“You know how some serial killers are “returners” — they’ll go back to the scene of the crime to see their handiwork?” David Crabb asks me. “I’m not a serial killer, but I’m a returner.” I’m not a serial killer either, but like Crabb, I’m a memoirist, so by definition, a returner. We are having…
Gay dads featured in new Allstate Insurance ad
With the Supreme Court’s ruling making same-sex marriage legal in the United States, and the increasing acceptance of the LGBT community into the mainstream, 2015 has certainly been a landmark year for civil rights and advancement. On Sunday, a new ad featuring two gay dads was posted on Allstate Insurance’s Facebook page, perhaps signaling a new era that…
Veteran Erika Land explores repercussions of war in local performance of ‘PTSD and Me’
A one-woman show commemorates Veteran’s Day by encouraging a discussion about Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD and Me: A Journey Told Though Poetry will be presented at The Overtime Theater on Sunday, November 8, at 6 p.m. Author, activist, poet, and performer Erika Land is a 21st-century war poet known for her creative writing and her involvement in the lesbian…
Trixie Mattel and Delta Work team up for Rey Lopez’s ‘scary dollhouse Halloween party’
Billed as a “scary dollhouse Halloween party show,” Rey Lopez Entertainment’s latest outing combines the over-the-top talents of RuPaul’s Drag Race grads Trixie Mattel and Delta Work. Allegedly safe for “ages 3 and up,” season seven starlet Mattel (born Brian Firkus) favors a “life-in-plastic aesthetic” possibly best suited for Barbie’s stepmonster. Despite her role in the…
What my transition taught me about how the world perceives men and women
“I know what it’s like on both sides of the fence.” You know what I miss the most about having breasts? People offering me free drugs (also: nipple sensation). I was born genetically female, and I lived that way for 16 years. By the time I was 17, I realized I wasn’t comfortable with this…
Dad2: Retying the knot
This may be a shock to some of our friends, but we have decided to wait to get married! Well, okay, in our minds we have been married all this time: Ten years to be exact. I mean “exact,” as we recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of what has to be one of the most…
Dixie Longate mixes comedy, drag, and Tupperware at the Tobin
Since her early days entertaining “straight Republican white women” in Orange County living rooms, wayward Southern belle Dixie Longate—an over-the-top drag character created by writer/actor Kris Andersson—has earned comparisons to Dame Edna and emerged as an unlikely ambassador for Orlando-based Tupperware Brands Corp. Putting an unapologetically trashy spin on the Tupperware-party format, Andersson’s signature show (touring…
Flea-market babies
We don’t just put out old furniture and wait till somebody comes by and buys it.” Anthony and Uriel Diaz, known as “the boys” to their loyal patrons, manage Karolina’s Antiques on Blanco Road. Still in their 20s, the brothers are younger, browner, and gayer than the average antique shop’s management. But while they may…
A polyfidelitous family fights to keep their kids
“My kids don’t see what goes on in our bedroom. We sleep.” After the housing crash of 2008, James Lowe, a former construction worker, moved to San Antonio from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. With him came Elizabeth. The two were close friends at the time and hoped to find a better life in San…
Ricky Martin brings his One World Tour to the Freeman
From holding it down as a member of Menudo to 1999’s breakout with “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” from Spanish to English, from singing and dancing to acting, philanthropy with The Ricky Martin Foundation, and even publishing an autobiography—a New York Times Best Seller in 2010—Ricky Martin, siempre el chulito, has had one hell of a…