Jody Cofer

On staff at Murray State, Jody Cofer prepares undergrads for hot careers. As chairperson of the Kentucky Fairness Alliance, he advocates civil rights and fairness. And on special occasions? He rocks the lipgloss and mascara as gorgeous performer Jody Shalane!

Jody Cofer, you are cute, cute, cute, no doubt about it! Look at you! You’re darling! And that accent!
Yes, I was born in Birmingham, Ala., and that becomes pretty clear when you hear me speak. The Southern accent is alive and well with me!

How’d you get up here to these parts?
My mother married my stepfather when I was in middle school. He was living here, so we moved here to be with him. Of course, there was always talk about moving back “home.” We said when I finished school, then we said a year later. And, well, here we are. Western Kentucky has now become home.

Well, welcome home! Where did you go to school?
Marshall County High School, which, I might add, is a great school.

Marshall County is a great school! Did you go on to college?
Well, that’s a work in progress. I’m a student for life. I have college credits from Western Kentucky Community and Technical College and Murray State University. I still take classes. I just finished an ethics class this week with MSU’s popular Dr. Gayman. It was a blast — and I mean that. It’s a great time to talk about ethics.

And you work full time at Murray?
Yes, I joined the MSU staff in 2001. I’m program specialist for Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activity.

Wow, that sounds very fah-fah-fah!
I manage a variety of programs aimed to better prepare undergraduates to be well-rounded and more attractive candidates as they enter graduate school or the working world.

How do you go about that?
The basic premise is to engage students early on through faculty-mentored research or scholarly projects that, when finished, can lead them to prestigious presentation or publication opportunities.

I’m constantly amazed at what driven young people can accomplish today with the right mentors and a little assistance. Undergraduate Research is definitely the way to go to make your academic record pop!

Right on! Do you love working in academics?
Yes! I’ve thought many times about moving into professional civil rights activism, but the academic community is for me.

So tell us about your civic rights activism!
I consider fairness a universal human right. It infuriates me to no end each time I hear about or witness someone being discriminated against at their job or in public accommodations because of being who they are.

So I joined the Kentucky Fairness Alliance (KFA) in 2006, and I was on that board a very short time when I was elected chairperson. I was re-elected to another term, but I’ll soon be handing the reigns over to the current vice-chairperson. Travis Myles, a friend, colleague and attorney in Louisville, will do a great job in the chairmanship and I’m behind him 100 percent.

The Kentucky Fairness Alliance has a good message that I want to see resonate throughout the Commonwealth, and especially here at home in western Kentucky. Fairness is a Kentucky value!

Well, you certainly inspired our Paducah Human Rights Commission to send a special proclamation to Governor Beshear.
Yes. Governor Patton had put forth an executive order banning discrimination in state employee hiring based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Governor Fletcher overturned that ban — making it legal to discriminate against gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people. This summer, Governor Beshear reinstated the ban. And your commission sent a proclamation thanking him.

Yes, we did. I don’t think folks should be able to discriminate for any reason — including sexual orientation or gender identity.
I don’t either. In the next 10 years, I’d like to see a statewide fairness law to protect against discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations passed here in Kentucky like it has in 20 other states across the country. We’ve got to get more fair-minded folks in our legislature.

You should run for something!
Is Queen of the World available? You aren’t the first person to pose that comment though. I don’t think it’s for me in the foreseeable future. I’d be lying, though, if I said conversations haven’t taken place. Oh wait, you’ve given me the perfect place to say, “I have no comment at this time.”

Now you were nominated in 2007 for a Murray State University Staff Excellence Award.
Yes.

And this year, you were named the Ally of the Year by the MSU Alliance, the gay-straight student organization. Rock on!
Yes, and I took on the role of MSU’s Institutional Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Liaison and joined the Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Professionals. So now I’m a “go between” of sorts on matters of specific importance to the LGBT community here at Murray and the bigger scene.

So when did you realize you’re gay?
Well, let me complicate this a little more. I’m actually bisexual.

No!
Yes!

You know, so’s this one! Do you know him?
No, we don’t all know each other! He’s cute though, hehe.

How awesome to be able to date, you know, anybody!
I’ve dated and loved people of both sexes. Surprisingly enough, I just came out of a relationship with a girl who still lights my face up every time I get the opportunity to talk about her.

Do people give you a hard time?
I’ve faced discrimination, but I’ve never allowed it to stop me from being who I am. I get hate mail and derogatory comments still today and even worse is when that crap is directed toward those among my family and friends that I love.

Do you think it’s easier for folks to come out today than, say, 10 years ago?
Yes, it is much easier to come out today, but there are still many challenges and sadly there are some scary numbers out there on teen suicide among the LGBT community.

I’ve been very fortunate to have a mother as bright and loving as mine to go through it with, but for the wider community, yeah, it’s very clear that more education on the matter needs to be done. Maybe that is the cross-section of my interest in advocacy and education.

What kind of partner are you looking for?
Well, I really get the best of both worlds being “bi.” I find interest and attraction in all kinds of life around me. I avoid answering the standard question, “Which do you prefer?” I really have no preference. I’m interested in finding someone who just loves me to death — who thinks I hung the moon and the stars!

Seriously, though, the future man or woman in my life will be someone with a similar vision of fairness, open-mindedness and ultimately able to be good stewards of their own life while being a huge part of mine.

Well rock on, Jody Cofer. Those are beautiful qualities that we should all look for. Speaking of beautiful….
Oh, here it comes.

You’re GORGEOUS, Miss Jody Shalane!
Thank you, thank you.

When did you start performing in drag?
I’ve always tinkered with it, but Jody Shalane came to be in 2001. I saw a friend perform Gladys Night’s “End of the Road Medley,” and it hit me. There are certainly lots of stereotypes about drag queens, but there are some truly talented impersonators out there that have made an art form out of doing what they love.

I’ve performed in nine states, and I’ve had more than 38,000 visits to my MySpace page. Apparently someone likes seeing Jody Shalane!

I’m sure it’s more than one person! Miss Jody is quite the stunning beauty! Tell us some of your beauty secrets!
Hum… Well, it’s amazing what can be done when you blend a couple different shades of foundation (don’t use Covergirl, folks), outline your lips with a dark sexy color and apply Mac’s Lipglass without any lipstick. And oh yes, attitude!

Well, girlfriend, you’ve got plenty of that! What’s your idea of a great date?
Simple. I’m all about the simple things these days and a great date can simply be dinner (and I must say I’m really liking Toucan’s in Paducah), a walk and some ice cream. I love ice cream.

And he or she would have to love pets, right?
Definitely! I have four dogs: Alexander, Abigail, Oreo and Sasha Shalane. Oh, we can’t forget about Addin, my beta fish, and Mocha, the little one. He’s a dwarf rabbit.

That’s quite a menagerie!
I haven’t heard the word menagerie in a while… yea, I know, I know!

What do you do when you’re not working?
When is that? Between Murray State, Kentucky Fairness Alliance and Jody Shalane, I’m not sure I get time off. I love to spend time with those I care for and have been told many times (mostly from significant others) that I spend too much time working, but I love what I do.

I’ve begun to push for that balance in my own life that I’m looking for in a partner. I swim a mile a day, so a fear of water won’t work.

Wow, a mile a day?
Yes, Miss Jody has to keep her figure in shape.

So when you date women, are they cool with the fact that, as Miss Jody, you’re way more glamorous than they are?
The funny thing is, the last guy I dated hated Jody Shalane, and the last girl I dated loved her. Go figure.

Go figure, indeed!

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