Performers, Presenters & Organizations
Queer Community Day with Trans Closet of the Hudson Valley
Sunday 8/10, 1:00-4:00PM, Hasbrouck Park (pavillion), Kingston, NY. Trans Closet of the Hudson Valley is structured as a thrift shop where everything is free, where trans people can experience a safe space to explore gender expression, where community can come together in a simple, welcoming, everyday setting. For us, trans joy means trans justice. Creating and sustaining trans joy through self-expression is the core of our mission. Through our expanding programming, networks, and events, we've been able to experience that joy with our community.
Radical Joy: Celebrating the Life & Legacy of Marsha P. Johnson
Sunday 8/10, 4:00-6:00 PM, Art Exhibit Opening at The D.R.A.W Gallery, Kingston, NY
Featured Artists: Alyx Arslanian, Theresa-Xuan Bui, Hannah Corwin-Taylor, Nika Grout, Karl Kopp, Jaylia Stallworth, Kate Sullivan, and Cal Trumann.
Alyx Arslanian (they/them), curator, is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, and activist based in the Hudson Valley. Alyx uses art to disrupt, to question, and to create space for those pushed to the margins. Their work is a refusal to look away, and a call to hold space for what’s often left unspoken. As co-founder of Queer Outdoor Adventures, they are also deeply committed to community-building and creating affirming spaces for queer and marginalized people.
Miyagi Scott (he/they), curator, is a multidisciplinary artist and community builder based in the Hudson Valley. Inspired by nature and rooted in lived experience, their work centers queer liberation, joy as resistance, and storytelling. Through creative strategy, youth mentorship, and co-founding Queer Outdoor Adventures, Miyagi creates spaces where LGBTQ+ people—especially people of color—can thrive, heal, and be seen.
D.R.A.W. (The Department of Regional Art Workers) believes that art is a training ground for life that helps us solve problems independently and collectively, build relationships across perceived or constructed barriers, and cultivate community through shared practice, artistic expression, communication and appreciation. D.R.A.W. unabashedly supports nontraditional, contemporary, experimental, and progressive styles of art making, whether for our youngest emerging artists or established practitioners.
Monday 8/11, 5-6PM, Esopus Library, Port Ewen, NY.
Warhol-Style Portraits: A Gelli Print Workshop for Teens & Adults with Cylla Allison
Esopus Library strives to reflect and enrich community life in the Town of Esopus and surroundings areas by providing people of all ages with resources for innovative lifelong learning and leisure opportunities through a team of friendly, knowledgeable, and well-trained Staff, Volunteers, Friends, and Trustees.
The Kaleidoscope Assembly: A Surrealist Cut-up Poetry Workshop
Wednesday 8/13, 6:30-8:30PM, Unicorn Bar, Kingston, NY
Andy Izenson (they/he). Andy is a transexual wizard, attorney, anarchic Jewish ritualist, trans commune member, and published poet. Their first book, “The World That Is Coming Inside You,” will be published in 2026.
Miller Oberman (he/him). Miller is Director of First Year Writing at Eugene Lang College, The New School, and author of “Impossible Things” and “The Unstill Ones: Poems.”
Unicorn Bar provides a home for Kingston, NY's queer and creative communities by offering a plethora of events - from live music to burlesque to weddings - in a beautiful, unique, and historic space.
An Incantatory Night of Poetry on the Hudson
Thursday, 8/14, 7-8:30PM Sojourner Truth State Part, Kingston, NY. Rain location: Blackbird Infoshop & Café, Kingston, NY.
Awa-Moon Barnett (she/her) is a cultural worker and founder of home home bookshop.
Sam Coronado (she/they). Sam is a beautifully trans poet and musician based in the Hudson Valley. She loves birding.
Andy Izenson (they/he). Andy is a transexual wizard, attorney, anarchic Jewish ritualist, trans commune member, and published poet. Their first book, “The World That Is Coming Inside You,” will be published in 2026.
Cyrée Jarelle Johnson (he/him). Cyrée is clinical herbalist, rootworker, diviner, and poet. He is the author of the Academy of American Poets award winning “Watchnight” and Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry winner “Slingshot,” amongst other honors. Cyrée will also MC this event.
Ellis Light (they/them). Ellis writes, gardens, and plays instruments in fields throughout the Hudson Valley. Their poetry has appeared in various places, occasionally even reputable ones.
Miller Oberman (he/him). Miller is Director of First Year Writing at Eugene Lang College, The New School, and author of “Impossible Things” and “The Unstill Ones: Poems.”
Zoe Tuck was born in Texas, became a person in California, and now lives in Massachusetts. She is the author of Bedroom Vowel (Bunny Presse), Terror Matrix (Timeless, Infinite Light), and the chapbooks Vape Cloud of Unknowing (Belladonna*) and The Book of Bella (DoubleCross Press). Zoe is the co-editor of Hot Pink Magazine with Emily Bark Brown. She teaches literature and creative writing classes through her school, Threshold Academy.
Queer Track Meet with Transcenders, a Non-Binary and Transgender Athletics Team
Saturday, 8/16, 10:00-11:30 AM, Dietz Stadium, 170 North Front Street, Kingston, NY
Transcenders is a non-binary and transgedner athletics team, created to uplift, inspire and unite our worldwide community. Focused on community-building, storytelling, and resource-sharing, Transcenders aims to amplify the voices of transgender and non-binary athletes. We want to provide an environment where non-binary and transgender athletes feel welcomed, heard, connected and supported, while underscoring that we are more than these identities. For more information
Marsha Movie Screening & Panel Discussion
Saturday, 8/16, 7:00-9:00 PM, Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Center, Kingston, NY
Sabrina Kee (she/they) is a visual problem solver, a creative engineer, and a community organizer who uses the arts as an amplifier to advocate for social change. Existing at the crossroads of blackness, queerness, womanhood and neurodivergence, she also works to hoild space for other artists and content creators from marginalized groups to pursue their own creative passions. Sabrina runs a portrait photography studio in the City of Newburgh, where she provides a safe space for people of all walks of life to celebrate themselves through traditional creative imagery.
Cal Trumann (they/them) (moderator). Cal is a climate and clean energy educator, a solar installer, a drag performer and coach, a musician and DJ, an animist, a wizard, and a general shit-starter. They manage buildings and grounds for The Rêve, an all-trans, POC-led collective house and community sanctuary located on traditional land of the Esopus Delaware people, which they cofounded in 2018.
S. Leigh Thompson-Shealy (he/they). Leigh is a white and Native queer trans genderqueer person with disability. He has worked at the intersections of art and social and political justice for over 25 years as a trainer, campaign strategist, community organizer, and lobbyist.
Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Center is a safe, supportive environment that provides services, programs, events, and professional resources to unite the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning community across lines of age, race, gender and economics. Since our founding in 2005, our purpose has been to strengthen, support, and celebrate LGBTQ+ individuals, families and groups in their efforts to achieve their fullest potential.
Introduction to Queer Self-defense with Fearless Queers
Sunday, 8/17, 10:30 AM -12:00 PM, Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Center, Kingston, NY
Tara Bankoff (she/her). Tara is an award-winning martial arts practitioner, coach, and teacher who holds a black belt in karate and a brown belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu. Her experiences as a transgender woman inform her passionate belief in the need for martial arts and self-defense training for the queer community, which eventually led her to co-found Fearless Queers to address it.
Chrissy Rose (they/them). Chrissy is a queer, award-winning martial artist, teacher, activist who holds a black belt in karate. They co-founded Fearless Queers Self Defense in 2022 in order to address the crisis of violence against the LGBTQ2SIA+ community, and have since provided free self-defense training to hundreds of queer New Yorkers. Tara will co-lead a two-part self-defense workshop with Tara Bankoff.
Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Center is a safe, supportive environment that provides services, programs, events, and professional resources to unite the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning community across lines of age, race, gender and economics. Since our founding in 2005, our purpose has been to strengthen, support, and celebrate LGBTQ+ individuals, families and groups in their efforts to achieve their fullest potential.
Bouquets & Friendship Bracelets for Revolution: A Picnic to Celebrate Marsha P. Johnson's Birthday with Trans Joy Revolution
Sunday 8/17, 1:00-3:00PM, Little Loaf Bakeshop, 218 Main Street, New Paltz, NY
Trans Joy Revolution is a collective effort by and for our trans and gender nonconforming community, rooted in love, kindness, and care. We are a mutual aid group focused on trans community building and trans liberation in our local community within the Hudson Valley of New York.
Little Loaf Bakeshop. We’re an LGBTQ-owned vegan bakery that provides daily moments of joy through creative, fun, high-quality pastries and other treats. We love what we do and we hope you can taste the care and attention to detail that our team bakes (sorry we had to) into each and every product.
Queer Book Club Discussion
Sunday, 8/17, 6:00-7:30 PM, Unicorn Bar, Kingston, NY
Sam Coronado (she/they), facilitator. Sam is a beautifully trans poet and musician based in the Hudson Valley. She loves birding. Sam will facilitate discussion of the new book “Marsha: The Joy & Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson” by Tourmaline.
Unicorn Bar provides a home for Kingston, NY's queer and creative communities by offering a plethora of events - from live music to burlesque to weddings - in a beautiful, unique, and historic space.
Marsha P. Johnson Trans-lineage Thanks Giving & Sharing Circle
Tuesday, 8/19, 6:00-7:00 PM (Gather at 5:45PM), Cygnets Way, 26 Downs Street, Kingston, NY
matteline deVries-dilling (they/she) has been a practitioner of queer art fabrication for more than half her life, and has spent time learning with and from the amazing queer community and land of this area for the past 20 years. She is the co-founder of Cygnets Way with her partner, artist Erika deVries, and the co-founder of Lite Brite Neon Studio.
Cygnets Way is a collaborative vision and project by Erika dVries and matteline deVries-dilling, both of whom are artists, makers, seekers, story tellers, parents, and life partners. Cygnets Way is dedicated to exploring the connections between creativity, spirituality and love, and to transforming consciousness. Cygnets Way provides interdisciplinary programming, lectures, classes, workshops, healing work, and screenings to activate and ignite cross pollinatoin and renew points of of view.
DIY Tenant Organizing: Building Power Through Community
Tuesday, 8/20, 7:00-8:30 PM, Good Work Institute, Kingston, NY
June Nemon (they/them) is a tenant organizer based in Poughkeepsie, NY. They have developed organizing programs that grow working class political power, have helped pass tenant protection laws in the Hudson Valley, and helped to organize the first legally mandated rent reduction in the country.
The Good Work Institute exists to build and amplify the collective power of people to reject systems of oppression and extraction and create regenerative, just, and life-affirming communities.
All Out Open Mic
Thursday, 8/21, 5:30-7:00 PM, Esopus Library, Port Ewen, NY
Charlie Solidum (he/him), featured performer, is an activist, educator, and Hudson Valley native who has been an out and active member of the transmasculine community since 2006. As a model, advocate, and literal poster boy, in 2016 Charlie was featured in the internationally-recognized #BeYouNYC transgender bathroom access campaign for NYC's Commission on Human Rights. In his spare time, he can be found smelling flowers, cooking elaborate meals and playing earnest covers on his guitar.
Fox North (they/them), host of the open mic, wrangles chair yogis and serves pizza to D&D playing tweens at the Town of Esopus Library as their Programming & Engagement Manager. In another life, they're also the author of books for teens through adults. They live in New Paltz with their Dalmatian, black cat, and anime-loving kid.
Esopus Library strives to reflect and enrich community life in the Town of Esopus and surroundings areas by providing people of all ages with resources for innovative lifelong learning and leisure opportunities through a team of friendly, knowledgeable, and well-trained Staff, Volunteers, Friends, and Trustees.
Trans/Queer Intergenerational Potluck and Conversation
Friday, 8/22, 8:00-10:00 PM, Rowan Woodwork, Kingston, NY
Sterling Cruz-Herr (they/them), facilitator. Sterling is a proud trans elder and woodworking owner of T 4 Timbers. They are the winner of the 2024 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Multimedia Journalism for their interview series of eight trans elders in Them magazine.
Rowan Woodwork. Founded by Suzanne Walton in 2014, Rowan Woodwork makes hand-crafted, high quality, custom cabinets in collaboration with homeowners, architects, contractors, and interior designers. Rowan Woodwork is a place where magic is made.
All Ages Drag Story & Craft Hour with Tourmaline, Patrick Gayze, & Katarina Mirage, followed by Book Signing with author Tourmaline!
Saturday, 8/23, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM, Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Center, Kingston, NY
Tourmaline (she/her) is an award-winning artist, filmmaker, writer, and activist whose work is dedicated to Black trans joy and freedom. Her art is in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Tate, and the Getty Museum. She is the author of the acclaimed national bestseller Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson and the children's book One Day in June, which features illustrations by Charlot Kristensen.
Liz Burdick (she/her), organizer of this event, is a teacher, actor, playwright, and proud mother of the drag performer Evangeline (@tellevangeline). She taught grades 3-5 at Lenape Elementary School in New Paltz for 30 years. Her original play, The Mrs Dewinters premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2023.
Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Center is a safe, supportive environment that provides services, programs, events, and professional resources to unite the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning community across lines of age, race, gender and economics. Since our founding in 2005, our purpose has been to strengthen, support, and celebrate LGBTQ+ individuals, families and groups in their efforts to achieve their fullest potential.
"Pay It No Mind" Drag Show featuring Alicia Love, Miss Stonewall 2025, with Venus, Cum On Eileen, Hymn Null, Robyn D. Banxx & More!
Saturday, 8/23, 8:00 doors open, 9:00 show, Unicorn Bar, Kingston, NY
Alicia Love (she/her), a Trans performer, has been performing for 7 years in the Drag Scene. She has performed all over, from Los Angeles, Palm Springs, and Las Vegas to New York and North Carolina. She is Miss Trans NYC 2023 and was recently crowned Miss Stonewall 2025, the first trans person ever to win the title. Alicia has a passion for advocating and uplifting the trans community through the art of Performance.
Phoenix Laxton (he/they), producer of this event, is a Program Specialist at the Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Center. He loves facilitating groups at the Center, providing safe spaces, and expanding young people’s social lives beyond the internet.
Unicorn Bar provides a home for Kingston, NY's queer and creative communities by offering a plethora of events - from live music to burlesque to weddings - in a beautiful, unique, and historic space.
Happy Birthday Marsha! Rêve Family Day & Festival Closing Ceremony
Sunday, 8/24, 12:00-4:00 PM, The Rêve
Andy Izenson (they/he). Andy is a transexual wizard, attorney, anarchic Jewish ritualist, trans commune member, and published poet. They will co-facilitate the closing ceremony.
Cal Trumann (they/them) is a climate and clean energy educator, a solar installer, a drag performer and coach, a musician and DJ, an animist, a wizard, and a general shit-starter. They manage buildings and grounds for The Rêve, an all-trans, POC-led collective house and community sanctuary located on traditional land of the Esopus Delaware people, which they cofounded in 2018. They will co-facilitate the closing ceremony.
The Rêve is a trans intentional community located on land originally inhabited by the Esopus tribe of the Lenape people. It is a space for us to grow what revolution means to us. It's a space to dance and to grow old, where all who are tired may rest and all who are hungry may come and eat. It's the kind of dream that gets better the more people we share it with.
Coordinators:
Nova Darkstar (they/them). Nova is a multidisciplinary artist, musician, and social artist committed to engaging community building as an art form and art as a form of community building. Their creative and social practice skills combine in the co-creation of Happy 80th, Marsha!
Kristina Lincoln (they/them) is a ceramicist, carpenter, community organizer, and the co-founder with Simon Moore of a forthcoming ceramic studio in Kingston, NY.
Simon Moore (they/them) is a ceramicist, illustrator, community organizer, creator of In Between: Jobs and Other Things. A Coloring Comic Book, and the co-founder with Kristina Lincoln of a forthcoming ceramic studio in Kingston, NY.
Promotions and Marketing:
Cyrée Jarelle Johnson (he/him). In addition to his skills as a clinical herbalist, rootworker, diviner, and poet, Cyrée has expertise in utilizing social media platforms and email promotions to engage the public and promote events.