Homo-Hop: The Revolution Will Be Auto-Tuned

When famed lyricist and singer Frank Ocean declared to the world that his first love was a man over the July 4th holiday weekend, the world went berserk.

Facebook became overrun with closed readings of the lyrics in his songs (is he talking about men or women?!?) and sensationalized speculation (is he gay or bisexual?!?). Gays across the country, who had never even heard of Frank Ocean, let alone his music, before seeing his name, chiseled jaw line and the words “gay” pasted across a Huffington Post headline, clamored to preorder his new CD, Channel Orange, on Amazon.com and set their DVR’s eagerly anticipating his first appearance post “coming out” on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

In just a matter of minutes Ocean became a gay icon, the first openly gay hip-hop artist in history.

Technically Ocean’s vibrato on Orange, and debut mixtape Nostalgia, falls under New Wave R&B, but his background lies with the hip-hop collective Odd Future, led by the newly notorious Tyler, The Creator – who recently won an MTV Video Music Award amidst controversy, as he spits some of the most homophobic lyrics in modern hip-hop.

Ocean has yet to actually discuss his sexuality in any public manner, beyond the liner notes of Orange, yet we can’t stop talking about him. After his “announcement,” most were saying “Anderson who?” and many claimed this a changing tide in hip-hop, the last of the overtly homophobic frontiers, much like pro sports.

But why is Ocean so special? Many have speculated that his coming out was simply a publicity move to ensure high sales for Orange, saying he’d been out within the industry for years. Others are calling him the Harvey Milk of hip-hop.

But regardless of what’s being said, the truth is Ocean did change the game. Hip-hop moguls Russell Simmons and Jay-Z have come out in support of Ocean’s decisions to go public and the backlash has surprisingly been slim. Orange has been critically lauded across the board and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, despite speculation that homophobia would hurt sales.

And though Ocean may be the first celebrity of his kind, many have been paving the way for such an event. Many who have been living their truth while navigating the sometimes-treacherous waters of the hip-hop underground.

Deep Dickollective, Katastrophe, Tori Fixx and God-Des & She. No, these aren’t porn names; they’re some of the artists featured in “Pick Up the Mic,” a critically acclaimed documentary about the underground LGBT hip-hop movement otherwise known originally as homo-hop. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2005 at the height of homo-hop’s heyday.

The homo-hop movement saw it’s beginning during the early 2000s when many of the names mentioned above started the PeaceOUT World Homo Hop Festival in California. The festival ran annually from 2001 to 2007 and saw spin-offs in New York City, Atlanta and even London. Unfortunately, the collective homo-hop community dissipated with the popularity of its founding artists.

But today the underground rap movement is being flooded with a resurgence of homo-hop artists, but this time they’re operating in a more modern realm, as simply rappers who happen to be gay. It’s become more about the hook than the movement.

“Frank Ocean was progress, but it’s small progress, hip-hop is still very stuck in its ways,” said Jasmine “Yung Snazz” Lyons, an up-and-coming hip hop presence in Detroit. “It has to start with the upbringing of these artists. I don’t think, at this point, [Ocean’s coming out] is going to change anything right now.”

Originally a poet, Snazz has been performing professionally for four years now, just putting out her first full-length project, “Summertime in Detroit” in July. According to Snazz, most of her fans are heterosexual, and she’s never faced discrimination because of her sexuality.

“Ever since I figured out who I was I’ve been out,” she said. “And I’ve been lucky to be one of those few LGBT artists who haven’t been held back because of it.”

Up in New York City, Harlem-bred Richard “Loco Ninja” Ruperto feels a major change in hip-hop is closer than most think.

“Just based on people I’ve talked to in the industry, the feeling is not if it’s going to happen, it’s when and who,” said Ninja who’s been slowly climbing the hip-hop ladder himself for several years. He released his third mixtape, “So Close But So Far,” also in July. His original claim to fame comes from an appearance on The Tyra Banks Show during its heyday in 2008, which led to several MTV reality show appearances and a featured spot in the PBS doc “Out In America.”

“I’m proud of [Frank Ocean],” said Ninja, winner of Best Mixtape (Flame On) and Best Video (“I’m in Love” ft Lumidee and Carmen Barretta) at the 2011 Out Hip Hop Awards. “People felt it was a publicity stunt, but truthfully everything today is a publicity stunt, but I don’t care. With him being young and black, it was something different. He’s made history for our community.”

Ninja, who’s worked with top charting singer Lumidee and Lisa D’Amato (America’s Next Top Model) with plans to put out a project soon helmed by Somaya Reece (Love & Hip Hop), thinks a mainstream gay rapper could happen in our lifetime, but it’s about the buy-in from the major labels, which definitely aren’t on board.

“I think it’s always going to be an issue until myself or someone is signed to a major label,” he said “It’s still an issue in every scenario, even when I want to buy studio time somewhere just to record, I’ve been turned down because I’m gay. They think recording an openly gay artist is a waste of time.”

Terrence “TTGotIt” Wilson from the Chicago rap duo Freak Boiz agrees. “I don’t think the world is ever going to be ‘ready’ per se, we’re going to have to make them ready. “[Ocean] was a big deal for fans, but not for the industry. He was already out in the industry. Now it’s time for executives to start recognizing that gay artists do exist in the public eye.”

The Freaky Boiz exploded onto the scene just last year, after several viral YouTube videos garnered them national attention; rife with comparisons to Nicki Minaj. Now, after a summer for touring Pride festivals across the country, they’ve released their first original song and music video with “Bounce.”

Pierre “P-Weezy” Phipps, Freaky Boiz’s other half, thinks their modern sound could put them over the top. “A big executive needs to give people like us a chance. Once that happens nothing will stop us.”

“Hip-hop is a masculine sport and a lot of people say we’re going to ‘soften the game,’ but with all the support we’re getting from big names like Jay-Z and Russell Simmons, it’s just a matter of time,” Ninja said. “I think Lil Wayne could even be the first to bring on a gay artist. He brought on Nicki Minaj and I know he sees that LGBT people are buying her albums.”

Go online to find out more about the artists featured in this article. Yung Snazz: YungSnazz.bandcamp.com, Freaky Boiz: Facebook.com/FreakyBoiz and Loco Ninja: TheLocoWorld.com

~from Outlook Columbus

The Other Side: Paris Still Burns – Columbus’ Ballroom Tale

“The Other Side” is a monthly column I write covering issues faced by gay people of color for Outlook Columbus, Central Ohio’s premiere LGBT publication.

If you think that Madonna was the impetus for the flipping, dipping and face-defying poses that started the vogue style of dance that’s become the calling of the modern day ball scene, you’re sorely mistaken. Though Madge’s video was released the same year director Jennie Livingston finished the ball-culture defining 1991 film Paris is Burning, the ball scene had been voguing in New York City since the Harlem Renaissance.

“Long before Madonna, we were voguing in the back alleys,” said Ronald Murray, 37, a ballroom veteran, known in the scene as Father Drama Evisu.

Soon after Paris is Burning, the movement began making its way out of NYC, across the country and around the world. “The scene,” as it’s often called, made its way to Ohio in the mid 90s, but Columbus’ first official ball wasn’t organized until 2004 during the city’s first Black Pride celebration.

For those unfamiliar with the world of voguing and underground ballroom glamour, here’s a quick overview and history:

Ball culture, the house system, the ballroom community and similar terms describe the underground LGBT subculture in the United States in which people “walk” (i.e. compete) for trophies and prizes at events known as balls. Those who walk often also dance and vogue while others compete in various genres of drag often trying to pass as a specific gender and social class. Most people involved with ball culture belong to “houses” led by a single leader known as a House Mother or House Father. ¹

During the Harlem Renaissance, the ball scene began as a more formal affair where drag queens would battle it out pageant style. In the 70s and 80s, as a sign of the times, black and Latino youth in NYC, as young as 13, were coming out of the closet at an alarming rate and finding themselves categorically thrown out onto the streets by their parents. The lucky ones were taken in by elder members of the LGBT community.

At the same time, black and Latino performers on the drag pageant circuit were consistently being discriminated against, never wining well-deserved titles. So they broke off and started their own, led by “houses” often made up of the runaway youth crashing on their couches.

“In the early 2000s, we had formed our own house here in Columbus called the House of Kenzo and started making a name for ourselves nationally,” Murray said. “We were walking the balls in Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland because there was no official scene in Columbus.”

During this time, the ball scene was moving into Kentucky and Indiana as well. So Murray and his housemate Richard Sankey, 44, known as Sir Richard Evisu, decided it was time for Columbus to create its own scene. They, along with a small group of ballroom leaders, helped found the Ohio ballroom chapter of the OKI (Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana) Region. With the three states partnering, the ball scene here grew exponentially. With thousands flocking to OKI Balls each year, cities like Columbus, Dayton and Louisville soon became destinations on the national ballroom circuit.

For his years of dedication, The House of Evisu recently deemed Sankey Overall Grandfather of the House of Evisu in the OKI Region. He’s in the unique position to have witnessed the changes the ballroom has seen nationally and locally over the last two decades.

“I remember when Paris is Burning came out,” said Sankey. “I was friends with Sheldon, who is in the film, and he came down to Columbus to take us to the see the movie at the Drexel Theatre, the only place it was showing.”

The OKI Ballroom Region now boasts 17 houses with representation from each of the major national houses represented in the NYC, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Chicago.

The scene in Columbus is still very much underground, with most in the LGBT mainstream having no clue the scene even exists and if they do, many think it’s overrun with illegal activity, refereeing to balls as irresponsible parties overrun with drug and gang violence.

I’d heard all the rumors, too, around the time I went to my first ball a little over a year ago, and the rumors were definitely wrong. Kicking off at around 3a (a tradition from early underground balls that started in the wee hours of morning to keep an often intolerant world from the chance to crash the party) the place was packed and the pomp and circumstance of vogue-offs and fierce runway challenges were the only “violent” acts in play.

“It’s really an athletic sport,” said Murray, a former high school football player and college cheerleader. “There are vogue classes and proper techniques that are used to make sure that you’re falling properly so you’re not hurting yourself.”

Murray has been walking balls since the late 90s. He started in the House of MADORI (Multi-Talented Authentic Dedicated Original Realistic Individuals) walking Old Way Vogue, a more stylized traditional version of the dance. But now, as a member of the House of Evisu for the past several years, he currently holds the title Legendary Father of the OKI Region and mostly walks Best Dressed.

“The ballroom scene has given me so much,” he said. “If it wasn’t for the scene I wouldn’t have the job that I have now.” Murray is Director of the Greater Columbus Mpowerment Center, an organization focused on reducing the high infection rate amongst black and Latino gay men. “Many of the directors at African American community based organizations around the country came from the ball scene. Ballroom gave a lot of us the self esteem to pursue our professional aspirations.”

Today the ball scene has become something of a mainstream commodity. House of Ninja and House of LeBeija have been replaced by Lady Gaga’s Haus of Gaga and Beyonce’s House of Deréon. Films like “Leave it on the Floor” commercialize the movement. Vogue Evolution from MTV’s 2009 season of “America’s Best Dance Crew” has made New Way Vogue a modern day hip-hop dance craze. In the early days, prizes for competing in balls included trophies, now competitors vie for cash prizes of up to $10,000, making it less about family and more about winning.

Dayton’s Kalvin Wilson, 24, known as Father Leggo E’lan, started participating in the ball scene during college because of the family aspect. Now he walks Virgin Runway (think Tyra or Naomi) with the House of E’lan where he’s quickly risen to the ranks of “father.”

“Most people are just looking for acceptance, as a father I’m there to offer them the love sometimes they’re not getting at home,” he said.

Wilson works full time in the customer service field in Dayton, but says he spends nearly 20 hours a week fulfilling his ballroom duties. From traveling with his house to walk in balls around the country each month to mentoring the 15 members in his house on a daily basis, the ball scene definitely becomes more a way of life than a hobby.

“I love the mentoring aspect of the scene,” he said. “It’s what keeps me involved, the helping and assisting people outside of what I have to do at work is what I look forward too.”

To catch Drama, Leggo and Sir Richard in all their ballroom glory be sure attend the 2nd Annual OKI Unified Awards Ball August 4, 2012 at 9p located at 3587 E Livingston Ave. Admission is $15 before 10p and $25 after. ¹http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_culture.

~from Outlook Columbus

Writing to Live: Four Authors You Need to Know

If I asked you to name 10 published authors who are LGBT and of color (without the help of Google) could you do it? How about if I broadened the scope to mainstream authors, directors and actors? Go ahead. I’ll wait.

After becoming completely depressed at failing the above exercise myself, I sought out to find published authors that are LGBT of color to add to my very short list. The search first led me to a friend, which then led to a Pandora’s box of possibilities. Our writers are out there. But unfortunately they often go unnoticed on a national level.

Here are the stories of four writers of which you should definitely take notice:

Malcolm Varner

In 2009 Malcolm Varner was in the midst of a mental health crisis. While hospitalized and being treated for bipolar disorder, he made two promises to God – that he would never look to suicide as an answer for escape and that he’d dedicate his life somehow to being an advocate for those dealing with mental illness. Two years later he self-published Looking Beyond the Storm: Selections of Poetry.

“I often say writing saved my life,” Varner said. “It was my way of coping; it sort of allowed me to move beyond where I was and give me hope. Beyond what I was feeling, encouragement was there.”

“[Looking Beyond the Storm] started after I moved to Columbus. It was a way to rebuild myself,” he said. “And during that process, I thought, ‘why can’t this become a book that could inspire others?’”

The series of uplifting poems sparked a chord and the success of his first book quickly led to a second.

“I’m also the author of two blogs, ‘Living to Write, Writing to Live’ and ‘My Brothers Keeper,’ which was just a way to give myself encouragement throughout the week,” he said.

A friend asked whether Varner would be turning these posts into a book and thus Creating Positive Ripples: 100 Messages of Encouragement was born. This collection, along with a sequel to Looking the Beyond the Storm is set for release later this spring.

You can find Looking Beyond the Storm on Amazon.com. Visit Varner’s blogs at living2write.blogspot.com and 4sglbrothasonly.blogspot.com.

LaToya Hankins

After a lengthy career in the fast-paced world of newspaper journalism, LaToya Hankins found herself in a cushy government job in her home state of North Carolina. But she found that her creative appetite was not being fed.

So last year, after coming home from her government job, she sat at the computer and soon churned outSBF Seeking, a semi-autobiographical tale about a woman coming to terms with her sexuality four months before she’s to be married to a man.

“Most of SBF Seeking mirrors my experiences but the juicy stuff is just fiction,” she said. “One thing I love about novels is that I can rewrite my reality.”

Hankins is already hard at work on her next project, set for release in early 2013. It’s called Krho and follows the lives of three young ladies in college and how their lives and friendships change 10 years later.

“It’s a book about how friendship sustains and how sisterhood helps you deal,” Hankins said. “I’ve already got it written, but right now it’s in the editing process.”

SBF Seeking is available on barnesandnoble.com and Amazon.com. You can find out more about Hankins at http://www.latoyahankins.com.

Rashid Darden

Rashid Darden had a fascination with Greek life early on. He’d grown up the only child in a single-mother home, and once he stepped onto the mostly white campus of Georgetown University in his hometown of Washington, DC, the need for brotherhood grew stronger.

It wasn’t until grad school that Darden pledged Alpha Phi Alpha, but this void spilled over into his writing during undergrad. Lazarus, his first novel about the struggles of a black gay college student making his way through the Greek system, was a labor of love that started as a play in 2000.

“As a black gay male I had always asked, ‘what if?’” Darden said. “What if I pledged? How would my line brothers take me? What if I dated a varsity basketball player? What if a Georgetown basketball player was gay?”

“You often see books and movies about historically black colleges, but none about black experience on a mostly white college campus,” Darden said. “I wanted to tell a story that hadn’t been told before.”

In 2005 Darden wrote Covenant, the sequel toLazarus, which follows the love affair that sprouts between Adrian and Isaiah, the campus’ star basketball player. And just last year he wrote a third and final chapter to the series called Epiphany, where the realities of their love spill over into their personal and professional lives.

“Covenant is the love story and Epiphany is the more responsible story about Greek life,” Darden said. “It wouldn’t have been fair not to share the experiences of Adrian and the responses to the tragedies of the first two novels.”

On May 27 during the Memorial Day Weekend Black Pride festivities in Washington DC, Darden is hosted a launch party for all three of his novels.

“It’s been 12 years since I started this project; this event is a culmination of a season and the re-birth of my career, reminding people that I’m here and I’m always going to be here,” Darden said.

Find purchase information for Lazarus, Covenant and Epiphany and more on Darden at his website, http://www.oldgoldsoul.com.

Uriah Bell

Uriah Bell is taking a bold leap of faith. The self-published author of two poetry books (Mood Swings,Epiphany) is taking a break from writing books to start his own publication called Truth magazine.

“I want to give a more positive face to the gay and lesbian of color community, more specifically the black diaspora,” Bell said. “I want to present something besides the sexploitation and exploitation that we seem to be slowly succumbing too.”

Bell, a financial and marketing wiz and Detroit native, has taken the full financial burden to get Truth off the ground. He’s editor-in-chief of the magazine and will be publishing it through his own company, Rising Voices Press, which also printed both his books. He’s also started a Kickstarter.com campaign that’s raised nearly $1,800. (To donate visit http://www.truthmagonline.com)

The bi-monthly magazine was set for a June 1 release to kick off Pride season, and though currently living in Boston, Bell is skipping the regional market and starting right off with a national focus.

“There’s going to be sections on health and wellness, arts and entertainment, lifestyle, culture, politics and social activism, spirituality. And there’s going to be a regular column called Caribbean Corners the focuses on the advancements of lesbian and gay issues in Caribbean nations,” he said. “We’re going to talk about the things that we don’t talk about in our community. It’s not going to be fluff; it’s all going to be very substantial.”

You can find more information on Bell and his work at http://www.uriahbell.com. For more on Truth magazine visit http://www.truthmagonline.com.

~from Outlook Columbus

The Other Side: LGBTQ Youth of Color – Are the stats telling the whole story?

“The Other Side” is a monthly column I write covering issues faced by gay people of color for Outlook Columbus, Central Ohio’s premiere LGBT publication. 

Take a quick look at any set of statistics studying LGBTQ youth (ages 16-24) who are persons of color, and you’ll typically get a pretty bleak picture. Black and Latino LGBTQ youth consistently report having the highest HIV infection rates, the highest suicide rates and represent a majority of America’s homeless youth population.

According to the numbers, if you’re young, gay and of color, you don’t stand a chance. But as we know, statistics breed stereotypes and we must remember that this is everyone’s story.

As I’ve said several times here in this column and elsewhere, the LGBTQ people of color community in Columbus is mobilizing like never before, but when you look around at the leaders, those who are forcing change and making strides, the demographic most affected is missing. And sadly, LGBTQ youth of color are also statistically disengaged.

Like many, Erin Upchurch has noticed the problems faced by this demo and is using her experience as a social worker, community leader and corporate diversity consultant to start making a change.

A longtime local activist, Upchurch’s consulting firm Diverse Strategies has created the HUE Leadership Summit, a very unique daylong series of workshops geared specifically toward LGBTQ people of color ages 18-25, taking place at the Columbus Urban League, 788 Mt Vernon Ave, July 28.

“When you look around at the different faces on boards and those who are generally active in advocacy and activism in Columbus, you’re not seeing these faces and we’re not taking an effort to reach to them either,” Upchurch said. “I wanted to do this summit so that we could start healing this divide.”

The summit’s workshops will focus on a number of topics including identity development and protecting your brand (“What does Facebook say about you and how can you use social media to further your cause.”); methods of community organizing and outreach (“What little things can you do every day to be an advocate for your community.”); and spirituality as it relates to LGBTQ people of color (“Yes, you can be spiritual and still be in this community.”)

Upchurch has assembled a host of heavy-hitters as sponsors, including the Equality Ohio Education Fund, Columbus Urban League and the OSU Multicultural Center. Many other local organizations have also signed on as community partners and Upchurch said she’s planning to have several community leaders on hand to facilitate the workshops and is hoping to help facilitate some lasting connections.

“Many of (the) youth in the demographic we’re focusing on don’t have access to mentors who are like them,” Upchurch said. “I’m hoping we can create some lasting mentorships that will make sure the youth stay involved and continue to make a difference after July 28.”

Like Upchurch I’ve often wondered, if LGBTQ youth of color are the ones who make up most of the disparity, why are we not looking to those youth who buck the trends and evade the statistics as the arbiters of solutions? So in advance of the HUE summit, I took some time to search out a few representatives from the aforementioned demographic. Are they as hopeless and apathetic as the world thinks they are? Upchurch and I didn’t think so. And, not surprisingly, neither did they.

Martez Smith, 21
Origin: Born and raised in Columbus
Occupation: Ohio State University senior studying social work with a minor in sexuality studies
Affiliations: Former intern at AIDS Resource Center Ohio, B.R.I.D.G.E.S. member at Greater Columbus Mpowerment Center, OSU Stand Your Ground (in response to the Treyvon Martin murder), etc.

On being an HIV/AIDS advocate and activist: “Just based on my own personal experiences and being on the ‘gay scene’ since I was 16, I’ve known several people with HIV and I’ve always been curious as to why it’s affecting our community so much. It’s also my way of giving back to community. People in the demo you’re writing about are also statistically denied certain opportunities, opportunities that I’ve been lucky enough to have, and I feel like I owe it to them to be an activist and make a difference.”

Response to LGBTQ youth of color being statistically apathetic: “I have to object to that. In the settings I’m exposed to, I feel like I run into so many LGBTQ youth who are activists. I personally feel like the terms are synonymous. Why people may not see it has a lot to do with access … there are a lot of barriers that prevent LGBTQ youth of color from being involved. Our world is predominantly hetero-normative, as opposed to being open and inviting. Structural engagement is the main problem.

Rashida Davison, 22
Origin: From Rocky Mount, NC, studied in Columbus, moving to NYC later this year
Occupation: recently received OSU bachelors degree in film and videography; works at Huckleberry House
Affiliations: Former president of SHADES at OSU, former transgender outreach coordinator for Human Rights Campaign at OSU, tutor at Focus Learning Academy, Committee for Justice and Palatine, OSU Stand Your Ground, etc.

Response to LGBTQ youth of color being statistically apathetic: “You go into a room and you don’t see anything like you. You’re always walking into that room and having to represent your entire race. Most people can’t take that kind of pressure, so they leave. They feel like it’s too much to handle.”

Advice for LGBT youth of color who want to be more involved: “When I see issues that are taking place and I wish there was someone that would stand up for it, I feel like I’m going to have to be the one to stand up. If there’s an issue, you need to speak up about it, if there aren’t organizations in place we have to be the ones to start them, if you keep waiting it won’t happen.”

Cherno Biko, 20
Origin: Born and raised in Columbus
Occupation: studying women and ethnic studies at Columbus State Community College
Affiliations: The Restoration Church of Columbus, The Goodlife Church of Columbus, Advent UCC, Columbus Black Gay Men’s Coalition Steering Committee, Columbus Urban Pride Planning Committee, B.R.I.D.G.E.S. member at Greater Columbus Mpowerment Center, etc.

Response to LGBTQ youth of color being statistically apathetic: “It can be dangerous, especially the earlier you start in the community. I’m not supposed to make it to 21 being a black male without either having a kid out of wedlock, being in jail or dead. And then add on to that the intersections of identities of sexuality and gender, it makes it difficult and some people and can be very dangerous.”

Advice for LGBT youth of color who want to be more involved: “With so many people telling us that we’re not worthy and we’re not good enough, we’re not beautiful enough and we’re not talented enough, it’s important to make sure you love yourself first. … Take care of yourself love yourself. And if nobody else tells you that you’re beautiful, tell yourself, because you’re good enough.”

Diverse Strategies’ inaugural HUE (Helping Us Emerge) Leadership Summit is 8a-4:30p July 28 at the Columbus Urban League, 788 Mt Vernon Ave. Registration is free. Visit http://www.diversestrategies.org to register and contact Erin Upchurch at erin@diversestrategies.org for more information.

~from Outlook Columbus

The Other Side: Black Gay Pride – The national movement is finally making its way to Columbus

“The Other Side” is a monthly column I write covering issues faced by gay people of color for Outlook Columbus, Central Ohio’s premiere LGBT publication. 

It’s a well-known fact to the readers of this magazine that Columbus hosts one of the Midwest’s largest Pride Festival each year. Yet a lesser-known fact is that in the minds of many LGBT people of color, it’s never quite lived up to expectations. The beautifully gay pomp and circumstance that takes over Columbus for two days each June has typically been void of culturally competent events geared towards the black gay community.

In an age where Black Pride has become nearly as popular as the mainstream festival in cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Washington DC, Columbus has never quite had anything outside of a few well-planned bar raves to celebrate the national movement that is Black Pride each year.

Until now.

A group of LGBT community leaders have joined forces with Stonewall Columbus to add “Columbus Urban Pride” to the official list of Pride events this year. Urban Pride will run concurrently with the local Pride festivities but will include several gatherings that are socially relevant to Pride participants that are gay and of color.

A full list of events have been compiled for the entire weekend, including several parties such as a Patio Party hosted by Traxx Columbus, Keigo Entertainment’s 7th Annual Sex Sales Party at Alrosa Villa, a White Party and Traxx’s new Sunday with the Stars party at The Garage Bar. There will also be several daytime options including Thursday workshops centered on mental health and HIV/AIDS along with a citywide inter-faith service Sunday morning and a brunch with live entertainment Sunday afternoon. (For a full list of events and locations visit http://www.stonewallcolumbus.org or the Columbus Urban Pride Facebook group.)

I, along with many local LGBT people of color, think such a list of events is long overdue, and I’m eagerly awaiting the creation of a Black Pride weekend in Columbus. Our community is mobilizing like never before, with organizations like the Columbus Black Gay Men’s Coalition, The Greater Columbus Mpowerment Center, Traxx Columbus and the new HUE Leadership Summit that’s geared towards LGBT youth of color. Why not create a weekend focused around this mobilization.

If you look at other cities with famous Black Prides, mobilization was also the impetus of their first celebrations.

“The first Black Pride was in 1991 (in Washington DC) during the height of the AIDS epidemic; leaders from that movement were coming together to raise money for those who were dying,” said Earl Fowlkes, president of both the Black Pride in DC and the International Federation of Black Prides. “The early Black Prides were parties with a purpose.”

In 1997 when Fowlkes came on board to run DC’s Black Pride he noticed a host of other Black Prides had sprung up around the country because of the success of the big Memorial Day weekend Black Pride in DC He and the lead organizers of the Prides in L.A., Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia and many others came together that next year in DC to discuss a national strategy of support and growth. Then in May of 1999, the IFBP had their first official meeting.

The group has since grown to become the largest non-profit in the country that focuses on the plight of black LGBT issues. HIV testing and AIDS awareness are still major facets of most Black Prides as an homage to the early days of the Black Pride movement.

According to their website, IFBP currently represents 35 Black Pride events, but Fowlkes says there are many more and after this year the IFBP plans to re-brand and expand their strategy in big ways in order to include all Black Prides across the country.

“Black Pride has been around for 22 years, but we need to evolve beyond HIV. It’s no longer enough to just be a party with a purpose,” he said. “There are other issues our community is dealing with that we also need to address.”

This summer, Fowlkes is hoping to initiate new regulations that open up membership to any Pride backed by an LLC (the current policy requires backing by a community based organization, much like an AIDS resource center). They’re also planning to expand the annual IFBP members conference in January to include professional development workshops for those just starting Black Prides and other health initiatives. They’re even looking into changing the name.

“There’s always been this inner struggle of the older leaders versus the younger leaders. But most people age out of Pride by 35. It’s time for a new generation to take over,” Fowlkes said.

The time seems ripe for change across the nation and in Columbus regarding Black Pride, so much so that Traxx Columbus is even looking into building towards a Columbus Black Pride in the fall of 2013.

“We’re currently in the planning stages to host a regional (Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky) ‘urban’ weekend that will take place in early August this year in collaboration with the local ballroom community,” said Brandon Chapman, Traxx’s community relations/public relations manager.

Chapman said Traxx is hoping this smaller effort will lead towards a larger official Black Pride event next year. They’ll be calling on all leaders and organizations within the black gay community to participate in order to make it a “destination” event. However, no official plans have been confirmed.

Of course talk of Black Pride often brings up the question, “Why does their need to be a separate Pride? Pride is supposed to be a celebration for all who are LGBTQA, right?” The answer to this question isn’t so simple.

There are definitely unique experiences faced by those who are black and LGBT, and the need to congregate around such experiences is partly what leads to such celebrations. But it’s more than that.

“There’s no desire to be separate,” said Erin Upchurch, an organizer of Columbus Urban Pride. “We simply want to enhance the visibility of the black gay community and build awareness. Our allies are also more than welcome to join us. These events are not just for people of color.”

Interested in helping with the 2013 Columbus Black Pride? Contact Aaron Riley. rileyaaron@sbcglobal.net. For a full list of events and locations catering toward the people of color at this year’s Pride Holiday weekend visit http://www.stonewallcolumbus.org or the Columbus Urban Pride Facebook group.

~from Outlook Columbus

The Other Side: On the Right ‘Traxx’ – Traxx Columbus is Just Getting Started

“The Other Side” is a monthly column I write covering issues faced by gay people of color for Outlook Columbus, Central Ohio’s premiere LGBT publication. 

The Traxx Team: Roderick Simmons, Kim Godfreed and Brandon Chapman

This issue is dedicated to the people we love, but I thought I’d switch gears and talk about a place that’s started a love affair with Columbus residents all its own. Traxx Columbus has been in the city just over a year and has already made a pretty large mark.

If you’re a gay person of color living south of the Mason Dixon you’ve probably heard of Traxx. Traxx Atlanta started in 1989 as one of the first night clubs to cater specifically to LGBT people of color. What started as a simple space for black gay and lesbian college students to come together to listen to music that typically wasn’t played in mainstream gay establishments, soon became a Southern phenomenon.

The Traxx brand spent nearly 25 years building itself into the nightlife powerhouse it is today. All while becoming an example and inspiring similar clubs to pop up around the country. Early in Traxx’s inception, it took a stand on becoming a place that supported social initiatives affecting its community. As new HIV infections in the black community began to rise, Traxx Atlanta led efforts to promote testing and sexual healthcare.

As Traxx Atlanta began to see success, becoming a national destination spot for many in the black gay community, the national black gay pride movement also started to gain momentum. By 1999 several Black Gay Pride Festivals had sprung up across the country, prompting the creation of the International Federation of Black Prides, a coalition that supports the efforts of established and newer Black Pride Festivals around the world.

This rising trend of mobilization led to debunking myths that most in the black gay community operated on the “down low.” In turn more organizations and night clubs that catered to LGBT people of color started opening around country. It’s a trend the owners of Traxx picked up on and last year decided to expand their brand, making Columbus their first fully-functioning franchise. Owned locally by The Mason Group, Traxx Columbus opened its doors at Outland on Liberty Nightclub, 95 Liberty Street, in November 2010 and immediately started seeing large crowds typically accompanied by lines that stretched well past the patio.

The Traxx Columbus branch, run by three part-time staff members, is only open once a week on Friday nights, which has quickly made their parties an in-demand commodity. Before Traxx arrived, there had been a few endeavors by local party promoters to start clubs that traded techno and euro-pop house music for hip-hop, R&B and soul, but they typically had an expiration date of only a couple of years.

“Many of the 18 to 24-year-olds that come to Traxx don’t understand that having a club like this in Columbus hasn’t always been a given,” said Kim Godfreed, Traxx Columbus’ general manager, a Columbus native with nearly two decades worth of experience as a club and party promoter.

“As far as night clubs, we didn’t really have any until around 2000,” she said. “People did hip-hop nights, but there wasn’t really a place that always played music for us. It was more like a bunch of people would just get together and say, ‘Let’s meet here on a Thursday night.’”

Popular Sunday nights at bars like The Garage and The Eagle became regular hangouts for LGBT people of color, which then spawned bars like Paradise and Touch, each lasting a couple years before closing. Over the years, underground “after-hours spots” also began popping up around town, which became the place to be if you were black or Latino and gay, but only having a place to hang out after 2a definitely wasn’t enough. When Godfreed found out Traxx was planning to come to Columbus she contacted the owners right away.

“I knew, if done right, this could be successful, and I made sure I was involved,” she said.

In the year Traxx set up shop at Outland, they began bringing in crowds averaging 400 a night (peaking at 800 during Pride last year). They also set up partnerships with Network Columbus, Mayor Michael Coleman and Stonewall Columbus. They participated in AIDS Walk and even began offering HIV and STD testing and prevention education to combat Franklin County’s growing HIV infection rate among young black gay men. They also participated in the city’s first Black Gay Pride with plans to do so again this year.

“It’s about social responsibility,” said Brandon Chapman, Traxx Columbus’ community relations/public relations manager. “We want them to have fun, but we want them to be healthy too. Traxx is more than a club, we’re a family.”

In its second year Traxx Columbus is planning to go bigger and bolder.

“There is now a Traxx in Cleveland, we’ve just opened a Traxx in Louiville, KY and we’re planning on expanding into the Indiana and Tennessee markets,” Chapman said. “It’s all about expanding our brand to become Traxx International.”

They’re also making some major changes to the Columbus branch. Soon they will be leaving their Outland location in the Brewery District with plans to move at the end of spring or early summer into The Garage Bar at 147 Vine Street, located in the much higher trafficked Arena District.

“This move will help to mainstream the club in the Arena District, the ‘party central’ of the Columbus night life. The Garage Bar has a full kitchen, it’s centrally located near the Short North area and we’ll be able to open additional nights at this new location,” Chapman said. “We are very grateful to the Outland staff for welcoming us with open arms. They played a very important role in our 18 month success. Traxx Columbus will definitely continue to partner with Outland for further events.”

“Our initial goal was just to get the word out there,” Godfreed said. “Now that we’re established as a regular LGBT event, my next goal, now that you know about it, is to have Traxx in your face so that you see it all the time, so it becomes a staple.”

The big word here is ‘mainstream.’ Traxx’s predecessors have typically focused their marketing in the black and Latino LGBT community, but since the mainstreaming of hip-hop throughout the late ‘90s and 2000s a marketing strategy based solely on race seems outdated; a conviction Godfreed shares.

“It’s about the music,” Godfreed said. “I want to break this misconception that Traxx is only a black club. It’s not. It’s for anyone who likes to party and/or listens to urban music.”

Questions have arisen about the new location; it is located in an area of town whose patronage is typically straight males. Is Traxx worried about possible sidewalk confrontations?

“That is something that came up during initial meetings about the move,” Chapman said. “But there is a very strong police presence in the Arena District and I think it will be a welcome change to the area. We don’t foresee there being any problems.”

With all this success under their belt, it begs the question: When will Traxx Columbus become a nightly affair, possibly someday moving into their own building? It’s a request that’s long been debated in the LGBT of color community. Is there a place for a 7-days-a-week bar like Traxx in the Short North? According to Godfreed – who owned and operated her own club, Cincinnati’s Club Chica, for a couple years in the early 2000s – it’s a question with a complicated answer and much to consider.

“The answer is yes and no,” she said “Times are changing. People are going to the lounges more now; the big dinosaur nightclubs are fading out. If it were small enough and in a prime location, it could be successful. Maybe something like Havana; that’s the kind of place it would have to be.”

Traxx Columbus is open every Friday night from 10:30p-2:45a. Admission is $7. It’s currently located at Outland on Liberty, 95 Liberty St. For more information visit Traxx on Facebook by searching ‘Traxx Columbus.’

~from Outlook Columbus

The Other Side: Multicultural Gay Love – Showing the World How to Make Love Work

“The Other Side” is a monthly column I write covering issues faced by gay people of color for Outlook Columbus, Central Ohio’s premiere LGBT publication. 

Tommy & Arend

“A tiny all-white church in the rural South has voted to ban interracial couples from joining its flock, pitting members against each other in an argument over race. Members at the Gulnare Free Will Baptist Church in Kentucky voted Sunday on the resolution, which says the church ‘does not condone interracial marriage.’”

When do you think the Associated Press printed the above story? 1952? 1975? How about 1986? Nope. It was December 1, 2011. Just four days after the story surfaced it was reported that the pastor declared the vote null and void because “the vote was not only discriminatory, but it was against the law.”

As someone who grew up in predominately white, rural Delaware, Ohio, I’m well aware of the fact that racism is still alive and well in America, but I was still taken aback by this story. The landmark Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia declared interracial marriage legal nearly 45 years ago in 1967, yet the jury of public opinion still seems to be out on this issue.

This led to me to ask, what about gay multicultural relationships? Racial disparity is definitely still a major issue within the LGBT community. As a black, gay male I definitely feel the sting of double discrimination on occasion. But are couples in multicultural gay relationships dealing with a “triple layer” of injustice?

I’m in a new relationship myself with someone of a different race, so personal curiosity paired with a professional propensity toward analyzing social trends led me on a quest to search out gay couples in such situations to see how they navigated the world of multicultural love.

When Ken Battershell met Anthony Vinson at Interbelt Nite Club in Akron nearly 16 years ago, he knew he’d found his soul mate. Anthony, however, wasn’t so sure. A 23-year-old college student at the time, he knew he liked Battershell, but could someone who grew up knowing only two people of color in his small, white, conservative neighborhood handle Vinson’s Filipino /African American background?

“[Being in a multicultural relationship] is definitely a struggle and something you shouldn’t enter into lightly,” said Vinson, now 39. “We argued a lot from the beginning. He was very attentive and wanted to know more about my culture, but sometimes some of the questions he’d asked were borderline racist…there were times when I just didn’t want to be his African American or Filipino teacher for the day.”

But despite their differences, they quickly fell into a relationship full of love and commitment. Both licensed social workers, the two moved to Columbus together 12 years ago to cultivate their professional endeavors in a more accepting environment. (As of this issue’s publication they’ve moved to Boston where they plan to legally marry.) The relationship continued to blossom, but not without some serious struggles from Battershell’s family.

“My family just doesn’t accept Anthony as my partner, they still refer to him as my ‘friend.’” Battershell said. “They weren’t very supportive when I came out and me being with a black man just adds insult to injury in their eyes.”

Vinson said a few of Battershell’s friends have also fallen by the wayside because they didn’t agree with him dating a black man, but mostly the issues they face within the gay community arise from men who don’t agree with their declaration of monogamy.

“We both really had to fight for us to work,” Vinson said. “When you’re in a relationship with two different cultures, sometimes one dominates the other and someone can feel like they lose their identity. You just have to make sure there’s always communication and no subject is taboo.”

Vinson and Battershell began their relationship in the mid ‘90s, just after the Rodney King beating and the instituting of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, but Tommy McClure and Arend Schuring met online around 2004, a slightly different time.

McClure and Schuring said they definitely still deal with prejudice, but not typically within their inner circle of family and friends. McClure, 34, and Schuring, 33, both grew up in Texas but after a year together Schuring’s job transferred him to Columbus. Realizing that nothing was really keeping him in Dallas, McClure followed Schuring to Ohio. But moving to the conservative Midwest came with a few caveats.

“I’m half Thai and half white, but people just assume I’m full Asian, and there’s still a lot of prejudices against Asians in the gay community,” said McClure, a local actor/model and founder of Fashion Week Columbus.

McClure said growing up in a mixed family made race a non-issue for him when it came to partner selection. But he was raised in a small, mostly white town where he said it was typical for him to be the only Asian in the room. Prejudice was a concept he was forced to come to terms with early on.

“People will say things about Asians having small dicks (a stereotype he claims is completely false), or I’ll make a comment on a subject and someone will respond with, ‘Oh, shut up Asian.’ I don’t understand why people still think this is OK. It’s one of the last prejudices that exist in our country,” he said.

Schuring, a white corporate consultant, grew up in Houston and said he’s never seen race as a barrier when it comes to relationships.

“Some people will call me a ‘rice queen’ when they find out I’m with [McClure], but he’s the only person who’s Asian that I’ve dated and I’ve been in relationships with people from many different ethnicities. I just like hot guys,” Schuring said.

Head down another generation and you’ll find that gay interracial love being something other than the norm is a foreign concept.

Evan Robinson, 25, a black graduate student studying social work, and Brandon Hellemann, 26, a white eighth grade science teacher met at Union Café just eight months ago. Acting on liquid courage, Hellemann struck up a conversation with Robinson and a typical bar pickup quickly became much more.

“I don’t typically do things like that but I just noticed that he was hot and someone I wanted to talk to,” Hellemann said. “The fact that he was black never crossed my mind.”

Both said they’ve had experience with interracial relationships in the past that were somewhat of an issue with their families but after open conversations about the topic it’s simply become a non-issue.

“My sister Kendra and I had already broken the family into interracial dating,” Robinson said. “They didn’t really care that my partner was white, what they had to get over was seeing the holding hands and putting my arm around another man’s shoulder.”

These three couples exemplify three very different perspectives and their stories may not offer any definite answer on the topic, but each said that being in a multicultural relationship in some way strengthened their bond. It forced them to experience life from the eyes of another, to learn something about a culture different from their own – information they may not have sought out otherwise – and it gave them a more enriched outlook on life.

There was a study done by Time magazine a few years ago that said because of the popularity of interracial love, in the next century everyone would be biracial and the idea of race as we know it would no longer exist. Are we, as a society, on that path now? Or do cases like the church in Kentucky mean we still have a long way to go?

~from Outlook Columbus