Tanzer: Destination Love

In celebration of the release of her brand new mini-album Disco Automatic, Australian-based singer, DJ, artist and proud queer community member Tanzer has released the music video for “Destination Love” featuring queer art duo The Huxleys. 

In the music video, directed and edited by The Huxleys, Tanzer travels through a backdrop of scenic destinations accompanied by a glamorous squad of queer characters including the incomparable duo The Huxleys. A Eurotrash fever dream, the video mixes kitsch Australiana with projections of a fictional ‘dolce vita holiday’ to Italy, their favorite destination. The hypercolor music video references everything from Leigh Bowery to Tweety Bird to Jean Paul Gaultier, ready to leave you in a glittery daze.

Of the collaboration Tanzer says: “The Huxleys and I spent our most awkward childhood years in the outskirts of suburban Australia, where building an escapist fantasy world in the mind was our way of feeling safe and hopeful. We all draw inspiration from glam rock, disco and queer art - and have been translating our inner world on the outside ever since - on the stages of festivals, galleries and glamorous parties all over the world. We also happen to be obsessed with the romance and majesty of Italy - where I also grew up in between stints in Aussie suburbia. It was time for an outrageous tribute.”

In addition to releasing “Destination Love,” Tanzer has released her mini-album Disco Automatic. The 6-song release shows the range of Tanzer’s multi-hyphenate abilities in all of its disco, pop, operatic majesty. The accompanying videos also dazzle with an array of themes from Drag (including Tanzer’s Drag King persona) to Sci-Fi and so much more.

Introducing the 2022 Lammys Host and Presenters

The 2022 Lambda Literary Awards are happening Saturday, June 11th and they have announced that the evening’s ceremony will be hosted by Sasha Velour.

Sasha is a gender-fluid drag queen and visual artist. As a drag artist, Velour has toured the world with her acclaimed one-queen drag spectacular Smoke & Mirrors, bewitching audiences on three continents. The multi-media drag revue she created, NightGowns, has recently released two free films available online. Velour also executive produced an award-winning original series of the same name with director Sophie Muller available on The Roku Channel which The New York Times hailed as being “among the most life- affirming shows you could find on any platform.” Through her genre-defying work, Velour is creating new models for drag as art, which Fast Company says is “disrupting the business of drag.” As a public speaker, Velour has spoken at colleges, universities, The Smithsonian, and on behalf of the US State Department abroad. In 2015, Velour was crowned the winner of the 9th season of the Emmy-Award winning RuPaul’s Drag Race. Velour’s first book, The Big Reveal, is an illustrated manifesto on drag as art, community, activism, identity…and occasional disaster. It is due for a 2023 release with Harper.

Click this link to see the full lineup of other presenters.

Rufus Wainwright - Puttin' On The Ritz

2x GRAMMY Award-nominated singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright has shared “Puttin’ On The Ritz,” featured on his upcoming Rufus Does Judy at Capitol Studios and available now at all DSPs and streaming services. An official live performancevideo premieres today via YouTube.

 

RufusDoes Judy at Capitol Studios – an all-new performance of his groundbreaking tribute to Judy Garland, Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall, recorded last year at Los Angeles’ famed Capitol Studios – arrives via BMG on Friday, June 10, celebrating the legendary Garland’s 100^th birthday.

Stonewall Democrats of Colorado: You’re Invited to a BBQ and Potluck!

Stonewall Democrats of Colorado have announced a kick-off to summer with their 1st Annual BBQ and Potluck at Cheesman Park. Join your Stonewall Officers for an afternoon of food and socializing with Democratic LGBTQIA+ (and ally) candidates and elected officials from across Colorado.

Stonewall will provide burgers, brats, buns and vegetarian options. You should bring a side, a dessert, or non-alcoholic beverages to share. Cooler space will be provided.

OUT on Hulu: Fire Island

In Fire Island, premiering on Hulu June 3, 2022, a group of queer best friends gather in the Fire Island Pines for their annual week of love and laughter, but a sudden change of events might make this their last summer in gay paradise. As they discover the romance and pleasures of the iconic island, their bonds as a chosen family are pushed to the limit.

PEOPLE Exclusive: Jennifer Grey on the Moment Her Father Joel Grey Was Outed as Gay to Her: 'It Was a Sniper Attack'

Jennifer Grey is showing off her father's photography (still-lifes of flowers mounted in backward frames) when she remembers there's pasta on the stove. Scampering into the kitchen of her L.A. home, she quickly swirls the boiling spaghetti. "You have to watch your pasta!"

After almost 40 years in the public spotlight, Grey knows how easy it is to lose sight of what's important. These days, she sees it all clearly: Her homemade pomodoro, her dad's photography (images of flowers mounted in secondhand frames) or her home. (Hers has serene and expansive hillside vistas, by the way.) But one thing that's surprised her lately is her changing perception of the past — what she sees in her own Hollywood rearview mirror

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The daughter of Oscar-winning actor Joel Grey (Cabaret), she rocketed to stardom with Dirty Dancing in 1987, starring as Baby alongside the late Patrick Swayze. In a new memoir, Out of the Corner out May 3, she revises her own mythology.

Sitting down over steaming bowls of pasta at her kitchen table, she's ready to talk. She says she's been sorting out fact from fiction in her own history, thanks to a cache of journals. And one moment in her past is how she found out about her father's sexuality.

(Joel came out as gay to PEOPLE in 2015, at the age of 82.) Her relationships with her mother, Jo Wilder, and her father, Joel, remain as steadfast as ever. (Her parents divorced in 1982.) "I speak to them every day," she says. "But I believe in writing the book, I had to ask myself, is it possible I didn't know?"

Her world was shaken in the late 80s when she was dating Matthew Broderick. One day, when visiting the actor's home when he wasn't there, she recalls Broderick's mother telling her, "You know your dad's a fag."

Jennifer was stunned. "Perhaps she was offended by my lack of knowing. I don't know what she was thinking. She was, um, she was a tricky personality. I don't know how else to put it. Like, she was a truth teller, truth bombs. A Cassandra. She was, like, come what may."

"She just said whatever she believed was the truth — and perhaps she was doing me a solid. Maybe she thought: Is anybody gonna say what's happening in the world?"

Today Jennifer believes her father's sexuality is his and only his. "It's really only for him. I'm so exhausted by the reductiveness with which people want to out famous people and decide what people are. Like, who cares! People should feel good. And, besides, I think that sexuality is so much more interesting than gay or straight, bi. And, you know what I think about it all the time: he said my mom was the love of his life and I believe she was."

But Jennifer says over 30 years ago, it was a tough moment. "At the time, it was, like, warfare. It was an act of aggression. Perhaps she was offended by the lack of transparency. I don't know what anybody else is thinking. All I know, all I knew at the time was that it felt like it was a sniper attack. The idea was that I was a fool and that everyone knew but me."

Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra presents Simply Sinatra

On Sunday, May 22, the Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra once again welcomes pop music sensation, Steve Lippia to the PACE Center in Parker. In this musical celebration, Steve Lippia interprets some of the most well-known and beloved Frank Sinatra hits. Steve also brings to life the music of other greats including Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Sammy Cahn, Jimmy Van Heusen, Rodgers and Hart, and Stephen Sondheim. 

Founded in 2012 by bandleader, Art Bouton, with a mission to perform the best music with the best musicians, the Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra does just that and more. Exciting world-renowned guest artists and many of the finest regional musicians perform anything from rollicking big band classics to contemporary large and small ensemble jazz to enthusiastic concert goers across Colorado. Audiences at the Arvada Center, PACE Center in Parker, Lakewood Cultural Center, Lone Tree Arts Center, and beyond have heard the CJRO perform music from Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Stan Kenton, Duke Ellington, Maynard Ferguson, and Buddy Rich as well as original arrangements by CJRO composers and other artists. 

Do You Want To Reach Denver's Gay Community? Advertise With Denver's Best Gay Blog!

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.
 
Just click the Advertising page or email sales@milehighgayguy.com to get started today.

Denver Zoo to Take Over State Capitol for Earth Day

On Earth Day (April 22, 2022), Denver Zoo will host its annual “Zoo Day at the Capitol” to engage Colorado legislators in its wildlife conservation efforts. 

Governor Polis, First Gentleman Marlon Reis and members of the Colorado Senate and House of Representatives will meet some of the Zoo’s wild resident Animal Ambassadors, and learn about how the Zoo is working to save wildlife in Colorado and around the world. Media will have the opportunity to gather photos/video of legislators interacting with Zoo staff and animals, and interview Zoo representatives and executives starting at 8 a.m.

A SEXPLANATION—One queer man’s fun, insightful journey to find true sexual freedom

To right the wrongs of his all-American sex education, 36-year-old health reporter Alex Liu goes on a quest to uncover naked truths and hard facts—no matter how awkward it gets.

From neuroscience labs to church pews, A Sexplanation features provocative conversations with psychologists, sex researchers, a Jesuit priest, and several generations of Alex’s own family. With humor and grit, Alex takes audiences on a playful, heartfelt journey from a shame-filled past to a happier, healthier, sexier future.

Like so many American children of the ’90s, Alex’s introduction to sex was through the internet. His formal schooling laced sex education with fear, shocking him with videos of childbirth and all-too-graphic images of untreated sexually transmitted infections. Because he knew early on that he was gay, these scare tactics worked.

Now in his 30s and out of the closet, Alex has turned his fear and loathing into something positive and humorous. The documentary, A Sexplanation, seeks to turn a personal pursuit of shame-free pleasure into a call for comprehensive sex education for everyone. And surprisingly, he discovers it’s never too late to have “The Talk”—especially with the family he’s kept at a distance.

Alex hopes his documentary will help him—and everyone—embrace sex and pleasure, free from other’s political, religious, and social agendas, and recognize the need for shame-free, comprehensive sex education. “By nature, to be a human being is to be a sexual being,” says Alex. “It’s unavoidable. And that’s beautiful.”

Screened at 32 film festivals on four continents, eight countries, and 18 states, the film currently has a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and has won nine festival awards. LGBTQ film festival screenings and awards include Frameline, Inside Out LGBTQ (Audience Award Documentary Feature), MIX COPENHAGEN, AGLIFF/Prism, Honolulu Rainbow (Best Documentary Feature), Queer Screen (Sydney), Seattle Queer, Out on Film (Atlanta), Reel Q Pittsburgh International LGBT Festival (Audience Award Documentary Feature), qFLIX (Philadelphia), ImageOut Rochester LGBT, and Roze Filmdagen (Amsterdam).

New Billboard Campaign Greets Visitors to DeSantis’s Florida: ‘The Sunshine “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” State’

Visitors to Tallahassee, Tampa, Orlando, and South Florida are being greeted by new billboards this week welcoming them to “Florida: The Sunshine ‘Don’t Say Gay or Trans’ State.” The billboards, which are being placed in key areas across the state with high visitor traffic and visibility, including near airports and along large interstate highways, are part of a new advertising campaign launched by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization. The billboards will raise public awareness around the ways Florida’s image has been irreversibly damaged by the new “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” law, which is designed to silence teachers from talking about LGBTQ+ issues or people – further stigmatizing and isolating LGBTQ+ kids and also undermining existing protections for LGBTQ+ students, as well as yesterday’s decision by the Governor DeSantis’s Department of Health to release a statement attacking the established standards of age-appropriate, medically-necessary, and often life-saving care for transgender youth.

“Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay or Trans’ law is outrageous and discriminatory. It needs to be repealed immediately. This billboard campaign is designed to make people confront what this terrible law really does: censor and silence educators and isolate LGBTQ+ students and their families,” said Joni Madison, Interim President of the Human Rights Campaign. “Florida cannot be considered the ‘Sunshine State’ when Governor Ron DeSantis is putting so many of its constituents in harm’s way. Governor DeSantis can try to tell teachers what they can teach, can try to tell kids what they can read, and can try to tell students what they can learn - but he cannot tell LGBTQ+ people who we can be.  LGBTQ+ people are teachers, are parents, and yes, are students too - and we are going to keep fighting until this law is off the books.

According to the Public Opinion Research Lab (PORL) at the University of North Florida, 49% of Floridians opposed the legislation while only 40% supported it. Opposition for the bill is even stronger in younger populations. A majority of Floridians between the ages of 18 and 24 — recent secondary school graduates — disapproved of efforts to erase LGBTQ+ people in classrooms.

Diversity in Sports Summit in Orlando June 2, Hosted by KindRED Pride and The Pride Cup

Driven by the belief that sports can inspire change, LGBTQ+ thought leaders representing a wide variety of sports organizations will hold the first Diversity in Sports Summit to discuss tactics for enhancing diversity and inclusion efforts for LGBTQ+ youth Thursday, June 2 at the Sheraton Lake Buena Vista, 12205 S Apopka Vineland Road. Organized by the KindRED Pride Foundation and The Pride Cup, the evening event and panel discussion will coincide with the annual celebration of RED Shirt Pride Days at Walt Disney World Resorts. 

 

The panel of speakers will include:

• Ryan O'Callaghan: NFL player and author of “My Life on the Line: How the NFL Damn Near Killed Me and Ended Up Saving My Life”
• Bobby Blair: Tennis pro and author of “Hiding Inside the Baseline”
• Andrea Snead: USTA, Diversity & Inclusion Director
• Haley Videckis: WNBA and former collegiate basketball star
• Gina Duncan: NCAA college football player at East Carolina University and trans activist
• Greg DeMoustes: Professional tennis and pickleball player
• Pam Bolling: World champion ballroom dancer
• Sergei Aliev: World champion ballroom dancer
• Josh Dixon: NCAA collegiate gymnast

 

“We believe sports have the power to unite people,” said Billy Looper. “It’s critical that LGBTQ+ youth are allowed to freely participate in sports as it’s a powerful vehicle for the development of individual character and resilience. This is one reason why KindRED Pride hosts The Pride Cup.”

 

The Pride Cup is a multi-sport LGBTQ+ competition held each year beginning in 2022 during the first weekend in June in Orlando. With events welcoming all levels of athletes, the spirit of the competition is “Be Kind Champion” to overlap with all the world-class events held during RED Shirt Pride Days. For more information, please email: billy@kindREDpride.org

Golden Girls Themed Cruise to Depart Out of Miami in April 2023

Flip Phone Events has announced the return of Golden Fans at Sea, a Golden Girls Fan Cruise out of Miami. The cruise is taking place aboard the luxurious Celebrity Summit out of Miami on April 8, 2023.

The five-night cruise is the fourth sailing for Golden Fans at Sea. The cruise stops in the ports of Key West, Florida, and Cozumel, Mexico.

In Key West, cruise guests will embark on a Golden Bar Crawl. The bar crawl includes drag shows, dance parties, trivia, and more! The bar crawl is only available for cruise guests. In Cozumel, every guest is invited to Shady Pines at the Beach excursion. This excursion is included with the price of the cruise!

Special guests for the 2023 include Stan Zimmerman (writer of Golden Girls), Jim Colucci (author of Golden Girls Forever: An Unauthorized Look Behind the Lanai), Golden Gays Drag (A Golden Girls Drag Tribute Group), and more to be announced soon. Golden Fans at Sea allows guests to have unique one-on-one experiences with our guests.

During the days at sea, guests participate in trivia games, St. Olaf-themed dance parties, unique panels related to the show, pool parties, musical shows, karaoke, and costume contests. 

Pricing begins at $1689 and tickets are available at GoldenFansAtSea.com. 

San Francisco Pride announces 2022 Community Grand Marshals

Today, the Board of Directors of San Francisco Pride announced the Community Grand Marshals to be honored during the 52nd annual San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Pride Celebration and Parade (Pride 52), taking place on Saturday and Sunday, June 25-26, 2022. This year’s honorees personify SF Pride’s mission to educate the world, commemorate heritage, celebrate culture, and liberate LGBTQ+ people.
 
“As we return to an in-person celebration this June, SF Pride is thrilled to honor this exceptional group of individuals and organizations who have contributed greatly to the San Francisco Bay Area LGBTQ+ community and to society at large,” says Suzanne Ford, San Francisco Pride Interim Executive Director. “Each of this year’s Grand Marshals are local heroes in their own right and leaders in the efforts towards inclusion, acceptance, and equality for all LGBTQ+ people.”

With the theme of “Love Will Keep Us Together,” this year’s festivities will include a two-day Celebration and Rally scheduled from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 25, and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, June 26 at Civic Center Plaza and the surrounding neighborhood. The legendary Parade will take place Sunday, June 26 beginning at 10:30 a.m. at Beale and Market Street, continuing through the heart of downtown San Francisco. Additional SF Pride events will take place throughout the month of June and the remainder of 2022. Information regarding Parade registration, as well as sponsor, exhibitor, advertising, membership, and donor opportunities, may be found at sfpride.org.
 
San Francisco Pride remains committed to its mission of bringing connection and visibility to the LGBTQ+ communities. As a world leader in the global Pride movement and a part of the fabric of Pride events around the world, SF Pride works to educate, commemorate, and continue the struggle for true liberation, both through its events and by raising much-needed funds for nonprofits across the Bay Area. Financial support through membership and donations ensures that SF Pride will be able to thrive into the future.
 
A full lineup of events and activities for Pride 52 will be announced in the near future. A brand new SF Pride app will be available in May, The Official Guide to SF Pride, granting attendees access to stage lineups, an event map, vendor and artist information, and more. Visit sfpride.org/app to sign up and receive a notification when the app is live. 

Books: The Familia Grande

The passing of Camille Kouchner’s mother, the high-profile French writer and political scientist Evelyne Pisier, brought with it a tidal wave of intense memories from Kouchner’s youth. In THE FAMILIA GRANDE, Kouchner offers up the story of her childhood, the divorce of her parents and their respective remarriages, and the years she spent surrounded by the rowdy crew of French societal elites that were their family friends.

Kouchner’s mother’s remarriage appears, at first, to be a blissful liberation from the domineering and distant Bernard Kouchner, a politician and doctor who co-founded Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and who was often away from home. But the warmth and vitality of Kouchner's subsequent young adulthood with her mother and new stepfather, Olivier Duhamel—himself a political scientist and eventual member of the European parliament—is radically shaken when she discovers that her stepfather has been sexually abusing her twin brother. At her brother's request, she stays quiet. With THE FAMILIA GRANDE, Kouchner breaks decades of silence and guilt to right a long-buried wrong, speaking out about the crimes of her stepfather and the figures from French high society who were aware of the abuse and who protected him.

Kouchner’s accusation of her politically and socially prominent stepfather, and his subsequent confession and resignation, began a national reckoning in France on the historically taboo subject of incest. With the original serialization and publication of her memoir, other powerful figures in French society were accused of sexual abuse and in particular the abuse of minors, the French government began a re-evaluation and overhaul of the laws around incest and rape, and stories began to be shared on the internet and social media, breaking the silence and breaking down the isolating stigma around sexual abuse.

Kouchner balances the gravity and depth of her story with surprising humor and tenderness; her writing is deeply perceptive, every relationship examined thoughtfully. With THE FAMILIA GRANDE, Kouchner’s fearless, electric prose provides insights into the lavish world of France’s intellectual and cultural elite, and offers up a raw exposé of the dark, not-to-be-discussed dangers that lurked therein.

THE FAMILIA GRANDE is a remarkable story of resilience, of manipulation from men who hold tremendous power, the secret-keeping that protects them, and of the change that even a single brave voice can bring about.