David Smith, the owner of Stonewall Fitness,
holds a degree in exercise science from Metropolitan State University
of Denver, several fitness certifications including ACSM Personal
Trainer and Group Fitness. Smith specializes in
exercise, nutrition and wellness programs for the GLBT community and
leads a variety of different programs, including group fitness classes,
personal training, athletic conditioning programs, educational seminars
and workshops. His passion lies in promoting the physical, mental and
social benefits of exercise and healthy diet to the community by
breaking down the barriers often associated with a healthy lifestyle to
make it accessible for everybody.
Do
you want to advertise to Denver’s gay community? Of course you do, it’s
the 7th largest in the United States! And the best way to reach them is
with MileHighGayGuy – Colorado’s Best Gay Blog.
Registration is now open for Octobearfest 2016: Bears In The Mile High City at the earlybird discount rate of only $109. Stay tuned for more information as the full Octobearfest schedule becomes available.
Lambda Literary, the nation's leading national nonprofit organization promoting LGBTQ literature, is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2016 Judith A. Markowitz Emerging Writer Award. This year Lambda recognizes Bryan Borland and JP Howard.
The judges for the prize were award-winning authors Reginald Harris and Lee Lynch. In a joint statement they said of this year's winners:
"Bryan Borland is the very epitome of literary activism. A prolific and engaging poet, he is the founder of Sibling Rivalry Press and Founding Editor of the literary journal Assaracus. His press also publishes a quarterly of queer and trans women's poetry called Adrienne. Mr. Borland has demonstrated that he is energetic and ambitious not only for his own beautiful work, but for his community of LGBTQ poets."
They continued, "JP Howard stands out both for her fine poetry and for her passionate, unrelenting involvement with and on behalf of lesbians of color, all lesbians, and the LGBTQ literary community. She reverently celebrates our forebears. A poet, a teacher, and a curator, Ms. Howard has shown an ongoing commitment to nurturing our writers and to writing and publishing from her heart."
The Emerging Writer Award, which consists of two cash prizes of $1000, is made possible by Judith A. Markowitz who is committed to helping LGBT literature flourish by recognizing talented new writers. To qualify for the award, recipients must have published up to 2 books or 1 book and additional literary work such as short stories, essays or journalistic articles.
Borland and Howard will be recognized as winners of the Emerging Writer Awards at the 28th Annual Lambda Literary Awards ceremony on June 6 in New York City.
"This year's judges considered a very wide field of exceptional nominations," said LL Executive Director, Tony Valenzuela. "We congratulate the winners for their well-deserved achievement and for their exciting new works yet to come."
Henry Gamble's Birthday Party from Wolfe Video on Vimeo. Religious LGBT coming-of-age movie Henry Gamble's Birthday Party unfolds over the course of one eventful day in the life of 17-year-old preacher's kid Henry (played by handsome newcomer Cole Doman in a winning, charismatic performance), who must navigate his faith, secrets, and sexuality within his family and religious community. After a NYC theatrical release and year of film festival success, Henry Gamble's Birthday Party, from acclaimed writer/director Stephen Cone, is now out on DVD and VOD.
The five members of Amason have been busy this year. They won the Swedish Grammy for Album of the Year for their debut album Sky City, followed closely by the release of their California Airport Love EP in which their cover of The Mamas and The Papas song "California Dreamin'" was the soundtrack to the H&M Loves Coachella campaign that included a stunning live session of the song that can be seen HERE. Now they release the brilliant video for their cover of Foreigner's "I Want To Know What Love Is."
Come celebrate pride on June 18th at the 11th Annual Pink Party. Tickets are $80 until sold out. All tickets include entry intro Tracks for a party with an open bar on the night of June 20th.
Immortalize your furry friends with a pet portrait by Maurice Becnel. Clients admire Becnel's
ability to capture the essence of a pet's personality in his work. Says Becnel, "Painting animal portraits, for me, is more fun than it is work. I began
painting them several years ago. The first one I did was for a friend on
her birthday. Because it was a gift it never dawned on me that other
people would commission me to do more. Word got out and before I knew it
more and more of the emails I was receiving from my website were going
to the dogs! And cats!"
RuPaul's Drag Race alumni Mimi Imfurst’s first full-length album, The Fire, is a pop-rock album that bursts with emotion. “I’ve been tested by the universe so many times in my life and I refuse to back down,” says Mimi Imfurst from her home in Philadelphia. She describes being on RuPaul’s Drag Race as both amazing and difficult at the same time. “I am so lucky for the many blessings it gave me but it literally deconstructed my world. I was forced to confront many dark corners of my life.”
Those dark corners included being kicked out of her home as a teen and being outed as gay to her family. “One never truly gets over the experience of having to beg for food, a place to stay, a shower, clean clothes. I remember longing for someone with an ear willing to listen and a heart to understand what I was going through. Being homeless and LGBTQ was the very first fire I had to walk though,” she says.
Are
you a new or experienced writer or blogger? Do you want to be? Or maybe
you're just some gay guy with something to say? Well, what better forum
for you than MileHighGayGuy? MileHighGayGuy
is looking for regular and guest bloggers to write about local news and
events, do music and movie reviews, or write opinion or feature pieces
from a gay perspective. These are unpaid positions but offer the
opportunity to be published in Colorado's Best Gay Blog (2010, 2011,
2012 OUTstanding Awards, Denver 2012 #WebAwards), expand your audience and gain valuable
experience. There's also swag available in the form of free movie and
concert tickets, music, books and other cool stuff. If interested, shoot an email over to Drew Wilson atdrew@milehighgayguy.com. And if you've got column or story ideas to pitch, this is the place to do it.
Ariztical Entertainment has announced the May 17th cable and digital release of Joseph Graham's Beautiful Something.
After an acclaimed year on the LGBT festival circuit and a theatrical
run in New York and LA, the film will be available to rent or own
nationwide on Digital HD and cable VOD. Beautiful Something follows four men on their interlocking searches for sex, art, love, and identity within the City of Brotherly Love.
Ariztical
President Michael Jack Shoel noted that "this recent festival sensation
is one of the rare films that successfully navigates the lines of
artistic relevance while being uncompromisingly gay in theme and
erotically charged content".
Legendary singer-songwriter Barry Manilow hopes others will once again follow his philanthropic lead as he brings his Manilow Music Project to Aurora Central High School. The pop icon plans to donate a Yamaha piano to launch a local music instrument drive. Anyone who donates a new or gently used musical instrument (hand carry only) between now and show dates will receive two free tickets (valid for pre-selected seat locations on a first come first serve basis while supplies last) for Manilow's May 6th and May 7th shows at the Bellco Theatre.
The Manilow Music Project has conducted music instrument drives all over the country to assist local schools with their music programs.
"I'm thrilled to once again bring the gift of music to these kids," added Manilow.
The Administrative Offices at the Colorado Convention Center (corner of 14th Street and Welton Street in Denver) will serve as the base for the instrument drive in Denver from now through Friday May 5th. The instrument drop off location is open Monday through Friday 10:00am - 4:00pm
"Here at Aurora Central, we strive to offer our students a world-class performing arts education," said James Jensen, Aurora Central High School's Director of Instrumental Music. "Currently, our instrumental music department has three pianos for use in various states of disrepair. All of the pianos have had long lives here at the school and show lots of wear and tear. The pianos are missing pedals, panels and even keys. A new piano from Manilow Music would mean that students would have access to a high-quality keyboard instrument to help build their understanding of music and keyboarding. The piano will be used to help us in so many ways including preparing students for performances, used in performances with the ensembles and in music theory instruction. Overall, a new piano would enrich our students' music experience at school and better prepare them for a life of music-making!"
Divine Feline is Colorado’s leading spay/neuter source for free roaming (“community”) cats and a significant provider of spay/neuter services for pet cats, all through their in-house clinic, The Feline Fix.
To date The Feline Fix has performed more than 27,000 spay/neuter surgeries, preventing the births of hundreds of thousands of unwanted cats in Denver and surrounding communities.
For more information about the clinic, or to request a reservation for your tame, stray or feral cats, please click here.
Divine Feline is a Colorado nonprofit corporation and a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. All contributions are tax deductible. To make a donation please click here.
"My mother loved, respected and celebrated families of all kinds," Melissa, 48, said in a press release for the auction, which will take place May 9 at the Night at the Pier gala in at Pier 60 in New York City.
"She would be thrilled to know that her coat, which celebrates diversity, is being sold to benefit loving families," added Melissa.
"Joan Rivers was a celebrity pioneer in her unbridled support of the LGBT community," said Ian Patrick, Deputy Director of Events at Family Equality Council. "We are honored to offer this precious piece of her legacy to support our work to secure a rightful place for LGBTQ-headed families in America."
The coat, which Joan originally wore at the Las Vegas Pride Parade in 2012, is a glittery gold gown adorned with a ruffled-neckline, and opens up to reveal a sparkly rainbow lining.
It was designed by Broadway costume designer William Ivey Long at Joan's request and will be available for bidding at the auction itself as well as online ahead of time.
The coat was part of the legendary comedian collection of unique clothing, jewelry and art, much of which will be sold at an upcoming Christie's auction in New York City on June 22.
The auction house is putting up more than 200 of Rivers' prized possessions from her Manhattan penthouse, with items ranging from $500 to $200,000, and including everything from a Tiffany water bowl engraved with Spike to an Edouard Vuillard painting with an estimated value of $120,000–$180,000.
David Smith, the owner of Stonewall Fitness,
holds a degree in exercise science from Metropolitan State University
of Denver, several fitness certifications including ACSM Personal
Trainer and Group Fitness. 
