March 7, 2018 :: Drag Issue

M A R CH 7, 2018 CO LO R A D O'S LG B TQ M AGA ZINE FREE

Saturday Church

Electra Dupri

Drag God Save The Queens

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CONTENTS MARCH 7, 2018 VOL41 NO30

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L’ESTRANGE MENAGERIE: BLURRING THE LINES BETWEEN BURLESQUE AND DRAG 8 CU BOULDER’S DRAG PRINCE EMBODIES TOXIC MASCULINITY 12 SOMETHING BORROWED: HOW YOUTUBERS SNATCH QUEER BLACK LANGUAGE 18 GOD SAVE THE QUEENS IS MERGING DENVER’S QUEER AND PUNK SCENES 22 DRAG HISTORY: TORCH SONG TRILOGY 24 THE ART OF THE RUPAUL AUDITION TAPE: ELECTRA DUPRI

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30 A CONVERSATION WITH DAMON CARDASIS ABOUT SATURDAY CHURCH

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40 HEINZESIGHT: UNCONVENTIONAL, NONTRADITIONAL, LOVING RELATIONSHIPS

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SERVING THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS SINCE 1976 PHONE 303-477-4000 FAX 303-325-2642 WEB OutFrontMagazine.com FACEBOOK /OutFrontColorado TWITTER @OutFrontCO INSTAGRAM /OutFrontColorado FOUNDER PHIL PRICE 1954-1993 ADMINISTRATION info@outfrontmagazine.com JERRY CUNNINGHAM Publisher J.C. MCDONALD Vice President MAGGIE PHILLIPS Operations Manager JEFF JACKSON SWAIM Chief Strategist EDITORIAL editorial@outfrontmagazine.com RYAN HOWE Editor ADDISON HERRON-WHEELER Associate Editor BRENT HEINZE Senior Columnist SARAH FARBMAN Copy Editor INTERNS: Arianna Balderamma, Kate Dooley, Madeline Espinoza WRITERS: Hannah Gartner, Caitlin Galiz-Rowe, David-Elijah Nahmod, Alysha Prieto ART art@outfrontmagazine.com DESIGN2PRO Graphic Designer CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS Charles Brohous, Mike Bomberger MARKETING + SALES marketing@outfrontmagazine.com HARRISON SCHAFFER Director of Sales & Marketing BRENNAN GALLAGHER Marketing Executive National Advertising Rivendell Media 212-242-6863 | sales@rivendellmedia.com

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By Addison Herron-Wheeler

L’ estrange Menagerie A

BLURRING THE LINES BETWEEN BURLESQUE AND DRAG

A typical Friday night in Denver offers all kinds of entertainment, from drag and strip shows to highbrow theatre, and all manner of concerts. To keep it competitive, you have to offer a little something unexpected. Clocktower Cabaret’s L’estrange Menagerie does that by keeping their repertoire diverse, inspired, and queer.

Some of their recurring performers include Brian the Circus Knight, a shirtless male juggler and circus performer; local drag queen and queen of weird Yvie Oddly; Tovio, a male performer who specializes in awkward 6 \\ M A R C H 7 , 2 0 1 8

stage presence and weird music; sexy hoop and rope artists; and a whole host of guest performers. The show is hosted and produced by the lovely Tatiana Tata, who not only looks great and can perform herself, but is expert at taking the crowd through the menagerie of weird artists.

“I’ve tried to incorporate more performers that are not regulars of the Clocktower, people you won’t necessarily see in a Thursday or Saturday show,” explained Tatiana, aka Adrienne Jadwinski. “I also feel I’ve brought more of the circus to the circus; I tried to hunt down and find

other performers who are performing circus in a different way. That is good for the Clocktower because it is a really intimate space. To see circus that close and personal isn’t something that happens very often. I also try and include a lot of performers from the community, including those from the drag community, those with theatre backgrounds, and just a wider variety in general.”

In addition to the recurring talent at L’estrange Menagerie, Jadwinski specifically seeks out drag and queer talent to include on her stage. Working for a while as a backup dancer at Tracks,

she made friends with many queens in the community, including Yvie Oddly, whose work she admires.

She also regularly gets out-of-town, queer-centric talent, such as Dottie Rot, a traveling burlesquer who does a lumberjack act. When Rot performed in Denver, she started out in drag, stripped down to a sexy lumberjackthemed burlesque getup, and kept on the mustache.

“I feel like it’s another platform that perhaps some of these performers may not in the past have gotten a chance to use,” Jadwinski explained. “I feel like the Clocktower has always been open to everyone, but I have been contacted a lot by queer performers. I think it’s a safe space, and it allows the brand and performance of queer people to get out to a different audience. The people who come out are maybe not necessarily people that would go to a drag show.”

Because of the straight and queer crossover of burlesque, and the Clocktower’s location on the Sixteenth Street Mall, which draws tourists, Jadwinski feels that the message of queer art and identity can truly be spread. The Clocktower Cabaret also makes sure to give back to their community with charitable donations.

“We work a lot with various groups around town,” explained Selene Arca, sales and marketing manager with Clocktower. “In addition to our regular shows, we very often collaborate with groups to do fundraisers, benefits, and launch parties. All this is done with the idea that we are supporting and uplifting the community. We do a huge drag bingo show, and it’s all to benefit the Rocky Mountain MS Center. We’ve done that night for 13 years, and we are also privately doing a performer clothing swap where we all clean out our closets, and then we choose different places to give our remainder too. This time we are working with Rainbow Ally.

They are going to get all of our costume stuff. So as much as we can, we aim to not only be inclusive, with lip service, but to walk the walk as well.”

Regardless of whether the audience or performers identify as LGBTQ or allies, it is important to the people at Clocktower that everyone feel’s safe

and accepted. Jadwinski hopes that seeing burlesque acts performed on stage will not only tantalize and turn on audiences, but also inspire them to be comfortable in their own skins.

“I’ve always admired people that just are living their best and true lives,” she explained. “So watching all of these people bare their souls and bodies and ideas onstage is great. I think really more than ever people just are latching onto that and loving that. Even if they don’t feel like it yet, I hope that eventually they will feel like they can do that for themselves. I also think that now more than ever is about embracing who you are and your body, and I think for that reason burlesque is physically appealing to everyone and inspiring.”

Although Jadwinski admits that it can be challenging to work in an arena where you are putting yourself out there, literally and physically, even when you don’t want to, she thinks the very act of baring all even when you’d rather shut down is important and sends a message.

“I think the thought of being open with your sexuality and embracinging who you are and what you are about and putting yourself out there is really important right now,” she said. “More and more people are feeling that power and taking it, and it looks really uplifting to have so many people on that stage that just go out there and bring it, no apologies.”

“We know that our place in society is trying to brighten up some of the crap that happens and also allow people to express themselves and be expressive,” added Arca. “We have so many people who will come to the show in full drag; outside of the cabaret they never dress in drag. We have employees who leave and move away and say they’ve never been able to feel the way they felt when they were here, and we try and share that with our audiences as much as with our artists.”

L’estrange Menagerie happens late night every Friday underneath the famous clocktower in downtown Denver.

Although a few of the usual suspects are hanging around every week, you can always catch new and exciting acts, many of them queer or queer adjacent.

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By Caitlin Galiz-Rowe

CU Boulder’s

Drag Prince EMBODIES TOXIC MASCULINITY

S

elena Wellington is a fourth year at CU Boulder studying music composition.

They’re also a young drag king looking to bring some new ideas to the medium and the scene.

Wellington first got into drag during a trip to New York, visiting a friend and mentor. They had drag on their radar since seeing the CU Boulder Drag show the previous year, but this was the real turning point.

Said mentor’s roommate was a drag queen, and soon, the three were reverse engineering techniques and trying out makeup to get Wellington looking like a king. While it didn’t look great,Wellington used

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the word “creepy,” it was still significant, as this was the day their drag character, Damian, was born.

Damian’s personality as an edgy, punk, hellboy became apparent pretty immediately. While riding the subway the next day, Wellington saw a Maya Angelou line that encompassed exactly who Damian was: “I in alarm wake as a rumor of war.” That line stuck with them and continues to be a vital part of Damian’s branding. He’s fiery, seductive, furious, fun, and somewhat toxically masculine. In a lot of ways, Damian embodies many of the traits Wellington doesn’t like to admit about themself.

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The first time Wellington performed as Damian was their sophomore year at CU Boulder in the annual drag show.

They did a number about corrupting their roommate (who was also in drag) to My Chemical Romance’s “Teenagers,” a perfect angsty song for Damian to make his debut to. This performance made Wellington realize something.

“As I was doing it, it felt more like a different part of myself, instead of a costume I was putting on.” Damian, Wellington realized, in a lot of ways was made up of exaggerated pieces of themself that they didn’t like. He became a healthier avenue for them to look at those pieces in a way they normally wouldn’t. As they got deeper into drag, it became more about creating a character, and less about masculinity over all.

Wellington realized they were getting into drag because they didn’t revere masculinity as much as they did femininity.

They were confused about what those words even meant, and the more they explored them, the more confused they became. As they put it, “Sometimes they’re a divine mystery to me, and sometimes they mean nothing to me.”

But when they started exploring drag, it was with an intent to investigate what a masculine side in them could look like. Before this, femininity, especially traditionally sexy femininity, had felt unachievable to Wellington. Doing drag allowed them to explore how fun it can be to inhabit stereotypical, sexy masculinity.

Wellington wants their drag to be challenging, both for themselves and others. “I want it to be experimental, and I want it to be challenging gender norms, rather than just reinforcing them.” The so-called toxicity Wellington sees in Damian is something they want to explore and challenge, but he’s about more than just that. Damian helps Wellington explore ideas about what it means to be destructive, or to be a rebel, especially in relation to how these things can be gifts or how they can be harmful.

“My mom takes in all kinds of strays,” Wellington said. “I showed them the video from the drag show I had done like a month earlier and my mom’s friend Drew said she knew someone in a drag king troupe and asked if I wanted her to hook me up.” They did want that hook up, and unbelievably soon (the show was a week away), they were attending rehearsals.

The show was a holiday song parody affair, which tasked Wellington with an eclectic shopping list.

“She told me I’d need Christmas boxers, knee-high Christmas socks, battery powered Christmas lights, and a reindeer banana hammock. I had to ask myself, ‘What am I getting into?'"

This performance wasn’t Damian so much as a “cute queer/ pan boy,” but Wellington still enjoyed performing.

Due to the demands of school, Wellington is no longer with Mile High Kingdom, but they gained a lot from their experience with the troupe. “Performing with other people where I wasn’t dictating the music or song choice sort of broadened not who Damian could be, but what my drag could be.” For now, they’ll be taking these lessons into more solo numbers, especially around CU’s campus.

Once college is over for them and the frenzy has died down, Wellington intends to seek out more opportunities. They’re interested in creating a forty-minute, two-person drag show with their roommate at some point and may even seek out another troupe wherever they end up. For now, if you’d like to see them perform, keep an eye on CU Boulder campus events like Sexpressions, or check out their social media accounts @itzjustdamian on Twitter, @itsjustdamian on Facebook, and @itsjustdamian69 on Instagram.

Damian has also helped Wellington with new aspects of their gender expression. At last year’s CU Drag Show, they sang live, something they had not done in drag previously. “That was really… vulnerable,” they told me, “I was like ‘I’m seven months on T; my voice is still dropping; it cracks all the time, and I just committed to singing live at this event.’ I don’t know that this was artistic expression so much as expression for me and expression for my voice.” Wellington feels that drag can provide opportunities for expression like this to other gender non-conforming or non-binary people. “It’s not just cis people putting on the opposite gender, or what have you.”

After their first performance, Wellington knew they wanted to do drag more than once a year, so they began seeking out other opportunities.

There weren’t many in Boulder, but they were able to finally find one with the drag king troupe Mile High Kingdom. It all started at Thanksgiving dinner in 2016.

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Selena Wellington as Damian

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By Alysha Prieto

Something Borrowed HOW YOUTUBERS SNATCH QUEER LANGUAGE

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ype “makeup tutorial” into YouTube’s search bar and a barrage of images appears on the screen.

Beauty gurus of all shapes, sizes, colors, and ages use the platform to showcase their contour and highlight skills. While technique and products may vary, playful banter remains a common thread throughout the videos.

Beauty industry jargon affords content creators an air of professionalism, and oftentimes a censored curse word and borrowed queer slang offer personality.

“We use language to create identity. We do that on a

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cultural basis and we do that on an individual basis.

I would say our use of language is perhaps one of the most, if not the most, important tool,” said Dr. Andrew Pantos, sociolinguist and professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Borrowing of slang is a natural function of language that occurs across cultures. Dr. Pantos attributes higher visibility as a factor in a new word’s range and longevity. The more mainstream the crowd, the increased frequency of access and context that their lingo has with the rest of the world.

From RuPaul’s original Viva Glam MAC campaign in 1994, and its reincarnation in 2013, the relationship between the LGBTQ community and the beauty community is a close one.

Variations of queer black slang can be found in tutorials; terms like “beat” and “slayed” litter the typically two-to-20minute video lessons. A notable current word is “snatched.”

Urban Dictionary defines “snatched” as “a popular term in the gay community referring to good looks, fierceness, or something good.” #Snatched has over 350, 000 accompanying posts on Instagram. Beauty gurus recycling of the word is very similar to this definition, but is most often used in videos when referring to contouring. You can have a snatched nose, snatched cheekbones, or even a snatched forehead.

It is an innocent enough statement when a guru like Christen Domonique proclaims to 1.5 million viewers that she wants her cheekbones “snatched like an alien.” Still, it is important to know when the catchy words that we love and use come from marginalized folks. Not only does this knowledge open the door to a larger conversation and audience, it also presents the opportunity to properly credit.

Mileena Lové (aka Jaime Mejia) has been performing drag in Colorado for a year and six months, and last year was included in Westword’s “Meet 2017’s Thirteen Freshest Faces of Denver Drag” roundup.

“I have a strong connection with the beauty community.

Makeup and cosmetics are so interesting to me and how one can change their appearance with a flick of a brush,” Lové said.

That connection includes a YouTube channel under the username Mileena Lové. The channel currently focuses on performances at Charlie’s, but Lové hopes to expand it into the beauty realm as well. She hopes to use tutorials as a means to inspire and teach in the same way that she has been inspired and educated during her journey as an entertainer.

Currently, Lové feels that the LGBTQ community is “heavily represented” on the platform as a whole, but not necessarily drag queens. She would also like to see more representation of the drag community in the mainstream beauty community with brands like Tarte and Too Faced.

Being a member of the drag community, Lové believes there is a very fine line between borrowing and appropriating. She uses the example of wearing braids during a performance when impersonating an African American artist. In relation to cis YouTube beauty gurus using LGBTQ slang, though, Lové finds it more helpful than harmful.

“Oh honey, I live for that. If we can get any sort of representation in any community it will help us come together more,” she said.

With more than 300 hours of content uploaded every day and viewing hours sitting well over a billion, YouTube’s reach is just as far and possibly more direct than that of traditional media. With that kind of power, criticisms of the platform and its content feels appropriate.

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By Addison Herron-Wheeler

God Save the Queens IS MERGING DENVER’S QUEER AND PUNK SCENES

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L

ights are low, The Damned is blaring through the speakers, and folks, dressed mainly in black or denim, grab drinks from the bar, talk, and flirt. This may not sound like the setup for your typical LGBTQ night out, but if Jeremy Noveli and Scott E.Myers, aka Scott Toxsin, have their way, it’s going to be one of the many options for queer fun in the Mile High City.

God Save the Queens was born when the two creators met at Tracks and got into a conversation about how, although Denver has an amazing queer scene and underground music scene, the two don’t intersect as often as they do in other cities.

They decided to try a DJ night catering more to goth and punk music than to the mainstream fare played in a lot of the city’s queer bars. After trying out another venue at first, Noveli and Toxsin landed on a location, Hi-Dive, a venue that already represents the perfect mix of underground punk and metal culture and queer, safe-space sensibilities. Although the two have only only held the night a couple of times so far, the response has already been more than enthusiastic.

“There were a couple of people who came up to us and were like, ‘There is a real need for this, a hunger for it,’” explained Toxsin. “If I wasn’t doing it I would hunger for it, which is why it is happening. There were moments when I would play a song and someone at the bar would turn around and be like ‘Yaaaas!’ and there were a couple occasions where someone came up and said ‘What is this?’ and I totally welcome that.”

Truly, welcoming is what God Save the Queens is all about. The two are not strangers to never quite feeling welcome, stuck at the intersection of their two identities. Many queer fans of underground music are familiar with this, as are people of color, women, and other minorities who find themselves in underground spaces. While many of these subgenres and subcultures seek to be inclusive and affirming, they are still dominated in most cases by straight, white men.

Similarly, many queer spaces cater mainly to the fit, white, and male sectors of the LGBTQ community, the illusive myth of the beautiful twink and the sexy muscle daddy. Women, bi+, and gender-non-conforming folks often get totally left out of the equation. For this reason, it is especially important to Toxsin and Noveli to create a space that is open to all and affirms more than just a basic queer identity, while also inviting in anyone who feels a connection to the music, not just die-hard fans.

“I think it’s especially important in the context of punk and the queer scene being so masculinist to play Riot Grrrl,” Toxsin said, referring to the female-led punk movement that mostly boomed in the 90s. “I want to make it a space not just for certain types of gay men, like other queer places cater to, especially because in the last ten years women’s queer bars are shutting down all over the country. I think it’s really important to both of us to make it a space that is welcoming of gender diversity.”

In addition to welcoming all genders and identities, God Save the Queens opens itself up to be a space where drag is welcome, since Noveli almost always DJs in drag.

“I’ve always dressed in a feminine way, but I didn’t know that the label ‘drag queen’ fit because I wasn’t involved in that community yet,” explained Noveli, who goes by Noveli instead of Jeremy when in drag. “But once I was involved in the community and saw other people that were doing things a little darker, more alternative, I took on the label for myself. But for me, it is kind of fluid, so I don’t see my drag character as a separate persona. It’s kind of me with different clothes, an extension of who I am.”

Drawing inspiration from 80s death rock and punk looks, especially Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Noveli developed into a badass, glam diva who looks the part whenever she performs and isn’t afraid to get political with her drag.

“The first lip sync I ever did was ‘Night Shift’ by Siouxsie and the Banshees. I brought my underground influences to drag. I also did The Plasmatics,” she explained, referring to the punk band fronted by Wendy O. Williams, infamous for smashing things and flaunting her sexuality on stage. “I did a number where I did the Wendy O. and sledgehammered an iMac to protest the tech boom in California. Luckily, it was one that was no longer functional, but it served a visual purpose.”

Together, Noveli with her drag persona and goth rock catalogue, and Toxsin by playing more straightforward punk, the two are conjuring up a night that invites in all the freaks and weirdos, checks judgement at the door, and cultivates an atmosphere that is all about the music and the community.

“I think it’s a very relaxed space,” said Noveli, speaking of their previous nights. “We had such a wide range of people there, and we encourage people to come dressed up or dressed down. That’s something both of us are interested in creating in Denver. We both lived in cities that had more events that catered to this intersection and we kind of want to cultivate it here in Denver. If our last event is any indication, then it’s ready to happen.”

God Save the Queens takes over Hi-Dive on the last Monday of every month. If you are looking for a place to be yourself and also hear some unusual tunes, look no further.

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by David-Elijah Nahmod

Drag History B

Torch Song Trilogy

efore RuPaul there was Harvey Fierstein.

Fierstein is possibly the first out, gay actor to achieve major success in Hollywood and on the stage. He has appeared in numerous films, most notably in the science fiction classic Independence Day, and as Robin Williams' brother in Mrs. Doubtfire. He has also worked extensively on Broadway, where he won several Tony Awards.

In 1988, Fierstein was the top-billed star of Torch Song Trilogy, a groundbreaking film that was years ahead of its time. Torch Song Trilogy tells the story of Arnold Beckoff, a professional drag queen who was determined to find love and start a family.

The film was adapted by Fierstein from his own play, which had been a success on the New York stage a decade earlier.

Torch Song Trilogy is divided into three parts. In the first, Arnold enters into a relationship with Ed, a bisexual schoolteacher (Brian Kerwin). They fall in love, but Ed is uncomfortable with his sexuality and leaves Arnold to live with a woman.

his career as a drag queen, and the two have a long-overdue confrontation. In the film's most powerful scene, Arnold tells his mother that he loves her, but he also informs her that if she doesn't accept his life choices, he will cut her out of his life.

Viewers watching Torch Song Trilogy today might not understand how ahead of its time the film was upon its initial release in 1988. Moviegoers of that era had never before seen a character like Arnold Beckoff, who didn't care who knew that he was gay or that he made his living dressing in drag and performing in clubs. Arnold accepted who he was with a matter-of-fact pride and demanded the same of everyone else. Arnold, and Fierstein, were what gay audiences had been waiting for. In 1988, the AIDS crisis was at its worst and the LGBTQ community was being vilified by religious and political leaders. Gay rights laws had yet to be passed, and so in Torch Song, queer audiences finally had the chance to see a positive portrayal of a gay man's life.

In the film's second section, Arnold meets Alan (Matthew Broderick), a handsome model. They move in together, but their relationship is tested when Ed and his girlfriend come into their lives. Their relationship survives, and they make plans to adopt a child together. Then tragedy strikes; Alan is killed in a brutal gay-bashing.

The performances are wonderful. Fierstein beautifully captures who Arnold is, just a simple guy who is looking for love. Anne Bancroft, an Oscar-winning actress now best remembered as the seductive Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate (1967), is equally fine as Mrs. Beckoff, a mother who genuinely loves her son; she just doesn't understand his life choices. But when faced with the possibility of losing Arnold, she tries to open her mind.

In the final section, Arnold has adopted David (Eddie Castrodad), a gay teenager. Arnold's mother (Anne Bancroft) visits from Florida. Mom has never accepted Arnold's homosexuality, or

It would be easy to dismiss Torch Song Trilogy as a relic from another era. Don't. The film's story is as fresh now as it was when the film was first released.

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The Art of the RuPaul Audition Tape

Electra Dupri

By Addison Herron-Wheeler

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A

lmost every drag queen dreams of making it onto RuPaul’s Drag Race and having her moment in the spotlight, even if it ends in tears thanks to Mother Ru herself. Local drag queen Electra Dupri, also known by street name Bailey Schroepfer, is determined to have that moment and actually willing to put in the work to get it.

“I started in 2006, about 12 years ago,” Dupri said of her drag beginnings. “I had just graduated high school, and I went up to Minneapolis to a gay bar. I had never expected to do drag or had any knowledge of the drag community or world, but I was a dance student and in theatre and loved to entertain, so the first thing I did when I got to that club was go to the drag show.”

Dupri was literally scouted out the very first time she went to see a show. Thinking she was a cis female at first, the queens pulled her on stage. When they realized she was a young gay boy instead, they immediately advised her to try out for the amatuer competition.

“I said ‘I can dance and have a costume but don’t know makeup,’” she claimed. “They did my makeup the next night, and I borrowed my sister’s dance costume and won the competition doing ‘Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend.’ It got me a spot in their main show.”

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She continued to develop her drag act in Chicago, where she went to college, and now here in Denver. Recently, Dupri became a regular at Charlie’s and now hosts the Electra Dupri’s Femmebots show every Saturday at 11 p.m. This is a big step for her career, because the last time she auditioned for Drag Race, she was instructed to work on her hosting skills. She has been auditioning for Drag Race almost every year, getting closer every time.

“In the past they would fill all but one of their spots with audition tapes and one spot was granted from an online fan contest. So for Season 2, I tried to audition through the fan contest,” Dupri explained. “They narrowed it down to the top 500, 50, 25, 10, and I made it into the top 10 and fell off.

During Season 8, I opted again to do the online contest; there was a fan pole online and I was third place, but I was kind of happy because if I had gotten on during those seasons I don’t think my stage presence was ready.”

Last April, she again auditioned, this time by sending in a video, as there was no longer an option for an online fan contest.

Dupri had to do a question and answer portion, display some looks and explain how she creates them, lip sync to a RuPaul song, lip sync to a song of her choice, film an acting challenge, complete a crafting challenge, and then upload the video online to be reviewed.

“I think last year my tape got viewed a total of five times, and afterwards they reach out to you with a couple phone calls and a psych evaluation,” she said. “I was fortunate to get one call and it stopped, so that was probably the absolutely closest I got, and they told me moving forward after that they wanted to see me work on my hosting skills and my online following. So I’ve tried to be a little more present on social media and interact with online fans, and I’ve been fortunate enough to land the show at Charlie’s.”

With all of this under her belt, Dupri is a lot more likely to end up on Drag Race. Her ultimate goal is to at least make it onto the show, and preferably to the top five. But she isn’t so blinded by a desire to make it in TV land that she isn’t focusing on the rest of her career.

Dupri is making these moves to enhance her drag presence in general, and she appreciates the local drag scene and the positive politics that go along with it.

“I think the good thing about Denver is a lot of people have moved here from different cities,” she explained. “The drag is a melting pot now. A few years ago it might have just been pageant, campy, but now you’ve got so many aesthetics; it’s kind of more of a spectrum; you’ve got 2 6 \\ M A R C H 7 , 2 0 1 8

androgyny drag, girls who aren’t shaving their body hair, and I think that’s fantastic, so the drag scene in Denver is really waking up. You find a couple different circles of girls but they are all challenging each other; a lot of dialogues start on social media, expectations of drag and what is acceptable, what is not acceptable to perform. A lot of people think drag should be fun and not political, but drag queens have been in politics since Stonewall, so I think it’s a great platform. As queens we have a suit of armour we get to wear and we get to challenge uncomfortable topics. I see that here and like it; we are growing, expanding.”

Catch Electra Dupri every Saturday at Charlie’s, and look out for other cameo appearances across the city, and, if she has her way, by the side of RuPaul herself.

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By Hannah Gartner

A CONVERSATION WITH DAMON CARDASIS ABOUT

Saturday Church S

aturday Church (2018) opens with a funeral. Ulysses, played by Luka Kain, is mourning the death of his father. For any fourteen-year-old, losing a parent is a harrowing and lifechanging event, but for Ulysses, the trauma is compounded by his internal struggle with his own sexuality and gender identity.

In this film, first time writer-director Damon Cardasis paints a picture of a life full of complexity.

Ulysses is experiencing the trials of youth that most

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of us can identify with; he is bullied; he falls in love, and he struggles to connect with and be accepted by his family. However, as a gay, and possibly trans, person of color, he is also experiencing things that only marginalized people understand.

The interwoven nature of all the problems that Ulysses faces works to move us away from the caricatured version of trans life often portrayed in the media, to a tender and complex understanding.

The movie gives voice to those in this community while it prompts empathy in those outside of it.

Ulysses lives with his mother, Amara, played by Margot Bingham, and brother, Abe, played by Jaylin Fletcher, both of whom love him deeply yet struggle to come to terms with his sexuality. To help his mother after the death of his father, Ulysses’ conservative Aunt Rose, played by Regina Taylor, also begins to spend a lot of time with the boys. While Amara and Abe are clearly confused and seemingly burdened by Ulysses’ effeminate disposition, Aunt Rose is outright hateful. She threatens him, and when he is caught with high heels in his closet, prompts him to run away.

This tumultuous home life is juxtaposed with the new world Ulysses discovers when he starts attending Saturday Church, a program for at-risk LGBTQ youth based on a real program at St. Luke in the Fields, a Manhattan-based Episcopal church. He meets people like himself, discovers Ball Culture and voguing, and begins to build greater confidence.

The drama of Saturday Church is punctuated by musical and dance numbers that work to enhance both the sense of an adolescent dreamland and to bring positivity to difficult, and sometimes dark, subject matter. This is fitting, because this story is, in the end, a happy one. It is a celebration of coming-of-age, of self-discovery, and of personal expression on one’s own terms.

To find out more about what motivated the creation of Saturday Church, how the movie was made, and how it is being received, OUT FRONT had the pleasure of speaking with Damon Cardasis himself.

WHY DO YOU THINK THIS PARTICULAR COMING-OF-AGE STORY WAS SO IMPORTANT TO TELL? It’s important to tell diverse stories and stories of people that are marginalized, stories that are not seen on film or on TV. My mother’s a priest and I’m a gay male, so religion and sexuality were always in my life, although my mother is a very progressive and liberal priest. She introduced me to the program at St. Luke in the Fields. It was through [volunteering at] the program that I started meeting the kids and hearing their stories. I was so inspired by them. They had gone through so many horrific things, yet they found strength, creativity, and a way to persevere. So that’s why I was inspired to tell the story.

HOW DID YOU ENSURE AUTHENTICITY IN THE TELLING OF THIS STORY? Well first and foremost, that came from the cast. We cast from within the community. It was difficult in terms of financing, because when you go to finance a film everyone wants to know what celebrity is in the film, but it was the right way to do it.

So [authenticity was ensured through] casting a lot of the kids who had also been to the program, and then it was also on me as a writer and director. In this situation my role was also sort of that of a student. I was very interested in it being a collaborative process with people from within the community, so I sent the script to Lee Soulja, who is the executive director of Black Pride, and then people from the Ball world. I had GLAD read it and I had Kate Borstein, a cast member and prominent gender-rights activist, read it, And then also, [to] the kids that are cast in it, I’d always say ‘If anything rings false let me know.’

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WHAT KIND OF FEEDBACK DID YOU GET FROM THE CAST MEMBERS? It’s been incredible. Everyone has been super supportive and excited. One of the kids reunited with her mother over the film.

Many of them have said that they felt that it was their story being told, and it was the first time they’d seen themselves on screen. I’ve been getting tweets and Instagram messages from people from all over the world saying that it’s incredible to see themselves and their story being told. [This] was the most important thing to me, making sure the community felt that [Saturday Church] was telling their story accurately.

SATURDAY CHURCH INCORPORATES MUSICAL NUMBERS AND MAGICAL REALISM, WHICH LEND IT A SENSE OF WHIMSY. WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO MAKE THESE ARTISTIC CHOICES? I always knew when writing the script that there would be an element of magical realism; it was just trying to figure out how it would manifest itself. Then, when I was volunteering at the program [at St. Luke in the Fields], there was a cafeteria where the kids were getting social services and where they would eat. Adjacent to the cafeteria was a gymnasium, and it was interesting to me that when they were getting counselling, [a lot of the kids] would talk about these horrific and traumatic events in their lives, and then they would go into the gymnasium and there would be time to hang out, and a lot of the time the kids would dance or preform or vogue.

It was seeing the two rooms next to each other and seeing the freedom and empowerment that the kids had while they were performing that let [Saturday Church] become a musical in my mind.

FOR MY LAST QUESTION, I WAS GOING TO ASK WHAT SORT OF REACTION SATURDAY CHURCH HAS HAD FROM THE COMMUNITY THAT IT IS ABOUT. HOWEVER, YOU’VE ALREADY 3 2 \\ M A R C H 7 , 2 0 1 8

ANSWERED THAT. SO INSTEAD CAN YOU SPEAK TO THE REACTION OF THE LARGER LGBTQ COMMUNITY AND THE ALLY COMMUNITY? Well, like I said, the Ball community and the community it represents have been extremely supportive, whether it is Lee Soulja telling everyone they should go, or people from different [Ball] houses saying how accurate it was and how it represented the community sensitively.

But it has also been interesting to see that there are a lot of gay guys that I think realized that even though we are all part of the LGBTQ family, not everybody is interacting the way they should. I think people just assume that we’re all in the same boat, but a trans person of color has a very different experience than I do as a gay, white male. I think it is important to be aware of each other’s struggles. [For example], gay marriage is very important for maybe gay men and women, but trans people and trans people of color are still [just] trying to survive a lot of the time and not be fired from jobs solely based on the fact that they are trans. A friend of mine who’s a gay man was so upset when he saw the movie [because] it dawned on him that he had not been as active in the [trans] community as he should have been. He actually gave the price of a movie ticket to a charity that helps trans youth.

Within the straight community, too, the movie [has also gotten an amazing response]. Mothers are really bonding to it. I think the relationship between [Ulysses] and his mother is really something that touches them. It has also been really nice to hear that from the straight allies, [including] straight, white men, who have said they went into this film not knowing how much it would touch them.

I like that [Saturday Church] has had more of a universal appeal. I always say that it’s a human story first and foremost.

If you know what it’s like to fall in love, to be bullied, or to feel alone, you relate to it in a human way.

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Spirituality, Gender, and Sexuality Jonalyn Blaha, Psy.D. It’s possible for someone to discover themselves beyond and outside of the heteronormative binary views of gender and sexuality society has placed on all of us in in the context of a spiritual awakening.

For example, one who experiences a spiritual awakening may no longer have the same heteronormative views they had previously and may find themselves sexually and romantically attracted to all genders. The previous “filters” that once limited normal awareness are now “awake” to different ways of being in the world. No longer does the individual believe that sexual or romantic attraction ought to be limited in the same ways society limits them.

BATTLE OF THE REIGNS The Imperial Court of the Rocky Mountain Empire held the Duke and Dutchess Showcase Battle of the Reigns at Gladys: The Nosey Neighbor on February 17. Proceeds from the event, hosted by Karl Wesley and La La Shearz, benefit the National LGBTQ Task Force.

Photos by Charles Broshous

One can awaken to the idea that each person holds both feminine and masculine qualities. The psyche contains both the feminine and the masculine and is inherently androgynous although, generally speaking, a personality naturally takes on the gender role one is born into. Each male has female aspects and each female has male aspects. This can be confusing when one is awakening to the idea that they no longer fit the stereotypical gender roles society has placed on them. It’s helpful to view gender as complimentary instead of opposites.

This way, you can be whoever and whatever you want at any given time.

How have your experiences lead you to discovering yourself outside and beyond heteronormative binary views of gender and sexuality? In psychotherapy, we can explore ways in which you can awaken to new ways of being in the world you find yourself in.

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OUTREACH

QUEER-FRIENDLY HEALTHCARE FOR INFO ON PLACING AN OUTREACH AD

303-477-4000

The Trevor Project............................... 866-488-7386 Suicide Prevention Lifeline...............800-273-8255 Lis’n Crisis Hotline................................ 303-860-1200

MARKETING@OUTFRONTONLINE.COM

My name is Joseph Boyle. I’m a 27 year-old gay man, with a master’s in counseling, and I fell in love with a married couple. Don’t worry, I’m going to gloss over the melodramatic retelling of 50 Shades of Gay and jump straight to point.

When I was younger I remember thinking that my mid-twenty’s self would have it so much more together than I do now. I’d be more confident, more reassured, and far less awkward and stupid. And yet, here I am. Still awkward, and goofy, and apparently have a knack for falling for two men, even when I can’t make it work with one.

What this crazy ordeal taught me is, you have to love the part of you that will lead you into making some of the dumbest decisions of your life. Loving yourself, even through the bad stuff, is what makes redemption, forgiveness, and most of all, moving on, that much more possible. We are human. We’re flawed, messy, temperamental, and (if you’re anything like me) have the tendency to have just one more shot of tequila, when you didn’t need the two before it.

I hope the next time you stumble, that you are kind to yourself. That you are able to take the bumpy, ugly, road less traveled, and come back from it better for doing so. Risk. Fall short. Fail, miserably, and then dust yourself off and begin again. After all, a wise man once said, “failure leads to success."

Joe Boyle, MA Denver Element Program Coordinator

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HeinzeSight M

UNCONVENTIONAL, NON-TRADITIONAL, LOVING RELATIONSHIPS

any of us are in love with the concept of love. When we experience it, the world is a happy place full of hope, enjoyment, and a seemingly endless supply of magical moments. When it is lacking, we may feel that we are walking through a grey, dreary fog where things feel overwhelmingly gloomy. In a world of diversity, we should feel confident in our ability to pursue whatever kind of loving relationship feels right. The first steps are to figure out what type works for us and who we want to create it with. As with most things, it’s important to be true to ourselves and have strength in our convictions so we can communicate our desires and intentions honestly and clearly.

Hopefully we will have opportunities to meet those individuals that share our common beliefs, desires, and hopes for the future.

The queer world has had a long history of challenging societal rules and pushing the boundaries of what is considered acceptable. We have creatively and passionately accomplished these changes legally, emotionally, and sexually by being vanguards in a world frequently defined by firm rules and expectations.

We often break away from the normal, and in many ways, we don’t feel that it is important to conform to standards we were taught growing up. Although it may take time and effort to figure out what interests and fulfills us, we have the ability and ultimately the personal responsibility to create a remarkable life full of happiness and excitement, as well as some amazing memories and connections.

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Although none of us are bound by conventional ways of doing anything, one of the topics that continues to cause heated discussions within and outside of our community is the variety of configurations that can exist within committed relationships. Everyone has their own perspectives about and experiences of what works for them, and everyone has their own views about how structures of relationships can affect our queer culture and the society at large.

thinking about creating conventional relationships when we first come out. Most of us are raised with a set of standards about the “proper” ways to do many things. Traditions in relationships have been passed down throughout our shared history.

These have been influenced by legal, religious, ethical, and sociological thought, but rarely were we encouraged to break out of conventional ways of thinking about how relationships can be structured.

Some feel that a single, monogamous relationship provides the most emotional stability and reinforces the idea that queer relationships are more legitimate if they’re traditional. Others choose to pursue a more non-traditional route to find love.

This may be accomplished by finding connection with more than one other person for love, lust, or both.

Our society is often based on fitting in and going with the popular opinions that help us gain friendships and can keep us from feeling strange and isolated. It starts with our families, continues in school, and can progress throughout our lives.

However, growing up queer innately comes with its own set of challenges to fitting in.

Discussions about these types of perspectives do not need to be about trying to sway anyone’s decision to pursue a specific type of dynamic, promoting open relationships, or criticizing nonmonogamous partnerships. It’s about encouraging effective connections and offering suggestions on how to make them more fulfilling, hotter, and longer-lasting.

Most of us know we are fundamentally different but are not exactly sure how or why. As we hopefully grow into feeling comfortable with ourselves, we can benefit from evaluating how to redefine many elements of our lives to ensure we are making choices that feel right for us. These often include how we create family and relationships.

Thankfully, we do not live in a single-option culture and have the freedom to choose.

I don’t honestly feel there is a single type of bonding that is more viable or has a higher rate of success than any other. It truly is about what works for each individual. It doesn’t matter if you are in a monogamous, open, polyamorous, or non-sexual dynamic with your partner or partners. A good relationship is a good relationship. It all depends on how each person defines their own happiness and success.

Having a pre-existing model can be helpful in creating a strong initial foundation for relationships, but many of us want to make modifications to this plan so we can cultivate opportunities that are exciting and stimulating. It can be overwhelming to know we can generate whatever formulation of relationships we want, and it takes time and effort to evaluate what we truly feel is the best course of action for us.

Strangely enough, the variety of types of relationships is frequently a subject for heated conversations. Those forms that may be considered more “unorthodox” by some in our society often are the topic of debate, concern, and even judgement or ridicule. Critical individuals are not interested in pursuing these types of interactions, but feel that their perception and knowledge of ethics, human sexuality, and relationship dynamics somehow gives them insight into what type is most effective and morally acceptable within our society.

We are only bound by what we personally believe qualities of healthy relationships to be. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with pursuing a relationship that challenges societal norms or goes along with traditional structures. Either is acceptable, and in queer society, it’s not unusual to opt for an unconventional relationship. However, unconventional thinking has happened often throughout our shared history. Our queer culture has rarely been described as “going with the flow.”

In so many ways, we have been at the forefront of social change, not conforming to the status quo.

Some discussions focus on the importance of LGBTQ individuals fitting into conventional relationship formations to continue gaining support for equality in our society. Thankfully, there is a strong group of progressive thinkers that don’t feel that conforming to any set of predetermined standards is required within our society to feel validated or be a meaningful contributor to our culture.

It’s understandable why many of us start out

Getting creative in relationships promotes new ways of thinking about how to connect with others.

Sometimes compatibility with how we spend our free time or plan for the future is less important than the types of sex we have within a relationship.

Occasionally, other pursuits are more important than sex. It truly is about what aspects of building a life together make us feel incredible. We can create a life we love, living with whomever we choose.

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BOYZ NIGHT OUT A throng of hot n' ready men took to the stage, and the pole, at Boyztown to heat up the cold night on February 24.

Shows happen weekly at 10 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday Photos by Charles Broshous To see what's going on this weekend, check out OutFrontMagazine.com/events

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BAR TAB | THE HOTTEST COLORADO NIGHTLIFE

BOYZTOWN

117 Broadway St, Denver (303) 722-7373 boyztowndenver.com

CHARLIE'S® NIGHTCLUB

900 E. Colfax Ave, Denver (303) 839-8890 charliesdenver.com THU: 2-4-1 drinks 7 pm – closing FRI: Neon Party SAT: Shirts Off-Half Off! SUN: 3-4-1 drinks 4 – 8 pm Kai Lee’s KiKi at 9 pm

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OUTBACK CLASSIFIEDS | ENVISIONED BY BOBERTO

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