BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//BGSQD - ECPv6.15.18//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-WR-CALNAME:BGSQD
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://www.bgsqd.com
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for BGSQD
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:America/New_York
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20150308T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20151101T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20160313T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20161106T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20170312T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20171105T060000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160506T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160506T213000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160317T195413Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160420T144438Z
UID:5940-1462563000-1462570200@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:One Reading One Story\, by Chavisa Woods (with special guest appearance by Erin Markey\, reading as Tanya.) Featuring “Zombie\,” a coming of age tale like no other.
DESCRIPTION:  \nOne Reading\, One Story\nBy Chavisa Woods \nFeaturing “Zombie\,”\n(a coming of age tale like no other.) \nWhile hanging out in the local cemetery\, two young girls make a friend like none they ever could have imagined. \n$8 suggested donation (no one turned away for lack of funds) \nInstead of going to a movie\, or watching a television show\, come hear a story\, in full\, from beginning to end. \nHave a glass of wine while you sit back and listen. Stay after for mingling and conversation. \nRemember\, being read to reduces stress levels and increases your attention span. Turn off your phone. Give up on the screen. Exercise your attention span\, and enjoy some long-form art: LITERATURE. \n“Zombie” provides a preview of the upcoming collection of short fiction\, “Things To Do When You’re Goth in the Country\,” by Chavisa Woods\, upcoming from Seven Stories Press\, January\, 2017.\n \n \nChavisa Woods is the author of three books of fiction\, “The Albino Album\,” a novel\, (550 pages) Seven Stories Press (Distributed by Random House)\, 2013; and Love Does Not Make Me Gentle or Kind” full-length fiction (Fly by Night Press\, 2009). The Second Edition of this book was released by Autonomedia Press under the Unbearables imprint in 2013. Her most recent work\, “Things To Do When You’re Goth in the Country” will be released by Seven Stories Press in the spring of 2017. \n  \nErin Markey is a New York based performance artist named a “magnetic diva” by the New York Times and a Time Out New York Top Ten Cabaret Performer 2013-2015. Her most recent work\, A Ride On The Irish Cream\, premiered at Abrons Arts Center in January 2016. Her work has been shown at BAM\, Under The Radar Festival (Public Theater)\, New Museum\, PS 122\, Bard Spiegeltent\, New York Comedy Festival\, San Francisco Film Society\, and regularly at Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater. She is the recipient of a 2014 Franklin Furnace Grant and a 2012 NYFA Cutting Edge Artist Award. She won an Eliot Norton Award for Outstanding Performance in 2013. In development for A Ride On The Irish Cream\, she has been a resident artist at Brooklyn Arts Exchange\, Mount Tremper Arts and Baryshnikov Arts Center. She is co-composing music for and performing in Half Straddle’s Ghost Rings at New York Live Arts in April 2016. \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/chavisa-woods/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Chavisa-Woods-event-update.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160503T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160503T213000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160425T165443Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160425T165443Z
UID:6090-1462302000-1462311000@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:Union Square Slam presents ANGEL NAFIS w/ special guests CRYSTAL VALENTINE and GABRIELLE SMITH and USS TEAM SELECTION FINALS
DESCRIPTION:  \nUnion Square Slam presents ANGEL NAFIS w/ special guests CRYSTAL VALENTINE and GABRIELLE SMITH and USS TEAM SELECTION FINALS \n6:00pm: Free Poetry Workshop with Sara Emily Kuntz \n7:00pm Sign-ups and Socialize\n7:30pm: Open Mic\n8:00pm: Feature\n8:25pm: Slam \n$5 // All Ages \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/union-square-slam-may-3/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Angel-Nafis-USS.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160430T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160430T213000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160308T174032Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160309T151248Z
UID:5918-1462042800-1462051800@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:The Birthday Suit Reading
DESCRIPTION:  \nA night of naked words in honor of poet Sarah Sala’s 30th birthday. \nList of readers:\nAbba Belgrave\nMary Block\nAimee Herman \nCarrie Hohmann \nJen Hyde \nRicardo Maldonado \nAmy Meng \nJerome Murphy \nPeter Longofono \nChristina Quintana\nAnthony William Thornton \nAldrin Valdez \nSarah Sala \nSuggested donation of $5 to support the Bureau. No one turned away for lack of funds. \n  \nSarah Sala is a native Michigander with an MFA in Poetry from New York University. Recently\, her poem “Hydrogen” was featured in the “Elements” episode of NPR’s hit show Radio Lab in collaboration with Emotive Fruition. The Ghost Assembly Line\, her first chapbook\, is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press in 2016. Sarah’s poems also appear in Poetry Ireland Review\, Atlas Review\, and The Stockholm Review of Literature. She is a 2016 Home School Fellow. www.sarahsala.com \n  \nAbba Belgrave was born elsewhere but calls Brooklyn her hometown. A graduate of NYU’s Creative Writing Program\, she was published in Argos Books’ anthology Why I Am Not A Painter and Phantom Books. Her essay\, “Self Censored: When Writing Isn’t Right” was featured on the VIDA website. \n  \nMary Block‘s poems have been featured in Rattle\, Conduit\, Tampa Review\, and Saw Palm\, among other publications. Mary was a 2012 finalist for the Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation\, and was a 2015 Pushcart Prize nominee. She is originally from Miami\, Florida\, and she lives currently in New York City with her husband\, her son\, and her dog. \n  \nAimee Herman is a queer performance artist and poet. Aimee teaches creative writing and composition in the Bronx. Biggest turn-ons include: farmers markets\, gender non-conforming folks and the united states postal service. \n  \nCarrie Hohmann teaches writing at Edinboro University. She has degrees from Allegheny College and New York University and is the author of incongruent: someday (dancing girl press\, 2014). Carrie lives on a 10-acre farm in Pennsylvania with several lively chickens\, her pets\, and her husband. Sarah Sala is one of her most favorite people in the world! \n  \nJen Hyde is the author of Hua Shi Hua (画诗华) Drawings & Poems from China\, forthcoming from Ahsahta Press. Informed by the material culture of her environment\, community\, and heritage\, her practice experiments with generative translation and new technology for the production of printed things. She holds an MFA in poetry from NYU and is the recipient of writing fellowships from NYU Shanghai and Ithaca College. \n  \nRicky Maldonado was born and raised in Puerto Rico. He is the translator of Dinapiera Di Donato’s Collateral and a recipient of fellowships from Queer/Arts/Mentorship and the New York Foundation for the Arts. He is managing director at the 92Y Unterberg Poetry Center. \n  \nAmy Meng’s poetry has appeared in the Indiana Review\, The Literary Review\, and Pleiades\, among others. She is a Kundiman Fellow and poetry editor at Bodega Magazine. She teaches creative writing at Rutgers University and once held a baggie of stainless steel screws that had just been removed from Sarah Sala’s arm. \n  \nJerome Ellison Murphy received an MFA in 2011 from the Creative Writing Program at New York University\, where he currently serves as Undergraduate Programs Manager. His critical writing has been featured in LA Review of Books\, The Brooklyn Rail\, Lambda Literary\, American Poets and in the monthly column Outwords\, which he authored for Next Magazine from 2010-2011\, and he has frequently participated in the Emotive Fruition poetry performance series curated by Thomas Dooley. He currently serves on the board of Lambda Literary Foundation\, the world’s foremost non-profit supporting LGBT literature. \n  \nPeter Longofono‘s poems have appeared in H_NGM_N\, fields\, Luna Luna Magazine\, and Tenderloin\, among others. He serves as the Reviews Editor at Coldfront and makes music with Big Figment and TH!CK. His chapbook\, CHORDS\, was published in March by the Operating System. He lives in Brooklyn. \n  \nBen Purkert‘s first poetry collection\, For the Love of Endings\, is coming out from Four Way Books in March 2018. His poems have appeared in the New Yorker\, Kenyon Review\, Ploughshares\, Agni\, Boston Review\, Best New Poets 2012\,and elsewhere. He currently teaches creative writing at Rutgers New Brunswick. More at benpurkert.com. \n  \nChristina Quintana is a New York-based writer with Cuban and Louisiana roots. Her writing has been published or is forthcoming in Nimrod International Journal\, Raspa Magazine\, Foglifter\, and Saw Palm\, and her plays and musicals have been developed and produced in New Orleans\, Atlanta\, and New York City. For more information\, visit cquintana.com \n  \nAnthony William Thornton is a New York-based poet\, critic\, and a 2016 Fellow of The Home School Miami. He has performed at numerous venues (Bar Thalia for Lamprophonic\, Envoy Enterprises\, Spectrum\, The Bureau of General Services: Queer Division\, Interstate Projects\, etc.) and has written for the Bureau and Topical Cream. Previously published poems appear in the design monograph “Creating Worlds”\, commissioned by Studio Edward Van Vliet in Amsterdam. \n  \nAldrin Valdez is a Pinoy poet and visual artist. They grew up in Manila and Long Island and currently live in Brooklyn. Aldrin has been awarded fellowships from Queer/Art/Mentorship and Poets House. Their work has been published in Art21 Magazine\, ArtSlant\, BRIC Blog\, The Cortland Review\, In the Flesh Magazine\, and Uncompromising Tang. \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/the-birthday-suit-reading/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Christina-Quintana-event-SarahSalaFinal-page-001-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160429T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160429T213000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160411T160336Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160420T144552Z
UID:6007-1461956400-1461965400@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:Sex Positive
DESCRIPTION:  \nIn the early 1980s\, as the AIDS epidemic ravage our community Richard Berkowitz\, Michael Callan and Joseph Sonnabend had a revelation that AIDS is sexually transmitted. This meant that the practice of safe sex might help prevent it spreading. However\, this insight was met with contempt by some in the gay community. Knowing what was at stake\, they pressed on and educated folks on “How to Have Sex in an Epidemic.” Berkowitz is the subject of Daryl Wein’s 2009 documentary\, Sex Positive which won Best Documentary at OUTFEST. Please join us for a special screening of Sex Positive and Q&A with Richard Berkowitz and Brandon Cuicchi. We will discuss the evolution of safer sex from the beginning of the AIDS crisis to now. Organized by Sean Apparicio. \nSuggested donation of $5 to benefit the Bureau. No one turned away for lack of funds. \n  \nRichard Berkowitz is the author of Stayin’ Alive: The Invention of Safe Sex\, A Personal History\, his 2003 memoir about coming out amid the sexual exuberance of NYC in the 1970s. His collaboration with his physician\, Dr. Joe Sonnabend and the late activist Michael Callen culminated in their May 1983 publication\, “How to Have Sex in an Epidemic\,” which is widely regarded as the invention of safe sex. Berkowitz is the subject of Daryl Wein’s 2009 documentary\, Sex Positive which won Best Documentary at OUTFEST. He’s the last surviving co-founder of the PWA self-empowerment movement\, which created the Denver Principles. He continues to live\, write and protest in New York City. \n  \nBrandon Cuicchi was born and raised in a religious family in Memphis\, TN. He has a BA in theater from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MFA in film/TV from the University of Miami. In 2007 he moved to Brooklyn\, and in 2011 he joined Queer Occupy Wall Street. Since then he has been instrumental in growing the online and digital impact of ACT UP (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power) while working in post-production for reality tv by day. He sees AIDS activism as intertwined with Black Lives Matter\, criminal justice reform\, homeless advocacy and LGB-and-especially-Transgender liberation\, and he works to show solidarity with those struggles through street activism. \n  \nSean Apparicio is the founder of One+Love. One+Love is a geo-local mobile LGBT community center—connecting users to local events\, supportive online community\, entertainment\, lifestyle and news that reflect and celebrate diverse sexual and gender identities. \nBefore forming One+Love\, Sean was multidisciplinary creative director specializing in digital media\, commercial direction\, Branding and Marketing Strategy. He has over 17 years of award winning industry experience. He’s re-launched multiple brands\, strengthened their visual identity and introduced current trends in technology to develop solutions for his clients. Most notably\, under his direction\, the BET Redesign won 11 Tellys and a Promax/BDA Diverse Voices Award. \nSean has worked for over 26 years as an advocate and activist for LGBTQ issues. He’s done outreach and community organizing with the Audre Lorde Project\, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project\, and TransJustice. He has worked as a life coach at the Ali Forney Center; raised hell with ACT UP to raise HIV/AIDS awareness; mentored LGBTQ youth and lectured at UC Berkeley regarding coming out in the age of AIDS; provided safer sex education via the National AIDS Treatment Advocacy Project; served in a harm reduction center for at-risk clients; and has worked to become a griot of U.S. LGBTQ history. \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/sex-positive/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/sex_positive_movies.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160426T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160426T213000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160425T164725Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160425T164725Z
UID:6086-1461697200-1461706200@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:Union Square Slam presents OMAR HOLMON and the IRON POET SLAM
DESCRIPTION:  \nJoin us for the legendary Omar Holmon and our super hilarious Iron Poet Slam!! \n6:00pm: Free Poetry Workshop with Sara Emily Kuntz\n7:00pm Sign-ups and Socialize\n7:30pm: Open Mic\n8:00pm: Feature\n8:25pm: Slam \n$5 // All Ages \nAbout our Feature: \nOmar Holmon is a guy that did things in slam on the Loserslam\, Nuyorican and Urbana team. He enjoys wearing his Panda onesie and writing essays for Black Nerd Problems dealing with peak blackness. Omar has been on final stage\, won some slam titles (4 in a row but who is counting right?) but the best thing he has been ever done is being his Mother’s son…. and joining the Steven Universe fandom. \nAbout our Slam: \nApril 25th: Iron Poet Slam \nCome get super silly with us as we test your slam poet chops in this our own version of Iron Chef. This slam is meant to push all of its competitors to their artistic and performative limits! Each round has secret rules that will only be revealed to the competitors at the beginning of each round. Are you game? \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/union-square-slam-presents-omar-holmon-and-the-iron-poet-slam/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Omar-Holman-USS.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160422T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160422T220000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160411T165123Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160411T165123Z
UID:6012-1461351600-1461362400@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:TELL 23: Origin Stories
DESCRIPTION:  \nTELL 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. \nOrigin Stories is the theme of the twenty-third installment of TELL. Featuring Bobby Hankinson\, Winter Laike\, Victoria Libertore\, and Parrish Turner. \n  \n$10 suggested donation – no one turned away for lack of funds \n  \n \nDrae 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. \n  \n \nBrooklyn-based writer and comedian Bobby Hankinson is the host and producer of monthly LGBTQ comedy and storytelling show Kweendom. He’s immersed himself in the queer experience as a columnist for leading LGBTQ website Towleroad.com\, as a nationally touring member of “Awkward Sex and the City” storytelling troupe and by banging dudes on the regular. His writing has also appeared in The Boston Globe\, The Houston Chronicle and Brokelyn.com. \n  \n \nWinter Laike is a queer musician\, storyteller\, son\, brother\, future boyfriend\, and less-notably Original Plumbing’s 2013 Mr. Transman NYC. His most recent work includes a collection of songs based on Craigslist missed connections\, a rock opera inspired by a series of dreams\, and television recaps for Vulture.com. When he’s not writing music\, Winter enjoys riding his bike\, making not-your-mother’s Rice Krispie treats\, playing with puppies\, and eating all of the pizza and donuts and ice cream. \n  \nPhotograph by Jennifer Koltun\nVICTORIA LIBERTORE is a performer\, writer\, teacher\, emcee and curator.  She is the creator of seven solo shows: Camille: The Forgotten Artist\, stalk(her)\, The Should Dream\, My Journey of Decay\, GIRL MEAT\, No Need for Seduction and This Is My Last Attempt At Fame.  She has collaborated with Jennifer Tuttle\, Ryan Kipp\, Leigh Fondakowski\, Rosalie Purvis\, Jen-Scott Mobley\, Shelley Butler-Hyler\, Ryan Migge\, Rebecca Feldman\, Kimberly I. Kefgen\, and Sara Laudonia.  She has performed her work throughout NYC over the last 18 years in venues such as Brooklyn Arts Exchange\, Carolines on Broadway\, Dixon Place\, Joyce Soho\, New Dance Alliance\, PS122 as well as in Boston\, Chicago\, Hastings\, Montreal\, Philadelphia\, Provincetown\, Toronto and Washington\, D.C.  Libertore teaches workshops in NYC and at colleges across the country on how to make your own original performance incorporating intuition\, movement and archetypes.  Libertore is passionate about encouraging other artists to create their own work and has curated dozens of local and a few international artists with backgrounds in performance\, variety arts\, music\, comedy and dance.  She has emceed in clubs\, at events\, on the boardwalk\, in parks and at private parties as a faux Liza Minnelli where she utilizes her improvisational skills to make “people laugh so hard that their faces hurt.”  She was a Humana Festival finalist for her short play Monster and Lola.  Libertore was a 2008 – 2010 Brooklyn Arts Exchange Theater Artist in Residence and she has a BFA in theatre from Otterbein University where she recently received a Young Alumni Award for Creative Achievement.  She is currently working on her first book entitled Should I Do My Laundry or Crawl into an Open Grave?  A Guide for Living.  www.howlingvic.com \n  \n \nParrish Turner is the kind of guy who will tell you he knows what he is doing. That is until further questioning. But aren’t we all kind of making it up as we go along? Speaking of made up things\, Parrish tends to write nonfiction. Although he is also a playwright because he likes putting words into other people’s mouths. He is a writer\, essayist\, playwright\, occasional cook\, and lover of terrible gay films. His credits include Lambda Literary Fellow in Nonfiction in 2014 and four year participant in the Georgia Southern Ten-Minute Play Festival. He currently works in children’s publishing during the day and attends the New School in the evening for an MFA which will probably get him nowhere. But it did help him get out of Georgia\, so there’s that. \n  \n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/tell-23/
LOCATION:Online event\, New York\, NY\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/TELL-23-FB.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Bureau of General Services%E2%80%94Queer Division":MAILTO:contact@bgsqd.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160420T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160420T210000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160404T170028Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160420T144530Z
UID:5980-1461178800-1461186000@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:Publishing Triangle Awards Finalists Reading
DESCRIPTION:  \nThe Publishing Triangle will hold their third annual Finalists Reading\, featuring some of the nominees for the Publishing Triangle awards. This sterling batch of LGBT authors will read excerpts from their books\, which represent the best in LGBT writing for 2015. \n  \nParticipants include:\n \n* Corrina Bain\, author of Debridement; finalist for the Publishing Triangle Award for Trans and Gender-Variant Literature \n* Marcia M. Gallo\, author of “No One Helped”: Kitty Genovese\, New York City\, and the Myth of Urban Apathy; finalist for the Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction \n* Tanwi Nandini Islam\, author of Bright Lines; finalist for the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction \n* Rickey Laurentiis\, author of Boy with Thorn; finalist for the   Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry \n* Chinelo Okparanta\, author of Under the Udala Trees; finalist for The Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBT Fiction \n* Ioannis Pappos\, author of Hotel Living; finalist for the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction \n* Mecca Jamilah Sullivan\, author of Blue Talk and Love; finalist for the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction \n* Maggie Thrash\, author of Honor Girl; finalist for the Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction \n  \nSuggested donation of $5 to benefit the Bureau. No one turned away for lack of funds. \n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/publishing-triangle-awards-finalists-reading-2/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Publishing-Triangle-2016-update.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160419T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160419T213000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160411T171712Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160411T171937Z
UID:6023-1461092400-1461101400@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:Union Square Slam presents ERICH HAYGUN and the LAST CHANCE SLAM
DESCRIPTION:  \nErich Haygun is a 2015 National Poetry Slam Champion representing The House Slam\, the first poetry slam venue located in his hometown Boston\, MA. He has performed his writing throughout North America & Europe\, and has shared stages with Mary Lambert\, Patricia Smith and Richard Blanco. Erich’s work is forthcoming in The Dead Animal Handbook (University of Hell Press\, 2016) and has been honored by the Massachusetts State Senate and House of Representatives. He is proud to be Program Director of the youth publishing non-profit Books Of Hope\, as well as a facilitator & speaker for the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center. He lives in a mansion made of trash with a shaggy little dog. \n  \nUnion Square Slam is a literary arts organization providing a space for poets to share their voices\, develop their craft\, and build a community celebrating poetry in all of its expressions. Based in New York City\, U.S.S. produces a weekly reading series featuring contemporary poets with a focus on working artists and authors in the spoken word and slam tradition. Our features are primarily queer-identified and/or people of color and/or identify as disabled or alter-abled. Readings are followed by a PSi certified poetry slam. Union Square Slam hosts a weekly open mic and facilitates free workshops\, encouraging poets to explore creatively.\nIn general\, every show is preceded by a free poetry workshop by Sara Emily Kuntz. Participants are encouraged to bring a few copies of a work-in-progress to the workshop. \nAs always\, our shows are $5\, all ages and are wheelchair accessible. \nPlease note: the Bureau opens at 6 pm on Tuesdays for the Union Square Slam. \n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/uss-april-19/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Erich-Haygun.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160416T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160416T213000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160315T200759Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160319T174051Z
UID:5936-1460833200-1460842200@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:BEARINGS: WORKS ABOUT BOUNDARIES\, reading & book party
DESCRIPTION:  \nBearings is an annual journal that publishes work about how individual people relate to their environments–internal\, external\, physical\, imaginary. How do people define themselves in relation to these landscapes\, and to the people in and outside of them? \nCome to an evening of readings and musical performance by contributing writers and artists from issue no. 1! \nTess Brown-Lavoie \nIsadora Reisner \nMegan Stockton \nAntonia Pinter \nOlivia Durif \nAlexandra Tatarsky \n \nTimmy Straw \n  \nSuggested donation of $5 to benefit the Bureau. No one turned away for lack of funds. \n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/bearings/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Bearings_BGSQD_April16_web-copy.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160415T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160415T213000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160404T183644Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160404T184406Z
UID:5991-1460746800-1460755800@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:Fuck Everything
DESCRIPTION:The Manhattan Review of Unnatural Acts (aka Straight To Hell chapbooks) & the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division  present: \nFUCK EVERYTHING \nshort films by STH contributors & comrades\nFEATURING short films from/re: Steve LaFreniere (David Hurles — Old Reliable)\, Justin Spring (Sam Steward)\, Ryan Foerester\, Kristian Kozul\, Antonio DeSilva\, Brian Brennan (Latino Fan Club)\, Randal Wilcox (Al Baltrop)\, & others to be announced \nProgrammed by Billy Miller \n  \nSuggested donation of $5 to benefit the Bureau. No one turned away for lack of funds. \nImage on left: David Hurles (Old Reliable). Image on right: Sam Steward \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/fuck-everything/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/STH-Fuck-Everything-.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160414T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160414T200000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160408T204006Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160408T204152Z
UID:6000-1460658600-1460664000@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:Bi Book Club finishes discussing The Lunatic\, the Lover\, and the Poet by Myrlin A. Hermes
DESCRIPTION:  \nThe Bi Book Club meets on the second Thursday of each month to discuss bi-themed books and the issues they raise. \nDinner after nearby (so far\, we always go to Village Den.) \nOn April 14\, The Bi Book Club will finish discussing: \nThe Lunatic\, the Lover\, and the Poet by Myrlin A. Hermes \nShakespeare turned topsy turvy: a clever bisexual mashup between a sexy young Hamlet and characters from the sonnets. Very readable–no olde English. Note: The Sonnets\, and Shakespeare\, were bisexual. \nPick out some phrases\, paragraphs or scenes that you’d like to discuss\, give us your critique of the book: what worked\, what didn’t\, how was bisexuality represented? If you haven’t had the chance to read the book\, come anyway because we read passages aloud for discussion. As usual\, we’ll also be using the text as a jumping off point to further discussion of bisexual issues and personal experiences. \nSuggested donation of $5 to benefit the Bureau. No one turned away for lack of funds. \nRSVP on meetup.com (not required) \n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/bi-book-club-april/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Lunatic-Lover-Poet.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160412T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160412T213000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160411T170733Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160411T171128Z
UID:6019-1460487600-1460496600@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:Union Square Slam presents ROYA MARSH and SEMIFINALS #3
DESCRIPTION:  \nRoya Marsh is the poet/author of the chapbooks Not All of Me Shall Die\, Pieces Vol. I & II and 26. She works as a teacher and youth mentor and has the bombest sneaker collection to date. \nRoya was a finalist in the 2013 Poetry Idol\, 2013 Inspired Word Slam Master Jam Champion\, 2014 Nuyorican Grand Slam Champion and captain of the first all female slam team in the tristate area\, representing Nuyorican Poets Cafe. She has competed in two Woman of the World Poetry Slams\, placing 2nd in 2015 and 18th in 2016. She has been featured in the Village Voice\, Huffington Post\, Blavity\, Button Poetry\, Def Jam’s All Def Digital and at many venues and colleges around the country. Actually\, just google her\, she’s hella googleable. \n  \nUnion Square Slam is a literary arts organization providing a space for poets to share their voices\, develop their craft\, and build a community celebrating poetry in all of its expressions. Based in New York City\, U.S.S. produces a weekly reading series featuring contemporary poets with a focus on working artists and authors in the spoken word and slam tradition. Our features are primarily queer-identified and/or people of color and/or identify as disabled or alter-abled. Readings are followed by a PSi certified poetry slam. Union Square Slam hosts a weekly open mic and facilitates free workshops\, encouraging poets to explore creatively.\nIn general\, every show is preceded by a free poetry workshop by Sara Emily Kuntz. Participants are encouraged to bring a few copies of a work-in-progress to the workshop. \nAs always\, our shows are $5\, all ages and are wheelchair accessible. \nPlease note: the Bureau opens at 6 pm on Tuesdays for the Union Square Slam. \n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/union-square-slam-presents-roya-marsh-and-semifinals-3/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/USS-Roya.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160411T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160411T213000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160404T172355Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160404T174143Z
UID:5985-1460401200-1460410200@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:Union Square Slam Monday Fundraising Event with Emily Rose and Ben Clark plus special guests
DESCRIPTION:  \nThe National Poetry Slam is coming up and Union Square Slam plans to send its first team to Atlanta to be one of the great venues representing NYC. We are holding our first fundraising event on a MONDAY April 11 and we have quite a show planned for you. \nWe have Emily Rose and Ben Clark as our features. We have also included some spotlight features as well: Jeanann Verlee\, Jayson Smith\, Jani Rose\, Timothy DuWhite \nWe also plan on having a very limited open mic in case you want to add to the poetry glorious atmosphere. \nWe also plan on actioning off what is called a “Pile o’ Poetry” which will be a pile of poems submitted by different poets to sharpen your poetry reading needs. \nPlease note: the Bureau is closed on Mondays. Doors open at 7 PM for this event. \nDoors open at 7pm\nShow starts at 7:30pm\n$5 admission (all goes to sending a team to Atalanta)\nBeer\, wine and water will be there for donation as well.\nHost: Gabriel Ramirez \n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/uss-april-11/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/USS-4-11-2016.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160410T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160410T183000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160403T210338Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160403T212109Z
UID:5975-1460307600-1460313000@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:A Very Queer Disability Reading
DESCRIPTION:  \nCome meet these wonderful writers from QDA: A QUEER DISABILITY ANTHOLOGY and hear them read from their work! \n– Brenna Cyr\n– Cyree Jarelle Johnson\n– Liv Mammone\n– Donna Minkowitz \nThe editor Raymond Luczak will be there as well! \nCopies of QDA: A QUEER DISABILITY ANTHOLOGY are available for purchase at the Bureau. \n  \nThe event will be ASL-interpreted. Both the Bureau and The Center are wheelchair-accessible. \nSuggested donation of $5 to benefit the Bureau. No one turned away for lack of funds. \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/a-very-queer-disability-reading/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/QDA.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160409T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160409T180000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160403T191517Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160403T195114Z
UID:5969-1460203200-1460224800@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:Bureau at The Rainbow Book Fair--Hosting Queer Zines Panel
DESCRIPTION:  \nCome visit the Bureau’s table at The Eighth Annual Rainbow Book Fair! \nFair hours: noon to  6 PM \nThe Bureau will host a panel discussion on Queer Zines as Social Media with Anne Alex Hays (Alex)\, Winter Mendelson (Posture)\, Billy Miller (Straight to Hell)\, & Paul Moreno (Knowsgay) from 3:15 to 4:30\, moderated by Bureau volunteer Jason Haaf.\n \nAnne Alex Hays is the author of Alex\, a zine loosely themed around the lived experience of gender. S/he’s published fiction and essays in PANK\, Ms. Magazine blog\, the Brooklyn Rail\, and others. S/he runs a zine distro called Sleeping Creatures\, and works as a Librarian at CUNY.\n \nWinter Mendelson is the Founding Editor of Posture\, an arts and fashion magazine that is dedicated to the creative exploration of identity. After graduating with a B.A. in Art History in 2012\,​ she moved to NYC to immerse herself in ​non binary ​and feminist discourse. From that passion Posture developed and officially launched in Fall 2013 as a platform to support creatives and further feminist and lgbtqi+allied visibility. When she is not writing or editing\, she enjoys going on personal photo shoots around the city and taking in as much art as possible.\n \nBilly Miller is an artist/curator/publisher/musician/bad-ass based in NYC. His writing has appeared in publications such as BUTT\, Index\, VICE\, Little Joe\, Revel\, and others. His artwork has been exhibited internationally at galleries and cultural institutions such as PS1 MoMA\, Andrew Edlin Gallery\, Team Gallery\, D’Amelio Terras Gallery\, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts\, and others\, and he has curated numerous exhibitions and film screenings at venues such as The Mix Festival\, The Fringe Festival and the White Cubicle Gallery London\, Exile Gallery Berlin\, Invisible Exports Gallery NYC\, 80WSE\, the Queer Biennial LA\, and many others. And he is the publisher of several independent publications including the infamous chapbook series Straight To Hell\, aka\, The Manhattan Review of Unnatural Acts.\n \nPaul Moreno\, originally from Sparks\, NV\, is a Brooklyn based visual artist. He is the co-creater of the queer art zine Knowsgay; and has made a number of other art based zines. Paul has most recently been writing semi-fiction which he has been sharing through events organized by Paper Cuts. Paul also works as a prop-stylist and decorating consultant. \n  \nThe Eighth Annual Rainbow Book Fair will take place at:\nJohn Jay College of Criminal Justice\n524 W. 59th Street (just west of 10th Avenue)\nSaturday\, April 09\, 2016\n12:00pm – 6:00pm \n \nOnce a year\, approximately 1500 people get together in New York City to mingle\, get to know each other\, enrich\, broaden\, and even extend their lives through the amazing medium of LGBT books.  The New York Rainbow Book Fair is America’s longest-running LGBT book fair\, and the largest LGBT book event in the country.  It has grown every year since its beginning in 2009.  It brings together thoughtful\, interesting people of all ages\, from early teens to those in their 70s and 80s; from a spectrum of countries\, ethnicities\, gender identities\, and viewpoints.  It attracts readers and writers of course\, but also publishers\, editors\, agents\, and media attention – people who have never experienced queer culture\, and others who have made it the focus of their lives. Rainbow Book Fair is open to the public\, with book discounts and giveaways. \n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/bureau-at-the-rainbow-book-fair-hosting-queer-zines-panel/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Queer-Zines-as-Social-Media.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160408T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160408T190000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160327T185711Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160327T192036Z
UID:5959-1460142000-1460142000@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:Do You Like Stories? Contributors to Jonathan Read
DESCRIPTION:  \n  \nThe Bureau of General Services—Queer Division and The Lesbian\, Gay\, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center are proud to present an evening of Sibling Rivalry Press fiction! \nCome join RAYMOND LUCZAK\, the editor of Jonathan: A Queer Fiction Journal (published by Sibling Rivalry Press)\, and listen to EIGHT writers read from their work: \nNORMAN BELANGER \nCOLLIN KELLEY \nTOM LÉGER \nPELHAM LEVY \nJOHN LUGO-TREBBLE \nCAMERON MITCHELL \nKEN SHAKIN \nJONATHAN VATNER \n  \nASL interpreted! \nSuggested donation: $10 to benefit The Center and the Bureau. Buy tickets in advance.\n \nRoom 301 of The LGBT Community Center \n  \nEveryone is invited to join us for a reception in the Bureau (room 210) following the reading! Beer\, wine\, and sparkling water will be available by donation! And\, of course\, copies of Jonathan and many other publications will be available for purchase. \n  \n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/do-you-like-stories-contributors-to-jonathan-read/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Jonathan-do-you-like-stories.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160405T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160405T213000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160321T161006Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160321T161006Z
UID:5954-1459882800-1459891800@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:Union Square Slam presents SIAARA FREEMAN and Open Slam 3.6
DESCRIPTION:  \nWe can’t hardly wait to welcome the unstoppable Siaara Freeman and our *very last* open slam of the season!! This is the last chance to qualify for semifinals and compete for a spot on the team representing Union Square Slam at Nationals this August! (see details below) \n6:00pm: Free Poetry Workshop with Sara Emily Kuntz\n7:00pm: Sign-ups and Socialization\n7:30pm: Open Mic\n8:00pm: Feature\n8:20pm: Poetry Slam \nAll Ages // $5 // Wheelchair Accessible \nPlease note: the Bureau opens at 6 pm on Tuesdays for the Union Square Slam. \nAbout our Feature: \nSiaara Freeman is a friendly neighborhood hope dealer who spends her spare time growing her afro so tall God mistakes it\nfor a microphone and speaks into her. She’s got an unusually large purse full of poems and clapback. Patron Saint of Trill & Lost Causes Who Save Themselves. \nAbout our Slam: \n::Union Square Slam National Team Competition:: \nThere are 3 quarters of competitive poetry slam\, each culminating in a Semifinal. Each quarter consists of six open slams (one or more of which is a New Shit slam — competition in New Shit slams counts towards your total points!) \nEach open slam will : \n•consist of up to 8 poet competitors \n•have a 3 min time limit for each round with a 10-second grace period \n•will go from 8 in the first round to 5 in the second round and 3 in the third round (this is subject to change depending on the number of competitors that night — see below) \n•be scored cumulatively — the winner of the night will have the highest cumulative score from all three rounds. \nAt the end of each quarter\, the poets with the 8 highest cumulative scores FOR THE QUARTER\, are invited to compete in Semifinals. If a qualified poet opts out\, then the next highest ranking poet qualifies. Semifinals are run using the same rules as the Open Slams. The top two highest ranked poets in each Semifinals bout will advance to Finals Stage\, along with the top two winners of the Last Chance slam. \nLast Chance Slam will be INVITATIONAL only to include the top 8 poets who have the highest cumulative scores over the entire season/all three quarters\, but who didn’t not otherwise qualify for FINALS. \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/union-square-slam-april-5/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/USS-April-5.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160401T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160401T213000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160219T230408Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160219T230457Z
UID:5879-1459537200-1459546200@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:Queering The Stage With Jack Shamblin
DESCRIPTION:  \nJack Shamblin performs his book\, Queering The Stage\, via video-art\, music and monologue. In his archive\, we visit GLBT stories such as an eighteenth century transgendered female-to-male soldier\, the Bowers v. Hardwick Supreme Court 1986 attempt to end sodomy laws that persecuted homosexuals\, and the ACT-UP activist Tim Bailey\, whose corpse was dumped on the White House lawn. \nProduced in 90s Manhattan during Mayor Giuliani’s anti-art and nightlife agenda and the infamous Club Kid Murder\, these performance-as-protest plays appeared at La MaMa\, P.S. 122\, Dixon Place\, Mother\, Jackie 60s; and the nightclub\, Tunnel. Theatre artists\, Kate Bornstein\, Ellie Covan\, and Theodora Skipitares were involved in original productions while working with playwright Caryl Churchill and director Anne Bogart influenced the storytelling. \nIn a front-page feature of The Jersey Journal\, John Petrick writes about my play Sodomite! “Shamblin gets his message out in bold and unconventional ways. If it’s family entertainment you’re looking for\, see The Lion King. If it’s cutting edge social commentary — often visually stunning — go downtown to KGB on East Fourth Street in Manhattan . . . ” “A fierce stage presences.” \nReception at 7PM\, performance 7:30 PM – 8 PM\, discussion 8 PM – 8:15 PM\, and socializing till 9 PM. \n$5 suggested donation to benefit the Bureau\, or $15 donation includes admission plus autographed copy of book. No one turned away for lack of funds. \nPhoto of Jack Shamblin by Ian Miyawaki \n  \nJack Shamblin writes: \nIn a front-page feature of The Jersey Journal\, John Petrick writes about my play Sodomite! “Shamblin gets his message out in bold and unconventional ways. If it’s family entertainment you’re looking for\, see The Lion King. If it’s cutting edge social commentary — often visually stunning — go downtown to KGB on East Fourth Street in Manhattan . . . ”  “A fierce stage presences.” \nI am honored to have worked with the best in theatre and media. This list includes Philip Seymour Hoffman\, Jayne Atkinson\, Alexis Arquette\, Caryl Churchill\, Anne Bogart\, Godfrey Reggio\, Kate Bornstein\, Daphne Rubin-Vega\, Basil Twist\, J. Carlos Díaz\, Theodora Skipitares\, Cara Seymour\, Jodie Melnick\, Sara Rudner\, Mark Wing-Davey\, Paulo Henrique\, Eva Mueller\, Valda Setterfield\, and Ellie Covan. \nMy New York venues are La MaMa\, P.S. 122\, Dixon Place\, The Public\, HERE\, and the underground. In Los Angeles I presented at Human Resources and Planet Queer. In Europe\, I have performed extensively in Portugal\, as well as in Germany\, England\, and Canada. Notably\, I headlined opposite of Penny Arcade for a Portuguese Queer performance festival called Loose Holes. Currently with filmmaker Marika Maiorova I broadcast a web series called Anarchist Mia on YouTube. In addition\, I am developing a television pilot. \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/queering-the-stage-with-jack-shamblin/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Jack-Shamblin-Queering-Stage.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160331T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160331T220000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160315T193300Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160315T193412Z
UID:5930-1459450800-1459461600@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:TELL 22: Nightlife
DESCRIPTION:  \nTELL 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. \nNightlife is the theme of the twenty-second installment of TELL. Featuring Merrie Cherry\, Sarah Jenny\, Foxy Squire\, and Gretchen Wylder. \n$10 suggested donation – no one turned away for lack of funds \n  \n \nDrae 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 \n  \n  \nPhoto by Santiago Felipe\nMerrie Cherry reigns over the Brooklyn drag community with a sweet hand. She hosts\, MCs\, and plans events in the popping community and beyond. The creator of the Brooklyn Nightlife Awards she was set a new meaning of what is means to be a drag queen. With no plans to stop we can expect so much more from this cherry. Stay tuned! \n  \n  \n \nSarah Jenny is a queer\, princess-identified\, TMI-loving high femme and co-producer of Hey Queen!\, a long running and award winning mixed queer party which highlighted emerging and established LGBTQ performers and artists. Her other nightlife credentials include but are not limited to: being crowned Miss Congeniality at Murray Hill’s Miss Lez Pageant (2009)\, Go Magazine’s 2010 Reader’s Choice Awards winner for Best MC\, Miss August in the I Heart Brooklyn Girl Calendar (2008)\, $pread Magazine party producer (2007-2010)\, guest host (Muff Muff Give\, Le Bingo with Murray Hill & Linda Simpson\, Will Clark’s Porno Bingo\, Psychic Spring)\, gogo dancer\, burlesque performer\, MC\, event producer and fundraiser in at least two of the five boroughs and for a slew of non-profits and community based organizations. \nCurrently\, Sarah Jenny manages a non-profit marketing program at an anonymous large non-profit and co-curates the annual Everybooty party at the Brooklyn Academy of Music\, now entering it’s fifth season this June. \nSarah Jenny earned a B.A. from Hampshire College cultural studies and studio art and an M.P.S. in Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts where she investigated the ways technology can be used to reduce HIV transmission and to improve the lives of those living with HIV/AIDS. In her free time she enjoys social justice projects\, pre-war architecture\, reading non-fiction and doting on her cats\, Otto and Paloma. She resides in Ditmas Park. \n  \n \nAfter completing the burlesque class series by Deflouered Productions\, Foxy Squire gathered her wits and talent to begin performing. Her first performance residence was Rivers of Honey Cabaret and she was a regular performer at Matthew Silver’s Circus of Dreams and Crimson Kitty’s Cataclysm. Her artistic skill has been shared both nationally and internationally in London (Bar Wotever)\, Connecticut\, West Virginia\, California\, Rhode Island\, Massachusetts (WTF Queerlesque 2)\, North Carolina (Heavy Rebel Weekend)\, Georgia (DragonCon)\, Virginia\, Florida\, Washington DC (The Weirdo Show)\, Philadelphia (Fierce Festival 2015)\, and NYC (Hypergender Burlesque and Bushwig 2015). Foxy’s first headliner performance was in May 2013 at the DC Gurly Show (Washington\, DC). In 2014\, she was proud to be one of the original cast for NYC’s first all female drag show\, Crimson Kitty presents FAUXVASION and DC’s Chocolate City Burlesque & Cabaret. She starred as Josephine Baker in J’ai Deux Amours and finished a 3-state tour as Lana Kane in An Archer Tribute show. Her motto is EMBRACE YOUR SPECTACLE. \n  \n\n \nGretchen Wylder \n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/tell-22-nightlife/
LOCATION:Online event\, New York\, NY\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/TELL-22-Nightlife-5001.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Bureau of General Services%E2%80%94Queer Division":MAILTO:contact@bgsqd.com
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160329T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160329T213000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160320T163010Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160320T163406Z
UID:5949-1459278000-1459287000@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:Union Square Slam presents STEVEN WILLIS and *NEW SH*T* Slam (Open Slam 3.5)
DESCRIPTION:  \nWe are beyond thrilled to welcome Steven Willis to the Union Square Slam stage!!! And don’t miss our very last New Shit slam of the season!! \n6:00pm: Free Poetry Workshop with Sara Emily Kuntz\n7:00pm: Sign-ups\n7:30pm: Open Mic and Feature\n8:20pm: Poetry Slam \nAll Ages // $5 \nPlease note: the Bureau opens at 6 pm on Tuesdays for the Union Square Slam. \n  \nAbout our Feature: \nBorn and raised in Chicago Illinois\, 23 year old Steven Willis uses his creative writing background to poetically reflect on the pop culture issues of our time. With art heavily influenced by urban life and religion\, Steven mixes elements of hip hop and classic literature to help express his eclectic personal narrative. A recent graduate of Manhattanville College in Purchase\, Willis began doing spoken word at the age of 15 as a participant of Louder Than A Bomb and has performed on stages with the likes Jasmine Mans and Joshua Bennett. Steven was Louder Than A Bomb University’s 2014 Individual Champion\, is a contributing writer to the BreakBeat Poets Anthology and Manhattanville College’s Graffiti Magazine\, a member of Nuyorican Poetry Team 2015\, an Individual World Poetry Slam finalist and this past summer worked as assistant poetry writer for the film CoCo starring Jill Scott\, Common\, and Azelia Banks set to be released in Spring 2016. \nAbout our Slam: \n::NEW SHIT SLAMS:: \nNew Shit is defined as:\n– any piece of work that has not been heard on the USS mic.\n– any work that has been on the USS mic that has been overhauled/edited (at least 50% new material) \nWe will take up to 8 poets in each New Shit Slam. The points you earn will be added to your total in the quarter (1\,2 or 3) and help you in qualifying for that semifinal. Your participation in one New Shit slam\, regardless of placement/score\, meets your requirement for Final Stage Participation.\nAll slammers who are competing to represent Union Square Slam nationally in 2016 and beyond\, at either IWPS\, WOWPS\, or as part of the Union Square Slam Nationals Team\, MUST participate in BOTH a New Shit Slam and a Theme Slam at any point during the slam season. (9/14/15 – 4/28/15). You may compete in any or all of these slams\, whether or not you intend to go out for the team\, however\, preference may be given to competitors that have qualified for Semis or Finals. \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/uss-march-29/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/USS-March-29.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160327T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160327T190000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160307T172011Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160307T172011Z
UID:5916-1459083600-1459105200@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:Queers4Change! A 2-Day Sale @ the Bureau!
DESCRIPTION:Save the dates! The Bureau is having a big two-day sale on Saturday\, March 26th\, and Sunday\, March 27th\, during our regular store hours: 1 to 7 PM! \nDeals and steals! \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/queers4change-a-2-day-sale-the-bureau-2/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Queers4changefinal.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160326T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160326T190000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160307T171915Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160307T171915Z
UID:5912-1458997200-1459018800@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:Queers4Change! A 2-Day Sale @ the Bureau!
DESCRIPTION: \nSave the dates! The Bureau is having a big two-day sale on Saturday\, March 26th\, and Sunday\, March 27th\, during our regular store hours: 1 to 7 PM! \nDeals and steals! \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/queers4change-a-2-day-sale-the-bureau/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Queers4changefinal.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160325T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160325T213000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160307T161916Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160406T181819Z
UID:5908-1458928800-1458941400@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:Piss Elegant
DESCRIPTION:  \nSTH Editions and the Bureau Present: \nPiss Elegant \nArt & Artifacts from Straight To Hell Conspirators\nLuke Abby • Michael Alago • Brian Brennan (Latino Fan Club) • Matthew Burcaw • Walt Cessna • Christopher Clary • Wayne Coe • Thomas Dozol • Michael Economy • Greg Endries • Danny Fields • Ryan Foerester • Torrey Grobes • David Hurles (Old Reliable) • Erik Hanson • Charles Hovland • Steve LaFreniere • Patrick Lee • Yeni Mao • Bobby Miller • Slava Mogutin • Bob Nickas • Josh Olsen • Joe Ovelman • Christopher Schulz • Terry Smith • Daniel Trese • Anthony Viti • Jan Wandrag • Cornelius Washington • William Wood • Jimmy Wright • et autres \nCurated by Billy Miller\, editor of Straight To Hell. \nLive Performance @ 7:00 PM \nPiss Elegant will remain on view at the Bureau from Friday\, March 25\, through Sunday\, May 29\, 2016. \n  \nEvent image: Limited edition print from unique a 1960s Polaroid by Danny Fields \n  \n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/piss-elegant-2/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Danny-Fields.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160324T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160324T213000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160205T011010Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160228T171619Z
UID:5809-1458846000-1458855000@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:Red Hen Press Presents Poetry of the Unconventional
DESCRIPTION:  \nJoin Red Hen Press for a reading with poets who focus on writing about experiences often looked over by conventional writing and media. National Book Award recipient and queer writing pioneer Mark Doty is accompanied by Jason Schneiderman\, whose work challenges not only hetero-normative ideas\, but the forms in which they are understood. Salon writer Heather Aimee O’Neill will also be reading from her new selection of poetry that confronts news and facts with poetic deconstruction. These writers are joined by America Hart\, whose work is both a hybrid and genre-bending challenge to identity and the past. \n  \nPhotograph by Star Black\nMark Doty is the author of several collections of poetry\, including Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems\, which received the 2008 National Book Award. \n  \n \nJason Schneiderman is Associate Editor of Painted Bride Quarterly and Poetry Editor of Bellevue Literary Review. His poetry collection Primary Source (Red Hen Press\, forthcoming April 2016) won the 2014 Benjamin Saltman award\, and his poetry and essays have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies\, including American Poetry Review\, The Best American Poetry\,The Poetry Review\, and The Penguin Book of the Sonnet. He is an Assistant Professor of English at the Borough of Manhattan Community College and lives in Brooklyn. \n  \n \nHeather Aimee O’Neill is the award-winning author of the poetry collection Memory Future (Gold Line Press\, 2011)\, and co-author with Jessica Piazza of her new collection\, Obliterations (Red Hen Press\, forthcoming April 2016). She teaches creative writing at CUNY Hunter College and the Sackett Street Writers’ Workshop. She lives in Brooklyn with her partner and two sons. \n  \n \nBorn and raised in Colorado\, America Hart lived in Boston and New York City before moving to London\, where she received her PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies. She is the author of the genre-bending poetry-prose novel into the silence: the fishing story (Red Hen Press\, 2014). She directs the MA Creative Writing Program at London Metropolitan University and lives in London with her partner\, Seraphim. \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/poetry-of-the-unconventional/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Red-Hen-Press.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160323T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160323T213000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160208T165137Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160208T165137Z
UID:5828-1458759600-1458768600@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:Beijing Comrades Launch Party
DESCRIPTION:  \nJoin The Feminist Press and translator Scott Myers to celebrate the first English translation of Beijing Comrades. Written pseudonymously and posted on the Internet in 1998\, Beijing Comrades by Bei Tong is among Mainland China’s earliest and most influential contemporary gay novels. It tells the story of Chen Handong and Lan Yu\, two men from very different social classes. Handong is a wealthy businessman in his late twenties\, the spoiled offspring of elite Communist Party officials with a string of male and female lovers. Lan Yu is a university student from a working-class background who has just arrived in Beijing. Naïve but by no means dim\, Lan Yu finds himself in Handong’s bed when he is alone in the capital and unable to make ends meet. \n  \nNarrated by Handong\, the story chronicles the joys\, hardships\, and no small amount of sexual bliss the men share as they navigate the uncharted terrain of a same-sex relationship at the end of the twentieth century in the People’s Republic of China. Beijing Comrades is a groundbreaking work in what has been called tongzhi or gay/queer fiction from the PRC. \n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/beijing-comrades-launch-party/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Beijing-Comrades-500.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160322T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160322T213000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160314T161340Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160319T202117Z
UID:5924-1458673200-1458682200@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:Union Square Slam presents EBONI HOGAN and Open Slam 3.4
DESCRIPTION:WOOOOOOOO YOU KNOW WHAT? EBONI HOGAN\, THAT’S WHAT!!! Come on out and get your life!! \n6pm: Free Poetry Workshop with Sara Emily Kuntz\n7pm: SIgn-ups for Open Mic and Slam\n7:30pm: Open Mic\n8:00pm: Feature\n8:20pm: Slam \n  \nPlease note: the Bureau is closed on Tuesdays. We open at 6 PM for the Union Square Slam. \n  \n208 W 13th St\, Rm #210\nAll Ages // Wheelchair Accessible // $5 \n  \nAbout our Feature: \nEboni Hogan is a Brooklyn-based poet\, playwright\, screenwriter\, actress and arts educator. She studied theater at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. In 2012\, her play “Foreign Bodies” was produced by the Culture Project and Poetic Theater Productions as part of the Women Center Stage Festival at The Living Theater. Her most recent play “30\,000 Teeth” had its first reading at the National Black Theatre of Harlem as a part of their I Am Soul reading series. As a performance poet\, she has toured extensively\, performing in over 65 U.S. cities\, as well as internationally in Germany\, Austria\, India and Ghana. In 2010\, she was crowned the Women of the World Poetry Slam champion. As an actress\, she has appeared in the indie film “Moon & Sun” and the short film “Where You Go” which will be screened at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. The pilot episode of her web series “The Pudding Club” is currently available online. Eboni is also the English Language Arts Curriculum Coordinator for Fresh Ed (Urban Arts Partnership). When she isn’t writing curriculum or making art\, she’s trying to convince her 3.5 year old son to eat actual food. \n  \nAbout our Slam: \n::Union Square Slam National Team Competition:: \nThere are 3 quarters of competitive poetry slam\, each culminating in a Semifinal. Each quarter consists of six open slams (one or more of which is a New Shit slam — competition in New Shit slams counts towards your total points!) \nEach open slam will :\nconsist of up to 8 poet competitors\nhave a 3 min time limit for each round with a 10-second grace period\nwill go from 8 in the first round to 5 in the second round and 3 in the third round (this is subject to change depending on the number of competitors that night — see below)\nbe scored cumulatively — the winner of the night will have the highest cumulative score from all three rounds. \nAt the end of each quarter\, the poets with the 8 highest cumulative scores FOR THE QUARTER\, are invited to compete in Semifinals. If a qualified poet opts out\, then the next highest ranking poet qualifies. Semifinals are run using the same rules as the Open Slams. The top two highest ranked poets in each Semifinals bout will advance to Finals Stage\, along with the top two winners of the Last Chance slam. \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/uss-march-22/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/USS-March-22.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160319T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160319T213000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160229T172539Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160307T175952Z
UID:5903-1458414000-1458423000@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:Arab Queers Reject Pinkwashing
DESCRIPTION:  \nAs the events of the revolutionary uprisings across the Arabic world were unfolding\, the (neo)liberal western media was concerned with the situation of gays in the Arabic world. Identities of Arab queers and the rhetoric of their struggles were (and have always been) imposed on them by the western media ultimately to undermine the revolutionary uprisings for freedom. Arab queers are portrayed by the media without the Arab queers themselves being the painter of this portrait. Arab queers are continuously done\, undone and distorted by either western media or their societies in which they live. Either immigrants or living in their home countries\, Arab queers are continuously sculpted by an external force\, either tradition or religion or neocolonial rhetoric. Pinkwashing the revolutionary uprisings made the Arab queers part of the neocolonial plan to impose a cultural hegemony over the Arabic world. \nBeing queer and Arab ourselves\, many questions cross our minds: “Do we have an identity that we made ourselves? Are we always identified by another outside entity? Can we resist identification by the west? How can we do this act of resistance? Do we have to import the neoliberal hegemonic culture to define our queerness? Isn’t this some kind of slavery to the west? Are Arab queers aware of the distortions they are exposed to? Are Arab queers seeking asylum in places other than their home countries aware of the rigid identification they are exposed to? Are Arab queers definable at all? How can we address ourselves then?” \nIn the midst of all these dilemmas\, we are traumatized and displaced from ourselves. We internalize both the malaise of our societies that we were uprooted from and employ survival strategies to live and get by in the white supremacist society. Pinkwashing does not only become an external political strategy but it becomes a psychological internalized strategy that provides many of the lies we tell ourselves. We change our names from Mohammed to Moe\, We try hard not to speak our “native” languages\, We become racist towards blacks\, We distance ourselves from our heritage\, We follow the latest “white” fashion\, we become a nothingness\, we become ahistorical\, we become zombies. All in the name of our ultimate infatuation with the white supremacist society. \n  \nPlease join Ahmed El Hady\, Abed Haddad\, & Khalid for a discussion and presentation on the sources\, effects\, and current resistance against Pinkwashing. \n  \nSuggested donation of $5 to benefit the Bureau. No one turned away for lack of funds. \n  \n(Event photo: Graffiti in Ramallah reads “Queers passed through here.” Image courtesy of Al-Qaws) \n  \nAhmed El Hady is a neuroscientist at Princeton university. He is a queer activist interested in queer knowledge production in the middle east and the premise of revolutionary movements. He has been one of the founding members of the Egyptian Women Union and has actively participated in the Egyptian uprising that unfolded & still unfolding in the past years. Moreover\, he is one of the founders of the Egyptian Student Young Pugwash \, an organization that advocates for safe use of technology. He has given several international talks on the issue of neuroscience and its implication on human security. \n  \nAbed Haddad is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Chemistry at the City College of New York\, and from Jackson\, Mississippi where he graduated from Millsaps College. Before that\, he lived in the suburbs of Louisiana\, having immigrated there from Amman\, Jordan at age 14. Abed is an active volunteer at BGSQD and loves the strong gin and tonics at Julius’. \n  \nKhalid is a Chicago based Palestinian social artivist. They perform under monikers “Basita Khaled” and “Miss Leading”. They use these characters for story telling using music\, gender stretching and visual/theatric performance art as mediums. Their works carry the narrative and commentary on North African/Middle Eastern queerness\, queer Islamic spirituality\, dismantling patriarchy reversing assimilation and reclamation of brownness. They can be found on Instagram @miss_leadin \n  \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/arab-queers-reject-pinkwashing/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Queer-Arabs.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160318T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160318T213000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160218T214354Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160218T214354Z
UID:5878-1458331200-1458336600@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:Ian Spencer Bell: Marrow
DESCRIPTION:  \nThe Bureau of General Services—Queer Division and The LGBT Community Center host dancer\, choreographer\, and poet Ian Spencer Bell in a solo performance of Marrow\, Thursday\, March 17 and Friday\, March 18 at 8 p.m. at The Center\, 208 West 13th Street\, Room 101. \n$15 suggested donation to support The Center’s youth programs and the Bureau. Tickets at gaycenter.org/marrow \nFollowing the performance\, please join Ian Spencer Bell for a reception in the Bureau\, room 210. \n \nIn Marrow\, Bell’s most recent work since Holler\, Bell dances 10 poems about self\, place\, family\, dancing\, and what it was like growing up queer in rural Virginia. Several of the poems are retellings of folk stories and gossip Bell heard as a young person. The short\, confessional narratives explore love\, death\, art\, and home. Bell often speaks to himself as he dances. Other times\, he addresses his parents or moves in silence. “I have tried to say the things I am most afraid to say\,” Bell says. The program runs about 25 minutes. \nIn an essay for CultureRover.net about Bell’s 2015 Poetry Foundation performance of Holler\, historian Michael J. Kramer wrote that Bell danced “both outside the poems looking in at them and within their poetic and musical infrastructures … he neither merely illustrated his words\, nor only accompanied the poems with dance—but instead lingered in a space between the two.” \nBell has been the recipient of grants and fellowships from Atlantic Center for the Arts\, Lambda Literary\, Summer Stages Dance\, Virginia Commission for the Arts\, and Jacob’s Pillow\, where he performed with his group on the Inside/Out Stage. He trained at North Carolina School of the Arts\, School of American Ballet\, and Pacific Northwest Ballet\, and graduated from Sarah Lawrence College. Bell studies in the MFA in poetry program at NYU. \nFor more information\, please contact ianspencerbelldance@gmail.com. \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/ian-spencer-bell-marrow-2/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/ISB_MARROW_2016_final.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160317T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160317T213000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160218T214109Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160218T214127Z
UID:5874-1458244800-1458250200@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:Ian Spencer Bell: Marrow
DESCRIPTION:  \nThe Bureau of General Services—Queer Division and The LGBT Community Center host dancer\, choreographer\, and poet Ian Spencer Bell in a solo performance of Marrow\, Thursday\, March 17 and Friday\, March 18 at 8 p.m. at The Center\, 208 West 13th Street\, Room 101. \n$15 suggested donation to support The Center’s youth programs and the Bureau. Tickets at gaycenter.org/marrow \nFollowing the performance\, please join Ian Spencer Bell for a reception in the Bureau\, room 210. \n \nIn Marrow\, Bell’s most recent work since Holler\, Bell dances 10 poems about self\, place\, family\, dancing\, and what it was like growing up queer in rural Virginia. Several of the poems are retellings of folk stories and gossip Bell heard as a young person. The short\, confessional narratives explore love\, death\, art\, and home. Bell often speaks to himself as he dances. Other times\, he addresses his parents or moves in silence. “I have tried to say the things I am most afraid to say\,” Bell says. The program runs about 25 minutes. \nIn an essay for CultureRover.net about Bell’s 2015 Poetry Foundation performance of Holler\, historian Michael J. Kramer wrote that Bell danced “both outside the poems looking in at them and within their poetic and musical infrastructures … he neither merely illustrated his words\, nor only accompanied the poems with dance—but instead lingered in a space between the two.” \nBell has been the recipient of grants and fellowships from Atlantic Center for the Arts\, Lambda Literary\, Summer Stages Dance\, Virginia Commission for the Arts\, and Jacob’s Pillow\, where he performed with his group on the Inside/Out Stage. He trained at North Carolina School of the Arts\, School of American Ballet\, and Pacific Northwest Ballet\, and graduated from Sarah Lawrence College. Bell studies in the MFA in poetry program at NYU. \nFor more information\, please contact ianspencerbelldance@gmail.com. \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/ian-spencer-bell-marrow/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/ISB_MARROW_2016_final.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160316T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160316T213000
DTSTAMP:20260403T140606
CREATED:20160204T201555Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160204T201811Z
UID:5802-1458154800-1458163800@www.bgsqd.com
SUMMARY:Dying Words: The AIDS Reporting of Jeff Schmalz and How It Transformed The New York Times
DESCRIPTION:  \nDying Words: The AIDS Reporting of Jeff Schmalz is a multi-media project consisting of a book and public radio documentary about the New York Times reporter who covered the AIDS epidemic in the early 1990s as he was dying of the disease. It is also\, in part\, the story of The New York Times and\, by extension\, American journalism\, during a much less tolerant time for LGBTQ journalists in major news organizations. \nThis presentation by Samuel Freedman and Kerry Donahue\, collaborators on the book and radio documentary\, will include a a Power Point of historical photographs and audio excerpts of Jeff talking about and reading from his most famous articles. \nThis independently produced and financed radio documentary was released on December 1\, 2015 to honor World AIDS Day. It was distributed by PRX\, the Public Radio Exchange and aired on more than 140 public radio stations in the United States between November 16\, 2015 and December 27\, 2015. A lengthy excerpt of the hour-long documentary was also carried by NPR’s On The Media show\, which is syndicated to more than 400 member stations. It is expected that even more stations will air the documentary for Pride Month in June 2016. \nThe book\, published by CUNY Journalism Press\, has hailed by such significant gay figures as Barney Frank\, Andrew Sullivan\, and Terrence McNally. It was excerpted in Poz and Columbia Journalism Review online. \nAs for the story of Dying Words: \nJeff Schmalz was a prodigy. Born in 1953\, he grew up in a lower middle-class\, single-parent home in suburban Philadelphia. In his first year at Columbia University\, he started as a copyboy at the Times. In early 1973\, he dropped out of Columbia to work full-time as a copy editor. He rose through the ranks of the Times quickly\, from copy editor to deputy metropolitan editor\, from general reporter to bureau chief in Albany and then Miami to deputy national editor\, all by age 37. All the while\, Jeff was open to peers\, subordinates\, and friends about his homosexuality\, yet\, he stayed closeted to newsroom management\, especially A.M. (Abe) Rosenthal\, the brilliant editor of the Times from 1977-1986\, who was also known for his homophobia. \nJeff’s life changed on a Friday afternoon in late December 1990. He had a seizure at his desk in the newsroom. When he was diagnosed weeks later with AIDS\, the prognosis was dire — his T cell count was just two and he had PML\, a AIDS related brain infection often fatal within months. To everyone’s astonishment\, Jeff responded well to AZT\, the primary treatment available at the time. \nJeff returned to the Times in the fall of 1991 on a mission: to report and write a series of articles about the human toll of the AIDS epidemic. The self-described “consummate Timesman” broke away from the formula. He wrote deep and searching profiles of people living and\, like himself\, working with the disease — AIDS doctor Marcus Conant\, basketball star Magic Johnson\, Republican AIDS activist Mary Fischer\, authors Randy Shilts and Harold Brodkey\, and others. The Times standards all but forbade use of the first-person in its news columns\, yet Jeff wrote a wrenching essay about having AIDS while covering the disease. In his final year\, he despaired not only that AIDS remained uncured\, but that it was falling off the national radar. His posthumous essay\, “What Ever Happened to AIDS?\,” appeared in the New York Times Magazine on November 28\, 1993\, just weeks after his death. \n  \n \nSamuel G. Freedman is the author of seven non-fiction books prior to Dying Words\, a columnist for the New York Times\, and a professor for more than two decades at the Columbia Journalism School. (Earlier in Freedman’s career\, he worked for Jeff Schmalz as a metro desk reporter for the Times.) \n  \n  \n \nKerry Donahue is a former executive producer at WNYC and is the current director of the radio program at Columbia Journalism School. \n  \n  \n 
URL:https://www.bgsqd.com/event/dying-words-the-aids-reporting-of-jeff-schmalz-and-how-it-transformed-the-new-york-times/
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.bgsqd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Dying-Words-500.jpg
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR