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Ex-GI Battles for the Crown

By Paul Hutnick

WhenAltesse Aurum steps onto the stage at the Miss International Queen – USA pageant in Atlantic City this March, she will be carrying far more than a sash emblazoned with “Georgia.” A former United States Air Force service member, a transgender woman, and a Southern beauty forged through resilience, Aurum arrives at the national competition with a story shaped by service, struggle, and unwavering self-determination.

“I hope that people who hear my story will see themselves reflected in one way or another,” Aurum says of representing Georgia on such a prestigious stage. “Many seasoned pageant queens reside in the state of Georgia, and I hope to file my name amongst theirs.”

Her presence comes at a time when visibility for transgender women feels more urgent than ever. Aurum’s platform centers on advocacy for transgender individuals and veterans experiencing homelessness: two communities she knows intimately. “As a veteran, I see the homeless veterans. I also see many in the trans community experiencing the same,” she explains.

“There is a wealth of resources for homeless veterans, and I want to be an advocate and a focal point for trans people and others who need help the most.”

That sense of purpose is grounded in legacy. “The privilege to be a trans woman is an honor brought to me by generations of courageous women who fought for my right to exist,” Aurum says. That legacy also made it possible for her to serve openly. She spent more than 12 years in the U.S. Air Force, including a deployment to Afghanistan, working as a helicopter and cargo plane mechanic before serving as a unit training manager.

“I am ambitious because of the women before me who fought in the face of adversity,” she adds. “I am tenacious because I am a proven triple threat of intelligence, poise, and literacy.”

As a Southern queen, Aurum views pageantry as both celebration and resistance. “When we were not allowed to compete in other pageants, we created our own,” she says, reflecting on the deep roots of Southern drag and trans pageant

Phot�s: Jay New

culture. “We made them more extravagant and a celebration of the amazing talents of the community.” Her own journey has already broken barriers. “I have stepped into many pageants being the first trans woman seen in the military and making my name in history. As a veteran, I may be the only woman competing who has been an active service member while also being trans.”

Her vision of Southern glamour is unapologetically authentic. “The South is as real as it gets: real bodies, real beauty, and authentic nerve and attitude,” she says. Onstage, she promises opulence with a wink. “I plan to do it like only a lady of the South could: being opulent, well-moisturized (shoutout to Vaseline), and pleasant to look at for extended periods of time.”

For Altesse Aurum, Miss International Queen –USA is more than a competition; it’s a declaration of survival and visibility. After leaving the military, she faced depression, anger, and suicidal thoughts. “While I battled through the darkest of my thoughts, I am reassured that I am deserving of life, love, and compassion,” she shares.

When she takes the stage in March, Aurum hopes her journey resonates far beyond crowns and gowns. “In March, you will see a goddess,” she proclaims. “But you will know she fought

battles to get here. She was knocked over, got back up, and came back swinging—and so should you.”

Miss International Queen – USA (MIQUSA) takes place in Atlantic City March 26–27, 2026. Tickets are available at Bethetransformationalchange.org/miqusa-tickets. Those unable to attend may support the BTTC Fund by texting BTTC to 302-725-4509. Follow @ missinternationalqueenusa.

The Pop-Pandering Satire that is THE MOMENT

By Mikkel Hyldebrandt

With The Moment, Charli xcx does something delightfully slippery: she gives us a mockumentary that pretends to play by the rules of pop-star mythmaking while quietly setting those rules on fire. It’s a film that feels perfectly in tune with the brat movement – not just aesthetically, but philosophically – using satire, exaggeration, and self-awareness to interrogate what happens when rebellion itself becomes a brand.

On the surface, The Moment looks like a familiar piece of pop ephemera. Cameras follow Charli through rehearsals, meetings, performances, and “candid” behind-thescenes moments, all wrapped in the language of access and authenticity that mainstream media loves to sell us. But almost immediately, the film starts to bend that language into something uncanny. The smiles linger too long. The talking heads feel just a bit too polished. The inspirational soundbites verge on parody. What emerges is a mockumentary that understands the grammar of celebrity culture so well it can expose its absurdity from the inside.

This is where The Moment truly shines: in its critique of how commercialization flattens identity. The film skewers the way mainstream media packages artists into easily digestible narratives – growth arcs, reinventions, “eras” – until the human underneath becomes secondary to the product. Every beat feels exaggerated, but not unreal. If anything, the film’s satire lands because it’s only a half-step removed from reality. We recognize these moments because we’ve seen them endlessly, repackaged and resold across interviews, documentaries, and social feeds.

Charli xcx is the anchor that makes all of this work. Long celebrated for her musical innovation and cultural intuition, she proves here that she’s also a genuinely compelling screen presence. Her performance is sharp, self-aware, and emotionally grounded, even when the film veers into absurdity. She plays versions of herself that feel both performative and painfully sincere, often within the same scene. There’s a confidence to her acting, but also a willingness to look unflattering, uncertain, even complicit. It’s the kind of performance that suggests we’ll be seeing much more of her on screen in the future – and not just as a novelty pop cameo.

One of the film’s most resonant themes is the tension between commercial pressure and the deep, human desire to be accepted. The Moment suggests that selling out isn’t always about greed or ego; sometimes it’s about survival. About wanting to belong. About wanting your work to be seen, validated, and loved – even if that means sanding down the edges that made it meaningful in the first place. The film captures how easy it is to be nudged, little by little, into choices you never intended to make, all in the name of reach, relevance, or respectability.

Yet crucially, The Moment never abandons the brat ethos. By naming and critiquing these pressures, the film keeps the movement alive rather than neutralizing it. Brat, here, isn’t just an aesthetic of messiness or defiance – it’s a critical stance. A refusal to let irony be mistaken for emptiness. The film’s self-mockery becomes an act of resistance, a way of saying: we see the machine, and we’re not pretending it isn’t there.

The queer angle is threaded through the film with a sharper, more confrontational edge. The Moment acknowledges how young LGBTQ+ people are so often pandered to by systems eager to borrow their language, aesthetics, and defiance while offering little in return. Brat culture, once a refuge and a rallying cry, becomes commodified into “brat bank cards” – symbols of inclusion that ultimately crash the very bank issuing them. The film exposes how queerness is leveraged as cultural capital, used to prop up a system that was never built to sustain it. In that collapse, The Moment finds its most pointed truth: when authenticity is mined for profit, it doesn’t just exploit

queer audiences – it destabilizes the entire structure pretending to support them.

In the end, The Moment isn’t about rejecting success or mainstream attention outright. It’s about staying conscious inside of it. About laughing at the performance even as you’re still onstage. Funny, sharp, and quietly incisive, the film proves that Charli xcx isn’t just chronicling a cultural moment – she’s actively shaping it. And by turning the camera back on the spectacle itself, she reminds us that being brat was never about selling rebellion. It was about questioning who gets to define it in the first place.

15 Years of Excellence and After Hours

By Mikkel Hyldebrandt

courtesy of Keith Young/XION

For 15 years, Atlanta’s queer nightlife has pulsed well past midnight thanks to an event that has become synonymous with after-hours excellence: XION. Long after the mainstream clubs call last call, this party is just getting started—serving the dancers, night owls, and die-hards who know that the real magic often happens between 3 a.m. and sunrise. Built on a reputation for high production value, stacked dance floors, and an uncanny ability to book top-tier DJs, XION has carved out a distinct lane in Atlanta’s ever-evolving nightlife ecosystem. Their events aren’t just parties; they’re experiences where music takes priority, the crowd comes ready, and the energy feels intentionally unfiltered. This is nightlife for people who want more than a quick drink and a predictable playlist.

At the center of it all is Keith Young, the steady creative force who has spent more than a decade shaping spaces where queer joy, house and circuit music, and late-night liberation collide. In a city known for its vibrant LGBTQ+ scene, his impact is measured not just in years, but in unforgettable nights that refuse to end early. We got a chance to talk to Keith of the coming weekend’s stacked list of events and parties to celebrate 15 years of XION in Atlanta’s nightlife.

Keith, you are deeply involved in Atlanta’s LGBTQ+ nightlife scene – and have been now for more than a decade. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about your amazing journey?

I have been involved in Atlanta nightlife for about 15 years, when I started the annual Peach Party. Since then, I have produced the annual Big Ol ‘Slice of Atlanta Gay Pride series of events every year. My events company, GA Boy Events, and my team work hard all year around to do different events around the city. I have previously owned and operated Midtown Tavern and Future Atlanta. I have owned and operated the XION events for 12 years.

XION is celebrating 15 years of throwing epic after parties – where and how did it all begin? XION was created and operated by Fernado Jardim for its first three years. After he relocated out of Atlanta, I purchased XION and have produced all the events ever since. XION is currently held weekly at 2069 Events, located beneath the Heretic on Cheshire Bridge Rd. Other locations over the years include Little Wings (where it started), BJ Roosters, Jungle, Midtown Tavern, Wish Lounge, and Future. Now, we are approaching 1500 XION parties,

which is CRAZY! Over the years, hundreds of different artists, producers, and DJs have entertained Atlanta. From headliners to newcomers, we try to keep the sound open to all tastes of club house music. Some include, Abel, Paulo, Tony Moran, Deanne, Twisted Dee (who did the 1st XION ever), and Cindel.

From the last 15 years, what are some moments that really stand out to you?

There are so many memories that come to mind immediately! EJ Aviance performing at the original XION in Little Wings the day the Mayan calendar predicted the world would end. That was a fun one. Opening 2069 and hosting XION there for the first time after an extensive construction time was also very exciting

For the 15th-anniversary celebration, you have a whole weekend of parties planned, including a high-profile concert performance. Tell us about what the weekend has to offer?

We have Jesus Montanez in 2069 Events on Saturday morning and Abel on Sunday morning. Both events will be 3 – 7am.

Saturday night, as part of the weekend celebration, we will have Chus + Ceballos on their reunion tour with opening DJ Tracy Levine at Knock Music House from 10 pm – 3am.

It sounds like and another EPIC weekend. Where can we get tickets, follow, and get the latest info on the next Xion party? XION is held weekly (sometimes more) at 2069 Events. Tickets for XION are at www.2069Events. com and tickets for Chus + Ceballos are at www. GaBoyEvents.com.

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BARS & CLUBS MIDTOWN

BLAKE’S ON THE PARK blakesontheparkatlanta.com 227 10th St NE

BULLDOGS 893 Peachtree St NE

FRIENDS NEIGHBORHOOD BAR friendsonponce-atl. com

736 Ponce De Leon Ave NE

MY SISTER’S ROOM mysistersroom.com 66 12th St NE

X MIDTOWN xmidtown.com 990 Piedmont Ave NE

THE T modeltatlanta.com 465 Boulevard SE

CHESHIRE

HERETIC hereticatlanta.com 2069 Cheshire Bridge Road

BJ ROOSTERS bjroosters.com 2043 Cheshire Bridge Road NE

WESTSIDE

MARQUETTE 868 Joseph E. Boone Blvd NW

840ATL 840 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd

ANSLEY

ATLANTA EAGLE 1492 Piedmont Ave NE

FELIX’S 1510 Piedmont Ave NE

MIXX mixxatlanta.com 1492 Piedmont Ave NE

OSCAR’S oscarsatlanta.com 1510 Piedmont Ave NE

WOOFS woofsatlanta.com 494 Plasters Ave NE

TRIPPS fb: tripps-bar 1931 Piedmont Cir NE

EAST ATLANTA, GRANT PARK & EDGEWOOD

MARY’S marysatlanta.com 1287 Glenwood Ave SE

SISTER LOUISA’S CHURCH sisterlouisaschurch. com 466 Edgewood Ave SE

LORE ATLANTA loreatl.com 466 Edgewood Ave loreatl.com

DINING

MIDTOWN

CASA ALMENARA 991 Piedmont Ave NE casa-almenara.com

OLIVE BISTRO olivebistro.com 1050 Juniper St NE #4

LA HACIENDA lahaciendamidtown. com

900 Monroe Dr NE

TUK TUK THAI FOOD LOFT TUKTUKATL.COM 1745 Peachtree Rd NW

DEKALB

LIPS ATLANTA atldragshow.com 3011 Buford Hwy NE

RETAIL MIDTOWN

BOY NEXT DOOR MENSWEAR boynextdoormenswear.com 1000 Piedmont Ave NE, Ste A

ANSLEY

BARKING LEATHER barkingleather.com 1510 Piedmont Ave NE

GCB & PLEASURES brushstrokesatlanta. com

1510-D Piedmont Ave. NE

FITNESS MIDTOWN

URBAN BODY FITNESS urbanbody tness. com

500 Amsterdam Ave N

CHESHIRE

GRAVITY FITNESS gravity tnessatl.com 2201 Faulkner Rd NE

SPAS/BATHS ADULT

FLEX SPA exspas.com 76 4th St NW

SOUTHERN NIGHTS VIDEO

2205 Cheshire Bridge Rd NE

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