Tag Archives: Gay

Hide/Seek in San Francisco with Curator Jonathan D. Katz

Hide/Seek Curator Jonathan D. Katz

Last October, The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery opened Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture, the first major museum exhibition showing how the questions of gender and sexual identity have dramatically shaped the creation of modern American portraiture.

For background on the censorship scandal that ensued, click here, here, and here.

On June 3rd, Jonathan D. Katz, director of the doctoral program in visual studies, State University of New York at Buffalo, will discuss his role as co-curator and will consider such themes as sexual difference in depicting modern Americans; how artists have explored the definition of sexuality and gender; how major themes in modern art-especially abstraction-were influenced by this form of marginalization and how art reflected society’s changing attitudes. -via QCC

The program is at The LGBT Community Center at Market and Octavia. It begins at 8pm and costs $10. Want to get more of Katz? Want to give more to regional arts and humanities? Come to the Pre-party!

From 6pm until the lecture starts, enjoy a reception for Dr. Katz to benefit the Queer Cultural Center‘s Queer Conversations on Culture and the Arts: a series of lectures co-presented by QCC and the California College of the Arts. QCCA brings together locally and nationally renowned artists, writers, filmmakers, and scholars for a series of conversations to discuss a broad range of topics in the humanities and the arts. Reception tickets are $25-$100 donation and include wine, hors d’oeuvres, and preferred seating at the lecture.

A Sustainable Queer Planet? 14th Annual National Queer Arts Fest opens in SF

Philip Huang performs June 9 & 10 at Eros

We have made it this far. What next? How can we keep what we have created and protect it for the generations coming up? The theme of this year’s National Queer Arts Festival is A Sustainable Queer Planet. Presented by The Queer Cultural Center, the festival includes 22 venues and runs for a month. An array of performers, poets, writers, visual artists, musicians, comedians and dancers work through diverse notions of sustainability. Organizations, collaborations, friendships, political movements, publications, networks, connectivity, intentional communities, Queer families, and various ecological and economic interventions are all well represented in this month-long festival. High Holy Homo Days are upon us!

Watch this space for notices and commentaries on select individual programs. Philip Huang, pictured above, performs in Formerly Known As: Performances by Male and Trans Sex Workers. This two-day program, hosted by Kirk Read, takes place at The Center for Sex and Culture, and features a different line-up each night. It includes writers, performance artists, comedians and a slideshow of visual work. For a complete listing of festival offerings, visit The Queer Cultural Center’s site here.

Stay Gay! SF’s Eagle Bar sprouts Critical Graffiti Wall – Big Slide Show

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It has been  a few weeks now since the SF Eagle closed its doors. No bikes out front, no men inside, chained shut, it sits empty. But not silent. Its walls speak. In several languages, actually. Graffiti farewells and protests decorate the outside of the once vibrant gathering place. What comes next, no one knows. For more on the demise of the beloved San Francisco Leather bar, click here, here, here, and here.

Other Blogs: Accidental Bear and his Daily Hair Ball

This Ready to Bare site’s promo describes itself as a site dedicated to Queer Culture , Art, Community, Discussion & Celebrity Interviews. Regularly entertaining, Accidental Bear features the Hair Ball of the Day. Big fun for fur fans!

Men Kissing for I.D.A.H.O. – Sexy Slide Show!

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Happy International Day Against HOmophobia! More on I.D.A.H.O. here, and more gay kisses here. Our love is stronger than anyone’s hate.

Happy Serenely Sexy Vesak! #BuddhasBirthday

Sputnik photo 2009

In Bangkok, the gay hangout Q Bar is closed Tuesday for Vesak, a national holiday in Thailand and much of the Eastern world. More than Buddha’s Birthday, as it is sometimes known, Vesak commemorates not only the birth, but also the enlightenment and passing of Gautama Buddha. Other names for the commemorative day include Vesākha, Wesak, Visakah Puja, Vaishaka, Buddha Purnima, Visakha Bucha, Saga Dawa, 佛誕 (fó dàn), Phật Đản วิสาขบูชา and Araw Ni Buddha. Photo by Sputnik via Flickr.

Kudos! SF Giants to make an “It Gets Better” Video

According to an SF Weekly article: “the team will make an iconic ‘It Gets Better’ video to encourage LGBT youth across the nation. The Giants will be the first professional sports team to join the spirited campaign aimed at curbing LGBT bullying and teen suicides.” Good for the Giants! Way to set the bar, boys. For more about the ‘It Gets Better’ anti-bullying media campaign, click here. For a bizarre promo for the Giants May 25th “Dynamite: A Fundraiser for Keenan Cahill” click here. For Brian “The Beard” Wilson at home with his Leathery pal “The Machine” here. And for the real action – ATT Park!

From Teenage Ball Boy to Out Gay NBA Exec: Rick Welts of the Phoenix Suns

Rick Welts, President and CEO of Phoenix Suns

Rick Welts, President and CEO of the Phoenix Suns, is coming out. The 58-year old Welts began his career 40 years ago with the Seattle Supersonics as – no kidding – a ball boy. According to Dan Barry’s column in Sunday’s New York Times:  “Mr. Welts explained that he wants to pierce the silence that envelops the subject of homosexuality in men’s team sports.” Four decades in the closet came at a cost. When his partner passed of AIDS in 1994, he took two days off. “His secretary explained to others that a good friend of his had died. Although she and Arnie had talked many times over the years, she and her boss had never discussed who, exactly, Arnie was.” Later, he lost another long-term lover, when the man finally left him, unwilling to continue to live in the closet. That was two years ago. And now, Welts is out. Read “A Sports Executive Leaves the Safety of His Shadow Life” here.

Homo Kiss-Ins for I.D.A.H.O. – International Day Against HOmophobia

May 17th is International Day Against HOmophobia. I.D.A.H.O. is a francophone project, with roots in Paris and branches in Quebec, but events are planned around the world. Kiss-Ins are a popular theme.  San Francisco’s Gary Virginia is planning a Pink Party at the Cafe Flore from 5 – 7 pm. The Flore, or the Cafe Hairdo as it has long been known to locals, is located at the northeast corner of Market and Noe. Come hang out and make out! For a current list of I.D.A.H.O. happenings, plus images for download and more, click here. For a slide show of Sexy Guys Kissing, click here!

Tickle your Fancy at the World Beard and Mustache Championships

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via Accidental Bear, who writes: “Just imagine the upkeep and maintenance on these beards. I want to give them a two-snaps-in-circle, via In Living Color days for the commitment. How many pretzels or peanut M&M’s have they lost in these beards, only for them to drop out at the most awkward of times. The back stage area must be busier that a toddler beauty pageant. I am all about a fuzzy man with a beard, but my next question I want to ask one of these ‘mountain man’ is, “During sex, do you tie it back or like a drag queen tucking the naughty bits, do you tuck it somewhere?” For more on the World Beard and Mustache Championships, click here.