Q mag v1i14 | February 22, 2018

Q

February 22, 2018

inform | inspire

Puppy LOVE Fast & Loose with MASC ARCHETYPES

Animal Advocate & Photographer James L. Hicks Puts LGBTQ Pet Parents Through His Lens

Queer Performers CALL OUT RACISM Atlanta Rocks with EXQUISITE GENDER Q News

10 Queer Things

The Q

Queer Agenda The Weekly Print Publication of Project Q Atlanta

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EDITOR’S NOTE Q Q MAGAZINE THE WEEKLY PUBLICATION OF PROJECT Q ATLANTA PUBLISHERS INITIAL MEDIA, LLC MIKE FLEMING PUBLISHER & EDITOR MIKE@QMAGATLANTA.COM MATT HENNIE PUBLISHER & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MATT@QMAGATLANTA.COM RICHARD CHERSKOV PUBLISHER & GENERAL MANAGER RICHARD@QMAGATLANTA.COM ADVERTISING SALES RUSS YOUNGBLOOD SENIOR SALES REPRESENTATIVE RUSS@QMAGATLANTA.COM ART DIRECTOR JOHN NAIL JOHN@QMAGATLANTA.COM CONTRIBUTORS LAURA BACCUS BUCK C. COOKE BRAD GIBSON JAMES L. HICKS TAMEEKA L. HUNTER SUNNI JOHNSON ERIC PAULK JAMES SHEFFIELD DISCLAMER The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors do not necessarily reflect opinions, beliefs or official policies of Q Magazine or its publisher Initial Media, except where individual publishers’ names specifically appear. Appearance of photos, credits, or names in this publication neither implies or explicitly states the sexual orientation or gender identity of its subject.

Q Magazine and the author of each article published on this web site owns his or her own words, except where explicitly credited otherwise. Articles herein may not be freely redistributed unless all of the following conditions are met. 1. The re-distributor is a non-commercial entity. 2. The redistributed article is not be sold for a profit, or included in any media or publication sold for a profit, without the express written consent of the author and this publication. 3. The article runs in full and unabridged. 4. The article runs prominently crediting both the author’s name and “courtesy Q Magazine.”

Of Animals &

ARCHETYPES From your dearest queer heart to our darkest queer tendencies

ACTORS KNOW THAT PLAYING a good villain means believing that they aren’t a villain at all. Sounds like a task, but humans in general, and Atlanta queers in particular, tend to recognize our best selves and lie about our dark sides. Follow this issue from puppies to parties, queer spaces to coming out, and foes to photos.

Of course, we all readily admit our own loving tenderness. Never is it more apparent than with our animals. In our cover story on queer Atlanta’s own James L. Hicks, the photographer lets us peek behind his camera, then exposes his lens on six local LGBTQ dog owners. A staunch animal activist himself, it’s a project close to Hicks’ heart.

With puppy love on our minds, 10 Queer Things reminds you of multiple ways dogs are better than lovers, and signs you may be already more in love with yours than anyone else.

MIKE FLEMING EDITOR & PUBLISHER

Coming over to the dark side, Ian Aber breaks from his comedy routine to speak frankly as a queer performer in our Voices column. Moving swiftly beyond Burkhart’s, he keeps an issue in front of us that has long been ignored or left behind too quickly by too many of us.

Ian points how racism between Atlanta queers is everywhere, and asserts how we collectively and individually lie to ourselves about all LGBTQ spaces being “safe.”

Speaking of Burkhart’s, there is no Burkhart’s. The latest on the official closing is in our News section, along with Georgia’s legislative loonies, doing their best to codify discrimination and curb queer equality this session.

It’s a lot, and it’s bad, but back to the good stuff. The Q this week finds three very different coming out stories, from ages 15 to 55. In this week’s People profile, meet Exquisite Gender, an all-trans, all-rockin’ band taking their debut bow this weekend at Out Front theater to benefit Georgia Equality. Also on tap, playing with stereotypes and patriarchal toxicity.

You might think that sounds evil, and at first blush we at Q would back you on that.

But when male archetypes are flipped with full awareness to subvert the concept with a welcome-everybody attitude, we’re in. When it happens with pumping beats, it must be ManShaft. Queer fixture DJ Diablo Rojo and his party series return with the Lumberjack Edition, in our Events preview.

Events also abound in the Queer Agenda calendar and in our Q Shots pages. See what went down in the latter, and your next opportunities in the former. Keep an eye on our home site Project Q Atlanta for the latest queer coverage every single day, and reach out to us any time with your Q-related musings. theQatl.com

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE VOLUME 1 ISSUE 14 FEBRUARY 22, 2018

EXQUISITE GENDER Rocking for Equality

19

COVER STORY

15

Pet Parents

Q NEWS

13 11

32 Pop Princesses

Hate Clowns

Conservative circus at Gold Dome

EVENTS

So Masc

16

ManShaft serves Lumberjacks

35 Meat Raffle

FEATURES Q Voices

10 Things

8

Queer Agenda

18

The Q

38

Q Shots

4

7

theQatl.com

32

38

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5

The reviews are in!

Readers love

Q

The Weekly Print Publication of Project Q Atlanta

and your messages are the proof!

Thank you for the support, and please continue reaching out!

Wow. I just found Q, and it’s great!

Congratulations on the new magazine.

Atlanta didn’t even know Finally! A queer publication what it was missing!

for everybody, not just some.

A gay magazine I actually want to sit down and read!

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Q magazine is the best thing to happen to Atlanta in 2017!

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Q is informative and

energetic, something that was sorely missing in the ATL.

Thank you for bringing Q to Atlanta!

You guys should have done this years ago!

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omg I love your mag!

Atlanta needed this.

Q VOICES Q

Showing the

RECEIPTS

How we can all stop telling the lie that all queer bars are ‘safe spaces.’

BURKHART’S IS NOW AND OFFICIALLY NO MORE, and what happened there is the story of the times we live in. It’s increasingly difficult for the bad people of this world to hide their intentions, especially when they post them on Facebook with the privacy set to public.

What our community did next may be the wave of the future. It mobilized and unified and the entertainers, many, if not most, of them drag entertainers, that performed at Burkhart’s throughout the week all came together to quit.

As an entertainer myself, one who just quit his day job to pursue stand up comedy full time, I can imagine the incredible bravery it took for these performers to walk away from their established shows and the economic uncertainty of whether they’d be able to recreate that success at another space.

That’s where the community outside of Burkhart’s really stood up and so many shows are already finding new homes and thriving.

out a group was in town from Brazil and then proceeded to tell them they were in the wrong part of town and “Buford Highways is el thata way.” When they didn’t get the “joke,” she just said all of it again but this time “comically” slow and patronizing as I and many others cringed in their seats.

God forbid you were a person of color who didn’t embody whatever stereotype a drag queen was placing on you in their “conversation” with you, or you’d be cast as an “oreo,” or perhaps the most damning of all: “a black man without a big dick”.

At best these businesses are “safe spaces” from straight people, but spaces where we are still in danger of mistreating each other.

To be fair and historically accurate, the reaction of the crowd was often positive to this kind of behavior. If the people being made the butt of the joke were offended, they were cast as people who couldn’t take a joke and shouldn’t be at a drag show.

That was me. For all my love of drag performance, I just never liked what was happening between the performances. I didn’t think it was funny at all, and was at a loss as to why this would occur in a gay bar, the places we are told as young queers are our “safe spaces.”

Of course, that’s a lie we tell as a community, that gay or queer bars or businesses are “safe spaces.” That has never entirely been true.

At best these businesses are “safe spaces” from straight people, but spaces where we are still in danger of mistreating each other.

IAN ABER

What surprises me most is the evolution of drag in this city. Not too long ago, the most accepted and frequent racism I experienced in queer culture were drag queens emceeing shows in various venues throughout the city.

I’m not talking about the subtle racism of dress codes, cover charges or the designation of certain nights for certain races or ethnicities. I’m talking about overt racist and racial humor that was at least a small part of seemingly every drag show I attended for years. It was always in the guise of the crowd work drag queens are famous for. It would always go down the same way.

A queen would see a person of Asian descent in the audience and the references to Buford Highway, rice queens and other more offensive epithets would be directed at that person throughout the night. I watched a drag queen once find

That’s why what happened at Burkharts is such a revelation.

It wasn’t the physical bar that was the safe space, it was the metaphorical space created by the performers and their audiences, and that is a resource beyond the brick and mortar of the physical gay bar.

We are in the age where the “gay bar” was inside us all along.

We are the start of safe spaces by our intentions and our actions, and no building will ever house that completely.

So here’s to the idiot racists, until they are distant memory of a less evolved society. May their privacy always be set to public, and the receipts necessary to shut them down be abundant. theQatl.com

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Q

10 QUEER THINGS

You’d do anything for a significant other. Maybe you already found them.

10 Signs You’re in LOVE with Your Dog

By Mike Fleming

Sel

fies

Your stream is almost entirely them.

Face

Melt

They have the only face that makes your anger disappear.

Cuddle Monster You can’t sleep without puppy snores.

g Takin

Shit

They’re the only one who’s shit you are willing to take. Literally.

8

theQatl.com

Lick Me You think their kisses are better than people kisses.

d Roa

Trip

The only one you insist has to go is them.

or es f

Ey

You

Screw that cutie’s gaze.

Your dog is giving you puppy eyes.

Home

ward

Bound You have canceled plans because you just couldn’t leave them home alone.

etter Never B

Two words: Unconditional love.

Frid

ay V

Your ideal Friday plans feature them prominently.

ibes theQatl.com

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Podcast Q is where Project Q Atlanta and Q Magazine talk to newsmakers, influencers, entrepreneurs, elected officials and activists so you know what’s happening in LGBTQ Atlanta.

Q Find us on iTunes, Google Play and wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. theQatl.com

Q NEWS Q

License to

DISCRIMINATE

LGBT adoption ban moves forward in Georgia Senate

By Matt Hennie

A “RELIGIOUS FREEDOM” BILL THAT WOULD ALLOW faith-based agencies to receive public funds and ban adoptions

by LGBTQ people and others cleared a key subcommittee in the Georgia Senate on Feb. 8. The hearing by the Senate Judiciary subcommittee came just a week after Sen. William Ligon introduced Senate Bill 375, titled the “Keep Faith in Adoption & Foster Care Act.” The legislation reignited a long-running debate in the legislature over anti-LGBT “religious freedom” bills. Ligon (photo) framed the issue as protecting faith-based adoption and foster care agencies from being penalized for their “sincerely held religious beliefs.” Critics said the bill would provide taxpayer funds to agencies that are already legally allowed to discriminate against LGBT people, single parents and those that aren’t conservative Christians.

would open the door to discrimination against LGBT people and would harm LGBT children facing adoption or foster care.

“If you don’t see gay people as children of God, if you don’t see trans people as children of God, you should not be in the adoption or fostering business because the children might well be gay or trans,” said Rev. Beth LaRocca-Pitts, senior pastor at the heavily LGBT Saint Mark UMC in Midtown.

Jonathan Rogers, a volunteer with the Anti-Defamation League, called the legislation “grossly unfair.”

“Neither Georgia nor its taxpayers should be supporting discrimination in any form. The publicly funded discrimination authorized by Senate Bill 375 is not only grossly unfair but in certain circumstances will likely violate federal law,” Rogers said.

Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality, said the legislation creates additional hardships for LGBT children in state care.

“Do we really want to create a system where children who have already seen hardships in their life and need great love and support of State Sen. William Ligon (R–Brunswick) others to be risked being turned away, shamed or stigmatized by the very agencies that are Ligon was clear that his bill was a response to the U.S. Supreme funded by state taxpayers to help them?” Graham asked.

Court decision in 2015 legalizing gay marriage in Georgia and The hearing was the first action on the bill since Ligon introacross the country. duced it on Feb. 1. The Republican from Brunswick pledged to “Frankly, the issue centers around the views of marriage. With the introduce the measure after the anti-LGBT language was reObergefell decision, the Supreme Court has declared that samemoved from a sweeping reform of the state’s adoption and foster sex marriage is a right and that is recognized. But that decision care laws. Ligon and other Republican members of the Senate also stated, recognized that there are going to be different views Judiciary Committee hijacked a similar bill last year and added of marriage and that some may not agree with it,” Ligon said. the “religious freedom” amendment. That tanked the bill in the “We’re going to have to find ways, if we’re going to live in a 2017 legislative session. pluralistic society where our different views can be respected and Sen. Josh McKoon – the anti-LGBT lawmaker who has pushed honored, we can work together for the good of society,” he added. for “religious freedom” measure for several years – chaired the Ligon’s bill would allow faith-based agencies with mission statesubcommittee, which also includes Sen. Greg Kirk. In 2016, Kirk ments that ban serving LGBT people and others to receive state sponsored “religious freedom” legislation that turned into a sweepcontracts to place foster children and handle adoptions. The legis- ing anti-LGBT bill that lawmakers approved. The bill sparked a lation would also prevent those groups from facing any penalties national outcry and an eventual veto from Gov. Nathan Deal. by state agencies if they refuse service to people based on sincerely held religious beliefs.

Project Q Atlanta reports the latest on Georgia’s LGBTQ legislaCritics of the legislation testified during the hearing that the bill

tive agenda at theQatl.com.

theQatl.com

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Q

IN BRIEF

Burkhart’s closes permanently in wake of racism backlash

By Matt Hennie AFTER WEEKS OF CONTROVERSY OVER RACIST SOCIAL media posts, Burkhart’s closed its doors for good on February 11 and ended a decades-long run as a popular Midtown gay and drag bar.

The bar’s co-owner, Mary Marsh, posted to Facebook on February 12 that she “had to close the bar” and is “heartbroken.” Some of the bar’s remaining employees also posted status updates late Sunday that the bar closed and they were now unemployed.

Palmer Marsh, who co-owns the bar with his wife, could not be reached for comment. He has been fielding offers to buy the bar – and rejecting them – since it became embroiled in controversy on Jan. 19 when several racist posts from his Facebook account went public.

The bar’s entertainers quit Burkhart’s on January 25 in the wake of the scandal over the posts. Two days later, on January 27, several of the drag queens took part in a public forum to address the controversy and said the racism runs deeper than just the owners of Burkhart’s.

The entertainers formed Queens United and launched the Queens United Relief Fund and organized benefit shows to raise funds to support the performers. The benefits include the Queens United at Out Front Theatre on March 18.

Since the entertainers quit in late January, the bar closed for a few

Hate crimes bills draw conservative ire The foes of queer equality are out in force at the Gold Dome this session, and Project Q Atlanta has had a reporter on scene.

In addition to a discriminatory “religious freedom” adoption bill, three measures that would enact an LGBTQ-inclusive hate crime law in Georgia drew critics to testify from known anti-gay conservative groups.

A hate crimes bill that enhances prison sentences for criminals who physically assault LGBT people – and protects several other classes of people – received a hearing in the Georgia House on February 12. House Bill 663 from state Rep. Karen Bennett (DStone Mountain) is one of three hate crimes bills before lawmakers. Senate Bill 316 is a companion bill and was introduced along with it by the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus in early January.

The third, House Bill 660, was introduced on January 4 by state Rep. Meagan Hanson, a Brookhaven Republican.

Bennett’s proposed measure would enhance prison sentences for criminals who physically assault LGBT people and protects several 12

theQatl.com

days but later reopened, and has faced a steep drop in business without its heavy schedule of drag shows. Burkhart’s also shut down its Facebook page.

The bar’s owners have said little publicly to address the controversy.

Mary Marsh told WSB that the couple is not racist, and two days later attacked the entertainers who quit the bar in a Facebook post.

On February 13 after announcing the bar’s closure, she doubled down unapologetically in another Facebook post.

“What was done to burkharts [sic] was built on lies we had 28 year of good service to Atlanta and lots of good times and party’s [sic].” other classes of people. All of the bills have some strong law-enforcement and other heavyweight backing, but conservatives characterize the efforts as an opportunity to persecute Christians.

“It eventually ends up being an opportunity for individuals to begin punishing Christians who just simply may just peaceably be able to voice their moral opposition to various sexual behaviors not in any way intended to harm anyone whatsoever.

Just being able to express one’s biblical beliefs can eventually, we’re concerned, that ends up being hate and it has been said that that’s what it is and it’s not,” said Mike Griffin, a lobbyist for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.

Tanya Ditty, state director of Concerned Women for America, said the bill would create a “multi-tiered system of justice” that highlights “government preferred victims.”

Georgia is one five states without a hate crimes bill. In 2004, the Georgia Supreme Court dumped the state’s hate crime law, calling it “unconstitutionally vague.” Legislative efforts to reinstate a new one have failed.

Project Q Atlanta reports the latest LGBTQ news daily at theQatl.com.

GET NOTICED!

Atlanta’s newest gay weekly is already standing out from the crowd, and so can you!

Call 404.242.2621 or e-mail russ@projectqatlanta.com to advertise in Q Magazine and Project Q Atlanta. theQatl.com

13

PEOPLE Q

Rocking for

EQUALITY

Atlanta trans band Exquisite Gender makes its debut for a cause at Out Front Theatre

By Dustin Shrader

A

t its best, music is inclusive, inimitable, transcendent and constantly bringing people together. Atlanta-based, all-transgender band, Exquisite Gender, is out to be just that. We meet them as the band prepares to take a bow for the first time to benefit a bigger cause than themselves.

Although the band is a new name on Atlanta’s music scene, its members are all accomplished artists in their own right. Of the bunch, musician Bucky Motter may be the best known to local audiences for decades on local stages. He does the honors on guitar and vocals for this band.

“Exquisite Gender came to fruition as an effort to play a transgender event, that unfortunately did not happen,” Motter explains. “However, we kept practicing and working hard and realized that if you build it people will come, so that brings us to our official debut at Out Front Theatre.”

On February 23, the band headlines an Out Front Theatre concert benefitting The Joan Garner/GA Equality AIDSwatch Scholarship Initiative. Proceeds are earmarked to provide funds for members and allies to attend AIDSwatch 2018.

Keyboard player JoAnn Pfeiffer is also a member of Atlanta’s LGBTQ group the MetroGnomes. Gina plays bass, Mandi MacDonald rocks out on drums, and the band’s diva-licious

lead singer is Syndelle McCord.

“I’ve known Jeff Graham of Georgia Equality for a very long time,” Pfeiffer says. “I was speaking to him about possibly playing at any of GE’s upcoming events, and he suggested the AIDSwatch initiative.

“I also am friends with Paul Conroy, Out Front Theatre’s founder, and he was more than happy to accommodate us for the fundraiser,” she adds. “It is all for a wonderful cause, and that is how our massive debut came together.”

At the show, Exquisite Gender plans to bring a few songs from legendary, renowned Broadway musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch to life, as well as other covers and some original music.

“You know everyone loves Hedwig and those fantastic songs,” Motter says. “What better way to get the party started than to perform a couple of them?” exclaims Bucky.

And expect a show, not just a concert.

“It is going to be a full-on, dynamic production,” Motter adds.

“Syndelle will be doing multiple costume changes, seven I think.

Syndelle is our entertainer. She has a few surprises up her sleeve.”

Singer/songwriter and guitarist Cathleen Thomas, known for her jazz and classical influences and her fingerstyle guitar skills, opens the event with a half hour set.

As for the band’s future, all doors are open for what could come next, and the band is confident that Exquisite Gender is a force to be reckoned with.

“Between all of us, we have years of experience. We all bring something unique to the table. Whether we are on stage or just in rehearsals, it’s magic.”

Exquisite Gender debuts at Out Front Theatre on February 23 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the door or in advance online at georgiaequality.org. Visit facebook.com/Exquisitegender, and download Motter’s latest solo EP on iTunes. theQatl.com

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Q

16

EVENTS

theQatl.com

GOT

Show winter how lumbersexuals dress during 2018’s first ManShaft party

WOOD?

By Mike Fleming

Y

ou’ve been caught in the woods with these guys before.

You’d think with prior knowledge that you’d be ready, but nothing ever quite prepares us for ManShaft, set for Saturday at Heretic.

The queer party that plants its tongue firmly in the cheek of male archetypes returns, and gay men are already stripping the sleeves off flannel, unflapping union suits, fastening suspenders, and opening the flies on their button-flies for the quarterly event.

Meanwhile, event mastermind DJ Diablo Rojo again prepares the backdrop with hard-driving grooves from multiple DJs, vintage men’s films, and a theme that seems to capture so many gay imaginations.

It’s mainly a boy’s night out, but the crowd will never turn away anyone looking to have a good time. Expect the crowd to play the part and work the theme to the hilt.

“Flannel shirts, union suits, skull caps, men squeezed into their signature tight jeans and a hot log jam of furry chests and faces, hot daddies and their boys, wolves, bears and their cubs, otters … and you!” Rojo says.

But ManShaft is more than dancing bears. It’s also got a charity aspect benefiting LGBTQ Atlanta charities, Sisters in nun drag, queers of every ilk, and a fun, truly open vibe that only select events can muster.

So slap on a trucker cap and call yourself butch, at least for a night, and enjoy our round up of the details.

Shapes & Sizes ManShaft is designed to bring all facets of the community together through the introduction of “theme” participation instead of focusing on a “body type,” leaving no room for shaming.

Down to Earth ManShaft is down to earth and all about having fun. It’s social over circuit, so forget what you heard.

Audio Visual The red devil host himself plays the main set, of course, with vintage men’s films, rock & roll, disco, house, electro, remixes, and mash-ups of old and new. But that doesn’t happen before DJ Eric sets him up at the Big Wood Happy Hour. Then DJ Neon the Glowgobear knocks em down from 11:30 p.m. – 3 a.m.

Fun & Fundraising There will be a clothes and coat check available as the Atlanta Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence raise funds for their ongoing charities. As always,100 percent of those proceeds and other little Sisters surprises go to LGBTQ Atlanta charities.

ManShaft: Lumberjack takes place February 24 at Heretic. Big Wood Happy Hour starts at 9 p.m., then Rojo before Glowgobear spins starting at 11:30 p.m.

theQatl.com

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Q

THE QUEER AGENDA The Best Queer Things To Do in Atlanta This Week

February 22 - February 28

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22

Q

Queercore The future of LGBTQ-DIY music is now. Catch Bitter, Blammo, Taylor Alxndr, Haint and Hydrakiss @ The Earl, 8:30 p.m. badearl.com Catch our preview at theQatl.com.

FRIDAY,. FEBRUARY 23 Exquisite Gender This all Atlanta, all-trans five piece rock band makes its debut @ OutFront Theatre, 8 p.m.

Read our interview in this issue of Q. facebook. com/ExquisiteGender SweetBabyCheeses Queer comic Ian Aber hosts this slate of hilarious comedians backed by a grilled cheese buffet @ Relapse Theatre, 8 p.m. comedyian.com

Writers!

Photographers!

Q magazine and Project Q seek to expand our pool of contributors Reporting, commentary, event pics, portraits and photo essays. Help us express Atlanta’s diverse LGBTQ perspectives on a one-time or recurring basis.

Samples to mike@qmagatlanta.com

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24 ManShaft: Lumberjack Edition You are a go for flannels, union suits and ski caps with DJ Diablo Rojo @ Heretic, 10 p.m. See what

else in our preview on these pages. hereticatlanta.com

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25 Chili Cookoff The crockpots are on, the contestants are serious, and you eat the results @ Friends, 4 p.m. friendsonponce-atl.com Armory Reunion Whether you were there the first time or not, party like it’s 1999 @ Amsterdam, 2 p.m.

AmsterdamAtlanta.com Rush Center Open House 10 years flew by but saw so much. Celebrate a decade of Atlanta’s LGBTQ center @ Rush Center, 3 p.m. rushcenteratl.org Disney Villains Sing-A-Long You picked your side long ago. Now sing it with adults-only @ The Vista Room, 6 p.m.

thevistaroom.com

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28 Saturday Church The hopeful story of an effeminate 14-yearold boy will warm your cold heart with a free screening of this award winner at Out on Film last year @ Rush Center, 7 p.m. outonfilm.org

Get our latest Queer Agenda calendar on Project Q Atlanta every Thursday 18

theQatl.com

at theQatl.com.

PET PARENTS Q

Through His

LENS

By Mike Fleming

W

hether you realized it or not, you already know the work of Q contributor James L. Hicks. His cover features on LGBTQ Atlanta groups for this magazine – Dykes on Bikes and Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence so far – are just the tip of a photographic iceberg 30 years in the making.

James Hicks with Sophia, Louie and Liya After stops and starts with other career ideas at Morehouse and an internship for a forensic photographer in Atlanta, then a photography assistant job in his native Washington, D.C., he began a prolific career that includes his own coffee table books and gigs with big name celebrities, famous drag queens, and tons of shots highlighting his passion for animals.

But there are other photo books by Hicks that inform the To wit, he exposes his lens in this issue to queer Atlantans and spread in this issue, and gives us the biggest insight into their love for dogs. Meet his latest subjects and their four-legged friends on the following pages, and check out his self portrait on Hicks as an artist and photographer.

Photographer James L. Hicks lets us behind his camera as he shoots this week’s Pet Parents feature

this page with two of his dozens – you read that right – of animals who live at his metro Atlanta home. Pictured are his Italian Greyhound Sophi and his Basenjis Liya and Louie.

As for those more famous faces, and there are many, Hicks does have a few favorites. Erykah Badu, Smokey Robinson and Pam Grier are among them.

“The late Aaliyah, Alicia Keys, Deborah Cox and actress Rosario Dawson were the sweetest, most kind and down to earth artists that I worked with,” he says. “Usher was a lot of fun to work with and a really cool guy.”

His Drag Dolls, Dames & Divas books feature names Drag Race fans will know instantly. Manila Luzon, Tatianna, Alexis Mateo, Yara Sofia and Shangela are just some of the included queens.

“I watched one episode of RuPauls Drag Race, and that was my inspiration for Drag Dolls, Dames & Divas,” Hicks says.

“I was so blown away by these artists creativity in creating their characters. I knew it would be a brilliant collaboration.”

“I combined my love of dogs and my love of photography to create Dog Face Pet Portraits,” he says. “Now I’m working on finding a publisher for my Dog Face series of books. Dog Face: Pooches & Prose is in two volumes of over 350 pages of beautiful images of dogs combined with quotes from famous, as well as, not so well known, dog lovers. The project includes some of the most popular breeds in the world as well as some of the rarest.”

Another book project, Dog Face: The Human/Animal focuses on the unique bond humans share with animals. It includes animals on family farms, therapy dogs in senior homes and autism camps, the Jail Dog Program at Gwinnett County Jail and more.

Read our full interview with Hicks on our Project Q Atlanta home site at theQatl.com. Until then, turn the page for our Pet Parents feature.

“Three words for it: Love, devotion and family,” Hicks says.

theQatl.com

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Q

PET PARENTS, Continued Jessie and Nancy with Pippa and Pearl

Jessie Romer & Nancy Holdren Bliss Animal Haven Bliss rescues senior and special needs dogs and is expanding to Five Freedoms Farm to partner with the deaf community to run it.

Nancy and Rose

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theQatl.com

Puppy

LOVE Queer Atlanta pet parents

by James L. Hicks jhicksphotography.net

Jessie with Boris , Nikki and Ralphie theQatl.com

21

Q

PET PARENTS, Continued

Nichelle Paris with 13-year-old Scrappy

22

theQatl.com

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PET PARENTS, Continued

Mathew & Ryan McKinney with Bulldogs Laney and Echo

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PET PARENTS, Continued

Jamie & Kathy Bertone with their Dalmations

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PET PLACES At-A-Glance resources with our compliments Ansley Animal Clinic 593 Dutch Valley Rd NE 404-873-1786 AnsleyAnimalClinic.org Barking Hound Village Boarding, Bday parties, Daycare, Grooming, Training, Supplies, 1918 Cheshire Bridge Road NE 404-897-3422 barkinghoundvillage.com GCB Toys and accessories 1510 Piedmont Ave. NE 404-873-5400 brushstrokesatlanta.com Glamour Paws Daycare, Salon & Spa, Hotel 776 North Highland Ave. NE 404-885-9285 GlamourPaws.net Intown Animal Hospital 1402 N. Highland Ave. NE 404-881-1805 IntownAnimalHospital.com The Pet Set 976 Piedmont Ave, NE 2480 Briarcliff Road NE ThePetSet.com Piedmont Bark Boarding, daycare, grooming 501 Amsterdam Ave NE PiedmontBark.com VCA Animal Hospital More than a dozen locations including 1911 Piedmont Cir NE 1510 Piedmont Ave NE 4839 Peachtree Road vcahospitals.com theQatl.com

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Q

PET PARENTS, Continued

Lance Forrest & Kevin Simpson with 1-year-old Yorkshire Terrier Roc

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37

Q

THEQ?!

COMING OUT Isn’t for

PUSSIES

Freeing yourself at 15 or 55, and whether everyone, no one, or just your Mammaw is clueless

Q

I’m 15, out and unhappy. My mom is cool with me being gay, but she’d rather talk about finishing school and getting a job. I can’t go to bars yet, and I don’t have money. I know only one other gay dude. Being “out” is like having a brand new car with nowhere to drive it.

I know, I know: It Gets Better. Well, life sucks now, so when exactly can I expect all the promises to come true? So I’m queer.

Now what?

Dear Queer Youth: Gay, straight, bi, queer, trans, kinky-curious, purple or otherwise, it’s hard to see the forest for the trees when you’re 15. The good news, and incidentally the bad news, is that what seems like forever right now is actually just a small, fleeting portion of your life.

Spend this time setting yourself up for a better future. Going to school and getting a job earn the fun and the funds. “It Gets Better” because you get better.

Instead of focusing on what you don’t have, actively practice being grateful for what you do. Tons of people would love to have a mom cool with them being gay, or to know even one other gay person, or to be able to come out and get on with life.

Q

There’s one thing standing in the way of a future with my boyfriend: He says it’s me. I say it’s him.

He thinks that if I don’t break my devoutly religious grandmother’s heart by coming out to her, I can’t have true gay Pride, and I can’t have him. Come out to my Mammaw, or he’s breaking up with me.

I think he’s being unreasonable. What do you think?

Dear Ultimatums & Threats: You say it’s him, and he says it’s you. I say you’re both right.

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Assuming you are otherwise out and harbor no internalized homophobia, you have the right to come out when, and to whom, you choose. It doesn’t make you ashamed, just different. You should similarly accept that his being out to everyone is equally valid.

In a long-term relationship, you both have to live with the other’s accompanying consequences and rewards of spilling the beans or remaining silent. Maybe it’s your culture, inner mores, or other circumstances that make you each feel the way you do. Maybe you can live with each other’s situation and choices, maybe you can’t.

The big red flag here is his ultimatum. Holding conditional love over someone speaks more to relationship issues than who knows you’re gay.

Q

I’ve never acted on being gay, but I’m considering coming out at 55. I worry that I waited too long, but I also worry that denying it would shortchange my true self.

Dear Better Late: There are as many ways to come out as there are people who do it. If your “true self ” is nagging you to come out, it’s worth exploring. Others who can relate and appreciate the sum of your life experiences are out there. Your next chapter is coming whether you come out or not, so think about how to make it great. It’s never too late.

The Q is intended for entertainment purposes and not as professional counseling. Send your burning Qs to mike@qmagatlanta.com.

Illustration by Brad Gibson

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