Rich Arenschieldt, Susan Bankston, Karen Derr, Andrew Edmonson, Steven Foster, David Goldberg, Marene Gustin, Kim Hogstrom, Josh Inocéncio, Ryan M. Leach, Suzie Lynde, Don Maines, Laura McGuire, Joanna O’Leary, Eddie Robinson, Lilly Roddy, Terri Schlichenmeyer, Gregg Shapiro, Henry V. Thiel, Terrance Turner, Megan Wadding, Josh Watkins, Lou Weaver, Brandon Wolf, Grace S. Yung
Contributing Writers Rich Arenschieldt, Susan Bankston, Aisha Bouderdaben, Troy Carrington, Kit van Cleave, Angel Curtis, Karen Derr, Steven Foster, David Goldberg, D.L. Groover, Marene Gustin, Blake Hayes, Suzie Lynde, Donalevan Maines, DavidElijah Nahmod, Neil Ellis Orts, Lilly Roddy, Terri Schlichenmeyer, Gregg Shapiro, Janice Stensrude, Brandon Wolf, Grace S. Yung
Photographers/Illustrators
Photographers/Illustrators
Dalton DeHart, Yvonne Feece, Mark Hiebert, Manuel Lara, David Eduardo Flores Perez
Edgardo Aguilar, Max Burkhalter, Dalton DeHart, Theresa DiMenno, Yvonne Feece, David Eduardo Flores Perez
Account Executives
Account Executives
Jack Berger, Joanna Jackson, Ronald Le
Jack Berger, P C Douglas, Joanna Jackson, Greg Jeu
Web Editor John Wright
Web Editor Ann Walton Sieber
Interns
Emily Lincke, Cameron Wallace
National Advertising Representative Rivendell Media - 212/242-6863
National Advertising Representative
Rivendell Media - 212.242.6863
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Publishers of OutSmart Magazine bon a e • o ston T . . • . . a
UTSMART readers may have noticed that we recently added a “Q” at the end of “LGBT” in our logos and stories. The “Q” stands for “queer” or “questioning,” and the change reflects our e ort to be more inclusive of the entire community.
According to GLAAD, “queer” is an adjective used by people whose sexual orientation is not exclusively heterosexual, but who may fi nd the terms lesbian, gay, or bisexual “too limiting and/or fraught with cultural connotations that don’t apply to them.” GLAAD notes that others use “queer” or “genderqueer” to describe their gender identity and/or gender expression, especially if it falls outside the binary categories of man and woman.
Although “queer” was once considered pejorative (and is still not universally accepted), recent studies show that the LGBTQ community has largely reclaimed the term.
According to Community Marketing Inc.’s 11th annual LGBTQ survey, released in July, 24 percent of millennials now identify as “queer,” as do 37 percent of “gender expansive” people. The survey found that “LGBTQ” is now preferred over “LGBT” among millennials, and that, for the fi rst time, the expanded abbreviation has an approval rating among baby boomers of more than 50 percent.
Based on its fi ndings, Community Marketing concluded that “LGBTQ” is now “a positive word for corporations to use today, with little negative downside.” Indeed, even some mainstream publications, including the Los Angeles Times, have switched from LGBT to LGBTQ.
The Critical Media Project at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism notes that “queer” is often used “to underscore the fact that gender and sexual orientation are fluid and should not be rigidly categorized.
“Echoing this sentiment about fluidity, the ‘Q’ in LGBTQ further can indicate a ‘questioning’ or uncertainty about one’s gender, sexuality, or sexual orientation,” the project wrote.
As the Equality Federation’s Rebecca Isaacs put it in a 2015 column explaining her organization’s switch to “LGBTQ,” it’s about “more than a letter.
“It’s about our values,” Isaacs wrote. “At this turning point, when we are examining and improving upon our commitments to racial, economic, and social justice, we are also doubling down on our commitment to people who identify as queer so that they will be fully embraced and empowered in our organization. Adding the Q goes hand in hand with our deeper understanding of intersectionality.”
Enjoy the August issue!
—John Wright
Photo by Max Burkhalter
Art Direction by Alex Rosa Production by Steven Foster
The interior design industry in Houston is growing, with graduates earning an average annual income of $60,000. Design your future at HCC – earn your Associate’s and Bachelor’s degrees from HCC and SFA, and start your career as a Registered Interior Designer.
Salvation Army Opens Doors to Homeless LGBTQ Youth
Christian charity with record of discrimination partners with Tony’s Place to serve vulnerable population.
By Marene Gustin
According to the True Colors Fund, some 40 percent of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ. In Houston, that translates into a few hundred LGBTQ kids living on the streets every day. And that’s why Tony’s Place and the Salvation Army’s Young Adult Resource Center (YARC) are joining forces to help serve this population.
“It’s a nice, new collaboration,” says YARC program manager Rafael Sarango. “It’s important not to duplicate services.”
The two organizations now share space at 1621 McGowen St., next to the Salvation Army’s Family Residence women and children’s shelter. YARC, which opened in 2012, connects homeless youth ages 18 to 25 with housing, education, and job training. Tony’s Place, which started last year and is named for the late Tony Carroll, previously operated a drop-in center in Montrose for LGBTQ youth, o ering hot meals, showers, laundry, clothing, and computer use.
“We started working with YARC early on, before we even opened,” says Al Amado, board chairman for Tony’s Place. “Instead of reinventing the wheel, we asked them for help.”
The Salvation Army, a Christian-based international organization, has not always had a good relationship with the LGBTQ community.
In 1998, the Salvation Army of the United States turned down $3.5 million in contracts from the City of San Francisco due to a requirement that City contractors provide benefits to same-sex partners of employees. In 2004, the Salvation Army of New York City threatened to end its services over a similar regulation. Salvation Army organizations in other countries, notably Scotland and New Zealand, have made headlines over LGBTQ discrimination. And as recently as 2014, a transgender woman was refused housing by the Salvation Army because she hadn’t gone through gender reassignment surgery.
“But, like anything else—except maybe the Texas Legislature—the times are changing,” Amado said. “There was some concern among
the board, and even myself, when we started this collaboration. But we started delving into the organization and realized they were being more inclusive. Locally, they said they really wanted to help this population.”
Sarango noted that the Salvation Army’s mission statement pledges that the organization will serve all without discrimination.
“I have been to national conferences to talk about our work, and I was shocked to see how the organization is so embracing of all people,” Sarango said. “In Texas in particular, the leadership has become amazing and accepting. But it can be a struggle to get everyone on board. We hear it. Every year on Facebook, we get people saying ‘don’t donate.’ We just try to keep going and do what we can to change the perception.”
Sarango said he’s currently working with a homeless trans girl because no other shelters
would take her. He also said half of his sta identifies as LGBTQ.
“I worked with a homeless teen recently, and when I asked her why she was on the streets, she said it was because she was a lesbian,” Sarango said. “And I told her, ‘No, it’s because your parents don’t understand.’”
Major Kent Davis, area commander for the Salvation Army of Greater Houston, said that through their partnership with Tony’s Place, the organization “will be able to provide more services to the young adults who reach out to us for help.”
YARC is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and Tony’s Place operates from noon to 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Marene Gustin is a regular contributor to OUTSMART magazine.
Pioneering Partnership
Tony’s Place board member Al Amato (l) and Rafael Sarango, program manager for the Salvation Army’s Young Adult Resource Center, say the new collaborative effort is among the first of its kind in the country.
TRIUMEQ is a once-a-day pill used to treat HIV-1. In some people, TRIUMEQ should not be used by itself. Take TRIUMEQ exactly as your healthcare provider tells you.
APPROVED USES
TRIUMEQ is a prescription HIV-1 (Human Immunodeficiency Virus-type 1) medicine used alone or with other antiretroviral medicines to treat HIV-1 infection in adults. HIV-1 is the virus that causes AIDS. TRIUMEQ is not for use by itself in people who have or have had resistance to abacavir, dolutegravir, or lamivudine.
TRIUMEQ should not be used in children under the age of 18.
TRIUMEQ does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS. You must keep taking HIV-1 medicines to control HIV-1 infection and decrease HIV-related illnesses.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
What is the most important information I should know about TRIUMEQ? TRIUMEQ can cause serious side effects, including:
• Serious allergic reactions (hypersensitivity reaction) that can cause death have happened with TRIUMEQ and other abacavir-containing products. Your risk of this allergic reaction to abacavir is much higher if you have a gene variation called HLA-B*5701. Your healthcare provider can determine with a blood test if you have this gene variation. If you get symptoms from 2 or more of the following groups while taking TRIUMEQ, call your healthcare provider right away: 1. fever; 2. rash; 3. nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or stomach pain; 4. generally ill feeling, extreme tiredness, or achiness; 5. shortness of breath, cough, or sore throat. Your pharmacist will give you a Warning Card with a list of these symptoms. Carry this Warning Card with you at all times.
If you stop taking TRIUMEQ because of an allergic reaction, never take TRIUMEQ or any other abacavir- or dolutegravir-containing medicines again. If you have an allergic reaction, dispose of any unused TRIUMEQ. Ask your pharmacist how to properly dispose of medicines. If you take TRIUMEQ or any other abacavir-containing medicine again after you have had an allergic reaction, within hours you may get life-threatening symptoms that may include very low blood pressure or death. If you stop TRIUMEQ for any other reason, even for a few days, and you are not allergic to TRIUMEQ, talk with your healthcare provider before taking it again. Taking TRIUMEQ again can cause a serious allergic or life-threatening reaction, even if you never had an allergic reaction to it before. If your healthcare provider tells you that you can take TRIUMEQ again, start taking it when you are around medical help or people who can call a healthcare provider if you need one.
• A buildup of acid in your blood (lactic acidosis). Lactic acidosis can happen in some people who take TRIUMEQ. This serious medical emergency can cause death. Call your healthcare provider right away if you feel very weak or tired; have unusual muscle pain; have trouble breathing; have stomach pain with nausea and vomiting; feel cold, especially in your arms and legs; feel dizzy/light-headed; or have a fast/irregular heartbeat.
• Serious liver problems can happen in people who take TRIUMEQ. In some cases, these serious liver problems can lead to death. You may be more likely to get lactic acidosis or serious liver problems if you are female, very overweight (obese), or have been taking nucleoside analogue medicines for a long time. Call your healthcare provider right away if you get any of the following signs or symptoms:
• yellow skin, or the white part of the eyes turns yellow (jaundice); dark urine; light-colored stools; loss of appetite for several days or longer; nausea; pain, aching, or tenderness on the right side of your stomach area
• Worsening of hepatitis B virus in people who have HIV-1 infection. If you have HIV-1 and hepatitis B virus (HBV), your HBV may get worse (flare-up) if you stop taking TRIUMEQ. A “flare-up” is when your HBV suddenly returns in a worse way than before. Worsening liver disease can be serious and may lead to death. Do not stop taking TRIUMEQ without first talking to your healthcare provider, so he or she can monitor your health.
• Resistant hepatitis B virus. If you have HIV-1 and hepatitis B, the hepatitis B virus can change (mutate) during your treatment with TRIUMEQ and become harder to treat (resistant).
• Use with interferon and ribavirin-based regimens. If you’re taking TRIUMEQ and interferon, with or without ribavirin, tell your healthcare provider about any new symptoms. Worsening of liver disease that has caused death has happened in people infected with both HIV-1 and hepatitis C who were taking antiretroviral medicines and interferon.
Who should not take TRIUMEQ?
• Do not take TRIUMEQ if you:
• have the HLA-B*5701 gene variation
• are allergic to abacavir, dolutegravir, or any of the ingredients in TRIUMEQ
• take dofetilide (Tikosyn®)
• have liver or kidney problems
What are other possible side effects of TRIUMEQ?
• People with a history of hepatitis B or C virus may have an increased risk of developing new or worsening changes in certain liver tests during treatment with TRIUMEQ. Your healthcare provider may do tests to check your liver function before and during treatment with TRIUMEQ.
• When you start taking HIV-1 medicines, your immune system may get stronger and begin to fight infections that have been hidden in your body for a long time. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you start having new symptoms after you start taking TRIUMEQ.
• Changes in body fat distribution can happen in people who take HIV-1 medicines.
• Some HIV-1 medicines, including TRIUMEQ, may increase your risk of heart attack.
The most common side effects of TRIUMEQ include: trouble sleeping, headache, tiredness
These are not all the possible side effects of TRIUMEQ. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away.
What should I tell my healthcare provider before taking TRIUMEQ?
• Before you take TRIUMEQ, tell your healthcare provider if you:
• have been tested and know whether or not you have a gene variation called HLA-B*5701
• have or have had liver problems, including hepatitis B or C infection; have kidney problems; have heart problems, smoke, or have diseases that increase your risk of heart disease such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes; drink alcohol or take medicines that contain alcohol
• are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if TRIUMEQ will harm your unborn baby
• are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed if you take TRIUMEQ
• You should not take TRIUMEQ if you also take:
• abacavir (EPZICOM®, TRIZIVIR®, or ZIAGEN®)
• lamivudine (COMBIVIR®, DutrebisTM , EPIVIR®, EPIVIR-HBV®, EPZICOM, or TRIZIVIR)
• emtricitabine (Emtriva®, Atripla®, Complera®, Stribild®, or Truvada®)
• Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines (for example, antacids or laxatives; vitamins such as iron or calcium supplements; anti-seizure medicines; other medicines to treat HIV-1, hepatitis, or tuberculosis; metformin; or methadone), vitamins, and herbal supplements (for example, St. John’s wort). Some medicines interact with TRIUMEQ. Keep a list of your medicines to show your healthcare provider and pharmacist. Do not start taking a new medicine without telling your healthcare provider.
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
Please see Important Facts about TRIUMEQ on the following pages.
IMPORTANT FACTS
This is only a brief summary of important information about TRIUMEQ and does not replace talking to your healthcare provider about your condition and your treatment. (TRI-u-meck)
MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT TRIUMEQ
TRIUMEQ ® may cause serious side effects, including:
• Serious allergic reactions (hypersensitivity reaction) that can cause death have happened with TRIUMEQ and other abacavir-containing products. Your risk of this allergic reaction to abacavir is much higher if you have a gene variation called H A-B 5701. Your healthcare provider can determine with a blood test if you have this gene variation. If you get symptoms from 2 or more of the following groups while taking TRIUMEQ, call your healthcare provider right away: 1. fever; 2. rash; 3. nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or stomach pain; 4. generally ill feeling, extreme tiredness, or achiness; 5. shortness of breath, cough, or sore throat. A list of these symptoms is on the Warning Card your pharmacist gives you. Carry this Warning Card with you at all times.
• If you stop taking TRIUMEQ because of an allergic reaction, never take TRIUMEQ or any other abacavir- or dolutegravircontaining medicines again. If you have an allergic reaction, dispose of any unused TRIUMEQ. Ask your pharmacist how to properly dispose of medicines. If you take TRIUMEQ or any other abacavir-containing medicine again after you have had an allergic reaction, within hours you may get life-threatening symptoms that may include very low blood pressure or death. If you stop TRIUMEQ for any other reason, even for a few days, and you are not allergic to TRIUMEQ, talk with your healthcare provider before taking it again. Taking TRIUMEQ again can cause a serious allergic or life-threatening reaction, even if you never had an allergic reaction to it before. If your healthcare provider tells you that you can take TRIUMEQ again, start taking it when you are around medical help or people who can call a healthcare provider if you need one.
• Build-up of lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious medical emergency that can lead to death. Call your healthcare provider right away if you have any of these symptoms: feeling very weak or tired, unusual muscle pain, trouble breathing, stomach pain with nausea or vomiting, feeling cold (especially in your arms and legs), feeling dizzy or lightheaded, and or a fast or irregular heartbeat.
• Serious liver problems, which in some cases can lead to death. Call your healthcare provider right away if you have any of these symptoms: your skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow ( aundice), dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored stools (bowel movements), loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, and or stomach pain on the right side.
You may be more likely to get lactic acidosis or severe liver problems if you are female, very overweight, or have been taking nucleoside analogues for a long time.
• Worsening of Hepatitis B (HBV) infection. If you have both HIV-1 and HBV, your HBV may suddenly get worse if you stop taking TRIUMEQ. Do not stop taking TRIUMEQ without fi rst talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to check your health regularly for several months.
• Resistant HBV. If you have HIV-1 and HBV, the HBV can change (mutate) while you’re on TRIUMEQ and become harder to treat (resistant).
• Use with interferon and ribavirin-based regimens. Worsening of liver disease that has caused death has happened in people infected with both HIV-1 and hepatitis C virus who are taking antiretroviral medicines and are also being treated for hepatitis C with interferon with or without ribavirin. If you are taking TRIUMEQ and interferon with or without ribavirin, tell your HCP if you have any new symptoms.
ABOUT TRIUMEQ
• TRIUMEQ is a prescription HIV-1 medicine used alone or with other antiretroviral medicines to treat HIV-1 infection in adults. TRIUMEQ is not for use by itself in people who have or have had resistance to abacavir, dolutegravir, or lamivudine. TRIUMEQ should not be used in children under the age of 18.
• TRIUMEQ does not cure HIV-1 infection or AIDS. You must keep taking HIV-1 medicines to control HIV-1 infection and decrease HIVrelated illnesses.
DO NOT TAKE TRIUMEQ IF YOU
• have a certain type of gene variation called the H A-B 5701 allele. Your HCP will test you for this before prescribing treatment with TRIUMEQ.
• are allergic to abacavir, dolutegravir, or any of the ingredients in TRIUMEQ. See the full Medication Guide for a complete list of ingredients in TRIUMEQ.
• take dofetilide (Tikosyn ®). Taking TRIUMEQ and dofetilide (Tikosyn) can cause side effects that may be life-threatening.
• have liver or kidney problems.
• If you also take: abacavir (EPZICOM, TRIZIVIR, or ZIAGEN) lamivudine (COMBIVIR ®, DutrebisTM , EPIVIR ®, EPIVIR-HBV ®, EPZICOM, or TRIZIVIR) emtricitabine (Atripla®, Complera®, Emtriva®, Stribild ®, or Truvada®).
BEFORE TAKING TRIUMEQ
Tell your healthcare provider if you:
• have been tested and know if you have a particular gene variation called H A-B 5701.
• have or had any kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis B or C virus infection.
• have heart problems, smoke, or have diseases that increase your risk of heart disease such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes.
• drink alcohol or take medicines that contain alcohol.
• are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if TRIUMEQ will harm your unborn baby.
• are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed if you have HIV-1 because of the risk of passing HIV-1 to your baby.
Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take:
• Keep a list that includes all prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements, and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist.
• Ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist about medicines that should not be taken with TRIUMEQ. Do not start taking a new medicine without telling your healthcare provider.
Billing#: Labor:
Proofreading:
IMPORTANT FACTS (cont’d)
MEDICINES THAT MIGHT INTERACT WITH TRIUMEQ
• antacids, laxatives, or other medicines that contain aluminum, magnesium, sucralfate (Carafate ®), or buffered medicines. TRIUMEQ should be taken at least 2 hours before or 6 hours after you take these medicines.
• iron or calcium supplements taken by mouth may be taken at the same time with TRIUMEQ if taken with food. Otherwise, TRIUMEQ should be taken at least 2 hours before or 6 hours after you take these medicines.
• any other medicine to treat HIV-1, medicines used to treat hepatitis virus infections (such as interferon or ribavirin), a medicine that contains metformin, methadone, rifampin (Rifater ®, Rifamate ® , Rimactane ®, Rifadin ® ), St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum).
POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF TRIUMEQ
TRIUMEQ can cause serious side effects including:
• See “What is the most important information about TRIUMEQ?” section
• Changes in liver tests
• Changes in your immune system
• Changes in body fat distribution
C
The most common side effects of TRIUMEQ are: trouble sleeping, headache, and tiredness.
These are not all the possible side effects of TRIUMEQ. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any new symptoms while taking TRIUMEQ. Your healthcare provider will need to do tests to monitor your health before and during treatment with TRIUMEQ.
You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
GET MORE INFORMATION
• Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist.
• Go to TRIUMEQ.com or call 1-877-844-8872, where you can also get FDA-approved product labeling.
COMBIVIR, EPIVIR, EPZICOM, TIVICAY, TRIUMEQ, TRIZIVIR, and ZIAGEN are registered trademarks of the ViiV Healthcare group of companies.
EPIVIR-HBV is a registered trademark of the GSK group of companies.
The other brands listed are trademarks of their respective owners and are not trademarks of the ViiV Healthcare group of companies. The makers of these brands are not affiliated with and do not endorse the ViiV Healthcare group of companies or its products.
• Some HIV-1 medicines including TRIUMEQ may increase your risk of heart attack.
April 2017 TRM:5MG
On July 8, Tony Shelton and Ross Smith hosted a mid-summer pool party. Pictured are William Perez, Eduardo Talledo, Tony Shelton, and Ross Smith
Photos by Dalton DeHart and Edgardo Aguilar
On July 12, the Harris County Democratic Party hosted its July 2017 Brown Bag, “Fundraising/Financing 101.” Pictured are party staff and interns.
On June 25, the Houston GLBT Political Caucus hosted a 42ndanniversary Summer Fling at the home of Alan Rosen. Pictured are board members, elected officials, and longtime supporters of the Caucus.
On July 14, the Tejano Democrats hosted a membership drive at the home of Janie & Frumencio Reyes. Pictured are Ryan Penner, Frumencio Reyes, Carol Alvarado, Janie Reyes, and Phillip McNutt
On July 14, Cerk Cabaret presented “Juxtapose & Friends” at Numbers. Pictured are Michael Paras, Bethany Morgan, Robby Bennett, Cara Shanks, Melissa Ludwig, Camila Parra, Kayla Wadge, Laura Singleton, Dwain Travis, and Elizabeth Curtin
LGBTQ Candidates Aim to Transform Judiciary
Democrats hope for another sweep of Harris County in 2018.
By Brandon Wolf
Five openly LGBTQ candidates now plan to seek Harris County judicial seats in 2018, in a trend that could dramatically alter what has historically been a hostile environment for the community.
In July, OUTSMART reported that the actions of the Trump administration and Republican state leaders are helping to fuel a wave of LGBTQ candidates in Houston and across the state. Since then, the magazine has learned of several additional LGBTQ candidates in Harris County, bringing the total to at least eight next year. Three other LGBTQ candidates plan to seek Houston City Council seats this year or in 2019.
The majority of LGBTQ candidates in 2018 are running for Harris County judicial seats— a significant development, given that queer people have often faced discrimination from Republican judges at the courthouse.
“While LGBTQ people have marriage equality, there are still family-law issues such as adoption and gender-correction documentation that require court approval,” said Fran Watson, an attorney who serves as president of the Houston GLBT Political Caucus. “Currently, these types of issues are not consistently granted in Harris County.”
Two years ago, Democrats held only 11 of 85 Harris County judicial seats. Following the Democratic sweep of 2016, that number increased to 27, including three openly LGBTQ district judges: Steven Kirkland, Daryl Moore and Kelli Johnson. In 2018, 58 judicial seats will be on the ballot, and 57 of them are now held by Republicans.
“With the successes of the 2016 election, it is vital to have a repeat performance in 2018,” said Watson, who’s considering a campaign for the Texas Senate next year.
Below is a rundown of the LGBTQ Harris County judicial candidates, who are all Democrats. It does not include Jerry Simoneaux, a candidate for Harris County Probate Court No. 1 who was featured in a July O UTSMART article.
• George Arnold plans to seek the 113th District Civil Court seat that Republican Michael Landrum has held since 2013. An attorney for
Baldwin
the last 25 years, Arnold said he’s handled civil cases in state and federal courts throughout Texas, and currently chairs the diversity committee at his law firm. He said he’s running because he wants to help people “fairly and e ciently resolve their disputes,” while also increasing the diversity of the county judiciary.
• hannon ald in is a candidate for the Harris County Criminal Court No. 4 seat, held by Republican John Clinton since 2010. Baldwin has practiced law for the last 21 years, both as a prosecutor and defense attorney. Baldwin, who’s raising a foster daughter with her wife, said she’s running because she wants a judicial system that is blind to race, religion, color, creed, sexual orientation, and gender identity. “I’ve seen the negativity that shoots people down the moment they walk through the courtroom door,” she said. “The judge sets the tone of the entire courtroom and its sta . To e ect change, we must start at the top.”
• ason Co plans to seek the Harris County Probate Court 3 seat that has been held by Republican Rory Olsen since 1999. Cox has 13 years of probate experience, representing clients ranging from financial institutions to indigent individuals. He also writes and speaks extensively on probate issues. He said he’s running because he’s a strong believer in pub-
Courting Diversity
are among five openly LGBTQ candidates who plan to run for Harris County judicial seats in 2018.
lic service. He’s volunteered at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, served as a mock-trial coach, and is an adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas.
• eau iller is running for the 190th District Civil Court seat, held by Republican Patricia J. Kerrigan since 2007. With more than a decade of legal experience, Miller said he’s running “to make sure that everyone has fair access to the courts and a fair shake when they get there.” Miller said when judges don’t do their jobs e ectively, the wheels of justice grind to a halt—especially for hard-working people with limited resources. Miller is married to Patrick Summers, artistic director of the Houston Grand Opera.
In addition to the Harris County judicial candidates, Charles Spain, who’s served as an associate municipal judge in Houston since 2010, is running for the Place 4 seat on the Texas 14th District Court of Appeals. Republican Marc Brown has held that seat since 2013. The 14th District covers Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston, Grimes, Harris, Waller, and Washington counties. Spain served for 23 years as a sta attorney for the Texas appellate-court system. He would be the first openly gay Texas appellate judge.
Brandon Wolf is a regular contributor to OUTSMART magazine.
Shannon
(l) and Beau Miller
Compiled by Marene Gustin
Theater District Open House
It’s fun for the whole family.
Pack up the gang and head downtown for the annual kickoff of Houston’s fall performing arts season! The annual Theater District Open House is August 27 from noon to 5 p.m. It’s a great way to get familiar with all the great arts organizations downtown and score one-day-only ticket deals for upcoming performances and you also get to see performances for free. Highlights include a performance by the acclaimed New York Philharmonic String Quartet, presented by Da Camera; a special concert by Bria Skonberg,
presented by Society for the Performing Arts; and free performances by the Houston Ballet and the Houston Symphony at 4 p.m. You can also meet the artists and get behind-the-scenes tours what better way to really get to know the arts you love? Have your picture taken with a ballerina before watching her onstage, or see the orchestra’s instruments up close and personal. Participating organizations include Alley Theatre, BBVA Compass Broadway at the Hobby Center, Da Camera of
Houston, Houston Ballet, Houston Grand Opera, Houston Symphony, Revention Music Center, Society for the Performing Arts, Theatre Under The Stars, and Uniquely Houston. The performing venues are all within walking distance, and there are several wonderful restaurants in the area for when you need a break and some food. — Marene Gustin
• August 27
• 24th Annual TransCanada Theater District Open House • theaterdistrictopenhouse.com
Houston Restaurant Weeks + thru Sept 4 Get ready to eat! Special menus around town benefi t the Houston Food Bank. ( See page 63.) houstonrestaurantweeks.com
Jennifer Mabus' Requiem * The Pilot Dance Project premieres a new site-specific work at the historic Morales Funeral Home. freneticore.net
Atlas, Plural, Monumental A thru 6 Works by artist Paul Ramírez Jonas. camh.org
Diaster! * thru 19 Sometimes love can be disastrous, and sometimes it can be completely and totally hysterical! islandetc.org
Mary Black * For over a quartercentury, singer Mary Black has been a dominant presence in Irish music, both at home and abroad. matchouston.org
Dixie Chicks: DCX MMXVI - In Concert * Filmed concert footage will show in local theaters, one day
In a Word * thru 12 Grief and comedy collide in the story of a missing boy. mildredsumbrella.com Church * thru 20 A site-specifi c play from Horse Head Theatre. horseheadtheatre.org
JOAN MARCUS; PHOTO AT LEFT - LYNN LANE
Always . . . Patsy Cline * thru 20 The perennial favorite at Stages. stagestheatre.com
15 9
Ron Mueck A last day
Thirteen works by the contemporary sculptor on exhibit at MFA. mfah.org
A Better Yesterday A thru Sept 3
A showcase of three artists and their unique vision of childhood. camh.org
The Propeller Group A thru Sept 3 A three-member exhibit from Vietnam. blaffermuseum.org
Genome: Unlocking Life’s Code A thru Sept 11 Cutting-edge interactives, 3-D models, custom animations, and engaging videos of real-life stories. thehealthmuseum.org
Tamarie’s Merry Evening of Mistakes and Regrets * last day catastrophictheatre.com
21
Faith Ringgold's HMAAC Summer Exhibition A thru Sept 25 See the amazing work by this African-American artist at the museum. ( See next page.) hmaac.org
A Woman in Love (Enamorada) *
This film strives to portray an authentic Mexican identity, using the revolutionary context to pose questions about the class conflict that divided the country in the early 20th century. mfah.org
Humanae A thru Sept 5 Portraits from around the world that label human subjects with their corresponding Pantone color. thehealthmuseum.org
2017 WHAM Artist Application
A Last day to enter submissions of artwork and crafts for the 12th Annual Winter Holiday Art Market. ( See next page.) fresharts.submittable.com
Dixie’s Tupperware Party * Hilarious interactive show about a southern fast-talking Tupperware Lady that will leave you rolling in the aisles. thegrand.com
In the Studio: Craft in Postwar America, 1950–1970 A thru Oct 8 Nearly 40 artworks showcasing the early decades of American craft. mfah.org
Dead Rock Star Sing-a-long * last day The music of George Michael and Sharon Jones. recroomhtx.com
Gladiators: Heroes of the Colosseum A thru Sept 5 Combat, the Roman way. hmns.org 14
16
Paint the Revolution A thru Oct 1 Mexican Modernism from 1910 to 1950. mfah.org
Homelands and Histories: Photographs by Fazal Sheikh A thru Sept 4 Seventy-five photographs spanning 25 years. mfah.org 24
Edward Eberle A thru Sept 2 An exhibition by a porcelain artist. crafthouston.org
Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps * Packed with laughs and over 150 characters played by four actors, this is a blend of virtuoso performances and inventive stagecraft. Unforgettable. alleytheatre.org
Rat Ranch * This week’s band at the free Kemah Boardwalk Rock the Dock. kemahboardwalk.com
24th Annual TransCanada Theater District Open House * Marks the launch of the fall performing arts season. ( See opposite page, top.) theaterdistrictopenhouse.com
September 24 & 25 Bully * Houston premiere screening of the new dramatic film musical Bully. Not recommended for children. bullythemusical.com/tickets
Calendar of Events
continued from previous page
Church
Now thru August 20
–
Thru 20
A site-specific play from Horse Head Theatre at the 1891 St. John Church in the Heritage Society at Sam Houston Park. Get ready for an exuberant sermon delivered by an eccentric, traveling congregation of reverends. Church provokes and delights audiences with song, dance, and testimony. Before and after the performance the surrounding park grounds will be populated by actors and hands-on activities, offering audiences an optional immersive experience. horseheadtheatre.org
2017 WHAM
Artist Application
Now thru August 25
–
Thru 25
Only a short time left to enter submissions of original artwork, unique crafts, and handmade goods for its 12th Annual Winter Holiday Art Market (WHAM), November 17–19. In its mission to provide artists access to economic development and networking opportunities and to celebrate Houston’s diverse arts scene, Fresh Arts hosts WHAM, an annual juried three-day exhibition and art festival each fall at Winter Street Studios in the First Ward Arts District. fresharts.submittable.com
Faith Ringgold
Now thru Sept. 25
Thru Sept. 25
–
This is your chance to see the work of Faith Ringgold, a legendary painter, writer, speaker, mixed-media sculptor, and performance artist of color. The CEO of Houston Museum of African American Culture, John Guess, says the museum has been trying to get an exhibit of her work for three years. Ringgold has more than 75 awards, including 23 honorary degrees. This is an amazing exhibit that you don’t want to miss. hmaac.org
■
GLORIA’S
Presidential Pestilence
Thirteen ways Donald Trump is worse than fire ants.
It’s harder than Chinese algebra to keep up with this president. Every day there’s a new scandal, and the old scandals keep getting worse. Last month, we slowly found out that Donald Junior’s Russian meeting had more attendees than Trump’s inauguration. And it had more Russians than Dr. Zhivago, with the Brothers Karamazov on the waiting list.
The way it’s turning out is that Trump colluded with Russia to find out that Hillary Clinton did not collude with Russia. Trump’s defense of his wrongdoings went from “fake news” to “I don’t recall” to “we did it and you can kiss our asses.”
In other new developments, Trump wants the wall between Mexico and the U.S. to be transparent, as in “see-through.” Here’s why: according to Trump, who visited the border for a few hours one damn time, drug dealers often toss 60-pound sacks of drugs over the wall. If you can’t see those Mexicans on the other side, you might get smacked in the head with a 60-pound sack of drugs. I am not making this up. You can look it up on the Google machine. Trump really said that.
Personally, I think it’s a conspiracy. I think somebody and I’m not saying it was you neglected to tell Trump about the annual Wag Your Winkie Day at the Rio Grande River, which is a Mexican national holiday. Or maybe they did tell him, and he’s just genuinely excited about it.
Trump has been in office for 200 days. He has spent 88 days promoting one of his properties, 53 days watching teevee, 47 days thinking about Hillary Clinton, and 12 days shaking grown men’s hands.
Texas is a rough place to live. We have 329 kinds of snakes, and 328 of them are poisonous. We’ve got spiders that’ll have sex with you, eat you, and then spit you out. We’ve got cliffs, quicksand, riptides, rivers that flood for no apparent reason at all, hurricanes, and heat that will take the enamel off a cooler. But the worst thing we have in Texas is fire ants. Those suckers
are mean on damn purpose. Honey, volcanoes have moved to get out of their way. They have little “ WANTED” posters of you in their mounds. I’m sure of it.
then call it a pre-existing condition and cancel your health insurance.
• Fire ants aren’t tall enough to grab you by the pussy.
However, I’ve come up with some things that are worse than fire ants . . .
Why Donald Trump Is Worse than Fire Ants
• Fire ants would never wear a red baseball cap with a damn suit.
• Fire ants don’t have children. They leave that all that up to their queen. Did you hear that, Trump?
• According to ancient ant custom, fire ants rarely have a Twitter account.
• Fire ants build mounds, not walls. You can walk around mounds. Hell, you can skip around them while singing “El Sombrero Mexicano es Mejor Que El Pequeño Sombrero Rojo.”
• In their ranking of the world’s most significant events, fire ants do not include beauty pageants.
• Even though fire ants are notoriously liberated, when they collude they never collude with rain ants.
• Four words: No Sean Ant Hannity.
• Fire ants embrace communal ownership of the means of production and reject the inherent oppression of capitalist patriarchy. (We think.)
• Fire ants rarely blame Hillary Clinton for Every. Damn. Thing. On. The. Planet.
• Fire ants just sting you. They do not sting you,
• Fire ants do not promise that they will only hire the “best” people of “high quality” and then hire their spoiled-rotten kids and a couple of guys with a red-faced-bulging-neck-vein blog.
• Fire ants do not watch Fox News. Good Lord, they have to draw the too-despicable line somewhere.
• The only way fire ants are exactly like Donald Trump: they think with a tiny little brain.
In all fairness, the Trump administration has accomplished a few things. They made me get a Twitter account. They tastefully sabotaged the entire spray-tan market. They successfully made adult children an even greater liability than college loans. They proved that extra-long ties do not make you look slimmer, but they do raise your goofy quotient to Disney levels. And, lastly, they saved bunches of paper by not releasing Trump’s taxes.
Hey, it’s August in Houston stay hydrated and do not jack around with tropical storms. Those suckers are almost as bad as fire ants.
Susan Bankston lives in Richmond, Texas, where she writes about her hairdresser at The World’s Most Dangerous Beauty Salon, Inc., at juanitajean.com.
Fighting Fire with Fire
Which is the lesser of two evils: Donald Trump (l) or fi re ants?
YOU MATTER AND SO DOES YOUR HEALTH
That’s why starting and staying on HIV-1 treatment is so important.
WHAT IS DESCOVY®?
DESCOVY is a prescription medicine that is used together with other HIV-1 medicines to treat HIV-1 in people 12 years and older. DESCOVY is not for use to help reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 infection. DESCOVY combines 2 medicines into 1 pill taken once a day. Because DESCOVY by itself is not a complete treatment for HIV-1, it must be used together with other HIV-1 medicines.
DESCOVY does not cure HIV-1 infection or AIDS. To control HIV-1 infection and decrease HIV-related illnesses, you must keep taking DESCOVY. Ask your healthcare provider if you have questions about how to reduce the risk of passing HIV-1 to others. Always practice safer sex and use condoms to lower the chance of sexual contact with body fluids. Never reuse or share needles or other items that have body fluids on them.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
What is the most important information I should know about DESCOVY?
DESCOVY may cause serious side effects:
• Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. DESCOVY is not approved to treat HBV. If you have both HIV-1 and HBV and stop taking DESCOVY, your HBV may suddenly get worse. Do not stop taking DESCOVY without first talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to monitor your health.
What are the other possible side effects of DESCOVY?
Serious side effects of DESCOVY may also include:
• Changes in your immune system. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fight infections. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any new symptoms after you start taking DESCOVY.
• Kidney problems, including kidney failure. Your healthcare provider should do blood and urine tests to check your kidneys. Your healthcare provider may tell you to stop taking DESCOVY if you develop new or worse kidney problems.
• Too much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious but rare medical emergency that can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: weakness or being
more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, stomach pain with nausea and vomiting, cold or blue hands and feet, feel dizzy or lightheaded, or a fast or abnormal heartbeat.
• Severe liver problems, which in rare cases can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, or stomach-area pain.
• Bone problems, such as bone pain, softening, or thinning, which may lead to fractures. Your healthcare provider may do tests to check your bones.
The most common side effect of DESCOVY is nausea. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effects that bother you or don’t go away.
What should I tell my healthcare provider before taking DESCOVY?
• All your health problems. Be sure to tell your healthcare provider if you have or have had any kidney, bone, or liver problems, including hepatitis virus infection.
• All the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Other medicines may affect how DESCOVY works. Keep a list of all your medicines and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist. Ask your healthcare provider if it is safe to take DESCOVY with all of your other medicines.
• If you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if DESCOVY can harm your unborn baby. Tell your healthcare provider if you become pregnant while taking DESCOVY.
• If you are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed. HIV-1 can be passed to the baby in breast milk.
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
Please see Important Facts about DESCOVY, including important warnings, on the following page.
Ask your healthcare provider if an HIV-1 treatment that contains DESCOVY® is right for you.
(des-KOH-vee)
MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT DESCOVY
DESCOVY may cause serious side effects, including:
• Worsening of hepatitis B (HBV) infection. DESCOVY is not approved to treat HBV. If you have both HIV-1 and HBV, your HBV may suddenly get worse if you stop taking DESCOVY. Do not stop taking DESCOVY without first talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to check your health regularly for several months.
ABOUT DESCOVY
• DESCOVY is a prescription medicine that is used together with other HIV-1 medicines to treat HIV-1 in people 12 years of age and older. DESCOVY is not for use to help reduce the risk of getting HIV-1 infection.
• DESCOVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS. Ask your healthcare provider about how to prevent passing HIV-1 to others.
BEFORE TAKING DESCOVY
Tell your healthcare provider if you:
• Have or had any kidney, bone, or liver problems, including hepatitis infection.
• Have any other medical condition.
• Are pregnant or plan to become pregnant.
• Are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed if you have HIV-1 because of the risk of passing HIV-1 to your baby.
Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take:
• Keep a list that includes all prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements, and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist.
• Ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist about medicines that should not be taken with DESCOVY.
HOW TO TAKE DESCOVY
• DESCOVY is a one pill, once a day HIV-1 medicine that is taken with other HIV-1 medicines.
• Take DESCOVY with or without food.
IMPORTANT FACTS
This is only a brief summary of important information about DESCOVY® and does not replace talking to your healthcare provider about your condition and your treatment.
POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF DESCOVY
DESCOVY can cause serious side effects, including:
• Those in the “Most Important Information About DESCOVY” section.
• Changes in your immune system.
• New or worse kidney problems, including kidney failure.
• Too much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious but rare medical emergency that can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: weakness or being more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, stomach pain with nausea and vomiting, cold or blue hands and feet, feel dizzy or lightheaded, or a fast or abnormal heartbeat.
• Severe liver problems, which in rare cases can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, or stomach-area pain.
• Bone problems.
The most common side effect of DESCOVY is nausea. These are not all the possible side effects of DESCOVY. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any new symptoms while taking DESCOVY.
Your healthcare provider will need to do tests to monitor your health before and during treatment with DESCOVY.
GET MORE INFORMATION
• This is only a brief summary of important information about DESCOVY. Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist to learn more.
• Go to DESCOVY.com or call 1-800-GILEAD-5
• If you need help paying for your medicine, visit DESCOVY.com for program information.
Life insurance strategies can allow you to donate more for less.
For many, charitable giving is an important part of life that provides organizations with funding to accomplish their goals and assist people in need.
According to the National Philanthropic Trust, Americans gave over $373 billion in 2015—a 4.1 percent increase from 2014. There are now more than 1.5 million charities operating in the U.S.
Whether your favorite charity is the Montrose Center, Lazarus House, Equality Texas, or another organization, there are a number of ways to give—and some strategies that can significantly enhance your contributions.
For some, writing a check is the preferred method of giving to charity. This can provide the organization with funds for immediate use, and create a tax deduction for the donor.
Life insurance is another tool used for charitable giving. People can name organizations as beneficiaries of life-insurance policies that often yield much larger donations than out-of-pocket contributions could provide.
When you name a charitable organization as a life-insurance beneficiary, you pay the premiums on the policy, and at your death the proceeds go to the organization. Because death benefits to charities are not taxable, they can use the full amount of your donation for their needs. In addition to the benefits that the charity receives, you as the policyholder are allowed a tax deduction for the premiums you pay.
To utilize this method of charitable giving, you’ll typically be required to sign over your rights to the life insurance policy to the charity, which means you won’t be able to make changes to the policy—including the named beneficiary—once it’s in force.
You may also be able to add a rider to your policy that lets you designate 1 or 2 percent of the death benefit to a charity, after the bulk of
the proceeds have gone to your other beneficiaries.
If you’re a board member for a charity and meet certain conditions, the organization itself may purchase life insurance coverage on you for up to $2 million. This is similar to the way companies take out life insurance on owners, partners, or key executives whose loss could cause the organization substantial financial hurdles.
Should you wish to add your personal donations to a charity that has purchased insurance on your life, you may make tax-deductible monetary gifts equal to the policy’s annual premiums.
While death-benefit proceeds can provide a charity with a lump sum, there are other ways in which life insurance can be used for charitable donations.
For instance, if you have a dividend-paying “whole life” insurance policy, you could assign the dividends to the charity rather than receiving them yourself. If you choose to donate this way, you can typically take an annual tax deduction for the dividend amount.
Another strategy is to establish a trust that owns the life insurance policy and designates the charity as the beneficiary. A “charitable remainder trust” generates a potential income
stream for you and/or other beneficiaries, with the remainder of the assets going to charity. Alternatively, a “charitable lead trust” is designed to reduce beneficiaries’ taxable income by first donating a portion of the income to charity and then, after a set period of time, transferring the remainder to the beneficiaries. Charitable lead trusts are commonly used to reduce or eliminate estate taxes.
There are numerous ways you can contribute to your favorite charitable organizations, and as you can see, a strategy that includes life insurance can end up having many moving parts.
Because of that, it’s important to obtain financial, tax, and legal advice prior to purchasing life insurance. It can also be highly beneficial to work with advisors who are knowledgeable about planning strategies for those in the LGBTQ community.
Grace S. Yung, CFP, is a certified financial planner practitioner with experience in helping domestic partners plan their finances since 1994. She is a principal at Midtown Financial LLC in Houston and was recognized as a “FiveStar Wealth Manager” in the 2014 September issue of Texas Monthly. Yung can be reached at grace.yung@lpl.com.
FOR YOUR CALENDAR
Check out these fabulous events co-sponsored O and our marketing partners.
S s 21st Annual Gayest & Greatest Readers Choice Ballot voting ends August18. outsmartmagazine.com
Aug. 3: ActOut at the Alley Stage presentation of Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps, a comedy thriller. alleytheatre.org
Aug. 26: Kindred Spirits Dance presented by The Montrose Center. montrosecenter.org
Thank you to OUTSMART’s fan sponsors: Ashton Martini Realtors Group, Avita Pharmacy, Bayou City Smiles, Central Houston Cadillac, Kruto Vodka, Jeremy Fain (Realtor), Stewart Title, and Mid Main Lofts.
Photographer Eric Schell snapped this photo of Melissa Etheridge with O UTSMART after her concert appearance on June 27.
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Left to right: Maneesh Singal, Brian Redmond, Ryan Leach, and Ben Gondron at Pride in the Park, Discovery Green
DRIPPING WITH PRIDE DRIPPING WITH PRIDE DRIPPING WITH PRIDE
ROWER DAVID ALVIAR HAD TO OVERCOME HOMOPHOBIA TO CARRY HIS PARTNER’S ENGAGEMENT RING ACROSS THE ATLANTIC.
By Ryan M. Leach
Photo by Max Burkhalter
“IN TEXAS, WE SEE ATHLETES AS THESE SYMBOLS OF STRENGTH. THEY ARE ALMOST ALWAYS STRA IGHT. THAT’S WHY I THINK IT ’S IMPORTAN T FOR ME TO BE OUT.”
-DAVID A LVIAR
It was February 7 when David Alviar dropped to one knee and presented a ring to his boyfriend, Stanley Lewis.
Alviar had been thinking about this moment almost nonstop for 49 days. He was certain Lewis would say “yes,” which he did. But their engagement is only a small part of this story.
The real drama took place in the seven weeks preceding that day, when Alviar and two other men rowed across the Atlantic Ocean, setting two world records.
Alviar downplays the achievement—part of his humble charm. “We really only [set the records] by default because we were the first team of three to row across the Atlantic, and therefore we are the fastest,” he says.
He may be the only person unimpressed with his accomplishment. The 3,000-mile transatlantic race began on December 14, 2016, in the Canary Islands off the coast of Spain. It ended in February in Antigua, with Alviar’s team first to cross the finish line. The three men celebrated Christmas and New Year’s Eve together. Rowing. Nonstop.
“All I knew was that I had to make it back in time for Valentine’s Day, or I was going to be in trouble.” Alviar says. He had decided that he would propose to Lewis in Antigua before leaving for the race.
“I would take the ring out periodically and look at it,” he says. “I was afraid it was going to tarnish, so I would polish it with Tabasco sauce periodically. It did not tarnish, by the way.”
PART OF THE CREW
Alviar began rowing in his second year at the University of Texas, when he was catcalled by the school’s rowing team while passing their information table on his way to class. He was looking for a way to connect with the university and its large student population in a more meaningful way. He had tried joining a fraternity and doing typical freshman stuff, but because he was closeted, young, and in a new place, that proved to be difficult—until he discovered rowing.
“My sister-in-law was actually a rower, so I knew a little bit about it going in,” he says. “It was a walk-on sport at the University of Texas, so I just showed up along with about 120 other people. Then, after about three weeks, it
was down to 40. After about a month, it was down to 20, and finally about 15 to 18 on the team—all through self-selection.”
Despite his athletic appearance, Alviar insists that rowing is a sport for anyone, and he emphasizes that it has helped him deal with many challenges. “Rowing was a conduit that helped me deal with stress, spirituality, and a social life.”
In the Same Boat
David Alviar (r) met his fiancé, Stanley Lewis, when both were members of the rowing team at the University of Texas in Austin.
Rowing at UT was also what led to Alviar meeting Lewis. “He showed up and I didn’t pay much attention to him at first, because people show up and then they get bored and leave,” Alviar says. “But Stanley became an excellent rower, and we ended up in the same boat. We would travel together for team trips. Over time, we got to know one another and our relationship developed.”
Their relationship was clandestine—or so Alviar thought. “In hindsight, it was stupid to hide it, because everyone was really so happy for us when we finally came out about it.”
After UT, the couple moved to Houston and both joined Teach for America. Alviar taught for three years at Berry Elementary.
Although he and Lewis lived together as a couple, Alviar still struggled with his sexual identity. Lewis, on the other hand, embraced it. This caused a rift that resulted in the couple separating and losing contact for three years.
“It was sad,” Alviar says. “We would go to team reunions and avoid each other. I dated someone during that time, but that relationship ended because I discovered that life is better in
the light. I was actively trying to suppress who I was. When I decided to put roots down in Houston, I knew that I had to make some changes.”
Eventually, Alviar started coaching at ROW Studios in West University Place. Coincidentally, Lewis also coached there, and they reconnected. They’ve been together ever since, and they plan to marry in 2018.
ADVENTURES AT SEA
During his time apart from Lewis, Alviar began volunteering as a coach for the rowing team at Rice University. This is where he met crewmate Mike Matson, who introduced him to ocean rowing. The two initially tried to enter the race known as the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge in 2015, but the cost was prohibitive and Matson was recovering from an injury.
They approached their third crewmate, Brian Krauskopf, who would be able to relieve some of the physical pressure on Matson and also help raise funds to cover the $150,000 cost of the racing boat and supplies. The men decided to enter the 2016 race as a trio. With the help of more than 30 investors and their own hefty investments, they were on their way to Spain. Alviar was the only gay crewmate—which would eventually cause tension on the team and with government officials in Antigua.
The three men trained long and hard for the race, but spent less time rowing than would be expected. Aside from a few lengthy overnight rows in Galveston Bay, Clear Lake, and Conroe, most of their preparation was through crossfit, strength training, and learning about injury prevention and living on a boat for an extended period. Despite their training, Alviar admits that they still were under-prepared for what they would face.
For this particular race, rowing teams are supported by two sailboats that also travel the route. Teams can call on those sailboats for support, but they risk being removed for health reasons, which would force them to abandon both their equipment and the glory of completing the race. With such a hefty investment, teams often resort to self-treating injuries, which can include broken bones, infections, and bedsores.
The Young Man and the Sea
Alviar (l) and his crewmates, Brian Krauskopf (c) and Mike Matson, had to raise $150,000 for their boat and supplies. However, Alviar was discouraged from emphasizing his sexual orientation out of fear that it might deter potential donors.
DDay one of the race is really so surreal,”
Alviar says. “You leave and there are kids chanting ‘USA! USA!’
We were taking tons of pictures and were so full of energy. It was around the 48-hour mark that the seasickness started setting in. I remember about five days of just puking our guts out and being so weak. Brian really carried the load during that time
because he didn’t get as sick as Mike and I did. Eventually, we were out on the water and we couldn’t see land any longer. We were alone. That’s when the freezing wind and horrible storms came.”
The first two weeks were challenging. When it wasn’t storming, they were in the doldrums. “The water was completely flat,” Alviar says. “There was no wind. We just weren’t moving at all.”
They decided they needed to change their approach. The team switched to intervals of
two hours of rowing and two hours of rest, rather than three hours of rowing and only one hour of rest. The accommodations for resting were not ideal, and they slept in a small cabin under the boat. Alviar and Krauskopf paired together during their shifts and rests. The team did everything on the small boat—including the use of a bucket for restroom breaks. To bathe, one of them would jump off the side of the boat while the others looked out for sharks.
“We brought music and podcasts,” Alviar says. “We had some entertainment. ➝
continued from previous page
B B
rian had two movies recorded on his device. One of them was The Notebook He enjoyed the story, I think. I enjoyed Ryan Gosling.”
Alviar was able to make contact with Lewis on a few occasions by using a satellite phone. He tried to keep stories of the journey positive so as not to worry Lewis. “It was great to be able to communicate with him. There were times when the three of us on the boat would go days without talking to each other. When we did, we talked about almost everything, including politics. Being stuck on a boat with a Trump supporter in the middle of the ocean was not ideal, considering what I knew we were coming home to,” Alviar says.
There were also moments that he wouldn’t trade for anything. “I loved it at night, when it was clear and the stars in the sky would reveal themselves. It was breathtaking.
“I would never trade being able to swim in the middle of the ocean and looking down and just seeing this perfectly clear water,” he says. “Sometimes we would have whales that would swim alongside of us, and when we got close to the islands there were dolphins. I remember being amazed at these birds that we would see flying. They would set down in the water for a little while and then take off. They were on the same journey as we were.”
BRINGING HOME A RING
could hardly walk,” Alviar says. “I had alerted the race that I was going to propose, because I wanted them to catch the moment. I made it toward Stanley and fell to one knee and proposed.”
The moment Lewis accepted was broadcast on the news back home in Houston. The government of Antigua, however, was not as thrilled for the newly engaged couple. “I knew that there was tension between the Antiguan government and the Europeans, because Antigua is a very antigay place,” Alviar says. “They thought the race was being used to promote homosexuality, and they were not happy about it.”
The Antiguan government isn’t the only entity from which Alviar experienced pushback over his sexual orientation. During the fundraising campaign, he was discouraged from emphasizing the fact that he’s gay, out of fear that it might deter potential donors.
‹
Before and After
The journey took its toll on Alviar’s face, but not his spirit. “There are many adventures still to be had,” he says.
Just days prior to their arrival in Antigua, the crew encountered a giant wave that almost capsized the boat. It made the finish more challenging, but the end was in sight—and for Alviar, Lewis was waiting to greet him in Antigua.
“I remember when I got off the boat I
“In Texas, we see athletes as these symbols of strength, and as heroes,” Alviar says. “They are almost always straight. That’s the model. That’s why I think it is important for me to be out. That’s why I wanted to share the moment of my engagement with the world. I hope there is a kid out there that sees me and understands that they can be out and an athlete, and they don’t have to fit some mold. It is important to communicate that.”
These days, Alviar is still connected to his educational roots, working in curriculum development. He can also be found, along with Lewis, coaching at ROW. Although he doesn’t see another race in the near future, he’s not ruling it out.
“Stanley says that I am not allowed, but who knows. There are many adventures still to be had,” he says.
Ryan Leach is a frequent contributor to OUTSMART magazine.
COURTESY
LOVE SHARING Healthysexuals
Saturday, August 26, 2017 | 7p.m. - Midnight
SPJST Lodge | 1435 Beall St. | Houston, Texas 77008 Benefiting the Montrose Center’s Women’s Programs: AssistHers - Lesbian Health Initiative - SPRY Senior Women’s Programs Tickets available online at www.montrosecenter.org/dance or call (713)800-0872
Cyndi Lauper Takes a ‘Detour’
LGBTQ icon reflects on decades of advocacy ahead of her Sugar Land appearance.
By Gregg Shapiro
Photo by Chapman Baehler
“You can’t sit by while your friends and family are being treated like secondclass citizens. I don’t care about backlash.”
—Cyndi Lauper
Known for putting her money where her mouth is, versatile Grammy and Tony Award-winning diva Cyndi Lauper is an outspoken supporter of the LGBTQ community. But it was her singing voice and distinctive fashion sense that initially caught our eye. After forays into pop, dance music, standards, and the blues, Lauper lends her remarkable vocal range to a set of country numbers on Detour (Sire). Joined by country legends Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris, Lauper leaves her “unusual” mark on mid-20th century country classics, including Wanda Jackson’s “Funnel of Love” and Patsy Cline’s “Walking
after Midnight” and “I Fall to Pieces.” She knows when to use country’s trademark catchin-the-throat on heartbreakers “Misty Blue” and “Begging to You.” Duets with a yodeling Jewel (“I Want to Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart”) and Alison Krauss (“Hard Candy Christmas”) are also standouts.
I spoke with Lauper in June as she prepared to embark on her concert tour with Rod Stewart. Lauper and Stewart will be at Smart Financial Centre in Sugar Land on August 12.
Gregg Shapiro: You are about to embark on a multi-city concert tour with ➝
LGBTQ Icons Just Want to Have Fun
Cyndi Lauper, who’s currently touring with fellow singer Rod Stewart, encourages resistance toward the Trump administration’s antigay policies.
SAN MARCOS
Rod Stewart. How did this pairing come about?
Cyndi Lauper: Rod and I shared a stage once in the ’80s, then again last year when we did this private event together, and it was great. Sir Rod came to me and said, “We should do that again,” and then my agent, Marsha Vlasic, called me a bit later and told me that the tour was coming together. I’m very much looking forward to it.
In 2016, you released the country-music album Detour, and in 2015 Rod released his country album Another Country. What do you think is the attraction to country music for artists such as you and Rod? For me, old country music was very popular when I was a young girl growing up in New York. No one called it country music or even put a label to it. It was just good-old “pop music” and “mainstream.” These were the songs that were hits all across the country in rural and urban areas. Country artists played right alongside pop artists, and we knew that it was just good hit music on the radio at the time. So that golden age of country music was the soundtrack of my very early childhood.
If you were to do a follow-up to Detour, would you ever consider doing an album of songs by contemporary female country songwriters such as out lesbians Brandy Clark and Brandi Carlile, as well as straight women including Neko Case, Kacey Musgraves, and Gillian Welch? Why not? Country music has a lot of amazing new talent. I think it’s a really interesting time in music. The country scene is amazing. My next CD is going to be new songs that I write—a new studio album and not a covers project.
2016 was the 30th anniversary of your True Colors album. Did you ever expect the title song to become an anthem in the way that it did?
Tom Kelly wrote the song, and it’s an important song. Before I recorded “True Colors,” a friend of mine named Gregory was very sick. We didn’t know it at the time, but he would later be diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. He asked me to write a song about him, so he would not be forgotten. So I wrote a song called “Boy Blue.” A little later, I heard Tom’s “True Colors” and I knew that was the healing song. When I recorded it, I was singing to my friend who I had lost—because he grew up completely rejected by his family and struggled with self-acceptance his whole life. He was just a wonderful guy, perfect just the way he was, and he just couldn’t see that. So I sang it for Gregory and all the Gregorys of the world who felt crushed by life. The song lifts you up and makes you feel hopeful, and that’s why it resonated. Tom Kelly should be very proud of how
he has helped people through his words.
You are halfway to the coveted “EGOT” [Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony] status with Grammy and Tony Awards to your name, as well as an Emmy nomination. Do you have a special place of honor to display your Grammy and Tony statuettes? I have them in my office at my apartment. I try to make my home my home, you know. [Laughs] Not that I am not proud of winning those awards, and I really want that EGOT. But I try and keep my home for family, and not anything career-related.
Are there any upcoming projects that could lead to an Emmy or an Oscar? Perhaps a movie version of Kinky Boots ? Yes, we are working on the movie version of our musical now. I have a few other film projects I am working on, so you never know. [Laughs]
Over the years, you have also become respected and known for your generosity when it comes to charity work. Can you say something about the importance of giving back?
Back in the ’70s and ’80s, I witnessed a lot of discrimination and had to speak out. You can’t sit by while your friends and family are being treated like second-class citizens. And then when I became famous, I had a lot of fans that were LGBTQ—and since you guys supported me, of course I have to support you, too. I think that maybe because I was an outsider looking in for most of my life, I could relate. I don’t care about backlash.
On June 11, 2016, I attended your concert in Boca Raton where you talked about the murder of singer Christina Grimmie in Orlando. Little did we know that just a few hours later, the Pulse nightclub massacre would occur.
Like all of us, I was and still am devastated by what happened at the Pulse nightclub. Now, today, I am hearing about another mindless shooting of five innocent people in Orlando. We must stay vigilant and engaged in the conversation—not only on combating terrorism, but also in changing the gun laws in this country. As a community, we need to continually resist and push back on this current administration to ensure that our LGBTQ rights are not stripped away and that, like all of our citizens, we are protected under the Constitution.
What: Rod Stewart with Cyndi Lauper
When: August 12, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land 18111 Lexington Boulevard, Sugar Land
Gregg Shapiro is a regular contributor to OUTSMART magazine.
HOUSTON FERTILITY
*ACTUAL PATIENTS, PHOTO BY RITA RAMIREZ, SONRISA PHOTOGRAPHY
‘Can I Be Me’ Reveals Whitney Houston Couldn’t
New documentary links superstar’s sexuality to her tragic death.
By Gregg Shapiro
‹
‘Where Do Broken Hearts Go?’
Whitney Houston (l) considered Robyn Crawford to be her “closest confidant,” fueling rumors about a possible romantic relationship. Houston, shown as a child below, began getting high at an early age and died from a drug overdose.
Anyone who is old enough to remember their shock and sadness over the deaths of music icons Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison in the early 1970s is well aware of the history of substance abuse and its connection to rock and roll. Still, that didn’t make the more recent passing of Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Prince, or Whitney Houston any less di cult to bear. Houston’s history of drug overdoses and denials was public knowledge, and her 2012 death at age 48 (which some might say was not unexpected) left an unfillable void in the world of popular music.
The documentary Whitney: Can I Be Me, co-directed by Nick Broomfield and Rudi Dolezal, combines interviews with archival personal and performance footage
to flesh out Houston’s life story, warts and all.
“Can I be me?” was said to be Houston’s favorite phrase. Unfortunately, according to the doc, she never got to be herself. Born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1963, and raised in Newark and East Orange, Houston sang in church under the direction and guidance of her mother, Cissy, who was also a gifted performer. But if there was ever an example of religion becoming a drug and an “opiate of the masses,” it was exemplified in Cissy’s “fierce religion.” Right under her nose, her children (including Houston’s brothers, Gary and Michael) were getting high at an early age.
As it turns out, drug abuse was tolerated, but homosexuality wasn’t. Whitney: Can I Be Me diverges from earlier documenta-
ries by not sugarcoating the issue of Houston’s sexuality. Houston, who met Robyn Crawford in 1979, considered Crawford to be her “closest confidant” who became instrumental in her career decisions. They were roommates for a time, which led to rumors about the two. One interview subject states that lesbians are not talked about in the black community, while another says that if Houston were an emerging artist today, being queer would not be an issue. When Crawford was forced out of the picture during Houston’s tumultuous marriage to Bobby Brown, drugs became a crutch for her. Even Brown thought that Houston would still be alive if Crawford had been accepted into Houston’s family. As one interviewee boldly claims, Houston “died from a broken heart,” not drugs.
Of course, Whitney: Can I Be Me also focuses on her meteoric rise. The malleable star was a perfect vehicle for record-exec Clive Davis’ “foolproof vison” to create a pop icon. She didn’t disappoint, beginning with the massive sales of her debut album that went on to win several awards and launch her career into the stratosphere.
The directors focus at length on Houston’s last successful world tour in 1999, which was a “turning point” and the beginning of her slow, painful decline.
Interview subjects include Houston’s mother and brothers, childhood friends, her bodyguard, musical director, band members, backing vocalists, modeling agent, drug counselor, and several Arista Records sta members. As music docs go, Whitney: Can I Be Me is from the same family tree as the Oscarwinning Amy. It’s a welcome distraction from the dismal and unnecessary stage-musical adaptation of The Bodyguard that is currently making the rounds in theaters across the country.
Whitney: Can I Be Me airs on Showtime on August 25.
Gregg Shapiro is a regular contributor to OUT SMART magazine.
LGBTQ Bands March into Houston
Bayou City to host national conference over Labor Day weekend.
By Don Maines
About 200 LGBTQ musicians from across the country will join Houston Pride Band members in a Texas-sized concert on September 3 at the close of the four-day 35th-anniversary conference of the Lesbian and Gay Bands of America (LGBA).
“We have so many musicians that we can’t fit on one stage,” says conference cochair Russell Ben Williams, explaining that the musicians will perform in two groups, a Blue Band and a Gold Band, arranged according to their instruments and skill sets.
“Half the musicians will perform the first half of the program while the other half sits in the audience; then they will switch places after intermission,” says Williams. “It’s great because everybody will get to perform as well as see a concert, which we don’t often get to do when we’re the ones performing.”
The concert, which will be held in the Wortham Theater Center, is titled “The Stars at Night,” which comes from a line in the folk song “Deep in the Heart of Texas.” The idea is to celebrate the rich diversity that Houston and Texas have to offer, says Jason Stephens, lead artistic director for the conference.
With input from Deborah Hirsch, the Houston Pride Band’s interim artistic director, and Crawford Howell, the group’s associate director, Stephens selected a program of 14 songs that shine a light on the Lone Star State’s music, history, food, and culture.
The program includes a new version of the popular folk tune “The Yellow Rose of Texas,” in which directors from other LGBA bands pitched in by arranging parts for various instruments, resulting in a “collaborative commission.”
“Some of these are really tough pieces that a hometown band might not be able to do without filling in some instruments, so this is a perfect opportunity to push our limits
and showcase what we can do together,” says Stephens.
The Silsbee native is one of the concert’s four local conductors, along with Hirsch, Howell, and David Bertman, the director of bands, cheer, and dance at the University of Houston.
The concert will be emceed by Nancy Ford, a self-described “professional lesbian.”
Prior to the concert, musicians from more than 30 LGBT community bands across the country will take part in rehearsals, chambermusic ensembles, workshops, and clinics with guest speakers, says Williams, noting that “Comic-Con is a convention; LGBA is a conference.”
Williams adds that Houston hasn’t hosted the LGBA conference since 1991, giving Pride Band members extra oomph to show off how downtown Houston now bursts with energy and the city has been revitalized with an abundance of nightclubs, dining choices, musical entertainment, and opportunities for sightseeing and shopping.
“The last time we hosted the LGBA conference, downtown Houston was a literal ghost town on weekends,” says Williams. “We still
had the Houston Oilers and the Astrodome, and we looked forward to Gay Day at AstroWorld.”
Williams had recently arrived in Houston from his small hometown of Kingsville. “I was a baby girl, brand-new to the band,” says the Jersey Village graphic designer. “The first thing I did when I got to Houston was get a gay magazine and find the band, before even getting a job. They were my first set of friends in Houston.”
Other LGBA members also speak of how their love of band music brought them together.
“The big goal of our organization is to support the LGBT community through music,” says Stephens. “As I see this conference come together, I’m realizing now that it’s going to be great.”
The conference has been two years in the making, explains Williams, beginning with Houston and San Francisco both bidding to host the 2017 event at their 2015 conference.
Once the votes of each delegation were counted, recalls Williams, “We won by one vote. The first thing we did was panic.”
His co-chair for the conference was ➝
Top Brass
Russell Ben Williams (c), cochair of the Lesbian and Gay Bands of America conference, is shown with Houston Pride Band section leaders Ryan Horine (l) and Leo Aguilar.
MID MAIN
LGBTQ BANDS M ARCH INTO HOUSTON continued from page 44
Debbie Hunt of Galveston, a longtime member who passed away in July. “Her passing away is going to make this even more emotional,” says Williams. (See story on page 55.)
The conference’s website, lgba2017.org, includes a wealth of information about the conference, the host hotel, places to wine and dine, etc. It’s a veritable online Chamber of Commerce resource designed and managed by Joe Dombrowski, the marketing and web design committee chief. Dombrowski was president of the Houston Pride Band’s board of directors through last summer, when he didn’t seek re-election so he could focus on the conference and other duties within the band.
Kevin Taylor chairs the conference production committee.
Other committee members include Trudy Allen (merchandising), Chris Foster (librarian), William Fu (at-large), Christopher Hodge (database coordinator), Adrian Leyva (atlarge), Lisa Mace (volunteer coordinator), and Aaron Reines (historian).
The conference runs August 30 through September 3. For more information, visit lgba2017.org or houstonprideband.org.
Don Maines is a regular contributor to OUTSMART magazine.
Letting Her (Body)Guard Down
Deborah Cox talks LGBTQ rights before tackling Whitney Houston role in Hobby Center production.
By Don Maines
by Joan Marcus
Who but dance-diva Deborah Cox would attempt to tour the country in the role that superstar Whitney Houston played in The Bodyguard ?
Cox is the foxy, fearless Canadian R&B singer who’s never shied away from Pride events and social activism. She’s a fixture at LGBTQ community celebrations, from circuit parties to same-sex weddings.
“I’ve been doing this for a minute,” Cox tells O UTSMART, recalling when it was “so taboo, even in New York City” for a singer to perform at a gay circuit party.
But even back then, the dance music charttopper didn’t bat an eye when she was invited to perform for the gay community, beginning with a circuit party in London. “It was the 1990s. A lot of my friends were struggling with their identities. I saw it as a movement, a passion,” says the 43-year-old Cox. “My involvement took on a whole life of its own. It just happened organically.”
Cox thinks that when The Bodyguard: The Musical plays August 15–20 at the Hobby Center, fans of the 1992 blockbuster movie with Kevin Costner might be surprised. “You will expect to see the film’s story put on stage, so it is a suspenseful thriller, but I think the musical does a nice job of developing the characters more,” Cox says. “The stalker is more prevalent in the stage version, and there is a love triangle that was not in the film.”
In the movie, the story was told from the point of view of Costner’s character, Frank Farmer, a former Secret Service agent still haunted by the fact that he wasn’t in place
when John Hinckley tried to assassinate President Reagan. Now reduced to mainly protecting corporate fat cats, Farmer is hired by the team of pop singer-turned-Oscar-nominated actress Rachel Marron after the imperious diva receives some death threats. Danged if they don’t fall in love!
The musical fleshes out Marron’s family life while also adding early Whitney Houston hits (including “How Will I Know,” “The Greatest Love of All,” and “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”) to the best-selling movie soundtrack score. The Grammy Award-winning Album of the Year for 1993 featured “Queen of the Night,” covers of Chaka Kahn’s “I’m Every Woman” and Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You,” and original tunes “Run to You” and “I Have Nothing”—which were nominated for Best Song at the Academy Awards.
Cox has experience with Whitney’s songbook, having provided vocals for actress Vaya DaCosta in the title role of Whitney, a madefor-television biographical movie that Angela Bassett directed for Lifetime in 2015.
In addition, Cox sparred vocally with Whitney on the 2000 single “Same Script, Different Cast,” which also appeared on that year’s compilation album Whitney: The Greatest Hits (along with Whitney and the late George Michael singing a duet of Whitney’s 1998 track “If I Told You That”).
Cox’s biggest hit, 1998’s “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here,” sits at No. 5 on Billboard’s 2017 list of “greatest of all-time hot R&B/hiphop songs,” one notch above Whitney’s “I Will Always Love You.”
Cox was only 12 when she began singing on TV commercials, and she wasn’t much older when she discovered the prejudice and discrimination faced by the LGBTQ community. “Early on—I would say when I was 14—my mother told me about a same-sex marriage she attended, and how it was the nicest ceremony,” she recalls. “I said, ‘Oh, okay,’ but she told me that some people wouldn’t be comfortable with it. I remember being very curious from that moment on, why someone would be opposed to two people who love each other making ➝
Photo
Houston, We Have a Bodyguard
Singer and actress Deborah Cox brings a refreshing take to the famed Whitney Houston role in the Hobby Center’s production of The Bodyguard
that
Cox, who lives with her family in Miami, was being honored at National Pride Day in Philadelphia when news of the Pulse massacre hit last June. “We paid homage to the people that were killed, and since then, I’ve done a lot of reflection about putting out more positivity,” she says. “Once we help people understand that we only have each other, there is no room for animosity. Unfortunately, that is a hard lesson to teach. People must learn to accept each other, but also to be loving and inclusive.”
By “being very aware and open,” Cox says her own understanding has evolved, including a recognition of the plight of transgender people.
In May, Cox met trans teen activist Jazz Jennings when the star of The Learning Channel’s reality series I Am Jazz received the Harvey Milk Foundation’s Milan Rozsa Award at Diversity Honors in Fort Lauderdale. “I told her we are all rooting for her. We are fighting the same fight,” says Cox, who was also honored at the event. “I don’t understand how anyone can condemn her or judge her. God created all of us. There are no mistakes.”
Don Maines is a regular contributor to OUTSMART magazine.
one reason why
‘She Nurtured All of Us and Never Wanted to Toot Her Own Horn’
Family and friends remember LGBTQ pioneer Debbie Hunt.
By Rich Arenschieldt
Photos by Yvonne Feece
hope to get out of the hospital tomorrow and will certainly make time for a visit with you. I’ll be home.”
That was the text message I received from Debbie Hunt, a longtime Houston attorney and a pillar of Houston’s LGBTQ community, hours before she died. On July 12, a brilliant, caring woman (and prodigious traveler) was propelled to her next destination when Hunt passed away at 56, following a battle with ovarian cancer.
I had been scheduled to interview Hunt, an early member of the Houston Pride Band, about the national Lesbian and Gay Band Association’s upcoming annual conference in Houston.
Two years ago, I’d had the privilege of interviewing Hunt’s partner in life and law, Connie Moore, just prior to her death—also from ovarian cancer.
Hunt and Moore, who met as law students at the University of Houston in the mid-1980s, went on to start one of the city’s first firms specializing in LGBTQ issues.
“Debbie was tremendously respected in her profession,” says Arabia Vargas, the couple’s longtime friend and colleague.
Vargas, who became Hunt’s life partner following Moore’s death, noted that the Stonewall Law Association of Greater Houston established a scholarship in Hunt’s name earlier this year. “Her skill set was perfectly matched to the work she had chosen,” Vargas says. “She was able to calmly and care-
fully listen as clients shared concerns about caring for those they loved. The counsel Debbie provided alleviated worry for thousands of individuals and their families.”
In addition to her legal practice and her volunteer work in the LGBTQ community, Hunt was heavily involved in the Houston Pride Band. She followed Moore into the group by teaching herself percussion so she could become an official member, and she eventually became the section’s leader.
Russell Ben Williams, a former Houston Pride Band board member, says he first met Hunt and Moore in 1989. He had just moved from a small town and didn’t know anyone in Houston. “I called the Pride Band phone number, and it rang directly to their legal offices, and I spoke
Legal Legends
Debbie Hunt and her late partner, Connie Moore, started one of the city’s first firms specializing in LGBTQ issues. Below, Hunt (l) is shown with Arabia Vargas (c), who became her partner following Moore’s death, and her younger sister, Tracy Mitchell.
with Connie,” Williams says. “I didn’t have an instrument to play or a car to get to rehearsal. Within days, they found me a euphonium to play, gave me rides to rehearsal, and introduced me to new friends. To do all this for someone they didn’t even know—I was amazed at their generosity.
“In those days, we were a relatively small group,” Williams adds. “Debbie took us camping, and those trips bound us together. She nurtured all of us and never wanted to toot her own horn. Unlike some couples where each partner focuses solely on the other, Debbie and Connie always possessed an abundance of kindness—enough for each person they knew. They empowered everyone around them. Our entire musical community is stunned by this loss—we have been inundated with calls offering condolences to the band.”
Hunt’s younger sister, Tracy Mitchell, laughs as she recalls Hunt’s passion for camping. “Debbie adored being a Campfire Girl. Each summer we were sent to camp. Debbie loved it. I hated it,” says Mitchell, who is four ➝
continued from previous page
years Hunt’s junior. “Throughout our lives, she was always the logical, rational, and deliberative sibling. In the midst of any crisis, she would say, ‘This is what we are going to do; everything will be fine.’ She would then solve the problem and accomplish what had to be done.
“Even when she came out to me, it was very matter-of-fact,” Mitchell recalls. “She simply said, ‘I have something to tell you.’ From that point forward, Connie was completely integrated into our family. Years ago, my youngest daughter and her best friend went to visit Debbie and Connie. Upon arriving home, my daughter proclaimed that they ‘wanted to be just like Debbie and Connie,’ which made us all laugh. My children were so close to Debbie— this has been a loss for all of them.
“After Connie died, Debbie again (in the same straightforward manner) told me that she and Arabia were now partners,” Mitchell says. “The family was overjoyed and relieved. We had known Arabia for years and were thrilled that she was now going to be brought into our lives. After losing Connie, I don’t know what we would have done if Debbie had brought home a stranger.”
Vargas was practicing law in San Antonio when she met Hunt and Moore in 1995. She received a call from Moore, who was seeking help with a same-sex adoption case. “From the outset, it was clear that we shared an intense commitment to family formation and protecting the rights of parents and their children,” Vargas says. “Shortly thereafter, I became friends with Debbie as well. We worked, socialized, and traveled together. Soon, the three of us were like sisters.”
When Moore became ill, Vargas began traveling to Houston every weekend, providing care for Moore and respite for Hunt. “Connie would say, ‘Debbie, take Arabia out. You two need to go on a date.’ And so we did,” Vargas recalls.
After Moore died, Vargas moved to Galveston to be with Hunt. “Being Debbie’s partner was easy,” Vargas says. “Since we knew each other so well, we had no secrets. Connie taught us that life is short. Even while facing a terminal diagnosis, Debbie was determined that we would live the best and longest life possible. As it turns out, we were together for the rest of our lives.”
A memorial service for Hunt will be at 4 p.m. on August 19 at Carnes Brothers Funeral Home at 1201 Tremont Street in Galveston. Hunt’s family requests that donations be made in her memory to the Stonewall Association of Greater Houston Debra E. Hunt Scholarship Fund, the American Cancer Society, or the Houston Pride Band.
Rich Arenschieldt is a frequent contributor to OUTSMART magazine. ‘SHE NURTURED
From left: John Kirkman, Jonathan Scott, Chris Arneson
Messing with Texas
Supreme Court gives state and its LGBTQ residents — yet another black eye.
By Andrew Edmonson
by Dalton DeHart
On the last day of Pride Month, as Germany pushed forward the tide of equality with a parliamentary vote in favor of same-sex marriage, the Texas Supreme Court seemed determined to roll back progress for LGBTQ people.
On June 30, the state’s highest court held unanimously that same-sex couples are not necessarily entitled to government employment benefits.
Four days earlier, in Pavan v. Smith, the U.S. Supreme Court had reaffirmed its ruling from the landmark 2015 case Obergefell v. Hodges that “the Constitution entitles samesex couples to civil marriage ‘on the same terms and conditions as opposite-sex couples.’”
The Texas Supreme Court’s decision in Pidgeon v. Turner reeks of politics. In 2015, the Court had refused to hear the case, which stems from mayor Annise Parker’s 2013 decision to extend benefits to the same-sex spouses of City employees. But then social conservatives launched a furious letter-writing campaign, which eventually included signatures from governor Greg Abbott, lieutenant governor Dan Patrick, and attorney general Ken Paxton. In a highly unusual move, the court reversed itself and agreed to hear Pidgeon v. Turner
With visions of primary challengers dancing in their heads, the justices—all Republicans—delivered the decision demanded by their political masters. Anyone under the illusion that justice is blind in the Lone Star State was quickly disabused of that quaint notion. Coming almost exactly two years after the U.S. Supreme Court decision granting marriage equality, the ruling felt like a slap in the face to many LGBTQ Texans. As a headline at ThinkProgress.org declared, “ T HE T EXAS SUPREME COURT JUST GAVE A BIG FAT M IDDLE F INGER
TO SAME-SEX COUPLES .”
The response on social media was fast and furious.
A lesbian who was a superb educator and spent three decades of her life helping children succeed in Houston schools before decamping to the Golden State for retirement shared an article about the decision. She noted plaintively, “This is a prime example of why, when I retired, I just had to get out of Texas after fighting the good fight for sixty years: I wanted to be proud of the state I live in, as I was when I was a child in Texas. Oh, California!”
A gay African-American civil-rights activist asked on Facebook, “How about a remake of Mississippi Goddamn……call it Texas Goddamn!” referring to jazz legend Nina Simone’s brilliant 1964 excoriation following the assassination of Medgar Evers in Mississippi and the Alabama church bombing that killed four children. Her ferocious cri de coeur indicting southern racism became an anthem for the civil-rights movement in the 1960s.
A gay man nearing retirement after a highly successful career in the energy industry reacted bluntly by posting, “Can’t get out of this shitty state fast enough! Not bashing Houston because it’s pretty damn progressive, I met my husband here, and it’s enabled us to retire. For all of that, I am very thankful!”
For many LGBTQ Texans, the Texas Supreme Court decision crystallizes our perennial ambivalence about the state we call home. We love our cities, the families we have raised and created here, and the friends we have made. But how does one abide the increasing hostility of the governing Republican Party that seems to hold the civil rights of its LGBT citizens in contempt?
It’s a question that’s now being asked far beyond Texas, and the answer could have significant economic consequences for the Lone Star State. Late last month, California provided its answer. After Republicans in the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 3859, which legalized discrimination against LGBTQ couples wanting to serve as foster parents, the Golden State banned state-funded travel to Texas.
While Abbott and Patrick responded by grandstanding and trash-talking California, Texas tourism officials expressed deep concern. “Any travel ban is not good for business,” Casandra Matej, president and CEO of Visit San Antonio, told the San Antonio Express News. “San Antonio and Texas remain a warm, inclusive destination that welcomes all, and these decisions position us in a negative light that may have a far greater overall impact than a travel ban from California or any particular ➝
Photo
Four-Year Fight
Pidgeon v. Turner was first filed after then-mayor Annise Parker, shown at her re-election party in November 2013, extended benefits to the same-sex spouses of City employees in December of that year.
MESSING
continued from previous page
state. In our business, perception is reality.”
And questions about bigotry in Texas will only grow more frequent in the wake of the 2017 legislative session. After Republicans passed Senate Bill 4—the racist “show me your papers” law targeting undocumented immigrants—the nation’s largest immigrant and civil-rights groups are considering organizing a nationwide boycott of Texas.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association has already pulled its 2018 conference from Texas, in part because SB4 has dissuaded noncitizen members and racial minorities from attending. “Our members are U.S. citizens and Green Card holders, but many of them come from ethnic communities where they felt they would be unfairly targeted,” association president Bill Stock told the Houston Chronicle. “[Members have] expressed their desire not to spend money in the state.”
How long will it take the Texas GOP leadership to realize that hate and bigotry are not only bad for business, but also for the citizens of Texas?
Andrew Edmonson served as chair of the Houston Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and a board member of the American Marketing Association’s Houston chapter.
BRYAN COTTON
Fighting Famine with Feast
Houston Restaurant
Weeks has been a boon to local eateries — and the nation’s largest food bank.
By Marene Gustin
by Evin Thayer
August used to be a slow time for finedining restaurants in Houston, as many of their regular customers fled the heat for cooler climes. Not anymore. “We always used to take vacation time in August,” says one waiter at a white-tablecloth eatery. “But not now—it’s our second-busiest month of the year, behind December.”
And that’s all thanks to Cleverley Stone, the founder of Houston Restaurant Weeks (HRW), the largest fundraiser for the Houston Food Bank. It’s a simple premise: from August 1 until Labor Day, participating restaurants offer a set HRW menu—for lunch, dinner, or brunch—and donate a portion of the price. Since it began 15 years ago, HRW has raised more than $9.6 million for what is now the largest food bank of its kind in the country.
“The Houston Food Bank places high value on providing nutritious food for low-income families and individuals in southeast Texas,” says president Brian Greene. “We lead the nation’s food banks in distribution of fresh fruits and vegetables, and Houston Restaurant Weeks plays a significant role in that effort. Funds from the event help us acquire produce as well as meat. We’re grateful to Cleverley for her tremendous commitment and leadership in hunger relief.”
Stone is a longtime fixture of the foodie scene in Houston, having started with the Houston Post. “I ran the bridal section,” Stone recalls. “I got to know a lot of chefs and restaurants, and did a Sunday column about reception food.”
When the Post closed in 1995, she went on to freelance, writing mostly about food. In 1997, she started a newsletter about food and restaurants. “It was a weekly fax,” she says. “I would stand by my fax machine on Thursday nights sending out hundreds of faxes. It was
only later that a friend said I should email them, and I had to ask what email was. Luckily, they set me up and it became much easier.”
Twenty years later, the newsletter is still going strong, and Jones has branched out to other media. In 2003, another friend suggested that she use information from her newsletter for a radio show. But she wasn’t sure about that.
“How do you talk about food on the radio?” she wondered. It was Mark Stevens, of the legendary Stevens & Pruett radio show, who pushed her to do it. They teamed up to do the Stevens and Cleverley radio program on K-ARTS. “We would do it live at Tony Vallone’s restaurants,” Stone says. Today, she produces and hosts The Cleverley Show every Saturday morning on Sports Radio 650. Since 2008, she has also hosted cooking segments several times a week on Fox 26’s morning show.
And somehow, she also managed to launch HRW—a strictly volunteer effort—back in 2003. “The concept isn’t new—other cities were hosting restaurant weeks, and I thought I could do that and use it to benefit the Houston Food Bank,” Stone says. New York City has a restaurant week that started 25 years ago to
‘Cleverley’ Conceived Cleverley Stone founded Houston Restaurant Weeks to raise money for the Houston Food Bank, making August a busier month for restaurants. ‹
promote the dining industry, but Houston had never tried it.
The first year, 16 restaurants participated, and it lasted one week. Last year, the fiveweek event had 275 participating eateries that raised more than $2 million and paid for 6,045,473 meals from the Houston Food Bank. Diners love it because they can try places due to the meal discounts, keeping restaurants busy and bringing in extra tax revenue for the city. It’s now the largest restaurant-week event in the country.
“I have no free time,” Stone admits, “It takes hundreds and hundreds of hours. I have to keep at it all the time.
“But I do it with the hope of not having any more hungry children and seniors,” she says. “Houston is not a poor city; no one should be hungry.”
Houston Restaurant Weeks runs August 1 through September 4. For a list of participating restaurants and menus, visit houston restaurantweeks.com.
Marene Gustin is a regular contributor to OUTSMART magazine.
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Rarefied Rolls
A guide to Houston’s most exotic sushi.
By Joanna O’Leary
As with so many foreign foods, Americans warmly embraced sushi, then proceeded to adapt it (sometimes in borderline vulgar fashion) according to their tastes and the availability of local ingredients.
See, for example, the rise of inventive futomaki—those thick rolls with various fillings such as (in the case of the “Philadelphia roll”) cream cheese and salmon. Purists may thumb their noses at these perversions, but nevertheless they endure because, well, many of them are damned tasty.
While one of the many virtues of Houston’s dining scene is the plethora of places serving traditional sushi, once you’ve educated your palate via exposure to the “real” stuff, you’ll want to check out some of the funkier options created by these H-town sushi chefs.
James Beard finalist Hori Horiuchi, of Kata Robata, has designed an amazing menu of Japanese fare featuring authentic dishes with creative modern inflections. Case in point: his foie-gras-and-scallop sushi (a decadent French twist on tradition), or his hamachi-and-quail-egg sushi, a lovely hat-tip (pun intended) to Texas’ most famous game bird. Also worth trying is Chef Hori’s playful “Caribbean” roll with lobster, spicy tuna, mango, avocado, eel sauce, and fish roe.
Just down the street at Azuma Sushi and Robata Bar are other fun futomaki, like the “Crazy Irishman” roll, a deep-fried cylinder of rice stuffed with salmon, tuna, spicy mayo, avocado, eel sauce, and green onion, all encased in green soybean paper (hence the inspiration for the name). A lighter but equally lovely option is the “Sunshine” roll, a collabo-
ration of botanical and citrus flavors in a blend of salmon, mango, asparagus, and avocado in a kelp sheath.
At Oishi, the Big Easy meets the Land of the Rising Sun in their “New Orleans” maki, which is stuffed with crawfish and peppercorn tuna and crowned with avocado slices. For a warm contrast, try the appropriately titled “Volcano” maki—a tuna, avocado, and creamcheese roll served as a cluster of upright slices that are dressed with a liberal amount of mayo, then baked. It’s worth the extra calories and the longer time required for preparation.
Izakaya Wa is one of the few sushi joints in town that won’t have meat-and-potatoes dining companions asking, “Where’s the
beef?” Thanks to the “Cowboy” roll with cucumber, chili, avocado, spicy mayo, and seared angus beef, they’ll barely have to leave their comfort zone. However, the more adventurous ones in your party should try the “Caviar” roll, which boasts terrific pops of briny salt due to the inclusion of four different types of flyingfish roe.
Although I have never met the namesake of Koto’s “Josh W” maki, I think we would get along swimmingly given the roll that represents him. Salmon, avocado, and tuna are enveloped in soybean paper, battered and fried, sliced into eight pieces splayed on a thin horizontal platter, and then adorned with tiny pearls of masago, unagi, peppery mayonnaise, and diced green onions. From its components, we can presume Josh W is sweet, spicy, rich, and earthy (i.e., complicated) but delicious. Finally, for the most complex and sometimes confounding selection of innovative, Americanized not-healthy-but-who-cares sushi, head to Miyako. One sure bet is the “Texas Hold ’em” maki, a punchy combination of jalepeño and salmon topped with bacon, chives, and cucumber cream sauce. The pretty pink “Baha” maki comprises a kani, cucumber, and ruby tobiko roll garnished with shishito peppers, cilantro flakes, and whole fried coconut shrimp. My personal favorite is the Hot Geisha maki (an oxymoron?)—a salmon tempura roll layered with green mussels, doused in unctuous caviar cream, and toasted in the oven. Jiro may not dream of this sushi, but I do.
Joanna O’Leary is a regular contributor to OUTSMART magazine.
Crustaceans of the Caribbean
Chef Hori’s Caribbean roll at Kata Robata, along with other sushi delights across the city, is a creative take on the traditional Japanese dish.
Chi-Town Won’t Let Gay Travelers Down
From the Legacy Walk to the Leather Archives, the Windy City boasts plenty of LGBTQ attractions.
By Joanna O’Leary
The reason why the lyrics to “My Kind of Town, Chicago Is” resonate almost universally is that the Windy City’s staggering number of cultural, culinary, historical, and sports venues make it appealing to many different types of people.
This includes Chicago’s LGBTQ community—or rather communities, as the city is regularly ranked in national reviews as one of the most diverse and gay-friendly in the country.
Thus, in addition to hitting all the must-see sights (Millennium Park, Wrigley Field, the Art Institute), it also worth seeking out spaces of significance developed by Chicago’s LGBTQ residents and allies, but enjoyed by all.
At least two days of your itinerary should be devoted to faffing about in Boystown, one of the country’s most robust LGBTQ neighborhoods. Get educated while getting in your 10,000 steps by following the route of the Legacy Walk, the world’s only outdoor museum trail dedicated to highlighting LGBTQ historical achievements. Comprising one long loop around North Halsted, the Walk features plaques and monuments outlining significant events such as the Stonewall Rebellion, and pays homage to past and present gay icons and community leaders such as James Baldwin, Frida Kahlo, Harvey Milk, and Audre Lorde. For additional details
on the design and development of the Legacy Walk, schedule a formal tour.
For a reprieve from the heat or the chill (depending on when you visit), head inside the Center on Halsted, which—in pursuance of its mission to “advance community and secure the health and well-being of the LGBTQ people of Chicagoland”—offers wellness programs, support groups, medical assistance, and other social services. Stroll through the art gallery, join a pickup game of basketball or, if you have kids, enjoy a story hour. The Center is also home to the HooverLeppen Theater, which hosts LGBTQ-themed productions and Sunday religious services. Fuel up for your nightlife
fun at Rollapolooza, a hip sushi spot that specializes in creative maki, temaki, and urmaki Italy meets Japan in their hearty Crunchy Melt (shrimp tempura, cucumber, and cream cheese topped with unagi, melted mozzarella, and eel sauce) while the Summer Roll with whitefish, tuna, asparagus, avocado, and diced fruit is a refreshing combination of piscine protein, vegetables, and citrus that is perfect for the sweaty season.
There is no dearth of quality bars, lounges, and clubs in Boystown, but one necessary evening stop is Sidetrack. Founded in 1982, Sidetrack has tripled in size over the years to accommodate the crowds game to try their frozen drinks and inventive shots while taking in comedy shows, sing-a-longs, pet-friendly gatherings, and LGBTQ storytelling. Cure any resulting hangover after your evening out with brunch and some hair of the dog at Ann Sather, a 70-year-old BYOB Swedish restaurant. While it’s acceptable to satiate with standard morning fare such as their eggs benedict platters and breakfast wraps, you’re missing out if you don’t order the light-as-lace Swedish pancakes served with tart lingonberries, the
Second (City) to None
The Kit Kat Lounge and Supper Club is one of Chicago’s most popular drag theaters, while the Legacy Walk (below) is the world’s only outdoor museum trail dedicated to LGBTQ history.
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succulent Swedish meatballs, or the flaky potato pancakes with applesauce and sour cream. All entrees come with your choice of two sides, and only fools pass on the oversized, delectably doughy cinnamon rolls.
While Boystown is the cat’s pajamas, don’t confine yourself to this neighborhood because big, beautiful Chicago holds many other gayfriendly attractions. Even if distressed animal skins don’t turn you on, The Leather Archives is very entertaining and informative with its wellresearched exhibits displaying various milestones in the development of leather culture.
Or, you can skip the leather in favor of lace and feathers by reserving seats at the classy and sassy Kit Kat Lounge and Supper Club. One of Chicago’s most popular drag theaters, the club hosts multiple shows each night that involve tableside performances by talented resident divas. In addition to over 40 creative martinis such as the Hawaiian Punchout (vodka island passion liqueur, sour mix), the Kit Kat offers a solid array of celebrity-named entrées. Standouts include the Oscar Wilde, (a tender filet mignon crowned with a lump crab cake and dressed in béarnaise sauce) and the Mae West (fried chicken atop a cayenne maple glazed waffle with mashed potatoes, collard greens, and piquant banana horseradish puree). For a more casual but equally enthusiastic watering hole, head to Big Chicks, which has been serving its boisterous clientele cocktails and above-average bar grub (try the potato skins) for over 30 years. Enjoy the rotating collection of wonderful local art, take advantage of the excellent daily food and drink specials, and join in partying with the regulars on any of their theme nights (Bears, DJs, Trivia, etc.).
Joanna O’Leary is a regular contributor to OUTSMART magazine.
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A League of Their Own
Houston’s gay softball pioneers head to World Series with Diamond Divas.
By Eddie Robinson
On a hot, sunny Sunday afternoon in May, hundreds of softball fans and athletes—mostly LGBTQ—pack the Houston Sportsplex in the southwest part of the city.
Thirty-six teams—with names like the Houston Bears, the Bombers, the Cheetahs, and the Toros—rotate across six fields.
It’s a far cry from the Montrose Softball League Association’s humble beginnings 37 years ago, and one team stands out above the rest.
The Diamond Divas are made up of 20 players ranging in age from 51 to 70-plus, including some of the MSLA’s founding members.
In September, the Divas will travel to Portland to compete in the Gay Softball World Series—the largest annual single-sport LGBTQ athletic event in the world—for a second consecutive year.
The North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance, which has more than 13,000 members in 43 softball leagues nationwide, launched its Masters Division for players over 50 in 2011.
Despite a disappointing finish in their first World Series last August, the Diamond Divas hope to bring home a crown in 2017. But team member Dave Wong, a 51-year-old IT tech, says the MSLA is about more than just softball. “We fund-raise, we have beneficiaries, we help out with the community,” Wong says.
Today, the MSLA has more than 700 registered members. However, some Diamond Divas members
Out Fielders
The Diamond Divas include founding members of the Montrose Softball League Association, which now has more than 700 players.
can recall when the league had to fight with the City to find a field. “They had given us a field way out,” says 70-year-old Jerry DeSale, one of the MSLA’s founders.
DeSale had played in other Houston softball leagues and knew people from the parks department. In 1979, one of the league’s sponsors, an attorney, approached City Council members and asked for help with the MSLA. “I had to go sit in front of people that I knew who had no idea I was gay at that point and say, ‘We want to find a field in the Montrose area,’” DeSale says. “They finally put us on the field over off of Richmond and Buffalo Speedway on the west side called Levy Park. And that’s where the league played the first three years. So, it was extremely difficult, and it also forced me to come out in some ways that I hadn’t done prior to that.”
The MSLA would soon face even bigger challenges.
Diamond Divas member Bill Sansom, 59, served as MSLA’s commissioner in 1992, when the Gay Soft-
ball World Series was held in Los Angeles. Samson recalls that during a meeting prior to the event, there was a partial display of the NAMES Project’s AIDS Memorial Quilt, and commissioners were asked to read the names of people from their leagues who had died. “They were going in alphabetical order,” Samson says. “Atlanta gets up and reads off like four or five names, Birmingham reads off a couple, and Boston reads off five or six. I had 52 that we had lost in our league.”
Sansom said the MSLA had been losing basically an entire team each year. “I had not honed in on the fact that our city and our league was so much harder hit than most,” he says. “I had personalized the losses, but did not look at the impact comparatively across North America. So now, this growth here for our league is a great tribute to our organization and its leaders. And I know that many of us leaned on our fellow league members to help us through the losses of so many friends.”
The Gay Softball World Series runs September 3 through 10. For more info, visit GSWS2017.org.
Eddie Robinson is a frequent contributor to OUTSMART magazine.
Bill Sansom
Just for Kicks
LGBTQ kickball league begins play in Houston.
By Terrance Turner
Nick London has loved both baseball and soccer since he was a child. As an adult, he gravitated toward kickball because it was his two favorite sports combined. “I noticed that a lot of cities do not have gay kickball,” London says.
That prompted London to form America’s Finest Kickball League, which began in Austin and is poised to debut in Houston in August.
Gay kickball has become überpopular in recent years in some cities. The league in Washington DC—part of the local Stonewall Sports organization—has nearly 2,500 members on Facebook, with games played on the National Mall.
Over the last several months, AFKL has expanded to other cities that didn’t have gay kickball leagues, including Las Vegas, Dallas, Boston, Seattle, and Tampa.
Getting the Balls Rolling
Nick London started America’s Finest Kickball League in Austin, and has expanded it to several other cities that didn’t previously have gay kickball leagues, including Las Vegas, Dallas, Boston, Seattle, and Tampa.
Like other LGBTQ sports organzations, AFKL provides people with an opportunity to interact outside of bars and clubs, according to London. (Non-LGBTQ allies are also welcome to participate.) “I’m super-passionate about it,” London says. “This is bringing so many people together, and it’s so fulfilling.”
The seven-week AFKL Houston season begins August 5 in Lawrence Park, at 725 Lawrence Street in the Heights. The games will continue from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. each Saturday in August. After a three-week hiatus, play will resume on September 16 and continue through September 30. Each game lasts seven innings or 50 minutes (whichever comes first), and two games will be played each week.
Kickball is similar to baseball, except that it’s played with an inflatable ball that is 10 inches in diameter and must be kicked instead of batted. The object of the game is to score
more runs than the opposing team.
Each team consists of 12 to 20 players— men and women who, according to the AFKL website, can be anywhere from 20 to 80 years old. AFKL’s website home page features a quote from President Obama: “When all Americans are treated as equal, no matter who they are or whom they love, we are all more free.”
At press time, 34 people had signed up to play in the Houston league, which has four team captains. The cost is $80 per person, with a $2.50 registration fee.
“People can come and watch for free,” London says.
To learn more about the AFKL or to register for the upcoming season, visit GayKickball.com.
Terrance Turner is a frequent contributor to OUTSMART magazine.
SKIN REN
Making Herstory
Christina and Harmony Franco were the first same-sex couple to marry in the UH chapel.
Christina Rene Franco (r), a University of Houston
By Henry V. Thiel
Christina Rene Franco met her future bride, Harmony Star Grim, in January 2014 at Hughes Hangar on Washington Avenue, while attending a mutual friend’s birthday party.
A year later, Harmony would confess to Christina that the fi rst time she laid eyes on her, she knew they would marry. “There was a full moon that night, which was so beautiful,” Christina says. “I had to take a photo, which I printed and framed as a birthday present for Harmony a month later.”
Christina, a native Houstonian who works as an insurance claims analyst, proposed to Harmony, a front server at B&B Butchers and Restaurant, in December 2015. Harmony was born in San Bernardino, California, but grew up in Long Island, New York.
Because Harmony loves Christmas lights, Christina took her to Bayou Bend Gardens before driving to the trees in front of River Oaks Country Club. They stood between two of the trees and shared a romantic moment. “Harmony asked me to sing ‘La Vie en Rose,’ which she
loves, and we slow-danced together before I got down on one knee with the ring (which I had been nervously carrying all night in the camera bag) and asked her to marry me,” Christina says. “She cried. Then she said yes.”
The couple then went to JR’s Bar & Grill to meet one of Harmony’s best friends who had invited them for karaoke. “Unbeknownst to her, I had invited our close friends and family
“I am proud to be a part of LGBTQ history at my alma mater, and want to let all LGBTQ students and alumni know that our school openly supports us and our marriages.”
to surprise her and to celebrate our engagement with us,” Christina says.
Christina began planning her proposal after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of nationwide marriage equality in June 2015. “It made it so much more meaningful knowing that our marriage would be legally recognized throughout the country,” Christina says. “And
that I could legally marry in my home city.”
As a proud University of Houston graduate, Christina wanted to marry Harmony at the A.D. Bruce Religion Center on the school’s main campus. When they reserved the chapel, they were told they would be the fi rst same-sex couple to marry there. “That made our special day extra-special,” Christina says. “I am proud to be a part of LGBTQ history at my alma mater, and want to let all LGBTQ students and alumni know that our school openly supports us and our marriages. They should consider the chapel for their weddings in the future.”
They were married on March 19, 2017, by close friend Antonio Sunko, who was ordained just to perform the ceremony. Harmony’s stepfather walked her down the aisle, while Christina’s mother did the honors for her. Together they lit the unity candle, jumped the broom, and exchanged vows and rings. They each had a best man (though Harmony’s was a best woman) and a matron of honor, and the wedding party wore suits ➝
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with lavender bow ties and lavender rose boutonnieres.
The couple says their favorite moment from the ceremony was the coin toss. Throughout their relationship, they’d often leave it up to a coin toss to direct their decisions.
When they met with Antonio before the wedding, he asked who would read their vows first, and they both said, “I will.” Antonio mentioned that traditionally the groom goes first, but since there was no groom, they could flip a coin.
They both thought it was a great idea, and Christina ordered a special coin for the ceremony. Antonio explained to those gathered why he was flipping the coin.
As always, Harmony chose “heads.” Unbeknownst to her, Christina had ordered a double-headed coin. When Christina told her about the coin the next day, Harmony cried. Harmony loves telling the story when people ask about their wedding.
For their reception, the couple picked Nouveau Antique Art Bar on Main Street, because they loved its character, charm, and its large collection of Ti any-style lamps—and because Clark, the owner, was very accommodating.
The couple hired Julie Christine Photography, a well-known photographer in the LGBTQ community. Niko Niko’s in Montrose catered the reception, while flowers and Harmony’s bouquet were made by Barbara at the Kroger store in Montrose. Jody Stevens of Jodycakes made their wedding cake.
For their honeymoon, the newlyweds spent two weeks in Amsterdam and Paris. They reside in Houston.
Henry V. Thiel is a regular contributor to OUTSMART magazine. He loves wedding cake.
Of Hurricanes and Hangovers
Russell Allen (r) and Jason Klawinski have navigated both the tranquil and the tempestuous in their relationship.
Weathering the Storms
Russell Allen and Jason Klawinski have learned they can overcome anything together.
By Henry V. Thiel
Russell Lee Allen and Jason Christopher Klawinski met the old-fashioned way, through mutual friends, before taking their blossoming romance online.
“It took a while for us to get together,” Allen recalls.
Both had busy schedules and were dealing with the aftermath of Tropical Storm Allison in 2001. When they finally connected, the date went great, but they were so nervous they ended up drinking too much—leaving them with terrible hangovers.
“I knew I had found ‘the one’ in Jason dur-
ing our first big trip overseas,” says Allen, a president and senior project manager with Chase Bank.
Halfway through the trip, they were growing homesick and generally becoming selfish with their individual agendas. In that moment, they were humbled by the fact that they could learn from their mistakes and overcome anything together, Allen says.
For Klawinski, the realization that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Allen was more gradual. “I knew Russell was something special when my family said they would keep him over me should anything happen to our relationship,” says Klawinski, a senior human resources analyst with Apache Corp.
While they’re often mistaken for brothers (which they find hilarious), Allen and Klawinski say they’re actually complete opposites. “I’m not exactly the easiest person to deal with or live with,” Klawinski says. “Even after all
these years, I am still a demanding diva.
“Russell has accepted me for who I am— faults and all—and not once has he tried to change me,” he adds. “Even after our first real argument—two drunken queens screaming about bacon in the streets of Montrose (a completely pointless and meaningless argument to this day)—we survived, and we’ve had many more ‘moments’ that have tested our relationship. But the one constant has been that Russell has been by my side, and that’s how I realized we would grow old together—with the assistance of modern technology, of course.”
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell, the couple knew their future included marriage. “The question was when and where, and how to prevent Jason from becoming a ‘Groomzilla,’” Allen says.
Seven years into their relationship, they’d picked up commitment rings while shopping at Harrods in London after Russell mentioned ➝
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he wanted to look at men’s jewelry in Harrods’ Cartier boutique. “I was not sure what exactly he was looking for,” Klawinski says, “so I started looking at their rings and hinted to Russell that I was ready to collect on the deal we’d made.
“Russell turned to me and said, ‘Pick your ring, as long as we have matching ones,’” he adds.
“Seriously?” Klawinski asked.
“Yes, just don’t pick the one that breaks the bank,” Allen replied, knowing that his request would go in one ear and out the other.
“Deal!” Klawinski screamed, as he mentally high-fived Allen.
They were married on October 10, 2015, at Brennan’s of Houston, one of their favorite restaurants, by o ciant Je ery Holmes of We Do . . . I Do’s.
They selected Brennan’s because they lived nearby when they got together and have been regular patrons for years. Also, they knew Brennan’s could host the entire wedding, from the ceremony in their history-rich courtyard to the reception in the timeless Garden Room. They said the event coordinator at Brennan’s, Nicole Wilker, was a godsend who alleviated their worries and stress.
“All we had to do was show up,” Klawinski says. “She is incredible.”
They surprised people by not having an over-the-top wedding—which some may have expected from Klawinski. Instead, it was a simple, intimate a air—classic, with a hint of modern—attended only by their families and closest friends.
“We never thought we would be able to marry this soon in our lives with all the social upheaval surrounding same-sex marriage. [But] we decided it was our wedding, and our day,” Klawinski says. “As Russell reminded me, whether we had 50, 100, or 1,000 people at the wedding, the two of us started this journey together, and it will always be the two of us until the end.”
To avoid drama, they chose a non-religious ceremony where they wrote and recited their own vows. Allen and Klawsinski say they felt fortunate to have their families present, given that many Americans still aren’t supportive of same-sex marriage.
During their European honeymoon in March 2016, the couple caught an Adele concert in Belfast, checked Barcelona o Klawinski’s bucket list, and attended the Cruft Dog Show in Birmingham, England, with friends from California.
Allen and Klawinski reside in Cypress with their pack of happy Corgis.
Henry V. Thiel is a principal with The Epicurean Publicist, a boutique public-relations firm that works exclusively with chefs and restaurateurs. He loves Adele.
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Clay Aiken on Trump ▼
(The Huffi ngton Post, 7/11/17, Maxwell Strachan)
During a recent appearance on “Domecast,” a podcast by North Carolina’s News & Observer, Clay Aiken revealed that Donald Trump had very little say in decisions when Aiken was on the Celebrity Apprentice in 2012.
“Trump didn’t decide who got fi red on Apprentice,” he said. “NBC made those decisions. There used to be a little thing right on his desk that looked like a phone. He pretended it was a phone, but it was actually a teleprompter where the producers were sending him notes.”
Aiken may be a Democrat who once ran for Congress in North Carolina, but he tried to clarify that he wasn’t trying “to be incendiary” with his comments. He simply wanted people to know that “Trump isn’t the businessman that people believe he is.”
“He did look like he was leading. But on The Apprentice he doesn’t lead,” Aiken said. “He’s told by the producers, ‘Here’s what happened. Here’s who should win.’”
. . . Aiken can’t help but imagine Trump is “leading the country in the same way that he did on The Apprentice. I think to myself, the man as president defi nitely has a teleprompter sitting on his desk right now. . . . I feel like half the time his teleprompter has broken down as president and he doesn’t know what’s going on.”
‹ Aiken Comes Out about Trump Was Trump’s phone on The Apprentice not a phone?
‹ The Good Bi Girl Was Lorraine (Charlize Theron’s character, left, in Atomic Blonde ) more impressed with Delphine (Sofi a Boutella) than she was with a male colleague?
Jay-Z & His Mom
(Instagram, 7/19/17)
Queer Quotes
Compiled by Blase DiStefano
On his new album, 4:44 , Jay-Z pens a song, “Smile,” about his mom, Gloria Carter.
Mama had four kids, but she’s a lesbian
Had to pretend so long that she’s a thespian
Had to hide in the closet, so she medicate
Society shame and the pain was too much to take
Cried tears of joy when you fell in love
Don’t matter to me if it’s a him or her
I just wanna see you smile through all the hate
Marie Antoinette, baby, let ’em eat cake
Gloria Carter sings the end of the song:
Living in the shadow
Can you imagine what kind of life it is to live?
In the shadows people see you as happy and free
Because that’s what you want them to see
Living two lives, happy, but not free
You live in the shadows for fear of someone hurting your family or the person you love
The world is changing and they say it’s time to be free
But you live with the fear of just being me
Living in the shadow feels like the safe place to be
No harm for them, no harm for me
But life is short, and it’s time to be free
Love who you love, because life isn’t guaranteed Smile
The decision to write this came after I received a message from a brave individual. Such message inspired me to shed light on an aspect of my private life which I have kept distant from my career in music. I came to fully recognize that I was gay when I was sixteen. I decided not to publicize my sexuality largely due to a matter of privacy, as I was still trying to fi nd comfort and confidence within my own skin. Further, I always found conversations regarding music, politics, art, books – and the greatness of Nas’ catalog – to be far more interesting than what type of guy I was into. This is still true today. While this message is most defi nitely overdue, I encourage anyone who is navigating their sexuality to devote as much time as they need to the process of fi nding self-confidence, self-acceptance, and self-love. Hell, for me, it took years to write this message. Nevertheless, I fi gured now was the time to let a few more friends know that I am happy, I am here for you, and I am proud of who I am. Cheers -G
Greyson Chance
Is
Charlize Theron
( Variety, 7/11/17, Ramin Setoodeh)
For a love interest, Lorraine [Charlize Theron’s character in the new fi lm Atomic Blonde ] is too suave to be impressed by the male colleague played by [James] McAvoy. Instead, she has sex with another female spy (Sofia Boutella), without stopping to explain her bisexuality. “I just loved it,” Theron says about the idea. “For so many reasons: my frustration of how that community is represented in cinema, or lack thereof. And also, it made perfect sense. It just suited her. It just felt there was a way through that relationship and the fact that it was a same-sex relationship to show a woman not having to fall in love, which is one of those female tropes. ‘It’s a woman; she better fall in love otherwise, she’s a whore!’”
And the sex scenes are right out of the 007 playbook, although Theron rolls her eyes at the comparison. “James Bond doesn’t have such hot you-know-what,” she says. “I loved that we didn’t hide under the sheets.”
Free to Be Me
Gloria Carter (seen here with her son Jay-Z) is all smiles . . . for good reason.
I NSET : Jay-Z’s new album. ‹
Sing Out, Greyson
the singer/songwriter’s private life ready for the public?
By Gregg Shapiro
LGBTQ Playlist
Sia, Barry Manilow, Perfume Genius, Palehound, and more.
QThis 21-track album intermingles a hysterical standup set at an underground Los Angeles comedy theater with songs “loosely mapped over my life in New York,” the queer musical comedian says. “There’s a track for when I arrived, a track for when I started working as a go-go dancer, a big breakup in the middle, and my departure for L.A. The idea for the album to be its own little show.” And what a show it is! Blue Élan Records (blueelan. com). Suzie Lynde
Lea Michele Places
With the title purposefully chosen a nod to the theatrical calling that shaped her (“When I hear them say ‘places everyone,’ I know it’s show time,” Michele says), the record glows as the kind of resonant “statement” her loyal fans have been waiting for. Personal and performance-centric, the 11-song album showcases her expansive range and signature vocal gradations that enrich the dynamics of a song and get to the heart of its narrative. Columbia Records (columbiarecords. com). Troy Carrington
ueer singer/songwriter Sia has been messing with her appearance on her album covers for years. It didn’t just start with 2014’s 1000 Forms of Fear or either version of 2016’s This Is Acting (2010’s We Are Born had her face peppered with colored dots, and colorful pipe cleaners were woven into her hair, making her look like a hipster Medusa.) All of this visual creativity can be traced back to her third album, 2008’s Some People Have Real Problems (Monkey Puzzle/Concord), newly reissued in its first-ever vinyl pressing. On the cover, Sia is grasping a trio of Magic Markers with which she has drawn a heart and lines on her face. As for what’s contained inside, the songs on Some People Have Real Problems marked something of a turning point for Sia. Sounding more confident than ever, in total control of her powerful instrument, Sia belts out original numbers such as “The Girl You Lost to Cocaine,” “Day Too Soon,” a cover of The Kinks’ “I Go to Sleep,” and the CD hidden track “Buttons” (included on the LP). She’s also joined by Beck on “Academia” and “Death by Chocolate.” It’s easy to understand why, shortly after the release of this album, she not only became an increasingly in-demand guest vocalist on other people’s albums, but also a sought-after songwriter who would go on to provide a multitude of hit songs for others.
King of the key change, the newly officially out Barry Manilow has released one of his best albums in many years. While the news of Manilow’s gayness might have shocked only a few devoted Fanilows, few can dispute his longstanding love affair with his hometown, which he celebrates affectionately on This Is My Town: Songs of New York (Decca). A career high, Manilow’s schmaltzy vibrato is put to good use on this soaring set of originals and covers. The best of the Manilow tunes includes the show-stopping title cut and the bright and bouncy “Coney Island,” as well as
“I Dig New York” and “On the Roof.” Manilow still has decent interpretive skills, as you can hear on the “Downtown/ Uptown” pairing, the Bernstein/Comden Green composition “Lonely Town,” and the eight-song “NYC Medley” that is as jam-packed as a rush-hour subway car. To call the phenomenal No Shape (Matador) by the brilliant Perfume Genius (aka Mike Hadreas) his most accessible album to date is really saying something, but it’s true. No Shape sounds like an altogether more soulful effort that by no means abandons the subversive nature of his previous albums such as 2012’s Put Your Back N 2 It (including the song “Hood,” which featured the now-deceased gay porn star Arpad Miklos in the video) and 2014’s Too Bright (featuring the incredible single “Queen”). There is another side to opener “Otherside,” and listeners would be wise to take note as it erupts from the speakers. “Slip Away” is the first of the album’s most irresistible future-pop numbers, as are “Wreath,” the stunning “Sides” (a duet with Weyes Blood), and the modern soul of “Die 4 You.” Also not to be missed are “Alan,” “Just Like Love,” and “Choir.” Perfume Genius (along with Car Seat Headrest, Frank Ocean, John Grant, Shamir, and a few others) is redefining queer male pop music and setting the stage for what’s to come.
Palehound, led by Ellen Kempner, returns with their outstanding second album A Place I’ll Always Go (Polyvinyl). Kempner is a lesbian singer/songwriter in the vein of straight artists Elliott Smith (listen to “If You Met Her”) and Liz Phair (ditto for “Silver Toaster”), as well as queer contemporaries SOAK and Tegan and Sara. A song cycle of love and loss, the album features distinguished songs including the aforementioned “If You Met Her,” as well as “Room,” “Turning 21,” “Flowing Over,” and the heart-wrenching “Feeling Fruit” followed by “At Night I’m All Right with You,” which conjures Angelo Badalamenti and Julee Cruise (just in time for the Twin Peaks
Scout Durwood Take One Thing Off
at White Oak Music Hall on August 6.]
Young queer “nu-folk” goddess Marika Hackman and guest backing-band the Big Moon raise a ruckus on Hackman’s second album I’m Not Your Man (Sub Pop). Opening with a laugh, and inviting listeners in on the joke, “Boyfriend” is the musical equivalent of Gloria Steinem’s “like a fish needs a bicycle” quote. The only difference is that you can dance to “Boyfriend.” A close chum of queer model/ actress Cara Delavigne, Hackman explores a range of female relationships throughout the album, and songs including “Good Intentions,” “Gina’s World,” “Time’s Been Reckless,” “Eastbound Train,” “So Long,” and the incredible “My Lover Cindy” earn Hackman the distinction of releasing one of the best albums of the year.
Produced by Viktor Krauss (brother of Alison), Love Comes Back Around (Graylin) by lesbian singer/songwriter Jennifer Knapp (who famously began her career in Christian music) is the third album she has released as an openly queer artist. Now back in Nashville after living in Australia for several years, Knapp can be heard embracing her country side. Songs such as the title tune, “Girl Thing,” “Roll Over Me,” and “Roman Holiday” are among Knapp’s mostly out-and-proud numbers.
Gregg Shapiro is a regular contributor to OUT SMART magazine.
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
‘The Ada Decades’
Tim Curfman
Since early childhood, Lanta Evans was groomed to be one of an elite group that will settle a virgin planet named Earth. But her unruly personality has brought her only rejection and isolation. The chosen ones have been chosen, and she is not among them. Now she must find a new direction and a new people. She must guide an ever-increasing tribe of misfits, as they strive to escape their doomed world and sneak their way to this new land. She’ll have to risk everything, but will she take a chance on love? This may not sound funny, but it is a comedy. Much of the humor is derived from exploring the disconnect between our primitive instincts and the modern world. The novel contains an assortment of queer characters. One section explores a society made up exclusively of gay men. Another section takes the reader through a society of all women. The main character, Lanta, is a kick-ass young woman who frequently gets mistaken for a man. The author is a frequent contributor to OutSmart. Available in hard copy and Kindle download at Amazon.com. — Suzie
Lynde
Tick. Tick. Tick. Your grandmother used to warn you not to wish your life away. The years pass quickly enough, she said, so hold on to each minute. Savor what you have. Enjoy your days, months, years and The Ada Decades by Paula Martinac.
Ada’s daddy needed some help around the house. That used to be Clay Jr.’s job, but he was busy with high-school things, so 12-year-old Ada fetched Daddy’s tools which is where she found an envelope with naked-lady pictures and a postcard that depicted black men hanging from a tree. She took those pictures from the toolbox (even though she knew she shouldn’t) and approached the only person she could trust: her school’s librarian, who explained how things were before World War II.
Ten years later, things were still that way. It was 1957 and, as Central Charlotte Junior High’s new librarian, Ada watched, paralyzed, as police escorted the school’s first black student down the halls. Ada embraced integra-
Martinac 2017 Bywater Books
(bywaterbooks.com)
165 pages
$15.95
tion, but she hadn’t known what to do. She wished she had the self-confidence of English teacher Cam Lively, who had welcomed the frightened girl with a smile.
Ada understood fear that was true. She’d always known she was different, but women weren’t supposed to be that way about other women. She didn’t know exactly how to say what she felt, but she knew it was wrong that is, until Miss Lively invited Ada to a “book club” that was really just a social gathering for gay men and lesbians.
There, Ada found friends, a tribe, and someone to love. But Ada was from the wrong side of the tracks, her parents were poor, and she felt it. Cam came from money, and neither woman’s family approved of the relationship. The pressures they felt in 1962 the need to hide and keep quiet were almost unbearable; indeed, some friends couldn’t take it anymore. How
much easier their lives would be if they could just be themselves!
Readers may notice the word “romantic” on the cover of The Ada Decades, but that’s one of the lesser aspects of this novel. Yes, there’s a bit of a love story here, but it’s more fictionalized history than anything else.
Beginning with a young girl’s early understanding of racial discrimination, author Paula Martinac tells a multilayered tale from the perspective of an often humorless, rather prudish and complicated character. Spanning nearly 70 years, the story is appealing, surprisingly chaste, and based within accurately told historical events. But there’s no Forrest Gump here for Ada and Cam, the outside world is there for commentary rather than for participation. Instead, Martinac’s characters are everyday women living pleasantly normal lives, and their story ends in a satisfyingly quiet way.
The cover of this book is no grabber, and that’s too bad because the story itself is, starting on the very first page. If you’re in the mood for a nice, gentle surprise of a tale that lacks drama and graphic scenes, The Ada Decades will tick all the boxes.
Terri Schlichenmeyer has been reading since she was three years old, and she lives on a hill in Wisconsin with two dogs and 11,000 books.
JOHN COLOMBO PHOTOGRAPHY
Author Paula Martinac
The Ada Decades by Paula
Whole New Deal
Photos by Dalton DeHart & Edgardo Aguilar
July 16
Photos by Dalton DeHart & Edgardo Aguilar
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continued from page 96
things too much, and you aren’t sure about which decision to make. You will see that condition improve after August 21, but it would still be better to wait until after September 10 before setting your plans in stone. Relationships are better, but there is still plenty of conversation about improving what you have. It would be very beneficial if you and your partner found some time to reconnect during August. A weekend at the beach would work to help remind you why you are together!
AQUARIUS (January 20–February 18). Relationships are the big item on your list this month. If you are involved, this is a great month to spend some time renewing those connections. If you don’t address this directly, there could be more fighting about how you need to pay more attention to your relationship. This will also be true for your business relationships that need some time and attention. This can also mean your partner is very busy and getting some accolades and awards. Your personal energy levels will be strong well into Sep-
tember, and it will be hard for you to sleep soundly. You may need to exercise more to burn off some of this extra energy so you don’t feel so edgy.
PISCES (February 19–March 20). Mercury, your communicator, is retrograde in your relationship sector this month. This can mean that it’s an excellent time to confer with your partner about potential future plans for your relationship. The Mercury retrograde also favors therapy to get to the core of the problems in your relationships. It can also mean that old lovers from your past may show up! If you are single and available, it’s a great time to reconnect with them. Career is moving at a snail’s pace, but that eventually speeds up after September 10. You will be more ready to make long-term decisions about your future after that time. The weekend of the 5th is an especially psychic time for you. Be careful who you invite into your life at that time.
For more astro-insight, log on to lillyroddy.com.
BAR & C LUB GUIDE
Houston 13 ENTERTAINMENT
This comfortable club located in the Heights is a convenient alternate to inner-Montrose haunts. Patrons journey past the comfy seating and romantic lighting to find a spacious patio where they sometimes fire up the barbecue grill. 1537 N. Shepherd • 713.426.1313.
BAYOU CITY BAR & GRILL
This always-fun party bar opens daily (7am 2am Mon. Sat. 11am 2am Sun.) serving fantastic food (11am 9pm) daily. Fifty-cent wing specials on Tuesday and Thursday pack the house. “Let Us Entertain You” with our Sunday drag performances. Party promotions nightly. 2409 rant St. • 713.522.2867 • bayoucitybar.com.
BLUR
This multi-level dance club features a patio upstairs lounge and balconies that overlook Pacific St. Ladies enjoy Wet and Wild Wed. 18 year olds are welcome on Thurs. resident DJ Lorenzo spins Wed.–Sat. nights, DJ Pollo spins Karumba Latin night on Sun. Happy hour 8 10pm free cover before 11pm. 710 Paci c St. • blurbar.com.
CLUB 2020
Located downtown, this urban club features Clubbers Friday with male and female dancers. ts 6 400 s uare feet also offers theater-sized viewing screens and P rooms. 2020 Leeland • 713.227. 9667 • club2020houston.com.
CLUB CRYSTAL
If you miss the now-closed Inergy, you’ll find many of its former staff, management and d cor at this two room Latin hip-hop club. Sunday evening drag shows rule the roost. 6680 Southwest Frwy ne t to olorado • 713.278.2582 • crystaltheclub.com.
CROCKER BAR
Resident DJ Johnny spins on Fri. and Sat. nights at this comfortably remodeled Montrose nightspot that also offers
karaoke on Tuesdays and Thursdays and extended happy-hour prices throughout the week. 2312 rocker • 713.529.3355.
F BAR
Award-winning DJs spin nightly at this “boutique nightclub” that offers elegance without arrogance and features a stage, dance floor, VIP area, glass-encased quiet bar, and attractive patio. Tues. and Sun. drag shows feature frequent special guests. 202 Tuam St. • fbarhouston.com • 713.522.3227.
GEORGE
Regulars rule at this comfortable neighborhood sports bar, just like most other neighborhood sports bars in town. Sports Saturdays and Sundays start at 3pm with dart and pool tournaments. 617 Fairview • 713.528.8102.
GUAVA LAMP
This trendy and friendly video and cruise bar gets busy during happy hour and stays busy ‘til closing. Karaoke on Wed. and Sun., sometimes offering prizes, always packs the place. 570 Waugh Dr. • 713.524.3359 • guavalamphouston.com.
HAMBURGER MARY’S
The iconic LGBTQ franchise is located in the heart of Montrose (11am–2am Tues.–Sat., 11am 7pm Sun.) with lunch dinner service complete with full bar and late-night dancing with DJs. Check website for weekly show schedules and performers. Tuesday nights— Charity Game Night with Lady Shamu. Dinner late night shows Wed. Sun. with all star show cast. 2409 rant St. • 713.677.0674 • hamburgermarys.com houston.
HOUSTON EAGLE
Part of the Eagle worldwide family, originating in 1970 this neighborhood watering spot is the place to cruise and dance and was recently voted Houston’s Favorite Gay Bar. Featuring DJs on weekends and birthplace of the hit remix team Dirty Disco. Multiple patios. Featuring a 29 degree pour and 12 beers on tap. Inside leather shop is open the same hours as the bar. M F 4 pm 2am Sat. Sun. noon 2am. 611 Hyde Park Blvd. • houstoneagle.com.
music videos on Sat. No cover before 11pm. 810 Pacific St. • sobehouston.com • 713.529.SOBE.
TC’S SHOWBAR
Behind the Bar
WHO: Reno Wist
WHERE: JR’s Bar & Grill • 808 Pacific St. 713.521.2519
WHAT’S UP: JR’s has introduced their new signature Bloody Mary that has beef jerky! And the patio now has draft craft beers. Sundays are amazing on the New Orleans-style courtyard and patio.
JR’S BAR & GRILL
With house emcee Kofi, O UT S MART ’s Gayest and Greatest reigning drag champion, this Montrose standard offers drag and strip shows throughout the week, karaoke Thurs. and Sun., plus pool tables, male dancers, and award-winning cocktails. 808 Pacific St. • jrsbarandgrill.com • 713.521.2519.
MICHAEL’S OUTPOST
Jerry Atwood, Clay Howell, Neil Massey, Steve Wheaton, and Roger Woest take turns at the keys at this comfortable neighborhood piano bar. 1419 Richmond Ave. • 713.520.8446.
NEON BOOTS
DANCEHALL & SALOON
Houston’s only LGBT country dancehall is located in the historic Esquire Ballroom and opens Wednesday–Sunday. The new outside patio and stage are open. Wednesday features Steak Night and Bingo. Free dance classes on Thursdays and Karaoke. Saturday night the dance floor fills with the best C&W . . . check their website for all specials, events and times. 11410 Hempstead Hwy • neonbootsclub. com • 713.677.0828.
PEARL BAR
This LGBT-friendly lounge is open under “familiar” management in the Washington corridor. Daily highlights range from open mic night to steak night to appearances by DJ Kittie and DJ Ben Phoenix from KRBE. Drink specials and more. 4216 Washington • pearlhouston.com.
RICH’S HOUSTON
Houston’s most iconic and largest LGBT dance club, with multiple levels featuring a video/show bar and a private VIP lounge. Originally built to be the Studio 54 of the South, Rich’s boasts world-renowned DJs and entertainers. No cover before 10:30 p.m. 2401 San Jacinto • 281.846.6685 • richsnightclub.com.
THE RIPCORD
This well-kept, multi-roomed leather bar for men and their friends boasts a busy patio, especially on the weekends. The Black Hawk Leather shop is located inside the club, providing BDSM essentials. 715 Fairview Ave. • 713.521.2792.
RUDYARD’S
The eclectic British pub is known for its craft beers as well as for the burgers. Most weekends you’ll find up-and-coming local bands rocking the house. 2010 Waugh Dr. • rudyardspub.com • 713.521.0521.
SOUTH BEACH
This mega-dance club is a frequent winner of O UT S MART ‘s Gayest and Greatest awards, with DJ Eddie E spinning on Fri., and DJ Joe Ross playing pop & dance
With the longest daily happy hours in Montrose (8am–10pm), it’s no wonder this neighborhood watering hole is so popular. Owner Tim Pugh says TC’s has built quite a reputation as the perfect spot to celebrate special occasions. Other big draws are the drag shows Wednesday–Sunday and karaoke Monday & Wednesday. 817 Fairview • 713.526.2625 • tcsshowbar.com.
TONY’S CORNER POCKET
This comfortable club located close to downtown has one of the friendliest bar staffs in town, both inside & outside at its patio bar. The raised stage where local charities perform also features an amateur dance contest each Thurs., Fri., & Sat. at 11pm. Opens daily at noon. 817 W. Dallas • 713.571.7870 • tonyscorner pocketbar.com.
VIVIANA’S
This club, in a new location, appeals to fans of Latino music and drag alike. 4624 Dacoma • 713.681.4104.
Beaumont
ORLEANS STREET PUB AND PATIO
The place to hang for food, fun, and booze in a newly renovated pub, in good weather or bad. Open every night from 7pm–2am. 650 Orleans • 409.835.4243.
Bryan/College Station
HALO VIDEO BAR
The only LGBT dance club in Bryan/ College station, this sleek spot is open Thurs.–Sat. Smack in the middle of Aggieland, “our venue is always packed with the hotties,” the owners promise. 121 North Main • 979.823.6174 • halobcs.com.
Galveston
23RD ST. STATION
A new face on the Island bar scene is here. The bar features a neighborhood-bar feel with octane. Drink specials daily and the weekend is filled with pulsing music, hot dancers, drag shows, and a Sunday Tea Dance. 1706 23rd St. • 409.621.1808.
ROBERT’S LAFITTE
A neighborhood bar, the Island institution attracts a colorful crowd of regulars and travelers. The private patio includes a swimming pool. On Sat. and Sun. nights, the Ladies of Lafitte show takes the stage. 2501 Avenue Q (at 25th) • 409.765.9092.
Spring
RANCH HILL SALOON
With its two pool tables, 52-inch plasma televisions, and large dance floor, this popular northside spot also offers DJs Thursday–Saturday. 247041 I-45N Suite 103 • 281.298.9035 • ranchhill.com.
THE ROOM BAR AND LOUNGE
One of only two LGBT hangouts in North Houston/Spring, this bar and video lounge has a laidback atmosphere where everyone is welcome and everyone is friendly to each other. The Room Bar and Lounge offers something for everyone, including daily drink specials, karaoke, free pool, drag shows, and live DJs several nights a week. 4915 FM 2920 • roombarspring.com • 281.907.6866. ■
By Lilly Roddy
Total Eclipses of the Heart
With both lunar and solar eclipses, this is shaping up to be one astrologically wild month.
The headline for this month is that Mercury goes retrograde from August 7 through September 10. If you have projects that you want to get started, start them before August 5—otherwise, you will have to wait until after September 10. This Mercury retrograde will occur mostly in the sign of Virgo and have the greatest impact on Virgo, Pisces, Gemini, and Sagittarius. Mercury retrograde is always a good time to go back and revisit any situation, from work to relationships to favorite vacation spots. It’s never a good time to start a new project, get a makeover, or purchase electronic equipment. • The other big astro-news event is the lunar eclipse on the 7th and the corresponding solar eclipse on the 21st. With these eclipses occurring in Leo/Aquarius, the signs most affected are Leo, Aquarius, Scorpio, and Taurus. Eclipses are often marked by some doors opening and other doors closing. The solar eclipse on the 21st will be visible throughout the U.S. and Canada.
ARIES (March 21–April 19). August should be a calmer month for you. You are in a more creative time when you should be adding more fun and play into your life. Spending time with your family (and especially your children) can be very fulfilling. At work, you are doing some reorganizing, finishing up some old projects, and reconnecting with clients you haven’t seen in a while. You are still busy, but not at such a crazy pace. This is an excellent month to get back to your health regimen.
TAURUS (April 20–May 20). This month the planets are activating the home and family-roots area of your horoscope, bringing more focus to that area of your life. You could be attending family reunions, considering moving, taking on a greater leadership role in the family, or working on a home-improvement project. You will feel very passionate about your views and ideas. You will be less patient and may have a harder time sleeping. Work continues to be busy, and it also serves as a social outlet for you. This is an especially good month to connect with your existing client base!
GEMINI (May 21–June 21). With Mercury, your ruling planet, retrograde for most of the month, you will be taking care of past projects, reviewing and renewing, and needing some retreat time for yourself, especially around the
12th. It’s a good month to focus on the projects that affect your daily life. You will want to make things work smoother. Relationships, both business and personal, can seem demanding, especially this month. Set your boundaries and stick to them. And finally, pay more attention to your driving, especially on the 7th and 21st, which are the eclipses. You will not be a patient driver this month.
CANCER (June 22–July 22). The tension and intensity level is turned down some this month. You still have a lot to do, but you won’t feel like it’s all coming at you at one time. Your attention is on your finances this month as you take a more aggressive attitude in looking at how you spend your money. And with the Mercury retrograde, this is an excellent time to take care of any financial issues you have been avoiding. Reconstructing your relationships is an ongoing process, but it’s not demanding as much time as before. Your psychic receptivity is very strong around the weekend of the 12th. Choose your company carefully on that weekend.
LEO (July 23–August 22). Happy Birthday to the Leos! This is your personally yearly cycle of reviewing the past and preparing for new adventures to come. With Mercury retrograde, introspection should be stronger and deeper than usual. Mars (planet of action, anger, and taking everything personally) is visiting your sign until early September. Mars is good for improving your fitness routine and speaking your mind. And with the lunar eclipse on the 7th and the solar eclipse on the 21st, this is a significant month for you!
VIRGO (August 23–September 22). August is a month of rest and retreat for you. Mercury, your ruling planet, will be retrograde in Virgo after August 7 until September 10. This Mercury retrograde period will be very impactful on you. Your psychic receptivity will be very strong, and you may want to retreat from people and situations that have too much drama! You can also use your energies to connect to people you really want to help, as long as they are
interested in participating in the process. Take care of what’s already on your plate before you decide to put more on it this month. Friends are very supportive this month, so call on them if you need help.
LIBRA (September 23–October 23). Family and work responsibilities have been dominating your time for the last couple of months. You are past due for a more fun and relaxing time. Connecting with friends or community groups will have a very positive impact on you. This is also a good time to take a leadership role, either at work or in your community. In relationships, you are more open than ever and clearer about where your boundaries are. You are looking for the real thing, so you won’t be dazzled by B.S. You will find it easier to find common ground with coworkers, so career activities should go more smoothly.
SCORPIO (October 24–November 21). There is a lot of activity in your career area this month with the eclipses occurring in that area, so opportunities should be opening up for you. You will feel more comfortable about acting on these impulses after September 10. This could be a time of promotion or starting your own business. Friends can be very supportive this month, providing both an ear and a shoulder for you. They will also have helpful advice to solve some of your problems. Friends from your distant past may show up this month and help you relive some good times.
SAGITTARIUS (November 22–December 21). You are taking a step back this month and looking for some time to travel and relax. This will be very strong on the weekend of the 5th. At work, your writing and presentation skills are enhanced this month. People are more open to you and your products. And with Mercury retrograde, it is an excellent time to contact existing or former clients and customers. It’s easy to take yourself too seriously this month. You have been feeling the pressure to perform, and you are getting rewarded for your efforts. Decisions will be easier to make in September.
CAPRICORN (December 22–January 19). The last two months have been super-busy and stressful. You are finally getting a break for some R&R time! You have been overanalyzing
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10 Nights - Ultra Luxury Alaska Cruise
Sept 1- Sept 8, 2018
7 Nights - Christmas Markets Danube River Cruise from $1,309 pp from $1,049 pp from $1,199 pp Seattle, Ketchikan, Juneau, Sawyer Glacier, Skagway, Victoria, British Columbia, return to Seattle.
Sail from Vienna, Austria November 28, 2018 and end in Nuremburg, Germany December 4, 2018
Danube Alaska Baltic
Nov 28, - Dec 4, 2018
On June
July
July
and
July
On June 29, Legacy Community Health and the Houston Health Department hosted a panel discussion on Ending the HIV Epidemic in Houston.
are Sean Strub, Marlene McNeese, Carin Martin, Venita Ray, Amber Harbolt , Jeffrey Campbell, and Shelley Lucas
On July 9, South Beach hosted the annual Christmas in July party. Pictured are the hosts of Christmas in July.
On July 13, the Executive and Professional Association of Houston hosted a Liberty Mixer with Lambda Legal at La Griglia. Pictured are Judge Steve Kirkland, Brent Braveman, Cindy Cuellar, Alan York , Ken Ng , Beau Miller, and Denise O’Doherty
On July 9, Jeffrey Faircloth hosted a going-away party, “It’s Not Where You Go, It’s Who You Meet Along the Way,” at JR’s. Pictured are Steve Riley, Sean Alexander, Randy Cole, Faircloth, Daniel Hamilton, and Mike Migura
On July 18, the
and
On
17, the Meyerland Democrats hosted their monthly meeting at Fadi’s Meditterranean Grill. Pictured are Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, Art Pronin, and Belinda Hull
23, the City of Houston hosted the seventh annual Rainbow on the Green at Discovery Green. Pictured are Jason Loucher, general manager of Land Rover Houston Central, and park director Barry Mandel
Pictured
On July 18, ROADwomen hosted its July meeting at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. Pictured are Kat Clemons, Chris Fleischman, Diane Mosier, Christopher Bown, and Bridget Upton
On
6, This Side of the Rainbow hosted Cultured Cocktails at Bar Boheme. Pictured are Michael DeVoll, Jeannie Low, Michael Lesher, Laura Perez-Boston, Rae Sanchez , and Armando Duran
Robert Ross, organizer of OUT at The Ensemble, is joined by excited long-time theater supporters for season finale musical Simply Simone
Executive
Professional Association of Houston hosted its July dinner meeting at Sorrento Ristorante. Pictured are Michelle Brockway, Jack Berger, Michele Laprade, Abbas Hussein, Denise O’Doherty, Brent Bravemen, and Trey Yates
On July 16, Legacy Community Health hosted Mint Julep 2017 at Rich’s Houston. Pictured are Mint Julep performers.
On
10, the Houston Stonewall Young Democrats hosted a Summer Social at Canopy. Pictured are Coleton Mayo, Shelby Hansen, T.J. Hoffman, Maria Gonzalez ,
Mark Solano.
Photos by Dalton DeHart and Edgardo Aguilar
YOUR BODY. YOUR HEALTH. YOUR CHOICES. YOUR LIFE. The chance to end the spread of HIV is here. The choice to take action is yours. PrEP is an FDA-approved medication that, taken once daily, significantly reduces the risk of contracting HIV from a positive sexual partner. PrEP does not protect against other STDs, so practice safer sex and use condoms along with PrEP. It’s your life. Own it.
