What to Do in Queer NYC January 27-30

The Glam Awards are this weekend and, as evident from the variety of listings here, New York nightlife is going strong. Events include drag shows, art exhibits, readings and more. For i... Show more

The Glam Awards are this weekend and, as evident from the variety of listings here, New York nightlife is going strong. Events include drag shows, art exhibits, readings and more. For in-person events, be prepared to show proof of vaccination. The Glam Awards take place on January 30 at 9 p.m.glamawards.net Star Search @ Barracuda When: Thursdays, starting at 11 p.m. Where: 275 West 22nd Street, New York, NY Kizha Carr and DJ TK host New York City’s longest running drag competition, featuring new up-and-coming queens every week. So head over to Chelsea to grab a drink, have a laugh, and discover your new favorite drag performers. RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 14 Viewing Parties When: Fridays at 8 p.m. Where: Multiple Locations RuPaul is keeping the queers entertained this year. Season 14 of Drag Race is well underway (not to mention the newly announced Drag Race UK vs the World, set to premiere on February 1). Gay bars across the city are hosting viewing parties every Friday. Drag Race airs at 8:00 p.m., but many of the bars across town will have shows and drink specials beforehand. Visit here for the full list of participating bars. Pop Rave Fridays When: Fridays, starting at 10 p.m. Where: The Q at 795 8th Avenue, New York, NY Looking for variety in your music? Head to The Q, a queer club, for Pop Rave Fridays with four dance floors and multiple DJS — including Nandi, Mitch Ferrino, Jovanotti, Brik, and Vescovo. Spend your Saturday night at Hush on West 52nd Street. hushhk.com H2Hoe @ Hush When: Saturdays, starting at 9 p.m. Where: Hush (formerly Therapy), 348 West 52nd Street, New York, N...

Advocates Call for New York State Trans Equity Fund

One year after California established a $13 million wellness and equity fund to support transgender people in the state, advocates in New York are calling on Governor Kathy Hochul to br... Show more

One year after California established a $13 million wellness and equity fund to support transgender people in the state, advocates in New York are calling on Governor Kathy Hochul to bring the same initiative to the Empire State. A group of eight trans leaders delivered a letter to the governor requesting the allocation of resources specifically dedicated to transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming folks in the state to offset the lack of funding distributed to trans-led organizations. Even when funds are directed to the LGBTQ community, advocates say that money doesn’t always directly benefit trans New Yorkers. “With respect to philanthropic giving, the TGNC community receives just $.04 of every $100 awarded to LGBTQ causes,” the letter noted. “We have reason to believe that should information be made available with respect to how much of New York’s public dollars are going towards organizations led by TGNC New Yorkers, it will display the same kind of disparities that exist within philanthropic giving.” The letter was authored by New Pride Agenda executive director Elisa Crespo, Trans Equity Consulting founder Cecilia Gentili, Gender Equality New York board member Arrie Moore, Gender Equality New York executive director Juli Grey Owens, New York Transgender Advocacy Group co-founder Kiara St. James, Destination Tomorrow founder Sean Coleman, Empire Justice Center policy and government relations manager Eòghann Renfroe, and Equality New York board member Teri Wilhelm, who is also a TGNC navigator at the Albany Damien Center. “This is a critical moment in our state’s history,” ...

Equality Act Gets Fresh Wave of Corporate Support

The Equality Act now has the support of more than 500 corporations, according to the Human Rights Campaign, after dozens of additional businesses signed on to back the effort to pass a ... Show more

The Equality Act now has the support of more than 500 corporations, according to the Human Rights Campaign, after dozens of additional businesses signed on to back the effort to pass a comprehensive federal LGBTQ rights bill that has stalled in Congress since the House of Representative passed it last year. Eighty-seven corporations — including Stop & Shop, Sony, MetLife, Harley-Davidson, and McDonald’s — were added to the growing list of businesses that have thrown their weight behind the legislation, which would amend Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The hundreds of businesses make up what is known as the Business Coalition for the Equality Act — which now consists of 503 members, up from 416 as of last April. The renewed push to advance the Equality Act comes more than a year after the Supreme Court ruled that the Title VII ban on employment discrimination covers sexual orientation and gender identity — and now folks are trying to reignite momentum behind the push to build on that ruling with federal legislation. “The Equality Act will take major strides toward ensuring that LGBTQ+ people are treated with equal dignity in the eyes of the law, and affirm the longstanding American value that everyone deserves to be treated equally and fairly,” Joni Madison, the interim president of HRC, said in a written statement announcing the fresh influx of corporate approval. “It’s time for the Senators of both parties to support the Equality Act and send it to President Biden’s desk for his signature.” The Equalit...

Three Queer Films at Sundance Film Festival

There are a handful of LGBTQ films screening at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, unspooling online January 20-30. Here are three films worth catching. Girl Picture This charming and ... Show more

There are a handful of LGBTQ films screening at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, unspooling online January 20-30. Here are three films worth catching. Girl Picture This charming and romantic drama from Finland features three young women grappling with love, sex, and their very sensitive emotions. Mimmi (Aamu Milonoff), a lesbian, and her straight best friend, Rönkko (Eleonoora Kauhanen), work together at a smoothie bar. Mimmi is tough and acerbic, but when she meets Emma (Linnea Leino), a figure skater, she lets down her guard and gets romantic. Emma, whose life has been dominated by sports, falls hard in return and discovers a sense of freedom and rebellion from skating with Mimmi. Their relationship involves both young women feeling a sense of worth, but also anxiety. And as their relationship ebbs and flows, Mimmi, who has some issues with her family, and Emma, who is practicing for a big competition, determine what it is they really want. Meanwhile, Rönkko has a series of uncomfortable sexual encounters with various guys. She often says the wrong thing when she is trying to flirt, and while she can be eager to please sexually — a sign of her own insecurity — she had difficulty experiencing pleasure. Rönkko may have found an appropriate match with Jarmo (Mikko Kauppila), a customer from the smoothie bar, but she may screw up that potential relationship too. “Girl Picture” is enjoyable as these parallel storylines unfold, and the characters are sympathetic even if they self-sabotage. They are figuring out what they want through trial and error. Director Alli Haapasalo’s film is refr...

Greek To Me

Taylor Mac delights in blasting convention. The gender-elusive performance artist insists being referred to as “judy” in place of standard pronouns. In a manifesto in the program for Ma... Show more

Taylor Mac delights in blasting convention. The gender-elusive performance artist insists being referred to as “judy” in place of standard pronouns. In a manifesto in the program for Mac’s latest show, “The Hang,” judy declares that this pronoun choice is an “art piece” that’s at once “delicious” and “annoying” to navigate. The same might be said of “The Hang,” now playing at HERE Off Broadway. Mac’s bold, queer-centric, genre-mashing aesthetic is on full display, and it’s as confounding as it is exhilarating. On a macro level, “The Hang” is a jazz opera that imagines the Greek philosopher Socrates contemplating the vagaries of virtue in his final hours, as filtered through the jaundiced writings of Plato (no texts by Socrates exist). When Socrates was sentenced to death after being convicted of heresy and corrupting Athenian male youths, he ingested poisonous Hemlock. The opera portrays a kind of fever dream as the poison slowly shuts down his bodily functions one by one. His addled brain is the last to go. With a book and lyrics by Mac, the piece eschews traditional plot or formal structure. It’s a crazy-quilt of music, verse, ideas, and musings that does little to shed light on the biography of the polarizing philosopher. And that’s by design. You see, Mac is a fan of the Socratic method, which advocates asking pointed questions rather than dictating facts, and this work reflects that conceit. The playwright believes that wondering is an aspirational virtue, and it’s imperative that theater challenges the status quo. According to Mac, most theatrical drama follows the arc of the strai...

Straka Sentenced to Home Detention, Probation for January 6

Brandon Straka, the out gay founder of the #WalkAway Campaign, will serve three months of home detention with electronic monitoring, spend three years on probation, and pay a $5,000 fin... Show more

Brandon Straka, the out gay founder of the #WalkAway Campaign, will serve three months of home detention with electronic monitoring, spend three years on probation, and pay a $5,000 fine and $500 restitution for his role in the January 6 rioting at the Capitol building that attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 election and give Donald Trump a second term in the White House. “I do agree with the defense that Mr. Straka played a unique role,” Judge Dabney Friedrich said during a January 24 sentencing hearing for Straka, who pleaded guilty last year to a single misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct. “He did not assault any police officers and he did not enter the Capitol.” On January 6, Straka entered the Capitol grounds knowing that they were closed to the public that day. He was also aware that the rioters at the Capitol building had breached the building. While Straka and his attorney, Bilal Essayli, a partner at Essayli & Brown in Irvine, California, wrote in a statement to the court and a sentencing memorandum that Straka was unaware of the attacks being made on police at the building and that his conduct once on the Capitol grounds was political speech that is protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution, Friedrich clearly rejected those arguments. “None of the criminal conduct to which Mr. Straka has admitted to is protected by the First Amendment,” Friedrich said during the roughly 90-minute hearing. “They served to undermine democracy and the rule of law.” When Straka arrived at the Capitol steps on the east side of the building, he recorded an eight minute vi...