GAYLETTER

I don’t even know where to start...I mean, I read the title for this event and I nearly started to cry — they had me at DJ Lo Down Loretta Brown. That is about as good a DJ name as they come. The woman behind that name is of course the genius herself, Erykah Badu (pictured) aka Fatbellybella aka Serra Bellum aka Maria Mexico aka Annie aka Analog Girl in the Digital World…need I go on? The woman is a living legend and as fun as they come, her social media presence is more entertaining than most artists half her age. Supported by Natasha Diggs and Rashad Smith, Ms. Badu will spin the ones and twos until the wee hours of Thursday morning. Most tickets have sold out, but there are still some left in the $25-$30 range. Snap them up queen, this is one event you do not want to miss.  —Abi

We told you about this party when it just launched and we continue to feel it, it really is a great party in a unique space. Battle Hymn happens at the Flash Factory which is a really big, comfortable venue with an intense sound system. Since it’s short run, the party had some amazing DJs (trust the sound system is cunt) including Andy Butler, Honey Dijon, Honey Soundsystem, JD Samson, Kim Ann Foxman, Michael Magnan, Occupy the Disco, Todd Terry and many more. This Sunday, July 31 join The Carry Nation and Eli Escobar for their last night of the season. Don’t cry yet, the party will be reopening on September 4. Yasss Fall Fashion preview! But if you haven’t been, give yourself a Summer treat, you really need it. It’s Sunday and as Ladyfag (creator of the party) puts it, Battle Hymn is “The Gospel according to the dancefloor.”  —Abi

I spend hours contemplating hypothetical pros and cons every time I get invited to Brooklyn. Needless to say that usually after x-amount of time spent wasted, my ass always ends up there. When I saw the Facebook event for The Ointment, “a multimedia presentation that introduces ideas and themes from Abdu Ali’s mixtape MONGO,” I thought, hmm, the name of this show alone might be enough to get me over the bridge. I love a good ointment/cream/product. Teen Vogue called Abdu Ali “one of the most fire rappers in the game right now,” and of The Ointment, said it “was inspired by themes such as blacks conquering black oppression through embracing their identity/knowing their past, the ongoing somewhat genetic rage and pain carried through black mothers, and dealing with fuck boy emotional affliction.” It’s also a group show with works from Aurel Haize Odogbo, Devin N. Morris & our lovely, talented friend Elliott Brown Jr. Elliott said he was showing “new photographic works that elaborate on the visual cues that [he’s] consistently interested in - the home, withholding knowledge of the person photographed from the viewer, and emphasizing the spectacular in the banal.” Love it — sounds provocative, academic, and like these up-and-coming artists know exactly what they’re after.  —Chris Stewart

When GAYLETTER’s patron saint Mx. Justin Vivian Bond has a new show we always get excited. Recommending anything V does is a no-brainer. You will never be disappointed seeing a Mx. Bond show, and this one sounds perfect. The House of Whimsy is “an alluring, edgy, and irreverent evening of divas and deviants from the downtown performance scene — selected and introduced by Mx. Bond. Established Spiegeltent favorites mingle with talented newcomers in a program of variety acts that will ravish, provoke, and astound. Scheduled to appear: Dane Terry, PWR BTTM, Severely Mame, Julie Atlas Muz & Mat Fraser, Kate Bornstein, Big Dipper, Angela Di Carlo, Slanty Eyed Mama, Nath Ann Carrera and Janani Balasubramanian.” Even without Justin that is one hell of a line-up. Don’t miss it!  —tom

In a recent mega-poll analysis by the brilliant political site 538, they discovered that if the election was held today Donald Trump (I refuse to say the “J” in his name because I won’t play into his desire to sound more presidential) would win! WTF? It’s time all intelligent, sane people came together! I love Bernie, and would have preferred him to be the nominee, but he’s NOT, Hillary is. In the words of Sarah Silverman, all you Bernie or bust people “are being ridiculous.” We have our nominee and she needs our help. Hillary is a terrible campaigner, but I have no doubt she’ll do a much, much, much better job being president than Trumpf. A vote for Hillary is a vote for a liberal Supreme Court for the next 30 years. It’s a vote for LGBTQ, women’s and abortion rights not being overturned, it’s a vote for immigration reform, it’s a vote for a million liberal causes that will be in trouble if the republicans win. This Thursday “Join Hillary Happy Hours for the historic last night of the Democratic National Convention, when we will gather to watch Hillary Clinton accept the nomination for President of the United States. Enjoy 2-4-1 drink specials and the best LGBT Hillary crowd anywhere.” It’s now or never queens.  —tom

After the Orlando shooting lots of us in the LGBTQ community have been feeling all sort of things: anger, fear, frustration. We have also been wondering what the hell can we do besides writing angry rants on social media. Recently I ran into journalist Tim Murphy at the gym and I asked him about a photo I saw on his Facebook page of him marching like a fierce queen (pictured) while wearing a t-shirt that read: “Gays Against Guns.” He told me he is part of this amazing organization called GAYS AGAINST GUNS (some of you have probably heard of them by now) and that it’s “a group of fierce queers who formed after the Orlando massacre and took over the Pride March chanting “Fuck the NRA!” They also lay down in the street, yelling “How many more have to die?” Since then, they’ve been busy. I was so happy to hear about this, I was like, how do I get involved? Let’s be honest, we know that the gun laws in the U.S. are fucked — it’s so easy to buy a gun — it’s just stupid. The group have been busy making as much noise as they can, and they encourage all of us to join them. We need this. Here’s how you can start: join them at their next meeting (Wed Jul 27) at the LGBT Center (208 W. 13th St) at 7:30pm. Tim told me that they are planning lots of things and one of them is a “noisy visit to D.C. and even to the NRA HQ’s in Virginia on October 24. “If anyone’s going to take down the gun lobby that’s killing Americans, it’s KWEENZ.” You better believe it!  —Abi

The world is pretty cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs at the moment. She’s losing her shit in more ways than I can keep up with. I realized last night that I need to stop reading the Internet constantly and actually do something positive. This Saturday is a chance for us all to do just that. Black Lives Matter are taking a stand this Saturday to let the world know that it’s time to end violence. Enough with all the aggression. “We will meet at the front end of Barclays Center directly across the street from Atlantic terminal (shopping mall) at 1:00PM we will make our way to BAM, followed by marching on Fulton st toward Fulton mall proceeding to Brooklyn borough hall and ending at Columbus park. We will be calling out the names of those slain by officers so a list will be started and please add names. In addition we are calling to action a change of the laws that govern the prosecution of officers when it comes to the killing of civilians. PLEASE REMEMBER THIS IS A PEACEFUL MARCH!!!!” Amen to that, a little peace and A LOT of action is what we all need right now.  —tom

So many fucking parties, please help us! My mother always told me you don’t get tired of partying? Now I am getting older and sort of started to understand what she means, but partying is fun, you know. Why stay home? Socializing is very important for your mind and who needs sleep anyways? There’s an ongoing contradiction in my head right now. To party or not to party… Then I read this promising quote about our pick for Friday: "The Drag Life Dance Party promises to be the most adventurous Friday night extravaganza in NYC as guests are encouraged to flip the script and dive deep into the gender blender of sexual disorientation. The festivities include a pop-up strip club with open pole, make-over station, glamour shot photo booth, ass jazzling, manicures and pedicures,  glam drag, butch drag, daddy drag, and then some!” That sounds kind of fun… Music for the night will be provided by Nomi Ruiz, Carlos Jadraque, the sexy Williams Francis, Din/Void, Exit sense, Derek Piotr and Gerry Visco (that girl, m m m). Free yourself from the jail that is masculinity — that shit is boring — tuck, put a wig on, gender bend it, get free. Click here for tickets.  —Abi