Arts & Culture

The Lavender Tube's best of 2021

The Lavender Tube's best of 2021

Here are what we thought were the best TV series featuring LGBTQ characters in primary roles, not as tacked on adjuncts to cis-het normativity. These series made queer, trans and nonbinary characters integral to their plots.

'Being the Ricardos' - Aaron loves Lucy

'Being the Ricardos' - Aaron loves Lucy

  • MOVIES
  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Dec 28, 2021

From the moment Nicole Kidman first appears onscreen as Lucille Ball in 'Being the Ricardos,' it's clear that writer/director Aaron Sorkin loves Lucy.

'Solid Ivory: Memoirs' - gay filmmaker James Ivory's career told

'Solid Ivory: Memoirs' - gay filmmaker James Ivory's career told

  • BOOKS
  • by Brian Bromberger
  • Dec 28, 2021

Prolific gay film director James Ivory's candid, urbane, and meandering book is a pastiche scrapbook of letters, diary entries, travelogue, magazine articles, sketches of famous show business personalities, and reflections on his childhood.

Safety in queer numbers: Elton John, Sad Daddy and more

Safety in queer numbers: Elton John, Sad Daddy and more

  • MUSIC
  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Dec 28, 2021

Lend your ears to new music from Elton John's 'The Lockdown Sessions,' Sad Daddy, Adult Mom, Bachelor, Destroy Boys and Haunted Like Human. Each offers a queer turn on pop, country and rock grooves.

SF Gay Men's Chorus cancels Christmas Eve concerts

SF Gay Men's Chorus cancels Christmas Eve concerts

  • MUSIC
  • by Cynthia Laird
  • Dec 22, 2021

Citing some breakthrough COVID infections among its members, the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus announced Wednesday afternoon that it is canceling its three Christmas Eve concerts at the Castro Theatre.

B.A.R. seeks freelance reporters, sports columnist

B.A.R. seeks freelance reporters, sports columnist

The Bay Area Reporter is seeking freelance reporters to write about the diversity of the LGBTQ community, particularly LGBTQ people of color — in news, arts, and sports.

Tripping through history: 'The Letters of Thom Gunn' as a roadmap to San Francisco's past

Tripping through history: 'The Letters of Thom Gunn' as a roadmap to San Francisco's past

  • BOOKS
  • by Michael Flanagan
  • Dec 22, 2021

'The Letters of Thom Gunn' is both an intimate portrait of the poet and a window on the development of what would become gay and leather culture, and the rise of the hippies and drug culture.

Kung Pao Kosher Comedy: going strong after 29 years

Kung Pao Kosher Comedy: going strong after 29 years

  • THEATER
  • by David-Elijah Nahmod
  • Dec 21, 2021

This year's Kung Pao Kosher Comedy show is producer/comic Lisa Geduldidg's 29th edition, and offers an all-female line-up. In addition to hosting, Geduldig will perform, as will her mom, 90-year-old Arline Geduldig.

Simon Rex: 'Red Rocket' star on fame and foibles

Simon Rex: 'Red Rocket' star on fame and foibles

  • MOVIES
  • by Brandon Judell
  • Dec 21, 2021

Rex's portrayal of an aging porn actor in 'Red Rocket' lets you sit back and admire Rex's perfect comic timing, his bonkers energy, and his no-holds-barred on-screen sexuality.

'The Woman in Black' at The Strand

'The Woman in Black' at The Strand

  • THEATER
  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Dec 21, 2021

'The Woman In Black,' a ghost story, is now on stage at A.C.T.'s Strand Theater. Thousands of goosebump-loving audience members who have made this play a huge hit in London.

Ashes to Ink: moving memoir recalls life with gay dad

Ashes to Ink: moving memoir recalls life with gay dad

In Ashes to Ink, Lisa Lucca has written a moving memoir in which she recalls coming to terms with her gay dad. Lucca not only learns to accept who her father is, she comes to the realization that she and her dad loved each other as best they could.

Saving Saint-Saëns: 'Carnaval des Animaux' and other works

Saving Saint-Saëns: 'Carnaval des Animaux' and other works

  • MUSIC
  • by Tim Pfaff
  • Dec 21, 2021

Camille Saint-Saëns has gotten a comparatively bad rap as being 'superficial.' New and recent recordings may prove that bias wrong.

'The Matrix Resurrections' premiere @ Castro Theatre

'The Matrix Resurrections' premiere @ Castro Theatre

Many cast members of 'The Matrix Resurrections' film attended the Castro Theatre premiere on December 18, including stars Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss and director Lana Wachowski.

Castro businesses sidelined by 'Matrix' premiere's parking impacts

Castro businesses sidelined by 'Matrix' premiere's parking impacts

  • MOVIES
  • by John Ferrannini
  • Dec 17, 2021

A number of Castro neighborhood merchants are upset that they weren't informed that the red carpet U.S. premiere of "The Matrix: Resurrections" at the Castro Theatre would be taking away parking spaces for much of the last weekend before Christmas.