Manny's LIVE:The Future of Queer Gathering Spaces

Queer bars all over the country (world) were closing before this damn pandemic. And now, momma, the future is unclear.

Where's all this going?

How will the queer community gather in the coming years?

What is the magnet that will bring people together in the future?

What will the affects of the pandemic be on how, when, why, and where the queer community gathers?

Will there be a renaissance of the gay bar?

What will the physicality of queer space of the future look like?

Two denizens of the queer nightlife world, Honey Mahogany and Grace Towers, are coming to Manny's to discuss these questions and more.

It's going to be a free flowing sit down, maybe a planning session, as both of these queens find themselves in the midst of gathering people together using the digital world and all of its accouterments.

About Honey Mahogany:

The child of East African political refugees, Honey Mahogany was born and raised in San Francisco. Honey's father worked as a cab driver for Yellow Cab Co-op and Honey's mother put herself through school while raising two-children and eventually worked in finance.

Honey completed most of her education in the Bay Area and received her Masters in Social Welfare from UC Berkeley in 2009. Soon thereafter, Honey got a job working at the Rainbow Community Center of Contra Costa County (RCC) where she worked as the Community Mental Health Director, and became the center's first full-time employee.

It was around this time that Honey Mahogany was also establishing herself as a performer in San Francisco, eventually garnering international attention when she appeared on the television show RuPaul's Drag Race. Since appearing on the show, Honey has become a regular host at San Francisco Pride and has also launched two successful POC centered LGBT events: Mahogany Mondays & Black Fridays.

As time went on, and the impacts of the second tech boom became more and more apparent in San Francisco, Honey began to see more of her favorite independent venues and businesses close, and more and more of her friends, family, and community members leave San Francisco.

In 2016, when the Stud Bar was threatened with closure, Honey joined a group of her friends in establishing a collective that eventually took over ownership of the space and worked with City Hall to Save Our Stud. This effort lead Honey to get further involved in community organizing, and soon Honey began helping to mitigate displacement in one of San Francisco's most diverse and heavily impacted neighborhoods, the Tenderloin, by founding the Compton's Transgender Cultural District.

Realizing the incredible value of civic engagement, Honey joined the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club and became Co-President of the club a year later. Honey was then appointed to the SF DCCC, becoming the first black trans-identified person to serve on the body. Honey continues to organize and fight for the most vulnerable communities in San Francisco every day as a legislative aide in the District 6 Office, and hopes to be able to continue her service on the SF DCCC as an elected member.

About Grace Towers:

Grace Towers turns heads wherever she goes. In just seven short-but-fabulous years in San Francisco, she has made a deep impact on the life of the city by carving out queer spaces and nurturing the queerdos who frequent them. She has Graced the city with her signature sabor latino, innumerable commanding performances, generous philanthropic endeavors, transformative mentorship programs, and legendary genderfuck style. Through her unwavering commitment to community, she encourages self-acceptance, creative expression, body positivity, and the use of DRAG as as a portal for change—all with effortless Grace, style, and poise.