Fire Island Invasion (in person only)
2025-11-01 15:00 - 16:30 (America/New_York) | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Fire Island Invasion
Book Reading • Photo Presentation • Live Conversation
Photographer Anderson Zaca and cover star Fifi Dubois bring the legendary Fire Island Invasion to life with stories, images, and insight.Zaca’s striking black-and-white portraits celebrate drag as protest, pageantry, and pure brilliance—rooted in the rebellious spirit of the ’70s and still dazzling today.
To reserve a copy of Fire Island Invasion, Anderson Zaca(Damiani Ltd, May 6, 2025, hardcover, $50), write to contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve a copy of Fire Island Invasion for November 1 event” in the subject line.
Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!

You can also purchase Fire Island Invasion (click on title below) on our online shop at bookshop.com/shop/bgsqd:
Fire Island Invasion

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.

Registration is not required. Seating is first come, first served.

Kids on the Street: Joseph Plaster in conversation with Hugh Ryan (in person only)
2025-11-06 18:00 - 19:30 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Join authors Joseph Plaster and Hugh Ryan as they discuss Kids on the Street: Queer Kinship and Religion in San Francisco’s Tenderloin, a hidden history of queer and trans street youth who, abandoned by family and society, forged street families, faith traditions, and mutual aid networks to survive in San Francisco’s Tenderloin.
Kids on the Street is the winner of The Publishing Triangle’s 2024 Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction, the Urban History Association’s Joe William Trotter, Jr. Book Prize for best first book in urban history, and the 2024 Oral History Association Book Award.

To reserve a copy of Kids on the Street (Duke University Press, February 24, 2023, paperback, $28.95) please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve Kids on the Street for November 6 event” in the subject line.
Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!
You can also purchase Kids on the Street (click on title below) on our online shop at bookshop.com/shop/bgsqd:
Kids on the Street

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.

Registration is not required. Seating is first come, first served.

The Bureau will solicit donations at the beginning of the event—we especially encourage donations from those who do not plan to purchase any books.
All are welcome to attend, with or without a donation.

We will pass a bag for donations at the start of the event, but we can also take credit card donations at the register or on Venmo @BGSQD
Even better: sign up to make a monthly tax-deductible donation to the Bureau!

Thank you for committing to sustaining this vital project!

Hugh Ryan is the author of When Brooklyn Was Queer, The Women’s House of Detention, and the memoir My Bad: A Personal History of the Queer 90s (and Beyond!), forthcoming in 2026.

Joseph Plaster is a queer public historian and author of Kids on the Street: Queer Kinship and Religion in San Francisco’s Tenderloin. He teaches and directs public humanities programs at Johns Hopkins University.

Expanding Dissociation-Informed Psychoanalytic Practice (registration required)
2025-11-07 19:30 - 21:30 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
In recent years, psychoanalysis has expanded its focus moving beyond repressive symptomatology to include dissociative processes. Concepts such as Howell and Itkowitz’s dissociative unconscious, Bollas’s unthought known, Stern’s unformulated experience, and my own idea of unexperienced-experience have become increasingly central in both theoretical and clinical discourse. Despite this growing attention, significant ambiguity remains particularly around distinguishing ordinary dissociation from defensive dissociation, as well as in understanding the various forms defensive dissociation can take. It’s common to conflate dissociation as a defense mechanism with dissociation as a structural feature of the self.
Drawing on Sullivan’s view of the self as a system, I propose a self-state continuum model of dissociative functioning—from a relatively continuous self-system to one that is structurally discontinuous. I differentiate between “dissociation of content” versus “dissociation as a structure of the self,” and highlight clinical phenomena that may help practitioners recognize these dynamics in their work. I will also illuminate some of the structural aspects of dissociation as a self-organization and provide clinical examples to illustrate how these patterns may manifest in treatment.

TICKETS: $50.00
Student tickets $25.00
(Proof of student status required)
Free for MIP candidates (RSVP candidates only)
THIS IS A HYBRID EVENT: IN PERSON AND ONLINE
CLICK HERE TO PAY AND REGISTER TO ATTEND IN PERSON
TIME: 7:30 to 9:30PM
LOCATION: Bureau of General Services—Queer Division
Room 210 of The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center
208 W 13th St, NY NY 10011
***
CLICK HERE TO PAY AND REGISTER TO ATTEND ONLINE
You will receive a Zoom link after you register.

Continuing Education Hours: 2
The Manhattan Institute is a NY State approved provider of continuing education hours for: LCSW, LMSW, LCAT, LMHC and Licensed Psychologists.

Johanna Dobrich, LCSW, holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from Rutgers University and is a graduate of the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy’s (ICP) four-year psychoanalytic training program. She is a licensed clinical social worker with a private practice in New York City. Johanna has served on the faculty of ICP, the Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Study Center (PPSC), and the National Institute for the Psychotherapies (NIP), where she has taught courses on trauma, dissociation, and contemporary psychoanalytic practice from a Relational perspective. She also supervises candidates in psychoanalytic training. She has served on the Board at ICP and currently holds a position as an advisory member. She also teaches and consults in the Manhattan Institute for Psychoanalysis’s Certificate Program in Trauma Studies.
Johanna is the author of Working with Survivor Siblings in Psychoanalysis, for which she received the 2023 Sandor Ferenczi Award from the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD). She has published numerous articles and is recognized for her thoughtful writing on trauma, dissociation, and relational psychoanalysis. Her work offers insights into the complexities of loss, mourning, and the emotional lives of “survivor siblings”. Through her articles and book chapters, she bridges theory and clinical practice, providing valuable perspectives on developmental trauma and promoting healing through psychoanalytic approaches.
She is currently completing a book titled Moving from Grievance to Hope in Psychoanalysis: Applied Case Studies, which explores the use of psychoanalytic tools to promote social and collective healing within the socio-cultural field. The book is slated for publication in winter 2026 as part of Donnel Stern’s Psychoanalysis in a New Key series.

lesbian book club: November edition (in person only)
2025-11-08 11:00 - 12:00 | Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
We’ll be reading fiction and non-fiction — classic, contemporary, revealing and visionary. As a group we will decide what to read each month, focusing on lesbian authors and/or related topics. Co-founded by lesbian book lovers Judi Komaki and Piper Olsen.

For our November 8th meeting, we’ll read Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America, Lillian Faderman (Columbia University Press, February 1, 2012, paperback, $24.95). Purchase a copy before November 8th, and receive a 15% discount ($21.22 instead of $24.95). Just mention the lesbian book club when making your purchase.

Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.
Registration is not required.

OUTspoken: The Publishing Triangle's Reading Series, November Edition
2025-11-13 18:00 - 19:30 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
The Publishing Triangle presents the November edition of its monthly OUTspoken Reading Series as host Rob Byrnes welcomes Steven Reigns, Rodney Rhoda Taylor, Geoffrey Newman, and GOODW.Y.N.
Join us in-person or watch the live-stream to hear from some of queer literature’s most dynamic established and up-and-coming voices.

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.

Registration is not required. Seating is first come, first served.

Also live-streaming on the Bureau’s YouTube channel:
youtube.com/@bgsqd
The Bureau will solicit donations at the beginning of the event—we especially encourage donations from those who do not plan to purchase any books.
All are welcome to attend, with or without a donation.

We will pass a bag for donations at the start of the event, but we can also take credit card donations at the register or on Venmo @BGSQD

Even better: sign up to make a monthly tax-deductible donation to the Bureau!

Thank you for committing to sustaining this vital project!

Holiday and Everyday Greeting Card Making Workshop (in person only)
2025-11-15 12:00 - 14:00 | Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Please join Teresa Theophano for this fun, hands-on paper crafting workshop. We’ll create holiday and everyday greeting cards together; materials will be provided, but feel free to bring your favorite art supplies to use, too. All skill levels welcome!

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.

Registration is not required. Seating is first come, first served.

Radical Queer Reading Group (in person only)
2025-11-19 19:00 - 20:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Starting on November 19th, the Bureau is hosting a brand new monthly reading group: the Radical Queer Reading Group!
Join us as we read radical leftist texts with a focus on queer liberation, anti-capitalism, and anti-colonialism. For November 19th, we’re reading EVERYTHING FOR EVERYONE: AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK COMMUNE, 2052–2072 by M.E. O’Brien and Eman Abdelhadi (Common Notions, August 2, 2022, paperback).

We’re meeting Wednesday, November 19th at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division in room 210 of The LGBT Community Center in the West Village, 7-8 PM.

Copies of Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052-2072, by M.E. O’Brien and Eman Abdelhadi (Common Notions, August 2, 2022, paperback, $18) are available to purchase at the Bureau. Purchase the book before November 19th and receive 15% off ($15.30 instead of $18). Just mention the Radical Queer Reading Group when you check out.

Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.
Registration is not required. Seating is first come, first served.

The Bureau will solicit donations at the beginning of the event—we especially encourage donations from those who do not plan to purchase any books.
All are welcome to attend, with or without a donation.
We will pass a bag for donations at the start of the event, but we can also take credit card donations at the register or on Venmo @BGSQD
Even better: sign up to make a monthly tax-deductible donation to the Bureau!
Thank you for committing to sustaining this vital project!

The next meeting of the Radical Queer Reading Group will take place on Wednesday, December 17th, at 7 PM.
Starting in January 2026, the Radical Queer Reading Group will meet on the second Wednesday of every month.

Heretic: A Queer Revolt Against Evangelicalism, Empire, and the Lies We Are Sold (in person & live-streaming)
2025-11-20 19:00 - 20:30 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Join Jeanna Kadlec for a reading and discussion of her memoir, Heretic: A Queer Revolt Against Evangelicalism, Empire, and the Lies We Are Sold. Jeanna will be joined in conversation by Bureau co-founder Greg Newton, who also survived a childhood in the world of American white evangelical Christianity.

About Heretic :

A memoir of leaving the evangelical church and the search for radical new ways to build community. Jeanna Kadlec knew what it meant to be faithful–in her marriage to a pastor’s son, in the comfortable life ahead of her, in her God–but there was no denying the truth that lived under that conviction: she was queer and, if she wanted to survive, she would need to leave behind the church and every foundational building block she knew.

Heretic is a memoir of rebirth. Within, Kadlec reckons with religious trauma and Midwestern values, as a means of unveiling how evangelicalism directly impacts every American–religious or not–and has been a major force in driving our democracy towards fascism. From the story of Lilith to celebrity purity rings, Kadlec interrogates how her indoctrination and years of piety intersects with her Midwest working-class upbringing. As she navigated graduate school, a new home on the East Coast, and a new marriage, another insidious truth began to reveal itself –that conservative Christianity has both built and undermined our political power structures, poisoned our pop culture, and infected how we interact with one another in ways that the secular population couldn’t see.

Weaving the personal with powerful critique, Heretic explores how we can radically abandon these painful systems by taking a sledgehammer to the comfortable. Whether searching for community in the face of millennial loneliness or wanting to reclaim a secular form of fellowship in everyday life, Kadlec envisions the brilliant possibilities that come with not only daring to want a different way but actually striking out and claiming it for ourselves.

To reserve a copy of Heretic: A Queer Revolt Against Evangelicalism, Empire, and the Lies We Are Sold (Harper Perennial), September 23, 2025, paperback, $18.99) please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve Heretic for November 20 event” in the subject line.
Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!

You can also purchase Heretic (click on title below) on our online shop at bookshop.com/shop/bgsqd:
Heretic: A Queer Revolt Against Evangelicalism, Empire, and the Lies We Are Sold

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.

Registration is not required. Seating is first come, first served.

Also live-streaming on the Bureau’s YouTube channel:
youtube.com/@bgsqd

The Bureau will solicit donations at the beginning of the event—we especially encourage donations from those who do not plan to purchase any books.

All are welcome to attend, with or without a donation.

We will pass a bag for donations at the start of the event, but we can also take credit card donations at the register or on Venmo @BGSQD
Even better: sign up to make a monthly tax-deductible donation to the Bureau!

Thank you for committing to sustaining this vital project!

Jeanna Kadlec is the author of Heretic: A Queer Revolt Against Evangelicalism, Empire, and the Lies We Are Sold and the forthcoming Astrology for Artists. A born and raised Midwesterner, she now lives in New York City with her wife.

Greg Newton (he/him) moved to New York City from Connecticut in 1991, leaving behind the world of American white evangelical Christianity. He was pursuing a PhD in art history at the City University of New York Graduate Center and teaching art history and writing at Parsons The New School for Design before deciding to leave academia to found the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division with his partner, Donnie Jochum, in 2012.

Healing, Pleasure, and Play: A Queer Take on Psychedelics (in person & live-streaming)
2025-11-22 17:00 - 18:30 | Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Join director/actor Marco Calvani and author Joe Dolce for an intimate, mind-expanding conversation about Modern Psychedelics: The Handbook for Mindful Exploration.
These two longtime friends will dive into the unique connection between LGBTQ people and psychedelics — how these sacred molecules have fueled healing, creativity, and ecstatic self-discovery. Expect a candid, provocative dialogue about how psychedelics can be used to deepen emotional and sexual intimacy, dissolve old stories, and awaken new layers of pleasure and transformation.
If you’ve ever wondered how expanded states of consciousness can open the heart, ignite desire, and bring more authenticity to your relationships — this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.

To reserve a copy of Modern Psychedelics: The Handbook for Mindful Exploration (Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, August 5, 2025, paperback, $24.99) please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve Modern Psychedelics for November 22 event” in the subject line.
Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!
You can also purchase Modern Psychedelics (click on title below) on our online shop at bookshop.com/shop/bgsqd:
Modern Psychedelics

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.

Registration is not required. Seating is first come, first served.

Also live-streaming on the Bureau’s YouTube channel:
youtube.com/@bgsqd
The Bureau will solicit donations at the beginning of the event—we especially encourage donations from those who do not plan to purchase any books.
All are welcome to attend, with or without a donation.

We will pass a bag for donations at the start of the event, but we can also take credit card donations at the register or on Venmo @BGSQD
Even better: sign up to make a monthly tax-deductible donation to the Bureau!

Thank you for committing to sustaining this vital project!

Joe Dolce is the author of Modern Psychedelics: The Handbook of Mindful Exploration and Brave New Weed: Adventures into the Uncharted World of Cannabis.. He is also the founder and CEO of Medical Cannabis Mentor, an online education platform serving healthcare providers, dispensary personnel, and community colleges around the US. When not exploring the intersection of substances and consciousness, Joe runs Joe Dolce Communications, one of New York’s most esteemed presentation and media training companies. He is the former editor-in-chief of Details magazine and he lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Marco Calvani is an award-winning writer, director, producer and actor. Over the course of his twenty-year career he has received commissions from the Phoenix Theatre of London, Kunsthaus Tacheles of Berlin, and La MaMaTheatre of New York, among others. His first feature film High Tide premiered at SXSW to critical acclaim and features Brazilian star Marco Pigossi, Oscar-winner Marisa Tomei and Tony-winner Bill Irwin. As an actor, he co-stars in Tina Fey’s The Four Seasons (Netflix) playing opposite Oscar-nominees Steve Carell and Colman Domingo. The show returns for a second season in 2026.

Fight the Power! 15 Years of HOMOCATS Closing Party (in person only)
2025-11-23 17:00 - 19:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Join us for the closing party for
Fight the Power! 15 Years of HOMOCATS !
Special guests will read zines
from the HOMOCATS zine series at 6 PM:

Ray Cha
Abi Cohen
Leah Gabriel
Andrew Greene
Richard Haines
Laura Klein
Joseph Kaminski
Lloyd Mulvey
Karen Paris
Joe Westmoreland

About the exhibition:
HOMOCATS and the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division are excited to present Fight the Power! 15 Years of HOMOCATS, an art exhibition celebrating 15 years of the HOMOCATS zine series.
J. Morrison created the HOMOCATS at a printmaking residency at the Anderson Ranch in Colorado in 2010. Morrison was inspired during Obama’s presidency to create a zine advocating for affordable health care, marriage equality, and equal rights. 15 years on, HOMOCATS continues this quest with a mission to fight phobias, champion equal rights for all, combat harmful cultural stereotypes, and challenge stigmas, all while protesting the current U.S. administration. Paying homage to historic queer symbols such as the rainbow flag and pink triangle, Morrison’s work also engages pop art and pop culture with playfulness and humor.
The exhibition takes its name from the first HOMOCATS zine, “Fight the Power,” and features some of the original posters that were first shown in 2013 at the Bureau’s original location, at Strange Loop Gallery in Chinatown, NYC. The exhibition also includes a selection of digital c-prints (seen on TV shows), print editions, and artwork from the series. HOMOCATS zines and hand-screen-printed apparel are available for purchase at the Bureau.
The zines are beloved and collected by many museums, universities, and libraries worldwide, including the NY Public Library, MoMA, the Whitney, and the Met. The zines were featured in the “Over the Rainbow” exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and are currently on view at the University of Texas Fine Art Library in Austin.
For more information about HOMOCATS and J. Morrison visit: homocats.com

Exhibition Dates: September 26 – November 23, 2025

Closed for Thanksgiving Holiday
2025-11-27 | NY
The Bureau will be closed on
Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 27th,
and Friday, November 28th.
The Center will open at 5 PM on both dates.

Bureau closed on Friday, November 28th
2025-11-28 | NY

4th Annual Rebel Satori World AIDS Day Book Release and Reading (in person & live-streaming)
2025-12-03 19:00 - 20:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
The Library of Homosexual Congress, a Rebel Satori imprint, is proud to reissue two seminal novels from the AIDS crisis: Bo Huston’s Remember Me and Sacred Lips of the Bronx by Douglas Sadownick.
Tom Cardamone from the Rebel Satori imprint, The Library of Homosexual Congress, will read from Bo Huston’s work.

To reserve a copy of Remember Me (Library of Homosexual Congress, November 11, 2025, paperback, $17.95) and/or Sacred Lips of the Bronx (Library of Homosexual Congress, November 4, 2025, paperback, $23.95) please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve Remember Me and/or Sacred Lips of the Bronx for December 3 event” in the subject line, and in the body of the email let us know which book you’d like to purchase or if you’d like to purchase both.
Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!
You can also purchase Remember Me and/or Sacred Lips of the Bronx (click on either title below) on our online shop at bookshop.com/shop/bgsqd:
Remember Me
Sacred Lips of the Bronx

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.

Registration is not required. Seating is first come, first served.

Also live-streaming on the Bureau’s YouTube channel:
youtube.com/@bgsqd
The Bureau will solicit donations at the beginning of the event—we especially encourage donations from those who do not plan to purchase any books.
All are welcome to attend, with or without a donation.

We will pass a bag for donations at the start of the event, but we can also take credit card donations at the register or on Venmo @BGSQD
Even better: sign up to make a monthly tax-deductible donation to the Bureau!

Thank you for committing to sustaining this vital project!

Remember Me by Bo Huston
This elegiac novel, first published in 1991, is the story of smalltown friendship, longing, and the impact of AIDS on a young gay writer’s now fleeting artistic ambition. In prose poetic yet uncompromising, Huston’s work brings a life from the margins to the forefront like no other novel from an era of overwhelming prejudice, fear and powerful resilience.
A three-time Lambda Literary Award nominee, Bo Huston (1959 – 1993) was the author of two novels and two short story collections. A columnist for the San Francisco Times, he was a co-founder of the LGBT literary conference Out/Write and participated in the first March on Washington DC. Huston received his HIV diagnosis in 1988 and in diminishing health orchestrated his own exit on May 24th, 1993.

Sacred Lips of the Bronx by Douglas Sadownick
“Sadownick’s ambitious first novel combines AIDS activism, Jewish folklore, New Age therapies, kinky sex, and some extraordinary passages about life in contemporary Venice, California, and the Bronx of yesteryear. At the center is Michael Kaplan, an AIDS journalist living in post-riot Los Angeles. Sadownick juxtaposes the ghosts of Michael’s adolescence in the Bronx –his Polish grandmother Frieda, his jazz musician brother, and his Puerto Rican teenage lover –against his current struggles in L.A., particularly his deteriorating 10-year relationship with Robert, an AIDS activist and performance artist.”
-Publishers Weekly

Douglas Sadownick was born on Shakespeare Avenue in the Bronx, where he first encountered the allure of gay desire amidst the gritty sensuality of urban life. His intellectual journey took him to Columbia College, where he studied Plato and Baldwin, developing a lifelong fascination with homosexual Eros. He later earned a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute and founded the nation’s first LGBT Specialization in Clinical Psychology at Antioch University in 2006. He also established the Colors LGBTQ Youth Counseling Center.
In addition to Sacred Lips of the Bronx (1994), he’s the author of Sex Between Men: An Intimate History of the Sex Lives of Gay Men Postwar to Present (1996) and Healing Gay Sex and Love: A Group Experience (2025).

Reclaiming Liberation from Palestine to the World: Letters from a Living Utopia Book Launch and discussion with Yaffa AS, Leah Kim, and Rabab Abdulhadi (in person & live-streaming)
2025-12-04 19:00 - 20:30 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
A love letter to liberation, from Palestine to the ground beneath your feet.
When you think of freedom, where are you? And where are you headed? Dreaming of freedom from within the occupied and displaced worlds of Palestine, Letters from a Living Utopia engages with utopia as both a destination and a potential present. Addressing past and future selves among other crucial figures, Mx. Yaffa builds epistolary bridges in these pages, connecting the historical struggle for liberation of the land and its people with the intimate ways that we can recover hope–now and in the years to come.
Emerging during a time of generational dispossession, monstrous genocide, and personal pain, Letters from a Living Utopia is a journey of resilient repair that will leave every reader with the deeply felt certainty that Palestine will be free, but also that Palestine has always been free.
Yaffa AS will be joined in conversation by Leah Kim and Rabab Abdulhadi

To reserve a copy of Letters from a Living Utopia: Reclaiming Liberation from Palestine to the World (Common Notions, October 7, 2025, paperback, $18) please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve Letters from a Living Utopia for December 4 event” in the subject line.
Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!
You can also purchase Letters from a Living Utopia (click on title below) on our online shop at bookshop.com/shop/bgsqd:
Letters from a Living Utopia:
Reclaiming Liberation from Palestine to the World

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.
Registration is not required. Seating is first come, first served.

WE ASK ALL ATTENDEES TO PLEASE WEAR MASKS.
FREE MASKS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE ENTRANCE TO OUR ROOM.
Also live-streaming on the Bureau’s YouTube channel:
youtube.com/@bgsqd
The Bureau will solicit donations at the beginning of the event—we especially encourage donations from those who do not plan to purchase any books.
All are welcome to attend, with or without a donation.
We will pass a bag for donations at the start of the event, but we can also take credit card donations at the register or on Venmo @BGSQD
Even better: sign up to make a monthly tax-deductible donation to the Bureau!
Thank you for committing to sustaining this vital project!

Mx. Yaffa (they/she) is a disabled, autistic, trans, queer Muslim and indigenous Palestinian culture worker and organizer. The author of Blood Orange, Whispers Beneath the Orange Grove, and Desecrated Poppies, Yaffa is also editor of Inara: Light of Utopia and executive director of the Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD).

Rabab Abdulhadi, founding Director/Senior scholar of Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies Program at SFSU, is co-founding Editorial Board member of Islamophobia Studies Journal, lead editor of book volumes and author of over 80 articles and book chapters in seven languages. She received her PhD from Yale University (2000) and scholarly awards and community honors, including Sterling Fellowship, New Century Scholarship, best non-fiction book award, and American Association of University Professors, National Women’s Studies Association. She is compiling critical oral histories of Palestinian activism and editing an anthology on Teaching Palestine; and roundtables on Black Liberation; Abolition and Reparations; and Whose Narrative? Gender, Justice and Palestine.

Leah Kim is a mental health advocate and host of the Voices on the Side podcast. She writes about motherhood and mental health on her blog On-Motherhood.com. She has been featured in Women’s Health, Shape, Garage, and Matches Fashion and on sites such as mother.ly, Medium, and Tiny Buddha. Her writing has appeared in Harper’s Bazaar, PT Magazine, Assemblage, Just Breathe, Get the Gloss, Top Sante, and Metro UK. Kim is the author of From Office Hell to Yoga Heaven: Jumpstart Your Career as a Yoga Instructor. She was Nike’s first ever Yoga Athlete and spent over a decade as Nike’s Global Yoga Ambassador. Leah is the author of Mom, Unfiltered coming out Apr 2026. Leah lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Gary Fisher: "Unpolished Truths" on the Erotics of Racism Presented by AVGI SAKETOPOULOU, PSY.D (registration required)
2025-12-05 19:30 - 21:30 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
At a time when psychoanalysis is struggling to think about race, what does it look like if we dare to engage race not from the perspective of identity, but of eroticism? And what if, to push things further, we take up not “respectable” or palatable sexuality that does the work of “racial uplift” (Musser) but tend to sexuality that tangles violence, trauma, and the gnarled history of slavery with arousal and excitement?
In this presentation, Avgi Saketopoulou turns to the work of Gary Fisher, a black gay man who died of AIDS in the 1980s, whose posthumously published notebook is filled with fantasies of racial abjection in the hands of, or under the boot of, a white man. When first published, Fisher’s writing shocked academics theorizing race, leaving them “speechless” (Reid-Pharr); but its subsequent engagement produced a series of important and fresh theorizations that psychoanalysis has yet to take up. What can psychoanalysis learn from Fisher and from those who wrote about him that exceeds what we think we already know about trauma, racialization, and the workings of the sexual unconscious? Bringing together Jean Laplanche, queer of color critique, and Black feminisms, Saketopoulou offers a series of challenging propositions that may help us expand our capacity to think clinically with and about race and interracial erotics.
TICKETS: $50.00
Student tickets $25.00
(Proof of student status required)
Free for MIP candidates (RSVP candidates only)
THIS IS A HYBRID EVENT: IN PERSON AND ONLINE
CLICK HERE TO PAY AND REGISTER TO ATTEND IN PERSON
TIME: 7:30 to 9:30PM
LOCATION: Bureau of General Services—Queer Division
Room 210 of The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center
208 W 13th St, NY NY 10011
***
CLICK HERE TO PAY AND REGISTER TO ATTEND ONLINE
You will receive a Zoom link after you register.
Continuing Education Hours: 2
The Manhattan Institute is a NY State approved provider of continuing education hours for: LCSW, LMSW, LCAT, LMHC and Licensed Psychologists.
Avgi Saketopoulou, Psy.D. is an immigrant from Cyprus and from Greece and a psychoanalyst practicing in NY. She serves on the faculty of the NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis and her publications have received numerous prizes, including twice the annual prize of the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, the Ralph Roughton Award, the Ruth Stein Prize, and the Symonds Prize. Her interview on relational psychoanalysis is in the permanent holdings of the Freud Museum (Vienna). Her monograph, Sexuality Beyond Consent: Risk, Race, Traumatophilia (2023) braids psychoanalysis with performance studies, philosophy, and queer of color critique to explore the vicissitudes of overwhelm and repetition. She is co-author, with Ann Pellegrini, of Gender Without Identity, which includes a re-worked version of the essay for which they received the IPA’s First Tiresias Prize. Her thinking also appears in critical conversation with Dominique Scarfone in The Reality of the Message: Psychoanalysis in the Wake of Jean Laplanche. She is currently working on her next book project provisionally titled The Currents of Sadism: Insurgency, Psychoanalysis, and Confusional Aesthetics.

Opening Reception for The Garden (in person only)
2025-12-06 18:00 - 20:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Join us on Saturday, December 6, from 6 to 8 PM, for the Opening Reception for The Garden!
The Garden is an art exhibition inspired by Monique Wittig’s essay “The Garden,” translated by Lorie Sauble-Otto in GLQ (2007). Wittig, a French author, philosopher, and lesbian theorist, imagined radical spaces for lesbian existence; this show offers a contemporary interpretation of that vision.
Featuring darkroom prints, collage, scanned flowers, a card deck, portraits, and video, The Garden arrives at a moment of renewed threats to LGBTQ+ lives. Showcasing work by Rhiannon Adam, Deborah Bright, Sara Duell, Naima Green, Lindsey Perryman, Sunny Leerasanthanah, Tray Tsui, the exhibition centers lesbian vision, presence, creativity, and connection.
The Garden will be on view at the Bureau from December 6, 2025 through March 1, 2026.
Download a PDF of Monique Wittig article “The Garden,” originally published in French in 1978, and translated by Lorie Sauble-Otto for a 2007 issue of GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies (Vol. 13, No. 4).

Lessons in Drag - A conversation between Kareem Khubchandani & Elyssa Maxx Goodman (in person only)
2025-12-07 15:00 - 17:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Celebrating the recent release of Lessons in Drag: A Queer Manual for Academics, Artists, and Aunties, this conversation brings together two of the most exciting public thinkers writing about DRAG. Together, Kareem Khubchandani and Elyssa Maxx Goodman will discuss themes that appear in the book, including drag’s place in the university, the nightclub as a site of care, the magic of lip synch, and performance’s ability to hold history and map futures.
The conversation models the form of Lessons in Drag, which opens with a thought-provoking dialogue between scholar Kareem Khubchandani and his drag persona LaWhore Vagistan. The book unfolds in alternating chapters where the two exchange insights, stories, and critiques. Khubchandani delves into the lessons LaWhore’s drag practice offers about academia—shaping his approaches to research, teaching, and writing—while Vagistan reveals how Khubchandani’s scholarship influences her performances, inspiring her understanding of fashion, music, divas, and aunties. Together, their reflections and conversations weave a compelling tapestry of drag’s instructive power. Witty, bold, and deeply personal, Lessons in Drag is both an invitation to explore drag as a practice and a celebration of its transformative potential.
Lessons in Drag was published in October 2025 by Brandeis University Press.

To reserve a copy of Lessons in Drag: A Queer Manual for Academics, Artists, and Aunties (Brandeis University Press, October 29, 2025, paperback, $29.95) please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve Lessons in Drag for December 7 event” in the subject line.
Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!
You can also purchase Lessons in Drag (click on title below) on our online shop at bookshop.com/shop/bgsqd:
Lessons in Drag

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.
The Bureau will solicit donations at the beginning of the event—we especially encourage donations from those who do not plan to purchase any books.
All are welcome to attend, with or without a donation.

We will pass a bag for donations at the start of the event, but we can also take credit card donations at the register or on Venmo @BGSQD
Even better: sign up to make a monthly tax-deductible donation to the Bureau!

Thank you for committing to sustaining this vital project!

Kareem Khubchandani is the author of the award-winning books Decolonize Drag and Ishtyle: Accenting Gay Indian Nightlife. He is also co-editor of the Lambda Literary-nominated Queer Nightlife, guest editor of Text and Performance Quarterly’s “Critical Aunty Studies,” and associate editor for GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies. Kareem is Associate Professor of theater, dance, and performance studies at Tufts University. His newest book, Lessons in Drag: A Queer Manual for Academics, Artists, and Aunties is now out from Brandeis University Press.

Elyssa Maxx Goodman is the author of National Bestseller Glitter and Concrete: A Cultural History of Drag in New York City, named a 2024 Stonewall Honor Book, one of Vogue’s Best LGBTQ+ Books of 2023, one of Booklist’s Best History Books of 2023, and a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award in LGBTQ+ Nonfiction. Elyssa has presented her drag history work on CNN, at Lincoln Center, the New-York Historical Society, and more. Her writing has been published in The New York Times, Vogue, and Vanity Fair, among many others.

The Final tour stop for Middle Spoon, with Alejandro Varela and Miguel Gutierrez: A conversation about heartbreak, polyamory, public health, George Michael, Regina King, and the Department of Sanitation (in person only)
2025-12-10 19:00 - 21:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Join author Alejandro Varela as he discusses his new book MIDDLE SPOON with Miguel Gutierrez: A conversation about heartbreak, polyamory, public health, George Michael, Regina King, and the Department of Sanitation.
“Middle Spoon subverts the ordinary novel with intelligence and vulnerability. . . . Varela has made a sly, analytical opera of the heart.” —Andrew Sean Greer, author of Less and Less Is Lost
“A rollicking delight! . . . Varela asks provocative questions about the shape of family and the nature of love.” —Ada Calhoun, New York Times bestselling author of Crush
One of Today’s 50 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2025 · Named a Must-Read Book of Fall 2025 by Town & Country, W Magazine, and more
A whip-smart, blazingly funny novel about heartbreak, unconventional love, and the way society could be, from National Book Award finalist Alejandro Varela
The narrator of Middle Spoon appears to be living the dream: He has a doting husband, two precocious children, all the comforts of a quiet bourgeois life—and a sexy younger boyfriend to accompany him to farmers markets and cocktail parties. But when his boyfriend abruptly dumps him, he spirals into heartbreak for the first time and must confront a world still struggling to understand polyamorous relationships. Faced with the judgment of friends and the sting of rejection, he’s left to wonder if sharing a life with both his family and his lover could ever truly be possible.
With a big heart and just the right dose of the anxieties that define the modern era, Middle Spoon skewers the unspoken rules we still live by—from taboos around intimacy to the shortcomings of Oscar season, pop culture, and gluten-free food—offering a surprising perspective on love, loss, and reinvention. Equal parts heart-wrenching and uproariously funny, Middle Spoon is for anyone who has longed, nursed a broken heart, or grappled with love at its messiest.

To reserve a copy of Middle Spoon (Viking, September 9, 2025, hardcover, $30) please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve Middle Spoon for December 10 event” in the subject line.
Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!
You can also purchase Middle Spoon (click on title below) on our online shop at bookshop.com/shop/bgsqd:
Middle Spoon

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.

Registration is not required. Seating is first come, first served.

The Bureau will solicit donations at the beginning of the event—we especially encourage donations from those who do not plan to purchase any books.
All are welcome to attend, with or without a donation.

We will pass a bag for donations at the start of the event, but we can also take credit card donations at the register or on Venmo @BGSQD
Even better: sign up to make a monthly tax-deductible donation to the Bureau!

Thank you for committing to sustaining this vital project!

Alejandro Varela’s debut novel, The Town of Babylon, was a finalist for the National Book Award. His short story collection, The People Who Report More Stress, was one of Publishers Weekly’s best works of fiction in 2023, a finalist for the International Latino Book Awards, and longlisted for the Aspen Literary Prize, the Story Prize, and the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award. Varela is an editor-at-large of Apogee Journal, holds a master’s degree in public health, and is based in New York.

Miguel Gutierrez (he/him) is an artist and educator living between Lenapehoking/Brooklyn, NY and Tovaangar/Los Angeles. Recent performance work includes Super Nothing, a dance blueprint for queer survival developed through the Randjelović/Stryker Resident Commissioned Artist program at New York Live Arts, and sueño, his music project of original songs. His work has been presented internationally for over twenty years in venues such as Festival D’Automne in Paris, REDCAT, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Festival Universitario in Colombia, and as a selected artist in the 2014 Whitney Biennial. His writing has appeared in BOMB online, Small Press Traffic’s The Back Room, InDance, and most recently in SLUTS anthology from Dopamine Press and in Entanglements, a monograph on work by collaborative artists Luke George and Daniel Kok. His podcast, Are You For Sale? examines the ethical entanglement between dance making and funding.www.miguelgutierrez.org

Office Hours Fall 2025 Showcase Reading (in person & live-streaming)
2025-12-12 19:00 - 20:30 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Join us Friday, December 12th, 2025 at 7 PM EDT for the Office Hours Fall 2025 Showcase Reading, a hybrid event (both in person readers & virtual). In person readers will gather at the Bureau of General Services–Queer Division and virtual readers will appear on a screen. Current fellows from the Office Hours Poetry Workshop will read sparkling new work they developed in the Fall 2025 cohort.
Office Hours Poetry Workshop is a community-run organization for poets with a dedicated commitment to writing. We particularly hold space for LBGTQ+, POC, and femme-identified writers.

List of readers:
In person:
Dina Abdulhadi
Suzanne Highland
Megan Murtha
Sarah M. Sala
J. Freeborn
Abba Belgrave
Donauta Watson
Michael M. Weinstein
On Zoom:
Shakeema Smalls
James Fujinami Moore
Ryan Dzelzkalns

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.

Registration is not required. Seating is first come, first served.

Also live-streaming on the Bureau’s YouTube channel:
youtube.com/@bgsqd
The Bureau will solicit donations at the beginning of the event—we especially encourage donations from those who do not plan to purchase any books.
All are welcome to attend, with or without a donation.

We will pass a bag for donations at the start of the event, but we can also take credit card donations at the register or on Venmo @BGSQD
Even better: sign up to make a monthly tax-deductible donation to the Bureau!

Thank you for committing to sustaining this vital project!

lesbian book club: December edition (in person only)
2025-12-13 11:00 - 12:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
We’ll be reading fiction and non-fiction — classic, contemporary, revealing and visionary. As a group we will decide what to read each month, focusing on lesbian authors and/or related topics. Co-founded by lesbian book lovers Judi Komaki and Piper Olsen.

For our December 13th meeting, we’ll read Hijab Butch Blues, Lamya H. (Dial Press, February 6, 2024, paperback, $20). Purchase a copy before December 13th, and receive a 15% discount ($17 instead of $20). Just mention the lesbian book club when making your purchase.

Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.
Registration is not required.

Book Launch: The Best Bi Erotica of the Year, Volume Two (in person & live-streaming)
2025-12-13 15:00 - 16:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
All are welcome to attend the launch of The Best Bi Erotica of the Year, Volume 2. This event will include readings from the anthology by contributing authors Eskay Kabba and Maeve Blackhead, as well as with editor Christian Pan. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.

To reserve a copy of The Best Bi Erotica of the Year, Volume 2 please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve Best Bi Erotica for December 13 event” in the subject line.
Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.
Registration is not required. Seating is first come, first served.
Also live-streaming on the Bureau’s YouTube channel:
youtube.com/@bgsqd
The Bureau will solicit donations at the beginning of the event—we especially encourage donations from those who do not plan to purchase any books.
All are welcome to attend, with or without a donation.
We will pass a bag for donations at the start of the event, but we can also take credit card donations at the register or on Venmo @BGSQD
Even better: sign up to make a monthly tax-deductible donation to the Bureau!
Thank you for committing to sustaining this vital project!

Christian Pan is the author of 24 previous books of erotic fiction, including The Diary (with Jenna Citrus), Wilding (Passionate Plume Finalist in Erotic Fiction – Long), Reunion (Passionate Plume Finalist in Erotic Fiction; International Impact Book Award Winner in Romance), Stockholm Syndrome (Passionate Plume Finalist in Erotic Fiction), At the End of the World (Star Recommendation for Erotica – Literally Lovesick; Golden Pigtails Finalist for Dark/Taboo Erotica), among others. He edited both volumes of The Best Bi Erotica of the Year, is a Creative Producer for Incision Press, and hosts the Pulse Session segment for the monthly podcast All the Filthy Details.

Maeve Blackhead lives in New York City.

Eskay Kabba Wife, mother, partner, daughter, sister, friend, social worker, life skills coach and part-time erotic romance novelist, Eskay Kabba finds the complexity of human nature and creates romantic and erotic love stories. Eskay pens erotic romance novels that celebrate the LGBTQ community, people of color, and interracial relationships. When not writing about the throes of passion, Eskay finds joy in spending time with her family and loved ones, reading dystopia and fantasy series, and binging a popular show from a streaming app.

The Fig Thief Book Launch Party (in person & live-streaming)
2025-12-14 15:00 - 18:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
The Fig Thief : Gabriella M. Belfiglio’s Debut Poetry Book Bash at the Bureau, Sunday, December 14th, 3-6pm.
Please join us as we celebrate with readings, antics, and all-around fun, featuring the poet and special guests Donna Minkowitz, Annie Lanzillotto, and JP Howard!

To reserve a copy of The Fig Thief (Guernica Editions, October 1, 2025, paperback, $17.95) please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve a copy of The Fig Thief for Dec. 14 event” in the subject line.
Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.

Registration is not required. Seating is first come, first served.

Also live-streaming on the Bureau’s YouTube channel:
youtube.com/@bgsqd
The Bureau will solicit donations at the beginning of the event—we especially encourage donations from those who do not plan to purchase any books.
All are welcome to attend, with or without a donation.

We will pass a bag for donations at the start of the event, but we can also take credit card donations at the register or on Venmo @BGSQD
Even better: sign up to make a monthly tax-deductible donation to the Bureau!

Thank you for committing to sustaining this vital project!

Gabriella M. Belfiglio is the author of the poetry collection, The Fig Thief. She is a winner of the W.B. Yeats Poetry Contest. Belfiglio has writing published in the award-winning anthology Poetic Voices Without Borders, The Potomac Review, Folio, The Monterey Poetry Review, The Centrifugal Eye, and Lambda Literary Review, among other places.
She is a queer artist and teacher and mother living in New York City.

Radical Queer Reading Group: Assata (in person only)
2025-12-17 19:00 - 20:00 | Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Join us as we read radical leftist texts with a focus on queer liberation, anti-capitalism, and anti-colonialism. For December 17th, we’re reading Assata by Assata Shakur (Lawrence Hill Books, November 1, 1999, paperback, $19.99).

We’ll meet on Wednesday, December 17th at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division in room 210 of The LGBT Community Center in the West Village, 7-8 PM.

Copies of Assata by Assata Shakur (Lawrence Hill Books, November 1, 1999, paperback, $19.99) are available to purchase at the Bureau. Purchase the book before December 17th and receive 15% off ($16.99 instead of $19.99). Just mention the Radical Queer Reading Group when you check out.

Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.
RSVP here
(not required)
Vote on our January book here.
​
Starting in January 2026, the Radical Queer Reading Group will meet on the second Wednesday of every month:
​January 14
​February 11
​March 11
…

The Bureau will solicit donations at the beginning of the event—we especially encourage donations from those who do not plan to purchase any books.
All are welcome to attend, with or without a donation.
We will pass a bag for donations at the start of the event, but we can also take credit card donations at the register or on Venmo @BGSQD
Even better: sign up to make a monthly tax-deductible donation to the Bureau!
Thank you for committing to sustaining this vital project!

About the organizers:
Ira Berkley and Elaina Rahrig are public defenders in New York City. They share a love of reading and are excited to have this space to discuss radical texts through a queer lens.

TELL: Above and Beyond (in person & live-streaming)
2025-12-20 19:00 - 20:00 | Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
TELL is a monthly queer storytelling show hosted and curated by Drae Campbell. It is the longest running event at the Bureau! 11 years and going. Each month there is a different theme and a different line up of queer artists who tell true stories from their lives on a theme.
The theme for December 20, 2025 is Above and Beyond, featuring storytellers Cara Francis and Angie Salazar.

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.
Registration is not required. Seating is first come, first served.
Also live-streaming on the Bureau’s YouTube channel:
youtube.com/@bgsqd
Suggested donation to benefit the storytellers and the Bureau: $10.
All are welcome to attend, with or without a donation.
We will pass a bag for donations at the start of the event, but we can also take credit card donations at the register or on Venmo @BGSQD

Drae Campbell is the host and curator of TELL, an award winning podcast that can be found anywhere you listen to podcasts.
Theater: The Nosebleed (Lincoln Center Theater, Woolly Mammoth Theater & National Tour, Lortel Nominated), Jesus Hopped The ‘A’ Train (Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater), Only You Can Prevent Wildfires (Teatro Circulo), My Old Man (Dixon Place), Storm Still (DirectorFest, Drama League), La Cage Aux Folles (Barrington Stage Company).
Film and TV:Senior Escort Service, Blunderpuss, It’s Very Common, TOW.
TV: Bull, New Amsterdam.
BFA, The University Of The Arts
Ig @draebiz and @tellqueerz

Cara Francis (Francis, they/them) is a multidisciplinary writer and performer combining drag, music, comedy, installations and alter egos. Personas include Fantasy Grandma, Earls2Gearls, and Bob Voyage. Performances: Carolines, Ars Nova, Joe’s Pub, Zanies, the Hollywood Improv, Stonewall and Bushwig. Installations and residencies: Brooklyn Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New Museum, Knockdown Center, Banff, NACL. Francis was an ensemble member of the New York Neo-Futurists from 2008–2018 and was a Drama Desk Nominee for The Complete and Condensed Stage Directions of Eugene O’Neill. Press: Village Voice, The New York Times Critic’s Pick, Time Out NY, The Wall Street Journal, Vice’s MOTHERBOARD, ARTFORUM. Upcoming: Synthesis at Triskelion Arts, March 2026.

Angie Salazar (she/they) is a queen based stage manager, archivist, and artist. She has worked a range of community theatre, regional, workshops, tour, and off-broadway. (SoHo Rep, The Bushwick Starr, Breaking the Binary, National Queer Theatre, Broadway Cares, and Denver Center of The Performing Arts.) Usually does traditional art, but as of this year they have been exploring writing. They been published in Malflora Collective Magazine, dedicated project to lives and legacies of Latina/e Lesbians. They current run a photo project of archive carabiner culture of the now (@thecarabinerproject).

Closed Christmas Day
2025-12-25 | NY
The Bureau will be closed on Thursday, December 25th, 2025, for Christmas.

The Center will observe holiday hours:
5 to 9 PM

Holiday hours:
The Bureau will be closed on
Thursday, December 25th
Friday, December 26th
Wednesday, December 31st
Thursday, January 1st

Closed on December 26
2025-12-26 | NY
The Bureau will be closed on Friday, December 26th.
Holiday hours:
The Bureau will be closed on
Thursday, December 25th
Friday, December 26th
Wednesday, December 31st
Thursday, January 1st

Closed New Year's Eve
2025-12-31 | NY
The Bureau will be closed on
Wednesday, December 31st, 2025
and
Thursday, January 1st, 2026

We will resume regular hours on
Friday, January 2, 2026.

Closed New Year's Day
2026-01-01 | NY
The Bureau will be closed on New Year’s Day, Thursday, January 1st, 2026.

The Center will observe holiday hours:
5 to 9 PM

We will resume regular hours on
Friday, January 2, 2026.

lesbian book club: January edition (in person only)
2026-01-10 11:00 - 12:00 | Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
We’ll be reading fiction and non-fiction — classic, contemporary, revealing and visionary. As a group we will decide what to read each month, focusing on lesbian authors and/or related topics. Co-founded by lesbian book lovers Judi Komaki and Piper Olsen.

For our January 10th meeting, we’ll read Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, by Jeanette Winterson (Grove Press, 2025, paperback, $18) (originally published in 1985).
Purchase a copy of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit before January 10th, and receive a 15% discount ($15.30 instead of $18). Just mention the lesbian book club when making your purchase.

Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.
Registration is not required.

Nurses on the Inside: perspectives on the early years of the HIV pandemic in New York City (in person only)
2026-01-10 15:00 - 17:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Nurses on the Inside: perspectives on the early years of the HIV pandemic in New York City
Ellen Matzer and Valery Hughes, authors of the book Nurses on the Inside, will share their firsthand experiences as nurses during the early years of the HIV pandemic in New York City. Their work in the Intensive Care Unit at the former Roosevelt Hospital, located on Manhattan’s west side, marked a turning point—not only in their professional lives but in the broader landscape of global healthcare.
Ellen and Valery’s journey to Roosevelt Hospital and the events that unfolded there profoundly impacted both their careers and the world at large. Their approach to caring for individuals infected with HIV shaped their views on nursing, compelling them and their colleagues to take a stand and make their voices heard. The stories documented in their book reveal the challenges, resilience, and dedication required in the face of a relentless epidemic.
Spanning the years from approximately 1979 to 1999, Nurses on the Inside offers deeply personal narratives that are, at times, intensely emotional and distressing. Ellen and Valery wrote this book to ensure these experiences are not forgotten and to remind the world of the impact and significance of this period in medical history.

To reserve a copy of Nurses on the Inside (independently published, June 18, 2025, paperback, $22.99) please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve Nurses on the Inside for January 10 event” in the subject line.
Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!
You can also purchase Nurses on the Inside (click on link below) on our online shop at bookshop.com/shop/bgsqd:
Nurses on the Inside

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.
Registration is not required. Seating is first come, first served.

The Bureau will solicit donations at the beginning of the event—we especially encourage donations from those who do not plan to purchase any books.
All are welcome to attend, with or without a donation.
We will pass a bag for donations at the start of the event, but we can also take credit card donations at the register or on Venmo @BGSQD
Even better: sign up to make a monthly tax-deductible donation to the Bureau!
Thank you for committing to sustaining this vital project!

Ellen Matzer, RN, and Valery Hughes, FNP, RN (retired), were both born in the 1950s and entered the nursing profession just two years apart. Fate would later bring them to the same hospital in New York City in the late 1970s, where they began caring for a growing cluster of young men presenting with a troubling and unfamiliar constellation of symptoms. The cases were concerning, yet baffling.
What Ellen and Valery did not know at the time was that they were witnessing the earliest emergence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in New York City. In an era before social media, computers, or cell phones, information traveled slowly, and they initially believed this mysterious illness might be confined to their own intensive care unit. Only later did it become clear that similar cases were appearing across the United States and around the world.
For decades, Ellen and Valery remained on the frontlines of HIV/AIDS care, providing skilled nursing, compassion, and advocacy through a period marked by fear, stigma, and profound loss. They continued their work until AIDS evolved from a fatal diagnosis into a treatable, outpatient chronic condition.
Their lived experiences are documented in their book, Nurses on the Inside: Stories from the Frontlines of the AIDS Epidemic, first released in 2019 and reissued in 2025 with updated forewords. Today, Ellen and Valery remain active advocates and educators within the LGBTQ community and speak frequently about the lived realities of the earliest years of the epidemic, ensuring that the history, lessons, and humanity of that era are not forgotten.
