(Originally Published on The Huffington Post on 3/5/14)

The Pacific NW has no shortage of music festivals, and Seattle boasts some of the region’s largest and most well-attended. Starting a new festival in this neck of the woods is no small feat, but last year a handful of queers from the Emerald City did just that. The result was ‘Mo-Wave, Seattle’s queer music and arts festival — and it was a huge success.

Now in its second year, ‘Mo-Wave is back with another epic lineup featuring over 20 queer musicians (myself included) alongside dozens of visual and performance artists from all over the country, descending on stages at Chop Suey and PONY Seattle April 11-13.

Named “Best Festival” in its first year by Seattle Weekly, ‘Mo-Wave is unmatched in its eclectic blend of art and diverse queer culture. This mix immediately struck a chord with audiences, and one only has to take a quick glance at this year’s showcases to see that the ‘Mo-Wave crew are back at it. The festival’s mission to “showcase raw queer talent” through “a live and loud acknowledgment that our people do not fit into the simple stereotypes projected onto us by mainstream culture” is perhaps a tall order — but the team who pulled off year one has since grown, and they are about to top themselves. That’s right — I said “top themselves.” Chuckle all you want.

The 2014 lineup includes MX Justin V. Bond, Christeene, Zebra Katz, Carletta Sue Kay, Tacocat, Slava Mogutin, Logan Lynn, Ononos, Night Cadet, Boy Funk, Death Metals, Dust Moth, CZARL1NG (featuring Members of The Need/Grass Widow/Broken Water), Adé, Frederic Fleury, Narcissister, Jordan O’Jordan, L’Orth, Brian Kenny, LoneSome Leash, Tenderfoot, Half Breed, Sashay, Palo Verde, Spear and Magic Helmet, Frank Correa, Michael Horwitz, Your Heart Breaks, Belles Bent For Leather (Judas Priest Tribute), Queen Mookie, Amoania, Glitterbang, Hypnotits, Brian Brittigan, Zackary Drucker, MKNZ, Earl Dax, Crypts and more!

This week I caught up with ‘Mo-Wave creators Jodi Ecklund, Marcus Wilson and Seth Garrison to talk about Read the rest of this entry »

Check out a slideshow of the most beautiful #SochiSign “Gay Propaganda” photos alongside an article I wrote for The Huffington Post about our Photobomb Solidarity Project happening out of Portland for LGBTQ Russia HERE or by clicking the screenshot of me and Beyonce on the HuffPost Gay Voices homepage below!

Quick shout-out to Cameron Kude for his ideas and efforts and to photographer Chase Person for lending his talents to this project! I am always so moved when people give back in creative ways to the community I care so deeply about! You guys are awesome.

Here’s a shot of me at the sign this week: