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N.Y. Scene May 2010: Rebel Cupcake, Hunter Valentine at Proposition & Tour de NYC, Stonewall, dot429 Brunch & Eden Farewell

N.Y. Scene is a monthly column that chronicles lesbian nightlife and events of interest in New York. Grace Chu has come out of lesbian scene retirement to navigate the vast and ever-evolving New York City scene, so you don’t have to. Rebel Cupcake at Sugarland — May 6, 2010 Just a few short blocks from the lively strip of trendy bars and restaurants adjacent to the Bedford Avenue stop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn lies a desolate stretch of asphalt and unconverted warehouses that could have been used as a backdrop for scenes from The Wire. Within this concrete tundra lies Sugarland, home of artsy queer dance parties such as Hey Queen! and, now, Rebel Cupcake. The venue has a nondescript brick façade that blends in with its decidedly un-flamboyant surroundings, thereby camouflaging the unrestrained fabulousness that lies within. Queer parties at Sugarland often feature performers in the underground performance art, drag and burlesque scenes. Those not in the know simply walk on by, leaving the eclectic crowd of queers that frequent Sugarland to mingle, dance and produce playful and subversive live shows in a safe, accommodating space. As I was walking up North 9th Street, I noticed some movement in a doorway. Believing that I was witnessing a drug deal or a congregation of ne’er do wells in an abandoned building, I instinctively reached into my pocket and clutched my keys, Wolverine-style, just in case.

Upon closer inspection, I saw a faded “221” painted above the doorway. Yep, this was it. Sugarland at 221 North 9th Street. I retracted my DIY X-Men blades and entered. The venue features a bar, a recessed lounge, a small dance floor, a balcony, and a stage enveloped by very shiny, very gold, and very gay curtains. That night Sugarland was host to the inaugural Rebel Cupcake, a new monthly queer dance party featuring a size-positive burlesque show produced by Bevin Branlandingham, an emcee, writer, drag king, burlesque and comedy performer who has performed all over North America and also hosts “Femmecast: The Queer Fat Femme Podcast Guide to Life.”

“I wanted to create a fun queer dance party space that was explicitly body and flamboyance positive,” Bevin said. “When I moved to NYC six years ago, I didn’t really find a place that fit my dancing and going out needs without costing a ton of money, but when I finally found the Brooklyn queer hipster dance party circuit two years ago – at the time it was mostly Panty Hos – I was so excited about it, but didn’t see a lot of femme or fat presence. So I would rally my friends, send out e-mails and encourage them to come with me. Let’s be frank: Williamsburg is hipster land, and hipster-chic tends to celebrate the waify “I-haven’t-eaten-anything-but-Diet-Coke-heroin-and-cigarettes-for-a-month” aesthetic. Finding a hipster of size is about as easy as finding a nugget while attempting to pan for gold in the Hudson River, so it is no wonder that Bevin felt underrepresented while dancing in a sea of androgynous beanpoles. “I think Rebel Cupcake is an amalgamation of my efforts to bring folks like me to the other dance parties in town,” she continued. “It’s a party with fat femmes and flamboyant queers of all genders at the forefront, with our allies, friends, fans and folks who know we throw a fun party surrounding us.”

Gays and lesbians are not immune to the type of body policing that permeates mainstream culture. In fact, gay culture, most notably in the Chelsea boy scene, often perpetuates the idea that there is one – often unattainable – standard of beauty or body type. “I am a body liberation activist, so I think everyone should feel comfortable in their bodies, not just fat folk,” Bevin said. “It is so sad to see how, even in gay culture where our predecessors worked so hard for our sexual liberation that we reiterate body policing and body hatred. It’s true in the Chelsea boy scene as much as it is true in the New York City lesbian scenes.” She pointed to the bear scene as an example of a size-positive scene that emerged for gay men. “The bear scene is really well-organized and seems really size positive. I think it is a radical act to sexualize fat people in our culture and it is great to see it happen for boys,” she said.

One thing that I have noticed is that promoters in the Brooklyn nightlife scene tend to use the word “queer” in its fliers and advertisements rather than the words “gay” or “lesbian” or terms like “for women” or “for girls.” For many people, the words “queer” and “gay” are interchangeable, and I picked Bevin’s brain about the meanings of all of these terms and especially as they relate to New York City nightlife. “‘[Q]ueer’ expresses a sexuality that acknowledges a diversity of gender beyond a binary,” she explained. “‘Gay’ and ‘lesbian’ refer to a binary gender. The people I hang out with express and/or embody so many different genders, sometimes all at once. Using the term ‘queer’ to designate a dance party I think makes it a safe space for them to feel okay being their authentic selves, rather than having to fit into a mold.”

Rebel Cupcake exists in the same genre as Hey Queen! and the original Williamsburg queer dance party, the now-defunct Panty Hos. At any of those parties, you are likely to find a mishmash of hipster twinks, bears, androgynous women and men, lesbians with whimsical hairstyles and oversized glasses, and of course, queer fat femmes. Rebel Cupcake was even graced with the presence of a man who walked in with a toga and ended up dancing in his skivvies. The inaugural Rebel Cupcake featured a burlesque show featuring, among other performers, Sarah Jenny, winner of the 2010 GO Mag‘s best emcee award, and J.D., Mr. International Bear.

So what’s next for Rebel Cupcake? Bevin said she plans to book local bands, such as Inner Princess, and more burlesque and drag acts. The next Rebel Cupcake is June 17 and will feature, among other performers, Rosie Lugosi, The Femme Vampire, who will fly in all the way from Manchester, England. And what’s in store for Bevin? “Nothing short of creating my Femmpire!” Hunter Valentine‘s quest for world domination – CD prerelease party at Proposition at Slate Lounge May 7, 2010 and Tour de NYC, May 11, 2010 It’s been a good year for Toronto transplants Hunter Valentine. The all-female pop punk trio was voted the best band in New York City by the readers of GO Magazine and on May 11, the band released its Tommy Boy debut and third album, Lessons from the Late Night. In celebration of the release, Hunter Valentine embarked on Tour de NYC, a one-day whirlwind tour of New York City.

I caught up with Hunter Valentine at their CD pre-release party at the always jammin’ Friday night party for ladies, Proposition, where they answered a few questions about their favorite hangouts in the city and about Tour de NYC. Since this column chronicles events and nightlife in New York City, I asked lead singer Kiyomi McCloskey to tell us her favorite hangouts for women in the city. She told me that the band members, when in town, generally hang out in Brooklyn. After moving from Toronto, the band settled in Bushwick, Brooklyn. (Real estate types have dubbed Bushwick “East Williamsburg” in an attempt to make the neighborhood sound hip, hoping to drive up real estate prices, but when that happens, artists and musicians can’t afford to live there anymore, and then they are faced with the threat of having to move to, say, New Jersey.) Since we don’t want Hunter Valentine moving to New Jersey, we’re just going to call it Bushwick. McCloskey said that Hunter Valentine’s schedule has been jam-packed, so she has not had much of a chance to hang out in the city, but she gave props to Hotel Motel, a monthly women’s night at Tandem Bar in Bushwick; Gay Face, an occasional party held at the East River Bar in Williamsburg; and Metropolitan, a gay bar in Williamsburg.

About Tour de NYC, drummer Laura Petracca told me that the band was going to attempt to set the world record for most gigs played in a city in a day. The goal was to play 12 shows in various locations in NYC, culminating in a final show at Cake Shop on the Lower East Side. They ended up playing one extra show, an impromptu gig on the L train between the Lorimer and Bedford stops in Williamsburg, which brought the gig count to 13. I was able to make 7 of the 13 shows, including the one where they were ejected from Washington Square Park by a park ranger and the one where they were chased by the NYPD. Yes, I got all the mayhem on film. Enjoy.

Special thanks to Leslie at sinistergirlz.com for some of the Brooklyn footage Catch Hunter Valentine soon at a venue near you – and possibly the Guinness Book of World Records. Lesbo-go-go at The Stonewall Inn

Unless you have spent your life encased in a block of ice a la Brendan Frasier’s character in Encino Man, you are aware that The Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village was ground zero of the Stonewall Riots, which is widely considered to be the defining event that marked the birth of the modern gay rights movement. On June 28, 1969, after a period of especially frequent and brutal raids on gay bars by the NYPD, the patrons of The Stonewall Inn finally had enough and fought back against the police, setting off an avalanche of gay activism. In the months and years following the Stonewall Riots, many gay rights organizations were founded in the U.S. and around the world. In honor of Stonewall, gay pride celebrations around the world are held during the month of June. In 2007, The Stonewall Inn was renovated and reopened by new owners, including Stacy Lentz, the sole female investor of the historic venue. Lentz contacted AfterEllen.com about events at Stonewall for New York City Pride, and she discussed the current owners’ vision of Stonewall. “We wanted Stonewall at the forefront of the community where it belongs, since it is the birthplace of the gay rights movement,” she said. “We wanted to make sure that we had parties and events for everyone in the LGBT community, not just the men and also to educate people about the history of [Stonewall], as we can’t have full equality in our future until we understand our past.” Stonewall operated as a gay nightclub from the late 1990s to 2006 before it was closed briefly and ownership changed hands. Lentz said that before she became one of the investors in 2007, “there were no girl events or girl parties ever at Stonewall.” That has certainly changed. Currently, Stonewall hosts two women’s nights a week, Danielle Presents on Thursday and Lesbo-a-go-go on Fridays. Also, GirlNation, a well-known Saturday night lesbian party in midtown, hosts GirlNation Downtown the last Friday of each month. I headed to Lesbo-a-go-go on May 14 with a friend who had an out of town buddy who wanted to experience lesbian nightlife in New York City. The trains in Astoria, Queens had stopped running due to a police investigation, so we didn’t arrive until midnight. We went upstairs to find a lively crowd of lesbians and gay men dancing to a mix of contemporary hits like Lady Gaga‘s “Telephone,” ’90s club tunes, and classics like vintage Michael Jackson spun by DJ Stacy. The vibe was boisterous, animated and unpretentious. The venue can be described as a large neighborhood bar that just happens to be equipped with a disco ball.

On Fridays, the second floor of Stonewall is reserved for women, while the boys occupy the first floor. Eventually, however, over the course of the night, the girls and boys started to mingle, and, like The Flintstones said, it was a gay old time. In a city whose gay and lesbian nightlife often splits down the gender divide, it was refreshing to find lesbians and gay men sharing the same space. But not to worry, single ladies: the girl to guy ratio upstairs is still sufficiently high enough to get your cruise on. Around 1 a.m. we wandered outside for a break, and I ran into and chatted up Lentz, who emphasized that she wanted to use the bar not only as a place for the LGBT community to party but she also wanted to use it as a vehicle to help LGBT non-profits, charities and political groups by hosting events, and raising money and awareness. “We are proud to say that we have worked with many organizations, including HRC, the Anti-Violence Project, Hetrick Martin Institute, Empire State Pride Agenda, GLAAD, Lambda and the Stonewall Foundation just to name a few,” she said.

Are you from out of town and want to experience a piece of New York City gay history? Drop by Stonewall during Pride week next month. Stonewall is located in the heart of Greenwich Village, where the parade ends. Have some beers with some queers! Haaaay! Anyone But Me Screening and dot429 Brunch at Tribeca Grand Hotel, May 16, 2010 LGBT professional networking and events company dot429 held one of its networking brunches at the swanky Tribeca Grand Hotel on May 16. If there is one thing queers like it is fine food. Lesbians will even reuse plastic Zip-loc bags and haul futons off the street to furnish their apartment so they can blow $175 on a weekend lunch at Momofuku Ko. Truth! So it is no wonder that the line at the dot429 brunch snaked past the entrance to the reception area into the main lobby. Bottomless mimosas and bellinis were advertised, and wave after wave of them kept being carted in, much to the delight of the upscale crowd of gays and lesbians mingling and schmoozing on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

dot429.com launched nationally in April 2010 with 500 founding members in four cities: New York, L.A., San Francisco and Chicago. Founding members were cherry picked based on their influence and standing within the LGBT community. dot429 intends to connect LGBT professionals both online and offline. It can be described as a high end LinkedIn for the LGBT community. In the beginning of May, dot429.com already had over 10,000 members, and it estimates that it will have 100,000 members by the end of 2010.

Brunch was preceded by a screening of the award winning web series Anyone But Me and a meet and greet with creators Susan Miller and Tina Cesa Ward, who are two of the founding members of dot429. Neither Rachael Hip-Flores nor Nicole Pacent was in attendance, so I don’t have any pretty pictures of them for you. Instead, I will post food porn.

Want some fabulous vittles and to rub shoulders with successful LGBT professionals? Check out dot429.com for the next event in your area. Eden 3 Year Anniversary and Farewell Party at The Gates, May 19, 2010 Breezing into NYC in 2007 with a Los Angeles aesthetic and a New York attitude, Maggie C.’s Eden quickly set the standard for New York City lesbian nightlife. Winning several awards and accolades from publications such as New York Magazine and GO Magazine three years in a row, Eden was widely seen the go to party for NYC lesbians. But all good things must come to an end. On May 19, Eden simultaneously celebrated its three year anniversary and went out with a champagne-soaked bang. But don’t worry, ladies – you’ll still have a place to go on Wednesday nights. Click your heels three times and say, “There is no place like home.” No, Dorothy, you won’t end up in Kansas or – God forbid – Staten Island. Maggie C. is launching a new Wednesday night party, and it will be held in a very familiar location, the Union Square Lounge, starting June 9. As many NYC lesbians will recall, the Union Square Lounge was home to Eden in 2008 and was arguably its most popular location. Maggie C. promises that the new party, dubbed Crème de la Femme, will be “better and sexier – you’ll just have to see.” Here are some photos from Eden’s farewell party, and you’ll see some familiar faces from AfterEllen and

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