Lesbian Book Club: June Edition
2026-06-13 11:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | 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 June 13th meeting, we’ll read Margaret Vandenburg’s book, Craze

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 Reading Series: Publishing Triangle Award Winners
2026-06-13 16:00 - 18:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
The Publishing Triangle’s OUTspoken Reading Series returns with a special panel comprised of 2026 award winners.

Join us on Saturday, June 13, at 4:00 PM at The Bureau, to celebrate The Publishing Triangle 2026 Award winners.
RSVP HERE
Featuring:
Scott Hess – Ferro Grumley Award – Drought
Achy Obejas – Audre Lorde award for Lesbian Poetry –The Boy Kingdom / El reino de los varones: Poems / Poemas
Lev AC Rosen – Joseph Hansen Award for LGBTQ+ Crime Writing – Mirage City
Sam Tabet – for their book, Beyond the Lesbian Vampire: Reclaiming the Violent Lesbian in Contemporary Queer Horror
John Birdsall – Amber Hollibaugh Award for LGBTQ+ Social Justice Writing –What is Queer Food?
and hosted by Jim Berg – writer/editor, Publishing Triangle board member
This event will be live-streamed at youtube.com/@bgsqd

READING: The Night Of Swaying Grass
2026-06-14 15:00 - 17:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
R. Diskin Black reads from his new collection of memoir poetry, THE NIGHT OF SWAYING GRASS, and sits in conversation with author and activist Benjamin Heim Shepard.
RSVP TO THIS EVENT
Black tells a story with his poetry of childhood loss and grief, a story of coming of age and coming out, a story of resilience and reinvention. From the death of his father when he was six years old in 1969 to his involvement in ACT UP decades later, from the events of 9/11 to the COVID pandemic, the 63 poems in this collection reflect all that was lost and all that was gained in the 63 years Black has so far lived.
—
Born and raised in northern New Jersey, R. DISKIN BLACK graduated with a BA in History from Lafayette College in Easton, PA. He also went to law school, but nobody wants to hear about that. He has been gainfully employed in the legal profession his entire adult life. He is the author of the novel “Zombie Scout: The Diary of Jack Sullivan”. He currently lives in New York City.
Benjamin Shepard, PhD, is an Professor of Human Service at New York School of Technology/City University of New York. He received his Masters at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, PhD at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and training in psychoanalysis from the William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis, and Psychology in their Intensive Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Program. As a social worker he worked in AIDS housing settings from San Francisco to Chicago to New York, where he directed the start ups for two congregate housing programs for people with HIV/AIDS, as well as served as Deputy Director at CitiWide Harm Reduction..
Much of Dr. Shepard’s scholarship is based on the ethnographic study of social services and social movements. He is the author/editor of six books including White Nights and Ascending Shadows: An Oral History of the San Francisco AIDS Epidemic (Cassell, 1997) and From ACT UP to the WTO: Urban Protest and Community Building in the Era of Globalization (co-edited with Ron Hayduck) (Verso, 2002). The latter work was a non-fiction finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards in 2002.

BOOK LAUNCH – Homosexual Intifada: A Queer Palestinian Anthology
2026-06-16 19:00 - 21:00 | NY
Celebrate the launch of Homosexual Intifada: A Queer Palestinian Anthology, a groundbreaking new collection amplifying the voices of LGBTQ+ Palestinians across the diaspora and homeland. Join co-editors George Abraham and Hannah Moushabeck, alongside contributor and journalist Afeef Nessouli, for an evening of readings, conversation, and community as they explore themes of identity, resistance, and love.
RSVP TO THIS EVENT
This special event offers a rare opportunity to hear directly from the queer Palestinian writers and artists that challenge dominant narratives, confront erasure, and affirm the richness and resilience of queer Palestinian life. A book signing will follow the discussion.
Publisher proceeds of this book will be donated to Palestinian LGBTQ+ human rights groups.

About the Book:
A groundbreaking anthology amplifying queer Palestinian voices through art and storytelling that reclaim identity, resist erasure, and challenge stereotypes.
Homosexual Intifada is a powerful and groundbreaking anthology spotlighting the voices of queer Palestinian writers from both the diaspora and homeland. This first-of-its-kind collection features a dynamic range of LGBTQ+ Palestinian perspectives through deeply personal essays, short stories, poetry, comics, photo essays, and memoir.
Centering queer Palestinian identity and experience, this essential volume explores themes of displacement, assimilation, belonging, and love across geographies—from Jerusalem and Ramallah to New York, Beirut, and beyond. These stories, often silenced or misrepresented in Western media, challenge false narratives, boldly reclaim agency, and dismantle stereotypes.
Contributors include celebrated and emerging queer Palestinian authors such as Noor Hindi, Mejdulene Bernard Shomali, Elias Jahshan, Randa Jarrar, and more.
More than just a literary work, Homosexual Intifada is a radical act of visibility. It challenges the pinkwashing of queer identities in service of imperial agendas and affirms the existence, resilience, and diversity of LGBTQ+ Palestinians worldwide. This collection is a vital contribution to queer literature, Arab identity, and decolonial thought.

George Abraham (they/he) is a Palestinian American poet, essayist, critic, performance artist. They are the author of When the Arab Apocalypse Comes to America (Haymarket, 2026) and Birthright (Button Poetry, 2020), which won the Arab American Book Award and was a Lambda Literary Award finalist. They are the executive editor of Mizna, and co-editor of Heaven Looks Like Us: Palestinian Poetry (Haymarket, 2025). They are a graduate of Northwestern’s Litowitz MFA+MA program, and teach at Amherst College as a Writer-in-Residence.
Hannah Moushabeck (she/her) is a second-generation Palestinian American author and book worker who was raised in a family of publishers and booksellers and learned the power of literature at a young age. Hannah has worked in publishing for over a decade at companies such as Chronicle Books, The Quarto Group, and Simon & Schuster. She now runs Interlink Publishing, the only Palestinian-owned publisher in the United States, alongside her family. Her debut picture book Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine (Chronicle Books) won The New England Book Award and The Arab American Book Award. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts on the homelands of the Pocumtuc and Nipmuc Nations.
Afeef Nessouli is a journalist and host of “With Afeef Nessouli” and is a journalist with The Intercept. He has previously worked for Spotify and The Wall Street Journal, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and CNN. He focuses on queer and Arab stories. Afeef spent 9 weeks in Gaza as a humanitarian aid worker in 2025, and just came back to the United States from covering the war in Beirut, Lebanon.

Modern Cruising with Leo Herrera & Michael Henry
2026-06-17 19:00 - 21:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
TICKETS TO THIS EVENT
Join us at the Bureau for a stimulating conversation with Leo Herrera, author of the bestselling book analog cruising, and gay stand-up comedian Michael Henry. They’ll have a frank and hilarious chat about modern cruising, gay sex and the viral success of “The Manual.” Co-hosted by Gayletter.

Tickets to this event include a bundle of all three of Leo’s books in special hardcover editions. Tickets are required to attend this event. Please see below for details.

*****
Leo Herrera is a queer Mexican artist who explores queer and immigrant experiences through the lenses of sex, technology, and history. His work centers on themes of disease and stigma, always searching for utopia in LGBTQ history’s darkest chapters. Herrera is director of Fathers, a multimedia project which imagines the world if AIDS never existed. He is author of Analog Cruising, a manual for modern sex outside of our phones.

Michael Henry is a gay stand up comedian, actor and content creator who has toured all over the USA and internationally. He was featured on his OutTv show “Wish You Were Queer” featuring Trixie Mattel and Tim Murray, was mentioned as a Queer comedian to watch by The New York Times, is a Queerty award winner and has no gag reflex.

*****
This event will take place in-person at the Bureau of General Services – Queer Division, located in Room 210 on the second floor of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011. The Center and the Bureau are both fully wheelchair accessible.
*
The event will also be live-streamed to the public at YouTube.com/@BGSQD
*

Tickets are required to attend this event. Tickets include hardcover editions of Analog Cruising; Post; and Sentences. Thank you for supporting Leo Herrera and the Bureau!

Rasheed Newson: One Night in Hollywood
2026-06-18 19:00 - 21:00 | NY
Rasheed Newson launches his novel There’s Only One Sin in Hollywood
in conversation with actress Cassandra Freeman

Doors: 7:00pm
Event: 7:30pm

RSVP TO THIS EVENT

The Bureau and Hive Mind Books Present: One Night in Hollywood

Rasheed Newson, known for his work on The Chi and Bel-Air, launches his novel There’s Only One Sin in Hollywood, which follows a queer, Black Hollywood heartthrob of the Golden Age, Xavier Barlow, and the fixer hired to keep him in the closet. “This novel is my way of reclaiming untold Hollywood history, from a Black and queer perspective,” Newson told People in an interview. He will be in conversation with actress Cassandra Freeman.

This event will be held at The Bureau – 208 W 13th St, New York, NY, Room 210 (inside the LGBT Community Center)
—-
Rasheed Newson is the author of the national bestseller My Government Means to Kill Me, which was selected as a Lambda Literary finalist for Gay Fiction and was named one of the “100 Notable Books of 2022” by The New York Times. He is also a television drama writer, producer, and showrunner. He codeveloped Bel-Air and worked on The Chi, Animal Kingdom, and Narcos, among other drama series. Newson is a 2025–26 American Library in Paris Visiting Fellow. He currently lives with his husband and their two children in Pasadena.

Cassandra Freeman is an acclaimed actress, producer, and entrepreneur best known for her powerful portrayal of Aunt Viv on Peacock’s Bel-Air. Her film and television credits include Atlanta, Luke Cage, The Last O.G., The Enemy Within, Inside Man, and I Think I Love My Wife, with recent work in Love, Brooklyn, an Andre Holland-led film which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Beyond acting, Freeman is the co-founder of Creatricity, a creative ecosystem supporting artists and innovators across entertainment and media. Freeman is a respected voice in the industry for her work as a creative strategist, thought leader, and advocate for diversity and inclusion and authentic representation. She is represented by the agents of Artium Talent.

TELL: A Queer Storytelling Show (MESSINESS)
2026-06-20 19:00 - 21:00 | NY
Join TELL, The Bureau’s longest-running recurring show, for a night of queer storytelling!
RSVP HERE
This month’s Pride show’s theme is MESSINESS, with stories from:
Heather Glynis

Yifan

Tallie Medel

Dennis Yueh-Yeh Li

and
Hosted and curated by Drae Campbell

$10 suggested donation

—
Heather Glynis is a performer, poet, psychotic whore, and tranny-about-town. She is the program assistant at the Poetry Project and hosts Queeraoke at Metropolitan Bar, along with Bottom Behavior with Josh Bondi at Oberon. She is from Jersey, and resides in Bushwick

Yifan (they/them) is a creative community builder who believes in the power of storytelling, shared experiences, and chosen family to bring people together. Passionate about uplifting BIPOC and LGBTQ+ voices, they create welcoming spaces where connection, care, and collective joy can thrive. Guided by curiosity, empathy, and a love of gathering people across communities, Yifan approaches life with an open heart and a deep belief that meaningful relationships are at the center of belonging.

Tallie Medel (they/them) is an educator, clown, director, and award-winning actor featured in IndieWire, the LA Times and the Boston Globe. Screen credits include EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE (A24) and BROAD CITY (Comedy Central). They founded the ever-popular clown program at Brooklyn Comedy Collective and have taught at NYU, Harvard University, Emerson College, the School of Visual Arts, and at theaters and schools across the country. Stage time includes Upright Citizens Brigade NY & LA, Second City NY, Caroline’s on Broadway, MoMA PS 1, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and London’s SoHo Theatre. They have big, juicy eyeballs.

Originally from Taiwan, Dennis Yueh-Yeh Li is a playwright-director whose work explores themes of diaspora and sexuality. Besides creating theatre works, he also serves as Director of Performance, Storytelling and Community at the Museum of Chinese in America where he develops programs that uplift Asian American performing artists while amplifying Asian American histories, storytelling and visibility.

Drae Campbell (she/they) is an actor, comedian and storyteller who has performed in every medium. Drae was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award for their work in The Nosebleed at Lincoln Center Theater. Drae’s first performance was at age 5 in a nightclub as the opening act for a punk band. Their career in theater and in gender joy started when she was cast as John Henry in The Member Of The Wedding in a local San Francisco production at age 9. Drae has a BFA in Theater from The University of the Arts and has performed in almost every medium. Drae has been hosting and curating TELL for 13 plus years, TELL has also been made into a SILVER Signal Award winning podcast on all the platforms. @draebiz

Chrysalis Magazine Launch Party
2026-07-02 18:00 - 20:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Chrysalis Magazine, which publishes art and writing by trans youth ages 0-18, is launching our second issue!
RSVP HERE

Join us at The Bureau to celebrate, hosted by our managing editor, Jacob Romm, and one of our fiction editors, award-winning author Kyle Lukoff. There will be readings and performances by trans youth, resources and information, and a chance to get your hands on a copy of our brand-new issue!

Radical Queer Reading Group: The Wretched of the Earth
2026-07-08 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 July 8th, we’re reading The Wretched of the Earth, by Frantz Fanon.
—
We’ll meet on Wednesday, July 8th, at The Bureau, in room 210 of The LGBT Community Center in the West Village, 7-8 PM.
—
Copies of The Wretched of the Earth are available to purchase at the Bureau. Purchase the book before July 8th and receive 15% off. Just mention the Radical Queer Reading Group when you check out.
—
Thank you for supporting The Bureau by purchasing books from us!

Reading & Signing: Gareth Carter
2026-07-09 19:00 - 21:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Join the Queer Librarian as he discusses his “over-the-top gay…sendup of the secret-agent genre”
RSVP HERE

Gareth Carter discusses (and signs copies of) The Misadventures of Don Kee Dong & Phillip Mihol, the first in his International Men of Mystery series at a special top secret after hours event at The Bureau.
In addition to signing and reading from his book, he will discuss his journey from being called a Pornographer, simply for stocking LGBT+ themed children’s books at his library, to becoming novelist Gareth Carter.

Lesbian Book Club: July Edition
2026-07-11 11:00 - 13:00 | 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 July 11th meeting, we’ll read Joan Schenkar’s book, The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith

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

Histories of the Queer 90's
2026-07-14 18:00 - 20:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Join authors Valena Beety, Tina Luongo, and Hugh Ryan for a night of personal histories through the queer 90s, from the US to Cuba, into the working place for women in criminal law, and landing at the criminalization of queer people today. We’ll tie these threads together for a wide-ranging discussion on what gender and identity mean in different places and times, how we can be marginalized and silenced, and what we can do to speak up and not be erased.
RSVP TO THIS EVENT
—
A former federal prosecutor, Valena Beety is the McKinney Professor of Law at Indiana University-Bloomington Maurer School of Law and a co-founder of the Indiana Innocence Project. The author of Manifesting Justice and Pink Crime: Fighting Against the Criminalization of Motherhood, Pregnancy, and Queer Identity (The New Press), she lives in Indiana.
Tina Luongo (they/she) has served as the Chief Attorney of the Criminal Defense Practice since 2014 where they are responsible for the daily operation of all of the practice’s trial, appellate, post-conviction, law reform and parole defense work conducted on behalf of over 200,000 clients. They lead a citywide team of 12 senior managers who, in turn, manage the practice’s over 1100 staff.
Hugh Ryan is a writer, historian, and curator in New York City. With the multi-talented Peppermint, he is also the host of Queer History 101, the bookclub & podcast from Allstora.com.
His most recent book, THE WOMEN’S HOUSE OF DETENTION: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison, is a queer history of the Women’s House of Detention in Greenwich Village. It is the story of one building: the people it caged, the neighborhood it changed, and the resistance it inspired. It is the winner of the 2023 Stonewall Book Award/Israel Fishman Award for Nonfiction from the Publishing Triangle of the American Library Association, as well as the 2022 Warren Johansson Award from the W.A. Percy Foundation.

Celebrating Chosen Family: Book Giveaway
2026-07-22 16:00 - 19:00 | NY
Who would we be without our chosen family? This afternoon we’re celebrating the people in our lives who started as friends and lovers and became vital members of our chosen family.
We’re giving away copies of a new novel that explores this uniquely queer topic: Chosen Family by Madeleine Gray. Stop by the Bureau for a free copy of the book (while supplies last). We’ll have a table set up where you can write postcards of love and appreciation for your chosen family members. Leave them with us and we’ll put them in the mail for you!
Bring members of your chosen family with you and everyone will receive a 15% discount off any purchase in the bookstore.
About Chosen Family
An exuberant and irreverently funny novel about one gorgeously messy friendship-feud-unrequited-love-affair set in Sydney across eighteen years. Chosen Family is a queer modern classic that reminds us that sometimes the most fulfilling and life-saving relationships are the ones that are the hardest to define.
Nell Argall and Eve Bowman are both brilliant, odd, and friendless. When they meet on the brutal battlefield that is their posh all girls’ high school during their first year there, both their lives are changed forever. From school, to university, to careers, Nell and Eve’s relationship is a life raft that is also a Medusan stare, frozen in time.
When the passion, guilt, shame, and joy that perpetually twists and turns between them finally implodes, Nell abruptly walks away, leaving Eve alone at the helm of the gloriously unorthodox family they’ve built with their seven-year-old daughter, Lake. Eve finds herself left wondering: Can the wounds of adolescent betrayal ever really heal? Can we ever really understand what’s going on in someone else’s head? And what’s love got to do, got to do with it?
About Madeleine Gray
Madeleine Gray is the author of the novel Green Dot. She has written for the Times Literary Supplement, the Guardian, the BBC, Electric Literature, and Sydney Review of Books, among other publications. She lives in Sydney, Australia.

Body I Movement I Writing: A Workshop
2026-07-23 19:00 - 21:00 | NY
Join us at the Bureau, for a free 90 minute writing workshop centering queer experiences on and around the dance floor. Hosted by writers McKenzie Wark and Jules Wernersbach. The workshop is free, however, advance registration is required.
Register for this workshop on Eventbrite.
The queer dance floor and the spaces around it are often sites of intense experiences, as well as many very ordinary moments that can sustain or frustrate us—and sometimes at the same time.
What kinds of writing can express what all of this feels like? What are the cliches to avoid? How do the unique experiences of queer life in motion call for their own modes of written expression? These are some of the questions we’ll be looking into in this workshop.
We will work with short extracts from our favorite texts as prompts, followed by timed exercises and opportunities for discussion in breakout groups, as well as among the larger group.
Both fiction and nonfiction writers are welcome, beginners and experienced. Materials will be provided, though feel free to bring your own notebook and pen, or laptop.
This workshop is hosted by the Bureau, Manhattan’s Queer Bookstore, located inside of the NYC LGBT Center in Room 210.
________________________________________
McKenzie Wark is the author, among other things, of Raving (Duke University Press), Reverse Cowgirl (Semiotexte) and Love and Money, Sex and Death (Verso). She co-curates the reading series Writing on Raving and co-edited the anthology from the series, published by O/R Books. She co-edited the “Black Rave” issue of eflux journal with madison moore in 2022.
Jules Wernersbach is a writer and bookseller in Brooklyn. Their debut novel is Work to Do was published by University of Iowa Press. Their short fiction has been published in Bennington Review, Heavy Feather Review, and other journals. They are the author of Vegan Survival Guide to Austin and The Swimming Holes of Texas. Jules is co-founder of Hive Mind Books, a queer independent bookstore and coffee shop in Bushwick, Brooklyn. They have been a bookseller for a long time and also served as literary director of the Texas Book Festival.
The Bureau is Manhattan’s queer bookstore, founded in 2013, hosting a wide variety of queer literary and art events and programming.

Exhibit Opening: Our Existence is Resistance: Trans Advocacy Abounds
2026-07-26 15:00 - 17:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Join us at the Bureau for the opening of the NYC Trans Archives Exhibit.
RSVP HERE!
To be trans is to cross boundaries, to challenge trivial norms, and to refuse categorization; to be trans is to resist. Trans advocacy splatters itself across the spectrum of demands for liberation to quotidian expressions of self. From the protest poster to the decorative button, the NYC Trans Archives’ first public exhibit provides a sneak peek into our growing collections. “Our Existence is Resistance” highlights the explicit and subtle ways in which resistance manifests in trans life and art.
The NYC Trans Archives (NYCTA) preserves transgender culture in the New York City region and beyond. Founded in 2023, NYCTA evolved out of a dual need for independent and community-led trans archives. It is entirely independent and run by and for trans people. Dedicated to trans liberation and social justice, NYCTA focuses on ephemera from those too often left out of traditional archives: trans women of color (particularly Black and Brown femmes), migrants, disabled people, youth, poor and working-class people, and community organizers.

Ambient Reading Night
2026-07-30 19:00 - 20:00 | NY
Register for Ambient Reading Night
Turn some pages with us while we turn down the vibe for a chill night of quiet reading at the queer bookstore.
Join us for an hour of quiet solo reading time set to low key, queer ambient music. We’ll shift the energy in the Bureau with calm lighting and relaxing vibes. (Don’t worry, it won’t be too dark to read.) Let this be a way to wind down after work.
Bring your own book or find one on our bookshelves. All books are 10% off for those who participate.
Padded folding chairs and a few small tables will be provided. Yoga mats and pillows are welcome. After we read, there will be time for people to share what they’re reading, though this socializing is not required. This night is hosted by Bureau booksellers and music lovers.
Free to attend, but please RSVP so we know what to expect.

BOOK LAUNCH: Cloudy with a Chance of Starships
2026-08-05 19:00 - 21:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Join us at the Bureau for the launch of Seven Rasmussen’s new book, CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF STARSHIPS!
Dr. Rasmussen will be reading, speaking, and signing copies of their book – which will be available for purchase at the Bureau.
RSVP TO THIS EVENT

Cloudy with a Chance of Starships: How the Drake Equation Reveals the Odds of Life in the Cosmos takes readers on an irreverent expedition through the marvelous world of astrobiology, using as a guide the most important equation in science since E=mc2. With an irresistible blend of wit, insight, and the latest cutting-edge research, astrobiologist and author Seven Rasmussen looks at the thrilling possibilities of life in the cosmos through the lens of the Drake equation, a seven-variable mathematical expression that calculates the number of civilizations in our galaxy that humans could potentially contact. Science (and science fiction) enthusiasts of all ages are invited celebrate this extraordinary book and its tantalizing vision of the dawning era of space exploration.
Join us at The Bureau (on the second floor of the LGBT Center) to celebrate Seven’s launch and hear excerpts from the book!

***
Dr. Seven Rasmussen is an author, astrobiologist, and science communicator based in Brooklyn. She is an instructor at Columbia University and various CUNY institutions. Dr. Rasmussen’s debut non-fiction, CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF STARSHIPS: HOW THE DRAKE EQUATION REVEALS THE OFFS OF LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE, comes to shelves August 4th of this year.

Lesbian Book Club: August Edition
2026-08-08 11:00 - 13:00 | 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 August 8th meeting, we’ll read Gertrude Stein’s book, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas

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

IN CONVERSATION: Terrell J. A. Winder & Theo Greene
2026-08-09 18:00 - 20:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Join us for a discussion on the value of Black Queer Placemaking in shaping belonging and community in an era of shifting gay geographies.
RSVP HERE

Join Terrell J. A. Winder (Shameless: The Making of Black Gay Identities in LA) and Theo Greene (Not in My Gayborhood: Gay Neighborhoods and the Rise of the Vicarious Citizen) for a conversation on Blackness, Queerness, visibility, and their intersections.
—
Terrell J. A. Winder received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2017. An urban ethnographer, Dr. Winder’s research areas include race & ethnicity, sexuality & sexual health, qualitative & quantitative research methods, and education. His current research examines stigma response processes among stigmatized populations negotiating more than one stigma simultaneously. His research has been published in Qualitative Sociology, AIDS Patient Care & STDs, the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, and the Journal of Medical Internet Research. His work on mobile applications as a health intervention has also been covered in the Los Angeles Times. His book, Shameless: The Making of Black Gay Identities in LA, is a multi-method examination of anti-gay stigma response among young Black gay men in Los Angeles.
Theo Greene is an Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Sociology at Bowdoin College. His research and teaching interests focus on the intersection of sexuality, urbanism, and culture. Greene’s research broadly explores how sexual communities help us understand how urban redevelopment shapes and redefines how individuals think about, identify with, and participate in local communities. His book, Not in MY Gayborhood! Gay Neighborhoods and the Rise of the Vicarious Citizen recently received the 2026 Outstanding Book Award in Community and Urban Sociology from the American Sociological Association. In addition to his ongoing work on gay neighborhoods and queer placemaking in Maine, Theo is currently Chair-Elect of the Community and Urban Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association and serves on several boards that support LGBTQ communities in Portland, Maine, including the Frannie Peabody Center and the Equality Community Center.

Radical Queer Reading Group: Miss Major Speaks
2026-08-12 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 August 12th, we’re reading Miss Major Speaks: Conversations with a Black Trans Revolutionary by Toshio Meronek and Miss Major.
—
We’ll meet on Wednesday, August 12th, at The Bureau, in room 210 of The LGBT Community Center in the West Village, 7-8 PM.
—
Copies of Miss Major Speaks are available to purchase at the Bureau. Purchase the book before July 8th and receive 15% off. Just mention the Radical Queer Reading Group when you check out.
—
Thank you for supporting The Bureau by purchasing books from us!
