Supporting small queer business means getting your shoes shined at your local queer-owned cobbler, flirting with the racks at that cute atelier down the street, and tossing back a Paloma with the regulars at your local gay watering hole.

This week I want to talk about fun; sheer, unadulterated fun. When you mention to those outside of the leather and kink worlds that the object of what we do and who we are is supposed to be fun, they nod and say, "of course!"

It's Labor Day weekend, the summer's third and final sanctioned drinking festival. A new bar, a new book, a new bottle, and a new drinking game have all shown up on the BARtab radar in recent days. Please, enjoy one on us.

In what's likely to be a classic, only-in-San Francisco juxtaposition, Reichard expects a passel of playa-goers to convene in the significantly more straight-laced climes of Feinstein's at the Nikko not long after the Burn.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I think someone would hear my music coming out of a loudspeaker at a Wingstop in Jakarta," singer-songwriter Joey Dosik, still wide-eyed at the memory of a message he received from a fan.

Over the past few years, downtown Los Angeles -known as DTLA- has emerged as a new nexus of Southern California queerdom; home to a hipper, grittier, more diverse nightlife, an appealing bounty of cultural offerings, and a pioneering spirit.

On Wednesday August 22 the 23rd annual Drag King Contest comes to the Oasis. This year's show, dubbed "Salty Swaggering Sea Men," invites audiences to man the torpedoes full speed ahead for a nautical-themed show with seamen, mermen, sailors.

On August 23 the single-named Aish will take to the stage of Rickshaw Stop to perform songs from Mother, his debut album. The album, now available, features an eclectic mix of sounds: haunting vocals, strings, harp and electronics.

Northern California's Pride events continue on past June. These festivals may not have the big name entertainment or famous Grand Marshalls like San Francisco, but at their cores are groups of volunteers with big dreams and even bigger hearts.

At iCandy, one of the weekly events at The Café, the Castro District's upstairs dance club (with an accessible elevator) draws a fun and diverse crowd of club kids, queens and cuties.

Next weekend, the west end of Golden Gate Park plays host to the eleventh edition of Outside Lands. While Sunday night closer Janet Jackson is an obvious draw for queer audiences, we went panning for pink and came up with a few golden choices.

The free flow of lateral thinking, a sense of artistic freedom, the time to refine one's craft: these are among the elements that make for a fertile scene, says Kim Nalley, the acclaimed Bay Area jazz vocalist, who performs at Feinstein's August 2-12.

Our sage columnist explains the growth of her House of MOREboys, and how, like the cast of 'Pose,' many have a chosen family.

The festive and colorful Flagging in the Park flowed forth at the National AIDS Memorial Grove on Saturday afternoon, July 28.