Q Magazine Atlanta | August 15, 2019 by Q ATLus Magazine

August 15, 2019

Anita Bryant’s ATL Face-Off

inform | inspire

Four Non-Profits We LGBTQ Love

‘And the

BOYFRIENDS’ Brendan Maclean woos Atlanta

Soak Up TV’s Trans Watershed Moment Date Insists He’s Grown Despite All the Evidence

Q News 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@THEQATL.COM MATT HENNIE PUBLISHER & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MATT@THEQATL.COM RICHARD CHERSKOV PUBLISHER & GENERAL MANAGER RICHARD@THEQATL.COM ART DIRECTOR JOHN NAIL JOHN@THEQATL.COM

Media DIET The week in queer Atlanta TV, movies, music, art and sports

GRAB YOUR HEAPING HELPING of queer culture in this edition of Q magazine, where we continue to lay out all that’s L,G, B, T and of course Q in the ATL.

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 BENTLEY HUDGINS TAMEEKA L. HUNTER HEATHER MALONEY ERIC PAULK KYLE ROSE JAMES PARKER SHEFFIELD VINCE SHIFFLETT ALEXANDRA TYLER VAVA VROOM RUSS YOUNGBLOOD NATIONAL ADVERTISING RIVENDELL MEDIA SALES@RIVENDELLMEDIA.COM 212-242-6863 LOCAL ADVERTISING SALES@THEQATL.COM 404-949-7071

MIKE FLEMING EDITOR & PUBLISHER

This week’s cover boy is Australian pop singer and controversy collector Brandan Maclean. When he’s not invoking gays gone by in scat imagery for music videos, he’s an incredibly talented performer. So much so, DJ Kimber jumped at the chance to host him during her popular dance party at The Basement this week. Read our local exclusive with both rabble rousers.

In Q Culture, Maria Helena Dolan’s “defiant lesbian” speech while wearing a “killer dyke” shirt at the 1978 Southern Baptist convention continues to inspire. This time, it’s an absurdist narrative film wherein an actor playing Dolan finally comes face to face with her archrival, Anita Bryant. We let you in on a chance to see it first. Speaking of queer culture, TV is undergoing a “trans”formation these days, and 10 Queer Things has the actors out front in leading roles. Likewise, Vince Shifflett is leading by example at local non-profits Q Voices, and two LGBTQ entities are joining forces to help inner city kids in Q Community. As always, the Queer Agenda calendar has the best queer things to do this week, and Q Shots has images from recent events. In our advice column, a party boy litters the field with red flags, and the City of Atlanta reacts to a crisis it largely helped create in just one hot story from Project Q Atlanta in Q News. It’s a lot to digest, but you can handle it. As always, you can write me about any or all of it via mike@theQatl.com. theQatl.com

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

VOLUME 2 ISSUE 38 AUGUST 15, 2019

TRANS TV

10 casts top TV revolution

COVER

25 10

Aussie Rules

Brendan Maclean in Atlanta

COMMUNITY

13 14

30-31 Serve & Volley

Street Kids

LGBTQ alliance hosts soccer camp CULTURE

She’s All That

32 Pop! Stars

Local lesbian icon gets f ilm treatment

FEATURES

Q Voices 8 News 13 The Queer Agenda 19 Q Shots 30 The Q 38 6

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36 Eddie’s Boys

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VOICES

Why I VOLUNTEER Organizations that help the LGBTQ movement and community

COVENANT HOUSE GEORGIA

I BELIEVE A HUGE PART OF OUR PURPOSE IN THIS

prep and donation.

world is to serve. By serving others, we are serving ourselves

because we are all one. It is my belief that we have a responsibility to take a hand and help each other on this journey.

Yes, how many times do I find myself asking, “How may I help you, versus thinking how may you help me?”

Volunteer opportunities include Life Skills Volunteer, Recreation Volunteer, Clothing/Closet Volunteer, Sack Lunch

Volunteer, 24/7 Crisis Shelter and Job Readiness Program. According to Abbey, Volunteer Coordinator, they house

around 80 people per night, and their biggest need is food Usually a group of friends will get together and prepare

a meal, then deliver it to the campus and serve it. What a

fulfilling thing to do. You can Google “volunteer Covenant House Georgia” or call Abbey at 404-937-6951 for more information.

Volunteering is a great way to give back, and

AHF HEALTHCARE/AID ATLANTA

in giving back, we receive. There are so many

AHF is the global organization, founded in

opportunities to contribute to the life of

1982, that provides cutting edge medicine

other people in a positive way. Are we seizing

and advocacy to more than 1 million people

those opportunities? Are we helping those

living with HIV in over 40 countries world-

in need? Are we helping each other or are

wide. They offer many services, and their

we just focused on our little world and the people inside our circle?

The disparities between the way people live

VINCE SHIFFLETT

has always saddened to me. One lives in a mansion with

everything they could possibly ever want, while another may live on the street with absolutely nothing.

What can we all do to help? Here are just three organizations I recommend for volunteering or donating. GEORGIA EQUALITY Georgia Equality’s sole mission is to advance fairness, safety and opportunity for LGBTQ Georgians. What a great

mission to be part of. They fulfill this mission through the

behavioral health, case management, pharmacy services and housing.

Volunteer opportunities include community outreach, health fairs, STD/AIDS Hotline, testing/counseling, on-site support and office support. They are located at 1605 Peachtree Street NE. Call 404-870-7754 or visit hivcare.org.

I only listed three organizations, but there are so many

ways to serve and give in Atlanta. By doing so, you not only

enhance the quality of others’ lives, but you enhance the wellbeing and quality of your own life.

Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Commerce, Georgia Safe Schools

Choose one of these opportunities above or pick your own,

al Center for Transgender Equality, HIV/AIDS Advocacy

walls of your world and step into amazing ways to give back.

Coalition, Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, Nation-

and start making a positive difference. Step out of the four

Resources and more.

You will be blessed 100-fold.

There are many ways you can volunteer, including joining

Vince Shifflett is a critical care registered nurse and columnist

georgiaequality.org/volunteer.

him on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

a Citizen’s Board to influence public policy. Visit

primary initiatives are currently expanded

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living and loving in Atlanta. Visit vinceshifflett.com or follow

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10 QUEER THINGS

HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER, TRANSPARENT Alexandra Billings

QUEEN SUGAR Brian Michael Smith

ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK Laverne Cox

The award goes to 10 current shows with trans principals during sea-change TV transformation

THE GOOD DOCTOR Sophie Giannamore 10

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THE SWITCH Nyla Rose, Amy Fox, Vincent Viezzer, Lindsay Coryne, Andrea Menard, Kent Leun, Chance Kingsmyth, Raugi Yo and Gigi Saul Guerrero

POSE Mj Rodriguez, Indya Moore, Dominique Jackson, Hailie Sahar and Angelica Ross.

THE OA Ian Alexander

THE CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA Lachlan Watson

GREY’S ANATOMY Alex Blue Davis There are at least 15 more shows across platforms that feature or include transgender actors. TV’s trans revolution continues on reality shows like I Am Jazz and RuPaul’s Drag Race.

SUPERGIRL Nicole Maines

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Coming This Summer...

Q inform | inspire

When Queer Speak is Policed by ‘Woke’ Heterosexuals September 5, 2019

Fall Colors Aren’t Just for the Trees

GOP Renews Bathroom Crusade

GOP Renews Attack on LGBTQ Rights

Eye of Beholder: Kink vs. Ewww!

Free to The Q Queer Agenda Q News Q Shots

FALL

Color your fall lous! LGBTQ fabu The Weekly Print Publication of Project Q Atlanta

• Atlanta Black Pride (Aug. 29) • Fall Preview (Sept. 5) • Out on Film (Sept. 26)

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For advertising, email sales@theqatl.com or call 404-949-7071 12

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NEWS Q

Crisis

MODE

Atlanta OKs emergency funding to fight HIV housing crisis

A city council subcommittee advanced the new legislation authorizing the $1.5 million in emergency aid on July 9. About 100 advocates issued a letter demanding that city

council come back from a two-week recess to make the final vote on the funding. But city CFO Roosevelt Council nixed that, saying it wasn’t warranted.

Partners for Home and the city said at an Aug. 5 community meeting that they were working on tweaking how much emergency funding goes to which entities. It’s unclear if the legislation mirrored the version passed by the council subcommittee.

By Patrick Saunders WHILE ONE AGENCY EMBROILED IN A LEGAL BATTLE with the city remains cut off from funding, the Atlanta City Council authorized $1.5 million in emergency aid for non-profits that are stepping up to keep low-income people living with HIV from being evicted. The legislation, sponsored by Councilmember Joyce Sheperd, passed unanimously during an Aug. 5 council meeting. It will be distributed to seven entities who are taking on former clients of Living Room, a non-profit that was part of the Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) program. The city terminated Living Room’s HOPWA contract in early July, claiming it wasn’t complying with federal regulations. Living Room officials sued the city, arguing officials were vindictive, and that the city was out to “destroy” the agency, owing it about $500,000 in HOPWA funds. That left some 230 Living Room clients in danger of being evicted because the agency was unable to subsidize their rent. The city initiated a housing relocation effort to stabilize the housing of former Living Room clients. It is led by Partners for Home, a non-profit that manages the city’s homeless services grant from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development. Cathryn Marchman, Partners for Home’s executive director, said on Aug. 5 that about one-third of those clients have had their housing situation stabilized. Some 110 of the former Living Room clients have been referred to other HOPWA agencies for assistance, and the city has been unable to reach about 40 other clients.

Atlanta City Councilmember Joyce Sheperd

Travelers Aid will get about $600,000 in emergency funding, AID Atlanta will get about $610,000, Making a Way Housing will get about $50,000, Positive Impact will get

about $140,000, Live Forward will get about $15,000 and NAESM will get about $50,000.

The DeKalb County Board of Health would also get about $30,000.

Meanwhile, the city works to fix massive delays in getting HOPWA funds to agencies. The city has failed to spend $40.1 million in HOPWA funds going back to 2014,

according to HUD. The city contends that the unspent amount is actually $31.6 million.

The $40.1 million figure would amount to about 40 percent

of the $101 million in HOPWA money allotted by HUD to the city since 2014.

Find full Q coverage of Atlanta’s HIV housing fund crisis at theQatl.com.

theQatl.com

IN BRIEF

Trans fire chief files federal complaint over firing By Patrick Saunders

HIV-positive man in Athens arrested for having sex By Patrick Saunders A 52-YEAR-OLD ATHENS MAN was arrested and charged with exposing a person to HIV, leading one activist to criticize Georgia’s “HIV hysteria.” Ernest Buchanan allegedly had sex with a woman in June without informing her he had HIV, according to the Athens Banner-Herald. Buchanan was charged with reckless conduct by a person with HIV, which is a felony. He remains in Athens-Clarke County Jail nearly a month later on a $3,000 bond. The woman’s HIV test results later came back negative, according to the Banner-Herald. Buchanan’s arrest reiterates why Georgia needs to modernize its HIV laws, according to Eric Paulk, deputy executive director of Georgia Equality. “These laws are discriminatory and stigmatizing relics from a bygone era steeped in homophobia and HIV hysteria which fail to recognize updates to science including U=U [undetectable equals untransmittable] and lack of evidence that these laws actually decrease new transmissions,” Paulk said. “It’s time for Georgia to acknowledge the importance of modernizing these laws and advancing safety and dignity for people living with HIV.” A Republican lawmaker introduced an HIV decriminalization bill on the final day of this year’s legislative session. It will be back in the 2020 session. 14

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THE NATION’S FIRST TRANSGENder fire chief says that city officials in Byron, Ga., harassed and later fired her after she came out. Attorneys for Rachel Mosby filed the complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on June 28. Mosby disputes the city’s claims that she was fired because of her job performance, arguing that her work was “exemplary.” “Shortly after she came out, one councilmember told Chief Mosby that he did not have a problem with her transition but that he would if she showed up to work in a dress,” Ken Barton, an attorney for Mosby, wrote in the complaint. “Another councilman told Chief Mosby that the city could still use a performance review to get rid of her.” City officials continued referring to Mosby using male pronouns in public and private, according to the complaint.

Rachel Mosby

“In an October 2018 meeting of department heads, the police captain intentionally referred to Chief Mosby as male a number of times, and when Chief Mosby corrected the captain, he responded ‘whatever dude,’” Barton wrote. The city also enacted a hiring freeze the day after Mosby interviewed a transgender candidate for an open position, according to the complaint. Barton told Project Q Atlanta they are willing to go to federal court after the EEOC addresses the pending complaint.

Woman shoots, kills girlfriend outside Atlanta strip club A WOMAN IS CHARGED WITH shooting and killing her girlfriend during an argument outside a popular Atlanta strip club. The incident happened early Aug. 4 outside Magic City, a strip club in downtown Atlanta. Candace Morgan, 35, and Therese Bradley Horton, 43, were arguing in a car parked outside the club, according to an Atlanta police spokesperson. “At some point, [Morgan] produced a firearm and shot the victim,” Investigator James White told Project Q Atlanta. “[Horton] exited the vehicle and attempted to get away. However, [Morgan] followed and shot her again.”

Candace Morgan

The club’s security guards detained Mor-

gan and called police, according to White.

Officers arrived about 12:10 a.m. and found

Horton dead. Morgan remains in the Fulton County jail charged with murder.

Project Q posts fresh news of local LGBTQ interest every day at theQatl.com

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COMMUNITY Q

To the STREETS LGBTQ alliance gives back with soccer clinic for kids By Patrick Saunders ONE LUCKY GROUP OF ATLANTA KIDS LEARNED how to play soccer thanks to professional athlete Gordon Wild and a continuing LGBTQ partnership. Georgia Beer Garden and All Stripes recruited Wild (photo right) for the soccer clinic held July 20 at Station Soccer at the Five Points MARTA station. Volunteers from the gay-owned Edgewood Avenue bar and the LGBTQ Atlanta United fan group helped Wild, who played for Atlanta United earlier this season, to run the clinic. About 10 children from Big Bethel AME Church’s Saturday School took part. Soccer in the Streets is the non-profit that runs Station Soccer. The event was a success, according to Georgia Beer Garden owner Johnny Martinez. He and co-owner Brandon Ley also run Joystick Gamebar. “Gordon, the All Stripes and Soccer in the Streets all went to great lengths to give the kids a class they would both enjoy and learn from and it showed,” Martinez told Project Q Atlanta. “It was a good day.” The event continued a partnership that started when Georgia Beer Garden became All Stripes’ official watch party location for Atlanta United games. Georgia Beer Garden has been “an incredible community partner” for All Stripes, according to David Prophitt, the group’s president. “Johnny, [general manager] Ian [Carlson], Brandon and the entire staff are like family to us,” Prophitt told Q. “They have become friends that we love to see when visiting the bar.” The event was a continuation of All Stripes’ charitable work in the community, according to Ryan Keesee, the group’s philanthropy chair. “I think for this particular event we wanted LGBTQ+ in17

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Photo by J Cassoni Photography

Ryan Keesee (left) and Gordon Wild (right) give a soccer clinic participant pointers.

‘Gordon [Wild], the All Stripes and Soccer in the Streets all went to great lengths to give the kids a class they would both enjoy and learn from and it showed.’

Johnny Martinez, — Georgia Beer Garden owner

dividuals having a coaching or mentoring presence among youth in Atlanta to demonstrate we too can be athletic, supportive and fun,” he said. “For LGBTQ+ youth, it can be super important to have a mentor that shares this type of affinity, so we hope to increase these types of opportunities that unite our members with the community.” Georgia Beer Garden and All Stripes share a similar mission, Martinez added. “It’s important for Georgia Beer Garden to partner with the All Stripes on events like this because, like them, we feel we should give back to the communities we are in,” he said. “It’s also important for communities who may not often interact with gay people to be able to do so over something we can all enjoy together, like soccer.” Atlanta United waived Wild in July and he now plays for D.C. United. theQatl.com theQatl.com

17 17

ART

Living

WALLS

LGBTQ artists creating permanent HIV mural on Atlanta Beltline By Patrick Saunders

FIVE LGBTQ ARTISTS HAVE BEEN COMMISSIONED to create a mural on the Atlanta Beltline to honor and celebrate people living and thriving with HIV. Living Walls, an Atlanta non-profit that creates public art for social change, also scheduled a series of events leading up to the mural’s unveiling in late August. FHI 360, a non-profit working with the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention on its “Start Talking, Stop HIV” campaign, approached Living Walls about the mural in spring 2018. “We had a friend who was living with HIV and we knew that we wanted for him to do the mural,” Living Walls Executive Director Monica Campana told Project Q Atlanta. “Then the budget kept getting delayed later and later in the year, and around September, we were approached again by them to try and push for this project to happen. By this point, my friend had passed. It became way more personal.” Living Walls is funding the mural and the CDC is funding the event series. Living Walls was determined to see the project through for their late friend, who was just 26 when he died. “There were only so many moments when [the friend’s HIV status] was mentioned, and I wondered is it because he never felt like there was space for that? Because there’s still too much stigma for it? This is 2019 and we’re still losing young people to this,” Campana said. “It was a moment where we realized this is important and we need to have this conversation.” Living Walls recruited several speakers and held panel discussions throughout the summer on the history of HIV in 18

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Artist Ajmal Millar

the South, health policy and HIV criminalization, and how art can be used as a tool for activism.

The five artists chosen to create the mural — Ajmal Millar,

Lisette Correa, Maite Nazario, John Burnett and Ash Walsh — attended the panel discussions to get inspiration.

Millar wrote a poem that will be painted onto the mural. “They asked all of us if we would develop ideas around what a statement would be,” he told Project Q. “I couldn’t think of anything formal. I just could sit down and think about

what my life has been like and how living with HIV has not been a burden.”

“It’s been something that’s actually unlocked a lot of light in my life and has also ignited me in ways that I know if I had any other life I would not have been. It’s allowed me to be

free and be okay with who I am and where I am,” he added. Living Walls partnered with La Choloteca for a panel

discussion about HIV and Latinx health on Aug. 10 at 7 Stages. It was followed by an afterparty at Aisle 5.

They hope to start painting the mural on Aug. 17, according to Campana. That night, Living Walls and Wussy plan a

panel discussion on southerners living with HIV through art at Annex Bookstore.

As part of the series, artist and performer Kia LaBeija is

scheduled to talk about using art as a tool for HIV awareness on Aug. 23 at the Hill Auditorium at Woodruff Arts Center. Living Walls hopes to unveil the mural on Aug. 25, according to Campana.

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

Friday, August 16 – Wednesday, August 22 FRIDAY, AUG. 16

Her HRC

HRC Atlanta woos women with a night of cabaret @ My Sister’s Room, 6 p.m. hrcatlanta.org

Brendan Maclean

Special guest Chel-

sea Shag joins this week’s Q cover boy for a Nonsense ATL party @ The Basement,

7 p.m. Read the Q interview in this issue.

facebook.com/nonsenseatl

Siren

For All Humans presents a free pool party with queers and queens as

your “merhuman” hosts

@ Moxy Atlanta, 7p.m. forallhumans.co

Melissa Etheridge

The legendarily loved lesbian rocker performs The Medicine Show tour

@ Atlanta Botanical Garden, 7 p.m. atlantabg.org

Big Queer Sizzle III

Performances of dance, poetry, song and more by local queer artists to benefit Charis Circle @ Charis Books & More, 7:30 p.m. charisbooksandmore.com

SATURDAY, AUG. 17

The Olsen Hour

Glamorous

& Ashley pizza party for adults

gay circuit series Forever

Catch yourself twinning during this Mary Kate

DJ Yinon Yahel of the

Tel Aviv lands @ Heretic,

@ 7 Stages, 8 p.m. wussymag.com

10 p.m. hereticatlanta.com

Madonna Madonna

Strike a pose twice for the one-and-only’s

61st birthday. Drop by and dance during

MONDAY, AUG. 19

Confessions on a Dance Floor @ Heretic, 8

Victor Victoria

p.m. and Madonnarama @ Mary’s,

Wussy puts Julie, James, Robert and an

9 p.m. hereticatlanta.com,

unforgettable ensemble back on the big

marysatlanta.com

screen with drag hosts @ Plaza Atlanta,

4Eva 2

Friends and Southern Fried Queer Pride supporters celebrate Kiwan Benson, Monte Qarlo (photo) and Matt Jones — three young lives tragically lost last year — with a show @ 529, 10 p.m. southernfriedqueerpride.com

SATURDAY, AUG. 17 Piedmont Park Arts Festival

Piedmont Park, all day. Sunday too. piedmontparkartsfestival.com

7 p.m. wussymag.com Queering Our Culture

Touching Up Our Roots and Atlanta Pride

debut Ryan Lambert and Shane Dedman’s local, original film Killer Dyke about

Atlanta’s encounter with Anita Bryant @ Rush Center, 6 p.m. atlantapride.org, touchingupourroots.org

Find more queer things to do in the expanded weekend edition of the Queer Agenda at theQatl.com.

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t a h W

CULTURE

nt in e m o lm a ry t o o t v s i i P h eer u q s ’ a film t r Atlant o h s w e n s e inspir

By Mike Fleming

hen local lesbian Maria Helena Dolan faced down the entire Southern Baptist Convention, which coddled notorious enemy of our people Anita Bryant, history was made outside the Georgia World Congress Center in 1978. Now a local filmmaking team takes a skit inspired by the faceoff and records it for posterity as part of Atlanta Pride’s Queering Our Culture series.

Bryant was the face of anti-gay hate at the time, and her Bible-thumping “Save Our Children” crusade to ban adoption by gay couples in Florida. The effort made more headlines and gave Bryant more recognition than she ever had as Miss Oklahoma in the ‘50s, a singer in the ‘60s, or even as the spokesperson for Florida Orange Juice in the ‘70s. In contrast on the opposing side, Dolan’s “I come to you today as a defiant dyke!” speech during the 1978 protest helped galvanize LGBTQ Atlanta, says Dave Hayward, coordinator of Atlanta’s queer history project Touching Up Our Roots and executive producer of the film. “This was our ‘Selma’ moment,” Hayward says. “Although we were not beaten, we did rally allies for the first time for an LGBT march, and I’ll never forget seeing Atlanta Clergy and Laity Concerned marching with us, something that never happened before Anita Bryant or Save Our Children.” For Stonewall Month this year, TUOR developed and presented a short play at Midtown Moon that envisioned the two 22

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Sofia Palmero as Maria Helena Dolan

women actually meeting in an absurdist pageant-cum-game show called Head to Head. The short film picks up the idea with more production value and the same cast — Sofia Palmero as Dolan, Rachel Tess Eddy as Bryant, and Greg Hernandez as the over-the-top gameshow host — and also includes a bonus: a cameo by Dolan herself in a surprise role. It’s directed by Ryan Lambert and produced by Lambert and Shane Dedman. Hayward serves as executive producer. It debuts on Aug. 22 with a special pre-movie screening video presentation: an exclusive of a half-hour interview with the late Berl Boykin, co-founder of Atlanta’s Pride demonstrations and celebrations. Queering Our Culture: Spotlighting Local LGBTQ Film takes place at the Rush Center on Thursday, Aug. 22, 6 p.m. touchingupourroots.org, atlantapride.org

e h S

D I A S Rachel Tess Eddy as Anita Bryant and Greg Hernandez as Game Show Host theQatl.com

COVER Q

‘Sweet Pop

GLORIOUSNESS’

Singer Brendan Maclean says, ‘Pop my Southern cherry, Atlanta’

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MACLEAN continued

By Patrick Saunders f you know who Brendan Maclean is, there’s a good chance you found out about the Australian singer through the video for his song “House of Air,” a song that might just pop up during his Aug. 17 show at The Basement.

Maclean released the sexually explicit video in 2017. Amid its send-up of hanky codes and other gay male signals of the ’80s, there was explicit oral and anal sex, bondage, urination, defecation… and subsequent controversy. YouTube pulled it from the site 10 days after its release, but not before it racked up 700,000 views. Maclean, 31, told Billboard that he was being “the black sheep” of the family of queer musicians at the time — a more rebellious alternative to Troye Sivan, Sam Smith and Years & Years singer Olly Alexander. But now he walks back that characterization in conversation with Q. “Yeah, I’ve said some pretty dumb things in interviews,” he said. “No, I don’t think I ever was in that role … I think I liked thinking I was.” Maclean is proud to have been a part of the “House of Air” project, which is still racking up millions of views on Vimeo. “While I remain independent and rebellious and yada yada — as opposed to othering myself and being resentful of the music industry — I find myself compelled to connect more, which makes me happier and apparently other people as well,” he said. “Who knew?” MUSIC AS ‘WEAPON OF CHOICE’ Maclean’s sexuality was front and center early in his career, which began with the release of his debut EP White Canvas in 2010. He’s not sure he had a choice whether to play coy about being gay like many singers have done. “I was an effete child, my sexuality was sort of thrust upon me before I knew anything about it, like, there was never really a closet to come out of. I’d already pulled out all the costumes to put on a show for my teddy bears, which were still fluffy toys at the time,” he told Q. His presentation and personality led to a rough time in

26 26

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school, and music was his way to get through it. “I fit a lot of stereotypes, so I was a real easy target as a kid for bullying,” he said. “Music was just what I did to avoid being in the playground and getting beaten up — I’d just hide and play piano.” “I’m not surprised that something that I used as my armor eventually became my weapon of choice,” he added. ‘FREEDOM, TRUTH & BEAUTY’ Maclean’s career gained traction in 2014 with the release of the single “Stupid.” That helped him land a deal with Universal Music Publishing Group. He received an ARIA Award nomination —which is like the American version of the Grammys — in 2016 before releasing his breakthrough record funbang1 that summer. It debuted at No. 2 on the Australian Independent Album Charts and eventually peaked at No. 14 on the Australian iTunes Album Charts. The album contained the soon-to-be notorious “House of Air,” as well as the singles “Free to Love” and “Tectonic.” The Atlanta stop is part of Maclean’s first U.S. tour to support his first full-length album, And the Boyfriends. It will be his first time visiting Atlanta. “Pop my Southern cherry, Atlanta,” he said. So which song off the new album is the most fun to play live? Maclean doesn’t hesitate. “’Hibernia’ takes the cake,” he said. “It’s got so much swagger and punch. When crowds hear it for the first time, you can see this look on their face like, ‘What is this?’” The local show at the Basement is presented by the dance party people at NonsenseATL, and co-founder DJ Kimber can’t wait. “He’s been one of our favorite artists for five years, and it’s just a dream to have him here,” she told Q. “When I play one of Brendan’s songs to crowds in Atlanta as a DJ, people always come up and ask what it is — it happened three times this weekend alone. It just gets your attention, so even if people aren’t super familiar with his catalog yet, I guarantee they’ll fall in love if they come to the show.” 

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MACLEAN continued

‘I was an effete child, my sexuality was sort of thrust upon me before I knew anything about it, like, there was never really a closet to come out of.’

— Brendan Maclean

“Brendan is such an engaging, energetic, charming live performer. You really can’t lose,” she added. People can expect “freedom, truth and beauty” at the show, according to Maclean. “My sweet hits, both of the electronic dance machine style and brief pauses of acoustic sentimental beauty that will cause you to turn to your friend and go, ‘Oh, he is actually pretty good,’” he said. “Before I sweep you up again in sweet pop gloriousness.” Local artists Chelsea Shag, Iv Fischer and Taylor Alxndr are also on the bill. The after-party features DJ sets from Maclean and Nonsense’s own Kimber. What has Maclean been listening to lately that might pop up? “You know what, I am stuck on a Roisin Murphy-hole right now, and I’ve been stuck worse places,” he said. “So some of that long, sideways, femme vocals only, semi-nostalgic business and then whatever I like the week beforehand.” “It won’t be like ... ‘Brendan plays his top ten Rufus Wainwright piano solos.’ You’ll be dancing. We’ll be dancing!” Q cover boy Brendan Maclean plays the NonsenseATL party on Aug. 17 at The Basement in East Atlanta Village. facebook.com/nonsenseatl, basementatl.com, brendanmaclean.bandcamp.com

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