Q mag v1i23 | May 3, 2018

April 26, 2018

ATL’s Brand New SORDID TWIST

May 3, 2018

PARTY TIME LGBTQ Atlanta does Cinco de Mayo

Comics Taking PRAYER REQUESTS Coming Out with JAY-Z’S MOM Busy, Fickle & ALWAYS LATE

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10 Queer Things Q Shots Queer Agenda The Q

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gynecomastia:

The Male Curse So many men have enlarged breasts. Did you know that 30-60% of men are affected by large breasts?

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Gynecomastia is caused by an imbalanced ratio of testosterone to estrogen at puberty.

This imbalance can cause fat and/or glandular tissue to be deposited in greater quantity in the breasts. Gym steroids can cause or contribute to gynecomastia.

Surgery is the only way to fix the problem.

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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

HAVING IT ALL

Committed and intense is good, but do simmer down, Sally.

ACTIVISM AND ADVOCACY ARE an integral part of queer life in Atlanta.

Standing for and even pushing for queer and intersectional equality is necessary to our personal and political trajectory. But while we’re busy identifying and taking down affronts to our place in the world, we gotta do downtime.

And still we persisted. But we don’t have to give up anything to have some fun, too. In fact, a little softening of those edges once in a while makes us more well-rounded and ready to roll.

This week’s Q shows you how to have a good time. And what better time for it

than Cinco de Mayo, a “holiday” that’s more a party in the U.S. than a significant historical date in Mexico.

Since the 5th falls on a Saturday this year, party people will be out in force. With all your good

ART DIRECTOR JOHN NAIL JOHN@QMAGATLANTA.COM CONTRIBUTORS IAN ABER LAURA BACCUS BUCK C. COOKE JIM FARMER BRAD GIBSON TAMEEKA L. HUNTER SUNNI JOHNSON ERIC PAULK VINCE SHIFFLETT ALEXANDRA TYLER 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.”

deeds, it may have been a while since you let it

all hang out, so let 10 Queer Things offer tips to “how we Cinco” in the ATL with photos from

past LGBTQ celebrations. We also do a complete

rundown of the biggest parties and benefits in our MIKE FLEMING EDITOR & PUBLISHER

Holigay section.

Entertaining you is also on the mind of two Atlanta comics, who are also best gal pals. Their Prayer

Requests comedy showcase mixes his gay sensibilities with her Southern sass in the Events column. In Stage, meet the people giving new life to Sordid Lives.

Out Front gives the classic play a casting twist that you won’t want to miss.

One faction of our community that doesn’t get celebrated nearly enough is

African American lesbians. Jay-Z and this week’s Q Voices columnist are here

to change that. When the rapper’s mom came out as gay, his public embrace of

her opened the floodgates on a demographic that often suffers plights specific to them without any attention from the outside world.

We wrap this issue with your integrity, which might appear to be for sale if you

read The Q letters this week. In theory, you know that any good queer is only as

good as their word. In practice, it may not work out that way for some. We try to set them straight… so to speak.

As with every week, we offer Q Shots from past events and the Queer Agenda

for new ones. We also offer Q News from Project Q Atlanta, where you can find

the latest updates every day at theQatl.com

theQatl.com

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE VOLUME 1 ISSUE 24

MAY 3, 2018

EVENTS Gal Pals

16

COVER STORY

22

Fiesta Caliente

Cinco de Mayo Celebrations 10 QUEER THINGS

13 10

How Do You Do?

27 Brunch Bunch

Tips from Ghosts of Cinco Past STAGE

20

Brother Boy

31 Extra Innings

‘Sordid’ with a Twist

FEATURES

6

Q Voices

8

Q News

13

Q Shots

27

The Q

38

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36 Dancing Bears

Q

Q VOICES

Bringing It

HOME

Jay-Z’s own story champions the struggles of black lesbian mothers

IN A RECENT INTERVIEW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, Jay-Z recounted his reaction to his mother, Gloria Carter, coming out to him. The rapper shared that he knew his mother was gay prior to their heart-to-heart, but he had never spoken about it openly.

The sad reality remains that lesbian women are often left out of narratives pertaining to LGBTQ people because they are either erased or excluded. Jay-Z’s willingness to share his mother’s coming out helps to increase the visibility of lesbians of color, but it also helps shine a light on the very real two-fold fear that black lesbian mothers feel, from both homophobia and racism.

Ms. Carter recounts these fears on the track, “Smile,” off of Jay-Z’s most recent album, 4:44.

Built around Stevie Wonder’s, “Love’s in Need of Love,” she speaks to the dread of having to live her life in the closet, lamenting, “You live in the shadows for fear of someone hurting your family or the person you love.”

Hate crimes perpetrated against the LGBTQ community often focus on gay men. However, the fear felt by Ms. Carter and Black lesbian mothers is just as real.

The media under-reports these violent homicides and hate crimes. According to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), “specifically with lesbians, police will often mischaracterize the relationship as a friend or roomtheQatl.com

mate situation, since identities are obscured in the moment.”

ERIC PA U L K

In just one month, December 2017, four black lesbian mothers were murdered in separate cases. In two instances, their children were also killed. Kerrice Lewis was shot and then burned alive in the trunk of her own car in Washington, D.C. Shanta Myers, along with two of her children, Shanise (5 years old) and Jeremiah (11 years old), and Shanta’s partner, Brandi Mells, were all found dead, bound and throats slit, in the basement of the Myers home in New York. Kaladaa Crowell and her daughter Kyra Inglett were murdered in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Dec. 28.

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“Imagine having lived your life for someone else. And you think you’re protecting your kids. And for my mother to have to live as someone that she wasn’t and hide and like, protect her kids … and you know, for all this time … And for her to sit in front of me and tell me, ‘I think I love someone.’ I mean, I really cried. That’s a real story. I cried because I was so happy for her that she was free.”

— Rapper, Jay-Z

Beyond homophobia, their experience often includes raising black children in a racist climate that isn’t safe. Like every black parent, black lesbian mothers must have “the talk” with their children when they reach a certain age. Not the one about the bird and bees, but the one where they prepare them for being pulled over by police.

Black children are also at risk of higher rates of infant mortality, inferior housing, environmental pollutants, acquiring HIV, and a host of other social problems. Black mothers often send their children out into the world with a sense of hopelessness, knowing that there are people out there who consider them disposable.

The experience of black lesbian mothers comes at a price.

For some, the cost is giving up their own dreams. For others, it’s stymied creativity or staying in unhealthy situations. I’m happy that Jay-Z decided to have this conversation.

No matter how old we are, we need that person who affirms our choices in a way that celebrates who we are. Ms. Carter ends her monologue with the ultimate love supreme declaring: “Life is short, and it’s time to be free. Love who you love, because life isn’t guaranteed.”

Eric Paulk is an advocate working at the intersections of race, class, and sexuality. Follow him on Twitter @ EricPaulk.

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Q

10 QUEER THINGS

Claim Your Spot

Tons of options this year for where to do up Cinco de Mayo. Check out our full slate of LGBTQ Cinco celebrations in this issue of Q.

Go Big

Bigger. Bigger!

There you go.

¿Cómo se Cinco?

Past events offer clues on how to do Cinco de Mayo in LGBTQ Atlanta

By Mike Fleming

Bring Your Mom

Oscar and Martha reign over the annual standardsetting blowout at Las Margaritas.

Guard Your Nipples

No clue why, but this did happen.

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Friends & Family Cheers to That

Bring someone or several someones. Everyone is welcome.

Whatever your poison, don’t go empty handed.

Ever. All day.

Anything Goes

Better to paint yourself green than to turn that way from tequila.

Gun Show

Baring arms is a little known Mexican tradition… or maybe that’s just an Atlanta thing.

Get Into It Queens on Parade

Stereotypes are gauche, but also de rigueur this one time.

Ready those singles. Popular performers are part of the deal.

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The reviews are in!

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!

I just wanted to tell you how much my husband and I love your new magazine…

omg I love your mag!

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

I thought I knew what to expect in local rags, but Q is totally different. I need to pick up more often.

Q is informative and

energetic, something that was sorely You guys are like a missing in the ATL. breath of fresh air.

Thank you for bringing Q to Atlanta!

You guys should have done this years ago!

Atlanta needed this.

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!

Q NEWS Q

‘Always Have Your Back’ Democrat Stacey Evans vies for LGBTQ gubernatorial votes

By Matt Hennie STACEY EVANS – A FORMER STATE LAWMAKER NOW seeking the Democratic nomination for governor – met with LGBTQ supporters on April 19 in Midtown Atlanta, pledging to fight for LGBT equality.

“I will always have your back and I will always be there for you,” Evans told a crowd of about three-dozen people.

“I will always be there with you, both in fighting proactively in passing laws that will protect the community but also symbolically to literally stand with you, lock arms and walk through the streets to say that we’re in this together.

It’s not just the right thing to do because you should treat people the right way and love your neighbor as yourself, but also because that’s how we’re going to continue to be the thriving Midtown community, the thriving Atlanta and the thriving Georgia economy that we all want to see,” Evans continued.

asked what she would do as governor to combat recent complaints of harassment from LGBTQ-owned businesses in Midtown. As governor, Evans would pursue establishing incentives to encourage community policing, pay raises for police and increased sensitivity training for law enforcement officers.

“At the end of the day, we are dealing with a hearts and minds issue. We can pass laws and we need to pass as many laws as we can to keep us all safe and keep us all being able to call the police and expect that they will be there to protect us,” Evans said.

But Evans added that it’s critical for lawmakers to pass LGBT-inclusive civil rights protections, something conservative lawmakers and lobbyists continue to block at the State Capitol.

“Comprehensive civil rights legislation protections against discrimination in public accommodations and employment will also give you a tool. When you’re being unfairly targeted, it gives you protection under the law and gives you the ability to go into court and say something about it. I know right now you don’t have that opportunity and I want to fix that,” Evans said.

Stacey Evans

Evans is one of two former lawmakers seeking the Democratic nomination in the May 22 primary. The event took place a day after Georgia Equality endorsed Evans’ opponent Stacey Abrams.

Evans touted her track record of introducing legislation to protect LGBT people and fighting against anti-gay “religious liberty” bills. In 2017, Evans introduced a sweeping civil rights bill that would protect LGBT people and others from discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. In October, she and Abrams were the first major party candidates for governor to participate in the Pride parade.

Earlier this year, Evans denounced as “hateful” legislation in the state Senate that would allow faith-based agencies to ban adoptions by LGBT people. And in 2015, Evans fought against “religious freedom” legislation by proposing a series of amendments to the bill offering LGBT protections.

“It’s hateful and discriminatory to push these so-called religious liberty bills, and it’s not just hateful and discriminatory. It kills our business environment. It kills our tourism environment. It makes it harder for us to attract the kind of jobs that we all want,” Evans told her supporters at the event.

Evans also pointed to that public accommodations bill when

Evans also blasted Republican candidates for governor for pledging to pass “religious freedom” legislation if they are elected. She also specifically targeted the GOP front-runner for governor, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, for presiding over a state Senate that passed a ban on LGBT adoptions earlier this year and continues to push other anti-LGBT legislation. Evans credited Gov. Nathan Deal for vetoing a wide-ranging anti-LGBT “religious freedom” bill in 2016, but made it clear to her LGBT supporters that Cagle will pander to anti-LGBT conservatives if he is governor.

“Casey Cagle is not Governor Deal. They may be from the same part of Georgia, up in Gainesville, but they are not the same. It’s been proven time and again that Nathan Deal – I don’t agree with him on everything he did obviously – but he stood up and made sure that Georgia remained a place open for business and closed to hate, which was a very adult thing to do. That was what leaders should do,” Evans said.

“Now, what does Casey Cagle do? He gets into a primary and pledges support for the so-called religious liberty legislation. He allows a bill to pass through his chamber that is going to say that same-sex couples can’t adopt children in certain circumstances.

That is wrong. That’s not what a leader does. That’s called pandering,” she added.

Visit theQatl.com for the latest LGBTQ news from Project Q Atlanta. theQatl.com

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Q

CINCO CELE HOLIGAY

By Mike Fleming

YOU CAN ALWAYS COUNT ON CINCO DE MAYO FOR a good time in Atlanta. This year, turn up the volume on that sentiment. The official holiday and the unofficial holigay fall on a Saturday, so count on more celebrations than usual from queer organizers.

Every gay watering hole in town will pour your chosen libation, from beer and margaritas to shots, and your favorite restaurants will do that with all the food and entertainment you can handle to boot.

These are the ones we’re counting on to show you an especially good time this year.

Las Margaritas The party that sets the Cinco standard returns. Join gay restaurant owner Papi to everyone who knows him, for DJ beats, live music, face painting, Frida look alike contest and drink specials galore.

If you need even more incentive, this year’s Las Marg blowout benefits the beloved Joining Hearts. JH queen Peaches hosts, with 10 VIP ticket giveaways in the mix.

5 p.m. to Late 1842 Cheshire Bridge Road lasmargaritasmidtown.com

La Hacienda Located in the heart of Midtown with a huge queer crowd on any given night, this restaurant cranks up its magic on Cinco Saturday. Drink specials, shot boys, a mariachi band, DJ and free t-shirts are just the tip.

11 a.m. – 11 p.m.

900 Monroe Drive lahaciendamidtown.com

Ten Atlanta The gay bar at Atlanta’s LGBTQ ground zero has made a tradition out of celebrating the Mexican holiday, and it’s always a blowout. No stranger to weekend crowds from day to night, this inside-and-out fiesta includes specials, giveaways and multiple DJs to keep the crowd on its toes.

990 Piedmont Ave. tenatlanta.com

Cactus House New kid on the block is this gay-owned and taco-riffic addition. Take a bite out of their amazing menu, grab a drink from their awesome bar, and let the fun shine in with 16

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specials and entertainment.

11 a.m. – 10 p.m.

1020 Piedmont Ave. NE cactushouse.com

Guac y Margys Before they even open, this trio of Atlanta men host an event to raise funds. The gay jocks of National Flag Football League of Atlanta make it their official party of the day.

General admission gets you two tacos and margaritas, plus all the chips, salsa, queso and guac. VIP includes three of each plus an exclusive bar for easy access. VIP+ gets a shirt too.

The Spindle ATL, 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.

659 Auburn Ave. NE guacymargys.com

Woofs on Piedmont The Virgin de Guadalupe isn’t here, but Atlanta’s gay sports bar does up the day anyway. Look for specials all day on their famous margaritas house nachos with chicken, beef, pork, or chili.

11:30 a.m. – 12 midnight 2425 Piedmont Road NE woofsatlanta.com

Zocalo The Mexican kitchen and cantina that shares a parking lot with Ten also serves up some of the best tacos and margaritas in town. Known for their patio parties, this popular eatery welcomes DJ Neon the Glowgobear, followed by DJ WB, for some Cinco de Mayo food and fiesta.

11 a.m. – 10 p.m.

187 10th St. NE eatzocalo.com

My Sister’s Room Prizes and giveaways, the sexy Candida Valentina Revue Show and DJ Wulf make this party one for the record books at Atlanta’s lesbian bar. Look for unmatched specials on tacos, Coronas, tequila shots and margaritas.

6 p.m. – 3 a.m.

66 12th Ave. NE mysistersroom.com

Bulldogs DJ Scrilla and “hombres, hombres, hombres” are promised on top of $5 margaritas.

4 p.m. – 3 a.m.

893 Peachtree St.

EBRATIONS LGBTQ Atlanta pulls out the stops for Cinco de Mayo

theQatl.com

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Q

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

May 3 – May 9

THURSDAY, MAY 3 QWIK History Queer Women in Kink debuts @ My Sister’s Room, 7 p.m. facebook.com/QueerWomeninKinkATL Sordid Lives The classic gets an African-American twist @ Out Front Theatre Company, 8 p.m. Read our preview in this issue. outfronttheatre.com Prayer Requests “A stand-up comedy cry for help” @ Red Light Café, 8:30 p.m. Q interviews in this edition. redlightcafe.com Amen! Country Edition Taylor Alxndr’s drag show goes country @ Sister Louisa’s Church of the Living Room, 10:30 p.m. sisterlouisaschurch.com

FRIDAY, MAY 4 DILF Dog Tags Daddies you’d like to wear uniforms with @ Heretic, 10 p.m. hereticatlanta.com

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SATURDAY, MAY 5 HRC Gala Tux up and gown down @ Hyatt Regency Atlanta, 6 p.m. hrcatlanta.com Cinco de Mayo The tequila-and-cerveza holigay at multiple venues. Catch the Q calendar in this issue.

Rise Susan Morabito will bring the house down @ Heretic, 10 p.m. hereticatlanta.com

SUNDAY, MAY 6 Todrick Hall The one and only delivers his Forbidden Tour @ Fox Theatre, 7 p.m. foxtheatre.org Heifer de Mayo Ruby Redd and her queens party on the patio @ Cowtippers, 1 p.m. cowtippersatlanta.com

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9 Scream

The queer squeals are coming from inside the house @ Plaza Theatre, 7 p.m. wussymag.com

Find dozens of events in the full Queer Agenda on Project Q at theQatl.com.

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Q

STAGE

‘Sordid’

with a Twist

TK Habtemariam as the iconic Brother Boy with Jessica Maguire as sex-crazed therapist Eve Bolinger in Out Front Theatre’s Sordid Lives.

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Out Front stages Del Shores’ classic with predominantly African American cast

J

By Jim Farmer acob Demlow could have easily followed a traditional route with his upcoming version of Del Shores’ beloved Sordid Lives and pleased a lot of audience members attending Atlanta’s LGBTQ theater company. Yet realizing that a new approach might work, his take features an all African-American central family at the heart of the comedy.

The production, opening May 3 at Out Front Theatre Company, is Shores’ Texas-set 1996 play with such beloved characters as Brother Boy, Sissy, Noleta, Latrelle and LaVonda.

They form the nucleus of a family coping with the accidental death of the family matriarch. It spawned the cult classic 2000 film, with gay actor Leslie Jordan as Brother Boy. As director, Demlow knew going in that it would be a challenge to please some die-hards, especially those who can recite the dialogue.

“It’s difficult, because people know and love this. It’s so iconic,” he says. “I wanted to flip it on its end, for it to be different. Now it’s a new look.”

“I said to myself, ‘What would it look like if it were a black family instead?’ I talked to Del, and he was completely on board and supportive.”

Other than a few line changes, Demlow says it’s the same show that people have grown to love over the years. He says an African American version has been staged before, but this is the first one cleared by Shores.

Jason-Jamal Ligon, who was part of Out Front’s Priscilla, Queen of the Desert ensemble, stars as Ty, the gay son of Latrelle who is closeted to his family but is about to tell his mother the truth.

“He is coming back to his grandmother’s funeral,” Ligon says. “He is a soap opera star and has been playing it straight.

His uncle Brother Boy is in a mental institution, and his grandmother put him there. Ty is reluctant to come home to that environment, having to butch it up and go back into the closet back home.”

The role is definitely relatable to play, the actor tells Q.

“I am originally from South Carolina, and this still happens,” Ligon says. “I will go to church, and people often ask are you married yet? I don’t feel like getting into it sometimes. The show took place in the ‘90s but is still relevant.”

TK Habtemariam plays the hilarious, Tammy Wynette-loving drag role of Brother Boy, a part he says is not terribly far from who he is. When he heard of the new production, he knew he wanted in.

‘It’s funny to see this country, hick family through the lens of a black family. It goes to show that anyone can be country.’

—TK Habtemariam “I also do drag on the side and I went to school for acting and directing,” Habtemariam says. “It’s the perfect melding of both worlds. Brother Boy and I aren’t that different. He is very flamboyant. I remember seeing the movie and realizing why it is such a cult classic.”

Habtemariam says that he’s very fond of Demlow’s new approach.

“It’s funny to see this country, hick family through the lens of a black family,” he says. “It goes to show that anyone can be country.”

Fans of Shores will get a chance to see him during the production as well. He will be in town for the May 19 and May 20 performances. The weekend also includes a screening of his sequel, A Very Sordid Wedding, as well as a staging of his new one-man show, Six Characters in Search of a Play.

“Sordid Lives”runs May 3 – 20 at Out Front Theatre Company, 999 Brady Ave. ‘Sordid Wedding’ screens on May 19, and ‘Six Characters’ stages on May 20. outfronttheatre.com

theQatl.com

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Q

EVENTS

Between FRIENDS

Powell Mansfield and Katherine Blanford

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Atlanta comedy showcase mixes local comics’ queer and Southern sensibilities

By Ian Aber

“P

rayer Requests: A Stand-Up Comedy Cry for Help” is the “bless your heart” of Atlanta comedy shows. From the minds of Atlanta comedy scene staples and best friends Powell Mansfield and Katherine Blanford, it hits Red Light Café this week.

“Here in Atlanta ,we have a handful of shows run by a combo of queer/straight people, but our show is unique in that we were best friends before this,” says Mansfield, who is the gay half of the duo: “We come from completely different backgrounds and points of view, which I think makes for such a fun dynamic on stage.”

Ultimately, their every-other-month showcase finds the mix of Mansfield and Blanford’s queer and Southern sensibilities. It gives their venture both syrupy sweetness and biting sass.

Q catches up with the pair to talk about the show, as well as to find out more about them and get to know their humor.

When did you first know you were funny?

KB: When I pee peed my pants. I had my 1st grade class in stitches. I knew I had to do it again.

PM: My friends in college would always ask me to tell them my tales of debauchery when we were drinking at parties, and finally one of them suggested I try stand-up. I moved to LA for a summer and gave it a go. It went well, and three years later I’m as obsessed as ever.

What made you laugh as a kid?

KB: My brother’s injuries.

PM: Kathy Griffin’s specials and show, My Life on the D-List.

What makes you laugh now?

KB: Kim Kardashian stressed out.

PM: All my funny fraaaaands and also very awkward situations.

What is the biggest misconception about stand up comedy?

KB: It’s not called a “skit.” It’s a “set.” I’m not in 4th grade! Stop calling my set a skit,grandma!”

PM: That it pays well.

No one will be embarrassed for you.

PM: I’d say the lawnmower (look it up). It’s stupid and ridiculously fun.

Complete the following statements When I’m not on stage, you can find me out _____________ KB: Drunk-driving my bike.

PM: Looking for some Corona Light and someone to hang out with me ______makes me happy, ___________makes me sad KB: A tequila soda, Powell’s musicals soundtrack blaring in the car on a long road trip of death.

PM: If you were a Disney Princess which one would you be and why?

KB: Elsa. When she gets pissed off, she acts like a real pain in the ass diva. And she’s a kween.

PM: Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are my Disney Princesses/ Sovereign Queens. No follow-up questions, please.

Tell us about the Prayer Requests shows?

It begins with us both sharing a “prayer” with the audience.

Typically the prayers are incredibly self-centered and trite, i.e., I hope that my next spray tan looks fabulous enough for no one to realize I got a spray tan. Or, I hope that I stop hooking up with closeted gay boys who want to keep our romantic escapades a secret. We also have an oversized wine glass at the bar where audience members can anonymously write their own prayers ,and we read a few before we introduce each comedian.

What was the inspiration for the show?

One of us had an embarrassing walk of shame after hooking up with a boy after a crazy night at Star Bar, and the other simply texted, “praying for you.” It became a running theme in our friendship, and that’s eventually how the show idea came to us.

What drink pairs best with your show?

Anything that gets you loose and silly. Powell recommends consuming seven-to-nine Stella Artois on draft, and Katherine suggests having too many tequila sodas. (“Take a Lyft to the show, honey!”)

If your show was a Real Housewives franchise, which franchise would it be and why?

Our franchise would for sure be New York City, because we’re a perfect mix of fabulous, extravagant, and idiotic.

What is the most accurate conception about stand up comedy?

KB: It takes a long time full of hard work and sadness to get good. Like a doctor. We are doctors.

PM: That we’re all trash humans with a vicious sense of humor.

Tell Queer Atlanta one last thing to make them love you and your show forever.

Listen, Queer Atlanta, every single one of us is fabulous, and we’re here to help you celebrate that.. Come out to our show and celebrate your fierce/beautiful self while also having us read your prayers on stage.

If your comedy was a dance craze, what would it be and why?

KB: The cha-cha slide. It’s super easy, and everyone can do it. If you’re reading this, you should definitely get up there and do it.

Prayer Requests: A Stand-Up Comedy Cry for Help runs every-other month at Red Light Café in Amsterdam Walk. The next show is May 3, 8:30 p.m. theQatl.com

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Q

Writers!

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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

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Q

THEQ?!

True To

YOUR WORD Level up by doing what you say and saying what you mean

Q

I think my boyfriend tells me what he thinks I want to hear, then turns around and does whatever he wants.

He says he’ll pick up milk, then forgets. He says he’ll mail something, and it sits in his backseat for a week. He says he’ll be home at 7 p.m., then rolls in at midnight.

When I ask, he unloads about his schedule. I’m busy too, but when I say I’m going to do something, I do it. Isn’t reasonable to expect the same?

Dear Busy: Have you ever noticed how everyone is busier than everyone else? It smacks of disregard for others.

Some perpetual promisers are worried about disappointing others and take on more than they can handle. Others are afraid of conflict, so they agree to everything. A few are actually as selfish as they appear and shut you up with no intention of following through.

I don’t have enough information to say which of these fits your boyfriend, but the upshot for you is the same: disappointment. If he’s worth it, sit him down and show him his pattern. Put it on him to fix it, and decide not to rely on him any more until he does.

Occasional trouble scheduling is part of life, but acceptance of repeated behavior is on you. Stop being a doormat to habitual tardiness.

You could figure out your friend’s patterns and work around them. If they’re perpetually 30, 45, 60 minutes late, factor it in and tell them an earlier start time than everyone else. If they have to wait on you once in a while – and if your description is accurate, they won’t – all the better to get your message across.

Another option is to continue your plans without them. Warn them how it’s going to be, and stick to your word. When they show up late and you’re wrapping dinner, they may learn over time. They may not, but no one is left hungry but them.

Q

Q

I’ve tried talking to them, but they’re full of excuses. How can I get through that thick skull that late isn’t cute?

Dear Fickle Pickle:

I have one friend who’s always late. Always. I’ve begrudgingly grown used to it, but they recently kept a new acquaintance and me waiting nearly an hour for dinner.

We were starving by the time they got there, and the guest left with a bad impression of both of us.

Dear Doormat: You’ve come to the right place to commiserate, but only briefly. If your friend writes me wanting to change, I’ll give them an earful about respecting people’s time, and how grown adults are only as good as their word. But since you are the 38

one writing, what I won’t do is help you try to fix their issues.

theQatl.com

I set up a Grindr hookup, then decided I wasn’t into it and never showed up. I never sent him a message about it, but I figure those are the breaks for hookups. What do you think?

You don’t owe strangers on the internet an explanation, but you might owe yourself some good karma and personal integrity.

Your call.

The Q is for entertainment purposes and not professional counseling.

Send your burning Qs to mike@qmagatlanta.com.

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