Our Intern, Sarah, Reports on the Original Plumbing Issue 9 Release Party
Original Plumbing Issue 9 Release Party, Saturday March 24th, 2012
Public Assembly, Brooklyn, New York
Photos and write-up by Sarah Nakano
Unfortunately, there is only a handful of magazines and periodicals out there that focus on transgender culture and/or are written by trans men and women. But GOOD NEWS: photographer Amos Mac and rapper Rocco Kayiatos (Rocco Katastrophe) come bearing “Original Plumbing,” their glossy, informative, and beautifully designed quarterly zine focused on trans male culture. Now on their ninth issue, each issue of Original Plumbing is centered around a different aspect of FTM culture: work, school, family, hair, fashion, health + sex, the bedroom, the environment, and the latest issue: entertainment. (more…)
We Are the Youth’s New Intern Reports on the Victory Prom!
Victory Prom, Friday, March 23rd, 2012
The Center, New York, New York
Photos and write-up by Sarah Nakano
On March 23rd 2012, The New School + The LGBT Center (on 13th Street) partnered to host an event which granted me the opportunity to:
– support the end of world-wide sexual and gendered violence
– re-live the glory of my high school awkwardness
– dance // make uncoordinated, jagged movements in the corner by myself
– eat delicious cookies
– wear jeans to the prom for the second time (I wore jeans + a leather sleeveless jacket to my senior prom, judge me)
We Are the Youth’s New Intern Reports on the Miss Lez Pagaent!
Miss Lez Pageant, March 18th, 2012
The Knitting Factory, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
By Sarah Nakano
On Sunday night, I attended the Miss Lez Pageant at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. I don’t mean to be dramatic but IT WAS THE EPITOME OF PAGEANTRY EXCELLENCE and perhaps the greatest, gayest, glittery-est spectacle to have ever taken place. Ever. The event was hosted by comedian Murray Hill, who, wearing his powder blue suit, “put the ‘KING’ back in fucking funny.” After multiple dramatic introductions, Murray Hill emerged on stage and proceeded to do several laps around the spotlight. He introduced the six contestants who were to compete in the upcoming categories of platform, interview, swimsuit, evening gown, and talent (everyone’s talent ended up being stripping, in one form or another). The contestants were: Miss Que(e)ry (Bambi Galore), Miss Rebel Cupcake (Mary Wanna), Miss Choice Cunts (Rebecca Macabre) (my personal favorite), Miss Hey Queen (Brown Meshugana), Miss Dapper Q (Lea Robinson), and the crowd-pleasing Miss Wildcard (Sophia Urista)! (more…)
In Waiting
In February, half of We Are the Youth (Laurel) had the pleasure of attending the Jacob Burns Film Center screening of In Waiting, a short film created by students in the SWBOCES Incarcerated Youth Program at the Westchester County Jail.
The Jacob Burns Film Center spent six months teaching six inmates how to film and edit digital video and then helped them to produce a narrative film, an adaptation of Israel Horovitz’s play, The Indian Wants The Bronx. The result is compelling and truly inspired. The students maturity in handling issues of masculinity and sexuality and their willingness to explore these issues should be celebrated as well as commended.
Check out In Waiting, above, and let us know what you think.
The project was made possible with support from Westchester County Department of Corrections.
The Work Is Up!
You’ll have to visit The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art to see the full show, but here’s a taste of what’s in store when you do! Be sure to check out our Upcoming Events page for all Leslie-Lohman updates and hope to see you at the reception on April 13!
Leslie-Lohman Show!
We’re thrilled to announce that We Are the Youth will be showing work in the Leslie-Lohman Window Gallery from March 12 until May 12. The reception will be held on April 13, 6-8pm and all updates on the L-L show will be posted on our Upcoming Events page.
The Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation, established in 1990, morphed into the the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art in 2011. Its mission is to provide an outlet for art work that is unambiguously gay and which is frequently denied access to mainstream venues. The Foundation’s Leslie-Lohman Gallery mounts exhibitions of work in all media by gay and lesbian artists with an emphasis on subject matter that speaks directly to gay and lesbian sensibilities, including, erotic, political, romantic, and social imagery and providing special support for emerging and underrepresented artists.
Special thanks to Leslie-Lohman and curator, Julia Haas!
Print Giveaway!!
Help us reach 600 Facebook followers this week by sharing our posts or liking We Are the Youth on Facebook and you could win a free 8×10 print of Ryan, an inspiring We Are the Youth participant! Ryan is a New York-based musician, transgender activist and all around rad dude. Read his story here and help spread the word!
Teen Night, A Success!
Thanks to everyone who came, danced, performed, volunteered, helped with clean up, tabled, installed, and in general, supported We Are the Youth! MC-ed by (ever-charming) We Are the Youth participant, Kaden and with DJ AngelBoi spinning some hot jams, the Brooklyn Museum Teen Night Event was an enormous success! With 150+ teens in attendance, Archie Burnett kicked off the evening with an amazing Vogue tutorial, followed by 2 great performances by Shadow Lover and Julia Weldon.
HIDE/SEEK
As the Brooklyn Museum FREE Teen Night Event for LGBTQ Teens and Allies draws closer (this Thursday, January 12!) we’ve been fielding a lot of questions about the exhibition, HIDE/SEEK, the catalyst for the Teen Night Event. Here’s some information about the groundbreaking show to get you hyped up about attending the Teen Night Event! Hope to see you all this Thursday in the Beaux Arts Court in the Brooklyn Museum!
What is HIDE/SEEK all about?
HIDE/SEEK: Difference and Desire American Portraiture is the first major museum exhibition to focus on themes of gender and sexuality in modern American portraiture. The exhibition brings together more than one hundred works in a wide range of media, including paintings, photographs, works on paper, film, and installation art. Featuring work by artists such as George Bellows, Marsden Hartley, Georgia O’Keeffe, Jasper Johns, and Andy Warhol, HIDE/SEEK charts the under documented role that sexual identity has played in the making of modern art, and highlights the contributions of gay and lesbian artists to American art. (Brooklyn Museum)
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Are. You. Coming?!
2012 is practically here. The end of the world is upon us. Have you checked out our Upcoming Events Page!? If you haven’t, you probably should, like right now. Really, stop reading this post, move your pretty little eyes over to the right hand side of the screen and click on Brooklyn Museum FREE Teen Night Event January 12, 2012 (you owe it to yourself, this could be your last year on Earth). There you will find exciting updates about, you guessed it, the Brooklyn Museum Free Teen Night Event on January 12, 2012! Installation artist Erika Sabel as well as Brooklyn-based design studio Hot-Sundae have been added to the roster! This means cool things will be happening at the Teen Night Event and cool people will be attending (like you!).
If you have a short attention span, you hate reading or you’re really just too lazy to move your pretty little eyes to the right hand side of the screen and click on our Upcoming Events, just remember this: BROOKLYN MUSEUM. JANUARY 12. All the cool kids are doing it.
Exciting News For 2012!
We are thrilled to officially announce our partnership with the Brooklyn Museum in presenting a Teen Night Event in conjunction with the HIDE/SEEK exhibit currently on display! The event will be FREE to all LGBTQ Teens & Allies and will include a rad DJ (to be announced), a photo booth (presented by yours truly), voguing lessons, refreshments, gallery activities and much more! We’ll be posting all updates here as the event draws closer, but in the mean time, GET EXCITED, TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND GO WORK ON YOUR DANCE MOVES.
Thanks to Steph Peller for her (as always) great designs!
Introducing a New Blog Feature!
We Are the Youth is starting a book club! To celebrate the inaugural book “The Vast Fields of Ordinary,” we’ll be interviewing author Nick Burd, and giving away three copies of the Stonewall Book Award winner. Enter the raffle to win a free copy of “The Vast Fields of Ordinary” by tweeting at @wertheyouth with the hash tag #ilovefreebooks or by liking us on Facebook and leaving a comment on our wall by Friday, November 25. We’ll announce the winner the following Monday.
