Category Archives: News and Happenings
Kevin Tachman goes backstage for Jeffrey Fashion Cares in New York
The 2014 Jeffrey Fashion Cares
benefit fashion show took place this week!
Vogue editrix Anna Wintour, designers Diane von Furstenberg, Prabal Gurung and Jason Wu, Veep actress Anna Chlumsky, models Constance Jablonski, Kate Bock, Jihye and Nina Agdal, and former Top Model mentor Jay Manuel took in a bevy of male beauties showing off some sizzling hot spring looks.
Organized by retailer Jeffrey Kalinsky, the event raised more than $650,000 – which goes to a variety of LGBT organizations include the Hetrick-Martin Institute and Lambda Legal.
In its 22-year history, Jeffrey Fashion Cares has raised more than $11 million!
Photographer Kevin Tachman had the best seat in the house! Snapping hot models backstage!
See all of his photos here!
GayFace Launches
GAYFACE: 1st Class prepares to launch on April 8th. We are excited to announce that our project is ready to launch – GAYFACE: 1st Class uses photo portraiture to empower queer individuals and give the public a personal relation to the individual. Alongside with its sister project ALLYFACE, which allows allies of the LGBTQ+ community to show their support.
Ashley Kolodner began GAYFACE as a personal project in 2011, but in 2012 it gained traction as a powerful way to give a voice to the LGBTQ+ community. Since then we’ve been taking the project where ever we could and are ready to take it national.
My mission through GAYFACE: 1st CLASS, and the accompanying ALLYFACE photo series is to unite and empower the full-spectrum LGBTQ+ community and our allies. In doing so we will be able to give this community a voice through the pages of this first edition portraiture book. For more info contact us at gayface1stclass@gmail.com
Green Haired Lady – Hedda Lettuce Art Show April 4th
HEDDA LETTUCE – the queen of green!
is having her first solo art show this week, beginning April 4th!
Titled: The Green Haired Lady (of course!) opens April 4th at 6:30pm. MCCNY Gallery 446 w 36th street. It is a series of new works combining camp and spirituality, to create a series of portraits of the magical Green Haired Lady.
Performance by Hedda Lettuce at 8pm. Free wine and cheese!
- 446 West 36th Street, between 9th & 10th Avenues
- New York, New York 10018
Chris Merchant Gets Naked for Gay Times
Meet Christopher Marchant– a gay violinist living in New York City.
Who knew playing that instrument would result in such huge biceps.
Chris Merchant of WELL STRUNG NYC makes a
splash in this months issue of GT / GAY TIMES!
On sale now at a news stand near you!
One Direction step aside, there’s a new kind of boy band on the circuit. The all-male string quartet Well-Strung features classical musicians who sing putting their own spin on the music of Mozart, Vivaldi, Rihanna, Adele Lady Gaga, and more! Their debut show sold-out Joe’s Pub on May 1st, 2012 in New York after being workshopped at Ars Nova NYC in February. Since then they have played venues across the world such as The Art House in Provincetown, the Leicester Square Theatre in London, 54 Below in New York, House of Blues in New Orleans and Feinstein’s in San Francisco.
Well-Strung stars first violinist Edmund Bagnell, second violinist Christopher Marchant, cellist Daniel Shevlin and violist Trevor Wadleigh. Well-Strung’s show is directed and co-written by Donna Drake with arrangements by David Levinson. The quartet was formed by producer/co-writer/manager Mark Cortale and Christopher Marchant. Additional arrangements are by Daniel Shevlin, Yair Evnine and Christopher Marchant.
Should we Allow Bill Donohue in the Gay Pride Parade?
Right Wing nut, Bill Donohue of the Catholic League announced today that the controversy over the New York St. Patrick’s Day parade’s ban on LGBT groups has inspired him to apply to march at the New York pride parade with a “Straight Is Great” banner.
Donohue told conservative talk show host Steve Malzberg that if his application is approved he will “bring a big wedding cake” to the pride parade, in what he seems to think would be a slight to LGBT people.
I don’t personally have any problem with this. As long as it’s not HATE – there is nothing wrong with “Straights are Great,” – straights are great! They made us! I think he should be allowed. Thoughts?
LISTEN to his interview
HERITAGE OF PRIDE responded:
Straight is great – as long as there’s no hate,” said David Studinski, March Director of NYC Pride. Chris Frederick, Managing Director of NYC Pride, added, “Straight allies are great. We have thousands of straight people participating in the Pride March , including Catholic groups, who support LGBT youth, families and married couples.” GLAAD’s Commentator Accountability Project provided background information on Bill Donohue’s recent statements on LGBT people.
Mr. Donohue has been an outspoken opponent of legal recognition of LGBT people, loving LGBT families, the science of sexual orientation and HIV/AIDS education. He continually refers to marriage equality as “crazy” and “one of the most bizarre ideas in human history,” and he has equated the marriage equality movement with the “minority of people in South Africa who took away the rights of Black people;” insists “we’re not going to allow gay people to adopt children, that’s against nature, it’s against nature’s God;” champions a program called Courage, which tells LGBT people that a chaste, celibate life is the only acceptable option; and on multiple occasions, Mr.Donohue has referred to AIDS as “self-inflicted” and due to going against “natural order.”
Registration for the 2014 NYC LGBT Pride March is currently open. All groups and organizations that love and support the LGBT community are encouraged to join. Visit nycpride.org/events/the-marchtoregister
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UPDATE: Donohue has chickened out and will NOT be marching in our parade!
Full Bunny Contact …an INSANE Easter Carnival
This is wild!
FULL BUNNY CONTACT is a weekend-long Easter festival with a decidedly twisted and whimsical take on the traditional spring fair. Wander the grounds and participate in games and activities with a main event that pits New Yorkers against hardcore bunnies in an Easter egg hunt for the ages.
FULL BUNNY CONTACT features a midway, game booths, on-site bar, food trucks, a DJ, live entertainment and will run April 17th – 20th at the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center, 107 Suffolk Street (between Rivington and Delancey Sts.) on Manhattan’s lower east side.
LGBT NIGHT APRIL 18th
www.fullbunnycontact.com
The four-day festival features dozens of game booths that get the adrenaline pumping.
Timothy Haskell (Creator of Nightmare Haunted House) invites you to be among the very first to experience FULL BUNNY CONTACT – NYC’s only Extreme Easter Egg Hunt and Insane Easter-Weekend Festival.
“This is pure, silly, fun with an element of sport,” says creator Timothy Haskell. “A four day celebration where you can race an actual rabbit while wearing a giant tortoise shell, or pull candy right out of the Easter bunnies butt, or show off your flag football moves as you try in vain to collect Easter eggs.
New Yorkers love to celebrate holidays and combines the familiar with the extreme.”
In the main event at FULL BUNNY CONTACT, patrons are locked in a 16’ X 20’ steel cage, to test their wits against three massive, highly competitive Easter bunnies and a shot clock, all trying to keep you from collecting eggs filled with cash and prizes. How crazy is this?!
There are games, events and booths. All of them related to Easter in some way. You could be there 30 minutes, you could be there for 3 hours. You roam around and enjoy yourself and leave when either the shift changes (at 7 pm on Friday and Saturday) or when the event is over (all other nights)
www.fullbunnycontact.com
at the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center, 107 Suffolk Street
(between Rivington and Delancey Sts.)
St Patricks Parade Continues to Lose Sponsors in 11th Hour
From AP – New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio was to become the first mayor in decades to sit out the city’s traditional St. Patrick’s Day parade over a dispute involving whether march participants can carry pro-gay signs. But Ireland’s Prime Minister refused to be sidelined, saying he’ll join the procession in Manhattan because the holiday is about Irishness, not sexuality.
New York’s Irish, their descendants and the Irish for a day will revel in the celebration of culture on Monday, but de Blasio’s decision to skip the parade underscores lingering political tensions over gay rights issues in the Northeast.
Boston’s Mayor Martin Walsh also opted out of his city’s parade on Sunday after talks broke down that would have allowed a gay group to march.
Parade organizers in New York have said gay groups are not prohibited from marching, but are not allowed to carry gay-friendly signs or identify themselves as LGBT.
Some LGBT groups were to protest the parade along the parade route on Fifth Avenue on Monday. Others had planned to dump Guinness beer from the shelves of the Stonewall Inn, the birthplace of the gay rights movement, in protest of the brewer’s plan to sponsor the parade, but that demonstration was canceled late Sunday after Guinness said in a statement that it had dropped its sponsorship.
Other beer companies joined the boycotts earlier, with Sam Adams withdrawing its sponsorship of Boston’s parade and Heineken following suit in New York.
“Guinness has a strong history of supporting diversity and being an advocate for equality for all,” the company said in a statement posted on the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation website Sunday. “We were hopeful that the policy of exclusion would be reversed for this year’s parade. As this has not come to pass, Guinness has withdrawn its participation. We will continue to work with community leaders to ensure that future parades have an inclusionary policy.”
ABC LOCAL
The ROW NYC Brings back Sophisticated Galmour
The Row NYC hotel has pioneered a new era of individuality by meeting NYC’s signature urban grit with grandeur – transforming your stay into a completely contemporary experience – with a front row view to Times Square that’s truly incomparable.
Guests undeniably reside in the middle of it all, with exciting access to everything and anything – 24/7.
Located in the heart of Times Square, the Row NYC hotel was originally designed in 1928 by Herbert J. Knapp – theater architect extraordinaire – and has remained its own dramatic New York icon ever since. Throughout the last century, this striking hotel has starred as the Lincoln, the Manhattan, and the Milford Plaza before making its much-anticipated debut as the Row NYC.
The Row NYC boasts 1331 contemporary guest rooms on 28 floors, flaunting chic, Manhattan-inspired decor in white-hot hues mixed with unexpectedly vibrant custom furnishings.
WATCH BEHIND THE SCENES!
Information Sought on Gay Bashing
Last week, a couple was coming home after celebrating their tenth anniversary when a man approached them and started to beat J.P. Masterson in the face. “I fucking hate faggots” the assailant told Masterson and his partner, Peter Moore as they waited on the platform for a subway in New York City’s Greenwich Village. The couple says there were about 50 people at the busy subway station, but not one bothered to help.
The police are investigating the incident as a bias crime. The suspect, according to the New York Times, had first asked the couple if they were gay.
Masterson, whose nose ands eye socket were broken and eye badly bruised, is 39 and reportedly lives in Clifton, New Jersey, but says he grew and came out in the Village.
“Police describe the suspect as a white male, 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighs around 170 pounds and is in his late 20s. He may also have a thick Polish accent,” NJ.com reports:
Anyone with information about the attack is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS, visit the Crime Stoppers website or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
The New York City Anti-Violence Project announced they “will be doing outreach next Wednesday, March 12th in the West Village and in and around the West 4th Street subway station, where we will talk with community members to increase awareness about this incident and provide people with safety information.” You can contact RJ Mendoza, AVP’s Hate Violence Community Organizer, at rmendoza@avp.org.
My Gay Roommate Moves to New York
My Gay Roommate (MGR) is a rather new comedy web series (about 18 months old) that explores the relationship between two college roommates – one who is very gay, and one who is straight. It follows their experiences, altercations, and the slightly absurd situations they find themselves in as first time college students — everything from losing their virginities to cleanliness and everything in between. Season 1 was released in November 2012.
Season 3 has just started and episode one finds Nick in New York, looking for a new roommate.
“MGR is about us. We (Austin Bening and Noam Ash) were roommates all four years of college. After we graduated we moved to New York, and the show came with us, ” explains co-creater Noam Ash. “We built a new team – we have a new writer on board, Samuel Korda, and a new cast and crew. Things have been going swimmingly, it’s been a ton of fun – lots of funny, sexy and interesting twists coming this season!”
Noam told us, “I am a full time actor, singer and writer. I’m auditioning, performing, filming and writing. Earlier this year I starred in the world premier of “Chemistry”, a two-person play by Jacob Marx Rice directed by Joshua W. Kelley.”
“We have been overwhelmed by the response MGR has gotten. At the one year mark we reached our first 1,000,000 hits, and at the current pace we will hit 2,000,000 at our one and a half year anniversary. So we’re having steady and substantial growth, which is awesome. Our subscriber base is constantly growing with new people discovering the show every day. It’s pretty awesome!”
What’s next is Season 3? And the road ahead in New York?
“Who knows!” says Noam. ” I’m auditioning, performing… Anything could happen! There are still plenty of #MGRs to be written and filmed. One dream would be to have the show picked up by a network and developed for television. That would be pretty fucking cool. I would also LOVE LOVE LOVE to do a sitcom and a Broadway show. Hopefully more than one of each :). And before I die I WILL sing a duet with Idina Menzel. 🙂 “
and he added, “stay tuned, you won’t be disappointed!”
Youtube.com/user/MyGayRoommate
Noam Ash.com
Bar d’O – History Repeats Itself with Raven O, Joey Arias and Sherry Vine!
Bar d’O Returns
Those caught texting and tweeting during show will wish they were dead.
$20 Door fee goes to vital life support of all three stars including medication, shock therapy and incontinence intervention. No Deadbeats Please!
WOW! This is going to be amazing!!!
XL Becomes 42 West and Lady Bunny Celebrates 2nd anniversary for HOT MESS Drag Review
Drag royalty Lady Bunny, Bianca Del Rio and Milan will welcome guests to the newly launched 42West (514 West 42 Street) on February 21, 2014 to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of the City’s over-the-top comedic ³Hot Mess Drag Revue.² The irrepressible, irreverent and irresistible trio, joined by fellow divas Sugga Pie Koko, Skyla Versai and Jada Valenciaga, will once again hold court at their weekly residency at newly opened Hell¹s Kitchen nightclub.
(Over the last six weeks 42West, the 14,000 square foot cabaret that formerly housed XL, has undergone design enhancements, which includes a dazzling new high-tech laser lighting system, an upgraded state-of-the-art sound system, a revamped VIP area and new on-the dance floor 360-degree premium seating.)
“It¹s been a time-tested, infallible formula an unstoppable, hilarious combination. Give iconic drag queens a microphone and a stage, mix in a few cosmos, add a dash of camp and pop hits and you¹ve got a night like no other,” said 42West’s owner Susan Buckley.
Combining old-school glamour and salacious scandal galore, Hot Mess lives up to its name and offers an outrageously good time for all. During the adults-only interactive performance, the queens lead the audience through several song and expertly choreographed dance numbers. Intermittent commentary is given by hostess Bianca Del Rio, who will compete on LOGO’s hit show “RuPaul’s Drag Race” later this month, that keeps audiences in fits of laughter and coming back for more.
In addition to the lively, colorful banter and outrageous performances by the Hot Mess talent, surprise guests like Octomom and Tan Mom, Raven Symoné and RuPaul have joined the festivities in the past making no two shows the same. “Life should be fun, lively, and at least a little messy,” explains Lady Bunny. Michael Musto dubbed Hot Mess “the best drag show in NYC” and the cast members prove it to sold-out crowds every Friday night at 9pm.
And in 2014, Lady Bunny, Bianca Del Rio and Milan will continue to pull out all the stops, mixing up their unique brand of calamity and comedy, during each and every performance. And the divas have an even glitzier, glam, show stopping stage to perform on at 42West, the 14,000 square foot space that previously housed XL Nightclub. The new venue features a dazzling high-tech laser lighting system, a state-of-the-art sound system, a chic VIP area, and premium seating that easily puts guests in the Hot Mess hot seat.
Premium reserve tickets, which include a complimentary glass of champagne, premium seating and a plate of small bites are $50 and general admission tickets are $30. Tickets can be purchased by visiting: http://bit.ly/1bWpvX5
Mayor of New York Plans to Skip This Years St Patricks Day Parade
Gotta Love This! New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says he won’t be marching in the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade.
De Blasio says he won’t partake in the parade along Fifth Avenue because of organizers’ refusal to allow participants to carry gay-pride signs.
“I will be participating in a number of other events to honor the Irish heritage of this city and the contributions of Irish-Americans, but I simply disagree with the organizers of that parade in their exclusion of some individuals in this city,” he said, according CBS New York.
Organizers say gay people are welcome to march, but they say signs celebrating being gay would detract from the parade’s focus on honoring Irish heritage. So you can be gay and march – but you can’t celebrate being gay and Irish. Only Irish.
FRUIT FLIES New York Web series
I am so excited to share with you the news of the upcoming webseries, FruitFlies! Check us out
at fruitfliesny.com
FruitFlies is the show about gay guys’ advice to girls. As
a twenty-something living in New York City, my girl-friends and I quickly found ourselves surrounded by the world of fabulous gays – who
somehow always seem more put-together than the rest of us.
This talk-show style series will be 2-3 minute episodes all about gay men’s
advice to straight girls about the ins-and-outs of city-living. Whether
it be fashion, dating, fitness, or hotspots, these quirky life-style
segments will explore the ways to get fabulous!
FruitFlies just launched its IndieGoGo campaign – which is a 30-day promotional campaign: http://www.
fruitfliesny.com
https://twitter.com/
https://www.facebook.com/
Miss Coco Peru PRAYS THE PREACHER Away
A Catholic high School has postponed a talk by a controversial priest
who encourages teens to “pray away the gay” — but the president of the
Bronx school defied angry gay groups by saying the lecturer will be invited back.
Father Donald Timone was scheduled to speak Tuesday night at Cardinal
Spellman High School about the Catholic group called Courage — which
encourages teens “struggling with same-sex attraction” to lead chaste
lives.
After outrage by lesbian and gay alumni, and some staffers, school
President Trevor Nicholls scrubbed the event — but this battle is not
over.
New Book looks at the history of New York Nightlife…THE FUN: THE SOCIAL PRACTICE OF NIGHTLIFE IN NYC
is a first-of-its-kind publication, documenting the new forms of
nightlife practitioners to emerge since the turn of the millennium.
Through profiles of over 30 artists, including the royalty of Manhattan
nightlife like Susanne Bartsch and Ladyfag; hybrid forms like Xtapussy
and FCKNLZ; the continuation of minimal wave and goth communities
through Pendu Disco; and the vibrant queer scenes of JUDY, Frankie
Sharp, and My Chiffon is Wet, THE FUN documents the rich
contemporary cultural activity keeping NYC as weird and innovative as
decades past.
voices in the nightlife, including artists Rob Roth and Genesis
P-Orridge, curators and critics Claire Bishop and Jake Yuzna, as well as
journalist Michael Musto providing both historical context and
contemporary understanding of nightlife as a vital artistic practice
that has been marginalized by the arts sector for hundreds of years.
from the explosion of large and small discos throughout the 1970s like
Studio 54, which paved the way for 80s megaclubs; the candy-colored club
kid movement of Michael Alig and the Limelight in the early 90s; the
parallel expansion of the boundary shattering merger of drag,
performance, and music in downtown venues such as the Pyramid Club and
Mother; the rise of Brooklyn as a new focal point in the 2000s with the
emergence of Luxx, Secret Project Robot, Silent Barn and other hybrid
arts/music/nightlife venues; and on into the many vibrant forms found
today.
978-1-57687-659-6, $39.95)
from Paris Hilton and Lydia Hearst to the Backstreet Boys, Foxy Brown
and Gwen Stefani was drawn to their taste for sparkly streetwear glam.
“The clothes were attention getting and fun,” Heatherette’s longtime
friend and muse Amanda Lepore remembers. “They had a distinct look,
which at that time — everyone wanted it. David LaChapelle was using it. All the
celebrities wanted it. It was in demand.” (from Paper Mag).
while Rich is set to launching two fashion lines this spring: Rich
& Warr, a mens line, and a womens, Chantilly Rich, with Chantilly
Lace designer, Chantelle Warr. Although busy, Rich still has his eye on
the club scene. “It’s been fun watching the new generation of kids. When
I moved to New York I was ‘the new’ to the old nightlife generation,”
Richie says. “Now it’s fun to see all the new kids coming on the block
and dressing up. I feel like the style is coming back. Who knows, maybe
Heatherette will too.”
A Christmas Eve Jewbilee December 24th!
A Christmas Eve Jewbilee
Tuesday, December 24
Doors at 9pm
DJ XAVIER
Stage 48
(between 11/12 Ave)
$20 at door
Bottle service and
out-of-town group sales: jayson@myhebro.com
New Yorks Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular Ticket Deals
been high-kicking off the Holiday season with classic dance numbers,
special effects, gorgeous costumes and innovative staging since 1933.
Every year, more than one million people enter Radio City Music Hall to
see the one-of-a-kind show and participate in a classic New York
tradition. In fact, for many theatergoers, the Radio City Christmas
Spectacular is an annual event, right up there with the Rockefeller
Christmas tree and the Holiday window displays, and a quintessential
part of the Christmas-in-New-York experience.
A Christmas Story, The Musical
debuted, and the holiday hijinks of the Depression-era Parker family
have been part of American culture ever since. Driven by nine-year-old
Ralphie Parker’s desperate wish to find a Red Ryder BB Gun in his
stocking, the movie has become an annual event, joining It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street
in the pantheon of Christmas classics. Now reimagined for the stage as a
musical, the holiday hit will once again come to the stage in December.
9th Annual New York Gay Football League Bachelor Auction November 21
On
Thursday, November 21, the New York Gay Football League will host its Ninth Annual Bachelor Auction at XL Nightclub (512 W. 42nd St) at 7pm. Proceeds from this year’s auction will benefit the GLSEN Sports Project.
Gay Football League
New York Gay Football League seeks to promote the positive social and
athletic enjoyment of flag football. Through our league, our events and
most importantly our players, we also seek to foster and augment the
self-respect and to engender respect and understanding from the gay
community. While particular emphasis is placed on these specific goals,
it is a fundamental principle of the NYGFL that all activities, social
and athletic, are conducted to be inclusive in nature and that no
individual shall be excluded from participating on the basis of sexual
orientation, gender, race, religion, nationality, ethnic origin,
political beliefs, athletic ability or physical challenge.
About the GLSEN Sports Project
Changing
the Game: The GLSEN Sports Project is an education and advocacy program
focused on addressing LGBT issues in K-12 school-based athletic and
physical education programs. The Sport Project’s mission is to assist
K-12 schools in creating and maintaining an athletic and physical
education climate that is based on the core principles of respect,
safety and equal access for all students, teachers and coaches
regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression and
integrating these efforts into overall school plans to ensure a safe,
respectful school climate and culture. For more information, go to: sports.glsen.org
Hunting Season Season 2 Launches Kickstarter Fund
(Ben Baur and Tyler French pictured).
a new smash hit comedy series based on the funny and painfully truthful
blog of ALEX(played by Ben Baur), a single gay 20-something in Manhattan, a smart and
successful blogger at Gawker by day, who turns the spotlight on himself
and his friends and starts anonymously writing about his social life.
Based on the wildly popular blog, The Great Cock Hunt, and the novel of
the same title published by Kensington Books.
UNCENSORED version available for paid download only at
huntingseason.tv.
creator of the show paid for season one out of his own pocket, and then
took out loans to finish it. The sales of downloads paid back the
loans and proved how big the audience was for the show. But all the
conversations they had with networks and advertisers did not pan out and they now must turn to the fans of the show to make more episodes.
