Wes Smoot 4/1/22 Wes Smoot 4/1/22

Felix III Interview SXSW 2022

We got to chat with Felix III during SXSW 2022 at the iconic Cheer Up Charlies in Austin, TX. This up and coming, queer, singer/songwriter had a lot to share. We talked new single After Hours and Felix even answered fan’s questions live via Twitter.

Wes Smoot 3/23/22 Wes Smoot 3/23/22

JVN POP-UP SALON | SXSW 2022

The Fab Five have taken over my hometown of Austin, Texas once before with season 6 of Netflix’s Emmy award-winning show Queer Eye— and guess what? I never got the chance to meet Jonathan Van Ness.

So when we heard about a JVN pop-up salon as part of SXSW, we hauled ass over! Inspired by the Getting Curious’ star’s new products, JVN Hair, salon owners Janet St. Paul and Natasha McMillen partnered with SXSW to create an inclusive space for attendees to enjoy some much needed pampering.

Partners in Business & Life: Natasha McMillen (left) & Janet St Paul (right)

Salon owner Janet St. Paul told Unleashed LGBTQ:

“What I love about this event is.. if you look around, in every chair, you’ll see a different age, gender, race. This makes us very proud.”

She also notes her excitement in partnering with JVN Hair:

“As a business owner, stylist, and member of the LGBTQ community, I’m so grateful for this opportunity… Not to mention I’m a huge fan of JVN!”

Gary Riggs, Wesley Smoot, & Natasha McMillen

Natasha McMillen mentions seeing five small children who traveled hours with their parents, waiting most of the day to get their hair styled and a glimpse of their hero, Jonathan Van Ness. “They came in with fashionable star-shaped yellow glasses feeling pumped to meet JVN. The way Jonathan resonates with such a broad audience is a testament to his work; there’s an energy that is just as infectious and genuine in-person, as it is on screen.”

The theme for this pop-up was called Come As You Are, which Gary Riggs described as: “Very fitting.”

Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness & Unleashed LGBTQ creator Wesley Smoot SXSW 2022

When asked what the JVN pop-up experience at SXSW was like, Jonathan Van Ness told Unleashed:

“It’s been fabulous, I love being in a salon. I’m working alongside so many talented stylists and getting really positive feedback about our new products. The experience is kind of surreal, we put a lot of care in developing JVN Hair. We launched in August 2021, so it’s amazing to see it all in this capacity. There’s so much more to come.”

Jonathan Van Ness tells readers, products are now available at: jvnhair.com, Sephora, and of course Janet St Paul Salon.

Wes Smoot 3/21/22 Wes Smoot 3/21/22

DOLLYVERSE PRESENTED BY BLOCKCHAIN CREATIVE LABS- SXSW 2022

By Wesley Smoot

Dolly Parton and James Patterson in conversation with Connie Britton at ACL Live during Blockchain Creative Labs’ Dollyverse at SXSW

SXSW 2022 was an absolute success. Many like myself, had the opportunity to network with industry leaders, interview award-winning talent, and attend the many outstanding film screenings and music showcases.

With that said, there will always be specific moments that stand out in everyone’s South by experience. For me, it had to be none other than: Dollyverse.

On March 18, the final days of SXSW 2022 Blockchain Creative Labs hosted Dollyverse at ACL Live Moody Theater. The event opened with multiple country music acts.

Following these performances a panel ensued, moderated by Emmy-nominated actress Connie Britton. Connie discussed the release of the novel Run, Rose, Run, with the legend herself, Dolly Parton and best-selling co-author James Patterson. (I already ordered mine)

Dolly Parton and James Patterson at ACL Live during Blockchain Creative Labs’ Dollyverse at SXSW

I was beyond myself to learn, prior to the panel, music icon Dolly Parton would be performing only feet away from me and my team. This was to be her first ever appearance and performance at SXSW.

To be perfectly honest, I was expecting maybe three or four songs (and I would have been more than content with that). Dolly Parton delivered a full show to a packed audience, opening each song with heartwarming stories that included growing up in Tennessee, standing out amongst her peers in a Penecostal upbringing, and of course love & family. Dolly performed her biggest hits spanning decades, leaving audience members at times in tears or laughter. To this day, no one does it better.

Dolly Parton performs on stage at ACL Live during Blockchain Creative Labs’ Dollyverse at SXSW

Other highlights included Blockchain Creative Labs providing attendees with their own Dolly Parton NFT.

Scott Greenberg, the CEO of Blockchain Creative Labs (BCL), partner for the event, said that Parton is “the perfect person to introduce to the mainstream audience an easy-to-use, Web3 experience that will live-stream her SXSW event and provide them the opportunity to own and enjoy her music.”

While NFT was undoubtedly the buzzword of SXSW 2022, I am still working to understand its values and applications. Dolly Parton had this to say:

““I’m almost always up for trying something new and different, I’d say releasing NFTs at my first ever appearance at SXSW, definitely counts as new and different!””

— Dolly Parton

Wes Smoot 3/3/22 Wes Smoot 3/3/22

AFTER THE RAIN, COMES THE RAINBOW- BIGOTRY HAS NO PLACE AT SXSW

SXSW is just around the corner and we hope ya’ll are ready!

This 9-day conference and festival is welcoming artists and industry professionals from around the globe to meet in Austin, Texas for one of the most highly anticipated comebacks of the last three years.

Celebrate the start of SXSW 2022 at the **Big Gay Kickoff Party** on March 11 at Rain for the biggest, gayest party in town.

While Texas has already been a hotbed for controversial legislation following the appalling abortion bill carried out by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, there seems to be even more on the horizon.

Gov. Abbott's recent order requires the state's child welfare agency to treat gender-affirming care for young transgender Texans as child abuse.

SXSW organizers released this statement Wednesday:

“We unequivocally denounce actions by Governor Greg Abbott to put transgender children and their families in harm’s way. We will continue to use our platform to elevate voices from the LGBTQ+ community.”

There is currently a considerable number of LGBTQ+ speakers, panels, films, and musicians included as part SXSW 2022. It seems regardless of the political climate, SXSW and its organizers will continue to show support to our community, providing a space for conversations that include marginalized groups like the transgender community.

While things are bleak at the moment it’s important to band together and in solidarity and ensure voices are continually heard in the great State of Texas.

Because as we all know: After the rain, comes the rainbow.

Attending SXSW? Do check out TRANSforming Comedy:

TRANSforming Comedy is a conversation centered around transgender comedy creatives in the world of film and television. In the face of disproportionate and divisive debate, comedic writers and filmmakers with the lived experience being transgender challenge the reflexive overrepresentation of dramatic treatment of trans stories through the radical genre of comedy. Audiences will hear and learn how comedy can change culture, inviting connection through shared humor and catharsis through laughter.

Additional LGBTQ+ events can be found here.

Wes Smoot 2/23/22 Wes Smoot 2/23/22

Dad Throws Teen Party to Celebrate Her First Period.

Ok, not exactly, but not-not exactly.

The Karuk Tribe (Northern California) have long performed a ceremony called a Ihuk. Not familiar?, neither was I. Ihuk is a coming of age celebration for a young girl’s transitions into womanhood following her first menstrual cycle. Not something many girl’s might want announced, let alone celebrated with friends and family.

But why is the subject of menstruation taboo?

Long Line of Ladies is a documentary short directed by Rayka Zehtabchi and Shaandiin Tome. While both fairly young, they’re no amateurs to filmmaking.

Rayka Zehtabchi is an award-winning director. In fact, her film Period. End of Sentence (available on Netflix) made her the first Iranian woman to win an Oscar. Shaandiin Tome has some bragging rights of her own. Her award-winning, break-out short film "Mud (Hashtł’ishnii)" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018.

Loves it.

We got the opportunity to ask some questions to these accomplished and talented directors about their new documentary short, Long Line of Ladies, being featured this March at SXSW 2022.

Pinkies up, now sip!

Directors: Shaandiin Tome & Rayka Zehtabchi

What inspired you to make this documentary?

This documentary has been a long time coming. On Rayka’s side, this short doc is almost like a reprise, but with a different approach, on menstrual equity in communities. Her short documentary Period. End of Sentence., was an exploration into a community that treats menstruation as taboo. With the help of The Pad Project, there was the wish to make something that was more of a celebration rather than a detriment. On my (Shaandiin’s) side, I have been in the space of Indigenous Film and Media since I’ve started my career. So, I’m always on a trajectory of finding ways to uplift and make the Indigenous narrative known and celebrated.

How did you first hear about The Karuk Tribe and Ihuk.

Rayka did a lot of research, I think weeks or months, of exploring different communities that celebrated menstruation. She found a website that was a recent documentation of the Ihuk ceremony by Ty’ithreeha Allen; it was from her perspective, having recently gone through it. Rayka reached out to Pimm Allen (her mom) and then found out that she had another daughter, Ahty, that was about to go through her ceremony. So, the stars aligned in such a lovely way for us to begin meeting with the family and finding ways to listen and understand more of their story.

Was it a culture shock to see something that is not openly discussed be celebrated?

Speaking more for myself (Shaandiin), it wasn’t as much of a culture shock. I am Diné (Navajo), and we have a similar coming of age ceremony called the Kinaaldá. However, because of boarding schools, my family wasn’t as established in tradition, and I opted out of mine because of how intimidating I thought it was. I think if I saw something like this when I was younger, it would have inspired me to take pride in who I was at the time and delve deeper into what it meant for me to be a young Diné woman. It’s astonishing to see a family that is so in tune to who they are and how they pass knowledge to their children; I think a lot of what people might see as a culture shock isn’t necessarily just how menstruation is talked about openly, but how the whole community is so much different than what we see in a western culture.

What do you hope this documentary helps accomplish for young girls and the public’s perception of menstruation?

Ahty should be the one to answer this question. She is the reason this whole project came together, and all because she wanted to put a positive image out there of what it means to be a young woman coming of age. Rayka and I have talked about it a lot where we wish we could grow up again, knowing what we have learned from this process. Overall, this documentary helps create a perspective of how a whole community comes together to uplift a woman, and she isn’t able to go through this process alone. I think that speaks for what a lot of young women are hoping for at this time in their lives; it’s not an individual taking. It takes a strong community.

Any upcoming projects we should look out for?

We are always working, haha. But we actually have a similar journey in wanting to go back to our originating passion of film, narrative! We have been on a fortunate journey of being able to document life in front of us, but we also both love to craft worlds and find expression through them. So hopefully, we will both be working on narrative projects (but if I had to bet, Rayka will have something out sooner than me!)

So let's hear it for the girls!… and these accomplished young filmmakers who took it upon themselves to share a culture and tradition that celebrates, uplifts, and makes women feel seen, respected, and included. Let’s see to it that one day conversations like these will be normalized. Period.

Long Line of Ladies premiered at the 2022 Sundance Festival and is scheduled for SXSW 2022:

March 13, 2022, 11:30 AM Rollins Theatre at The Long Center

March 14, 2022, 9:00 AM Online

March 17, 2022, 6:45 PM Alamo Drafthouse Lamar D