New Artistic Book Honors Pulse Nightclub 49 (AUDIO)

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with best-selling author Joie Lamar about curating the new coffee table book “Cuarenta y Nueve”, (Spanish for 49) which pays artistic homage to honor the lives of the 49 we lost in Orlando at Pulse Nightclub Massacre. “Cuarenta y Nueve” is a unique compilation from 49 contributors including Lamar, to remember and honor the lives we lost on June 12, 2016. Joie was shaken to the core by this tragedy especially since she had lived in the Orlando area for 10 years as part of the Latino LGBTQ community and had partied at the Pulse nightclub many times, even knowing one of the victims. She wanted to do something that would honor the victims and came up with the concept of paying homage to the 49 lives lost by gathering 49 talented individual contributors and “Cuarenta Y Nueve” was born. The 49 diverse contributors come from our LGBTQ community including Cat Grant, a multi-media artist and writer in Toronto who began recruiting for the project early on. Filmmaker Kate Johnston also helped Lamar gather talent for this passionate project. The names and variety of talent poured in including photographer Angel Torres who designed both the front and back cover of the book as well as recruiting other contributors. All proceeds of “Cuarenta y Nueve” will be donated to support the work of Pride School Atlanta and GLAAD in perpetuity. We talked to Joie about what she hopes to accomplish with “Cuarenta Y Nueve” and her spin on our LGBTQ issues.

When asked how she sees our LGBTQ community moving forward in this Trump administration Lamar stated, “Well it’s two steps backward for every one step forward and even more under this administration and if you’re old enough to vote we need to get out there and vote with your heart and your head for what is right. I think we need to stay positive. We fight so much for our rights as LGBTQ people in the community but we need to fight for rights of people in general. This administration is very good at dividing and we need to find a unity and we need to keep saying we are human. I think we tend to say we’re lesbians and we want equal rights; we’re women and we want equal rights. You know what, we’re humans and we demand what we deserve as human beings. We have to keep saying that.”

Joie Lamar published her first novel volume 1 of a 2-part memoir entitled “Mambo Lips” in 2016 and volume 2 entitled “Salsa Hips” that are currently being developed into a feature film “Las Alas” directed by filmmaker Kate Johnston. Both books have been added to the curriculum and library portfolio at two LGBTQ schools. The Harvey Milk High School in New York City and Pride School in Atlanta. There will be three launch dates for “Cuarenta y Nueve” including Montreal, Canada on January 27th 2018 with launch dates in Toronto and New York to be announced. Joie Lamar lives in Canada with her wife, two fur babies and a growing number of world changing projects.
For More Info: cyn49.com

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Kate Clinton Annual LGBTQ Year End Review & More (AUDIO)

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Kate Clinton our favorite political humorist about her annual LGBTQ year end review and chat about what 2018 may bring our LGBTQ community. This has been an extremely difficult year for our LGBTQ community especially with the Trump administration’s attempts to reverse all the progress we have achieved for civil rights in this country. First we’ve had to endure his appointments of the most homophobic, transphobic, racist, xenophobic and misogynistic candidates to fill his White House administration team and then the GOP Senate continues to approve unqualified judicial candidates. With the success of the Women’s March last January and now followed by the #metoo campaign this is a time not to become complacent but resist by voting for candidates that stand for equality and continue the positive winning momentum of Virginia and Alabama as we gear up for the midterm elections in 2018. We talked to Kate about how she has been surviving the first year of the Trump presidency and her spin on our LGBTQ issues.

When asked how she sees our LGBTQ community moving forward in this Trump administration Clinton stated, “I think that the LGBTQ community moving through this Trump administration, may it be shortened we all pray for that. No, I think that this recent Masterpiece Cake Shop Case heard before the Supreme Court is a demonstration of how they really would like the religious freedoms you know, your sincerely held religious briefs, are always Christian. They’re not Muslim beliefs; they’re not Jewish beliefs; they’re Christian beliefs. How dangerous that is that we would decide the cake shop case if it were about religious freedom but it’s really not. It’s using religion to justify discrimination and it’s really about privileging religion over the laws of the land and the law really says that the cake shop is free to sell whatever it wants. Cake decorators, I had no idea that cake decorators were so up on their artistic incredibleness, but they are free to sell whatever they want but they’re not free to decide who they can sell it to. I just think that this could open a floodgate to setback progress of civil rights. I think that we kid ourselves thinking that we won over hearts and minds from people who have neither. So I think we have to be very vigilante. Again I’ve seen it with the right to life movement chipping away so I think that would be the technique. I am amused by Republicans who met a gay person and suddenly thought, ‘Oh they’re human beings.’ What about the power of empathy or even imagination and actually having to meet someone to have an idea all people should be given freedom and respect and the same equal justice? So I think we have just to be very vigilante.”

Kate Clinton is also very involved with NCLR (The National Center for Lesbian Rights) and LPAC (Lesbian Political Action Committee) conceptualized by her wife Urvashi Vaid to give lesbians a real and meaningful seat at the political table. LPAC is a political action committee (PAC) that builds the political power of LGBTQ women by electing candidates who champion LGBTQ rights, women’s equality and social justice. Currently Kate is working on her new comedy show that she’ll be performing nationally in 2018.
For More Info & Appearances: kateclinton.com

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Alice Austen House Museum’s New Executive Director (AUDIO)

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Victoria Munro the new Executive Director of the Alice Austen House Museum located on Staten Island, New York. The Alice Austen House is the only museum dedicated to the work of an individual American woman photographer and last June the National Register of Historic Places' designation of the 2 Hylan Boulevard home which Alice Austen shared for nearly 30 years with her long-time partner Gertrude Tate to include the photographer's significance in our LGBTQ history. Alice Austen (1866 - 1952) was one of America's earliest and most prolific female photographers. She captured about 8,000 images over the course of her life and though best known for her documentary work Austen was an artist with a strong aesthetic sensibility. As a rebel who broke away from the ties of her Victorian environment she was also a landscape designer, master tennis player and the first woman on Staten Island to own a car. The Alice Austen House Museum is also in the Stonewall 50 Consortium an organization of institutions and organizations committed to producing programming, exhibitions and educational materials related to the history of the LGBTQ civil rights movement for the upcoming June 2019 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. We talked to Victoria about the direction she hopes to take the Alice Austen House Museum and her spin on our LGBTQ issues.

When asked what her personal commitment is to LGBTQ civil rights Munro stated, “I live my life here in New York with my partner Carrie and our two children and throughout my life it’s integrated into everything that I do and want for myself and others to be able to feel that we could live in an environment where we have equality and without fear. My personal commitment moving forward in this role is actually to provide a space where our histories are not presented as a changing exhibit but something permanent and part of everyone’s history. I also want to promote our museum as a space for meetings, for groups, for potential PFLAG meetings, a space where we can build on our website and other resources to share information. Because I believe that one of the most important things is how do we communicate; how do we share our knowledge; how do we share information that creates a support networks and how can moving forward how can the Alice Austen House Museum be more of a partner to our other local centers? I’ve already work with the Staten Island Pride Center which is an incredible organization and I would like to partner with a lot of other organizations to come together and really provide a community base and an event space for groups and individuals to be able to access.”

Victoria Munro is from Wellington, New Zealand and has been a resident of New York for over two decades. Munro is an artist, art and art history educator and curator who has exhibited her work in solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally, including the France, Australia, Mexico, New Zealand, The Netherlands and United Kingdom. Victoria has also been the recipient of several grants and public commissions most recently receiving an Excellence in the Arts Award in 2016.
For More Info: aliceausten.org

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Phillip Ward Presents “The Last Word” By Quentin Crisp (AUDIO)

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Phillip Ward about the worldwide publication of “The Last Word” which is the third and final installment of Quentin Crisp’s autobiographies. Between 1997 to 1999 Ward tape-recorded and later transcribed hundreds of hours of Quentin’s last words and upon his death Quentin left the rights and responsibility to publish “The Last Word” to Phillip who later enlisted former Pink News features writer Laurence Watts to help edit this must-read book. The previous two books in the trilogy “The Naked Civil Servant” which starred John Hurt made Crisp famous and “How To Become A Virgin” detailed his move to New York but “The Last Word” was really Quentin’s heartfelt swan song written by a man who knew the end was near. Crisp died from a heart attack in November 1999 in Manchester, England at the age of ninety. In “The Last Word” Crisp really shares his philosophies, wit, dignity and humor that he was infamous for as he said goodbye to the world. We talked to Phillip about the difficult task of editing Quentin Crisp’s words after his passing and his spin on our LGBTQ issues.

When asked what advise he has for LGBTQ teens struggling with Trump’s presidency Ward stated, “This is an opportunity for LGBTQ teens to begin the process of tuning in to their "inner president” and tuning out our alleged president and his affiliated bullies. That’s a starter. They need to be reminded that Trump is what a bully looks like when left unchecked. Trump does not define you. You define you. Knowing that is a pathway for teens discovering their-own self-guidance and wisdom. Just like Quentin Crisp espoused, life is about finding out who you are and authentically expressing your truth in the world. I encourage teenagers to reach out to others and to understand that isolation and self-loathing are our greatest enemies, not Trump. Live your life with love, love in any form, including LGBTQ love. It’s a threat to those who hate us. That’s why some may continue to hate us for the unconditional love that we symbolize and more importantly teens need to realize that there is great power in love. For teens who are bullied they must seek help from others even if they receive it from across the country through Skype. There is strength in numbers and knowing that they are never truly alone is empowering and will hopefully ensure their safety, which is of paramount concern and ideally if they can they should find a qualified mentor that might make their process easier. We should volunteer our time to organizations that help teens and take the initiative in that respect. The greatest contribution that we can make is not to tell them they are merely accepted and tolerated but to enable them to profoundly feel and know in their hearts that they are loved and deeply cherished. Incumbent upon preceding generations to be the wind beneath their wings because they will perpetuate the legacy of love.”

Phillip Ward is a consultant and researcher, curator, multimedia artist, photographer, poet and writer. Phillip was Quentin Crisp's personal assistant, dresser, typist, escort and travel companion for fourteen years until Mr. Crisp's death in 1999. Ward is the archivist and curator of the official Quentin Crisp website and is the literary and executor of Mr. Crisp's estate.
For More Info: crisperanto.org

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