Stories from My Queer Experience (Page 1 of 1)

This is a great idea… I think.

Actually, I’m not sure. Is Knoxville really ready for a “Queer”-themed column? I won’t even touch the fact that it’s in a “Bi”-weekly publication. But it will be fun (right?) and hopefully painless.

Don’t get me wrong — I don’t really fashion myself the voice of gay Knoxville. In recent years, I have become a much more mainstream kind of guy. I have traded in most of my binge nights at the local clubs for more subdued evenings with friends, sipping champagne or wine at bars like Sapphire (Keep up the good work guys! Can I get a discount?).

And while I am certain that someone is more qualified to write this column than I am, I thought of it first. All kidding aside, I am terrifically excited about this opportunity to share with you some of my experiences in the queer community. Or is it gay? Or GLBTQIA? Well, I guess we can get into all of that later. 

So what led me to start this column? I am a HUGE fan of Mrs. Sarah Jessica Parker and thought I wanted to be the gay Carrie Bradshaw of Knoxville. Unfortunately, anyone who has seen me in drag would agree that I look nothing like her, but I like her style and spunk and hope that I have something unique to offer to my fellow Knoxvillians.

Plus, I have a lot to say! I have often been a voice for gay Tennesseans, whether I wanted to or not. I have spoken on panels at Maryville College (my alma mater). I am a co-founder of Maryville College’s Campus League of Students for Equal Treatment (CLOSET). I organized a lesson plan for the University of Tennessee’s College of Social Work class on Oppression while I was a graduate student there. I also gave the best safe-sex talk that the College of Social Work has ever seen. More recently, I am volunteering with a budding queer youth organization and with the Hope Center at Fort Sanders.

Through this column, I hope to shed some light on questions that you might have about the queer community. I want to take you with me to the Gay Pride Festival in Atlanta, Ga.; I want you to dance the night away with me at some of Knoxville’s gay clubs and drag bars. I want you to share some of your stories with me to include in this column from time to time as well. I want you to share my stories with anyone you think might be interested. 

I came up with the title while brainstorming my vision for this column. Several of my article ideas involved fun issues like Pride parades, fashion, music and the odd questions that people ask you when you’re gay. Those are raves! Then, I had other ideas that come from my angry place and make me want to scream, like hate crimes, fashion, music and the odd questions that people ask you when you’re gay. Those are rants.  

I decided that both were equally important, and therefore the title: RANTING AND RAVING. I hope you enjoy this column. I hope it will make you laugh. More importantly, I hope it will make you think. I even hope that, from time to time, it will make you take action. Happy reading!!