Union Square Slam Presents: Kate & Izzi!
2017-04-25 19:30 - 21:30 (America/New_York) | NY
*Mark your calendars: the last Tuesday of every month will feature a local musical performer.*
Tonight, we are beyond excited to bring you the entrancing sounds of this sister duet!
About our Show:
7:30pm: Sign-ups and Socialize
8:00pm: Open Mic (Music + Poetry Are Welcomed Here!)
8:45pm: KATE & IZZI
All Ages // Wheelchair Accessible
Open Mic // Suggested $5-10 donation
About our Feature:
Kate & Izzi are sisters making music. We grew up in DC, went to school in New York, lived in Berlin and taught music in a refugee camp. Now we’re creating original music in our basement. Kate & Izzi will be releasing our first EP this summer.

The Publishing Triangle Finalists Reading
2017-04-26 19:00 - 21:00 | NY
Join eight of the best LGBT writers of 2016 on Wednesday, April 26, at 7 PM, at the Bureau of General Services-Queer Division as they read from their work, all of which are finalists for the prestigious Publishing Triangle and Ferro-Grumley awards to be announced on Thursday, April 27, at the Publishing Triangle Awards Ceremony & Reception, at The Auditorium of the New School, 66 West 12th street (between Fifth and Sixth Avenues).

Featuring:
Kathy Anderson: Bull and Other Stories (Autumn House Press), Finalist for the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction
Lucy Jane Bledsoe: A Thin Bright Line (University of Wisconsin Press), Finalist for The Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBTQ Fiction
Elizabeth M. Edman: Queer Virtue: What LGBTQ People Know About Life and Love and How It Can Revitalize Christianity (Beacon Press), Finalist for the Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction
Matthew Griffin: Hide (Bloomsbury USA), Finalist for the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction
Alan Lessik: The Troubleseeker (Chelsea Station Editions), Finalist for The Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBTQ Fiction
Paul Lisicky, The Narrow Door (Graywolf Press); finalist for the Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction
Joe Okonkwo: Jazz Moon (Kensington), Finalist for the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction
Will Schwalbe: Books for Living (Alfred A. Knopf), Finalist for the Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction

Kathy Anderson is the author of Bull and Other Stories (Autumn House Press, 2016), winner of the 2015 Autumn House Press Fiction Prize. In addition to being a finalist for the 2016 Publishing Triangle’s Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction, Bull and Other Stories was a finalist for the 2016 Lambda Literary Awards and the 2016 Foreword INDIES Awards and was longlisted for The Story Prize, 2016. She is also a playwright and member of the Dramatists Guild. She lives with her wife in Philadelphia, PA.

Lucy Jane Bledsoe‘s new novel, A Thin Bright Line, was just released. She’s the author of a collection of short stories, a collection of narrative nonfiction, and four novels, including The Big Bang Symphony. Her recent short story, “The We of Me,” published in The Rumpus, was chosen by Ploughshares Magazine as the best story published in lit mags that week.
Her fiction has won a Yaddo Fellowship, the 2013 Saturday Evening Post Fiction Award, the Arts & Letters Fiction Prize, the Sherwood Anderson Prize for Fiction, a Pushcart nomination, a California Arts Council Fellowship, an American Library Association Stonewall Award, and two National Science Foundation Artists & Writers Fellowships. Her stories have been translated into Japanese, Spanish, German, Dutch, and Chinese.
Lucy loves teaching workshops, cooking, traveling anywhere, basketball, doing anything outside, and telling stories. She’s traveled to Antarctica three times, as a two-time recipient of the National Science Foundation’s Artists & Writers in Antarctica Fellowship and once as a guest on the Russian ship, the Akademik Sergey Vavilov. She is one of a tiny handful of people who have stayed at all three American stations in Antarctica. She has also stayed in a number of field camps, both on the coast and in the Transantarctic mountains, where scientists are studying penguins, climate change, and the Big Bang.

Photograph by Keryn Lowry

Liz Edman is an Episcopal priest and political strategist. She is the author of Queer Virtue: What LGBTQ People Know About Life and Love and How It Can Revitalize Christianity (Beacon Press, 2016). Liz has lived and worked on the front lines of the most salient contemporary issues where religion meets sexuality, serving as an inner city hospital chaplain to people with HIV/AIDS from 1989 to 1995 and helping craft political and communications strategies for marriage equality efforts. In 2017, she partnered with Parity to create Glitter+Ash Wednesday, a project to increase the visibility of progressive, queer-positive Christians and to explore Christian liturgical tradition through a queer lens. She lives in New York.

Matthew Griffin is a graduate of Wake Forest University and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. He has taught writing at the University of Iowa and University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and he worked for several years as Assistant to the Director of Highlander Research and Education Center, a renowned hub of grassroots organizing for social justice throughout the South and Appalachia. His first novel Hide was the winner of the 2017 Crook’s Corner Book Prize, a Stonewall Honor Book, and longlisted for the PEN/Bingham Prize for debut fiction. His writing has appeared in The Guardian, Granta, Electric Literature, and elsewhere. He was born and raised in North Carolina and now lives with his husband and too many pets in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he teaches at Tulane University.

Alan Lessik is a novelist and writer, zen practitioner, amateur figure skater, and LGBT activist, non-profit leader and world traveler. His debut novel, The Troubleseeker, was published by Chelsea Station Editions in 2016. He has had non-fiction articles and commentaries published in the Advocate, San Francisco Bay Guardian, andFrontiers as well as recorded as part of KQED Radio Perspectives. He was the co-founder of Out & Equal, the Deputy Director of the AIDS Research Institute at UCSF and Treasurer of the Federation of Gay Games. Currently he is the Executive Director of Civicorps. Alan lives in San Francisco.

Photo by Star Black

Paul Lisicky is the author of five books: The Narrow Door (a New York Times Editors’ Choice), Unbuilt Projects, The Burning House, Famous Builder, and Lawnboy. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, Conjunctions, Fence, The New York Times, The Offing, Ploughshares, Tin House, and elsewhere. He has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, among others. He is an associate professor in the MFA Program at Rutgers University-Camden and lives in Brooklyn.

Joe Okonkwo is a Pushcart Prize nominee who has had stories published in a variety of print and online venues including Promethean, Penumbra Literary Magazine, Chelsea Station, Shotgun Honey, and Best Gay Stories 2015. In addition to his writing career, he has worked in theater as an actor, stage manager, director, playwright and youth theatre instructor. He earned an MFA in Creative Writing from City College of New York. Jazz Moon is his debut novel.

Will Schwalbe has worked in publishing (now with Macmillan); digital media, as the founder and CEO of Cookstr.com; and as a journalist, writing for various publications, including The New York Times and the South China Morning Post. He is the author of the New York Times best seller The End of Your Life Book Club and coauthor, with David Shipley, of Send: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It Better. His most recent book, Books for Living, is a memoir about the books that found him when he needed them most.

Vexilloids: a Protest Flag Workshop with LACTIC Incorporated, with support from Queer Threads
2017-04-27 18:00 - 21:00 | NY
Join Randi Shandroski and Ickarus of LACTIC Incorporated at the Bureau of General Services-Queer Division on Thursday, April 27th from 6 ‘til 9PM for a workshop presenting the history of vexilloids which will conclude with the participants’ creation of their own.

Presented in collaboration with John Chaich, curator of the Queer Threads book and exhibition, in light of current events, LGBTQ Pride Month, and the March on Washington in June.

Textiles and materials will be provided although participants are strongly encouraged to bring some of their own fabrics. No prior sewing experience needed although highly recommended.

PLEASE NOTE:
This event is limited to 15 participants. Please RSVP via ickarus@lacticincorporated.com.

EOAGH Spring 2017 Launch!
2017-04-29 19:00 - 21:00 | NY
EOAGH Spring 2017 Launch!
Featuring: Abigail Child, Kenyatta JP Garcia, Phoenix Nastasha Russell, Kerry Downey, Jay Lucero, Pazia Miller, and Isabelle Shallcross.
Hosted by Trace Peterson at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division
Saturday, April 29 at 7-9 PM,
Abigail Child is a media artist and writer who pushes the envelope of sound-image-text relations with humor, liveliness and complex “plangent, friable, nacreous, lambent, sinewy…and syncopated” montage. An award-winning filmmaker, Child is the author of six books of poetry, among them, A Motive for Mayhem, Scatter Matrix and her most recent MOUTH TO MOUTH, as well as a book of criticism, THIS IS CALLED MOVING: A Critical Poetics of Film (2005) from University of Alabama Press.
Kenyatta JP Garcia is the author of Slow Living (West Vine Press) and This Sentimental Education. They were raised in Brooklyn but currently live in Albany, NY. They spend their nights being paid to put boxes on shelves while their days are dedicated to dreaming.
Phoenix Nastasha Russell is an accomplished poet. Several of her poems have been published in art books like “Rivers of Emotion” and on websites like Poetry.com. She has performed her art work of words in all sorts of venues and has gotten the highest of acclaims. Nastasha’s art oft times incites gut wrenching laughter and at other times intense contemplation as she fires of verse after verse of spellbinding lexis. When she orates her art you can tell that she is truly in her element. Nastasha will entice you and delight you, just like her namesake she’s like a Phoenix taking flight on wings of searing light….her words will never disappoint cause you’ll know and feel just where she’s coming from.
Kerry Downey (born Fort Lauderdale, 1979) is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, and teacher. Downey’s work explores how we interact with each other physically, psychologically, and socio-politically. Encompassing video, works on paper, writing, and performance, their work reimagines the possibilities and limitations of language, gender and intimacy. Their work has recently been exhibited at the Queens Museum, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, the Drawing Center, and Taylor Macklin. In 2015, Downey was awarded the Joan Mitchell Foundation Emerging Artist Grant. They hold a BA from Bard College and an MFA from Hunter College.
Jay Lucero aka Silverfemme is a senior at Hunter College. They were awarded the Martin Luther King Jr. Award from Queensborough Community College. Jay is a poet, actor, and activist born and raised in NYC. They are a magical brown oddity that embodies no and all genders. Instagram: @silverfemme.
Pazia Miller is a queer poet and public school teacher living in Brooklyn. She is currently working on two different poetry collections, one of which is a long form confessional poem in blank verse. Her poetry lives in small corners of the internet and can be found on The Bridge.
Isabelle Shallcross (she/her) writes poems about the South, nature, and being a sad and problematic person under capitalism. Her favorite writers include Chris Kraus, Ross Gay, and Mira Gonzalez. She has received a scholarship to study poetry at the Bread Loaf School of English and is originally from Alabama.

Anti-Fascist Book Club
2017-04-30 15:00 - 17:00 | NY
A reading group for those fighting fascism! We will begin with Hannah Arendt and James Baldwin and expand from there. Hopefully our readings will inspire thoughtful and informed activism.

For the first meeting we will be discussing the first 100 pages of Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism (available at the Bureau—please support the Bureau by purchasing your copy from us. Thank you!)

Questions? Write to Grey Vild: greyvild@gmail.com

Transgender Children & Youth, Book Launch & Talk, with Elijah Nealy
2017-05-04 19:00 - 21:00 | NY
Join us to celebrate the publication of Transgender Children & Youth: Cultivating Pride and Joy with Families (W. W. Norton, 2017), by Elijah C. Nealy.

Dr. Nealy, a therapist and former deputy executive director of New York City’s LGBT Community Center, and himself a trans man, has written the first-ever comprehensive guide to understanding, supporting, and welcoming trans kids. Covering everything from family life to school and mental health issues, as well as the physical, social, and emotional aspects of transition, this book is full of best practices to support trans kids.

The reception begins at 7, with a talk by Dr. Nealy at 7:30pm, followed by a Q&A. Copies of the book will be available for sale.

Elijah C. Nealy, PhD, M.Div., LCSW has worked extensively with LGBTQ adolescents and adults in both pastoral and social service capacities for the past 25 years. Dr. Nealy taught fulltime at Columbia School of Social Work, currently is assistant professor of social work at the University of Saint Joseph, West Hartford, and for 12 years served the LGBT Community Center in New York City, initially as Director of their adolescent and adult mental health programs and then as Deputy Director. His clinical practice has focused on transgender and gender diverse youth and their families. An openly identified transgender man, Dr. Nealy lives in West Hartford with his partner and is the proud father of three amazing young people.

David Pratt's Wallaçonia, Reading & Signing with guest Don Weise
2017-05-05 19:00 - 21:00 | NY
David Pratt reads from his new young adult novel, Wallaçonia. Following the reading, independent editor Don Weise will join Pratt in a discussion of the process of writing and editing queer young adult novels.
Copies of Wallaçonia will be available for purchase at the event.
To reserve a copy of Wallaçonia, please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com.

David Pratt is the author of the novels Bob the Book (Lambda Literary Award winner) and Looking After Joey. His short stories are collected in the volume My Movie. He has performed worked for the stage in New York City at HERE, Dixon Place, the Cornelia Street Cafe and in the New York International Fringe Festival. He lives in Michigan.

Don Weise has more than twenty years publishing experience, the majority of which has been devoted to LGBT literature. Don was named by Publishers Weekly as an industry “Change Maker” and listed among Out Magazine’s “100 Most Intriguing Gay Men and Lesbians” of the year. Weise is currently the founder/publisher of the LGBT press Querelle Books.

Dandy Darkly's Six Hundred and Sixty-Six Tales of Sex and Death! A Book Launch
2017-05-06 19:00 - 21:30 | NY
NYC’s maestro of the macabre is dragging his tawdry tales of sex and death from the stage and on to the page. Dandy Darkly will be on hand at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division to sell some books, sign some books and do a selected reading of tales from his brand new book, and to kick off his upcoming USA tour.
Dandy Darkly’s Six Hundred and Sixty-Six Tales of Sex and Death! (Volume One) is a collection of short stories from Dandy’s critically acclaimed, queer storytelling shows. The book also features illustrations by Dandy Darkly. The shindig kicks off at 7pm with a reading of Dandy’s favorite tales at 8pm.

Dandy Darkly lives in Brooklyn, New York with his husband and cats. “The Homer of the 21st century” (Washington Square News), Dandy is an emergent queer performance artist and cabaret storyteller. He has performed internationally at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the London Horror Festival and the historic Royal Vauxhall Tavern. The East Village is Dandy’s playground, with annual shows at Under St. Marks, the Queerly Festival and Dixon Place. His critically acclaimed work has been described as “fantastical fairytale horror, equal parts Tennessee Williams, Edgar Allen Poe and Bruce La Bruce” (Time Out) and “a cross between Pam Ayres, Liberace and Tales from the Crypt.” (The Scotsman). This “decidedly wicked storyteller” (New York Times) is “simply one of the most thoughtful, hilarious and harrowing queer talents at work today.” (Scotsgay Magazine).

Undercover Girl: The Lesbian Informant Who Helped the FBI Bring Down the Communist Party
2017-05-10 19:00 - 21:00 | NY
Join us for the launch of Undercover Girl: The Lesbian Informant Who Helped the FBI Bring Down the Communist Party, by Lisa E. Davis.

This is not the story of a bad lesbian. This is the story of a bad system and a terrible moment in American history we call “the McCarthy era.” The American Left never recovered. Our focus is Angela Calomiris (1916-95), a Village photographer well paid by the FBI to spy on the New York Photo League and the American Communist Party (1942-49). We know about her because she broke her cover to testify at the first Smith Act trial (1949) of the Party leadership accused of “conspiracy to advocate the overthrow of the US gov’t by force and violence.” They went to prison while Angela became a Red Scare celebrity with a (ghost-written) book about her patriotic service, then tried to get a big-time job in photography out of the FBI. She later retreated to Provincetown where she owned several properties–Angel’s Landing was one–and kept her previous career as an informant a deep, dark secret. A selection of vintage photos accompanies this presentation.

Lisa E Davis has lived in Greenwich Village for many years. Her latest book is “Undercover Girl: The Lesbian FBI Informant Who Helped the FBI Bring Down the Communist Party.” Her novel “Under the Mink,” a film noir tale of gay and lesbian entertainers in mob-owned Village nightclubs of the 1940s, was re-issued in 2015, and has been optioned for a TV series/film. With a PhD in Comparative Literature, Davis taught for years in SUNY and CUNY, published numerous essays, and lectured widely on New World and European literary topics. High points in her career include meeting Fidel Castro and almost drowning in the Colorado River.

Get Healthy: improving LGBT health through film
2017-05-11 19:00 - 20:30 | NY
The 2015 short film, Vanessa Goes to the Doctor, turned LGBT cultural competence training on its head, changing the way healthcare providers understand and treat their LGBT patients all in 8 entertaining minutes. Please come to a special screening of Vanessa and a fundraising kickoff for the production of three more films for this important and potentially life-saving film series.
Meet the filmmakers who will talk about why they used this approach and learn about what they plan to do in continuing this series.

Reception 7 PM
Screening 7:30 PM

liz margolies, LCSW is the founder and executive director of the National LGBT Cancer Network. She produced this video, along with filmsfornonprofits.org, as part of a larger cultural competence training curriculum for health and human services providers, presenting it at hospitals, organizations and conferences across the country. In 2014, liz was chosen as one of the OUT100 for her work.

Resist, Rebel, Transgress: Nothing Without Us Screening
2017-05-12 19:00 - 21:00 | NY
In conjunction with the Bureau’s current exhibition, The Lesbian Avengers: 25th Anniversary Exhibition:
Friday, May 12 7 p.m. Lesbian Avengers 25 event series, “Resist, Rebel, Transgress.” A screening of the powerful film, Nothing Without Us, by Harriet Hirshorn and Mary Patierno about women fighting AIDS worldwide.
Nothing Without Us is the first and only documentary telling the story of the inspiring women at the forefront of the global AIDS movement. Combining archival footage and interviews with female activists, scientists and scholars in the US and Africa, “Nothing Without Us: The Women who Will End AIDS” reveals how women not only shaped grassroots groups like ACT-UP in the U.S., but have also played essential roles in HIV prevention and the treatment access movement throughout sub-Saharan Africa. The film explores the unaddressed dynamics that keep women around the world at risk of HIV, while introducing the remarkable women who have the answers to ending this 30-year old pandemic.

The Lesbian Avengers: 25th Anniversary Exhibition is on view at the Bureau through June 4, 2017.
We did it, and we’ll do it again! A multimedia activist exhibit celebrating the Lesbian Avengers, formed 25 years ago during another surge of hardcore misogyny, and anti-gay, white Nationalist hate. Includes still photos, flyers, posters, slide shows, and video. Were you there? We welcome your participation. This mobile exhibit won’t take on its final form until late April. In June, it will begin to pop up all over the country. Including a neighborhood near you!

Related upcoming event:
Friday, June 2 7 p.m. Lesbian Avengers 25 event series, “Resist, Rebel, Transgress” in co-operation with Lambda Literary. Includes Lesbian Avengers and writers, Susana Cook, Ana Simo (co-founder), and others.

TELL 34: Beginnings
2017-05-13 19:00 - 21:30 | Online event, New York, NY, United States
TELL is an evening of story telling from the mouths and minds of queers in NYC hosted by Drae Campbell at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division since February 2014.
BEGINNINGS is the theme of the thirty-fourth installment of TELL. Featuring Dorrell Clark, Matthew K. Johnson, and Justine Williams.

$10 suggested donation to support the Bureau and the performers. No one turned away for lack of funds.

Drae Campbell is a writer, actor, director, story teller, dancer, and nightlife emcee. Drae has been featured on Late Night with Conan O’Brien and on stages all over NYC. Drae’s directing work has appeared in Iceland, NYC, Budapest and in the San Francisco Fringe Festival. The short film Drae wrote and starred in with Rebecca Drysdale, YOU MOVE ME won the Audience Award for Outstanding Narrative Short at OUTFEST 2010 and has been shown in festivals globally. Drae won the grand prize at the first annual San Miguel De Allende Storytelling Festival in Mexico. She once reigned as Miss LEZ and also got dubbed “the next lezzie comedian on the block” by AfterEllen.com for her comedic stylings on the interwebs. Campbell hosts and curates a monthly queer storytelling show called TELL at BGSQD. Check her out online! www.draecampbell.com.

Dorrell Clark was born in New York City (Harlem Hospital) and grew up in Winsor, North Carolina. She received her A.A.S. degree, at Bronx Community College; majoring in Chemistry. Dorrell joined the US Army ranking as Private First Class. After 26 years of employment with NYC’s MTA, she retired in 2011. Without a breather she jumped right into volunteering her services with:{BAAD} Bronx Academy of Arts & Dance, SOUNDVIEW COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM, MISTAH COLES PRODUCTION COMPANY and Susana Cook’s Co. Dorrell understands the rhythm and importance of preparation, hard work, and respect. Applying these values to her endeavors by making an inventory of resources, planning activities and working on her goals daily. Her past experiences has completely supported her development and she is thankful for it.

Matthew K. Johnson is a playwright, poet, storyteller and fiction writer originally from Honolulu, Hawaii. He has been a featured performer at numerous venues around New York City, including the Bowery Poetry Club, the C.O.W. Theater and Dixon Place, and was the creator and host of “Tongue Lashing”, a literary series at The Phoenix in the East Village that ran from 2007 to 2010. He lives in Brooklyn.

Justine is a performer-creator-educator working across disciplines and fields of study. She is founder and current Den Mother to Queer Scouts, a civic performance project that takes up the traditional Boy and Girl Scouts, re-imagining their handbooks, histories and practices through a queer, and creative/critical/activist lens. Her work as a creator-performer has been presented at the Public Theater, Ars Nova, Yale Rep, Berkeley Rep, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Queens Museum, and her film work has presented at Maryland Film Festival, MOMA’s New Directors/New Films, Rotterdam Film Festival and others. She was a 2016 Queer Arts Mentorship fellow in Performance, and is currently an Artist-in-Residence at Abrons Arts with the Queer Scouts. Justine teaches clown, play, games and creation at Yale School of Drama, as well as within traditional and alternative learning spaces around the globe. MFA: CUNY/Brooklyn College in Performance and Interactive Media Arts
www.play-mountain.org

Queer Collage Party
2017-05-14 15:00 - 18:00 | NY
It’s time for another Queer Collage Party! We provide the glue sticks and scissors, you provide the pictures and paper/cardboard. Everyone who attends should bring at least one magazine or book or a bunch of pictures that you’ll contribute to the group. Each person can make their own collage(s), or team up with others! You can keep your own collage(s), but don’t expect to walk away with your magazine intact! The spirit here is fun and sharing. Attend for part or all of the afternoon. You are encouraged but not required to bring a little snack to share — chips, tangerines, grapes, hummus, whatever.
Suggested donation of $10 to benefit the Bureau. No one turned away for lack of funds.

Fierce Hearts: a reading of fierce and heartfelt poetry by Cheryl Boyce Taylor, Joy Ladin, and Lesléa Newman
2017-05-18 19:00 - 21:00 | NY
The poets will read both published work and work from soon-to-be released collections. A book signing will follow the reading.

Cheryl Boyce-Taylor is the recipient of the 2015 Barnes and Noble Writers For Writers Award, and the founder and curator of Calypso Muse and the Glitter Pomegranate Performance Series. Cheryl earned an MFA in Poetry from Stonecoast: The University of Southern Maine, and an MSW from Fordham University. She is the author of three collections of poetry: Raw Air, Night When Moon Follows, and Convincing the Body. A poetry judge for The New York Foundation for the Arts, and The Astraea Foundation, she has facilitated poetry workshops for Cave Canem, Poets & Writers, Poets House, and The Caribbean Literary and Cultural Center. Her poetry has been commissioned by Jacob’s Pillow, The Joyce Theater, and the National Endowment for the Arts for Ronald K. Brown: Evidence, A Dance Company. Her work has been published in Callaloo, Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Pluck!, Killings Journal of Arts & Letters, Adrienne, and Prairie Schooner. Her fourth book Arrival, is forthcoming from Northwestern University Press in 2017.

Joy Ladin is the author of seven books of poetry, including Lambda Literary Award finalists Impersonation and Transmigration; her eighth book, Fireworks in the Graveyard, is forthcoming in fall 2018 from Headmistress Press. Her memoir of gender transition, Through the Door of Life, was a 2012 National Jewish Book Award finalist. Her work has been recognized with a National Endowment of the Arts fellowship and a Fulbright Scholarship, among other honors. She holds the Gottesman Chair in English at Yeshiva University. Her poems and essays are available at joyladin.com.

Lesléa Newman is a poet, fiction writer, essayist, children’s book writer and anthologist whose 70 books include the children’s classic, Heather Has Two Mommies and the poetry collections, Still Life with Buddy, Nobody’s Mother, Signs of Love, and October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard (novel-in-verse) which received a Stonewall Honor from the American Library Association. Ms. Newman’s literary awards include poetry fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Artists Foundation; the Burning Bush Poetry Prize; and second place runner-up in the Solstice Literary Journal poetry competition. Her poetry has been published in Spoon River Poetry Review, Cimarron Review, Evergreen Chronicles, Lilith Magazine, Kalliope, The Sun, Bark Magazine, Sow’s Ear Poetry Review, Seventeen Magazine and others. From 2008-2010 she served as the poet laureate of Northampton, Massachusetts. Her most recent poetry collection, I Carry My Mother, received the 2016 Golden Crown Literary Society Poetry Award (“Goldie”) and was named a “Must-Read” title by the Massachusetts Center for the Book.

Martin Duberman Reads from Jews Queers Germans
2017-05-20 19:00 - 20:30 | NY
Martin Duberman returns to the Bureau for a reading from his latest novel, Jews Queers Germans.

Jews Queers Germans recreates the intimate milieu around Kaiser Wilhelm II of pre-Weimar Germany, a time period during which queer life flourished —albeit secretly—throughout the major cities of Germany. The story revolves around three men: Prince Philipp von Eulenburg, Kaiser Wilhelm II’s closest friend, who becomes the subject of a notorious 1907 trial for homosexuality; Magnus Hirschfeld, a famed Jewish sexologist who gives testimony at the trial; and Count Harry Kessler, a leading proponent of modernism and the keeper of a famous set of diaries that lay out in intimate detail the major social, artistic, and political events of the day and allude as well to his own homosexuality. Adhering closely to the historical record, Duberman portrays the gay life of a very upper-crust intellectual milieu at a time when old-world mores still mattered, and yet art and the social sciences were spiraling quickly toward the modern.

PRAISE FOR JEWS QUEERS GERMANS:

“Riveting. Stunning. By turns exhilarating and harrowing. At the height of his imaginative and interpretive powers, award-winning author Martin Duberman elaborates the rich, complex promises and perils of German life and politics in advance of World Wars I and II, with ghostly echoes reverberating across the Atlantic to this very day.” —John Howard, author of White Sepulchres and Men Like That

“With a bold, grand vision and an unparalleled grasp of the endless details that make up the arc of history, Martin Duberman elucidates and illuminates how sex, art, hatred, violence, and intrigue shape a national politic. His sprawling canvas here—populated by Kaiser Wilhelm II, Isadora Duncan, Magnus Hirschfeld, and Ernst Röhm among many others—is late nineteenth century to pre–World War II Germany. The implications and resonances of this story are, however, frighteningly contemporary. Sweeping and poetic, minutely observed and realistic, Jews Queers Germans is a brilliant window to the past that shows us the present and possibly the future.” —Michael Bronski, author of A Queer History of the United States and Professor of Practice in Media and Activism at Harvard University

“In the new and daring novel/history Jews Queers Germans, Martin Duberman unleashes his awesome powers to tell a story of friendship, friction, and the flourishing of homosexual relationships during the belle époque. Focusing on Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany and his closest friends, Duberman’s creative narrative allows us to eavesdrop on some of what might have been their private conversations while we also witness rising public intolerance toward Jews and queers in Germany. As always, Duberman engages and illuminates the past brilliantly while providing guidance for the present.” —Marcia M. Gallo, author of “No One Helped”: Kitty Genovese, New York City, and the Myth of Urban Apathy

Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus, CUNY, MARTIN DUBERMAN is the author of some two dozen books, including Paul Robeson; Cures; Black Mountain; the novel Haymarket (a Seven Stories book); Howard Zinn; Stonewall; and Hold Tight Gently. Duberman is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Bancroft Prize, the Vernon Rice Drama Desk Award (for his play In White America), three Lambda Literary Awards, a Special Award from The National Academy of Arts and Letters for his “contributions to literature,” the 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Historical Association, and the Whitehead Lifetime Achievement Award in Non-Fiction. He has also been a Finalist for both the National Book Award (for James Russell Lowell) and the Pulitzer Prize (for The Worlds of Lincoln Kirstein). In 2012 Amherst College awarded him an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters.

Save The Date: Tim "Toaster" Henderson (workshop and feature)
2017-05-23 18:30 - 21:30 | NY
NEW YORK CITY, YOU LUCKY DUCKIES!!!
Nationally-acclaimed performance poet Tim “Toaster” Henderson is dropping in to host a writing workshop and feature at Union Square Slam!!
SAVE THE DATE: May 23rd, 2017
6:30pm: Writing Workshop w/ Toaster
7:30pm: sign-up and socialize
8:00pm: Feature and Show
Suggested Donation:
Workshop or Show: $5-$10
Workshop and Show: $10-$20
All Ages // Wheelchair Accessible
About our Feature:
Toaster, a performance poet, mural artist and musician, Toaster uses a kaleidoscope of artistic vision to create, express and teach. Toaster is an accomplished slam poet as well, competing for the Berkeley, Bay Area Unified and Mental Graffiti slam teams at the National Poetry Slam. Toaster was also crowned grand slam champion in Berkeley (2012) and Chicago (2016), ranking 9th in the world at the 2016 Individual Poetry Slam. He has been featured on many stages across North America including Lexus Versus and Flow, National Public Radio, and in front of the most cutthroat audiences of all – teenagers. Aside from pursuing his own craft, Toaster works in Chicago schools as a teaching artist for Young Chicago Authors, as well as facilitating his own workshops in elementary schools, high schools, universities and other educational settings. You can find Toaster’s work on youtube, in your local dive bar and by following him on social media:
Facebook- Facebook.com/ToasterPoetry
Twitter -hewhotoastsbrEd
Instagram – toastersmodernlife

Queer Travelers’ Tales with Andrew Evans and Alden Jones
2017-05-24 19:00 - 21:00 | NY
Join queer travel writers Andrew Evans and Alden Jones as they discuss their books The Black Penguin and The Blind Masseuse. Andrew Evans has completed more than thirty assignments for National Geographic, reporting from all seven continents, and Alden Jones has lived, worked, and traveled in more than forty countries. Reception, reading, discussion, Q&A session.

Reception 7 pm, presentation 7:30

Andrew Evans lives in Washington, DC. and has completed more than thirty assignments for National Geographic, reporting from all seven continents. He has received two Lowell Thomas Awards from the Society of American Travel Writers, two Folio Awards, and two awards from the National Travel Journalism Association. He gained a worldwide following when he made a 12,000mile journey by bus, from National Geographic headquarters in Washington all the way to Antarctica.

Alden Jones lives in Boston and has traveled, worked, and lived in more than forty countries, including as a WorldTeach volunteer in Costa Rica, a program director in Cuba, and a professor with Semester at Sea. Her book The Blind Masseuse is now in paperback. It was a finalist for the best travel book award of the North American Travel Journalists Association, winner of the Bisexual Book Award for memoir, and was one of eight finalists for a PEN Award for the Art of the Essay.

Queer, There, and Everywhere: Book Launch & Reading
2017-05-25 19:00 - 21:00 | NY
Start celebrating Pride early this year! Join activist Sarah Prager to hear incredible stories from her new queer history book, Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World, out on May 23 from HarperCollins. After a reading, Sarah will answer your questions and sign copies of the book. Copies will be available for sale.
Suggested donation of $10 to benefit the Bureau. No one turned away for lack of funds. Free for ages 18 and under!
“Queer, There, and Everywhere is so conversational, fast paced, and infused with pop culture sensibilities that it tricks you into forgetting it’s a series of (incredibly timely) biographies. An absolute must-read for people interested in their queer forebears, or for anyone who doesn’t already know the majesty of Elagabalus, Empress of Rome.”
—Meredith Russo, author of Stonewall Award-winner If I Was Your Girl
“Accessible, irreverent, and meticulously researched, at times heartbreaking and just as often wildly funny, this stunningly diverse survey of queer histories is a nourishing and inspiring addition to our arsenal of queer possibilities. Should be required reading for all of us, queer or not.”
—Sarah McCarry, author of the LAMBDA Award-nominated About a Girl
“Sarah Prager does the impossible: she takes several millennia of complicated history and makes it accessible and fun. Prager tells us twenty-three fascinating stories, some of them new twists on familiar ones (like Abraham Lincoln) as well as ones about figures that history has nearly forgotten, mixing light-hearted humor with impeccable scholarship so that the reader keeps turning the page to see ‘what’s next.’ In short, Prager combines fun and facts to present an unforgettable overview of two thousand years of queer history.”
–Kevin Jennings, Founder of GLSEN, and Former Assistant Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Education, and author of Becoming Visible: A Reader in Gay and Lesbian History for High School & College Students

Sarah Prager began her life as an activist when she came out at the age of 14. Since then, queer history has been her passion. In 2013 she launched the free mobile app Quist, which provides daily queer history stories to thousands of people around the world. Last year she became a mom and lives with her wife and daughter in Connecticut. This week her second baby was born – Her first book – Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World.

Anti-Fascist Book Club Reads James Baldwin's Going to Meet the Man
2017-05-28 14:00 - 16:00 | NY
A reading group for those fighting fascism!
Hopefully our readings will inspire thoughtful and informed activism.

Join us for our second meeting on Sunday, May 28th, from 2 to 4 PM. We will discuss James Baldwin’s Going to Meet the Man. (Hint: if you don’t have time to read the whole thing just read the title piece!)

In our first meeting in April we discussed the first 100 pages of Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism.

James Baldwin’s Going to Meet the Man is available at the Bureau—please support the Bureau by purchasing your copy from us. Thank you!

Questions? Ideas for future readings?
Write to Grey Vild: greyvild@gmail.com

Union Square Slam Presents: OOMPA
2017-05-30 19:30 - 21:30 | NY
*Mark your calendars: the last Tuesday of every month will feature a local musical performer.*

Tonight we have the helluv incomparable Oompa coming through. Prepare to unlearn whatever you thought you knew about hip hop and lyricism, cuz Oomp gon’ learn you real quick.

About our Show:
7:30pm: Sign-ups and Socialize
8:00pm: Open Mic (Music + Poetry Are Welcomed Here!)
8:45pm: Oompa
All Ages // Wheelchair Accessible
Open Mic // Suggested $5-10 donation
About our Feature:

Oompa is a nationally-renowned, boston-born, poet, educator, and lyricist who is forever representing the queer, black, orphaned, hood kids an’ nem. Oompa is the winner of the 2017 Women of the World Poetry Slam, and a finalist at the 2017 National Poetry Slam. Her work has been featured in Huffington Post, Allston Pudding, Mass Apparel, and KillerBoomBox among others. Oompa’s debut album, Nov. 3, was named one of Dig Boston’s Top 30 Local Albums of 2016, one of Allston Pudding’s Favorite albums of 2016, and her sound has compared to that of Lauryn Hill, J.Cole, and Talib Kweli. Most notably, she is her nephews’ favorite of all time. Currently based in Boston, MA, Oompa is an organizer, mentor, and coach, as well as a member of media brand and collective Hipstory, and co-slam master of The House House Slam.

Twitter: @oompoutloud
Instagram: @oompoutloud
Facebook: Oompa
Tumblr: oompoutloud.tumblr.com
E-mail: oompoutloud@gmail.com/booking.oompa@gmail.com Soundcloud: @oompoutloud

OLNY's Poly Movie Night: Love Songs
2017-05-31 18:30 - 21:30 | NY
Open Love NY presents Poly Movie Night, a FREE series of feature films that focus on the portrayal of consensual / ethical non-monogamy in cinema. This month we’ll be at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division.
Please join us for Love Songs/Les Chansons d’Amour (2007), directed by Christophe Honoré and starring Ludivine Sagnier (Swimming Pool), Louis Garrel, and Clotilde Hesme.
We’ll meet at 6:30 pm at the Bureau (in room 210 of The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center at 208 West 13th Street) for pre-screening socializing and start the movie at 7 pm. The more people come, the more likely we’ll continue the event! The event is free, although a $10 suggested donation to help fund future events is much appreciated.
Synopsis: Julie and Ismaël live together. Ismaël’s work colleague Alice sometimes joins them in bed. Julie isn’t sure she’s happy with the situation. Ismaël is sometimes jealous of Julie and Alice’s relationship. And they all sing about it. Running time: 1 hour 31 minutes. In French with English subtitles.

Ghosts of St. Vincent's Unleashed: A Sassy Séance
2017-06-01 19:00 - 21:00 | NY
Celebrate the release of GHOSTS OF ST. VINCENT’S, a new book by Tom Eubanks, with music by JoJo Americo, special guest appearances, a GHOSTS OF ST. VINCENT’S slide show, a reading from the book, and an opportunity to share your memories of St. Vincent’s Hospital, the era that brought us together to fight AIDS–and the time that birthed a golden age of Manhattan nightlife: boy bar, The Pyramid, The Tunnel, The Roxy, Limelight, Mars, Palladium, Jackie 60, Sound Factory, and so many of yesterday’s parties.

With honesty, humor, and flights of historical fancy, GHOSTS OF ST. VINCENT’S tells the famed hospital’s story through the eyes of a man who spent the winter of 1995-96 on its 7th floor AIDS ward and survived just in time for the drug “cocktail” that saved so many lives.

Featuring appearances by indomitable icons–from Edna St. Vincent Millay to Robert Mapplethorpe, Sidney Lumet to Vito Russo, Ed Koch and The Ramones–GHOSTS OF ST. VINCENT’S explores coming out and coming back from the dead, gender fluidity and gentrification, the price of forgiveness, the cost of survival, and the ephemeral nature of New York City.

7:00 Music, mocktails, and mingling.
7:45 Reading from GHOSTS OF ST. VINCENT’S (with slideshow)
8:15 Share your memory of St. Vincent’s Hospital

Signed copies of the book will be available at the Bureau.

Follow @tomusphere on Instagram for more information.

Tom Eubanks lives in Upstate Manhattan.
GHOSTS OF ST. VINCENT’S is not his first book.
He hopes it’s not his last.
He’s not on Facebook. Feel free to Google for more.

Resist, Rebel, Transgress: Lesbian Avengers Susana Cook and Ana Simo
2017-06-02 19:00 - 21:00 | NY
In conjunction with the Bureau’s current exhibition, The Lesbian Avengers: 25th Anniversary Exhibition:
Join us for a reading/performance of Susana Cook and Ana Simo, two former Avengers, who are capping off the “Resist, rebel, transgress” event series celebrating Lesbian Avengers 25 at the Bureau.

The Lesbian Avengers: 25th Anniversary Exhibition is on view at the Bureau through June 4, 2017.
We did it, and we’ll do it again! A multimedia activist exhibit celebrating the Lesbian Avengers, formed 25 years ago during another surge of hardcore misogyny, and anti-gay, white Nationalist hate. Includes still photos, flyers, posters, slide shows, and video. Were you there? We welcome your participation. This mobile exhibit won’t take on its final form until late April. In June, it will begin to pop up all over the country. Including a neighborhood near you!

Ana Simo is a New York writer and lesbian activist. Born in Cuba, she studied in France, where she also participated in early feminist and LGBT groups. In New York she began to write plays and co-founded the lesbian theater Medusa´s Revenge (1976-1980), the activist group The Lesbian Avengers (1992), the weekly public access cable program Dyke TV (1995), and in 2000, the groundbreaking publication, The Gully online magazine, offering queer views on everything. Her New York Times-reviewed plays have been produced in such venues as PS 122, Theatre for the New City, INTAR Hispanic Arts Center and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. “How To Kill Her,” her short feature film with Ela Troyano, has been widely screened in festivals in the U.S. and abroad. A CD of her play The Opium War with music by Zeena Parkins was released by Roulette. Her novel Heartland is forthcoming from Restless Books.

Susana Cook directs all her shows and performs in them with her company . Her work is bold and funny, cleverly tackling racism, homophobia and animal rights. Her cast is comprised mostly of minority and queer women. Her work has been presented in numerous performance spaces in New York City, including La Mama, Dixon Place, W.O.W Cafe Theater and The Kitchen. She also performed internationally in Spain, France, India, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador and Canada.
Some of her latest shows are : NON-Consensual Relationships with Ghosts, Samantha Ibarrola la mujer inexplicable, Conversations with Humans, We Are Caligula, The Funeral of the Cow, The Homophobes, The Fury of the Gods, Homeland Insecurities, The idiot King, The Values Horror Show, 100 Years of Attitude, Dykenstein, Hamletango, Prince of Butches, Gross National Product, Hot Tamale, Conga Guerrilla Forest, The Fraud, Butch Fashion Show in the Femme Auto Body Shop, Rats:The Fantasy of Extermination and Tango Lesbiango
Her work is archived at the Digital Video Library of The Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics of New York University.
https://hidvl.nyu.edu/search/?fq=collectionId%3ASusanaCookcollection&q=

Book Launch for Jesse Harrod's "Low Ropes Course"
2017-06-03 19:00 - 21:00 | NY
Join us for a party to launch the first artist’s book from Philadelphia-based sculptor and installation artist Jesse Harrod, Low Ropes Course.

We’ll hear some of the 70’s and 80’s-era music the book’s several conversations site as inspiration—and which form a distinctive mixtape bundled with the book! Jesse will be engaged in an open conversation with NYC-based artist Chris Bogia and curator Danny Orendorff. And of course we’ll have books for sale! “Low Ropes Course” from Publication Studio Hudson is saturated with Harrod’s vibrant and often riotous and politically charged art works—drawings, Macramé and paracord sculptures, and installation— with a generous spectra of both formal commentary and free-flowing dialogues with fellow artists working in the veins of craft, queerness, the Maximalism aesthetic, and feminist politics. Presented by Publication Studio Hudson.

Artist Jesse Harrod produces both large and mid-scale installations and sculptures out of what she calls “femmy detritus”: brash, colorful, and lowbrow materials – including sequins, fringe, and Sculpey – conventionally associated with hobby crafts and domesticity. Harrod has an MFA from the department of Fiber and Material Studies from the School of The Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University. She is currently the Head of Fibers & Material Studies at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia.

Danny Orendorff is an independent curator, writer, activist, and teacher living where ever he happens to be working now, ngers-crossed. His work explores the intersections of DIY and/or craft-oriented cultural produc- tion, histories of grassroots social-jus- tice activism, and theories of gender and sexuality. Orendorff’s curatorial projects have been presented by the DePaul Art Museum (Chicago, IL), SFCamerawork (San Francisco, CA), Charlotte Street Foundation (Kansas City, MO), The Center for Craft, Cre- ativity & Design (Asheville, NC),Three- walls (Chicago, IL) and Vox Populi (Philadelphia, PA), among others. Find him at DanDannyDaniel.com.

Chris Bogia was born in Wilmington, Delaware in 1977. He studied art at both New York University (BA 00’) and Yale University (MFA sculpture 04’). He has been showing is work in New York and Abroad for over 16 years. Bogia currently lives and works in Queens, New York. Chris Bogia is the co-founder of the Fire Island Artist Residency (FIAR), the first LGBTQ artist residency program located in Cherry Grove, on Fire Island, NY. He teaches at both New York University and Bruce High Quality University. He was awarded both the Alice Kimball Traveling Fellowship and the Larry Kramer Initiative research grant for Lesbian and Gay studies from Yale University.

From one white person to another: workshop
2017-06-04 15:00 - 17:00 | NY
Join us for an afternoon of self reflection and action.

Heather Marie Scholl created “From one white person to another” fill in the blank stickers almost 2 years ago. They have appeared on the streets in NYC and DC. We will be creating short slogans and sayings for these stickers. By centering our discussion around this fun and low stress activity, we will unleash our courage and creativity! To warm up we will be talking about our experiences interrupting racism, what we could do differently.

All stickers created during the workshop will be left with us and we will stealthily place them around town. Your voice will be heard (anonymously).

The focus on this workshop is white people addressing other white people, as we believe it is our responsibility to intervene and to resist racism wherever it appears. However, we do not believe in creating public white only events, all people are welcome!

This is a vulnerable and safe space, things you share and hear may make you uncomfortable. Come as you are, be prepared to share, and to be challenged.

Suggested donation of $10 to benefit the Bureau. No one turned away for lack of funds.

Heather Marie Scholl is an artist and activist. Her work examines social justice issues with an embodied and productive emotionality. Currently her main focus is addressing racial justice, white supremacy and anti-blackness

Sophie Ellman-Golan is the Deputy Head of Social Media Strategy and Campaign Outreach at Women’s March. Born and raised in Brooklyn, she’s a proud member of the #JewishResistance.

CopWatch/HateWatch Training
2017-06-04 18:00 - 20:00 | NY
CopWatch is an effective and legal tool for empowering communities, ending police misconduct, unprofessional behavior, and discrimination. You have the right to observe and record all police activities in public places. Learn how to exercise your rights safely and legally. Workshop will be taught by comedian and activist Elsa Waithe. Suggested donation of $5 to $10, but no one will be turned away.

Spread the word!!!

“What to do if you’re stopped by the police”: a handy guide from the New York Civil Liberties Union. Print it out. Share it widely. Keep it with you. And you can find other “know your rights” cards (in English and Spanish) here.

USS presents the poetry of John Paul Davis
2017-06-06 18:30 - 21:30 | NY
We are so excited to have John Paul Davis read his poems for you from his latest collection Crown Prince of Rabbits, published by Great Weather for Media. We are also having a fabulous open mic.
6:30pm: Writing Workshop Itiola Jones
7:30pm: sign-up and socialize
8:00pm: Feature and Show
Suggested Donation: $5
All Ages // Wheelchair Accessible
Heres more about John Paul Davis and his great book:
JOHN PAUL DAVIS was born in Durham, North Carolina, and has lived in Chicago, San Francisco, Ohio, and New York City. He is a graduate of East Carolina University and DePaul University. His writing has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including Word Riot, The Journal, MUZZLE Magazine, RATTLE, Four Way Review, and Bat City Review. He is a former poetry editor for Em Literary and Bestiary Magazine. He helped run or host numerous poetry and variety shows including Page Meets Stage and The Encyclopedia Show. John Paul lives with his wife in New York City, where he works as a web developer, makes music and visual art, and writes poems. Crown Prince of Rabbits is his first book of poetry. Check out the digital album for Crown Prince of Rabbits on Bandcamp.
In Crown Prince of Rabbits, John Paul Davis unravels poetic self-portraits, breaking the spine of love and the language of serrated relationships. He shines the moon in his face to capture every angle, which not always flatters, but digs at the roots and rot of endings. This is a book that will feel like a novel, with upheavals and road trips (with music). His exit signs ask questions that even the reader can/should ponder. This is a book to drink with whiskey or strong coffee. This is a book that will leave you meditating on why it is we give our feelings away.

In Talks: Queering Mainstream Media & Creating Art That Matters
2017-06-07 19:00 - 21:00 | NY
Sawyer DeVuyst, Lia Clay, & Sean Santiago will be presenting their work in a series of artist talks, followed by a discussion about queering mainstream media and continuing to make art that matters during this volatile time in history.

Between these three artist, they’ve worked with some heavy-hitting names in fashion, publishing and advertising: Teen Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Barney’s, Thinx, Out Magazine, Candy Magazine, New York Times, MiLK Makeup and HBO Vice.

What is it like to work with such major companies as an out trans person? What can be done to open up the playing field for more trans and gender non-conforming folks to do similar work? Join us Thursday, June 7 at 7pm for a great night of stories of lived personal experiences of these trans and genderqueer media makers followed by a Q&A.

Sean Santiago is a photographer, writer and stylist whose work parses gender through the lenses of style and beauty. The founder of Cakeboy, he can be found in various corners of the internet stanning for Kristen Stewart and sharing way too many selfies. Follow his work at @sean_santiago.

Lia Clay is a transgender portrait and fashion photographer, currently working in New York City. Her work focuses on intersectionality, and portraying trans stories from a trans perspective. Lia’s work presents deeply saturated images with an abandonment of retouching, portraying raw portraiture of peers, ex lovers, and personal muses. Follow her work at @liaclay.

Sawyer DeVuyst is a visual artist, model and actor whose work aspires to empower and humanize otherized communities through visibility and storytelling. You may have seen his work for Thinx in the NYC subway or San Francisco BART, in a music video for A Great Big World, on HBO Vice, for Barney’s, in the Wythe Hotel or daily on instagram as @sawyermine.

Opening Reception: Policing Gender
2017-06-08 18:00 - 21:00 | NY
Policing Gender is an installation of photographs and audio created by artist Lorenzo Triburgo. The photographs in Policing Gender are abstract metaphors on absence and imprisonment and the audio component is a compilation of voices of LGBTQ prisoners with whom the artist has been writing on a long-term basis.
Policing Gender will be on view at the Bureau from June 8 through September 10, 2017

In Policing Gender, as in his previous body of work Transportraits, Triburgo employs visual connotations of landscape and portrait photography to cast a critical lens on notions of the “Natural” and the politics of queer representation, this time in service of prison abolition as a crucial queer issue.

In his art works Lorenzo Triburgo consistently confronts the overlapping ideas of American identity, authenticity, and photography’s critical role in framing and constructing our understanding of identity and reality.
His series, Transportraits, has been exhibited widely in major cities across the United States, Europe and Asia and won first place in the gender category in the international photography competition, the Pride Photo Award in 2012. He was awarded a Project Grant through the Regional Arts and Culture Council of Portland, OR for his current project Policing Gender that examines mass incarceration from a queer perspective. Triburgo exhibits this project at learning institutions throughout the U.S. and hosts workshops regarding the radical, transformative act of becoming a pen pal with community members behind bars.
Triburgo has work in the permanent collection at the Portland Art Museum and has been published and written about in various web and print journals including PDN, Slate, The Huffington Post, and the website for The Transgender Studies Reader 2, edited by Susan Stryker and Aren Aizura, and published by Routledge. He holds a BA from New York University in Photography and Gender Studies and an MFA in Photography and Related Media from the School of Visual Arts. He lives and works in NYC.

Exhibition-related programs:

TELL 35: Policing Gender
Saturday, June 10th, 7—9 PM
TELL is an evening of storytelling from the mouths and minds of queers in NYC hosted by Drae Campbell at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division since February 2014. In conjunction with the exhibition, Policing Gender will serve as the theme of TELL 35. This special edition of TELL will feature stories of justice, resistance, love, and friendship from formerly incarcerated LGBTQ folks, prison abolition activists, and queers impacted by “policing gender.”

Envisioning Our Future
Thursday, September 7th, 6:30—8:30 PM
A panel of experts from a spectrum of perspectives will discuss prison abolition as a political imperative to LGBTQ activism. Panelists will discuss immediate and future abolitionist goals, tangible strategies for resistance, and hope in the vision of a different future.

Since I Laid My Burden Down NYC Launch
2017-06-09 19:00 - 20:30 | NY
Join author Brontez Purnell for a dynamic reading from his debut novel SINCE I LAID MY BURDEN DOWN with q&a at the best bookstore in town (according to The Feminist Press, but who are we to disagree?), Bureau of General Services-Queer Division! With special guests Joseph Whitt and William Johnson!

About Since I Laid My Burden Down:
DeShawn lives a high, creative, and promiscuous life in San Francisco. But when he’s called back to his cramped Alabama hometown for his uncle’s funeral, he’s hit by flashbacks of handsome, doomed neighbors and sweltering Sunday services. Amidst prickly reminders of his childhood, DeShawn ponders family, church, and the men in his life, prompting the question: Who deserves love? A raw, funny, and uninhibited stumble down memory lane, Brontez Purnell’s debut novel explores how one man’s early sexual and artistic escapades grow into a life.

“Brontez Purnell is foul-mouthed and evil. Be warned: this book will make you cackle out loud like you’ve got the Devil inside you then it will break your heart. Be careful where you read it. BUT DO READ IT.” —Justin Vivian Bond

To reserve a copy of Since I Laid My Burden Down and/or Johnny Would You Love Me If My Dick Were Bigger (just re-issued by The Feminist Press) please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com.

Brontez Purnell is author of Johnny Would You Love Me If My Dick Were Bigger and the cult zine Fag School, frontman for his band the Younger Lovers, and founder and choreographer of the Brontez Purnell Dance Company. He lives in Oakland, California.

Joseph Whitt is an artist, writer, and independent curator living and working in New York City. He has performed at MoMA PS1, PPOW, Dixon Place, Eyebeam, Deitch Projects, Envoy Enterprises, and other venues of note. His writings have appeared in Art Papers, ArtUS, Useless Magazine, K48; and his work has been reviewed by The New York Times and Sculpture. He has released five chapbooks of poetry and is currently working on a sixth.

William Johnson is the Program Director for Lambda Literary, an organization dedicated to promoting LGBTQ literature. He is a contributing arts and culture writer for CrushFanazine and the publisher of Mary Literary, a literary journal dedicated to showcasing queer/gay writings of artistic merit.
