QNotes, October 4, 2019

Oct. 4-17, 2019

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Oct. 4-17, 2019

inside this issue

Oct. 4-17, 2019 Vol 34 No 12

connect twitter.com/qnotescarolinas facebook.com/qnotescarolinas

contributors this issue

John-Manuel Andriote, Kode Brown, Mykah Buff, Stuti Joshi, Jack Kirven, Lainey Millen, Gene Riddle, Terri Schlichenmeyer, Gregg Shapiro, Trinity, Jason Villemez

front page

Graphic Design by Lainey Millen Photography: Pixabay Mission:

The focus of QNotes is to serve the LGBTQ and straight ally communities of the Charlotte region, North Carolina and beyond, by featuring arts, entertainment, news and views content in print and online that directly enlightens, informs and engages the readers about LGBTQ life and social justice issues.

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The opinions of contributing writers and guest columnists do not necessarily represent the opinions of qnotes or its staff. qnotes accepts unsolicited editorial, but cannot take responsibility for its return. Editor reserves the right to accept and reject material as well as edit for clarity, brevity.

charlotteobserver.com/1166/ a local news partner of The Charlotte Observer

feature 9

‘Watch What Crappens’

Fate of the Lgbtq Community’s Job Security Lies In The Hands of the Supreme Court

Two guys, Ben Mandelker and Ronnie Karam, bring their show to the Carolinas as they parody Bravo’s “Watch What Happens: Live” and talk about “The Real Housewives” and more from the network. They do it like no others and continue to perform to sell-out audiences.

news 6 Presidential Forum

Focuses on LGBTQ Issues 6 Foundation Speeds Up Quest for Aids Cure 6 News Briefs 7 Carolina Furniture

Designers Honored 7 Tech Company Establishes

Strategic Partnership

a&e 12 15 17

Watch That Man ‘Naturally Tan: A Memoir Tell Trinity

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Our People: Natalie Watson

LGBT Center of Raleigh’s newly recognized Community Impact Award winner is a vital part of the community, who fills their schedule with providing services to Triangle LGBTQ individuals and organizations.

PAGE 19

life 10 Workplace Spurs

Menopause Movement 10 Women’s Health Month Events 11 Authors and Activism 16 Totally Imbalanced 19 Our People: Natalie Watson

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How Many More Ed Bucks Are Out There?

Popular HIV Drug May Result in Serious Injury

events 18 18

Movies at the Museum Melanie Martinez

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Oct. 4-17, 2019

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How many more Ed Bucks are out there?

Op-Ed

BY John-Manuel Andriote | Guest Contributor Los Angeles LGBTQ activist and Democratic donor Ed Buck’s arrest on Sept. 17 offers a lens into both the widespread use of crystal meth in a segment of the gay male community, and arrangements in which older men with more money and status use meth to ply sexual favors from younger men — sometimes ending very badly for the younger men.

Buck, 65, was charged on Sept. 17 with one count each of battery causing serious injury, administering methamphetamine and maintaining a drug house after a 37-year-old man overdosed, but survived, at Buck’s apartment on Sept. 11.

This follows the 2017 meth overdose deaths of two African-American men — Gemmel Moore, 26, and Timothy Dean, 55 — in Buck’s West Hollywood apartment.

Prosecutors say Buck lured the men to his home with offers of drugs, money and shelter. In exchange he manipulated them into joining in sexual fetishes that include “supplying and personally administering dangerously large doses of narcotics to his victims,” they wrote in court papers.

“I feel vindicated for all the people who said [Buck’s arrest] was never going to happen,” said Jasmyne Cannick, an LGBTQ advocate and spokeswoman for Moore’s mother. “I feel really good for all the young men he took advantage of because they didn’t feel like anyone took them seriously, like their lives weren’t important enough for anyone to really care about.”

Ft. Lauderdale-based substance abuse expert and certified sex therapist David Fawcett, Ph.D., says, “Meth use among gay men in New York City has risen 400 percent.” Author of “Lust, Men and Meth: A Gay Man’s Guide to Sex and Recovery,” Fawcett says estimates run as high as 1 in 4 gay men in major urban areas in the U.S. who are semi-regularly using meth. “It’s at epidemic levels in the gay community,” he says.

As for the inter-generational drugs-forsex exchange, Fawcett says in the just-out

Ed Buck is at the center of media and court attention due to the drug-related deaths of two African-American men from a methamphetamine overdose at his West Hollywoood apartment.

(Photo Credit: Buck/Facebook, background image/Monkey Business via Adobe Stock) documentary “Crystal City,” “Meth is a great equalizer.” He explains, “The older guys with money provide the meth and the younger guys provide sex.”

Why does this wildly addictive, potentially deadly drug — its lethal effects can include stroke, heart attack, liver and kidney failure and even rotted teeth — hold such strong appeal for a large minority of gay men in particular?

Meth’s best known effects are pleasure and dissociation, as it works on the brain’s limbic system, the reward circuitry.

Combined with sex, as it frequently is by its gay male users, meth explodes physical and emotional pleasure through the roof — and kicks good judgment to the curb.

Meth is well known to make men hypersexual, even as it shatters any personal

standards they may have had for protecting themselves and their partners against HIV. But if pleasure alone was meth’s main appeal, then surely the three-quarters of gay men who do not use the drug would also be drawn to it — along with the rest of the human race.

A bigger attraction is the chance to escape the isolation and loneliness that are rampant in the gay community. “Meth is a really effective way to numb what in the literature is called ‘minority stress,’” says Fawcett. “People who have experienced a lot of stigma based on who they are, experience a lot of mental health and addiction issues. I’ve had a lot of clients who have never been comfortable with gay sex who felt that with meth for the first time they could celebrate being gay and having gay sex.”

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Those who combine meth and sex face the highest rate of relapse, “typically about 90 percent,” says Fawcett.

Fawcett told me in an interview about “Crystal City” that both straight and gay men connect meth use to porn and sex addiction because both operate similarly in the brain. “We approach it as an intimacy disorder, an intensity disorder, an increasing need for intensity,” he said, describing the practice called Seeking Integrity through which he and fellow therapist Rob Weiss work with gay men.

Twelve-step abstinence-based recovery programs have proved to be the most successful approach to addressing meth addiction. A key to their success is the supportive community they provide. “Any recovery solution must have a communal aspect,” said Fawcett.

The LGBTQ community certainly has the creativity, connections to government funders and other resources to be able to direct attention to the growing meth epidemic among urban gay men.

We need one that addresses depression and HIV stigma, two major drivers of risky behavior — and huge reasons so many gay men feel the need for analgesia to ease their emotional pain.

Meth and other drug abuse, and HIV too, should rightly be looked at as symptoms of that pain. First address what’s hurting. That’s how healing becomes possible and the need for pain-relief will decrease. : : John-Manuel Andriote is a journalist and author who has written about healthcare and political issues, as well as culture for such newspapers at The Washington Post and others. His coverage of the HIV/AIDS crisis began in 1986. He was diagnosed with HIV in 2005 and has continued to write about living with HIV/AIDS. He also has a blog, “Stonewall Strong,” that is syndicated on Psychology Today. Learn more about him at jmandriote.com.

We welcome your letters to the editor (200 or words or less) and guest commentaries (600 words or less). Submit them to letters@goqnotes.com.

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Oct. 4-17, 2019

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BRIEFS

news Presidential forum focuses on LGBTQ issues CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — GLAAD co-hosted the first Presidential Candidate Forum on LGBTQ issues to take place during the 2020 election cycle. Co-sponsored by GLAAD, One Iowa, The Gazette and The Advocate, the LGBTQ Forum was live-streamed on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, ABCNews.com, and NBC News Now from Coe College’s Sinclair Auditorium in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The event was hosted by transgender actor and activist Angelica Ross and GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. The events moderators were Lyz Lenz, The Gazette columnist; Zach Stafford, The Advocate editor-in-chief; and Keenan Crow, One Iowa director of policy and advocacy. A full auditorium of local LGBTQ community members and notables attended.

During the Forum, 10 Democratic presidential candidates — Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Julián Castro, Tulsi Gabbard, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Joe Sestak, Elizabeth Warren, and Marianne Williamson — each laid out their vision for improving LGBTQ acceptance. Each candidate also answered specific questions on how they would address some of the largest issues affecting the LGBTQ community.

“The last time we witnessed a presidential candidate forum dedicated to LGBTQ issues was 2007 and none of the major Democratic candidates supported marriage GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis speaks at the equality at the time,” said Ellis. “Tonight’s forum demonstrates how far LGBTQ accepPresidential Candidate Forum on LGBTQ Issues. tance has progressed, while educating Americans about how far we have yet to go to (Photo Credit: Getty Images for GLAAD) reach full equality and reverse the anti-LGBTQ actions of the Trump administration. It was the beginning of a conversation that we will keep going until we have a pro-equality President in the White House.”

Ross opened the night reviewing some of the harms that the Trump Administration has fostered against the transgender community and called out Secretary Betsy DeVos for targeting transgender students. She also sent a message to the transgender community: “To all the trans and gender-diverse people here or watching at home who have been hurt by hate: you are beautiful. You are worthy. And we will not stop until you too have access to the American dream.”

During the Forum, “Queer Eye” star Karamo Brown also surprised the crowd and called out the Trump administration for its continued attacks on the LGBTQ community. In his remarks, Brown stated: “The rhetoric coming from the White House that is meant to divide our nation and target marginalized communities has to stop. And it is time for all marginalized communities to stand united. The 2020 presidential election is too important for the LGBTQ community, for the black community, and for those Americans like me who live at the intersection to be silent. We need to be loud and proud.”

At the beginning of the LGBTQ Forum, out country music star Billy Gilman performed the National Anthem. Other LGBTQ notables in attendance included actress Isis King (Netflix’s “When They See Us”), producer and TV host Raymond Braun and Equality Florida’s Brandon Wolf, a survivor of the Pulse Nightclub shooting and leading gun reform advocate.

Official media partners The Advocate, Autostraddle, Betches, Billboard, Logo, NBC Out, Newsweek, Out, PLUS, Pride.com, them., and The Washington Blade have been sharing the forum live-stream across their social channels to help spread the word about LGBTQ acceptance.

The LGBTQ Forum came as the 2020 presidential election conversation has so far failed to address LGBTQ-specific issues during nationally televised events, GLAAD stated. GLAAD’s Trump Accountability Project has counted 125 anti-LGBTQ attacks in policy and rhetoric from the Trump administration, including Donald Trump’s ban on transgender Americans from serving in the military and the administration’s opposition to the Equality Act. The LGBTQ Forum in Cedar Rapids, Iowa was the first public event specifically focused on LGBTQ issues in the 2020 presidential election cycle. Exit polls from the 2018 midterm elections revealed LGBTQ voters represented about six percent of the electorate. info: glaad.org.

— Lainey Millen

RYE fellowship apps still open

The Equality North Carolina Foundation’s Rural Youth Empowerment Fellowship application cycle for 2019-2020 is currently accepting applicants. The year-long mentorship and training program for LGBTQ youth in rural areas of North Carolina gives its participants valuable tools in executing a social justice project serving rural communities, as well as developing leadership skills.

info: equalityncfoundation.org/ programs/rye_fellowship.

GBO nets new bar

A new LGBTQ bar, Twist, has opened in Greensboro, N.C. It is located 435-M Dolley Madison Rd. Its owners are David Gregory and Joe Wagner. The two said that their soft opening welcomed more patrons than they had expected. They told Yes! Weekly that the establishment was a neighborhood gay bar where the LGBTQ community and straight clientele can mingle.

info: bit.ly/2nJOs9T. facebook.com/TwistLoungeGSO.

Porter makes Emmy history

Fashionista Billy Porter made history when he was presented with the Best Actor in a Drama Series award at the Emmys held in September. He was the first openly gay man to win an Emmy Award. for his role of Pray Tell on FX’s “Pose,” The Associated Press reported.

info: bit.ly/2nTe1Fj.

Pronouns get their day

The International Pronouns Day will be held globally on Oct. 16 where grassroots activities are participated in by individual and groups on a local level.

Registration is available online.

info: pronounsday.org.

Renaissance fest opens

Foundation speeds up quest for AIDS cure Research Foundation to Cure AIDS (RFTCA) has obtained a worldwide license to biotechnology known as Chromovert Technology, to research, develop and commercialize a cure for HIV/AIDS. This is the first and only case of an IRS Code § 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization holding rights to biotechnology with the promise to cure AIDS. RFTCA’s mission is to develop an AIDS cure and to make it available and affordable to all of the 37 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide.

The emphasis in the medical community, until recently, has been on containing the AIDS epidemic with treatment and prevention alone. But recent advances in stem cell biology and cellular engineering have created new opportunities that could lead to a global cure.

Recently, the first two patients in history were cured of AIDS. In 2007, Dr. Gero Hutter at Charite ́ University Medicine Berlin, Germany, first tested whether naturally HIV-resistant stem cells could cure AIDS. Dr. Hutter performed a standard stem cell transplant to treat his patient’s cancer but using stem cells specifically obtained from a rare, naturally HIV-resistant donor individual. Twelve years later, in 2019, Dr. Ravindra Gupta, at University College in London, England, performed a similar treatment also using naturally HIV-resistant stem cells to treat a second patient having both cancer and AIDS. The HIVresistant stem cells cured both patients of AIDS as well as cancer, alerting the medical community that a cure for AIDS is reproducible.

Scientists are currently researching cell engineering methods to develop a safe and scalable AIDS cure, which, in the case of patients who do not suffer from cancer, eliminates most of the risks, costs and complications that the first two patients faced. What is needed is a method to create HIV-resistant stem cells for each patient using their own stem cells, as opposed to using curative stem cells obtained from rare, naturally HIV-resistant donor individuals.

Multiple proprietary cell engineering technologies pioneered by different biotechnology companies, including Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) and Zinc-Finger Nucleases (ZFNs) are currently being pursued to create a safe and scalable cure. As reported by The New York Times (Apoorva Mandavilli, “An H.I.V. Cure: Answers to 4 Key Questions,” March 5, 2019), however, “so far the numbers of cells derived with these methods do not seem to be enough to make anyone resistant to HIV.” Chromovert Technology is a biotechnology that enables the detection and purification of even exceedingly rare desired cells, providing an opportunity to purify sufficient numbers of cells. Chromovert was invented at The Rockefeller University by RFTCA President Dr. Kambiz Shekdar and is owned

by Chromocell Corporation. Dr. Shekdar co-founded Chromocell in 2002 with Dr. Gunter Blobel, also of The Rockefeller University, and Mr. Christian Kopfli, Chromocell’s CEO. The company decided to pursue its potential to cure AIDS with a strong degree of corporate social responsibility. The same individuals served as members of the founding board of directors of RFTCA in order to realize this charitable intent.

“The first known cure of a patient with AIDS made me realize that a technology I had developed might one day yield a safe and scalable cure. But to develop a truly global and socially responsible cure, we need to establish the best charitable use of our technology and leverage it to shake complacency, give hope, and raise the funds needed to end AIDS, worldwide,” Dr. Shekdar explained.

RFTCA paid Chromocell $1 for a perpetual worldwide license to all of Chromocell’s technology, including Chromovert Technology, to research, develop and commercialize a cure for AIDS. The license effectively allows RFTCA to be the first charitable biotechnology venture seeking to cure AIDS worldwide. info: rftca.org.

— Lainey Millen

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qnotes

Oct. 4-17, 2019

The Carolina Renaissance Festival and Artisan Marketplace will open on Oct. 5 in Huntersville, N.C., and will continue through Nov. 24. This annual event features a village showcasing fantasy and medieval times.

info: renfestinfo.com.

Group not recognized by Duke

The Raleigh News & Observer reported that Duke University’s student government chose not to recognize Young Life, a national Christian organization, as an official campus group due to its stance on LGBTQ issues.

info: bit.ly/2mjlf5f.

Guilford launches calendar

The Guilford Green Foundation & LGBTQ Center has launched an online calendar for local LGBTQ-related events called OUT and About Greensboro. A form is available online for submissions.

info: guilfordgreenfoundation.org.

Healthcare handbook released

GLMA announced the publication of their two-volume The GLMA Handbook on LGBT Health that includes health concerns, prevention and treatment options and also explores the impact of public policy, political and resource/ funding issues have on the health and well-being of LGBTQ individuals. Those wishing to purchase the set can receive a 20 percent discount by using the promotional code Q29120. Discounts expire on Oct. 31.

info: glma.org.

Carolina furniture designers honored

NEW YORK, N.Y. — The Tyler told N.C. Policy Watch Clementi Foundation will honor that he could not underNorth Carolina’s Mitchell Gold + stand why there was not Bob Williams with the Corporate already a state law in Upstander Award at their Vision North Carolina banning 2020 2019 Upstander Legacy the practice of converCelebration on Oct. 23 at Stage sion therapy. He also 48 in Manhattan. does not buy the support The foundation shared that for it among religious for 30 years, Mitchell Gold + Bob groups as legitimate.

Williams followed a “professional “It’s time for America’s design and experience ethic of faith traditions to see Bob Williams and Mitchell Gold ‘Comfort for All,’ applying that their rejection of LGBTQ (Photo Credit: Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams) logic not only to their products, people because of their but also to their world.” As a corporate citizen, innate sexuality, and the insistence that they change Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams has supported organithrough harmful so-called therapy, for what it is — zations that “lift and protect the dignity of so many bullying,” said Gold. different people,” the foundation continued. This inGold’s work has not only been experienced on cludes the Human Rights Campaign, Exodus Homes a large stage, but has also been felt in the Foothills and Works, The Montrose Center’s LGBT! Hurricane in the Hickory, N.C. area. AIDS service organization Harvey Disaster Relief Fund, Faith in America, The ALFA presents its Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams Humane Society, The Reformation Project and the Legacy Award annually during its Winter Gala. The Tyler Clementi Foundation, among others. recognitions goes to individuals who have made The two furniture icons released their book, outstanding contributions in support of HIV/AIDS “The Comfortable Home: How to Invest in Your services in the local community. The company has Nest and Live Well for Less” in 2009 and around been a long-time supporter of ALFA. that time Gold, along with Mindy Drucker, brought Gold and Williams had been coupled prior to their their “Crisis: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, foray into the furniture design and manufacturing Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing business. Their talents and strengths complemented Up Gay in America” anthology to readers worldeach other so seamlessly that they were able to launch wide. This book included a broad spectrum of contheir business and see it grow over its 30-year history. tributors who told their stories of being an LGBTQ Though their romantic relationship ended, their dedicacommunity member, as well as coming out stories, tion to grow their business flourished. (Gold married prejudices, fears, pressures and more. Considering Tim Scofield in 2019). Today they make “everything from the epidemic of bullying, homophobia and discrimi- furniture to drapes, and includes a hospitality arm,” as nation that is prevalent in today’s society under the well as other ventures, Business of Home reported. The Trump administration, this book could well serve as business has been the recipient of a number of awards a support to those who crave acceptance. over the years and have been deemed innovators for Not only has Gold stood up against discriminatheir design aesthetic and business acumen. tion and bullying in his philanthropic work, he has info: tylerclementi.org. been a strong opponent to conversion therapy. He — Lainey Millen

Tech company establishes strategic partnership WASHINGTON, D.C. — LGBT Tech, a non-profit that encourages early adoption and use of new technologies and that engages with public policy leaders, has announced its partnership with Crown Castle. Crown Castle is the largest provider of shared communications infrastructure in the United States, and Connected by Good is its program focused on improving public spaces where people connect; promoting public safety and advancing access to education and technology.

Specifically, Crown Castle is supporting LGBT Tech’s PowerOn program in the U.S. capitol city, which empowers homeless and vulnerable LGBTQ individuals by providing devices such as cell phones, tablets and computers, allowing them to access the resources and opportunities they provide, the partners shared.

PowerOn works with several local organizations to accomplish its goals, including Supporting and Mentoring Youth Advocates and Leaders, Mary’s House and its own network.

“We’re grateful for Crown Castle’s support of the PowerOn program, and we join others in recognizing that it does more than just connect communities with infrastructure — the company and its employees connect with the communities where it operates,” said Christopher Wood, executive director and co-founder of LGBT Tech. “We appreciate Crown Castle’s support of the LGBTQ population and share a desire to ensure the wireless infrastructure we use in our program continues to meet the community’s needs with crucial wireless expansions.”

“LGBT Tech’s work in D.C. is critical as we continue to help everyone stay connected to the resources they need,” said Andrea Bradford, marketing and communication executive for Crown Castle. “Crown Castle is honored to partner with LGBT Tech to bring connectivity to homeless and vulnerable LGBTQ individuals in the District.”

LGBT Tech bases its public policy stands on research and seeks to expand research to better LGBTQ people all around the world.

Youth homelessness is a crucial issue and the partners are working to ease the burden for the marginalized LGBTQ individuals. info: lgbttech.org. crowncastel.com.

— Lainey Millen

Oct. 4-17, 2019

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Oct. 4-17, 2019

life

Fate of the LGBTQ community’s job security lies in the hands of the Supreme Court Arguments Heard on October 8 Will Determine if Title VII of the Civil Rights Act Will Cover Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Discrimination

BY Mykah Buff | Guest Contributor

Plaintiffs at the focal point of workplace discrimination suits are (left to right) Donald Zardas Estate/Melissa Zarda & Bill Moore; Gerald Bostock; and Aimee Australia Stephens.

(Photo Credit: Zarda/Facebook; Bostock/Facebook; Stephens/ACLU)

F

ollowing the weeks of Donald Trump’s inauguration, a press release was put out by the White House promising to protect the rights of the LGBTQ community.

Additionally, the press release stated that Trump would not overturn an executive order given by the Obama administration in 2014 protecting LGBTQ individuals employed by federal contractors from workplace discrimination.

“President Donald J. Trump is determined to protect the rights of all Americans, including the LGBTQ community,” the press release stated.

However, nothing could be further from the truth.

From his executive orders and agency rule-making to his social media posts, Trump has shown a gross disdain for the LGBTQ community from the very beginning.

The administration has recently filed a series of briefs in a vital LGBTQ rights case that will come before the Supreme Court. The trial, scheduled to take place on Oct. 8., will consist of three cases which will ultimately determine whether protections of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibiting discrimination on the basis of religion, race and sex will cover sexual orientation and gender identity.

Two of the cases, Altitude Express Inc. v. Zarda and Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, involve two gay men, Donald Zarda and Gerald Bostock, who claim they were fired on the basis of sexual orientation.

Zarda was a skydiving instructor for Altitude Express, a skydiving company in Long Island, N.Y. While preparing for a tandem dive, Zarda revealed his sexual orientation of being a gay male to a female customer. Shortly after the dive, Zarda was fired.

Sadly, Zarda died in a skydiving accident in 2014. His surviving partner, Bill Moore, and his sister, Melissa Zarda, have continued the lawsuit on behalf of Zarda’s estate.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says Zarda was fired for revealing his sexual orientation to the customer.

“As they were both preparing for the dive and Don was strapping himself to the woman, Don told her that he was gay to assuage any concern she had about being in close physical contact with a man she didn’t really know,” the ACLU says. “He never thought the comment would cause the end of his career at Altitude Express. But after the dive, Don’s boss fired him because he had come out to the woman.”

Bostock, who was a child welfare services coordinator for the Juvenile Court of Clayton County, Ga., was fired shortly after a financial audit was conducted revealing that he had used his company credit card at gay-owned businesses.

News-daily.com says Bostock’s participation in a gay softball league prompted the audit that resulted in his termination.

“After word got around that he played in the ‘Hotlanta’ gay softball league, that he had tried to sign up CASA (court-appointed special advocate) volunteers during softball events and that he had allegedly used a CASA credit card at two gay-owned Midtown restaurants, Juvenile Court Judge Steven Teske handed over a financial audit on Bostock’s activities to District Attorney Tracey Graham Lawson,” news-daily.com says. “No charges were filed; however, Bostock was fired.”

These cases are very significant, as they argue that existing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination based on sex will also envelop discrimination based on sexual orientation as well. Regardless of the outcome of the verdicts, which are said to be determined by early 2020, they will set the precedent for employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation moving forward.

The other of the three cases, which has received a great deal of coverage and continues circulating on social media, R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, involves a transgender woman, Aimee Stephens, who was fired from her job two weeks after informing her employer that she was transitioning from male to female.

Stephens worked at R.G. and G.R. Harris Funeral Homes in Garden City, Mich. for six years as a funeral director. She considered herself to be a transgender woman for many years; however, she presented herself as a male at work, which resulted in her living in emotional turmoil for many years.

In 2013, she made the decision to reveal her gender identity and to pursue gender reassignment surgery in the coming months. After making this life-changing decision, Stephens wrote a letter to her employer explaining that she would be transitioning to a female and would be presenting herself as such upon her return to work.

“What I must tell you is very difficult for me and is taking all the courage I can muster,” Stephens wrote. “I have felt imprisoned in a body that does not match my mind, and this has caused me great despair and loneliness. I realize that some of you may have trouble understanding this. In truth, I have had to live with it every day of my life and even I do not fully understand it myself.”

“As distressing as this is sure to be to my friends and some of my family, I need to do this for myself and for

my own peace of mind, and to end the agony in my soul,” she wrote. “I will return to work as my true self, Aimee Australia Stephens, in appropriate business attire. I hope we can continue my work at R.G. and G.R. Harris Funeral Homes doing what I always have, which is my best.”

Two weeks later, Aimee Stephens was let go.

In a nutshell, the court will be determining whether or not it’s okay for an employee to be fired for being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. The outcome of this trial will have a monumental impact on the U.S. — as a recent poll

by Gallup advisory and analytics company estimates that “4.5 percent of adults in the U.S. — or about 11.3 million people — are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.”

For scale: North Carolina’s population is about 10.38 million. So, depending on the court’s ruling, a whole state’s population — plus some — could potentially be fired for being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

Unfortunately, if it were left up to Trump the outcome in this trio of cases wouldn’t be in favor of the LGBTQ community.

Time Magazine says the Trump administration is basically asking the Supreme Court to legalize anti-gay employment discrimination based on an amicus brief filed on Sept. 20.

“The brief, from Solicitor General Noel Fransisco, argues federal prohibitions on employer discrimination do not extend to protect individuals from being fired or otherwise disenfranchised in the workplace because of their sexual orientation,” Time Magazine says.

Additionally, Time Magazine stated that another brief released earlier in September asked the Justice Department not to allow Title VII to protect transgender employees from being discriminated against.

“The Justice Department submitted another brief asking the Justices to conclude that Title VII does not protect transgender people from employer discrimination,” added Time Magazine.

Chase Strangio, a staff attorney at the ACLU who is working on the case, says the Justice Department’s arguments also implicate protections for other individuals who don’t conform to the stereotypes of male and female behavior.

“People don’t realize that the stakes are extending not just to the trans and LGB communities, but to every person who departs from sex stereotypes,” Strangio says.

“Women who want to wear pants in the workplace, men who want more childbearing responsibilities.” : :

Oct. 4-17, 2019

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life

Workplace spurs Menopause Movement Conversation Needed for a Better Work Environment

BY Stuti Joshi | Guest Contributor

T

he fastest growing demographic in the workplace are menopausal women, and yet the conversation of menopause has not yet been started in many workplace environments, which has serious consequences.

In some studies, two out of every three women surveyed reported that going through menopause had a moderate to severe impact on their working life. Some people even choose to leave their jobs because of how menopause affects them, which is why making the work environment more comfortable for more employees is so important. In most cases, with some workplace changes, the risk of losing experienced employees can be lessened.

Menopause refers to the time in a person’s life when her/their period stops, and has been stopped for a year. This is due to the ovaries stopping the production of the hormones estrogen and progesterone. It can be provoked by natural aging, surgical removal of ovaries and sometimes chemotherapy. In the time that it takes to

and cause problems reach menopause, with concentration. the body goes These symptoms through a transican vary from tional phase, called person to person in perimenopause. terms of both length Perimenopause is and severity. the time frame in Taking into which menopausal account the seversymptoms can be exity of some of these hibited, and this transymptoms, as well sitional phase can Menopause can present challenges for working as the fact that it last for years, usually women. (Photo Credit: fizkes via Adobe Stock) can last for years, 7, but sometimes lonthis period of time can be very trying for ger according to the American Congress of those who experience menopause. It can Obstetricians and Gynecologists. be especially difficult transitioning when Menopause usually occurs between 45 considering work and workplace struggles. and 55 years of age, with the average age According to the U.S. Labor Bureau of of having the last period at 51 according to Statistics over 20 percent of the American the North American Menopause Society. workforce is affected by menopause, and Perimenopause and menopausal with a growing older population, change in symptoms include irregular periods, hot the workplace needs to occur. flashes, trouble sleeping, vaginal dryness, One of the first things that employers, headaches, stress, dizziness, fatigue, more HR department or management can do is frequent need to use the restroom and to have an open environment where talking mood changes. It can also affect memory

about it is welcomed. Something else that can help is having awareness and educational training that can further equip employers or managers on how to navigate through these conversations. Once the conversation has been opened up, flexible working hours or options to work from home on particularly difficult days would help a lot of people experiencing severe menopausal symptoms. Some small office environment changes like temperature regulation, better ventilation, providing cold water and allowing more breaks may offer comfort.

There are a number of things one can do to combat the symptoms of menopause. Eat a healthy diet, get plenty of exercise and take time for yourself. This will benefit you on the job and when not working as well. : :

Resources Menopause at Work bit.ly/2nnqS29.

Guidance on Menopause and the Workplace bit.ly/2nl8UgK.

Women’s Health Month marked with events Observances Empower Community, Raise Funds

BY Stuti Joshi | Guest Contributor Komen Charlotte Race for the Cure October 5 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is a 5K event that raises awareness and money for breast cancer and research toward cures.

The race starts in Uptown Charlotte and covers a 3.2 milecourse around the city. This event includes a Kids FunZone area, 1 Mile Fun Run, 50 Yard Dash, Survivor Village and Parade, music, and more.

The festivities begin at 6 a.m. at S. Mint St. The 2019 Komen Charlotte Race for the Cure has raised

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$563,006 so far, with a goal of $1,200,000!

Register at bit.ly/2lIKYDP. komencharlotte.org.

Noelle Women’s Empowerment Event October 5 Participants have the opportunity to get together and discuss the issues that affect women regarding health, careers and mental health.

The free event incorporates networking, guest speakers, panelists, vendors and open conversation. The event is not just for women, and is open to

Oct. 4-17, 2019

everyone who wishes to invoke change.

The event will take place from 2-5 p.m. on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, McKnight Hall, 9025 University Rd. Registration is available online. bit.ly/2mg1w6v.

Making Strides of Greater Charlotte October 19 The American Cancer Society’s 17th Annual Making Strides against Breast Cancer Walk of Greater Charlotte is presented by Coldwell

Banker Residential Brokerage.

This event welcomes all breast cancer survivors, friends and family, and gives the option of the full 2.8 mile route or a shorter 1.7 mile one. Donations and fundraising efforts will go toward saving more lives affected by breast cancer through research, free patient rides, lodging, wigs and other support services.

The walk takes place from 8 a.m.-12 p.m. at AvidXchange Music Factory, 1000 NC Music Factory Blvd.

More information is available online at bit.ly/2lIl3vU. makingstrideswalk.org/charlottenc.

LGBTQ Healthcare Symposium October 25 The 4th Annual LGBTQ Symposium aims to provide culturally-competent care for LGBTQ patients by increasing participants’ knowledge for LGBTQ patients throughout their life.

There will be breakout sessions offered, as well as a sexual health panel with physicians.

It will be held at the Center for Learning and Development, 5039 Airport Center Pky., Building K, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Registration is $99 and is available online. bit.ly/2nmesri.

life

Authors and Activism LGBT History Month: A History of LGBTQ Bookstores

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BY Jason Villemez, LGBT History Project | Guest Contributor

time.” After finding a t was unbelievably fun,” Ed more permanent space Hermance said about his time for Glad Day Toronto, he operating Giovanni’s Room, went on to open a Boston one of the first queer bookstores in location in 1979, the same the world. “You weren’t there for the year that A Different economics, and it would be exhaustLight in Los Angeles was ing if you were in it for the politics. co-founded by his former We were starved.” staff member. After early Until the 1970s, when LGBTQ success, iterations of A publishing first began and activists Different Light soon aplike Barbara Gittings pushed for peared in San Francisco representation in libraries, the few and New York. Lambda queer books available were limited Rising, which first opened mostly to anti-gay medical texts. So, in Washington D.C. in as the first wave of bookstores like 1974, followed a similar Giovanni’s Room opened, getting expansion strategy, creatahold of quality LGBTQ titles was a ing a store in Baltimore necessity. According to Hermance, and later on in Norfolk “Every book in the store from 1973 and Rehoboth Beach. into 1976 the owners had bought The shops, which for cash at a wholesaler in the West supported each other by Village, where Craig Rodwell helped sharing news and ideas, them pick out the few dozen titles became cornerstones of available on gay subjects.” When the communities they Hermance and Arleen Olshan bought served, hosting political orGiovanni’s Room in 1976, the two ganizations and providing continued to make trips to New York safe spaces for people to and received the same guidance. explore and embrace their “[Craig] knew everything, really.” sexuality. Such inclusiveRodwell, who had moved to New ness, along with the spirit York in 1958, did much more than Ed Hermance in front of Giovanni’s Room around 1980. of anti-war, anti-estabhelp booksellers like Hermance (Photo Credit: Ed Hermance) lishment revolution that find stock. A longtime activist and fanned out before and organizer, he opened the Oscar after Stonewall, encouraged others to build upon the idea Wilde Memorial Bookshop in 1967, the same year as the started by Rodwell and the Oscar Wilde. By the mid-1980s, Stonewall Inn about a mile away. The store occupied a queer bookstores were in more than 20 cities across North space on Mercer St. in the heart of New York University, America, as well as venues in Germany, France, Australia, and for those students and professors who passed by, evthe Netherlands and the U.K. erything could be seen. “Unlike most gay bars,” said Ellen Gay’s The Word, London’s queer bookshop, opened Broidy, one of the first to work in the bookshop, “the Oscar in 1979 on Marchmont St., a few blocks from the British Wilde had a standard-issue plate glass window, so once Museum. Like the Oscar Wilde and all of its brethren, the you were in, you were visible from the street. We actually shop and staff endured harassment both verbal and physihad more than one ‘customer’ say they were there doing a cal, so much so that wooden shutters were put up each night sociology or psychology project.” to protect the windows. But the extent of the threats did not As the first of its kind, the shop served as part-bookbegin nor end with bricks: Her Majesty’s Government had a store and part-meeting space, housing meetings for the larger, more dangerous legal threat aimed at the store.

Homophile Youth Movement and a bulletin board for group In 1984, customs officers raided Gay’s The Word on and event listings. On the shelves were titles ranging from multiple occasions and confiscated all imported publicalesbian pulp fiction to poetry to psychiatric texts that disputtions. The shipments, many of which had come from ed the anti-gay establishment. Broidy, who co-organized the Giovanni’s Room (who had begun wholesaling to stores first gay Pride march along with Rodwell, remembers well the abroad), included 144 titles such as novels by Gordon Alma Routsong novel “Patience and Sarah,” which generated Merrick and Armistead Maupin, “The Joy of Gay Sex” by excitement at the time “because nobody died at the end.”

Charles Silverstein and Edmund White, a French weekly Within a few years, the shop increased its offerings newspaper, and a 14th-century devotional book authored and Rodwell opened a second store on Christopher St. by a nun. The shop’s directors and assistant manager, in Greenwich Village, right in the center of the city’s gay whose homes were also raided, faced 100 charges includbeating heart and surrounded by the counterculture that ing “conspiracy to import indecent and obscene material.” infused the activism of the era. Visitors included locals and It took two years for the case to go through the courts betourists, people from abroad and writers such as Tennessee fore the staff was acquitted. During a pre-trial hearing, the Williams and Patricia Nell Warren, who gave readings. leader of the operation admitted that officers were given Another of the Oscar Wilde’s early visitors was Jearld guidelines to confiscate work dealing with homosexuality.

Moldenhauer, a Cornell University student who traveled Such seizures, which relied on archaic customs laws, from Ithaca during school breaks to peruse the shelves happened to bookstores in other countries, including Glad and walk the Village streets. Moldenhauer founded the Day and Little Sister’s Bookstore in Vancouver — both took Cornell University Student Homophile League in 1968 their cases through Canadian courts. The censorship came and, after moving to Canada a year later, the University of during a time when queer booksellers distributed items Toronto Homophile Association. He was disappointed that that could be found no place else, including information Canadian bookstores failed to stock the new wave of postthat much of society wished to remain hidden.

Stonewall books, so he ordered the titles himself and beIn the early years of the AIDS crisis, most medical and gan to sell them out of his knapsack at various community government establishments refused to share the most meetings. The knapsack period was the first for the Glad up-to-date information for fear of promoting or associatDay Bookshop, which then operated out of Moldenhauer’s ing with homosexuality. Groups such as ACT-UP created apartment along with The Body Politic, one of the country’s pamphlets that explained transmission, symptoms and how first gay periodicals. to get tested. Giovanni’s Room printed a bibliography of all “The reality was that I was a full-time gay radical,” known books on the disease. A person caught with such litMoldenhauer said, “one who wore many hats at the same

erature, even if they were not infected, could be fired from their job or ostracized in their community, so bookstores such as Gay’s The Word, according to longtime manager Jim MacSweeney, gave people a protected environment to take in the information.

“Sometimes, when people came in and asked about different books, they were also perhaps outing themselves as being HIV-positive, knowing that they were doing it in a safe, non-judgmental space. At the height of the epidemic, when newspapers and society were savage in their fear and loathing of gay people and people affected by HIV/AIDS, we managed to retain our sanity and provide a welcoming environment.”

The AIDS crisis reminded the community to rally around each other, both in times of celebration and in times of stress. Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, as queer bookstores continued to help people weather the storm, a new generation of publishers and writers came into its own. Giovanni’s Room often hosted up to 50 writers a year, including stalwarts like Rita Mae Brown, whose novel “Rubyfruit Jungle” went on to sell over 1 million copies, Alan Hollinghurst and Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore. LGBTQ publishers like Alyson Books began to widen their scope of releases to include history texts, more work by queer women and children’s books. Classics like “Giovanni’s Room” (the novel), which at times had fallen out of print in the U.S., were reprinted and celebrated.

And openly gay celebrities wrote memoirs, among them the diver Greg Louganis, whose 1995 effort “Breaking The Surface” became the top seller for many queer bookstores that year. Many store owners recorded their highest sales ever during the decade between 1987 and 1997.

Dorothy Allison, whose 1992 novel “Bastard Out of Carolina” was a finalist for the National Book Award, credited LGBTQ bookstores with shaping her work and her life.

“I well remember the Oscar Wilde Bookstore in downtown NYC, wandering in there as a sort of baby dyke and being closely observed by the gay man behind the counter. I was concerned that he thought I was a shoplifter but actually he was admiring my leather jacket. That was a tiny but wonderful bookstore. Without gay and lesbian bookstores, and the many feminist bookstores of youth, I would never have found my people, my community, never had the encouragement and commentary of other gay and lesbian writers. I would not be who I am without those voices, those closely watching eyes, those critical and understanding perspectives,” said Allison.

In the mid-1990s, as the first HIV drug cocktails emerged, chain booksellers like Borders had spread across the country and, coveting a foothold in a burgeoning market, opened gay and lesbian sections in their stores. Their proliferation caused the number of LGBTQ bookstores to reach its tipping point. The subsequent decline, felt in full by the late 2000s and hastened with the arrival of online bookselling, led numerous outlets, including A Different Light, Lambda Rising, and the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop, to permanently shutter.

“It was devastating when Borders opened in Philadelphia,” Hermance said. “Virtually every issue of the Inquirer [newspaper] had some story that included Borders.

Something like a dozen bookstores in Center City closed.”

The shops that remained were forced to adopt new strategies to survive. Several decided to open café spaces and sell items far-removed from queer books. Giovanni’s Room, which nearly closed for good in 2014, was purchased by the non-profit Philly AIDS Thrift and now operates as partthrift shop, part-bookstore. And a number of shops launched fundraising campaigns within their communities to help encourage sales, donations and sponsorships.

Even the newest queer bookseller, Category Is Books, which opened in 2018 in Glasgow, Scotland, has had to find fresh perspectives on what a queer bookstore can be. Owners Charlotte and Fionn Duffy-Scott said that understanding the neighborhood and clientele has been imperative to their early success. see Authors on 13

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Watch that man An Interview with Ben Mandelker of ‘Watch What Crappens’

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BY Gregg Shapiro | Guest Contributor

atonah native Ben Mandelker is a funny guy. The Dartmouth College alum moved to Los Angeles a few years ago to be a comedy writer. He’s not the first and he won’t be the last. His is a familiar story of starts and stops, highs and lows.

Fortunately for Mandelker, he met fellow funny man Ronnie Karam, and their shared affection for “The Real Housewives” and all things Bravo led them to create the popular podcast “Watch What Crappens.” The title of the podcast, a nod to Andy Cohen’s “Watch What Happens: Live” recap and callin show, has been well-received, not only by the large listener base, but also by Cohen and Bravo show cast members alike. In fact, Watch What Crappens is so successful, that Mandelker and Karam have been doing a series of sold-out live shows. Mandelker, who also does the animated “The Real Housewares of Kitchen Island” series, took some time out of his busy production schedule to answer a few questions.

Gregg Shapiro: Ben, please say something about the genesis of the “Watch What Crappens” podcast.

Ben Mandelker: (“Watch What Crappens” co-host) Ronnie Karam and I knew each other from the world of blogging from the mid-aughts. We had forged a friendship from that. Around 2010 or 2011, I was hired to be the host of a web series called Housewives Hoedown where every week I would be on video talking about the Real Housewives. My role as host was to find guests to be on the show. I knew Ronnie and he’s super-funny. I invited him and my friend Matt Whitfield, who was a writer for Yahoo! at the time. The three of us had great chemistry. When the web series was canceled after nine months, we decided that we wanted to keep talking about “Real Housewives” and expand it to included Bravo as a whole. We started “Watch What Crappens” seven and a half years ago.

GS: A recent “Watch What Crappens” episode made mention of technical difficulties. Are you and Ronnie the ones doing the production work or do you have a team?

BM: We do it all ourselves. We record over Skype. Even though we live about a mile away from each other. You can never underestimate how hard it is to drive places and find parking in Los Angeles [laughs]. We could theoretically meet up.

We record five episodes a week, plus a bonus for Patreon, so it’s easier to record over Skype. One of the things that’s been really fun for us as a podcast is that it’s always been on us. We’ve always done it ourselves. Every now and then we’d get an opportunity to record in a nice studio setting. For years we’ve been this outsider podcast, just two guys talking trash about reality stars. It never sounded as sharp and crisp as a super-professionally made podcast, but I think it made it sound accessible. You can hear trucks driving by and sirens passing our apartments. At the end of the day, we’re still dudes putting together a recording for the fun of it.

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GS: At the beginning of each episode, you thank your Patreon supporters.

How has crowd funding has changed the creativity landscape?

BM: Crowd funding in general, but specifically Patreon, was a total game-changer for us. I could even say it changed my life. I had moved out to Los Angeles to be a comedy writer. I had some success. I had a feature that was going to go with director McG. I had a pitch a few years ago that Zach Braff was attached to, with the producers of “La La Land” and “New Girl.” Across the board, they would fall apart for some reason.

What I realized is that the entertainment industry in L.A. is a crapshoot. The podcast was something that allowed us to take ownership of our future and our careers.

Not have everything in the hands of fickle decisions. The reason this matters in terms of Patreon is that this is what I was going through at the time. My career was in the hands of other people. I was driving Uber to support myself while I was going on these pitches. When Patreon came around and people started donating, a dollar, two dollars, five dollars here and there, after a few months Ronnie and I were actually able to live off of that. I didn’t have to be an Uber driver; he didn’t have to be a waiter. It allowed us to focus 100 percent on the podcast. That, in turn, empowered us to forge our own ways with our careers and not relying on other people to decide whether or not to give us an opportunity. It allowed us to create our own opportunities.

GS: That’s quite an endorsement! Have you heard from Andy Cohen or any cast members of the Bravo shows?

BM: A few months ago Andy Cohen actually Tweeted out something. He said that we were hilarious. We get a lot of support from Bravo celebrities, such as Lisa Rinna (“The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”), LeeAnne Locken (“The Real Housewives of Dallas”), and a lot of people from “Vanderpump Rules,” “Below Deck,” “Summer House.” Patricia Altschul, who is the grand dame of “Southern Charm” and Catherine Dennis who is the breakout star from that show. A lot of them listen, support, come to our live shows, which is exciting. It’s awesome when we do a live show and one of the Bravo-lebrities shows up. They get the joke, they understand. At the end of the day, Ronnie and I are just two friends watching these shows and broadcasting the same thing everyone says to their friends when they watch the shows. We just happen to be broadcasting it to 2.5 million people.

GS: I’m glad you mentioned the live shows. How did the concept of doing live versions of “Watch What Crappens” come about?

BM: We had always wanted to incorporate a live component, going back to our first year. Truthfully, Ronnie and I are performers at heart. My background is a little more in writing. His is in thesee next page u

Authors

continued from page 11 because they’re major in terms of comedy booking.

It’s crazy to think we did a show where only 10 people showed up and now we sold out the 9:30 Club in D.C. and Just For Laughs in Montreal and SXSW. It’s been so crazy, especially in the context that we’re just two guys talking about “The Real Housewives” and “Vanderpump Rules.”

‘Watch What Crappens’ show personalities Ben Mandelker and Ronnie Karam. (Photo Credit: ‘Watch What Crappens’) ater and improv. Together, we are two people who live to make people laugh.

If I make Ronnie laugh on the podcast, that’s all I’m trying to do [laughs]. If I can make him laugh, then the audience will be laughing. We have a desire to entertain. We love to get up in front of people and do our shows. Going back to our first year, we did a show at the (now defunct) Improv Olympic (in Los Angeles). Ten people showed up, but we had so much fun. Every once in a while we’d have a chance to do a show at The Improv and we’d have 60 people. Then we got the opportunity to do our show at the Gotham Comedy in New York, and we sold out in six hours. It’s a room that holds 250 or 300. We did the show and it was exciting. A few days later, a big venue in L.A. reached out to us. We thought, “This might be happening!” Now we’re with APA, which is a huge honor,

GS: I watched the first seven episodes of your animated series “The Real Housewares of Kitchen Island.” Are there more in the works?

BM: Yes! Believe it or not, I’m going to sit down and work on the next scripts today. I’ve taken some time off and chilling out. I’m not going to lie. I was planning on getting one or two more up. I’ve actually outlined the next nine episodes.

There’s going to be quite a scandalous arc that’s going to happen. I’m glad that you watched it. I love doing it. As I mentioned, I came out here to be a writer and since the podcast has become a big thing, I’ve focused a lot of attention on that. But I still want to keep writing as part of my life. The reason I do “The Real Housewares” is it’s a way for me to write quick, easy fun stuff on the side. It’s also my way of writing something, doing the voices. I taught myself animation so I could make it myself. It’s something that’s 100 percent my own.

GS: Do you think Forky from “Toy Story 4” might make a guest appearance?

BM: You never know. I would love to have some crossovers. I’m sure Disney would absolutely allow that to happen. License their characters to appear on “The Real Housewares of Kitchen Island” [laughs].

GS: Finally, Ben, can you please say a few words about the symbiotic relationship between gay men and the Bravo network?

BM: There really is a connection between Bravo shows and gay men. I think that there’s something about gay culture that really appreciates camp and a bent sense of humor. That’s the mindset you have to have when you watch these shows. You can’t watch “The Real Housewives of New York” and not appreciate the camp value. If you take it at face value, you’ll wonder, “What’s the point of this? Why is it funny for me to watch Ramona Singer walking her dog?” Instead of deriding that, embracing the ridiculousness of it is when you truly understand and get Bravo TV. You could probably have an entire academic course of study or thesis about why gay men respond to different kinds of humor in a certain way. There’s something about gay men’s appreciation of certain kinds of comedy that just dovetails so well with Bravo. : : “Watch What Crappens” is doing a live show on Oct. 17 in Carrboro, N.C. at Cat’s Cradle, bit.ly/2lV2JPK. Tickets are available online.

Visit venue website for more information.

“We have a pop-up queer barbershop on our closed days because there isn’t something like it anywhere else in Scotland.

We also run Drag King scratch nights, again because we love drag and there’s a king community in the city, and we stock local zines and weekly comics, which maybe wouldn’t traditionally be in a bookshop but is something we are passionate about.”

The shop, whose best selling item over Christmas was the zine Queering the Map of Glasgow, also has quirky sections including “Lesbian Detective” and “Books with Maps at the Beginning.”

Throughout the changes in the industry, the shifting tastes of consumers and the rise and fall of brick-and-mortar shops, the hallmark of queer bookstores serving as a gateway for their communities has endured. Alan Chelak, the current manager at Giovanni’s Room, said that in the aftermath of the 2016 election, people came en masse in search of political and feminist books.

This year too has been busy with tourists and school trips due to the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. But despite the recent excitement, Chelak always remembers those people the store was built to serve.

He had similar advice for anyone wishing to follow in the footsteps of Craig Rodwell and booksellers past.

“One lesson I’ve learned is that you’re nothing without the people around you. I am incredibly lucky to be doing this, but it’s the people around me that have helped me get to where I am. So, if you’re looking to start an LGBT bookstore anywhere, I think you have to work with your community and listen to your community, because if you do that, you can’t go wrong.” : :

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Popular HIV Drug May Result in Serious Injury Legal Eagles: Manufacturer at Center of Controversy

BY Gene Riddle, attorney | guest WRITER

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ruvada, a popular medication used to treat and even prevent HIV, has been connected with serious complications, including lactic acidosis, kidney failure, liver problems and bone problems.

These side effects are serious and potentially life-threatening.

Recent lawsuits allege that Truvada manufacturer Gilead Sciences knowingly downplayed the potential side effects and, even worse, may have suppressed a safer version of the HIV treatment in order to maximize profits.

If true, that a company which supposedly is dedicated to treating and preventing such a terrible disease as HIV, would knowingly expose patients to danger in order to line its pockets is nothing short of shocking and disappointing.

For years, people suffering from HIV and AIDS have been marginalized by society. Each person in our country should be protected from negligent behavior by pharmaceutical companies or any other business that puts profit ahead of health.

People who have used Truvada or Truvada for PrEP should know the risks.

Those who have suffered injury may be entitled to compensation. Multiple lawsuits have been filed against Gilead Sciences in courts across the country.

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According to a court filing made on behalf of plaintiffs in California, Gilead Sciences knew as early as 2001 that tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) was “highly toxic in the doses prescribed and risked permanent and possibly fatal damage to the kidneys and bones.”

According to a report from AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a non-profit providing treatment to HIV/AIDS patients worldwide, Gilead Sciences also “deliberately and maliciously sup-

pressed from the market its alternate and newer formulation of the drug … in order to extend the patent life — and sales — of its existing medications that included TDF.”

Michael Lujano, who was diagnosed with AIDS and prescribed Truvada, is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

His words summarize the heartwrenching anguish of the victims involved: “A company I trusted with my life took advantage of that trust by misrepresenting the side effects of TDF, calling it the ‘Miracle Drug’ and using other deceptive marketing strategies. Gilead shelved a far safer drug, TAF, simply to increase its longterm profits. I’m bringing this lawsuit to try to hold Gilead responsible for their reckless focus on profits over patient safety.”

The next time you watch TV, please listen and pay special attention to the long advertisement sponsored by Truvada and decide for yourself.

The troubling allegations against Gilead Sciences are a reminder that in an age of promising treatments for terrible diseases like HIV and AIDS, we must exercise caution.

Justice is for everyone in our society, not just the rich and powerful. : : Gene Riddle is founding partner at Riddle & Brantley LLP, a North Carolina law firm that represents injury victims, including those injured by dangerous drugs.

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‘Naturally Tan: A Memoir Out in Print

BY terri schlichenmeyer | CONTRIBUTING WRITER “Naturally Tan: A Memoir”

by Tan France ©2019, St. Martin’s Press $27.99 288 pages

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asual button-down, or elegant suit?

Jeans or khakis? Shoes or sandals? Whatever the event, your closet’s got you covered, packed with every outfit you’ll ever need. But what’s your style, what makes you confident? How do you know what to wear for the occasion?

Read “Naturally Tan” by Tan France, and see what fits.

As a young boy growing up in South Yorkshire, England, Tan France was no shrinking violet: he was “weirdly worldly wise” and “definitely the cockiest one of the family.” He also knew what he wanted and didn’t rest until he got it and even then, he knew that he liked boys better than girls.

That determination didn’t make his childhood breezy, though; France was Pakistani in a predominantly-white area and he grew up with the hum of racism in the background. He was bullied, but still, he says, he “managed to make things work…”

It helped that his grandfather owned a denim factory and taught France to sew.

It was there that he learned the importance of fashion, but that wasn’t yet a career; from age 16 to 27, France held more than 30 jobs, most of which he abandoned with little-to-no notice.

He came to realize that he wanted to be an entrepreneur, and everything coalesced after a vacation in Salt Lake City, and falling in love with a cowboy. By then, France had spotted an opportunity, specifically, with modest swimwear, and his brand firecrackered to success literally overnight. Unprepared, France and his new man worked around the clock to accommodate customers, and to try to grow the business. Eventually, the stress became too much and France stepped back.

He was not really looking for anything new when, on vacation, he received a call from someone who told him about an opportunity with Netflix and “Queer Eye,” a job he never dreamed of and was convinced that he’d never land. He wanted it, and he didn’t. He needed prodding, until he “begrudgingly” auditioned...

At its outset, “Naturally Tan” feels like just another gay memoir: stating that he always knew he was gay, author Tan France seems a bit stiff, as though his story needs to stretch and twist before it starts to stride.

Once it takes that next step, though, it’s got you.

Like virtually all other gay memoirs, France goes on to tell a story of a childhood of dawning, of bullying, and of learning more about himself, but the uniqueness lies in the cultural differences in which he was raised: he writes of being a Muslim Pakistani in a white world, and how this fit with his gayness and his passion for fashion. Between this, and advice he doles out with impunity, France does snark well, which he freely admits.

That’s entertaining, especially since he appears to be rather nice about it.

In the end, this is a fun book from a star’seye view, and with useful tips for any reader, gay or not. Pick up a copy of “Naturally Tan” and see if it doesn’t suit you. : :

HEY! WHAT’S HAPPENING?

We want your news and event notices today. Be sure to send them to editor@goqnotes.com.

Thank you!

Oct. 4-17, 2019

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Totally imbalanced

Health & Wellness: When Looking for Balance Pulls You Off Balance

BY Jack Kirven | qnotes contributor

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s someone who craves quiet, order, stability and routine, I’ve developed what’s probably an oversensitivity to entropy. Whether everything’s actually falling apart or not, I fear it and watch for it vigilantly. It’s my main strategy for navigating a chaotic world. My guess is that many (if not most) people can relate to that. But it threatens to stifle me, too, so it’s important to balance that order with play, exploration, learning and adventure.

Those are opportunities to grow, to keep stagnation at bay. Where there’s no evolution, there’s death. Right?

I’ve written about this in the past: I’m very comfortable (and, in fact, prefer) doing much of my life on my own. I’m generally content away from the frenetic energy, noise and drama other people seem to crave. I suppose they’re energized by it? No idea. At any rate, I’m still on the quest of trying to balance solitude with socializing, of including more people more often in my plans. It’s difficult though, because people in Charlotte are either busy, noncommittal or flaky, and, frankly, it’s not worth the effort. But I do recognize now the literal dangers of being too far off on my own.

Recently I’ve needed lots of mental health days. Lots.

The mountains are my sacred space.

I’ve gone toward Blowing Rock four times

perfect balance. On in two weeks. The the way back to the first trip I took for riverbank, before the comforting I took my last step familiar. On the onto the sand, and second visit I deat the last possible cided to bring in moment, I looked some balance, so I up at a butterfly that hiked some paths had almost hit my that were new to face. That moment I me personally. It could’ve died. utterly revitalized I underestimy love of the mated the power North Carolina (Photo Credit: karepa via Adobe Stock) of the water’s mountains. The flow, assumed my foot was going where I third trip I wanted to delve much deeper intended, and the water nudged my step into my new discoveries. a tad to the right. I stepped onto a slime I avoid using absolute terms like spot, which was slippery like multiple layalways/never, everyone/no one, everyers of ice on a sidewalk. I was falling backwhere/nowhere; however, in practical ward before I even knew I was moving. I terms, I always go alone, because no one was totally imbalanced, and there was no ever wants to go anywhere. I’ve done way to recover. I say this as a professional dozens of these visits on my own in the dancer and former gymnast, as a person last 16 years, so I gave no thought to who knows how to change direction in doing it again. Without telling anyone, I an instant. I fell perpendicularly onto my hiked to the bottom of Linville Gorge on a sacrum, across the keen edge of a rock.

Wednesday afternoon.

Laying across that rock with the water Being surround by running water is rushing over me for five seconds was a jarsoothing. I wanted to sit on one of the rocks ring experience. It took me a few moments in the middle of the rushing pool flowing to locate myself in space and do a quick out from the waterfall. Very carefully, I check for obvious injuries. But in those five stepped gingerly from stone to stone. I was seconds I had an entire interior monovery nimble, like a little mountain goat with logue that felt more like five minutes.

I went there looking for emotional and psychological balance, and was literally so out of physical and social balance that something catastrophic could’ve happened. No one was there. I had no cell signal. If I had paralyzed myself from the waist down, broken a leg, or had some other horrifying injury, I would have been stuck there for who knows how long before someone came by. Even if they did, would they have cell reception? Even if they had that, what then? I was at the bottom of a 200-foot gorge with vertical walls. What? A helicopter? Is that how they would have taken me out of there?

That water was glacially frigid. If I hadn’t been able to get out of it, I would’ve gotten hypothermia in no time at all.

And no one I love would have known.

Being an introvert is a strange point of pride that I can’t explain; however, this is totally imbalanced. In the past I’ve made comments here about needing to be better about communicating and connecting, but this was a long overdue wake up call.

This was an example of stupidity on my part, and I’ve been doing this for years.

If socializing were like food, it’s as if my former anorexic patterns have transmuted from nutrition to people. What a bizarre pattern. Why do I purposefully starve myself of so much? No idea. But I evidently have some questions for my therapist that I’ve been overlooking, and it’s time to look at bringing balance between gluttony and starvation in all parts of my life.

BTW: I’m not badly injured. : : Jack Kirven completed the MFA in Dance at UCLA, and earned certification as a personal trainer through NASM. His wellness philosophy is founded upon integrated lifestyles as opposed to isolated workouts. Visit him at jackkirven.com and INTEGRE8Twellness.com.

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a&e

Monogamy: Is There More Than One Rule?

Tell Trinity

BY Trinity | CONTRIBUTING WRITER Dearest Trinity, Why do gay people and straight people think about monogamy so differently?

Yours, Monogamy Dilemma, Las Vegas, NV

since gay people are different than straights, monogamy will have a different meaning. That’s one of the beauties of being gay. Just saying!

Love, Trinity

Dearest Monogamy Dilemma, Monogamy mean different things at different times to different people. Ever since Stonewall, the gay community has been forced into re-evaluating “monogamy,” morally, politically, culturally and spiritually. And, sweetie,

Hello Trinity, I really don’t believe in voting. It’s minorities being controlled by the majority. There’s so much corruption anyway. Voting doesn’t help!

Signed, Taking A Stand, Columbia, SC Hello Taking A Stand, Long ago, before voting, one group would go to war with another and whomever had the most soldiers left alive would take power. Very few countries change governments without bloodshed, BUT America is one of them, so be proud. As all governments do have corruption, voting makes it possible to have some control over their corruption. And, darling, because of voting, being gay in 2019 is now very, very different than it was in 1969! Please vote! (Not registered to vote? Do it today! We need your vote now more than ever. See my cartoon for inspiration, darling.)

Kisses, Trinity Dear Trinity, On TV the other night, Jennifer Lopez was

qomunity

qonexions

wearing a shirt exposing everything but her nipples. When is too much, enough?

Help, Too Much La Clevage, Spokane, WA Dear La Clevage, Topless women are very normal in Europe and quickly undressing our American shores.

Although, Women’s Lib may seem historic, it’s still going strong. In New York City they passed a law, “If men can go topless in public then so can women.” Pumpkin, the best thing to do with change is to try to accept it as quickly as possible! It’s the joys of growing older.

Kisses, Trinity Hey Trinity, Recently, while at a party, I met this couple who talked excessively about their love of being a Republican. Eventually, I had to be rude and walk away. They were appalled! When is it the right time to walk away?

Thanks, Not Wrong But Rude, Peoria, IL Hey Not Wrong But Rude, Being a big party go-er, I can sympathize. In my life, honey, I’ve found there ARE times when being polite means pulling your hands off their throat and walking away.

Here are some examples.

Trinity’s Wise Tips For Knowing When To Walk Away (WA)

1. You finally found a parking spot when suddenly a 300 pound, truck-driving redneck, displaying a shotgun in the back window, takes your spot! WA 2. As a waiter you’re taking an order from a couple who begins verbally fighting with each other, when one grabs a steak

knife. WA 3. On the celebration of your first year of sobriety, your new roommate throws you a booze and bong party. WA 4. You find the man you’re about to marry is in bed with the man you just divorced.

Put the gun down, and WA. 5. Refusing to eat the gourmet dinner you spent all day preparing specifically for her, your mother-in-law says, “This meal isn’t fit for humans, Sweetie!” WA 6. Your straight friend, whom you keep telling you’re gay, sets you up on a blind date with the opposite sex! WA 7. On the first day of Chanukah, sweet, innocent Carolers come a knockin’ at your door singin’, “Jesus is the way! Praise Jesus with us!” Shut, don’t slam the door and WA. 8. The really cute guy, who’s been buying you drinks all night, returns from barfing in the bathroom and now wants to French kiss! WA 9. As you’re sitting in front of the pizza parlor, late at night, alone, six punk teenagers start harassing you about the pink triangle on your neck and the rainbow flag on your hat. WA 10. Lastly, it’s 2 a.m. and you just finished singing a two-hour jazz set, when someone sneaks back stage to endlessly express a problem they had with one of your advice columns they recently read! WA : : With a Masters of Divinity, Reverend Trinity hosted “Spiritually Speaking,” a weekly radio drama performed globally, and is now minister of sponsor, WIG: Wild Inspirational Gatherings, wigministries. org, Gay Spirituality for the Next Generation! Learn more at telltrinity.com. Send emails to: trinity@ telltrinity.com.

space starting at $22: call qnotes for details 704.531.9988

Oct. 4-17, 2019

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events October 10 Dementia Education Workshop

October 4-5 Manhattan Short Film Festival

The ArtsCenter 300-G E. Main St., Carrboro Times Vary Help be the judge in the Manhattan Short Film Festival. This event showcases 10 finalists across the country, representing the best in short films. Tickets are $10 and are available online. artscenterlive.org.

October 5 Active Aging Expo

Myers Park Baptist Church Heaton Hall 1900 Queens Rd., Charlotte 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Charlotte LGBTQ Elders is hosting thir first Annual Active Aging Expo.

This Expo will include workshops on financial planning, social security and Medicare benefits and adapting to an environment as one gets older.

They will also have guest speakers and free refreshment throughout the day. Free admission, registration and social from 8:30 a.m.-9 a.m. charlottelgbtqelders.org.

October 5 Fall Achievement Benefit

CAM Raleigh 409 W. Martin St., Raleigh 7:30 p.m.

The LGBT Center of Raleigh’s board will honor their recipients during the Fall Achievement Benefit. Tickets are $125 and are available online. Other ticket options are: scholarship/$50, sponsor/$125 and couch/$75. bit.ly/2NLEdfW. lgbtcenterofraleigh.org.

Union County Public Library 316 E. Windsor St., Monroe 10 a.m.

Join the Alzheimer’s Association – Western Carolina Chapter and the Union County Public Library for a dementia-related workshop.

“Healthy Living for Your Brain and Body: Tips from the Latest Research” will provide tips on how to keep brains healthy as one ages and possibly delay the onset of cognitive decline. The workshop is free and open to the general public. Registration is available online or call 800-272-3900. tinyurl.com/Oct10Monroe. alz.org/northcarolina.

October 11-12 ‘In Love with the Arrow Collar Man’ Play

Reynolda House Museum of American Art 2250 Reynolda Rd., Winston-Salem 7 p.m., Oct. 11 2 p.m., Oct. 12 A drama about pioneering 20thcentury artist and illustrator J.E. Leyendecker and his lover-muse. Tickets are $20 and are available online. reynoldahouse.org.

October 11 Guilford Green Foundation and LGBTQ Center Film Series

The New Theatre at Well Spring 4100 Well Spring Dr., Greensboro 6-9:30 p.m.

A screening of “To a More Perfect Union: United States vs Windsor Film,” celebrating the historic event of the same-sex marriage ban in North Carolina, followed by a panel discussion. Hors d’oeuvres will be served and cash bar will be available. Free admission. guilfordgreenfoundation.org.

October 12-13 Marsha Stevens-Pino in Concert MCC Sacred Journey

October 18: Melanie Martinez – The K-12 Tour Melanie Martinez bringing her sophomore album to life with a spin on school life. Tickets start at $90 and are available online. The Fillmore Charlotte, AvidXchange Music Factory, 820 Hamilton St., Charlotte.

8 p.m. fillmorenc.com.

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October-November 2019 Submit your events: editor@goqnotes.com

1735 5th Ave. W., Hendersonville October 12, 7 p.m.

October 13, 5:30 p.m.

Singer, songwriter Marsha Stevens-Pino and wife will appear in concert with music about their uplifting faith journeys.

Free admission. mccsacredjourney.org.

October 12 Hola Charlotte Fest

Uptown Charlotte South Tryon to 4th St., Charlotte 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Help celebrate Latin culture by joining this group at their 8th annal Hola Festival featuring authentic Latin-American foods, beverage and music. holacharottefestival.com.

October 12 RESCHEDULED Pride in Business Expo & Career Fair

Camp Northend 1824 Statesville Ave., Charlotte.

2 p.m.

The Charlotte LGBT Chamber of Commerce welcomes participants to their Pride in Business Expo & Career Fair. Vendors will be on hand to showcase their businesses and speakers will share their expertise with event participants during five breakout sessions. There will also be an LGBT Healthcare Summit with modules sponsored by Novant. clgbtcc.org.

October 18 7th Annual Carolina Conference on Queer Youth: ‘Intersectionality: The Starting Point’

University of North Carolina at Charlotte Student Center 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

The conference will provide attendees who work with LGBTQ youth an overview for working with this population including topics regarding healthcare, ethics, school systems and hearing perspectives directly from LGBTQ youth. The conference brings together educators, support staff, counselors, therapists, helping professionals, individuals in higher education, community members, and undergraduate and graduate students from across North Carolina to discuss topics supporting LGBTQ youth in the region. It is presented by Time Out Youth Center, UNC Charlotte’s Office of Identity, Equity, and Engagement and Equality North Carolina. CEUs are available for professionals which one can request on their registration form. A light breakfast and lunch will be provided for all attendees who register. Parking is available in the UNC Charlotte Student Union parking deck for $15 for the day. Onsite registration runs from 7:30-8 a.m. and is open to K-12 educators and support staff, counselors, therapists,

October 6: Reel Out Charlotte — Movies at the Museum

LGBTQ short films that weren’t shown at the spring show. Free admission. Candy and popcorn available for purchase. Mint Museum, 2730 Randolph Rd., Charlotte. 6 p.m.-8 p.m. charlottepride.org. individuals in higher education, community members and undergraduate and graduate students. timeoutyouth.org/CCQY.

October 19 AIDS Walk and 5k run

NC Museum of Art 2110 Blue Ridge Rd., Raleigh 9 a.m.

The AIDS and 5k run will take place at the North Carolina Museum of Art. Fun for the whole family, with music, food and friends. Register early. aidswalkand5krun.com.

October 19 Pride WS Festival & Parade

Art District Trade St. N.W., Winston -Salem 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m.

Food trucks, musical guests, LGBTQ vendors and a parade.

Celebrate diversity, love and equal rights for all. pridews.org.

October 26 Midwood Fall Crawl

Midwood Park 21 Wilhelmina Ave., Charlotte 12-7 p.m.

Queen City Makers pairs up with the Midwood Fall Crawl for a neighborhood event. Local beer, vendors and various food trucks.

Live music and free admission. plazamidwood.org.

October 12 AFFA LGBTQ Health Expo

Arthur Christopher Community Center 265 Fishburne St., Charleston 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

LGBTQ health expo will connect members of the community with LGBTQ competent health care providers. Visit Facebook at bit.ly/2nQVZn4 for more information. affa-sc.org.

October 26 2019 Queen City OktoberFest

The Carole Hoefener Center 615 6th St., Charlotte l-5 p.m.

The third annual Queen City OktoberFest arts and crafts festival includes Halloween bake sale, face painting, pie eating contest, a gypsies dance crew and more. This event is part of a “Trick or Treat Safety Campaign.” bit.ly/2nRpd5h.

October 29-November 3 ‘Les Miserables’

Ovens Auditorium 2700 E. Independence Blvd., Charlotte 8 p.m.

‘Les Miserables’ tells the story of love, passion, sacrifice and redemption. Songs like “I Dreamed A Dream” and “On My Own,” have made this musical one for the history books. Tickets start at $25 and are available online. blumenthalarts.org.

October 5-November 24 The Carolina Renaissance Festival

16445 Poplar Tent Rd., Huntersville l0 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

Jousting tournament, camel rides, and turkey legs are just a part of this annual medieval festival. This year even features mermaids.

Open Saturdays and Sundays. renfestinfo.com.

November 6 Elton John: Farewell Yellow Brick Road

Spectrum Center 333 E Trade St., Charlotte 8 p.m.

Musical legend Elton John brings his farewell tour to the Spectrum Center. Public ticket sales begin on October 5, 2018 at 10 a.m. Tickets start at $59.50 and are available online. bit.ly/2PdQrQK.

life

REGULAR EVENTS Charlotte Latin Pride

Spanish-language support nights, second and fourth Tuesday of each month, 7 p.m., Charlotte Pride offices at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 1900 The Plaza, Charlotte. info: charlottepride.org/latin/

PFLAG Charlotte

Support meetings, second Monday of each month, 6:30-8 p.m., Time Out Youth Center, 3800 Monroe Rd., Charlotte. info: pflagcharlotte.org

Prime Timers

Monthly meeting including dinner, speaker, games and more for gay men ages 21 and up, 5-7 p.m., Park Road Baptist Church Fellowship Hall, 3900 Park Rd., Charlotte. info: primetimersww.com/charlotte/

Trans Youth Group

Weekly discussion groups for transgender youth ages 13-20 each Thursday, 4:30-6 p.m., 3800 Monroe Rd., Charlotte. info: timeoutyouth.org

Transcend Charlotte

Support groups for partners, friends and family of transgender and gender non-conforming adults ages 18 and older, second and fourth Sundays of each month, 6-7 p.m., Time Out Youth Center, 3800 Monroe Rd., Charlotte. info: transcendcharlotte.org

Youth Drop-In Space

Drop-in space Monday-Friday, 3-6:30 p.m., 3800 Monroe Rd., Charlotte. info: timeoutyouth.org

Youth Discussion Group

Weekly discussion groups for LGBTQ youth ages 13-20 each Wednesday, 6:308:30 p.m., 3800 Monroe Rd., Charlotte. info: timeoutyouth.org

Youth of Color Group

Weekly discussion groups for LGBTQ and ally people of color each Thursday, 7-8:30 p.m., 3800 Monroe Rd., Charlotte. info: timeoutyouth.org

UPDATES/ADDITIONS?

Do you have a regular and reoccurring community event you’d like listed? A listing to update? Email us at editor@ goqnotes.com.

Our People: Natalie Watson Center Volunteer, Community Leader

H

BY Mykah Buff | Guest Contributor

aving served as a volunteer coordinator for over two years, Natalie Watson is this year’s Community Impact Award recipient for the LGBTQ Center of Raleigh. Watson is on the Board of the LGBTQ Center of Durham and also works with QORDS (Queer Oriented Radical Days of Summer), a summer camp for LGBTQ youth where they learn about issues in the community while having fun.

The LGBT Center of Raleigh, says Natalie Watson, is a vital part of the community.

“For all they have done over many years, we honor them this year with the Community Impact Award,” the LGBT Center of Raleigh says.

With all the work Watson has done and is doing in the community, qnotes thought it was time to have a proper introduction and to congratulate them on their recent acknowledgment. qnotes got to speak with Natalie about their volunteer work, and also got a chance to get to know a little bit about them.

Tell us a little bit about your current professional life. What’s your position and what all does it entail?

I am the operations manager at the LGBT Center of Raleigh. As the operations manager, I am in charge of running the day-to-day operations of the center. This includes facility management, managing our volunteers, overall all office management and assisting with development and accounting when needed.

Tell us a little bit about your life outside of work. What’s your home life like?

Outside of work, I am involved in other non-profits specifically the LGBTQ Center of Durham and QORDS (Queer Oriented Radical Days of Summer). I am also a drag king and a member of the House of Coxx located in Durham, N.C. When I am not busy with other non-profits or performing, I like to relax at home and build Lego sets.

Where did you grow up, and how long have you lived in North Carolina?

I grew up in Durham, N.C. and I have been living in North Carolina for 25 years.

What’s your favorite color?

Blue.

What are some of your favorite areas to travel or vacation?

I had the chance to visit the area around Sarasota, Fla. recently and loved it. The weather was so nice and the water was very warm.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grow up?

When I was a kid, there were three things I wanted to be. Either a professional basketball player, a chemist or a lawyer.

Tell us a little about your gender identity. Being an individual who prefers the gender-neutral pronoun, “they,” how do you identify and what has your experience been like since that journey began?

I am a non-binary trans masc. For me, this means that I am neither male nor female, but Natalie. It has been an interesting journey.

My friends and my partner picked up on my pronouns real quick. My family knows, and we have had great conversations about gender and what my identity means to me.

My parents are really supportive.

Do you have any children or foresee having any in the future?

I do not have any children, but I do foresee having children.

What do you like to do for fun or leisure?

I love hanging out with friends, reading books, watching movies and spending time with my partner. I also enjoy spending time with my parents and their dogs as well.

What motivated you to get involved with volunteering?

I started volunteering to get out of the house, socialize and meet people. I did not have a community at that time and wanted to step outside of my comfort zone so I could help people and make friends.

If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

I would want the ability to fly.

What’s your favorite cuisine?

Any Latin American or Asian cuisine.

Are you a pleasure reader? If so, who are some of your favorite authors?

I am a pleasure reader. My favorite authors include David Baldacci, Jacqueline Woodson and Becky Chambers.

What’s your all-time favorite movie?

“Lake Placid.”

Who are some individuals you look up to as role models, and why?

I look up to my Dad a lot. He has worked hard all of his life and has always supported his family. He is caring, loving and very supportive. He has a very hard work ethic and is always willing to take the time out to help someone.

What are some sports or outdoor activities you enjoy?

I love basketball. I also enjoy football and soccer.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Somewhere that was 60 to 85 degrees all year long.

What kind of music do you like to listen to?

I listen to all kinds of music. I really enjoy old school R&B from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. I also love classic rock and soft rock from the 70s .

Do you have any favorite artists or singers?

My favorite artists include Sam Smith, Emeli Sande and Boyz II Men. What’s your favorite sports team?

Duke University sports and the Dallas Cowboys. : :

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