Category Archives: Community
Shame on YOU, HRC – Honoring Goldman Sachs, Really??
As the largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans, the Human Rights
Campaign represents a force of more than one million members and
supporters nationwide — all committed to making HRC’s vision a reality.
HRC is NOT a non profit – and in recent years, I believe, their dinners are all about who throws them the most money. For lobbying. Allegedly.
Now, with this announcement of HRC honoring Goldman Sachs, this publisher, WILL NO LONGER SUPPORT HRC.
Queer/LGBTIQA2Z Occupy Wall Street, a caucus of the NYC based Occupy
Wall Street movement, announced today that it will protest a Human
Rights Campaign (HRC) Gala honoring Goldman Sachs on Saturday February
4, 2012 at the Waldorf Astoria.
In contrast to the $650 a plate Gala, the Queer/LGBTIQA2Z Caucus will
host a “Guerrilla Potluck” on the sidewalk outside of the prestigious
hotel at 50th Street & Park Avenue from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The Queer Caucus: 1. Condemns HRC for honoring Goldman Sachs, 2.
Calls upon HRC to adopt a strategy of Full Equality by 2014, and 3.
Demands that HRC create a transparent process that includes the
grassroots.
1. The Queer Caucus condemns HRC’s decision to honor Goldman Sachs in a
time of financial collapse caused by their own unethical business practices
and greed, and deplores the use of our cause and suffering for
corporate public relations. HRC honoring Goldman Sachs at this time
reveals all one needs to know about the corporate LGBT lobby, and its
disconnect from the 99% and the LGBT people it purports to represent.
2. The Queer Caucus calls upon HRC to embrace the grassroots demand for
Full Federal Equality by 2014 – the 50th Anniversary of the 1964 Civil
Rights Act.
After 60 years of struggle, there is still not a single federal
non-discrimination law protecting LGBT Americans from discrimination.
More incredibly, HRC, the corporate entity that controls our strategy,
is not even seeking equal protection for our community.
To address this, the Queer Caucus calls on HRC to take The Pledge for
Full LGBT Equality to seek and secure full non-discrimination
protections based on sexual orientation and gender identify for all
people.
The right to be protected from discrimination secures a core liberty
interest. And it is the duty of government to protect LGBT Americans
from the harm caused by discrimination as a matter of public welfare,
law and conscience, as it has for decades for all other oppressed
groups.
As HRC restrains the demand for equality, discrimination takes its
insidious toll on LGBT Americans who suffer vast psychological harm
rejected by their families and society, driven to suicide at 5 times the
heterosexual norm by tormenting, minority stress afflictions, and lost
hope.
A whopping 40% of homeless youth identity as LGBT, 66% of Transgender
people have been fired or not hired for a job, 60% of our youth are
taunted and feel unsafe at school, and LGBT people are 6x more likely to
have multiple mental stress disorders due to societal discrimination.
“Homo/transphobia in America is a public health and economic emergency
for our community” said Michael Tikile, an occupier and Duke University
graduate. “We are not safe in school, work or housing. How are we
supposed to live, pursue happiness or achieve economic equality?”
3. The Queer Caucus also demand that HRC open the process with transparency and grassroots inclusion.
Currently, HRC operates under a closed, hierarchical system, controlled
by a financial elite, insulated from grassroots input. Likewise, in
Congress, Democrat House members Barney Frank, Jared Polis and Tammy
Baldwin, keep the grassroots out of the conversation, protecting the DNC
strategy from movement agitation and impact.
With this structure in place, queer occupiers know that only a handful
of privileged voices are setting the national queer agenda and strategy,
defining what “LGBT equality” means and who our friends are.
For example, HRC’s key sponsors includes a long list of big businesses
that contributed to recent economic and environmental distress,
including Citi Bank, Bank of America, Chevron, BP, Shell, Morgan
Stanley, MetLife, Deloitte, Lexus, Prudential, and Ernst & Young.
“With all of these companies, you’d expect the power to be on our side!
But instead, our community is simply a tool and pawn in the political
system” said Tanya Walker, an original occupier and tireless transgender
activist.
Simply put, the Queer Caucus demands equal non-discrimination
protections under the 1964 Civil Rights Act because equality is the only
true antidote to LGBT abuse – like it has proven to be for race, sex,
national origin, religion, age and disability – long protected from
discrimination by law.
“Equality and non-discrimination are universal values that define basic
human dignity” said Todd (Tif) Fernandez, a human rights lawyer and
grassroots activist. “It is our civic duty as Americans to protect and
respect the LGBT community immediately.”
Please Take the Pledge for Full LGBT Equality (by 2014) (http://bit.ly/the2014pledge).
Join the Guerrilla Potluck (http://on.fb.me/
Join Queer/LGBTIQA2Z OWS Caucus organizing, Sundays at 1pm, 60 Wall Street or on FB http://on.fb.me/QueerOWS.
BestGayNewYork.com
World AIDS Day Event: Spotlight on The Starlite Lounge Dec 1
World AIDS Day Event:
Spotlight on The Starlite Lounge
Recently closed Black-owned Brooklyn gay bar gets new life in this documentary screening featuring talkback with the bar’s owners and former patrons
On Thursday, December 1 at 6:30 PM, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center commemorates World AIDS Day by proudly presenting documentarians Kate Kunath and Sasha Wortzel in conversation with Dennis Parrott and Linda King, owners of the legendary Starlite Lounge.
In 1959, a decade prior to Manhattan’s Stonewall riots, the Starlite Lounge opened in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, as a non-discriminatory establishment for gay people of color.
A half-century later, the neighborhood and the gay community were shocked when the oldest, Black-owned, LGBT establishment was given notice to vacate and was ultimately forced to close in 2010.
In honor of World AIDS Day, The Center will focus on how the Starlite became a refuge and organizing point in response to the AIDS epidemic. The filmmakers will share key excerpts of their documentary-in-progress, Starlite, and talk with former resident performer Lady Jasmine and long-time patrons about what the Starlite meant to the community, especially in the early days of the epidemic.
Also featured will be the organizers of the AIDS Memorial Park and learning center currently being proposed for the triangle site opposite the former St. Vincent’s Hospital. The proposed location sits in the middle of the neighborhood, the site of significant AIDS epidemic organizing: from the first AIDS ward at St. Vincent’s Hospital to the founding of ACT UP and other advocacy organizations at the Center.
More at Queer History Alliance
Documentary Excerpt Screening & Talkback
Thursday, December 1 @ 6:30 -8:30 PM Cost $10
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center
208 West 13th Street
New York City
Security at Zuccotti Call Joey Boots A FAGGOT!
The Occupy Wall Street encampment is gone, but the movement lives on.
What nobody knows is just how long it can survive without a place to
call home after police hauled away demonstrators in a late night raid.
New
York’s Zuccotti Park, the privately owned park where protesters against
the excesses of capitalism had been camped out since mid-September, was
a rallying cry — a symbol of defiance against a government and a
society that the protesters wanted to overthrow.
As the park was being cleaned up, Videographer , blogger and New York personality Joey Boots, a 6 year military veteran who has appeared on The Howard Stern Show, was filming down at Zuccotti Park.
“These guys in vests in Zuccotti Park were ordering anyone who stopped on
the public sidewalk to look to move along and so I and others wanted to
know who they were.” he says.
One of the guys, later identified as working for Brookfield Properties which owns Zuccotti Park, made the unfortunate mistake of saying “Your fly’s open, faggot.”
to Joey.
KLASSY! WATCH NOW
New Yorks LGBT Homeless Need Help Now
The Ali Forney Center, the nation’s largest organization working on behalf of homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth, today released a compelling new video viewable online in support of the Campaign for Youth Shelter. The video, outlining the stark facts of the plight of LGBT homeless youth in New York, was released to promote an October 24 rally in Union Square, at which New York’s LGBT community will demand shelter for all youth in the city. Said Carl Siciliano, founder and Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center: “We hope that this video will promote awareness of the terrible peril that LGBT youth face when left homeless in the streets. With the recent spectacle of elected officials taking budgetary actions to endanger and abandon homeless youth in New York City, we hope the rally on October 24th will send a loud and clear message that the LGBT community demands that they be protected. No youth should be left in the streets without shelter.” The October 24 rally will be held in Union Square, beginning at 6 PM. It is in support of the Campaign for Youth Shelter, and is being planned by representatives from the Ali Forney Center, the Bronx Community Pride Center, Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, Green Chimneys NYC, the Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn, and Queer Rising. Information on the rally and the Campaign for Youth Shelter online. The Ali Forney Center (AFC) was started in June of 2002 in response to the lack of safe shelter for LGBT youth in New York City. The Center is committed to providing these young people with safe, dignified, nurturing environments where their needs can be met, and where they can begin to put their lives back together. AFC is dedicated to promoting awareness of the plight of homeless LGBT youth in the United States with the goal of generating responses on local and national levels from government funders, foundations, and the LGBT community.
Watch video
Among the key points featured in the video:
In New York, an LGBT youth is eight times more likely to experience homelessness than a straight youth.
LGBT youth who are homeless face a significantly higher risk of HIV infection, suicide, and physical and sexual assault than their homeless straight counterparts.
40 percent of all homeless youth in NYC are LGBT, according to a 2008 census conducted by the Empire State Coalition.
Despite the scope of the problem, in 2011, both Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Cuomo have proposed drastic cuts to services for homeless youth.
Russell Fischer of Jersey Boys is Broadway Hero of the Month
THIS MONTH, Gaylifenyc.org interviews the handsome and super talented, Russell Fischer from the Broadway hit show, Jersey Boys. He talks about the incredible way he got the role, his creative halloween costumes, his charity work and so many amazing messages.
It is so great to live in a city where people really care.
The gay community does more than give lip service.
People like Michael Cavnaugh from GAY LIFE NYC.org is out there donating countless hours to his site. Not only scurrying around town, doing fabulous interviews, but also constantly gathering and updating HIV and AIDS resources on his site.
Broadway actors are out there donating their time to worthy causes. It’s really a great community we have here!
These interviews are so great – and so inspirational – check it out!
Bryant Park 9 11 Memorial Today
A special ceremony at the World Trade Center site today is happening – and other events throughout the city are marking the day.
A sunrise ceremony in Battery Park was showcasing poetry and musical performances.
At Tribute Park in Queens, a piece of World Trade Center steel is being unveiled.
Other events include peace walks and candlelight vigils.
Later in the day, a special project will collect and record what visitors say they want the world to remember about Sept. 11.
WATCH 102 Minutes That Changed America throughout the day –
Watch unfiltered videos from nine New Yorkers who witnessed the day that changed America.
An eco friendly Public Pool for New York Citys Hudson River
A Floating Pool in the River For Everyone! What a cool idea!
+ Pool is our initiative to build a floating pool for everyone in the rivers of New York City, and they need your help. “With your support, we can make it possible to swim in clean, natural river water here in the city.
The most important aspect of + Pool’s design is that it filters river water through the pool’s walls – like a giant strainer dropped into the river. The concentric layers of filtration materials that make up the sides of the pool are designed to remove bacteria, contaminants and odors, leaving only safe and swimmable water that meets city, state and federal standards of quality. This pool will be the first of it’s kind, which is of course very exciting, but really we just want to be able to swim in the river.
The most important aspect of + Pool’s design is that it filters river water through the pool’s walls – like a giant strainer dropped into the river. The concentric layers of filtration materials that make up the sides of the pool are designed to remove bacteria, contaminants and odors, leaving only safe and swimmable water that meets city, state and federal standards of quality. This pool will be the first of it’s kind, which is of course very exciting, but really we just want to be able to swim in the river.
Find them a Kickstart and give them a few $$$
Doric Wilson and the Stonewall Riots Remembered
we wanted to take a moment to
pay tribute to the late Doric Wilson.
Doric Wilson (February 24, 1939 – May 7, 2011) was an American playwright, director, producer, critic and gay rights activist.
Wilson was an early figure in New York’s Off-Off-Broadway scene and was as big a champion of gay theatre as he was of gay rights. He was a participant in the Stonewall Riots (1969) and became active in the early days of the New York Gay Liberation movement as a member of GAA (Gay Activist Alliance). He supported his theatrical endeavors by becoming a “star” bartender and manager of the post-Stonewall gay bar scene, opening such landmark institutions as The Spike, TY’s and Brothers & Sisters Cabaret.
In 2004, Wilson was named a Grand Marshal of the 35th Anniversary Pride Day Parade in New York City.
He was featured in the documentary American Experience: Stonewall Uprising (2010) by Kate Davis and David Heilbroner.
BestGayNewYork.com
Broadway Bares XXI MASTERPIECE June 19th
MASTERPIECE
will be held on
Sunday, June 19
with two performances
at 9:30 pm & Midnight
at Roseland Ballroom,
239 West 52nd Street
in New York.
A benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, BROADWAY BARES XXI: MASTERPIECE will offer up a modern-day burlesque show packed with museum-quality human canvases that would make an art critic blush.
It’s been said that “all art is erotic” and 200 of Broadway’s sexiest bodies will prove that to be true as the 21st edition of BROADWAY BARES takes you inside an auction too hot for Sotheby’s and Christie’s.
The most delectable dancers in New York will emulate the art world’s seductive nudes and give life to history’s sultriest sculptures. Handle these masterpieces with care or fig leaves, sunflowers and water lilies just might fall off into the crowd. Get your bidding paddles ready before these Broadway bodies of art are “going, going, gone.”
To see the New York Times’ exclusive first look at the posters for this year’s BROADWAY BARES and to read an interview with BARES photographer Andrew Eccles.
BROADWAY BARES XXI: MASTERPIECE is produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, executive produced by Tony Award-winner Jerry Mitchell (Catch Me If You Can, Legally Blonde) and will again be directed by Josh Rhodes (Sondheim: The Birthday Concert, The Drowsy Chaperone, Working at the Broadway Playhouse in Chicago).
BROADWAY BARES, the hotly anticipated annual event combining the naughtiness of burlesque and the razzle-dazzle of Broadway, has been a smashing success since its inception in 1992. The event features the hottest male and female dancers on Broadway and has become one of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS’ signature events. The first Broadway Bares featured seven dancers performing choreographed stripteases on a bar and raised more than $8,000. In all 20 editions, BROADWAY BARES has collectively raised more than $7.5 million for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
Tickets can be purchased online at Broadwaycares.org or by calling 212.840.0770, ext 268. For more information and merchandise, visit Broadwaybares.com.
Scott Herman Meet and Greet benefit May 19th
Personal trainer,
actor and model
Scott Herman
(The Real World: Brooklyn)
is one of the 2,500 people who will pedal from San Francisco to Los Angeles with AIDS/LifeCycle (ALC), the world’s largest annual HIV/AIDS fundraising event, this June.
Leading Team “Scott Herman Fitness,” he’ll pedal 545 miles over seven days to help raise millions for the life-saving HIV/AIDS-related services of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center and San Francisco AIDS Foundation.
at 9:00pm – 12:00am
SCOTT will be hosting a little
benefit meet-and-greet at
Check out the Facebook page
If you can’t make it, but want to support Scott on his ride go to
AIDS LIFECYCLE.
PBS to show Stonewall Uprising April 25th
I talked with two people recently under the age of 25, who had no clue!
When police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in the Greenwich Village section of New York City on June 28, 1969, the street erupted into violent protests that lasted for the next six days. The Stonewall riots, as they came to be known, marked a major turning point in the modern gay civil rights movement in the United States and around the world.
DID YOU KNOW? In the late 1960s, the American Psychiatric Association still classified homosexuality as a mental disorder, and gay men and lesbian women received almost universal moral condemnation from mainstream religions. The act of homosexual sex, even in private homes, was punishable by a light fine, 20 years in prison, or even a life sentence!!
New York City had the largest gay population in the United States. It was also the city that most aggressively upheld anti-sodomy laws. In the mid-1960s New York created police vice squads to raid gay bars and baths, and began using decoys to solicit and entrap gays. By 1966 over 100 men a week were arrested as a result of this effort. “It was a nightmare for the lesbian or gay man who was arrested and caught up in the juggernaut but it was also a nightmare for the lesbians or gay men who lived in the closet,” Yale Law School professor William Eskridge says in the film. “This produced an enormous amount of anger within the lesbian and gay community in New York City. Eventually something was bound to blow.”
STONEWALL UPRISING is a very important film we should all see! PBS and AMERICAN EXPERIENCE is airing it on Monday, April 25th! Check your local listings! GET A SNEAK PEAK ONLINE.
Coming soon to DVD!
BestGayNewYork.com
New Yorkers enraged over Gay Bashings and Marching Against Hate Crime
Multiple gay bashings this month in New York City have shaken not only the LGBT community but New Yorkers in general.
Action group Right to feel Safe is organizing a march on April 10th leading to the crime scene of the most recent gay bashing and ending at the historical Stonewall inn.
Late Sunday night 26 year old Damian Furtch was brutally gay bashed after leaving a MC Donalds in the West Village in New York City.
In a statement Furtch shared with GLAAD yesterday, he says:
“The attack against me is part of the larger issue of violence against gay and transgender people in New York City.
While I am grateful for the opportunity to share my story, I hope to shed light on the larger issue of violence against my community. This has to stop. Under no circumstance should a person be attacked for their sexual orientation.”
Damian´s attack is the second gay bashing this month in New York City. Late February 26 year old Barie Shortell was gay bashed a block away from his home in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Action group Right to feel Safe is fed up and has taken the initiative to organize a march against hate crime. Right to feel safe consists of a group of friends of Damian Furtch who each have dealt with anti gay violence in the past.
Right to feel Safe broad support all around the world. Queen of electroclash; Peaches participates by creating an inspiring video to supports efforts of “Right to feel safe”.
The march will take place on April 10th starting at 3.30 pm at Washington Square park and will lead to the location where Damian was beaten after which it will end at the Stonewall inn; location of the historical Stonewall riots.
Right to feel Safe: “It is extremely important to us that we end our March at the Stonewall inn because it shows that we will never forget our history and that we will keep fighting for the rights that generations before us fought for with blood, sweat and tears.
“We are dealing with a global trend here that needs to be stopped now!” “It seems that gay bashing is prevalent even in some of the most liberal cities in the world and that is something that just simply cannot be tolerated!”
After a 24 percent increase in gay violence in 2010, Right to feel safe organized two Marches against gay bashing in former gay capitol Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Right to feel Safe feels LGBT communities have come to a boiling point:“For over forty years we have been actively and openly fighting for our rights.” “It is time we get what we have been fighting so hard for: full equality and for all!”
For more info:
RIGHT TO FEEL SAFE on Facebook
Fya Hopelezz fyamrya @ invents.nl
David Ortiz dortiz317 @ yahoo.com
Best Gay New York.com
Attacked in Beaten in New York City For Being Gay
You would think, this wouldn’t still happen. But we must remember, hate is still everywhere. Sure we have gay bars and gay pride and one or two rights, but we are still hated by many. Damian Furtch is a reminder, hate still exists. Even in New York City.
STEPH WATTS reports, 26 year old Damian Furtch was on his way home from work at a restaurant late Sat night (Sunday morning), when he stopped off at a McDonalds in NYC’s West Village ( a predominantly gay area) to get some food. It was approx. 4:30 am.
While inside the restaurant Damian noticed 2 men staring at him – giving him “looks” – we have all been there, we know what this feels like. It was late, Damian was tired, he felt uncomfortable and he didn’t want any trouble so he left.
He was across the street, walking away while on the phone to a friend when the 2 men from McDonalds approached him and asked him “if he had a problem” before he knew it he was punched in the face by one man, then instantly felt another punch by the second perp, and then he heard it – “You Fucking Faggot” , the words as hurtful as the punches.
Damian managed to get away – but not before suffering a severe beating to his face – and head to the nearest hospital where the police were called. He filed a police report and the cops appropriately asked him if they used any slurs. Damian said yes “they called me a faggot.” Now these 2 thugs are wanted in connection to a HATE crime. Damian got 4 stitches and they have to break and re-set his nose.
Take a stand for Damian against the epidemic of hate in this country. It doesn’t stop here….This is where it starts.
We commend Damian on his bravery for coming forward, for not being ashamed as to what happened. We are committed to seeking justice for Damian. Please stand with me on this issue and add Damian as a friend on facebook – let him know his is not alone in this fight!
Best Gay New York.com
Gaylifenyc.org Covers Gayfestnyc Spring Gala
He reminds us, (especially the youngins!) of our journey from the 50’s. A time when most hid in the closet. Mixner tells the stories of horror faced by the GBLT Community in the past, like the fact over 4,000 needless lobotomies were performed on homosexuals.
He tells of the the strives we’ve made and the people we have lost. And what we need to do – every GBLT person, friend and parent needs to see this video!
Gaylifenyc.org also interviews the stars at the Center Dinner Gala, Angela Lanbury and Alan Cumming and Awardee Broadway Producer, Tom Kirdahy plus much more. So many great messages about being safe from HIV.
Don’t miss these awesome videos!
Thanks to GAY LIFE NYC.org
Best Gay New York.com
Folsom Street East presents: A Fetish for Fashion February 12
For those of us who prefer our roses thorny and our candy hard,
Folsom Street East proudly presents
A Fetish for Fashion,
our first annual runway show and charity auction to benefit the LGBT Community Center. We invite you to join us on the 3rd floor of 208 West 13th Street on Saturday, February 12th for an evening of polymorphously provocative fetishwear from The NY Eagle Shop, The Leather Man, Wonderwear, and ManSkins NYC.
The night’s festivities will also include a special appearance by #1 Billboard charting artist Sylvia Tosun , who will be performing her new single, “World Keeps Turning.”
We can’t think of a better way to kick off Fashion Week in NYC — and support a worthy cause — than with a runway presentation showcasing some of the city’s fiercest leather/fetish/kink-wear designs.
In addition to the runway presentation, this year’s event will also include a cocktail reception and silent auction of luxury adult items to benefit The Center – including our own “Million-Dollar Jock,” which would make even the bravest Victoria’s Secret model blush and turn in her wings.
Doors open at 7pm on Saturday night, with the show kicking off around 8pm.
Admission for the cocktail reception, auction, and fashion show is $10 for standing room and $15 for seats (while they last) and includes one drink ticket.
The after-party will be held at the NY Eagle on 28th Street, with drink specials throughout the evening for fashion show attendees presenting their FSE wristband.
Best Gay New York.com
Relive Studio 54….Gold and Glitter Event February 4th
With the Full Force and Sex Appeal
of Studio 54’s Hedonistic
Era of 70s Disco…
A pulsating collective of nearly 1,000 of New York City’s creatives are anticipated to attend Love That Fever’s 1st Annual Gold & Glitter: A glamorous night filled with seductive visual art and hypnotic transcendental beats with a portion of the night’s proceeds to benefit The East African Center (EAC).
The metallic event will feature both multimedia visual and performance art from a bevy of over twenty five acclaimed virtuoso DJs , VJs and performers on Friday, Feb. 4 2011 at the REBEL 251 West 30th Street, NY, NY, 10001.
Headliners include, French-Algerian DJ Reda Briki, Tim Fielding, Mia Dangerfield and France’s own Sid Vega, will penetrate the sound of disco infused with deep energetic house, into your soul while Gaeten VJs Static, Philly and Kurt Ritta, NYC project stills and fast-frame art throughout the night.
Love That Fever is a multimedia international event production company founded in 2010 specializes in interactive and participatory artistic productions. Co-founder and partner JJ Relph hopes that the night of jewels, afros, tuxedos, exotic fau furs, and disco balls will inspire a vestige of change in the way patrons of NYC’s arts collective gay and lesbian scene defines the word “expression” — all while contributing to the efforts of the EAC’s Journey of empowering women and children. The EAC is a non-profit organization that helps communities achieve empowerment by increasing literacy for women and children, improving health status, and eradicating poverty.
JJ Relph stated “this will be a night were fantasies come to life, the lines between sexuality become very fluid and boys who like boys who like girls who like girls who like boys will all meld into one. New York’s party scene is very divided along gender and sexual orientation lines this is the party were you get to leave your label at the door, and come and have fun and see what happens.”
Gold & Glitter will also feature a variety of glitz and glam treats throughout the night from, BUILT2BURN Disco Fashion and makeovers, and Gold & Glitter body painting, MC Christopher Hardwick – serving as the flamboyant “Steven Rubell” of Studio 54, Suck My Lemons Photo-booth by Page, ANIMUS — all while while jewel-covered men and women known affectionately as the FEVER DOLLS, fulfill your every need, and Drag queens will give you LIP.
For more information on showcasing
or volunteering, contact
JJ Relph at 646.318.0000 or e-mail lovethatfever@gmail.com..
Photo: Behold Love That Fever producers from left to right JJ Relph, Annie Vainine, DJ Reda Briki,
photo credit Jazz Wall
LOVE THAT FEVER
Best Gay New York.com
Mayor Bloomberg SLASHES Support for Homeless Youth…Then Says “It Gets Better” to the Youths!
Bloomberg recorded an “It Gets Better” video yesterday, in which he urged bullied gay youth to come to New York City where they would be accepted. Ok, so you are cutting support – yet encouraging youths to come to New York City….WTF?!
Bloomberg says in the video: “Right now there may be some of you out there who feel that there’s no hope, or that you’re not wanted. Well I have a message for you. New York City wants you. New York has always been the place where anyone can go, and be who they’re supposed to be, regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender, or sexual identity. We need you.”
This whole It Gets Better movement is becoming kind of silly. Even President Obama has said “It Gets Better”. Really Barack?
Carl Siciliano, Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center, which provides shelter and services for homeless LGBT youth, said “Mayor Bloomberg, your cruel and reckless cuts to the meager support system for homeless LGBT youth in New York City just made things for them much worse! On January 1st, Bloomberg cut support for outreach to homeless youth in half, cut most drop-in centers for homeless youth by a third, and cut support for the two LGBT homeless youth drop-in programs in half. In New York City there are over 1,000 LGBT youth suffering on the streets every night without access to safe shelter. The drop-in centers and outreach are their only support. Homeless LGBT youth are at incredible risk of suicide with 62% reporting that they have considered or attempted suicide.
The LGBT community needs to recognize these cuts as an attack against our most vulnerable youth, and against us as a whole. We pay just as much taxes as anyone, and there are far too few City-funded programs that support our most vulnerable youth. If we can be treated like this in a city with as strong an community as NYC, how will our youth ever get their fair share of the resources they need and deserve? I cannot speak strongly enough about what a horror it is to have LGBT youth who have been discarded by homophobic parents flock to us for help, and to have to counsel them to sleep in the subways because there are not nearly enough beds for them.”
Best of Gay New York.com
Nathan Manske and Michelangelo Signorile at The Center Dec. 10th
50-state Story Tour
arrives in NYC!
By the time the IFD crew reaches NYC, they will have visited 36 states in 3 months, collecting and sharing true LGBTQ stories from small towns and big cities all across America.
Listen to stories from ImFromDriftwood.com.
See Video Stories collected from the road.
Hear about the adventure they’ve had along the way.
**Introduction by OutQ radio host Michelangelo Signorile
**Reading by Jay Blotcher
7-8: Drinks and snacks
8-9:30: Reading and Screening
The LGBT Center 208 West 13th St., Room 310
This will also be your first chance to purchase the ImFromDriftwood.com book, a compilation of the best stories from the site.
Best Gay New York
Q The Series – Online Video Show From Columbia Students
It’s a comedy about queer life on campus that addresses a wide range of topics in the LGBT community and how our generation deals with them — the main characters include trans, bisexual, pansexual, and homosexual guys and girls.
Being a comedy, the show focuses on the positive aspects of living in a community and generation that’s closer to accepting queer lifestyles, but also addresses the natural tensions that can arise.
Currently, it is still in production (for an online release and advanced screening next spring), but they are trying to get awareness out now and already have a trailer for the series up online.
The show is produced completely by students in the city, mostly from Columbia University, and is a non-profit endeavor. Funding has been generously provided by the Gatsby Foundation (providing many on-campus arts grants), and equipment has been donated by Columbia University Film Productions (an undergraduate film club). The remaining funding will hopefully be raised through our Kickstarter account.
It’s the aim of the cast and crew to spread awareness of the different lifestyles that exist in our generation — we really want to show the fun side of being a young adult in this new cultural era. Our production team is working to make the best show out of everything we’ve got.
The show will be shooting over the month of January, and is planned for release over the months of March and April. The first few episodes of the show will be screened to our supporters and crew in New York City before the release of the series.
Check out Q The Series ! Also join them on Facebook !
Best Gay New York
SAGE Cuts Ribbon on New Space – Expanding Vital Services Citywide for LGBT Older Adults
Yesterday,SAGE welcomed
friends and supporters,
including New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Calamus Foundation Board Chair Louis Bradbury, to celebrate the unveiling of its new office. This space will be dedicated primarily to expanding SAGE’s services and programs to the thousands of LGBT older adults who live in New York City.
SAGE was able to acquire the space due to a generous award of capital funds from the New York City Council, the Manhattan Borough President and the Calamus Foundation, reflecting a growing faith among government and philanthropic leaders about the importance of improving the lives of LGBT older adults around the city, and the country.
“This seed money from our city and the Calamus Foundation is an important vote of confidence in SAGE’s mission and in our ability to successfully manage our resources and to build an effective, sustainable organization,” said Michael Adams, executive director of SAGE. “Now, for the first time in our 32-year history, SAGE owns a permanent home that LGBT older adults can rely on now and in the future.”
The new space will be built out over the coming months and will be designed to ensure optimal program delivery to meet LGBT elders’ most critical needs. SAGE is currently seeking additional funding to complete the project.
THIS WEEKEND – there is a conference and expo –
CUNY GRADUATE CENTER, NEW YORK CITY 365 FIFTH AVENUE (AT 34TH STREET)
WE ARE A DIVERSE AND RESILIENT COMMUNITY.
WE ARE THE EXPERTS ON OUR LIVES.
WE ARE THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF LGBT AGING
Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) is the world’s largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBT older adults. SAGE has pioneered programs and services for the aging LGBT community, provided technical assistance and training to expand opportunities for LGBT older people across the country, and provided a national voice on LGBT aging issues. In 2005, SAGE became the first official LGBT delegate at the White House Conference on Aging. In 2010, SAGE was awarded a three-year $900,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Administration on Aging to establish the nation’s only National Resource Center on LGBT Aging.
Learn more at sageusa.org .
