This second act was made possible when Frye came out at 38. “I tried to be a straight man,” he confesses. “But for me, being in the closet was a dishonest way to live.” So today he is out and proud, splitting time between his home in Portland and Den- ver, where his four children, ages 8 to 16, live. “I never want to go more than three days without seeing my kids,” he admits. That, however, did happen this past summer when he returned to Brazil, a place he had visited as a Mormon missionary 20 years ago. His second act there was not one of converting, but compassion—for both the country and its people. He led a group of dental professionals, providing care to those in rural villages, many of whom had never been to a dentist before. Three dentists performed more than 500 procedures on that trip, one that Frye says he definitely plans to do again. But Dr. Raymond, as he prefers to be called, has even helped others have their own second acts, like earlier this year, when he provided a complete makeover for a victim of domestic violence. “Her teeth were so bad she covered her mouth when she spoke,” he recalls. “Her attitude had already changed. She no longer considered herself a victim. We just gave her a smile to match.” Far from being “professional suicide,” Frye has proven to be an astute businessman. Earlier this year, he created his Icing at-home teeth-whit- ening system, though closer to his heart is Bling For Life, which will sell crystals to raise money for teen suicide prevention. “As a Mormon, I have seen firsthand the high suicide rate among gay and lesbian teens. My own daughter told me that if she were a lesbian, she would want to commit suicide,” he says. “That hurts. But I know that religion—and society—can put that kind of pressure on teenagers. “My goal,” he continues, “is to be an advocate for people who can’t stand up for themselves.” That alone is reason enough to make anyone smile. — MARK SCHULTE “I THINK I’ve learned the lesson that you can’t go back in time to change things. I look back on my college days and really wish I hadn’t given up tennis,” explains photographer Jeff Sheng, who, at 18, hung up his tennis racket because of the homophobia he felt in the sports world. “I just didn’t feel comfortable being out.” It was this loss—something that still impacts Sheng more than a decade later—that eventually led him to pick up a camera and, even more impor- tant, to shoot “Fearless,” a photo series of more than 100 out student athletes that, in addition to providing some serious eye candy (hello, stu- dent body!), he hopes will empower gay student athletes. “It was my gesture to try to start a dialogue on a very difficult subject,” Sheng says. In the four years since he began exhibiting “Fearless,” Sheng has man- aged to hit more than 40 high schools and colleges, where he has shown his portraits and given speeches on homophobia in sports. He’s also exhibited his work at the 2010 Winter Olympics Pride House, the 2009 International Conference on LGBT Human Rights in Copenhagen and ESPN headquarters. As word got out about “Fearless,” Sheng received inspiration for his next major project. “Several service members started writing to me—some of them anonymously—saying they had seen [“Fearless”] and wondered if I had ever con- sidered doing a photo series on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” And though Sheng was definitely interested in doing the project, he was hesitant. After all, how do you photograph someone without blowing their cover and potentially ruining their military career? It took him a year to figure it out. Some 90,000 frequent-flier miles, countless mili- tary base-adjacent hotel rooms and two maxed-out credit cards later, Sheng has shot more than 40 active- duty service members for his series, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which opened to the public in September at the Kaycee Olsen Gallery in Los Angeles. He’s also published photos from the series in Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Vols. 1 and 2—both of which were published this year (with Vol. 3, a wrap-up photo book, due out next year). The photo books (available at dadtbook.com) feature full-color portraits of GLBT military personnel— with their faces artistically hidden—as well as letters, e-mails and essays highlighting the stories of loneliness, alienation and heartache caused by the discriminatory policy. “I really hope that I am not just putting pretty pictures on the wall, but that I am making people think and hopefully even changing the minds of people who are homophobic or who might have a wrong impression of the LGBT com- munity.” And as for his lost first love, Sheng manages to find time—despite a hectic speaking engage- ment schedule, five to six days a week in the stu- dio and a part-time teaching gig at University of California, Santa Barbara—to pick up a racket and play tennis with the boys—in an all-gay league. Game, set, match! —JOHN HOBBS Dr. Raymond Frye THE SMILE MAKER THIS is one doc who should love second acts because, it seems, that’s when Dr. Raymond Frye really shines. Take his dental practice. His first one ended when his partners found out he was gay and told him that to remain in business with him would be “professional suicide.” Ousted from the company he founded, for his second act he created Bling Dental, which in just over a year has grown to 1,500 patients, including celebrities such as Mackenzie Phillips and Taylor Dayne, who travel to Portland’s artsy Pearl District for treatment. Jeff Sheng THE SHARPSHOOTER 39 NOVEMBER 2010