about it, you have to drastically oversimplify things. Exaggerate a little bit. Yes, there were times when it felt that way. Because of the life I live and the guys I tend to go for—they really want no part of all the flying around and social stuff and social media. The guys I like are generally very reserved and keep to themselves, which I think makes a nice yin and yang. I’m very much an introvert who is forced to put myself out there. Like today, Continued on page 56

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k.d. lang:

Trump Is a Cancer Lesbian icon brings her Ingénue anniversary tour to Houston. By Gregg Shapiro Photo by Jeri Heiden

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ore than 30 years after her majorlabel debut, Angel with a Lariat, and 25 years after her Grammy Awardwinning commercial breakthrough album, Ingénue, there is still no one who compares to k.d. lang. Lang’s powerful and emotive voice, and her distinctive performance style, have yet to be matched. From the country music of her early career to her pop-oriented mid-career work, and her distinguished interpretations of standards, she is a singular performer and an artist of the highest order. On tour to commemorate the 25th-anniversary reissue of Ingénue, lang took time out of her schedule to answer a few questions last month. Lang will be at Jones Hall in Houston on September 24.

Gregg Shapiro: Iʼd like to begin by wishing you a belated happy 25th anniversary of the release of Ingénue. Did you realize, at the time you were recording it, that Ingénue would have such an impact, including winning a Grammy Award? k.d. lang: No, I really didn’t. I may have had an instinctual negative reaction to recording “Constant Craving” because I thought it was a real strong pop song. I don’t know what it is about me, [laughs] but I wasn’t keen on having a pop song. At the same time, I really wanted a pop song. When I made Ingénue, I thought it was extremely different than what was happening in pop music. Nirvana had just broken big. Madonna had Erotica. Mariah Carey was big. Bjork had just come out. All these things, and I was going in a completely different direction. I thought I was going to get killed by the critics—which I did for the first few reviews; they were just abominable. But momentum started happening. A deejay in Atlanta started spinning “Constant Craving.” I did The Advocate interview, which built profile and controversy—always a double-edged sword, but a good thing. It started happening. One of my favorite things from the time it was originally released was the “Miss Chatelaine” dance remix. If you didnʼt want to be a pop star, how did it feel to be a disco diva? It was really exciting, because my music was so far from that. At that time, dance remixes were something that you did. We did a lot of remixes.

I would even be asked to go to clubs and just say hi when they were spinning the record, which was a whole new thing. It was kind of fun. It was a coming-of-age for me, but also for the gay community. It was a turning point. The bonus material on the expanded Ingénue reissue includes previously unreleased tracks from your MTV Unplugged set. What did it mean to you at that time to perform on such a prestigious show? Obviously, it was the pinnacle. If you were doing well, you got an Unplugged TV show. It was a huge opportunity. We decided not to release the MTV stuff. In the back of my mind, I always knew that we had it. It seemed like we had the opportunity [when we released] the anniversary album. In June of this year, “Constant Craving” was included on Pitchfork.comʼs list of “50 Songs that Define the Last 50 Years of LGBTQ+ Pride.” What does such an honor mean to you? I’m just so happy to be a part of our history—to be a brick in the road that has paved the way and continues to pave the way for our liberty and equality. Speaking of honors, you are scheduled to receive the 2018 Americana Trailblazer Award. What does that mean to you? Whoa! Well, it’s incredible. I was going to say I worked hard, but then I had to correct myself because it wasn’t work. I had a lot of fun and a lot of obstacles creating a new type of country music at the time that I did. I fell in love with country music. I never liked country music as a kid, but then I started to understand the beauty and the depth and the kitsch and the irony of country music in my late teens. Then I got obsessed with Patsy Cline and created this homage genre. It was a labor of love and respect and appreciation for country music and certain country singers—Minnie Pearl and Patsy and Loretta Lynn, people I had close proximity to. It feels amazing that I would be recognized this long after my time with country music. Itʼs definitely well-deserved. You have a long history of being a good collaborator, from playing with the Reclines and the ➝

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k.d. lang : Trump Is a continued from previous page

CanCer Siss Boom Bang, to singing with the Honky Tonk Angels on Shadowland, to the duets album you recorded with Tony Bennett, and more recently the Case/lang/Veirs album. What is it about you that makes you so good at playing well with others? I like fitting in to others’ music. For instance, I loved singing with Tony Bennett or Roy Orbison, because I love to shadow someone else’s music. I love the supporting role. It fits me. I love to put my voice into situations where I shadow someone else’s voice and vibe. That feels really good to me. That, to me, is the ultimate education. It’s like I’m always going to school when I sing with other people. I have a thirst for that, and maybe that’s what the draw to collaboration is for me. Is there a new k.d. lang album in the works? There is not, no. [laughs] K.d. lang is in a drought, and has been for a while. But you know what? I feel very positive about it. I don’t always feel positive about it, but I have to respect the winds of creativity. I have to respect the muse. If the muse is taking a sabbatical from me, I have to respect that. [laughs]

Please know that we miss you. Thank you! What can the audience expect from the Ingénue Redux concert tour? We do the record in its entirety, in sequence, right off the top of the show. It sets the tone and pretty much stays there. We do a few of the songs very true to the record. In the mid-tolatter half of the record, we get into some new arrangements and we open up the songs a little bit. It’s my favorite part of the show, where the musicians have a chance to stand out. Finally, would you mind saying a few words about what it’s like to be Canadian during the age of Trump? [Long pause] Well . . . I guess it’s kind of like seeing your sibling have cancer. In a way, it’s devastating. But in a way, there’s a means to an end. I think to have the cancer come so clearly and so aggressively to the forefront, one can only hope it means you can find the systemic issues and eradicate them. Gregg Shapiro is a regular contributor to OutSmart magazine.

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I went to the P-town Inn pool, and I was distributing fliers. It makes me anxious to walk up to strangers and say, “Hi! Come to see my show,” because some people just want you to get lost. I don’t necessarily like it when people get up in my face and are trying to sell me something, so I understand how other people feel. Still, it takes courage to do that when I’m inclined to want to stay home and spend time with one person or a group of close friends. It forces me out a little bit. To answer your question, the guys I like are generally the ones I feel a genuine sense of “home” with. I don’t need all the hustle and bustle of all those other things in my life. I know that you come from a religious background, and the song “Disciple” is full of religious imagery. Would you mind saying a few words about that song? I want to leave that song open to interpretation. It was a cathartic experience writing that song.

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I can imagine. I wrote it in a dark place, at the very end of my drinking days. I threw it all out there on the table. The song’s about a lot of things. There are things that have double meanings. There are things that have taken on additional meaning over time. I want to leave it up to my fans. I’ve already had a lot of people message me about it, wanting to know what it’s about. People are sending me their different interpretations. I like that. I was super-unsettled when I wrote that song. I was at my wit’s end. There’s a quote that goes something like, “It’s an artist’s job to comfort those who need comforting and to make those who are comfortable feel uncomfortable.” If people walk away from that song feeling uncomfortable, that’s not a bad thing. Not everything wraps up neatly in life. I want people to feel what I was feeling at the time—that push forward, the anxiety of life changing around you, forcing you on even if you’re not ready. You are performing in Provincetown throughout the summer of 2018. Is there an autumn and winter concert tour in the works? I’m going to go wherever this album takes me. You can follow me on bandsintown.com/ stevegrand, and that notifies people when their favorite artists (and hopefully that includes me) come to a town near them. That’s the best way to know when I’ll be in your area. Slowly but surely, my dates are filling in. We’re starting to get more offers, especially with my new album coming out. We’re getting a lot of great press, and my fans are excited about it. All of that is helping. Gregg Shapiro is a regular contributor to OutSmart magazine.

56 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com 58 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

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Filling Big Boots Texas’ largest LGBTQ country dance club celebrates five years.

By Kim Hogstrom Photo by Dalton DeHart

‹

n August 2013, four LGBTQ Houstonians launched a labor of love when they opened Neon Boots Dancehall & Saloon in northwest Houston. It now ranks as the largest LGBTQ country-and-western dance club in Texas. By industry standards, the 10,000-square-foot building that houses Neon Boots, at 11410 Hempstead Highway between Antoine and 34th Street, presented a challenge. If “location, location, location” is the secret to success, Neon Boots sat seven miles from Montrose in a semi-industrial area sprinkled with hot-sheet motels. And prior to the Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell marriage-equality ruling, Houston’s LGBTQ community tended to avoid “outside the loop” nightclubs. Would the community support this outlier? “If we build it, will they come?” is how co-owner Debbie Storrs describes the early uncertainty. “We just didn’t know what to expect. Then the first night, 2,300 people

Neon Boon Neon Boots co-owners (clockwise from left) Jim Gerhold, Rodney Meyers, Fernando Garcia, and Debbie Storrs have proven that a gay bar can thrive “outside the loop” in Houston.

showed up. The parking lot was packed, and parked cars lined Hempstead. Everything that could go wrong did, but it was amazing—the most thrilling night of my life.” Five years later, under the four current

owners—Storrs, Jim Gerhold, Rodney Meyers, and Fernando Garcia—Neon Boots continues to grow. This month, the venue is celebrating its fifth anniversary with a resounding “Yee-haw!” ➝

OutSmartMagazine.com | AUGUST 2018 | 59

Filling Big Boots continued from previous page

Inspired by two legends Prior to Neon Boots, the Esquire Ballroom occupied the Hempstead Highway site from 1955 to 1995, and helped to launch the careers of country-music stars including Patsy Cline, George Jones, Charlie Pride, Loretta Lynn (who also worked there as a waitress), and Willie Nelson (who got his first break there with his tune “Nightlife” that was inspired by his job as an Esquire bartender.) Neon Boots’ dance floor and stage are both original—the very same stage that Patsy Cline stood on when she first belted out Nelson’s song, “Crazy.” And if all this isn’t enough to blow a C&W fan’s skirt up, the original phone booth that Elvis Presley used to call his business manager and fire him sits to the right of the main bar. But there is another chapter of Houston’s C&W history that warrants a mention here. All six of the original Neon Boots owners were passionate about C&W dancing, and found themselves orphaned when the popular Montrose club Brazos River Bottom (BRB) closed in March 2013 after serving Houston’s LGBTQ community for 35 years. The loss of the BRB, with its old dance floor, pool tables, disco ball, and welcoming atmosphere, left a hole in many hearts. “Jim Gerhold and I always had a dream to own a country gay bar,” Storrs says. “We used to stand around together at the BRB talking about what we would do with it. Then the BRB shuttered, so we started looking for locations.” “We never intended to replace the BRB,” Gerhold says. “The BRB was irreplaceable, but many of us found we were lost without it. Then we located the Hempstead property. When we first entered to have a look, there was no electricity and all the walls were black. We stumbled around with flashlights, but the minute our feet touched the dance floor, we knew it was destiny. We signed the lease.” Five years old and just a babe Today, Neon Boots is a colorful cavern of nonstop fun. What the owners created is not just a “gay and lesbian C&W bar,” but an “everybody bar, where all feel welcome,” Storrs says. “We don’t have customers here; we have family and friends.” On any given night, 30 to 40 percent of the patrons are non-LGBTQ people having a gay ol’ time. “You can always tell the straight folks,” Storrs says, laughing. “When those couples first walk in, they are standing so close that they could be wearing the same pants. They don’t know what to expect. But they are usually the ones who close the place down. Then they return with their neighbors and friends to share their find.” The dancehall has also become a tourist destination, frequently drawing visitors from

overseas. An English film crew even shot a documentary about the club a few years ago. And why not? There is always something happening: live music, drag shows, karaoke, bingo, steak nights, Latin nights, C&W dance lessons, and more. If you’re lucky, you’ll be there on one of the occasions when they bring in a mechanical bull. After you give it a whirl, you can pick up your “I Got Bucked at Neon Boots” T-shirt. They’ve become collector’s items. The space is also a favorite for weddings

60 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

and receptions. Melissa Flories is the founder and president of Texas United Charities (TUC), a nonprofit that raises funds for LGBTQ support services. TUC’s members pay dues to help underwrite numerous events, allowing 100 percent of proceeds to go to organizations such as Lazarus House, Lesbians Over the Age of Fifty (LOAF), and the Montrose Center’s LGBTQ Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund. “We hold all our parties at Neon Boots,” Flories says. “There is plenty of free parking, and the space is so versatile. There is nothing we can’t do there— galas, casino nights, extravaganzas. The staff is so helpful, and the owners are such supportive sponsors. We like to think of it as a partnership. We would never go anywhere else.” Kim Hogstrom is a regular contributor to OutSmart magazine.

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‘Strong Enough’ Bobby Jo Valentine balances his Christian faith, gay identity. By Gregg Shapiro Photo by Ashkan Roayee

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THE

MUSIC M ISSUE

ueer singer/songwriter Bobby Jo Valentine is that rare out artist who isn’t shy about his faith. Raised in the church, Valentine has found a way to make those two sometimesconflicting aspects of his life work in harmony. For instance, the live-performance schedule on his website includes dates at both Pride festivals and churches. Talk about versatility! One thing’s for sure: chances are good that you will hear Valentine singing songs from his luminous new album Maybe Stars. I had the pleasure of interviewing Valentine about his music, and more, in early July 2018. Gregg Shapiro: When did you begin playing guitar, and how soon after that did you begin to write songs? Bobby Joe Valentine: I got a guitar right before I left for college. The school was a very strict, conservative, religious place. I really wanted something that I could express myself with, and explore my own thoughts and opinions and poetry. I wrote some while I was in college, but just off and on. It wasn’t until I was around 23 that I really started pursuing writing and making it a big piece of my life. Which presented more challenges for you, coming out as a gay man or coming out as a gay Christian? Wow, great question. Coming out as a gay man, in the culture I was in, was extremely difficult, but I’d met a wonderful man who really helped support me through it. We were together for over seven years. As far as my faith goes, I feel it’s a thing I’m constantly learning and discovering new things about, so it’s always hard for me to want to label it. I’d describe myself as a hopeful, Jesus-leaning, poetic mystic. [laughs] Jesus was about love, about peace, about fighting powers that used fear to control people, about healing. A lot of the people who use his name do the opposite of that now. The word “Christian” has so much baggage now, and it’s frustrating that the negative side always gets the headlines. The truth is, there are faith communities in most towns around the country that love, support, and are excited to accept gay people. But the unaccepting faith communities are what make the news. So a lot of gay people cut spirituality out of their lives altogether in response, and that’s such a sad result. Our soul is a big piece of who we are. I hope we

get permission to explore it and stop stigmatizing faith because of the bad examples. Instead, we should be pointing to people who are using their faith to create a more loving world and expanding what faith can be. I hope my songs’ universal themes and messages about love, acceptance, and hope can offer some examples of that. As a creative artist, what do accolades such as winning Songwriter of the Year at West Coast Songwriters in 2011 and 2015, and then Song of the Year in 2017, mean to you? I think they gave me a little extra strength to keep going in moments of self-doubt. The awards didn’t come with any huge cash prize or exposure to a giant fan base, but what they did was help me realize that my music was connecting with people and was worth sharing. That’s important when you constantly find yourself swimming in a giant sea of music and musicians, wondering if what you say has any worth. It’s like a little extra hope you’re able to lean on in the harder times.

body to heal from a scratch or bruise. In the gay culture, many of us can act like everything bounces off us, and that attitude is usually a shield built up from past wounds. This song was just me being honest about the power that words can have over us, but also about finding our “true name.” Once we know who we truly are, and our value in the world, then those words do lose some of their power. “Bones” is another incredibly moving song from Maybe Stars. What can you tell me about it? Oh man, that’s a song that still gets me, and can be hard to sing. It’s just about our own tendency to self-sabotage our lives. When I look back on my life with some emotional honesty, I have to admit that a lot of my pain has been selfinflicted. This song is just admitting that to the world. I’ve found, performing it, that once it’s out there, a lot of people identify with that, and then they feel less alone. Sometimes a song is building community around shared experience. In this song, that experience is pain. But there’s a beauty in admitting that, and that’s what the song is trying to express.

“Strong Enough” is one of the most uniLesbian singer/songwriter Margrit versal and powerful songs on Maybe Eichler, of the band True Margrit, proStars, with a message that is especially duced the song “Back to the Moon.” How meaningful during these increasingly difdid you two come to work together? ficult times. Please say something about Margrit was recomthe genesis of the mended to me by another song. fantastic artist, Kress Thank you! Well, I “The word ‘Christian’ Cole. We recorded that grew up in a small school song in a day, where anyone who was has so much baggage I think. The guitar and different was an easy now, and it’s frustrating vocal is from the very target for bullying. And I first take. The process was usually the different that the negative was super-smooth, one. I liked reading, I was side always gets and Margrit is a joy to a bit more thoughtful and work with. introverted, I wasn’t suthe headlines.” per-interested in sports You spent much of or the latest trends, and —Bobby Joe Valentine June 2018 on a conit wasn’t a big enough cert tour. What are place where I could be the challenges and seen as “cool” or “counrewards of performing live and touring? terculture.” Being different was just made fun The biggest challenge, I’d say, is the travel. Beof. And while the physical pranks are things I ing away from home really wears on you. The can laugh at now, a lot of the words still stick rewards are meeting new people and experiwith me, and took a lot longer to heal. “Strong encing them connecting to your music, and Enough” is about internal wounds, and how it’s also seeing familiar faces in the crowd smiling a lot harder to break free from a negative idea up at you and singing your songs back to you.➝ you’ve been attacked with than it is for your OutSmartMagazine.com |

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How would you say that crowdfunding, via Patreon, for instance, has worked for you when it comes to financing your recordings? Fans have been the number-one reason why I’ve been able to continue this creative work and do it professionally, and the crowdfunding is such a benefit. With the help of Patreon and other crowdfunding resources, I’m able to spend less time on the business side of music and more time on the creative side. It’s incredibly valuable to me! I was sorry to hear about your home burning in the California fires. I understand that a Houstonian who sponsored you for some house concerts set up a GoFundMe page for you that raised over $20,000. What does such an expression of

generosity mean to you? Thank you. It’s been extremely difficult, and I’d say the thing that kept me from losing heart, after losing everything else, has been the unexpected amount of love from everyone around me. You shared a Mary Oliver poem on your Facebook page in June 2018. Can you please say something about the role that contemporary poetry plays in your life? I read poetry every morning and take it like vitamins. To me, poetry, like any good song, has the ability to come in through the side door of our hearts and minds, and move us more powerfully than anything else can. Mary Oliver’s “The Journey,” in particular, is one of the poems that completely changed my life. I’d recommend [that poem], and poetry in general, [to everyone who] wants a more open heart and a sweeter spirit. Gregg Shapiro is a regular contributor to OutSmart magazine.

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The Art of Giving MFAH exhibit celebrates gay Houston collector Clint Willour. By Andrew Edmonson

n 1961, Houston curator Clint Willour fell in love, igniting a passion that would shape his life for the next six decades—and greatly enrich Texas’ visual-arts community. Willour was a student at University of Washington in Seattle, and had discovered a beautiful monotype by the American artist Mark Tobey, one of the founders of the Northwest School. Art dealer Otto Seligman told Willour that the work would cost $500, an

enormous sum for a poor student at that time. “I said, ‘I’d like to buy this, but I can only afford to pay you $50 a month.’ I was working as a houseboy at the Theta sorority house, washing dishes,” Willour recalls. “Fifty dollars was about what I made a month. “He took the monotype down, and gave it to me,” Willour says. “He said, ‘I know you will pay me. Take it with you. I know that you’ll love it and enjoy it, so take it with you.’ When I

66 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

became a gallery director, that experience was a touchstone. If somebody really wants something, you can make it happen.” Willour, 77, has paid that generosity forward in numerous ways over the last five decades. As a gallery director in Houston for 16 years, he allowed collectors to buy works over time. As curator of the Galveston Arts Center for 25 years, he showed the work of emerging artists and supported hundreds of established artists in countless ways. “Willour is the unsung hero of Texas art,” says Rebecca S. Cohen, an art critic for the Austin Chronicle. “I think that Clint has done more for mid-career artists, and art institutions in the state, than anyone else in Texas.” Perhaps the most prodigious display of Willour’s generosity is his gift to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH)—almost 1,300 objects including prints, drawings, paintings, and decorative arts. He has also given more than 2,500 books to MFAH’s Hirsch Library. In celebration of his extraordinary largesse, MFAH has mounted the exhibition 40 Years of Discovery: Gifts of Clint Willour, which is on view through October 14. The show features an eclectic mix of works culled from Willour’s gifts to the museum over the last four decades, including pieces by major 20th-century giants such as Diane Arbus and Robert Indiana, and acclaimed Houston artists such as Amy Blakemore and Earlie Hudnall Jr., among many others. “There is not a person who has a better grasp of the Houston art scene than Clint,” says Houston gallery owner Devin Borden. “He sees almost every exhibition at least once, and sometimes more than once. Lecture? Artist

‹ The Wonders of Willour Stonehenge (l), by Richard Misrach, and Zuma, by John Divola, are among the works donated by Clint Willour to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Willour is shown at right in a portrait by Keith Carter.

dialogue? Open studio? Clint is there. “He knows the artists in MFAH’s Core Program, the University of Houston graduate program, the residents at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, and the Galveston Artist Residency,” Borden adds. “He knows who shows where, and who is worth watching. And he’s been paying attention for decades. “I find his devotion to Houston and Texas art admirable because it is hard to argue with expertise. He has made himself that expert out of passion—not for profit or because he’s been appointed. He did it himself.” While many Houston philanthropists are well-heeled scions of affluent families, Willour is cut from a different cloth. He drives a Ford Focus. In his five-decade career, he never made more than $50,000 a year. He lives with Reid Mitchell, his partner of 37 years, in a small Galleria-area condo overflowing with art that Willour has collected. But his discerning eye and ability to identify emerging talent have allowed him to amass an exceptional collection. Born in Colorado Springs in 1941, Willour grew up in Shelton, Washington. At the University of Washington, he majored in English and dated sorority girls while secretly questioning if he might be gay. He arrived in Houston in 1970, finding work at an interior design firm. “I had no experience, except that I was gay,” Willour told Glasstire in 2016. “Forrest Garling, who ended up being my first partner, got me the interview.” The interior design firm had a thriving carpet business in which Willour began to work as business manager. “A month into it, the owner got cancer, and his wife turned over the carpet portion of the

Willour business to me,” he recalls. Willour developed his business acumen running the $1-milliona-year business, a talent that would serve him well in his next position as director of a gallery. In 1973, he was recruited by Houston architect Marvin Watson to become business manager for a gallery he co-owned with New York art dealer Tibor de Nagy, who specialized in showing the works of second-generation

abstract expressionists. Willour travelled to New York to visit galleries with de Nagy. “Tibor and I hit it off,” Willour says. “He was great, and I wanted to learn.” De Nagy promoted Willour to director of the gallery, and Willour shepherded the business through various owners and locations for the next 16 years. In the mid-1970s, he struck up a fast ➝

OutSmartMagazine.com | AUGUST 2018 | 67

The ArT of GivinG continued from previous page

friendship with Anne Wilkes Tucker, the newly installed founding curator of the MFAH photography department who would go on to build the museum’s collection from a few hundred objects to over 30,000 photographs at the time of her retirement in 2015. “We were buying things when you could buy photographs for not much money by artists who later became very famous,” Willour recalls. “The Diane Arbus, I bought in San Francisco for $500. It’s now worth $50,000.” “Clint always had very specific reasons for acquiring works and offering them to the museum,” Tucker observes. “Often, he was the first person to acquire an artist’s work, and when he gave it to the museum it was that artist’s first work in any museum, not just in MFAH.” “The museum benefited from Clint’s deep knowledge of artists working in [Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas, as well as] in the Northwest United States and other places to which he regularly traveled,” Tucker adds. “With his deep knowledge of the MFAH collection, he in turn built on works that had already been acquired with his subsequent purchases and donations.” In 1990, Willour became curator of the Galveston Arts Center. “I had no degree in art, or anything close to art,” he says. “But I had a

Love Wins Willour and Reid Mitchell, shown when they first met in 1981, were married in 2016, after 35 years together.

lot of experience working with artists—I had been showing a lot of local artists. So I became a curator.” He re-oriented the institution’s programming from a national focus to an emphasis on Texas contemporary artists, and raised its profile significantly. In 2001, the Dallas Visual Arts Center honored his work with a Legends Award, designed to recognize “individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to the visual arts in Texas.” He is a beloved figure in the Texas visual-

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arts community. Tucker cites his “wicked sense of humor” and “his ability to make me laugh.” She also praises his candor and directness. “He has no tolerance for BS, puffed egos, or—as we say in Texas—[people who are] ‘all hat and no cattle.’” In 2016, after 35 years together, Willour and Reid decided to wed in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s marriage-equality decision. His dear friend Betty Moody opened her art gallery for the wedding, and gave the two grooms away in an intimate ceremony featuring family and a few close friends. “Clint has delivered to the MFAH such thoughtful and consistently fine works which tell the story of art in Houston,” Borden says. “And what’s on view is only a small part of his contributions. Each choice and credit line carries meaning and demonstrates his amazing eye and generosity. His devotion to the photography department, the prints and drawings [collection], and the Hirsch Library are all the more inspiring because he is not buying for himself and then later giving them. These gifts go straight to the museum.” Andrew Edmonson has written about the arts for the Houston Chronicle, OutSmart, the Houston Voice, and Houston Ballet News.

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Getting Their Feet Wet Impulse Group Houston launches with Coachella-themed pool party. By Lourdes Zavaleta

‹

eondre Moore will never forget April 21, 2014, the day he tested positive for HIV at Sam Houston State University’s student clinic. “I was terrified and thought that I was going to die,” Moore recalls. “I knew nothing about HIV. After I tested positive, I decided that there was something more that I could and should do to raise awareness about it.” Shortly after receiving his diagnosis, Moore began sharing his experience living with HIV as part of educational campaigns across the U.S. Most recently, his advocacy includes being appointed the founding president of Impulse Group Houston, the newest chapter of Impulse United, an international organization dedicated to promoting healthier sexual lifestyles among LGBTQ men. On August 4, Impulse Group Houston will make its formal debut with Hou-Chella. The Coachella-themed pool party, which begins at 2 p.m. at Clé Houston, will feature live stage performances by celebrity and local entertainers. “Impulse Group Houston will offer our local LGBTQ community something different and exclusive,” says Moore, a 23-year-old Beaumont native. “We don’t plan on reinventing the wheel about what is already going on in the city, but everything that we do will be bigger and better than it already is.” After Jose Ramos’ best friend was diagnosed with AIDS in 2009, he sought to create social spaces where gay men could talk openly about their experiences. That year, Ramos founded Impulse Group’s first chapter in Los Angeles. The organization has since grown to 21 chapters around the world, and allows cities from Beijing to Guadalajara to Dallas to host fully funded events for LGBTQ people. A need for a group like Impulse in Houston was noticed by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), Impulse United’s funding source, when it sponsored A Seat at the Table, an event that Moore hosted in 2017. After seeing the poten-

Rubber Meets the Road Members of Impulse Group Houston pose with former mayor Annise Parker, in front of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s “Lifesaver” condom bus, at Houston Pride in June.

tial for raising awareness about HIV/AIDS in Houston, AHF reached out to Impulse United and began putting together a team to lead a chapter in the city. Moore, a senior at Sam Houston State University who works as an HIV counselor at AHF Houston and is an ambassador for Greater than AIDS and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, was selected to be Impulse Group Houston’s president. Moore’s team includes vice president Ian Haddock, director of operations Justyn Smith, director of events Joshua Johnson, director of marketing Neisha Jackson, and director of advocacy Rhys Carraway. Impulse Group Houston’s leadership meets

bi-weekly to discuss event planning, newmember recruitment, and sponsorships. As of mid-July, the group’s main focus has been planning its launch weekend, Moore says. A red carpet premiere of Barbershop Conversations will kick off Impulse Group Houston’s launch on August 3 at AMC DineIn Houston 8. The film features a barbershop conversation between black LGBTQ and straight men about topics that typically are not discussed in public due to hypermasculinity. Hou-Chella will also kick off Impulse United’s first homeless initiative, called Pass the Bag. Guests at the event will receive brown paper bags to fill with non-perishable items ➝

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The Mayor and the President Mayor Parker is shown with Deondre Moore, president of Impulse Group Houston.

that can be donated to homeless people. In the spirit of Coachella, RuPaul’s Drag Race star Trinity K Bonet will perform a reenactment of Beyoncé’s performance at the 2018 music festival. Chad Black, a recently out, local LGBTQ singer/songwriter, will film a music video at Hou-Chella. Those who undergo STD tests at HouChella will receive free admission. Entry tickets, drink tickets, and ticket upgrades will also be available for purchase. After the launch, Impulse Group Houston will begin planning its next major event in October for Halloween. Moore says the group is currently looking for volunteers, with a strong emphasis on Latinx people and transgender folks. “We’re looking for every type of volunteer,” Moore says. “Impulse Group Houston wants to ensure that we reach people of every race, ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual orientation, because awareness about sexual health should include everyone.” For more information about Impulse Group Houston, visit facebook.com/ImpulseHTX or send questions to info@impulsegrp.org. What: Hou-Chella, Impulse Group Houston’s Launch When: Saturday, August 4 Where: Clé Houston, 2301 South Main St. Tickets: soakedhouston.com

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Fatal Attraction ‘Porcelain,’ the haunting tale of a trick gone wrong, comes to MATCH.

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Tearoom Tragedy A gay man murders his young lover after finding him cruising other men at the restroom where they first met, in Porcelain.

he starring role in Porcelain, a play about a teenager’s fatal attraction for a trick he meets in a public restroom, introduces Houston theater audiences to openly gay Vietnamese immigrant Bobo Hoang, who lives in Sugar Land. “I discovered it when I was looking for plays I could audition for that are about homosexuals, specifically with an Asian voice,” he says. “This play encourages me to be more confident and accept myself being different. I hope that audiences will see it and realize that you don’t have to go out looking for approval.”

The August 3–26 production of Chay Yew’s Porcelain will be performed by Caduceus Theater Arts Company at the Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston (MATCH). Hoang plays John Lee, a “gaysian” in London who isn’t popular at the bars where other men “have a good time, laughing and drinking with their perfect smiles and perfect hair.” He has more luck hooking up with strangers in public toilets, where ”a mouth is a mouth.” When he has sex with a 26-year-old, William Hope, who invites him out for a drink at a nearby pub and then to his flat, Lee thinks they’ve made a love connection.

74 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

“You know, we were happy, Will and I. Really happy together,” he says. However, when we meet the characters, their hookup has already ended in homicide. On a bare stage, except for five chairs facing the audience, Lee is dressed in white, sitting in the middle and folding red origami paper cranes. Four Caucasian men, “dressed uniformly in black,” enter from the wings and spin the tale of how Lee returned to the lavatory and shot William Hope six times after catching him cruising for other men. Among the four Caucasian actors is Michael J. Heard, a local doctor who last year

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bachelor of arts degree and a concentration in musical theater. Now that he’s moved back to Texas, he’s curious to find out how LGBTQ life in Houston compares to the liberal environment he enjoyed while attending college in New England. Heard specializes in reproductive medicine, endocrinology, and acute care inside an emergency room. “I have a passion for acting and producing that dates back several years,” he says. “Besides being a doctor, it’s the best medicine for my soul.” Porcelain is directed by Bonnie If Looks Could Kill Bobo Hoang (l), a Vietnamese immigrant who lives in Sugar Land, Hewett, with Conner Borne assistplays John Lee. Michael Heard, a local doctor who founded ing. The stage manager is Ashley the Caduceus Theater Arts Company, plays Voice 4. Graves. Mike Thompson is the lighting director, with Ken ThompSugar Land in 2014. “We wanted to make a son as sound director. In addition to Voice 1, new life,” he says. Geist plays the prison psychiatrist who probes “I didn’t have an official ‘coming out,’” Lee’s motive for the crime. he adds, explaining that his parents have accepted him as gay “openly and comfortably” What: Porcelain, by Chay Yew since he was in ninth grade. He even had a Where: MATCH, 3400 Main Street boyfriend, although they didn’t advertise their When: August 2–26 relationship at school because “the rules were Tickets: Matchouston.org kind of strict.” In May, Hoang graduated from Dean Don Maines is a regular contributor College in Franklin, Massachusetts, with a to OutSmart magazine. ‹

founded Caduceus Theater Arts Company as a nonprofit group dedicated to supporting dramatic artists through professional productions, arts education, and community outreach. Heard, who isn’t gay, reprises his role as Voice 4 from a 2007 production of Porcelain, which Ed Muth directed at Houston Community College’s Theatre One. “A lot of people were very affected by how intense it was. Some of my friends said it gave them nightmares,” Heard says. “It is a very dark drama. Some people may walk out.” Heard, along with actors Dain A. Geist (Voice 1), Tommy Stuart (Voice 2), and Alan Brincks (Voice 3) create all of the show’s sound effects, including Big Ben striking four o’clock, cars honking, and an underground train screeching to a halt. They also portray the clamor of a city consumed by news reports of the lavatory killing. “Violence and evil are never going to die,” Heard says, “but we always want to try to understand why violence happens.” Hoang, who is 21, was born in Ho Chi Minh City, which many Americans call Saigon. He graduated from an international high school in Vietnam before moving with his family to

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“We would dress our little white Maltipoo in her own little campaign T-shirt. She was a big hit at the events.” —Jim Kovach 76 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

Fighting for Fairness Gay candidate Jim Kovach faces GOP opponent affiliated with anti-LGBTQ hate groups. By Marene Gustin

im Kovach’s motto is, “Life may not be fair, but judges should be.” Kovach, a 53-year-old attorney who is running as a Democrat for judge of Harris County Civil Court at Law No. 2, says he learned about fairness from his mother. He even tells their family Christmas story on the campaign trail. “I told her how I used a family Christmas story on the campaign trail,” Kovach says. “We were five kids, and we would all get a gift and an envelope with money in it. If one kid’s gift cost more than another’s, we would get the difference in cash because she wanted to be absolutely fair to each kid. “She laughed when I told her that, and said I didn’t know the half of it,” Kovach adds. “Then she told me that at Easter she would open the jelly-bean packages and count out the colors so that each of us got the exact same amount of each color.” Kovach, who is openly gay, won the Democratic primary with 63 percent of the vote. In November, he will face anti-LGBTQ Republican Erin Swanson. Kovach says Swanson defeated GOP incumbent Theresa Chang in the Republican primary after Swanson’s supporters started a rumor that Chang “secretly performed gay weddings.” “The truth is that no Republican judges in Harris County do any weddings, because

if they did, then they would have to perform same-sex weddings as well,” Kovach says. Swanson, who describes herself as “a prolife, pro-family conservative,” didn’t respond to a request for comment for this story. Swanson’s campaign website boasts about “decades of involvement” in Concerned Women for America, which has been classified as an antiLGBTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. She also touts endorsements from at least two other anti-LGBTQ hate groups, the Conservative Republicans of Texas (CRT) and the Eagle Forum. The first endorsement listed on Swanson’s site under “community leaders” is from CRT president Steven Hotze, one of Houston’s top anti-LGBTQ activists. Kovach was born in Ohio, but his family moved to Kingwood when he was in high school. Flipping burgers at Fajita Flats in Austin, he put himself through undergraduate school at the University of Texas, where he earned a marketing degree. He then came home and graduated from the University of Houston Law Center. After moving to Chicago to work for Marshall Field’s department store, he finally came out. “In college, I didn’t know I was gay,” Kovach says. “I thought only hairdressers were gay, and I played sports and wanted to be a lawyer. In Chicago, I met these two friends who lived in my building. It turned out they were a gay cou-

ple, but they were both professionals. They told me I was gay, and I thought, ‘Oh, I am gay!’” After moving home once again to practice law, Kovach became involved in Houston’s LGBTQ community. He served on the board of the old Montrose Clinic, and eventually became president of the board for Legacy Community Health, where he was heavily involved in fundraising. He also runs marathons and plays in the Montrose Softball League Association. Kovach has been married for two years to his longtime partner, Ben Montalbano. The couple lives in the Rice Military area with their rescue dog, Roxie. They have a second home at Lake Livingston, where they enjoy water sports and Mexican food on Friday nights. “We’ve been together 20 years,” Kovach says. “We met online and didn’t want a relationship; we just wanted to date. That went on for years until we realized we were actually in a relationship.” When Montalbano proposed, it was on a trip to Colorado where he used glitter in the snow to write, “Will You Marry Me?” It was Montalbano who also suggested that Kovach run for office. “I didn’t like what I was seeing in the courts,” he recalls. “There was one judge in a case who was so unfair to the other attorney, ➝

Editor’s Note: This article is part of “Out for Change in 2018,” a monthly series on LGBTQ candidates in Texas, who were the subject of our January issue. For more, visit tinyurl.com/outforchange2018. OutSmartMagazine.com | AUGUST 2018 | 77

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who was a black woman, that afterwards I kept apologizing to her for his rudeness. I came home and told Ben about it and told him I wasn’t sure I could keep doing this with the current judges, and he said, ‘Well, then why don’t you run for judge?’” But Kovach says he thought long and hard before entering the race. “You have to give up a lot of things when running for judge,” he says. “You can’t endorse candidates, and then there’s all the negativity.” Kovach says it was a conversation with Steven Kirkland, who became Harris County’s first openly gay district judge in 2008, that finally convinced him to run. After first being elected in 2008, Kirkland overcame bruising defeats in 2012 and 2014 before winning his current seat in 2018. Among other things, Kirkland’s opponents brought up his struggle with alcoholism, despite the fact that he’s been sober for 30 years. Kovach realized that if Kirkland could face those types of attacks and win, then so could he. “So far, it’s been a very positive experience,” Kovach says. “I’m used to fundraising, so I have no problem asking people for money. And everyone—from the friends of Legacy to the softball league— has been very supportive.” Erin Swanson During the primary, Kovach’s husband regularly attended events with him, and they even got their dog in on the act. “We would dress our little white Maltipoo in her own little campaign T-shirt,” he laughs. “She was a big hit at the events. People always wanted to meet her and take her picture.” Marene Gustin is a regular contributor to OutSmart magazine.

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Deadly Consequences Houston activist fears for fellow LGBTQ refugees under Trump’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy.

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One of the Lucky Ones Africa Monroy, a Guatemalan immigrant who received asylum based on her transgender status, lives in Houston with her eight-year-old son. 80 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

By Lourdes Zavaleta Photo by Dalton DeHart for trans Latinx people in Texas. “I have a guilty conscience because I made it,” Monroy says. “There are so many stories about LGBTQ people dying because of immigration laws. People I know are dead or still in danger, but I am alive.” Many LGBTQ Central Americans, such as Monroy, are desperate to escape persecution in their countries, and turn to the U.S. for help. While it is legal for migrants to request asylum on the basis of persecution related to their LGBTQ identites, President Trump’s new “zero tolerance” policy could jeopardize their legal path to safety. In a June 11 decision, attorney general Jeff Sessions made it nearly impossible for asylum-seekers to gain legal entry into the U.S. by citing fears of domestic abuse or gang violence. Sessions’ move could be catastrophic for LGBTQ Central Americans who are forced to remain in or be deported back to their home countries. Among countries in the Northern

Triangle of Central America, 264 murders of LGBTQ people were reported in Honduras between 2009 and July 2017, 28 attacks against LGBTQ people were reported in El Salvador in 2017, and 40 trans people were reported killed in Guatemala in 2016, according to a 2017 International Amnesty Report. Sessions’ ruling also penalizes Central Americans who do not seek asylum in Mexico first, even though LGBTQ people in Mexico also face violence and death. There were 202 reported murders of LGBTQ people in Mexico between 2014 and 2016, according to a report by El Día. The latest group of LGBTQ Central Americans seeking asylum is unsure whether they will receive a fair hearing under Trump’s zero-tolerance policy, according to Jackie Yodashkin, public-affairs director at Immigration Equality, a nonprofit founded in 1994 to establish grounds for asylum based on persecution due to sexual orientation and gender identity. ➝

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frica Monroy was eight years old when her parents fled Guatemala and migrated to the U.S., in part to get away from a man who had been sexually molesting her. Monroy, a transgender Houston woman, lived in the U.S. for 10 years before falling through the cracks of immigration law and getting deported in 2008. What she found when she returned to Guatemala was rampant corruption and violence. “It was terrifying,” recalls Monroy, now 28. “I was constantly in fear of being singled out, beaten up, and killed. My only hope was to seek refuge in a country that would protect me.” Monroy received asylum in 2017 and currently resides in Houston with her eightyear-old son. She works at a restaurant and is an activist for Houston’s undocumented and LGBTQ communities as a member of Organización de Latinas Trans en Texas (OLTT), a group that protects, supports, and advocates

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“They don’t know whether the one place that is supposed to be safe will actually be safe,” Yodashkin says. “Once they get to the U.S., they are locked up [during] criminal proceedings. And now it is almost impossible for them to make a case for asylum.” Yodashkin believes LGBTQ refugees will continue to seek asylum in the U.S. because they have nothing to lose. “Getting asylum is life-or-death for refugees,” Yodashkin says. “If they know that they are definitely going to be killed in their countries, and may or may not get asylum in the U.S., [the choice] is pretty easy for them to make. They will risk everything.” Once at a border point, refugees are often placed in detention centers if authorities are unable to establish their identities or immigration status. According to a report by the Center for American Progress, LGBTQ refugees are 97 times more likely to be sexually assaulted than other detainees. In May, a trans woman from Honduras named Roxana Hernandez died in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after experiencing HIV-related complications and cardiac arrest. Ana Andrea Molina, founder and director of OLTT, is in contact with LGBTQ migrants

who were in the most recent caravan that carried them to Arizona from Tijuana, Mexico. “Their experiences have been very bitter and painful,” Molina says. “Many of them were violated in the shelter they were placed in. That shelter was later almost burned down because they did not want trans people in it.” The “zero tolerance” policy affects a large number of people that OLTT supports, Molina says. She believes that the tightening of immigration laws is unjust and designed to benefit the U.S. government at the cost of a vulnerable community. “America profits from the immigrant’s vulnerability,” Molina says. “Undocumented children are being kidnapped by the U.S. government and separated from their parents. Hard-working fathers and mothers who want to give their children a chance are being sent to jails. LGBTQ asylum-seekers are being locked up. All of this happens while detention centers make hundreds of thousands of dollars to house desperate people who just want to survive.” After being deported to Guatemala, Monroy became homeless because neither her family nor her community supported her. After living in a shelter for 20 days, she says she knew her only option was to seek asylum in a country that would protect her. In 2013 Monroy returned to the U.S., where she was held in a detention center for

four years. For three-and-a-half of those years, she was segregated from other women and housed in confinement with people who had committed crimes. One night, a detention officer came into Monroy’s cell and touched her inappropriately. She reported the guard, but he was never disciplined. “These situations happen in detention centers every day,” Monroy says. “Trans refugees are not criminals, but we get treated like them. They force us to suffer alone in those cold rooms.” One of Monroy’s friends, a trans woman, was murdered after being deported back to Honduras after unsuccessfully seeking asylum in the U.S. Monroy’s cousin, a closeted trans woman who lives in Guatemala, fears that the same will happen to her. Although Monroy feels safe in the U.S., she is worried that immigration laws will continue to change, and that she will again be deported. For the time being, she is grateful that she lives in a place where she can be her true self. “I thank God that I made it,” Monroy says. “In the U.S., I am independent from a country that persecuted me. I can pursue my dreams here. I am alive, and I am free.” Lourdes Zavaleta is a staff writer for OutSmart magazine.

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Swing and a Kiss Tiffany (l) and Racine Armstead were married at the Nouveau Antique Art Venue in Houston. WEDDING GUIDE continued â&#x17E;?

OutSmartMagazine.com |

AUGUST 2018

By Marene Gustin

Photos by Brittney Crystal

Both brides wore beautiful traditional “Tiffany just fit right in,” Racine says. “We hirty-two-year-old Racine Armstead strapless white gowns and carried white had so much fun drinking and singing, and all has held many positions: Navy corpsbouquets. Racine’s gown was by Galina Signamy friends loved her.” After they got back to man, police officer, firefighter, artist, ture, and Tiffany’s was by Melissa Sweet. The their hotel, Tiffany was taking a shower. “I just and now dental assistant. But she says the women read their own vows. wrote a marriage proposal on the shower glass most fulfilling has been her role as wife to Racine says they had “no trouble at all” in the steam with my finger,” Racine says. 28-year-old accountant Tiffany Gaither finding LGBTQ-friendly vendors. “I was completely surprised,” Tiffany says. Armstead. “I was a little nervous at the courthouse, “But it felt so right. It was so spontaneous, and “We met on a dating app six years ago,” but nobody raised an eyebrow,” she says. I loved it.” Racine says. “I was working as a firefighter in “That’s one of the reasons we moved here. I The couple bought their first home togethSt. Helena Island in South Carolina. Our first love Houston because it is so welcoming and er in Missouri City last year, where they enjoy date was to a dessert café.” diverse here.” “I enjoyed it so much,” Tiffany re“I was a little nervous at the courthouse, but After the fairy-tale wedding, the calls. “Racine was the sweetest—no pun couple honeymooned in Antigua, Barintended. It was nice experiencing the nobody raised an eyebrow. That’s one of the bados, a Caribbean island known for its romantic side of her. Racine is so ambireasons we moved here. I love Houston because glorious beaches and turquoise waters. tious and outgoing. She keeps me moit is so welcoming and diverse here.” Racine calls it a beautiful spot, and one tivated in life. Also, sharing the same to which they will likely return. sense of humor is amazing. Being with “The honeymoon was everything,” Tiffany Creole cooking and their Chihuahua/terrier her just feels like I’m hanging out with my best says. “Antigua was beyond beautiful. We went mix—two dominant breeds that combine to friend every day.” on adventures, saw breathtaking sunsets, and keep them entertained. “We call her Storm,” Racine says her favorite quote is from enjoyed great food. [I hope that all] our anniRacine says. “It’s short for Shit-storm.” author Maria Robinson: “Nobody can go back versaries are just as refreshing.” They were married on May 20, 2017, at the and start a new beginning, but anyone can “It was her first time out of the country,” Nouveau Antique Art Venue in Houston. Rastart today and make a new ending.” In this says Racine, who had traveled while she was cine says it was a beautiful location filled with case, the couple’s beginning led to a perfect in the Navy. “And she loved it there, so we both Tiffany lamps and other art, which appealed ending: after years of dating, they agreed to tie plan to travel a lot more. I’m always up for tryto her creative side. Racine paints abstracts the knot following Racine’s clever and spontaing new things; that’s why I’ve had so many on canvas, and has shown her work in several neous marriage proposal. careers.” local art galleries. Racine, who was born in Lufkin to military And now she has a partner who will be by “The venue was perfect for the intimate parents, has a friend in Dallas who celebrates her side for future adventures. wedding we wanted,” Tiffany says. “There her birthday every year with a karaoke party. were fewer than 50 guests, and my favorite The very first time Racine brought Tiffany to Marene Gustin is a regular contributor part of the wedding was the first dance. It felt the party, she knew she wanted to spend the to OutSmart magazine. so wonderful to be in her arms.” rest of her life with her.

84 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

WEDDING GUIDE

ts s. ne

y t d

Garden of Love Joel Quinones, left, and Bradley Brandt were married in a backyard terrace at the second home of a friend in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

h SANDY BEHAL/BLUE ROSE PHOTOGRAPHY

Santa Fe, All the Way Joel Quiñones and Bradley Brandt got hitched in New Mexico, then celebrated again in Houston. By Henry Thiel

“Our wedding day was the most spectacular of days— sunny, 60 degrees, and not a cloud in the sky. We knew the universe was in our corner.”

oel Quiñones and Bradley Brandt met when they worked at the same hair salon in Highland Village. In May 2013, they opened their own salon, Q [the salon], as well as Brad Brandt Designs, a holiday decor and interior-design business. (Quiñones has been named OutSmart ’s Gayest & Greatest Male Hairdresser on several occasions.) Quiñones, 59, says he knew Brandt was “the one” when he realized he did not like being separated from him for long periods of time. The 47-year-old Brandt, on the other hand, knew after their first date.

“Since we were both older, and knew that we were right for each other, we decided to take our time,” Quiñones says. He adds that there wasn’t a beach, mountain views, a ring, or someone on one knee when they got engaged. They decided to get married one morning in the kitchen, while getting ready for work. “When you know it’s right, you just know,” Quiñones says. Their wedding festivities began with an engagement party hosted by friends who brought in an accordion-playing comedian from Los Angeles. When they told a dear friend who has a second home in Santa Fe, ➝

OutSmartMagazine.com | AUGUST 2018 | 85

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New Mexico, that they planned to get married, she insisted that they do so in her garden. So 36 of their nearest and dearest friends and family trekked to Santa Fe for three days of festivities. They concluded their wedding celebration a few months later with a blowout party for 200 at The Parador in Houston. They had only one hiccup on their wedding day—their cake, while beautiful, was flavorless. They made up for it at their Houston celebration with the most perfect and delicious nine-tier cake. The grooms tied the knot on October 25, 2014—the day after the planet Mercury went out of retrograde. Their officiant was Rev. Brendalyn Batchelor, the pastor of Unity Church in Santa Fe. “We were able to work with her to customize every word of our ceremony and truly make it our own,” Brandt says. “Our wedding day was the most spectacular of days—sunny, 60 degrees, and not a cloud in the sky,” he adds. “We knew the universe was in our corner. And while there are many good memories and specials moments from that day, the best was standing in the garden, surrounded by our loved ones while butterflies danced from flower to flower, and our hosts’ two pugs walked among everyone as we exchanged vows.”

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MICHAEL MARTINEZ PHOTOGRAPHY

continued from previous page

Ha Af

“For me,” Quiñones says, “the most wonderful moment was when Rev. Batchelor pronounced us “husbands forever.” For their Houston reception on January 11, 2015, they retained the services of Blooming Gallery, Bright Star Productions, Cakes by Gina, Michael Martinez Photography, and LG Entertainment. “While none of them are known as LGBT vendors, they are the best at what they do and are always ready to help any couple make their day special,” Quiñones says. Their advice to other couples is “to make your wedding what you want it to be, and also to think of your guests at all times when planning. It’s your special day, but you want it to be special and memorable for your guests as well, especially if it is a destination wedding.” The newlyweds broke with tradition by taking a “weddingmoon” a month before their special day. “Joel is a music aficionado, and once we heard that Kate Bush was giving a series of concerts in London, there was no doubt we would hop across the pond to attend one of her performances,” Brandt says. “It was the perfect break before all of the wedding festivities.”

s. d

MICHAEL MARTINEZ PHOTOGRAPHY

Having Their Cake and Eating It, Too After their wedding in New Mexico, Brandt and Quiñones celebrated again at the Parador in Houston.

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Queer Quotes Compiled by Blase DiStefano

Bill Maher ( Bill Maher: Live from Oklahoma, 7.7.18, HBO)

Re: Maher’s observation that liberals naively fail to condemn the millions of Muslims around the world who believe that homosexuals and those who joke about the prophet Muhammed deserve to be terrorized or killed.

THIS PAGE: DAY - SPENCERDAY.COM; MAHER - HBO; TAKEI - LOU ROCCO/ABC

I’m anti terrorizing homosexuals. I thought that was a liberal thing. I saw this kid on campus with a T-shirt that said QUEERS AGAINST ISLAMOPHOBIA. I wanted to say to him, “Wear that shirt in Pakistan, and see if anybody reads down past the ‘Queers’ part.”

Spencer Day (The Huffington Post, 7.18.18, Curtis M. Wong)

Like most artists, I want to be an advocate for social change and for me. Singing is the easiest and most effective way I can do that. A certain level of bravado can still be expected in male crooners. People get hung up on pronouns, and it’s time for men to be able to sing a song to another man sincerely, without irony and without other folks snickering. I want to be a part of that. . . . If there were gay people in [the Mormon] community, no one ever spoke about it. I was afraid that my only options as a gay man would be dying of AIDS, or spending a life alone drinking. I’m so unbelievably glad that younger [LGBTQ] people now have more role models to look up to. . . . When I’ve been playing small towns in another country, it seems like one of the most revolutionary things I can do is to sing a song I was always told was “off-limits” with feeling. When the song personally resonates with you deep inside, people can feel that.

‹ Strike a ‘Pose’ Indya Moore OutSmartMagazine.com |

AUGUST 2018

G roove O ut

By Gregg Shapiro

Q-Music: Queerer Than Ever Snail Mail, Frankie Simone, Alexis Michelle, Felix and the Future, and more.

emember when lesbian rock was measured on a Melissa Etheridge scale, or the way you could find common ground with other fans of Indigo Girls, Tracy Chapman, k.d. lang, Joan Armatrading, Melissa Ferrick, and Two Nice Girls? Then, along came Sleater-Kinney, Kaia (and The Butchies), Tegan and Sara, Le Tigre, Team Dresch, Mary Gauthier, and Ani DiFranco, and the world began to shift on its axis. These days, the spectrum has broadened to include Brandi Carlile and Brandy Clark, St. Vincent and Sia, Hayley Kiyoko and Kehlani, Julien Baker and Beth Ditto, Lucy Dacus and H.C. McEntire. Courtney Barnett’s brilliant 2015 debut album Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit earned her a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. In the interim, she collaborated with Kurt Vile on the 2017 album Lotta Sea Lice. While not as immediately gratifying as Sometimes I Sit and Think, Barnett’s new album Tell Me How You Really Feel (Mom + Pop/Marathon Artists/Milk!) definitely has its charms. Grungy opener “Hopefulessness” alerts listeners that Barnett is exploring other avenues. Still, poppier tunes such as “City Looks Pretty” and “Charity” prove that listeners need not despair after hearing a blistering number such as “I’m Not Your Mother, I’m Not Your Bitch.” If you detect some Breeders influence, that could be because Barnett is joined by Kim Deal and Kelly Deal on “Crippling Self-Doubt and a General Lack of Confidence” and Kim on “Nameless, Faceless.” Barnett plays up her gentler side on “Sunday Roast” and the aptly titled “Walking on Eggshells.” Lush (Matador), the suitably named fulllength debut by Snail Mail (aka teen sensation Lindsey Jordan), plays like a reverent tribute to the ’90s, the decade in which the performer was born. But this is the ’90s through a queer, 21st-century lens. “Pristine” asks the ageold question, “Don’t you like me for me?” and

you can dance to it “anyways.” “Heat Wave” is as warm as the summer sun, and centerpiece “Stick” reaches a crescendo that stays with you. The dreamy “Golden Dream” will get your kicks moving, and “Full Control” is a sorry-not-sorry anthem. All in all, Snail Mail delivers. Like Snail Mail, Tancred (aka Jess Abbott, formerly of Now, Now) channels the edgier women you might have seen at Lilith Fair, such as Kristin Hersh or Tanya Donnelly, on her new album Nightstand (Polyvinyl). This especially comes across on the irresistible “Queen of New York.” Also worth mentioning are “Hot Star,” “Something Else,” “Just You,” and “Reviews.” A queer woman of color, Frankie Simone has dedicated her “life and music to radiating light” as the “fierce spirit” she is. Her fivesong vinyl EP Love// Warrior (Infinite Companion) features an anthemic title track that urges her people to “come out, come out.” She wears her queerness right on her chest in “Queer,” and the dramatic love song “Love You Just the Same” declares that “love is worth the heartache and the heartache’s worth the pain.” In the vast and varied world of drag, those performers who sing with their own voices, and do it well (see RuPaul), tower (in heels) over those who merely lip-synch. A competitor on season nine of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Alexis Michelle is a queen with Broadway aspirations, as she demonstrates on her debut album Love Fool (Broadway Records). Broadway numbers including “Follow Your Heart” (Urinetown), “You Can Always Count on Me” (City of Angels), and the medley “Simple/Good Thing Going” (from Nine and Merrily We Roll Along, respectively) are examples of Michelle’s way with a show tune. Michelle also wisely includes familiar songs from the contemporary

90 AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

pop songbook such as the Beatles’ “The Fool on the Hill,” The Cardigans’ “Lovefool,” Blondie’s “Call Me,” Paul Williams’ “Rainbow Connection,” and Carole King’s “Beautiful” (which later became a Broadway show tune). A dizzying blend of provocative hip-hop, industrial, and electro, Basura (christeene music.com), the second album (available on limited-edition vinyl) by “transgressive queer” performer Christeene, is an earful. Never one to mince words, Christeene kicks things off with an ode to butt sluts in “Aktion Toilet” (check out the music video by gay filmmaker PJ Raval) before she turns, stares, shakes, and poses on a different kind of runway in “T.S.S.P.,” celebrates the bottom in “Butt Muscle,” honors Nine Inch Nails and Ministry in “Welcum My Lord,” and takes us clubbing in “Fuk V29.” With Elton John on his retirement tour (hint: if he “retires” like Cher did, he’ll be back!), the gay-male music quotient has shrunk considerably. Fortunately, we have Car Seat Headrest, Perfume Genius, Ezra Furman, Calum Scott, and Frank Ocean, among others, to carry on the tradition. You can also add the following artists to the list. Led by Portland, Oregon, “retro-futurist” Chanticleer Trü, Chanti Darling effortlessly channels ’80s and early-’90s soul into a glistening synth-laden glitter-cannon of musical delights on RNB Vol. 1 (Tender Loving Empire). Think Sylvester’s falsetto crossed with the early keyboards of Prince (when he was still sexually fluid) and you’re on the right path. Seductive and slinky tracks such as “Casual” (featuring The Last Artful Dodgr) and “Pillow Talk” are definite mood-setters. Want to dance? You can shake it to “St*rs,” “Grab onto Me,” “Wake Up the Night,” and the bootylicious instrumental “VCR.” You’ve heard of blue-eyed soul? Michael Blume makes gay-eyed soul on his seven-song EP Cynicism & Sincerity (S-Curve). Blume ➝

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R ead O ut

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

‘Tin Man: A Novel’ An emotional love-story-not-love-story.

‹

Tin Man: A Novel • by Sarah Winman • 2018 • Putnam (penguin.com) • 214 pages • $23 hardcover

Blame It on Bianca Del Rio Bianca Del Rio Bianca Del Rio adamantly says that she gives “better advice than Dr. Phil” because it’s based on “years and years of insightful prying and corrosive gossip.” Her health and grooming tips include how to look your best—or at least how to lower your standards. She also weighs in on LBD (Lesbian Bed Death), coming out as a gay man to your girlfriend of four years, how many cats a queen can have before crossing the line, and what to do about a terrible mother-in-law. Then there’s how to deal with homophobia, parents that are overly supportive, bad grandmas, and other family matters. Mixed in with Rio’s snarky insults are the occasional usable nuggets, a lot of “you-go-girl!” empowerment, blunt MYOBiz answers to authentically sticky problems, and fall-down-screaming hysterical laughs. Blame It on Bianca Del Rio absolutely does not belong on the shelf with your other tired old self-help books. You might not even need to find shelf space, because you’ll want to keep this one close by your side. Dey Street Books (deystreet.harpercollins.com). —Terri Schlichenmeyer

Author Sarah Winman

he photo on your shelf reminds you of a thousand things. You recall the day it was taken—the smell of the air, the background sounds, the food, the drink, the laughter, and the sense that this was forever. You’ve seen that photo many times throughout the years, but it never fails to remind you of the best of times. Or, as in the new book Tin Man by Sarah Winman, it may represent the worst of times. Ellis Judd rarely thought of reading anymore, though there were books piled around his apartment. They were Annie’s, so he ignored them. And he mostly ignored that framed photograph sitting among them, trying not to think about the people in it. But, of course, that was impossible; his face was one of the three in the photo. And there was Annie, his wife and the love of his life, five years dead from an automobile accident. And Michael, his best childhood friend. He’d never forget the day he and Michael met: Ellis was visiting Mabel, an older woman and

92 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

PATRICIA NIVEN

the local greengrocer, when Michael arrived to stay. Both 12 years old, they’d become on-the-spot friends. Years later, Michael was the reason Ellis met Annie, and she instantly loved him, too. Ellis was glad for it. But then, not too long after Annie and Ellis were married, Michael seemed to disappear. Annie pestered Ellis on and off about where Michael had gone. Didn’t he wonder? Didn’t he want him back in his life? Didn’t Ellis miss his best friend? He did—and one day, Michael walked back in, as if nothing had happened. Things seemed to pick up where they left off, and Ellis was content again with his day-to-day—until the car accident, when his entire world died. It took a while to heal—as if that would ever fully happen—but his losses made

distant memories keener, and Ellis began thinking about a painting that his mother and Michael had particularly loved. Having it would mean a lot, so Ellis decided to fetch it from his father’s attic. That’s when he found a boxful of Michael’s things, including a notebook. There are a thousand emotions that you’ll feel when you read Tin Man, starting with a melancholy sense of foreboding. Don’t beat yourself up over it, though. Every character here has reason to feel that life is no good. That alone might make you want to avoid this book—why try something when you know it’s going to depress you, right? Wrong: author Sarah Winman also offers several glimmers of hope in her story—from Ellis’ mother, who finds beauty in a booby-prize painting; to Annie, who happily understands Michael’s needs; and Ellis himself, who learns again what he already knew. Truth be known, readers will know it, too, long before they get to the pinnacle of this book—but the love-story-notlove-story that pulses to the lingering end is worth the journey, times two. And that makes Tin Man a book you should picture yourself reading. Terri Schlichenmeyer has been reading since she was three years old, and she lives on a hill in Wisconsin with two dogs and 11,000 books.

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is more successful when he sticks to singing, but his insistence on rapping gives his songs a suburban New Jersey quality. Opener “I Wanna Know,” for instance, would be so much better without the spoken-word passages. The same can be said for “Maybe Love Is True.” It’s almost as if Blume doesn’t trust his vocal capabilities, which are far and away his best attribute, as you can hear on “I Got You.” When Blume asks, “Are you mad that I’m gay” in “R U Mad,” the answer is, “No, we’re mad you’re a poseur.” Out singer/actor George Salazar teams up with songwriter/ musician Joe Iconis for Two Player Game (Ghostlight). A performer known for his work in theatrical productions of Godspell, Spring Awakening, Here Lies Love, Be More Chill, and others. Salazar is an expressive singer on songs such as “Broadway, Here I Come!,” “I Love Play Rehearsal,” “The Answer,” “Michael in the Bathroom,” and “The Goodbye Song.” Described as a “surrealist, MexicanAmerican, queer pop artist,” Felix and the Future loads his album Holy Hands Vol. 2 (felixandthe future.com) with glammy sci-fi dance pop. Imagine Jobriath with a dance club beat and you get the gist of songs such as “Karen,” “A Good Son,” “Candy Road,” and “Fumbling through the Gramophone.” With his cover of the Carpenters’ “Top of the World” on his previous EP, Getting High, Bobby Blue The Balladeer gave us a clue about what to expect on his new self-titled seven-song EP (bobbybluetheballadeer.com). An acoustic “folk/country western” recording featuring covers of Gene Autry’s “Mexicali Rose,” Loretta Lynn’s “Whispering Sea,” Patsy Cline’s “I Fall to Pieces,” and Gilberto Parra’s “Por Un Amor,” it’s a wonderful showcase for BBTB’s impressive vocal range. He also takes an interesting approach to Madonna’s “Who’s That Girl?” and even reimagines one of his own songs, “(You’ve Got To) Go.” Gregg Shapiro is a regular contributor to OutSmart magazine.

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Houston Dash Women’s Pro Soccer

................HoustonDynamo.com/Houston..Dash Houston Sabercats

...........................................houstonsabercats.com

HEALTH CARE–OPTOMETRISTS

FERTILITY/GYNECOLOGY

2502 Woodhead.............................713/528-2010

AspireFertility.com.........................713/425-3003

2055 Westheimer.......................... 713/520-6600

FINANCIAL PLANNING/BANKS

1806B Westheimer.........................713/523-1279 1700 Post Oak Blvd, Ste 110.......... 713/622-7470

Aspire Fertility

Bryan Cotton/Mass Mutual

Bering Connect

Three Greenway Plaza.................. 281/960-0447

Diana Foundation

........................................................... 281/391-6137

...............................................713-526-1017, ext.20 .......................................TheDianaFoundation.org

Shane Theriot/Edward Jones Investments

Grace Yung/Midtown Financial

EPAH

3355 Alabama, Ste 180..................713/355-9833

Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce

FITNESS CLUBS/PERSONAL TRAINERS

...................................................................EPAH.org HoustonLGBTChamber.com.........832-510-3002

Houston Police Dept. ................................................. HPDCareer.com KPFT Radio

kpft.org............................................ 713-526-4000

Lesbian Health Initiative (LHI)

401 Branard................................... lhihouston.org Lesbians Over Fifty (L.O.A.F.)

............................................ www.loafhouston.org MyGayHouston.com

.............................. MyGayHouston.com/discover Pet Patrol

..................................................... ThePetPatrol.org Ryan White Planning Council

rwpcHouston.org .......................... 713-572-3724 Theatre Southwest

Theatresouthwest.org....................713/661-9505

COLLEGES/EDUCATION

HEALTH CARE–OPHTHALMOLOGISTS

Houston Eye Associates/Stewart Zuckerbrod, MD

5420 Dashwood, Ste 101............... 713/668-9118

Club Houston

2205 Fannin ................................... 713/659-4998

Boutique Eye Care Eye Contact Eye Gallery

The Eye Glassiers

3897 Southwest Frwy ……….713/552-9400 Eye To Eye

432 W. 19th..................................... 713/864-8822 Montrose Eye Care/ Dr. Paul Lovero

520 Waugh Dr.................................713/352-0974 Spectacles on Montrose

4317 Montrose, Ste. 2....................713/529-3937

Dwayne Cookson

HEALTH CARE/PHARMACIES

Stretch Montrose

AvitaPharmacy.com...................... 713/489-4362

dcooksonfitness.com.................... 281/960-6301 2205 Montrose Blvd...................... 832/426-4573

FOOD/SPECIALTY & SPIRITS

Deep Eddy Vodka

..............................................deepeddyvodka.com

Avita Pharmacy

HEALTH-PHYSICAL THERAPY

Crom Rehabilitation/Dr. Roy Rivera

Cromrehab.com..............................713/868-2766

Dripping Springs

................................... drippingspringsvodka.com

HANDYMAN SERVICES

My All Pro Handyman

aphandyman.net........................... 936/689-2252

HEALTH CARE–PHYSICIANS

Octavio Barrios, MD

507 West Gray.................................713/942-7546 7106 Spencer Highway................. 281/542-9400 Gordon Crofoot, MD Maggie White, FNP-BC

HAIR/NAIL/MAKE-UP SALONS

3701 Kirby, Ste 1230..................... 713/526-0005

2800 Kirby, Ste A-2.........................713/400-2987

6565 West Loop South, Ste 300... 281/661-5901

Azur Salon

Green Apple Salon

M. Sandra Scurria, MD

Houston Community College ............................................................. hccs.edu

719 W. Gray St.............................. 713/5212-0500

COMPUTERS/INTERNET/IT SERVICES

515 Westheimer..............................713/524-7858

TimelessPlasticSurgery.com.........281/242-8463

1759 Westheimer............................713/529-5855

1201-F Westheimer......................... 713/528-1201

HEALTH CARE–COUNSELING/THERAPY

WestAvePlasticSurgery.com.......713/559-9300

716 Fairview...................................713/522-3602

DRY CLEANERS

Beckwith’s Car Care

1919 FM 1960, Bypass Rd. E.,Humble281/540-2000 Master Car Care & Collision

2305 Yale St.................................... 713/862-6630 RMS Auto Care

Copy.com

Ryan Automotive

Tech Auto Maintenance

Up to Date Cleaners

37 Waugh Dr................................... 713/863-8244

714 W. Gray St................................ 713/522-6626

AUTOMOTIVE SALES

ENTERTAINMENT/NIGHT LIFE

Audi Central Houston

2120 Southwest Fwy..................... 866/673-7093 Planet Lincoln

20403 I-45 North Spring, TX...... 888/242-5059

AUTOMOTIVE/TIRE SERVICE

Beckwith’s Car Care

1919 FM 1960, Bypass Rd. E.,Humble281/540-2000 TireLink

Tirelink.com.....................................832/610-2858

BAKERIES/CUSTOM CAKES

401 Branard.................................... 713/529-0037

617 Fairview ...................................713/528-8102

Dr. Barry F. Gritz, MD Dr. Daniel Garza, MD

The Montrose Center

Robert Snellgrove, LMSW-ACP

Houston Eagle

4617 Montrose, Ste C206.............. 713/522-7014

Island ETC Theatre

230 Westcott, Ste 210..................713/869-7400

611 Hyde Park........................HoustonEagle.com 2317 Mechanic St. Galveston…...409/762-3556 JR’s/Santa Fe Lake Charles

Christine Wysong

HEALTH CARE–DENTISTS

All Star Dental

Allstardental.com.......................... 936/689-2252 Samuel A. Carrell, DDS/Bruce W. Smith, DDS

Harris County Public Health

Legacy Community Health Services

1415 California Street.................... 832/548 5000 Ryan White Planning Council

RWPCHouston.org.........................713/572-3784 St. Hope Foundation

offeringhope.org.............................713/778-1300 Vitality IV Studio

2034-A West Gray., Ste. 125........ 713/861-4868 Wave Solutions

www.ednotme.com....................... 833/886-3878

HEALTH CARE–SKIN CARE

Heights Dermatology/Alpesh Desai, MD

Main Street Theater

1006 Missouri................................713/529-4364

2120 Ashland.................................. 713/864-2650

Miller Outdoor Theatre

2313 Edwards St., Ste. 150............. 713/518-1411

507 West Gray.................................713/942-7546

Neon Boots

2313 Edwards St., Ste 150............ 713/518-1411

MillerOutdoorTheatre.com...........281/373-3386 NeonBootsClub.com..................... 713/677-0828 Pearl Bar

davidalcorta.net............................. 832/439-0224

2401 San Jacinto................. RichsNIghtClub.com

Jim Benton of Houston Catering

StagesTheatre.com......................... 713-527-0123

Rich’s Houston

Stages Theatre

Theatre Southwest

CHURCHES/SPIRITUAL CENTERS

Thearesouthwest.org.....................713/661-9505

1440 Harold................................... beringumc.org

817 W. Dallas...................................832/722-7658

Bering United Methodist

Complete Male Solutions

George Country Sports Bar

4216 Washington................... PearlHouston.com

2811 Eastman................................. 713/802-2860

Avenue360.org................................713/426-0027

3131 Eastside St, Ste 4...............15281/610-8190

CATERING SERVICES

David Alcorta Catering

Denise O’Doherty, LPC, LMFT, LCDC, RN

Catastrophic Theatre

catastrophictheatre.com...............713/521-4533

mainstreettheater.com................. 713/524-6706

Usacarpetworld.com.................... 281/998-3200

........................................................... 713/447-2164

HEALTH CARE–SERVICES

Avenue 360

Publichealth.harriscountytx.gov..713/439-6293

Dessert Gallery

Carpet World

2600 SW Fwy, Ste 409.................. 713/589-9804 Jeffrey Myles/JM Professional Services

230 Westcott, Ste 210................... 713/869-7400

Visitlakecharles.org/greattimes.... .800/456-7952

CARPET AND FLOORING

D. “Woodja” Flanigan, MS, LPA

Alibi Bar

2409 Grant.......................................opening soon

David Alcorta Catering

DessertGallery.com.......................713-522-9999

West Ave Plastic Surgery /Forrest Roth, MD

........................................................... 281-519-7826

808 Pacific....................................... 713/521-2519

davidalcorta.net............................. 832/439-0224

HEALTH CARE-PLASTIC SURGEONS

Timeless Plastic Surgery

3131 Eastside St., Ste. 435...........713/524-9525

Acadian Bakers

604 W. Alabama.............................713/520-1484

NU-Cuts Hair Salon

Tony’s Corner Pocket

Living Mosaic Church

401 Branard St................................ 832/971-0364

104 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

Bayou City Smiles/Marcus de Guzman, DDS Bayou City Smiles/ Cynthia Corral, DDS

Cory Logan, DDS

530 Waugh Dr................................ 713/942-8598 LifeSmiles by Randy Mitchmore, DDS

1722 W. Alabama........................... 713/592-9300 Bruce W. Smith, DDS/Bruce Smith, DDS

1006 Missouri................................. 713/529-4364

HEALTH CARE-EMERGENCY CENTERS

SignatureCare Emergency Centers

1007 Westheimer............................281/709-2897 1925 TC Jester.................................832/850-4338 1014 Wirt Rd.....................................832/924-0312 Additional locations.......................ercare24.com

Skin Renaissance Laser/Octavio Barrios, MD

HEALTH CARE-RESEARCH STUDIES

UT Health Substance Abuse Study

...........................................................713/486-2635

HEALTH CARE-WEIGHT LOSS CLINICS

Dr. B-Fit/ Octavio Barrios, MD

517 West Gray.................................713/942-7546

HOME FURNISHINGS/ACCESSORIES

Cantoni

9889 Westheimer............................cantoni.com

coda

355 W 19th.......................................713/864-4411 Fountains and Statuary

11804 Hempstead Rd.....................713/957-3672

713-344-4057

Frazier’s Concrete

23200 Hwy.......................................979/921-2906 Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams

4091 Westheimer........................ 832/3976-5130

Jerry Simoneaux for Judge Campaign

...................................................jerryforjudge.com

Dessert Gallery

DessertGallery.com.......................713-522-9999 Free Grillin’/Chef Michele

POOLS & POOL SERVICES

...........................................................832/419-0165

Venture Pools

Giacomo’s Cibo e Vino

HOME REMODELING/RENOVATIONS

........................................................... 713/447-9201

3215 Westheimer............................ 713/522-1934

LuriaConstruction.com................ 713/828-2155

PRINTING/COPY CENTERS

2616 Louisiana................................832/360-1710

Luria Construction

New Slate Properties/Tim Kirby

.......................................................... 713/557-1785

HOME REMODELING/PAINTING

Luria Construction

LuriaConstruction.com.................. 713/828-2155

INSURANCE AGENCIES/AGENTS

Jeffrey Bules/Insurance Associates Group

Insuranceassociatesgroup.com…713/523-9400 Dolan & Palacios

7322 S.W. Fwy, Ste. 1-1888...................832/680-0332 Lane Lewis/Farmers Insurance

2200 North Loop W, Ste 136....... 713/688-8669 Patrick Torma/State Farm

3329 Telephone Road, Ste B.........832/649-4311

Select Jewelers

JEWELERS

2221 S. Voss Rd................................ .713/789-221 Silverlust

1338-C Westheimer....................... 713/520-5440

LANDSCAPING/GARDENING

Joshua’s Native Plants & Antiques

502 W. 18th St.................................713/862-7444

MASSAGE THERAPISTS

Ryan Fugate, RMT

RyanMassageWorks.com..............713/269-7926 Joel Leal, RMT

.......................................................... 713/397-8808

MOVERS

All My Sons Moving & Storage

AllMySons.com/Houston..…..…281/612-7973

PEST CONTROL SERVIC

Andy’s All Star Pest Control

Gloria’s Latin Cuisine

Copy.com

1201-F Westheimer......................... 713/528-1201

PRINTING/SIGNAGE

Jenni’s Noodle House

Alpha Graphics Sugar Land

11925 Southwest Frwy...................832/886-4311

PSYCHIC READERS

Readings by LA

readingbyLA.com...........................832/856-2188

REAL ESTATE-COMMERCIAL

Presidium/Westpark Houston Investors LP

PresidiumRE.com......................... 713/955-3773

Interlinc Mortgage/Cody Grizzoffi

REAL ESTATE–REALTORS

ichoosejared.com.......................... 832/570-5726

Brooks Ballard/Engel & Volkers

309 Gray........................................... 713/522-7474 Taylor Black/Nan Properties

2200 Post Oak Blvd., Ste. 1475... 915/999-6364 David Bowers/The House Company/Galveston

Molly’s Mutthouse

3407 Montrose................................832/581-2453 3410 N. Shepherd......................... 713/426-6888 2755 Vossdale.................................281/501-9062 Spay-Neuter Assistance Program

Snapus.org.......................................713/862-3863 West Alabama Animal Clinic

2030 W. Alabama...........................713/528-0818

Mike Copenhaver Remax Metro

mikecopenhaver@remax.net..... 713/528-4963 Thomas Eureste/Nan Properties

Rene Ibarra Camiba/Karen Derr Realty Kelli Lines/Keller Williams Realty

www.har.com/kellilines............... 281/793-8488 Karen Derr/Karen Derr Realty

karenderr.com................................713/875-7050

Martha Turner Properties

Marthaturner.com.......................... 713/520-1981

2200 Post Oak Blvd., Ste.1475...... 713/557-1936

5900 Richmond Ave.......................713/789-6901

...........................................................346/234-1001

PLUMBING

redunlocked.com........................... 832/654-3293

Nicksplumbing.com.......................713/597-8624

Tomsgalvestonrealestate.com......713-857-2309

5403 Kirby...........................713/224-DRIP(3747) Ellen Cohen

POLITICIANS

districtc@houstontx.gov.............. 832/393.3004 Garnet Coleman

GarnetColeman.com......................713/520-5355 Jim Kovach for Judge Campaign

.................................................kovachforjudge.org Mike Laster

districtj@houstontx.gov................832.393.3015

WEDDING SERVICES - SERVICES Bradley David Entertainment

204 Marshall St. #5........................713/487-6076 Darker Side DJs & Karaoke

DarkerSidedjs.com....................... 281/542-3555 Harmony Strings String Quartet

....................................www.harmonystrings.com

tanspire.com...................................713/955-1232

TRAVEL/TRAVEL AGENCIES

Aquafest

Concierge Travel, Inc

4920 Mimosa....................................713/661-2117 Lafayette Travel

LafayetteTravel.com...................... 800/346-1958 Lake Charles

Thank You for supporting our advertisers!

Visitlakecharles.org/greattimes.. 800/456-7952 Casa Azur

VACATION RENTALS

CasaAzurCosta Rica.com..............832/541-3704

Get listed on this page. Call 713/520-7237.

IDEAL FOR SUMMER INTERNS When business or pleasure brings you to Houston for a month or more, why not make L’Emerson your address?

Debbie Levine/Greenwood King Properties

PHOTOGRAPHY

Village Plumbing & Appliance

yvonnefeece.com...........................832/876-1053

Wadeknight.com............................ 713/582-0264

5023 Washington........................... 713/868-7226

1424 Montrose................................ 713-942-2277

DaltonDehart.com..........................713/622-2202

Wade Knight / Martha Turner

yvonnefeece.com...........................832/876-1053

U-Plumb-It Plumbing Supply

WEDDING SERVICES-PHOTOGRAPHERS

2200 Post Oak Blvd., Ste. 1475.... 713/703-0217

Lynette Lew/Better Homes and Gardens LynetteLew.com........................713/582-2202 Vinod Ramani/Urban Living Realtors

Nick’s Plumbing & Sewer Services

2811 Eastman................................. 713/802-2860

Ashton Martini/Martha Turner Properties .................................................... 832/878-7686 Jason Nguyen/Nan Properties

DaltonDehart.com..........................713/622-2202

Houston Camera Exchange

davidalcorta.net............................. 832/439-0224 Jim Benton of Houston Catering

Jeremy Fain/Greenwood King Properties

...........................................................713/942-6857

Yvonne Feece Photography

WEDDING SERVICES - CATERERS David Alcorta Catering

2200 Post Oak Blvd., Ste. 1475.. .832/866-3206

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Dalton DeHart Photography

TanSpire

David@DavidBowers.com..........409/763-2800

Karenderr.com................................713/446-8331

Midtown Veterinary Hospital

Premier Wireless

Aquafestcruises.com.....................800/592-9058

Jared Anthony/NextHome Realty Center

PET SERVICES& SUPPLIES

MidtownVetHospital.com............ 713-528-4900

Urban Eats

3414 Washington Ave.........feasturbaneats.com

TANNING SALONS

3815 Garrott St, Ste 202 B............. 832/541-1103

DessertGallery.com.......................713-522-9999

Yvonne Feece-Tran Photography

1117 Missouri St.............................. 713/529-3450

REAL ESTATE–MORTGAGE/TITLE

3700 Buffalo Speedway.................713/418-7000

Dessert Gallery

Dalton DeHart Photography

12220 Murphy................................ 281/575-8500

Chicago Title –Inner Loop

David Alcorta Catering

davidalcorta.net............................. 832/439-0224

Riva’s Italian Restaurant

1902 Westheimer........................... 713/528-9020

...........................................................281/819-0055

Shenice Brown/EXP Realty

604 W. Alabama.............................713/520-1484

Raising Cane’s

TELEPHONES/CELL/WIRELESS

...........................................................713/677-4337

www.lastwishes.com.....................713/452-0474

3111 S. Shepherd.............................713/523-7600 602 E. 20th St. ................................713/862-3344 2027 Post Oak Blvd........................713/621-4200 3773 Richmond...............................713/714-8258

REAL ESTATE - INVESTORS

........................................................... 713/732-7742 Last Wishes

Hamburger Mary’s

2409 Grant.......................................713/677-0674

WEDDING SERVICES - BAKERS Acadian Bakers

Ronda Ross/Nan Properties

Marc Ruiz/ReMax Metro Red & Co. Real Estate

Tom Schwenk/Tom’s Galveston Real Estate Bobby Sullivan/United Realty

unitedrealtyadvisors.com............ 713/482-9889

• All the amenities of home.

VJ Tramonte/Joe Tramonte Realty

1802 Broadway/Galveston........... 409/765-9837

• Ideally situated in the Montrose-Midtown area.

Andy Weber/John Daugherty Realtors

520 Post Oak................................... 713/724-4306

• Much more affordable than a downtown hotel room.

RESTAURANTS/COFFEE/WINE BARS

Tom Fricke, Proprietor

Acadian Bakers

604 W.Alabama..............................713/520-1484

Auntie Chang’s Dumpling House

2621 S. Shepherd, #290................713/524-8410 Danton’s Gulf Coast Seafood Kitchen

4611 Montrose Blvd...................... 713/807-8889

210 Emerson Street • Houston, Texas 77006 www.LEmerson.net OutSmartMagazine.com | AUGUST 2018 | 105

LEmersonad_May15.indd 1

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OutSmart Marketplace

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EMPLOYMENT

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CHURCHES

Call Miss Classified at 713/520-7237 ext. 10

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David Bowers

david@davidbowers.com 409-763-2800

106 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

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BOUTIQUEEYECARE.COM OutSmartMagazine.com | AUGUST 2018 | 107

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Helping you reach your full potential! 2211 Norfolk St., Suite 206, Houston, TX 77098 www.Houston-Psychologist.com | 713-589-9804 For mental health news, and information, you can follow me at

www.facebook.com/Flanigan.psychotherapy 108 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

SignOut continued from page 112

are re-examining your resources to see how you can improve your financial situation in the future. With Mercury retrograde in this area of your horoscope, it is the perfect time to scrutinize your monetary habits. With all of this energy around you, this can be a time where you are considering starting your own business, retiring and doing what you’ve always wanted to do, or selling everything and trying to live off grid. By the end of the month, you will feel clearer and ready to take action on your ideas. AQUARIUS (January 20–February 18). In July, you had plenty of ideas and were ready to put all of them into action. With Mars, planet of action, now retrograding in your sign, you have pulled back and are rethinking those plans. And with Mercury retrograding in your opposite sign, you have slowed your forward movement and are taking care of issues from the past. All of this will change by the end of this month, so you only have a short amount of time to complete ongoing projects. This is a good month to pay attention to your relationships and

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to improve communications and bad habits that have developed over time. By the end of the month, both Mars and Mercury will be moving forward—and so will you. Career opportunities continue to open up, and you will feel a lot more comfortable about acting on them next month. PISCES (February 19–March 20). You are working on cleaning up your office area at work, and generally getting your life more organized. This is also a good time to renew health and exercise programs, or to take care of an existing condition that you have been ignoring. Your pets will demand more time from you, as they want to feel special and significant in your life. Toward the end of the month, relationships will require your focus. If you are involved, this is a good time to renew those connections and to remember why you are together. If you’re single, the end of the month and September are good times for you to be putting yourself out there. Your career area is slowly beginning to get busier. You may be looking at writing, publishing, or studying abroad. Life does get busier!

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BAR & CLUB GUIDE HOUSTON ALIBI Located right next to Hamburger Mary’s, this dance club is party central for Houston’s circuit crowd and even features late night dancing till 4am on Friday and Saturdays weekly! Be sure to check out the official Dirty Disco Saturdays with JD Arnold from the Billboard hit remix duo Dirty Disco. 2409 Grant • 713.522.2867 BARCODE Houston’s newest bar with happy hours from 11am to 8pm daily, this new neighborhood watering hole is a great place to see Drag Shows and Strippers Tuesdays - Saturdays and Karaoke Sundays & Mondays. 817 Fairview St. • 713.526.2625 barcodehouston.net BLUR Multi-level dance club featuring an upstairs lounge and balconies. Ladies enjoy Wet and Wild Wed., 18-year-olds welcome Thurs., Latin night on Sun. Happy hour 8–10pm; free cover before 11pm. 710 Pacific St. • blurbar.com. CLUB 2020 Located downtown, this urban club features Clubbers Friday with male and female dancers. Its 6,400 square feet also offers theater-sized viewing screens and VIP rooms. 2020 Leeland • 713.227. 9667 club2020houston.com. CLUB CRYSTAL Find many of Inergy’s former staff and décor at this two-room Latin/hip-hop club. Sunday evening drag shows rule the roost. 6680 Southwest Frwy, next to Colorado 713.278.2582 • crystaltheclub.com.

HOURS:

C OR N P OC K E E

JR’S BAR & GRILL This Montrose standard offers drag and strip shows throughout the week, karaoke Thurs. and Sun., plus pool tables and male dancers. 808 Pacific St. • 713.521.2519 jrsbarandgrill. com. MICHAEL’S OUTPOST Jerry Atwood, Clay Howell, Neil Massey, Steve Wheaton, and Roger Woest take turns at the keys at this comfortable neighborhood piano bar. 1419 Richmond Ave. • 713.520.8446.

PEARL BAR This LGBT-friendly lounge in the Washington corridor features daily

$ 50

WHAT THE DUCK SHOW! Wednesdays, 8:30pm

There’s always something going on at:

TONY’S CORNER POCKET

817 W. Dallas • 713/571-7870

Houston’s Hottest Male Amateur Strip Contest Headquarters! Nightly Specials – Call for Details Cold Beverages & Hot Guys!

110 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com Tonys_Corner_BG_Mar16.indd 1

EAGLE Part of the Eagle worldwide family, it’s the definitive home to the man’s man - leather, bear, jock or muscle, you’ll find them here! DJs every night, multiple patios and a leather/accessories shop inside the bar. Noon-2am every day, 611 Hyde Park, 713.523.BIRD

GEORGE Regulars rule at this comfortable neighborhood sports bar. Sports Saturdays and

617 Fairview • Houston, Texas • 713.528.8102

TONY’S

HAMBURGER MARY’S You’ll also find many a RuPau’s Drag Race girl on stage along with stand up comedy and a charity game night. Voted as Houston’s Best Drag Bar and Best Hamburger by our readers, this is a must stop for family dining by day and late night cocktails. 2409 Grant St • Hamburgermarys.com

CROCKER BAR This comfortably remodeled Montrose nightspot also offers karaoke on Tuesdays and Thursdays and extended happy-hour prices throughout the week. 2312 Crocker • 713.529.3355.

Vodka Drinks

Mon-Sat 7am–2am Sunday 12pm–2am

GUAVA LAMP This trendy and friendly video and cruise bar gets busy during happy hour and stays busy ‘til closing. Karaoke on Wed. and Sun. 570 Waugh Dr. • 713.524.3359 guavalamphouston.com.

NEON BOOTS DANCEHALL & SALOON Houston’s only LGBTQ country dancehall opens Wednesday–Sunday. Wednesday features Steak Night and Bingo. Free dance classes on Thursdays and Karaoke. 11410 Hempstead Hwy 713.677.0828 • neonbootsclub.com.

All SPORTS BAR

Sundays start at 3pm with dart and pool tournaments. 617 Fairview • 713.528.8102.

2/24/16 12:32 PM

BEHIND

the BAR What is your favorite shot to make? To drink? Surprisingly, the Raspberry Kamikaze is my favorite to make and drink. Recipe: Vodka, Triple Sec and Chambord. Where is your favorite place to drink when not on duty? The Eagle, of course…

JR’s Bar & Grill A Taste of New Orleans in Montrose

- A LWAYS A

804-808 Pacific St. | 713.521.2519 jrshouston.com | Twitter @jrshouston

Houston’s most iconic and largest LGBTQ dance club NO COVER BEFORE 10:30pm

What are you best known for? Kamikazes and Appletinis. What is the best and worst holiday to work? Why? Pride Day is the best and worst.

COLTON GAUL

Mary’s Alibi 2409 Grant St, Houston Wednesdays, Fridays – Sundays thealibi.com/marys

highlights like open mic night, steak night, and drink specials. 4216 Washington • pearlhouston.com. RICH’S HOUSTON Houston’s most iconic and largest LGBT dance club, with multiple levels featuring a video/show bar and a private VIP lounge. No cover before 10:30 p.m. 2401 San Jacinto • 281.846.6685 richsnightclub.com.

Biggest tip from one customer? $100, this year at Pride. If you weren’t a bartender… what career would you choose? I have always been a bartender.

BRYAN/ COLLEGE STATION HALO VIDEO BAR The only LGBT dance club in Bryan/College station, this sleek spot is open Thurs.–Sat. smack in the middle of Aggieland. 121 North Main • 979.823.6174 • halobcs.com.

23RD ST. STATION The bar features daily drink specials and the weekend is filled with pulsing music hot dancers, drag shows, and a Sunday Tea Dance. 1706 23rd St. • 409.621.1808.

RUDYARD’S The eclectic British pub is known for its craft beers as well as for the burgers. Most weekends you’ll find up-and-coming local bands rocking the house. 2010 Waugh Dr. • 713.521.0521 • rudyardspub.com.

ROBERT’S LAFITTE The Island institution features a private patio with swimming pool. On Sat. and Sun. nights, the Ladies of Lafitte show takes the stage. 2501 Avenue Q (at 25th) • 409.765.9092.

TONY’S CORNER POCKET This comfortable club has one of the friendliest bar staffs in town. Amateur dance contest each Thurs., Fri., & Sat. at 11pm. Opens daily at noon. 817 W. Dallas • 713.571.7870 tonyscornerpocketbar.com.

Best Steak Night at a Bar Winner

Pop-up Cooking Events, Catering & Private Chef GUAVA LAMP Tuesday Nights GEORGE SPORTS BAR Thursday Nights CHEF MICHELE 832.419.0165

freegrillin/

/chefmichelefree

RUMORS BEACH BAR Drink specials every night and daily day drinking specials starting at Noon. Great drag shows Friday – Sunday and karaoke Sunday – Thursday at 8p. Sunday Drag Bingo. 3102 Seawall Blvd. • 409.497.4617 rumorsbeachbar.com SPRING

VIVIANA’S Happening weekend-only gay dance club with Latin DJs, singers, talent shows & Sunday strippers. 4624 Dacoma • 713.681.4104.

RANCH HILL SALOON With its two pool tables, 52-inch plasma televisions, and large dance floor, this popular northside spot also offers DJs Thursday–Saturday. 247041 I-45N Suite 103 • 281.298.9035 • ranchhill.com.

BEAUMONT

THE ROOM BAR AND LOUNGE This bar and video lounge has a laid-back atmosphere including daily drink specials, karaoke, free pool, drag shows, and live DJs several nights a week.

ORLEANS STREET PUB AND PATIO The place to hang for food, fun, and booze in a newly renovated pub, in good weather or bad. Open every night from 7pm–2am. 650 Orleans • 409.835.4243.

2401 San Jacinto • Houston, TX • RichsNightclub.com

GALVESTON

THE RIPCORD This multi-roomed leather bar boasts a busy patio, especially on the weekends. The Forge shop located inside the club. Saturday nights with DJ Tad Dvorak 715 Fairview Ave • 713.521.2792.

SOUTH BEACH Closed for remodeling.

PA R T Y -

OutSmartMagazine.com |

AUGUST 2018

| 111

S ign O ut

By Lilly Roddy

Go Slow, Take Your Time . . . and don’t miss the details!

s we start the month, Mercury remains retrograde until August 23. Mercury retrograde is the time to take care of old projects and reconnect with existing clients, but not a good time to start new projects, buy a car, buy a phone, or have a medical test. Put that off until the end of the month if possible. The next Mercury retrograde is from November 10 through December 11, so plan ahead. And don’t forget about the eclipse on the 11th in Leo—it will have the biggest influence on the Leos, Taureans, Scorpios, and Aquarians. Mars, planet of action, also remains retrograde until mid-September. August is the perfect month to go slow, take your time, and not miss any details! ARIES (March 21–April 19). For the last few months, you have been really focused on getting your act together with career and long-term security choices. This month, you are in a more playful mood and should be looking to get away from your routines. This is a great time to spend with your children, or to just be more childlike. By the end of the month, you are ready to get back to your normal routines and get your life more organized. Relationships also improve. This is a good time to renew those bonds with your partner. Make sure your communications with others are clear! TAURUS (April 20–May 20). Home and family is the focus during the first part of the month. We are working on making our nest a more comfortable place to live. With Mercury retrograde in the same area, this can be a good time to get in touch with distant family members, finish your home organizing and cleanup projects, and speak your mind on topics that particularly resonate with you. Your temper may be short this month, and you will resist doing things you don’t want to do. Watch your temper, as you may be acting out for personal reasons rather than the real issue at hand. By the end of the month, you are ready to get away from all of this and possibly take a short vacation! GEMINI (May 21–June 21). With your ruling planet, Mercury, retrograde until the end of this month, communications are even more important than usual. You may experience more delays with daily travel, more problems being heard, and the need to redo work that you thought you’d already finished. Your multitasking skills aren’t working as well as they usually do, so slow down and reduce the number of objects you’re juggling. With Mercury retrograde, it’s always a good time to reconnect with old friends, take care of projects you’ve been avoiding, and get those finances in order. By midmonth, you are beginning to focus on home and family topics. After the 23rd, you will be ready to act on what you’ve been thinking about.

CANCER (June 22–July 22). Finances, death, and expenditures are the main focus for this month. With Mercury retrograde strongly influencing this area of your horoscope, this is the perfect time to deal with old problems and get them cleaned up. This can also be a month where you spend more money than you usually do—but for necessities rather than pleasure. Toward the end of the month, you’re feeling more organized and are using your time more efficiently. With groups, organizations, and friends, you are reevaluating your participation. You will be looking for new acquaintances that can turn into long-term friendships. By the very end of the month, you are beginning to focus on making your home a nicer and more comfortable place. LEO (July 23–August 22). Happy birthday to the Lions and Lionesses! This is your personal yearly cycle of evaluating the goals that you set for yourself last year and looking to set new ones this year. With Mercury retrograde in your sign, and with Mars, planet of action, retrograde as well, this is a much better month to consider new plans of action—but not necessarily to act on them until the end of the month. All of your important relationships need some attention, so this is a great time to get out of town and renew those bonds. If not, your partner could be unusually grouchy and harder to please. You are also feeling restless about your career direction. You are looking for something that really resonates with your heart, rather than just pushing the rock uphill every day. The end of the month is a much better time to address all of these issues. VIRGO (August 23–September 22). As the month begins, you are in a place of spiritual retreat as you isolate yourself from the onslaught of daily news and activities. This can be a great time for a vacation to the beach or a lake, taking a meditation or yoga class, or just turning off your phone so you can find some inner peace. You are also in the process of letting go of past goals and events that you once participated in, because you’re looking for new ways to express this side of your personality. Toward the end of the month, you will be feeling back on track and ready to act on ideas that have been percolating in your brain. It will be easier to get yourself back to your routines and pay more attention to your health regimen. LIBRA (September 23–October 23). Friendships and group associations are being reexamined as Mercury

112 | AUGUST 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com

retrograde activates this area of your horoscope. For activities that don’t have a real purpose or agenda, you are withdrawing and looking for other organizations to satisfy this side of you. Personal relationships aren’t working as well, either. Your partner may be in a funky mood, and nothing that you do seems to improve the situation. First, don’t blame yourself! They are sure what they want, but that will clear up by the end of the month. Home and family responsibilities, such as taking care of aging family members or making home repairs, are also very important this month. And with the existing retrogrades, this is a perfect time to take care of old problems. Our mood lightens a heck of a lot by the end of the month. SCORPIO (October 24–November 21). You continue to be as busy as you have been for the last five to six months. Mercury is retrograding in your career sector this month. If there are problems in that area, this is the ideal time for them to come to the surface so that you can address them and find a solution. You will find that some of your previous activities no longer support your career goals. Relationships can feel restrictive if your partner isn’t open to examining new ideas and refreshing the whole feel of your relationship. By midmonth you are clearer about the path you want to follow, and ready to make a commitment to that process. In the latter part of the month, friends are especially important to offer support and alternative views that can help you see your way around problems. SAGITTARIUS (November 22–December 21). You are ready for a break from your responsibilities, or even a vacation. This is a wonderful month to reconnect with friends or to revisit some of your favorite getaway spots. The only problem area has to do with your finances. You are working hard to get all of that in order and get rid of debt that limits your mobility. By the end of the month, you are ready to get back to your routines. Career and self-promotion are areas that you will strongly focus on during August and September. It’s also much easier to change or improve exercise and eating programs this month. Your home remains a place of retreat and refuge. You will need some escape time, especially into next month. CAPRICORN (December 22–January 19). As this month begins, there are three big planets in Capricorn: Saturn, the ruler of Capricorn; Pluto, the planet of deconstruction; and Mars, the planet of action and confrontation. All three are putting enormous pressure on you to take action and make real changes in your life. The eclipse last month was a big trigger for the dissatisfaction you feel, and a call to change. You continued on page 109

Kindred Spirits Celebration Dance SUPPORTING WOMEN & THEIR FRIENDS FOR 38 YEARS

Friday, August 17, 2018 | 7 p.m. - Midnight New Venue! The Ballroom at Bayou Place | 500 Texas St. | Houston, Texas 77002

Tickets available online at www.montrosecenter.org/ksdance or call (713) 800-0872 Benefiting the Montrose Center’s Women’s Programs: AssistHers - Lesbian Health Initiative - SPRY Senior Women’s Programs A Program of