Yes, Virginia, There ARE Gay Men in Kansas! (tags)
Most Queer people, unless they actually came from Kansas, think of it as the place Dorothy Gale was lucky enough to be flown out of by a cyclone in "The Wizard of Oz." But San Diego's Diversionary Theatre is producing an original musical, "Harmony, Kansas," a touching comedy/drama about Gay men in Kansas who come together and form a singing group just to have one place where they can be who they are.
Diversionary's "Next Fall": Fun and Thought-Provoking (tags)
"Next Fall," playing through March 25 at Diversionary Theatre in University Heights, San Diego, is a sometimes funny, sometimes wrenching, sometimes thought-provoking play in which an auto accident involving one member of a Gay male couple provokes confrontations between his partner and his blood family and triggers a series of flashbacks highlighting the conflict of faith between the victim, a devout born-again Christian, and his non-believing lover.
"Edward II": Diversionary Brings Marlowe's Queer Play to Life (tags)
Rally Kicks Off San Diego Pride Events (tags)
San Diego's Queer (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Pride events kicked off Friday, July 15 at a rally on the pride festival site in Balboa Park. The featured speakers were New Age author and credentialed minister Marianne Williamson, who talked about marriage equality as a straight supporter who has performed same-sex weddings, and Daniel Hernandez, the young, openly Gay aide to Congressmember Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) who saved her life when she was shot at an outdoor rally in January. But the most powerful speaker was former San Diego Democratic Club president Larry Baza, who powerfully expressed the history of the Queer rights movement and the challenges it faces in the future.
MOXIE?s Poster Boys at Diversionary: Funny ? and More (tags)
Poster Boys, now playing in a MOXIE/Diversionary Theatre co-production at 4545 Park Boulevard in University Heights, is typical MOXIE fare: a great script (having its U.S. premiere) that makes sly, insinuating comments on sexual orientation, religion, advertising and the (lack of) integrity associated with it, and the ways major corporations try to whitewash (or greenwash) their images and seem more progressive than they are to attract our business. It runs through July 31; see it.
Openly Gay Fort Worth City Councilmember Headlines Queer Democrats' Freedom Awards (tags)
As a boy, openly Gay Fort Worth City Councilmember Joel Burns was bullied by schoolmates and driven to thoughts of suicide. One of his friends, a boy from Oklahoma, actually did kill himself. As an elected official, Burns spoke October 12 in the Fort Worth City Council chambers and talked about his past in a speech that was heard 'round the world through YouTube and the power of the Internet. On November 13 Burns came to San Diego as the keynote speaker for the 35th Annual Freedom Awards of the predominantly Queer San Diego Democratic Club and talked about teen suicide and the need for renewed commitment on the part of Queer Democrats and progressives to elect officials whose actions will make Queer teens safer.
Pride Rally Reveals Queer Community’s Divisions Over Obama (tags)
The July 16 San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender pride rally, which opened the city's weekend of Pride events, revealed the deep-seated divisions within the Queer community over President Obama and the proper way of organizing. Stuart Milk, nephew of Queer martyr Harvey Milk, said he'd attended a meeting at the White House at which Obama endorsed virtually the entire agenda of the Queer rights movement — but Fresno-based activist Robin McGehee said that doesn't matter. McGehee and San Diego Transgender activist Autumn Sandeen, who joined together for a direct-action campaign against the White House over Obama's failure to seek repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that keeps openly Queer people from serving in the U.S. military, said that the Queer community should use nonviolent civil disobedience to confront Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate majority leader Harry Reid and other Democratic politicians who aren't delivering on their promises to the Queer community.
MOXIE Stages Topical Play “Bleeding Kansas” (tags)
MOXIE, San Diego's women-run feminist theatre, is presenting Kathryn Walat's "Bleeding Kansas," a dramatization of one of the bloodiest political conflicts in American history: the fight in 1855-56 over whether Kansas would become a free or slave state. This dress rehearsal for the Civil War wrenched the country apart and, in MOXIE's hands, becomes powerful, vivid, well-acted drama. "Bleeding Kansas" plays through Sunday, November 2 at Diversionary Theatre, 4545 Park Boulevard in University Heights, San Diego.
San Diego's Compass Theatre Presents "Q Plays" (tags)
On Sunday, September 7, Compass Theatre (formerly 6th @ Penn) at 3704 Sixth Avenue in Hillcrest is formally launching its new season of “off-night” productions — performed Sunday evening through Wednesday instead of the “on-nights” of Thursday through Sunday afternoon — called Q Plays. These are five widely varied scripts that have one thing in common: all revolve around Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and/or Transgender characters. Hairdresser on Fire runs from September 7 through October 8. Performances are 7 p.m. Sundays and 7:30 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. To order tickets, or for more information, call (619) 688-9210 or visit www.compasstheatre.com