These days it seems like everyone throws a holiday party full of people wearing genuinely horrid Christmas sweaters. But the best have a reason for the gaudy seasonal display, such as making it a benefit for the Trevor Project, the leading organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ youth. That’s the cause that will benefit from donations at the door this Friday, Dec. 13, at 18th & U Duplex Diner. Drag queen Goldie Grigio hosts along with special guests Tarik Pierce and Jayme Byrgy, while Miss Indiana Bones, Mia Vanderbilt, and Ariel Von Quinn will serve on the first-ever panel of drag judges who will award the wearers of the three Jankiest sweaters Duplex gift cards in the amounts of $50, $100, and $200. DJ Tanner will make everyone sweat starting at 9 p.m., following a happy hour starting at 7 p.m. hosted by Miss Adams Morgan 2019, Helen Heels. Duplex Diner is at 2004 18th St. NW. A donation of $10 gets you a complimentary Poinsettia champagne cocktail. Call 202-265-9599 or visit www.duplexdiner.com.
RED BEAR HOLIDAY BEAR BUST
Friday, Dec. 13, is also the “Night of the Thirsty Bear” at D.C.’s only LGBTQ-owned brewery, where every thirsty hirsute manimal — and all other patrons as well — can drink from a bottomless well of select craft beer and cider selections for only $30 a person. DJ Shea Van Horn will provide music, and patrons are encouraged to take “Selfies with Naughty Leather Santa.” The Bear Bust starts at 8 p.m. and runs until midnight at Red Bear Brewing, located at 209 M St. NE. Call 202-849-6130 or visit www.redbear.beer.
This Saturday, Dec. 14, starting at 8 p.m., LULAC Lambda, D.C.’s local LGBTQ Latinx organization, throws an annual party featuring performances from veteran local drag queen Sylvanna Duvél and LGBTQ-run Corazón Folklórico dance troupe, with music by Deaf DJ Nico DiMarco, who was recently profiled as part of a feature on music in local Deaf culture on WAMU. Peruvian-style chicken will be furnished by District Rico Donations at the door will go toward the LULAC Lambda Scholarship program. The party, which goes until 11 p.m., is also intended to raise HIV awareness, with free HIV testing on-site provided by Empodérate, La Clinica del Pueblo’s LGBTQ health program. The Chastleton Ballroom is at 1701 16th St. NW. Visit www.lulaclambda.org.
PITCHERS/A LEAGUE OF HER OWN HOLIDAY PARTY
On Tuesday, Dec. 17, Pitchers/ALOHO hosts its second annual holiday celebration. The party runs throughout the complex with the happiest of happy hours, with free drinks served from 7 to 8 p.m., followed by everything $3 off from 8 to 9 p.m., plus light appetizers served in the restaurant. There will be prizes for the “ugliest sweater” and the “most festive outfit” — although entries are limited to those who RSVP and list themselves as going on Facebook. Pitchers is at 2317 18th St. NW, with its sister ALOHO bar at 2319 18th St. NW. Call 202-733-2568 or visit www.pitchersdc.com.
ROUGH HOUSE
Green Lantern hosts another round of a “dance party celebrating our beats and your bodies” that goes by the tagline “Hands On, Lights Off.” DJ Lemz spins sexy beats in tag-team fashion with The Barber Streisand. The going gets rough starting at 10 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 20, at the Green Lantern, located at 1335 Green Ct. NW. Cover is $5 and includes clothes check, although those seeking to strip down to nearly nothing are asked to stick to the second floor — “please keep jockstraps upstairs.” Also: “No photography please.” Call 202-347-4533 or visit www.greenlanterndc.com.
Desiree Dik was already making one hell of an impression as a contestant on season six of The Boulet Brothers' Dragula, the horror-themed drag reality competition on Shudder, even before the incident known as ChickenGate.
Bringing their own livewire energy to the Emmy-nominated series' celebration of gore, guts, and glamour, the Falls Church, Virginia native proved a fierce competitor in a host of intense drag horror challenges.
Their "Killer Doll" drag won praise from guest judge and killer doll expert Jennifer Tilly, one of Desiree's horror movie heroes. And for their performance as a pervy pilgrim fisting a raw chicken on the show's Holiday of Horrors episode, Desiree was hailed by head judges Dracmorda and Swanthula Boulet for taking filth to outer space.
"SigMa was always hand to mouth as far as finances. And the pandemic really just killed it."
Peter Delate, a former board member of SigMa DC, the all-volunteer D.C.-based male BDSM, kink, and fetish organization, is explaining why, after a nearly 40-year run, the organization is dissolving.
There's no single cause for the organization's decline. Several factors -- lack of cash flow, sparse attendance, lack of new leadership -- all played a role.
"SigMa has always been paycheck to paycheck," Delate says. "It wasn't hugely viable as far as finance is concerned, except for a small period in the early nineties where we had a positive cash flow."
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