One Helluva Month!

Photo by Angela Tabora

How are you? Are you, like me, a little exhausted by all of the everything that happened in June (and really didn't let up with last week's holiday)? I mean, I was just going to stuff, attending, not performing or organizing or producing anything other than a handful of kick-ass podcast episodes. Mad respect and admiration to those who were opening businesses, putting on film festivals, emceeing and performing in Black drag shows, organizing truly amazing, community-minded neighborhood outdoor film festivals, lighting the blades of historic theaters in world-renowned gay neighborhoods ... the list does literally go on and on.

I'm a cis, straight white man. I made up my mind to go in hard on this year's Pride Month for a variety of reasons. Chief among them is the continued demonization and stripping away of the rights of my LGBTQIA+ neighbors and folks around the world, including here in what's left of the USA. I chose to use this platform, this community we've been building over the last seven years, to formally and publicly and loudly proclaim Storied an ally of this marginalized segment of the human population. Not with a fight, goddammit!

Looking back on June/Pride, some of my favorite moments were at Frameline48 movies and events, North Beach Festival, and celebrating the full re-opening of the oldest known LGBTQIA+ bar in The City: The Stud. Check out our Episodes page for some of that.

An amazing thing happened over Pride weekend as we headed back to San Francisco over the Bay Bridge after a heartwarming visit with some dear friends in the Oakland Hills. I had been seeing photos of the Illuminate the Arts rainbow laser beams shining from the Ferry Building all the way up to Twin Peaks, but hadn't yet witnessed the spectacle with my own eyes. After spotting SF drag icon Peaches Christ atop Salesforce Tower, we saw them: LASERS!!! I experienced a sustained feeling of "DAMN, I LOVE THIS CITY" the rest of the ride home.

Let's continue to celebrate and uplift all the beauty and incredible people we share this space with!