GAYLETTER

The Museum of Sex is hosting a new Sunday Voguing Tea Dance series to coincide with the celebration of Pride month — this is the second of the three Sundays, if you can’t make this one there’s still the next Sunday, June 18th. “Celebrating the highly stylized, global phenomenon of house dance originating in the late 1980s that arose from the Harlem ballroom scene of the 60s, the extravaganza will bring together Voguers from many of the key Houses in NYC. Showcasing all styles of the art form of Voguing, including Old-way, New-way, Runway, Posing, Pop-dip-and-spin, Arms and all that comes with it…” The night will take place in the MoSex’s Disco Bar where the exhibition Night Fever: New York Disco 1977-1979, The Bill Bernstein Photographs — make sure you check that out, we are trying to contribute to your gay education here. It’s an installation that “invites viewers to experience the freedom and intoxication of the disco era.” As far as GAYLETTER is concerned it’s not a proper Pride party if there’s not a ball. We have been doing a Pride Ball for the last 3 years at the Wythe Hotel and this year The House of Mugler is performing at our Ping Pong party — Yup that was a plug. In the meantime go to the Sex Museum and enjoy performances by members from a few houses including Cesar Valentino, Javier Ninja, Bootz Mizrahi, Jack Mizrahi and others. Music is by DJ ChipChop Gonzalez. Come on, Vogue, Vogue, Vogue...  —Abi

Hosted by Posture Magazine, Laid & Set Off is part of BK Pride and is taking place at The Bell House. I love that BK has become such a prominent borough in the last few years that they get their own Pride. We’re all for every block of New York creating their own Pride events. Why the fuck not! Expect music by “DJ MURSI LAYNE, DJ Roze-Royze, Noa DeSimone, and Bmore's own Josh Stokes. Plus visuals & photos by s.e.a. ♥” One of the things that excited me most about this event was the fact that they are donating some (we’re not sure how much) of the profits to the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice who “support hundreds of brilliant and brave grantee partners in the U.S. and internationally who challenge oppression and seed social change. We work for racial, economic, social, and gender justice, because we all deserve to live our lives freely, without fear, and with dignity.” A worthy cause to support if you ask me. Which if you’re reading this, I guess you kind of are asking me. So Yes! very worthy indeed. Have fun, get laid and set if off!  —tom

If you are coming to D.C. this weekend for the Pride March then join us on Friday, June 9 at the W Hotel for Queer Me Out: a New LGBTQ Speaker Series. Abi and I will be on the panel discussing queers and social media. One of our favs, Mickey Boardman from Paper Magazine, is moderating the panel and we’ll be joined by activist Levi Foster and artist Trae Harris. We’ve been practising our dication for the last few days: 'Fluffy Floppy Puppy, Fluffy Floppy Puppy' so hopefully we’ll sound super smooth. The series, as described by W Hotels, is all about “bringing together leaders of the queer community from the intersecting worlds of fashion, music, design, nightlife, philanthropy, media and politics.” Abi and I should probably start thinking up some smart things to say about queers and social media — thankfully we are having dinner together tonight! We’ve never been to D.C. Pride, but are super excited to head down there. We wanna make us much noise outside of the orange house as we can. Let those haters know that we aren’t to be ignored! Get a ticket on the Vamoose bus or get on the Grindr (Pride Ride) bus and join us!  —tom

I am writing about this event because I love you, our newsletter subscribers. Seriously, this goes against my better judgement because I am going to be arriving on the later side and I don’t want the venue to hit capacity. So consider this info a goddamn blessing! The Drums have been one of my favorite bands for a long time. When I was 17 and thought my first boyfriend was on the verge of breaking up with me, I tried to dissolve into my twin bed while listening to Johnny Pierce whine over dorky melodies. Their whole self-titled album encapsulates a very specific area of my gay-heart, but what has been even more special is spending my formative years with their ever-growing discography. When I found out Pierce was putting out a new album and touring, I had my debit card READY. An NYC date never got added and I was fucking mad, until Pierce announced they’d be playing a free show. I’m so excited. Seeing The Drums is probably the perfect place to find a boyfriend who also reads contemporary literature and wants to do coke in the bathroom. Really, I think I am bound to find a man at this show, but I’ll probably be drunk and at the bar, so search for the boy focalizing his hip movement and maybe hurting his neck, that’s me! Get there early for Princess Nokia because she knows how to tear a crowd up. She loves to yell, it’s a pleasure to watch; everybody wins. Meet ya there!  —Chris Stewart

Back in the ol’ days publicly identifying as a lesbian, homo, bi, or trans person was a pretty radical move. I’m talking about the 70s and 80s, back when the LGBTQ liberation movement was in its infancy. To be honest, even in 2017, identifying as anything but straight is still kind of radical. Maybe less so than in the 70s and 80s, but there’s still plenty of places where it’s a bold move to raise your hand and say “I’m here, I’m queer, please don’t disown me.” This Sunday, June 4, at Interference Archive join “Emily K. Hobson for a discussion of Hobson’s book Lavender and Red: Liberation and Solidarity in the Gay and Lesbian Left! The book explores the history of LGBT and queer radical movements in the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1970s and 1980s.” Here’s some more info about Hobson’s book: “LGBT activism is often imagined as a self-contained struggle, inspired by but set apart from other social movements. Lavender and Red recounts a far different story: a history of queer radicals who understood their sexual liberation as intertwined with solidarity against imperialism, war, and racism. This politics was born in the late 1960s but survived well past Stonewall, propelling a gay and lesbian left that flourished through the end of the Cold War. The gay and lesbian left found its center in the San Francisco Bay Area, a place where sexual self-determination and revolutionary internationalism converged.” We owe a lot to the radicals who formed the modern LGBTQ liberation movement. A publication like GAYLETTER only exists because of the work they did. So, thank you, you brilliant radical fairies!  —tom

Pride month has arrived! Are you excited? Can you feel it? Ready Freddy? Do you have what it takes? Ask yourself these things, but know that the Brooklyn Museum has already answered yes to all of these questions and is kicking off the month with a super queer Saturday. This is kind of like an alternative answer to the PS1 warm-ups, but instead of debauchery, the Brooklyn Museum is serving educational realness. There is so much going on at this event, but I’ll list what I think sounds the most exciting: new releases by queer Arab filmmakers and conversations with Tarab NYC on gender homophobia and Islamophobia, performances by the NYC Gay Men’s Chorus (if you don’t live for choral arrangement, take a fucking hike!), the premiere of the museum’s Black Queer Brooklyn on Film series, music by SassyBlack, crown making, a curator-lead tour on the fierce We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women 1965-85 exhibition and a pop-up gallery talk on the museum’s LGBTQ artists by teens! How cute is that? Really, if you are like me and super behind on this season’s exhibitions (I’m finally getting over the Whitney Biennial this weekend), this is a super special way to get your fill. It’s gay all day!  —Chris Stewart