To be perfectly honest, before I began researching this story, I hadn’t really thought about how the rest of the world views the LGBTQ community. In Santa Fe, it’s easy to be complacent about LGBTQ equality (with one big exception: marriage). But thanks to a pair of Santa Feans prepared to take on the world, I quickly learned that the wardrobe creativity and convivial dance parties that characterize Santa Fe Pride are hardly the norm.

A year ago, I didn’t own a single suit. My clothing options for job interviews were limited to a single pair of denim jeans, plain-colored running shoes and three wrinkled button-up shirts. Quickly! I thought. I must rectify this! Several hundred dollars later, my wardrobe is presentable and my girlfriend is less embarrassed to be seen with me in public. Then I began to notice something.

SFR staff's favorite activities for staying cool when it is HOT!

This year, Santa Fe’s annual International Folk Art Market comes to Museum Hill for its ninth encore.

Once, in a college sociology class, my professor told the class that alcohol doesn’t affect your ability to make decisions; it affects your ability to care about the outcome. Since then, every time I go out, before I partake in libations, I make my decision on how I’m getting home and throw away the key (sometimes almost literally).

The plan: Encourage a local, home-based economy based on the strategies pioneered by Live Work New Mexico.