For Immediate Release
October 13 , 2006

Contact: Don Romesburg, 415.850.8580

 Get Lit for GLBT History Month:
GLBT Historical Society Hosts Bitchfest Reading,
Book Release Party for Gay and Lesbian San Francisco 

SAN FRANCISCO—For Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender History Month, the GLBT Historical Society is holding two events honoring our local queer past and our community’s sassy feminist approaches to pop culture. On Tuesday, October 23, 6-8 pm, local contributors, including Historical Society board member Don Romesburg, will read selections from their essays in the new anthology Bitchfest: Ten Years of Cultural Criticism from the Pages of Bitch Magazine. Two days later, on Thursday, October 25, 6-8 pm, come to the book launch party for Dr. William Lipsky’s Gay and Lesbian San Francisco, an evocative photographic history.  Lipsky is also a GLBTHS board member. 

“Both Bitchfest and Gay and Lesbian San Francisco showcase the efforts of our board members, who dedicate themselves not just to preserving our history, but also producing and promoting it,” said GLBT Historical Society Executive Director Terence Kissack .  Many of the organization’s past and present staff, board, and volunteers have published queer historical and cultural works over the Historical Society’s two decades.

Bitchfest (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006), edited by San Francisco-based Bitch magazine’s founding editors, Lisa Jervis and Andi Zeisler, offers an assortment of new pieces and the most provocative essays, reporting, rants, and raves from the magazine’s first ten years. Smart, nuanced, cranky, outrageous, and clear-eyed, Bitchfest is a recent history of feminist pop-culture critique, much of it with a decidedly queer inflection.

Gay and Lesbian San Francisco (Arcadia Publishing, 2006), features more than 200 historic images. Long before the Castro became a national model for GLBT community, the City enjoyed distinct queer neighborhoods. From vaudeville performers such as Ella Wesner and Bothwell Browne to authors such as Charles Stoddard to civic leaders such as Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, the current GLBT generation has had many preeminent predecessors. Thanks to their efforts, San Francisco opened the door for unashamed celebration of queer life, art, and culture.

CALENDAR DETAILS:

Bitchfest: Ten Years of Cultural Criticism from the Pages of Bitch Magazine contributors’ readings, 6-8 pm, Tuesday, October 23.

Gay and Lesbian San Francisco book release party, 6-8 pm, Thursday, October 25.

Both events are free, open to the public, and include entry to the GLBT Historical Society galleries.

WHERE: GLBT Historical Society, 657 Mission Street, Suite 300 (btwn. New Montgomery/Third), San Francisco . One block from the Montgomery BART/MUNI station. Inexpensive city parking nearby on Mission (btwn. Folsom/Howard).

The GLBT Historical Society is turning 21! The mission of the organization is to increase public understanding, appreciation, and affirmation of the history and culture of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and other sexual minority individuals and communities. For more information, call (415) 777-5455 or visit www.glbthistory.org