Results tagged “gaypeople”

Last week, the NYT wrote this rather provocative piece about the collision between evangelical Christians and transplanted LGBT people in Vallejo -- which as you should know is right in our backyard and closer than wine country. A goodly sized gay segment moved into the North Bay town during this last economic cycle, lured by decent real estate at bargain prices and, until last year, a gay bar. An openly gay man, Gary Cloutier, was actually elected mayor in 2007, but a contentious recount and a minor scandal involving an arrest for public drunkenness ended with Mayor Osby Davis winning by less than five votes and taking office only a few days after Cloutier's first day.

19-year-old Puerto Rican teenager Jorge Mercado was stabbed, dismembered and beheaded last week by 25-year-old Juan Martinez Matos, and Matos has since confessed to the crime using the gay panic defense. Matos was allegedly out looking for women in an area known for prostitution, and he met Mercado, who was there dressed in drag. Upon discovering that Mercado was a man, Matos stabbed him, and proceeded to dismember the body in a rage.

YouTube character Gay Carrington is, near as we can tell, a stoner transsexual puppet who occasional chimes in to talk to her fans in Old Hollywood-style English about her moods, pets, and experiences. She posted the above "kaleido-vision" video "while resting up" for her next real video, but we think it's positively brilliant. It stars her cat, Christina "Mooks" Carrington, and as far as stoner YouTubery goes, it's the tops. Enjoy.

As many San Franciscans know, getting food after midnight in this town is no easy feat. We still have our share of late-night diners though, like the Grub Steak, Sparky's, Lori's and Mel's. Only one made the cut in Playboy magazine's A-list of the Top 10 Late-Night Diners in the country that "truly embody the late-night experience," and that's Orphan Andy's on 17th Street in the Castro.

The expanding War on Fun has taken another life, ladies and germs. Marke B. over at the SFBG reports that punk-politico drag queen Anna Conda has decided to call it quits on her weekly Friday party Charlie Horse at the Cinch after complaining Polk Street neighbors brought the bar before the Entertainment Commission. Rather than "take a break" and try to tone down the often raucous drag night (where it was likely the noisy smoking porch out back and the spillover out front that brought the complaints) Anna has decided to put a bullet in the head of this five-year-old party and pursue other ventures.

Did you happen to hear about this art theft down in Pebble Beach in which 13 paintings, totaling somewhere between $27 million and $80 million in value depending on who you ask, were stolen in potentially one of the biggest art heists on record? Well, the well-to-do victims of the theft, Benjamin Amadio and Ralph Kennaugh, are now being considered suspects by the Monterey County Sheriffs Dept., who are investigating whether the entire thing is a hoax. Amadio and Kennaugh, who both hail from Boston, are so far refusing to take a lie detector test, and they "compromised the integrity" of the investigation by leaking a ransom note to the media.

                      

Yesterday, in addition to being Day 3 of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and the serotonin hangover day for LovEvolution attendees, was also the 36th annual Castro Street Fair -- a tradition started by Harvey Milk which has come to represent, one week later, the anti-Folsom Street Fair. Non-leather-wearing gays, neighborhood drag queens, lesbians, trans folks, and a smattering of nudists gathered in the streets of the Castro to enjoy funnel cakes, random tent vendors and multiple stages of live entertainment. It was, in essence, the last big occasion for day-drinking in the gay calendar until next Saturday Pride. Here, a few pics.

                                     

It was a lusty, warm day at Folsom Street Fair yesterday, and people showed up in droves to show themselves off in their leather harnesses, bustiers, jockstraps and the like. They also showed up in droves to gawk at those who chose to dress up, and to enjoy some overpriced beer on what might well be the last summery day we'll ever know here in SF. Please enjoy this gallery of photos by Darwin Bell and Joey DeRuy. See even more (many of them NSFW) at Le Fag.

You may not be into leather or the BDSM scene, but if you live in San Francisco you've probably breezed through Folsom Street Fair once or twice. Call it what you will, but it is the largest event of its kind in the world, and the third largest single-day outdoor event in California -- behind SF Gay Pride and maybe Long Beach Pride? (We think these numbers are hard to nail down, but suffice it to say the gays like to party outdoors.)

Turns out that an attorney representing some married gays in a federal court case for marriage equality has his own nefarious yet completely insane reasons for taking on this case - splitting California into two floundering pieces!

For those of you not aware of the current rumblings in the SF gay community, Prop 8 is so five minutes ago and everyone (especially local drag star Anna Conda) is UP IN ARMS over an incident from July 31 in which an affectionate gay male couple was kicked out of Internos Wine Cafe on Geary Street for macking on each other. Yes, they were kissing, and were promptly booted out by the owner who also allegedly called them perverts and faggots.

A California gay couple who were legally married in San Francisco last summer have had their wedding announcement rejected by a southern Utah newspaper that claimed to be friendly to gay wedding announcements. The Spectrum in St. George, Utah initially accepted the paid announcement and were going to run it without a photo. It seems then that the couple felt dissed, appealed to the publisher to run it with photo, and then the publisher simply rejected the ad altogether and said the paper's policy was to recognize only marriages legal under Utah state law.

In a decision that is probably wise and shouldn't be too shocking, Equality California announced today that they will put off the ballot fight for gay marriage until 2012, rather than going for it in the mid-term elections next year. The idea here is that not only do more people go to the polls in presidential elections, but there will be a greater change in "voter rolls" in 3 years.

              

Amdist threats of a crackdown on fun (and nudity, and lewd behavior), the fetishy gays and their fetishy friends gathered under an unseasonably warm sun on Folsom Street on Sunday for the annual Up Your Alley fair. It could be described as a dirtier, and gayer Folsom Street Fair, and this year's fair was no less dirty, and no less naked. But to the SFPD's credit, with the large crowd that gathered (estimated at 12,000), it was a lot harder to spot the exposed genitalia until it was too late. Here are a few pictures (several NSFW!), including a shot of our beloved State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano Senator Mark Leno in conversation with friends while wearing his trusty leather pants.

Attention all gays and super-fetishy others: It's Up Your Alley (a.k.a. Dore Alley) fair weekend, and despite threats of a police crackdown on nudity, we're pretty sure it's going to be as sleazy as ever. Fair organizers have promised a three-tiered disciplinary system when it comes to exposed genitalia and the like: First, a warning; second, an escort out of the fair grounds and a discount pass to Blow Buddies; third, you're handed over to the SFPD. Because of the threat of losing their license for next year's event, organizers are likely to be pretty strict with this, but if things get crowded one can imagine the rules will be difficult to enforce.

It's probably not news to anyone who's played an internet-enabled, multi-player video game in the last few years (or anyone who's ever met a teenage boy, for that matter) that LGBT gamers often face name-calling and harassment in the game-o-sphere when they advertise their sexual orientation. The Bay Area Reporter just published this investigative report in which they speak to several people in the industry -- including Flynn DeMarco of gaygamer.net and Caryl Shaw, a senior producer for the Sims and Spore -- who discuss things they've heard and seen. The takeaways: The Sims welcomes all kinds of sexual proclivities, gender identities and whathaveyou, but the multi-player environment of Xbox Live -- which is particularly rife with children and teens -- does not allow players to display their sexual orientation in their profile, gamertag or elsewhere.

There is less than a day (t-minus 19 hours as of this posting) to vote for a number of San Francisco-based drag queens in the first round of web casting for the second season of Rupaul's Drag Race on Logo. If you missed the first season this past winter or its subsequent re-running on VH1, you missed some pretty good gay television -- of which there is sorrowfully little, if you don't count America's Next Top Model. The is kind of a cross between Top Model and Project Runway, with some lip sync and wigs thrown in, and Ru even gets filmed in the same soft, glowing light as Tyra at the judges' table.

Yes, everyone: The LGBT Pride Fest and Parade in San Francisco is the largest and best attended thing of its kind in the U.S. (and for those who've seen the fests in NY and LA this shouldn't be a surprise). This year, in the wake of Prop 8 and the Don't Ask Don't Tell bullshit, the parade on Sunday will come with a renewed sense of urgency and protest. But of course, for most lesbians and gays about town, this weekend is primarily about partying. So without further ado, here's a guide to all that's going down, in a gay way, this weekend. (Special thanks to The Sword - NSFW)

Every Pride season, there are a legion of LGBT film fests accompanying the legion of regional Pride fests across the land, now that gay pride isn't just for major metropolitan areas anymore. San Francisco has the largest and best attended Pride parade in the country, and we also have one of the oldest, biggest and most respected gay film fests, Frameline, which opens its 33rd season tonight with Quentin Crisp biopic, An Englishman in New York (pictured).

You heard it here first, folks. Well, actually, you might have heard it here, if you read that sort of thing. An "openly gay sales rep" named Valerie has come forward to say that she dated Prejean's mother, Francine Coppola. Heh. We totally believe this and might even have to buy this issue of Star. PREVIOUSLY: Trump Says Miss California Gets to Keep Crown, Miss California Partied With Famed NYC Tranny, Newsom Defends Miss California