8 | OutBoise Magazine | NEWS
OutBoise.com | Issue 3.2 | January 2015
Introducing Brandi Benson
By Desmond Slowe
Have you ever met a superstar? You know,
a person who is truly exceptional that others
naturally gravitate to and is just stellar as a human
being. I met one today and her name is Brandi
Benson.
As a premier burlesque performer in the Treasure
Valley, Brandi is no stranger to being introduced
to an audience. But being a variety performer
is just one aspect of this remarkable lady. I am
introducing her as the newest board member of
The Community Center.
Like a diamond, Brandi is a multi-faceted
woman that happens to be burlesque performer,
a lesbian, a mother, a wife, an advocate, a lion
tamer, hibachi chef, origami folder, cobbler and
potentially gay man. Okay, maybe not all those
descriptions but this lady is talented and busy.
Although I am touting her off as the next
international sensation, like Nicki Minaj or Britney
Spears, she is actually a down-to-earth, humorous
person with lots of energy and ideas. There is no
pretense to her – what you see is what you get.
She believes in being who she is and that is how
she lives her life. Brandi brings a whole different
perspective to the board of The Community
Center. As a mother of two young boys, she and
her wife bring a family focus to the plight to the
LGBTQA leadership of The Community Center.
She is a firm believer if we (gays) do not know
where we have been and how we got to where
we are now then we will never be able to move
forward and show those who aren’t part of our
gay community that we are not that different
from them. Brandi, like millions of other parents,
pays her bills, mows her lawn and raises her kids.
There is absolutely no difference in her daily life as
a lesbian mother and wife than any other married
person in this world.
Brandi shared a wonderful story about her
volunteer work she does at her son’s school.
Remember, what you see is what you get with her
and she doesn’t hide her life. One day the school
counselor relayed a story about a fellow student
in the same grade as her oldest son. He said that
this fifth grade girl came up to him and said that
she needed to talk to him. She was very nervous
and kept referencing a classmate’s mother, who
happened to be Brandi. And how Brandi has
a wife and likes girls. The little girl said that she
might like girls like that. What Brandi liked the most
about this story was the response the straight
school counselor advised the little girl. He told her
that she didn’t need to decide right now. Brandy
felt this was a perfect response because being
who you are without somebody thinking you
need to be a certain way or act a certain way
was remarkable and those are the straight allies
the LGBTQ community needs.
Just being a loving, attentive and supportive
mother spoke volumes to this little girl and possibly
other children at her son’s school. They probably
don’t know what a role model is, but like this little
girl, know that there is a person that they can
relate to and use as an example to mold their life.