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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This week, as we near the end of 2025, the writers and editors of KQED Arts & Culture are reflecting on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/one-beautiful-thing\">One Beautiful Thing\u003c/a> from the year.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t was a particularly glorious \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/sf-pride\">San Francisco Pride\u003c/a> weekend. My jeans had grass stains from a sunny afternoon at Dolores Park, and my heart was on fire from the passion and solidarity I witnessed at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13858877/how-the-trans-community-reclaimed-its-rightful-place-at-pride\">Trans March\u003c/a>. After we joined a pink, white and blue procession of gender-nonconforming people demanding dignity down Market Street, one of my best friends and I took Muni to the Chase Center and stepped into a sea of violet, lavender and lilac. I had been to professional basketball games before, but there was another level of excitement vibrating through the stadium during the first-ever Pride game of the Bay Area WNBA team’s inaugural season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984641\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984641\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/IMG_9576-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/IMG_9576-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/IMG_9576-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/IMG_9576-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/IMG_9576-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/IMG_9576-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">KQED Arts & Culture’s Nastia Voynovskaya courtside at Chase Center during the Valkyries’ warm-up on Aug. 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Valkyries won against the Chicago Sky, yes, but what stood out the most to me were the moments of connection and community, large and small. Throughout the Valkyries’ inaugural season, Ballhalla — as their home court is known — became a super queer, massive celebration of women’s raw power and strength. In a year when conservative ideas about gender made a major comeback, this was the antidote I didn’t know I needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]F[/dropcap]rom the players, to the creative luminaries on the jumbotron, to the fans in the stands, my first Valkyries game felt completely different from any other professional sports experience. Seated next to me was a friend of a friend, and we hit it off in a conversation that began with basketball and ended with spirituality and the deeper \u003ci>why\u003c/i> of our creative practices. All around me in the extended friend group were artists, healers and teachers — queer women and nonbinary people defining their lives on their own terms, and using their talents to invite others to seek the same freedom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I looked up at the jumbotron, which featured technicolor, nature-inspired designs by \u003ca href=\"https://favianna.com/\">Favianna Rodriguez\u003c/a>, an Oakland visual artist and activist whose radiant butterflies have decorated protest signs calling for climate justice and reproductive freedom all over the world. It was Rodriguez who first opened my eyes to the power of art to move hearts and shape social movements when I went to a talk of hers over a decade ago, when I was first embarking upon my journalism career. It’s a pillar that underpins most of my writing all these years later. And there she was courtside, an accomplished queer woman dedicated to liberation, being honored in a stadium of 18,064 screaming fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Ballhalla gets it\u003c/i>, I thought. \u003cem>This is bigger than basketball.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980788\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980788\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/20250516_ValkyriesHomeOpener_GC-43_qed.jpg\" alt=\"two fans whip lavender shirts over heads in crowd\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/20250516_ValkyriesHomeOpener_GC-43_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/20250516_ValkyriesHomeOpener_GC-43_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/20250516_ValkyriesHomeOpener_GC-43_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/20250516_ValkyriesHomeOpener_GC-43_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fans cheer as the Golden State Valkyries scored during their WNBA season opener against the Los Angeles Sparks at Chase Center on May 16, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Then, of course, there was the actual game, which had me and my friends gasping and screaming as the Valkyries eked out a narrow lead. In the fourth quarter, forward Kayla Thornton sunk her fourth three-pointer, long braids whipping behind her as she ran down the court, and the arena erupted with ecstatic cheers. It hit me that these 18,064 people of all genders, ethnicities and ages were here to celebrate not just the home team, but an entire culture that has grown around these fierce women. [aside postid='arts_13980855']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]T[/dropcap]hat realization felt significant on a bone-deep level, especially when I considered the ways the U.S. has backslid on women’s and trans rights in recent years. \u003ca href=\"https://www.teenvogue.com/story/how-tradwives-use-sexism-racism-and-transphobia-to-police-other-women\">Tradwife discourse\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/where-did-all-big-girls-go-lizzo-sounds-alarm-ozempic-culture-1757458\">Ozempic campaigns\u003c/a>. The loss of abortion access after the Supreme Court toppled Roe v. Wade. The ongoing, ever-more-hostile attacks on trans people’s access to medical care. Vice President J.D. Vance’s statements that people without children \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/jd-vance-allotting-votes-people-children-thought-experiment-rcna166140\">should have fewer voting rights\u003c/a>. His infamous 2024 comments deriding “childless cat ladies,” echoing a tired insult that’s been leveled at women who don’t hinge their happiness on male approval \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13891913/how-the-crazy-cat-lady-became-one-of-pop-cultures-most-enduring-sexist-tropes\">since the witch trials of the 1300s\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whether from celebrities, social media or the highest halls of power, women and LGBTQ+ people are once again inundated with messaging about how we should shrink and contort ourselves into boxes — boxes that many of us don’t fit into as we strive to live full, empowered lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984643\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984643\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/250917-VALKYRIESPLAYOFFS-14-BL_QED-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Valkyries player Cecilia Zandalasini shoots the basketball as fans watch in anticipation.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/250917-VALKYRIESPLAYOFFS-14-BL_QED-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/250917-VALKYRIESPLAYOFFS-14-BL_QED-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/250917-VALKYRIESPLAYOFFS-14-BL_QED-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/250917-VALKYRIESPLAYOFFS-14-BL_QED-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Game 2 of the Valkyries vs. Minnesota Lynx WNBA playoff game at the SAP Center in San Jose on Sept. 17, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, on the court, in the media and in their fight for fair pay, players like the Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson and Minnesota Lynx’s Napheesa Collier, and coaches like Valkyries’ Natalie Nakase, are unafraid to take up space. They don’t apologize for their ambition — they let it roar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n 2025, the Valkyries made history: They broke attendance records by selling out the Chase Center for every game, and became the first expansion team to make it to the playoffs. The WNBA has enjoyed its largest attendance numbers since its inception, with plans to expand the league to 18 teams by 2030. It’s worth celebrating that the WNBA achieved that mainstream popularity without players sacrificing their authenticity. [ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the league’s most visible personalities, the Lynx’s Court Williams and Natisha Hiedeman — aka StudBudz — are proudly masculine-of-center lesbians with a passionate following that transcends race and gender lines. Indeed, 57% of WNBA fans are men, and young boys are a growing part of that demographic. They want to see women win, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the past few years have taught us anything, it’s that in 2026, women and trans people have to be prepared to defend a growing list of freedoms that we might’ve taken for granted in the past. But there’s power in the collective. The joy, solidarity and awe I’ve experienced at WNBA games reminds me that another world is possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This week, as we near the end of 2025, the writers and editors of KQED Arts & Culture are reflecting on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/one-beautiful-thing\">One Beautiful Thing\u003c/a> from the year.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>t was a particularly glorious \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/sf-pride\">San Francisco Pride\u003c/a> weekend. My jeans had grass stains from a sunny afternoon at Dolores Park, and my heart was on fire from the passion and solidarity I witnessed at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13858877/how-the-trans-community-reclaimed-its-rightful-place-at-pride\">Trans March\u003c/a>. After we joined a pink, white and blue procession of gender-nonconforming people demanding dignity down Market Street, one of my best friends and I took Muni to the Chase Center and stepped into a sea of violet, lavender and lilac. I had been to professional basketball games before, but there was another level of excitement vibrating through the stadium during the first-ever Pride game of the Bay Area WNBA team’s inaugural season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984641\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984641\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/IMG_9576-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/IMG_9576-scaled.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/IMG_9576-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/IMG_9576-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/IMG_9576-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/IMG_9576-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">KQED Arts & Culture’s Nastia Voynovskaya courtside at Chase Center during the Valkyries’ warm-up on Aug. 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Valkyries won against the Chicago Sky, yes, but what stood out the most to me were the moments of connection and community, large and small. Throughout the Valkyries’ inaugural season, Ballhalla — as their home court is known — became a super queer, massive celebration of women’s raw power and strength. In a year when conservative ideas about gender made a major comeback, this was the antidote I didn’t know I needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">F\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>rom the players, to the creative luminaries on the jumbotron, to the fans in the stands, my first Valkyries game felt completely different from any other professional sports experience. Seated next to me was a friend of a friend, and we hit it off in a conversation that began with basketball and ended with spirituality and the deeper \u003ci>why\u003c/i> of our creative practices. All around me in the extended friend group were artists, healers and teachers — queer women and nonbinary people defining their lives on their own terms, and using their talents to invite others to seek the same freedom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I looked up at the jumbotron, which featured technicolor, nature-inspired designs by \u003ca href=\"https://favianna.com/\">Favianna Rodriguez\u003c/a>, an Oakland visual artist and activist whose radiant butterflies have decorated protest signs calling for climate justice and reproductive freedom all over the world. It was Rodriguez who first opened my eyes to the power of art to move hearts and shape social movements when I went to a talk of hers over a decade ago, when I was first embarking upon my journalism career. It’s a pillar that underpins most of my writing all these years later. And there she was courtside, an accomplished queer woman dedicated to liberation, being honored in a stadium of 18,064 screaming fans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Ballhalla gets it\u003c/i>, I thought. \u003cem>This is bigger than basketball.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13980788\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13980788\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/20250516_ValkyriesHomeOpener_GC-43_qed.jpg\" alt=\"two fans whip lavender shirts over heads in crowd\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/20250516_ValkyriesHomeOpener_GC-43_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/20250516_ValkyriesHomeOpener_GC-43_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/20250516_ValkyriesHomeOpener_GC-43_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/20250516_ValkyriesHomeOpener_GC-43_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fans cheer as the Golden State Valkyries scored during their WNBA season opener against the Los Angeles Sparks at Chase Center on May 16, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Then, of course, there was the actual game, which had me and my friends gasping and screaming as the Valkyries eked out a narrow lead. In the fourth quarter, forward Kayla Thornton sunk her fourth three-pointer, long braids whipping behind her as she ran down the court, and the arena erupted with ecstatic cheers. It hit me that these 18,064 people of all genders, ethnicities and ages were here to celebrate not just the home team, but an entire culture that has grown around these fierce women. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">T\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>hat realization felt significant on a bone-deep level, especially when I considered the ways the U.S. has backslid on women’s and trans rights in recent years. \u003ca href=\"https://www.teenvogue.com/story/how-tradwives-use-sexism-racism-and-transphobia-to-police-other-women\">Tradwife discourse\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/where-did-all-big-girls-go-lizzo-sounds-alarm-ozempic-culture-1757458\">Ozempic campaigns\u003c/a>. The loss of abortion access after the Supreme Court toppled Roe v. Wade. The ongoing, ever-more-hostile attacks on trans people’s access to medical care. Vice President J.D. Vance’s statements that people without children \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/jd-vance-allotting-votes-people-children-thought-experiment-rcna166140\">should have fewer voting rights\u003c/a>. His infamous 2024 comments deriding “childless cat ladies,” echoing a tired insult that’s been leveled at women who don’t hinge their happiness on male approval \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13891913/how-the-crazy-cat-lady-became-one-of-pop-cultures-most-enduring-sexist-tropes\">since the witch trials of the 1300s\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whether from celebrities, social media or the highest halls of power, women and LGBTQ+ people are once again inundated with messaging about how we should shrink and contort ourselves into boxes — boxes that many of us don’t fit into as we strive to live full, empowered lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984643\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984643\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/250917-VALKYRIESPLAYOFFS-14-BL_QED-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Valkyries player Cecilia Zandalasini shoots the basketball as fans watch in anticipation.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/250917-VALKYRIESPLAYOFFS-14-BL_QED-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/250917-VALKYRIESPLAYOFFS-14-BL_QED-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/250917-VALKYRIESPLAYOFFS-14-BL_QED-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/250917-VALKYRIESPLAYOFFS-14-BL_QED-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Game 2 of the Valkyries vs. Minnesota Lynx WNBA playoff game at the SAP Center in San Jose on Sept. 17, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, on the court, in the media and in their fight for fair pay, players like the Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson and Minnesota Lynx’s Napheesa Collier, and coaches like Valkyries’ Natalie Nakase, are unafraid to take up space. They don’t apologize for their ambition — they let it roar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>n 2025, the Valkyries made history: They broke attendance records by selling out the Chase Center for every game, and became the first expansion team to make it to the playoffs. The WNBA has enjoyed its largest attendance numbers since its inception, with plans to expand the league to 18 teams by 2030. It’s worth celebrating that the WNBA achieved that mainstream popularity without players sacrificing their authenticity. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the league’s most visible personalities, the Lynx’s Court Williams and Natisha Hiedeman — aka StudBudz — are proudly masculine-of-center lesbians with a passionate following that transcends race and gender lines. Indeed, 57% of WNBA fans are men, and young boys are a growing part of that demographic. They want to see women win, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the past few years have taught us anything, it’s that in 2026, women and trans people have to be prepared to defend a growing list of freedoms that we might’ve taken for granted in the past. But there’s power in the collective. The joy, solidarity and awe I’ve experienced at WNBA games reminds me that another world is possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "kt-seibert-be-not-afraid-moth-belly-gallery-tenderloin-transgender-religion",
"title": "‘Be Not Afraid’ Is a Cathartic Cathedral of Queerness",
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"content": "\u003cp>“I don’t know if you’ve ever been inside an Orthodox Church,” artist KT Seibert tells KQED, “but I just have a hard time believing that straight men designed all that …”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13984190']Seibert is explaining the origins of \u003cem>Be Not Afraid\u003c/em>, their new exhibition at Moth Belly Gallery that combines traditional religious iconography and a modern, distinctly queer sensibility. Seibert’s bold work has transformed the Tenderloin gallery into a compact, colorful cathedral, offering catharsis for anyone who has ever yearned for a religious sanctuary but couldn’t find one that welcomed them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beaming down from the walls are holy hands, crosses, sacred hearts and roses, blood-drenched chalices and hallowed saints. Most are made with watercolor, but more closely resemble stained glass. There’s three pieces of Seibert’s real stained glass too, abstract and dreamy at the rear of the room. Each work is imbued with true spiritual reverence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984566\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13984566 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Hand-Cross-HRT-Final.png\" alt=\"A painting resembling stained glass of a religious hand holding a cylindrical item that is a holy cross on top and a syringe at the bottom.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1984\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Hand-Cross-HRT-Final.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Hand-Cross-HRT-Final-160x159.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Hand-Cross-HRT-Final-768x762.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Hand-Cross-HRT-Final-1536x1524.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Thank God for HRT’ by KT Siebert. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Moth Belly Gallery)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I started this thought experiment,” Seibert explains. “If I’d been born in a different time, how would I reconcile being queer and trans? And what if I couldn’t be what I wanted to be and didn’t have access to gender affirming care? And I realized I would absolutely join a monastery or a convent and I would just make religious art with a bunch of neurodivergent queer people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seibert continues, “I bet so much of the visual language we have from the church was actually made by queer people. I can actually see it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seibert, born and raised in Baltimore but based in San Francisco for the last 15 years, returned to their Christian (specifically Russian Orthodox) roots at the start of 2025, while processing the loss of their relationship and home. Seibert thought about the best way to process their grief. They thought about their upbringing in the church and the hundreds of religious icons hanging around their Russian grandfather’s home. They started repeating a mantra to turn so much pain into productivity: “Don’t waste sadness.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seibert didn’t. One of the clearest examples of this in \u003cem>Be Not Afraid\u003c/em> is \u003cem>Tower\u003c/em>, a depiction of a simple white home with a black garage door that transfigures, via a series of ever-taller floors, into a towering temple topped by an Orthodox cross and wrapped in serpents. \u003cem>Tower\u003c/em> is the result of Seibert processing the loss of their beloved home and a nod to the fact that they pulled the Tower card in a tarot reading just two weeks before their relationship ended. (In tarot, the tower is always a harbinger of doom.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984564\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1008px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984564\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Tower.png\" alt=\"A painting that resembles stained glass featuring a house that transforms into a towering religious building. \" width=\"1008\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Tower.png 1008w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Tower-160x317.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Tower-768x1524.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Tower-774x1536.png 774w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1008px) 100vw, 1008px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Tower’ by KT Seibert. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Moth Belly Gallery)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>During Seibert’s creative healing journey, they found themselves forced to open up spiritually in order to finish \u003cem>Be Not Afraid\u003c/em>. The paintings became a way to honor the original creators of the religious icons Seibert incorporated into their work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13983871']“[In] the process of making an icon,” Seibert says, “you’re supposed to go into a trance. The process of making it is, in and of itself, a spiritual thing. It’s supposed to be a window into heaven and the realm, so when I was making these pieces, I was going purely on vibes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This has been definitely the most difficult year of my life,” Seibert adds. “Having something like this to put that energy into and connect with the realms was really necessary.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Be Not Afraid’ is on view at Moth Belly gallery (912 Larkin St., San Francisco) through Jan. 31, 2026.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "‘Be Not Afraid’ Review: KT Seibert Creates a Queer Cathedral | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>“I don’t know if you’ve ever been inside an Orthodox Church,” artist KT Seibert tells KQED, “but I just have a hard time believing that straight men designed all that …”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Seibert is explaining the origins of \u003cem>Be Not Afraid\u003c/em>, their new exhibition at Moth Belly Gallery that combines traditional religious iconography and a modern, distinctly queer sensibility. Seibert’s bold work has transformed the Tenderloin gallery into a compact, colorful cathedral, offering catharsis for anyone who has ever yearned for a religious sanctuary but couldn’t find one that welcomed them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beaming down from the walls are holy hands, crosses, sacred hearts and roses, blood-drenched chalices and hallowed saints. Most are made with watercolor, but more closely resemble stained glass. There’s three pieces of Seibert’s real stained glass too, abstract and dreamy at the rear of the room. Each work is imbued with true spiritual reverence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984566\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13984566 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Hand-Cross-HRT-Final.png\" alt=\"A painting resembling stained glass of a religious hand holding a cylindrical item that is a holy cross on top and a syringe at the bottom.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1984\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Hand-Cross-HRT-Final.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Hand-Cross-HRT-Final-160x159.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Hand-Cross-HRT-Final-768x762.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Hand-Cross-HRT-Final-1536x1524.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Thank God for HRT’ by KT Siebert. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Moth Belly Gallery)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I started this thought experiment,” Seibert explains. “If I’d been born in a different time, how would I reconcile being queer and trans? And what if I couldn’t be what I wanted to be and didn’t have access to gender affirming care? And I realized I would absolutely join a monastery or a convent and I would just make religious art with a bunch of neurodivergent queer people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seibert continues, “I bet so much of the visual language we have from the church was actually made by queer people. I can actually see it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seibert, born and raised in Baltimore but based in San Francisco for the last 15 years, returned to their Christian (specifically Russian Orthodox) roots at the start of 2025, while processing the loss of their relationship and home. Seibert thought about the best way to process their grief. They thought about their upbringing in the church and the hundreds of religious icons hanging around their Russian grandfather’s home. They started repeating a mantra to turn so much pain into productivity: “Don’t waste sadness.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seibert didn’t. One of the clearest examples of this in \u003cem>Be Not Afraid\u003c/em> is \u003cem>Tower\u003c/em>, a depiction of a simple white home with a black garage door that transfigures, via a series of ever-taller floors, into a towering temple topped by an Orthodox cross and wrapped in serpents. \u003cem>Tower\u003c/em> is the result of Seibert processing the loss of their beloved home and a nod to the fact that they pulled the Tower card in a tarot reading just two weeks before their relationship ended. (In tarot, the tower is always a harbinger of doom.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984564\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1008px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984564\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Tower.png\" alt=\"A painting that resembles stained glass featuring a house that transforms into a towering religious building. \" width=\"1008\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Tower.png 1008w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Tower-160x317.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Tower-768x1524.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/Tower-774x1536.png 774w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1008px) 100vw, 1008px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Tower’ by KT Seibert. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Moth Belly Gallery)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>During Seibert’s creative healing journey, they found themselves forced to open up spiritually in order to finish \u003cem>Be Not Afraid\u003c/em>. The paintings became a way to honor the original creators of the religious icons Seibert incorporated into their work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“[In] the process of making an icon,” Seibert says, “you’re supposed to go into a trance. The process of making it is, in and of itself, a spiritual thing. It’s supposed to be a window into heaven and the realm, so when I was making these pieces, I was going purely on vibes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This has been definitely the most difficult year of my life,” Seibert adds. “Having something like this to put that energy into and connect with the realms was really necessary.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Be Not Afraid’ is on view at Moth Belly gallery (912 Larkin St., San Francisco) through Jan. 31, 2026.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "shelterwood-collective-soloar-punk-farms-lgbtq-history-russian-river",
"title": "A Queer Climate Movement Takes Root Along the Russian River",
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"content": "\u003cp>There’s a certain kind of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1997477/fishnets-and-fossil-fuels-meet-3-bay-area-climate-conscious-drag-artists\">queer magic\u003c/a> that thrives along the Russian River.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more than a century, queer people have sought refuge in rural Sonoma County, leaving the stress of city life for the peace — and parties — of the sprawling river valley and redwood forests. Artists, hippies, nude sun bathers, cruisers and even disco legends like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13854644/how-the-world-caught-up-to-sylvester\">Sylvester\u003c/a> have all flocked there over the decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, two groups, \u003ca href=\"https://www.shelterwoodcollective.org/\">Shelterwood Collective\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.solarpunkfarms.com/\">Solar Punk Farms\u003c/a>, are actively calling queer people back to the land, and not only to party. They’re creating a different type of magic: Shelterwood is restoring acres of forest through Indigenous practices like controlled burns, and Solar Punk advocates for environmental policy and farms the land — all while making space for queer community-building, joy and self-expression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not selling this as a panacea, but as one small piece of a larger puzzle of correcting the arc of history,” said Shelterwood co-founder Nikola Alexandre. “It matters that the last gas station before coming to Shelterwood and leaving is in Guerneville, which is maybe the gayest rural town in the U.S.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984071\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984071\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-37-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-37-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-37-KQED-160x123.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-37-KQED-768x589.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-37-KQED-1536x1177.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nikola Alexandre, of Shelterwood Collective, poses for a portrait at the property in Cazadero on Nov. 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘Caring for our elders’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>About half an hour northwest of Guerneville, Shelterwood is an oasis that centers queer, trans, Black, Indigenous and disabled people. The property was once a \u003ca href=\"https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2020/04/18/looking-back-on-the-cazadero-cult-camp-hundred-years-later/\">religious cult \u003c/a>and later a Christian camp. Since 2021, Shelterwood Collective has cared for its 900 acres of forest through stream restoration, forest thinning and prescribed burns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The forested valley, surrounded by a ridge, is home to wild boars, foxes, deer, mountain lions and the occasional bear. The Kashia Band of Pomo Indians stewarded these lands for thousands of years. White settlers and the federal government forced them from their ancestral lands in the 1800s, which also eliminated their practice of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13983729/good-fire-tending-native-lands-review-oakland-museum-california\">cultural burning\u003c/a>. In the mid-19th century, loggers turned the nearby town of Cazadero into a major timber hub. [aside postid='arts_13983729']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alexandre said that when Shelterwood purchased the land, it was overgrown due to poor management and needed room to breathe. With a five-year grant from Cal Fire, the group is physically thinning the forest and using prescribed fire to allow native species such as blue oak, sword fern and hummingbird sage to thrive once again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not trying to micromanage a forest, we’re caring for our elders,” Alexandre said of large trees unscathed by fire during a prescribed burn in October.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Standing on a cascading hillside meadow, with billowing smoke around him, Alexandre said actively burning the crowded forest has a two-fold purpose: tending the land \u003ci>and\u003c/i> queer hearts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The mythology that we are not part of these ecosystems, or that the only thing that happens to Black folk in the woods is negative or harmful, is one that I sought to truly push back against,” Alexandre said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984073\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984073\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-01-KQED-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1708\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-01-KQED-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-01-KQED-2000x1334.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-01-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-01-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-01-KQED-2048x1366.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Free Freddie performs during Shelterwood’s summer campout in July 2025. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Brandon Simmoneau)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Giving ‘queerness space to breathe’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Shelterwood’s work isn’t just physical, it’s communal. The five people who live on the property, along with visiting friends and organizers, host weekend gatherings centered on queer folk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around Halloween, at a party called 900 Acres and a Ghoul, dozens of queer people dressed as sexy witches, a giant slice of pizza in a jock strap and horror movie characters like Casey Becker from \u003ci>Scream\u003c/i>. The group of mostly 20- and 30-somethings danced to techno under a canopy of branches, carved pumpkins, connected in cuddle puddles and hiked in the fog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We dance with our human and non-human kin for a couple of days, and that is the joy that fuels many of us,” Alexandre said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matt Wood made the two-and-a-half-hour trek from San Francisco. The 30-year-old said every time he visits, he feels a little bit more restored.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it’s also healed my relationship with nature a lot,” Wood said. “I had to relearn what it means to hike or camp because I associated those with white, higher socioeconomic activities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wood has also learned the healing nature of prescribed fire, and sees his experience at Shelterwood as parallel to burning off the hardness of city life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984074\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984074\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-02-KQED-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1708\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-02-KQED-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-02-KQED-2000x1334.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-02-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-02-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-02-KQED-2048x1366.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJ 80085 performs during Shelterwood’s summer campout in July 2025. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Brandon Simmoneau)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“A good burn was something I never knew about, but this maintains the health of the forest,” Wood said. “I think that’s something that we can all kind of apply as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Brandon Jones, Shelterwood’s executive director, restoring the forest and holding space for queer people is about developing a sense of sanctuary. The sprawling property gives “queerness space to breathe,” Jones said. “There’s something radical about removing queerness from confinement and throwing it into the open space to frolic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To keep the magic intact, Jones is figuring out how to shift Shelterwood from relying on grants to a retreat model for events and weddings, with potential for a farm and restaurant. Jones said he’s exploring more reliable funding options, as grants and private funding become harder to acquire in the current political climate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Once you get through our gates, there is spaciousness,” Jones said. “That’s part of the magic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984064\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984064\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-8-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-8-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-8-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-8-KQED-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-8-KQED-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nick Schwanz trains a cucumber plant to grow upward at Solar Punk Farms in Guerneville on Nov. 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Planting the seeds of sustainability\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Shelterwood Collective isn’t alone in its mission of centering queerness and climate resilience. About 20 miles away from Shelterwood, Nick Schwanz and Spencer Scott run Solar Punk Farms in Guerneville. It’s a working farm, a communal home they share with at least two others and a redwood forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fed up with their jobs in health and tech in San Francisco, the couple wanted to live in a way that could make a tangible difference to the environment. At first, they dabbled in climate-related jobs. But they wanted to get their hands dirty, so they began looking for a piece of land. In 2020, they bought a 10-acre parcel in Guerneville with their savings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The queer history there was one of the big things that really drew us to the space,” Schwanz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The couple wants to help make the entire Russian River area resilient enough to weather future floods and fires. They see the Russian River’s queer history and the local climate movement as important factors in protecting the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Queer people know that we have to protect each other,” Scott said. “No one’s coming to save us, we’ve got to do it ourselves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984065\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984065\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-9-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-9-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-9-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-9-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-9-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spencer Scott picks the last apples of the harvest at Solar Punk Farms in Guerneville on Nov. 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They grow squash, tomatoes and other produce, and host environmental salons, natural wine events and climate-themed drag shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our mission is to make the sustainability movement feel irresistible, not just essential or something that we \u003cem>should\u003c/em> do, but something that you really want to do because it’s fun, sexy and interesting,” Schwanz said. [aside postid='arts_13979195']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The duo’s move to Guerneville isn’t just about harvesting vegetables and raising chickens. They want to “shift culture” by influencing local policy to better support the environment. Schwanz is the president of the Russian River Chamber of Commerce, and Scott is on the county’s Lower Russian River Municipal Advisory Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their influence is starting to have an impact. Schwanz pushed the chamber to adopt a goal of making the area a regeneration hotspot, and next year it aims to co-host a countywide festival focused on river health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The goal is to take Guerneville’s super power of getting a ton of people here and having a great time and diverting that energy towards a climate goal,” Schwanz said. “The sense is that every year is worse than the last. Our near-term goal is to feel like every year’s better than the past.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984062\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984062\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-4-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-4-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-4-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-4-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-4-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chickens roam around Solar Punk Farms in Guerneville on Nov. 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Schwanz and Scott are also friends with Alexandre from Shelterwood Collective and hope to learn from the group’s forest restoration efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re hoping to get some guidance on how to best do forest thinning, burn piles and controlled burns,” Scott said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alexandre believes the restoration work by Solar Punk Farms, albeit on a very different scale, is essential, and it’s even more vital that queer communities focused on climate remain undivided.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s my hope that these kinds of communities, collectives and sub-regional groupings of folks who are in close relationship with this place will become more and more frequent,” Alexandre said. [aside postid='science_1997477']\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A long queer history\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Gay San Franciscans began flocking to the Russian River in the 1920s and never stopped. The area served as a vacation destination, with people taking ferries, trains and cars to its redwood-lined riverbanks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They wanted to get away from the stultifying rules about how you’re supposed to live your life, and your sexuality is part of that,” said Tina Dungan, who teaches a course on Sonoma County’s LGBTQ+ history at Santa Rosa Junior College. “It’s the beauty of being in the trees.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shad Reinstein, an independent researcher in LGBTQ+ history, described the Russian River of the 1960s–’80s as the West Coast’s Fire Island. Bars, restaurants and hotels catered to the queer community. Journalists at the time called the area “the New Gay Mecca” and “a resort town that welcomes gays.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984176\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984176\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Sylvester.jpg\" alt=\"A vintage photo of a disco star performing in front of a crowd of young, gay fans.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1317\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Sylvester.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Sylvester-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Sylvester-768x506.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Sylvester-1536x1011.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sylvester performs at the The Woods Hexagon House in 1984. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Loren Henry)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She said so many gay men visited the area that she believes artists like the Weather Girls, who performed at a resort there, found an audience for their song “It’s Raining Men” among the throngs of shirtless men.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I personally believe that was performed about the river,” Reinstein speculated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though gays and lesbians came to the river for fun, Reinstein said the gay men she’s interviewed said there weren’t any historical queer communes in the Sonoma area. But she recently learned of one gay men’s retreat center, Wildwood Ranch in the Cazadero area, that was run collectively from the late 1970s. She noted many gay men also joined straight collectives. [aside postid='arts_13854644']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Russian River has gone through economic highs and lows, and weathered the height of the AIDS epidemic. These days, the LGBTQ+ scene on the river isn’t as prolific as it was when it was considered the Fire Island of the West Coast. Reinstein attributes that, in part, to positive developments including gay marriage, antiretroviral therapy and greater queer acceptance in mainstream society. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the 1970s and ’80s, both lesbians and gays were working to create a culture and a community,” Reinstein said. “That was different. I don’t think that’s happening the same way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984178\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984178\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QueerWoods-GC-11_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QueerWoods-GC-11_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QueerWoods-GC-11_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QueerWoods-GC-11_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QueerWoods-GC-11_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nick Schwanz, center, hands Freddie, 6, a bouquet of dahlias, at Solar Punk Farms in Guerneville on Nov. 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Yet with LGBTQ+ rights under attack, the Russian River remains an important safe haven, and Solar Punk Farms and Shelterwood Collective are bringing the vibrancy back. “I’m really excited that it’s there,” Reinstein added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many queer people of past generations sought the woods as a place of escape, but Shelterwood’s Alexandre takes a different view. He said he and his friends are “not escaping anything,” but nurturing the queer cultural ecosystem while tending to the land. The goal is for both to thrive for generations to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to create safety for those communities who traditionally don’t get safe spaces,” Alexandre said, “and also acknowledge that all our futures are intertwined.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>There’s a certain kind of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1997477/fishnets-and-fossil-fuels-meet-3-bay-area-climate-conscious-drag-artists\">queer magic\u003c/a> that thrives along the Russian River.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more than a century, queer people have sought refuge in rural Sonoma County, leaving the stress of city life for the peace — and parties — of the sprawling river valley and redwood forests. Artists, hippies, nude sun bathers, cruisers and even disco legends like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13854644/how-the-world-caught-up-to-sylvester\">Sylvester\u003c/a> have all flocked there over the decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, two groups, \u003ca href=\"https://www.shelterwoodcollective.org/\">Shelterwood Collective\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.solarpunkfarms.com/\">Solar Punk Farms\u003c/a>, are actively calling queer people back to the land, and not only to party. They’re creating a different type of magic: Shelterwood is restoring acres of forest through Indigenous practices like controlled burns, and Solar Punk advocates for environmental policy and farms the land — all while making space for queer community-building, joy and self-expression.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not selling this as a panacea, but as one small piece of a larger puzzle of correcting the arc of history,” said Shelterwood co-founder Nikola Alexandre. “It matters that the last gas station before coming to Shelterwood and leaving is in Guerneville, which is maybe the gayest rural town in the U.S.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984071\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984071\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-37-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-37-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-37-KQED-160x123.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-37-KQED-768x589.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-37-KQED-1536x1177.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nikola Alexandre, of Shelterwood Collective, poses for a portrait at the property in Cazadero on Nov. 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘Caring for our elders’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>About half an hour northwest of Guerneville, Shelterwood is an oasis that centers queer, trans, Black, Indigenous and disabled people. The property was once a \u003ca href=\"https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2020/04/18/looking-back-on-the-cazadero-cult-camp-hundred-years-later/\">religious cult \u003c/a>and later a Christian camp. Since 2021, Shelterwood Collective has cared for its 900 acres of forest through stream restoration, forest thinning and prescribed burns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The forested valley, surrounded by a ridge, is home to wild boars, foxes, deer, mountain lions and the occasional bear. The Kashia Band of Pomo Indians stewarded these lands for thousands of years. White settlers and the federal government forced them from their ancestral lands in the 1800s, which also eliminated their practice of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13983729/good-fire-tending-native-lands-review-oakland-museum-california\">cultural burning\u003c/a>. In the mid-19th century, loggers turned the nearby town of Cazadero into a major timber hub. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alexandre said that when Shelterwood purchased the land, it was overgrown due to poor management and needed room to breathe. With a five-year grant from Cal Fire, the group is physically thinning the forest and using prescribed fire to allow native species such as blue oak, sword fern and hummingbird sage to thrive once again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not trying to micromanage a forest, we’re caring for our elders,” Alexandre said of large trees unscathed by fire during a prescribed burn in October.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Standing on a cascading hillside meadow, with billowing smoke around him, Alexandre said actively burning the crowded forest has a two-fold purpose: tending the land \u003ci>and\u003c/i> queer hearts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The mythology that we are not part of these ecosystems, or that the only thing that happens to Black folk in the woods is negative or harmful, is one that I sought to truly push back against,” Alexandre said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984073\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984073\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-01-KQED-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1708\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-01-KQED-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-01-KQED-2000x1334.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-01-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-01-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-01-KQED-2048x1366.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Free Freddie performs during Shelterwood’s summer campout in July 2025. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Brandon Simmoneau)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Giving ‘queerness space to breathe’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Shelterwood’s work isn’t just physical, it’s communal. The five people who live on the property, along with visiting friends and organizers, host weekend gatherings centered on queer folk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around Halloween, at a party called 900 Acres and a Ghoul, dozens of queer people dressed as sexy witches, a giant slice of pizza in a jock strap and horror movie characters like Casey Becker from \u003ci>Scream\u003c/i>. The group of mostly 20- and 30-somethings danced to techno under a canopy of branches, carved pumpkins, connected in cuddle puddles and hiked in the fog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We dance with our human and non-human kin for a couple of days, and that is the joy that fuels many of us,” Alexandre said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matt Wood made the two-and-a-half-hour trek from San Francisco. The 30-year-old said every time he visits, he feels a little bit more restored.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it’s also healed my relationship with nature a lot,” Wood said. “I had to relearn what it means to hike or camp because I associated those with white, higher socioeconomic activities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wood has also learned the healing nature of prescribed fire, and sees his experience at Shelterwood as parallel to burning off the hardness of city life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984074\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984074\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-02-KQED-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1708\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-02-KQED-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-02-KQED-2000x1334.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-02-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-02-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251125_QUEERWOODS-02-KQED-2048x1366.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">DJ 80085 performs during Shelterwood’s summer campout in July 2025. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Brandon Simmoneau)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“A good burn was something I never knew about, but this maintains the health of the forest,” Wood said. “I think that’s something that we can all kind of apply as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Brandon Jones, Shelterwood’s executive director, restoring the forest and holding space for queer people is about developing a sense of sanctuary. The sprawling property gives “queerness space to breathe,” Jones said. “There’s something radical about removing queerness from confinement and throwing it into the open space to frolic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To keep the magic intact, Jones is figuring out how to shift Shelterwood from relying on grants to a retreat model for events and weddings, with potential for a farm and restaurant. Jones said he’s exploring more reliable funding options, as grants and private funding become harder to acquire in the current political climate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Once you get through our gates, there is spaciousness,” Jones said. “That’s part of the magic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984064\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984064\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-8-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-8-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-8-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-8-KQED-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-8-KQED-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nick Schwanz trains a cucumber plant to grow upward at Solar Punk Farms in Guerneville on Nov. 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Planting the seeds of sustainability\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Shelterwood Collective isn’t alone in its mission of centering queerness and climate resilience. About 20 miles away from Shelterwood, Nick Schwanz and Spencer Scott run Solar Punk Farms in Guerneville. It’s a working farm, a communal home they share with at least two others and a redwood forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fed up with their jobs in health and tech in San Francisco, the couple wanted to live in a way that could make a tangible difference to the environment. At first, they dabbled in climate-related jobs. But they wanted to get their hands dirty, so they began looking for a piece of land. In 2020, they bought a 10-acre parcel in Guerneville with their savings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The queer history there was one of the big things that really drew us to the space,” Schwanz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The couple wants to help make the entire Russian River area resilient enough to weather future floods and fires. They see the Russian River’s queer history and the local climate movement as important factors in protecting the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Queer people know that we have to protect each other,” Scott said. “No one’s coming to save us, we’ve got to do it ourselves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984065\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984065\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-9-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-9-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-9-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-9-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-9-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spencer Scott picks the last apples of the harvest at Solar Punk Farms in Guerneville on Nov. 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They grow squash, tomatoes and other produce, and host environmental salons, natural wine events and climate-themed drag shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our mission is to make the sustainability movement feel irresistible, not just essential or something that we \u003cem>should\u003c/em> do, but something that you really want to do because it’s fun, sexy and interesting,” Schwanz said. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The duo’s move to Guerneville isn’t just about harvesting vegetables and raising chickens. They want to “shift culture” by influencing local policy to better support the environment. Schwanz is the president of the Russian River Chamber of Commerce, and Scott is on the county’s Lower Russian River Municipal Advisory Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their influence is starting to have an impact. Schwanz pushed the chamber to adopt a goal of making the area a regeneration hotspot, and next year it aims to co-host a countywide festival focused on river health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The goal is to take Guerneville’s super power of getting a ton of people here and having a great time and diverting that energy towards a climate goal,” Schwanz said. “The sense is that every year is worse than the last. Our near-term goal is to feel like every year’s better than the past.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984062\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984062\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-4-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-4-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-4-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-4-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QUEERWOODS-GC-4-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chickens roam around Solar Punk Farms in Guerneville on Nov. 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Schwanz and Scott are also friends with Alexandre from Shelterwood Collective and hope to learn from the group’s forest restoration efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re hoping to get some guidance on how to best do forest thinning, burn piles and controlled burns,” Scott said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alexandre believes the restoration work by Solar Punk Farms, albeit on a very different scale, is essential, and it’s even more vital that queer communities focused on climate remain undivided.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s my hope that these kinds of communities, collectives and sub-regional groupings of folks who are in close relationship with this place will become more and more frequent,” Alexandre said. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A long queer history\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Gay San Franciscans began flocking to the Russian River in the 1920s and never stopped. The area served as a vacation destination, with people taking ferries, trains and cars to its redwood-lined riverbanks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They wanted to get away from the stultifying rules about how you’re supposed to live your life, and your sexuality is part of that,” said Tina Dungan, who teaches a course on Sonoma County’s LGBTQ+ history at Santa Rosa Junior College. “It’s the beauty of being in the trees.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shad Reinstein, an independent researcher in LGBTQ+ history, described the Russian River of the 1960s–’80s as the West Coast’s Fire Island. Bars, restaurants and hotels catered to the queer community. Journalists at the time called the area “the New Gay Mecca” and “a resort town that welcomes gays.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984176\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984176\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Sylvester.jpg\" alt=\"A vintage photo of a disco star performing in front of a crowd of young, gay fans.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1317\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Sylvester.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Sylvester-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Sylvester-768x506.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Sylvester-1536x1011.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sylvester performs at the The Woods Hexagon House in 1984. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Loren Henry)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She said so many gay men visited the area that she believes artists like the Weather Girls, who performed at a resort there, found an audience for their song “It’s Raining Men” among the throngs of shirtless men.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I personally believe that was performed about the river,” Reinstein speculated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though gays and lesbians came to the river for fun, Reinstein said the gay men she’s interviewed said there weren’t any historical queer communes in the Sonoma area. But she recently learned of one gay men’s retreat center, Wildwood Ranch in the Cazadero area, that was run collectively from the late 1970s. She noted many gay men also joined straight collectives. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Russian River has gone through economic highs and lows, and weathered the height of the AIDS epidemic. These days, the LGBTQ+ scene on the river isn’t as prolific as it was when it was considered the Fire Island of the West Coast. Reinstein attributes that, in part, to positive developments including gay marriage, antiretroviral therapy and greater queer acceptance in mainstream society. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the 1970s and ’80s, both lesbians and gays were working to create a culture and a community,” Reinstein said. “That was different. I don’t think that’s happening the same way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984178\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984178\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QueerWoods-GC-11_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QueerWoods-GC-11_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QueerWoods-GC-11_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QueerWoods-GC-11_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/20251101_QueerWoods-GC-11_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nick Schwanz, center, hands Freddie, 6, a bouquet of dahlias, at Solar Punk Farms in Guerneville on Nov. 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Yet with LGBTQ+ rights under attack, the Russian River remains an important safe haven, and Solar Punk Farms and Shelterwood Collective are bringing the vibrancy back. “I’m really excited that it’s there,” Reinstein added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many queer people of past generations sought the woods as a place of escape, but Shelterwood’s Alexandre takes a different view. He said he and his friends are “not escaping anything,” but nurturing the queer cultural ecosystem while tending to the land. The goal is for both to thrive for generations to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to create safety for those communities who traditionally don’t get safe spaces,” Alexandre said, “and also acknowledge that all our futures are intertwined.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "last-seven-days-obsidienne-obsurd-oaklash-oakland",
"title": "Obsidienne Obsurd’s Otherworldly Drag Touches Down in Oakland for One Night",
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"headTitle": "Obsidienne Obsurd’s Otherworldly Drag Touches Down in Oakland for One Night | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Imagine a high-fashion circus inside a galactic wormhole and you have a sense of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/0b.w0rld/?hl=en\">Obsidienne Obsurd\u003c/a>’s drag style. The artist is otherworldly, meticulous and unafraid to go \u003cem>all\u003c/em> the way, even when it comes to exposing their most tender vulnerabilities or risking making a fool of themself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Dec. 5, Obsidienne will bring their most ambitious work yet to the 110-year-old Calvin Simmons Theatre inside Oakland’s Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.gofevo.com/event/Oaklash2\">The Last 7 Days of Obsidienne Obsurd\u003c/a>\u003c/em>. Produced by Oaklash, it’s a one-night-only production that combines lip syncing, theater and chamber music, including a newly commissioned piece by Paul Wiancko of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/kronos-quartet\">Kronos Quartet\u003c/a>, which Obsidienne will perform on viola alongside their classical musician parents, Debra Fong and Christopher Constanza.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elaborate costuming and surrealist stagecraft come together to tell Obsidienne’s story of accepting their trans identity, their struggles with mental illness and family secrets that have been kept in silence for generations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a story of meandering, being lost, being found,” Obsidienne tells KQED during a recent interview. “Part of finding the self is reckoning with the ugly parts and turning that into something beautiful. Because you can’t take it away, you just have to accept it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984107\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984107\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/OBSIDIENNE-OBSURD-at-The-2025-Oaklash-Festival-by-Ian-Castro-Viola-scaled.jpg\" alt='A drag artist plays a viola inside a bar with neon text behind them that says \"Hella Fine.\"' width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/OBSIDIENNE-OBSURD-at-The-2025-Oaklash-Festival-by-Ian-Castro-Viola-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/OBSIDIENNE-OBSURD-at-The-2025-Oaklash-Festival-by-Ian-Castro-Viola-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/OBSIDIENNE-OBSURD-at-The-2025-Oaklash-Festival-by-Ian-Castro-Viola-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/OBSIDIENNE-OBSURD-at-The-2025-Oaklash-Festival-by-Ian-Castro-Viola-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/OBSIDIENNE-OBSURD-at-The-2025-Oaklash-Festival-by-Ian-Castro-Viola-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/OBSIDIENNE-OBSURD-at-The-2025-Oaklash-Festival-by-Ian-Castro-Viola-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Obsidienne Obsurd performs at Oaklash 2025. \u003ccite>(Ian Castro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Raised in the South Bay by a Chinese American violinist mother and Italian American cellist father, Obsidienne is a classically trained violist who performs with orchestras and ensembles across California. They first tried drag during the pandemic, when the art form went digital. Collectives like Media Meltdown were producing livestreamed shows that challenged performers to become video editors and special effects experts. Obsidienne was hooked after Media Meltdown invited them to perform in a Keanu Reeves-themed show, and soon they were driving to obscure locations with their COVID pod to film elaborate numbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everyone who was watching me was like, ‘Oh you’re weird. You’re a weirdo. We like it,’” Obsidienne says. “And that was really cool.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before long, Obsidienne honed their signature style of warped, black-and-white makeup; hand-sewn costumes that turned their body into horned and tentacled shapes; performance art-y choreo that sometimes includes hyperventilation and intense eye contact; and song selections that go far outside of the pop-diva canon. [aside postid='arts_13983871']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It flies in the face of long-held stereotypes about what drag can be. A lot of audiences “think that if you are not a cis boy, you should not be doing drag,” Obsidienne says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Obsidienne gives themself permission to embrace being different, and invites audiences to do the same. Recently in West Hollywood’s Abbey, the gay bar that inspired Chappell Roan’s smash hit “Pink Pony Club,” instead of picking something by, say, Sabrina Carpenter or Lady Gaga, Obsidienne lip synced a song by 78-year-old avant-garde musician Laurie Anderson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m going to make you see me, so there’s this sort of delusion that turns into sincerity,” Obsidienne says. “The suspension of disbelief. I try to project a very confident persona that is a projection of all the things in me that scare me about myself, basically.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984109\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984109\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Mama-Celeste-and-OBSIDIENNE-OBSURD-by-Dominic-Saveedra.png\" alt=\"A drag artist in an orange and red feathery outfit poses with another drag artist wearing black-and-white abstract designs. \" width=\"1200\" height=\"799\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Mama-Celeste-and-OBSIDIENNE-OBSURD-by-Dominic-Saveedra.png 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Mama-Celeste-and-OBSIDIENNE-OBSURD-by-Dominic-Saveedra-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Mama-Celeste-and-OBSIDIENNE-OBSURD-by-Dominic-Saveedra-768x511.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oaklash co-founder Mama Celeste with Obsidienne Obsurd. \u003ccite>(Dominic Saavedra)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Obsidienne has found a supportive home at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/oaklash\">Oaklash\u003c/a>, a drag platform that loudly and proudly champions gender diversity, accessibility and racial justice. Each May, Oaklash produces a festival with multiple stages and over 60 local and touring performers. And even after all that, co-founder Mama Celeste says \u003cem>The Last 7 Days of Obsidienne Obsurd\u003c/em> is their most challenging project yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s going to be silly and macabre and loud and colorful and bigger than you can even imagine,” she wrote in a recent email blast, inviting Oaklash fans to dress to the nines for the red carpet outside the show. [aside postid='arts_13983135']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Last 7 Days of Obsidienne Obsurd\u003c/em> features local drag luminaries like Lisa Frankenstein, co-host of the popular party Princess at Oasis; Sassi Fran, a dancer, choreographer and member of the all-Filipino drag group FiliPINX; and Obsidienne’s drag children Lola Ren and Cult Baby. Music in the show pulls from a huge variety of references, including David Bowie, contemporary composers Chen Yi and Kaija Saariaho and even the 12th-century composer, mystic and proto-feminist \u003ca href=\"https://www.bpl.org/blogs/post/hildegard-von-bingen/\">Hildegard Von Bingen\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can make noise during this performance. You can clap between movements, you don’t have to sit still like a statue,” says Obsidienne. “I think it’s really cool to be able to highlight through this project that classical music is not one thing, it is actually this whole kaleidoscope of things.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklash.com/7days\">The Last 7 Days of Obsidienne Obsurd\u003c/a>’ takes place at Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts (10 10th Street, Oakland) on Dec. 5 at 7 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Imagine a high-fashion circus inside a galactic wormhole and you have a sense of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/0b.w0rld/?hl=en\">Obsidienne Obsurd\u003c/a>’s drag style. The artist is otherworldly, meticulous and unafraid to go \u003cem>all\u003c/em> the way, even when it comes to exposing their most tender vulnerabilities or risking making a fool of themself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Dec. 5, Obsidienne will bring their most ambitious work yet to the 110-year-old Calvin Simmons Theatre inside Oakland’s Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.gofevo.com/event/Oaklash2\">The Last 7 Days of Obsidienne Obsurd\u003c/a>\u003c/em>. Produced by Oaklash, it’s a one-night-only production that combines lip syncing, theater and chamber music, including a newly commissioned piece by Paul Wiancko of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/kronos-quartet\">Kronos Quartet\u003c/a>, which Obsidienne will perform on viola alongside their classical musician parents, Debra Fong and Christopher Constanza.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elaborate costuming and surrealist stagecraft come together to tell Obsidienne’s story of accepting their trans identity, their struggles with mental illness and family secrets that have been kept in silence for generations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a story of meandering, being lost, being found,” Obsidienne tells KQED during a recent interview. “Part of finding the self is reckoning with the ugly parts and turning that into something beautiful. Because you can’t take it away, you just have to accept it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984107\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984107\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/OBSIDIENNE-OBSURD-at-The-2025-Oaklash-Festival-by-Ian-Castro-Viola-scaled.jpg\" alt='A drag artist plays a viola inside a bar with neon text behind them that says \"Hella Fine.\"' width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/OBSIDIENNE-OBSURD-at-The-2025-Oaklash-Festival-by-Ian-Castro-Viola-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/OBSIDIENNE-OBSURD-at-The-2025-Oaklash-Festival-by-Ian-Castro-Viola-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/OBSIDIENNE-OBSURD-at-The-2025-Oaklash-Festival-by-Ian-Castro-Viola-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/OBSIDIENNE-OBSURD-at-The-2025-Oaklash-Festival-by-Ian-Castro-Viola-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/OBSIDIENNE-OBSURD-at-The-2025-Oaklash-Festival-by-Ian-Castro-Viola-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/OBSIDIENNE-OBSURD-at-The-2025-Oaklash-Festival-by-Ian-Castro-Viola-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Obsidienne Obsurd performs at Oaklash 2025. \u003ccite>(Ian Castro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Raised in the South Bay by a Chinese American violinist mother and Italian American cellist father, Obsidienne is a classically trained violist who performs with orchestras and ensembles across California. They first tried drag during the pandemic, when the art form went digital. Collectives like Media Meltdown were producing livestreamed shows that challenged performers to become video editors and special effects experts. Obsidienne was hooked after Media Meltdown invited them to perform in a Keanu Reeves-themed show, and soon they were driving to obscure locations with their COVID pod to film elaborate numbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everyone who was watching me was like, ‘Oh you’re weird. You’re a weirdo. We like it,’” Obsidienne says. “And that was really cool.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before long, Obsidienne honed their signature style of warped, black-and-white makeup; hand-sewn costumes that turned their body into horned and tentacled shapes; performance art-y choreo that sometimes includes hyperventilation and intense eye contact; and song selections that go far outside of the pop-diva canon. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It flies in the face of long-held stereotypes about what drag can be. A lot of audiences “think that if you are not a cis boy, you should not be doing drag,” Obsidienne says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Obsidienne gives themself permission to embrace being different, and invites audiences to do the same. Recently in West Hollywood’s Abbey, the gay bar that inspired Chappell Roan’s smash hit “Pink Pony Club,” instead of picking something by, say, Sabrina Carpenter or Lady Gaga, Obsidienne lip synced a song by 78-year-old avant-garde musician Laurie Anderson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m going to make you see me, so there’s this sort of delusion that turns into sincerity,” Obsidienne says. “The suspension of disbelief. I try to project a very confident persona that is a projection of all the things in me that scare me about myself, basically.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13984109\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13984109\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Mama-Celeste-and-OBSIDIENNE-OBSURD-by-Dominic-Saveedra.png\" alt=\"A drag artist in an orange and red feathery outfit poses with another drag artist wearing black-and-white abstract designs. \" width=\"1200\" height=\"799\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Mama-Celeste-and-OBSIDIENNE-OBSURD-by-Dominic-Saveedra.png 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Mama-Celeste-and-OBSIDIENNE-OBSURD-by-Dominic-Saveedra-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Mama-Celeste-and-OBSIDIENNE-OBSURD-by-Dominic-Saveedra-768x511.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oaklash co-founder Mama Celeste with Obsidienne Obsurd. \u003ccite>(Dominic Saavedra)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Obsidienne has found a supportive home at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/oaklash\">Oaklash\u003c/a>, a drag platform that loudly and proudly champions gender diversity, accessibility and racial justice. Each May, Oaklash produces a festival with multiple stages and over 60 local and touring performers. And even after all that, co-founder Mama Celeste says \u003cem>The Last 7 Days of Obsidienne Obsurd\u003c/em> is their most challenging project yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s going to be silly and macabre and loud and colorful and bigger than you can even imagine,” she wrote in a recent email blast, inviting Oaklash fans to dress to the nines for the red carpet outside the show. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The Last 7 Days of Obsidienne Obsurd\u003c/em> features local drag luminaries like Lisa Frankenstein, co-host of the popular party Princess at Oasis; Sassi Fran, a dancer, choreographer and member of the all-Filipino drag group FiliPINX; and Obsidienne’s drag children Lola Ren and Cult Baby. Music in the show pulls from a huge variety of references, including David Bowie, contemporary composers Chen Yi and Kaija Saariaho and even the 12th-century composer, mystic and proto-feminist \u003ca href=\"https://www.bpl.org/blogs/post/hildegard-von-bingen/\">Hildegard Von Bingen\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can make noise during this performance. You can clap between movements, you don’t have to sit still like a statue,” says Obsidienne. “I think it’s really cool to be able to highlight through this project that classical music is not one thing, it is actually this whole kaleidoscope of things.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklash.com/7days\">The Last 7 Days of Obsidienne Obsurd\u003c/a>’ takes place at Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts (10 10th Street, Oakland) on Dec. 5 at 7 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "A New San Francisco Exhibit Celebrates Gender Rebels Across History",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983958\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1601px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983958\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Li-Kar.png\" alt=\"A coiffed and made-up gender nonconforming person sitting elegantly in a doorway, dressed in silky blouse, pants and high heels.\" width=\"1601\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Li-Kar.png 1601w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Li-Kar-160x200.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Li-Kar-768x959.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Li-Kar-1230x1536.png 1230w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1601px) 100vw, 1601px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photograph of LiKar in doorway. Photographer unknown. Li-Kar was a renowned performer and artist at Finocchio’s. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the Louise Lawrence Transgender Archive)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Oddly, one of the most revealing things in the GLBT Historical Society’s new exhibit is an overwrought denunciation of Black drag queens dating from all the way back in 1893. One Dr. Charles H. Hughes of St. Louis (clearly incensed) had his note published by a medical journal of the era.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It states, in part:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>I am credibly informed that there is, in the city of Washington, D.C., an annual convocation of negro men called the drag dance, which is an orgy of lascivious debauchery beyond pen power of description.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>(Imagine hearing the phrase “orgy of lascivious debauchery” and thinking that was a bad thing!)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Hughes’ quote is part of the introduction to \u003cem>I Live the Life I Love Because I Love the Life I Live: A Celebration of Trans People of Color, \u003c/em>a collection of photos and ephemera honoring gender nonconforming people of color from recent history. Curated by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13906221/louise-lawrence-transgender-archive-vallejo-history\">Ms. Bob Davis\u003c/a> of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13870056/the-transgender-community-builder-who-educated-doctors-including-kinsey\">Louise Lawrence\u003c/a> Transgender Archive, the exhibit includes Bay Area queer and trans folks (including legendary nightclub dancers, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13959726/vicki-starr-transgender-topless-dancer-san-francisco-lgbtq-prison-reform\">Vicki Starr\u003c/a> and Li-Kar), alongside their spiritual siblings from around the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While fairly hodgepodge by nature — there is no linear throughline or singular geographical focus — \u003cem>I Live the Life I Love\u003c/em> does successfully provide a number of fascinating starting points for future research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983960\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1286px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983960\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/king.png\" alt=\"A woman dressed in a man's suit, hair slicked back in a masculine style.\" width=\"1286\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/king.png 1286w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/king-160x249.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/king-768x1194.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/king-988x1536.png 988w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1286px) 100vw, 1286px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photograph of a gender nonconforming person, as seen in ‘I Live the Life I Love Because I Love the Life I Live: A Celebration of Trans People of Color.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the Louise Lawrence Transgender Archive)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The exhibition introduces the likes of the Takarazuka Girls, an all-female revue from Japan who performed as all genders at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11790693/magic-city-and-the-making-of-treasure-island\">1939 Golden Gate International Exposition\u003c/a>. There’s also Felicia Elizondo, a trans woman who attempted to suppress her gender identity by enlisting in the Vietnam War, only to transition in 1972 and become a vocal LGBTQ+ campaigner. The show also gives a brief overview of the charitable efforts of Brenda Lee, who turned her São Paulo house into a group home for trans women and people living with HIV and AIDS in the ’80s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taking us back further in time are Victorian dancers from a show called \u003cem>Les Joyeux Nègres\u003c/em> (\u003cem>The Merry Negroes\u003c/em>). Duos included Charles Gregory and Jack Brown, who danced the “cakewalk” wearing Civil War-era attire — Brown in a multi-tiered dress, Gregory in a colorful suit. In the same troupe, two women utilized drag as “Mr. and Mrs. Elks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rounding things out at the GLBT Historical Society is a corner of celebratory show posters that highlight local relevant events from the ’70s and ’80s — the crowning glory of which is a sequined dress that belonged to Sylvester.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A comprehensive overview of the history of trans and gender nonconforming people of color, this is not. Neither is it particularly focused on any one subculture related to the community. But if you treat \u003cem>I Live the Life I Love\u003c/em> as a mini buffet of fascinating moments from LGBTQ+ history, you’ll find a smattering of very tasty morsels.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.glbthistory.org/exhibitions\">I Live the Life I Love Because I Love the Life I Live: A Celebration of Trans People of Color\u003c/a>’ is on view through mid-February 2026, at the GLBT Historical Society Museum (4127 18th St., San Francisco).\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983958\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1601px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983958\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Li-Kar.png\" alt=\"A coiffed and made-up gender nonconforming person sitting elegantly in a doorway, dressed in silky blouse, pants and high heels.\" width=\"1601\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Li-Kar.png 1601w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Li-Kar-160x200.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Li-Kar-768x959.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Li-Kar-1230x1536.png 1230w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1601px) 100vw, 1601px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photograph of LiKar in doorway. Photographer unknown. Li-Kar was a renowned performer and artist at Finocchio’s. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the Louise Lawrence Transgender Archive)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Oddly, one of the most revealing things in the GLBT Historical Society’s new exhibit is an overwrought denunciation of Black drag queens dating from all the way back in 1893. One Dr. Charles H. Hughes of St. Louis (clearly incensed) had his note published by a medical journal of the era.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It states, in part:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>I am credibly informed that there is, in the city of Washington, D.C., an annual convocation of negro men called the drag dance, which is an orgy of lascivious debauchery beyond pen power of description.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>(Imagine hearing the phrase “orgy of lascivious debauchery” and thinking that was a bad thing!)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Hughes’ quote is part of the introduction to \u003cem>I Live the Life I Love Because I Love the Life I Live: A Celebration of Trans People of Color, \u003c/em>a collection of photos and ephemera honoring gender nonconforming people of color from recent history. Curated by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13906221/louise-lawrence-transgender-archive-vallejo-history\">Ms. Bob Davis\u003c/a> of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13870056/the-transgender-community-builder-who-educated-doctors-including-kinsey\">Louise Lawrence\u003c/a> Transgender Archive, the exhibit includes Bay Area queer and trans folks (including legendary nightclub dancers, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13959726/vicki-starr-transgender-topless-dancer-san-francisco-lgbtq-prison-reform\">Vicki Starr\u003c/a> and Li-Kar), alongside their spiritual siblings from around the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While fairly hodgepodge by nature — there is no linear throughline or singular geographical focus — \u003cem>I Live the Life I Love\u003c/em> does successfully provide a number of fascinating starting points for future research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983960\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1286px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983960\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/king.png\" alt=\"A woman dressed in a man's suit, hair slicked back in a masculine style.\" width=\"1286\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/king.png 1286w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/king-160x249.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/king-768x1194.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/king-988x1536.png 988w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1286px) 100vw, 1286px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photograph of a gender nonconforming person, as seen in ‘I Live the Life I Love Because I Love the Life I Live: A Celebration of Trans People of Color.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the Louise Lawrence Transgender Archive)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The exhibition introduces the likes of the Takarazuka Girls, an all-female revue from Japan who performed as all genders at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11790693/magic-city-and-the-making-of-treasure-island\">1939 Golden Gate International Exposition\u003c/a>. There’s also Felicia Elizondo, a trans woman who attempted to suppress her gender identity by enlisting in the Vietnam War, only to transition in 1972 and become a vocal LGBTQ+ campaigner. The show also gives a brief overview of the charitable efforts of Brenda Lee, who turned her São Paulo house into a group home for trans women and people living with HIV and AIDS in the ’80s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taking us back further in time are Victorian dancers from a show called \u003cem>Les Joyeux Nègres\u003c/em> (\u003cem>The Merry Negroes\u003c/em>). Duos included Charles Gregory and Jack Brown, who danced the “cakewalk” wearing Civil War-era attire — Brown in a multi-tiered dress, Gregory in a colorful suit. In the same troupe, two women utilized drag as “Mr. and Mrs. Elks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rounding things out at the GLBT Historical Society is a corner of celebratory show posters that highlight local relevant events from the ’70s and ’80s — the crowning glory of which is a sequined dress that belonged to Sylvester.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A comprehensive overview of the history of trans and gender nonconforming people of color, this is not. Neither is it particularly focused on any one subculture related to the community. But if you treat \u003cem>I Live the Life I Love\u003c/em> as a mini buffet of fascinating moments from LGBTQ+ history, you’ll find a smattering of very tasty morsels.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.glbthistory.org/exhibitions\">I Live the Life I Love Because I Love the Life I Live: A Celebration of Trans People of Color\u003c/a>’ is on view through mid-February 2026, at the GLBT Historical Society Museum (4127 18th St., San Francisco).\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Rikki’s Is Hosting a Lesbian Pie-Eating Contest",
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"content": "\u003cp>In the months since it opened, Rikki’s, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13977457/rikkis-first-womens-sports-bar-bay-area-open-castro-sf-valkyries\">Bay Area’s first sports bar dedicated to women’s athletics\u003c/a>, has hosted all kinds of queer-friendly, women-centric community events. Joyous \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13978009/2025-san-francisco-pride-party-guide-lgbtq-queer-events\">Pride Week\u003c/a> celebrations. Moving reunions of friends honoring a loved one who recently passed. And, of course, rollicking Golden State Valkyries watch parties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And now, just ahead of Thanksgiving, another first: On Sunday, Nov. 23, the Castro District bar will host what might be San Francisco’s first ever \u003ca href=\"https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/sf-lesbian-pie-eating-contest\">lesbian pie-eating contest\u003c/a> (yes, you read that correctly) — an epically sloppy, no-hands, no-forks battle for bragging rights and a $100 cash prize.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The event is the brainchild of \u003ci>Curve \u003c/i>magazine founder Franco Stevens, whose nonprofit \u003ca href=\"https://thecurvefoundation.org/\">Curve Foundation\u003c/a> now manages the legendary San Francisco–based lesbian magazine’s 30-plus-year archives. Reached by phone, Stevens explains that she’s always hosted a “Friday Pie Day” on the day after Thanksgiving as a way for friends and family to share all of the leftover pie they accumulate during the holiday. Often, someone would bring up the idea of having a pie-eating contest. “God, it kind of is a funny lesbian joke,” Stevens remembers thinking, “so I think I’m going to just do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To put it plainly: “Oftentimes a woman’s private areas are called ‘pies,’” Stevens explains. “So the lesbian pie eating contest is a pun on that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stevens, who lives in Oakland, says lesbian pie eating contests aren’t necessarily a long-held tradition in the LGBTQ+ community, at least that she’s aware of. But in the past couple of years, she has started seeing them pop up as tongue-in-cheek one-off events at queer bars in places like Portland and Brooklyn. One recent edition even inspired an \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQ8LAZeDC09/\">extended riff by the comedian Jenny Hagel\u003c/a> on \u003ci>Late Night With Seth Meyers\u003c/i>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lesbian pie-eating contest was held in Brooklyn last month … and it’s still happening because every contestant is taking their time and doing it right,” Hagel says in the set. “It’s like a straight pie-eating contest except the pie enjoys it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The jokes, of course, write themselves. But Stevens stresses that while the contest itself will be lighthearted and fun, it will also benefit a good cause. Her main goal is to promote next year’s Lesbian Visibility Week (April 21–26, 2026), whose festivities in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.lesbianvisibilityweekusa.com/\">U.S\u003c/a>. and Canada are all organized by the Curve Foundation. Launched in 2020, the annual event’s stated mission is to “shine a light on the experiences, perspectives and needs of LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary people.” In San Francisco, that has included a flag-raising ceremony, film screenings and events focused on celebrating local lesbian history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Funds raised from the pie-eating contest, specifically, will help pay for permitting fees to install Lesbian Visibility Week banners in the Castro District for the entire month of April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983945\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983945\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/rikkis-soccer.jpg\" alt=\"A soccer match being shown on the TVs in a crowded sports bar.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/rikkis-soccer.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/rikkis-soccer-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/rikkis-soccer-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/rikkis-soccer-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Open since June 2025, Rikki’s regularly hosts queer-friendly, women-centric events. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Rikki's)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The contest itself won’t be a free-for-all either. While Rikki’s co-owner Danielle Thoe won’t be competing herself, she says she’s been asked to be one of the judges: “I said, ‘I don’t know what that means, but sure.’” Mainly, it seems, she’ll be tasked with making sure that no one cheats — that every last inch of those pies get eaten. The “pie athletes” who pay the $5 entry fee (plus an additional $10 for the pie, though they can also opt to bring their own) will be judged on speed and thoroughness. Whoever finishes first will be declared the winner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13977457,arts_13980855']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>As Stevens puts it, “No forks. No hands. No shame. Just get your face in there, and whoever can finish the pie fastest is going to get the $100.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The competition will, in other words, require real speed-eating skills — though Stevens expects to have participants of all stripes. “We could have a couple of pie lickers out there that are just in it for the performance art,” she adds. “We’re totally fine with that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To help make the pie-munching bonanza an even bigger success, Stevens says she’s hoping a couple of local businesses might step up at the eleventh hour — either to donate (or pay for) the 20 9-inch pumpkin pies that the contestants will be eating, or to put up the money for the cash prize.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if all goes well, Stevens would like the lesbian pie eating contest to be more than a one-night stand. Instead, she hopes it will be a new San Francisco tradition that continues for years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/sf-lesbian-pie-eating-contest\">\u003ci>Lesbian Pie-Eating Contest\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> will take place at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 23, at \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.rikkisbarsf.com/\">\u003ci>Rikki’s\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (2223 Market St., San Francisco). The entry fee is $5, plus $10 for a pie (for contestants who don’t bring their own). Spectator tickets are free.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In the months since it opened, Rikki’s, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13977457/rikkis-first-womens-sports-bar-bay-area-open-castro-sf-valkyries\">Bay Area’s first sports bar dedicated to women’s athletics\u003c/a>, has hosted all kinds of queer-friendly, women-centric community events. Joyous \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13978009/2025-san-francisco-pride-party-guide-lgbtq-queer-events\">Pride Week\u003c/a> celebrations. Moving reunions of friends honoring a loved one who recently passed. And, of course, rollicking Golden State Valkyries watch parties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And now, just ahead of Thanksgiving, another first: On Sunday, Nov. 23, the Castro District bar will host what might be San Francisco’s first ever \u003ca href=\"https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/sf-lesbian-pie-eating-contest\">lesbian pie-eating contest\u003c/a> (yes, you read that correctly) — an epically sloppy, no-hands, no-forks battle for bragging rights and a $100 cash prize.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The event is the brainchild of \u003ci>Curve \u003c/i>magazine founder Franco Stevens, whose nonprofit \u003ca href=\"https://thecurvefoundation.org/\">Curve Foundation\u003c/a> now manages the legendary San Francisco–based lesbian magazine’s 30-plus-year archives. Reached by phone, Stevens explains that she’s always hosted a “Friday Pie Day” on the day after Thanksgiving as a way for friends and family to share all of the leftover pie they accumulate during the holiday. Often, someone would bring up the idea of having a pie-eating contest. “God, it kind of is a funny lesbian joke,” Stevens remembers thinking, “so I think I’m going to just do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To put it plainly: “Oftentimes a woman’s private areas are called ‘pies,’” Stevens explains. “So the lesbian pie eating contest is a pun on that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stevens, who lives in Oakland, says lesbian pie eating contests aren’t necessarily a long-held tradition in the LGBTQ+ community, at least that she’s aware of. But in the past couple of years, she has started seeing them pop up as tongue-in-cheek one-off events at queer bars in places like Portland and Brooklyn. One recent edition even inspired an \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQ8LAZeDC09/\">extended riff by the comedian Jenny Hagel\u003c/a> on \u003ci>Late Night With Seth Meyers\u003c/i>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lesbian pie-eating contest was held in Brooklyn last month … and it’s still happening because every contestant is taking their time and doing it right,” Hagel says in the set. “It’s like a straight pie-eating contest except the pie enjoys it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The jokes, of course, write themselves. But Stevens stresses that while the contest itself will be lighthearted and fun, it will also benefit a good cause. Her main goal is to promote next year’s Lesbian Visibility Week (April 21–26, 2026), whose festivities in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.lesbianvisibilityweekusa.com/\">U.S\u003c/a>. and Canada are all organized by the Curve Foundation. Launched in 2020, the annual event’s stated mission is to “shine a light on the experiences, perspectives and needs of LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary people.” In San Francisco, that has included a flag-raising ceremony, film screenings and events focused on celebrating local lesbian history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Funds raised from the pie-eating contest, specifically, will help pay for permitting fees to install Lesbian Visibility Week banners in the Castro District for the entire month of April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983945\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983945\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/rikkis-soccer.jpg\" alt=\"A soccer match being shown on the TVs in a crowded sports bar.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/rikkis-soccer.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/rikkis-soccer-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/rikkis-soccer-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/rikkis-soccer-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Open since June 2025, Rikki’s regularly hosts queer-friendly, women-centric events. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Rikki's)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The contest itself won’t be a free-for-all either. While Rikki’s co-owner Danielle Thoe won’t be competing herself, she says she’s been asked to be one of the judges: “I said, ‘I don’t know what that means, but sure.’” Mainly, it seems, she’ll be tasked with making sure that no one cheats — that every last inch of those pies get eaten. The “pie athletes” who pay the $5 entry fee (plus an additional $10 for the pie, though they can also opt to bring their own) will be judged on speed and thoroughness. Whoever finishes first will be declared the winner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>As Stevens puts it, “No forks. No hands. No shame. Just get your face in there, and whoever can finish the pie fastest is going to get the $100.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The competition will, in other words, require real speed-eating skills — though Stevens expects to have participants of all stripes. “We could have a couple of pie lickers out there that are just in it for the performance art,” she adds. “We’re totally fine with that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To help make the pie-munching bonanza an even bigger success, Stevens says she’s hoping a couple of local businesses might step up at the eleventh hour — either to donate (or pay for) the 20 9-inch pumpkin pies that the contestants will be eating, or to put up the money for the cash prize.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if all goes well, Stevens would like the lesbian pie eating contest to be more than a one-night stand. Instead, she hopes it will be a new San Francisco tradition that continues for years to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/sf-lesbian-pie-eating-contest\">\u003ci>Lesbian Pie-Eating Contest\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> will take place at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 23, at \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.rikkisbarsf.com/\">\u003ci>Rikki’s\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (2223 Market St., San Francisco). The entry fee is $5, plus $10 for a pie (for contestants who don’t bring their own). Spectator tickets are free.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>TV shows like \u003cem>Abbott Elementary\u003c/em>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13974322/hacks-season-4-review-jean-smart-hannah-einbinder-chemistry\">\u003cem>Hacks\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, \u003cem>Heartstopper\u003c/em>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13974608/the-last-of-us-season-2-review-max-pedro-pascal-bella-ramsey\">\u003cem>The Last of Us\u003c/em>\u003c/a> and \u003cem>Yellowjackets\u003c/em> helped increase the ranks of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/lgbtq\">LGBTQ+\u003c/a> characters on prime time by 4% over the previous season, according to a new study by the advocacy group GLAAD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year’s “Where We Are on TV” study, released Thursday, counted 489 LGBTQ+ characters across scripted prime-time broadcast, cable and streaming shows — up 21 additional characters. It marks a boost after two years of decline, but remains far below the 2021-2022 record high of 637 characters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13983377']Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of the group, warned that those numbers could still decrease soon: More than 200 of the LGBTQ+ characters counted this year — in shows like \u003cem>Heartstopper\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Harlem\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Elite\u003c/em> — will not be returning due to a flurry of series cancellations, endings or because they were limited series.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Storytelling brings us together and this current cultural and political climate calls on creatives and executives to double down on fair and accurate stories of LGBTQ people,” Ellis writes in the report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GLAAD added that the number of transgender characters on TV has slightly increased from last year to reach 33 — 24 trans women, seven trans men, and two nonbinary characters — but only four trans characters appear on series that have been officially renewed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report is the 20th edition of the annual tracking by GLAAD and charts a remarkable leap from just 47 LGBTQ+ characters in the first study. It arrives as President Donald Trump has targeted transgender and nonbinary people with a series of executive orders — including one declaring the existence of two unchangeable sexes — stripping government websites of “gender ideology” an reinstituting a ban on transgender service members in the military.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A recent Gallup poll found 9.3% of U.S. adults identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or something other than straight or heterosexual. The percentage has more than doubled since Gallup first measured LGBTQ+ identification in 2012.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983506\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983506\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/four-seasons.png\" alt=\"A Black man and a dark-skinned white man with a beard recline in bed together peacefully. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/four-seasons.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/four-seasons-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/four-seasons-768x512.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/four-seasons-1536x1024.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Colman Domingo and Marco Calvani in a scene from ‘The Four Seasons.’ \u003ccite>(Jon Pack/Netflix via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The GLAAD study found that representation on broadcast and cable have continually declined, while streaming programming saw an increase of LGBTQ+ characters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ABC last season had the largest percentage of network LGBTQ+ series regulars — with 12.9% — while Netflix had the most LGBTQ+ characters on streaming, with 177. It found that the eight major streamers added 45 characters from the 327 in the previous period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GLAAD noted LGBTQ+ characters in such network shows as NBC’s \u003cem>Brilliant Minds\u003c/em>, which has a gay lead, CBS dramas \u003cem>Matlock\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Watson\u003c/em>, both of which feature supporting queer women, and ensemble characters on comedies like Fox’s \u003cem>Going Dutch\u003c/em> and NBC’s \u003cem>St. Denis Medical\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13982390']On streaming, GLAAD cited Netflix’s \u003cem>The Four Seasons\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Arcane\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Kaos\u003c/em>, and Amazon’s \u003cem>Clean Slate\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Harlem\u003c/em> and \u003cem>The Wheel of Time\u003c/em>. Hulu, meanwhile, had \u003cem>Mid-Century Modern\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Big Boys\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Wreck\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study found that the percentage of characters of color slightly increased up to 51% of all LGBTQ+ characters counted, and, for the second year in a row, only one LGBTQ+ character was depicted as living with HIV — but that character, on HBO Max’s \u003cem>Cris Miró\u003c/em>, won’t be returning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In their 2019-20 study GLAAD had asked the industry to reach 20% representation of regularly seen LGBTQ+ characters on all three platforms by 2025, and to ensure that half of LGBTQ+ characters on every TV platform were people of color within the next two years. This year’s report does not include a challenge tied to a specific percentage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As this study and the TV industry have evolved, so too have our benchmarks,” GLAAD said. “There is a need for urgent action and improvement today across all platforms with this newest study finding a significant portion of the LGBTQ characters counted will not return.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>TV shows like \u003cem>Abbott Elementary\u003c/em>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13974322/hacks-season-4-review-jean-smart-hannah-einbinder-chemistry\">\u003cem>Hacks\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, \u003cem>Heartstopper\u003c/em>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13974608/the-last-of-us-season-2-review-max-pedro-pascal-bella-ramsey\">\u003cem>The Last of Us\u003c/em>\u003c/a> and \u003cem>Yellowjackets\u003c/em> helped increase the ranks of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/lgbtq\">LGBTQ+\u003c/a> characters on prime time by 4% over the previous season, according to a new study by the advocacy group GLAAD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year’s “Where We Are on TV” study, released Thursday, counted 489 LGBTQ+ characters across scripted prime-time broadcast, cable and streaming shows — up 21 additional characters. It marks a boost after two years of decline, but remains far below the 2021-2022 record high of 637 characters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of the group, warned that those numbers could still decrease soon: More than 200 of the LGBTQ+ characters counted this year — in shows like \u003cem>Heartstopper\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Harlem\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Elite\u003c/em> — will not be returning due to a flurry of series cancellations, endings or because they were limited series.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Storytelling brings us together and this current cultural and political climate calls on creatives and executives to double down on fair and accurate stories of LGBTQ people,” Ellis writes in the report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GLAAD added that the number of transgender characters on TV has slightly increased from last year to reach 33 — 24 trans women, seven trans men, and two nonbinary characters — but only four trans characters appear on series that have been officially renewed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report is the 20th edition of the annual tracking by GLAAD and charts a remarkable leap from just 47 LGBTQ+ characters in the first study. It arrives as President Donald Trump has targeted transgender and nonbinary people with a series of executive orders — including one declaring the existence of two unchangeable sexes — stripping government websites of “gender ideology” an reinstituting a ban on transgender service members in the military.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A recent Gallup poll found 9.3% of U.S. adults identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or something other than straight or heterosexual. The percentage has more than doubled since Gallup first measured LGBTQ+ identification in 2012.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13983506\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13983506\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/four-seasons.png\" alt=\"A Black man and a dark-skinned white man with a beard recline in bed together peacefully. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/four-seasons.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/four-seasons-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/four-seasons-768x512.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/four-seasons-1536x1024.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Colman Domingo and Marco Calvani in a scene from ‘The Four Seasons.’ \u003ccite>(Jon Pack/Netflix via AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The GLAAD study found that representation on broadcast and cable have continually declined, while streaming programming saw an increase of LGBTQ+ characters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ABC last season had the largest percentage of network LGBTQ+ series regulars — with 12.9% — while Netflix had the most LGBTQ+ characters on streaming, with 177. It found that the eight major streamers added 45 characters from the 327 in the previous period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GLAAD noted LGBTQ+ characters in such network shows as NBC’s \u003cem>Brilliant Minds\u003c/em>, which has a gay lead, CBS dramas \u003cem>Matlock\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Watson\u003c/em>, both of which feature supporting queer women, and ensemble characters on comedies like Fox’s \u003cem>Going Dutch\u003c/em> and NBC’s \u003cem>St. Denis Medical\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>On streaming, GLAAD cited Netflix’s \u003cem>The Four Seasons\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Arcane\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Kaos\u003c/em>, and Amazon’s \u003cem>Clean Slate\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Harlem\u003c/em> and \u003cem>The Wheel of Time\u003c/em>. Hulu, meanwhile, had \u003cem>Mid-Century Modern\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Big Boys\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Wreck\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study found that the percentage of characters of color slightly increased up to 51% of all LGBTQ+ characters counted, and, for the second year in a row, only one LGBTQ+ character was depicted as living with HIV — but that character, on HBO Max’s \u003cem>Cris Miró\u003c/em>, won’t be returning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In their 2019-20 study GLAAD had asked the industry to reach 20% representation of regularly seen LGBTQ+ characters on all three platforms by 2025, and to ensure that half of LGBTQ+ characters on every TV platform were people of color within the next two years. This year’s report does not include a challenge tied to a specific percentage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As this study and the TV industry have evolved, so too have our benchmarks,” GLAAD said. “There is a need for urgent action and improvement today across all platforms with this newest study finding a significant portion of the LGBTQ characters counted will not return.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hilary_riversh/\">Hilary Rivers\u003c/a>, a San Francisco drag artist who was \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/drag-performer-detained-ice-20399122.php\">arrested by ICE\u003c/a> during Pride month, makes her return to the stage on \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chillonas-x-sabes-que-present-caballo-blanco-against-ice-tickets-1843064287899?aff=ebdssbcategorybrowse\">Friday, Nov. 7 at Oakland’s White Horse\u003c/a> for a performance that doubles as a fundraiser as she rebuilds her life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born in El Salvador and raised in Guatemala, Rivers came to San Francisco as an asylum seeker fleeing persecution for her LGBTQ+ identity. The day after she placed second in Miss & Mr. Safe Latino, a long-running pageant presented by Instituto Familiar de la Raza, ICE agents arrested her at a routine immigration appointment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='news_12061844']In a recent \u003ca href=\"https://48hills.org/2025/10/drag-queen-snatched-by-ice-released-with-asylum-it-was-terrible/\">interview with \u003cem>El Tecolote\u003c/em> and 48 Hills\u003c/a>, Rivers recounted her harrowing three months in immigration detention at the Golden State Annex detention center in McFarland, California, where she was kept in a freezing cold cell so overcrowded that people had to take turns sitting down. She said she experienced sexual abuse while behind bars, and survived an injury that now requires surgery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivers was granted asylum and returned home to San Francisco on Sept. 20. Now, the drag community is rallying around her as she works to bounce back physically, emotionally and financially.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I learned I’d lost almost everything, housing and belongings,” she told \u003cem>El Tecolote\u003c/em> reporter Emma Lorraine Garcia. “Some documents were missing. I’m starting from zero. Physically, I still need surgery on my leg, which got worse during detention. But I’m free, and that gives me strength.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='news_12058784']At White Horse, a nearly 100-year-old queer bar in North Oakland, Rivers will take the stage at a party called \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chillonas-x-sabes-que-present-caballo-blanco-against-ice-tickets-1843064287899?aff=ebdssbcategorybrowse\">Caballo Blanco Against ICE\u003c/a>. Joining her will be drag artists \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/xochitlqueensf/\">Xochitl\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/la_toritia/#\">Tori Tia\u003c/a>, plus DJ Deft behind the decks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The show is organized by \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/chillonassf/\">Chillonas\u003c/a>, a queer Latine party in San Francisco that’s been sharing immigration resources and protest information, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sabesquecollective/#\">Sabes Que\u003c/a>, a Latine and Indigenous queer artist collective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivers also has a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-hilary-rivers-reestablish-her-life-after-ice-detention\">GoFundMe\u003c/a> to cover moving expenses, lost income and basic necessities as she recovers from surgery.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Hilary Rivers, Xochitl and Tori Tia perform as part of \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chillonas-x-sabes-que-present-caballo-blanco-against-ice-tickets-1843064287899\">Caballo Blanco Against ICE\u003c/a> on Friday, Nov. 7 at the White Horse (6551 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland). \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chillonas-x-sabes-que-present-caballo-blanco-against-ice-tickets-1843064287899\">Tickets and more information here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hilary_riversh/\">Hilary Rivers\u003c/a>, a San Francisco drag artist who was \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/drag-performer-detained-ice-20399122.php\">arrested by ICE\u003c/a> during Pride month, makes her return to the stage on \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chillonas-x-sabes-que-present-caballo-blanco-against-ice-tickets-1843064287899?aff=ebdssbcategorybrowse\">Friday, Nov. 7 at Oakland’s White Horse\u003c/a> for a performance that doubles as a fundraiser as she rebuilds her life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born in El Salvador and raised in Guatemala, Rivers came to San Francisco as an asylum seeker fleeing persecution for her LGBTQ+ identity. The day after she placed second in Miss & Mr. Safe Latino, a long-running pageant presented by Instituto Familiar de la Raza, ICE agents arrested her at a routine immigration appointment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In a recent \u003ca href=\"https://48hills.org/2025/10/drag-queen-snatched-by-ice-released-with-asylum-it-was-terrible/\">interview with \u003cem>El Tecolote\u003c/em> and 48 Hills\u003c/a>, Rivers recounted her harrowing three months in immigration detention at the Golden State Annex detention center in McFarland, California, where she was kept in a freezing cold cell so overcrowded that people had to take turns sitting down. She said she experienced sexual abuse while behind bars, and survived an injury that now requires surgery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivers was granted asylum and returned home to San Francisco on Sept. 20. Now, the drag community is rallying around her as she works to bounce back physically, emotionally and financially.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I learned I’d lost almost everything, housing and belongings,” she told \u003cem>El Tecolote\u003c/em> reporter Emma Lorraine Garcia. “Some documents were missing. I’m starting from zero. Physically, I still need surgery on my leg, which got worse during detention. But I’m free, and that gives me strength.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>At White Horse, a nearly 100-year-old queer bar in North Oakland, Rivers will take the stage at a party called \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chillonas-x-sabes-que-present-caballo-blanco-against-ice-tickets-1843064287899?aff=ebdssbcategorybrowse\">Caballo Blanco Against ICE\u003c/a>. Joining her will be drag artists \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/xochitlqueensf/\">Xochitl\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/la_toritia/#\">Tori Tia\u003c/a>, plus DJ Deft behind the decks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The show is organized by \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/chillonassf/\">Chillonas\u003c/a>, a queer Latine party in San Francisco that’s been sharing immigration resources and protest information, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sabesquecollective/#\">Sabes Que\u003c/a>, a Latine and Indigenous queer artist collective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rivers also has a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-hilary-rivers-reestablish-her-life-after-ice-detention\">GoFundMe\u003c/a> to cover moving expenses, lost income and basic necessities as she recovers from surgery.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Hilary Rivers, Xochitl and Tori Tia perform as part of \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chillonas-x-sabes-que-present-caballo-blanco-against-ice-tickets-1843064287899\">Caballo Blanco Against ICE\u003c/a> on Friday, Nov. 7 at the White Horse (6551 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland). \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chillonas-x-sabes-que-present-caballo-blanco-against-ice-tickets-1843064287899\">Tickets and more information here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"possible": {
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"radiolab": {
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"reveal": {
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"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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