Sylvester by Michael Zagaris
via Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike 2.0

Join Dene and Sam in the Cheap Seats for one last time as we travel to San Francisco for a spoken-word tribute to Sylvester, the Queen of Disco.

Sylvester was an early founder of the black, cross-dressing and trans women group ‘The Discuotays’. Later, he joined the drag troupe ‘The Cockettes’ and went on to enjoy a successful solo singing career with the disco-hit (and JOY anthem!) ‘You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)’ in 1978.  Sylvester died in 1988 at the age of 41.

In 2013 the San Francisco Public Library hosted a night of poetry and readings about disco, dance and love in tribute to Sylvester, marking the 25th anniversary of his death.  Our host is Oakland poet Marvin K White, and he is joined by Jaime Cortez, Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano and Joel Barraquiel Tan, who is better known as Sister Baba Ganesh of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

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‘Downtown Cleveland Ohio’
Image by Chris Gent via Creative Commons

Join Dene in the Cheap Seats in Cleveland, Ohio for a panel discussion on transgender identity and rights.

Hosted by The City Club of Cleveland, the panel is moderated by Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Connie Shultz. The panel features:

• Susan J. Becker, Professor of Law Emerita, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University;
• Henry Ng, M.D., MPH, FAACP, FACP, President, Gay and Lesbian Medical Association; Clinical Director, PRIDE Clinic; Assistant Professor, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine;
• Stacey Parsons, Transgender Activist; Board Vice President, Margie’s Hope; Facilitator, TransFamily Support Group; and
• Darius Stubbs, Teaching Artist, Cleveland Public Theatre.

The post Transgender in Cleveland appeared first on Cheap Seats.

Image by Dennis Hill via Creative Commons

Dene is back in the Cheap Seats for a night of queer poetry.  Brought to us by Button Poetry, the performers explore autobiographical themes of love and attraction and stories of gender and misgendering.  There is light and shade, some laughs and some strong language, and some darker moments shared.

The performers and poems featured are:

• Theresa Davis – Like, Like
• Denice Froham – Dear straight people
• Lauren Zuniga – Confessions of an uneducated queer
• Ethan Smith – A letter to the girl I used to be
• Ollie Schiminkey – Boobs
• Stacey Waite – Newark International Airport
• Stacey Waite – The kind of man I am at the DMV
• Wyatt Fleckenstein – Labels

The post Queer poetry appeared first on Cheap Seats.

Armistead Maupin and husband Christopher Turner. Image by Angela George via Creative Commons

Join Dene in the Cheap Seats at the San Francisco Public Library for a conversation with Armistead Maupin.

KM Soehnlein interviews Armistead Maupin about “Tales of the City” which, for almost four decades, has blazed its own trail through popular culture—from a groundbreaking San Francisco Chronicle newspaper serial to a classic novel, to a television event that entranced millions around the world.

The first of nine novels about the denizens of the apartment house at 28 Barbary Lane in San Francisco, it is both a sparkling comedy of manners and an indelible portrait of an era that changed forever the way we live.

The post In conversation with Armistead Maupin appeared first on Cheap Seats.

Image by Andres Musta via Creative Commons

Join Dene in the Cheap Seats for a human rights panel discussion that explores the ideological struggle between autocracy and democracy in Asia and the Middle East.

The discussion is hosted by Human Rights First and examines the experience in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Hungary and China.

The panel is moderated by Scott Carpenter and the panellists are:

• Mohammad A. Tabaar – Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University
• Caryle Murphy – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of ‘Passion for Islam’ and ‘A Kingdom’s Future: Saudi Arabia Through the Eyes of Its Twentysomethings’
• Tamas Bodoky – Editor-in-Chief of Atlatszo.hu; author, Túlkapások (Hungary), and
• Zachary Abuza – Professor of Political Science, Simmons College.

The post Human rights in Asia and the Middle East appeared first on Cheap Seats.

Sam Rush

Dene is back in the Cheap Seats for the National Poetry Slam 2015 in Oakland California. Presented by Button Poetry, the event features:

• Melissa Lozada-Olivia – Like Totally Whatever
• Olivia Fantini – On Standardized Testing
• Pages Matam – On Learning America’s English
• Patrick Roche – The Perfect Panic Attack
• Rachel Wiley – Glory in Two Parts
• Sabrina Benaim – First Date
• Sam Rush – Neverland

The post Poetry slam, thank you ma’am! appeared first on Cheap Seats.

Image by Very Quiet via Creative Commons

Join Dene in the Cheap Seats in Oakland California at the 26th Annual National Poetry Slam, a competition event where poets performance original work to a live audience.

Presented by Button Poetry, the event features:

• Akeemjamal Rollins – In response
• Christopher Stanly – Fat love
• Gabriel Ramirez – On realising I am black
• J Theo – Twin Tongue
• Jesse Parent – Hooked Cross
• Joel Francis – Interchangeable Parts
• Jonathan Mendoza – Brown Boy, White Boy

The post Poetry Slam sampler appeared first on Cheap Seats.

Dene is back in the Cheap Seats for a performance by Canadian trans artists Ivan Coyote and Rae Spoon, performing their show “Gender Failure”.  The performance explores and exposes the pair’s failed attempts at fitting into the gender binary — and ultimately how the gender binary doesn’t add up.

The post Gender Failure appeared first on Cheap Seats.

Image by Calgary Reviews via Creative Commons

Join Dene in the Cheap Seats as we listen to ‘No Curry, No Rice’, a panel discussion that looks at sexual appetites, ethnic stereotypes, and racism in our LGBTIQ communities. It explores the question of the boundary between personal preference and racism, from a male perspective.

The discussion is brought to us by the Australian LGBTIQ Multicultural Council and featured as part of the 2015 Midwinta Festival in Melbourne.

The post No curry, no rice appeared first on Cheap Seats.

Image of Eileen Myles
by David Shankbone via Creative Commons

Join Dene in the Cheap Seats for American poet and writer Eileen Myles reading her poetry to a live audience at the Chicago Humanities Festival.

Eileen has produced more than twenty volumes of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, plays and performance pieces over the last three decades.  Her works are known for being queer, funny, feminist and provocative.

Myles opens with poetry new and old, but dedicates much of the time for an extended reading of her dog memoir, Afterglow, inspired by her now-late companion Rosie.

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