Open Call to Artists for ‘Queer’ Exhibition in Philadelphia

AxD Gallery, located at 265 S. 10th Street, is seeking LGBTQ-identified artists for inclusion in their July 2010 exhibition. The exhibition will run in conjunction with this year’s Philadelphia QFest, the yearly summer gay and lesbian film festival.

The theme will center on: Queer Sensibility. Is it real? What does it mean to you? Our goal is to select 10 artists, working in any medium, whose work is relevant to the specific theme of the show. Selected works will receive juried awards, presented on opening night.

Submission Process:
Stage 1, Artist selection: Artists, who in some way identify as part of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer community (regardless of geographic location), are invited to submit examples of relevant work no later than March 15th, 2010. Submit either a website URL or up to a half dozen jpegs for consideration to queer@a-x-d.com. There are no entry fees. Purpose of this first stage is for AxD gallery to select artists – not select specific works of art for the show.

Stage 2, Artwork selection: After review of Stage 1 submissions, AxD gallery will invite ten artists to submit portfolios of work (digitally or in person) in order to select specific works for inclusion in the Queer Sensibility exhibition in July. All work selected must be available for sale.

Exhibition:
Opening reception and awards ceremony will be Friday, July 9th from 5 to 8 PM with exhibition continuing through Saturday, August 7th. AxD is located at 265 S. 10th Street in Center City Philadelphia, adjacent to the city’s Gayborhood, and while partial to emphasizing non-representational and abstract contemporary visual arts, likes to mix it up with sculpture, erotica and shear whimsy from time to time – just to keep it fun!

Preschooler Banned Because of Lesbain Mothers

A preschool kid has been banned from attending a Catholic school in Colorado because he has two moms. Check out the story by the local NBC affiliate.

St. Patrick's Day for the Gays

Huge Wave Hits Cruise Ship

Michael Musto Celebrates 25 Years!

Congratulations go out to Michael Musto, the original gossip columnist, who celebrated his 25th Anniversary with the Village Voice on Tuesday night. Here are a few photos from the celebration party at Manhattan's 230 Fifth Club.

Laura Burkhardt, Michael Musto, and Bruce Yelk
Michael Urie from Ugly Betty, NYC Queen, Bruce, and Laura
Frank Decaro, Jim Colluci, Laura and Bruce

Two friends of Ed Salvato and Brian Goldthorpe

Senate Introduces Legislation to Repeal DADT

Legislation was introduced by five Democratic senators and independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut — that would repeal the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) policy upon becoming law. The law would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and establish Reserve Officer Training Corps units at colleges and universities where openly gay service personnel had been barred.

The Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy has banned openly gay men and women from serving in the U.S. military since 1993.

American Boy's Estelle is back with "Freak"

In 2008, Estelle rose to fame with her collaboration with rapper Kanye West, titled "American Boy". The song reached the top 10 in many countries worldwide, including the United States and Canada.

Now, Estelle is back with her own track from her forthcoming CD “All Of Me” on Atlantic Records. Check it out.

Ladies 2000 is gearing-up for two big Spring events!

The fine folks over at Ladies 2000 are gearing up for another event packed Spring and Summer. On Saturday, April 10th, the women are off to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware for the annual "Women's Fest" weekend. Ladies 2000 will host a big dance event at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center - which is scheduled to kick-off at 4:00 p.m.

Eight days later, the girls are off to Asbury Park for their first event of the season at Paradise - located in the Empress Hotel.

For more information on these and other upcoming Ladies 2000 events, visit their website at Ladies2000.com.

Same-sex marriage becomes legal in DC

Same-sex couples can start applying for marriage licenses Wednesday in Washington. Supporters say couples planned to line up before the city's marriage bureau opened at 8:30 a.m., and officials at the courthouse were expecting 200 or more people.

At least 16 couples were waiting at 7:15 a.m. inside the city's Moultrie courthouse, which houses the marriage bureau and is just blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

Sinjoyla Townsend, 41, and her partner of 12 years, Angelisa Young, 47, claimed the first spot in line just after 6 a.m.

"It's like waking up Christmas morning," Young said.

Washington will be the sixth place in the nation where gay marriages can take place. Because of a mandatory waiting period, however, couples won't actually be able to marry in the District of Columbia until March 9. Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont currently issue licenses to same-sex couples.

Take Me Out

Plays & Players, Center City Philadelphia's longest continually operated theater will present the Tony Award Winning play “Take Me Out” written by Richard Greenberg and directed by Daniel Student.

Set in the world of professional baseball, “Take Me Out” looks at what happens when the star player of a professional baseball team suddenly announces his homosexuality and the ripple effect that it has on the entire team over the course of a season.

“Take Me Out” was the recipient of the Tony Award for Best Play 2003 and was nominated for the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It played 383 performances on Broadway.

Featured in the show are Chuck DeLong, Bill Egan, Sam Han, Gerard Joseph, Joe Matyas, David Mason, Ted Powell, Jerry Rudasill, Dan Sanchez, Ryan Walter, and Peter Zielinski.

Performances are March 11 - 27, 2010. Showtime for Thursday-Saturdays performances are 8:00 pm. Sundays performances are at 4:00 pm. March 11th and 12th are special preview performances, and all regular priced tickets are $5 off.

Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door for adults, $15 student rush (one half hour before curtain), and $10 for groups of 10 or more. All performances will be given in Plays & Players Main Stage at 1714 Delancey Place (between Spruce & Pine Streets). Tickets may be purchased at www.playsandplayers.org or by calling (800) 595-4TIX. For additional information call the theatre at (215) 735-0630.

Phantic Around Town

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation and the Phillies will unveil the "Phanatic Around Town" public art project Monday at Citizens Bank Park. The project ties into the GPTMC's latest marketing campaign. The first statue will be in Clearwater for Wednesday's game against Florida State at Bright House Field. The statue stands five-feet tall, weighs 100 pounds and took approximately 30 hours to paint.
Photo by Meredith Edlow for GPTMC

GPTMC Hosts LGBT Press Round-up

Over the weekend, the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporations (GPTMC) hosted a LGBT press trip to show off the city's Gayborhood and LGBT events for 2010. On Saturday night, at the beautiful Sofitel Hotel, GPTMC held a reception with Philly's LGBT event producers to hear what is big in 2010. Check out these photos of the event.
Michael Musto and Mickey Boardman:

Dan Contarino and Tre Rios:

Jeff Guaracino for the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation:


Bruce Yelk, Brittany Lynn, Frank Decaro, Jeff Guaracino, Laura Burkhardt & Jim Colucci

Frank Decaro and Bruce Yelk:

Photos by Patrick Hagerty

Larry King asks Johnny Weir about his "Fierceness"

5,200 naked people in Australia

Roughly 5,200 naked people posed on the steps of Sydney's Opera House for a photo shoot by Spencer Tunick. Tunick, who is known for his nude group photos in public spaces, posed participants for more than an hour in a variety of positions.

"It was difficult to get the straight participants to embrace the gay participants and vice versa," Tunick said. "So I was very happy that that last set up finally got done and everyone came together (in a) united, friendly kiss, a loving kiss in front of this great structure."

Lady Gaga + Lobster

Lady Gaga in London over the weekend.