December 23, 2021
Ring In Holigays Kiss 2021 Goodbye
All of LGBTQ ATL’s Best New Year’s Eve Parties Round 2: Sage Advice For Your Younger Self Insta Gossip, Revenge & Other Petty Parts to Play
Back to the
START
LOOKING BACK and pushing forward come bundled together with an emotional bow at the end of December. As LGBTQ Atlanta navigates the joys and pitfalls, this issue of Q ATLus is right here with you.
Our Q Shots pages catch gay Atlantans already in the spirit, and Q Events lists the best local LGBTQ parties and performances this week. 10 Q Things helps you look at how far you’ve come by way of our second round of readers’ tips for their younger selves. And what would our year-end issue be without New Year’s Eve? To 2021 farewell – or kick it to the curb and tell it to get the hell out — our cover guy finds a couple dozen gay parties to hit on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. Ever forward, Q Community meets a queer Biden appointee in Atlanta, and Q Advice puts nosy gossips in their place. We wrap this edition and the year with our sincerest wish for you to have a thriving 2022. Cheers to the future!
MIKE FLEMING EDITOR & PUBLISHER MIKE@THEQATL.COM GRAPHIC DESIGN DECATUR ATLANTA PRINTING JOHN NAIL, DESIGNER DECATURATLANTAPRINTING.COM
LOCAL ADVERTISING INFO@PROJECTQATLANTA.COM RIVENDELL MEDIA NATIONAL ADVERTISING SALES@RIVENDELLMEDIA.COM 212-242-6863 theQatl.com 5
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
V O LU M E 5 I S S U E 4 D E C E M B E R 2 3 , 2 0 2 1
GET OUT
Always the Best LGBTQ-ATL Events
COVER
18
15
Party Time
Gay New Year’s Eve Bashes
8
11
10 Q THINGS
COMMUNITY
You Said to Yourself, ‘Self…’
Atlantan Joins Biden Administration
Pro Tips
10 Q Things................. 8 Q Community............ 11 Q Events.................... 15 Q Shots...................... 21 Q Map........................ 26 Q Advice.................... 29 6 theQatl.com
President’s Men
Q ADVICE
Gossip Girl That’s 100% None of Your Business
29
Q
Dear You 10 THINGS
10 Q Things is back with more queer insight direct from readers
It won’t be easy. Many of us would rather feel the pain of loneliness than love ourselves just the way we are. And that’s not your fault.
Live out all the stages of life. Let yourself fall in love with boys. Have a boyfriend, fall madly in love with him. Time is valuable, and each stage is important.
—Aidan Michael
—Matheus
You don’t have to force yourself to date men in order not to make your mother ashamed.
—Carlotta
8 theQatl.com
Trans people exist. The feelings you spent years feeling without knowing what they were are normal, and you are not the first to feel them. —Lori
nger Self “When you accept yourself, that unbearable weight you thought was normal will be lifted, and it will feel so good.” —Raffi
It’s not a phase.
—Anonymous
You can play with a doll if you want. The doll is beautiful, just like you. And don’t listen to anyone who says that playing ball is a guy thing or that dolls, the color pink, skirts and makeup are right for some but wrong for you. —Fernando
You can love someone and not marry them. — Joshua
Someone in the world will love you exactly the way you are. Actually, they will love you exactly because you are the way you are! —Link
Be strong, because you will become an amazing person who will fight for your rights, who will have wonderful friends, and who will understand that being queer is just as natural as the wind that blows upon your face every day. —Maia theQatl.com 9
marketing heroes. we are your courageous brand champions in a world full of villains, leading your business on a path towards exciting new quests.
web design / social media / branding / graphic design / advertising lgbt certified
10 theQatl.com
valiantmarketing.com facebook instagram linkedin @valiantmktg
COMMUNITY
Q
Movin’ On UP
Gay Atlantan tapped for Biden Administration By Mike Fleming LATE LAST MONTH, THE JOE BIDEN administration appointed out Atlanta city official Reese McCranie to the position of senior advisor
for the Office of Public Affairs at U.S. Customs & Border Protection.
Prior to his appointment, McCranie worked for the City of Atlanta for 12 years. Most recently
he was Deputy Chief Equity Officer for Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. He helped establish
the city’s first-ever Office of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion.
In that role, McCranie focused on health dis-
parities, criminal justice reform, LGBTQ affairs, economic empowerment and inclusion and workforce development.
McCranie previously served as Director of Policy and Communications at Hartsfield-Jackson
Atlanta International Airport from 2013-2018.
At the airport, he focused on wide-ranging issues
including aviation security, human trafficking prevention, and Ebola and Zika mitigation strategies with local, state and federal partners.
Staying busy in politics and civil service, Mc-
Cranie also advised the Kasim Reed adminis-
Reese McCranie
Director of Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential run. He is a board member of the Gay & Lesban Alliance Against Defamation and was crowned one of the media watchdog’s Atlanta Champions in 2013. He is also a former board member of the Georgia Foreign Trade Zone and Fulton County HIV/AIDS Advisory Council, and a member of the Georgia advisory board for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition.
tration and was media director for the former
McCranie and his husband of 17 years, Nicholas,
LGBTQ Advisors to Rafael Warnock’s 2020
base. McCranie commutes to Washington, D.C.
mayor’s 2009 campaign. He was one of the
live in Midtown Atlanta, and it remains home
campaign for U.S. Senate and was Deputy State
for his new role. theQatl.com 11
14 theQatl.com
Q Events
FRIDAY, DEC. 24
The Best LGBTQ Things to Do in Atlanta This Week
Dirty Elf The Medusa Boys are back, and DJ Ed Wood keeps it sexy into the wee hours of Christmas @ Heretic, 10 p.m. hereticatlanta.com
THURSDAY, DEC. 23 Night of Legends The Superstars come out for a Thursday drag show for the ages @ X Midtown, 10 p.m. facebook.com/ xmidtownx Holy $#!T Comedy Night Ian Aber corrals the comedians for a fun night in Edgewood @ Sister Louisa’s Church of the Living Room, 10 p.m. sisterlouisaschurch.com Holiday Spectacular Brigitte Bidet and the Dragettes continue this Vegas-Style dinner and show every Thursday in December @ Lips, 7 p.m. lipsatl.com
TUESDAY, DEC. 28 Trivia Tuesday Drop in on a full evening testing your knowledge and memory @ Hideaway, 8 p.m. Happy Hour specials every weekday, 6 p.m. facebook.com/atlantahideaway
THURSDAY, DEC. 30
Queen of the Universe A drag competition with live singing and an inaugural cast including Atlanta’s own Aria B. Cassadine. Judges include Vanessa Williams, Graham Norton, Trixie Mattel and Michelle Visage @ New episodes Thursdays on VH1 & Paramount Plus.
FRIDAY, DEC. 31
Thursday Karaoke DJ Darlene spins and you sing to your homo holiday heart’s content @ Hideaway, 10 p.m. facebook. com/atlantahideaway
College Football Playoffs Join a full day of the four CFB finalists playing to go to the championship @ Woofs. Alabama vs. Cincinatti, 3:30 p.m. Georgia vs. Michigan, 7 p.m. woofsatlanta.com Find the full weekend calendar of LGBTQ events each Thursday at theQatl.com theQatl.com 15
Q
COVER
18 theQatl.com
Ball
DROP New Year’s Eve Parties in Gay Atlanta FRIDAY, DEC. 31 White Party Italian stallion DJ Iellamo, hostess Angelica D’Paige and your white attire are on the menu @ Heretic, 10 p.m. hereticatlanta.com Ladies Night MSR ensures ladies are lit with the Hellfire Harlots, DJ Wulf and DJ Lodi Lodi @ My Sister’s Room, 9 p.m. mysistersroom.com Glitz & Glam Ball Three-course dinner, dancing and Christian Valentino as host. Of course, your night includes the live drag shows that makes them who they are @ Lips, 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. lipsatl.com Nonsense Masquerade Ball DJ Kimber and her gays close out 2021 with you behind the other kind of mask for a change @ The Loft, 9 p.m. centerstage-atlanta.com NYE Celebration Enter in the rear of Ansley Mall for New Year’s Eve fun @ The Hideaway, 9 p.m. atlantahideaway.com New Year, Who Dis? Southern Fried Queer Pride and Morph host DJ sets, live music, drag performances, skits and more @ @ Masquerade (Hell Stage), 9 p.m. southernfriedqueerpride.com Swinging Richards New Year Did someone say “open bar”? Say goodbye to Atlanta’s all-nude all-male bar, where your cover charge covers all you can drink @ Swinging Richards, 10 p.m. swingingrichards.com
NYE 2022 Hot guys, hot music, hot cash drop. DJ Escape headlines a hot New Year’s @ X Midtown, 9 p.m. facebook.com/XMidtownX New Year on Ponce Charmaine Sinclaire Dupree and Szn Alxndr are in the house, and the NYE extras are flowing. Join your friends @ Friends, 9 p.m. friendsonponce.com Pennies from Heaven A tradition that never goes out of style is money falling from the sky. Get yours during the annual midnight cash drop @ Blake’s, 9 p.m. blakesontheparkatlanta.com New Year’s Eve To Remember A champagne toast at midnight, DJ beats to move your feets, and all the go-go boys you can handle all night long @ BJ Roosters, 9 p.m. bjroosters.com Bulldogs NYE When men of color come out, they come to Bulldogs. Join them for DJ Caprice and all the special surprises @ Bulldogs, 11 p.m. facebook. com/bulldogsbaratlanta
SATURDAY, NEW YEAR’S DAY Xion After Hours Party Keep going until sunrise with DJ Cindel @ Future, 3 a.m. – 7 a.m. facebook.com/XionAtlanta 2022 Kickoff ‘DP’ Party Energizer bunnies can’t stop dancing, and why would they with more driving beats by The Perry Twins. DILF hosts @ Heretic, 10 p.m. hereticatlanta.com Visit Project Q Atlanta for more weekend events every Thursday at theQatl.com. theQatl.com 19
ATLANTA SANTA SPEEDO RUN
Full gallery on Project Q at theQatl.com
Q SHOTS
PHOTOS BY RUSS BOWEN-YOUNGBLOOD
theQatl.com 21
22 theQatl.com
HERETIC 30TH ANNIVERSARY
Full gallery on Project Q at theQatl.com
Q SHOTS
PHOTOS BY RUSS BOWEN-YOUNGBLOOD
theQatl.com 23
Q SHOTS
PHOTOS BY RUSS BOWEN-YOUNGBLOOD
24 theQatl.com
JOINING HEARTS WISHLIST PARTY
Full gallery on Project Q at theQatl.com
Instagram.com/theQatl
on tA ve .N E dm Pi e
4
9
11th St. NE
8
10th St. NE
Amsterdam Ave.
Dr. N E
Piedmont Park
14th St. NE
12th St. NE
12
Mon roe
West Peachtree St. NE
E
75
t. N eS tre
85
ach Pe
Spring St. NW
Q Atlus Map
10 5
Virginia Ave. NE
1 9th St. NE
227 10th St. NE 2. Bulldogs Bar 893 Peachtree St NE 3. Friends on Ponce 736 Ponce De Leon Ave NE 4. My Sister’s Room 84 12th St 5. X Midtown 990 Piedmont Ave. NE 6. Atlanta Eagle 306 Ponce De Leon Ave NE
26 theQatl.com
Bars
Restaurants North Ave. NW
North Ave. NW
Clubs Retail/Services
Not Shown
Future 50 Lower Alabama St SW, Suite 180
8. Henry’s Midtown Tavern 132 10th St NE
Mary’s 1287 Glenwood Ave SE
9. Joe’s onRalph Juniper McGill Blvd. NE 1049 Juniper St NE
Sister Louisa’s 466 Edgewood Ave SE
10. Zocalo Mexican Kitchen & Cantina 187 10th St NE Highland Ave. NE 11. Barking Leather After Dark 306 Ponce De Leon Ave NE (inside Eagle) 12. Urban Body Fitness 500 Amsterdam Ave NE
The T 465 Boulevard SE Swinging Richards 1400 Northside Dr NW Lips Drag Show Palace 3011 Buford Highway NE Lost ’n Found Youth Thift Store 2585 Chantilly Dr NE
Ponce De Leon Pl. NE
3
Key
Ponce De Leon Ave. NE
7. Flex 76 4th St NW
Ponce De Leon Pl. NE
r. NE roe D Mon
Charles Allen Dr. NE
11 6
St. Charles Ave.
Glen Iris Dr. NE
1. Blakes on the Park
NE
NE
Piedmont Park
Piedmont Ave.
Spring St. NW
7
2 Juniper St. NE
85
Peachtree St.
75
West Peachtree St. NE
8th St. NE
Lin
dbe
rgh
Dr.
1 Piedmont Ave. NE
Rd. N
E
11
ulk
Lidde ll D
6
7 re
i esh
Ch
ne
rR d.
E r. N
2
Manchester Rd. NE
Dr. Lam
be
Fa
9 NE
5 4
Leno x Rd .
10
ircle NE nt C mo d e Pi
P
ista
85
rt
las
Lav
Alco S t. NE
3
NE ve. sA ter
NE
8 E
d. N eR
dg
Bri
Key
Bars Restaurants Clubs Retail/Services
Cheshire Bridge Road 5. The Heretic 2069 Cheshire Bridge Road NE
9. Gravity Fitness 2201 Faulkner Rd NE
2. Tripp’s Bar 1931 Piedmont Circle NE
6. Las Margaritas 1842 Cheshire Bridge Road NE
10. Southern Nights 2205 Cheshire Bridge Road NE
3. Woof’s Sports Bar 494 Plasters Ave NE
7. Roxx Tavern 1824 Cheshire Bridge Road NE
11. Tokyo Valentino (Cheshire Bridge) 1739 Cheshire Bridge Road NE
4. BJ Rooster’s 2043 Cheshire Bridge Road NE
8. 2Qute Hair Salon 1927 Cheshire Bridge Road NE
3
5
4. Oscar’s 1510 Piedmont Ave NE
tA ve .N E on m ed
Dr. NE
Pi
5. Barking Leather 1510 Piedmont Ave NE 6. Boy Next Door 1447 Piedmont Ave NE
Monroe
Piedmont Park
1. Felix’s on the Square 1510 Piedmont Ave NE
3. Midtown Moon 1510 Piedmont Ave NE
8
6
Ansley Park 2. The Hideaway 1544 Piedmont Ave NE
E
4
Morningside Dr. NE
Pied
r. N eD
7
ro
n Mo
2 1
mon t Ave. NE
1. Sequel Bar 1086 Alco St. NE
Key
Bars Restaurants Clubs Retail/Services
7. Brushstrokes 1510 Piedmont Ave NE 8. Equilibrium Fitness 1529 Piedmont Ave NE
theQatl.com 27
Q Advice
Insta Couples, Fisting &
MINDING MY OWN BUSINESS Q One half of a very public, pseudo famous local Insta couple regularly hits me up on hookup apps. He says his (closed) relationship is chaotic, that the love is dead… and would I be willing to fist him?
Meanwhile on social media, they travel the world, melding their personal and professional lives for the world to see. They look happy. Should I bring it up? Should I expose the guy? Should I take him up on the handball? Dear Buttplug: Skirting the juicy gossip and leaving the scandal to reader imaginations, the guy is lying — at least to his boyfriend and his social followers, maybe even to himself. Do you think he suddenly decided to be honest with you, a stranger on the internet? His lies are not your problem, and they don’t necessarily have to stop you from holding his heart in your hand. Still, when you can’t trust anything he says, the level of detachment has to be pretty intense to enjoy an act so intimate. Your conscience, your call. As for bringing it up to him, no. If it bothers you, and judging by your hesitation it does, stop engaging with him. Let him sleep in the bed he makes. The same goes for telling others. Gossip is a petty part to play.
Q
My friend started spending time with a woman I’ve known for a while. The woman I knew has a tendency to wine and dine girls,
fall head over heels, then ruin their lives with ridiculous emotional baggage.
Should I tell my friend about this person and her history? Dear Meddling: Even if you’re right about their ultimate fate, you’re wrong to get in the middle. Injecting yourself into someone’s personal life, much less unsolicited, is unhelpful and not your place.
Their relationship is not about you or the historical information you have. What if the woman changed? People sober up, get help, mature and learn their lessons sometimes. Your friend could be exactly the match to mesh with her. Either way, it’s none of your business. To you, the acquaintance is an asshole. To your friend, she’s a romantic interest that she’s capable of navigating her own big self. If you can’t keep your “warning” to yourself, imagine first that they stay together forever, and you’re the person who didn’t believe in them. Now imagine it doesn’t work out. What do you gain by being able to say, “I told you so”? But you still want to meddle, don’t you? Fine, just couch it with all the above caveats above, and give your friend the option to hear it or ignore it. Then hope for the best. Prepare yourself to live with what you decide. The Q is for entertainment, not counseling. Send burning Qs to mike@theQatl.com. ILLUSTRATION BY BRAD GIBSON
theQatl.com 29
