Q inform | inspire
March 8, 2018
Blame It On
BIANCA +
Atlanta’s looking at you, Bianca Del Rio
Q Voices 10 Queer Things Queer Agenda Q Shots
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
Identity
POLITICS
MATT HENNIE PUBLISHER & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MATT@QMAGATLANTA.COM
Femme hating, star lust, turning looks, high drag, and morphing queer culture
RICHARD CHERSKOV PUBLISHER & GENERAL MANAGER RICHARD@QMAGATLANTA.COM
THE FIGHT FOR EQUALITY HAS ALWAYS made for strange bedfellows, and if variety is the spice of life, then queer identities are right at the top of its delicacies. We at Q magazine are here for it every single week. Even when an issue creates messy internal strife, it always creates change and widens perspectives.
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 TAMEEKA L. HUNTER SUNNI JOHNSON ERIC PAULK DUSTIN SHRADER JAMES SHEFFIELD DISCLAIMER 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.”
This week, we look at one of queers’ many important internal arguments – the one between those of us who would assimilate into mainstream culture and move on from the movement, and those who fear that doing so erases our history and the very things that make being queer so fabulous. You know, people ecstatic about gay marriage and military service, and others who thought avoiding those things were two of the biggest advantages of being queer. I jest. Sort of.
MIKE FLEMING EDITOR & PUBLISHER
In our Conversations feature, I take a deep dive into the question of whether we’re erasing queer culture by assimilating too quickly into heteronormative patterns, and reacting too knee-jerk to each other when we encounter differing opinions. Can’t we have our equality cake and eat our queer culture too?
Inspired by the topic, our weekly 10 Queer Things list finds 10 aspects of queer culture that aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Speaking of queer things, some of the funniest drag and one-liners come in our Cover Story on Bianca Del Rio, who hits Atlanta this week. Another queer making waves by doing what he loves is college basketball groundbreaker, current Hot 100 gay bachelor, inspirational queer intersections advocate, and traveling recording artist DJ Will Sheridan. He hits town for the new Lewk party, and the Events column offers the scoop on who, what, when and where to get in on his action. We know you. There’s never enough, right? Well, good. We’re not done. Sunni calls out femme haters among gay men and lesbians in her Voices column, one Atlanta actor takes on Barbra Streisand in Stage, the Queer Agenda calendar of upcoming performances and parties is supersized, and Q Shots relives your most photogenic moments from recent events. To top it all off, The Q advises three readers on sex etiquette, and it’s eye opening to say the least. Start flipping pages, and you’ll also find News from Project Q Atlanta, our homesite chock full of queer content brewed fresh daily. Stop by online every day at theQatl.com, and take home your hard copy of Q mag. A new issue comes out each Thursday at LGBTQ venues around town. theQatl.com
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE VOLUME 1 ISSUE 16
MARCH 8, 2018
CONVERSATIONS Straightwashing
26
COVER STORY
14
Bianca’s Blame
STAGE
13 18
28 Man 4 Masc
Being Barbra
One man plays Streisand and her biggest fan EVENTS
Working It
22
The whos and wherefores of LEWK Party
33 Gridiron Jocks
FEATURES Q Voices
6
Q News
10
The Q
38
10 Queer Things Queer Agenda
4
theQatl.com
8
20
38
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Q
Q VOICES
NO FEMS?
Say What? We get enough from cishet men. Can gay and lesbian culture please stop the all-out attack on femininity? IN ORDER TO BE RESPECTED BY THE BRO CULTURE that exists even within progressive political punk, people are expected to palpably package their femininity in order to be taken seriously. Whether or not an outspoken feminist who challenges the “feminine,” an individual who adheres and amps femme kitsch, or a mixture of both, femspace is always under attack. And the cishet white male isn’t the only problem. This exists in the gay community, too, especially in popular gay bars and hookup culture well known to be discriminatory. Whereas many spaces exist for femmes regarding performance art and drag, I’m surprised how much Midtown needs to catch up on the queer- and femme-friendly fronts.
Though my campiness in performing femininity may be somewhat shunned, I am not threatened in any way for being “girly.” However, being close to many feminine queers that are not AFAB, I spy some serious fuckwad discrimination towards transwomen, non-binary AMABs, and even some of the common gay boy bottoms in our potentially wonderful queer city. Transwomen have always faced issues of judgment, their identities ridiculed and safety threatened. You have to be living under a rock to not know that transwomen are harassed, assaulted, and murdered more than any other subset of queer identities. The narrative of tragedy for transwomen is in regular rotation in the news. Transwomen of lower income are given less protection and therefore face potential attack more often, usually by the hands of violent men who also fetishize and sexualize transwomen. Fear should not be a keystone of the trans experience, yet the common everyday cis gay does not think twice about making derogatory remarks. To turn around and socially discriminate against transwomen, even in minor commentary, perpetuates a history of violence that claims transwomen are deserving of abuse.
This same rhetoric follows any “girly” gay, femme lesbian, etc., that is made to feel invalidated or humiliated by judgmental energy. Feminine men experience much of the same S U N N I J O H N S O N Too often, I see critiques from all angles dissing hardships that straight women deal with in those who are too “sensitive,” feminist, passiondating and the workplace. Femininity is seen ate about exploring serious issues, or on the flipside, appreciate as frivolous, while masculinity continues to rule the roost. cuteness and kitsch, or just simply allow their gender expresWhether gay or lesbian, the homo hierarchy gives privilege to sion to shine through. masculinity. Yes, in theory, homos do celebrate femininity more loudly than the hets, but as queer awareness pushes to the forefront and secures spaces where the feminine demands and gets respect, it’s often a bubble compared to the homonormative cis gay male reign. Atlanta abounds with examples of Midtown bars that are not entirely open to femmes. Femme community is around, but the support they crave is usually located elsewhere. My fantastical ass wants to live in a pink kingdom of fierce femme fluff, but even if I’ve personally disliked what I see as ATL’s baseness and lack of flamboyance, I’ve never felt an intense need to escape it. I am cis-esqe and seen as a person who fits my assignment – a feminine “woman” who aligns with some socially acceptable presentation. 6
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Though social media and dialogue has more commonly placed the fem-centric into the light of accessibility and acceptance, don’t fool yourself: Femspace is always under attack.
Participating in jokes or even coldness towards the fem-centric is participating in abuse. So what if the outside hub of heteronormativity perceives queers at large as hella feminine? Our world is usually only seen through selective sissy-tinted sunnies. If only they knew the brutal standards of the gay community, the disgusting popularity of “No Fats, No Fems,” and the rampant rudeness of abundant anti-POC disclaimers on Grindr profiles. Sunni Johnson is an out freelance writer in Atlanta with interests in the arts and social justice.
Q
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
WHO WE 10 QUEER THINGS
ORIGINALITY
8
COUNTER CULTURE
Q
KINK theQatl.com
ARE
10 aspects of queer identity that aren’t going anywhere
SEX POSITIVITY
SURVIVAL INSTINCTS
PRIDE
NERVE
SHOWMANSHIP
THE BIG LOVE
Check out our discussion on the erasure of queer culture on Page 14 theQatl.com
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Q NEWS
‘You could be saving a life at this point or you could be damaging a life and ending one.’ — Tylen Toliver
Tylen Toliver
Foster
SCARE
LGBTQ Gold Dome rally lashes out at Georgia’s LGBT adoption, foster care ban 10
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By Matt Hennie
A
coalition of opponents to a bill that would allow faith-based adoption and foster care agencies to refuse to serve LGBT parents and children lashed out at the legislation during a rally across from the Georgia Capitol. A crowd of nearly 200 people crowded into the community room of Central Presbyterian Church on March 1 to hear a chorus of LGBT activists, progressive advocates, parents, an LGBT actor and a transgender teen adopted by a gay couple out of the foster system criticize Senate Bill 375. The legislation passed the state Senate and is now before the House.
“It brings harm to children denied loving homes and it brings harm to LGBT families who are denied the ability to provide loving homes to children in need,” said Simone Bell, Lambda Legal’s Southern Regional Director. “S.B. 375 will turn away willing and capable same-sex couples. It will turn away children from being in loving and supportive homes.” Some 20 percent of the 14,000 children in foster care in Georgia are LGBT, Bell said. So she challenged her former colleagues in the House – where Bell served as one of the few openly LGBTQ lawmaker in the state until 2015 – to stop the legislation.
issue. It is unfortunate that that’s what we’ve devolved to in the State of Georgia today.” The rally attracted a geographically diverse crowd with participants from outside metro Atlanta, including Macon, Columbus and St. Simons Island. But attendees were also politically diverse. Marisa Pruitt DeRossett – a self-described conservative, lesbian and mother of three children – said the bill puts her family at risk.
The most emotional comments during the rally came from Tylen Toliver, an 18-year-old transgender teen who was rejected by 30 families before being cared for by a gay couple. “I couldn’t imagine not having my family. I could not imagine not having the people that whenever I need something, they understand. They know the struggle,” Toliver said. “You are cancelling out a whole demographic of people that you don’t understand. You are telling them that me having parents that love me doesn’t matter.” For transgender children in state care, being placed with a loving family is critical, Toliver said. “You could be saving a life at this point or you could be damaging a life and ending one,” she said. The bill from state Sen. William Ligon, a Republican from Brunswick, would allow faith-based agencies receiving taxpayer funds to ban LGBT people from adopting children and providing foster care. State law already allows privately funded agencies to discriminate, but critics say it would allow those agencies to also receive taxpayer funds and write discrimination into state law. The legislation has been on a fast track for approval since Ligon introduced it and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle – who presides over the Senate and is running for governor – guaranteed that senators would pass the measure.
Daniel Newman
“S.B. 375 puts the very creation of our family at risk by allowing people’s personal views, their religious views, to becomes licenses to discriminate against me and my family. As a member of the LGBT community, I am under attack. We are under attack,” DeRossett said. Daniel Newman – a gay Atlanta actor who is part of the “Walking Dead” cast – criticized the bill as “a total embarrassment” to the state during the rally. He’s part of a growing backlash [Q News in Brief, Page 14] to the legislation from the film and television industries that pumped $9.5 billion into the Georgia economy last year.
‘A CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE, AN ECONOMIC ISSUE’ Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality, said the next few weeks in the legislature are going to be critical. The legislative session ends on March 29.
“Beyond being a civil rights issue, it is an economic issue for our state. We are trying to have big companies like Amazon, Delta, UPS – huge companies and billions of dollars – coming into our city,” Newman said. “They will not be in our city and operate in our city when there is legislation that is prejudiced, that is homophobic, that is racist. It’s not acceptable.”
“It is morally wrong and it is wrong for the kids,” Graham said of the bill. “Discrimination should not be a partisan
Project Q Atlanta reports the latest LGBTQ news daily at theQatl.com. theQatl.com
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NEWS BRIEFS
‘Walking Dead’ actor joins chorus denouncing LGBT adoption ban “Walking Dead” actor Daniel Newman is speaking out against an LGBT adoption ban passed by the Georgia Senate, part of a growing chorus of critics from the film and television industries that generated $9.5 billion in economic impact in the state last year. Newman, the Atlanta-based actor who came out last year, also took part in March 1 rally near the State Capitol to protest the legislation. The Georgia Senate passed the “Keep Faith in Adoption & Foster Care Act” on February 23. The legislation would allow faith-based agencies receiving taxpayer funds to ban LGBT people from adopting children and providing foster care. Newman came out against the legislation in an Instagram post on February 26. “Walking Dead” – the popular AMC show in its eighth season – is shot in locations across Georgia. The show is also the target of an online petition asking it to move production outside Georgia if the anti-LGBT adoption bill isn’t stopped. The legislation is now before the state House. LGBTQ activist Sarah Rose said the “diverse” film industry that boosts the state’s economy shouldn’t remain here if the legislation becomes law. She launched a Care2 petition. “Walking Dead Shouldn’t Film in Georgia Due to Anti-LGBTQ Policies” has received more than thousands of signatures. “I was born and have lived in Georgia for most of my adult life, and have seen our state’s economy transformed in incredible ways by the diverse and accepting film industry,” Sarah Rose said in prepared statement from Care2, where she serves as senior LGBTQ issues advocate. “If the state chooses intolerance over inclusion, then I hope ‘The Walking Dead’ and other television franchises will hit the state where it hurts by choosing to take their production elsewhere,” Rose added. The legislation continues to generate controversy and opposition from inside the television and film industries and out. TV showrunner Ben Wexler – who worked on “The Grinder,” “The Comedians” and “Arrested Development” – called the bill “dumb” and said he will stop filming in Georgia if it becomes law. Atlanta Dream star Layshia Clarendon delivered a tweetstorm against the bill. And Atlanta Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce has also joined other business groups decrying the legislation. 12
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Cowtippers to Remain
OPEN ‘INDEFINITELY’
THE MIX OF DRAG QUEENS AND AN OUTPOURING of LGBT support has helped convince the owners of Cowtippers to keep the long-running steak and spirits restaurant open – nevermind that closing party a few weeks ago. “The outpouring of support continued here at Cowtippers and we decided to continue to keep our doors open for the foreseeable future,” a spokesperson for Metrotainment, which owns the Midtown restaurant, told Project Q Atlanta. Cowtippers, which opened in 1993, announced in January that it would close on Jan. 28 – a surprise to longtime patrons. “Metrotainment Cafes still owns the property and we are weighing several options including selling the restaurant and property. In the interim, we will use the space for private events handled by our catering company, Epic Events. We are thankful for the many years of patronage from Atlanta and looking forward to continued success with our other concepts as we continue to grow in this city,” Metrotainment CEO Jeff Landau said in a statement. But a closing party with queens and an outpouring of support convinced Metrotainment to keep the place open – and push back the closing date to Feb. 18. “Due to overwhelming response from the community, we have decided to extend our closing celebration thru February 18th! This will give everyone another chance to say goodbye to Cowtippers, as well as give us a little more time to place staff in our other restaurants. Thank you for all the support, hope to see you soon!” Now that closing is pushed back – indefinitely.
GET NOTICED! NOW OPEN 6 DAYS A WEEK! MONDAY 7-12 Bingo Night with Brent Star
TUESDAYS CLOSED WEDNESDAY 7-2AM Karaoke Night starts at 9PM THURSDAYS-7-2AM 3-Some Thursdays Drag Show 11:30 Dance Party Destiny Brooks and friends
FRIDAYS 6-3AM Envy Fridays Hosted by Kia Comedy Drag shows • Dance party
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Tossed Salad 7:30-midnight Hosted by Brigitte Bidet
66 12th St NE • Atlanta GA 30309 • mysistersroom.com Now on Uber Eats with late night delivery
Call 404.242.2621 or e-mail russ@projectqatlanta.com to advertise in Q Magazine and Project Q Atlanta. theQatl.com
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CONVERSATIONS
Is Equality Erasing
Assimilation into the mainstream is largely celebrated, but are greater acceptance and civil rights erasing LGBTQ identity? Only if we let it.
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By Mike Fleming s the equality floodgates continue opening after decades of slow leak, the queer landscape is morphing. Unprecedented steps forward, even among the requisite and expected steps back, are creating new challenges and spurring a debate that has the potential to usher in a New Normal – a great one if we conduct it wisely, and a Next Generation Borg-like assimilation shitshow if we don’t. If you’ve been around a while, or have your eye on the trajectory of LGBTQ life since Stonewall, reasons to celebrate include, but are not limited to, marriage equality for same-sex couples, widespread public opinion in our favor for adoptions, gender identity and sexual orientation employment protections breaking into Title VII, and the right for gay and trans service members to serve openly in the military. But are these gains taken by some as automatic passes to join the mainstream and leave gay identity behind? “I look forward to the day being gay is no more significant than being left-handed,” wrote Evan Urguhart in Outward. “It will not dictate to which cities they move or what cultural products they consume. They will lack that inner sense of their unique vulnerability or unworthiness that you and I still have to deal with.” Others mourn the loss of queer culture that made being LGBTQ+ special, unique, and most of all, worth saving. Not to mention, they argue, that “straight culture” perpetuates a system that caused the very sexual and gender-based oppression that we worked so hard to overcome. “In the rush to embrace traditional relationships as defined by heterosexual marriage, the gay community is discarding the very sexuality that the Supreme Court has validated,” writes Patrick Moore in Beyond Shame: Reclaiming Radical Gay Sexuality. To complicate matters, others of us are left cold to any positive changes by the remaining lack of rights. It’s hard to celebrate progress with issues still on the table like racism against some of us and infecting many of us; health, home and employment inequities within our own community based on gender and race; bigoted state legislators quite specifically out to get us; and rampant individual cases of personal hate and discrimination. And that’s not to mention the bickering, wrangling and power plays among ourselves.
Good Problems to Have
At first glance, it would seem as if we’re left with two distinct sides of an intimidating fence. Those on one side dive headlong into full assimilation of heteronormative traditions, while those on the other reject those standards whole cloth in efforts to keep queer life, well, queer.
To listen to some arguments, you’re either for equal status within the status quo, or anti-establishment. Period. You get married, buy a house in the suburbs and have babies, or you think that those who do that have lost the very essence of what queer culture has rallied to attain: It’s own identity. But it’s harder – and ultimately more beneficial – to admit that nobody is on one end or another on any scale. To work toward compromise and acceptance of each other’s preferences lets us enjoy the best of both worlds. But it’s very American of us not to. As a country, we love to pick sides. Heroes and villains. Black or white. Love and hate. Good vs. evil. All or nothing. You’re either with us or against us. A Clinton candidacy wasn’t nearly as interesting to vote for without a Trump to vilify and vote against (and sadly for so many voters, vice versa). And yes: many Americans still salivate over a good Gay vs. Straight rager, though perhaps decreasingly. While “they” say gays would infect straight society with immoral homosexual and transgender cooties that threaten their very way of life, “we” snub their lives in return. Just the phrase “Us vs. Them” rings through our ears like classic Americana. The Us vs. Them dynamic rears its head amidst our own, too, of course. Even in tragedy, the community was divided when 49 LGBT and allied partiers were killed by an emotionally conflicted gunman in an Orlando nightclub. Some celebrated a dramatic shift in public perception that reported the news matter-of-factly, without sensationalizing the “gay angle.” Others were just as disappointed that coverage wasn’t “gay enough” and ignored LGBT issues in the case. By the way, both were right, but we acted like one couldn’t exist without the other. Even in ways that we came together, some wanted to choose up sides and fight it out. It’s a conundrum that plays out in other tragedies and other discussions of LGBTQ issues. In our anger and sadness – yep, it was both, and no one had to choose – some of us missed an opportunity to see both sides and meet in the middle Ultimately, it’s a great problem to have when you’re battling for how you want your inclusion represented. In the past, we had to rail against what was once the norm in news coverage involving gay people: Ignoring LGBT victims and victims of color, while over-noticing the plights and tragedies of straight white people. These challenges leave room to grow. But the question remains: Does acceptance mean blind assimilation? Do we have to lose what’s great about queer life to have it all? Maybe it’s neither and both. Sometimes we have to leave things behind so that we can move forward. And sometimes we don’t – we can embrace the past while forging ahead into the future with the past in our back pocket. theQatl.com
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CONVERSATIONS, Continued
‘Pssst: Stop It.’ Gay infighting knows no bounds. Ask a dinner table of queer friends for their views on drag, open relationships, racism within the community, transgender inclusion, bottom shaming, having children, femmes vs. butch, the letters of LGBTQ+, non-profit spending, public displays of affection, or hell, even mixing prints. Voices will raise among good friends. Now ask those same friends about whether queer acceptance means blind assimilation. Heels will dig in. Now ask the same questions at a larger, more diversified LGBT gathering. Fur might fly. Pssst. Stop it. We don’t have to choose sides. The emerging Renaissance Queer can have it all. And that goes double when it comes to queer identity and civil rights. Want to get married? Go for it. Want to eschew that heteronormative system? Please do. Maybe you want to define your relationship outside legal parameters. Maybe you want to have a wedding, but not in a house of worship. Maybe you want to have it in a church, but one without walls. Of cours it’s not just marriage. Move to a better school district, or alternately vow to stay in town forever. Catch a circuit DJ at Heretic and an EDM favorite at Terminal West. Read queer media as well as mainstream newspapers, respected business journals and silly listicle blogs. Network with the Atlanta Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, and have lunch with professionals in your local trade organization. Join the gay softball league and your alumni association’s football boosters. We can have the best of both the queer world and the world at large. Having the same choices as everyone else is good, and making them your own is even better. Queer culture was founded on a fight for variance and diversity, a battle for justice, and the right to be whatever and however we choose in or out of conventional parameters. That doesn’t have to change just because some of us also want an SUV, one partner, and a white picket fence and others of us want to walk everywhere and fuck everyone. Let clones be clones. Let radfemmes be rad. Grant each other the equality we supposedly each want to be and to love as we see fit, and it’s a safe bet that our very queerness can and will persist. It will be there as we fight for what remains unsettled, even if equality continues at a rapid pace. And like everything else in the universe, queer identity will likely morph to suit new needs. Maybe mainstream and queer cultures can even change each other for the better. Being LGBTQ doesn’t have to stop meaning being unique or fabulous or radical. Rather than doing old things in old ways, we 16
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can keep doing everything in new ways, all ways, as determined by each one of us and our personal set of priorities. Keep your queer identity and your demands for social justice, as well as the trappings and perks of equality. Have it all. Nothing is stopping you. All options are on the table. That’s a good thing.
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STAGE
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Barbra’s
WORLD
Actor takes on Streisand in one man Buyer and Cellar
I
By Dustin Shrader n a world obsessed with celebrity that elevates the rich and famous to a world far, far away, a world we only catch in fleeting glimpses from the outside comes Buyer and Cellar, a one-man tour de force hitting Out Front Theatre Company March 8 – 25. The instantaneous linking to and withdrawal from fame is a thought provoking, hilarious paradigm beguilingly uncovered in Jonathan Tolins’ comic play. The one-man show brings to life the ups and downs of a persistent, down on his luck actor working in the basement of the glamorous Malibu home of the one and only Barbra Streisand. Legend has it, a personal mall houses Streisand’s breathtaking costume collection, classic antiques and more beyond imagination. In 2017, the debut play received rave reviews for its uniqueness and talented star. As the plot goes, our hero has been fired as the mayor of Toontown at Disneyland. At first, he doesn’t meet his employer, but one day Streisand herself comes downstairs to play. It feels like a real bonding experience in the basement, but will their relationship ever make it upstairs? Winner of the 2014-2015 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show, Buyer and Cellar is an outrageous comedy about the price of fame, the cost of things and the oddest of odd jobs. “We all have had those moments of feeling star struck around our favorite celebrity or any celebrity in general,” says Paul Conroy, founder and producing artistic director of Out Front Theatre. “The fascination for these out-of-reach beings is addicting. For as much as they aren’t like us, deep down un-
derneath all of the glitz and glam, they are mere humans too. And that is what I love about Buyer and Cellar. It explores the relationship of when one man connects with a larger than life person.”
Elliott Folds stars the local production, a role originally Elliott Folds made famous by Michael Urie. Conroy directs with Max Mattox assisting. It’s another first for the fledgling LGBTQ theater troupe, and Conroy is excited about it.
‘It explores the relationship of when one man connects with a larger than life person.’ — Paul Conroy, Founder of Out Front Theatre “This is the first time we have taken on the task of a oneman starring production,” he says. “It has been rewarding and challenging for both myself and Elliot. It is more simplistic than other shows; however, Elliot’s talents for bringing these characters to life are uncanny. “Whether you are a fan of Barbra or not, this story is one the entire audience can relate,” Conroy adds. “It will make them laugh, cry, think and overall be limitlessly entertained.” Buyer and Cellar runs Thursdays through Sundays March 8-25 at Out Front Theatre Company, 999 Brady Ave. outfronttheatre.com theQatl.com
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THE QUEER AGENDA The Best Queer Things To Do in Atlanta This Week
March 8 – March 14 THURSDAY, MARCH 8 Buyer and Cellar
SATURDAY, MARCH 10 Fort Troff Maneuvers
It’s always a party at the gay
men’s sex club, this time with
branded surprises @ Manifest
Out Front Theatre Company,
4U, 10 p.m. manifest4u.org
outfronttheatre.com
SUNDAY, MARCH 11
8 p.m. Runs through March 25.
Mamma Mia!
The characters you love and the ABBA songs you’ll never forget @ Aurora
Theatre, 8 p.m. Runs through April 22.
Revival
Miss brunch, drag, and t-dance Sundays of years gone by? You’ll love weekly bottomless mimosas, queens and a DJ @ Whiskey Mistress, Buckhead, 12 noon.
auroratheatre.com
TUESDAY, MARCH 13
FRIDAY, MARCH 9
Pets Are Loving Support’s PALS Bingo
Lucky Charms Drag Queen Bingo
The Harvey Milk Show
A 30th anniversary concert featuring more than a dozen popular local
performers @ Actor’s Express, 8 p.m. Second
performance on March 10. actors-express.com
continues its holiday traditions for St. Patrick’s Day @ Lips, 7:30 p.m. palsatlanta.org
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14
Bianca Del Rio
Twisted Broadway
Hilarity and glam await you with this
Edie Cheezburger hosts this drag-tas-
RPDR alum @ Variety Playhouse, 8
tic evening with “celebrity servers” to
p.m. Read our preview in this issue.
benefit AID Atlanta @ Lips, 7 p.m.
variety-playhouse.com
THURSDAY, MARCH 8 LEWK with Will Sheridan
aidatlanta.org
.
One of the first Division I basketball players to come out is also a queer activist DJ out of
Brooklyn making you dance. King Atlas opens @ The Deep End, 10 p.m. wussymag.com
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14 Spice World
You gotta get with your friends for this 90s
camp classic @ The Plaza, 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. 20
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EVENTS
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Turning A
LEWK
Five things you need to know before working Will Sheridan’s BKLYN ATL gig By Mike Fleming
W
ith Brooklyn as the longtime edgy epicenter of queer cool, it fits that Atlanta’s latest little jewel of a one-off event in Atlanta’s trendiest neighborhood comes directly from that particular burgh. Look no further than LEWK on Thursday, March 8 for local cool kids and alternaqueers, a DJ with a viral gay backstory, one of Atlanta’s trendiest neighborhood spots, and club sounds from Hip Hop to Vogue. The party set featuring Will Sheridan hits The Deep End for one night and lacks just one thing: You, turning your fiercest Weekend Eve “lewk.” We dove into the event for a taste and came up craving more. Here are the five facts you need to make it part of your week.
WHO
Before he was laying down “Baltmore Jersey Club” sounds, Brooklyn’s Will Sheridan was laying up basketballs, then laying out critics as only the second Division I basketball player to come out, which he did at 26 after retiring from basketball. He became a vocal advocate, then activist, not just for gay men, but for queers of color. These days, that passion continues. Together with his former partner, he founded a non-profit that supports impoverished youth in Kenya. As a DJ, visual artist and performer, Sheridan studies “the intersection of art and performance with the lives of people who are visibly and openly existing in the digital age.” Who else? Alternaqueer cutie DJ King Atlas opens, so his Wussy hosts and loyal following aren’t far behind.
WHAT
Sheridan’s work navigates his personal layers of identity, specifically how his story debunks the usual backstory of Hip Hop artists. He’ll spin his LEWK DJ set from that perspective, including inspirations from first album GIANT (Going In And Never Timid). It’s a concept that befits his formidable 6’8”, 240-pound frame, obviously, but also serves as a behemoth of a personal philosophy about everyone, Sherdian told Huffington Post.
“You’re big enough to be who you are — you’re a giant too. It’s an all-inclusive brand and storyline,” he said. “I am literally GIANT myself. But if I can empower other people to become comfortable with who they are and what they do and encourage them to be a better version of themselves — then that, itself, really is GIANT.”
WHERE
As Ponce City Market transforms the North Avenue corridor into an uber-trendy place to be, The Deep End restaurant is serving more than food and drinks. Already home to a lively early-week bingo game hosted by queer Atlanta’s own Brent Star, it’s the perfect place to undulate to Sheridan’s sounds for a cool Thursday vibe just right for kicking off the weekend. Deep End does provide you the luxury of customer parking, but the whole block is best visited via Uber, Lyft, or carpooling if you can.
WHEN
Well that’s easy. Thursday, March 8, 10 p.m. – 3 a.m. after the mall rats have scurried home and the Buckhead Betties have maxed out their credit cards.
WHAT ELSE?
Just some housekeeping. $5 at the door. A photobooth “lewk station” will be on hand to record your fashion choices, so make them count. LEWK takes place on Thursday, March 8 at 10 p.m. at The Deep End, 621 North Avenue NE. Visit facebook.com/thedeependatl, and hear more from Will Sheridan at soundcloud.com/willsheridanmusic. theQatl.com
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PEOPLE
B anca’s As the RPDR legend heads to town, we list our favorite Bianca Del Rio quotes
W
By Mike Fleming hat becomes a legend? Well, in this case, it’s more big honking nose than big honking diamonds. Sure, there’s glamour and beauty, but it’s more defiance than elegance, more sass than class. Because when Bianca Del Rio hits Atlanta on her “Blame It On Bianca” tour, RuPaul’s queen of mean will hold zero punches. The one-night-only performance will solidify an answer to the burning question: Sarcasm and hilarity are what really becomes a legend, and they’ll be on full display on March 9 at Variety Playhouse. So will the insult comic and costumes that the queen, nee Roy Haylock, is known for. Anticipation for the show got us gathered in a gay gaggle recently trying to remember all of the Season 6 Drag Race winner’s best lines. The session went on so long, we decided that the best way to preview the show would be to highlight just some of our favorite Del Rio lines. Which ones would you add? Bianca Del Rio plays Variety Playhouse, 1099 Euclid Ave. NE, on March 9, 8 p.m.. variety-playhouse.com
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‘BLAME’ It looks like she went into Claire’s Boutique, fell on a sale rack and said ‘I’ll take it!’ I am Clown Realness.
Beauty fades. Dumb is forever.
I have a large dick, no credit, and a tendency to take things that don’t belong to me. Not today, Satan! Not today.
Wide & Sassy. That was my name in prison.
She’s rotted and hateful, and I worship her!
This is not the Sisters of the Traveling Panty Hose. She’s so gay, her asshole has a lisp.
That bitch is a lot like Fox News: You can’t believe it, but it’s entertaining!
She’s like that friend you wanted in college, but couldn’t be because she never finished high school. Calm down, Beyonce. theQatl.com
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Q SHOTS
MANSHAFT: LUMBERJACK EDITION AT HERETIC
PHOTOS BY LAURA BACCUS 28
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Q SHOTS
ARMORY REUNION AT AMSTERDAM
PHOTOS BY RUSS YOUNGBLOOD
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CE N D A T
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Revival $10
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WHISKEY MISTRESS
S G UR U P ES R R TS ISE ac he ! l
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Doors open at 12 Show starts at 1 p.m. DJ Spins at 3 p.m. cover 3161 Maple Dr. NE • Atlanta, GA 30305 Next to Buckhead Pet Smart
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NATIONAL FLAG FOOTBALL LEAGUE MEET & GREET
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CHILI COOK-OFF AT FRIENDS ON PONCE
PHOTOS BY RUSS YOUNGBLOOD
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AGLCC FOURTH FRIDAY AT TWISTED SOUL
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PHOTOS BY RUSS YOUNGBLOOD theQatl.com
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RUSH CENTER 10TH ANNIVERSARY
PHOTOS BY RUSS YOUNGBLOOD
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THEQ?! Before, During &
AFTER SEX
A queer guide to sex etiquette by way of three reader inquiries
Q
After an orgasm that shook my roof off, my hus-bear surprised me and said I’m “not spontaneous any more.” I thought I was being spontaneous by not planning out every encounter and going with the flow. Well apparently now he’s bored. I love the old ball and chain beyond measure, but sometimes I just want the booty. What can I do? Dear Stale: Your man gets points for putting his sexual cards on the table, gets a few deducted for how he went about it. Instead of saying what he doesn’t want, and that it’s you not him, he should tell you what he does want so you can give it to him. The trouble may be that he doesn’t know. What he really means is that he wants to be surprised and unstructured. It’s not hard to be a little unpredictable and a lot appreciated, though it may not feel like it when you’ve been together a long time. Step into the shower while he’s in there. Let him catch you cooking dinner in an apron and nothing else. Bend him over the dining room table and pull down his pants. Whisper what you want to do to him while you’re out in public. You get the picture.
Q
Even after years, my girlfriend and I are sexually adventurous in all kinds of ways. But this week she finally suggested something that stopped me in my tracks: She wants to video us having sex. My downstairs says go, but my upstairs says no. What if we break up and she shares it? What if someone else finds it? I’ve never told my girlfriend no before. What if it’s a deal breaker? Dear PornHub: First off, if this is a deal breaker, you might have the wrong girlfriend. You say you’ve been together years, so don’t worry if 38
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she finally found a boundary you can’t cross. There’s no one answer for whether to shoot or not to shoot a sex video. Go into it knowing that, even under perfect circumstances, there will be a recording in the world of you having sex. Ask if Future You is likely to want to kick your ass for that. But before you decide, are there ways to hide your identity and still enjoy recording it? Shoot from the waist down, or experiment with masks or hoods. It could provide yet another layer of interest. Do these ideas ease your mind? Your real conundrum comes down to trust. Do you trust your girlfriend under every circumstance not to share the video, ever, and to store it where it can’t be easily discovered? If not, the answer to this question might be the same as my first sentence.
Q
I ran into a couple I had sex with once, gave them the obligatory head nod, and bitches looked past me like week-old leftovers. What’s the proper way to acknowledge former one night stands? Dear How Rude: I’m with you. If a one-night-stand is worth trying on for size, they’re at least worth the hello you’d throw a neighbor while walking the dog. Queer Atlanta is way too small to think you’ll never see each other again. They’re not obligated to acknowledge you, but it would be the grown and civil thing to do. The Q is for entertainment purposes and not professional counseling. Send your burning Qs to mike@qmagatlanta.com. Illustration by Brad Gibson
He should have them off by the time you get here.
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THURSDAY
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8 - 10 p.m. - $10 cover 10 p.m. - Close - $16 cover
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T-shirt Review at Midnight 8 - 10 p.m. - $10 cover 10 p.m. - Close - $16 cover
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