Join us for Come Out Vegas Weekend! A NCOD (National Coming Out Day) weekend celebration.  

SPECIAL EVENTS 

Friday, Oct. 7th from 5pm -11pm - This year we are joining forces with downtown’s First Friday event for their 14th anniversary celebration. This event sees an average of 20,000 patrons each month. First Friday’s theme for the month of October is ‘One World Through Art’. This free all-ages outdoor event features several areas throughout downtown Las Vegas showcasing artists of all calibers and genres. Throughout the festival you can find stages featuring live music, dance areas with DJs, wandering entertainers, various vendors and a variety of food trucks offering the finest in cuisine.
1025 First St. Las Vegas, NV 89101

Saturday, Oct. 8th at 7pm - LGBT ally Cyndi Lauper performs LIVE in concert inside The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Buy tickets online at
www.axs.com/events/309786/cyndi-lauper-tickets 4455 Paradise Rd. Las Vegas, NV 89169

Saturday, Oct. 8th at 8pm - Celebrate NCOD weekend with our LGBTQIA+ community at a celebration in Vegas’ famous gay district. Have fun with Las Vegas’ LGBTQIA+ community and the businesses inside The Loop.
4640 Paradise Rd. Las Vegas, NV 89169

Visit ComeOutVegas.com for added and continuously updated information on additional events, talent, sponsors, vendors and learn how to get involved.   

The History - NCOD was founded in 1988 by Robert Eichberg and Jean O’Leary. Eichberg, who died in 1995 of complications from AIDS, was a psychologist from New Mexico. O’Leary was an openly lesbian political leader and long-time activist from New York and was at the time the head of the National Gay Rights Advocates in Los Angeles. The original date of NCOD was chosen because it marked the anniversary of the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. The first recorded NCOD celebration in Las Vegas was in 1991. We will also celebrate Nevada’s two-year anniversary of marriage equality.

Vegas local and LGBT community member D’Andre Balaoing is lighting things up with his marvelous cooking and fabulous shoes on the latest season of MasterChef. We recently caught up with the charming home cook and got to chatting about his fascinating upbringing, how he got into cooking, what his MasterChef experience has been like, what he thinks of Gordon Ramsay and much, much more.

Tell us a little bit about yourself. I was born in Barksdale, Louisiana, but I didn’t spend a very long time there. My mom was a single mother and shortly after delivering me, we moved to South Korea, where I lived until I was five years old. My mom was young and from the military and she was strong. She was the kind of women who didn’t need no man and I really value her for that. But throughout my life we’ve moved all over. I’ve lived in South Korea, Japan, Portugal, Guam. I’ve visited places that people would only dream about as a kid growing up. The airplane was my way of life. My mom met my stepdad when I was nine. We were living in Okinawa, Japan. He was this gruff, hardened military guy. The two of them got married and had my little brother when I was 11. 

My whole life, I knew that I was gay. It was normal for me. I was never made to feel weird about it from any of my friends or anybody that was close to me in my life. But my stepfather, who was more conservative, he didn’t really see that being a part of his life. And so when I was about 16 years old and finishing high school, he did make the decision to sort of give me the black sheep treatment. He did throw me out. And so I came to Vegas. I was 17 and I signed up for college. I lived out of my car for a little while I was getting work going and getting some money and living on campus. I worked washing dishes in the dining commons at UNLV. And that’s how I supported myself until I could do better. But my family and I, we’re making slow steps towards acceptance. 

What about your mother? My mom and I have always been close. That separation of me with her family was really difficult. I didn’t want her to feel like she had to choose my stepfather and little brother over myself. And so I told my mom, “I’m done with high school. I’ll be okay.” She gave me that strong will that she had raising me by herself and so I felt like no matter what happened in Las Vegas, I would be just fine.

Who else in your family has been in the military? My birth father was in the military, but he and I have never really had any true connection. The option was there when I was younger to reconcile and to be in contact with each other, but I felt like that was something that I didn’t need at that point in my life. My mother and stepfather were both in the military. They both served 24 years and retired. My mother retired as a tech sergeant and my stepfather retired as a master sergeant. They both worked out of Bolling in Washington, D.C., which is where they still are. My mother now works for the federal government and my stepfather is in teaching.

Do you feel like you grew up a lot faster than your friends? I feel like I had to. There were moments of joy but I think when you combine being an LGBT teen with being a military brat, my life is colored a lot with absence. Sometimes parents would have to go away for months, deployed, and you wouldn’t get to speak to them, you don’t know how they’re doing. Sometimes friends would leave and it’s hard to develop relationships. I didn’t feel comfortable going to dances or proms or things like that either because, one, I was an ugly duckling, but, two, it was hard to feel like you’re going to have these friends for life when you know that all of you are going to be moving to different parts of the world. I felt like I was always more independent than people who lived seaside. 

What do you mean by ugly duckling? I was in an accelerated military school course. I was in fourth grade in a hybrid class of sixth graders. They called me “Webster” just because I was so small. I was always the smallest person in my class. I actually had to carry around a Merriam-Webster dictionary to sit on so that I could see the board. That was kind of my booster seat. I had really bad acne and really thick glasses and I was just generally moving pretty awkwardly throughout the whole high school phase.

Well you sure have transformed into an amazing person with some incredible cooking skills. How did that come about? Cooking was always the most important thing in my family growing up with my mom and I. We didn’t have a lot in terms of money. We actually didn’t have a television in our house until I was I think 10 years old. But before that all the time that we spent together when she wasn’t at work or when I wasn’t at school was in the kitchen. It was really important to her that I walk away with some solid life skills. I remember being five or six and climbing onto the kitchen counter and making myself scrambled eggs and being so proud of that. As time went on and we moved to some of these great countries, I learned to smell, to taste, to not be afraid of anything, because when you don’t have a lot in terms of money, you have to really appreciate every piece of food that comes your way. And so nothing was weird to me. I sort of took that philosophy with every other culture that I came across.

Speaking of the show now, what are some of the most difficult elements to being on a show like MasterChef? I think the most difficult part is maintaining your sense of self. You want to show what you have and you want to prove to America that you have these gifts and that you’re competent and talented and passionate. But then you have to remember that cooking in the MasterChef kitchen is nothing like cooking in the kitchen at home. The pressure that you face, the cameras, the lights – we all do our best to minimize our starstruck-ness. We’re constantly being introduced to these culinary titans and these huge chefs that we grew up idolizing. You want to showcase what you’ve got, but you also have to remember that there’s a time limit. That means that you can’t always bring to the plate what you want. But the goal I think is to just give the judges a general sense of where you’re headed. They’re looking for potential and that means that sometimes another thing that’s difficult is feeling out pressured or out shadowed by your fellow competitors. What that means is that the strongest cook upfront is not always going to win. The person who’s the most impressive on day one is not always what they’re looking for. They’re looking for growth. And so it’s remembering that you were chosen and that even though a lot of the people around you might feel powerful, the judges also see you in that respect as well.

There’s a lot to be said about even just being chosen. It’s not easy.

There’s a lot of speculation floating around the Internet about time limits and about help – make no mistake about it: MasterChef is very real. What you see on television is a 100 percent portrayal of what happens in the kitchen. We don’t get extra time. We don’t get people to come and help us. You get one shot. You don’t get any recipes and so you have to lean on your intuition and know that you’re going to do this well. Because we really don’t get any sort of help. It’s very difficult.

Being an LGBT person on MasterChef – was that difficult? Was it something you made known to all the contestants? That’s such a great question. I’ve done a lot of interviews and I think that’s the first time anybody’s ever asked me about this. They cast a very wide net to find the best home cooks. They’re finding passionate people from all over the country with different backgrounds and beliefs. And not all of them, as you can probably imagine, took to my being LGBT as well as I’d hope or as anyone else could hope. But the one thing that I can say is cooking brought us together, especially as the groups got smaller and smaller. We bonded over that. Nobody really has time to talk about, “Oh my boyfriend” or girlfriend or wife or husband. The only thing we want to see is what you’re putting on the plate. That’s the only thing that’s really important. 

I feel like I don’t have to tell people that I’m LGBT. People can smell it on me at this point. It was never a conversation that I did have to have with people, but it was really important for me to be authentic and true to myself because I want people to see – I’m definitely not the first LGBT contestant on MasterChef and I certainly won’t be the last, but I wanted people to see me, to see the LGBT community, to see people, represented on the show, because I think that really does paint a true and authentic picture of what America looks like.

Were you the only out LGBT person on this season of the show? To my knowledge, I’m the only one. And that’s something that I’m really proud of.

Did you ever wonder what you had gotten yourself into? Or did you think it was just the best experience? I think the MasterChef journey is probably a combination of both of those things at all times. You’re super proud, but then you’re also given these challenges. To expect us to do it and hold us to a standard makes us better, but I also think it definitely strikes fear in our hearts. Off camera there’s a lot that you don’t see and there’s a lot that goes into making the show. When we do have off time, we are gathered together and talking with each other because we don’t have cellphones or the Internet or access to our families. All we really have is each other and I think the contestants are really good about reinvigorating each other and making each other feel supported throughout the competition.

Which of the friendships that you made on the show would you say is the most surprising? I started very early on in the show as somebody that I think the other contestants thought would go home soon. I was in the bottom two for the first two full episodes of the show. That’s never really a way that you want to introduce yourself, especially to Gordon Ramsay. But again, they’re looking for growth. My surprising relationship was someone that I was actually in the bottom two with: Barbara [Savage]. She and I have always been very close. As soon as we arrived in Los Angeles, she and I were like – she just looked at me and said, “Girl,” and I looked at her and said, “Hey!” and ever since then we’ve been really close. She was my mother in the competition. We were holding hands when the judges decided who to eliminate. She was wearing a string of pearls and when she got eliminated, she put them on me and kissed me on the forehead and told me to get my ass up to the balcony. I still have them. 

Were there any contestants from previous seasons that you looked up to as role models? I’ve always been a huge fan of Tommy [Walton]. Just because he’s funny and he serves up plenty of realness. But he’s also really talented. I think his passion took him a long way in the competition and I’m hoping it does for me as well. I’m also a really big fan of Derrick [Peltz] from season 6. I was impressed by his technique, especially in the finale. I think when you create dishes that look like that, when you have that sort of eye for detail, it’s hard not to draw a fan base. But I was also trying to pull from my own recipes from season 5, because I was cast into the top 100 on season 5 and tried out for the show then. And so it was a matter of comparing what I did last time and what I was going to do this time that was going to keep me in the MasterChef kitchen.

There are several Las Vegas-based contestants on MasterChef this season. Was there any connection there? There was an immediate connection. I think when we were all on the plane – you know, we can’t really talk about where we’re going or what we’re doing, but when you’re sitting on a plane and you look around you and there’s a big group of people and they’re all like reading cookbooks and trying to memorize everything, you kind of just look at each other and you’re like, “Hey, what’s up? Where are you going? Oh, a rental car convention? Cool. Me too.”

What’s great about this season is it’s actually the first time that you’re seeing anybody from Las Vegas featured in the MasterChef kitchen. Nobody from Las Vegas in all seven seasons has ever won an apron. This is the first time that our city’s on the map. 

It made sense. We have the best food in the world so we had to have some of the best home cooks in the world. I hadn’t met anyone from Vegas before, but I have heard of some of them. I used to work in professional gaming so I’ve heard of David [Williams]. I’ve seen David’s face before with the professional poker playing. And I’ve definitely been to Rockbar where Shaun used to be and I used to dance. I didn’t know that was him, the DJ, but we’ve passed each other before. Vegas is a really small town.

Gordon Ramsay lives in Las Vegas, doesn’t he? He does sometimes. He did just buy a house here. So he is a part-time Las Vegas native, but he also has his restaurants.

Gordon scares me a little bit. Was he difficult to deal with? Or is there a sweet puppy dog underneath that bulldog? If Gordon Ramsay is not scaring you, then you’re probably not listening. He’s not trying to scare us. I think what Gordon Ramsay is showing is passion. And it’s something that I was really worried about, to be honest with you, before I went on the show. Like, “Oh, I don’t want to get yelled at. I don’t want to feel stupid on national television.” But I think when you’re in the heat of the moment in the MasterChef kitchen, you tend to not think about things like that. Gordon Ramsay, he very quickly became a mentor to all of us. Sort of like a father figure. He really just wants us all to do and to be our best, whatever that means for us. So for some of us, we’re coming in with lots of technical knowledge and we need to work on plating for other people. We need to sharpen our core skills. Gordon Ramsay sort of recognizes all of our needs and tries to teach us as best as he can. He does look at all of our recipes and he does keep a very close eye on what we’re doing and how we cook, so I’d like to think that he know us pretty well.

Can we talk about the shoes you wear on MasterChef for a second? Tell me about those shoes. Did you make those or buy them? It’s a combination of both. There’s a company that makes them as well, called Electric Styles – I’m not doing any plugs. They’re USB rechargeable and they’re powered by battery. It’s about five hours of continuous use on one battery charge – it takes about two hours to charge. I thought it was important to bring them with me to the MasterChef kitchen because coming from Vegas I wanted like a little reminder of what home was like if I ever got homesick. I think they’re my Dorothy slippers. I just look down at my shoes and I remember what home is. 

Career-wise, what do you do outside of MasterChef? Where do you want to go next in terms of your career? I work, very proudly, as a bartender. I have for the last three years. Every now and again, by special request, you can catch me at the Huntridge Tavern on Maryland and Charleston, one of Vegas’ oldest dive bars. But my passion has always been about cooking. I’ve always regretted not going to culinary school and I’ve always regretted everybody’s naysay and advice. So my goal now is to sort of catch up. I’m working on a few projects that I’m really excited to release to the public once they’re finished. But right now I’m focusing on harnessing my cooking skills. I’m still working part-time as a bartender. I’m also working part-time as a web designer – I did get my degree from UNLV in web design. But for the most part I’m at home and I’m fortunate enough to have a partner who’s supportive to let me make a mess in the kitchen and photograph things. Hopefully all of this work that I’m putting into cooking and perfecting recipes will lead to something later.

So what’s your favorite thing to make at home? That’s a really tough question. I think without a doubt I have a really soft spot in my heart for fried chicken. It’s because it’s one of those things that when I was travelling the world I noticed that every country has. It’s sort of like the meatball or maybe even noodles. Every country has a fried chicken. And even though there’s different ingredients and preparations that get tossed into making that fried chicken, they all sort of come out the same. They’re crispy and they’re juicy. It’s sort of like a universal dish. And so that’s why I put everything that I had into fried chicken.

What about the boyfriend? What dish does he love for you to prepare for him? We’ve been together for seven years and I think I can pride myself on saying, “You’ve never ever been hungry.” He’s from New Jersey – he comes from a very strong Italian background and so he’s always looking for pasta. I find myself cooking pasta maybe two or three times a week. If he’s really homesick, he might ask me to whip up some pierogis.

Is it true you guys have chickens? It became important to me about last year to start reconnecting with where my food came from and so I decided to invest in chickens. I have two: Daisy and Scramble. They’re both great hens who give me eggs everyday. And we have a nice garden in the backyard. I’ve got 11 different kinds of tomatoes and eggplant and broccoli and Brussels sprouts. It’s just a way for me to feel closer to my food. There is an education aspect. I’m enjoying farming and raising in this desert climate. 

I’d like to ask you what advice you have for other LGBT community members who also want to follow their dreams? Something that I wish somebody would have told me when I was younger and dealing with issues about my sexuality and how that would relate to finding work and succeeding ultimately is that, “You are worthy and your dreams are worth it.” I think nobody should ever make you feel like you don’t deserve the best, because I think everyone does. And what the best means for different people is what it means for different people, but I think that you being LGBT is something that you should be proud of and something that you should draw strength from because as you move throughout the world, you find that there’s a lot of people who might aim to tear you down. And so holding on to the people that love you and the people that know you can be a really important thing.

So how can we get more of D’Andre beyond the show? If you want more of me and some behind-the-scenes fun, follow me on social media. I’m always available for catering. I love to do events and I’d love to come out and meet people. If you have a need for demos, if you want lessons, even just like a one-on-one dinner, that’s something that I’m always up for. Just reach out to me on social media.

MasterChef airs Wednesdays on FOX at 8/7c and is also on Hulu.

How to be a free spirit, why a wallet, not a toaster, is better suited to carry cash, the power of a heavy pour – since 1992, fictional besties Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone, played by Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley, respectively, have guided legions of outsiders into the light. (And not just after a late-night Stolichnaya vodka binge blackout.)

As the Absolutely Fabulous duo cheerfully imbibe from London, it’s a classic case of life imitating art – everyone wants to get these iconic ladies smashed as they “work” the promo for their long-awaited return to the screen with Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie. Oh yes, sweetie darlings, it’s a real thing now. Thank god; thank vodka. 

The film is Edina and Patsy’s first time together since 2012, when the series celebrated its 20-year anniversary. For the premiere movie adaptation of the BBC series, Saunders, making good on her pledge to write more adventures for the TV-born trainwrecks, stars alongside Lumley and a cast of familiar faces – Julia Sawalha as Saffy, Jane Horrocks as Bubble and June Whitfield as Mother, plus star cameos – as they continue to live their best, booziest lives.

Pour yourself a Stoli-Bolli and read on as Saunders, 58, and Lumley, 70, sip their signature cocktail and dish about their “great crash entrance” into gaydom, being ahead of the queer curve and how the LGBT community catapulted Absolutely Fabulous to global-phenom status.  

I don’t want to shock you with this news and I hope you’re sitting down, but gay people really like you.

Jennifer: (Both laugh) And we love gay people!

For both of you, what was your introduction to the gay community?

Jennifer: Oh! So long ago I can’t really think. It just seems like college; I had gay friends then. To be honest, I don’t know. It just seems to have always been there.

Joanna: But I think the great crash entrance was when we had Absolutely Fabulous and we were welcomed into New York to a certain extent. That was quite fantastic.

Jennifer: Yeah. And the first time we saw our drag doubles was startling! (Laughs) Because you realize quite how small we are, and short and insignificant, when you’re standing next to your drag doubles. They’re more glamorous than we could even hope to be!

Joanna: And occasionally with a beard!

Jennifer: And often with a beard; yes, you’re right! (Both laugh)

You just made an appearance during London Pride. Because the gay fandom for Ab Fab is so intense, I’m surprised you can go anywhere with a sea of gays and it’s not a mob scene. When gay fans see you in everyday life, what are those encounters like?

Jennifer: Really lovely, I have to say. Because people love the show and love the characters, I always get such a nice response.

Joanna: We get kissing and we get a bit of selfies, and it’s lovely.

Jennifer: I think we’re recognized more if we’re together. The response is more extreme.

How did Ab Fab come to be so gay? Did you make the show for gay people?

Jennifer: No, we didn’t. And we’ve been thinking about this a lot, and I think (the gay fandom is) because of the friendship and because they’re not in search of love – they’re not constantly looking for a man, they’re quite happy with each other. They live life to the fullest, they live life without brakes and the friendship is all (they need), I think.

Joanna: And I think because they’re glamorous. Edina always longed for (her daughter) Saffy to come out as gay and she’s very proud of having a gay son, Serge. But there were always gay people in the show, Jennifer; you always had them written in.

Jennifer: Yeah, ’cause it’s normal.

When the show ran from 1992-1995 the word “gay” was barely uttered on television. Then you two came along and changed the game.

Jennifer: Good!

Was it your intent to introduce queer themes and people into the television zeitgeist?

Jennifer: To be honest, we never analyzed it like that. It just seemed to me, if we were representing lives, especially those in the fashion world and the creative world – it’s full of gay people. And you know, Edina married one – one of her husbands was gay! (Laughs) It’s just part of the fabric of society.

But it wasn’t then, right?

Joanna: Do you think it had a way of making people feel more open toward gays, Chris?

I do think so. I also think it made gay people feel comfortable in their own skin. I know friends who call you their lifeline because they’re gay and grew up in small towns; they had no role models, no one who even acknowledged them or their sexuality. How does it feel to know that you and these characters had an immense influence on people in the LGBT community?

Jennifer: I feel incredibly proud, then. We have a lot to thank the gay community for, because I think the show largely started being popular in the gay community and through that into the wider community. So, it’s been a lovely relationship.

Joanna: We had the most wonderful award given to us in New York from the LGBT community (the 2002 Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Award) and I’m totally proud of mine. It’s a wonderful citation which has made us priestesses of New York forever. It came from them thanking us for exactly what you’re thanking us for, and it makes me feel so humbled because Jennifer actually wrote these two characters and the characters are the people who have somehow become attached to us like an outer skin. It’s rather thrilling to be attached to those characters.

How attached are you to those characters?

Jennifer: Only in that it’s very hard to move without having a glass of champagne put into your hands. That makes life really, really nice. (Both laugh)

Are you drinking at this very moment?

Jennifer: We are! Hugely! She’s just poured a vodka into my champagne.

What cocktail do you recommend people order when they watch Ab Fab: The Movie?

Joanna: I think it’s gotta be the Stoli-Bolli cocktail. Stolichnaya vodka slipped into a glass of champagne – it’s almost half and half, actually, the way we drink it. (Both laugh)

Jennifer: It just knocks the bubbles out and puts a little bit more alcohol in.

Joanna: But as they would not add: Please drink responsibly.

Jennifer: It would damage your health. It would severely damage your health. (Both laugh)

Edina is always saying, “All my friends are gay.” How true is that for you in real life?

Jennifer: (Laughs) All my friends are gay!

Joanna, let’s talk about Patsy being transgender. Her gender change was addressed several times during the series. Why was it decided that Patsy should be trans?

Joanna: Yes, in series 2 (episode) “Morocco” we had a flashback to when Patsy had indeed been taking hormones and grown a mustache...

Jennifer: (Laughs)

Joanna: And cut her hair off, had something switched on. Sadly after a year, it dropped off and she stopped the hormones, had a quick shave and went back to being Patsy again. But she goes in and out of it. And I think she was slightly dreading having to do it this time (for the movie), which is why she tried to resist. (Slips into character as Patsy) “No, Eddy, no!” And indeed she managed to fool a very, very old almost-blind woman that she was a man.

Jennifer: She makes a very good man. We are basically like a married couple, Edina and Patsy, in a funny way. (Laughs) And they are sort of genderless.

Joanna: Indeed. In one of the New York episodes we got married by Whoopi Goldberg! (Both laugh)

I’ve always thought of you as gay men in women’s bodies.

Jennifer and Joanna: We are, yeah!

What advice do both of you have for gays who are on a quest to live their best life?

Jennifer: Don’t listen to anybody else. Kate Moss’s great thing: “Never complain, never explain.” That’s a very good way of living.

Joanna: She’s adapted it from the original quotation, which was from the 1930s: “Never apologize, never explain.”

Jennifer: Oh!

Joanna: Never apologize – I think that’s a good one.

You’ve always had something to say about the PR industry on the show. What other business could use some mocking?

Jennifer: I think politics is just making a mockery of itself at the moment, so that’s not much help.

Joanna: Bankers have sort of been done, with things like The Wolf of Wall Street and The Big Short and so on. All those that have kind of taken on the financial world. What else is there, Jennifer? Plenty?

Jennifer: (Laughs) I don’t know!

Joanna: But you didn’t really set out to make a parody of it – you just had that as the background.

Jennifer: Well, the great thing about PR is you can do anything. It can be any job, you can go anywhere. It’s such a wide, wide field, so it was the perfect job for (Edina) because it meant that during any show you could do anything – you’re not stuck in an office. But I suppose nowadays the thing is, nobody’s stuck in an office anymore. You know, anyone can live online, live at home, work at home, do their own PR via social media. You could honestly do your job from your bed, and that’s fantastic.

When doing Eddy and Patsy in drag what should a queen always keep in mind?

Jennifer: Ohh, well, you know, the funny thing is, when they do Patsy they used to always do kind of trashy dressing. But actually, I noticed yesterday at London Pride they were very well dressed. I think Patsys are becoming better dressed, and that’s quite important for Patsy because you’ve gotta start off looking good, like you’ve got somewhere to go. Always give yourself somewhere to go.

And then by the end of the night?

Jennifer: By the end of the night, you can be hopeless. I mean, literally. Spread eagle.

What about Eddy?

Jennifer: Oh, Eddy… everything’s gotta be too small. Wear shoes that literally hobble you and costumes that strangle you. Remember that Eddy has never woken and not been marked by her clothing; she’s always marked. Elasticated marks everywhere on her body from the clothes.

Where can we expect to see Eddy and Patsy in 20 years?

Jennifer: In a home.

Joanna: Attached to intravenous bottles of Stolichnaya and Bolly. Still smoking like chimneys. Organs removed.

Jennifer: But having a fabulous time.

Joanna: Still having a fabulous time.

Any final words for your gay darlings?

Joanna: We love you, sweetie darlings!

I told my mom I interviewed Mariah Carey and she cried. “I know how much this means to you,” she said, verklempt. 

She knows Mariah saved my life. I was 10 and confused and gay when I first heard her voice. It was one of those meant-to-be moments: A friend eagerly, and thankfully, played me the cassette single of “Emotions.” That voice, all seven octaves, captivated me, changed me. Years later, when I heard the curly-haired, hand-wavey songstress singing pick-me-ups like “Hero,” “Make It Happen” and “Can’t Take That Away (Mariah’s Theme),” I was lifted beyond those signature high notes. 

In 1997, I was 15 and still confused, on the brink of self-discovery, without a role model. The parallel wasn’t lost on me – Mariah was coming into her authentic self, channeling the artist she never could be on the triumphant confessional Butterfly, a metaphorical nod to the newfound freedom she was feeling after years of professional and personal captivity. The album, which turns 20 next year, ended on a deeply intimate note with “Outside,” where she referenced the inferior feelings she harbored as a biracial child. 

As a gay adolescent internalizing the “feeling there’s no one completely the same,” as the song goes, my already-strong bond to the chart-topper, the diva, the survivor – my musical salvation, my “it gets better” – was strengthened. It was more than music. It is and has always been a palpable affinity to Mariah’s courageous and encouraging life story. 

The story of an emancipated 27-year-old woman asserting independence. The story of a broken-winged 31-year-old woman who, a decade into her illustrious career, hit rock bottom, entered rehab for “exhaustion” and more than made it through the rain – four years later, in 2005, “We Belong Together,” the second single off The Emancipation of Mimi, held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 weeks. For Mariah’s ever-faithful “lambs” who, too, have experienced, or are still experiencing the outside, it’s her inspirational narrative they’ve clung to with undying devotion.  

Nearly 25 years after first hearing her voice on cassette, my phone rings. It’s Mariah Carey, the sales-crushing icon with a whopping 18 No. 1 singles, the five-time Grammy winner, my childhood lifeline, our ally. As we speak, I’d be remiss not to acknowledge the roots of our connection, so I do. We also, of course, talk about Vegas, where she’s headlining The Colosseum at Caesars Palace with her hits show, Mariah #1 to Infinity, now armed with more “confidence,” she says, to go on vocal “tangents.” Naturally, her lingerie collection comes up. Furthermore, Mariah elaborates on the “unconditional love” she’s experienced from the LGBT community, which she emphasized when GLAAD recently recognized her with an Ally Award for all the lives she’s changed. An honor she received, in part, and most admirably, by changing her own.

You can’t see me right now but I’m bowing down.
Awww! I’m bowing down right back. 

I’m going to start with the GLAAD Media Awards because what a big moment for me, too, as a gay man to finally see you honored for being an ally. You acknowledged the “unconditional love” from the LGBTQ community, and it’s true: I’ve never had anything less than that for you. To be completely honest, you and your music were why I followed my dream of being a writer who one day wanted to interview you. And here we are. Anyway, Lamb 4 Life right here; not even kidding.
Oh, wow; that’s amazing! L4L! Seriously – that’s such a great thing to hear; thank you for telling me that. 

http://issuu.com/gayvegas/docs/gay_vegas_magazine_august_2016/46?e=12173140/37581984