There are so many reasons I love Curve magazine, and not just because I have an article in their latest issue! I love that Curve is going the distance for bisexual women, telling it like it is about our lives, and acknowledging that we do have a place at the lesbian table — and vice versa. There’s a reason why Curve is the best-selling lesbian magazine out there.

Check out their latest publication, the July/Aug issue. My article is all about what lesbians need to know about bisexual women’s health. Some of it is pretty intense stuff, but all very important. Here’s an excerpt from the piece. We need community dialogue on this topic. I was glad to have a chance to throw my hat in the ring. What are your thoughts?

And, if you’re excited that Curve is providing a bi perspective, let them know about. Say, “Yay for Curve!” Let them know that bisexuals read — and love — Curve, and that you appreciate seeing bi, and bi-friendly, content in their pages. Email Curve at letters@curvemag.com.

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I got to meet the producer and one of the directors of Bi The Way this weekend! Josephine and Martha were so much fun to hang out with. If you haven’t seen their film, it’s coming to a theatre near you — check it out.

I’m so proud to say that Bisexual Wednesday was a huge success and a ton of fun! Thanks to my friend Allegra for making it happen and for dreaming up the BiBQ that we held in Dolores Park. If you couldn’t join us, but you live in San Francisco we may do it again next year. Or, if you live somewhere else, throw a BiBQ of your own! Just tell all your bi friends and allies to come and have a barbeque with you, to celebrate bi pride! You’ll be glad you did…

We also had a wonderful time at Bi Request, the film program I curate at the San Francisco LGBT film festival! There was a packed house — even though it was late on a Wednesday night. I think people came for the porn! I showed, among other things, a short porn film titled The Bi Apple, directed by Audacia Ray. To say it went over well would be an understatement.

Here are some photos from a couple of recent events: http://www.flickr.com/photos/amyandre/.

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Getting It On With Bonnie is a podcast of the National Sexuality Resource Center, which is affliated with San Francisco State University’s department of Sexuality Studies (where I got my master’s degree). Recently, Bonnie interviewed me about Bi Request for her podcast, and it’s now up and on the website!

Click here to check it out:
http://www.nsrc.sfsu.edu/MagWebpage.cfm?SID=E396B403AE45F2619106D909BC164CED&DSN=nsrc_dsn&Page=175

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Come celebrate Bisexual Wednesday! June 25th will be the bi-est day of the year. Join us for the following bi-fabulous events:

6 p.m. BiBQ in Dolores Park, by the picnic tables at the playground. All hungry bisexuals and friends are welcome, whether you’ve got a hot dog, or a bun – or both or neither! Bring some food or drink to share.

9 p.m. Bisexuals on Parade. Full from the BiBQ? Time to walk it off, with a sparkly Bi Pride parade to the Roxie Theatre for the next event…

9:30 p.m. Bi Request at the Roxie Theatre. Watch bisexual porn and other bi films, at this annual SF International LGBT Film Festival show!

11 p.m. Bi Request After-Party, sponsored by the Lexington Club*! What’s better than watching bisexual porn? Partying with hotties at the bar afterwards, while enjoying bi-tastic drink specials.

*major thank you to the Lexington, San Francisco’s favorite dyke bar, for contacting me and asking if they could sponsor the after-party! How cool is the Lex?! Yay for lesbians!

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I’m so excited to announce: Bi Request, the bi-themed film program that I volunteer to curate for Frameline’s International LGBT Film Festival, is back this year – and it’s better than ever!

Here are the details:
Date: Wednesday 6/25/08
Time: 9:30 p.m.
Location: Roxie Theatre, on 16th at Valencia, San Francisco
After-party: Lexington Club, on Lexington (between Valencia and Mission) and 19th, San Francisco
Tickets and program info: http://www.frameline.org/festival/film/detail.aspx?id=1537&FID=42

There were tons of great short films to select from this year, all of which are either made by bisexual filmmakers or feature bi characters, or both. Frameline staff and I picked the best of the best, and I can’t wait for you to see what we found.

First of all, there is sizzling hot bisexual porn, in the form of a film titled The Bi Apple. It’s directed by the multi-talented Audacia Ray, who is, among many other things, a writer for the Village Voice and editor of $pread magazine. The gorgeous star of the film plays a journalist interviewing – and interacting with – a multi-racial cast of bisexual characters who all live in a very sexy and very unusual apartment building in New York. In addition to sexed-up bi housemates, I’ll also be showing films about Frida Kahlo, Ukrainian immigrants, Swiss teenagers, and more. Each one is so beautifully shot, with sharp acting and very moving compositions. I’m really looking forward to seeing you at the theatre and sharing this selection with you.

But, wait, there’s more! The fabulous Lexington Club has offered to sponsor the after-party! And, I’m telling you, after watching bisexual hotties get it on onscreen, you’re going to want to head to the party. They’ll have drink specials, champagne, and more. (Don’t worry: if you’re a non-drinker like me, they also have non-alcoholic stuff.)

So, mark your calendar, and get ready for a tasty evening… Bring your friends, and let’s really fill the theatre. This is the second year of the Bi Request program, and last year we had a packed house. I’d love to have that again this year, to show that bi programming at Frameline is important and appreciated. Frameline is one of the most highly regarded LGBT film festivals in the world, and films that get shown here often then get selected for other festivals. The success of a bisexual film here will set the stage for bisexual films getting shown internationally. By supporting this event, you can impact the experiences of bisexual people around the world – by being a part of us getting to see ourselves, our stories, and our lives on the big screen. For history on how the Bi Request program got started, click here: http://amyandre.com/journal/2007/12/great-news-bi-request-is-happening-again-in-2008/. Be part of it again this year!

Posted in Bisexuals/ Bi Activism, Film, Arts, & Entertainment, LGBT, Pleasure, Sex Workers' Rights | No Comments »

Check out this fabulousness! My film, On My Skin/ En Mi Piel, is showing here: http://www.mixedrootsfilmandliteraryfestival.org/. It’s a festival celebrating mixed-race heritage. If you’re in LA the week of June 12th, you should go!

In other news, a new friend sent me this info, which I wanted to share with you. Native American LGBT and Two Spirit orgs are severely under-funded. Read on for details and click on the link to learn more:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/a-campaign-for-native-glbt-funding-justice
A Campaign for Native GLBT Funding Justice
Target: Organized GLBT Philanthropy
Sponsored by: Two Spirit Press Room
Two recent national philanthropy reports have released information indicating that Gay Funders contributed $37 million in one year to GLBT organizations across the United States. Native American Two Spirit People, the poorest of all the GLBT communities, received only 4 small grants of about $2,500 each. The average grant to gay organizations nationally is $16,000 a year. Gay funders have a mission to serve all equally, but it’s time for a summit with the Two Spirit People here in our ancestral domains to help the funders achieve their mission. Two Spirit People have significant spiritual and ceremonial roles in our Native cultures, and Gay Philanthropy has a significant role to play in realizing a vision of funding-justice and social justice with our people.

Posted in Community Organizations, Film, Arts, & Entertainment, Friends, LGBT, Mixed-Race Community, People of Color | No Comments »

Attention Northwesterners: My fiancee and I are headed to Portland! Her fabulous film about fabulous femmes, FtF: Female to Femme — which just showed last night in San Francisco at the LGBT Center! — is showing at QDocs, the Portland Queer Documentary Film Festival, next Saturday, at 6:30 at the Clinton Street Theatre. We’re excited to explore all that PDX has to offer, so, if you’re in the area, come say hi and join us for the film showing!

Also, check out this wonderful press release I just got a few days ago from my friends at Renna Communications. Kate Brown is a bi candidate:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 21, 2008

Contact: Simon Aronoff, (202) 510-6705, simon@rennacommunications.com
Cathy Renna, (917) 757-6123, cathy@rennacommunications.com

Portland, Oregon Voters Elect Openly Gay Mayor
First to Lead One of the Top 30 Largest US Cities
Kate Brown Wins Democratic Primary for Oregon Secretary of State

EDITORS: Interviews available with Chuck Wolfe, President and CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, on the local and national significance of these wins in Oregon. Please call or email media contacts above to schedule.

Washington, D.C. — Portland, Oregon City Commissioner Sam Adams will become the first openly gay mayor ever elected to lead one of the 30 largest U.S. cities, according to the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which endorsed Adams and helped to fund his campaign. Adams won more than 50 percent of the vote in today’s primary, giving him an outright victory over multiple opponents.

Victory-endorsed Oregon Secretary of State candidate Kate Brown advanced to a November general election, easily winning her Democratic primary. Brown, who is currently the Democratic leader in the Oregon Senate, would become the nation’s highest ranking openly bisexual elected official if she wins her November general election. She is heavily favored against her Republican opponent, who has never held elective office.

“In Oregon, fairness has won the day. These victories mean that people who are openly gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender can also be seen as capable, committed leaders whose sexual orientation or gender identity is less important than what they plan to do for their communities. That’s a step toward full equality that we want to replicate across America,” said Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Victory Fund.

The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund is the only national organization dedicated to growing the number of openly gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender elected officials at all levels of government. Through fundraising and expert technical assistance, Victory has helped increase the number of out elected officials from 49 in 1991, when it was founded, to more than 400 today. Victory has endorsed nearly 60 candidates so far in 2008.

###

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To my San Francisco readers: mark your calendars for Saturday May 24th, at 7:30 p.m., because there is going to be some smart, sassy, and sexy stuff going on at the LGBT Center. My film-making partner, Kami Chisholm, is showing the US premiere of her latest short film, The Insomniacs, a butch-femme romantic comedy starring local actor Skyler Cooper. And she’ll be showing FtF: Female to Femme, a festival-favorite feature-length documentary about one of my favorite subjects and probably one of yours: femmes.

FtF stars femmes you know — and maybe even you! Come check it out. Tickets are $12 in advance at www.altcinema.com, and
$15 at the door.

This is a fundraiser for Altcinema, which is a nonprofit film company making the best in queer/ bi/ trans work by independent artists.

I hope to see you there, because it’s gonna be a hot night!

For a sneak peak at some hot pics from The Insomniacs, visit www.altcinema.com/insomniacs.html. Stars from the films will be in the audience!

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The relationship between medical theory/ practice and trans identities is a complicated one. Add to that this latest situation (below), which demands our immediate attention. Thanks to a friend for alerting me by sending me this message:

“Dear Friends,

Many of you may know that the psychiatric manual, the DSM IV, regards transsexuals and transgender persons as diseased, and there’s been a movement for many years to reform this—like the way that homosexuality was declassified as a disease in 1973. The American Psychological Association appointed a team to revise the manual. Great!

Except that the people they’ve appointed to be on the team include:

Dr. Ray Blanchard, who created the theory of autogynephilia—roughly, that trans women become women because they objectify women so much that they desire to own a woman’s body for sexual gratification—a theory that, besides simply being an inadequate and wildly inaccurate description of trans women’s experience, has done immeasurable harm to trans communities.

Chairing the committee is Dr. Kenneth Zucker, who uses reparative therapy—that is, “ex-gay” conversion techniques—to treat gender variant children.

These folks share their theories with J. Michael Bailey, author of the popular but highly unscientific book The Man Who Would Be Queen, who “disproved” male bisexuality and whose approach to treating transsexual patients relies on conversion therapy and borders on eugenics, with sexologist Dr. Anne Lawrence who is controversial because several of her patients have made complaints of sexually inappropriate behavior against her, and with Dr. Paul McHugh, who has repeatedly attempted to shut down gender clinics on the grounds that doctors should not be providing transition therapies because transgender persons are obviously delusional.

I’m seriously worried for our future if these are the people in charge of rewriting the DSM. I don’t quite know what to do right now other than publicize it. Ideas welcome.

Links:
http://transgroupblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/uh-oh.html
http://www.exgaywatch.com/wp/2007/05/zucker-and-bradley/

Warm regards,
[Friend’s name]”

On an unrelated note, I also want to mark the recent passing of Mildred Loving, thoughtfully remembered in this article. Rest in peace, Mrs. Loving.

Posted in Bisexuals/ Bi Activism, Friends, Health, Mixed-Race Community, Politics, Transgender | No Comments »