BGSQD

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thank you for committing to sustaining this vital project!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thank you for committing to sustaining this vital project!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thank you for committing to sustaining this vital project!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Maeve Blackhead lives in New York City.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thank you for committing to sustaining this vital project!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Center will observe holiday hours:
5 to 9 PM

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

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

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

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

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

The Center will observe holiday hours:
5 to 9 PM

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Whitmore & Westmoreland (in person & live-streaming)
2026-01-11 15:00 - 16:30 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Celebrating the publication of two legendary reissues of gay fiction, Joe Westmoreland’s Tramps Like Us (MCD Books) and George Whitmore’s Nebraska (The Song Cave), Joe will be reading from his novel, and Tom Cole will be hosting the event and reading from Nebraska.

To reserve a copy of Tramps Like Us (MCD, June 3, 2025, paperback, $19) and/or Nebraska (Song Cave, September 30, 2025, paperback, $18.95) please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve Tramps Like Us and/or Nebraska for January 11 event” in the subject line.
Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!
You can also purchase Tramps Like Us and Nebraska (click on links below) on our online shop at bookshop.com/shop/bgsqd:
Tramps Like Us
Nebraska

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

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

George Whitmore (1945 – 1989) was the author of two novels, The Confessions of Danny Slocum and Nebraska. He was also a playwright, a poet, and wrote a non-fiction account about homosexuality and AIDS, Someone Was Here: Profiles in the AIDS Epidemic.

Joe Westmoreland is the author of the novel Tramps Like Us, originally published in 2001. His writing has appeared in several anthologies, zines, and catalogues for art exhibitions. He lives with his partner, the artist Charles Atlas, in New York City.

Tom Cole is an artist and writer living in NYC. His debut book, Chimes: A Monologue is forthcoming in 2026 from The Song Cave.

Radical Queer Reading Group: Abolish the Family (in person only)
2026-01-14 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 January 14th, we’re reading Abolish the Family: A Manifesto for Care and Liberation by Sophie Lewis (Verso, October 4, 2022, paperback, $17.95).

We’ll meet on Wednesday, January 14th at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division in room 210 of The LGBT Community Center in the West Village, 7-8 PM.

Copies of Abolish the Family by Sophie Lewis (Verso, October 4, 2022, paperback, $17.95) are available to purchase at the Bureau. Purchase the book before January 14th and receive 15% off ($15.25 instead of $17.95). Just mention the Radical Queer Reading Group when you check out.

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

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

TELL: My Collection (in person & live-streaming)
2026-01-17 19:00 - 20:30 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
TELL is a monthly queer storytelling show hosted and curated by Drae Campbell. It is the longest running event at the Bureau! 11 years and going. Each month there is a different theme and a different line up of queer artists who tell true stories from their lives on a theme.
The theme for January 17, 2026 is My Collection, featuring storytellers Petra, Kelli Dunham, and Stacy Cay.

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

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

Born and raised in the south by parents who thought she was a boy, Stacy Cay’s ability to find the humor in both the traumas – from conversion therapy to death threats – and everyday challenges of being trans in a hostile world makes her voice one you won’t soon forget. Megyn Kelly calls her “disgusting.” Audiences call her “hilarious.”

Kelli Dunham RN BSN is just the type of ex-nun turned polyamorous, nonbinary nurse comedian storyteller who is ubiquitous on the streets of South Brooklyn. Subscribe to Kelli’s substack, Hoping Intentionally OR come see her one show only We Were Such A Happy Family on Feb 21 at Caveat.

Petra is a queer-transfeminine organizer who passionately works to activate their Staten Island community. Coming from a background as a student and revolutionary organizer they are now an organizer for Staten Island 4 Palestine and run a free-borrow library of radical literature called Staten Island Revolution Library. Through work at SI4P and their Library, they help connect Staten Island like never seen before through a family of militant, stubborn, and loving Islanders.
Petra understands that our struggles as a Queer community are deeply connected to the struggles we see for a Free Palestine, Venezuela, and against mounting ICE raids as all our are against the same system of Global Imperialism and Capitalism. Only by drawing these intersectionalities and uniting our struggles in revolutionary passion does Petra believe we can achieve true liberation for our disparate communities. Petra truly believes that through Queer Love alongside the fight for Revolutionary Socialism and a Free Palestine we will achieve our collective liberation.

Dear Enheduanna,: Book Launch & Poetry Reading (in person & live-streaming)
2026-01-18 15:00 - 17:00 | Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Come and join us for a January afternoon of poetry to launch Dear Enheduanna, (2025, Ugly Duckling Presse) by Erin Honeycutt with readings from a.Monti, Tess Brown-Lavoie, & Milo Wippermann.
Part prayer, part performance, part poetic treatise, Dear Enheduanna writes out to the high priestess and first known author then swallows whole the epistolary form. Pulp decay as publishing tactic. These are conjuring poems; poems coming after collaboration — entanglement as conceit, as kink, as communion pleasure tactic. Smuggle in a sexy mirror, smuggle in a double-headed dildo, smuggle in a sentence then feel it read back: the author is reader is author is reader.
“Dear Enheduanna is erotic romp through language and lesbian history. Erin Honeycutt elegantly weaves together what it means to have a sexual body, a body encased in history. What are the limits of expressing desire? Can the orgasm become language? Complex and fun, these poems spill over and out of the mouth.” —LA Warman

To reserve a copy of Dear Enheduanna, (Ugly Duckling Presse, November 2025, paperback, $14) please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve Dear Enheduanna, for January 18 event” in the subject line.
Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!

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

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

Erin Honeycutt is a writer based in Berlin. They co-edit WOMANWOOD, an open-call smut gazette, and VORTEXT, a mail-order poetry magazine. In 2020, Erin began the publishing project, CUTT PRESS, for pamphlets, poetry, and reprints with the archives of Hopscotch Reading Room. Erin is the author of Dear Enheduanna (Ugly Duckling Presse) and Night School (MA BIBLIOTHÈQUE.)

a.Monti is a cross-disciplinary poet, translator and educator. They have facilitated seminars and workshops on experimental sound, contemporary poetry, archival research and writing for performance. Monti is an Associate Editor at Litmus Press and co-edits WOMANWOOD, an open-call smut gazette (Cutt Press). They have written for The Offing, McSweeney’s, The Berliner and Montez Press Radio. Monti is based between Berlin and New York City but was born in an elevator in Rome going up to the third floor.

Tess Brown-Lavoie is author of Lite Year, winner of the Fence Modern Poet Series Prize. Brown-Lavoie co-founded Sidewalk Ends Farm in 2011, and was recently the Anne Waldman Fellow at Naropa University. Brown-Lavoie teaches writing to architecture students at Pratt.

Milo Wippermann is the author of Joan of Arkansas, which was a finalist for a 2024 Lambda Award in LGBTQ+ Drama and has been supported by Woolly Mammoth and the Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts. In 2023, he won a Whiting Award in poetry and drama. Wippermann is an editor and letterpress printer at Ugly Duckling Presse, and holds an MFA from Brown University. He lives in Lenapehoking, Brooklyn, NY.

Rumipalooza! Trolling for Dick in Argentina (in person & live-streaming)
2026-01-22 19:00 - 20:30 | Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
A rare and fleeting consciousness-lowering event celebrating Trolling for Dick in Argentina — the outrageous, tender, and unfiltered story of Rumi Missabu, a crazy gender bending, radical performer and Cockette who refused to say no and lived at the end of his imagination. For 35 years, Rumi didn’t have a driver’s license or a Social Security number. He only carried a library card that said Rumi Missabu. Join us for a reading and an exploration of his archive, which offers a glimpse into the glittering chaos, radical love, and constant self-invention that shaped his life. Readers include: August Bernadicou, Jackie Rudin, Agosto Machado, Mike Payne, and MORE!

To reserve a copy of Trolling for Dick in Argentina (paperback, $15) please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve Trolling for Dick in Argentina for January 22 event” in the subject line.
Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!

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

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

Queer Junk Journal Swap & Scrap Meet Up (in person only)
2026-01-24 12:30 - 14:30 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Calling all queer paper nerds, collage queens, sticker gremlins, and crafty babes! This 18+ LGBTQ+ junk journal social is part art hangout, part swap meet, part serotonin. Bring your journal, your scissors, your glue, and your chaotic hoard of paper ephemera. We’re crafting together, hyping each other’s pages, and hosting a de-stash table to swap washi, stickers, scrapbook paper, and any art supplies you want to pass on. No rules, no pressure — just chill vibes, creative play, and swapping shiny bits like the crafty girls, gays, and theys that we are. 💖 ✂ ✨

Space is limited to the first 16 people who arrive.
The Bureau normally opens at 1 pm, but we will open at 12 PM on Saturday, January 24th, for this event.

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

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

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

About the facilitator:
Michael Williams is a New York–based photo editor and visual storyteller whose career spans editorial portraiture, performing arts publicity, and celebrity event coverage. Born into a farm family in small-town Iowa, he began photographing professionally in high school and earned his BA in Journalism & Mass Communication from the University of Iowa, with a minor in French and study abroad in Lyon. His path has included an MFA stint at Columbia College Chicago, a fellowship in Amsterdam, and roles at Gamma Liaison, Getty Images, and now Everett Collection, where he directs entertainment photo assignments. Outside of work, Williams continues to photograph—especially his vintage Barbie collection, featured in LIFE and PEOPLE—and leads creative workshops in junk journaling and stationery arts for the LGBTQ+ community.

Closed due to snowstorm!
2026-01-25 | NY
The Bureau will be closed on Sunday, January 25th, due to the expected snowstorm.
We have postponed our scheduled event, My Studio is a Dungeon is The Studio: Jarrett Earnest and Nayland Blake in Conversation (in person only), until Sunday, February 1, 3 PM.

The Bureau joins the National Shutdown!
2026-01-30 | NY
The Bureau joins the National Shutdown on Friday, January 30th, 2026, to call for the abolition of ICE!!!
Individuals and organizations can pledge to join the shutdown here:
nationalshutdown.org
“The people of the Twin Cities have shown the way for the whole country – to stop ICE’s reign of terror, we need to SHUT IT DOWN. On Friday, January 30, join a nationwide day of no school, no work and no shopping.
“The entire country is shocked and outraged at the brutal killings of Alex Pretti, Renee Good, Silverio Villegas González, and Keith Porter Jr. by federal agents. While Trump and other right wing politicians are slandering them as “terrorists”, the video evidence makes it clear beyond all doubt: they were gunned down in broad daylight simply for exercising their First Amendment right to protest mass deportation. Every day, ICE, Border Patrol and other enforcers of Trump’s racist agenda are going into our communities to kidnap our neighbors and sow fear. It is time for us to all stand up together in a nationwide shutdown and say enough is enough!”

Queer Kids Bloom: Stories of Early Queer Love, Triumph, and Transformation (in person only)
2026-01-31 15:00 - 16:30 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Come out to the Bureau to celebrate the release of two new boldly queer books for young readers: Sabertooth by Robin Gow and Brady Mason’s Perfect Fit by Nicole Melleby. Robin and Nicole will discuss their new releases, writing for queer youth, and their creative process, moderated by Taylor Tracy, author of Pasta Girls.

To reserve a copy/copies of Sabertooth (Amulet Books, January 27, 2026, hardcover, $18.99), Brady Mason’s Perfect Fit (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, January 13, 2026, hardcover, $17.99) and/or Pasta Girls (Quill Tree Books, September 9, 2025, hardcover, $19.99), please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve books for January 31 event” in the subject line and let us know which titles you’d like us to hold for you in the body of the email.
Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!
You can also purchase Sabertooth, Brady Mason’s Perfect Fit, and Pasta Girls (click on titles below) on our online shop at bookshop.com/shop/bgsqd:
Sabertooth
Brady Mason’s Perfect Fit
Pasta Girls

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

My Studio is a Dungeon is The Studio: Jarrett Earnest and Nayland Blake in Conversation (in person only)
2026-02-01 15:00 - 16:30 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
For four decades, artist, writer, curator, and teacher Nayland Blake has been at the center of discussions of queer aesthetics and contemporary art. Their work has examined racial hybridity, the ins and outs of the BDSM world, and the importance of self-representation. From interviews and critical essays to performance scripts and collage pieces, My Studio Is a Dungeon Is the Studio gathers forty years of Blake’s groundbreaking thought and writing on their personal explorations of kink and creativity as well as on the making, teaching, and curating of art and queer culture. Whether delving into furry fandom or analyzing art, Blake bridges the art and queer kink communities. Join Blake and editor Jarrett Earnest as they discuss art, race, kink and queer futures in the midst of the newest culture war.
Note: this event was originally scheduled for January 25th. Due to the weather forecast we have rescheduled the event for February 1st.
To reserve a copy of My Studio Is a Dungeon Is the Studio (Duke University Press, October 21, 2025, paperback, $28.95) please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve My Studio for February 1 event” in the subject line.
Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!
You can also purchase My Studio Is a Dungeon Is the Studio (click on title below) on our online shop at bookshop.com/shop/bgsqd:
My Studio Is a Dungeon Is the Studio

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

Jarrett Earnest is a writer, editor and curator living in New York City. He is the author of What it Means to Write About Art: Interviews with Art Critics (2018) and Valid Until Sunset (2023). Earnest’s criticism has been published in catalogs and books around the world, and appears regularly in the New York Review of Books.

Nayland Blake is an artist, writer, educator and curator, whose works on race, sexuality and gender have been exhibited throughout the United States and Europe. Their career retrospective “No Wrong Holes – 30 years of Nayland Blake” opened in 2019 at the Institute for Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and closed in 2021 at the MIT LIst Center. They are the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. They are currently the co-director of the studio art program at Bard College, and serve on the board of VisualAIDS.

Cristy Road Carrera's Sink Or Burn: Book Launch (in person & live-streaming)
2026-02-08 15:00 - 17:00 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
Join Author + illustrator Cristy Road Carrera of Sink Or Burn for a reading + visual slideshow to celebrate the recent release of SINK OR BURN (Row House Press).
Sunday, February 8, 2026 @ 3PM, at the Legendary Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, in Room 210 of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St. NYC
In Sink Or Burn, the year is 2121, and fascism has overthrown a once-thriving utopia.
Amid the ashes of a fallen nation, Cheap Glitter—a queer, punk rock band—becomes the voice of resistance. As they tour across a fractured America, raising funds for the fight against a brutal regime, they navigate wildfires, sunken landscapes, and the terrifying laws of a collapsing society.
At the heart of their journey is CT, a lovelorn survivor whose romantic entanglement with a fellow bandmate—a survivor of a different war—complicates their quest for both personal healing and social revolution. As the band balances the weight of trauma with the urgency of their fight, they discover that love, however chaotic, may be their greatest weapon.
A punk rock anthem and a manifesto for the broken-hearted— Sink Or Burn tells the story of a tortured artist’s evolution into a divine healer. Cristy Road Carrera, a punk rock icon and queer Latina artist, weaves together individual survival with the broader struggle for liberation, through autobiographical fiction and hand drawn illustrations.
Copies of SINK OR BURN will be available for purchase at The Bureau alongside hundreds of tools for reclaiming our power from state violence and indoctrination.
To reserve a copy of Sink or Burn (100 Block by Row House, February 3, 2026, paperback, $18.99) and/or Next World Tarot: Pocket Edition: Deck and Guide (2nd edition), (Silver Sprocket, November 10, 2021, $25) please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve Sink or Burn and/or Next World Tarot for February 8 event” in the subject line, and let us know which of these items you’d like to purchase in the body of the email.
Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!

You can also purchase Sink or Burn (click on title below) on our online shop at bookshop.com/shop/bgsqd:
Sink or Burn

And you can purchase Next World Tarot: Pocket Edition directly from Silver Sprocket by clicking on the title above.

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

Unsung cult hero Cristy Road Carrera is a first-generation Cuban-American artist, writer, and musician. She is the creator of three illustrated novels and the revolutionary Next World Tarot, and has been illustrating for cultural and social movements for over 25 years. While exploring race, gender, sexuality, punk rock, and survival, Road creates a visual and audible soundtrack for a broken world.
Learn more about the author at www.croadcore.org

Radical Queer Reading Group: Resisting Borders and Technologies of Violence (in person only)
2026-02-11 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 February 11th, we’re reading Resisting Borders and Technologies of Violence, edited by Mizue Aizeki, Matt Mahmoudi, and Coline Schupfer (Haymarket Books, February 13, 2024, paperback, $22.95).

We’ll meet on Wednesday, February 11th, at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division in room 210 of The LGBT Community Center in the West Village, 7-8 PM.

Copies of Resisting Borders and Technologies of Violence, edited by Mizue Aizeki, Matt Mahmoudi, and Coline Schupfer (Haymarket Books, February 13, 2024, paperback, $22.95) are available to purchase at the Bureau. Purchase the book before February 11th and receive 15% off ($19.51 instead of $22.95). Just mention the Radical Queer Reading Group when you check out.

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

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.
​
Our next meeting will take place on: ​March 11th

lesbian book club: February edition (in person only)
2026-02-14 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 February 14th meeting, we’ll read All Girls Be Mine Alone, by Sophie Strohmeier (Joyland Editions, October 14, 2025, paperback, $17).
The Bureau does not have copies of this book in stock, but you can place an order directly from Asterism Books:
https://asterismbooks.com/product/all-girls-be-my-alone-sophie-strohmeier

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

OUTspoken: The Publishing Triangle’s Reading Series, February Edition (in person & live-streaming)
2026-02-19 18:30 - 19:30 | Bureau of General Services–Queer Division, 208 West 13th Street, Room 210, New York, NY, 10011, United States
The Publishing Triangle presents another session of its OUTspoken Reading Series as host Rob Byrnes welcomes Julie Averill—Chief Impact Officer (forthcoming from 8080 Books), Andy Barrow—Peter in Progress (forthcoming from Atmosphere Press), Reuben “Tihi” Hayslett—Orbital Bebop (forthcoming from Rize Press), and Russ López—Provincetown Stories (forthcoming from Shawmut Peninsula Press). Join us as in-person or remotely 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
