Last Friday night was perhaps the first time I’ve felt legitimately unsafe walking the streets of Austin since I moved here a little over a year ago. I wanted to attend a Halloween event at a queer-friendly bar downtown, and decided to take the bus instead of paying for parking. This meant there was a […]
Here. Queer. Get Used to It.
I guess this is late as far as National Coming Out Day, but I just got asked why I identify as queer instead of bisexual. It’s not the first time I’ve been asked lately, so I thought I might as well expound about it here. So spoilers, yes, I’m queer. And if you spent any […]
It’s been a long week….
Austin’s PRIDE parade is in September and the Austin Chronicle has termed this month the gayest September ever. Which means it’s a busy month for an LGBTQ Lifestyle writer in Austin. Between the Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival, the Stargayzer Music Festival, and an entire week of events coming up leading up to PRIDE […]
Review: Folsom Forever
Folsom Forever is a new documentary by Mike Skiff. It tells the story of the history of the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco. Folsom Forever combines interviews with organizers, scholars and politicians with archival footage, as well as footage and interviews from the 29th annual Folsom Street Fair in 2012. The Folsom Street Fair […]
Review: Peter de Rome: Grandfather of Gay Porn
Peter de Rome Grandfather of Gay Porn is a new documentary by Ethan Reid. It chronicles the life and work of British filmmaker Peter de Rome, who began shooting erotic gay shorts in the 1960s, at a time when homosexual sex (and pornography itself) was still illegal. What most struck me about the film was how […]
Review: Regarding Susan Sontag
Susan Sontag was an influential and renowned scholar, feminist, critic, filmmaker, and author – perhaps one of the last of a generation of public intellectuals, the likes of which are rarely seen now. Nancy D Kates’ new documentary film, Regarding Susan Sontag, is an in-depth look at the life and work of this inspiring and […]
Review: Kate Bornstein is a Queer and Pleasant Danger
Many people probably recognize Kate Bornstein’s name from her books, including Gender Outlaw and My (New) Gender Workbook. She was also the second woman to ever receive a degree from Brown University. An author, performance artist, gender theorist, activist, and self-proclaimed trans-dyke, Bornstein has been an inspiration to many in the gender non-conforming community for […]
Review: Kumu Hina
Frameline award-winning Kumu Hina (“Teacher Hina”) is a new documentary by directors Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson. Hamer and Wilson previously worked together on Out in the Silence, a film about LGBTQ individuals in rural America, and the discrimination and bigotry they often face. It was during an Out in the Silence screening in Hawaii […]
Book Review: Testo Junkie
Beatriz Preciado’s Testo Junkie is half theoretical treatise on gender, half performative autobiography. Preciado self-administered doses of black market testosterone for a year, chronicling its effects on her body and psyche. Preciado did this without the intention to use the hormones as an aid for transitioning from female to male, meaning her actions were technically […]
Austin’s Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival
aGLIFF, or the Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival (which some of you might know as the Polari Film Festival), was founded in 1987 by Scott Dinger. aGLIFF will celebrate its 27th year Sept 10-14 here in Austin at the Alamo Drafthouse S Lamar. aGLIFF is the longest running film festival in Austin, older […]