Friday, September 13

“Center Aging Friday Tea Time” will be at 2 p.m. on Zoom. This is a social hour for older LGBTQ adults. Guests are encouraged to bring a beverage of choice. For more details, email [email protected]. 

Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Social in the City” at 7 p.m. at Moxy. This event is ideal for making new friends, professional networking, idea sharing, and community building. This event is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Women in their Twenties and Thirties will be at 8 p.m. on Zoom. This is a social discussion group for queer women in the Washington, D.C. area. For more details, visit WiTT’s  closed Facebook group.

Saturday, September 14

Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Brunch” at 11 a.m. at Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant. This fun weekly event brings the DMV area LGBTQ community, including Allies, together for delicious food and conversation. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Sunday, September 15

Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Dinner” at 6 p.m. at Federico Ristorante Italiano. Guests are encouraged to come enjoy an evening of Italian-style dining and conversation with other LGBTQ folk. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

AfroCode DC will be at 4 p.m. at Decades DC. This event will be an experience of non-stop music, dancing, and good vibes and a crossover of genres and a fusion of cultures. Tickets cost $40 and can be purchased on Eventbrite. 

Monday, September 16

Center Aging: Monday Coffee & Conversation will be at 10 a.m. on Zoom. This is a social hour for older LGBTQ adults. Guests are encouraged to bring a beverage of their choice. For more details, email [email protected]. 

Tuesday, September 17

Pride on the Patio Events will host “LGBTQ Social Mixer” at 5:30 p.m. at Showroom. Dress is casual, fancy, or comfortable. Guests are encouraged to bring their most authentic self to chat, laugh, and get a little crazy. Admission is free and more details are on Eventbrite.

Wednesday, September 18

Job Club will be at 6 p.m. on Zoom. This is a weekly job support program to help job entrants and seekers, including the long-term unemployed, improve self-confidence, motivation, resilience and productivity for effective job searches and networking — allowing participants to move away from being merely “applicants” toward being “candidates.” For more information, email [email protected] or visit thedccenter.org/careers.

Lit Lovers: Book Club for Seniors will be at 2 p.m. at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. The book selection for September is “Death Comes for the Archbishop” by Willa Cather. For more details, visit the DC Center’s website. 

Thursday, September 19

The DC Center’s Fresh Produce Program will be held all day at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. People will be informed on Wednesday at 5 p.m. if they are picked to receive a produce box. No proof of residency or income is required. For more information, email [email protected] or call 202-682-2245. 

Virtual Yoga with Sarah M. will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is a free weekly class focusing on yoga, breath work, and meditation. For more details, visit the DC Center for the LGBT Community’s website.

Sigur Ros will be joined by the Wordless Music Orchestra at the Anthem (901 Wharf St., S.W.) on Wednesday, Sept. 25th. They’re continuing their 2023 tour in support of “Atta,” their first LP of original music in a decade. Frontman Jonsi is gay. Tickets are $60.50-173.50 for this seated show. 

Troye Sivan brings the “Sweat Tour” with Charli XCX (co-headlining) to Baltimore at the CFG Bank Arena (201 West Baltimore St.) on Thursday, Sept. 26th at 7:30 p.m. It’s sold out. The latter is touring behind her 2024 album “Brat.” The former is touring behind his 2023 album “Something to Give Each Other.” Sivan is gay and has performed at Capital Pride. 

Cyndi Lauper brings her “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour” to Capital One Arena (601 F St., N.W.) on Sunday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. Tickets range from $29-179. It’s her first solo arena stateside tour since her ’86-’87 “True Colors World Tour.” Lauper is a longtime and avid LGBTQ ally. 

St. Vincent brings her “All Born Screaming Tour” to the Anthem (901 Wharf St., S.W.) on Friday, Sept. 13th at 8 p.m. Tickets are $55-95. A Variety review called it “minimalist” and said “with no video screens, backup singers or sketches, and a lot of electric guitar, it’s the purest distillation of St. Vincent we’ve had on stage in quite a few years.” Anne Erin Clark (aka St. Vincent) doesn’t identify as anything sexually but has mostly dated women in recent years. 

Kristin Chenoweth and Alan Cumming play Wolf Trap (1551 Trap Rd., Vienna, Va.) on Friday, Sept. 13 at 8 p.m. Individual sets are planned, but there will likely be a duet or two. Tickets are $29.

Out singer/songwriter Perfume Genius brings his “Too Bright 10th Anniversary Tour” to The Atlantis (2047 9th St., N.W.) on Monday, Sept. 16. This highly limited run will only play six dates in five cities. Mike Hadreas (aka Perfume Genius) will perform his 2014 album in its entirety. It’s sold out. 

Meghan Trainor brings “The Timeless Tour” to Jiffy Lube Live (7800 Cellar Door Dr., Bristol, Va.) on Tuesday, Sept. 17th at 6:30 p.m. She’s touring behind her album of the same name released earlier this year. Tickets are $33-155. No lawn seats available for this show. 

Queer-affirming gospel singer Amy Grant (who also had a decent pop chart run in the ’90s) brings her fall tour to The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria, Va.) on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 7:30 p.m. As she’s done on tour with previous re-releases, Grant could include more songs than usual from her 1994 “House of Love” album, which was just released in an expanded edition and on LP for the first time. Tickets are $95. 

Sara Bareilles, a self-described LGBTQ ally,  joins the NSO Pops for a three-night stint at the Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.) on Sept. 24-26 at 8 p.m. each night. It’s sold out. 

Billie Eilish brings her “Hit Me Hard and Soft: the Tour” to CFG Bank Arena (201 West Baltimore St.) in Baltimore on Friday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. Her album of the same name dropped in March. Although she’s mostly dated guys publicly, Eilish identifies as bi. It’s sold out. 

Queer artist Meshell Ndegeocello plays the Strathmore (5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, Md.) on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 8 p.m. Her show is dubbed “No More Water: the Gospel of James Baldwin” and is billed as a tribute event to the legendary Black gay writer. A pre-concert event, “The Gospel of Meshell Ndegeocello” is free but advanced registration is required. Tickets for the concert are $28-74. 

Former Capital Pride headliner Betty Who (“queer/bi” herself) brings her “An Acoustic Evening in Celebration of 10 years of TMWYG” to the Lincoln Theatre (1215 U St., N.W.) on Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 9 p.m. Tickets are $55. It’s a nod to her 2014 debut album “Take Me When You Go.” 

Justin Timberlake brings his “Forget Tomorrow World Tour” to Capital One Arena (601 F St., N.W.) on Sunday, Oct. 13. This seventh headlining concert tour (and first in five years) supports his 2024 sixth album “Everything I Thought it Was.” Reviews for the tour have been strong; the setlist looks career-spanning and generous. It’s sold out. 

Gay-helmed Pink Martini with China Forbes and Ari Shapiro plays the Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.) on Monday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $40-80. 

’80s pop sensation Debbie Gibson brings her “Acoustic Youth: Songs & Stories from Electric Youth Era” to the Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria, Va.) on Wednesday, Oct. 16. Tickets are $59.50. Gibson is celebrating her 1989 album “Electric Youth,” her second. She’ll accompany herself on piano playing the songs “the way I first wrote them.” 

DJ/producer Diplo, who says he’s “not not gay,” plays Echostage (2135 Queens Chapel Road, N.E.) on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 9 p.m. Walker and Royce join. Tickets are $60. 

Motown diva Diana Ross brings her “Beautiful Love Performances Legacy Tour” to MGM National Harbor (101 MGM National Ave., Oxon Hill, Md.) on Oct. 24-25 at 8 p.m. Except for adding a couple cuts from her abysmal 2021 album “Thank You” (her latest), her setlist has not changed much in 15 years. She’s a little better about performing Supremes songs than she was earlier in her career (for ages, they were crammed into one medley), but she still heavily favors her solo material. Tickets start at $102. 

“The Life and Music of George Michael” comes to the National Theatre (1321 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) on Friday, Oct. 25 at 8 p.m. Hard to tell from promo material if this is a typical jukebox musical-type show or more like a tribute band concert for the late gay singer. Tickets are $55. 

“Sapphic Factory: Queer Joy Party” is at 9:30 Club (815 V St., N.W.) on Friday, Oct. 25 at 10 p.m. It’s slated to feature music by artists such as Mana, Chappell Roan, Fletcher, Phoebe Bridges, Kehlani, Rina Sawayama, boygenius, Kim Petras, Tegan and Sara and more. Tickets are $23. 

Kacey Musgraves brings her “Deeper Well World Tour” to CFG Bank Arena (201 West Baltimore St.) on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 7:30 p.m. It supports her sixth studio album, released in March. The setlist morphed slightly over a spring run in Europe. It’s sold out. 

Soul diva Gladys Knight plays the Hall at Live! (7002 Arundel Mills Circle) in Hanover, Md., on Sunday, Nov. 17th at 7:30 p.m. Knight, who hasn’t had a new album out in a decade, tends to be fairly generous with her classic Motown- and Buddha-era hits with the Pips in approximately 75-minute sets. Tickets start at $95. 

(Joey DiGuglielmo was variously the Blade’s news and features editor from 2006-2020.)

Welcome to the fall book season, where you’ll find gifts for your friends, family and (most importantly?) the best reads for yourself. This is when you’ll find the blockbuster novels you’ve been waiting for, the surprise memoirs and nonfiction that you’ve wanted, and gorgeous gift books your coffee table. This fall, keep your eyes open for all kinds of literary goodness.

NOVELS

Lovers of a good novel will want to curl up with a huge TBR pile.

Romance novels will fill the shelves this fall, and if love is what you want for the holidays, you’re in luck. Look for “The Rules of Royalty” by Cale Dietrich (Wednesday Books, December), a modern tale of a prince and a “commoner”; or “Feast While You Can” by Mikealla Clements and Onjuli Datta (Grand Central Publishing), a scary-romance-erotica novel of small-town life and monsters.

Reach for “Our Evenings: A Novel” by Alan Hollinghurst (Random House, October), a novel of a young man who happily accepts a scholarship to a boarding school filled with classmates who are much, much wealthier than he is. “The Wildes: A Novel in Five Acts” by Louis Bayard (Algonquin Books, September) is a historical novel about Oscar Wilde’s family.

For lovers of Gothic tales, look for “The Resurrectionist” by A. Rae Dunlap (Kensington, December), a tale of bodysnatching. Classics lovers will want to read “Private Rites: A Novel” by Julia Armfield (Flatiron Books, December), a queer reimagining of King Lear.  Or find “Women’s Hotel” by Daniel M. Lavery (HarperVia, October), a book about a second-rate women-only hotel in New York City.

If your taste runs more to rom-coms, there are dozens of those available this fall, too, as well as Christmas novels with gay, lesbian, and trans characters inside.

NONFICTION

Even nonfiction readers will have reason to read this fall and winter.

Look for “Flamboyants: The Queer Harlem Renaissance I Wish I’d Known” by George M. Johnson and Charly Palmer (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, September), a book about 1920s Harlem and the influential queer folks who left their marks on entertainment.

“Something, Not Nothing” by Sarah Leavitt (Arsenal Pulp Press, September) chronicles, in comic form, the death of Leavitt’s partner and the paths grief takes to healing. Learn more about LGBTQ history with “The Book of Awesome Queer Heroes: How the LGBTQ+ Community Changed the World for the Better” by Eric Rosswood and Kathleen Archambeau (Mango, December); check out Mary L. Trump’s heartbreaking memoir, “Who Could Ever Love You?” (St. Martin’s Press, September); or check out a collection of essays in “Songs On Endless Repeat: Essays and Outtakes” by Anthony Veasna So (Ecco, December). Look for “Want: Sexual Fantasies by Anonymous,” an anthology of secret confessions from women around the country, by Gillian Anderson (Abrams Press, September), or find “Queer Disability through History: The Queer and Disabled Movements Through Their Personalities” by Daisy Holder (Pen and Sword History, November). Also: Cher has a new biography out this fall, “The Memoir, Part One” (Dey Street Books, November).

Not quite what you’re looking for? Check with your favorite bookseller or librarian for more ideas because, this fall, they’ll have lots of them. Or give a gift certificate and hold on for spring. Season’s readings!