PRIDE.

It's Pride weekend, here in Oly, and OH GEEZ I don't know why I've spent so much time away from queer spaces*. Last night's CabarGAY! and today's festival have hosted so much talent, genderfuckery, fun, and beautiful words and sounds, that I have to share. Consider it Queer Art Weekend, as part of Pride, and share yr links in the comments!

FIRST, the pair that set the tone for my weekend at CabarGAY! last night, Cherdonna and Lou. Lou Henry Hoover, invented by Ricki Mason, does a lot of exciting shit. Check it out.

Cherdonna and Lou's 5 minute work sample from Cherdonna & Lou on Vimeo.

NEXT we have Paris Original, the boylesque performer who stole my heart. He performed this last night, as well as another number in a tutu (for a bit) that was more classically lady-ballet, but I haven't found a video. The show last night had an enforced No Pictures orVideos policy, which makes sense when the performers are getting pretty naked. Consenting to perform for the folks who paid to watch, not everyone on the internet, out of context, which is why the clips I've found have been distributed either by the performer or the folks who did the event. Hooray!

Anyway. What Paris Original does clearly takes practice and dedication, and also, he's beautiful.




Today, I saw Captain Smartypants, an 8 member part of the Seattle Men's Chorus, whose interactions with each other and the audience reminded me of the Jolly Rogers. If the Jolly Rogers were gay, rather than pirates. They had a great piece in response to a fellow in a Geo Metric who drove by them in Tacoma, yelling that they looked like fags. They sang their Top 10 responses, for the next time it happens, the number 1 of which was "Duh!"

The only clips I found of the small group are Winter Holiday-related, rather than primarily gay-related, so I have gone to the whole Seattle Men's Chorus, and give you ABBA.





Lastly, Coyote Grace! I learned about them on Monday, from a woman wearing a Girlyman shirt. They opened for Girlyman last week, and she said they do the queer folk thing even better. I don't know about that, but I do know that I loved them, and I loved sitting in the park 4 blocks away from where I live, next to so many women and men I work with at SafePlace, at the front of the crowd of queer folks and allies. That's the way to do it.

Joe is a trans man, and Ingrid is a femme from Ohio, who sang a new song about girls with brown eyes from Kansas. Who smile. I AM THE ONLY ONE, it must be about meeee. They also covered Romeo and Juliet and By Way of Sorrow. Give them money, if you have any. I will give you 3 of the songs they played today, Summertime (reminds me of Young James Dean), Guy Named Joe, and Daughterson, the song they ended on, but really, seek out as much as you can find.







Who am I to change my life?
Who am I to fuck with form?
Who am I to weather a storm?
But I go slow
I said goodbye to everyone I know
And one morning I awoke
And I was this guy named Joe





*Yes I do. Biphobia is not my pal. Would have been nice if I had said "fuck that" earlier, though.