The Transmodern Festival promises radical and experimental art, and who can resist that? The event curators/organizers—Laure Drogoul, Stephanie Barber, Sandylee Triolo, and Rebecca Nagle—are interested in providing a venue for art that doesn't always have a space.

If you called Sharon Needles the biggest “cunt” on RuPaul’s Drag Race, she would probably thank you for the compliment.

Celebrating its 14th running, the Maryland Film Festival (MFF) is gearing up for another spectacular line-up of films and videos. Launched in 1999, the festival takes place every May, right here in Charm City. Past years have attracted internationally know filmmakers such as Barry Levinson, David Simon, and Melvin van Peebles as well as celebrity appearances ranging from Harry Belafonte to Cal Ripken Jr.

Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour moonwalks into Baltimore next month in all its glittering, one-gloved splendor. The performance, which is written and directed by famed choreographer Jamie King, has paired Michael Jackson's signature music and dance moves with Cirque du Soleil creativity. The performance, which features more than 60 international dancers, musicians, and acrobats, fuses visuals along with dance and music allowing audience members to delve into the fantasy world that embodies the essence of Michael Jackson.

Thespians everywhere adore the amazingly talented Christine Ebersole. She is a force to be reckoned with, mainly because it seems that there is little that she cannot do: Ebersole has won countless awards, including two Tonys. She is most known for her nuanced work on the stage (especially her work as both Big and Little Edie in Grey Gardens), but she also has a fantastic career on the screen. She even sings.

April has been National Poetry Month since 1996, when the Academy of American Poets initiated the celebration of poets and their writing. Gay Life recently spoke with two gay poets: David Bergman, professor of English and Cultural Studies at Towson University, and Reginald Harris, Poetry in the Branches Coordinator for Poet's House, a library and literary center in New York City.

Among the glittering ball gowns and elegant tuxedos of Hollywood's award season, this year's red carpet was accented with the attendance of Baltimore's very own Vincent De Paul. De Paul—an actor, model, and activist—recently performed in the Academy Award winning film The Artist.

Support the arts and enjoy fabulous food and wine by coming out Saturday, April 21 for School 33's annual fundraising event, Lotta Art. Over 140 local artists are generously donating their work to benefit the School 33 Art Center.

Everyone—yes, everyone—has heard of Joan Rivers. And positive or negative, most have some kind of opinion about her. (Don't worry—she'd have an opinion about you too.)

The GLCCB has partnered through its Express Yourself! project with Youth of the Rainbow, to provide their members a voice through workshops, field trips, and art projects.

The Outliers, an exhibition on genderqueer identities by Baltimore-based photographer Elle Perez, will be on display at MICA beginning March 21. Perez, the recipient of the 2011 Meyer Photography Traveling Fellowship, is exploring the boundaries of gender identity and expression through a pilgrimage across the United States. This photographic journey documents those who prefer to occupy the spaces between genders. The Outliers is part personal, and part political. Artist Elle Perez draws upon personal experience, as well as social and political observation, to record the stories of genderqueer individuals.

At a time in Maryland when the issue of marriage equality is in the forefront of the media, the Iron Crow Theatre is performing Dustin Lance Black's acclaimed play "8" one night only, Monday, March 19.

Tom Goss and Stewart Lewis are performing together at the GLCCB on March 18. The two have been at the forefront of the LGBT songwriter scene for almost a decade. They continue to create original, imaginative, and accessible songs that have landed on HBO, ABC, FOX, and MTV, as well as in the ears of thousands of listeners worldwide.

Straight off of her Super Bowl halftime performance, Madonna announced she's embarking on her next world tour. Madonna added a second show at the Verizon Center on September 24 after the September 23 show sold out. Tickets for the second show are on sale now.

The national tour of the new musical, The Addams Family, makes its Baltimore premiere March 6 at the Hippodrome Theatre. The family's patriarch, Gomez Addams, is played by Douglas Sills, who has received Tony and Drama Desk nominations and the Los Angeles Ovation Award for his performance as The Scarlet Pimpernel on Broadway.

"Don't dream it. Be it!" heralds the main theme of the Gay Men Chorus of Washington D.C.'s tempestuous production of Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show. The GMCW continues to dance their way into the hearts of audience with this stunning cult classic that features an all-male cast.

On display now at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum is an exhibit that challenges popular stereotypes of urban black masculinity and explores the "sophisticated urban gentleman whose 'swagger' engages both African aesthetics and elements of European fashion."

Only rarely does a media tidbit materialize that piques my curiosity. While seeking a news update, a sidebar showcasing Glenn Close in 19th century drag appeared.

When one recalls the most memorable performances of Lily Tomlin, the following may come floating to mind: Ernestine & Edith Ann from Martin & Rowan’s Laugh In; Violet Newstead from 9 to 5; Pat Kramer from The Incredible Shrinking Woman; Ms. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus. Or perhaps Tomlin’s hilarious role in the 1988 movie Big Business in which she appeared alongside the incomparable Bette Midler.

When you love someone so much it literally hurts you, what will you decide to do next? She'Baltimore, a new play centered on domestic violence in the LGBT community, addresses this and several other questions.

The Maryland Institute College of the Arts (MICA) presents The Vagina Monologues to benefit V-Day, a day devoted to ending violence against women. The show will raise funds for the Family & Children's Services of Central Maryland.

The Gay Men's Chorus of Washington continues its season with The Kids Are All Right, a concert that will spotlight the joys and struggles of growing up gay in today's society through music and narration.

Local indie singer-songwriter, producer and drummer Amij will be headlining an action-packed show on January 28, at Rams Head Live.

Amij released her debut album Peace in Chaos in 2011 with two captivating sold out performances at the historic Blues Alley in Washington, D.C. She has created a buzz on the music scene on the east coast as well as the mid-west. Peace in Chaos is a heartfelt collection of originals that fuse heavy rock and R&B with hints of jazz, neo-soul, and classical, which is why it appeals to a wide range of fans.

Amij's unique musical focus is to transcend current distinctions in music, creating a sound she calls, "Fusive Soul." The lyrics illustrate a journey of awareness, acceptance, and change.

"Peace in Chaos represents the calm within the storm," she explained.

Her vision is to work through her music to positively affect the issues she is most passionate about. She has partnered with organizations that work to prevent animal neglect and cruelty, domestic violence, and human trafficking, and plans to donate a portion of her proceeds to these important causes.

This album not only showcases Amij's abilities as both a vocalist and drummer with impeccable technical chops, she also wrote, arranged, and co-produced all of the tracks, collaborating only on a few songs.

Amij and VC7 with Over N Out, Christopher Wilson Band
Saturday, January 28
Doors at 7pm • Show at 7:30pm • $12, all ages
Rams Head Live • 20 Market Pl.
410.244.8854 • RamsHeadLive.com

The Iron Crow Theatre Company is hosting their 2012 fundraiser on Saturday, February 4 with a one-night-only performance of Sunrize: The Musical.

Running from January 31 to February 12 at the Hippodrome Theatre, Carrie Fisher's acclaimed show, Wishful Drinking, will delight audiences with riotous laughter and fierce honesty. This one-woman performance highlights the true and enthralling life of Fisher, who reminisces on her memories growing up as the child of two celebrity icons in Los Angeles.

"Because 'u r a fag' is scrawled in black Jiffy marker across his locker. Because after school last Thursday, the girlfriend of the guy he loves hurled frozen dog shit at him, and her friends frisbeed his skateboard into the river." So begins the litany of wrongs suffered by Patrick Furey, a gay teenager bullied by his peers, ignored by his parents and teachers, and rejected by the boy he loves who has a girlfriend.

The Washington Monument and Hampden’s 34th Street may still be Charm City’s top two Christmas traditions, but there’s a challenger closing in on ’em. Since 1995, Marylanders have been marking Yuletide by sending out Balto-centric cards designed by hometown artist Bill Coolahan, 53. The cards—whimsical depictions of Santa Claus visiting local landmarks like Raven’s Stadium, the Domino’s sign, and the Natty Boh tower—are available at shops like Hontown in Hampden, Zelda Zen in Federal Hill, and 2910 on the Square in Canton, and further information on Coolahan and his art is available at Coolahan’s new website, BaltimoreChristmasArt.com. Ironically, the artist almost never sends holiday cards—whether his own or anyone else’s—to his own friends and family. “It’s terrible,” he sighs. “I really have no excuse at all.”

'Tis the season to be fabulously festive this winter as we join The Gay Men's Chorus of Washington for their upcoming holiday performance titled Red & Greene. The show, which features Broadway's original Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors, Ellen Greene, will dazzle and delight audiences with spirited production numbers and illuminous holiday songs. Greene, also known for her role as Vivian from the ABC television series Pushing Daisies, will be joining the stage as a special guest alongside the Chorus of more than 250 members.

The Kinsey Sicks, the over-the-top queens of camp whose Dragapella performances have filled seats from Studio 54 to the Las Vegas Hilton, are bringing their holiday darling, Oy Vey in a Manger, to the historic Patterson theater on December 16.

This Thanksgiving weekend the famous singer Michael Feinstein returns to Baltimore to perform Frank Sinatra hits as well as lesser known songs the icon never had a chance to perform. Feinstein’s concert is based on his acclaimed album, The Sinatra Project. He spoke to Gay Life about the time he spent with Sinatra, how Rosemary Clooney became his second mother, and how he and his partner came to be married by Judge Judy.

Award-winning artist Denise Duarte is offering a free, weekly art program, "Express Yourself," for LGBTQ youth.

"The program will nurture creativity and provide leadership skills, team building, and community building opportunities in a safe and accepting environment," said Duarte, an artist in residence at the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland (GLCCB).

Walking off Federal Hill’s Light Street during a busy rush-hour afternoon and onto a quiet street where a clean brown building sits demure and nondescript, no one would suspect the top level would hold the creative goings-on of one person: Lania D’Agostino. The door opens to a stairwell that ascends to a throughway full of nude mannequins who seem to be stuck in traffic. Their feminine made-up faces all convey the same emotionless thought. On the contrary, D’Agostino’s work communicates energetic amounts of personality as will be seen in her studio on Saturday, October 22 as part of the two-day School 33 Art Center Open Studio Tour which is free to the public.

Gay artist Rams Brisueño has been painting since 2000. In 2001, Brisueño debuted his work at Artscape and Donna’s Café where he became recognized as an artist in the community. Now his work is featured in the “Travelin’ Shoes” exhibit at the Fleckenstein Gallery in Hampden.

His series, the painted boy, contains 25-30 small and large pieces. With a background in graphic design, Brisueño also created videos of the painted boy series which “show joy with pain.”

Lesbian painter Kelly Walker is a self-taught artist who has been producing work for the past 16 years.

“I entered the world of fine art after learning how to manipulate paint mediums as a decorative, faux painter,” said Walker, 35,  who landed by chance in Baltimore. “I am completely inspired by the many layers of Baltimore’s artists and surroundings and events and energy.”

The Degenerettes began when Rahne Alexander and her partner paired with other women who shared their desire to start a band.

Close your eyes and imagine being surrounded by hundreds of people in a 16,000-square-foot tent and watching locally-, nationally-, and internationally-designed clothes being displayed on the runway.

Now, slowly begin to open your eyes and walk outside the double doors. You will be surprised to find the cityscape is not New York, but rather Harbor East in Baltimore City. The last two years, Baltimore Fashion Week was held in Towson.

Bronson Lemer needed something to get him out of North Dakota. When an Army National Guard recruiter extols the financial benefits of becoming a reservist, the then high school senior thinks it sounds like a good gig—he’ll receive money for college and earn the respect of his family.

Five and a half years later, Lemer has survived a seven month deployment to Kosovo, and the return to civilian college life. He’s ready for his six year commitment to be up—the contrast between the closeted gay man he’s forced to be on weekends and the openly gay student is wearing on him.

Baltimore is widely known as the city of firsts. And a new first has begun to emerge in the form of a lyrical artist named DDm. He is known as the first openly gay rapper in Baltimore to receive consistent on-air radio play.

“Let’s get this straight, I’m not the only gay rapper in Baltimore,” he laughed. “But I am the only openly gay rapper in Baltimore.”

Emmanuel “DDm” Moss, 23, grew up in the Park Heights area of Baltimore, Md. Although he was not afforded a privileged childhood, his mother made sure he was exposed to education, arts, and culture. DDm first started rapping at the age of 13 on the blacktop of Mergenthaler Vocational - Technical Senior High School. He did this as an outlet from growing up in an underprivileged community on the westside of Baltimore. He first began by competing in cyphers and rap battles, the underground style of raping that combines boasting and insulting your component, which he acclaims to his showmanship and stage presence.

So what does it take to pull off a successful Baltimore Pride Celebration? Here’s just a taste of what makes Baltimore Pride so very, very great:

If there was a handbook passed out when every woman embraced her sexuality, k.d lang would have a chapter of her own.

It’s late June in The City that Reads. Pride has passed, and perhaps your escapist thoughts have turned to vacation plans, or at least a relaxing weekend.

Jen Michalski is the author of Close Encounters, a collection of short stories published in 2007 by So New Media. The title comes from the “strange little world lurking in a lot of my writing,” said Michalski.

When most of Baltimore’s big-ticket theaters go dark for the summer, many community theaters take advantage of the warm temps and patrons looking for entertainment.

The divide between old and young, with a transgender twist

What happens when you identify as an adolescent male on the inside, but the outside world—including your conventional Puerto Rican and Jewish parents, your classmates, and sometimes even your best friend— see you as female?

Literature fans can spend the last weekend of 2011’s Black History Month with Toni Morrison’s Pultizer Prize winning novel, Beloved. A discussion of the book, led by Faye Houston, will be held in the Poe Room at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Central Branch at 10:15 a.m. Saturday, February 26, 2011.

New BMA photo exhibit shows us the way

Since 1960, artists have used photography to influence the way people perceive the world and understand human experience. Advances in photographic technology, along with increased accessibility of film and video, have permitted artists to exploit the media in exciting, innovative, and sometimes shocking ways.

It’s that time of the year when Hollywood’s A-List stars pour their surplus income into the willing hands of designers and exclusive jewelers to dazzle the estimated 45 million world-wide viewers of the 83rd Annual Academy Awards Show, commonly referred to as the Oscars.

LGBT theater-goers have their work cut out for them as they pick and choose among perverse family dramas, twisted comedies, historical musicals, and operatic performances offered by performance venues around Charm City.

Gay American Autobiography, Writings from Whitman to Sedaris, is an anthology I’d been meaning to tackle for a while. Edited by Towson University professor and author David Bergman, the book features life writings primarily from professionals, but also from a handful of writers he characterizes as “not especially literary.”

Welcome to Black History Month. Here in Baltimore, the African American community endured segregation and Jim Crow laws, but the impact of the Civil Rights Movement has had a lasting impression on our nine-mile radius.

Across America, LGBT youth are finding themselves persecuted by the same communities that promise to protect their young people. As a result, they are forced to suffer in silence, furthering a tradition of this vicious victimization. The award-winning documentary by filmmaker Joe Wilson, Out in the Silence, tells the story of a handful of rural Pennsylvania residents struggling for inclusion amidst anti-gay sentiment. The story unfolds when Joe Wilson's same-sex wedding announcement ignites a controversy after it is published in his hometown newspaper, a small Pennsylvania community he left long ago.

MEOW! It’s that time again for a Charm City Kitty Club cabaret-licious show. This time the Kitties go high-tech.