Q Magazine Atlanta |May 16, 2019 by Q ATLus Magazine

May 16, 2019

3 Days. 7 Events. One Peach Party Weekend

inform | inspire

SUIT

Q’s 2019 Swimsuit Issue

Meet Byron, Ga.’s Trans Fire Chief

Chucking ‘Lola’ to the Queer History Dustbin Dresden Doll Serves Us ‘No Intermission’

Q News Q Shots Queer Agenda The Q 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@THEQATL.COM MATT HENNIE PUBLISHER & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MATT@THEQATL.COM RICHARD CHERSKOV PUBLISHER & GENERAL MANAGER RICHARD@THEQATL.COM ADVERTISING SALES RUSS YOUNGBLOOD SENIOR SALES REPRESENTATIVE RUSS@THEQATL.COM ART DIRECTOR JOHN NAIL JOHN@THEQATL.COM PROJECT Q ATLANTA PATRICK SAUNDERS EDITOR PSAUNDERS@THEQATL.COM CONTRIBUTORS IAN ABER LAURA BACCUS GABRIELLE CLAIBORNE BUCK COOKE CHARLES E. DAVIS JON DEAN BILL DICKINSON JIM FARMER BRAD GIBSON JAMES L. HICKS TAMEEKA L. HUNTER HEATHER MALONEY ERIC PAULK KYLE ROSE JAMES PARKER SHEFFIELD VINCE SHIFFLETT ALEXANDRA TYLER VAVA VROOM NATIONAL ADVERTISING RIVENDELL MEDIA SALES@RIVENDELLMEDIA.COM 212-242-6863 LOCAL ADVERTISING SALES@THEQATL.COM 404-949-7071

Take the

PLUNGE

Come on in, the water is fine — and more inclusive than ever

OLD HABITS DIE HARD. It’s a lesson that, even as a queer of longstanding, I must relearn at times with subtle nuance that helps my understanding. This Swimsuit Issue of Q holds a few perfect examples. It won’t surprise regular readers of our magazine that we’ve been doing LGBTQ-ATL media for years around here, and our combined staff experience tallies up into the several-decade range. It’s not a stretch to say we’ve got thousands of op-eds, news stories, personality profiles and more than a few swimsuit issues under our belts. While we were pulling together another week of compelling content from the LGBTQ-ATL, a change MIKE FLEMING struck me. Gone are the old-days commitment to the EDITOR & PUBLISHER most cut abs and plumpest packages of quite specific looking men. Here hopefully to stay is not a focus on the bodies in the suits, but on the fun to be had while living in and wearing them no matter your gender, size, color and shape. Speaking of welcome change, Q Voices columnist Heather Maloney gave me a nice little aha moment with a reminder that, just because we lauded certain queer-inclusive or even queer-ambiguous rockers back in the day, we don’t have to permanently venerate them as times change. She makes some extremely valid points worth considering the next time you hear “Walk on the Wild Side” or “Lola.” Other queer things that were cool in the ’70s and ’80s have stood the test of time, like Amanda Palmer in Q People. We are 100% here for the latest project from the Dresden Dolls force, landing at Cobb Energy Centre. Also building on its LGBTQ legacy this week is the annual Peach Party in Q Events, and we have a full preview for you dancing queens. Of course, the three-day party is just one of the best queer things to do in Atlanta on our Queer Agenda calendar. Meanwhile, we snap your pics in Q Shots, a gay cisgender man is questioning having sex with a gay trans man in The Q advice column, and a Georgia firefighter is talking about being the nation’s first transgender fire chief in Q News. It’s a lot. You can handle it, and you can find even more every day at theQatl.com. You can always find me as well at the e-mail address in our staff box on this page. theQatl.com

INSIDE THIS ISSUE VOLUME 2 ISSUE 26

MAY 16, 2019

PEOPLE

Founding Doll

COVER

17 11

Splash Down The 2019 Q Swimsuit Issue

NEWS

28 Formal Wear

Hot Topic

Byron’s transgender f ire chief EVENTS

Dancing Queens

32 Papi’s Crew

8th Annual Peach Party Weekend

FEATURES Q Voices Q News

Q Shots

Queer Agenda The Q 6

theQatl.com

15 38

36 Suds & Studs

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VOICES

Test of

TIME

Why transphobic classic rock songs should remain relics of our queer past

BACK IN THE ’70S, A TIME PERIOD I WASN’T AROUND for, songs like “Lola” and “Walk on the Wild Side” did great things for LGBTQ exposure. They legitimately helped some trans women, and that’s great. It’s good to know that even at that time, there were influential people who wanted to break down barriers and fuck with the heteronormative status quo. The success of such music was one of the first steps in bringing transgender topics into the mainstream. But back then, we weren’t even called “transgender,” and biological males dressing in female attire were seen as an extension of being gay, like a furry wearing a fur suit.

I fear that it’ll just be assumed that I’m cool with being sexually assaulted because I’m more like a “guy” than a girl, because guys are way more chill about that sort of thing, right? I speak from experience here. Multiple experiences. Songs like “Lola” and “Walk on the Wild Side” perpetuate this way of thinking, and to say otherwise is being willfully ignorant, maybe even just nostalgic. When I hear lyrics like “I can’t understand why she walk like a woman and talk like a man,” I hear an open invitation to make fun of trans women’s voices.

H E AT H E R MALONEY

Drag was one of the best outlets for trans women to be themselves, so drag just sort of became synonymous with trans. Even to this day, I sometimes find myself needing to convince people that they aren’t, in fact, the same thing. We need only look back about a decade to see how discourse around the trans community can evolve in such a short time span. What was once considered a community of “fierce” queers who had to fight to wear what they wanted has been “dulled” into a community of younger trans folks who talk about their environment like it’s always toxic and never accepting of who they are.

It preys on trans women’s anxieties for laughs, whether intended or not, and while some might argue that it’s up to the listener’s own insecurity, well… yeah, of course it is. Talk to me when you’ve socially transitioned from one gender to another without any insecurities. There’s a reason we’re a vulnerable community, and I’ve seen more than my fair share of ways in which we’re dehumanized.

When people see me as not a woman, not even a person, but a fetish for others to “explore their sexuality,” I reject that role. I reject the idea that I’m someone’s “wild side.” I reject the idea that I’m someone’s Lola, the butt of a joke that preys on trans women’s physiques, voices, and identities. I’m not a link between men and women. I’m a woman. Again, that isn’t to say that these songs didn’t serve their purpose in the past, but that was the past. Today, we know and understand more about gender identity, yet we have people who think they’re being helpful by claiming Lola to be a transgender anthem.

For the most part, it absolutely still is harmful and intolerant.

Fuck that.

I was born in 1990. I wasn’t alive for Stonewall, and when I first came out as trans, I had educational resources as well as forbearers with plenty of experience to help guide me through transition.

We no longer live in the ’70s, or the ‘80s, or the ‘90s, or even a decade ago. Sometimes the things that once meant to do good become outdated and even hurtful when taking into consideration how far we’ve come, and we’ve come too far to occasionally be referred to as men when we just want to listen to music.

Compared to what the situation was like in the ‘70s, or really any time period before the 2010s, my transition was much easier. But it still isn’t easy. 8

We’ve made huge strides towards equality, but when the starting point was the need to be recognized as a real thing that exists, that isn’t saying much, especially when we’re still fighting for that very thing to this day. I still have a deep-seated fear whenever I interact with someone new that they’ll reject my identity.

theQatl.com

Heather Maloney is a writer, editor and creative thinker in Atlanta.

theQatl.com

PEOPLE Q

For

ART SAKE

Dresden Doll Amanda Palmer serves Atlanta ‘No Intermission’ By Buck C. Cooke

manda Palmer might make you cry when she performs in Atlanta this month, but the out bisexual performer, best known by many as half of the uber-creative cult favorites the Dresden Dolls, is polite enough to bring hankies with her.

Palmer hits town to support her album There Will Be No Intermission, which is also a companion artbook and the name of the tour. Like most of her work, Palmer’s creative output on the latest project is visceral, evocative and personal. The singer, writer and artist made time to chat with Q about what she has in store for Atlanta while she’s in town. What’s it like for your personal stories and intimate thoughts to be out there and consumed by fans? It’s really wonderful. I’ve been in a relationship with my community of listeners and readers for 20 years. I don’t think I would have been able to write an album this personal 10 years ago. My community held this space for me. I love the song “Bigger on the Inside.” Tell us more about it. That song is an incredibly specific personal song, and yet it speaks to something that so many people can relate to, which is the crushing experience of feeling unseen and the number it can do on your heart and soul to feel so cast aside as a human being. What was your inspiration for the book? The book came together by accident because we had too many photos for the album insert, so the book suggested itself. Once we had enough material for a small book, we decided to create more and make it a big book. I usually create and then figure out what to do with it. What can you tell us about the tour? I could have toured in any formation. This album demanded that I tour with a solo piano and get up there and bare my heart, even if it’s extremely uncomfortable. I play a lot of material from the record, but there are lots of surprises. One thing that has surprised a lot of people is how funny the show is. I had to make the show funny to be able to unleash this darkness from the stage. [Laughs.] There’s some Disney and some old songs. I get on stage in different states and talk about three abortions and a miscarriage. If you asked me three years ago, “What do you think you’d be doing in 2019?” I don’t think I would have dreamed this. But this is what I can contribute. I’m an artist. I’m an activist. I get to tell these groups of people that I’m not afraid to tell these stories and you shouldn’t be afraid either. Is the book available at the show? Yes and so is a beautiful handkerchief for sobbing into. It just had to be done! [Laughs.] The book is also available on my website. It’s too weird for other stores. [Laughs.] Amanda Palmer’s “There Will Be No Intermission” takes place at Cobb Energy Centre on May 17, 7:30 p.m. cobbenergycentre.com, amandapalmer.net theQatl.com

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NEWS Q

Hail to the CHIEF Transgender fire chief comes out in Middle Georgia By Patrick Saunders RACHEL MOSBY — FIRE CHIEF IN BYRON, GA., FOR more than a decade — is happier than she’s ever been. She traces it to a significant step in her life — coming out as transgender. There aren’t many openly transgender firefighters across the country and Mosby (photo) is the only openly transgender chief in the U.S., according to the International EMS & Firefighters Pride Alliance. “I’ve had people that have known me for any length of time say they can’t remember a time where I smiled as much, joked as much and generally seemed happier overall,” Mosby told Project Q Atlanta. Mosby has been with the Byron Fire Department since 2007 and has been fire chief since 2008. She started medically transitioning in 2016, which stood out in this Middle Georgia town of 5,000 people. “Living in a small town and the fire services itself being a small community unto itself, rumors start circulating,” Mosby said. By summer 2017, she realized she needed to address the rumors. “It had started to impact the morale of my people. I didn’t realize how much it had,” Mosby said. “A lot of that just had to do with them feeling like I couldn’t trust them with it.” She was anxious about the response she would face. “All of my firefighters told me that I didn’t have a thing to worry about,” Mosby said. “They looked at me and said, ‘We’ve got your back, Chief.’ “It felt like I made some really good hiring decisions,” she added, laughing. Mosby received the same level of support from her superiors and from the city council. It helped that she had a track record in Byron. “I wasn’t somebody that had been working here for 30 days,” she said. “I spent almost a decade building relationships and leaned on that to get me through all the hard conversations.” Mosby said you’d be surprised by how many LGBTQ people there are in Byron and in Middle Georgia. It’s a factor that’s helped smooth the way for her to be out to others in town.

Photo courtesy Rachel Mosby

“Even being in a small town in a very conservative area in a very conservative state, there are still unbelievable numbers of people that are understanding and accepting — even though they don’t agree or fully understand it — and people that appreciate what I’ve gone through and go through,” she said. She’s even talking with friends about organizing a Middle Georgia Pride in June. “Even if it’s just a picnic in the park during Pride weekend,” she said. “We looked at the population numbers and we all know how many [LGBTQ] people we know, and we wondered why this whole middle part of the state doesn’t have something like that.” It’s taken Mosby a long time to get to this point. “For a kid growing up in the ‘70s and ‘80s, there just wasn’t any information [on being transgender], especially in a small town where you aren’t exposed to knowing a wide diversity of people,” she said. She said there were suicide attempts, divorces and self-harming behavior. “There were a lot of things in my life that have impacted me that I didn’t fully understand then that I do now,” she said. Mosby spends her days on the job now as she always has. “I’m liable to be anywhere from helping the crew out fighting a fire to doing fire inspections to signing off on business licenses, office and budget and paperwork,” she said. “When you’re a small shop, you kind of wear a lot of different hats. I always say that pretty much my job here is I’m the oil in a squeaky machine, so anywhere that needs help, that’s where I jump in,” she added. theQatl.com

Tickets Available @ joininghearts.org

THE QUEER AGENDA

Joining Hearts Beer Bust

The Best Queer Things To Do in Atlanta This Week

Joining Hearts counts down toward its summer main event

Thursday, May 16 – Wednesday, May 22

with bottomless brews @ Midtown Moon, 3 p.m.

THURSDAY, MAY 16

joininghearts.org

Ben Platt

Miss HSL

The out singer of stage and screen hits town

Hotlanta Soft-

on his Sing To Me Instead tour @ Cobb Energy

ball League

Centre, 8 p.m. Read the Q preview at

teams field their

theQatl.com.

drag and bio-female contes-

The Cake

tants with the backdrop of this year’s

Bakers rights vs. gay rights, ripped

“Field of Dream Girls” theme

from the headlines and staged for your

@ Heretic, 6 p.m. hotlantasoftball.org

entertainment @ Horizon Theatre,

Spring Swing

8 p.m. horizontheatre.com

The MetroGnomes ensemble of the

Stoli Cocktail Classic

LGBTQ Atlanta Freedom Bands swings

The world’s largest LGBTQ

you into summer @ Hudson Grille

bartender competition returns

Midtown, 7 p.m. atlantafreedombands.com

@ Midtown Moon, 9 p.m.

Hogtied

facebook.com/midtownmoon

One of Wussy’s most

popular events is back,

SATURDAY, MAY 18

this time with Biqtch

Puddin’ and Meatball

from Dragula @ Heretic, 9 p.m. wussymag.com

Britney Bash

FRIDAY, MAY 17 – SUNDAY, MAY 19

All her, all night. Benefits

Peach Party

Pets Are Loving Support

off summer’s best circuit events

atlantaeagle.com

@ Atlanta Eagle, 10 p.m.

The party series that officially kicks moves to May this year with more

Bazaar

DJs, venues and dancing queens than you can handle @ Heretic, BJ Roosters, Buckhead Theatre,

AIDS Vaccine 200

Bicyclists ride across North Georgia and back to

raise funds toward HIV research. Starts @ Emory School of Medicine, 8 a.m. Saturday, with a Welcome Back Party 4 p.m. Sunday. av200.org

Xion, Ten and District Atlanta,

Join Taylor Alxndr for this

“club kid dance party” @ The Bakery, 10 p.m. thebakeryatl.com

all weekend. Read the

Q preview in this issue. peachpartyatlanta.com

@ Joe’s on Juniper, 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.

queer-inclusive families with kids @ Glenlake Park,

Hang with the swimmers and water polo

players while raising money for their ongoing

adventures @ Private Residence, 1 p.m.

atlantarainbowtrout.com

Ruby Redd’s semi-regular drag show this week’s Extra Innings Beer Bust

Atlanta Pride hosts and benefits from this park day with queer-led and

Atlanta Rainbow Trout Pool Party

Heifer Review

welcomes post-game HSL teams as

LGBTQ Family Day

11 a.m. atlantapride.org

SUNDAY, MAY 19

joesonjuniper.com

TUESDAY, MAY 21 Dine Out For Pride

A portion of your bill benefits Atlanta Pride when you dine @ Panera Bread Co. at Ansley, after 4 p.m. atlantapride.org

Find more LGBTQ events in the Queer Agenda each Thursday at theQatl.com. theQatl.com

P R I isD E in the Air. +

JUNE 15, 2019

PIEDMONT PARK PIEDMONT PARK

Coming This Summer...

June 20, 2019

July 11, 201

Gotta Sta rt Somewhere Literary Be : ards

inform | insp ire

inform | inspire

I Do! THE WEDDING ISSUE

Area Queers Talk About the Joys of Tying the Knot — and the Unique Challenges of Planning a LGBTQ Wedding

HEALTHY The latest issues — and ad va in queer he nces — althcare

& Wise

Red Hot & Trans: QTV News ’s Newest Sex Symb Q Shots ol City of Atl

anta Target Queer Agenda Adult Bu s The Q sinesses—Again The Weekly Print Publication of Project Q Atlanta

The Weekly

• Summer Preview (May 30) • Wedding Issue (June 20) • Queer Health (July 11)

Queer Age nda Q News The Q Q Shots

Print Publica tion of Projec t Q Atlanta

Reserve Your Advertising Now!

For advertising, email sales@theqatl.com or call 404-949-7071 16

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Water

COVER Q

SPORTS

Beach, lake or pool, swimsuits inspire fun in the sun By Mike Fleming

e couldn’t wait any longer. Summer is weeks away, but our swimsuit issue is here with a few bits of inspiration for swimsuit shopping and sunny daydreams. This year’s pics focus less on triggering your body issues around swimsuits and more on

the fun you’ll have wearing them.

And while you’re perusing pages dreaming of your next faraway excursion or local outing by the cement pond, remember the rule about the right suit for your body shape and silhouette: It’s the one you feel like wearing, from boxcuts to bikinis to board shorts and beyond. 

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SWIMSUITS continued

Do a guy a SOLID—

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or PRINTS

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Hosts

Raquel Lord

Myah Ross Monroe

Featuring

Niesha Dupree

Tristan Panucci

Chavon Scott

Mona Lott

SWIMSUITS continued

Whatever SUITS YOU BEST

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SWIMSUITS continued

Next to NAKED

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Jump in, YOUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;RE FINE!

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EVENTS Q

What a

PEACH

Peach Party kicks its eighth annual gay dance weekend into overdrive By Mike Fleming

hat started as Atlanta’s answer to gay circuit days gone by in 2012 is a local standard as Peach Party makes 2019 moves with a literal move — from June to May. That makes the annual event from GA Boy Productions this weekend, May 17-19, and the groove has only grown since its inception. This year’s Peach Party hustle starts on Friday evening and grooves until sunrise on Monday with seven DJs at five venues. The spinmeisters include international LGBTQ superstars, local favorites and even some new blood to Atlanta’s ever-turning gay turntables. Keith Young’s GA Boy event series hits the ground running with DJ Cindel at Heretic on Friday. The venue known for its floor full of gyrating men comes alive once again to kick things off, only to have partiers cross the parking lot to BJ Roosters for Xion afterhours with “Twisted Dee” Martello on deck into the wee hours. Hopefully, the revelers will find naps, mud masques and hydration patches at some point on Saturday during the day. That’s because there’s not much time to rest before Peach

Let’s review. Peach Party Weekend is here. This is not a drill. FRIDAY, MAY 17 Cindel Heretic, 10 p.m. hereticatlanta.com Xion Afterhours with Twisted Dee BJ Roosters, 3 a.m. – 7 a.m. facebook.com/xionatlanta

SATURDAY, MAY 18

SUNDAY, MAY 19 Sunday Funday with Seth Breezy Ten Atlanta tenatlanta.com

Tom Stephen Buckhead Theatre, 10 p.m. peachpartyatlanta.com

Isaac Escalante District ATL, 7 p.m. peachpartyatlanta.com

Xion Afterhours with Eddie Martinez BJ Roosters, 3 a.m. – 7 a.m. facebook.com/xionatlanta

Xion Afterhours with DJ Deanne BJ Roosters, 3 a.m. – 7 a.m. facebook.com/xionatlanta

Visit peachpartyatlanta.com for tickets and more information. Party lands at Buckhead Theatre for the main event that night with Tom Stephen’s Atlanta debut of high-energy beats. The evening also includes a performance by Phoenix. Sound tiring? Just shut up and dance. Sleep is for another day, because Xion afterhours comes again with the super sexy DJ Eddie Martinez. Now you’re looking Sunday morning square in the face, and you’re still not done. There is no cover on Sunday at Ten Atlanta for the Peach Party Sunday Funday with Atlanta’s own touring sensation, DJ Seth Breezy. Bring sunglasses and sunscreen for patio posing, and bring a layer for your next stop: Club District ATL. Latin sensation Isaac Escalante wouldn’t let you leave without some of his juice, and he’s squeezing it from evening to night. You know that second-wind adrenaline moment we all need before the final stretch. Well take a deep breath, because Xion is back for the third night of afterhours with DJ Deanne and her grooves starting at midnight. That’s all. Yes, really. You can lay down and figure out what you’re going to tell your boss about your Monday absence. Start planning now around this whirlwind schedule, and maybe grab a preparatory nap or two in advance. While you dream, be sure to plan your cuteness too. Q photographers will be on site at stops on this roller coaster to snap your smiles. theQatl.com

Q SHOTS

HRC DINNER AT HYATT REGENCY