08/14/20, Vol. 11 Issue 10

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.

(bik-TAR-vee)

MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT BIKTARVY

POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF BIKTARVY

BIKTARVY may cause serious side effects, including:

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. 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.

 Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. 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.

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.

Get HIV support by downloading a free app at

MyDailyCharge.com

BVYC0218_BIKTARVY_B_10X10-5_Georgia-Voice_DEva_r1v1jl.indd All Pages

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, DAILY CHARGE, the DAILY CHARGE Logo, KEEP SHINING, LOVE WHAT’S INSIDE, GILEAD, and the GILEAD Logo are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies. Version date: February 2020 © 2020 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. BVYC0218 04/20

D’EVA LIVING WITH HIV SINCE 2009 REAL BIKTARVY PATIENT

KEEP SHINING.

Because HIV doesn’t change who you are.

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.

Ask your healthcare provider if BIKTARVY is right for you.

See D’Eva’s story at BIKTARVY.com.

Featured patient compensated by Gilead.

Please see Important Facts about BIKTARVY, including important warnings, on the previous page and visit BIKTARVY.com.

8/5/20 1:24 PM

voice

georgia

GUEST EDITORIAL

EDITORIAL

Building Momentum During a Health and Economic Crisis

kburkholder@thegavoice.com

Chris Lugo, Executive Director of OUT Georgia Business Alliance

VOL.11 • ISSUE 10

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

PO Box 77401 • Atlanta, GA 30357 P: 404-815-6941; F: 404-963-6365

BUSINESS

Principal/Publisher: Tim Boyd tboyd@thegavoice.com

Deputy Editor: Katie Burkholder

Editorial Contributors: Cliff Bostock, Melissa Carter, Aidan Ivory Edwards, Jim Farmer, Vandy Beth Glenn, Jeff Graham, Amy Johnston, Bill Kaelin, Ryan Lee, Rose Pelham

PRODUCTION

Art Director: Rob Boeger rboeger@thegavoice.com

SALES

Sales Executive: Dixon Taylor dtaylor@thegavoice.com

Sales Executive: Jim Brams jbrams@thegavoice.com

Business Advisor: Lynn Pasqualetti Financial Firm of Record: HLM Financial Group National Advertising: Rivendell Media 908-232-2021 sales@rivendellmedia.com

Publisher Emeritus: Chris Cash

FINE PRINT

All material in Georgia Voice is protected by federal copyright law and may not be reproduced without the written consent of Georgia Voice. The sexual orientation of advertisers, photographers, writers and cartoonists published herein is neither inferred nor implied. The appearance of names or pictorial representation does not necessarily indicate the sexual orientation of that person or persons. We also do not accept responsibility for claims made by advertisers.

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The editorial positions of Georgia Voice are expressed in editorials and in editor’s notes. Other opinions are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Georgia Voice and its staff.

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Email submissions to editor@thegavoice.com or mail to the address above.

At the beginning of 2020, OUT Georgia Business Alliance — serving as our state’s only LGBTQ+ and Allied Chamber of Commerce — was in line for one of our most successful years to date.

After a 25-year history of serving Atlanta’s LGBTQ+ business community, OUT Georgia started the year with incredible energy after the successful rebrand of the organization (formerly known as the Atlanta Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce) and the expansion of our scope to intentionally serve businesses and professionals beyond Metro Atlanta, reaching across the state of Georgia with open arms.

While our LGBTQ+ chamber was able to quickly pivot as COVID-19 took its unrelenting hold, many businesses across Georgia, including several of our members, weren’t able to survive the devastating health and economic crisis, which has now claimed more than 4,000 lives right here in Georgia.

The coronavirus pandemic has without a doubt changed the course of our organization and every Georgian, especially our LGBTQ+ residents of color who have been disproportionately impacted versus their white counterparts.

So, what’s next for Georgia’s LGBTQ+ business community after navigating challenging reopening plans, evolving health and safety measures, Economic Injury Disaster Loans, the Paycheck Protection Program, loan forgiveness, and the growing spotlight on systemic racism and racial violence?

legislation and we’ve witnessed East Point, Savannah, and Smyrna adopt comprehensive, LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances to join the ranks of Atlanta, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Clarkston, Decatur, Doraville, and Dunwoody with similar measures.

discount the role you can play in advancing the lives of the LGBTQ+ community, as a business owner, leader, professional, neighbor, parent, student, or informed citizen.

Georgia consistently ranks among top states in which to do business, but we must leverage our individual and collective voice to continue driving real improvements for our community, with an emphasis on what we can do to genuinely support our Queer, Trans, Gender Nonconforming, Black, and Brown Georgians.

Scrutinize your hiring practices, professional development, and internal advancement to ensure you are welcoming, supporting, and cultivating diverse talent and perspectives.

Learn about engaging minority-owned and -led businesses throughout your supply chain.

Progress for minority communities and those most marginalized and vulnerable will in turn drive improvements for even more folks across our state.

When city councils and governments across Georgia are considering nondiscrimination ordinances, LGBTQ+ inclusion, minority funding, etc., often it’s the voice of local business owners and professionals from that community who can make a significant difference by helping provide muchneeded context and the perspective of real, compassionate, and intelligent humans.

Take time to educate yourself on issues related to racial inequities, bias, intersectionality, funding, housing, legal and nondiscrimination protections, youth and family support, health access, safety, work environments, and employment practices.

I believe now is the time to use education, collaboration, and generosity to radically advance Georgia’s LGBTQ+ momentum.

By investing your energy to learn about these important issues (and others), you will be better positioned to enact change for yourself and your organization, and ultimately to collaborate and support others from a more empathetic perspective. This spirit of education, collaboration, and generosity is what we’ve seen time and time again during the march to equality and equity.

Over the past two months, we’ve seen the historic passage of LGBTQ-inclusive hate crimes

Now, it’s time for you to prepare for an active role in that march, and don’t you dare

Join us online: facebook.com/thegavoice twitter.com/thegavoice instagram.com/thegeorgiavoice youtube.com/user/GAVoice

4 Editorial August 14, 2020

Go beyond checking a box.

Know that the issues referenced above have clear ties back to the health, wellness, prosperity, and economic impact of Georgia’s LGBTQ+ community. Know that your commitment to showing up, as a compassionate human, can and will make the difference.

Even when the weight of the world seems absolutely overwhelming right now, I am incredibly encouraged by the stories I hear from OUT Georgia’s member businesses, leaders, and professionals. Now more than ever, we are asking how we can help, cheering on our peers and competitors, and celebrating others to a level I’ve not seen before.

So, what are you doing to show up for your neighbor, to recommend a black or queer business, to educate yourself on LGBTQ+ and racial issues … to help make Georgia a better place?

With a focus on education, collaboration, and generosity, you can make a profound and radical difference in the lives of others.

If you’re interested in charting that impact as a member, corporate partner, or volunteer with the OUT Georgia Business Alliance, know that we need you! Email me at Chris.

Lugo@outgeorgia.org to get involved and help shape how we best serve LGBTQ+ businesses, nonprofits, professionals, and entrepreneurs throughout the state.

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

NEWS BRIEFS

Kemp Signs Police Protection Bill, LGBTQ City Councilman Indicted for Fraud, and Savannah Passes Non-discrimination Protections Savannah City Council Unanimously Passes Non-discrimination Protections for LGBTQ

Staff Reports

LGBTQ and Civil Rights Advocates Criticize Passage of Georgia Police Protection Bill HB 838, which Kemp signed on August 5, creates a new offense of “bias motivated intimidation” of a police officer or other first responder, according to the AJC. Anyone found guilty of death, serious bodily harm, or destruction of more than $500 worth of property of a first responder because of their occupation, would face one to five years in prison and/or a fine of up to $5,000.

The Savannah City Council has passed an ordinance that protects LGBTQ people from discrimination while improving hate crimes reporting by law enforcement, making it the ninth city in Georgia to enact such measures.

Gov. Brian Kemp PHOTO COURTESY OF GEORGIA NATIONAL GUARD VIA FLICKR

However, many advocates claim the legislation, which was hastily written, actually weakens some protections for officers while having unintended consequences.

Andrea Young, the executive director of ACLU Georgia, claims the measure could reduce potential prisons sentences for the murder of a police officer from mandatory life in prison to a maximum of five years. However, the bill also grants officers broader authority to sue people, groups, or corporations that infringe on their civil rights, something advocates worry will affect street protestors.

The bill was introduced by Republicans as a compromise to getting Georgia’s hate crimes bill passed. The passage of the bill was a landmark move — before, Georgia was one of only four states without hate crimes protections — but the Georgia NAACP says it is “now-tainted” by the subsequent police protection bill.

The Human Rights Campaign spoke out against the bill on Twitter, claiming that the treatment of employment as a targetable identity is “blatantly offensive.”

“Equating police officers’ employment status with discrimination and violence Black people, LGBTQ people, religious minorities, women, and other marginalized communities face is blatantly offensive and threatens the safety and liberties of the people first responders are sworn to protect,” the organization tweeted on August 6.

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

LGBTQ Atlanta City Councilman Antonio Brown Indicted for Fraud

The measure, which was passed unanimously on June 23, prohibits discrimination by private businesses based on race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, marital status, familial status, or veteran/ military status, according to Savannah Now. The ordinance also protects these groups from housing discrimination.

Atlanta City Councilman Antonio Brown, the only LGBTQ member of the council, has been indicted on multiple fraud charges in connection with attempts to defraud financial institutions by faking identity theft.

Additionally, the ordinance clearly defines hate crimes and requires the city to develop training to law enforcement for reporting hate crimes under local, state, and federal laws.

The city’s police department will also collect and provide hate crime data to the FBI.

According to a press release issued July 29, Brown allegedly opened a number of credit cards and took out over $60,000 in automobile loans to make thousands of dollars’ worth of personal purchases, including two luxury vehicles. He then allegedly falsely claimed that his identity had been stolen and someone else made these purchases and took out the loans.

With the ordinance, Savannah joins Atlanta, Doraville, Decatur, Clarkston, Chamblee, Dunwoody, Brookhaven, and East Point as the nine Georgia cities with municipal discrimination protections.

Georgia Equality applauded the move.

Brown was charged with wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, and making false statements on a bank loan application. All charges in this indictment all relate to conduct before Brown was elected to the city council.

“Thanks to the effort of local advocates and city leaders like Mayor Van Johnson and Alderman Kurtis Purtee, LGBTQ Georgians who live and work in Savannah will now have immediate protections against discrimination,” the local LGBTQ advocacy group said in a statement. “[…]Let’s keep up this momentum and urge our state lawmakers to pass a statewide civil rights law that explicitly protects LGBTQ people from discrimination.

Until state and federal protections become a reality, local nondiscrimination ordinances allow us to protect LGBTQ Georgians immediately — because discrimination is happening every day, in communities across the state, and solutions are needed now.”

Brown told the AJC on July 30 that he plans to fight the charges and has no intention of resigning his council seat.

According to Georgia Equality, cities in Dekalb, Gwinnett, Clarke, Chatham, and Bibb counties are actively considering similar ordinances.

The indictment also alleges that Brown provided false information to a bank when applying for a $75,000 loan in 2017, falsely claiming he had earned $325,000 a year and had $200,000 in available cash and assets.

Other loan applications he had recently submitted reported significantly less income and available cash and assets.

August 14, 2020 News Briefs 5

COMMUNITY NEWS

Randy Fry, Super Lawyer Representing Our Community Rose Pelham Stonewall Bar Association member Randy Fry was recently added to the Super Lawyers list.

According to the Super Lawyers website “Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a highdegree of peer recognition and professional achievement.”

The Super Lawyers press release template explaining its selection process reads in part: “Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.

The annual selections are made using a patented multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates and peer reviews by practice area. The result is a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys.”

Fry says he has been nominated in past years, but it was only this year that he was recognized as one of the top rated Atlanta lawyers and included in the list.

According to Fry’s Super Lawyer page: “Mr. Fry has achieved significant success fighting for the rights and entitlements of those adversely affected by car, truck and motorcycle accidents, bicycle and pedestrian accidents, dog bites, nursing home abuse, job-related accidents, slip-and-fall accidents and other preventable tragedies.”

Randy Fry was one of the original members of the Stonewall Bar Association and has maintained ties to the organization since its founding in 1995.

Speaking of his early experiences with the Stonewall Bar Association, Fry recounted some of the first meetings: “The organization actually started at a small restaurant on Ponce de Leon called Mary Mac’s, and in that restaurant in 1995 … friends of mine 6 Community News August 14, 2020

Courtesy photo

Attorney Randy Fry, was recently added to the Super Lawyers list is pictured with his law firm staff.

were kind of leading the charge and I was a first year law student.”

“I was sitting at one of the tables with about 20 other people, just staring, watching in awe of all this happening, talking about starting an organization. Over the next five, ten years it just exploded.”

At the time when the Stonewall Bar Association was organized, all queer people were explicitly criminalized in Georgia and throughout much of the country.

In much of the United States, being LGBTQ was illegal until the 2003 Supreme Court decision Lawrence V. Texas struck down the remaining “anti-sodomy” laws of 13 states as unconstitutional. The Supreme Court of Georgia, however, had struck down the state’s “anti-sodomy” law five years earlier, in 1998, in its ruling to the case Powell V. State. Ironically, the law was not struck down due to its violation of the rights of LGBTQ people, but because the state supreme court ruled it violated the right to privacy of

unmarried heterosexual couples.

Asked about the early work of the Stonewall Bar Association, Randy Fry spoke about its work protecting people in a variety of cases involving discrimination. In one case, lawyers from the association intervened on the behalf of a woman with HIV who was being evicted from her home. They managed to undo the eviction.

Today, Randy Fry has his own law firm specializing in personal injury law, which has grown substantially despite eschewing traditional advertising and relying primarily on word of mouth referrals.

Fry says that what distinguishes his law firm from other personal injury firms is his firm’s willingness to go to trial rather than accept subpar settlement offers.

Trial can be a very emotionally intense, stressful experience, and even lawyers can find it unpleasant, not to mention difficult.

Some law firms find it easier to avoid trial,

but Fry insists that the willingness to take a case to trial is important.

“There are three categories of cases. For example, a person is in a car wreck, and we try to negotiate a settlement, and about 80 percent of the cases are settled in that claim stage, meaning before a lawsuit is filed. The other 20 percent of the cases are actually filed in a court of law. That means a lawsuit has occurred. Out of that 20 percent where a lawsuit has occurred, only about 5 percent end up being tried in a court of law,” Fry said.

While most cases never go to trial regardless of law firm, the willingness of a firm to go to trial has an impact upon the outcome of a settlement, according to Fry. “It’s no secret that when the insurance company is against a firm that does try cases, they’re going to have a [greater] in responsiveness and settlement numbers knowing they’ll have to go try the case instead of knowing they’re up against a firm that simply settles no matter what the offer is.”

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

YOUR VOICE

“It’s the Supreme Court, Stupid” Bill Kaelin bill@billkaelin.com

Bill Clinton nominated an LGBTQ advocate: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She was only the second woman ever to sit on the Supreme Court bench. The 87 year old liberal icon is unfortunately battling cancer and has already mentioned plans to retire.

She is a true fighter and is known to even do 50 pushups a day, but she probably wouldn’t survive another Trump term and honestly, our community won’t either. Whoever wins this Presidency will have the power to nominate her replacement and if Brett Kavanaugh is any indication of the direction Trump would lean, we can all expect another anti-gay, anti-woman, anti-trans, antienvironment leader and total Trump enabler as the next addition to the court.

“It’s The Economy, Stupid” is a line made famous by Democratic strategist, James Carville, during the race for the White House between Bill Clinton and President George H.W. Bush in 1992.

The line was directed toward Bill Clinton’s campaign workers, and indicated how to strategize to win the Presidency. The economy was in the tank and the message to unite Democrats and independents was clear. George H.W. Bush was failing as the leader of the country, the American people were suffering, and the collapsed economy due to recession was proof that it was time for a change. The message stuck and Bill Clinton defeated George H.W. Bush, making him a one-term President.

The Supreme Court is composed of nine justices. Currently, four were placed by Democratic presidents and the remaining five

by Republicans. Donald Trump has already placed two Supreme Court justices and if he wins again you can guarantee he will be adding one more at the minimum. This would give him more justices on the court than any other President and would ultimately make Donald Trump’s scary vision for America the law of the land for life.

“It’s the economy, stupid” became so iconic that strategists, political television hosts and talking heads often recreate the phrase during an election year, usually starting with “it’s” and using a different word in place of “economy” that highlights the particular hot-button issues of the moment.

Fast forward to 2020 and the list of all the absurd things we could reference is long. “It’s The Global Pandemic, Stupid”; “It’s Racism, Stupid”; “It’s Immigration, Stupid”; “It’s Health Care, Stupid” and even the obvious: “It’s The Stupid Man In Charge, Stupid.”

But “It’s The Supreme Court, Stupid” is the number one scary truth that should make every LGBTQ person run to the polls to vote for Joe Biden on November 3.

The importance of this election is not about who actually becomes President, but is more about who will nominate the next Supreme Court Justice who will determine the laws of our land for the rest of our lives.

Contrary to what most people believe, the 8 Your Voice August 14, 2020

The Supreme Court of the United States holds the power to make all the decisions that will rule the country for a lifetime. It is the Supreme Court that makes the final resolutions on issues like same-sex marriage, the recent Civil Rights act, women’s rights, voters rights, health care rights, environmental laws, “bathroom bills,” and all future cases regarding our transgender brothers and sisters.

JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG ILLUSTRATION BY SHUTTERSTOCK / J.DALY

office of the President doesn’t have nearly the amount of power that Trump thinks it does. As a matter of fact, the President doesn’t even come close to the influence of a Supreme Court justice.

Presidents come and go. We can guarantee they won’t stay any longer than eight years and at the minimum will only stick around

for four unless they get impeached. Unlike the President’s limited term, a Supreme Court Justice can be on the bench for an entire lifetime. The Constitution states that justices “shall hold their offices during good behavior.”

The term “good behavior” is understood to mean, justices may serve for the remainder of their lives, unless they are impeached by Congress or they personally choose to retire.

The harsh truth is “Handmaid’s Tale” may very well be in our future if we don’t get out and vote for Joe Biden. This is not the year to sit out, to protest or to throw a tantrum if your candidate wasn’t chosen. Joe Biden wasn’t my first choice, my second choice or even my third; but I am certainly smart enough to know it’s not really about him, because at the end of the day, “It’s all about the Supreme Court, stupid.”

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

MEMORIAM

Remembering John Lewis The hero, the person, the legend Rose Pelham

legal protections for their families.

Congressman John Lewis was a civil rights hero and dedicated ally to the LGBTQ community.

This discrimination is wrong. We cannot keep turning our backs on gay and lesbian Americans. I have fought too hard and too long against discrimination based on race and color not to stand up against discrimination based on sexual orientation. I’ve heard the reasons for opposing civil marriage for same-sex couples.

Cut through the distractions, and they stink of the same fear, hatred, and intolerance I have known in racism and in bigotry.

Lewis was a living legend, a nonviolent “happy warrior” who dedicated his life to the cause of equality for all. In his lifetime, he was already a symbol for the best in humanity, and he will doubtless be remembered as such for ages to come. Yet, for all that he was and persists in being iconic, it is sometimes hard to remember, without having known him, that he was flesh and blood, a person behind his own myth.

Lewis also sponsored numerous pieces of legislation supporting the LGBTQ community, including the Every Child Deserves a Family Act, which would have prohibited discrimination in adoption.

What struck everyone who met Lewis was his consistency of character. There was John Lewis the civil rights hero, John Lewis the congressman, and John Lewis the person, but they all lined up neatly in that his character was always the same. He lived in embodiment of his ideals.

Those who knew Lewis recall a generous, loving, humble man who was disarmingly approachable. He was kind to the point of being grandfatherly to his congressional interns, whom he would let keep the change from his lunch orders. He also liked to adopt cats, and many could be found around his home. His constituents would occasionally encounter him at the grocery store. He was authentically of the people in a way many politicians desire to appear to be, but seldom (if ever) are. He had witnessed and experienced great suffering, but was a persistently happy man. In fact, “Happy” by Pharrell Williams was his favorite song.

In the wake of his death, many writers have noted the true expansiveness of his commitment to human equality — that he did not limit himself to advocating for one cause, as he saw the connections between struggles for freedom. He viewed his TheGeorgiaVoice.com

In 2015, he released a statement celebrating the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, which legalized same-sex marriage across the country. The next year he led a sit-in in Congress in response to the Pulse nightclub shooting, demanding action be taken to curb gun violence.

Rev. John Lewis

Lewis persisted in fighting for equality until the end of his life.

OFFICIAL PHOTO

experience confronting the worst of racism as a basis for connecting with the struggles of others. He spoke out for women’s rights, and he was publicly committed to LGBTQ rights, even when being LGBTQ was illegal and our community had few straight allies.

In 1996 Lewis publicly opposed the Defense of Marriage Act, delivering a brief but impassioned speech before the House.

This is a mean bill. It is cruel. This bill seeks to divide our nation, to turn Americans against Americans, sow the seeds of fear, hatred and intolerance. Let us remember the preamble of the Declaration of Independence: ‘we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people

are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, among these life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ This bill is a slap in the face of the Declaration of Independence.

A few years later, in 2003, Lewis would declare his support for marriage equality in the Boston Globe: We are now at such a crossroads over samesex couples’ freedom to marry. It is time to say forthrightly that the government’s exclusion of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters from civil marriage officially degrades them and their families. It denies them the basic human right to marry the person they love. It denies them numerous

In June or July, Lewis wrote a final op-ed that was published in the New York Times after his death, urging people to “continue to build union between movements stretching across the globe because we must put away our willingness to profit from the exploitation of others.”

He concluded: When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war.

So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide.

August 14, 2020 Memoriam 9

FINANCIAL NEWS

Small Business and the New Normal Mercedes M. Pasqualetti, EA (Enrolled Agent) Managing Partner, HLM Accounting & Tax, Inc. Your business received the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL). You have used the PPP funds and your EIDL is running low. Now what? As we move into this new normal, your business will need to have the flexibility to adapt and change swiftly.

Easier said than done, right? It is true that we are facing unprecedented times right now. The good news is that times like these force us out of our comfort zones and help us become creative. Below are a few of the options you may take to help your business through these trying times: 1. Offer a product you have never offered before on a platform you have never used.

Now is the time to try anything and everything.

2. Review your current need for leased space and reduce it if possible. If not possible, negotiate some rent concessions with the landlord. Don’t be afraid to ask. All of their tenants are in the same boat.

PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK / VITALII VODOLAZSKYI

Security (CARES) Act provides that the debt discharge of a PPP loan is excluded from the gross income of the business for federal income tax purposes. Forgiveness is limited, based on the payment of qualifying expenses and the maintenance of employee count and compensation. Businesses shouldn’t assume full exclusion from taxable income, however.

income will not be allowed to be deducted.

In essence, you must reduce expenses by the amount of the PPP forgiven. This could mean additional taxable income to your company, and possibly you personally, depending on your tax structure. Speak to your tax preparer today to make sure you are ready for how this may affect you.

5. Tap in to new technology so that you can still offer your service or product remotely.

Zoom, Webex, and GoToMeeting are all good options that allow you to connect with your clients.

4. If you received the PPP, most lenders are beginning to accept the application for forgiveness. If you have not heard from your lender, reach out ASAP to find out what documents you will need to supply and which application is best for you. There are the 3508EZ and the regular 3508.

On April 30, 2020, the IRS issued Notice 2020-32, which provides that borrowers cannot deduct otherwise deductible expenses that they paid using funds from a PPP loan that was subsequently forgiven. In effect, the IRS eliminated the tax benefit of PPP loan forgiveness. Several bills have been submitted in Congress to overturn the effect of the IRS notice. In addition, the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) is on record supporting legislation to allow deductions for the qualifying costs.

There is a caveat to the PPP loan and taxation, which will require some planning.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic

As of today, this means that anything you paid for using the PPP funds that would typically be an expense and deduction from

3. Review your staff needs and determine if there are any redundant positions you could eliminate. If you are outside the PPP eight week or selected 24 week period, this should not affect the forgivable portion of your PPP proceeds (check with your lender first). Your accountant and payroll firm will be able to assist you in making the PPP forgiveness calculations.

10 Financial News August 14, 2020

6. Streamline your workflows so that you can work more efficiently and possibly service more clients under the new operating method.

7. Sell any assets sitting on the books that are no longer helping you with your line of work. For example, did you have a fleet of trucks for deliveries, but your deliveries are cut in half? Get rid of idle assets, especially

those that were financed and have a monthly payment. You can always replace them later.

8. Review your profit and loss and determine if there are further expenses you can cut to reduce your monthly cash outlay. Cancel any items that were on auto-pay that you no longer need. Review your contracts for things like credit card processing, IT support, etc., and possibly negotiate new rates.

9. Surround yourself with like-minded people (virtually, of course). Bounce ideas off other small business owners and use any of their good ideas for yourself. Now can feel isolating, but it is really the time to reach out and network and help each other.

Hang in there. This too shall pass. Don’t feel deflated thinking you are alone. So many small business owners are in the same boat.

If you are at a loss for how to manage, please reach out to an accounting professional who can give you guidance and help you figure out your next move. You can survive this!

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12 Restaurant Guide August 14, 2020

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Restaurant GUIDE

YOUR GUIDE TO LOCAL EATERIES

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August 14, 2020 Restaurant Guide 13

BUSINESS NEWS

Impact of Pandemic on Local Businesses Staff Reports After months of closures due to COVID-19, local Atlanta businesses are reopening and ready to serve their community as safely as possible. Georgia Voice talked to a number of Atlanta’s favorite LGBTQ businesses about how COVID-19 has affected them, what kinds of adjustments they’ve made in their reopening processes, and what they hope for the future.

ACTOR’S EXPRESS Corey Smith How has COVID-19 affected your business?

Actor’s Express had just opened “The Brothers Size” when COVID-19 halted production and, ultimately, our entire remaining 32nd Season.

Since late March, our theater has been closed to the public, and our staff has been safely working from home.

What kind of practical adjustments has your business made because of COVID-19?

We’ve gone digital. Like other theaters and performing arts organizations, Actor’s Express has pivoted to online content. We understand that it might be some time before we have patrons within our physical space, so we’ve done our best to bring the theatrical experience into our audiences’ homes via streaming.

Have you received any COVID-19 assistance, such as PPP funding?

Yes. We’re one of several arts nonprofits to receive COVID-19 related funding from the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta.

We received initial PPP funding in the early days of the shutdown and support from longtime partners like Warner Media and funders like the City of Atlanta and Fulton County. As the pandemic has continued longer than anyone expected, our board and patrons have generously stepped up to support our ongoing operations, ensuring we can produce new digital content and that we can bring AE back as soon as it is safe to do so.

Moving forward, what do you hope the 14 Business News August 14, 2020

Photo by Actor’s Express/Casey Gardner

The cast of Actor’s Express’s 2019 play, “Head Over Heels.”

future holds for your business?

Actor’s Express believes it will take significant cooperation between the local, state, and federal governments to get this crisis under control. We hope to see that kind of robust and coordinated leadership. We believe it’s really important to follow all mask mandates and policies issued by medical professionals.

Currently, we are working with the Emory School of Nursing to lead a study of 18 arts organizations from throughout the region to understand how to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on the performing arts. It’s going to take everyone working together as a community to end this pandemic. Wash your hands!

The silver lining for the shutdown — if there is one — is that it’s forced us to be nimble and extremely creative. We’ve never hosted online play readings or virtual cabarets

before, and now they may become mainstay programming even when we’re back in our physical theater space. And we have spent the shutdown examining our theatrical process and practice. When we are back in our space, and we will be, there will be even more exciting and deeply engaging programs onstage. We can’t wait to show you what we have been thinking up.

OUT FRONT THEATRE COMPANY Paul Conroy How has COVID-19 affected your business?

We closed Out Front on March 15 after a matinee performance of “warplay” and haven’t had a single patron in person since. Not that long ago we decided to not have any in-person programming

for the rest of 2020, and we hope that we can continue in-person programming by the end of January 2021, but that date remains fluid as well. We’ve produced some digital content (readings and interviews with performers) but the market is so flooded with digital offerings that we have not had the same reach we would with inperson programming. We, like almost every performing arts company, are sitting and waiting. It isn’t safe for actors, designers and technicians to be in close proximity for rehearsals (since those last several hours a day and span a few weeks) and in making our theater safe for socially distanced seating we would lose 2/3 of our seating capacity. I don’t want to use the term “dead in the water,” because we aren’t dead, but we are certainly stunned and adrift.

CONTINUES ON PAGE 15 TheGeorgiaVoice.com

BUSINESS NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14

There are no options, and yet we still have hope and we still are creating however we can. Theater and performing arts have been around for thousands of years — and even though they might look a little different when we start to rebound, I know they will be around for a few thousand more years.

What kind of practical adjustments has your business made because of COVID-19?

We furloughed our three part-time staff members and renegotiated our lease with our landlord. Beyond that, we are tightening our belts however we can and looking for different ways to still create theater. We are not the wealthiest theater company in the city, so sometimes we get suggestions from people of things to try or borrow from other places and online, but the funding to do a lot of them just doesn’t exist. We are going to produce some one-person shows for digital release, but will not have an in-person audience for them. Some people may think that is being extreme, but I would rather err on the side of caution for everyone involved.

BOY NEXT DOOR MENSWEAR Rocky Carroll How has Boy Next Door’s mask initiative been going?

How many have you sold and donated?

When we began our Give One Get One mask campaign in March, we thought the initiative would be temporary and when we reopened we would be able to shift away from that project and return to our pre-COVID-19 roles. But, as we all know, masks are now part of our lives. We continue to make masks in new styles, colors and patterns. To date we have made for sale and donation more than 1,200 masks.

Our donations continue to focus on health professionals at senior care facilities and for health care workers in our community who are still in need. Any health professional or facility in need of masks should contact us at info@boynextdoormenswear.com.

Have you received any COVID-19 assistance, such as PPP funding?

We received $4000 from the federal government and took out a 30 year loan for $75,000 through the SBA (Small Business Administration). That loan means we have monthly payments and interest to repay.

Do you think the COVID-19 pandemic has been handled properly by elected officials, both statewide and locally, particularly in regards to the reopening of businesses? Why or why not?

Candidly speaking, I don’t (on a state level).

For an example, when the governor started the reopening in April one of the industries that were allowed to open first were movie theaters. That left a lot of us scratching our heads. Some movie theaters have much bigger capacities than performing arts venues around the city. To be clear, we did not intend on reopening when this was in question. But he stated, “Theaters can reopen,” with no clarification, which led a lot of us to search what was actually meant. The messages we were getting, and still get, are mixed at best. I think the mayor of Atlanta has done a good job in clear messaging, even when it is not always the message we want to hear. I can’t comment on the response on a federal level because I think there hasn’t been one. We are going to follow the advice of the medical community and our citywide elected officials. I know that what is right for Atlanta is not what is right for more rural areas, so if the mayor thinks it is in the city’s best interest to mandate masks, there should TheGeorgiaVoice.com

Photo via Facebook

Boy Next Door Menswear owner/manager Rocky Carroll sits at a sewing machine making masks for the store’s Give One Get One mask campaign.

be a mask mandate (as an example).

Moving forward, what do you hope the future holds for your business?

I think people will crave the feeling of coming together in a shared space, but I think it is going to be a very long time before most people feel comfortable doing that — probably when a vaccine is widely available. Our business depends on gathering people to watch stories

play out on stage; we can’t offer to-go orders or curbside pickup. We can’t let people simply access the content we would produce through an online platform (there are many legal and logistical issues). I honestly don’t think people grasp the depth of seriousness COVID is having and will continue to have on the performing arts. As an industry, across the country, there are billions of dollars lost and countless people out of work since March.

What kind of practical adjustments has your business made because of COVID-19?

We have instituted practices that are intended to make everyone who visits feel safe. As a small business, if even one employee gets sick, we likely will have to reduce hours, and we don’t want that. As you enter our door there is a station with hand sanitizers and free disposable masks and gloves for anyone who does not bring their own. We wear masks and our customers are expected to mask up as well. We clean, spray and wipe after each visit. We limit the number of people who can be in the store at one time and so far everyone has been very cooperative.

We have reduced our store hours to give us time to clean before opening each day.

Our number one priority remains keeping our amazing staff employed. Our supply chain started experiencing delays due to the global impact of COVID-19 in January CONTINUES ON PAGE 16 August 14, 2020 Business News 15

BUSINESS NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 for Asia, and February for Europe, and our deliveries were pushed back. Because of our March closure, we didn’t start receiving goods until we were able to reopen in late April. So, because we were closed for more than two months with no sales other than those generated from the web store, our challenge was to honor the commitments we made for spring and summer goods, pay the rent and of course, maintain payroll.

Now we are in the habit of evaluating the cost/benefit of everything we do on a more frequent schedule, and we focus on top sellers and customer favorites.

The pandemic created a need for change in our operation and in how we connect with customers. We have restructured how everything works to keep pace with our customers’ changing needs. We have developed a better omnichannel experience so customers can contact us wherever they are on social media, online, or in person. We are focused on staying open, keeping everyone employed and staying connected to the community.

Do you think the COVID-19 pandemic has been handled properly by elected officials, both statewide and locally, particularly in regards to the reopening of businesses? Why or why not?

We think the mayor of Atlanta has provided solid leadership during this unique and challenging time and we have relied on her guidance. We took her advice to close very seriously and we closed without hesitation.

It was the right thing to do for both for our employees and for the community that we are so proud to serve.

Moving forward, what do you hope the future holds for your business?

We make careful choices based on a shared commitment to sustainability and human rights when we select fashion brands for the store. At this time, we are reviewing collections that will be delivered for Spring 2021, so we are planning for continuity.

Moving forward we hope to survive and continue the Boy Next Door legacy for another 40 years. During its 40-year history, this store has survived so many challenges and this is one for the books. As always, we believe our community deserves the best and 16 Business News August 14, 2020

it is our aim to provide that choice.

BRUSHSTROKES Mark Jackson How has COVID-19 affected your business?

Due to TV/filming not being back to normal, Pride celebrations, cruises, circuit parties, concerts, weddings, etc. being cancelled or delayed, certain types of clothing, Pride related items and gifts have slowed in sales. Other areas such as adult toys, jockstraps, tank tops, games and puzzles have held steady or increased. We believe this is in part due to people being even more adventurous with themselves or their spouses and spending more time at home.

What kind of practical adjustments has your business made because of COVID-19?

We installed Plexiglas in front of each register, rearranged aisles to help with social distancing, discarded all testers, and limited the number of customers in the store at one time, reminding customers we offer “tap to pay” at checkout. Most importantly, staff wear mask at all times and allow no one in the store unless they are wearing a mask.

Moving forward, what do you hope the future holds for your business?

We truly want our customers to know they are part of our Brushstrokes family and we will keep evolving and growing with them. Thirtyone years ago, our inventory was almost 100 percent different from what it is now, thanks to our customers trusting us to keep their favorite brands while bringing in fresh lines and new product. Our customers realize the importance of supporting local businesses and have done so these past months. Many parts of the future are uncertain for all of us.

We believe part of the new normal will be our community becoming more unified and finding ways to do so safely.

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

JIM FARMER ACTING OUT

Chad Darnell Produces New Play, “Forced” Show looks at John Cameron Mitchell’s “Hedwig” bow in Russia

According to Darnell, “Forced” is a pretty dark piece. There were things that had never been in his orbit until he watched the recent documentary, “Welcome to Chechnya.” “In the play you see the atrocities of it all and how awful it is in Russia, but also the joy that the people in the festival had in their lives and the observations John had of them.

It was striking and beautiful.”

With very little in terms of theater performances in Atlanta these days because of the COVID-19 pandemic, actor and director Chad Darnell has taken matters into his own hands for an upcoming project.

He will be bowing the new John Cameron Mitchell play, “Forced,” online the weekend of August 14–16.

“Hedwig” was the opening night film for the festival, but it went underground.

Programmers and guests started texting people about where they would be and they wound up in an underground club.

It became a rogue festival and those in attendance were not used to seeing LGBTQ films.”John went with his friend Sasha, who is Russian, and was in fear the whole time John was there. There was fear for everyone involved. John expected there would be resistance, not that the government was going to shut down the festival the first day he was there. He talked to (adult film star and producer) Michael Lucas a week before and was told it was not a great place, but he was not prepared for the experience.”

“Forced” follows Mitchell’s visit to Russia in 2008 when he was invited to show his film, “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.” The government shut down the festival, but organizers did it anyway as an underground event. The script was pulled together from Mitchell’s diary entries. It’s a new play and Darnell is the first person to perform it.

The benefit performance is part of Dramatists Play Services’ new series, “Technical Difficulties: Plays for Online Theatre;” a collection of socially distant short works designed to be performed online because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Darnell, who is gay, worked in Atlanta all through his twenties and moved back to the area recently to get back in theater. But with venues shut down, live theater is on hold. He heard about “Forced” and quickly sought to get the rights. “It is specifically theater that is made to be produced over the Internet like a Zoom or video on demand,” he says. “It’s a way to do theater. It’s not like I am just reading a diary. It’s a fully curated, created performance.”

He will be shooting it in his own apartment with his new iPhone, acting — in essence — as the performer, director and cameraperson.

“It’s one stop shopping,” he jokes. “That is the interesting thing — how do you shoot a show in your own living room or bedroom?

My house will become the set. I will record 18 Columnist August 14, 2020

Proceeds for the show will be split between Rainbow House Coalition in Atlanta and the Toronto-based Rainbow Railroad, which has assisted more than 800 individuals to find safety to start their lives over away from the persecution in Russia. Rainbow Railroad was featured in “Welcome to Chechyna.”

Tickets are $5, with additional donation links available for patrons.

Courtesy photo

Actor Chad Darnell stars in “Forced.”

it and then edit it. I won’t be shooting it like a film. Once it is edited I will put it online and people can watch it anytime over the weekend that I have the rights. It’s a 48 hour period, as opposed to everyone having to watch it at 8pm on Friday.”

creating original pieces and shooting them and putting them on the Internet for people to see and watch. There was a lot of conversation but no one really did it. I saw this and said, ‘I can do that. I am not in danger of violating anyone’s social distance.’”

Admittedly, Darnell has never done anything like this. “This is the kind of thing we were all talking about when it was all hitting with the coronavirus,” he says. “We were all talking about finding ways of going into a theater and

Darnell feels the biggest challenge is capturing Mitchell’s voice honestly and not doing a recreation of him or mimicking him. He wants to bring the essence of Mitchell forward.

Darnell knows “Hedwig.” He performed the role in the stage version of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” in Savannah in 2018 and Atlanta in 2019, and also appeared in Marietta’s New Theatre in the Square version of “Moonlight and Magnolias” earlier this year.

MORE INFO “Forced” August 14, 15, and 16 www.showtix4u.com/events/ forcedproduction/2019-20/my-grannys-garden

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A&E SPOTLIGHT

Atlanta LGBTQ Arts Groups Receive Lifesaving Grants Rose Pelham

facilities and salaries.”

The COVID-19 pandemic poses a major challenge for local, community-based LGBTQ arts organizations to adapt.

“We have also been awarded a $10,000 grant from the Georgia Council for the Arts,” he said. “The money is going to go to facilities and salaries. It’ll help us transition to being online …

Going from in-person festivals to online festivals is a lot of work. It’s just a different concept.”

Georgia Voice contacted several LGBTQ arts organizations that have received grants, which will help support them financially through the pandemic. These include Out on Film, Voices of Note, and Atlanta Freedom Bands.

Jim Farmer, the Director of Out On Film, explained the grants his organization received to help support it during the pandemic: “Out On Film has been approved for a $50,000 grant as part of the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act, which was approved by Congress for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to award to arts organizations across the country. The funding is specifically for

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

Meanwhile, Voices of Note received a $40,000 grant from the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, and Atlanta Freedom Bands received a $6,000 grant from the Georgia Council for the Arts.

Both organizations have plans for upcoming online events, but face challenges unique to performing as a group at a time when gatherings would be irresponsibly dangerous.

Socially distanced concerts require more than just recording music and putting it online. Since singers and other musicians

cannot safely perform in the same place at the same time, they all have to record their parts separately, and these separate recordings have to be stitched together and edited to form a cohesive musical performance.

Georgia Voice interviewed Eve Campbell, the Executive Director of Voices of Note, to find out more about how her organization is transitioning to online concerts.

According to Campbell, “Because of COVID-19, [Voices of Note has] had to adapt and quickly learn the technology and acquire the skills to continue to present our mission to our audience through virtual programming.”

The success of Voices of Note’s adaptation to online events has been evident from their busy schedule. “Since COVID-19 we’ve had two major online concerts,” Campbell said. One was “cabaret style” and the other commemorated the 100th anniversary of

women winning the right to vote.

Atlanta Freedom Bands has also been busy with their digital transition, but with fewer financial resources, have found it more challenging. Cliff Norris, their development director, spoke with Georgia Voice about Atlanta Freedom Bands’ plans for future events.

“Like a lot of music groups, there’s a lot of wait and see … There are thirty other LGBTQ bands around the country and we’re all trying to figure out the best ways to [go forward], because not only can we not gather our audiences together, we can’t gather ourselves together.”

Atlanta Freedom Bands are currently looking into expanding their ability to edit together online performances.

All three organizations have plans in place to weather the pandemic and emerge in good condition afterward.

August 14, 2020 A&E Spotlight 19

CLIFF BOSTOCK EATING MY WORDS

Grana: Will It Go Gay? Discerning the state of the restaurant business in Atlanta is virtually impossible. Every day online you read reports of restaurants that have closed, reopened and two days later close again because an employee tested positive for COVID-19.

Two weeks later, you read they have reopened again, but only for patio dining and takeout. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this is particularly distressing for gay people. Our social (and often working) lives have long been rooted in the bar and restaurant scene.

I did recently dine on the patio at Grana, which opened on Piedmont Avenue just as the pandemic hit in March, requiring owner/chef Pat Pascarella to offer takeout food only. Now, the restaurant, located across from Grindhouse Killer Burgers, is open for full service and I’m guessing it will become popular with the gays.

Location is one reason, but the restaurant’s rather down-home Italian-American fare is another. I learned years ago that gay men generally prefer comfort food — “mommy food” — above all else. Well, your mother isn’t in the kitchen at Grana, but Pascarella, who also owns White Bull in Decatur, tells everyone that the restaurant is a tribute to the cooking of his mother, grandmother, and every other female in his extended family.

Apparently, Pascarella’s mommy preferred mainly straightforward classics, including the Neapolitan pizzas of southern Italy. I was excited to try the Gettin’ Figgy With It pie. It is made with vincotto, fontina, speck, and figs, topped with fresh arugula after it leaves the oven. I have been obsessed with fig pizzas for years and this was one of the best ever. All flavors work perfectly together: peppery, creamy, sweet, fruity, salty. There are 11 other pies, some bordering on the exotic, like The Truffle, which includes stracchino, burrata, robiolina, and black truffle (probably in oil form). Another includes sun gold tomatoes, zucchini, squash blossoms, and burrata. I want that.

I’ve tried one pasta dish: paccheri alla norma, thick tubes of hollow pasta in a pomodoro sauce with anchovies, ricotta, and eggplant.

20 Columnist August 14, 2020

Photos by Cliff Bostock

Clockwise from top: The bar inside Grana, the restaurant offers delicious dishes such as: meatballs in a tomato-mostarda sauce, and a delicious fig pizza.

It’s not fancy, but it’s just what Pascarella promises: comfort. Other pastas include pappardelle with a pork ragu and pecorino cheese, ricotta ravioli, and corn agnolotti.

There are four equally classic entrees — two chicken dishes, wood-roasted branzino (bass), and porchetta, none of which I tried.

The menu includes five types of meatballs.

Our choice was three in a tomato/mostarda sauce. There are also vegetables; we got a

dramatic treatment of roasted corn, standing vertical with mad curls of scorched leaves.

The plate contained a sauce of lemon aioli and Calabrian peppers. All good.

The dining room and bar were open during our visit. It’s a huge, clubby space with an open kitchen. Only one table was occupied inside. Besides the relatively small patio, Grana also offers rooftop dining. Prices are in the medium range — just under $20 for

pizzas and pastas, with entrees a few dollars higher. Be warned: portions are gigantic, so don’t overdo it or satiation will rapidly spoil the fun and your figure.

MORE INFO Grana 1835 Piedmont Ave., Atlanta, GA 404-231-9000 GranaAtl.com, @granaatl

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MELISSA CARTER THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID

PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK / GARAGESTOCK

Atlanta’s LGBTQ Job Fair There is a hot girl sitting at the bar and you can’t take your eyes off of her. You also realize the rest of the room also sees her, and many of them are considering their approach, so you have to act fast.

Doing nothing and contemplating how nice it would be to speak with her and have her choose you as her companion for the evening, will leave you with just that … nothing. So, you decide to pour your drink all over yourself and display a monkey-esque style of walking toward her. Disgusted, this beauty stares at you and slowly moves away.

That is exactly how it feels to apply for a job through an online site, knowing there is no way anyone will look at or even consider your resume.

I got laid off in early July, and it doesn’t matter how long you have been in the job force; you still feel ridiculously exposed and uncool having to apply for a job. Added to this dilemma is being part of one of the largest unemployment masses in our country’s history, and you become painfully aware that the job search will likely last longer than your ego is willing to handle.

Then a bright spot in the battle: Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms holds the firstever LGBTQ Job Fair. Initially planned as an in-person event, the July 30 fair became virtual due to COVID-19. There were some 20 employers participating that needed to fill around 1,100 jobs. During the hours-long 22 Columnist August 14, 2020

window of the event, you could log in and explore each company’s page and have a live chat with a representative. I perused the site and found a job I was interested in. There was a link that sent me to their website to apply, and within a 4-hour period I had two interviews with the company. I was offered a position the following week.

The company is not in Atlanta, but they allowed remote work through the rest of the pandemic, which was what my immunocompromised-self was looking for.

During my interviews with other company representatives I mentioned finding out about the job at Atlanta’s LGBTQ Job Fair, and the company’s representatives were excited, not only that they had participated, but that I was there to see them.

It’s important for other companies to remember that such efforts toward a disenfranchised community actually have more ripple effects than with the general public, because that smaller group then has the sense that you really think they’re important. Of course, that’s the core of everybody’s ultimate desire, but for us that experience can be much more intense. It brought me back to being 14 and having the feeling, “I can’t believe this company puts a rainbow flag in their logo. I can’t believe there are people who give a damn, publicly give a damn.” So much of our lives as lesbians and gays and transgender people are spent in the closet, isolated, in hiding. And to support us like these companies did, I can’t express how much it still means to me and how happy I am to call one my employer.

TheGeorgiaVoice.com

RYAN LEE SOMETIMES ‘Y’

A Gay Salute to ‘Sisogyny’ I’d bottom for Megan Thee Stallion. I’m not sure if the charttopping rapper’s kinks stretch to those limits, but my current celebrity fantasy is the two of us being alone and hearing her whisper, “Bend that ass over, bae.”

While she brags about her “wet ass pussy” during her latest verse on Cardi B’s “W.A.P.,” there’s a virility in Megan’s demeanor and rhymes that makes my gay ass horny. My daydreams may be a little twisted, but Ms. Stallion — who was also a judge on HBO’s ballroom reality show, “Legendary” — is among a wave of rappers washing away long-held understandings of female sexuality.

It’s fascinating how a musical genre whose DNA courses with sexism and the degradation of women has yielded a coven of priestesses who preach “sisogyny” – a sexual ethos that prioritizes a woman’s pleasure over the extension of a man’s bloodline. For all of human history it’s been more important for women to produce heirs than experience an orgasm, but the queens of hip-hop are here to squirt nutt with no strings attached.

There are many who bemoan the collapse of womanly propriety and dismiss female rappers as sluts. The same people who for decades listened to men chant, “There some hoes in this house” are now exasperated that Cardi and Megan would reappropriate that hook to announce in “W.A.P.”: women like to fuck.

The emergence of the most sexually empowered generation of women since Oshun and Aphrodite may go beyond vulgar lyrics. One of my straight cycling friends recently confided to me his struggle juggling relationships with two women, one in her late thirties and the other in her midtwenties — both of whom I know.

“She strikes me as being of a generation of women who can differentiate between shortand long-term desires,” I said about the younger woman. “I think she may be totally down with something easy and casual, she TheGeorgiaVoice.com

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just doesn’t want to be lied to or played.”

Throughout history, heterosexual men are the only demographic to have their sexual exploits encouraged and celebrated, from a teenager losing his virginity to an octogenarian popping Viagra. Culturally and spiritually, women are whores and gay men are perverts anytime their sex lives outpace a straight man’s — all the more unfair given how easy a threshold that usually is to surpass.

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This toxic imbalance even seeps into LGBTQ notions of sexuality, which is why so many of us consider our sexual desires and experiences unspeakable in heterosexual company. Even among ourselves, men who top are rarely shamed or mocked for being just as promiscuous as a cumdump.

How many gay men do you know who identify as versatile simply because they’re embarrassed to be known as a bottom? The penetrator has always been assumed to have disproportionate power during sexual encounters, and gay men should stand in solidarity with any women who deflate that myth.

One of my co-workers once told me how she taught her teenage daughter that nothing is impussyable, which alone should have won her Mother of the Year. Receptive sexual expression is one of the most powerful forces since the Big Bang, and our world has tirelessly tried to contain it by humiliating those who wield a willing orifice; but centuries of repression are now on slippery ground due to some proud wet ass pussies.

August 14, 2020 Columnist 23