Flame Con, the World’s Largest Queer Comic Convention, Announces Tenth Annual Expo
Tenth Anniversary Expo to Take Place in New York City at The Sheraton Times Square Hotel on August 17-18, 2024
New York, New York – February 5, 2024 – Flame Con, created and produced by the LGBTQ+ non-profit Geeks OUT, celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. The tenth annual Flame Con expo will take place on August 17 - 18at the Sheraton Times Square Hotel in New York City. Featuring a comics, arts and entertainment expo and showcasing creators and special guests from all corners of the LGBTQ+ community of fans, the two-day venture will include thoughtful discussions, exclusive performances, cosplay and more.
Tickets for the con are now available HERE.
“For years, the constant refrain we’d hear attending other conventions was ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if..?,’ says Nic Gitau, President of Geeks OUT. “‘Wouldn’t it be cool if… there was a safe space for LGBTQ+ fans to connect?’ or ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if… there was a show that proved audiences were hungry for unapologetically queer storytelling?’ Over the last ten years Flame Con has become a home for queer fans, championed queer stories, and celebrated queer creators as their careers have sparked and exploded. We're grateful for a community that's grown exponentially each year and we're excited to gather the best of LGBTQ+ comics and pop culture once more, in what will be a standout 10th anniversary show."
Flame Con is excited to announce Molly Knox Ostertag as the first of its special guests for this year’s expo. Molly Knox Ostertag is the acclaimed ABA Indies and New York Times bestselling graphic novel author-illustrator of The Deep Dark, The Girl from the Sea, and the Witch Boy trilogy: The Witch Boy, The Hidden Witch, and The Midwinter Witch, as well as a writer for animation. An animated musical adaptation of The Witch Boy has been announced by Netflix.
To celebrate the expo and its special anniversary, Fireball: The Official Flame Con After Party will be held on Saturday, August 17 at Hell’s Kitchen’s Industry bar. The event will be hosted by Megami, cast member in the current season 16 of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Get tickets for the tenth annual Flame Con and the Fireball After Party HERE.
Last year’s con featured many queer-oriented vendors, creators, and special guests including Maia Kobabe (Gender Queer: A Memoir), Terry Blas (Rick and Morty, Steven Universe), Alyssa Wong (Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Batman: Urban Legends), and Stephanie Williams (Nubia and the Amazons). Among the panels and presentations held last year were “Demystifying Game Design,” “How to Make Your Independent Queer Comic,” and “What A DRAG!: A Panel on Drag and Cosplay.” The expo also featured a live edition of host Connor Goldsmith’s CEREBRO podcast and a special LGBTQ+ comedy showcase with a lineup that included Calvin Cato (Netflix) and Veronica Garza (MTV, NPR).
“Flame Con is always my favorite convention of the year!,” says Josh Trujillo (Blue Beetle, Hulkling& Wiccan), Flame Con guest and comics writer and designer. “It’s a unique opportunity to meet with friends, peers, and fans in a more intimate setting. The stories we share as queer people can be so personal, and it means the world to know that readers connect with it.”
GLAAD Award-winning author and film programmer Anthony Oliveira (Steven Universe) shares, “Flame Con is easily my favorite comic convention. Nowhere else feels so much like home. It feels like someone took all the best parts of a con and just kept those, like if you made a whole con out of the weird queer section of every other expo’s Artist Alley!”
Tickets to Flame Con are available through Eventbrite and will feature daily and weekend passes, as well as passes to the official 2024 Flame Con party. Tickets can be purchased at flamecon2024.eventbrite.com.
Exhibitor table sales dates will launch later this month. Stay tuned for announcements.
For more information on Flame Con, please visit www.flamecon.org and for more information on Geeks OUT, please visit www.geeksout.org
Unleashed LGBTQ to Cover RuPaul's DragCon LA 2022
GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY
GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY
These last two years have been a drag. And not in a cute way… COVID-19 has kept us from enjoying some of our favorite events, one in particular: RuPaul’s DragCon.
Not to worry Ms. Thang. RuPaul and World of Wonder Productions are proud to announce DragCon LA is back! Returning for its 10th ever in-person conference, this annual event celebrates the artistry and culture of Drag like no other. Attendees can expect three days of performances, panels, exhibitors, Q&As and everyone’s favorite: the chance to meet your favorite drag performers in-person. The convention will take place Friday, May 13th - Sunday, May 15th at the Los Angeles Convention Center, featuring — for the very first time — a full day of programming on Friday. Tickets are on sale now at RuPaulsDragCon.com.
Unleashed LGBTQ is honored to have the opportunity to cover Drag Con LA.
Wesley Smoot had this to say:
“This franchise (Ru Paul’s Drag Race) has seen so much success, we are privileged and honored to cover the events of DragCon LA 2022 and give our readers a glimpse inside one of the year’s most anticipated LGBTQ events.”
“Everyone from Alaska to Yuhua Hamasaki is included in this year’s line-up with more talent expected to come onboard. There’s over 100+ performers confirmed— DragCon 2022 is expected to be a powerhouse of talent and an unforgettable experience. I’m literally gagging!”
-Jojo Love
This three-day convention is the world’s largest all-ages and family-friendly celebration of drag including supermodel of the world RuPaul, recent season winners - Priyanka (Canada’s Drag Race), Kita Mean (Drag Race Down Under), Lawrence Chaney (Drag Race UK), Symone (RuPaul’s Drag Race S13), Kylie Sonique Love (Drag Race All Stars 6), Carmen Farala (Drag Race Espana S1), Icesis Couture (Canada’s Drag Race S2), and all your other favorite dazzling queens from across the global award-winning “Drag Race” franchise including Aquaria, Mariah Balenciaga, Alaska, Priyanka, Tammie Brown, Kim Chi, Heidi N Closet, Divina De Campo, Eureka O’Hara, Gigi Goode, Brooke Lynn Hytes, Kameron Michaels, Naomi Smalls, Pandora Boxx, Ariel Versace, Blu Hydrangea, Kahmora Hall, Mrs. Kasha Davis, Scarlet Envy, Nicky Doll, Vivacious, Dusty Ray Bottoms, Baga Chipz, Shuga Cain, Sasha Velour, the United Kingdolls, the Frock Destroyers, and more. Additional talent includes June Diane Raphael, Rachel Bloom, Michelle Visage, Carson Kressley, Ts Madison, and Daniel Franzese just to name a few. Find the full list here, henny…
SYMONE | RuPaul’s DragCon 2022 Los Angeles
“I’m so excited that our tribe will be safely reunited once again.” says RuPaul, “RuPaul's DragCon is the most gorgeous, most gagworthy and most life-affirming drag convention on the planet, and our aim is to serve you a super amazing experience, while keeping you as safe as possible.”
Santiago Felipe/Getty Images
DragCon aims to make its first priority the health and safety of everyone involved. Given how quickly information and safety requirements surrounding COVID-19 are changing, specific COVID guidelines will be determined closer to the event.
“The 2022 LA convention marks the first time ever we will be featuring a full-day of Friday programming for the three-day convention,” says WOW co-founders Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey. “With our last DragCon having been a virtual experience, we are thrilled to be bringing our flagship in-person event back to the community we love so dearly, and rest assured safety will be our top priority!”
Stay tuned for more updates and coverage of events by subscribing to our emails and following us on all social media platforms: @UnleashedLGBTQ and stay updated on everything #DragCon by following @RuPaulsDragCon!
See you in LA!
KYLIE SONIQUE LOVE | RuPaul’s DragCon 2022 Los Angeles
Drag DJ-production Duo JAWBREAKERS Release Debut Music Video - "Boyfriend"
Kali Forni-Kate and Sabrina Babyslut are drag producer/DJs! Together, they are known as the Jawbreakers. In their first EP, Just A Taste - being released through Vicious Recordings, the label that discovered Avicii when he was a teenager, and released his first ten records - the duo dish out delicious dance, pop and tech house songs that reflect on their live DJ shows. "Boyfriend," the EP’s first single, is out now. It’s video emphasizes how Kali and Sabrina not only DJ their parties, they are their parties.
Just A Taste, the debut EP from the drag-duo DJ-production team known as Jawbreakers, dishes out dance, pop and tech house songs suitable for clubs and partygoers at home enjoying a late-night kiki. “The EP is a sampling platter of beats with something for everyone,” says Kali Forni-Kate of Jawbreakers. “It’s Just A Taste, because there is 100% more to come,” adds her collaborator, Sabrina Babyslut. With songs like “This Is Dirty” and “Ciao Bella,” the EP reflects the group’s live DJ shows that emphasize how Jawbreakers are not only playing the party, they are the party. "Boyfriend," the EP’s first release, is a modern-day remake of Ashlee Simpson’s 2005 hit that chronicled her stealing Wilmer Valderrama from Lindsay Lohan. The Jawbreaker version features vocals from Amunda (formerly from Operator Please). Its accompanying music video, directed by Nyssa Mitchell, conceptualized by Jawbreakers with editing and FX by Zachary McSweeney, is a technicolor dream, with Kali and Sabrina dressed in eye-catching lewks. The Just A Taste EP is being distributed through Extrovert Music, a division of Vicious Recordings, and will be available on Apple Music, Spotify and all digital platforms on April 1. Jawbreaker’s “Boyfriend” music video is available on YouTube.
Kali and Sabrina first met in 2016, performing in a Britney Spears tribute show in Melbourne. They immediately clicked as both came from similar middle-class, nuclear family backgrounds, discovered drag via their passions for musical theatre, and began their individual adventures into the art form after high school. When they learned of their shared interest in music production, they decided to join forces as a DJ duo. They bought a mixer and six months later they were in business.
“The biggest hurdle was deciding who stands where in the booth,” Kali explains. “Sabrina is left-handed and I’m right. We had to fight over who uses the left and right DJ decks. Swapping throws off our groove!”
Their Jawbreakers name harkens back to the iconic candy from their childhoods and the 1998 teen film that starred Rose McGowan, Rebecca Gayheart and Julie Benz as the “it” girl clique who reign supreme in their high school. “It’s a reflection on how the drag that we do is heavily inspired by pop culture,” Kali continues. “Like the girls in the movie, we dress to have fun and through the music we play and the energy that we exude, it makes everyone want to party with us!”
The duo has already headlined several international festivals including Sydney Mardi Gras and Milkshake Festival in Netherlands. Their next big gig will be Summer Camp Festival where they will perform alongside Years and Years, Big Freedia and The Veronicas. They are also slated to perform the next Goodlife U18 event, as well as Adelaide Festival, St Kilda Festival and Melbourne Pride.
“We have been keeping an eye on Jawbreakers for several years,” says Damien Platt of Extrovert Music, a division of Vicious Recordings, the label that discovered Avicii when he was a teenager, and released his first ten records. “When Kali and Sabrina presented us with demos of the EP, we were instantly fans of the music. It's fun, its camp and its quality music.”
Jawbreakers is not Extrovert Music’s first foray into gay dance floor music. Label co-founder Andy Van, of the band Madison Avenue, had a #1 dance anthem with “Don’t Call Me Baby”. More recently, Sgt Slick’s recut of “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” went gold and has become a major queer anthem. “Extrovert Music is focusing on dance pop/disco/commercial/cross over releases,” Platt continues. “A majority of our new signings and existing roster who identify as LGBTQIA+ are producing this sound.”
While Jawbreakers’ unique look has helped attract attention to their work, Sabrina admits that performing as hyper feminine drag artists has made it harder for fans and the music industry to take the duo seriously. “We’ve had straight DJs hit on us and others wonder who the random chicks were in the booth,” she explains. “But way more people have shown their support and their desire to see us succeed.”
“We’re lucky to live in an era when queer culture is proving that we can be a force in any and every industry,” Kali adds. “Never underestimate what a queen can achieve. It only makes us work harder.”
Jawbreakers’ “Just A Taste” is being distributed through Extrovert Music and will be available on Apple Music, Spotify and all digital platforms. The “Boyfriend” video is available now on YouTube. Follow on Instagram @ JawbreakersDJ
