Tag: San Francisco

all photos by GoochIf you haven’t heard of Up Your Alley, the naughtiest event of the year in San Francisco, you might not want to keep reading this. Or is your interest piqued? Up Your Alley, or sometimes simply referred to as Dore Alley in reference to its location, is a leather and fetish event held on the last Sunday of July every year. The concept seems to be the same as any street festival: streets are lined with vendor...

There are pride parties, and then there are pride parties. And drag queen Juanita MORE!’s annual bash is clearly in the latter category. Since a big chunk of the change goes to charity, this year’s haul amounted to a whopping $133,000, which is earmarked to the GLBTQ Historical Society. “It is with great hope that this funding brings us closer to securing a permanent home where the GLBT Historical Society can display our fabulous history,” Juanita told GayCities. “We’ve set this...

Great “pride outfits” keep popping up all over social media. Part II of our series features more free people from around the world, in different cities and interpeting the rainbow pride theme in unique ways. These two lads (above) were at The Manila Pride March in Manila, The Philippines (above), the longest-running pride event in southeast Asia. Take a look at some of the outfits that people wore to prides, and don’t forget to check back at GayCities for the final...

Google employees were told that they can’t protest Google’s policies if they march with the company in a Pride parade. An internal memo was obtained by The Verge that said that Google employees who planned to march with the company in the upcoming San Francisco Pride parade would be punished if they wore clothing that protested the company or otherwise made a statement against Google or its policies. The company has come under scrutiny this past month for its harassment and...

The world’s first out chorus and one of the largest musical groups in the world. The San Francisco version of the chorus is credited with starting the choral movement. Today, there are more than 240 in the United States alone. They’ve also continually advocated for equality while giving marginalized queer people a way to heal and find acceptance through friendship and music. While many choruses throughout history had gay members, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus was the...

Liam Ocean remembers the day he fell in love with San Francisco. After a job interview five years ago, the Seattle-native rode a rented bike across the city, from the Bay Bridge to Golden Gate Park. “The park was closed to cars, and I joined the mobs of people enjoying the sun and the outdoors,” Liam recalls in an interview with GayCities. “I was amazed to find so many different types of people enjoying such large green spaces. At...

Pride season is in full bloom, with rainbows appearing on walls and crosswalks and even the parking lot behind the Lululemon in West Hollywood (photo above). And we have not even gotten to the socks, t-shirt and underwear yet. To celebrate Stonewall 50 around the world, we’ve collected some favorite rainbow-themed selfie spots, perfect for popping a pic and letting the world know how you are celebrating your pride. Birmingham Artists with the organization Color Bham, in Birmingham, Ala., brought a big...

Beloved queer crooner Spencer Day is a busy guy, no more so than during pride month when he’ll performing in clubs from LA to SF to NYC. “My birthday happens to fall on the Stonewall anniversary, which is fun,” he told GayCities in early June. Catch him in San Francisco at Feinstein’s at the Nikko June 14-15. And then he’ll perform at Rockwell Table & Stage Sunday night June 16. The shows will include material from his recent album “Angel City” and a...

The Trump administration announced that it would immediately shut down an HIV research contract with a university and the move was hailed by an anti-LGBTQ hate group. In a statement, the Department of Health and Human Services said that it would be reviewing research contracts with the National Institute of Health (NIH) that use aborted fetus tissue. “Promoting the dignity of human life from conception to natural death is one of the very top priorities of President Trump’s administration,” the statement...

Gus Kenworthy & pupPride season is upon us, and not just any pride season. It’s the 50th anniversary of the very first parade, which took place in New York City in 1969, making it time to get out on the road to any of the hundreds of celebrations from Houston to Chicago, San Francisco to Portland, Oregon. Rather than leave your furry friend behind, why not bring him along this year? After all, studies show that dogs not only are...

But what happens next is hilarious A bisexual guy shared the story of how his gay landlord ended up mistakenly sucking his Grindr hookup’s dick. 26-year-old Joe from San Francisco took to Reddit to explain the ‘wildest night’ of his life. ‘I scheduled to meet with a dude I met on Grindr over the weekend and we had only shared one pic,’ Joe wrote in a now viral post. ‘I guess over the weekend, he catches amnesia or something and completely forgets...

The San Francisco Police Department is once again being accused of homophobia and harassment. In a lawsuit filed last Thursday, 28-year-old officer Brendan Mannix accuses members of the San Francisco Police Department of sexual harassment, sexual discrimination based on his sexual orientation, and retaliating against a whistle-blower. Mannix says he was subjected to homophobic remarks by colleagues about his sexual orientation, including calling him a “queen” and “too dramatic” and making disparaging comments about his masculinity. When Mannix tried reporting the behavior,...

Provincetown has long been a queer hotspot, serving as host to LGBTQ community members for decades, but one thing it hasn’t had is an official pride event. This changes in 2018 with the town’s first pride event from the 1st to 3rd of June. Presented by the Provincetown Business Guild, which brands itself as “one of the largest and oldest LGBTQ tourism marketing organizations in the country,” the event will center on Provincetown’s long history as an LGBTQ destination. “As a...

His appointment comes at a time of intense scrutiny around policing methods and policies, both in the city and nationwide For the first time in its more than 70 year history, the San Francisco police union will be lead by an openly gay person. Sergeant Tony Montoya, who has been a cop in the city for 24 years, is taking over the reigns of the San Francisco Police Officers Association (SFPOA) from former president Martin Halloran, who began his term in...