Echo Magazine - Arizona LGBTQ Lifestyle - November 2015

Androgynous is the New Black Find out more about this season’s gender-bending fashion trend PLUS: Meet Echo’s 2015 Hall of Fame inductees

LGBT NEWS, VIEWS AND ENTERTAINMENT | VOL. 27, #2 | ISSUE 674 | NOVEMBER 2015 | COMPLIMENTARY

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inside this issue Issue 674 | Vol. 27, #2 | November 2015

features

NEWS 10 4 Your Information 12 News Briefs 16 Datebook 18 AIDS Walk Arizona descends on Phoenix 22 Frida Kahlo exhibit offers intimate glimpse into artist’s life PREVIEWS AND REVIEWS 52 Without Reservations 54 At the Box Office

Photo courtesy of Cory Wade.

56 Opening Nights 64 Recordings

Hall of Fame

27 Join Echo in congratulating the Class of

66 Between the Covers

2015. We invite you to get to know these eight community heroes.

Androgynous Is The New Black

38 “America’s Next Top Model” star, Cory

Wade shares the social significance of fashion’s latest trend.

COMMUNITY 68 All Over The Map 70 Money Talks 72 Balanced Living

A World Away

44 Meet the members of the LGBTQA Kyrgyz Delegation who traveled to the United States for answers and hope.

Androgynous is the New Black

LGBT NEWS, VIEWS AND ENTERTAINMENT | VOL. 27, #2 | ISSUE 674 | NOVEMBER 2015 | COMPLIMENTARY

november 2015

brings titles from more than 20 countries – including LGBT themes – to town.

ON THE COVER Cory Wade in designs by Stevie Boi. Photo by Syranno, courtesy of Cory Wade. (See story, page 38.)

Find out more about this season’s gender-bending fashion trend PLUS: Meet Echo’s 2015 Hall of Fame inductees

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Around The World in 50 Titles

48 Scottsdale International Film Festival

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inside this issue

on echomag.com web exclusives

Sondheim On Sondheim Director and cast member discuss Scottsdale Musical Theater’s tribute to famed composer Stephen Sondheim. echomag.com/sondheim

Stonewall From inspiration to criticism, director Roland Emmerich speaks out about his controversial LGBT film. echomag.com/stonewall

“The Benefits of Gusbandry” This new web series explores the intimate, albeit platonic, relationships shared by gay men and straight women. echomag.com/gusbandry

Freeheld A star-studded cast brings this true story of one samesex couple’s struggle for equal rights to life. echomag.com/freeheld

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notes from the

managing editor

By Kara J. Philp LGBT NEWS, VIEWS AND ENTERTAINMENT

facebook.com/EchoMagazine twitter.com/EchoMagAZ

H

appy LGBT History Month! Let me start by saying that, because this issue of Echo is available in midOctober (even though it’s technically our November issue) it serves as our LGBT History Month issue!

As you know, each October Echo Magazine honors community heroes who have helped raise awareness and spark change on the local and national levels by nominating them for induction into our Hall of Fame.

We’re proud to introduce you to the Class of 2015: Eddie Broadway, Bruce Christian, Tempest DuJour, Dr. Bobbi Lancaster, The Pattersons (David, Kevin, Cayden and Cayla), Marshall Shore, Keith Thompson and Claudia Work.

This group has made tremendous contributions in government and politics, nonprofit service, activism and entertainment, both in the local community and beyond. I invite you to get to know each of them a little better in “Hall of Fame” beginning on page 27.

The other great thing about this time of year (besides the weather) is the multitude of opportunities we have to get out and be a part of the community.

This weekend we hope to catch you at ONE Community’s Spotlight on Success luncheon Oct. 16 at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown hotel. From there we’ll spend the weekend hanging out at Heritage Square for Phoenix Pride’s Rainbows Festival. Our cameras will also be at the 38th annual Tucson Pride in the Desert Oct. 17 at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson.

International Film Festival is screening some LGBT must-sees Nov. 5-9. Find out more in “Around the world in 50 Titles” on page 48.

Now back to the issue in hand.

On the heels of Phoenix Fashion Week, we had the pleasure of talking with with gender non-conformity advocate and androgynous fashion style icon Cory Wade. Find out what the “America’s Next Top Model” star has to say about the social significance of fashion’s latest coveted look in “Androgynous Is The New Black” on page 38.

We also caught up with Style Stalkers, LLC, a monthly Phoenix-based fashion blog, for insight on the emerging androgynous fashion trend. Read more about the local perspective on the gender-bending trend in “Style Stalkers” on page 40.

From there we introduce you to the members of the LGBTQA Kyrgyz Delegation who recently visited Arizona seeking answers and hope, despite the pending anti-LGBTQA legislation back home. Find out more about their mission in “A World Away” on page 44.

It’s an exiting time to be LGBT in Arizona.

And, admittedly, there’s so much going on at times it’s impossible to be everywhere at once. So, I’d like to take this opportunity to remind you that you’re invited to submit your events, meetings and fundraisers directly to our community calendar at echomag.com/community-calendar/ community/add. We look forward to sharing your event!

Then, AIDS Walk Arizona makes its third and final stop of 2015 right here in Phoenix Oct. 25 at CityScape. See “A Community Cause” on page 18 for details. And last, but not least, Scottsdale

Kara J. Philp is the managing editor of Echo Magazine and can be reached at kj@echomag.com.

Echo is currently seeking a Phoenix-based freelance writer to cover health and fitness.

Qualified candidates are invited to send resume and published health and fitness writing samples to editor@echomag.com for consideration.

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PUBLISHER: Bill Orovan ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: Bill Gemmill Editorial MANAGING EDITOR: Kara J. Philp CONTRIBUTORS: Danae Barnes Cait Brennan Alex Chambers Anthony Costello Tiffany Hopkins Laura Latzko Lorraine Longhi Art Martori Liz Massey Melissa Myers David-Elijah Nahmod Hans Pedersen Desi Rubio Terri Schlichenmeyer Richard Schultz Marshall Shore Michael J. Tucker Megan Wadding Nate Whitten Chelsea Young Production ART DIRECTOR: Geoff Hulme PHOTOGRAPHY: Bill Gemmill, CJ Minott, Gregg Edelman and Nightfuse.com.

Advertising DIRECTOR OF SALES AND MARKETING: Ashlee James National Advertising Representative: Rivendell Media, 212-242-6863

ECHO Readership: 50,000 Copyright © 2015 • ISSN #1045-2346

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Echo Magazine is pub­lished by and is a trademark of Ace Publish­ing, Inc. All rights re­served. Written permis­sion must be obtained in advance for par­tial or com­plete re­production of in­clud­ing any advertising ma­te­ri­al contained therein.

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ON THE RECORD “In my own high school I witnessed bullying …

I just think that there should be zero tolerance for anything like that and that nobody should be discriminated against because they are authentically who they are. And I think that’s so much of what we try to portray in ‘Faking It’ is tolerance and acceptance, which is why Spirit Day is so important to us.”

– Katie Stevens of MTV’s “Faking It” in a video interview with GLAAD. Oct. 15 marks the fifth annual Spirit Day during which millions will take a stand against bullying and show support for LGBT youth by wearing purple.

SOCIAL MEDIA During a Sept. 24 Q&A session with fans over Twitter, “America’s Next Top Model” contestant Nyle DiMarco revealed his sexual preference. When asked whether he is into boys or girls, @NyleDiMarco tweeted: “fluid” and a link to an Everyday Feminism article that defines the term as, “either always attracted to more than one gender or feel that their attraction may shift depending on factors like time, intimacy with certain partners, changes in hormone levels, and so forth.”

Chelsea Manning (shown at the beginning of her transition) published the first in a series of web posts from military prison Oct. 7 via medium.com.

BY the numbers The percentage of gay men in their 20s and 30s who believe gay community was more united in the past, according the study “Gay Men in America: Community at a Crossroads.” The study was the first in a series of studies that Logo is commissioning on LGBT Americans. For more information, visit bit.ly/1LC4SGe. 10 |

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“I hope to use this platform as a place to document my experience and share my story and, maybe even begin a conversation. Going through such a seismic, existential shift in my life—transitioning in a military prison —presents real, meaningful and daily challenges,” the former Army intelligence analyst writes. “I want to hear your thoughts and questions so we can continue to have a dialogue. I also look forward to reading the stories you are brave enough to share with the world so we can understand each other and define ourselves on our own terms.” To read this entry, as well us future entries, visit medium.com/@xychelsea.

4 your information

w y g .

news briefs

Local First Arizona to Celebrate 11th Annual Certified Local Fall Festival Local First Arizona will host the 11th annual Certified Local Fall Festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 14 at Portland Parkway, 10 W. Portland St. in Phoenix.

The annual celebration of all things local to Arizona is a free, family friendly event for all ages.

“There is no other festival or event like the Certified Local Fall Festival, it is a completely unique event to Arizona,” said Kimber Lanning, Local First Arizona director. “This festival highlights everything that Arizona has to offer, from one-of-a-kind local shops, boutiques, and restaurants to Arizona-made wine, beer, and spirits.”

This year’s festival will feature more than 100 vendors with some of Arizona’s favorite local businesses; food samples from some of the best Arizona restaurants and food trucks; a raffle with gift cards and prizes from local businesses; an online silent auction featuring items and experiences, along with staycation packages for destinations across the state; and much more.

According to Lanning, new studies show that when Arizonans support local and independently owned businesses, up to four times more money stays and circulates in the local economy to support local job creation, strong schools and local services, and vibrant and diverse communities.

“The Certified Local Fall Festival is a fun way to engage the community with the local business community and remind them about the benefits of supporting local businesses,” Lanning said.

Echo is a sponsor of Local First Arizona’s 11th annual Certified Local Fall Festival. For more information, visit localfirstaz.com/ fall-festival.

The 27th annual Jerôme Beillard Festival for Life to Celebrate the Heart of the City The 27th annual Jerôme Beillard Festival for Life, benefiting the Southern Arizona Aids Foundation (SAAF), will take place Nov. 14 at the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center.

events coordinator. “It also helps fund our targeted prevention education and HIV testing programs which is helping SAAF get ever closer to its goal of no new infections, period!”

This year’s festival will feature live and silent auctions, fine artwork, holiday items, gift baskets, gift certificates, celebrity collectibles, trips, experiences, paper prayers, live entertainment, guests and speakers.

The annual event began as Festival of the Trees, a fundraiser for the People with AIDS Coalition of Tucson (P.A.C.T), which took place Dec. 8, 1989. As part of the event nearly 200 decorated holiday trees and wreathes were auctioned off.

“The purpose [of the festival] is to raise much needed funds to support the more than 1,200 people served each year with comprehensive case management, peer counseling, food programs, housing [and] complementary therapies,” said Moureen Drury, SAAF marketing and

Throughout the years, the event grew and so did the artwork, local sponsors and community involvement.

In 1992, Festival of the Trees became Festival for Life. In 1995, P.A.C.T.’s co-founder and executive director, Jerôme Beillard, passed away from AIDS

complications and Festival for Life was renamed The Jerôme Beillard Festival for Life, honoring the work and spirit of a great man.

In 1997, when the three AIDS Service Organizations merged to create the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation (SAAF), the Paper Prayer Benefit from the Shanti Foundation was added to Festival for Life.

Today, Festival for Life continues to bring art, holiday spirit and the local community together for an evening of merriment.

For more information, visit festivalforlife. saaf.org.

Howdy, (Community) Partners!

The Arizona Gay Rodeo Association’s board of directors distributed $8,833.27 to eight local organizations and nonprofits Sept. 13 at Charlie’s.

The funds were a result of profits and tips earned at the 30th annual Arizona Gay Rodeo, which took place Feb. 13-15 at Corona Ranch and Rodeo grounds.

The beneficiaries and amounts awarded include Aunt Rita’s Foundation ($203), Community Church of Hope ($521), Joshua Tree Feeding Program ($1,640.20), Parents, Families and Friends of Gays and Lesbians (PFLAG) Phoenix ($608), Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network ($434), Tumbleweed ($174), Men of Charlie’s ($655.20) and The Imperial Sovereign Empire of Arizona ($655.20).

For more information, visit agra-phx.com.

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news briefs

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news briefs

LGBT University

Freedom For All Americans’ new program sets the stage for next phase of LGBT civil rights

By Anthony Costello Freedom For All Americans (FFAA) debuted its first-ever apprenticeship program, LGBT University, in Phoenix Sept. 18.

The program aims to finally cinch nondiscrimination protections for LGBT people by creating new leaders trained in LGBT issues to launch, lead and participate in campaigns to advocate for nondiscrimination protections.

positions with experiences dealing with LGBT issues. Having this roster of talent is a huge asset to the movement and we want them to have access to these resources.”

The yearlong innovative program began with an initial five-day crash course, educating a 16-member cohort on effective campaign management skills.

“It was an intensive dive into what it’s like to run a nondiscrimination program,” said Katie Belanger, director and one of the key organizers of LGBT University. “We had trainers come in from across the country and lecture on lobbying, staff management, organizing, research and messaging, budgeting and providing access to the most current resources.”

The program also utilizes elements of issues throughout the LGBT civil rights movement to build upon and develop new curriculum.

FFAA CEO Matt McTighe created the program with trans advocates and community leaders as a way to foster nationwide growth in nondiscrimination protections.

“One of our fundamental tenets is we’re going to need to build up momentum and win over more states, like how we achieved marriage equality,” McTighe said. “We need leaders in these senior management

“What is unique about LGBT-U is that we’re taking practices from the LGBT movement and combining them with research to create a curriculum for this specific kind of work,” Belanger said.

The program also has a section devoted to transgender rights as well, with FFAA’s chief program officer and Freedom Massachusetts campaign co-chair Kasey

Suffredini leading many of the transgender trainings.

“My role at LGBT-U dealt with training attendees on trans history, cultural competency and transgender engagement in the community,” Suffredini said. “Not many Americans can say they know a transgender person outside of media, so teaching transgender history is how we affiliate people with the issues important to the community and to emphasize the context they’re working in.”

LGBT University’s leaders hope in going forward is that educating future campaign leaders and managers in all aspects of LGBT issues and then dispersing them across the country to lead campaigns will quickly result in enacting LGBT protections nationwide.

READ THE REST To read more on LGBT University’s debut in Phoenix, visit echomag.com/ lgbt-university.

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news briefs

date book

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Date book oct. 16

The fifth annual LGBTQ Southwest American Indian Rainbow Gathering, a symposium open to the public that continues efforts to advance and promote the health and wellness needs of the American Indian/Alaska Native Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) community, will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at First Congregational United Church Of Christ Phoenix, 1407 N. Second St., in Phoenix.

oct. 16

Phoenix Pride’s annual Rainbows Festival, which will include two stages of entertainment and more than 150 exhibitors and vendors, will take place at Heritage Square, 113 N. Sixth St., in Phoenix. phoenixpride.org/events/rainbows-festival

eventbrite.com (search “rainbow gathering”) oct. 16

ONE Community’s fifth annual Spotlight on Success awards luncheon and cocktail hour, recognizing local heroes, will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel, 340 N. Third St., in Phoenix. onecommunity.co

Photo by Gregg Edelman.

SWAY PHX presents Prismatic, the official Rainbows Festival kick-off party benefiting the Phoenix Pride LGBT Center, which will take place at the @51 rooftop, 1616 E. Georgia Ave., Phoenix. swayevents.com oct. 17

Margaret Cho’s The psyCHO Tour hits Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, 380 E. Second St., Scottsdale. scottsdaleperformingarts.org Tucson’s 38th annual Pride in the Desert festival, including a full line-up of entertainment as well as a mass marriage ceremony, will take place from noon to 8 p.m. at Kino Sports Complex, 2500 E. Ajo Way, Tucson.

oct. 24

nov. 7–8

Desert Overture presents Trick or Treat: A Halloween Concert at John Paul Theatre at Phoenix College, 1202 W. Thomas Road, Phoenix.

Greater Palm Spring Pride block party and festival will take place throughout downtown Palm Springs, with the annual parade running uptown Palm Canyon Drive.

desertoverture.org

pspride.org nov. 14

Aunt Rita’s Foundation presents AIDS Walk & 5K Run Phoenix, benefiting Central Arizona programs that work to prevent HIV/ AIDS or assist those living with HIV/AIDS, will kick off at 9 a.m. in downtown Phoenix.

The 27th annual Jerôme Beillard Festival for Life, benefiting the Southern Arizona Aids Foundation (SAAF), will take place at the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center.

phoenix.aidswalkaz.org

festivalforlife.saaf.org

oct. 25

nov. 15

oct. 29

Ballet Arizona presents LGBT Night at the Ballet for a performance of Coppélia at Symphony Hall, 75 N. Second St., Phoenix.

tucsonpride.org

Join HERO Phoenix’s for its Trans* Celebration Brunch, a fundraiser for the new Julian Melson Trans* Scholarship Fund, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Harley’s Italian Bistro, 4221 N. Seventh Ave., Phoenix. herophoenix.org

balletaz.org NOV. 6

The Greater Phoenix Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce will host its monthly luncheon from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Graduate Tempe, 225 E. Apache Blvd.

RSVP at phoenixgaychamber.com.

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MARK OUR CALENDARS

To have your event considered for Echo’s print and online calendars, submit your event details to echomag.com/ community-calendar. All submissions are subject to Echo’s discretion. events

COPPÉLIA Thursday, October 29, 2015 at Symphony Hall 5:30 pm: Private Reception cash bar with complimentary hors d’oeuvres 6:15 pm: Artistic Presentation 7:00 pm: Performance First Intermission: Reception with Guest Speaker cash bar with complimentary dessert

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balletaz.org | 602.381.1096 promo code: NIGHTOUT4 For further information about LGBT Night, please contact George Nunes at gnunes@balletaz.org or call 602.343.6510.

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Ballet Arizona dancers Jillian Barrell and Brian Leonard. Photo by Alexander Iziliaev.

LGBT Night Out at the Ballet

A Community Cause AIDS Walk Arizona descends on Phoenix

By Desi Rubio

Photos by Fernando Hernández

O

n the heels of Northern Arizona’s AIDS Walk and AIDS Walk Tucson, Aunt Rita’s Foundation event coordinators and supporters are gearing up for the annual Phoenix-based AIDS Walk Arizona & 5K Run Oct. 25.

Thousands of supporters are expected to gather in downtown Phoenix to bring awareness and support to HIV and AIDS. This year’s goal is to raise $400,000.

With more than 15,000 people affected by the disease in Arizona alone, Aunt Rita’s Foundation executive director Kit Kloeckl said the need for awareness is more necessary than ever.

“I am hopeful we can hit our $400,000 goal, we have never hit that amount but I think it is seriously needed for our benefiting agencies,” Kloeckl said.

Aunt Rita’s continues to raise funds for agencies that provide services for people living with HIV/AIDS and that work to prevent the spread of the disease. AIDS Walk Arizona & 5K Run is Aunt Rita’s biggest opportunity to fundraise. All of the proceeds will be equally distributed among 17 benefiting agencies around the Valley.

Since 2005, Aunt Rita’s Foundation has raised over $1.2 million for these organizations.

According to Kloeckl these agencies have become dependent upon Aunt Rita’s to support the needs of services and programs throughout the Valley.

“Joshua Tree, for example, depends on us to keep their doors open,” Kloeckl explained. “I have personally seen HIV/AIDS

people go in there for their food boxes, and the need is truly real.”

AIDS Walk Arizona & 5K Run invites individuals as well as teams to register. The benefit of participating as part of a team is that members work together to raise a larger collective amount of funds, while creating a sense of team pride.

One renowned team that has raised over $100,000 throughout the past six years is Barbra Seville’s Wonderful 100 Team, also known as #BSW100.

“Our goal this year is to raise $25,000,” Seville said. “But the bigger part of what we do is community building and helping people figure out how to make a difference.”

This year, the start and finish line will be in the heart of downtown Phoenix at CityScape.

“We decided to move the location of the starting and finishing line because we want to encourage people to hang out after the walk,” Kloeckl said. “[What] we really want is [to] create a festival atmosphere afterwards.”

The route has also changed. This year, walkers will be heading east while runners will be running west. As they move adjacent to one another, they will also be able to cheer each other on along the way.

In an effort to enhance preparation and motivation ahead of the event’s recently added run component, certified personal trainer and Aunt Rita’s committee member Nate Whitten has created a group called Rita’s Runners. This group has been meeting on a weekly basis to prepare for the 3.1 mile run. The six-week program offers participants encouragement, advice and physical education for registered runners. For more information on Rita’s Runners, visit echomag.com/acommunity-cause.

According to Kloeckl, the goal is to transform this event from a “gay event [into a] family oriented event.” To help this effort, Kids for the Cause will be a

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“We decided to move the location of the starting and finishing line because we want to encourage people to hang out after the walk.”

Kit Kloeckl

new feature that allows kids, age 12 and younger, to register for $10.

“We want your kids to come too because they will become educated, so as they get older they understand and protect themselves,” Kloeckl said.

In effort to create a more family oriented event, Aunt Rita’s is also honoring Andrew Pulsipher, an HIV-positive father and husband, as well as his wife, Victoria, and their three kids – all of whom are HIV negative – as the first family chair of AIDS Walk Arizona & 5K Run. “The Pulsipher family story is important because they highlight that HIV/AIDS isn’t just a gay disease,” Kloeckl explained.

Returning this year, PAWS for the Cause invites you to register your dog for $10 and bring them along to join in the family fun.

Each dog will be presented with a bandana and bag of treats.

This year marks the second consecutive year that AIDS Walk Arizona has held three separate events across the state with one common goal: to raise awareness in Arizona.

“The more we talk about it, the more we learn about it,” Seville said. “We owe it to the universe to put out good energy and good deeds.”

For registration information and run/ walk start times, visit aidswalkaz.org.

Desi Rubio is a Chandler-based freelance writer, who holds a bachelor’s degree in communication and culture. She can be reached at rubiodk@gmail.com.

news

“HIV doesn’t play favorites and it is a real world issue, [but] I am not something to fear.”

Andrew Pulsipher

thing in your life.”

The photo went viral and since it was posted May 10 to Andrew’s Facebook page, it’s been shared more than 19,000 times.

The decision to share this unique family photo was made in hopes of dismantling the negative stigma HIV has carried for too long.

The Pulsipher’s story has been told via many media outlets in recent weeks and on Oct. 25 Aunt Rita’s Foundation will present the Pulsipher family as the first family chair of the 2015 AIDS Walk Arizona & 5K Run.

Photo by Randys Vision Photography.

Meet the Pulsipher Family

By Desi Rubio Andrew and Victoria Pulsipher have enjoyed building a life and a family together in their San Tan Valley home. Andrew, an online blogger for Huffington Post and stay-athome dad and Victoria, who works at a stem-cell research facility in Gilbert, love being parents to their three smart, spunky and healthy children.

They took a casual family photo that displays each family member sitting on a couch holding signs revealing their HIV status. Victoria and the children are holding signs that read “HIV negative,” while Andrew holds a sign that reads “HIV positive.”

The photo is captioned, “Having a NEGATIVE family can be the most POSITIVE

“I’m a heterosexual man letting people know this is not a gay disease and it does not care what color you are or who you love,” said Andrew. “HIV doesn’t play favorites and it is a real world issue, [but] I am not something to fear.”

Today, the family of five aspires to remove any negative misconceptions the public may have regarding HIV and reproduction.

“This disease is no longer a run-for-thehills, contagious disease,” Andrew explained.

“If you have it and are getting treated for it, you can live a totally normal life”.

Their life seems normal enough; however, this normalcy is a result of years of research, education and doctor visits.

What makes the Pulsipher family’s story unique is that Andrew is HIV positive and the rest of his family is HIV negative.

Andrew, 34, was born HIV positive. Both of his parents carried the disease and died from AIDS when Andrew was a young boy and he was raised by his aunt and uncle in Aurora, Colo.

Earlier this year, Andrew and Victoria made a bold decision to share their journey to parenthood with the world in an effort to break down the stigma attached to the disease Andrew has lived with all of his life.

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OUT ‘n ABOUT Tucson’s Pride on Parade Oct. 10 along Fourth Avenue, Tucson.

Photos by Bill Travis.

For more Echo photos visit echomag.com/gallery.

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Frida Kahlo: Her Photos

Exhibit offers intimate glimpse into artist’s life

By Laura Latzko

T

he name Frida Kahlo instantly calls to mind paintings representative of Mexican culture, politics, feminism and self. But what about the photography of this third-generation photographer?

To answer this question, the Heard Museum presents Frida Kahlo: Her Photos, an exhibition of photos from Kahlo’s personal collection offering an intimate look into the life of the feminist icon known for her revealing self portraits and shows the importance of this medium in Kahlo’s life, Oct. 31-Feb. 8.

Photos © Frida Kahlo Museum.

Museum curator, photography was part of Kahlo’s life from an early age. Her father and grandfather were both photographers.

Frida Kahlo: Her Photos, curated by the well-known Mexican photographer and photography historian Pablo Ortiz Monasterio, comes to Phoenix from the Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico City. The museum is located in La Casa Azul, the home where Kahlo grew up and later lived with her husband, Diego Rivera.

The exhibit presents a selection of 241 images from the 6,500, which are part of the Blue House archive. According to the Heard Museum’s website (heard.org), “The photographs, along with Frida Kahlo’s personal items, were locked in a room of the Blue House, the residence where she spent most of her life, and revealed to the public in 2007.”

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“When you see all of the self–portraits that she did, there’s definitely an influence from those early experiences of her dad doing self–portraits, either of himself or family members,” Cantley said.

The images in the exhibit have been broken down into six categories: The Origins; The Blue House; Politics, Revolutions and Diego; Her Broken Body; Frida’s Loves; and Photography.

Through the exhibit, Cantley said guests will get to know more about Kahlo as a person.

“I came out of it feeling like I had been looking at someone’s personal photo album,” Cantley said. “It wasn’t just a framed photograph on the wall.”

The traveling collection also features

Frida Kahlo: Her Photos Oct. 31-Feb. 8 Heard Museum 2301 N. Central Ave., Phoenix 602-252-8840 heard.org

photos of the artist’s pet deer, dogs and monkeys; places in Mexico; the gardens of La Casa Azul; Communist leaders; the artist in her earlier years; Mexican actors and actresses and Kahlo and Diego Rivera, a muralist whom Kahlo married, divorced and re-married.

The exhibit also gives viewers a glimpse into the physical pain experienced by Kahlo, resulting from polio as a child and a bus accident at age 18. During her life, the artist had more than 30 surgeries and often wore such as contraptions as medical corsets.

The Her Broken Body section of the exhibit features X-rays of the artist and photos of her in bed recovering.

“The pain is definitely there, which is something that comes through in all of her art,” Cantley said. “Because she was isolated when she had all of the back surgeries-she was immobilized and if not in bed, at least in a wheelchair a lot of the time. I think just looking at the photographs made her feel like she had some companionship.”

Las Favoritas de Frida The exhibit will be accompanied by Las Favoritas de Frida, an exhibition of items similar to those worn or owned by the artist. This display was developed by Heard Museum staff, in collaboration with the Phoenix Fridas, a group of local artists inspired by Kahlo.

The accompanying exhibit showcases clothing, jewelry, folk art, textiles, lacquerware serving trays, ceramic items and cooking utensils similar to those from Kahlo’s personal collection.

During her life, Kahlo often wore Tehuana regional styles from Oaxaca. She was frequently pictured wearing big, bold necklaces and rings; multicolored shawls; “huipil” square-cut blouses; long, flowing skirts and braids and flowers in her hair.

Through her style of dress, Cantley said the openly bisexual artist defined herself as a powerful, self-empowered woman.

“It’s interesting to learn that how she dressed was based off her mother’s family, and the Tehuana area of Mexico,” Cantley said. “The women there were notorious for being strong, independent women. That was an image that Frida Kahlo wanted to present.”

According to Cantley, the exhibit will give patrons a deeper understanding of Mexico’s regional cultures.

“I think people will be made aware of the rich diversity of indigenous people from Mexico,” Cantley said. “… there are actually very specific ways of dressing and styles from particular areas.”

In addition to the items displayed in this exhibit (which come from the Heard’s

permanent collection), each of the Phoenix Fridas chose an item for inclusion. Quotes and comments from each artist will accompany their selections.

Painter and found object artist Emily Costello, known as “Smoking Frida,” chose a sculpture depicting a woman with animals hanging from her.

Jewelry maker and beadwork artist Carmen Guerrero, aka “Beader Frida,” picked out an Aztec stone sculpture similar to the pre-Columbian sculptures displayed in Kahlo’s home.

“We all have a pretty good take on Frida and her history.

All of us are inspired in different ways by her,” Costello said. “I think intuitively we knew enough about

A giant Kahlo puppet designed

by Carmen and her husband, Zarco Guerrero, will be displayed in the lobby during the Kahlo exhibitions.

Guerrero said the Favoritas exhibition and related programming allow the Phoenix Fridas to share how Kahlo has touched their lives.

“I picked that because it really spoke to me. [Frida’s] love of her animals was just crazy, and I think that was because she couldn’t have children, so they became her children,” Costello said. “I think she would have gotten a kick out of it, and from what I’ve learned about Frida, she would have said, ‘Yeah, I posed for that.’”

Costello said that she and other members of the group used their knowledge of Kahlo to guide them in their decisions.

her likes and dislikes and what she was about.”

“I think people will see how she has inspired a whole group of women, who are creating art around her and are inspired by her resilience, strength and ability to look at the positive side of life,” Guerrero said.

Left: Teodora Blanco Zapotec from Atzompa, Oaxaca, Mexico figure, 1979, ceramic. Right: Unknown artist, Ameyaltepec, Guerrero, Mexico, portrait jug, ceramic and paint. Photos courtesy of Favoritas de Frida and the Heard Museum.

Laura Latzko is a Phoenix-area freelance writer, originally from Michigan, who holds a bachelor’s degree in English and communication studies from Hollins University and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri.

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OUT ‘n ABOUT The 24th Annual Equality Arizona Awards Dinner Oct. 10 at Chateau Luxe, Phoenix Photos by Fernando Hernández.

For more Echo photos visit echomag.com/gallery.

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feature story

Echo Magazine’s Hall of Fame Community Heroes inducted into the Class of 2015

By Kara J. Philp

E

ach year, as part of LGBT History Month, Echo Magazine honors community heroes who have helped raise awareness and spark change on the local and national levels by nominating them for induction into our Hall of Fame.

Echo’s annual Hall of Fame tradition was established in 2006, and each year LGBT and allied community members have been recognized for their contributions in government and politics, nonprofit service, activism and entertainment.

The individuals profiled on the following pages mark the 10th class to be inducted, and they join nearly 100 others who have left a lasting legacy throughout the years.

Congratulations to the Class of 2015.

Meet Echo’s previous Hall of Fame Inductees: 2006 •Kirk Baxter •John Bircumshaw •Ed Buck •BJ Bud •Bill MacDonald •Bob Ellis •Amy Ettinger •Neil Giuliano •Don Hamill

•Bob Hegyi •Linda Hoffman •John King •Steve May •Marti McElroy •Dianne Post •Steve Schemmel •Tish Tanner •Dale Williams

2007 •Katie Gummere •Bob Aronin •Bill Lewis •Morrie Carter •Artie Michaelis •Babe Caylor •Dr. Kenneth Fisher •Jeff Ofstedahl •Don Pintacura •Gerrie Mayer•Bob Spier Gibbons

2008 •Dr. John M. Post •Madelaine •Boots/Ray Reid Adelman •Donna Rose •Gregg Edelman •Bill Sheppard •Mike Fornelli •Darin Simmer •Scott Jacobson •Tom Simplot •Barbara McCullough-Jones •Kyrsten Sinema •Annie Loyd

2009

2012

•Tambra Williams •Melinda Mae •Dr. David Payne Brown •Roger Rea •Bob DeJardine •Lila Sherman •Conrad Egge •The Rev. Patrick •Cheryl Emery Stout •Bob Fernie •Bunny Tarquinio •Regina Gazelle •Rocco Menaguale

•Dr. Rebecca •Robrt Pela Allison •Kado Stewart •Ron Casola •The Rev. Brad •Damon Dering Wishon •John Goldschmidt •Rich Zavala •Sen. Jack Jackson Jr.

2013 2010 •Ken Cheuvront •Randy Gorbette •Helena Grayson •Gary Guerin •Sam Holdren •Donna McHenry

•Barbra Seville •Brandi Sokolosky •Meg Sneed •Charlotte Strayhorne

2011 •Jimmy Gruender •Nancy Nunez •Lauren Henschen •Sheri Owens •Daniel Hernandez •Amanda Simpson •Megan Schmitz •Angela Hughey •Micheal Weakley •Pussy LeHoot •Lawrence Moore •Rick Welts

•Freddy Prinze Charming •Neil Cohen •The Rev. Charles Coppinger •Alan East •Al and Donna Ellis

•David Fiss •Austin Head •Kit Kloeckl •Lawrence Robinson •Donna Rossi

2014 •Brendan Mahoney •Felicia Minor •George Martinez and Fred McQuire •Why Marriage Matters

•Millie Carter Bloodworth •Rev. Jeffrey Dirrim •Linda Elliott •Jason Green

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Eddie Broadway

B

e yourself. That’s not only the best advice Eddie Broadway has ever received, it’s also the best advice he has to pass along.

To see Broadway deliver a performance or work a crowd, one wouldn’t know he’s only been performing drag for five years. In 2011, he saw Sisterzz Twisted, a local drag/ variety

troupe, perform one night at the Cash Inn and the rest, as they say, is history.

“I gave it a shot, auditioned, got accepted and here I am today,” he said. “This troupe was my launching point to my career. I was able to meet many community members and other performers that gave me opportunities to start branching out to other drag avenues.”

Just three years later, Broadway was crowned Mister Phoenix Gay Pride 2014.

“This role essentially thrust me into being a community leader, whether I liked it or not,” he said. “I learned how to stand strong in the face of adversity and have integrity in everything I do. I can’t even describe anything else in my life that has been as all around rewarding as this role.”

Although Broadway was born in Skokie, Ill., he’s lived in Arizona most of his life. And while he’s won too many awards to count and served the local community in a myriad of capacities, it’s this single title that defines his career thus far.

“I think my defining moment that this was my community wasn’t until I was Mister Phoenix Gay Pride 2014,” he said. “And even after, I am still discovering new events that define and shape my connectedness to this community.”

Broadway adds, “Community, to me, means support from those around you, acceptance of who you are, inclusiveness and love … Without my community, I would be nothing.”

Aside from his fundraising efforts for the Phoenix Gay Pride Scholarship with Miss Phoenix Gay Pride Barbra Seville, Broadway balanced being a husband to his wife, Carrie, a full-time job, a part-time internship, graduate school and his very public transition from female to male.

“It was a frightening thing doing it while in the ‘public eye,’ but it coincided with my reign so beautifully,” he said. “I literally went from a timid boy to a confident man in more ways than one.”

When Broadway is not performing at The Rock, R Lounge, or Charlie’s or serving as His Most Imperial Right Honorable Baron to Reign X of the Imperial Court of Arizona, he can be found studying for his Licensed Master of Social Work exam or working at the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS where he provides one-on-one behavioral therapy to clients.

READ THE REST To read more of Eddie Broadway’s interview with Echo, visit echomag.com/eddie-broadway.

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Photos by Fernando Hernández.

hall of fame

Bruce Christian

Y

ou might know him as Dave Shave or Bruce Trethewy, but since the turn of the 21st century he’s been known as Bruce Christian around Echo headquarters – a place he’s played an integral role for the past 26 years.

His journey in the local community began long before his bylines hit the pages of Echo, though.

“In high school (Sunnyslope) I often fantasized about being governor of Arizona, because I felt the state had such great potential and it seemed the leaders of the time were squandering great opportunities,” he said. “Some things never change.”

From there, Christian enlisted in the U.S. Navy. And, while based at the Construction Battalion Center in Port Hueneme, Calif., he recalls developing a greater appreciation for Phoenix, the place he considered home.

After graduating from Arizona State University, Christian’s career as a journalist took him out of state for quick jaunts, but he always ended up back in the Valley. And working toward equality was always his goal.

“When I first got involved in 1976, it was because Arizona still had statutes that prohibited unmarried people from living together and that made sexual behavior between people of same genders illegal,” he said. “That wasn’t right to me, and so I got involved with a small group of activists then.”

The general treatment of LGBT people during the ‘80s remained bad, which fueled Christian’s desire to spark change.

And, at the end of the decade, while he was working at the Tribune in Mesa, that opportunity arrived.

“As a journalist, I would pick up copies of the Echo – available then only in the bars – and edit them to pass the time,” he said.

“When I saw an ad in Echo that it needed an arts writer, I applied.”

Christian met with the publisher, Bill Orovan, and he was hired on the spot.

“Shortly after I began as the arts writer, perhaps a couple of months, Bill informed me the editor had decided to leave. Bill asked me if I could take on the responsibilities on an interim basis, until he found someone else. I agreed to do it, and for the next nine years I

READ THE REST To read more of Bruce Christian’s interview with Echo, visit echomag.com/bruce-christian.

class of 2015

was the managing editor.”

During Christian’s time as managing editor, the Echo headlines highlighted the City of Phoenix’s anti-discrimination ordinance, the coming out of former Rep. Jim Kolbe and former Tempe Mayor Neil Giuliano, Congress’s vote for, and President Clinton signing of, the Defense of Marriage Act and, of course, the military’s implementation of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

“But probably the most important headline that continued through the ‘90s was the progress that was made on the HIV/AIDS front,” he said. “It was during this decade that cocktail regimens were discovered and changed what had been considered an automatic death sentence.

The cocktail regimen helped people facing HIV/AIDS manage their condition.”

In 1999, Christian left the role of managing editor behind, but he convinced the editor to let him write a politically oriented column instead. That was how “Searching for Common Sense” was started (which he continued writing until December 2014).

“Today’s world is much better.

The progress and acceptance brings a smile to my face, even though I know we still have much to do,” he said.

“If anyone in 1980 would have told me I would be

able to marry my partner, I would have just laughed. Today, he and I are married.

And the acceptance is most noticeable in our bars … often you don’t know if the person you are sitting next to is gay or straight, and it just doesn’t matter.”

Tempest DuJour

T

he fourth time’s a charm. It was for Tempest DuJour when it came to trying out for “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” anyway.

DuJour, also known as Patrick Holt, told Echo that she felt honored to represent Arizona on the show during season 7, which aired earlier this year.

“Appearing on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ was really a dream come true,” she said. “Being the first queen from Arizona to appear on the show makes it even more special to me … I had an amazing and life-changing experience that has made me a better drag queen and person.”

Although DuJour only appeared on three episodes, she described the “Drag Race” family as a sorority of sisters who keep in close contact.

“On a very personal level, making the show was a benchmark of ‘you’ve achieved a certain level of your craft.’ The other part of it was, I don’t know any other queen like me, and I think that’s cool,” DuJour said. “People, to me, have this idea in their mind of what drag should be. Hopefully I can help show … [them] an alternative.”

Despite her travels, which have taken her all over the country, DuJour said she always loves returning to “where it all began,” the place she’s called home since 2002: Tucson.

Just this year alone, the former Miss Gay Tucson America and Miss Gay Tucson USofA hosted her NotSo-Newlywed Game as part of Tucson’s 26th annual Wingspan Dinner fundraiser and she served as the celebrity grand marshal of the Tucson’s 15th annual Pride on Parade.

“Part of what drew me to Tucson in the first place was the strength of the LGBTQ community,” she said.

Not only is Tucson the city that DuJour launched her drag career, it’s also the place she and her husband, David (married last year in Utah after eight years together) are raising their two adopted children, Mia, 9, and Auggie, 5.

When asked where she sees herself in five years, DuJour said her greatest reward would be a healthy and happy family.

“The past year has been filled with incredible triumphs and happiness. I’m so grateful for all the opportunities I’ve been given and I appreciate the support I’ve felt from the people here in Arizona and all over the world,” she said. “I’m especially grateful when I can use my talents and exposure to support organizations and people who need help.”

READ THE REST To read more of Tempest DuJour’s interview with Echo, visit echomag.com/tempest-dujour.

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Photo by Scotty Kirby.

hall of fame

Dr. Bobbi Lancaster

“O

nce upon a time, in a place far, far away – called Canada – I was a little boy. My name was Robert. And I did all the usual things that little boys do. Except for one thing. When I was alone I used to like to dress in little girls clothes. And I dreamed of being a girl. And in my heart I knew I was Bobbi.”

This is the short story, entitled “I am Humpty Dumpty,” that Dr. Bobbi Lancaster shared at HRC Arizona’s 11th annual gala Feb. 28, after receiving the organization’s Individual Equality Award.

In the story, Lancaster goes on to describe her decision to conceal her true identity while she continued her life as a husband, a father and a physician.

“Then finally one day, several years ago, I broke,” she said. “And it took luck, it took Lucy, it took family and friends, psychiatrists, medications, counselors, two psychologists, and it took all the king’s horses and all the king’s men to put this Humpty Dumpty back together again.”

In 2010, Lancaster underwent gender reassignment surgery and came out of the closet as a transgender woman.

“When I sat down with my employers to discuss transitioning at work, it did not go well,” she recalled. “In spite of my extraordinary work performance, I ran head on into very strong resistance. It was painful. I lost my jobs. It was financially a catastrophe for my wife and I. Her income has pulled us through. It is still a struggle.”

Coincidentally, 2010 was the same year another trans golfer filed a lawsuit against the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), and as a result, the rulebook’s so-called “female at birth” requirement was rewritten.

As someone who not only grew up golfing, but experienced great success in the sport, that change caught Lancaster’s attention.

“With my unexpected free time, I picked up my golf clubs again,” she said. “I quickly found out that I still had considerable skill, even though I was in my 60s, and was allowed to compete against women by the USGA and the LPGA after I complied with their gender policies.”

Lancaster missed qualifying for the LPGA Tour. But in 2013 she turned professional and played on the Cactus Tour. Then, through a string of events that followed, Lancaster stumbled upon a new hobby: activism. “[Today], I am working as hard as I can because I know what it was like to hide and to suffer,” she said. “And the transgender community has so many hurdles to climb, especially the young people. I have to help.

I am a caregiver. I was lucky to have survived my journey.”

READ THE REST To read more of Dr. Bobbi Lancaster’s interview with Echo, visit echomag.com/bobbi-lancaster.

class of 2015

Photo by Fernando Hernández.

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The Pattersons

Y

ou’ve seen them on the front page of the Arizona Republic, on the cover of Echo and on billboards for Arizona’s Children Association. They’ve rallied in support of causes ranging from marriage equality and fundraising to adoption and families.

They are the Pattersons. David, Kevin, Cayla and Cayden (pictured clockwise).

And their collective passion for equality, community and family was ignited when Lambda Legal asked them to become plaintiffs in one of Arizona’s marriage equality cases.

“What truly connects us to Arizona is the community,” Kevin and David agreed. “We can see the impact our family is having on many fronts, and the community keeps allowing us to do more.”

In fact, these dapper dads will celebrate one year legally married in the state of Arizona Oct. 17.

In the past year, David has returned to work, now as Banner Health System’s organizational development director, and Kevin, executive development director of for Banner Health, was selected for Valley Leadership’s Class 37. Meanwhile, Cayden, 9, is continuing in Girl Scouts with David as a troop leader and Cayla, 5, just started kindergarten.

And that’s not even taking Kevin’s work on the board of Arizona’s Children Association and Equality Arizona or David’s work with HRC Arizona’s Family Outreach Committee into consideration.

How do they do it all? Even they’re not sure. But these dads agree that when any activity aligns with passion, it doesn’t feel like work.

“This involvement is energizing and stimulates a deep passion in us,” the dads agreed. “The fact that individuals can get plugged in and can make lasting change has made this the community we want to raise our kids in.

We want them to see that we all have a voice and the opportunity to use it to help others.”

READ THE REST To read more of The Patterson Family’s interview with Echo, including a Q&A with Cayden and Cayla, visit echomag.com/pattersons.

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Photo by Fernando Hernández.

hall of fame

Marshall Shore

I

f you ask Arizona’s Hip Historian what he considers the biggest myth about Arizona that he’d like to dispel, odds are pretty good that his answer would be “that there is no LGBT history here.”

With his one-of-a-kind suit jackets, his statement eyewear, his unmistakable enthusiasm and nearly never-ending wealth of Arizona knowledge, Marshall Shore has made documenting Arizona’s LGBT past a top priority.

“We do have a history that is important,” Shore adds. “Arizona has a deep LGBT community history … I know we will uncover other great stories.”

From his contributions to Echo and the LGBT archival project in partnership with ASU and Phoenix Pride to the upcoming documentary PHX: A Gay Old Time and advocating for local landmarks, such as the 307 and The Pioneer Cemetery, Shore has his hands full.

It was about six years ago that Shore says he felt called to address a greater need. And that’s when he took a leap of faith.

“I quickly realized that my passion for community building, information and theater added up to a job that didn’t exist.

So, I created it,” he said. “I developed a variety of presentations that I have taken around the state and to local groups, [in addition to] providing tours. All of it doing what I like to call ‘edutainment.’”

And the Hip Historian brand was born.

Since then, Shore’s been committed to documenting and telling the stories of the Wild West.

“Without those stories of those LGBT pioneers that persevered, went to jail, died, or stood up to society for being themselves,” he said, “we would have no concept or context of the journey that we have taken to arrive at marriage equality.”

And when he’s not archiving, researching, presenting, volunteering, creating or curating, Shore can be found involved in a cause or effort that’s important to him.

“Giving back to the community is important,” he said. “Either through donating time, money or another option is to become part of the leadership.”

Shore added that choosing to sit on a board is a “very passionate thing” for him, and he holds his involvement with one n ten, a branch of the YMCA, Valley

READ THE REST To read more of Marshall Shore’s interview with Echo, visit echomag.com/marshall-shore. class of 2015

Leadership and The Pioneer Cemetery near and dear to his heart.

And he’s proud of the progress Arizona has made since he arrived here only 16 years ago. “[Paul and I] relocated to Arizona when there was a proposed constitutional amendment that would have been detrimental to the country’s entire LGBT community,” he said. “Politically speaking, there are community voices … that have helped lead Arizona. Still, the issue of homeless youth in the LGBT community is still there. And there is still news across the globe of persecution of our LGBT brothers and sisters.”

Keith Thompson

S

ome of Keith Thompson’s earliest memories, growing up in the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania, include playing house with the girls during recess in first grade and watching “Queen for a Day” when he was home sick.

“My Grandma was the most important person in my young life,” he said, “I felt ‘special’ to her and learned later that she felt the same.”

Thompson describes his teen years in Ashland, Ohio, as “very mainstream religious,” which he credits with helping him manage, and hide, his attraction to other guys.

“Oddly, the national Methodist youth office did issue a ‘gay liberation’ publication during the late ‘60s, which was a lifeline to my closeted self,” he said.

“I went to the cornfields of Illinois (Monmouth College), where I came out quietly, bolstered by a study semester in Washington D.C. in 1972, where gay freedom was exciting and affirming.”

From there, Thompson went on to Vanderbilt Divinity School through the

latter part of the ‘70s where he was out of the closet. “[I] naively thought, with the Congregational denomination having ordained a gay minister, that I could also serve perhaps in campus ministry,” he said. “I took my first pastorate at a Texas University branch in west Texas and was fired six months later for being gay.”

Devastated, he came to Phoenix to live with his mom and younger sister.

“I recall thinking during that difficult time that I would need to choose between my gay life and a successful life,” he said. “But I thought that was unjust. I decided to just continue being true to me and ‘let go and let God.’” And that decision, led him to the first love of his life, David W. Brown, in 1982.

Just three years later Thompson tested positive for HIV and later took a new job with Terros, a drug recovery agency that had begun walk-in HIV testing.

“I did expect to get ill and die, but wanted to use the time I had as best I could,” he said. “I still esteem Cathy Torres Paddock, Terros detox nurse and community angel.

Two years later, in the midst of the AIDS epidemic, Thompson became the executive director at Terros and an Arizona substance abuse counselor.

And, on Sept. 11,1991, Brown died. Eleven of Thompson’s dear friends also died that year.

“We were loved by so many personal and work friends through that.

“I used the insurance David had left me to buy the house of our dreams … a senseless purchase, given my health prospects,” he said. “But I still live in that gifted space today, 24 years later.”

Today, Thompson and the second love of his life, Frank Aparicio, are raising their grandchildren in that house.

“I am now graced with the title I cherish above all others: ‘Papi,’” he said. “[We] are raising three beautiful grandchildren … it’s a tough full-time job on top of my full-time Shanti work, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

The joys of grandparenthood are universal, but not promised.

“I had once forfeited the possibility of raising children, as I had the possibility of legally marrying, many years ago,” he said. “Both are now realities for all of us. I am so glad to be part of our community.”

READ THE REST To read more of Keith Thompson’s interview with Echo, visit echomag.com/keith-thompson.

Photos by Fernando Hernández. hall of fame

Claudia Work

W

hen asked who some of her role models were, Claudia Work didn’t flinch.

She was quick to acknowledge “such great minds” as Shannon Mintner, Kate Kendall, Jennifer Pizer, Elizabeth Gill and “so many other attorneys and activists … who have been there from the beginning when the struggle was not ‘I want the right to marry,’ but simply ‘I want the right to identify as LGBT and not be arrested or harassed.’”

And yet, Work’s expertise in LGBT family law has shaped the local landscape.

“I almost feel that I came in after all of the really hard battles were fought,” she said. “My inspirations are those LGBT crusaders who fought the early battles that, as ‘wins’ gained momentum, caused the avalanche of local court decisions that eventually gave us marriage equality and will give us full equality down the line.”

For the past eight years, Work has been an attorney with Campbell Law Group here in Phoenix. This firm is very supportive of the LGBT community and has repeatedly earned top scores on the Greater Phoenix Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce’s Business Equality Index.

“With the LGBT community, there is a great need for lawyers who understand the types of families we often create, and how they often don’t fit into the traditional mold, especially when we talk about raising children,” she said. “A lot of family lawyers advertise to the LGBT community, but don’t understand the laws affecting us or don’t care about how the positions they argue damage the LGBT community as a whole.”

One such example was Work’s involvement in Arizona’s high-profile Beatie vs. Beatie divorce case. Thomas Beatie, who lived as a man for 15 years before marrying his wife in Hawaii in 2003, was initially denied a divorce in the state of Arizona after a judge ruled that he was still legally female (despite sex reassignment surgery, hormone replacement therapy hormone treatment, and having properly changed the gender marker on his birth certificate).

“My involvement in that case was made possible by the Transgender Law Center, so they really get the credit for helping to convince the Appeals Court that the trial judge was just plain wrong when he decided to reopen the State of Hawaii’s determination of Mr. Beatie’s gender,” Work said. “Because marriage equality made it so that the question of gender will never again be relevant in a divorce, the real lasting importance of that case was to make it clear that, as long as a transgender person follows the law in their jurisdiction to change their gender marker on their birth certificate, another court with different rules cannot reopen the issue.”

standpoint with divorces now available,” she said. “But the one huge benefit that I have personally enjoyed is the ability to have my (then) fiancée, Christelle, emigrate from France to marry and live here legally!”

From a legal standpoint, a great deal of Work’s clients needs have changed since marriage equality became the law of the land.

“Helping people secure their relationships on a state and federal level has become easier with marriage equality, and getting out of them has become easier from a legal

READ THE REST To read more of Claudia Work’s interview with Echo, visit echomag.com/claudia-work.

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feature story

Androgynous Is The New Black “America’s Next Top Model” star advocates for fashion’s latest trend

By Kara J. Philp

Y

ou might recognize him from “America’s Next Top Model.” You may have heard his latest iTunes single, “Carpe Diem,” which dropped June 1. And perhaps you’ll catch him on a Las Vegas billboard for designer Stevie Boi later this year.

And if not, now’s your chance to meet him.

His name is Cory Wade.

Wade was the first openly gay contestant on “America’s Next Top Model” Cycle 20, the show’s first co-ed cycle, on which he earned second runner up and fan favorite honors.

Wade credits the show for launching his career, and has since become an advocate for gender non-conformity as well as a style icon for androgynous fashion.

Echo caught up with Wade to find out more about his take on the androgynous fashion phenomenon.

Echo: Tell us how long you’ve been modeling and how you got your start.

first billboard ever for designer Stevie Boi. Echo: What are some of your career goals?

Wade: I’m not married exclusively to my budding modeling career. My first passionate pursuit was toward a career in live theater. I studied musical theater in college and was gunning to make it on Broadway for a very significant part of my life. My goals going forward are to find a way to get people to know me as more than just a model. I am a multifaceted individual with a lot to say. I’d like for my work to inspire a societal change through multiple mediums ... [including] one that promotes free and honest self-expression.

Echo: Congrats on earning the second runner up and fan favorite on the first ever co-ed cycle of Top Model. Tell us a little bit about what that experience was like for you.

Wade: Top Model definitely changed my life for the better. There are so many magical experiences I would never have had if it were not for that show. I did undergo somewhat of an identity crisis after being pressured to “man up” or “act straight” for all of the world to see … but looking back, that off-base criticism has given me so much strength and so much purpose. Now I am strong enough to take anything anybody has to say about me.

Echo: You identify as an androgynous model. Explain what that means to you personally and what it means in the context of the fashion industry?

Wade: Androgyny is about disregarding the societal rules that say certain traits and characteristics must be exclusive to either one of two definitive gender types. I think a lot of people skew the term into meaning: “a man who looks like a woman” or viceversa but I don’t really see it that way. To me, androgyny is more about not taking on either of these classifiable roles.

In the fashion industry, androgyny has become somewhat of a coveted thing primarily because it is reflective of a social progression. People are starting to wake up to the reality that all fashion is unnatural. It is all put on.

It is all contrived, thereby confirming that there

Wade: I hadn’t really modeled much prior to my experience on “America’s Next Top Model,” so I like to think of that journey as my official start in the industry. A lot of agencies don’t take the Top Model brand as seriously as I would have hoped, but that hasn’t stopped me from forming a career out of it.

I’ve worked with House of Byfield, Edwing D’Angelo, Dom Streeter, Heartless Revival and Uberreste, to name a few ... but you can also see me this coming November in Las Vegas on my

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Photo courtesy of Cory Wade.

“Fashion has the power to motivate the societal change that needs to take place ... but we’ll need to have patience and understanding.”

Cory Wade

should be no rule saying that a woman should be allowed to wear heels and a man shouldn’t. It is unnatural for BOTH gender types to be walking in high heels. Heels mess up your feet. Does that make sense?

Echo: What similarities have you encountered or observed between gender in society, gender on the runway and gender in fashion?

Wade: Society as a whole still has a long way to go. Fashion has the power to motivate the societal change that needs to take place ... but we’ll need to have patience and understanding. So many people around the world have been conditioned to see things in a way that is harmful to people who are only trying to get closer to being their authentic selves. I still receive comments on my Instagram like “Fag” or “Kill yourself” under photos of myself in makeup or high heels and it serves as a reminder that not everybody is ready to let go of the conventional way we’ve been trained to see gender. Change takes time.

Echo: We certainly agree that change

takes time. We’re noticing a surge in androgynous/gender-neutral clothing lines as well as models; to what do you attribute this trend?

androgyny is more widely understood, thus making it more trendy.

Wade: As each generation comes along, we become more awake to the truth about gender rules. The truth is that we’ve created these rules and they have no real purpose other than to stifle our authentic self-expression. Anybody who opposes this sentiment is basically saying, “Women were meant to be uncomfortable. Women were meant to have smooth legs and armpits.

They were meant to feel unnatural leaving the house without paint slathered on their faces. And men were meant to be basic in their slacks and their button-downs”. I mean, really? I feel like our generation has had it with this nonsense.

Wade: These ideals about gender do seem to be a hot trending topic right now, but I definitely see this as so much more than just a passing fad. We really can’t afford for it to just be a fad. This shouldn’t be compared to style trends in fashion because here we are talking about people.

Echo: Since all styles re-emerge at some point, would you care to share any thoughts or insight on the androgynous/genderneutral fashion movement of the ‘80s?

Wade: When I look back at photos and videos of andro-glam pioneers like Boy George, David Bowie and Grace Jones [I think] that people back then probably saw these figures as fantasy characters. They loved how they looked but they never took it as seriously as they should have. Maybe they said, “Wow they look AMAZING but they are so outlandish and I could never wear that!” When, in actuality, they weren’t being outlandish at all. They were only manifesting their authentic selves, something everybody should feel comfortable doing because of how short life is.

Today

Echo: Does this trend remind you of any other recent trends? How so?

The kids who are having such a hard time accepting themselves that they are considering suicide don’t deserve for this to be an issue of relevance that will soon pass.

They need to be able to see people like them on television and in magazines constantly.

People of every creed should be represented in the media and in fashion so that we don’t exclude people from that world. While gender non-conformant culture does seem like a trend now, I feel that it will be a long lasting movement for the betterment of us all.

Echo: What is the significance of a trend/ look/expression that goes against the gender binary or the classic idea of a “men’s” and “women’s” retail sections?

Wade: The benefit is for people to stop hating themselves for what they cannot change. Then, we’ll have a much easier time expressing ourselves genuinely without feeling like we have to fit into classifiable gender roles. If you feel like you have something inside of you that hasn’t been expressed to its fullest, then my dear, you are missing out on life and you need to explore that facet of your being pronto. The way I see it, the sooner we shatter these rules about what we are allowed to wear based on what is in between our legs, the better.

Catch up with Cory Wade, and follow his career, on social media. He can be reached on Facebook at facebook.com/ cory.hindorff and on Twitter and Instagram at @CoryW4de.

Kara J. Philp is the managing editor of Echo Magazine and can be reached at kj@echomag.com.

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Ketonya Bankston. Photos courtesy of Style Stalkers, LLC.

Style Stalkers Local fashionista offers insight on the emerging androgynous fashion trend

By Kara J. Philp

S

tyle Stalkers, LLC is a monthly fashion blog that offers an array of services from makeovers and private modeling lessons to fashion show production and updates on international trends The Phoenix-based blog was founded by Ketonya Bankston in 2011, and has grown into an operation that has been invited to produce a fashion show as part of Super Bowl 50 in San Francisco early next year.

According to its website, Style Stalkers prides itself in being created to “inspire the fashionably inclined along with those who want to be savvy or just don’t have the know how.”

So, Echo knew exactly who to turn to for insight on the emerging androgynous fashion trend. Echo caught up with Bankston between her trips to New York Fashion Week and Europe and here’s what she had to say.

Echo: Recap any of your observations – from the runway to local retail – of the recent re-emergence of androgynous fashion.

Bankston: Androgynous is a combination of both masculine and feminine qualities.

Therefore, this term has long been used in the fashion industry to describe both clothing and models.

I know plenty of women who wear men’s clothing and I know plenty of men

who wear women’s clothing. This doesn’t mean that there’s anything wrong with you. Sometimes a woman can find better fashions in the men’s section and vice versa. Just remember, the key is to to personalize the fashion and make it your own style.

Echo: Our readers are all ages, all genders, all sexual preferences, etc.; in your words, who is this look/trend best suited for?

Bankston: This style is suited for anyone willing to take a chance and step out of the box. We were created as individuals and no two people are the same. It’s the same with fashion. Fashion is made in a variety of different styles, colors, shapes and forms. What this means is that we have choices, so make your choice ... You should get up each day and get dressed to please yourself before you please anyone else.

Otherwise you’ll never be happy.

Echo: In what ways would you consider this trend a radical movement?

Bankston: In my opinion, a radical movement is something out of the norm that someone is willing to take a chance on.

Once that chance is taken, it makes leaps and bounds across the board; meaning droves of others catch on and do the same thing. In a sense, now that they have seen someone else take this chance, they can feel comfortable in doing the same thing.

A few examples would be men wearing women’s skinny jeans (before they were created for men) and the latest craze, for both women and men, of wearing gray hair.

Echo: If someone reading this is interested or inspired by this trend, what is the next advice you would give them?

Bankston: In fashion, you have to learn how to personalize it and make it your own style. That’s the difference between fashion and style. Style is much [more] personalized than the form of fashion that may be [considered] the trend. [Know the difference, and] you’ll be comfortable and pleased with the choices you’ve made, because you’ve personalized the fashion trend and made it your own. And NEVER go

out and purchase everything you see on a mannequin.

Echo: Does this remind you of any other recent trends? How so?

Bankston: Absolutely, there was a designer who showcased an entire collection of men’s skirts on the runway at New York Fashion Week: Men. It was incredible, inspiring and very fashionable. If you think about it, men wore skirts for battle during the medieval times, so it’s nothing new!

It’s just evolved. Fashion is a cycle and at some point or another, all things old will be reinvented and re-evolve.

Echo: Good point! Since all styles re-emerge at some point, do you see any trends re-emerging in new ways?

Bankston: A particular style that comes to mind when I think about androgyny and the 1980s is see-through shirts. We’re used to seeing women embrace this style of shirt.

However, in recent years more designers have incorporated this style into their menswear designs. If man had worn this style of shirt back in the ‘80s, he’d have been talked about. Now a man can wear this type of shirt and it’s considered stylish.

Let’s face it, this particular style is fun and fashionable.

We can’t forget the pantsuit. The women’s pantsuit was first introduced in the 1920s and evolved from there. In the 1960’s the women’s pantsuit became more wide spread. For instance in 1966, Yves Saint Laurent designed a women’s pantsuit to mimic a men’s tuxedo. It goes both ways.

Echo: What other advice do you have for our readers?

Bankston: Dare to be different and just be you! Clothes don’t make you who you are, the person wearing the clothing makes the clothing.

For more information on Style Stalkers, LLC, visit stylestalkersblog.com.

Kara J. Philp is the managing editor of Echo Magazine and can be reached at kj@echomag.com.

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OUT ‘n ABOUT Phoenix Fashion Week at Talking Stick Resort Oct. 1 and 3.

Photos by Bill Gemmill.

For more Echo photos visit echomag.com/gallery.

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feature story

A World Away LGBTQA Kyrgyz Delegation travels to U.S. for answers and hope

By Art Martori

T

hat night in April 2014 began as an ordinary outing with friends, remembers Nurbek Omurov, a 33-year-old resident of Bishkek, the capital and largest city of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Public sentiment in his Central-Asian homeland, formerly known as Kyrgyzstan, is decidedly against the LGBTQA community.

Harassment or worse is common. But to avoid it, they headed to the gay club late at night, long after most people were in bed.

Approaching the club, however, they spotted a group of shady characters loitering near the entrance. The thugs, as Omurov describes them, seemed to be looking for trouble. Instinct told Omurov and his group to walk the other way.

“We were trying to bypass them and go around the other side, but they noticed us because, maybe, they saw the way we were dressed,” he recalled. “Usually people dress very conservatively. We were very bright.”

physically, but telling us we were not the right kind of people. Why did we choose to live like this? This was wrong. Later, they closed the case because they didn’t find enough evidence.”

Rights At Risk Stories like this are common out of the now-democratic Kyrgyz Republic, which was once a part of the Soviet Union. LGBTQA people are frequently persecuted and, as in neighboring Russia, have little recourse to protect themselves or discourage further attacks.

The thugs intercepted them. Without much warning, they started to beat Orumov and members of his group. What started as a low-profile visit to the local gay club had quickly turned into a fracas that harkened back to the pogroms of early 19th century Russia.

Their situation gained mainstream attention in 2013, with a report from the humanitarian nonprofit Human Rights Watch (HRW). It revealed instances of “entrapment, extortion, beating and sexual violence” toward gay men, and “forced marriages and ‘curative rapes’” targeting lesbian and bisexual women. Another report from HRW followed in January 2014, exposing police violence toward gay and bisexual men.

“We immediately called the police office. They were very negative,” Omurov explained. “They were harassing us, not

Some in the Kyrgyz Republic say it was this negative exposure that prompted antiLGBTQA legislation, introduced in October

2014, by the Kyrgyz Parliament. The measure is similar to existing Russian laws. While same-sex relationships wouldn’t be illegal, the legislation severely limits LGBTQA people’s freedoms of assembly and speech; any type of activism or celebration would be outlawed.

The Kyrgyz measure has been described as tougher than its Russian counterpart due to the harsh penalties that come with it, including heavy fines and prison time.

It has already passed two out of three required rounds of voting, with the third and final reading on hold pending a Parliamentary election Oct. 4, 2015. It’s expected to pass through Parliament sometime after the election, Kyrgyz sources say, and then must be signed by the President and upheld by their Constitutional Court. Those last two stages, they say, are the only chances of it being struck down.

The U.S. embassy to the Kyrgyz Republic was quick to issue a statement after the measure was introduced. “... People everywhere deserve to live in freedom. No one should be silenced or imprisoned because of who they are or whom they love,” the statement reads.

“Laws that discriminate against one group of people threaten the fundamental rights of all people. Sweeping limits on civil society harm democracy.

“We urge MPs and the people of the Kyrgyz Republic to stand on the side of justice and equality, to stand for progress and compassion, and oppose legislation that would criminalize expressions of identity or limit civil society.”

Editor’s Note: An email seeking comment from the Kyrgyz Republic’s embassy to the U.S. remained unanswered at the time this story went to print.

Like castaways venturing out to bring back help, a delegation of representatives from Kyrgyz LGBTQA non-governmental organizations recently visited the United States on a fact-finding trip sponsored by

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LGBT rights, and also a part of the visiting Kyrgyz delegation.

“With the upcoming elections, it was very convenient to use that report as a pretext,” she explained through a translator. “They used it not to change the situation for the better, as far as LGBTQA people were concerned, but they did the opposite. They used some kind of cheap populism in order to gain more votes by introducing a topic that is neutral and doesn’t concern any of the candidates personally.”

The parliament’s agenda was easy to initiate quickly because Russia had already laid the groundwork, notes Chynara Bakirova, executive director of the Kyrgyz Republic-based Anti-AIDS Association, and the third member of the visiting Kyrgyz delegation.

LGBTQA Kyrgyz Delegation members, (left to right) Nurbek Omurov, Aleksandr Shilo, Chynara Bakirova, Lilia Ten, during their visit to the United States.

Photo courtesy of Nurbek Omurov.

the U.S. State Department.

With stops in Portland, Ore.; Scottsdale, Ariz.; Little Rock, Ark. and New York City, the delegation was tasked with learning how acceptance of the LGBTQA community evolved in the U.S., and then, hopefully, returning home in time to spark change.

An International Interview The Paloma Conference Room at Chaparral Suites in Scottsdale is completely empty one September evening when I arrive to meet the Kyrgyz delegation, yet evidence of a busy day is strewn along the long conference table.

After a few minutes of waiting, the tall double doors swing open to reveal two men and two women who appear to be in their late 20s or early 30s, dressed in casual, stylish Western clothing. It takes a halting exchange in English before I realize they’re the Kyrgyz delegation and they realize I’m the American journalist.

Shortly thereafter, we’re joined by two translators and things proceed smoothly.

First, I want to know, why did the Kyrgyz Republic choose its LGBTQA community as a target?

“The situation in Kyrgyzstan is quite challenging in that the society is still very conservative and not accepting toward LGBTQA issues,” explains Omurov, the only member of the group who speaks fluent English. “So is the Parliament, the main decision-making branch of the government of Kyrgyzstan.”

Omurov is the chairman of Kyrgyz Indigo, an NGO that advocates for LGBTQA rights and provides general support for the Kyrgyz Republic’s LGBTQA population. If the aforementioned measure passes, Kyrgyz Indigo, along with each of the delegates’ organizations, would be outlawed.

“It will significantly change our lives, especially those who are out,” Omurov says of being one of few openly gay men in his country. “It would prohibit, for example,

“... People everywhere deserve to live in freedom. No one should be silenced or imprisoned because of who they are or whom they love.”

“In a poor country, they are always going to welcome very radical solutions.

Nationalism. Maintaining the tradition.

Referring to the cultural roots. And a promise of a better future,” Bakirova said through a translator. “In that sense, it is definitely easier to promote the negative agenda, aggressive bills, not something that would improve the social situation.”

Bakirova continues.

dating on websites and talking about these issues on social media. If our rights are violated because of our identity, our sexual orientation, it would be really difficult for us to defend ourselves. Our lives would be very difficult.”

“Russia is very close geographically, and that anti-gay idea had been there for quite some time,” she adds, again through her translator.

“Our parliamentarians decided to use that idea because the mass media in Russia had already prepared the ground. A lot of Russian media are popular in our country, so the local parliamentarians didn’t even have to spend any money on campaigns.”

Finding A Scapegoat

A Matter of Life or Death

The U.S. embassy to the Kyrgyz Republic

The conservative climate in the Kyrgyz Republic is likely due to dogma and a general sense of dissatisfaction among its public.

Of the more than 5.6 million inhabitants, according to the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook, 75 percent are Muslim and 20 percent are Russian Orthodox, two religions noted for their intolerant stances toward homosexuality.

Further souring public opinion might be an unwillingness to accept a lower standing in the world following the early-1990s dissolution of the Soviet Union, under which Kyrgyzstan enjoyed significant upticks culturally, economically and socially.

In recent years the Kyrgyz Republic has clashed with foreign entities, including Canadian investors and a U.S. military base, over preserving its sovereign rights. Today, per capita GDP in the Kyrgyz Republic hovers around $3,400, compared with $54,600 in the U.S. Some 7.6 percent of the Kyrgyz population is unemployed and nearly 34 percent lives beneath the poverty line.

It’s as if the Kyrgyz Parliament found a scapegoat in its LGBTQA community, explains Lilia Ten. Ten is the executive director of The Grace, an NGO based in Bishkek that works to raise awareness for

One subtle but devastating effect that anti-LGBTQA sentiment has created is an unwillingness to seek out treatment for HIV, said Aleksandr Shilo, the fourth member of the Kyrgyz delegation, through a translator.

Shilo is an outreach worker for the USAID Dialogue on HIV and TB Project.

“There are a lot of people we work with, and sometimes you grab them by the hand and bring them there,” he explained. “We’re telling them, ‘This is a priority. Please go through with treatment.’ These people don’t have the community to talk to, to support them. We try to unite them. We try to gather them.”

The stigma attached to being a gay man has even created a rift among those infected, Bakirova added.

“Inside this group of HIV-infected people there is a lot of division based on how they got it,” she explained. “This is a huge problem for us. There are several issues we need to monitor at the same time, and that is homophobia and internal stigma and psychological state of mind.”

Bakirova notes that while HIV and AIDS aren’t an epidemic among the general Kyrgyz population, in 2013 an estimated 6.6 percent of gay men were infected.

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are transfixed by the American football game on a couple flat screens, Omurov tells me about his coming-out experience. Two years ago, after being closeted for 12 years, his devoutly Christian mother insisted on performing the washing of the feet rite, kneeling before him, begging forgiveness for the way she’d raised him. When Omurov refused to renounce being gay, she disowned him.

He hasn’t heard from her since.

Photo courtesy of Nurbek Omurov.

Members of the delegation admit it has been hard to grasp a true sense of what it’s like to be openly LGBTQA in the U.S. due to the whirlwind itinerary of their trip. Ten points out the nature of conservatism varies quite a bit between countries, as well as its impact.

it’s unlikely we’ll see each other again.

Somebody suggests I meet them for the complimentary happy hour. Possibly sensing the ethics involved with American journalism, they insist on sneaking me in with their room keys so I can get free drinks.

Fear Versus Fate

One of our translators, a gracious, motherly native of Kiev, excuses herself and a few of the delegates. They’d heard about T.J. Maxx and remain determined to walk the few blocks there from the hotel before it closes. Apologetically, I produce my phone to show them what one block means – Scottsdale Road to Miller Road – in an urban sprawl. The group confers a moment in rapid-fire Russian before deciding to catch the hotel shuttle.

Our time is up in the conference room.

There’s an uneasy moment when members of the Kygyz delegation and I realize

Omurov and I find ourselves the only ones left in the lounge, daintily sipping thimblesize cocktails. As a few other hotel guests

“We have quite a lot of things that are similar,” she said. “But when you compare Kyrgyzstan and Arizona, I think it’s easier to get justice than in our country. That’s the most important difference, in my opinion.”

In laconic fashion, Omurov agreed.

“There is rule of law,” he says. “But in Kyrgyzstan, rule of law is complicated.”

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But that’s what he’s come to accept.

“I did not expect to hear such horrible words from a mother. It was very difficult to hear all that from a person who you think should love you,” he later tells me from Vienna via Facebook, on his way back home.

“As a gay person, coming out is my fate.”

Echo would like to extend a special thanks to Kirill Flerov and Anna Richardson, Russian language interpreters, for their patience, humor and supreme professionalism.

TAKE IT ONLINE For election and delegation updates, visit echomag.com/a-world-away.

Art Martori is a Phoenix-based freelance writer who contributes to various newspapers and magazines.

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feature story

Around the World in 50 Titles Film Festival brings international and LGBT themes to town

By Hans Pedersen

I

f an international experience is on this year’s to-do list, you might want to get going on that (you only have two months left). Otherwise, the Scottsdale International Film Festival is bringing a wide variety of international experiences to the big screen Nov. 5-9.

In its 15th year, the acclaimed festival offers audiences more than 50 films from more than 20 countries around the world.

According to festival founder Amy Ettinger, its logo includes a globe and theater

seat, since foreign films give you the feeling of “armchair traveling” or being someplace far away for the duration of time between the opening and closing credits.

Ettinger has been involved with film festivals for nearly two decades and is the founder and former executive director of the Valley’s first LGBT film festival, Out Far, which ran for about 10 years.

Still, Ettinger admits that finding such fascinating, must-have selections is not an easy task, and credits a team of

programmers with helping her anticipate what will resonate with viewers and select films months ahead of each year’s festival.

Today, she credits the combination of a trip to Paris and her life-long passion for foreign films as her inspiration for creating an international film festival in the Valley.

Ettinger undoubtedly drew on her LGBT film festival experience in selecting these four must-see titles:

Carol

happy to allow us the honor to show the film.”

Four of the festival’s selections feature LGBT themes, including one of the crown jewels of the fest, the much-anticipated Carol by director Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven).

According to Ettinger, landing Carol (ahead of its theatrical release, no less) is thrilling.

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“The Weinstein Company has been very generous with us … in allowing us to premiere their films in Arizona,” Ettinger said. “Last year they gave us The Imitation Game and it won our audience award for best film, and I think they were very pleased with that. They’re representing Carol and I think they were

Based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Price of Salt, Carol is a 1950s Manhattan love story about Theresa (Rooney Mara), a department store clerk in her 20s who falls for Carol (Cate Blanchett), a woman caught in a pointless marriage. As their romance grows more intense, Carol’s home life becomes threatened, and her husband (Kyle Chandler) challenges her ability to be a mother.

Ettinger said she was happy to include Carol in the lineup of screenings without having yet seen it – a testament to such immense faith in the film’s creative team.

The Girl King The Girl King is a selection in French and English that the festival founder also seems genuinely thrilled to be sharing with audiences. Directed by Mika Kaurismaki, the historic drama focuses on the iconoclastic Queen Kristina and her attempts to end the violent war between Catholics and Protestants.

“When I heard about it … I called the distributors right out of the gate and said I had to have it right away,” Ettinger said.

Amid a tumultuous political backdrop, Queen Kristina

Baby Steps Baby Steps is a Canadian-Taiwanese film that caught Ettinger and her team’s collective eye, despite its cutesy premise about two men in love who want a baby and a disapproving mom.

“Maybe a little too cute,” Ettinger said of her first impression, adding that she saw it as a perfect “palette cleanser.”

Directed by Barney Cheng, the LGBT-themed movie in Mandarin and English is lighter fare. It’s the story of a mother’s shock that her son, Danny,

The Canadian documentary premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and was profiled in Echo in August. (Read the review at echomag.com/amina-profile.)

This intriguing documentary traces the online affair between Sandra Beraga and a blogger known as Amina Arraf, who writes about life as a young Syrian-American woman living in Damascus. After the blog

“She was a Swedish queen who was raised in a manly fashion because she was taking the throne from her father as a child,” Ettinger said, pointing out how Greta Garbo appeared in an early film version of the story.

Brought up as a young man, Kristina was “split between two worlds by two forces,” she said, “and was probably pushed into a little bit of gender dysphoria.

That’s what I took away from it …”

and his boyfriend, Tate, plan to hire a surrogate to carry her first grandchild. And, when mom comes along during their trip to Bangkok for an embryo transfer, her homophobic tendencies simmer to the surface.

“Maybe because it is on the heels of a very difficult year for us all, but so many of the films that were being submitted to us … it was so grim and depressing,” she said. “This was such a nice piece of programming to add that gives people a break. It’s but not because it’s silly or funny … the film is timely, and it’s relevant.”

becomes a hub for media stories about the resistance movement in Syria, Amina is reportedly kidnapped – and her girlfriend is determined to find her.

A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile Another selection that “hit a note” with Ettinger was A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile,” which she calls a real humdinger of a movie.

is overcome by her love for Countess Ebba Sparre, and her deep affection for her own striking lady-in-waiting becomes a challenge to resist.

As journalists join in the search for the missing writer, Sandra – and viewers – get hit with a whammy of a surprise.

“I was really caught up in the storytelling … bottom line, I never saw it coming,” she said of the twist in this political thriller. “It was delightful, as someone who watches films day in and day out … to be so caught off-guard … I felt off-center, off-balance.

And I think that’s what they meant to do.

And it worked. I felt like my audience had to see this, because in the long run, it resonated.”

The addition of recreated scenes is one of the reasons it could be called a hybrid documentary.

“I do think they took some liberties with the documentary form,” Ettinger said of the acclaimed film, directed by Sophie Deraspe, which is in English, French and Arabic.

Ultimately, this documentary is just the type of indie gem you can discover at the festival, as well as box-office draws like last year’s The Imitation Game.

The festival kicks off with an opening night event featuring the Landfill Harmonic Orchestra and a movie about their fabulous 24-piece “recycled orchestra” at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, but all 70 screenings take place at Harkins Shea 14.

For a complete listing of films screening during the festival, or to purchase tickets, visit scottsdalefilmfestival.com.

Opening Night Nov. 5 Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts 7380 E. Second St., Scottsdale 6 p.m. reception; 7:30 p.m. film screening Screenings Nov. 6-9 Harkins Shea 14 Theatre 7354 E. Shea Blvd., Scottsdale Hans Pedersen is a freelance writer based in Phoenix.

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Ajijic, Mexico ...

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Much has been written about Ajijic, Mexico, a beautiful lakeside village, just a 30-minute drive from the Guadalajara International Airport.

Little more than a two-hour flight from Phoenix, Ajijic consistantly ranks in the Top 2 retirement destinations and in the Top 2 rankings for best weather in the world.

Featured several times on television, most recently in a PBS documentary, Ajijic has historically been promoted as a cheap alternative to retiring in the United States and while that is indeed true, the more luxurious retirement style available there has been largely ignored.

Ajijic was profiled in 2008 by The Advocate as a desireable gay and lesbian destination where

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money goes 30 percent further. In Ajijic, there are ridiculously low property taxes and cost of living as well as fabulous restaurants and entertainment, all nestled in the Sierra Madre Mountains on Mexico's largest lake. This makes luxury living within the grasp of the U.S. middle class.

With a diverse group of residents from all over the globe converging to retire here, people quickly realize the magic and charm the Village has to offer. The gay and lesbian community is widely accepted and integrates effortlessly with both locals and other foreigners alike.

The lakeside off-season population of about 20,000 doubles in the winter due to the influx of snowbirds escaping colder climates. With an average temperature of 76 degrees year round, Ajijic rarely gets too hot or too cold.

The area is blessed with an abundance of activities and local live theater, with bigger names flying in for one-off performances and 2015 has already seen Lorna Luft and Roslyn Kind perform in the Auditorium. And, if people need more

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WITHOUT RESERVATIONS

Cornish Pasty Co.

By Chelsea Young

W

hen I first heard about Cornish Pasty Co., I thought the person who told me about it had mispronounced the word “pastry.” Come to find out, a pasty (pronounced pass-tee) is, in fact, a British delicacy originating from Cornwall, England. It was especially popular with mine workers because of its convenient hot pocket-like structure (i.e. could be eaten hand-held).

So, what is a pasty, you ask? Imagine your favorite dish – from classic comfort foods (chicken alfredo, shepherd’s pie) to more exotic flavors (chicken tika masala, Carne Adovada) – enveloped in a flaky pastry crust. That is a pasty. Though, I’d recommend eating it with a fork and knife versus your hands.

“The rich wood grain contrasts the causal seating arrangement for an unmistakable European feel.”

Chelsea Young

as misters and heat lamps with a Jameson whiskey barrel as the base to accommodate year-round dining.

While each of Thomas’ restaurants has its own unique feel and inviting atmosphere, the Scottsdale location – once two individual houses – offers an expertly crafted mix of cozy British pub meets modern neighborhood bistro.

As the vision of Cornwall native Dean Thomas, Cornish Pasty Co. opened its first location in Tempe in January 2005. Since then, Thomas has added locations in Mesa, Scottsdale, Las Vegas and, by January 2016, Phoenix. The Phoenix location, which will occupy the spot that once housed Monroe’s Wine and Spirits, is currently under renovation.

Once inside, the hostess guided us past a couple different dining areas to our table – a longer, community-style table facing the bar. Part of the authentic charm here is the picnic-tables-and-bench seating, both on the patio and in the dining room.

The rich wood grain contrasts the causal seating arrangement for an unmistakably European feel.

My dinner date of one ended up turning into a group of five for a Saturday dinner at the Old Town Scottsdale location. As we approached, we were welcomed by the restaurant’s expansive patio that features an impressive indoor/outdoor bar as well

We were promptly greeted by our server, who offered me a sample of an English pub ale called Boddingtons. The creamy, blonde Guinness-like brew didn’t hit the spot for me, so instead I went for an amber-colored Levity brew from O’Dell Brewing Company in Fort Collins, Colo., to pair with my dinner.

For starters, we ordered the Scotch Egg (pictured), a hard boiled egg cut into four pieces, each wrapped in sausage and served with a mustard dipping

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Boddingtons Pub Ale.

sauce. This secret gem was to die for. The sausage was almost like a crust for the egg and the sauce sealed the deal. It’s a mustorder specialty, in my opinion.

We also ordered a side of the oven chips with garlic (jalapeños are also available).

Remember that “chips” in England are actually French fries. These chips take about 15 minutes to cook, so they ended up arriving with our pasties.

As a party of five, our goal was to strategically select a variety of pasties, in order to sample as many of these culinary creations as possible. We decided on The Pilgrim, the cottage pie (like shepherd’s pie but with beef instead of lamb), the chicken potpie, The Reuben and the chicken tikka masala.

Rosemary Chicken Pasty.

Photos by Kara J. Philp.

To our delight, The Pilgrim is a mashup of everything Americans love about Thanksgiving – leftovers, only better. We’re talking roasted turkey and chicken, sweet potatoes, stuffing and grilled onions served with red wine gravy and cranberry sauce for dipping. The Pilgrim was the clear winner at our table.

price, which averages around $9.

The more traditional cottage pie and chicken potpie pasties did not disappoint either. The cottage pie had layers of seasoned ground beef, grilled onions, peas, carrots, mashed potatoes and cheddar cheese accompanied by red wine gravy for dipping. The combination of mashed potatoes, cheese and gravy offset the slightly detectable dryness of the meat.

Similarly, the potpie pasty included chicken, carrots, red potato, green beans and celery in a thyme and chicken gravy. These two were everything you’d expect from comfort food – warm, rich and filling. In spite of the triple-digit temps (on my visit), creations like this make me excited about the holiday season ahead. But the best part of all, these are available all yearlong.

From the atmosphere and the service to the food and beverages, everything about my first visit to Cornish Pasty Co. was outstanding. I’m looking forward to a return visit, and even mentioned to one of my dinner companions that The Pilgrim pasty would be a fine – not to mention economical and efficient – way to celebrate Thanksgiving one of these years.

Then there was the Reuben, with its chunks of pastrami and corned beef, homemade sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Thousand Island dressing for dipping. The meat and flavors were bold and the pasty crust gave this classic sandwich a tasty twist. Last but not least – and for exotic flair – the chicken tikka masala. The flavor combination of the red curry, green peppers and potatoes, with a side of mint yogurt dressing (or tahini), was nothing less than you’d expect from a great Indian restaurant.

Of course, since we ordered so much, we were left with little room for dessert, so on my list for my next visit is either the apple caramel pasty, basically an apple pie filling inside their signature pastry, and the chocolate bread and butter pudding, which comes with crème anglaise or ice cream.

Cornish Pasty Co. Mesa: 191 W. Guadalupe Road | 480-838-3586 Scottsdale: 3800 N. Goldwater Blvd. | 480-945-1220 Tempe: 960 W. University Drive | 480-894-6261 Phoenix (coming soon): Southwest corner of Central Avenue and Monroe Street Hours: Mon-Sun: 11 a.m.-midnight (all locations) cornishpastyco.com Chelsea Young is a writer, editor, poet, author and entrepreneur with a passion for food and travel. She’s been published in more than a dozen publications, and can be reached via chelseayoung.com.

And, for non-meat eaters, there’s a plethora of vegetarian and vegan options, such as the eggplant Parmesan and a veggie take on the cottage pie.

Be advised: Each pasty arrives solo on a plate with no side of any sort (other than dipping delights). It’s a no muss, no fuss dish that doesn’t attempt to be anything other than what it is — comfort food done right. And for the size of each pasty (two generous halves), I’d say this is A-OK, especially for the DINING

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AT THE BOX OFFICE

By Hans Pedersen

The Circle DVD release Nov. 10 | Not rated | 102 minutes

Suffragette In theaters Oct. 30 | PG-13 | 106 minutes

In this highly anticipated movie, Maud (Carey Mulligan) is a housewife who secretly joins the growing suffragette movement in England. Activist Emmeline Pankhurst (Meryl Streep), who’s wanted by the law, inspires the young woman to commit to the early feminist movement. But when British police clamp down on the suffragettes, they’re forced underground and become bravely engaged in civil disobedience well before Gandhi popularized such tactics. Violence even becomes a method they utilize in their efforts to secure voting rights for all women in this film co-starring Helena Bonham Carter as Edith Ellyn and Ben Whishaw (Lilting) as Maud’s husband, Sonny.

Echo readers take note, this unique film is partly about the publication of the world’s first gay magazine. The drama, set in Switzerland in 1958, focuses on Ernst Ostertag, a shy teacher, and Robi Rapp, a cabaret artist who become lovers while meeting with a secret gay activist group, The Circle. Raids at dances, police interrogations and an underground publication are part of the drama of the early gay liberation days, told in a unique fashion (it’s part narrative, part documentary). Recollections of two trailblazers are interwoven with events dramatized by two cute actors (Matthias Hungerbuhler and Babett Arens). This film first screened at Outfest in L.A. in German and English.

Trumbo In theaters Nov. 13 | R | 124 minutes

Mala Mala DVD release Nov. 10 | Not rated | 87 minutes

A documentary audience award-winner at the Tribeca Film Festival, this groundbreaking film centers around a variety of people in Puerto Rico who identify as trans. This widely acclaimed biography includes profiles of such subjects as a seasoned sex-change activist, a sex worker who’s striving to make a difference and a couple hoping to get medical help for gender reassignment surgery. Directed by Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles, this heartfelt and emotionally riveting Puerto Rican documentary shows how gender is much more fluid than societal conventions usually allow by offering these intimate portraits of nine individuals from this U.S. island territory.

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From watching the pumped-up, dramatically scored trailer, you might think “Breaking Bad” ’s Walter White had lived a previous life as a leftist screenwriter in ‘50s Hollywood. Here, Bryan Cranston plays Dalton Trumbo, who was blacklisted by McCarthyites and wrote movies under a pseudonym to continue working. Trumbo went uncredited for many Academy Award-winning films – including the Oscars he earned for writing Roman Holiday and The Brave One – highlighting the injustice of the McCarthy witch hunt. Elle Fanning, Louis C.K., Diane Lane and Helen Mirren co-star in this timely reminder about what happens when intolerance and ignorance run amuck.

Hans Pedersen is a freelance writer based in Phoenix.

movies

ASU School of Music 2015-2016 Lyric Opera Theatre Season

Guadalupe: The Opera Music composed by James DeMars Libretto by James DeMars, Robert Esteva Doyle, and Graham Whitehead Sung in English and Spanish with English supertitles Nov. 19, 20, 21 at 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 22 at 2 p.m.

Tonantzin by Colette Crutcher

Performances are held in the ASU School of Music’s Evelyn Smith Music Theatre, located just north of ASU Gammage. Tickets: $8–$21.

Buy tickets online: music.asu.edu/events/lot or by phone at 480.965.6447.

Group rates available.

Five-time Echo Reader’s Choice award winner for Outstanding Salon!

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OPENING NIGHTS

By Richard Schultz Florencia en el Amazonas Arizona Theatre Company

For the first time, Arizona Opera will perform Florencia en el Amazonas in Phoenix and Tucson. Inspired by the magical realism of celebrated author Gabriel García Márquez, this exotic journey explores the physical and mystical worlds of love, desire and the mighty Amazon River. The story follows Florencia Grimaldi as she voyages along the mighty South American river in the hopes of finding her long-lost lover, a butterfly hunter, who disappeared in the jungle many years ago. Wracked by storms and a cholera outbreak, she and her fellow passengers are drawn deeper into the exotic rainforest, where fantasy and reality intertwine and their hopes and dreams are tested.

Written by the late Mexican composer Daniel Catán, Florencia en el Amazonas was the first-ever Spanish-language opera commissioned in the U.S. and has become a smash sensation around the globe since its 1996 premiere. Catán’s widow, Andrea Puente, will be traveling to Arizona to attend the performances.

West Side Story Arizona Broadway Theatre

Arizona Broadway Theatre opens its 11th season with this classic Broadway musical as Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is transported to modern-day New York City.

This story focuses on two young lovers caught between prejudice and warring street gangs, the “American” Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks. Their struggle to survive in a world of hate, violence and prejudice is one of the most innovative, heart-wrenching and relevant musical

Fiddler on the Roof Mesa Encore Theatre

Winner of nine Tony Awards, this iconic musical is set in the little village of Anatevka.

The story centers on Tevye, a poor dairyman, and his five daughters. With the help of a colorful and tight-knit Jewish community, Tevye tries to protect his daughters and instill them with traditional values in the face of changing social mores and the growing anti-Semitism of Czarist Russia. Rich 56 |

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The Toxic Avenger Phoenix Theatre Florencia en el Amazonas Nov. 13-15 Symphony Hall | 75 N. Second St., Phoenix Tickets: $25-$135; 602-266-7464 Nov. 21-22 Tucson Music Hall | 260 S. Church St., Tucson Tickets: $25-$135; 520-293-4335 azopera.org

dramas. Originally directed and choreographed by the legendary Jerome Robbins, the Broadway production ran for an impressive 732 performances and won the Tony Award for Best Choreography.

The dark sophistication of this critically acclaimed Bernstein and Sondheim score includes such popular songs as “Maria,” “America” and “I Feel Pretty.”

West Side Story Oct. 16-Nov. 15 Arizona Broadway Theatre 7701 W. Paradise Lane, Peoria Tickets: $43-$90; 623-776-8400 azbroadway.org

in historical and ethnic detail, Fiddler on the Roof’s universal theme of tradition cuts across barriers of race, class, nationality and religion with laughter, joy and sadness.

The score is filled with such timeless and beloved songs as “Sunrise, Sunset,” “If I Were A Rich Man” and “Matchmaker, Matchmaker.”

Fiddler on the Roof Nov. 6-22 Mesa Encore Theatre, Mesa Arts Center 1 E. Main St., Mesa 480-644-6500 mesaencoretheatre.com

New Jersey’s first Superhero takes the stage in this monster of a comedy based on the classic cult film. Winner of the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best OffBroadway Musical, this charming love story and laugh-out-loud musical has it all: an unlikely hero, his beautiful girlfriend, a corrupt mayor and two guys who play bullies, mobsters, old ladies, and stilettowearing back-up singers.

Melvin Ferd the Third wants to clean up Tromaville, the most polluted town in New Jersey (just off Exit 13B on the Turnpike). Foiled by the mayor’s bullies, Melvin is dumped into a vat of radioactive toxic waste, only to reemerge as The Toxic Avenger. Affectionately known as Toxie, our new hero is a seven-foot mutant freak with superhuman strength and a heart as big as Newark. He’s out to save New Jersey, end global warming and woo the blind librarian in town. It’s a toxic love story with an environmental twist!

The Toxic Avenger Oct. 28-Nov. 22 Phoenix Theatre 100 E. McDowell Road, Phoenix Tickets: $36-$86; 602-254-2151 phoenixtheatre.com Richard Schultz is a playwright, actor, director and freelance writer based in Phoenix.

Wanted: Colorful Characters Echo is always looking for LGBT theatre artists to spotlight as part of Opening Nights. If you know of someone, please send a note with a short bio to Richard Schultz at rlschultz41@aol.com. theatre

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November 2015

7 Red Grammer “Hooray for the World” . . . . . . . . 11am 7 Michael A. Pollack Presents Tower of Power . . . . 7:30pm 20 Gaelic Storm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:30pm

December 2015

12 Dmitri Matheny’s THE SNOWCAT . . . . . . . . . . 11am 18 The Texas Tenors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:30pm 22-31 Zoppé-An Italian Family Circus . . . . . . . . . Times Vary

January 2016

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1-3 Zoppé-An Italian Family Circus . . . . . . . . . Times Vary 15 Black Violin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:30pm 17 TIMBER! A Production of Cirque Alfonse! . . . . . . . 7pm 23 Deana Martin - Honoring Dean Martin & Frank Sinatra 7:30pm 29 Moscow Festival Ballet presents Don Quixote . . . 7:30pm 30 Fiesta Mexico-Americana with Los Lobos . . . . . 7:30pm

February 2016

6 The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra . . 7:30pm 12 Tap Factory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:30pm 14 The Summit – The Manhattan Transfer meets Take 6 . 7pm 20 Frankie Avalon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:30pm 27 Steppin’ Out LIVE with Ben Vereen & Trio . . . . . 7:30pm

March 2016

4 The Second City Fully Loaded . . . . . . . . . . 7:30pm 5 Vicki Lawrence & Mama: A Two Woman Show . . . 7:30pm 8-13 Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding . . . . . . . . . . . . . Times Vary 18 Rita Rudner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:30pm

April 2016

1 The von Trapps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:30pm 2 Flamenco Kings starring Los Vivancos . . . . . . 7:30pm

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y.com.

Seth’s Big Fat Broadway

National celebrity brings award-winning, one-man show to local fundraiser

By Richard Schultz

I

n an effort to redefine the “gala fundraiser,” Desert Foothills Theater is bringing Sirius/XM radio’s Broadway host and veteran New York performer Seth Rudetsky and his Seth’s Big Fat Broadway show to the Valley Oct. 25.

“We were looking for something different from the traditional gala so we thought presenting someone who would be popular with our audiences would be a great alternative,” said DFT managing director Meribeth Reeves, explaining the theater’s move to reformat their annual gala.

According to Reeves, her personal connection to Rudetsky inspired the idea.

“I attended Oberlin College where Seth and I were both involved in the Conservatory and theater,” she recalled.

“He was such a fun and creative person.

When I heard him on Sirius XMs channel, I was so excited to see the innovative way he has created a career for himself in the world he loves – the world of Broadway.”

A native Long Islander, Rudetsky has been an accompanist to the stars, a pianist on dozens of Broadway shows and concerts, a radio host and columnist.

Rudetsky’s 90-minute tour-de-force features his trademark “deconstructions,” in which he uses his audio/video collection to break down brilliant performances from beloved Broadway divas such as Patti LuPone and Betty Buckley, as well as showcase mind-boggling videos like The Osmonds singing a medley from Fiddler On The Roof or Cher performing all of West Side Story.

“I grew up obsessed with Broadway and comedy,” Rudetsky said, explaining how he created this unique show. “I was constantly playing records for my friends and pointing out amazing high notes or a singer with phlegm. When I started doing stand-up comedy, I would always end with a classic bit of “Don’t Rain On My Parade” being sung barely

by Bea Arthur.

I wound up doing it during a Broadway Cares/Equity Fight AIDS fundraiser on Broadway. Rosie O’Donnell saw it and told me I should do an entire show of just that kind of stuff. And that’s how I put together the show!”

According to Rudetsky, music is the

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key ingredient in his recipe for success.

“I think people identify with being obsessed with music,” he said. “Everyone has had at least one song they’ve listened to over and over again. So, when I tell them I’ve been obsessed with one particular tune since I was a toddler and then I play a recording of myself singing it when I actually was two years old, they identify.

“I love that people leave and tell me ‘I’ve heard that Barbra Streisand song my whole life, or I’ve watched that video from Evita so many times but I never noticed what you pointed out.’ I love making people realize why Whitney Houston sounds so amazing on “I Will Always Love You” or why Melba Moore should never wear that outfit again.”

One of his favorite memories involved Barbra Streisand.

“I’ve always loved deconstructing Barbra Streisand because I’m so obsessed with her,” he said. “And now whenever I do it, it means so much more to me because she actually came to see my show in Los Angeles. Every time I do it, I think of how exciting and terrifying it was to make fun of her in front of her, and have her laugh!”

Additionally, Rudetsky said he’s received great feedback from the performers he’s spotlighted in his show.

“Idina Menzel was so excited I deconstructed her,” he said. “Patti LuPone watched me point out her mistake during the Tony Awards and sassily said, ‘I meant to do that!’ Barbra Streisand came backstage and tried to figure out with me why she changed the “T” at the end of the word “Apart” to a “D”. ‘Maybe’, she offered, ‘the recording engineer took the D from the end of “Don’t Rain on my ParaDDDE” and put that at the end of the word ‘Apart.’”

In the midst of juggling a busy career, Rudetsky and his husband, James Wesley, are raising their daughter, Juli Wesley.

“Whenever I travel, I try really hard to bring them along. As a matter of fact, I got booked on a Playbill cruise to Vietnam and we’re taking Juli out of school for a week to come. It’s educational … sort of!”

For more information on Seth Rudetsky, visit sethtv.com.

Seth’s Big Fat Broadway Show Oct. 25 Desert Foothills Theater Cactus Shadows Fine Arts Center 33606 N. 60th St., Scottsdale Tickets: $45-$60; 480-488-1981 dftheater.org

Richard Schultz is a playwright, actor, director and freelance writer based in Phoenix.

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Book of Mormon

Hit Broadway musical arrives at Gammage

By Richard Schultz

Photos courtesy of bookofmormonbroadway.com.

V

alley theater enthusiast and Broadway buffs have been waiting years for The Book of Mormon to finally descend upon ASU Gammage.

The wait is over, as this hit Broadway musical takes the stage Oct. 20-Nov. 8.

“I’m thrilled and excited that The Book of Mormon will be part of our 2015-2016 season,” said Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, executive director, during a 2014 interview with Echo. “I’ve talked to Mormon leaders and funders. In all conversations, it is most clear to me that this musical is about having faith.”

The Book of Mormon follows two young missionaries who are sent to Uganda to try to convert citizens to the Mormon religion. One missionary, Elder Price, is an enthusiastic go-getter with a strong dedication to his faith, while his partner, Elder Cunningham, is a socially awkward but well-meaning nerd whose tendency to embroider the truth soon lands him in trouble.

Upon their arrival in Africa, Elders Price and Cunningham learn that in a society plagued by AIDS, poverty and violence, a successful mission may not be as easy as they expected.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone, best known for the animated comedy “South Park,”

wrote the book and lyrics and co-created the music with Robert Lopez, a co-composer/ co-lyricist of Avenue Q and Frozen. This 2011 nine-time Tony award winning musical is a throwback to old school musicals, but with a modern sensibility featuring big songand-dance numbers accompanied by some old-fashioned Broadway belting. An equal opportunity offender, the show playfully pokes fun at religion, sexuality, poverty and race.

For an additional insight into the show, Echo reached out to cast member Brian Beach, who portrays Elder McKinley, one of the lead Mormon elders and the Church’s current District Leader in Uganda. McKinley is sexually attracted to men, but in denial of his feelings.

Beach, a veteran of two national tours of 9 to 5 and Disney’s High School Musical, grew up in Peoria, Illinois. He started in choir and his mom encouraged him to keep singing.

Eventually, he fell into dance by helping a friend with a performance. In eighth grade, his mom urged him to audition for the musical Fame at a local community theatre.

He was then hooked on performing and musicals. He later studied at the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, which lead to securing an agent and two jobs right after school.

In initially auditioning for The Book of Mormon, Beach said he was focused on capturing a spot in the ensemble.

“It happened like quick fire,” he said.

“I went to the Equity chorus call and then to the dancer call. I got a callback for McKinley. I went through three work sessions and a final audition. All of this happened within a week and a half. The call came that I got the part and I left three days later.”

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Regarding his approach to his character, Beach said he embraced some of their similarities.

“McKinley sings a song about turning off the gay. Like him, I was closeted, but I came out in New York,” he said. “I understand trying to fit in and fit the mold of being straight. Yet, I feel that I am stronger than McKinley. He has a lot of fear within himself.”

Life on the road has become second nature to Beach, who added that he especially enjoys playing tourist in each city where the tour stops.

“There is a rhythm you develop with the cast,” he said. “You travel, work and live together. It truly is one big family and you form friendships with the cast and crew.”

The vigorous touring schedule has not hampered his three-and-a-half-year relationship with his partner, Alec, who has a career in television and recently worked with Katie Couric.

Having toured twice to Arizona in the past, Beach looks forward to returning. Last time, he spent New Year’s Eve here while performing in Disney’s High School Musical.

When asked about this dream role in the theater, Beach exclaims, “I’m living it now. I’m enjoying every moment of this show.”

The Book of Mormon Oct. 20-Nov. 8 ASU Gammage 1200 S. Forest Ave., Tempe Tickets: $25-$200; 480-965-3434 Richard Schultz is a playwright, actor, director and freelance writer based in Phoenix.

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Trans Scripts

Tucson theater produces international trans play

By Richard Schultz Photos courtesy of facebook.com/Trans-Scripts-225488147653911.

T

ucson’s Invisible Theatre will stage a dynamic script by New York-based writer and producer Paul Lucas that focuses on the trans experience Nov. 19-21.

At a time when lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals are enjoying greater legal equality, Trans Scripts is a timely reminder of who is represented by the ‘T’ in LGBT. And it’s no coincidence that the show will run in unison with the Nov. 20 observance of Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Trans Scripts explores the commonalities shared by the six characters including early childhood memories of feeling different.

They respond to each other’s comments, often with veracity and sometimes with just a nod or supportive touch.

“For generations, trans people were forced by the medical and psychological establishments to subscribe to a single, restrictive, hetero-normative narrative that reinforced the idea of pathology,” Lucas said. “Trans Scripts allows trans people to reclaim their own stories by speaking for themselves in their own words.”

Lucas spent four years interviewing over 70 men and women of trans experience throughout the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. In speaking with his interview subjects, he did not ask the same

november 2015

As a result, Trans Scripts is grounded on the life experiences and views of many male-to-female (MtF) transgender people interviewed. Additionally, Lucas is working on Trans Scripts, Part II: The Men, which will be a companion piece.

“There is often the temptation with verbatim theatre is to try to dramatize, or heighten, the characters’ words to make them stage-worthy,” Lucas acknowledged.

“These women’s stories are powerful enough that they just need to be told with honesty and clarity.”

The stories of these trans women are compelling, surprising, inspiring, funny and harrowing, but foremost, they are human. The moral of the piece is that our similarities far outweigh our differences, and it is from this truth that understanding is built.

Lucas worked with dramaturge Morgan Jenness, who was the literary manager at The Public Theatre in New York City for more than a decade, to select and edit the material into a play that honors both the breadth and diversity of experiences.

He went on to workshop versions of the play at Rutgers University and at the Lyric Theatre Bridport in the United Kingdom.

This summer, Trans Scripts received critical acclaim, numerous awards and more than 20 fourand five-star reviews at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the largest arts festival in the world that takes place every August in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Cast members Gail Winar and Bianca Leigh.

Photo by Kendall Messick.

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questions, but rather allowed each to tell their story as they felt it unfolded.

While this is only •

EchoMag.com

Lucas’ first play, Trans Scripts received a Fringe First Award, an Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award High Commendation, and was shortlisted for the Best of Edinburgh Award, The Holden Street Theatre Award and the Feminist Fest Award.

Lucas has produced The Be(a)st of Taylor Mac, What I Heard About Iraq, Woody Sez: The Words, Music and Spirit of Woody Guthrie, which transferred to the West End in London, and A Conversation With Edith Head with Invisible Theatre’s managing artistic director Susan Claassen. With his co-writer, Drew Geraci, he wrote awardwinning short film Disoriented and a screenplay titled Lavender Arms.

For Invisible Theatre, this production directly aligns with its mission dedicated to producing quality theater and arts education experiences for all facets of the community in an intimate setting that showcases local professional talent and guest artists.

Under the leadership of Claassen and associate artistic director James Blair, who directs the Tucson production of Trans Scripts, the theater is strongly committed to community service and outreach programs.

Now in its 44th season, Invisible Theatre is committed to being a very visible force in Tucson’s cultural community.

Trans Scripts Nov. 19-21 Invisible Theatre 1400 N. First Ave., Tucson Tickets: $30; 520-882-9721 invisibletheatre.com Richard Schultz is a playwright, actor, director and freelance writer based in Phoenix.

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recordings

By Cait Brennan Darlene Love

Introducing Darlene Love Columbia Records |

For too long – decades, even – Darlene Love’s name was known mostly to rock and roll insiders, who regarded her as a legend of the first order. In 1962 she and her group the Blossoms had a number one hit with “He’s A Rebel” – only producer Phil Spector took their name off the record and credited it to an entirely different band called “The Crystals.” Classy guy from the outset, Phil. She sang on “Be My Baby” with Ronnie Spector and on “That’s Life” with Frank Sinatra. Sam Cooke, Elvis, the Beach Boys and countless others all brought her in to sing on their hits.

For an old-school singer, Introducing sounds effortlessly modern; it’s less retro, and less self-consciously so, than the countless retro-soul imitators working the circuit these days. It’s powered by a voice that has not dimmed a bit in decades, and it has another strength going for it, too: the songs.

Love has excellent taste and highwattage fans like Linda Perry, Joan

The Muffs

Omnivore Recordings |

Photo courtesy of facebook.com/darleneloveworld.

Finally things began to change.

David Letterman invited Love to sing her holiday classic “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” on his show every year. U2 covered the tune (she sang background on that, too). She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 2011, featured in the movie 20 Feet From Stardom in 2013, and now, she’s finally getting the quality “debut” album she deserves. 50 years in, Introducing Darlene Love is not even a tongue in cheek title: it’s time to get to know this extraordinary woman.

The Muffs

Jett, Elvis Costello, Jimmy Webb, Bruce Springsteen and Spingsteen’s longtime compatriot Little Steven Van Zandt, all of whom made songwriting contributions to the album. Perry’s “Love Kept Us Foolin’ Around” swings with ‘60s cool (imagine a more world-wise Meghan Trainor for the effect, kids); Costello’s “Still Too Soon To Know” is a smart, bittersweet ballad recalling Roy Orbison; The Righteous Brothers’ Bill Medley turns in a fine, gritty duet performance (confidentially, Love didn’t need the help, but it’s nice to hear Medley on a record regardless.)

Love turns in sparkling performances on all 14 tracks, but she really shines on the Springsteen songs, especially the electric “Night Closing In.” With power, drama, majesty, and effortless elegance, Love outbosses the Boss and proves that in a just world, she would have been a massive rock star 40 years ago. Introducing Darlene Love may go a long way towards correcting that injustice.

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Who gets the credit for starting Riot Grrl? Oh no, you’re not drawing me into that pandora’s box of a conversation. But your staggeringly great women-in-punk Pee Chee folder had better name check the Pandoras, LA’s take-no-prisoners garagepunk legends, who strode the earth from 1983-1990 before it all went kerblooey.

Ex-Pandora Kim Shattuck formed the Muffs in 1991, and in 1993 they released their debut LP on Warner Brothers. They enjoyed some mainstream success (you’ll remember their cover of Kids In America from Clueless, surely!) but in the sludgy Soundgarden era, their hyperkinetic, hooky power-punk might have been a little too ahead of its time.

Well, it’s time: the sheer enthusiasm and banshee blast of The Muffs is one of the greatest rock debut albums of the past 20 years and thanks to a deluxe reissue (with 18 songs from the original release plus a ton of bonus track goodness) it sounds better than ever. You should probably get one.

“Lucky Guy” comes blazing out of the gate with Shattuck’s inimitable growl, a hilarious and hummable tune about how – quoting Shattuck herself – the “unambitious and chronically lazy Ronnie (Barnett, bass/ vocals) always fell into these amazing situations with little or no effort.”

It’s great song after great song from there, from the crackling “Saying Goodbye” to the ferocious pop roar of “Big Mouth” to “Everywhere I Go.” The CD and cassette versions of “Everywhere I Go” were different; both are included here, as well as eight 4-track demos of the album’s material, a radio mix of “Lucky Guy.” They’re no nostalgia act; The Muffs’ most recent album came out only last year, and hopefully there’ll be more to come. They’re a national treasure, these guys. It all started right here, and The Muffs hasn’t aged a day. music

Pugwash

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Walsh wears his heart, and his influences, on his sleeve, with nods to British pop legends XTC and global phenom Jeff Lynne, the founder of ELO. Leadoff single “Hung Myself Out To Dry” is lively, funny and heartfelt, with a hint of Beatles magic and a dynamite arrangement. “The Fool I Had Become” is a wry, off-kilter midtempo ballad filled with regret – but wow, he makes it sounds so sweet. “Silly Love” takes it a step deeper, with an almost-zen approach to the good and bad of love. Ray Davies of the Kinks guests on background vocals.

“Oh Happy Days” is lovely and weird, with a rollicking rhythm, a maddeningly tasty guitar riff and some orchestral touches. “Pinch me, I need reality – how could this happen to me?” Walsh sings on the perfect “Lucky In Every Way,” embracing the kind of romantic good fortune we’d all love to share.

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between the covers

The Right Side of History: 100 Years of LGBTQI Activism

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

S

omebody got you started. That’s the hard part and, oftentimes, that’s all you need: a forward-thinking person to lay the framework so you can roll with a project, adding, subtracting, shaping and refining.

Somebody just needed to get you started and you can take it from there, as you’ll see in The Right Side of History: 100 Years of LGBTQI Activism by Adrian Brooks (pictured).

Like most years, this summers’ Pride Parade was a raucous event. And why not? There’s plenty to celebrate: new laws, old friends and a sense of “better,” which can make it hard to remember that “Such gains didn’t occur in a vacuum…” as Brooks says. This book, “a chorus of voices untamed,” is a collection of explanation.

To begin, Brooks writes of Isadora Duncan, a “free spirit” who, when ladies were expected to be proper, danced on-stage with abandon, bared her breasts in public, and slept with whomever she pleased – male or female.

Hayden L. Mora writes of gay life in the early twentieth century, when clubs for “same-sex attraction” began to appear in

larger cities, though being caught in a compromising situation then could result in a loss of citizenship.

For Henry Gerber, the choice was a mental institution or U.S. Army; he picked the latter and came back from World War I, “determined to begin organizing gay men …”

The “father of the gay liberation movement” and founder of the Mattachine Society got his fire from another organization’s strike. A well-liked gay African American boy, lovingly called “Pinhead” as a child, grew up to be Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “righthand man,” while a nerdy white doctor (who happened to sleep with men) changed our notions of male sexuality.

Activists today fight for intersex infants, asking doctors to delay sex-assignment surgery. Conversation launched a lesbian organization, and people have stepped into activism roles because of Anita Bryant, out-of-the-closet writers, politics, personal discoveries and a 54-ton quilt.

And that parade you marched in? If you lived in San Francisco, you might like to know that Pride Parade routes are exactly the same as a funeral march walked by strikers and their families in 1934 …

Lately, it seems as though I’ve been seeing a plethora of books on Stonewall, as if that one event is where LGBTQI activism began. It’s not, of course, and The Right Side of History proves that.

Though it’s far from definitive, Brooks collected his own work and that of several contributors to inform and inspire readers who, likewise, want to make change or to know where change came from.

I enjoyed browsing the short biographies here, but I noticed one quirk: some of the profiles seemed to be a reach. Yes, they were very interesting,

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and yes, they were about people who stood their ground, but were they LGBTQI activists? Perhaps not always.

Even so, what you’ll read here may make you want to do something. At the very least, it’ll give you understanding for those who paved the way. And, if that’s information you need, then find The Right Side of History… and just start it.

The Right Side of History: 100 Years of LGBTQI Activism Adrian Brooks, foreword by Jonathan D. Katz, Ph.D. Cleis Press 2015 | $18.95 Terri Schlichenmeyer, The Bookworm, lives on a hill in Wisconsin with two dogs and 13,000 books.

She’s been reading since age 3 and, to this day, she never goes anywhere without a book.

BONUS BOOK: To read Terri Schlichenmeyer’s review of Holy Cow!

by Boze Hadleigh, visit echomag.com/betweenthe-covers-holy-cow. books

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ALL OVER THE MAP

Why Memory Matters

By Liz Massey

T

his issue of Echo we’re celebrating LGBT history month. Each October, this observance takes a look backward and, inevitably, brings up somber and terrifying realities.

While modern scholarship has uncovered scores of historical figures who were LGBT, and the existence of communities and networks that made self-acknowledgement of one’s gayness possible, our collective past is littered with a lot of trauma and sorrow. Members of our tribe were, for centuries, shunned, defamed, castrated and executed. Even in the late 20th Century, after Stonewall, Harvey Milk was assassinated, we lost tens of thousands to AIDS, and many were murdered simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Our historical struggle for equality and dignity continues today, but remembering the past also provides perspective on our huge victories in the past generation. Healthy, successful, openly LGBT people are now a common sight in the media – and their relationship status or gender are frequently a footnote, not the reason they are being featured.

Corporate America recruits at our Pride events, instead of mandating a life in the business closet. The military has accepted gay service members and marriage equality has become the law of the land, without the sky falling.

Everyone who supports the LGBT community should participate in our “memory days” in some manner during the next two months. Doing so will make you a better advocate or activist, and bring an added sweetness to the events we hold that affirm who we are as a people.

Memory matters to our community because ...

The “bad old days” weren’t always bad.

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As mentioned above, there was a LOT of danger and sorrow associated with coming out as LGBT before Stonewall, in the places where it was even possible. But a lot of the traditions and dynamics of our subculture spring from the period after World War II (when a whole lot of queer people discovered they weren’t the only queer people on earth) and before the Stonewall riots. Those who were “in the life” built a vibrant, unique culture, and in many cases, took care of each other after being rejected by family, faith and other civic institutions.

Long before anyone really believed that LGBT people would ever be treated with respect, we began treating each other that way.

Our opponents will fill the vacuum with misinformation.

If you’ve been following the faux oppression dramas of “religious liberty” victims such

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as county clerk Kim Davis of Kentucky and those anti-gay owners of floral shops, pizza parlors and photography studios, you’ve probably noticed the egregious appropriation by their attorneys of Civil Rights storylines. This is only possible in a country that has begun to forget its recent social history. Our LGBT history is our context, and we owe it to ourselves to make sure we know, and others understand, what our lives were really like, in years past, and why things need to be different going forward.

Our queer ancestors deserve recognition simply for surviving.

I don’t know about you, but I thank the heavens every day that I was born in 1968.

I have no idea how I would have carved out the life I now lead – given my personality, sexual orientation and mode of dress – before gay liberation began. It takes my breath away to think about what lengths some of our forebears had to go to just to be with their beloved, build a family (however they defined it), or contribute to the larger community.

Knowing our history reminds us of our place in the caravan of human liberation.

Realizing that we have a history as an oppressed people, similar in many ways to that of other marginalized groups, helps remind us that this struggle isn’t just a selfish desire for sex or for dressing and presenting ourselves the way we want … it is part of the universal movement of humankind from social governance marked by hierarchy and dominance to a pattern of partnership and egalitarianism.

I often reference my love of history, including queer history, as a geeky hobby, but it’s really far more than that. Twentiethcentury Brazilian educator and philosopher Paolo Freire recognized that remembrance, through knowing the story of one’s tribe, could be a form of activism, even of revolution.

“Without identity, there can be no real struggle,” he wrote in his book “The Pedagogy of the Oppressed.” “Looking at the past must only be a means of understanding more clearly what and who (an oppressed group is) so that they can more wisely build the future.”

Liz Massey has been involved in LGBT community-building activities in Kansas City and the Valley of the Sun, and is a former managing editor of Echo Magazine.

She can be reached at lizmassey68@gmail.com.

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money TALKS

When to make a wedding announcement at work

By Melissa Myers and Michael J. Tucker Melissa Myers: Marriage equality is getting more and more real all the time.

Michael J. Tucker: How do you mean?

Myers: Well, now advisers are fielding inquiries from clients who are wondering if they are required to tell their employers that they got married.

Tucker: Understandably, that question is coming up pretty regularly nowadays.

Myers: We’re suggesting to some clients that they may have an obligation to notify the employer of their updated marital status, or it may be a good idea even if it isn’t required.

Tucker: For our Echo readers, we asked Nonnie Shivers, an employment lawyer par excellence in Phoenix, to give us her two cents on this important question.

Myers: What did Shivers say about employees who are enrolled in employerprovided domestic partner benefits who then get married?

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Tucker: If an employee is receiving domestic partner benefits that he or she cannot receive by the terms of the employer’s benefit plan if the employee is married, Shivers said the employee would have an affirmative obligation to notify the employer of the marriage.

Myers: Most benefit plans require employees and their domestic partners to swear to certain facts in an affidavit when signing up for domestic partner benefits.

Tucker: Notably, it’s typical that the employee and the domestic partner both signed a document promising not to get married.

Myers: Remember that most of those affidavits were signed in a legal environment where same-sex marriage wasn’t legally possible, and so the sense of this type of affidavit was that employers did not want to continue paying for an employee’s domestic partner benefits if either the employee or the covered domestic partner later ran off and got married to an opposite-sex spouse.

Tucker: Right. And so, it would be typical that if an employee’s unmarried domestic partner is receiving health insurance benefits based on domestic partner status, and then the employee and the domestic partner marry each other, then the employer’s benefit plan would define them as no longer eligible for domestic partner benefits.

Myers: Shivers probably said that defrauding your employer is unwise.

Tucker: Yes, she did.

And, even though an employee might regard this type of fact scenario as a technicality, failure to inform the employer could lead to serious consequences.

Myers: Were there any other reasons why an employee

who enters into a marriage would be obligated to notify the employer?

Tucker: That was the only situation we could conjure up in which the employee MUST inform the employer.

Myers: However, it could be advantageous for the employee to notify the employer.

Married employees often qualify for employer-provided fringe benefits, not only including health insurance, but also beneficiary identification, family medical leave and so forth.

Tucker: Marriage licenses are easily discovered in online searches, of course, so employees really don’t have an expectation of privacy in terms of any sort of confidential nature of their marital status. It’s not technically confidential.

Myers: What can our readers expect going forward?

Tucker: Shivers reported that some advocacy groups have been using the potential concerns about employers discriminating against employees in the workplace based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation as a basis for lobbying for changes in the law, such as the Equality Act, ENDA, and local/state protective measures.

Myers: Surveys show that most Americans believe that firing someone because they are LGBT is already against the law. In general, it isn’t.

Tucker: Some federal contractor employers and certain other major employers impacted by federal employment laws are thinking of tracking LGBT status among their employees (as opposed to marriage).

Myers: So, it sounds like it’s foreseeable that some employers may be asking employees to self-identify voluntarily as to LGBT status.

Tucker: Certainly some of our clients and other LGBT people in the workplace may become concerned that they are putting themselves at risk to the extent that their sexual orientation is a matter of record for their employer.

Myers: Folks who are concerned about these issues can follow the ongoing efforts to make employment nondiscrimination laws more solid in Arizona, and federally.

Melissa Myers is a certified financial planner with Camelback Retirement Planners, in Phoenix, a registered representative with Commonwealth Financial Network and a registered investment adviser.

Michael Tucker is an attorney with Michael J. Tucker, P.C., in Phoenix, and is a certified specialist in estate and trust law. For more information, see their ads in this issue.

This material has been provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute either tax or legal advice. Investors should consult a tax or legal professional regarding their individual situation. Neither Camelback nor Commonwealth offers tax or legal advice.

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balanced living

Friction: How to draw on resistance for strength

By Nate Whitten

F

riction is a force that opposes movement. Friction seems to be everywhere – from social media and traditional news media to politics and religion, and even between the subcultures within our own LGBTQ community – you may feel the effects whether or not you intentionally engage in the conflicts.

Some choose to address friction by jumping in and getting involved in some way, and others find it more beneficial to avoid the rub that can be confusing and frustrating.

When it comes to your fitness, just as in life, friction is unavoidable and necessary.

Figuring out how to best handle friction will help you better navigate both the metal maze of gym equipment and the bewildering abrasions in your day-to-day.

Internal Friction

䔀堀倀䔀刀䤀䔀一䌀䔀 ☀ 儀唀䄀䰀䤀吀夀 匀䔀刀嘀䤀䌀䔀

䤀ᤠ嘀䔀 圀伀刀䬀䔀䐀 䄀匀 䄀一 䄀⼀䌀 䄀一䐀 䠀䔀䄀吀䤀一䜀 吀䔀䌀䠀一䤀䌀䤀䄀一 䘀伀刀 伀嘀䔀刀 㤀 夀刀匀ⴀ匀䄀嘀䔀䐀 ☀ 䤀一嘀䔀匀吀䔀䐀 䤀一 䴀夀 伀圀一 䌀伀䴀倀䄀一夀⸀ 䤀

圀伀唀䰀䐀 䄀倀倀刀䔀䌀䤀䄀吀䔀 吀䠀䔀 伀倀倀伀刀吀唀一䤀吀夀 吀伀 䈀䔀䌀伀䴀䔀 夀伀唀刀 䄀⼀䌀 䄀一䐀 䠀䔀䄀吀䤀一䜀 吀䔀䌀䠀一䤀䌀䤀䄀一⸀ 儀唀䄀䰀䤀吀夀 匀䔀刀嘀䤀䌀䔀 䐀伀一䔀 刀䤀䜀䠀吀 吀䠀䔀 䘀䤀刀匀吀 吀䤀䴀䔀 䜀唀䄀刀䄀一吀䔀䔀䐀⸀

吀䠀䄀一䬀 夀伀唀Ⰰ

䬀爀椀猀ꀀ䈀爀攀甀洀 伀眀渀攀爀⼀伀瀀攀爀愀琀漀爀

䌀䄀䰀䰀 唀匀 吀伀䐀䄀夀㨀

㘀 ㈀ⴀ㠀㔀㤀ⴀ㌀㌀㘀㘀

䰀䤀䌀䔀一匀䔀䐀 ⴀ 䈀伀一䐀䔀䐀 ⴀ 䤀一匀唀刀䔀䐀 刀伀䌀 ⌀㈀㤀㈀㌀㜀㘀 簀 䬀䈀䄀䌀䄀一䐀䠀䔀䄀吀䤀一䜀⸀䌀伀䴀

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Kinetically speaking, when your muscles are at work, they are utilizing contractions – positive (muscle shortening by drawing in), isometric (tension without changing the length of the muscle) or negative (muscle lengthening away against weight) contractions. As these muscles contract, two contractile filaments within the myofibrils rub against each other, creating friction. This friction is what helps create your strength, because when you lift 10 pounds, you are not only lifting that weight, but you are working against the friction generated by the parallel filaments sliding past one another in opposite directions. This is a very, very simple description of how your muscles work, but understand, all of this is happening and you don’t even know it.

The ratio between each of the three muscular contractions is about 1:1.4. This means that lifting 10 pounds (positive) is easier than holding (isometric) 10 pounds of tension, which is easier than lowering (negative) 10 pounds. None of the three differing techniques is favorable to the other, as they all work together to create one bicep curl.

Just like internal muscle friction, you may experience internal friction in other ways (negative self-talk or defeating thoughts). All of us struggle internally at different times in our life and sometimes we have internalized friction as we are trying to decide what to draw into our lives, what to hold on to and what to gently release. The friction comes from the worry of what the results will be. But

just like the bicep curl you just performed, the benefit is found when you consistently utilize all three contractions and the internal muscle friction. If you are always drawing things or people to you because it’s easier you will have neglected the strengthening effects of sometimes just holding still for a moment, or the powerful gain in lowering or letting go of those things or people when it is time.

External Friction Friction also comes in the form of external forces. The dog sled is a great example of mechanical friction. With this exercise, you push or pull a weighted contraption along the floor from one side of the room to another. The drag of the sled against the floor along helps to build strength. Or imagine the ease at which you ski down a snowy hill and the difficulty you would have if you tried

to ski uphill with the same smooth resistance.

Most physical exercise and equipment is designed to utilize internal friction as opposed to mechanical friction because it is easier to handle and less clumsy when trying to manage the effort. It doesn’t mean the mechanical friction is less valuable, it just means it’s more likely to be avoided because no one wants to look foolish when handling this equipment.

Similarly, you have external friction in your daily life. And most of you are really good at trying to avoid the conflicts or the appearance of looking less than capable of handing a conflict. However, just like the machines, once you learn how to utilize the external friction with grace and ease, the benefits are amazing. You may not feel comfortable facing the mountain of the job ahead of you, but the climb will strengthen your muscles as it will strengthen your character. Teetering on the slippery slope of managing relationships may seem daunting, but reducing the friction will give you a smoother glide down that hill.

Friction in your life may cause some pain now and again, but just like muscle soreness caused by exercise, this too will subside, and the end result will not only a stronger body, but a stronger you.

Nate Whitten is a successful living coach and personal trainer in Phoenix.

Find out more at natewhitten.com.

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To advertise your business here, call 602-266-0550.

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daily bar specials

Greenway Pkwy

S $2 Rolling Rocks from 7 p.m.-close T $1 Off You-Call-Its 7 p.m.; 2-Step lessons @ 7:30 p.m. w/

Jorge; Line Dance lessons @ 8:30 p.m. w/ Chandelle W $1 Off You-Call-Its 7 p.m.; Poker at 8 p.m.

T $3 Three Olives; DJ Jaypea Dance night 8 p.m.

F $1 Well drinks and $3 IPA’s 8-10 p.m.

S Country/Top 40 Dance Party 8 p.m.

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stacy’s @ Melrose S $1 Rolling Rock pints and well drinks until 10 p.m.

M Karaoke, 9 p.m.-close; HH and

$3 monthly charity shots ALL DAY T HH, 4-8 p.m.; $1 draft pint, $3 monthly charity shots, $4 Mojitos and Caipirinhas ALL DAY; live DJ W 2-4-1 ALL DAY; $3 monthly charity shots ALL DAY; live DJ, top 40 and dance T Thirsty Thursday; HH and $1 draft pint, 4-8 p.m.; $1 draft pint AND wells, 8 p.m.-midnight; live DJ, top 40 and dance, 8 p.m.-close F HH, 4-8 p.m.; $3 monthly charity shots ALL DAY; $2 Kamikaze shots ALL DAY; live DJ, top 40 and dance, 8 p.m.-close S HH, 4-8 p.m.; $3 monthly charity shots ALL DAY; $2 Kamikaze shots ALL DAY; live DJ, top 40 and dance, 8 p.m.-close

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12

Tatum 143

10

Van Buren

Broadway

C L e

15

Mesa Chandler

Baseline

Neighborhood Bar Full Restaurant Dance Club

101

10

*MAP IS NOT DRAWN TO SCALE

N r d

.

5

7 202

17

Av e

1

Roosevelt

© 2015

Bar Codes: M Mostly Males F Mostly Females MF Mixed Male/Female

Scottsdale Rd.

k

ee

Cr

.

Ave

S

24 4 18

McDowell 13 3

10 19

Country Dancing Leather/Bears Entertainment (drag, strippers, etc.)

1

aNViL 2424 E. Thomas Road

M, d, L 602-956-2885

15

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M, N, L 602-267-9959

2

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MF, N, e 602-277-9373

16

oFF ChUTe Too 4111 N. Seventh Ave

Me 602-274-1429

3

aQUa NighT CLUB 1730 E. McDowell Road

F, N, e 602-253-0689

17

oz 1804 W. Bethany Home Road

MF, N 602-242-5114

4

Bar 1 3702 N. 16th St.

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18

PLazMa 1560 E. Osborn Road

MF, N 602-266-0477

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MF, d, e 602-200-9154

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Cash iNN 2140 E. McDowell Road

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rosCoes 4531 N. Seventh St.

M 602-285-0833

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CharLie’s 727 W. Camelback Road

M, C, e 602-265-0224

22

royaL ViLLa iNN 4312 N. 12th St.

M 602-266-6883

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M, e 602-212-9888

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MF, r 602-287-8700

24

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d 602-254-0231

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MF, e 602-264-5307

koBalt

F

9

nd

S Super HH 4-7 p.m., $3 pitchers; $3 Long Islands open to close M 2-8 p.m. 2-for-1 well and domestic bottles, $3 pitchers;

T

14

22

Gra

10

charlie’s

T W

21

5t h

8 23 27 2 6 11 17 25 Indian School 16

51

2

40th St. 44th St.

Camelback

cash inn

2-4-1 call drinks 7-8 p.m.; Karaoke 9 p.m.

HH open to close; Drag Bingo 9:30 p.m.; $5 Absolut cocktails Karaoke 9 p.m.; HH open to close HH 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Martinis & Massage 6 p.m.; $5 Martinis, $5 Bacardi flavors; Garden Variety Revue with Olivia Gardens 9 p.m.

HH 11 a.m.- 8 p.m.; Trivia Night w/cash prize 9 p.m.; $4 Stoli cocktails 8 p.m.-midnight The HH Hotspot: $3 signature cocktails, $2.75 domestics, HH until 11 p.m. video bar HH 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Showtune night 6-9 p.m.; Karaoke 9 p.m.; Celia Putty’s 2 Girls One Cup Show (every second Saturday)

26

Lincoln 32nd St.

p.m.: Free-to-join poker

Shea Blvd

ve Ca Northern

24th St.

Glendale 17 Bethany

S 8 p.m.-close: $2.50 Bud family products

S HH 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Bar Match Buy-In Dart Tourney 2 p.m.;

Central

7th Ave.

27th Ave.

51st Ave.

participants. Winners get $10 Bunkhouse bar tabs

W 9 p.m. Karaoke T Underwear night: $1 off all drinks if in skivvies!

F 8 p.m.-close: $2.50 Miller family products. 4 p.m. and 6

43rd Ave.

for participants. Winners get $10 Bunkhouse bar tabs

T 7 and 10 p.m.: Free-to-join poker. HH prices for

8 p.m.-close, 1/2 off cocktails and beer for those in underwear, $3 Jack Daniels T 2-8 p.m. 2-for-1 well and domestic bottles, $3 pitchers; 2-for-1 cocktails and beer 8 p.m.- close W 2-8 p.m. 2-for-1 well and domestic bottles, $3 pitchers; $3 Three Olives vodka flavors, 8 p.m.-close T 2-8 p.m. 2-for-1 well and domestic bottles, $3 pitchers; 2-for-1 cocktails and beer open-close F 2-7 p.m. 2-for-1 well and domestics, $3 pitchers; HH 7-9 p.m.; $1 well and domestics, $1 drafts 10 p.m.midnight S Noon-7 p.m. 2-for-1 well and domestics; HH 7-9 p.m.; $1 well and domestics, $3 Absolut and Bacardi flavors 10 p.m.-midnight

N

Dunlap

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16th St.

S $1 drafts and HH prices all day and night M 6 p.m., 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.: Free-to-join poker. HH prices

7th St.

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M

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OUT ‘n ABOUT Venus Sept. 25 at Club Palazzo, Phoenix.

Photos by by Bridget Carson.

For more Echo photos visit echomag.com/gallery.

1440 E. Indian School rd., Phoenix | 602-234-1654 80 |

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lambda directory Please support our advertisers who help keep Echo free.

AUto dEAlERsHiP Camelback Subaru

AUto sERVicEs Community Tire & Automotive Specialists p. 2 Compu-Tech Automotive p. 79

To find out more about advertising in Echo, call 602-266-0550.

BARs & clUBs

AccommodAtions Royal Villa

p. 76

AccoUntAnts/ tAX PREPARAtion Camelwest Tax Service Robert F. Hockensmith, CPA, PC Steve Price-CPA

cosmEtic PRocEdUREs

p. 51 p. 75

Skin Sultry Medical Aesthetics Willo Medi Spa

p. 59

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p. 80 p. 81 p. 79

KB A/C and Heating LLC p. 72 Valdez Refrigeration p. 77

APARtmEnts p. 77

ARt gAllERy Francesca’s Art Gallery

p. 23

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p. 73 p. 76

coUnsEling sERVicEs

dEntists Arcadia Dentistry My Dentist Open Wide Dental

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EdUcAtion Maricopa County Community College District p. 25

EVEnt PlAnnERs Vermillion Events

p. 77

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Brothers Plumbing Freddy Fox Rooter PlumberTime

p. 25

Psychic Consultant Elizabeth Lee

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FinAnciAl sERVicEs JW Advisors Inc. HIVAZ.org Nate Whitten Certified Life Coach Pamela Young Fitness TERROS Incorporated

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Carl Carlozzi Edison Midtown Patriot Commercial Properties

p. 75 p. 73 p. 67

REAltoRs Arizona Gay Realtors Alliance p. 3 Bradley B. Brauer, HomeSmart p. 3 David Oesterle, ReMax p. 3 Fred Delgado Team, Keller Williams p. 3 Jan Dahl, HomeSmart p. 3 Matthew Hoedt, Realty One p. 3 Michael Smith, One Realty Group p. 75 Nicholas Yale, Realty Executives p. 3 Shawn Hertzog, West USA p. 3

REligioUs gRoUPs Community Church of Hope p. 76 First Congregational UCC p. 77 L.I.F.E.-Love Is The Fundamental Element p. 65

REstAURAnts China Chili Hula’s Modern Tiki Marcellino Ristorante

p. 53 p. 53 p. 53

REtAil Easley’s Fun Shop

p. 76

REtiREmEnt PlAnning Calvin Goetz, Strategy Financial Group

p. 3

sAlons R Salon Salon Exodus

p. 55 p. 76

tRAVEl Ajijic, Mexico

p. 50

Utility comPAny APS

p. 67

LAMBDA DIRECTORY

Two weekends: Nov. 20–22 & Nov. 27–29 y, Saturday, y, Sundayy 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Friday, Engage in th the passion and artistic process at the 19 19th Annual Hidden In The Hills free, sel self-guided studio tour and sale 178 aartists in 44 private art studios in Creek, Carefree and north Scottsdale Cave Cree See paintings, sculpture, jewelry and every art form in between, in a variety of styles and mediums The collectible 113-page full-color direc directory featuring the participating artist’s work includes a map and can be purcha in advance for only $5, either purchased online onli at www.HiddenInTheHills.org or call the Sonoran Arts League Off Office & Gallery at 480-575-6624

PPurchase urchase original works ooff fine fine art directly from nationally recognized artists and emerging new artists Observe artists at work; gain insight into materials and technique Peter Skidd (metal) is at Studio #21

For more information or to customize your route using the interactive map visit:

www.HiddenInTheHills.org

facebook.com/sonoranartsleague facebook.com/hiddeninthehills twitter.com/sonoranarts www.hiddeninthehillsblog.com EchoMag.com

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november 2015

| 83

outabout and

in the spotlight The TEN Tenors:

Home for the Holidays Thursday, December 10 I 7:30 p.m.

Friday, December 11 I 8 p.m.

Classics of the season with Australia’s vocal rock stars.

on the screen 15th Scottsdale International Film Festival Friday, November 5 – Monday, November 9 Harkins Shea 14 Theatre, Scottsdale

A Gay Girl In Damascus: The Amina Profile

Supporting Sponsors

The story of a kidnapped lesbian blogger in Syria sparks a global search.

See Jane Sing!

With Jane Lynch Saturday, January 23 I 8 p.m.

Side-splitting musical comedy with the Glee star.

Baby Steps

Signature Sponsors

A well-intentioned Taiwanese mother complicates her gay son’s efforts to start a family.

One Night With Joan Collins Saturday, February 13 I 8 p.m.

Candid behind-the-scenes stories and rarely seen outtakes from this glamorous international superstar’s showbiz career.

Carol

Adult Content/Language

Centerpiece Film

BalletBoyz

Two women from different backgrounds find themselves in an unexpected love affair in 1950s New York.

Friday, February 19 I 8 p.m.

One of the hottest dance tickets around, London’s all-male dance troupe performing two inspiring new works.

The Girl King Queen Kristina attempts to modernize Sweden while coming to terms with her sexuality.

Michael Feinstein

Sinatra Centennial Celebration Saturday, February 27 I 2 p.m. & 8 p.m.

A tribute to the classic hits of Frank Sinatra performed by “The ambassador of the Great American Songbook” and his band.

Signature Sponsor

Season Sponsor

Presenting Sponsors

order tickets today

attend a screening

Click ScottsdalePerformingArts.org Call 480.499.TKTS (8587) Visit 7380 East Second Street

Click ScottsdaleFilmFestival.com Call 866.811.4111 Visit 7354 East Shea Boulevard