GAYLETTER

The word ‘legendary’ is used loosely these days, even outside of the ball scene — I see it used in Facebook comments all time... It’s a very uplifting word, so I guess it’s OK to throw it around as long as it’s positive and it’s gonna make someone’s day. This party used to be called Iconic, but as I said above, it’s all about being Legendary these days.... Joey Labeija (who’s throwing the party, pictured) told me more about the night: “I started throwing the party mainly because I was bored with the music I was hearing out but also because I wanted to have a night where I could play with all of my favorite dj’s in a harmoniously orchestrated manner. The music is different every time, but you can expect to dance your ass off all night to anything from Dominican Dembow and Brazilian Baile Funk to Hardstyle, Hip Hop, Vogue…” Sounds Legendary! Joey is interested in diversity, we are talking about “ACTUAL thugs dancing next to pier queens, dancing next to little Latin boys in drag.” Yassss. His goal is for the party to feel like old New York, that’s the reason behind the name… “because my generation of 20-something-year-olds were too young to actually experience those legendary nights...”  —Abi

Last Saturday Tom and I went to the new party PrettyUgly and we had a pretty fucking good time! We give it a BIG yasssssssss. We were greeted by Max Ryder, one of the hosts of the party and one of our favorite boys in New York — and of course star of our first issue of GAYLETTER. Then we ran into the cute young actor Paul Iacono who’s also hosting the party and they both gave us a tour of the amazing space called Diamond Horseshoe. We were very impressed by the structure of this place and the energy it carries, it felt like we were partying at Studio 54 — it’s massive and it has an interesting mysterious vibe. According to Paul Musial (another host of the party) what they are serving is “naughty Versailles in the hustle of Times Square.” Got it! Music for this week is provided by Becka Diamond, Tommy Hottpants and Valissa Yoe. The party is presented by Erich Conrad and Drew Elliott, plus additional hosts including Hari Nef, Nicolas Ballinger, Mike Bailey-Gates, Ben McGuiggan, Ty Pike, Adam Werner, Sebastian Z and ME! Yes I liked the party so much that I asked them to be one of the hosts. Come say hi, I will be there drinking from a large bottle of vodka in a big table with lots of people….Paaaarteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!  —Abi

Our friend Tanner Cohen from the popular Twitter account White Girl Problems sent us a message to let us know about this weekly party at One Last Shag in Brooklyn. He tells us that the party is getting pretty popular and it’s “fucking so fun...” The party is presented by a group of boys called Dienasty — the title of the party changes each week just to confuse us. I guess it also keeps it fresh — this time it’s called Tara “as in Tara Reid, the title changes every week but is always the name of a fallen, failed, slutty celebrity goddess.” Here’s a very deep quote from this girl Tara Reid: “I can make a scene that’s not supposed to be sexy, very sexy. It’s a power you’re born with. It’s not a physical thing, it comes from inside. It’s all in the eyes.” Music for the night is by Dick Owens + SN4CKTYM who’ll be playing “‘90s, ‘00s, NOW, BEYOND, POP, HIP HOP, R & B etc…” I love all the new music genres that we are dealing with. The party has a backyard and it’s open late, #TGIF.  —Abi

Apparently we’re spending a lot of time in Brooklyn this weekend. Friday night it’s Shade, then after a change of costume and a quick blood transfusion we’ll be back for All Saints Day: WRH 1 on Saturday night somewhere in Greenpoint. This party is brought to you by the same people behind the infamous Black parties (god help us.) “A number of performances are scheduled throughout the night, include a sampling of the Strange Live Acts made famous at The Black Party, Michael T and Kim Smith doing a tribute to Freddie Mercury and Lee Soulja and the House of Xravaganza giving runway props to disco pioneer Sylvester.” We can also expect music by nd_baumecker (Berlin), Peter Napoli (NYC), The Carry Nation (duo, NYC) and Wrecked (duo, NYC). The address of the party will not be announced until the day of, but like I said it’s somewhere in Greenpoint. It should be a fun weekend, which reminds me, I need to get my costume in order ASAP. Anyone have a bloody tampon I can borrow?    —tom

Shade is back with a special Halloween edition that’s all about going to hell and coming back for baptism in order to be saved. Yes honey all the praying you do everyday, it’s gonna pay off. The party is brought to you by Ladyfag and Seva Granik and this time around it will take place at a new space, “a never-before-danced-upon abandoned factory floor, at a new, epic Brooklyn location...with our most epic installations to date...we are going ALL OUT!!!” If you’ve ever been to Shade, you know it’s the REAL deal, so just imagine attending a Shade with everyone in Halloween costumes! Also, some of the proceeds from the event benefit Ali Forney Center for homeless LGBT youth so don’t at all feel bad about how fucked up you got the night before. Apparently for this edition they are flying in some major talent, I have a feeling it’s Jesus. Music will be provided by Matrixxman, Fatherhood, Physical Therapy, Michael Magnan, Max Mcferren and more. Baptisms by ADHOC, Amanda Lepore, Chromat, Culture Whore, Drew Elliott, Florent Belda, Macy Rodman, Marie Karlberg, Peter Cedeno, Russian Denis, SSION, Stephanie Stone, Yadim Carranza & VFILES. If you see any of them ask them for some holy water — or just some regular water if you are thirsty, it’s important to drink lots of water at these rave parties so you can keep dancing — you know what I mean ;)  —Abi

I don’t remember what happened at our last Interracial party, I remember the first 3 hours of the night, then after that I kind of blacked out. I had a lot of tequila before coming to the party lol — it happens. At least I got to take some photos of the party and the next day I sort of remembered what I missed from looking at them. Also, everyone I spoke to kept telling me how much of a great time they had, so we knew we had to do it again. You know the drill, invite friends and strangers of all different races. I know some of you are racist, but it’s 2014 so you gotta put all that aside and start mixing. Just imagine if gay men could give birth to kids and you had a baby with another man of another race — that kid would be so much prettier than all those boring single race babies. Think Angelina Jolie’s family, cafe con leche, contrast honey. Of course we’re hosting, it’s our party! Music is by Tom Jackson and Ernie Cote, plus a special guest host — but we can’t tell you who that is because then you’re likely to storm the place even more than last time.    —Abi

Halloween is approaching and some of you are probably freaking out about what to wear, about what wig to get and what party to go to. Relax homo you still have some time to figure it all out. Consider this party a practise run for the big night. It’s put together by The Culture Whore, we love their events, they’re always super creative and filled with the best kind of weirdos. The theme for the party is “a queer deconstruction of Rocky Horror Picture Show.”  I’ll let Mark explain how that came about: “Rocky Horror, for so many people, was an access point to queerness. So many gay boys and girls and everything in between saw Rocky Horror when they were little and realized...it’s OK to be weird and sexy and campy and scary. What Frank ‘n’ Furter built in his castle was a kind of queer utopia. But in 2014, when R.H. is mainly celebrated by nerdy theater kids trying to be cool, the queers need to take it back, push it to its furthest extreme. These kids might be playing at being from the planet transsexual, but our community is full of trans and gender nonconforming revolutionaries who are truly living Frank ‘n’ Furter’s dream.”  Yessss hunty! I mean, what else do you need to know? The list of people involved in the party is loooong and impressive, so I suggest you head to their FB page to see the full breakdown. I promise it’s going to be one of THOSE parties.    —t&a

Here comes the second edition of Ladyfag’s multi-floor, multi-cultural, multi-cunt party Holy Mountain, and this time we’re climbing it with her. We’re one of the many “night crawlers” who’ll be hanging out in the incredible Sapphire room. The others include Desi Santiago, Jason Rodgers, and Leo Herrera. Music is by Liv Spencer & Honey Dijon. Ladyfag is inviting us all to experience again the journey “to a place where darkness is light, music is god, and dancing will set you free.” Yessss Lady, preach! If you didn’t go to the last one, expect “2 Floors, 4 Rooms (named Ruby, Jade, Sapphire and Obsidian) and 1 Mountain.” There’s a special performance by Rye Rye and another surprise performance yet to be announced. There are like 100 people involved in this party, some of them include: Juliana Huxtable, LE1F, Dai Burger, Hari Nef, Mess Kid, Michael Magnan, The Culture Whore, Nita Aviance and many more. Get ready to take a trip to the other side. I’ll leave you with a final quote from the Holy Mountain itself: “Your sacrifice completes my sanctuary of 1,000 testicles.” Ok cool. Shit just got real deep.  —Abi

Don’t even get me started about Christopher Columbus, I mean he came to the Dominican Republic (that’s where I am from) and Haiti (both countries share an island and make the Hispaniola) basically to kill people that were not white. Somehow he had a good publicist in the United States who helped create a holiday for him. I mean whatever, maybe I just don’t get it, or I was misinformed, but according to one of my teachers in DR he was not a good man. Let’s just focus on the fact that we get a day off work and another edition of the popular party Horse Meat Disco. It’s presented by Josh Wood, and hosted by a bunch of hunks: Marco Ovando, Ryan McNally, Kris Haigh, Levi Jackman Foster and Slantasia. Music is by DJs Sean B. and The Carry Nation. The party is at the awesome venue Output in Williamsburg. That place just makes you want to dance and get loose, you’ll see what I mean when you get there ;).    —Abi