Celebrating 6 months!

We wanted to celebrate 6 months of fantastic work in our community by bringing you a special edition of OutBoise MagazinCheck it out here!

 

OutBoise Welcomes Tim Trantham to their team

 

We’re excited to announce Tim Trantham has joined the OutBoise Team as our Advertising sales representative.

 

Tim has over 19 years of experience in the advertising sales field, and is willing to take on the challenge.

 

As an incredible ally, and a huge supporter of our community, Tim spends quite a bit of time enuring his daughter, DW, maintains a positive life. DW is a huge advocate for the Transgender community. She speaks at many of our local LGBT rallies, and has been a champion for anti-bullying legislation this year.

 

We personally would like to welcome Tim to our team.

 

If you are interested in more information, please contact Tim at advertise@outboise.com

BGMC Takes Broadway Style & Flair to Eastern Idaho

In March, the Boise Gay Men’s Chorus performed two outreach concerts in Pocatello and Idaho Falls. Each city got a dose of Broadway flair through song, as the chorus performed a variety of hits from award winning musicals like Cats, Rent, Hairspray, Les Miserables, and more! As usual, BGMC added their own special touch to many songs, updating gender roles in hits traditionally sung by women. Each show was hosted by local organizations, both Dragapalooza in Idaho Falls and FCUCC and Trinity Episcopal churches in Pocatello. These concerts, while performed for vastly different audiences, shared similar messages through the variety of Broadway show themes. Most importantly, each song performed was a message of love, hope, and inspiration.

Sugar Rush Cupcakery

story by Jerry Nabarrete-Stuart
Photos: Kaperture Photography

 

Who can say no to a Maple Bacon Cupcake? Or perhaps, a Reese’s cupcake?

These are just a couple of the choices you have when visiting Sugar Rush Cupcakery.

Formerly known as Family Ties Catering & Cakes, and in Business for more than 16 years, this little shop has plenty to offer.

Locally owned and operated by Linda Lee; she considers herself a local gourmet cupcake chef.

And who can blame her? In addition to the maple bacon and Reese’s, by far the most popular of their selection, they also have a Tiger Tail cupcake, which I found as my personal favorite. The Tiger Tail is a Raspberry Coconut cupcake.

In addition to cupcakes, Sugar Rush offers wedding cakes and specialty cakes, all of which use real butter in their recipes.

Sugar Rush Cupcakery is located at 10804 W Fairview Ave, Boise, ID 83713. They handle large and specialty orders, and wedding cake orders start as low as $3.50. As a courtesy, they do recommend calling in advance for large orders at (208) 376-1918. For a full list of flavor options and everything Sugar Rush has to offer, please visit their website:
Sugarrushcupcakeryboise.com

Business Hours
Monday: 9am-6pm
Tuesday: 9am-6pm
Wednesday: 9am-6pm
Thursday: 9am-6pm
Friday: 9am-6pm
Saturday: 10am-5pm
Sunday: Closed

19th Annual Idaho Cares Show

On April 25, 2015 the Imperial Sovereign Gem Court of Idaho (ISGCI) will host the 19th Annual Idaho Cares Show: A Red Dress, Black Tie Gala Event at the Balcony Club.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m., show time is 7:30 p.m. The cost is $10 at the door with proceeds benefiting the ISGCI Jimmy Moore Fund. This year’s event will showcase a drag show filled with many local entertainers, a raffle, and a huge silent auction.

This annual event hosted by the Jimmy Moore Administrators is one of the most successful events put on each year by the ISGCI. In the years since its inception the ISGCI has raised and given out over $30,000 to help with medical expenses for those living with HIV and AIDS through the “Jimmy Fund.”

The “Jimmy Fund” is named after Gem Empress 15 Delorian Snow aka Jimmy Moore. An active and popular Empress, Jimmy was a charismatic and much loved member of the ISGCI. The “Jimmy Fund” was established with the express purpose of providing short-term medical assistance for individuals living with HIV and AIDS. Every possible effort is made to assure a claimant’s privacy and medical confidentiality.

A single claim cannot exceed $200 and a maximum of $500 per claimant, per fiscal year is allowed. Each year members of the Board of Directors are elected as the administrators of the fund and to host any fund-raisers including the annual Idaho Cares Show.

This year’s committee members are Minerva Jayne, Chaise Manhattan, Reba McEnWhat-Bixler, Summer Douche’, and Victoria. We look forward to seeing you at the Idaho Cares Show and hope you will help us to make this a great success not only for the ISGCI but for our brothers and sisters living with HIV and AIDS.

Passing on your torch after passing on: Facebook’s Legacy Contact feature

by Nicole Weaver

In the modern world, being a member of the LGBT community carries with it great fears and very real dangers. We see those fears come to life in the news sandwiched between images of murdered LGBT children and the daily hate many groups aim directly at us. It is even politically acceptable to propose laws to make discrimination against us legal.

Every state has radically different ways of dealing with us. Some are positive (for instance, California). Other states oppose our happiness whenever and wherever they can (for instance, Mississippi). This means it is often better to deal with something that crosses state lines, than it is to try for improvement inside any particular state.

Some of us are lucky. We have families who love the person we are inside more than the superficial shell we inhabit. These people are family in the true sense of the word. They support and protect us in life, and importantly, in death.

Many of us are not so lucky, and so we search always for more ways to protect ourselves. There are always those who purposely attack us and defile our memory after we are gone. It seems like they are not satisfied in their sick minds to simply wound us deeply while we live, they must attempt to tarnish our memory as well. Usually there is very little we can do. That sense of being powerless over our legacy can be deeply distressing.

All too often we hear stories of the hurtful people we once loved. These people who reviled us, beat us, and cast us out are rarely satisfied with leaving us alone thereafter. They use even our death as an opportunity to misgender us or minimize and attack our chosen partner. These people refuse to allow others who care about us to be part of the mourning process. In twisted inspiration, some even use that process in an attempt to take away the very identity bought so dearly with our blood and our pain. In these cases it is those who most wish to harm us, who suddenly have the power to decide how we shall be remembered.

This brings us to a company normally considered something of an evil empire in the privacy world and the LGBT community. Facebook has quite long rap sheet of mistakes involving both, but every once in a while they get something very right. In this case, I think Facebook’s new feature neatly solves a problem facing our community.

As of February of this year, we have access to a small, but exciting new option to control our legacy. This new Facebook option has the potential to give us a lot more power over what happens after our death. Naturally it is no substitute for a legally binding Will, but it is a useful tool nonetheless. It is also unlikely Facebook had the LGBT community in mind when they made this change, but it is a perfect fit for our needs.

Before this feature was created, as in many things in the United States, our biological family had most of the control. They could make decisions in how our profile was dealt with after our untimely departure simply because they are legally related. As soon as a death was verified to Facebook, the account was destined for 4 likely fates, depending on what the legal family of the deceased decided.

The page could simply be shut down and deleted. In a world where being LGBT and married is on the rare side, this would mean “legally” our domestic partner might have no say and lose many important digital memories from the deletion. Worse, the lack of notification meant that our friends might have no chance to react before the whole thing disappeared forever.

The page could be “frozen” as a second option. In this case the page becomes a memorial page that cannot be modified further. It removes all contact information and the ability to find the page by search. It further locks it permanently so no one may ever log into it again or delete comments of other people on the friends list of the deceased. The Friends list may not be added to or reduced. If you have ever had an epic rant appear on your comments section, I think you can well imagine what could go wrong if someone decides to troll our loved ones with no ability to moderate.

Another option is for the page to be given to a family member to manage. This leaves open the potential for our private conversations to be read by someone we might specifically hope is never able to do so. Fortunately this option was rarely used, as it requires court involvement.

The last of the most common methods was for no one to notify Facebook and leave the page as it was before. This might seem initially like an attractive idea, however it would then allow a parent or sibling or grandparent to petition Facebook for any of the above options. Once any option was put into effect, the chances of changing it are rather slim. This makes the question of how our Facebook page is dealt with extremely important if you use the social media site often.

The new feature is a rather simple concept called a Legacy Contact. It allows us to designate the person who will control our page after our death. Potentially it could even affect inheritance and other court actions based on how it shows what the deceased wanted. There is no substitute for a proper legal Will, so if it is a concern, please make sure you have a lawyer involved.

There are a few limitations. The first, is the bar for proving “death” is still high. A legal Obituary in a newspaper or a Death Certificate is required before the page is handed to your Legacy Contact. These are very hard to create without a legally verified death, so it keeps down the number of false claims used to get into someone’s profile.

Once the feature is initially activated, you choose someone on your friends list(and only your friends list). You may automatically send them a message notifying them of this if you wish. You may also set the system to send the message upon proof of your death. There are pros and cons to each option, but most importantly, it is entirely your choice.

One thing about planning for our death that has always been awkward is answering the questions and worries of our loved ones. The conversation itself can stress out everyone involved. To reduce this, Legacy Contacts allow you to delay the notification feature by sending out the request after the owner is deceased. You may send it out before then so your chosen designee knows what is coming, but it is nice to have more than a single option for the notification message.

So you have passed on, what now? The designee is given whatever your last message to them was, and the ability to manage your profile in most ways, excluding your personal messages. As an important privacy feature, they specifically cannot read your personal messages or send any in your name. However, your chosen person is able to delete hurtful posts to your wall and add or remove contacts. They can also change your profile picture to something more appropriate.

Being able to edit the profile’s friends list is extremely helpful. Our chosen designee then has the power to be a moderator while ensuring our last wishes are carried out. Problem people on our “friends” list can then be removed so memorial events are no longer in as much danger of being ruined. Also, we all know how sometimes Facebook just drops friends for no reason. This gives our designee the ability to correct those occasional mistakes.

One particularly nice feature is to give the designee the ability to compress and download your entire profile into one data package. This includes things like images the owner posted, as well as any they are tagged in. Anything that helps make memorial CD’s for our friends less time consuming in a moment of mourning is a positive step.

Being able to choose who controls our legacy on Facebook is a relatively small thing. It isn’t a cure for all the problems we have to deal with, but it is a step in the right direction.

For your reading pleasure: Token Woman

How can one very unhappy, suppressed housewife with a talent aching to be released, save three college-age gay men struggling with inner personalities that are trying to escape the chains of denial and the depths of total self-destruction?

What could possibly bring them together in the 1980s, the decade of aids, in a small rural town? Could a silly childhood song and crossed fingers be lasting bonds? Are subtle parenting and school day experiences to blame for what they become?

Open the pages of Token Woman and get drawn into the daily heartbeats of Ariel, Randy, Cal and Steve, and perhaps discover a new understanding within yourself.

Front cover:
Knowledge gifts understanding which gifts unconditional love.
Bonnie Glee (aka Bonnie Glee Speth Thomas) was born and raised in Logan, Utah, better known as Cache Valley. Her love and desire of writing gave her the opportunity to be mentored by Utah State University professors, and to be surrounded by many professional writers. She writes about the hearts and emotions of her characters.
Her suspense novel, Satin Murder, debuted ironically, after five years of passionate pursuit, on Labor Day, September 1, 2014. Her thanks to everyone who made this novel a success. She lives in Cottonwood Heights, Utah with her husband Joe and is the proud mother of seven children and their spouses, 23 grandchildren, and two, soon to be four great-grand-children.

You can follower her on . . .

Twitter.http://twitter.com/bjthomas8

Facebook: http://facebook.com/bonnie.g.thomas

Blog: http://bonnie-glee.blotspot.com

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00U87EMI6

What’s New at The Balcony

by Gary Simpson

Things have been moving and shaking over at The Balcony Club. It has been six months since the club changed hands, and Emre Houser took charge of making the club the best it can be.

The Balcony has been a part of our community for over 18 years, and was voted Boise Weekly’s “Best Gay Bar” for 10 years running, and “Best Dance Club” for seven years now.

According to Houser, taking over the club was a big challenge. As a straight man, he was highly concerned with the community’s reaction to his acquisition of the venue. But, these fears were quickly dispelled. Despite his initial lack of knowledge of the industry, Houser has proven several times over, that he is able to rise to the challenge.

“The first couple of months I spent trying to ramp up my knowledge as much as possible.” He said. “ We’ve gotten past that point, but still a bunch of learning to do on my part. We are now at the point of changing and improving things. Some have been visible to our patrons, and others are behind the scenes kind of changes. All of them, however, have been made to improve the employee and customer experiences, with an eye on raising the bar and making The Balcony the best place to be.”

A few of the improvements to the bar have already taken place, including refinishing the dance floor, fresh paint, and a newly installed sound system. Houser also reports that he and the staff took to the difficult challenge of cleaning up the ceiling , as well.

“We had dust bunnies EVERYWHERE. It was difficult to see at night, but very embarrassing during the day,” he added.

As for the newly installed sound system, Houser reports the sound as “phenomenal – loud, but crystal clear.”

Houser also made note of the calendar they’ve installed in their facility. Located right at the entry of the bar, he hopes to keep patrons informed of local events, and provide he and his staff a medium to communicate with everyone. He also provides a space on this wall to allow for customers to provide feedback as well.

“We want to hear the good, bad and ugly,” Houser added.

The club boasts four rotating DJs every week to help keep the music fresh, and bring different styles to the club.

The most recent project, which should begin to take shape, is freshening up the outdoor tables. Houser hopes thee improvements will improve the overall experience from anyone who stops in.

As for future improvements, Houser says they’re taking things one step at a time. After the tables, The Balcony expects to upgrade their lighting systems, and possibly add some laser lighting.

Making improvements to the club aren’t the only thing he plans to do either. The Balcony currently is offering up an all-Idaho lineup of beers on tap, and has changed up some of their liquors.

“I am not a beer drinker myself, but we have a hard ginger ale and a hard root beer that I just can’t stop raving about!! They are really good!” Houser added.

In addition, they have brought back some popular beverage options that have been missing from The Balcony for some time.

With the changes he’s made around the club, and the plans he has for the future, Houser has had one big thing in mind. Many of his patrons have come to him asking him to make The Balcony a gay bar again. He recently took to Facebook to find a definitive answer to his question, and while he wasn’t able to find an exact answer about what makes a bar, a “gay bar,” he is more determined than ever to ensure the club stays recognized as a gay nightclub.

Much of the feedback he has received has been geared toward more events, more themed parties, and more entertainment.

“We’re talking with some out of town talent and bringing them to The Balcony,” Houser said. “We have to balance this with the fact that we are a nightclub and want to stay true to that, so it is a little bit of a balancing act.”

The Balcony currently has plans to bring in a few guest DJs in the months to come, including a few well-known names, something Houser is quite excited about.

The biggest challenge Houser says he’s come across is getting everything done. “It takes a lot of work to run this place,” he said.

The hard work and dedication has begun to pay off, he added. “People have been awesome! My staff has been awesome, and the customers have been great. Everyone has been great. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to associate myself with!”

While Houser has high hopes for the future, he says he is always open for feedback from the community. “I sometimes feel like I might be dropping the ball and I hope nobody takes it personally. Please keep coming back at me if I have dropped the ball. I promise to be fair and honest with everyone.”

Travel Destination: San Francisco

by Kris Muñoz

What can I say about this place that hasn’t already been said or seen in various films and articles? I love traveling to this city! Every time I do, I discover some new hidden gem. I will admit it now. A little bit of heart will always belong here in San Francisco.

Firstly, let me just gush about the San Francisco International Airport. It is one of the biggest, cleanest and beautiful airports I have ever be in. Trust me, I’ve seen a lot of airports. It was the first airport that I saw to incorporate the use of a public yoga space. The artwork and sculptures you see in the terminals is always unique and informative about some theme that is currently happening somewhere within the city at that time. Plus, you can always skip taking a Lyft ride from the airport and just take the B.A.R.T. into several parts of the city.

Once on the B.A.R.T. always check your seat before seating in it. I can’t stress this enough. I’ll come back to that point that point later. I will usually take it to the Financial District located in the area of Montgomery St and Bush St. One of my favorite hotels is in that area and I try to stay there when visiting. Which hotel is that you may ask, but for now that will stay my little secret. San Francisco has no shortage of hotels or Bed and Breakfasts. When planning on visiting try to look around for the best deals you may find. Also make your reservation at least four to six months in advance. That’s one extremely helpful tip from a frequent traveler that I can give you for this city.

From the Financial District, I can go in any direction and find a place that I love to go and a whole new place waiting to be experienced. But I tend to go straight to Pier 44 in the Marina District. There is nothing better than getting actual seafood, directly from the ocean. The taste is so much better. Yes, I kinda just drooled while typing that last sentence. I can’t help it when I remember the explosion of flavors and seasons that you get from the various restaurants at the Piers. Yes, there are other numbered piers there by the way.

Pier 44 is famously known for it’s Chowder House Restaurant. If you have not been to it yet, then you must try it out at least once in your life. You know, it was San Francisco that made me fall madly in love with sushi. Growing up in the desert, I never really got the same flavors or proper experience of truly enjoying that style of food. Now after finally having the rapturous experience that I have heard people talk about while eating sushi, I can say I’m hooked. Yes, I can tell you have I have flown into San Francisco just for the sushi. It really is that good.

However, I digress. Pier 44 is just separated by a few blocks from Asian district. I hope that isn’t being offensive, but I feel calling it by the name that the locals do would be falling into stereotyping. I’m not about that and never will be. I know I wouldn’t want to hear Tucson being called “Mexicantown or Lil Mexico”. See what I mean now.

As I step off my soapbox now, this area of town is beautiful and beaming with colors, aromas and people. You will no problem figuring out where you are when you get into this district. Every third or fourth shop is a market store, that seems to sell the same imported stuff that the last shop did, which was three or four store that you just passed. This will be a continual trend as you’re walking down the streets.

The color Red is will be on everything you see in this area, and you will often find a dragon or fish symbol on most merchandise as well. As vast as it seems to go on, if you keep walking you will be through the entire Asian District in 45 minutes. It may seem hard to believe, but you have to remember that the streets of San Francisco are not the same size as Boise.

I came to this realization myself the first several times I visited the city as walked everywhere. I would look at the city map and think to myself “Oh Lordy, this place is 35 blocks away.” As it turns out, I was at my walking destination within 30 to 40 minutes. Since San Francisco was built on 44 hills, I can see why everyone in the city as great legs!

Of course, I made my pilgrimage to the Castro the first time I went. I remember going thinking that since I was coming here I could truly claim some kind of gay birthright and pay homage to those who came before me and rejoice in my bragging rights. But when I go there, I looked up and down the street that the iconic Castro Theatre was on I thought…”this is it?”

The Castro area is very small, that was the first shocker. Also so were the sporadic park areas across the city and how crowded they were with all sorts of people. Good luck, finding a place to sit or layout. I haven’t forgotten my seating point by the way. There was a time when you could, and would, see various naked people on the corner of Market and Castro just basking in the sun, drinking coffee or tea of their choice.

Yes, there was a time when nudity was allowed within the city. However, the city placed a ban on that last year. I should add that it wasn’t just in the Castro that nudity was allowed, it happened in other areas as well. Now you will see why I kept saying, check your seat before sitting down. Yes, there is now a ban on the nudity. However, many people still consider it optional. You have been warned.

The Castro carries huge historical and iconic recognition. I walked in the footsteps of many ground breakers for the LGBT community. These people are why we have community to begin with, and why we have to continue to carry that torch to the next generation. Yes, we have come along way since those early days. But there are still many paths to be made. When I see and hear the stories of horrid, inhumane and traumatic acts of violence inflicted on the Gay youths of Russia, I am reminded why this work matters and why it must be continued. History is something to be learned from and not repeated.

I must recommend that if you ever get the chance to take a tour of Alcatraz Island to take the last or night tour. The tour is very informative and quite interesting to experience first hand. First the boats will take you around the whole island while sharing its very colorful history. While on the boats, be mindful of the fact at seagulls will be flying over your head the entire time. Yes, they are quite used to people and are used to getting hand feed from humans on the boats. These seagulls have no shame. They may poo on you, or fly low and dirty for a sneak attack to get your food in your hands. Again, you have been warned. Once on the Island, you are guided up a walking path to what was once the main prisoners entrance. During this walk, you are told of the workers and families that once called the island home. Yes, people lived, worked and had families on the island at one time. Several wedding took place there as well.

Once inside you are given a breakdown and tour, step-by-step, of what a prisoner would be expected to do upon being admitted into Alcatraz. You are shown the to showers and pick up station where they would pick up a blanket, pillow and new numbered uniform, one roll of toilet paper, one pair of shoes and I believe that was it.

Once you are through that area, you can then be given a audio tour. This you can do by yourself. The staff will gave you headsets and you can choose to listen to four ex-inmates share their tales from within the walls or listen to four ex-prison guards share their own unique perspective. I chose to listen to a former inmate share his experiences of what it was like. Bare in mind these are older recordings of their voices so it will be a bit scratchy. Not saying they were possibly ‘altered’ but it does make you wonder. The recording walks you to certain marks and cues you when you get to a location. You are prompted to press play or stop depending on where you are. When you hear the stories and experienced you can tell they are very much just skimming the surface of what may have really happened. At one point, you are told to go to a small outside section of the building. It was hear where I heard the description of how on a very calm day or night, the sounds of the city could be heard with acute detail. It was true; I could hear the busy city and some conversations taking place only one mile away from land. What a mind trip it must have been for any human being to experience that particular moment, for years. There are plenty of other examples that the past wardens set up to play cruel mind tricks on the inmates. The history of the place is eerie enough, but when you see where some of this stuff actually happened sends chills to your bones. Especially when you see what solitary confinement looked like back then. If you’re wondering, yes you can go inside the solitary confinement cells. You get to hear and see a side of Robert Franklin Stroud, also known as the “Birdman of Alcatraz.”

After seeing what it was like for the prisoners, you can then enter an inner visitor’s area where there is an awesome gift shop. Odd random fact that I learned while visiting the island, Verizon doesn’t get coverage on Alcatraz. While everyone else was making a call from prison, I was not. That was a very interesting call to make to customer service.

I could really go on about what makes San Francisco so great. I only mentioned some of the sites to see and believe me there is so much more. But I have to leave some room for the other articles. Take care until next time.

Grasshopper Pie

by Jerry Nabarrete-Stuart
For the crust

1 1/2 cups fine chocolate wafer crumbs (about 30 wafers)

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup unsalted butter, melted

For the filling

1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin

1 1/3 cups well-chilled heavy cream

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup green crème de menthe

¼ cup white crème de cacao

4 large egg yolks

grated mint-flavored chocolate for garnish

Preparation

Make the crust:
In a bowl stir together the wafer crumbs, the sugar, and the butter until the mixture is combined well, pat the mixture onto the bottom and up the side of a buttered 9-inch pie plate, and bake the crust in the middle of a preheated 450°F oven for 5 minutes. Let the crust cool.

Make the filling:
In a metal bowl sprinkle the gelatin over 1/3 cup of the cream and let it soften for 5 minutes. Whisk in the sugar, the crème de menthe, the crème de cacao, and the egg yolks, set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, and cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until it registers 160°F on a candy thermometer. Transfer the bowl to a larger bowl of ice and cold water and stir the mixture until it is cooled and thickened. In another bowl beat the remaining 1 cup cream until it holds stiff peaks and fold it into the crème de menthe mixture thoroughly.
Pour the filling into the crust and chill the pie for 4 hours, or until is set. Sprinkle the pie with some grated chocolate.

I went with this recipe to have a nice spring touch to desert, difficulty came with the crème de menthe and cocoa, they are found only at state liquor stores at the moment. A great addition to a party and a pie to impress.