GAYLETTER

The Bowery Mission was founded in 1879 by the Reverend Albert Gleason Ruliffson and his wife. It’s a Lower East Side institution that provides much needed support to the down-on-their-luck residents of lower Manhattan. They’re religiously affiliated but they’re not all Kim Davis about it. Ultimately they help a lot of homeless people and because of that they deserve our help. This Sunday is your chance to support them at their 2nd Annual L.E.S. Art Drive. “Lower East Side galleries will welcome art enthusiasts from around the city for the first ever Art-A-Thon, a day of music, poetry, art making and gallery-hopping to raise funds to support The Bowery Mission. The kick-off event at Ludlow Studios will include music by DJ Treats, poetry by The Nuyorican Poets Café and portraits by fashion designer-turned-photographer Brian Reyes” This is an awesome opportunity to see some great art and also support a great cause. Who knows, you might even be able to pick up a piece of art at a bargain price! Wouldn’t that be a win-win?  —tom

Back in the 70’s, in San Francisco, there was a psychedelic family of drag queens called The Cockettes. At the height of their fame their Haight St. commune housed over 60 queens, many of whom weren’t even gay. Women, straight men, even a baby boy were members of this hippie drag queen collective. One of the most famous members was a queen called Rumi Missabu (real name James Bartlett.) Bartlett has toured for years showing shorts he created during the 70s, along with the Cockettes cult feature, Elevator Girls in Bondage (1972). This Saturday he will sit down for a conversation at the Bureau of General Services — Queer Division at the LGBT Center (so many acronyms!) for a wide-ranging talk about “how he went from Disney to soft core porn in a span of just three short years, what happened when he touched Andy Warhol, why he kicked Allen Ginsberg out of his house, how he accidentally snubbed Jean Paul Gaultier in London, why Ethel Merman called security on him at Macy’s, the pitfalls of having sex with your stalker and what Rasputin’s daughter told him about her very first job in America.” It will undoubtedly be an entertaining evening. There is a small entrance fee for the event, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. So you have no excuse not to attend queen!  —tom

If I was asked to describe Susanne Bartsch in one word it would be “enduring.” The woman has been on the New York nightlife scene longer than I’ve been alive. And she is still killing it. If this show (featuring 100’s of her outfits from the 1980’s to today) is anything to go by Susanne Bartsch has a wardrobe the size of the World Trade Center, and nothing in there is remotely boring. The show’s curator Valerie Steele had this to say about Susanne’s closet to the website Racked: “In the 80s and early 90s, there was a lot of this kind of excess of fashion, but it sort of disappeared. But Susanne is still waving the freak flag for that sort of thing, and I think a lot of people miss that...It’s a nice moment to remind people that there’s other aspects of fashion.” Yesss honey, it’s time the kids of NYC stepped up their game. Life’s too short to be dressed in all black, find some feathers and a bejeweled corset and a lime green alien jumpsuit and have some fun. It’s fashion, not brain surgery. Fashion Underground is on now until Dec 5th at FIT. Don’t miss it darrrrrrling!  —tom

OK, I’m aware that this is about the whitest event we could possible promote (white girls smiling - pictured), but this letter was created to highlight the things we are interested in, and along with pretty much every other fucking person in New York, I was obsessed with the Serial podcast. If this highly addictive podcast, about the murder of a young woman in 1998, also left you with as many lingering questions as it did me then this Friday is your opportunity to ask the podcast’s creators, Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder, all of them. But get in line, cos there’s no one I know who listened to Serial in its entirety who doesn’t have a couple 100 questions about the case they desperately need to be answered! I checked and their are tickets left, but I could only see about 30 — so grab them before they go. This is sure to be a fascinating evening...with hopefully a satisfying ending that none of us saw coming!  —tom

When Elegance Bratton visited us this weekend at our booth at the NY Art Book Fair at MoMA PS1 and told us he was speaking on a Vogue panel, my first thought was that’s cool, Anna Wintour is getting behind underground artists and filmmakers. However it’s not a “Vogue magazine” panel but a “Vogue ball” panel. Which honestly is more our style. “The discussion features artists Luna Luis Ortiz, Milton Ninja Garcia, Kia LaBeija and Elegance Bratton, moderated by Martez Smith, discussing the development of their creative practice as well as the ball scene as a context for a range of activist pursuits with regards to HIV/AIDS.” As you probably know we throw a Pride Ball each year, so are intimately aware of how vibrant, talented and brilliant the current houses are. The ball scene was created in NYC but it’s influence can be found in art, music and culture the world over. One example that comes to mind is FKA Twigs, who unlike Madonna — who coopted the scene for her own fame and financial gain without giving proper credit — has gone to great lengths to celebrate the performers who keep the community alive. I’m sure this and many other topics will come up. Elegance isn’t afraid to speak his mind and we love him for it!  —tom

When I saw the email for this event I realized that I’ve had an inordinate amount of experience with nude drawing in my life. I did a whole semester of it in college, I have posed as a semi-nude model, on not one, but two occasions, and I’ve drawn nude models on at least three other occasions. This is unusual only because I am a terrible drawer. I mean really bad. In college I would wince when the model walked around to look at our sketches. I would make it clear to her (it was always a her, our teacher was a straight perv) that she was much prettier than the grotesque sketch on my page. This Friday is your chance to practice your drawing skills with a partner! For the sake of your relationship, I hope you can create more flattering images than I was able to. “This two-hour class will begin with a basic lesson on figure drawing, then couples may split into pairs and use their newfound skills to draw each other in different poses. Our instructor will be on-hand and available to offer tips individually and to the group.” They supply everything from paper to pencils to the booze needed to loosen you up. Get nude and get drawing. This event is sooo going to turn into an orgy by the second hour. lol.  —tom

We are so excited for the New York Art Book Fair. It starts this Thursday, September 17, with a preview night (6:00-9:00PM), then is open for the rest of the weekend (Friday 1-7pm, Saturday 11am-9pm and Sunday 11am-7pm) at MoMA PS1. We are so excited to see Klaus walking around the fair — he has white hair, you can’t miss him. The NYABF is the biggest, baddest art book fair in the world (40,000+ publications), it’s also the first chance you’ll have to grab a copy of GAYLETTER issue 3 with Susan Sarandon on the cover. Come visit us at our booth (N11) where you can also pick up copies of our past issues along with all sorts of GAYLETTER supplies. The issue is packed with amazing stories, and features original artwork and photography from Tanner Cohen, Vincent Dilio, Dan Donigan, Thomas Dozol, Hadar, Ren Hang, Chris Mears, Will McBride, Bruce LaBruce, Slava Mogutin, Daniel Moss, Zanele Muholi, Robert W. Richards, Mike Rinaldi, Eli Schmidt, Patrick Sweeney, Eric Torres, Jan Wandrag and many more. You are gonna love it so so so much. Promise ;)  —Abi

This is the 4th annual festival of Drag in Bushwick, Bushwig. It’s a super creative and brilliant event with over 100 performers that celebrates the “whole spectrum of drag, performance and queer music.” You will seriously see things you’ve never seen before. If you want to be able to say you’ve seen original drag queens, then this is a place for you to go. I would say that the only thing similar to this that exists in NYC is Wigstock, which was an outdoor drag festival that happened in the 1980s in Manhattan’s East Village — there’s an amazing documentary about it, google it, you must watch that too. So back to this event which sounds, cray cray, “The main event is all ages and being held outdoors. Friday night there will be a special Bushwig ball that will crown Mz. Bushwig 2015 and a secret afterparty will be held on the Saturday night...” Check their Facebook page for updates. Some of the highlights include: BBQ, Crafts, Photo Booth, Lady Bunny, No Bra, Macy Rodman, Chae Buttuh, Eartheater and Bushwick’s very own Horrochata, Babes Trust, Untitled Queen, Merrie Cherrie (Dragnet) & Cherry Pepsi, plus, a live performance by Bottoms and so much more...  —Abi

I hate talking like this, but it is what it is — summer is nearly over. I know, I don’t like to think about it either, but at least if we’re aware of it, we can take advantage of every warm day we have left. Which is why we suggest you take the opportunity to attend the last Warm-Up for the season. It’s a good one! Closing out the series is the Long Beach rapper Vince Staples (he's so hot! pictured) along with electronic musicians Derrick May, Clark, Dan Bodan and Season. It’s a long weekend, and it’s the last one so the crowd is probably going to go HAM. Sneak in some booze to avoid the long lines at the bar, and wear a diaper to avoid the long lines at the porta-potties. If you’re anything like us you somehow missed every Warm-Up until now. Not to fear, they saved the best till last. See you there homo!  —tom

You know when you log on to Netflix and there’s almost too much to choose from? The choice becomes kind of paralyzing, I don’t know about you, but I always end up watching the same thing, which is 30 Rock. I’ve seen every episode many times, but I never get sick of Liz Lemon! Which makes me think this trivia night in Brooklyn might be designed just for me. Every week they choose a different movie or TV show and this week it’s all about 30 Rock. It’s hosted by Maggie Ross, the longtime host of Videology’s Tuesday night trivia event. There’s a max of 4 people per team. Over 5 rounds Maggie will go deep into the world of 30 Rock. You might want to binge a couple of seasons from now until Sunday. And if it comes up, yes it is true that Rachel Dratch was originally cast as Jenna but was replaced by Jane Krakowski at the last minute after Lorne Michaels saw the unaired pilot. Rachel did however show up in the first episode as The Girlie Show’s cat wrangler. Also Elaine Stritch is the actress who played Jack Donaghy’s (Alec Baldwin’s) mother. But if you didn’t know that already then you won’t stand a chance of winning!  —tom

I am mainly recommending this event because of the DJ, I love the music of Ryan Smith (Wrecked). He knows how to work a room! Also, I heard that the party is “BYOB and BYOP (bring your own poppers lol).” That sounds promising. You’ll end up killing some brain cells, but if you are a smart boy that’s fine — you have plenty to spare. Poppers in public bring a room together — a straight friend of mine is now using them when he hangs out with other straight people. Shocking I know! I love that I am making this post all about the poppers. It’s a pretty straight forward event, the Facebook description explains it best: “The party will be at this hot underground play-club in Brooklyn. Dance and play at this party benefiting the opening of Doce, a new coffee shop in Chelsea…The party is themed after some old clubs from the golden era of gay nightclubs in NYC (J’s hangout, Zone DK, The Anvil, Manhole, etc). Rooms, glory holes, slings and many play areas available...” Coffee, poppers, dancing, glory holes. Thank god for gay people!  —Abi