Hot Pink List 2013 Archives — San Francisco Bay Guardian Archive 1966

HOT PINK LIST 2013: Faetopians

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June 26, 2013

Once a year, a mystical gathering of artists, musicians, cultural visionaries, political agitators, sexual explorers, spiritual travelers, and just plain magickal beings gathers to share knowledge and intertwine in giant spontaneous puppy piles at Faetopia (www.faetopia.org). A collaboration between the radical faerie Feyboy Collective, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the Calamus Fellowship, Comfort and Joy Burning Man Camp, and more, the week-long extravaganza, now through Fri/28) presents everything from ritual drum circles and wild, neon-lit dance performances to workshops devoted to the history of gay porn and “Hastening the Post-Capitalist Post-Patriarchy through Post-Monogamous Practice.” Its a wonderfully woolly queer freak happening, a necessary complement to Pride’s relatively straight-laced affairs.

Some Faetopians: Pinkfeather, Dino, Kyle DeVries, Ian MacKinnon, Jon Ginoli, Javier Rocabado artwork, Miss Rahni, Justin Morrison

HOT PINK LIST 2013: COMICS GEEKS

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June 26, 2013

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It’s been a big year for queer comics. A movie based on a lesbian comic book, Blue is the Warmest Color, swept the top prizes at Cannes. The first textbook history of queer comics No Straight Lines was released by local hero Justin Hall, and snagged the Lambda Literary Award for Best Anthology. Heck, even Green Lantern went queer in “Earth Two,” and there was a gay wedding in Archie’s hometown, Riverdale. Here in the Bay, of course, comics have been queer for decades: from the pioneering work of Mary Wings and Lee Marrs in the 1970s to a lively slew of young upstarts, eager to expand the genre. Take, for example, this year’s packed “Batman on Robin” show, curated by Hall and Rick Worley, which imagined the Dynamic Duo in comic contortions that had many saying, “Shazam!”

Comics Geeks: Cartoonists: Agnes Czaja, Beth Dean, Christine Smith, Diego Gomez, Ed Luce, Jon Macy, Justin Hall, MariNaomi, Paige Braddock, Rick Worley.

(Photo of Diego Gomez by Sloan Kanter)

BONUS! Legendary groundbreaker Lee Marrs just sent her picture to us, and it may be our favorite yet:

HOT PINK LIST 2013: BOOT BLACKS

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June 26, 2013

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Midway through Folsom Street’s dark Powerhouse leather bar, you’ll find the bootblack, toiling away with a kit of rags and polish — break out your Stompers for a sublime shine. “What I’ve learned is that for me, bootblacking is religion,” says seven-year bootblacker Ms. V. “What I do is simple, slow, and uncluttered — and it reveres the authenticity of the boot and shoe above all.” She was first introduced to bootblacking seven years ago at Folsom Street Fair. “What a mystical experience seeing this polish-smeared wizard at work,” she recalls. “I wondered if I could do this with a female sensibility.” Bootblacking has long been the purview of males, but Ms. V embarked on her journey to learn the craft from leather community members and old school shoeshine experts anyway. She picked up a protege, Luna, with whom she teams up to keep leather footwear in prime condition. It’s a business transaction, driven by passion, power, and polish. “There is a dance that goes on between the customer and me,” says Ms. V.

Bootblacks Ms. V, International Ms. Bootblack 2007, and Luna, International Community Bootblack 2011

HOT PINK LIST 2013: DRAG PHANTASMS

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June 26, 2013

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Hip-hop swagger meets goth-electro darkness, with the specters of legendary club disturber Leigh Bowery and e-art wunderkind Ryan Trecartin shimmering over the proceedings. But why stop there? Add in agitating performance art hijinks and a fundamental decontextualization of drag practices rooted in the shivery, negative emotions that the Internet pukes up on our screens. The new drag generation isn’t interested in conventional beauty or humor; instead it’s guided by hyperreal thrills, out-of-body chills, and post-Tumblr spills. SF’s most prominent phantasmagorian, boychild, is now hopping the globe as a fashion and video sensation, while seminal Dia Dear is blazing a performance “happening” trail in established venues, and godmother VivvyAnne ForeverMore is rising in art circles. Phantasmic supergroup Daddies Plastik and Persia produced sardonic anti-gentrification anthem “Google Google Apps Apps.” Spooky.

Phantasms: boychild, Daddies Plastik, Dick Van Dick, Rheal’Tea, Persia, Jem Jehova, VivvyAnne Forevermore, Julez Hale Mary, Amoania, Dia Dear, Craig Calderwood

HOT PINK LIST 2013: ACT-UPPERS

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June 26, 2013

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AIDS-era nostalgia gripped popular culture recently with several acclaimed documentaries (including Oscar-nominated How to Survive a Plague) and the Tony-winning revival of Larry Kramer’s play “A Normal Heart” (soon to be an HBO movie with Julia Roberts). But a new generation was also rediscovering the disruptive tactics of ACT-UP. That highly effective, emotionally inspiring AIDS activist organization turned 25 last year, and ACT-UP SF (www.facebook.com/ACTUPSF) relaunched with a new agenda: combating queer homelessness and evictions, the criminalization of HIV and sex work, transphobia and discrimination, and astronomical HIV drug prices. Through direct actions and colorful street protests, ACT-UP SF renewed the intergenerational spirit of queer community.

ACT-UP SF photos by Waiyde Palmer and Liz Highleyman, courtesy ACT-UP SF.

HOT PINK LIST 2013: HIP-HOP NATION

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June 26, 2013

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If anything will tip the scale when it comes to mainstream hip-hop’s acceptance of pansexual twerking in its midst (hi, Frank Ocean and Mykki Blanco), it will be the simple fact that this new class of queers just bnrings the game better: pops ass more profoundly, wears the shit out of some Hood By Air, and can channel Aaliyah, Slick Rick, and Le1f on the same track. In the Bay (site of many early LGBT hip-hop pioneers), queer rap shines: Monthly El Rio twerkfest Swagger Like Us and new party-on-the-block R U That Somebody spin vogue circles with 2 Chainz, and strong female rappers like Raw-G, Aima the Dreamer, and Micah Tron bang out sharp lyrics and catchy hooks. Those looking for more theoretical grounding found power this year at La Peña Cultural Cultural Center’s Hip Hop Beyond Gender event series, where intersectionalities of class, race, and gender joined in unstoppable flow.

Hip-Hop Nation: Aima the Dreamer, HOTTUB, Hawa Arsala, Yetunde Olagbaju, Tonia Beglari, DJ Jaqi Sparrow, Sky Madden, Raw G, Marco de la Vega, Kelly Lovemonster, DJ Boyfriend, davO, Matrixxman.

Photos by: Angela Dawn, Debbie Smith, Hawa Arsala/Browntourage, Aubrie Pick, Polaroid SF, Brian Moran, Shot in the City, Hannah Cairns, Robbie Sweeney, Molly Decoudreaux.