Q Magazine | September 27, 2018

Q

September 27, 2018

Time Will Tell History’s BEST LGBTQ MOVIES

inform | inspire

ICONOGRAPHY ‘Mapplethorpe’ magic among Out on Film’s queer movie stars

The Intersection of BLACK & PANSEXUAL

Queens Line Up for MISS ATLANTA PRIDE Avoid Getting Caught HAVING SEX IN THE PARK

+

Q Shots The Q Queer Agenda Q News

The Weekly Print Publication of Project Q Atlanta

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Flickering

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ATLANTA IS LUCKY TO HAVE such a rich tapestry of LGBTQ-specific outlets for so many diverse queer tastes. Not every city has dozens of sports leagues, scores of social and political groups, multiple media outlets, its own LGBTQ health advocates, and numerous annual events that are anywhere near the scope and quality of Out on Film.

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MIKE FLEMING

The festival’s 31st annual event expands yet again when it bows this week, adding days and venues to its roster of the year’s latest in queer cinema.

Q sponsors the event again for 2018, and our Out on Film section offers an inside look at our picks for the best of the fest. The festival also inspires our nearly impossible-to-narrow list of most influential LGBTQ movies of all time in 10 Queer Things.

EDITOR & PUBLISHER

Out on Film’s Q spotlight screening on Oct. 6 is Mapplethorpe, a biopic on the famed photographer who introduced mainstream America to the gay male leather scene. Robert Mapplethorpe’s lauds, loves and losses are on full display in the film, as are some of his iconic images. We whet your appetite with a few of our favorite examples of his work and a preview of the film.

Mapplethorpe the man is gone, but his art remains. If he hadn’t lit his subjects and captured his world when he did, America’s notions of art and censorship would still be in the dark ages. That’s why it’s so important to stop and appreciate what we have while we have it.

Speaking of Atlanta icons we can all appreciate, Atlanta Pride is just around the corner, and Miss Atlanta Pride is back. The pageant returns after a long dormant period to crown a queen, and we have the scoop in our Events column.

Elsewhere in Q this week, dozens of local LGBTQ events await in the Queer Agenda calendar, your shenanigans are on display on our Q Shots pages, The Q is dispensing sex advice this week, Q Voices is diversifying your outlook, and Q News is keeping you updated from our home site at Project Q Atlanta.

Enjoy, then get out there and get your queer life while the gettin’ is good. theQatl.com

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6

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 44 SEPTEMBER 27, 2018

EVENTS Title Fight

COVER

18 13

Out On Film 2018’s best of the fest

10 QUEER THINGS

13 10

Movie Mayhem

28 In Deep

Choice milestones in queer cinema

THE QUEER AGENDA

17

Calendar App

30 Toga Party

Tap these events into your to-do list

FEATURES Q Voices

8

Q Shots

28

The Q

38

38

35 Kahn Con theQatl.com

7

Q

Q VOICES

Living at the INTERSECTIONS Black, pansexual and thriving with a disability

WHILE IN HIGH SCHOOL, I MET TWO YOUNG LADIES I then thought were my friends. One day, we were talking about

our future plans, and I mentioned that I wanted to go to college, to have a career in higher education, and to get married.

There was one thing both groups agreed on though: bisexuality equals promiscuity, so I began to use the phrase, “monogamous bisexual” to describe my sexual orientation.

I then met an intriguing woman, Rebecca. Rebecca was not

entirely sure about dating someone who was bisexual either.

Also, on the surface, we appear to be so different from one

another. She is white and I am black, she is Jewish and I’m Christian, I have a physical disability and she does not.

Interestingly, despite all of our obvious differences, our respective families only had a problem with the fact that we were

in a same-sex relationship. Rebecca’s mother once asked her,

“Have you tried dating men? How do you know you don’t like

I will never forget the looks on their faces.

it?” Rebecca retorted, “How do you know you

They were stunned silent. One of them final-

don’t like women, mom? Have you ever tried it?”

ly ended the painfully long silence by saying, “Tameeka do you really think you can do all

My mother tried a different tact. She said if Re-

you are Black!”

our group,” which translates to keeping our

becca and I dated, we needed to “keep it within

that? You are handicapped, you are female, and

relationship a secret. Neither of us were willing

Her statement left me reeling. This was the first time I realized that my identities — the things that made me, me, could be seen as negative. I

also realized that people may accept one of my

to do that.

TA M E E K A L .

HUNTER

identities, but not the others. What then?

By the time I realized that I was also attracted to women, I

felt like going away and hiding forever. I had a difficult time

accepting my sexual orientation. I felt it was the one identity

I had a choice in revealing. After all, when people look at me, it is obvious that I am of African descent, a woman, and have

see gender, gender identity and expression as

on a continuum. As a result, I began to identify as pansexual.

Gender and gender identity, and gender expression, are not important to me in romantic relationships.

The most common reaction I get is: “Pansexual?! What even is that?” So I’m back to an identity that greatly confuses people

a physical disability. However, as a cisgender woman, people

or has them wondering if it actually exists. Those who recog-

would not necessarily be able to detect my sexual orientation.

nize that pansexuality exists still seem to perceive it as some-

For this, I was grateful.

thing that is synonymous with promiscuity.

To be clear, I love all my identities, but I was not sure how

Deep sigh.

others would receive them, especially since they were all together in one package — me.

I initially identified as bisexual as I recognized my attraction

to both men and women. It felt like I was between two worlds.

My straight friends told me that being bisexual wasn’t a real

8

I later began to reject the gender binary and to

Fast forward, I have been with Rebecca for 15 years, and we have been happily (and legally) married for over five years.

Better still, both of our families were at the wedding, so a happy ending is possible, despite differences.

thing ,and that it was a simply a stop on the road to being

Tameeka L. Hunter is an intersectional social justice scholar,

a bisexual woman because in their minds, my being bisexual

experiences, though sometimes painful, fuel her work on diversity

“gay.” My lesbian friends told me that they would never date

professional speaker, and PhD student in Atlanta. Her past

meant I was concurrently sleeping with men.

and populations that experience multiple marginalized identities.

theQatl.com

Q

10 QUEER THINGS

But I’m a Cheerleader,

The Boys in the Band, 1970

1999

Out on Film Week inspires this list of influential queer flicks you need to catch

MOVIE NIGHT

By Mike Fleming

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, 1994

Kissing Jessica Stein, 2001 10

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Pariah, 2011

The Crying Game, 1992 Moonlight, 2016

Bound, 1996 Brokeback Mountain, 2005

Paris is Burning, 1990 theQatl.com

11

ENTERTAINMENT COCA-COLA STAGE NISSAN PARTNERS OF PROGRESS STAGE HEINEKEN STAGE BEBE REXHA, MIKE POSNER, CECE PENISTON, MADISON BEER ADA VOX, DJ JOHN MICHAEL, LOGAN HENDERSON MICHEL JONS BAND, STARLIGHT CABARET, DJ TRACY YOUNG BRYCE VINE, SOCIAL HOUSE, AJ MITCHELL, RAHBI AFRICAN SPACE PROGRAM, BRODY RAY, HEATHER MAE LILY ROSE, CHELSEA SHAG, MICHELE MALONE SHOOTING STARS CABARET, QUEER YOUR GENDER DANCE PARTY SWEET TEA, OUT FRONT THEATRE, EXQUISITE GENDER ALISSAH BROOKS, J. TAYLOR, DANII ROUNDTREE, J LINE

FOR THE FULL TALENT LINEUP AND SCHEDULE, PLEASE VISIT ATLANTAPRIDE.ORG/ENTERTAINMENT

OCTOBER12-14,2018 atlantapride.org

EVENTS Q

Category Is:

PRIDE

Miss Atlanta Pride pageant returns with title, crown and rights to preside over annual parade Miss Atlanta Pride Pageant, 2009

By Patrick Saunders AFTER NEARLY A DECADE’S ABSENCE FROM THE roster of Pride season events, the Miss Atlanta Pride Pageant makes a long-awaited return on Sept. 30.

Midtown Tavern is schedule to play host, and there’s a boatload of prizes in store for the winner, who among other honors gets to do the (drag) queen’s wave while riding in a convertible during the Atlanta Pride parade on Oct. 14.

Jamie Fergerson, Atlanta Pride Committee executive director, told Project Q that there were multiple reasons the drag pageant faded out last time.

“It was an event that was expensive and difficult to run, and people had lost interest in the community, so we stopped having that in favor of other programming,” she said. “For the last year or so, we’ve heard more interest.”

Local drag entertainer Celeste Holmes said that she and her husband, Billy Ledford, organized the last Miss Atlanta Pride pageant in 2009. They were approached about the idea of bringing it back by Keith Young, co-owner of after hour event series Xion and Midtown Tavern, as well as co-owner in the venture to bring a gay dance club to Underground Atlanta called Future.

“It was Keith’s idea, and we just jumped in and said we would help,” Holmes said.

Fergerson said things accelerated quickly from there.

“Celeste and some other folks said that they’d be happy to produce it, so we said great, let’s give it a try,” she said. “We want to be proactive when we can, but if we don’t fully anticipate what people want, we want to be really responsive and say, ‘Hey, people want this and there’s some resources to do it.

Absolutely, let’s give it a try.’”

Contestants for the title will be judged in three categories: Pride presentation, talent and evening gown. The winner walks away with a crown, $500 cash, a spot in the Atlanta Pride parade, a photoshoot with local photographer Just Toby, a gift certificate for a wig by Jonathan Nieves, a spot in the Shooting Stars Cabaret in Piedmont Park during Atlanta Pride and a cast slot in Holmes’ drag show at Midtown Tavern right after the pageant.

But the pageant benefits more than the winner.

“Everything is to benefit Pride, other than the prize money that goes to the winner,” Holmes said. “It goes to help keeping Pride free for the weekend.”

Holmes is counting down the days to the Sept. 30 event.

“I’m excited for it to be back, because Atlanta Pride is one of the largest in the country,” she said. “It’s definitely the mecca for the South. To have a Miss Atlanta Pride Pageant and have someone represent Atlanta Pride all year long at events is going to add to the cache of what Atlanta Pride is and will expand the audience even further.”

Miss Atlanta Pride takes place on Sunday, Sept. 30 at Midtown Tavern, 7 p.m. atlantapride.org, midtowntavern.net theQatl.com

13

Q

NEWS

‘Just a

MESS’

City of Atlanta and Fulton County blasted for HIV responses

By Patrick Saunders FIRST, REPRESENTATIVES OF THE CITY OF ATLANTA sat for a grilling over the failures of its HIV housing program.

Just over a week later, the Fulton County Board ofCommissioners faced similar criticism for failing to act on year-oldrecommendations to battle the county’s HIV epidemic.

Both come in an area with one of the highest rates of HIV infections in the nation, and as a new report from the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control & Prevention shows dire circumstances for men under 30 who have sex with men.

in the same situation when fiscal year 2019 rolls around next June.

“That’s unacceptable because that is when we’re supposed to see these cuts from the formulary change start taking place,” Ward said.

An overflow crowd heard directly from the city about its troubled HOPWA program during the Aug. 21 meeting.

“We know we’re dealing with a decades-old problem when it comes to HOPWA funding. We know there have been missteps and miscommunications in the past and we’re really here to right that ship,” said Rashad Taylor, the city’s Chief Equity Officer and leader of One Atlanta, the city’s office of diversity and inclusion.

One move the city made was to give the agencies six months of funding immediately. This would allow the agencies to pay their bills and provide services while simultaneously giving the city time to fix major issues.

“It was initially created in order to get funding to you all and allow for compliance and monitoring that was necessary to make sure we stayed in compliance,” said Karen Carter, interim director of the Office of Grants Management.

Carter fielded questions from agency representatives alongside Preston Brant, interim director of the Office of Human Services. Both had been on the job less than a month when the meeting took place.

On Aug. 30, Melanie Thompson, a Fulton County The Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS Task Force on HIV/AIDS member and principal program, better known as HOPWA, is a federalinvestigator for the AIDS Research Consortium of ly-funded program that provides housing solutions Atlanta, commented on Fulton County’s own lack for low-income people living with HIV/AIDS. The of action on 2017 recommendations to address the metro Atlanta area is one of three jurisdictions in epidemic at an HIV briefing at Atlanta City Hall. the state in which HOPWA funds are distributed, In August 2017, the Fulton County Task Force on and the City of Atlanta is responsible for allocating Daniel Driffin, co-chair of the Fulton County Task HIV/AIDS presented findings to elected officials, those funds. On Aug. 21, leaders of local agencies Force on HIV/AIDS and Fulton then established the HIV/AIDS Prevenwith HOPWA programs met with City officials tion, Care & Policy Advisory Committee to advise to complain that major delays in receiving grant the Fulton County Board of Commissioners on addressing HIV. money, mistakes in the application process and inconsistencies in funding decisions have led to widespread concerns over the ability “The idea was that it would transition to a permanent advisory of the agencies to serve their clients. committee, but that effort — I’m sorry to say — has stalled, and “The entire grants management process for HOPWA funding is just there has been no advisory committee for over a year. And we are hoping that the board of commissioners will remedy that as soon a mess,” said Devin Barrington Ward, senior policy and advocacy as possible,” Thompson said in her address to HIV activists and advisor at the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS. elected officials.

Compounding the issue is that the agencies are preparing for a Daniel Driffin (photo), co-chair of the Fulton task force and major decrease in HOPWA funding due to a change in the forco-founder of HIV/AIDS service organization THRIVE SS, mula that’s used to determine a jurisdiction’s funding. Ward said criticized the lack of action from Fulton commissioners. the impending change will lead to a 40 percent cut in HOPWA funding by fiscal year 2019.

The HOPWA funding issues have led to the departures of the heads of the city’s Office of Grants Management and Office of Human Services. Agencies have been meeting with representatives from both departments, members of the city’s diversity and inclusion office, and members of the Atlanta City Council since the latest problems were discovered in June. The goal is to avoid being 14

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“A blatant showing that the county doesn’t see the importance of HIV prevention and care,” Driffin told Project Q Atlanta. “I think the political will connected to certain people living their fullest and healthiest life is over.”

Commissioners’ responses on the matter were lacking at best, absent at worst. Read full reports on both meetings and the latest CDC findings on Project Q Atlanta at theQatl.com.

31ST ANNUAL

OUT ON FILM ATLANTA’S LGBT FILM FESTIVAL Celebrating Pride at the Movies

SEPTEMBER 27 - OCTOBER 7, 2018 Landmark Midtown Art Cinema OutFront Theater Plaza Theatre www.outonfilm.org

Q

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

September 27 - October 3

SATURDAY, SEPT. 29 Black & Blue Fall Ball

THURSDAY, SEPT. 27 – SUNDAY, OCT. 7 Out on Film

The annual slate of films for every letter in the queer

alphabet expands this year to 11 days, starting with When the Beat Drops (photo). Read our festival preview in this

The DILF lovers of Man Upp and Joe Whitaker host DJ Jeff Dority

and a room full of dancing queens @ Heretic, 10 p.m. hereticatlanta.com Kinked

Hardcore leather is the theme for the night @ Atlanta Eagle, 10 p.m. atlantaeagle.com

issue. outonfilm.org

SUNDAY, SEPT. 30

THURSDAY, SEPT. 27

Miss Atlanta Pride

This title pageant returns

Andre Leon Talley

The fashion icon and former Vogue editor

with Celeste Holmes as

Atlanta for Meals On Wheels Atlanta’s

7 p.m. Read our preview

host @ Midtown Tavern,

making a splash with a biodoc this year hits

in this issue of Q.

Meal to Remember event @ Flourish,

midtowntavern.net

1 p.m. mealsonwheelsatlanta.org

MONDAY, OCT. 1

SATURDAY, SEPT. 29 Candler Park Fall Festival

Troye Sivan

The gay-led Atlanta Foundation

The YouTube twink turned record-

for Public Spaces host music, art

ing artist slays fans on his Bloom

vendors and food @ Candler

Tour @ Coca-Cola Roxy, 7:30 p.m.

Park, all day. fallfest.candlerpark.org

cocacolaroxy.com

James Adomian

The sexy gay comic headlines @ Laughing Skull, 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. laughingskulllounge.com

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 3

Rainbow Trout

Fortune Feimster

Beer Bust

The lesbian comic whose

The LGBTQ

swimming and diving team

drink bottomless

beers @ Joe’s, 1 p.m.

atlantarainbowtrout.com

star just keeps rising serves up

her latest set @ Laughing Skull, 8

p.m. and 10 p.m. laughingskulllounge.com Find even more LGBTQ events in the Queer Agenda each Thursday at

theQatl.com.

theQatl.com

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Q

OUT ON FILM

Q SPONSORS OUT ON FILM, INCLUDING UNABASHED IMAGERY OF AN ILLUSIVE ICON IN MAPPLETHORPE

FLEETING IMAGES Self Portrait with Whip, 1978

18

theQatl.com

A

By Mike Fleming s Atlanta’s LGBTQ film festival opens its 31st annual celebration of cinematic queerness, we take a look at some of the shining stars of this year’s roster.

But first we train our lens into sharp focus on the subject of the festival’s Q-spotlight screening: the highly lauded Robert Mapplethorpe biopic.

Matt Smith, who fans love in award-winning roles on both Dr. Who and The Crown, does the groundbreaking gay photographer proud in Mapplethorpe’s title role. Marianne Rendon and John Benjamin Hickey are also strong in their parts as real-life Mapplethorpe companions Patti Smith and Sam Wagstaff.

Q magazine and Project Q Atlanta sponsor Out on Film’s Oct. 6 screening of the film. In addition to glimpses of his celebrity portrait clientele, his meteoric rise and tragic AIDS-era decline, the biopic also offers an inside look at the diametric nature of Mapplethorpe the person and his

Out on Film screens Sept. 27 – Oct. 7 at Midtown Art Cinema, Plaza Theatre and Out Front Theatre.

Tickets, showtimes and full roster of movies at outonfilm.org.

The Q Spotlight Mapplethorpe screening is set for Oct. 6 at Midtown Art, 9 p.m.

work — ­ the self-indulgent Renaissance man and sexual adventurer juxtaposed in art and life with a laser-sharp appreciation of pristine beauty.

The film shines brightest in its use of archival Mapplethorpe imagery and its trademark rich blacks and stark whites. To whet your appetite, we present just a scant few of the photographer’s most iconic images on the following pages, followed on Page 26 with snapshots of our favorite Out on Film entries from some 100 amazing options.  Original Mapplethorpe images in this week’s Q are wholly owned by the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation in fair use to promote the artist’s legacy and the biopic film ‘Mapplethorpe.’ mapplethorpe.org

Matt Smith as Mapplethorpe

theQatl.com

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ALWAYS A PARTY BU

Trashetta GaLore

Nurse Holly

Ally Yankadic

hosted by

ron scoza Baby D GaLore dj weston

T NEVER A COVER!

THE FUN CONTINUES ALL WEEK LONG! TUESDAYS

Karaoke

Hosted by Angelica D’Paige Brooks 10 p.m.

THURSDAYS

TNT Talent Night Hosted by Destiny Brooks 9 p.m.

FRIDAYS

Fresh Fish Friday Drag 8-10 p.m.

Movie on the Patio Bar 7 p.m.

Moonlight Cabaret Hosted by Shavonna B. Brooks & Raquel Lord Featuring Tristan Hartman Panucci & Niesha Dupree 11 p.m.

SATURDAYS

The Moonlight Starlets Hosted by Misti Shores 8 p.m.

Divas of the Moonlight Cabaret

Hosted by Shavonna B. Brooks Featuring Raquel Rea Heart, Maya Ross Monroe and Evah Destruction 11 p.m.

Kitchen Hours Mon-Sat 4-10 p.m.

Sunday Brunch Noon -3 p.m.

Dinner 4-8 p.m.

Misti Shores

Trashetta GaLore Niesha Dupree

1492 Piedmont Ave NE Atlanta, GA 30309 404-343-6514

Q

MAPPLETHORPE, Continued

Ken Moody and Robert Sherman, 1984 Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation mapplethorpe.org

22

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NO COVER

Q

MAPPLETHORPE, Continued

Thomas, 1983 Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation mapplehtorpe.org

24

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Calla Lily, 1988

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Q

OUT ON FILM

WATCH

THIS

Our favorite 2018 Out on Film entries offer a slice of life for every LGBTQ moviegoer

By Mike Fleming OPENING NIGHT THURSDAY, SEPT. 27

When the Beat Drops Midtown Art Cinema, 7 p.m.

This Atlanta-set film follows a crew of gay African-American men as they pioneer the underground dance scene known as “bucking.” Created in the South, “bucking” was born as a response to being shunned from majorette routines, due largely to homophobia. With his crew, Atlanta native Anthony Davis helped grow bucking into a national movement and created a haven for a generation of displaced black gay men. Director Jamal Sims, producer Jordan Finnegan, star Anthony Davis and many of the film’s cast will be in attendance.

TUESDAY, OCT. 2

Mario Midtown Art Cinema, 9:10 p.m.

This narrative foreign-language film follows a new striker who joins a soccer team and has an unexpected love affair with another teammate.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 28

Lez Bomb Midtown Art Cinema, 7:15 p.m.

An all-star comedy about a closeted young woman who brings her girlfriend home for Thanksgiving. Cloris Leachman, Steve Guttenberg, Elaine Hendrix, Kevin Pollak, Bruce Dern star.

The Happy Prince Midtown Art Cinema, 9:30 p.m.

Rupert Everett stars as Oscar Wilde and delivers his career-best performance in a film charting the final days in the writer’s life, which he served out in exile. The cast also includes Colin Firth, Tom Wilkinson and Emily Watson.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 29

1985 Midtown Art Cinema, 7 p.m.

Based on his award-winning short film, Yen Tan’s 1985 is one of the don’t-miss Out on Film entries this year and a contender for its jury prize. It follows a closeted young man (an excellent Cory Michael Smith, Gotham), returning to his Texas hometown for Christmas during the first wave of the AIDS crisis.

26

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Snapshots Midtown Art Cinema, 4:45 p.m.

A grandmother’s secret past collides with her granddaughters’ secret future and her daughter’s angry present. The film stars Piper Laurie, Brooke Adams and Emily Baldoni.

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 3

Man Made Midtown Art Cinema, 7 p.m.

Atlanta’s T. Cooper directs this documentary that takes us into the heart of transgender male culture, revealing unexpected truths about gender, masculinity, humanity and love. Four trans men take a variety of life paths toward stepping on stage in Atlanta at Trans FitCon, the only all-transgender bodybuilding competition in the world.

SATURDAY, OCT. 6

Larger Than Life: The Kevyn Aucoin Story Midtown Art Cinema, 1 p.m.

Follow the life of the iconic makeup artist in a beautiful and deeply personal portrait of an artist and LGBTQ advocate. Interviews include Cher, Kate Moss, Isabella Rossellini, Isaac Mizrahi and Christy Turlington.

The Queens Out Front Theatre, 5 p.m.

Part Paris Is Burning, part RuPaul’s Drag Race and part Miss America, this documentary explores a subculture centered around Chicago’s 50-year-old drag lounge The Baton and its legendary offspring, the annual Miss Continental pageant.

Wild Nights with Emily Out Front Theatre, 7 p.m.

Molly Shannon magnificently plays 19th century poet Emily Dickinson in this dramedy that destabilizes the widely held perception that she was a reclusive spinster. It showcases her hidden persona: a lively and comedic personality who was romantically involved with her best friend/sister-in law.

Ideal Home Plaza Theatre, 7 p.m.

Andrew Fleming’s film stars Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan as a bickering gay couple whose life is turned inside out when a 10-year-old boy shows up at their door claiming to be a grandson.

Mapplethorpe Q Spotlight Screening Midtown Art Cinema, 9 p.m.

Emmy nominee Matt Smith (Dr. Who, The Crown) is superb as the legendary gay photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, from his rise to fame in the 1970s to his untimely death in 1989. Read the Q preview in this issue.

Of several dozen films at three venues over 11 days, these are just a few highlights of a packed Out on Film. Visit outonfilm.org for the full festival roster and schedule.

Q

Q SHOTS

ICON WITH SHEA COULEE AT DEEP END

Full gallery on Project Q at theQatl.com

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PHOTOS BY RUSS YOUNGBLOOD

Q

Q SHOTS

ROME WITH SATURNALIA AT HERETIC

Full gallery on Project Q at theQatl.com 30

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PHOTOS BY RUSS YOUNGBLOOD

Q

Q SHOTS

ATLANTA BUCKS CAR WASH AT MIDTOWN MOON

Full gallery on Project Q at theQatl.com

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PHOTOS BY RUSS YOUNGBLOOD

NFFLA BEER BUST AT WOOFS

Full gallery on Project Q at theQatl.com

Q SHOTS Q

PHOTOS BY RUSS YOUNGBLOOD theQatl.com

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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!

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!

CHAKA KAHNCON WITH REE DE LA VEGA @ 8ARM

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Q SHOTS

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OP E

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The Club Where Men Do It! Open Thursday - Sunday at 9pm 36

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Q

THEQ?!

Let’s Talk About

SEX

Dealing with other people’s issues and getting caught with your pants down

Q

I fantasized about this guy for years, and finally I hooked up with him. First thing he did was put on a condom for oral sex. I was like, seriously? And believe me, he was serious. The only way I was getting that D in my mouth was with latex on it.

Issues. Stigma. Fear.

To top it off, the member in question was so nothing special. All those fantasies for nothing but issues, issues, issues. So not worth it.

Why can’t I find one decent guy for life, without hang-ups, who is also fantasy-worthy on the sexy scale?

Dear Deflect: Speaking of issues, everyone has them, and yours aren’t about a lack of sexy, decent guys.

You can’t try to fix this man’s knowledge or lack thereof about how HIV transmission or anything else. 1. You don’t know him, 2. It’s not your job, and 3. You have your own concerns to address.

Start with your fixation on looks and “special” penis requirements that you deem “worth it.” Did you fantasize about him because you knew the person behind his appearance? If you had, maybe you’d already know about his sex preferences and practices.

You ended a sex-only story by asking whether he was also a good person worth a relationship. If you’re in it only for the sex, fine. Have conversations in advance about expectations, or carry your disappointments from one guy to the next.

But if sexual compatibility with uber-hot guys has been your main precursor for dating, rethink your approach.

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Q

I can’t get enough sex in public places. I’ve done it across our great state in restrooms and parks, and I’ve done bus stations, cemeteries and even a church pew one time (sadly, not during a sermon).

I love the risk of getting caught as part of the titillation, but actually getting caught probably wouldn’t go over well at work, or say, with my family and friends. How can I still enjoy the adventure but avoid the actual threat?

Dear Caught: About half of people say they have had sex in public, and another 10 percent say they fantasize about it. Since it’s that popular, I couldn’t stop you if I wanted, but I will reiterate that the thrill in the risk does come with a very real risk in the thrill.

Going to jail could totally happen. Arrests have been made several times in Piedmont Park alone after people engaged in oral sex in full view of an officer. Those cases often play out very publicly in the news.

That said, there are a few things you can do to minimize your chances of literally getting caught with your pants down, not to mention vulnerable to actual danger. Scout out places with privacy, some cover and a wide vantage point that allows you to see anyone approaching. If your preferred spot doesn’t have a good view, consider getting someone to play lookout.

Dark alleys, deserted building sites and late-night transit stations draw characters more unscrupulous than yourself, so hide your valuables or don’t bring any with you. In restrooms, find the kind with two doors. When someone enters the first door, you have a few extra seconds before they come through the second.

The Q is for entertainment purposes and not professional counseling.

Send your burning Qs to mike@theqatl.com.

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