Boston Spirit Mar | Apr 2020

Do You

Proud Experts in LGBT wedding planning Out on the Farm

Rural and inclusive

Take Me to Chrrrch Boston Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence

A Question for Susan Collins Her votes, her record

Still Crazy and Brave Melissa Etheridge

APRIL 30, 2020

BOSTON

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MAR | APR 2020

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THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2020 Boston Marriott Copley Place, 6–9:00 p.m.

Boston Spirit magazine is pleased to announce our 14th annual LGBT Executive Networking Night.

On Thursday, April 30, 2020, LGBT corporate professionals from Greater Boston and beyond will gather at the Marriott Boston Copley Place Ballroom from 6 to 9 p.m. for an evening of networking and business conversation.

This promises to be a special night and one you do not want to miss. P R ES EN T I N G S PON S ORS

There is a $15 admission fee at the door to attend the event.

CO RPORAT E S PON S ORS

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publisher@bostonspiritmagazine.com

From The Publisher Amazingly it is that time of year again…Event Season, Part 1. Each year when March rolls around we open up the Week at a Glance (because we are still using paper and pens!) and start crossing off dates. There’s the Fenway Men’s Event and Women’s Dinner Party, Greater Boston PFLAG’s Pride and Passion, Victory Programs’ Dinnerfest, The AIDS Walk, the Pride Parade and Festival and, of course, Boston Spirit’s annual LGBT Executive Networking Night (on April 30). We’ve also got a new one to add this year—Boston Spirit’s Home and Design Fundraiser for Waltham House (on April 2).

So much to do! It truly is a great time of year to get out and support these wonderful causes and reconnect with friends after the winter hibernation.

We look forward to seeing you, and we are proud to support all of these great events.

As I mentioned above, Boston Spirit has two events coming up this spring.

On Thursday, April 2, we will host a fundraiser for Waltham House. If you are not familiar with it, Waltham House is a residential facility for LGBT teens in need. It is a truly special place and I hope you will join us as we help these kids. The event will take place at Club Café and information for RSVPing can be found on page 33 in this issue.

On Thursday, April 30, Boston Spirit’s 14th Annual LGBT Executive Networking Night will return to the Copley Marriott Hotel. This is always an amazing night as we all come together to network, socialize and celebrate the LGBT community’s contributions to the business world in the area. We’ve got some special surprises planned for this year, so do not miss out! For information on the event, check out page 29 in this issue.

Finally, April 2020 marks the 15th anniversary of Boston Spirit magazine’s first issue. To be honest, I’m stunned. It has gone by so fast. To all of you who continue to support the magazine and our events, you have my wholehearted thanks. I know I have said it before but it bears repeating…we could not do any of this without you. Thank you, thank you, thank you, and we look forward to the next 15!

David Zimmerman Publisher

2 | BOSTON SPIRIT

Boston Spirit Magazine supporters AIDS Action Ameriprise Financial Beauport Hospitality Boston Design Week Boston Harbor Hotel Cambridge Savings Bank Canyon Ranch Club Café Comcast DesignCrossover Discover Newport DJ Mocha Dover Rug East Boston Savings Bank Eastern Bank Ellen + Janis Real Estate Fenway Health Fitness Together Foxwoods Resort Casino Frank Webb Bath Centers Gardner Mattress Gourmet Caterers Hawthorne Hotel Johnny Appleseed Trail Association Lark Hotel Group Long’s Jewelers Lucia Lighting Marriott Copley Place Miraval Resorts Mistral Nantucket Chamber of Commerce New England Inns & Resorts Pann Home Services Partners Healthcare Paul Chaisson Interior Design Peabody Essex Musem Provincetown Tourism Robert Paul Real estate Rockland Trust S+H Construction, Inc. Seasons Four Splash!

Steward Healthcare TD Bank Tufts Health Plan

27 77 57 25 61 2 69 9 13 19 21 91 37 75 7 35 34 47 53 COVER 14 73 67 79 71 1 48 81 63 43 72 83 15 23 45 5 41 30 51 COVER 39 11 17 49 31

photography by Eric Roth

617-876-8286 www.shconstruction.com BEST OF BOSTON HOME 2017, 2016, 2015, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2008 / BEST OF BOSTON 2017, 2007

Contribute your opinion: editor@bostonspiritmagazine.com

The Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights Bill was passed in late 1989.

And to all of the heroes, unsung and sung, we cover in this magazine.

This groundbreaking legislation paved the way for LGBTQ people today to adopt kids, get married, keep our jobs, defend our basic civil rights and work to make them accessible for all LGBTQIA+ people.

My predecessor, Jim Lopata—who I’ve been lucky enough to work for and learn from over the last five years—saw Boston Spirit as a kind of conduit for community development: to help bring together our diverse community, and “to offer a platform for our collective voice.”

It’s a vision he and our publisher, David Zimmerman, shared from the start.

In this issue, Bay State LGBTQ rights pioneer Arline Isaacson recounts years of tears and sweat that went into the bill’s passage. In our writer Kim Harris Stowell’s excellent story, Isaacson lends her witty voice and candid view from the halls of Beacon Hill to tell how the bill got passed, crediting the many “unsung heroes” who fought alongside her.

One of those unsung heroes was my old friend Peter Bookheimer. In the late ’80s, Peter saved up enough money to quit his job and live—until his money ran out—as a full-time gay-rights activist. In a way, it was like his own personal City Year. A mutual friend thought we’d make good roommates—even though I was a few years younger, fresh out of college and completely in the closet. We found a cheap apartment in Davis Square (because you could then). And with a living room full of visionaries sewing banners, making signs and preparing to march around the State House, I wasn’t in the closet very much longer.

Last year, Peter passed away, but not before years of celebrating many civil rights victories. I dedicate my work in this issue, my first as editor in chief, to Peter.

4 | BOSTON SPIRIT

In many ways, this issue is about new beginnings. In our special weddings section, planners catering to LGBTQ couples share their expertise with those starting new chapters together.

We welcome a new CEO at Fenway Health. And we celebrate initiatives of individuals, both leading and emerging, in our community. Our mission, though, remains the same. As we go to press, we’re already looking for who to cover next, how we can do it better, and what we can do to amplify our collective voice.

I’m thrilled to begin my new role at Boston Spirit magazine with this issue, working with our super-talented editorial and design team. We aim to do you proud!

Rob Phelps Editor in Chief

APRIL 30, 2020

BOSTON

PAGE 29

As We Go To Press

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bostonspiritmagazine.com / enn

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8

16

Hit List

Contents MAR | APR 2020 | VOLUME 16 | ISSUE 2

Spotlight

Hit List Ready for Change A Growing Community Elle’s Bold Recipe Tap on Top Everybody Plays Marriage Equality Counts Senior Spirit Go Figure From the Blog Newsmakers | Rhode Island Newsmakers | New Hampshire Newsmakers | Connecticut Newsmakers | Vermont Newsmakers | Maine

Feature

Take Me to Chrrrch!

38

A Champion of Care

40

Boston Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence give back in a celebration of drag Ellen LaPointe brings deep-rooted advocacy and leadership to Fenway

54

Do You Proud

A Champion of Care

A Question for Susan Collins

42

Supporting Local Leaders

46

How Our Rights Were Won

50

How does the Maine senator square her recent votes with her record of LGBTQ support?

8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36

40

Tap on Top

Victory Fund comes to New England

The Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights Bill celebrates its 30th

Seasonal Do You Proud

New England wedding planners who specialize in LGBTQ nuptials

54

Culture

Everything Old Is New Again

82

Art as Religion

84

Adventurous ‘Wicked Queer’ keeps growing its audience Sheila Pepe and Carrie Moyer collaborate for major show at Portland Museum of Art

Calendar

New England Events

82

40th Annual First Event B/GREG Winter Party Mass. LGBTQ Bar Association Winter Party Valentine’s Card-making for Boston Elders Winter Social Boston Holiday Soirée Boston Celtics Pride Night

89 90

Major League Role Model

96

Scene

Magic on Ice

74

Meet Marlon Brando

76

Still Brave and Crazy

78

Coda

Rising Up

80

Former New England Patriot Ryan O’Callaghan

Kittery-based Ice Dance International blends athletics and artistry Author William J. Mann casts the brilliant and complex actor in a new light Melissa Etheridge loves coming back to Boston ReelAbilities spotlights films about people dealing with physical and mental challenges

82

Everything Old Is New Again

96

Major League Role Model

91 92 93 94 95

GOOD CELEBRATES

Good shows love every day. For the seventh consecutive year, Eastern Bank has earned a perfect score of 100% on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index and has been recognized as a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality. Because we believe that making everyone feel welcome is a full-time job.

Join us to make a difference at easternbank.com

#JoinUsForGood

SPOTLIGHT Trending STORY Scott Kearnan

Hit List NEWS, NOTES AND TO-DOS FOR EVERY GAY AGENDA

Jujubee Karen Akunowicz.

PHOTO Matt

Kurkowski

FIRE UP your television to

catch queer femme chef Karen Akunowicz on the secondever “All Stars” season of “Top Chef.” The Bravo show returns in March with a lineup of fanfavorite contestants from its 15-year run, and among them is Akunowicz. She’s already won a James Beard Award—think: a foodie Oscar—for her Italian restaurant, Fox & the Knife, in South Boston. Only time will tell if she’ll also take the “Top Chef All Stars” crown. More: bravotv.com/top-chef

on the TLC network. The show will feature four alums of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” providing top-to-bottom, surface-to-soul makeovers for people anticipating a major life milestone. Jujubee will be the series’ resident fashion expert, and will be joined by queens Alexis Michelle, Bebe Zahara Benet and Thorgy Thor. More: tlc.com

HAVE A ROYALLY GOOD TIME

at a new bar and lounge

Berkshires, which hasn’t had a full-time gay bar since the 2016 closing of Diva’s Nightclub. The Majestic has a hip, parlor-like vibe, plenty of board games, funky foods and a lineup of events like poetry readings, comedy shows and DJ parties. More: Instagram. com/majesticnoho

KEEP AN EYE OUT for “Hightown” a new series on the Starz network that premieres this spring. The drama, set in Provincetown, follows the story of a hardpartying lesbian and fishery service agent investigating Cape Cod’s opioid epidemic.

Scene from “Hightown”

Majestic Saloon

MAKE OVER your life with

help from Boston-based drag queen Jujubee. The longtime local performer will reach audiences across the country on “Dragnificent!”, a new series launching in April

Maine. The self-described “community space” for “queer people and allies” is a welcome addition to the Pine Tree State’s largest city, offering space to connect over artisan roasts, craft beers, and small bites. The cool, friendly-feeling hangout has a library of LGBTQrelated books for browsing, rotating exhibitions by queer artists and diverse live shows and pop-up appearances by local businesses. More: candyslovesyou.space

Candy’s, Portland, ME

GRAB A CUP OF COFFEE (or a cocktail) at Candy’s, a sweet new café and bar in Portland,

in Northampton, Massachusetts. With a new ownership structure in place, the Majestic Saloon has been reimagined as a “queer bar, lounge and occasional club” in the famously LGBTQ-friendly town in the foothills of the

PUBLISHER David Zimmerman EDITOR IN CHIEF Rob Phelps ART DIRECTOR Dean Burchell CONTRIBUTING LIFESTYLE EDITOR Scott Kearnan [lifestyle@bostonspiritmagazine.com] CONTRIBUTING ARTS EDITOR Loren King CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Sean Cahill, Tom Joyce, Ryan M. Leach, Bob Linscott, Natalie Nonken, Alex Remier, Kim Harris Stowell, Timoth Wang CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Joel Benjamin COVER PHOTO Bénédicte Verley ON THE WEB [bostonspiritmagazine.com] TALK TO US [feedback@bostonspiritmagazine.com] EDITORIAL CONTACT [editor@bostonspiritmagazine.com] PUBLISHING AND SALES CONTACT [publisher@bostonspiritmagazine.com or 781-223-8538] THE FINE PRINT Boston Spirit magazine. A Division of Jake Publishing, LLC Published by Jake Publishing, LLC. Copyright

MAR | APR 2020 | VOLUME 16 | ISSUE 2

2020 by Jake Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced without the written permission of Boston Spirit magazine.

Neither the publishers nor the advertisers will be held responsible for any errors found in the magazine. The publishers accept no liability for the accuracy of statements made by advertisers. Publication of the name or photograph of any person, organization or business in this magazine does not reflect upon one’s sexual orientation in any way. Boston Spirit Magazine, 398 Columbus Ave. #395, Boston, MA 02116

8 | BOSTON SPIRIT

Theater Offensive Many scenes in the show, including a recreation of the annual carnival, were actually filmed in P’town, and reports on early scripts include mentions of landmarks like the Provincetown Inn and Spiritus Pizza. Though it’s an exciting close-up for the town, some locals have registered concern about how the gay paradise will be portrayed—we’re about to find out. More: starz.com

GIVE A STANDING OVATION

to The Theater Offensive, Boston’s boundary-pushing arts organization focused on queer and trans people of color—because the longrunning group has a new creative headquarters. Scape North America selected TTO to program the 10,000-squarefoot black box theater that will reside within Scape’s upcoming private dormitory in the Fenway, which will stand on the footprint of landmark

gay bar Machine; the theater is intended to honor the LGBTQ history in the neighborhood.

The 156-seat space will be a permanent home for TTO shows and events. More: thetheateroffensive.org

CHECK OUT THE CAMPAIGN of

Emmett Soldati, the owner of Teatotaller Café in New Hampshire. Soldati just announced that he will run for the District 2 seat in New Hampshire’s Executive Counci, telling “Seacoast Online” that he wants to represent communities who are “property poor, adversely affected by isolation and substance-use, queer, different, [and] economically struggling.” Teatotaller has made waves in recent years, garnering national attention for a billboard advertisement that featured a gender fluid model. More: emmettsoldati. com [x]

Emmett Soldati

SPOTLIGHT Politics STORY Scott Kearnan

“ It’s about caring for communities. It’s about caring for people. It’s about listening to people, hearing their stories and challenges, and figuring out a way to move forward.”

Dr. Robbie Goldstein and employment discrimination. There are certain systems in America that are, well, sick—and Goldstein may just be the doctor who can help find a cure.

Dr. Robbie Goldstein

Ready for Change DR. ROBBIE GOLDSTEIN BRINGS PIONEERING SPIRIT TO RACE FOR US CONGRESS “What have you done today to make you feel proud? It’s never too late to try.”

When I ask Dr. Robbie Goldstein to choose an ideal campaign song—some kind of anthemic tune that he’d want to play as he strolls to a podium to deliver a stump speech—he picks the Heather Small song “Proud.” Given the lyrics above, it’s easy to understand why. Featured in the very first episode of “Queer as Folk,” “Proud” is a rousing rallying cry for anyone who wants to try something different—and make a difference in the world. It is also, Goldstein tells me, the song he listened to on the treadmill the day he launched his campaign for Congress.

He may have started on a treadmill, but Goldstein is now moving full-speed ahead in his bid to represent Massachusetts’ Eighth Congressional District in the US House. It’ll be a tough fight—he’s looking to unseat a longtime incumbent, Rep. Stephen Lynch.

But in the post-Trump era, there’s a national groundswell of support for next-generation candidates with fresh perspectives—and Goldstein thinks that zeitgeist may help him cinch the race.

“The country is eager for change,” says Goldstein, a gay, married Democrat. “We’re seeing that people from outside the political system can bring tremendous attributes and really challenge us to do better.”

10 | BOSTON SPIRIT

This first-time candidate comes from the medical world. Goldstein is an infectious disease specialist and HIV expert at Massachusetts General Hospital, as well as medical director for MGH’s Transgender Health Program—a pioneering initiative that Goldstein was instrumental in launching. He sees a lot of similarity between his work in the hospital and his work on the campaign trail.

In both cases, “It’s about caring for communities,” says Goldstein “It’s about caring for people. It’s about listening to people, hearing their stories and challenges and figuring out a way to move forward.”

What are those challenges? Goldstein can’t even count the conversations he’s had with folks about their difficulty accessing healthcare and paying their medical bills, as well as issues like housing insecurity

After all, “This is the year where we are going to elect a Congress that will fundamentally decide the future of health care,” says Goldstein. If he makes it to Washington, DC, he’ll work to make sure that LGBTQ issues are reflected in health care policy, and that future bills have LGBTQinclusive language that can stand up to challenges from a Republican administration or conservative courts. He wants to address the FDA’s discriminatory ban on blood donations from gay men, tackle the epidemic of gun violence (especially its impact on trans people of color), and fight back against an administration that is discriminating against LGBTQ people around issues like military service and adoption.

Goldstein isn’t the only LGBTQ candidate in the race. Lynch is also being challenged for the second time by powerhouse software engineer Brianna Wu, whose campaign was profiled in Spirit last year. Like Wu, Goldstein is critical of Lynch’s record; the incumbent congressman has a reputation as a socially conservative Democrat.

While Goldstein wants to push for more progressive agendas, he also believes that he can draw on his experience building MGH’s Transgender Health Program as a model for creating coalitions. “It’s about creating culture change,” says Goldstein. “It’s about finding your allies, sharing your beliefs and values and finding out where they overlap with others.”

“It also comes from using data, facts and evidence to support the emotional argument that you’re making. We’ve lost a little of that in Washington. We’ve lost people who have the courage to lead with their values, as well as the grasp that we previously had on facts in shaping our decisions.”

Sounds like just what the doctor ordered. [x]

Dr. Robbie Goldstein [LEFT] and husband Ryan Stanton

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SPOTLIGHT Farming STORY Scott Kearnan Sagan Gray. PHOTO Reagan Byrne Photography Occasionally, Gray would encounter “beautiful queer rural land projects” around the country. But even those experiences could be illuminating, in terms of the discomforts—and sometimes, dangers—that LGBTQ folks face in America’s farmlands.

Gray recalls one incident, while celebrating with queer folks on a space in rural Tennessee, tucked discreetly a full mile off the main road, when a group of locals on motorcycles crashed the party to spin donuts in the parking lot, shout slurs—and, most frighteningly, make “very clear that they were armed,” says Gray.

Bramblenook Farm, which Gray started running a little over a year ago, is their way of planting some local seeds within the modern back-to-the-land movement that is increasingly appealing to many queer folks.

(That movement is well captured in a recent full-length documentary film “Out Here,” produced by the Queer Farmer Film Project.) Besides creating necessary rural space for queer community, the farm’s thoughtful approach to responsible farming practices and economic justice—it offers sliding-scale pricing and donates surplus product—is an extension of Gray’s larger personal and political priorities.

A Growing Community QUEER FOLKS CONNECT TO RURAL LIFE ON BRAMBLENOOK FARM Sagan Gray runs a farm. They raise chickens. They harvest tomatoes, squashes and cucumbers. What they are most interested in growing, though, is a sense of community.

restaurant where Gray works as a bartender—Bramblenook is also a space where queer folks can connect with a rural experience that otherwise proves elusive.

“In my life, there’s been a thread of wanting to create community space for marginalized voices and marginalized experiences,” says Gray. Bramblenook Farm, their 15-acre property in Berkley, Massachusetts, is a place to do just that. The farm is operated by a five-person, semi-cooperative household of queer friends who live on the property.

They host community gatherings on a monthly basis, and welcome LGBTQ locals to attend potluck dinners, nature walks, skill shares and other events.

After all, in order to find supportive social networks, appropriate health care and other important resources, many queer people must find refuge in urban environments.

That they lack access to open, rural space is something that became quite apparent to Gray, who is nonbinary and transgender, about four years ago. At that time, Gray went on a journey of self-discovery, and spent a year bicycling the perimeter of the United States—living outside and camping on the yards and farms of friendly folks.

Gray was awed by the sheer amount of rural space in America, but also by how rarely they encountered folks who shared their identity.

Besides producing delicious, pesticide-free food that reaches shareholders through a community-supported agriculture program—as well as diners at the Boston

12 | BOSTON SPIRIT

After Gray started their coming-out process in their Virginia high school, which was located in an area with a large evangelical Christian community and military culture, they earned a degree in Peace and Justice Studies at Wellesley College. There, they had to navigate the complexities and challenges of attending an all-women’s school as a more masculine-presenting person.

They understand deeply the importance of affirming, inclusive spaces.

On a more basic level, though, Bramblenook is still a farm that, like any other, is most concerned with growing the best possible product. When not working in the fields, you’ll find Gray mixing up cocktails at Bar Mezzana in Boston’s South End. That Italian restaurant’s chef uses Bramblenook produce there, as well as its nearby siblings—Black Lamb, an American brasserie, and Shore Leave, a trendy tiki bar. Gray also uses Bramblenook’s fresh herbs in drinks, such as the unique variety of mint that spruces up the Garden Party, a bright and flavorful spritz.

Going forward, Gray says they will continue to find ways to expand on Bramblenook’s mission.

“It’s really fun to be building community, getting to know people, strengthening ties and getting better quality of food into restaurants.” [x]

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SPOTLIGHT Cuisine STORY Scott Kearnan

Elle’s Bold Recipe AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN CELEB CHEF ELLE SIMONE REPRESENTS When Elle Simone arrived to “America’s Test Kitchen” in 2016, she became the first black woman to join the cast of the long-running, Boston-based cooking show— providing important representation and reaching millions of viewers around the country.

Norwegian Cruise Line, then moved to New York City and worked at a woman’s shelter to put herself through culinary school.

After securing an internship with the Food Network, she began styling food for a wide array of major clients, from Cabot cheese to the NBC show “The Chew.”

Now, Simone is also openly sharing her experiences as a queer woman. It’s the next step in her larger journey to cook up vital change in the culinary industry.

Then “America’s Test Kitchen” came calling, and Simone’s star really started to rise. Warm, confident, and charming, she’s become a popular food-TV personality and also works as a stylist for all ATK products—from books and magazines to social media. And she uses her larger platform to pay things forward: Simone is the founder of SheChef, a professional networking and mentorship organization for woman in the food and beverage world.

“There are queer people of color out there who still don’t feel represented, who still don’t see themselves,” says Simone. “I feel like I have to continue to make bold moves.

And I have no fear of being bold.”

That kind of courage has served the chef, food stylist and TV personality well over the years. Simone grew up in Detroit in a Seventh-Day Adventist family. Though she had some side-gigs as a prep cook, her first full-time career path was actually as a social worker. When she lost her job, she wound up spending two years in the kitchen for

Simone certainly welcomes her visibility now—but when it comes specifically to queer identity, the road to recognition hasn’t always been easy.

“I got outed when I was in college,” says Simone. Raised in the “very sheltered

environment” of a religious household, Simone always knew that there was “something different” about her—but she had trouble pinpointing exactly what those thoughts and feelings meant. It wasn’t until her years at a Christian college that she first dated a woman—something that wound up in a gossipy, unofficial student newspaper that was distributed all over campus. “I was devastated,” says Simone.

Afterwards, she became depressed and temporarily estranged from her family, and endured an “identity crisis” as she struggled to understand attractions that weren’t neatly categorized. “I pretty much failed out of school,” adds Simone, who didn’t come out on her own terms until about a decade later.

Today, she’s proud to be part of a vibrant LGBTQ community in Boston—after all, some of the city’s most successful and powerful chefs and restaurateurs, like “Top Chef” alums Tiffani Faison and Karen Akunowicz, happen to be queer women.

And Simone’s own entrepreneurial streak means she’s bound to earn an even bigger profile: She’s in the process of launching

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“ There are queer people of color out there who still don’t feel represented, who still don’t see themselves. I feel like I have to continue to make bold moves.

And I have no fear of being bold.”

—Elle Simone Elle Simone a new podcast, “The Walk-In,” as well as a YouTube series, “New Food,” among other projects. She also finds myriad ways to lend her support to community organizations.

For instance, Simone is cochairing April’s Dinnerfest Auction, an annual foodiefocused fundraiser for Victory Programs, a multiservice Boston nonprofit.

Today, if you ask Simone about the keys to her success—well, she’ll tell you that her queer identity has actually helped her unlock a lot of doors.

“I think the strength and resilience required to take up space as a queer person in a homogenous world creates a boldness that catapults your career,” says Simone.

“There’s a fight that LGBTQ+ people have.

And while it can be such a struggle for us in the beginning, or in different phases of life, we garner strength from those challenges that makes us greater and more exceptional.

The very things that people tell us make us weird or bad or gross or taboo, is really what makes us special.”

“We are so different,” says Simone. “And I wouldn’t want to be any other way.” [x]

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SPOTLIGHT Hot Spot STORY Ryan M. Leach

Matt Molloy

Tap on Top ‘BEER IS COMMUNITY, COMMUNITY IS BEER’ The Dorchester Brewing Company has been brewing something more than beer over the last several months. The gay-owned beer company, like the neighborhood from which it borrows its name, has been growing. In January it opened its new rooftop solarium, extended event space and kitchen. It also expanded its offerings to include cider and wine. If the rooftop add-on is any indication of the brewery’s future, the clear message is that the sky’s the limit.

“It’s such a fun thing to be working at a brewery and also working with cider and wine.

It’s all the things that make people happy, right?” says CEO Matt Molloy, 51.

The original idea for the brewery came to Molloy while on

a trip to Munich, Germany; a place famous for its love of beer and Oktoberfest. During that trip, he and his husband, Mike, visited a beer garden where Molloy witnessed people from one to 100, enjoying a liter of beer together. It dawned on him: Beer is community and community is beer. This is a principle that is the base dogma of Dorchester Brewing Company.

“We had been living in Dorchester for eight years at that point and we asked ourselves; ‘Why can’t we have this in Dorchester? Why do we have to keep going to other places to have this?’ So then I started down the path of figuring out how to make this place a reality,” says Molloy.

The brewery has been a boon for Dorchester. It currently employs 34 full-time employees

16 | BOSTON SPIRIT

and has created a communal space for locals and a destination for tourists. The space, which was formerly a sheet metal manufacturing company, can hold over 350 people in its expanded state and it has given the iconic neighborhood some iconic signage.

“The sign outside only says ‘Dorchester.’ It doesn’t say ‘Dorchester Brewing Company’ and that was done on purpose.

The first person who caught onto that was the mayor. He got out of his car for a ribbon cutting and he looked up and said ‘Nice sign! We should landmark this.’ The sign and this brewery is a celebration of Dorchester.

Which is really how we sell this thing,” says Molloy.

Molloy knows something about selling. He was in marketing

before he was a brewer. That experience informs much of the thought process on how the brewery has and will continue to evolve. Molloy knows that in order to sell you have to give the customers and the community what it wants.

He has done this by offering a wide array of choices in beer that constantly rotate in and out. A regular visitor to the brewery could come back every day and potentially experience something new on tap. He also recognized that the brewery was missing out on nonbeer drinkers. Molloy shared that in his family he has three siblings who don’t drink beer and therefore never were able to support the brewery in the way they wanted. The next thing you know Dorchester Brewing is

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Dorchester Brewing Company

in the wine and cider business.

That business appears to be booming.

On any given afternoon the brewery is filled with people.

They can be found all over the large space. Some are enjoying arcade games on the first floor.

Others are celebrating in the event space. And a few can be found cozying up by the fireplace in the solarium on a snowy night. In the spring a rooftop patio with views of downtown Boston will likely be the go-to spot for the community where they can enjoy the sun and maybe even some barbecue.

“When you ask customers what they want, they will tell you. It is as simple as that. You address needs, you can’t create them.

So we thought, lets have some good wines and a good cider on

tap. Also let’s add food to it. How about barbecue and beer? It’s the most obvious combination.” says Molloy Molloy reached out to Geo Lambert to help with the food after noticing that night after night his M&M Ribs food truck was selling out. Lambert is a third generation Dorchester native whose family has a long history of serving great barbecue to the community. Lambert ran M&M BBQ as a catering and pop-up operation, following in the footsteps of his grandparents. The location inside of the brewery is the first permanent brick and mortar for Lambert’s incarnation of his family business.

“We didn’t just want to serve food. We wanted to serve good food. And now we are.” says Molloy. [x]

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SPOTLIGHT Sports STORY Alex Reimer

Everybody Plays THE FUN, INCLUSIVE SPACES OF BOSTON’S LGBTQA SPORTS LEAGUES When I was in grade school, the thought of playing pickup football at recess made me break into hives.

I possessed the cursed skill set of stone hands and slow feet—a perfect recipe for getting picked last among my group of sporty friends. The embarrassment was never-ending.

I felt a similar feeling of angst when I first signed up to join FLAG Flag Football, Boston’s LGBTQA recreational flag football league. But three years later, I can comfortably say it was one of the best decisions I ever made. As a recent college graduate, it was not easy for me to find a community in Boston’s LGBTQA scene. I found my home in FLAG Flag Football, where hugs and support are doled out as generously as touchdown passes.

Boston’s recreational LGBTQA-affirming sports scene encompasses more than a dozen leagues, stretching from softball to darts. The most popular leagues each contain hundreds of members with different abilities and skill levels. They are true inclusive spaces.

As we head into the spring season, it is the perfect time to spotlight Boston’s LGBTQA sports scene.

Some highlights from the winter season are below, followed by a preview of what’s to come.

WINTER BOSTON GAY BASKETBALL LEAGUE Games begin in early December; championships are held April 4.

Stats: 16, divided between Division 1 and Division 2; 126 players, with eight on each team; last season’s champs: Fenway (Division 1); Trinity Management (Division 2)

Women’s Boston Gay Basketball League FLAG Flag Football. PHOTO Patrick Lentz Beantown Softball League. PHOTO Patrick Lentz 18 | BOSTON SPIRIT

Why join? Says Commissioner David Harding, “It gives you a different perspective of the gay scene as compared to the bar and club scene. It’s a great way to actually meet

people and make friends.

I moved to Boston eight years ago from Ohio and had a tough time making friends. So I Googled the league, met a whole friend group and then I branched out into other leagues as well.”

bgbl.com

WOMEN’S BOSTON GAY BASKETBALL LEAGUE Games begin first week in January; championships held last weekend in March.

Stats: 14 teams; 126 players; last season’s champs: Shaleyse’s Squad

Why join? Says Commissioner Stacey Furtado: “The sense of community is really something special. Every year, you see players come in not knowing anyone and leaving at the end of March with a whole community of new friends and a house booked for P’town for Memorial Day Weekend. It’s that community support and binding that I think makes sports leagues in this city such a great way to meet members of the LGBTQ family.” bostonwomenshoops.com

GAY DODGEBALL Games begin in early December; championships are held Jan. 30.

Stats: 12 teams; nearly 300 players; last season’s champs: You Can’t Dodge With Us Why join? Says Commissioner Keith London, “If you’re in a new city or having a hard time making friends—I think that’s such a common story whether you’re gay or straight. It’s hard to make friends. There’s something magical about sports. They bring people together.”

gaydodgeball.com/boston (Boston league manager: Noah Whidon)

SPRING FLAG FLAG FOOTBALL Games begin in April.

Stats: 24 teams; 312 players; fall 2019 season’s champs: White Claws, captained by Tim Walsh Why join? Says Commissioner Jonathan Fenelon, “Our league has always been about community and football has always been a vehicle to meet new people. What’s

great about the spring is, you’re allowed to sign up with your friends if you have any apprehension about joining the league.”

flagflagfootball.com

GAY KICKBALL Games begin in April.

Stats: 24 teams; over 400 players; fall 2019 season’s champions: Pitch Please Why join? Says Commissioner Dennis London: “Kickball is just a fun sport. I think [it’s] our structure and organizational skills of what we bring to it; people really like a structured league. We’re sponsored by Cathedral Station, so after the games, everyone goes to Cathy’s.

It’s amazing to see all of the different colored shirts talking to each other and mixing with everybody. It’s just great for community building.”

gaykickball.com/boston

BEANTOWN SOFTBALL LEAGUE Games will begin in May. Stats: 20 teams; 400 players; last season’s champs: Blizzard (Division 1); Homewreckers (Division 2); Baserunners (Division 3) Why join? Says Commissioner Kevin Collins, “We have divisions where everyone can play. People get worried if they haven’t played before, but we have members who have never picked up a ball or bat before, and players who have played in the minor leagues. We divide it up so everyone can enjoy themselves.”

beantownsoftball.com [x]

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JARED KUZIA

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SPOTLIGHT Politics STORY Tim Wang and Sean Cahill

Marriage Equality Counts THE IMPORTANCE OF SAME-SEX COUPLE HOUSEHOLD DATA The 2020 Census is just around the corner, and it is critically important that LGBTQ Massachusetts residents participate and be counted!

identified themselves as male and responded that they were unmarried partners, they could identify themselves as a samesex couple.

In addition to helping Massachusetts get our fair share of federal dollars and congressional seats, our participation in the 2020 Census will contribute data to a national sample of same-sex couple households.

For decades now, researchers and activists have promoted the collection of data on LGBTQ people in federal surveys about health outcomes and demographics. This data is critical for informing public health initiatives to improve the well-being of LGBTQ Americans.

For the first time, the 2020 Census will add new relationship response options that will explicitly denote a same-sex relationship by including “same-sex husband/wife/ spouse” and “same-sex unmarried partner” as relationship options.

Under the Obama Administration the number of federal surveys and studies measuring sexual orientation increased to at least 12, but the Trump Administration has made several attempts over the last few years to rollback federal collection of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data. Fortunately, the Census will continue to collect data on same-sex couple households, and our participation is even more important as the current administration attempts to roll

back SOGI data collection in other surveys.

Census data tells us a lot of important information regarding population growth, demographic trends over time, and disparities and differences within our community.

For example, 2010 Census data showed that Massachusetts was home to approximately 20,260 same-sex cohabiting couples, with an average household income of $69,500. In 2010, about 17% of Massachusetts same-sex cohabiting couples were raising children, 87% were white, and 58% were femalefemale couples. Census data has also been used by researchers to better understand and serve intersectional LGBTQ populations. An analysis of the 2000

Census data found that Black same-sex couples are economically disadvantaged compared to both Black opposite-sex couples as well as compared to White same-sex couples.

But how exactly does the Census collect data on our community? Because the Census is a survey of households rather than individuals, it does not ask about individual sexual orientation or gender identity.

Instead, the Census asks about household relationships. In 1990, the Census added an “unmarried partner” category as a relationship option to recognize the growing diversity of America’s families.

This gave same-sex partners a way to identify themselves on the Census. For example, if two members of a household

This will make it easier for cohabiting same-sex couples to identify themselves and their relationships—and to be counted accurately. While the Trump Administration seeks to roll back SOGI data collection, our participation in the 2020 Census is a form of political self-advocacy. The data we provide will be critical as advocates and researchers create new initiatives and interventions that advance LGBTQ equality and improve LGBTQ health outcomes. [x]

Tim Wang is senior policy analyst and Sean Cahill is director of health policy research at The Fenway Institute

For the first time, the 2020 Census will add new relationship response options that will explicitly denote a same-sex relationship by including “same-sex husband/wife/spouse” and “same-sex unmarried partner” as relationship options. This will make it easier for cohabiting same-sex couples to identify themselves and their relationships—and to be counted accurately.

20 | BOSTON SPIRIT

We are an online resource for the local community and LGBTQ+ visitors to Newport, Rhode Island.

We welcome your love!

Newport Out

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SPOTLIGHT Community STORY Bob Linscott

Senior Spirit HONORING THE LEGACY OF TRANS ELDERS, BOLDLY MOVING IN NEW DIRECTIONS Back in the ’70s and ’80s mainstream America thought that the “gay community” was a separate entity—“those” people were outside the norm and lived their lives in different and unusual ways. Then, little by little, Americans started to realize that they had a neighbor who was a lesbian, or a coworker who was gay. Before long people had family members who identified as gay or lesbian. As more people came out, the more the world saw that gay and lesbian people were no different from themselves. With that awareness, much of the stigma began to dissipate, especially in urban areas.

Unfortunately, history repeats itself and we are back at the same moment in our social evolution; this time the group in question is the transgender and gender diverse community.

We are only just taking our first steps into realizing that trans people are not “those” people but people we actually know at work and in our families.

One of the reasons that this process has taken so long is the lack of trans visibility. Candice St. James, outreach cochair for First Event, the annual conference for the Trans Club of New

England (TCNE) says, “The trans community has an image problem…the problem is that there are no images of the full spectrum of trans people.” The ones who make a full transition and are more visible in their daily lives make up a much smaller portion of the whole trans community.

It may be helpful to look back into the recent past to understand what led to this stigma around fully transitioning.

For many of our current trans elders, especially those over 70 there were very few pathways to express their identities. Unfortunately, the most common pathway for those who chose to come out and be their authentic self was to step out of their life as one gender, totally disappear, and then reappear in another city or state as a new person in a different gender. For these people this was essentially letting one identity die and being reborn as a new person.

This came at a huge price. This meant leaving behind friends, family, your job and everything you knew and starting over from scratch in a different place.

Form there you were doomed to spend much of the rest of your life alone. The reason so many

22 | BOSTON SPIRIT

people came out much later in their life was a commitment to see certain obligations through such as getting their kids through college, or caring for their parents until they died or staying in their career till they retired. Then when they didn’t have as much to lose they could finally transition near the end of their life.

There were some extreme challenges in this. This meant cutting off all your ties to your social connections right at the time you were transitioning, which is the very time you need the most support. This also meant that the idea of a “trans community” was virtually impossible for those coming out late. There was such a stigma around transgender people that many shied away from contact with other trans people to avoid being identified by association.

In more recent times, others like St. James and Cheryl Katon, director of First Event, saw themselves evolving into a bi-gender lifestyle. Bi-gender means that they live their lives comfortably in two different genders. Both had too much to risk a full transition with high level corporate jobs other family obligations that needed to be fulfilled. So they functioned in two worlds; living one part of their life as a male and another as a female.

Katon says this is like being bilingual “you think in both languages but you can’t speak both languages at the same time.” To accommodate both lives Katon and St. James have two cell phones, two emails and two social media footprints.

Both have the support of their families; they each have two children. St. James adds, “My children know and see her in various forms of gender expression, and they are fine with it.

And both are also fortunate to have, what folks in their community call a “supportive spouse.” St. James’s wife of 30 years even attends the First Event conferences.

For both Katon and St. James, the decision to not fully transition is based on their high profile roles in the corporate world. St. James says, “There may be laws in Massachusetts that prevent me from being fired for being transgender, but I would not be accepted and they would find other ways to push me out.” In fact, at a recent diversity meeting her employer said, “We don’t have any transgender people in our company” and St. James knew quite a few colleagues like herself who were bi-gender. To maintain their separate lives both use the names Candice St. James and Cheryl Katon in their lives with TCNE and associated social circles. This protects their identities in their professional lives.

family, spouse and social circles instead of starting a whole new life from scratch. “I look forward to that time because, let me tell you it has been exhausting to live two separate lives.”

Our local trans community is incredibly fortunate to have leaders like Katon and St. James involved with the Trans Club of New England, because they are taking the group in bold new directions that are already addressing the “image problem” that St. James joked about.

[ABOVE] First Event attendees. PHOTO StevieLouise

Mae Crecelius

[OPPOSITE, LEFT] Cheryl Katon [RIGHT] with Joan, one of the inaugural members of the The Tiffany Club/ TCNE. PHOTO StevieLouise Mae Crecelius

Katon plans to make a full transition in the near future. She will completely leave behind her male identity and step into a full life as Cheryl with her

For starters, the TCNE, formally The Tiffany Club, used to hold their annual conference at a hotel out in the suburbs. “It was a great experience, we took over the entire hotel, but it was basically just another closet as people didn’t have to risk being seen there.” This year the conference was held downtown at the prestigious Park Plaza Hotel. “This was a daring risk for many of us. When the elevator door opened up every day you didn’t know what cisgender person would get on with you,

but it all went so well. It was wonderfully empowering to be so open in public.”

Katon, herself 52, says she wanted to honor the legacy of the older trans generation.

They were the ones who were so bold to transition and say to the world, “this is who I am!” She wanted to make bold moves like moving their conference downtown so the they could reach out to younger generations and people of color who might not be able to commute to the suburbs. This would naturally increase community by making their social networks more multigenerational. That way folks don’t have to go through those first few challenging years of transitioning alone, especially for folks dealing with the effects of hormone treatments.

They have even expanded their weekly drop-in groups, which occur on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and now they’ve added a Wednesday educational workshop with sponsors. TCNE is getting ready to launch new

drop in groups for youth and people of color. Katon and St. James hope that these new opportunities and the visibility of the conference in downtown Boston will be a beacon to the hundreds of folks who are living their identities in secret because now they can have an opportunity to step out and explore a deeper transition with the support of a community.

Hopefully this support will then extend into their own circle of friends and families ending the old patterns of letting one identity die off and a brand new one being reborn far away. With the work of Caton and St. James and their fellow leaders at The Trans Club of New England that community is waiting with open arms to guide them every step of the way. No one needs to do this alone! [x]

To learn more about First Event or The Trans Club of New England visit tcne.org.

Bob Linscott is assistant director of the LGBT Aging Project at The Fenway Institute

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SPOTLIGHT Statistics STORY Compiled by Rob Phelps

Go Figure WHAT LOVE’S GOT TO DO WITH IT

84+16Q 46+54Q 28+72Q 84%

46%

of same-sex married adults in the US cited “love” as a very important reason for tying the knot.

of same-sex married adults in the US said legal rights and benefits are also a very important reason to wed—compared to 23% of straight married adults. [Source

[Source Pew Research Center]

Pew Research Center]

[*Source: Williams Institute; adjusted from US Census, which will begin counting samesex “marriages” versus same-sex “couples” sharing households in 2020]

STATS BY STATE*

Percent, same-sex marriages with children by state

28%

CT MA ME NH RI VT

of same-sex married adults in the US considered having children a very important reason to get married— compared to 49% of straight married adults.

ME

3,958 same-sex couples 13.8% raising kids

[Source Pew Research Center]

VT

2,143 same-sex couples 18.6% raising kids

1,111

same-sex married couples (.83% of all marriages citywide) living in Portland, Maine make the Old Port town the 10th highestranking marriage-equality metropolis in the country.

NH

3,260 same-sex couples 16.5% raising kids

[Source: Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center]

9,458

same-sex married couples (1.04% of all marriages citywide) in Boston make the Bay State capital the fourth highest-ranking marriageequality municipality in the US. [Source: Brookings

MA

20,256 same-sex couples / 17.1% raising kids

Institution Tax Policy Center]

CT

7,852 same-sex couples / 17% raising kids

RI

2,785 same-sex couples 15.5% raising kids 24 | BOSTON SPIRIT

Boston Celebrates Design Seventh Annual

March 25 - April 5 12-Day Citywide Festival 70+ Events - Most Free RSVP online today!

Nationally-recognized guest speakers, panels, tours, exhibitions, workshops, demonstrations, book signings, design competitions, and so much more!

Boston Design Week Awards

Friday Evening April 3 At the Artists for Humanity EpiCenter 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award: Miguel Gómez-Ibáñez

World Design Weeks Forum

Wednesday April 1- Sunday April 5 Welcoming our global coalition members to Boston!

BostonDesignWeek.com Produced by: Fusco & Four/Ventures, LLC Frank Gehry, Ray and Maria Stata Center, 2004 Photo: MIT List Visual Arts Center

Sponsored by:

SPOTLIGHT News STORY Rob Phelps

From the Blog NEWS HIGHLIGHTS FROM BOSTONSPIRITMAGAZINE.COM member for Showing Up for Racial Justice Worcester, and as a board member of the Bay State Stonewall Democrats. She’s also a founding member of the leadership team Grassroots Central Massachusetts and a member of both the Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition and Citizens for a Palmer Rail Stop.

“Local organizing is critical to true social change and I am excited to be a part of MassEquality as we redirect our primary focus to diverse grassroots organizing in local communities,” Neslusan said.

Tanya Neslusan [RIGHT] and Sen. Elizabeth Warren

NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF MASSEQUALITY In January, MassEquality welcomed a new executive director.

Tanya Neslusan, “an experienced political and social justice leader and life-long resident of Central Massachusetts,” came onboard to helm the Bay State grassroots LGBTQ advocacy organization.

“Tanya has an impressive set of organizing skills that will bring the work of MassEquality alive in local communities,” said MassEquality Board President Michael Pizziferri. “There is positive alignment between our strategic direction and Tanya’s desire to inspire social change through community organizing, developing accessible tools for people to put to work to bring change at the local level, where people meet regular resistance.”

MassEquality is redirecting its focus from a primary emphasis on policy work on Beacon Hill to direct organizing in communities throughout Massachusetts.

Their goal is “to make lived equality a reality throughout the state.”

Previously, Neslusan, who lives with her wife and teenage son in Sturbridge, served as secretary of the Sturbridge Town Democratic Committee, as a planning committee

The new position was made possible by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Scholarly Communications Program, funding for “The History Project to expand our work, reach new audiences and build a more solid foundation for our future,” wrote Board Chair Andrew Elder in a letter announcing Ilacqua’s appointment.

After coming out, Saffold told Buzinski, “I felt like my teammates knew me better as a person off the field, which made playing with them more fun.

Before, I felt like I could never truly be myself, but this year, I was able to play freely.”

ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

STANDING UP TO BULLYING After a transgender student at the Village School in Marblehead was bullied back in December, the Massachusetts public school, which educates about 700 fourth-to-sixth graders, quickly responded by organizing a professional training session on gender identity and sexual orientation for all teachers and staff.

FIRST EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR HISTORY PROJECT

Avery Saffold

Joan Ilacqua Also in January, The History Project, Boston’s LGBTQ community archives, named its first executive director (also its first full-time staff member) in its 40-year history.

Joan Ilacqua previously served as cochair of the Project’s board of directors and as Harvard Medical School’s archivist for diversity and inclusion.

“I’m honored to be The History Project’s inaugural executive director,” Ilacqua said in a press release. “For 40 years, volunteers have documented, preserved and shared our community’s history. Their efforts and energies will continue to guide us as an organization. I look forward to being a steward of their vision.”

26 | BOSTON SPIRIT

Saffold, a psychology major, will graduate in spring 2020 and aims to work in the NBA, according to Outsports.

Amherst College defensive back Avery Saffold is one of eight men Outsports is honoring as 2019’s male athletes of the year.

All eight are football players.

“For years, it was impossible to find college football players who were publicly out, but that has changed in the past three years,” wrote Outsports’ Jim Buzinski.

“This past season saw eight gay or bi players who came out openly, their presence showing that LGBTQ athletes have a place in every sport.”

And with 27 tackles and three interceptions in 2019, Avery is one of the most accomplished of the eight, having, as Buzinski notes, ended his college football career also named First Team All-Conference in the New England Small College Athletic Conference for his third consecutive year.

“Students may be receiving messages that it is acceptable to belittle gender diverse individuals. At Village School, transphobia of any kind will not be tolerated,” the school’s principal, Amanda Murphy, promptly wrote to all the students’ parents. “I am writing to communicate, in no uncertain terms, that this is unacceptable and to reiterate our Village School motto, ‘Keep Each Other Well.’”

In January, Murphy followed up her words with the training session, led by Jeff Perrotti, director of Massachusetts’ Safe Schools Program for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Questioning Students, according to WickedLocal Marblehead, which went on to report that the Village School’s quick response may inspire a district-wide task force “to consider ways to make LGBTQ students feel safer and more welcome in school.”

ordination to LGBT clergy, while allowing the remaining portion of the United Methodist Church to permit same-sex marriage and LGBT clergy for the first time in its history.”

Village School School Committee Chairwoman Sarah Gold, a child therapist, told WickedLocal Marblehead that she supported such a task force, adding, “We need to make sure that all students, regardless of who they are and where they’re coming from, all students feel comfortable and safe so they can learn.”

AN ‘EQUITABLE SOLUTION’ Reverend Rick Rabe of West Springfield United Methodist

Church told MassLive he finds his denomination’s proposed historic split over LGBT marriage and ordination an “equitable solution.”

The split, announced in January, “would divide the third-largest religious denomination in the United States,” according to the Boston Globe.

The denomination’s leaders “agreed to spin off a ‘traditionalist Methodist’ denomination, which would continue to oppose gay marriage and to refuse

“For us here in Western Massachusetts it will probably bring some closure and resolve some uncertainty. Speaking for myself, I am happy to see resolution on this issue. It is an equitable resolution where we could move forward doing the work we should be doing,” Rev. Rabe told MassLive.

BEST PLACES TO WORK Massachusetts is the New England state with the most corporations earning a perfect score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2020 Corporate Equality Index.

The Bay State weighs in with a whopping 40 corporations earning top marks. Connecticut follows with 12, Rhode Island comes in with three, Maine

and Vermont each have one and New Hampshire’s C&S Wholesale Grocers’ shot up 10 points from 2019 to score an impressive 90.

HRC’s Corporate Equality Index is the national benchmarking tool on policies and practices pertinent to LGBTQ employees.

Criteria include nondiscrimination policies, equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families, support for inclusive culture and corporate social responsibility.

The perfect score comes with the distinction of “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality.”

“Best” here, of course, refers to very large companies—among the largest in the US. The Index is not intended to reflect overall commitment to LGBTQ equality among all businesses, big and small, within each state. That said, these corporations’ commitment to the LGBTQ community deserves to be celebrated, their policies and practices providing models for all. [x]

Taking it to the streets for 35 years!

Join us on June 7th to support those living with or at high-risk for HIV, people struggling with addiction, and our friends in the trans community.

Make a difference! Register to walk, run, or donate today.

35th Annual AIDS Walk & Run Boston 5k Walk 5k Run n

Sunday, June 7, 2020 • DCR Hatch Memorial Shell #tothestreets35 • aidswalkboston.org MAR | APR 2020 | 27

SPOTLIGHT News STORY Kim Harris Stowell

Newsmakers | Rhode Island

including Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Rhode Island, which sponsored an entire issue.

This Just in from the Ocean State

SAGE-RI PIZZA CHATS

This project is funded by a grant from the Tufts Health Plan Foundation Momentum Fund. To contact them, write to sageriinfo@gmail.com.

Rhode Islanders for Parentage Equality

LGBTQ PARENTS RIGHTS The Rhode Island Parentage Act, which will provide much needed protections for LGBTQ Rhode Islanders, was heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 4, and was voted out of the hearing the same day. The next step will be for the bill to be introduced in the House and then be heard in the House Judiciary Committee.

The legislation would ensure all state parentage statutes apply equally to LGBTQ families.

DANCER POLE CONTROVERSY The dancer pole at The Dark Lady Night Club has been in

SAGE-RI (Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders) is looking for LGBT Rhode Islanders aged 60 and over to meet for pizza and conversation about needs and concerns they might have as they age in their communities. They will hold group meetings in March in each of four communities: Woonsocket, Providence, Aquidneck Island and South County.

‘BEST PLACES TO WORK’ Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Rhode Island, Citizens Financial Group and Hasbro each earned perfect scores on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2020 Corporate Equality Index. Three cheers to the trio!

Perfect scorers earn the distinction of “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality.”

HRC’s Corporate Equality Index is the national benchmarking tool on policies and practices pertinent to LGBTQ employees.

Criteria include nondiscrimination policies, equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families, support for inclusive culture and corporate social responsibility.

For more go to hrc.org. [x]

the spotlight since Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg’s campaign moved a fundraiser out of the venue shortly before it was scheduled to begin on a Friday night in late January.

Proprietors were asked to remove the pole not long before the event was set to begin, but refused (the pole is affixed to the establishment’s ceiling), at which time the event was moved to the nearby Hotel Providence. Disappointed patrons took to social media to vent their feelings The Dark Lady itself posted, “We guess this is what the gay candidate does to the gay community!

We’re open, we’re here, we’re queer, get over it!”

In response, the Buttigieg campaign had this to say: “Our commitment to LGBTQ+ spaces is strong, and we always strive to hold events in inclusive spaces.”

Blue Cross/Blue Shield of RI employee Guillaume Bagel and husband Bobby Gondola Jr. at Pride in Providence.

OPTIONS MAGAZINE SURVIVES Now in its 38th year, Options magazine, which covers the LGBTQ community in Rhode Island and Southern Massachusetts, has faced numerous setbacks in recent years, and especially the last few months.

But they have continued to publish, thanks to dozens of donors, Pete Buttigieg 28 | BOSTON SPIRIT

SAGE Rhode Island

THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2020 Boston Marriott Copley Place, 6–9:00 p.m.

Boston Spirit magazine is pleased to announce our 14th annual LGBT Executive Networking Night.

On Thursday, April 30, 2020, LGBT corporate professionals from Greater Boston and beyond will gather at the Marriott Boston Copley Place Ballroom from 6 to 9 p.m. for an evening of networking and business conversation.

This promises to be a special night and one you do not want to miss. P R ES EN T I N G S PON S ORS

There is a $15 admission fee at the door to attend the event.

CO RPORAT E S PON S ORS

RSVP NOW bostonsp iritmagazine.com / enn

SPOTLIGHT News STORY Rob Phelps

Newsmakers | New Hampshire Headlines from the Granite State

mayor of South Bend, Indiana, won 72,457 votes (24.4%) to Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ 76,324 votes (25.7%).

That night, in an exuberant speech at Nashua Community College, Buttigieg congratulated Sanders and his other competitors, reminding his supporters, “We are on the same team!”

Pete Buttigieg

BUTTIGIEG MAKES HISTORY By a narrow margin, Presidential nominee Pete Buttigieg got the second highest number of votes in New Hampshire’s primary. The openly gay former

Some were quick to point out that a second-place finish does not mean Buttigieg won the popular vote, which is true— though Pete left the state having earned the same number of delegates (9) as Bernie. That said, what Pete achieved in New Hampshire—and in Iowa the week before, where Sanders again carried the popular vote,

with Buttigieg earning two more delegates than Bernie due to that state’s caucus system—is nothing short of a gay historymaking moment in America.

And that’s indeed a victory worth celebrating.

HORN TAKES ON TRUMP’S GOP In late 2019, Jennifer Horn, former head of New Hampshire’s Republican Party and former national board member of the Log Cabin Republicans, cofounded and assumed a key managing role in a national committee called the “Lincoln Project” to defeat President

Jennifer Horn Trump and congressional Republicans supporting him.

Horn cofounded the committee with other national GOP veterans including George T. Conway III, outspoken Trump critic and husband of Presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway.

Now in 2020, the Lincoln Project is carefully watching Maine Senator Susan Collins, among other legislators who appear to support the president’s initiatives.

508.648.6861 robertpaul.com

REPRESENTING THE FINEST HOMES

FROM DOWNTOWN TO PROVINCETOWN 30 | BOSTON SPIRIT

“It is my great hope, as this impeachment process unfolds, that [Senator Collins] will have the courage to do what is right, to stand up and put the country over party, to be a voice for the people over Donald Trump,” Horn had told the Boston Globe.

lawmakers that we already do exist, that we aren’t going anywhere, and that we have communities of people fighting alongside us.”

CORPORATE LEADER Congratulations to Keene-based C&S Wholesale Grocers, which scored an impressive 90 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2020 Corporate Equality Index. High marks on the Index mean they’re not just a corporate leader of equality in the state but in the entire country.

“If that doesn’t happen,” said had Horn, “then, yes, unfortunately, Senator Collins becomes [a focus of Lincoln Project’s campaign].”

ACLU CRIED FOUL The American Civil Liberties Union is strongly objecting to a number of proposed laws around the country aimed at transgender youth.

In the Granite State, proposed Senate Bill 480, “An Act relative to participation in school sports programs for female student athletes, “would require any student athlete whose gender is ‘disputed’ to have medical verification of their sex via ‘(a) the student’s internal and external

PHOTO aclu.org reproductive anatomy; (b) the student’s naturally occurring level of testosterone; and (c) an analysis of the student’s chromosomes,’” notes an ACLU press release issued earlier this year.

“This type of Orwellian intrusion into the bodily autonomy of youth will sweep much broader than transgender youth and

potentially impact the ability of all young people—particularly young girls—to safely partake in school activities,” the ACLU states.

“Though lawmakers claim that these [and other states’] measures are aimed at protecting vulnerable youth, they in fact do the opposite,” states the ACLU. “We must all fight to remind

HRC’s Corporate Equality Index is the national benchmarking tool on policies and practices pertinent to LGBTQ employees.

Criteria include nondiscrimination policies, equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families, support for inclusive culture and corporate social responsibility.

For more go to hrc.org. [x]

Celebrating spirit in our communities

From your friends at Tufts Health Plan, where diversity and inclusion are celebrated and honored every day.

tuftshealthplan.com MAR | APR 2020 | 31

SPOTLIGHT News STORY Natalie Nonkin

Newsmakers | Connecticut Articles from the Constitution State HIGH SCORES FOR CITIES

“We also must acknowledge that while checking a box can be seen as a successful outcome, there must be a culture shift to ensure that all our LGBTQ+ residents feel respected and heard,” Currey said.

TRUE COLORS CONFERENCE

GAY MEN’S BODY IMAGE EVENT The Gay Men’s Spirituality Group hosts “Pecs, Abs, Dicks: Body Image, Self-Esteem Issues, Loving Ourselves” on March 1 at the Tisane Euro-Asian Café in Hartford.

The event is an opportunity to discuss issues of body image and self-esteem that gay and bisexual men face.

As pointed out in the event description on Meetup.com, body image and eating disorders are often thought to be a women’s issue, while they can affect everyone.

Discussion topics include aging, sex, food, exercise, cultural expectations, critical parents and more.

More at Gay Men’s Spirituality Group’s Meetup.com page.

‘BEST PLACES TO WORK’ Hartford Mayor Luke Brown

Twelve Connecticut-based corporations earned perfect scores of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2020 Corporate Equality Index.

Connecticut cities are among the top scorers on the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index.

The top marks come with the distinction of “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality.”

Stamford and Hartford were the top scorers in Connecticut. Hartford came in at 99 out of 100, with Norwalk scoring 97. (The lowest scorers in the state were Bridgeport with 42 and Fairfield with 46.) The state’s overall average score was 74. The average score across country was 60 points.

Scores are based on dozens of different criteria, including city services, law enforcement, equal employment policies, nondiscrimination policies and transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits.

Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin told the Connecticut Mirror, “We’re proud of our work with the Human Rights Campaign to improve our ranking in the Municipal Equality Index, and we are committed to the ongoing, daily work of building and being an inclusive and affirming city. No matter who you love or how you identify, you are welcome in Hartford, and when we say our diversity is Hartford’s greatest strength, we work hard to match words with action.”

East Hartford Representative Jeff Currey added, “While it is great to see some Connecticut cities achieving successful numbers, it’s important that we recognize the nonprofits and other supports that have promoted and advocated on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community to which these cities owe a tremendous debt of gratitude,” reported the Mirror.

32 | BOSTON SPIRIT

Xiomarie, performing at True Colors Conference True Colors will host its 27th annual conference on March 20 and 21 at the University of Connecticut.

The yearly event includes a plethora of workshops and performances, including a drag show featuring performers Xiomarie, Seth Owens, Nia and Ness, Maggie Cee, the Hartford Gay Men’s Chorus, Heather Mae, Kai Davis, DJ Ron, and the Imperial Sovereign Court of All Connecticut.

True Colors’ mission is “to ensure that youth of all orientation and genders are welcome, valued and affirmed.”

More at ourtruecolors.org.

Gay Men’s Spirituality Group

HRC’s Corporate Equality Index is the national benchmarking tool on policies and practices pertinent to LGBTQ employees.

Criteria include nondiscrimination policies, equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families, support for inclusive culture and corporate social responsibility.

Without further ado, Connecticut’s leaders are Boehringer Ingelheim USA Corp., Bridgewater Associates, CIGNA Corp., Diageo North America, FactSet Research Systems Inc., Gartner Inc., The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., Nestle Waters North America Inc., Stanley Black and Decker Inc., Synchrony, United Technologies Corp, and Xerox Corp.

For more go to hrc.org. [x]

YOU’RE INVITED

Boston Spirit Magazine’s Home & Design 2020 Fundraiser for Waltham House

Thursday, April 2, 6-9:00 p.m. at Club Café, Boston Please join Boston Spirit Magazine, along with our partners at Boston Design Week and ASID New England, for a very special fundraiser for Waltham House.

Waltham House, part of The Home for Little Wanderers, is the first residential group home designed specifically for LGBTQ youth in New England, and one of only three of its kind in the nation.

Its founding principles are that every child deserves to live in an environment in which they feel safe, respected, supported and cared for by those around them.

We will have delicious bites from Club Café, fun raffles and giveaways, beautiful artwork by residents of Waltham House, and so much more.

Join us as we support the wonderful work being done at Waltham House on behalf of our LGBTQ youth.

Admission to the event is free.

To RSVP visit Boston Spirit online at www.bostonspiritmagazine.com

SPOTLIGHT News STORY Rob Phelps

Newsmakers | Vermont Green Mountain State Update Brattleboro Retreat PHOTO Wikimedia Commons

BRATTLEBORO RETREAT REMAINS OPEN Heading into 2020, Vermont’s Brattleboro Retreat has been under intense financial pressure to close, or severely cut back its services.

In a letter to Governor Phil Scott, the Retreat’s President and CEO Louis Josephson

wrote, “In consultation with the Board of Trustees, we are exploring every avenue to change the Retreat’s unsustainable business model and reimbursement but no matter what the outcome, the Retreat, if it exists at all will be a very different organization in the future.”

This is significant news for the LGBTQ community in that the mental health and addiction treatment facility—which on the whole serves about 5,400 people each year—also provides the only inpatient psychiatry program geared for LGBTQ people in the country, according to its website.

Jeffrey Kelliher, the Retreat’s communications and media

“The Drag,” in rehearsal. Photo Vermont Pride Theater relations manager, told Boston Spirit that their LGBTQ unit, called Osgood 2, had been “temporarily closed [in early January]…but it is open again and we are accepting patients there and in all Retreat programs.”

“The Retreat is not planning to close the LGBTQ+ program on Osgood 2,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Governor Phil Scott offered some words of reassurance in his State of the State speech.

“This health care provider is simply too critical for us to let fail, especially without an alternative,” Scott said. “This would have a devastating impact on our mental health system and the region’s economy,” the

governor said, promising that his administration would “do everything we can responsibly do to help.”

AHEAD OF HER TIME In 1927, legendary Mae West’s play, “The Drag: A Homosexual Comedy in Three Acts,” was destined for Broadway but closed during its tryout run after only 10 performances.

Merrily portraying homosexuality and cross dressing, it was shut down for its content, considerably ahead of its time.

The play reemerged in 2019 at an LGBT community center in Seattle. A full production is scheduled to run at The Provincetown Theater this

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for the Arts. In 2021 it will travel to Howl! Gallery in NYC.

year. Most recently, “The Drag” received a staged reading put on by the Vermont Pride Theater in late January at the Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph.

Written under West’s nom de plume, “Jane Mast,” the play “is about exploring one’s own sexuality,” director Tess Holbrook told Vermont’s Seven Days. “It resonates today for the same reason it was banned in the 1920s: It was a celebration of these gay characters’ sexuality.”

“It’s fun; it’s a comedy. It’s colorful and loud and unapologetic,” Holbrook said.

Vermont Pride Theater’s mission is to present “onstage the concerns and issues of LGBTQ Vermonters, in a context which encourages interaction between audiences and performers, in order to build understanding and acceptance among these Vermonters, their families and friends, and the wider community.”

To find out more about the, groundbreaking, fun work by

For more, go to catamountarts. org

“Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant, Miami, Florida, 1980,” Dona Ann McAdams. the Vermont Pride Theater— which includes an annual summer theater festival (dated TBA but usually held in July)—visit the “Vermont Pride Theater” Facebook page.

A MOVING RETROSPECTIVE Photos of queer liberation and AIDS activism—along with anti-nuclear, anti-war, feminist and prochoice themes—are the focus of the retrospective exhibition “Dona Ann McAdams: Performative Acts” in the Fried Family Gallery at Catamount Arts in St. Johnsbury through April 3.

Writes Matthew Riemer and Leighton Brown in “We Are

Everywhere: Protest, Power, and Pride in the History of Queer Liberation,” “There have always been photographers who capture the work of those involved in organized resistance, but there are very few activists who use photography to record the struggle. Dona’s photography exudes a familiarity—a brief respite from the pressures of life, a hand over a heart, a subtle grin in the middle of a warzone—because Dona is among, of, and with those she photographs.”

The show opened at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center in June 2019 before traveling to Castleton University, Catamount Arts, the Helen Day Art Center, and the Flynn Center

‘BEST PLACE TO WORK’ Kudos to Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc. for earning a perfect score of 100—up from 95 last year—on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2020 Corporate Equality Index.

Perfect scorers earn the distinction of “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality.”

HRC’s Corporate Equality Index is the national benchmarking tool on policies and practices pertinent to LGBTQ employees.

Criteria include nondiscrimination policies, equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families, support for inclusive culture and corporate social responsibility.

For more go to hrc.org. [x]

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SPOTLIGHT News STORY Rob Phelps

Newsmakers | Maine

News from the Pine Tree State principles ahead of politics and self-interest.”

VICTORY FUND ENDORSES LAJEUNESS FOR US SENATE

“Ross will restore common sense and principled leadership to the US Senate seat from Maine. That he will make history in the process—becoming America’s first openly LGBTQ man elected to the US Senate— will only make the victory more satisfying,” Parker said.

Ross LeJeunesse On January 23, the Victory Fund—the national organization dedicated to electing LGBTQ leaders to public office—endorsed Democrat Ross LaJeunesse for US Congress.

LaJeunesse, a former Google executive who’d previously served as advisor to US Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell and Senator Edward Kennedy and held leadership roles in the California state government, is running for Susan Collins’ seat in the US Senate.

The openly gay Biddeford native moved back to Maine with his husband last April after teaching foreign affairs at Georgetown University. Prior to that, he served as head of international relations for Google in California, where he’d also been chief of staff to California State Controller Steve Westly and as deputy chief of staff for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“A leadership change in the US Senate is essential to securing federal LGBTQ equality legislation,” said Mayor Annise Parker, Victory Fund president and CEO. “I know Ross well, and whether in government or the private sector, he consistently puts people and

“I’d be proud to be the first openly gay man in the United States Senate and I am deeply honored to receive this endorsement,” LaJeunesse stated in the Victory Fund endorsement.

“Victory Fund is changing the face of public service in the United States by empowering more elected officials to serve openly and honestly. Mainers believe in those values and I’ll be a fighter for equality and justice in the US Senate.”

BRITA FILTER COMPETES ON ‘RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE’

Brita Filter Among the 13 queens selected to compete in the 12th season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” which premiered in late February, is Dover-Foxcroft, Maine native Jesse Havea, or rather Havea’s celebrated drag persona Brita Filter.

Havea, who’s built a serious drag career in in New York City, dancing with Katy Perry on “Saturday Night Live” and so forth, credits her start in

36 | BOSTON SPIRIT

drag with a turn in Penobscot Theater’s Cinderella. “‘Cinderella’ was the first time I ever did drag. I took the role knowing it would be great practice to go to NYC and be a drag queen. It really opened the door for me,” she told the Bangor Daily News.

Brita, we’re rooting for you, girl!

PRO-PREP BILL INTRODUCED

State Senator Heather Sanborn New legislation, introduced by Portland state Senator Heather Sanborn, would ban insurance companies from denying coverage to people taking HIV preventative medication.

Reports Atlantic Media’s Route Fifty (a website geared to state and local government leaders), the bill “would update Maine’s insurance code to make it illegal for insurance providers that offer disability, life insurance or long-term care coverage to discriminate against people who opt to take pre-exposure prophylaxis, commonly referred to as PrEP.” The FDA-approved HIV preventative use of PrEP—marketed as Truvada—is not only considered safe by medical experts, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but when taken as directed, it has a 99 percent protection rate against HIV transmission, according to the Boston-based Fenway Institute, which ran one of the two U.S. testing sites in the international study that led to FDA approval.

“Unfortunately, life insurance, disability insurers, and long-term care insurance providers may be discouraging people from taking PrEP

drugs by adversely considering their PrEP prescription as part of the underwriting process,” Sanborn said in testimony before the Senate Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services. “This stance by insurers creates an adverse incentive that may cause people to discontinue taking PrEP.” The bill currently awaits committee approval.

HANNAFORD EARNS PERFECT HRC SCORE

Scarborough-based Hannaford Supermarkets earned a perfect score of 100—up from 95 last year—on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2020 Corporate Equality Index.

“We are very proud to have received this recognition from the HRC,” said Jim Hamilton, Hannaford’s vice president of operations and executive sponsor of Hannaford’s Diversity and Inclusion Council.

“This accomplishment acknowledges the ways we create and promote safe and welcoming environments and support and celebrate our LGBTQ associates. Many associates have said that they specifically chose to work at Hannaford for that reason—and nothing fills me with more pride than those comments.”

Employing more than 26,000 associates, Hannaford operates 181 stores in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York.

HRC’s Corporate Equality Index is the national benchmarking tool on policies and practices pertinent to LGBTQ employees.

Criteria include nondiscrimination policies, equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families, support for inclusive culture and corporate social responsibility. [x]

N AT I C K

B O S TO N

BURLINGTON

D OV E R R U G .CO M

MAR | APR 2020 | 37

FEATURE Fundraiser STORY Tom Joyce

Take Me to Chrrrch!

Boston Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence give back in a celebration of drag For The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence of Boston, helping the less fortunate is a priority.

It’s also exactly what The Sisters plan to do on Saturday, March 7, at their annual Chrrrch! event at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge.

At the event, the drag troupe will award their 2020 community grants and provide an array of entertainment. In a typical year, this includes singers, dancers, drag performers, drag artists and comedians.

When the Boston Sisters chapter opened up in 2009, a grant program had always been a goal of theirs, but they felt as though they needed to solidify their own group first before they would be ready to put such a program together. Then, in 2014, the group felt as though they were at a point where they could do it, so Sister Gloria LeLuia took control as the Grants Officer.

38 | BOSTON SPIRIT

LeLuia opened the Boston Sisters’ Community Grants Fund. The group hoped to raise $2,000 to provide grants by soliciting donations from the public and hosting two fundraisers. However, to their excitement, they ended up raising more than $6,000.

As a result, they were able to provide five grants ranging from $500 to $1,000.

In the years since, the Sisters have raised more than $30,000 and dished out 41 grants. This year, they will hand out a record-breaking nine grants.

“It just keeps growing and, again, we are so humbled by the outpouring of support that the public has shown us,” LeLuia said.

In 2019, grant beneficiaries included Circle of Hope, a nonprofit which provides homeless men, women and children with basic necessities; the Friday Night Supper Program which provides a free weekly meal to those in need; SpeakOUT Boston, a volunteer speakers bureau which

promotes acceptance of the LGBTQIA community; and several others.

“While it is not a prerequisite, we also try our best to give our Grants to smaller organizations, like ours,” LeLuia said. “We can’t afford to give out a $10,000 grant, so we look for groups for whom $500 or $750 would be a game-changing amount. A group who just needs a little more money to make it through the year. Knowing that we can offer that really makes us proud of the work that we do.”

The grant beneficiaries are notified in the fall prior to the event. However, they are not announced publicly until they are presented at the event.

The grant beneficiaries receive two complimentary tickets to the show each year and come prepared to give a short speech.

Sometimes, they even bring materials promoting their organizations, be it pens, buttons, business cards or pamphlets. In

that sense, it also serves as an opportunity for the organizations to build contacts.

“We do everything in our ability to make sure that our recipients are honored and feel special at these events,” LeLuia said.

“To us, it’s not all about the money; it’s also about the exposure that these groups get, it’s about the networking they can do, it’s about the communities they can build and join.”

The Sisters have nearly 20 members in their organization at the moment, and LeLuia says one of their focuses has been getting more involved with the Latinx community in Boston.

Additionally, they host a Sister Bingo event at Club Cafe in Boston on the second Monday of each month. Each time it benefits a different charity.

“For groups who aren’t able to receive one of our Community Grants, we often offer them the chance to be a Bingo beneficiary instead,” LeLuia said. “So we are able to give even more money out than just through our granting cycle.” [x]

Sisters Harrie Magdalene and Grace A’Gawd present BAGLY grant. PHOTOS Meg Birnbaum Sisters at the 2019 granting ceremony.

[OPPOSITE, TOP RIGHT] Sisters Sandra Music and Gloria LeLuia.

[OPPOSITE, BOTTOM-LEFT] Sister Esther O. Gen. [ABOVE]

thebostonsisters.org

[OPPOSITE, LEFT]

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FEATURE Health Care STORY Rob Phelps

“ This is a major life decision but in every way I honestly feel like I’ve come home, life has come full circle. ” Ellen LaPointe

A Champion of Care Ellen LaPointe brings deep-rooted advocacy and leadership to Fenway For her first job at Fenway Health, back in the early ’90s, Ellen LaPointe volunteered at a fundraising dinner. She was in her early twenties, she recalls, working on her bachelor’s degree in health policy at Brown University, and she came into Boston to help out at the event. To her surprise, her volunteer assignment was to spend the next several hours assisting Fenway’s special event guest, Lily Tomlin.

“It was the best volunteer assignment a girl could ever want,” she told Boston Spirit.

In March, LaPointe comes back to Fenway, this time as CEO. She will lead one of the nation’s foremost health centers for care and research focused on LGBTQIA+ health and HIV/AIDS, where some 500 employees serve over 30,000 clients and deliver ground-breaking, life-saving

40 | BOSTON SPIRIT

research that benefits communities worldwide.

“I don’t know of another organization like this,” she said. “It’s a force to be reckoned with. It’s incredibly exciting and such an honor to come back.”

Born and raised in Maine, LaPointe moved to the San Francisco Bay Area 27 years ago for one of her first job opportunities after Brown. She and her family have returned to Maine often, just about every summer, she said. “I thought I’d stay [in the Bay Area] for two years, I really did. I’m a New Englander at heart. But you know what they say, “Life happens when you’re making other plans.” Now she’s moving back East with her wife, and her high-school-age son will join them parttime while he finishes up classes, residing with his other Mom in Berkeley for the rest of his junior and senior year. “This is

Ellen LaPointe. PHOTO Liz Song Mandell a major life decision,” LaPointe said, “but in every way I honestly feel like I’ve come home, life has come full circle.”

Democratizing access What LaPointe is also bringing back to the East Coast is nearly three decades of experience working in, managing and leading life-impacting health care, social justice, research, LGBTQIA+/HIV activism and advocacy organizations. A powerful combination for her new role at Fenway.

Her move to the West Coast coincided with the early days of the AIDS crisis, which, in San Francisco was met with crisis-response activism and compassion like it was in Boston, New York City and other epicenters where the gay and lesbian communities had no choice but to take the lead.

For LaPointe, that began “in the earliest stage, in the late ’80s,” when her work “was oriented around bending some rules for people with HIV to get access to promising AIDS treatment, because at the time the only way that was possible was to go to an academic institution where

there were the large federally funded grant programs,” she recalled. Her career moved along with “the birth of the communitybased clinical trials movement in the late ’80s and early ’90s, which was essentially an ACT UP movement to get people access to drugs that might save their lives and to help advance what we know. That was completely community driven. It was a grassroots effort, and I was very, very fortunate to be a part of it. We were, I think, very impactful across the country in making that happen. Democratizing access to these treatments.”

Among her many leadership roles, LaPointe served as director of The HIV Cure Initiative, a nonprofit that aims to find a drug-free remission in HIV. She was executive director of Project Inform, the national nonprofit treatment information and advocacy organization. She also served as director of clinical research at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco, one of her first jobs after moving to the opposite coast.

Another standout role was as vice president for strategic initiatives and then strategic partnerships at HopeLabs,

a nonprofit created by the eBay-founding Omidyar family “to harness the power of technology to promote positive health behaviors in young people,” LaPointe described.

“The way I got there was because the woman who had been running the San Francisco AIDS Foundation [reached out to me]—a woman named Pat Christen, who herself had a major role in some of the earliest and most important public policy that’s happened in HIV—one of the architects of the San Francisco Care Model—she and I had a close working relationship for a long time,” she said.

LaPointe comes to Fenway directly from serving as president and CEO of Northern California Grantmakers in San Francisco, “a nonprofit that brings together Bay Area philanthropy to advance the common good,” as Fenway Focus describes it.

A collaborative mindset “What I would hope folks will come to see and know and understand about me is that I truly am at my core a connector,” said LaPointe. “I’m very committed

to making sure that we are engaged, authentically, as an organization, with the community that we serve.” She hopes to build on the strong relationships that Fenway has worked hard to create with its clients, within the organization, and with partners—from LGBTQ+ groups big and small, to large institutions like hospitals and other neighbors, she said. “Because at the end of the day, we all want the same thing. We all want to live our best lives and we all want to be well and healthy.”

“I think people can expect that I’ll do a lot of listening, that I will approach things through a very collaborative mindset,” she adds. “I think they can expect that Fenway Health will continue to evolve along the same general pathways that it has been on for so long and so well.”

“I really do believe that we do our best work when we feel respected and we feel seen and heard,” she said. “And we take the time to celebrate and appreciate one another, even as we’re driving very hard together in pursuit of the things that we care about deeply.” [x]

fenwayhealth.org

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FEATURE Politics STORY Rob Phelps

A Question for Susan Collins How does the Maine senator square her recent votes with her record of LGBTQ support?

In June 2014, a few months before nearly two-thirds of Maine voters sent US Senator Susan Collins back to Washington, Collins came out as one of four Republican Senators to support marriage equality—just after the Human Rights Campaign endorsed her reelection.

Then-HRC President Chad Griffin, in his announcement, said, “Senator Collins has played a pivotal role in advancing support for LGBT equality—from her dogged support for the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ to her critical vote for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act last year, to her proud support for marriage equality, HRC is proud to stand with Senator Collins, and with allies on both sides of the aisle like her.”

42 | BOSTON SPIRIT

Since her first election to the Senate in 1996, working across the aisle has been a specialty of Collins, now in the last year of her third term and seeking a fourth. Her votes have earned her the distinction of “the most bipartisan” senator from the Lugar Center and Georgetown University’s Bipartisan Index.

But the aisle between the parties has become wider, working across it more challenging.

This challenge for Collins is especially clear on HRC’s most recent Congressional Scorecard, which rates how elected officials have voted on issues of LGBTQ equality. For the two previous sessions, Collins scored a respectable 85 out of 100.

But then her score plummeted to 33.

Congresspersons Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree, Maine Gov. Janet Mills, and Senators Susan Collins and Angus King, 2019. PHOTO Rebecca

[FROM LEFT]

Hammel/US House Office of Photography

Compare that to her fellow Independent Maine Senator Angus King’s scores of 90 and 90 for the two previous sessions, or by contrast Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell’s 0 and 20, out of the possible 100. As Collins’ score fell to its current 33, the scores of King and McConnell, both comparatively party-line voters, remained a relatively steady 88 for King, and back down to zero for McConnell.

While Collins has remained “most bipartisan,” the Republican party, under the Trump administration, has pulled dangerously farther from any support it may have previously shown for LGBTQ people. As Sean Cahill, director of health policy research at The Fenway Institute put it, “During Donald Trump’s third year as president, we moved from worrying that anti-LGBT policies would harm people to seeing the damage of these policies in action.”

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On her record Matt Moonen, executive director of EqualityMaine, said what troubles him the most are Collins’ recent votes to confirm the Trump-appointed federal judges with anti-LGBTQ records. While her vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court has garnered the most attention—especially alarming, given the shift it represents on the high court— Moonen says he’s equally worried about the “dozens and dozens of nominations at the circuit court, with ACLU ratings that are awful.”

To her credit, Collins has stood up against some of these nominees. In November 2019, for example, she cast the sole Republican vote against White House lawyer Steven Menashi’s appointment to the New York–based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals, who “has made a career of promoting anti-LGBTQ rhetoric,” said current HRC President Alphonso David.

Despite her vote against him, however, Menashi was confirmed by the Senate.

“Historically, the expectations we have had of her is as a moderate, part of that being pro-LGBTQ equality,” said Quinn Gormley, executive director of MaineTransNet. “In years past, her record on LGBTQ equality has been quite strong.”

“But in the last couple years, there’s been a substantial shift in how her office responds to LGBTQ organizations and movements,” Gormley said. “We have found her less accessible as our Congressional representative [than Senator King and Congresspersons Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden].”

When President Trump tweeted out his transgender military ban in January 2019, for example, “we had all of the others on the phone within an hour—particularly Golden, also a moderate,” Gormley recalled, though Collins joined King in introducing a post-Tweet bipartisan bill to protect trans service members.

On this and other issues, it would go a long way, Gormley said, for Collins to attend to a town hall meeting on LGBTQ issues, as the others have done. “So much LGBTQ advocacy relationship-building is done through storytelling, face-to-face time not possible only through the office.”

Gormley added that more office sessions with Collins and her staff would be appreciated, too.

Senator Susan Collins and SCOTUS nominee Merrick Garland, 2016. PHOTO collins.senate.gov

Reaching out Boston Spirit repeatedly reached out to Collins’ offices both in Maine and in DC, and we will continue to do so. Each time so far, her press office has declined our request to speak with the senator. We want to ask her how she squares her voting record over the past three years with her strong record of LGBTQ support.

To get specific: We’d like to ask her to explain her votes for federal judges poised to dismantle hard-won, pro-LGBTQ legislation, much of which she supported.

We’d like to ask her about her confirmations of now-former US Attorney General Jeff Sessions, SCOTUS Justices Neil Gorsuch and Kavanaugh and US Circuit Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan.

We’d like to ask why she opposes the Do Not Harm Act, which wound ensure that federal law designed to protect religious liberty would not be used to deny basic civil rights; or federal anti-conversiontherapy legislation; or anti-public-schoolbullying laws; or the International Human Rights Defense Act; or antidiscriminatory voting rights regulations; or a nondiscrimination bill to protect LGBTQ students in public schools.

Not all of Collins’ recent votes, like the one against Menashi, have been bad for LGBTQ people; quite the opposite, for quite a few.

She opposed the appointment of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and DeVos’s withdrawal of protections for LGBTQ public school students. Unlike her stand against Menashi and DeVos’s appointment, some of Collins’ votes have made a real difference too. She stood with Senator John McCain to uphold the Affordable Care Act, whose ban would have blocked health care access for many LGBTQ people and people living with HIV. She defended federal funding for family planning grant recipients like Planned Parenthood. She also supported LGBTQ nondiscrimination bills in housing and credit. Collins was the first senator (and lead GOP sponsor) to sign onto the comprehensive LGBT nondiscrimination Equality Act of 2019.

Maine’s Democratic primary will have taken place by the time this issue goes to press. By then, we’ll know if Collins’ challenger will be one of four pro-LGBTQ candidates: Maine Speaker of the House Sara Gideon; Ross LaJeunesse, the openly gay and Victory Fund–endorsed former advisor to Senator Edward Kennedy; longtime activist and political organizer Betsy Sweet; or attorney/activist Bre Kidman, the first openly nonbinary person to run for US Senate.

One thing we do know: Senator Collins is in for a tough race. [x]

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FEATURE Politics STORY Ryan M. Leach

Supporting Local Leaders Victory Fund, national nonprofit backing LGBT public servants, comes to New England During the last Boston City Council race, Victory Fund endorsed candidate, Alejandra St. Guillen, fell one vote short of a victory in becoming the first openly LGBTQ member of the Boston City Council. The narrow loss demonstrated how important every single vote is to advancing LGBTQ equality across the country. Victory Fund wants to prevent future narrow losses and is doing so by increasing its presence in New England.

New England is considered by many parts of the country a bastion for progressive voters and values. Although that may be true in some regard, many parts of the region lack LGBTQ representation in their elected leaders. Victory Fund’s core

mission is to get these leaders elected because even in New England, the saying, “If you don’t have a seat at the table, then you’re on the menu,” is still true.

“Openly LGBTQ elected officials in New England, such as New Hampshire State Reps Lisa Bunker and Gerri Cannon, have introduced and helped pass pro-LGBTQ bills over the past two years. Both Massachusetts and Maine have also passed laws banning gay conversion therapy. Having LGBTQ voices at all levels of government is crucial in ensuring the safety and livelihood of LGBTQ Americans, and Victory will continue to support candidates.” says Victory Fund CEO, Annise Parker.

Parker, the former Houston, Texas mayor and Victory Fund–endorsed candidate, has been the CEO of the organization since January 2018. In 2009 she won a historic race to become the first openly LGBTQ mayor of a major American city.

She understands how vital a role the Victory Fund played in her own historic win and now she is guiding the organization to provide those opportunities to other candidates.

“Victory Fund is working hard to increase the number of openly LGBTQ elected officials at all levels of government in New England. In 2019, Victory endorsed Liz Breadon in her bid to the Boston City Council where she currently

[CONTINUES 48] 46 | BOSTON SPIRIT

Victory Fund’s mission The Victory Fund provides campaign, fundraising and communications support to LGBTQ candidates to increase the number of openly LGBTQ elected officials—because representation is power. When LGBTQ elected leaders are in the room, they humanize our lives, impact policy and legislative debates and influence straight lawmaker colleagues to vote in favor of equality.

LGBTQ elected officials are our best defense against anti-LGBTQ efforts at all levels of government, and are best positioned to advance equality for our community.

At an August 2019 Victory Fund event in Provincetown.

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[FROM 46] serves, and is also supporting Maine State Rep. and House Assistant Majority Leader Ryan Fecteau in his campaign to become the next Speaker of the Maine State House. Victory is endorsing more candidates than ever before in 2020 and hopes to help candidates achieve historic firsts,” says Parker.

Part of being able to create that impactful change means that the Victory Fund needs to increase its visibility in the region. In August 2019, the organization held its first event in many years in Provincetown over Labor Day weekend. They were joined at the event by Massachusetts Attorney General and Victory-endorsed candidate Maura Healy and other prominent elected leaders from the surrounding region.

“This was the first time in many years that Victory Fund held an event in P’town, and it certainly won’t be the last. It was a great opportunity to bring changemakers into the room to discuss the importance of strategy for increasing LGBTQ representation in New England and across

“ Victory Fund’s core mission is to get these leaders elected because even in New England, the saying, ‘If you don’t have a seat at the table, then you’re on the menu,’ is still true. ”

the country. Among the speakers was state Senator Julian Cyr, who represents P’town,” says Parker.

The Victory Fund will be hosting a similar event in Provincetown again in September. In the meantime, they are actively seeking local people to help increase the organization’s presence and bring candidates like St. Guillen across the finish line. There are many noteworthy races that deserve the attention of the community. Victory intends to make those races successful.

“Supporting Victory Fund or our candidates with a contribution is the best way to show support. The money we raise goes toward providing resources, campaign advice and financial support to help candidates cross the finish line. You can also support us by joining us at any of our events to meet openly LGBTQ elected officials and candidates who are making changes in their communities and by signing up for the newsletter for updates on local races at www.victoryfund.org.” says Parker. [x]

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FEATURE History STORY Kim Harris Stowell

How Our Rights Were Won The Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights Bill celebrates its 30th This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Bay State’s Gay and Lesbian Civil Right Bill. It granted LGBTQ people basic equal rights in employment, housing, credit and public accommodations. It paved the way for laws protecting LGBT adoption, foster care and marriage equality rights, transgender antidiscrimination, and so much more. This groundbreakinglegislation, passed in late 1989, also set the bar for the rest of the country.

And we owe it entirely to the hard work of grassroots volunteers and the supporters they brought on board, starting from less than scratch.

Arline Isaacson, cochair of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Caucus, was one of these volunteers. Isaacson originally

50 | BOSTON SPIRIT

came to Boston as a Tufts student. “I was going to be a biochemist. Or a physiologist,” she said. “Then, one day in 1983, I volunteered for the Caucus. Back then, it was called the Massachusetts Gay Political Caucus. They were working on what was then called the Gay Rights Bill.”

At her first volunteer lobby day, “I seemed to be lucky enough to get a few votes,” Isaacson said modesty. Impressed by her obvious talent, the Caucus offered her $100 a week for “three days a week,” which quickly turned into six and seven days a week.

“I was passionate,” she said. “I was young, and there was so much to do.”

Having a paid lobbyist changed the game for the Caucus. “Lobbying is such a

relational business,” Isaacson explains.

“It’s about how they feel about you. If you’re reliable they might be more likely to take the information you give them. That is, if they will even meet with you in the first place.”

To accomplish this, Isaacson went to the State House each day dressed in what she calls “full-blown business drag,” which meant dresses and skirts and make-up and jewelry. For the next several years, she would not be seen in the statehouse in pants. “I had pushback from a number of lesbians who called me a sellout,” she said.

“But in order to even get into their offices and talk to them, I had to look like them.

It was a common tactic, to gain ground by looking like your oppressor.”

When the legislators did allow her to come into their offices, there were often motives behind their welcome that no one would want to subject themselves to. One was curiosity: they wanted to see what a real live lesbian looked like. The other

[OPPOSITE] Arline Isaacson [AT PODIUM] on Beacon Hill before a crowd of over 200 activists after Governor Michael Dukakis [LEFT] signed the Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights Bill into law on November 15, 1989. Standing with them [FROM LEFT] key bill supporters Rep. Marjorie Clapprood, Rep. Barbara Hildt, Rep. Mark Roosevelt, Caucus Cochair Steven Tierney, Senator Mike Barrett, Attorney General Jim Shannon, Rep. Lois Pines, Senator William Golden and Rep. Joseph Mackey. PHOTO Marilyn Humphries

thing was, frankly, lewd. “You know, we have always been a consistent presence in straight male erotica,” Isaacson said, “and maybe they got off on it. I was asked questions—in the halls of the Senate, mind you—that one would never hear today, like ‘Are you the man or the woman?’ or ‘What do you girls do?’ Or they might imply that a night with them would turn me back straight. It was a whole different landscape.”

When you got down to it, she said, legislators needed two things: data and arguments that, to us today, would sound archaic.

“It was even a struggle, she said, “and a huge psychological victory for us, to get them to change from calling us homos, to using the word gay. Meanwhile, however,

most of them thought of us as monstrously horrible people.” Hateful pamphlets were being distributed by, among others, the Catholic Church, one depicting a large shirtless man with an ax and an executioner’s mask, staring down at a small child trembling in fear.

Strategy The Caucus was small. “We were sort of a ragtag group—there were maybe 10 of us, with a few people on the periphery who might show up to things.” And it was near impossible to get community members to come in and help with the lobbying. “For one, they had to out themselves publicly. And two, they had to act and dress straight, as I alluded to before.”

So she put together flyers with simple, basic information and language, using material from the American Psychological Association and any church leaders “who said anything even remotely nice,” just to create a comfort level for the legislators, so that, if they dared to vote for the bill, there would be some data to back them up.

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Isaacson referred to it as “meeting people where they are.”

The Caucus also did a massive organizing project, getting anyone they could find to sign a card indicating their support for the bill. The cards were worded carefully.

There were two options. One that said the signer was gay. But they also had an option to sign the other one, which would not out the signer. Volunteers went to every Pride Festival with clipboards, as well as the men’s and women’s dances and the gay bars. And when they went back to the State House with thousands and thousands of cards, which they presented to legislators, who were, “shocked to learn that they had gay people living in their neighborhoods. So it was an exercise in consciousness-raising too,” Isaacson said.

Getting past roadblocks The next challenge to overcome was the AIDS crisis. As it grew at an alarming rate, several of those legislators who were supporting the bill changed their votes. And then there was a local foster care scandal, reported salaciously by the media, all

because two gay men were fostering two little boys. “They were perfect parents, but the front-page headline in the Boston Globe caused many to rise up in anger and fear, and the kids were taken out of the home. It became national news. So that was a backslide too, and we knew we would have to fight for the right to adopt and foster kids.”

At the same time, some of the queer newspapers ran stories about NAMBLA, an organization that condoned sexual activity between men and boys. And to top it off, there was Gary Studds, the first openly gay congressman, who admitted to a relationship with a 17-year-old page. “It was like a perfect storm, the confluence of all those things caused a tremendous backlash. It took a long time to overcome it,” she recalled.

But overcome it they did and, remarkably, after a legislative battle of almost two decades, the bill passed in the House. The Caucus had made deals with some legislators to abstain on certain votes, which was enough to appease the hold-outs.

Now the bill had to go to the Senate.

The president of the Senate at that time was William Bulger, a conservative, Irish Catholic from South Boston and the brother of notorious organized crime boss Whitey Bulger. “Bulger did not want this bill to pass,” she remembered.

“It was against everything he believed, and he was persuading others to vote against it. So a group of legislators came up with a strategy to use filibusters and parliamentary rules to block us, again and again and again. This was a real setback, but we would not be stopped. We learned parliamentary rules ourselves, and began to lobby on that.”

“We got death threats, many of which we didn’t take seriously. But it got worse and worse; endless phone calls, and it seemed that Whitey Bulger’s people were behind some of them.” At one point, a reporter was assigned to write a smear article about Isaacson.

But through all these trials and tribulations, Isaacson knew she had to keep fighting. “If I backed down, someone else would pick up the fight, but they’d have to go all the way back to the beginning.”

What kept her going? “I was lucky enough to get some people to change their minds, which really gave me confidence— and when it’s working, you don’t want to stop. We could see the light at the end of

52 | BOSTON SPIRIT

Protesters marching for gay and lesbian civil rights legislation, 1987. PHOTO Marilyn Humphries the tunnel. We kept coming back, again and again, hoping that, if nothing else, they might just get exhausted.”

Using every strategy they could come up with, the Caucus continued to fight, and the bill finally did pass the Senate in 1989.

There were, however, some concessions added at the last minute to appease those senators who were still on the fence. One of these was a provision declaring that the state did not endorse homosexuality or recognize homosexual partnerships. Isaacson and the others knew full well how offensive the amendments were, but they knew they had to negotiate, and that those hold-outs could be persuaded. In the end, the bill, first introduced in 1973, passed in November 1989.

Looking back, Arline speaks glowingly about the involvement of allies. “We needed straight people to support us, and we needed religious institutions to back

us. We never would have made it without them.” Isaacson also credits the many unsung heroes who laid the groundwork before she came along, fighting an even more dangerous battle than she.

The first domino Thirty years later, the Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights Bill remains a very important document. “It was a critical first step, that first domino that set things in motion. We never would have gotten to adopt kids, or have the right to marry, if we could still get fired from our jobs,” Isaacson said. And she is aware that there are many in the LGBTQ community who have no idea that this work was done for them.

“I do believe,” said Isaacson, “that my experience will inform people in some other battle in the future.” [x]

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SEASONAL Weddings STORY Scott Kearnan

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54 | BOSTON SPIRIT

April

WARD-STANBROOK “The Offbeat Officiant” apriljp.com, 508-667-0866 LGBTQ couples grow up in a world that too often tries to invalidate their love.

So it makes perfect sense that finding an inclusive officiant—someone who will preside over the symbolic foreverforging of their bond—is one of the most daunting elements in wedding planning. Luckily, there’s Ward-Stanbrook, a Justice of the Peace, ordained minister of the Universal Life Church— and extremely proud ally. Working through Massachusetts and Rhode

Why did you become an officiant?

I have always loved weddings. Everything about them. It had been years since my own wedding, and I realized that I missed it. I missed the planning, even though it made me want to pull my hair out at times. I took a look at the wedding industry, and for some reason I wondered if I had it in me to be an officiant. I felt like there was something missing in the market. A creative, offbeat and truly open-minded individual who would welcome all couples.

How have your own experiences impacted how you work with LGBTQ folks?

I grew up in a small town in Massachusetts and during my pre-teen and teenage years, had my fair share of being the “new kid” at different schools in different towns. I was always a little awkward, never belonging to any one particular

group or clique, marching to the beat of my own drum. I made friends and showed compassion to others who may have been bullied or were left out.

I knew what it felt like to be different, and I didn’t want others to feel alone.

Those experiences helped shape me into who I am today. I work with LGBTQ clients the same as I would with anyone: with kindness, an open mind and an open heart.

What are some unique ways you’ve seen LGBTQ couples update traditions?

I welcome all of my couples to have a ceremony as unique as they are. I think the composition of the wedding party is definitely one way couples have updated tradition. Gender-specific roles aren’t necessary. This past September, I officiated a ceremony at the magical Spohr Gardens in Falmouth. My colorful brides had their moms as flower girls, tossing dried rose petals as they made their way to the dock I was standing on. It was a really beautiful moment.

[CONTINUES 56]

JUSTIN EDWARD ADAMS

Island, Ward-Stanbrook has built a rep for creating ceremonies with LGBTQ couples, one so strong that she recently won a WeddingWire Couples’ Choice Award for her work. Plus, her sweetness and style—anchored by vintage-cool fashions, red-magenta hair and a few tattoos—brings excellent energy to an event. We take her to be one awesome officiant.

MAR | APR 2020 | 55

TIM CORREIRA PHOTOGRAPHY

e BTQ couples integrat How have you seen LG ? their wedding Pride or activism into y for two brides on on I officiated a cerem o days after the US June 28, 2015, just tw that all state bans Supreme Court ruled e were unconstituon same-sex marriag -sex marriage in tional, legalizing same d of the ceremony, en all 50 states. At the r d now by the powe right after I said, “An of h alt we Common vested in me by the of my brides added, e on s,” ett Massachus ca!” It was a great “and now all of Ameri lots of cheers. ed moment that receiv

s in ceremonies that What are some trend you’re seeing? onies are becoming Handfasting cerem , and I love perform increasingly popular ing them. challenges you see What are the biggest pared to their nonLGBTQ couples face, com LGBTQ peers? m those who they Handling rejection fro them. Many times in thought supported uples I have heard meetings with my co heart. Close family stories that break my

Bryan

FINNOCIO

Founder and creative director, 33 Munroe 33munroe.com As an event planner, Finocchio spent years orchestrating lavish fashion shows, charity fundraisers and corporate occasions.

Weddings, on the other hand, were not on his radar; he was “afraid” to enter that daunting arena, he admits. But after he met his now-husband, Finocchio began to apply all that professional expertise to coordinating his own special day. Surprise! He unexpectedly fell in love with

56 | BOSTON SPIRIT

really want to be a members who they day, refuse to be pres part of their special e th for t or pp su k of ent, or show their lac lifestyle. I tell them or s ion cis de s le’ coup love them will be ly that those who tru em on, supporting the ones cheering th with them on their them and celebrating wedding day.

the process, which resulted in an amazing ceremony and reception at Boston’s buzzy Liberty Hotel. Now Finocchio’s boutique Massachusetts firm, which specializes in events and floral design, is the perfect avenue to help other happy couples craft stylish, sophisticated soirées that’ll leave every guest swooning.

How has your LGBTQ identity impacted the way you work with wedding clients?

I didn’t come out until I was in college.

At first I was very confused—probably, like most. I grew up with theater and dance around me; it was always a group of accepting people. But it wasn’t until I met my now-husband 11 years ago that I

was proud to be who I was. It is important to realize that everyone has a different coming-out story, and everyone has different family dynamics because of it. Be sensitive and aware.

What are some unique ways you’ve seen LGBTQ couples update traditions?

The biggest trend seems to be having a close friend or family member officiate the wedding, making it very personal.

Traditions are important—but no matter

Just like any couple, do your research and if funds allow, hire a planner instead of just using your venue’s coordinator BRYAN FINNOCIO

[CONTINUES 58]

MAR | APR 2020 | 57

[FROM 57] if they are LGBTQ or heterosexual weddings, everyone aims to be different!

What are some of your favorite LGBTQ-owned or LGBTQ-friendly vendors you love to work with and recommend?

DJ T-Rex—Thomas White—is a really amazing guy with lots of passion and lots of experience. DJ El Sid is so good at what he does.

Nicole Chan Photography is super fun and so precise—keeps to the timeline down to the second. I love venues like Glen Magna Farms in Danvers and the Liberty Hotel.

And if you’re looking for an outside catering company, Forklift Catering is incredible.

What’s the most important tip you have for LGBTQ couples planning a wedding?

Just like any couple, do your research and if funds allow, hire a planner instead of just using your venue’s coordinator. A coordinator does help with day-of wedding logistics, with a focus on catering and food timing. But by hiring a planner, you can ensure that all your details are taken care of and your timeline is strictly adhered to—plus we can assist 12-plus months ahead of time! Planners can also help find ways to cut costs, and they sometimes work with preferred vendors who may offer a small discount.

What are the biggest challenges you see LGBTQ couples face, compared to their non-LGBTQ peers?

I haven’t met any challenges when planning an LGBTQ wedding. I fear that in the past there were many challenges. But I find now that most people accept LGBTQ couples with open arms. With any couple, I always give a pep talk the week of their wedding. My advice is usually this: “Remember that it is your day and it is all about the two of you. It is your day to share your love with close family and friends.”

Josef

ROGERS

Founder and creative director, Contagious Events contagiousevents.net, 617-910-0745 It’s appropriate that Rogers would name his Boston-based company Contagious Events—because you can’t help but catch his enthusiasm. Growing up, the gay Scituate, Massachusetts native always loved the process of planning a good time—whether he was helping his mom set up for family holidays, or organizing pep rallies as a member of his high school student council. But then he reached the professional world, where his work as a meeting planner just didn’t offer enough room for creativity. Wedding planning became his outlet, and he started “gifting” his services to friends. Today, Rogers and his small team helps design and plan over 20 weddings and other events annually—spreading his sweet passion far and wide.

What do you consider to be your proudest highlights in working with LGBTQ weddings?

Every wedding in my portfolio evokes a sense of pride, for one reason or another.

As a collection, what I’m most proud of is that my portfolio is very eclectic: it’s a collection of all different couples, from all different backgrounds, each with their own dream vision of their wedding day that I was able to bring to life.

Some planners have this belief that their portfolio should have a cohesive, clear

GORMAN PHOTOGRAPHY

design throughout all their weddings, but I disagree. I am a firm believer that every couple has their own story to tell, and the wedding is where we get to tell that story to their closest friends and family members through design. No two couples have the same story.

Can you think of a wedding where you pulled off something particularly romantic, unique or challenging?

One wedding that stands out was in the White Mountains region of New Hampshire. We had two grooms who were unapologetically themselves and allowed us to weave that personality into their wedding day: from hanging a Pride flag in the hotel lobby—an accomplishment in and of itself, as we had a bit of pushback from hotel staff, though we prevailed in the end—to having Latrice Royale from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” do a surprise performance and open the dance floor.

What are some unique ways you’ve seen LGBTQ couples update traditions?

One favorite is the ring-warming ceremony. This is where your wedding bands are passed among your guests during the ceremony. As they hold the rings, guests are encouraged to silently say a prayer, blessing or wish for the couple. By the time the rings make it to the front for the couple to exchange, they’ve been “warmed” by the people they care about most. This is a great tradition for couples who find themselves wanting a “spiritual but not religious” ceremony.

GORMAN PHOTOGRAPHY

How can LGBTQ couples integrate Pride or activism into their wedding?

We donate leftover flowers to Good Shepherd, a nonsectarian hospice organization that supports the LGBTQ community. So, all of our weddings, whether LGBTQ or not, have an element of activism and giving back. Many couples are now choosing to make a donation to a nonprofit in lieu of guest favors, and I think that’s a really great trend that I hope stays around. Now that we have marriage in all 50 states, a great cause to support would be family equality—organizations working to ensure LGBTQ couples can adopt and/or become foster families.

What are some of your favorite LGBTQowned or LGBTQ-friendly vendors you love to work with and recommend?

Couples getting married want to work with quality vendors who are going to overdeliver and make the couple feel like they are being taken care of. When I’m seeking vendors for my couples, this takes precedence over whether or not the company is LGBTQ-owned or operated.

Having said that, I do work with a number of vendors who are LGBTQ owned, including Flou(-e)r in Woburn, Massachusetts.

e now r a s e l p cou donaMany a e k a to m choosing onprofit in n tion to a st favors, and gue lly a lieu of e r a ’s t tha hope I think I t a h t nd great tre d. n JOSEF ROGERS u o r a s y a st MAR | APR 2020 | 59

STEPHANIEALVAREZEWENSPHOTOGRAPHY

Stacey

LEE

Owner and designer, Paeonia Designs paeoniadesigns.com, 508-808-1044 When choosing flowers for your wedding, it’s obviously important to stay within your budget. But unlike many other floral designers, Stacey Lee will also help you minimize the cost to Mother Nature. In a country where about 80-percent of flowers sold are imported, Lee launched Paeonia Designs to work almost exclusively with American-grown flowers—sourcing sustainably from local farms to reduce our carbon footprint. Lee’s Massachusetts business is also chemical-free, solar powered and committed to composting and recycling, among other efforts. It’s no wonder: Lee’s previous career was as a civil engineer specializing in stormwater pollution prevention. So responsible floral design is the perfect reflection of their true love: Mother Nature.

How do you help LGBTQ couples work around their unique challenges?

As a nonbinary person, I know the discomfort of heading into any formal event that is traditionally gendered, such as a wedding, and feeling a bit lost throughout the planning process—never mind the wardrobe! Working with vendors you believe in and trust can really make the process that much easier to enjoy. When working with clients, I keep all forms and language ungendered and untitled from

[CONTINUES 62] 60 | BOSTON SPIRIT

MAR | APR 2020 | 61

[FROM 60]

the get-go. Same goes for who gets the VIP wearables, as there are lots of people, LGBTQ or not, who have strained or no relationships with their parents, siblings and blood relatives. Sometimes chosen families look a whole lot different from what the mainstream wedding industry sells you.

What trends are you seeing in LGBTQ wedding florals?

With a lot of gendered traditions being replaced in LGBTQ weddings, the wedding party is also becoming much more varied.

Not relegated to a tux or a particular puffy-shouldered dress, wedding attendants are encouraged to choose clothes that make them feel comfortable yet look coordinated on the big day. Florals can help pull this look together. A few of the same blooms throughout a mix of bouquets, boutonnieres, pocket squares, floral crowns and any other wearable or

62 | BOSTON SPIRIT

holdable can really pull the whole group together—regardless of who is standing where and no matter what they’re wearing. So decorate your people in whichever way you and they like best!

What are some unique ways you’ve seen LGBTQ couples update traditions?

One of my favorite, unique readings at a ceremony is a passage from the Goodridge court decision that lead to marriage equality in Massachusetts. Chief Justice Margaret Marshall eloquently and beautifully outlined what civil marriage is. It is still a profound moment to hear those words read out loud during a wedding ceremony that wasn’t legal just two decades ago.

How can LGBTQ couples integrate Pride or activism into their wedding?

One of my favorite ways is using the wedding favor for good. Instead of spending a bunch of money on fancy wrapped chocolates or personalized wineglasses, frisbees or koozies that most of your

guests will never use, make a donation to an organization you believe in. There are hundreds—like The Trevor Project, GLAAD and It Gets Better Project—who could put that money to better use to benefit LGBTQ people. Both you and your guests can feel great about it. A simple framed sign next to the guest book or a small printed card on each place setting alerts your guests to your generosity and compassion.

How can couples maximize their florals budget?

Work with seasonally available flowers in order to get the best and most beautiful product for your day. [Also], if you can’t afford 20 table centerpieces laden with your favorite expensive dahlias, put a few in the arrangements of your head/sweetheart table, ceremony florals or bouquets so they’re included in pieces you will end up looking at frequently during the day and treasure in photos for years to come.

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Raymond

FELTON

Creative director, Nicole Simeral & Co. simeralco.com, 617-699-9791 At 28 years old, Felton has established quite a career—and it’s still just beginning to blossom. He discovered a love for floral design when he was only 14, pursued his passion, and eventually joined the teams at high-end Boston companies like Winston Flowers and Marc Hall Design. Since then, though, his experience has broadened to encompass all aspects of event planning, and he’s now creative director for an incredibly in-demand event design firm with offices in Quincy, Massachusetts and West Palm Beach, Florida. Nicole Simeral & Co. specializes in destination weddings, and has staged stellar celebrations throughout the world—so naturally, this team knows exactly how to make you feel on top of the world.

What are some creative tips you have for LGBTQ couples to maximize their budget?

Keep in mind that there are no rules, and get creative in thinking about every aspect of the wedding. For instance, is a member of the band willing to officiate the ceremony? Can the musicians for the ceremony provide the microphone for the vows? One of the biggest things I tell my couples is that the size of the guest list will have the biggest impact on the quality of the wedding. While some people are very popular and want all of their friends and family at their wedding, I am constantly reminding people that love is an intimate thing. The most important

64 | BOSTON SPIRIT

part of the wedding is the marriage itself; the rest is all just icing on the cake.

What are some of your favorite LGBTQowned or LGBTQ-friendly vendors you love to work with and recommend?

I am lucky because so many individuals in the wedding industry are LGBTQ or women-owned companies. My former employer Marc Hall would be a great choice for well-to-do LGBTQ couples; he

designs incredibly imaginative botanical sculptures. Jimmy Guzman is another wonderful gay floral artist. The Catered Affair is owned by Holly Stafford whose gay son Andrew Marconi currently runs the company. Michelle Gubitosa who owns PHI Design group is another incredibly talented individual and member of the LGBTQ community.

One of the biggest things I tell my couples is that the size of the guest list will have the biggest impact on the quality of RAYMOND FELTON the wedding

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Delicate details Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket? Do couples you’ve worked with have a preference for a New England destination wedding?

Honestly, it comes down to personal preference.

Any time I have clients who come to me with hopes of having a wedding on one of the islands, the challenges are always the same: Transporting your guests has to be thoroughly planned and well communicated, lodging and accommodations need to be arranged for well in advance, and the budget has to be healthy. Yes, there are local vendors on both islands, but ultimately, the cost of transporting everything (even everyday goods) is factored into all costs, and therefore, the pricing is higher than what you see on the “mainland.” Both islands are beautiful, both offer a variety of options in all areas, and it’s a great setting for couples that would like to have a “destination” wedding without the hours of travel and burdens that come with international travel.

By incorporating various unique shapes, stones and settings into a wedding ring, it’s never been easier to let your individuality shine. Big stones or small, you can choose from an array of shapes—oval, round, emerald, marquise, pear...

The way stones are set in the band is also a feature to think about when choosing a band personal to you. Whether it is channel set, bezel set, shared prong, pave or bar set, the setting is key for picking something that speaks to you. Adding a second band to the mix only enhances your unique style.

Mixed Metals Experts at the event can help you find the combination that reflects your personality.

Instead of the traditional plain gold or platinum bands, many are exploring more interesting bands, more personal to them.

The easiest way to choose a unique band is by opting for one with mixed metals.

Among the materials to mix and match are Damascus steel, palladium, titanium and carbon fiber in addition to platinum, white gold, yellow gold and rose gold.

If the variety of mixed metal options seems overwhelming, a dark band is very trendy and still different from a traditional-looking plain band.

This darker look is achieved by incorporating carbon fiber, black titanium, or even the raw materials of a gun barrel.

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Any wedding etiquette that you think is particularly important to keep in mind for LGBTQ weddings?

While I cannot stress enough how important it is to pick and choose which traditions line up with your values, it’s also important to address people properly, especially on an invitation. Remember to respect people’s pronouns—always! And read

[CONTINUES 66] MAR | APR 2020 | 65

Leroy and Jason POWELL AND BURKE [FROM 65] up on the proper ways of addressing non-heterosexual couples before mailing your invitations, so you make sure you are creating an inclusive space from the start.

How have you seen LGBTQ couples integrate Pride or activism into their wedding?

I think weddings are a great time to express yourself. For instance, I had a lesbian couple shoot confetti that said “Resist” on it at the end of their ceremony.

I loved that. However in many ways the integration of Pride can be expressed in more subtle ways such as the wording of the vows and speeches during dinner.

We’ve even created a wedding tent with LGBTQ Pride flags on its peaks!

What are some unique ways you’ve seen LGBTQ couples update traditions?

I think the best way LGBTQ couples can go about incorporating wedding traditions is by going full force into the traditions they enjoy—regardless of whether or not the tradition was designed for heteronormative couples. So whether it has to do with parent dances, welcoming speeches, or one of them wearing white and the other wearing black, it all speaks to the freedom of what we can do. Whether you want to totally re-write the rules of wedding traditions or adapt traditions to fit you, I love creating a safe environment for brides and grooms to express their love and feel comfortable conceptualizing their wedding day.

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Owners and stylists, Powell & Burke powellandburke.com

Some couples simply work together better than others—in this case, quite literally. As hairstylists, Leroy Powell and Jason Burke have plenty of experience making lovebirds look and feel beautiful for their big day. After all, they know firsthand how important a wedding is: They were married a year and a half ago at rustic-cool Race Brook Lodge in the gorgeous Berkshires. But they also style clients together all day, every day, at their salon on Newbury Street in Boston.

Yes, somehow, they manage to run a business as well as a relationship: “We’re together 24/7,” says Burke. And who better to help couples put their best tresses forward than a duo who can even make working with your spouse look good?

What are some unique ways you’ve seen LGBTQ couples update traditions?

Jason: For our wedding, in addition to having the venue make cakes, we invited our guests to bring dessert favorites—old family recipes or any type of goodies that brings them good memories. It was great to have people sharing their histories with each other.

Another awesome new tradition we were part of at the wedding of two men: Leroy’s two male clients decided to book us the day of their wedding to style the wonderful women they have in their lives! Moms, sisters, friends, nieces—all got to have a day of beauty while the guys got to enjoy the day

with them even before the wedding began!

Leroy: One tradition that seems to be blurring for LGBTQ couples is “not seeing each other’ before the walk down the proverbial aisle! At most of the LGBTQ weddings we have been a part of, the couple spend the day together enjoying their time with family and loved ones.

What’s the biggest piece of styling advice you have for LGBTQ weddings?

Jason: My best styling advice for LGBTQ people is to stay yourself! Do not feel like you have to wear a white gown or matching tuxedos to make your day official. So many people have their own bias about what you should be doing—and how to do it—on that day.. Don’t listen to them. Make a plan with your partner that you both love, and keep that plan.

Any wedding etiquette that you think is particularly important to keep in mind for LGBTQ weddings?

Leroy: Ask questions! What does the couple choose to be referred to as? Never assume you’re styling two

brides. And on that note, it’s time we do away with terms like “Bridal Suite.”

What are some of the most creative tips or ideas you have for LGBTQ couples to maximize their budget?

Jason: Do as much as you can on your own. There are many ways you can rely on people to help!

Leroy: Luckily, in the LGBTQ community, you tend to find lots of creative people.

Maybe you can barter some talent or skill

you may have! Narrow down your priorities—do not fall prey to social norms.

What are some of the biggest challenges that you find LGBTQ couples face from a styling perspective?

Jason: LGBTQ people sometimes have a different need for their wedding because they may have not always have a vision of what that day would be.

Leroy: Helping people feel their best self is most important. Usually having a great consultation and a trial or two is the best way to easily solve that challenge.

MAR | APR 2020 | 67

Mark

HALEY

President and owner, Above and Beyond Catering aboveabc.com, 617-426-5999 For more than 20 years, Haley’s catering business has been a go-to for major events throughout the Boston area, owing to its owner’s truly rare gift for hospitality. That makes sense: After all, once upon a time, Haley studied hotel restaurant management at University of Massachusetts Amherst. But he quickly discovered that he wanted to create more meaningful connections with those helped, and wound up working for a catering company in Provincetown right out of college. “I got a real satisfaction working for and with people at the happiest and saddest times of their lives,” says Haley. Now, with Above and Beyond—based out of Boston’s South End—he continues to show that he’ll do anything to make an event memorable.

How has your LGBTQ identity impacted the way you work?

To be LGBTQ is a blessing. I know what it feels like to be rejected. In starting my own catering company, my dream was to have an all gay company. That is hard to do, because I do not discriminate, so the straights are here too—and we love them, obviously! I like to think my company is a safe haven for all. The one thing I always teach everyone to say is: “Who are you marrying?” Because you never know who that person fell in love with, and we

68 | BOSTON SPIRIT

never attach a gender to the question.

We are forever learning and evolving.

What has been one of your most memorable LGBTQ weddings?

Sometime after 2004, I got a call from a woman from Jamaica Plain. They had been together for 30 years. I got to see them get married and I teared up. You have to remember we could not get married a few months before—it was not legal. People take so much for granted

now. It honestly makes me mad. The young people need to realize it was not even a lifetime ago that they had no rights as LGBTQ people. It should be a part of each person to fight for equality. Make it a point to do something, anything. The administration right now is trampling us.

Don’t think someone else is going to do the work. Every action you can do, you must do. Voting is a first step.

[CONTINUES 70]

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J. WESSEL PHOTOGRAPHY

[FROM 68]

What are some of your favorite LGBTQowned or LGBTQ-friendly vendors you love to work with and recommend?

I find we are lucky to be in a bubble of acceptance in our industry here in Massachusetts. I do not think I have had one bad experience with a vendor. I do know if you pick us, we are not perfect but we strive to be—and we learn every day from our mistakes. I can say proudly that one of my employees recently approached me about a certain job we do every year.

The concern was that they did not want to use the wrong pronouns with the attendees. I told them we can only do our best and if they do not know they can ask or call them by their name. For them to stress over pronouns is the utmost sign of respect for our community.

How have you seen LGBTQ couples integrate Pride or activism into their wedding?

I think every LGBTQ wedding is an act of a political nature. It shows we love just like everyone else. It should not be political, but it is because it is not accepted like it should be. It probably changes more minds than we know. It brings a normalcy to our love for those who are not used to seeing us love, kiss, hold hands. It challenges relatives, friends and friends of friends to think about and digest what they witnessed. When was the last time you had to think about taking your significant others hand in public?

70 | BOSTON SPIRIT

Harper

DELLA-PIANA Owner, designer and couturiere, Seams Couture seamscouture.com Everything about your wedding should be specifically tailored to you—especially your attire. That’s where DellaPiana enters the picture: The Providence, Rhode Island-based couturiere stitches together amazing custom gowns and bespoke suits that reflect the unique, individual personalities of their wearer.

And this proud ally has established quite a rep with LGBTQ folks, thanks to her inclusive approach and ability to imbue style and sophistication to every dazzling garment—whether she’s designing a dramatic dress, a supersnazzy vest with pants, or something else entirely. Maybe that creativity comes with the experience she earned as a professional costumer for film, TV and stage productions, including time as wardrobe supervisor for Late Show with David Letterman. She’ll certainly make you look like a star.

What are some of the biggest challenges that you find for LGBTQ couples?

Well, there have been various “my mother wants me to wear X” discussions, when I can see my client is really reluctant but feels obligated to make a parent happy. How do you navigate that? Why are you wearing a skirt for

this one day, when you never wear them otherwise? Is there some other way to appease and still be you? Wear the pants!

What’s the biggest piece of advice you have for LGBTQ clients?

Do your budget homework together.

Read the website info for all potential vendors before contacting. Be on the same page together about the event, maybe even divvy up the responsibilities depending on your interests and strengths. I’m saying this because every once in a while, I’ll start with, say, Bride #1 and everything sounds great—we get the creative click happening. Then Bride #2 chimes in with the opposite idea.

Clearly something is wrong on their end in communication with each other. That sort of thing can only escalate in planning a wedding!

What are some creative tips you have for LGBTQ couples to maximize their budget?

When it comes to the bridal party, unless you’re willing to just give them a color palette and let them do their own thing, know that anything else you want

[CONTINUES 72]

J. WESSEL PHOTOGRAPHY

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J. WESSEL PHOTOGRAPHY

[FROM 70]

them to wear is an expense. Custom suits and gowns aren’t in their budget—unless you know they can seriously afford it—so look into rentals if you want a uniform look. Then buy all of them matching accessories as a gift.

What are some of the experiences you’ve had that made you such an LGBTQ ally?

I grew up in the Boston area and New York City. My LGBTQ friends and family have always been a part of my life. When I was little I thought costume parties and

vacations in P’town and Fire Island were something everyone did! It wasn’t until high school, when some friends were struggling with their families, that I really understood what their life was like. Some of my friends had to leave home too young and BAGLY [The Boston Alliance of LGBTQ+ Youth] was their only resource at the time. We were part of the punk and goth crowd in Boston in the ’80s, so there was an early network of us taking care of each other to some degree.

How have you seen LGBTQ couples integrate Pride or activism into their wedding?

Custom colored tulle ball skirts and petticoats are a Seams Couture specialty, and we made a Pride rainbow one for a bride!

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CULTURE Ice Dancing STORY Loren King

Magic on Ice Kittery-based Ice Dance International blends athletics and artistry When New Hampshire native and former professional ice skater Douglas Winslow choreographs the company of professional skaters in his Kittery, Mainebased Ice Dance International (IDI), he is never alone.

“We lost so many people who were motivated to do what we do. John Curry, Robert Wagenhoffer, many of the Skating Club of Boston group, my dear friend Brian Wright, Shaun McGill—the list goes on of people who were friends who died of AIDS. I still talk to them; I still hear them and feel their guidance and protective spirit throughout the work we’re doing,” says Winslow, the founder and executive artistic director of IDI. “We lost a whole generation who would be doing what I’m

74 | BOSTON SPIRIT

doing. I feel responsible to continue that legacy of what John [Curry] set out to do.”

Olympic champion Curry, the British skating icon who died of AIDS in 1994, was noted for combining ballet and modern dance into his skating routines.

He later founded two ice dance companies that collaborated with modern dance choreographers such as Twyla Tharp.

Winslow remembers what a transformative experience it was to see Curry’s company perform. Not only did Winslow achieve his own recognition as a young skater growing up in North Conway, New Hampshire, he served in the early ’90s as artistic director of Ice Theater of New York, which Curry founded.

“The Three Smokers.” PHOTO Diana Dumbadse Fast forward to 2014 and Winslow, after leaving New York and settling in Kittery, launched IDI with the mission to “elevate sport to art” and to showcase the work of professional skaters and acclaimed choreographers. Besides Winslow, IDI’s choreographers include American Trey McIntyre, whose company often performs in Boston and at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, and France’s former competitive ice dancer Benoit Richaud who has worked with current top skaters Bradie Tennell, Jeremy Abbott and Daisuke Honda.

Winslow credits productions such as Disney on Ice and Holiday on Ice, both with which he’s worked as a choreographer, for being an entree into ice dancing for young audiences. But with IDI, he wanted to continue Curry’s mission of showcasing the athleticism and artistry of ice dancing beyond family entertainment.

Last year, IDI premiered a new work (on synthetic ice) at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival; the company has also headlined at Aspen Gay Ski Week, Fenway Park,

The National Baseball Hall of Fame, the Fenimore Museum, Rockefeller Center and the Strawberry Banke Museum in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

IDI tours the country and conducts numerous free youth and community programs in New England. Audiences can see the ensemble live in Dover, New Hampshire on March 6. There’s also a residency and performance at the Spruce Peak Arts Center in Stowe, Vermont on March 9–15. The public is invited to all the week’s events. “Skaters want to be involved because they don’t get to be in a company, in an ensemble,” says Winslow of IDI’s ability to attract champion ice skaters. “There are solos and duets, but ensembles are the core of what we do.”

Besides the live shows, Winslow produced, directed and choreographed two specials, shot in Sun Valley and distributed by American Public Television: “The World of Ice Dance International” and “In Flight: The Art of Ice Dance International.” The programs air frequently on New Hampshire and Vermont PBS stations.

“In the Light.” PHOTO Douglas Webster LGBT audiences may have always been aware of the gay energy of ice skating, but Winslow has seen the institutions governing the sport become far less homophobic over the years. He credits public perception and acceptance of LGBT issues in general, and the emergence of “flamboyant and engaging” figure skaters such as two-time Olympian Johnny Weir.

“Judges were also in the closet; now it’s a gift to hear 70-, 75-year-old judges who are open. When I was growing up in North

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Conway, I didn’t know a gay person existed until I was 18 years old. I was bullied, made fun of; I was lost. So I connected to nature and to skating.”

At the same time, “movement styles evolved as did ballet,” he says. “Skating changed from the 1970s to today,” allowing more freedom of expression. “In the ’70s, you could not move your upper body; your back and arms had to be straight.

That’s changed in US figure skating,” says Winslow, who also teaches movement and physical body technique to US figure skaters. “It is more inclusive, and physicality of skating also changed. It’s much more three dimensional and dance-worthy, with nuance and the subtle use of the whole body. The top ice dancers in the world are exquisite but so different than [they were] in the ’60s and ’70s. [Olympic gold medalists] Torvill and Dean started that, but it’s evolved so much.”

IDI continues that evolution. For Winslow, its mission is simple: “We want to inspire everyone to experience the flight, the flow and the joy of skating.” [x]

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CULTURE Books STORY Loren King

Brando with James Baldwin

Meet Marlon Brando Author William J. Mann casts the brilliant and complex actor in a new light Marlon Brando—actor extraordinaire, two-time Oscar winner, Don Corleone himself—is such a cultural icon that most people think they know him. But even author and historian William J. Mann discovered a far more complex and idiosyncratic human being while researching his latest book, “The Contender: The Story of Marlon Brando.”

“I always admired Brando but I didn’t know much about him, except for the movies. I remembered all the eccentricities at the end [of Brando’s life].

His full story had never been told before.

There was so much misinformation about him. I initially wondered, ‘Where do I go with this?’ Eventually, I felt passionate about telling his story,” said Mann, who wrote most of “The Contender” in Provincetown where he lives with husband, Tim Huber.

Mann, who has also written books about Elizabeth Taylor, Barbra Streisand and 1920s openly gay actor William Haines, among others, wanted to connect Brando’s commitment to social and political justice,

76 | BOSTON SPIRIT

and his deep conflicts over his higher purpose and how to use his success, to the contemporary culture.

“I was researching the book in 2016 and ’17…[during] the election and [seeing] what Trump was doing to the Constitution and the rule of law, and suddenly I realized what [Brando] was trying to say. It was more than that he just had an interest in politics; he felt we were living through a crisis and because he was in the public eye, he had an obligation [to take action].”

Native American Sacheen Littlefeather accepting Brando’s best actor Oscar for “The Godfather” may now be a bit of a pop culture joke. But Mann’s book puts it into the context of Brando’s long history of activism going back to his days as a young, unknown stage actor. In 1947, he crisscrossed the country with the American League for a Free Palestine, advocating for a Jewish state in the Middle East. In the early 1960s, he marched in the Deep South, using his celebrity to recruit fellow actors to join him in opposing racist laws.

Brando often risked his career when he rattled the establishment by taking positions such as his virulent opposition to the death penalty.

“The Contender” traces most of Brando’s angels and demons—he was beset by both rage and debilitating depression all his life—back to the beginning, to his troubled childhood first in Omaha and later in Libertyville, Illinois. His mother was an alcoholic (Brando rarely drank) and his father, a traveling salesman also named Marlon Brando, was verbally and physically abusive. Throughout the book, Mann connects the sensitive Brando’s anticapitalist and anti-authoritarian attitudes as “shaped by that difficult, harmful childhood and two neglectful parents.”

“My husband is a psychologist and I asked him, does it sound like Brando was manic-depressive? And he said, it sounds like trauma. You can’t diagnose across decades, of course, but he was a survivor of trauma and had moments of PTSD when he’d explode or retreat and curl up,” Mann says. “Those wounds of childhood prevented him from having a successful, committed relationship, which is sad because he was very lonely.”

Brando was a notorious womanizer who refused to ascribe to the conventions of marriage or monogamy. He also had sexual relationships with men, most notably French actor Christian Marquand.

“According to the publicist Dick Clayton, who was immersed in Hollywood’s gay

subculture, Marlon and Marquand would ‘share a girl between them and afterward keep going themselves,’” writes Mann in his book. “The description fits the flexible, open-minded, no-label sexual outlook by which Marlon always lived his life.”

“There wasn’t the language to talk about it then, so he would not be thinking [about labels such as bisexuality] but he lived it,” says Mann. “He had no shame that he’d had relationships with men. His first impulse was women, notoriously so, but he also understood sex was fluid and about the person and that was ahead of his time. He made no secret of it among his intimates.”

His unique blend of smoldering and sensitive masculinity was irresistible. “The Contender” recounts the moment Brando arrived, unannounced, at the house Tennessee Williams was renting in Provincetown. After an electrifying impromptu audition, Williams had found his Stanley Kowalski for “A Streetcar Named Desire.”

The American theater, and soon screen acting, would be changed forever.

“Before I wrote the scene, I walked down and found the house [in the East End].

William J. Mann. PHOTO Tim D Huber It’s changed a little but it’s still there.

The beach, of course, is exactly the same.

After the audition, Williams and Brando walked on that beach to the pier and back,” says Mann. “Brando hardly spoke a word. I thought, I want to do that walk to get a sense of that morning. I tried to do around the same time, to put me back into Brando’s world.”

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Mann credits Peter Manso’s 1994 book “Brando” with providing some information about the actor’s time in Provincetown, where he lived even before the meeting with Williams, but adds more insight.

“There’s a lot of misinformation. People will say, ‘I think he met Tennessee Williams in the dunes.’” says Mann. “He’d come to Provincetown several summers before that, and he had relationships with both men and women; he put on shows; he got arrested for playing his bongo drums…

I disagreed with some of Manso’s conclusions but he did interview people who knew Brando in Provincetown. Nearly all of them are gone now.”

One of Mann’s key departures with Manso’s view is over Brando’s bisexuality.

Manso “presented it as if Brando was in conflict over it; that it was a dark secret,” says Mann. “Maybe because I’m gay I viewed it through a different lens, or because I talked to different people, but I found no conflict. Brando had many conflicts but sexuality was not one of them.” [x]

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CULTURE Song STORY Loren King Melissa Etheridge. PHOTOS Lauren Dukoff

Still Brave and Crazy Melissa Etheridge loves coming back to Boston Boston is in Melissa Etheridge’s blood. The Grammy and Oscar winner attended Berklee School of Music in the late 1970s and for decades has enjoyed a loyal following

across New England. But Etheridge draws the line at football.

“I was born and raised in Kansas, my friend,” she says in a telephone interview the

day before the Super Bowl.

Etheridge is pumped about the Kansas City Chiefs (the team that, of course, went on to win, beating the San Francisco 49ers). “It’s been a long time since we have not had to come up against the Patriots in the playoffs. But you guys have had [won] enough.”

Etheridge is just as pumped about returning to Boston April 11 with The Medicine Show at Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theatre. The tour also takes Etheridge to Twin River Events Center in

Lincoln, Rhode Island on April 10.

“Boston loves its rock and roll and they have always supported me from the beginning,” Etheridge says. “The radio stations there; ‘BOS, ‘BCN always supported me through the ’80s and ’90s. I always have an amazing time when I play Boston.

“Anyone who comes to see me regularly knows that each show is different when I come through. We’re gonna play the hit songs; we’re gonna rock out but we’ll rock a little differently every time. Boston, especially, knows that.”

The tour is called “The Medicine Show” after her latest album, released in April 2019 from Concord Records. “The Medicine Show” is Etheridge’s 15th studio recording, with new songs that explore themes of renewal, reconciliation, reckoning, compassion and healing on multiple levels.

“I’ll do a few of the songs off ‘Medicine Show’ [but] I call the tour ‘Medicine Show’ because what I’m emphasizing is health right now,” says Etheridge, a cancer survivor.

“It’s a sexy way to talk about taking care of ourselves: taking care emotionally, stressfully, because stress can kill us. As we’re rocking and having a good time, it reminds people, ‘Hey, this is a good time to enjoy yourself and bring more of that into your life.’ It’s a celebration; it’s good medicine.”

The album reunited Etheridge with longtime bandmate and producer John Shanks.

“He’s like my little brother even though we’re the same age. I discovered him; this guitar player I found in a club in

LA. He toured with me in ’88, then in ’93 to 2000, he played with me the whole time. The first album he produced was mine, the ‘Breakdown’ album [in 1999]. I’m so proud of him.

Every now and then I have to go away and do different music and then I come back.

He knows me and I know him so well.”

Etheridge’s live shows are high octane rock and roll revivals packed with hits such as her Grammy-winning “Come to My Window” and “I’m the Only One.” These songs, particularly for LGBTs, provided a life soundtrack starting with Etheridge’s 1988 debut album and her first hit single, “Bring Me Some Water.”

Etheridge scoffs at any notion that, even at age 58, performing for her fans is work.

“That’s the fun part. The work is the bus rides and the traffic,” she says. “The great part is getting up on stage and making music for a couple of hours, loving the songs and playing the hits and hearing people scream and holler. I’m gonna do that until I drop.”

Even now, as rock and roll royalty, Etheridge lauds younger women following her path. “I love the artist H.E.R.; she’s amazing. King Princess rocks me; Maggie Rogers is a wonderful singer, songwriter and performer. There’s women in rock and roll now who are completely overlooked by the mainstream—Larkin Poe is a great band. I’m thrilled by women in rock and roll right now.”

A passionate activist for social justice and the environment, Etheridge made headlines when she publicly

came out in 1993. She’s been vocal and visible in the fight for LGBT equality ever since; she was among the headliners in 2000 at the Human Rights Campaign’s Equality Rocks concert at the Millennium March on Washington. Activism may be integral to her life and work, but Etheridge says her music is never preachy.

“I don’t want to say people have to do this or should do that—that’s what kills a song.

A song needs to lift up and inspire. If I can find my own inspiration in what happened today, I can write from that and be inspirational to others,” she says.

“I know how far we’ve come.

I’ve seen the change. I was in Boston in the late ’70s and early ’80s when Take Back the Night was marching… My first moments of feminism were in Boston… Of course, there’s backlash. I’ve lived long enough to see the ebb and flow.

I completely understand how we ended up with Trump: he was willing to blame all of us, the ‘others,’ the gays, the liberals, the immigrants. We can see them doing it in plain sight.

But there is a whole generation growing up [including] my 23-year-old daughter who sees this happening and will move us forward. So I am hopeful …

There are more loving people in the world than fearful.”

For Etheridge, it always comes back to the music. “I’m so grateful I can still go out and people want to experience that and have fun,” she says. “I love that people are inspired by my music. I’m 58 years old and in my prime.” [x]

melissaetheridge.com/events

CULTURE Film STORY Loren King

Rising Up ReelAbilities spotlights films about people dealing with physical and mental challenges If LGBTs are underrepresented on screen, then LGBTs who are physically and mentally challenged are practically nonexistent. That’s where ReelAbilities comes in.

Founded in 2007, it is the largest festival in the US dedicated to countering the invisibility of people with different abilities and promoting awareness and appreciation of their lives, stories and artistic expressions.

One of the most compelling of these individuals is Prince Amponsah, a Toronto based actor who nearly lost his life when his apartment was gutted by fire in 2012. Amponsah suffered burns over most of his body and parts of both his arms had to be amputated.

He is the subject of two short films in ReelAbilities Boston,

which runs March 22 to April 2 at area venues including the West Newton Cinema, the Coolidge Corner Theater and Showcase Revere.

Amponsah will be the special guest March 23 for a 7 p.m. screening at the West Newton Cinema of the documentary “Prince’s Tale,” a 16-minute documentary directed by Jamie Miller. The film profiles Amponsah as he slowly recovered and rebuilt his life and career after the devastating fire. The actor talks about how he found the courage to appear on stage in front of audiences despite his scars and amputations. The film premiered at the 2018 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival where it won the

80 | BOSTON SPIRIT

award for Best Canadian Short Documentary.

Amponsah makes his screen acting debut in Canadian director Sherren Lee’s “The Things You Think I’m Thinking,” a 15-minute drama in which Amponsah plays Sean, a burn survivor trying to get himself back into the dating world since the fire 10 years earlier that left him badly scarred. Sean goes to a bar with Caleb (Minneapolis native Jesse LaVercombe who also wrote the film) then they go back to Caleb’s apartment where Sean faces his demons as he attempts to experience intimacy for the first time since the accident that changed his life.

“The Things You Think I’m Thinking” won the Grand Jury Award for Best International Narrative Short Film at Outfest 2018, the AWFJ EDA Award at the Whistler Film Festival 2017 and the Special Jury Prize at the Canadian

Film Festival 2018, among other accolades.

ReelAbilities has been hosted by Boston Jewish Film Festival since 2011, and has partnered with Wicked Queer for the screenings of these two short films. The screening is free to those who RSVP at reelabilities.org/boston/films/ ReelAbilities will screen many other international shorts and features that examine the complexities of facing life’s challenges while being differently abled, including two US documentaries.

Salome Chasnoff’s “Code of the Freaks” (screens March 24 at 6 p.m., Cambridge Public Library) is a blistering critique of Hollywood representations of disabled characters. In spite of a history fractured by institutionalization, isolation and segregation from the rest of humanity, the disability community has emerged to build a political and cultural movement.

“Prince’s Tale” [OPPOSITE] Prince Amponsah [BELOW] “Code of the Freaks”

CHAMPIONS PLACES YOU IN THE CENTER OF THE ACTION

Director Josh Aronson’s “To Be of Service” (screens March 25 at 6:30 p.m. at Showcase Revere) is a feature length documentary about war veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder ( PTSD) who are paired with a service dog to help them regain their lives. These vets’ experience of returning home is often wrought with depression and a wrenching disconnect from the world they once inhabited.

But through extraordinary personal effort and scholarship programs, thousands of vets have been paired with trained service dogs and the outcomes have been life changing.

Also on tap is “Champions,” a scripted feature from Spain directed by Javier Fesser.

It stars Javier Gutiérrez as Marco Montes, an ambitious assistant coach for a Spanish basketball team who is sentenced to community service after he hits a police car while he’s driving drunk.

Montes is tasked with coaching an amateur basketball team that’s made up of players with varying intellectual disabilities. A box office smash in Spain, “Champions” was Spain’s 2019 submission to the foreign language Oscars. It screens April 11 at 7 p.m. at the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown. [x]

reelabilities.org/boston/films/

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CULTURE Film STORY Loren King

Everything Old Is New Again Adventurous ‘Wicked Queer’ keeps growing its audience One of the hallmarks of Wicked Queer: The Boston LGBT Film Festival is mixing old and new. It’s one of the reasons that the festival, celebrating its 36th year, which makes it one of the oldest continuously running LGBT film festivals in the country, remains consistently fresh and relevant.

Running April 2–12 with screenings at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Brattle Theatre and other area venues, this year’s event includes a rare big screen showing of writer-director Toshio Matsumoto’s 1969 avant garde queer classic “Funeral Parade of Roses.”

Evocative of Andy Warhol’s experimental movies, the strange and subversive “Funeral Parade of Roses” is set in the underground gay culture of 1960s Tokyo and centers on a young transvestite, Eddie, who is played by the Japanese actor-singer with the single name of Pita.

The film earned a following for its punkqueer aesthetic that is both connected to the Japanese New Wave of the ’60s and ’70s and also ahead of its time. Matsumoto was influenced by the films of the French

82 | BOSTON SPIRIT

New Wave, especially Jean-Luc Godard’s “Breathless.” Even director Stanley Kubrick acknowledged “Funeral Parade of Roses” as a major inspiration for his landmark “A Clockwork Orange” (1971).

Matsumoto’s film had a direct influence on a new release that also screens in this year’s Wicked Queer, the documentary “Queer Japan.” American director Graham Kolbeins credits “Funeral Parade of Roses” for fostering his “passion for Japanese queer culture” and says the film was a major influence on his own documentary.

“Queer Japan,” which Kolbeins co-wrote with Anne Ishii, takes a kaleidoscopic view of LGBTQ culture in contemporary Japan through interviews with trailblazing artists, activists and everyday people from across the spectrum of gender and sexuality. These profiles include the drag queen Vivienne Sato; transgender activist Tomato Hatakeno; and maverick manga artist Gengoroh Tagame, whose erotic gay comics ended up being Kolbeins’ entree to creating the film.

“Tagame is an artist I’ve admired since I was a lonely teenager, uncertain how I fit into the limited representations of queer life available in the American pop culture landscape of the early 2000s,” says Kolbeins in his director’s statement.

“Stumbling across his work online, I found a shock of recognition in Tagame’s unabashedly homoerotic comics and

those of his fellow artists from the gay magazine ‘G-men.’” Kolbeins travelled to Tokyo in 2012 to interview gay manga artists including Tagame for the anthology “Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It.” Tagame introduced Kolbeins to other Japanese artists and a vibrant LGBTQ subculture that eventually led to “Queer Japan.”

One of the festival’s strengths is its many international features and shorts that depict LGBTQ life in different cultures.

This specificity and universality is thanks to Wicked Queer’s diverse, all-volunteer staff of devoted cinephiles that includes Executive Director Shawn Cotter; Katie Shannon, director of programming; and Diane Griffin, director of shorts programming. James Nadeau, Wicked Queer’s executive director (emeritus) remains active with the festival after passing the reins to Cotter last year.

The 2020 edition again promises a lineup, still being finalized as Boston Spirit went to press, of diverse features, documentaries and shorts spanning all genres.

Cotter estimates there will be more than 50 programming spots; last year, Wicked Queer screened a total of 173 features and shorts.

Besides “Queer Japan” and “Funeral Parade of Roses,” other highlights include the topical “Lingua Franca” from New York-based Filipino transgender filmmaker Isabel Sandoval, a Wicked Queer alum since her first feature “Señorita” (2011). “Lingua Franca,” Sandoval’s third feature and her first since transitioning, had its world premiere at the 2019 Venice International Film Festival, which gave Sandoval the distinction of being the first

[OPPOSITE , LEFT TO RIGHT]

“Queer Japan” PHOTO Wicked Queer Vivienne Sato in “Queer Japan” “Queer Japan” director Graham Kolbeins

openly transgender filmmaker to compete in the prestigious festival.

Sandoval herself stars in “Lingua Franca” as Olivia, a Filipino trans woman trying to figure out a path to US citizenship while working as a caregiver for Olga (Lynn Cohen), an elderly woman in Brooklyn. Olivia’s situation gets complicated when she becomes romantically involved with Olga’s Russian-American grandson, Alex (Eamon Farren).

“All three of my features are about marginalized women who are forced to make intensely personal decisions in a fraught sociopolitical context,” said Sandoval in an interview for the Palm Springs Film Festival when “Lingua Franca” screened there in January. “My second, ‘Apparition,’ was about Catholic nuns in the Philippines in the ’70s during a time of growing political unrest, and [with ‘Lingua Franca’] I wanted to do a chamber drama

Isabel Sandoval in “Lingua Franca” within the context of a very anxious and tense political moment.”

At 36, few major arts events can claim the longevity and audience loyalty of Wicked Queer. Names, acronyms and personnel may have evolved since legendary Boston film programmer George Mansour founded the Boston LGBT Film Festival back in 1984 when films with

gay and lesbian characters were few and far between and trans characters were basically nonexistent. But one thing has remained constant: Wicked Queer is one of New England’s premiere film and community events, providing audiences with adventurous programming they can’t get anyplace else. [x]

wickedqueer.org

CULTURE Visual Art STORY Loren King

Art as Religion Sheila Pepe and Carrie Moyer collaborate for major show at Portland Museum of Art Sheila Pepe and Carrie Moyer, partners in life, are partners in art, too. Each is an acclaimed, widely exhibited artist in her own right—Moyer is a painter; Pepe is a sculptor and creator of mixed media installations—but now the couple has collaborated on their first major show for the Portland Museum of Art (PMA) in Portland, Maine.

“Carrie Moyer and Sheila Pepe: Tabernacles for Trying Times” opened in February and runs to June 7. The exhibition presents a range of abstract paintings, sculptures and installations that incorporate Pepe and Moyer’s personal history of feminist politics and queer activism.

84 | BOSTON SPIRIT

Pepe was connected with Boston’s lesbian feminist community while earning her BFA at Massachusetts College of Art. After many years in Northampton she returned to Boston in 1995 to complete her MFA at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. Pepe, known for her large-scale, conceptual installations and sculptures made from domestic and industrial materials such as string, rope, yarn and shoelaces, is one of 120 artists to be featured in the Metropolitan Museum’s 2016 series “The Artist Project,” a series of video essays in six seasons about works or installations at the Met museum.

Moyer, whose exhibitions include the 2017 Whitney Biennial, is known for vivid paintings on canvas that merge her abstract aesthetics and political imagery, influenced by her background in graphic design and queer activism. Moyer and photographer Sue Schaffner cofounded one of the first lesbian public art projects, “Dyke Action Machine!” in New York City.

From 1991 to 2008, Dyke Action Machine! produced and publicly displayed compelling posters and graphics for LGBT activist organizations such as Queer Nation and Lesbian Avengers.

“Even though they’re working in different mediums, I learned that they have been collaborating since 2011,” so the idea for the joint show made sense, noted Jamie DeSimone, associate curator of contemporary art at the PMA. Although Moyer and Pepe had a dual exhibition in 2004 in New York, where they live, “Tabernacles for Trying Times” was conceived from the beginning as a joint project with site specific installations. “It is a true collaboration,” says DeSimone, citing the

Detail from “Opera Buffa,” by Carrie Moyer and Sheila Pepe. PHOTO Alan Weiner “Hot Mess Formalism,” by Sheila Pepe, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum. PHOTO Clements Photography and Design

[OPPOSITE, LEFT]

[OPPOSITE, RIGHT]

Carrie Moyer and Sheila Pepe (foreground) at Civitella Ranieri Foundation in Italy. PHOTO Marco Giugliarelli

“visual symmetry” of the work on display in the PMA show.

“They joke about [working together] 10 years ago and passing the baton back and forth. But this time, they made choices and decisions together from day one. [The exhibition] was driven by them and by their ideas.”

In “Tabernacles for Trying Times,” the artists use representations of a familiar form of religious furniture, the tabernacle, in their imagery and installations. The idea of a tabernacle is layered with multiple meanings that are both religious and secular. All are on view in art that examines what a tabernacle, altar or sanctuary represents.

The site-specific installation “Parlor for the People” fills the PMA’s Albert Brenner Glickman Galleries with installations from woodworking to welding to fiber art that invite the community to consider these multiple meanings in an inviting and accessible atmosphere, says DeSimone. It will also serve as a site for “Dream Action Factory,” an interactive programming series that brings together

community partners, artists, scholars, students and social organizations to explore how the ideas and issues presented in the exhibition connect us to each other.

This is in keeping with PMA’s initiative of inclusivity, access and equality for both the museum and the community, says DeSimone. The first gallery is an introduction to Pepe and Moyer’s practices, giving viewers a foundation from where they can see the artists’ shared passions. Then the exhibition is divided between Moyer’s paintings and Pepe’s sculptures, collages and small ceramic pieces. Moyer’s “Cloud Buds,” made with acrylic and glitter on canvas, shows why her work has been compared with that of Georgia O’Keefe.

Among Pepe’s installations is “Hot Mess Formalism” which was part of her recent show at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln.

DeSimone is particularly eager for visitors to see “Opera Buffa,” 26 loose-leaf ink and gouache drawings on paper that Moyer and Pepe created in 2019 while in residency in Italy. Churches and altars inspired the works that also display

touches of humor: the letters SPQR—the symbol of the Roman republic—in one corner of a drawing and SPCM, the artists’ initials, in another.

Their first collaboration for the PMA is significant for the artists since both have deep ties to Maine. Pepe, a New Jersey native, and Moyer, who hails from Detroit, met in the mid-1990s at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.

In May, the artists will participate in a lecture at PMA with Richard Meyer, the author (with Catherine Lord) of the book “Art & Queer Culture,” a survey of artwork about the culture of sexual identity. Pepe and Moyer are included among the many important artists in the book that spans more than 130 years of queer art history.

DeSimone says one of her goals is that the PMA exhibition brings Pepe and Moyer to the attention of more people interested in how effectively these two contemporary artists weave timely political and culture themes into their personal expressions. [x]

portlandmuseum.org

MAR | APR 2020 | 85

º

Calendar An Evening with David Sedaris Men’s Event and Dinner Party Break out the penguin suits, cocktail dresses, rainbow feather boas and, of course, dancing shoes. It’s time again to fundraise for Fenway Health, America’s largest LGBTQ-focused health care organization, at these annual soirées that attract A-list social scene types, queer health advocates and hand-shaking politicos, too. Eat, drink, dance and—go ahead!—splurge on some silent and live auction items, knowing that your bid will benefit Fenway patients who need and deserve access to quality, culturally competent health care. And if that doesn’t convince you, one more glass of bubbly might!

WHEN

WHERE

Saturday, March 14 (Men’s Event); Boston Marriott Saturday, April 25 (Dinner Party) Copley Place

From “Naked” to “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” the works of American humorist David Sedaris have continually managed to amuse, engage and illuminate. His self-deprecating style and openness in discussing life as a gay man have especially endeared him to LGBTQ audiences. And Sedaris’s latest tome, “Calypso,” collects essays that address issues like middle-age and mortality, all as the author decides to buy a beach home on the North Carolina coast. Steal some time to spend an evening with Sedaris when he makes a swing through New England states to share stories, engage Q&As and sign some books, too.

WHEN

Wednesday, April 8 (Northampton); Thursday, April 9 (Hartford); Friday, April 10 (Boston); Monday, April 13 (Newport) WHERE

Academy of Music, Northampton, MA; the Bushnell, Hartford, CT; Symphony Hall, Boston; Jane Pickens Auditorium, Newport, RI

HOW

HOW

mensevent.org; womensdinnerparty.org

davidsedarisbooks.com

Dinnerfest Auction Victory Programs is a multi-service nonprofit that works to address myriad issues: homelessness, the opioid epidemic, mental illness and more. But the name of this annual benefit nods to the inception of the Boston Living Center— now part of Victory Programs—as a series of community service dinners that offered care and comfort to those living with HIV/AIDS. Dinnerfest has become a major foodie draw for its silent auction, which features dozens of dining experiences culled from top restaurants around the city. You’ll also find hors d’oeuvres, a JetBlue airfare raffle and a chance to rub elbows with industry VIPs like cochair Elle Simone, the first black woman to join the cast of the hit show “America’s Test Kitchen.”

86 | BOSTON SPIRIT

WHEN

WHERE

HOW

Thursday, April 30

Boston College Club in Boston

vpi.org

Taste of the South End When it comes to dining, Boston’s South End has generally been one of the trendiest (and tastiest) parts of town. If you’re looking for a chance to graze among all the gourmet delights, here’s your chance—Taste of the South End, a fundraiser for AIDS Action Committee. Over 40 restaurants, including sexy steakhouse Boston Chops, Venetian wine bar SRV and tropical tiki bar Shore Leave will dole out delicious dishes while guests sip specialty cocktails and bid on exciting silent auction prizes.

You’ll support the work of a vital organization while also narrowing down your picks for next weekend’s dining reservations. It’s a win-win, really.

WHEN

WHERE

HOW

Tuesday, March 24

Cyclorama, Boston Center for the Arts

tasteofthesouthend.org

Cameron Esposito Fan of lesbian comedian Cameron Esposito’s popular podcast, “Queery,” know how well she can host smart and funny banter with LGBTQ luminaries, from Adam Rippon to Evan Rachel Wood. But here’s your chance to check out the performer solo.

Esposito, who recently released a free, streaming standup special called “Rape Jokes,” which reflects her perspective as a sexual assault survivor, will be flying solo when she takes the stage in Boston. Expect plenty of LGBTQ-themed humor from Esposito, who also has some local ties: She graduated from Boston College.

WHEN

WHERE

HOW

Thursday, March 26

Wilbur Theater, Boston

cameronesposito.com

Fortune Feimster If you’ve never had the good fortune of seeing Feimster, here’s your chance. The lesbian comedian, best known for her role on “The Mindy Project” and as a roundtable cohost on “Chelsea Lately,” brings her brand of gut-busting humor to Boston for a standup show. Feimster recently returned to the small screen on “The L Word: Generation Q,” a reboot of the landmark series about queer women, and you can expect her live show to feature uproarious comedy about family, politics and pop culture. Don’t press your luck: Snag tickets now.

WHEN

WHERE

HOW

Wilbur Theatre, Boston; fortunefeimster.

Friday, March 20 (Boston); and College Street Music com Saturday, March 21 (New Haven) Hall, New Haven, CT

MAR | APR 2020 | 87

º

LGBTQ+ Night at the Circus Spectacular More than a third of those enrolled in programs at the New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA) are LGBTQ+, or young people raised in same-sex households. So it makes perfect sense that, to celebrate its 10th annual Circus Spectacular, Vermont’s internationally recognized circus school will launch a new LGBTQ+ scholarship program for students. Swing on over to a pre-performance reception at Echo restaurant to meet the cast, angle for raffle prizes, and nosh on hors d’oeuvres—then, head over to the historic Latchis Theater for the main extraganza, which will feature plenty of nimble bodies flying through the air and executing all sorts of acrobatic feats.

WHEN

WHERE

HOW

Saturday, March 7

Echo restaurant and Latchis Theater, Brattleboro, VT

necenterforcircusarts. org

Spring Stomp: A Hoe-Down in P’town

‘Bent’ The Umbrella Stage Company, the newest professional theater in Greater Boston, is in the midst of its first season at a state-ofthe-art space. And that lineup includes “Bent,” a production of the landmark play by gay Jewish playwright Martin Sherman, about the persecution of homosexuals in 1930s Berlin. Originally staged on Broadway in 1980, where it starred Richard Gere, “Bent” focuses on two men in a desperate attempt to flee from Nazi soldiers.

WHEN

WHERE

Friday, March 13; Thursdays–Sundays, March 14–29

Umbrella Arts Center, Concord, MA

HOW

theumbrellaarts.org

Welcome the return of spring by dusting off your line-dancing boots to dosey-doe to Provincetown. Gays for Patsy, the Boston area’s long-running LGBTQ country-western dance organization, will host its annual weekend chockful of workshops, social events and, of course, dances that fuse country waltz, line dancing and other traditional country forms with music that also draws from pop, R&B and more. Don’t worry if you’re a novice or two-stepping solo: The weekend draws all skill levels, from newbies to experts, and there’ll be plenty of partners to go around.

WHEN

WHERE

HOW

Friday–Sunday, April 24–26

Town Hall and Pilgrim House, Provincetown

gaysforpatsy.org/stomp

SCENE Conference PHOTOS StevieLouise Mae Crecelius

40th Annual First Event Park Plaza Hotel | Boston | Jan. 29–Feb. 2, 2020

Waltham-based nonprofit Trans Club of New England (TCNE) celebrated the 40th anniversary First Event Conference for transgender and gender nonconforming people and those who love and support them. The conference attracted nearly 1,500 attendees to the Boston Park Plaza Hotel at the end of January. Highlights included 170 educational workshops, 55 vendors, a ball hosted by Legendary N.E. Mother Athena West, a panel discussion led by Reverend Irene Monroe (featuring Carmen Carrera, Carter Brown and other transgender community leaders), and the blowout transFORMED fashion and variety show, celebrating trans identity and expression. First Event is presented in partnership with the Boston-area business community, including the Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce and premiere sponsor Eastern Bank. More: firstevent.org

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Trans Community Legacy Award winners and First Event organizers [FROM LEFT] Nancy Stager (Eastern Bank), Candice St. James (First Event cochair), Trans Community Ally Award winner Sarah Thornton (Sephora), Cheryl Katon (First Event chair) Designer Maverique Matéo and Friends Emily Tressa MAR | APR 2020 | 89

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Mr. Trans USA Rhode Island Tyler Tuccio aka Tee Sparks (center) [6] Dezjorn Gauthier [7] Community Visionary Award Winner Nicole Talbot with mother Jeanne [8] Carmen Carrera [9] Reverend Irene Monroe [10] transFORMED Hosts Michelle Hirsch and Robbie Samuels

SCENE Fête PHOTOS Courtesy B/GREG

B/GREG Winter Party Boston Chops Downtown | Boston | January 16, 2020

Approximately 60 people attended The Boston Gay Real Estate Group (B/GREG)’s second annual winter party. The fête benefited Youth On Fire (YOF), a program of AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts and drop-in center for homeless and street-involved youth, ages 14–24, located in Harvard Square. B/GREG is a professional networking group of LGBT commercial real estate professionals and allies, with similar chapters in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. For more, email BGREGroup@gmail.com.

[FROM LEFT:] Matt Gillen, Greg Lombardi Design; Seth Riseman, Handel Architects; and Ted Smiley, Gregory Lombardi Design.

[FROM LEFT:] Max Bechtold, WS Development; Taj Richtman, Brandeis University; Sam Vaeth, John Moriarty & Associates; Michael Bongiorni, Bongiorni Consulting Group; Chris Batson, Northstar Project & Real Estate Services; and Drew Perry, JLL.

[FROM LEFT:] Tyler Nguyen and Tae Shimamoto, WS Development.

[FROM LEFT:] Shirin Tahsili and David McMahon, McMahon Architects.

[FROM LEFT:] Ryan MacDonald, Keller Augusta; Mandy Lussier, [FROM LEFT:] Vanessa Martinez, Federal Realty; and [FROM LEFT:] Katelyn Lorrey and Youth on Fire; and B/GREG founder Bryan Furze, WS Development. Bryan Furze, WS Development and Founder of B/GREG. Monica Doyle, WS Development.

[FROM LEFT:] Paul Goodwin, Berkeley Investments; Kaitlin [FROM LEFT:] Michael Bongiorni, Bongiorni Consulting Troy Kincaid, Keller Augusta; and AJ Bowman, Sonder Inc. Group; and Sam Vaeth, John Moriarty & Associates.

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SCENE Networking PHOTOS Sue Stamos

Mass. LGBTQ Bar Association Winter Party Maggiano’s Little Italy | Boston | January 21, 2020

LGBTQ and allied legal professionals gathered to celebrate the end of the holiday season and the beginning of a new year at the Massachusetts LGBTQ Bar Association’s annual winter soirée. The evening was sponsored by Seyfarth Shaw.

LET’S DANCE!

www.mochadj.com INFO@MOCHADJ.COM

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SCENE Volunteering PHOTOS Art Nava

Valentine’s Card-making for Boston Elders Arlington Street Church | Boston | January 20, 2020

For their third year, Gay for Good Boston volunteers—hostess-ed by those hardworking Boston Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and partnered by FriendshipWorks—crafted hundreds of Valentine’s Day cards to be shared with elderly residents of Boston and Brookline.

FriendshipWorks, a nonprofit elder service agency that’s helped more than 25,000 isolated elders in the area, delivered the cards. Gays For Good Boston regularly volunteers with local community groups, projects and organizations.

For more: gayforgood.org/boston.

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SCENE Fundraiser PHOTOS NewportOUT

Winter Social Newport Marriott | Newport, RI | February 15, 2020

A festive crowd of over 100 gathered to kick off the Newport Winter Festival at NewportOUT’s Winter Social: A Fundraiser for Pride 2020. LGBTQ+ community members across southeastern New England enjoyed hors d’oeuvres and other treats from over a dozen local vendors, a drag show by the Trailer Park Girls, a dance performance choreographed by Jackie Henderson from Middletown’s MIST fitness studio, and plenty of networking fun.

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SCENE Fête PHOTOS MA LGBT Chamber of Commerce

Boston Holiday Soirée Hyatt Regency | Boston | December 18, 2019

The Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce gathered for its year-end Holiday Soirée. The celebration featured a recap of the year’s work and the debut of the organization’s new brand. The brand was developed in partnership with Chamber member businesses Spencer Brenneman, lightness and OJC Artisan of Sound. The holiday party served as the pivot from 2019’s accomplishments into the goals for 2020, and those in attendance were all committed to pushing the organization forward. For more on the Chamber, go to malgbtcc.org.

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SCENE Sports PHOTOS David Harding and Boston Celtics

Boston Celtics Pride Night TD Garden | Boston | February 7, 2020

The Boston Celtics celebrated their second annual Pride Night with a crowd of thousands as the Celtics took on the Atlanta Hawks. LGBTQ fans participated in the singing of the National Anthem, Color Guard presentation and a halftime scrimmage on the historic parquet floor. The Hero Among Us award was presented to Massachusetts’ own out professional powerlifter Rob Kearney, and the YMCA raised funds for its inclusive programming through a 50/50 raffle, among other in-game promotions and entertainment. The Celtic won the game, 112–107.

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CODA Sports David Zimmerman Ryan O’Callaghan

to speak at a big convention for LGBT sports teams. Looking forward to that. I’m going to spend some time in Miami during the Super Bowl and speak to a few groups down there as well. Commissioner Goodell has asked me to do that on several occasions.

[SPIRIT] Speaking of Commissioner Goodell, the NFL has done some things with regard to LGBT issues and gay players. Do you feel that it is sincere or just window dressing?

[O’CALLAGHAN] I think the commissioner is doing a good job. He’s called me in and we’ve met once or twice, and he seems to be listening to all that we have to say. Esera Tuaolo has joined me on some of these talks. He is another out player who used to play for the Minnesota Vikings and his been fairly outspoken.

I think the NFL is trying.

Major League Role Model

[SPIRIT] In your book you mention one of the concerns you had before you came out was how your family would react.

Especially your father and a couple uncles. How has that gone?

[O’CALLAGHAN] It’s been incredible. My father has been great. I never thought I would see the day when he would ask me about my dating life. We are probably closer now than we were before. Same for the rest of my family. Some of them have come along a bit slower than others, but everyone has been supportive and it’s been [SPIRIT] Do you think we’re getting close to an active player coming out? a really nice experience.

[O’CALLAGHAN] I’m not sure. I think it will happen at some point within the next few years.

There are a lot of players in the NFL who have reached out on occasion. Most of them are in the closet. Some may have wives and some just aren’t Former New England Patriot Ryan O’Callaghan ready. There’s a lot of pressure that comes with playing in the NFL and a lot of the teams Former New England Patriot talented LGBTQ youth through simply want you to do your job Ryan O’Callaghan is one of just scholarship. and not cause any waves, so it [SPIRIT] Tell us about the a few openly gay football stars can be difficult to manage. But work you’re doing in the who played in the NFL before I’m confident that will happen community these days? coming out. He writes about sometime relatively soon. that in his memoir, “My Life on [O’CALLAGHAN] Sure. I’ve been the Line: How the NFL Damn getting a lot of calls from [SPIRIT] You weren’t out when Near Killed Me, and Ended you played for the New England companies who want me to Patriots, but since you came out up Saving My Life,” released come in and speak to their have you heard from the team? in September 2019. Since he LGBT employee groups, and a retired from major league lot of colleges want me to come [O’CALLAGHAN] Mr. Kraft has playing, he’s been doing a in and speak to the student been wonderful. He contacted whole lot of major-league work groups and to their athletic me after I came out, and he through his Ryan O’Callaghan teams, and that’s been great. told me he was proud of me.

Foundation, which supports A lot of the student-athletes He invited me to come visit have been really receptive. I’m the stadium and meet with heading to Vegas in a little bit him. Since that time, I have

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bumped into him on a few occasions and he has always been great. Very supportive, always asking me how I’m doing and if there is anything you can do for me. I have heard from a few teammates over the years, and each and every time it has been a very supportive message. I have only good things to say about the Patriots.

[SPIRIT] What do you see for yourself in the coming years?

[O’CALLAGHAN] I hope to do a lot more of these speaking engagements and stay involved in the community in that way.

It’s been really great to see how the students respond and the impact that I can make by speaking to these groups and companies. It also helps to support my foundation—the Ryan O’Callaghan Foundation.

If I take any fees from the speaking engagements I put them into the foundation. This helps me to do things such as funding scholarships and work on programs that I want to put in place to help LGBT youth moving forward. [x]

The Ryan O’Callaghan Foundation: rofdn.org