Queer “Pioneers”: Cycles of Displacement

Special Events, SFUFF 2017 / 90 mins

Narratives of urban demographic have often placed queers in the first wave of neighborhood change, as “pioneers” that “prepare” neighborhoods for full-scale gentrification. However, this story imagines queerness as a White identity, leaving out the queer groups that are also being affected by “renewal” and other factors that lead to their need to congregate in urban areas, and often away from their places of origin. The afternoon programming specifically focuses on the complex forces that queer people have exerted in the formation of neighborhoods; as gentrifiers in one sense of the word, who in turn are now being gentrified by mainstream city dwellers. “Flag Wars” takes an intimate verite view of these issues in Columbus, Ohio, while “Portraits of Our City” questions our understanding of city spaces through the stories of native-born and raised queer San Francisco residents. Co-presented by Still Here SF and the Lexington Club Archival Project.

In This Program: Flag Wars, Portraits of Our City 1986-1996

Shifting Spaces: Queer Nightlife in the City: Fest at the Film Fest

Special Events, SFUFF 2017 / 180 mins

In San Francisco, and internationally, just as L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ identities are seemingly becoming more accepted, cities are losing the queer bars that center women, trans folks, and people of color. This screening and party examine the social and political importance of these spaces, why they are constructed, and challenges us to reimagine new modes of building queer community space; while investigating the causes of atrition and psychological dislocation it engenders. Co-presented by Still Here SF, Lexington Club Archival Project, and the GLBT Historical Society, this night will feature performances by Still Here artists, films about the now closed Esta Noche and Lexington Club, a lively panel discussion, and DJ set by DJ Johnnycakes, who will take us through a journey of booty-shaking queer sounds and voices. So, you know, reminiscent of your best nights out at your neighborhood queer bar…. Fest at the Film Fest includes Film Screening, Performance, Panel Discussion, Light Dinner, & 2 Drink Tickets

In This Program: Eulogy For The Dyke Bar, Never A Cover, This Night, Who is Gonna Cry For You, YBCA 100: The Stud