Profiles
LGBT Ally: Allan Creasy
by Sarah Rushakoff | photos courtesy of Allan Creasy If you’ve lived in Memphis for a while, chances are you’ve had a conversation with Allan Creasy. It might have been at Celtic Crossing in Cooper-Young, where he tended bar and ran trivia nights for years. Maybe it...
Oothoon’s: Retail Magic
story by Robin Beaudoin Ownby | photos by Beverly Love “I never would have thought back then, this is what I’d end up doing. It’s hard to leave the store now. My husband has to drag me out,” Michelle McMillen swoons. “In a previous life, I was in graduate school to be...
Community
Local Trans Shero Kayla Gore Stars in National Geographic Episode!
from National Geographic | edited by Joan Allisonphotos ©Nicole Cappello (21st Century Fox) We recently covered the story of Memphis trans Shero, Kayla Gore, co-founder of My Sistah’s House. Gore is getting noticed for her work in world-wide media. She’ll be featured...
Jacob “Mr. The Jakers” Aaron Tanner: A Loving Legend
August 9, 1965-April 13, 2021 Special to Focus Mid-Southby Robin Beaudoin Ownby A beloved member of the Memphis LGBT community, Jacob Aaron Tanner, died last night aftera courageous battle with cancer. He passed peacefully at Methodist Hospice Residence with...
Author David Jackson Ambrose Tackles LGBT Relationships, Mental Health, and “Transracialism” in Sophomore Novel, A Blind Eye
Multiple worlds collide in Philadelphia-based author David Jackson Ambrose’s sophomore novel, A Blind Eye. The novel delves into various forms of domestic abuse, disability, the politics of racial and gender identity, and the complexities of police/civilian...
Art & Culture
Inside Hollywood
story by Romeo San Vincente A ‘Wizard of Oz’ remake? Lol ok. New Line Cinema is teaming up with Emmy Award winning filmmaker Nicole Kassell (“Watchmen”) for a remake of “The Wizard of Oz.” Kassell will direct, but there’s no cast yet, no script to speak of, and no...
Fortune Feimster is Giving the Gays Something to Talk About
By Chris Azzopardi | photos courtesy of Fortune Feimster Fortune Feimster’s mouth has been going and going and going. “I talk a lot right now,” says the Southern comedian who hails from North Carolina, coughing and clearing her throat as we – that’s right – talk...
Dominique Jackson Won’t Stop Surviving
By Chris Azzopardi | photos courtesy of Starz Model and actress Dominique Jackson can’t say a thing about the third and final season of one of the most groundbreaking LGBTQ+ series ever made. It’s mid February when we connect, just weeks before it was announced that...
Travel
Original Memphis: Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park
story and photos by Tricia Dewey Located on the third Chickasaw Bluff, Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park is 13 miles north of Memphis and contains 12,529 acres of oak-hickory forest, two lakes, 20 miles of hiking trails, a biking trail, two disc golf courses, and miles...
Original Memphis: Gay River Cruises of the 80s
by Vincent Astor | images courtesy of Vincent Astor 1980 was a very busy year for activism in Memphis. The Tennessee Gay Coalition for Human Rights had a Memphis chapter (later the Memphis Gay Coalition). Memphis hosted the Southeastern Conference of Lesbians and Gay...
Happy 5th Birthday to Us!
by Joan Allison Focus | Mid-South Managing Editor and Creative Director Focus was born of a passion that our publisher, Ray Rico, wanted to bring to fruition. ‘Rico,’ as he is called by most people, is a Latinx man who is gay. When I first started at Ray Rico...