Atlanta's LGBTQ city council member indicted for fraud
Plus: Our podcast is back, self-care during corona and LGBTQ weekend events.
Happy Friday! It’s 94 days and counting until the Nov. 3 election. You’ve got until Oct. 5 to register, so please handle your business. If you’re reading this newsletter about all things LGBTQ Atlanta for the first time, please subscribe. It’s easy (and free).
Feds allege Antonio Brown ran ‘scheme’ for five years
A federal grand jury indicted Atlanta City Council member Antonio Brown – the only LGBTQ member of the council – on multiple fraud charges and alleged that he faked loan documents to buy a Mercedes C300 and a Range Rover.
Brown, who was elected to the council in 2019, is accused of attempting to defraud several financial institutions by taking out loans and making credit card purchases and then falsely claiming that he was the victim of identity theft, according to U.S. Attorney BJay Pak. The alleged actions took place from 2012 to 2017 before Brown was elected to office.
"Brown’s scheme was eventually brought to light, resulting in his indictment by the grand jury,” Pak said on Wednesday.
Our story on Project Q Atlanta includes details from prosecutors on the alleged fraud.
Since the indictment, Brown said he’s not resigning his City Council seat, his attorney said he will plead “absolutely not guilty” and Brown has been firing off tweets.
Q ATLus keeps you cool through summer's Dog Days
In this week’s edition of Q ATLus, find ways to conquer the dragging days of summer 2020. Coverage includes fashions in sun-soaked colors, as well as ways you can address seasonal depression in a year of isolation and uncertainty. In weekly features, Q Voices jumps trans hurdles, and Q Advice solves the queerest of queer conundrums.
Podcast Q launches with Dyllón Burnside from ‘Pose’
We relaunched our podcast this week with actor and singer Dyllón Burnside, who is spending his coronavirus summer hunkered down with his mom in metro Atlanta.
We talked with Burnside about the relationship with his mother, those sexy scenes in his new “Silence” video and his tips for staying fit enough for those “Pose” crop tops. We also went deep to expand on his powerful message of racial justice and equality for black queer people at the Beauty in Colors Rally in Midtown and his work with the People’s Uprising Task Force.
“The work that I’m doing and the work that I was encouraging all of the folks who were standing there at the intersection of 10th and Piedmont to do is to really do that work of uncovering their true selves, their true desires and the true expression of their identity and not the one that has been placed on them,” Burnside said.
Enjoy the podcast on Project Q, in the newsletter earlier this week or Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and Stitcher.
Why self-care is crucial to enduring the pandemic
Q Conversations – our live Q&A series – continued on July 24 with a dive into keeping it all together during the coronavirus pandemic. Mentally and physically, that can be a challenge. But fitness instructor Sitha Lam, therapist and pastor Josh Noblitt and therapist Hanna Rodgers gave us some insight into the self-care we all need this summer.
“Even the small choices, when we focus on them, help remind us that we are not being controlled by our environment as much as we can,” Noblitt said.
Watch the replay of the discussion above and check out the recap here on Project Q Atlanta.
And it’s not too late to catch today’s live Q Conversations. It’s a discussion with local LGBTQ elected officials on how they’ve waged war on the coronavirus. The event starts at noon but you can register and watch the replay anytime.
What LGBTQ Atlanta is talking about
Reclaiming our slurs. Slurs can be hurtful. When we use them as a term of endearment or twist the concepts, we reclaim our terms, remove their power, and shift their meanings in our favor. Here are our top 10.
In case you need another reminder that coronavirus is wrecking summer, there’s this: Organizers of SouthEast Leather Fest (photo) announced they are canceling this year’s event. The 25th annual festival was set to occur in September.
A recovered handgun used to kill transgender woman Candace Towns in Macon led to the arrest of her suspected killer – more than two years after the shooting. Horace Jamal Marsh, 26, is now in jail facing a murder charge in the October 2017 shooting.
Things to do
FRIDAY
Edie Cheezburger, Jaye Lishe and the queens of The Other Show take their schtick online for left-of-center drag performance videos and not-to-be-missed commentary.
SATURDAY
Dancing queens are back at Heretic with international sensation DJ Mohammad (photo), required masks and enforced social distancing. The bar closed through July amid coronavirus concerns.
SUNDAY
Sisters of Sequins careen into your life with drag brunch theater at Lips. Bubba D. Licious is at the wheel steering the controlled chaos.
That’s all folks
Have an idea you’d like to see discussed during one of our live events? Or someone that would make for a good interview for Podcast Q? Reply to this email, leave a comment if you’re reading the web version or drop me an email. Stay safe, wear a mask and enjoy your weekend!