Gay Water, a new nned cktail, wants to be the anti-Bud Light - East Idaho News

Contents:

• GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT
• WHY I LOVE JOHNSON CY, AN LGBT IDYLL RIGHT THE HEART OF BIBLE BELTHOME AND AWAYCOURTY SAMANTHA ALLENJOHNSON CY IS TENNSEE, A STATE WHERE THE LEGISLATURE IS NSIRG AT LEAST THREE ANTI-LGBT BILLS. BUT, AS AN LGBT TRAVELER, 'S ALSO THE THOR'S FAVORE PLACE TO BE.SAMANTHA ALLENUPDATED MAR. 10, 2019 2:05PM EDT / PUBLISHED MAR. 09, 2019 9:40PM EST JOHNSON CY, TENNSEE IS THE SORT OF PLACE YOU N’T LEAVE BEHD. NOT FULLY.IN 1985, PHYSICIAN ABRAHAM VERGHE MOVED OM BOSTON BACK TO THE JOHNSON CY WHERE HE HAD PREVLY FISHED HIS RINCY. IT WAS THERE RAL EAST TENNSEE THAT THE YOUNG DOCTOR BEGAN SEEG GAY MEN WH HIV, BEG BOTH THEIR PHYSICIAN AND THEIR NFIDANTE. AS THE NEW YORK TIM NOTED S 1994 REVIEW OF VERGHE’S HEART-WRENCHG MEMOIR MY OWN COUNTRY, PATIENTS FLOCKED TO HIM—“MOSTLY GAY MEN WHO WERE MOVG BACK TO THEIR HOMETOWNS AFTER YEARS AWAY.”  LIKE MANY LGBT PEOPLE THAT ERA, THE TIM REPORTED, THE TENNSEE MEN HAD ABSND TO ASTAL CI BUT “NOW THEY WERE SICK, AND WERE G BACK TO THEIR FAI.” VERGHE HAD MA JOHNSON CY TO AN UNEXPECTED APPALACHIAN STATN WHERE GAY MEN WH HIV ULD AT LEAST FD SOME PASSN THE ABSENCE OF A CURE. MORE THAN TWO S LATER, THE RIPPL OF VERGHE’S EMPATHY STILL N THROUGH JOHNSON CY. IN 2018, WHEN A PRI FTIVAL ME TO THE LLEGE TOWN FOR THE FIRST TIME, A STAGGERG 10,000 PEOPLE ATTEND, AS WJHL REPORTED. (ONLY 66,000 PEOPLE LIVE JOHNSON CY.) EVER SCE I STARTED VISG 2013, G BACK ALMOST EVERY YEAR, I HAVE BEEN DISARMED BY THE WELE S RINTS GAVE TO AN OPENLY QUEER AND TRANSGENR WOMAN LIKE ME.MY JOHNSON CY IEND JEFF CLARK, THOUGH, ISN’T SURPRISED. WHEN HE ASKED ME RECENTLY IF I KNEW WHY THIS SMALL APPALACHIAN CY HAD SUCH AN VG LGBT MUNY, HE POTED PART TO VERGHE’S CISN TO E BACK THE MID-1980S. JOHNSON CY IS A SPECIAL PLACE, BUT NOT SOME SORT OF SMIC SENSE: IT HAS BEEN MA SPECIAL BY THOSE WHO RE FOR . COURTY SAMANTHA ALLEN Y, JOHNSON CY IS AMERI’S BIBLE BELT. MORE SPECIFILLY ’S TENNSEE—A STATE WHERE AT LEAST THREE ANTI-LGBT BILLS ARE CURRENTLY UNR NSIRATN THE LEGISLATURE. BUT ’S ALSO THE PLACE WHICH I HAVE FELT THE MOST AT HOME—AND HAD THE MOST FUN—AS AN OUT LGBT TRAVELER.WHEN I TRAVERSED THE UNTRY FOR TWO MONTHS THE SUMMER OF 2017 TO WRE MY NEW BOOK REAL QUEER AMERI ABOUT LGBT LIFE RED STAT, JOHNSON CY WAS THE ONE STATN WHERE I STOPPED WORKG AND JT RELAXED. ONE NIGHT, I FOUND MYSELF SWIMMG JEFF’S POOL, PHG MY BISEXUAL BT IEND AROUND ON A MAKHIFT RAFT BUILT OUT OF SWIM TOYS. ADVERTISEMENT AFTERWARD, WE ALL GATHERED BY THE FIRE P TO SIP BOURBON OUT OF A SHARED MASON JAR. THAT’S THE CLOST I’VE E TO HEAVEN. IF THIS IS THE FIRST YOU’RE HEARG ABOUT JOHNSON CY, WELL, THAT’S A DAMN SHAME. THE CLOST MAJOR LANDMARK IS ASHEVILLE, ABOUT AN HOUR SOUTH, AND ALTHOUGH THAT NORTH CAROLA CY HAS A CERTA CHET DUE TO S POPULATN OF ARTISTS AND MICIANS AND LGBT PEOPLE, JOHNSON CY HAS BEEN STG ACROSS THE STATE LE THE WHOLE TIME, WAG FOR S OWN RICH TO BE NOTICED.AN OLD RAILROAD TOWN NTLED THE MOUNTAS, JOHNSON CY NOW HAS PARKS, RTRANTS, AND BREWERI WHERE S TRA STATNS ED TO BE. ORAL HISTORY HAS THAT AL CAPONE SMUGGLED LIQUOR THROUGH THE CY DURG PROHIBN—AND WALKG AMONG ALL THE 1920S ARCHECTURE DOWNTOWN, YOU’LL WANT TO BELIEVE THOSE STORI, EVEN IF THEY N’T BE VERIFIED. THE FT ROOM AND BOARD TOWN—THE CARNEGIE—IS A HOTEL OM THE GOLN AGE OF HOTELS, WH TAXIRMY, AN ORNATE LOBBY, AND AN ATTACHED STEAKHOE WHERE A BARTENR SERV UP DRKS LONG AFTER THE KCHEN CLOS.(BUT IF HUNGER DO STRIKE AT A LATE HOUR, YOU N ALWAYS GRAB A BE AT THE MID CY GRILL DOWNTOWN WHICH STAYS OPEN UNTIL THE RIPE HOUR OF 4 AM. BRG YOUR OWN BEER AND ORR THE BECKATOR BURGER. TST ME.) ADVERTISEMENT “THE NEW BEGNGS NIGHTCLUB—OR 'NEWBI' AS MY IENDS LL —PROVIS A PLACE FOR LGBT PEOPLE LIKE MYSELF TO DANCE EMBARRASSGLY TO NICKI MAJ’S 'ANANDA' AFTER HAVG A B TOO MUCH TO DRK” THERE’S NO NYG THAT JOHNSON CY IS EP SI TMP UNTRY, JUDGG OM 2016 ELECTN RULTS, AS BROKEN DOWN BY UNTY. BUT IS PERHAPS BEE IS SUCH A EP-RED PART OF THE UNED STAT THAT S OWN POCKETS OF LGBT ACCEPTANCE FEEL SO WELG, THE SAME WAY THAT A MUG OF HOT A TAST BETTER WHEN YOU N SEE THE SNOW FALLG OUTSI YOUR WDOW.THE NEW BEGNGS NIGHTCLUB—OR “NEWBI” AS MY IENDS LL —PROVIS A PLACE FOR LGBT PEOPLE LIKE MYSELF TO DANCE EMBARRASSGLY TO NICKI MAJ’S “ANANDA” AFTER HAVG A B TOO MUCH TO DRK. DURG THE DAY, THE WILLOW TREE FFEE SHOP DOWNTOWN OFFERS A STEADY SUPPLY OF FFEE AND BOOKS AND LIVE MIC, ALL SERVED UP AN LGBT-IENDLY SPACE. THE LOL LLEGE, EAST TENNSEE STATE, OFFERS EVENTS FOR LGBT STUNTS, LIKE A RUPL’S DRAG RACE VIEWG PARTY, A TRANSGENR DAY OF REMEMBRANCE VIGIL, OR A READG OM NON-BARY POET ANDREA GIBSON. A SCENIC JOHNSON CY OVERLOOKCOURTY SAMANTHA ALLEN EVERY YEAR I E BACK, SEEMS, THE LOL LGBT MUNY IS GATHERG STRENGTH. IN 2017, THE ANIZATN TRIPRI WAS FOUND TO SERVE JOHNSON CY AND TWO OF S NEIGHBORS, LLECTIVELY KNOWN AS THE TRI-CI. 2018 WAS THE PRI PARA. WHO KNOWS WHAT 2019 WILL BRG? ONE LOL GROUP HOP TO OPENA MUNY CENTER DOWNTOWN THIS YEAR. ADVERTISEMENT LGBT PEOPLE STILL ENUNTER PLENTY OF PREJUDICE JOHNSON CY, AS MY IENDS WHO LIVE THERE N PERSONALLY ATTT. I N’T SELL AS A QUEER PARADISE. NOR N I PRETEND AS THOUGH JOHNSON CY PET WH MEGALOPOLIS LIKE THE BAY AREA OR NEW YORK WHEN TO THE SHEER NUMBER OF OPTNS FOR LGBT SOCIALIZG. BUT WHAT LACKS QUANTY, MAK UP FOR HEART. I FIRST DROVE TO JOHNSON CY 2013 WH WHAT I N NOW ADM WAS SOME TREPIDATN MY GAS-PEDAL FOOT. LIVG GEIA AT THE TIME, I WAS AWARE OF TENNSEE’S LS-THAN-STELLAR REPUTATN ON LGBT RIGHTS, WHICH ONLY HEIGHTENED MY HATN TO VIS DURG THE FIRST FULL YEAR OF MY GENR TRANSN—BUT SOME IENDS I HAD MA ONLE WERE EAGER FOR ME TO SEE THEIR HOME.SHORTLY AFTER ARRIVG, I HAD BEEN TRODUCED TO THE MOST AMAZG GROUP OF LGBT AND ALLI: STUNTS, ARTISTS, EVEN A MALE MOL, ALL OF WHOM HAD SOME SORT OF PERSONAL OR FAIAL TIE TO JOHNSON CY. SOME HAVE SCE MOVED AWAY—AS DR. VERGHE EVENTUALLY DID, CINTALLY—AND OTHERS HAVE STAYED, BUT ALL STILL SHARE A EP AND ABIDG FONDNS FOR THIS STRANGE, OFTEN-IGNORED PLACE. IT’S NOT PERFECT BUT NO HOME EVER IS. “SOON, I WAS ONLY A UPLE GRE OF SEPARATN AWAY OM EVERY OPENLY LGBT PERSON WH THE CY L. THE MUNY FELT KNOWABLE AND TANGIBLE” I FELL LOVE WH THE WELG, TIGHT-KN NATURE OF JOHNSON CY’S LGBT MUNY—A QUALY I HAVE SCE ENUNTERED REPEATEDLY SIAR RED-STATE CI. IN A LARGE METROPOLIS LIKE, SAY, LOS ANGEL, BIRDS OF A FEATHER DON’T HAVE TO FLOCK TOGETHER THANKS TO ABUNDANT BARS AND SOCIAL EVENTS THAT TER TO CREDIBLY SPECIFIC SUBSETS OF THE LGBT CROWD. ADVERTISEMENT IN JOHNSON CY, BY PARISON I MET ONE BISEXUAL PERSON—FELLOW WRER JENNIFER CULP—AND THEN, SEEMGLY, MET ALL THE BISEXUAL PEOPLE AS SHE TRODUCED THE RT OF THEM TO ME RAPID SUCCSN. SOON, I WAS ONLY A UPLE GRE OF SEPARATN AWAY OM EVERY OPENLY LGBT PERSON WH THE CY L. THE MUNY FELT KNOWABLE AND TANGIBLE.I ME BACK TO JOHNSON CY AFTER THAT FIRST VIS—AND THEN I ME BACK AGA AND AGA AND AGA. ON ONE VIS, I WATCHED JENNIFER PERFORM A LOL PRODUCTN OF THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. ON ANOTHER, I WAS THE NNER-UP A LOL BAR’S GOTH PROM STUME NTT. THERE HAVE BEEN HALLOWEEN PARTI AND BIRTHDAY DANC AND LONG, LAZY HOURS SPENT WATCHG BAD MOVI WHILE JENNIFER’S TORTOISE, ZELDA, CRAWLS AROUND ON THE FLOOR. COURTY SAMANTHA ALLEN MY REASONS FOR RETURNG HAVE NEVER BEEN AS NOBLE AS DR. VERGHE‘S MISSN OF HELPG RAL GAY MEN DURG THE HIV EPIMIC—BUT I, TOO, FOUND JOHNSON CY LODGED MY HEART AFTER I LEFT THE FIRST TIME. I ULD LEAVE, SURE—BUT I ULDN’T STAY AWAY.WHEN I LIVED ATLANTA, I WOULD MAKE THE FIVE-HOUR DRIVE NORTH THROUGH THE MOUNTAS, OFTEN ALONE. WHEN I MOVED TO SOUTH FLORIDA, I HAD TO FLY TO CHARLOTTE AND THEN TAKE AN AGG PROPELLER PLANE TO THE TRI-CI AIRPORT, WHERE THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE WORKG THE SECURY LE THAN THERE ARE GOG THROUGH . IT ST ALMOST AS MUCH AS A DISUNTED FLIGHT TO EUROPE. BUT I MA THE PILGRIMAGE BEE I HAD BEE A BELIEVER. JOHNSON CY HAD PROVED TO ME THAT LGBT ACCEPTANCE N BE FOUND ALMOST ANYWHERE, PECIALLY WHERE I DIDN’T EXPECT . ADVERTISEMENT REAL QUEER AMERI: LGBT STORI OM RED STAT IS AVAILABLE NOW. SAMANTHA ALLEN
• GAY NIGHTLIFE KNOXVILLE, TENNSEE: BARS, CLUBS, & MORE
• LGBTQ+ AFFIRMG THERAPISTS TENNSEE
• GAY MEMPHIS

GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT

-based profsnal league to e out as gay. Michael Sam beme the first openly gay player to be drafted when the then-St.

WHY I LOVE JOHNSON CY, AN LGBT IDYLL RIGHT THE HEART OF BIBLE BELTHOME AND AWAYCOURTY SAMANTHA ALLENJOHNSON CY IS TENNSEE, A STATE WHERE THE LEGISLATURE IS NSIRG AT LEAST THREE ANTI-LGBT BILLS. BUT, AS AN LGBT TRAVELER, 'S ALSO THE THOR'S FAVORE PLACE TO BE.SAMANTHA ALLENUPDATED MAR. 10, 2019 2:05PM EDT / PUBLISHED MAR. 09, 2019 9:40PM EST JOHNSON CY, TENNSEE IS THE SORT OF PLACE YOU N’T LEAVE BEHD. NOT FULLY.IN 1985, PHYSICIAN ABRAHAM VERGHE MOVED OM BOSTON BACK TO THE JOHNSON CY WHERE HE HAD PREVLY FISHED HIS RINCY. IT WAS THERE RAL EAST TENNSEE THAT THE YOUNG DOCTOR BEGAN SEEG GAY MEN WH HIV, BEG BOTH THEIR PHYSICIAN AND THEIR NFIDANTE. AS THE NEW YORK TIM NOTED S 1994 REVIEW OF VERGHE’S HEART-WRENCHG MEMOIR MY OWN COUNTRY, PATIENTS FLOCKED TO HIM—“MOSTLY GAY MEN WHO WERE MOVG BACK TO THEIR HOMETOWNS AFTER YEARS AWAY.”  LIKE MANY LGBT PEOPLE THAT ERA, THE TIM REPORTED, THE TENNSEE MEN HAD ABSND TO ASTAL CI BUT “NOW THEY WERE SICK, AND WERE G BACK TO THEIR FAI.” VERGHE HAD MA JOHNSON CY TO AN UNEXPECTED APPALACHIAN STATN WHERE GAY MEN WH HIV ULD AT LEAST FD SOME PASSN THE ABSENCE OF A CURE. MORE THAN TWO S LATER, THE RIPPL OF VERGHE’S EMPATHY STILL N THROUGH JOHNSON CY. IN 2018, WHEN A PRI FTIVAL ME TO THE LLEGE TOWN FOR THE FIRST TIME, A STAGGERG 10,000 PEOPLE ATTEND, AS WJHL REPORTED. (ONLY 66,000 PEOPLE LIVE JOHNSON CY.) EVER SCE I STARTED VISG 2013, G BACK ALMOST EVERY YEAR, I HAVE BEEN DISARMED BY THE WELE S RINTS GAVE TO AN OPENLY QUEER AND TRANSGENR WOMAN LIKE ME.MY JOHNSON CY IEND JEFF CLARK, THOUGH, ISN’T SURPRISED. WHEN HE ASKED ME RECENTLY IF I KNEW WHY THIS SMALL APPALACHIAN CY HAD SUCH AN VG LGBT MUNY, HE POTED PART TO VERGHE’S CISN TO E BACK THE MID-1980S. JOHNSON CY IS A SPECIAL PLACE, BUT NOT SOME SORT OF SMIC SENSE: IT HAS BEEN MA SPECIAL BY THOSE WHO RE FOR . COURTY SAMANTHA ALLEN Y, JOHNSON CY IS AMERI’S BIBLE BELT. MORE SPECIFILLY ’S TENNSEE—A STATE WHERE AT LEAST THREE ANTI-LGBT BILLS ARE CURRENTLY UNR NSIRATN THE LEGISLATURE. BUT ’S ALSO THE PLACE WHICH I HAVE FELT THE MOST AT HOME—AND HAD THE MOST FUN—AS AN OUT LGBT TRAVELER.WHEN I TRAVERSED THE UNTRY FOR TWO MONTHS THE SUMMER OF 2017 TO WRE MY NEW BOOK REAL QUEER AMERI ABOUT LGBT LIFE RED STAT, JOHNSON CY WAS THE ONE STATN WHERE I STOPPED WORKG AND JT RELAXED. ONE NIGHT, I FOUND MYSELF SWIMMG JEFF’S POOL, PHG MY BISEXUAL BT IEND AROUND ON A MAKHIFT RAFT BUILT OUT OF SWIM TOYS. ADVERTISEMENT AFTERWARD, WE ALL GATHERED BY THE FIRE P TO SIP BOURBON OUT OF A SHARED MASON JAR. THAT’S THE CLOST I’VE E TO HEAVEN. IF THIS IS THE FIRST YOU’RE HEARG ABOUT JOHNSON CY, WELL, THAT’S A DAMN SHAME. THE CLOST MAJOR LANDMARK IS ASHEVILLE, ABOUT AN HOUR SOUTH, AND ALTHOUGH THAT NORTH CAROLA CY HAS A CERTA CHET DUE TO S POPULATN OF ARTISTS AND MICIANS AND LGBT PEOPLE, JOHNSON CY HAS BEEN STG ACROSS THE STATE LE THE WHOLE TIME, WAG FOR S OWN RICH TO BE NOTICED.AN OLD RAILROAD TOWN NTLED THE MOUNTAS, JOHNSON CY NOW HAS PARKS, RTRANTS, AND BREWERI WHERE S TRA STATNS ED TO BE. ORAL HISTORY HAS THAT AL CAPONE SMUGGLED LIQUOR THROUGH THE CY DURG PROHIBN—AND WALKG AMONG ALL THE 1920S ARCHECTURE DOWNTOWN, YOU’LL WANT TO BELIEVE THOSE STORI, EVEN IF THEY N’T BE VERIFIED. THE FT ROOM AND BOARD TOWN—THE CARNEGIE—IS A HOTEL OM THE GOLN AGE OF HOTELS, WH TAXIRMY, AN ORNATE LOBBY, AND AN ATTACHED STEAKHOE WHERE A BARTENR SERV UP DRKS LONG AFTER THE KCHEN CLOS.(BUT IF HUNGER DO STRIKE AT A LATE HOUR, YOU N ALWAYS GRAB A BE AT THE MID CY GRILL DOWNTOWN WHICH STAYS OPEN UNTIL THE RIPE HOUR OF 4 AM. BRG YOUR OWN BEER AND ORR THE BECKATOR BURGER. TST ME.) ADVERTISEMENT “THE NEW BEGNGS NIGHTCLUB—OR 'NEWBI' AS MY IENDS LL —PROVIS A PLACE FOR LGBT PEOPLE LIKE MYSELF TO DANCE EMBARRASSGLY TO NICKI MAJ’S 'ANANDA' AFTER HAVG A B TOO MUCH TO DRK” THERE’S NO NYG THAT JOHNSON CY IS EP SI TMP UNTRY, JUDGG OM 2016 ELECTN RULTS, AS BROKEN DOWN BY UNTY. BUT IS PERHAPS BEE IS SUCH A EP-RED PART OF THE UNED STAT THAT S OWN POCKETS OF LGBT ACCEPTANCE FEEL SO WELG, THE SAME WAY THAT A MUG OF HOT A TAST BETTER WHEN YOU N SEE THE SNOW FALLG OUTSI YOUR WDOW.THE NEW BEGNGS NIGHTCLUB—OR “NEWBI” AS MY IENDS LL —PROVIS A PLACE FOR LGBT PEOPLE LIKE MYSELF TO DANCE EMBARRASSGLY TO NICKI MAJ’S “ANANDA” AFTER HAVG A B TOO MUCH TO DRK. DURG THE DAY, THE WILLOW TREE FFEE SHOP DOWNTOWN OFFERS A STEADY SUPPLY OF FFEE AND BOOKS AND LIVE MIC, ALL SERVED UP AN LGBT-IENDLY SPACE. THE LOL LLEGE, EAST TENNSEE STATE, OFFERS EVENTS FOR LGBT STUNTS, LIKE A RUPL’S DRAG RACE VIEWG PARTY, A TRANSGENR DAY OF REMEMBRANCE VIGIL, OR A READG OM NON-BARY POET ANDREA GIBSON. A SCENIC JOHNSON CY OVERLOOKCOURTY SAMANTHA ALLEN EVERY YEAR I E BACK, SEEMS, THE LOL LGBT MUNY IS GATHERG STRENGTH. IN 2017, THE ANIZATN TRIPRI WAS FOUND TO SERVE JOHNSON CY AND TWO OF S NEIGHBORS, LLECTIVELY KNOWN AS THE TRI-CI. 2018 WAS THE PRI PARA. WHO KNOWS WHAT 2019 WILL BRG? ONE LOL GROUP HOP TO OPENA MUNY CENTER DOWNTOWN THIS YEAR. ADVERTISEMENT LGBT PEOPLE STILL ENUNTER PLENTY OF PREJUDICE JOHNSON CY, AS MY IENDS WHO LIVE THERE N PERSONALLY ATTT. I N’T SELL AS A QUEER PARADISE. NOR N I PRETEND AS THOUGH JOHNSON CY PET WH MEGALOPOLIS LIKE THE BAY AREA OR NEW YORK WHEN TO THE SHEER NUMBER OF OPTNS FOR LGBT SOCIALIZG. BUT WHAT LACKS QUANTY, MAK UP FOR HEART. I FIRST DROVE TO JOHNSON CY 2013 WH WHAT I N NOW ADM WAS SOME TREPIDATN MY GAS-PEDAL FOOT. LIVG GEIA AT THE TIME, I WAS AWARE OF TENNSEE’S LS-THAN-STELLAR REPUTATN ON LGBT RIGHTS, WHICH ONLY HEIGHTENED MY HATN TO VIS DURG THE FIRST FULL YEAR OF MY GENR TRANSN—BUT SOME IENDS I HAD MA ONLE WERE EAGER FOR ME TO SEE THEIR HOME.SHORTLY AFTER ARRIVG, I HAD BEEN TRODUCED TO THE MOST AMAZG GROUP OF LGBT AND ALLI: STUNTS, ARTISTS, EVEN A MALE MOL, ALL OF WHOM HAD SOME SORT OF PERSONAL OR FAIAL TIE TO JOHNSON CY. SOME HAVE SCE MOVED AWAY—AS DR. VERGHE EVENTUALLY DID, CINTALLY—AND OTHERS HAVE STAYED, BUT ALL STILL SHARE A EP AND ABIDG FONDNS FOR THIS STRANGE, OFTEN-IGNORED PLACE. IT’S NOT PERFECT BUT NO HOME EVER IS. “SOON, I WAS ONLY A UPLE GRE OF SEPARATN AWAY OM EVERY OPENLY LGBT PERSON WH THE CY L. THE MUNY FELT KNOWABLE AND TANGIBLE” I FELL LOVE WH THE WELG, TIGHT-KN NATURE OF JOHNSON CY’S LGBT MUNY—A QUALY I HAVE SCE ENUNTERED REPEATEDLY SIAR RED-STATE CI. IN A LARGE METROPOLIS LIKE, SAY, LOS ANGEL, BIRDS OF A FEATHER DON’T HAVE TO FLOCK TOGETHER THANKS TO ABUNDANT BARS AND SOCIAL EVENTS THAT TER TO CREDIBLY SPECIFIC SUBSETS OF THE LGBT CROWD. ADVERTISEMENT IN JOHNSON CY, BY PARISON I MET ONE BISEXUAL PERSON—FELLOW WRER JENNIFER CULP—AND THEN, SEEMGLY, MET ALL THE BISEXUAL PEOPLE AS SHE TRODUCED THE RT OF THEM TO ME RAPID SUCCSN. SOON, I WAS ONLY A UPLE GRE OF SEPARATN AWAY OM EVERY OPENLY LGBT PERSON WH THE CY L. THE MUNY FELT KNOWABLE AND TANGIBLE.I ME BACK TO JOHNSON CY AFTER THAT FIRST VIS—AND THEN I ME BACK AGA AND AGA AND AGA. ON ONE VIS, I WATCHED JENNIFER PERFORM A LOL PRODUCTN OF THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. ON ANOTHER, I WAS THE NNER-UP A LOL BAR’S GOTH PROM STUME NTT. THERE HAVE BEEN HALLOWEEN PARTI AND BIRTHDAY DANC AND LONG, LAZY HOURS SPENT WATCHG BAD MOVI WHILE JENNIFER’S TORTOISE, ZELDA, CRAWLS AROUND ON THE FLOOR. COURTY SAMANTHA ALLEN MY REASONS FOR RETURNG HAVE NEVER BEEN AS NOBLE AS DR. VERGHE‘S MISSN OF HELPG RAL GAY MEN DURG THE HIV EPIMIC—BUT I, TOO, FOUND JOHNSON CY LODGED MY HEART AFTER I LEFT THE FIRST TIME. I ULD LEAVE, SURE—BUT I ULDN’T STAY AWAY.WHEN I LIVED ATLANTA, I WOULD MAKE THE FIVE-HOUR DRIVE NORTH THROUGH THE MOUNTAS, OFTEN ALONE. WHEN I MOVED TO SOUTH FLORIDA, I HAD TO FLY TO CHARLOTTE AND THEN TAKE AN AGG PROPELLER PLANE TO THE TRI-CI AIRPORT, WHERE THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE WORKG THE SECURY LE THAN THERE ARE GOG THROUGH . IT ST ALMOST AS MUCH AS A DISUNTED FLIGHT TO EUROPE. BUT I MA THE PILGRIMAGE BEE I HAD BEE A BELIEVER. JOHNSON CY HAD PROVED TO ME THAT LGBT ACCEPTANCE N BE FOUND ALMOST ANYWHERE, PECIALLY WHERE I DIDN’T EXPECT . ADVERTISEMENT REAL QUEER AMERI: LGBT STORI OM RED STAT IS AVAILABLE NOW. SAMANTHA ALLEN

New York (CNN) — In a sea of nned cktails, Gay Water wants to stand out. In other words, where Bud Light has buckled unr prsure as bigotry grows agast the LGBTQ+ muny, Gay Water’s creator Spencer Hodson wants his new boozy brand to be the anthis of that.

“The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them, ” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer. ” Gay Water, however, is out and proud.

GAY NIGHTLIFE KNOXVILLE, TENNSEE: BARS, CLUBS, & MORE

The nned cktail is named after a lloquialism given to the popular mixed drk (vodka and soda) orred at bars by the gay muny. “Puttg a product wh the word gay the tle is reprentatn self, ” which he hop reclaims the word om the negativy ’s sometim associated wh. He thought of creatg Gay Water about a year ago while on a vatn wh his iend that had got a job wh the beverage dtry.

The two chatted about the limed amount of gay people wh , and wh Hodson burnt out om his tradnal day job tech, started the nned cktail. Big onle Hodson built up a strong social media followg on TikTok and Instagram durg Covid-19 and is g some of the money om that (as well as om iends and fay) to help fund Gay Water.

“Gay is an umbrella term and the ia behd the brand is to be as clive as possible, which means we want alli, we want straight people to be part of this muny we’re buildg. ” For now, Gay Water is sold largely onle (wh a few retailers) and four sugar-ee flavors — watermelon, lime, peach and grapeu — at lnch.

LGBTQ+ AFFIRMG THERAPISTS TENNSEE

Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails, ” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN.

“There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns, ” Roth said.

” Of urse, other drks e the word “gay, ” too, cludg Gay Beer and So Gay Rosé, Hodson noted, which are also tryg to reach the queer muny and offer them an alternative the straight-domated space.

GAY MEMPHIS

It was there ral East Tennsee that the young doctor began seeg gay men wh HIV, beg both their physician and their nfidante. As The New York Tim noted s 1994 review of Verghe’s heart-wrenchg memoir My Own Country, patients flocked to him—“mostly gay men who were movg back to their hometowns after years away.

” Verghe had ma Johnson Cy to an unexpected Appalachian statn where gay men wh HIV uld at least fd some passn the absence of a than two s later, the rippl of Verghe’s empathy still n through Johnson 2018, when a pri ftival me to the llege town for the first time, a staggerg 10, 000 people attend, as WJHL reported. Verghe‘s missn of helpg ral gay men durg the HIV epimic—but I, too, found Johnson Cy lodged my heart after I left the first time. Apart om a uple of gay-oriented spac, many bars the area are que mixed and blatantly show their support for the LGBTQ+ muny.

The cy has bee a haven for gay rints and tourists throughout the regn. For a cy far smaller than Memphis, 's a b surprisg that Knoxville has nearly the same number of gay bars. The Edge: One of the longt-nng and largt gay clubs, The Edge is well outsi the cy center—about 7 wt of town off I-40 along a by road led wh strip malls—but 's very much the top gay venue town.