Unbounded Bash Puts Queer and Trans BIPOC Performers at the Forefront
Television shows like Pose and Legendary have reminded us of the trails blazed by the queer and trans heroes before us. They have also portrayed ballroom culture and how underground balls were a quintessential part of queer and trans liberation. This Wednesday (March 16), Unbounded Bash will bring a real-life ball to Austin’s Coconut Club as part of SXSW.
Spearheaded by Unbounded Agency, Unbounded Bash celebrates queer and trans people of color, and will feature performances by various queer and trans acts. The bash will feature three different activations.
“We have At the Discoteca hosting the DJ showcase,” says Unbounded Agency founder Anita Obasi. “At the Discoteca is a traveling party celebrating Black music for the queer and BIPOC community. We also have live performances that will precede the Dirty South Ball.”
The Dirty South Ball will be hosted by Austin’s iconic House of Lepore and will feature previous cast members from Legendary, along with various regional houses, including Puerto Rican house, Laboratoria Boricua de Vogue.
Unbounded Agency was invited to be an official presenter at SXSW in 2020, however, COVID-19 forced the conference to shut down. Obasi, however, says Unbounded’s return couldn’t be more timely.
“72 hours before the events, we basically had to cancel everything,” Obasi says. “So it was definitely a really hard moment for everyone involved. But it's really exciting to be able to bring everyone back and put our best effort in. I think it was also a blessing in disguise in the sense that we've had two years to reflect on ourselves as a whole, and then come back to the table feeling more refreshed and renewed.”
Born and raised in northern Virginia, Obasi is a first-generation American of Nigerian and Indian descent. She arrived to Austin in 2013 after graduating college and landing a job in the tech industry.
Obasi worked with a group of people who ran a coworking space called Topology, a 2,000-square-foot warehouse in which she and her peers operated the space as a creative hub. The warehouse has since been torn down, But Obasi was determined to use her creative and collaborative spirit to make a difference in the community she holds dearest to her heart.
“I was trying to figure out how to take the ethos of that space and turn it into something that could exist without walls or without necessarily a physical location,” Obasi says. “And part of the ethos of Topology was incorporated into our own personal values. And for me, it was creating space for queer and BIPOC people.”
Obasi founded Unbounded Agency in 2018, with a mission to organize events centering queer and trans people of color. Unbounded Bash will celebrate the voices she sought out to amplify during the genesis of her company.
With a line-up of predominately Black and Latinx performers, Unbounded Bash aims to remind us of all the reasons why we love queer culture. Performers include Argentinian DJ Tayhana, Xa’Pariis Nike of Legendary fame, non-binary rapper Babiboi, and Chicago house legend DJ Shani.
“DJ Shani is very representative of the true nature and history of house music, which is something that, as it has become popularized has seen more of a ‘white bro-y’ face to it. We're excited to have her here to remind people of the roots of house music and specifically the depth of Black history in that space.”
Although Obasi now resides in Los Angeles, she is elated to return to Austin, the city she called home for six years. For her, there is no other city where she would rather launch Unbounded Bash.
“I think people forget that queer and BIPOC identities still continue to exist in Texas,” Obasi says. “We're all human beings who exist in this space and we need to take up space and remind people that we are existing and thriving.”
Unbounded Bash kicks off Wednesday, March 16 at Colorado Club. SXSW badge holders will have priority entry. RSVPs and more information about the showcase can be found at unboundedagency.org/sxsw.
The Queerties, the Awards Show that Celebrates the Best in LGBTQ Entertainment and Pop Culture, Premieres on Revry and YouTube
New York, NY – March 14, 2022: The Queerties 10th anniversary award show will begin streaming on Revry and YouTube on Wednesday, March 16, the first time in its history that the fully-produced live show ceremony will be viewable on national TV. The Queerties is a celebration of entertainment and pop culture moments that defined the past year in the LGBTQ community. Produced by the LGBTQ entertainment news site, Queerty, the ceremony is designed to uplift and spotlight LGBTQ creators, tastemakers, and storytellers who are not often recognized at other award shows. “We’re like the People’s Choice awards, but super gay, and with way more drag queens,” says Dan Tracer, Queerty’s Editor in Chief who co-hosts The Queerties 10th anniversary award show with RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs The World’s Mo Heart. This year’s event honors Pose’s Michaela Jaé Rodriguez with the Icon Award and RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13 winner Gottmik with the Groundbreaker Award. Celebrities appearing at The Queerties 10th anniversary award show include Murray Bartlett (White Lotus), Robin De Jesus (Tick Tick Boom), Amy Schneider (Jeopardy!), Ryan O’Connell (Special, Queer as Folk), Aubrey Peeples (Nashville), and a bevy of RuPaul’s Drag Race favorites including Bianca Del Rio.
Nominees for The Queerties 10th anniversary award show were selected by the editorial team at Queerty. Winners were then voted on by Queerty readers. Queerty received over 1.4 million votes for categories ranging from the “Badass” award, honoring the top LGBTQ newsmakers, to “Closet Door Bustdown”, recognizing brave notables who shook up mainstream America with their coming out stories. “When folks are out and proud, and making waves in the world, we think it’s important to honor that,” continues Tracer.
The Queerties 10th anniversary award show is packed with comedy, fashion and over-the-top fierce lewks, but there is a serious side to the ceremony, too. “A large reason for this event is to shine a light on independent LGBTQ artists,” says Scott Gatz of Q.Digital, the parent company of Queerty. “Whether they are creating indie music videos, web series, YouTube content, TikToks, or posting on Instagram, the Queerties strives to honor creatives who are making content, with or without the support of a brand or a studio.”
Queerty decided to televise this year’s ceremony after the success of last year’s virtual event. “While we were thrilled to be able to return to an in-person celebration for The Queerties 10th anniversary award show, with a fully vaccinated and tested crowd, we wanted to viewers at home to join the party as well,” Gatz explains. Revry, America’s first LGBTQ streaming network, made for an ideal partner. The show will also stream on Queerty.com and Queerty’s YouTube and Facebook channels.
“We have so much to celebrate this year,” says Dan Tracer. “The LGBTQ community made significant strides in pop culture that will have a lasting impact on the next generation of queer youth.” He points to Queerties Icon Award Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, a trans women of color who made history this year as the first trans actor to win a Golden Globe, and the first trans woman to earn an Emmy nomination in a lead acting category; both for her work on Pose.
In her Queerties acceptance speech, Rodriguez reflects on her career accomplishments and the legacy she hopes to leave. “All I wanted to do was inspire the youth. To encourage them to dare to be who (they) are and never be afraid of what anyone says. Instead, challenge them to be more open and understanding of the people that we are, which is fabulous.”
The Queerties 10th Anniversary award show will begin streaming on Revry, Queerty.com, and Queerty’s YouTube and Facebook channels this Wednesday, March 16 at 9pm ET/6pm PT. For more information and the complete list of Queerties 10th anniversary winners, visit https://www.queerty.com/Queerties2022/
Jeremy Pope on making cover of OUT Magazine PRIDE Issue
By Daniel Reynolds
Jeremy Pope is the cover story of the new Pride issue of Out magazine. In it, the Emmy-nominated actor (Hollywood, Pose) discussed his journey of coming out as a Black gay man in the entertainment industry and beyond.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SOPHIE CHAN ANDREASSEND
“There’s just a tricky way in which you have to move, especially in an industry that is predominantly white,” says Pope.
“Black men, I feel like a lot of times, our masculinity is our armor,” he says. “We’re meant to be built strong and tough because we’ve had to endure so much. So when you tell someone that you’re gay or you’re queer or you identify within the community, it’s like, do you lose that badge of honor? Do you lose that respect? Do you lose your safety because people feel like you’re vulnerable or you’re fragile?”
Additionally, Pope’s father, a pastor, is “extremely hypermasculine,” he shares, but the pair had a close bond. “I didn’t want to lose that dynamic,” he says of his early coming-out fears.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SOPHIE CHAN ANDREASSEND
“I watched so many of my cousins and a lot of my Black friends maybe not have a relationship with their father.” There was also the church community to consider. “There’s an image that you have to uphold,” Pope says, adding, “You feel like you can’t make mistakes, because you are the example. You are the first family, especially in the Black community — what everyone is striving to essentially be, or your relationship to God is supposed to feel the closest.” Happily, he is he now closer than ever to his family after coming out.
Pope also self-directed his gender-fluid photoshoot of himself wearing a fishnet and pearls. Doing so is proof of “how far I’ve come.” He can now show the world that his body “can be lucid, it can be free, it can be broken, it can be masculine, it can be feminine, and…I’m allowed to possess all of those things.”
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SOPHIE CHAN ANDREASSEND
“A couple of years ago, I would have been scared to be on the cover of Out,” he says, "but now, it feels like a whole different season and a whole different journey.”
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