Category Archives: Community

  Comedy, Community, Deals, Eat Drink and Be Mary, Gay Bars and Clubs, Lesbian, News and Happenings   No comments

Queer Ladies Night NYC

QUEER LADIES’ NIGHT

AT THE ROCKWOOD ON OCTOBER 18, 2018

 

LGBTQ MUSICAL ACTIVIST, JESSIE STANDAFER AND LESBIAN SINGER/SONGWRITER, CASSIDY ANDREWS CELEBRATE QUEER WOMEN IN MUSIC.

Queer women deserve to be seen. They deserve to hear Queer voices, sing Queer songs, and share space together. It is time Queer Women get what they deserve. Share an intimate evening of community, music, and healing. Lesbian singer/songwriters’ Jessie Standafer & Cassidy Andrews have curated a night of music presented exclusively by Lesbian, Bisexual, and Queer women + femmes, and they want YOU in the room!

For full schedule and tickets, please visit http://www.ticketfly.com/event/1760022.

Come and be part of the queerest thing to ever hit Rockwood Music Hall on NYC’s Lower East Side.

Jessie Standafer

Cassidy Andrews

Alexa Wilkinson

Katie Madison

Jamie Hood

Lenaé A. Harris

Janelle Maire

Emily Wolfe

The women featured in this evening have toured and shared the stage with Ingrid Michaelson, Josh Kelley, Natasha Beddingfield, Mieka Pauly, Bess Rogers, Lelia Broussard, Vanessa Carlton, Dar Williams, Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers, Rosi Golan, Kate Voegele and many more.

Thursday, October 18, 2018, General Admission

Doors: 6:30 PM  /   Show: 7:00 PM

Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 3 185 Orchard Street, New York, NY 10002

Share
Read More
  BEST OF NEW YORK, Cabaret, Celebrity, Comedy, Community, Deals, Drag, Eat Drink and Be Mary, Fashion, Gay Bars and Clubs, News and Happenings, Theatre and Entertainment, Transgender, Weekend Fun   No comments

WIGSTOCK Returns to New York City 201

WIGSTOCK, the legendary annual event that dominated drag culture from 1985 until 2003, is being relaunched Saturday, September 1, during Labor Day weekend by feisty festival founder Lady Bunny and Tony Award winner Neil Patrick Harris.

The day-long event will take place at the gorgeous new Pier 17 Rooftop in New York City’s Seaport District starting at 2PM and going until 10PM. This event will occur rain or shine.

Official Wigstock Design By ©Tabboo! 2018, courtesy Gordon Robichaux, NY

 

TICKETS– (Click image  above  for  tickets!)

GENERAL ADMISSION
$95.00 + Ticketmaster Fees

(*YES,  $95.  Fee’s  explained  below)

…..……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

THE PYRAMID PASS
$250 +Ticketmaster Fees

BENEFITS:
Exclusive surrounded-by-the-action standing ticket in VIP section (Front of Stage & Runway)
VIP post-show backstage afterparty with Drag Queen performers and other cast members
T-Shirt custom designed especially for WIGSTOCK 2.HO by Tabboo!
Commemorative poster
Two (2) Complimentary Drink Tickets
Portion of each Pyramid Pass ticket benefits GMHC (Gay Men’s Health Crisis)

…..……………………………………………………………………………………………

THE WIGSTOCK VERY IMPORTANT QUEEN EXPERIENCE
$1000 + Ticketmaster Fees (Limited Quantities)

BENEFITS:
Exclusive premium VVIP Seating in the VVIP Riser, the only seated section at the event
Premium Open Bar and Food
Exclusive access to the dedicated VVIP lounge and service area
T-Shirt custom designed especially for WIGSTOCK 2.HO by Tabboo!
Autographed commemorative poster (principal cast members including Lady Bunny and Neil Patrick Harris)
VVIP lanyard
Exclusive VVIP reception directly after the show with Lady Bunny and Neil Patrick Harris
VIP post-show backstage afterparty with Drag Queen performers and other cast members
Portion of each VIQ Experience ticket benefits GMHC (Gay Men’s Health Crisis)

 

 

*fee’s  explained. People have no idea, what costs are involved  in throwing a huge  event of this magnitude!

 

Lady Bunny  explains. “Hey! I was thrilled by the positive response to Wigstock returning. I wasn’t thrilled by the disappointment from some when they learned that the cheapest tickets were $95—apart from a few blocks of $18.95 tickets. If you think that’s too high, then you know I think it is. When I post about DJing Sundays at The Monster, my favorite thing to type is “Free!” at the end. When I performed Trans-Jester! for two years at Stonewall Inn, I loved making tickets affordable to most at $19.99.

I shun VIP anything, so you know that way higher than $95 VIP tickets was not my idea. Some forget that when we moved the event from Tompkins Square Park to the much larger piers, the production costs grew and we had two choices: to charge admission or not put on the show. We felt so guilty about charging at all that we donated 1/2 of our net profits to GMHC. This year’s tickets sales also contribute a portion to GMHC. So if you think I’m gouging, please know that gouging just isn’t in my nature.

I hope you’ll understand that the last outdoor, full-fledged Wigstock was around 17 years ago. And I’m sure you’ve noticed that the city has changed a lot since then, and is far more upscale. Tompkins Square Park’s bandshell is razed and that rusty pier is shut. I used to pay a permit fee of $50 to the Parks Dpt. for the use of Tompkins Square. The new space costs $35,000 to roll in equipment and use for rehearsals the day before, and $75,000 to use the day of the show and then roll the equipment back out. A whopping $66,000 go to union wages. I was never in charge of Wigstock’s finances, but lordy did I gag at the over $15,000 “filing fee” on this year’s budget. I was too defeated to even ask what that filing fee was for. But we lost our first location and then found this brand new, rooftop concert venue Pier 17 where Diana Ross will perform later in September. If it’s good enough for her, it’s good enough for me, I thought. It is gorgeous, and the view of water in the back and a wall of skyscrapers beside the stage is splendid and unique. But not at all cheap.

We’re also paying performers this time around, which only ever happened the two years we did that Wigstock-themed cruise. I’m happy about that, but paying 50+ performers adds up.

Around 13 of them are from out of town and they must be flown in and housed in hotels for two nights because the show starts at 3PM. They can’t arrive the day of the show from LA or SF, and the show needs Lina and Candis and Glamamore and Alaska and Juanita More and Latrice to rule. And if the oldest performing drag queen in the US—Darcelle XV from Portland–needs an assistant along her trip, then I want to provide two tickets for her. Bianca Del Rio will literally wipe off her make-up backstage and hop a flight directly from the festival to Sweden for a gig which pays her more than I ever could. So if her assistant carrying her extra bags of merch needs to accompany her, I want to pay for that. (I never said her plane would actually land, however.)

A bus for the 8 acts coming from Provincetown costs thousands to hire for 24 hours. But these gals have been doing back to back shows all summer and have taken the day off on their last weekend to lose money at Wigstock, departing at 4AM from P’town and back that same night. To me, they are all drag stars who are doing me a huge favor by appearing at all. I can’t repay them with a crappy bus which signals to them that I’m not concerned with their comfort. And have you seen Dina Martina and Ryan Landry? They definitely need to catch up on some beauty rest en route! Desmond Is Amazing needs edits on his track—that comes out of my own pocketbook and I’m happy to pay it. The festival didn’t last for 20+ years because I have a reputation of mistreating talent–or Flotilla. But the costs incurred by talent and the splashy new venue naturally get transferred to ticket buyers.

Most agree that our line-up is a sensational. And while $95 IS pricey, the show is 6 hours long. I totally understand that it may not be affordable for everyone, but that’s what it costs to bring Wigstock back—which is what people all over the world have begged me to do for decades. So we are back on Saturday, September 1st, and I sure hope you can make it!

Share
Read More
  Apparel, Community, Crime, Gay Bars and Clubs, News and Happenings   No comments

Teen Smashes Window at Stonewall Inn

A teenager irate he was thrown out of Greenwich Village’s historic Stonewall Inn, the birthplace of the LGBT civil rights movement, bashed in the bar’s window with a baseball bat early Saturday, officials said.

The attack did nearly $7,000 worth of damage to the window and the bar’s neon sign, authorities said

William Gomez, 19, was hanging out in the bar with co-workers when he was thrown out of the legendary Christopher St. watering hole by a bouncer, according to cops and Gomez’s mother.

He allegedly returned with a baseball bat about 4:30 a.m. and smashed the bar’s window with it, punching holes in the glass and damaging the neon sign that sits in the window.

Cops arrested Gomez near the scene, charging him with criminal mischief and reckless endangerment.

Gomez was freed after his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on Saturday evening.

He is not facing hate crime charges, since it does not appear that the attack was motivated by the bar’s significance in the gay rights movement, sources said.

Gomez’s mother, who declined to give her name, told the Daily News her son isn’t gay and his girlfriend is expecting their child soon.  (?? Seriously???  with  that shirt??)  She said he went to the bar with a group of co-workers.  Read more  at  Daily  News.

 

Share
Read More
  Art, Benefits, Celebrity, Community, Health and Wellness, HIV, Men, News and Happenings, Non-Profit News and Events, Theatre and Entertainment   No comments

Broadway Bares Raises $1.8 MILLION

Sexy seamen were ready to sink Battleships, frolicsome friends played “Striptionary,” and a rambunctious round of flashlight tag involved the entire audience during the steamy evening of sensational stripteases at Broadway Bares: Game Night.

This year’s record-breaking edition of the annual spectacular raised $1,875,090 with two standing-room-only performances at New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom.

Produced by and benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Game Night gave your ordinary night out a tantalizing twist with striptease production numbers inspired by beloved board, video, and arcade games.

Check out more  photos  on Gay Cities

Share
Read More
  Benefits, BEST OF NEW YORK, Celebrity, Community, Gay Bars and Clubs, Health and Wellness, Lesbian, Men, News and Happenings, Non-Profit News and Events, SAGE, Youth   No comments

50th Anniversary of Stonewall Inn

The Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative (SIGBI), the official 501(c)3 of the Stonewall Inn, announced that it will host its annual PRIDE reception on Monday, June 4th at the historic Stonewall Inn.

Launched in 2017, SIGBI is inspired by the struggles and ideals of the LGBTQ rights movement born from the Stonewall Inn Rebellion of 1969 though its awareness campaigns, educational programming, fundraising and candid public dialogue.

“We are excited to once again partner with Jet Blue and Brooklyn Brewery to support The Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative. The Initiative supports grass roots organizations across the country and especially those in places where equality has been slow to arrive.” Said Stacy Lentz, Co-owner of the Stonewall Inn and CEO of the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative. “With their generous support the Initiative is able to do the much-needed work of helping some of the most undeserved LGBTQ communities.”

This year, in response to the devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico, SIGBI will highlight the work of Proyecto Matria www.proyectomatria.org, which works to advance the equity of LGBTQ communities from two areas: human rights activism and the offering of services in the field of economic development and housing. Matria also has educational programs to train other organizations, public agencies and communities on how to stop discrimination against LGBTQ people and create safe spaces from an equity perspective.

 

SIGBI will also announce two major campaigns:

The inaugural Stonewall Auction, running now through June 12th on Charitybuzz is offering once in a lifetime celebrity experiences and items for bid, https://bit.ly/2J1ztNZ . Also, the Stonewall Inn Ambassadors, a cohort of activists, celebrities, and influencers, who will work together to elevate awareness and support for SIGBI over the next 12 months and through the 50th anniversary of Stonewall on June 28, 2019. Stonewall Inn Ambassadors include Chelsea Clinton, Bryan Lourd, Laverne Cox, Robbie Rogers, Geena Rocero and Cleve Jones. Please see full list at the end of this release. www.stonewallinitiative.org/new-index/

Both campaigns are programs of Pride Live Nation, www.pridelivenation.org.

During the reception, there will be a performance by Michael Blume and remarks by featured speaker Chely Wright.

Indie/soul artist Michael Blume has released his latest songs “R U Mad” and “Blunder” – from his upcoming EP Cynicism &Sincerity, which will be out June 8th via S-Curve Records. The songs are available now at all digital music outlets, including Spotify, Apple/iTunes, and Amazon……

See the new  video!   (PRESS HERE to watch)

The forthcoming EP release comes following a whirlwind year for Blume. Since arriving on the scene in 2015, New York-based singer, songwriter, and artist Michael Blume has consistently delivered daring, diverse, and dynamic anthems blurring the lines between simmering and soaring. He’s attracted acclaim from Rolling Stone, GQ, Nylon, Ladygunn, Pigeons & Planes, Earmilk, and Dujour and turned the uninitiated into believers at Governor’s Ball, Firefly, Lollapalooza, and will be performing at the Bonnaroo Music Arts Festival on June 10th.

Chely Wright www.chely.com rose to fame as a commercial country singer in the 90’s and has since released eight studio albums and charted more than 15 singles on the Billboard charts. The Academy of Country Music named Wright “Top New Female Vocalist of 1995.”

About Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative

The Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative is inspired by the struggles and ideals of the LGBTQ rights movement born from the Stonewall Inn Rebellion of 1969. Through awareness campaigns, educational programming, fundraising and candid public dialogue, The Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative supports grassroots organizations across the country with a focus on those in communities where progress toward equality has been slow and discrimination, harassment, substance abuse, depression and suicide have become an unacceptable way of life. You can donate to SIGBI by visiting: www.stonewallinitiative.org/donate/

Share
Read More
  Benefits, Celebrity, Community, Health and Wellness, HIV, News and Happenings, Non-Profit News and Events, Theatre and Entertainment   No comments

“ANGELS IN AMERICA” Establishes Angel Fund

Producers Tim Levy (Director, NT America) and Jordan Roth (President, Jujamcyn Theaters) announced today that the Olivier Award®-winning National Theatre revival of Tony Kushner’s masterwork, Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, has established the “Angels Fund” to provide hundreds of $5 tickets to each part of the play to NYC-area LGBTQ & HIV/AIDS service organizations.

Some of the organizations that have received these specially-priced tickets include: Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA), Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), SAGE, Callen-Lorde Community Health Center and The LGBTQ Center.

 

The Angels Fund is supported by Howard Gilman Foundation and SHS Foundation with additional support from Debby Landesman, Barbara Whitman/Purple Plume Foundation, Daryl & Steven Roth & Elizabeth Armstrong.

 

“Everyone should have the opportunity to experience art as important, topical, and challenging as Angels in America – especially people like the clients and staff of GMHC, the world’s first AIDS service organization, who may not otherwise get the chance,” said Gay Men’s Health Crisis CEO Kelsey Louie. “Thanks to the Angels Fund and the National Theatre, many of our clients and staff will be able to see the production.”

 

“This season’s revival of Angels in America is much more than revisiting Tony Kushner’s brilliant plays with a spectacular cast,” said BC/EFA Executive Director, Tom Viola.   “It is a deep dive into how we find the courage, outrage and love to survive, even thrive in the midst of any calamity. Angels in America is a searing reflection of how we dare to love each other, as our best, worst and most exhilarating selves.   I thank the producers for sharing that mirror with Broadway Cares, our staff and volunteers.  We are blessed and ripped open by the experience.”

 

Angels in America producer Tim Levy said: “We wanted to make sure that individuals who are most directly connected to the content of the show, but who couldn’t afford full-priced tickets, had the opportunity to see it at an affordable price. We wanted to be able to share ‘The Great Work’ with those in the community who are actually doing The Great Work.”

 

Angels in America, which was nominated for a record-breaking 11 Tony Awards® will play its limited engagement through Sunday, July 15, 2018. The show began previews on February 23, and opened to ecstatic reviews on March 25 at the Neil Simon Theatre (250 West 52nd Street).

 

Angels in America is directed by two-time Tony Award® winner Marianne Elliott, and stars Academy Award® and Tony Award nominee Andrew Garfield and two-time Tony Award winner Nathan Lane, and also features Susan Brown, Denise Gough, Amanda Lawrence, James McArdle, Lee Pace, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Beth Malone, Patrick Andrews, Glynis Bell, Amy Blackman,Curt James, Rowan Ian Seamus Magee, Mark Nelson, Matty Oaks, Genesis Oliver, Jane Pfitsch, Lee Aaron Rosen, Ron Todorowski, Silvia Vrskova, and Lucy York.

 

When it first premiered, Angels in America won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, seven Tony Awards, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and the Evening Standard Award for Best New Play. HBO’s 2003 screen adaptation won both the Emmy® and the Golden Globe® Awards for Best Miniseries.

 

The design team includes Tony Award winner Ian MacNeil (Scenic Design), Tony Award nominee Nicky Gillibrand (Costume Design), Tony Award winner Paule Constable (Lighting Design), Drama Desk Award winner Adrian Sutton (Music), Tony Award nominee Ian Dickinson for Autograph Sound Ltd. (Sound Design), Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell (Puppetry Designers), Finn Caldwell(Puppetry Director and Movement), Robby Graham (Original Movement), Chris Fisher (Illusions), Steven Hoggett (Movement Consultant). Casting is by Jim Carnahan, CSA.

 

Angels in America is produced by Tim Levy for NT America, Jordan Roth, Rufus Norris & Lisa Burger for the National Theatre, Elliott & Harper Productions, Kash Bennett for NT Productions,Aged in Wood, Baruch-Viertel-Routh-Frankel Group, Jane Bergère, Adam Blanshay Productions, CatWenJam Productions, Jean Doumanian, Gilad-Rogowsky, Gold-Ross Productions, The John Gore Organization, Grove Entertainment, Harris Rubin Productions, HornosMoellenberg, Brian & Dayna Lee, Benjamin Lowy, Stephanie P. McClelland, David Mirvish, Mark Pigott,Jon B. Platt, E. Price-LD ENT., Daryl Roth, Catherine Schreiber, Barbara Whitman, Jujamcyn Theaters, The Nederlander Organization, and The Shubert Organization.

 

Angels in America is a two-part performance — Part One, Millennium Approaches and Part Two, Perestroika.

 

For a complete list of performances (including the final two weeks), please visit, www.angelsbroadway.com. Tickets ($99 – $318) of Angels in America are available at Ticketmaster.com, by calling 877.250.2929, or in person at The Neil Simon Theatre box office (250 West 52nd Street).

 

Susan Brown, Denise Gough, Amanda Lawrence, James McArdle, and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett are appearing with the support of Actors’ Equity Association.  The Producers gratefully acknowledge Actors’ Equity Association for its assistance of this production

 

www.angelsbroadway.com

www.facebook.com/angelsbway

www.twitter.com/angelsbway

www.instagram.com/angelsbway

 

www.omdkc.com

www.twitter.com/omdkc

Share
Read More
  Benefits, Community, Discoveries, Drag, Eat Drink and Be Mary, Fashion, Film, FREE, Health and Wellness, Holidays and Events, News and Happenings, Non-Profit News and Events, Sober   No comments

NYC Pride 2018

NYC  Pride  2018  is almost here!   The 49th Year!

SO MANY things  going on  for  10 days  of  Pride.

Like

Exploring The World Of Barbecue 
NYC Pride & God’s Love We Deliver are excited to bring New York a taste of down home cooking! This first of its kind experience will take attendees on a epicurean journey exploring Barbecue.  June 21
Defiantly Different, Defiantly Us

To capture the essence of our 2018 theme, “Defiantly Different,” NYC Pride partnered with photographer Danielle Levitt to showcase the diverse beauty of NYC’s LGBTQIA+ community.

Join us in celebrating our Defiantly Different community June 14-24. Learn more atnycpride.org.

We all celebrate Pride in different ways, which is why NYC Pride offers something for everyone during NYC Pride Week. Click through the event listings here for an in-depth look at each unique event we have planned for this year.

Share
Read More
  Community, FREE, Health and Wellness, New York City Information, News and Happenings, Non-Profit News and Events   No comments

Rainbow Flag Dedication

RAINBOW FLAG TO BE DEDICATED ON WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11,

AT STONEWALL NATIONAL MONUMENT

ON MANHATTAN’S CHRISTOPHER STREET

 

 

NEW YORK CEREMONY MARKS FIRST TIME

THAT THE INTERNATIONAL LGBT SYMBOL

WILL BE DISPLAYED PERMANENTLY ON FEDERAL LAND

 

The Rainbow Flag, the international symbol of LGBT liberation and pride, will be unveiled in a special ceremony on Wednesday, October 11 at 12:00 Noon at the historic Stonewall National Monument, where, thanks to the efforts of activists, it now claims a permanent home. This historic event marks the first time that the LGBT flag waves over federally-funded land, under the permanent stewardship of the National Park Service.

Stonewall National Monument is located in Christopher Street Park in New York’s Greenwich Village. The park is on the corner of Christopher Street and 7th Avenue South.

The event will be emceed by Gay USA television co-host Ann Northrop. Performers will include Telly Leung, who plays the title role in Disney’s “Aladdin on Broadway” and Cantor Steve Zeidenberg of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah. Speakers will be Leslie Cagan, an organizer of the 1987 March on Washington for LGBT Rights, National Park Service’s Chief of Interpretation, Education and Visitor Services Barbara Applebaum, Kiara St. James, Executive Director of New York Transgender Advocacy Group, and LGBT and AIDS activist Michael Petrelis who spearheaded this initiative.

“It is a victory for our Community to have these symbolic colors flying majestically over our Stonewall, designated as a National Monument by President Obama, even as our LGBTQ brothers and sisters are under attack by the current regime in power,” said Michael Petrelis. He went on to say, “As we gather today, we are reminded of another October 11, thirty years ago, when the names of our fallen comrades were symbolically celebrated on another national monument – the AIDS Quilt — during the reign of another President  who waged an attack against us.”

October 11 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the historic 1987 March on Washington for Lesbian Gay Rights–when the NAMES Project AIDS Quilt was unfurled on the National Mall.  The date also marks the annual National Coming Out Day, a day celebrating the idea that all members of the LGBTQ community should be able to live their lives openly, honestly, and with pride.

The flag, which was originally designed by the late artist and activist Gilbert Baker, consists of six stripes: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. The flag is typically flown horizontally, with the red stripe on top, as would appear in a natural rainbow.

Support for the ceremony is being generously provided by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS helps men, women and children across the country and across the street receive lifesaving medications, health care, nutritious meals, counseling and emergency financial assistance. broadwaycares.org

Gilbert Baker died in New York City on March 31 at the age of 65. Memorials to the internationally known activist were held across the globe in subsequent weeks.

The Stonewall Inn was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

 

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. By drawing upon the talents, resources, and generosity of the American theatre community, since 1988 BC/EFA has raised more than $300 million for essential services for people with AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States.

Share
Read More
  Architecture, Community, News and Happenings   No comments

New York LGBT Memorial

From the governor’s office:

“This stunning design complements the landscape and communicates a timeless message of inclusion, and this monument will serve as an enduring symbol of the role New Yorkers play in building a fairer, more just world,” Governor Cuomo said. “From Stonewall to marriage equality, New York has always been a beacon for justice and we will never waiver in our commitment to the LGBT community and to creating a more just and inclusive society. This new monument will stand up for those values for generations to come.”

Following the tragic shooting in Orlando, Florida on June 12, 2016, Governor Cuomo issued Executive Order No. 158, establishing the LGBT Memorial Commission, with the mission to design and build a new memorial in honor of the LGBT community and the victims of the Orlando shooting.  The Commission issued a request for proposals in October 2016, and all submissions were judged on their interpretation and clarity of the theme, creativity and originality of depicted theme, quality of artistic composition, site compatibility, and constructability, among other factors.

The site specific design works in harmony with the existing attributes of Hudson River Park and promotes thought and reflection while encouraging people to unite in a communal environment.  It will feature nine modified boulders, some of which are bisected with a clear, laminated, borosilicate-glass with refractory components that act as a prism to create subtle rainbow patterns on the surrounding lawn and nearby objects.

Said Goicolea:

“I am honored to join Governor Cuomo and the LGBT Memorial Commission on this important project to remember those who have been victims of hate, violence, and intolerance, while celebrating the beauty of the LGBT community. This monument will serve as a communal space filled with light, color, and hope where the visitors can sit, mourn, love, and remember for years to come.  I am grateful to the Governor and his administration for the opportunity to be a part of this historic moment.”

Share
Read More
  Benefits, Cabaret, Celebrity, Community, Gay Bars and Clubs, Health and Wellness, Movers and Shakers, Music, Non-Profit News and Events, Theatre and Entertainment   No comments

BROADWAY sings for PRIDE

Come out and celebrate NYC PRIDE with cast members from
DEAR EVAN HANSEN, KINKY BOOTS, THE WIZ, JERSEY BOYS, and many more!
All to benefit the TYLER CLEMENTI FOUNDATION!
GET TICKETS NOW!!

 

 

Tyler Clementi Foundation

https://tylerclementi.org/

The Tyler Clementi Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to end online and offline bullying, harassment, and humiliation.

Share
Read More
  Community, Gay Bars and Clubs, News and Happenings   No comments

GOOGLE pledges $1 Million for Stonewall Project

GOOGLE to spend $1 Million on 50th Anniversary Stonewall project!

NY POST reported – Google pledged $1 million on Sunday to help record the stories of anyone and everyone involved in the Stonewall riots, a landmark moment in the battle for gay rights.

The Web giant’s “digital experience” will be an oral history featuring interviews with New Yorkers who were on the front lines in Greenwich Village in the summer of 1969.

The project is aimed for completion by June 28, 2019, the 50th anniversary of the riots.

The impromptu uprising outside the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street against police harassment is remembered as a watershed moment in the push for LGBTQ equality.

“I remember the Stonewall riot — whatever you want to call it — I remember the debate, I remember the time, and it’s hard to go back there. I can tell you, you don’t want to go back there either.” said Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Alphabet, Google’s parent company.

Artist and Stonewall veteran Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt said he’ll tell his story, in honor of activists who have since died.

“What sticks in my mind most is all the people who aren’t here to talk about it,” he told reporters at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center on West 13th Street. “Most of the people — I knew because I was one of the street kids — didn’t live to be 22 years old. I’m lucky to be alive.”

He added, “If the smell of lighter fluid is in the air, I think of Stonewall.”

Share
Read More
  Cabaret, Celebrity, Comedy, Community, Drag, Eat Drink and Be Mary, Fire Island, News and Happenings, Outside the City, Summer Fun   No comments

Invasion of the Pines..Gay New York / Fire Island

 

Mascara, Mirth & Mayhem is a collection of photographs taken by renowned photographer Susan Kravitz over the past thirty years at the annual LGBTQ event known as the Invasion of the Pines.

The Invasion of the Pines occurs every July 4th and involves participants from the Fire Island communities of Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines. It began in 1976, when a member of the Cherry Grove community had been refused service in a Pines’ restaurant because he had been dressed in drag. In protest, a small group of Cherry Grove residents cross-dressed and took a water taxi to the Pines on Independence Day of that year, to stand up against this “height of insult” by “invading” their neighboring community. Four decades later, the Invasion has evolved into a uniquely raucous event that joyfully celebrates human rights and freedom of expression by thousands of people, straight and gay.

 

Kravitz’s photographs capture the rebelliousness, the high camp, and the joy of the Invasion. They are provocative, introspective, sad and funny, and tinged with sexual innuendo. Yet they also reflect another journey, one that gives insight into the LGBTQ movement itself.

 

From the fearful, AIDS-ridden years of the 1980s and 1990s, to the joyous years of this decade when LGBTQ people are out and proud (and, if they choose, legally married), these Invasion photographs celebrate a day to be free, to be whoever you want to be, and to be gay.

“My photographs are as much about the times I which they were taken as they are about the people who populate them. Ultimately, they are about human rights and freedom of expression seen through the lens of the Invasion.” said Kravitz of her eighty-eight color and black and white photographs.

Susan Kravitz is a social documentarian of daily life. Over the past thirty years she has exhibited her photographs in galleries and museums in the United States and abroad, including China, South Korea, Russia, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and the Czech Republic. Her Cherry Grove photographs were recently featured on the New York Times Lens blog (A Gay Haven on Fire Island) and in the International New York Times, Paris edition.

The book  comes  out  next week!   148  pages,  available  in  softcover  or  hardcover.

Book is available now on http://www.mascaramirthmayhem.com/buy.html

Share
Read More
  Community, Deals, Discoveries, Gay Bars and Clubs, New York City Information, News and Happenings   No comments

Stonewall LGBT History Tour

Leading U.S. tour operator, New York Tour1 is thrilled to announce the premiere of “Beyond Stonewall: New York LGBT History Tour,” an exclusive tour created in honor of NYC Pride, celebrating the leaders of New York’s LGBT community.

Named the #2 U.S. attraction on TripAdvisor earlier this year, the company has partnered with the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative, a nonprofit organization providing educational, strategic and financial assistance to grassroots organizations supporting LGBTQ communities and individuals who suffer the indignities and fear arising from social intolerance here in the United States and around the world.

Together they’re strengthening New York Pride Month by going beyond the parade and parties; offering the public a chance to discover, commemorate, and remember the pioneers, artists, and leaders of LGBT history.

“Beyond Stonewall: New York LGBT” is a two-hour walking tour that will start at 4:00 pm on June 21, 23, and 24. Expert guides will lead guests through decades of LGBT history as they journey through the streets of New York City’s Greenwich Village. The itinerary includes visits to the historic Stonewall Inn (the birthplace of the Gay Rights Movement), as well as sites significant to New York’s LGBT pioneers and leaders, including: the Larry Kramer residence, the Waverly Theater, and the Gay Liberation Monument.

“We’re very excited to host this event. New York Pride is so much more than the wonderful parties and glorious parade that it’s globally known for. There’s an extensive amount of history and information about the sacrifices people made for LGBT progress, right here in NYC. We wanted to highlight and honor those courageous events with this tour.” – Marcus Carlsson, Marketing Manager

About New York Tour1

Since its founding in 2010, New York Tour1 has been offering a range of award-winning walking tours to locals and international visitors alike. Every day, it runs tours throughout multiple neighborhoods in Manhattan. The company prides itself on designing “authentic” experiences that give guests stories and memories to hold on to even after they leave. Guides are knowledgeable storytellers who have personal connections to or professional expertise in the tours they give.

Pricing: $25 with all proceeds to Stonewall Gives Back Initiative

Tickets to “Beyond Stonewall: New York LGBT History Tour” cost $25 and are available for purchase over the phone or online.  

Website: https://www.newyorktour1.com/the-pride-tour

Share
Read More
  Community, FREE, Health and Wellness, News and Happenings   No comments

Gilbert Baker Rally and March June 14th

NYC Plans Activist March and Rally
To Honor the Late Gilbert Baker, Rainbow Flag Creator,
On Flag Day: Wednesday, June 14

 

“Raise the Rainbow!”
Begins with   6:00PM Rally at Stonewall,
Followed by Protest March to Christopher Street Pier

 

The Facebook page for the event is:
www.facebook.com/GilbertBakerMemorial



The website for Gilbert Baker is: gilbertbaker.com
Friends and family of the late Gilbert Baker will hold an activist march and rally against LGBTQ discrimination and bigotry in memory of the world-renowned artist who created The Rainbow Flag, the international symbol of LGBTQ pride and liberation. Baker, a lifelong LGBTQ and social justice activist, died suddenly March 31 in his Manhattan home. He was 65.
The political march and rally “Raise the Rainbow!” will take place, appropriately, on Flag Day, which is Wednesday, June 14, from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM. “Raise the Rainbow!” is a public event open to all. Attendees are invited to bring their own rainbow-themed banners, art pieces and protest signs.

The event begins at 6:00 PM with a rally at the Stonewall Inn, the bar whose 1969 riots sparked the modern LGBTQ movement. Stonewall is located at 53 Christopher Street. Speakers will celebrate the life, art and radical legacy of Gilbert Baker through personal recollections, resistance speeches and Baker’s own political speeches. At 8:00 PM, participants will march the length of Christopher Street to Christopher Street Pier, carrying banners created by Gilbert Baker. They will raise a Rainbow Flag and call for a rededication to progressive and radical activism, completing the tribute at 9:00 PM.

“Gilbert Baker belonged to all of us, and his sudden passing has been a shocking loss to millions across the world,” said event co-organizer and longtime friend Charley Beal. “There is no better way to honor his work and his memory than to hold this march and protest, to fight the LGBTQ oppression of Donald Trump’s administration. We must continue Gilbert’s work, because the struggle for LGBTQ liberation is not over.”
The event will be produced by Academy Award-winning producer and activist Bruce Cohen, whose credits include the film “Milk” which featured Gilbert Baker’s flags and banners, and the ABC miniseries “When We Rise,” which includes Baker as a character and tells the story of the creation of the flag.

A celebration of Gilbert Baker in San Francisco, his home for decades and the site of the creation of the Rainbow Flag in 1978, will happen Thursday, June 8, at 7:00pm at the Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA 94114. People globally are urged to hold their own protests and memorials.

Baker was born in Chanute, Kansas, on June 2, 1951. He served in the US Army 1970-1972, which stationed him in San Francisco just at the start of the gay liberation movement. After being honorably discharged, Baker stayed in San Francisco and taught himself to sew. He began creating flags for civic and state events, most notably the 1984 Democratic National Convention.

In 1994 Baker created a mile-long Rainbow Flag for the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riot 1969 in New York City. Carried by 5,000 people, it was the world’s largest flag before Baker broke his own record in 2003 with a new flag created for Key West Pride that extended from the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean Sea. Baker also created a series of Rainbow Flag-inspired paintings for galleries and museums internationally. The Rainbow Flag is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. Most recently, Baker completed a new nine-color Rainbow Flag, adding a lavender stripe for diversity.

Gilbert Baker leaves behind mother Patricia Baker and sister Ardonna Baker Cook.

Share
Read More
  Benefits, Community, Fitness, Health and Wellness, HIV, News and Happenings, Non-Profit News and Events   No comments

Aids Walk New York 2017

AIDS Walk New York is the largest single-day AIDS fundraising event in the world!

In its over 30 years, AIDS Walk New York has inspired nearly 890,000 people to walk and millions more to donate, raising nearly $150 million to combat HIV and AIDS. The funds raised at the event remain a vital lifeline sustaining the prevention, care, and advocacy programs GMHC provides for the thousands of men, women, and families affected by the disease in the tri-state area. The proceeds also benefit dozens of other HIV/AIDS service organizations that are able to participate as teams and raise funds through the Community Partnership Program (CPP).

During the next few weeks –  there is LOTS  GOING  ON! Fundraising Workshops and  MORE. See the list here and  get  involved!

New to fundraising?

First time participating in AIDS Walk New York?

Need a refresher course to boost your total?  They have the tools  to get you going!   Follow these easy steps to becoming a successful fundraiser—aim high and you could be one of our next Star Walkers™!  Raise   $200-$300  and  qualify  for  cool  prizes!

NEW  YORK  AIDS  WALK

Facebook  page  is  HERE

Share
Read More
  Community, News and Happenings, Politics, Summer Fun   No comments

Rise and Resist and ACT UP at Pride

GAY CITY NEWS REPORTS :

The organization that produces New York City’s pride parade, rally, and related events has agreed to allow groups eager to confront the Republican Party’s control of the federal government near the front of the June 25 pride parade.

“I’m extremely proud of the people who came out to raise their voices about this, and I think it’s emblematic of the people who are going to show up proudly on June 25,” said Ken Kidd, who was the lead organizer of the effort to get the resistance groups at the front of the parade.

Following a March 28 meeting with Heritage of Pride (HOP), Kidd told Gay City News that the traditional first contingent, the Sirens Women’s Motorcycle Club of New York City, will lead the parade, as they have since 1986, followed by the parade’s grand marshals, who have not yet been announced, the HOP float, and then the resistance groups.

After pushback a week ago, June pride parade organizers say protesters can march up front

The groups who wanted in to the parade at the front include Rise + Resist, ACT UP, United Thru Action, and Gays Against Guns. These groups have held recent protests in New York City and they attended the protests in Washington, DC, on January 20 when Donald Trump was inaugurated and the Women’s March on Washington on January 21. The resistance groups expect to be joined by other organizations on June 25.

Members of these groups first approached HOP roughly a month ago and eventually met resistance themselves from HOP. At a March 13 HOP general meeting, staff and volunteers did not say yes or no to the request, but signaled a willingness to talk. But at a March 21 meeting of HOP’s parade committee, the organization was clearly pushing back.

“Our current march route is at capacity,” said Sue Doster, who heads strategic planning for HOP, at the March 21 meeting. “You can’t add a half million people to that march and keep it safe for everyone.”

Share
Read More
  Art, Community, Gay Marriage, News and Happenings, Travel   No comments

Gay New York Subway Art

Metropolitan Transit Authority
The 72nd Street mural by Vik Muniz
28 December 2016
by David Hudson  @ Gay Star News

A new subway line in New York, features a gay couple on a mosaic mural at one of its stations.

The mural will feature at 72nd Street station, on the platform for the new Second Avenue subway line.

The mural has been created by artist Vik Muniz, and shows real-life couple Thor Stockman and Patrick Kellogg. They are included as part of the Brazilian-born artist’s ‘Perfect Strangers’ mural project.

A statement from the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) described the project: ‘For 72nd Street, Vik Muniz photographed more than three dozen “characters” who represent all of the unique and quirky kinds of people one encounters on the subway.

‘These photographs have been re-created in mosaic and installed throughout the mezzanine and entrance areas, populating the station with colorful New Yorkers of all stripes.’

Muniz told Associated Press about his use of the gay couple: ‘They are just people you would expect to see … You would expect to see men holding hands.’  READ  MORE  ABOUT  IT  HERE!

Share
Read More
  Art, Community, Health and Wellness, HIV, News and Happenings   No comments

The largest AIDS memorial in the U.S.

The idea for the New York City AIDS Memorial was first born in early 2010 while Christopher Tepper was reading “And The Band Played On,” one of the definitive histories of AIDS in America, for the first time. A midwesterner by birth, Tepper was shocked by how much he didn’t know about the early years of the AIDS crisis, even though he had never lived in a world without HIV.

“I found that what was really disturbing was that that ignorance that I had was really prevalent across a lot of my peers,” he told NBC OUT.

Tepper was equally shocked to read about so many new heroes within the LGBTQ community, who he had never had the opportunity to learn about while he was in school.

“One of the things that was really upsetting to me was that there was this giant community of heroes, of activists and caretakers, who really should be like war heroes up on pedestals and honored by our community,” Tepper said.

READ THE WHOLE STORY  about the largest AIDS memorial in the U.S.  @  NBC

Share
Read More
  Community, New York City Information, News and Happenings, Pets   No comments

Finding an Apartment with your Dog or Cat in New York

Finding a pet friendly apartment anywhere can be a real challenge, but perhaps no place more than in New York City.  For some people, opting to get rid of their pet is the hard choice they make, but for those that need emotional support animals, that simply is not an option.  With obstacles like high costs and landlords unwilling to make accommodations, this is a very real problem for a lot of people. This is where ESADoctors.com steps in and can help you keep your animal.

Pet Friendly Apartments in New York

When you talk about apartments in New York, there are a few neighborhoods that immediately come to mind.  Those include the Upper East Side, Brooklyn, Long Island City, SoHo, Chelsea, and the West Village.  The hard truth is the more likely a neighborhood is to be in high demand, the higher the cost and the more restrictions you’ll come across in your search.  A pet friendly apartment in Astoria often starts at over $2200 per month for a studio space and that doesn’t even take into account the high pet deposits.  Apartments in the areas of Midtown, Park Slope, Williamsburg, and East Village will run even higher. By the time you add in deposits, apartments even in Greenpoint, Bushwick, or the Upper West Side may become completely out of the budget consideration for many.  For those that can afford it, the limited options for apartments often make for some very unexpected practices such as offering double rent or paying triple deposits to try to get an animal accepted into the building.  Unfortunately, a few unscrupulous landlords may well take advantage of those who need an emotional support animal to line their own pockets in those areas where pet accommodating housing is in the shortest supply. There is a small light at the end of the tunnel.  Even apartments that do not allow pets, must allow a service animal and emotional support animals.

Getting an Emotional Support Animal Letter

If you want to avoid high costs and unfair discrimination, you can contact ESADoctors.com to get an emotional support animal letter (ESA Letter). The process is simple and utilizes tele-health services. You fill out their brief ESA Questionnaire and a licensed therapist will be in touch with your shortly after. Read more about how to get an ESA letter here.

Please do keep in mind though that having an emotional support animal does not give your companion a license to be a nuisance.  Landlords can still ask you to leave if your ESA becomes a disturbance to others in the building and you can’t let your animal cause damages.  That is also grounds for asking you to move.

There is also a chance that neighbors will not feel you really need a support animal and are just using the system to bring pets into a no pet building.  They may not know what a very real medical condition mental health issues are.  Not everyone understands that as many as 1 in 5 or 20% of the US population have some sort of mental illness and that not all disabilities are something you can see.  This can make for hostile living conditions and unwarranted complaints to the landlord.  These types of obstacles may even increase the need for your emotional support animal since stressors like these can cause additional anxiety attacks even in those who generally have their symptoms well under control and appear to be a “perfectly normal” person.

Living with Your Emotional Support Animal in an Apartment

Those who need emotional support or other service animals understand how real even invisible disabilities are.  These animals become vital to the survival of those people.  The people who need them need to know that there are apartments available to them, in every part of New York from Astoria to the West Village.  They need to know they can find a great apartment without being pushed into situations that are more than a little questionable.  Knowing your rights as a person with a disability can go a long way in making sure you and your assistance animal find the right home.  After all, home is where you are supposed to be most at ease.

To qualify for an emotional support animal letter please contact ESADoctors.com. They will pair you with a top mental health professional and secure the legal documents for you to live with your dog, cat, or other animal.

 

Share
Read More
  Brooklyn, Community, Drag, News and Happenings   No comments

Bushwig in Brooklyn New York

BUSHWIG THE BIGGEST DRAG & MUSIC FESTIVAL IN THE WORLD 2016 IS HERE

 

BUSHWIG is holding its fifth annual festival of drag, art and music this year (Saturday, Sept. 10th and Sunday, Sept. 11th) at The Knockdown Center (52-19 Flushing Ave, Queens), a departure from Bushwick–the Brooklyn neighborhood that inspired the name of the event. Since its creation 5 years ago by Brooklyn artists Horrorchata and Babes Trust, BUSHWIG has pulled an international audience in and has curated lineups with some of the most well-respected names in the alt-drag community. Bigger names are set to perform and larger crowds are expected to show this year at the new venue. Headlining acts this year include legendary Lady Bunny and RuPaul icon Latrice Royale with music from Tim Sweeney (Beats in Space), with even world renowned artist Wolfgang Tillman on deck duties!

The ambitious programming for this year includes art installations, projection art mapping, international DJs, live music and diverse food offerings on top of more than 150 drag performances. At BUSHWIG 2015, Lady Bunny (close friend to world renowned RuPaul, who has brought drag to the mainstream), handed off ‘the torch’ to Horrorchata–symbolic of passing the legacy of drag down to a new generation of NY performers. The festival is going on strong as it marks its 5th anniversary and continues on to becoming an NYC iconic event likes its predecessors (Studio 54, Warhol’s Factory, Wigstock, etc) while also engaging a wider and more diverse audience.

“Right now we are in a drag explosion. BUSHWIG is part of this revolution; the new wave of drag and the next generation of queens. The creativity in New York is always evolving and what really matters is the art will always be here. We are beyond excited to celebrate our fifth year,” said Horrorchata, co-founder of Bushwig.

BUSHWIG takes great pride in being a celebration of anyone for everyone. Founded by a group of artists deeply involved in the Brooklyn drag scene, the festival provides a creative safe space for everyone to get involved. The drag community has grown immensely as television show RuPauls Drag Race, just nominated for three Emmy Awards, has brought it to the mainstream. The festival functions first and foremost as a community event, giving all a part of the stage and an opportunity to get involved. The artists at BUSHWIG travel far to showcase their very best work, with some acts traveling from Europe. The festival was founded in 2012, its original lineup had 60 acts and 5 years later, more than 150 acts will perform this year during the two-day festival.

Official Website

Link to Purchase Tickets

Facebook page  HERE

Watch videos HERE  of past  performers!

Share
Read More
« Older posts
Newer posts »