Meet the trailblazing LGBTQ commissioner shaking things up in North Georgia
Plus: More Pride resignations, artist Riley Mayhem, comic Matteo Lane and everything that needs to be on your queer agenda this weekend.
Welcome to the new Q! It’s week two of the refashioned newsletter from Project Q Atlanta and Q magazine. Based on the numbers from last week, you really like it. More opens and more clicks than we’ve ever seen! A sincere thanks for that and for spending a few minutes with us. If you’re seeing this for the first time, please come on board and subscribe.
‘A very wild ride’
In our continuing coverage of the LGBTQs running for office, taking office and making political progress, we meet Mariah Parker (photo). The queer activist and hip-hop artist is the first-ever openly LGBTQ member of the Athens-Clarke County Commission. Think your vote doesn’t matter? Parker won by just 13.
“It’s unfortunate it has taken us this long, but I think it’s important to me to wear who I am on my sleeve as a way to show others who may not have had a role model in politics who are LGBTQ to see that they have a role in this process and they can do this kind of work,” she said.
Parker said her time on the commission has been “a very wild ride.”
Check out our interview with her.
Creating her own niche
Queer pansexual artist Riley Mayhem (photo) has made quite an impact since turning to her craft fulltime just two years ago. She was among 20 artists featured in an LGBTQ-themed exhibition at City Hall last summer.
Being an artist is less about how good you are, or how many ideas you have, and more about the fact that you are sticking with it and continuing to make art. The ideas naturally come, and you will only get better and better the more you do. You do not need all the answers or a perfect game plan in the beginning.
She dished with us about what brought her to Atlanta, her secrets to being a successful artist and sharing her queer identity in her work in this week’s issue of Q magazine.
What LGBTQ Atlanta is talking about
Atlanta Pride resignations continue. Two longtime Atlanta Pride Committee members – including Andrew Dugger (photo) – resigned, adding to a growing list of volunteers and board members who have severed ties with the organization. Meanwhile, Atlanta Pride doled out $103,000 to 16 non-profits as part of its community reinvestment initiative.
Multi-talented funny man (and snack!) Matteo Lane returns to Atlanta. He’s here all weekend at Laughing Skull Lounge but dished with us first in the current issue of Q magazine in which he and his rainbow tube socks grace the cover.
Georgia faith leaders call for a hate crimes law. Religious leaders and state lawmakers joined together on Monday at the Gold Dome to lobby for an LGBTQ-inclusive law. A measure passed the House last year but stalled in the Senate.
Trailblazing LGBTQ lawmaker Simone Bell to lead the Rush Center. The former state lawmaker – the first African-American lesbian to serve in the Georgia Legislature – was named interim executive director to help guide the LGBTQ center through the resignation of its former head, employee turmoil and filling several open board seats.
Things To Do
Today
Pucker up for the Atlanta debut of the Make Out Party. DJ Nark’s Nark Magazine brings local hosts, talent and go-go dancers together at Heretic, 9 p.m.
Saturday
Be an athletic supporter as the Atlanta Bucks scrum their way through a match against Augusta. Kickoff is 1 p.m. at Boulevard Crossing Park with the Third Half at Woofs.
Sunday
Two words for you: Super Bowl. Everyone’s doing it. Woofs, Hideaway, My Sister’s Room, to name a few. To name a few more, the National Flag Football League of Atlanta does its annual party at Blake’s, The T is mixing its Super Sunday with the bar’s first anniversary and owner Jill Darmer’s birthday, and Friends on Ponce hosts its 16th Annual Chili Cookoff.
Need more? Check out the full Queer Agenda to make sure you regret Monday morning.
That’s all for today
Drop us a note by replying to this email and let us know what you think about the new look of the newsletter. Something you’d like to see added? Tell us that, too. Hope your team wins! See you next week.