Brooklyn’s own performance festival! Prepare to Rant, Vent, eat, drink, learn and think. September 24 & 25th at the Gowanus Studio Space. For more information, please visit: http://www.ventfestival.com/

VENT 2011 Press Release

Please celebrate with us!

Opening Reception
6:30 – 9:30pm on Saturday, August 6th, 2011
The Leslie/Lohman Gay Art Foundation (26 Wooster Street, New York, NY)
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=178656272199648

See more than twenty exhibits designed by more than forty artists, academics, and activists, on subjects ranging from wimmin’s separatist land, to Argentina’s same-sex marriage debate, to late 1800s responses to transgender identity. The show will be open Tuesdays – Saturday, 12-6pm. For more information on the exhibits and events, please visit www.queermuseum.org.

And after the reception, please come to our “gay cave rave” after party, hosted by the fabulous downtown queer party, Judy!

GAY CAVE RAVE: Judy at “the Hose”
Saturday August 6th 10-4
225 Avenue B – 2nd floor (btwn 13th/14th)
Free B4 11, $5 after

Pop-Up Soho is co-sponsored by the Center for Lesbian And Gay Studies at CUNY University, and has financial sponsorship through MIX NYC. It could not have been made possible without the time, money, and creativity of dozens of generous individuals. Please join us in celebrating all their hard work.

Exhibit Makers: Heather Acs, Ivette Ale, Elvis Bakaitis, Stephen Barker, Al Benkin, Jason Bishop, Campbell X, Sarah Jenny Bleviss, Samantha Box and Alexis Handwerker/The Hear Me ROAR! Project, Anna Campbell, Danny Coeyman, Davina Cohen, Vaginal Davis, Rodney Evans, Daniel Farr, Ariel “Speedwagon” Federow, Brian Ferrari, Avram Finkelstein, Dan Fishback, Robert Giard,Crystal Gonzalez, Lauren Gutterman, Tobi Haberstroh, Jesse Harold, Morgan Hart, Kate Huh, I’m From Driftwood, Jonathan Ned Katz, Lauren Lehman, daniel lang/levitsky, Lesbian Herstory Archives, Kestryl Lowrey, Rachel Mattson, Tim McMath, Jeremy “Dingles” Mikush, Christopher Mitchell, Paul Moreno, Henry Narvaez, Emily North, Tavia Nyong’o, Old Lesbians Organizing for Change, Marissa Paternoster, Mariette Pathy-Allen, Daniel Pillis, Tara Polansky, Sunita Prasad, Kate Redburn, LJ Roberts, Eric-Michael Rodriguez, Daniel Sander, Carmine Santaniello, Nogga Schwartz, Sarah G. Sharp, Michelle Temple, Bernadette Torres, Boris Torres, Daniel Vilchis, Hugo Vilchis, Luis Vilchis, Lydia Warren, Sasha Wortzel

Join us for the Second Annual Sex Worker Cabaret on Sunday, June 12, 2011!

Sex workers take the stage to tell their diverse stories through performance, narrative, puppetry, burlesque, comedy and more. This event starts with a curated selection of video works about sex work around the globe, and then features an all-star lineup of eleven performers.

Producers Sarah Jenny and Damien Luxe are proud to present this Sunday evening cabaret showcasing some of the most vibrant creative talent in the sex worker community. The cabaret is in homage to Annie Oakley’s Sex Workers Art Show (1997-2009) and takes place during LGBTQ Pride month, a time to reflect on the importance of community. Come listen to tales of self-determination, and bear witness to survival and celebration as sex workers eloquently — and at times raunchily — speak their truths.

With MCs Sarah Jenny and Damien Luxe and DJ Sirlinda!

WHEN: Sunday, June 12, 2011
TIME: DOORS @ 7:30PM, VIDEOS @ 8PM SHOW @ 8:30PM
TICKETS: $12 in adv. or $15 at the door (Click here to purchase tickets online.)
WHERE: Public Assembly, 70 N. 6th St., Brooklyn, NY

For more information, please visit www.sexworkercabaret.com

Free and open to the public!

Columbia University School of Social Work

Feminist Caucus | Queer Caucus | Men’s Caucus

in collaboration with
PROS Network (Providers & Resources Offering Services to Sex Workers) presents…

BEST CLINICAL PRACTICES & POLICIES WORKING WITH SEX WORKER POPULATIONS
Facebook Invite: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=163814787003388

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2011
8:00 – 9:30PM
1255 Amsterdam Ave, Room C03

Learn about the “No Condoms as Evidence” Bill, How to be Competent and Sensitive Providers to a Population on the Margins, Harm Reduction Strategies for Effective Engagement

*This event is being held in recognition of March 3rd: International Sex Worker Rights Day!

CUSSW FACULTY MODERATOR: Marion Riedel, Associate Professor at CUSSW

Guest Speakers:
- Johannah Westmacott, Coordinator for Trafficked Minors, Safe Horizon Streetwork Project
- Stephen Crowe, Managing Director of Holistic Community Healthcare Services, Harlem United Community AIDS Center
- Andriana Ongoiba, Counselor/Advocate, Sex Workers Project

Refreshments provided. This event will be videotaped and recorded.

For more info, email prosnetworknyc@gmail.com or visit www.prosnetworknyc.org

When: Tuesday, March 1, 2011 at 7pm-9pm

Where: Judson Memorial Church *side entrance* – 243 Thompson St, downstairs. New York, NY

Closest Subways: B/D/F/V/A/C/E to Washington Square Park and the N/R to 8th Street-NYU.

SWOP-NYC and SWANK invite all current/former sex workers and our allies/friends/families of all ages to join us for the third annual community potluck to celebrate the International Day for Sex Workers’ Rights. Celebrate the struggle and accomplishments in the arena of sex workers rights by coming together to eat, drink, and participate in various creative activities (including poster-making and poetry-writing) to commemorate this important day. You can also participate in the Sex Worker Zine Project at the event!

Cost: FREE. Please bring food or drink to share to share, if you are able.

This year’s Sex Worker Cabaret will include video work much like 2009′s Pay As You Go: An Evening of Sex Worker Short Films (produced by Audacia Ray& Sarah Jenny). Last year’s event was a huge success and plans are in the works for the second annual Sex Worker Cabaret, to be held in June 2011 in New York City.

About the Cabaret:

Sex workers take the stage to tell their diverse stories through burlesque, comedy, narrative, contortion, aerial performance, and more. Producers Sarah Jenny and Damien Luxe are proud to present an evening cabaret showcasing some of the most vibrant creative talent in the sex worker community. The cabaret is in homage to Annie Oakley’s Sex Workers Art Show (1997-2009) and will take place during LGBTQ Pride month, a time to reflect on the importance of community. Come bare witness as sex workers eloquently, and at times raunchily, speak their truths.

Join us for a vigil and community speak out

When: Friday, December 17, 2010 at 7:30PM – 9:30PM

Where: Metropolitan Community Church of New York, Sanctuary (2nd floor), 446 West 36th Street, New York, NY 10018 btw 9th & 10th Aves. < http://bit.ly/dUenDt >

Who: Current & former sex workers, our allies, friends, families, and communities. This event is free and open to the public.

Join us in observing the 7th annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.

Join us in remembering those we’ve lost to violence, oppression and hate, whether perpetrated by clients, partners, police or the state.

We stand against the cycle of violence experienced by sex workers around the world. Recently in Geneva, the United Nations Human Rights Council reviewed the human rights record of the United States during their Universal Periodic Review. Uruguay’s recommendation to the Obama Administration – to address “the special vulnerability of sexual workers to violence and human rights abuses” – is the moral leadership we have been waiting for!

Join us in solidarity to fight the criminalization, oppression, assault, rape and murder of sex workers – and of folks perceived as sex workers.

December 17, 2003 was our first annual day to honor the sex workers who were murdered by serial killer Gary Ridgway. In Ridgway’s own words, “I also picked prostitutes as victims because they were easy to pick up without being noticed. I knew they would not be reported missing right away and might never be reported missing. I picked prostitutes because I thought I could kill as many of them as I wanted without getting caught.” (BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3245301.stm)

We come together each year to show the world that the lives of marginalized people, including those of sex workers, are valuable.

• Speakers:
  • Audacia Ray, Red Umbrella Project & Sex Work Awareness
  • Chelsea Johnson-Long, Safe OUTside the System Collective of the Audre Lorde Project
  • Michael J. Miller, The Counterpublic Collective and PROS Network
  • Andrea Ritchie, Peter Cicchino Youth Project and Streetwise & Safe (SAS)
• Readings
  • Reading of the names of sex workers we have lost this past year
  • Memorial for Catherine Lique by her daughter Stephanie Thompson and read by Sarah Jenny Bleviss
  • Speak out: Bring poetry, writings or just speak your truth.

Light snacks, beverages, and metrocards will be provided.

The red umbrella has become an important symbol for Sex Workers’ Rights and is increasingly used on December 17: “First adopted by Venetian sex workers for an anti-violence march in 2002, red umbrellas have come to symbolize resistance against discrimination for sex workers worldwide.”

This event is co-sponsored by: Audre Lorde Project, Counterpublic Collective, FIERCE, MADRE, Peter Cicchino Youth Project, The Queer Commons,  PONY (Prostitutes of New York), PROS Network, Red Umbrella Project, SAFER, Sex Work Awareness, Sex Workers Project, SWANK (Sex Workers Action New yorK), SWOP-NYC (Sex Workers Outreach Project), the Space at Tompkins, and Third Wave Foundation.

Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=110788105658599

For events outside of New York, visit: http://www.swop-usa.org/dec17

Presenters:

Sarah Jenny Bleviss, new media artist, social justice advocate, former blogger, and web developer for $pread Magazine
Axon Damien Luxe, DIY media-maker, electro performer, art director, and event curator, aka Hadassah Hill

The goal of this presentation is to relay vital, how-to new media strategies for people with limited to moderate internet experience and no to moderate capital. We will cover specifics on how to use the web to establish an internet presence for an existing cause or how to create a project founded in new media, using web 1.0 HTML page building skills, and web 2.0 capabilities such as broadcasting and social networking to foster community and action. We will focus on utilizing shareware and freeware to ensure that access to programs is as economically obstacle-free as possible. All participants will leave the presentation with a knowledge bank and insight into how to utilize this medium to increase their visibility, as well as hands-on skills and online resources.