David Magazine v7_i41 | Atlanta Pride 2023

DAVID

I N T H I

OCT 11, 2023

V7-41 PRIDE

DAVID Magazine

Peach Media

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MANAGING PARTNER & OPERATIONS

Brian Sawyer brian@davidatlanta.com

EDITORIAL & SOCIAL MEDIA

Editor-in-Chief

Mikkel Hyldebrandt mikkel@davidatlanta.com

SALES | EVENTS

Josh King Josh@davidatlanta.com

Russ Bowen-Youngblood

DISTRIBUTION

Some Cute Guy

CONTRIBUTORS

Russ Bowen-Youngblood

Chris Azzopardi

Mark Dawson

NATIONAL AD REP Rivendell Media 908.232.2021

COVER IMAGE By Josh Murtha

Leading Queer Kids to a Better Life

By Chris Azzopardi

Photos: Denny Denn, The Riker Brothers

Wilson Cruz doesn’t love thinking too much about his childhood in Michigan, but he won’t deny his years growing up in Holland either. The Tulip Time Parades. The Windmill Island Gardens. The report he wrote on then President Gerald Ford. “I think back at that and I’m like, ‘Wow, that was full-on indoctrination that they were doing,’” he says.

But it really does get better for some. It did for Cruz — the 49-year-old actor and activist became the first openly gay actor to play an openly gay high schooler on primetime TV while starring in “My SoCalled Life” as Ricky Vasquez in 1994.

As for third and fourth grade in smalltown Michigan? “It’s not something I like to remember,” Cruz says during a recent Zoom call. It was also during that time that the “Star Trek: Discovery” actor realized others were catching onto what he already felt — that “I wasn’t a sportplaying ‘normal’ boy,” he says. When his family moved to the suburbs of Los Angeles, he experienced much of the same as a young singer and dancer. “I was the antithesis of what they thought a boy my age should be,” he recalls.

“I remember there were some male teachers who tried to push me in another direction, fearful of my effeminate tendencies as they saw it,” Cruz adds. “And I think that leaves a scar for any child. Like, ‘Oh, am I not OK?’ Is there something wrong with me? And we’re seeing that now. The very people who are supposed to be protecting our students, who are supposed to be championing them and inspiring them to be their best, are the very people causing damage.” Now chair of the board at GLSEN, a 33-year-old multi-racial, intergenerational organization that has worked to ensure that LGBTQ+ students are able to learn and grow in a school environment free from bullying and harassment, Cruz brings his own school experiences to his activism and fundraising for the youth advocacy group. As LGBTQ+ kids are currently up against a hostile climate for queer people, particularly in schools, GLSEN — and Wilson’s role within it — is especially vital.

Where does your mind go now on what kids are experiencing when you think about what you went through as a gay kid growing up in Holland? Just look around the country, over

650 some anti-LGBTQ and anti-trans bills around the country. Look at North Carolina where the legislature has just overridden a governor’s veto and are now passing three major laws that hamper the school experience for LGBTQ students. And it’s infuriating to me that here we are in 2023, 40 years after the outcry and activism of those people in the ’80s who fought and died for our right to exist. And we’re still fighting very similar battles. And they lose these battles all the time, and they never learn the lesson. And that’s what’s really infuriating. North Carolina hasn’t learned its lesson. There was the bathroom bill in 2019 that was overturned in 2020, and here we are three years later dealing with something even worse. And there will be a backlash. They will suffer the consequences of this overriding of vetoes in the election. Parents vote. Kids grow up and vote. They will feel the heat from this. Make no mistake about it.

Hearing your history, it just seems like this role at GLSEN is a perfect match. How did your past as a gay kid inform why you stepped up?

My relationship with GLSEN, it has been a long one. It has always been something that I’ve always felt very passionate about. I always felt like it was a good fit for me just because of, let’s just say it straight out: I was the first gay teen on television. I think Ricky Vasquez was an education for an entire generation of young people and their parents. And so having been fortunate enough to be the person who played that role, I think [that] comes with some responsibility. I’ve always felt that. And working with GLSEN was a direct way to deal with the issues that I felt passionate about and that Ricky Vasquez himself had to deal with. I felt like I could connect those dots for a lot of people.

That being said, being on the board and being the board chair are two very different things. And I was hesitant to take on the role, to be honest with you, just because I am a working actor, obviously.

And sometimes that work, when we’re not on strike, calls me to not be as available as I should be or I can be. And so that’s why I wanted a vice chair, a powerful voice to be able to fill in when I couldn’t. And Imara Jones is the perfect person for that, believe me.

So I took it on because this moment in our history requires GLSEN to be incredibly visible. And if there’s one thing that I can help with is that visibility. For better or worse, within our community and within the media, I can use my platform in that way to highlight the work that GLSEN does, but also to rally support. I think that’s my job: to support the work of the staff and our executive director and her staff, who I love so deeply. But also to sound the alarm, to use my voice to say that GLSEN is here and we have the resources and the capacity to make a difference in this fight in terms of the education of our queer youth.

What’s a day in your life as chair of the board at GLSEN?

This is a turning point for the organization. This is our 33rd year. There’s a new executive director. The first time that this organization has a leadership team that is all people of color and non-binary and trans [people]. We are covering the gamut, and we look like the people who need GLSEN the most. So it’s a turning point for the organization. We are revamping. And really recreating this organization for this specific moment.

The way that we look at it is if we make schools better and safer for a young Black trans girl, then everyone benefits from that. So that’s our vision. How do we make school a place that is the safest place for a young trans African-American girl or a person of color to excel to live up to their potential? Because if they can do it, then everyone else also benefits from those efforts. So my job is to help envision an organization that can support that goal. And I raise money. I’m fundraising. We need money in order to do that work.

What would be GLSEN’s role in making sure that a young trans person of color at a school feels protected, safe and comfortable?

We fight for comprehensive policies. Passing and implementing comprehensive policies that support LGBTQ youth to make sure that they’re safe in those schools. We work to make sure that there are supportive educators in every public school in this country. So that there’s at least one person from elementary school through high school that a queer student knows they can go to. We are kind of the central hub of GSAs. Those used to be called the Gay-Straight Alliances, but now they are Gender-Sexuality Alliances.

Can you tell me how the name evolved into Gender-Sexuality Alliances?

It came from the students. And also it happened because of the evolution of our movement. There was so much about our movement and our organizations that were gay and lesbian centric. You look at our history and we, for way too long, ignored our trans siblings. And so that’s why organizations like GLAAD changed their name just to the acronym. It’s why we will probably be doing the same thing very soon. But the GSAs, that came from students. We are sometimes led by our youth, thank god. And also we want to make sure that within the curriculum, that it is a comprehensive curriculum that includes our history. When young people see themselves in their history, how we got here, what we’ve been through, they feel seen. They learn those lessons.

Now, the problem with all of those things, even though we know that those are the things that work, those are literally the things that the opposition is working against. So our work is difficult and it is ongoing, but we have the ears of leaders in the federal government, at the state level, at the local level. So we have access to the change makers who can help us make that change. Now, I’m not being pollyannaish and thinking that this is easy and that it’s just like us walking in and going, “Oh, this is what you have to do.” So much of our work is finding the local leaders and the students and educators who we can help in supporting [our] four pillars. So that’s how we help an African-American trans student. And when all of those things are in place, even the white kids benefit.

Who were the people who made you feel safe in school?

Well, what’s interesting is there were no teachers who were blatantly supportive of what they called “gay rights” then. But there were some teachers who signaled to me and to my friends, who I’ll get to, that they were a place that we could go. So yes, I’m thinking of a specific English teacher. But for the most part in high school, my support came from a group of friends of mine who all came out to each other in our junior year of high school.

Now, believe it or not, I was the last one. Because I was also dealing with my own machismo father and all of that at home. And it was rough. But having those four people, and they were all of different ethnicities, we were all in the same class. A couple of them were incredibly politically active. We have to remember that this was literally the height of the AIDS epidemic. So we were living in fear. Everything that we read and heard about being gay, as we were, pointed to our deaths. So it felt existential. It felt bleak. But with each other, we found a lot of hope and a lot of joy. And I remember toward our senior year, we all went to our first Pride festival together, where I met my first boyfriend, by the way. We got taunted on a daily basis.

Now, I will also say that all five of us together ran that school in the end, even though we got so much shit. But I was in every play at my high school. I was the star of the show choir. I was in the band, I was in the student council. So were a couple of other of us. We kind of were this Justice League. We were smart enough and gregarious enough as a group that we could take all that shit that people were saying about us, let it fly off of us, like water off a duck’s back. And as a big F you to them, we were also the most successful people at our school. And that’s just the way we survived. But those people literally saved my life. And I know that I, and along with other ones, saved other people. I’m not going to say we weren’t depressed. There was death happening all around us. In the middle of my high school experience, I lost my uncle to AIDS. It was an insane time. And I won’t lie — by the time we got out of high school, we were exhausted of our

own resilience.

I’m curious to know what kind of advice you would offer a student who is struggling with being bullied like you were. What would you tell that kid? First and foremost, I would say, and I hate to say this, but school is temporary. School is not the entire world. I would tell them to do everything they possibly could to get the best possible education they can where they are, but to keep their eye on the door. Because they’re going to get out one day and the thing that they’ll need most is that diploma and the ability to go to college and live up to their potential. And that there are places like GLSEN who have their back, who are fighting every day to make sure that their school experience is better.

I would say to them to find a teacher, a parent, a fellow student, a therapist, and say out loud all of the things that they’re experiencing that bothers them. Because having that outlet is incredibly important for a young person. But that this moment, as difficult as it is, is temporary. It’s what I told people during the height of the pandemic. I was like, “This is temporary. This moment will pass.”

And I say this to our movement as well. We have seen worse than this, and we have overcome worse than this. The success of our movement is not a straight line. The success of any movement is not a straight line. There is always going to be a backlash. Our job as members of this community is to not allow them to kill our spirits. To understand that we have nothing to be ashamed of, that we represent the best of what love can do. We are literally fighting for the right to love and to exist as who we actually are.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

. Chris Azzopardi is the Editorial Director of Pride Source Media Group and Q Syndicate, the national LGBTQ+ wire service. He has interviewed a multitude of superstars, including Cher, Meryl Streep, Mariah Carey and Beyoncé. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, GQ and Billboard. Reach him via Twitter @chrisazzopardi.

Where’s the

Atlanta Pride is here, and with a slew of parties and events for your amusement and pleasure. While you can’t possibly attend all of them, we wanted to provide you with a lineup of the parties that we will be waving the Pride flag. You should also check out the official Atlanta Pride lineup elsewhere in this magazine. And remember be kind, be safe, be respectful, and tip those who work to make this Pride a glistening rainbow for you.

Thursday, October 12

The Golden Hour - Deep South Pride Kickoff

Clermont Hotel Rooftop

6-11 pm

Country Pride

Heretic

8 pm

After Dark Pride Kickoff

Party X Midtown

Showtime at midnight

Weekend Warmup with DJ Karlitos and Jerac

Future @ 10 pm

Friday, October 13

Pride Kickoff Party

Georgia Aquarium

7-11 pm

Show Your Pride with Alex Costa and Alex Lo

Believe Music Hall

9 pm – 2 am

PARTY

X-Rated with Chris Cox

X Midtown

10:30 pm – 3 am

Aquarium Pride Kickoff

After Party with DJ GSP

Heretic

9 pm – 2 am

Friday Pride with DJ Ryan Willing

Atlanta Eagle

11 pm – 3 am

Deep South Pride

Takeover

Banshee (EAV)

11pm – close

Afterglow with DJ Paulo and Seth Breezy

Future @ 3 am

Saturday, October 14

Tea by Queen Butch – Todd Terry/Bears In Space

Heretic (Outdoor)

2-8 pm

Octo Octa/Vicki Powell

b2b Brendy

Alexis Curshé/Brian

Rojas/Wildcherry

Future

10 pm – 3 am

Main Event with Sagi

Kariv and Tony Moran

The Coca-Cola Roxy

9 pm – 2 am

Heretic Pride with DJ Ben

Bakson

Heretic

9 pm – 2 am

The Starz Party with Tracy Young

X Midtown

10:30 pm – 3 am

Saturday Pride with DJ

iCharlie

Atlanta Eagle

11 pm – 2 am

Pride at BJ’s – Special Guest Shawnna Brooks

BJ Roosters

Afterglow 2 with Abel and Cindel

Future @ 3 am

Sunday, October 15

High Tea with DJ

JustinFace

X Midtown

1 pm

Medusa Pride Tea Dance with DJ Adham and Chocolate Chip

Piedmont Garden Tent

2-5 pm

Atlanta Pride Tea Dance

Atlanta Eagle

4 pm

Sunday Service – The Last Supper

Sister Louisa’s Church

7 pm – midnight

Pride Closing Party with Micky Friedman and Twisted Dee

Masquerade

9 pm – 2 am

Heretic Pride Sunday with Isis Muretech

Heretic

9 pm – 2 am

Sunday Pride with DJ

Valverra

Atlanta Eagle

10 pm – 2 am

No Spills Queen Butch

Pride Closing Party – DJ Minx/Leonce/NSA

Future

9 pm – 3 am

Afterglow 3 with Nina

Flowers and Sam Gee

Future @ 3 am

Monday, October 16

Morning Party with DJ

Deanne and Martin Fray

Heretic

7 am

Monday Revival with DJ

Kardona and Mohammad

Future @ 10 pm

21 Peachtree Place NW, Atlanta, GA 30309 á (404) 872-4897

www.macsbeerandwine.com

Proudly serving Midtown Atlanta since 1987! Located in the heart of Midtown at the corner of West Peachtree Street and Peachtree Place, Mac’s is a quick 5 minute walk from the Pride Parade route and close to all other Pride Celebra�ons. We are fully stocked with all the Beer, Wine and Liquor, and any sodas/mixers/cups you need to celebrate Atlanta Pride! Free parking is available in our parking lot while you shop, and online ordering with instore pickup and limited local delivery now available.

Store Hours

Monday-Wednesday 10:00AM-10:00PM

Thursday 10:00AM-11:00PM

Friday-Saturday 9:00AM-11:00PM

Sunday 11:00AM-8:00PM

Midtown

MARTA

Sta�on

A Vibrant Collision

Edited by Mikkel Hyldebrandt

In a vibrant collision of cultures and musical talents, independent recording artist Kaien Cruz, a queer South African singer/songwriter, has released an infectious alternative version of their viral Afropop-infused anthem “I Lay.” The track features the soulful vocals of Kenyan crooner Xenia Manasseh and is now available to stream on all digital platforms via The Orchard.

Co-produced by Glass Animal’s Edmund Irwin-Singer alongside Alli Valenzuela and Joshua Choo, “I Lay” is more than just a song; it’s an anthem about the power of intuitive love and cosmic energy. With potent vocals and the universal language of musical expression, this infectious tune takes listeners on a mesmerizing journey filled with curiosity, expansion, pure joy, and ecstasy.

Kaien Cruz, whose preferred pronouns are they/them, expressed their excitement for the collaboration, saying, “Immediately after writing the original song I knew I wanted to hear it with a feature. Xenia sounds so perfect on it when she first sent me her verse I totally freaked out. The harmonies and the way it flows is effortless.”

They continue, “I wrote this song in an hour, and honestly, it just flowed straight out of me. I wanted to portray the feeling of total ease in love and life. ‘I Lay’ is my pure expression of what it means to be in love and connection without the toxicity of ego.”

The original version of “I Lay” is accompanied by a breathtaking cinematic video directed by Hunter So and produced by Anna Dickson. Shot on location in Costa Rica, the video features Kai’s girlfriend as the love interest, adding an extra layer of personal connection to the song.

Kaien Cruz, an independent artist hailing from South Africa and now based in Los Angeles, has a unique blend of R&B and AfroPop influences in their music. Their debut single, “Love Me In The Dark,” quickly

rose to the top of the South African charts, earning them a prestigious nomination for Song of the Year at the South African Music Awards. Their talent caught the attention of none other than Justin Bieber, who handpicked Cruz to open for his sold-out Purpose Tour in front of a crowd of 90,000.

In a world where music transcends borders and identities, Kaien Cruz and Xenia Manasseh’s collaboration in “I Lay” is a testament to the power of music to unite, inspire, and celebrate love and authenticity. Their voices and stories resonate with those who seek a more inclusive and uplifting world.

Xenia’s vision is to create music that is relatable, honest, and a true reflection of her life, values, and experiences. Her songs, like “I Lay,” bring people from different walks of life together through universal messages and emotions.

Stream Kaien’s new single “I Lay” featuring Xenia Manasseh, and stay tuned for more exciting music from these two remarkable artists as they continue to make their mark on the global music scene.

IN HONOR

NATiONAL COMiNG

2023 HAS BEEN AN UNDENiABLY HOLLYWOOD, WiTH CELEBRiTiES BREAKiNG STEREOTYPES, AND PAViNG THE WAY AND REPRESENTATiON FOR ALL SEXUAL iDENTiTiES.

ONE OF THE MOST NOTABLE FiGURES TO COME OUT THiS PAST YEAR WAS 27-YEAR-OLD LUKAS GAGE. FAMOUS FOR BEiNG RiMMED BY MURRAY BARTLETT iN THE WHiTE LOTUS AND, MORE RECENTLY, BEiNG URiNATED ON iN YOU, THE ACTOR CAME OUT PUBLiCLY FOLLOWiNG RUMORS THAT HE WAS DATiNG HiS NOW HUSBAND CHRiS APPLETON. HE OPENED UP FURTHER iN AN iNTERViEW WiTH THE NEW YORK TiMES, DETAiLiNG THE PRESSURE HE FACED TO BE HONEST ABOUT HiS SEXUALiTY AND HOW HE AT FiRST RESiSTED BECAUSE, EARLiER iN HiS CAREER, AN AGENT CRiTiCiZED HiM FOR DYEiNG HiS HAiR AND WEARiNG NONTRADiTiONAL CLOTHES. HE ADDED THAT HE WAS HAPPY TO FiNALLY BE OUT BECAUSE “REPRESENTATiON MATTERS AND VOiCES NEED TO BE HEARD”.

HONOR OF COMiNG OUT DAY

BY MARK DAWSON PHOTOS COURTESY OF MRMAN.COM

UNDENiABLY TRANSFORMATiVE YEAR iN BREAKiNG BARRiERS, CHALLENGiNG WAY FOR iNCREASED ACCEPTANCE SEXUAL ORiENTATiONS AND GENDER iDENTiTiES.

BRiTiSH ACTOR JOE LOCKE, BEST KNOWN FOR HiS ROLE AS CHARLiE SPRiNG iN HEARTSTOPPER, ALSO CAME OUT AS GAY iN 2023. THE 19-YEAR-OLD PLAYS AN OUT TEENAGER iN A RELATiONSHiP WiTH ANOTHER BOY AT HiS SCHOOL (PLAYED BY KiT CONNOR) AND WAS LONG ASSUMED TO BE QUEER. HOWEVER, HE DiD NOT ACKNOWLEDGE HiS SEXUALiTY UNTiL A RECENT iNTERViEW WiTH TEEN VOGUE, SHARiNG THAT HE HAS BEEN OPENLY GAY SiNCE HE WAS 12 AND THAT HE LOVES STARRiNG iN AN iNCLUSiVE SERiES THAT ENCOURAGES YOUNG PEOPLE TO BE TRUE TO THEMSELVES.

ANOTHER ACTOR iN AN iNCLUSiVE SERiES iS GRAHAM PARKHURST. HE STARS iN THE NETFLiX SERiES GLAMOROUS, PLAYiNG THE ONSCREEN LOVE iNTEREST TO TRANS ACTOR MiSS BENNY. IN THE SHOW, PARKHURST AND MiSS BENNY ENGAGE iN SEVERAL ROMANTiC AND iNTiMATE SCENES THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN UNiMAGiNABLE iN A MAiNSTREAM SERiES EVEN JUST A HALF-DECADE AGO.

WHiLE ON THE SUBJECT OF STEAMY SERiES, RiCHARD ARMiTAGE CAME OUT PUBLiCLY THiS YEAR DURiNG AN iNTERViEW WiTH THE EVENiNG STANDARD WHERE HE CONFiRMED THAT HE HAD A MALE PARTNER. ARMiTAGE PLAYS THE LEAD CHARACTER OF WiLLiAM FARROW ON THE NETFLiX THRiLLER OBSESSiON AND HE EXPLAiNED TO THE BRiTiSH PAPER HOW HE AND HiS PARTNER HAD CONVERSATiONS PRiOR TO HiS FULL-FRONTAL NUDE SCENES. “I REASSURED HiM THAT iT WAS ALL GOiNG TO BE FiNE, AND WE WERE BEiNG WELL LOOKED AFTER.”

FLUiDiTY iS SOMETHiNG RAPPER LiL NAS X HAS BEEN GiViNG CONSiDERATiON TO, AS WELL. THiS YEAR, HE SWiTCHED HiS LGBTQ STATUS FROM GAY TO BiSEXUAL.

ON THE OTHER HAND, NCUTi GATWA, WHO PLAYS THE ROLE OF ERiC, A GAY TEENAGER WHOSE STORYLiNE ON SEX EDUCATiON REVOLVES AROUND HiS LOVE JOURNEY, DiSCLOSED EARLiER THiS YEAR, THAT HE, LiKE HiS CHARACTER, iS GAY. HE ADMiTTED iT HAS BEEN A PROCESS FOR HiM TO COME TO TERMS WiTH HiS QUEERNESS. OF RWANDAN HERiTAGE, HE HAD NEVER MET ANOTHER GAY RWANDAN PERSON UNTiL AT MANCHESTER PRiDE WHERE MET A RWANDAN LESBiAN. REALiZiNG HE WAS NOT ALONE GAVE HiM THE COURAGE TO EMBRACE HiS TRUE iDENTiTY.

NCUTi GATWA AND ALL OF THE HOLLYWOOD STARS THAT FEARLESSLY OPENED UP ABOUT THEiR SEXUAL ORiENTATiON iN 2023 DESERVE PRAiSE. THEiR COURAGE AND AUTHENTiCiTY HAVE NOT ONLY RESHAPED THE CONVERSATiON SURROUNDiNG LGBTQ+ REPRESENTATiON iN HOLLYWOOD BUT HAVE ALSO SERVED AS A SOURCE OF iNSPiRATiON FOR COUNTLESS iNDiViDUALS TO STAND UP AND DECLARE THEY ARE HERE, THEY’RE QUEER… AND THEY’RE NOT HiDiNG iT FROM ANYONE.

ALEXANDER LiNCOLN, WHO WAS ACTUALLY THE FiRST CELEBRiTY TO COME OUT iN 2023, iS UNDECLARED ABOUT WHAT LETTER OF THE ALPHABET HE iS. THE ACTOR BEST KNOWN FOR HiS ROLE iN THE BRiTiSH SOAP OPERA EMMERDALE FARM AND HiS PORTRAYAL OF MARK NEWTON iN THE GAY FiLM IN FROM THE SiDE, SiMPLY STATED ON HiS SOCiALS THAT HE WAS PART OF THE COMMUNiTY AND “NOT STRAiGHT”.

10 Years on Everybody’s LIPS

By Mikkel Hyldebrandt

Photos by Russel Bowen-Youngblood

Coming into this year’s Pride, Lips Atlanta celebrated its tenth anniversary in Atlanta. But Atlanta was far from where the Lips adventure started – in fact, Atlanta was the fourth Lips franchise in the Lips Restaurant Group, founded by Yvonne Lamé. Mikkel Hyldebrandt spoke to Yvonne about the origins of it all, the anniversary party, and where it’s all going next!

Yvonne, first huge congratulations on ten years in Atlanta! That’s quite the feat, but it’s not even where it all began. Can you share the incredible story of the success of Lips?

I am Yvonne Lamé, the founder of the Lips Restaurant Group, and my partners and I have five restaurants throughout the United States, with Atlanta being our fourth location. Greenwich Village gave birth to Lips in October of 1996. Lips was a product and a creation of the androgynous clubs and “club kids” that ruled the night and nighttime festivities throughout Manhattan in clubs like Studio 54, Limelight, Palladium, and Area. The Village was booming with a freeness of expression that could only manifest itself in New York City. Manhattan became the breeding ground where Drag Queens were becoming recognized and accepted, and their performances and appearances were transitioning to a new art form, which we now call drag.

What do you think makes Lips such a success?

Lips has blended dining and drag shows in a kind of interactive dinner theater environment that has been serving up good food, strong cocktails, featuring the world-famous frozen

cosmopolitan, along with world-class “La Cage Style” drag shows on a level that has been compared to Las Vegas, hence “The Ultimate In Drag Dining.” This combination has been the main reason Lips has flourished and grown.

Not only does Lips have its flagship location in Manhattan, but Lips has expanded to include Chicago, San Diego, Atlanta, and Fort Lauderdale. Forbes Magazine has called us “the nation’s largest drag cabaret chain.” The second and most important reason for our success is that the heterosexual community has, over these past almost three decades, embraced the notion of men wanting to dress as women and individuals wishing to transition to women, all in celebration of women and with the focus on having fun and selfexpression. We must also shout out to RuPaul, who has brought drag into the living rooms of millions over the past two decades, further extending drag’s reach and the general acceptance as the art form it has become.

How did you celebrate the occasion?

On Monday, October 2, Lips and the entire Lips Family turned out to celebrate ten fabulous years in Atlanta, which, by the way, has become my partner and I’s primary residence – we love Atlanta. The anniversary celebration was a smashing success, filled with friends and fans. Queens from New York and Chicago attended, and I believe it was one of the best shows ever performed by the Atlanta Lips Queens. The photographs are all over social media, and the buzz was super positive. Marking our tenth anniversary, expect new electrifying shows filled with group numbers and queens dressed in outfits that will dazzle you.

Tell me a little about the journey here in Atlanta – how has Lips

Atlanta evolved over the decade?

Atlanta was our fourth location, and once we understood how revered Queens and the art form of drag was to Atlantans, we felt the fit was perfect. Upon walking into Lips on Buford Highway in Brookhaven, expect to have a good time! Expect good food, strong drinks, and the best drag show. Expect the Lips experience to make you feel good, even feel better if you’ve had a rough day. The queens will entertain you, and your spirits will be lifted. Everyone leaves Lips feeling good and with a smile. And if you love music, the girls’ performances will get you dancing along. We are just the ultimate party palace!

Where do you see Lips Atlanta 10 years from now?

Over the next ten years, Lips intends to be a pillar in the gay community, helping employ drag queens, trans girls, and a multitude of support staff individuals. We feel an obligation to our community, the drag community, to provide viable employment on a consistent basis so that drag queens and trans girls can enjoy a level of success both within the community and as the celebrities they are. Lips will continue to be a wonderful place to work, a wonderful place to make a living, a wonderful place to become the star they are, and a wonderful place to achieve the American dream. Something that in many cities is not afforded to drag queens and trans girls. We are here to change that and to provide a safe environment where they can work, grow, and express their talent. That’s what Lips plans to do over the next decades in Atlanta. We own the building on Buford Highway, so we look past the next ten years and say we will be the ultimate drag dining experience in Atlanta for decades.

Photos by: Russ Bowen-Youngblood

Photos by: Russ Bowen-Youngblood

Intersex-Inclusive

Pride Flag

The Pride flag, an emblem of the LGBTQ+ community’s unity and resilience, has undergone another transformation, this time to become more inclusive of intersex individuals. Designed by intersex columnist and media personality Valentino Vecchietti, the new iteration of the rainbow Pride flag was unveiled by the advocacy group Intersex Equality Rights UK in 2021. This design builds upon the iconic 2018 Progress Pride flag by Daniel Quasar, which introduced a five-striped chevron to honor LGBTQ+ people of color and the trans community. Vecchietti’s version incorporates a purple circle superimposed over a yellow triangle within the chevron, paying homage to the 2013 intersex flag created by Australian bioethicist Morgan Carpenter.

The choice of colors, purple and yellow, is significant. These colors stand in contrast to blue and pink, which have been traditionally associated with binary gender roles. The purple circle, inspired by Carpenter’s work, symbolizes wholeness and the right of intersex individuals to make autonomous decisions about their bodies. This is particularly important as intersex people still face nonconsensual surgeries in various parts of the world. The addition of the circle is not only an act of inclusion but a declaration of the ongoing fight for bodily autonomy and human rights.

Vecchietti’s flag resonates with contemporary discussions about inclusivity within the LGBTQ+ spectrum. Intersex people, often underrepresented, have found visual recognition challenging within Pride imagery. This updated flag is a response to that disparity and mirrors the evolving nature of the Pride flag itself. Throughout its history, the Pride flag has adapted to include the concerns of different marginalized groups. Vecchietti’s design expands the color palette to 11 distinct hues, echoing the original flag created by Gilbert Baker in 1978, which featured eight colors.

In this new rendition, the Pride flag honors the intersex community’s journey for recognition and celebrates the diversity that defines the LGBTQ+ movement. It is a reminder that the fight for equality is an ongoing endeavor, one that embraces every color of the spectrum, every aspect of identity, and every facet of human experience. As Vecchietti aptly states, “Intersex inclusion — we need to see it!”

Photos by: Russ Bowen-Youngblood more @ davidatlanta.com official media partner

Photos by: Russ Bowen-Youngblood

Photos by: Russ Bowen-Youngblood

NEW ONLINE CALENDAR of EVENTS

BARS & CLUBS MIDTOWN

BLAKE’S ON THE PARK blakesontheparkatlanta.com

227 10th St NE

BULLDOGS

893 Peachtree St NE

FRIENDS NEIGHBORHOOD BAR friendsonponce-atl. com

736 Ponce De Leon Ave NE

MY SISTER’S ROOM mysistersroom.com

66 12th St NE

X MIDTOWN xmidtown.com

990 Piedmont Ave NE

THE T modeltatlanta.com

465 Boulevard SE

CHESHIRE

HERETIC hereticatlanta.com

2069 Cheshire Bridge Road

BJ ROOSTERS bjroosters.com

2043 Cheshire Bridge Road NE

WESTSIDE MARQUETTE

868 Joseph E. Boone Blvd NW

840ATL 840 Joseph E. Boone Blvd NW

A snapshot of Gay Atlanta’s favorite destinations. View their ads in DAVID & visit their websites for weekly event listings.

SNAPS

ANSLEY

ATLANTA EAGLE 1492 Piedmont Ave NE

FELIX’S 1510 Piedmont Ave NE

THE HIDEAWAY 1544 Piedmont Ave NE

MIXX mixxatlanta.com 1492 Piedmont Ave NE

OSCAR’S oscarsatlanta.com 1510 Piedmont Ave NE

WOOFS woofsatlanta.com

494 Plasters Ave NE

EAST ATLANTA, GRANT PARK & EDGEWOOD

MARY’S marysatlanta.com

1287 Glenwood Ave SE

SISTER LOUISA’S CHURCH sisterlouisaschurch.com

466 Edgewood Ave SE

DINING MIDTOWN

CASA ALMENARA 991 Piedmont Ave NE

casa-almenara.com

HENRY’S henrysatl.com 132 10th St NE

LA HACIENDA lahaciendamidtown.com

900 Monroe Dr NE

TUK TUK THAI FOOD LOFT TUKTUKATL.COM

1745 Peachtree Rd NW

DEKALB

LIPS ATLANTA atldragshow.com

3011 Buford Hwy NE

RETAIL MIDTOWN

BARKING LEATHER AFTER DARK barkingleather.com

1510 Piedmont Ave NE

CHESHIRE SOUTHERN NIGHTS VIDEO

2205 Cheshire Bridge Rd NE

ANSLEY

BOY NEXT DOOR MENSWEAR boynextdoormenswear.com

1000 Piedmont Ave NE, Ste A

GCB & PLEASURES

brushstrokesatlanta.com

1510-D Piedmont Ave. NE

FITNESS

MIDTOWN

URBAN BODY FITNESS

urbanbody tness. com

500 Amsterdam Ave N

CHESHIRE

GRAVITEE FITNESS graviteeatl.com

2201 Faulkner Rd NE

SPAS/BATHS ADULT

FLEX SPA exspas.com 76 4th St NW

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THERE IS ROOM FOR YOU!

We all have those moments of ‘wait, did they just say that?’ Lucky for you, we compile the best of the best right here on this page. Want to join in on the b*tch session? Submit your own nuggets to info@davidatlanta.com.

I want to write poetry about things I love. Like poppers.

My mom didn’t tag me for the National Son Day post. Two words. Nursing home.

No, it doesnʼt smell like kitty in here. Thatʼs just your nose.

With this world we live in, it’s obvious why the aliens haven’t made contact.

Not me pretending not to know the drama, so I can hear the full story from both sides.

In October every 90 seconds is someone's birthday.

Gay men today on a date be like “you really remind me of my husband.”