GAYLETTER

If you have been reading GAYLETTER, you know we love an outdoor space. We are thirsty for that outdoor heat and if you ever invite me to a BBQ I’ll bring a nice piece of meat — I am one of those people that will get a gourmet burger, yas mama. We have been trying to sound more gay at the GAYLETTER office, so bear with me for a moment, yes god, yasss queen — I am here for it. So, this BBQ is not free because it’s a fundraiser, but it’s the right type of fundraiser I’m From Driftwood does great things for the LGBT community. For those of you that don’t know, it’s “an online LGBT storytelling archive based in New York,” it’s a platform where people like us can share our stories. This is what they are saying about the BBQ: “Come mix, mingle, drink, and eat at I’m From Driftwood’s 7th Annual Summer BBQ Fundraiser, presented by Merck, in an outdoor courtyard in the heart of Hell’s Kitchen!” Anyone who’s reading this and wants to go can use: GAYLETTER as a code and get $20 off the price. Okurrrrrrrr.  —Abi

We are so pleased to be hosting the grand opening of our very good friend Boswell Scot’s second BEST BARBER shop. The original is over in Hell’s Kitchen, but their new East Village spot just opened much to our downtown delight. Everytime Abi leaves Boswell, I get a selfie with the appropriate “Boswell turned me out.” It’s cute, and Boswell is the absolute sweetest. He’s helped us with so many GAYLETTER shoots. Most of the time the models arrive to set looking all sorts of disheveled and we bat our eyelashes, clasp our hands and say, “Boswell… Daddy… could you please make these boys look fresh? Please, humor us, make these sideburns even.” Without fail, Boswell along with the rest of the Best Barber team, does just that. Join us on Sunday for the very special grand opening party. Boswell loves a Sunday wine, but we’ll have champagne and La Croix on hand if you’re trying to dry out. We’ve also got a performance by our collective favorite Untitled Queen and giveaways by Best Barber, Malin+Goetz and of course, GAYLETTER. The kiki is all day, so come show your face and make an appointment to come back!  —Chris Stewart

The photographer Benjamin Fredrickson contributed to GAYLETTER Issue 5, last year, with a provocative portfolio of photographs from the Fetish-themed street fair, Folsom Street East in NYC. The street fair has been taking place in NYC since 1997 in West Chelsea (27th Street between 10th and 11th Avenue). Folsom Street East is a spin-off of the San Francisco Folsom Street Fair which is the world’s largest celebration of leather and BDSM subcultures. Benjamin emailed me to let me know that this year he’s going to be photographing people that are attending the Fair from 11am - 6pm — “I’m looking to photograph anyone and everyone. I will be wandering around with my large format camera shooting portraits of people. I’m really happy with how the last 2 years of photographing Folsom Street East has turned out.” I can confirm that his black and white photographs are powerful. Wear your best kink look, leather, harness, jockstrap, puppy tail, or just show up naked with leather boots...Just make sure you impress Benjamin and beg him for a photo. He'll be working with a large format camera with a tripod, so it should be easy to spot him in a crowd.  —Abi

This is an event I was pretty thrilled to learn about because I love the idea of younger kids learning how to DJ. It sounds like a solid pitch for a Bravo TV show. If you’re into dance music, you should have come across Discwoman by now. They’re a New York-based DJ collective “representing and showcasing cis women, trans women and genderqueer talent in electronic music.” They throw some of the best parties in Brooklyn and the artists they represent are some of the most in-demand ones working today. For Pride Month, the Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment has programmed a series of free workshops, under the moniker “INTERLUDE+ series,” that are being offered to LGBTQ+ youth to celebrate the community’s diverse music scene. Of course the youth are innocent, but think about being 15 or 16 years old again… I couldn’t wait to finally leave the age of house parties behind and enter the void that is nightlife. Rather than glamorizing the new club kids on Instagram, this lecture and workshop by Emma Burgess-Olson (Umfang), one of Discowoman’s co-founders, on live curation on CDJ player is a much more positive introduction to nightlife’s most essential variable. Some of these kids are probably going to be turning it out at the club in a few years, so I’m happy they’re starting their careers learning from one of the best.  —Chris Stewart