JUNE/JULY 2018 METROSOURCE
OUR ULTIMATE
METROSOURCE
PRIDE GUIDE CHRISTINE QUINN POLITICAL ANIMAL
WE P-TOWN
JUNE/JULY 2018
ZACHARY QUINTO
PUTTING THE BAND BACK TOGETHER PRIDE
LEA DELARIA GOES BACK TO BLACK
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DEPARTMENTS THE PRIDE ISSSUE
June/July 2018 | VOLUME 29, NO. 3
this page: clockwise from left: by zeke rueles courtesy prestel • courtesy chritine quinn • courtesy ifc films • photo by gayle van wely
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22 CULTURE 6 METROSCOPE P!nk and Kathy Griffin on tour, recognizing gay athletes and authors, and Titus Andromedon’s return. All that and more in scope!
16 MUSIC Queer acts from Matt Palmer’s slow jams to Amanda Lepore’s hot hooks.
22 SCREEN A gender non-conforming child, lesbian lovers stifled by religion, and an earlier visit to Grey Gardens.
28 BOOKS
50
A troubled 20th century fashion force, temples to modern nightlife, and an interior designer with tips for more than decor.
BODY 48 METRO HIV Alan Cumming plays a man struggling with the generation after the crisis.
52 HEALTH Ten teas for weight loss.
VIEWS 34 DIARY Fans of “Team Gary” leave Wade underwhelmed.
40 FINANCE Who could ask for anything mortgage?
51 POV Kevin evolves from wouldbe seminarian to daddy.
62 LAST CALL Scott Thompson and Lea Delaria: gay groundbreakers.
CONTENTS
June/July 2018 | VOLUME 29, NO. 3
30 GUARDIANS OF DIVERSITY
WE SPEAK TO TWO HOLLYWOOD POWER
brokers who are using their positions at Creative Artists Agency to open new doors to opporunity.
36 CHRISTINE QUINN SHE MADE HEADLINES WHEN SHE CALLED
Cynthia Nixon an “unqualified lesbian.”We talk to Quinn why she’s qualified to call other politicos out.
42 ZACHARY QUINTO PART OF THE ALL-STAR ANNIVERSARY
revival of Boys in the Band, Quinto helps us unpack what the show says about gay people — now and then.
58 NO PLACE LIKE P-TOWN LGBT escape has much to offer visitors — from art and nature to seafood and festivals.
ON THE COVER PHOTO BY BRENT CHUA
ZACHARY QUINTO PHOTO BY ROBERT TRACHTENBERG
AT THE TIP OF CAPE COD, THIS CLASSIC
AN EXPERIENCE ABOVE RAISE YOUR PRIDE A LITTLE HIGHER
Join us for hand crafted cocktails with incredible skyline views TO WORLD TRADE CENTER, OPEN DAILY 8AM TO 9PM
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT ONEWORLDOBSERVATORY.COM
SCENTS OF MYSELF
VIEWS
EDITOR’S LETTER
THE YEAR IS 1999. I’M AT HOME IN NEW JERSEY AFTER MY
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freshman year of college, and having gotten a taste of the freedom and excitement of living in NYC, I’m climbing the walls. I talk to a man in an internet chat room and hesitantly agree to meet him a few blocks from my house. As I wait nervously, I repeat a mantra I shared with my then-best friend Melody: “I’d rather regret what I did than what I didn’t do.” He pulls up, and I open his car door, blown back by the fragrance of his freshly applied Ralph Lauren Polo for Men. I’ll never again catch the scent without being transported to that moment. It seems odd to me now, after so many years of never leaving the house without a spritz or a dab of some fragrance, that there was a time when it seemed like an exotic thing. Just after high school, I had a huge crush on my friend Zac (who was straight but didn’t mind me being so hopelessly smitten). I remember the day he excitedly pulled from his glove compartment a bottle of something called “Raw Vanilla.” He insisted it was the best men’s fragrance he’d ever found, and in short order we resolved to find me a bottle as well. I didn’t so much wear it out as put it on and think of him. But it was that collision of him and what was likely little more than vanilla extract that forever connected my budding attraction to men with their scent. It was actually not a man, but Melody who introduced me to what was for many years my signature fragrance. Melody was a curator of olfactory delights and wore a variety of distinct women’s fragrances. One evening she had me sniff a bottle from which wafted a whiff of something intoxicating and citrusy. “If it weren’t a men’s fragrance,” she declared, “it’s what I’d wear, so I decided to buy it for you.” For more than a decade, not a day went by that I did not have a bottle of Dolce & Gabbana Pour Homme at the ready. I liked the idea that it would become part of my identity — perhaps enough that someday a guy would catch its zing in the air and think of me, the way vanilla made me swoon over Zac. In college, my handsome roommate Chris had a thing for Calvin Klein Eternity for Men. He also had a thing for hanging around our common area in his boxer briefs — enjoying the way his lean, muscled physique drove my to distraction. I still associate that scent with a unique blend of being incredibly turned on and immensely frustrated. My first long-term boyfriend Jon was not much for cologne, but believed there could be some deleterious effect to wearing chemical antiperspirants and deodorants. So he found a natural alternative — a pine spray meant to keep one feeling as fresh as anything from a pharmacy. I came to associate pine with him so completely that memories of our time can be triggered by a walk past an evergreen or through a room freshly mopped with Pine-Sol®. My fiancé Justin is not one for fragrance either, but he appreciates my love of it. Every once in a while, he’ll borrow a hoodie I’ve worn and send me a little text about the comforting way its smells reminds him of me. When we travel abroad, we’ll while away time in duty-free shops, seeking fragrances that might fit. I remember falling for one at Reykjavik’s famed Blue Lagoon spa: a unique, herbaceous scent called Landi. It always reminds me of snuggling with Justin on the flight home. When I was a kid, fragrance was very much the domain of women. It was the fabulous cloud that accompanied my Aunt Kathy or Aunt Barbara into a room, the halo around my Gram’s perfectly-set coiffure. Having never smelled of anything other than soap, I envied the way they wore it like an invisible tiara. It was something I wanted but also was ashamed for wanting because it was“for girls.”If I could go back, I might tell my younger self that someday fragrance will become a part of how I present myself to the world — a part of the way I’ll remember the men I’ve desired (once I get over my fear of desiring men), and a way others will recognize me. It may not be a rainbow flag, but it’s a part of my identity I’ll come to flaunt just as proudly. It’s part of who I am, as the La Cage number suggests: my own special creation. ■ JUNE/JULY 2018
METROSOURCE.COM
PUBLISHER Rob Davis ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Evelyn Vayner EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Paul Hagen CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jiyon Son ASSOCIATE EDITOR Kevin Phinney SENIOR DESIGNER Jayson Mena COPY EDITOR Kevin Phinney PROOFREADERS Erin Jordan, Barbara Mele CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jennifer Day, Yolanda Evans,
Matt Gross, Jeffrey James Keyes, Scott Kramer, Christopher Lisotta, Deborah L. Martin, Laura Moreno, Kevin Phinney, Jonathan Roche, Eric Rosen, Wade Rouse, Jeff Simmons, Megan Venzin ADMINISTRATION Luswin Cote INTERN Caitlin Sawicki NATIONAL DISPLAY ADVERTISING
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GAY VOICES
&
IS OUR ONLINE FORUM FOR SHARING STORIES — FROM THE HEARTBREAKING TO THE HILARIOUS — ABOUT WHAT IT’S LIKE TO LIVE IN THE LGBT SKIN WE’RE IN.
Lesbian Moms, Sperm Donors,
STOCK PHOTO CREDIT MARIA DUBOVA
THE MYTH OF THE ESSENTIAL FATHER
GAY VOICES
the mothers’ relationship as unstable and the children as desperate to find and build a relationship with their sperm donor, whom they consider their father. One of the mothers even goes so far as to have an affair with the sperm donor, further blurring the lines between sperm donor and father. Despite the film’s “feel good” tenor, this representation is harmful to actual same-sex families. By portraying the children as needing the presence of a father in order to be complete, the film implicitly suggests that lesbians are not sufficient parents and that children require the presence of a patriarchal figure to be functional adults, neither of which are true. In doing so, the film questions the basis for two moms to be legal parents to a child biologically related to only one of them. My moms are my legal mothers. Obviously, only one of my moms is my biological mother, and since my brother and I were born prior to the legalization of same-sex marriage, our other mom had to adopt us through second-parent adoption. At the time of my brother’s birth in 1997, my parents lived in New York, so it was there that my mom applied for second-parent adoption. The process of adoption took over two years. Hoping to ease the difficulty of this process, my parents moved to New Jersey where I was born. Only days after my birth, my mother became my legal parent. Even though I am over two years younger than my brother, our mom was my legal mother first. Since the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2015, many states have begun to give legal parentage to both women in lesbian couples who have children using sperm donors upon the birth of their child — a law that has existed for heterosexual couples for decades. This finally gives lesbian couples, for whom it is exceedingly difficult to adopt children, the ability to have children and be legally recognized as mothers. However, there remain states that do not acknowledge or grant second-parent adoption to the nonbiological parent in same-sex relationships. The disparity between treatment of heterosexual and homosexual couples who have children through artificial insemination is a direct consequence of the pervasive idea of the “essential” father. Society’s endless obsession with the heteronormative need for a mother and father promotes this unfair legislative imbalance, preventing two mothers from legally becoming equal parents. A sperm donor is not a father. As my moms always told me, genetics do not define family. We do. ■
METROSOURCE
FOR AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER, I HAVE KNOWN THAT I WAS the child of a sperm donor. At age two, my two loving mothers explained that our family was different from the norm — that my brother and I are not both their biological children. My moms explained that since the conception of a child requires a female’s egg and a male’s sperm, a very nice man donated his sperm to a sperm bank so that we could exist. This is my normal. My moms love me, and I have never felt the need or inclination to find my sperm donor. Though he is biologically my father, my mothers — who paid monetary and physical costs to have children — are my parents. They are enough. One of my earliest memories is a hazy recollection from when I was three years old. I was in preschool, explaining to a friend that because I have two moms and no dad, I was created with sperm from a sperm bank. Needless to say, they were disturbed by another three-year-old explaining the biology behind conception. Ever since, I have continued to receive questions regarding my conception and parenthood. Once I mention that I am a child of artificial insemination, I almost always receive follow-up questions: “Do you know who your father is?”, “Don’t you feel like you’re missing something by not having a father?”, or “Don’t you want to know your father?” The answer to all three is: “No.” My sperm donor is not my parent. We have no legal or emotional bond; we have no shared memories. Like any other donor, he is just a man who, for either economic or philanthropic reasons, made a charitable contribution. In recent years, several films have come out that depict families with children of sperm donors. One such film, The Kids Are All Right, centers around a lesbian couple and their two children, both of whom were conceived with a sperm donor. Though it masquerades as a movie supporting lesbian couples and their ability to parent their children sufficiently without a father, the film portrays
BY EMMA MAIMAN-STADTMAUER
DO YOU HAVE A STORY TO SHARE ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE PART OF AN LGBTQ FAMILY? SHARE IT WITH US BY GOING TO
“ GAY
VOICES” AT METROSOURCE.COM.
METROSOURCE.COM JUNE/JULY 2018
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CURATED BY PAUL HAGEN AND CAITLIN SAWICKI
CULTURE
METROSCOPE
METROSCOPE
HIGH FLYER “I FORGOT THE WORDS; S**T!” THAT WAS P!NK’S REACTION
to fumbling the lyrics of her 2006 hit,“Who Knew” during a recent concert at Madison Square Garden. It’s this downto-earthiness that’s one of the many reasons she ended up on our annual list of “People We Love,” and she’s adored by fans of all ages worldwide. Described by Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot as “the bride of Ziggy Stardust,” P!nk will be soaring higher than ever during her “Beautiful Trauma” World Tour. Mixing such established hits as “Raise Your Glass” and “Just Give Me A Reason” with more recently-
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JUNE/JULY 2018
METROSOURCE.COM
released songs such as “Just Like Fire” and “What About Us”(not to mention a cover of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”) the tough-as-nails, unapologetically punk diva takes concert performances to the next level with aerial ballet — zooming around arenas on a harness to reach fans on the upper balconies — and by dipping into musical genres including hip-hop and goth rock. Hurry and catch one of about ten remaining stateside dates (she’ll be in the California area through late May) before she heads to Australia and New Zealand through September. pinkspage.com
THIS PAGE: PINK PHOTO BY WILL HEATH - NBC
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TOUR THING
THIS PAGE: PANSY BEAT PHOTOS COURTESY KRIMSKRAMS ISLAND • KIMMY SCHMIDT PHOTO COURTESY ERIC LIEBOVITZ - NETFLIX
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NOW AND THEN
PANSY BEAT CLAP YO’ HANDS AND STOMP YO’ FEET, LET’S GET MOVIN’ TO THE
Pansy Beat! This collector’s edition book compiling Michael Economy’s short-lived publication features all five issues of what can be thought of as the proto-queer ‘zine, originally published from 1989-1990. In what Economy describes as an “accident,” the idea of Pansy Beat came about after he returned from a six-month trip in Tokyo, where he worked with a production company that basically paid him to party at night clubs. While talking with his friends Endive and Donald Corken about Tokyo’s closeted gay scene and their future career
plans, Economy, Endive and Corken came up with the idea for a periodical that was a “whimsical journey down a pansy strewn lane.” Even though it disappeared fairly quickly, Pansy Beat nevertheless delivered a new perspective on downtown gay New York nightlife. During times dominated by the AIDS epidemic and economic struggles, it showed the community still had plenty of life. Featuring the likes of Lady Bunny, Leigh Bowery and Quentin Crisp, the book brings back to life the silly, naughty, upbeat spirit of the ‘zine — when the original issues were distributed with a free condom. facebook.com/pansybeat
THE TV SET
SCHMIDT TALKING HOLD UP! YOU MAY BE IN THE HABIT OF BINGING ENTIRE
seasons of Netflix’ madcap comedy Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt in one giggle-filled sitting. But this time around, there will be a not-so-brief intermission as the first six episodes of Season Four of will arrive on Netflix beginning May 30, while the second half isn’t set to premiere until later this year. Last season, that included such highs as Titus’ spectacular take on Beyoncé’s Lemonade (which he used to express his feelings about the idea of his beau Mikey cheating) and lows — including his subsequent failed attempt to bring about their reunion by performing his hit single, “Boobs in California.” Titus may yet have another chance to make it work with Mikey in the upcoming season, as the show’s creators have hinted that all hope is not lost for the lovable couple.You can also expect Kimmy to encounter the #MeToo movement in her new job, and delight in the return of series favorites, including daffy landlord Lillian (Carol Kane), social-climbing Jacqueline (Jane Krakowski), and “plenty of singing” — according to producer Robert Carlock. netflix.com METROSOURCE.COM JUNE/JULY 2018
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WHAT’S YOUR STORY GOING TO BE? INTRODUCING BIKTARVY® Ask your healthcare provider if BIKTARVY is right for you.
To learn more, visit
BIKTARVY.com Please see Brief Summary of Patient Information with important warnings on the adjacent pages.
Do not take BIKTARVY if you also take a medicine that contains: `` dofetilide
Brief Summary of Patient Information about BIKTARVY® BIKTARVY (bik-TAR-vee) (bictegravir, emtricitabine, and tenofovir alafenamide) tablets Important: Ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist about medicines that should not be taken with BIKTARVY. For more information, see “What should I tell my healthcare provider before taking BIKTARVY?”
What is the most important information I should know about BIKTARVY? BIKTARVY can cause serious side effects, including: `` Worsening of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. If you have an HBV infection and take BIKTARVY, your HBV may get worse (flare-up) if you stop taking BIKTARVY. A “flare-up” is when your HBV infection suddenly returns in a worse way than before. • Do not run out of BIKTARVY. Refill your prescription or talk to your healthcare provider before your BIKTARVY is all gone. • Do not stop taking BIKTARVY without first talking to your healthcare provider. If you stop taking BIKTARVY, your healthcare provider will need to check your health often and do blood tests regularly for several months to check your HBV infection. Tell your healthcare provider about any new or unusual symptoms you may have after you stop taking BIKTARVY. For more information about side effects, see “What are the possible side effects of BIKTARVY?”
What is BIKTARVY? BIKTARVY is a prescription medicine that is used without other anti-HIV-1 medicines to treat Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 (HIV-1) in adults: `` who have not received anti-HIV-1 medicines in the past, or `` to replace their current anti-HIV-1 medicines for people whose healthcare provider determines that they meet certain requirements. HIV-1 is the virus that causes AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).
`` rifampin
What should I tell my healthcare provider before taking BIKTARVY? Before taking BIKTARVY, tell your healthcare provider about all your medical conditions, including if you: ``have liver problems, including hepatitis B virus infection ``have kidney problems ``are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if BIKTARVY can harm your unborn baby. Tell your healthcare provider if you become pregnant during treatment with BIKTARVY. Pregnancy Registry: There is a pregnancy registry for women who take antiviral medicines during pregnancy. The purpose of this registry is to collect information about the health of you and your baby. Talk with your healthcare provider about how you can take part in this registry. `` are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed if you take BIKTARVY. • You should not breastfeed if you have HIV-1 because of the risk of passing HIV-1 to your baby. • At least one of the medicines in BIKTARVY can pass to your baby in your breast milk. It is not known if the other medicines in BIKTARVY can pass into your breast milk. Talk with your healthcare provider about the best way to feed your baby. Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, antacids, laxatives, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Some medicines may interact with BIKTARVY. Keep a list of your medicines and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist when you get a new medicine. `` You can ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist for a list of medicines that interact with BIKTARVY. `` Do not start a new medicine without telling your healthcare provider. Your healthcare provider can tell you if it is safe to take BIKTARVY with other medicines. Continued on next page.
BIKTARVY contains the prescription medicines bictegravir, emtricitabine, and tenofovir alafenamide. It is not known if BIKTARVY is safe and effective in children under 18 years of age.
BIKTARVY.com
Continued from previous page.
How should I take BIKTARVY? `` Take BIKTARVY exactly as your healthcare provider tells you to take it. BIKTARVY is taken by itself (not with other HIV-1 medicines) to treat HIV-1 infection. `` Take BIKTARVY 1 time each day with or without food. `` Do not change your dose or stop taking BIKTARVY without first talking with your healthcare provider. Stay under a healthcare provider’s care during treatment with BIKTARVY. `` If you take antacids that contain aluminum, magnesium, or calcium, take BIKTARVY on an empty stomach 2 hours before you take these antacids. `` If you take supplements that contain iron or calcium, take these supplements with food at the same time that you take BIKTARVY. `` Do not miss a dose of BIKTARVY. `` If you take too much BIKTARVY, call your healthcare provider or go to the nearest hospital emergency room right away. `` When your BIKTARVY supply starts to run low, get more from your healthcare provider or pharmacy. This is very important because the amount of virus in your blood may increase if the medicine is stopped for even a short time. The virus may develop resistance to BIKTARVY and become harder to treat.
What are the possible side effects of BIKTARVY? BIKTARVY may cause serious side effects, including: `` See “What is the most important information I should know about BIKTARVY?” `` Changes in your immune system (Immune Reconstitution Syndrome) can happen when you start taking HIV-1 medicines. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fight infections that have been hidden in your body for a long time. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you start having any new symptoms after starting your HIV-1 medicine. `` New or worse kidney problems, including kidney failure. Your healthcare provider should do blood and urine tests to check your kidneys when starting and during treatment with BIKTARVY. Your healthcare provider may tell you to stop taking BIKTARVY if you develop new or worse kidney problems.
What are the possible side effects of BIKTARVY? (continued) `` Too much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis). Too much lactic acid is a serious but rare medical emergency that can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: weakness or being more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, stomach pain with nausea and vomiting, cold or blue hands and feet, feel dizzy or lightheaded, or a fast or abnormal heartbeat. `` Severe liver problems. In rare cases, severe liver problems can happen that can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, lightcolored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, or stomach-area pain. The most common side effects of BIKTARVY are diarrhea (6%), nausea (5%), and headache (5%). These are not all the possible side effects of BIKTARVY. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
General information about the safe and effective use of BIKTARVY. Medicines are sometimes prescribed for purposes other than those listed in a Patient Information leaflet. Do not use BIKTARVY for a condition for which it was not prescribed. Do not give BIKTARVY to other people, even if they have the same symptoms you have. It may harm them. This Brief Summary summarizes the most important information about BIKTARVY. If you would like more information, talk with your healthcare provider. You can ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist for information about BIKTARVY that is written for health professionals. For more information, call 1-800-445-3235 or go to www.BIKTARVY.com. Keep BIKTARVY and all medicines out of reach of children. Issued: February 2018 BIKTARVY, the BIKTARVY Logo, GILEAD, and the GILEAD Logo are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies. © 2018 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. BVYC0004 02/18
BIKTARVY.com
6} U.S.A. PRIDE CAN’T MISS
we shine a spotLight on some of the
many notable stateside celebrations:
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CAPITAL PRIDE JOIN THE LGBT COMMUNITY JUNE 7–10 ON
historic Pennsylvania Avenue in DC for a 2018 Pride Celebration to the theme “Elements of Us.”capitalpride.org
INK SPOTTED
BY THE BOOKS
THE 30TH ANNUAL LAMBDA LITERARY AWARDS
(aka the Lammys) will take place June 4 at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. This year, the nation’s oldest and largest LGBT literary arts organization, Lambda Literary, received over 1,000 submissions from over 300 publishers — mainstream and independent, old and new. Last year’s event was hosted by Justin Vivian Bond and featured appearances by comedian Tig Notaro, nowgubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon, and
many respected figures from the world of literature. Over the course of its 30 years, the Lammys have honored such artists as Alison Bechdel (Fun Home), John Berendy (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil), John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), David Evershoff (The Danish Girl) and André Aciman (Call Me By your Name). 2018 Lammys will be given in categories from Gay Mystery to Lesbian Poetry to Transgender Nonfiction. For tickets, visit lambdaliterary.org.
NYC PRIDE WHAT BETTER PLACE TO CELEBRATE PRIDE
than where it all began? After events from June 17–24, march with fellow LGBTs in remembrance of the Stonewall uprising. nycpride.org BOSTON PRIDE THE 2018 BOSTON PRIDE THEME IS
#RainbowResistance, but you can also rock their other hashtag, #WickedProud, June 1–10. bostonpride.org NEW JERSEY PRIDE head to the beaCh in beautifuL asbury
Park June 3 as the Jersey Shore goes gay for a rain or shine extravaganza by the boardwalk. jerseypride.org
this page: by the books photos Courtesy Lambda Literary • good sport Courtesy of
LOS ANGELES PRIDE CHRISTOPHER STREET WEST HOSTS THE LA
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Pride festival June 9-10 in West Hollywood, featuring performers including Swedish singing sensation Tove Lo, electropop duo Icona Pop and rapper Eve. lapride.org
GOOD SPORT
GOOD SPORT
in some ways, 2018 wiLL go down as a fantastiC
year for LGBT representation in sport. The Winter Olympics boasted at least 15 out athletes — more than double the number at Sochi — and were also the first Winter Olympics where the list of openly LGBT Olympians included men, with skier Gus Kenworthy and figure skater Adam Ripon attracting huge media attention. Unfortunately, this trend has not been reflected in America’s massive team sports, despite the growing acceptance of LGBT Americans overall. In the five major professional leagues — NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and MLS —
where statistically we would expect hundreds of openly gay athletes, there are no openly gay male professional athletes currently competing. Alone in the Game is a new AT&T original documentary asks difficult questions about this situation, challenges stereotypes, and seeks to redefine the landscape of acceptance in sport for the next generation. It showcases stories that deliver a message of hope and promote understanding to end the culture of exclusion. Alone in the Game premieres June 28 on DIRECTV NOW and DIRECTV Channel 239. directv.com
SAN FRANCISCO PRIDE THE CITY’S CELEBRATION, JUNE 23–24,
will salute all who’ve fought for our community’s rights under the theme “Generations of Strength.”sfpride.org Link directly to our Big Pride List by using a QR code scanner on your smarthphone:
PORTRAIT SURE
DAVID HOCKNEY: 2 PORTRAITS AND 1 STILL-LIFE FIRST OPENED AT
London’s Royal Academy in 2017 and has since traveled to Venice and Bilbao, but LACMA will be its only U.S. showing. “This exhibition marks the return of David’s work with painting on canvas and portraiture — long an important facet of his celebrated career,” says LACMA’s Michael Govan. “In 1988 LACMA initiated Hockney’s first large retrospective and now 30 years later, it is so meaningful to present a new body of work featuring David’s personal circle.” Each portrait was painted between 2013-2016 at Hockney’s Hollywood Hills studio. Hockney asked each subject for a three-day commitment, described by the artist as a “20-hour exposure.” “As one of the sitters whose portrait is included in the exhibition, I had the chance to witness Hockney’s painting process very closely over the course of three days,”says Stephanie Barron.“Looking at them together, we see how marvelously Hockney has captured the individual personalities of his varied subjects.”Visit them now through July 29. lacma.org
LOVE IS STRANGE
THE RECEPTION TO THIS SUMMER’S LOVE, SIMON WAS DECIDEDLY MIXED. IT
seemed that for every fan who appreciated the value of a mainstream movie about a kinder, gentler coming out process, there was a detractor who felt the film was too white, too straight, or simply made everything too easy. In light of this, it will be interesting to see how audiences respond to a more indie-minded take on similar subject matter. Alex Strangelove tells the story of Alex Truelove, a high school senior with a girlfriend named Claire and a bright future ahead. In fact, he’s already made plans to tackle one last milestone: losing his virginity. But the situation becomes complicated when he meets handsome homosexual Elliot, who inadvertently sparks a sexual identity crisis in Alex that sets him on a quest to discover what love, sex and friendship are all about. With all due respect to Love, Simon director Greg Berlanti — who helped create some of our all time favorite TV, we have high hopes for Strangelove in part because it was helmed by Craig Johnson, who wrote and directed the hilariously morose Skeleton Twins, which starred Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig as a deeply depressed pair of siblings. netflix.com
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• alex strangelove courtesy netflix
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CULTURE
METROSCOPE
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ART BEAT
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STAGE ADVICE
TONY AWARDS
JUST AS THE BASEBALL SEASON ENDS WITH ITS WORLD SERIES AND
Football has its Super Bowl, the official Broadway season ends with a bang as some of the theater community’s best and brightest take home one of its highest honors: The Tony Award. While the ceremony promises many surprises (including new hosts Josh Groban and Sara Bareilles), there are some things we definitely anticipate seeing during this year’s ceremony: 1. Plenty of love for Tina Fey’s Broadway musical adaptation of her coming-of-age hit, Mean Girls (pictured). 2. Recognition for the stirring import of Angels in America starring Andrew Garfield and Nathan Lane. 3. No love (yet) for the anniversary revival of Boys in the Band, which opens too late to be eligible for this year’s awards. 4. A bevy of other famous faces from this season’s productions, such as Meteor Shower’s Amy Schumer, Children of A Lesser God’s Joshua Jackson, Tony Shaloub of The Band’s Visit, Lauren Ambrose of My Fair Lady and many more. As for who will be taking home a trophy, you’ll have to tune in to CBS on June 10th to find out. tonyawards.com
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DRINK UP
SLUSH FUN
IF YOU NEED A BREAK AFTER A DAY OF CELEBRATING PRIDE,
consider hosting a few friends for a refreshing summery beverage like this “Madras Slushy.” It was shared by the mixology experts at Stirrings — those purveyors of fine mixers always aiming to make it easy to stir, shake and sip delicious cocktails. Featuring vodka, cranberry and orange, this refresher is a fruity way to cool down after a hot Pride.
THIS PAGE: MEAN GIRLS PHOTO BY JOAN MARCUS
What You Need: 2.5 oz Vodka 4 oz Stirrings Simple Blood Orange Martini Mixer 4 oz Cranberry Juice 0.4 oz Orange Liqueur ½ Fresh Lime, juiced 2 Cups Ice Stirrings Cosmopolitan Rimmer, for garnish
Preparation: Coat the rims of two cocktail glasses with the Cosmopolitan Rimmer. Set glasses aside. In a blender, combine all of the remaining ingredients and pulse until ice is crushed. Divide mixture between the two prepared rimmed glasses and enjoy! Serves 2. stirrings.com
METROSOURCE.COM JUNE/JULY 2018
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13} gloBal pride PACK UP
a quicK looK aT soMe of The
exciting international Pride celebrations worth planning to attend:
geT your pride on wiTh Music
SCREEN IT
GOING BOOM
using filM fooTage, Music, iMages, and sTories
CULTURE
from his artworld contemporaries, Sara Driver brings the successful yet tragic life of JeanMichel Basquiat to life with her new film Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michael Basquiat, which hit theaters this May. Basquiat lived during times of change. He came of age in a world that did not know what AIDS was but was about to be surrounded by it. He found success as a penniless artist and poet at the dawn of an era that would become known for greed and the economic policies of Ronald Reagan. Born in Brooklyn on December 22, 1960, Basquiat
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FUNNY THING
geT ahead
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enrolled as a Junior Member of the Brooklyn Museum when he was six. After running away from home at the age of 15, the artist began to establish himself during the 1970s graffiti movement: he and artist friend Al Diaz would spraypaint buildings in downtown Manhattan under the name SAMO. Despite having died from a heroin overdose at the age of 27, his graffiti-inspired and against-the-social-grain work has become widely embraced in the art community, and he is rightfully remembered as a prime example of the Neo-Expressionist movement. magpictures.com/boomforreal
performances, marketplaces and more — all leading up to what the Guinness Book of World Records has called the world’s largest Pride Parade on June 3. paradasp.org.br TEL AVIV PRIDE The israeli ciTy will Be celeBraTing
with events, June 3–9, including its famous beach party from 3pm until sunset. facebook.com/tlvpride PRIDE TORONTO norTh aMerica’s largesT pride cel-
ebration plans to honor people of all sexual orientations and gender identities June 22–24. pridetoronto.com MADRID PRIDE celeBraTe whaT soMe call The
afTer The phoTo of The coMedian holding a
likeness of Donald Trump’s disembodied head sparked controversy, Kathy Griffin is bouncing back with her Laugh Your Head Off world tour. Successful international appearances in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and the U.K. will now give way to the tour’s North American leg beginning May 25 in Toronto. Fans will have an opportunity to hear Griffin’s uncensored stories about her interrogation session with the Feds; how her FOX News-watching mother fears the comedian may be a secret member of ISIS; and tales of her demure, spotlight-eschewing neighbors Kanye and Kim. Some of Griffin’s previous successes include being named a #1 New York Times bestseller and receiving a 2013 Guinness Book of World Record recognition for writing and starring in 23 televised stand-up specials (the most any comedian had done up ‘till then). To see which of her upcoming shows still have tickets available (several have sold out), go to her website: KathyGriffin.com.
“best gay event in the world” on June 7 at what has become a favorite tourist destination for the gay community. gomadridpride.com CHRISTOPHER STREET DAY Berlin’s pride, which TaKes place
July 28, is known as Christopher Street Day in remembrance of the Stonewall Riots. csd-berlin.de LIVERPOOL PRIDE inTroduced in 2010 in response to
the murder of Michael Causer, Liverpool saw record numbers at last year’s celebration and expects them again July 28-29. liverpoolpride.co.uk
For even more Pride celebrations, see our Big Pride List at metrosource.com.
This page: BasquiaT phoTos courTesy of Magnolia picTures • KaThy griffin phoTo courTesy Tyler shields
METROSCOPE
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SAO PAULO PRIDE
Brian had his HIV under control with medication. But smoking with HIV caused him to have serious health problems, including a stroke, a blood clot in his lungs and surgery on an artery in his neck. Smoking makes living with HIV much worse. You can quit.
CALL 1-800-QUIT-NOW.
#CDCTips
HIV alone didn’t cause the clogged artery in my neck. Smoking with HIV did. Brian, age 45, California
IN THE SPOTLIGHT Fall in love with Matt Palmer, journey to Felix and the Future, take a bite out of CupcakKe and get more Amanda Lepore. BY MATT GROSS
MATT PALMER
Get Lost (Self-released) THE LOS ANGELES-BASED SINGER-SONGWRITER’S NEW EP GORGEOUSLY
AMANDA LEPORE LEPORE. (Self-released)
THE UNMISTAKABLE TRANS NIGHTLIFE PERSONALITY RETURNS
with a new EP of sexpot pop inspired by her travels around the world. Lepore plays with burlesque and retro-pop sensibilities on tracks such as “Buckle Up” and “My Panties” (which features her longtime collaborator, noted gay hip hopper, Cazwell). However, the EP’s magnetic centerpiece is a cover of David Bowie’s classic single, “The Jean Genie.” The song has long been a favorite of Lepore’s, and she decided to record it as a tribute to the artist after his death two years ago. Lepore’s producer Knifekick had this to say about the creation of the album:“We concentrated on figuring out the perfect equation that paired a sweet hook with a bouncy groove, to really showcase Amanda’s devilish side.” Lepore plans to perform these tracks all over the globe. For dates, visit AmandaLepore.net.
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this page: Matt palMer - courtesy of artist • aManda lepore By Marco cerrone
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MUSIC
chronicles the ebbs and flows of newfound love. In the style of recent Beyoncé albums, the recording is accompanied by seven visual components, which also feature one of our favorite Instagram hunks, model (and Drag Babies star) Max Emerson. Get Lost melds catchy R&B with ‘90s club beats and Palmer’s unique yet familiar pop sensibilities — a true winning combination. Palmer is a proud graduate of NYU’s incredibly selective Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, and fans of slow jam acts of yesteryear (Babyface, Boyz II Men, Blackstreet) will instantly fall for his hypnotic vocal delivery and sensual rhythms. Follow Matt Palmer on Twitter @mattpalmermusic.
FELIX AND THE FUTURE Holy Hands Vol. 2 (Self-released)
BLENDING PAST-EMBRACING TRIBAL IMAGERY WITH FUTURE-FACING SPACE AGE SOUND, FELIX AND THE FUTURE’S MUSIC SPINS STORIES ABOUT
searching the Earth and chasing false idols. The surrealist, Mexican-American pop artist confronts characters such as“Karen”(the title character of the record’s incredible first single and video) who battle being lost in the blackness of doubt and uncertainty. But not all is doom and gloom in Felix’s world. Citing Kate Bush, Klaus Nomi, Bjork and The Knife among its biggest influences, Holy Hands Vol. 2 explores sexuality and curiosity on tracks like the album’s ear-catching highlight,“Schoolboy.”To join in on Felix’s fascinating journey, visit his Instagram @futurefelix.
CUPCAKKE this page: Felix and the Future courtesy oF artist • cupcakke by shaun Michael
Ephorize (Self-released) AT JUST TWENTY YEARS OLD, ÜBER SEX-POSITIVE, BODY-POS-
itive Chicago-based rapper CupcakKe (born Elizabeth Eden Harris) has garnered a massive and incredibly loyal LGBT fan base seemingly overnight. Although she began releasing music back in 2012, it wasn’t until the viral success of her raunchy (and at times absolutely hilarious) videos for songs such as “Deepthroat”, “Doggy Style” and “Juicy Coochie” that she became a household name on the internet. However, CupcakKe’s music goes well beyond titillation; she also tackles more serious subjects such as racial injustice, police brutality, and poverty (not to mention a variety of other challenging topics). On Ephorize,her finest album to date, this blossoming rap diva brings all of these issues to the table and then some. It’s a can’t-miss for fans of Lil’ Kim, Foxy Brown and Khia. Follow CupcakKe on Facebook @CupcakKeRapper.
METROSOURCE.COM JUNE/JULY 2018
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Once upon a time, a gay and glamorous city was struck by a terrible plague; this is how we never forget. BY JEFF SIMMONS
PHOTO COURTESY THE FOUNDATION FOR THE AIDS MONUMENT
AS AIDS CASES ROSE IN THE EARLY 1980S, REGIONS LIKE NEW YORK
City, San Francisco and Los Angeles rapidly became epicenters of the epidemic across the United States. West Hollywood — which was even then brimming with celebrity and vibrant gay nightlife — soon became a visible marker of the disease. “The city had been incorporated in 1984, just as the AIDS epidemic was marking this town,” says Mark Lehman, a business and real estate attorney and a principal of the Café Gratitude and Gracias Madre restaurant group. “This became an important part of West Hollywood’s history.” West Hollywood will soon have a physical place which channels the pain of that period into a poignant and powerful homage. “STORIES: The AIDS Monument” is designed to memorialize the devastation of AIDS and honor the activists, caregivers, and community leaders who joined the struggle. “A lot of the doctors at the forefront of HIV and AIDS were from here,” says Lehman. “The city and community here has always wanted to do something to acknowledge that period in our history.” About five years ago, community, business, philanthropic, and civic leaders seeded the idea for the Monument and established the Foundation for The AIDS Monument. For its part, the city of West Hollywood donated land in West Hollywood Park — along San Vicente Boulevard, and Australian artist Daniel Tobin of Urban Arts Project was selected to design the Monument. His vision features vertical, shimmering beams, allowing visitors to walk throughout and reflect on lives that have been
lost, a respite grove, and programmable LED lighting that will illuminate at night. It will also feature an interactive component, illustrating the Foundation’s three-part goal: to remember, to celebrate and to educate. “The young LGBT community has very little information about what we went through,” said Lehman, who chairs the Foundation’s Board of Directors. “We do want to educate, we do want to remember, and we do want to celebrate what the medical community has accomplished.” Thus far, the campaign to fund the Monument has raised more than $3.1 million — that’s in addition to West Hollywood’s $500,000 grant. Elsewhere the project has drawn support from such celebrities as Sharon Stone and some highprofile donors, including Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Visit West Hollywood, the Guess Foundation, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, MAC AIDS Fund and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Although the project has faced delays related to the park’s renovation, Lehman and company still expect the monument to be up and running no later than 2020. “I lived through it all,” Lehman says, his voice heavy with history. “I am one of the people who can say I lost 50 percent of my friends; people I loved and cherished and admired in the community. This means a lot to me personally, so we don’t forget that this is an important part of the history of this town and this whole city and country.” ■
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MONUMENTAL STORIES
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Artist’s Rendering of the AIDS Monument
You can learn more about this project by visiting the Foundation for the AIDS Monument at aidsmonument.org. METROSOURCE.COM JUNE/JULY 2018
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WHO AM I, ANYWAY?
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Searching for the true identities of a gender non-conforming four-year-old, a father-daughter singing duo, an orthodox lesbian, a lovelorn Parisian, a pair of rare book thieves, and Little Edie Beale. BY JONATHAN ROCHE
AS THE SOUND OF MUSIC NUNS FAMOUSLY ASKED, “HOW DO
you solve a problem like Maria?” In this film a pair of parents ask: “How do you raise a kid like Jake?” He’s only about four years old, but his teacher (Octavia Spencer) has realized that his gender non-conforming behavior will need considering as his education and growth continue. Jake’s parents (Claire Danes and Jim Parsons) are liberal and open-minded Brooklynites who outwardly show no signs of trouble with Jake’s orientation — until on some level, Danes’ character does. But rather than show parents distinctly struggling with homophobia or transphobia, the film deals with the more subtle problem of not being able to see those closest to you for who they truly are. Danes offers the stressed-out energy she has perfected over the course of her career, while Parsons plays her husband as somewhat more grounded. The lack of distinct conflict in
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the story makes the plot a bit hard to hold on to, and there’s something a bit odd about Parson’s character (perhaps a choice by the actor himself?). Meanwhile, Spencer plays the wise (and gay) woman who seems to see everything most clearly and attempts to help Danes’ character to reach greater understanding. Mixed with Jake’s burgeoning gender identity issues is a struggle to which many parents can relate — the need to get their child into a school that won’t cost the family a lot of money but isn’t underfunded and overcrowded. Director Silas Howard (Transparent, This is Us) and writer Daniel Pearle (adapting his own play) offer a fairly simple story about an increasingly relevant issue. THE WORD: Depending on their familiarity with the topic, some will find this insightful and valuable; those looking for heated debate may find it humdrum. COMING TO: Theaters
THIS PAGE: PHOTO BY JON PAK COURTESY IFC FILMS
A KID LIKE JAKE
DISOBEDIENCE
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DISOBEDIENCE IS A CINEMATIC PEEK INTO THE RIGID AND YET
fascinating world of orthodox Judaism — a world that may seem hopeless for those who are gay and wish to live openly. SebastiĂĄn Lelio (winner of the Foreign Language Oscar for his transgender-themed A Fantastic Woman) directs this tale of an Englishwoman returning to the religious community she left behind to honor her recently deceased father. When Ronit (Rachel Weisz) enters her old house, she ďŹ nds her two oldest friends: Dovid (the now handsomely hirsute Alessandro Nivola of Junebug) primed to be her late rabbi father’s successor and Esti (Rachel McAdams) now married to Dovid. Ronit’s friends are glad to see her, but everyone is wary of a misďŹ t and outsider returning, even temporarily, to their midst. From the vantage of our individualistic society, it is usually off-
putting to see people living such intensely structured and uniform lives, and yet it’s also compelling to imagine what advantages these social structures afford to those who embrace them. Though Ronit’s intent in returning is benign, the community is ultimately justiďŹ ed in their suspicions when her presence stirs up suppressed longing within Esti. The pair reignite a taboo affair that started long ago, which leaves Esti deciding whether to join Ronit back in New York or stay with her kind and loving husband. The Rachel-on-Rachel action gets pretty heated (and even kinky) but still somewhat pales in comparison to the sapphic couplings in Blue is the Warmest Color. THE WORD: Intense meditations on faith and freedom ultimately yield to considerations about real life and real loss. COMING TO: Theaters
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of a boy with a secret as he tries to understand the adult world and his place within it. Based on author Justin Torres’ autobiographical ďŹ rst novel, this adaptation by freshman feature director Jeremiah Zagar follows Joel and his two brothers as they grow up in the turbulent wake of their parents’ personal struggles. Joel and his brothers would seem to be the titular animals, ranging around their rural landscape, sometimes in search of their own dinner. Torres’ spare and haunting words oat in as narration more often than the characters actually talk, resulting in a visually meditative ďŹ lm with a highly poetic feel. The camera’s eye is effectively and consistently like that of a child’s — viewing the ordinary world and its small dramas with wonder and dread. The sensation of familial love and connection is as strong as the feeling that it’s also falling apart. Father grows violent with mother, leaves and then returns. She dreams of escape. He loses his job. And as his brothers are growing into Puerto Rican men like their father, Joel is busy drawing his dreams into a secret book, his mind crawling through uncertainty and towards his own strange future. Kudos to casting: the three boys truly look like brothers, and newcomer Josiah
Gabriel makes a ďŹ tting avatar for Torres, while — as the parents — RaĂşl Castillo (Looking, Seven Seconds) and Sheila Vand (Argo) ďŹ ll their roles with the ordinary mystery inherent in how small children see their parents. THE WORD: A haunting, 90-minute trip through a childhood that will be familiar to a great many of us. COMING TO: Theaters METROSOURCE.COM JUNE/JULY 2018
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HEARTS BEAT LOUD favorite teddy bear, Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation). Frank (Offerman) has run a funky record store in Brooklyn’s Red Hook section for a dozen or more years, but business is bad and he reluctantly must tell his compassionate landlord (Toni Colette) that he can’t renew his lease. The studious daughter he raises alone, Sam (Kiersey Clemons - Dope, Transparent), is about to head west for college, leaving him with an added financial burden. But when an impromptu jam session between father and daughter yields a catchy tune, Frank takes a shot and puts in on Spotify. Meanwhile Sam meets a girl (American Honey’s Sasha Lane), and it turns out to be a relationship that she wasn’t expecting but can’t seem to ignore. As they deal with old loss and new change, Frank and Sam are faced with decisions about what comes next. Look for some nice cameos, including Blythe Danner as grandma (though her role seems somewhat extraneous to the plot), and Ted Danson as Frank’s bartender friend, doing his now familiar ‘relaxed older man making stoned-but-charming observa-
tions about life’ (a delight on its own merits). Naturally a big part of the movie is the music itself, and director Brett Haley makes some nice choices for the soundtrack, too; while the songs Sam and Frank create are decent, they’re perhaps not as good as they are meant to be within the world of the film. Evenly paced and character-driven, this film is easy to watch and enjoy — even if what it has to say is neither ground-breaking nor riveting. THE WORD: The actors make it worthwhile, especially Offerman, who makes an unusually appealing dad. COMING TO: Theaters
LET THE SUNSHINE IN AUDIENCES ARE IN FOR A JADED AND VERY FRENCH LOOK AT LOVE AND SEX as one Parisian artist twirls through a series of unsatisfactory re-
lationships in short order. It may not sound like the most enticing of plots — especially since the film’s meaning and even overall attitude are hard to divine, but the situation is aided considerably by the fact that the woman in question is played by Juliette Binoche. Simply
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watching Binoche and her masterfully subtle acting is enough to make this unusual film from accomplished director Claire Denis worthwhile. As Binoche’s character struggles with her romances, it seems as though both she and her lovers are engaged in some sort of complicated game playing or negotiation. First, she alternately entertains, then rejects the smarmy attentions of an arrogant and boorish married banker. Then she gets told off by a famous actor for sleeping with him too soon. She dates a nice, respectful guy for about three minutes of the film before he disappears — presumably for being a dullard. As we parade through potentials, audiences are left to wonder whether our takeaway should be that these particular men have not been right for her, that no men anywhere are right for her, or that there is something inherently flawed in the woman herself. The film closes with an obese fortune teller, Gérard Depardieu, craftily implying that he sees himself in her future — while Binoche looks at him glassy-eyed and the credits roll. Though it is wise to give Denis the benefit of the many doubts that this film might inspire, it is safe to say it is not one of Binoche’s best-crafted or most substantial films. THE WORD: Still, it is Binoche alone that legitimizes this deeply sardonic romantic comedy. COMING TO: Video on Demand
THIS PAGE: HEARTS BEAT LOUD - PHOTO BY JON PACK • LET THE SUNSHINE IN - COURTESY OF SUNDANCE SELECTS. A SUNDANCE SELECTS RELEASE.
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IT’S A SWEET LITTLE MUSICAL INDIE STARRING EVERYONE’S
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Gardens will be happy to know that there’s more to be seen of its subjects in this ďŹ lm that is, in many ways, an even closer look at what was already a rather wrenching portrait. The footage comes from two years before the legendary Maysles brothers would return to the ďŹ lthy East Hampton estate that was Grey Gardens to document the lives of the eccentric aunt and cousin of former ďŹ rst lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. The brothers served as crew on a documentary project with basically the same mission as their eventual masterpiece. Together with the beautiful and fashionable younger sister of Jackie, Lee Radziwill, and their mutual friend, artist Peter Beard, they made the ďŹ rst ďŹ lmed incursion into the curious and decaying world of ‘Big’ and ‘Little’ Eddie Beale. Already a part of a fabulous gaggle of artists frequenting Montauk (including Andy Warhol and his cohorts from The Factory and sometimes even Truman Capote), Radziwill and Beard’s goal was to show how the Hamptons were
changing. Who would serve as a better example than these two marvelously strange women so adept at living in the past? GĂśran Hugo Olsson assembles a wealth of footage — some lost for 45 years — to provide an even more candid visit with the Beales. That Summer is less controlled than the Maysles’ Grey Gardens, but no less compelling. A cold open of Peter Beard displaying his photo collages sets the scene of that summer — of beautiful celebrities and American royalty hanging out and being fabulous, and both Radziwill and Beard (who was truly movie-star handsome) continue to narrate throughout the ďŹ lm. THE WORD: It’s almost as adept at conjuring the past as the Beales themselves. COMING TO: Theaters
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reenact this real-life tale of a daring art heist. Following his documentary The Imposter (a true story that nearly deďŹ es belief), Bart Layton offers another stranger-than-ďŹ ction narrative as his ďŹ rst feature ďŹ lm. Did the idea of stealing $12 million dollars in rare books from Kentucky University ďŹ rst come from Spencer (Barry Keoghan - The Killing of a Sacred Deer) or his friend Warren (Evan Peters - American Horror Story)? As these up-and-coming stars act out the crime, and Layton frequently cuts to the real Spencer and Warren — who provide commentary on what they recall, although they don’t always agree. This mix of performance and documentary is a clever conceit, and at times even playful enough to have the actors and their real life counterparts interact. As the idea for the heist slowly grows
from whimsy to plan, Spencer and Warren recruit two other students — Eric (Jared Abrahamson - The Travelers) and Chas (Blake Jenner - The Edge of Seventeen) — to their crew, and director Layton brings in the real Eric and the real Chas right on cue. It’s fascinating to watch the group wade steadily deeper into the quagmire of their crime, especially since all hail from middle class homes and were at the time receiving the kinds of education that should have led to good jobs and bright futures. Perhaps it’s a reminder that sometimes people do things because they wonder if they can — and then end up stuck dealing with the likes of the ďŹ lm’s librarian (Ann Dowd - The Leftovers, The Handmaiden’s Tale). THE WORD: You’ll be charmed and disarmed by cast and convicts alike in this exceptionally well-crafted and exciting genre hybrid. COMING TO: Theaters METROSOURCE.COM *5.% *5,9
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WHICH WAY DOES THE WORLD SPIN? As Angels in America looks forward to the Tony Awards, a fascinating book looks back at the evolution of the play that became a phenomenon. BY JEFF SIMMONS
Isaac Butler
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Dan Kois
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Angels in America, a moving and magical epic about struggle and loss during the height of the AIDS epidemic, opened on Broadway. Fueled by playwright Tony Kushner’s anger toward the Reagan administration’s avoidance of the plague, the powerful two-part opus emerged as one of the most resoundingly influential theatrical endeavors of a generation. As it spreads its wings on Broadway this year after a sold-out run in London, Angels has garnered raves for its stirring performances, masterful execution and timely resonance in the maelstrom of our nation’s political climate. Dovetailing with this new chapter in Angels’ life is a fresh chronicle of its evolution, The World Only Spins Forward: The Ascent of Angels in America (Bloomsbury) by director and writer Isaac Butler and journalist Dan Kois. In its gestation, the pair curated accounts from hundreds of people connected with the Tony and Pulitzer-winner — from its origins through its workshops, and ultimately onto the world stage. The authors generously frame the accounts of cast members, directors, critics, friends and fans of Angels chronologically, astutely presenting conflicting recollections that portray the progress and pitfalls of writing, casting and directing both its first and second parts (Millennium Approaches and Perestroika, respectively). Appropriately, at its heart is the passionate, prescient perfectionist — Kushner. Recalls actor Stephen Spinella, “Tony said ‘I have this great idea for a play about Mormons, and it’ll have Roy Cohn, and it’ll all be gay men, and it’ll be about AIDS.” The result was nearly eight hours of overlapping stories, a rollercoaster of emotions and the core journeys of two couples, Harper and Joe (Mormons who settle in Brooklyn) and Louis and Prior, who is stricken with AIDS. Structured with interludes about each of Angel’s eight main characters, the vivid narrative provides insight into the motivations of the actors who stepped into each role, including Meryl Streep, Mary-Louise Parker, Nathan Lane and Jeffrey Wright. As this history unfolds, the narrative richly displays how Angels was never set in stone, but rather transformed over time. The book doesn’t pull punches when recounting certain critical eviscerations and descriptions of Kushner’s own manically scribbled criticisms of performances. Readers — much like audiences who have witnessed Angels on stage and screen — will likely depart this work with an awareness that they have experienced something revelatory and visionary. Says actor Scott Parkinson, “It taps into something so fundamental about our struggle with how to change, about how to progress forward as a citizenry and as a species, and I suspect it will remain relevant to us for as long as those things are relevant." ■
This Page: icover courTesy bloomsbury • saac buTler by heaTher WesTon • Dan Kois by ToDD hale
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METROHIV
A QUARTER OF A CENTURY AGO, TONY KUSHNER’S GROUND-BREAKING
In adults with HIV on ART who have diarrhea not caused by an infection
IMPORTANT PATIENT INFORMATION This is only a summary. See complete Prescribing Information at Mytesi.com or by calling 1-844-722-8256. This does not take the place of talking with your doctor about your medical condition or treatment.
What Is Mytesi? Mytesi is a prescription medicine used to improve symptoms of noninfectious diarrhea (diarrhea not caused by a bacterial, viral, or parasitic infection) in adults living with HIV/AIDS on ART. Do Not Take Mytesi if you have diarrhea caused by an infection. Before you start Mytesi, your doctor and you should make sure your diarrhea is not caused by an infection (such as bacteria, virus, or parasite).
Possible Side Effects of Mytesi Include:
Tired of planning your life around diarrhea?
Enough is Enough Get relief. Pure and simple. Ask your doctor about Mytesi. Mytesi (crofelemer): • Is the only medicine FDA-approved to relieve diarrhea in people with HIV • Treats diarrhea differently by normalizing the flow of water in the GI tract • Has the same or fewer side effects as placebo in clinical studies • Comes from a tree sustainably harvested in the Amazon Rainforest What is Mytesi? Mytesi is a prescription medicine that helps relieve symptoms of diarrhea not caused by an infection (noninfectious) in adults living with HIV/AIDS on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Important Safety Information Mytesi is not approved to treat infectious diarrhea (diarrhea caused by bacteria, a virus, or a parasite). Before starting you on Mytesi, your healthcare provider will first be sure that you do not have infectious diarrhea. Otherwise, there is a risk you would not receive the right medicine and your infection could get worse. In clinical studies, the most common side effects that occurred more often than with placebo were upper respiratory tract (sinus, nose, and throat) infection (5.7%), bronchitis (3.9%), cough (3.5%), flatulence (3.1%), and increased bilirubin (3.1%). For Copay Savings Card and Patient Assistance, see Mytesi.com
Please see complete Prescribing Information at Mytesi.com. NP-390-22
RELIEF, PURE AND SIMPLE
• Upper respiratory tract infection (sinus, nose, and throat infection) • Bronchitis (swelling in the tubes that carry air to and from your lungs) • Cough • Flatulence (gas) • Increased bilirubin (a waste product when red blood cells break down) For a full list of side effects, please talk to your doctor. Tell your doctor if you have any side effect that bothers you or does not go away. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
Should I Take Mytesi If I Am:
Pregnant or Planning to Become Pregnant? • Studies in animals show that Mytesi could harm an unborn baby or affect the ability to become pregnant • There are no studies in pregnant women taking Mytesi • This drug should only be used during pregnancy if clearly needed A Nursing Mother? • It is not known whether Mytesi is passed through human breast milk • If you are nursing, you should tell your doctor before starting Mytesi • Your doctor will help you to decide whether to stop nursing or to stop taking Mytesi Under 18 or Over 65 Years of Age? • Mytesi has not been studied in children under 18 years of age • Mytesi studies did not include many people over the age of 65. So it is not clear if this age group will respond differently. Talk to your doctor to find out if Mytesi is right for you
What Should I Know About Taking Mytesi With Other Medicines? If you are taking any prescription or over-the-counter medicine, herbal supplements, or vitamins, tell your doctor before starting Mytesi.
What If I Have More Questions About Mytesi? For more information, please see the full Prescribing Information at Mytesi.com or speak to your doctor or pharmacist. To report side effects or make a product complaint or for additional information, call 1-844-722-8256.
Rx Only Manufactured by Patheon, Inc. for Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. San Francisco, CA 94105 Copyright © Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Mytesi comes from the Croton lechleri tree harvested in South America.
BOOKS CULTURE
STUDIES IN CONTRASTS
A revered fashionista with personal demons, the hard work of putting together places to play, and a designer who embodies sass and class. BY PAUL HAGEN AND CAITLIN SAWICKI
GET IT TOGETHER! By Orlando Soria; Prestel Publishing; $39.95 to Creating Your Best Life offers more than just tips on how to design your dream home or how to throw a dinner party on a dime. Soria, whom you may also recognize from HGTV, creates an enjoyable and relatable life guide that addresses serious topics like losing a job or living on your own for the first time. This wisdom comes complete with sassy wordplay like “What to Do When You’ve Been Laid Off and Your Life is Ruined Forever” or, my personal favorite, “If Your Kids Are Brats It’s Probably Your Fault for Not Making Their Rooms Cute Enough.” (Seriously, though, parents: control your children). Complimented with photographs by Zeke Ruleas, Soria offers great tips on great-looking home décor and better living. Readers can almost hear Soria’s distinctive voice in their heads — reading the guide to you, teaching skills like how to properly hang artwork and generally avoiding rookie mistakes. Get it Together! is especially ideal for gay men going through an early midlife crisis. Soria offers a practical guide to what’s gay (Greek warrior sandals and a neon tank top? Yep!), how gays can age gracefully (turn that circuit party music down and ease up on the “YASSS HUNTY!”) and, last but not least, gay home décor (“finding a hot piece of brass”). However, while Soria does offer useful information about decorating and life in general — for both the gay and non-gay — this comes with his caveat that “humans are innately awful and should really live alone in caves.”
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THIS PAGE: PHOTOS COURTESY PRESTEL.
WRITTEN BY INTERIOR DESIGNER ORLANDO SORIA, GET IT TOGETHER! AN INTERIOR DESIGNER’S GUIDE
NIGHT FEVER By Jörg Heiser et al; Vitra Design Museum; $85.00 IT’S EASY THINK OF NIGHTCLUBS AS THE PLACES WE GO TO FORGET ABOUT LIFE FOR
a while — to let our hair down, enjoy a cocktail and hit the dance floor. But the nightclub has increasingly become one of the most important of society’s shared spaces, where popular culture goes to flourish at night. This offers architects and designers with opportunities to unleash their imaginations, creating adult playgrounds where sound, light, fashion, graphics and visual spaces come together in new and unusual ways. Along the way, these great gathering spots have become emblems of the eras when they flourished — the radical design of Italian nightclubs in the ‘60s; in NYC, the celebrity-fueled fantasy of Studio 54 and the infamous excesses of the Palladium; in London, the Ministry of Sound, where the party still rages today. Night Fever: Designing Club Culture 1960–Today explores their evolution from a design perspective: looking at aspects from memorable logos to cavernous spaces to the spectacles they contained. Featuring film stills and vintage photographs, posters and flyers and a parade of period fashions, Night Fever takes readers on a fascinating journey through a world where the glamour outshines the grime, where the avant-garde meets the mainstream, where new subcultures flourish and where revelers gather in search of a night that never ends. Along the way, they’ll encounter Ian Schrager, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Jean-Michael Basquiat, Vivienne Westwood, Grace Jones and other culture-shaping figures, where the hottest parties around emanate from the glitter of disco to the thumping electronic special-effects palaces of contemporary party culture.
CHARLES JAMES: PORTRAIT OF AN UNREASONABLE MAN THIS PAGE: FROM NIGHT FEVER (RIGHT TO LEFT) COURTESY TIMOTHY HURSLEY AND GARVEY | SIMON GALLERY, COURTESY VOLKER HINZ, COURTESY DIANE ALEXANDER WHITE.
By Michele Gerber Klein; Rizzoli International; $37.50 CONSIDERED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL FASHION
designers of the 20th century, Charles James built quite the resume over the span of his 40-year career, including a series of high profile partnerships and worldwide recognition. The legacy of the late designer (who was born in 1906) continues to impress — both within the world of fashion and beyond. For example, when the Museum of Modern Art opened its 2014 retrospective exhibition of James’ designs titled Beyond Fashion, it received critical raves. But this sort of acclaim often obscures the hardships he endured in his personal life. James was a bit of a walking contradiction: He was a small man with a big, flashy personality. He was openly gay, yet he fell for, married and started a family with a woman. But whatever personal dichotomies he was seeking to reconcile, James was all the while revolutionizing the fashion industry with ideas that are still capturing the imagination today. For the first time ever, author Michele Gerber Klein provides readers with an intimate glimpse inside the life of “America’s First Couturier” — painting a portrait of the kind of man James truly was through stories from those close to him. What is revealed is a man who could be nurturing and generous when he chose to be, but who also had a big ego, a drug problem, and a short temper — traits that led to both family and public feuds that in turn paved the way for lawsuits and bankruptcies. Charles James: Portrait of an Unreasonable Man may be a non-traditional (or, at the very least, non-chronological) biography, but is nevertheless a fitting work to honor an extraordinary life. METROSOURCE.COM JUNE/JULY 2018
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HOLLYWOOD’S
OPPOSITE PAGE: CHRISTY HAUBEGGER AND RUBEN GARCIA, COURTESY JOE SCARNICI/GETTY IMAGES.
THE HOLLYWOOD POWERHOUSE CREATIVE ARTISTS AGENCY OFFERS AN EXCLUSIVE LOOK AT HOW THEY HELP US SEE A MORE DIVERSE WORLD. BY LAURA MORENO NOT MANY HOLLYWOOD AGENTS ARE KNOWN TO THE WIDER
TIME’S UP
public. But Christy Haubegger has distinguished herself in the Latino community as a woman with real vision. She has championed the cause of diversity, first through founding Latina Magazine when she was still in her 20s, then as a Hollywood producer, and now as Head of Multicultural Business Development at CAA, one of the largest and most powerful agencies in Hollywood. Even if you’re not yet familiar with Haubegger, you’re sure to recognize some of the household names she represents, such as Rosario Dawson, America Ferrera, Andy Garcia, Salma Hayek, Eva Longoria, Jennifer Lopez, Pitbull and Shakira. Hollywood BC (before Christy) was a very different place for Latinos. With few exceptions, they were sidelined into ethnicspecific roles. For a while, Latinos had to be hand-selected to get noticed, from when Louis B. Mayer chose Rita Moreno (she looked like a Spanish Elizabeth Taylor to him) to when Madonna beckoned to Antonio Banderas after seeing him in an Almodovar film. Even successful actors with international awards had difficulty finding good representation. All that began to change with the death of Selena in 1995, and society as a whole saw the first indications that Latinos could be financially viable in a way no one had ever imagined. The very next year, Haubegger started Latina Magazine and was perfectly poised to capture the synergy of that electrifying moment when Ricky Martin performed at the Grammy Awards in 1999. Suddenly, phones began ringing off the hook with national advertisers seeking to reach the Hispanic market, and Haubegger was there to answer the call. By 2001, Newsweek had recognized her as one of the“Women of the New Century” and Advertising Age considered her to be one of the “Women to Watch,” among numerous other accolades. This move toward greater diversity benefited other underrepresented groups as well, notably the LGBT community. In the prosperous economy of the ‘90s — which lifted all ships as it diversified — whole segments of the public and their consumer dollars would no longer be ignored. It’s no coincidence that at this juncture that LGBT characters started appearing on prime time in shows like Will & Grace and Ellen.
Haubegger is known for her wit, which is often delivered in an inscrutable deadpan, but what comes across most in conversation with her is a leonine sense of leadership. This leadership has led to results, too; increasing her agency’s multicultural clients by over 1300% from only 30 clients when she started at CAA over a decade ago. There was no playbook for how to increase multiculturalism in the industry when she arrived, so she devised her own strategies for doing so. Today, in collaboration with others, she continues to innovate. A Stanford-trained lawyer, Haubegger started the TIME’S UP Legal Fund (nwlc.org/legal-assistance) — along with fellow female powerhouses Maha Dakhil, Michelle Kydd Lee, Hylda Queally — as a game-changing response to the abuses of the likes of Harvey Weinstein. All four women work at CAA and are among the most esteemed and successful agents/ executives working in Hollywood. The TIME’S UP Legal Fund is managed by the National Women’s Law Center. In the first two months since TIME’S UP was formed, over $21 million was donated by approximately 20,000 people, and over 1,800 people had requested their legal assistance. The legal fund is open to women in all industries, not just those who work in Hollywood. “The best thing to do for people who need help,” Haubegger says, “is to go onto the website and fill out the intake form for people to avail themselves of free legal services.”
WHO’S BUYING THE TICKETS? Last year, CAA’s 2017 Motion Picture Diversity Index identified a number of fascinating dynamics in the industry, including the fact that under-represented groups disproportionately attend movie theaters. Although non-white Americans are 38% of the population, they purchase 49% of all box office tickets. This math practically requires that box office hits attract audiences that are more than 50% under-represented groups. In 2016, seven of the top ten grossing films were attended by opening weekend audiences that were more than 50% non-white. Thus, the average opening weekend box office for films that attract what is called a “truly diverse” audience (audiences that METROSOURCE.COM JUNE/JULY 2018
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are 38-70% diverse) is $31 million. Films that fail to attract diverse audiences average $12 million — less than half as much. The point is underscored by the success of films with inclusive casts and characters, such as Moonlight, Black Panther, Coco and Get Out. Furthermore, the study found that “at every budget level, a cast that is 30% or more diverse racially outperforms a film that is less diverse,” explains Haubegger. “What this means is that it is very good business to be inclusive in casting.” Although these numbers focus primarily on ethnic diversity, the dynamics almost surely extend to all under-represented groups. Audiences feel validated when they see authentic representations of
standing practice of “white-washing” stories (casting white actors to play originally non-white characters, such as Scarlett Johansson in Ghost In the Shell) will come to an end. Perhaps all of this should have been apparent since the days of Rudolf Valentino. At the time, the stereotype of Southern Europeans like the Italian Valentino was that they were too racially and religiously different, prone to carrying diseases and incapable of assimilating into American culture. After spending five years limited to playing small ethnic villain roles that did little to capture audience’s imaginations, it was LGBT screenwriter June Mathis who first recognized Valentino’s potential as a leading man and insisted to studio heads that he be cast in the pair of movies she wrote specifically to showcase his talents — two films that would help make him a box office smash.
BY THE NUMBERS
Haubegger
themselves and people like those they know on screen. “There’s never been a better time to be a black writer or an LGBT actor or a Latino director. There’s more opportunity than ever, because people are finally recognizing this a business opportunity,” says Haubegger. And the opportunities are expected to continue to grow as the stunning results of the Motion Picture Diversity Index sink in, results recently confirmed by UCLA. The takeaway is that outdated mindsets are costing the studios and networks real money. Now that we know this, perhaps the long-
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The most underrepresented group in film remains women. Even though women are 50.8% of the population, they account for only 31.4% of speaking roles in film. Also disproportionately underrepresented are the disabled (a whopping 18.7% of the American population but only 2.7% of the speaking roles). The next most underrepresented group is Latinos (17.8% of the population, 3.1% of the speaking roles). The number of Black and Asian characters seem to have risen to be approximately proportionate to their percentages of the population, 13.3% and 5.7% respectively. Meanwhile, the LGBT community has been recorded as 3.5% of the American population — although it has been posited this number may be drastically under-reported, but are still under-represented with only 1.1% of speaking roles in film being LGBT. Although the study takes into account some great gains and high profile successes — the independent film Moonlight directed by Barry Jenkins, Star Trek Beyond directed by Justin Lin, Pariah directed by Dee Rees, LGBT representation in film and television is still far from adequate. For example, only 23 of the 125 films made by major studios in 2016 contained LGBT characters. Amazingly, half of those 23 films devoted a grand total of less than one minute of screen time to those LGBT characters. Only nine films contained LGBT roles that passed the Vito Russo test as characters who matter substantially to the narrative. Among LGBT characters, males outnumber females two to one. And only approximately 20% of the LGBT characters are people of color — a 5% decrease from the previous year, which was already a decrease of 7% from the year before that. Comedies remain the most likely genre to include LGBT characters. Only one film during the time considered contained a transgender character and one contained a non-binary character.
FOSTERING INCLUSIVITY Ruben Garcia, a Multicultural Business Development exec at CAA, specializes in boosting LGBT numbers and working to strengthen pipelines of talent — both on and offscreen. His efforts include managing the company’s global internship program, recruiting at top colleges and universities, developing and launching CAAedu for internal career development, and establishing CAA’s employee
committee initiative to provide a platform for meaningful discourse on diversity issues. “I’m encouraged by the number of people who have come to the table to have conversations with us about what they can do. They want to be more thoughtful about their engagement as it relates to inclusion and equity in this industry,” says Garcia, as he explains a number of initiatives CAA is spearheading: CREATORS’ SUMMIT (ABFF) – begun in 2017, CAA in conjunction with the American Black Film Festival (ABFF), brings together the directors, writers and producers participating in the festival to focus on the pitching process, project development and facilitating relationships within the industry.
“I think Ruben and I in particular are motivated by a personal sense of mission around these issues. We want to take advantage of this moment,” says Haubegger. “What really matters is that there are people like me and Ruben who work at CAA so that the people in the room actually look like the world. ... We understand that we are a cultural gatekeeper in many ways. We all know that the work that we do in Hollywood matters.” Their work may matter most for constantly wired generation taking their cues about how the world works from media. It’s hard to overestimate the power of film and TV. What we see on the screen
CREATORS’ SUMMIT (GLAAD) – in partnership with GLAAD the event “allows us to dig a little deeper and work more cohesively. ... We’ve invited people who are in the business of creating content to join us for a day to really understand the state of LGBTQ representation in media. ... It’s intended to give them a toolbox to take back to their networks, studios, companies and their writers rooms to help accelerate and advance the inclusive representation of LGBTQ on their shows or in their projects.” CAA AMPLIFY – The first-of-its-kind by-invitation-only event brought together multicultural artists and executives from across entertainment and related industries to foster diversity.
PHOTOS THIS SPREAD: COURTESY JOE SCARNICI/GETTY IMAGES.
YOU’RE UP now AMPLIFIED NEXT GENERATION - “The one-day conference targets young executives of diverse backgrounds from various industries to come join us for a day of professional development, learning, and fellowship as a way to build a really strong cohesive community that can work together and do business together to accelerate their careers together,” explains Garcia. LGBTQ ALLIANCE - “Internally at CAA, we launched our LGBTQ Alliance for employees from across the company, a group of people that create programming ... to just come together and make sure we have a welcoming inclusive environment for everybody that works at the company,” Garcia notes. WRITERS BOOT CAMP - A by-invitation one-day intensive summit for comedy writers. “We’re talking about hosting something we’re calling Emerging Show Runners,” Garcia adds.
WHY DO THEY DO IT? “We’ve been able to extend that reach and partner with different entertainment companies to make sure that we are supporting a larger industry network of LGBTQ executives and allies. We’re moving far beyond writing checks to these organizations. Collaboration is what’s going to move the needle more quickly,” says Garcia.
Garcia
has the power to shape who we are and impact the wider culture. The script for Moonlight sat for a decade before someone found the courage to film the story of an LGBT black boy growing up in the ‘hood, and it won the Academy Award for Best Picture. There must be countless other stories similarly waiting to be told and experienced. In addition to changing our perceptions of ourselves and others, media is one of the great American exports, Haubegger points out. “There are over seven billion people on the planet. Most of them will never come to the United States, but they see our movies and our television.” With their work, Haubegger and Garcia are showing the world that “we can bring dignity and humanity to people whose stories historically were not included,” she says. ■ METROSOURCE.COM JUNE/JULY 2018
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HURTING MY PRIDE? When a book event ends up overflowing with fans of his partner Gary, Wade is left wondering: How come no one showed up to root for him? BY WADE ROUSE
VIEWS
DIARY
ON A RECENT BOOK TOUR, I
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entered the lobby of an event venue where I was greeted by a large group of librarians. As I shook their hands, my husband Gary approached. Suddenly the group started to shriek as if Thunder from Down Under (Australia’s ultra-hot answer to Chippendales) was performing. As they mobbed Gary, I looked around and wondered if the whole situation might be some sort of flash mob or practical joke. That’s when I noticed the entire group was outfitted in black t-shirts that read TEAM GARY in giant letters. The t-shirts also featured a monstrous photo of Gary’s face with a mischievous grin on it. Underneath that were the words,“I Want To Be A Centaurian!” That line was from an essay I’d read to this group a year earlier when I was testing out new material. Gary had once told me that he wanted to live to be 100, but his exact words were: “I want to live long enough to be a centaurian.” “So you want to live long enough to become half-man, halfhorse?” I had asked. The group handed Gary a matching t-shirt, which he immediately donned. People began taking pictures — with Gary gamely mimicking the expression on his shirt. As I processed all this, I was ushered into the auditorium. In the midst of my speech, I reached for my water only to find that it was in a mug that read TEAM GARY. I did an actual spit-take. After the presentation was finished, the librarians offered some explanation of the swag.“We love Gary!” they said. “Where are the TEAM WADE shirts?” I asked.“And mugs.” They looked at each other blankly.“We didn’t make any.” With that, I sat down to sign books, already feeling a bit disheartened. “Can Gary sign, too?” some of the readers asked in line.“After all, he is the hero in your memoirs.” As we drove home that night, I was unusually quiet. “I’m a little in a shock,”I finally said.“I know it might sound selfish, but there wasn’t a single TEAM WADE shirt anywhere. They didn’t even think about making one.” “It was meant to be funny,”Gary said.“A tribute to your writing. Don’t take it personally. Take it as a compliment.” I looked at him.“A compliment? It was like a cult. And you were Jim Jones.” JUNE/JULY 2018
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I woke up the next morning, my pride still hurt. I walked into the kitchen to pour myself a cup of coffee, sleepily pulling a mug from the cabinet. It was a one of the TEAM GARY mugs. As I filled it and went to my writing studio, I was steaming almost as much as my coffee. I stared at Gary’s mug on the mug. “Do readers like Gary more than me?” I wondered. “Do people like Gary more than me? There was no doubt that I made myself the bad guy and Gary the good guy in my memoirs. It was intentional. I am hard on myself in my nonfiction, as I believe in being as brutally honest about my personal evolution — often including many steps backwards — in my books. I want readers to be able to see their own trials reflected in mine. And I do want them to root for Gary: the eternal optimist to my perpetual realist. I looked at my memoirs on my desk, thinking about how Gary was an essential part of every one. Then my eyes wandered over to my novels and it realized that — though he was a real person — Gary had become as much a part of my work as any character I had created for my fiction. Eventually, it dawned on me that here really was no TEAM GARY that existed in competition with TEAM WADE. There was one team and we were on it together. Some may call that codependent; I call it love. I may write the books, but Gary’s support allows me to. And why shouldn’t readers, by experiencing Gary through my eyes, come to love him as I do? My chest began to swell, and soon my heart felt as if it might explode. I bent over my laptop and looked up the definition of “pride.” The definition described it as deep pleasure derived — not only from one’s own achievements — but also “from the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated or from qualities that are widely admired.” “Yes,” I thought, smiling, “I have never felt so proud of another person in my life, and I am more than capable of finding pleasure when he is admired.” When Gary got home, he found me wearing a TEAM GARY t-shirt and sipping coffee from a mug with his face on it. “What’s going on?” Gary asked, a little skeptically. “I think I’ve decided that I want to live to be centaurian, too,” I said.“As long as you’re around.” ■ Wade’s latest novel as Viola Shipman is The Recipe Box. To learn about both his novels and memoirs, vist waderouse.com. HAVE YOU EVER FELT OVERSHADOWED BY YOUR PARTNER? SHARE YOUR STORY IN “GAY VOICES” AT METROSOURCE.COM.
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Christine
QUINN Qualified Lesbian?
CHRISTINE QUINN HAS A LOT TO SAY, AND SOMETIMES THAT GETS
her into trouble, but trouble has never slowed her roll. Since 2015, the 51 year-old Quinn has helmed WIN, NYC’s largest provider of shelter and supportive housing for the city’s homeless families. The New York native first entered political life in 1991, when she managed the campaign of Thomas Duane, who eventually went on to become the first out member of the New York City Council. She served as his Chief of Staff for five years, then in 1999 ran for City Council’s 3rd district and won. In 2006, after six years on the Council, she became the first female and the first LGBTQ City Council Speaker. During her tenure, she earned her rep as a tough opponent who wasn’t shy about expressing herself — sometimes loudly. She was also criticized for what seemed to some like blanket approval of then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s policies. But as Speaker, she also sued the Bloomberg administration over policy changes
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that would have decreased services for homeless men and women. She considers it one of her proudest moments. “It’s not an easy thing to take the mayor to court if you are Speaker. And Bloomberg was not a subtle mayor. But I was proud of myself and of the council. He was attempting to strip the city’s homeless of services and circumvent the power of council and we stood up and said, ‘This is wrong.’ And we won.” Quinn is well versed in navigating the labyrinth of politics and a politics-adjacent life. This makes her perfectly suited to fight for the city’s less fortunate in her role at WIN. She is also a political pundit for CNN, and often uses her celebrity to advocate for a wide range of causes such as women’s rights, homelessness, and LGBTQ rights. Case in point: In a recent panel discussion on Anderson Cooper 360°, she went head to head with former Trump campaign advisor and current JS2_7893 v2 copy Trump apologist Stephen Moore, who said Senator Elizabeth
ALL PHOTOS THIS PIECE COURTESY CHRISTINE QUINN.
FROM CITY COUNCIL SPEAKER TO MAYORAL CANDIDATE TO OUTSPOKEN ACTIVIST AND ADVOCATE, CHRISTINE QUINN HAS SPENT HER CAREER WAGING WAR ON THE STATUS QUO. WE SAT DOWN WITH HER TO DISCUSS EVERYTHING FROM GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATES TO LGBTQ RIGHTS AND THE #NEVERAGAIN MOVEMENT. BY DEBORAH L. MARTIN
Warren was “cold and unlikeable.” Quinn fired back, saying those words sounded a lot like misogyny. It’s a subject she speaks about frequently and passionately. “A reporter once asked me if we would ever get over Hillary’s defeat. I’m not sure. Not getting over it doesn’t mean you are paralyzed.” Quinn concedes that perhaps Clinton didn’t run a perfect campaign, but says, “Hillary Clinton should have been president. This man should not be president.” She reflects on her own experience campaigning for mayor of New York City in 2013. “You can always do better. Did I run a perfect campaign? No. You have to own it. But you can’t argue that there were other factors for Hillary and one of those was sexism and misogyny. I don’t want to get over that, because if I do I’m not going to be as fueled and focused to make sure it never happens again.” Lately, Quinn has been in the news for another reason. In response to actress and activist Cynthia Nixon’s announcement of her candidacy for governor of New York, Quinn was quoted in a New York Post interview as saying, “Cynthia Nixon was opposed to having a qualified lesbian become mayor of New York City. Now she wants an unqualified lesbian to be the governor of New York. You have to be qualified and have experience. She isn’t qualified to be the governor.” Nixon has made some political hay out of the comment, even creating “Unqualified Lesbian” campaign paraphernalia. Says Quinn, “I was trying to make a funny comparison between two gay women in politics. Obviously that failed. But I stand by my statement that Cynthia Nixon is unqualified to be governor of New York. In order to be good at it, you need experience and managerial skills, and it takes a certain level of policy knowledge that she is simply lacking. New York is the world’s 17th largest economy with issues, challenges and opportunities that extend way beyond her experience.” She continues, “My comparison was between Cynthia and myself, which came out, shall we say, un-artfully.” On the other hand, Quinn is vocal in her support for Governor Andrew Cuomo. “At the end of the day, my support for Governor Cuomo is rooted in his very real, progressive record and platform. I just
am not sure what Cynthia Nixon’s candidacy is rooted in.” She cites Cuomo’s lead role in passing marriage equality in New York, as well as the fact that he banned fracking, passed the SAFE Act and Family Medical Leave, increased the minimum wage to $15, helped close Indian Point, and worked to promote free education for families making less than $100,000. “The bottom line is that I wouldn’t have been able to have my father walk me down the aisle or to marry my wife Kim, without the governor’s hard work, and that goes for thousands of LGBTQ couples across New York. He has shepherded policies that we care about, from transgender protections to policies that have very real effects on LGBTQ youth.” Cuomo’s policies have also had a direct impact on her work at WIN. “Governor Cuomo has dedicated an extraordinary amount of time and effort during his career to fighting homelessness and building affordable housing: look at his 20-plus-year record, which includes running Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for President Clinton.” When it comes to New York’s homeless, last year Cuomo successfully secured $20 billion in state funding for a housing plan that Quinn says will support shelter programs and create thousands of supportive housing units. She says, “His efforts have a direct impact on what we are trying to do at WIN, which is to break the cycle of homelessness for women and their children.” Quinn arrived at WIN in 2015 with a mission in mind: to raise public awareness through media attention, which would translate into the ability to change policy in the halls of government. She and her team started a campaign dubbed “the Forgotten Face of Homelessness.” “If you asked ten people on the street, including me, ‘Who is homeless in New York?’ they would have said, ‘Single men of color.’ They might also have said, ‘Single men of color who beg and are scary.’ Why? Because those are the images that the media uses to create a wedge between New Yorkers and the homeless. The fact is that 70 percent of people in shelters last night were families with children. Twenty-five percent were five years of age and younger.” METROSOURCE.COM JUNE/JULY 2018
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Now she’s on a roll. “Who is homeless in New York? Single mothers. Families. That person sitting next to you on the subway that you think is going off to work? They are going off to work but the difference between you and them is they aren’t going home afterwards, they are going to a shelter.” Quinn knows the fight to change these misperceptions will be long, but she also believes it is necessary, and she is proud of the work she and her team have done so far. “We pushed Mayor de Blasio to make a public commitment to open new shelters and that 40 percent of those shelters will be for families. We needed the city to get out of the clusters, which they have done,” she says — referring to sheltering the homeless in privately-owned apartments, “and to get out of the homeless hotels, which they are committed to do. We are opening a new shelter in Neptune in Coney Island. My goal at WIN is, however many units we have in shelter, we need to have 30 to 40 percent in supported housing. Now we have 33 new units in East Harlem of permanent supported housing, and a
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new building coming this year in Brooklyn that will be the largest supported housing building in the country.” To those who say, ‘Not in my back yard,’ she has a message: “Get over it.” She’s fired up. “You don’t want it in your back yard. I’ve had those feelings myself, and I regret having had them in my legislative career. Getting over it is not easy, but we have no choice.” She adds, “If you are okay with being a city that has 62,000 people in shelter, 25 percent under five years of age, and the majority having been in shelter once or twice before, then fine. NIMBY away. But if you are not; if you think it is a shame, and a stain on the record of this city that we are allowing children to grow up in shelters and in unstable housing, if you think that is reprehensible and not what this city is about, then you have to find places that you support in your neighborhood. In every neighborhood.” She offers an example. “We just took over a hotel in Sheepshead Bay, making it a full shelter, and the neighbors are grateful. They told us they tried to do a holiday party for the
residents for years and were not allowed. There were no services. They are thrilled that there are actual services coming in. That won’t happen everywhere. But we still have to try.” It’s always a balancing act, she admits: “If you want to be loved by everyone, this isn’t the job for you.” One of the top reasons for homelessness among women and children is domestic violence, which frequently manifests in gun violence, and Quinn wants to reinforce the point that today’s hot button issues, from #MeToo to #NeverAgain are interconnected and affect every community. “We are seeing a mobilization of people who are pissed off and speaking out in a way that is making history. The Trump era has energized the grass roots of America, and not one single set of grass roots. It’s about women’s rights, civil rights, sexual assault, domestic violence, gun control, immigration, transgender people in the military, the environment, LGBTQ rights; the list goes on and on. People are sad. They are disappointed. They are angry. But they aren’t taking this lying down.” She muses, “These are groups who have repeatedly been told to sit down and be quiet by the people in power, and they have finally reached a breaking point. I’m with them.” She is impressed, but not surprised by the strength of the new generation of activists. “The Parkland students have grown up in a world where mass shootings are a regular occurrence and ‘thoughts and prayers’ are the remedy. So I don’t think it’s a surprise to hear they’ve had enough and are taking to the streets and cutting through the noise to directly address those in power in a way that’s transformative.” She continues, “Gun violence does not discriminate. This crisis affects people from all walks of life, no matter their age, race, religion, sexual orientation, or political ideology. The Parkland kids are right not to whitewash the conversation; including
voices from every community is the only way to build a national consensus. That’s especially true in urban communities. At WIN we see this every day – many families in our shelter facilities have experience with this issue, and supporting them means finding a way to say #NoMore once and for all.” The fight for LGBTQ rights affects Quinn deeply, and is a theme that runs through everything she does. “Before Council, I ran The Lesbian and Gay Anti-Violence Project. My life has been focused on civil rights and equality for vulnerable communities, particularly for the LGBTQ community.” She is proud of the marriage equality fight, but says, “There are places in America where a same-sex couple can get married on Saturday and be fired for it on Monday — and that’s unacceptable. And we need to fight for and protect the rights of our transgender brothers and sisters, including young people and students.” She adds, “If this administration has shown us anything, it’s how quickly these hard earned rights and victories can be taken away. No other group today is more ignored by society, or neglected, mistreated, and targeted by Republicans and a resurgent right wing. It is critical that we pay special attention to states where right wing legislators are chipping away at LGBTQ advances made over the last decade. And it’s critical that we fight for them every step of the way.” Is Christine Quinn despondent over the current state of the union? “The world is changing, but change will not be quick and it will not be easy. These problems seem insurmountable. That is what the perpetrators want us to think.” She pauses for a moment to reflect. “Some things are bigger to climb, harder to climb, wider to climb. All it means is that you need more people and more help to do the climbing. Nothing is actually insurmountable in this world.” ■ METROSOURCE.COM JUNE/JULY 2018
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First Steps Toward Buying a Home Becoming a homeowner can seem daunting. But you can start by asking the right questions. BY JENNIFER DAY dispiriting. The decision is one of the biggest that a person will make in a lifetime, and it brings question after question to mind: How do I begin? Who can advise me? Where do I want to live? How does a mortgage work and how do I go about applying for one? What happens after that? Here, we answer some of these questions to give you some straightforward guidance about this big commitment.
meaningful impact on the rates you’ll be offered. Typically, the higher your score, the lower the interest rates you’ll be offered by lenders. As we discussed in our finance column in the last issue, a score of 750 or higher is considered best.
WHO DO I TALK TO FIRST?
WHERE DO I WANT TO LIVE?
There are several professionals that you will need to work with when buying a home, including a real estate agent, a mortgage banker or broker and an attorney. Turn to a trusted source (family, close friend, business associate) to find the best team of people — we’ve got some of the best in the Metrosource directory (searchable at metrosource.com). When it comes to real estate, “my job is to help people find their ideal home in the best location and make the process as stress free as possible,”says William D. Moye, Relocation Specialist/Senior Sales Agent at BOND New York Real Estate,“I always recommend to all of my customers to have at least six months savings plus the down payment when buying a new home. You never know when the furnace or roof might need to be replaced. Also co-ops usually have even higher requirements of reserves after closing.”
One of the most important considerations in purchasing a home is location. By choosing an up-and-coming neighborhood which is popular with gay people who are moving in and making upgrades, you can benefit from getting a deal on a fixer-upper and contribute to improving the neighborhood. But as the neighborhood does gentrify, your property values will rise, which increases the value of your investment — and your formerly funky neighborhood may drive out the very shops and authenticity that gave it such distinctive charm in the first place.
HOW MUCH CASH DO I NEED? You’ll want enough to at least cover your down payment and closing costs, and don’t forget to leave enough in your bank account to cover any emergencies that might arise once you own your dream home. Traditionally, lenders have required down payments equal to 20% of the home’s purchase price (but special programs allowing down payments as low as 3% are available). To get a sense of what that translates to: putting 20% down on a $300,000 home would require $60,000 in the bank — plus an additional $9,000 or so for closing costs.
HOW MUCH CAN I BORROW? Contact a lender to get pre-approved or pre-qualified for a mortgage. The difference between pre-qualified and pre-approved is whether you allow a credit check. If you have done multiple credit checks in the last three months, it can lower your credit rating. Getting pre-qualified doesn’t require you to accept the loan; it’s just a way of showing real estate agents and sellers that you’re serious. It also provides a more realistic picture of what you can afford.
HOW GOOD MUST MY CREDIT BE? When you’re applying for a mortgage, your credit score has the most
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HOW DO I GET A MORTGAGE? Let’s say you’ve found a home and your bid has been accepted. It’s time to start the process of securing a home loan. But what exactly is a mortgage? Essentially a mortgage is a loan in which property or real estate is used as collateral. The borrower enters into an agreement with the lender (usually a bank) wherein the borrower (you) receives cash up front and makes payments over a set time span until the lender has been paid back in full. Simply put: you promise to pay a certain amount for a property, and if you can’t, that property goes back to the bank. Different mortgages make sense for where you are in your life. Nowadays it’s less often like it was for your grandparents who stayed in one house their entire lives.You may start with a small studio apartment and, as your life changes, graduate to something bigger “With so many types of home loans available, choosing the one that’s right for you can be overwhelming. It’s a good idea to speak with an experienced mortgage broker who can go over all of your options,” says James Kroll, Producing Branch Manager from LoanDepot.“We are your partner in the home buying process and are here to find the best solution for you.” “Real estate is a great tool for growing your net worth,” Kroll continues. “What you can afford now and what you will grow into five or ten years from now can be a big difference. Ultimately, knowing where to start and who to speak with will make the home buying process a financially beneficial one.” Whatever else you do, make sure you’re following the instructions of the professionals so you don’t get overwhelmed by the process. ■
STOCK PHOTO COPYRIGHT : POGONICI
CULTURE
FINANCE
THE THOUGHT OF BUYING A HOUSE CAN BE ANYTHING FROM EXCITING TO
ZACHARY Q UINTO THE BAND AND BEYOND WHY THE BOYS IN THE BAND REMAINS RELEVANT TO ZACHARY QUINTO — AS AN ACTOR AND MEMBER OF THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY. BY KEVIN PHINNEY
in his breakout role as superpowered serial killer Sylar on Heroes, following in Leonard Nimoy’s footsteps as Star Trek’s science officer Spock, or as shrink with a secret on American Horror Story: Asylum — that leaves a nagging sensation there’s more to his characters than meets the eye. It’s almost as if, while you’re watching them, they’re watching you: studying you, assessing your strengths, committing each imperfection to memory. Now Quinto is bringing his keen intellect to a play that many thought might never be seen again: Mart Crowley’s pre-Stonewall cult classic, The Boys in the Band, reimagined by director Joe Mantello. By turns, it’s a tale both funny and ferocious, as nine men convene to celebrate the birthday of their friend Harold, a self-deprecating queen who slyly slips in and out of the action to maneuver his friends as if they were pawns in a 3/D chess match. Not surprisingly, that’s Quinto’s part. Quick to counter, Quinto says,“I never think of Harold as three steps ahead of everybody in the room. I think that of the nine personalities in the show, Harold is the most self-explored, self-examined and ultimately self-accepting of the group. I think he knows his own self-loathing, and as a result it doesn’t really have as much power over him as it does over some of the other characters.” This is Quinto’s initial impression of Harold, and as a good citizen of the theater (including a 2014 turn in Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie opposite Cherry Jones), he knows the path ahead will have its share of
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twists and turns : “Of course, this is all from my perspective, and some of my fellow castmates could disagree,” says the actor. “We start rehearsals tomorrow, so I might change any of these perspectives as I get more into the process.”
MORE THAN A CHILDHOOD HOBBY Quinto’s relationship with stagecraft began early, in his native Pittsburgh. After losing his father at the age of seven, Quinto saw his mother forced to reinvent her life in order to support her two sons.“There was a natural period of adjustment [after my father lost his battle with cancer] and contraction within my immediate family,” he says looking back. “And, you know my Mom — who had been a stayat-home Mom to that point — had to go to work and had to raise two sons on her own. “I think acting for me was a bit of a combination of exploring my internal emotional life and processing a lot of the things that had happened. Logistically from a practical standpoint, it was an outlet for me and [a way] for my Mom to know that I was safe; that I had structure, that I had stimulation and that I was doing something productive with my time after school and on the weekends.’ Becoming a performer was“a very organic process,”he says, even from the outset. Just the same, “it very quickly evolved into something beyond just a childhood hobby.” Quinto also took those formative years to navigate toward a greater certainty of his sexual orientation grappling with both the internal and external homophobia every
OPPOSITE PAGE: COURTESY OF BRENT CHUA
THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT ZACHARY QUINTO – WHETHER
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young person faces with the possibility of being gay. Understanding that struggle was key to his approach to the scathing repartee that ricochets between the characters in Boys in the Band. “There’s a strong current of witticism and intellect that runs through the gay community in the face of persecution and bullying; the tongue being mightier than the sword, in a way, is a line of defense,” Quinto says. “That’s also part of how I think so many members of the gay community have come to be such impactful intellectual minds and insightful, observant, hilarious documenters of the social experience.” “I feel like as a young gay kid — or at least confused kid — there were certainly ways in which I had to learn how to evade potential conflicts or potential volatile situations, and I did rely on both wit and intellect to do that,” Quinto allows. “So I certainly relate to that aspect of Harold. He’s an incredibly savvy and articulate person, and I can relish in that as a character. I like to excavate those parts of myself and try to bring them to life as much as I can.”
PHOTOS ON THIS SPREAD: COURTESY OF BRENT CHUA
PIECES OF A PERIOD Quinto was born in 1977, nearly a decade after Boys in the Band took New York by storm with its radical depiction of a Manhattan apartment full of gay men depicted with no freedom to be themselves safely outside in the world at large. And though being surrounded by fellow gay men affords them a degree of comfort, the play’s pressure-cooker atmosphere ultimately provides opportunities to see each character at his best — and worst. Doubtless certain elements of the show serve as reminders of victories since won (the play opened two weeks after Martin Luther King was killed, a full year and a half before the riots at Stonewall) . Other aspects are testaments to the fact that, despite changing times, human nature remains stubbornly constant. As such, the piece is very much a fly caught in amber: forever trapped in time. “There’s no way to move it to present day,” Quinto believes. “I think the play itself exists in the social/political context of the time, so my sense is that we’re stripping away the kind of time period tropes of costumes and a kind of naturalistic set. I think we’re trying to suspend the play in a place where the language can do the work, you know? Where the play itself can be a mirror for the audience to reflect how far we’ve come in the last 50 years; but also how far we’ve yet to go in terms of integrating homosexual identity into mainstream culture.” In fact, his production marks the first time The Boys in the Band has been on the Great White Way. Originally, Crowley’s play was something of an underground hit that first achieved cult status
far from Broadway, then went on to become a well-known film in 1970 — featuring the very same stage cast — directed by William Friedkin (who would go on to greater fame three years later as the director of The Exorcist). Now the play is back in the biggest way possible, starring a who’s-who of gay Hollywood heavyweights, including Quinto, Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory), Matt Bomer (The Magic Mike films) and Andrew Rannels (Girls, The New Normal), each contributing his own star power in hopes that the new production will in its own way compel audiences to reconsider what gay people were — and are. “When this play premiered in 1968, it was revolutionary,” Quinto says. “It was a groundbreaking experience. People had never seen anything like it. It was a phenomenon in terms of audience attendance; people were lined up around the block, and the show moved theaters and was extended time and time again because it was such an unexplored psychological landscape.” But eventually — after the gay rights movement began, once homosexuality was dropped as a mental illness by the American Psychiatric Association in 1973, after the AIDS crisis — the show’s bitchiness, born in a time of claustrophobia and repression, began to appear dated. Quinto acknowledges that Boys “became a bit stigmatized as backward-looking in a kind of reductive, stereotypical association with the gay characters.” But, he’s quick to add, “for me, that makes it interesting to be bringing it back in a time when it’s never been on Broadway. We’re living in the midst of an incredibly backward swing of socio-political points of view right now, and I think it’s a really amazing time to be able to let the play speak for itself again.”
THE RESPONSIBILITY THAT COMES WITH THE CRAFT For Quinto, each character is a quest: Spock attempting to master an untapped reservoir of emotion; the lover of a man who renounces homosexuality to preach the Gospel in I Am Michael; the real-life gay journalist Glenn Greenwald on a search for truth in Oliver Stone’s biopic based on famed whistleblower Edward Snowden. Still, for all his indelible work on screen, Quinto is on the record as saying that without reservation, the stage would be his METROSOURCE.COM JUNE/JULY 2018
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Star Trek Into Darkness
American Horror Story: Asylum
choice between the two — if he had to make one. “Don’t get me wrong,” he says with a laugh. “I’m not saying I don’t appreciate my experiences in film and television, and I’m certainly not saying I don’t want to continue having them. The balance of my career is amazing and I appreciate it deeply. I’m speaking in terms of fulfillment, satisfaction. I’m never so happy as when I’m on stage, and I feel like that’s the only thing I mean when I say: if I could make the same living as I make in film and television that I would only do theater. I don’t want to preclude or forego any further opportunities I have in film and television, because I do think there’s a unique and kind of magical potential there as well. And I value the legacy of that. There are those things that exist in film and television that don’t exist in the theater, you know? There isn’t a permanent record of the work you do on stage.” But for Quinto, there is power in the fleeting present and the immediacy that only live performance can provide. “Theater is the only medium for an actor in which they have ultimate control,” he likes to say. “Between the stage manager and the light board and the sound board operators and the actors: those are the people who are responsible for the story being told every single night.” By contrast, he says, “You make a film; you show up, you hit your mark, you say your lines, you go home, and that’s when the work begins, because the editor comes in
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and the sound designer and the composer and the – well, there are so many other contributions to the art form. “In the theater the curtain comes up, and the lights go on and then it’s in your hands,” says Quinto. “Part of the power of the craft for me is the responsibility that comes with that — but also the joy and fulfillment that comes with it. You really get to shape the experience of an audience for that two-hour period of time, an hour and 45 minutes, in the case of The Boys in the Band. But that is unique and that to me is rewarding on a level that no red carpet or premiere or opening night party can substitute. It’s that something that requires a different kind of commitment and a different kind of effort over time. There’s something ceremonial and ritualistic about it, too, something spiritual. If you look at the origins of theater, it traces back to the Greeks and the celebration and the worship and the ritual of a kind of mass. And that’s something that I really feel moved by and kind of always have.“
WHERE IS THE LOVE? What does Quinto hope audiences will find memorable about this 50th anniversary production of the play? For him, it’s all about the collision of personalities in Crowley’s text. “Each time, as I’m diving into it more deeply,” he says, “the question that keeps coming up for me is always that crucial actor question: Where is the love, you know? How are these guys truly best friends and able to walk this razor-thin line of celebrating one another and appreciating one another and also eviscerating one another? I think Harold and Michael [played by Parsons] in particular go at each other’s throats in a lot of ways through the course of this journey.” “What’s so foreign about these characters and the world that they’re set against is how restricted they are in their capacity to inhabit their authentic selves,” says the star. “And that’s
THIS PAGE: STAR TREK STILLS COURTESY PARAMOUNT PICTURES • AMERICAN HORROR STORY COURTESY FX • BOYS IN THE BAND COURTESY OF THE PRODUCTION
The Boys in the Band
have chosen who their families are, and find comfort and find antagonism and find humor and heart in those relationships. And I don’t think that that’s necessarily any different today. I just think that it’s set against a different social-political background, and that’s why a play like this deserves to be revived and deserves to have its Broadway debut. This play captures a certain moment that thankfully doesn’t completely exist anymore. But there are certainly echoes of it, and I think that’s what we’re ex■ ploring by doing it and doing it in the way that we are.” See Zachary Quinto in The Boys in the Band now through August 11 at Broadway’s Booth Theatre. For tickets, visit boysintheband.com.
THIS PAGE: COURTESY OF BRENT CHUA
one of the ways in which we’ve changed so immensely, certainly in the last 50 years, but even in the last 15 years, you know? But the characters themselves, I think there’s a universality to the sense of camaraderie among a group of LGBTQ friends. Even though we’ve experienced a lot of social evolution, there’s still that sense of being a part of a minority group that creates a sense of intimate friendship.” It’s often said in the LGBTQ community “that we get to choose our family in so many ways,” says Quinto, who finds that especially true of those who find themselves “alienated or who are put out from their own families because of their identities. And I think this play represents that. It’s a group of people who
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Braeden and Lukas
METROHIV
CUMMING TO TERMS
In After Louie, Alan Cumming plays a man haunted by the past and dismayed by the future. But might he still find hope? BY JEFF SIMMONS SURVIVOR’S GUILT OCCURS WHEN A PERSON BELIEVES HE HAS
BODY
done something wrong by outliving a traumatic event when another has not. To the survivor, his existence seems unfair and unjustified; he wonders whether he could have done more to save another. This concept is threaded throughout After Louie (now on iTunes and On Demand channels), the directorial debut by Vincent Gagliostro, which tells the story of a middleaged artist, Sam, struggling with both the loss of a friend to AIDS and the general waning of AIDS activism.
Also central to the story is the generational divide that separates Sam (Alan Cumming) from a newfound romance with 20-something Brooklynite Braeden (played by Zachary Booth). It’s a conflict that — from the outset — appears ripe for a contentious denouement. “We were really getting somewhere, and nowadays, your generation, you don’t do anything,” Sam complains at one point. “The community is dead — literally as well as figuratively.” As the two navigate their budding relationship, that
Family Dinner
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PHOTOS COURTESY AFTER LOUIE
Sam at the Beach
tension remains more of a smoldering undercurrent that flickers but never fully combusts. Instead, the film focuses studiously on Sam’s attempt to bear up while in anguish and pain. The film’s title refers to a book of the same name published by Sam’s deceased friend, another ACT UP activist whose decline toward death years earlier was captured on video. Sam struggles to marry these clips together as an ode to his friend, despite his circle of friends’ views that this would actually dishonor his memory. Even the owner of his art gallery, Rona (Justin Vivian Bond), dismisses the idea. As he struggles with “artist’s block,” the disheveled, brooding and chain-smoking Sam channels his frustration by wielding a red crayon and scrawling the names of the friends and lovers who he has lost on a wall in his sparse apartment. It’s a physical manifestation of the history of loss that haunts his world.
Braedan and Lukas
Sam and Braeden
Though other films about AIDS and activism may pack an even more powerful punch (think of How to Survive a Plague, Angels in America and most recently, 120 Beats per Minute), Cumming’s winning performance here gives this film its heart and its soul. And it also yields some moving moments, such as a tender Hamptons beach scene where Sam and his former art teacher, Julian (Everett Quinton), gaze into the evening sky. “So many stars out here, I almost forgot about them,” Sam says, looking upward. “It’s an illusion, Sam,” his friend replies. “It’s all a beautiful illusion.” For Sam, acceptance appears to be on the horizon — an awakening to the reality of the world in which he now lives. This low-key film seems meant to speak to those like Sam, who bore witness to more loss than most will ever see and the transformative power of activism it ignited — to give them hope that their experiences may yet impact a generation to come. ■
Maggie and Sam
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Turning Tofu from Terrifying to Terrific BY GAYLE VAN WELY WANT TO WOW YOUR GUESTS WITH TOFU? YES, THE OFTEN POOH-POOHED INGREDIENT CAN BE TASTY WHEN WELL SEASONED WITH
spice and shallow pan fried as in this dish of Fried Tofu on Red Quinoa with Black Garlic and Dashi. Not only is it a palatepleaser, but it’s also super healthy too. Tofu is packed with protein and contains all eight essential amino acids. It is an excellent source of iron and calcium and the minerals manganese, selenium and phosphorous. On top of that, tofu is a good source of magnesium, copper, zinc and vitamin B1. The quinoa (another ingredient that intimidates many home cooks) takes on a sweet, syrupy flavor here — with hints of balsamic and tamarind. The process of producing black garlic is sometimes referred to as “fermentation,” but unlike actual fermentation, it does not involve microbial action. Regardless, the process intensifies both the flavor and all of the health benefits of regular raw garlic. It’s absolutely a must-try and can be found in specialty stores.
1 14 oz package firm tofu olive oil grapeseed oil ground fenugreek
RED QUINOA 1 cup red quinoa 2 cups seasoned water or stock 3 cloves black garlic sliced the zest and juice of 1 lemon extra virgin olive oil 2 scallions sliced
TOFU PREPARATION 1. Dry tofu with kitchen towel or paper towel to prevent splattering. cut the tofu into rectangular pieces — or you can cut it any way you like. 2. Use cast iron or carbon steel pan. Heat the pan till hot. Coat with oil (about half olive and half grapeseed), and let the oil heat up before you place the tofu into the hot pan. 3. When the oil is hot, slowly and gently place tofu into the oil. The white, dense, mozzarella-like texture of the tofu will puff up and take on a spongy texture. Depending on how hot your oil is and how much oil you put in, it usually takes about 15 minutes to fry all the pieces before you remove the golden brown tofu and let it drain.
QUINOA PREPARATION 1. Rinse the quinoa in a sieve under running water. 2. Drop the rinsed quinoa into your saucepan of boiling stock. Add garlic powder, fenugreek and pepper. 3. Simmer for 12-15 minutes with a lid on. Drain any excess water from the pan by maneuvering the lid very slightly. Let the quinoa ‘dry steam’ in the saucepan on your counter top for a few more minutes to eliminate the possibility of soggy quinoa. 4. Mix in the remaining ingredients, and add lemon juice to taste. FIND MORE RECIPES ON METROSOURCE.COM.
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PHOTOS BY GAYLE VAN WELY
INGREDIENTS TOFU
CAUTION: IDENTITY IN PROGRESS Kevin traces his personal evolution from being an altar boy fantasizing about Beatles all the way to embracing being a daddy — and everything in between. BY KEVIN PHINNEY
Harvey Milk was killed, I’d all but resolved to sleepwalk through life. AIDS woke me up like ice water down the spine. I had been seeing girls, but periodically had “werewolf episodes”where I’d fall off the wagon. AIDS forced me to come to grips with the reality of who I was and what I wanted, even if it now seemed to be a death sentence. I partnered quickly and we embraced the safety of our couch as the death tolls climbed around us through the ‘80s. When I fell in love a second time, it would be a much more serious move: literally — first from Austin to New Orleans while my partner finished his residency, and then to Seattle. After 15 years, we were married as soon as it was legalized in Washington State. As a doctor’s husband, I was both comfortable and miserable. I had no material wants, but lacked the things that really mattered. Our marriage was open, which meant I enjoyed the company of — among others — a (human) pup. But over time, my husband began to complain, saying he was tired of boys buzzing around me for drinks I was buying with his paycheck. We divorced, and I returned to my birthplace: New York. Now single for the first time in three decades, I’m happy to see guys my age, but the ones who pursue me tend to be (adult) boys, who delight in calling me “daddy” (not to be confused with the Sugar variety.) And you know what? It fits. It’s my nature to nurture, and I’m a good coach at the gym (and elsewhere). That also means I spend a lot of time explaining the differences between daddy/boy dynamics versus dom/sub or master/slave. (In brief, boys want to please a daddy they admire; subs and slaves do what they’re told out of fear of reprisals.) Much time gets wasted interacting with boys who love to fantasize via text but lack the resolve to meet. Now and then I do manage to find someone with whom I share a real connection, which is grand for all concerned. Being a daddy may not be my last stop on this ride, but as I look back at the many skins I’ve shed, I take pride in wearing one that feels right for the moment. And I’m grateful that this time I have figured out who I am while it’s happening, rather than realizing it ■ only when glancing back in life’s rearview mirror.
POV
straight boyfriend and a gay partner, a surrogate father and a same-sex husband, master to a human pup and Daddy to an adult boy. It’s been quite the long and winding road so far. Before puberty, I wasn’t certain I was gay, but I was sure I was different from the other boys I knew. Watching TV’s Batman, the pixie cuteness of Yvonne Craig’s Batgirl wasn’t lost on me — but I couldn’t help but feel libidinous stirrings for Burt Ward’s Robin, too. My eyes lingered far too long on the tanned tummies of the boys on Flipper. And don’t even get me started on The Monkees. Looming over them all was Paul McCartney. He could write. He could sing. He was almost too beautiful to be male. I loved how he could bust out “Oh, Darling!”then make my heart ache asking where all the lonely people really do belong — including me. I began to imagine what I might become if I spent less time serving mass as an altar boy and more time exploring impulses I had been trained to find repugnant. (“That thing that makes Jesus vomit,”as playwright Christopher Durang would later put it.) I also considered entering the seminary, and went for a weekend stay to see how well I fit. As the only guy in a family of girls, I thought my heart was going to burst with joy when I was befriended by all these handsome young seminarians. At bedtime, the lights went off in our 20-bed dormitory, and I had a half dozen new friends perched on the edge of my bed wanting to know much more about me than I was ready to share. Ironically by the time it was over, I realized that for me the seminary would be (based on its evident secret society) an express ticket to Hell. So I decided to stuff my feelings, head to high school, and date some girls. I certainly was no player, but dated enough to throw off the jocks who liked to yell“Hey, faggot!”I had seen them taunt other classmates who weren’t as good at assimilating, and wanted none of that for myself. I didn’t join their mockery, but I didn’t come to the others’ defense, either — to my shame. That pattern continued through college, although I did manage to have a couple of girlfriends who were more than beards to me. I lost my Golden Gay Card one summer night to the tune of Phoebe Snow’s “Poetry Man” — giving me hope I was finally on track for a more “normal” existence. But not long after, a tour
of Godspell rolled through town, and I spent a torrid night with John the Baptist in my arms. The very next morning, I was given pause when I turned on the TV to see Anita Bryant railing against homosexuality and spent a moment recalling Mike Wallace’s 1967 exposé The Homosexuals as he portrayed gays as “incapable of lasting relationships,” lurking in the shadows, waiting to pounce on any man too weak or drunk to resist, skulking through the night on an endless quest for drugs, booze and empty sex. By the time
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1OTEAS FOR WEIGHT LOSS
Looking to slim down? Let us spill some tea for you. BY JEFFREY JAMES KEYES
LOOKING TO SHED A FEW POUNDS? GET READY TO DRINK PLENTY
BODY
HEALTH
of tea. Humans have been drinking tea since the days of emperor Shen Nung in China around 2737 B.C. In the recent book For All the Tea in China Author Sarah Rose recounts the daring and dramatic story about how England actually stole the world’s favorite drink by deploying Robert Fortune to steal China’s tea secrets in 1848 — an act that would change history. Nowadays, there are so many varieties available, it might be hard to know which ones will help you pare down a paunch. So we gathered ten teas to consider when it’s time to trim:
FENNEL TEA Fennel, an aromatic flowering plant species in the carrot family, is native to the Mediterranean. Rich in fiber, potassium, folate, vitamin C, and vitamin B-6, it’s bursting with nutrients and healthy properties. Drinking fennel can help reduce water retention, combats cellulite, boosts the metabolism and helps you to burn fat with ease.
GINGER TEA Ginger originated in Southeast Asia; the medicinal root has long been used to aid in digestion, but some use it specifically to target belly fat and reduce cholesterol. It also raises your body temperature and increases metabolism to burn more fat. Additionally, ginger can help you to feel full, so eating ginger or drinking ginger tea can help to keep your appetite in check.
GOJI TEA Goji berries, a superfood with high fiber and diuretic properties can boost the immune system, detoxify the liver and stabilize blood sugar. Making goji tea is as simple as dropping a few goji berries into boiling water (be sure to eat the berries afterwards for the full effect). Bottoms up!
GREEN TEA Chock full of antioxidants and delivering a hefty dose of caffeine, Green Tea stimulates the metabolism, increases the release of hormones that burn fat, reduces the appetite and provides you with just the right amount of energy to head into
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work or a workout. Green tea is made from camellia sinensis leaves that have not gone through the oxidation process used to make black or oolong teas.
HIBISCUS TEA
and zinc. Because you consume the actual leaves when drinking matcha, it’s full of extra fiber and increased levels of amino acids. Drinking matcha helps boost metabolism and burn calories as well as helping the body to eliminate stored fat and suppress appetite.
Known for their big colorful flowers, hibiscus plants are so much more than decor. Rich in vitamin C, minerals and antioxidants, hibiscus tea can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol, protect the liver and help with digestion. Hibiscus can also help to lower the absorption of starch and glucose, thus further aiding in weight loss. Making hibiscus tea is as easy as mixing about two teaspoons of dried hibiscus flowers in a pot of water and leaving the tea to steep for about five minutes. Remove the flowers and serve. (It also just might just be the prettiest tea on our entire list!)
PEPPERMINT TEA
OOLONG TEA
ROOIBOS TEA
Possibly originating in China or Taiwan, Oolong tea can not only be used to lower cholesterol, but also increases metabolism and helps the body digest food. Like green tea, Oolong tea comes from the camellia sinensis plant, but is fermented and partially oxidized. Drinking a cup will activate enzymes that start the fat burning engines in your body and keep them roaring for hours after your last sip.
Rooibos, or “red bush” tea is a member of the Fabaceae plant family growing in South Africa. Unlike black or green tea, Rooibos doesn’t contain caffeine but is rich with Vitamin C and Aspalathin which can inhibit fat storage. Naturally sweet tasting, Rooibos doesn’t need sugar or milk to leave you smacking your lips.
Peppermint tea is simply an herbal tea that is made by infusing peppermint leaves in hot water. The powerful aroma of peppermint is said to reduce or suppress one’s appetite. Drinking a cup can aid in calming the stomach and aid in digestion. Its subtle amounts of caffeine, phenol and antioxidants activate metabolism and assist with overall digestion. Dating back to Ancient Egypt (where the plant was used for indigestion), peppermint grows primarily in Europe and North America.
WHITE TEA
MATCHA TEA With origins dating back to China’s Tang Dynasty, matcha is a ground green tea powder made from the tencha leaf. Rich in vitamins A, C, E, K and B-complex it also contains chromium, magnesium, selenium
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Harvested from the young leaves of a Camellia sinensis plant, white tea is made from these tiny buds plucked before they have opened and seen the sun. Much like black and Oolong, the tea is known to speed up metabolism and torch calories and fat cells. ■
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HEALTH BODY
Fun IN THE SUN
LOOKING TO HAVE FUN IN THE SUN THIS SUMMER? BE SURE TO PROTECT YOUR SKIN. GONE ARE THE DAYS WHEN YOU COULD JUST SLATHER ON SOME
Banana Boat sunscreen and spend the day kicking it in the surf. As we learn more about how our environment is changing and what that puts our bodies through, we need to be careful to protect the skin we’re in. (Let’s face it, there’s nothing cute about an radioactive-red after-Pride sunburn or peeling skin stuck in your fur on the way to Bear Week.) So we’ve explored a variety of skincare products just in time for summer 2018 to help you put together a grooming regimen that emphasizes the“care” in skin care.
BY JEFFREY JAMES KEYES
STEP 1 SCRUB
STEP 2 WASH
Nivea Exfoliating Face Scrub is a great product designed with Aloe Vera and Pro-Vitamin B5 that not only cleanses but also protects the skin from drying out. Incorporate it into your morning routine to remove dead skin and refresh your natural barrier to allow just the right amount of sun onto your skin. Nivea has a rich history going back to 1911, when two doctors discovered how to bind water and oil into a stable cream; over a century later, it’s still the cream of the crop.
The Blue Lagoon has been luring travelers to Iceland since the ‘70s. Their products, which blend mineral-rich fresh water and seawater, are known to treat numerous skin ailments and aid in balancing skin. Blue Lagoon Iceland Algae & Mineral Shower Gel is a soap-free cleansing gel that contains algae, silica and minerals that nourish and protect hair and skin, so your whole body is prepped for fun in the sun. Another gentle option is the MALIN + GOETZ BERGAMOT BODY WASH, a gently foaming cleansing gel with natural bergamot and amino acid-based cleansing agents.
Nivea • Exfoliating Face Scrub $10.99
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Blue Lagoon Iceland • Algae & Mineral Shower Gel $33
2 4 1
3
5
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STEP 3 USE SERIOUS SERUM
STEP 5 MOISTURIZE
Eminence Organic Skincare has used sustainable farming and green practices to create natural, organic and Biodynamic products since 1958. Apply a thin layer of their serum all over your face after you get out of the shower. Its stonecrop (a flowering plant) and bearberry extract will lock in hydration and can reduce skin blotches or age spots while green tea antioxidants help skin look younger.
Make your morning routine twice as nice by adding some everyday SPF while you moisturize. Jack Black Double-Duty Face Moisturizer has Blue Algae Extract and Sea Parsley in addition to UVA and UVB protection as well as potent antibiotics to shield the skin from premature aging (who wants that?) The moisturizer is lightweight and includes a built-in SPF 20. If you’re not familiar with Jack Black (not to be confused with the actor), they’re a family-owned and operated company out of Carrollton, Texas that has grown to into the #1 best-selling men’s skincare company in their 17+ years of business.
STEP 4 MIND THE EYES
STEP 6 PROTECT
Even with if you’re sporting some sexy sunglasses, you will need to protect the skin around your eyes from drying out from exposure to the sun. Pevonia incorporates delicately extracted phyto-organic and natural ingredients to create earth-and-skin-friendly products that are Mother Nature approved. In their impressive Collagen Boost Eye Contour for Him, neuropeptide and Hyaluronic Acid work together to provide dynamic anti-aging benefits and long lasting hydration to the eye area. Use a healthy amount to repair, firm, and moisturize while reducing any fine lines with this impressive eye serum.
You’ll need to pull out the guns once you head out in the sun, so turn to one of the most trusted brands on the market: Kiehl’s. Fortified with Vitamin E, Titanium Dioxide and plenty of antioxidants to help neutralize skin-damaging free radicals, this sunscreen is non-greasy, so it won’t clog your pores. For those who enjoy a piña colada but not necessarily smelling like one, this sunscreen is fragrance free, and if surf’s up, it’s water resistant for up to 80 minutes. Want to go a little lighter? Try their ACTIVATED SUN PROTECTOR WATER-LIGHT LOTION FOR FACE & BODY, which is broad spectrum and SPF 30. For something in-between, JACK BLACK offers a SUN GUARD SUNSCREEN SPF 45 OIL-FREE & VERY WATER RESISTANT with Vitamin C and Organic Calendula Flower to soothe and calm the skin with its anti-inflammatory properties.
Eminence Organic Skincare • Stone Crop Serum $36
Pevonia • Collagen Boost Eye Contour for Him $74
Jack Black Double-Duty Face Moisturizer $17 - $48
Kiehl’s • Activated Sun Protector 100% Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50 $29
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BODY
HEALTH
7
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STEP 7 CLEANSE THE DAY AWAY
STEP 9 LOCK IN THE SUN WITH OIL
Collosol Eau de Lait $18-$38
Trilogy • Very Gentle Restoring Oil $45
When you come in from the sun, you’ll definitely want to cleanse your skin from the sun’s hot rays. Collosol Eau de Lait made its grand debut in Paris in the 1950s, and today this subtle milky clear cleanser is one of the most gentle formulas around — ideal for smooth relief after being out in the sun. Long known as Karl Lagerfeld’s favorite cleanser, this French secret hit the markets in the States for the first time last year. What a delightful way to wash off all of that sunscreen and unleash your healthy, sun-kissed face!
A good oil can not only help nourish, but also restore damaged skin. Trilogy’s new sensitive range is a perfect antidote to both existing and future sun damage. Rebuild your skin’s defenses and protect the vital barrier that’s been weakened by the sun’s rays with key ingredients such as Maqui berry & Sea Buckthorn. Maqui Berry is a super-oil — rich in antioxidants and fatty acids to reduce cell damage and disintegration, while Sea Buckthorn contains Omega-7, which is necessary for collagen production. The product also contains apricot oil — rich in vitamins A and E — to soothe and prevent signs of aging. To turn things up another notch, rub Nivea NOURISHING BODY OIL WITH AVOCADO AND MACADAMIA OIL all over your arms, legs and everything between. It will condition and smooth the skin so you’ll really shine at the next beach outing or pool party.
STEP 8 SOOTHE AFTER SUN BIODERMA • Photoderm Après-Soleil SOS $19.90 BIODERMA has been a pioneer in placing biology at the service of dermatology since the 1970s. Their Photoderm AprèsSoleil SOS is an amazing mist that immediately soothes and moisturizes overheated skin. Freshen up your exhausted epidermis and revel in the benefits including cellular bioprotection that preserves and stimulates the skin’s immunity during and after sun exposure.
TALIKA • Bio Enzymes Mask After-Sun $12 Talika’s Research team has developed a great solution for those who’ve spent a bit too much time in the sun. Their Bio Enzymes Mask - After Sun can soothe and refresh your face with chamomile, arnic and biocellulose (made from the enzyme fermentation of coconut water). Set the mask for fifteen minutes and reduce uncomfortable sun-related burning sensations while also rehydrating the skin.
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STEP 10 AND MOISTURIZE AGAIN DeVita Skin Care • Solar Body Moisturizer $27.95 One of the most important things you do after spending time out in the sun is to keep lathering on powerful moisturizer. DeVita Skin Care has created a light body moisturizer and sun shield all in one. With 100% natural mineral SPF 30 sunscreen, aloe barbadensis, Japanese green tea leaf extract and jojoba seed oil, it’s a great way to keep your tan intact while protecting it from any late afternoon rays. Apply in combination with the possibly magical DeVita SUN DAMAGE REPAIR SERUM, and you’re likely to feel all the benefits of fun in the sun without discomfort. The serum is enhanced with copper peptides, which restore skin by stimulating the removal of damaged collagen and elastin. Another great option (especially if you’re still feeling the burn) is ARUBA ALOE AFTER SUN SKIN REPAIR, which is infused with healing and moisturizing Pure Aloe Vera Gel. In addition to aloe, the lotion is rich in Vitamin E, coconut and Jojoba oil. It can even help prevent you from peeling once you’re done in the sun. ■
WHO SHOULD GET TESTED FOR HIV? EVERYONE.
See how often testing is recommended. Visit HelpStopTheVirus.com © 2016 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. UNBC3150 06/16
It may be best known as a haven for the LGBTQ community, but the beauty of art and nature also wait at the end of the cape. BY MARK A. THOMPSON
THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE…
PROVINCETOWN MORE THAN THREE DECADES AGO, IN AN ATTEMPT TO
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determine if we were compatible, my boyfriend and I shared a cottage on Pearl Street in Provincetown that once belonged to Mink Stole, an original member of John Waters’ motley ensemble of fearless actors. Perhaps the unstated premise was that if we survived in that setting, then we’d be ready for anything — even marriage (if it ever arrived). The setting was appropriate because, as “America’s First Destination,” Provincetown has been attracting the wacky, weird, and wonderful ever since the Mayflower first landed in Provincetown harbor in 1620. Let’s face it — gay destinations like Fire Island, Key West or San Francisco can’t compare to P-town in the colonial history department. This is the very spot where the Pilgrims (actually headed for Virginia) ultimately decided to stay, seduced by its idyllic sanctuary with sand dunes and oyster beds — and the inspiration for Patti Page’s “Old Cape Cod.” The National Park Service paints a more bleak picture of P-town’s origins. According to the historical marker in the Province Lands, passengers on the Mayflower wandered the woods for five weeks before resettling across the bay in Plymouth, which technically means that — in 1620 — the little hamlet had already become a seasonal destination. In truth, Paleo-Indian artifacts reveal that humans have occupied Cape Cod for at least 10,000 years — well before Provincetown became notable for its seductive scrum of artists, fishermen, smugglers and gays.
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Dune Shack, Province Lands
OPPOSITE PAGE: SAND DUNES, PROVINCE LANDS ©BEN NUGENT • THIS PAGE: P-TOWN FILM FESTIVAL ©CAPE COD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE • DUNE SHACK, PROVINCE LANDS ©CHARLES FIELDS • P-TOWN ART ASSOCIATION & MUSEUM ©PAAM • BRASSKEY-CUTRONA©-1636 • RACE POINT BIKE PATH ©MASS OFFICE OF TOURISM
P-town Film Festival
Freedom of expression has been at the heart of Provincetown’s blueprint since the signing of the Mayflower Compact here; after all, it was the first document to proclaim liberty in the Americas, a manifesto that would also help shape both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. Today, that sense of a social and personal liberty is manifest in the absence of a Provincetown mayor; instead, administrative duties fall to the “Town Manager,” even though that may sound like a character from Thornton Wilder’s Our Town. As one of the nation’s first established artists’ colonies, Provincetown is recognized as the birthplace of modern American playwriting, hosting the production of Eugene O’Neill’s first play in 1916 and flourishing throughout Tennessee Williams’ tenure in town half a century later. Like many before him, Williams fell in love with Provincetown and its players (specifically a dancer named Kip Kiernan who lived at Captain Jack’s Wharf). In that tradition, each fall, the PROVINCETOWN TENNESSEE WILLIAMS THEATER FESTIVAL (twptown.org) presents his works performed by companies from around the world. Founded in order to honor Williams’ creative vision, the four-day festival celebrates his enduring connection to Provincetown — where he wrote both The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire while in residence at ATLANTIC HOUSE (ahouse.com), once a guest house, now a dance spot known affectionately as “The A-Hole.” Provincetown locals delight in embracing the diverse groups of tourists who flock to the tiny town annually. The cornucopia of events includes Bear Week, Whale Week, Family Week, Women’s Weekend, White Party, Leather Weekend and the gayer-thanthou bacchanalia known as Carnival. “Everyone in town knows that Carnival is my week; it’s like my Christmas,” says Michelle Orsmond, who moved to Provincetown from South Africa with her husband more than a decade ago.“In P-town, no one is judging you. People can be who they want when they want.” As the manager of CROWNE POINT HISTORIC INN & SPA (crownepointe.com), Orsmond welcomes guests to one of Provincetown’s oldest and most beloved accommodations. Built in the
P-town Art Association & Museum
BrassKey-Cutrona Race Point bike path
Aerial vista of P-town
19th century, Crowne Pointe was originally the home of a prosperous sea captain who housed fishermen in the carriage houses behind the mansion. Throughout the 1980s, the property was known as the Dusty Miller (its utility as a drag name lost on no one) before it reopened in 1999 after a meticulous restoration that preserved the coffered tin and wood moldings and grand parlor staircase. By the entrance threshold, a brass historical marker honors the inn as a member of Historic Hotels of America. Centered around lush Victorian rose gardens and fountains, the five-building compound includes Shui Spa, the first exclusively Kiehl’s spa outside New York, which provides signature treatments and products from the well-known skin care company. Given that the president of Kiehl’s has been a frequent guest at Crowne Pointe, the rebranding of the spa in 2016 seemed a perfect marriage of vendor and locale. As proprietor Tom Walter attests, “We learned hospitality from our guests; they taught us about what they expect, which is why the customer comes first here.” The amiable atmosphere at Crowne Pointe enables guests to feel as if they are part of an extended family, so an afternoon wedding on the front lawn becomes something shared with the two brides later that evening in the dining room. Intimate and romantic, the inn’s restaurant, the Pointe, utilizes locally-sourced seafood for its “farm-to-table, pierto-plate” cuisine. Regardless of whether you’re seated in the parlor by the fireplace or on the spacious wrap-around porch overlooking P-town’s sky-piercing 252-foot granite Pilgrim Monument, it takes only one sip of the house Negroni to fall into the restaurant’s embrace. “The guests who arrive from the city, they’re going a million miles an hour,” says Orsmond.“And then within 24 hours, they relax. Just being on the ocean, listening to the quiet at night. It’s not
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long before they say to me, ‘You know what? I feel like I’m home.’” Home is how so many of us feel when we’re in P-town, regardless of whether it’s on a first visit or part of an annual return. As Orsmond states, “You’re here; you relax and you rejuvenate. It’s essential tranquility.” While some of that relaxation stems from the town’s libertarian values and its ongoing support of the LGBT community, there is also much to be said for Provincetown’s natural beauty. For a panoramic perspective on the end-of-continent grandeur, the Province Lands Bike Trail provides a restorative reminder of the power of nature — in addition to a potent aerobic cure for the common hangover. With breathtaking sight lines, the five-mile loop twists and turns over a series of hills and tunnels as it traverses through pine forests, sand dunes and low-lying cranberry bogs. At Race Point Beach, the Old Harbor Life Saving Station serves as a reminder that the Cape’s treacherous shoals have sunk more than 3,000 ships in 300 years. In 1961, Cape Cod National Seashore was established by the federal government during the administration of John F. Kennedy; for more than 50 years, the National Park Service has maintained the nation’s second-oldest common land (after Boston Commons) for its continued preservation. Of the six beaches managed by the Park Service, Herring Cove (once known as New Beach) has remained Cape Cod’s definitive LGBT beach. The recent $5 million redevelopment of the mid-century Herring Cove Beach Bathhouse has provided the beach with a social hub that functions like a beach club — complete with cultural programming, gourmet food and cocktails. In addition to lifeguard facilities and indoor/outdoor showers, the sleek complex of shingled
THIS PAGE: AERIAL VISTA OF P-TOWN ©PMPM • OLD HARBOR U.S. LIFE SAVING STATION AT RACE POINT (MRNY)
Below: Old Harbor U.S. Life Saving Station at Race Point
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pavilions harbors Far Land on the Beach, the sleek beach outpost to Provincetown’s FAR LAND PROVISIONS (farlandprovisions.com), which serves succulent lobster rolls, crab cakes and award-winning sandwiches (which have earned the title of P-town’s “Best Sandwich” for nine years running). Sustainably-sourced from Pier to Plate, Far Land’s menu includes skate and dogfish, both of which help to promote a healthy marine environment on Cape Cod. Throughout the summer, the picnic tables beneath its trellis are often packed with sunset revelers who show up each Wednesday and Sunday evening for the Sunset Music Series. Regional bands and vocalists perform while a carefree crowd dances in the Brass Key Guesthouse glow of a dazzling sunset. No less memorable than P-town’s sunsets are the town’s sleepy but mesmerizing sunrises — and one of the best ways to ensure you catch the rosy-fingered dawn there is to spend a night in a dune shack. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the 1,950-acre historic district of Peaked Hill Bars includes dune shacks built in the 1920s that once welcomed artists and writers such as O’Neill, Jack Kerouac, Norman Mailer and Jackson Pollock. Today, all but one of the 19 shacks are owned by the National Park Service, which holds a lottery for two-week artists’ residencies. The Provincetown Community Compact also offers certain donors the opportunity to reserve a one-week residency, which helps to ensure the affordability of the program for the artists. Situated among the sand dunes, the shacks offer superlative panoramic views and the sonic bliss of no sound but the ocean. Solitude has never seemed so alluring. Crowne Pointe Inn Similarly,Provincetown’sFINEARTSWORK CENTER (web.fawc.org) or FAWC has been hosting artists since it was founded in 1968 by a group of artists who sought to perpetuate Provincetown’s role as the nation’s oldest arts colony. Apart from its acclaimed seven-month residencies, FAWC offers an extensive range of cultural events and exhibitions that can be enjoyed throughout the year. For those who love a party, 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of the annual Provincetown Carnival where more than 100,000 revelers convene in America’s “Best Resort Town” for a week-long festival of themed events and extravagant parties. The Crab cakes at Far Land annual BRASS KEY GUESTHOUSE (brasskey.com) on the Beach at Herring Cove pool party attracts scores of beautiful beach boys and for one of the week’s most beloved bacchanals. Produced by Crowne Pointe the non-profit Provincetown Business Guild, Carnival honors the guild’s mission to promote Provincetown as the nation’s number one LGBT community destination. Perhaps the spirit of the place is best summed up in the words of the Mayflower Compact: We whose names are underwritten… combine ourselves together into a civil body … and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal laws…for the general good. All these years later, Provincetown remains as wonderfully dedicated to the common good as it was at its inception. ■
Dance the night away at the A-House
If I Offended You, You Needed It It’s a free-for-all as Kids in the Hall’s Scott Thompson and Orange Is the New Black’s Lea Delaria talk comedy, gay rights and the importance of giving offense. BY KEVIN PHINNEY
Scott Thompson METROSOURCE CAUGHT UP WITH KIDS IN THE HALL ALUMNUS SCOTT
Thompson at the historic Stonewall Inn on tour to promote a new edition of his book, Buddy Babylon: The Autobiography of Buddy Cole. Joining the merriment were Thompson’s longtime collaborator Paul Bellini and comic/singer/actress Lea DeLaria of Orange Is the New Black. Metrosource: It’s anarchy in here with you three... Lea: You have three comedians talking. You have to go with it. Scott: So here’s how we all know each other: Paul and I went to university together in Toronto. He was in film and I was in theater, and we worked on the school newspaper together, and we were also in a punk band, then we later wrote for Kids in the Hall together. Lea and I met in Montreal in 1993. Paul and I had recently seen her on Arsenio, I remember we were blown away because . . . it was like, 1993 and she was so ... out there.
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deep and real connection. Lea: Without a doubt. Scott: And Lea is kind of an honorary Canadian. Lea: I’m a huge Canadaphile. Metrosource: That’s how all of you met. But Scott, how did you meet your Kids In the Hall character, Buddy Cole? Scott: Buddy Cole was born in Paul’s basement right after university. Paul had just bought a video camera — in the early days of people actually having those. So we were at his place, and I’d met this guy I’d fallen for quite hard. He was quite effeminate, and I’d never really fallen for an effeminate guy before. But he was very sexy, physical, beautiful and aggressive. He was an Alpha Queen and I was so full of shame at the time. He died early in the epidemic, really fast. And then Paul had a friend who he used to imitate, too. So one day we were in Paul’s basement and we just turned the camera on. And Paul asked if I could do that voice. And I was a gay man so full of shame that I’d never even tried to do a voice like that. I always thought that if I started lisping, I’d never be able to stop. And I remember there were all these blue paintings, so the fist thing I remember saying was, “This is my blue period. You’re in my Blue Room. I’m a vampire.”I feel very comfortable and safe in his skin now. Metrosource: Do you have a trigger that brings him out of you? Scott: I guess the trigger would be,“Could you do Buddy Cole for us?” And I always say,“Of course I would, darling.” Metrosource: Speaking of triggers, I’m such a fan of Kids in the Hall that if someone was to rush up to me and yell, “It’s Fact!” I’d say, “The Queen of England doesn’t know her ABCs!”And then you’d say: Scott: (singing as Queen Elizabeth) A,B,C,D ... X...P... Q. Oh, Hello!
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Lea: Yup! It’s the 1990s, it’s hip to be queer and I’m a BIG DYKE! I was the first . . . ‘openly gay’ — that’s the way they like to put it — the first queer comic on television in America. And that kind of exploded, and of course Scott was on Kids, so naturally I was watching them. Scott: Then we met at the Just for Laughs Festival because we were both there. Paul: There were so few gay comedians around then that we all met each other. Lea: Meeting you, Scott, was such a thrill because I’d been watching you for years. Scott: And then after that, Lea went to Edinborough for a festival and I thought,“I have nothing to do. I’ll just go there.’’ And I spent twoLea: THREE weeks, son! Scott: Three weeks sharing an apartment, drinking and having sex with Scottish boys. We became instant friends, and since then we’ve done a bunch of things together. Lea: And Paul and I are a very specific kind of Italian. Paul: Right. Our ancestors are from the same province, so we have a
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Metrosource: I was sure that when Claire Foy left The Crown, they would turn to you. Scott: That’s my big dream, to be the Queen from 46 on. I mean they want this show to go on for a long time, and I could do it. I’m available. And men have played women before on stage. I would love that. And I think I look better than Helen Mirren as the Queen. Lea: Seriously. That’s your quote: “Better than Helen Mirren!” Metrosource: Give me a moment to ask something serious, okay? When it comes to political issues Scott, you’ve had your home firebombed for creating a show satirizing Saddam Hussein; you’ve been close to school shootings. As a Canadian looking at the States from outside, what’s your perspective? Scott: I have to be honest: I’m very worried about this country right now. Both sides are digging their heels in, and that’s not good for democracy or any kind of functioning society. I feel very much — as an outsider, as a comedian, and as a Canadian — that it’s more important than ever to serve comedy, because it’s a medium that can bridge the gap. Canada is doing well, but I am worried about this country; it’s taken a bad turn. Paul: You know what we don’t have in Canada? Religious nuts. Scott: Oh, it’s very frowned upon. You never get anywhere there using religion to win an argument. Paul: We also don’t have guns. Scott: And we don’t have your history, either. We share certain things, but we don’t share slavery. We share the genocide of Native Americans, for sure. But our West was not settled the way yours was. Paul: We had the Mild West. Scott: Right. Where you had the Wild West and all that, we had the Mounties go in to establish order and the rule of law. It’s very baked into the Canadian mindset that the state might know what’s better for you. That’s not a great thing, really. In fact, it might be a really bad thing. But it’s like multiculturalism; it’s just in our bones, from Day One: that we are a people of all
kinds. And that, I think, sets us up for the future in a good way. I worry about America because it’s very difficult to fall from number one. If you fall from ten to eleven or move up to nine, it’s not as big a deal. So I think it’s going to be a very difficult transition for America. When England lost its position, they had a very rough time in the ’60s. Metrosource: Well, we all have a significant vantage point, since none of us is under 30. So we’ve seen a lot. And all of the men here made it through the plague. Lea: I made it through the plague too, thank you very much. Metrosource: And that doesn’t get said enough. Lea: It wasn’t just about the men. I lost too many friends for people to act like I wasn’t there. Metrosource: How is it to live with the legacy of Kids In the Hall? (In our national edition, this interview continues on the next page. In our NY and LA editions, turn to the last page of the issue.)
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Scott as Buddy Delaria as “Big Boo”
Scott: I’ve had my battles with it. Right now, I’m extremely content with it. And I know I’ll always be seen as a “Kid in the Hall,” and I’m okay with that. How can I be upset with being part of one of the greatest comedy troupes ever? So I’m very proud of it, and it’ll be on my gravestone, no question. Metrosource: Four years ago, you brought Buddy Cole to The Colbert Report to offer commentary on the Sochi Olympics. I think he’d have loved how gay-inclusive the Pyeongchang games were. Scott: Oh, I think Buddy would have loved this Olympics — especially the Canadian ice dancers. Metrosource: When you see so many out-and-proud athletes, do you really think that it’s getting better for the LGBT community? Lea: The pendulum has swung back and forth my entire life, and I’m constantly waiting for things to swing back the other way. Remember that when I came out, it was illegal to be queer in every state of the union. And I have spent the night in jail in two states for “open and notorious homosexuality.” In Illinois and Missouri — one for holding hands with a girl, and the second one for… a whole lot more. It’s always been four steps forward and two steps back. Scott: And I’m like Lea, I’ve seen a lot of cycles and I’m waiting for it to swing back. Metrosource: Lea, you’re one of the most visible lesbian faces on the planet. Do you feel like, even though Orange Is the New Black is a scripted show, that a big part of you comes through in it? Do you feel like you have something like a pulpit? Lea: Sure. It projects who I am, I because the part was written for me. It didn’t exist in the original script. I mean, I said to my manager that if they’re making a show about women in prison and there isn’t a part for me, I’m gonna quit show business and move back to London. So that’s where I went. Then my manager calls me and says, “They agree with you and they’ve written you a part.” So I had to come back. Metrosource: In terms of it being a platform, how does it feel to be considered by many to be the Lord of the Lesbians? Lea: Well, look: Thank God for Scott and people like him, because we didn’t mince words. We didn’t shyly come out of the closet, when we were the first gay faces on television. We took a hand grenade to that closet door and it was never going to get closed again. And you know what? I am not a liberal. I am a radical. So I can argue equally with the right and the left. When people on the left go to some ludicrous place, I say to them, you should be down on your hands and knees kissing my toes and Scott Thompson’s, because we put you in a place where you can bitch at us. But to have this platform to spout my radical views? It’s a fabulous gift from God, and I’m running with it. Scott: To Lea’s point,“being safe”and“worrying about offending people” has screwed up comedy in a lot of ways too, because comedy has always been to some degree about offending people and challenging them. And no matter how innocuous you are, you’re going to offend someone. Lea: I always say that if I offended you, you probably needed it. ■ FOR MORE CANDID CONVERSATIONS WITH LGBTQ CELEBRITIES, DOWNLOAD THE METROSOURCE APP AND VISIT US ONLINE AT METROSOURCE.COM.
this page: (above) photos courtesy the billions corporation • (beloW) courtesy netflix
VIEWS
LAST CALL
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Living and playing as an LGBTQ athlete.
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