Big Gay Frat House Blog

RuPaul's Drag Race at The Cafe - Part 2

In our last post, we shared some photos and videos of the top contestants of RuPaul's Drag Race performing at The Cafe in San Francisco. (There are also photos on Flickr.) Each of the girls performed twice. Here are the remaining ones.

 

Raven

Raven, season two's first runner-up, performs again at The Cafe. 

 

Alexis Mateo

Alexis Mateo, second runner-up from season three, takes to the stage a second time.

 

Manila Luzon

First runner-up from season three, performed next.

 

Raja

And the final performance of the night was season three winner Raja.

 

Curtain Call

Say goodnight to the girls!

 

 

RuPaul's Drag Race at The Cafe - Part 1

Following the finale of RuPaul's Drag Race on Logo, the winner and many of the other contestants head out on a tour of gay bars around the country. As a top tier city, San Francisco was graced with performances of the top three contestants -- winner Raja, first runner-up Manila Luzon, and second runner-up Alexis Mateo -- as well as season two runner-up Raven. And for the second year in a row, The Cafe hosted San Francisco's show.

Local drag queen Ginger Snap emceed the show after being introduced by The Cafe's resident drag hostess, Pollo Del Mar, who throws the drag show The Glamazone every Sunday night at 9:30.

 

Pre-Show

The tour and the show are sponsored by Absolut vodka, and the new Absolut San Francisco infusion premiered at the show. Here are a handful of pre-show pics. There are a lot more on Flickr.

 

Ginger Snap

Local drag queen Ginger Snap kicked off the show. I should note at this point that the sound on these videos is a little off. The best vantage I could find was upstairs in the attrium behind a window. The video quality still seems fine, but unfortunately it's easier to hear the crowd around me than it is to hear the music she's lip-synching to.

 

Raven

Next up was the first runner-up from Season 2, Raven. Of course, she performed at The Cafe the year before along with the other Season 2 finalists.

 

Alexis Mateo

Next was Alexis Mateo, second runner-up from Season 3. (By the way, she's returning to The Cafe on Saturday, August 27, 2011.)

 

Manila Luzon

Then came Manila Luzon, one of the "Heathers" and first runner-up from Season 3. (In a future post, I'll share video from another performance she did at Club 8 a few days later.)

 

Raja

And, finally, the winner of Season 3: Raja!

 

End of Round 1

That was the first round of performances. You can see the rest in part two.

Flickr Favorites #9: Fundraisers at the Big Gay Frat House

[To celebrate achieving 50,000 photos on my Flickr stream since 2006, I'm posting my top 20 favorite photographic themes. Check out Top 20 Flickr Photo Themes and 50,000 Photos for more. To see the best restricted photos on Flickr, you will need to create an account and then turn off SafeSearch in your account settings.] 

[Note: like much of my Flickr account, this post is not exactly safe for work.]

In some ways, the photos I've taken of charity fundraisers at the Big Gay Frat House are some of my absolute favorites. They may be only #9 on my list, but that's because other types of photos are so much more significant in my Flickr stream, especially in terms of fan favorites. The very first fundraiser was held on April 15, 2006, and the very last one held in the house was April 12, 2008. During those two years, we raised a net total of 30,000 for different LGBT charitable causes in our home.

Here are the different fundraisers that have given the Big Gay Frat House a name and quite a lot of traffic to my Flickr stream.

Balls Out Ball

Our very first fundraiser was the Balls Out Ball, a benefit for the SF Fog rugby team. The event came about because a friend of mine on the team took me out for drinks to get my ideas regarding how the team could raise their profile and improve their fundraising efforts. I warned them that a sports team could never compete against AIDS and social services as a cause. Instead, they needed to compete in the world of entertainment, creating an event that someone would want to go to instead of going out to the bars or the movies or the theater. One natural asset, I said, was that they were a team of athletes who already have a culture for getting naked at the drop of a hat. I suggested that they could compete against bars, who cannot show full nudity due to archaic Alcohol Beverage Control regulations, by doing a full monty strip show.

At the same time, Tim discovered that Varla Jean Merman's rates for charitable events were affordable, and he wanted a reason to have her perform in our own home.

One of the members of the Fog worked at a local Castro bar and wass able to arrange for alcohol sponsorship from their liquor distributor -- a sweet guy who ultimately sponsored alcohol for every fundraiser ever held at the BGFH. The VIP area included a top-shelf open bar and a Talisker whiskey tasting lounge. The main bar featured free well drinks. And the show, hosted by Empress Donna Sachet and Greg the Gay Sportscaster, included five bachelor date auctions, performances by Varla Jean Merman and Ethel Merman, and a choreographed full monty strip show from seven of the rugby boys who showed everything.

You can check out more photos on Flickr. Below there are slideshows of the party and the performances:

Party Slideshow

Performance Slideshow

A Midsummer Night's Dream

In August of 2006, we threw our second fundraiser, A Midsummer Night's Dream, which was a benefit for Community United Against Violence.

We negotiated a deal to bring up Chi Chi LaRue to be our celebrity emcee, but when she had a scheduling conflict, we then turned to Brent Corrigan. The event featured an open bar, a chocolate bar sponsored by the San Francisco Chocolate Factory, appetizers from Healthy Spirits, and chair massages provided by Joshua Alexander, CMT.

Brent Corrigan presided over a competition in which three candidates performed and sold raffle tickets in order to be crowned King or Queen of the Fairies. Connie Champagne and Ethel Merman also performed, accompanied by Trauma Flintstone on the keyboard. In the meantime, Julian Marshburn, Mr. SF Leather 2004, wandered through the party with a gang of fairies bribing guests to play pranks on his fairies.

In the end, Katya Smirnoff-Skyy was crowned Queen with runner-up Foxy Cotton as her King. The party was a tremendous success, raising thousands of dollars for CUAV at their typical end-of-summer budget crunch. 

You can check out photos on Flickr from batch 1 or batch 2, or see highlights in the slideshows below.

Midsummer Night's Dream slideshow, part 1:

Midsummer Night's Dream slideshow, part 2:

Girl Drink Drunks

In 2007, we partnered with Trauma Flintstone to launch a series of turnkey charity fundraisers called Girl Drink Drunk, named after a Kids in the Hall skit. We provided the basic infrastructure: the space, the staging and decorations, and the sponsors (especially for alcohol). Trauma Flintstone arranged for the entertainment, which generally included a blend of drag lipsynchers, drag live singers, a faux queens -- and, later, male strippers. And the beneficiary provided the staffing for the front door, coat check, clean-up, and, optionally, bartending. (We provided a bartender who worked for tips when the beneficiary chose not to staff that role.)

The approach made it simple for a charity to have a quick-and-easy fundraiser where, aside from finding volunteers for the evening, they didn't need to do anything to plan for the event.

Neighbor complaints and other issues ultimately forced us to abandon Girl Drink Drunk, but not before we held seven fundraisers that benefitted the SF Fog, Project Open Hand, the AIDS Housing Alliance, the SF Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band, the Stop AIDS Project, the GoalDiggers gay hockey team, and Community United Against Violence.

Check out Flickr photos from all of our Girl Drink Drunks, or a random sample below:

 

Frat House for the Holidays

In November of 2007, we partnered with Sigma Epsilon Omega, a new gay fraternity at U.C. Berkeley, to host Frat House for the Holidays.

Kevin and Tim had gone to U.C. Berkeley, where Tim had been in a straight-but-supportive fraternity. Kevin never joined a frat; a gay fraternity was being formed as he was graduating, but it collapsed after less than a year. David had been kicked out of his straight fraternity in Ohio when he came out, and then later joined a different gay fraternity at San Francisco State. So we wanted to make sure that SEO had a fighting chance to survive.

The event featured an open bar, drinking games, a dance floor, go-go boys (one who went all the way, full frontal), and a VIP lounge with top-shelf liquor and gift bags.  We never did figure out how to monetize the drinking games, but it was still a lot of fun. Five of the boys were auctioned off for charity bachelor dates, which proved to be an excellent fundraising addition.

Though most if not all of the SEO boys who participated at the fundraiser have now graduated, the fraternity continues to thrive at U.C. Berkeley in a rented house that they hope to be able to buy at some point. Maybe another fundraiser someday?

Check out more photos on Flickr.

Flop House

In April of 2008, we held the last fundraiser at the Big Gay Frat House: Flop House, a benefit for SF Boylesque. This time Boylesque provided all of the entertainment.

SF Boylesque is a mostly-male burlesque troupe in the style of the old Weimar Republic. Or, as they summarize on their Facebook page:

Burlesque meets vaudeville meets circus meets San Francisco fringe, scored with a ragtime beat.

Face painting. Stilt walkers. Jugglers. The strongest man in the world. Choreographed strip tease numbers. Pole dancing. Lap dances. Open bar. Bachelor date auctions. Unfortunately, we had to veto their request to include a fire breather.

The Flop House event was filmed by our friend Sean Chapin for inclusion in his documentary about us, My Big Gay Frat House, which was posted in its entirety (broken into three sections) on Youtube.

In addition to the slideshow below, I have more photos on Flickr, as does our friend Michael:

Another Gay Fundraiser

In June of 2008, we again partnered with Brent Corrigan to throw Another Gay Fundraiser, a play on the name of Another Gay Movie featuring Brent that was being released the same weekend. This was our first big event outside of the house.

Once again, Community United Against Violence was the beneficiary, just as they had been for the Midsummer Night's Dream fundraiser that Brent emceed at the BGFH. And Katya Smirnoff-Skyy, who was proclaimed Queen of the Fairies at the Midsummer fundraiser, came back to perform.

The LookOut, which had recently replaced the Metro City Bar, played house and provided us with Jell-O shots that Brent's boys sold. Brent also auctioned off the first of a limited edition set of prints of an illustration of him as Stan the Merman from Another Gay Movie illustrated by Ismael Alvarez. Brent designed the publicity posters himself. DJ Pornstar provided the music.

Check out more of my photos, as well as others from our friend Georg.

Support for BeBe Sweetbriar

Our friend BeBe Sweetbriar is one workaholic drag queen, hosting or making appearances at events nearly seven days a week. Sadly, all that hard work has taken its toll and poor BeBe is currently in the hospital recovering from pneumonia brought on by exhaustion.

BeBe's been a good friend to the Big Gay Frat House. She performed at our fourth Girl Drink Drunk and has attended many of our other fundraisers and events. So now we want to do everything we can to help get the word out to support her in her hour of need.

On Friday, September 10 (tonight!), the LookOut's weekly Friday party, RIPPED, will be held in honor of BeBe to help raise funds to help cover her expenses. Cards and letters can be dropped off at the door and will be delivered to BeBe over the weekend. (As the event post says, "She needs something to read and do while she's sitting there, wishing her IV was rum and coke.") Donations and all money from Jell-O shots will go to BeBe, and there will also be a 50/50 raffle to help raise money for her.

All the details:

• Where: The LookOut
• Address: 3600 16th Street at Market, San Francisco, in the Castro
• Date: Friday, September 10, 2010
• Time: 9:00 pm until 2:00 am
• Cover: $3 (free in board shorts)
• What Else: DJ Robbie Martin, freshly washed from the playa dust from Burning Man. Go-go boys in speedos. Jell-O shots, 50/50 raffle, and donations to support BeBe Sweetbriar. Cards and letters can be left at the front to be delivered to BeBe over the weekend.

We'll do our best to keep you up-to-date on how she's doing and other ways to show your support.

[Illustration of BeBe Sweetbriar provided courtesy of Zachary Enea.]

Cookie Dough for Grand Duchess of San Francisco

We don't usually get "political" here, and only once in our history have we made an endorsement (when Mercedes Munro ran for Empress). But once again I must make an exception in endorsing my friend Cookie Dough for Grand Duchess of San Francisco.

Cookie Dough is a longtime friend of the Big Gay Frat House. She's the founder of The Monster Show (where I've taken 2,290 photos!) and performed at our fifth Girl Drink Drunk fundraiser. And now she is running to be the Grand Duchess of San Francisco, the co-head of one of San Francisco's biggest fundraising organizations.

The Grand Ducal Council was founded in San Francisco in 1973 as a campier response to the legendary Imperial Court, which was founded by Jose Sarria, The Widow Norton in 1965. 

This year's voting will be held on Saturday, September 18th at two locations:

• Deco Lounge, 510 Larkin Street, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm
• Magnet, 4122 18th Street, from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm

Our friend Landa Lakes, who performed and emceed at several BGFH fundraisers, has endorsed Cookie Dough with the following (rather long) statement: 

Hi, everyone!

Don’t you love the energy surrounding a busy campaigning month? And a busy month it will be with last weekend’s gala, meet-and-greets and fundraisers, all culminating at the Ducal Coronation at the end of the month. As a former Grand Duchess, her campaign manager, friend, and admirer of all she does, I wanted to publically endorse Cookie Dough for her run for Grand Duchess of San Francisco. When I joined the Ducal Court nearly three years ago, I had no idea that I was going to enjoy it so much. What’s better than being able to help deserving organizations and having a fun time doing so? I believe that Cookie Dough has that same sense of duty to her community and a spirit of fun and camp, upon which the Ducal Court was founded.

I hope you will come out in support and vote for Cookie Dough on September 18th. I have known Cookie for a little over 5 years and I can sincerely say that I respect and love her as a person and performer. It is part of Cookie’s charm that she has always encouraged performers, often times giving them their first opportunity to perform at her show, including some of my first performances in San Francisco. As a drag queen, Cookie’s focus on being creative and entertaining and her aversion to drama, has made working with her a joy. As a member of the community, Cookie’s generosity and commitment to causes has gained me much respect for her.

Cookie Dough is always up for a good time and has long been known as one of the most colorful queens of the Castro. Her very successful run of the “Monster Show” at Harvey’s in the Castro established her not only as a host and performer, but also as a business woman. She had honed her skill from her show “Cookie…After Dark,” which she has been hosting since 2002. Her sensibility and leadership has led her to partner with Heklina, of Trannyshack fame, as a co-producer and role of Sophia in the popular drag stage version of “The Golden Girls” for the last four years.

Cookie believes that performers in the public eye have a great responsibility and an opportunity to help where the need is great. She has been the cover girl for the Desperate Divas Calendar in 2008, which raised money for the AIDS Housing Alliance. She has been part of fundraisers for the AIDS Lifecycle, AIDS Emergency Fund, the Castro Country Club, Rocket Dog Rescue, PAWS, LGBT Legal Services, Living Sober and more. Anytime someone has approached her to do a fundraiser, and if her schedule permits, she is there without hesitation. She has been vocal and outspoken on issues that effect the LGBT community and feels that more needs to be done in the areas of mental health, women’s services, as well as gay youth, homelessness, and alcohol & drug addiction.

As a 3rd generation native San Franciscan, Cookie has seen many changes in the City. From the AIDS crisis to homelessness to the fight for equality, she has witnessed and experienced a lot living in the City. This is what has shaped her and what continues to inspire her to grow as a performer and a concerned and active member of the community. She believes that if you support something, you have to whole heartedly put all your effort behind it. Being Grand Duchess of San Francisco would give her the platform to introduce fresh faces into the Ducal organization as well as put a spotlight on new organizations that need funding.

I would like to conclude by asking you to support and vote for Cookie Dough on September 18th. My drag family, the House of Glitter, and I, as well as many in the community, stand behind her 100%. If she is elected, the organization will continue to grow, make a difference and to remain true to the spirit of camp. Cookie Dough is focused, determined, hard working, drama-free, and a fabulous, fun and campy performer, all of which, I feel, are the makings of a successful Grand Duchess.

If you have any questions or would like to help out in Cookie’s campaign, check out her website: www.cookievision.com.

xoxo,

Landa Lakes
Grand Duchess 36

(We edited out Landa and Cookie's contact info, as that probably shouldn't be posted for spammers, but if you'd like more information, please leave a comment here and we'll make sure they see it.)

So on September 18th, be sure to head down to Deco Lounge between 10:00 am to 1:00 or Magnet between 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm to vote for Cookie Dough for Grand Duchess.

Flickr Favorites #13: Trannyshack

[To celebrate achieving 50,000 photos on my Flickr stream since 2006, I'm posting my top 20 favorite photographic themes. Check out Top 20 Flickr Photo Themes and 50,000 Photos for more. To see the best restricted photos on Flickr, you will need to create an account and then turn off SafeSearch in your account settings.] 

There are drag shows. And then there is Trannyshack.

My Flickr Favorites #14 highlighted our favorite drag queens and drag shows. But in a town that could very well have more drag queens per capita than any other major city in the U.S., there is one show that deserves special mention.

San Francisco has always nurtured our drag queens. In 1961, Jose Sarria became the first openly gay person to run for public office in the United States, shocking the political establishment by garnering 9,000 votes and finishing 9th in a field of 34 candidates. Three years later, he proclaimed himself The Widow Norton and went on to create the now-international Imperial Court System. Four decades and many openly-gay politicians later, another drag queen, Anna Conda (a.k.a. Glendon Hyde) is once again running for the Board.

In the meantime, the City that has nurtured female impersonators like Asia SF, traditional drag like the Imperial Court, cabaret live singers like the Martuni's crowd, and gender-fuck do-gooders like the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence has also spawned a show so different, so shocking, that it's become more than just a drag show. It's a form of performance art.

Trannyshack.

The show was founded in 1996 by San Francisco drag queen Heklina as an offshoot of the now-defunct Klubstitute as a way to revive The Stud's sagging Tuesday nights. A month later, Trannyshack had exploded onto the scene and for 12 years, Tuesdays would remain one of the Stud's busiest nights.

Each show centers around a theme, whether it's a tribute to an icon like Madonna or Bjork, a genre of music like "The 80s," or other themes like porn or fairy tales. Performances tend to tell a tale, often with a shocking or gross twist. Fake bodily fluids of every sort -- blood, urine, vomit, semen, feces -- have been tossed about. I've witnesses fake births and fake abortions, real fire and real people suspended on hooks, real women disguised as fake women, and more. At one show, a friend of mine literally passed out when Foxy Cotton, dressed as a pig, was covered in barbecue sauce and sodomized on stage by a man dressed as a farmer. Another friend never had a second chance with a first date who fled after witnessing a fake abortion on stage.

The show has been a birthplace to many performers with their annual "Star Search" competition for new talent, many of whom have gone on to become Trannyshack regulars. Some Trannyshack alumni have gone onto greater international fame, including Justin Bond (Kiki & Herb, Shortbus) and Ana Matronic (Scissor Sisters). The annual Miss Trannyshack Pageant would draw in thousands of people to the Regency Ballroom and other huge San Francisco venues. 

But in addition to pushing shock value, Trannyshack has also broken ground by promoting inclusiveness.  It's not just drag queens performing, sometimes with real boys as part of their performance's story, but also drag kings as well -- women dressed and performing as men. But more importantly, Trannyshack has always supported faux queens as well -- real women dressed as men pretending to be women. Think Victor/Victoria . 

In 2003, faux queen Fauxnique won the Miss Trannyshack Pageant, proving that Heklina was not afraid to push envelopes or make waves by allowing a biological female to win a drag competition. After all, it was a performance competition, not a gender illusion contest. And in 2005, faux king (a boy dressed up as a girl pretending to be a boy) RAndy came in third after a very convincing full-frontal reveal. 

Heklina ended Trannyshack's weekly shows at The Stud in 2008, but continued with other special out-of-town events like her annual trips to Reno and Los Angeles. About a year later, Heklina revived Trannyshack in San Francisco as a monthly event at the DNA Lounge. She now holds a monthly Trannyshack event in Portland as well.

Trannyshack wasn't the first event to blur the worlds of drag queens and club kids, but it may be the largest remaining example of it. Its legacy will be not from its willingness to be crass or gross or shocking to get a reaction but rather from its lesson of inclusiveness, where anyone has a chance to perform. Amateurs and experienced performers. Lip-synchers and live singers (and some who are more focused on dance or movement than voice). Men and women, as either women or men, whichever they choose, regardless of their biology. Fake tits, fake dicks, fake blood or vomit (we hope it's fake). Make-up, glitter, leather, lace. In the end, Trannyshack is about being an inclusive venue for self-expression.

These are just a tiny few of the photos I've taken at Trannyshack events. Check out Flickr for nearly 2,000 more Trannyshack photos.

Flickr Favorites #14: Drag Queens & Drag Shows

[To celebrate achieving 50,000 photos on my Flickr stream since 2006, I'm posting my top 20 favorite photographic themes. Check out Top 20 Flickr Photo Themes and 50,000 Photos for more. To see the best restricted photos on Flickr, you will need to create an account and then turn off SafeSearch in your account settings.] 

San Francisco is home to an amazing diversity of drag styles. It was the birthplace of the Widow Norton's Imperial Court, now an international drag fundraising phenomenon. We have gender illusionists such as the sadly missed Finochio's and the still-extant Asia SF and Donna Sachet's Sunday's a Drag at Harry Denton's Starlight Room. On the other end of the spectrum from the gender illusionists are the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, another fundraising phenomenon of drag nuns who often decline to shave. More gender-fuck than gender-illusion.

And our drag performances vary dramatically, too. Many performers in the Imperial Court are traditionalists, lip-synching standards from Judy, Barba, or Patsy. But we also have many drag performers who sing live, like the Martuni's cabaret crowd. And then there are shows that are more like performance art, where the performance often tells a story, sometimes with an unexpected twist, with the primary intent to shock the audience. Trannyshack and The Monster Show, I'm looking at you!

Of course, although I have taken many, many photos of drag queens and drag shows, photos cannot capture the music and performance the way video can. So rather than showing you event-related photos, let me introduce you to some of the queens who've been a big influence on the BGFH. It should be noted that these are just a fraction of the photos I have of these drag queens, as it is very painstaking to tag each person's name in each individual photo, or even "drag queens" for the a chunk of photos within a larger batch. Cruise through my Flickr photos for more.

Trauma Flintstone	Katya Smirnoff-Skyy
Trauma Flintstone, née Anderthal, is a longtime friend whom I've known since the late 80s before she ever performed publicly in drag. She's among our very talented drag friends who sing live, hosting the live drag show Bijou every second Sunday at Martuni's, and has been in numerous drag shows included the revival of Jungle Redthat we helped produce. At the BGFH, she performed at the Epiphany Party, did the music for the Midsummer Night's Dream fundraiser, and was the hostess and Artistic Director of our Girl Drink Drunk series of fundraisers.	It's so hard to pick a favorite photo of Katya, as there are so many -- she's probably my most photographed drag star -- and she's so damn photogenic. And sings like a nightingale. She is the Russian Opera Diva, singing her own brand of popera: pop songs sung in an operatic style. With a Russian accent. I interviewed Katya when she was first getting started (in my office at the BGFH before there was a stick of furniture!) and am so pleased to see how she's triumphed in this city where new queens emerge every week. She's performed at many of our fundraisers, and has come to many others as a boy guest.
Ethel Merman	Janet Fly
Imagine the songs Ethel Merman might have sung had she lived longer. Especially if she had discovered AC/DC and Steppenwolf. That's the shtick of our dear friend Ethel Merman, who belts out rock-and-rolls songs live, sometimes with her backup band, the Ethel Merman Experience. (You can learn about her experiences recruiting the band in the documentary 24 Hours on Craigslist, for which she is the only friend to win a Cosmique Movie Award.) Ethel has performed at many of our events, as has her drag twin, Janet Fly. She's performed at many, many of our events and fundraisers, and was our second Miss Big Gay Frat House for the Desperate Divas calendar, a fundraiser for the AIDS Housing Alliance.	Janet Fly of Acid Housewives, a longtime friend and Ethel Merman's alter, has also performed at many of our events, including the Epiphany Party and our very first Girl Drink Drunk. We've traveled to New Orleans and Palm Springs together, gotten drunk together (I love drag queens who drink!), and have become great friends. I'm very fond of her Donna Summers medley with the rest of Acid Housewives, but my very favorite song of hers is her rendition of "River Deep, Mountain High." Janet's husband, Richard, has staged-managed every single one of the events at the BGFH.
Artemis Chase	Charisma Glitterati
Tim and I first saw Artemis Chase perform in New York City, albeit under a different name and it was several years after knowing her in San Francisco before we made the connection. I first met her as a boy in San Francisco; my first exposure to her drag persona was when she arrived for a Cosmique Movie Awards party at the BGFH. I first saw her perform in San Francisco at the Monster Show, where she did her classic "99 Red Balloons" number.  At her only performance at the BGFH, she did her infamous "Whitney on Crack" number which helped her claim the title as our very first Miss Big Gay Frat House for the Desperate Divas calendar. Sadly, she has subsequently moved to Portland, giving their drag scene quite the kick in the pants!	We first met Charisma through Artemis, and though she never had a chance to perform at the BGFH, I've taken so many photos of her that I couldn't notinclude her. Charisma is like San Francisco's version of a drag Paris Hilton, appearing everywhere with her entourage and posing for the paparazzi. Well, that is if Paris Hilton gets black-out drunk in seedy bars. When Charisma's home burned down, destroying much of her drag couture, we helped sponsor her All Fired Up fundraiser for the Red Cross. She's gone on to become a Miss Gay San Francisco and was one of my favorite guest hostesses of the sadly missed Lucky Pierre at The Stud.
Donna Sachet	Landa Lakes
In a town filled with queens, Donna Sachet is a genuine Empress. Not the only empress, mind you; she was the thirtieth empress in the San Francisco Imperial Court whose current title-holder is the 45th. But she may well be the best known due to her tireless philanthropic work throughout the City. Donna was the co-emcee of our very first fundraiser, the Balls Out Ball, but my favorite performance of hers was at our third Girl Drink Drunk where she composed an original song (to the tune of "Le Jazz Hot") about the BGFH. I cannot express how touched I was, nor how frustrated I am that it was not videotaped.	Landa first performed at the BGFH at our very first Girl Drink Drunk. When Trauma Flintstone couldn't host our sixth Girl Drink Drunk, Landa was Trauma's first choice to step in to be the guest hostess. When Tim and I first met her as a boy, she was across the bar and we didn't recognize her -- but as soon as we heard her laugh, we knew instantly who it was. She was the original strip poker dealer at the lamented Lucky Pierre, a role that Artemis Chase later took over, and is a former Grand Empress of San Francisco.
Garza Peru	BeBe Sweetbriar
Garza, the cover girl of the very first Desperate Divas calendar, performed at three of our seven Girl Drink Drunk fundraisers, including the very first one (as well as the third and the seventh). She's a prodigious fundraiser and a tireless advocate for AIDS prevention, both in and out of drag. You can often see her performing and hosting fundraisers at Cafe Flore.	In addition to performing at our fourth Girl Drink Drunk, BeBe has attended and promoted many of our other fundraisers as a guest. As Miss Gay San Francisco (as well as Miss Desperate Diva, Desperate Diva Cover Girl, and Desperate Diva Ambassador, all the same year), she probably appeared at dozens of events and fundraisers a week. She's a tireless promoter now hosting a different event almost every night of the week. It's hard to know which bar she calls home because she's hosted events at so many: LookOut, Trigger, The Mix, Harvey's, Trigger, all the way down to the Triple Crown -- and even once at The Cafe, a tough venue to crack into!

If course, this is just the tip of the iceberg of the wonderful drag queens we've had the privilege to work with or see perform. Cookie Dough. Foxy Cotton. Heklina. Holy McGrail. Juanita Fajita. Juanita MORE. Mercedez Munro. Monistat. Raya Light. Pollo DelMar. Starr Monroe. Suppositori Spelling. Varla Jean Merman. And so many more drag performers.

Baby Jane?

This week I was delighted to be able to see the premiere of Billy Clift's film "Baby Jane?", a drag parody of the 1962 camp classic "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" It premiered at the Castro Theatre as part of the Frameline Film Festival, the annual LGBT film fest held every June in San Francisco. 

The original film starred Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. Billy's parody stars Matthew Martin and Katya Smirnoff-Skyy. Katya has performed at five BGFH fundraisers and also co-starred in the Rosalind Russell role of Sylvia Fowler in "Jungle Red," Artful Circle Theatre's drag musical parody of "The Women" that we helped produce in September, 2008. The cast also includes many of our other friends, including Alotta Boutte, Heklina, Mike Finn, and Mark Sargent, a.k.a. Ethel Merman.

Rather than being a literal translation of the original, "Baby Jane?" is a parody that tweaks dialog and includes new plot twists. Fans of the original will love both the similarities and the changes.

The film follows the lives of two sisters who live together in a decaying Hollywood mansion: Baby Jane Hudson, a child star whose career fizzled, now caring for her sister Blanche, whose own rising stardom was cut short after a dibilitating car accident. The film follows the sisters' mutual jealousy, Jane's increasing insanity, and Blanche's attempts to escape.

The premiere at the Castro Theatre was like a 1960s Hollywood premeire with the stars arriving in style. Curtis Jensen was able to get some amazing photos. Here are a few:

You can find more of his photos on Flickr.

We're not sure if it will get picked up for broader distribution; right now, IMDB's profile of "Baby Jane?" doesn't list any other festivals or release dates. However, rumor has it that it may be available on DVD as early as the fall of 2010.

The trailer provides a good glimpse of the film's amazing cinematography and acting:

Favorite Weekly Club Night or Party (Best of the Gay Awards)

1. Booty Call Wednesdays at QBar
2. Mary-Go-Round at LookOut
3. Boy Bar at The Cafe
4. Underwear Night at 440 Castro

In San Francisco, there's something fun going on in gay bars every night of the week. But apparently Wednesdays are the new Fridays because the top two winners for Favorite Weekly Club Night or Party were both for Wednesday night events.

First place went to Booty Call Wednesdays, an event by Juanita MORE! and one of her MOREboys, Joshua J. It originally premiered at the Bar on Castro; when the bar lost its lease and the new owners renamed it QBar, Booty Call was one of the events that stayed behind.

In addition to great music and cute go-go boys (and sometimes go-go drags), the back room gets transformed every week with a new art installation. Resident photographer Isaac has taken over from the original photographer, Brandon, to take portraits of the guests. You can often see who made it out on Wednesday by whose Facebook profile photos have changed on Friday. You can check out more photos on Flickr.

Second place went to another Wednesday night event, a drag show at the LookOut called Mary-Go-Round. Three of San Francisco's drag superstars rotate hosting duties: Cookie Dough, Pollo Del Mar, and Suppositori Spelling. Check out some of the Flickr photos.

It took Gus Presents' weekly Friday night at The Cafe, called Boy Bar, to bring me out on a weekly basis -- and back to The Cafe after a long absence. Of the almost 6,000 photos of go-go boys I've taken, the vast majority were taken at Boy Bar, and that's where I first started to become known as a snapper of nightlife photos. You can see more of my photos on Flickr for Boy Bar, which came in third place among our voters.

Fourth place went to Underwear Night at 440 Castro, which is held every Monday. Nope, no photos, sorry.

Go back to The BGFH's Best of the Gay Awards for more winners.

[Note: The Best of the Gay Awards are nominated by friends of the Big Gay Frat House. It's a completely unscientific opinion of those people on our mailing list or friends on Facebook who bothered to vote. Please leave a comment to express your own favorites ... and join our mailing list to be able to vote next year.]

Favorite Monthly Club Event (Best of the Gay Awards)

1. Wet and Wild at Club 8
2. Trannyshack at DNA Lounge
3. Cockfight at Underground SF
4. Fresh at Ruby Skyy

The winner for Favorite Monthly Club Event is also the youngest event on the list, being less than a year old: Wet and Wild, held on the third Saturday of every month at Club 8. The product of a new club promotion team known as The Boys, Wet and Wild is hosted every month by Lady TaTas with a different guest drag or trans co-hostess every month. Along with amazing video visuals and hot go-go boys, the event also always features a brief drag show around midnight along with some sort of wet and/or wild contest or show: the San Francisco winner of RentBoy's "Hookie Awards," an underwear fashion show, a bobbing for dildos contest, a wet underwear contest, and more. You can check out more restricted photos of Wet and Wild on Flickr.

Heklina's legendary drag show Trannyshack, our secon place winner, used to be held every Tuesday at The Stud. After a brief hiatus, it was reborn as a month event at the DNA Lounge. The show features some of the most shocking, controversial drag performances ever seen on stage -- truly a San Francisco institution.

Third place went to Cockfight, held on the third Saturday of every month at Underground SF in the Lower Haight. It's brought to you by Culture Whores, the people who were behind the lamented Faggot First Wednesdays. You can check out more Cockfight photos on Flickr. And fourth went to Fresh, the monthly gay dance party held once a month at Ruby Skye.

Go back to The BGFH's Best of the Gay Awards for more winners.

[Note: The Best of the Gay Awards are nominated by friends of the Big Gay Frat House. It's a completely unscientific opinion of those people on our mailing list or friends on Facebook who bothered to vote. Please leave a comment to express your own favorites ... and join our mailing list to be able to vote next year.]