This past Monday evening, I had to honor to participate in UA's Lavender Graduation, a ceremony for LGBTQA collegiate graduates. I hadn't really planned to attend for whatever various reasons, but felt compelled to register my name online once my friend, Annie, had registered as an ally graduate. I started to figure that it was my duty, having spent my last 5 semesters writing an LGBT blog at UA. It felt like I needed a chance to celebrate the closing of this crucial chapter of my life in a way that reflected the person I discovered in myself during my collegiate career. In two weeks, I celebrate my academic accomplishments and afterwards I will certainly celebrate my social accomplishments, but this was a time to reflect on a part of my identity.

We arrived early, signed letters of thanks, made small talk and pinned bits of lavender to our lapels. There were only about 20 of us there, which seemed low, but not shocking. We made our little scamper down the aisle and the auditorium certainly wasn't full, but it felt packed. There weren't many faces to see, but I still couldn't quite take in all of them. Every person there represented a something special in a little college town in Alabama. They represented support for our lives that are just beginning as well as a bond that connects all of us, whether they be gay, lesbian, bi, transgender or allies. Sure, we can see lots of people at the bar or passing on the sidewalks, but there is something very special about the people there at the dock as your ships sets sail.


Dr. Rose Gladney, an Associate Professor Emertius for The University of Alabama Department of American Studies, delivered the keynote of the evening. She applauded us for our courage to be part of the Lavender Graduation. She stressed the importance that we graduates have a responsibility to continue what she and her peers began more than 30 years ago. She recognized the support we have gained in the gay community, but reminded us that there is still much work to be done. Afterwards, I hugged her and thanked her because she reminded me that change starts with one step. It may be one step out of the closet, one step in a pride parade or just one step across a room to accept your rainbow tassels.

Taking this moment to recognize my growth over the past four years is a bit overwhelming. I remember the first time I said out loud, "I'm gay," to someone I barely knew, the first time I ever kissed another boy, my first night going to a gay bar, the first time I was scared about the stigmas of the gay community, the first day I sat down with an idea to start sharing myself openly on this blog after a geology final, my first and the first time I fell in love with a man who makes my world go 'round. I also remember the first time I bought a pair of broke-ass lime green pumps at the thrift store, the first time wore eyeliner out in public, the first time I left one bar drunk to go put myself in whatever kind of drag it is I do, and the first time I was able to wander the streets of New Orleans in daylight openly as Daisy. I'd like to think I took a risk challenging the status quo not only in the community-at-large, but also in our smaller gay community. I'd like to think I challenged people to think about themselves differently. I'd like to think I made a statement that not only can we be we are in this little college town in Alabama, but we can be proud of it. I graduate feeling assured that I have made some type of difference, no matter how small. I also graduate knowing there have been those before me and there will be plenty of them afterwards; I am not the only person making a difference. I've just done my part to keep the cycle moving forward.
Also, thank you to Tripp Gustin, our amazing student speaker, Prof. Steve Miller, all the wonderful organizations that contribute to this event, as well as Opus for sponsoring the reception (I could have had 10 more stuffed mushrooms.) It was also a tremendous honor to have Dr. Bonner, UA Interim President, in the audience.


Over and Out,
CampusQueer

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This past Saturday was quite the festive occasion in downtown Tuscaloosa – the Druid City Arts Festival, the Tour de Tuscaloosa and even a drag race. Yes, I mean the kind with men in high heels. As part of the bicycle racing, a drag race was held to benefit Fuller Goldsmith/Children's Hospital. That ole ball and chain of mine heard about this event and was dying to slip on his heels in the middle of Temerson Square, but I was having none of it . . .  at first. The more I realized how committed he was to this event, I felt I just could not be outdone or outgayed. Within the hour, I was slinging on my Haus of Kira pumps and dressing for the occasion. Well, there was a category for best dressed and I felt that I didn't stand a chance of winning the actual race seeing how as I lose my breath walking to the vending machine. So bring on the hats and halter-top corsets.

Now you've seen me at Icon in my Daisy-wear and some have seen me run amok in the streets of New Orleans in my Daisy-wear and I even slipped into Coppertop on Halloween night in my Daisy-wear. But never have I ever been in full Daisy-wear (sans face) in the middle of the day in the middle of Temerson Square in the midst of a sporting event. The spectacle ensues for both myself and BT since he has also donned one of my freakum dresses from the bottom of the barrel. Paparazzi attack and everyone is just head-over-heels for us! We complete the race, surprising ourselves at our agility in such footwear. You would have thought Rick Santorum had rallied his troops to chase us down and bring us to moral justice. Daisy took home "Best Dressed" (of course) and the race raised over $1600 for Children's Hospital. Well fabulous!

But it was an interesting experience. This damn Comm Studies minor of mine forces me to never enjoy any situation and instead evaluate it. As I said, I don't typically wear my drag outside of certain comfort zones, or safety zones if you want to be real. That's not exactly appropriate in Tuscaloosa as I was constantly reminded by the people who kept saying, "In Tuscaloosa?!?!?" I never would have imagined!" Yes, townspeople, "the gays" keep finding ways to seep back into your communities and in the middle is always a small band of drag queens bitching about everything. The photos were all in fun, but I felt like a fucking penguin escaped from the zoo. "Look mom! Take a picture of it before it scampers away!" One woman really nailed it on the head for me. As she was taking my picture, she laughed and said, "Oho! You look too comfortable in those shoes," and then she wiped away any semblance of a smile and said, "You're scaring me."


Now think for a moment what would have happened if there had been no drag race for Children's Hospital and it was just a regular Saturday and I showed up the exact same way. Would I have been greeted in the same manner or possibly harassed and even beaten. I can honestly say "Yes" to both. It was the idea that the community-at-large made it okay for something like that to happen in their presence with a specific reason at hand; otherwise, they would have been offended. Gender benders are used by the straight community as a quick taste of the bizarre that they can sample (usually for charity in some way) and then turn away lest they become too associated with such strangeness. I am glad that I was able to participate in something to help a terrific cause, but is it so wrong to wish that I could be whoever I am at any time rather than just when given the community's permission? Will we ever have a society that appreciates differences and unique expression rather than stress conformity?


Over and Out,
CampusQueer

Do you often watch the Logo channel? Personally, I'm tuned in constantly for RuPaul's Drag Race (as you should as well,) 1 Girl 5 Gays and the occasional other mess that they manage to let seep on the network for the embarrassment of us all. Well you may be surprised to hear that Logo will soon be gutted to become the "new Bravo" according to unicornbooty.com. That's right. Logo will no longer be an LGBT channel as much as just another LGBT-friendly channel.

Queerty.com reported this quote from Lisa Sherman, general manager of the Logo network:

“From our research, gay people are living far more integrated lives that before,” says Sherman (left), referencing a study Logo conducted with Starcom Mediavest Group that indicated 53% of LGBTs didn’t see showcasing their orientation as a priority and only 30% “preferred living and socializing in exclusively gay and lesbian communities.”
“Being gay is an important part of their lives but it’s not what they lead with,” she explains. “So if we’re going to keep to that idea of displaying their lives, we need to reflect that new reality.”

Well that's all fine and dandy. You know, I love to go to every other bar in town where I can hang out with all kinds of people and know my gay friends and I are also welcome, but at some point I just want to go to the damn gay bar where it's all gay, all the time. (Thanks Icon!) I can still be myself at the other bars, but I can't very well go in my god-awful drag or kiss my boyfriend. We live in a heteronormative society that may have outlets for us to feel accepted, as long as we still constrain ourselves to the conservative side of the perceived gay culture.

In the end, it's all about the dolla-dolla bill. Logo let CRAP air. RuPaul is the only thing that's been saving them with her million variations on the word "drag" and drag reality (What an oxymoron?) A  few wigs and the occasional eleganza can only do so much. They made went for poorly-produced, stereotypical nonsense that tried to mimic Bravo's moneymakers and failed. I don't understand why it's so hard to produce quality LGBT programming?

This is a disappointing move for Logo. It used to be something that I felt was just for me. Now I'm going to be lumped into a more generic demographic that wants to see shows featuring just one of the Toddler and Tiara things (It's not even honey boo-boo child!) and apparently some mob-daughter finding her way in LA. I didn't need another Bravo, because I already have Bravo. I needed my space in the wide expanse of television's strangle-hold on American life where I felt like the majority. Thanks Logo for making me a minority again.

Over and Out,
CampusQueer

I've always thought it slightly amazing that I don't get people yelling more things at me than I do as an openly gay young adult and occasional drag queen here in Tuscaloosa. Rarely is it that some tragic thing has the gall to say anything hateful to my face. It wasn't until this past Friday that I recall anyone doing this and then it happened twice. Odd.

The first time was early on Friday morning as preparations were being made for what would be the most fabulous Bal Masque XIX the following night. I had a bit of bender on Thursday night, leaving me still in the grasp of inebriation's lust. So what else is there to wear to a Bal rehearsal than gym shorts, T-shirt, tiger print jacket with fur trimmings and a black veil? Well I needed a biscuit to soak up my poor decisions and had to get to Hardee's and, of course, I had to walk because I was still in no state to drive. As I was passing the courthouse, I overheard a man on the steps call out to someone, "Is that some kind of RuPaul shit?" with laughter. Well if a gentleman is going to compliment a lady, a lady should recognize their kindness. Thus my response was a quick turn and, "RuPaul has nothing on all this HUNTY!" followed by a fierce stomp away, waving my veil in the air with as much finesse as a beached Man o' War. As I was making Greensboro my Drag Race runway, I faintly heard, "You need to act more like a man!"

The second time that same day was after a fabulous feast of mediocre tacos at Don Rafa with my sister, Jaja Kardashian. We were skipping across Lurleen Wallace, giving hungover realness to the townfolk when a man in a dirty ass truck stopped at the red light and rolled down his window just enough to yell out, "Fucking faggots!" Well you know my sister and I gave him nothing but love - sweet kisses and beckoning waves. It burned him up. He literally just could not stand it and continued rolling out quips just as fast as he could string together the words. In other words, every 30 seconds he was leaning out yelling, "Fuck you," "Fags," and "Fuck you fags." It was an onslaught of pointed wit, the likes of which my sister and I had never experienced. We now of course check Craigslist Missed Connections everyday in the hopes of locating this poor man obviously looking for a kinky three-way.

If things like this happen to you, do you get mad? Do you shake with anger and want to yell back? Don't. People so consumed with their own anger that they have to direct it at someone else so randomly are people who need compassion. They need a smile and a wave that confuses them. Emotion is an energy and we should all remember from grade school that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, it can only change form. Don't let someone else's angry emotions just become your redirected anger. Take that energy and turn it into something positive. (Oh Gaga I have got to start practicing what I preach.)


People are silly. They spend so much of their time focusing on who and what they hate, usually without really knowing why. Don't be that silly person. Just be love in everything that you do, except in those cases when you have to read a bitch, but even then read them with love. While writing this I was listening to the person that makes everything right for me in life, Florence + the Machine. This song says it all for me, so if you're ever upset or angry or anything that is not helping you to move forward with your own life, just shake it out.

Well in case you opted for Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl rather than TV's biggest event of the year and missed Madonna's Halftime Show, we have it for your viewing pleasure here as long as YouTube allows it to be up. I have to admit, that is how you make a diva's entrance. As soon as it began, Twitter and FB blew up with "how gay the Super Bowl halftime was" and such. Well that's interesting. I mean she is a gay culture goddess, but why do we have to make label it so definitively? Why can't it just have been a great performance from an iconic artist? Sure there was a massive group of beefy, scantily clad mens carrying Madonna on a golden throne, but just 10 minutes ago there was a similar group of lads in leggings pouncing on each other in all sorts of sexually suggestive ways. Why aren't we giving that the same queened-out response and saying how gay the Super Bowl itself was without any consideration to any halftime show?

Speaking of a queened-out response, are your eardrums still healing from the resounding, blood-curling screams from around the world as MIA's middle finger launched a series of stations blocking the feed to ensure that 100 million+ viewers didn't behold such a horrid obscenity in their own homes? Now articles are coming out saying that the gesture will be remembered more than the performance itself. Really? Really. For 720 seconds of an amazingly orchestrated performance, fabulous costuming (by Givenchy and Philip Treacy nonetheless) and awesome guest-star appearances, we are only supposed to remember an appendage being extended for one of those seconds? Does a gesture with a somewhat negative connotation (during something a musical performance which is totally about the human expression of emotions anyway) always outweigh the good? That's a pitiful reflection of human nature.































While I did love this jaw-slacking performance for the most part, I think some of the revealing reactions are disappointing. This performance reminded me that we are compartmentalized-label addicts who are looking for what offends us rather than what impresses us. I mean what backs up that theory more than a gay blogger who calls himself CampusQueer writing about what offended him about people being offended rather than just praising all the best qualities of this performance?

I am looking forward to rest of Madonna's return to being in our face with the anticipated release of MDNA on March 26. That's a sexy name for an album. Check out this megamix of some of the tracks and the recently released video for Give Me All Your Luvin' feat. Nicki Minaj and that naughty, naughty MIA.






Over and Out,
CampusQueer