Arts & Entertainment

Calendar through September 5

Gay Softball World Series, The Coolots & Manny Lehman hit D.C.

Published

11 years ago

August 29, 2013

Will Owen

‘Fallen Youth,’ a sculpture by Janathel Shaw, is on display at Touchstone Gallery. (Image courtesy Touchstone)

Friday, August 30

Aqua Bar and Lounge (1818 New York Ave., N.E.) hosts “Club Fuego,” a Latino gay dance party, tonight from 10:30 p.m.-3 a.m. Admission is $10 and limited to guests 21 and over. For details, visit aquadc.com.

Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) hosts Bear Happy Hour tonight from 6-11 p.m. There is no cover charge and admission is limited to guests 21 and over. For details, visit towndc.com.

Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) hosts “Grand Slam with DJ Manny Lehman,” the finale to the Gay Softball World Series, tonight at 10 p.m. The World Series is the largest LGBT sporting event in the country, welcoming more than 170 teams to D.C. this year. Cover is $8 from 10-11 and $12 after 11. For details, visit towndc.com.

The Coolots, a local all-female rock and soul band, perform tonight at Phase 1 of Dupont (1415 22nd St., N.W.). Doors open at 9 p.m. Admission is $10 and limited to guests 21 and over. For more information, visit phase1dc.com.

The Club (5268 Williamsport Pike, Martinsburg, W.Va.) hosts a patio “Foam Party” tonight. Doors open at 6 p.m. Cover is $5 and unlimited bottomless rail drinks are $20. Admission is limited to guests 21 and over. For more details, visit theclubwv.com.

Saturday, August 31

Phase 1 of Dupont (1415 22nd St., N.W.) hosts its weekly “Booty Beach Ladies Dance Party” this evening. The winner of the party’s bikini and board shorts contest will receive cash and prizes. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. and admission is $5. Visit phase1dc.com for more information.

Nellie’s Sports Bar (900 U St., N.W.) hosts its new “Saturday Brunch” at 11 a.m. Guests can enjoy one free mimosa with their meal. For more details, visit nelliessportsbar.com.

Adventuring, a gay outdoors group, hosts a Great North Mountain hike near the Virginia-West Virginia border today. Participants meet at 8:30 a.m. at the East Falls Church Metro Station (2001 N. Sycamore St., Arlington, Va.), and should bring bug spray, lunch, water, sunscreen, sturdy boots and $20 for trip fees. For more information, visit adventuring.org.

Sunday, September 1

Busboys and Poets (2021 14th St., N.W.) hosts “Sparkle,” its monthly LGBT poetry open mic night, from 8-10 p.m. this evening. Admission is $5. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit busboysandpoets.com.

K&C Productions hosts its weekly “Sizzling Hot Sundays,” an LGBT hip-hop and house music dance party, at Club Muse (717 6th St., N.W.) tonight from 11 p.m.-2 a.m. For details, visit clubmuse.com.

Perry’s (1811 Columbia Rd., N.W.) hosts its weekly Sunday Drag Brunch today from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. The cost is $24.95 for an all-you-can-eat buffet. For details, visit perrysadamsmorgan.com.

Black Fox Lounge (1723) hosts “Tula’s Cabaret,” a classic lip-sync drag show, from 8-11 p.m. tonight. Admission is free. For more information, visit blackfoxlounge.com.

The Bachelor’s Mill (1104 8th St., S.E.) hosts karaoke tonight from 9 p.m.-midnight. There will also be pool, video gaming systems and card games. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and admission is $3 after 9. For more information, visit bachelorsmill.com.

Monday, September 2

The D.C. Center (1318 U St., N.W.) hosts coffee drop-in hours this morning from 10 a.m.-noon. for the senior LGBT community. Older LGBT adults can come and enjoy complimentary coffee and conversation with other community members. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Adventuring, an LGBT outdoors group, host a Wilson Bridge hike today. The group meets at the King Street Metro Station (1900 King St., Alexandria, Va.) at 11 a.m., and then walks through Old Town Alexandria across the Wilson Bridge to the National Harbor in Maryland. Participants should bring $2 as a trip fee, $8 for a water taxi back to Alexandria, lunch and plenty of water. For more details, visit adventuring.org.

Tuesday, September 3

Green Lantern (1335 Green Ct., N.W.) hosts its weekly FUK!T Packing Party tonight from 7-9 p.m. For more details, visit thedccenter.org or greenlanterndc.com.

Nellie’s Sports Bar (900 U St., N.W.) hosts karaoke tonight at 9 p.m. For details, visit nelliessportsbar.com.

Wednesday, September 4

Midtown (1219 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) hosts “Mix It Up 2.0,” an LGBT dance party, from 8:30-midnight. All groups of six entering together get a free bottle of champagne. For details, visit midtown-dc.com.

Us Helping Us (3636 Georgia Ave., N.W.) hosts a support group for black gay men living with HIV tonight from 7-9 p.m. For more details, visit uhupil.org.

The Tom Davoren Social Bridge Club will be meeting at 7:30 p.m., at the Dignity Center 721 8th St., S.E. (across from Marine Barracks) for social bridge. No partner needed. Call 301-345-1571 for more information.

Black Fox Lounge (1723 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) hosts “Bare!,” a storytelling show of true stories of sex, love and desire, from 8-10 p.m. tonight. The show is based in New York and also has monthly performances in Boston. Admission is $8 and limited to guests 21 and over. For more details, visit blackfoxlounge.com.

Thursday, September 5

Rude Boi Entertainment hosts “Tempted 2 Touch,” a ladies dance party, at the Fab Lounge (2022 Florida Ave., N.W.). Doors open at 5 p.m. for happy hour until 9, and the club closes at 1 a.m. Admission is $5 all night and limited to guests 21 and over. For details, visit rudeboientertainment.wordpress.com.

The D.C. Health Link and the Mayor’s Office of GLBT Affairs host an LGBT Leadership Summit at Busboys and Poets (2021 14th St., N.W.) today from 6:30-7:30 p.m. LGBT community leaders and business owners will meet with health care experts to learn how to find the best and most affordable health insurance. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Touchstone Gallery (901 New York Ave., N.W.) hosts a preview from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. today of its new exhibit “ReBirth” by Janathel Shaw. The exhibition features clay sculptures that address racism and sexism through Buddhist influences of rebirth. For more information, visit touchstonegallery.com.

The Gay Softball World Series holds its championship games today from 7:50 a.m.-4 p.m. at Fairland Regional Park (3928 Greencastle Rd., Burtonsville, Md.), and from 7:50 a.m.-2 p.m. at Watkins Regional Park (301 Watkins Park Dr., Upper Marlboro, Md.). There will then be a closing street party and awards ceremony in the Renaissance Hotel courtyard from 5-9 p.m. with food, entertainment and drink specials. For more information, visit dcseries2013.com.

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Books

Thom Gunn bio explores joys, complexities of modern gay life

‘A Cool Queer Life’ presents author’s humanity, poetic genius

Published

2 days ago

October 13, 2024

Charles Green

(Book cover image via Amazon)

‘Thom Gunn: A Cool Queer Life’
By Michael Nott
c.2024, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
$40/720 pages

A confession: Until reading “Thom Gunn: A Cool Queer Life,” I hadn’t known much about the accomplished, controversial gay poet’s life or read many of his poems. But this first biography makes me feel like I know him and his large body of work intimately. Michael Nott, coeditor of “The Letters of Thom Gunn,” draws on interviews with friends and family, as well as Gunn’s letters, notebooks, and diaries, to tell the triumphs and tragedies of his life.

Born in England in 1929 to journalist parents, when he was 15, he and his younger brother Ander found their mother dead from suicide. He would not discuss this tragic event in his poetry for years, including one of his last poems “My Mother’s Pride.” He published his first book of poems, “Fighting Terms,” while still an undergraduate at Cambridge University.

At Cambridge, Gunn met his life-long partner, Mike Kitay, an American studying theater. Gunn followed Kitay to America, studying poetry under Yvor Winters at Stanford University. At one point, Kitay, doing his military service, was investigated as part of suspicion of homosexuality among his unit. Gunn wrote to friends of his worry both of what might happen to Kitay as well as to himself. While nothing happened, the event reminds us of the precarious state in which gay men lived until recently.

Eventually, they settled in San Francisco, which Gunn loved. Even when he became worldwide famous, he enjoyed the anonymity of the city’s gay bars, where he could pick up men. He taught at UC Berkeley for 40 years, one term every year so he could concentrate on his poetry. His and Kitay’s home was filled with friends and sex partners, usually of Gunn. This arrangement seems common for many gay men of the time, reminiscent of Dan Savage’s idea of “monogamish,” where committed gay couples might have other side partners.

In San Francisco, Gunn discovered leather and drugs, both of which he took to readily. He caused a stir by appearing in his British publisher’s conservative club in leather gear. Toward the end of his life, he became a crystal meth addict, frequently using with other addicts whom he also slept with. In 2004, his housemates found him dead from substance abuse.

He explored leather, drugs, and gay sexuality frequently in his poems. His collection “Moly” (named after the drug in The Odyssey protecting from the witch Circe’s magic), looked at the appeal and downfall of drugs. The Man with Night Sweats, perhaps his most famous collection, dealt with the AIDS epidemic, the painful death of so many friends and lovers. He won the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grant afterwards.

The biography presents Gunn in all his humanity, from his poetic genius to his insecurities. After each book came out, he struggled with writer’s block, which led to hookups and drug use. As he aged, he worried about finding “gerontophiles” who would sleep with him. I hope this book encourages readers to discover or revisit his work, filled with the joys and complexities of modern gay life.

Out & About

Blade to mark 55 years, celebrate Best Of LGBTQ DC

Published

3 days ago

October 12, 2024

Tinashe Chingarande

The Washington Blade will celebrate 55 years of delivering LGBTQ news and also the best LGBTQ things in the city on Thursday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. at Crush Bar.

First drink courtesy of Absolut. Must be 21 to attend and the event’s sponsors are ABSOLUT, Crush, and Infinite Legacy.

Tickets start at $10 and can be purchased at bestoflgbtqdc.com.

Out & About

Upper Chesapeake Bay Pride hosts October events

‘The New Black’ viewing in Bel Air, Md.

Published

3 days ago

October 12, 2024

Tinashe Chingarande

(Washington Blade file photo by Ernesto Valle)

The Upper Chesapeake Bay Pride Foundation is hosting a series of October events, starting with a free documentary, “The New Black,” on Oct. 15 at 5:30 p.m. at Branch Towson University in Bel Air, Md. Admission is free; visit ucbpride.com for details and to reserve a spot. There will also be a family-friendly Sunday stroll on Oct. 20, 5-6 p.m. at North Park Loop Trail; meet at the Lock House at 817 Conesteo St. in Havre de Grace, Md.