KinFolkz on Black Queer Joy and Oakland Pride. BY ARIA SA’ID To say that KinFolkz is a Bay Area treasure would be an understatement. The 53-year-old “queerpreneur” and “artivist” has spent more than two decades creating art and empowerment spaces for Queer Oakland and has been an integral part to many of the Queer People of…
Queer-friendly Glamping in an idyllic protected wetland just outside of Seattle. BY BRENDEN SHUCART Fifteen miles as the crows flies from Seattle and across the Puget Sound travelers will find idyllic Meadowhawk Sanctuary, a nature and relaxation retreat nestled in protected seasonal wetlands. It’s the perfect getaway for Queers seeking to enjoy the beauty and…
A social calendar for those seeking the country’s biggest and brightest queer events BY CAITLIN DONOHUE | PHOTOS BY LEO HERRERA There are a near infinite number of big-name queer outings around which to organize your year, but a few of them stick out as such perennial favorites that they’ve earned stations on the party circuit called…
Human connection: the most valuable resource on the planet. BY LEON FOX | PHOTO BY Elana Ratti I’ve developed a concept I like to call “Spiritual Global Warming.” It refers to a time when one has suspended their inner life in pursuit of a perpetual Summer of Joy that leaves no room for the other…
This Gay immigrant artist has created a world where AIDS never happened… if only Facebook would let you see it. BY BRENDEN SHUCART | PHOTO BY JOSE GUZMAN COLON Imagine a world where AIDS never happened, where our most inspired artists had another 30 years to shape the cultural conversation rather than being cut down…
Fudgie Frottage on equality, recognition and why the term “Drag King” doesn’t come up in rainbows. BY Brenden Shucart | PHOTO BY LARRY UTLEY Since the days of the Gold Rush, San Francisco has always been a beacon for those who don’t perfectly conform to their society’s expectation of gender expression, correspondingly the City has…
Recovery doesn’t just mean living substance-free, it means living more integrated and expressive lives. BY VICTOR MELAMED Founded in 1986, Pride Institute is the nation’s first and leading provider of residential and outpatient treatment programs devoted to treating addiction and the mental health needs of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. At Pride Institute,…
Does adhering to a gender fluid ideology, one which dissolves the boundaries between sex and gender, undermine the meaning of homosexuality? BY DREW TURLEY A few months ago, writing for New York Magazine, the famous semi-conservative Gay writer and thinker, Andrew Sullivan denounced Trans activists’ goal of adding gender identity to the Civil Rights Act of…
Photo of Leon Fox by Chase Pearson Dating yourself is about getting to know the person you are outside the context of a relationship. BY LEON FOX Whenever somebody asks me if I’m dating anyone these days, I tell them, “I’m dating myself right now.” After my last relationship I realized I needed to learn…
An interview with the legendary Juanita MORE! By Brenden Shucart If the late Jose Sarria has a spiritual descendent, it is without a doubt San Francisco’s preeminent drag icon, the one and only Juanita MORE. Though never elected to the Imperial Court founded by the late Widow Norton, arguably there isn’t a queen in the…
Participants in the 1977 San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade. Photograph by Marie Ueda. Marie Ueda photographs (#2006-12), Courtesy of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society. Five questions with Terry Beswick, Executive Director of the GLBT Historical Society. BY BRENDEN SHUCART What is the GLBT Historical Society and what is its mission? Our mission is…
In 1961 drag artiste José Julio Sarria became the first gay man to run for public office—and changed the course of history. BY BRENDEN SHUCART Though he’s largely unremembered outside of some history-minded homosexuals and members of the Imperial Court System he founded, drag activist José Julio Sarria is a pioneer of LGBTQ rights who…
Aria Sa’id, co-founder and executive director of the Compton’s Transgender Cultural District: We want to support the beautification of the neighborhood while acknowledging its rich Transgender history.” BY KELLY LOVEMONSTER | PHOTO BY DUSTI CUNNINGHAM Occupying six blocks in the South East Tenderloin (which also crosses over Market Street to include two blocks of 6th…
An interview with Patrick Finger, Executive Director of Folsom Street Events on upcoming changes of magnitude proportions. BY MARK ARIEL Let’s get right to the nitty gritty. Is it true that Folsom will not be producing Magnitude this year? If so, why is that not happening? Correct, we will not be producing Magnitude this year.…
Is it possible that we’ve become so fixated on our search for sexual liberation that we’ve lost sight of what we’re really seeking? BY LEON FOX Down a flight of stairs and past the reception booth, I—donned in a fabulous coat made entirely of shimmering sequins—pirouetted into the main dance hall of one of San…
The founder of the Saint Francis Homelessness Challenge, Amy Farah Weiss, on sheltering unhoused SF residents and reintegrating them into the community. BY BRENDEN SHUCART Amy Farah Weiss is the founder of the Saint Francis Homelessness Challenge, and has twice campaigned for Mayor of San Francisco on a platform of solving the City’s homelessness crisis.…
Wulfpak’s Aaron Dolson on the cannabis industry, gender identity and bringing the power back to the Radical Faeries. BY BRENDEN SHUCART | PHOTO BY DUSTI CUNNINGHAM BEGINNINGS Aaron Dolson got into cannabis when he met the legendary Dennis Peron at Rainbow Gathering in 1998. “Dennis encouraged me to come out to California to the medical…
The Bay Area Drag Festival is Coming Back to Oakland! From Friday April 26th to Sunday April 28th, over one hundred drag kings, queens, and queer performers from the Bay Area and beyond will come together for the second annual Oaklash Drag Festival. Organized by Beatrix LaHaine and Mama Celeste, Oaklash is a weekend-long festival…
Our community has been affected by the trauma of societal and familiar homophobia. BY COLIN STACK-TROOST, MA, AMFT The first time that I made the connection between trauma the queer experience was in the title of a book: Alan Downs’ The Velvet Rage: Overcoming The Pain Of Growing Up In A Straight Man’s World. Downs…
“If you can bake a fierce pie, if you can do fierce drag, if you can dig a ditch or cut a potato generally into cubes, you can be a Faerie.” BY PHILIP HUANG “I know your type,” my therapist said, pointing her cigarette at me. I had just told her that, despite my feelings about…
