QSaltLake October 2014

salt lake magazine

UTAH’S GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER AND ALLY

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gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014

Allies helped make this all possible

BY MICHAEL AARON

As one

of those who has been in this whole ‘gay activist’ gig for a few centuries, I remember back to allies to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans* community and to our efforts to create change in the Beehive State.

In the 80s, finding allies took a little longer than it might today, but they were there. The first ally I remember is professor of English PHIL SULLIVAN. His daughter had come out to him over summer break and he wanted to do something to make the world a better place for her. He found that there was once a group on the University of Utah campus for gay and lesbian students that was no longer meeting. In fact, that group was started in the late 70s and had been dark for three years before, in 1982, he arranged a weekly space in Orson Spencer Hall that could accommodate about 40 people, took out a small classified ad in the Daily Utah Chronicle about his desire to get the “Gay Student Union” back up and running, and sat there on a Fall Tuesday night wondering if anyone would show. In fact, 20 people, including yours truly, showed, co-presidents, including yours truly, were elected and a gay group that has thrived for 32 years so far was reborn.

Sullivan was willing to go to bat for the group at every turn in its infancy, which definitely helped its successful launch.

Later that same Fall, we stumbled into the Associated Students of the University of Utah offices in the hopes of finding some funding and perhaps an office for the group. The first person to greet us with a smile a mile wide was LORILLE MILLER (yes, Larry Miller’s mother), who was working there

as a secretary-receptionist. I told her who I was, what the group was about, and why we were there, and it was as if we’d made her every wish come true. She jumped into action, not only got us the paperwork we needed but damn-near filled it our herself, introduced us to the ASUU president (who would also become a great ally), and greased the tracks to nearly anything and everything we wanted.

Very politically active, Lorille would be an ally and my close friend through decades as we ran Gay and Lesbian Utah Democrats.

Another ally-turned-friend would be PAMELA KIMBALL. As we were first publishing Triangle Magazine back in the early 90s, we were unsure how we would actually pay for its production. Typography was expensive and time-consuming and translating photographs into something press-ready was prohibitive. Then-editor Scott Dunn had heard of this woman who had an Apple Macintosh and LaserWriter. “Desktop publishing” wasn’t even born yet and here we are pulling an all-nighter in the office of a woman we didn’t even know. She had agreed to setting us up and helping as she, herself, was making a deadline that night.

What I didn’t know was that she was unaware we were a gay publication until that night. Raised very Mormon, she later told me she wrestled for a moment with the issue, and decided to do what Jesus would do. Without Pam, there would not have been a Triangle Magazine. Who knows?

There might not have been a QSaltLake without her, either.

I raise a glass to the allies in our lives. Without them, the great things happening today would likely not have been possible. Q

QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 5

october 2014 | issue 236 | gaysaltlake.com

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gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014

Family, Criminal and LGBT Law A down-to-earth law firm that aims for solutions, not fights We help you develop the most cost-effective strategy to meet your goals for your case. Our mission is to give a voice to underrepresented people and to empower our clients through a wide variety of legal services.

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QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 7

staffbox publisher/editor Michael Aaron

copy editor Tony Hobday designer Christian Allred sales Bob Henline, Craig Ogan, Shelley Stewart

contributors Chris Azzopardi, We Know a Quicker Way Home • We Know a Quicker Way Home • We Know a Quicker Way Home • We Know a Quicker Way Home • We Know a Quicker W Lynn Beltran, Paul Berge, Dave Brousseau, Abby Dees, Jack Fertig, Greg Fox, Charles Lynn Frost, Bob Henline, Tony Hobday, Christopher Katis, Rock Magen, Sam Mills, Petunia Pap Smear, Anthony Paull, Steven Petrow, Ed Sikov, Ben ­Williams, D’Anne ­Witkowski distribution Michael Hamblin,

Lin Marie, Matt Snow, Jason Van Campen publisher

Salt Lick Publishing LLC. 222 S Main St, Ste 500 Salt Lake City, Utah 84101 tel: 801-649-6663 Contact emails: general: info@qsaltlake.com editorial: editor@qsaltlake.com sales: sales@qsaltlake.com

Check us out online at: GAYSALTLAKE.COM FACEBOOK.COM/QSALTLAKE TWITTER @QSALTLAKE

QSaltLake Magazine is a trademark of Salt Lick Publishing, LLC. Copyright © 2014, Salt Lick Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted or reproduced without written permission from the publisher. 15,000 copies of QSaltLake Magazine are distributed free of charge at over 300 locations across the Wasatch Front. Free copies are limited to one per person. For additional copies, contact us at 801-649-6663. It is a crime to destroy or dispose of current issues or otherwise interfere with the distribution of this newsmagazine. Publication of the name or photograph of any individual or organization in articles or advertising in QSaltLake Magazine is not to be construed as any indication of the sexual orientation of such persons. Printed in the U.S.A. on recycled paper. Please recycle this copy when you are through with it.

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gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014

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october 2014 | issue 236 | gaysaltlake.com

Anti-marriage equality rally held at Utah Capitol Leaders of the so-called Celebration of Marriage held a rally in the Utah State Capitol Building rotunda Sept. 18. Saying that 31 states in America are “relying on Utah to defend their marriage law at this defining moment,” the group quoted U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anton Scalia as saying, “I promise you this: The only thing that will ‘confine’ the Court’s holding is its sense of what it can get away with.”

“From a sweeping majority of heartland voters and legislators to the elite Supreme Court Judges, the nation is watching Utah as we make our debut as a swing state this month,” CoM president Mary Summerhays said in an announcemnt. “The cultural question has unavoidably become: Will Mormon’s [sic] challenge the court’s ‘sense of what it can get away with’? Or will they silently acquiesce to the judicial tyranny that overrode 66% of Utah voters.”

The following spoke at the rally: National Organization for Marriage President Brian Brown, who has been traveling to

of the Ruth Institute — a group designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group; and LaVar Christensen, author of Utah’s Amendment 3.

news

Gay Mormons gathered for Affirmation annual conference

The top things you should know happened last month (Full stories at gaysaltlake.com.) countries around the world to spread the group’s anti-gay message; special assistant attorney general Gene Schaer, who was hired by the Utah Attorney General’s office to spearhead Utah’s same-sex marriage case; Robert Oscar Lopez, who was raised by two mothers and now compares the gay rights movement to slavery and cultural genocide; Jennifer Roback Morse, founder

Organizers said the “This is the Place” conference was the largest single gathering of gay Mormons in the world “meant to help attendees reconcile and celebrate being both LGBT and connected to the LDS faith.”

The conference was held at the University of Utah Guest House and Conference Center at Fort Douglas Sept. 12–14..

Speakers included Randall Thacker, Affirmation President; jazz vocalist Spencer Day; Clark Johnson, only Mormon in original Broadway cast of The Book of Mormon; speaker/songwriter Julie de Azevedo Hanks; black Mormon historian Darius Gray; “The Home Depot Couple” Spencer and Dustin Reeser-Stout; and Eri Hayward, featured in transgender documentary Transmormon.

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gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014

Utah GOP lawmakers file brief with the Supreme Court: It’s all about the children Saying that they “are sincerely dedicated to representing and protecting the interests of all Utah citizens,” 80 Republican members of the Utah State Legislature filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court asking them to hear Utah’s same-sex marriage case and to reverse Judge Robert Shelby’s decision that Amendment 3 was unconstitutional.

“We especially feel a profound duty to the children of the State, derived from deep historical roots and experience that confirm that children are substantially benefited and best served by public endorsement and recognition of marriage as the legal union between a man and a woman as husband and wife,” the brief reads. “This promotes and protects a child’s bond with his or her biological parents bound together as a married mother and father. When this is not possible, the State definition of marriage maximizes the likelihood that a child will be raised by a married mother and father.”

The legislators note that Utah ranks lowest in the nation for percentage of unwed births and highest for percentage of children raised through age 17 by both parents.

Louisiana, which also restricts marriage to a man and a woman, has the worst rates of unwed births and child-rearing by both parents through the child’s 17th birthday.

The lawmakers claim that the state of Utah has the “sovereign right to decide domestic relations laws,” quoting the Windsor ruling, which is actually a quote from a 1890 child custody case brought before the Supreme Court.

The brief also mentions that Shelby’s decision did not bring polygamous and incestuous marriages into account.

“If the choice of marriage partners is an unlimited fundamental right, and if that marriage choice cannot be denied even when a majority believes that choice to be “immoral,” then the fundamental rights analysis applied by the Tenth Circuit will apply with even greater force to consenting adults desiring polygamous marriage or marriage between at least some close relatives. The prohibition of those marriages has always been grounded in morality.

Without a moral justification, courts will

be obliged to remove existing marriage prohibitions as the U.S. District Court did last month in Utah.”

The brief goes on to list many of Utah’s discriminatory measures, including adoption, fostering, legal parenthood, education policies, premarital counseling and divorce.

But, the lawmakers (Amici) write, none of this is because they dislike gay and lesbian people.

“In highlighting these concerns Amici strenuously reaffirm their genuine respect and compassion for all individuals,” the brief states. “Utah’s decision not to adopt same-sex marriage is not motivated by animus and individuals are free to engage in private sexual conduct as they choose.

However, Amici feel strongly that the interests of Utah’s children are best served by

continued adherence to deeply rooted marriage laws that encourage raising children in a home with both biological parents, or when that is not possible, by a mother and a father. This ideal is not always perfectly realized but Amici strongly contend that continued adherence to long established laws protecting and furthering this ideal are in the best interest of our children and that this interest is an appropriate moral choice to preserve the optimum family environment in which to conceive and nurture the next generation.”

“Accordingly, this Court should not abandon its longstanding determination that State standards undergird marriage as a ‘sacred’ institution upon which the very existence and survival of society rests,” the brief reads. “For the foregoing reasons we respectfully request that this Court grant the State’s petition of certiorari and reverse the decision below of the Tenth Circuit.”

A list of the legislators who signed can be found at gaysaltlake.com. This brief, along with all briefs related to the same-sex marriage cases in Utah, have been posted by Fox 13 News’ Ben Winslow fox13now.com

Marriage equality opponents present 18K petitions to Utah Gov. Herbert The ultraconservative Sutherland Institute presented 18,600 first names of people who signed two petitions that opposed marriage equality. One petition expressed support for “traditional marriage.” It was launched in December, 2013 after 10th District Court Judge Robert Shelby ruled that Utah’s Amendment 3 was unconstitutional. An opposite petition in favor of same-sex marriage launched the same day received 17,000 signatures in 24 hours and currently has a total of 46,743.

The other petition was launched in June and said that the “silent majority” supports Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and Attorney General Sean Reyes’ efforts to defend the anti-marriage equality amendment and other laws that restrict marriage to one man and one woman.

Sutherland leaders said they chose to only release the first names of petition signers to the governor because of concerns for privacy.

Ogden’s Imperial Rainbow Court offers scholarships Each year since 2010, the Imperial Rainbow Court of Northern Utah has offered scholarships to adult community members or their children who live in northern Utah.

The Power, Strength and Wisdom Scholarship was founded in 2010 by Emperor IX Stephen Ferguson for those pursuing education through the secondary level and beyond who require financial assistance.

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resident of Utah for at least one year; demonstrate a need for financial assistance, be attending a college, university, trade or vocational school, or a school for the arts.

The scholarships are awarded each November.

Those interested in applying must complete an application which will be available on the IRCONU website at irconu. org starting Oct. 1. Applications must be submitted by Nov. 1.

NEWS | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 11

october 2014 | issue 236 | gaysaltlake.com

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gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014

30 companies ask Supreme Court to hear the Utah same-sex marriage case Thirty U.S. companies joined to file an amici brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Utah’s Kitchen v. Herbert same-sex marriage case.

The companies expressed to the court that, in their desire to attract and retain a talented workforce, they are required to differentiate in treatment of employees depending on what state that employee lives in. They call the discrepancy a “complicated and uncertain landscape of laws and human resources regulations that increase our administrative costs and level of risk.”

“In addition, this irresolution hampers our efforts to recruit and retain the most talented workforce possible, placing us at a competitive disadvantage. Our success depends upon the welfare and morale of all employees, without distinction. The burden — imposed by inconsistent state laws — of having to administer complicated schemes to account for differential treatment of similarly situated employees creates unnecessary confusion, tension, and ultimately, diminished employee morale,” the brief states.

“We are forced to implement inconsistent policies in the various jurisdictions in which we operate, and the mandated discrimination underlying these policies violates our stated corporate principles.

Our ability to grow and maintain our businesses by attracting and retaining the best talent is hindered. This patchwork of state laws applicable to same-sex marriage impairs thus our business interests and employer-employee relations.”

“Adopting a uniform rule allowing same-sex couples to marry would provide our employees with clear legal status. That recognition is also better for business, because it reduces uncertainty and risk, removes administrative obstacles, improves employee productivity, and encourages economic growth and innovation,” the brief continues.”

The brief states that 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies provide non-discrimination protection for their employees and 67 percent offer benefits to same-sex partners.

“Our experience teaches us that teamwork thrives when the organization minimizes distracting differences, and focuses on a common mission. The mandate of inconsistent state same-sex marriage

bans—that we single out some of our married colleagues, based on the gender of their spouses and their states of residence, and treat them as a lesser class—upsets this imperative,” the brief states.

“Working in an LGBT-supportive workplace results in “greater job commitment, improved workplace relationships, increased job satisfaction, improved health outcomes, and increased productivity” among LGBT employees.”

“Nondiscrimination policies are crucial the recruitment and retention of excellent employees. In turn, hiring the best people helps us build teams and corporate cultures that allow us to create, innovate, and ultimately increase our profits and economic value. State laws alternately celebrating and condemning same-sex marriage conscript us, as the administrators of state benefits, to become the face of a law that demands we treat our employees in committed same-sex relationships in “non-recognition” states differently from employees married to different-sex spouses

and same-sex spouses in “recognition” states, our stated policies notwithstanding. We must perpetuate the unequal effects of those laws, “in visible and public ways.” Even if we take on the burden of developing workarounds to ameliorate disparate and uncertain state treatment, we are still placed in the role of intrusive inquisitor, imputer of taxable income, and withholder of benefits. We are required to place those employees “in an unstable position of being in a second-tier marriage,” thereby demeaning the couple and their relationship. For all employees in same-sex marriages, we must propagate the message from “non-recognition” states that these employees and their relationships are not “worthy of dignity in the community equal with all other marriages.”

“In abiding by inharmonious and discriminatory state laws, we become complicit in our employees’ injury—and our own,” the brief concludes.

Among the companies signing the brief were Amazon.com, Ben & Jerry’s, CBS, Cisco Systems, eBay, General Electric, Intel, Kimpton Hotels, Levi Strauss, NIKE, Pfizer, Staples, Symantec, Target and Viacom. A full list and a copy of the brief are on gaysaltlake.com Q

Former Utah Gov. Huntsman: Same-sex marriage ‘inevitable,’ ‘right thing to do’ Former Utah Governor Jon Hunstman Jr., (R), who backed civil unions for same-sex couples during his term as governor and spoke at the Equality Utah Allies Dinner, voiced his continued support Wednesday for equal marriage, stating “[I’ve] already spoken out why I think it’s the right thing to do to recognize samesex marriage.”

The former governor, who ran for president in 2012, admits that it won’t happen overnight.

“It’s step-by-step and it’s an evolution that, in this case, is taking us somewhere,” he said. “I think that’s inevitable. I think we’re on a pathway.”

Huntsman was responding to questions from reporters after presenting

science and technology equipment to a fourth grade class at Rose Park Elementary School, donated through Chevron’s “Fuel Your School” program.

Current Utah Governor Gary Herbert (R.), called elected officials refusing to defend the state’s same-sex marriage ban “the next step to anarchy.”

Huntsman said that debate is inevitable, as is same-sex marriage.

“That’s not to say at the interim you’re not going to have court cases and pretty heated debates,” he said. “I think that’s just a given.”

Huntsman said that spending tax dollars on the case is up to Utah’s current elected officials. Gov. Gary Herbert, who served as Huntsman’s lieutenant governor and is a supporter of traditional marriage, has said the issue needs to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Asked if he was considering another run for president, Huntsman said the answer is a “strong no.” He declined make an endorsement for a potential candidate.

october 2014 | issue 236 | gaysaltlake.com

The future is knocking at Equality Utah

BY BOB HENLINE

Earlier this summer, QSaltLake reported the resignation of Brandie Balken as executive director of Equality Utah.

Balken, who has led E.U. since 2009, was named as one of the nation’s top leaders of an LGBT organization by Philanthropedia (a division of GuideStar) in 2012 and was QSaltLake’s Clifford Rosky person of the year in 2010, the same year Equality Utah was named as one of America’s top-10 equality organizations.

The landscape for equality organizations is changing, quickly and dramatically. Most legal experts, including Equality Utah’s board chair, professor of law Clifford Rosky, see the United States Supreme Court taking up the issue of marriage equality and making it the law of the land by this time next year. For many equality organizations and advocates, that prompts the question of “what’s next?” In

will also be very deliberate. He cited Balken’s dedication and professionalism for leaving Equality Utah prepared for this transition.

“Brandie was a great leader,” the wake of Balken’s resignation, that question hits our local said Rosky. “We’re not rushing this process, it’s too imporcommunity and Equality Utah tant. This is a critical moment on two different levels. for Equality Utah. We are This reporter sat down with standing at the center of the Rosky and asked that question. national debate.”

His response: “That’s the big He explained that the search question, for Equality Utah and for a new leader is going very for the movement nationally.”

“In the post-marriage world,” well, that both he and the board have been impressed said Rosky, “the movement is with both the quantity doing some soul-searching.” and quality of applications He pointed to large differreceived. “We’re looking for ences between the needs of substance over tone,” he added, the more liberal states and the “someone with a demonstrated more conservative ones, like record of leadership and comUtah. He explained that while munity building.” marriage is an important step, Rosky added that they are there is still a great deal of work to be done. Utah still lacks basic through the initial screening phase of the process and are statewide employment and preparing for the first round of housing protections for LGBT interviews. He indicated that citizens, not to mention other non-discrimination protections he really didn’t know how long this process would continue, in public accommodations and other areas of commerce. Rosky adding that they are going to continued, “we still have a mis- move diligently and delibersion to protect the most vulner- ately to find the right person to lead the organization “not able members of our society.”

With both current and future just for 2015, but for 2015 to 2025 and beyond.” anticipated needs in mind, the That process, he indicated, conversation turned to the could include several rounds of ongoing search for Balken’s interviews depending upon the replacement. Currently, board responses and qualifications of secretary Marina Gomberg the candidate pool. One thing has temporarily stepped down he stressed was the importance from the board and assumed of a new leader who underthe role of interim executive director. The search, according stands, as Balken does, the to Rosky, is going very well, but “full breadth and diversity of

NEWS | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 13

the community. Someone who understands and can lead on transgender issues.”

Rosky concluded by adding that Equality Utah will continue with their work on both statewide and municipal protections, and remain committed to creating a future where there is full equality for everyone.

Earlier this summer, QSaltLake spoke with Brandie Balken: “My service as the executive director of Equality Utah has been the most rewarding and challenging of my life. As a lifelong Utahn it has been extraordinary to witness the astounding change in public opinion, and in public policy,” Balken said. “I am so honored to have had the opportunity to do this work at this amazing time, having benefited from the hard work and sacrifice of my predecessors — and countless others in this incredible community.

“Together we have accomplished some wonderful things.

Although I am sad that I will not be here to witness it, I know that Utah will continue to build on its gains in providing fairness, freedom and opportunity for all. I know, with the dedication, commitment and resilience of this community, and the drive and savvy of my colleagues at Equality Utah, the best is yet to come.

Get ready Utah, the future is knocking.” Q

14 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | NEWS

gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014

Utah sign companies deny God’s love

BY BOB HENLINE

The “One and Only God of the Internet,” a comedian who has launched a project to place “God Loves Gays” billboards in hot spots around the country, has announced a decision to place a billboard in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has been denied by the two largest outdoor advertising companies in the valley: Reagan Outdoor and Young Electric Sign Company.

Earlier this year, “God” announced plans to place a billboard in Topeka, KS, home of Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church.

A fundraising effort was launched on Indiegogo, an internet-based crowdsourcing platform.

The response was so overwhelming that God moved forward with other plans. Over $30,000 has been raised and donated to The Trevor Project, Planting for Peace, and the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

Additional money was raised to buy bus ads in Topeka. The decision was then made to start raising funds for billboards in other locations.

Mark Lawrence of Restore Our Humanity, the group that initiated the Kitchen v.

Herbert lawsuit for marriage equality in Utah, contacted God and suggested Salt Lake City as the next possible billboard site. God agreed and set a $20,000 fundraising goal to make it happen. As off press time, less than $8,000 is needed to achieve that goal.

Lawrence undertook the project to find the best possible location for the billboard, but when he contacted Young Electric Sign Company and Reagan Outdoor Advertising he was told that they would not

sell him the billboard space for the project.

This reporter contacted both companies for comment. Reagan did not return calls.

Jeff Young, Chief Marketing Officer of YESCO, provided the following statement: “YESCO evaluates all requests for advertising placement to make the best decision for our clients, our company and the communities in which we operate. We balance that with a strong commitment to adhere to community standards and to ensure that the messages placed are not offensive towards any business, group or individual.”

A follow-up email asking what was

deemed to be potentially offensive, and to whom, remains unanswered as of press time.

This isn’t the first time that Reagan and YESCO have denied billboards. Earlier this year the American Atheists attempted to purchase boards to advertise their national convention, held in Salt Lake City in April.

Both Reagan and YESCO denied the signs, with YESCO issuing a very similar canned statement.

American Atheists Public Relations Director Dave Muscato commented: “Atheists exist, and that’s true and will continue to be true whether Mormons like it or not. We’re not bad people and pretending that we don’t exist or denying us services because we use the “A”-word is not only discriminatory but it shows just how much they fear people finding out that the lies they tell us about us aren’t true. Indoctrination requires isolation from information, and it really says a lot about the Christian mindset that they feel they have to demonize us and silence us—it says that they’re afraid of finding out they’re wrong, and that’s a very important message.”

When asked for his comment on the denial, God added: “So the idea that God loves gay people is offensive to them? So they are saying that Mormons believe that God hates gay people? Isn’t that infinitely MORE offensive?” Q The crowdfunding project for the billboard can be found at bit.ly/godbillboard.

Transgender civic engagement project started in Utah County According to the organizer of the newly formed Transgender Civic Engagement Project, three out of four Utahns know someone who is gay or lesbian, but only one in ten know a trans* person.

“This leads to many inaccurate default assumptions based on media imagery and stereotypes,” organizer Kristin Smith said.

“Throughout my coming out process the most effective way to dispel the many myths and fears surrounding transition has been to have actual face to face, normal human interaction with those who might feel uncomfortable about my transition.”

Born, raised and still living in Pleasant Grove, Utah, Smith sees no reason to leave.

She has been married to her wife for 16 years and has four children.

“I find the political, religious, and social dynamic here to be so unique and fascinating,” she said.

She said the idea of TCEP started four years ago.

“I have found transition to be an inherently self-centered process. Self-focus is crucial to be successful,” she said. “But somewhere during my own transition experience I realized that I rarely considered the needs of others outside the sphere of my transition, and I often failed to engage in the very society that I was fighting for acceptance in. Transgender people face many barriers to active participation in society, and I think this idea arose from the desire to eliminate or reduce as many of those barriers as possible.”

On Sept. 13, the group did its first project as part of a kick-off for Provo Pride, beautifying the grounds of the historic Brigham Young Academy building which now houses the Provo City Library.

Smith hopes that the project will take off and help increase understanding of trans* issues and trans* people. Q More information on the project is on their Facebook page at bit.ly/tceputah

NEWS | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 15

october 2014 | issue 236 | gaysaltlake.com

Q&A with God

BY BOB HENLINE

God is

getting quite a lot of media attention these days. First, there was the “God Loves Gays” billboard in Topeka, KS. Now, if space can be found, it looks like another is on its way to Salt Lake City. QSaltLake’s Bob Henline sat down with God to ask about the project, his past, and his plans for the future.

Bob: Where do you live?

God: Heaven. I have a summer home on Kolob.

How long have you been God? Not sure, but it feels like forever.

What made you decide to become God? I just sort of fell into it, ya know? Been doing this so long I don’t even remember when I started.

What were your most memorable experiences (both good and bad) in your time as God? The dinosaurs were a lot of fun. The Flood. Pretending to be human was fun but difficult. If I could go back to the start, I’d spend more time on humans. I was on a frantic 6-day schedule which led to some poor results.

Your statement on the Indiegogo page is pretty clear about why you decided to do the billboard, how has that been received? Very well, for those who actually read. Most people on the Internet refuse to read anything longer than a sentence.

The campaign has grown from its initial goal, you’ve now raised $30,000 for The Trevor Project, Planting for Peace and the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Why did you choose these particular groups? Many LGBT youth are made to feel so unwelcome in this society.

They often struggle with homelessness, depression, and feelings of suicide. The Trevor Project and the Equality House work to help LGBT youth by providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services. The National Alliance to End Homelessness works to do exactly that; end homelessness. Veterans have also been targeted in the past and so many of our homeless today are veterans. It’s extremely important to help them.

You mentioned in your email that you’ve received a number of questions from

LGBT youth who feel out of place in our society. What message would you give to kids who are right now coming to terms with who they are in an often hostile world? Breathe deep and know that it will get better. Don’t worry about what bigots say. You are perfect just as you are. God loves you.

Respond to critics who label what you’re doing as “trolling.” The one thing the devil cannot stand is to be mocked and ridiculed. Lol ... what an insecure prick.

Utah’s Attorney General has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, defending Utah’s “right” to prohibit same-sex marriage. 80 elected members of the legislature have filed an amicus brief supporting

that appeal. What message do you have for them? God loves LGBT people. As such, all their amicus briefs shall be smited down by the Supreme Court.

What is “God’s plan” for the future? In 1978 the Mormon Church changed its mind about black people. I shall change their mind about gay people as well.

And, I have to ask, why the flood? Was there really no alternative to genocide or were you just having a really bad day? Hey, sometimes you just have to turn it off and turn it back on again and it fixes the glitch. It didn’t work, but I had to try. I had to. The guy on the phone from Universe Tech Support told Me to and was pretty insistent. Q

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16 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | NEWS

gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014

Out former Weber State football player talks of evolving acceptance As part of the second annual Allen Holmes Diversity Symposium on Sept. 9, Weber State University hosted Wade Davis II, a former WSU football star who spent four years in the NFL. Davis announced he was gay in 2012, nine years after the conclusion of his professional football career.

Since retiring, Davis has worked to open doors and change perceptions of gay athletes.

He is the executive director of You Can Play, an organization dedicated to ensuring equality, respect and safety for all athletes, without regard to sexual orientation.

Davis spent the day on campus, speaking to two groups and lunching with people from the newly formed WSU LGBT Resource Center.

Davis said he was confused about his sexuality as a teen, but while playing at WSU, knew he was gay but was concerned he wouldn’t be accepted by the team and coaches.

Davis had two goals for his visit.

“I want to leave with two things accomplished,” he said. “Knowing that I learned a lot about how to be a better advocate, and that people leave here with a different perspective on what they thought it was like to be gay in this world.”

Davis said the most difficult hurdle in acceptance of gay and lesbian people is centered around the awkwardness of the discussion of sex.

“Acceptance of others has to come after acceptance of one’s self,” he said.

Q mmunity Big Gay Fun Buses resume in October, announce season pass Fall through spring is Big Gay Fun Bus season and they are starting soon. Every 6 weeks from mid October to April, QSaltLake and the Matrons of Mayhem host charity buses to Wendover. A Matron calls bingo for hundreds of dollars worth of prizes, jello shots are slurped and Odometer Roulette is played. This year, VIP season passes save riders cash, offer reserved seating and other special treats.

WHEN: First bus Saturday, Oct. 19, noon-9pm

Davis said he felt isolated and afraid while he was a player.

“I know for myself the safest place to be was with my teammates, but when I was all by myself the loneliness was loud,” he said.

Davis believes that acceptance is possible if people step outside of their own box. He said that he expects a lot of change for the better in his lifetime.

“I’m an optimist. I see the evolution happening,” Davis said. “It’s a slow process, but it’s happening.”

Davis also offered his advice to those struggling to come out.

“First, always try to find an ally,” he said.

“Find a person who you can trust. Second, read about your history. It’s empowering because they did it, and they did OK. Lastly, through that process, figure out how to love yourself.” Q

Equality Utah’s 13th Allies Dinner to draw 2300 Each year, Equality Utah hosts its gala event, the Allies Dinner, at the Salt Palace Grand Ballroom. Thousands attend to help run the organization and raise funds for fair-minded candidates running for office.

For the dinner’s 13th year, the human rights group selected the following people and organization as “Allies of the Year:” Salt Lake District Attorney Sim Gill, Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker and Affirmation LGBT Mormons Families and Friends.

The chairs of this year’s dinner are Donna and Michael Weinholtz, and Dayne Law. This year’s dinner will be held Sept. 26 at the Salt Palace Grand Ballroom. The event kicks with a Capitol Club Reception at 5:30 p.m. The general reception begins at 6 p.m., and dinner will be served at 7 p.m. Dress is “city sharp” and tickets are available at equalityutah.org/alliesdinner. Q

WHERE: Club Try-Angles, 249 w 900 S TICKETS/INFO: biggayfunbus.com

South INFO: molsen1830@gmail.com or jerrybuie@ mac.com.

Sage Fall Potluck and Annual Sage Awards The final SAGE Utah potluck of 2014 and the group’s Annual Awards event will take place at the historic Chase Mill at the Tracy Aviary.

Potluck items are as follows, based the first letter of your last name: A-G: Appetizer dishes, H-R: Entree dishes or side dishes, S-Z: Dessert dishes. Beverages will be provided by Sage Utah.

WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 11, 6 p.m.

WHERE: Chase Mill at Tracy Aviary, south west corner of Liberty Park, 500 E and 1300

10 for TEA Jitterbug Coffee Hop is sponsoring a “10 for TEA” event. All beverages purchased from noon t 4 p.m. are eligible. A ten percent donation will be made to TEA of Utah for any beverage purchased if you mention “10 for TEA” at the register. Jitterbug offers coffee, chai, hot chocolate, tea, latte and smoothies.

WHEN: Sunday, Oct. 19 WHERE: Jitterbug Coffee Hop, 1855 S. 700 East INFO: teaofutah.org

october 2014 | issue 236 | gaysaltlake.com

NEWS | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 17

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18 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | VIEWS

“ “ “ “ “ “ “ “

views

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is God’s gift.

Tha’s why we call it the present.”

gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014

just some funny quotes this time

—Joan Rivers

I don’t exercise. If God wanted me to bend over, he would have put diamonds on the floor.”

—Joan Rivers

Looking 50 is great, if you’re 60.”

—Joan Rivers

I told my mother-in-law that my house was her house. She said ‘get the hell off my property.’”

—Joan Rivers

I’ve had so much plastic surgery, when I die they will donate my body to Tupperware”

—Joan Rivers

I think that gay marriage should be between a man and a woman.”

–Arnold Schwartsenegger

I support gay marriage.

I believe they have a right to be as miserable as the rest of us.

–Kinky Friedman

Claiming that someone’s marriage is against your religion is like being angry at someone for eating a donut because you’re on a diet.”

—Anonymous

“

Even if being gay is a choice, so what? People choose to be assholes and they can still get married.

“

—Unknown

I’m not gay; I’m not straight. I’m Graight!

—A bisexual somewhere in the world

“ “ “

Instead of ‘Gay friends’ can we say ‘Homiesexuals’?”

—Ellen DeGeneres

“I like my men like I like my wallet, chubby and covered in leather.”

QSaltLake Magazine welcomes your letters to the editor.

Please send your letter

—A leather chaser somewhere in the world

of 300 words or less to

Being around gay people makes you gay, just like being around tall people makes you tall.

letters@qsaltlake.com.

—Unknown

We reserve the right to edit for length or libel if a letter is chosen for publication.

VIEWS | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 19

october 2014 | issue 236 | gaysaltlake.com

the straight line

Stay focused

BY BOB HENLINE

It’s been

a tumultuous summer, to say the least, in just about every way imaginable. All across the nation the dominoes are falling. The floodgates opened by Judge Shelby last December have created a tidal wave of change, bringing hope to millions of Americans.

That hope and joy have been tempered, however, by the reactionary backlash of the bigots in our midst. While the overwhelming majority of federal judicial decisions have been very strong (to the point of almost brutal) in support of equality those rulings have also all been stayed pending final resolution by the United States Supreme Court.

In Utah we’re at the vortex of this swirling tide. In addition to the Kitchen v. Herbert case, which now appears to be on the fast-track to SCOTUS, the Evans case demanding recognition of the 1,300 or so legally-contracted marriages is also pending in federal court.

Utah’s government is now leading the charge to maintain institutionalized bigotry through marriage law.

In the midst of the marriage discussion, Utah’s Legislature opted for the coward’s way out and refused to reconsider statewide nondiscrimination protections in housing and employment for LGBT citizens. Given their stated excuse, waiting for Supreme Court action on marriage, and their backward, provincial, and generally bigoted track record, don’t look for any movement on statewide protections this year, either.

Adding just a bit more to the confusion, Equality Utah finds itself in search of a new executive director. Brandie Balken, arguably the most stable and level-headed of this community’s leaders, has left the state for a new opportunity.

EU’s board chair, Cliff Rosky, has indicated that the search for a new executive director is going well, and that Balken prepared the organization well for the transition, but this is still a break in continuity and the new ED, whoever it is, has awfully big shoes to fill as we approach the 2015 session.

It’s pretty easy, with all of this happening, to take a step back and wait for the dust to settle. Doing so, however, would be a big mistake. Now is the time to focus. Now more than ever. I expect the 2015 session to be a morass of backward nonsense. Hate legislation, thinly if even, disguised as religious freedom or family protection will be the order of the day. Keeping these bills off the books will require extreme vigilance and herculean effort.

I predict that Equality Utah is going to be stretched pretty thin during this upcoming session, fighting fire after fire. I also don’t anticipate that there will be too many legislators that will be willing to risk their personal political capital pushing for a bill, like statewide protections, that is opposed

by Republican leadership. We learned that lesson last year, when not a single member of the Senate was willing to make the motion to pull the bill from committee.

As we head into 2015 and beyond, it has become

increasingly important that we maintain our focus and keep up the work for equality. Now is the time to work in the legislature to prevent backsliding through seemingly innocuous legislation that will create additional loopholes in the guise of religious freedom. Gains in the realm of nondiscrimination protections will have to come

from municipalities, something that Equality Utah has done very well in years past.

And while it seems that marriage equality will become the law of the land within the next year or two, there is still much work to be done toward ensuring full equality for all Utahns.

Stay focused and keep fighting the good fight! Q

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20 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | VIEWS

gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014

queer shift

Age 40 and lists — Shift Being an

BY CHARLES FROST

aging gay man can stir up tremendous feelings, emotions and change. A lot of gay men find turning 40 frightening. In fact, having worked with SAGE Utah the last three years, we developed a category called ‘Pre-Sage,’ which is for gay men 40-50; our hope was to allow them a gradual and smooth decade of transition before hitting the Sage age of 50. It seems to be working, and for that I am happy. As we gay men age—our wisdom, experience, opportunities become more plentiful and diverse. I recently read an article on QUEERTY entitled “40 Things Every Gay Man Should Do Before Turning 40,” Here’s half the list they suggested, and the link if you wish to read all 40 things every gay man should do before turning 40.

Dress up in drag.

Dress up in leather.

Accept that you will never have sex with Jake Gyllenhaal.

Donate to The Human Rights Campaign, The Trevor Project, Gay Men’s Health Crisis or other gay advocacy organization.

Expand your horizons. Find a fetish.

Stop wearing T-shirts that are two sizes too small.

Date someone that is at least 10 years older than you.

Date someone that is at least 5 years younger than you.

Stop being afraid of lesbians.

Go to therapy.

Have sex on a beach, in a park, in an elevator, on a roof, in a car, in the desert, and your parent’s house.

Volunteer at an LBGT Senior Center. (SAGE) Stay friends with a former lover.

Have sex in a foreign country.

Make peace with your parents.

Know your status. Get an HIV test.

Fall in love.

Take your boyfriend home for the family Thanksgiving.

Stop manscaping everything.

COME OUT! Well, for those of you who know me, these types of lists are fun, informative and enjoyable to see whether I agree with the items listed or not. So, I got to thinking why not a list of “40 Things Every Gay Man Should Do After Turning 40.” Why the hell not. Life is NOT over at 40. Fact: gay men and their

ridiculous obsession with youth, beauty, body image and appearance can be exhausting.

Exhausting if you are observing the absurd behaviors in others or even worse in yourself.

Age 40+ is hot, happening, and full of hope.

So here’s my list of 40 things all gay men should do after turning 40. Love it. Hate it.

Agree or disagree, however please consider the benefits and joy in all the many phases of your life, and attract and allow the best life you can for yourself regardless of your age.

Gay men are unique, different, incomparable and we make the world better with all we have to offer.

Over 40 possibilities: 1. Travel to your dream destination(s).

2. Tell everyone how much you love them, in words, writing, and especially things you do for them.

3. Take living parents and grandparents out to dinner, grab the vital moments telling them how you feel.

4. Spend a whole day with your dog.

5. Take a day without any technology.t 6. Have no regrets (“Non, rien de rien, Non, je ne regrette rien”) 7. Embrace your age, this one thing is at the top of possessing self-worth.

8. Intergenerational connection, collaboration, cooperation, it’s your job to understand and to educate yourself—about those who are younger and queer.

9. Volunteer for an organization other than an LGBTQ one.

10. Read W.H. Auden, e.e. Cummings, Walt Whitman, Edward Albee, William S. Burroughs. Know your gay writers, authors, historians, contributors.

11. Stop having patience for arrogance, ego and elitism in others and in yourself.

12. Know your legendary drag queens, such as Divine, Dame Edna, Sherry Vine, Joey Arias, and others. Love RuPaul, but she didn’t come first—share that with younger gay men will you?

13. Know your pivotal Gay Movement Points, Civil Rights, Political History, and talk about it to Millennials with conviction and passion.

14. Finally learn to cook, I’m talking gourmet; entertain, share life with others.

15. Create a What Makes Life Worth Living list, and then read and partake weekly.

16. Concerts, opera, theatre, ballet, symphonies.

Go if you haven’t; take a young gay man if you are a connoisseur, and talk about the experience afterward.

17. Watch Internet porn and literally fry your right nostril from amyl nitrate.

18. Live each day, week, year, as though it were your last.

19. Dress your age. Seriously.

20. If not already there, get your ass once and forever to authenticity.

21. Dating and marriage—if you’ve figured it out congratulations, and if not, fast track your learning curve.

22. Fitness, yoga, gym, jump start your metabolism. Get essential checkups.

23. Diet. A simple game plan that ensures a lifetime of health and happiness. Eat breakfast. Pump up protein, (I’m not referring to masturbation.)

24. Schedule a colo-rectal examination with your doctor. (pretend it’s a date) 25. Deconstruct drinking, drugs and dick, and find a balance—Fast. Aging is a bitch, accept that. However, slug the bitch daily, every way you can.

26. Full tilt push self-spirituality as defined by you. (Religion, only if you need it.)

27. Perform, create art, cook, teach or take a class, get into planting and gardening.

28. Create a list of 10 things you will learn to do, and go after that list!

29. If married, add spice, variety, difference. Be adventurous with your partner or spouse.

30. If single, put yourself out there, and in several different ways.

31. Donate to causes, people and organizations you trust, believe in and see results from.

32. Go to therapy.

33. Rediscover your fear of lesbians. Keep those in your life that are part of your true chosen family. : ) 34. Eliminate, delegate, simplify.

35. Narrow and value your list of friends. Share your life with the best, the others find a way to become less committed.

36. Don’t become a Facebook addict, and don’t post mundane shit that only makes you look and sound lonely, desperate or seeking pity.

37. Beware of Grindr, Growler, Prowler, Jack’d, Scruff. Limit your intake.

38. Explore the dark side of sex, if you haven’t done so already by the age of 40. If you have, consider winding it down to quality sex. Find the balance of what you need. Get tested, know your status.

39. Know your wines, the whole spectrum, from white zinfandel to a dark, robust cabernet.

Be a snob. Enjoy.

40. COMING OUT never ends. Do it with aplomb.

Thanks for reading the ramblings of a well over 40 gay man. Give me some feedback if you disagree or agree. I love feedback. Q

VIEWS | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 21

october 2014 | issue 236 | gaysaltlake.com

who’s your daddy?

No sex, please, we’re parents

Rose Park Online 45 feet away Single

BY CHRISTOPHER KATIS

Sex is an

important part of life for everyone. But for gay people, sex plays a greater role in defining who we are. It is, after all, with whom we have sex that makes us different from straight people. Being a parent can make intimacy a real challenge, and that can be especially true for LGBT parents.

I asked renowned clinical sexologist, and marriage and family therapist, Kat Van Kirk, Ph.D., why kids can have such a negative impact on their parents’ sex lives, and specifically what LGBT parents can do to reignite the spark. Dr. Kat, as she is known, is the resident sex expert at AdamandEve. com, the nation’s leading Internet retailer of intimate adult products.

Dr. Kat says that ruts aren’t unusual, especially for longterm couples.

After a while, So, what can many couples be done to help just move into gay and lesbian “autopilot” when parents get their dealing with the everyday stresses mojo back? of life like work, kids and finances.

With children comes a certain level of monotony because they become the top priority in a relationship. It’s a job that I can say from personal experience can be overwhelming.

For gay and lesbian couples the added stress that comes from society at large not knowing exactly how to relate to us can compound the issue. Adding kids to the mix only exacerbates that stress. Although changing, the lack of cultural role models for healthy long-term couples with kids means many couples don’t realize there is a hierarchy of care in all family relationships.

Dr. Kat says that most parents are unaware that hierarchy places self care first, the couple relationship second, and the children third. That’s an order I’d wager most parents ignore. However, the good

doctor suggests that by not recognizing the importance of the first two priorities almost guarantees that the kids will experience adverse effects.

So, what can be done to help gay and lesbian parents get their mojo back? Well, Dr. Kat offered three interesting suggestions: 1. Become a sexual opportunist. “Don’t wait for a date night or for all of the stars to align to have sex, but begin to look for any period of time throughout the day that may lead to physical contact.” Dr. Kat told me, “Physical contact increases the ‘bonding’ hormone oxytocin and often leads to better and more frequent sex.”

2. Dial back the sex play. Rather than go for full-on sex with an expected result, slow it down. Dr. Kat says this can be achieved by focusing on all the bodily sensations involved with being intimate without concerning yourself with any predetermined outcome.

3. Quality versus quantity sex. Dr. Kat added, “Long-term couples can learn that quickies are not only okay, but can actually be preferred. Research suggests that the more physical contact couples have during the week, the more orgasms and satisfaction they tend to have over all.”

Since I had access to a rather unique expert, I took the opportunity to ask her what Kelly and I could do to potentially spice up our own relationship. She told me, “Doing mildly ridiculous things like sneaking up behind your partner, sleeping the wrong way in the bed, and having a picnic on the floor are all ways to connect with our inner sense of fun, creating spontaneity and destroying rigid constructs.”

After sharing a bed for more than 26 years, the man has seen me sleep upside down, downside up and every which way.

So I’m not sure that will work, but I do like her thinking! If you’d like to learn more about Dr. Kat, check out her website, drkat.com. Q

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22 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | VIEWS

gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014

lambda lore

Celebrating allies from our history

BY BEN WILLIAMS

I love

October. Not only is Oct, 11 National Coming Out Day and Oct. 31 our unofficial national holiday, Halloween, but also the entire month is dedicated to Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender history.

One of the great paradigm shifts that has occurred between the generation of older gay Baby Boomers like myself, especially activists, and today’s Generation X’ers and Millennials is the perception of what the roll should be of straight people in our lives and communities.

I discovered while talking with friends in their 30’s and younger, that many of them said they had more straight friends than gay friends. I was surprised by this because almost all my friends, especially my closest friends, are all gay, which seemed to be the case with many gay people 45 years and older. The realization that among younger people, straight people are no longer seen as a threat is truly amazing, fascinating and encouraging to me.

Since we live in a world full of straight allies, who support and promote our struggle for equality here in Utah, it is hard to imagine a time when it was not always so. There was a time when being a friend of the gay community was almost as dangerous as being gay itself.

For most my life I lived in fear of straight people. I filtered how I spoke. I censored my experiences, and was constantly on guard against aggression. I think many of my generation felt the same. We built communities for each other, not just to thrive, but also to survive.

The anger, at being forced to live an unauthentic life to placate heterosexual sensibilities, bubbled to the surface with the rise of Queer Nation in 1990, a gay separatist movement. The slogan “I hate straights” and QN’s Manifesto reflected how many gay people felt living in a society dominated by people sometimes derisively called “breeders.” The opening paragraph of the manifesto below sets the tone that called for a separate queer space.

“How can I tell you. How can I convince you, brother; sister that your life is in danger… There is nothing on this planet that validates, protects or encourages your existence. It is a miracle you are standing here reading these words. You should by all rights be dead.”

The raw anger of this message resonated as thousands were dying of AIDS, and the Supreme Court had recently denied gay people

even the fundamental right to privacy. For gay people there were no protections from being fired from their job or being evicted from their home. The worst was they had no right to be with, or make decisions for, their dying lover.

Vitriolic attacks by radical straights of the Reagan era and the malignant neglect of the heterosexual majority made the extremist rhetoric of the Queer Nation Manifesto seem not so excessive to us, the oppressed. We accepted as a truism the statement: “Straight people are your enemy. They are your enemy when they don’t acknowledge your invisibility and continue to live in and contribute to a culture that kills you.”

Times were so bad in the 1980’s we had to create a National Coming Out Day to encourage people to come out as a homosexual. The sentiment was that people who were closeted harmed those who were out by having to face the onslaught alone. Remember we had no allies. Just each other. “When I risk it all to be out, I risk it for both of us.”

If it was that hard being out and gay, imagine how hard it was before the 21st century paradigm shift for straight people to be allies.

It was hard. It was hard to say you stood for gay rights when most straight people equated us with pedophilia and carriers of a deadly infectious disease. But there they were.

Limited space allows me to name just a few of the gallant allies who helped, supported and loved us.

Lee Caputo and Elvin Gerrard were two straight business partners who opened Radio City Lounge on State Street in 1948. Yes, they made a living off of the Gay community, but they allowed gay people to have a social outlet for nearly 60 years. While their bar was threatened with closure and was harassed by the police, it was at one time the most famous homosexual bars in the tristate area of Utah, Idaho and Wyoming.

Rose Carrier, a straight woman, began her career tending bar in 1954 and eventually worked at most of the gay bars in her long career. She was a surrogate mother to many and for over 40 years she was a nonjudgmental soul who listened to the cares and woes of her gay friends.

She gave love to those who felt unloved.

Shirley Pedler, as director of Utah’s ACLU, was the first to publicly defend homosexual rights in Utah. In 1977 she condemned Hotel Utah’s cancellation of a Gay Pride event.

Later in 1980, Pedler filed a class action suit against BYU on behalf of the homosexual students being entrapped by campus security.

In 1986 she supported David Nelson’s failed attempt to get the Salt Lake City council to adopt a human rights bill for minority groups, including gays.

Carol Lynn Pearson, a Mormon straight woman, wrote a book in 1985 about the death of her gay husband from AIDS. As a renowned author and poet within the LDS community, her willingness to embrace gays gave other Mormons license to love and care for their dying children and spouses.

People Who Care began as an unofficial Mormon support group for parents of gays.

Founded by two Mormon mothers, Gerry Johnson and Lucille Warren in 1986, they predated a Utah Chapter of PFLAG by seven years. At the 1988 Fourth Annual Fordham Debate held at the U of U College of Law, Johnson sat on a panel as a proponent of gay rights.

Dr. R. Jan Stout was a respected professor of psychiatry at the U of U Medical Center.

In 1987 he promoted the unpopular position that “the preponderance of evidence suggests that homosexuality is neither a matter of choice nor a question of identifiable environmental factors.” This was at a time when others were promoting homosexuality as a chosen lifestyle.

Tom Godfrey, a straight SLC councilman, gave the opening address at Affirmation’s 1987 International Conference. In 1989 he became the first Utah politician to speak at Gay Pride Day. He welcomed the participants saying “the fact that you are here enjoying yourselves without being harassed proves progress has been made toward acceptance of individual choice.” His GOP opponent attacked him severely for attending Pride.

Rev. Barbara Hamilton-Holway, a co-minister of South Valley Unitarian-Universalist Association from 1987 to1996, was a staunch defender of homosexuals and their rights to have the same privileges as heterosexuals. She once stated, “AIDS is no more evidence that sex is dirty than an airborne virus is evidence that breathing is dirty.”

Gary and Millie Watts attended the newly formed Family Fellowship in 1993 and since that time have been very vocal and public supporters of the rights of gay people. Gary believes that homosexuality is not a choice, but rather a discovery. He said, “We want exactly the same things for all our children, gay or straight, including the right to be with someone they love.”

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.

Those who profess to favor freedom and yet renounce controversy are people who want crops without ploughing the ground.” —Frederick Douglas Q

VIEWS | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 23

october 2014 | issue 236 | gaysaltlake.com

creep of the week

Linda Harvey

BY D’ANNE WITKOWSKI

I was in

tenth grade when Bill Clinton was running for President. One day during French class, somebody made a comment about how they hoped he would win. A handful of other students mumbled their agreement. But then a girl in my class, who I will call Karen because her name was Karen, red-faced, cried out, “But he wants to let homosexuals serve in the military!” As I remember it, the response to her outcry was a collective shrug.

Which is not nothing considering the time and place, a predominately white and Republican city in Michigan.

I don’t know what became of Karen, but I can’t help but wonder if she grew up to be someone like Linda Harvey, author of “Maybe He’s Not Gay: Another View on Homosexuality.” Harvey and her group Mission America see gay bogeymen everywhere and are, essentially, always on high homo alert, constantly sounding the alarm bells.

And with school beginning across the country, Harvey is screaming from the rooftops that “the gays are after your children.”

In an Aug. 29 screed on World Net Daily, Harvey warns of “pink propaganda” in public schools.

“While your children frolicked at the lake, visited Grandma and sang songs at summer camp, the leaders of America’s education system prepared more essential ‘LGBT’ lessons to infuse into the hearts of Chloe, Emma and James,” Harvey warns. “Most will be packed with insidious, Christ-less lies that present

great risk to every child’s medical, social and spiritual future.”

As evidence, she points to an Aug. 26 Huffington Post piece by openly gay teacher Anthony Nicodemo titled “5 Ways to Make Your Classroom LGBT Inclusive.” Nicodemo’s advice includes things like being someone LGBT kids can trust and not assuming every kid you encounter is straight when you talk to them about girlfriends or boyfriends.

This last idea is scandalous, according to Harvey. “But what if he is straight, as most boys are (or should be)?” Harvey asks.

Okay, I’m just going to jump in right here. Because do you really need to hear more after “or should be?” It’s clear that Harvey doesn’t get it and that she cannot empathize with LGBT kids and what it feels like to have people assume you are something you are not day in and day out, always casting you as an undesirable “other.”

Harvey seems to think that Nicodemo is advocating some kind of public humiliation rather than simple inclusivity.

“Good plan, teacher! Put our boys on the spot. Start rumors.

Fuel adolescent insecurities,” Harvey laments. “But it’s all for the greater cause of deceptively painting the ‘gay’ identity with glorious rainbow colors, and not in the blackness of sin it deserves.”

I’m not sure how Harvey goes from using “girlfriend or boyfriend” in a sentence to showing kids how “absolutely fabulous” being gay is, but it no doubt uses some very tortured, and NSFW, logic.

Harvey’s column is basically an anti-public school PSA.

“The smart parent will seek a responsible faith-based alternative, or else be prepared to teach constantly against the curriculum and its wicked indoctrination,” she writes.

“Yet the sad reality is that your children may still decide to believe the school, not you.”

It is true. If you try to make your kid conform to your narrow-minded and hateful worldview that rejects reality

in favor of a paranoid fiction where LGBT people are some kind of enemy force then, yes, there is a chance that your kid will one day decide you’re full of shit. That’s the chance you take, I guess. Q D’Anne Witkowski has been gay for pay since 2003. She’s a freelance writer and poet (believe it!). When she’s not taking on the creeps of the world she reviews rock and roll shows in Detroit with her twin sister and teaches writing at the University of Michigan.

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24 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | VIEWS

gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014

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that pissed me off the most after Michael Sam came out as gay in February was the regular chatter in the NFL about how having an openly gay player would be such a distraction. It was trotted out before and after the draft, before training camp, during the preseason and after Sam was cut and was looking for another team.

While there certainly was much increased media attention on Sam, the St. Louis Rams handled it smoothly and the players and coaches all said Sam was no distraction.

I wrote last week -- partly in jest -- that the league would welcome another openly gay player to take the attention off the Ray Rice domestic abuse story. Sunday intensified those feelings: The Rice story, Commissioner Roger Goodell’s role (what did he know and when did he know it?) and the league’s announced “independent” investigation dominated the network pregame shows.

During the day it was revealed that Rice plans on appealing his indefinite suspension citing double jeopardy. He was originally suspended two games, but that became indefinite after the video showing him decking his now-wife surfaced.

This story is not going away.

Joining Rice as a major distraction was Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings, indicted on charges of child abuse for using a switch to punish his 4-year-old son.

Peterson was deactivated by the Vikings and his status with

the team and the league is very much up in the air. It’s never a good week for a league when the two biggest stories involve its players being involved in cases of domestic abuse and child abuse.

The Carolina Panthers have their own headaches with defensive lineman Greg Hardy, convicted of domestic abuse.

He is appealing the conviction so the Panthers let him play Week 1, but that was before the Rice video became public.

This week the Panthers sat him since they were facing calls that they were being too lenient.

Finally, San FrancisSam, co 49ers defenmeanwhile, sive is quietly lineman playing on the Ray McDonald practice squad conof the Dallas tinues Cowboys to play despite charges of domestic abuse. The team says it is letting the legal process work itself out first.

Michael Sam, meanwhile, is quietly playing on the practice squad of the Dallas Cowboys, working towards what he hopes will be a spot on the team’s active roster. The next time you hear anyone claim that a player simply coming out as gay without any other circumstances will cause a distraction, tell them to STFU. Jim Buzinski is the co-founder of Outsports.com. He is also a huge NFL fan.

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VIEWS | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 25

26 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | Q&A

gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014

Laverne Cox wakes up ‘Orange is the New Black’ actress will speak at three Utah events in the next several weeks

Laverne

Cox has been on the covers of publications small and large, now including this one. Her Time Magazine cover, however, sparked discussion of trans* issues across the nation from the water cooler to family dinner to the National Review, which ran the headline, “Laverne Cox is not a Woman.”

Her career to a giant leap forward when she was nominated for an Emmy Award for her portrayal of Sophia Burset in the Netflix series, Orange is the New Black.

Cox has become the face of transgender Americans.

She has spo-

ken before large audiences about issues such as bullying, violence and police persecution of trans* people.

It is for these reasons that she was invited keynote both the Equality Utah Allies dinner in late September, and the University of Utah Pride Week in October. She will also speak at a breakfast being held as a fundraiser for TEA of Utah the morning of her Allies Dinner appearance.

Catching up with her for an interview proved impossible, however we have been given permission to pass on a speech she gave at the Creating Change conference in Chicago earlier this year.

I have to say that a black transgender woman, from a working class background, raised by a single mother — that’s me — getting all this love feels like the change I need to see more of in this country.

Cornel West reminds us that justice

Q&A | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 27

october 2014 | issue 236 | gaysaltlake.com

is what love looks like in public, and this feels so just right now, yes. But I have to tell you that I am not used to receiving this kind of love.

WAKE UP Some days I wake up and I’m that 3-, 4-, 5-, 12-, 13-, 14-year-old kid in Mobile, Alabama who was bullied. Some days I wake up and I’m that kid who’s being chased home from school practically every day by groups of kids who wanted to beat me up because I did not act the way that people who are assigned male at birth are supposed to act.

Some days I wake up and I’m that sixth grader who swallowed a bottle of pills because I did not want to be myself anymore, because I did not know how to be anybody else. And who I was, I was told, was a sin, a problem, and I didn’t want to exist. Some days I wake up and I am that black, trans* woman walking the streets of New York City hearing people yell, “That’s a man,” to me.

And I understand, I’ve come to understand that when a trans woman is called a man, that is an act of violence.

Some days I wake up and I am just a girl who wants to be loved, but I was told on more than one occasion by a man who told me that he loved me that he could not be seen in public with me, could not introduce me to friends and family because I am trans*, and not only because I am trans*, because people can tell I am trans*. I am not passable enough by certain standards.

Some days I wake up and I don’t feel good enough. Because I’ve heard that over and over again. I’ve heard it from men I’ve dated, I’ve heard it from members of my own community who told me that I am not passable enough, that I should not go and get surgery for this and that and then I will be an acceptable trans woman.

Some days, I wake up and heard about another one of my transgender sisters who has been assaulted, raped, murdered.

Some days I wake up and it is just too much, there’s too much to deal with, too much pain, there’s too much cultural trauma around being who I am. But then I think, we are a resilient people. I think about so many people who’ve come before me who made my being where I am possible; people like Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson. People like Miss Major. People like Monica Roberts, Kylar Broadus. People like Candice Cayne, who in 2007 became the first trans* woman to have a recurring role on a primetime TV show.

I would not be here without Candice Cayne.

And in the face of so much injustice, we are a resilient people. We are a fierce people.

We are a beautiful people. I am so blessed.

This past year I’ve gotten to meet so many people in our community.

I’ve traveled across the country, and one

major event for me happened last year in March, in Chicago. It was the first ever Trans 100. The realization of the dream of Antonia D’Orsay and Jen Richards.

It was so powerful being in an event created by and for trans people. We were celebrating each other, doing it for ourselves.

It was major for me, it shifted my thinking about who I am and what is possible.

KATIE COURIC INTERVIEW People are talking about an interview I did on the Katie Couric show. For me, that moment was a really amazing example of creating change.

I only want to take partial credit for it. It was Carmen Carrera insisting that there are certain things about her that are private, that trans bodies are not to be subject to everyone’s gaze and objectification.

There is enough spotlight to go around if we love each other, and if we remain teachable. I think that the biggest thing about the Katie Couric moment is that she did a follow-up on that Friday, saying that moment was a teachable moment for her. And many of us have watched, for my entire life I’ve watched folks interview trans people and ask all these invasive questions. I’ve been asked these questions on television before.

But never before have I seen, in mainstream media, a discussion about what is appropriate and not appropriate to ask trans people.

This is not to demonize Katie Couric. I love Katie Couric, but she was just following the lead of so many journalists and talk show hosts over the years. For the past 60 years since Christine Jorgensen stepped off the plane, the conversation about trans people and mainstream media has centered on transition and surgery. And even when there are humanizing moments, it is my contention that the transition and surgery conversation becomes the big take-away, becomes the sensational moment, and our humanity is left in the dust. And so much of the injustice that too many of us experience is not talked about.

We are changing the conversation right now.

JUSTICE I am so happy to be a working actor. It’s a big deal. And on Orange Is the New Black, I play an incarcerated trans woman who is in prison because she stole some credit cards to finance her transition.

Healthcare for trans people is a necessity. It is not elective, it is not cosmetic, it is life-saving.

But we are more than our bodies. The criminalization of trans people is so pervasive in this culture. CeCe McDonald’s case is one example, and I am sure many of you are aware of a 16-year-old girl in California by the name of Jewlyes Gutierrez. Sixteen years

old and was bullied like so many transgender youth; 78 percent of trans youth in grades K-12 experience harassment and bullying in school. That is unacceptable.

And after being taunted over and over again, Jewlyes defended herself. She and the folks who bullied here were all suspended, but the District Attorney decided he would arrest her for assault — for being bullied and defending herself. And she is the only one arrested. This pisses me off.

There is a system in place which seeks to make trans people, particularly trans people of color, disappear. And part of that is the criminal justice system. I live in New York City now where there’ve been a lot of conversations about the stop-and-frisk policy and reforming it, but there really hasn’t been enough talk about how that policy affects trans people, particularly trans women of color.

Trans women are far too often profiled as sex workers and arrested if they have more than one condom in their purse. This is a practice that happens all over the world.

Criminalized simply for wearing a short skirt in the wrong neighborhood. That shit is fucked up.

But that is part of a larger culture which assumes that trans people are illegitimate, that we are fake, that we are always and only the gender that we were assigned at birth.

Arizona tried to criminalize going to the bathroom for transgender people. That was stopped.

But these are the fights that we have to wage every day just to have a sense of legitimacy. But we are resilient people, and we’re strong, and there are so many of you creating that change right here, right now, and back in your home cities.

HAVE THE CONVERSATIONS I was talking to a dear friend of mine, Jeremiah Johnson, who is a brilliant AIDS activist.

We were sitting in my hotel room chatting, and Jeremiah reminded me that he and I have these really difficult conversations across difference. Jeremiah is HIV-positive, and he reminded me that we’ve had difficult conversations where I didn’t exactly know what was the right thing to say to him as an HIV-positive person, and he has not always known what the right thing to say to me as a trans woman, but we still have the conversations. We have those conversations with love, and with empathy and with a desire to get to a level of understanding that we didn’t have before.

And we want to support each other, and we want to be there for each other. Q For information on the events where Cox will be speaking, visit EqualityUtah.org, TEAofUtah.org, lgbt.utah.edu/events/pride.php

28 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | ALLIES

gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014

ALLIES 2014 In celebration of our allies who helped us get to where we are today, we bring you these nominated heroes

Gail Turpin

Kelly Lake

Jen Richmond

Linda & Steve Stay

Kelly Lake of Le Croissant Catering and her business partner, Pat Slade, are committed to equality. For them, that means supporting many LGBTQ organizations and individuals. They have sponsored the Grand Marshal Reception for Utah Pride for three years and will be sponsoring next year as well. They have catered for Ogden OUTreach, the Utah AIDS Foundation and the Love Elevated Mass Wedding Reception earlie this year.

“I have numerous friends and family who are part of the LGBT community,” Lake said. “I despise bullying and injustice, so being an ally to the LGBT community is a very natural fit.”

“It will be wonderful when we don’t need an LGBT civil rights movement,” she said.

“I can’t wait for that day. We don’t often have an opportunity to make a difference on this large of a scale. This matters.

We can influence the future of this country.”

Jen Richmond helped build the LGBT/Allies employee network group at CHG Healthcare. The group’s mission is to build education and awareness of LGBT issues and work place equality, as well as to be a safe place/social group for LGBT employees within the company. The group walked in the 2013 Utah Pride Parade and had a float in 2014.

She helped run a movie night fundraiser earlier this year for Equality Utah, raising $575.

She also volunteers for the EU Allies Dinner.

“For as long as I can remember I’ve never made a distinction between ‘gay’ and ‘straight,’: she said. “I don’t view the movement as ‘gay rights,’ to me it’s just plain and simple human rights.”

“I believe we are just a short time away from marriage equality nationally,” she continued. “I’d like to see nationwide workplace and housing equality as well. I think there is still a lot to be done in the ways of education and public awareness. I’m personally trying to help with this by doing what I can to volunteer and speaking up about LGBT issues with other people.”

St. George’s Linda and Steve Stay began their activism in 2008 delivering petitions to the LDS Church in protest of their involvement in California’s Prop 8. They then organized a candlelight vigil in St. George to gather support for LGBT people and their families in which over 100 people came.

They were in the documentary Film 8: The Mormon Proposition and are active in PFLAG and Equality Utah.

“I have two gay children — a son and a daughter who left the state at 18,” Linda said.

“However, I have adopted hundreds of gay youth (in spirit) who have been rejected by their families.”​ “My goal has always been to normalize gay, so that there is no discussion or movement to be had,” she said. “So to do that, a lot of discussions need to be had. I take advantage of every stage, every panel, every conversation to educate our community on the inequities that exist and help them to see the human cost to those. I will always be that voice of fairness, of humanness, drawing the similarities for all to see.”

After retiring at age 60, Gail Turpin began volunteering at Equality Utah. She has been on the board of the Utah Stonewall Democrats for the past five years and lobbied at the Utah legislature for the state-wide anti-discrimination bill to protect the LGBT community from job and housing discrimination.

She was one of the Capitol 13 who were arrested this year for civil disobedience. She’s been active in PFLAG and the LGBT Public Safety committee and is a frequent contributor to the Salt Lake Tribune letters to the editor page.

“I believe I am living in the best of times for the LGBT community. I believe marriage equality will happen within the next year,” she continued.

“But we still need to pass a state-wide anti-discrimination bill in this state. And we will continue to face hostile members of the community.

As with the African-American community, prejudice will always be there. I would like to be part of the effort to educate people and continue to be involved politically to support those who support us.”

“I am honored to be a part of the human rights movement for the LGBT community.

People in the community often thank me for supporting them.

It’s a no brainer for me. I am a more complete human being for being involved with this community,” she said.

ALLIES | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 29

october 2014 | issue 236 | gaysaltlake.com

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Gary and Millie Watts have been involved in LGBT advocacy since their gay son was excommunicated from the Mormon Church 22 years ago. Since then, they have been co-chairs of the support group, Family Fellowship for 13 years and currently serve on the board. They attended the first PFLAG meeting in SLC and continue to be involved with the group. Gary also served on the national board of PFLAG for seven years. They are also on the Advisory Board of Equality Utah. and co-chaired the Intermountain Conference on Homosexuality for five years.

They organized the Mothers’ Vigil during Prop. 8 that was held at Library Square. They are regulars at nearly every LGBT event there is in the state.

“We have six children. Four are straight and we have a gay son and a lesbian daughter.

After the excommunication of our son, we had a great desire to make the way smooth for LGBT people. We began our advocacy with our children in mind, but soon became acquainted with many LGBT people and became advocates for everyone,” Millie said.

“We have seen a lot of progress in the last 22 years.

Our goal is full equality for everyone,” she continued. “We love the LGBT community and have had so many enjoyable experiences. Thank you for including us in your lives.”

Another Capitol 13 arrestee, Angela Isaacs, is known mostly for her vocal support of the LGBT community within her church.

She has marched with Mormons Building Bridges and was part of the One Voice Choir, which began as a place for LGBT Mormons and allies to sing spiritual music and reach out and share that with the public.

“Deep in my heart I believe that all people are worthy of safety, love, opportunity, and a shot at happiness,” she said.

“From the time I was a little kid growing up in a small, predominantly Mormon town, I would hear people sometimes demean or label gay people as sinners. I felt very strongly that this was wrong and cruel.

When asked why I’m an ally, I laughingly tell people that I was born this way. I now have many LGBT friends in my life, but when I first started learning and being a vocal ally I did not have anyone close to me that was LGBT.” “I want to see young and religious LGBT people not feel the need to turn to suicide because of what they are taught to believe about who they are or because of other people’s beliefs and fears about who they are,” she continued. “I want those young LGBT people to grow up and live, love, marry if they choose, and follow their dreams and goals and talents with as few limitations as possible.”

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30 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | ALLIES

gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014

Barb D’Arco

Peter Brownstein

Kris Cantil

Amy Maple

President of Ogden PFLAG, Barb D’Arco, has been part of her group for four years. She also helped organize Hill Air Force Base’s first pride events last June as part of the HAFB Pride Committee.

“I chose to work with the LGBT community after I learned that two of my three children are gay,” she said. “I have a lesbian daughter and a gay son.”

“I feel that the future of LGBT equality is bright. We are making great strides, especially here in Utah,” she continued. “I am looking forward to the day, coming soon, when all three of my children have the same rights and responsibilities as the other. I have faith that this day will come soon.”

“I’d like to encourage parents and family members of gay children, no matter their age, to seek out their local PFLAG chapter,” she said.

“PFLAG made all the difference for our family and the support and education you will gain from attending our meetings could make the same difference for yours. Ogden PFLAG supports families in Weber and Davis Counties and meets the first Wednesday of each month at Pleasant Valley Library on Adams Ave in Ogden.”

If you have been to Utah Pride or the Utah Pride Parade and seen Boy Scouts as color guard, you have seen Peter Brownstein. He has been working for the past few years to create a Boy Scout troop that would be inclusive to all.

“This started out as being an advocate for scouting and removing a barrier of entry to BSA’a program so more youth could become scouts,” Brownstein said. “As it became more clear that their are many bigots in Scouting, my efforts have taken on more of a human/ civil rights direction.

“My only goal for the LGBT activism would be that as soon as possible, it no longer has a reason for existing, as the goal of civil rights for all would be reached,” he said. “Or they could shift their focus to serving folks who are either left handed of missing a sense of humor.”

“Thank you to so many folks who have helped me work towards my goals for the BSA, as well as having helped me to expand my horizons beyond my comfort zone and learn to embrace those who have a different life experience than I do,” he said.

If you wondered who came up with the “Blue Note Campaign” for HB100 this year, look no further than Kris Cantil. People seeking to talk to their legislators, but turned away, taped the blue request notes to the Utah House doors, covering them each day. Security would remove them at nght, and the doors would be covered again by mid-day. Cantil has also beein on the Salt Lake PFLAG board since 2009.

“I did not have any contact with the LGBT community until my sister came out to me in 1995, and asked for my help and intervention with my parents who were not receiving the information in a healthy manner,” she said. “It was my goal to understand her, embrace her, and to help my parents do the same thing. I immediately began my education, and the education of my parents.”

“In 1999, my 15-year-old son came out to me, and then informed me he was transitioning to a woman. My education began again,” she continued. “In doing so, as a parent, I made a lot of mistakes. I sought to be always be available to anyone who needed a safe place, someone to listen or big shoulders, provide answers to the questions I could and to try to see that families did not repeat the mistakes I had made. I want there to be less pain on both sides. I don’t want to see tolerance, I want to see acceptance”

Amy Maple works with the RAD Youth Council — a group of kids who want to be heard.

She works to make them feel safe, supported, loved, and listened to. Then, she helps them advocate for the LGBT community, and support other local organizations that do the same.

She encourages them to never be quiet, to know that they are perfect just like they are.

“I have someone in my life whom I love very much who is a trans woman,” she said.

“Her fight, struggles, hurt and anxiety should never be felt by any human.”

“My goal is to make sure that the youth in my life know that they are loved, cherished, perfect and safe. I want them to stay alive, because they are incredible and special,” she said. “I will fight to make sure that, in an environment of angry voices, they hear constantly how special and amazing they are.”

“I am surrounded by advocates who do incredible work, and I feel really honored to be counted among them. I understand that many of us have a long way to go in doing everything we can to help our LGBT community have everything they deserve, and I feel incredibly blessed to be supported and educated by incredible people, who are always patient with my questions.”

ALLIES | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 31

october 2014 | issue 236 | gaysaltlake.com

Sim Gill Sim Gill has always supported equal rights for all citizens.

“The rule of law, to have any value at all, must be applied fairly and equally to insure justice,” he said. “I have chosen to represent my citizens — an injustice to one is an injustice to all. I had a childhood friend who was like a brother to me and I saw first-hand his

struggles, fears and discrimination. It was not unlike what I experienced as a person of color and minority. Both of is were seeking justice, fairness and equality. That shared experience has never left me.”

“I wish to see a future where our fears will be left behind on the dustbin of history,” he continued. “We need to get beyond the descriptions of others as our own and need to experience the humanity of individuals and through that we may learn to respect each other’s dignity.”

“Small victories should be enjoyed, but the need to be vigilant has not yet subsided,” he concluded. “We all need to own our democracy, work for it, claim it and own it. This requires effort, drive, compassion and love.

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32 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | ALLIES

gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014

Sexuality 1.0

BY KED KIRKHAM

We need

Jan Lovett

Jan Lovett has been and ally of the LGBTQ community for as long as she can remember. Her defining moment was more than 30 years ago, when the brother of an exboyfriend came out to her.

“He told me he needed to talk to me and proceeded to tell me was gay. My response was, ‘Okay.’ He then repeated to me that he was gay. Again I responded, ‘Okay!’ He was shocked at my response and said, ‘I don’t think you understand that I’m telling you I’m gay, and my entire family has just disowned me,’” she revealed. “My heart broke. We are all human and deserve to be treated equally.”

“My real involvement began when several of my friends asked me to run for the legislature in 2004. That was not an easy decision,” she said. “I did feel however, I could make a difference for the LGBT community and the answer then became simple. I ran for legislature in South Jordan ten years ago, during the year that Amendment 3 was up for a vote. I didn’t win, however it provided me an opportunity to have many conversations about LGBT issues.”

“Equality Utah became an important part of my life, co-chairing the Allies dinner two years in a row and helping out on a third year. I was an Equality Utah board member for six years,” “One of my greatest rewards was the privilege to marry eight couples in December of 2013,” she said. “ “I believe it’s very possible that we will see equality in marriage, before we see it in workplace and housing,” she continued.

“Our work is far from done. As for my personal goals, I will always take the opportunity to have that crucial conversation with friends and relatives and will always be there to support the community at large.”

Marcie Collett Marcie Collett is part of the Utah Film Center, and has had a major role in the “Damn These Heels” LGBT film festival for years. Through that, she has connected with many friends and colleagues at Equality Utah and the Human Rights Campaign.

She is also volunteering for the re-election campaign of state Sen. Jim Dabakis. 2.

“Gay and lesbian people have been close friends of mine throughout my life,” she said. “I worked hard for nonprofit organizations in Denver and Salt Lake City, and my LGBT friends were always supportive and fun and instrumental in the development of my values. Nine years ago, I moved to Utah to get married and was very lucky that my first job was with the Utah Film Center. Especially through the Damn These Heels Film Festival, I developed a community of friends and colleagues who have made it possible for me to enjoy, as well as be proud of, being a Utahn.”

“I think Utah is experiencing some welldeserved karma in the LGBT civil rights movement,” she continued. “Considering the LDS church’s role in Prop 8 passing in California, it is most fitting that the Kitchen, et al v. Herbert case will be the one to actually make history in the modern civil rights movement” “Last December, I was thrilled to brag to my Colorado friends and family about how many of my Utah friends got married.

Even Rachel Maddow was surprised by the scenes of the Utah same sex couples rushing to get married last December. It’s an incredible moment to be an ally — and a Utahn.”

“Gay marriage has been great for my straight marriage,” she said. “Without my LGBT friends, I don’t know if I could have made a life in Utah.”

to address the stories of sex abuse and other misconduct that have long dogged and interrupted our drive for acceptance, liberation and equal rights. This includes histories of accusation, suspicion, bias and fear as well as those of our own guilt and complicity.

From recent sound bites, I begin to believe many of our detractors think a lot about sex; about having sex. Is there any fault in equating sexuality with sex—as in “having” sex? Many of the biases, the fears and attacks on our community have their energy in the “having” of sex. Even the education we receive on sexuality focus on this: Note the concerns over STD, HIV, pregnancy and abstinence.

I was in junior high when I asked what rape was. Someone at some school had been raped, and from there I was taken on to a sketch of reproduction.

A fairly awkward sketch at that. My father did the best he could with the information he had. So my brothers and I learned that rape was one way of making babies. And that it happened to females. And that men do it.

My father passed away this year.

His understanding of human sexuality was far greater than the credit I give it.

He saw rape for what it is—violence and domination. Meanness. But in the beginning he may not have had the capacity to explain that both girls and boys could be, and are raped. I did not have that scope of understanding for a long time, either. Before my father passed away he and I had come to understand much more about sexuality, our respective orientations and about sex, as in “having” it.

This topic has been needling me to come out. I have been inundated with anecdotes to give it voice. Rape, pedophilia, abuse and good old-fashioned sex. If you want to see the stories of the sexual jerk, just open Utah daily newspapers. Any of them. We should be surprised that heterosexuals do not go into some closet.

The LGBT community has jerks.

Don’t deny it. Some horrific examples

GAY WRITES | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 33

october 2014 | issue 236 | gaysaltlake.com

gay writes come to mind quickly. They frighten me.

Rightly. But they are not me. And those incidents are to homosexuality as rape is to procreation.

One of the talking heads said recently “they” just cannot imagine “us” having sex without being queasy.

So I tried. By my estimates, we all would be asleep by 7:30 p.m., Saturdays included.

Oh I know where that goes, what really makes this shudder and weep for joy and even how to make those tingle to the point of—well, you know, too. I’ll leave it at that.

In fact, I don’t think of other people having sex. It’s not my business.

I overheard a comment on my physical development when I was about ten or eleven. It set the need to compare myself with others. Information without education, I call it. It happens with many aspects of sexuality and personal development.

But what if we had that education that would help us navigate our own individual development?

I learned a year ago, or so that an uncle was raped. We compared family events and determined he was about twelve.

The perpetrator was my brother. When I brought this up in my LGBT writing group I was quickly apprised of the phases of experimentation that young people go through. Rape was a harsh term to apply, the prevailing thought seemed to be.

Yes, I know about experimentation.

Exploration. Gaydar gone haywire. I also know what rape means to a victim. And denial. And rationalization. This incident appears to have been a single occurrence.

An experiment in power? Exploration of dominance? Frailty or passiveness confused for femininity? Or femininity taken as sexuality? It does not seem, in the particulars I am familiar with to be homosexuality.

Many of the headlines I read about pedophilia seem to disavow homosexuality, even while pertaining to same gender abuse. But we have demonstrated it also.

Domestic violence seems to run with heterosexuality, but we are not immune on either end of it. Harassment. Exploitation. Sex trafficking. Abuse. Murder. Why are we defined by these and not the other sexual groupings? Or do we believe it is part of being LGBT? Is it that we have made it a part of LGBT life?

The L’s are not off the hook; nor the B’s. T’s have been identified recently as wanting school restrooms to be opened

ministers, elders, servicemen, bums. The list goes on. If you are in there, shame on you! Take the consequences. But we as a community need to meet that old labeling gun directly and set the record straight for good. Q

up for their predatory behaviors. That sex offenders just want access to girls locker rooms, and clothing store changing rooms.

And there will be truth to these behaviors in some instances, but they are not the face of our community.

Shame on those individuals—teachers,

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34 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | A&E

gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014

Tony’s Gay Agenda ANNUAL EVENTS Three tales by the Brothers Grimm about lonely couples yearning for a child. Sounds kind of tame, but the horror of it all will turn you white as snow. If you can’t make it to the show at least listen to it on the radio … it’s always so fabulous!

Thank you Plan-B Theatre Company.

15Wednesday

RADIO HOUR EPISODE 9: GRIMM Jeanne Wagner Theatre, Rose Wagner Center, 138 W. 300 South, 7pm. Tickets $20, arttix.

CONCERTS There’s a little something new and a little something classic this month in concerts. An up-and-coming jazz artist performs (she’s busty and hot, I can say that cause I’m gay); a typically thrilling and a bit odd performance is sure to be had on the Violet Flame Tour (Oh, that Andy, he’s a pickle!); a sweet transvestite performs (I don’t mean Big Freedia), a new concert program at Pioneer Theatre Company; The Urban Lounge will be bouncing on the 15th, and a gay conductor takes on the Cirque.

15Wednesday

BIG FREEDIA The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, 9pm. Tickets $12, 24tix.com

18Saturday

CYRILLE

AIMEE Jeanne Wagner Theatre, Rose Wagner Center, 138 W. 300 South, 7:30pm.

Tickets $24.50, arttix.org

24Friday

THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW— CONCERT VERSION Pioneer Theatre, 300 S. 1400 East, UofU, 8pm Oct. 24; 5pm and 10pm Oct.25.

Tickets $20-45, arttix.org

29Wednesday

48, egyptiantheatrecompany. org

MOVIES

Bill Nighy, Andrew Scott and Dominic West star in this film based on a true story. Gay activists work to help miners during their strike of the National Union of Mineworkers in 1984 England. Oh lord, another performance involving a gaping hole.

17Friday

ERASURE Capitol Theatre, 50 W, 200 South, 8pm). Tickets 29.5085, arttix.org

PRIDE Broadway Centre Cinemas, 111 E. Broadway. Tickets $6.75-9.25, saltlakefilmsociety.org

31Friday

SPECIAL ENGAGEMENTS

CIRQUE DE LA SYMPHONIE Abravanel Hall, 123 W. South Temple, 8pm, through Saturday. Tickets $29-85, arttix.org

DANCE

Samba Frogo and Odyssey Dance Theatre bring stylish programs to the stage this month. SF’s Axe (aw-shay) is an interactive fire-licked Brazilian dance and folklore. ODT’s annual staple of murder, mayhem and bloody hi-jinks is just fabulously dreadful.

19Friday

AXE Jeanne Wagner Theatre, Rose Wagner Center 138 W. 300 South, 7pm, through tomorrow. Tickets $20, arttix.org

26Friday

THRILLER! Egyptian Theatre, 328 Main St., Park City, times vary, through Oct. 5. Tickets $25-

“Go have boys’ night out” really means “I’ll stay home and touch my clit.”

Wanda Sykes in Salt Lake City??!!?? I’m sure the things that will come out of her mouth will make the Moroni’s horn wilt.

SB Dance presents a show about love gone weird. It contains nudity, vulgarity and hilarity … doesn’t sound that weird to me.

At the Kit Kat Cabaret you will “experience the elegance and glamour of a cabaret lounge set back in time. When entertainment was dazzling and decadent. Where men arrived in their top hats and bow ties, and ladies in their furs (sorry PETA) and pearls (sorry Brenda).

3Friday

KIT KAT CABARET Studio Theatre, Rose Wagner Center, 138 W. 300 South, 7pm. Tickets $45/

general admission; $65/ cocktail table seat; $200/ VIP table, arttix.org

11Saturday

WANDA SYKES Abravanel Hall, 123 W. South Temple, 8pm. Tickets $45-55, arttix.org

24Friday

CANNIBAL: A LOVE STORY Jeanne Wagner Theatre, Rose Wagner Center, 138 W. 300 South, 8pm, through tomorrow. Tickets $17.50, arttix.org

THEATRE/OPERA

Fran Pruyn, a sweet transvestite, a prima donna ...wait, I’m not describing Fran, these are three separate individuals. Anyhoo, awesomeness shall be gaping on the stage this month. Enjoy!

11Saturday

MADAME BUTTERFLY Capitol Theatre, 50 W, 200 South, through Oct. 19, 7:30pm (except Oct. 19, 2pm). Tickets $18-95, arttix.org

23Thursday

THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW Egyptian Theatre, 328 Main St., Park City, 8pm through Oct. 25. Tickets $12-19, egyptiantheatrecompany.org

30Thursday

SPARK Black Box Theatre, Rose Wagner Center, 138 W. 300 South, 7:30pm, through Nov. 15. Tickets $20, arttix.org

A&E | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 35

october 2014 | issue 236 | gaysaltlake.com

September 12-21

HEATRE

EGYPTIAN T

October 10-11, 2014

October 17-18

October 23-25 T H E AT R E

328 Main Street, Park City

ParkCityShows.com

435.649.9371

36 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | Q&A

gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014

The World According to John Lithgow ‘LOVE IS STRANGE’ ACTOR ON HIS ‘DEFIANCE OF PREJUDICE’ AND HUMANIZING GAY RIGHTS

BY CHRIS AZZOPARDI

There’s

a beautiful moment in Ira Sachs’ indie hit _Love Is Strange_ involving two older men – a New York couple, forced to live apart after one of them loses his job, tearfully embraces.

Life-changing? No. But that’s the point: Its simplicity is a revelation.

That distinctly post-gay perspective is what attracted John Lithgow to the role of Uncle Ben, an elderly artist adjusting to life away from his husband, George (Alfred Molina), after financial woes drive them into separate residences.

During a recent chat with Lithgow, the actor discussed being touched by the gay community’s response to Love Is Strange, the underrepresentation of LGBT people in film, and his groundbreaking turn as a trans woman alongside Robin Williams in The World According to Garp.

“Love Is Strange” is resonating with the gay community on a very personal level, especially now that many of these longtime gay and lesbian couples are able to wed. For you, what does it mean to be part of a film that means so much to the gay community? It’s extremely moving to me. Even if the whole same-sex marriage issue had not become such a major issue of our times, this would still be a very, very moving film just by virtue of the fact that it is a portrait of a 40-year-long relationship. And since it’s a 40-year-long relationship between two gay men, there is such a history there: They’ve been through 40 extraordinary years; they’ve seen the terrible scourge of AIDS in the ’80s and ’90s; between them they’ve lost scours, if not 100s, of friends; they’ve somehow survived, and they have seen the sort of awakenings of freedom – this slow emergence from second-class citizenship through these gay marriage initiatives. The great thing is, it puts a human face on it.

You see real people. These are the people who are really directly affected by it, and I just find it terribly moving.

The narrative hones in on these vignettes of their life together, which says a lot about

relationships – that, no matter who’s experiencing it, love is love ... and it’s complicated and it’s messy, but they are the luckiest people in the film because their relationship has survived and they’re inseparable. They’re so essential to each other.

Is there a particular exchange between Ben and George that left an impression on you? Oh, there are so many of them! I think the finest scene is right toward the end: the scene in Julius bar, followed by their walk through the streets of the West Village. It’s the moment when Ben apologizes to George for being less monogamous and less faithful, and yet reassures him and acknowledges the fact that they are essential to each other. I think that’s a wonderful scene, and I love the fact that that scene itself is shot with humor – there are two moments in that scene where they laugh uncontrollably. The way it swings back and forth between the serious and the silly just seems to define their relationship in so many ways. And, as they salute their old friend Frank – it’s quite clear what happened to Frank – that scene is also acknowledging the loss they feel because of AIDS. You and Alfred have such a rapport – not just in the film, but in real life. You’ve been friends for years. But besides the obvious answer – that it’s called acting – how do you take that platonic affection for each other to the next level? It’s impossible to be self-conscious with Alfred. Both of us have done a lot of acting, and so it takes an awful lot to throw us.

But it’s very rare that you find an actor that you feel so completely free with, so unself-conscious with, and both of us share a certain quality as actors. We’re both very serious actors who are also very frivolous people. (Laughs) We love to laugh, and yet we take acting very seriously – that gives you a lot of reference points in playing a love relationship. You can’t have a relationship of 40 years without having both a sense of humor and a sense of compassion and forgiveness.

october 2014 | issue 236 | gaysaltlake.com

It’s refreshing to see an elderly gay couple portrayed on screen. In Hollywood, there aren’t many stories about older people being told, let alone older gay people. Yes – they’re not very well served in this very youthful industry.

What’s your take on the representation of LGBT characters in film? They’re underrepresented, and to the extent that they are represented – I mean, there have been important and fine films on gay themes. Many! Longtime Companion, Milk, Philadelphia and Prick Up Your Ears.

But so many of them have been shot through with torment and crisis. Milk is about an assassination, Philadelphia is about death by AIDS, Prick Up Your Ears is about a crime of passion between two gay men. This one is exactly the opposite. It is so prosaic. What’s extraordinary and revolutionary about the film is how ordinary it is. It goes beyond acceptance of a gay lifestyle right on to taking it for granted.

You know, there are different gradations – there is prejudice, and then there’s tolerance, and then there’s acceptance, but the best of all is simply taking something for granted as if there’s nothing unusual about it. That’s what’s revolutionary about this film. That’s exactly how this relationship is viewed, and I think it’s a sign of the times that this is actually happening. I’m not saying the battle is won by any means, but it’s getting harder and harder to be bigoted about homosexuality, and that’s extremely good news.

And the film acknowledges that. Yeah – that heartbreaking moment when Joey [Ben’s teenage great-nephew] uses the word “gay” in such a derogatory way is just heartbreaking, and yet you know that things are changing and changing for the better.

There’s still a battle to be fought, and that’s demonstrated in the film when George loses his job as a longtime Catholic school music teacher because he marries Ben. And yet, even in that moment you can tell – because of a beautiful little performance by John Cullum as the priest – he doesn’t want to be doing this. He hates to do this. By that very fact you get the sense that this can’t stand 10 years from now. People are not gonna be fired by the Catholic Church for having a gay

Q&A | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 37

lifestyle. So, I think it’s a hopeful film.

I do hope that’s the case. They simply can’t keep doing this. They just can’t. It’s unacceptable.

You received an Equality Award from the Human Rights Campaign and also participated in the star-studded reading of Dustin Lance Black’s 8, but when did gay issues become important to you? Much, much earlier than that. I’ve grown up in a theater family and I’ve lived my life in the creative arts – half of the people in the creative arts are gay!

The arts community is way, way beyond the rest of the society in some degree of acceptance, so I’ve grown up in an atmosphere of acceptance.

Though there were things about the gay community you apparently didn’t know that you learned while shooting Love Is Strange. I understand Cheyenne Jackson schooled you in gay culture. Yes! Cheyenne was absolutely an essential consultant. (Laughs) Having played two queer characters who inhabit very different time periods – Uncle Ben in Love Is Strange and, in 1982, transgender woman Roberta Muldoon in The World According to Garp – what does it say about the gay community when you look at these roles side by side? I approached both characters the same way, and that is, loving the people and treating them with great dignity. Roberta is a slightly bizarre character, especially in the context of that film. When I talk about somebody being taken for granted, that is much more true of Love Is Strange than of Roberta Muldoon in The World According to Garp. To that degree, times have changed, but it feels very, very good to have been a part of changing that sensibility just a tiny part perhaps. I love that I have dignified these two characters almost in defiance of prejudice.

You co-starred with Robin Williams in that film... Yes, rest his soul.

Such a friend to the gay community as well. Do you have a fond memory of Robin you’d like to share? All my memories of Robin are very, very fond, and I’m still extremely sad about it. The world has lost a lot of laughter. Q Chris Azzopardi is the editor of Q Syndicate, the international LGBT wire service. Reach him via his website at www.chris-azzopardi.com.

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38 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | Q&A

gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014

tered to me. I never looked at it as a... you know what I mean?

As a conflict? It was never a factor. It doesn’t matter to me either way.

Singer on being an elusive chanteuse, drawing strength from gays and her drag queen attitude

BY CHRIS AZZOPARDI

Who is

Jennifer Hudson? It’s a question she knows you’ve asked – and one she’s ready to answer with JHUD, the American Idol-turnedDreamgirls sensation’s third studio album.

During our candid interview, the Oscar-winning powerhouse went back to her roots – the gay clubs – and opened up about the drag queens who inspired her fierce new outlook (“I’m 32 years old – I don’t think I need your permission”). Hudson, who also answered to those lesbian rumors and chimed in on gay marriage, isn’t kidding when she says, “I’mma be me, I’mma do me.”

When you’re doing Pride events like the ones you did earlier this summer, does that mean you gay it up? Yes, definitely!

It’s just so fun, first of all. I really enjoy myself. It’s something I really wanted to do, and yeah, you can just give it. It’s that type of audience, so you shouldn’t hold back. And I try not to, you know?

You’re able to let your hair down – or what hair you have left, anyway. (Laughs) Exactly! You said it best.

You performed “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” from Dreamgirls for the gays in Chicago. What is it about that song that still gets such a reaction out of the LGBT community? The song has its own spirit. It has an effect on everyone, but definitely on the gay community. I think they relate to it in a different type of way – in a special way. A lot of gay men I’ve met, they’re like, “In my heart, I am Effie.” I relate to Effie, and I think that’s part of the connection. It’s a real situation that we all go through.

What do you think your career would be like without the gay community? I don’t know if I would have one, to be honest.

That’s why I recently did a couple of gay clubs, and I wanted to do more because that’s where I started. I was just literally

looking at old pictures a few minutes ago, and I saw a picture of me performing in a gay club and a picture of being dressed.

Drag queens used to dress me, and then I would go and perform. That’s where I started, so there’s definitely a connection there. I wanted to make sure that I reconnected.

Having performed in gay clubs when you were a teenager, you connected with the LGBT community at a very young age. What do attribute to that relationship? What I’ve always admired about the gay community is the independence and the confidence. Just that attitude.

I’m so inspired by that, and I feel like, for me, that is my connection. I’ve never understood, gosh, what does the gay community see in me? You know what I mean?

Because again, I grew up around a lot of that and that’s the world that embraced me first, so that I’ve never fully gathered.

When it comes to strength, do you see your relationship with the gay community as a reciprocal exchange? Yeah, I definitely draw strength from them. I love a big personality, and just the selfassurance and the sexiness in it – actually, I think that’s where I got a lot of it from!

(Laughs) What did you learn on how to work a crowd from hanging out with so many drag queens? Owning it. My kings and queens, they own stuff and give 100 percent. You’re gonna be a queen? Be a queen. If you’re gonna perform, perform.

Whatever you’re doing, make sure you’re serving 100 percent.

How did you reconcile performing for gay people with your Baptist beliefs? Well, I grew up around a lot of people who probably had issues with it, but I never did. People are people. Mind your business, that’s how I’ve always felt.

Whatever makes you happy. If you’re happy, I’m happy, so it never really mat-

When I saw you perform “Same Love” with Macklemore and Mary Lambert during the 2013 MTV VMAs, I remember thinking, “Is Jennifer trying to tell us something? Is she coming out as lesbian?” If someone ever questions or thinks that, I don’t care what you think.

It shouldn’t matter. And I did get that!

People were like, “Is Jennifer trying to tell us something?” Hey, I wasn’t, but if you wanna think that, it’s all right with me.

When I got the call (to do that performance), I was like, “Oh my god, I definitely wanna do this. A powerful statement is being made and I wanna be a part of that.”

Does your support of the gay community extend to gay marriage? Yeah. Ain’t much else to say about that, because what’s the big deal?

You’ve had your share of trials and tribulations. When was a time in your life that you found yourself leaning on a gay best friend? My whole life! Every day! My best friend (Walter Williams) is my assistant and we’ve been friends since sixth grade.

He’s the one I bought the house for this past Christmas, and he’s my life partner.

We go through everything together. We’re each other’s backbone every day, and still to this day.

You’re showing off a sexy new sound on “Dangerous,” a single off JHUD. You’re also looking sexier than ever. Do you feel sexier than ever? Mmm, no – I’ve always felt sexy! (Laughs) It’s just the space I’m in right now, and this is what this album represents. I’m just in my moment and I attribute that to my 30s more than anything. I feel settled, and it’s not an issue of what you think, what she thinks, who all says this – I don’t give a damn! The truth is, I’m grown. Before it was like, “Oh, is this OK? Is this all right? What does such and such think?” I don’t care! (Laughs) I’m more settled, more sure. I’m 32 years old – I don’t think I need your permission. Keep it moving.

Spoken like a true drag queen. And that’s what I’m talkin’ about! That’s exactly what I love. It’s a gift to have that type of attitude. As a black woman, we get that same thing: rejection. People “yay” and “nay” you and things like that, and I’m still

october 2014 | issue 236 | gaysaltlake.com

walking through life, honey. I’mma be me, I’mma do me, and I’m not concerned about how you feel about it.

Some of this album takes me back to ’70s gay club music. How much did the gay community influence JHUD? That’s a part of me, so it wasn’t necessarily a target in making the album – it’s just me being me, and that’s what I love about this album. I’ve sat back, I’ve listened and I’ve learned – now, can I have a voice? Can I express myself? All of that is a part of me that is coming out through the music, so yes, you will hear songs that are old-school influenced, disco influenced, gay-anthem influenced.

Throughout my career I’ve noticed people don’t have a sense of who I am as a person. They know me from being on Idol or being a spokesperson or emcee, or from film – but who is the girl? What’s her story? Through this album, I want people to get a sense of me and what that is. You’re picking up on that. “Oh, I feel a gay influence.” Yes, you do, honey, because that’s where I come from.

As someone whose voice really takes me back to the golden era of female vocalists, how do you imagine your career would be different had you been on the radio when a real voice – a real diva voice – meant more than it does now? I feel like I’m stuck in the wrong time. I grew up on the Whitneys, the Pattis, the Arethas – the big voices. Today’s divas are just a completely different thing. Though they’re great as well, I still feel like I’m stuck between eras.

I love The Pointer Sisters, and I also love Destiny’s Child.

That’s why this album is so eclectic. I’m not a person who believes in limits. Nobody can tell me what my potential is other than myself. So (for people) to say, “You only get to do this” – no, you don’t get to tell me that.

Speaking of Whitney Houston, before it was announced that Yaya DaCosta nabbed the role of Whitney for Lifetime’s upcoming biopic, there were rumors of you possibly playing the singer. Oh, no, no, no. Not Lifetime, no. I mean, I heard my name being tossed around for Whitney, which would obviously be an honor, but as far as that one in particular, that was never the case.

Could you see yourself playing Whitney at some point? If it was done in the right way, for sure. I’m a fan, and I, like everyone else, want to see her remembered in the way she should be remembered. Whitney – I mean, come on, she made the hugest impact on our industry. Everybody loved Whitney. I want her to get her just, to be done the right way. She gave her whole life to this industry, so give her that.

What would be a suitable way to tribute Whitney? I wanna see one tribute. I felt the same way with Michael (Jackson). There are all these amazing legends who gave their entire lives to their career, and it wasn’t light stuff – I mean, they changed the game. They changed the industry and how we look at music and performing. So much more should be done for them in their memory and to honor their work. Q Chris Azzopardi is the editor of Q Syndicate and his website at chris-azzopardi.com.

Q&A | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 39

40 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | A&E

Babs and Banks

BY CHRIS AZZOPARDI

BARBRA STREISAND, PARTNERS Joined by a plethora of esteemed men on Partners, Barbra Streisand duets with one in particular who stands out above the rest: her gay son, Jason Gould. The two share Irving Berlin’s 1932 ballad “How Deep is the Ocean,” a good fit for a gay-son-and-mom moment (the two initially premiered the song in 2012 in Philly). It’s something truly special as their voices build in unison to a soaring climax.

That innate dynamic doesn’t mean that the rest of her boys don’t bring it. Babyface lays down his creamy-as-caramel voice on “Evergreen,” making literal on the “one love that is shared by two” declaration; “New York State of Mind” with Billy Joel is spine-tingly (cute, too, as Babs ends the song by inviting Billy for a slice of NYC pizza); and when Josh Groban joins Streisand for “Somewhere,” it’s a match made in vocal heaven. You also can’t go wrong with Michael Bublé’s velvety croon on “It Had to Be You,” a winsome rendition so warm and fuzzy – and with a nice personal touch – you’ll wanna grab someone by the hand and dance in the streets. That romantic sentiment extends to “Love Me Tender,” where Babs resurrects Elvis Presley. Their virtual twosome is indicative of the overarching problem with Partners: It’s stuck in the past. (Its only departure, an unexpected duet with Blake Shelton, is as awkward as you’re imagining it to be right now). Instead of

gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014

hear me out Lionel Richie, John Legend, Stevie Wonder and Andrea Bocelli, how about shaking it up, Babs? Give us a little grit (try Steven Tyler).

More old meets new (Justin Timberlake or Bruno Mars, perhaps?) Because as it stands, Partners, though obviously an impeccable vocal showcase, is too predictable to be anything more than redundant schmaltz.

Grade: C+

BANKS, GODDESS Goddess, the largerthan-life title of Jillian Banks’ debut album, isn’t much of an understatement. Anyone who’s been following the 26-year-old’s steady rise to stardom since she released two EPs last year knows she’s destined to take that throne. Long before dropping this trance-y throng of brooding feels – sentiments draped atop a goth fusion of fuzz, keyboard punches and pulsating bass (think James Blake meets Feist) – everyone had their eye on this mysterious Los Angeles wunderkind. And for good reason. Goddess is a slow burner – but once it clicks, it consumes. Creeping up on you, “The Waiting Game” builds on a murmured vocal loop with a whirling synthesis of drone-y sounds. Just as you’re caught up in its hypnotic reverb, it ends abruptly. All of its air sucked out, you’re left as breathless as its coda. “Brain” is folk music from the future. Sexy and soulful, and with a shadowy aura that eventually owns every piece of your being, it inspires a fugue state. With inklings of Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu present in Banks’ celestial, R&B-inspired singing, the album’s urban edge incites sophisticated simplicity and a lingering evocativeness. “Beggin for Thread,” for

instance, is an example of how you do dark for the masses (in the age of Lorde, the song should already be a big hit). And with it, it’s clear Banks won’t have to do much begging.

If you’re not already praising this Goddess, you will be.

Grade: B+

ALSO OUT SPOON, THEY WANT MY SOUL For the last 20 years, the fellas of Austin band Spoon have turned rock inside out.

They’re at it again with their genre-busting eighth outing. A conduit for their hooky strums, offbeat quirks and spirited meanders, They Want My Soul harnesses the classic sensibility of the Stones and AC/DC, meandering with its own set of impulses and a no-rules mentality. “I Just Don’t Understand” jangles with guitar, eventually breaking into pianobar mode, and “Outlier” dances around with an exhilarating spirit. They Want My Soul is newly released but already sounds like a classic.

FKA TWIGS, LP1 Don’t let FKA Twigs intimidate you.

Pioneering R&B’s future with her progressive full-length debut, the English innovator turns the genre on its head with techie effects from the next generation. If that makes Twigs sound intense, it’s because she is. Listen to “Lights On” and try not to wander into space along with it. An anomaly set on an ambitious vision, using glitch, grime and her galaxy-reaching falsetto to work up a sexedup fantasia, LP1 tests the outer limits in a way that forces you to stick around.

Chris Azzopardi is the editor of Q Syndicate, the international LGBT wire service. Reach him via his website at www.chris-azzopardi.com.

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MUSIC | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 41

october 2014 | issue 236 | gaysaltlake.com

Salt Lake Men’s Choir gets ‘Lost in the Woods’

What do

you do when two roads diverge in a yellow wood, and you may or may not have taken a wrong turn on the yellow brick road? ​This September, the Salt Lake Men’s Choir and Flying Bobcat Theatrical Laboratory will present Lost in the Woods under the starry dome of the Salt Lake Masonic Temple.

The story is based around a young writer who is in the tragic and whimsical throes of writer’s block. Using all his forces to summon some creative jolt, he finds his new muses in the 70 members of a men’s choir.

Acting as a ‘Greek Chorus’, the c​ ​hoir takes the young writer on an unexpected o ​ dyssey as he explores his own ​adventure tales ​ of getting​lost in the woods. Armed with a choir and​a rather whimsical​ ​f​ ield g​uide, the writer and the audience will find their way through with song and storytelling.

Lost in the Woods features: “Lost,” a new composition by local composer Jared Oaks, commissioned for this show and inspired by the American poet David Wagoner’s poem “That Wonderful Mother of Mine.” Also, “The Road Not Taken,” Robert Frost’s poem set to music composed and arranged

by Randall Thompson; “The Mountains” by Merrill Bradshaw; “Not While I’m Around” by Stephen Sondheim, and several other pieces that inspire this young writer to get “Lost in the Woods.”

When Salt Lake Men’s Choir Artistic Director Dennis McCracken approached Flying Bobcat to join forces, co-founder Robert Scott Smith said, “we jumped at the opportunity to create a new theatrical concert. Our mission as a company is to create new devised collaborative work that focuses on story and the merging of different artistic disciplines.

We just finished a collaboration with NOW-ID, a new interdisciplinary dance and arts company to create a site-specific work FEAST at the Great Saltair this past May, which involved the merging of dance, theatre, and live music. After the success of that project we were ready for a new challenge and we couldn’t have asked for a more unique collaboration.”

Flying Bobcat was also the creative

mind behind the popular POPUP performances at The Leonardo, which combined text, video, movement, and music to create wildly imaginative storytelling.

LOST IN THE WOODS September 26th and 27th 7:30 pm at The Masonic Temple.

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42 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | FOOD&DRINK

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gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014

Gastronomic gossip

BY JOSHUA JONES AND MATTHEW ANDRUS

This is

a column for the food wonk; for the kid who sees ‘artisanal’ on a menu and it sets off all their cynical sassiness. It’s for the foodie folk who know when and get excited when STUART MELLING posts and TED SCHEFFLER publishes.

In a city were restaurants open weekly, and food is the foundation of friendship, we thought it would be interesting to share the gastronomic gossip we’ve heard, seen, and eaten the last couple months.

Call it the “Page 6” of restaurant rumors.

First off: badass, sexy-stud of Salt Lake, food icon, and Iron Chef, VIET PHAM is opening a new restaurant above NAKED FISH. Expect sleek sophistication and an eye towards locally-sourced food that exalts those ingredients to the exotic.

No slouch himself, SCOTT EVANS is moving FINCA downtown. The fabulous concept he’s passionate about will have an exposed bar and lounge — a piece that always held the first location back. Downstairs will be a mammoth kitchen to render full animals for all his restaurants’ needs.

“Yawn,” you might say, “I’ve read all of these things.” Well, to that we stuff salami in your mouth.

The old Finca location will become a breakfast, lunch, dinner locale which will elevate each course while delighting the neighborhood. One last item from Scott: his long-awaited 9th and 9th neighborhood bar will open in the next couple months. There is no amount of hyperbole we can underline or italicize to explain our excitement to everything Scott has told us about this bar. From authentic tapas to an incredible cocktail program … this place will eventually elevate every other bar in town.

SCOTT LOWDER opens COPPER ONION in south-somewhere called COPPER KETTLE. It sounds amazing but it’s far too outside our fertile city. Luckily, Lowder told us he continues to seek a perfect downtown location for PLUM ALLEY. While we wait for him, we can sip cocktails at COPPER COMMON —the most sophisticated bar in the city. (Yup.) Just last week, JOEY CANNELLA from CANNELLA’S opened TACO TACO next

door. Squash blossom tacos and a beerita were wonderful the day after opening and we’re excited to go back soon. Plus, it was worth the visit to meet ALBERTO, working the register.

DOJO closed last month and we’ll never forget the trio of pork sliders served in steamed buns. The real news here is that Dojo’s liquor license will transfer to a new restaurant in Trolley Square named …

MULBOONS. Yes, that Mulboons. Like a dead grandpa craving an equally dried-out steak, someone is raising this brand from the dust. I will walking-dead over there and try it out and I truly hope the brand can be resuscitated.

Forgotten, but not far from dead…

STONEGROUND across from Library Square has renovated the entire space and added a beee-autiful balcony. Take advantage of it while the weather is still good — and don’t leave without the donuts served beside homemade ice cream. The cherry on this cake: a new enclosed ‘counter’ (Utah legal-speak for restaurant bar) which will be a sexy space to wait for a table or just grab a small bite. Bob says to expect this candle-lit space in November.

Another seriously skipped location is MARTINE CAFE. This has always been a favorite for a romantic dinner, but with all the construction of City Creek and now the Performing Arts Center, it was just a bit too hard to get to. After a recent visit we say, “No More!” Martine will not be

october 2014 | issue 236 | gaysaltlake.com

a lonely lover, a forlorn friend … some TLC has exposed the brick, updated the menu and refreshed the upholstery. Go now, they need us! A full review will follow soon.

Following on, “they need us,” FROM SCRATCH, the beautifulcasual restaurant on that funky street next to Gallivan is well worth your visit. Matt says it is one of the best burgers he’s ever had with a one-of-a-kind, robust locally-made cheddar cheese.

In the burger business, there wasn’t a place better than GUZZI’S. (Yeah, I’m looking at you LUCKY 13 and all who proclaim it the best). Guzzi’s was a little, under-rated burger joint that could have torpedoed everyone with a fling of a french fry. Alas, even the best restaurants need to advertise.

So goodbye Guzzi’s and hello … SUSHI BURRITO … I have no idea either. Jaw-agape, until we try them out.

Other gossipy news: SQUAT-

TER’S has a new hedge-fund owner who will take the concept to the next level (eyes roll ’til we create a hurricane). Plans include Phoenix, Seattle and Denver for starters.

EVA’S BAKERY will start a dinner service which CHARLIE PERRY told us is as difficult as opening a whole new restaurant. We’re hoping the French theme continues through this new dinner service as French cuisine is SORELY missing from local restaurants.

ZAO ASIAN CAFÉ opened on 400 South. Ok. More exciting: TROLLEY WING COMPANY will open a rooftop patio along with an exotic new flavor section of their already delicious wing menu. Finally, THE BAGEL PROJECT will open soon at 800 South and 500 East … we may never visit New York again.

If you’ve made it this far then you are an epicurious emperor.

Follow us on our new Twitter account: @sweetandsourslc. Q

FOOD&DRINK | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 43

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44 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | COMICS

gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014

anagram AN ANAGRAM IS A WORD OR PHRASE THAT CAN BE MADE USING THE LETTERS FROM ANOTHER WORD OR PHRASE. REARRANGE THE LETTERS BELOW TO ANSWER:

A perilous queen

MEN PIE APPARATUS

_______ ___ _____

cryptogram A CRYPTOGRAM IS A PUZZLE WHERE ONE LETTER IN THE PUZZLE IS SUBSTITUTED WITH ANOTHER. FOR EXAMPLE: ECOLVGNCYXW YCR EQYIIRZNBZN YZU PSZ! HAS THE SOLUTION: CRYPTOGRAMS ARE CHALLENGING AND FUN! IN THE ABOVE EXAMPLE ES ARE ALL REPLACED

BY CS. THE PUZZLE IS SOLVED BY RECOGNIZING LETTER PATTERNS IN WORDS AND SUCCESSIVELY SUBSTITUTING LETTERS UNTIL THE SOLUTION IS REACHED. THIS WEEK’S HINT: D=F

Theme: Said by a competitor at the Gay Games after finishing his race:

GKO B NIG DKNCY KG OJIP’Y BSVKTPIGP: NKNEPIBRY IGZ NKNE. ___ _ ___ _____ __ ____’_ __________: _________ ___ ____.

PUZZLE ANSWERS ON PAGE 50

october 2014 | issue 236 | gaysaltlake.com

COMICS | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 45

46 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | A&E

gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014

q scopes

BY SAM KELLEY-MILLS ARIES March 20–April 19 Let fear flee from your heart when taking a chance. Stress and worry may be present in personal interactions, but you can control your feelings better than you realize. Look up instead of down, smiling instead of frowning, and favor bold fun over reclusive actions. A revelation could leave you questioning your beliefs.

TAURUS Apr 20–May 20 The flip side to an argument will seem more compelling as you ponder it. You like things the tried and true way, Taurus, but don’t get stuck in set ways. The capacity to encompass conflicting ideas will reveal itself if you take a chance. There is always room for a little more, especially regarding a personal matter, so enjoy.

Top Musical with Seven Bottoms

39 Place name in New York 40 Meat source Down Under ACROSS 1 Six Feet Under creator 41 Hot time for Colette 42 Dull finish Ball 43 Composer Ned 5 Sounds of relief 46 Gettysburg general 9 Sophie B. Hawkins’ with the same name “As ___ Me Down” as Margaret 13 Seasoning for Rick 48 Becomes erect Rodgers 52 Looked like 14 Lagging behind 15 Quote as a reference 55 Bisected 56 R.E.M.’s “The ___ 16 ___ and the Seven Love” Bottoms (Disney spoof off Broadway) 57 Villain in this puzzle’s musical comedy 18 Where to watch a 59 What Sam twitched NY Liberty game on Bewitched 19 Hollywood Squares 60 Sperm homophone? choice 61 Polo of The Fosters 20 They bear many 62 They’re performing, loads on trains in Fame 22 You can get a rise out 63 Foursome after a of them desertion 24 “The Velvet Fog” 25 Peter the Great, and 64 Lohengrin soprano more DOWN 28 Will and Grace 1 Analyze for gold shared one 2 Jessica of Tootsie 30 Where to stick your 3 Place where a Greek baloney would speak 33 Britten’s raincoat 4 Most like Mr. Right 34 Like cornstalks that Now bear 5 What hangs from a 35 Hero in this puzzle’s Cuban musical comedy 6 A, in Arabic

7 Lanford Wilson’s The ___ Baltimore 8 Result of a good, hard workout 9 Split stuff 10 Daughter of the King 11 Currently 12 Longs, to a Samurai?

17 Waters down 21 Chan portrayer Sidney 23 ___-sex marriage 26 Stock car driver 27 Dumb-ass 29 _ ___of Seventeen 30 Broadway opening for a lot?

31 Bear of the night 32 Most likely to make you spit 36 Official witnesses 37 Belief summary 38 Star quality 44 La Salle of ER 45 Teeny-weeny 47 Standing up straight 49 Man of ___ 50 Big jugs 51 Rutstein of Disappear Fear 52 Da Vinci’s Lisa 53 At least once 54 Conn of Grease 58 Matthew in The Producers ANSWERS ON PAGE 50

LIBRA Sept 23–October 22 An on-again/off-again friendship will be very much on this month.

In fact, this friend may overstay their welcome, leading to mixed emotional reactions. The further away you are from your problems, the more you tend to dwell on them. Distract yourself when obsessing about career matters by going to a happy place.

SCORPIO Oct. 23–Nov. 21 Words come out of your mouth faster than you can think. Sensitive friends may be hurt by off-the-cuff remarks, no matter how long you’ve know them. Tread carefully. An absolute truth will come during an entertaining experience. Ponder on the meanings you discover but do not dwell on finding resolution.

GEMINI May 21–June 20 Don’t freak out when things don’t go your way. A frustrating career issue will knock you out of your comfort zone. Try to patch the holes in your plan with a bit of charm. Your best friends will have many expectations of you. Set boundaries early in order to avoid a slow, steady slew of assignments and extra responsibilities.

SAGITTARIUS Nov. 22–December 20.

How you feel about a loved one or significant other will come into question. The harder you wait to sort out your feelings, the shorter the payoff could be in the end. Don’t settle for less when more is in reach. Giant leaps forward in career are possible. This could very well be the cause of a choice. Make it a good one.

CANCER June 21–July 22 Sweeping problems under the rug is not always a bad thing, as long as you remember to go back later and deal with them later. Some distance from what ails you will allow better response upon revisiting. The family unit will be a source of some real inspiration, sparking creativity and personal growth.

Let good things spawn.

CAPRICORN Dec 21–Jan 19 Search your past in order to find a present solution to a rare issue. What worked in the past will serve you well. Don’t get caught with your pants down unless you’re having a good time. Finances may suffer if you’re not careful with spending. Be prudent in deliberating on an investment. Nothing is lost from waiting..

LEO July 23–August 22 The urge to defeat a nagging problem consumes you, Leo. But defining problems prove to be more difficult than you thought. Step back and re-examine. Your work and family life seems out of balance, leading to some discomfort. The future looks somewhat difficult, but you’ve never been one to run from that which is hard.

AQUARIUS Jan. 20–Feb. 18 Your approach toward any challenge will be to jump right in. The appearance of a difficult person to deal with will evoke this reaction. Don’t work against this person if they have your wellbeing at heart. Career woes will be present as a slippery slope of emotional turmoil. Relieve stress by doing your favorite activities.

VIRGO August 23–Sep. 22 A developing sense of style overcomes you this month. Whether it comes in the shape of new outfits, a new attitude or simply a change of pace, everyone seems to notice a positive change. An opportunity to slide into a new profession seems tempting; be aware of the potential drawbacks. Risk is part all games worth playing.

PISCES Feb 19–Mar 19 PStrange experiences are common in your life. An odd event this month could lead you wondering why. The answer could simply be that your perception is the cause. Flexible people will be seemingly unwavering during this time. A lesson in stability may present itself during personal interactions with family and friends. Q

CLASSIFIEDS | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 47

october 2014 | issue 236

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OUR PETS | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 49

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50 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | A&E

gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014 Each Sudoku puzzle has a unique solution which can be reached logically without guessing. Enter digits 1 through 9 into the blank spaces. Every row must contain one of each digit, as must each column and each 3x3 square. Qdoku is actually five separate, but connected, Sudoku puzzles.

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october 2014 | issue 236 | gaysaltlake.com

Qmr. health manners

Time to Kiss Dear Mr.

BY ROCK MAGEN

Manners, I spent time today with a new friend.

I had a really good time with him. He has some old fashioned values due to the fact he’s good ol’ southern boy. If a guy like myself were thinking about giving someone like him a kiss, once we know each other better of course, what would be an appropriate amount of time to wait before doing such a thing? I think you give such great advice so your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Best, Hot lips

DEAR HOT LIPS, It was once told to me that, “Love us merely a friendship on fire.” That being said, I feel that if you cultivate your friendship the opportunity you seek will present itself naturally.

The Moment you feel an almost overwhelming urge to kiss someone is most likely a great time to kiss. Attraction is a very complex creature.

There’s psychology, brain

chemistry, scent, and all kinds of things fueling our sense of attraction. Analysis is paralysis! While you are trying to figure out why you are attracted, you are probably missing the moment. Trust that the reason you want to kiss isn’t as important as the feeling that you want to kiss.

Knowing that this boy has some “good ole values,” just makes him a treasure to keep.

Someone who was raised right will not rebuke you for kissing him, but just make sure the moment is right - unfortunately, there is no prescribed amount of time before one is ready to be kissed. A personal belief I carry is that “art is in the spaces.” Simply translated, it means that the unspoken and simple are best. You’ll know what to do and when to do it.

I leave you with the words of encouragement from Gone with the Wind, “You should be kissed, and often. And by someone who knows how.” If you are going to kiss this man, you better make it worth it! Q

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gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014

the frivolist

15 television shows with LGBT characters you should be watching

BY MIKEY ROX

While summer 2014 is cooling down, the fall TV season is just starting to heat up. Bittersweet, ain’t it? At least there’s a silver lining to trading in lazing in the sand for lounging on the sofa: There are plenty of programs with LGBT characters to tune into right now.

Which returning shows and series premieres should be on your gaydar? Peep this shortlist of inclusive shows that run the gamut of genres to make your picks.

Castro street cred. Here’s hoping that season five brings even more man-on-wolf lovin’.

4. UNDATEABLE A charming and surprisingly funny midseason replacement, this NBC comedy provides eye candy in Chris D’Elia’s Danny Burton, and ample gay jokes from David Fynn’s Brett, the refreshingly very-average-Joe resident bartender. Undateable was renewed for a second season, but no premiere date has been released.

of whom is openly gay – as they navigate the daily highs and lows of first responders. Siren airs on the USA network.

9. MODERN FAMILY LGBT fans of this consistently hilarious and award-winning ABC comedy are finally satisfied that Cam and Mitchell tied the knot (it wasn’t long ago that the Internet was making a big deal about why the couple never kissed on camera – until they did), so it’ll be interesting to see how they manage married life, for better or worse.

5. THE VAMPIRE DIARIES Gay fans of CW centerpiece The Vampire Diaries were more than eager to sink their teeth into news that a recurring gay character was coming to Mystic Falls toward the end of last season. Tune in Oct. 2 to unravel more of Luke Parker’s mystery when the series returns for its sixth season.

1. THE WALKING DEAD There were no LGBT characters among the central group of survivors in AMC’s postapocalyptic horror drama until midway through season four until Tara Chambler was introduced (although, recent online chatter suggests that fan favorite and original character Daryl Dixon may, in fact, be gay). However, as is common in the world of the The Walking Dead, the romantic relationship between her and former Army Reservist Alisha is shot down – quite literally – before it has a chance to fully bloom. Perhaps Tara will get another stab at love in season five now that she’s been promoted to main-character status.

6. SCANDAL If you can get past Olivia Pope’s annoying, incessant bawling, you might find solace in the ruthless-but-fragile Cyrus Beene, this fictional White House’s first gay Chief of Staff. Brush up on the previous WTF seasons online and on demand before season four bows Sept. 25 on ABC.

3. TEEN WOLF This small-screen reboot of the iconic 1985 Michael J. Fox film of the same name (which has nothing in common with its predecessor besides title and a few characters) has been a gay boy’s wet dream since day one – what with all that blatant homoeroticism and gratuitous shirtlessness going around. But it’s recurring gay character Danny (and his paramours) that give the MTV series its real

Ian Gallagher gets around. In season one of Showtime’s dramedy Shameless, the firehaired high school student was schtupping Kash, the owner of the convenience store at which Ian works – until juvenile delinquent Mickey Milkovich comes along. Ian cools things off with Kash as his relationship with Mickey heats up. Then Ian starts fucking Lloyd and Maxine and – oh, who cares, the kid’s adorable and the show is awesome.

11. ONE BIG HAPPY

2. THE MCCARTHYS Recently out Ronny McCarthy is about to accept a teaching job in Rhode Island when his basketball-coach father asks him to stay in Boston to be his new assistant. The rest of his tight-knit, sports-loving siblings cry foul over the decision, and hilarity is expected to ensue. Early reviews for this freshman series are mixed, but at least we get to watch Laurie Metcalf and Joey McIntyre for a half hour.

10. SHAMELESS

7. ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK

From executive producer Ellen DeGeneres comes this hopeful comedy about two tiredof-being-lonely-and-single best friends – one a straight guy, the other a gay girl – who decide to have a baby together. Of course, this new relationship gets trickier when the straight guy unexpectedly falls in love and marries a straight girl – just when his gay best friend announces she’s pregnant with his child.

This NBC comedy is “coming soon,” but no premiere date is scheduled.

This much-buzzed-about Netflix original series revolves around Piper Chapman, a bisexual woman sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for transporting drug money for her former girlfriend. Given the nature of the mostly-female atmosphere, there are plenty of other LGBT characters behind bars, including pre-op transgender woman Sophia Burset, played by actress Laverne Cox, who recently made history by becoming the first openly transgender person to be nominated for an Emmy in an acting category.

12. PENNY DREADFUL

8. SIRENS

13. DOWNTON ABBEY

This Americanized version of a British comedy series follows three Chicago EMTs – one

As if there isn’t enough to love about PBS’s breakout original drama series Downton Ab-

A slew of 19th-century characters – like Dorian Gray and Abraham Van Helsing – populate this British-American thriller-drama that airs on Showtime. While there are no full-time LGBT characters in the main cast (yet), the on-screen alter egos of series stars Reeve Carney and Josh Harnett shared a passionate sexual encounter just four episodes in. Not enough reason to order a subscription, but just enough to YouTube that scene right now.

october 2014 | issue 236 | gaysaltlake.com

bey (much of which is owed to the incredible Maggie Smith’s Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham), there’s also the sexy-but-scheming Thomas Barrow who, in time, you’ll fantasize about taking you out back and treating you like a servant.

14. PARKS & RECREATION Openly gay comedian Billy Eichner’s Craig Middlebrooks didn’t get major screen time after he was introduced in season six of NBC’s Parks and Recreation, but his penchant for blowing things out of proportion and waaaay-over-the-top delivery should be put to better use as

the mocku-comedy enters its seventh and final season starting in early 2015.

15. RED BAND SOCIETY There’s not much information on character backgrounds for the upcoming Fox dark dramedy Red Band Society, but keep your fingers crossed that this ensemble cast includes at least one LGBT teen among its patients.

If not, at least we have Wilson Cruz’s Kenji Gomez-Rejon, an openly gay nurse. Series premieres Sept. 17.

Mikey Rox is an award-winning journalist and blogger whose work has been published in more than 100 outlets across the world. See Mikey on Twitter @mikeyrox.

Laverne Cox gives a grand opening to Vegas gay club It’s been open since June, but Las Vegas’s newest gay superclub, and the only gay club inside a casino, hosts its official grand opening on Sept. 20, with one of TV’s biggest stars in tow.

Orange is the New Black’s Laverne Cox will help cut the ribbon at Liaison, the new gay club at Bally’s Las Vegas.

“Having Laverne Cox join us for this monumental night is legendary,” Liaison manager Michael Ryan said in a statement. “Like Laverne, we are blazing a new party for the LGBT community and it’s exciting to welcome her to Las Vegas as we celebrate our grand opening.”

Along with Cox, special per-

SEX | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 53

formances and surprise guests are expected at the grand opening. Nightlife heavy-hitter Victor Drai was behind the 7,000 square foot club, which sports a tasteful dark design of gold and black, with mirrors, lamps, and Venetian-style chandeliers throughout. Don’t worry there are two rooms for dancing, two DJ booths, multiple bars, a stage, and plenty of house music and barely-dressed dancers.

The club took the place of the Drai’s, a hetero nightclub that moved to the new Cromwell hotel and casino down the street. Liaison is open seven nights a week, and adds to the roster of gay clubs in Vegas that include Krave, Piranha, and Share.

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gaysaltlake.com | issue 236 | october 2014

the perils of petunia pap smear

A tale of the Invasion of Normandy

BY PETUNIA PAPSMEAR

As always, these events leave us with several burning eternal questions: 1. How many licks from a buffalo are required to achieve and orgasm?

2. What kind of lube does one use in preparation for buffalo licks?

3. Do seagulls shit on salt statues?

4. Does a Cadillac full of wigs give a new definition to the term, “Big Hair”?

5. Should the collective noun for wigs become, “A Queertanic of Wigs”?

6. Do you think “Honestly Officer, I couldn’t see the other car, because I was blinded by the reflection of the sequins” would be a plausible defense in traffic court?

7. Should a fully loaded Queertanic be required to be inspected at the UDOT Weigh Stations?

8. If they weighed Queertanic, could they be able to extrapolate my weight? Oh the horror!

These and other important questions to be answered in future chapters of The Perils of Petunia Pap Smear. Q

I’m forever grateful to the dozens of hunky guys who came and helped on moving day. They were all very efficient and conveniently blind to my unpreparedness. It only took me one week to find my toothbrush and TV remotes.

To my dismay however, the sheer quantity of my wardrobe totally swamped the entire basement of the new house.

This was totally unacceptable.

Dennis McCracken heroically volunteered to save me from myself and helped me sort through my commodious wardrobe. He made me show him each and every item in the wardrobe and to justify it’s existence. I ended up giving away about two hundred and fifty outfits before things would fit into the new house. I can’t even imagine that Judgment Day at the Gates of Heaven would be as traumatic. But after much weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth and a new Lee Press-On-Nails manicure, here we are in Chateau Pap Smear.

Is it a bad sign that the next door neighbor moved away only three weeks after I got here?

PUZZLE SOLUTIONS

Cryptogram: NOW I CAN FOCUS ON WHAT’S IMPORTANT: COCKTAILS AND COCK

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Anagram: PETUNIA PAP SMEAR

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all seem to look, feel and smell alike, and the scary ones are truly nightmarish. God bless my long-suffering realtor, Ryan Fischer, who patiently suffered through my indecisiveness, showing me countless suitable houses.

Once we closed on the house, we had three weeks before we had to be out of our apartment. It seemed like oodles of time to clean, paint, carpet the new place and move all our stuff. Much to my dismay, the logistics of moving everything would rival the D-Day Invasion of Normandy.

In preparation, I decided that each day as I drove into Salt Lake for work, I would fill the capacious cargo hold of Queertanic with wardrobe items, thereby lessening the load on moving day.

On one trip, Queertanic was indeed full from bumper to bumper, and all it contained was my hair, seventeen wigs in all. On a subsequent trip, again filled to the brim, with only sequined and beaded gowns.

I was surprised to learn how heavy sequins can be. Once I climbed into the driver’s seat the combined tonnage of my “Circumferentially Gifted Aisle Blocker Physique” and the dresses, strained Queertanic’s suspension system to very near breaking point.

Yet another trip consisted only of Breasticles and the myriad of interchangeable nipples. Each trip, I fervently prayed I wouldn’t have a wreck. The thought of explaining the contents to the police and/or tow truck driver was just too daunting.

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to Chateau Pap Smear is fraught with danger and excitement.

As many of you may know, Mr. Pap Smear and I recently moved from Kaysville to Salt Lake City. A lot of people believe that the City of Salt is the perfect place for me to reside, as they expect me to turn into a pillar of salt at any moment.

The close proximity to the Salt Flats would make it convenient for them to just haul the salt statue of my more than ample “Butticus Abundus” out to Bare Ass Beach and let the wind add me as a contribution to the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Rumor has it that news of this potential new salt source precipitated a skyrocketing of salt futures. That’s all well and good, however my personal preference would be that my salty likeness be carted to Antelope Island, left standing to be a salt lick for the buffalo.

As you all know, moving is unequivocally the most horrendous activity that can ever befall anyone. I had lived in the apartment in Kaysville for six years. Long enough to be able to fill the place, wall to wall, floor to ceiling with stuff. The search for a new house was torturous. The hardest requirement to fill was ample room in the new house to store all that is Petunia, i.e., wigs, gowns and bling.

Finding the perfect house is like trying to find the “The Most Perfect Ass” at the Palm Springs White Party. Tons of very lovely ones to choose from, but after you’ve ogled/ fondled several hundred, they

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