Georgia Voice 04/05/24, Vol. 15 Issue 2

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georgia VOLUME 15• ISSUE 2 About the cover:

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EDITORIAL

Homeownership: Dream or Fantasy?

Katie Burkholder It is my dream to own a home that I love, but what used to be an expected step in adulthood every day seems more and more like a fantasy. Only a decade ago, the average home price nationwide was around $275,000. Today, it’s $417,700 — with Atlanta’s average home price a bit below, at $390,000. To be able to afford a $400,000 home, your household needs to make about $125,000 a year, something I am far from achieving on my own.

Luckily, I have a partner who wants to share a financial future one day, and our combined incomes make up enough to afford that.

But then we’d have to have enough liquid assets for a down payment: on the low end, five percent of a $400,000 house would be $20,000. Even with persistent saving, my and my partner’s savings accounts have only dwindled due to taxes, car maintenance, healthcare, student loans, and other emergency expenses that we can’t afford with our non-saved income. It is within my fiveyear plan to own a home by 30, but it feels the uphill battle becomes steeper and steeper with every year — especially coming from a financially fraught background. Neither of my parents own the homes they live in, and they couldn’t afford to loan me the cash for a down payment.

For as long as I have been working, I have been saving. I budget every dollar so I don’t spend beyond my means. I have a college degree and a salary, a serious partner with the same, and no kids. If I am doubting my ability to own a home in these supposed near-

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perfect conditions, how the hell is anybody else my age who isn’t in these increasingly rare conditions expected to be able to?

It feels like we’re in a particularly bleak financial time, but I recognize that home ownership has always been somewhat challenging. The homeownership rate for 26-year-old Gen Zers is 30 percent according to Redfin — still lower than the 35.6 percent of boomers who owned at 26, but not overwhelmingly so. In fact, the homeownership rates for 19- to 25-yearold Gen Zers are actually higher than they were for millennials and Gen Xers when they were the same age, likely due to the low mortgage rates of the pandemic. 2024 is also likely to be a more affordable year for homebuying than 2023, with mortgage

rates dropping from over eight percent in October to 6.8 percent in mid-January.

My struggles and financial anxieties are not exactly new, taking out a loan for a home has always been a huge financial risk, and the future isn’t completely hopeless (as long as you ignore the existential threat of climate change, but that’s a discussion for another day). But it is hard to feel like my dreams are so mundane and simple — I don’t want a mansion, I don’t want acres of land, I don’t want to be famous or wealthy or influential — and yet still so difficult to attain. I want to invest my money into an asset instead of throwing it at a lecherous landlord who doesn’t care about me or my family. I want a place that is mine. Is that too much for any of us to ask?

APRIL 5, 2024 EDITORIAL 3

IMPORTANT FACTS FOR BIKTARVY®

This is only a brief summary of important information about BIKTARVY® and does not replace talking to your healthcare provider about your condition and your treatment.

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MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT BIKTARVY

POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF BIKTARVY

BIKTARVY may cause serious side effects, including:  Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. Your healthcare provider will test you for HBV. If you have both HIV-1 and HBV, your HBV may suddenly get worse if you stop taking BIKTARVY. Do not stop taking BIKTARVY without first talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to check your health regularly for several months, and may give you HBV medicine.

BIKTARVY may cause serious side effects, including:  Those in the “Most Important Information About BIKTARVY” section.  Changes in your immune system. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fight infections that may have been hidden in your body. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any new symptoms after you start taking BIKTARVY.  Kidney problems, including kidney failure. Your healthcare provider should do blood and urine tests to check your kidneys.

If you develop new or worse kidney problems, they may tell you to stop taking BIKTARVY.  Too much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious but rare medical emergency that can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: weakness or being more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, stomach pain with nausea and vomiting, cold or blue hands and feet, feel dizzy or lightheaded, or a fast or abnormal heartbeat.  Severe liver problems, which in rare cases can lead to death.

Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, or stomach-area pain.  The most common side effects of BIKTARVY in clinical studies were diarrhea (6%), nausea (6%), and headache (5%).

These are not all the possible side effects of BIKTARVY. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any new symptoms while taking BIKTARVY. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.FDA.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Your healthcare provider will need to do tests to monitor your health before and during treatment with BIKTARVY.

ABOUT BIKTARVY BIKTARVY is a complete, 1-pill, once-a-day prescription medicine used to treat HIV-1 in adults and children who weigh at least 55 pounds. It can either be used in people who have never taken HIV-1 medicines before, or people who are replacing their current HIV-1 medicines and whose healthcare provider determines they meet certain requirements.

BIKTARVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS. HIV-1 is the virus that causes AIDS. Do NOT take BIKTARVY if you also take a medicine that contains:  dofetilide  rifampin  any other medicines to treat HIV-1

BEFORE TAKING BIKTARVY Tell your healthcare provider if you:  Have or have had any kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis infection.  Have any other health problems.  Are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if BIKTARVY can harm your unborn baby. Tell your healthcare provider if you become pregnant while taking BIKTARVY.  Are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed.

Do not breastfeed. HIV-1 can be passed to the baby in breast milk.

Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take:  Keep a list that includes all prescription and over-the-counter medicines, antacids, laxatives, vitamins, and herbal supplements, and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist.  BIKTARVY and other medicines may affect each other. Ask your healthcare provider and pharmacist about medicines that interact with BIKTARVY, and ask if it is safe to take BIKTARVY with all your other medicines.

HOW TO TAKE BIKTARVY Take BIKTARVY 1 time each day with or without food.

GET MORE INFORMATION  This is only a brief summary of important information about

BIKTARVY. Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist to learn more.  Go to BIKTARVY.com or call 1-800-GILEAD-5.  If you need help paying for your medicine, visit BIKTARVY.com for program information.

BIKTARVY, the BIKTARVY Logo, GILEAD, the GILEAD Logo, and KEEP BEING YOU are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies. © 2023 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. US-BVYC-0292 04/23

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5/11/23 12:25 PM

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BIKTARVY® is a complete, 1-pill, once-a-day prescription medicine used to treat HIV-1 in certain adults. BIKTARVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS.

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5/11/23 12:25 PM

NEWS BRIEFS Staff reports Read these stories and more online at thegavoice.com

Black LGBTQ Youth Need Spaces That Embrace Them Fully, Researchers Say Two recent reports from The Trevor Project and the Human Rights Campaign, detail a plethora of challenges faced by Black LGBTQ youth and interrogate how best to acknowledge and support the intersecting identities of Black queer and trans people.

According to these two studies, 21 percent of Black trans, nonbinary, and questioning youth have made a suicide attempt in the last year, nearly half said they felt unsafe at school and 64 percent said they had encountered transphobia. This data should, advocates assert, signal action is needed to support these youth in all LGBTQ communities.

Last month, The Trevor Project released new data on the mental health of Black LGBTQ youth. The report — “Discrimination among Black LGBTQ+ Young People and Suicide Risk”— analyzed survey responses from over 28,000 LGBTQ teens and young adults in the U.S. That report reveals that Black LGBTQ youth experience “elevated rates of discrimination related to both their race and ethnicity and their LGBTQ identities.”

HRC published separate data in their 28page 2024 Black LGBTQ+ Youth Report on how LGBTQ Black youth “face compounding challenges and have unique experiences because they exist at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities as they come out.”

The data is startling. More than two-thirds, or 70 percent, of Black cisgender LGBQ young people reported experiencing at least one form of discrimination related to their race, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression in the past year while 83 percent of Black transgender, nonbinary, or questioning youth reported the same.

More than 72 percent of Black trans youth surveyed by The Trevor Project reported experiencing two or more types of discrimination in the past year, as did 58

6 NEWS APRIL 5, 2024

Pride flags at Philadelphia City Hall. (June 2022) COURTESY PHOTO percent of Black cisgender LGBQ respondents.

HRC’s data supported, enhanced, and expanded on that of The Trevor Project.

Among the key points in the report were that many Black LGBTQ youth have experienced at least one form of racism from within the LGBTQ community and also say they do not feel like they could trust white LGBTQ people. The report shows 74.8 percent of Black LGBTQ youth and 78.2 percent of Black transgender and gender-expansive youth have experienced racism in the LGBTQ community and 60.3 percent of Black LGBTQ youth and 64.7 percent of Black transgender and genderexpansive youth say they are not able to trust white LGBTQ people.

In addition, most Black LGBTQ youth say they have experienced anti-LGBTQ bigotry in the Black community, while half say they do not feel accepted by other Black people because of their LGBTQ identity: 80.9 percent of Black LGBTQ youth and 83.5 percent of Black transgender/genderexpansive youth say they have experienced homophobia or transphobia in the Black community and 54.1 percent of Black LGBTQ youth and 57 percent of Black transgender/gender-expansive youth do not feel accepted by other Black people because of their LGBTQ identity.

Gallup: LGBTQ Identity at All-time high of 7.6 Percent, 30 Percent of Gen Z Women ID as LGBTQ A

new

Gallup

poll

finds

LGBTQ

identification in the U.S. expanding annually with 7.6 percent of U.S. adults now identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or some other sexual orientation other than heterosexual. This latest percentage is up a full two percent from 5.6 percent four years ago and is more than double the 3.5 percent of 2012, Gallup’s first year of surveying sexual orientation and transgender identity.

Bisexual adults comprise the largest proportion of the LGBTQ population — 4.4 percent of U.S. adults with 57.3 percent of LGBTQ adults saying they are bisexual. Gay and lesbian are the second most common identities, with each representing slightly over one percent of U.S. adults overall and about one in six LGBTQ adults.

Generation Z and the Millennial generation are far more likely than those in older generations to identify as LGBTQ. Gallup found that overall, each younger generation is about twice as likely as the generation prior to identify as LGBTQ. More than one in five Gen Z adults, ranging in age from 18 to 26 in 2023 (born 1997 to 2012), identify as LGBTQ, as do nearly one in 10 Millennials (aged 27 to 42, born 1981 to 1996). The percentages level off considerably in older generations, with fewer than five percent of Generation X (44-59, born 19651989), 2.3 percent of Baby Boomers (60 to 77, born 1946-1964) and 1.1 percent of the Silent Generation (78 to 96, born 1928 to 1945).

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NEWS

Atlanta Homelessness Update Adalei Stevens Accounting for seven percent of the general youth population, young LGBTQ people are overrepresented in Atlanta’s homeless population.

Covenant House Georgia reports that a staggering 40 percent of homeless youth in Atlanta identified as LGBTQ. Black/African American people are also disproportionately experiencing homelessness, making up 48 percent of Atlanta’s resident population and 83 percent of its unhoused population.

The Trevor Project found that nearly 4,600 young LGBTQ people experienced homelessness or housing instability after being kicked out of their homes. Transgender and nonbinary youth respondents were affected at disproportionately higher rates compared to their cisgender LGBTQ peers.

Homelessness and housing instability greatly impact mental health and people often report high rates of anxiety, depression, selfharm, and suicidal thoughts. The majority of homeless and housing insecure LGBTQ youth are unable to treat ongoing mental health issues due not only to lack of access in the form of transportation and cost, but also uncertainty that their identity will be respected by a health care provider.

Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago found that young LGBTQ people are 120 percent more likely to face homelessness compared to their peers, a phenomenon that demands intersectional attention and change.

PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/ IMAGE ALLEVIATION

homeless population. The 2023 report from Partners for HOME found that 2,679 people were unhoused across 243 neighborhoods in DeKalb and Fulton counties, an increase of 1.3 percent from 2022.

Mayor Andre Dickens has been an active participant in the battle against homelessness in Atlanta since he took office in 2022. In his annual State of the City address on March 25, Dickens announced his goal to create 20,000 affordable housing units by 2030.

Atlanta’s homeless population continues to grow along with the city’s resident population, which is expected to reach 7.9 million by 2050, and Georgia’s minority and LGBTQ populations will be disproportionately affected without systemic intervention.

Rent is down 5.4 percent compared to last year, averaging $1,555 per month for a 764-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment, but housing is becoming increasingly competitive for all with Atlanta’s growing population, as 145,000 people moved to the city or surrounding metro areas between 2021 and 2023.

The end of January signals the annual Pointin-Time (PIT) count, providing the most comprehensive census for the country’s

“In our increasingly interconnected world, it is undeniable that what happens in your neighborhood impacts mine,” Dickens said

8 NEWS APRIL 5, 2024

in his address. “And the foundation of this change starts with housing.”

Toward that goal, the city has built or begun construction on over 9,000 units, including a plan that transforms shipping containers into short-term housing. Despite investing state and federal funds heavily in affordable housing projects across the state, homelessness has increased 4.4 percent since 2020.

The short-term solution addresses immediate needs in Atlanta, but the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts says a statewide response is necessary after $549 million in federal funding was spent between 2018 and 2022.

United Way of Central Georgia is using a smartphone app from Simtech Solutions, a Massachusetts-based technology company, called Show The Way. United Way Executive Director Jake Hall believes the app’s humancentered design will encourage a more compassionate response to our unhoused neighbors.

“Some communities don’t admit that they have a problem serving people who are housing insecure, or they don’t want to deeply invest in homelessness services, sometimes out of fear that it will have a magnetic effect or draw people to those services,” Hall said. “And I think all of those are misguided responses to the human needs in our midst.”

Covenant House Georgia offers small ways for people to support homeless youth, from offering tax incentives on donations to registering your Kroger Plus card in support of the organization’s mission (at no cost to you). To learn more about how you can support Covenant House, visit covenanthousega.org/ways-to-give.

Partners for HOME offers supportive services for people experiencing homelessness or housing instability. To learn more, call 211 or visit partnersforhome.org. Young LGBTQ people in need of assistance are encouraged to contact Covenant House Georgia at the Youth Direct Line: 404-713-0954 or covenanthousega.org.

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COMMUNITY

Remembering the Inimitable

Mr. Charlie Brown Katie Burkholder

about his place in the community.”

On March 21, Atlanta lost a legend. Iconic drag performer Mr. Charlie Brown died at 10:33pm at Piedmont Hospital at the age of 74, surrounded by his husband, chosen family, and friends. He was recovering from a second heart valve replacement surgery when sepsis set in.

Friends and chosen family gathered at the Eagle on March 23 to celebrate Charlie’s life.

“I went to the Eagle Saturday night seeking community, and it was so powerful to be there with everyone else who he loved and who loved him,” Eldredge said. “It was difficult for us, but when the DJ started playing all the soundtrack from Charlie’s 50 years of drag, it felt like he was there with us.

Charlie’s final wishes were that we celebrate his life and throw a big party in his honor.”

The Tennessee native began his Atlanta drag career in the ’70s. In 1974, only three years after first donning drag in Nashville, Charlie climbed up on the bar at the Sweet Gum Head nightclub and performed Della Reese’s “You Came a Long Way From St. Louis.” The audience reaction resulted in an immediate job offer and sparked a love affair between Charlie and Atlanta that would last half a century.

Charlie would go on to perform at Illusions (for audiences that included a young RuPaul), Charlie Brown’s Cabaret at Underground Atlanta, Lips Atlanta, and the Atlanta Eagle, but he is best remembered for Charlie Brown’s Cabaret from 1990 to 2004 at the rooftop bar at Backstreet. The “Bitch of the South” entertained celebrities like Janet Jackson, Jermaine Dupri, Sylvester Stallone, Sir Elton John, and Queen Latifah.

“I truly enjoy entertaining,” Charlie told Georgia Voice in 2015. “My drag mothers taught me early [the first day I did drag], you think you’re a star, you’ll never be one.

And every time you walk on stage you have to prove to those who’ve heard of you why you’re there and to impress the ones that haven’t heard of you. But after all that time, I truly, truly enjoy making people laugh.”

Friends and members of the community remembered Charlie fondly following the news of his death.

“Charlie was the very first Queen we hired

10 COMMUNITY APRIL 5, 2024

Eldredge and Charlie worked together beginning in 2021, co-writing Charlie’s forthcoming memoir, detailing the entirety of his life from birth to becoming one of the most prolific drag queens in the country.

In one of his final phone conversations with Charlie ahead of his surgery, Eldredge assured him that his story would be told: “The book is finished and it’s fantastic, and I can’t wait to share it with the world,” he said.

“My drag mothers taught me early [the first day I did drag], you think you’re a star, you’ll never be one. And every time you walk on stage you have to prove to those who’ve heard of you why you’re there and to impress the ones that haven’t heard of you. But after all that time, I truly, truly enjoy making people laugh.” PHOTO VIA FACEBOOK and of course we didn’t make her audition,” Yvonne Lame, the owner of Lips Atlanta, wrote on Facebook. “She had already been a star for decades, and her talent and reputation preceded her … Thanks to Charlie, Lips Atlanta is and was an immediate success.”

“Charlie was the polar opposite offstage of this brassy, bitchy, acerbic, take-no-prisoners drag persona,” Rich Eldredge, Charlie’s friend and collaborator, told Georgia Voice.

“Charlie Dillard was this incredibly sweet, sensitive man who loved his friends and loved the drag community. He loved supporting the drag community, especially in an age where you have a generation of drag queens who are competing with each other. Charlie was always about lifting up the next young performer. That served him very well in the community; I’ve never come across a drag performer who had anything negative to say about Charlie. I think that speaks volumes

“Bitch of the South: How I Survived Vietnam, the AIDS Crisis, and MAGA Drag Bans” will tentatively be self-published to commemorate Charlie’s 75th birthday at the end of the year.

Charlie is survived by Fred Wise, his loving husband and partner of 45 years. Brown was preceded in death by his parents Charlie and Velma Dillard of Siloam, Tennessee; his sister Ramona Franklin in Scottsville, Kentucky; his brother Bruce Dillard in Akersville, Kentucky; and his best friend Rusty the dog.

He is also survived by two nieces, Kendra Templeton in Lafayette, Tennessee; and Terri Holder in Scottsville, Kentucky; one nephew, Tracy Dillard in Akersville, Kentucky; three great-nephews; and two great-nieces.

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COMMUNITY

In with the Old, Out with the New A conversation with an interior design student Divine Ikpe Nayra is a Brazilian American interior design student studying to get her BFA at Georgia State University. She brings a uniquely Brazilian, secondhand, and community-focused perspective to all her design projects and design opinions. She spoke with Georgia Voice about her design inspirations, her favorite and least favorite trends, sustainability, and more.

Quotes have been edited for clarity. Read the full interview online at thegavoice.com.

Who are your design Inspirations?

My grandmas and my mother! They collected antiques, and I love antiques and things from the street that people throw away. When we first came to America, we were shocked to see couches in the garbage and stuff like that. We just couldn’t believe that people just threw whole pieces away, because … we just don’t do that, or … I don’t know, we break it down and reuse it.

I like to do everything with a budget, even if it’s not necessary. I think a good design comes out of those sorts of constraints. It’s affordable and reused. Everyone in Brazil recycles, and everybody buys used.

Are there any current interior designers or architects you like?

It’s so hard, because everything is this sort of pseudo-brutalist European square building now. So I’m not sure … I’m just such an old head, I try to incorporate the old into the modern so that it makes a new thing. I don’t really look at the current. Aside from Karim Rashid, he’s pretty current. I do like the English Cottage vibe, too.

Every time I go into class it’s like, what’s trending is what needs to be done. It’s almost

12 COMMUNITY APRIL 5, 2024

Nayra, a Brazilian American interior design student COURTESY PHOTO

Interior design mood board by Nayra. COURTESY PHOTO

like a rule. Everyone just agrees that the trend is the new thing because no one wants to see anything outdated. Personally, though, I prefer quality over it being new.

What trends do you like?

I’m happy that people are adding a lot more color to their house and feeling more comfortable with color. I like upcycling and thrifting, the English Cottage vibe, the ’70s mid-century modern.

What design advice do you have for someone who lives in one of these boring gray apartments?

I have a gray rental apartment right now, with speckled walls and speckled ceilings.

Ugly! And it’s gray gray, not even neutral gray. But the way I spiced it up was by bringing all of my very colorful, bright old furniture into the space. If your space is dark, get light furniture. If your space is bright, you’re lucky, you can get dark furniture.

Leave a walkable path, make aisles. If you put anything in the walkway, it could make your small apartment feel even smaller. Utilize the corners in your apartment. Hang things anywhere you can without destroying your apartment. Mirrors! Mirrors really help open up the space. Cool lamps, mixed textiles (like putting fun pillows on the couch), and rugs. Plants! Plants help … real plants help.

Anything that can make your gray apartment

look cozy, you should utilize it.

What interior design trends do you hate?

I hate painting over the granite countertops!

Painting the outside of the building gray, painting the inside of the building gray, and the gray wood as well. The gray wood is ugly and outdated. Fake marble. I hate people destroying an old house with old crown molding and tiled bathrooms, completely gutting it and making it gray. The beige moms that paint their kids’ toys, that’s really sad. Fake plants … RGB TikTok lights … stop, stop!

I have a pet peeve when people try to look for a rule book when it comes to design: “Oh, I’m doing this rustic style, so I have to do *everything* in this style,” because it looks like you just picked a catalog room from Rooms To Go and they came and put it together for you. I think people need to learn a lot more about nuance and mixing design styles. It makes your house more comfortable if it’s not set up like a prop room; it will make it a happier place to live.

Where do you think interior design is headed?

I think commercially, the need for interior design will increase, because this generation just cares a lot about aesthetics and going with the trends. So. I could see it going negatively where people just adhere to the trends. Trends are dictated by what’s popular on TikTok and Facebook, but I also see the need for people who specialize in sustainable design becoming more prevalent. And for residential [design], I see a lot of people working with interior designers to try and recreate the past in a new way. I don’t see the career declining or going anywhere. If anything, it’ll just change. The architect designs the outside, but they don’t care what the inside looks like, which is why they need us.

Editor’s note: Nayra requested her last name not be included in the article.

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COMMUNITY

Nourish Botanica: THE HEALING BACKYARD Katie Burkholder Spring is the season of rebirth, when the world comes back alive after the dead and dark of winter. It is a time of healing, a time where we reconnect with nature and with ourselves. That connection is exactly what Nourish Botanica seeks to foster.

Nourish Botanica is a green space that seeks to provide healing through flowers and plants. Not only does the garden serve as a physical space for connection, with events and workshops surrounding plants, but it also seeks to harness the healing power of the Earth itself through apothecary.

Founder Quianah Upton was inspired by her upbringing in the Virgin Islands, where she said her family would often turn to natural remedies like aloe, lemongrass, and black castor oil. Bringing this practice to Nourish Botanica keeps her connected with her ancestry, which she said is spiritually healing.

Along with apothecary offerings, Nourish Botanica also sells dried flower bouquets from flowers grown in its garden, hosts monthly floral arrangement and plant repotting workshops, and serves as a stunning venue for organizations looking to book the backyard. It has also hosted garden dinner parties, with natural food prepared by local chefs, and various food pop-ups. All of this is open to everyone, but the space was specifically created with Black people in mind.

Nourish Botanica is a green space that seeks to provide healing through flowers and plants. COURTESY PHOTO parties, and workshops to engage Black women with plants.

stand and market; a dance party with sounds

by DJ Mami Wata; and more.

“I want to create spaces for Black people, but I’m in a space where I want all of us to get healing,” Upton told Georgia Voice. “I just also have to remember why I started this.”

“BGPF is an homage to girls who want to rest, girls who love art, girls who love sanctuary,” Upton said. “I had a lot of girls coming to me looking for advice about getting into the business themselves. So, I really wanted to create a space for budding entrepreneurs in plants and in flowers. I want us to have conversations around growing them ...

BGPF is a bridge to connect Black women creatives, entrepreneurs, and artists into a healing space full of sanctuary, art, and joy.”

BGPF also marks the beginning of two new, recurring events. Nourish Botanica will host the Wild Practice Garden and Farm Stand every third Sunday starting April 21 from 11am to 3pm, and the weekend closes with Sessions, an open mic inviting Atlanta artists and musicians to perform in the backyard oasis every third Sunday at 5pm starting April 21. Everyone is welcome, and performers can sign up on the spot in person.

With this mission in mind, Nourish Botanica will be hosting Black Girl Plant Fest on April 20 and 21. The weekend will include events,

Attendees of BGPF can expect workshops covering growing your own oasis, indoor plant care, and eco-painting; yoga, a farm

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These events are only the beginning of Nourish Botanica’s growth; a greenhouse café is also in the works. Nourish Botanica raised around $80,000 in funding toward a

Nourish Botanica Founder Quianah Upton COURTESY PHOTO

space, but that was “not a lot of money in Atlanta real estate,” according to Upton, so the money was funneled into building out the plant shop and backyard. While she doesn’t know where the new café will be, Upton says it’s “definitely coming” and will probably be brought to life thanks to some kind of community partnership.

Until then, Nourish Botanica will continue healing Atlanta through art, food, nature, and community.

To stay up to date with everything happening at Nourish Botanica, visit nourishbotanica.cafe and sign up for the email newsletter, or follow on Instagram @ nourishbotanica.

APRIL 5, 2024 COMMUNITY 13

CULTURE

Apartment

Refresh Tips Katie Burkholder Spring brings with it an opportunity for refresh, even if your home is temporary. You may be renting an apartment, like me, and hesitant to put your interior design chops to the test. While renting can block you from major redesigns, you can still have a beautiful home. Here are some cheap and easy tips for refreshing your rental this spring.

Spring Cleaning The most cost-effective way to refresh your home is to clean! Deep clean your space like you’re preparing to move out — scrub those baseboards, dust that ceiling fan, clear out your junk drawer — and tidy, tidy, tidy!

Clutter seems to be a natural byproduct of American life, but good home design is all about intentionality. Having too much in your space — especially if it’s a small apartment — can distract from your more beautiful design elements, like the couch you love, your heirloom lamp, or your carefully curated gallery wall. Reasons for making your space more intentional are twofold: you want your items to be either necessary or to spark joy, Marie Kondo style, and you want everything to have a home. Whether it’s a basket in the corner, a specific drawer, or a spot on the counter, giving most or all of your items a designated home makes maintaining tidiness much easier. It’s also a great trick to limit impulse buying: if you can’t think of something’s forever home before you buy it, it probably doesn’t belong in your space.

If you’re looking for organizational vessels that aren’t just clear plastic containers that will end up in a landfill, head to the thrift store and look for baskets, trays, bowls, catchalls, jewelry boxes, and vases.

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Plants Galore!

There’s no better way to inject new life into your space than by literally bringing in living things. If you don’t have a green thumb, even just one houseplant can transform the space. If you want more green, supplement with fake plants if you don’t mind the look. I personally like fake plants for tighter, more tucked away areas like shelves or small tabletops to fill space, but it’s all about personal preference.

Having fresh flowers is always amazing, but not exactly cost-effective; dried flowers can make for a longer-lasting and just as beautiful replacement. You can buy predried flower bouquets, but I personally love dried baby’s breath. It’s cheap and easy to get at any grocery store and will dry out on its own. Put it in a pretty thrifted vase and it adds a nice vintage flair to any room.

There’s no better way to inject new life into your space than by literally bringing in living things. If you don’t have a green thumb, even just one houseplant can transform the space.

Let the Light In

PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/ FOLLOWTHEFLOW

Apartment lighting is usually harsh and stale, and bad lighting can make even the most decadent home look like crap. If your home suffers from a bad case of fluorescent overheads, invest in some better lighting.

Having a diverse array of light sources around the room, like small table lamps, tall standing lamps, or string lights, creates a warm and welcoming ambiance that envelops the room. If you have a lamp that you find ugly, don’t trash it. Drape a silk scarf over the lampshade (as long as the bulb isn’t exposed, or else you’ll have a fire hazard on your hands) for an eclectic, bohemian look.

If you want to add some color to the room, you can get a color-changing smart bulb from Home Depot or Amazon for $15–$30.

need is a screwdriver, a YouTube how-to video, and a dream. You can find some interesting light fixtures for around $30 on Amazon — just make sure you save the original fixture to put back when you move out!

If you’re feeling particularly handy, you can even replace the ugly light fixtures — all you

Those Walls, Y’all!

If you’re in an apartment, chances are you have limited space. Use every inch to your advantage, and that includes your walls! If you have a longer-term lease, you can use paint or removable wallpaper to make a small accent wall (you can also do it with a shorter lease, but it may not be very cost-effective to paint it over or rip it off only a year after doing it). If you want something less intense, hanging up art can totally transform a space.

You can buy framed prints and paintings easily from Target, HomeGoods, or TJ Maxx if that’s your vibe, but I personally like a

more personal, eclectic approach. Make collages. Paint your own paintings. Go to an art market — some good ones in Atlanta are the Dogwood Festival, the Piedmont Park Arts Festival, the Indie Craft Experience, and Market Hugs. Buy vintage magazines for cheap at an antique store and frame your favorite photo spreads or ads. Hang up photo strips, records, postcards, garlands, bows, antique jewelry, or your favorite purses. Get creative — if something you love doesn’t yet have a forever home and can be hung on the wall, maybe that’s where it belongs!

Follow Your Gut Don’t be afraid to get creative, break the rules and make new ones, and trust your own design taste. At the end of the day, it’s your home, and your opinion is the only one that matters!

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CULTURE

PIECES TO ELEVATE

Your Home Katie Burkholder

A. Stickley 2024 Collector Edition Mission Rose Cabinet This striking inlay motif was first used in a bedroom suite by Stickley Bros. of Grand Rapids, led by Albert Stickley (brother of Gustav and Leopold), in 1903. This cabinet will make a stunning addition to any entryway. $1,995, The Mission Motif; 747 Miami Circle NE; missionmotif.com.

B. Mood Bowl Elevate your breakfast experience or put this incredible bowl on display as a fruit bowl or catchall. $60, Souk Bohemian at Ponce de Leon; 675 Ponce De Leon Ave. NE; soukbohemian.com.

C. Pilea Peperomioides This unique houseplant will bring some life to any room – and is sure to be a conversation starter! $28, Flora/Fauna; 751 Gaskill Street SE; florafaunaatl.com.

A

D. Beckett Bar Cart Nothing’s bougier than a bar cart! Three shelves set upon swiveling casters offer generous space for everything from cocktails to brunch buffets with this vintage-inspired trolley. $1,495, Williams-Sonoma at Ponce City Market; 675 Ponce De Leon Ave. NE; williams-sonoma.com.

E. Beth Chair This petite chair is ready for small spaces or extra seating in any room.

The Beth has a lot of style and comfort in a small package and is available for custom order in many different fabric options.

Price available in-store, Intaglia Home Collection; 1544 Piedmont Ave. NE #105; intagliahome.com.

D

F. Large Gogo Boi Lamp This eccentric and erotic lamp is the perfect conversation starter for any room. Starting at $650, Pansy Ass Ceramics; pansyassceramics.bigcartel.com.

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C

E

F APRIL 5, 2024 CULTURE 15

OLD GAY MAN CLIFF BOSTOCK

Tiptoe Through the Tulips

on the Way to Nothingness Cliff Bostock Read the full column online at thegavoice.com.

In my last column, I shared that I’d been diagnosed with a large brain tumor behind my left eye. Six weeks after a biopsy at Emory St. Joseph’s Hospital, I’ve still not received a treatment plan — although I’m told it will likely involve the usual radiation and chemo.

The reality is that it’s palliative, not curative, since tumors like mine eventually consume one’s entire being.

So, I’ve spent the last six weeks in a rather bizarre state of mind. I’ve surprised myself so far by not feeling a great deal of anxiety in the face of not existing in a few months or years.

I’ve been obsessed with death since I was a kid, memorizing countless lines of morbid poetry for extra credit in my English classes.

I went through the death of numerous friends during the worst years of the AIDS epidemic. Not long before I turned 30, I had a classic near-death experience (NDE) in a hospital. It left me with the sense that dying might be pleasant but told me nothing about an afterlife since I didn’t actually die.

A few years later, I began studying meditation with a Zen teacher in Houston, where I was editing a glossy home and garden magazine for the wealthy. I told my teacher about my NDE, and he insisted we meet to practice together at newly dug graves in local cemeteries. I found this difficult, but not because I felt a bit like a neo-goth hipster. It actually stimulated intense memories of my childhood practice of lying in the backyard with my friend Joel and telling him stories of what was occurring in the underworld, which my brain accessed by way of a large

16 COLUMNIST APRIL 5, 2024

“Now, contemplating nothing, I find myself mesmerized by the natural (but cultivated) world.

I’m lucky to live across from Grant Park and I’ve watched spring beautify the neighborhood. I track individual foliage and flowers with virtually no thought in my head. It’s a purely aesthetic experience.” drain in the garden. My Zen teacher of course told me to put the stories aside and just be present.

Now, contemplating nothing, I find myself mesmerized by the natural (but cultivated) world. I’m lucky to live across from Grant Park and I’ve watched spring beautify the neighborhood. I track individual foliage and flowers with virtually no thought in my head. It’s a purely aesthetic experience.

Yesterday, a child, hanging off a bicycle, smiled and pointed at the sky, where clouds turned into Rorschach figments of the imagination. Then an obese bumblebee circled my sutured head. The day was quiet enough that I heard its wings vibrating, a reminder of the vibrations I felt on the train that brought my family south when I was an infant. Sometimes, I park somewhere and end up just sitting in my car and watching the world go by. One day, I left my feet

PHOTO BY PEXELS.COM

dangling out the door and an elderly couple got very excited by my cheap yellow shoes and asked me to runway-walk them.

On Easter, one of our cats, Patricia, died.

The other, Quiz, has been severely crippled by arthritis for two years, lives full-time on a table in the sunroom, and eats a lot. She doesn’t seem interested in dying despite her 26 years. A new rat has inhabited our kitchen.

Its grooming looks like a poodle’s or a case of unfinished manscaping of the pubic region.

I wish he would leave, but his comical style makes plotting his murder unappealing.

Sigmund Freud declared at the beginning of the last century that the inevitability of death makes life inherently tragic.

That view continues to pervade much of psychotherapy, to the degree that every loss supposedly initiates death anxiety. In the last few years, I ended long friendships with a few people who repeatedly banished me after I said or did something offensive. Then, after months or even years, they would reconnect with me. How did it take me 25 years to remember that this was exactly what my

often-cruel mother did to me throughout my childhood and adolescence? With her and with them, there was never processing to help me understand my error, much less theirs. I knew the inevitable outcome, yet I kept handing them the axe.

I tell myself: Don’t live that way. The poodle rat that eyes you in the kitchen, the unknown child who directs your eyes upward, the crazy people who stare at your stupid shoes, the teacher who whines for you to look the other way, and the sprig that captures your seeing heart when it turns unexpectedly into a flower — look for the poetry in your life.

Yes, I know that my anxiety will increase when I begin treatment but, hey, my ashes — and yours — will forget it all.

Cliff Bostock, PhD, is a former psychotherapist who now (still) practices more informal “life coaching” to help people who feel blocked in the creative pursuit of their dreams. Visit cliffbostock.com and contact him at cliffbostock@gmail.com. You can also interact with him and other readers at facebook.com/cliffbostock.

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THE TOWERS AT UPTOWN ATLANTA BUCKHEAD

APRIL 18 THUR · 6-10PM UNLIMITED WINGS · CRAFT BEER · WINE COCKTAIL TASTINGS · DJ TRON

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APRIL 5, 2024 ADS 17

THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID MELISSA CARTER

The Crazy

Gardener Melissa Carter According to my grandmother, it’s time — time for spring terms like trowel, transplanter, cultivator, and tiller. For condo dwellers, there are containers, and for owners of large homes, it’s portions of their backyards. My grandmother advised us never to plant seeds until after Easter, when the chance of frost has vanished, so here we are in the season of the green thumb. If you really do get an A for effort, then I am at the top of my class when it comes to gardening.

The truth is, I can kill a cactus. In fact, I already have. Friends have gifted me plants in the past, from spider plants to bamboo to lilies, and I’ve killed them all. The current record for keeping one alive is just under a year. I am well-meaning, telling myself every April this will be the year I’ll reap some kind of harvest, when in reality, I’m

18 COLUMNIST APRIL 5, 2024

more of a plant hospice worker.

I’ve tried everything in every kind of container or soil. The most bizarre technique was hay bale gardening, where I bought and hauled several hay bales into the front yard.

The idea is that if you keep the center of the hay bales moist enough, they will transform into compost, and you can plant things in them. The result? Wet, malformed hay that became an eyesore for those who lived in and around my home.

I currently reside in a town house, and my back deck has been the latest lab for my scientific experiments. I saw somewhere that if you play Morticia Addams and snip off the buds of roses and plant the stem in some honey concoction, an abundance of roses will grow. I tried that last spring, and guess what happened? Nothing.

I’m unsure why I am so determined to have a garden, since no one is asking me to. Maybe it’s some phantom pressure as a Southern

PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/ MASTER1305

woman or maybe I’m simply jealous of the fact that nearly everyone I know has a successful garden. I even bought a small greenhouse with shelves for my deck a few months ago. I set up the tower with its plastic covering and put some terra cotta and ceramic pots I had gathered inside so I was ready when the time came. Heavy storms knocked it over and broke what was inside.

Even God wants me to stop.

But like Rocky, bloodied and grasping for the ropes, I still get up. When I take walks

in a nearby park, I look at the maintenance crews, pruning, and planting, for clues as I pass by. I listen to friends talk about their green projects and remember my own parents, whose half-acre garden provided us with plenty of vegetables and fruit. I peruse gardening centers and spy on others who seem to know what they are doing.

So, it’s spring and here we go again. They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, and it seems gardening has made me crazy.

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ACTING OUT JIM FARMER

Out Julio Torres Stars in ‘Problemista,’ Goran Stolevski Returns with Glorious ‘Housekeeping for Beginners’ Jim Farmer Two new films by out directors are on tap now, both well worth the audience’s time. In the new, “Problemista,” Julio Torres (who also writes and directs the feature) stars as Alejandro, who is from El Salvador, but now lives in New York. He wants to make toys for a living, but is having a problem sustaining a work visa — and the only solution he can come up with is working with Elizabeth (Tilda Swinton), an art critic on a mission.

Alejandro is caught in a series of Catch-22s in the film. First and foremost, he needs to come up with money to pay for a work visa, but he is only legally allowed to make money when he has that paperwork.

“He’s like a little mouse in a maze and in that maze, he sort of discovers himself and he grows and learns,” Torres said. “It’s presented as surrealistic, almost fairy tale-like.”

Despite their differences — and where they are in their lives — Alejandro and Elizabeth bond, and Alejandro learns a lot from his new boss.

In a recent interview, Torres said “Problemista” is very much based on his life.

Torres is glad to be in an era where being openly gay is no longer the career killer it was once thought to be.

“I went through similar experiences going from a student visa to a work visa and it’s the movie that came out of me as part of that time,” he said. “I feel there was a genuine sense of frustration with bureaucracy, but at the same time there was a love for life that I wanted to showcase.”

“It’s frankly just a privilege that many of us take for granted, that not that many years ago that would have been challenging,” he said. “I think my film is very casually queer; the LGBTQ hashtag would not be the first one in the list. I think that is because for audiences it’s not that big for them to wrap their minds around. It

“Problemista” PUBLICITY PHOTO behooves us to keep the door open and make sure that other kinds of creators who don’t have this kind of opportunity are not left behind.”

A former writer for “Saturday Night Live,” Torres wants to continue to write and direct. He is in post-production on an HBO sketch event that will come out later this year, then he will take time out to figure out his next project.

In early 2023, Goran Stolevski’s film drama, “Of An Age” was released to sizable acclaim. His followup is the new drama, “Housekeeping for Beginners,” which is about several young LGBTQ characters who find themselves under one roof. Social worker Dita (Anamaria Marinca) finds herself in a situation where she has to take care of her girlfriend Suada’s two young girls and deal not only with the husband she “marries,” but his male lover as well.

The director’s first seed for the idea was when a friend posted a photograph online from when she was young in the ’70s, having moved to Melbourne for the first time and moved into a house with eight gay women.

It was a random snapshot from their dayto-day life. Stolevski saw the photo and thought, “I want to go there.”

“The sense of warmth and energy coming out of it — what a great feeling of living your life on your own terms within this world,” he said.

He also wanted to make a current-day film for many reasons.

“Housekeeping for Beginners” PUBLICITY PHOTO

20 COLUMNIST APRIL 5, 2024

“I want to be documenting lives in the present tense that would otherwise go

undocumented,” Stolevski said. “I want a record of people who exist right now. We might not know they existed 50 years from now if we don’t capture these stories.”

The characters of Dita and Suada are at odds in certain ways at the beginning.

“There is the kind of tension and friction you get in any marriage,” Stolevski said. “That is what I was drawn to. I want my films to be specific and unapologetic. I don’t think queer feelings are niche feelings. I don’t think queer and universal are contradictory; to me, that is a stand-in for universal feelings and that marriage. The dynamic of it is just two people in a relationship. They can yell at each other for five minutes then hold each other tenderly for the next five.”

Circumstances are forcing these characters to grow and evolve. That is the kind of material Stolevski gravitates to.

“I am always drawn to those kinds of stories where the characters have to deal with circumstances they cannot control or escape from and are innately trying to live the most emotionally fulfilling life they can,” he said.

“But when there are limitations, how do you still do it — live a life that is still meaningful and fulfilling? In this case, there are no role models for these characters to look up to.

They have to figure it out for themselves.”

MORE INFO “Problemista” is in area theaters now “Housekeeping for Beginners” opens in Atlanta April 12 THEGEORGIAVOICE.COM

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APRIL 5, 2024 ADS 21

BEST BETS THE BEST LGBTQ EVENTS HAPPENING IN APRIL Jim Farmer

Mercury APRIL 5, 7:30PM, THROUGH APRIL 28 ACTOR’S EXPRESS Revenge is a dish best served bloody in Actor’s Express’s “Mercury.” In this savagely hilarious comedy-thriller, three different stories converge through a strange curiosity shop in Portland, Oregon. Joining in on this crazy thrill ride of a play is a nosy neighbor, a bickering couple, a missing dog named Mr. Bundles, a guy with the worst job in the underworld and a housewife who is not handling the end of her secret affair very well. This play is from Steve Yockey, the creative mind behind AE hits “Octopus” and “Pluto” and TV’s “The Flight Attendant” and “Dead Boy Detectives.”

TRANSformation APRIL 6, 7:30PM BYERS THEATRE The Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus is strategically elevating the lived experiences of the trans, nonbinary and gender-fluid community in a concert entitled TRANSformation. Curated by a group of trans and nonbinary members of the Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus and Atlanta Women’s Chorus, along with members of the broader Atlanta trans community, this show acknowledges the challenges and celebrates the beauty and authenticity of what it means to be your true self in the face of being eradicated.

We Love Mrs. Roper Drag Queen Bingo APRIL 9, 6:30PM LIPS ATLANTA Grab a marker and enjoy the fun at PALS’ We Love Mrs. Roper Drag Queen Bingo.

Fat Ham APRIL 10, 7:30PM, THROUGH MAY 12 ALLIANCE THEATRE “Fat Ham” is the deliciously funny, Pulitzer Prize-winning new play that recently finished its critically acclaimed Broadway run. Playwright James Ijames has reinvented Shakespeare's masterpiece, Hamlet, creating what The New York Times calls “a hilarious yet profound tragedy smothered in comedy.” Juicy is a queer, Southern college kid, already grappling with some serious questions of identity, when the ghost of his father shows up at their backyard barbecue, demanding that Juicy avenge his murder. But here's the rub!

Revenge doesn't come easy to Juicy, a sensitive and self-aware young Black man in search of his own happiness and liberation. From an uproarious

22 BEST BETS CALENDAR APRIL 5, 2024

family cookout emerges a compelling examination of love, loss, masculinity, pain and joy.

Business Builder Lunch APRIL 11, NOON LA HACIENDA Join OUT Georgia for its Business Builder Lunch (BBL) Midtown at La Hacienda on the second Thursday of each month.

Mozart Don Giovanni APRIL 12, 7:30PM, THROUGH APRIL 21 7 STAGES Don’t miss “Mozart Don Giovanni” at 7 Stages.

This contemporary English singing adaptation of Mozart’s classic opera “Don Giovanni” transports the characters and story into the modern era while staying true to the essence of the beloved original. The notorious womanizer, Don Giovanni, still meets a supernatural end, but his licentious exploits are now portrayed with frankness and complexity, reflecting today’s more nuanced perspectives on gender and morality.

Rocky Horror Drag Brunch APRIL 13, 12:30PM CITY WINERY ATLANTA Let's do the time warp again! Put on some lipstick and don't miss this extra special drag brunch presented by WUSSY Mag that will have you shivering. The event features performances by Boudreaux, Brigitte Bidet, Dotte Com, Miss He, Orchid, and Stella Pearl Fontaine.

Trans and Friends APRIL 15, 7PM FOR YOUTH, 8PM FOR ADULTS CHARIS BOOKS AND MORE Trans and Friends is a youth-focused group for trans people, people questioning their own gender and aspiring allies, providing a facilitated space to discuss gender, relevant resources and activism around social issues.

EVENT SPOTLIGHT Atlanta Bear Pride APRIL 19-21 APRIL 19-21 VARIOUS ATLANTA VENUES Cubs, otters, grizzles, and more – Atlanta Bear Pride is three days of bear-themed events and parties showcasing the diversity of bear culture and bringing people from around the Southeast to converge in Atlanta for one big weekend. Learn more at atlantabearpride.com. spring series of Indian queer cinema of the ‘90s.

A comedy-drama film. Reena is a young Indian American lesbian who lives and works in New York City. Her sister Sarita, who is happily married, discovers that she is infertile. Reena offers to be a surrogate mother for her sister's baby, hoping to improve her relationship with their mother, who disapproves of Reena's sexual orientation. The film explores the conflict between Reena's sexual and ethnic identities as well as her mother Meenu's attempts to come to terms with the Western lives of both her daughters. Free and open to the public.

PFLAG Support Group APRIL 21, 2:30PM SPIRITUAL LIVING CENTER The PFLAG support group for parents and families of LGBTQ children meets in person.

Atlanta Bear Pride

LGBTQ Book Club

APRIL 19-21 VARIOUS ATLANTA VENUES Cubs, otters, grizzles, and more – Atlanta Bear Pride is three days of bear-themed events and parties showcasing the diversity of bear culture and bringing people from around the Southeast to converge in Atlanta for one big weekend.

Learn more at atlantabearpride.com.

APRIL 27, 10AM The LGBTQ+ Book Club is a group for LGBTQ+ folks and allies to read queer-themed books and books by queer authors. The aim is to have diverse, thought-provoking discussions about queer identity, history, and topical issues.

All are welcome to join. This month's book is “Gender Euphoria: Stories of Joy from Trans, Non-Binary, and Intersex Writers” edited by Laura Kate Dale. No registration is required.

This Zoom link will allow you to join the meeting at any time: https://us02web.zoom. us/j/85007056372.

Chutney Popcorn APRIL 19, 7PM WHITE HALL 205 “Chutney Popcorn” is part of Emory University’s

Revival APRIL 28, 7:30PM FOX THEATRE The Fox Theatre presents Revival, hosted by Kevin Kinney and featuring performances by Indigo Girls, Charlie Starr with Benji Shanks of Blackberry Smoke, and special appearances

by Matthew Sweet and Shawn Mullins. Revival is a benefit concert dedicated to supporting the preservation of Georgia's historic theaters and enhancing the Fox's educational and community partnerships. This unique musical event is inspired by the power of storytelling and the role theaters play in bringing communities together.

Coming Up

Psycho Beach Party MAY 2, 8PM, THROUGH MAY 18 OUT FRONT THEATRE COMPANY Out Front Theatre Company presents the Charles Busch classic “Psycho Beach Party.”

Chicklet Forrest, a teenage tomboy, desperately wants to be part of the surf crowd on Malibu Beach in 1962. One thing getting in her way is her unfortunate tendency towards split personalities. Among them is a checkout girl, an elderly radio talk show hostess, a male model named Steve, and the accounting firm of Edelman and Edelman. Her most dangerous alter ego is a sexually voracious vixen named Ann Bowman who has nothing less than world domination on her mind.

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LGBTQ NIGHTLIFE FORECAST APRIL 5-19 Katie Burkholder

Onyx – Wet Dreams APRIL 5, 8PM ATLANTA EAGLE Gear encouraged! $5 cover.

Myah Ross Monroe’s House of Love APRIL 5, 9PM ATLANTA EAGLE Featuring Just Jermaine, Malaysia Black, Lacie Bruce, Tatiana Tuesday Dickerson, A’Jivan Avoincé Dickerson, Chavon Scott, and Jeremiah Tymes Starr.

Ron Pullman APRIL 5, 11PM ATLANTA EAGLE $5 cover.

Heyday ‘80s Dance Party APRIL 6, 9PM THE BASEMENT Grab your dancing shoes, friends, and shoulder pads because it’s time for Atlanta’s biggest ‘80s dance party! Tickets at basementatl.com.

Karaoke Night APRIL 7, 7:30PM THE T

Autistic QTBIPoC Folks: A Discussion and Meetup APRIL 9, 7PM CREATEATL Facilitated by Rose Turquoise Gordon and Pooja Gade, enjoy this intentional space for autistic queer folks to meet, share experiences, and more with Southern Fried Queer Pride! RSVP for free at sfqp.info/queeraut4924.

Country Night APRIL 9, 8PM ATLANTA EAGLE Show up for the dance lesson before line dancing the night away with DJ Dice at 9pm!

WussyVision: Mamma Mia! APRIL 10, 7PM PLAZA THEATRE Wussy Mag’s queer camp series returns with this screening of “Mamma Mia!”, complete with costume contests, drag performances, drink specials, and more! Tickets at plazaatlanta.com.

Karaoke Night APRIL 11, 9PM

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EVENT SPOTLIGHT Blanke: Earth to Stars Emergence Tour APRIL 16, 10PM DISTRICT ATLANTA Blanke (pictured) performs with special guests Eddie, Nikademis, and Aeon: Mode. Tickets at bit.ly/BLANKEATL2024. Photo via Facebook THE T

Myah Ross Monroe’s House of Love

ATLANTA EAGLE $5 cover.

DANCE: ‘90s and ‘00s Dance Party

APRIL 12, 9PM ATLANTA EAGLE Featuring Just Jermaine, Malaysia Black, Lacie Bruce, Tatiana Tuesday Dickerson, A’Jivan Avoincé Dickerson, Chavon Scott, and Jeremiah Tymes Starr.

APRIL 13, 10PM THE BASEMENT If you like sing-alongs, hand holding, foot stomping, and hoisting strangers on your shoulders, you’re coming to the right party.

Tickets at basementatl.com.

Bora Uzer

Karaoke Night

APRIL 12, 10PM DISTRICT ATLANTA Tickets at collectivpresents.com.

APRIL 14, 7:30PM THE T

Paragon Munch

Blanke: Earth to Stars Emergence Tour

APRIL 13, 5PM

APRIL 16, 10PM

DISTRICT ATLANTA With special guests Eddie, Nikademis, and Aeon: Mode. Tickets at bit.ly/BLANKEATL2024.

Karaoke Night APRIL 18, 9PM THE T

Hard Launch! WussyFest Kickoff with DJ Trixie Mattel APRIL 19, 9PM UNDERGROUND ATLANTA Put on your dancing shoes and kick off WussyFest’s drag fest weekend with a dance party headlined by drag superstar DJ Trixie Mattel! Plus music by Ectopus, Gorp, and Ree de la Vega. Tickets at wussymag.com.

APRIL 5, 2024 LGBTQ NIGHTLIFE FORECAST 23

FREE ONLINE PrEP

...and STI testing too.

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