Top Ten Queer Sh*t

Gaybama '08

Not that I didn't have a 2000-Great but I'm ready for 2000-Fine. The decade's almost over, y'all, and what will the oughts be remembered for? I'd like to think it would be for something other than the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. I'd like to think that, but I don't. Bummer.

But you know what's not a bummer? This top ten list of gay, Gay, GAY stuff. Get ready, daddy, cause here it comes.

10. I'm sure Rachel Maddow is making all of the GP's Top Ten lists. What can I say, I love her too. That's right, a gay man is in love with a lesbian newscaster. Shocking. I love her dismissive laugh and her cute punim. Only Anderson Cooper could distract me from my MSNBC lady love.

9. Why leave the trashy dating shows to the straighties. I mean, I do remember Boy Meets Boy, but that was little more than gay-baiting, dear. No no no, I'm not talking about Tila Tequila either, although I heard her book was fab. I'm talking about Calpernia Addams and her dating show, Transamerican Love Story, on Logo. The trans Soldier's Girl is just stunning!

8. I had a hell of a time at this year's AGLIFF. The films were well curated and the Alamo Ritz was a fun and a welcome change for the film festival. Spirits were high and the caliber of films was higher, with David Sweeney continuing to serve as Executive Director of the Festival and with Grace Gonzalez taking on the programming next year's AGLIFF will only be an improvement upon last year's fest! Hurrah!

7. Remember that time when the GP's own Kate Messer was on the cutting edge of the gay news media this year? Yeah, her article on the folks behind Join The Impact for 365 Gay News was in-cred-uh-bull.

6. Hooray California! Boo California! For us queers in Texas, we live vicariously (sometimes) through the lives of gays in different states. This year we cried with tears of joy when California started hitching queers, and then we cried with tears of rage when they rescinded the offer. To those who voted for the ballot measure, and to those who funded the "Yes on 8" campaign… FEH!!!

5. Although the venerable and viable monthly queer performance night CampCamp, has exited the building, it has certainly left this city a little queerer for the better. To the many folks who made it happen every month, especially Silky and Kai, you done good.

4. Obama! Obama! Woohoo! Am I excited? Um, yeah! Am I a little wary? Sure. I'm glad he'll be running the country for the next few years, but I'm also a little bit curious as to why the man has never come out in support of gay marriage. Even if you don't believe queers should get married (so as not to ape heteronormative morals and values) you can't argue with an equality of choice here! Baby steps, right Obama? Too Slow! Lets hope people stop playing political football with our lives. Do us proud, Barack!

3. The small town of Trinidad, Colorado, also known colloquially as "The Sex Change Capital of the World", is the subject of Trinidad, an Austin-made documentary by Jay Hodges and PJ Raval. The doc chronicles the lives of three trans women, one of them performs the Genital Reassignment Surgeries (GRS) and the other two struggle to open a recovery house. If you haven't already seen it, there's still time! January 4th at the Alamo Ritz, 5:00 and 9:00 PM with one of the documentary's subjects, Sabrina Taraboletti, in attendance. (Full disclosure: PJ is my boyfriend.)

2. I know I've already blogged about it a couple times, but Ivan Lozano's installation titled Fantasy Vision Meditation (In Color) was truly transcendent. Everything from the archival material (Fred Halsted pornos) to the soundtrack (a glacially paced disco anthem) not to mention the heaps of glitter piled up on mirrors like so much glam blow, was truly spectacular. It was an ache and an elegy. Gorgeous. A close second was Ben Aqua's incredible photos of his friends in their domestic interiors. If you have the resources, support these vital queer voices!

1. Number one on my list is the mind-blowing Austin theater I've seen lately. Two shows in particular grabbed my heart and played badmitton with it. Rubber Rep's The Casket of Passing Fancy and the Rude Mech's I've Never Been So Happy. Both shows, while not specifically about queers, managed to queer theatrical conventions. Casket was the queerest Victorian parlour game I've ever participated in and I've Never Been So Happy seemed to be the brainchild of a Southern-born, queer Bertoldt Brecht. I laughed, I cried, I feared for my life and for the lives of others, I dressed up as a cowboy and in the end I believed in the power of theater once again. Thanks for making a believer out of me.