Griffin Hansbury in Conversation with Eileen Myles (in person & live-streaming)
2025-04-10 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Celebrating the paperback launch of his Stonewall Award-winning novel Some Strange Music Draws Me In, Griffin Hansbury will read and talk with acclaimed author Eileen Myles. Topics may include: trans life across generations, growing up working class, Boston accents, queer pessimism, the 1980s, Patti Smith, escaping the suburbs, queer survival in MAGA families.
To reserve a copy of Some Strange Music Draws Me In (W. W. Norton and Company, April 15, 2025, paperback, $18.99) please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve Some Strange Music for April 10 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

About Some Strange Music Draws Me In:
This provocative novel tells an emotionally gripping story about friendship, family, and transgender awakening in a working-class American town. It’s the summer of 1984 in Swaffham, Massachusetts, when Mel (short for Melanie) meets Sylvia, a tough-as-nails trans woman whose shameless swagger inspires Mel’s dawning self-awareness. But Sylvia’s presence sparks fury among her neighbors and throws Mel into conflict with her mother and best friend. Decades later in Trump’s America, Max (formerly Mel) is on probation from his teaching job for, ironically, defying speech codes around trans identity. Back in Swaffham, he must navigate life as part of a fractured family and face his own role in the disasters of the past.
Praise for Some Strange Music Draws Me In:
“One of the best works of literary fiction I’ve read not just this year but in the last several.” – Drew Broussard, Lit Hub
“At once an analysis of gender, sex, and, yes, class, it’s also populated with characters so real you’ll wish you could hang out with them and keep them safe.” – Rufus Hickock, BUST Magazine
“This gorgeous, propulsive novel is filled with beauty and danger, youth and wisdom and the life-saving lifelines of counterculture. With writing so tense and honest and real, I recognized this place and these people deeply, and felt them all in my heart long after the book was finished.” – Michelle Tea, author of Knocking Myself Up
“I loved this devastating marvel of a book.” – Andrea Lawlor, author of Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl
“From the first brilliant sentence I knew I was going to love this book, and I did. Griffin’s writing is poetic and searching and I felt like I had lived these characters’ lives even though we’re worlds apart.” – Ariel Schrag, author of Adam
“This funny, defiant, and passionate novel will make you want to play Patti Smith’s Horses at full volume as a soundtrack while you’re still reading. Some Strange Music Draws Me In is the coming-of-age, reckoning-with-gender story we have all needed for decades, the kind that can change and save your life.” – James Hannaham, author of Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta
https://griffinhansburywriter.com/some-strange-music-draws-me-in/

Griffin Hansbury (he/him) is the author of Vanishing New York and Feral City (as Jeremiah Moss). A Pushcart Prize and Stonewall Book Award winner, his writing has appeared in several publications, including n+1, the New York Times, the New Yorker and Paris Review. He works as a psychoanalyst in Manhattan.

Eileen Myles (they/them) is a poet, novelist, and art journalist whose practice of vernacular first-person writing has made them one of the most recognized writers of their generation. Pathetic Literature, which they edited, came out in Fall of 2022. a “Working Life”, their newest collection of poems, is out now. They live in New York and in Marfa, Texas.

lesbian book club: April edition (in person only)
2025-04-12 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 April 12th meeting, we’ll read Bessie Smith: A Poet’s Biography of a Blues Legend by Jackie Kay (Vintage, 2021, paperback, $16.95). Purchase a copy from the Bureau before April 12th and receive a 15% discount ($14.41 instead of $16.95). 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.

Queerbook Picture Day (in person only)
2025-04-12 15:00 - 18:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
This is the last picture day event for the first year of Queerbook project. Everyone from the LGBTQIA+ community is welcome to have their portrait taken to be included in the project.
Queerbook is a cyanotype print portrait series created by Daniel Cavanaugh. Reminiscent of school portraits, somewhere between documentation and representation, the series is attempts to offer the LGBTQIA+ community an opportunity to present as themselves and honor each other. The series began during Pride weekend of 2024 during a free picture day provided by the artist at Colorway Studios in Brooklyn. So far throughout the year, over 120+ people have sat for the Queerbook portrait series, the Class of 2024-2025.
Please join us at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division for this picture day on April 12, 2025 from 3 to 6pm and sit for your portrait. All are welcome, as time permits.
A selection of the series is currently on display at the Bureau as part of a group exhibition entitled, What Are You Looking At?

Future Queer: an Introduction to José Muñoz (in-person Brooklyn Institute for Social Research course)
2025-04-14 18:30 - 21:30, 2025-04-21 18:30 - 21:30, 2025-04-28 18:30 - 21:30 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
The Brooklyn Institute for Social Research presents Future Queer: an Introduction to José Muñoz at the Bureau
Instructor: Hannah Leffingwell
“Queerness is not yet here,” José Esteban Muñoz declares. And yet, his work is animated by sympathetic, often exuberant explorations and nuanced analyses of queer performance and queer activism—from the evanescent installations of Felix Gonzales-Torres to the reparative performances of Nao Bustamante. What does it mean, then, to propose that queerness has yet to arrive? What are the dimensions of normativity—political, aesthetic, temporal—that seek to forestall it? And with what tools might queerness be, eventually, realized? Drawing on a wide variety of thinkers, concepts, and discourses, from Ernst Bloch to Lauren Berlant, from “structures of feeling” to “counterpublics,” from psychoanalysis to theories of race, sexuality, and performance, Muñoz takes an interdisciplinary and decidedly optimistic approach to queerness as a horizon of radical potentiality. Whether breaking new ground with his theory of disidentification—an anti-normative orientation for queers and people of color that both embraces and subverts stereotypes—or attending to the potency of gesture in drag and dance, Muñoz helps us envision and construct queer worlds using materials scavenged from the normative trappings of identity. If queerness is not here yet, how, thinking with Muñoz, can we bring it about?
In this course we’ll read from José Muñoz’s classic Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity, examining along the way other essays by him and work by the artists he cites, including, among others, Bustamante, Gonzalez-Torres, Amiri Baraka, Frank O’Hara, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. We’ll ask: how does “disidentification” traverse the dual allure of identification with and transgression of dominant cultural meanings? What strategies does aesthetics offer, if what we are seeking is a rearrangement of everyday practices as well as structural and communal change? How might theory itself be re-conceptualized from the perspective of artistic practices? And how might our own engagement—or disidentification—with contemporary discourses bring about queerness in the here and now?
“Future Queer: an Introduction to José Muñoz (In-Person)” is being held in partnership with the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, an all-volunteer queer cultural center, bookstore, and event space hosted by The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center. For a limited time, the Bureau is selling José Muñoz’s Cruising Utopia at a 20% discount ($22.40 instead of $28)—just mention the course when purchasing in-store!
Course Schedule
Monday, 6:30-9:30pm ET*
April 07 — April 28, 2025
4 weeks
$335.00
Three scholarship spaces are reserved for each course, because we realize that not everyone can afford to pay the full fee. Students who cannot pay the full fee should email us at info@thebrooklyninstitute.com to learn about our scholarship options. We will not ask questions about your financial situation, but we do ask that you use the system in good faith and consider the needs of other students and faculty members.
Register here!
*Please note: the Bureau is not open on Mondays. We will open for this course at 6 PM.
Image: David Wojnarowicz, Science Lesson (detail), 1982-83.

2025 Publishing Triangle Awards Finalists Reading (in person & live-streaming)
2025-04-16 18:30 - 20:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
The Publishing Triangle presents its Awards Finalists Reading on Wednesday, April 16, the day before the 2025 Publishing Triangle awards ceremony. Join host Rob Byrnes as he welcomes RK Fauth, Joshua Garcia, Omotara James, Ruben Reyes Jr., and Margot Douaihy as they read from some of the best LGBTQ+ fiction and poetry published in 2024.

***
Specific books and awards:
Audre Lorde Award for Lesbian Poetry
Song of My Softening, by Omotara James (Alice James Books)
A Dream in Which I Am Playing with Bees, by RK Fauth (Texas Tech University Press)
Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBTQ+ Fiction
There is a Rio Grande in Heaven, by Ruben Reyes Jr. (Mariner Books)
Thom Gunn for Gay Poetry
Pentimento, by Joshua Garcia (Black Lawrence Press)

Joseph Hansen Award for LGBTQ+ Crime Writing
Blessed Water, by Margot Douaihy (Zando/Gillian Flynn Books)

To reserve a copy of any of these books, please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve a book/books for April 16th event” in the subject line. And let us know the title(s) of the book(s) in the body of the email.

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

Crossings: Creative Ecologies of Cruising, by João Florêncio & Liz Rosenfeld—Book Launch (in person only)
2025-04-18 19:00 - 21:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Join us to celebrate the publication of João Florêncio & Liz Rosenfeld’s new book Crossings: Creative Ecologies of Cruising. A creative dialogue between a queer artist and a queer academic reminiscing about and thinking with their cruising experiences, Crossings takes queer sex practices and cultures seriously as ways of knowing and world-making. The result is an erotic hybrid form hovering between scholarship and avant-garde experimentation, between critical manifesto and sex memoir. Here, the voices of each author, merged together in one, invite the reader to inhabit the erotic spacetime between self and other, the familiar and the strange, desire and pleasure, climax and release. That is, the spaces and temporalities of cruising itself.

“Finally, a book about cruising that is actually about friendship—sex and sensibility, desire as gateway to more connection, more critical engagement, more dreaming. Yes, Crossings rescues cruising from the drudgery of hyper-individualist masculinist posturing, invoking the sweet caress of ruined bodies against policing in all its forms. Guidebook, ode, invocation, and creative intervention, it’s all here in this tender faggotry.”
—Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, author of Touching the Art

The event will feature introductory words by Shaka McGlotten and Grace Lavery, followed by a performance reading of book excerpts by the authors, and a book signing.

To reserve a copy of CROSSINGS (Rutgers University Press, April 15, 2025, paperback, $22.95), please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve CROSSINGS for April 18th” in the subject line.

The event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, 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

JOÃO FLORÊNCIO is professor of gender studies and chair of the sex media and sex cultures research area at Linköping University, Sweden. He is the author of Bareback Porn, Porous Masculinities, Queer Futures: The Ethics of Becoming-Pig.
LIZ ROSENFELD is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, and educator. Born in New York City, they are based in Berlin.
GRACE LAVERY is a writer and academic. She is the author of several books, including Pleasure and Efficacy: Of Pen Names, Cover Versions, and Other Trans Techniques.
Shaka McGlotten is the author of Dragging: Or, in the Drag of a Queer Life and Virtual Intimacies: Media, Affect, and Queer Sociality. They teach media studies and anthropology at Purchase College-SUNY, where they also serve as Chair of the Gender Studies program.

Q&A and Book Signing: The LGBTQ+ Travel Guide for Lonely Planet by Alicia Valenski (in person only)
2025-04-23 19:00 - 21:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Join us for an exciting evening at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division as we celebrate Lonely Planet’s The LGBTQ+ Travel Guide: Interviews, Itineraries, & Inspiration from Insiders in 50 Proud Places Around the Globe written by queer, neurodivergent travel author Alicia Valenski. Alicia will be joined in conversation by Ed Salvato, an LGBTQ+ tourism industry author and educator interviewed about his expertise in the book’s introduction and conclusion.

The LGBTQ+ Travel Guide centers around people, not just places, with LGBTQ+ locals in each place offering personal portraits, in their own words, of what makes their destination sparkle.
Queer community members from different backgrounds and walks of life offer honest, helpful insights for LGBTQ+ travelers planning to visit their city, along with inspiration for armchair travelers around the world.
The LGBTQ+ Travel Guide includes:

50+ LGBTQ+ travel destinations around the world where the queer community can thrive outside of just Pride parades in the USA, Europe, Africa, South America, Asia, Canada, Australia, and more
Insider recommendations and travel tips from LGBTQ+ locals and tastemakers highlighting queer-owned businesses and queer-friendly experiences and excursions throughout
Stunning photography and beautifully illustrated maps for each destination, featuring color-coded points of interest
Intimate interviews that bring the reader into LGBTQ+ communities in a personal way with honest, helpful insights for queer travelers planning to visit their city, along with inspiration for armchair travelers around the world

Packed with practical information on what to see and do, and sprinkled with dozens of insider travel tips and inspiration, The LGBTQ+ Travel Guide is for readers who don’t let their gender expression or sexual orientation hold them back from seeing all the beauty in the world.

To reserve a copy of The LGBTQ+ Travel Guide (Lonely Planet, March 18, 2025, hardcover, $30), write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve The LGBTQ+ Travel Guide for April 23rd event” in the subject line.
Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!

The Q&A will run from 7:30-8:15 p.m. Guests are welcome to arrive from 7 p.m., and there will be time after the chat for a book signing from 8:15-9 p.m.

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

About the speakers:
Alicia Valenski (she/her) is an American travel writer and the author of The LGBTQ+ Travel Guide with Lonely Planet. With a journalism degree from Penn State, Alicia cut her teeth as a writer and editor at the Charlotte Observer before rising to the lofty heights of senior editor at theSkimm. Now, she’s navigating life in the Netherlands with her partner, their dog, and a GPS that’s forever confused by the country’s endless bike paths. You can find her on Substack at aliciavalenski.substack.com or on social media at @aliciavalenski.

Ed Salvato is a leading LGBTQ travel expert whose work for over 25 years has centered on the safety, concerns, and evolving needs of LGBTQ travelers. As former editor-in-chief of OUT Traveler and ManAboutWorld, and editor of the groundbreaking Out & About gay travel newsletter, Ed has long provided vital information and insights for queer travelers navigating a complex world. He co-authored The Handbook of LGBT Tourism & Hospitality, and has advised destinations, hotels, travel advisors and travel brands on creating truly inclusive and welcoming experiences. He served for six years on the board of the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association (IGLTA), including five years as Treasurer.

Ed speaks globally on LGBTQ travel safety and inclusion and is a professor of tourism and hospitality at New York University’s Tisch Center of Hospitality, where, in addition to his regular course load, he created the first course dedicated to inclusion and belonging in tourism. He is proud that his contributions have been included in the LGBTQ+ Travel Guide and grateful to be included in this important conversation.

Warhol Superstar, Jackie Curtis Undressed: Joey Preston in Conversation (in person only)
2025-04-25 19:00 - 20:00 | Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
This event celebrates the release of Jackie Curtis Undressed, a memoir by Joey Preston, Jackie Curtis’s cousin and executor. In his new book, Preston shares a collection of stories and memories that paint an intimate portrait of his famous cousin—the legendary downtown performance artist and Warhol superstar, Jackie Curtis.
In conversation with researcher Jenny Mohan, Preston will reflect on his first-hand experiences of Jackie’s meteoric rise in the downtown art scene, alongside a generation of other iconic talents. The memoir also delves into the lives of their unconventional family, particularly their renowned grandmother, Slugger Ann, whose East Village bar was a cornerstone in both cousins’ lives.
The event will feature select materials from the Jackie Curtis Papers, part of The Center Archive, offering a unique glimpse into Jackie’s world.

To reserve a copy of Jackie Curtis Undressed (paperback, $16.95), write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve Jackie Curtis Undressed for April 25th 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.

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

Joey Preston is a lifetime native New Yorker as well as Executor to the Estate of his First Cousin and Godfather, Warhol Star, Jackie Curtis. After decades of supporting Jackie’s work and memory, Joey has emerged as a two-time author who reflects on his interpersonal and professional experiences as witnessed through his eyes and feelings of a close family member.
Joey has always spent his life in the support of Jackie, not only during their family and professional lives together, but also in the public sharing of Jackie’s memory through stage managing, directing, producing for stage and film, speaking engagements, as well as Associate Producer of the major film documentary, “Superstar In A Housedress – The Life and Legend of Jackie Curtis”.
As keeper of the legal flame, Joey continues to represent Jackie’s literary plays and poetry after four decades since Jackie’s death. Jackie’s archival files are now permanently available for review at the LGBT Center in New York City for posterity and future generations to enjoy.

Two Books in One Year (in person & live-streaming)
2025-04-26 15:00 - 16:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Launching a debut novel (Rabbis of the Garden State) and a debut book of poetry (It Wasn’t Easy to Reach You), both from Dan Meltz, who will be in conversation with Rob Byrnes.
To reserve a copy of Rabbis of the Garden State (Rattling Good Yarns Press, May 6, 2025, paperback, $18.95) and/or It Wasn’t Easy to Reach You (Trail to Table, February 14, 2025, paperback, $20), please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve book for April 26 event” in the subject line and let us know which book in the body of the email.
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

Dan Meltz was raised in the low-rent reaches of Jersey, 16 minutes from Times Square, and has lived in Manhattan for fifty years. He’s a retired technical writer and teacher of Deaf young people, with a B.A. from Columbia (no honors). Both his first book of poems, “It Wasn’t Easy to Reach You,” from Trail to Table, and his first novel, “Rabbis of the Garden State,” from Rattling Good Yarns, have been published in 2025.

Rob Byrnes is the Lambda Literary Award-winning author of six novels and several short stories and essays. He has been a member of The Publishing Triangle Steering Committee for more than a decade, and currently serves as Treasurer. He has been inducted into the Saints & Sinners Literary Festival Hall of Fame and has been recognized with a Gay City News Impact Award and inclusion on City & State NY’s annual “Gay Power 100” list.

Strange & Unyielding Spring Launch: Amber Dawn + Anton Solomonik + Dia Felix + Emily Zhou (in person only)
2025-04-27 15:00 - 17:30 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
It’s a freaky, filthy, and likely rage fueled get-together. It’s also a book launch. Little Puss Press and Arsenal Pulp press join forces to bring you: Anton Solomonik, with his debut book Realistic Fiction; and Amber Dawn with her new poetry collection—Buzzkill Clamshell, along with Emily Zhou and Dia Felix to up the literary unruliness.
Readings to be followed by a book signing.
To reserve any of the above titles, please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve book(s) for April 27 event,” and please let us know which titles you’d like us to reserve for you in the body of the email.
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

What are people saying?
About Realistic Fiction: “My heart overflows at this long-awaited story collection, which blends Sonic the Hedgehog aesthetics with the exacting interior investigations of a trans Thomas Mann, and which answers that question through unforgettable narrators who passionately strive to become less than they are, and who fail.”
—Jeanne Thornton, Lambda Award-winning author of Summer Fun and A/S/L

About a body more tolerable: “a sophomore collection that creeps, howls, floats, shatters. an Indigenous speaker grapples with survival, the foster care system, the body, conceptions of motherhood, and trans girlhood in this heart-wrenching leap that returns what is most precious to us through lush language and keen lyricism.”
–Kinsale Drake, National Poetry Series-winning author of The Sky Was Once a Dark Blanket

About Buzzkill Clamshell: “The poems in Buzzkill Clamshell showcase the author’s trademark wit and emotional range as they map the terrain of sexuality, aging, chronic illness, and trauma with gorgeous language that is somehow both shocking and subtle.”
-Kai Cheng Thom, author of Falling Back in Love With Being Human

Participants’ bios:
Anton Solomonik is a writer and illustrator living in Brooklyn. He’s the co-host of the World Transsexual Forum, a discussion panel and open mic series for trans writers and artists. His first book, Realistic Fiction, launches in April 2025 by LittlePuss Press.

Amber Dawn is a writer and creative facilitator living on unceded Coast Salish Territories (Vancouver, BC). She is the author of several books, including two novels (Lambda Literary Award winner Sub Rosa and Sodom Road Exit) and two poetry collections (Where the words end and my body begins and My Art Is Killing Me and Other Poems).

Dia Felix is a writer and media producer currently living in the Hudson River Valley.

Emily Zhou‘s first book, Girlfriends, won the 2023 Publishing Triangle’s Leslie Feinberg Award and was a finalist for the 2023 Lambda Literary Award in Transgender Fiction. She is the “Editrix-At-Large” at LittlePuss Press and a fiction editor at Joyland Magazine. Her shorter writing has appeared in Literary Hub, e-flux journal, Xtra, Club Curran, and a few other places. She lives in New York.

Opening Reception for My Romantic Ideal (in person only)
2025-05-01 18:00 - 20:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
My Romantic Ideal
A Queer Photography exhibition curated by Slava Mogutin
May 1 – August 31, 2025
Opening reception: Thursday, May 1, 6-8 PM
Bureau of General Services—Queer Division
Room 210 of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W 13th Street, NYC 10011
Featured Artists
Alejandro Ruiz (US-Mexico) @alexandroruixx
Ben Prince (US) @benprinceusa
Benjamin Fredrickson (US) @benjaminfredrickson2
Brian Kenny (US) @briankennny
Bruce LaBruce (Canada) @brucelabruce
Cameron Lee Phan (Vietnam-US) @cameronleephan
Carter Peabody (US-Mexico) @carter_pbd
Donovan Quiroz (Mexico) @dnvn1
Francis Schichtel (US) @francis_schichtel
Gerardo Vizmanos (Spain-Germany) @gerardovizmanos
Gio Black Peter (Guatemala-US) @gioblackpeter11
Jan Wandrag (South Africa-US) @janwandrag
Łukasz Leja (Poland-US) @lukaszleja
Luke Abby (UK-Germany) @lukeabby
Matt Lambert (US-Germany) @dielamb
Miguel Villalobos (Venezuela-US) @miguelvillalobosnyc
Paul Mpagi Sepuya (US) @pagmi
Quil Lemons (US) @quillemons
Robert Flynt (US) @robertflyntfoto
Ross Collab (US) @rosscollab
Scott Hug (US) @mr._hug
Slava Mogutin (Russia-US) @slavamogutin
Stanley Stellar (US) @stellar.fse
Stuart Sandford (UK-Mexico) @stuartsandford
Tom Bianchi (US) @tombianchi
Tony Solis (Mexico) @tonysolisyosoy
Tyler Matthew Oyer (US) @tmostudio
Victor Jeffreys II (US) @victorjeﬀreysii
Curatorial statement:
My Romantic Ideal is a queer photography exhibition that explores the intersections of intimacy, desire, and identity in the contemporary landscape of escalating culture wars, with state-sponsored, religious and corporate homophobia and censorship on the rise on both sides of the Atlantic.
As queer artists, we occupy spaces where love and lust collide, where fantasy and reality dissolve, and where the body becomes both a site of pleasure and protest. This collection of work from 28 emerging and established photographers—each with their unique vision, background, and experience—offers a kaleidoscopic view into the multifaceted and often contradictory nature of queer romance.
The title of the exhibition reflects the tension between societal expectations of romance and the deeply personal, rebellious, and liberating expressions of love and desire that queer artists present. Romantic ideals have historically been dictated and shaped by heteronormative frameworks, but here, we subvert and redefine them through a queer lens. Each artist challenges, queers, and reclaims the concept of romanticism in their own way, whether through intimate portraiture, raw documentation of lived experiences, or surreal, dreamlike compositions.
As a curator, I aimed to gather a selection of artists whose work resonates with the complexities of queer love, desire, and identity in their many forms. These photographers are not simply documenting a queer reality—they are creating new paradigms of romanticism, fueled by their journeys and passions. Together, their works form a vibrant intergenerational dialogue about the politics of love, the performance of romance, and the transformative power of queer eroticism.
My Romantic Ideal is not just an exhibition of photography, but a declaration of the many ways we, as queer artists, claim and redefine love—on our own terms, with all its contradictions, joys, and struggles.

FORGOTTEN ANGELS - A Matter of Honor Lesbian Nurses during the Vietnam War (in person & live-streaming)
2025-05-02 19:00 - 20:30 | Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
An Award Winning New Stage and Film Project by Lesbian Writer, Director, Producer Ann P Meredith
Produced by Swordfish Productions Pictures & Theatricals
Winner 1st Place Open Meadows Foundation Nancy Dean Lesbian Playwright and the Don and Bruce Brown Foundation’s Donna R Burnes Award
SCRIPTED PERFORMANCE – May 2nd, 2025, 7-8:30pm
Cast – Lisa Davis, Anne Marie Cicciu, & Ann Meredith

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

VIETNAM: the most Unpopular & Disliked War in the History of our Country
Shockingly 11,000 U. S. Women Served in this Most Hated War
231,741 Women are 17.3 % of the Military Active-Duty Force
171,000 Women are 21.4% of the National Guard & Reserves
29,000 are Lesbian & 39,900 Women Reported Sexual Assaults

Women in the Military Face Unique Challenges
Retention, Military Sexual Assault, Gender Discrimination, Murder, Under & Unpaid Salaries, Illegal Discharges, Inadequate Healthcare 80% of LGBTQ Sexual Harassment Bias-Hate Crimes

For More Information Contact: Swordfish Productions Pictures & Theatricals +1.917.806.9078
www.annpmeredith.com
annpmeredith7@gmail.com
specialfilm@gmail.com

Immigrating to the Netherlands for Queer and Trans Folks (in person & live-streaming)
2025-05-03 15:00 - 17:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
A workshop for queer and trans Americans who would like information about immigrating to the relatively safe haven of the Netherlands, a country that is consistently ranked at the top of world rule-of-law indices.
Jeremy Bierbach, a queer immigration lawyer qualified at the bar of Amsterdam, and himself an immigrant from the United States, will explain everything about the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty (often called the “DAFT”), a treaty that makes it relatively easy for any US citizen to get a residence permit (a long-term visa) for the Netherlands for the purpose of being an entrepreneur (i.e. as a business owner or freelancer); a US citizen can also be joined by their spouse or partner, even if that person is not a US citizen and even if they are not married or legally partnered.
Immigrating this way also provides a path, after five years’ residence, to long-term resident status (i.e. a “green card” for the EU) and even citizenship. Subjects covered will include the immigration procedure itself, as well as issues relating to recognition of name and gender changes and the health care system. There will be plenty of time for Q&A.

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

Jeremy Bierbach (he/him) is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 2001, Jeremy emigrated to the Netherlands, where he studied law at the University of Amsterdam and became an attorney specialized in EU civil rights law and Dutch immigration and citizenship law. He lives with his husband in Zaandam, just outside Amsterdam.

Between Worlds, Between Words — poets in conversation with Irena Klepfisz (in person & live-streaming)
2025-05-04 15:00 - 17:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Between Worlds, Between Words
The Polish Cultural Institute New York and exquisites queer and trans reading series are excited to announce “Between Worlds, Between Words,” an afternoon of poetry and conversation celebrating the work of Irena Klepfisz taking place on Sunday, May 4th, 3pm, at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division. Irena Klepsfisz is the author of several poetry collections including her newest publication, Pomiedzy swiatami/Between Worlds: Selected Poems and Essays, translated in English and Polish.
The afternoon at the Bureau will feature cross-generational readings by queer Jewish poets Ariel Goldberg, Clairette Atri Mizrahi, Ayaz O. Muratoglu, and Irena Klepfisz. Following the readings there will be a conversation moderated by danilo machado and Em Marie Kohl of exquisites, touching upon themes of diaspora, identity, and translation. Audience members will be able to participate in a Q&A and enjoy the opportunity to mingle after the event at the Bureau, with refreshments provided by the Polish Cultural Institute New York. This event is free, with suggested donations supporting the Bureau.

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

More about the participants and organizers:
Irena Klepfisz is a lesbian poet, essayist, translator, activist and a practicing secular Jew. She was a co-founder and co-editor of the ground breaking Conditions magazine, co-editor of The Tribe of Dina, and promoter and translator of the works of Yiddish women writers. She taught Jewish Women’s Studies at Barnard College for 22 years and English and Women’s Studies at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for women. She has focused much of her activism on reconciliation between Jews and Palestinians. Her recent work Her Birth and Later Years: Poems New and Collected 1971-2021 was the winner of the Audre Lorde Lesbian Poetry Prize from the Publishing Triangle and a finalist for the 2022 Jewish Book Council prize in poetry. In 2024, a bilingual edition of her poetry and prose appeared in Poland titled Pomiedzy swiatami/Between Worlds and published by slowo/obraz terytoria.

Ariel Goldberg is a writer, curator, and educator devoted to trans and queer lineages and lesser-known histories of photography. Goldberg’s books include The Estrangement Principle (Nightboat Books, 2016) and The Photographer (Roof Books, 2015). Their exhibition Images on which to build, 1970s-1990s was on view from 2022-2024 in at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, Leslie-Lohman Museum in NYC, and the Chicago Cultural Center. Goldberg was a recipient of the 2020 Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Book Grant and a 2024 Diamonstein-Spielvogel Fellow at the New York Public Library, to support their book-in-progress on trans and queer image cultures of the late 20th century. A proud member of ACT-UAW 7902, Goldberg has taught at Bard College, The New School, New York University, Pratt Institute, Cooper Union, and Rutgers University. Goldberg is in the Winter 2025 Apprenticeship Program at the New York Peace Institute and works independently as a Conflict Mediator.

Clairette Atri Mizrahi studied Social Psychology at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). She holds an MFA in Creative Writing in Spanish from New York University and is currently working on her PhD in Critical Social / Personality Psychology at the Graduate Center (CUNY) in NYC. Her first poetry collection, De la Boca de Mi Madre (self-published), explores the intergenerational saying-without-saying, an alternative way of using language, of Syrian-Jewish women in Mexico. Her theater script Nunca estás y estás has been selected for various staged readings and play development programs including Cimientos (2024) at IATI Theater and DramaLab (2019) at King Juan Carlos I Center.

Ayaz Orme Muratoglu is a poet, critic, and translator working between Istanbul and New York. From 2022-24, he worked as an audio and technical manager at the Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church, and he curated and edited the 2023-24 chapbook series for the feminist poetry press Belladonna*. Ayaz was born on a Tuesday in April.

exquisites is a Brooklyn-based queer and trans poetry series co-founded by Em Marie Kohl and danilo machado. Since 2022, exquisites has hosted over 170 poets at their collectively-curated first Thursday readings held in community spaces throughout Brooklyn. For April-August 2025, exquisites monthly readings will be at Aberdeen Community Garden in Bushwick. Exquisites also hosts workshops and, to date, has published four anthologies. exquisites has received support from the Brooklyn Arts Council (2023, 2024) and Poets & Writers (2023-2025), and is a fiscally-sponsored community project with Fractured Atlas.

Polish Cultural Institute New York, established in 2000, is a diplomatic mission to the United States serving under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland. The mission of the Polish Cultural Institute New York is to share Polish heritage, history and art with American audiences, and to promote Poland’s contributions to the success of world culture.

Book Reading: Exiting the Bluegrass Turnpike by Benjamin Rue Silliman (in person & live-streaming)
2025-05-08 19:00 - 20:45 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Benjamin Rue Silliman reads from his debut novel Exiting the Bluegrass Turnpike, a story about a kid being outed in high school in Kentucky, and the kindness and love from an unexpected friend. He will be joined in conversation by Maria Pirrone.

“Exiting the Bluegrass Turnpike is a fierce and tender page-turner about a young man’s journey from darkness towards authenticity. Silliman’s heartfelt and perceptive story is needed now more than ever—an urgent reminder of how compassion and kindness can save lives.” – Jonathan Corcoran – Author of No Son of Mine: A Memoir (April 2024)

To reserve a copy of Exiting the Bluegrass Turnpike (Rabbit House Press, March 4, 2025, paperback, $17.95) please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve Exiting the Bluegrass Turnpike for May 8 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

Benjamin Rue Silliman is the author of Exiting the Bluegrass Turnpike. Born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky, and is a graduate of Ole Miss, NYU, Columbia, and North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Benjamin is an accounting professor (and department chair) at St. John’s University. He is married to his husband Frank. This is his debut novel.

Maria M. Pirrone, Esq., CPA, is an associate professor of accountancy at St. John’s University in the Tobin College of Business. Maria has published numerous articles in the field of taxation in theJournal of AccountancyandCPA Journal; she and Benjamin are currently collaborating on an article focusing on the fifty years of the Earned Income Tax Credit. Maria is a triple alumna of St. John’s, including a J.D., and holds a graduate degree in tax law from New York Law School.

Craig Smith and Ben Wise: The Collection (in person & live-streaming)
2025-05-09 19:00 - 21:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Join authors Craig Smith and Ben Wise for a discussion of their book The Collection (2024). The Collection features matchbooks collected at gay clubs, bars, hotels, and restaurants in the United States between 1971-1982. The matchbooks were collected by Larry Blagg and eventually archived in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Collection at Cornell University. Smith and Wise discovered Blagg’s collection at Cornell while conducting research into the lyrics, legislation, and literature that stigmatizes marginalized communities in the United States and abroad. They photographed the collection on-site at Cornell in 2023 and this new book was finished in the Summer of 2024. A second, limited edition book entitled American Ace was also created and published by Invisible Hand Press (Tivoli, NY) featuring sixty-two matchbook reproductions made with two-color risograph print technology, including a letterpress cover with hand painted gold tint emblem. Smith and Wise’s presentation will address the contemporary actions at the local, state, and federal level that perpetuate stigma and consider other book projects utilizing archives to explore the cultural epochs that shape community.
The Collection book features sixty-six full color photo-lithography reproductions of the matchbooks in a hardcover with dust jacket. The books were made in an edition of 1000, with Smith and Wise designing the book with Shapco Press in Minneapolis who also handled the printing. Both The Collection and American Ace will be available for purchase at the event.

To reserve a copy of both/either The Collection (Shapco Printing, 2024, hardcover, $75) and/or American Ace (Invisible Hand Press, 2024, paperback, $75), please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve a copy of [title(s)] for May 9th event.”
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

Dr. Craig Smith is an American media artist whose art and research focuses on the process, aesthetics, and ethics of human‐to‐human interactivity in contemporary art, especially photography, sound, and socially engaged performances. Smith has been awarded grants from numerous organizations including the New York State Council on the Arts as well as the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Smith’s published books about art practice and social engagement include Relational Art: A Guided Tour (2024) with Bloomsbury Publishing, LLC, the Training Manual for Relational Art (2009) by CEPA Gallery, as well as On the Subject of the Photographic (2007) by the University of the Arts London.
Smith’s exhibitions of photography, live sound performances, lectures, and other art media have been featured at an international range of museums, galleries, art fairs, athletic facilities, and financial organizations including the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., PS1 MOMA Contemporary Art Institute in New York, The Tate Modern in London, The George Eastman House in Rochester, the Cantor Film Center (NYU), the Hudson River Museum, the Mao Live House (Beijing), CAFA (Beijing) and the Burchfield Penney Art Center (Buffalo) as well as galleries and art fairs including CEPA Gallery (Buffalo), Galerie Schuster Photo (Berlin), the Douglas Hyde Gallery (Dublin), RARE Art (New York), SCM Hong Kong, ARTSPACE Sydney, The Kent Gallery and White Columns (New York), Elsewhere Museum, and the Scope Art fairs in London, New York, and Miami.
Smith has held teaching positions at numerous universities and colleges including New York University, Goldsmiths College, and the London College of Communication (University of the Arts London). Smith joined the University of Florida in 2010.

Associate Professor Ben Wise (Ph.D. Rice University, 2008) is a historian of modern America, and specializes in southern history, gender and sexuality, and cultural history. He joined the History Department at the University of Florida as an Assistant Professor after teaching at Harvard University and holding a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
His first book, William Alexander Percy: The Curious Life of a Mississippi Planter and Sexual Freethinker, was published by the University of North Carolina Press in 2012. In 2009 he was awarded the C. Vann Woodward Prize for the best dissertation in the field of southern history. His research has been supported by grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina, and the Regional Humanities Center at Tulane University. His articles have appeared in The Journal of American Studies, Southern Cultures, The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, The William Mitchell Law Review, and in the edited volume, Southern Masculinity: Perspectives on Manhood in the South Since Reconstruction.

lesbian book club: May edition (in person only)
2025-05-10 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 May 10th meeting, we’ll discuss Courting Justice: Gay Men and Lesbians V. the Supreme Court by Joyce Murdoch and Deb Price (Basic Books, paperback, 2002). Joyce Murdoch will join us to talk about her book.
For our June 14th meeting, we’ll read If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho, translated by Ann Carson (Vintage, paperback, 2003, $20). Purchase a copy before June 14th, 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.

Center Closing at 5 PM
2025-05-14 13:00 - 17:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Our host, The LGBT Community Center, will close at 5 PM on Wednesday, May 14th.
So the Bureau will only be open from 1 to 5 PM on May 15th.

OUTspoken: The Publishing Triangle’s Reading Series, May Edition (in person & live-streaming)
2025-05-15 19:00 - 20:30 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
The Publishing Triangle presents its monthly OUTspoken Reading Series as host Carol Rosenfeld welcomes Christopher Bollen, Griffin Hansbury, Keetje Kuipers, Sue Landers, Esther Lin, and Robert Raasch.

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

Queer Happened Here by Marc Zinaman with Ande Whyland (in person and live-streaming)
2025-05-22 19:00 - 21:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Celebrate the release of Queer Happened Here: 100 Years of NYC’s Landmark LGBTQ+ Places with author Marc Zinaman and special guest and book contributor Ande Whyland to celebrate the iconic queer spaces that have shaped LGBTQ+ culture, community, and activism for decades.
7 pm: Doors Open
7:15 – 8 pm: Marc Zinaman in conversation with Ande Whyland
8 – 8.15 pm: Audience Q & A
8.15 – 9 pm: Book Signing and Sales
9 pm: Event Ends
Please RSVP here. Note: RSVPs are encouraged, but not required. Seating is limited and will be first come, first served.
The event is co-sponsored by Village Preservation.
We hope you can join us!

Signed copies of Queer Happened Here will be available for purchase on the night of the event, along with Whyland’s monograph, Shots, 1980–1986.
To reserve a copy of Queer Happened Here (Prestel Publishing, April 29, 2025, hardcover, $50) and/or Shots, 1980-1986, please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve book for May 22 event” in the subject line and let us know which book(s) you’d like us to reserve in the body of the email.
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

About Marc Zinaman
Marc Zinaman is a New York City-based writer and historian. Since 2021, he has been running the social media account @Queer_Happened_Here, which maps the forgotten LGBTQ+ history of the city. He has also been a contributing writer for the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project and Making Queer History website. He was the contributing editor of the book Getting In: NYC Club Flyers from the Gay 1990s, and currently serves on the planning committee for the forthcoming American LGBTQ+ Museum.

About Ande Whyland
When artist/photographer Ande Whyland moved to the East Village in 1980, it was like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. She landed in Club 57, a now legendary performance/ gallery space that was a headquarters of the astounding East Village art explosion of the 1980s. Ande’s candid photos made her a vital new member of this exclusive underground enclave. It also gave her inside access to other venues that fostered the burgeoning, party-fueled scene – including The Pyramid Club, Area, Jackie 60, Wigstock, The Mermaid Parade, Easter Parade and Slipper Room to name a few.
These photos have been published in numerous books and magazines including two separate issues of Artforum, a full page in the Whitney Museum of Art catalogue “The American Century: 1950-2000.” Four photographs were chosen for the “East Village USA Show” at The New Museum, and an extensive slide show for the Club 57 exhibition at MOMA. Her book “Shots, 1980–1986” captures this period with writings by those whose photos are featured in the book. Her latest book “Balloons and Feathers,” out last year captures the Burlesque stars from the early 2000’s also in their own words. Both books are available on BLURB.

About Queer Happened Here
A sprawling, unique visual history of New York City’s queer spaces, Queer Happened Here documents the evolution of LGBTQ+ culture, community, and activism within Manhattan’s dynamic landscape over the course of a century, spanning from 1920 to 2020.
New York’s LGBTQ+ history is everywhere, but rarely is it visibly documented. Aside from current venues and a handful of landmark plaques, important queer spaces from the city’s past have otherwise been forgotten about, or remain entirely hidden.
This multifaceted book joyfully and poignantly explores a century of LGBTQ+ gathering spaces across Manhattan through hundreds of historic photographs, flyers, posters, club membership cards, magazine spreads, and more. Author Marc Zinaman’s carefully researched, engaging text includes first-person accounts and little-known facts that range from the humorous to the heartbreaking.
From 1920s bathhouses, drag balls, and the ascent of homophobia during World War II, to the protests and parades of the 1960s and 1970s, to the horrors of AIDS; from the vibrant nightlife scene of the 1990s to 2018’s Rainbow Wave, which saw a record number of queer elected officials in the US, to the rise of geosocial dating apps, every major milestone of LGBTQ+ social history is thoughtfully documented.
Published by Prestel. To find out more, visit penguinrandomhouse.com

Book Release: Marcos Gonsalez presents In Theory, Darling (in person only)
2025-05-23 19:00 - 20:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Join us for the launch of In Theory, Darling: Searching for José Esteban Muñoz and the Queer Imagination by Marcos Gonsalez. Combining memoir and cultural criticism, Gonsalez brings us along with him as he searches for Muñoz’s legacy in the streets of New York and situates themself in the lineage of the queer elders who have come before him. In Theory, Darling shows us what made Muñoz such a significant figure for so many and serves as a reminder of just how life-giving theory can be.
Marcos Gonsalez will be joined in conversation by scientist and writer Joe Osmundson.

To reserve a copy of In Theory, Darling (Beacon Press, May 20, 2025, hardcover, $26.95), please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve In Theory, Darling for May 23rd 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.

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

Marcos Gonsalez is an author, an essayist, a scholar, and assistant professor of English at Adelphi University. The author of Pedro’s Theory: Reimagining the Promised Land (2021), his research on queer and trans Latinx aesthetics and cultural production has been supported by the Ford Foundation and Mellon Foundation. His essays, articles, and reviews have appeared or are forthcoming in Literary Hub, Transgender Studies Quarterly, Inside Higher Education, Ploughshares, Catapult, Los Angeles Review of Books, The New Inquiry, and elsewhere.

Joseph Osmundson is a scientist and writer. His latest book, VIROLOGY, was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award and Book Critics Circle Award in Nonfiction, and was called “dazzling” by the New York Times.

Pestilence Comics Issues 1-5: Readings and Presentation by Jack Waters (in person & live-streaming)
2025-05-25 15:00 - 17:30 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Jack Waters will read from Pestilence Comics 1 – 5 from the series of ten comic books based on the scenario of “Pestilence”, an intermedia musical opus (pestilenza.com). The reading will be accompanied by slides, moving image projections, and sounds. Jack will be present to guide browsers and sign copies from 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM. The presentation will follow, ending at 5:30 PM.

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

Jack Waters’ comic strip Attack Of The Murder Robins is the back page of Uranus Comics#3 Uranus Attacks, the 2023 anthology edited by Carlo Quispe. Jack is a member of the band NYOBS (nyobsnyc.com), the Terminally Queer Skinned Noise-Goth Kitchen Band. Jack co-wrote and performed the title role of Jason Holliday in the acclaimed indie film Jason And Shirley. Jack’s films have shown internationally and broadcast on Sundance Channel and PBS. In 1995 Jack’s own film short The Male Gayze screened in the cinema section of the 1990 exhibition Black Male: Representations of Masculinity In American Art at The Whitney Museum of American Art. Waters and life partner Peter Cramer, former co-directors of Abc No Rio, are co founders of Le Petit Versailles, a New York City Green Thumb urban garden presenting screenings, music, performance, visual art exhibitions, and new media.

My Romantic Ideal Walkthrough (in person only)
2025-05-28 18:00 - 20:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
MY ROMANTIC IDEAL WALKTHROUGH
Wednesday, May 28th, 6-8 PM
Explore the queer photography exhibition curated by Slava Mogutin with an international group of artists including Benjamin Fredrickson, Brian Kenny, Francis Schichtel, Gerardo Vizmanos, Gio Black Peter, Jan Wandrag, Lukasz Leja, Miguel Villalobos, Quil Lemons, Robert Flynt, Ross Collab, Scott Hug, Stanley Stellar, and Victor Jeffreys II.

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.
To learn more about My Romantic Ideal click here.

Queer Moderns: Max Ewing's Jazz Age New York (in person & live-streaming)
2025-05-29 19:00 - 20:30 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
In Queer Moderns, Alice T. Friedman tells the fascinating story of the queer avant-garde of the 1920s and ’30s in New York, Paris, and Venice, as seen through the eyes of Max Ewing (1903–1934), a young musician, photographer, and man-about-town who, although virtually unknown today, moved in extraordinary circles. In his photographs and letters, we meet the rising stars of modern art, music, dance, and literature and enter a world of interracial friendship, “queer space,” and experimentation that shone brightly before being swept away by the Depression. It is a remarkable story that reveals that the history of modernism is more queer and more Black than previously recognized.

Author Alice T. Friedman will be joined in conversation by Vanderbilt University Professor Kevin D. Murphy.

To reserve a copy of Queer Moderns: Max Ewing’s Jazz Age New York (Princeton University Press, May 27, 2025, hardcover, $49.95) please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve Queer Moderns for May 29 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

Alice T. Friedman is an architectural historian who has written numerous articles and books about gender, sexuality, and queer space, including Women and the Making of the Modern House (1998), American Glamour and the Evolution of Modern Architecture (2010), and Queer Moderns: Max Ewing’s Jazz Age New York (2025). In 2023, she retired from teaching at Wellesley College, where she was the Grace Slack McNeil Professor of Art and a founding director of the Architecture Program. Friedman’s current project is a book of essays entitled Poker Faces which examines queer domesticities and modern designs for non-conforming households.

Kevin Murphy is Andrew W. Mellon Chair in the Humanities, and Professor and Chair in the Dept. of History of Art and Architecture at Vanderbilt University. He was previously Executive Officer of the Ph.D, Program in Art History at the CUNY Graduate Center. Prof. Murphy has published on queer artists and queer space in the Art Bulletin and elsewhere.

Queer Collage Workshop (in person only)
2025-05-31 14:00 - 17:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Join us for a queer collage workshop with Charlie Welch on Saturday, May 31, from 2 to 5 pm.
No experience necessary! All are welcome to join!
We will have some materials (magazines, printed matter, glue, cardboard) and tools (scissors) available, but we encourage you to bring materials and tools to share. Thank you!

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.
Space is limited to the first 16 people who show up!

Free! But donations to support the Bureau’s work are much appreciated.
All are welcome to attend, with or without donation.
We will pass a bag for donations, but we can also take credit card donations at the register or on Venmo @bgsqd

Conversation with Mark Salzwedel, gay novelist (in person & live-streaming)
2025-06-05 19:00 - 21:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Conversation with Mark Salzwedel, gay novelist
Mark Salzwedel is a gay Brooklynite with 8 published short stories, and two published novels, including the sci-fi thriller THE LEVER and the epic magical realism novel THE MIRACULOUS LIFE OF RUPERT ROCKET. In conversation with Paul Hagen, a gay journalist, you will hear how the publishing process works, how ideas turn into science fiction and fantasy stories, and some other tips on writing. There will also be brief readings from his novels and one of his short stories.
Copies of the books will be available for purchase and signing. We encourage you to reserve a copy of either/both books in order to ensure we have sufficient copies.
To reserve a copy of The Miraculous Life of Rupert Rocket (Queer Space, 2024, paperback, $22.95) and/or The Lever (Queer Space, 2022, paperback $19.95), please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve book for June 5 event” in the subject line and let us know which book(s) you’d like us to reserve in the body of the email.
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

Mark Salzwedel is an author, poet, screenwriter, singer, actor, director, editor, and composer living in Brooklyn, NY. One poem won the Comet Prize in September. One short story was included in an anthology in March. Forthcoming works include a gay time travel novel, TIME BUMP, a sci-fi short story collection, MRS. BABBAGE’S HOME FOR WAYWARD ROBOTS; a gay thriller, HONOR THE CREST; another LGBT magical realism novel, MISSING THINGS, and a feature-length bilingual gay rom-com script, DOCE CRUCES.

Traveling While Queer: A Conversation with Alden Jones, editor of EDGE OF THE WORLD, and contributors Nicole Shawan Junior, Andrew Ellis Evans, Zoë Sprankle, and Raluca Albu (in person only)
2025-06-07 15:00 - 16:30 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
The Bureau is pleased to welcome writers Alden Jones, Zoë Sprankle, Andrew Ellis Evans, Nicole Shawan Junior, and Raluca Albu for a discussion about what it means to be queer and moving through the world, the subject of Alden’s new book, Edge of the World: An Anthology of Queer Travel Writing. Alden will read briefly from Edge of the World and then lead a discussion with four contributors who consider the joys—and the unique challenges—of traveling while queer.
After the conversation and audience Q&A, Alden and contributors will be available to sign copies of Edge of the World.

To reserve a copy of Edge of the World: An Anthology of Queer Travel Writing (Blair, May 6, 2025, paperback, $19.95) please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve Edge of the World for June 7 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.

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

Participants’ biographies:
Alden Jones is the editor of Edge of the World and the author of The Wanting Was a Wilderness, The Blind Masseuse, and Unaccompanied Minors. Her travel writing has appeared in the inaugural edition of the Best American Travel Writing and named Notable Essays in Best American Travel Writing 2005 and 2011. A current Fulbright Specialist and a former professor on Semester at Sea, Alden is an assistant professor of creative writing and literature at Emerson College.

Raluca Albu is a writer, teacher, editor, and advocate. She was a recent Center for Fiction fellow, a New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship finalist, and has written for the Guardian, BOMB, Guernica, The Village Voice, Doctors Without Borders, Authors Guild, and others.

Andrew Ellis Evans is an author of award-winning memoir The Black Penguin, named one of “summer’s best travel books” by the New York Times. As National Geographic’s Digital Nomad, Andrew reported live from all seven continents. He lives in Virginia’s Blue Ridge mountains.

Nicole Shawan Junior’s creative nonfiction appears in Oprah Daily, Guernica, The Rumpus, The Massachusetts Review, and elsewhere. They have attended residencies at Hedgebrook and Tin House and have received fellowships from Lambda Literary, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and more.

Zoë Sprankle is a writer based in Brooklyn, NY. Her work has been featured in Roxane Gay’s The Audacity, The Bellevue Review, Quarter After Eight, and Go Magazine. She holds an MFA from the Newport MFA at Salve Regina University.

The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick Book Launch (in person & live-streaming)
2025-06-11 19:00 - 20:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
When a police officer stood at his bedroom door on August 3, 1982, Michael Hardwick had no idea that he would become an avatar of the gay rights movement. Arrested for sodomy, Hardwick sued for his right to privacy all the way to the Supreme Court, as the HIV/AIDS epidemic spiraled. When he lost, his era-defining case inspired a half-million people to protest the Court. Today Bowers v. Hardwick continues to reverberate as the rights of privacy underpinning abortion, contraception, and same-sex relationships come under fire.
In this fiercely empathetic blend of biography and history, Martin Padgett tells the story of Hardwick’s life—as a child of Stonewall, as an artist, and as one of thousands claimed by the epidemic. The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick: Sex and the Supreme Court in the Age of AIDS (W. W. Norton, June 3, 2025, hardcover, $31.99) reveals the halting shifts of American sexual politics, poses urgent questions about the Supreme Court, and returns to Hardwick some of the humanity stolen from him.
Author Martin Padgett will be joined in conversation by John Voelcker.
To reserve a copy of The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick: Sex and the Supreme Court in the Age of AIDS (W. W. Norton, June 3, 2025, hardcover, $31.99), please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick for June 11 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

Praise for The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick :
“A fascinating story, grounded in the complex oppression endured by American queers before the contemporary dynamics of commodification and legalization. Padgett’s loving engagement with Hardwick’s life reminds us that—despite stigma and state violence—queer, and AIDS history is fundamentally the story of regular people who change the world through the power of personal integrity rooted in the truth of our lives.”
— Sarah Schulman, author of Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP, New York 1987-1993

“As the increasingly right-leaning Supreme Court marches backward in time, all who believe that the arc of the moral universe will ultimately bend toward justice are in desperate need of a narrative as readable and moving as Marty Padgett’s The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick. Having argued the landmark constitutional case around which this gripping story pivots, I can say that it is by far the finest account of a personal, political, and legal saga like the one Hardwick’s brave life and premature death embodied.”
— Laurence Tribe, law professor at Harvard University

“Martin Padgett has heroically rescued the shooting star of Michael Hardwick’s errant 1980s Supreme Court story and placed it firmly in the constellation of the most urgent Queer American histories. Spinning the legacy of anti-sodomy challenges back to this foundational case in the AIDS crisis, The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick triumphs on both narrative and scholarly registers. Start polishing the awards.”
— Robert Fieseler, author of Tinder Box: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation

“Thoroughgoing history of a signal injustice committed against gay Americans by the American judiciary. . . A lucid, rightfully indignant study that demands a renewed commitment to equality for all.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Padgett combines incisive legal analysis with vivid evocations of the AIDS-era gay experience. . . a captivating account of one man’s awakening to injustice.” — Publishers Weekly

Participants’ biographies:
MARTIN PADGETT is the author of A Night at the Sweet Gum Head and The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick. Recipient of a Lambda Literary Fellowship, his writing has appeared in the Oxford American, The Paris Review, and Washington Post, among other publications. He lives in Pensacola Beach, Florida.

JOHN VOELCKER covers advanced auto technologies and policy as a reporter and analyst. As a Contributing Editor at Car and Driver, Green Car Reports, InsideEVs, and other outlets, he specializes in electric vehicles and the energy ecosystem around them. John edited Green Car Reports for nine years, publishing more than 12,000 articles on hybrids, electric cars, and other topics. His work appears in online, print, radio, and TV outlets that include Automotive News, The Drive, Charged EVs, Wired, and NPR’s “All Things Considered.” He is the subject of the upcoming documentary A Son’s Journey: How I Became an Automotive Journalist from Hampton Films. In his off hours, he’s part of the deluded but cheerful team at the YouTube channel Tempting Fate Tours. He splits his time between the Catskill Mountains and New York City.
