June 20, 2018 :: Colorful Colorado

C O LO R A D O ' S LG B TQ M AG A Z I N E FREE

COSTA RICA ARMCHAIR TRAVELS

‘LEGAL IMMIGRANT’ ALAN CUMMING

Colorful

Colorado

Denver’s HyperQueens

We’re Here for Sairo Rao

Inside The Black Triangle

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CONTENTS JUNE 20, 2018 VOL42 NO6

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7 SAIRA RAO WANTS TO SHAKE UP CONGRESS, AND WE’RE HERE FOR IT 12 SIX ADVENTUROUS EVENTS TO GO TO IN COLORADO THIS SUMMER 16 POET ALICIA MOUNTAIN CLIMBS TO NEW HEIGHTS WITH HIGH GROUND COWARD 20 RACHAEL ZIMMERMAN TRANSPORTS US INSIDE THE BLACK TRIANGLE 28 HYPERQUEENS ARE CHANGING THE DENVER SCENE 32 BISHOPS CUTS/COLOR ARE DYING THE TOWN RAINBOW

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36 VIP PRIDE 46

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DUELING WITH DEPRESSION: TAKE THE NEXT EXIT

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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 INTERNS: Arianna Balderamma, Susie Salce, Sid Pasquino WRITERS: Hannah Gartner, Alysha Prieto ART art@outfrontmagazine.com DESIGN2PRO Graphic Designer COVER: Photography by Reilly Elizabeth Models: Her? and Bambi Ballgag CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS Charles Broshous, Brian Degenfelder MARKETING + SALES marketing@outfrontmagazine.com HARRISON SCHAFFER Director of Sales & Marketing BRENNAN GALLAGHER Marketing Executive QUINCEY ROISUM Marketing Executive National Advertising Rivendell Media 212-242-6863 | sales@rivendellmedia.com

DISTRIBUTION OUT FRONT’s print publication is available semi-monthly, free of charge, one copy per person.

Additional copies of OUT FRONT may be purchased for $3.95 each, payable in advance at OUT FRONT offices located at 3535 Walnut Street, Denver CO, 80205. OUT FRONT is delivered only to authorized distributors. No person may, without prior written permission of OUT FRONT, take more than one copy of OUT FRONT. Any person who takes more than one copy may be held liable for theft, including but not limited to civil damages and or criminal prosecution.

COPYRIGHT & LIMIT OF LIABILITY Reproduction of editorial, photographic or advertising content without written consent of the publisher is strictly prohibited. Advertisers are responsible for securing rights to any copyrighted material within their advertisements. Publisher assumes no responsibility for the claims of advertisers and reserves the right to reject any advertising. Publication of the name or photograph of any person or organization in articles or advertising is not to be considered an indication of the sexual orientation or HIV status of such person or organization. Publisher assumes no responsibility for the loss or damage of materials submitted. OPINIONS EXPRESSED are not necessarily those of OUT FRONT, its staff, or advertisers.

RESERVATION OF RIGHTS Q Publishing Group, LTD is the owner of all right, title, and interest in the OUT FRONT brand and logo. No person or entity may reproduce or use (or authorize the reproduction or use of) the OUT FRONT brand and logo in any manner other than expressly authorized by Q Publishing Group.

Unauthorized use of the OUT FRONT brand and logo is strictly prohibited.

OUT FRONT is published by Q Publishing, Ltd., a Colorado corporation and is a member of: NEPA, Denver Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, and Denver Drama Critics Circle.

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Saira Rao Wants to Shake up Congress, and We’re Here for It

By Addison Herron-Wheeler

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he very word “Congress” brings to mind a bunch of old white men sitting around in a room together, planning the fate of the queer, the marginalized, those without a voice. If Saira Rao has anything to say about it, that won’t be the case for long.

Rao is not just making a point of saying she stands for intersectional, progressive policy; she is actually showing it, going out into the community to speak to local media entities like OUT FRONT about what she plans to do if elected. She isn’t above meeting up in local coffee shops or around the town to talk politics and moving forward, with just about anyone who is interested to hear what she has to say.

As a woman of color and the daughter of immigrants, Rao feels first-hand the biases and hatred that are prevalent in our country today, and wants to do something about them. This is why she is running in the Democratic Primary this June in Colorado, for the First Congressional District. She has pledged to work towards affordable, universal healthcare; to stand up for immigrants; to work towards funding public schools and college educations; to help with affordable housing in her

district; refuse corporate PAC money; and to hold monthly town halls for the community.

Even though she herself is not LGBTQ, she considers herself a strong ally, and is promising to do everything in her power if elected to fight for the rights of queer people. Especially high on her list of priorities are universal healthcare, which includes access to medical care for trans folks, and fighting against any type of legislation that promotes bigotry.

We applied the pressure and did some political grilling to see how Rao’s political plans stand up to scrutiny. Here’s what she had to say.

HOW DID YOU FIRST GET INTO POLITICS, AND WHY DID THIS PATH APPEAL TO YOU? I first got into politics five months ago, and I decided to run for office because the status quo isn’t working and hasn’t been working for some time. The status quo gave us Donald Trump, and now we’re looking at fascism. We need people who are going to go to Washington and actually fight to rangle power back and move the country forward.

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AS A WOMAN OF COLOR, WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE THE MAIN POLITICAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES TODAY, AND HOW DO YOU INTEND TO ADDRESS THEM IF YOU GET ELECTED? There are so many! Just broadly, economic disparity, we have a 1 percent and a 99 percent; police brutality against brown and black people; hate crimes against brown and black and LGBTQ people; health care equity. We need that for communities of color, people in the LGBTQ community, and people in the disability community.

The country is not working for both of us [brown people and queer folks], and when I talk about facism, that looks like Muslim bans, and trans bans in the military. When the president calls undocumented immigrants animals, [that’s similar to how] Hitler called people animals. I think we are truly in a scary place right now.

Can we talk about the Masterpiece Cakeshop Verdict?

That's a perfect example. As a former lawyer, it’s a narrow decision, but what it does do, which is terrifying, now courts are going to be emboldened to use this as a precedence, so it will play out in a not-verynarrow fashion.

Elections matter; shame on the democrats for not forcing a vote under Obama. What a disaster; human rights, civil rights, are being rolled back for all of us, and I think the hate crime issue is a real one, and really scary.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IN CONGRESS TO PROVIDE PROTECTIONS TO QUEER PEOPLE? The equality act needs to be passed immediately.

It's absurd that we never passed it.

Colorado is in pretty good shape in that regard, but we need to be sure that federal legislation is protecting everyone else.

About 31 states don’t have an equality act in place.

Number two is the healthcare issue; all of our communities have specific needs, and we need to make sure all of our communities get health care equity.

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Everything is connected; when we have bigotry, xenophobia, that’s why legislators think they don’t need to make sure people get HIV drugs, or drugs for trans people. We have to attack the problem, and the problem is hate and bigotry.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT LEGAL CANNABIS, AND WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO FIGHT FOR OR AGAINST IT AS A MEMBER OF CONGRESS? I feel great about legal cannabis, and I would support the Marijuana Justice Act, which senators Booker and Harris are trying to pass to expunge prior convictions, deschedule cannabis, and provide restorative justice. It would also focus on investing in mental health education and healthcare.

Criminalizing marijuana is just a way to basically massively incarcerate poor communities and communities of color.

WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THE COUNTRY IN 20 YEARS? WHAT DO YOU THINK WE NEED TO ACHIEVE? Within 20 years I would like the country to have truth and reconciliation regarding indiginous people, African Americans, LGBTQ people, women, the disability community, and really come to terms with the inequity. Only then can we move forward. I think that truth and reconciliation are imperative before we can actually make progress. We are still the greatest country on the planet, and I know we can do it, but we have to have these very difficult discussions, and that’s on Congress. We don’t have federally funded research on gun violence; now we have people not just ravaging schools, gay bars, and movie theatres, but 96 Americans die every day from gun violence.

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO ADD? I think it’s incredibly important when you are in any position of power to have a highly diverse staff with equity and pay. While my staff is just two women, one of the women is from Nicaragua and is a lesbian, and I’m Puerto Rican. It’s important to me to make sure my staff is diverse if I go to Congress.

To learn more about Rao and her policies, visit SairaForCongress.com or follow her on Twitter @sairasameerarao or Facebook @saraforcongress.

Don’t forget to vote in your local primaries this June to ensure change happens!

DGLFFL Celebrates 10th Anniversary in Denver

NATIVE CONTENT

Ten years ago, the Denver Gay and Lesbian Flag Football League (DGLFFL) became a reality. From its humble beginnings consisting of a few teams getting together in Congress Park to play pickup games, to a league that now has 20 teams and nearly 300 players each spring and fall, the DGLFFL has grown to become one of the largest LGBT co-ed leagues in the country.

The DGLFFL continues to grow, with more than 80 new players joining the league this past season.

The mission of the DGLFFL was to create a vibrant community of sport, diversity, fun and friendship. The league has more than accomplished this objective, while at the same time cultivating new relationships within the community and changing mindsets about LGBT sports. Through football, the league empowers high moral character through healthy athletic competition. One of the league’s goals is to teach its players how to handle difficult situations with class, sportsmanship and integrity.

With community at the forefront, the DGLFFL strives to create a place where everyone is welcome and encouraged to come together on and off the fields. They host a variety of

events during each season, including team announcement parties, new member bar crawls, season closing parties, and community outreach and volunteer events that continue throughout the year.

“It is truly amazing to get out there and play on Sundays with these amazing people,” says DGLFFL Commissioner Marc Withrow. “Players and fans are so supportive of each other, and it is great to see how people have connected on and off the field over the years.”

If you are interested in playing in the DGLFFL, fall registration begins on July 7. Check out the league’s Facebook page to learn more about upcoming events as well as information about the upcoming season.

The DGLFFL plays seven-on-seven with 14 team members on each team. Games take place on Sundays, and the season consists of seven regular season games plus a playoff round.

Fall games will be played at Cranmer Park in Cherry Creek.

Even if you’re not interested in playing, the league welcomes anyone who wants to come out to watch the games.

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Six Adventurous Events

By Hannah Gartner

In Colorado This Summer

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eople travel from all over the world to visit Colorado. With almost 30 peaks that reach over 14,000 feet, four national parks, and millions of acres of national forest land, it is no wonder our home state is such a popular destination. The urban hub of Denver, which provides visitors opportunities to experience a unique cityscape and culture, further enhances such tourism.

Those of us who are lucky enough to live in Colorado can take advantage of the stunning nature of the Rockies whenever we have a free day. There are seemingly endless new areas to explore and new forms of outdoor recreation to try. The population of Colorado is the fittest in the country, and chances are you and your friends have at least one outdoor activity that you are a little obsessed with.

Colorado is more than its outdoor recreation, though; this state has a deep cultural heritage that includes traditional western customs like the rodeo and bluegrass music. There is also a growing population of young people who are bringing new industries and a fun, modern vibe to the state.

Throughout the second half of summer, a plethora of events, festivals, and fairs make accessing both outdoor and cultural adventure in Colorado easy.

Here are our top eight choices for new and exciting ways to explore the best of this state during the warmest months of the year.

Telluride Bluegrass Telluride, June 21-24 The unique sounds of Colorado Bluegrass are celebrated in this four-day annual concert. Held on the weekend closest to the summer solstice, long days and a picturesque setting make an incredible backdrop to the world-class music. Festival-goers, who are referred to as “festivarians,” typically camp at one of six campgrounds, which are either walking distance or serviced by a free shuttle.

Although it is also possible to stay in one of the many lodges located in the historic town of Telluride or in nearby Mountain Village, camping is part of the experience of the festival. It's a great place to enjoy acoustic music and make new friends.

Cattlemen’s Days Gunnison, July 6-16 This celebration of ranching life has been going on for 118 years, and was voted one of “The Top 101 Western Events” in American Cowboy Magazine, so visitors are certain to get an authentic experience of the West. The event involves many different livestock and produce competitions, as well as bull riding, barrel racing, and a contest for the best

cowboy and cowgirl. If you can only make it out for a few days, try for July 12, 13, and 14, when the biggest rodeos will be held.

Denver County Fair

Denver, July 13-15 At the Denver County Fair it is possible to find all the attractions of a typical fair, just a stone’s throw from the largest metro area in Colorado. A carnival area with more than 20 games, rides, and competitions for the best animals, food, produce, and art harken back to traditional county fairs, while roller derby, wrestling, goat yoga, and a LARPing event give it a modern twist. On Sunday, July 15 there is also a beer and wine fest that anyone over 21 should be sure to check out.

Colorado Scottish Festival and Rocky Mountain Highland Games

Denver, August 4-5 This celebration of strength and Scottish tradition has been going on since the 1980s. Each year people gather at these games to compete in sports like the 28 and 56 pound throw.

Breckenridge International Festival of Arts

Breckenridge, August 10-19 Each summer, artists from around the world gather in Breckenridge to showcase their work.

Representing every discipline, they bring this small mountain town alive with art shows and installations, musical performances, circus performances, dances, movies, workshops, and talks. While many of the specific events require a purchased ticket, there are still plenty of free events. Each day of the festival there is an outdoor, community yoga class that is accompanied by acoustic music. Also, be sure to catch one of the daily trail mixes, where musicians position themselves along easy hiking trails, so walkers can enjoy nature, along with beautiful, live tunes.

Telluride Mushroom Festival

Telluride, August 15-19 This strange festival is all about celebrating fungi.

Through forays into the woods surrounding Telluride, participants can get hands-on experience in identifying edible mushrooms. A large lineup of lectures also covers topics on everything from using mushrooms to process toxic waste to how the study of mushrooms can be applied to social issues.

There are also some fun events like a mushroom cook-off, a costume contest, and the showing of mushroom-related movies.

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NATIVE CONTENT

A Chat with Chef Thach Tran, ACE EAT SERVE’S EXECUTIVE CHEF

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hef Thach Tran (whose first name is pronounced “Ta”) first fell in love with food on the streets of his birthplace in Saigon, Vietnam.

At just seven years old, Thach began washing dishes at his grandmother's noodle restaurants, where she patiently taught him to appreciate the intricacies of good food.

When Thach was nine years old, his grandmother sold her restaurants and moved the family to the U.S., hoping to find a better life. The convenience foods that were Thach’s first introduction to American cuisine left him feeling disappointed and confused. Thach began to study Western cooking, hoping to achieve a better understanding of American cuisine.

In 2010, Thach graduated from the culinary program at Johnson & Wales University. In August of 2017, he became the Executive Chef of Ace Eat Serve in Uptown. The lively dining room, ping-pong hall, bar and patio perfectly complement Thach's creative, interactive and authentically inspired culinary creations. At Ace, Chef Thach has the opportunity to share his passion and experience cooking both Asian and American cuisine with the Denver dining community.

WHAT’S YOUR EARLIEST FOOD MEMORY? My mom worked at a hotel in Vietnam and always brought home tasty pastries and French cakes.

DID YOUR GRANDMOTHER INFLUENCE YOUR DECISION TO BECOME A CHEF? She wanted me to be a doctor or a lawyer but she inspired me to become a chef.

I learned so much from the way she prepared food so lovingly for the family and always cooked amazing meals at her restaurant and at home.

so I applied at restaurants because I felt comfortable in that environment.

I started serving and then moved into the kitchen. I worked in a small seafood restaurant in Aurora and then at a barbecue spot to learn Southern food. Then I went to culinary school and entered cooking competitions, and actually earned a scholarship from a winning recipe.

Crazy Sichuan Shrimp Wontons, and new Bao Buns, plus the Tiger Wings—an Ace classic!

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE FOOD AT ACE?

Crispy shallots, sesame oil, and wild black rice for cold rice salads. Plus a green food supplement powder to add to smoothies. I also have an indoor garden with herbs and veggies.

Modern Asian street food with a Southeast Asian focus.

HOW DID YOU GET YOUR START IN THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY?

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR SIGNATURE DISHES?

I was 16 years old and needed a job,

Scallop & Shrimp X.O. Rice Pillows,

IS THERE AN INGREDIENT YOU USE A LOT THAT WOULD SURPRISE PEOPLE? We use a lot of fish sauce—five gallons a week!—for our Tiger Wing sauce.

WHAT WOULD WE FIND IN YOUR KITCHEN AT HOME?

WHAT’S YOUR GO-TO SNACK? Ben & Jerry’s Pistachio Pistachio ice cream.

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By Sid Pasquino

Alicia Mountain Photos By Libbie Early

Poet

Climbs to New Heights with High Ground Coward

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ocal lesbian poet and winner of the 2017 Iowa Poetry Prize Alicia Mountain communicates raw human experience through her writing, something more than just queer woman can relate to.

Her recent poetry book, High Ground Coward, portrays intense personal topics such as relationships, and the deep emotion she feels for her surroundings.

Through this boundary-pushing verse, she hopes to broaden the community of poetry readers and writers.

I am trying to build a world in my work that puts a variety of human experiences kind of on equal footing,” she explained. “I don't just write poems for other queer women;

I am writing poems that hopefully speak to a broad audience.”

OUT FRONT met with her to discuss her poetry, her love for Colorado, and current issues facing the queer community.

HOW DID YOU FIRST BECOME A WRITER AND GET INTERESTED IN POETRY? I started writing probably in high school and then through college, but I started out writing short stories and personal essays, that sort of thing.

I didn't start writing poetry until I graduated from college. I kind of got into poetry because I was living in New York; I started taking community poetry workshops at the 92nd st. YMCA, and those were my first poetry class experiences.

WHAT THEMES DOES YOUR POETRY NORMALLY FOCUS ON? Identity is definitely present in my work, but moreover it’s really image-driven, so it’s about seeing the world

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around us. Some of that has to do with being in relationships with other people, but also being in relationships with landscape, and kind of all the range of human experience.

IN YOUR POETRY AND INTERVIEWS YOU TALK ABOUT LIVING IN CITIES AND ALSO IN MORE RURAL AREAS. WHAT APPEALS TO YOU ABOUT BOTH WAYS OF LIVING? I think I’m interested in looking at still moments, and I find those in cities and also in more natural spaces and those moments of quiet, or in a close look at a moment of experience. When those come up, wherever we are, sometimes they are most pointed in environments that kind of catch the eye or catch the ear; where that sensory information is coming from is what I’m drawn to.

I FOUND A QUOTE FROM YOU SAYING THAT QUEERNESS ISN’T JUST ABOUT PARTNERSHIP OR SEX. WHAT DOES QUEERNESS MEAN TO YOU, AND WHY IS IT AN IMPORTANT THEME IN YOUR WORK? One of the reasons I love poetry is because I think of it as a queer form [of writing]. In poetry we don't necessarily have to play by the rules of complete sentences or of standard punctuation or capitalization, so building vocabulary, building syntax, and building worlds in language through these kind of new creative modes that maybe disrupt some norms feels inherently queer to me. More in terms of just who I am as a poet and who I am as a person, my lesbian identity is something that I am so lucky to get to express, and I know that a lot of the folks who came before us didn't have that opportunity. It’s right there on the page, and I just kind of can't help but be honest about who I am.

HOW HAS YOUR OWN IDENTITY AS QUEER AND YOUR JOURNEY AS A QUEER WOMAN INTERSECTED WITH POETRY? I think that being a lesbian woman and growing up not exactly seeing myself well-represented or seeing women who I identified with celebrated in culture has influenced some of the themes around both pride, and also kind of absence and longing, and silence, that are in this book, and at the same time I am trying to build a world in my work that puts a variety of human experiences kind of on equal footing.

I don't just write poems for other queer women; I am writing poems that hopefully speak to a broad audience.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE SOME OF THE MAIN SOCIAL ISSUES FACING QUEER PEOPLE TODAY, AND HOW CAN WE ADDRESS THEM WITH POETRY? My queer pride and my feminism are definitely

rooted in intersectionality, so really the issues that are facing the queer community I think aren't necessarily uniform, because the issues of masculine-presenting, white, upper class men are going to be really different than the issues of folks in our community with less privilege. Of course we have pointed moments of oppression that are coming down politically under this administration, but I think the most pressing issue in the LGBTQ community would be the need to give more attention to those of us who are still under the boot of capitalist oppression, under the boot of racial oppression, misogyny.

THIS IS FOR THE COLORFUL COLORADO ISSUE, SO WHAT IS BEAUTIFUL TO YOU ABOUT COLORADO? I love seeing the Rocky Mountains, even from the city, even at a distance. I love being able to see that vast presence that kind of watches over us, and I love even when it’s really dry and dusty in Colorado, the way that that atmosphere feels like an embrace.

COLORADO IS MAGICAL IN A LOT OF WAYS BECAUSE IT’S SO RURAL, BUT IT HAS ATTRACTED SO MANY LIBERAL FOLKS AND KIND OF BECOME THIS SAFE HAVEN. BUT, WITH THAT, GENTRIFICATION HAS HAPPENED. HOW DO YOU THINK WE CAN KEEP THIS PLACE MAGICAL, BUT ALSO LOOK OUT FOR THE FOLKS WHO ARE BEING IMPACTED? I think that ideally—listening. A practice of deep listening to the folks who have made Denver the place that we are all flocking too now. I'm thinking of conversations with elders, and especially with folks in communities of color that are being displaced through gentrification, and I think we want to avoid what has happened in cities like San Francisco, where culture and roots are displaced with capitalist motivations.

DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING COOL YOU WANT TO ANNOUNCE ABOUT UPCOMING EVENTS, BOOK RELEASES, ETC.?

I’d love if everyone would check out my book, High Ground Coward, or follow me on Twitter, @higroundcoward.

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO ADD? I would love to just talk about how poetry can feel a little bit inaccessible to a lot of folks. People get scared off from poetry. I would love to introduce more people in our community to poetry, whether that’s reading it or writing it as a way to connect with emotional depth and reflection on who we are.

I also want to just say, don't think there is any right way to read a poem; just read it with your gut, and when you find something you like, try to read more of it. If you find a poet whose work you like, read them more. More poetry readers would be great.

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By Alysha Prieto

Rachael Zimmerman TRANSPORTS US INSIDE

Photos Provided by Rachael Zimmerman

THE BLACK TRIANGLE

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wo years ago, self-taught photographer Rachael Zimmerman began a photo project titled What Does a Lesbian Look Like? Through portraiture, she hoped to highlight diversity within the lesbian community and break down stereotypes caused by lack of representation. The project now spans two countries and an island nation, and includes more than 70 portraits of queer women and their experiences in the community. The project now bears a new name: Inside the Black Triangle.

a general aversion to the word lesbian. Her photo subjects typically identify more with the terms gay, queer, and other alternative words.

The reasoning behind the name change was three-fold for Zimmerman. One, she wanted something that was a little more thought-provoking, something that caused the viewer to ask more initial questions. Two, the original title didn’t feel as inclusive as it could be, and inclusivity is crucial. And three, Zimmerman wanted to honor the LGBTQ community that lived through Nazi Germany’s Concentration Camps.

While it’s important to identify and use whichever term fits best to the specific person, Zimmerman wants to move the word lesbian away from the stereotypical view and stigma that she is often met with. This she believes is a hard task, but can be done through sharing experiences and engaging in conversation.

“The black triangle was used in Nazi Germany to categorize a-social and atypical behavior. Queer women fell under that category,” Zimmerman said. “Later on, after Nazi Germany fell, the symbols were reclaimed to mean solidarity and pride.”

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“One of the first people that I interviewed and photographed, Alex, she came out as bi. And then came out as lesbian. And then she was dating someone who was transitioning and she was like, ‘What am I?’ And she’s queer,” she explained.

Besides confronting stereotypes, Zimmerman, 29, also hopes to dig into the gender hierarchy that exists within the community.

She explained that in this hierarchy, androgynous and butch women are at the top. Feminine women sit in the middle, and bisexual and trans women are at the bottom. The main factor in determining this scale is skepticism.

“Not only do feminine women have to come out every day in

society and hear those same things, ‘You haven’t found the right man,' or, ‘You’re too pretty to be gay,' then they come to their own community and want support, and again they have to prove themselves.”

Zimmerman has heard women compare their gayness to that of others and has always wondered what claiming to be gayer actually means, especially when referring to clothing and hobbies.

Finding a diverse group of women to photograph proved easy when Zimmerman decided to use apps and social media, what she called "a grassroots method." When she initially started reaching out on dating apps she received mixed reactions.

Some users thought she was spam; others questioned her legitimacy and motives. She has been flagged a few times on Tinder and has been 86’d from Bumble.

Now though, after growing a following, she doesn’t have as many issues, and even gets Instagram followers who reach out personally to have their photographs taken.

Zimmerman is not sure where the project will take her or what the evolution will be, but that is all a part of the fun. Once she hits 100 portraits, she hopes to turn the photos into a coffee table book to keep the conversation going.

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HYPERQUEENS

By Gem Sheps Photos

By Reilly Elizabeth

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are

Changing THE DENVER SCENE A New, Inclusive Group of Drag Queens are Taking the City by Storm “When you become the image of your own imagination, it’s the most powerful thing you could ever do.”–RuPaul Charles

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he words of widely celebrated drag queen ring true to anyone in the LGBTQ community. As a group of people who often have to conceal who they are, transforming into the people they desire to be is of the utmost importance. That desire is the reason a new group of drag queens are garnering the attention of the queer community throughout the nation, including Denver.

With the relatively recent mainstream popularity of drag, more performers that fall outside of the typical ‘man in a dress’ are taking advantage of that platform. Hyperqueens—queer performers who don’t identify as cisgender gay men—are sashaying their way into the spotlight of queer culture, but they just prefer the label “drag queen.”

“The drag community in Denver is really accepting,” Bambi Ballgag, a nonbinary drag queen, said. “People would usually question my drag with my gender identity, but I’ve had extremely positive reactions. People have loved my drag.”

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In that sense, drag culture is achieving its original purpose.

Drag was created during the “Pansy Craze” in the early 1930s, when the first gay bars started emerging. Crossdressing has been a fad many times throughout history, especially in Shakespearean theatre, where women were prohibited from performing and men performed in female roles. These fads transformed into an expression of gender and sexuality, started by gay men.

Drag performances paved the way for early queer culture by offering a safe space for gay people to express themselves. As queer culture has evolved, drag has as well. RuPaul’s Drag Race catapulted drag back into pop culture, this time with a bang.

“My desire to perform started with Drag Race,” Her?, a drag queen who got her start in Denver nearly two years ago, said.

“I’d love to be the first AFAB (assigned female at birth) queen on Drag Race.”

However, every mountain of representation climbed has a downside.

Though RuPaul has shined a lot of positive light on gay culture, he has presented negatively when asked about non-male queens on the show. RuPaul stated that “drag loses its sense of danger and its sense of irony once it’s not men doing it.”

The show has had multiple transgender women perform, including Monica Beverly Hillz from season five and Peppermint from season nine, but RuPaul has shoved his foot in his mouth on more than one occasion with regard to transgender queens. The sentiment is common in traditional people throughout the queer community.

“A lot of people have told me ‘you’re not even doing drag,’” said Her?. “This old man who used to live around here said ‘there’s no illusion; I’m not going to pay to see that.’ I was in Ultimate Queen and had to fight really hard for it at first, but in the first week I won and it was really reassuring.”

Another local queen, Heavenly Powers, has had similar experiences.

“It’s been mostly positive, but there’s the occasional confusion and the straightup ‘you’re not a drag queen, but you look sickening,’” she said.

Part of the problem with exclusionary behavior in drag is that it takes away from what drag was created for, which was a safe space for queer people to perform. By labeling non-male queens as hyperqueens, bioqueens, and even faux-queens, the experience becomes discriminatory.

Expression of femininity does not belong to cisgender gay men, and neither does drag. It is a safe space for the LGBTQ community to perform.

“No other medium allows you to design a look and pull off a full concept like drag does,” Bambi Ballgag said. “I think that’s why the art form is so special.”

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"A lot of people have told me, 'You're not even doing drag.' This old man who used to live around here said, 'There's no illusion; I'm not going to pay to see that.'"

- Her?

Nowadays, drag is practically a staple at any queer gathering.

It serves as a way to bring LGBTQ+ people together, and to entertain while expressing sexuality and gender in a safe space.

Events like Denver PrideFest feature many local queens, which inspire other baby queens to make their mark on the art form.

“I love the community here,” Heavenly Powers said. “There are so many great artists that I look up to, and I feel like we all feed off of each other. So many of them are my closest friends.”

For many of the queens in Denver, drag is just another way to have fun with friends who understand you.

“It’s so fun to get into full drag with your friends and just mess around,” Bambi Ballgag said. “You look stunning and beautiful, but you’re just having a good time. It’s great to be active in the queer community and be around people who have experienced some of the same struggles as you as a gay person.”

For a long time, drag has been something done only by cisgender, gay men, but non-traditional queens are rising up and showing the queer community that there’s no wrong way to express yourself.

OUTFRONTMAGAZINE.COM

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By Addison Herron-Wheeler

Bishops

Cuts/Color

are Dying the Town Rainbow

H

airstyles are a staple of the queer community; you can send all kinds of messages with how you wear your hair. Crazy colors, shaved sides, undercuts, queer bobs, and more can be used as a mating call, a queer beacon, or a freak flag to the rest of the community.

But not everyone has the funds to drop major bank on a snazzy cut or the perfect dye job, and trans folks and other 3 2 \\ J U N E 2 0 , 2 0 1 8

marginalized members of the community don’t always feel safe going to the salon.

That’s where Bishops Cuts/Color come in. Rather than calling themselves a salon, they are a barber shop, and they don’t break their cuts into male and female gender boxes. Instead, they just offer short and long cuts, and let the customer choose what that means in terms of style.

A Unique Approach “We want you to be happy being whomever you want to be, and we are happy to do that for you from a looks perspective, and empower you to be you, judgement free,” explained Tristan Bryan, who runs the Bishops shop in Highlands Ranch, and plans to open two more, in Lowery and Stapleton. “The franchise is minorityowned, and women- and LGBTQ-led and staffed.”

Started in Portland, Oregon, the formula of Bishops is simple: come in, relax, and get styled. They offer sodas and waters to patrons, and are working on getting liquor licenses so they can also give their thirstier customers a free beer with each appointment. The idea is to set the mood of friends hanging out and doing hair, rather than the often off-putting vibe that salons can give.

Their pricing is right in the middle range, averaging $20 or $30 for a cut and $40 or $50 for a dye. This offers a solution other than the cheap salons that give bargain cuts and often lack quality, or the expensive, sometimes snooty salons with the big price tags that require appointments made weeks in advance.

To further level the playing field, Bishops doesn’t allow appointments, but does everything on a walk-in basis.

Customers can either book an appointment immediately before coming in using their phones or computers, or on a tablet once they get to the store.

Focus on Inclusivity Bishops also strives to offer a more inclusive environment to employees. In addition to encouraging individual expression, they aim to pay a fair wage, and discourage some of the harmful practices found at some salons, which require stylists to meet a certain, often very high, quota of hourly haircuts before they can make commission. They also make it a point to feature local artwork and allow stylists to pick their own playlists for the workday instead of blaring corporate radio. On a corporate level, they also strive to make sure only those who align with their values get to open franchises.

“They had a big developer from Texas and he wanted to buy all of Texas, 50 licenses, and he made a racial slur during drinks. They asked him to leave and did not invite him back,” said Bryan. “He was a multimillionaire, but they said ‘we don’t want you.’”

While not every owner of Bishops is queer or a minority, those who run the shops try and understand the struggle that LGBTQ people face fitting into society.

“My daughter was trying to decide if she identified as gender neutral, and when I first went to a Bishops I got a little misty-eyed, because I felt like it was a place where she could go and wouldn’t feel judged,” said Bryan. “She identifies as female and bi now, and I’m just glad she is able to be herself, and I want there to be places where she will be accepted.”

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A Place for Everyone The franchise already has some success stories of helping to express and lift up queer identities.

“There is a woman who works at the Superior shop, who has opened the door to the trans community there,” said Richard Lyford, who manages stores in the Highlands and RiNo, and plans to open a store on Colfax. “She has given so many people their first ‘female’ haircut. She said a lot of time trans women come in and don’t really know how to talk about haircuts or more feminine haircuts and styles, and this person walks them all through it. We all got a little choked up because it is really cool; after you’ve transitioned, not everyone has resources; you grow out all this hair and then you’re like ‘what the hell do I do with it?’ Having someone to walk them through the process has been really great.”

On a typical trip to Bishops, you will see all kinds of folks both working and getting their hair done. It’s not uncommon to see punks, hippies, and folks with crazy hair of all kinds doing the cuts and colors, or trans folks sitting in the barber’s chairs because they feel safe and accepted.

To make it known that they are here to show support to the LGBTQ community, Bishops even turned up at Pride this year with a booth offering temporary rainbow color jobs to anyone who wanted to rock Pride hair. And all year long, they are willing to do just about any cut, style, or color imaginable to help folks express who they are.

“This is a new way of looking at the world; you don’t have to make judgements just by looking at people, and people can do whatever they want,” Lydford added.

“It’s been a lot of fun to me to start experiencing humanity in a different way. I have employees I think are hilarious and amazing, but when I was 20 I may have been more critical of them.

I’ve learned a lot, and I think it’s great.”

Walk into any Bishops Cuts/Color around town for a haircut, or learn more at bishops.co. Look for stores all around the Denver area, and expect locations to offer beer with haircuts in the near future.

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For years Denver PrideFest has been focused on one weekend—Father’s Day Weekend. For those two days, queer people from all over the city and beyond gather to celebrate Pride.

Photos by Brian Degenfelder Model Patty Plutonium

This year, OUT FRONT and some of our local queer bars teamed together to stretch that weekend into a two week event. So, starting on June 7, we began with lunch at Hamburger Mary’s and made our way to some of the best events happening in the Mile High City. We celebrated with y’all, and we had a damn good time!

Check it out!

Vip

Pride OUTFRONTMAGAZINE.COM

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Pride Kickoff Lunch @ Mile High Hamburger Mary's

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Weirdo @ Gladys: The Nosy Neighbor

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Beer Bust @ Trade

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Grind-Her @ Syrup

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Charity Bingo @ Hamburger Mary's

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Beer Bust @ Denver Wrangler

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OUTREACH

QUEER-FRIENDLY HEALTHCARE

FOR INFO ON PLACING AN OUTREACH AD

303-477-4000

Pride as a Tool for Mental Wellness As a therapist who works primarily with queer people, I see day in and day out the effects of systemic oppression and bigotry on resilience.

We are exhausted by society’s need for us to justify our humanity by constant misnaming, miss-pronouning, and misgendering, in addition to violence, hatred, and fear. The idea that Pride is a place where most of us feel accepted and no longer the outlier is not a novel one. But I’m thoughtful of how we rarely validate how essential these moments are to our mental health.

In my own story, I have found that being surrounded by heteronormativity and misogyny drains me. I often feel like I have this battery pack of energy that I can use to manage those moments, and throughout the year people continuously take from it. What is essential is identifying the ways we can recharge. Is it volunteering at Rainbow Alley to give back to queer youth? Is it coffee with people in our community who we love and trust? Is it joining queer athletic leagues or social clubs? Or is it taking time out of your year to attend large gatherings of like-minded folks, such as Pride?

This kind of recharge is what provides us with resilience to better cope with anxiety, depression, and other forms of mental illness.

So, my question to you is, where are your recharging stations? Do you know? Are you aware of how and when your battery is being drained? If not, let’s find out.

Justin R. Lewis, M.A, LPCC – The Denver Element

OUTFRONTMAGAZINE.COM

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Dueling with Depression:

Take the Next Exit There have been several times in my life when I’ve just said ”F*ck it!” and thrown a bunch of camping gear in the back of my truck, pointed my headlights east or west, and navigated empty highways in the middle of the night with no real destination, letting the road take me where it takes me.

That sounds reckless. Were you manic?

No, I wasn’t manic. And it sounds like a great way to deal with mental monsters.

To just run away?

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Photo & Column by Mike Yost I have a vivid memory of driving an empty, serpentine mountain pass around 2 a.m. A full moon burned a white hole in the night sky, illuminating clusters of clouds hovering above the highway. Stars were peeking out between the clouds just above the barely-lit treetops, a carpet of dark-green that rose in steep grades with the towering terrain as I snaked my way to the summit.

So, you are saying to run away and meander aimlessly in the middle of the night.

I’m saying it was a cool experience, that’s all. An experience that wouldn’t have happened had I been less spontaneous and planned the trip. I muddled my way through empty passes and backroads, not caring if I ran into dead ends or quiet towns all closed up for the night.

You too can be depression-free if you just muddle through life!

Be aimless!

I had no real set destination, outside of just getting the hell out of the city for a few days. So, not completely aimless.

You need a plan and coping methods to beat depression.

Indeed, but sometimes plans and coping methods get you nowhere. Muddling through difficult weeks has been a huge help when I’m unsure what to do next. I stop trying to understand my depression and just focus on where I am, despite the bottomless pit in my chest.

This just sounds like you’re distracting yourself for a few days.

Perhaps, but I used to work with people struggling with mental illness, and many of them were bogged down and exhausted and worn out trying to work through their depression or anxiety or whatever demon was gnawing on their brain.

Did you tell them to drive up dangerous mountain passes at night?

I told them to take the next exit.

What?

Self-care, as defined in the mental health arena, is just taking time out of the day to do something for yourself. Do something you enjoy, like making yourself of nice cup of hot tea. (Preferably cinnamon, hibiscus tea with a touch of honey.)

So drinking tea is taking an exit?

And not really a distraction. On any road trip, you’ve got to pull off the highway at some point and get some grub, get some gas, maybe crash in a hotel. You’re not getting any closer to where you’re going, but— Especially since apparently we don’t have a destination.

But if I never get off the highway and stretch my legs, I get so fatigued I can’t even drive anymore.

So, if you don’t take mental exits, like drinking your silly tea— Silly cinnamon, hibiscus tea.

You get burned out.

And I spend the next couple of days or weeks trying to pull myself up from the floor. Now when I’m feeling awful, I take an exit and walk to a nearby coffee shop and read The Neverending Story.

Reading The Neverending Story isn’t going to fix squat.

Of course it won’t, and that’s the point. Nothing is being solved by taking an exit. I’m just hanging out with Falkor, Atreyu, and Bastion.

Falkor the flying luckdragon?

Sometimes on these trips I would pull off the road for no reason and hike around the area. Maybe take some photos.

Maybe just sit and close my eyes and listen to the wind blowing through the trees.

And how does this help?

I think it helps because I’m not trying to help myself. I’m not trying to find ways to feel better.

You’re just sitting in that exit.

Figuratively and sometimes literally.

With no destination in mind.

Doesn’t always have to be. Black Canyon near Gunnison is a pretty amazing destination—like exploring a deep scar carved into the face of Earth by an angry god. A scar you can hike inside.

If only you could fly through the canyon on the back of Falkor.

Now THAT would be an awesome way to deal with mental monsters!

OUTFRONTMAGAZINE.COM

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Goodbye

Denver Wrangler Says

By Ryan Howe

Photos By Charles Broshous

& Pours its Final Beer Bust Cup As Denver’s queer nightlife continues to change— six new LGBTQ-focused bars have opened within the last two years—one of Denver’s oldest community bars is closing. The Denver Wrangler, located at 3090 N Downing St., will be shutting its doors permanently on June 25.

For the past 21 years, The Wrangler has offered a home to Denver’s LGBTQ community, especially the hairy ones. From the bartenders to the rotating pictures of beefy, hairy men, there is no doubt that the Wrangler was a bar catered to the bear community. Its weekly Sunday Beer Bust has been a staple in Denver for years.

They officially announced the closing on their website in May. The Wrangler will be hosting a farewell Pride Beer Bust on June 17—and if it’s anything like previous years, it’s bound to be one hell of a party.

The following week they will host their final Sunday Beer Bust on the June 24.

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OUTFRONTMAGAZINE.COM

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Majestic Hearts @ #VYBE Majestic Hearts hosted a benefit show for Feeding Denver's Hungry at VYBE Denver on June 9. Not only did everybody get down, they helped raise some much-needed funds for a worthy cause. Photos by Charles Broshous

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BAR TAB | THE HOTTEST COLORADO NIGHTLIFE GLADYS: THE NOSY NEIGHBOR

X BAR

629 E. Colfax Ave. Denver (303) 832-2687 xbardenver.com

BOYZTOWN

500 Santa Fe Drive Denver, Colorado (303) 893-6112

CHARLIE'S® NIGHTCLUB

1336 E 17th Ave. Denver (303) 993-5812 hamburgermarys.com/denver

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

CLOCKTOWER CABARET

16 St. Mall @ Arapahoe, Denver (303) 293-0075 clocktowercabaret.com th

COMPOUND BASIX

145 Broadway, Denver (303) 722-7977 compounddenver.com

DADDY’S BAR & GRILL

LIPSTICK NIGHTCLUB

N • T JOI N

PRIDE & SWAGGER

www.StoneysUptown.com

R&R DENVER

4958 E Colfax Ave (303) 320-9337

TRACKS

Uptown_Ad.indd 1

5/7/18 7:33 PM

3500 Walnut St. Denver (303) 863-7326 tracksdenver.com

TRACKS

THE TRIANGLE BAR

BL

2036 N. Broadway, Denver (303) 658-0913 triangledenver.com

A

U LN

H

AL

L

COLFAX AVE.

AV E

TRIANGLE 17TH AVE.

PRIDE & SWAGGER

AH AP

OE

.W

.

ST

ES

31ST AVE. DENVER EAGLE WRANGLER

T

HAMBURGER MARY’S

STONEY'S XBAR

R VD BL .

11TH AVE.

1ST AVE. LI’L DEVILS

OGDEN ST.

COMPOUND BOYZTOWN

BROADWAY

GLADYS TRADE

PENNSYLVANIA

6TH AVE.

CLARKSON ST.

8TH AVE.

WASHINGTON ST.

VYBE

DADDY’S BAR & GRILL

R+R DENVER

CHARLIE’S BLUSH & BLU

YORK ST.

ST .M

K

T.

COLORADO BLVD.

16 T

PA R

TS

EE

$8 Bottomless Beers 3:30 – 7:30 p.m.

SUN: Funday $1 Bud/Bud Light 7 - 11 p.m.

CLOCKTOWER

SP

475 Santa Fe Drive Denver (720) 627-5905 THU: Skivvy Stripdown SAT: Beer Bust

E

.

ST

AR

SANTA FE DR. KALAMATH ST.

TRADE

AK

W

STONEY'S UPTOWN JOINT

EL POTRERO

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W

450 E 17th Ave #110, Denver (720) 476-6360

1246 E 31st Ave. Denver denvereaglebar.com THU: Underwear Night!

2nd FRI: Onyx Party 1st SAT: Blackout Party 3rd SAT: Gear Night 4501 E. Virginia Ave. Glendale (303) 388-8889 Facebook - Elpotrero.180

O

5660 W Colfax Ave. Denver (720) 669-3470

1035 E 17th Ave 720.485.5503 Stoneysuptown.com WED: ½ Price Wings; Pub Quiz THU: Team Trivia SAT/SUN: Brunch, Bottomless Mimosas 'til 2 p.m.

HAPPY HOURS: M-F 4-7 p.m.

S-T 10 a.m.-Close

DENVER EAGLE

T

BROADWAY

1120 E 6th Ave. Denver (303) 993-6365 daddysdenver.com

LIL’ DEVILS

255 South Broadway St. Denver (303) 733-1156 lildevilslounge.com

P

CLUB Q

3430 N. Academy Blvd.

Colo. Springs (719) 570-1429 clubqonline.com

HAMBURGER MARY’S

U

900 E. Colfax Ave. Denver (303) 839-8890 charliesdenver.com THU: 2-4-1 drinks 7 p.m.

– closing FRI: Neon Party SAT: Shirts Off-Half Off! SUN: 3-4-1 drinks 4 – 8 p.m.

Kai Lee’s KiKi at 9 p.m.

VYBE

1027 N Broadway, Denver (720) 608-8923 vybe303.com

DOWNING ST.

BLUSH & BLU

1526 E. Colfax Ave. Denver (303) 484-8548 blushbludenver.com

OUTFRONTMAGAZINE.COM

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OUTBACK CLASSIFIEDS | ENVISIONED BY BOBERTO Playmates and soul mates...

Denver:

1-303-433-6789 18+ MegaMates.com

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