Posts Tagged ‘queer’

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ALMA Beach Picnic

August 19, 2010

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The Association of Latino Men for Action (ALMA) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to empower Latino gay, bisexual, and questioning men by providing support, advocacy, and leadership opportunities. ALMA has a twenty-one year history of continuous work bringing together the Latino and GLBTQ communities in Chicago. Recognizing ALMA’s leadership, The City of Chicago’s Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame inducted the organization in 2000 as it’s first Latino member. To advance its mission, ALMA continues to develop innovative programming and key partnerships with numerous local, state, and national communities and organizations. Please don’t hesitate to contact us at info@almachicago.org or visit our website for more information regarding our current projects: http://www.almachicago.org

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Atomic Sketch This Thursday

June 15, 2010

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The Atomic Sketch Event is a monthly live art event hosted by Brian Hofmeister, Dominic Cesario and Charles Joly. The event takes place in Wicker Park, at Evil Olive, 1551 W. Division Avenue.

Atomic Sketch is a great event for both artists and art enthusiasts. The event consists of a panel of artists sketching throughout the night and they’ll offer works created for sale to patrons. There is a featured artist who will have a more formal show of artwork to be on display through the following month at Evil Olive. Artists are always welcome to come and sketch and sell even if they’re not on the panel. Just find a place to work and you’re all set.

And please be our friend on facebook and contact atomicsketch((@))gmail.com

Atomic Sketch Event will be held on the last Thursday of every month from 6-10pm.

This month  will be celebrating Gay Pride Month with an all-GLBT panel of artists. (I’ll be DJ-Ing), Artist Ian Sklarsky returns to headline the event with his show of blind contour line drawings! The full list of this months artists:

Ian Sklarsky
Brian Hofmeister
Ethan Hutchinson
rickikat
Davey K
Leda Zawacki
Adolfo Santos
Aay Preston-Mint

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Get Ready! Vespertine, Women-Only Play Party This Memorial Day Weekend

April 28, 2010

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You know how easily gay men talk about going to a bar with a back room? Or basement? (If you don’t know gay guys that easily talk about back rooms or basements, you need to get some more gay friends, just sayin’). I’ve always thought it was a shame that my queer lady pals don’t have the ability to joke about that awkard underwear hug or funny run-in at the urinal that is also a bath tub. Culturally, it’s a unique space for male homosexualists, and as long as you play safe, I think it can be a healthy experience and “fresh” perspective.

SO glad my mother doesn’t use the internet BTW.

Enter Verspertine, a private club that only comes around once in a blue moon. Women get to learn and explore their kinks and desires in an environment free from potential creeps and gropers, and I can only IMAGINE how liberating that must feel. Just last month Chicago comic and perrenial cutie Cameron Esposito was showing off her Steamworks membership card that she got when she was featured in a taping of Feast of Fun. She can’t go to the Boystown bath house to play, but she was surely excited about being a member and the first woman to hold that distinction. Congrats, Cameron! If you are serious about being in that kind of environment, Vespertine is the place to start. The next one falls on International Mr. Leather Weekend, or Memorial Day Weekend.

Vespertine is being held on May 30TH 2010. Tickets will be available at Leather 6410/Paul C Leather 6410 N. Clark in Chicago starting May 1st. You may also order by phone, 773-508-0900.

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Queer Bollywood Beach Party This Friday

April 26, 2010

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Just being honest, this is the hottest new queer party to hit Chicago in a looooooong time. Make sure to come and dance your asses off!
 
Trikone is committed to creating community among LGBTQ South Asians and their allies in the Chicago metro area. We welcome people of all sexual orientations, and gender identities, and of all national, racial, religious, and ethnic backgrounds to Jai Ho! Performances at midnight! Pics from previous Jai Ho parties here.  RSVP at the Facebook invite here.

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Planning Meeting for Latin@ Pride Week

April 15, 2010

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RSVP at the facebook event.

Latino Pride can mean different things for different people, but most of us can agree that it is about celebrating our lives, our families and our community. For the last 5 years Orgullo en Accion has put on a wonderful Picnic Celebrating Latino(a) Pride creating a space to celebrate both our Latino(a) and Queer culture, and we should be grateful for all of the work, but a growth spurt is long over due.

I am reaching out to you with a bold proposal, that during the week of June 7th to June 12th, we declare “Latino(a) Queer Week”. Now many of you may be asking, “well what does this mean?”, and what it simply means is that at least for this one week during the year, we can come together as community and celebrate our individual lives and organizations. It sounds like a large undertaking but it does not have to be. There is so much energy, power and passions within us that we can make anything happen.

Please come out to the Latino(a) LGBTQQ Community Meeting

April 22, 2010 at 7pm

Efebina’s Café
1640 S. Blue Island Ave.
Chicago IL. 60608

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Think Pink Radio, Incubation and the Future

April 1, 2010

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So yeah. It’s been a minute. There are several reasons for this, and I’m going to try to be as complete and as candid as possible.

I’ve been struggling with this here blog. Not because I’m flailing on its mission, no. I still believe in the power of outness and visibility, and TPR has for 7 years, been a vehicle for me to celebrate those people who are active members of our LGBTQ community. However, I have been doing some pretty intense reassessment of TPR’s cultural value – both in the face of a changing media landscape and a personal wish to DO MORE. When Think Pink started as a radio program, and then transitioned into a blog, it was taking the road that Larry Bob from Holy Tit Clamps and JD Doyle from Queer Music Heritage have taken, and I think I did a pretty good job. The people who make art and talk openly about their queerness to the media have always been and will continue to be an inspiration. Maybe it’s a  refining of the pallet, maybe it’s a widening of my lense, I’m not sure, but taken within the context of a blog that exclusively covers queer artists, activists, performers and celebrities, I’m running out of things to say. The importance of these people and things has not run out, and I’m still interested in writing about them, but after 7 years, how many times can I get excited about the new Magnetic Fields record or developments in JD Samson’s post-Le Tigre career in written form? Besides not wanting to echo what all the other blogs are covering, that’s just not a complete picture of the things that are positively affecting the world and the things that need more press.

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Music

I’m a founding Board Member of The Chicago Independent Radio Project, and in the short time since we launched, I’ve discovered so much great music. More importantly, I realized that even after all this time, my love affair with sound has only gotten more turbulent and dramatic, and I want to shout about it. I have a good amount of experience interviewing queer musicians, but I want to talk to ALL purveyors of melody. A music-maker’s  way of life is so unique, and right now they are one of the most fucked of all groups struggling with new media and distribution of product. I’m fixin’ to get personal. My CHIRP show is called “Walk of Shame’”, and you can hear me spin rock, dance and classic hits every Sunday, 12pm-3pm, Central Standard time. You can stream the broadcast then and any ol’ time at chirpradio.org

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Performance

I don’t mean concerts. I mean performance art. I’ve already started covering it a little bit, but again, queer performers are a small amount of an already tiny sub-culture. I’ve WEPT and given standing ovations to pieces and then NOT mentioned them here because of mission-exclusivity, and I don’t want to do that anymore. Not since music has an artistic genre moved me in such a way, and it’s audience is small. I want to help grow that audience.

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Humanism

I grew up Catholic, and abandoned that pretty quickly as a young adult. I’ve dabbled in Buddhism, and tried to mine for divine protection when on an airplane that’s taking off. But it wasn’t until I started reading Good Without God by Greg Epstein that I realized that I’m a Humanist. If you don’t know what is it, I can briefly summarize it as a belief that people can and are willing to live their life seeking courage, dignity, wisdom and justice. Humanism uses science and empirical evidence as a starting point for social progress, and even though it is not a religion, it does not denounce or otherwise dismiss faith-based groups as worthless. Humanist theory actively provides a language and a context for talking about what you do believe in, rather than simple negative statements about what don’t identify with. I’m finding most of my atheist and agnostic friends are actually Humanists, and they just don’t know it. Presently, I’m engaged in an effort to create a new community in Chicago and will be talking about it in this space. TPR has always been about creating change, but from this point on it will involve more than just music or my beloved community of queers. It’ll involve everyone on the planet. I love this place, and I want to help save it from ruin.

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My name is Erik Roldan and I’m going to use it

I blog for BUTT Magazine. I DJ independently and also for Cage and Aquarium Productions. I’m in the process of co-founding a Secular Humanist group with Non Prophet Status. I’m co-writing and co-directing a short film as a pilot for a queer soap opera called ‘Andersonville’ with Daniel Zox. I’m talking to friends about starting different types of events from dance parties to dance competitions.  I am on the programming committee and head up social media for CHIRP, and the super exclusive article I wrote about WOXY is just the beginning of my interest in capital J journalism. I’ve done live DJ-ing as sound scores for local modern dance companies and also produce and edit my own interview podcasts. Think Pink Radio is going to live on, but it’s not going to be all that I do. Or, rather, it hasn’t been, not for a long time. My need to have my identity linked to TPR has been replaced by the forehead slap realization that it’s just plain limiting to try and tie everything I do to this space. I’ll try to link to all my stuff here as a home base, but I don’t have an internal requirement for it anymore.

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I’m a total dork

I like puns and kittens and chickens, and I think abbrevs are adorb. WATCH OUT.

FYI, I don’t want to have an online diary, the thought of re-fashioning my blog as a Live Journal is so early-oughts and this is a forward-momentum purge. This can and will change over more time. But there are a few things that I want to explicitly identify as new and improved, NOW WITH MORE SWEET CLUSTERS. Think Pink Radio has changed and it’s going to be better than ever.

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Share Your Secular Story

February 22, 2010

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Nonprophet Status is a new  blog dedicated to creating  community within secular activists, and it’s coming out swinging with its first contest, “Share Your Secular Story”. I am one of the judges, and am really excited! You are cordially invited to share an anecdote, journey or example of a time when being a non-believer resulted in a positive experience. Whether it’s rooted in your career, your art, or your home life, the constant bombardment of religious holidays and well-intentioned seasonal tidings means that we non-religious are constantly having to deal with religion. There MUST be some good stories born out of that.

Since becoming acquainted with Humanism and its role in interfaith work, I’ve acknowledged that political peace and common understanding is more possible when it includes an effort to organize non-believers. It wasn’t a completely natural conclusion to make–most non-religious people only take swipes at people of faith, with a default argument that religious institutions have embedded war, discrimination and isolation into our culture. There is ample horrific evidence that you can point to and say, “XX religion caused XX war, or XX deaths;” arguments  I would be not be able to disprove. However, what’s important about Nonprophet’s general point of view and this contest in specific, is that looking at the religious as the enemy does absolutely nothing. It doesn’t help anything to simply identify the negative and try and keep away from it. If anything, isolating ourselves from the reality that the world and the United States are driven by politically powerful varieties of faith is complacent. It’s a resignation to being a voiceless minority, and what progress could that possibly result in? I’ve met so many artists, activists and community organizers through Think Pink Radio and would never expect any of them to be content with being a voiceless minority. The thought of that is laughable, actually. Queer people in particular tend to be without faith and also have powerful stories of communication and triumph.

“Share Your Secular Story” is a contest that I believe will add to political progress. Whether we want it or not, non-believers have a lot in common, and it doesn’t all have to revolve around how much we hate religion. There are three categories for stories: youth, for submissions by individuals 25 years of age and under, interfaith, this category is for stories about engaging with religious people in a way that is positive and/or collaborative and finally moral imagination, this category is for stories about how secular values have motivated you toward social justice / civic engagement work, or just about values you hold as secularist. Prizes include signed books, DVD’s and a publication of your work in established online publications. For all the details, see the contest page, and spread the word through your facebook!

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Diamond Rings Likes Tights, Make Up, Cute Songs

February 17, 2010

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*Photograph by David Waldman

Is it just me or is there a role-softening taking shape in the larger indie scene? A relaxation of gender in lead singers has a small contingent but the people doing it are getting some success. Sorry, Stephin Merritt, I know you think queers should hide in order to get noticed, but methinks you are just from a different time. Of Montreal’s last record Skeletal Lamping was an entire conceptualized with gender-ambiguous sex on the forefront. Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox is taking part too–he is afterall, a gay indie-rock darling and has never shied away from wearing dresses and broadway-ing around a stage or two. Jona from Yacht had a recent EP cover where it looked like he was trying, and succeeding, to see how well he could pass as female. Lissy Trullie’s a HOT HOT lady in super high heels, but her femme is more drag than anything. Now we have Diamond Rings, a band from Toronto whose singer John O has dropped two videos where he’s wearing make up, tights and upping the camp choreography to Leslie Hall heights. The best part (of all of these bands) is that their songs are interesting, and make the case for just being out about whatever the hell you are. Diamond Rings have a laid back, whiny sound but they got the hooks styled just right, and the vids of the live shows show a stripped-down approach, telling me there’s a good balance with glam and work. The top video is for “All Yr Songs” which has the tweeny heartache I can’t get enough of. The 2nd is for “Wait & See”: and while it isn’t as good, it has better (campier) choreography.

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12/09 Critical Fierceness Grant Awardees

January 28, 2010

The awardees for the recent cycle of the Critical Fierceness grant have been announced, and quite immediately an inspired pause overtook TPR headquarters. Riva Lehrer’s cerebral process translates fully into her work–her portraits are usually the result of interviews with her subjects or deep introspection. A focus on the body and its changes in physical ability give way to an examination of limitations and empowerment presented as a see-through mirror; these drawings are as much reflection as projection. Of the two awardees, Edie Fake has been featured on TPR before – his blunt palette is far more nuanced than his primary school style suggests–the ideas are declarative, if not quite shocking. I’m excited about his map of Chicago, surely it’ll have its fair share of judgemental humor, chunky psychedelia and gay-as-fuck camaraderie.

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*Edie Fake – Fists of Fury

Grant Winner: Edie Fake

Proposed Project:  An experimental map of queer Chicago history (Illustrated Scroll)

Edie Fake’s ambitious, amorous project, is to research, design and print a conceptual
queer heritage “map” specific to Chicago, taking the form of a long scroll-like drawing of imagery and notes.
Some of Edie’s previous drawing work can be found at your local underground comic store, where his comic series
Gaylord Phoenix continues to win hearts and minds across the U.S. http://ediefake.com/

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*Riva Lehrer – Zora: How I Understand

Grant Winner: Riva Lehrer

Proposed Project: A portrait of Alison Bechdel for Lehrer’s series, “Totems and Familiars” (Large-Scale Charcoal Drawing)

Riva Lehrer’s recent series, Totems and Familiars, explores how people use metaphors to transcend their own limitations
and re-imagine the self. Her paintings and drawings often focuses on subjects who, like herself, take a claim to both
queer and disabled communities, radicalizing the notion of which bodies are seen. Riva will complete a portrait of
queer graphic novelist Alison Bechdel (Dykes to Watch Out For, Funhome) for this series. http://rivalehrer.com/

About the Critical Fierceness Grant:

Since its founding in 2005, Chances Dances has sought to create a safe space for all gender expressions by bringing together the varied LGBTIQ communities of Chicago. The creation of the Critical Fierceness grant expands upon this goal
by offering a unique opportunity for queer artistic expression. Chicago-based individuals or groups who wish to utilize
the Critical Fierceness Grant for artistic purposes and who identify themselves or their work as queer are encouraged
to apply. Critical Fierceness supports queer artists with financial assistance of up to $500. Chances Dances is proud
to provide the Critical Fierceness Grant as an opportunity for personal exploration, community development and
radical change through art. Our next deadline is June 30th.

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Jai Ho! – Queer Bollywood Night at Big Chicks

January 22, 2010

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Not yet having a stable home, Trikone is set to deliver its latest installment of Jai Ho!, Chicago’s only queer Bollywood dance party, on Friday January 29th.  From the Facebook Event:

Trikone is committed to creating community among LGBTQ South Asians and their allies in the Chicago metro area. We welcome people of all sexual orientations, and gender identities, and of all national, racial, religious, and ethnic backgrounds to Jai Ho!

I accidentally found myself at the first one last year in July, and I gotta say it was one of the most fun nights out I have ever had in the city. The crowd was as diverse as it gets, there was a nice spread of club/fancy/traditional/sports wear, and the music went from Bollywood show stoppers to tolerable mainstream. Organizer Kareem Khubchandani curates a drag show at midnight (and performs as LaWhore Vagistan), and if you care to chat with him, he’s a complete sweetheart. This party’s proceeds go to Haiti relief, DJ Sachin spins and there is a $5 suggested donation.

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