GAYLETTER

As we get ready to ring in the new year, there is so much to look back on and be happy for as 2015 comes to a close. What with the nation wide legalization of gay marriage in America and racial movements being heard world wide, one would think that maybe cultural ideals are beginning to change for the better. However, for every step forward, there is always a step back. Our trans brothers and sisters are continuing the arduous task of fighting to be heard and treated equally. As I write this I am painfully reminded of society’s prejudices, as people gather in Texas sporting t-shirts that read “No Men In Women’s Bathrooms,” and are fighting to keep the LGBT community away from the protection of common laws. Oppressive Conservatives aside, I still feel lucky we have wonderful leaders like debut author Juliet Jacques who continues to push trans-issues to the forefront of the public’s consciousness.
Trans: A Memoir is Jacques tender story detailing her time spent moving from collegiate cross-dresser to eventual gender reassignment surgery at age thirty. Though this is her first book, Jacques is known best for her column ‘Transgender Journey‘ which was written for the Guardian (It has since been credited as the first time the gender reassignment process had been chronicled for a major British publication).
The book chronicles Jacques’ time spent finding herself; in various transgender avant-garde film characters, England’s eccentric alternative pop rock scene, and in previously written transgender theories. Trans, while detailing the ups and downs of the transgender experience, is also centered around gender politics. …

The Tom of Finland Foundation has teamed up with Finlayson, one of Finland’s oldest textile manufacturers (established 1820), to create a bedding collection featuring artworks by the legendary artist Touko Laaksonen aka Tom of Finland.

Our friends, the Dupont twins (Jake and Joseph), got comfortable in a bed made up with one of the duvets. They are right at home.

We thought we would share some additional photographs of the Dupont twins that we couldn’t fit in the magazine. Enjoy them below!

For more, click here to get a copy of the magazine…

This story was previously printed in GAYLETTER issue 2.

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If you are headed home for the holidays and really want to impress your Mom with your new found love for cooking classic Italian dishes, look no further! She’ll be so happy you’ve introduced her to Adrian De Berardinis’ new Youtube show, The Bear-Naked Chef. He’s hunky, topless, and talented! Just make sure you tell her you really are interested in his cooking, and not just his ass which makes an on-screen cameos every time he turns to check the chicken.

 
Premiering just yesterday, De Berardinis’ show is “a new and innovative cooking web-series that features Adrian De Berardinis cooking good food, naked….why not?” Why not is right. “Recipes include a range of easy-to-cook, accessible food from Italy and beyond,” and for Episode 1 he prepares a Chicken Cacciatore that looks just as good as his chest. (I swear I was interested in the food too, but I am a millennial and easily distracted.)

He told Towleroad “I’m at a juncture in my life where I am fearless about most everything. I am comfortable in my skin and it took me a long time to arrive at this place. My experience has brought me to this point of wanting to share who I am with the world, ‘exposed and un-cut’ as well as my cooking. I have a voice that wants to be heard. My cooking is my art, and I want to share it in my own way, in my own language. Why naked? …

A new amazing exhibition of video and photography opens this Friday, December 18th at Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art in NYC and it runs through March 16th, 2016. This new show titled ‘Medium of Desire: An International Anthology of Photography and Video‘ focuses on the theme of “desire” and showcases the work of fourteen artists from nine countries. It includes some of our favorite artists such as the Chinese photographer Ren Hang (who we featured in issue 3 of our magazine), Dimitris Yeros, Anthony Gayton, Matthew Morrocco, Tomoko Kikuchi, Jessica Yatrofsky, Joseph Maida, Daniel M. Schmude and others.

This is what the press release says: “Using human beauty, desire, Eros, and sexuality, this new photography based exhibition reveals that cultural differences, whether defined by national borders, sexual orientation, or gender identification, can be simultaneously vast yet familiar. Regardless of one’s sexual orientation or country of origin, feelings of desire, when successfully represented, can serve to minimize our differences and bring us closer.” I had a chance to preview some of the work that are gonna be on display at the show — you are in for a treat. The work is great, there’s also some nudity which makes things more enjoyable for all of us.

Have a look at some images from the show ‘Medium of Desire’ below:

Anthony Gayton, The Collector, 2009, Archival ink on paper, 39.75″x59″. Courtesy of the artist and MiTO Contemporary Art, Barcelona. …

“Friends are the family you choose” is a common cliche used by all sorts of people. For some, however, choosing this family is a vital part of survival. Out & Bad, presented by Vice’s Noisey follows some of England’s dancehall community, giving us an intimate glimpse into their found mode of survival through dancing, partying, and camaraderie. This probably sounds like a relatable tale and it is but you soon realize that these boys can dance much better than you. They found each other nearly a decade ago when England experienced a mass influx of Jamaican immigrants fleeing anti-gay laws during the early 2000s. The dancehall scene served (and still does) as a friend based family, which for some, were all they had.

Out & Bad rattles off the statistics that have become all too familiar. We are reminded once again just how many black LGBTQ teens are forced out of their homes and left to navigate the most difficult parts of their youth alone. “We all had a common bond, which was black and gay. When we would come together, for a short moment, nobody could touch us. We were untouchable,” says one of the documentary’s main subjects, Marc.

 
The film is worth a watch. Marc and all of his friends are vibrant, feel-good people who make every group scene feel like you’ve missed out completely, which, unless you frequented bashment parties like Caribana and Bootylicious, you most certainly did. (Highlights include Deejay educating the viewers on how to stand, watch your liquor and give face at bashment parties.) …

Last Friday I attended the opening preview for Hildegard (Vision) presented by the Pioneers Go East Collective. I was on a day date that turned into an early evening happy hour moment, which then transitioned into the boy accompanying me to the performance at the La MaMa theatre. Needless to say there’s nothing like a little live theater and boozy opening night gala following the performance to elevate your night. Upon arrival, we were given our tickets, shown inside the auditorium and told to “explore the space and then choose your seats.” The piece is described as a “meditative performance and sonic installation inspired by the work of mystic, artist and “proto-feminist” Hildegard Von Bingen” who was apparently a bad-ass medieval Lady Lover nun who gave a lot of advice (shade) to the Pope at the time.

The plot of Hildegard had a sparse structure and this made it difficult to follow exactly what was happening. However, the actors, audio installations and set pieces fully immersed the audience into the world of the play. It was like we were plopped right into the center of Hildy’s brain during a really bad hangover. The seats circle the space so as you watch the piece you are literally inches away from the action, which I love! My favorite part was when Hildy had a “divine vision” of a lion, a dog and a pig all destroying the church with sex and power. It really got me in the mood and I think it would do the same for all of you. …