The Georgia Voice 6/25/10 - Vol. 1 Issue 8

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06.25.10 NEWS

OUTSPOKENIN THEIR OWN WORDS Photo courtesy Showtime

Military homophobia? Savannah beating prompts hate crime investigation. Page 4 Citizens Review Board weighs Atlanta Eagle cases. Page 8 Blake’s won’t close over indictment, manager says. Page 8 Augusta hosts historic first Pride festival. Page 10

“I’d say there was a fair amount of straight male interest in ‘The Real L Word’ based on what people saw.”

Family & Medical Leave Act to include gay parents. Page 13

VOICES

— Dan Cutworth, one of the executive producers of “The Real L Word,” the new Showtime lesbian reality series that debuted June 20. Television critics have noted the highly sexual content of the new series. (The Futon Critic, July 18)

Editorial: Pride’s history is our future. Page 14

Music: Christian singer Jennifer Knapp comes out, goes secular. Page 19 Theater: Shay Youngblood’s ‘Shakin’ the Mess Outta Misery’ comes home. Page 20 Food: Cool meals for Hotlanta, whether dining in or out. Page 21 Books: ‘Filth elder’ John Waters explores his ‘Role Models.’ Page 23

COMMUNITY Hotlanta Softball hosts Big Peach tournament. Page 25 Events: East Point Possums drag extravaganza. Page 26 Georgia Spotlight: GLBT Seniors Advocacy of Georgia, North Georgia Rainbow Coalition. Page 27

CALENDAR Pages 28-30

theGAVOICE.com • Breaking news as it happens • Top events and headlines updated daily • Extensive video and photo galleries facebook.com/thegavoice twitter.com/thegavoice

— Rapper Eminem, who has previously been criticized for anti-gay lyrics, supporting gay marriage in an interview with the New York Times Magazine (The Guardian, June 18)

NUMBERS POP QUIZ

BY THE

20 & 26

Years of hard labor in prison to which the two were sentenced for “gross indecency and unnatural acts” Days the couple spent together after being pardoned by the president of Malawi under international pressure

Members of the couple — Steven Monjeza — who is now dating a woman. The two men were told they could be arrested again if they remained a couple.

30

“Please don’t tell me that God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. If the Bible story is literally true, who did Cain marry?”

— Cox newspapers columnist Cynthia Tucker, arguing that allowing same-sex couples to marry will not weaken heterosexual marriage (AJC.com, June 18)

Ages of Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, gay men who held an engagement ceremony in Malawi

14 1-2 1

Publicity photo

Gay historian reflects on lessons from Stonewall. Page 17

“I think if two people love each other, then what the hell? I think that everyone should have the chance to be equally miserable, if they want.”

Nations in Africa where homosexuality is illegal

Sources: BBC News, CNN International

MARY NORWOOD

FULTON COUNTY CO MMISSION HOPEFUL

View the full interv iew

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“I’ve kissed lots of people. I’ve kissed many, many, many girls, but I think you were talking about a different kind of romantic interlude.”

Publicity photo

New film ‘Stonewall Uprising’ revisits LGBT milestone. Page 17

WITH JZ

A&E

Photo courtesy Projec tQAtlanta.com

Speaking Out: Readers respond to Elton John, gay country star. Page 15

Photo via Facebook

Mike Ritter Cartoon: Fierce Advocate. Page 14

“Everybody kind of knew [Rock Hudson’s] situation but it didn’t seem to hold back his career.

Cary Grant the same thing.”

— Actress Betty White, apparently outing iconic actor Cary Grant on “The Joy Behar Show.” Asked further questions about whether Grant was gay, White demurred, adding, “I never had him.” (Fox News, June 18)

4

GA Voice June 25, 2010 News

www.theGAVoice.com

Savannah LGBT activists: ‘Enough is enough’ Alleged gay bashing by two Marines raises questions Why Ga. needs about state hate crimes law and military homophobia a state hate

By Dyana Bagby dbagby@thegavoice.com

Under the shade of oak trees on Johnson Square in the historic district of Savannah, Ga., with City Hall as a backdrop, dozens of LGBT activists gathered June 20 to express outrage over the recent alleged beating of a gay man by two U.S. Marines.

While the incident remains under investigation, it raises serious questions about homophobia in the military — which will face significant scrutiny if “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is repealed — and whether Georgia needs to finally pass a state hate crimes law.

The purpose of the rally was to bring attention to the need for a state hate crimes law and to demand that city leaders address violence against LGBT people in Savannah, said Kevin Clark, Savannah chapter director for Georgia Equality, the state’s largest LGBT group.

“We hope to show in a powerful and vivid way to the community of Savannah and more importantly the leadership at all levels that GLBT community has had enough — enough violence, enough attacks,” Clark said.

The alleged victim, Kieran Daly, 26, did not attend the June 20 rally, however. He could not be reached for comment.

“As we can imagine this has been extremely traumatic event. He is still recovering and is spending time with his family,” said Cody Patterson, a rally organizer and Daly’s friend.

Clark added the rally was not just about the alleged attack on Daly but also other attacks against gay people, including those that have gone unreported.

“This is not only about Mr. Daly. This has been going on for decades. We don’t know how many victims there are,” he said.

“We are demanding justice, condemnation of the violence and calling for the leadership of this city to call for swift, appropriate justice ... We are going to see justice done come hell or high water,” Clark said.

Attacked because of a wink?

According to a Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department report, Daly was allegedly attacked at about 3:45 a.m. on June 12. Charged with misdemeanor battery in the beating were two U.S. Marines — Christopher Stanzel, 23, and Keil Cronauer, 22.

Daly’s friend, Alison Brennan, told police “they were all eating pizza [in Johnson Square] and were joking around with the two subjects when Mr. Cronauer got upset because

crimes law

More than 100 people rallied in Savannah on June 20 in the wake of an alleged beating of a gay man by two Marines the previous weekend. (Photo by Dyana Bagby)

he found out Mr. Daly was a homosexual. She continued to state that she was trying to get Mr. Daly to walk away because she heard Mr. Cronauer tell him ‘did you just wink at me!’

“At which point she stated Mr. Stanzel walked behind Mr. Daly and when she turned her attention to them Mr. Daly was on the ground unconscious. She immediately ran to him and in passing asked Mr. Stanzel, ‘did you just hit him?’ Mr. Stanzel’s response was ‘No’ and took off running with Mr. Cronauer heading west on Congress St. “She then went to the aid of Mr. Daly and she stated he did not have a pulse at first. She then gave him some ‘chest rubs’ and all Mr. Daly did was lift his eyebrows but did not wake up.”

Police found the two suspects in a fenced, empty lot after they were seen running “full sprint” from where Daly was injured. They told police they were waiting for friends.

“Mr. Cronauer stated that they were being harassed by a white homosexual male earlier in the evening and just wanted to get away and meet their friend on Bay St. Mr. Stanzel stated that he was going to meet a friend on River St.,” according to the police report.

They were turned over to military police.

Further reports that Daly suffered a seizure and required CPR caused an uproar among LGBT

people in Georgia and nationwide, who demanded police charge the Marines with a felony.

The incident also prompted Georgia Equality to ask the Department of Justice and the FBI to intervene to investigate whether or not the incident is a federal hate crime.

“I’m very concerned this happened in the first place. But these misdemeanor charges are outrageous,” said Georgia Equality Executive Director Jeff Graham. “And then to turn [the Marines] over to the military police is a miscarriage of justice.”

FBI spokesperson Steve Emmett could only say an investigation is underway.

“A preliminary investigation was opened but I can’t give an update,” he said this week.

Police unresponsive?

Gena Moore, spokesperson for the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department, said her department has recorded three gay-related beatings in the city in the past five years.

“That is the lowest statistic of any crime in Savannah,” she said. “We treat everyone equally, regardless of their sexual preference.”

Moore added the police department intends to wrap its investigation into Daly’s case possibly by the end of this week.

Clark’s accusation that local police do not

Georgia is one of only five states that does not have a state hate crimes law. But now that President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Act into law in October, the federal hate crimes law should be enough, right?

No, say local LGBT activists.

Georgia Equality Executive Director Jeff Graham explained that, simply, there are differences in federal and state laws. With a state hate crimes law, local law enforcement personnel — police, investigators, first responders, prosecutors — would have the ability and authority to investigate an alleged hate crime.

“What is happening in Savannah is a perfect example,” Graham said. “The police authorities there didn’t feel they had the authority to investigate this at the local level.”

If Georgia had its own hate crime law that included sexual orientation and gender identity, there would be more training directed at the local level to investigate potential anti-LGBT crimes, he said.

“They would have the weight of state law behind them and criteria could be set on a local level,” he said.

An important criteria of the federal hate crimes law that would not be necessary for a state law is the “interstate commerce” clause, said Greg Nevins, supervising senior staff attorney in the Southern Regional Office of Lambda Legal based in Atlanta.

A very clear example of meeting the interstate commerce clause would be if a person in Augusta, Ga., calls a friend in South Carolina and says, “Hey, come to town so we can beat up a bunch of queers,” Nevins explained.

“As the body of case law gets more established, these kinds of cases will become easier to try,” Nevins said. “But right now that is a box the feds have to check off that the state would not.”

support the LGBT community in cases of alleged anti-gay violence is not true, according to other local gay activists. In a letter to the Savannah Morning News, Robert Dunn, co-chair of Stand Out Youth Savannah, and Christina Focht, executive director of Savannah Pride, Please see SAVANNAH on Page 6

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GA Voice June 25, 2010 News

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Savannah beating confronts military homophobia

SAVANNAH, continued from Page 4

defended police actions in the Daly case.

The letter noted the Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police appointed a gay liaison officer and launched the Savannah Chatham Police & Gay Community Collaborative in 2007.

“They have definitely not turned a blind eye,” the letter argued.

The LGBT liaison was appointed with help from Clark and Georgia Equality after Travis McClain, a young gay man, was attacked and called “faggot” in a parking lot during the city’s popular St. Patrick’s Day celebration in 2007.

Last week, Clark and Georgia Equality publicized a second alleged gay bashing this year.

The victim, John Takats, came forward through a statement from Georgia Equality saying he was attacked in February, possibly by one of the same Marines that attacked Daly.

He said he tried to file a report with police at the time but was discouraged from doing so.

At the June 20 rally, Takats said police did not respond to his desire to report the incident and suggested he instigated the beating.

“I was told, quote, ‘This kind of stuff happens in Savannah. You are gay and need to tone it down.’ They claimed I must have made them uncomfortable,” he said. “I walked away discouraged, scared and alone. I’m asking you to all come together and fight for what is right.”

Moore said Takats was expected to meet with the LGBT liaison, Terry Walden, this week to discuss the incident.

Walden also asked the public to wait until all the information is released before calling what happened to Daly a “hate crime.”

“The information coming out now is there may have been more to it” than what the alleged victim originally reported and that he may not have tried to walk away as he told police initially, she said.

“Whatever happened, that does not give anyone the right to raise their hand and hit someone in violence,” Walden said.

“But we have to investigate this to the fullest extent we can and then turn the information over to the D.A. — whether it falls under a hate crime is for him to decide,” she said.

Conflicting stories

Moore, the police spokesperson, said the Marines were charged with a misdemeanor based on Daly’s injuries. Daly was admitted to the hospital June 12 and released the next day.

He gave local media interviews June 14.

Moore said the department has been trying to get Daly to turn over his medical records for more than a week so they can see exactly what injuries he sustained. Daly was supposed to come in for a police interview on June 21 but he did not do so, Moore said.

“His lawyer said the investigators needed to come to them. The meeting didn’t take

U.S. Marines Keil Cronauer (left) and Christopher Stanzel are charged with misdemeanor battery in an alleged assault on gay man Kieran Daly. (Photos courtesy Chatham County Sheriff’s Department)

place. He said he turned his medical records over to the D.A.,” Moore said.

A spokesperson for District Attorney Larry Chisolm confirmed June 22 that Daly did turn over his medical records to an assistant D.A. The D.A.’s office will now turn the medical records over to the police, she said.

While LGBT activists may want more severe charges to be filed against the two Marines, the investigation so far does not warrant doing so, Moore said.

For an aggravated assault charge, there has to be a weapon used. Right now, all police know is Daly suffered a concussion, she said.

“We’ve gone above and beyond the call and if the medical records show he suffered more severe injuries, we will make sure the charges are elevated,” Moore said. “But we have to go forward based on facts.”

Brennan, Daly’s friend and a witness, refused a second interview requested by police, Moore added. The reason for additional interviews is because of conflicting accounts as to what happened.

On June 14, the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in South Carolina, where Stanzel and Cronauer are stationed, issued a statement saying the men were restricted to the base during the investigations.

“We have found through our preliminary internal investigation that the Marines in question stated there were unwanted verbal advances and a threat was communicated by a member of the other party,” said Col. David Robinson in the statement.

“While this might not justify the actions of the Marine punching the individual in the face, there is certainly more than one side of the story that is currently being reported.”

Robinson added the Marine Corps “does not tolerate discrimination or violence of any kind” and the two men will be punished “to the fullest extent” if any laws were broken.

On June 20, the day of the rally, the Savannah Morning News reported Daly got into a fight with a truck driver in a road rage incident

Jan. 19 and allegedly used a racial slur against the truck driver. Daly denied he used any slurs in a prepared statement to the newspaper.

Daly was charged with battery, affray and reckless driving, but the charges were dismissed after he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. The truck driver also had his charges dropped in exchange for a guilty plea on disorderly conduct.

Clark and Patterson said they knew about the incident and Daly told them the accusation was false. Clark further stated it was one more way for police to “blame the victim.”

City Alderman Jeff Felser, who is gay, spoke at the rally, saying Mayor Otis S. Johnson was out of town but sent his support of the “GLBT community, the diversity of Savannah and the need for a state hate crimes law.”

Felser also discussed Daly’s alleged slur.

“As an attorney, I don’t like it when you have a rapist who goes on trial and the victim then becomes the focus of their past. Whatever their past may be it does not mean the present act was right. Just walk away,” he said. “Kieran is not on trial, OK? The investigation is not about Kieran. Let justice and the facts prevail.”

Homophobia & ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

The day before the Savannah rally, Danny Ingram of Atlanta, national president for American Veterans for Equal Rights, attended the first Pride festival in Augusta, Ga. There he met a young, gay military service member. The soldier told Ingram, who has lobbied for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” he did not want to see the repeal go through.

That surprised Ingram.

The service member had seen the movie “Soldier’s Girl” about the brutal murder of Pfc. Barry Winchell in 1999.

“And that movie scared him,” Ingram said.

A fellow soldier beat Winchell in the head with a baseball bat after a day of drinking over the Fourth of July weekend in Nashville. Other soldiers spread rumors that Winchell was gay after discovering he was dating a transgender

woman, Calpernia Addams.

The soldier who beat Winchell to death, Calvin Glover, is serving life in prison. The murder raised serious doubts about the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, and President Clinton, who signed the bill into law, ordered a review of its implementation.

Some 11 years after Winchell’s murder, repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is now in sight: The U.S. House voted last month to repeal the policy as part of the massive Department of Defense authorization bill, and the Senate may begin debating DADT later this month or in July, according to Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which lobbies for repeal.

As what happened in Savannah made its way through the national news and blogosphere, some questioned whether an incident like the alleged attack means the military isn’t ready for a repeal of DADT. “Obviously, an investigation is ongoing, and no one’s guilty yet,” wrote Adam Weinstein for a Mother Jones blog on June 13.

“But if service members on liberty can’t hold their liquor or their emotions — and regardless of what happened, that much seems clear here — there’s a long way to go before the military will be able to successfully integrate gays and lesbians in the military ranks,” Weinstein wrote.

Ingram said he doesn’t think the high-profile debate over repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is fueling homophobia in the military, but noted Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway is an outspoken opponent of repeal.

“I would not ask our Marines to live with someone who is homosexual if we can possibly avoid it,” Conway told Military.com in March. “And to me that means we have to build BEQs (bachelor enlisted quarters) and have single rooms.”

But SLDN and Ingram stress that those against repealing the ban, like Conway, are of an older generation.

“The younger generation of service members largely doesn’t care about whether their comrades are gay or lesbian, and they understand that sexual orientation has nothing to do with completing the mission,” said Paul DeMiglio, senior communications manager for SLDN. SLDN also reports that a 2006 Zogby International poll showed 73 percent of military personnel are comfortable serving with gays.

Should “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” be repealed, policies would be required to protect openly gay service members from harassment and discrimination, DeMiglio said.

“Policies and regulations to allow gays and lesbians to serve openly would need to be written and put in place,” he said. “SLDN will also encourage the president to issue an executive order protecting service members from discrimination based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation.”

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GA Voice June 25, 2010

News

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Blake’s unaffected by Farkas indictment, manager says Gay bar not included in list of assets for forfeiture

By Laura Douglas-Brown Blake’s on the Park, the popular gay bar on 10th Street in Atlanta, will not close in the wake of Lee Farkas’ indictment on federal charges of financial improprieties, the bar’s general manager said June 21.

Rumors about the future of Blake’s have been rampant since June 15, when Farkas was indicted on one count of conspiracy, six counts of bank fraud, six counts of wire fraud and three counts of securities fraud.

The charges are related to Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp., the Ocala, Fla.based mortgage lending company where he served as chairman and majority shareholder.

On Monday morning, Blake’s General Manager David Stark said he could only comment that the bar was open for business today, deferring other questions to James Nelson. On Monday afternoon, Stark said he could confirm that the bar is not shutting its doors due to Farkas’ problems.

“There are no plans either now or in the future to close Blake’s,” Stark said June 21. “We are open and continuing to conduct business as usual.”

Johnny Chisholm, a nightclub owner and party promoter, purchased Blake’s in 2003 from owner Alison Brown.

Thunderflower, LLC, purchased Blake’s on the Park, and the now defunct Atlanta gay bars Blu and WETbar, from Chisholm in 2004, according to a report in Ambush Magazine.

Thunderflower, LLC, incorporated in Florida in 2004 with Lee Farkas as a manager.

In September 2008, Thunderflower closed WETbar but said Blake’s would not be impacted by the decision.

CPMG, LLC, a Georgia corporation, is now doing business as Blake’s on the Park, according to the minutes of a March 2010 meeting of the Atlanta License Review Board, which approved CPMG’s application to hold the annual Easter drag races in Blake’s parking lot.

CPMG, LLC, was created in April 2003, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. James Nelson is the registered agent.

A name reservation for Blake’s on the Park, LLC, was filed with the Georgia Secretary of State on June 3, 2010.

MORE INFO www.theGAVoice.com

• Visit us on the web for breaking news Stark did not respond by press time to follow-up questions to clarify Farkas’ current relationship with Blake’s on the Park.

Forfeiture and flight risk

Blake’s on the Park is not listed among Farkas’ assets for forfeiture in the extensive federal indictment unsealed last week. Farkas, who is gay, lived in Florida and was a donor to Equality Florida, the state’s gay political group, among other causes.

Anthony Cochran, an attorney representing Farkas, said he did not have any information related to Farkas and Blake’s on the Park.

“We will try to speak with Lee to see if we can get answers to your questions,” Cochran said.

No further information was received by press time on June 22. Cochran has said publicly that Farkas, who remained jailed in Ocala as of Tuesday, will plead not guilty to all of the charges.

Asked whether Blake’s on the Park is includ-

Lee Farkas was arrested June 15 after he was indicted on conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud and securities fraud. (Photo courtesy Marion County Sheriff’s Department)

ed in the federal investigation, Alisa Finelli, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice, said she could not comment on the ongoing investigation beyond what prosecutors have already released in court documents and press releases.

Those documents allege that Farkas masterminded a complex scheme to prop up his failing mortgage company, described in the

Please see FARKAS on Page 13

Citizens Review Board weighs Atlanta Eagle gay bar raid Panel upholds complaint from one bar employee; two more slated for July 8

By Dyana Bagby The Atlanta Citizens Review Board will discuss the cases of Atlanta Eagle co-owner Robby Kelley and doorman Ernest Buehl at its July 8 meeting. The two men allege that the Atlanta Police Department, including members of the notorious Red Dog Unit, used abusive language toward them during the Sept. 10 raid on the gay bar.

The CRB took up its first of a total of 14 Atlanta Eagle complaints on June 10 when it upheld manager David Shepherd’s complaint that he was falsely arrested during the raid.

The board also recommended Officer B.E. Bridges be issued a written reprimand to go into his personnel file and Officer John Brock be punished with a three-day suspension for their roles in Shepherd’s arrest. Atlanta Interim Police Chief George Turner has 30 days to respond to the CRB recommendations.

Shepherd was in his apartment above the bar when the raid took place and was not on duty when police arrested him and charged

him with license and permit violations. The police alleged the bar was operating as an adult entertainment venue without proper licensing from the city during its “Underwear Night” in which men danced in their underwear for tips.

“The report contained no allegation against Shepherd,” CRB Executive Director Cristina Beamud said at the June 10 public meeting.

“This man was guilty of watching TV.” Seth Kirschenbaum, a criminal defense attorney and vice chair of the board serving at his last meeting, at first agreed Shepherd’s complaint was easy to uphold. But he later questioned if going just after the arresting officers was enough.

“To have Red Dog come to ride herd on them while their [the patrons’] personal information was extracted — I think the real responsibility lies at a higher level. It’s a terrible mistake just to punish these officers who were part of a big, concerted, coordinated effort organized by higher ups,” Kirschenbaum said.

“We have the responsibility to go up the chain of command to ask who knew what and when did they know it.”

In March, the eight employees arrested in the raid, known as the Eagle 8, went on trial for license and permit violations. Bridges and Brock both testified at the trial. Bridges

Joy Morrissey, a lesbian who serves as chair of the Atlanta Citizens Review Board, noted that two police officers involved in the Eagle raid faced numerous personnel complaints. The board recommended disciplinary action. (Photo by Dyana Bagby)

misidentified several of the defendants who had their charges dismissed during the course of the trial. Charges were dismissed against Shepherd, bartender Chris Lopez, Buehl and Robert Kline. Kelley and dancers Thadeus Johnson and Leandro Apud were found not guilty. Dancer Antonio Benitez did not appear in court and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest.

Before the board voted on recommendations for discipline, Joy Morrissey, chair of the CRB and who is openly gay, reported that Bridges and Brock each had several personnel complaints on file against them.

Brock has been with APD since 1992 and has 21 complaints filed against him, Morrissey

said, which consisted mostly of not appearing in court. During the trial, Brock described one dancer as wearing a “diaper.”

Bridges is a 19-year veteran of the APD and has 32 complaints filed against him, including having the smell of alcohol on his breath during roll call of the police academy one morning, using excessive force and lying about driving drunk during a hit and run crash he was responsible for.

Bridges testified during the Eagle 8 trial he purchased several beers while doing surveillance the night of the raid but was not drunk because he only took one or two sips of each drink before throwing the beer away.

“I have no doubt his days are numbered,” Morrissey said of Bridges.

The APD’s Office of Professional Standards is also investigating numerous complaints from patrons and employees of the bar who allege they were mistreated and even had anti-gay slurs used against them during the controversial raid.

Those complaints were filed shortly after the raid took place and are still being reviewed with no timeline set for the internal investigation to be completed, said Sgt. Curtis Davenport, spokesperson for the APD. A federal civil lawsuit filed by several patrons and employees of the bar against the city of Atlanta and the APD is ongoing.

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GA Voice

June 25, 2010

News

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First Augusta Pride draws thousands Diverse crowd packs historic festival

By Laura Douglas-Brown lbrown@thegavoice.com Grammy winner Thelma Houston closed out the stage for Augusta Pride on June 19, but there was one more inspiring moment awaiting the hundreds who withstood the withering heat to be there for the festival’s finale.

As Augusta Pride organizers took the microphone to thank attendees and celebrate the success of the city’s first-ever gay Pride, a faint rainbow arched across the sky.

“That was like a sign from God,” Augusta Pride President Isaac Kelly said.

The festival was the culmination of more than a year of planning, as Kelly and the Pride board overcame naysayers who predicted the eastern Georgia city could not support an out gay event.

Facing citizen complaints about the festival earlier this year, Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhaver responded by seeking a legal opinion confirming his belief that the First Amendment would prevent banning an LGBT event on city streets and property.

Copenhaver also issued a proclamation declaring June 19 as “Augusta Pride Day” and urging “all citizens to recognize and applaud the numerous contributions of the Augusta Pride Committee as well as all gay and transgender community members.”

Thanking Kelly for his leadership from the stage during the festival, Pride fundraising chair David Stepp noted that when word of the event first began to spread, media predicted it may draw 100 attendees.

City officials estimated the crowd at 3,500, Stepp said.

Festivities began in the morning with a parade down Broad Street that brought out a sea of rainbow flags, hundreds of cheering supporters, and a handful of anti-gay religious protesters who regularly picket at gay events in Atlanta and around the region.

After the parade, attendees flocked into the Pride festival at the Augusta Commons. A range of performers, from drag queens to rock bands, kept the stage lively, while some 60 vendors — including LGBT groups from South Carolina, Savannah and Atlanta, along with Augusta — offered everything from HIV tests to rainbow jewelry and stuffed “Pride pets.”

David Thompson, a community outreach specialist with the Medical College of Georgia’s Ryan White program, spent the day overseeing the free, 20-minute HIV tests.

He estimated some 60-70 people were tested at the Pride festival.

“A lot of people had their first test today and we are thrilled that they felt comfortable enough here to be tested,” Thompson said.

There were small gay-owned businesses, but also food vendors including Augusta restaurants and national chains like Subway and Dippin’ Dots.

Craig Oglesby’s Hawaiian Shaved Ice booth was popular in the sweltering heat. Oglesby said he had received an application to be a vendor because he works other events in Augusta, and was pleased with the “steady” business he received.

“I think it has been a pretty good turnout for the first time they have had it here,” he said of the city’s first gay festival. “I would do it again.”

Performers noted the success of the historic first festival as well.

“I lived in the big city — I lived in New York City — where you really don’t have to fight for your pride,” Zoe Vette, backed by her band The Revolvers, said from the stage.

“Thank you for reminding us what it is like.”

Frenchie Davis

Thelma Houston

Somber moments

The festival included somber moments, as Danny Ingram, an Atlanta resident and national president of the American Veterans for Equal Rights, opened the Pride stage with a call to overturn the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on openly gay soldiers and played taps in honor of all servicemembers.

Speaker Elke Kennedy also drew both tears and cheers for her call to end hate-based violence. Kennedy’s son, Sean Kennedy, was killed in 2007 in nearby Charleston, S.C., by a man who called him a fag, then hit him.

The impact when Kennedy fell to the ground severed his brainstem, but the man who punched him, Stephen Moller, was convicted only of involuntary manslaughter.

Elke Kennedy founded the Sean’s Last Wish Foundation and said she has traveled 100,000 miles and spoken at more than 100 events to raise awareness of the bullying, violence and religious oppression that LGBT people face.

She hopes other parents of gay children can learn from her acceptance of Sean, recalling how when he told her he was gay, he said, “Mom, if you don’t want to love me anymore, I’ll understand.”

“I told him that there is nothing he could ever do to make me stop loving him,” she said.

‘Nothing is impossible’

“American Idol” contestant Frenchie Davis and Thelma Houston were the headliners and final stage acts, drawing the crowd to their feet.

“For our first Pride to be this big and this successful and to have headliners — that’s a

MORE INFO www.theGAVoice.com • Video and photo galleries

miracle,” Kelly said in an interview shortly after Houston left the stage.

Augusta Pride has already set a date for the next festival — June 25, 2011 — and Kelly and the Pride board encouraged other Georgia cities to host their own celebrations.

“A word of advice to anyone starting a new Pride: Nothing is impossible as long as you put your mind and your heart into it,” Kelly said.

Lifelong Augusta resident Juronda Brown

echoed the sentiments of many attendees as she marveled at the crowds.

“I am 32 years old and I didn’t think I would get to see this in my lifetime,” she said, noting that she regularly attends Pride in Charlotte and Atlanta Black Gay Pride.

“I didn’t think I’d ever see it in Augusta,” Brown said. “I’m amazed, and it’s great.”

Photos by Laura Douglas-Brown

Celebrating pride

When you look back at the efforts and achievements of LGBT men and women over the years, there’s every reason to be proud. Not just once a year, but every day. Wells Fargo takes great pride in the diversity of the communities we serve. That’s why we continue to make financial contributions to LGBT nonprofits, provide services specific to the needs of our LGBT customers and foster a work environment that doesn’t just accept differences, but celebrates them. Happy Pride. All year round.

wellsfargo.com/lgbt

� ���� Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Member FDIC.

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Dept. of Labor defines ‘son and daughter’ to include children of same-sex partners Gay workers can take family leave to care for partner’s kids

By Laura Douglas-Brown In a move praised by LGBT groups, the U.S. Department of Labor announced June 22 that it would expand the definition of “son and daughter” to make more gay families eligible for coverage under the Family & Medical Leave Act to care for sick children.

“No one who loves and nurtures a child dayin and day-out should be unable to care for that child when he or she falls ill. … The Labor Department’s action today sends a clear message to workers and employers alike: All families, including LGBT families, are protected by the FMLA,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis.

The announcement came the same day that President Obama vetted LGBT activists at the White House for his second annual Pride reception.

The FMLA requires companies with 50 or more employees to allow up to 12 weeks of un-

paid leave for an employee at the birth or adoption of a child, to care for a relative with a serious health condition, or due to the employee’s own health condition. The changes will allow gay employees to care for their partner’s children.

A press release from the Department of Labor notes that the expanded interpretation of “son and daughter” will benefit many types of families, including a grandmother caring for a sick grandchild or an uncle caring for the children of a sibling who is in the military.

But the press release also makes no secret that the changes, which “ensure that an employee who assumes the role of caring for a child receives parental rights to family leave regardless of the legal or biological relationship,” will benefit gay families, particularly where one partner is not able to adopt the children that the couple is raising together.

“This action is a victory for many nontraditional families, including families in the lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender community, who often in the past have been denied leave to care for their loved ones,” states the press release, which also notes that “an employee who intends to share in the parenting of a child with his or her same sex partner will be able to exercise the right to FMLA leave to bond with

June 25, 2010

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Farkas could face 435-year sentence, millions in fines FARKAS, continued from Page 8

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis says a policy clarification issued this week by her department ensures that children of ‘all families, including LGBT families,’ are covered by the Family & Medical Leave Act. (Photo courtesy Dept. of Labor)

that child.”

The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay political group, praised the change, while noting that gay employees remain unable to use FMLA to care for their sick partners.

“Today’s announcement, which does not extend FMLA leave to the same-sex partners and spouses of employees, also highlights the limitations of what fair-minded agencies can do,” HRC President Joe Solmonese said. “The Defense of Marriage Act continues to treat our families as second-class, and to achieve true equality for LGBT people, it must be repealed.”

June 15 indictment as “one of the largest privately held mortgage lending companies in the United States,” by misappropriating more than $1 billion in funds from related banks, federal financial institutions, and the U.S. government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program.

In a pre-trial detention motion filed June 16, federal prosecutors argued that Farkas should not be released from jail because his substantial assets and the fact that he faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted on all the charges make him a serious flight risk.

“As a result of the indictment, the defendant faces a total statutory maximum sentence of 435 years, fines of at least $13.75 million and forfeiture of at least $22 million,” the motion noted.

The document also alleges that in addition to the fraud, Farkas “misappropriated over $20 million in TBW funds for his personal use,” including some $2.7 million used as a down payment on a private jet. It further argues that Farkas has attempted to hide or liquidate some of his assets after finding out about the federal investigations.

“The defendant has recently quit claim deeded multiple properties to close associates for seemingly inadequate consideration,” the motion alleges.

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GA Voice June 25, 2010

Voices

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EDITORIAL

Editor: Laura Douglas-Brown lbrown@thegavoice.com Deputy Editor: Dyana Bagby dbagby@thegavoice.com Web Manager: Ryan Watkins rwatkins@thegavoice.com Art Director: Bo Shell bshell@thegavoice.com Contributors: Jim Farmer, Shannon Hames, Shannon Jenkins, Robin Kemp, Ryan Lee, Mike Ritter, Matt Schafer, Christopher Seely, Steve Warren, Justin Ziegler

BUSINESS

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BOARD OF ADVISERS

Richard Eldredge, Sandy Malcolm, Lynn Pasqualetti, Robert Pullen All material in the Georgia Voice is protected by federal copyright law and may not be reproduced without the written consent of the 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 the 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 the Georgia Voice and its staff.

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VOICES OPINION & REACTION Pride in our history Stonewall’s legacy is the future of our community

Editorial

By Laura Douglas-Brown Some 41 years ago this weekend, a ragtag group of gay street youth, drag queens, dykes and transgender people fought back against a police raid at New York City’s Stonewall Inn. The 1969 uprising is widely viewed as launching the modern gay rights movement, igniting a more radical approach than the fledgling “homophile” movement that was already quietly underway.

By the next June, cities began hosting rallies and celebrations to mark the anniversary of Stonewall, creating the Gay Pride events that continue to this day.

Now, some 40 years later, there are so many Gay Pride events that not all are held the last weekend in June. Some are held on adjacent weekends to allow attendees the chance to go to several; others are held throughout the year at times more convenient for those local communities.

After decades of being held on the anniversary of Stonewall, Atlanta Pride is now one

of those other Prides — the official festival is scheduled for Oct. 9-10, after being held over Halloween last year.

But the spirit of Pride Month continues in Atlanta Stonewall Week, and in other recent and upcoming Pride celebrations throughout the state.

In this issue, we pay tribute to the history of Stonewall and Pride Month around the nation. Look for the rainbow Pride Month logo on these stories, and be sure to visit our website, www.thegavoice. com, for photos and video from Pride and Stonewall Week events.

Our A&E section begins with a review of “Stonewall Uprising,” a new documentary about the riots that plays at Midtown Arts Cinema this week, with several special discussions scheduled as part of Stonewall Week.

The “Stonewall Uprising” feature (page 17) includes an interview with David Carter, a native of Jesup, Ga., and Emory University graduate who wrote “Stonewall: The Riots that Sparked the Gay Revolution,” the book on which the film is based.

Atlanta’s Stonewall Week got underway July 19 with the massive, hilarious East Point

Possums show, and you’ll find photos and coverage of that event in our Community section (page 26).

Additional Stonewall Week events for Friday, June 25, and Saturday, June 26, including the Pride Run and a community brunch, rally and picnic, can be found in our Best Bets calendar (page 28).

You can also read all about the first-ever Augusta Pride (page 10), which drew a crowd of thousands last weekend, and the upcoming Marietta Rainbow Festival (page 27), which is set for July 24 and will be the first Pride event for that Georgia city.

In our interview this week about the importance of Stonewall, David Carter makes the point that we need a common knowledge of our history to shape our identity as an LGBT people and culture.

“Think of it: is there any important group identity that does not involve a common narrative?

And does not that narrative then give the group a key part of its meaning?” Carter asks.

“If we do not know our history, how can we ask others to take our history, and therefore us as a community, seriously?”

Unlike other minority groups, LGBT people often have to seek out our own history.

“After all, we are not like Jews or blacks or Hispanics or most other groups who are born into a family of the same kind and are taught about this critical part of our identity and meaning by our parents,” Carter notes. “And since our sexual orientation is so important to us as a people whom the world has not yet chosen to embrace, I think this kind of positive cultural identity is all the more important.”

I agree completely with Carter, and yet I am also struck by an image that appeared in the Sunday issue of the Augusta Chronicle, accompanying a mediocre story on the historic Pride festival that gave far too much weight to the handful of protesters, who were outnumbered by Pride supporters by a ratio of approximately 350 to 1.

The photo shows a little girl in a sundress, blond pigtails streaming, joyfully waving a rainbow flag as the parade passes by.

The child is my five-year-old daughter, who was snapped by a Chronicle photographer while I took pictures for the Georgia Voice.

I have no idea if she, or any of the many other children at Augusta Pride, will grow up to be gay or straight, and it doesn’t matter.

What matters is that they are already learning the history, and celebrating the freedom, that has been denied to so many for so long.

www.theGAVoice.com

SPEAKING OUT No more ‘Transformers’ to save Screen on the Green

Re: “‘Dreamgirls’ provides only drama at Screen on the Green” (www.thegavoice.com, June 19) I attended [the] ‘Dreamgirls’ viewing. I have to say that not only was I pleased that there was more police presence, but also that they were friendly and courteous. I hope that Screen on the Green organizers will take note and provide more movies geared towards adults. In my opinion, unsupervised teens at these events is what has garnished such violence.

Was Elton John wrong to sing at Rush Limbaugh’s wedding?

Re: Discussion at facebook.com/thegavoice (June 6) Since slavery has been abolished I wouldn’t accept a job offer from a bigot. I am guessing that Elton has different values and no self-respect.

I always try to give Elton the benefit of a doubt considering the millions of dollars he has raised for people with AIDS. Sometimes he puts that benefit to the test. And, no, I don’t know how Elton feels about what I did to earn my salary today.

Sir Elton John (Photo via Facebook)

Editor’s note: These comments on Georgia Voice articles were submitted via our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/thegavoice). Want to weigh in? Follow us there or submit comments on our website.

Good thing we respect the values of marriage and didn’t let those nasty gay people ruin it. Some people can’t even get there first and he’s starting number four.

To all you rock-throwers: nice job of embodying the prissy, knee-jerk stereotype of liberal mind. For a million bucks I’d put on a dress and dance the Charleston at Glenn Beck’s next wedding. Then I’d put the money toward a purpose that would make blood run out of his eyeballs.

LETTER Sugarland’s Kristen Hall also ‘out of the country closet’

To the Editors: I was surprised to see your article on Chely Wright titled “The road to country’s first openly gay star” (June 11) which questioned “if kd lang should count?” The answer is neither was the first openly gay country music star!

The first openly gay country star was Georgia’s own Kristen Hall; who was well out of the closet as the founder of Sugarland. k.d. lang didn’t come out as an artist until 1992; well past her country music days. Kristen Hall was out at the formation of Sugarland with their first album “Twice The Speed of Light.”

Sadly, Kristen Hall left (?) Sugarland to stay home and “write songs” months after her appearance in the June 21, 2005, edition of The Advocate magazine. That article was titled “Sweet Success: With her country band,

Kristen Hall (right) was a founding member of Sugarland. (Publicity photo) Sugarland, poised to become a household word, out artist Kristen Hall is pickin’ on top of the world.”

Mary F. Ferrara Atlanta Editors’ note: Good point, Mary. We’re fans of Kristen Hall, but did not list her as the first out country star because, while she was a founder of Sugarland, she was not the primary face of the band and left soon after it gained major success.

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A&E

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‘Stonewall Uprising’ could be a right winger’s horror movie UPRISING, continued from Page 17 old myths out in the open where they could be discussed and challenged.

More obscure and more damaging is a similar documentary, “The Homosexual,” aired a year earlier on a local Miami station. A decade before Anita Bryant’s rise to prominence South Florida was already hostile territory. There’s a clip of a detective from the Dade County Morals & Juvenile Squad scaring a school assembly about those dangerous queers out there.

There are tales of the horrors of psychiatric treatment, including aversion therapy and experimentation, such as “a pharmacological version of waterboarding,” that led California’s Atascadero institution to known as “Dachau for queers.”

Most of the film is centered on New York, since that’s where Stonewall was. It’s said that the Stonewall Inn, like all gay bars in the area, was run by the Mafia. Though they were routinely raided the raids usually occurred during non-peak hours so as not to interfere too much with business.

Gay New Yorkers in the ‘60s had sex in the balconies of 42nd Street movie theaters and in the notorious trucks parked in the warehouse district, even though it’s said the latter were raided two or three times a night.

In 1964 the NYPD was told to get the “weird-

ness” off the streets prior to the World’s Fair. In 1969 Mayor John Lindsay, running for re-election, ordered a clean-up of the city that included the fateful Stonewall raid.

As events play out we learn which of the people we’ve been listening to were on the scene that night and what role they played. For instance, Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector of the NYPD Morals Division, led the raid. Howard Smith and Lucian Prescott IV covered it for the Village Voice.

Kate Davis also directed “Southern Comfort,” the 2001 documentary about Georgia

MORE INFO

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‘Stonewall Uprising’ June 25 – July 1 at Midtown Arts Cinema 931 Monroe Drive, Atlanta, GA 30308 www.landmarktheatres.com Special events • June 25: After 7 p.m. show, Out on Film and Atlanta Pride host sign-making to prepare for the June 26 “Be Visible, Make a Statement” rally at the state capitol. (See page 28) • June 26: After 1 p.m. show, Louise Covington speaks about her experience living in New York City at the time of the Stonewall riots. After the 7 p.m. show, Out on Film hosts a discussion with those impacted by the September 2009 police raid on the Atlanta Eagle, to address how the two gay bar raids compare

transgender man Robert Eads, who died of ovarian cancer after struggling to find a doctor who would treat him.

As Steven Spielberg’s Shoah Project collects the memories of Holocaust survivors, it’s important to preserve our history so future gen-

‘Georgia still has a long way to go’ STONEWALL, continued from Page 17 creation of a new phase of our movement for equality, the “gay liberation” phase that followed the “homophile” phase. In other words, I wish people would take more of an interest in the history of the Gay Liberation Front and especially the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA), for it is GAA that found a way to spread the militant energy, the new consciousness that Stonewall expressed.

When people read about Stonewall and stop there, it is as if someone read about the fall of the Bastille but knew nothing about the French Revolution.

erations don’t forget it.

“Stonewall Uprising” might be marketed to right-wingers as a horror movie, “The Night the Queers Fought Back,” but for us it’s a treasured snapshot to be viewed with fondness whenever we need a reminder of how far we’ve come.

You are from Georgia. How do you think the state compares to the rest of the country on LGBT rights?

Clearly Georgia still has a long way to go, farther than most other states, but the LGBT community in Georgia does have its own record of proud accomplishments, and I have faith that my native state will eventually grant equality to its LGBT citizens, just as it has to its black citizens, an area where Georgia also lagged behind in my youth.

What can we learn from Stonewall to apply to the current LGBT rights movement?

The most important lesson in my mind is to always stand up for ourselves: being assertive may not usually mean civil disobedience or taking to the streets, but we must be strong and stand up and work to get our civil rights, else we shall never get them.

A&E

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MUSIC

by Shannon Hames

Faith in her fans

After a career in Christian music, Jennifer Knapp gains new support after coming out

Jennifer Knapp, a Grammy nominated, Dove Award winning Christian recording star, has just released “Letting Go” – her first recording in nine years. She is currently touring and will be a performer on the 2010 Lilith Fair tour at shows in St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri.

Knapp recently talked with the Georgia Voice about her former career as a Christian performer, her seven-year hiatus in Australia and her return to the music scene as an out lesbian.

Georgia Voice: You have been facing some harsh interviews with fundamentalist evangelicals who are trying to “bring you back home” or warn your former fans not to follow your career now that your music is secular. When you were on Larry King Live with Bob Botsford, the pastor that they got up there to address your “sin,” you were so gracious in the way that you put him in his place by asking him why you all weren’t there discussing his sin instead. It had the Internet buzzing and many fundamental evangelicals wondering how they could make sure that a gay person never made such good sense again – it was wonderful.

How do you prepare for these interviews?

Jennifer Knapp: I didn’t even know that Larry King show would be a panel situation until late the night before. My responses in these interviews are just reflective of the amount of time that I’ve spent considering my own faith.

I’ve had seven years out of the public eye to consider these questions. I was just living my life in Australia considering who I was before God. It’s been helpful for me to take that time to become confident in who I am.

One of the biggest problems for (the fundamentalist Christian community) is that I’m unapologetic. I think that they would be fine if I just admitted that I had homosexual feelings as opposed to the fact that I’m saying “Yes, I’m a homosexual and I still have my faith.” That particular pastor — his accusation towards me was that I am justifying my homosexuality rather than me openly talking about my journey and how I got to that point of understanding. I don’t and won’t justify myself or my faith.

After making her name in the Christian music scene, Jennifer Knapp returns from a nine-year hiatus and is now an out lesbian. (Photo by Eye Photography)

MORE INFO www.theGAVoice.com ‘Letting Go’

By Jennifer Knapp Graylin Records www.jenniferknapp.com

When someone like you or Ray Boltz comes out of the closet as Christian singers, what is the response from the fan base that you had and from the Christian community and media?

It’s been both positive and negative. Reconnecting with my fan base is just part of my journey. Many of those fans are going through their own journey right now about deciding whether or not they are going to be a fan because I’m gay.

The positive aspect is that a lot of those fans are just happy that I am making some really great music and my sexuality isn’t a factor for them. Then, there is a majority of them that have either been through this or have a friend or family that is gay and they are expressing joy that I am going through this process and surviving it.

On the negative side, there has definitely been a concerted effort by certain members of the Christian community and the press writing treatises and argumentations of why I shouldn’t be supported in any manner whatsoever. It’s like they want to use me as an example of how homosexuality and Christianity are incongruous — like oil and water. Nobody who writes a blog saying that I’m going to hell is calling me for an interview, though.

I am sure that there are those in the LGBT community who had never heard of you before you came out but are now interested to see what you’re all about. Have you seen a change in your audience now that you’re out?

Yes. I have my diehard fans that were with me in the beginning. A lot of those are still coming. Then, there are new fans that just show up to see what’s going on. It’s so exciting to see a broader, more diverse audience.

I have the tie-wearing evangelical Christian sitting there next to an openly queer couple.

That’s the joy for me — to find that commonality between us and share that thing that we love — music.

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THEATER

by Jim Farmer

Horizon Theatre’s production of ‘Shakin’ the Mess Outta Misery’ features (clockwise from bottom) Andrea Frye, Margo Moorer, Marguerite Hannah, Naomi Lavette, Danielle Deadwyler, Cynthia D. Barker, Tonia Jackson and Amber Iman. (Photo by Horizon Theatre)

The Big Mamas come home ‘Shakin’ the Mess Outta Misery’ returns to Horizon Theatre Although no longer an Atlantan, lesbian playwright and author Shay Youngblood considers the city her second home and is excited to return here for Horizon Theatre’s remount of her signature play “Shakin’ the Mess Outta Misery.”

Youngblood was born in Columbus, Ga., and graduated from Clark-Atlanta University.

She held various jobs around town, but Charis Books & More proved to be a stepping stone.

Youngblood worked at the now 35-year-old feminist bookstore for a year, beginning when she was only 19, and was persuaded to hold her first public reading there. That event gave her confidence and the drive to move on.

“I started to wonder what I really awanted to do with my life,” she recalls.

She decided to go into the Peace Corps and wound up in France for a year, all the while deciding exactly what she wanted to write about.

In “Shakin’ the Mess Outta Misery,” the character of Daughter finds herself under the wing of eight Big Mamas. As the play opens, Daughter — whose birth mother is dead — comes home to bury the last of the Big Mamas who raised her.

Later we see the adult woman as a 13 year old who learns from the Southern women in her life.

“These women give her gifts, gifts of stories,” Youngblood says. “They also give her her name for the first time and bring her into the circle of womanhood. It’s a joyous ritual.”

The Big Mamas prepare Daughter to go to the river, her rite of passage into womanhood.

“My birth mother died when I was two and my father was not around,” Youngblood says.

“I had these great women around me who raised me, women in their ‘50s and ‘60s. They all took on these responsibilities of raising me.

They were mother figures to me and they all gave me the attention I needed.”

Youngblood calls “Shakin’ the Mess Outta Misery’” a “love letter to all my Big Mamas.”

She feels the themes of the work are universal.

“All of us have had a mother,” says Youngblood. “This is a celebration of that, a celebration of womanhood and a love of family. I have a community of men and women who nurture me. I think what people respond to with this play is the humanity.”

Way back in 1988, when Horizon Theatre was in its early stages, the company launched Youngblood’s play. It was the company’s first ever world premiere.

In addition to “Shakin,” Horizon is also producing Youngblood’s children’s play “Amazing Grace” as well. “Amazing Grace,” which celebrates the diversity of youth, is based on the book by Mary Hoffman and was adapted into a play by Youngblood.

As part of the “Shakin’” remount, Charis will hold a benefit showing and reception with Youngblood on June 29. Tickets are $60.

Angela Brown, the interim executive director of Charis Circle, expects the benefit to be a great event for the bookstore “We are very excited to have Shay back,” she says. “She is our daughter. She launched her career here.”

Youngblood, author of the novels “Black Girl in Paris” and “Soul Kiss,” as well as the short fiction collection “The Big Mama Stories,” has won numerous awards for her writing.

Although she does not live in Atlanta anymore (she’s about to move to Denton, Texas), Youngblood is grateful for the time she spent here.

“I come back a lot to see family,” she admits. “This event is a reunion in a way. It’s like coming home.”

MORE INFO www.theGAVoice.com ‘Shakin’ the Mess Outta Misery’ July 2 – Aug. 22 at Horizon Theatre 1983 Austin Ave., Atlanta, GA 30307 404-584-7450, www.horizontheatre.com

A&E

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ACROSS THE TABLE

by ROB ANDREWS

Eat cool in Hotlanta

Whether dining out or staying in, these meals will help you beat the heat

This is why we call our city Hotlanta. Summer just officially started, but it’s already sweltering. I meant to go to the gym yesterday but my brain said, “Tread mill, or margaritas and guacamole?” It can be exhausting at the end of a long hot summer day to decide what to eat, so here are some ideas for restaurants and fast and easy dishes to make at home.

One of my favorite summer restaurants is Joe’s on Juniper. I’ve been going to Joe’s for years and they really support our community.

When the sun sets you’ll find plenty of LGBT diners on their spacious patio. I love their Thursday Trivia night because it’s fun to hear the crass team names people come up with. A fierce group of gays and girlz called “The Stimulus Package” recently won.

The food is mainly bar food, so don’t expect gourmet fare. Joe’s has really good burgers and chicken sandwiches. Since I’m a guacamole freak

I like the $ 8.95 border grilled chicken sandwich with crispy fries or slaw. Joe’s also has tasty salads and cheap $5 martinis. Service can be slow when they’re slammed, so sit back and enjoy the eye candy. They’re open late so it’s also a good place to take a first date, or to meet that guy you chatted up online to make sure he isn’t psycho.

If you would rather impress that first date — or your longtime mate —at home, local markets like Publix and Trader Joe’s have all you need to whip up a quick, cool meal.

We’ve all been there: It’s a weekday night, time is tight, you’re hot and cranky, and you just spent all that money on sassy sandals or an AC recharge. Get a Publix rotisserie chicken (room temperature), a head of romaine lettuce, a softto-the-touch ripe avocado, tomato, maybe some cheese, dried fruit or nuts, Paul Newman’s Italian or your favorite dressing.

Toss all of the ingredients together and serve with Publix key lime pie and fresh strawberries.

This is one of my favorite weekday summer meals. You could entertain with this big salad also and toss in some cooked corkscrew pasta to stretch a buck. Then use the leftover chicken to make chicken salad sandwiches on croissants.

June 25, 2010

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Trader Joe’s is always filled with great meat… and the food isn’t bad either. Seriously, there are plenty of cute guys there. Anyway, if you have a grill, get their marinated carne asada steak and cook three to four minutes on high heat. Serve with tortillas, guacamole, tomatoes and other condiments for a festive Latin fajita bar.

You can serve either of these meals with Key Lime Margaritas: 1 cup Nelly and Joe’s Key Lime Juice (available at Publix), 1 cup tequila, 1 cup Cointreau, super fine sugar to taste.

Blend with ice or serve on the rocks in festive salt-rimmed glasses. Go crazy and fill hollowed red peppers with a Joe’s yogurt and scallion dip with pita chips.

Other cool summer restaurants

Metrofresh (Midtown Promenade): Menu changes daily. This is one those local places with great karma and healthy fresh cuisine. Good cold soups and salads.

Iberian Pig (Decatur): Hot, humid summer night? Let’s have some air conditioning and candlelight. Excellent tapas like baked stuffed calamari and salads. Great date or special occasion place.

MF Sushi Bar (Midtown): Sushi is refreshing on those hot summer nights and this is one of the more glamorous, expensive sushi places. A perfect place to wear your summer linens. Zippy spicy tuna rolls and crispy soft shell crab spider rolls. Or for more casual fare and a gay disco scene, head to Ru Sans off Monroe and Piedmont.

MORE INFO www.theGAVoice.com Joe’s on Juniper 1049 Juniper St. Atlanta, GA 30309 www.joesatlanta.com Morelli’s Gourmet Ice Cream & Desserts (East Atlanta): Cool off with gourmet ice cream flavors like Coconut Jalapeno and Death by Chocolate, plus scratch French crepes made with Nutella and healthy tangerine and blackberry sorbets. Try the Mexican milk shake blended with a touch of cinnamon.

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June 25, 2010

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THEATER by Gregg Shapiro

‘Role Model’ citizen

Pop icon John Waters on butch strippers, being a ‘filth elder,’ and indie film

For more than 40 years, John Waters has been one of the most original voices in contemporary pop culture. His films, including “Pink Flamingos,” “Desperate Living,” “Polyester,” “Hairspray” and “Pecker,” brought the underground and independent creative spirit to mainstream audiences.

Waters is also the author of several books, including his latest, “Role Models,” released last month. In “Role Models,” Waters pays homage to the people, some famous, some not, who helped to make him who he is today.

Georgia Voice: “Role Models” is a literary self-portrait, but after reading the section on gay and straight boyfriends in the “Outsider Porn” chapter and accidentally killing someone in the “Leslie” chapter, I wondered if you were surprised during the course of writing the book about what you found yourself to be revealing.

John Waters: Well…you’re right. I think you have to reveal something in a memoir.

I don’t name my boyfriends’ names, they’re not famous people. I know one or two of them might not like being in the book.

I do have a private life and I also talk about in the book that when I see celebrities revealing every personal thing to a journalist, I always think they don’t have friends. And they don’t! [Laughs] That’s why they have to tell a journalist.

The same principle applies to telemarketing. The reason some people go for it is that some people’s phones never ever ring except for that call and they’re lonely. I do have friends that I confide in.

But at the same time, when I’m talking about

something as serious as the Leslie Van Houten chapter—there are no jokes in that chapter—is that basically that is something that I never revealed for a long, long time. It just seems that when you’re reflecting on somebody else’s horror that they’re trying to get it over, it was the closest I had to that horrible experience. I didn’t tell it with any humor, certainly.

And the stuff about the boyfriends is true. I don’t necessarily fit in all gay culture either. My friends are straight, gay. I love young people because they don’t care anymore so much. It’s not isolated or ghettoized. I usually like the gay people that don’t fit in gay culture either, that go to hipster bars, so it’s easier shopping, really. It might be a straight bar, and there might be three gay people there, but they’d be the three gay people I’d like if I was in an all-gay bar [laughs].

I’m glad that you mentioned that, because I laughed out loud on numerous appropriate occasions in the book, but never more so than when you wrote about the joke you and Gus Van Sant make about the press calling you “openly gay.”

They always say that, “openly gay.” Once I was on the cover of The Advocate, “Openly gay director, John Waters.” But they never asked me! So my joke now with my staff when someone says “openly gay” is “how dare they presume I’m gay!”

I’m just kidding, of course. I’ve always said I was gay. But “openly gay,” Gus and I always say, “What does that mean?” I guess it means that we’ve said we’re gay and it’s no big deal. But to me, “openly gay” somehow sounds like you’re running into parties screaming, “got any Judy Garland records?” Like the worst cliché of what it could be.

I love Judy Garland; I don’t think that’s a bad cliché. I’m a fan of Judy Garland’s, even more so now. It’s a term that’s taken the place of flamboyant, which used to mean gay when they couldn’t say it in a mean way.

MORE INFO www.theGAVoice.com ‘Role Model’

By John Waters Farrar, Straus and Giroux May 2010 320 pages

At the very beginning of the book, in the “Johnny and Me” chapter, you pose an interesting question idolizing “our imagined opposites, yearning to become the role models for others we knew we could never be for ourselves.” How do you respond to people who tell you that you are their role model?

They do a lot now, these days, and I’m very flattered. I joke that I’m a “filth elder.” I played the Coachella Festival recently and I really felt like a “filth elder.” It was packed with 20 year old kids. That is the ultimate compliment that I can have.

I’ve been doing this for almost 50 years, I started in ’64. These kids weren’t even alive when I made my later movies! So it’s really flattering to me that something I’m saying is appealing to them. I still am interested in what’s going on. I never think, “It was more fun when I made ‘Pink Flamingos.’”

It was different. I don’t look backwards. I try to find out what is the next thing a kid is do-

Though John Waters has been associated with queer-inclusive independent film since its early days, he says he doesn’t necessarily fit in all gay culture. (Publicity photo)

ing to get on people’s nerves, which has always interested me.

Speaking of things coming around again, in the “Baltimore Heroes” chapter, you wrote about Burlesque queen Lady Zorro. What do you think of the current burlesque revival?

It’s good and I love it, but they don’t have butch lesbian ones that are strippers. That come out nude and snarl, “What the fuck you lookin’ at?” I think they should. Just come out and say, “Yeah, what do you think you’re lookin’at, you pig?” I’m still friends with Zorro’s daughter and she liked the book. And Playboy is printing that chapter, which I find so hilarious in a way, Zorro is finally in Playboy! [laughs].

Have you started your next film project?

No. I’m trying to get this one “Fruitcake” made. Right now, to be honest, in America I don’t know anyone who can get an independent five million dollar film made. Independent film is the worst it’s ever been since I started and it’s probably the best for Hollywood big budget movies since I started.

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GA Voice June 25, 2010

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www.theGAVoice.com :

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COMMUNITY LOCAL LIFE

Community

June 25, 2010

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Celebrating a MILESTONE? Share your engage-

ments, weddings, births, adoptions, anniversaries, birthdays and other events! Announcements can be up to 200 words and can include a photo. E-mail editor@ thegavoice.com with your milestone and contact info to see your name in print!

Bring the Georgia heat

Hotlanta Softball hosts Big Peach tourney over Fourth of July weekend

By Dyana Bagby dbagby@thegavoice.com

Take a bite out of the Big Peach. Or at least try to hit one out of the park.

It’s that time of year again when the Hotlanta Softball League hosts its annual Big Peach Softball Tournament, with teams coming from as far as Houston and New York to play in the competitive, but fun, tournament.

“This is the second year we’ve held the tournament over the Fourth of July weekend. In the past it was always held over Memorial Day weekend, but last year it worked really well and we’ll be the only tournament going on in the southeast region over the Fourth of July,” says Kyle Miller, co-director of the tournament with Rick “Kitchen” McCracken.

Forty teams are registered to play in the weekend-long tournament, including many from Atlanta. But teams from across the Southeast will also converge on Atlanta for some softball action.

“Atlanta is a draw because of its nightlife options. It brings teams and players together for softball and it also brings the nightlife,” Miller says.

Miller, who plays outfield for the HSL HitMob team, says the only thing organizers are really worried about is the Georgia heat.

Temperatures can get up into the 90s in July (they’ve already reached these temperatures in June) and when you combine heat with running and standing in the sun, health is an issue.

“We’ll have plenty of water on hand for players to stay hydrated,” he says.

The tournament begins with a bang with a registration and welcome party at Jungle on Friday, July 2.

New this year will be a talent show for teams to compete in at the welcome party.

Oh, and there will also be an underwear contest as well.

But first, let’s talk about the talent show.

Teams or individuals are encouraged to “juggle, ‘Glee it up’ and sing your heart out, drop it like it’s hot, or ‘lip sync for your life,’” according to the Big Peach website. But most importantly, organizers say, “Don’t fuck it up.”

And then, for the underwear contest, all men are invited to show their, ahem, bats and balls.

All men are welcome, from slender and smooth to muscular and hirsute, to don some sexy underwear and “do a little shake” for 30 seconds to a song of their choice, Miller says.

There will be judges for the competitions who will make the choice of who is best. The winner of the talent contest will win free entry for his or her team into next year’s Big Peach Softball Tournament, a prize worth close to $400.

The winner of the underwear contest, in addition to winning many admirers, will also receive a prize package that includes gift certificates from all around the city for food, drinks and shopping.

There is an after-party to the welcome party at Heretic Friday night and on Saturday the host bar is slated to be Blake’s on the Park. After all

The Hotlanta Softball League hosts its annual Big Peach Softball Tournament, combining fun and competition over the Fourth of July weekend. (Photos courtesy ProjectQAtlanta.com)

the games have been played, the closing party will be at Burkhart’s Pub on Sunday.

The tournament itself includes teams in three divisions — B, C and D. The B division has eight teams competing, the C division has 15 teams competing and the D division has 17 teams competing.

This year the tournament actually turned away teams to ensure all games could be played at one field, the Southside Softball Park, and players will be able to root for each other and other teams from their hometowns, Miller says.

“Softball is great for networking,” he adds.

MORE INFO www.theGAVoice.com Big Peach Softball Tournament Friday, July 2 - Sunday, July 4 Southside Softball Park 3460 Jonesboro Road SE Atlanta, GA 30354 www.hslbigpeach.com

“You find many teams that stick together — they hang out together when they’re not playing. It’s sort of a community within a community. And it’s a tremendous outlet for having fun while also being competitive.”

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GA Voice June 25, 2010

EVENTS

Community

www.theGAVoice.com

by DYANA BAGBY

East Point Possums show raises $10,000 Annual fundraiser benefits Atlanta Pride, Atlanta Lesbian Health Initiative The East Point Possums Show, the first event in Atlanta’s Stonewall Week, raised just over $10,000 for Atlanta Pride and the Atlanta Health Initiative at its 13th annual fundraiser on June 19.

Some 28 acts took the stage and wowed a crowd estimated at more than 1,500. From drag queens to drag kings and songs from Ke$ha to Lady Gaga, the annual show was a hit for the LGBT crowd as well as the straight people who come each year to enjoy the antics and fun of one of the largest drag shows in the Southeast.

The show is already planning for next year and sponsors are already on board, says Rick Westbrook, also known as Shenita Lott, a founding member of the East Point Possums.

The Possums are unlike any other drag show, he says.

“You have straight families with their kids sitting on the hillside, kids tipping drag queens,” he says. “It really is off the hook.”

(Photos by Dyana Bagby)

MORE INFO www.theGAVoice.com • Photo gallery • Video coverage

www.theGAVoice.com

GEORGIA SPOTLIGHT

GLBT Seniors Advocacy of Georgia Aging isn’t easy for anyone, but LGBT seniors face additional challenges: Many pension programs and government services like Social Security don’t recognize same-sex spouses, gay couples may fear not being able to be “out” in nursing homes and assisted living programs, and many older LGBT people don’t have adult children or other family members who often care for aging relatives.

Helping LGBT elders navigate these and other issues is the mission of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Seniors Advocacy of Georgia.

Dubbed GSAGA for short, the group is actually a coalition made up of the Atlanta Lesbian Health Initiative, The Rainbow Center, Aging Services of Georgia, and other advocates.

GSAGA hosts a forum July 10 focused on

North Georgia Rainbow Coalition

For some, Marietta and Cobb County still carry the stigma of 1993, when the Cobb County Commission made international headlines with a resolution condemning the “gay lifestyle” as incompatible with community standards.

But much has changed in Cobb over the last 17 years. The gay bar LeBuzz continues to draw a steady crowd, and a gay man, Johnny Sinclair, serves on the Marietta City Council.

Now, for the first time, Marietta will also have its own Pride celebration. The Marietta Rainbow Festival, scheduled for July 24, is a project of the new North Georgia Rainbow Coalition.

The new LGBT group is headed up by Johnathon Murphy, the president and managing partner of LeBuzz, who believes it’s high time people realize that there is a vibrant community north of the perimeter.

MORE INFO GLBT Seniors Advocacy of Georgia www.GAsage.org Planning for Successful Aging Saturday, July 10 2-4 p.m. at the Phillip Rush Center 1530 Dekalb Ave., Atlanta, GA 30307 404-840-8050

“Planning for Successful Aging.”

“We hope to begin the dialogue not only about the unique challenges facing the LGBT community as we age, but aging issues in general,” says Doug Carl, a GSAGA organizer.

The forum will include discussions of social networking, legal protections, health and wellness, and housing and financing.

MORE INFO North Georgia Rainbow Coalition www.rainbowgeorgia.com Marietta Rainbow Festival Saturday, July 24 Noon – 11 p.m. in the parking lot of LeBuzz 585 Franklin Road, Marietta, GA 30067

The theme for 2010 is “Our Declaration of Independence.”

“We may be by ourselves, but we are never alone,” the Rainbow Coalition says. “We recognize and celebrate our diversity together. We stand now with Pride in North Georgia and declare that we will now lead and never follow.”

The July 24 festival will take place in the parking lot of LeBuzz, with master of ceremonies Nicole Paige Brooks and DJs, bands and drag shows. The festivities then move inside LeBuzz for a dance party until 3 a.m.

— Laura Douglas-Brown

Community June 25, 2010

GA Voice

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June 25, 2010 Calendar

BEST BETS 06.25 - 07.09 Photo courtesy the Sylvia Rivera Law Project

SPOTLIGHT

Saturday, June 26 The Sylvia Rivera Stonewall Community Brunch — sponsored by Transgender Individuals Living Their Truth, the Juxtaposed Center for Transformation and the Atlanta Pride Committee — focuses on the contributions the transgender community has made to the LGBT civil rights movement. $5 suggested donation with proceeds going toward the 2010 Transgender Day of Remembrance and the 2011 Bayard Rustin-Audre Lorde Community Breakfast. 11:45 a.m.-1:45 p.m., Central Presbyterian Church, 201 Washington St. SW, Atlanta, GA 30303. www.atlantapride.org

There are two ways to add your events to our online and print calendars. Submit your info to www.theGAVoice.com or e-mail details to editor@theGAVoice.com.

The Atlanta Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce hosts its Fourth Friday Networking with special guests Appreciation Events and The Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center. Appreciation Events will offer discounted gift packages and The Hope Clinic will speak about a new study to evaluate the safety and potential efficacy of an HIV vaccine. $10 for members, $15 for non-members. 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m., No Mas! Cantina, 180 Walker St. SW (Castleberry Hill), Atlanta, GA 30313, www.atlantagaychamber.org The documentary “Stonewall Uprising,” part of Atlanta Pride’s Stonewall Week, opens and runs for one week. The movie chronicles the events and people surrounding the famous uprising at the New York bar. After the 7 p.m. showing, Out on Film and Atlanta Pride will have a sign-making party in advance of the June 26 “Be Visible, Make a Statement” rally and photo shoot at the state Capitol. Midtown Art Cinema, 931 Monroe Drive, Atlanta, GA 30308, landmarktheatres.com, atlantapride.org, outonfilm.org “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” comes to the New LeBuzz. Purchase tickets online for $5 at www. atlantalite.biz. Proceeds benefit AID Atlanta. 8 p.m., 585 Franklin Road, Marietta, GA, 30067, 770-424-1337, www.thenewlebuzz.com

Sunday, June 27

Gay favorite Dar Williams performs with special guest Sara Watkins. 8 p.m. Variety Playhouse, 1099 Euclid Ave. NE, Atlanta, GA 30307, www.variety-playhouse.com

MORE COMMUNITY EVENTS

www.theGAVoice.com

Looking for more events? Visit our website for our extensive daily calendar, including nightlife schedules and community organization meetings, provided by our friends at ProjectQAtlanta.com.

A “scaled down” Pride “Heaven Party” with the traditional sexy angels. Wear angel wings for special perks. $5 cover. White attire suggested. 9 p.m., Bellissima, 560 Amsterdam Ave. NE, Atlanta, GA 30306, www.myspace.com/bellissima_lounge

Thursday, July 1

The National AIDS Education & Services for Minorities Inc. and Forever Standing Entertainment LLC present a screening of “Epidemic Chronicles.” Filmed in Atlanta, the movie chronicles the lives of five African-American men from five major cities who contracted HIV from the same man. 6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. cocktail reception, movie viewing 7:30 p.m.-9 p.m. A Q&A with producer Lance Forrest follows the screening. Landmark Midtown Art Cinema, 931 Monroe Drive, Atlanta, GA 30308. theepidemicchronicles. moonfruit.com, www.naesm.org

The annual Atlanta Pride 5K Run/Walk, sponsored

by Front Runners Atlanta, at Piedmont Park. Race day registration $30. Proceeds benefit H.E.R.O. For Children. 8 a.m. Start line near the Aquatic Center. www.frontrunnersatlanta.org

“Be Visible, Make a Statement” rally and community art project at the State Capitol following Sylvia Rivera Stonewall Community Brunch. Dress for photographic project “that represents all our queer colors.” Pride photographers will capture the scenes and the results will be displayed at Atlanta Pride in October.

2 p.m.-3:30 p.m. 100 Washington St. SW, Atlanta, GA 30334, www.atlantapride.org

ADD YOUR EVENT

Friday, June 25

Saturday, June 26

Saturday, June 26

www.theGAVoice.com

The first East Side Pride picnic celebrates the LGBT community in Clarkston, Avondale, Tucker, Stone Mountain and other areas east of Atlanta. Bring items to grill and a side dish to share. 1-5 p.m. at Milam Park, Pavilion One, 3867 Norman Road, Clarkston, GA 30021, awhite@cityofclarkston.com The new Queer Justice League presents “Stonewall Pride: Picnic in the Park” to celebrate the date of the Stonewall riots. Bring your own food and beverages to share for a day of fellowship. Gather in meadow of Piedmont Park near Park Tavern.

3 p.m.-6 p.m., www.queerjusticeleague.net Join the Flaming Sugarbaker Sisters for “Stonewall, Sisters and Spirits!” $10 bottomless beer and raffles. 4 p.m.-8 p.m. F.R.O.G.S. Cantina, 931 Monroe Drive #A107, Atlanta, GA 30308, www.atlsisters.org

Photo via darwilliams.ning

GA Voice

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Photo via theepidemicchronicles.moonfruit.com

After the 7 p.m. showing of “Stonewall Uprising,” Out on Film hosts patrons and officials of the Atlanta Eagle to discuss the Sept. 10 raid on the bar by the Atlanta Police Department and draw parallels between what happened at Stonewall and themselves 40 years later. Midtown Art Cinema, 931 Monroe Drive, Atlanta, GA 30308, www.landmarktheatres.com, www.atlantapride.org, www.outonfilm.org, www.atlantaeagle.com

A Stonewall “Twist” party with DJ Duck spinning a mix of hip-hop, Top 40, and hot dance music. 9 p.m.

Bellissima, 560 Amsterdam Ave. NE, Atlanta, GA 30306, www.myspace.com/bellissima_lounge

The Brown Sugar Vibe’s “Sugar Shack Juke Joint” celebrates three years as well as the 25th anniversary of “The Color Purple.” Hosted by Lakara Foster. 8 p.m.-11 p.m., Kat’s Café, 970 Piedmont Ave., Atlanta, GA 30309. myspace.com/katscafeatlanta

Country trio Rascal Flatts brings its “Unstoppable” tour to Atlanta; the band drew gay fans with its song “Love Who You Love.” Lakewood Amphitheatre. 7:30 p.m. 2002 Lakewood Way, Atlanta, GA 30315, www.livenation.com

DJ Chris Griswold spins at the Atlanta Eagle. 10 p.m.

308 Ponce de Leon Ave., Atlanta, GA 30308. www. atlantaeagle.com

Sunday, June 27

Calendar Publicity photo

www.theGAVoice.com

Sunday, July 4

DJ Paulo returns to Atlanta to let freedom ring for the Fourth of July Weekend. Presented

by CARIOCA Productions and Chris Coleman Enterprises. Party starts at 10 p.m. at Club Q, a.k.a.

Legends, 181 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd. SW, Atlanta, GA 30312. chriscolemanenterprises.com

Monday, June 28

Scissor Sisters “Night Work” album release party. Hosted by Peep Peep of Le Sexoflex, Scissor party Sister videos playing on all the monitors, a sing-along and a Scissor Sisters set by DJ Dax! 9 p.m. with the new album being played at 10 p.m. Mary’s, 1287 Glenwood Ave., Atlanta, GA 30312, marysatlanta.com

Latin White Party featuring Cristina. 10 p.m.

Chaparral Nightclub, 2715 Buford Highway, Atlanta, GA 30324, www.chaparralalternativo.com

Friday, July 2-Sunday, July 4

Courtney Love brings her band, Hole, to Atlanta to spread the love. 8 p.m. The Tabernacle, 152 Luckie St. NW, Atlanta, GA 30303, 404-659-9022, tabernacleatl.com

Take a bite out of the Big Peach as the Hotlanta Softball League hosts its annual softball tournament with dozens of teams from Atlanta and the entire south participating. On Friday there will be the official Big Peach welcome and registration party from 6 p.m.-11 p.m. at Jungle, 2115 Faulkner Road, Atlanta, GA 30324. After party is at Heretic on Cheshire Bridge Road. On Saturday play begins with Blake’s on the Park serving as the official host bar, 227 10th St. NE, Atlanta, GA 30309. Games continue on Sunday with a closing party at Burkharts Pub, 1492 Piedmont Ave., NE, Atlanta, GA. Games played at Southside Softball Park, 3460 Jonesboro Road SE, Atlanta, GA 30354. www.hslbigpeach.com

Thursday, July 1

Saturday, July 3-Sunday, July 4

Tuesday, June 29

“Shakin’ the Mess Outta Misery,” a performance to benefit Charis Circle, includes a VIP wine and cheese reception for $60 with playwright Shay Youngblood. General admission tickets for $25. VIP reception at 6:30 p.m., show begins at 8 p.m. Horizon Theatre, 1083 Austin Ave., Atlanta, GA 30307, 404-5847450, www.horizontheatre.com, www.chariscircle.org

Wednesday, June 30

New York Times bestselling author of eight novels and Georgia resident Karin Slaughter reads from her book “Broken” in association with Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse. 7:15 p.m., Decatur Library, 215 Sycamore St., Decatur, GA 30030. outwritebooks.com

Friday, July 2

She’s not at The Palace, but she is in Atlanta.

Liza Minnelli performs with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. 8 p.m. Chastain Park Amphitheatre. 4469 Stella Drive, Atlanta, GA 30327(at the intersection of Powers Ferry Road and Stella Drive), www.classicchastain.com

Flux Deluxe returns for a special Fourth of July celebration. Dance all Saturday night with DJ Vicki Powell spinning the beats and then on Sunday enjoy a brunch with a rooftop pool party to follow to watch the fireworks. Special room rates available if you mention Flux by calling Bill Kaelin at 404-396-5750.

The Livingston, 659 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta, GA 30308, www.livingstonatlanta.com

CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

June 25, 2010

GA Voice

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Calendar

www.theGAVoice.com

GEORGIA EQUALITY

EVENING FOR EQUALITY THANKS:

HOST COMMITTEE as of June 18, 2010 Atlanta AIDS Partnership Barry Golivesky & Dan Bloom Beth Farokhi - for State School Superintendent Brian Basinger & Joshua Saunders Cathy Woolard & Karen Geney Charlie Frew Claiborne & Surmay, P.C. Committee to Elect Michael Rothenberg Councilman Alex Wan & Joe Bechely Councilwoman Carla Smith Drew Plant & Bill Golden Elena Parent for State House District 81 Fulton Co. Commission Chairman John Eaves Gail Buckner for Secretary of State Gail Cowie & Jean Spencer Glen Paul Freedman IMO Allen Thornell Graham Balch for State Senate Henry Scott Honorable Lisa M. Borders James Paulk Janet Smith & Susan Archie Jeff Cleghorn & Kevin Kirby Jeremy Burnette Joan Garner for Fulton Co. Commissioner Kathy Palumbo Ken Britt King & Spalding LLP Kyle Williams & Larry Kosten LeeAnn Jones & Becca Sherrill

Lisa Liang Michael Baker Mary Norwood for Fulton Co. Commission Mills for Secretary of State Paul Horning Rabbi Joshua Lesser & Shane Fountain Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan & David Morgan Rep. Karla Drenner Rep. Kathy B. Ashe Rep. Margaret Kaiser Rep. Rashad Taylor Rick Farmer & Lawrence Dietrich Ronald Moore Senator Vincent Fort Shelitha Robertson for Fulton Co. Superior Court Judge Sumner Riddick Tracy Elliott SPONSORS The Schapiro Group Making Projects Work, Inc. Michael Grover Walker Harper & Bill Thompson MEDIA SPONSORS Project Q Atlanta The GA Voice Fenuxe Magazine Creative Loafing Equally Wed Magazine

EVENTS

Publicity photo

GA Voice June 25, 2010

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29

Sunday, July 4

“Hedwig & the Angry Inch” is performed at the Spring4thCenter. Tickets are $10 and $15. Showtime is 7 p.m. with a Q&A to follow with the cast.

Spring4th Center, 728 Spring St. NW, Atlanta, GA 30308, www.spring4th.com Ladies at Play presents its Fourth of July Bash. $5 before 10 p.m., $10 after 10 p.m. Luxe Ultra Lounge (formely Enigma), 1100 Crescent Ave., Atlanta, GA 30309, www.vladiesatplay.com

Monday, July 5

Know when to fold ‘em. It’s Texas Hold ‘Em night at Woofs. 7:30 p.m.-10 p.m., 2425 Piedmont Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30324, www.woofsatlanta.com

Tuesday, July 6

The Atlanta Executive Network travels outside the perimeter for a Mix & Mingle at LeBuzz. 6:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m., 585 Franklin Road, Marietta, GA 30067, www.aen.org, www.thenewlebuzz.com

Wednesday, July 7

Debi Lowry, a.k.a. “Mama Deb,” reads and signs her book “Three Grim Fairy Tales and a Happy Ending.” All royalties from books sold will go to GLAAD, For the Kids and the CHRIS Kids Rainbow program.

7:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse, 991 Piedmont Ave., Atlanta, GA 30309, www.outwritebooks.com

Thursday, July 8

DJ Vicki Powell helms the turntables for Georgia Voice’s Best of Atlanta Awards party. A couple of complimentary drinks, other drink specials and hors d’ oeuvres are sure to get the party going. 6 p.m. - 10 p.m. at Aurum, 108 8th St., Atlanta, GA 30309. www.theGaVoice.com It’s the “New Way to Party and Play” every Thursday with Traxx and Traxx Girls.

No cover for those age 21 and older. For those younger, free before midnight, $7 after. Includes DJs, interactive video games, and the Computer Luv video game. 10 p.m.

Obsessions, 4525 Glenwood Road, Decatur, GA 30022, www.traxxatlanta.com

Friday, July 9

Saturday, July 3

DJ Susan Morabito of New York spins for Independence Weekend. Doors open at 10 p.m. $5 before 11 p.m., $10 after.

Jungle, 2115 Faulkner Road, Atlanta, GA 30324, www.jungleclubatlanta.com

UPCOMING Saturday, July 10

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgendered Seniors Advocacy of Georgia presents “Planning for Successful Aging.” Experts will be on hand to discuss legal protections, health and wellness and also housing and financial matters.

There will also be time for social networking. RSVP

by July 7 by calling 404-840-8050 or GAsage. org/contact.php. 2 p.m. - 4 p.m., The Phillip Rush Center, 1530 DeKalb Ave., Atlanta, GA 30307.

Saturday, July 24

Publicity photo

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Enjoy Happy Hour with Martina Diamante bartending every Friday at Bellissima.. 6 p.m.-9 p.m., 560 B Amsterdam Ave., Atlanta, GA 30306, www.myspace. com/bellissima_lounge, 404-917-0220, bellissima_info@comcast.net

Joining Hearts 23 brings summer in with a “Splash” with the annual party at the Piedmont Park pool and DJ Roland Belmares manning the tables.

100 percent of every dollar raised through ticket sales and tips is donated to the beneficiaries, AID Atlanta and Jerusalem House. Over the years, Joining Hearts has donated more than $1million to help provide a home for those living with HIV/AIDS in Atlanta.

Tickets now on sale: VIP are $150, general admission is $65. 4 p.m.-11 p.m. www.joininghearts.org

June 25, 2010

www.theGAVoice.com

GA Voice

50% off the first 3 months!*

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Emory/VaHi 404.888.9688

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1248 Zonolite Rd, Atlanta, GA 30306

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Wine storage at Midtown location FREE Truck Rental at Move-In!

Midtown/14th St. 404.733.1400 680 14th Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30318

Decatur 404.292.0606 2910 N. Decatur Rd, Decatur, GA 30033

Atlanta’s Choice for Self Storage www.spacemaxstorage.com

* Restrictions may apply.

YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD THE WORLD’S BEST RESEARCH AND CUTTING EDGE SCIENCE IS HERE IN ATLANTA.

LET’S MAKE HIV A THING OF THE PAST.

WE ARE SEEKING MEN WHO HAVE SEX WITH MEN BETWEEN 18 AND 45 YEARS OF AGE WHO DO NOT HAVE HIV TO JOIN IN OUR QUEST FOR A VACCINE TO COMBAT HIV. If eligible you will participate in a study to evaluate the safety and the potential efficacy of an HIV vaccine. The vaccine does not contain HIV. You will receive $75 per study visit for your time and travel expenses to the study location in Decatur, Georgia. This study is being conducted by Dr. Mark Mulligan of the Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center, located at 603 Church Street, Decatur, GA 30030.

WWW.HOPECLINIC.EMORY.EDU | VACCINE@EMORY.EDU HOPE…BE A PART OF IT. CALL 877-424-HOPE(4673) TO LEARN MORE.

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