ZORITA was an American burlesque performer in the 1940s/50s whose act included two boa constrictors. She became very well known for pushing the limits of acceptable nudity and for her unique and controversial numbers, such as the ‘Half and Half’. She dressed one half of her body as a groom and the other as a bride, and, keeping one side to the audience, began to undress each other, leading to the ‘wedding night romp’. In another, an unseen ‘spider’ removed her clothes whilst she danced in front of a rhinestone-covered spiderweb.
Although she was queer she was however married, the first time at 15, and divorced three times. A famous quote of hers is that she stripped for men, but preferred women. Her fascinating and compelling story may not have the gravitas of many more conventional queer historical figures, but it still makes a significant contribution as to how the LGBTQ+ community would evolve
“Zorita Takes Miami” ExhibitionCurated by Julio Capó Jr.
UNTIL MAY 9thStonewall National Museum, Archives & Libraryinfo @stonewall-museum.org
Actor turned filmmaker Brian J Smith’s debut behind the camera is his love letter to Fire Island The place is evocative to so many queers around the world. The narrow ten square miles sand bar of 600 beach houses, a hundred co-ops, a beautiful beach, wooden boardwalks, no roads or cars, and a handful of commercial businesses is 49 miles off the coast of New York City in Long Island Sound. It’s played host to generations of queer New Yorkers looking for community, sex, sea, drugs, gorgeous wooden beach houses, nudity, hedonism and a dancefloor.
Smith carefully takes off his rose colored glasses to look at Fire Island’s past and to think ahead about its future. He tells us The Pines has always been a place that has been cared for by the people who live there, now going forward it must also be cared by all the visitors as well, if it is to survive Queerguru caught up with him prior to A House is Not a Disco screening at OUTshine in Miami …. the latest in its Festival run, Ris Fatah our reviewer gave it a rave review (see https://queerguru.com/queergurus-ris-… ) and we were anxious to know more about why Smith is so passionate about the place
Brent Hartinger and Michael Jensen have both got a big set of balls. On that fateful night back in 2016 when Donald Trump won the Presidency this gay married couple decided it was time to up and leave the USA. They weren’t alone as up and down the country thousands of us made the same decision : the difference being, Brent and Michael did it, whilst we sat home and whined.
So they sold up their house in Seattle (within 1 month) and since 2017 they have been globe trotters …… or as they call it ‘digital nomads‘ . Queerguru caught up with these writer/travelers when they were in Istanbul, Turkey …..which in itself concerned us but I very quickly learned this was so wrong. The charismatic couple told me that one of their major discoveries is that THE WORLD IS NOT A SCARY PLACE. Also wherever in the world they have been they have learnt how very important to every single queer community ….now matter how distant, or how religious , that they visit to show their solidarity.
Theirs is a remarkable uplifting story that we feel honored to be able to share, and if you like to know more then you can subscribe to their newsletter at https://www.brentandmichaelaregoingpl…
RILEY is a beautiful coming-of-age tale set in contemporary, suburban Southern California. Based on writer/director BENJAMIN HOWARD‘s own experiences as a high-school athlete who’s not out yet, he has been able to draw on all those angst-ridden situations we face as closeted teenagers. This is writer/director’s debut feature and he talked with Queerguru on the eve of the movie’s screening at Miami’s OUTshine Film Festival
P.S. You can check out Queerguru’s full review of RILEY ….HERE
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