making language match identity pronouns matter — to hir, and to them
p 24
bureau of popular culture elenore toczynski draws some sorry conclusions about television p 22
barney’s really frank maine’s gbltq community & you | summer 2012
the longtime gay-activist icon on rights, congress, and the future p 4
hello bunny! Checking in with Ms. Wonderland _by ryan mack | p 14
Opening doors. Opening doors.
LeeAuto Malls LeeAuto Malls leeauto.com leeauto.com
out in maine | Summer 2012 3
Summer 2012 | voL ii, no 2
04 a frank aSSeSSment _BY tonY giampetruzzi
08 chatting with the b-52s _BY tonY giampetruzzi
14 a former Drag queen _BY rYan mack
18 the ProDigaL joe 20 oh carSon, you DeviL! _BY tonY giampetruzzi
22 why iSn’t tv better? _BY elenore toczYnski
22 the new PronounS _BY lisa Bunker
on ti a n ti s e D n o s a e S r u Yo u r F o CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR 2012 JUNE 4 - 10 ~ Annual Restaurant Week JULY 4 ~ Independence Day Fireworks AUGUST 23 ~ 39th Annual Sidewalk Art Show & Sale Rain Date: August 24
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4 Summer 2012 | out in maine
a frank assessment barney makes his departure statement _by to n y g i a m p e tru zzi
In a recent interview with the New York Times, Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank was asked why he supports the breaking ground decriminalization of marijuana when even he sinCe 1980 these doesn’t smoke. He replied, quite snarkily, “Do photos are from barney Frank’s first you think I’ve ever had an abortion? I don’t play run for Congress. poker on the Internet, either.” That response pretty much sums up his approach to social politics, why he votes the way he does, and why he’s often called upon by cable network news as a curmudgeon pundit. To be sure, he is a stalwart supporter of the little guy. And of all the underdogs whom Frank has championed, perhaps the most notable are members of the gay community of which he has been an out member for 25 years this month. Frank’s trademark bellicosity is equally matched by his wit and his will to make a difference for the GLBT community — from funding for AIDS when it wasn’t at all in vogue, to advocating for the overturn of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” to, most recently, gay marriage and trans inclusion. Frank won’t be running for Congress this year. Last November he announced his retirement and, in January, that he will marry his partner of five years, Jim Ready, a Maine native. Rumors had been circulating for months that Frank had had enough of DC, but he denied that he’d be stepping down until it became clear to him that redistricting in Massachusetts would require him to reach more than a quarter-million new jilted ex set out to bring down voters — and, even if he did run for Frank by shopping torrid details a 17th term, it would be his last. of their affair to a high-bidding That in itself, he says, would be news outlet. Frank had no choice unfair to his new constituency. but to publicly come out, but He will, however, marry he emerged from the would-be Ready prior to bowing out (a wedscandal and an investigation ding planned for this summer in by the House Ethics Committee Barney Frank Massachusetts), making him the (ironically led by future publicwill speak to the Maine first Congressman to be married bathroom foot-tapper, former US people’s to someone of the same sex. It’s Senator Larry Craig) with a slap alliance at its a bit of a thumb of the nose to a on the wrist; he went on to a annual dinner Washington that hasn’t always remarkable win with 66 percent on saturday, made life a cake walk for the lawof the vote at the polls in 1989. June 9, at maker. Frank was a rising star in After 20 years of ups that woodFords the Democratic Party soon after his outweighed the downs, Frank, congregational first election in 1980, but, within like many of his colleagues, was church in six years, his career seemed imperbeaten up at the polls in 2010, portland. iled. The flap involved Frank’s only winning with a slim-forrelationship with a live-in gay him margin of 11 percent. The prostitute. After he kicked out the tabloids once again homed in on notorious Steve Gobie in 1987, the his personal life, taking issue left p hoto: C an daCe freel and, photos on right: pamel a priCe
F
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with Ready’s manners. It was reported that Ready did have a penchant for both pot and for speaking way out of turn about Frank’s then-opponent, Republican Sean Bialet. According to Frank, the publicity around the 2010 election was a positive sign of the times. “Jim became a very large part of the last campaign, and there was controversy. In some ways that was painful for us, but (the exposure) was important because it’s about time that we are presented as a couple, as real live people who love each other,” Frank explained to Boston Spirit Magazine in January 2011, when he also repudiated the rumors that he would soon be retiring. “Prejudice is ignorance, and reality is the best antidote to prejudice.” Now 72 years old, Frank has said he is ready to retire and settle down. A part-time resident of Maine, and a ubiquitous presence at Democratic as well as gay-rights events, he’ll be the keynote speaker at Maine People’s Alliance Rising Tide Awards Dinner on Saturday, June 9, at Woodford Continued on p 4
6 Summer 2012 | out in maine
Continued from p 4
Congregational Church in Portland. Out In Maine spoke to him about politics, bigotry, and his future. Less than a year after you toLd a Boston GLBt maGazine that you had no intention of retirinG, you announced that, in fact, you wouLd not run for another term in conGress. was retirinG somethinG that was under consideration and you simpLy weren’t ready to taLk aBout it, or did you reaLLy think you’d take on another term? At that time, I intended to run again (in 2012). I actually had hoped to retire in 2010, but my initial reaction to the Republican take-over in 2010 was that I had to run again, but only for one more term. What changed my mind last November was Congressional redistricting in Massachusetts. It would have put me in a very difficult position. I would need to campaign among 325,000 new constituents and ask them to vote for me, but also tell them that, by the way, I’m only going to be there representing you for two years. I don’t think two years is enough time to get to know a district or be able to really produce on their issues. So, yes, I changed my mind and decided to retire (in 2012). It was because of the redistricting and the impossibility in my mind of going to people and asking them to vote for me for only two years of service.
do you share the sentiment of maine’s us senator oLympia snowe, who says she is retirinG Because of what she BeLieves is GridLock in conGress and what she perceives as the inaBiLity to Get anythinG done? Sure. It’s really hard trying to be a sensical person in a really non-sensical political grouping. I think the Republican Party has moved so far to the right that she, as a moderate Republican, had a special problem that I don’t have. Yes, there is gridlock, but it’s caused quite clearly by this right-wing Republican takeover, the takeover by these people who clearly don’t know the role of government. I frankly felt it was a challenge, and, again, I decided to run again in 2010 because I wanted to confront the challenge. But, the redistricting issue will make that too difficult in2012. when you came out as a Gay man the process seemed to Be rather painLess for you and anythinG But damaGinG to your career in washinGton. It did turn out to be easy. I was obviously worried about the outcome and the consequences, but it all turned out to be almost entirely positive.
‘i have to work with people who i disagree with on issues, But there are a couple people who are Just Flat-out Bigoted.’
how do you think your coLLeaGues wouLd react now — there are some who wouLd contend that some memBers of conGress are at war not just with Gays, But with women, chiLdren, you name it. wouLd you feeL more trepidation if you were cominG out to your coLLeaGues in this day and aGe? Oh, much less because society as a whole is so much better on these issues. Prejudice in society, our society, has diminished substantially, and I wouldn’t have a minute of concern about my political career like I did then. I thought then that coming out would make it very difficult for me to have a leadership role in Congress, and look what happened. It would be much easier today. To your point, though, Congress is much worse, but society is much better. what is it reaLLy Like workinG with some of the most vociferousLy anti-Gay peopLe in conGress — can you even Get aLonG with them? I will say this: they seem to take the view that I should just be a friend to them and ignore their bigotry. I have to work with people who I disagree with on issues, but there are a couple people who are just flat-out bigoted, and they say to me, “please don’t take it personally,” but I tell them that I have to take it personally. I have told them that I have no interest in their friendship because I think they are hateful bigots. so, Barney frank, the torch Bearer in conGress for the LGBt community, is LeavinG. wiLL you have a successor? There are some great people. Representative David Cicilline (D-Rhode Island) of course will be supportive. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) in the Senate and US Representative Continued on p 8
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Continued from p 6
Jared Polis (D-Colorado) are doing great. Christine Quinn (out speaker of the New York City Council) also has a great platform and personal style that I think will be very appealing as she moves forward. what are your thouGhts on the race to repLace snowe in the u.s. senate in novemBer? My sense is that Angus King will probably win. I would have loved to see Chellie Pingree win. In this case, Chellie was being very responsible in avoiding another threecar crash with a bad result. I would prefer Chellie, but realistically, King might have the best chance to win. you spoke at the equaLity maine Banquet in march aBout your support of LeGaLized same-sex marriaGe — do you think it’s GoinG to happen this time in maine? I’m optimistic. Opinions have evolved over the past couple years, Obama will turn people out, and I think the propaganda of the opposition has gotten more exposed. how LonG do you think it wiLL Be Before the defense of marriaGe act (doma) is overturned? I think within a year the Supreme Court will strike down DOMA. I think the best lawyer by far working on our side is Mary Bonauto (an attorney at Bostonbased Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders and a Portland resident). mary has Been at the center of just aBout every
pro-Gay LeGaL victory in new enGLand — do you think the LGBt community wouLd Be anywhere near where they are now without her in terms of equaL riGhts and protections? Probably not. She’s one of the most thoughtful and effective people out there. She has the perfect mixture of passion on the issues, substantive expertise as a lawyer, and great political judgment. you served as a conGressman from massachusetts, durinG mitt romney’s faiLed run for us senate aGainst incumBent ted kennedy in 1994, and then aGain durinG his terms as Governor. he is accused of fLip-fLoppinG on the issues — He’s despicable. This man who played us in 1994 saying he was going to be better for the gay community than Ted Kennedy and then his demagoguery of making despicable statements that he stood up and kept Massachusetts from being the Las Vegas for gay marriage, meaning marriages that were not real marriages. It’s just despicable the way this man is prepared to repudiate any notion of fairness because
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he thinks it will get him the nomination. you’re cominG to maine to speak at the mpa risinG tide awards dinner — maine is aBuzz this year with the dems tryinG to win Back Both chamBers in the state house; marriaGe is on the BaLLot — what’s your messaGe to mainers as they Gear up for novemBer? Get our people out to vote. Look, in 2010, people were blaming the Democrats for things that we inherited from the Republicans. I think the experience people have had with the extreme right wing of the Republican Party since is a very helpful sign. what are your pLans for after your retirement? I plan to lecture, to write a book, hopefully do some TV commentary, and I’ll be splitting my time between Ogunquit and the greater Boston area. you’LL Be GettinG married to your partner, jim, this summer. did your announcement to retire coLor the timinG of your weddinG? No, we’d be getting married anyway. But, you’ve said that you want to Get married Before you retire so that your coLLeaGues wiLL Be forced to interact with a same-sex married coupLe. Right. I think that’s very important. If I were running again, we might have gotten married next year instead of this year, but I wanted to get married before I left Congress. I mean, in general there’s no material benefit to getting married thanks to the Defense of Marriage Act, but it makes an important statement. People make all these crazy predictions about same-sex marriage, and then nothing happens. I want to be able to say, “Look, I was married to Jim for five months, and we haven’t created a single divorce.” ^
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their music is the bomb after 35 years, the b-52s are still on tour _by to n y g i a m p e tru zzi
It’s not difficult to admit now, but if I had come clean with my friends when I was a senior in high school in 1990, my social life would have been destroyed: my best friend, a guy, and I had a penchant for making up dances to B-52s songs. Neither of us were out, but the album Cosmic Thing had just been released and the music on that disk was aural crack for closet cases like us. We’d already been dabbling with the cult of the Bs up to that point: “Rock Lobster,” “My Own Private Idaho,” “Song for a Future Generation,” “Mesopotamia.” But Cosmic Thing’s “Love Shack,” “Roam,” and “Deadbeat Club,” those songs spoke to us, and they were the clinchers: within a couple years and several B-52s shows later, my friend and I were both out — no one was surprised. Today, I’m not unlike many of my generation who point to what has been coined “the world’s greatest party band,” as providing the inspiration to simply “come out.” In fact, people have actually written books about the impact the B-52s have had on dealing with their demons around sexuality or being an outsider. “It wasn’t anything we planned. We never thought, ‘oh, how can we reach out to these other outsiders, these little monsters.’ It’s just the way we were,” explains Kate Pierson, one of three out members of the band. “Even when we were doing Cosmic Thing, we weren’t aware of the impact we were having. Nowadays, the calling card of almost every band is ‘just be yourself.’ So, to have had that impact 20, 30 years ago, it’s so gratifying. It justifies our whole thing, our existence.” This year marks the 35th anniversary of the B-52s, and, like just about every other year since they formed, they have been touring relentlessly. While there is some scuttlebutt that they may make it to Maine prior to Election Day, the only confirmation for a regional show is their date in Boston on July 11 — that’s OK. Fans generally travel en masse and long distances to enjoy what they think might be the last show the B-52s will play in their area. The other band members, Fred Schneider, Cindy Wilson, and Keith Strickland (all but Wilson are openly gay), are in their late 50s and early 60s, and Pierson, the undisputed den mother of the group, is now 63. But here’s a tip: there are really no signs that the band are wrapping things up due to malaise or exhaustion, in fact, the busier they are, the better. Take Pierson, for example. In her off time from her main projects with the Bs, she has written a 14-song solo album, which she hopes to begin recording this fall; she has been collaborating on a number of songs with Australian pop sensation Sia; she and
F
While there’s some scuttlebutt that they’ll make it to maine this year, the b-52s are definitely playing boston on july 11.
her partner of 10 years, Monica Coleman, have been running Kate’s Lazy Meadow, an Atomic Age-style motel near their home in the Catskills (you must get a reservation there!); and next month, the pair will open Kate’s Lazy Desert, a vintage Airstream park near Joshua Tree in California. The latter, she claims, was the brainchild of Coleman . . . but the pair also had a little help from some very influential designer friends and the powers that be. “So, I was out in LA last winter to write a solo record with Sia, and Monica, in usual fashion, didn’t have enough to do. It turns out our friends Phillip Maberry and Scott Walker, who originally did the design for Lazy Meadows and who owned the original building we used in the ‘Love Shack’ video, had moved out to the desert,” explains Pierson. “We had some Airstreams at Lazy Meadows, but floods from the creek had damaged them two years in a row. They had Airstreams, we had Airstreams, and they said, ‘We’d really love to help run this place if you ever thought you’d want to move the trailers out here.’” Continued on p 10
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Continued from p 10
Of course, the stars aligned when additional land they needed for the project went on the market within days of the rapidly hatching plan. “It was fate. We had to do it! It just screamed Kate’s Lazy Desert!” Pierson and the rest of the Bs have always had a knack for being in the right place at the right time — right down to the night they were formed in October 1976 following drinks at an Athens, Georgia, Chinese restaurant.They played their first gig at a friend’s house on Valentine’s Day 1977. Naming themselves after the Southern slang for exaggerated bouffant hairdos, the newly-christened B-52s began weekend road trips to New York City for gigs at CBGBs and a handful of other venues. Before long, their wacky aesthetic and genre-defying songs were the talk of the post-punk underground. A
record deal soon followed and their self-titled debut disc in 1979 sold more than 500,000 copies on the strength of their first singles, the garage-rock party classic “Rock Lobster,” and “52 Girls.” The band began to attract fans far beyond the punk clubs of the Lower East Side, and went on to record four more albums between 1980 and 1986. “We always appealed to people outside the mainstream,” says Pierson. “When we first started, we were marginalized. We’d go down to this bar in Athens, and people would throw things at us because we were dressed so crazy. But we loved it because we were provocateurs and punks. We were outsiders. We were different.” For the most part, they stayed that way. And, while none of them talked too much about their sexuality, the band was shaken to its core in the mid-’80s when the then-fifth member of the band
Talking To The voice
The sound of The B-52s is fred schneider While Kate Pierson may be the
fultimate shiny happy person
of the B-52s, Fred Schneider, 60, is, well, the voice. There are very few others in American music who have such a distinct sound, and who use it in such a distinct way — in Schneider’s case, it’s called sprechgesang (look it up), which he reportedly developed from reciting poetry over guitars. Like Pierson, the guy is a workaholic; in addition to the Bs, he’s recording with Ursula 1000, the Superions, and others. Unlike Pierson, he hates to travel. On the event of his 35 years with the B-52s, he took on touring, Mitt Romney, and the highlight of his career in an interview with Out in Maine. You’re 35 Years into this gig. What still makes it fun? The travel part is horrible, but being at the shows is what it’s all about. After doing it for 35 years, it’s just my life. these daYs, You do mostlY large venues, and You have done stadiums. do You miss the daYs of roading up to CBgBs and max’s kansas CitY Where it Was just hot and
sWeatY and a Couple hundred people getting lost for a feW hours? God no, I did that long enough. We still do play small clubs, and that is a lot of fun. You’ve toured With so manY Cool Bands in reCent Years — the go gos, human league, the proClaimers — and this summer You’re on the road With squeeze. a good matCh? We really like their music, so it’s a great double bill. What is the highlight of Your Career? Probably the success of “Love Shack” and proving that, well, I never felt like we had to prove anything, but showing that we were more than whatever Rolling Stone was calling us way back in the day. You know, those dire predictions of where we’d be in five years. are You okaY With still CarrYing the “World’s greatest partY Band” Baton? Well, we could be. The Rolling Stones probably really are, but they are in a different league. I think we astonish people because we do still kick ass. What’s Your favorite song in the B-52s Catalog? I don’t have one.
And it changes. do You ever get a request that makes You Cringe? No comment. oh Come on. Probably one that I don’t sing on, but, no comment. You’ve alWaYs got something going on Besides the Bs — What are You Working on noW? I’m doing work with the Superions. We’ll have an album coming out soon, except no one buys albums anymore except country music people and jazz people and people who like Katy Perry and stuff like that. I’m also working with Ursula 1000. You’ve Been verY politiCal going WaY BaCk — What are Your thoughts on having the first progaY marriage president? Well, I think he’s sincere. and romneY — What’s his deal? Well, if you just wanted a composite of the typically coiffed candidate — helmet hair, moderately good looking, blah, blah, blah, but nothing inside or up there — vote for him. He’s an Etch-a-Sketch, except an Etch-a-Sketch is a lot more fun. Hopefully I won’t be on his planet when I die.
_TG
(and the original driving force behind the group), Ricky Wilson (Cindy’s brother), died from complications of AIDS during the recording of their fifth studio album Bouncing Off the Satellites. “He really had a vision,” said Cindy Wilson. “He was one of the strongest elements of the B-52s from the beginning.” It was at about this time, too, that Pierson laid down some Maine roots: for a while, she dated and lived with Tim Rollins, a well-known artist and native of Pittsfield, and a graduate of the University of Maine in Augusta. Through Rollins, Pierson met Julie Ault, another artist, Mainer, and UMaine student. Pierson says she and Ault have remained good friends. (According to deBartmag.de, Rollins and Pierson were briefly married.) Wilson’s death led to a hiatus for the band, but their return was triumphant. The opus, 1989’s Cosmic Thing, catapulted them to true mainstream stardom while, ironically, their songs and videos started to touch upon sexual ambiguity and, albeit quirkily, politics. “Love Shack” became their first top-40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, ultimately reaching #3 in November 1989 and was matched in March 1990 when their follow-up single, “Roam,” also reached #3. The next album, Good Stuff (sans Cindy), received a tepid response. To the dismay of fans, it would be 16 years before the band’s next full album of original music would be released. Funplex hit the shelves, debuting at #11 on the Billboard charts in 2008, prompting Newsweek to declare, “Like a sonic shot of vitamin B12, the dance floor beats, fuzzy guitar riffs and happy, shiny lyrics keep the energy going.” By then, the band had been playing 50 to 60 shows a year, and had solidified their reputation as both rock legends and as gay icons. “Disbelief,” says Pierson of hitting the 35-year mark in February with a new live album and DVD, specials on PBS, and yet another tour. “It’s just gone by so fast. Time flies when you’re having fun I guess, but it has been a whirlwind, especially when I look back at the highs and lows. It just doesn’t really seem to have been that long.” What strikes Pierson as most gratifying is the loyalty and diversity of the Bs’ fans. “What’s really invigorating is that the younger people are coming out, and the crowds are still so much fun,” she says, crediting YouTube with creating newfound visibility of the band’s greatest hits. And, of all those hits, she does have a favorite. “‘Rock Lobster.’ It’s always at the end of the show and when Fred says ‘let’s rock’ I just dance like crazy and make those fish sounds, and it’s everyone’s final release. It’s not hard to do, it’s just an amazing finale,” says Pierson. “I do think our legacy will be that people were able to come out, let their inhibitions down, dance, and party and really be free.” ^
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14 Summer 2012 | out in maine
bunny wants a wonderland keeping drag-queen activism alive — and kicking _by ry an m aC k
The drag queen enters wearing a white wedding dress of junior-prom quality and style. With messy wig-hair piled high, and tattooed arms laid bare, Bunny Wonderland takes center stage. She has an Amy Winehouse look atypical for drag queens, but her song is as sweet as the look is gritty — “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid. Bunny lip-syncs to Ariel’s famous ballad of longing until the line, “What’s that word again?” Suddenly, the track switches to the song “Chapel of Love.” The word again? Marriage. The music goes back to Ariel, who sings again for a bit before being interrupted by the voice of a homophobic Anita Bryant type telling some man, “You hate God and you hate God’s judgments.” Bunny stands with her hip out and arms crossed, unamused, inspecting her nails. The clip ends and Ariel picks up where she left off by singing, “Ready to Stand” — as in “ready to stand up against intolerance.” Ariel continues singing about being “Part of Your World.” By this point, it’s clear Bunny has hijacked Ariel’s song and put it in a different context. The mermaid longs for the legged world of land, the drag queen longs for a world where marriage is legal for same-sex couples. This performance includes three of Bunny’s signature elements: inventive audio, cultural salience, and political punch. Bunny Wonderland’s creator, 25-yearold Knate Higgins, insists on performances that are more than just costumed silliness set to popular dance music, a style based in his Maine roots, but also in the history of the drag queen’s role in society. The music cuts to a clip of Carrie Prejean giving her losing answer in the 2009 Miss USA contest, “I think marriage should be between a man and a woman, no offense to anyone out there, but that’s how I was raised.” Bunny fiddles with her hair and mocks Prejean until the singing picks up at “Something’s starting right now” — as if picking a fight with Prejean. Emphasizing the apparent inevitability of marriage for same-sex couples, the song ends with the line, “Watch and you’ll see, someday I’ll be part of your world.” On the final note, Bunny runs forward aggressively shoving two middle fingers into the air. The double middle fingers say “Screw you for denying me inclusion into your world” but also, “Screw your world, period. I’m probably having more fun anyway.” While I’ve seen another Maine drag queen, Mimi Imfurst of RuPaul’s Drag Race fame, engage in similar shenanigans with audio edits, it has become a regular part of Bunny Wonderland’s schtick. She uses one song as a base and splices in other audio edits — thematically related songs, famous film dialogue,
F
pop-culture memes. In an age of amateur drag when performers often have trouble lip-syncing to songs everybody else knows word-for-word, Bunny’s mouth can flawlessly match rapidly spoken dialogue. In a different performance from Bunny Wonderland, she takes Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” and cuts in bits from the opening of Scream, when Drew Barrymore answers threatening telephone calls. Bunny appears to be speaking the words herself. Bunny’s comically expressive eyes and make-up mock and mimic the delightful implausibility of that scene. The clever humor and rowdy edginess Higgins brings to his Bunny Wonderland character sets him apart from a typical drag queen. Tracing his history reveals how he came to create such a clearly defined drag persona. Higgins has been publicly donning women’s apparel since age 15, though in the
beginning it wasn’t characteristic drag. His mother used to own a movie theater and as a consequence, he’s a film buff with an affinity for horror, fantasy, and cult films. He discovered The Rocky Horror Picture Show as a young teen and began raving about it to his mother. “Have you heard of it?” he recalls asking her. “Of course! God, that show was always such a mess when we showed it,” she once replied. “What do you mean?” Higgins’s mother explained to him that during typical screenings of Rocky Horror, people dress up as the characters, shout obscenities at the screen, and throw rice and toilet paper around the theater. He thought this sounded utterly delightful and approached the now-closed Movies on Exchange to see if he could get them to host a screening. After Higgins took on responsibility for any potential damage to or garbage in the theater, the owner agreed to let him. To create a substantial showing in the days before Facebook, Higgins created anticipation by stapling fliers to every telephone pole in Portland. On the night of the screening, he put on make-up and hosiery and hosted the event as Dr. Frankenfurter. The show Continued on p 16
k-kinda busy Bunny Wonderland combines theatrics and entertertainment with cultural commentary and activism.
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played to a full house and Higgins hosted Rocky Horror screenings for the next five years. A year before those Rocky Horror screenings ended, Higgins wanted to do a fundraiser for Global Crossroads, a group doing AIDS awareness work in India. For the first time, he dressed in drag to host a show at the Purple Caterpillar, Portland’s hookah bar. His first drag act there got the attention of Southern Maine Pride and the organization asked him to be the Youth Ambassador for the 2006 pride events. They wanted him to be the princess of Southern Maine Pride. “I had to discover what it really meant to be a drag performer,” Higgins said. He bought his first wig, a few cute dresses, brushed up on some make-up tips, and gave his character the “Bunny Wonderland” name. Higgins delights in the strong women of cult and horror films and brings those elements to his drag performance. Characters like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz or Patricia Arquette’s character in A Nightmare on Elm Street exemplify his inspiration for Bunny: a woman who may look wide-eyed, scared, or vulnerable in the beginning but eventually reveals her nerve and determination under duress. The sweet, blonde Drew Barrymore character who ends up wielding a knife, for example. Or a version of the Little Mermaid who goes from a dumb girl who doesn’t know what a fork is to a bird-flipping feminist. He gets bored with unprepared drag queens who “do split kicks to a nine-minute-long Beyoncé remix.” He wants Bunny to have more purpose or intention than glamorous looks and dollar bills crammed into stuffed bras. “I want people to leave a show and find it thought-provoking or challenging.” His goal is to entertain with cleverness, provoke thought, and revel in obscure references to the niche and esoteric. While straight and gay audiences both enjoy Bunny’s gender shenanigans, Higgins often finds the most frustration with gay men’s response to his work. You can see Higgins’s visible agitation discussing GLBT community members who think drag queens give our community a bad name, and make us look like total norm-rejecting freaks. “They are clearly forgetting our history,” he says. Drag queens were a crucial part of the 1969 Stonewall riots — that seminal moment in LGBT activism. The starkest, most vivid cultural imagery of that breakthrough event is of drag queens using stiletto heels and broken beer bottles to fight back against batonwielding policemen. Nationwide Pride events are now held in June, honoring the anniversary of Stonewall. Even gay men have been heard saying, “There’s no straight Pride; why do we need to be proud of being gay?” They forget that pride is emphasized as an antidote to cultural shame around differences in gender expression and sexuality. In Rocky Horror and other drag work, Higgins likes to “create spaces where people can be kooky, bizarre, or expressive.” This helps him — and Bunny — “destroy gender barriers and binaries.” As Bunny Wonderland puts it, “This dress was made for a woman, but it fits me, so I’m going to wear it.” “I think people are afraid of men who can be really fierce women,” Higgins says. When he was living in Portland, he would be out in a gay bar, flirting. A guy would ask him what he did, and he’d say, “Oh, I teach at a pre-school and occasionally perform at
from the heart Knate and Bunny share a drive to effect social change.
Styxx as Bunny Wonderland.” Frequently, the flirting would come to a screeching halt. He has been told, “You’d be so much hotter if you just didn’t do that.” The uncomfortable subtext of a man’s averted gaze would feel to him like, “Why would you want to dress up as a woman?” — as if it would somehow indict that man’s sexuality to flirt with someone who performed in a dress. “The response I get from gay men often reveals their latent misogyny.” So, even when the act isn’t overtly about an issue like samesex marriage, Bunny is inherently political. Both Bunny and Higgins are staunch feminists. While the primary thrill comes from entertaining an audience by making them laugh, both personae work toward making the world welcoming and accepting people of any sexuality or gender expression, no matter how unusual. A political system that excludes people from institutions like the military or marriage based on their sexuality is abhorrent, for sure, but so is a culture — even a gay subculture — that rejects and marginalizes people for gender deviance. Drag queens are famous for using make-up and costume to exaggerate typically feminine features. The typical drag look combines the big hair and caked-on make-up of Dolly Parton with the glittery shimmer of a Jennifer Lopez video. Drag simultaneously salutes fabulous women and challenges the
‘i think people are afraid of men who can be really fierce women . . . the response i get from gay men often reveals latent misogyny.’
taboo of departing from appropriate gender roles. Drag is fascinated with make-up and dresses, but also satirizes a society that demands women extend every lash, pluck every stray brow, and cover their bodies with paints and perfumes. In an online video interview, Bunny and two other drag queens are asked what the hardest part about doing drag is. They answer in unison, “Shaving.” A few years ago Higgins left Portland, Maine for Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He left to take a teaching job there and now lives with his partner of four years. Eventually, he found his way back into paid theater performance for Seacoast Repertory Theater in Portsmouth where he recently starred in Rent — not in the drag role of Angel, but in the role of a morose, HIV+ straight guy, Roger. Higgins doesn’t just lipsync: he handles actual singing marvelously. The mixed bag of skills he picked up in performing drag have had professional advantages. By publicizing Rocky Horror shows, and creating turnout for his drag performances, Higgins learned about advertising, hype, and how to sell a show. Now he’s responsible for Seacoast’s marketing communications as well. This past spring, Bunny Wonderland made her debut appearance at Seacoast. Portland based groups Dirty Dishes Burlesque and Lady Luck Burlesque performed in a Portsmouth show that sold out weeks before it opened. The success of the show spawned an intermittently recurring series at Seacoast called “Red Light.” Regular shows will begin in August. Of course, Higgins has still found time to host and perform in drag shows in Portland these past few years. He’s hosted burlesque shows at SPACE Gallery, drag shows for USM, and this past November, he sang at Port City Music Hall’s “Clash of the Titans” as Boy George opposite Connor Tubbs’s George Michael. But it has been a while. Higgins finds himself turning down offers to do drag, in part because he’s having fun with something new that may be difficult to incorporate into his act — a fully grown mustache. ^
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18 Summer 2012 | out in maine
USM’s Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine presents the
2012 SampSon CatalySt for Change award to
Rita Kissen Through her teaching at USM and founding chapters of GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) and PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), Rita has changed the lives and vision of thousands of high school youth and teacher candidates.
for tiCketS to the dinner on oCtober 18th contact Susie Bock at 207-780-4269 or bocks@usm.maine.edu.
the prodigal joe bermudez returns to spin life It’s been three long years since Maine native Joe Bermudez has played a set in his home state, but it’s really no wonder. Whether he’s spinning live at international clubs or festivals, remixing for the biggest names in music (Britney, Rihanna, Ke$ha, and just about anyone else you know by first name alone), hanging with Lady Gaga or any other in a coterie of A-listers, Bermudez has amassed a worldwide fan base that doesn’t allow for too many trips home. So, it’s a special treat for Mainers (and for him, he claims) to spin LIFE at Maine Street in Ogunquit on Friday, June 16. We caught up with him to talk touring, namedropping, and pop culture. It’s been a whIle sInce you’ve played MaIne. anythIng new In your personal lIfe your fans should know about? There hasn’t been much of a personal life lately. It’s been all work, work, work. froM the looks of your tourIng schedule, you’re workIng as Much as ever — would you say you’re recessIonproof? I think when times are tough, people want to party even more. It’s an escape from reality, and even though the economy isn’t the best it’s ever been, the parties I’ve been doing have never been bigger speakIng of, what’s your favorIte gIg In recent MeMory? This year’s Ultra Music Festival in Miami. It was so amazing to be included in the lineup alongside some of the best DJs in the world like David Guetta, Kaskade, and Armin Van Buuren. Even Madonna showed up to party with the 160,000+ people dancing in the streets. That’s usually a pretty good sign of a successful event. for sure. that saId, so Much has changed In terMs of the sound of MusIc and wIth the Industry In general. assuMIng you have evolved, how would you descrIbe your sound now, and what Is It that people want to hear? I am constantly evolving. When you stop, that’s when you become irrelevant. My sound is bigger than ever now. Getting the chance to play massive festivals has really made me step my energy level up. Now that dance music is starting to become really popular in the States, people want to go crazy. I’m there to make sure that happens. you’re known for hobnobbIng wIth the stars, or you at least have a photog In tow whenever you happen to be In the vIcInIty of one — who have you Met or
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worked wIth recently who took your breath away? I’m not sure who has taken my breath away recently, but I do know who has taken my phone away recently — Carly Rae Jepsen decided to steal my iPhone yesterday and record a new outgoing voice mail message. Apparently, she thought I was due for a new one. dance MusIc artIsts are droppIng lIke flIes these days. were you shocked by whItney’s passIng? Not really. Everyone knew she had a problem, and everyone was rooting for her to get her life back on track. She never got the help she so desperately needed. you’ve been a huge supporter of lgbt rIghts — what were your thoughts on obaMa’s bIg announceMent thIs Month? I’m surprised it took as long as it did for a president to finally come out and say that. You don’t make history by playing it safe to avoid offending any potential voters. You make it by standing up for what’s right. hear, hear. ok — lIghtnIng round: The Voice or AmericAn idol? The Voice. As good as American Idol has been to me over the years (thank you Kelly Clarkson), I like that someone else has come out and changed the game. SmASh or Glee? Glee is a clear winner. I find it ironic that a show called Smash is anything but. I honestly didn’t think it was still on TV. grey goose or belvedere? Grey Goose. Even though I don’t drink alcohol, I like their commercials. I really like the fact that they recently teamed up with Swedish House Mafia for their greyhound campaign. boys or gIrls? Girls. As Lady Gaga once said, I was born this way. we had to ask. ^
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20 Summer 2012 | out in maine
oh carson, you devil! queer eye star returns to ogunquit playhouse _by to n y g i am p e tr u zzi
In the pantheon of reality television, the big-ice breaker for gay men, and the one that finally legitimized us as fashion know-it-alls, was Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. The so-called “Fab Five” stars of the show, who were, by most rights, experts in their individual fields of fashion, grooming, decorating, cooking, and culture, would descend on the home of an unwitting straight slob in each week’s episode, and magically recreate his look, habits, and general habitat — much to the delight of his wife or girlfriend. The show garnered great ratings, won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program in 2004, and spawned a soundtrack album, most likely to pimp the catchy theme song, “All Things (Just Keep Getting Better).” It’s probably been a while since you’ve danced the night away to that tune — the show was cancelled in 2007, and most of Queer Eye’s stars sailed into the reality-TV sunset of personal appearances, bit parts, or a former career. Not Carson Kressley. The undeniable star of Queer Eye for his biting wit and generally keen eye for what wardrobe most perfectly matched each week’s victim, he went on to another reality TV show, How to Look Good Naked, followed by Carson Nation on the Oprah Winfrey Network; he more recently parlayed a (not so successful) stint on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars into hosting a live version of the show at the Tropicana in Las Vegas. He’s also now a staple in Ogunquit, where, this summer, he plays the Devil, a/k/a Mr. Applegate, in the Ogunquit Playhouse production of Damn Yankees, running from July 25 to August 18. “I actually get to sing a song this time. I don’t think they know that I really don’t sing, but I am taking voice lessons for this one,” says Kressley, who was the titter of the town back in 2010 when he starred in the Playhouse’s The Drowsy Chaperone. “Look, if I can learn how to cha cha and do it in four days in front of 18 million people on live television, surely I can master one song!” Prior to Ogunquit, Kressley claims that just about all of his acting had been ad-lib: before Queer Eye, he spent nearly ten years at Ralph Lauren with stints in menswear and corporate advertising. And, for much of his life, he has been a decorated horse show exhibitor. When in Ogunquit, though, his saddle is his bike and he relishes the relative anonymity that comes with being in Maine. “Don’t tell anyone, but this is really a long vacation for me. After rehearsals and one show a night, it’s a fantastic vacation. I have my entire day free,
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In OgunquIt, Kressley relIshes the relatIve anOnymIty Of beIng In maIne. (OOps, sOrry, CarsOn!)
so I’m antiquing, taking my bicycle, going to the beach, and trying to wear as much gingham as possible. It becomes a real fantasyland for me,” he explains, adding that the fantasy is punctuated by the history of the Ogunquit Playhouse. Long before Kressley and the now-ubiquitous summer stocker Sally Struthers came along, it was the theatrical playground for some of Hollywood’s best, including Bette Davis, who makes him swoon. “The first year I was here, my dressing room had a giant picture of Bette Davis hanging over the sink, and I was like, ‘Oh my god, Bette Davis used the same sink that I’m using and that damn sink might be very old, but don’t ever replace it,’” he emotes. “I would actually rehearse and I’d often think I was possessed by Bette. I was just so feeling it. So, it’s a great place to work.” Kressley is currently wrapping his live version gig of Dancing with the Stars in Las Vegas, which he loves for different reasons: “You
can drink while you watch it. Come to think of it, you can drink while you’re participating in it. And, I am learning how to dance.” Post-Ogunquit, he’ll be back at work with reality TV and will continue to push a new exclusive apparel collection, “Love, Carson” on ShopNBC. Ever the gay fashionista, Kressley now looks back at Queer Eye with nostalgia. “It wouldn’t be as racy now. Not to mention, guys have it together more now. I think that what we did was reclaim the word ‘queer.’ We came into people’s homes through TV, and we didn’t have a political agenda — in a very nonintentional way, we were able to get to people,” he says. “And, at the end of the day, I just wanted to get people out of pleated khakis for god’s sake.” ^
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24 Summer 2012 | out in maine
beyond ‘him’ and ‘her’ meeting people who identify with gender-neutral and gender-variant pronouns _by Lis a bun k e r
There is still something conventional, it turns out, about being transsexual. Changing the sex of your body to match the gender of your mind challenges the idea that we are born into one sex and that’s all we can ever be, but it does not necessarily challenge the idea that we are all just one gender. Some people, when faced with a choice between F and M on a form, hesitate not because they can’t decide which, but because they wish there were one or more other options. U, perhaps, for undefined, or B for both, or as on Australian passports, X for indeterminate. Here are three Portlanders’ experiences outside the gender binary, in their own words. They could be said to represent a sub-sub-subgroup. Just as trans can be seen as a sometimes misunderstood minority within the greater community of LGBT, genderqueer can be seen as a sometimes misunderstood minority within the greater community of trans. But why shouldn’t gender choices include both/and and neither? None of these people advocates for some radical end of gender in society. On the contrary, each in hir own way celebrates the beauty of gender, plays joyfully with gender. They just want the freedom to live outside the t(y)ranny of F and M.
F
a woman. I feel sometimes like a combination of both, sometimes neither. I learned what genderqueer was when I was about 15 or 16, and it made so much sense. It was just this sigh of relief, like, oh, OK, I’m not the only one. But I still didn’t tell anybody about it for much longer after that, because I was still ashamed. There was still this sense that it wasn’t an OK thing to talk about. I normally wear clothes that are kind of in the middle. For a long time I was trying really really hard to pass as a girl because I thought that was what I was supposed to do, so it was frilly dresses, high heels, lots of makeup. It’s liberating to be able to move away from that; but also at times when I do choose to dress that way it’s more a conscious decision about a thing I want to do instead of a thing I feel forced into. As I’ve dated and gotten to know more people, I now realize that I don’t really
Jules Purnell
Jules is in hir mid-twenties. Ze is a student at SMCC with plans to attend USM in the fall, and works at Equality Maine as a fundraiser. Ze was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and moved to Portland earlier this year. Ze plans a career in sexuality education. Mx. Purnell prefers gender neutral pronouns: ze/hir or they/them. I often just identify with the trans community because “trans” is that umbrella that encompasses a lot of things. To be more specific, I go by “genderqueer” because that’s readily understood; but I actually prefer the term “intergender” because I feel like it better explains the story of how I feel about myself and my gender. I don’t really feel like a man; I don’t really feel like
have a specific preference for one gender or one bodily configuration or however you want to put that. I just think that human beings are beautiful, and however I find attraction with them I just kind of let that be. So I guess “pansexual” or “queer” is probably better and more accurate for describing that. My partner is also trans, and she just got her gender marker changed on her license, and it was a great celebratory moment for the both of us, because I knew it was something she had wanted. But then she asked me if I wanted to change mine, and it’s like, to what? A question mark? Maybe just the Prince symbol? I don’t know! I mean, what could go on my ID that would make any more or less sense than what it says now? So especially for people like myself who feel like both or neither, it’s hard to find that space in the world. There are times when I’ve thought about, maybe I don’t want to do this because it’s too hard, but I feel like that’s not genuine and it’s not honest. I only know how to be this thing, and I feel like I owe it to myself to do it. I envy some of my trans men friends, because they’re like, “OK, I’m a man now,” and people get what that is. I do think that the binary perhaps should be a bit more flexible. I don’t know if challenged and completely eroded is the way to go about it, but just recognizing that not everybody is going to fit all of these prescribed notions of what it means to be a man or a woman.
lyndon Cudlitz
Lyndon is in his late twenties and grew up in the Portland area. He is the creator and director of CampOUT, an LGBTQA summer camp near Continued on p 26
Jules Purnell
Lyndon Cudlitz
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Continued from p 24
Lovell. He also works as a freelance sexuality and social justice educator and as a rock-climbing instructor. He identifies as transgender, genderqueer, and femme. If our queer communities make space for gay boys to grow up and wear skirts and dresses when they want to, then why can’t we also make room for people who were assigned female at birth who identify as trans or genderqueer or guy or man or boy to then also express themselves femininely as well? I use “he” and “him” where it’s safe for me. So when I’ve worked for queer organizations, or in my friendship circles, in my relationships, I use male pronouns. But at this point in my life, I don’t get bent out of shape when somebody uses female pronouns for me. I understand that that’s the way I’m being perceived. I challenge it where I can, but I’m not gonna correct the firefighters that I work with. I enjoy gender as a buffet. I think we really should be able to pick and choose the pieces that we want — exactly what our expression looks like, and what we do with our bodies. My partners are male, female, intersex, and men and women and trans and genderqueer, and a whole variety of wonderful things. So generally I just call myself “queer,” though I suppose the technical term is “pansexual.” I also see “genderqueer” politically as a fuck you to the binary system. My expression is incredibly fluid. I wouldn’t say it’s fluctuating; I think that’s it’s pretty consistently inconsistent. For example — just speaking of how I dress — one day I can be wearing a dress and heels and I totally rock it and I feel comfortable in it. The next day I’m wearing a button-up shirt with a tie and slacks and nice boots, and I feel comfortable in that, and I totally rock it. Neither one of those feels like drag. Overall my hope is that my friends in my life see that fluid expression as something wonderful, something that is natural and that makes sense for me in my life, and that it isn’t performative — that’s it’s all just very much me. I know that I’m safer in the world continuing to be perceived as a masculine female than to be perceived as a feminine male, and I hate that reality. I hate that for the other people in my life; I hate that for the trans women in my life; for the feminine queer boys in my life. But part of my decision is about understanding my safety . . . and I’m totally tearing up as I say that. I went to this conference, years ago. I show up on the first day, and I’m dressed more masculinely, and I’m having all these conversations, I’m meeting people, I’m in workshops, I’m chatting people up, networking, it’s fantastic; and then the second day I come in and I’m dressed completely differently, and I had people re-introduce themselves to me. “And you are . . . ?” “I’m Lyndon. We spoke yesterday, and I looked different.” People are totally blown away by that. So that’s amusing, but it’s also interesting that that happens within trans communities; that somehow we’re not allowing space for our own people to have variance.
taffy Pulls
Taffy is in her mid-thirties. She was born in Lincoln, and moved to Portland in 2000. She is a senior in the USM political science program. She is a quilter, currently showing at Mesa Verde on Congress Street. She came to her interview for this article wearing a floor-length silver-spangle off the shoulder gown and a full hood completely covering her face, made of the same material. If people ask me what sort of pronouns I like, my general response is “I’ll let you decide.” I’m
Taffy Pulls
‘I enjoy gender as a buffet. I thInk we should be able to pIck and choose the pIeces that we want.’ -lyndon cudlItz
not as much into defining myself that way, as I like to see how other people choose to define it. I think that’s interesting. So I don’t really identify as either male or female, but I don’t follow necessarily the politics of people who are genderqueer. I wouldn’t know the correct way to have a conversation about that because I’m so much more street than heady. There is a huge factor of intentional entertainment coming from me. It’s thrilling to me to see how different groups of people react to either something that I’m presenting that I think is
clownish or garish or disgusting, or when I try to be beautiful. That’s more what I would think of when I say “street.” There was a time when I thought I was going to officially transition via a medical model. I tried at that point to participate in groups in person and online, but when I was trying to participate in that community it was stuffy to me. It felt stuffy. It felt almost more like people’s actions were aimed at intentionally boxing them up and putting them in places . . . this is what I used to do when I identified as male and this is how I’ll approach it now. I’m more interested in blurring both, and flowing back and forth. A lot of the local gay community needs an injection of fun and liberalness injected into them, so I don’t really identify with them very much, although that has maybe changed more in the last year for reasons that I can’t figure out. The crazier I get, visually, the more that they accept me, where they wouldn’t accept it when I dressed like a schoolboy and acted crazy. Margaret Cho used to say, “I don’t know if I’m a bottom because I’m lazy, or because I’m really a bottom.” And so I say, “I don’t know if I don’t transition because I’m lazy, or . . .” I can’t face having all that electrolysis. That’s too much work. We were talking about core, and if there’s a core, at my core I’m really pretty lazy. A lot of gay guys are still used to the idea that somebody’s a bottom and somebody’s a top, and that’s it, and that to me seems really heterosexual. That’s not what I’m here for. I’m not interested in joining the military, I don’t care about marriage. This normalcy train — I’m not on it. There’s a self-identified transsexual in Canada who I really love. She said, “My job as an artist isn’t to answer questions for people. My job as an artist is to make them think about questions.” I identify with that more and more and more. ^