GAYLETTER

When I first heard about it, I had no idea what to expect. Naturally, I imagined queens reading each other to filth for an hour, and I was gagged – but that wasn’t the case. At Drag Queen Story Hour, drag queens read empowering gender equality narratives to children. I don’t have kids, but if I did they’d be there in the front row. It’s all so fitting – both drag queens and children love to dress up, refute the norms, and just be fucking sickening! The Feminist Press at CUNY and Merrie Cherry are hosting the reading. Rachel Aimee, the coordinator of children’s programming at the Feminist Press says, “kids of all genders love dressing up as princesses and fairies.” Yass mama - I know my queer 8 year-old-self was serving My Mom’s Closet Couture. The reading series, which happens monthly, allows parents to expose their kids to different genders in an effort to normalize them. Start them young hunty. This Saturday at the Brooklyn Public Library, Merrie Cherry will read from What Flowers Say, by George Sand. The story, which was originally written for Sand’s grandchildren, is fun, fashion, and an exploration of the self. Honestly, I’m sort of just upset that this wasn’t around when I was growing up.   —Gayletter

James Baldwin once eloquently said, “Know from whence you came. If you know whence you came, there are absolutely no limitations to where you can go.” I would probably just say, “Learn your fucking history homo.” But the point still stands. Now more than ever we must understand the history of queer activism in order to successfully continue on the legacy of those who came before us. Cleve Jones, a man integral to the history of queer activism, is coming out with a memoir called When We Rise that we all need to read. Jones worked with Harvey Milk, co-founded the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and came up with the idea for the AIDS Quilt for godsake. This Wednesday at The Strand we all have the amazing opportunity to hear him in conversation with OUT editor-in-chief Aaron Hicklin. They will talk all about Cleve’s inspiring work and activism in the age of Trump. Admission is the cost of a signed book or a $15 Strand gift card and you can reserve a seat on strandbooks.com. There will also be an after party at Nowhere Bar because obviously. Now come learn whence you came, you homos.  —Gayletter

This Sunday Black Radical Imagination is presenting a special screening featuring short films by four promising young, black filmmakers. If you’re unfamiliar with Black Radical Imagination, it is a “touring program of visual shorts that delve into the worlds of new media, video art, and experimental narrative, growing out of a series of discussions about the boundaries and limitations that people of color have historically faced in the realm of the cinematic.” Basically, they use cinema to explore “the aesthetics of afrofuturism, afrosurrealism, and the magnificent.” There has never been a better time for us all to explore and celebrate the artistic output of historically marginalized groups. Talent is abound, if we look for it. After the screening their will also be a conversation with Ephraim Asili, Amir George and Erin Christovale. MoMA PS1 is one of our favorite places to explore. While you’re there you can even pick up a copy of GAYLETTER. They sell it at the bookstore near the entrance. Apologies for the shameless self-promotion, but if we can’t do it then who can?  —tom

Most of us are at a loss as to where we go from here. Last Tuesday night’s election results were beyond unfavorable, they were unthinkable. The fact that this reality TV star with openly hateful views towards women and minorities could win the White House has shaken us to our core. I heard a quote that tried to explain his win. It said that the media never took him seriously, but it always took him literally, whereas his voters took Trump seriously but not literally. Unfortunately for his voters (and everyone else) they are in for a big surprise when they discover that he meant a lot of what he said. It might have to take them losing their Medcaid, and benefits for them to realize that they’ve made a terrible mistake. We already know that, so let’s not what that long to take action. This Wednesday night, Nov. 16th, “join leaders from the LGBTQ community across NYC as we come together to organize after the results of the 2016 election. The discussion is free and open to the public. We will be in Room 101 on the first floor. We also plan to broadcast this meeting live on our Facebook page. To find the livestream please go to fb.com/sdnyc at approx. 8:00pm tomorrow evening.” We may have lost this fight, but we haven’t lost the war. It’s time to organize and get to work supporting and electing Democrats who can stand up for our rights.   —tom

Yayoi Kusama might be most famous for having her art printed on Louis Vuitton luggage, but the woman has been making art, and writing, for over 50 years. At 87 she is still going strong. If you had a chance to see her retrospective at the Whitney a couple of years ago, you’ll know that the woman is an icon. And she loves a polka dot! Girl can not get enough of them. This Thursday, October 27th at Printed Matter “Feminist collaborative art quarterly Hey Lady launch their sixth issue, featuring work from contributors on and about Japanese artist and writer Yayoi Kusama. Sixty original small-scale works focused on Yayoi will be on display at the event and available for purchase.” Hey Lady is a unique publication. Each issue is “comprised of original art portraying one woman. The contributing artists vary in each issue and include people from all over the world. The collection of artworks submitted is handmade into a full-color, pocket-sized book with a button attached. Past issues have featured Yoko Ono, Nichelle Nichols, Candy Darling, Leonor Fini and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.” Music for the night is provided by DJ Molly Soda. Sounds like a wonderful event!  —tom

We know damn well how hard it is to create a printed publication. To get out of bed and try to create something good ain’t easy. We don’t usually post about our efforts, or complain how hard we have to work — it just sounds sooooooo boring, and why the hell are we doing it unless we want to? No one is putting a gun to our heads saying “Tom, Abi, make a magazine!” It’s all hard work and those of us that do it, do it because WE LOVE IT. So, for the love of print, for the love of touching nice printed matter, for the love of owning something that contains a good story, a good image… Let’s go and support this event: “New York Queer Zine Fair returns to the Bureau for two days!” You can attend on Saturday, October 22 or Sunday the 23th, where a group of queer people will bring their printed zines or printed objects to sell. They also will be having a series of event that you’ll probably want to check out and also there’s a nice exhibition by lots of drag queens in the space — it’s lovely. Oh and one more thing, Get our publication, they have all the issues there, fresh from the printer!  —Abi

Antonio Lopez was a fashion illustrator who died in 1987. He was kind of a big deal in the fashion world of the 80’s. Lopez was a “freelance artist for many of the top fashion publications, including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle and Andy Warhol’s Interview. He is known to have “discovered” or formed lasting friendships with women like Pat Cleveland, Tina Chow, Jerry Hall, Grace Jones and Jessica Lange. With his friend and business partner, Juan Ramos, Lopez moved to Paris where they both worked with Karl Lagerfeld and many other designers.” Join curator Rocío Aranda Alvarado and the Director of the Estate of Antonio Lopez and Juan Ramos, Paul Caranicas, for a guided tour and talk moderated by GAYLETTER contributor Alex Fialho, the Programs Director at Visual AIDS. The show features sketches and artworks from Antonio Lopez’s career. Lopez was notable for his inclusion of ethnic bodies in his work. The fashion world of the 80’s was very white. Iman, and Grace Jones stand out in our memories because they were pretty much the only black figures in the fashion world at that time. For those interested in fashion history this show is not to missed.  —tom