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Vol. 4; Issue 8 April 2020 GoGuideMagazine.com Facebook.com/GoGuideMagazine
Publisher & Executive Editor Tim Nedoba Theater Editor Matthew Brewbaker
Books & Music Editor Gregory Cameron Photography GoGuide Media Columnists Julia Freeman Erik Sosa
Mixed media abstract By Erik Sosa Contact via fscebook or Erik@sosakibby.com
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Our News; Our Way
-VoiceTable of Contents
-Cover Story-
Meet our newest Visionary: Consuelo Steel co-establish Cedar Rapids’ Roosevelt Middle School’s first queer straight alliance Page 16 A Q&A with Zach Wahls Iowa State Senator Senate District 37 Page 18 Sarah Hansen named UI’s vice president for student life Page 23
Is “Social Distancing” enough to protectpeople living with HIV from coronavirus? Page 4 Have a plan in place if you get sick Page 6 It takes a community By Jason Zeman Page 8 Are You in Need of a Hug? A special feature to GoGuide Magazine from Loren A. Olson, M.D. and author of Finally Out: Letting Go of Living Straight. By Loren A. Olson Page 10 Community COVID-19 updates Compiled by GGM Pages 13-15
Cover selfie provided to GGM by Jakub Nedoba of Bratislava, Slovakia
-CultureTo the edge and back: an interview with gay writer Paul Lisicky By Gregg Shapiro Page 25
-SceneGoGuide chats with Rebellion Burlesque via Messenger Page 31 Erik’s World “I’m a Firework” Page 34
-Online-
LIFE
Is “Social Distancing” enough to protect people living with HIV from coronavirus?
Updated April 2020 Compiled by Tim Nedoba
Efforts of social distancing, which, according to both the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization, is an essential strategy for protecting the most vulnerable among us.
However, “social distancing” is not enough. We know that there are many people with underlying health conditions — including people living with HIV — who have a higher risk of complications from the coronavirus.
Jesse Milan Jr., J.D., President & CEO, AIDS United is urging everyone to write their members of Congress to let them know that in this time of national crisis, they must consider the unique needs of their constituents living with, or at risk for, HIV. https://www.aidsunited.org/ GoGuide would encourage you to write your state, county, city representatives as well.
Dr. John Brooks, senior medical advisor for the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recently said that people living with HIV who have a low CD4 count or have a detectable viral load are at higher risk of contracting COVID-19. Yet, nearly half of all people living with HIV in the United States do not have an undetectable viral load. GG
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SHARE FACTS ABOUT COVID-19 AND HIV FACT
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For most people, the immediate risk of becoming seriously ill from the virus that causes COVID-19 is thought to be low.
Older adults and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions may be at higher risk for more serious complications from COVID-19. As with other viral respiratory infections, the risk for people with HIV getting very sick is greatest in: • People with a low CD4 cell count • People not on HIV treatment (antiretroviral therapy or ART)
FACT
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You can help stop COVID-19 by knowing the signs and symptoms.
• Fever • Cough • Shortness of breath Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure.
COUGH
FEVER FACT
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FACT
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There are simple things you can do to help keep yourself and others healthy.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing; going to the bathroom; and before eating or preparing food • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands • Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash • Insure that you refill and take all of your medications as prescribed
If you are sick with COVID-19 or think you might have COVID-19, care for yourself and help protect other people in your home and community.
• Call ahead before visiting your doctor • Avoid public transportation • Stay home and away from others • Establish a plan for remote clinical care • Try to establish a telemedicine link through your HIV care provider’s online portal • If telemedicine is not available to you, make sure you can communicate with your provider by phone or text
SHORTNESS OF BREATH
• Stay home as much as possible
cdc.gov/COVID-19 CS 315446-A 03/16/2020
Have a plan in place if you get sick Watch for symptoms and emergency warning signs Updated April 2020 By Tim Nedoba
Stay in touch with others by phone or email. You may need to ask for help from friends, family, neighbors, community health workers, etc. if you become sick.
Pay attention to potential COVID-19 symptoms, including fever, cough, and shortness of breath. If you develop emergency warning signs for COVID-19, get medical care immediately. In adults, emergency warning signs may include*: Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath Persistent pain or pressure in the chest New confusion or inability to arouse Bluish lips or face
*This list is not all-inclusive. Please consult your medical provider for any other symptoms that are severe or concerning.
Editors note – AIDS United’s sole mission to end the HIV epidemic in the United States. Visit AIDSUnited.org to learn more about this organization and its mission. GG
It takes a community Special to GoGuide Magazine by Jason Zeman
The Corridor Entertainment Group, we decided to close all our bars on Monday, March 16th, out of an abundance of caution for our staff and patrons. The following day Governor Reynolds mandated all bars close.
City Liquor is still operating currently as it is a convenience and liquor store, which carries essential household items, limited food, and convenience items along with alcohol. Because of its small size and limited foot traffic due to location, it can be operated safely with maximum sanitation and safety efforts in place.
There are two immediate needs: First is our staff—many of our teamwork in hospitality and foodservice business. Many have lost 100% of their income. We are working to help them with resources for unemployment or other employment in the short term, as well as GoFundMe and other donation venues. Secondly is our business. We are proactive in cutting all costs, spend nothing that is non-essential, and have enough money to keep paying our essential bills, such as rent and insurance, which are massive costs that do not change regardless of our income. We are working with our landlords to avoid issues and figure out a way we can all make it through this more robust on the other side. Studio 13 has set up a general GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/studio-13-yacht-club-covid19-relief-fund?utm_ source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link-tip&utm_campaign=p_cp+sharesheet
Our core staff gets updates from us often, and we make decisions together as to how we can best use these funds for immediate needs and those we will have when this is finally behind us. We will be hosting virtual drag shows and posting information on ways to help our staff and performers as well on our social media. Take care and stay safe in this trying time.
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Editors note – Jason Zeman is a local Iowa City businessperson and community organizer. The LGBTQ+ community is a better place due to the work of Jason’s and all of the staff that make-up Corridor Entertainment Group.
Are You in Need of a Hug? A special feature to GoGuide Magazine from Loren A. Olson, M.D. and author of Finally Out: Letting Go of Living Straight.
Editors note: Finally Out: Letting Go of Living Straight is the winner of the Ben Franklin Gold Award for best LGBT non-fiction from Independent Book Publishers Association. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/laolson.md.
Cell phones have been distancing us from each other long before the Covid-19 pandemic
We’re all anxious now. Covid-19 occupies the lips and ears of everyone. A threat we understand causes us to feel afraid and results in making an appropriate response. Anxiety comes from the unknown, from the uncertainty of how to make ourselves safe. Separation from loved ones, the loss of freedoms we have taken for granted, uncertainty about risks, and boredom all can create dramatic consequences. By now we should all know the basics: Take your temperature twice a day, and if you have a fever or difficulty breathing, consult your doctor. Wash your hands for twenty seconds. Clean all hard surfaces with a household cleaning product. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth, and cover your mouth when you cough. Stay six feet away from any other person. It’s this separation from others that creates some of our biggest problems. New studies show that from the prenatal period to old-old age, touch is important to our physical and mental wellbeing. But let’s be honest about it: Our constant use of cell phones has been distancing us from each other long before the Covid-19 pandemic. What I miss most during this sheltering-in-place experience are the hugs I give to and receive from the people I care so much about. Not knowing when – of even if -- we will be able to give and get those hugs again escalates those feelings of loss. My husband and I have made a commitment to each other that when the first of us dies, the survivor would hold the dying partner until he passes, but death from this malignant virus might interfere with commitment. Either of us could die alone, never saying that last goodbye, attended only by people wearing masks and gowns and gloves in a sterile and sterilized environment.
What can we do to allay our anxiety? First, we must work everyday to make sure we express our feelings for each other daily and to work to resolve any tension that arises between us. Some of us will be forced to grieve, and unresolved conflict complicates the grieving process. Our cell phones now have been converted from a luxury item to a necessity and activating our network of people we care about is critical. If you have conflict with someone, call them and tell them it is no longer important. Even if you’re estranged from family, call them and tell them you wish them good health.
Here are some other things I think are important: 1. Trust experts not politicians – Experts understand human costs; politicians focus primarily on economic costs and their re-election.
2. Limit your exposure to reliable news – Choose a good news paper and a trustworthy radio or TV station but turn it off after you’ve received an update.
3. Confront your worries with facts. I’m so worried about (insert your favorite worry), but here is what I know to be true based on the information from those who know more than I do about this. If you focus only on the worry you will magnify the negative and minimize the positive, and the worry becomes a cancer that grows and metastasizes. 4. Develop a daily schedule even though you may not need one now. One of my patients once told me, “I love my job because it gives me a focus for my discontents.” Block out your day in twohour intervals, have one major activity in each block, and don’t allow yourself to be distracted from it.
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[Loren A. Olson, M.D. continued from previous page] 5. Do whatever you can to support those people in the front lines of this fight against the virus. Some will be required to decide which patient gets a respirator and which will die. They will suffer the most both during this crisis and after it passes. 6. Tip generously if you stop for a drive-up for coffee or a take-out dinner. 7. Shop for a week, not for a month. If you’re headed to the store, call your neighbors to see if they need anything that you can leave on their doorstep when you return. Abundant thank those who serve you and put their own lives at risk.
8. Stop checking your 401-K, if you have one. Turn your thoughts to those who are less fortunate. Altruism is healing. 9. Start or continue to manage your health with diet, exercise and adequate sleep. Go outside. Inhale the spring air. Listen to the car dinals sing. Walk your dog. Twice. Because you need it more than the dog does. Remember spring always brings renewal even after the fiercest of winters. 10. Pray to someone or something.
11. Listen to “Meditation Music” on your favorite internet stream ing service.
12. Borrow hope from someone if you don’t any, and if you have an abundance, share it with someone. You are giving a gift to others by isolating yourself, a sacrifice of personal liberties for the wider public good. We will recover from this into a world that has changed. Perhaps it will help us realize that what is truly important is our relationships with others. Then we can put those cell phones away and return to hugging the people we care most about. LAO
www.facebook.com/laolson.md
Community COVID-19 updates Regular updates available at GoGuideMagazine.com
Help for our pets Iowa City - The Iowa City Animal Care and Adoption Center, located at 3910 Napoleon Lane, is working to help local pet owners during these difficult times. Contact the shelter if you’re experiencing financial hardships and are unable to care for your pets properly.
To do so, the shelter is accepting donations of food for dogs, cats, and small animals.
To request food, pet owners can call the Animal Care and Adoption Center at 319-356-5295. Staff will contact the pet owners when the food is ready and can be picked up near the front door of the shelter. To donate food, please drop off items at the side door, facing mostly east, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Prescription pet food will also be gladly accepted. Donations can also be made by contacting local pet store Leash on Life at 319-354-4334, info@leashonlife.net, or at www.leashonlife.net.
Helping local businesses
Iowa City-We’re in This Together is a collaboration between the Iowa City Downtown District (ICDD), Think Iowa City, the Iowa City Area Development Group, and the Iowa City Area Business Partnership. Visit the new area informational website at www.ICAreaTogether.com. ICDD is hoping to spark some cash flow spending for businesses by incentivizing gift card purchases. Starting March 16th, if customers spend $100 online at a downtown business or by phone, ICDD will send them a $25 Downtown District gift card to say Thank You for supporting local. For $500 spent, customers will receive a $150 ICDD gift card.
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Customers are encouraged to go online and purchase gift cards FROM downtown businesses or order from them by phone.
Washington, D.C. Postpones June Pride Events Washington, D.C. - The Board of Directors of the Capital Pride Alliance (CPA) has voted to postpone their annual June events, including the Pride Parade and Festival, in addition to the previously announced postponements of Capital Trans Pride and API Pride. Also, events produced by partnering Pride organizations, Youth Pride, Silver Pride, DC Latinx Pride, and DC Black Pride will be similarly postponed or cancelled. New dates for these events, if applicable, will be announced in the coming weeks.
Iowa City Pride “still planning on June for now” Iowa City - Tony Sivanthaphanith of Iowa City Pride offered this statement regarding Iowa City’s 50th anniversary June Pride Celebration, “As far as Pride we still plan on June for now. We are monitoring it closely and have a plan set if we need to change the dates. And will make that decision in the coming weeks.” Iowa City Pride t-shirts with the 50th anniversary logo are now available for purchase. T-shirts can be purchased at www.redbubble.com/i/t-shirt/ Iowa-City-50th-Pride-logo-merchandise-by-IowaCityPride/44570422.NL9AC. For more information about Iowa City Pride visit www.IowaCityPride.org.
New normal? Let’s hope not! All pictures courtesy GGM
VOICE Local Visionaries
an ongoing series by Julia Freeman
Meet our newest Visionary: Consuelo Steel co-establish Cedar Rapids’ Roosevelt Middle School’s first queer straight alliance (QSA)
In an age of community advocacy, often timesthe spaces where youth feel the most unsafe and supported is in the spaces they spend much of their year and days, in the schools. Seeing a need, being approached by a driven self advocate named Ariana, and having family members that identify as LGBTQIA were all the triggers that Consuelo Steel needed in order to help co-establish the Roosevelt Middle School’s first queer straight alliance (QSA). Although she did encounter opposition in some interactions, which she is open about, Steel harnessed her vision and beliefs to help others gain education and address fears and personal limitations head on.
“I want to inspire kids to be the best version of themselves and continue to be an advocate for all kids to be our future,” said Steel. She has dreams of opening an organization known as Patricia’s House, named after her own mother who was a role model in her own life. This would ideally be a space where 11-25 year olds could come to be loved, supported and a safe place to live, thus the importance of a QSA. She also lists her older sister and godmother as her own personal visionaries to inspire her to dream. Ultimately, she wants to be a teacher coach to help educators build relationships with students and better teach in diverse atmospheres. For example, not all kids learn on the same level so barriers are often difficult to tackle.
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For Steel, it is easy to connect with kids. However, it’s harder to convince adults that LBGT clubs and organizations are “a need
and not a want” much like sports are viewed. She quickly learned to embrace no and practice being uncomfortable in conversations where opportunities arise to educate people, even school administrators, that are uneducated. Thus why the importance of a QSA, similar to GSAs, continues to be at the heart of Steel’s work in the school. Although she wishes should could build more relationships between student’s home and school lives and bridge the gap to be an amazing support person.
The club meets during the school year after school hours to talk about ‘everything’ and Steel helps to assure all deadlines and logistics are met. There is an open door policy in place so a welcoming atmosphere is maintained. Being it is composed of middle school members, transportation is sometimes an issue for attendance and participation purposes which disallows some students that may ordinarily be interested or contribute to discussions and conversations. Adults advocating fiercely for kids of all demographics and identifies are what ultimately lead to more inclusive and diverse schools, classes, communities, and environments. Steel concluded, “every student wants to be loved, supported, and listened to in some way. Adults can take time out to listen and assure youth that starting over everyday is okay. I ultimately value the lessons I’ve learned, the education I received, and relationship I’ve made with everyone regardless of class or questions that have arisen.” GG
April 2020 By Tim Nedoba
A Q&A with Zach Wahls Iowa State Senator Senate District 37
GG: Describe your senate district for our readers. ZW: Senate District 37 spans three counties—Johnson, Cedar, and Muscatine—and includes about 60,000 people. I represent the west side Iowa City, Coralville, Solon, rural Johnson County, all of Cedar County, and the town of Wilton in Muscatine County.
GG: How is this Health Pandemic going to hurt Iowa the most, and what message of hope can you offer the GoGuide Reader? ZW: The single most important thing is for people who are in the at-risk category to take care of themselves, and for those of us who are not in the at-risk category to follow social distancing guidance and where possible work-from-home and stay-at-home. Everything we do to stay at home helps protect those who are older or have compromised immune systems. This is, without a doubt, a difficult time for many of us, and this pandemic is taking a toll on people’s physical health, mental health, and financial well-being. Our state has a long history of mutual support and taking care of each other, and we have to keep that spirit with us today. Even though the government response has been slower than some of us would have liked to see, there is no doubt that we are taking this challenge seriously, especially here at the local level.
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(Zach Wahls continued on page 20)
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(Zach Wahls continued from page 18) GG: What are the most important issues for your constituents? ZW: As I write this, COVID-19 is right there at the top of the list. Other issues for GG Readers, aside from LGBTQ+ specific topics, include affordable housing, health care, education, water quality, and a rising cost of living with stagnant wages. And then on top of these issues, there are dozens of “constituent service” emails I receive with specific questions about their interaction with the state government in some way. Helping constituents fix whatever problems they may have is one of the most satisfying parts of my job. GG: You are a well-known name in Iowa and respected LGBTQ+ ally. Describe this “celebrity” and how does it help you serve as a senator?
ZW: Being well-known has some upside and some downside. On the upside, it has helped me build statewide and national contacts who can provide some extra “firepower” on legislative matters and personal mentorship and guidance, which I appreciate. On the downside, there is undoubtedly a target on my back. I think I have to work a little harder to get things done with the significant Republican majorities we have — but I don’t mind the challenge. On balance, I think it’s a net-positive. GG: This session began with an unusual amount of anti-LGBTQ+ issues being proposed by the majority party. Fortunately, these proposals did not make it out of committee, but the sentiment remains. What is your take on this development? Should the LGBTQ+ community be concerned?
ZW: I would certainly have been much more concerned if those bills had moved forward through the first funnel deadline. Still, through a lot of work by our advocates at the Capitol, we were able to stop them. This is a reminder that we have to remain vigilant, and we can’t take our progress for granted. I’d also say we have been especially concerned about legislation targeting trans folks — there have been several anti-trans laws enacted in other states, and last year the GOP took aim at trans folks on Medicaid here in Iowa.
GG: What do you see as the most important items for this session of the Iowa legislature once reconvened? ZW: Frankly, I think it’s too soon to Iowa Senat District 37 say. The most important thing we’ll have to do is pass a budget to keep the state government operating. Beyond that, it’s not clear how long we’ll be in session and what the policy agenda will be. There are lots of bills that I would like to see enacted, but until we have more information about where things are going with COVID-19, it’s hard to project too far into the future. GG: Elections have consequences. What can the LGBTQ+ community do to organize and elect more LGBTQ+ candidates and LGBTQ+ friendly candidates?
ZW: I know a lot of us are frustrated with politics at a national level — but there is a huge impact on peoples’ day-to-day lives at the state government level, too. And the biggest thing we can to protect LGBTQ+ people in Iowa is to end the complete control Republicans have on our state government by flipping the Iowa House and Iowa Senate. If you already have a Democratic state legislator, check out https://www.flipitiowa.net/ to learn how you can get involved with statewide efforts. GG: How can we get our state govt. to ban conversion therapy?
ZW: Well, to my point above, the top priority has to be ending the GOP trifecta. (continued on next page)
(continued from previous page) ZW continued: We made some great progress this year, getting the entire Senate Democratic caucus to co-sponsor legislation I filed to ban conversion therapy. Unfortunately, Senate Republicans refused to even schedule it for a subcommittee, let alone a full committee meeting. I think there was some bipartisan support in the House, but without support from House Leadership, the bill didn’t advance. GG -Editors note: These additional items were offered by Senator Wahls as well to be shared with his constituents:
Take Our Survey: Legislative Priorities Survey<https://docs.google. com/forms/d/1ntVvXbJsOdkhs1XHDnzA6nwCQ3CLEObRtIqG5OVcPvk/> Newsletter Signup: www.zachwahls.com<http://www.senate.iowa.gov/ senator/wahls/newsletter/> www.zachwahls.com
Follow the 2020 General election with the “GoGuide Election Guide” all spring, summer, and fall at GoGuideMagazine.com
April 2020
Sarah Hansen named UI’s vice president for student life
UI Press Release-The University of Iowa has named Sarah Hansen, manager of strategic programs in the UI Office of the Provost, as vice president for student life, effective April 1.
Pending Board of Regents approval, Ms. Hansen will succeed Laura McLeran, who has served as interim vice president since Jan. 1 following the departure of Melissa Shivers in December 2019. Ms. Shivers is now vice president for student life at Ohio State University.
Ms. Hansen has held her current role since October 2019, providing direction, consultation, and project management for institutional strategic planning and implementation of the campus Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Action Plan. From August 2016 to October 2019, she served as associate vice president in the Office of the Vice President for Student Life, where she supervised five units (Student Health, Student Wellness, Recreational Services, the Rape Victim Advocacy Program, and University Counseling Service) and was a senior adviser to the vice president. “Sarah is a true university citizen who has shown time and time again an ability to bring together teams to support the success of our students,” said UI President Bruce Harreld in a release. “With her
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connections across the university, I am certain that the integration of student life across our campus will broaden and deepen.” Ms. Hansen, who will receive an annual salary of $290,000, was one of four internal candidates who participated in interviews for the role in February.
“I am thrilled and honored to serve as the vice president for student life at the institution I love,” she said. “The Division of Student Life plays a significant role in supporting student success by providing meaningful experiences outside the classroom and services that enable students to be included, safe, and healthy. I’m excited to collaborate with DSL staff members to create even more focused partnerships with the Office of the Provost, colleges, and academic success units in support of the UI’s mission.”
Ms. Hansen holds a Bachelor of Arts in sociology and a Master of Arts in Education, both from the University of Iowa. She has served the campus in numerous leadership roles and on numerous committees, including as project manager for the American Talent Initiative, 2018-19, co-chair of the 2016-21 UI Strategic Plan Committee, co-creator of the On Iowa! program, co-chair of the Path Forward Student Success Work Group, and author of the UI Alcohol Harm Reduction Plan, 2009-19. She also has actively worked to enact change around diversity, equity, and inclusion. Besides co-chairing the Division of Student Life’s DEI Action Plan, she co-led the creation of the Campus Inclusion Team, served on the Provost’s Graduation Task Force, and advanced the redesign of gateway courses to promote equity in the academic experience.
CULTURE
Editors Note - Paul Lisicky is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and was set to appear at this month’s Mission Creek Festival 2020 before the festival’s cancellation due to thCOVID-19 pandemic.
To the edge and back: an interview with gay writer Paul Lisicky By Gregg Shapiro April 2020
Paul Lisicky has a way-
with words. Beginning with his 1999 debut novel Lawnboy and continuing with his other books, including the memoirs Famous Builder (2002) and The Narrow Door (2016), Lisicky draws readers into his world with prose that is as intimate as it is universal, regaling us with stories of family and friends and all the complications that those subjects entail. In his new memoir, Later: My Life at the Edge of the World (Graywolf, 2020), one of the most anticipated books of the new decade, he takes us back to the end of the previous decade, to a span of years in the early 1990s when he was a fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown (Massachusetts) and soon after simply one of the people of “Town” (as he calls it). Like other places known for being settlements where gay people congregated and lived, Provincetown was devastated by AIDS and Lisicky does a remarkable job of capturing the time period. An educator as well as a writer, Lisicky was kind enough to answer a few questions in advance of the publication of Later. (continued on the next page)
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(continued from the previous page) Gregg Shapiro: Paul, because much of Later takes place 25 or more years ago, were you relying on journal entries, other kinds of notes and/or memory in writing the book? Paul Lisicky: I wrote the first draft of the book in the weeks after my father’s death, five years ago. You’d be surprised by what you remember when you’re porous, when the membrane between present and past is thinned out. I never kept a journal back then; life felt too frenetic to stand back and reflect. It was a lot like living in a hospital. That’s not to imply that there wasn’t plenty of play and wit and dark humor in the air. I’ll just say my memory was never keener, before or since, and I think a lot of that had to do with living in such close proximity to death. Death wasn’t a theory. It was literally around the corner; in the house you were walking toward.
GS: Later is presented in titled sections of varying lengths within the chapters and some of the sections include epigraphs. Please say something about the decision to map the book in this way. PL: The initial draft was much more continuous, retrospective, written in a steady and consistent past tense. I felt the arc of it bending toward order, resolution, logic—wisdom. Those aren’t necessarily the wrong impulses, but I wanted to find a better form for all the chaos and disjunction of that era. So, fragmentation felt like the way to go. I didn’t want to write a book that was too neat and resolved, though I certainly wanted it to be artful. There’s a poet in me, an essayist in me, and a narrative writer in me, and I needed access to all those impulses in order to bring this material to life. And as for the epigraphs, some of which are quite long, I never wanted to be the only voice talking. I wanted the book to have a choral effect. GS: In chapter nine, you write about your personal fashion transformation and Provincetown’s influence, which made me think of going to Provincetown in the early to mid-1980s when I was in college in Boston and how fashion forward it was then. Do you think Provincetown still has the same influence? PL: Provincetown will always be a beloved place, but it behaves more like the larger world these days. In other words, people bring the world to Provincetown. And back in the day, in the last days before the internet, the culture of the place, right down to how people dressed, was much more specific; it made itself up day after day. There wasn’t a world LGBTQ culture yet. That’s not to say Provincetown didn’t take cues from outside,
especially from, say, the East Village of the time—bandanas and goatees and beat-up leather jackets—but there was always a Provincetown spin to it.
GS: In chapter 12, you make mention of your late writer friend Denise who figured prominently in your 2016 memoir The Narrow Door. Because of the book’s Fine Arts Work Center setting you also write about authors including Lucy Grealy, Elizabeth McCracken, Tim Seibles, and of course, Mark Doty. Are there specific challenges when if come to writing about writers? PL: It’s hard work to write about any living human, especially when they’re your friends. You want to capture them in all their complexity, not just as totems of your affection. You want them to be compelling characters in their own right—how else will the reader share in your connection? So, I fret with every sentence, and have to trust that I’m giving you enough tools— gestures, a facial expression, a style of walking—to bring them to life. I don’t think my work wants to put writers and artists on a separate plane from any of the other characters. GS: You also write about your parents, specifically your mother, throughout the book. Has writing about them gotten easier or more difficult over time? PL: My books are an ongoing project. and the mother in one book isn’t exactly the same mother in another. She keeps turning, developing new facets. The stakes of her story get higher. Does writing about one’s parents get easier? Neither of my parents are around anymore, and I don’t have to worry about hurting them, but honestly? I think it gets harder. I miss them quite a lot, even in the ways they frustrated me and made my independence difficult. My mother, as she appears in Later, was having a rough time personally. Among other things, she didn’t want me to die of AIDS, and I get it: she’d already lost too many people. But I’m hoping her portrait manages to capture the connection between us. I think the book might look more closely at the darker sides of my parents than any of (continued on the next page)
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(continued from the previous page) my other books do, and maybe that candor is a way back to loving them all over again.
GS: In chapter 13 you write about “David Sedarisness” which made me wonder if you have ever met David Sedaris and what do you think he would say about what you wrote about him? PL: I’ve never met David Sedaris, though I’ve taught plenty of his work over the years. I’m hoping he’d think that that passage was a hoot and largely agree with it. In my mind, it’s largely complimentary. I wonder if he’ll ever see it. He could certainly kick me if he didn’t like it [laughs].
GS: I want to thank you for the mention of Allen Barnett’s The Body and Its Dangers in chapter 29. Can you say something about the impact that book had on you and how we go about making more people aware of the book? PL: It’s been years since I picked it up, but I remember the clarity and precision of Barnett’s language, his refusal to pander, his respect for vulnerability, melancholy, ambivalence. He always upended easy answers. The book, as a whole, brings those charged years back to life again. GS: Later is subtitled My Life at the Edge of the World, and the “edge of the world” appears in chapter nine, while “the end of the world” appears in chapter 30. Can you please say something about how those things are either different or the same to you in the setting of the book? PL: Literally those words have different meanings, but within the context of the book their difference is largely sonic. To me, the word edge feels like it has more conflict in it—will the subject go over, or not? It summons up a cliff. I want “edge” to have figurative associations, but I also want it to conjure up the physical extremity of the United States. It’s not in the middle of the country. You can’t go further east. What kind of community, what kind of mind flourishes on the margin? GS: Later wouldn’t be a Paul Lisicky book without Joni references, including those on pages 14 and 129. Have you ever had the chance to present Joni with any of your books? (continued on page 30)
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(Continued from page 28) PL: Yes, there are also references to her songs in a few of the subtitles: “California, I’m Coming Home” and “Mr. Mystery” from “Talk to Me” on Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter. Honestly, I haven’t. I wonder what she would think. The idea of it makes me shy. She might approve of the fact that I largely reference work from the second half of her career, but who knows?
GS: Rebecca Makkai, author of The Great Believers, is one of the writers who blurbed Later and it made me think of the way that AIDS has made a pop culture comeback in literature via Rebecca’s book as well as yours, and in movies (Yen Tan’s 1985) and on TV (Ryan Murphy’s Pose). What do you think that says about the current state of things? PL: We’re certainly aware that we’re now in a time of multiple crises: the crisis at our southern border, the opioid crisis, “And the story is the political emergency, the climate emergency— ongoing, of course; where do we stop? Maybe it helps to look back at we can’t forget that. another fraught period to see how people surThirty-eight million in vived it, to see what strategies we used to thrive the world right now and fight. living with HIV. And only a little less than Honestly, I think it was really hard to represent two thirds of that popthe early epidemic for so long. The scope of it felt ulation are accessing impossible, and maybe writers and producers antiretrovirals.” felt the burden of having to write the “The Great AIDS novel or film”, and now we intuitively know that that was always a doomed idea, as it was bound to exclude too many voices. So many individual accounts haven’t yet been given form. And the story is ongoing, of course; we can’t forget that. Thirty-eight million in the world right now living with HIV. And only a little less than two thirds of that population are accessing antiretrovirals. GS: Have you started thinking about or working on your next book project? PL: I’ve been writing a book about my father—or complicated fathers in general—for several years now. It’s still trying to find its parameters and I’m hoping I’ll wake up one morning, find its solution, and go, “a-ha!”. And the book will finally take wing. GG
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SCENE
GoGuide chats with Rebellion Burlesque via Messenger April 2020 By Tim Nedoba Editors note-This is GoGuide’s first ever Messenger interview. Follow along just as if you’re on your i-phone. I see your mission is to speak and speak LOUD could you expand on this point? Q.1 Rebellion is not just here to entertain. We want you to take something else away from our shows. We speak out about the injustices we see in our community and world. Whether it be gender orientation, racial discrimination, wage gaps, LGBTQ oppression. etc. We incorporate issues we see our society such as domestic abuse, sex worker’s rights and safety, climate change, mental health awareness, We do many fundraisers for causes we feel passionate about and teach our audience about them whether it’s though hosting, the performances themselves, or social media. We also stand for the idea of body positivity reinforcing that everybody (every body) is a burlesque body and with that that every body is beautiful and sexy no matter weight, gender, race, age or disability. You can see this reflected through the members of our troupe. (continued on the next page)
In our society. It’s hard to see what I’m writing in the chat box. What would someone expect to see at a show?
Q2: Burlesque is so many different things but we feel its best described as “theatrical stripping.” Each individual performance (otherwise known as an act) is completely different from the next, apart from the stripping and that is an art unto itself. You will find acts with humor and ones with sorrow. Cute and lighthearted to dark and deep. Each of our performers bring their unique style and interpretations to the stage. There are a plethora of different genres of burlesque. Classical burlesque, being what most people think of when they think of burlesque, with classic bawdy or big jazz band music, that incorporates Focal Points Photography boas and feathered fans. You can catch these types of performances at one of IC’s Bawdy Bawdy Ha Ha productions! Then there’s the new age Neo burlesque which is an evolution of burlesque’s classical roots. Neo burlesque houses many different subgenres. Such as Nerdlesque! These can be acts pulling inspiration from the cosplay world which plays off of anime, comic books, video games, cult movies and much more. (Insert nerdlesque troupe in the QC?) Gorelesque is for those horror movie and scary story fanatics! You can find lots of fake blood, body parts and references to some of your favorite classics at these shows. Men also do burlesque! Boylesque is done by men, male presenting performers and drag kings. The nearest Boylesque troupe can be found in the QC, just look up Manscape Burlesque or attend our Boys N’ Berries Show August (insert date here) Rebellion definitely falls into the Neo side of the Burlesque world while still paying tribute to where all the movement, tease and commrodary began. What are you doing to stay busy during this time of social distancing?
Q.3 Members of Rebellion are taking the time to work on costumes, upcoming performance numbers, planning out upcoming shows, fine tuning old acts and watching videos of other amazing artist in the industry to get inspiration. We have members busy making protective masks for nursing homes and other places in need and others making donations to help.
Upcoming performances: (pending the pandemic status)
Sat May 2nd - Thank God for Mental Illness pt 2 Fri June 19th - Color theme for PRIDE Sat June 20th - PRIDE main stage (variety show) Sat July 4th - Dungeons and Dragons Sat August 22nd - Boys N Berries (manscape/drag show) fruit/food themed Sat September 19th - Fucked Up Fairytales Sat Oct 3rd- Delia Belladonnaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Breast Friendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gorelesque show November - No show! Rebelliousgiving Thurs December 31st - Clue (NYE)
These shows will all be at the Iowa City Yacht Club. We were setting up shows at other venues when all this went dow . These are just the ones we have scheduled as of now. Would you be interested in performing at Coralville PrideFest? Q4: The group is very interested in performing at Coralville Pride. I have a couple of questions. What amount of time do you think we would be performing and what does the stage look like? Is it in a venue or outdoors? This is Carmen reaching out to give the last few thoughts about Rebellion. Rebellion Burlesque is made up of a collective of performers who all put in their part to keep Rebellion going. Whether that be gathering sponsorhsips, creating merchandise for our booth, to choreographing group numbers, or coming up with themes for our shows. The thing we cherish most about Rebellion is the open and honest communication we have amongst us. Each member is dedicated to not only elevating themselves, but elevating each other as well. We hope as a team that we can bring more education, passion and care to the community that has already given so much to us. GG
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ik So sa
Wor ld
Erik ’s
I’m a Firework April 2020 A column by Erik Sosa
By E r
I came across a quote by Chilean author Isabel Allende, that resonated deep within. “Creativity is not always something to do with the arts or writing; it has to do with the way you carry your life.” I was shook! Not because I paint and write or am expressive and an out of the box thinker, so therefore, I may be creative. But because, as of late, I better understand that I need to carry my own weight in life, instead of having life toss me around like a plastic bag in the wind. Queue in Katy Perry. Pretty mesmerizing at times, but overall aimlessly pointless. If creations are to be truly useful, it should not be about the final result for others to judge that should take precedence, but what stems from within when taking control of things, making decisions, and learning from that process with flair. Who says you can’t teach a loose cannon how to sparkle with direction? In world a full of color, life is full of tops and bottoms, and it is through tongue and cheek that I can often better express myself. Creatively speaking, nothing is ever easy if it’s meant to be substantial. Here are a couple of lessons that being my artistic journey has taught me about life. First, one can only control the inputs, not the outputs. I have been painting for almost twenty years, and conveniently enough, I found much “success” early on in my career. Soon after, I found myself pregnant and living a suburban commemorative plaque kind of wife lifestyle. And, as with all things in life, one day your in and the next day you’re out. Trying to recapture the limelight, while raising kids and living in Wisconsin, well, let’s say that had an effect on me and what I was producing as an “artist.”
In time, I would again find my artistic voice in writing for GRAB. Fast forward to today, and I find myself in a place where I know who I am as an artist because, in time, I have found a way to marry artistry with fatherhood and have come to realize that to a certain point, I can’t control how my work is received. I can only control what I put into it. Although
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this profound revelation didn’t happen overnight, I can a sure was very freeing to know that expression of self is about letting go of the negativity, faults, and flaws of one’s own life and its perception that others may have. I realized soon after, that all I had to do was to keep moving forward by working and producing my hearts desires. That was it. You are not guaranteed external validation. We yearn for it and think that we need it. But it is foolish to base our self-esteem and our creative life source on something we can and never will be able to control. Do this often enough, and the self-validation you will find within will be higher than what anyone else can give you. Second, it’s about the journey, not the destination. Creativity is really about the process, not just the end result. Following on from lesson one, the natural conclusion is if you are to continue working, while experimenting with different ideas or mediums, some of which will be complete fails, you will find solace and comfort in the knowledge of efforts made. Eventually, through time, trial and error, you will ultimately get to a place, an achievement of a metamorphosis of sorts, where elucidation of self becomes more comfortable and more natural as we pull from past experiences. You know your work is done, because your heart will lead you there. This is the process. This is what the job is all about. The results of that work is the least important. Maybe people will love it, perhaps they’ll hate it, or maybe they won’t even notice. Remember, you can’t control the result and how it is received. Once it is done it is out of your hands, your part of the process is over. And on to the next. ‘Cause baby I’m a firework!” ES