Out Front • July 3, 2013

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Vol. XXXVii iSSUe #7 July 3, 2013 t

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CONTENTS 18

CoVeR SToRY: lGBT SPoRTS

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FeATURe: ColoRADo GAY RoDeo 2013

SO LIV FO CUS CIAL ING 6 11 14 15 16 17

Letter From The Editor News Panel Voices Show & Tell The Lesbian Socialite Bleed Like Me

24 26 28 29 30 32

Food For Thought High Society Bar Tab Bar Map Bar Rag Radioactive Vision

39 Queer Marriage 40 Travel 42 Gay Aesthetic 46 Faith 52 Sexuality 53 HeinzeSight

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14 15 On the cover: Aaron Killpack // Cover photography by Evan Semon // www.EvanSemon.com 4

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Serving the LGBT Community of the Rocky Mountains since 1976 3535 Walnut Street Denver, Colorado 80205 Phone: 303-477-4000 Fax: 303-325-2642 Email: info@outfrontonline.com Web: OutFrontOnline.com Facebook: facebook.com/OutFrontColorado Twitter: @OutFrontCO Out Front is published by Transformation Communications Group, LLC, a Colorado limited liability corporation and is a member of: Denver Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and Denver Drama Critics Circle.

PHIL PRICE / Founder, 1954-1993 JERRY CUNNINGHAM / Publisher Email: Jerry@outfrontonline.com J.C. MCDONALD / Vice President / Director of Circulation Email: JC@outfrontonline.com SARA DECKER / Operations Director Email: Sara@outfrontonline.com JEFF JACKSON SWAIM / Chief Strategist Email: Jeff@outfrontonline.com

EDITORIAL NIC GARCIA / Executive Editor Email: Nic@outfrontonline.com MATTHEW PIZZUTI / Features Editor Email: Matt@outfrontonline.com KRISTIN ZIEGLER / Editorial intern CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Brent Heinze, Robyn Vie-Carpenter, Scott McGlothlen, Jeff Steen, Josiah Hesse, Gary Kramer, Mike Yost, Ashley Trego, Nuclia Waste, David Marlowe, Jonathan McGrew, Chris Azzopardi, Shanna Katz, Noelle Leavitt Riley, Amy Lynn O’Connell, Kristin Ziegler, Steve Cruz, Rob Barger, Lauren Archuletta.

MARKETING / SALES RYAN KING / Director of Sales & Marketing Email: Rob@outfrontonline.com JORDAN JACOBS / Marketing Executive Email: Jordan@outfrontonline.com ROB BARGER / Marketing Strategist Email: Rob@outfrontonline.com

ART SARA DECKER / Creative Director Email: Sara@outfrontonline.com DENEE PINO / Creative Strategist CHARLES BROSHOUS / Photographer

DISTRIBUTION: Out Front Colorado’s print publication is available semi-monthly, free of charge in Colorado, one copy per person. Additional copies of Out Front Colorado may be purchased for $3.95 each, payable in advance at Out Front Colorado offices located at 3535 Walnut Street, Denver CO, 80205. Out Front Colorado is delivered only to authorized distributors. No person may, without prior written permission of Out Front Colorado, take more than one copy of Out Front Colorado.

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 COLORADO, its staff or advertisers.

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FRoM THe eDiToR

Finding the ‘m-e’ in team AS A CHILD, I WAS GIVEN EVERY EXCUSE NOT TO BE ACTIVE: I HAD FLAT FEET, ASTHMA AND ALLERGIES. IT WAS THE PERFECT COMBINATION TO KEEP ME INSIDE, REMOVED FROM THE WORLD OF FOOTBALL, BASKETBALL AND BASEBALL – THE HAT TRICK FOR PUEBLO BOYS.

grade y eighth Me in m rm. o if n u football

CONNECT WITH NIC

reach Executive Editor nic Garcia by email at nic@ outfrontonline.com, or by phone at 303- 477-4000 ext. 702.

While my classmates were at summer camp, or at the swimming pool, I was bunkered in my grandmother’s basement away from the sun – I watched press briefings and Senate debates on CSPAN. I tried to find a home on the field during the eighth grade.

Having recently grown out of my asthma, I took on football.

The totality of my football skill set was Super Bowl commercials and what little I picked up from my grandfathers when I was forced to watch the Broncos on Sunday. I should have been placed on the junior varsity team, but one day after practice, the coach called me over and told me because of my size, he had to put me on varsity.

I was second-string right offensive guard and special teams.

Every day of that summer vacation I was at Roncalli’s football field at 7 a.m. I did everything that was asked of me – running, jumping, hitting, tackling – but no matter what I did, I never won the acceptance of my teammates.

To be fair, I doubt it had anything to do with my sexuality.

I mostly presented myself as asexual.

But if there was ever doubt about how much I didn’t belong, David Allen, a linebacker, would remind me and the rest of the team.

Just as I was rounding out the last of the offensive line coming in from laps, he would call out my nickname, “Baywatch.” Evidently, my “moobs” had about the same effect on him as Pamela Anderson’s.

Despite the harassment – what our society calls “boys being boys” – I stuck it out. But I never returned to team sports.

(As a high school freshman, I did take a stab at shot put.

But track and field is, as I understand it, more about personal bests than working as a team.)

In this issue of Out Front we explore the role LGBT–affirming organized sports play in our culture. Intern Kristin Ziegler has learned my experience with team sports is not an isolated event. In fact, most of the athletes she spoke with at SportsFest echo my previous dissatisfaction with organized sports and how groups like Team Colorado can be a starting point for the healing process.

Whether it was homophobia, athletic ability, self-confidence or any combination of events that forbid these team members from playing in the past: Team Colorado and the like are offering active LGBT Coloradans a team they can be a part of – on and off the field.

As for me, I’m not planning on going out for a sport any time soon. I’ve found my team here at Out Front. But there is a reassurance that comes from knowing there is a spot for me – and you – whenever we choose to embrace our inner jock.

Nic Garcia, executive editor 6

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ABOut tHE cOntrIButOrS:

Be it by accident or by design, Kristin Ziegler has dedicated her life to screens. When not in front of her laptop screen, researching for class assignments or writing articles for Out Front, Kristin is likely spending time with her iPhone, iPod, and calorie-counting gym equipment screens. Her favorite screen, however, is the big one.

A lifelong film enthusiast and recovering art school snob, Kristin is thrilled to combine her interests in high culture and LGBT issues for her contributions to Out Front. Read Kristin’s take on the importance of LGBT sports on page 18

Evan Semón is a Denver based, socially conscious contract photographer providing clients with a versatile editorial style of photography developed over years of experience with newspapers, magazines, and Web-based media. This editorial approach, developed on the staff of the three–time Pulitzer Prize for photography winning Rocky Mountain News, carries through with advertising clients, political campaigns, and traditional events such as weddings, new born photos, and family portrait work. For more on Evan’s photography visit r EvanSemon.com or Facebook. com/EvanSemonPhotography.

See Evan’s work on the cover of this issue, and inside on page 18.

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SPeAKoUT

Brad Clark at a 2012 rally in support of civil unions.

The path toward marriage determined as a community

By Brad Clark ON JUNE 26, we celebrated as the socalled Defense of Marriage Act met its long overdue demise before the Supreme Court – and the freedom to marry was finally restored in the state of California.

Here in Colorado, though, our celebration has come face-to-face with an important reality: with a state ban on marriage equality currently in place, our families still lack critical federal protections available only to married couples.

In other words, our fight is not over. We cannot rest until we have secured the freedom to marry in the state we call home.

So the question is – what happens next? What is the pathway forward to marriage equality in Colorado?

The answer is one we must determine together as a community. But whatever road we choose, one thing is clear: defeat is not a path to victory.

LGBT Coloradans know what it’s like to have our families and our rights brought up for a vote – we’ve gone through it two separate times. And we can’t let it happen again without making sure we have a reasonable expectation of success.

For One Colorado, that means we are dedicated to achieving marriage equality in the quickest manner possible – but in a manner that still ensures the likelihood of victory.

And as our community comes together to identify when and how we will reach that critical threshold, there are a few things we know from looking at states that have won the freedom to 8

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marry at the ballot – states like Maine, Maryland and Minnesota.

We know that in every single one of those campaigns, building the foundation for victory required tremendous energy, time and resources: millions of dollars, and tens of thousands of volunteers having hundreds of thousands of conversations with our friends, neighbors, and co-workers about why marriage matters to our families.

We also know, from looking at Proposition 8 and similar battles, that fighting for marriage equality in our courts is a very expensive, lengthy, and unpredictable process.

So, without a doubt, our community has some important decisions to make. As an organization, One Colorado is now working to help facilitate that process – starting with an online survey we’ll be launching next week to seek the input of our supporters across the state – and assess the time and resources they’re willing to commit to this fight.

Later this summer and into the fall, we will be traveling across the state to engage our community through town hall meetings and coalition roundtables – all aimed at discussing the path forward.

Together, there’s no question that we can win the freedom to marry here in Colorado. Now, our charge is to work hand in hand to ensure we achieve that mission for all our families.

Brad Clark is the executive director of One Colorado, the state’s largest LGBT advocacy organization.

Outfrontonline.com

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Fyi

LGBT activists removed in handcuffs from Rubio’s office THREE LGBT ACTIVISTS staged a sit–in June 25 at the Tampa office of Florida’s Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, calling for an end to his “dangerous moves to radically increase border security,” in a Senate immigration bill.

Rubio’s office called the police and the activists were taken away in handcuffs. As the activists were being led away from Rubio’s office, a Rubio staffer told the officers in the room one of the activists – GetEQUAL Co-Director Felipe Sousa-Rodriguez – “is here illegally,” GetEQUAL alleged in a media release.

Felipe was serving in a support role and not breaking any laws, GetEQUAL said.

The officer proceeded to ask Sousa-Rodriguez whether he was legally in the U.S., and asked to see his driver’s license.

Sousa-Rodriguez is undocumented, sent to the U.S. by his mother in Brazil. He has a work permit under the Obama Administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

GetEQUAL is a national grassroots social justice nonprofit.

The Senate’s Immigration Bill passed with bipartisan support June 27.

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Community leader, ally recognized by Urban League THE URBAN LEAGUE OF METROPOLITAN DENVER honored Morris Price and Faye Tate individually June 22 at its annual Whitney M. Young, Jr. dinner. Price, a longtime community leader who has served on various nonprofit boards including the GLBT Community Center of Colorado’s, received the Al Matthews Civic Engagement Award.

Price was presented the award for his leadership on the League’s board while the nonprofit was struggling. Tate, a community ally who has previously co-chaired the Mile High Gala, was presented the McKinley Harris Distinguish Warrior Award for helping Faye Tate re-establish the nonprofit after it closed in 2008. She served on League’s President’s Advisory Circle. The League was founded in 1946 to promote the economic and social self-reliance among poor and disadvantaged African–Americans. Denver’s League is one of 114 affiliates across the nation.

For updated news coverage visit outFrontonline.com/ofcnow or connect with out Front on Facebook at Facebook.com/outfrontcolorado

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MarriaGe eQuality

WHAT THE DECISIONS MAY MEAN FOR YOUR RELATIONSHIP

Post decisions, leaders begin paving path toward marriage

By Nic Garcia

the rulings disappointing and accused the court of thwarting the will of the people.

“Most important, there is no 50-state mandate,” said ecognizing a pair of decisions on same-sex relationship recognition from the Supreme Court is a limited Alan Sears, president of Alliance Defending Freedom, a victory, elected officials and community leaders religious liberty advocacy organization. “The court has will use the opinions to forge the most intense path toward allowed the nation more time to debate the purpose of marriage equality – both in Colorado and across the nation. marriage and consequences of redefining it.”

And the debate in Colorado is about to start all over.

While the Supreme Court fell short of establishing Passed by voters in 2006, the state’s Amendment 43 a nationwide solution for marriage equality, they did extend all of the federal benefits of marriage to legally defines marriage between a man and a woman. It must married same-sex couples, and by a procedural move, be repealed or struck down by a court before Colorado’s same-sex couples can re-established same-sex receive any of the federal marriage in Califorbenefits made available nia, the nation’s most to their peers in New York populous state. or Iowa by the Supreme The decisions in two Court’s invalidating separate cases, Holportions of the federal lingsworth v. Perry and Defense of Marriage Act. United States v. Windsor, Either a court case or were handed down June a voter initiative will be 26, two days shy of the costly and timely, One 44th anniversary of Colorado’s Clark said. And the Stonewall riots, the it’s up to the community modern birth of the LGBT to decide which path it equality movement. should take.

Marriage equality To facilitate those decisupporters here and Supporters of marriage equality gathered at Colorado’s capitol june 26. more photos on Page 34. Photo by Charles Broshous sions, One Colorado will across the nation hailed in the coming months host the decisions while acknowledging there is more work to be done and town hall meetings, meet with a network of progressive patience will be needed as the federal government social welfare nonprofits and other coalition partners, conduct an online survey and form a strategic assessment updates its policies to reflect the court’s opinion.

“It’s exciting,” said Brad Clark, executive director of group made up of elected officials, political strategists and One Colorado, the state’s largest LGBT advocacy orga- community members.

“This will take tremendous time, energy and resourcnization. “We believe Colorado is ready for a conversation about the freedom to marry. And we’re ready to es,” Clark said on a conference call with donors and supporters that followed the Supreme Court’s opinions. have that conversation.”

Meanwhile, opponents of same-sex marriage called “(And) we need to build a climate for victory now.”

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WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ABOUT MARRIAGE EQUALITY

“After Matt came out to me, he once asked me if I thought gay couples would ever be allowed to get married. I told him I didn’t think it would happen in my lifetime, but it probably would in his. It’s so sad and ironic that it turned out the other way. But this case warms my heart, to think that his dream is still coming true. Dennis and I look forward to the day when loving, committed couples are able to marry in every state.”

Judy Shepard, Matthew Shepard Foundation

“Today’s decision was a tremendous victory for the country and has brought us one step closer to equality under the law for LGBT people and families. The Supreme Court, in striking down the Defense of Marriage Act, affirmed the love and commitment of married gay and lesbian couples around the country.

But there is still more work to do and we must use the strength of this momentum to ensure that all LGBT people and families in Colorado and throughout the country are treated equally under the law and have a fair shot at the American Dream.”

Congressman Jared Polis, D-Boulder

“This is a momentous day for America and for the vision of ‘equality for all’ to which we aspire. With the Supreme Court’s decisions on DOMA and Proposition 8, millions of Americans in loving marriages, and their children, can now fully participate in the American family, finally enjoying the same rights and benefits as every family in this country. For too long, ideology and politics have stood in the way of equality for the LGBT community in our nation. But today we are reminded that progress is indeed unavoidable and justice will eventually triumph.”

Congresswoman Diana DeGette, D-Denver

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Now that the federal Defense of Marriage Act has been stuck down will other states recognize either our marriage or civil union? no. only one portion of DoMA, the 1996 law, was struck down.

The statute that was ruled unconstitutional outlawed the federal government from extending marriage benefits to married same-sex couples.

States, like Colorado, are still allowed to recognize marriage only between a man and a woman.

Does the federal government have to recognize state civil unions?

“That’s unclear,” said Chris Stoll with the national Center for Lesbian Rights during a conference call organized by one Colorado. Since 1996, DoMA forbid even asking that question. “now that DoMA is gone, there’s an open question the government hasn’t had to answer.”

If I’m a federal employee or a military service member who is legally married in another state, but live in Colorado, am I immediately eligible for all of the federal benefits of marriage? yes and no. while most federal benefits (like sponsoring a spouse for citizenship) cross state lines, some, like taxes are linked directly to state policies and other agencies. It’s going to take some time to sort through the more than 1,000 policies regarding marriage.

With DOMA struck down, what more do we have to do for full marriage equality?

The Supreme Court’s opinion was a major step forward toward marriage equality for same-sex couples. but there is still no nationwide solution, which most advocates believe the nation needs. “we’ll be back in front of the Supreme Court in several years, looking for a nation wide solution,” said a Thalia zepatos from Freedom To Marry.

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FYI

What’s next?

Colorado Civil Rights Division sides with trans student

Mathis’ school district can fight the decision, but because there are currently no other known transgender students enrolled in the district, business can proceed as usual, said the Fund’s Silverman. If the school becomes aware of another trans student, then it would have to follow the ruling of the division. Additionally, the division is expected to issue a decision on a case involving a couple that alleges they were denied a wedding cake from a baker in Lakewood because they’re gay.

Board rules 6-year-old Coy Mathis shouldn’t be barred from girls’ bathroom t When Coy Mathis, 6, heard the Colorado Civil Rights Division agreed with her and her parents that a Fountain–Fort Carson school district violated her rights as a transgender student when she was forbidden from using the girls’ restroom, she asked her parents, “Does this mean I get to go back to school and make friends?”

From the mouth of babes.

The simplest answer to the simplest question is yes – Mathis will be able to return to a Colorado public school this fall after her parents removed her from Eagleside Elementary School this winter after the school’s administration abruptly required Mathis to use a teacher’s bathroom because she is a transgender girl. And she’ll have all the same rights to an education, friendship–and the bathroom–as any “little girl,” would, said Michael Silverman, executive director of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund.

The family and the Fund is currently vetting schools in Aurora.

Coy Mathis Photo courtesy of family

Here’s a more complicated explanation of what the Colorado Civil Rights Division found during its investigation: t Eagleside created a hostile environment for Mathis. The Division recognized using a bathroom is “one of the most essential human functions,” and that forbidding her to use the girls’ restroom engendered “an environment that is objectively and subjectively hostile, intimidating … and offensive.” t The school’s philosophy of “separate but equal” does not work. t Any parental discomfort does not override students’ rights. t The school created an exclusionary environment rife with harassment. “The restroom restriction … ostracized (Coy)” and “forced (her) to disengage from her group of friends.”

“The bottom line is to take care of your children, love your children, and do the best you can do for them.”

— Kathryn Mathis, Coy’s mother, on what parents should do if they find themselves in similar situations

r For more information and to read the decision online: ofcnow.co/3q0 r Trans resources are available at gicofcolo.org/ r To learn more about Colorado’s Civil Rights Division and how to file a complaint: ofcnow.co/ccrd

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out in colorado

Try out for LGBT cheer squad Tryouts will be held for LGBT cheer squad, Cheer Denver, at 7 p.m., July 12 at the GLBT Community Center of Colorado, 1301 E. Colfax Ave. Cheer Denver, organized by Melissa Thomas, a trans woman, is expected to rally community support at public events and raise money for various nonprofits and causes including HIV/AIDS and Alzheimer’s, Thomas said. While cheerleading experience isn’t necessary, Thomas said it would be appreciated. You must at least 18 to apply. There is a $20 application fee.

For more information on Cheer Denver contact Melissa Thomas at 303-861-1195.

Save the date for Colorado Springs Pride If you’ve been waiting for a chance to enter into a civil union with your loved one – alongside dozens of other couples AT THE same TIME – Colorado Springs PrideFest might be what you’ve been waiting for. The Colorado Springs LGBT community will celebrate Pride July 20 and July 21 at America the Beautiful Park, 126 Cimino Drive.

The two–day festival will start at 10 a.m. each day. A beer garden will be open all weekend. There will be a parade at 11 a.m., Sunday. This year’s theme is “Summer of Love.” There will be a free shuttle from the park to the Underground, a gay bar, at 110 N. Nevada Ave. The mass civil union ceremony, officiated by Nori Rost and Wes Mullins, will begin at 2:30 p.m., Sunday.

Health care town hall will focus on trans issues The Center and One Colorado will host a town hall to discuss health law changes and to discuss how their organizations can advocate for better health care for transgender Coloradans at 6 p.m. July 15 at The Center. Facilitators will be One Colorado’s Ashley Wheeland and The Center’s Courtney Gray.

Eden will host state Rep. Crisanta Duran, D-Denver, when she leads a discussion on new opportunities for local businesses earning state contracts.

The workshop begins at 6 p.m., July 11.

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PANEL

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Tom Rockman Jr. is a card-carrying Yooper, former flyboy, queer journalist, DragNation fanatic, comedy/ horror/sci-fi addict, aspiring policy wiz and online provocateur.

e

Iowa native George K. Gramer, Jr. is the president of the Colorado Log Cabin Republicans.

Keo Frazier is the fearless leader and founder of KEOS Marketing Group.

A little honesty is necessary here. The question concerns the LGBT community, but studies have shown that gay men are among the least tolerant of perceived body imperfections while lesbians are the most accepting. This does not speak to the body consideration of the transgender population either, which is deserving of a conversation in its own right.

As the least–accepting group, are gay guys too focused on body types?

This has troubled me. Never having been a huge fan of the gym, or never having been one to go for a run just because I have some free time, I am never going to achieve the Adonis body type that is so celebrated in our culture. I can, however, still do my best to be physically healthy.

Perhaps gay guys can stand to remember that being healthy comes first and that everything beyond that – the aesthetics – are window dressing. I think that is a lesson that everyone else can get on board with as well.

Pieter Tolsma

Fitness and body type are separate topics.

Fitness should be about health and a having a healthier community – engaging in a fun and active lifestyle that is better for you and those who love you.

Body type should be a technical term in the medical field, not a term we use to indicate likeability or attractiveness to each other. We, as a society, have misconstrued fitness into body image and body type expectations equated to attractiveness, and are highly influenced by the shallow implications of “body type expectations.”

We all grossly misrepresent attractiveness in unhealthy ways, and also embrace it in healthy ways. I am encouraging the latter, and to do so we need to focus on our health and beauty as it radiates from within by participating in activities that strengthen from the inside out – and trust the out will follow the beauty within.

Some might think “how dare her,” but I was taught long ago: beauty is about the light within yourself. It doesn’t mean to not exercise, eat well, or be healthy and look good – I am saying to look good for you and not allow societal expectations to hinder you from reaching your own personal beauty, your own best body type or ultimate fitness level.

Keo Frazier

The answer is yes and no.

In the LGBT community, as in society as a whole, is a wide range of body types.

We can be, at times, judgmental about others’ (and our own) bodies – in the LGBT community there is a very wide range of taste in body types too.

I stand 6-foot-2 and weigh 189 pounds – not bad for a 61-yearold man. Yet I would “like” to weigh 175. Is that because I would be healthier? More attractive to others? More attractive to myself?

Trying to go back a decade? Some other reason?

Many of my friends belong to fitness centers and have stories of how many other gay people go there (while I am not certain how you can distinguish a gay person vs. a straight person lifting weights or swimming laps, I do know that my friends have well–attuned “gaydar”). Apparently, a disproportionately high number of LGBT people take their fitness seriously.

Yet some of us never go near a swimming pool or track – because we have too little time, in other cases it is because we have little or no interest in being fit. That is fine.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Since everyone has true inner beauty if they allow it to shine, perhaps we should all just chill out and consider fitness and body type as something for personal taste – which is, in the LGBT community, all over the map.

George K. Gramer, Jr.

Tom Rockman

The obsession with the ideal body types – in fitness center ads, gay porn, and circuit parties – is not confined to the LGBT community, but a subset of a society that is magnified through the media.

Young women are bombarded with images of skinny runway models in fashion magazines. Men are told at earlier and earlier ages they are inferior if they don’t conform to images in Exercise for Men. There is nothing wrong with wanting to stay in shape. Striving to look like the ideal body type should serve as a model for which physical fitness and an exercise regiment is the ultimate goal. But when society as a whole, and in turn the LGBT community, places too much emphasis on the perfect body, it does psycho–emotional damage.

The Wrangler and the Front Range Bears are two places where gay men of all body types can socialize. We celebrate the diversity of the body in all forms and fashions. At the same time, our culture is suffering from an epidemic of obesity that affects one in three Americans. Some gay men may find an otter, a bear, and a cub to be attractive and others may not. The ideal and the extreme are located at opposite ends of the spectrum. For most of us the struggle is to find balance between where we are health–wise, and where we want to be physically.

Are we too focused on f itness and body type in the LGBT community?

Editor’s note: A 2009 study in the Australian Journal of Women’s Health found lesbians report less dissatisfaction with their bodies than heterosexual women, while other studies have found lesbians’ body image to be similar to straight women. Research more consistently finds gay men to be less comfortable with their bodies than both lesbians and heterosexual men.

Pieter Tolsma is program coordinator of Denver PIQUE, a program for gay/ bi young men in Denver.

Interested in becoming one of the voices on Out Front’s panel?

Contact the editorial department by email at editorial@outfrontonline.com or call 303-477-4000 ext. 702 to be considered.

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A ‘fairy tale’ ceremony in June:

shoW & tell

Colorado couple’s lavish nuptials in San Diego

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KATIE ANDELMAN and CHRISTINE GARNER celebrated their committment June 9 surrounded by the people they love most at Twin Oaks Garden Estate in Southern California. The brides wore Pronovias gowns, adorned with white feathers and myriad tulle layers, both made of softly–draped chiffon creating a soft, light summer feel. The gowns were selected to compliment each other, while remaining true to the personality of each bride. Christine’s was a vintage lace trumpet, and Katie’s was a Swarovski crystal ball gown. The flowers made an exceptional touch to the wedding, creating a magical feel with a full lavender to white ombré rose pedal isle. Thousands of peonies, roses, anemones, and orchids adorned the wedding, leaving the brides and guests feeling like they stepped into a fairy tale.

The couple originally met in August 2010 in Denver. Two years later, Christine proposed to Katie at the Broadmoor resort in Colorado Springs. They celebrated their bachelorette party at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, where they danced and partied with their close friends in the Tower Suites.

The couple is planning to enter a formal civil union later, Andelman said.

Above: The brides embrace after their vows.

Inset: Christine Garner, left, and Katie Andelman at their commitment ceremony in California.

Photo by Brian Kent ABM Wedding Photography

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the lesbian socialite

Why we need to support our out athletes

Robyn Vie-Carpenter r Follow Robyn on Twitter @The LesSocialite

Can you imagine what would happen when the “big gay dollars” show up? Not only will our out athletes have job security, but the impact could ripple through to the semi-professional and prep coaching levels, creating a pool of out and proud role models for our queer youth.

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Recent months have seen a lot of talk about out athletes, with particular focus on Jason Collins, the professional basketball player who is the first athlete to come out while still actively pursuing a professional sports career — in something other than figure skating.

Some question whether Collins’ status as an out athlete will hurt his chances for a contract now that he’s a free agent.

This conversation about Collins’ open sexuality reminds me of past conversations. Although Ellen DeGeneres’ career suffered setbacks when she came out in 1997, she has ultimately come out on top (pun intended).

And Neil Patrick Harris is no less funny as a highly– sexed straight womanizer in How I Met Your Mother while he and his partner are extraordinarily out.

The best way to show the “powers that be” an out athlete is no less valuable to a team is to openly support our out queer athletes.

It’s known in the African American community: To see more films that are produced, written and directed by us, and feature characters who look like us in lead roles, the community has to show up. So, the African American community does so opening weekend.

I propose the same kind support for out athletes.

The LGBT community needs to attend sporting events in big numbers to show we too love sports and support our “family.”

Can you imagine what would happen when the “big gay dollars” show up? Not only will our out athletes have job security, but the impact could ripple through to the semi-professional and prep coaching levels, creating a pool of out and proud role models for our queer youth.

Too often LGBT coaches–former college athletes who never came out but want to continue a life of sports–are concerned they will not be offered a job or asked not to return if they are out to the school or parents of their athletes.

These coaches and their young athletes (straight or queer) need to see that they have a whole community behind them.

Local recreational teams need our support too.

A friend of mine is a member of a gold–medal– winning all–gay hockey team based in Denver that won at the last Gay Games in Germany three years ago.

The team also plays in a rec league, against all the straight teams, not for fame, glory or money, but because they love to play.

The last game I attended had maybe 30 fans in the stands. Wouldn’t it be amazing if LGBT athletes saw true support from their community even at the rec level? Imagine: big rainbow flags flying in the stands with cheers: we’re here, we’re queer and we just kicked your ass!

We need to support LGBT athletes everywhere, bottom to top (no pun intended).

It stands to reason that would–be bullies will think twice if students have that kind of support. When the fans are behind a player, those players carry it through life, on and off the court or field.

So, get your game face on and get out there to root on our family members – become an athletic supporter.

bleed like me

Friendship in the face of change Neither of us knew what to say in the husband. I realized petty conversations had From early childhood we learn been the cornerstone of our friendship the face of something so big. friendships are among the most imI decided to take a week off to cope whole time – something so seriously serious as portant relationships in our lives, with the bad news and during that time HIV had no place in our rapport. providing support in bad times and Our friendship took a nosedive. The more I I didn’t hear from Sofia at all. When I laughter in good times. But people returned, I made my way over to her wanted to talk about my HIV diagnosis, the more change and friendships do too. she pulled away. And cubicle hoping After high school and college, the the more Sofia wanted to return to workplace was a new opportunity to to talk about how much the familiar make friends, and that’s where I met she hated everyone else, bitching about Sofia. She had the face of a movie Scott McGlothlen whatever we the more I pulled away star and the mouth of a sailor. She Our friendship took a nosedive. too. I didn’t want to criticould. reminded me of the popular girls I cize and mock others Of course the one thing didn’t get to run with before.

The more I wanted to talk about my HIV anymore. I didn’t want I decided I had to force her to be my new best I wanted to bitch about diagnosis, the more she pulled away. to spend my time focused most was HIV. I tried friend.

And the more Sofia wanted to talk on negativity.

Our crappy job set us up to bond. There was talking about how hard It wasn’t long before no other person I’d rather whine to about stupid the week had been and about how much she hated everyone Sofia found another people and even stupider supervisors than Sofia. how totally scared I was else, the more I pulled away too. I didn’t office mate who loved We had a knack for making each other laugh at feeling. Sofia didn’t have want to criticize and mock others criticizing people as the expense of those around us – our malicious much to say. I needed much as I once did. I sense of humor made me finally feel like one of her, as my best friend, to anymore. I didn’t want to spend my watched as someone the popular kids. It didn’t matter if we came off acknowledge what I was time focused on negativity. shiny and new slowly going through — some like the catty girls of the office. took my place. My heart When I found out there was a chance I could empathetic comment.

Instead, she changed the topic and com- mourned the confusing loss of a friend who, for be HIV positive, I knew Sofia, being one tough years, made me laugh so hard. But perhaps it woman, could handle my intensity – I had no plained about her husband.

Something between us had changed. Normally, wasn’t Sofia who changed on me, but me who doubt she’d have my back. On the day I got my confirmatory test, I called her and she immedi- when she complained about her marriage, I changed on her. ately came over. But instead of a friend who came would validate her every thought, but this time to be supportive, she seemed quiet and awkward. I felt awkward and started to feel bad for her r Email Scott at scott@outfrontonline.com

d ‘‘

Outfrontonline.com

FOCUS

JULY 3, 2013

17

SCORING POINTS — and FRIENDS: For LGBT players in Denver, intersecting identity and athleticism is a home run

By Kristin Ziegler

By Evan Semon

Rush Rugby team members from left, Michael Fuller, Scott Allen, Troy Jensen 18

JULY 3, 2013

COVER STORY

OUTFRONTONLINE.COM

Y AFTER A DIFFICULT BREAKUP IN 2008, Carlos Marzano needed a game changer. He needed to “hit reset and become a new person,” he said, so he relocated to Denver, where he picked up the game of rugby – he’s now married to a man and a coach for the Denver’s gay rugby team, Rush.

Marzano stands in an open field at Denver’s Congress Park.

Around him, dozens of LGBT athletes are running, jumping, scoring touchdowns, spiking and having a good time chatting and drinking cold beers on the sidelines.

This is SportsFest. And Marzano is no longer alone.

Carlos Marzano

Continued on page 20 OUTFRONTONLINE.COM

COVER STORY

JULY 3, 2013

19

Continued from page 19

WANT TO PLAY? Here are some websites to check out first.

Team Colorado teamcoloradousa.org Denver Gay and Lesbian Flag Football denvergayflagfootball.com Rush Rugby coloradorushrfc.org/home

A collaborative effort between Team Colorado – an umbrella nonprofit for local LGBT sports teams – and the GLBT Community Center of Colorado, SportsFest held its fourth annual summer event in Congress Park June 16. Each year it draws athletes from a variety of sporting backgrounds from across Colorado and neighboring states. Participants gather to play, enjoy a picnic, and most of all, connect with other LGBT players.

Camaraderie is integral to Team Colorado and LGBT sporting.

“The very nature of LGBTQ sports is celebrating solidarity, friendship and fair play,” said Tony Smith, a sitting member of the Team Colorado executive board. “I’m so proud to be associated with the organization. Team Colorado is very inspiring, and very true to Colorado’s values. The people on these teams really support one another.”

Out Spokin (bicycling) outspokin.org SQUID (swimming) squidswimteam.org DATE (tennis) denverareatennis.net Denver Area Softball Leauge denverareasoftballleague.org

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WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING

“The gay leagues allow the player to be exactly who he is, or who he feels like being. I was teammates a few years ago with a man who would occasionally don a pink wig and do a cartwheel on his way to first base.

It was a riot! Everyone on the field loved to see it!”

-George Taylor, Denver Area Softball League/Boyztown Longballers’ manager “I believe in integration not segregation but at times its nice to be around others of your same preferences. It creates a sense of community, safety and acceptance for who you are.”

-Kelly Krucher, assistant commissioner of Denver Area Softball League’s women’s division “I believe gay sports teams are necessary because it promotes a further sense of community outside of the bars. It allows everyone to come together in an environment that is safe and welcoming, and helps engage people in activities that are better for our physical and mental health.”

-Andi Smith, Denver Area Softball League

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COVER STORY

TONY SMITH AT SPORTSFEST Despite the heteronormative stereotype that would conclude two athletic men could never be attracted to one another, many major sports teams have LGBT players among their ranks. Statistically speaking, it’d be impossible for any major sports team to have not had an LGBT athlete during the course of its history.

A slew of accomplished major league

unnamed Green Bay Packers player have been subject of recent gossip – the eccentric pianist’s recent HBO biopic, Behind the Candelabra, stated the two had an intimate relationship 70 years ago.

Yet all of the aforementioned major league and popular athletes chose to stay closeted throughout their careers, or in the case of the mystery Packer, his entire life. It has only been this year that the world of major American sports saw its first active athlete, basketball player Jason Collins, step out of the closet.

Collins’ coming out was greeted mostly with warm and affirming responses, even garnering a phone call from President Barack Obama.

But he was still met with some hostility from other players, sports fans and commentators.

Only one other rostered member of a major American sports team has opened up about his sexuality since; Robbie Rogers simultaneously announced he was gay and retiring from soccer in February. Upon returning to Major League Soccer as a member of the Los Angeles Galaxy in May, he became the second openly gay rostered athlete in the United States.

Does the Collins test, in which an athlete took time to examine the field before playing as an out gay person, suggest that the sports world may, indeed, still be a heterosexist and antigay world? And if this is true, what is a gay and ambitious athlete to turn to?

There is an abundance of LGBT sports associations that nurture and acknowledge the talent of out athletes locally, like Team Colorado, and internationally like the OutGames and Gay Games.

Under the Team Colorado umbrella, active gays, lesbians, and transgender people around the state have access to about 15 LGBT specific sports teams and leagues. There’s a swimming and tennis team, softball and bowling leagues, a cycling group, flag football, and rugby. All of the Team Colorado groups meet regularly and are open to anyone – regardless of sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation or athletic ability and history. (Some LGBT sports leagues that compete competitively do require tryouts.)

“You don’t have to be ‘the jock’ to play with a Team Colorado sport,” said Sonya Lewis, co-president of Team Colorado. “We take in absolutely everybody, you don’t even have to be LGBT. No matter what, you’re welcome – and that’s a bit of

“You don’t have to be ‘the jock’ to play with a Team Colorado sport. We take in absolutely everybody, you don’t even have to be LGBT. No matter what, you’re welcome – and that’s a bit of what makes Team Colorado so wonderful.”

Sonya Lewis, co-president of Team Colorado athletes, including NBA player John Amaechi, the NFL’s David Kopay, and the MLB’s Glen Burke (who arguably invented and popularized the high five) have all come out as gay.

Liberace, a famously–flamboyant gay pianist who died more than 25 years ago, and an OUTFRONTONLINE.COM

what makes Team Colorado so wonderful.”

And that very affirming spirit of the organization, which was established in 1982 as the Colorado Athletic Exchange, is apparent at Team Colorado’s annual gathering: SportsFest.

Held during PrideFest weekend at Congress

FLAG FOOTBALL PLAYERS AT SPORTSFEST Park, a large number of players from various different sports teams came out to the park to recruit new participants, as well as engage with other members of the LGBT sporting community. And though many of the Team Colorado members showed off impressive skills through organized tournaments, a sense of community, the promise of inclusion and the offer of lifelong friendship was, indeed, their greatest and most powerful pitch.

Aaron Killpack, a member of the Denver LGBT flag football league described the other players as his “cute, little family.”

Sharing a friend got him involved with the team, Killpack said what he values most about his experience with the group is the bond he is able to forge not just with the gay male athletes around Denver, but with Colorado’s LGBT community as a whole.

“I really love the mix between gays and lesbians,” Killpack said, as he pointed to the game going on in the field. “The mix between everyone, gay and lesbian really makes this feel like I am

playing with brothers and sisters. This group is a real, solid family.”

And it really is the social part that transcends the actual sport and the field, the rugby coach Marzano asserted. “We go to housewarming parties, bars, and the movies together. They’re there when I need them, and I’m there when they need me. We’re not just teammates, we’re friends.”

And in Marzano’s case, one of his teammates is also more than just a friend. Legally married in New York, Carlos’ husband, Vito Marzano, also plays on the rugby team. The two said the sport is just one more thing that brought them closer.

Carlos quipped it’s quite the turn-on to watch his boyfriend engaged in such an aggressive sport.

As Smith, Team Colorado’s co-president, reminds us: A sense of connectedness is vital in order to have a winning game plan, on and off the field. But that much desired team spirit still isn’t a given in mainstream major league sports and events.

Many of athletes at SportsFest said they were not always comfortable with being out to their predominantly heterosexual teams.

“Being a part the [Denver Gay and Lesbian Flag Football] League really allows that part of you, your identity as a gay person, to be out,” said Killpack.

“It’s a really great opportunity to play with people who are like-minded and share experiences.”

Organizations like Team Colorado, which is among the oldest and most active of similar LGBT sports groups in the country, allows out athletes to continue to excel in their own discipline without feeling a need to hide or face hostility.

While creating an open and supportive environment in which openly LGBT athletes can be honest with themselves and their teammates is what Team

OUTFRONTONLINE.COM

Colorado has pieced together through fundraising, competing in national tournaments and the in the quadrennial games, and supporting the activities of teams locally, Smith hopes that someday the group is no longer needed.

KEVIN EUSER AND BRAIN POWELL. And though that day may be nearing, thanks to out athletes like Jason Collins, Robbie Rogers, and local champions like Killpack and the Marzanos who proudly shatter stereotypes and live authentically and openly, it is still on the horizon. This is why Team Colorado remains not only a necessity, but a valued one.

“LGBTQ athletic competition really encourages us to recognized and work toward our individual goals.

And when we better ourselves through these goals, we are bettering society as a whole,” said Lewis.

“That’s why Team Colorado has stuck around, and that is why we’ll continue to be here.”

COVER STORY

JULY 3, 2013

21

GAY RODEO

Go West young gay

A city slicker’s guide to experience Colorado’s gay rodeo Compiled by Nic Garcia

J

ust as Colorado’s heritage is tied to the old West, so too is the state’s LGBT community.

Colorado is, in fact, the birthplace of the modern gay rodeo circuit. While the first gay rodeo was held in Reno, Nevada in 1976, it was a group of Colorado cowboys who pushed for standardized rules and helped establish the International Gay Rodeo Association, in 1985.

Other founding western neighbors include Texas, California and Arizona. Now it’s 31st year, the Colorado Gay Rodeo Association is ready to giddy up at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds July 12, 13 and 14.

A bull ride of the 2012 Colorado Gay Rodeo. Photo by Charles Broshous.

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JULY 3, 2013

FEATURE

Outfrontonline.com

GET THE LOOK

While a cowboy’s hat and boots are essential survival tools on the range, they also make fantastic accessories. CGRA members we spoke with all highly recommended Shepler’s, 10300 Bannock St. in Northglenn, as the retail outlet of choice.

CBS4 viewers also recommended Rocky Mountain Clothing Company, 8500 Zuni St., and Rockmount Ranch Wear, 1626 Wazee St., a top spots to update your western wardrobe.

COW TIP: While Mr.

CGRA 2013 Karl Wessley has been spotted in sandals, he highly recommends not wearing flip-flops to the rodeo.

SURVIVAL GUIDE

Wear sunscreen, drink water, don’t touch another man’s cowboy hat and watch out for manure.

COW TIP: For a sneak

peek at the live stock … we mean … cowboys ... coming to town, check out HomoRodeo.com. It’s like Grindr for cowboys and the men who love them.

COWBOY SPEAK

A barrel ride at the 2012 Colorado Gay Rodeo. Photo by Charles Broshous.

AGENDA

Thursday, July 11 Colorado Gay Rodeo Association Board Meeting, 6 p.m., Charlie’s, 900 E. Colfax Ave. CGRA membership meeting, 8 p.m., Charlie’s; Kick-off party, hosted by Blue Moon (the drag queen, not the beer) and Nuclia Waste, featuring present and past CGRA royalty and friends of the rodeo, 8 p.m., Charlie’s

Friday, July 12 Contestant registration, all day, Jefferson County Fairgrounds; Ty Teigen Memorial Barrel Race, 6 p.m., Fairgrounds, free

Saturday, July 13 31st Annual Rocky Mountain Regional Rodeo, 10 a.m., Fairgrounds

Sunday, July 14 31st Annual Rocky Mountain Regional Rodeo, 10 a.m., Fairgrounds

The Events The following events will begin at 10 a.m. both days: Calf Roping on Foot Steer Decorating Mounted Break-Away Roping Team Roping Steer Riding Pole Bending Chute Dogging Bareback Bronc Riding Goat Dressing Barrel Racing Flag Racing Wild Drag Race Bull Riding

Don’t miss:

The Rodeo is operated almost entirely by volunteers. Organizers, royalty, members of the International circuit and volunteers are all recognized during the Grand Entry, which follows the Chute Dogging event.

Tickets

$14 each day or $20 for a weekend pass.

COW TIP:

Keep your eye open for out of town guests at Charlie’s and the Wrangler, favorite watering holes for rodeo contestants.

Outfrontonline.com

“There’s a little bit of everything, for everybody to see. We have horse and roping events, camp events like a wild drag race and goat dressing. But, if there is one event to really feel the energy of rodeo, it’s bull riding. People are just engrossed in the event.”

— Rich Valdez, Vice President CGRA, on what to expect at the rodeo “Other than my son, CGRA is my family. We welcome everybody. You don’t have to be a cowboy or a cowgirl to be a part of CGRA. … You see all these guys in Wranglers, and cowboy hats, and on horses – you’re not going to find that at coronation. Seeing women in skirts and cowboy boots, you just go, ‘Oh my God, damn!” ­— Pauline Chavez, Ms. CGRA 2013, 2009, on why she’s a member of CGRA

Did you know?

Traditionally “a man’s sport,” both men and women are allowed to participate in all events at any IGRA rodeo. That means women can bull ride and men can barrel race. At most professional rodeos, women can only participate in barrel racing. Men are also excluded from participating in that event.

BY THE NUMBERS 90: the average high temperature the weekend of rodeo.

100: the number of contestants in last year’s rodeo.

215: the number of belt buckles recorded at gayrodeohistory.com.

6: the number of seconds a rider needs to stay atop the bull in order to qualify for a score.

MORE ONLINE

cgra.us • igra.com • gayrodeohistory.com FEATURE

JULY 3, 2013

23

FooD FoR THoUGHT

Little Dragon 1305 Krameria Street, G Denver • 303-322-2128 LittleDragonDenver.com

Marco’s perfects the pizza

By Jeff Steen

Hamburger Mary’s 700 East 17th Avenue Denver • 303-832-1333 HamburgerMarys.com/denver

Serioz Pizzeria 1336 East 17th Ave. Denver • 303-997-7679 SeriozPizza.com

DJ’s 9th Avenue Cafe DJ’s 9th Avenue Cafe 865 Lincoln St. Denver • 303-386-3375 DjsCafe.biz/.com

The Melting Pot 2707 W. Main St. Littleton • (303)-794-5666 MeltingPot.com

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JUlY 3, 2013

SoCiAl

Pizza is one of those American indulgences that is frightfully ubiquitous. Go to the grocery store, get a frozen pizza. Go to the corner cafe, get an ooeygooey, doughy mess. Go to the hole–in–the–wall pizzeria run by mob bosses, get glistening pepperoni on a crust that neatly folds in half. Heck, you can even go to a gas station and get a pizza – right next to the perpetually rolling hot dogs, beside the three–day–old coffee.

While most of the pizza we encounter is, by all consent, sub–par, it’s also been created and recreated so many times it’s hard to find a variety that stands out from the crowd. Something that’s not delivery, not DiGiorno’s – a pie you can only find one place in town.

For my palate, that place has to be Marco’s.

Don’t get me wrong: I enjoy the work of Proto’s, Lucky Pie, and the like, but there’s something about Marco’s that reminds me of the Italy I knew growing up.

It turns out, that “something” is a bit more of the true flavors of Italy than I might have imagined.

Owners Mark and Kristy Dym – lovers of authentic Neapolitan pizza – decided that opening a pizza shop should involve more than just slinging together dough, sauce, cheese, and stale toppings.

For them, it meant making the dough from scratch, using Italian Caputo flour, simmering housemade tomato sauce showcasing world-famous San Marzano tomatoes, and picking ingredients that are fresh, local, and true to the combinations you’d like find in a Naples pizzeria. In fact, the Dyms went so far as to bring trained pizzaiolos (pizzamakers) on board, trained in the Old World. And if that weren’t enough, they’ve earned the soughtafter stamp of approval from the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN), which affirms true Neapolitan pizza-making practices. To add a feather to their cap, Marco’s is the only pizzeria in the entire state with this distinction.

But for many, all that is fluff unless the pizza lives up to the hype. And oh boy, does it. Thin-crust OutfrOntonline.cOm

beauties with crusty bubbles lining the edge fly to tables across the dining room and patio with an aura that’s palpable and a smell that’s intoxicating. When the individual pies land on the table, you can see the outline of beautifully melted mozzarella overlapping underneath ingredients like pancetta, prosciutto di Parma, arugula, truffle oil, pistachio cream – the list goes on and on.

For those who love the idea of flavor, but aren’t so enamored of Italian ingredients, Marco’s has wisely divided the menu into Neapolitan pies and American-style pies. The crust is the same for both – chewy, rich, and ever so slightly yeasty – but the toppings differ. For Italian, think combos like fresh ricotta, Genoa salami, prosciutto cotto, artichokes, and tomato sauce (the Sicilia); for American, think more hearty Italian-American treats like meatballs, roasted red pepper, sweet Italian sausage, and button mushrooms. They’re both likely to please your palate.

There are a couple more things that elevate the Marco’s experience. First, dig the breakfast pies, sporting many of the same ingredients as the pizzas found on the lunch and dinner menu, but coupled with fried eggs. The Chelsea, offering up a sea of arugula and bright cherry tomatoes, is a particular favorite of mine. Next, keep in mind that pizza doesn’t need to stop at savory. Proving that point with gusto is the Nutella variety, with a puffy, bubbly dough stuffed with Nutella and topped with powdered sugar. Even if you’re sated after your first pie, get this one to go.

The only disappointment I had in my experience at Marco’s was the beer – a scant few Colorado selections next to the usual suspects. It’s made up for with a comfortable wine list, but even so, if the pizzeria is going to such lengths to offer both American and Italian flavors on the food menu, why not give Coloradans what they love to pair it with? Namely, a healthy dose of craft beer.

The most curious and unexpected treat at Marco’s, however, goes beyond the realm of pizza.

The house lemoncello chicken wings are their own refreshing treat (enjoyed appropriately on the flower-studded back patio). The fresh wings are marinated in the citrusy libation for 48 hours, rubbed with herbs, then fired in the oven. Skeptics beware: a to-go box of these kicks your Monday night football up at least 10 notches. And it’s healthier than your standard fried wing treatment.

,

Marco’s Coal-Fired Pizza 2129 Larimer St. • 303-296-7000 MarcosCoalFiredPizza.com

& s t n io o t r a F k P en! c Op Bao N w

Happy Hour Everyday!

4pm to 7pm | 2 for 1 draft beers & well drinks |$4 house wines & Margaritas

Two Locations 17th & Humboldt Lowry Southeast Denver

healthy HAPPY PROUD Dont forget Tuesday is $15.00 Liters of House Margarita Gold!

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301 EAST 7TH AVE. • 303 894 0788 BENNYSRESTAURANT.COM

REdMangoeastcolfax BEST smoothie/frozen yogurt 2504 E. Colfax NEAR TATTERED COVER/FILMCENTER OPEN DAILY 11AM-10PM & Top Healthy Options OutfrOntonline.cOm

JUlY 3, 2013

25

HiGH SoCieTY

Peter and the Starcatcher Aug. 15 – Sept. 1 1101 13th St. • Denver r DenverCenter.org

She ‘kissed a girl’ and liked it – first

The Wizard of Oz

Now – Aug. 31 5501 Arapahoe Ave. • Boulder r bouldersdinnertheatre.com

Native daughter, Jill Souble, returns to Lannie’s

By Nic Garcia

Pink Martini

July 8 Chautauqua Auditorium • 900 Baseline Road Boulder r aurorafoxartscenter.org

Oklahoma July 26 – August 4 PACE Center • 20000 Pikes Peak Ave. Parker • r PACEcenteronline.org

NIC GARCIA: You’re a Denver native. What’s it like playing in your hometown?

JILL SOUBLE: Well, it’s kind of great. First of all, I make my (80-year-old) mom get up and sing with me. She does a wicked cover of an old Nelly song, and we have the new hit, “All My Mahjong Friends Have Died.” It’s fun to see who from my past shows up at a show. A few years ago, my bully, the meanest girl in all of junior highs came to see me. We talked after the show.

She seemed so…nice. But, I still think she might end up in the lower rungs of hell.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Sept. 13 – Oct. 13 2450 W Main St. • Littleton r townhallartscenter.com

Curtains

July 5 – July 28 6901 Wadsworth Blvd • Arvada r arvadacenter.org

An Evening Under the Stars

August 29 Arvada Center • 6901 Wadsworth Blvd.

Arvada • r ColoradoBallet.org

26

JUlY 3, 2013

When Jill Souble released “I Kissed A Girl,” in 1995, it was the first time any major recording artist discussed girl–on–girl action with those words. For the record, Katy Perry was 11 at the time. Since then, one of Denver’s own has gone on to be become a must–collaborator (she’s partnered with everyone from Neil Young to Arianna Huffington) and a pioneer in crowdfunding (her most recent album was financed entirely by fans). And now she’s back, headlining a show at Lannie’s Clocktower Cabert at 8 p.m., July 19.

SoCiAl

been “the Internets.” Every generation has had its Clueless, but this time they are armed to the teeth with iPhones, iPads, etc. – and all at the same time. We are all ADD. There was no Facebook or Twitter then. So now we have the potential to say inane things to a larger number of folks. And “fame culture” is even greater now with all the reality shows and viral videos. You know the old Andy Warhol saying that everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. Well, you could also say everyone will be famous…to at least 15 people. I will come up with a good name for our soon to be released movie; I just can’t think of one now. I’m too distracted. I am checking my Facebook.

NG: “Supermodel” was a part of your second album which also featured “I Kissed A Girl” – a song you call “a double edge sword.” What do you mean by that?

JS: Well, don’t forget “I Kissed a Girl” was release in 1995. That was before the famous “Ellen Kiss.” It was actually the first song with a lesbian story. The label did not know how to deal with it – so they played up the novelty and goofy aspect of it. I wrote it because I wanted to create a song that I wished would have been played when I was a young girl. Mine was not meant to be a “girls gone wild” or “this is sexy for my boyfriend” thing. The only way to have had it considered for the radio, was to couch the queerness in humor. Now, every time I play a show, at least one person comes up and tells me how much the song meant to them – how much it helped them feel OK about themselves. That makes me feel like it was all worth it. On the other hand, I wanted to be seen as a serious singer-songwriter. But, I have no regrets at all.

NG: How has your music evolved since then?

JS: I am a very curious person who gets bored easily. I love to experiment musically. I’m all over the map-for better or worse.

NG: On your website, JillSobule.com, you have a whole page of fun facts about your relatives. What’s one fun fact about you we wouldn’t find on there.

JS: The first time I walked into a gay bar – in Denver – it was like a friggin’ family reunion.

I saw a bunch of distant cousins. I think gay lurks in my family gene pool.

NG: The Clueless soundtrack was one of the first CDs I ever owned. Your hit song “Supermodel” was used on that CD. Talk to me about that song and how you saw it adapted for the movie’s soundtrack.

JS: Well “Supermodel” was written for the movie. I added the “eating disorder” bridge right before recording it.

NG: Lastly, let’s talk about love. You’ve written songs about “Love found, love lost, love wished for and love taken away.”

What’s your favorite kind of love to sing about?

JS: I try to write about things that we think about, or feel, but are rarely heard in a song.

For instance, my song “Angel/Asshole” is sympathetic song for the person who is the “dumper,” the heartbreaker. Breaking up with someone is a bitch. And someone needs to say it.

NG: Clueless was at its core, social commentary on that particular generation of youngsters. If a similar movie was released today, what do you think it should be called? What kind of song would you write for it?

JS: The major change since then I think has

NG: What’s one thing about love you’ve learned recently?

JS: I don’t know about having learned anything recently, but as I get older, I sure treasure, more and more, my loved ones. And you can separate love from temporary bullshit a little more.

OutfrOntonline.cOm

Outfrontonline.com

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27

bar tab

Regular happy hour specials and not-to-miss events e Aqua Lounge – Facebook.com/Aqua.Denver Tuesdays: Mile Hi Bullseye Dart League. Open play and free darts at 10 p.m., league play at p.m. 7 p.m.

Wednesdays: Wet Wednesday Dance party with DJ Tatiana and GoGo Dancers; 75 cent beers, $2 wells, $4 Absolut.

Thursdays: Karaoke hosted by Dave Myers at 8 p.m.; half-price bar from 8-9 p.m.

Don’t miss: Pinky Pie Presents, the first of a monthly talent show, July 5. e Blush & Blu – BlushBluBar.com DAILY HAPPY HOUR: $3 wells, vino, domestics, lattes; $1.50 PBR’s; $4 shots of Fireball 3 p.m.-7 p.m.

Fridays: Top 40 jams and dance party with DJ JodyB at 9 p.m.

Sundays: Molly’s famous $4 Bloody’s e BoyzTown – BoyzTownDenver.com DAILY HAPPY HOUR: MondayThursday: 3 p.m. till 8 p.m. and Friday–Sunday: noon to 8 p.m.

Mondays–Thursdays: Absolut $4.50 “U Call” Fridays & Sundays: Stoli $4.50 “U Call” Fridays–Sundays: 3Olives $4.50 “U Call” e Charlie’s – CharliesDenver.com DAILY BEER SPECIAL: $4 for a 32 oz. domestic pitcher and $8 for a premium pitcher Mondays: Karaoke at 9 p.m. // $2.25 Bacardi (9 p.m.-close) Thursdays: 1/2 price night!

Fridays: $10 Buddy Beer Bust (5-8 p.m.) // $3 Absolute (9 p.m.-close) Saturdays: $5 Beer Bust (2-5 p.m.) e Eden Restaurant & Bar – EdenDenver.com DAILY HAPPY HOUR: $3 Domestics and wells, $2 off wines (4 p.m.7 p.m.) // $4 calls and shots (11 p.m.-midnight) Thursdays: Karaoke with DJ Bella Scratch at 9 p.m.

Sundays: 10 a.m. Yoga, $7 per class e El Potrero – Facebook.com/el.potrero.180 NO COVER on Wednesdays and Fridays!

Wednesdays: Drag Wednesdays with 2-for-1 beers, $3 rum, and vodka specials, $2 drafts Fridays: Go-Go Fridays with $2 rum and vodka specials, $2 drafts, $5 Jose

Cuervo, $15 beer buckets and $5 Jager shots e Li’l Devils – LilDevilsLounge.com Short Bus Mondays: A different beer and cocktail special every Monday, $3 or less.

Wednesdays: $4 22 ounces tanks of your choice.

Sundays: Trivia Night. Compete for free drinks and bar tabs, starting at 7:30 p.m., $3 Smifnoff.

Don’t miss: Fourth of July barbecue at 3 p.m. e Lipstick Nightclub – lipstick.us.com HOURS OF OPERATION: 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., Wednesday through Sunday.

Visit website for specials. e R&R – rrDenver.com WEEKLY HAPPY HOUR: $3 wells and domestics from 3-8 p.m.

Mondays–Thursday: 3-7 p.m. on Fridays, and 11 a.m.-7 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays Wednesdays: PBR and a shot of Jager for $6 (8 p.m. to close) Thursdays: $4 3Olives Vodka drinks ALL DAY Sundays: $3 Bloody Mary’s (11 a.m.-8 p.m.) e Tracks – TracksDenver.com Thursdays: Superstar Night, 18 + dance party; Cover: 18-20 $10, 21+ $5 after 10 p.m.

Saturdays: Elevated Saturdays; 2-for-1 drinks between 9 p.m. -10 p.m.; No cover before 10 p.m.

Don’t miss: Tracks Reunion Party, July 6 and July 7. Saturday all-out dance party featuring music from four decades. Sunday pool party at 2 p.m., $5, or free with Saturday pass. e Wrangler – DenverWrangler.com Tuesdays: Tightwad Tuesdays with $2 beer grab, $2 wells, and $3.50 domestics // $5 Buy-in pool tournament Wednesdays: Geeks who Drink Pub Trivia (8-10 p.m.)

Sundays: $8 Legendary Beer Bust (4-8 p.m.)

Don’t miss: Bear Invasion, presented

by B.I.G. productions, July 17 with DJ Sean Mac, Atlanta. $3 Svedka Vodka, all flavors.

Bar Tab is sponsored by the above mentioned LGBT inclusive bars.

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4501 E Virginia Ave Denver, Colorado 80246 • (303) 388-8889 www.facebook.com/elpotreroclub

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Sponsored by Tuaca

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A. Aqua Lounge B. bLush & blu C. BoyzTown D. Charlies E. Eden

F. El Potrero G. Li’l Devils H. Lipstick I. R&R J. Tracks K. Wrangler

989 SHERIDAN BLVD LIPSTICK.US.COM D

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to Do

Apocalyptic Ball returns for fourth year Drag show raises money for AIDS Project

By Nic Garcia Up and at ‘em – it’s time to wake up, says Ginger Douglas. One of Denver’s most renowned drag queens is back with the fourth installment of her Apocalyptic Ball. This year’s theme is “The Awakening.”

Douglas, who by day is makeup artist Briceson Buck-Ducharme, conceived the Ball as a way to raise funds and awareness for the HIV/AIDS Community. Buck-Buharme is HIV-positive. “The company that I work for has always matched funds raised, making us the largest AIDS Walk Colorado fundraising effort in the last three years,” Douglas said. “With this being our fourth annual celebration, we are still striving for excellence, and hope to be on top of the fundraising efforts again this year.”

AIDS Walk is Aug. 10 at Cheesman Park. But back to the Ball, Douglas adds, “This year we have added many different elements. There is live tattooing, more drag kings, burlesque, live comedy, live singing as well as a huge hair show, two fashion shows, the most passionate queens in Colorado, live painting, silent auctions — and we welcome Morgan McMichaels from RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 2. There are many surprises and can’t wait to have people there to show them.”

U

Y IF YOU GO

The Apocalyptic Ball: The Awakening • 7:30 p.m., July 12 • Denver Merchandise Mart Tickets begin at $15, VIP tables are available for $300 and are available at apocalypticball.com

Y CAN’T MAKE IT? You can still support Ginger Douglas and Colorado AIDS Project by donating online at AIDSWalkcolorado.org and select Briceson Buck-Ducharme’s team. All donations, either through tickets or donations, will be matched.

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Y Ginger Douglas

Photo by Norman Dillon Photography

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raDioaCtiVe ViSion

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s ... Pikachu? round trip, leaving me lots of juice should I ever have the misfortune “Pikachu, I choose you!” to pick up juice and other groceries No, I am not talking about one of the 649 of getting run off the road by a car, on the way home.

Pokemon that you can collect. (More if you count steamroller, elephant, ego.

The bike is not completely silent.

I am a very safe and defensive the new Pokemon game coming out this fall. And It sounds like a pod racer from Star rider. I always wear protection (both yes, I have collected them all.)

Wars or the light cycle from Tron.

No, I am talking about my brand new Zero on and off the road). I’ve been riding I feel like a character from a sci-fi S all–electric motorcycle. Against Mr. Waste’s scooters for years now and have the movie, riding in on the future. stern and worrisome objections, I am now the experience under my helmet as Some people think the quiet of owner of a motorbike that runs on pure energy, well. the bike is a safety concern. Loud So what is it like riding an all– pumping me with pure adrenaline. He had laid pipes save lives and all that. I have electric bike? Pure joy. Pure energy. down the law. But the law didn’t win.

Nuclia Waste given it much consideration and “I don’t like the idea of you riding a motor- Pure Love. Sounds like a dance cycle. I don’t want you riding a motorcycle. But song from the ’80s. I never thought I would ride realize it’s not sound that is the problem. It’s visanything I loved more ibility. After an accident, no one says, “I never I know you’re gonna than my scooter. But heard the bike.” It’s always “I never saw it. It do it anyway. So if you my new bike, named came out of nowhere.” die, I want everything.

So I have reflective decals on the bike (in the Pikachu after the allYou can get one if you electric Pokemon, is shape of lightning bolts of course), wear a white get our wills and pajust that. It’s nimble. helmet, and wear reflective clothing. Combined perwork in order.”

It’s fun. It’s stealthy. with the bright yellow of the bike I am as visible And so I did.

And I never have to as I can be.

Transfer of Deed So if you see a silent flash of yellow topped stop and pump gas.

Upon Death for the My commute from with a neon green wig passing you on the road, house. Check. Payable Gaypleton to the Tech it’s just your local drag queen on her electric Upon Death for the Center is a breeze. pony. Two zaps up and a zoom. bank accounts. Check.

And the breeze is all I And, thanks to the hear on my oh-so-qui- r Nuclia Waste, the Triple Nipple Drag Queen Colorado Civil Union et bike. I use a quarter of Comedy, can be reached through her website at Act, Mr. Waste pretty Nuclia’s Zero S all–electric motorcycle of the charge for the NucliaWaste.com. More Nuclia at ofcnow.co/Hx9. much gets everything

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Take a look or connect with us on Facebook

facebook.com/charlies.denver

900 East Colfax denver colorado www.charliesdenver.com 303 839 8890 Outfrontonline.com

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On the

SCENE

e Colorado State Capitol DOMA / PROP 8 DECISION RALLY x photos by Charles Broshous

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FOR MORE PHOTOS GO TO: ofcnow.co/CVJ OutfrOntonline.cOm

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queer marriage

Goal!

Binational lesbian couple commit at (European) football stadium

Christina Walls, in Gown, and Sarah Callagegen-McNigh t, at their ceremon y.

By Robyn Vie-Carpenter I sat down with Christina Walls and Sarah Callagen-McNight to hear the story of a football–loving girl from Manchester, England, the Colorado girl who loves her, and their remarkable wedding at a Liverpool, England’s soccer stadium in 2012. Walls and Callagen-McNight are a magnetic couple – emanating a sense of being truly very much in love.

RVC: To start off, how did you two meet?

Sarah (to Christina): Go. Christina: We debate this on a regular basis. It was like three and a half years ago. We got introduced by a mutual friend. Sarah came over to my house for dinner. The minute she opened her mouth I knew where she came from – her accent was heavier then than it is now.

Sarah: I had only been (in Denver) like three months.

Christina: We immediately hit it off.

Sarah: She made me a black and tan. With the proper stuff too, so I was pretty impressed. I was like OK, I’ll talk to her some more.

RVC: When did you know this was really “it?”

Christina: She asked me to go to a football match, at the pub. Mind you English football matches, with the time difference, are at 5:30 in the morning here sometimes.

Sarah: So, I’m like OK. ‘I’ll pick you up around 4 a.m.’

Christina: I was wasted by noon. This is like every Saturday for months. I love it – finding someone that was so energetic and so much fun and laid back – we found we were the same kind of social animal, comfortable and secure [with one another]. We can’t even fathom finding anybody any more perfect.

Sarah: True, even though she knows I would leave her for Pink.

Christina: Yes. RVC: How long were you together before you got engaged?

Sarah: About a year and a half.

Christina: I knew I wanted to marry her from the beginning. I just wanted to see if we could live together.

Sarah: We were living in this shit apartment.

Christina: I knew if we could live in this apartment and still be really happy…we were literally living on top of each other. When I decided I really wanted to marry her, I knew (the proposal) couldn’t be simple. I really wanted to do something big. It took three months because shopping for a ring was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life – she’s a very picky person when it comes to her jewelry.

Sarah: Very.

Christina: I set it up while the Shakespeare Festival was playing in Boulder.

Sarah: I’m an English Literature major and a Shakespeare freak.

Christina: I took her straight to Boulder Falls.

She hadn’t been up in the mountains very much at all but grew up here. I took a backpack with a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses, and took her to the Boulder Inn. Sarah: We go to our room – it’s beautiful. I’m like, who helped you?

Christina: I did it all on my own!

Sarah: She did great! I’m like, something’s going on. We went to dinner. I still didn’t know what the plan for the end of the night was – Romeo and Juliet at the Shakespeare Festival.

Christina: So we watch the show and we had a great night. And she’s still thinking that’s it.

And then I’m like, ‘you’ve got one more thing.’

Sarah: So we walk through the gardens at CU, and we just find a little bench, we sit down on the bench and she pops the question.

RVC: Did you get down on one knee?

Christina: Yeah.

Sarah: She’s down on one knee saying will you marry me. I remember saying between tears, ‘You bet your ass I will!’

RVC: Then you had to meet the family.

Christina: For two weeks before the proposal, Outfrontonline.com

I was trying to get a hold of her dad, the former head of the Manchester Police. I tell you what, getting through to talk to England on the phone… Afterward she called up her dad (herself ).

Sarah: Bear in mind, I’m a daddy’s girl and he’s never met her. I said, ‘Dad, Christina and I are getting married.’ The first words out of his mouth were ‘how tall is Christina? I’m just trying to figure out if she’ll fit in the boot of my car in one piece, or if have to cut her in two.’

RVC: Meaning, if she doesn’t treat you right?

Sarah: Yeah, (Being queer) was never an issue.

I knew (my family) was gonna love her.

RVC: You chose your wedding venue – in Liverpool, England. How did the media get involved?

Sarah: I’m a huge football (soccer) fan. I knew I was getting married at Anfield – it’s Liverpool’s stadium. They had two weekends available for the next year – Saturdays and Sundays are out because there might be a match, so we got married on a Friday.

Christina: Three months before we got married, we got a call from the ‘Social Inclusion Officer.’

Sarah: He handles all of the media at Anfield when it comes to homophobia and sports – It’s really cool. He emailed me saying ‘You can totally say ‘no,’ but we kinda want to make a big deal out of your wedding, to break through these barriers of it being such a straight male sport and put it on the television, on the radio, put it everywhere.’ At first I felt like I was selling out my wedding a little bit, but then I realized this is important. If we can get a message out to even one person, then we win.

Christina Walls and Sarah Callagen-McNight were joined in a civil ceremony at Liverpool, England’s soccer stadium in September 2012. r Go to ofcnow.co/YP9 to see the story on the stadium’s website. living

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TRAVEL

The view from Hillcrest, San Diego’s gayborhood

By Robyn Vie-Carpenter

On a trip to San Diego in early June, I happily discovered that there is a lot more to “America’s Finest City” than the sailors and the zoo.

The queer heart of the city, Hillcrest, has been compared to Greenwich Village and the Castro. All are all described as “hip,” “trendy,” “diverse” or “vibrant” neighborhoods – in tourism–speak that means gay.

You know it from the moment you turn on the main drag, University Avenue – there are rainbows everywhere, and a vibrant retail district filled with shops and restaurants lining the streets around the dense, eclectic apartment buildings lined with feathery palm trees.

There must be something about LGBT people and hills or neighborhoods with the word “hill” in them. There’s the Capitol Hill neighborhoods in Denver and Seattle, the Castro in San Francisco sits on a large hillside in a city known for its steep hills, West Hollywood lies at the base of an enormous hill, and Hillcrest is, as you may expect, on a hill – or rather a mesa, which towers over the Mission Valley Freeway.

Nearby is Balboa Park, an enormous park with winding roads and the famous San Diego Zoo. In Hillcrest we went directly to a trendy urban restaurant, Gossip Grill, for brunch. I knew we were in the right place when I saw all–female artwork on the wall and a group of boys with their best girlfriends in pearls and sunglasses on the patio for cocktails.

There is a straight bar on the main drag. It’s called The Alibi Club Grill – “The best kept secret in town.” I was surprised to learn that it was a straight bar since everybody I saw playing pool was definitely gay.

With an official fundraising event every year to hoist a giant rainbow flag that flies over Hillcrest 24/7 (theamazinghighheelrace.com), San Diego’s Hillcrest neighborhood is a little slice of gay heaven. We claim this land by the sea to be ours – cue the rainbow–lit palm trees.

All the chatter at Gossip Grill Gossip Grill is one of four spots in Hillcrest owned by a restaurant group called Mo’s Universe – Urban Mo’s, opened 21 years ago, Baja Betty’s, Hillcrest Brewery (the only openly LGBT brewery in the country) and Gossip Grill. I sat down with co-owner and general manager Moe Girton to discuss managing an almost all female crew – Gossip Grill opened three and half years ago, originally pitched as a “female– friendly” bar, he said.

“When they approached me about four years ago to open a lesbian bar, I didn’t quite want to open a lesbian bar. That’s the key to our success – we did an everybody/every40

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thing bar. We keep it open and everyone’s welcome here.”

If you don’t notice the sign telling you that this is a “Gay Establishment” and while you’re there “you are a guest of the gay community,” you know you’re someplace different when you first get your drink menu. Want a mojito? Boys, your menu has a “Morning Wood Mojito” and girls can have a “Camel Toe Mojito.” Maybe you’d rather have a “Wick Dipper” or a “Clam Slammer.” Whatever you choose, come early for brunch and return later for the DJ and happy hour – if you can get in. It gets packed.

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THE GAY AESTHETiC

BETWEEN VISITS HERE ARE SOME DENTAL TOOLS TO USE AT HOME:

BEAUTY

Philips Sonicare FlexCare+ Rechargeble toothbrush: $189.99 at www.philips-store.com Highly rated among the top dental industry professionals, the Philips Sonicare FlexCare+ toothbrush has five different brushing modes to accommodate people with sensitive teeth or focus on gums. Added perks include a built–in two–minute timer, and an easy– start program that gradually introduces users to the Sonicare experience over 14 uses.

By Kelsey Lindsey

Antimicrobial toothpaste

Dirty Mouth, Dirty Health:

the link between dental hygiene and overall wellbeing I HAVE A DIRTY CONFESSION: I DON’T KNOW HOW LONG IT’S BEEN SINCE I’VE VISITED A DENTIST. THAT NEVER BOTHERED ME UNTIL I CONFESSED THIS TO A FRIEND’S FATHER, WHO JUST SO HAPPENED TO BE — YOU GUESSED IT — A DENTIST. Taking advantage of my guilty conscience, this man began to list a catalogue of problems my negligence could cause. I stopped him when he was teetering around death. “If you don’t floss, you will get gingivitis and die!” he promised.

According to Dr. Scare Tactics, there is a distinct link between oral health and overall health. Your mouth is brimming with bacteria (mostly harmless), but regular dentist visits can help keep the detrimental kinds at bay.

Otherwise inflammation–causing bacteria can flourish. Organisms like Porohyromonas ginigivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum can inflame

heart vessels. In fact, researchers have found that people with periodontal disease (or the inflammation and infection of tissue around the teeth, or gingivitis), are almost twice as likely to suffer from coronary artery disease.

This alarming association is most likely caused when bacteria eventually enter bloodstream, initiating infection in the heart or lungs.

And although the research is developing, two studies published in the Journal of Periodontology have linked gum health and pulmonary diseases such as pneumonia, acute bronchitis and diabetes.

How often should you be making these all– important appointments? While an annual check up maybe fine for those without problems, others who are prone to periodontal issues should get cozy with their tooth doc every three to four months.

Some of the active ingredients in your daily paste are important in the fight against bacteria and gum disease. Look for toothpastes with fluoride (an enamel– strengthening agent), triclosan, and metal salts to reduce the development of plaque and harmful microorganisms.

Mouthwash: The American Dental Association recommends using either an antimicrobial mouthwash to reduce plaque or a fluoride mouthwash to prevent tooth decay. Falling into the first category, Listerine Antiseptic Mouthwash is composed of essential oils that can reduce gingivitis when used for 30 seconds twice a day. ACT mouthwash contains natural fluoride that helps strengthen and even rebuild, enamel.

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Liive to run L Live how a buddy and persistence paid off

IN HIGH SCHOOL WHEN I WAS AT MY HEAVIEST — 230 pounds — my self-esteem was at it’s lowest.

The scales tipped at “general disgust with self.” So the summer before my senior year, my friend and I decided to start running together.

It was awful.

If you aren’t a runner, the idea of putting your body into uncharacteristic motion for an unspecified amount of time is daunting. For me, it was pure, unqualified, zombie–ridden apocalyptic hell.

But my friend and I kept running. Relying on each other for support was the strongest motivator I’ve ever had, and over time I got better and better at it. Either that or my heart was getting worse at distributing oxygen to my brain and I just thought I was having an easier time.

By the time I started my senior year I had dropped 60 pounds, and my confidence had never been higher.

Being thinner didn’t automatically make me the coolest kid in Rob Barger school, but in my mind I wasn’t “the fat effeminate weirdo” anymore — I was the thin effeminate weirdo. It was worth it.

I am still an avid runner. I never developed any skills that would make me talented at playing any other sports, and that’s OK. I’m sure my competitiveness and lack of regard for other people would make me a terrorist on the field. But running just to run is fun for me now, and I will never forget how that summer before senior year changed my life.

A trend toward “minimalist shoes” like Vibrams developed by advocates of barefoot running notes the human body evolved to run long before the invention of synthetic running shoes. They’re made as light and flexible as possible to allow the foot to spread the way people ran before the 20th century – but it was also a time most people hadn’t spent most of their lives acclimating to modern shoes, so do some research and training if you’re interested in those.)

6

TIPS TO HELP YOU BE A BETTER RUNNER

1. FIND RUNNING SHOES THAT WORK FOR YOU. I advise going to a shoe store that records your stride and where your foot lands to recommend a good shoe. This will help you avoid most distance–running injuries. I use Runners Roost in Denver.

2. LISTEN TO MUSIC. Seriously. According to a study from the University of Wolverhampton — also, seriously — music can help your running performance up to 15 percent. But according to me, music can help your performance 600 percent.

3. DON’T GIVE UP BECAUSE YOU DON’T SEE RESULTS. Even if you’re super slow when you jog (I definitely was when I started), you burn at least 10 calories a minute.

4. FIND A FRIEND. Accountability partners make your fitness routine a far less shakable commitment.

5. LOOK FORWARD TO THE “RUNNER’S HIGH.” Now when I run, I find my mind enters a zone where I think about nothing. It’s what I imagine meditation is supposed to be like.

If running doesn’t seem to work out for you – perhaps a disability, asthma, bad knees or shin splints keep getting in your way – don’t use your state of health as an excuse to avoid what exercise is ultimately about – your health.

Try cycling or swimming, or even just walking. A low–intensity exercise like walking (more often throughout the day or for longer amounts of time) is increasingly recognized to carry many of the same benefits as an intense jog.

A Wellness Oriented Lifestyle can assist you in reaching your OPTIMUM HEALTH

● Chiropractic ● Rehab ● Massage Therapy Cherry Creek Spine & Sport Clinic 400 S. Colorado Blvd., Ste., 300 Glendale CO., 80246 303 759 5575 DrMarkijohn@gmail.com www.CherryCreekSpine.com OutfrOntonLinE.cOm

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BIG TOYS

Ford Fusion Titanium

Nissan Pathfinder Platinum

Durable or Precious:

Ford and Nissan take different roads with all-new 2013 models

By Jonathan McGrew If you’ve been in the car market lately, I suspect you have noticed all of the different model levels and packages.

Some companies call them S and or use letters like LX, GXE. Ford and Nissan have decided to go a different route with their 2013 offerings.

They have readopted metal editions: Titanium and Platinum, respectively.

From Ford we have the 2013 Ford Fusion Titanium. In the Nissan corner we have “The Next Gen SUV” 2013 Nissan Pathfinder Platinum.

The 2013 Ford Fusion Titanium is All-Wheel Drive, has the twin-turbocharged EcoBoost four-cylinder engine and fuel economy that reaches 31 mpg on the highway, with a combined rating of 25 mpg – the economy the average driver can expect to see.

Titanium, durable and fashionable, seems to make sense for a mid-tier vehicle from Ford that has most of the options at a tested price of $35,980.

Comfort and conveniences (safety too) include the Microsoft Sync system with navigation, Lane Keeping System, MyKey for young driver safety (or to annoy your boyfriend as a prank), heated seats and the list goes on.

Moreover, it drives well with a good, yet firm ride giving the Fusion a sport driving experience–one that certainly matches its aggressive and more 44

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European exterior. If you are looking for durable and fashionable in a mid-size sedan with AWD, this Fusion might be the way to go.

What about Platinum, though?

Nissan has that covered for those of you who want the luxury aspect of your seven-passenger SUV. The all-new Pathfinder is quite the departure from previous generations.

Platinum isn’t something I would have ever associated with the previous generation Pathfinder. Can that change?

In short, yes. The Pathfinder has transformed from a boxier and rugged vehicle to a more refined, curvaceous and, well, Platinum vehicle. Is it the right move for the Pathfinder? The consumer will be the judge, but I can say from driving one for a bit, this is a much larger feeling SUV than before. It has cameras for needed parking assistance, leather, navigation, automatic lift gate, etc. It can also carry seven passengers in relative comfort. Its driving manners aren’t bad with good steering and suspension on the softer side for ride and comfort. The CVT transmission and 260-hp V6 provide a lot more power than one might expect, even in mountain driving.

Do these 2013 models make up the elements they portray? An A for effort and creativity, but still not jewelery.

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FaiTH

The long road home to love and acceptance

How a brave congregation saved itself by accepting a gay man as its pastor

By Rev. Dr. David Bahr my LittLe Country CHurCH in North Dakota has a long history of sending people into ministry.

There is a framed collage prominently displayed in the church of the more than 20 men and women who have become pastors and missionaries dating back 125 years. This is a proud legacy, one, despite the fact I’ve been an ordained minister for 20 years, I am not a part of, because I am gay.

I don’t pretend this doesn’t bother me. It really irks my mother. We’re still related to every other person in the church. I could quote Jesus and say “no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown.” But in fact it’s just simple homophobia.

Not the kind the carries hateful signs. Not the kind that refuses to speak to you or bars you from entering – just a quiet refusal to acknowledge.

The author of a memoir set in North Dakota calls this “prairie silence.” Just don’t talk about it at the potluck over hotdish and bars.

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But God bless my mother. At my father’s funeral she made sure the pastor read the names of all his children and all their spouses, including mine.

Ordination in the United Church of Christ requires a job offer. There must be a recognized calling that’s gone through a myriad of committees and the completion of the required education, but ultimately someone – a church, a hospital, a recognized non-profit – some entity has to want to hire someone ordained before an ordination can occur.

That has been a real stumbling block for LGBT people and women with a call.

The first ordination of a gay man happened 40 years ago, but it happened through an extraordinary ecclesiastical council, not a job offer.

It wasn’t until 12 years later that the first predominantly straight church chose to call an out lesbian to be its pastor, who was already ordained. By the time I was ordained, there were only about six of us serving

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in churches among our, at the time, nearly 6,000 churches.

In 1992, I interviewed with an historic church in Cleveland that once had 1,000 members but now had a high of 40 in worship, mostly over the age of 75. A church that once had some money, but after spending $40,000 to $50,000 a year to make budget, didn’t have much left. A dirty building that hadn’t been seriously taken care of for years. And they had a secretary who ruled the church with an iron fist.

When I interviewed, it was their third search committee in three years. They were desperate enough to try something different.

The first candidate chosen by the committee had been rejected by the secretary before the church could vote because his name sounded Jewish.

The congregation voted to call the second one, but he quit before he started when he learned the extent of the power of the secretary.

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And now, a third committee.

This time with her on it – more efficient.

Mary May Meister.

My first interview in June went well. I felt we gelled and they appreciated my experience of being a solo pastor in college and seminary. But I heard nothing.

No “thank you for the interview.”

No “we’ll get back to you.”

In August, I wrote a letter asking to be informed that I was no longer a candidate. And I got one, a letter saying that while most on the committee felt I was their best choice, a few did not and they could not risk a split in such a small church.

I was, frankly, a little relieved not to be going to a church that had assessed its own life at five years – three years before. Who wants a church ready to be closed on your resume? But a few weeks later, they wanted me back in the process. I reluctantly agreed.

In December, I was asked to be presented to the congregation: to preach, after which the

congregation would ask questions and vote. But they suspected that some of the questions at the congregational meeting might not be all that appropriate. So, to blunt some of the worst of them, they designated a lovely 85-year-old man, a diedin-the-wool, John Birch society, conservative to be asked the questions and then for him to ask me, standing next to him.

It worked well for about 15 minutes. Then the nasty came. Salacious questions about sex, for which my front man just turned to me. It was awful, and in 15 minutes, they ended the discussion.

I was told to wait in the back while the congregation deliberated and voted.

I thought it might be better to let it go and go home, but I waited.

And waited. And waited. And finally some loud commotion came from the sanctuary that included what sounded like outbursts of yelling and screaming. It was. Once they had gotten a calculator to confirm that 27 to 13 was indeed the necessary two-thirds majority, one person excited to welcome me took the microphone and spoke too close so it was a loud muffled sound. A few people clapped. There was a scream from Mary May. A few others said everyone there was going to Hell.

So then I had to go downstairs to greet everyone. I really wanted to go home. As I stood putting sweetener in my coffee, Mary May made a beeline over to me: “You can just go home and have sex with anything you want now,” she yelled. We’re going to have to keep our children away from you.”

I told her I appreciated her honesty and turned away and was greeted by six older women who took my hand and said, “We’re glad you’re here.”

On my first Sunday a month later, 11 of the 13 who voted no didn’t come, and despite all my uncomfortable visits to their homes, they never did.

Mary May sat in the back pew with arms crossed and fuming.

As word spread through the city of my impending ordination, with a big newspaper article, my box overflowed with hate mail. It just makes you wonder how people can have so much bile in them – and time on their hands.

The church that had promised to do renovations on our parsonage now backed out and said they wouldn’t.

At least the pastor took me to lunch to deliver the news.

Another pastor stopped by to deliver a letter from his church council that said that any ecumenical service where I would be a participant, they would not attend.

Then, with a plastic smile, he said, “But we love you. And I want to count you among my friends.”

A major donor to the UCC wrote to the president to say that if he didn’t stop my ordination, he would stop giving money to the denomination.

And a message left on the answering machine promised to burn the church down with me in it.

That I took to the police, who said they couldn’t do anything unless it happened. I kind of knew that, but at least the police chief knew, and I could inform him that there might be protesters at the ordination, as promised.

There was good too.

The Methodist pastor across the street organized a team to be on hand in case of trouble so that my ordination would not be interrupted. As it turned out, the only form of protest were hand written cards quietly placed on car windshields that said, “God doesn’t make people gay.”

The UCC president sent a letter back to the big donor saying he was sorry he felt that way, and then sent a letter of congratulations to be read at the service.

A hundred people who knew nothing of our church came to the ordination as a result of reading the newspaper article, and a few came back the following Sunday.

We survived on half a shoestring, attracting enough new people to almost counteract the number of people dying or entering nursing homes.

They had been right. As it was, the church only had the money and people left for a few more years. But it’s still there today, while every other mainline and Catholic Church in the neighborhood has since closed.

The congregation that hired me took a risk at splitting the church and opened the door for so many others.

But make no mistake, this is still the exception. And much, much worse has happened than ever happened to me.

A pastor in southern Minnesota had bullets shot into his house.

Other churches have survived vandalism, including being set on fire.

This is still happening, and will continue to happen for a long, long time. Which is one reason I think we cannot distance ourselves too much. It’s good to remember that we are an exception in the world, and it’s easy to forget that. But we can’t forget it.

There is a long road to build for others yet to come.

The United Church of Christ, Whoever you are and wherever you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.

BROOMFIELD DENVER United Church of Broomfield Berkeley Community Church www.broomfielducc.org

www.berkchurchucc.org

COLORADO SPRINGS First Congregational UCC

DENVER Christ Congregational UCC

www.fcucc.org

COLORADO SPRINGS Vista Grande Community UCC www.vgcc.org

www.visitchristchurch.org

To locate an Open and Affirming church near you, go to: ofcnow.co/ucc

Rev. Dr. David Bahr has been the pastor of Park Hill Congregational United Church of Christ in Denver since 2007. In 2006 he published his doctoral research on “Openly Gay and Lesbian Pastors Called by Predominantly Straight UCC Congregations.”

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dEnVER URBaniSm

Cities are for people, not cars

By Ken Schroeppel

The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is the right to destroy the city. – Lewis Mumford, American historian and urban philosopher Historically, cities were always walkable places, because walking was the only reliable form of human transit available. People had to walk to and from their homes, shops, workplaces, and schools. Naturally then, we built cities so that these different uses were as close to each other as possible, if not stacked on top of each other. For thousands of years, the daily life of people everywhere existed at 3 mph, the walking pace of the average human, and every city was built with that walking pace and distance in mind. Even after people began using animals, and then trolleys and trams, for longer–distance transport, cities were still designed around the pedestrian, as every journey began and ended with walking. This was the case through the early 20th Century in even late– blooming cities like Denver. Our walkable neighborhoods like Highlands, Platt Park, Capitol Hill and a dozen others reflect that heritage.

Then along came the automobile, a remarkable machine that completely transformed how people could travel to and from their homes, shops, workplaces, and schools. All of these different places that people needed to visit daily no longer had to be close to each other. They could be many miles apart — far beyond walking distance — and still be accessible in a matter of minutes. So, in the postwar era when almost everyone in America had access to a car, we started building cities in a radically different way than we had since the dawn of civilization. We started putting all the homes over here, and all the shops over there, and all the workplaces way over there. We went 48

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from building dense, mixed-use communities to sprawling, segregated– use communities.

Worse still, these new communities were not just car–friendly, but car–required in their design. With everything so separated and spread out, people had to drive to get from place to place. Walking from home to work or the store was no longer a viable option, and just in case you were tempted to walk anyway, the lack of sidewalks and the hostile pedestrian environment along automobile–clogged streets put an end to that idea. People without cars or those unable to drive were screwed.

The final insult was that we then took the pedestrian–oriented, mixeduse parts of our cities and started retrofitting them to accommodate the automobile. Instead of people walking down the street occupying about four square feet of space each, everyone was now driving down the street in their own two-ton machine occupying about ninety square feet of space each. We converted more and more of our urban land and buildings over to accommodating all of these 2–ton, 90-square-foot machines and we decreased the space available for people to walk.

That was the legacy of city– building in the United States for the last half of the 20th Century. Fortunately, that mindset is in retreat.

While we still have a long way to go, cities like Denver are once again investing in denser, mixed-use, walkable communities, and our historic neighborhoods that were founded on those old-urbanism principles are now more popular than ever. Today, we are striving to build cities for people, not cars.

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Back in my day

From Out Front’s May 14, 1982 issue – Gay volleyball nationals

Sports have long been something for the gay community to gather around – as much or more for a chance to meet and socialize outside the bars, than for athleticism.

Funny how the resistance so many of us felt toward sports growing up melts away when our teammates and competitors are “family.”

Back in MY day ...

e Got a story, memory or reflection to share from way back when?

Let us know about it. Email backinmyday@outfrontonline.com with a story to have it considered for print!

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SEXUALITY

ASK THE SEXPERT

A risk– reduction approach to the concerning ‘slamming party’ fad

Pursuing sexual fantasies with a partner Dear Shanna,

Shanna Katz

I want to share a fantasy with my girlfriend that I kind of want to make into a reality, but I’m scared of her judging me or telling me I’m weird. However, I think that having her act it out would be such a huge turn–on. Any suggestions?

Fulfilling My Fantasies in Longmont

By Lauren Archuletta

Hello Fulfilling My Fantasies,

Y PICTURE IT: WEEKLONG ORGIES WITH DOZENS OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE, NOBODY PAUSING FOR FOOD OR WATER FOR 48 HOURS AT A TIME. Syringes filled with crystal meth being passed around just as often as partner changes occur. One minute you’re having sex in a bathhouse, the next you’re bent over a brass sink in what appears to be a Victorian–style mansion. Throughout the entire duration of these sex and drug–fueled parties, porn is being streamed on monitors displayed around the rooms and European trance music attempts to drown out the moans coming from the videos and the crowd.

This sounds like a scene that could be taken straight from a low–budget X–rated film.

However, this is routine reality for many people living in the gay party scene in London.

Of course, it’s a minority of gay men who actually take part, but according to a recent article in VICE magazine, these parties – often called “slamming parties” – are a regular occurrence there. The term slamming is a euphemism for the combination of injecting drugs.

Matt Daly, reporter for VICE magazine, interviewed a 39–year–old publisher and former participant in London’s slamming parties. According to their conversation, these parties often land many participants in the hospital – and in extremely uncomfortable situations, at that.

“The stupid thing is that no one can ever (gets off) because crystal meth stops you from (orgasming) – as does Viagra – so it’s just never-ending sex,” said Tim, the publisher and former slammer. “It’s painful.

Most people end up with no skin on their dicks and some end up in the hospital because of panic attacks brought on by too much crystal.”

Researchers and even former participants conclude that due to needle sharing and rates of unprotected sex, the trend is getting serious.

To add to the high–risk behavior that is already taking place, these parties are mainly organized via the ever–popular social networking sites Grindr and Bareback Real Time. The rates of positive HIV tests are climbing in London.

Azad, standing firm on his position of “hookup” apps, sent a letter on behalf of the trust to councils in London to address the problem.

And the same risky behavior is settling into Denver, too.

For decades, there has been a link between men who have sex with men and meth, said the Mile High Recovery Project’s Steve D’Ascoli. And now, “I’ve heard from clients about people throwing 52

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these kind of sex parties in hotel rooms here in Colorado, and that’s really just been in the past year.”

Sarah Millard, a prevention specialist with the Northern Colorado AIDS Project, said that the main point for health professionals to focus on in the case of slamming parties is the injection drug use.

“I think from a risk reduction perspective, if I had a client who came in and indicated that they were participating in slam parties, I would ask them to do a cost/benefit analysis with me,” Millard said. “I would ask a lot of questions about what happens at a slam party, if they use their own drugs, if it’s an anonymous party or if they know their partners.”

“It could happen that, while having sex on methamphetamines, people may be less aware than they normally would be, meaning that they might not use a condom, or may not use lube if they’re bottoming, which increases risk of contracting or transmitting HIV,” Millard said. “Additionally, if someone is sharing syringes or works with others, it could increase the risk of contracting or transmitting HIV or Hepatitis C, as well.”

To reduce risk, Millard recommends clients discuss status, or engage in parties where they already know and are comfortable with the other participants.

“I would always advocate for using condoms or lube, as well as giving resources to local syringe exchange programs where people can pick up new syringes for free.”

If the slamming parties are going to occur and members of our community are going to participate, then they should be prepared for the risks. “If they don’t want to stop, it is important to help them come up with a plan to reduce their risk, whether it’s keeping condoms and or lube on hand, and using new needles and not sharing them,” Millard said.

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We all have sexual fantasies running through our heads. Some are perfect staying there – they might not feel as fantastical if we brought them into reality or they’re troublesome to enact. (Inviting Shane McCutcheon to a threesome is difficult on multiple fronts; a lesbian–only oil wrestling match at the Fillmore might also be hard to pull off.)

But sharing a fantasy with your partner can increase intimacy and boost your sex life.

The first step is to share it with her and get her thoughts.

Consider sitting down separately to each write one of your fantasies in detail. Switch and silently read what the other wrote, separately, or back–to–back so you can’t see each other’s facial expressions, then come back together to discuss. This gives time to think about how you feel about the other person’s fantasy, making it safer and less reactionary. Talk about the key parts that make each fantasy hot – is it the specific people involved, the location, the power dynamic, the costumes, the fact that it’s taboo? Once you figure out what really gets you going, you can talk about whether you want to try to make your fantasies real.

Keep in mind that she may politely validate your fantasy but tell you it’s not for her, for whatever reason. If she does, that’s OK – you can ask if she might be willing to work on a different fantasy, or just stick with what is already working.

Make sure to set boundaries around conversations so feelings aren’t hurt, but keep the communication open!

Best of luck fulfilling those fabulous fantasies! – Shanna Have a question you’d like to ask Shanna?

Email shanna@outfrontonline.com.com.

Shanna Katz, M.Ed, ACS is a Colorado native, fierce femme and board certified sexologist. She believes strongly in open source, accessible sexuality education, and loves teaching adults how to optimize their sex lives. r For more info, please visit www.

ShannaKatz.com.

HEINZESIGHT

7 Friendship FauxPaus to avoid These types of situations can happen during the course of friendships and generally cause bad feelings and grumpy interactions.

Be aware or you might lose a buddy!

tant behaviors, you may risk being ousted from the group. Hopefully we have found unconditionally–accepting friends to enrich our lives.

a good friend otherwise, you may want to reconsider before asking for significant amounts of time, energy, or effort. Some ass-kissery, bribery, or promise to be a more interactive friend could be offered before this grand request.

Friendships of convenience: As long as you are one of the most attractive, successful, connected, or engaging participants at an event, Social climbing: these people may talk to you. If not, Most of us have a social network you’re probably out of luck. Maybe – many would call them cliques – Brent Heinze they call you because it’s 1:47 a.m. where some people are perceived as having higher and they want some funky snuggling and their visibility, power or status than other top choices have already found someone others. Meanwhile, some people else. Hopefully your friendships are based on might see a group as more at- more than just that there’s no one “better” Abandoned for a boyfriend: tractive, and want to join. Be around.

A committed relationship can be it can be careful people who will use a beautiful thing, but also frusuncomfortable to others to gain entry to a higher Being two–faced: trating for friends left in the dust confront someone or standing and then not live up to In my mind there’s little worse than being unwhile you’re enthralled with a new let them know that being a friend. You can climb authentic, especially when it comes in the form romance. Strangely enough, these you disapprove of social ladders without stepping of talking behind people’s backs. Although it friends may be called on when something they have on the heads of those around can be uncomfortable to confront someone or things get rough or when the redone, grow a spine let them know that you disapprove of someyou. lationship ends, but when friendand talk to them thing they have done, grow a spine and talk to ships haven’t been maintained, it rather than about them rather than about them.

Conditional friendships: can be hard to get sympathy. them.

Unfortunately some friendships can remind us of high school. Brent Heinze, LPC, is a licensed One–sided favors: It’s great that people want help moving or con- If you talk to certain people, wear particular professional counselor. r Email him sultation on a big project, but if you haven’t been clothes, or do not conform to super–impor- at brent@outfrontonline.com.

Vampire friendships: These types of relationships can make you feel like the life force has been sucked out of you. Regardless if they’re draining because of drama, finances or emotional baggage, most of these friendships leave us emptier than fulfilled. When the food supply for these friends is cut off, they often move on to feast somewhere else.

d ‘‘

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