GAYLETTER

As you all know, it’s Halloweekend. Growing up I hated Halloween because my ass hates to be afraid. I kind of still hate Halloween, because my costumes always suck thanks to my lack of planning and lack of nailing down a concrete plan for where to party in my hypothetical costume. Club Glow is what you and I should do this Halloween. Period. Glow is thrown by DeSe, Shock Value NYC and Ragga NYC, who throw some of the most diverse and heavy-hitting parties around the city. This same team of promoters had a wildly successful party for NYE and have returned with a Halloween party featuring a lineup that’s as much of a carry as Juliana Huxtable’s Twitter. (If you don’t follow her, you must.) Peaches, Asian Doll, L1ef, Abby, Dese plus Juliana Huxtable are just a few of the artists performing and DJing all night. The party begins at at 10pm and there isn’t a time listed for an ending, so cake on that setting spray and bring a travel size hunty. Sweating on deck. You’re better off not wearing makeup to this though, you should be dancing; rolling; on some next shit. I know it seems like there are too many parties to choose from this weekend, and you’re right, but Knockdown Center is a huge, delectable space away from the city, giving you incentive to travel which then should give you incentive to go even more full-out with your costume. Every other party in Manhattan and Brooklyn is going to be packed to the walls. Most people want their ego to win on Halloween, but you’ll get lost in the mix at Club Glow, which is a good thing. That’s how you end up having a better time. Throw it! It’s yours to try.  —Chris Stewart

So my friend Sienna is a die-hard Britney fan. Naturally, as a faggot, so am I. She and I live 15 blocks from one another, so nearly every night we get together to listen to a 2000s playlist and hit her pink bong named Carly. We seat ourselves on her roof and unceremoniously pass Carly back and forth while harmonizing to the sweet, sweet music of years past until we’re either post-verbal or just too tired to keep going. My contribution in disseminating the gay agenda includes making everyone listen to Britney Jean Spears whenever I can, so it’s really something like an echo chamber when another staunch fan and I get together. This weekend I have no plans other than to prepare for the odious midterms that are about to ruin my life, but there’s nothing I’d rather do than shave my head and then run to China Chalet to celebrate Britney’s iconic album Blackout. Presented by DJ Ty Sunderland is Heaven On Earth, your escape into a simpler, more glamorous time guided by hits on hits from one of the most legendary pop icons to grace us with her vocal cords. With shows from queens Biblegirl and Wench, you know you’re going to be dazzled, and hosts Youvegotnomale and Linux will make sure to keep everyone lubricated. Since I can’t go and mingle (I’m unavailable) with like-minded individuals who have AMAZING taste, you should! I’d like to be able to vicariously live through this one, so please incessantly post on your insta stories about it. Thanks in advance!  —Gayletter

Yo… Abi and I went to the season finale of Holy Mountain back in… July, I think, I don’t remember, and we arrived at 3AM (pictured already wasted). The party goes until 4, so call it fashionably late, we’ll just call it a night out. It was actually my first time and we had just come from seeing Peppermint at Metropolitan, so I was on my gay shit and said hi to our friend Joey who was DJing and helped myself to bottle service. I knew the party had some absurd amount of rooms (it’s actually four, but that’s a lot having just come from 500 sq. ft Metro) and I made it a point to check out and dance in every one of them. I don’t know if Abi was with me. We were saying hi and kissing a lot of boys on the cheek. Really it’s a wonder we made it home. The following morning we had a photoshoot for Issue 7, which, if you come to Art Book Fair this weekend, I’ll tell you which one was directed by us while still drunk. So, you can definitely say I am excited that Ladyfag is back in NY with another Holy Mountain for us. The theme is ‘back to school’, and I was considering wearing some of my catholic school garbs, but I’m not sure a sweater is the best answer for this party. It’s definitely more a rave with everyone dressed to impress. Our cutie photographer Sam Gamberg will be there taking pictures, so if you look good, we might put you on our Instagram. Lady is joined by some of her regulars: Jordan Stawecki, Marco Ovando, Muffy, La’Fem Ladosha, Stephanie Stone and too many DJs to name here! Come say hi. We’ll be there after Art Book Fair, but nothing a little bump can’t fix.  —Chris Stewart

I first heard about Juana through Discwoman, the uber-cool female DJ collective that is based out of Brooklyn and represents female artists who are booked worldwide. I highly recommend you give them a Google if you’re unfamiliar. There seems to be an influx of new parties, or perhaps, better promotion for older parties in recent weeks, so this is another “new” one for you. By new, I mean, it’s never appeared in this newsletter, but Bound has had a few installments at Tilt already. I advocated for this party to be covered because it’s got a great little line in the bio: “fetish attire & queerness strictly enforced at the door.” OK, Berlin. A lot of parties suggest dress codes but usually those are only cover-driven. This seems to be truly trying to create a space that is geared for a specific audience and that’s great. Juana is an amazing DJ, so music will surely be good, a little freaky at times, thank god. Plus the party seeks to heavily focalize consent, which is something you don’t often hear in party culture where some people think anything goes. That’s totally wrong. Whether it’s poppers in your nose, a hand on your back or someone just dancing too close, Bound wants you to remember that “Consent is when someone agrees, gives permission, or says ‘yes’ to sexual activity with other persons. Consent can be withdrawn by either party at any point. It is the responsibility of the person initiating the sexual activity to get [consensual] permission.” Dig your latex out, you won’t regret it.  —Chris Stewart

She’s back! She wasn’t gone for that long, but she’s back and she's brand new. I am referring to the venue at 505 East 6th. If you read our newsletter you know that Eastern Bloc closed it’s door, but another bar is reopening called Club Cumming. It’s not a sex club full of cum, it’s called that because the actor Alan Cumming is involved. This is the grand opening of Haus of Cumming at Club Cumming. Hosted by Alan himself, Daniel Nardicio — music by Darren Dryden and performances by Daphne Sumtimez, Miz Jade and Nyx Nocturne. Also, expect “men on blocks in jocks.” I kind of like the sound of that. I am so excited to check it out, for those of you that don’t know this location has been a queer space for over 30 years, one of the first times I went out and blacked out was there, it was called Wonderbra at that time… I will tell you how the new place is after I go, I have a feeling that this is not the last time I am going to be writing about an event at this new bar! They are saying that it’s “downtown debauchery at its finest...” Ok. I am down with that.  —Abi

Every once in awhile the trove of really stupid events promoted on Facebook will offer up something sweet. Writing the copy for events is important, because besides flyers and names, the way you describe your shindig will surely make or break someone’s decision to go. “Darkroom is a monthly queer dance party that supports electronic DJs and emerging artists working in the fields of photography, film, and animation.” You might be thinking: That’s vague, or, this sounds like everything else. If you disagree, point me to another party doing the same and we can cover it! Most popular parties start out with this ethos, yeah, but more often than not, the successful ones are subverted into some part of the megamachine that is “NYC Nightlife” and become severely unaccessible to most of our community because not everyone can afford to party at a spot that charges $13 for a Vodka. Don’t get me wrong, those parties are fun, I yasss them, I go to them, but sometimes a night out should be less about being seen and more about letting loose. This is a brand new party, and that means new faces, new music and something that is, at it’s root, a real celebration. For the launch, Darkroom has Lauren Flax on the decks, which is major, plus their featured artist is Bunny Michaels, a popular fixture on Instagram for their cross-genre poetry/meme/selfie posts. Fashion week is finally over, and once again I feel like the LGBTQ world was robbed of their charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent (I’m looking at you, Coach). Put your money where your mouth is and get to the dance floor. Winter is coming!  —Chris Stewart